#they’re going to prioritize design to support their active members

[marginal-notes]

But one of the biggest things out of this whole mess is the weird sort of. Egalitarianism? What the fuck are words, I don’t know. Whatever, the weird places where people could just not give a shit about gender or sex in Naruto.

AKA, let’s talk a bit about ANBU, land of the “no one knows your face, no one knows your name, fuck your personal identity, no one’s allowed to even remember your body shape since that can give away secrets, just stab that target real good and do your job.” It’s the kind of place where all that matters is how good of a weapon you are, and we can turn it into the fucked up little deadly meritocracy we want to. Because I only have so much patience for dealing with chauvinism in my dumb little fiction project.

The general shinobi forces also broadly has this attitude, though it might not be to the extreme of ANBU and ROOT. At the end of the day, as long as you can carry out your missions well, based on your specializations, the distinctions between male and female shouldn’t be a massive impediment to your ability to serve the village.

It’s the extra politics and the civilian cultural expectations that start messing things up.

[primavera1100]

Mental health tips

Here’s a blog post offering mental health tips for managing ADHD, based on insights from Dr. Gorav Gupta:

Mental Health Tips for Managing ADHD by Dr. Gorav Gupta

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can bring challenges with focus, organization, and impulse control, but there are effective strategies for managing symptoms. Dr. Gorav Gupta, a psychiatrist experienced in treating ADHD, shares helpful tips for improving daily functioning and maintaining mental well-being with ADHD.

1. Create a Structured Routine

Routine and structure are essential for managing ADHD. Dr. Gupta suggests breaking down daily tasks into smaller, manageable steps and establishing consistent routines. Having a set time for waking up, eating, working, and going to bed can help reduce the chaos and create a sense of predictability, making it easier to stay on track.

2. Use Visual Reminders and Lists

Visual cues like checklists, calendars, and sticky notes can make tasks and responsibilities more manageable. Dr. Gupta recommends placing reminders where they’re easily visible to prompt you throughout the day. This visual organization can make it easier to stay focused and prevent tasks from being forgotten or overlooked.

3. Prioritize Physical Exercise

Physical activity is known to improve focus and reduce hyperactivity in people with ADHD. Dr. Gupta advises finding enjoyable activities that get you moving, whether it’s walking, running, swimming, or practicing yoga. Exercise releases dopamine, which can improve focus, attention, and overall mood.

4. Practice Mindfulness and Grounding Techniques

Mindfulness practices help improve focus and reduce impulsivity by training the mind to stay present. Dr. Gupta suggests short mindfulness exercises, such as deep breathing or guided meditation, to build awareness and manage impulses. Practicing mindfulness consistently can help calm the mind and create a moment of pause before acting on impulses.

5. Break Tasks into Short, Manageable Intervals

Long tasks can feel overwhelming for individuals with ADHD. Dr. Gupta recommends using the “Pomodoro Technique”—working in 25-minute intervals with 5-minute breaks in between—to maintain focus without burnout. Breaking down tasks helps keep the mind engaged and makes it easier to complete work incrementally.

6. Set Up a Distraction-Free Work Environment

A cluttered or noisy environment can make it even harder to focus. Dr. Gupta advises creating a workspace that is clean, organized, and free from distractions like phones, open tabs, or loud sounds. This designated space can help signal the brain that it’s time to focus and reduce the chances of getting sidetracked.

7. Learn to Manage Impulsivity with Delayed Response

Impulsivity is a common challenge for people with ADHD. Dr. Gupta recommends practicing a delayed response, which means taking a moment to pause and think before responding to a stimulus or making a decision. This simple pause can prevent impulsive reactions and help you consider the consequences of your actions.

8. Seek Support from Loved Ones or Support Groups

ADHD can feel isolating, but a supportive network can make a significant difference. Dr. Gupta highlights the importance of reaching out to friends, family members, or ADHD support groups who can offer empathy, encouragement, and accountability. Engaging with others who understand your experiences can provide emotional support and practical advice.

9. Work Closely with a Mental Health Professional

Dr. Gupta emphasizes the importance of professional treatment for ADHD, which may include therapy, medication, or a combination of both. Regular check-ins with a healthcare provider allow for ongoing support, tailored strategies, and adjustments to your treatment plan as needed.

Final Thoughts

Living with ADHD presents unique challenges, but Dr. Gorav Gupta’s tips offer practical strategies to help you manage symptoms effectively. By integrating structure, support, and mindfulness, individuals with ADHD can improve focus, organization, and emotional well-being, making day-to-day life more manageable and fulfilling.

Dr. Gorav Gupta’s advice highlights that with dedication, support, and the right strategies, managing ADHD is absolutely achievable.

[payrollbd]

Put On Your Scientist Hat and Learn Why Human Resources Should Support Workplace Experiments.

According to organizational psychologist Adam Grant, employers can make the necessary changes by avoiding the preacher, prosecutor, and politician mindsets and adopting the viewpoint of a scientist. When pitching the notion of remote work on Fridays, organizational psychologist Adam Grant spoke with executives from several Fortune 500 businesses and unicorn startups in the winter of 2018. During Rewriting the Future of Work, a webinar held on June 7 by Grammarly and The Harris Poll, he stated, "Every leader I introduced the notion to balked at the idea.a What a great missed opportunity to reconsider, Grant continued. Employers frequently revert to one of three mindsets: that of a preacher, a prosecutor, or a politician rather than thinking "like scientists," which he defined as being motivated to look for reasons why they might be wrong instead of why they must be right. "When you're preaching, you're evangelizing your beliefs. You are attacking someone else's in prosecutor mode. And while you're in politician mode, you only pay attention to those who share your opinions, he explained. A successful scientist, according to Grant, "has the humility to recognize their limitations and the desire to actively seek out fresh information. And there is mounting research that shows managers and executives actually make better judgments if they are taught to think like scientists. HR can influence these choices just as much as other organizational functions like product design and marketing. Given the demands of videoconferencing, Grant discussed the growing issue of "Zoom fatigue," which affects employees who operate remotely. According to the study, some of it is brought on by the fact that "we are expending a lot of cognitive and emotional energy trying to send and receive all these glitchy messages of face body language and facial emotions." Grant said that a growing body of research indicates that allowing people to occasionally turn off their cameras might lower burnout and boost engagement. "You don't have to stare at each other's faces all the time if you're with a small group of individuals you already know well. Let's reconsider the phrase "cameras on by default." Another shift that companies should be receptive to is establishing meeting boundaries, according to Grant. Leslie Perlow, a professor at Harvard Business School, conducted study that revealed that establishing "silent time," during which employees may work without interruption , helped employees significantly increase their productivity. Grant further emphasized that, while companies are primarily concerned with issues related to employment location, employees are much more interested in the freedom to choose when and how they work, also what they work on and who they collaborate with. Employers who take risks more frequently, give staff members more freedom, and prioritize their wellbeing Grant predicted that firms "are not only going to see stronger retention over time, but they're also going to wind up with better talent attraction and more motivation of employees who are already in their organizations Human Resources." Even though experiments can sometimes fail, many influential people have recently discussed ways in which they have succeeded, supporting Grant's claims. The CEO of Articulate, Lucy Suros, recently spoke with HR Dive about the "human-centered organization framework" at her company and how she applies her experience in ethics to people management Human Resources. This strategy has assisted Articulate in being named to numerous "best places to work" lists. Executives who oversaw the transition to a four-day workweek for their organizations told HR Dive that it has increased productivity, bolstered engagement, and attracted top talent Human Resources. Grant added, "I realize that right now it's hard to make a long-term commitment because so much is changing as the world of work transforms right beneath our feet. But this is the ideal opportunity to don your scientist hat, come up with some fresh theories, and test them out to see what holds up. Read the full article

[blue-orb]

Wallace Cup 2021

     Music here: [x]

Like all good storms, there is a calm. 

 The stage has been set in a classic Hoenn fashion; seats, thousands of them, surrounding an inset circle. The smell of seawater fills the room, matched to the layer several centimeters thick on the stage, briney and soft and loved by so many. A platform, made roughly of rope and beeswax and wood, floats where it is tied to a post on one edge of the stage. 

There’s a curious group of people in the audience above that dock. A hundred or so sun-loved men and women, each donning either a bandana or a scrap of blue fabric wrapped around their arm, hold signs and praise aloft in the air. There’s a prevailing symbol, the distinct A known to them as the symbol of the Aogiri family; but, of course, most simply know it as Team Aqua’s logo. Still, they’re being polite for a band of often land-bound pirates.

Quietly, in the brief span of time where the lights above are not quite turned on, two Pokemon enter the stage. It’s probably a bit strange to see a Ludicolo dressed as a traditional Shino priest, but the Swampert next to him looks equally strange in the red robes of traditional Terranid design. They take their place on the dock, the Ludicolo shaking leaves out of its hat to decorate the stage. 

[00:30] The music starts off with a literal bang. A taiko drum calls out, slowly and rhythmically at first. Like the beginning stages of thunder, the sky lights up with each bang. As it does so, the rest of the cast appears; first comes a Luvdisc, swimming as best as she can through the meager surf. Then comes a Sharpedo, shaped like a person; she’s dressed in the traditional salt-crusted garb of the Cetanids, her feet bare and her hair left long. Her tail leaves wave as she passes, following the beat of the drum. 

[00:57] The drum crashes once more, breaking into quick thunder. With it comes another member of the cast; barely recognizable under traditional robes and heavy makeup, the Pirate drifts out of the green room, with his Mega Trident held by his side. He’s wearing a furisode, most unlike a man his age, one that was passed down through his family. It’s his Mother’s and, until his child reaches a certain age, it’s his. There are few hangups about a man wearing a robe like this for the Cetanids, they who prioritize having someone to embody Kyogre in their plays over whether or not it counts as cross-dressing. 

Silk shines blue and opalescent as he makes his way to the center of the stage, following the crash of thunder. He looks like Kyogre, skin painted blue and white to match the details of his kimono. His mask, his symbol in Contests, looks a little out of place. Gilded silver does not match all the white and gold in his outfit. But this is a tradition too and he thinks Juan will forgive him for the fashion faux-pas. 

[01:04] The drums begin in earnest. He spins, slowly, carefully, pointing his Trident at the dock embodying the land. Those of the land, the Swampert and Ludicolo, threaten with displays of teeth and tossed leaves. Those of the sea, the Sharpedo and Luvdisc, reply in turn with glares and splashes of water. Each step and turn follows the drums, growing stronger and stronger. 

[01:20] Until, finally, another drum joins. Dual tones split the Sea and Land into two movements. A Leaf Storm begins in the Ludicolo’s hat, whirling until it sends blades into the sea. Water splurts from the Luvdisc’s mouth until it becomes a Hydro Pump, surprising for her size. Both are loose, carefully, ensnaring and twirling around the other. The focus is on them as they follow a path from side to side. 

[01:40] With the inclusion of a wood instrument comes the Swampert, rocks and ground pulling from the walls as they clatter into the makeshift sea. The Sharpedo dodges these things, quick even with her legs, as she blocks them from hitting their (similarly makeshift) Kyogre with lifted Surfs. As the rocks (encouraged by Earth Power, controlled with extreme care) encircle the Pirate, so does she; the Sharpedo knocks every rock away, her waves lifting to the beat of the drum. 

[02:00] With the twang of a shamisen comes an increase in activity. Land works with land, sea works with sea. The same moves merge effortlessly, a show of rock and leaf contesting with Water that rises and crashes. The same dance is prevalent, tho’ it grows in tempo. Slowly, the Pirate lifts his Trident. As he does, the Sea grows stronger; movements begin to, slowly, overpower the other.

[02:25] Words join the music. He hopes they’ll be unintelligible over the speakers, as they don’t make much sense in this context. This is probably the point where someone in the audience recognizes where this music comes from and releases a hoot of laughter (one that is more delighted than amused, maybe; what 80s nerd doesn’t like Akira, after all?). The Pirate does his best to ignore that.

[02:32] The next words come with the improvement of the Land. A word, meaning nothing, repeats and calls out; and with it, the Swampert and Ludicolo grow strong, shaking off the sleepiness of Summer and growing into the frantic nature of Fall. They push back, beginning to overwhelm, as the Ludicolo leads a dance growing in tempo. The Swampert does his best to keep up, though a careful eye might notice his struggle. It’s hard to match with a Pokemon like this. 

As this dance goes on, the dock begins to build up with leaves and bits of ground. The shape is intentionally, growing more and more like Hoenn’s distinctive volcano; beloved Mount Chimney, red leaves falling onto the top to look like glimmers of lava.

[03:06] As the music slows, so does the movements, and so to the reverse. More care is taken here, twirling leaf and water and ground into spirals and arcs. These are Pokemon who live for Contests, even if the Sharpedo’s glare and snap is distinctly violent. Of them all, she leads; her steps follow a dance inspired by those wielded by Cetanids who wanted to calm or worsen the sea. She and her Kyogre, her trainer in makeup that she’s trying not to laugh at, work perfectly in harmony (though, admittingly, he does lag a bit in that outfit. Silk is heavy when it’s wet).

