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LINK: PERTINENCE > TRAGICALITY > [File attached: INC-102E-8.REP] < < what LINK TERMINATED < WHAT

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Built a town of what's left to do There's nothing new, oh, there's nothing new – i. there's a god so very hungry, by many tiny boxes

“you have got to be fucking kidding me.”, Sekri says, as Amry's newly cohered form curls up into a ball. She stretches out, her appendages slinking around as if she had no skeleton underneath. Her large, quadrupedal form paws fluffily against the carpet, sharpening her claws as if readying to attack. That's what she would be doing, under the assumption that she knew how to control the form that she inhabited. But she doesn't. Instead, she speaks up: “i'm stuck.....”, as her claws dig into the fibers on the ground. She, for a brief moment, is completely helpless, a state ill-befitting her kind. It feels like someone could make some kind of comedy about the antics a creature like her gets up to. The shelves are empty, and always were. The area feels hollow around them, merely coated in furniture with no purpose. The two have been floundering in the room for some time, attempting to reconcile with the events of Amry's actions. Less than courteous remarks were exchanged between the two, but none of them are especially relevant for your purposes. Sekri considers his options. He could: 1) tell Amry the exact document's contents, 2) tell Amry that they need to go back but not tell her why, or 3) tell Amry nothing. 1 is right out, she'd panic and attempt to stay, as few are as committed as he pretends to be. 2 would raise suspicion, and would require a rather good excuse. 3 would be similarly bad. Maybe she'd come to that conclusion by herself. After all, the narrative that he was told wasn't this one — it was one that was far more benign, one that exploited the fact that Amry trusted him and that he trusted Amry. He was told that Amry was too valuable a Retrieval officer to be discarded, one that required a specialized mission like this. At this point, he is well aware of the Arbiter's tendency to elide facts when unnecessary, but an overt lie is sincerely strange. Unprecedented. He obviously believes in the Arbiter's reign, as anything else is incognizable, but he would still appreciate some degree of transparency. ...Back to the options. He... doesn't want to do any of them but there's only three. Pick one, pick one. What kind of excuse can he use? Uh. Well, we've done our work here, haven't we??? We're good now, right. We're good. Amry, you're fine, you're doing fine. You can head back now. That's... a flimsy excuse. What else? What if Marka has fallen into deathly decay? No, that wouldn't work, he's shown no signs whatsoever, and she'd check in with him. Is he able to respond under these circumstances? What does “emotional considerations” even mean in this report anyways. It feels like whoever transcribed this couldn't even finish up the full details of the scene. What idiot would do that? Think, Sekri, think. You've got this. You're smart. You're talented. You're going to win at being a Retrieval officer, which is something both normal to want and possible to achieve. You have a really good ability to mask your emotions, since you've currently been standing entirely still for long enough to draw concern- “sekri?” AAUUGHFUCK. “yes? apologies, i was in the midst of a link”, Sekri responds. Clearly enough, he was trapped in his own head, but she doesn't need to know that, yet. Split-second decision making isn't his specialty, for sure. “is something troubling you? Σ8<”, Amry says. Her feline facial facade breaks, moving somewhat unnaturally towards the Σ8< that expresses her emotion, if you choose to read that as a facial expression and not a perversion of an emoticon. “no, it is simply a... degree of immersion that i enter on occasion. no matter- well, uh, much matter, actually”, Sekri says, tripping over his own words. “so much matter that it is difficult for me to discuss exactly how much matter it matters. the matter of the matter is that it matters, and i think that matter agrees with this one-“ “are you... okay?“ “the density of the matter is too great, the matter is too much matter and the fact of the matter is the truth of the matter, and that truth is relative, dense enough to become matter, mattering only enough to those who perceive that truth, perception is everything and he cannot perceive so why does it matter that-“ “...sekriiii Σ8{“ “and who is he to cast judgment, i am sorry but what a fucking bitch, he is always getting in your shit and in my shit and i am sick of having his matters up in my matters and who is he to bring to me divine will, i know forgery is impossible but it still the fact of the matter that he believes that i do not matter, and-“ “sekri.“ Sekri curls up into a ball on the floor and screams. Amry doesn't want to invade, but at the same time... well, she can't exactly help without knowing what's going on. She takes the communicator from Sekri's unfurled paw, lets him do his thing, and reads.

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This document is subject to standard recontextualization procedure. Contact your assigned Records envoy for more details.

INCIDENT REPORT: OVERLOAD-CLASS ENTITY

CASE ID: 102E-8

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: – [Some statements omitted — Records-B clearance required.] – To retrieve cultural candidates required for linguistic preservation. – To prevent decay among larvae and other low-priority populations. – To dispose of low-priority retrieval officer Her Emptiness.

UNDERSTANDINGS: [Collapsed for brevity.]

BRIEF: Temporary Retrieval team . . . . . . 008 was assembled and dispatched to entity location for further inquiry, comprised of His Tragicality and Her Emptiness. Seventeen ticks were spent between dispatch and arrival at entity location — routine tick checks revealed no abnormalities.

Her Emptiness, in advanced decay (at the stage of ontological dissolution), was dispatched to entity location as a final mission, and team . . . . . . 008 was told that the mission was to solve this issue. See Her Emptiness's case file for rhetoric.

[Repeated information collapsed for brevity.]

Further investigation yielded that the entity in question was comedic in nature, and could have been revered as a deity to local cultures (see E-WORSHIP.) Its genesis point was traced to a three-paneled structure within its place of origin, itself being low-density enough to be able to determine the prime Understandings. Due to the Overload-class density of the entity, it was determined that it was to be used for Culture dispersal far before the Retrieval team was dispatched.

Coherence officer His Pertinence was ordered to relay this information to Retrieval, which he did faithfully. He was dispatched to the Concept location within the Inclinosphere for standard retrieval, but Her Emptiness, in advanced stages of decay and significant hysteria, resisted, herself opting to also attempt to trace the Concept.

His Tragicality and Their Cleverness, during this time, attempted to prevent advanced decay by placing Her Emptiness in pod stasis. This resulted in inconsequential destruction. His Tragicality is still dispatched to entity location, whereas Their Cleverness merely provided advice via link.

[Information on Her Emptiness and His Pertinence's actions requires REPETAE clearance.]

RESOLUTION: Due to the nature of this violation, as well as the highly sensitive nature of REPETAE-classified information, a meeting was called immediately between His Pertinence and the Arbiter with no other aware parties.

