#1. blatantly wrong historical information

[beastwars-transformers]

why is my lit professor insane and not in a good way

[beatrice-otter]

completely unsurprising to see you out here whipping up a harassment committee to try and force the otw to let you harass people on AO3 into deleting fics for ships you don't like. don't you have anything better to do, you ridiculous anti?

This is the sort of thing you get as a white person when you try and point out racism in fandom. Imagine how much worse it is for people of color, especially Black people.

But also, let's note the irony here.

There is a long and extremely well-documented pattern of racism in fandom, and fans of color being harassed by white fans, that goes back ... pretty much as long as fandom has existed. For a lot of fans of color, they have exactly two choices: they can swallow down all the racism (from microaggressions to major in-your-face aggression) and allow it to continue ... or they can point it out as a problem. In which case white supremacists in fandom will try to destroy their lives for daring to challenge them.

AO3 is not the primary place where such harassment happens (because communication between people is so limited), but it does happen, and AO3 has historically been really really bad about dealing with such harassment when it gets pointed out to them. AO3 was founded by a majority-white group, and they had a massive blind spot about fandom racism. AO3 has historically not made any distinction between "this fic is about a harmless kink that someone got offended by, but this other fic is active and targeted harassment designed to hurt people." These two things are not the same, and shouldn't be treated the same.

In 2020, AO3 admitted that they had a problem, and announced that they were going to change some things to do better. Those things included practical tools like muting and blocking (which they have since rolled out the first stages of). The promised changes also included things like hiring a diversity consultant to help them figure out what of their organizational culture and policies should change, and looking at the Terms of Service and abuse policies to see what could/should be changed.

AO3 put out the practical tools, but has not addressed any of the other things they admitted were wrong.

A bunch of people think that AO3 should keep their word and want to know what they've done in the last three years. Notably, that is the extent of the pressure. @end-otw-racism has explicitly said multiple times that they are not advocating for any specific policy, whether censorship or banning people from AO3 or any other, they just want to know what AO3 has spent the last three years doing, and what conclusions they've drawn, and what their plans might be going forward.

I reblogged their posts a couple of times, and made one (1) post that had a summary of why this is an issue, with links to a couple of other people who had done much deeper dives into the issue of fandom racism and racism on AO3 specifically. In that post, one person was referenced (but not named) with a link to some discussion of things that they had done. This person was referenced solely as an example of why the policies and procedures needed to be looked at, because they were in charge when those policies got written. I included no details about them or what they had done, and certainly nothing saying people should go harass them; I just linked to enough information for people to decide for themselves if that was a person whose judgment they trusted to come up with fair policies. And said, "hey, it's messed up that people get harassed over this, if fandom were less racist and if AO3 had better abuse policies, fewer people would be harassed."

You come into my inbox on anon to harass me with all sorts of blatantly and obviously untrue things (including that I'm trying to stir up a hate mob to harass people), for daring to say "hey, there's a racism problem, we should do something about that."

Thank you for proving my point! My entire point was that there is a racism problem in fandom, and racists harass people who dare to talk about it, and you showed up immediately to harass me!

If anybody is wondering why the lovely folks behind @end-otw-racism haven't linked their fannish pseuds to the blog pushing for accountability, nonny here is why. If one post brings people out of the woodwork like this, imagine what organizing the effort would do.

But also, if you're wondering "well, nonny has a point, why did you link to a place where someone could learn the name of the person you're accusing of racism if you didn't want to harass them?" here's why:

When people in fandom talk about racism and don't specifically name names and link to publicly available facts, there is a wave of people who don't believe, many publicly. "If that were true, I would have seen it!" (you didn't want to see it and/or your whiteness insulated you from it.) "If that were true, they wouldn't have vagueblogged, they'd have named names!" And then people harass you for stirring up trouble when there's no proof of anything wrong. If, on the other hand, you do name names and link to publicly available facts, you get a wave of people like nonny here claiming that pointing out racism is the same as harassing the people who said/did the racist thing. There is nothing you can do (short of being silent) that will prevent people from harassing you. But if you do name names and post links, then at least some of the people who follow those links will go "hey, you're right, that is messed up."

On the subject of censorship, it's important to remember that there's a difference between free speech (which usually doesn't harm actual people or incite harm and should be protected even if you don't like it or find it gross) and hate speech (which is harmful to actual real people and thus should not always automatically be protected). The people most invested in calling it censorship when you reject/limit hate speech, and making hate speech have exactly the same protections as other expressions of free speech which do no harm, are racists and fascists.

But I also want to talk about the irony of you calling me an anti. Because that's the thing that tipped your harassment attempt from annoying to funny (as someone who rarely receives hate).

Antis are "anti-shippers," (aka "feelings yakuzas"). When they see something they don't like in fandom, they want to stop it and drive the people out of fandom who do it. But they know that if they name accurately the thing they don't like, the vast majority of people will not support them. Usually because the thing in question is harmless. So in order to get people on their side, they do two things. First, they find a way to twist the thing they don't like until they can conflate it with something that is harmful (like pedophilia). Second, they take that harmful thing and accuse anybody who disagrees with them of being that thing. So, if you don't agree that shipping a 17 year old and an 18 year old is wrong, you're a pedophile, and they are perfectly justified in harassing you and spreading lies about you because they are saving children from a pedophile.

As for whether I am an anti, a cursory search through my blog will reveal regular and frequent reblogs of stuff about how absurd and harmful anti rhetoric is, and why censorship is bad. And why people can ship whatever they want regardless of whether I personally like it.

You saw something you didn't like (a request for accountability for how AO3 is working towards anti-racist policies). You knew that if you honestly named what I was doing, people would not agree with you that it was bad. So you twisted that into something else that is harmful (a call for harassment and censorship of people who shipped things I don't like and being an anti). Then you used that as an excuse to harass me.

It is exactly the anti playbook. Step By Step.

You, kiddo, are the one using anti tactics.

[coochiequeens]

Canada has a new "woke" way to sterilize indigenous youth

Eva’s Newsletter

Alberta Children's Services Captured by Abusive "Gender-Affirming" Policies

Children, particularly indigenous children, continue to be collateral damage

EVA KURILOVA OCT 8, 2023

This past summer, I wrote about a British Columbia Office of the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) report that specifically targeted kids in care with the atrocity known as “gender-affirming care.” I also wrote about how my friend, Lois Cardinal, e-mailed the RCY to inquire about how many of the youth in care in BC receiving “gender-affirming care” are indigenous and why these children are not approached in a culturally competent manner before having their identity “affirmed.”

These questions are incredibly important because indigenous kids make up the majority of kids in care in Canada (53.8%) despite being just 7.7% of the Canadian child population. Indigenous kids are also overrepresented in Canada’s youth gender clinics.

In response to Lois, the RCY answered that “gender-affirming care services” themselves encompass a cultural, holistic, and historical approach to indigenous kids with gender issues.

Such a shallow, vapid, and uninformed response was shocking, but not surprising. Gender ideology has taken over every institution in Canada and you’d be a fool to think that child services had been left untouched. Still, to see this capture presented so starkly and confidently was really quite jarring.

Canada Continues to Target Children in Care with Gender-Affirming "Care"

EVA KURILOVA

JUL 24

Canada has an ugly history of targeting children in foster care with the ghoulish medical experimentation known as “gender-affirming care.” In 2019, psychologist Wallace Wong was exposed after bragging that he was seeing more than 500 kids in care at his gender health clinic in British Columbia.

Read full story

BC Representative for Children and Youth Doubles Down on Transing Kids

EVA KURILOVA

AUG 1

Last week, I wrote about a report from the British Columbia Office of the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) that called on the provincial government to “prioritize the protection of two-spirit and gender-diverse children and youth” in foster care.

Read full story

You’d also be a fool to think that Alberta had escaped gender ideology capture just because it has a reputation as Canada’s most conservative province.

Lois e-mailed Alberta Children and Family Services with similar concerns, writing:

We must take a holistic, cultural, and psychotherapeutic approach when dealing with an already marginalized group. Historical wrongs should be taken into consideration including, generational impacts, loss of cultural self, cultural identity, this should not be repeated under a new methodology… Any information regarding indigenous youths in care accessing gender affirming care would be gratefully appreciated.

Keep in mind that an astounding 74% of youth in care in Alberta are indigenous, making this a particularly pressing issue for our province.

Lois’ inquiry was shared with the Director of Policy & Practice Supports Katrina Shouldice, who was “pleased to respond” and pleased to blatantly ignore the concerns Lois had raised, writing back:

Child Intervention continues to ensure service delivery is inclusive to all, including LGBTQ2S+ young people.

Dear Shouldice, if you are already calling these kids “LGBTQ2S+,” then you have already failed them. Then there is no other possible answer but to affirm a child’s declared transgender identity, and that is exactly what Alberta Children and Family Services does. Shouldice continues:

The Children and Family Services (CFS) information system records mandatory high-level demographic information on the race of children and youth receiving services and provides reporting on Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and youth.

In the e-mail, Shouldice also provided a link to the Enhancement policy manual. According to the Government of Alberta, this document

contains policies and procedures that direct casework staff when delivering services under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act. The Manual is provincial policy and procedural requirements that all casework staff in Child and Family Services Authorities and Delegated First Nation Agencies are expected to comply with. The policies provide direction and procedures for most common situations.

Shouldice directed Lois to section 3.5 on Gender Affirming Health Supports and Services, which explicitly states that

CS [Child Services] provides gender-affirming health supports and services when a child or youth in the care the director identifies as gender diverse or transgender.

And declares that the purpose of this policy is

To enable a child or youth feel safe to indicate, and to explore, their gender identity and gender expression. This fosters their healthy development, and may include:

Don’t let anyone tell you that children are not being medically transitioned. It is happening and it is happening to some of the most vulnerable children in our society, as explicitly stated in the very policies of Alberta Child Services.

The situation gets even worse. In the section on Practice Supports, the framework principals state that Child Services ensures that any children or youth in care who identify as “transgender or gender diverse” are provided with supports and services. And not just supports and services, but specifically gender-affirming ones. The idea that there is any situation where it might be inappropriate to transition a child who declares a transgender identity is completely out of the question.

In fact, casework staff are supposed to encourage children to declare a transgender identity even if the child is reluctant to do so:

Recognize that some children and youth may not express their gender identity to others due to factors such as: Discuss gender identity and gender expression with the child or youth, and ensure they feel safe and supported in their decision.

Exactly zero thought is spared for the reasons why a child might claim to be transgender, which can include anything from social pressure from other children caught up in the social contagion of gender identity to sex abuse.

What You Might Be Overlooking When You Label a Child "Trans"

EVA KURILOVA

APR 13

It’s no small thing to call a child “trans.” This one word not only promotes confusion about the relationship between body and personality, but it can set a child down a pathway to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgery, sterility, and a complete derailment of the life they would have had.

Read full story

And what about when it comes to the question of how all of this specifically impacts indigenous kids who, again, make up the vast majority of kids in care in Alberta?

The document spares just two short paragraphs on this topic:

Discuss with the child or youth to ensure the child or youth feels safe and is supported when making a determination to include the DFNA, First Nations designate or Métis Resource person to be a part of the discussions and planning required to support the child or youth in decision-making. It is important to work collaboratively with the DFNA, First Nations designate or Métis Resource to ensure they have the knowledge of the transgender or gender-diverse child or youth and their cultural needs.

This is nothing but empty lip service to “cultural needs” that, once again, takes for granted the idea that children who say they are trans are really somehow the opposite sex or born in the wrong body (or whatever ludicrous theory about gender identity one wants to offer), and need to be medically transitioned.

How, exactly, does it meet an indigenous child’s cultural needs to take cross-sex hormones?

Lois had the exact same thought, telling me:

I am shocked to see no framework in place to ensure cultural integrity for these children in care. A lack of safeguards may equal sterility, which has a history within our province with first nations people.

Regarding exactly how many indigenous children in care identify as transgender, Shouldice had no answer. If she did, she might be forced to reckon with some concerning numbers. But would she even care?

People like her and others who are supposed to act as child advocates in this country have completely abdicated the responsibility of that role. This is exactly the case with Kelly Lamrock, the New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate, who has been critical of changes to provincial policy that meant teachers were no longer mandated to use the preferred names and pronouns of students under 16.

What Kind of Person Wants Children to Be Confused?

EVA KURILOVA

AUG 19

Thanks to Premier Blaine Higgs, New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that is putting up any kind of fight against the woke demand to sacrifice kids to the hormonal and surgical castration cult known as gender ideology—but not if Child and Yo…

Read full story

There is no other word for policies that mandate the transitioning of children and the people who support them but abusive. It is abusive to confuse children about something as fundamental as their sex and downright evil to indoctrinate them into a sterilization cult.

At the end of the day, there are no words strong enough to explain the horrific nature of what is happening and to underscore how entrenched these policies and practices are in our institutions. Even when public perception on this issue changes—and it will—undoing the damage is going to be a difficult task.