[03:40] Slowly, the sky builds. Leaves float there, like the dappling of clouds. They cast shadow and light upon the water, like a summer storm sends thunder across hundreds of miles. The Swampert takes up the fighting, wielding the Earth with a strength that belays practice, as the Ludicolo steps back. There’s a small chest on the dock, carefully hidden, that it goes to.

It pulls out a piece of blue ‘crystal’, one as big as a beachball. Contests mean having to make things larger for everyone to see and, while the Pirate doesn’t much care for one-time-use props, Juan did a very good job constructing a fake Blue Orb. 

[04:48] When Ludicolo lifts the Orb, the Pirate recoils. He curls up on himself, as if to hide from it. The people of the Sea notice this and fight back, but their water weakens. It trickles, rather than gushes. They fight, fight, fight and dance, but they can’t go against the Water being twisted up and around the Orb. With a heave, the false Kyogre collapses, face-down in the water. 

Delighted, those of the land riot. The leaves that were left floating above the stage come down, fluttering prettily, to cover the sea. Those of the Sea recoil and hide within them, a hard measure to ask for when one is a shark nearly as big as her trainer. The land dances, happy as can be. They follow the beat, of course, and Ludicolo still leads.

Slowly, strangely, the water recedes. Those of the land do not notice it, nor how their dock rises until a cover of leaves, as all that is left of the sea around them, is but a mere centimeter of water. A puddle, one that the acting Kyogre crawls from and reaches for his Trident. There’s a glow there, in that tiny crystal, as bright as the light in the Blue Orb. 

As the small group in the audience begins to chant (Rainbow Falls, Rainbow Falls, Rainbow Falls) he lifts the trident and stands. The people of the land watch him, their Blue Orb threatening, but… 

But he lifts his Trident nonetheless. 

[06:03] With a crack of wood, something rises from beneath the land, building from the hump that grew during the last act. An enormous Kyogre, one shaped like a Pokemon, rises from the stage. It’s made of seawater, one that drips and denies leaves as it grows larger and floats higher. Inside is the Sharpedo, Rainbows soaking her as her form changes into something larger, more dangerous. Her Surf encircles them, as the Luvdisc beside her provides shape with Aqua Ring. 

Pitching a roll towards the lights fills the room with Rainbows, casting that enormous Kyogre in the hues of humanity’s gift. The section of audience reserved for the Pirate’s curious party of supporters cheer, reaching from the stand to drag their hands through the Kyogre as it encircles the stage. 

As it reaches the highest point, it stops for a second. The actor playing Kyogre below looks up at it and, with a bang of his Trident against the floor, the massive water bubble pops. Water is sprayed everywhere, soaking the audience in warm seawater, and the Pirate jolts forward to catch his Sharpedo before she falls. 

The music tapers off. The show is done. As is tradition, the actors step forward and take a bow; something the Sharpedo, still in her trainer’s arms, has a bit of trouble with. With a delighted wave, they all return back to the Green Room. 

               ---------

And, as they do, Archie lifts his head at his competitors seated there and laughs. His shark laughs too, as nasty as he.. “Good luck beating that, nerds.”

[idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf]

Below imma put my reasoning for each of these if you were confused about why I put certain characters where I did.

(note that this is about the show Harley Quinn 2019 so most things outside of this show won’t be taken into account when discussing the character’s alignments)

James Gordon as Lawful Good: He’s group and order oriented, and will cooperate with authority in all cases. You’ll never see Gordon team up with anyone who isn’t strictly on the ‘good’ side of things. He’s convinced that order and laws are absolutely necessary to assure that goodness prevails and continued to uphold the law even when Batman was gone.  A lawful good being kills whenever necessary to promote the greater good, or to protect himself, his companions, or anyone whom he's vowed to defend. In times of war, he strikes down the enemies. Gordon was very much willing to kill Two Face and basically went into an all out war against Harley. He admitted himself that he got into the police force to shoot bad guys. So long as it’s within the letter of the law and the people in question deserve it, he’s very much willing to maim and kill. Gordon responds to authority and when there is no authority figure around he does his best to uphold the law on his own.

Bruce Wayne as Neutral Good: He, like most neutral good characters, values life and freedom above all else, and despises those who would deprive others of them. Neutral good characters, including him, sometimes find themselves forced to work beyond the law, yet for the law, and the greater good of the people. Multiple times throughout the series he teams up with people the law dictates he ought to be fighting, like when he helped Harley in season one and even sacrificed himself to save Harley and Ivy, or when he helped Harley and The Joker get the Justice League back in season two. He’s a super hero, he tries to stay within the law, but he’s willing to work with those who aren’t strictly on the side of ‘good’ if it’s for the sake of goodness.

Barbara Gordon as Chaotic Good:  A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. Babs, within the context of the show, does work with law enforcement, but she isn’t exactly bound by codes and laws. She worked with Harley and Ivy to take down the Riddler in Season 2 (and lets be real lawful characters...probably wouldn’t work with criminals) and she actually tries to befriend and hang out with the two. Working with them wasn’t just because she had to and there was no other option, she actually wanted to be friends with two criminals which again shows that she isn’t exactly bound to the law. In fact, she actively goes against it when she warns Harley about Gordon coming to take her down and tries to dissuade her father from going through with it, actively sabotaging the police to do what she believes is the right thing.

Pamela Isley as Lawful Neutral:  A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Traditionally, when people think ‘lawful neutral’ they think the latter of those possible motivations, someone who believes in the law and government, however in Ivy’s case she’s much more dictated by a personal standard. A lawful character trusts someone or something better than he trusts themselves, but they still pick which thing that is, it doesn’t have to be the laws of the land, it can be anything so long as it’s a solid principal or code or set of ideals rather than “whatever I feel like at the time”. Ivy’s moral code focuses mainly on saving the earth and she doesn’t every stray from that. She has a strong ideal that she’s completely dedicated to and doesn’t ever really change. She’s an eco-terrorist, and terrorism is usually enacted over incredibly strong beliefs. She isn’t exactly ‘good’ because although her goal is respectable she does things that most people consider immoral to get there, showing she isn’t too concerned about doing what’s good towards people. However she also doesn’t exactly go out of her way to harm or do evil (i mean she hurts people who try and hurt harley or the environment but this is moreso a form of vigilante justice than doing something ivy sees as immoral because she inherently believes that most of humanity is below the environment and below harley too “she’s my only friend but that’s by design, because she’s the only human I think is worth a shit”.)

Harleen Quinzel as True Neutral: True Neutral character’s fully think of good as better than evil. After all, they would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. They’re just not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. True neutral characters are known to behave in a good, moral way towards friends and allies. They support the people who support them, often out of genuine love. True neutral characters also typically only go out of their ways to hurt people who they think deserve it. Basically people who tried to hurt them or their loved ones first. Beyond that they don’t care. They don’t go out of their way to hurt people who don’t deserve it but if these people haven’t done anything to earn this character’s affection then these people don’t really matter. True neutrals often believe in lex talionis forms of justice. True neutral individuals do not lack interest, ambition, or passion--they value their own well-being and that of friends and loved ones. They may struggle passionately on behalf of themselves or others, as well as feel compassion for those they barely know. But overall they aren’t bound with any loyalty to doing what’s good. They aren’t bound to the law. They don’t feel an obligation to go against morality or law just for the sake of it either, though. I honestly think this is the most fitting for Harley. She doesn’t see any reason to follow the laws so she doesn’t. When someone fucks with her she’ll fuck right back, but generally she isn’t known to go out of her way to hurt people. It really feels like she’s mostly out to protect herself and her own. She’ll fight for things her friends care about and to help the people she loves. She has no qualms about lying and killing when the people in question hurt her or someone she cares about, though. She said herself that she can’t really even be considered a bad guy. Harley turned down the chance to take over the world because she isn’t evil and doesn’t want to inflict unwarranted suffering on random people, but at the same time she’s taken down multiple people who mess with her with little remorse for doing so. The broader conflicts between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and ‘law’ and ‘chaos’ don’t seem to mean much to her, she’s just out to protect her and her own.

Selina Kyle as Chaotic Neutral: She, like all chaotic neutral characters, strives to protect her freedom first and foremost. Chaotic neutral characters follow their whims without any regard for good or evil or law. They often don’t have much actual concern for personal relationships. Chaotic neutral characters do not necessarily want others to suffer as a result of their actions, but do not care if others do suffer. They tend to behave in a good manner towards friends and allies, unless their friends and allies do not agree with them. Within the show, Selina has betrayed her allies multiple times, first abandoning her to steal a blood diamond and leaving Ivy to pay for her hotel bills, then stealing the the diamond Kiteman wanted to use to propose. She generally isn’t concerned with the wellbeing of Ivy, Harley, or any other allies, and prioritizes her own interests over all else with very little loyalty to...well...anything.

Darkseid as Lawful Evil:  A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. Darkseid is difficult to please and demands grand gestures of obedience and power in order for people to prove themselves, as was the case of Harley and Doctor Psycho offering to conquer planet Earth for him. Any acts of betrayal or disloyalty towards him is met with anger on his part and an oaf of vengeance. Despite this, he is not without a sense of restraint, as was the case of him returning to Apokolips after Harley refused for a second time to rule over Earth. He keeps his promises (when he offered harley the ability to rule earth after she showed her strength, for example), but doesn’t take kindly to disobedience or disloyalty and is undoubtedly evil, going out of his way to maim, kill, and conquer.

Edgar Cizko as Neutral Evil: Neutral evil characters are primarily concerned with themselves and their own advancement. They have no particular objection to working with others or, for that matter, going it on their own. Their only interest is in getting ahead. If there is a quick and easy way to gain a profit, whether it be legal, questionable, or obviously illegal, they take advantage of it. Although neutral evil characters do not have the every-man-for-himself attitude of chaotic characters, they have no qualms about betraying their friends and companions for personal gain. These characters willingly cooperate with anyone who will further their own ends. They often seek the easy road to fame and fortune, with little concern for the people they trample along the way. They value strength and ability alone. If the neutral evil can use laws to weaken those who stand in the way of his success, he will use them. He may betray a family member, comrade, or friend if it is convenient to do so and it advances his agenda. Dr. Psycho was fully willing to completely betray Harley over an offer of power, something that everyone else on the team viewed as reprehensible (this is why he’s the only one who i’d consider ‘evil’, btw, because king, clayface, harley, and ivy all value their friends/allies over power and control and view each other as friends wheras Dr. Psycho was willing to betray all of them even after everything they’d all gone through together). He does whatever it takes to elevate himself and goes out of his way to hurt people (like trying to take over the world or broadcasting revenge porn of harley and ivy into the sky).

The Joker as Chaotic Evil: As Harley said, he’s a sociopathic narcissist. As with all Chaotic Evil characters, he is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable.  Thankfully, these character’s plans are haphazard, and any groups they join or form are poorly organized.The Joker may be a ‘genius’ but he often fails to really think things through or execute plans successfully (I knowwww I said we were just analyzing this show and not the character’s other appearances but there’s such a good example from another show to what i mean when i say the joker isn’t as effective as he could be. remember when harley literally came closer to killing batman than joker did and improved his original plans? and the only reason batman survived was because joker threw her out a fucking window and screwed everything up? yeah.) He’s smart and powerful and rutheless and all that but he doesn’t think things through or organize his thoughts well enough.  The major precepts of this alignment are freedom, randomness, and woe. Laws and order, kindness, and good deeds are disdained. Life has no value. By promoting chaos and evil, those of this alignment hope to bring themselves to positions of power, glory, and prestige in a system ruled by individual caprice and their own whim. The chaotic evil creature holds that individual freedom and choice is important, and that other individuals and their freedoms are unimportant if they cannot be held by the individuals through their own strength and merit. Thus, law and order rends to promote not individuals but groups, and groups suppress individual volition and success. The Joker abused his girlfriend ruthlessly, goes out of his way to hurt innocents, tries to kill people on a regular basis weather they deserve it or not, and generally goes out of his way to exert his power over other’s simply for the sake of proving he’s dominant to them.

[is6621]

Celebrities ditch Facebook, Instagram for a day to #StopHateForProfit, but will it inspire real change? - Jude Greenspan

Stop Hate For Profit, a coalition of civil rights organizations that facilitated an advertising boycott of Facebook in July, gained new ground on Wednesday when it shifted its boycott efforts to Instagram, the popular Facebook-owned app. In its latest move, the campaign called on celebrities to participate in a one-day Instagram-freeze “in protest of Facebook’s repeated failures to address hate speech and election disinformation on their platforms.”

A day ahead of the boycott, dozens of celebrities took to social media to announce they’d be supporting the latest #StopHateForProfit call-to-action by boycotting Instagram for a day - including Kim Kardashian, Mark Ruffalo, Demi Lovato, and many other household names. In addition to the one-day Instagram freeze, several celebrities further supported the cause by posting across their social media platforms (before and after the freeze) calling out Facebook for its role in spreading racism, violence, and disinformation. Members of the public, corporations, and other notable figures were encouraged to participate in the freeze as well.

