#restorative practice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

minweber · 3 days

Text

Musings on Custodes: Talons Apart

Is there a rift between the Adeptus Custodes and the Sisters of Silence? There must be, right?

If Custodes have not enough lore, then the Anathema Psykana have next to none. They are played up as the almost-as-important-as-Custodes-no-seriously-trust-us in that charming GW way, but most of their lore so far fits on a single codex page.

The second talon of the Emperor, the Pale Scourge, the Null Maidens - they are depicted as ferocious and as loyal to the Emperor as Custodians themselves, but where the latter have their whole "literally built around the Emperor's identity" thing, the Sisterhood somehow arrives to the same level of devotion by more conventional means. And here I would have loved to present my examples of how their brand of fixation on the Emperor differs from that of Custodians or the other all-female warrior sorority... IF I HAD ANY! I'd say their relationship with the Emperor and their duty deserves its own separate post, but that would be straight up just me coming up with headcanons for them (which I might still do). When it comes to any sort of meaningful worldbuilding that is not just rank structure and training regime - yeah, the girls got no lore, or, rather, no theme.

By themselves, that is. As a part of the Talons of the Emperor however...

Well, no, no real thematic depth materializes for them once they are placed next to the golden demigods, but the two factions do make an effective pair - dread and awe, silver and gold, the natural and the artificial evolutions of humanity, psychic and physical armour of the Emperor. Some sources say that the Sisters first appeared at the Emperor's side during the Great Crusade, but others insist that when he made his Custodians ages before, he made them specifically resistant to the powers of the null... So there is chance that the two factions were straight up designed to compliment each other and work together, which they did well... until they didn't.

Because in the current state of the lore, it seems that they haven't actually been working together between the Horus Heresy and the Era Indomitus.

The Anathema Psykana came out of the other end of the Horus Heresy in no better state than Custodes. Once again - all the numbers are very vague and we don't even really know how many of them there were to begin with and yada-yada - what's important is that the end of the Siege of Terra left the Sisterhood in shambles. But unlike Custodes - and here we come to one of the few pieces of interesting worldbuilding that sisters do have - they never had the opportunity to recover. By the time Guilliman rolls up to Terra in "present day" 40k, the Sisterhood is still a shadow of its former self, its members extremely few and scattered.

So what happened? Well, the codex states the following: "Without the Emperor to support them, and with Custodians looking inward after their failure to protect the Master of Mankind, the natural aversion many felt towards Blanks led the Sister's political enemies to drive them out of positions of influence." And isn't that a whole story in disguise? After the Heresy, the Sisters came into conflict with other imperial institutions - a conflict they did not win - and Custodes did nothing to intervene. Surely such a breaking of bonds of fellowship has consequences?

Custodes were obviously deeply affected by the "death" of the Emperor. They blamed themselves for it - hence the black cloaks and ten thousand years of moping around. They blamed the primarchs - Guilliman rises as the last loyal son of the Emperor and receives direct divine guidance from his father, and they still run drills on how to kill him. They blamed the Astartes - the Phalanx, hanging above Terra as its most devout defender, is infested by the Custodians ready to bring it down at the first sign of treachery. Did they blame the Sisters too, then? Did they knowingly abandon their counterparts to the judgment of degrading Imperium, seeing it as a fitting punishment for a failure of duty? Have they preserved this sentiment across the millenia? Or did they come to realize their betrayal for what it was? If so, why have they never sought the remaining Sisters out? Or have they? When they encountered the Brides of the Emperor thousands of years later - did it stir something in them? Was Captain-General reaching out to them not solely about the solution to the Van Dire crisis?

It is specifically pointed out that high Custodes casualties in the battle against Khorne's demons at the Lion's Gate were caused by the absence of the Sisters of Silence at their side. Did they re-embrace the ancient partnership out of purely practical necessity, or was it a true rekindling of bonds? Could it even be such for those custodians who began their vigil after the demigods and the blanks have parted ways?