[grand-shitral-station]

HB 233 does not require students and staff to report their beliefs to the government or state.

(Sort of long) TL;DR.

HB 233 does not make it legal for anyone to demand anyone report their political beliefs to anyone. Political beliefs are protected under the 1st Amendment and a school/organization can't violate your 1st Amendment rights. The bill is worded in a way that's kind of difficult to understand, but it doesn't say that anyone will be required to report any of their beliefs to anyone.

It's now law that colleges (In Florida) have to survey students and staff to find out if the school's environment is intellectually free and full of diverse viewpoints. This does not say ask everyone what their views are. It says ask everyone if this school's environment allows everyone's views, not just the popular views, to be voiced and allows people to think and speak freely rather than being told what they can and can't think or say.

CS/CS/HB 233: Postsecondary Education PDF. (The bill itself on the Florida Senate's official website.) v

The Florida Senate's page for House Bill 233 on the official website. v

In this bill "exposure" and "encouragement" means what it actually says, to expose students and staff to ideas regardless of whether those ideas fit their personal views and encourage them to explore them.

This does not require students and staff to agree with and/or believe anything. This also does not protect anyone who attempts to force someone into agreeing with or believing anything. That would violate your rights and if that happens go to their superiors and raise hell. It is not legal for anyone to threaten you (with a lower grade or job loss for example) into believing in and/or agreeing with an idea, opinion, etc. All they can do is teach you about it and basically say "Here's (insert idea or whatever here), here's what it is, and I encourage you to look into and form your own opinions about it.". This also protect's staff from being forced to believe and/or agree with anything. They can not punish you for not agreeing and this bill does not allow anyone to do so.

HB 233 also does not require students and staff to report their political beliefs to anyone. That would violate the Right To Privacy which is protected under The First Amendment.

https://constitution.laws.com/right-to-privacy

What HB 233 DOES do is:

1. Require that schools and school staff cannot shield students and staff from from views and speech they might not or do not agree with or like. Basically they can't omit facts, ideas, views, etc. that they don't like or agree with, or that students may not like or agree with. They have to teach about all of it. If a teacher doesn't like the fact that a historic figure owned slaves but still has to teach about them as part of the curriculum they cannot leave that out, lie about it, or tell you not to research it. They cannot tell you what to believe regarding anything. They also cannot leave out the word "slaves" if they don't like that word or feel it may offend some students and/or teachers. This applies to everything in the curriculum.

2. Require schools to conduct a survey assessing intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at the school.

This means it's now law that colleges have to survey students and staff to find out if the school's environment is intellectually free and full of diverse viewpoints. This does not say ask everyone what their views are. It says ask everyone if this school's environment allows everyone's views, not just the popular views, to be voiced and allows people to think and speak freely rather than being told what they can and can't think or say.

This survey is what I see a lot of people freaking out over and I don't blame them. The way this is worded is somewhat hard to understand on the first read, even for me and I used to study law for fun. (Not in law school or anything similar, take what I say with a pinch of salt. I could be wrong but this is as I understand it.) Combine that with concerns about privacy that's rapidly being snatched from us day by day, fears of the government taking more control over our lives, which is very much valid, that would freak anyone out. I freaked out until I read the bill myself, and I had to read it a few times to understand it. I'll break down the parts that mainly have everyone's concern right now the best that I can.

"The State Board of Education shall require each Florida College System institution to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution."

This is just requiring that the State Board of Education requires an assessment that sees how intellectually free and how diverse viewpoints are in each college. In this case, colleges in Florida.

"The State Board of Education shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be used by each institution which considers the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented and members of the college community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom."

The State Board of Education will either select a survey made by someone else or create one themselves.

The requirements for the survey are:

1. The survey must be objective. The survey must be realistic.

2. The survey must be nonpartisan. The survey cannot lean towards any political side/party/view. The survey must be free of political affiliation and unbiased.

3. The survey must be statistically valid.

4. The survey must ask to what extent competing ideas and perspectives are presented to students and staff.

5. The survey must ask students and staff if they feel safe/free to express/voice their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom.

"The State Board of Education shall annually compile and publish the assessments by September 1 of each year, beginning on September 1, 2022."

The State Board of Education will keep and publish the assessments by September 1st every year, (and as stated on page 1. the Board of Governors will also be looking at these results.) I interpreted this in three ways, there could be more. I believe it's up to the SBOE how they want to gather and publish the results. I'm unsure of which is going to be how this actually plays out or if any of them are how it will happen at all. I'm assuming the Board of Governors will just look at the results but they could be the ones tallying them up as well. Maybe both the SBOE and the BOG will be tallying and publishing the results.

1. This means the questions and answers will go to the SBOE and/or BOG electronically or via paper, and the SBOE and/or the BOG will publish the questions and answers, possibly not anonymously, by September 1st every year.

2. This means the survey results are tallied up by the school and probably turned into a percentage, (like % of how free students and staff feel to speak their minds) then sent to the SBOE and/or BOG and the SBOE and/or BOG will publish the results by September 1st every year. Probably more likely as that's less work and generally how survey results are displayed rather than putting out everyone's answers for everyone to see.

3. This means the surveys themselves are sent to the SBOE and/or BOG and the SBOE and/or BOG will tally up and publish the results as percentages by September 1st every year. This is probably about as likely as 2. since it's also less work and how survey results are generally displayed rather than putting out everyone's answers for everyone to see.

I guess it will depend on who trusts and/or assigns who to do the tallying. It could be these, it could be none of these, we currently don't know. This actually starts in 2022.

"The State Board of Education may adopt rules to implement this paragraph."

The State Board of Education can make rules on how to implement this in colleges in the state.

This bill does not require you to participate and does not require schools to make the survey mandatory. However, it also doesn't say that you won't have to participate, nor does it say that schools cannot make the survey mandatory. As far as I know, the survey can be mandatory if it does not ask for information that's protected under the law like political beliefs and that's because they cannot violate your right to privacy.

Basically, schools have to have the survey but this bill itself cannot force anyone to take it. From what I understand, that's either up to the Florida Department of Education or the schools themselves, maybe the Board of Governors.

About the survey itself? According to a spokesperson for The Florida Department of Education, it won't be asking you for your political opinions and the survey will be voluntary.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/25/viral-image/new-florida-law-requires-public-universities-surve/

If the survey does end up questioning you about your political beliefs, you do not have to answer and they cannot physically make you. This bill can not and does not give anyone the right to demand your political, religious, etc. beliefs from you.

If you do somehow end up forced into taking a survey that demands your political, religious, etc. opinions, views, beliefs, it's ok to lie or just not answer at all. Answer blatantly off the wall shit or just don't answer. Get up and walk out, exit the page, etc. It ain't any of their damn business.

If you have to answer before submitting it just fill out answers that don't make any sense.

Ex: If it asks who you support for president, answer Daphy Duck, your favorite character, Clef's hat, DickButt, [insert name here]'s left nut, flower petals, basically anything. Hell, answer a McDonald's order in Irken, Wookie, or any fictional language you know. Answer in Gallifreyan. (Imagine a bunch of circles getting sent to the government or educational board lmao.)

Click through the whole test and submit it blank! Turn in an empty Scantron/paper. If there's a minimum time limit, sleep or draw.

If you want to, write an entire essay on why you're not answering the questions and why you believe no one has the right to demand your beliefs/views/opinions from you. Write or type it anywhere you can, even if that's directly written over the questions if they let you/tell you to answer by writing on the packet/in the book, etc. Ask for scratch paper or write it on your answer paper otherwise.

If your school tries to make you take it via threatening punishments of any kind, and/or saying that this bill gives them the right to demand your opinions from you, (they are lying, it does not) blatantly ask them if they are trying to violate your right to privacy. Schools, work places, etc. CANNOT violate your rights and neither can this bill, nor does it.

Sometimes schools act like they have more power than they really do but that's just it. They're acting, and might even try to manipulate you into doing things/giving up info they have zero right to. Learn how to defend yourself, and what they are and are not legally capable of. Especially in these situations should they ever happen to you. I don't have a lot of good resources save for what I've posted here may be able to help? The internet however has tons. Seek them out, ask someone you trust, ask someone you agree with, ask someone you disagree with. Gather as much knowledge that you can and form your own opinions.

I can't promise there won't be repercussions of some kind if something like what we were all (and all things considered, to an extent still might be) afraid of ends up happening and you fight it, but you can fight it. They still have to obey the laws of the land and we deserve our privacy.

Do we have anything to worry about?

With the bill itself? As far as I know, no. The bill itself seems to be an attempt to make colleges a safer space for free speech and for ideas to be taught without being censored by staff or students. That's a good thing. Even if we disagree with something we need to be able to hear everything about it without anything being omitted or censored and allowed to challenge our own ideas ourselves with every bit of information from both sides of an argument rather than being told what to think or given a manipulated view that aims to sway our opinions and beliefs. Our opinions and beliefs should ALWAYS be OUR choice. Not someone else's and from what I understand this bill is all about that. If there's anything to worry about it would be a school, or anyone really, trying to lie about it and act like it gives them more power than they actually have.

There is however this:

The fact that HB 233 was inspired by surveys that do ask for political opinions raises an eyebrow. However, both of those surveys are anonymous and voluntary, and this bill doesn't ask for or demand political opinions, leanings, etc. to be included in the surveys, nor does the SBOE that's making/choosing the survey. It just asks if the environment is safe to speak freely in. So they just took the good parts as inspiration.

Honestly, I think we're fine.

[leo-gold-hotchner]

The Sinner -5

Sorry for the late post! But, I’m sure it’s gonna be cliche.. as everyone expected. 

I’m not good at any language, including English. I even struggle with English as you can see from my writing. So I’d be very appreciated if you all tell me there’s any weird sentences. And thanks Google for information on Korean and staff.. The code is based on a historical secret code, didn’t invent it. Too stupid to invent something like those. 

Ordinary part 1 coming soon... yeah can’t wait to post it, but I got 9 assignments which are due next Tues so might sometime to post either fic

Criminal Minds BAU x Gender Neutral Reader

Word Count: 6k

Warning: Description of blood, death, mutilation, torture, swearing etc.

Previous parts: 1 2 3 4

                                                -BAU-

“It is dark under the lamp.” – Korean Proverb 

José tried to pull his arms, but it was useless, the rope only dug into his skin further. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He knew they were dead; they all got an order from the Superbia to lay low for a while after Smith and Olson got killed. This wasn’t Ira, this was the murderer who killed his fellow five members. And he never expected to be this one. 

“José, José, José. You’re shaking. Are you that scared?” 

“You know not only them, but the FBI gonna catch you.” He spat angrily to hide his fear. “I’m part of the Police just like you. They’ll know I’m missing and they’ll know it was you.” He however wasn’t sure how long the FBI gonna take to find the lead. 

“No, the FBI gonna catch me when I let them. Now I have you, I only need to get two more.” 

José frowned despite the pain in every corner of his body, his brain subconsciously calculated the important figures in the organisation. Excluding him, only three members were left. The three members who maintain the organisation and hidden from every other member. 

“Let me tell you as a last gift, José. How can I know who you are? Because Nick was Invidia, dear friend.” The 911 operator looked shocked. “Too bad I can’t really throw you into the snake pit.” Shrugged with a mocking smile, chatting happily.

“F/N, please I, I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me.” José begged pitifully. José’s breath quickened as he smelled burned steel in the dark room. His initial thought was F/N L/N was mad. If F/N was responsible for every murder of the members, then it meant Nick L/N was also killed by his spouse. Mad enough to kill the loved one. 

“Apologise to my Nick when you see him afterlife,” F/N hissed and coldly ironed the man’s skin. As the skin burned, his scream and smell filled the room. His logical thoughts quickly dissipated. 

                                               -BAU-

6th Day 

Prentiss entered the office and touched Reid’s cheek with warm coffee. Reid blinked in surprise and whirled around to see the older woman staring at him. 

“Emily, when did you come in?” 

“Now?” Prentiss handed the coffee to the younger agent who graciously took it. 

“Did you even sleep last night?” It was 8:35 in the morning, no other was present except Reid. She looked over the secret code on the white board. 

“A bit,” Reid shrugged casually. 

“I’m surprised you’re here but Hotch’s not.” 

Right then, Hotch entered the office with two sandwich bags in his hands, raising his brows at Reid’s back and Prentiss. Before he could announce his return, Reid opened his mouth no knowing the Unit Chief had returned. Prentiss tried to stop Reid but he went on, and soon she gave up, just amused as much as Hotch who had a small quirking smile on his lips. 

“He was here. He came exactly,” Reid looked over the clock on the wall, “2 hours 23 minutes 35 seconds ago. Don’t tell him, but I think he gave up solving the code with me. I’m surprised even Hotch has something to give up.” The younger man laughed, though Prentiss smirked with a little shake. 