His Pertinence was, by and large, unaware of the nature of his violation, stating upon multiple occasions that “I haven't the faintest clue.“

His Pertinence is to be assigned to retrieve any Culture artifacts that His Tragicality and Her Emptiness have gathered, and to extradite them, alongside the officers, to Cognis. His Pertinence showed mild hesitancy to perform this duty, citing various emotional considerations, but these were quickly discarded by the Arbiter due to the violation's density. This hesitancy has been noted, and further steps will be taken should His Pertinence not comply. Additionally, His Pertinence is to send this document to His Tragicality with no further communication.

His Tragicality is to report back to Cognis for further debriefing as soon as possible, and to avoid any contact with Her Emptiness following receipt of this report. His Tragicality is to be informed, via this report, that his position alongside Their Cleverness's was not in violation of consensus given the information that he had. His Tragicality may forward this report to Her Emptiness at his discretion.

No action is currently required by Their Cleverness.

Her Emptiness is to report back to Cognis for trial, and is pending termination.

yours faithfully.

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First step. Try not to panic. That much has already failed. There is good reason to panic, and it is fine that I am panicking. It is okay.

Second step. Try not to acquiesce into screaming, or letting anything escape my body. That much has already failed. It is okay to scream. I scream because I want to be heard, and it is okay to want to be heard.

Third step. Try not to let it be heard. That much has already failed.

Fourth step. Try to reaffirm myself. I am a Retrieval officer of Cognis, as I always had wished to be. I was well aware of the hardships that befall it. I scream not because I believe that those hardships are bad, but because it is simply my first time like this. Letting harm befall those I know is part of the job description. I am unrepentant, and I am a servant of the whims. Such is the nature of it, and the nature is as it is.

Fifth step. Try to feel myself in my form. I am present here, and I have not decayed yet. It slowly works to consume me, but I will consume before it does. I can still cohere. There is blue fur coating me, surrounding my appendages. There are joints I articulate in order to retrieve objects. Manipulators, in the general parlance. Some of them are meant to keep me upright, in a digitigrade fashion. My face...

There is a prevailing feeling of wrongness about my face, but that was always the case.

There is a prevailing feeling of wrongness about me, but that was always the case. I did this anyway, because I knew it would be good. I want to be good. I promised that I would be good. I am afraid, because I believe that I have been bad, and that badness means that I am more wrong than wrong. I want you to love me. I want you to care.

I feel a stinging in the area, pins and needles constructing unnatural disasters, microcosms of true pain as if it is being peeled off of me. A fluid secretes from the area, and I am told that it is blood, though the concept is profoundly foreign to me. This won't hurt, it can't hurt. It's impossible for this to hurt. But the stress is not physical, but mental, as I felt myself slip, and slip, and slip.

I heard a laughing, and I was unsure if it came from within me or from without. But I had one thought that played over and over again, and I was unsure if it was true, but it felt true-

you did this to me.

---

Sekri awakes, and finds himself in a drab room with green walls. A shelf lies to his left, full of TTRPG source books, yet not a single die, and video games... He's here, in his room again, on the ship. He's safe. A face is present, expressing concern however it can, and it speaks: “...that took longer than normal, didn't it?“ Sekri responds, managing to note Amry from the intonation, though his perception is still blurred enough to not fully let her cohere. “i... suppose.” His head is loud, and the walls are loud. Everything is loud, and nobody seems to understand how loud it is. “you know i do care for you, right?“ “do i?“ “i can never truly know that, but...”, Amry says, adjusting her quadrupedal form. She places her tail on the ground, plants her hind legs horizontally, and puts her front legs as if they were hands. You could swear she was used to being bipedal, as much as she could be used to anything. “i... am at least present of the common sense to let you process how you wish to process, and merely reconvene later.“ “i would have let you-“ “let me what?”. She pauses. “let me be servant to the whims both of us conscripted into? if the arbiter wishes for my termination, at the very least i am aware that was part of the deal..... as much as i would enjoy to have that not be the case! but i do not think you have done anything“ “how do you know about that?“ Amry rolls her eyes. “do you think i would leave a link that led you to go nearly entire catatonic unexamined? apologies for the blatant violation of your privacy, but i simply felt it was necessary”, she says, pointing at the communicator left on his desk. “...i understand but i wish you would not do that”, Sekri says. “you know that i wanted to shield you“ “i don't need shielding from anything!!! i just wish that you shielded yourself sometimes Σ8|“ “so what exactly... do you wish to do?“ “well... if i am to return to cognis and face the arbiter i will certainly face termination. we are, in essence, on an atemporal clock: if we do not return, we are to face extradition. i can functionally consider this to be a break up, i guess, but it is certainly not time to be worrying about such trivialities”, Amry says, wincing. “i am only half-aware of my exact actions with marka in the inclinosphere, but i suspect that whatever i said is likely useful, assuming he remembers it. i would love to dwell on my own perception of him but doing so provides highly limited information, and right now is the time to buckle up“ “when did you become me? you are talking in proceedings, almost“ “i am pretty sure i have to right now! so i am just letting myself deal with the material before the immaterial!“ “so... what do we do in the now?“ “you are not going to like this suggestion Σ8/“ “...“ “we explore!“ Sekri tries to wince, but he doesn't even have the energy to try and do so. He remains lying on the floor, and responds with “are you serious? that is exactly what got us into this situation.“ “well, listen – we are to be extradited alongside any entities that we encounter, and...“ “and you consumed the only thing that has any value, yes, yes, sure.“ “...right. well. this is a formerly thriving area, it certainly has more things we can learn about, things to see, things to bring back. culture candidates, even. we still have much to learn, much we can piece together from the ephemera“ “you want to... pillage it?“ “pillage is unsanctioned language – i wish to preserve it, and use what we can, and i think that bringing returns may prevent the case of my termination. the arbiter may still find the means to justify the ends Σ8}”, she says, disgustingly self-confident as ever. “i think that there is so much to be seen, and i think that even if we fail, we can still be useful!!! we can still provide relevant culture, and be immortal through it, we can still... we can still live on in ephemera as they once did“ “...how do you believe we can do that?”, Sekri says, sitting his body slightly upright. He sees the vision, the glimmer of hope. Above all else, this runs counter to Sekri's entire belief system, and he knows it. But in the moment of fragility he's in right now... he wants to believe in what Amry's saying, and he's willing to go along with it. He has been shaken, broken beyond repair, and he wants it to come back together again. His nature of morality won't let him go against the whims, no matter how hard he tries. The whims are all-encompassing, after all. Amry responds, her usual cheery enthusiasm distorted by anxiety. She doesn't actually think this will work, but at the very least, she'd like to go out doing what she loves. Her words are thus: “look out the window!“

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Hello world...