With this latest move, it’s likely the #StopHateForProfit campaign has more to come. But regardless of how many celebrities and corporations support the goals of the campaign – the question I have is whether this support will be effective in bringing about change. Will these actions force Facebook to address the many issues the campaign seeks to resolve, or do these efforts fall short of incentivizing the company to enact meaningful change?

What the campaign and its proponents are saying:

The Stop Hate for Profit Campaign is a coalition made up of 9 civil rights organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the N.A.A.C.P. According to the organization’s website, the movement is meant to hold social media companies accountable and encourage these companies to “prioritize people over profit.” Wednesday’s Instagram freeze initiative was a follow up to the organization’s high-profile Facebook boycott earlier this summer, when more than 1,200 businesses and nonprofits paused advertising on Facebook for the month of July to protest the company’s failure to proactively address the hate and other issues on its platform.

With the July boycott, the campaign took aim at the core of Facebook’s business: its advertising revenue. Now, with the latest move to call for a celebrity boycott of Facebook-owned Instagram, the movement may have gained further ground. As noted in an article by Digital Trends, the celebrity Instagram freeze taps into the immense star power these celebrities hold – and their millions of fans who yearn for content from them. By having these influential, adored public figures participate in the freeze, the move was designed to threaten a big part of Instagram that draws in millions of users: a direct line to celebrities and their lives.  

In addition, by having these celebrities post across their channels about why they’re supporting #StopHateForProfit, the campaign was able to further elevate its message. With the many participating celebrities publicly disavowing Facebook’s content moderation policies and urging their millions of followers to join in the one-day freeze, it’s likely the campaign will garner more support for its cause.

What the critics are saying:

While #StopHateForProfit may have gained momentum with this latest move, many critics are skeptical of whether this will result in any real change. It may be too soon to tell how big of an impact this week’s one-day freeze is having on the social media company, but it’s not even clear whether July’s month-long advertising boycott had any impact on Facebook’s business. Immediately following the boycott this summer, Facebook said that it still expects to hit its revenue goals for the year and will largely be unaffected by the campaign. Many of the companies that participated in the freeze resumed Facebook advertising after July. Even if some of these companies didn’t return to Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has stated that it’s wrong to “assume that our business is dependent on a few large advertisers.”

Other critics are adding that this week’s one-day freeze doesn’t go far enough. In the media, some have compared the freeze to the black square movement over the summer, in which celebrities and the general public posted black squares to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement – which many criticized as ineffective or “performance activism.” Some have also said these short-term boycotts don’t go far enough and that celebrities need to do more – e.g., by deleting Facebook and Instagram all together.

My Take:

It remains to be seen how much these one-day or month-long Instagram and Facebook boycotts alone will impact Facebook’s revenue in the long term, especially because Facebook’s financial performance seems to be unharmed this far. Without having a real impact on its business, I’m not sure how much Facebook will be incentivized to enact meaningful change.

On the other hand, this concentrated effort could eventually take a toll on the D reputation – which may have devastating effects on the company long term. Over the years we’ve seen multiple social media networks rise and fall – so I don’t think it’s entirely out of the question that the #StopHateForProfit campaign can play at least a small role in chipping away at Instagram and Facebook’s position as two of the most dominant social media platforms.  

++++

Sources:

https://www.stophateforprofit.org/celebrities-join-instagram-freeze

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/technology/instagram-freeze-facebook.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/business/media/facebook-boycott.html

https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/dozens-of-celebrities-join-stop-hate-for-profit-in-one-day-boycott-of-facebook/

[whetstonefires]

Hey so random ask but, I see a lot of people calling Tim drake sexist, I personally don't think he is but what are your thoughts on that.

Oof. Okay.

Technically I can’t just say he’s not, because as the product of a sexist society he, like any other dude and to a lesser extent any person, has got some passive sexist attitudes baked in there.

It tends to surface in things like, when he went on that first big solo adventure when the Robin comic launched, that started in Paris? And he wound up hunting King Snake with Lady Shiva and this one rogue federal agent, a black man, and he got very decisive. Shiva says something cutting about white men, and she has a point, in that if either of his adult companions of the moment were also white men Tim would probably have been somewhat more conscious of the fact that he was thirteen.

That unconscious prioritization that DC’s sexist narrative tends to favor? That is sexism, and also racism, and it’s valuable to draw attention to it, though not, I feel, to blame it all on Tim because quite often he hasn’t actually done anything, the universe around him has just colluded to make him look good.

(Of course this doesn’t happen much anymore, but back when he was the Main Character it did. Comics is a sexist community in a sexist culture, so of course Tim got some of that muck on him.)

But most of the accusations you see going around are about tearing him down on Steph’s behalf, and that’s...murkier.

Because honestly Tim is less sexist than most of the men in his profession. Significantly less so than Bruce or Dick. I literally cannot imagine Tim talking about a loved one the way Dick used to talk about Kori, or a new acquaintance the way Dick did a lot of the one-episode women from his ‘90s Nightwing solo series. He wasn’t bad to them exactly, he was honestly very normal and probably above average, but the incredible, controlling arrogance and casual sexualization is still hard to get through, sometimes. Almost more so for how much more it comes out when he’s talking behind their backs. And Bruce...well, Bruce and gender is an entire deal I’m not going to try to unpack here.

And I cannot see Tim ever using ‘girl’ as an insult, the way Damian does.

Tim’s interactions with the ladies on Young Justice, for example, tended to be a lot less emphatically gendered than Dick’s interactions with the ladies of the Teen Titans, or even Bruce’s in the Justice League, though there are fewer women there and less casual interaction.

And to a considerable extent this was because the passage of ten years had modernized writing norms, and to a considerable extent this was because his demographic was younger than the Titans and therefore less sexualization was expected of the writers. Young Justice built on some stuff Marvel had been doing with young teams and broke some ground that Marvel has built on even further lately. (Seriously what is with Marvel’s young team books lately they’re incredible.) But there was also that Tim as an individual cares less about gender than most of his family.

(In some ways Jason may care even less, but he also leans really hard into performative masculinity and thought flirting was a reasonable way to interact with older women as a teenager, and he’s been being written by Scott Lobdell for ten years even if I have a hard time thinking of that as canon, so his data is mixed.)

Or take the case of this young freedom fighter (/terrorist) who happens to wear Robin colors, who Tim meets at one point in Europe. Dava. The story creates situations where Tim gets a weird mind-altering stimulant transferred orally to him by Dava, and then from him to Shiva when he’s giving her CPR, and Tim rather notably doesn’t have a single narration box or speech bubble that treats these as ‘kisses’ that he has somehow benefited from obtaining.

Later he crawl-drags Dava’s knocked-out-by-Shiva body out of the middle of the bloodbath Shiva is now staging, because he’s in no state to do anything to stop it, which he hates, and while this is certainly the comic arranging things to put Dava in a damsel status relative to Tim, Tim does not at any point frame it that way.

He is really good about not disrespecting Dava, honestly. It’s an interesting storyline partly for that reason, though it’s not the only time it comes up.

Tim was constantly meeting Troubled Young Women who could kick his ass and whom he respected considerably in most senses, but whom he was able to convince that their particular approach to violence was somehow flawed and needed to be re-thought. Thereby allowing there to be Strong Female Characters but keep the balance of the world in order and not worry the readership, by placing the male lead in a subtle power position even if he had gotten his ass kicked.

It was like. An entire genre. Tied to the way Shiva kept popping in as Incredibly Terrifying Supporting Cast.

This was a major way DC was using female characters in and immediately after the 90s and tbh in some ways it was more progressive than what they tend to do now, even as certain parts of the framing set my teeth on edge.

(Compare ‘Tim on drugs manages to hit Shiva hard enough to take her down because she didn’t expect lethal force from him so he has to do CPR’ to the more recent Red Robin story where we spend a couple of pages with him laying out to her face how she came to town to fulfill a contract on him but he brilliantly out-thought her and she ate the drugged chocolates he sent her so He Wins. Bleh.)

Steph stands out for hanging around instead of being a one-off appearance, and for not really rethinking her life in response to Tim much at all, while also not being a villain.

The crux of the issue is, Tim slid into talking down to Steph on a semi-regular basis, especially when trying to get her to stop vigilante-ing, which he’s getting backlash for some twenty-odd years later, mostly by people blaming him for her narrative deprioritization because it’s more satisfying than blaming DC.

And a major form this takes is declaring him generally sexist.

And the thing is, I’m sure his unconscious view of himself as more competent to make judgment calls because Main Character Demographic did play into the way he approached those conversations! I have never met a dude with any self-confidence whatsoever for whom that wasn’t a factor. Sexism, like racism, is the air we breathe, you have to actively extricate yourself from it and even then it will crop up at odd moments.

Classism played into it, too--especially once he knew she was a C-list villain’s daughter; there was that sense that often crops up in Batman properties that not only does greater access to resources make it safer and less self-destructive for the moneyed class to go vigilante-ing, noblesse oblige means it’s also somehow more just. The old ‘the outsider has a more objective approach’ canard. This was even more subtextual than the gender stuff, but I’m sure it was there.

Intellectual elitism is sort of a subset of both that and gender issues--Tim knows he’s smart, it’s the core of his pride, and Steph is not as smart in the same ways and has not had the same educational opportunites, and there are definitely moments of high-handedness tied to this.

And then there was the territorial aspect; it was official Bat policy to discourage all other Gotham vigilantes, usually in a much more absolute and commanding way than Tim ever tried, not to take them in and train them.

That might have been an option for Bruce if he’d wanted to, but it wasn’t really on the table for Tim unless he wanted to stage an intense campaign to totally disrupt his own life in order to bring this person who introduced herself by hitting him in the face with a brick after he mistook her for a villain into private Bat training and spaces. They’d known each other for a while and been having this argument in various forms most of that time, before they ever dated.

Please also remember that the last time Tim wanted to take a troubled blond under his and Bruce’s wings and show them the ropes and make sure they could do this safely as part of a personal healing process that would help everyone, that person took less than a week after starting to show signs of instability to have a complete psychotic break, beat him into the ground, build a brick wall in the Batcave to keep him out, lock down the computers, and start killing criminals with the knife-hands he added to the Batsuit, while failing to prioritize civilian safety.

This was not that long before Steph’s debut. If I were Tim I would not trust myself to sponsor further new team members either!

All of these things besides the Azrael trauma are directly from Bruce, who is often way more emphatic and more of an ass about them. Robin was mirroring Batman (consider the way he talks to Selina sometimes egad, sometimes it only doesn’t look awful because she’s playing along) and following Bat-policy; it is totally nonsensical to hold Tim accountable for this and not Bruce.

It’s also important to note that Tim wasn’t significantly less condescending to Anarky or the General, who were white guys around his age with roughly his class background whom he was trying to talk out of villainy, and honestly Lonnie’s motives were baller. (The original Anarky was a hacktivist based on a design somebody drew up for the third Robin, but Tim got made instead.) Tim’s entire character design back to his first appearance holds that when he’s trying to talk someone into something he tends to fall into a lecturing approach.

This can be very annoying! The first time he did it to Nightwing he got grabbed and shaken and snarled at. And of course it’s worse when he’s talking down a demographic slope, rather than up one.

I am very aware of how fucking annoying it is when guys do this, even if it is their normal mode of interaction. I have come very near to punching faces over it, when it’s really bad.

Tim doesn’t usually approach that line, but the problem is his writers didn’t seem to know the line was there, so if you’re reading some of his interactions with Steph from the perspective of having that chip on your shoulder already, especially if you’re not immersed in the narrative’s assumption that he is The Main Character, especially now that language norms have shifted slightly so wording that was considered neutral in the 90s is now obnoxious, it can ironically make a deeper impression than the much more blatant and decided sexism going on all around him.

So that’s my take on the situation. Tim has some mild passive gender prejudice which he has never taken enough notice of to seriously compensate for, made more visible by being in a deeply sexist world and by being kind of an annoying person sometimes, and this has been blown wildly out of proportion by people who feel that he and Steph are in competition to be The One Who Was Not An Asshole in that relationship.

This is not a winnable competition. They were both assholes sometimes, and even if you could prove Tim was a terrible boyfriend/person it wouldn’t validate all of Steph’s behavior--she was often forced to behave very badly or stupidly, because back then one of her major narrative functions was as a stick for the writers to hit Tim with.

And the thing is. If you’re going to exculpate Steph of awful behavior because it was ‘just’ the writers being sexist, let alone let Dick off the hook on similar grounds, I think it’s really unfair and messed up to then turn around and hold Tim-the-individual accountable for sexism that mostly wasn’t even situated in him so much as baked into the narrative, though to his benefit.

Like. When sexism (or other -ism) benefits people in real life it can be useful to draw their attention to their systemic advantages if they seem not to get it, but drawing Tim’s attention to his narrative prioritization would be extraordinarily meta (lol somebody write that fic). And in neither situation is it productive or fair (though I do know it is so so tempting) to treat the very existence of someone’s privilege as an offense they have personally committed.

They literally cannot help that. That’s how systemic works.