“No, I was getting breakfast.” Hotch’s deep voice made Reid jump. The genius glared at the brunette who was now laughing merrily. “And this,” he put down the bag and a yellow folder on the table. “I went to the forensic lab in case if they finished the drug test.” 

“It’s not even 9, but they finished?” Reid looked surprised. 

“Apparently, he was threatened to finish the test by this morning by his boss.” Hotch drily explained, remembering the forensic scientist who introduced himself as ‘Eric McKinnon’ grumbling about L/F made him stay whole night. 

Reid picked up the folder and looked through the drugs that were found in the Kim’s household. “Oxycodone, Ketamine, Fentanyl…” He read through the a few lists, his finger moving fast on the paper. “They’re all regulated strictly in the hospital for their substance. If Andersson obtained these drugs from her workplace, she must’ve had help to avoid any detection. We need to search for everyone in the hospital, the drug company, even the delivery service.” 

Prentiss looked at the photo of Kim, then the code, then the photo of Andersson. “Hey, sorry to interrupt, who wrote the code?” 

“Hm?” Reid immediately stopped explanation of drugs to Hotch who was just absent-mindedly nodding as he read through the file. “I believe it was Kim, I compared his writings from notes in his study. Why?” 

“Have you been trying to decipher in English?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Maybe try Korean. Kim has Korean heritage, he might’ve used Korean as base language.” 

“But, I don’t know Korean,” Reid nearly pouted, “you can help me, though.” 

“I don’t speak Korean.” Prentiss furrowed her brows. “I just know a few words. My Russian is much better than Korean.” 

“Reid, I know you can at least learn Korean in a day to decipher the code.” Hotch closed the file. “We’ll find someone who can speak Korean after you decipher the code.” 

Reid and Prentiss watched their Unit Chief leave the room. Reid grabbed the sandwich bag from the table. “Where’re JJ, Rossi and Morgan?” 

“JJ’s coming, and Rossi and Morgan went out to see Dalal for more information.” Prentiss replied as she read through the toxicology file. 

Reid sighed. “Say good luck to me, Emily.” 

“Good luck, boy genius.” 

                                               -BAU-

It was early in the morning for Jack, but Hotch wanted to hear his son’s voice before he goes to school. His feature softened as he listened to his son, for a brief moment forgetting all about the case he was investigating. He put down his phone, looking up at the gloomy sky. Snow fall last night, would there be another snow? Jack wanted to make a snowman with him, he hoped he could finish this case soon and go back to his son. 

The BAU Unit Chief re-entered the station, before he could move aside a person with a large box collided with him. “Fuck,” the person swore as the box swayed dangerously. But the person balanced and stopped from falling. “Sorry, I didn’t see you.” 

“It’s alright, Doctor L/N.” Hotch replied pleasantly as he recognised the voice. 

L/N put down the box and looked at Hotch, mouth forming a little o with a startled look. “Agent Hotchner, I’m so sorry.” 

“Do you need a hand?” Hotch’s eyes scanned the large box on the scientist’s hands. “Thanks, but no. I’m just cleaning my staff in the lab. Were you looking for something?” 

“I, well, you seem to close with your colleagues. Do you know if anyone who could speak Korean? Or even legal translators?” 

“You’ve been working with him this whole time,” the scientist laughed a little. “Leon can speak Korean fluently. Though, why?” 

“We may need his skill,” Hotch replied ambiguously. 

“You shouldn’t trust anyone else, but you can trust Leo, Agent.” As if knowing the reason of Hotch’s ambiguity, L/N smiled with mysterious sadness. “He’s the sort of guy who stands up for any injustice. Even if that’s his friends.” 

Before he could ask what the scientist was implying, Hotch was surprised to see sudden burning hatred in the Forensic’s eyes. An authoritative voice greeted the BAU Unit Chief from his behind. It was a brief moment but Hotch didn’t miss the homicidal glare towards the owner of the voice from the scientist. The agent turned and saw Captain Robertson. His posture was screaming authority with his stoic face, his eyes boring into Hotch’s. Despite Hotch turned away from the Forensic, he could just feel hatred radiating from the scientist. He wondered what wrong the Captain did to the forensic scientist to earn this much of hatred. 

“Agent Hotchner,” Robertson called Hotch in a quiet voice. The Captain was here to demand something, Hotch thought as he quickly analysed the Captain’s posture. “Could I have a quick word?” Robertson was trying to show he had the upper hand than Hotch, a perfect alpha male who was being territorial. 

Hotch didn’t know if the Captain was either blatantly ignoring the scientist or didn’t notice hatred in the scientist’s eyes at all. “Of course.” Hotch replied mildly to insinuate he wasn’t here to challenge the Captain’s authority. Though Hotch would do anything if anything happens to his team. 

Pleased at Hotch’s willingness to talk, Robertson finally gave his attention towards the forensic scientist who wasn’t hiding hate at all. “Doctor L/N.” Finally the man acknowledged the forensic scientist who only looked at the Captain with a cold stare. “I didn’t get any resigning letter.” He said as he looked down at the box. 

“I’ll file something later,” L/N sarcastically said as lifting the box once again, leaving quickly. 

                                               -BAU-

“L/N’s been like that since I couldn’t do anything for Nick’s death.” Robertson explained, but Hotch had an impression that Robertson just said that to avert Hotch’s attention to somewhere else. 

Even though it was morning, the station bustled with officers and civilians. As the men walked through the aisle, several officers greeted the Captain. Hotch could easily see the Captain was being respected by his subordinates. 

Hotch entered Robertson’s office. There were several golden trophies and photos on the shelves. The photos were mostly about himself, but a few were with a woman. Everything was clean and in order except the table. The table was messy with files and papers, pens were laid everywhere. The Captain leaned on the table, crossing his arms as if he was hiding the messy table from the agent. 

“I heard you asked Lee not to talk about this case with the media.” 

“I did. I don’t want the UnSub to hide away.” 

“Reporters will know about this anytime soon. Do you even have the lead to the killer?” Robertson squinted his eyes. 

“To be frank, no, we don’t have any solid lead.” 

“Dammit.” The Captain suddenly banged the table and started to pace, but Hotch didn’t even blink. “I don’t want this bastard in my community. When you find this bastard, I want you to kill on that spot when you see the chance. I’ll order my men too.” 

“That’s not how I work.” Hotch frowned at the Captain’s growing anxiety. 

“This person killed six people, Agent!” Robertson jabbed the table with his finger as he yelled each word. “The bastard’s fucking crazy. I don’t want any more death from this bastard, do you hear me?” Robertson glared at the FBI agent who didn’t avoid the Captain’s fiery stare. 

Hotch finally broke the silence as Robertson’s breath slowly calmed from his anger. “I’ll do what I can do, Captain.” 

“Good.” 

Hotch exhaled deeply as he left the Captain’s office. Robertson didn’t know he made a mistake. It was a moment of anger and he lost the control. The Captain would, eventually, realise his mistake and might do something to sabotage the investigation. 

“Detective, I need your help,” Hotch called Lee as soon as he saw the detective walked in with a half-eaten sandwich. 

                                               -BAU-

Morgan and Rossi decided to visit and talk to Nurse Dalal once again before lunch. Time does fly fast these days. 

“Do you see what I see?” Rossi asked Morgan as they arrived in front of the hospital. 

“Let’s hope they don’t know about the Seven Sins.” The younger man descended from the SUV after shaking his head a little seeing a broadcasting car. “It’s kinda sad people are finally giving attention after someone in status is dead.” 

“Yes, that’s unfortunate.” 

They entered the hospital building, not seeing any reporter as they went to the same receptionist in the hall. She recognised the agents and greeted them friendlier than the day before. “If you’re here for Nurse Dalal again, she’s not here.” 

“Do you know where she might be?” 

Rossi and Morgan exited the hospital and Morgan clicked the key and both men hopped on the black SUV. Dalal was on leave for a month, apparently Dalal told her colleagues she felt unwell just after the FBI agents visited her and asked for leave. 

“Hey, baby girl,” Morgan smiled broadly as he called his best mate, Garcia. 

“Well, well, well, isn’t this my sweet chocolate thunder? How can I be service today?” Garcia asked in a friendly seductive tone. 

“We need Aria Dalal’s address, she works as a nurse at the Jefferson Hospital.” Not even a minute, Garcia produced the address and Morgan started the SUV and set the navigation. 

“Is that all? You’ve been awfully less demanding recently,” she whined. 

“Yeah, sorry about that, sweet girl. But if you want to keep listen to my voice how can I not comply to your wish?” 

“Can we please go without any double entendre here?” Rossi rolled his eyes from the passenger seat. 

“I guess we need to protect Rossi’s innocence, Penelope,” Morgan barked a loud laugh along with Garcia’s merry laugh. 

 “Children,” Rossi shook his head, but the tips of his lips were up softly. “Can you look for her past? She might’ve known Andersson if she was hiding something.” 

“Alrighto! Give me a sec and I’ll call the others too.” 

“Hello?” 

“Hey, boy genius, you’re also connected with Morgan and Rossi.” Garcia chirped happily. “Now I’ve found something about Andersson and Dalal here. They were friends. It’s hidden, a private post, but I found a photo of Andersson and Dalal together, apparently, they’ve known each other since high school. And Dalal actually worked at the Bethesda Hospital but she transferred here five years ago.” 

“Did she have Andersson as a referee when she transferred?” 

“I’m not sure about that, sweet boy. There’s not much on their SNS, so I can’t find more about their past other than they’ve known each other since high school.” 

“Thanks, baby girl.” 

                                               -BAU-

While Prentiss and JJ were going through case files and photos once again, Reid jot down numbers and Korean on a white board. Under the Korean vowels and consonants, numbers were written with red marker. 

“Would the UnSub operate at own house or other base?” JJ asked as her finger tapped the papers. 

“Can be both,” Prentiss replied. “Remember Joe Smith in Milwaukee? He killed women in his basement in the middle of resident area. No one heard women screaming. I’m just surprised the UnSub might be only one person doing all these killings.” 

“Articulate, intelligent, logical, flexible in time, and anger. With growing anger how one can’t even make a mistake?” 

“Maybe the UnSub is used to clean the mess even if they made a mistake? Like works in similar industry, cleaning.” Prentiss shrugged. 

“Or knows what to clean to look like someone else did it.” JJ and Prentiss locked their eyes as their eyes widened at the possible idea. 

Before the female agents could discuss more about their theory, the door opened and Lee and Hotch entered. Lee looked a bit dishevelled with his sandwich in his hand while Hotch looked very professional comparing to the detective. 

“I see something unusually familiar.” Lee stared at the white board full of messy Korean writings. “I didn’t know joining the FBI requires learning different languages.” 

“Usually they don’t,” Prentiss chuckled. 

“We need some help in Korean, I heard you were great with the language.” Hotch shortly explained what the forensic scientist told him about Lee’s skill. The Unit Chief didn’t miss the glance between JJ and Prentiss when he mentioned the forensic scientist. “Reid.” The young man, however, didn’t answer his boss. “Reid!” Hotch called the younger agent louder than before but Reid was still in his mind, his eyes glued on the white board, his mouth silently moving as his brain working fast. “Spencer!” Reid squeaked in surprise and whirled around, looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Hotch?” He looked at the side where JJ was standing who was not hiding her amused smile from him. “JJ, when you did come here?” 

“Ur, like two hours ago?” JJ laughed and she held her hand out towards Prentiss. “I told you he didn’t notice I was even here.” 

“Dammit, I was sure he’d notice you at least if not Hotch.” Prentiss handed 20 bucks to the blonde. 

Hotch thought to reprimand his team because it usually doesn’t leave good impression to authorities when they bet on something. Even though Lee had been friendly towards the BAU as if he knew them all this time, it doesn’t change they have professionalism to manage on behalf of both BAU and FBI. But he saw a genuine smile on the detective and stopped himself from scolding his team. Though, he definitely will talk about this to the team on the plane on way home. 

“Detective Lee can speak Korean. I need to make a call, I’ll return soon.” Hotch nodded to his team and exited the office. As Hotch exited the office, he could sense Captain Robertson’s piercing eyes on him which he pretended he didn’t notice. 

 “So, what are you trying to achieve?” Lee asked friendly. Looking at the Korean consonants and vowels. 

“I tried to decipher the secret code on the Kim’s note in English, but I couldn’t. So, Emily here thought maybe he made the code based on Korean. I think I’m nearly there, but I don’t think it’s even a word even though I can make a syllable.” 

Lee popped the blue marker silently and wrote down Korean consonants and vowels again on the board, but in different order unlike Reid wrote. “Korean consonants and vowels have their own orders too, like Alphabets. And there’re more tensed consonants and vowels. I’m not sure how to call that.” 