And what is the Sisters' side of the story? The lore that we have is pretty clear on the fact that, despite being abandoned by their allies and shunned by the Imperium's caracss, they never shirked their duties. Left without any official support and recognition of their status, persecuted and sometimes downright hunted - Space Marine legions have rebelled for less. And yet, as reduced as the Sisterhood became, for ten millenia Black Ships somehow still prowled the stars, and the sacrifices to the Carrion God were still being delivered. Did they feel betrayed? By the Imperium they served and partners they fought alongside? And what carried them through? Was it all solemn duty and grim determination? For how many generations could those last you? And what can motivate an organization for ten thousand years instead?

How strong is their institutional memory? Are the annals of their order's history lost to the Sisters of the Era Indomitus, like it is with so many other - much better supported - imperial institutions? Do they know about the rift between their forebears and the Ten Thousand? Do they carry resentment towards the Custodians? Do they know why?

And now that the Talons bite together again - do they do so earnestly, the synergy woven into the very structure of both orders restored? Or is there an unspoken divide between them still? Was there any sort of official reconciliation? Do either feel a need for one? And after ten thousand years of potential bitterness and resentment - is it even possible?

#btw - one of the tts podcast episodes 'shows' sisters working together with custodians #even though Guilliman has not yet returned and no alternative restoration event for them seemed to have occurred #in practice this is probably just a mistake on the tts team's part #much like the 'mom Everest' thing #but I choose to believe that this is actually the feature of the AU #and Kitten has solved the whole thing with some healthy communication as his first act as the captain-general #once again proving himself the best #musings on custodes #adeptus custodes #sisters of silence #warhammer 40000

12 notes · View notes

burnsopale · 9 months

Text

Childermass & Segundus - it sounds very well

So one day the York Society of Magicians receives a new member, and Childermass is like okay, no big deal, those guys never do anything interesting anyway.

But then, right, then the new guy and one of the old guys writes to Mr Norrell and asks if they may have the pleasure of waiting on him sometime, and Mr Norrell is like "No" but Childermass is like "Actually yes" because he's intrigued, or because the cards have told him something is about to happen, or because Mr Norrell is years overdue to go to London and revive English magic and Childermass figures this might jostle him into doing something. We don't know what exactly happened, but it seems likely that it was Childermass who made the visit possible, because the idea of Mr Norrell ever wanting visitors is impossible to accept.

So these two theoretical magicians come to Hurtfew Abbey, and Childermass is in the library waiting for the visit to end and Norrell to show up and tell him what the men wanted, but instead, when the door opens, there they are, the visitors, having been invited to see the library and what the fuck did they say to old Gilbert to make that happen?? Not that it matters, they're not gonna remember anything by the time they get home, the enchantments will see to that.

Mr Norrell introduces Childermass, and the new guy gives him a look like Childermass facinates him, but Childermass is used to that. He figures he'll just hang out until they leave.

Except the new guy, who is a dark, timid-looking little man named John Segundus, keeps looking around like he can sense the spells lighting the room, keeps looking out the window like he's not happy with the orientation of the walls, keeps blinking like the magic is making him a little dizzy. John Segundus is clearly magic sensitive. No one in the York Society is magic sensitive, Childermass knows that for a fact. This is suddenly intriguing.

So Childermass ends up keeping half an eye on Mr Segundus as he explores, until Mr Segundus notices, sensitive as he is, and their eyes meet. Childermass reads longing, need, delight and confusion on the man's face, but Childermass is without pity; by the time Mr Segundus gets home, he won't remember what he's seen. It doesn't matter; no one in the York Society ever did anything interesting anyway.

But then later, the letter from Dr Foxcastle comes, and Mr Norrell is Upset and Offended, and Childermass realises that the Revival is about to start at last. And because Mr Norrell is fearful and Childermass is pitiless, they send a lawyer with their demands.