N.B.: Any post marked as a “Legacy Fringe Review” is an old blog entry moved to this one and lightly edited for format, with some minor errors corrected (and undoubtedly new ones added for balance!).

This is an experiment. I'd like to start reviewing little-known RPGs, past and present, as a way of introducing concepts and ideas that are not known at all in the mainstream of our hobby and are often barely known even among the more … shall we say “obsessive”? … elements.

(Yes, I include myself among the obsessives.)

The first game I'd like to review is a came by a small-press Canadian publisher called Spark.

Spark is a decidedly non-traditional role-playing game. Because of this I cannot work from assumptions that most would share. Instead I will be using a form of critique I first saw in Goethe's writings when critiquing theatre. In brief, I will be answering three questions:

1. What was Jason Pitre, the author of Spark, trying to accomplish?
2. How well does he accomplish this?
3. Was this a goal worth accomplishing?

What is Spark about?

Taking a look at the back blurb we see three things in bold:

• Challenge your beliefs
• Make choices that matter
• Build and discover worlds

Inside, in the introduction, we get some more interesting insights into the intent of the designer:

• ...most important characters in a fictional world.
• Explore the themes and issues that matter to you.
• Make meaningful choices...

There is a consistent theme in all of this: meaning and choice. And note that second item where you explore themes/issues that matter to you.

How does Spark do this?

Spark is almost unique in how it approaches everything. From the setting to the characters to the actual game play, Spark is a very different game and those differences are focused on the actual goals in the design.

Setting

To enable this challenging voyage of discovery, the game involves, chiefly, the joint creation of a fictional world. Although the game comes with three sample settings (NeoNihon, Quiet Revolution, and Elemental Kingdom), the game is really intended to be played by people who've made their own settings jointly. The idea here is that having a custom-made setting makes the game context evocative and meaningful to the players, thus making exploration of its themes more personally satisfying.

Settings are created by cooperatively listing favourite media; gathering inspirations; describing some kind of genre from this (NeoNihon, for example, is “Shogonate Science Fiction”); establishing “Facts” (concrete, evocative places, peoples, etc. based on inpirations); providing a title; establishing the setting's “Beliefs” to help guide the themes and thoughts the group wants to explore; establish the GM's attributes (the GM attributes are used in playing the setting out): Body, Heart, Mind, and Spark; creating the setting's chief “Factions” and their mandates; creating the “Faces” (the most important NPCs story-wise for each faction), and create the ties between the factions. Once all this is completed, agendas are set—short term goals aimed at realizing faction mandates. Players are given “influence” at this point and the setting creation is complete.

This sounds like it's difficult, but the system is very regulated, very clearly explained and has very thorough examples to inspect to see how it all fits together. As a result even on a first run-through setting creation will take up 2-3 hours of your first session. Not bad at all for creating a whole world, is it?

Character

Once you've made the setting, the players and GM then cooperatively (yes, everybody gets involved) create their “Protagonist Characters” (PCs). The process here, as with the setting above, follows a simple, cooperative procedure. You start with a concept based on an agenda, and give the character a name. You then work on individual beliefs (which may or may not support or contradict or supplement the setting beliefs). You set attribute levels (same as the GM attributes above). You name talents (skills and abilities). You then answer personal history questions to help establish relationships among PCs and to factions. Each answered question gets an influence marker (which is the currency of the game play). Finally you narrate a prelude for your character.

Game play

To be honest, your first session of Spark will likely be just creating the setting and the characters. Once this is complete however, you start play. As with setting and character creation above, this is very formulaic and procedural. And this is where the game takes a hard swerve into unfamiliar territory for most role-playing gamers.

Overall a game session has three steps: Advancing, Scening, Reflecting. Advancing is the phase where the factions move forward on agendas and goals. Players work together to decide which factions complete their agendas, how the world changes as a result, and any new agendas that come out as a result. Play then advances into a series of scenes. When there is no more scening to be done, the players reflect on the events and use this opportunity to inspire each other, to confirm or change beliefs, or other such things.

Scening itself is similarly structured. Each scene begins with framing, proceeds into multiple series of collaboration or conflict events, and then ends with closing. Collaboration is cooperative in nature where players make “bold statements” to progress the scene. If all players agree with said bold statement, it is writ and becomes the truth. If, however, any player disagrees with the statement, conflict occurs, dice are pulled out, alternative statements are provided, sides are drawn, and dice are rolled to see which statement becomes the truth.

This will be the part where most traditional role-players balk. I've seen people recoil from this with a loud “that's stupid!” because, unlike most RPGs, Spark does not descend from competitive wargaming in its routes. It seems to descend more from improvisational theatre. The goal in Spark is not to compete against the world, against the GM, or against fellow players. The goal in Spark is to work together to tell a good, challenging story. Conflict happens when people have different visions for where the story should go, and resolution of it shifts that direction. It is not for everyone, but those for whom it is will find it compelling. (Like me.)

In the closing of a scene, the usual stuff like healing, etc. occurs, but too, influence points are awarded for people challenging their beliefs in the scene. Since influence points are how you win conflicts (partially) there is benefit to tackling the very themes you chose for setting and character both head-on in play.

There is a whole lot more to the game (obviously) than what I've outlined above, but what you get above gives you the flavour: you create characters who are important at a fundamental level to the setting. In the process of telling the story of that setting, you challenge beliefs collaboratively or in conflict. When enough beliefs change, so does the setting: changed characters change the world (so to speak). This is a very different notion of role-playing and it is one that needs to be tried — even if in the end it is not to your taste, it broadens horizons and it gives you, perhaps, ideas you can use in other games.

But is it any good?

Here's where we get to question 2: how well does Spark accomplish what it sets out to do? And the truth is that while it is my favourite game currently, it is flawed. The author thinks one of the flaws is that he didn't provide a setting so the game had no appeal. To this I say “poppycock!”. The fact that you make a bespoke setting tailored to your group is part of what makes the game so compelling in my view. Having a default setting would make this just another role-playing game with oddball mechanics.

Where the game does fall down, in my opinion, is where it pays homage to more normal role-playing games. Look above at how settings and characters are defined: Body, Heart, Mind, Spark. Characters are further defined with talents. We're not that far from the bog-standard “attributes and skills” model, and this model is not what Spark should be about, IMO.

Apparently the author agrees.