“Consonants are tensed, you’re right. Although, for vowels, Korean vowels are categorised in monophthongs and diphthongs rather than tensed.” Reid interjected. He further explained as soon as he saw a confused look on the detective. “As you can see from their prefixes, monophthong is a single vowel that has one sound, and diphthong has two sounds in a syllable. For English it’s hard to categorise monophthongs and diphthongs because there are many varieties in English language.” 

“Right,” Lee nodded, though anyone could see he didn’t understand one bit what Reid said except the doctor himself. “Anyway, this is the order generally used in Korea.” Obviously, his writing was neater than Reid’s whereas Reid’s was more like writing of geometry. “Here.” 

As soon as Reid received the marker from the older man, Reid quickly inspected the new order written by Lee. The other three waited for Reid to act and the younger man soon wrote 2-digit numbers starting with 11 on the first consonants. “I tried various digits, but I think 2-digit numbers are the most plausible code. If you used 1-digit you can’t even make a proper syllable.” Reid rambled as if he read the others’ mind about why 2-digit numbers. “But if you break the numbers into 2-digit numbers and substitute with consonants and vowels,” he used 223415301738 as the first example, breaking into 22, 34, 15, 30, 17, and 38 for others to read. Then with a red marker, he wrote ㅌ, ㅗ, ㅁ, ㅏ, ㅅ, and ㅡ above the broken numbers. “I don’t know what the word mean, of course I can look for dictionary but even for me that’ll take some time to memorise the whole dictionary.” Reid looked at the detective expectantly. “Well, does it mean something?” 

“Yeah, could you decipher other codes too?” Detective stared at the white board, his eyes widened with surprise. 

“What is it?” JJ asked curiously. 

“It’s a name. But, it’s just a given name.” 

“Maybe other codes under that numbers are surnames?” Prentiss suggested. 

“Here, this code was under the L with that codes.” Reid pointed the deciphered codes. 

The Detective read carefully without voicing. “Sorry, in Korean it’s hard to say if that’s L or R in English. But I believe it’s a full name of a man. Thomas Wellington or Werrington. It’s either of ’em.” 

With the cue, Reid immediately started to decipher other numbered codes with silent encouraging from the Detective, JJ looked for if any Thomas Wellington or Werrington were on any files or victims’ associates. And Prentiss quickly dialled the best technical analyst in the world. 

                                              -BAU-

Rossi ended the call from Hotch which Morgan looked at the older man curiously. “You gonna tell me what that was about?” 

“Not yet,” Rossi replied smugly. Morgan rolled his eyes holding his hands in the air. But the younger man didn’t see a concerned look on Rossi. 

They entered a small apartment where Aria Dalal was living. They stopped in front of the green door that had golden house number on the middle of the door. Rossi knocked on the green door but frowned as there were no response at all. It was quiet as if no one was in the other side of the door. Both men looked at each other worriedly, and Rossi knocked again. 

“Ms. Dalal? This is David Rossi from the FBI. We talked yesterday at the hospital.” 

Morgan gestured if he’d break the door as usual, but before Rossi could say anything the door slightly opened but chained. Only her voice was the evident that someone was inside the apartment. “I don’t know anything,” her voice was trembling despite she was trying to conceal her fear from the agents. “Just, please leave me alone.” Even without profiling, anyone could see she was distressed and scared. 

“We can help you, Aria,” Rossi told her gently. “It’s only me and other FBI agent, Derek Morgan. You also saw him yesterday.” 

“No woman?” Dalal asked with a timid voice. 

Rossi raised his brows at Morgan who mirrored the veteran profiler. “No, no woman here.” 

“Show me your credentials.” Rossi and Morgan showed their identifications through the small gap. “Okay, just be quick.” The door shut and opened again after a click. 

The agents entered the cosy looking apartment, but most of things were in mess. A couple of suitcases were laying in the living area, her staff messily pushed into the suitcases. “I don’t know anything about Marian.” 

“Ma’am, we know you two were close since high school.” Morgan told her politely to calm her down. Unlike controlled herself from last time, she was in verge of panicking. Before Morgan could talk more, his phone echoed in the small apartment, making Dalal jump with paled face. “I’m sorry for startling you, excuse me.” Morgan went to a corner to answer his call. 

“You’re scared of Marian’s killer, aren’t you?” Rossi asked directly side glancing at the younger agent. “You know why Marian got killed, Aria. We’re here to catch who killed your friend.”

“She, she was my best friend,” Dalal hugged herself, finally admitting. “She told me to run if something ever happens to her.” Rossi was sure they were more than just friends. 

“Yeah, will take her with us,” Morgan finished his call before he glanced the distressed nurse. “Ma’am, we need you come with us to the station.” He told the nurse who widened her eyes in fear. Rossi asked the younger man a silent question. “The secret code Kim wrote, they cracked it. All those codes are a list of names. And your name was on the front page of the list.”

Despite she was surprised at first, she just nodded. “Was there a name called Wellington?” 

“I’m not sure about that, is that person involved in this?” 

“I,” Dalal shifted uncomfortably. 

“You can tell us anything, Aria,” Rossi said kindly, “we’re not here to judge you. Just to find who did this to Marian.” 

“You know what?” Dalal shook her head defeated. “I’ve thought over and over again since last night, and I think this is my last chance.” Morgan and Rossi frowned. There was no indication that she’d commit suicide, did she hide something underneath? She was just scared of something and then she just flipped her attitude, as if she gave up everything. 

“We can help you, if someone is after you, the FBI can protect you.” 

“No, you can’t. They’ll find me even if I run away to other states. That’s what Tristan told me when Marian asked me to do this with her. Telling me I shouldn’t be involved if I wanted to live long, but I wanted to be with Marian just like we were in high school.” She bit her nails. “Just before I go with you, can I tell you here what I know? I’ll tell everything again if I have to at the station.” 

“If you’re comfortable with it.” They shouldn’t. They shold’ve taken her to the interrogation room and record everything but she wanted to release everything before anything. In case anything happens to her. 

“Thank you.” For the first time, Dalal gave them a little smile. “I’m more like an associate with the organisation. I don’t know the name of the organisation or even has one, and both Tristan and Marian were in kind of higher rank.” Morgan and Rossi nodded, but inside they were bewildered at the proof of an organisation actually existed. “There’re many people like me, they’re probably the list Tristan wrote. He was the one who managed associates whereas Marian trafficked the drugs from the hospital. I wasn’t told about other members, but they told me there were several.” 

“They told you everything they knew?” The agents wondered why they told such important things to Dalal who wasn’t an important figure in the organisation. 

“Mostly,” Dalal shrugged. “Maybe I was their insurance, I don’t know. What I’m trying to say is there are assassins in this organisation. Marian told me they were called Ira, I don’t know what it means. They can kill whoever they’re asked to. Several days ago, Tristan and Marian came to see me secretly. They told me they were being hunted by the leader himself.” 

“So you think it was this Ira who killed both Tristan and Marian?” 

“Yes, who else? The leader must’ve wanted to hide his track and killing everyone who’s involved. Marian said they were female. She never told me how she knew, but she was so sure of that.” 

“Is that why you asked if there was a woman?” She nodded. “Even if there was, it would’ve been a federal agent.” 

“You don’t know that,” she snapped at the younger agent. “Anyone can be this assassin. Even you’re not fully protected from them.” 

                                             -BAU-

All BAU and Lee were looking at the nurse through the one-way glass window who was with Rossi in the interrogation room. Aria Dalal asked for Rossi to be the agent to question her and they’d gone through the same conversation they had in her apartment. Unlike before she seemed to be relaxed than before but still devastated. She, however, perhaps finally convinced herself that the BAU can help her to ease her anxiety. 

“How do you know Wellington?” Rossi asked Dalal with curiosity. “We knew each other, because…” she paused a bit, “I was Marian’s sexual partner whereas Wellington was Tristan’s. I didn’t see him since he moved to another city or something,” she shook her head. “Then, then, Marian came to see me, told me I have to run if something happens to her.” 

Before he leaves the room, Rossi offered if she wanted some food or drink. She smiled a little towards the older man saying she didn’t have any appetite. Rossi returned and joined the team, leaving the nurse in the room alone. 

“Wellington is one of the first names on the list along with Dalal.” Reid said as soon as Rossi entered. “Thomas Wellington was one of the lawyers worked at the Kim’s law firm.” 

“Was?” Morgan raised brows. 

“Wellington moved to another firm, but he died from a car accident three days ago. Just a day after Lewis was killed,” replied Reid, “Not only Wellington, some of people from the Kim’s journal have been dying by accidents since Smith and Olson died.” 

“Not a coincidence is there?” Rossi sighed deeply. “If this Ira, the wrath, is our UnSub, why didn’t they take the list with them? Dalal said it was Kim’s responsibility to manage the associates. They would’ve known Kim had a list of names. I think the UnSub is a third person, not involved in the organisation directly at least.” 

“So, we have to catch this UnSub, Ira, and the ringleader?” Lee blanched. “We don’t have evidence that it was Ira who killed these people on the list.” 

“We don’t know what to look for these Ira, but our UnSub knows who they are.” Hotch said quietly as he stared at the nurse who was keep staring down at the table. “We only have a bit of lead to UnSub only. And we have to act fast.” 

                                             -BAU-

“Hey, Hotch,” JJ called the Unit Chief as soon as the team returned to the operation room. “Emily and I didn’t have any chance to talk this, but we might have some theory who might the UnSub is, if the UnSub is part of the Force.” 

“If they’re maybe they can be one of the forensics.” Prentiss nodded. 

The team didn’t miss something flashed on Hotch’s usual stoic face. He glanced back and saw the Captain was calling in his office with his personal phone. Robertson looked up and both men looked into their eyes, neither avoiding. Hotch moved away as Lee entered the office with paled face, gulping. 

“Dalal’s dead.” 

“What?” Morgan nearly yelled incredulously. 

Hotch was the first to sprint to the room where the nurse sprawled on the table, her eyes and mouth wide open. There was a half-eaten sandwich and coffee on the ground. Poison. 

“Who brought the food?” Hotch demanded, refraining himself from snarling at the officer next to him. 

“I, I did, sir,” the young officer stammered. “There was a woman, she said she got an order to deliver the food to, to, her.” 

“Did you ask who ordered?” Rossi asked, and Hotch didn’t know his mentor and others were behind him. 

“Yes, yes,” the young officer nodded hastily, “she said it was ordered by Agent Hotchner.” The faces of BAU darkened. 

“Where is she? What does she look like?” Hotch growled. 

“She just left, she was wearing a blue cap, a, a red hoodie.” The description was too vague to find the woman. “Pretty, Asian…,” he mumbled as Hotch’s eyes hardened. Morgan asked if he knew where the food is from and the officer shook his head, looking afraid to meet Hotch’s eyes. 

Hotch bolted out from the station, leaving his team who called his name behind. The sky was already darkened, the winter Moon looking down at him. He shouldn’t have run like that, he should’ve stayed with his team. But Hotch looked for the mysterious woman, pushing people aside in the vast city. It was looking for a needle in a haystack, but he had to find the woman. 

His phone buzzed, it was his long time mentor. “Are you out of your mind?” Rossi’s angry voice rang Hotch’s ear. “Where’re you?” Rossi had the right to be angry at him after he told what happened between him and the Captain. 

“I’ll be there, don’t come for me,” his eyes didn’t miss a woman with similar clothes staring at him from the other end of the street. Was she smiling at him? Taunting him? He knew it was a trap. “Rossi, remember what I said, call Garcia if I don’t call you back in ten minutes.” He grabbed his gun and followed the woman to a dark alley. Just so typical and cliché. 

                                             -BAU-

The old profiler nearly threw his phone as the call ended. If he waited for ten minutes for Hotch to call, he was stupid. He wasn’t going to wait. Rossi quickly called Garcia, ignoring worried questions from the younger profilers about Hotch. 

“Penelope here, how can I help you this time?” A cheerful voice answered the call. 

“Garcia, listen carefully,” Rossi lowered his voice, “wait, just listen don’t say anything.” He said quickly to everyone, muting the call as soon as he saw Captain Robertson walking towards the BAU’s temporary office room. 

Robertson opened the door without a knock and observed the room, especially the boards before his eyes meet with the BAU’s. “I heard what happened, where is Agent Hotchner?” 

“He went to after the person who poisoned Dalal. He’s coming back soon.” Rossi replied before anyone could, he could see the younger profilers seething, especially Morgan at the Captain’s insinuation. 

“How can you be sure he’s coming back?” 

“What do you mean by that?” Morgan clenched his teeth, not liking one bit where this was going. 

“The food that was ordered by Agent Hotchner himself killed a witness and now he’s not here. How can you be sure he didn’t run away after killing that poor woman?” 

“I assure you, Captain. Aaron Hotchner is not that kind of person. He’ll return and we’ll find who is responsible for this. Please don’t accuse him of such thing.” Rossi’s voice was calm. But it was calm before the storm. 