Mr Robinson the lawyer returns to Hurtfew a little perplexed. Oh yes, they all signed, just like you said they would, every one of them ... except ... except one. Childermass is a little surprised to discover that the timid little man had a spine after all. Mr Norrell wants Mr Robinson to go back and demand the last signature, but Childermass says "Wait". And at this point, we do not know what he is thinking. Perhaps he simply thinks that they will need someone to write to London once the miracle has been done, and Mr Segundus is more likely to be amiable if he has not just been deprived of his calling. But then, Mr Honeyfoot, the other visitor, would definitely be happy to write, even though he WILL be deprived of that same calling. Perhaps, Childermass thinks that this is a strangely fateful twist, that the one member of the York Society who has an actual talent for magic is the one person who refused to give it up. Maybe he remembers a time when he himself was full of longing for magic, when he could sense it all around him but was unable to grasp it, when he too would get dizzy in Mr Norrell's library. He may not feel pity, but he can be intrigued. He convinces Mr Norrell to let Mr Segundus be.

Childermass laughs inside when John Segundus doesn't recognise him outside the cathedral, but then startles when the man almost recalls after all. He is not supposed to be able to break the enchantment. Thankfully, the moment passes, and after the magic is done, Mr Segundus turns out to be exactly as easy to manipulate as Childermass thought he would be. The polite ones are easy, especially when they are full of need and longing, and keep looking at Childermass like he has the answers they are searching for. Maybe Childermass uses a little bit of magic to persuade the man to write to London, or maybe he just smiles, and waits, and lets John Segundus come to him of his own accord.

Childermass returns to Hurtfew Abbey and says to his master "Go to London. Go now." and because Childermass knows about these things, they go.

And nine years pass in London.

But occasionally during those nine years, Childermass turns his attention to York, to see what timid little John Segundus is up to. Mostly it's not much.

Until Jonathan Strange happens. That he happens at all is rather extraordinary, but how interesting that he should come to seek Mr Norrell on the advice of John Segundus? For sure there are many people with an affinity for magic in England, but how many of them are magicians? Too few, thinks Childermass. How likely is it that two of them should meet at random? He wonders if this is another fated twist.

So he continues to keep half an eye on York, just in case Mr Segundus should discover how to actually grasp the magic that surrounds him. But when Strange returns from the war in Spain, his conversation tells Childermass that even with the learning, even with actual spells to hand, their timid little man in York cannot make the magic work.

John Segundus begins taking on pupils. Childermass keeps it from Mr Norrell. Childermass has been the instrument of many a theoretical magician's destruction, Childermass reads the hearts of men and feels no pity for them, and yet Childermass keeps John Segundus hidden from Mr Norrell. Maybe, just maybe, John Childermass is beginning to feel a little bit of pity after all. He was once the one longing to master the powers that often overpowered him. He too loves magic so much, enough to endure servitude and secrecy to be near it.

But then John Segundus wants to start a school. Well, if he is going to be that silly, then Childermass cannot help him. Mr Norrell finds out, Mr Norrell panics, and he dispatches Childermass to York to put a stop to this evil plan. Business as usual in other words.

Childermass sits quite comfortably on the steps of Starecross when John Segundus comes home. Childermass delivers his message.

"You know me, Sir," he says, completely forgetting that while he has always had half an eye on John Segundus, John Segundus has not seen Childermass for nine years. Maybe, just maybe, Childermass is a little embarrassed at his mistake. But the errand is completed, and Mr Segundus is easy to manipulate, because he is so very gentle and polite.

Childermass may or may not have noticed that he has been manipulated in turn, because he, who has no pity for any man, lets Mr Segundus know that he regrets that the school cannot be, and he is willing to do what he can to keep Mr Segundus' dream from failing entirely. Although of course, he knows that a regular school is not at all the same as a school of magic.

Childermass knows what it's like to long, but he has found, if not the answers to his questions, then at least the tools by which to hunt them down. He can do the magic.

Then Mr Strange and Mr Norrell quarrel.