A setting published for this game—SIG: The City Between—makes several changes to the rules for that setting, but recommends that three of them be retrofitted into all Spark games. The first of these is the condensing of the attributes into “Spark” and “Smoke”: the first being your ability to impact the setting, and the second to govern how the setting reacts to you. This is a far simpler model than the one in Spark proper, and to me it reflects better on the core concepts of the game. (Other changes modify the procedures for game play slightly, but do not make as major a change as this core one.)

So, in terms of whether the game accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish, the answer is an unqualified “yes ... but”. It is not perfect, and the author himself recognizes these weaknesses. He also does a good job of refocusing on the actual goal in a supplement. That being said, “perfect” is the enemy of “good enough” and even straight out of the package Spark is more than “good enough”. It is superb and it accomplishes its main goal—telling challenging stories about conflicting beliefs—very well.

But is it worth doing?

That is, naturally, completely a subjective call. I've made no secret of my admiration for this game and thus the answer for me is “well, duh!” So the more interesting question for this review is “is this game worth you trying?”

And to this I also give a “yes ... but”.

Anybody who is tired of the wargaming roots of role-playing games who wants to try something different on for size, just to broaden horizons, should give Spark a try.

Anybody who has a friend or SO who is actively turned off by the wargames-informed nature of most RPGs might want to give this game a try with them to show them the joys of RP.

Anybody who likes the idea of a game focused on real-world beliefs being explored in a safe, bespoke way will probably do well with this game.

If, however, you're perfectly satisfied with normal role-playing games—and I stress that there is nothing wrong with this!—and especially if you don't understand why someone might even look for something else, you will probably not enjoy Spark and I would give it a miss in your shoes.

(But you'll be missing something sublime!)

Good News Update

Jason Pitre has, since this review was first written, released Spark as a “Spark System Reference Guide” under CC0 terms, making it freely available for use in other people's RPG designs.

#FringeReviews #TTRPG #RPG #Review #LegacyReview

A while ago I started a series of reviews on a game-focused web site. The intent was (and remains) to introduce games, both newer and older, that exist on the fringe of the role-playing hobby. Several things happened, however, that slowed me down and eventually ground the reviews to a halt:

1. The game site I was using had pretty bad tools for its blogging. It was always a chore to get things done. I was willing to do it, but it was friction.
2. COVID-19 happened and I spiralled into a bit of a dark space.
3. My personal life got very busy and made spending the effort of in-depth reviewing not worth the friction of the web site's tooling.

Gamer+ is now a Mastodon instance (where I'm still active for gaming-related interaction) which leaves my old reviews in archives and makes it impossible for me to continue them—just as I get the motivation to write new ones.

So this is where my Fringe Reviews go to now. I will be interlacing re-publications of my old reviews here with new reviews of games, both old and new, that I think are of interest for some reason or another.

#FringeReviews #TTRPG #RPG #Reviews #Introduction

(German version of this article: https://wordsmith.social/felixernst/mein-anteil-an-der-erstellung-des-hintergrundbildes-von-plasma-6-1-reef)

Plasma 5

A short recap: In Plasma 5 we predominantly had wallpapers with geometric features. They showed digital representations of nature or were completely abstract, which I never really liked. Perhaps that was trendy for a while, or maybe technical Linux users enjoy such wallpapers, which are quite obviously made using a computer. However, these days, we do not only offer the best package of security, privacy, usability, and power for tech enthusiasts, but for everyone. Therefore, it is in my opinion important that our wallpapers represent not just what we stand for but also what we want to enable. In the best case, we enthuse a broad public this way. We should move on from the purely technical towards what is human and incorporate the creative, inventive, or artistic, which will always be absent from machines. A down-to-earth example of this are wallpapers that look like they could be painted on a simple piece of paper.

Plasma 6.0

For the MegaRelease and Plasma 6.0 KDE arranged a competition for the next wallpaper. There was a jury, and even though I had no part in any of this, I was in full agreement with the jury about the winning image “Scarlet Tree”: As far as I know, the winning artist never made a public appearance and the only thing I know of them is their pseudonym “axo1otl”, under which the wallpaper was published. As far as I know, the communication with them was handled by Niccolò Venerandi.

Plasma 6.1

From then on, the release of Plasma 6.1 was inching closer. One could ask: Do we really need a new wallpaper for every new version?

Ask our Promo Team and they will say: Yes, of course!

The reason for this is that we want to show images of the new Plasma version, but not every new Plasma version includes changes to the default user interface. That would be quite annoying if we moved around buttons or changed the design two times a year!

But when we change the wallpaper, it becomes obvious: This is a new version. That wallpaper then moreso represents all the changes that happened below the surface.

Additionally. a new pretty image obviously also brings some colour and variety into the users' lives, if they haven't already switched their wallpaper themselves.

The plan was to keep the wallpaper for Plasma 6.1 in a similar style as the Plasma 6.0 one. The same artist “axo1otl” painted another picture for us. Unfortunately, we only got to see it somewhat late:

The Visual Design Group was not enthralled by it. The image is quite full, and therefore some of us thought that it was not suitable as a wallpaper. This reluctance was strong enough that people started discussing what we could use as a wallpaper instead, even though we did not have much time to make a decision.

I thought the image was good enough, but I was in a minority with that opinion. However, there was no quick way to find a popular replacement either. Some suggestions went back to our old geometric abstract style from Plasma 5 times.

Additionally, the picture was a bit too pretty to simply drop it. So there were attempts to edit the “Reef” wallpaper in a way that might fit our purpose.

Editings

Niccolò used blur: Oliver Beard from Wales moved some of the elements of the painting out of the frame, so the whole wallpaper would become more calm, like a backdrop: This was considered a step in the right direction.

Niccolò then combined both strategies: While watching these experiments, I noticed that the possibilities for adaptations were very restricted because nobody dared to personally add anything to the picture. That is why the reefs only grew in size in the images. Nobody made them smaller because it would mean creating empty space which would then need to be filled e.g. by adding new sand.

I already saw a future before us in which the time constraints would force us to publish such a hastily-constructed adaptation that hides or obscures many nice details of the original artwork. All that because we would not know how to help ourselves.

I did not want that to happen. I felt like I might and should perhaps be able to help here.

The thing is, I tend to work on the Dolphin file manager and regularly dive into the depths of its source code, so I know a thing or two about underwater landscapes. After all, I have been to two Dolphin meetings in the Mediterranean Sea in the last two years: At Barcelona and at Thessaloniki.

So I started editing the painting myself:

My plan was to make room so the image would seem more serene. Viewers should no longer feel like they are in the middle of a lively coral reef and more like they are wandering through the open sea. By moving the right reef to a new middleground and shrinking the castle, the depths and distances in the image grew. After some initial positive feedback, I added more and more of the missing elements.