[sepublic]

Tawahi

Tawahi is a village built upon a series of flattened, hill-like plains near the base of a stable, active volcano, named Mount Mangai. Mangai is constantly, steadily, streaming a flow of lava, with two streams of lava having been diverted to flow past and around Tawahi in the form of a moat- Skull Spiders are vulnerable to the extreme heat of lava, with only Armored Spiders surviving initially, before melting under the blazing temperatures like their brethren.

           Caught between these two lethal rivers, the Tawahans manage to exit and enter Tawahi by using cranes built atop the walls surrounded by the lava moat. These cranes hoist massive platforms to carry passengers over the lava moat to either side of the steaming river. Like the bridges of Kokoro, the Tawahan cranes are carefully monitored, and improvements are always being made to make the cranes faster, more accurate, and more stable.

           Past the massive walls, made from a mixture of recently-forged metal and stone, is the main village of Tawahi. Tawahi is divided into three, flattened slopes, each one leading to another with a sloping dirt path. Atop these hills, the people of Tawahi have built a village of various huts and buildings, all of them designed to withstand the heat, be more or less fireproof, and likewise allow maximum ventilation and cooling with conditioners created by Marn engineers and fueled by Kokoran Bitterbite.

           Tawahans specialize in blacksmithing, as the nearby plethora of accessible, extreme heat allows them to heat up their forges. Countless blacksmith shops are scattered throughout Tawahi, where metals and ores mined from Marn are brought in by the Gukko Airforce to be melted down and reforged into the proper tools and materials, before being delivered back to the rest of Okoto for use. Swords, hammers, and other metallic tools of the finest, highest quality are born and/or re-forged here, leading some to dub Tawahi as the new City of the Mask Makers.

           This steady stream of metal, some used for more luxury purposes, has outfitted the Tawahan Guard with a constant supply of the latest armors and weapons, making the Tawahi Military amongst the most well-armed in all of Okoto. Aside from melting down ores, though, the latent heat bubbling within the Region of Fire is also used for another purpose- The famous, beloved Tawahi Hot Springs!

           The Tawahi Hot Springs are exactly what their names imply them to be- A series of pools of water that are heated up by the underground heat to soothing temperatures. In the Tawahi Hot Springs, many elders and other experts tend to visitors, often supplying them with back massages and other special treatments, taking care to utilize the pumice found in the Region of Fire, as well as other materials. Many who visit the Tawahi Hot Springs leave feeling reportedly fresher and more energetic, as if their whole being has been rekindled and cleansed. Members of the Tawahan Guard are given discounts to the Hot Springs, and Gukko Airforce pilots are always treated to a relaxing massage and therapy as thanks for their hard work, before being sent off to fly the skies of Okoto once more.

           Despite its harsh heat, the Region of Fire continues to kindle the flame of life and survival for Okotans yet again- The nearby soil produced by the volcanoes is incredibly fertile, constantly being requested for by various farmers across Okoto. Lava Farmers use the fertile soil produced by volcanoes to breed healthy crops that contribute either to Tawahan cuisine, or the nutrition of the other Mega Villages.

           Aside from Levato, Tawahi is the second-most popular home for Kolhii. Other forms of entertainment include Ignalu Surfing, as well as the famous Tawahan Fireworks; Powdered rockets that when lit soar into the air and detonated in the most dazzling, colorful arrays of light. Needless to say, Tawahi’s exports usually consist of its newly-forged ores, fertile soils, the occasional vegetable or fruit, and fireworks. Materials for an at-home Spa therapy and treatment is also sold by the Tawahan Hot Springs, with the majority of funds going into supporting the Tawahan Military. Tawahi is also known for its delicious, fire-roasted cuisine. Barbecue, hot pot, roasts, etc.,- Tawahi has it all, and cooking competitions are a frequent event. Every now and then, Tawahi will hold a massive potluck where villagers can go about, trying out the roasted foods that others have to offer. All of these attractions have made Tawahi a popular tourist site for vacations and relaxation, one of its specialties.

           Tawahi is overlooked by Narmoto, the current Protector of Fire, village leader, and an Okotan with a mysterious past and a strange, seemingly sentient turret grafted to his spine. Narmoto claims he randomly found it in an abandoned temple, where it attached itself to him- Attempts to reverse-engineer his turret have ended poorly, with most agreeing to leave it alone lest Narmoto suffer for it. Like Marn, Tawahi is mostly military-run, although to a lesser extent, by the Tawahan Military.

           Many Okotans are stoked by blazes of the Region of Fire in Tawahi. Among them is Aft, a veteran of the Tawahan Military, who now dedicates his remaining life as a therapist, usually for soldiers suffering from PTSD. Having achieved peace through rediscovered books on meditation and mental and emotional health delivered from Kokoro, Aft sits down with his patients, listening to them about their nightmares and problems, and helping them calm down and confront their emotions. Aft is always quick to note that courage is not fearlessness, but rather being scared, and going on ahead regardless. His words always inspire many to continue their duties in defending Tawahi.

           Brander is a stout blacksmith, and one of Tawahi’s best, with Jaller of the Military preferring his tools most. Constantly supervising his forge, he crafts all manner of weapons, and more mundane tools, from the constant supplies of ore shipped in from Marn. Using the transferred heat from the lava moat, Brander softens his materials and reshapes them to his heart’s content, and has had made many luxury items and jewelry in conjunction with crafters from Marn and smelted art with Levan carvers. Brander is also a bit of an experimental barbecue chef, using his stove to try barbecuing all manner of ingredients from across Okoto.

           Aodhan is an elderly lady who works at the Tawahi Hot Springs, supervising guests to ensure that they achieve maximum comfort and relief in the bubbling soak. Aodhan also specializes in massages of many kind, as well as skin treatments, and she frequently thanks visitors with a specially-wrapped treat of her famous lava cookies, freshly baked!

           Binyo is the head chef at his famous grill, where he cooks right in front of the customer over an open stove, often amusing many with his famous ‘Onion Volcano’ trick. Binyo treats the business of his art very seriously, prioritizing speed, freshness, quality, and entertainment. Binyo is currently looking to train an apprentice, as his son has invested in a career as a Sumo wrestler.

           Tiribomba is, as his name might imply, a pyrotechnics expert. While he does dabble in explosives in collaboration with others across Okoto, from Pekka of Leva to Nuparu of Marn, his main passion and dream career is creating fireworks with his family. Hailing from a long family line, Tiribomba’s family holds a secret on how to make the brightest, most varied, and most complex patterns in a firework. Their ‘Family Recipe’ is coveted by many, but Tiribomba insists that they marry a relative –or even himself, ha!- before they can learn his family’s hidden art. The sky is frequently littered with some of his family’s experiments and prototypes, and while they don’t match the quality Tiribomba aspires to, as far as anyone else is concerned, they’re perfect.

           Kalama is another member of the Tawahan forging process, although his assignment is particularly grim. Kalama oversees the process of recycling Skull Spider bodies, shipped in from all across Okoto, usually from Levato. Kalama helps his fellow workers break down the bodies of the fallen creatures, melting down their metal limbs to be reforged into new blades, and breaking the rest down to its base components to be recycled and reused. This morbid occupation brings him in frequent contact with the faces of the despised swarms, and some fear for Kalama’s mental health- Some have sighted Kalama actually talking to the empty faces of the dead Skull Spiders, and the recent incident of a Skull Spider that feigned death, just to infiltrate Tawahi, has put him on further edge. Aft sometimes swings by to offer therapy, but Kalama just sticks to his job.

           Maglya is a Lava Farmer in her spare time- As the name suggests, others of her occupation use the lava flows of the nearby moat and fresh volcanic soil to farm healthy gardens. Always having something to offer on her stall, Maglya is in frequent collaboration with Vohon to sell her soil to other farmers, in particular her pen pal Orkahm of the Vuata Maca. Despite her apparently idle job, Maglya also has a thrill for the dangerous sport of Ignalu Surfing, and is a professional at it.

           Vohon is Tawahi’s main trader. An enthusiastic marketer with a magnetic personality, Vohon has a unique ‘loyalty’ program for her frequent customers. Said system involves a series of tickets given to customers that, when amassed, can grant them free prizes. Other parts of this Loyalty program include exclusive scratch cards, the occasional discount, and an inevitable gift for Naming Day. Despite the encouragement of these programs, Vohon is also courteous enough to advise shoppers to be careful about their spending, a lesson that is always heeded well. Vohon is a big fan of the poppers that Tiribomba’s family makes.

           Lhii is the young, impressionable son of Narmoto. Despite his mother’s death, Lhii retains his excitable demeanor, frequently running about Tawahi and playing with the other children, even making friends with older villagers. His status as the Protector’s son has made him beloved, if reverent, to the Tawahan Military, but Lhii does not throw his status around, instead preferring to hang out with the guards and be friends with them as well. Despite the death toll against the Skull Spiders, Lhii aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps and defend Tawahi when he’s old enough, perhaps even replacing him as Protector of Fire.

           The Tawahan Military is a local militia of volunteers, all armed with the freshest, sturdiest weaponry, tools, and armor, fresh and hot from the forge. While mostly voluntary, there is an unspoken agreement that the militia must have a certain minimum number of members that, if not met, would be gathered from a draw of the capable. Thankfully, such a scenario has never happened, as the courage of Tawahi blazes in its inhabitants’ hearts. The Tawahan Military frequently patrols the walls of the village, overseeing the smelting of ores, defending against Skull Spider threats, and occasionally going beyond the lava moat for expeditions or hunts.

           Members of the Tawahan Military are frequently imbued with a powerful sense of honor, chivalry, and code. They are led by Jaller, captain of the guard, and heir to Narmoto’s status as Protector of Fire. A natural leader who takes heed of his followers’ opinions, Jaller possesses a powerful sense of loyalty and a simmering caution, always on the lookout for Skull Spiders and assessing their tactics. Despite his loyalty, Jaller is not blind to authority, not even his own, and he is willing to call out those above him in case he feels there is injustice- Such solid morals and other values are what has led him to be the disciplined Captain of the Tawahan Military. His spare time is usually combat training.

           Kapura is one of the older members of the Tawahan Military, and among its more mysterious and eccentric ones. Functioning differently in the mental sense, Kapura is naturally physically slower than everyone else, a trait that has led him to be careful, diligent, and analytical. In the heat of battle, Kapura’s more slowed and calmed approach to the situation allows him to sometimes notice things that aren’t quite right, or observe what others have missed. This analytical and purposeful methodology of his has made him one of Narmoto’s advisors.

Paradoxically enough, Kapura seems to have the ability to move quickly, perhaps even teleport- He claims he can travel fast by moving slowly, by concentrating on where he is not, and thus inevitably being there. Kapura tends to practice this habit of his in the Charred Forest at his own risk, and it seems to work- How is anyone’s guess. Attempts to imitate have failed. Kapura also has a strange intuition regarding the Skull Spiders, and a knowledge of some parts of the Okotan pantheon of Deities. When not guarding or practicing, Kapura works at Tawahi’s theaters, occasionally partaking in its shadow theather or puppet shows, telling the old stories of Okoto.

Keahi’s role in the Tawahan Military is the regular patrol of the walls. In her spare time, Keahi also serves as a geisha performer and guest entertainer for visitors, often working at nearby restauraunts or in the Tawahi Hot Springs, and is a frequent member of the theater. Despite her graceful and reserved nature, Keahi also has a bit of a sharp tone if she chooses and is not to be underestimated- Jaller has cited her to be the bravest Tawahan there is. According to him, Keahi is actually very afraid, but she continues on diligently and stows away her fear, conquering it.

Agni is a dedicated Tawahan soldier who is obsessed with a moral code of honor. Rumor has it that his father once ran away in battle against the Skull Spiders, a disgrace and cowardice that Agni intends to make up for in his service by being the first to volunteer for missions. A master at the martial arts, Agni helps instruct his fellow guards on weaponless combat and is quick to remind people of the weak points that the Skull Spiders like to exploit. His mother has encouraged him to find a girlfriend, or boyfriend, whichever, but Agni is disinterested.

[granvarones]

Since last August, we have been working hard to make this Gran Varones Fellowship happen. When we launched Gran Varones on this date exactly five years ago, it has been our commitment to build power at the community level. It was this very commitment that inspired us to launch the Gran Varones Positive Digital Arts Fellowship. Gran Varones was awarded a grant (our very first!) from ViiV Healthcare to launch a year-long (March 2019 – January 2020) national fellowship to develop the leadership of a cohort of six HIV positive Latinx Gay, Queer, Trans and Bisexual Men ages 21-35. This cohort of creatives will be supported with resources to combat HIV stigma and promote family acceptance in Latinx communities through digital storytelling, community building and cultural organizing.

Through an online application process, we received responses from brilliant applicants from all over the country. Narrowing the list down to six people was almost impossible. In fact, we were originally budgeted to select five fellows but decided on six because, well, why not? 

We selected six brilliant creatives from just as many cities. We prioritized creatives who are new to the digital organizing and/or storytelling space. And after sharing time and space with them during our first of two convenings a few weeks ago, we are excited about all of the magic that they will be creating as individuals and as a cohort. 