And then Lady Pole tries to shoot Mr Norrel. The lady walks with one foot in Faerie and one in London, and for a while, so does Childermass. Something is not right with the lady, but Mr Norrell won't tell him what magic he employed to bring her back from the dead. She'll be sent away somewhere where Childermass will have no chance to discover the truth. Unless of course he decides where she goes. Perhaps for instance to one whom Childermass knows will feel the Faerie winds blowing about the lady, someone who will be able to carry on the search for the truth, whether he knows that he's doing Childermass' work or not. Mr Segundus is easy to manipulate.

Childermass recommends to Sir Walter that he send his wife to Starecross in Yorkshire. How fortuitous that the master of that hall has just decided to open a madhouse there. Surely the visions that gave him the idea were entirely coincidental.

Mr Norrell and Childermass quarrel.

Jonathan Strange Returns magic to England. The Raven King returns to England and rewrites his book.

Mr Norrell and Mr Strange disappear into Faerie.

Suddenly, Childermass is the most experienced magician in England. No one has read as much, has practiced as much, or knows the spells he knows.

But he thinks that there is one man who will not be far behind him in achieving similar results. And maybe Childermass wonders sometimes if it was not all meant to be this way, that it was fate, that he himself was meant to come out on the other side as a student of the two great modern magicians of the age, and that he was meant to bring with him, sheltered under his wing, a dark, timid little man with an extraordinary sensitivity to magic. The books may be gone, but through his instruments, the Raven King has made sure that the new generation of magicians are both capable of and eager to read the magic written on the sky. It will take sensitive men, full of longing, and isn't it fortuitous then, that all those years ago, in the library at Hurtfew Abbey, Childermass recognised another like himself in John Segundus, and decided to keep half an eye on him.

#Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell #John Childermass #John Segundus #My little theory #This is based on the idea that the prophecy is actually the Raven King's plan to return magic to England #In which case Childermass must be the one Uskglass chose to spearhead the Restoration after Strange and Norrell affected the Return #We so often talk about how Segundus sees Childermass #But I am facinated by the other side of JohnSquared #Because it is interesting that Segundus was allowed to not sign the agreement when Childermass MUST HAVE KNOWN that he was the only man #in the York Society who might actually do practical magic someday #(Probably it's not as black and white as that but let's say so for our purposes here)#It certainly wasn't Norrell who agreed to let Segundus go - it was definitely Childermass' decision #And in the chapter called Starecross Childermass says “I turned a blind eye” - not “we” or “Mr Norrell” - but “I”; he's been watching #It seems to me that he is been protecting Mr Segundus from Mr Norrell for years - in little ways here and there #Mostly just by making sure Segundus didn't come to Norrell's attention #And then he expresses his regret that the school cannot be!#That's at least a halfpennyworth of pity Sir! You're not supposed to have that for adult or child!#I guess he has pity for baby birds #But they do have that thing in common (along with Vinculus) that they have an affinity for magic #But Childermass has access to the library at Hurtfew while Segundus and Vinculus only get scraps #And Childermass is allowed to do magic while the other two have to wait for the Return before they can control it #And I figure that maybe he can find in himself a little bit of pity for someone in that familiar situation #Not to mention that - being mostly a good man - Childermass is not immune - I think - to Segundus' kind and gentle nature #JohnSquared #Btw I haven't completed my current reread so apologies if I've forgotten something or gotten something wrong #You see how the details disappear towards the end :P #I also owe some of this to the Tor.com reread of JSAMN which is worth checking out for some great observations!

29 notes · View notes

yosh-foshfish · 6 months

Text

the art arted pretty well today

#genshin impact #kaveh #drawing practice #i reverted to the default firealpaca pencil and now peace has been restored

12 notes · View notes

answrs · 11 months

Text

IT'S FINISHED

and since I finally found the drill now I can say THE B.UNNY IS ALSO FINISHED!