Some contributors in the Visual Design Group did not like that the path at the bottom of the image did not lead to the castle anymore. To others, the path was generally an undesirable element which should be removed. I bent the visible end of it towards the castle:

The waves in the upper half of the images also needed to be completed. There were big holes where the two castle towers used to be.

The image above was the result of me working until 4 a.m. I only concluded once I considered the image good enough that I could honestly advocate for it to be a Plasma wallpaper. I hoped that my nightly work would ensure that we had a passable wallpaper ready in time for the Plasma 6.1 release.

When I awoke the next “morning,” I addressed feedback from the group. More people had voiced the opinion that they did not like the path. I had originally kept it because I tried my best to preserve as much of the original vision and technique of “axo1otl” as possible given my other changes.

Granted, the goal of this exercise was to make the wallpaper more calming. Removing elements goes hand in hand with that. It turned out that, for some, the path did not look like it was even leading to the castle. Others did not imagine themselves as wanderers on the path when they viewed the image.

So I removed it and also used that opportunity to improve the sand at the bottom edge of the screen so it would be closer in style to the sand I did not paint.

Finally, everyone was somewhat content with this. It might not be one of our best wallpapers of all time, but considering the time constraints it did not make a lot of sense to discuss this further.

However, we wanted to ensure that the original artist “axo1otl” was fine with the changes. The image would be published under their pseudonym after all.

The image was sent to them, and within one or two days they made a few final adjustments:

And what can I say? I like the changes. Better shadows and the drawing style of the water and sand I added were adjusted so one could no longer tell that they were painted by a different person. For this, some gradual colour transitions were replaced by discretely coloured steps.

So everything was fine and well, except the path reappeared. More generally, it seemed to me like the image was not based on my final version but on the one before that.

I might not know what happened there, but for me this was fine. Not everyone liked that the path reappeared, but considering that this is a rather minor detail, there was hardly any criticism.

Release

And then we released Plasma 6.1. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the new wallpaper did not make it into the release! I will not elaborate on this topic, but I obviously was not happy to read that.

Furthermore, I noticed that the wallpaper that we nevertheless offered as a separate download was not the version “axo1otl” had sent us. It was my latest version. I hope “axo1otl” is not upset about that, but as far as I know, they will not create a new wallpaper for Plasma 6.2.

I have now created another version of the wallpaper based on “axo1otl”'s final version. The picture is identical to their version, aside from me removing the path. If you do not like the path, I would say that this is the best version for you. However, there are slight compression artefacts:

Plasma 6.2

For the next Plasma version our Promo Team wants a new wallpaper. There are already efforts to ensure that we will hopefully do a better job this time around.

I have suggested the creation of a new permanent category in KDE's forum in https://invent.kde.org/teams/vdg/issues/-/issues/52#note_972957 . I would want it to be a place for everyone to upload their self-made wallpapers. Maybe there are hobby artists out there who would enjoy doing that. I hope that some of the images would be great and well-suited as wallpapers for future Plasma versions to the benefit of us and everyone.

Frau Nia

Ein platonischer Dialog

Frau Nia Frau Nia, Hayos Englischlehrerin, schaut von der Tafel auf und sieht, wie Hayo einen Zettel weitergibt, auf dem ein Witz darüber steht, wie schwarz ihr Hintern ist. Sie reißt ihn Hayo aus der Hand und liest ihn.

“Willst du der ganzen Klasse erzählen, was auf diesem Zettel steht, junger Mann?” fragt sie in einem strengen Ton.

Hayo “Oh Verzeihung, Frau Nia, ich habe das gar nicht so gemeint. Es war dumm und gemein von mir. Ich bitte sie höflich, diesen Zettel zu vernichten.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia sieht Hayo an, ihre Augen werden leicht weich. Sie legt den Zettel auf ihrem Schreibtisch ab und geht zu ihm hinüber.

“Ich schätze deine Ehrlichkeit, Hayo”, sagt sie leise, “aber lass mich etwas klarstellen. Ich dulde keine Form von Rassismus oder Respektlosigkeit in meinem Klassenzimmer. Jetzt lassen wir diesen Vorfall hinter uns und konzentrieren uns auf den Unterricht.”

Hayo “Selbstverständlich, Frau Nia. Lieben Dank!”

Frau Nia Frau Nia nickt, ihr Gesicht ist immer noch streng, aber in ihren Augen liegt eine Wärme, als sie seine Entschuldigung anerkennt.

“Dann wollen wir mal wieder an die Arbeit gehen”, schlägt sie vor und wendet sich von ihm ab, um die Kreide wieder in die Hand zu nehmen. Sie beginnt, an die Tafel zu schreiben, aber ab und zu wirft sie einen Blick zu Hayo, um sich zu vergewissern, dass er aufmerksam ist und nicht wieder abgelenkt wird. Sie weiß, dass sie ihn im Auge behalten muss, denn sie will nicht, dass sich dieser Vorfall wiederholt.

Nachdem sie den Unterricht beendet hat, entlässt Frau Nia die Klasse in die Mittagspause. Als die Schüler nach draußen gehen, geht sie auf Hayo zu. “Hayo, kann ich dich kurz sprechen, nachdem alle anderen gegangen sind?”, fragt sie leise und versucht, trotz der anhaltenden Spannungen zwischen ihnen ein professionelles Auftreten zu wahren.

Hayo “Ja, natürlich, Frau Nia! – Ich weiß, dass ich etwas falsch gemacht habe.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia sieht zu, wie der Rest der Klasse nach draußen geht und nur Hayo und sie in dem ruhigen Raum zurückbleiben. Sobald sie allein sind, dreht sie sich zu ihm um, die Arme vor der Brust verschränkt.

“Du hast mehr als nur 'einen Fehler' gemacht, Hayo”, sagt sie mit fester Stimme, die einen Hauch von Enttäuschung enthält. “Was du geschrieben hast, war verletzend und inakzeptabel. Es ist wichtig, dass du das verstehst.”

Ihr Blick ist intensiv, und doch liegt eine gewisse Zärtlichkeit in ihren Augen, während sie spricht. Sie möchte, dass er aus dieser Erfahrung lernt und sich nicht nur entschuldigt.

Hayo “Beim Schreiben des Zettels war mir das nicht bewusst, Frau Nia, aber jetzt verstehe ich es.

