{"id":4653,"date":"2018-07-30T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4653"},"modified":"2018-07-22T15:01:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T22:01:02","slug":"mark-re-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/07\/mark-re-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Re-Reads &#8216;Monstrous Regiment&#8217;: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today, in the third re-read post for <i>Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, I CONTINUE TO BE UNPREPARED, which is weird because I SHOULD BE PREPARED. Onwards!<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>Trigger Warning: For discussion of trauma, PTSD, abuse<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Part 11<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ah, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve reached the introduction of the Girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Working School, the source of motivation for both Tonker and Lofty, though they each deal with the trauma afflicted on them by that place in such deeply, deeply different ways. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no single narrative for PTSD or for trauma, in short. I have a close friend who has a shockingly similar experience to my own in terms of dealing with homophobia, abuse, and trauma, and one of the reasons we bonded was <i>because<\/i> of the conversation we had about how our trauma manifests for us. We could not be two dissimilar people any more than we are, and yet, both of our experiences are valid. They are <i>ours<\/i>. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one thing I never really talked about during my read of this book, at least not in any detail. I relate to Tonker, as I said in an earlier re-read, because I have a whole lot of anger within me. Yet Lofty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story deserves just as much acknowledgment because it is important to make sure that <i>other<\/i> narratives aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dismissed or ignored, you know? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much pressure these days to represent things respectfully, but one thing I keep seeing get lost in this conversation is that not every story needs to be for everyone. Not every story needs to be relatable. It just needs to be <i>true<\/i>. And the writing for Lofty rings so tragically true, and just because I relate to Tonker more doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean this other experience is any less valid.<\/li>\n<li>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m eager to have a conversation about Wazzer in the context of this, too, because she <i>also<\/i> dealt with a lot of trauma at the Girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Working School. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m operating under the assumption that Tonker is indeed correct, that they saw Wazzer there and she was often locked up in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153special room.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tonker says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thing about the School. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t toughen up you go funny in the head.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Now, in regards to Wazzer, I think it would have been easy to just write off her faith because of a line like this. Indeed, Polly is very dismissive of Wazzer throughout this book, right up until she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pervasive trope of associating believers with being mentally ill, which does a disservice to BOTH groups. It creates a stigma for mental illness by associating it with behavior that is coded negatively. So, I appreciate that Pratchett doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let Wazzer fall into this trope. She might believe in the Duchess more <i>because<\/i> of what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been through, but my take on this is that Pratchett avoids what could have been harmful by not denigrating Wazzer for being faithful.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defense of his killing of Towering. You know, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that even if you enjoy Jackrum, this whole scene is still reprehensible. <i>Understandable<\/i>, perhaps, because this is Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life. This is what he was trained to do! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how he processes the world. And I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it was always so hard for him to retire and why he fought the discharge that Blouse gave him. How would a man like him <i>ever<\/i> live in a world without war? What does that life even <i>look<\/i> like? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that Jackrum can imagine it, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until the end of this book that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s challenged to think of another way. Still, his reasoning is coarse and absurd. He claims that Towering <i>knew<\/i> he was a dead man as soon as he was captured. Why is that? Because <i>both<\/i> of these soldiers believe in murdering the Other Side because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s war.<\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #19: Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s locket. I had completely forgotten about it by the time it was relevant again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 12<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One thing is constant throughout this: Polly has one of the sharpest minds in the entire <i>Discworld<\/i> series. She reminds me of an older Tiffany Aching.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s big lie about Blouse. The thing is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not <i>that<\/i> wrong about Blouse? Even if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being insulting, it <i>is<\/i> true that Blouse excels at assessing situations. Oh, he might assess <i>wrongly<\/i>, but he is such a thoughtful character. Jackrum just acts, based largely on instinct, whereas Blouse generally takes a moment before proceeding on. So, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a grain of truth in what Jackrum tells de Worde, and it makes the lie all the more hilarious. Especially since you can see the gears churning in de Worde\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head as he tries to accept that what Jackrum says is true. HE KNOWS IT ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T.<\/li>\n<li>And you can see that in his angry outburst at Blouse, who just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to understand anything that de Worde is saying! He <i>does<\/i> understand him, of course, but he just refuses to budge. Why should they give up? Why should they surrender? Just because de Worde sees things a certain way doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean anyone else has to. Of course, Blouse wants to be the best at his job, and I got the sense from this and from later scenes that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily disagree with de Worde; he just chose to do something different with that information than what was expected of him.