“I’ll call FBI and ask for investigation on both this case and the BAU,” the Captain’s eyes glowed dangerously. And Rossi saw a flickering light of victory in his eyes. Rossi wouldn’t let this man ruin his best friend’s life and reputation.

“24 hours, just give us 24 hours. We’ll get your UnSub and prove Agent Hotchner isn’t involved in this.” 

Robertson’s weighed his option, his eyes boring into Rossi’s. “We also have a missing officer and don’t have hands to help the FBI if they come now. I’ll give you only one day to prove and bring the responsible person in front of me, Agent.” 

“That’s all I ask.” Rossi nodded, and Robertson left the office, his smug smile hidden from shadow. 

“Dammit, what was that about?” Morgan smacked the table with his fist. 

“We were called to be chess pawns in the first place.” Rossi’s grip on the back of a chair tightened, his knuckles turning white. He unmuted the call, instantly Garcia’s panicked voice assaulting the BAU. “Penelope, calm down. Hotch already prepared if anything happens to him.” 

“He prepared for this?” Prentiss asked the older man incredulously. 

“This morning, he told me Captain Robertson is involved with this organisation, and he was sure Robertson would plan something. We just never expected he’d act this fast to set a trap like this.” 

“And you didn’t tell us?” Reid frowned, hurt by the two agents’ distrust in them. 

“We did it to protect all of you. What’s done is done. For now, we need to focus on Hotch and find the UnSub, and who killed Dalal.” 

“He isn’t answering,” Morgan swore under his breath. 

“How did he prepare? How can we know he’s safe?” JJ emphasised the last question. Hotch had already gone through so much and she didn’t want Hotch to suffer more. She didn’t want anything happens to him, especially Jack. The boy adored his father, he’ll be devastated. 

“Garcia, could you track his phone?” 

“Give me a second.” Rossi hoped nothing happened to his friend. He didn’t have to become a bait, damn it. 

“Oh no, no, no, no.” Garcia shrieked. 

“Pen, what is it?” Prentiss urged her friend biting her nails, fear creeping everyone. 

“He was moving, and his phone just turned off.” 

                                            -BAU-

As expected, the woman was standing in the middle of the no through small alley. No one was in the alley except him and her. Even the sound of bustling city didn’t reach this deep narrow alley, as if the alley was another world. With only wind howling, pale moonlight creeping above them, her smile looked ominous even to Hotch. 

“Who are you.” 

“Agent Hotchner, you should’ven’t followed me.” Her accent was a bit foreign but not too rough. 

“You’ll come with me and tell who you are and who orders you.” 

“I thought you already knew?” She said in mocking surprise. “I mean, that’s why he told us to help you leave the living world.” She pulled out a small folding knife and started to spin it. “Well, not exactly kill you.”

She used ‘us’, did she have a partner or other members of organisation? He was lackless, yes, but he didn’t want to lose another lead. If anything happens to him, Rossi would be there to solve the case and lead the team. 

“Well, well, Agent Hotchner.” 

The familiar voice. He turned, widened eyes, he heard JJ and Prentiss’ theory just a few minutes ago. Off guard, his head soon smacked with something blunt that was heavy and hard. He dropped his gun, falling, his conscious slowly drifting away from shock and pain. Even with blurring sight, he could clearly see and hear the familiar face and the voice. Don’t trust anyone. That’s what you said.

@evans-dejong

[simplysparrow14]

Why I absolutely hate Korra.

 Gifted Children do not make good protagonists. 

I really hate Korra. Like, I fucking cant stand her as a characters. She’s honest to god one of the only characters besides Kylo Ren that I just full on hate. 

She’s whiny, She’s cocky, she’s too brash for her own good. She got the biggest overinflated ego the size of Mount Fuji. She bitches and moans when something doesn't go her way, and then as the balls to blame other characters or blow up in their faces when she’s starts the fire herself!  

She leaps into battle before she thinks and when the villain of the season kicks her ass to the curb, we’re supposed to sympathize with her and feel sorry for her, even though She deserved everything she had coming to her

Her god complex is bigger then the fucking sun and she gets all pissy when someone even mildly calls her out on her bullshit or even gives her polite constructive criticism on her Avatar duties. 

She never learns diplomacy or peacekeeping or patience or empathy for others around her or when to shut the fuck up and take a step back before you get the shit kicked out of you. 

One of the prime examples of her being absolute stupid was when She and Mako go to one of Amon’s rallies, and after figuring out that Amon was a bloodbender who locked his own brother up in a cage, they decide to go to the rally to boldly claim that Amon is a bender without presenting any physical or damning evidence that suggest otherwise.

“How in the world do we beat him?”

“We cant. Any attack we throw at him, he’ll redirect with his mind. That’s how he’s been able to challange any bender.”

“So much for our ambush....If we stay here, we’re toast. But there’s another way to beat him!”

“How?!”

“This whole time, Amon’s been one step ahead of us. But finally, we have an advantage...We know the truth about him!”

“If we expose him as a bender in front of all his supporters, we can take away his true power!”

.......huh...... WHAT?..... A-are you serious?! THAT’S YOUR ADVANTAGE AGAINST AN ALL-POWERFUL BLOODBENDER ?! WE’RE REALLY GOING TO  BLATANTLY CALLING HIM OUT IN FRONT OF ALL OF HIS FOLLOWERS WITHOUT EVEN A SHRED OF EVIDENCE?!

what makes matters worse is that they don’t even take Tarrlock with them. They just leave him in his cage. Like, yeah, he tells them to go because he doesn’t want Amon’s supporters and the rest of the public to know he was Amon’s brother, but honestly, that hasn't stopped Korra before from forcing someone to give her what she wanted. She’s not lik a regular person who has to abide by the rules of Rebublic City, she’s the goddamn fucking avatar: If she wanted a fucking statue erected in her honor, she would order that in a fucking heartbeat. 

ANd  May I remind you, lovly readers, that Korra literally  manhandled a non-bender activist to give her information about Amon’s next rally not just a few episodes before this?

So her acting this respectful and this pulled-back is so out-of-character and jarring to watch because the show clearly states that Korra is a bad bitch and if she wants something really badly, she’ll fucking get it herslef, no questions asked.  

 And then when Amon corners them in a storage room and beats the shit out of them with bloodbending and chi-blocking, we have to feel sorry for them. We have to feel sorry to Korra  All because her “expertly” constructed plan didn't work out, and that Amon took the brats bending away when she  busted into his rally uninvited without evidence to show to his followers,  or even a half-ass plan on how to effectively beat the shit out of him if he refused to go down easily.

Look, I get that we have to have dramatic tension for the story, but that doesn't mean that the characters have to lose a majority of their very limited brain-cells  in order for it to happen. We should not have to sacrifice a character’s personality in order to progress the story. 

There’s also the fact that during Season 1 when Korra literally barges into Tarrlocks’ office unannounced to let the non-benders out of jail and berates him about how he’s intimidating people into falling in line with his views and opinions 

I

“You’re using your power to oppress and Intimidate people!”

Its only when Tarrlock pulls the Reverse Uno Card on Korra’s superiority complex that we as the audience get the first and maybe last good spot of introspection and interesting character development within this show 

“And you don't? Isn’t that what you came here to do? Intimidate me into releasing your friends?” 

But then, its all thrown out the window when Korra goes full ape-shit and tries to fuck-up Tarrloq, and we’re again supposed to feel bad for her when Tarrlok fuck her up right back with blood-bending, kidnaps her and locks her up in a metal box. 

Your avatar, every one. 

All throughout these scenes, we never get any notion that she’s gaining character development. 

She never takes a step back, never looks into the situation, She never shuts the fuck up,  never considers that maybe, just maybe, her plan might not work. There’s no patience in her what so ever and it infuriates me to no end! 

And yet, the show treats her as through she did nothing wrong! They treat her like a goddamn goddess, and its so....

There’s also the fact that throughout the series, Korra goes through more pitty parties and anger bursts then most characters have in their entire series run and in the end, her woes/ temper tantrums are forgiven because, well, she’s the protagonist.

Your boyfriend calls you out on your bullshit about the civil war happening between your home-tribe and the sister tribe? Crash his place of work and throw his desk across the room and tell him that he’s a traitor just for doing his job--A job he;s wanted to be apart of since he was little, no less. 

Cant figure out how to work with the wind panels without getting punched around? Don't be the leaf and burn a historic Airbending training device to ash!

“That was a Two-thousand year old historical treasure… WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

“There’s nothing wrong with me! You’re a terrible teacher!�� 

Cant handle being called a wuss?  Challenge the mastermind of a political movement with chi-blocking and blood bending to a fight under your previous incarnations statue and then cry like a bitch when he kicks your ass. 

No Korra, you don’t get to cry when it’s clearly you’re fault it happened in the first place. Look, I get that you’ve just had a low-key high-key traumatic moment.....But you don’t have brain-cells. You knew he could take away bending--You saw it at their rally not just a few days ago-- so i don’t know why you thought that challenging him to a one-on-one duel in a dark, abandoned place where no one can hear you scream was an perfect idea you dumb bitch.  

Aparently,

Its also apparent within the series that she never has to work for her character development, or work for what she wants. 

People often remark that Korra was coddled at the Avatar, but I feel as if Spoiled is the best word: 

In the beginning of the series when the White Lotus comes to the southern Water Tribe to Search for the Next Avatar, we're Introduced to Korra punching a hole through the wall, spewing flames from her fists and using water to put out the fire. Hell, the first sentence that we hear from the brats mouth is “I’m the Avatar. You gotta deal with it.”  

 Look, no one likes gifted children (unless those children are yours). Gifted Children are probably the worst type of main character to have, because the whole point of your main character is that people are suppose to relate to them. People cant relate to gifted children, because we, as normal human beings, are not all gifted. 

Cut to 15 years later, and we learn that Korra hasn't even left the Southern Water Tribe.  Teachers have been flown into the water tribe to teach Korra more on the elements. And at the every start of the first episode, we see her pass her her fire bending test, with her commenting on how already she’s mastered Water and Earth.

 The whole point of the Avatar journey was that the Avatar had to journey to find their teachers and experience the world they needed to protect. When you take away that Journey, you’re just leaving the Avatar to be handed everything on a silver platter. 

During Season 2 when Kaiju Korra nearly gets her ass handed to her, Jinora force-ghosts her way into the battle and gives Korra the upper-hand during the battle with Vaatu, almost entirely erasing any the trace amounts of danger that the battle was trying to portray. 

There’s also the fact that in the middle of Season 2 when she’s fighting Eska and Desna, suddenly out of no-where she can Spirit bend (Or as I like to call it, Spirit-pacification) without so much as a single day of training. Like, talk about pulling out an ability out of your ass. 

There’s also the fact that during her visit to the Su-yin’s home, she  masters Metelbending out of no-where and then has to gawl to show off in front of Bolin, who’s been trying to metelbend for a while.

There’s also the fact that she’s never punished for any of her actions. 

When Amon takes her bending away, she never as a moment to reflect on how her actions affected her future or the rest of the avatar cycle.  We never see her come to terms that facing Amon head on resulted in her losing her bending. And when it looks like it does have an impact on her, Ghost Aang pops up right out of nowhere, takes pitty on her and gives her back her bending. Oh, and we’ll also throw in the Avatar State as well, as a treat. 

Right after she destroys the alleyway in the first episode of Season 1, Tenzin busts her out of jail and says to Lin that he’ll cover all the damages Korra caused! 

There’s also the incident where Tenzen told Korra not to go to the Pro-Bending tournament. And when Tenzen does have to drag her ass back to Air-temple Island, he remarks that Pro-bending is what she needed, completely Ignoring the fact that she disobey’d a direct order from her master and thus is never punished for it! 

 She’s never called out on her bullshit regarding her very sudden kiss with Mako when the man openly and explicitly said that he was dating another woman. 

(Like, girl, i get it. you have feelings for him, I get it. But when someone says: “I’m already dating someone right now.” and they admit they might be also have very confusing feelings for you as well,  You back the fuck up and give them time to make a decision. You just don’t go: “Oh you already have a girlfriend? oh, smoochy smoochy time then.”) 

Omg, it’s like the show was entirely written by male writers who have no idea how to write romance or develop unique and interesting characters who are not homicidal bat-shit insane brats who cry’s when they’re not the center of attention 

I guess my big question towards Korra’s character is… Why? 

Why do we have to root for a character who doesn't struggle, doesn't think she has to try to master her bending and that everything should come easily? How are we supposed to connect to someone when they blow up and get all pissy when someone even just lightly insults their god complex? 

Why is she a waterbender when she has the temperament of a fire-bender? Why is she getting her ass kicked by every villan if she’s the all powerful avater?  Why is she the avatar when she doesn't  have when a shred of humbless or appreciation for the bending she’s been given? Why do we have to put up with a brat of a protagonist for 3+ seasons? 