Wissen Sie, jeder weiß, dass Sie eine Lehrkraft diese Schule sind und ich einer ihrer Schüler. Diese Tatsache definiert unsere Beziehung zueinander. – Für Sie bin ich zweifellos dieser Schüler. Für mich sind Sie seit einiger Zeit aber nicht nur eine Lehrerin. Es ist da eine andere Ebene entstanden, in der auch – bitte entschuldigen Sie – Ihr Hintern eine Rolle spielt, nicht jedoch dessen Farbe. Der Bezug auf die Farbe diente mir nur als Aufhänger, als Anlass, mich zu diesem Thema zu äußern, das mich sehr beschäftigt. Er war also gar nicht rassistisch gemeint... – Ich hoffe, ich konnte das irgendwie verständlich... – es ist nicht einfach für mich, glauben Sie mir...”

Frau Nia Frau Nia hört aufmerksam zu, als Hayo versucht, sich zu erklären, und ihr Gesichtsausdruck wird ein wenig weicher. Seine Worte sind herzlich und aufrichtig, und sie kann nicht umhin, einen Anflug von Mitgefühl für ihn zu empfinden.

“Ich weiß deine Ehrlichkeit zu schätzen, Hayo”, sagt sie sanft, “und ich verstehe, dass du nicht absichtlich Schaden anrichten wolltest. Aber es geht nicht nur um die Absicht hinter der Nachricht, sondern auch um die Wirkung, die sie auf mich hatte.” Sie hält einen Moment inne und sammelt ihre Gedanken, bevor sie fortfährt. “Die Wahrheit ist, Hayo, dass diese Situation für uns beide nicht einfach ist. Du hast eine Grenze überschritten, und ich muss dafür sorgen, dass das nicht noch einmal passiert. Wir müssen einen Weg finden, das Vertrauen wiederherzustellen.”

Hayo “Einiges an der Situation kann ich sicherlich ändern, Frau Nia. Welches wäre der erste Schritt, den Sie vorschlagen würden?”

Frau Nia Frau Nia seufzt leise und fährt sich mit der Hand durch die Haare, während sie über seine Frage nachdenkt. Sie lehnt sich an ihren Schreibtisch und sieht nachdenklich aus.

“Der erste Schritt wäre, dass du echte Reue zeigst”, sagt sie langsam. “Das bedeutet, dass du die Verantwortung für dein Handeln übernimmst und dafür sorgst, dass sich solche Vorfälle nicht wiederholen. Du musst Grenzen respektieren, sowohl meine als auch die der anderen.”

Sie stößt sich vom Schreibtisch ab und tritt näher an ihn heran. “Zweitens würde ich gerne sehen, dass du einige proaktive Schritte unternimmst. Wie willst du verhindern, dass du in Zukunft ähnliche Fehler machst?” Ihre Augen suchen sein Gesicht nach Anzeichen von Aufrichtigkeit und Entschlossenheit ab.

Hayo “Zunächst würde ich gern einige Dinge feststellen. Wir reden hier von einem einzigen Vorgang. Es gibt aus meiner Sicht keinen Grund, in diesem Zusammenhang von 'Handlungen' oder von 'Fehlern' zu reden. Die Annahme, ohne eine echte Zerknirschung meinerseits müsse es unweigerlich zu weiteren Fehltritten durch mich kommen, lässt sich durch mein bisheriges Verhalten nicht rechtfertigen. Zu dieser Einschätzung könnte man demnach nur dann kommen, wenn man eine problematische Grundhaltung bei mir voraussetzt, der mit geeigneten Maßnahmen begegnet werden muss, etwa Rassismus oder Sexismus oder dergleichen. Diesen Verdacht wollte ich aber gerade durch meine Selbsterklärung entkräften. Dass Sie dennoch daran festhalten, zeigt mir, dass Sie mir nicht glauben. Das macht mich ratlos.”

Frau Nia Frau Nia holt tief Luft, um sich auf das vorzubereiten, was sie als Nächstes sagen wird. Ihr Gesichtsausdruck wird härter, ein klares Zeichen für ihre wachsende Frustration.

“Hayo, ich verstehe, woher du kommst”, beginnt sie mit ruhiger, aber fester Stimme, “und ich schätze deinen Wunsch, die Dinge zu klären. Aber deine Taten sagen mehr als deine Worte.”

Sie deutet auf die Tür. “Du hast eine Notiz geschrieben, die rassistisch, erniedrigend und respektlos war. Das ist eine Tatsache. Ihre Leugnung oder Erklärung ändert daran nichts. Auch wenn du vielleicht glaubst, dass du zu Unrecht angegriffen wirst, muss ich auf der Grundlage der tatsächlichen Geschehnisse Maßnahmen ergreifen.”

Ihr Blick wird wieder etwas weicher. “Ich möchte dir helfen zu verstehen, warum dein Handeln falsch war, Hayo. Aber jetzt muss ich erst einmal überlegen, wie ich das am besten anstelle.”

Hayo “Frau Nia, ich schätze Ihre Klugheit und Autorität. Ich habe unter Ihrer Anleitung schon viel gelernt, sowohl schulisch als auch menschlich. In einigen Punkten bin ich jedoch anderer Meinung als Sie:

Tatsächlich glaube ich nicht, dass Sie mich zu Unrecht hier zur Rede stellen. Ja, es ist etwas Dummes geschehen, für das ich verantwortlich bin.

Dass meine Notiz rassistisch sei, ist jedoch keine Tatsache, sondern eine Zuschreibung, die in der Zeit, im kulturellen Kontext und in Abhängigkeit von handelnden Menschen verschieden ausfallen kann. In dieser Frage eine Deutungshoheit zu beanspruchen, finde ich nicht angemessen.

Tatsache ist dagegen ganz offensichtlich, dass diese Notiz auf Sie erniedrigend gewirkt hat. Dafür möchte ich mich hier noch einmal in aller Form bei Ihnen entschuldigen. Ich habe diese Situation falsch eingeschätzt und ich habe beim flüchtigen Kritzeln nicht damit gerechnet, dass Sie diese Notiz lesen werden. Ihre Verletzung ist also nicht vorsätzlich geschehen. Ich bitte Sie, das bei ihrer Bewertung zu berücksichtigen.