(I'm super, super happy with how he turned out as my very first actual taxidermy! done during a flare-up in the middle of a crowded convention no less!)

#taxidermy #vulture culture #vultureculture #taxidermy restoration #(for the deer)#dead animal #oddities #I'll do a before and after of the fawn and then you won't have to hear about it constantly anymore lmao #yeah I can see the bun is super scruffy and his eyes got a bit wonky when the clay dried over lunch #but those are things I can improve for the next time #I'm definitely not feeling anywhere NEAR ready to do the fox cub #but I have squirrels that are prepped and just need tanning to work on #plus like. mice and other feeder animals but ngl I think this is the smallest I'm gonna be able to work on until I have more practice #my back is screaming just from getting these wood pieces finished up so like. yeah.#collection

24 notes · View notes

red-eft · 6 months

Text

*stumbles out of my room covered in blood and on the verge of death* hwgh. i had an interview

#txt #met with people from an engineering firm.. they're looking for little environmental scientists to help their senior environmental scientist #i'd be doing stream restoration if i got the internship. job? they're not sure how they'd want to start me #i think it went well?? they were smiling and stuff. but they also told me they still have to interview other candidates and stuff #which makes me feel like i won't get it. bc whenever the interviewer mentioned that i never got the position #at least it was good practice?? uffffffgh

9 notes · View notes

chase-prairie · 1 year

Text

discourse is the mind-killer, she tells herself, trying to resist the urge to weigh in on a shitty post about restoration

#im glad you have good experience with older members of the restoration community #that doesnt erase their hostility their racism their homophobia and general assholery #theres a reason restoration is only older rich white folks #it doesn't necessarily mean theyre heroes #i stg if i have to hear one more old white dude tell me that i'm being selfish for wanting an income #'well back in my day we packed our own lunches!!! real bootstrap work!!! these kids these days etc etc' <- literal actually said to me #they praise eo wilson then wonder why black students leave the conference #i mean...#its not an accident they call native gardening social justice #if you can call your white safe rich practice 'social justice' then you never have to encounter black brown or gay folks #thats by design #ask anyone who worked on the bell bowl project about 'bee lives matter' in a city full of cop violence #boomers as a category may not be helpful but lets not pretend its just ageism that divides restoration

35 notes · View notes

reasonsforhope · 1 year

Link

“Before the pandemic, armed officers known as “school resource officers,” or SROs, from the Des Moines Police Department would patrol the school hallways. But during the summer of racial justice marches and protests after the police murder of George Floyd, students, parents and community members spoke out against SROs at Des Moines School Board meetings. In the end, the police contract with the schools was terminated [by the police]. After scrambling to make remote schooling work during the long, mournful slog of the pandemic, Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) were left to find a way to reimagine school safety — and fast.

The district moved quickly to implement restorative practices, an increasingly popular educational model for school safety, violence prevention and mediation.

The 2021 – 2022 school year was a huge opportunity with the highest of stakes: DMPS could become one of the only districts in the nation to succeed in concurrently removing SROs and implementing restorative practices, or the district and its students could be thrown into crisis.

Restorative practices (RP) derive from “restorative justice,” which is used to bring together, in mutual agreement for mediation, the victim and the perpetrator of an offense. The goal is typically restitution for harm caused while helping the perpetrator restore community ties.

...Relationship building is a two-way street. These micro-interactions of “check and connect” also change how teachers see students. They undermine “overgeneralization [and] negative stereotyping” and create space for understanding, Gregory says. When a student has “attendance problems,” for example, the right mindset involves “thinking about and understanding what’s going on for the family of that student that morning in getting out the door” — which is a “very different approach,” Gregory adds, from “sending a police officer to your house the fourth time you’re truant...”

Vanessa [a student] says she sometimes asks to go to the “Think Tank,” a designated area created by RP staff for kids who violate school rules. While in the Think Tank as a punishment, students cannot talk, have outside meals or snacks and must turn off electronics. But the Think Tank can also be a respite; for Vanessa, it’s a safe space to deal with the anxiety that drove her to wander the halls...

