Nothing Really Happens Here

The thing about radical kindness (or any kindness, for that matter) is that there are going to be times when someone or something makes you regret it. There are going to be times when you show someone empathy and grace that they don't "deserve". There are going to be times when someone takes that kindness and uses it against you. The world doesn't magically transform into a perfect place when you decide to choose kindness and people will take advantage of it. People will continue to be shitty.

Maybe it's naive of me, but whenever I see portraits like this, with just a father and daughter, it restores my faith in humanity a little. Because people seem to love this idea that fathers never loved their daughters in the past and only saw them as bargaining chips for marriage or whatever, but look at the guy in the first portrait on the left, he loves that little girl! And the dad trying to do his work while his daughter bothers him with an Old Timey Barbie. The man teaching his daughter geography, his expression is so soft! The way the man in the last portrait holds the little girl's hand! And none of these are incidental, these aren't photographs, someone (probably the father) paid good money and sat down for hours so that they could have a painting of themselves and their daughter. Probably because they loved their daughter.

oh I love those! People being people is one of my favourite kinds of paintings and an important reminder that people in past times were not all that different. There were dads who loved their daughters fiercely. There were fathers who happily looked after their babies too. The German reformer Philip Melanchton for example had a cradle in his office. His wife was busy organising a household for 20 people- she was out and about, he mostly worked in his office, it made sense for him to look after their babies too babies while she dropped by at snack time.

I raise you:

Nothing more heartbreaking than Treny, in which a poet mourns his youngest daughter.

Image description: Image 1: painting of a young child holding a small dog sits on a cushion on a desk, she looks toward the vieweer, a man sits in front of the desk, he looks at the child and has one hand steadying the child. 1795 Michał Jerzy Mniszech with his daughter Elżbieta by Marcello Bacciarelli Image 2: painting of a man sitting at a table writing something, he looks toward the viewer, a girl pulls at his jacket and holds up a doll with fancy hair and dress. Christopher Anstey and his daughter Mary Ann by William Hoare 1776, Image 3: painting of a man sitting down holding a lute, a girl holding a fan stands next to him. A Musician and His Daughter by Thomas de Keyser 1629 Image 4: painting of a man sitting down and holding a compass, a girl leans over his shoulder and looks at the papers and the circle, the man looks at the girl. A dog sits next to the girl. The Geography Lesson (Portrait of Monsieur G. and His Daughter), 1812 Image 5: painting of a man holding the hand of a young girl, a dog is on his other side. Jean-baptiste Isabey And His Daughter Image 6: painting of a man sitting down with a young girl in his lap, he holds one of her hands in his, she holds flowers in her lap. Portrait of a Young Girl and Older Man by William Harrison Scarborough

N-No, I would never wake up the babies…

Kanto: this path is blocked by a giant sleeping snorlax. you cannot wake up the snorlax except with the use of a very specific tool (which you obtained by fighting your way through a tower full of ghosts). and even after snorlax wakes up you have to either defeat it in battle and/or catch it before you can get through

good morning exclusively to the atlantic’s science editor, or whoever it is that titles their animal biology articles

fellas, they’ve done it again

Hey! Spin this wheel of Every Pokémon!