She is, in the bluntest term I can say, a meaningless character. She holds no purpose to the story or its messages or its themes. 

Aang was meaningful because it was his story and he was a 12 year old with the weight of the fucking world on his shoulders as both the last living Airbender and the Avatar, all while trying to navigate a world that did not and would not uphold his peaceful beliefs. 

Katara was meaningful because she broke down social norms by not only mastering the both the female -only water-bending techniques and Male-only water-bending fighting style, but also the scary-as-fuck-blood-bending. She showed the duel sides of being a bad ass strong independent woman. 

Toph was meaningful because she was an all-powerful earthbender who was fucking blind, showing that disabilities cant stop you from kicking ass. 

Sokka and Suki were meaningful because they were two badass people who didn't need bending to kick fire-nation ass. You don’t need to be like everyone else to save the world. 

Zuko was meaningful because his failures,and mistakes and abuse and scar showed people that no matter how awful your current situation was, you’re able to build a better life for yourself through hard work, self-love and good people who love you. 

Korra is meaningless. She is selfish, and spoiled and the only message she has to tell “Be a brat, cry a lot, and throw temper tantrums until you get what you fucking want.” 

Fuck Korra.  Fuck her character. I’ve never seen a character so poorly executed in my life, and I surly hope I dont ever get to see that ever again. 

[roseamongroses]

W.A.L: “Because Dreaming Costs,” (13)

Summary: Eden was the lowest of the low, a monster, hardly human, and was set to be executed. Roman was on trial, perpetually stuck in time until it was time to atone for his families sins.

Neither cared much for staying trapped.

So when a Stranger offered freedom, offered peace, offered power, it was hard to say no.

Even if it put them on the wrong side of history.

Vibes/ Tags:time is irrelevent, homophobia who?, magic and beasts, demigods

Warnings: Imprisonment, Mentions of execution, Blood/ injuries,  Mentions of past Death, minor character death/suicide,  repression, cursing,

Characters: Deceit(Eden) Sanders, Remy Sanders, Logan Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Emile Picani

Ship: Roceit

1) (2)   (3)  (4) (5)

(6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

(12) (13)

---

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Logan’s eye twitched, “You didn’t even ask me,”

“This situation goes beyond you, Logan,” Emile said, “As demonstrated by your little spar, you’re the most capable of handling him.”

“Patton can handle him fine,” Logan prompted, “And that doesn’t explain why you’re taking him on as an Apprentice. He doesn’t deserve it--” Logan shut his mouth.

Emile tensed, the leather chair squeaking, ”It is not about who deserves it,” he said, words slow, “No one deserves to serve the Goddess.”

“Yes, sir…” Logan mumbled.

“Logan, I know you’re upset about me not asking you beforehand,” Emile admitted, “But I had to act quick. He wasn’t meant to be held in the Chambers for any longer and with his magic manifesting so...fast, it would’ve been dangerous to let him go.” he said.

“Dangerous? He’s a shapeshifter?” Logan frowned, “Sure, they’re rare, but artificially they’re not impossible--”

“He isn’t artificial,” Emile said, and Logan froze, “He’s half-human, so he isn’t artificially instilled with magic the same way Virgil and I are, it’s genetic,” he opened a drawer, pulling out a particularly bulky file, “I don’t know how, but the Stranger managed to not only find a shape-shifter, but he managed to agitate their genes enough to cause a rapid manifestation of previously untapped power.”

“Bu-But, all the shapeshifter magic folk are suppose to be--”

“Dead?” Emile offered, “Well he isn’t.”

“But the official records--”

“Official records will and will continue to be wrong on occasion,” Emile flipped through the file, “What I’m most concerned about is how the Stranger managed to find him,” Emile sighed, “Or why he bothered to find him in the first place.”

“You think it’s part of the Stranger’s plan?” Logan asked.

“Yes, but don’t bother trying to ask Deceit about it,” Emile warned, "Elliot already checked and Deceit doesn’t know anything about what the Stranger was planning.”

“So...what’s my assignment?”

Emile chuckled, “To be his friend, of course.” he said, “In any other situation, Virgil would’ve had this assignment as apart of his recovery, but seeing as we are...unsure of their past relations--”

“He tried to kill Virgil.” Therefore he was better left dead.

“Hey may have tried to kill Virgil,” Emile corrected, “I was simply trying to be cautious before, but nothing is factual at this point. We have no facts, Logan, and that’s a problem,” he continued, and Logan begrudgingly nodded in agreement, “That’s why you’re handling this until we determine his threat level. I trust that you can handle this, but if you don’t trust yourself I’m willing to find someone else.”

“Do I need to find someone else?” Emile asked.

“No sir,” Logan sighed, “I accept the assignment.”

---

Deceit could hear singing.

It started as a low murmur as always, Roman’s voice groggy with a hint of a laugh. Then came the touches, which Deceit didn’t mind. He was more than used to their more...needy tendencies--feeling Roman grabbing his hand, Roman tugging him, Roman, Roman.

Always commanding Deceit’s utmost attention, the greedy bastard.

And in the mornings, it was always the worst in the best possible way since a sleepy Roman seemed to somehow lose even more of his impulse control. Their fingers teasing Deceit’s skin, tracing his collarbone, barely a whisper around the scales and scars that crisscrossed Deceit’s body. Tangling in Deceit’s hair and brushing the burned and knotted hair.

Always singing.

It’s been weeks since then and Deceit woke up alone.

He could still hear Roman singing.

Sweat slicked down his back as he woke up with a start, breath still caught somewhere between his throat and his heart. Bitter bile rose in his throat as he cleared his mind of fog, trying to remembering where he was. The room Emile put him in was relatively sparse, but in a way that felt better than the oppressive white space of ‘The Chambers’. Almost nice, with soft lights and bright plants curling at the window sill.

Naturally, Deceit felt immensely threatened.

He rose from the bed, fingers twitching as he adjusted his shift, smoothing the familiar shades of brown from his hair into a healthy blonde, his skin paling gradually. His gaze barely flickered to the mirror as he passed, the face of some meaningless historical figure from a book flitting by with a scowl. Before opening the door, however, he paused briefly, face-melting over the mask of scales marring half of his face.

The doors slid open and there was Logan once again at 8:00 sharp to babysit Deceit.

He was never late and hardly early for Deceit’s mandatory appointments, yet Deceit had a strong suspicion he wasn’t accompanying Deceit to the medical wing out of the kindness of his heart. Except it wasn’t a strong suspicion, Logan told him. All curled lip and dismissive gaze, it was the first time Deceit believed he was related to Roman.

“You look like shit,” Deceit greeted.

Logan adjusted his impeccable ironed shirt, “And you’re as eloquent as always,” he said, he offered a hand and Deceit took it. Hot white flashing before their eyes as they arrived at the Medical wing.

Deceit didn’t wait, strolling down the stretching halls, ignoring the disgustingly clean smell of the wing. A few nurses stopped and stared, or better yet blatantly whispered about him as he passed, which was a normal occurrence every time he visited--some even go as far as wearing masks around him, but mostly they gaped. Apparently, he was “a medical anomaly” and “shouldn’t have been alive with the number of injuries he sustained in such a short period” and his favorite “ an uncooperative, gaping asshole”.

He opened one door.

“Oh, my favorite uncooperative, gaping asshole,” Lauren greeted him cheerfully, smoothing her navy scrubs as she picked up her clipboard. She was young, really young, but Deceit’s learned not to comment on that, “Did you sleep well?” She asked.

“It was…” tracing his collarbone, barely a whisper around the scales and scars that crisscrossed Deceit, “I slept,” he said, hopping up on the table.

Lauren’s eyebrow raised, “Insightful.”

“What are you, my therapist?”

“No,” Lauren twirled her white hair, a few strands falling in waves front of her face as she pulled out a pen from behind her ear, “Just keeping you alive, no big deal,”

“It isn’t.”

Lauren cleared her throat at that, “That’s a yikes, dude,” she said, looking like she took a swig of something thick, “Maybe you do need therapy…”

“Don’t.”

“Alright, alright,” She said, probably still writing it fucking down in his file, “But you gotta tell me what you dreamed of that’s got you so embarrassed.” upon seeing her cheeky-ass grin, Deceit knew that they slid from being a professional right into Lauren being nosy.

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Yes you are," She scoffed, pointing with her pen towards his hair, “So you decided to become a red-head within the past thirty seconds?”

“Wh--” He reached for his hair, and yep. Red curls. Incredibly vibrant red curls. He fixed it as best as he could, but Lauren had got him, and usually, he’d stop that immediately, but, “It was about Roman,” he admitted.

Lauren’s face fell, “Oh,” Deceit was uncomfortable by her dark, thoughtful gaze, “Hey...about Roman--” She was cut off, as the door opened again, Logan stepping inside because fuck patient confidentiality, I guess.

“What about Roman?” Logan asked because fuck patient confidentiality.

Lauren remained silent, her face stone, eyes unblinking as Logan stood behind her. Logan’s gaze easily slid off her onto Deceit, accusatory. If only Deceit knew his crime.

“If you must know," Deceit drawled, face straight, “I was discussing the logistics of fucking your brother.”

Lauren snorted.

Logan’s face somehow receded into his skull, “You’re… disgusting.”

“I mean,” Deceit leaned back, tongue flicking over his lips, “You’re supposed to say that, but objectively have you seen your brother,” he sighed, fanning himself, “Legs for days.”

He was exaggerating in the fact that he didn’t look at Roman or anyone in that way. If he did it was rather infrequent and usually something he ignored if he could help it, but Logan didn’t need to know that.

“You’re bullshitting,” Logan said, mouth firm, “What are you really talking about?” He asked, directing the question to Lauren.

“He’s right,” Lauren said, flipping the pages on her clipboard, “We need to know if sexual contact with the Heir had any adverse effects--both ways, seeing as Roman is particularly prone to… 'overheating', as you know,” Logan’s sour face seemed to imply that was a pleasant memory, “So, I was asking him if he preferred a gynecologist or a urologist,”

It was fascinating how eloquently she delivered that platter of bullshit. Deceit was impressed.

Logan, surprise, surprise, was not, his eyes narrowed, “I don’t--”

“Let me do my job.” Lauren cut him off, “Sir.” she added, pleasant, “It’s completely inappropriate to have you in the room and you’ll only make him more likely to lie and hide important medical information.”

“I never said you couldn’t--” Logan started, but Lauren pointed to the door, “I’ll be back in 30 minutes,” He told Deceit as if they hadn’t been doing the same routine for the last week before he turned and finally left.

Deceit flipped off the closed door, “That was some impressive bullshit,”. Lauren cleared her throat, catching his attention, “What?”

“Well…” She twirled the pen around her finger with ease, “It wasn’t...necessarily a lie.”

Deceit’s face darkened, “We didn’t have sex.”

“Sure.” Lauren said, clicking the pen, “Gynecologist or Urologist?”

“We didn’t.” Deceit growled.

“You'd better not, that’s gross. And you won’t believe the amount of paperwork it’ll cause--that isn’t even including the possible ramifications if you managed to get Roman pregnant,” Lauren said, “Imagine, giving an ultrasound to a statue. Completely possible, but an absolute nightmare. Anyway, it’s been a while since anyone has treated a shapeshifter, so it’s a good idea to get you checked out-- ”

“No.”

“--And it would be beneficial for you to become familiar with any genitalia you choose to replicate, that way you can monitor your health properly, especially if you start to have cycles--”

“I assure you, I won't be having cycles.”

“That's even more concerning. Gynecologist first, then urologist.”

“Fuck you.”

---

Logan and Deceit sparred again.

Logan won, again.

---

To anyone else, Deceit was adjusting fine.

He went to the appointments, he read and reread the same books, he begrudgingly listened to Dr. Picani talk--and that man does indeed talk. He tolerated Logan’s blatant bare minimum tolerance.

He kept his space from the others, he was pleasant, sympathetic. So much so even Virgil stopped scowling when Deceit sat down for dinner and Patton tended to remember his “name”. It seemed as if they were adjusting, reluctantly.

Deceit was adjusting. That constant itch of needing to do something, anything was washed away with a wave of calm.

No, not calm.

Deceit was still pissed.

But it was drowned in certainty. Chill patience rushed over the heat bubbling underneath. He walked the halls, knowing each turn, each face, every creak.

There was an inherent power with Knowing. Something that kept him afloat, even when he was far from shore. And soon enough he combed the books willingly, drinking in the words, once clunky phrases and intelligible languages flowing from his tongue, as if they were becoming under his gaze. He read and he waited, and he read, and he waited.

Opportunity came while in the library.

An ancient room with books thicker than some people. Its rows and rows of books careened over them, a few courageous glimpses of light finding its way to their tables below.

Virgil and Patton sat together, Virgil was sitting like a freak on some crate listening to an audiobook, eyes closed in a way you’d mistake him for relaxed while Patton sat beside him, not reading, only staring ahead.