Dass ich mich von meinen Gefühlen habe hinreißen lassen, diese Notiz überhaupt zu schreiben, ist zweifellos rücksichtslos von mir. Ich habe selbstbezogen gehandelt und die mögliche Wirkung auf andere ausgeblendet. – Dass diese Notiz jedoch der Ausdruck meiner Respektlosigkeit Ihnen gegenüber wäre, dem widerspreche ich: Sie haben meinen allergrößten Respekt – das versichere ich – als Lehrkraft dieser Schule, als Mensch, als Frau und – nun ja, seit einiger Zeit – auch als Persönlichkeit mit einer Ausstrahlung, die mich beschäftigt. Das passiert unweigerlich. Diese Energien kann ich vielleicht verschieden bewirtschaften, was Übung erfordert. Aber eliminieren lassen sie sich nicht.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt nachdenklich, als Hayo spricht, und hört seinen Worten aufmerksam zu. Ein Teil von ihr versteht seine Sichtweise, auch wenn sie ihr nicht zustimmt.

“Deine Entschuldigung weiß ich zu schätzen, Hayo”, antwortet sie, ihr Ton ist immer noch fest, aber irgendwie weicher. “Und ich erkenne an, dass du nicht die Absicht hattest, meine Gefühle zu verletzen. Dennoch hast du etwas geschrieben, das mich sehr verärgert hat.”

Sie sieht ihn unverwandt an, in ihren Augen liegt ein Hauch von Traurigkeit, gemischt mit Entschlossenheit. “Ich versuche nicht, irgendeine Art von 'Deutungshoheit' zu beanspruchen, wie du es ausdrückst. Vielmehr tue ich einfach meine Arbeit als Lehrerin und als jemand, dem die Schaffung eines sicheren Umfelds für alle Schüler sehr am Herzen liegt. Und ja, das schließt mich ein.” Sie holt tief Luft und fährt fort.

“Lass mich das anders erklären. Stell dir vor, du hättest statt 'What's up ebony queen?' geschrieben 'What's up white queen?'. Würdest du das als rassistisch ansehen?”

Hayo “Ich verstehe, dass eine abwertende Bezugnahme auf körperliche Merkmale diskriminierend ist, nicht aber die Bezugnahme als solche. Das Wort 'ebony' kann in einem bestimmten Kontext abwertend verstanden werden, hat aber meines Wissens nach keine historisch kolonialistische Konotation.

Eine rassistische Interpretation meiner Äußerung ist aber schlicht ein Missverständnis: Es gibt viele PoC-Frauen und -Mädchen an unserer Schule, doch keine von ihnen ruft die Empfindungen in mir hervor, die Sie hervorrufen. Das heißt jedoch nicht, dass Ihre Hautfarbe für meine Sehnsüchte gar keine Rolle spielen würde. Ich sehe Sie als Persönlichkeit mit vielen sichtbaren und spürbaren Eigenschaften, zu denen ich mich hingezogen fühle...”

Frau Nia Nia hört Hayos Erklärung aufmerksam zu, ihr Blick ist nachdenklich. Seine Worte lösen in ihr eine Mischung von Gefühlen aus, darunter Verwirrung und ein Hauch von Verärgerung.

“Ich schätze deine Ehrlichkeit, Hayo”, sagt sie und wählt ihre Worte sorgfältig. “Aber wir sollten nicht vergessen, dass Sprache Macht hat. Worte können verletzen, ob beabsichtigt oder nicht.” Sie hält inne und sieht ihm direkt in die Augen.

“Stell dir vor, wie du dich fühlen würdest, wenn dich jemand wegen deiner Hautfarbe beschimpft. Oder deiner Religion. Oder irgendetwas anderes, das dich einzigartig macht. Es wäre egal, ob es als Kompliment gemeint wäre. Tatsache ist, dass es auf die Wahrnehmung ankommt, die man von dir hat. Und wenn diese Wahrnehmung negativ ist, dann wird das Auswirkungen haben.

Ihr Blick wird etwas weicher. “Ich weiß, dass du kein schlechter Mensch bist, Hayo.”

Hayo “Sie haben Recht, Frau Nia. Wenn jemand mich z.B. einen 'Flachskopf' nennen würde, weil er sich abends im Bett mein blondes Haar vorstellt, oder schlimmer 'Bleichschwänzchen', weil er unterstellt, dass ich wegen meiner Hautfarbe weniger potent sei als andere, dann würde mich das auch kränken. Genauso wie es kränkt, wenn Schüler aus dem Namen eines Kameraden einen despektierlichen Reim machen, den sie ihm hinterher rufen. Oder die besondere Sprechweise eines Mitschülers hässlich nachäffen. Oder sich über den sozialen Status der Eltern abfällig äußern. Es gibt viele Formen und Möglichkeiten der Diskriminierung. Jede ist zutiefst kränkend. Es passiert täglich unzählige Male.

Es sind die Dornenhecken, durch die wir in unserem Leben hindurchgehen. Natürlich können wir unsere Wege planieren und säubern, um unverletzt zu bleiben. Wir können auf verbliebene Dornen hinweisen, immer mit einer Heckenschere im Gepäck. Dabei wird unsere Haut immer zarter und empfindsamer, was wir zusätzlich befördern durch Sensibilitätsschulungen und Safespaces: – eine allgemeine Mobilmachung der Sensibilität, die jede Resilienz gegenüber unvorhersehbaren Verletzungen verkümmern lässt. Am Ende steht unsere absolute Vereinzelung, weil der Mensch seinen Mitmenschen nicht mehr erträgt.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt langsam, ihr Gesicht ist ernst, während sie über Hayos Worte nachdenkt. “Du hast einige gute Argumente, Hayo”, gibt sie zu, ihre Stimme ist sanft. “Es ist wahr, dass wir in einer Welt leben, in der Diskriminierung nur allzu häufig vorkommt. Wir sehen sie jeden Tag, in unzähligen Formen und Situationen.”

Sie seufzt und reibt sich sanft über die Schläfen. “Aber das heißt nicht, dass wir es einfach hinnehmen sollten. Wir müssen uns selbst und andere über ihre schädlichen Auswirkungen aufklären. Und wir müssen uns dagegen wehren, wann immer wir sie sehen.”

Als sie Hayo wieder ansieht, schenkt sie ihm ein kleines Lächeln. “Wir sind alle Menschen, Hayo. Wir haben alle unsere eigenen Kämpfe und Herausforderungen. Lass uns versuchen, uns gegenseitig besser zu verstehen, okay?”

Hayo “Danke, Frau Nia. Daran werde ich arbeiten, das verspreche ich!”

Frau Nia Nia lächelt Hayo warm an, aufrichtig erfreut über sein Versprechen. “Danke, Hayo”, sagt sie aufrichtig. “Das bedeutet mir sehr viel.”