The subtle, important difference between the Think Tank and traditional in-school suspension, according to Jake Troja, DMPS director of school climate, is that students are there by choice. In the past, the message from the school district to students was, “You have a suspension, that’s it,” he says. Now, RP staff have a new message: “We’d love [for students] to be in class, but we can’t do that, so here’s another option.”

“It’s about power and authority,” Troja says.

RP coordinator Brandi Young remarks that she has seen, over and over, what helping students focus in the Think Tank can do for grades. “We have students who have gone from an F to a passing grade just within hours of sitting with [Mr. Musa],” by completing missing assignments, she says.

All of the coordinators I speak with agree that part of why RP works is because the team comes from the same neighborhoods as the students. Mr. Musa lives in the neighborhood and plays pick-up basketball with kids in his off-hours...

Organizing and protests after George Floyd’s murder led school systems around the country to reconsider the use of SROs. Some moved money to restorative practices. In Los Angeles, under pressure from students, the school district cut its school police force by a third, and the city reinvested tens of millions from the police budget into school mental health counselors and restorative justice-trained “climate coaches.” In Chicago, an existing anti-SRO campaign by parents and youth activists got a lift from the protests — and the backing of the teachers union. The city agreed to empower local school councils to remove SROs, leading to a citywide reduction from 180 to 59, and schools reinvested the money in positions including social workers, security guards and restorative justice coordinators...

Des Moines schools had already begun training teachers in restorative practices in 2018. With the $750,000 saved from the broken contract [with the police, which arranged for the SROs], the school district funded 20 new positions and hired specially trained RP staff across the city’s five public high schools. The district even invited Sellers and other students to observe the hiring process, and students picked up on red flags that staff missed, Sellers tells me, like candidates who called students “delinquents...”

Gregory coauthored “The Starts and Stumbles of Restorative Justice in Education: Where Do We Go from Here?” in 2020 for the National Education Policy Center. When RP doesn’t work out, the study found, it’s often because schools have employed what Gregory calls “train and hope”; after a single training, teachers are expected to implement RP on top of everything else they’re juggling.

The more successful approach, Gregory tells me, gets buy-in from the whole school and requires ongoing support and accountability, which might include dedicated RP staff, ongoing trainings, centralized systems to share students’ social and emotional needs, and community engagements (such as food pantries, shelters and health clinics) for students in need...

Rich Blonagin, administrator of alternative programs at Des Moines Public Schools, says the district is in a good place [in summer 2022], considering how quickly it had to train new hires. The only quantitative goal for this first year was to reduce arrests, which happened. Districtwide, they fell from 538 to a stunning 98...

“When we think about metrics,” [Gregory] says, “we would want to think about things like school climate, sense of belonging, engagement, teacher wellness, how much absenteeism, how much teachers are calling in sick, teacher stress, you know, positive peer climate — these things can be a little more challenging to measure. … And then, how to capture those brief exchanges … that add up into building community and connection [which is the core of RP]...”

In the fall, Des Moines Public Schools released the results of the Iowa Department of Education’s annual Conditions For Learning survey, administered to students in March (unless opted out by their parents). Broadly, Roosevelt improved its overall score for students’ sense of physical safety, from 36% in 2019 to 54% in 2022. Feelings of emotional safety dropped, overall, by ten percentage points from 2019 to 2022, but that’s in line with a state-wide downturn during the pandemic. Students also reported improved relationships with peers, from 33% in 2019 to 50% in 2022.

One of the district’s goals for this school year is for teachers to feel empowered and equipped to use RP for basic disturbances, like backtalk and not following initial redirection. The district held a four-day RP training for teachers and staff in June. It also hired 13 more RP staff for the schools.” -via In These Times, 12/12/22

#iowa #de moines #public school #restorative justice #restorative practices #acab #education #good news #hope #teachers

39 notes · View notes