Logan didn’t sit, Instead, he wandered up and down the aisle, occasionally pulling out a book--flipping through, before adding it to his cart. He never wandered far from Deceit, the only person sitting at an actual table.

Patton stood up, slipping out of the library without a word--not unnoticed, but without much protest.

It put Deceit on edge.

Even though he didn’t know Patton well, the change in attitude was clear. Patton didn’t drift off from the library forgetfully, with that always dazed expression. He rose, expectant. He looked hungry, his skin’s glow sparking with something more intense.

Seconds later, there was an explosion.

Bookshelves shuddered, stacks crashing with plumes of dust following, as another explosion shook the ground.

Virgil was the next out of the room, skittering, close to the floor, face shining with dark eyes. Logan was the next-- not exactly slow, but more deliberate. Taking in the room all at once, and following close behind Virgil, some orders fell out of his mouth too quickly. He was gone, quick.

Deceit was quietly forgotten, and he couldn’t thank them enough.

Right about now, the library was falling apart at the seams, Deceit rose from his seat in time to miss getting crushed alongside with his table. He sidestepped falling books, but couldn’t exactly escape the stinging air, a sharp musk of burning and…

Deceit paused briefly in the wreckage looking back and sniffing but he shook his head. He’d have to figure that out later. He picked up the pace, passing by the distinct, glowing hole in the wall and entering the hallway. Down one way was a trail of burning footsteps, shouting, and his 'team' obviously in need of some help reigning in Patton.

Deceit went the other way, a skip in his step.

---

Knocking on Dr. Picani’s door, Deceit attempted to look concerned, “Dr. Picani there’s been an accident--” The door creaked open by itself, so naturally Deceit let himself in.

No one was inside.

It was a fairly large office, not that Deceit had much room for reference, with plants crawling the back walls, and spilling from the large windows behind the desk. The desk itself was normally neat, orderly, but today the stacks, upon stacks of files were scattered on the floor as if erupting from the desk.

Emile must have left immediately.

Deceit strolled about the big-oak desk, not quite rummaging through anything yet, not when he wasn’t sure if the old man had cameras.

He pinched his lips, eyeing the mess and then the door as if conflicted. He sat down in one of the leather seats in front of Picani’s desk, tapping his feet impatiently, before standing up and reaching for the pile as if to tidy it up. Well, at least that was the plan.

The pile of papers moved.

Deceit flinched, “Shit--” he cursed, scales rippling as he hopped into the chair. The papers continued to shuffle, a glimmer of something peeking through as Deceit leans forward and--

Big, red eyes.

Deceit’s breath caught as the… creature…? No, magic folk crawled from the stack of papers, shaking.

They were hardly bigger than Deceit’s hand, their body almost translucent, as if they were a flicker of light in a baggy dress. And their face...their face was stretched wide, no mouth, only their big eyes peering from their swamp of black hair.

“And who might you be?” Deceit murmured, squinting at the little thing, they seemed to shake even more.

[comm4000]

The Range of 42

The 2013 film, 42 was inspired by the true story of Jackie Robinson’s courageous journey in Major League Baseball during the 1940s. Jackie Robinson’s character is played by Chadwick Boseman who portrays the African American athlete entering a professional sports league that has historically been all-white. The movie candidly captures Robinson’s career while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Montreal Royals under the management of Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford). This movie connects with multiple concepts that have been discussed and are relevant to the Communication and Sports class at the University of Colorado Denver. 42 touches on the unprecedented racism in sports, the notion that athletes embody the popular ideology of a what it means to be a “hero”, and that professional athletes are expected to solely serve as high-performing athletes to contribute to the economic prosperity of greater business ventures and maintain limited voices off the field.

An unprecedented level of racism and bigotry are key themes in 42. As the first person of color who is signed to Major League Baseball, Robinson experiences racism through racial slurs and hate speech at nearly every game and off the field as well. Robinson is repeatedly called a “N*****” by both disapproving fans and the player he shares the field with. In one scene, a screaming fan yells “go back to Compton!” which is heard throughout the entire stadium. In another scene, Robinson is told by a county police officer “No n***** don’t play with white boys. Get off the field or go to jail”. Furthermore, racism manifests when the decision to sign Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers is still pending. A petition called “The Brooklyn Dodgers Declaration of Independence” was passed around and signed by several teammates. The petition was an attempted boycott of the league and read “we, the undersigned Brooklyn Dodgers, will not play ball on the same field as Jackie Robinson”. The racist players were very adamant about keeping Robinson signed to Montreal and predominantly “keeping negroes out of the league”. Blatant racism in Major League Baseball during this era was undoubtedly absurd. However, we witness similar tendencies in contemporary times involving Jeremy Lin in the NBA. Robinson and Lin are comparative because just as we had seen with Robinson in MLB, both icons were undermined for their outstanding athletic achievements and worth because they were of origins that were different from the rest the roster. Both Robinson and Lin had been victimized with racial slurs. Just as Robinson was the called N***** on the field, according to Chito, Lin was recognized as the “Chink in Armor”. 

Jackie Robinson is thoroughly portrayed in this film as the hero he is in real life. Robinson is attributed to being a hero and not just a baseball player which is frequently how athletes tend to be branded. When Robinson goes over to dinner at Mr. Brock’s house, he tells him that “I’m just a ballplayer”. However, Mr. Brock corrects Robinson and assures him that he is greater than that and replies “to all the little-colored boys playing in Florida today, to them, you’re a hero.” As the movie proceeds, Robinson persistently endures racism from white folks and as the hatred increasingly worsens, Robinson’s manager assures him that “you can win this game for us. Everybody needs you. You’re medicine, Jack” in a personal conversation. These dialogues confirm that Robinson emulates a mythic figure and ideal sports hero. According to Chapter 5: Sports and Mythology, a sports hero is defined as “someone who not only achieves greatness on the field but also serves as an admirable person off of it”.

At the beginning of the movie, Robinson is seen at a baseball field on the first day of spring training where he is bombarded by news reporters with provocative questions about his values and intentions in playing in MLB. A reporter asks “Jackie, Jackie, is this about politics?” which is referring to Robinson being the first and only African American to be playing in an all-white league. Jackie politely responds, “No it’s about getting paid”. The course element that ties with this scene is that the public expects athletes to stray away from the political sphere. According to lecture, an athlete’s ability to think critically and form, let alone express their opinion is perceived to be untasteful to the fans and the team’s management and administration. Of course, Robinson’s breakthrough in Major League Baseball sent a powerful message about racial equality, but we never see Robinson express his emotions about the history he is making.

Furthermore, the storyline supports the idea that sports are ultimately a business venture and reiterates the notion that winning is all that matters. Robinson was scouted and signed for his ability to play baseball before anything else. His managers and coaches advocated strongly to secure his spot in the league because he would win games. This notion supports NFL’s Vince Lombardi’s statement in More Than Just a game that, “every time you win, you’re reborn and when you lose, you die a little”. The emphasis on winning isn’t just conveyed through the movie, but in course readings as well. According to Jay (2004), when Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a Major League Baseball contract, the decision sprang partly from a realization that Major League Baseball’s color line was morally wrong, but it was also true that Rickey saw Robinson, and by extension other black players, as a cheap labor pool that would help his club achieve more victories on the field”. 

In an important scene, Happy Chandler, the Commissioner of Baseball calls into question the team’s viability after losing the Brooklyn Dodger’s manager, Leo Durocher. Durocher had been generating controversy and bad publicity for the business due to factors within his personal life. This ultimately dismays a Catholic youth organization that is noted for spending generously on game seats. Chandler blatantly states “I can’t afford to ruffle their feathers” and “I have no choice but Leo Durocher is suspended from baseball for a year”. This supports the idea that teams will take any action they believe is necessary to ensure that their sales goals are not put in jeopardy. Furthermore, just as we’ve covered in class this semester, audiences will notice that all the managers, reporters and executives in 42 are Caucasian men. The lack of diversity is a statistic that closely aligns with the problem that manifests within the industry today. According to Chalabi (2004), roughly 90% of the managers and head coaches were white and the chart below is indicative of the rest of the breakdown of the league’s staff.

A potentially problematic aspect of this film regards the scene where Jackie Robinson loses his temper after enduring the built-up anger and animosity of racial slurs coming from a player on the opposite team. Robinson is seen exiting the field and violently breaks his bat, screams erratically and throws his hat on the ground. When Robinson is approached by his manager, he tells him, “next white son of a bitch that opens its mouth, I’ll smash their God damn teeth”. Although the events that led up to Robinson’s breakdown were legitimate, it is problematic to our culture because it is showing an athlete exhibit violence and rage. Robinson appears to be someone who has reached the point of no return and this is his method of coping.

After watching the movie with a critical eye and looking for personal connections, it is evident that I cannot entirely relate to Jackie Robinson’s struggles as a black male athlete playing in a “white sport”. I took into consideration that the movie was set to take place during the 1940’s and 1950’s where the sociopolitical climate was much different. However, I still find the information to be unfathomable. I can certainly be empathetic to his challenges of living in this country as a minority and not being perceived as what Michael L. Butterworth (2004) would refer to as the “the chosen people”. I, myself do not meet the standards of the “dominant race” in society being that I am a Chinese woman who was raised in a large Jewish/Catholic family. Ultimately, I chose this movie because I’m passionate about baseball and my family and I are from Brooklyn, New York, which is the team Robinson played for prior to the Dodgers moving to Los Angeles in the 1950s. I found that finding a movie that accounts both a city and a sport that are incredibly profound to me and fulfills this assignment was more than optimal. Although this movie has flaws and some audiences may find it difficult to watch and/or to be biased, I believe it was inspiring, gratifying and educates effectively overall. Racism is still highly prevalent in contemporary society. However, it manifests differently today than it did 60 years ago. I’m confident that everyone should watch the full movie because it provides viewers with historical context and revelations about race in sports. Also, the content is heterogeneous to what we consume through most of our media outlets today. Lastly, people should also watch 42 for the fact that the director, Brian Helgeland, did incredibly well in executing a very difficult narrative through a Hollywood film.

Work Cited

1.     Film: 42. Original Theatrical Date: April 12, 2013. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures.

2.     Butterworth, M. L. (2007). Race in “The Race”: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Heroic Constructions of Whiteness. Vol. 24, Iss. 3, (pages 228-244).

3.     Chalabi, M. (2014). Three Leagues, 92 Teams And One Black Principal Owner. Five Thirty Eight. Retrieved from https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/diversity-in-the-nba-the-nfl-and-mlb/4.

4.     Chito. (2012). Examining the Jeremy Lin Phenomenon Through a Critical Lens. CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center. Flow Journal. Retrieved from http://www.flowjournal.org/2012/02/jeremy_lin_critical_lens/

5.     Jay, K. (2004). More Than Just a Game: Sports in American Life since 1945. New York, NY. Columbia University Press. (pages 1-8)

[drink-n-watch]

I’ve come to realize that last week I was feeling this show out. I mean that’s to be expected as it was the first episode after all. That’s what you do in a first episode, you feel things out. It had a few nice technical elements in it’s favour (colours, backgrounds, voices) and it manage to do a couple of unexpected things so I was pretty happy.

I’ve since come to realize that my expectations for the series were fairly low. Not abysmal but basically, I just wanted a show that didn’t annoy me and I could pass a pleasant if uneventful 23 minutes or so with. I wasn’t looking for exceptional characters and deep developments or any type of captivating storytelling. Maybe that’s why this second episode of Woodpecker Detective’s Office left me with the impression that it did.

So what is it with historical Japanese settings and the almost constant presence of prostitutes. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against it at all but in Rakugo and even the cutesy and innocent We Rent Tsukumogami, there is a very prominent inclusion of prostitutes. What I’m saying is that classical Japan looked like a real fun place and I’m sort of sorry I missed my chance for a visit.

I haven’t even gotten into the episode at all. I guess I just betrayed my priorities. Oh well…

Let me say it right now, I really loved this episode of Woodpecker Detective’s Office. I loved it because I would never have imagined that this is what a second episode of this show would be like. I honestly wouldn’t have dreamt up an episode like this at all, but even if I had, I would have placed way later in the series. It piqued my interest in all sorts of ways. I also suspect that it is not going to be for everyone and a lot of viewers that were already on the fence after episode 1 will consider this a good place to stop. Not me though, I’m sold!

SPOILERS HUGE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EPISODE 2 YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELVES BEFORE READING THIS!!!

First of all the episode opens with police informing Kyosuke that he is the prime suspect in a murder that happened the previous eve. What’s more, his accuser seems to be Ishikawa. Then it flashes back to the previous day. Just like last week, where the episode started by informing us that the lead character is long dead, this week also starts on death and a hook. It’s interesting to place your cliffhangers at the beginning of the episode. I like it.