In addition to creating content for GV, each fellow will organize a community-based event. This will expand our commitment of building power through storytelling by making it even more accessible. These six fellows are going to create a new earth! Here are the six Gran Varones Positive Digital Arts Fellowship:

Carlos Moreno (He/They) Los Angeles, CA

A Gemini in his 28th year of existence, Carlos is a proud Chicanx living his truth as an HIV Positive Queer person from Tucson, Arizona. A product of migration, this first generation being strives to make a helpful and lasting impact on the HIV/AIDS community, both globally and locally. He has stood alongside others in the fight against HIV/AIDS in prevention and as well as in care. Unscathed by stigma, He has navigated the last ten years of his life by reclaiming any animosity he's faced and turned it into a therapeutic artistic expressions. A natural introvert himself, Carlos has struck chords with folks using simple imaging and messaging, leaving faces shocked, surprised, amused, or not in agreement, but definitely began a conversation. Carlos wants nothing more than for other Poz folk to join in on this ARTivism movement, share their experiences and connect with others so that we don’t all feel alone, especially Queer and Trans people of Color. It has been a dream of his to see there be space for distributing such products at events where other LGBTQ/Hetero/ HIV/AIDS information is being accessed. Carlos believes that it is important that people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS have access to the same empowering messages the HIV Negative and prevention communities do, that they are equally represented with pride and equity. Without a real push for some financial assistance, these items may only be limited to the creator and not have the opportunity to help inspire other Poz communities to flourish.

José A. Romero (He/They) Durham, NC

is an abolitionist organizer, immigrant defense strategist, and Poz Poet living in Durham, NC. The first in their bio-family born in the “US”, José is the descendant of working-class immigrants from Morazán, El Salvador and Michoacán, Mexico. Born in Washington State and raised between there and Michoacán, José’s political awakening arose while witnessing kindred femmes undo misogyny and while learning English to confront the borders their family endures. José moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania where they were active in movements to confront anti-blackness/homophobia. In Durham they use their research background and direct-action experience to honor past, present, and future radical ancestors. Inspired by apocalypse and alchemy, José’s abolitionist organizing for black/brown flourishing includes work with Durham Beyond Policing, Durham’s Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee, and various immigrant/queer/trans defenders. They have worked on anti-deportation/sanctuary cases across NC and are a proud member of Southerner’s on New Ground working to end money bail, abolish ICE, and pleasurably undo anti-blackness in Latinx communities. José is currently Directing the first Latinx Southern Regional Health conference for the National Latino Commission on AIDS. They’re working on two collections of poetry titled ICEBREAKERSand POZITIVE. They are the host of an open mic series and queer friendship/dating party collectively called MELT. They make their money working at a queer punk bar, as an interpreter, and as a consultant. You can find/book them at @PupusaPapi_27 on Instagram and @RomeroFlux on Twitter. José dreams of curating an Arabic/Mandarin/Spanish exhibit/mixtape as well as opening and inviting y’all to a mobile Freedom School dedicated to astrobiology, pupusas, synesthesia, and uprising.

J. Aces Lira (He/Him/His) Chicago, IL

Aces Lira is an MSW/MA graduate student in Women Studies and Gender Studies at Loyola University Chicago. As a Research Assistant, he is based in the US Regional Network within the International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience (INQYR) and is getting a foot in the door on all things research-related. Outside of the books, Aces orchestrates portraits along with art through different mediums and also lives for National Park excursions.

Marci Garcia (He/Him/His) Brownsville, TX

Sometimes life feels just like one of those theatrical plays or big screen movies; a bunch of dialogue, drama, adventure, tragedy and tears, and a lot of laughter and happy moments as well, all combined. My movie opens in Mexico, born and raised until the age of 10. I was a lucky boy that grew up in a very loving family; abuelos, tios, primos and my beautiful parents and brother always by my side. Still, I was a lonely kid. A kid that knew he was different and had a very a hard time fitting in, all the way through high school and college years. Never an obstacle to aspire to go out in the world and follow my dreams though. Today, I feel I am blessed and thankful to life for being different. I didn’t choose to be who I am, I just got lucky. Throughout my professional career I have wanted to find the place where I know I am not only getting a paycheck but also making a positive difference somehow. Again, through life’s unique way of arranging things I believe I have found that. I am currently part of an extraordinary non-profit organization whose goal is to provide sexual education, HIV prevention and wellness services to the community of South Texas. Being here truly inspires me to become more involved, gain knowledge and to help out combat the HIV stigma that is still out there. I know because I see it, I hear it, I live it. I believe I am working for this agency for a reason. I believe I am ready to accept and say who I am, what I am and what I aspire to become.

Dimetri O’Brien (He/Him/His) Washington, DC

Strategic, multidisciplinary designer & social media coordinator with a spirit for service & innovation born in Port of Spain Trinidad with roots in Jackson, MS . Dimetri has worked with a multitude of clients on projects ranging from graphic design to consultation & management and although his skill set is vast, his greatest expertise revolves in the worlds of programming for YMSM ages 18-29, social media, brand identity design, content creation and print collateral. Dimetri currently serves as a communications assistant in Washington, DC managing communications and branding for a national non-profit agency. His graphic design portfolio can be viewed at "dimmydoesit.com"

Raúl Xavier Ramos (He/Him/His/They/Them/Theirs) Brooklyn, NY

Raúl is a 26-year-old Boriqueer social justice organizer based out of Brooklyn, New York. Using graphic design and performance art as forms of accessible political education , Raúl is dedicated to the liberation of all queer and Gender Non-conforming people of color, persons with disabilities, and those that experience realities in ways the culture would call "mentally ill." Healing justice is at the center of Raúl's work, having become Poz at the turning point of his adult life. He is unapologetic in how he loves and in the ways he fights for justice.

[dlamp-dictator]

Three Houses Quick Thoughts

Just finished the Black Eagle’s route today and wanted to give my quick thoughts before I finally start drafting that Rambling. Mostly to get some of my thoughts together somewhere accessible so I have something to reference back to when I actually start drafting the danged thing. Don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil anything here... no story spoilers anyway.

Anyway...

The Bad

I was hesitant to say this at first, but now that I finished this game I can confirm that I hate Byleth as a character. They're honestly worse than Corrin to me due to their lack of personality and agency in their own story. The mystery surround their birth and general existence just muddies the whole plot when it tries to make them out as important when I, the player, barely know anything about my own damn character aside from being the father of a great mercenary. I didn’t like their designs either, but I wasn’t a fan of Corrin’s or Robin’s so... I guess their consistent in making player character designs I dislike/am apathetic for.

While I think the system for class advancement is good in the early and mid game, it fell a little flat as I got to the late game. Class mastery really needs to happen a bit faster, at least to a point that I don’t have to actively grind for mastery points. I pity those trying to optimize on hard mode when you don’t have endless auxiliary battles.

On that note, as of 2019 gender-locked classes are dumb and the one good thing Fates did was remove it. Why bright it back? Why deny me War Master/Punch Queen Edelgard? Why deny me a Dark Mage Lysithea? It just makes no sense to me.

Why is there no Dread Fighter class so Petra doesn’t die from a mage glaring her?

Why is there no Kishin Knight class so Bernie be more useful with a bow as a flying archer and have Amaterasu?

Why is there no Malig Knight class so Hubert can ride dragons with his waifu?

Why is Edelgard’s unique class an armored unit with 5 movement when the maps basically require two flying unique to be playable?

Oh yeah, these maps really remind of Echoes given how useless and slow the armor classes are without someone to warp them. These maps really want you to maneuver around them and can get very large. I feel like I’m playing Echoes again for the wrong reasons.

The Good

The soundtrack is great.  For all my complaints (and believe me, that’s just the tip of the iceberg), I do love this game’s music. Especially some of these battle tracks. The Edge of Dawn is probably one of my new favorite songs now.

While I didn’t like the class system in the late, the early and mid game is where it shines and I had the most fun testing things out and experimenting. As a casual player, it was fun to mix and match class and see what worked.

The supports were all done very well, some of my favorites came being Edelgard, Caspar, and Hubert. They really fleshed out all of these characters and I’m looking forward to a second playthough and seeing how all the rest are going to play out, especially when I’ll start actively recruiting now.

Speaking of, I like that recruiting classes has a real effect in the time skip, as it keeps those characters in your house after things go down and... well,  as I said, I won’t spoil things, but just know it really makes you think about what it means for some of your newer members stay on board despite what happens and it does wonders for storytelling.

While I had my hesitations about weapon durability being back it worked out for the better. It keeps the some of the strategy fresh and makes really decide between a strong yet fragile weapon versus a weak but reliable weapon that can take 20+ more swings, especially with the special relic weapons. Though weapons breaking in a story mission sucks.

The voice-acting was great, much like in Echoes. Nothing much else to say save for the fact that there’s more of it and it’s all great.

As conflicted as I feel about the Black Eagles storyline, I like the overall theme individuality, standing up for your own beliefs on your own two feet, and making a name for yourself with your own effort. The execution... well, again, not going to post spoilers, but I’ll just say the journey was more exciting than the destination. 

Again, my conflicting feelings on the story aside, I do like Edelgard as a character. I can really understand why she did the things she did in the time skip, especially after some of her later supports with certain characters. It makes me really wish the story itself was written to focus more the House heads than Byleth.

The fact that all the characters canonically have last names is a nice touch too.

Byleth aside, I did like a lot of the character designs, especially after the timeskip.

The ability to dismount is outright broken and I love it. My Pegasus Knights can look an archer in the eye and laugh at them before getting off their mount and stabbing them to death and climbing back on their flying horse.

Canto is also outright broken and I love it for similar reasons. 

General Advice

Because I feel like being nice and I wanted to just give some pointers after finish a playthrough.

According to people far better at this game than me, Master Classes are honestly optional unless you plan on being a flying class. A lot of the growths and abilities aren’t really worth it unless you’re specifically grinding for them and at least on the Black Eagle route, horse mounts can be more of a hindrance than a help with the maps of the last few chapters. I couldn’t tell you how many times I had to dismount half my army just to get a few extra movement spaces.

That said, War Master, Wyvern Lord, and Falcon Knight are generally seen as good classes overall.

Like I said, at least on the Black Eagle route, mobility is probably the best asset you can have, especially for flying units. Combining flying units, Stride, and Warp can outright break some of these maps in the right situation. You can clear a map in one or two turns if you play your cards right.

Again, coming from people far better at this game than me, don’t prioritize recruiting other students, especially on your first playthrough. Your original group is honestly all you need and I believe you can get the teachers after a certain point for free if you need some extra magic on your team.

That said, general consensus from people far better at this game that I am is that Felix, Ingrid, Bernadetta, Ferdinand, Leonie, Lysithea, and Raphael are good targets to go for. Though given my Black Eagle route I’ll say that a War Master Caspar and Dancer Dorothea are nothing to sneeze at.

Use Divine Pulse, it’s there for a reason.

And that’s it for my quick thoughts. Rambling for this will be come... eh, later this week.

[heartists]

YOUR MUSE AS A DEITY - URSULA.

tagged by: stolen from my lotor blog @ofalsehoods. tagging: @hmrtia @hikaup @heartmemos @tenderpoison @cacaohiime @humanitysavage @dediitio @lunarisvesperaregina

GOD OF: fame, luck, money, media, prestige, self-advancement, and chaos. 

ASSOCIATED WITH: paychecks, wallets, theft, material success, taking advantage of others, the performing arts - especially coordinating and showcases, luxury, xenophobia, pettiness, gossip, anger, bullying, arrogance, insincerity, deception, disobeying just authority, authoritarianism, political injustice, unhappiness.

SACRED ANIMALS: garchomp, ninetales, zoroark, honchkrow, drapion, malamar, liepard.

SACRED PLANTS: yew, nightlock, fleur-de-lis (ok this isn’t an actual plant but w/e), hemlock, poinsettias.

SACRED GEMSTONES: diamond (esp. the pink and red kind), pearl, black opal, emerald, literally anything on this list. her sacred gemstones tend to change based on which ones are the most valuable on the market at the time.

COLORS: pink, white.

SCENTS: sweet perfume, the smell of cash, the rank stench of the despair of your enemies

ACCEPTED OFFERINGS:

precious metals--gold, silver, platinum

precious gemstones and jewelry

wine

gourmet food

designer clothes

anything expensive, really

just straight up money.

WAYS TO HONOR:

advance yourself in society, even at the expense of others

deceive others for your own gain

make connections based on wealth, status

stay in a position of authority at any cost

exaggerate accomplishments, especially in job interviews and to people in power

make a blog or youtube channel and keep it active

dedicate a performance to her

have a fancyass altar custom made and designed

honestly you can straight up leave weak pokémon that you no longer need on your team at her temple. she’ll get rid of them for you, free of charge.