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Also, I love that de Worde says they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kill him because he \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bleeds distressingly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a funny line that went right over my head.<\/li>\n<li>Anyway, there IS a great point that Blouse makes within this: why is it that Ankh-Morpork didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about the war\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand all of its horrors\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<i>until<\/i> this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153human interest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d story came about?<\/li>\n<li>ANSWER THAT, DE WORDE.<\/li>\n<li>As of the day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this, the post for part 23 still hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone up, and one of the things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m most eager to talk about is Borogravia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s history versus that of Zlobenia <i>and<\/i> Ankh-Morpork. de Worde outright admits that Ankh-Morpork is probably the biggest bully of all, and given their interest in the clacks in Borogravia, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t disagree. They have their own reasons for siding with Zlobenia in this conflict, and that shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be ignored.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Can we also just establish that while I might relate with Tonker the most, I was basically Blouse while reading this book? You know, missing the obvious despite that it was right in front of my face, yet able to spout off lots of information regarding incredibly specific topics at a moment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s notice? YES, THIS IS ME.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #20: Blouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s statement that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6to an outsider, the idea is obvious,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is basically one giant neon sign that could also read, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153HEY, THIS IS THE BASIC THEME OF THIS WHOLE BOOK.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what Borogravia needed: an outsider to cause upheaval to the whole system. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d also argue that in the end, there are <i>multiple<\/i> outsiders who affect this change.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 13<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important distinction to be made at the beginning of this section: to an outsider, Borogravia seems backwards. Un-evolved. A relic of a terrible time. And while I understand that notion, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue, again, that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a difference between the <i>nation<\/i> and the <i>people<\/i>. Many individual people are very much <i>not<\/i> like the nation and the way it portrays itself.<\/li>\n<li>So, why do we think Jackrum had such an emotional response to Maladict being out of uniform? (Even though she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t; she still had it on underneath her disguise, so TECHNICALLY DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T COUNT.) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve re-read this section a few times, and I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m missing something here. Polly notes the way he sags in response to the others pushing back on the narrative that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all akin to spies. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on here?<\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #21: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re promising lads, sir, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not <i>men<\/i>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d GOOD LORD, JACKRUM DOES THIS A LOT.<\/li>\n<li>This section is a great example of Jackrum only seeing things through his experience, particularly that line where he says that if the other side has stopped attacking, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <i>definitely<\/i> because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re afraid. No??? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what is happening? de Worde may be biased, but a lot of the information he passed along <i>was<\/i> true. Yet here we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Jackrum seeing the entire world through military strategies and logic.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about Maladict\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flashsides,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite understand fully. I had initially assumed it was just Buggy Swires, and then I assumed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know what they were. But if they are someone <i>else&#8217;s<\/i> flashbacks, then who else is around them? At that point, the only people within the distance that a vampire could \u00e2\u20ac\u0153read\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 other soldiers. So, are these flashbacks from <i>these<\/i> soldiers? What of? Oh god, the war, right? And if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this be a psychic <i>nightmare<\/i>? The collected flashbacks of multiple groups of soldiers locked into a war that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lasted a thousand years\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 JESUS CHRIST THAT IS TERRIFYING. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reading this right, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to hear your thoughts.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #22: Tonker and Lofty holding hands and wow, this is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 literal confirmation of the possible highest order. What I think happened beyond the obvious terrible interpretation is that I worried that the part where Pratchett said they held hands like someone \u00e2\u20ac\u0153would hold hands with a rescuer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and my brain went, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Does that diminish what is happening here? Because anyone would clutch their rescuer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand like that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Instead, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m missing the notion that for Lofty, Tonker <i>is<\/i> her rescuer, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of their relationship and why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so strong.