Sie hält inne, ihr Blick verweilt auf ihm, bevor sie weiterspricht. “Vergiss nicht, jeder verdient Respekt. Unabhängig von seiner Herkunft, seinen Überzeugungen oder seinem Aussehen. Das ist etwas, wonach wir alle streben sollten.”

Hayo “Das werde ich mir zu Herzen nehmen, Frau Nia!

Würde es Ihnen etwas ausmachen, in diesem Zusammenhang noch über einen anderen Gedanken mit mir zu sprechen?”

Frau Nia Nia legt den Kopf leicht schief, neugierig darauf, was Hayo als Nächstes besprechen möchte.

“Natürlich, Hayo”, antwortet sie in einem einladenden Ton. “Ich bin hier, um zuzuhören und zu helfen, wo ich kann.”

Hayo “Wenn wir uns einig sind, dass wir uns alle immer wieder darum bemühen müssen, respektvoll miteinander umzugehen, stellt sich die Frage, welche Aktionen in diesem Sinne wirklich zielführend sind.

Wirklichen Einfluss habe ich nur auf mein eigenes Handeln, das Handeln anderer Menschen kann ich ohne Manipulation oder Zwang – beides Formen der Gewalt – nur begrenzt kontrollieren, nicht wahr? Um Andere gewaltlos zu einem Wandel ihres Denkens und Handels zu veranlassen, bleibt mir wenig mehr als mein eigenes vorbildliches Verhalten. Manipulationsversuche oder Zwang, ob offen oder subtil, bewirken dagegen oft das Gegenteil und wecken Widerstände, die kaum zu überwinden sind.

Sie werden mir sicher zustimmen, dass ein Junge wie ich nur äußerst selten die Chance hat, einen Vorgang wie diesen im Gespräch so tief auszuloten, wie wir das gerade getan haben. In fast allen anderen ähnlichen Fällen bleibt unentdeckt, dass es eigentlich um persönliche Schwächen und Sehnsüchte, vielleicht um Gedankenlosigkeit und ein gewisses Maß rücksichtsloser Selbstbezogenheit ohne amoralischen Kontext geht.

In fast allen Fällen werden dagegen die stark moralisierenden Labels des Rassismus und der respektlosen Diskriminierung unwidersprochen an den Menschen haften bleiben. Ich rede von einem erwartbaren Verlauf solcher Vorgänge, nicht von bedauerlichen Einzelfällen. So bleibt selbst bei den am meisten einsichtsvollen Beklagten ein Gefühl, unverstanden geblieben zu sein. Wenn sich das häuft, entsteht ein Aufbegehren gegen solche Zuweisungen, welche wie sich selbst erfüllende Prophezeiungen schließlich einen substanziellen Rassismus sogar stärken können.

Daneben entsteht durch eine massive Präsenz dieses Themas in der Gesellschaft der Eindruck, überall könne mit etwas Aufmerksamkeit Rassismus entdeckt und bekämpft werden. Der Rassismus-Vorwurf inflationiert und wird stumpf, tatsächlicher Rassismus verschwindet in der Masse der Vorwürfe. An Rassismus zu denken und rassistisch zu denken sind dann kaum mehr noch als zwei Seiten derselben Medaille.

Ganz schwierig wird es schließlich, wenn dritte Unbeteiligte sich moralisierend einschalten. – In unserem Fall haben immerhin Sie selbst Ihre Kränkung thematisiert. – In den meisten Fällen aber sind es vor allem Nichtbetroffene in akademischen Milieus, die sich über das Studium entsprechender Literatur kenntnisreich wähnen und unterstellte Kränkungsvorgänge äußerst offensiv bekämpfen wollen, bevor sie überhaupt passiert sind, jedoch das Urteil von potentiellen Opfern weder abwarten noch überhaupt hören wollen. Ihnen geht es ums Prinzip, um den aktuellen Stand der Wissenschaft und um ihre Ideologie. Ob ein solches Vorgehen noch als gewaltfrei bezeichnet werden darf, mag bezweifelt werden, ganz sicher aber wirkt es zutiefst polarisierend, spaltet die Gesellschaft nach bestimmten Profilvorgaben in fest definierte Opfer- und Tätergruppen und stärkt damit die Gegenkräfte, die von rassistischen Ideologen instrumentalisiert werden können – und werden.

Auf mich wirkt die Rassismus-Zuweisung deshalb zwar leicht zu handhaben, doch im Sinne eines ehrlichen Antirassismus kontraproduktiv. Da ich aber auch sehe, dass rassistisches Verhalten nicht unwidersprochen bleiben darf, ergibt sich für mich und mein Handeln eine Zwickmühle. Wüssten Sie einen Ausweg aus diesem Dilemma, Frau Nia?”

Frau Nia Nia hört Hayos Worten aufmerksam zu, ihr Blick verlässt seine Augen nicht, während er spricht. Als er fertig ist, atmet sie langsam aus und denkt über alles nach, was er gesagt hat. “Hayo, du hast dir viele Gedanken gemacht”, sagt sie schließlich und nickt. “Und auch wenn ich nicht mit allem einverstanden bin, was du gesagt hast, schätze ich die Tiefe deiner Analyse.”

Sie lehnt sich nach vorne und stützt ihr Kinn auf ihre Hand. “Ich glaube, dass jeder von uns seinen eigenen Weg in diesen Fragen finden muss. Was für den einen funktioniert, muss für den anderen nicht funktionieren. Aber ich glaube, dass Verständnis und Einfühlungsvermögen der Schlüssel sind. Wenn wir lernen können, die Dinge aus der Perspektive des anderen zu sehen, können wir vielleicht einen Weg finden, um gemeinsam voranzukommen.”

Hayo “Ich habe verstanden, was an meinem frechen Verhalten so verletzend für Sie war. Und nun danke ich Ihnen, das Sie ebenfalls bereit waren, die Dinge auch aus meiner Perspektive zu betrachten. Das war mehr, als ich in dieser Situation erwarten durfte.”

Frau Nia Nia nickt und weiß Hayos Dankbarkeit zu schätzen. “Es ist meine Aufgabe, die Perspektive jedes Schülers zu verstehen”, erklärt sie sanft. “Und es ist wichtig für mich zu wissen, wie mein Handeln auf andere wirkt. Wir lernen hier alle, Hayo. Das ist ein Teil des Erwachsenwerdens.”

Sie schenkt ihm ein warmes Lächeln und versucht, ihn zu beruhigen. “Aber konzentrieren wir uns jetzt darauf, vorwärts zu kommen. Du hast dich verpflichtet, dich zu verbessern, und ich glaube an dich.”

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