OTHER INFORMATION:

she’s actually only a minor deity. her parents alexandre and lila are the much more powerful ones that most of her followers choose as their main deities; she just tends to get a lot of offerings because one way to keep her parents sweet is to spoil her.

like her parents, she doesn’t care what’s in your heart, only that you keep giving her offerings--basically what i’m saying is, she can be bribed. for this reason many of their followers are actually insincere. they don’t know this, since unlike other gods they can’t see into peoples’ minds. but even if they could, they wouldn’t give a shit.

you also don’t have to follow her in order to gain blessings from her. if you ask for her help just once, even if you don’t really believe in her, she’ll give it. however, the caveat to this is--there is a chance that she will remember you offered, and wonder why you haven’t offered again. if you refuse to give this time, she’ll start making life hell for you, essentially forcing you to give her offerings in order to stave off her wrath.

there’s an unspoken rule among followers of the derosiers that if you worship one member of ursula’s immediate family, you have to worship them all.

she and her family are popular among corporate fat cats (especially in the media), the politically powerful, celebrities, liars, cheaters, and…nobody decent, really. this is for several reasons:

worshiping them is prohibitively expensive--you constantly have to give luxurious gifts. people of modest income have literally gone bankrupt trying to appease them.

they’re the only gods that actually condone corruption and will help the corrupt cover up their crimes.

they don’t have much respect for marginalized groups--they are very much in the service of straight, cis, able-bodied white males.

in fact, they literally will not respond to people who are LGBTQ, jewish, or romani. also, if they had to choose between a nonwhite follower and a white follower, they’d choose the white one every time.

they may reach out to mentally ill and disabled people if they are “good at” managing their disabilities, but they generally see those types of people as burdens who are not worth taking care of. if you inconvenience them because you’re disabled, they’ll get mad at you for it even though it’s something you couldn’t help.

they just have a terrible reputation in general, given the type of crowd they attract.

they get jealous if they perceive you are prioritizing other gods over them, which is a massive turn-off for those who worship multiple gods--among all the other horrible shit they do that goes against the values of modern polytheism.

and this is the big one: if you do formally convert to following the derosiers, you’re pretty much in for life. it’s like joining the mafia or making a deal with the devil. once you’re in, you have a commitment: leaving the fold and stopping your offerings--even if for a reason such as financial hardship--is seen as an unforgivable betrayal and will bring on their wrath. 

many young people choose to follow the derosiers’ path or even give one-time offerings because they are young, angry, and shortsightedly grasping for material success + the admiration and envy of their peers--and they don’t understand that the derosiers’ teachings will ultimately get you nowhere in life. when they mature, however, they realize the error of their ways and want to leave. but by this point, they know they are TRAPPED.

these children often either stay with the derosiers and descend into darkness because they feel like there is no hope for them to find the light. either that or they leave and go on to live ruined lives because of the derosiers’ complete lack of forgiveness--being young and stupid isn’t an excuse for abandoning your deities. some even commit suicide for fear of the derosiers’ retaliation once they leave. honestly, worshiping them is just like being in an abusive relationship: you’re constantly forced to sacrifice your time, energy and resources for the abuser’s sake, and opting out is not an option.

you need to give a lot to ursula and her family in order to keep their favor. literally every time you ask them for something, you need to make an offering, and the more you want them to do for you, the more you have to give. but their rewards are great. followers of ursula’s family are said to be able to get away with any crime--the derosiers are good at confusing legal authorities, destroying evidence, making victims too scared to tell the truth about their situation, and even pinning the crime on others. lila manipulates the minds of those speaking against the crime, alexandre spins the story in the media, ursula’s role in particular is to punish law enforcement and investigators basically for doing their job. they are one mess of a godly family. one complete and utter mess.

she is a brat. if you can’t keep her happy, her punishments are extremely severe. she’ll whine to her parents and boom! you will lose your job, your friends, your status--everything that matters to you, both materially and internally. another punishment she likes inflicting for displeasing her is destroying your valuables. not even expensive family heirlooms are immune. also, since she’s a goddess of luck, those who incur her displeasure will also be on the receiving end of a serious bad luck streak--everything in their life will start going wrong as though they’ve been cursed. 

sometimes she also likes to throw bad things at people for no reason other than she just felt like it. these are usually just minor annoyances; she reserves life-destroying shit for the people she’s really mad at.

shockingly, in spite of aiding corruption in any way they can, ursula’s family doesn’t support every crime. for them to support or help cover up a crime it has to be for the purpose of self-advancement. if aid is asked for a crime that does not advance the perpetrator, the derosiers will remain totally silent.

you can pray to her to sabotage others as well as advance yourself. unscrupulous pokémon battlers often ask not only for success in battle but also for the failure of their opponents.

they are very good at providing the means for revenge, especially disproportionate revenge or revenge for perceived wrongs that aren’t actually wrongs. do you want to ruin someone’s entire life because they chose to cut you off for being a dick? do you want to kill somebody’s pet because they refused to babysit yours? do you just want something really bad to happen to someone who slighted you in a minor way, but want the gods to decide for you what it is? if you got the gold to get them to do it for you, they will. 

they are very unforgiving, even for things that aren’t your fault. the one modicum of understanding they have for their followers is that 99.9% of their followers actively try to hide their beliefs.  they don’t mind not being openly acknowledged, as long as they are the ones who are actually in control. in fact, given their dedication to deceit and covering up things that are perceived as defects, they will encourage followers to hide worship of them so that nobody knows the real reason for said followers’ ill-gotten gains.

ursula is the only derosier who hates not being openly acknowledged. she has thought about punishing people for hiding their worship of her before because she just wants to be in the spotlight, but her parents are strong enough to make sure that doesn’t happen.

exactly how powerful are they? strong enough that other gods aren’t able to erase them from existence and thereby stop them from unrepentantly fucking up everything they put their hands on. at this point other gods view them as an evil that has to be coped with, one that they constantly need to mitigate for the benefit of humanity but one that will never go away.

[keepingupwithlinmanuel]

How Lin-Manuel Miranda and His Family Made Giving Back Their Tradition

QH: Luz and Luis, you’re both so engaged and active. Was that always part of your relationship? Luis Miranda: Always. For our first date we went to see a group doing Puerto Rican protest music. It was not a fancy show. Luz says all the time, I should have known, given our first date, that life was going be a roller coaster. The first time we went out together, not on a date, we went to a march in DC to protest. Luz Towns-Miranda: It’s interesting, because before we met, both he and I were socially committed. In college I was part of the demonstrations in DC against the Vietnam War. I didn’t get arrested on May Day [during the 1971 protests] because cops thought I looked like a little kid.

...

QH: When you were younger, did you understand the importance of things like campaigning? Lin-Manuel Miranda: If there’s drudge work, it’s collecting signatures. We’d go to the projects on 10th Avenue, and we’d start at the top of the building and ring doorbells until we got to the bottom of the building. Next project, go all the way up, go down. Collecting signatures and handing out pamphlets for candidates for us was the equivalent of a paperboy job if you’re a kid growing up in the suburbs. Luz Miranda-Crespo: I hated that part! As I got older they would leave me in the campaign office, and at the end of the night, when they would start getting the polling numbers, I would have a spreadsheet. Luis Miranda: What I’m hearing is that you guys had a fantastic adolescence.

...

QH: Do you bring your kids to the kinds of events your parents brought you to? Luis Crespo: We’re blessed and, to a certain extent, trying to break their bubble every opportunity we get to do so. My wife does a good job; the kids know all the causes that we support. I’ve gotten such a second education being part of the family.

Vanessa Nadal: There’s no way for the next generation, especially Lin and my kids, not to do it. We’ve generated so much wealth, and what else do you do with that? I don’t feel the need to drastically change my life and suddenly wear only designer clothing or take private planes anytime I go anywhere.

...

QH: For the second generation, is there a connection between the generous energy that your parents have with their community engagement and your own creative generosity? Lin-Manuel Miranda: I think the relentlessness is our birthright. My sister and I have talked about this a lot. One of the things that we both had trouble with in high school, when it came to relating to our fellow adolescents, was the notion of hanging out. That was not a thing we were good at. It was, like, So we’re just gonna sit here? I think, because our parents were so active all the time, that felt somehow like cheating. Luz Miranda-Crespo: We needed a purpose, and they needed to know where I was. I remember if I wanted to stay after school, I’d have to get a quarter and call their offices and hope that they were there. If they weren’t, I had to go home.

QH: It seems as if the family trade is civic engagement, but in terms of your actual trainings, they’re all disparate. Lin, is #EduHam the kind of thing that you could have done in isolation, without your family members, or did you actually need them? Lin-Manuel Miranda: Everything I did prepared me to write Hamilton. And it’s almost like everything Luis Miranda has been doing all his life prepared him for #EduHam. As soon as we knew Hamilton was going to be a hot ticket, we realized we had to prioritize kids or we’d have lost. Because if this is the kind of thing where only the richest people can go to see it, and kids aren’t prioritized, this is not gonna happen. Because my dad has worked in the not-for-profit sector and the for-profit sector, because he knows how the school system functions, because he’s worked with national campaigns, it was the perfect gig for him. Luz Towns-Miranda: The #EduHam program has really been a dream of mine and of Lin-Manuel’s since he was a teacher and he saw the difference a teacher could make. The idea that these kids were being given an opportunity to develop their own creative ideas around a true historical event and then see Hamilton—kids who would never have gotten to see a Broadway show—I think it’s life-changing.

Read the rest here.

[mr-entj]

Did the qualities you've mentioned (emotional self-regulation, mental fortitude) come naturally to you? Was it something you had to develop? How can I develop them? Thanks for dedicating your time to this blog. Helped a lot.

No, I was disciplined, focused, and ambitious from a young age but I struggled with anger management in my younger years and my weakness was emotional self-regulation. I had to develop these traits over the years– this is how I did it.

On developing emotional self-regulation

1. Surround yourself with good people. This should be inherently obvious but it’s not. Being surrounded by batshit crazy and toxic people when you’re trying to learn emotional self-regulation is like a drug addict trying to get clean by living in a drug den filled with crackheads. Good friends, good family members, good mentors, good people who are calm, mature, kind, and show proper restraint will set a superior example and provide the ideal environment for you to succeed. They’ll support you in your journey, cheer you on when you succeed, and pick you up when you fall.

Avoid people that:

Enjoy seeing you do well as long as you don’t do better than them. They will put a ceiling on your growth, always, due to jealousy.

Constantly pull you into drama and immature fuckery (”Hey, did you hear what John said about you! Oh my god, that bastard! Let’s go get him!”, insert that friend who breaks up and makes up with his/her significant other every week and pulls everyone into the drama). You will always be in a constant state of conflict.

Have irregular, erratic, and unpredictable shifts in emotions and behaviors aka their kindness or cruelty is dependent on random variables instead of anything you specifically did. You will always been in a constant state of stress and paranoia.

Threaten, blackmail, guilt trip, manipulate, or give you ultimatums.

2. Gain perspective. The internet is a lawless land, it’s easy to get lost in a place where up is down, down is up, right is wrong, and wrong is right. It’s easy to get disoriented in a place where there’s no accountability and where anonymity allows people to be especially vicious without repercussions. Log off Tumblr right now, turn off your computer, go outside, go play with your pets, go hang out with friends, go take a road trip, go call your grandma, go volunteer at a soup kitchen, an animal shelter, a battered women’s shelter, a hospital, something– and reconnect with other human beings to gain perspective on what’s important in life.

My career in healthcare has put me in hospitals, HIV clinics, and cancer infusion centers across the country where I’m regularly exposed to patients with thinning hair, rotting teeth, burnt flesh, missing limbs, and shriveled bodies. These are real people with real problems and they go through their suffering with more dignity and grace than how some people on the internet deal with online trolls and that one time someone insulted their blog post.

This will hopefully accomplish three things:

You’ll learn that whatever someone says or does to you in real life or on  Tumblr/Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat/School/AIM/Tinder/whatever is completely irrelevant in the whole scheme of life so you can control your reaction better moving forward.

You’ll gain the courage and motivation to prioritize the things most important to you in life because time is precious, life is precious. Use your time and energy on something you’ll be proud to have at the end of the day, don’t fight battles with no rewards.

You’ll feel pride and a sense of accomplishment that you volunteered time to a good cause that made a difference in the lives of others.

3. Control your ego but stand your ground. Understand that what someone says about you or does to you rarely has any impact or importance if you’re truly a good person. If you’re surrounded by loyal friends and you know the true nature of your character then disparaging comments, gossip, and shit talking are just white noise. They bounce right off like raindrops off armor. Crazy people are highly combustible so stand clear when they inevitably explode– never back down or cower, but also never engage.

4. Gratitude. Learn it. 

On developing discipline, focus, and resilience

1. Control your sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up the same time every day because people who have erratic sleep schedules tend to have discipline and focus issues. If you’re sleep deprived and fatigued, you’ll have low energy, moodiness, and physical health problems that will make it difficult to get anything productive done.

2. Eat properly. Treat your brain and your body like fine instruments, they need to be maintained properly for maximum performance. People with hunger pains, low blood sugar, dizziness, and other issues related to poor nutrition are at an immediate functional disadvantage.