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>On page 272, is that the first mention of the dimity scarves? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recall them ever appearing prior to this, and I feel like that detail is important. Are Borogravian women expected to wear them all the time? Only on Fridays? What is their religious significance?<\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #23: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Duchess can only move very, very small things.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d WAZZER IS NOT LYING, OH MY GOD. Which means that she <i>wasn&#8217;t<\/i> really testing Polly; she probably <i>actually<\/i> saw the Duchess behind Polly, and was merely pleased that Polly turned around. Thus, I <i>think<\/i> Pratchett was trying to play a bit with the notion that I brought up earlier, that Wazzer experienced trauma, and then found religion, and how those two are often equated with mental illness in ways that are insidious and harmful. Polly positions herself as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153smart\u00e2\u20ac\u009d survivor, the kind who knows how to avoid getting put into the Girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Working School. But later in that same paragraph, she details all the absurd ways in which you get sent there, and one of them is, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153had the wrong kind of illness.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no real way to be <i>smart<\/i> at that, you know? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the hand you are dealt, which is a phrase Polly later uses to narratively describe Wazzer, too. So, the idea here is that Polly believes Wazzer latched on to the Duchess because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153from those depths,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wazzer looked up into \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the only smile\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she ever saw from there. Thus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier for her to discount Wazzer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s belief not as a real thing, but as a <i>result<\/i> of something else. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say those aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t or cannot be linked. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that I would necessarily have drifted toward atheism if I had not experienced so much abuse as a child and a teenager. Does it inform what I believe? Yes. But I feel like there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an easy way Polly dismisses someone else because she believes she was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153smart\u00e2\u20ac\u009d enough to avoid this kind of trauma.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #24: Polly LITERALLY describes Lofty using \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fire\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flames,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and I still didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fucking get that she was the one setting fires.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #25: Jackrum playing with his golden locket again! JACKRUM TALKING ABOUT THE GIRL THEY USED TO KNOW, HELP ME.<\/li>\n<li>So, while I am going to do my best not to ever repeat the same mistake with Tonker\/Lofty, and while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also talked about one of the reasons why I was sort predisposed to having a less positive take on things, I <i>do<\/i> want to talk about one line here that jumped out at me. Polly remarks, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And Tonker and Lofty only think about one another, but I suppose after you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in that school\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And while I have no interest or belief in ever saying that this relationship is not canonical or not important, this was a tiny little moment that jumped out at me and rang\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 weird? If I was doing a sensitivity read, I would highlight this and ask the author to think about the implications of it. On the one hand, Polly has a flawed perception here, and like me, she missed the obvious signs and had to re-adjust her world to accept that these two women were in a relationship. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably the default way most people would read that line. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a flawed character! And having flawed characters say unfortunate things is part of what makes them believable. But I remember reading this on camera and feeling worried that people would take this at face value <i>without<\/i> considering that Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take on it was flawed. These women went through an experience, and they also are a couple. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a complicated situation, and their shared trauma of that school is most likely one of the things that has brought them closer. But Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line comes off as dismissive, as if <i>that<\/i> is the sole reason Tonker and Lofty \u00e2\u20ac\u0153only think about one another.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Well, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re <i>also<\/i> in a relationship, you know? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a terrible line, and my gut reaction here is that Pratchett is showing Polly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quiet biases, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested in discussing the implications of this line.<\/li>\n<li>If my theory about Maladict\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hallucinations are right, then was that <i>actually<\/i> Death at the end of this part of the book, or was it just a manifestation of Death due to the other soldiers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 flashbacks?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 14<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It really is a delight watching the power shift from Jackrum to Blouse and back again. Oh my god, they are SO ENTERTAINING.<\/li>\n<li>Also: Jackrum is so <i>sure<\/i> that Blouse is leading them to their death, but in a bizarre twist, Blouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan to infiltrate the Keep ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKS, and without it, the Ins-and-Outs would not have been where they needed to be.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Blouse is the one who intercepts the clacks messages! He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also the one who also devises the message to send back. JACKRUM WAS WRONG, BLOUSE CAN BE BRILLIANT IF HE IS IN THE RIGHT\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 AREA. Like, there are so many things he is excellent at, and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, a lot of things he is not. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, he cut his <i>sword-holding hand<\/i> with his sword. How??? HOW DID HE THINK YOU HELD A SWORD?<\/li>\n<li>Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t answer that.<\/li>\n<li>Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about Borogravian weaponry! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m curious if the Zlobenians, having been at war for so long, <i>also<\/i> developed as complex weaponry as their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153enemies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important thing to determine because it can also affect who has power in a political situation like this. I get the sense that for the most part, Pratchett intended for these two countries to be evenly matched to an extent. Rather, that they <i>were<\/i> evenly matched. At this point in the war, though, Borogravia has functionally lost. <i>Their own weapons are being used against them<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucked up, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Yet there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a detail here that I think also affects the Borogravian impossibility of surrender: they know they can just wait it out, and the Zlobenians will get starved out of the Keep. And if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 lord, this war could have kept on going forever, right?<\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #26: Blouse wonders how the alliance got in. SPOILER ALERT: SAME WAY YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE ABOUT TO GET IN.<\/li>\n<li>I love that Polly notes that Wazzer <i>walks<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/i> differently than she did at the start of this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no surprise; as she got closer to the Keep, so got closer to her destiny. I assume the Duchess was buried in the Keep, yes? I know that was presented as a theory earlier in the book, but that would also explain why Wazzer is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153possessed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at the time she is. It would <i>also<\/i> explain the Miracle of the Turkey! The Duchess can move small things, OH MY GOD IT IS SPELLED OUT IN THE TEXT. But I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take it literally! Even after everything that had happened, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t <i>believe<\/i> Wazzer.<\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #27: Igorina corrects herself when saying she is duty bound to save their fellow man, and instead, she says \u00e2\u20ac\u0153person.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Neat!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Part 15<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #28: Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s joke about the lads having to find out about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ironing and darning sooner or later.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d YOU CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T BE SERIOUS, HE DOES THIS CONSTANTLY.<\/li>\n<li>I was truly, truly Blouse as I read this book, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. So close to the truth and YET SO FAR AWAY, TOO.<\/li>\n<li>And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I could have truly appreciated what it was Jackrum was trying <i>not<\/i> to laugh at once Blouse started talking about playing Lady Spritely. MY GODS.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>This section also contains the first mention of Wrigglesworth! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna wait until later to say anything more substantial about this character.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Thing I Noticed #29: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People pretending to be be other people to tell a story in a huge room where the world is a different place.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That is&#8230; basically this book, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>JESUS, THE DUCHESS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STORY IS SO SAD. Perhaps <i>as<\/i> sad as Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s! Now I understand why Wazzer says what she says in this scene; not a word of it is a lie or a mistake.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li>I get why Polly defaults to believing that Jackrum is going for blackmail, but in hindsight, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening, is it? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to protect her <i>while<\/i> feeding Blouse bits of the truth (certainly not the whole of it) in order to manipulate him. You know, tell the rupert what he <i>wants<\/i> to hear. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to dodge Blouse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inquisitive questioning regarding his record. My god, CLERICAL ERROR FOLLOWED JACKRUM. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a huge clue of what actually happened. <i>Why<\/i> would Jackrum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s file be edited so many times and for how long?<\/li>\n<li>In hindsight, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful for that moment where Polly realizes she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak to Shufti about the Girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Working School the same way she can to Tonker. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important distinction to make because it can be very harmful to assume that people all deal with abuse the same way, or that they <i>can<\/i> deal with it in the same way as someone else. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also very easy for an outsider, particularly one who <i>hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> dealt with abuse, to simply tell someone to fight back, to leave, to go out swinging. There are so many factors that might prevent a person from doing that: lack of resources, lack of a safety net, the risk of the abuser fighting back and harming them worse (or killing them)&#8230;. you get the idea.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All right, moving on! THERE IS SO MUCH ABOUT TO HAPPEN, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m eager to see what sort of stuff I missed in the Keep.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>My YA contemporary debut, <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/AngerIsAGift\">ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><strong>If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, in the third re-read post for Monstrous Regiment, I CONTINUE TO BE UNPREPARED, which is weird because I SHOULD BE PREPARED. Onwards!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,545,248],"class_list":["post-4653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-monstrous-regiment","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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