3. Exercise regularly. Athletes are incredibly disciplined and focused because they’re able to practice and maintain long-term commitment to activities that aren’t fun. Exercise sucks, it’s a pain, it’s not pleasant, but it’s good for you and if you can bite the bullet and get it done regularly you’ll be able to build good habits that extend to other areas of your life. And of course, exercise increases stamina and energy.

4. Take up a hobby you love that requires repetition and practice to master. These hobbies can include art (drawing, graphic design, painting, pottery), music (piano, guitar, violin), sports (tennis, golf, basketball, hockey), and technical skills (programming, html). Then do it. Everything is most difficult at the very beginning and if you can push yourself over the learning threshold to achieve proficiency at something then you’ve climbed a mountain. From there, you’ll be able to climb many more.

[perfectirishgifts]

Sales Teams Are Experiencing A Burnout Epidemic—Here’s How To Prioritize Your Team’s Tasks

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/sales-teams-are-experiencing-a-burnout-epidemic-heres-how-to-prioritize-your-teams-tasks-2/

Sales Teams Are Experiencing A Burnout Epidemic—Here’s How To Prioritize Your Team’s Tasks

It’s no mystery why turnover is so high in sales. High workloads, long hours and competing priorities create the perfect storm of stress that’s unsustainable for many reps. In a recent study of sales professionals, two-thirds of respondents reported that they were close to experiencing burnout. Fifty-seven percent said their workload is more than their capacity, and 67% reported working more than their contracted hours.

If you lead a sales team, chances are good that at least one of your team members is feeling burned out and overwhelmed. As a leader, the best thing you can do is help your team prioritize their tasks. 

Focusing only on activities that actually move the needle will yield better results while providing some relief to overworked reps. Even if you can’t eliminate all their low-priority tasks, simply knowing what to focus on can help ease their stress.

Here are four ways to help your team prioritize high-impact activities:

If you lead a sales team, chances are good that at least one of your team members is feeling burned … [] out and overwhelmed.

1. Analyze how your reps are currently spending their time.

In a study of 720 sales reps, researchers found that salespeople spend 64% of their time on non-revenue-generating activities. Administrative tasks accounted for 14% of the drain on their time, while chatting with colleagues and using social media accounted for 20%. 

To understand where those hours are being lost, ask your team to track their time for a week. It’s important to clarify that this isn’t to admonish them for wasting time — it’s to understand how to improve the team’s efficiency.

Once you have the results in front of you, you can begin working to improve productivity. If your team is getting bogged down in administrative tasks, look to offload these activities to support staff. If your team is drowning in spreadsheets because they don’t know how to use the CRM, consider more training.

2. Simplify the demo process. 

One of the most time-consuming tasks that can’t be offloaded or eliminated is preparing and demonstrating product demos. Either your salespeople have to coordinate with the development team on a live demonstration, or they must try to put together a compelling story from screenshots of the product.

“Live product demonstrations require your sales team to do an exhausting dance with the back-end team in which everyone is holding their breath,” says Yoav Vilner, CEO of Walnut — a codeless demo platform. “Designing client-specific mockups or adding features for a demo is a huge drain on everyone’s time, and there’s always the possibility that something could go wrong.”

Preparing for these complicated live demos often pulls your sales team’s focus away from other important tasks. In the time it takes them to set up one demo with your R&D team, they could have followed up with a few dozen leads. Use a demo tool instead of the real thing, or encourage your team to create a generic product demonstration that can be used for a variety of potential clients.

3. Use real data to apply the 80/20 rule. 

The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle, tells us that 80% of results come from 20% of activities. The trouble with applying the Pareto principle is that most people assume they know what those 20% activities are — even if the reality is different.

If you ask your sales team to list the tasks that bring in the most sales, they’re likely to cite a handful of clients who closed recently. Then they’ll make assumptions on what works based on how they made those sales. This is called recency bias, and it can distort our perception of reality. 

Once you dig into the data for your entire team, you may be surprised by the results. Three-quarters of your sales may come from client referrals. Or maybe the clients who generate two-thirds of company revenue came from networking events. You may also find that these 20% activities vary from rep to rep. 

The important thing to remember is that the data doesn’t lie. Once you know which activities yield results, you can cut out pointless busywork and prioritize the tasks that actually make a difference.

4. Use predictive lead scoring.

Once a company has a steady stream of inbound leads, it becomes less important to call every single prospect. Instead, your team needs a way to prioritize the right leads.

Lead-scoring software can provide some clarity, but more traditional points-based scoring still involves a lot of guesswork. The litmus test for whether a lead is qualified or not is only as accurate as the points system that you develop. Another issue with traditional lead scoring is that it can become less accurate over time as your customer base evolves.

“Today, most leads that are passed from marketing to sales are of decent quality but are not sales-ready,” writes Falon Fatemi, founder of the AI-as-a-service platform Node.

Investing in more advanced lead-scoring software can help your sales team avoid wasting time on this pointless prospecting. Predictive lead scoring tends to be more accurate because it uses an algorithm to identify the best leads based on qualities they share with existing clients. (The software will also make predictions based on leads who did not convert and change its criteria as your client base changes.)

The sales team is the lifeblood of any business. Unfortunately, too many companies lose their top-performing reps due to work overload and stress. As a leader, it’s your job to help your team prioritize high-value tasks and reduce costly drains on their time. When you can provide this sort of clarity, your team will be able to close more leads without working longer hours.

From Entrepreneurs in Perfectirishgifts

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The Best Social Media Management Tools

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/the-best-social-media-management-tools/

The Best Social Media Management Tools

In the world of social media marketing, there are hundreds of tools and software with features capable of helping you with different aspects of your social media strategy. These tools — also known as social media management tools — can assist with social media creation, collaboration, planning, scheduling , sharing, analysis, and more.

In this blog post, we’ll cover what social media management tools are, how your team can benefit from them, and 12 of the best options available today.

Let’s get started.

What is social media management?

Social media management is the process of handling (managing) your entire social media strategy. This includes planning, publishing, engaging, strategizing, and analyzing your social media content across the social platforms your business uses. It also entails understanding your social media strategy’s level of success so you can improve upon it.

Get certified in social media strategy with a free social media marketing course.

Social Media Management Tools

As mentioned above, there are a plethora of social media management tools available today. Some are meant to help with a wide array of social media management needs. Meanwhile, other tools are meant for specific types of social media management (e.g. tools for agencies) or facets of social media management (e.g. social listening or analytics). No matter your needs, goals, or industry, there’s a social media management tool for you.

Why use social media management tools?

Social media management tools assist with your social media strategy — typically, they have scheduling, publishing, collaborating, listening, and/or reporting capabilities. They also often have the ability to streamline interactions with followers cross-platform, offer access to all of your social accounts via a single dashboard, and analyze your success. They may also integrate with other tools your team uses such as your Marketing Software or CRM.

12 Best Social Media Management tools

HubSpot Social Media Management Software

Sprout Social

Falcon.io

Hootsuite

TweetDeck

Buffer

Everypost

Agorapulse

Content Cal

Sendible

Nuvi

HeyOrca!

The 12 tools below are separated into categories based on what they’re meant for — as you read their descriptions, keep in mind that some of them overlap categories. For example, many of the general tools are great for small businesses — and many of the free tools are too.

Best General Social Media Management Tools

The following tools are ideal for all social media management teams — you can customize them to help you meet your specific needs and goals.

1.HubSpot Social Media Management Software

HubSpot monitors all interactions, conversations, and audiences on your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles. It allows you to effectively target specific audiences with personalized messaging using context from the contact database in your CRM as well as data from your Marketing Software. Meaning, with HubSpot, you can manage your entire social media strategy — from planning to sharing to analysis — from a single and central location.

Here are some other notable features you’ll get from using HubSpot’s Social Media Management software:

Turn your content offers into social posts.

Schedule social posts weeks in advance on all of your profiles.

Keep up with current trends by monitoring keywords that are important to your brand and audience.

Reply to anyone who commented on your profile or post through HubSpot.

2. Sprout Social

SproutSocial is a social media management tool that assists with social listening, publishing, engagement, and analysis. The tool streamlines the processes of sharing relevant content on social platforms as well as creating and sending personalized messages to prospects, customers, and followers — all of this support frees up valuable time for social media managers.

Customer service features exist to help you offer assistance to customers on social when they want and need it. With Sprout Social you’ll be able to develop a better understanding of who your audience members are and what they want from you on social as well as how you can improve upon your current strategy.

(Note: Sprout Social’s customer care functionality integrates with HubSpot.)

3. Falcon.io

Falcon.io is a social media marketing platform with a social media management solution that saves you time by helping you maximize reach, impact, and engagement among your audience.

The software has social listening capabilities to help you identify target audience members and prospects, understand what people are saying about your brand on social media, identify opportunities for engagement, and efficiently respond to any customer comments or concerns.

There’s also a content calendar that makes cross-platform social media planning easy and quick. Plus, you can view and respond to all customer messages and questions on one dashboard so no queries go unresolved.

(Note: Falcon.io integrates with HubSpot so you can easily sync customer data for campaigns, create custom audiences, and offer effective customer service via social media.)

Best Free Social Media Management Tools

Here are some effective free social media management tools. It’s not uncommon for tools to have a free version as well as paid plans that you can upgrade to as you grow and require greater functionality from your tool.

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media marketing and management tool. It has a dashboard through which you can manage all aspects of your social media strategy. Although there are paid plans with more capabilities, Hootsuite offers a free plan that works well if you’re a small business. With the free plan, you can schedule up to 30 social posts in advance.

You’ll also be able to manage three different social profiles from your dashboard with Hootsuite’s free plan. Lastly, this option works for small businesses because only one person has access to the account.

2. TweetDeck

Although TweetDeck is just for Twitter users, it’s a powerful social media management tool if you’re on the platform. This free tool allows you to simultaneously manage multiple Twitter profiles via a central dashboard.

Schedule Tweets ahead, monitor your competition, set alerts for your most important Tweets and Twitter activity, and manage your lists with ease. You can also customize your timelines as well as view and respond to conversations and Tweets in real-time via your dashboard.

3. Buffer

Buffer has a free plan that you can move to once you’ve completed your free trial with the software. Similar to Hootsuite, Buffer’s free plan works well if you have a small business with a small social media presence. This plan offers the ability to manage three social channels. You can schedule 10 posts in advance and only one user has access to your Buffer dashboard.

Best Social Media Management Tools for Small Businesses

Here are some social media management tools meant for small businesses.

1. Everypost

Everypost is a social media tool that allows you to manage multiple profiles and accounts at once. Customize your social posts, schedule them in advance, and share them all via a single platform.

Tailor social content for different platforms and then cross-post it from Everypost to streamline the process of sharing content across profiles. Use the tool to collaborate internally and manage roles — this way, you can delegate content to certain people on your team as needed.

2. Agorapulse

Agorapulse is a social media management platform that helps you improve social engagement and relationship building across your social profiles.

With this tool, you can schedule your content, interact with followers, and get reports to determine the success of your strategy and ROI of your engagement. There’s also a single inbox through which you can view, share, and respond to customer comments and questions.

Real-time collaboration makes it easy to send different team members customer inquiries and work on content together. Take advantage of the flexible scheduling features to either schedule individual posts or bulk schedule posts.

Additionally, the Agorapulse CRM that this tool automatically comes with tracks followers and their interactions with your brand so you can learn from those engagements now and reference them in the future.

3. Content Cal

Content Cal is a social media management tool meant for planning and publishing content. There’s an easy-to-use visual calendar you can pair with approval flows to ensure specific posts are shared at the right time.

Pull in content from other tools — such as Facebook, Slack, Google Drive, or Dropbox — to share on social. You can also collaborate with team members and ask for their feedback easily using the tool’s comments feature.

Best Social Media Management Tools for Agencies

The following social media management tools are ideal for agencies.

1. Sendible

Sendible is a social media management platform specifically designed for agencies. The tool has an interactive and customizable content calendar so you and your team can view and collaborate on all social posts that are created, planned, and shared.

Use the content suggestion feature to get new ideas for content that’s likely to resonate with your client’s audience. There’s also a single-view inbox so you can look at all client messages at once — plus a priority filter option which allows you to filter and prioritize chats.

Lastly, set up user hierarchies and workflows to set permissions for certain team members — this way, certain people have to sign off on client content prior to it going live.

2. Nuvi

Nuvi is a social media management, marketing, and customer experience (CX) platform. It includes management tools for social listening, planning, publishing, engaging, reporting, and more — all with an end goal of creating an excellent experience for your customers and clients. Add permissions to your workflows so team members at your agency can collaborate and ensure all content is reviewed by the necessary people prior to it going live.

Create, plan, and schedule your content so it goes live when it needs to. Then, measure performance and keep an eye on competitors to understand what social media strategies are working best for them.

The engagement feature will make it easy to prioritize social media engagement and allow you to organize, prioritize, and share those engagements internally with the correct team members. Plus social listening features will ensure you don’t miss a beat across any of your accounts.

3. HeyOrca!

HeyOrca! is a social media management tool for agencies. The platform allows you to manage all of your social content and clients in a central location so you can offer a seamless and memorable customer experience.

The content calendar allows you to share your plans for scheduled content easily with team members and/or clients. Create multiple content calendars — each with unique team members and social profiles — for each of your clients to keep things organized.

Create mock ups of all content you plan to share on social so your team members and clients can give the go-ahead prior to it being shared. You can also easily share your content with clients via HeyOrca! to get their feedback (and you can choose which versions of that content you want your clients to be able to see or not see).

Lastly, offer clients easy-to-understand reports to show them how successful the content you’re creating for their social media profiles is.

The management tools we reviewed above have the power to help you reach (and exceed) your social media goals. Determine what you need out of a tool to help you identify which option has the capabilities and features needed to help you achieve those goals.

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A Letter to My Students, (or How to Raise Hell Without Our Help)

Hey, guys.  

I want to talk to you today about schools, protests, and your rights-- and powers-- as students.

I’m writing this here, and not saying this directly to you in class because I’m over a barrel on this one: I teach in a public school in a conservative area, and I have no union behind me to support my advocacy on your behalf.  That means I have limited legal protections if I choose to protest openly at school.

I find this separation of politics and education ridiculous and harmful, frankly: why treat politics as though it’s something to avoid? Every aspect of our lives is part of the fabric of power and policy, and a failure to understand or discuss that makes us less effective as citizens and involved members of our communities.  If I act like talking politics is toxic, if I model that behavior for my students, guess what happens? We wind up with generations of citizens who don’t know how to discuss ideas and policy constructively, and I’m rather convinced that’s part of the reason we’re in this mess in the first place.

I should probably state that I’m a high school social studies teacher, and this-- the notion of public schools as being an institution which has inherently political goals-- is where I live. It’s why I teach at a public school and not a private one. That was-- and is-- a political choice for me: I sincerely believe that we as a community have an obligation to lift each other up through education, and that every kid deserves a challenging, relevant, and creative education, no matter what.

There is nothing I love more than teaching, and no one I love more than my students.  I know that sounds terribly cliche, but it’s the truth: y’all make me so proud I can’t breathe sometimes.

And I’m so proud of what I see students doing right now in this country, and I want to help however I can.  I have called my state and local representatives daily since the shooting at Stoneman Douglas.  I’ll continue to do so. I have set up a meeting with my school administrators, and several colleagues and I are planning to go to the next school board meeting to make comments. I’ve donated money. I plan on going to the #MarchforOurLives near me on March 24th.  And I vote.

Oh, man, do I vote.

But I’m limited in what I can do in the classroom.  

I cannot tell you how much I want to walk out with my students on March 14th and April 20th. But if I do, I’m fairly sure I won’t be allowed to walk back in-- and I have to think about this long-term. I have to weigh what I can do in the classroom, and what I can do outside of it.  And I know I’m effective in the classroom, and what I do there matters.  I need to be there, for a lot of reasons.  

So here’s what I can do.  I’m going to try to help you figure out how to save yourselves, because I don’t know that I can do it for you.  So. Here we go:

I. Organize Yourselves Outside of School

The temptation is going to be to try to do your political organizing inside the school building, before or after hours, because that’s where you are. But if your school is anything like mine, that means you’ll likely have to register as a club or organization to get access to facilities, and that means you’ll need a faculty sponsor.  And that means we’re responsible for making sure you don’t violate school or district policy.

We all need plausible deniability on this, guys.  If I know kids are organizing something that is against school policy, I have a professional obligation to report it.  If you’re planning a walkout or something that might be frowned upon by your administration, do your organizing at someone’s house, at the public library, at the coffee shop, at the park down the street.  

II. Don’t Just Organize Your Friends

If you want your actions to really take root, you need a coalition of voices.  If you and your friends are talking about taking action, that’s fantastic. But what about everyone else at your school? Who else is interested?  High school is really, really inherently clique-y: make a concerted effort and reach out.  If you’ve only got one segment of the student population in your group, why is that?  Are you really hearing all voices if everyone in your organization looks like you?

III. Make Plans and Set Goals

If you want change you’re going to need to have priorities.  What is it you want?  Do you want school-wide change?  District-wide? State? National? What problem are you trying to solve?  Be concrete.  Do you want more resource officers in your school? Do you want the doors replaced so that they open inwards and can be braced against intruders? Do you want universal background checks for guns and ammo?

Get a whiteboard or some paper and start listing it out.  Don’t just talk and argue back and forth: write it down-- all of it-- and then prioritize.  What is your school-wide goal?  Your district goal? State? National?  

Once you figure out what your Big Goal might be, work backwards: what steps do you need to take to get there? It’s not going to happen overnight, so what are the first things you need to do? Take it one bite of the apple at a time.

IV. Get Wonky and Research

Once you’ve figured out what you want, or at least what your targeted concerns are-- break out those research skills we’ve been trying to teach you for ages.  For real: I know you probably hate hearing this, but you’re going to need to hit the library and pull some sources on this, especially if your goals are rooted in policy. If you want to change legislation, you’re going to need to know:

*What the existing laws say on the subject at a local/state/national level

*How your representatives have voted on those issues in the past

*What policy work might be in the pipeline on the subject

This means you’re going to have to familiarize yourself with the terms of debate.  Like, when I call my senators about gun control, if I want to know what they’ve said on the subject, I search their campaign websites because their staffers keep those babies updated with every speech and press release.  But I don’t search for “Gun control;” with my senators, that’s a non-starter.  Instead, I search for “Second Amendment,” because they’ll talk about that, but not gun violence.  

So you’re going to need someone (or many someones) on research.  Make SURE your sourcework is solid; be prepared to be questioned-- over and over and over-- about the validity of your argument.  Come armed with a bibliography and correct quotes.  Bring the receipts. 

V. Divide and Conquer

You don’t all have the same skill sets. In your first couple of meetings, I’d strongly suggest that you have everyone write down what skills they have, what they’re good at, and what they think they MIGHT be good at.  Do you have people who don’t mind speaking in public? It’s good to know who they are.  Do you have organizers among you? Find them. Who’s the best at research? Technology? Who can write? Do you have artists?  

Artists might be good for posters, or t-shirt design, or flyers.  Your writers might help with speeches, if that’s where you want to go, or press releases, or social media management.  Find something for everyone to do; this needs to be collaborative and organized.  Figure out who is responsible for what, and hold each other accountable.

VI. Know the Consequences

I do not, in the slightest, want to scare you away from taking action in whatever way you see fit, provided that you harm no one.  (That last bit is so, so important. Please. Folks out there are going to want to discredit you however they can. Don’t hurt yourselves or others, guys.)  But I do want you to go into this clear-eyed and purposeful. 

So if you decide to walk out or protest at school, make sure you know the disciplinary code inside and out.  Look on your school and district websites: does protest or a walk out fall under student disruptions to learning?  Or is there particular material in your district’s code of conduct that protects your right to protest?  This is going to vary wildly depending on your local school district.  

I’ve been thinking about this aspect of student protest a lot lately; the walk out on March 14th is scheduled for 10:00, which is right at class change before second period for us. I think I’m going to just forget to take attendance that day, which might help in preventing a situation where students are penalized for participation. I certainly won’t fill out any administrative referrals on this matter-- but I can’t speak for other teachers.  So.  You’d best know what consequences you’re looking at: are we talking about detention?  ISS? OSS? Expulsion?  Could you be removed from leadership positions within your other activities as a result? For those of you who are seniors, what does this do to your potential college or career plans? 

Again, this isn’t to scare you away from acting. If anything, it’s to make sure that you know exactly what power structures you’re up against before you start.  If you know what the punishments are, you can prepare for them effectively.

If you’re not sure what the consequences are, I really think you need to do the next part:

VII. Get Your Administration and/or School Board on Record

Schedule a meeting with them BEFORE you take any action that directly involves your school or district. Go as a group, and take an adult ally with you (I’ll talk more about this in a moment). Have a list of topics and questions you want to address.  Take notes during the meeting. Push for a definitive answer on questions like: what are the consequences to a walk out? Can we protest on school property? You need an answer to that one, by the way: it’s not a good look for schools to call the police to remove you for trespassing, but you need an answer so you can plan for any possible responses.

Think of it this way: by meeting with your administration or school board before you protest, you’re showing that you’re willing to pursue all possible options for dialogue and change.  That’s important.

VIII. Find Adult Allies and Supporters

A lot of you have got these are home: your parents. If you can-- and I won’t say that all you will have that support at home, because I’ve been a teenager and also I’ve been teaching them long enough to know that it’s not that easy-- ask them for their support.  Their instinct is going to want to be to protect you, to take hold of the megaphone and do the political version of the Driving Mom Arm, but as far as you’re able to do so, I’d suggest that you ask them to stand behind you, not in front.  Other adults are likely to take you more seriously if you’ve got adults with you-- which is a separately unfair issue-- but you need to make it absolutely clear that YOU are the ones speaking.

Sit down with your group and try to figure out: who are the adults in your orbit who you can ask for help?  What resources do you have, collectively?  Is there someone at your place of worship who’s good at organizing? Is your sister in law school? Who can drive you where you need to go? 

And I know a lot of you are going to say: your teachers might be the ones you look to for help and support in this.  And some of us may be able to help you directly with school action-- but some of us may not be able to.  Any action I take in support of my students in a walk out is likely going to have to be in my guise as a private citizen. So be aware of our limitations as employees of our respective school districts.

IX. Be Focused and On-Message in Every Action

We teach you this when you write essays: make sure your thesis is clear, and provide supporting evidence. 

If you choose to protest or take a particular mass action, have a unified message that you can ALL explain.  One of the things that makes our modern politicians so effective-- and so damn frustrating-- is how good they are at messaging.  You need ONE message, ONE thesis for each action, and you need to practice bringing every conversation you have, every question you field, back to that ONE point.  So if you’re protesting for tighter gun controls outside your state capitol and someone says, “But gun control laws don’t work; Illinois has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and has incredible rates of gun violence,” you need to know your shit and know how to pivot.  Acceptable answers might include:

* “But Indiana, which is right next door to Illinois, has very weak gun laws, and a huge percentage of the guns used in crimes in Chicago come through Indiana.  Which is why it is so important that we address gun control here, in _________, at our local level.”

* “That argument, at its heart, argues against the very idea of rule of law: because people break laws, no laws should exist.  I think that’s a terribly pessimistic way to approach a problem, which is why I’m here, advocating for _____________.”

Always end with what you want.  Practice in your groups.  Role play.  Get an adult to pepper you with questions. If you’ve got people in your group with public speaking experience-- debate team, mock trial, Model UN, theater, whatever-- have them work with the group on good public speaking skills.  It’s okay if you’re nervous, and it’s okay if you get tongue-tied. But it’s easier to go public if you’ve practiced what you’re going to say and how you want to say it.

X. Go Public

Don’t just retweet or reblog. Y’all are SO GOOD with social media, but the people you need to reach aren’t necessarily the ones on IG or Twitter or Tumblr.  (I am not saying don’t use those platforms; use them. Use them a LOT and use them wisely.)  But you need to use traditional media, too.  Media cycles are usually short, because the conversation stalls out on a given topic.  Don’t let it.

Ask for help, or look up how to write a good press release.  If you’re planning a protest or school walk out, you need to let the people with cameras and printing presses know, because the people whose minds you need to change?  The people who are putting up roadblocks to progress?  Those are the media forms they use.  Get on local news.  Write to your local or regional paper. I’d suggest contacting the reporter at the education desk-- sometimes there’s a dedicated blog or column that deals with that subject, and they’re more likely to be interested in what students have to say. Hell, start with your school paper if you can’t go bigger. If you’ve got a video production class in your school, get the students who know how to do video editing and who have the resources to help you make your own videos and content for media release.  Got techie types in your group? You might want a website.  Get a mission statement up there, put up your press releases, and use it as a rallying point.

XI. Be Careful About Money

Oh my god, PLEASE be careful with this. Decide how you’re going to handle money or fundraising-- if that’s what you want to do-- before you do it. If you’re going to collect funds for a given cause, you’re going to need to figure out how to do that.  You’re probably going to need an adult on this-- preferably one with an accounting background. Depending on how big you go, you’re going to need to do some legal stuff to set up non-profits and such, and I am not at all the person to advise you on that. But I will say: you want to be able to account for every dollar you take in, and every dollar you spent.  Spreadsheets are going to be your friend.

And be thoughtful about the motives of folks who want to donate money to you: what is it they want? Is there anything hanging on to the money that is being offered? Just-- be careful with this.

XII. Respect Each Other

You’re not always going to agree with everyone in your group. You’re going to have different priorities, sometimes. You may ultimately find that you’re not working towards the same goal. You may find that you don’t have the energy, or the time, or the resources to keep going.  But remember: you started this because you cared about each other, your school, your community, and maybe also your country.  No matter what else happens, remember that. Those are positions worthy of respect. Allow for graceful exits, evolution, and debate. Lift each other up, because this is going to be hard.

And if anyone else has suggestions, feel free to add them in. I want y’all to be armed to the teeth with the best information we can give you.