Ok, let me set out the mystery we are dealing with today and why I thought it was delightfully genre defying. The set up is that experienced and slightly devil-may-care Ishikawa has decided to drag his friend Kyosuke down to the red light district to give him a chance to experience some carnal pleasures and because he thought it would be a laugh. Kyosuke is pretty petrified at the thought but goes along because he’s a bit of a doormat. At the brother, it turns out they are the two only customers for the evening and they each get a girl and a room one next to the other. Ishi evesdrops and overhears bits of the conversation. It seems to be going well but suddenly some type of dispute breaks out. Moments later, the lady is dead with a knife in her neck. Ishi swears that when he stopped hearing noise, he decided to sneak a peak in their room and saw Kyosuke sitting by the body. Meanwhile the other says he left before that with a very much alive lady and didn’t see Ishi at all, however he does mention a stranger.

The manager having stepped out for a bit, is sticking by her testimony that they were the only two customers on the books.

I should say the mystery isn’t resolved yet. That’s probably going to be next week.

So what did I like so much about it. Obviously it’s this mystery guy, it’s not like we’re going to stick either one of the two leading characters in jail for the rest of the series. Si although the mystery is well constructed and had me saying what exactly is going on here more than a few times, there are no real stakes or suspense about the outcome. That’s not what marked this episode as special to me.

The non linear structure of the narrative, with a few 12 hour time jumps and flash backs throughout the episode kept everything moving. And the sequences where each man recounts his own memories and mixes in his own theory about what happened added a layer of two different unreliable narrators to booth making this fairly simple and straightforward story suddenly very complicated indeed. Instead of a picturesque Slice of Life with some light mystery elements, where the viewers could happily idle along and get some mild satisfaction out of solving simple puzzles, the writers seem to be purposefully obstructing the whole picture at the risk of frustrating those that were seeking the experience I described. Or delighting me…

I was convinced that episode 1 was a bit of a bang. That the series started with a murder to give us a feel for the possibilities but would now take a step back and maybe have the fellows help a neighbour girl find her lost dog or something. No, it escalated considerable with another murder, much more visceral this time and directly involving the main cast. Are we going to have mass killings, human trafficking and large scale Yakuza operations every single episode by the time we’re half way through the season? Cause that sounds kinda cool.

However, at least for me, the biggest subversion was in the characters’ reactions. Anime is fairly strong on the friendship can win over anything trope. Moreover, characters are for the most part unbelievably righteous to the point that it sort of skews the perception of some fans. These two however, turned on each without a second thought!

Ishikawa didn’t hesitate to blame Kyosuke. He never doubted what he saw, in dim light and having drunk quite a bit. He didn’t think to himself that his dear friend would never be capable of such a heinous act. He never even tried to confront Kyosuke to get to the bottom of it. He went straight to the cops without a word to his friend and then refused to even entertain Kyosuke’s theory about a mysterious stranger also being present that night. It’s almost like he wanted his friend to be guilty.

As for Kyosuke, it did take him a bit longer to succumb to pressure but after being so blatantly accused, he also dropped the stranger angle and directly turn the accusation on Ishikawa, even claiming that the prostitute told him the he was “not who Kyosuke thought him to be” insinuating something dark and foreboding! Was he lying about the stranger? Did he accuse Ishikawa as a means of lashing out or for petty revenge. I’m not sure what the punishment for murder at the time was but I doubt it’s a small fine or anything. That’s a pretty awful thing to knowingly do to someone even if he did start it. After all, Ishikawa may truly believe what he saw, while Kyosuke is just accusing out of assumption.

So both are definitely unreliable and what’s more they are untrustworthy. They will gladly and quickly betray even their closest friend. Now there a rare characterization in anime. These aren’t some troll side characters or anti villains or something. These are our heroes. And they are both very compromised.

I’m having too much fun with this, aren’t I? Like I said, I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but boy did I have fun. It really spruced up my Monday night.

Just as I was giggling to myself because I apparently get giddy at the idea of watching slightly jerky characters having somewhat grimy adventures. I just used the term “adventure” to describe murder. That can’t be good… Woodpecker Detective’s Office had one last hilarious twist for me. As Kyosuke was being led away by police, a confident tall man in western clothes and a smaller delicate author with pale hair and traditional Japanese clothing announced that they were detectives and would take the case on! Did we just throw in some soft 4th wall break parody in this grim murder story? Ahhh yeah!

I had fun with episode 2. I hope we get some more of this calibre. Are any of you enjoying the show? Are some of you disturbed that I call murder and “adventure”? I wouldn’t blame you.

amazing!

  Woodpecker Detective’s Office Ep.2 – Red Light I've come to realize that last week I was feeling this show out. I mean that's to be expected as it was the first episode after all.

[allonevoice]

Paper Two: The Oppositional Gaze

With an unprecedented degree of available media content for consumers to view, it is worth considering how these near-incessant streams of information impact us as well as our vision of the world and those who inhabit it.  Television, Film, Radio, Music and literature are not only reflections of the world but more importantly they are subjective representations of their creators’ reflection of the world.  They are a template from which all observers must assess the world as well as themselves and their lived experience.  The viewers and consumers of media, especially during this plugged-in era of the hypnotic, ever-present smartphone and earbuds, are rapaciously gathering data and ideas about the world they inhabit from curated fiction and non-fiction at an increasingly frenetic pace.  The desire to keep this autobahn-paced intake of entertainment harvesting and maintain the endorphin-high chaotic feasting of novelty has put a pressure on content creators to truncate nuance, in a world where more than ever, conversations of increasing complexity are necessary for progress and survival.  I mention this to emphasize the gravity of influence that media has over listeners and viewers as well as to underline the casual way that messages are consumed.  This casual, constant absorption of stories and ideas (be they fictional or non-fiction, a distinction that matters very little when talking about the very-real consequences that these influences can have) can leave the modern bewildered listeners susceptible to the subliminal (as well as the conspicuous) bedlam of messages they are bombarded with in their daily lives.  These points are made to exhibit that any forthcoming evidence or argument made for inequality-prompting trends in media are far from trivial and are more pertinent to observe and address than ever, not just for their pernicious nature but their pervasiveness.

           Issues of representation for People of Color have always been problematic in news/entertainment media and advertising in the U.S.  The Anglocentric and patriarchal representation of artists, entertainers, models, musicians, business professionals, scientists, actors is rampant.  Much of this comes about from majority white ownership of media and advertising companies. Entman and Rojecki suggest, for the most part, outright intolerance and racism of the many individuals, the moving parts and people in media businesses, be they newspapers or television companies, is probably not to blame.  More plausible is that the systems in which they are cogs, are flawed on this point.  Regardless of who is to blame, it is a white-majority and white perspective bias that result in People of Color being withheld opportunities to be on television shows despite having a wealth of talent, vision and intellect.  So too is it a belief in this racist system when historically and presently, Black filmmakers cannot get funding for serious projects discussing racial figures, or plights specific to the Black community, or non-comedic/action films that feature majority Black casts.  These decisions discussed as recently as Spike Lee’s post-2000’s struggle to get significant funding for a Malcom X biopic are the results of white-owned production companies’ misguided and racist conviction that there is no profitable majority audience for these films.  Not only does that assume that white audiences have no interest in learning about Black figures, and assumes that the emotional, psychological experiences of Blacks are so alienating to white people (a deeply dividing notion) as to be disinteresting, it also presumes that the only audience, and the most important audience to consider, is a white audience to begin with.  This presumption, when viewed in the reverse, negates the validity and existence of Blacks entirely.  In much of early radio, well into the 50’s until the Carter administration endeavored to amend the issue, the FCC wouldn’t greenlight Black radio stations or programs and wouldn’t fine any stations that exhibited blatantly discriminatory practices.  Sadly, there are countless examples of these sorts of exclusionary racially motivated acts over the decades.  

A lack of representation creates a disservice to those who go unrepresented as entertainers but also as consumers, not just for the inequality that the media is maintaining within the confines of its business practices, but also in the message that it sends to consumers.  To white consumers, with no Black-owned, black culture featured media, this insulates them and creates no understanding or available empathy or tolerance.  When Blacks are represented by white writers and curators of media, they are likely to be misrepresented when they are depicted at all.  For consumers, this normalizes whiteness to the point of invalidating the existence of Blackness, it creates a latent hostility from whites and a wrongheaded presentation of the world.  For Blacks, there is a great and terrible othering that occurs, either by misrepresentation or exclusion.  The writer of “The Oppositional Gaze” bell hooks talks about how Black female spectators would deal with the pain of this omittance, of this complete erasure of their existence, at times to attempt to “ignore race”, other times to ignore cinema altogether, as it obstinately decided it wouldn’t represent People of Color either at all, or accurately and honestly.  Bell hooks says,

“Not all black women spectators submitted to that spectacle of regression through identification. Most of the women 1 talked with felt that they consciously resisted identification with films--that this tension made moviegoing less than pleasurable; at times it caused pain. As one black woman put, l could always get pleasure from movies as long as I did not look too deep." For black female spectators who have "looked too deep" the encounter with the screen hurt. That some of us chose to stop looking was a gesture of resistance, turning away was one way to protest, to reject negation.” (bell hooks, The Oppositional Gaze, Chapter 7, page 121, paragraph 3).

           Fictional media creates inequality by presenting inequality, by creating a false reality bereft of complex People of Color as written and represented in good faith by employed people of their own culture to do their stories justice.  What is a person to do but, as some of those that bell hooks has interviewed, but to either turn away, or to swallow the pill that society rejects your experience, your history and your narrative, and you must engage on the most detached level with these white-majority pieces of biased media? There is of course the alternative that she suggests elsewhere in the text; resisting, critiquing and fighting to change these systemic problems that create a lack of relatability and accuracy for Blacks, a painful and exclusionary scenario, as well as engenders more division and lack of empathy from uninformed (and woefully uncultured, uninstructed) white viewers.

On another front, news media often (either out of cynicism or laziness, the maligning result is the same) perpetuates harmful stereotypes for men and women of color.  Whether representing issues of poverty with deriding image clusters equating poverty with violence and Blackness or the local-news media tendency to replicate biased police reports and announcements of arrests without any nuance or consideration to the alleged criminal, (statistically more likely to be shown in cuffs, in mugshots, and unnamed if they are Black) there are plenty of systemic habits that do nothing but to depict a negative (and wrong) view of people of color to the nation as a whole.  These misrepresentations are pervasive and harmful, they communicate an adversarial and dangerous picture of people of color which does nothing to show reality.  These blunt-force misdirected and wrongfully-presented ideas in news stories are not trivial, as I argued in the opening paragraph.  They have great consequence, people interact with others based on this media-born information, these harmful racial stereotypes.  People like Trump get into office on racist dog-whistling propaganda, on hate-speech genocidal language references to helpless refugees, because ideas have power, because representation matters a great deal. When news shows use euphemistic language to describe white nationalist statements, or don’t lead a quote where Trump is being entirely dishonest or inventing statistics with statements that point out that lie, that matters a great deal when you consider that 60% of people stop ingesting a news story after reading a headline.

The realm of ideas, concepts and conceits matters a great deal, as these things catalyze our perception of the world and the people that inhabit the world around us.  The out-of-context soundbite that we “learn from”, the catchy click-bait-motivated headline that we skim over, may just influence the hand that pulls the lever in the voting booth.  This sobering reality reminds us that Media, our pseudo-oracle, the influencing ever-blaring window to the “outside world”, is deeply influential in forming our opinions on public policy, our view on religion, our political outlook and more locally, our tolerance of a new neighbor, who we are likely to hire in the workplace, if we would grant a loan to a person whose name or race seems unfamiliar, or whom we suddenly associate with an alarming and unflattering news story.

In the era of Youtube, Vine, Twitter, Instagram and even higher-profile companies like Netflix, Hulu and so on, the broadened media ecosystem has given more people than ever are given a voice, which is great when it comes to representation, where on streaming sites and social media, comedians, artists, and models of all backgrounds are given a fair chance to represent and share their work and stories.  Conversely, again though, the trouble of curation comes in as Youtube and many news and social media sites have also given platform to nefarious thinkers and content creators.  Interestingly, the system breaks down when advertisements create click-motivated ad revenue, and sensational stories, misleading headlines and the “trolling” aspect of many content creators enter the fold.  Youtube specifically has been shown to have algorithms that the suggested video content will lead most people to more right-wing leaning and white-nationalist or conspiracy-oriented videos. Only terrifying and depressing motivations can be assumed from not just the creation of these venomous or at the very least, patently false and time-draining clips, but from a multi-billion-dollar companies’ impetus to promote content like this.  These systemic structures still exist, and they are inherently evil influences and perpetuators of white supremacy.  

These days, with media rampant, it is so important and difficult to communicate the power of a president’s words, or the angle that a writer would take, or the negative influence that a stereotyping or racialized character in a show would do to people young and old, of white or of color.  As we attempt to navigate this space, free speech ideologues who doubt in the power of words and ideas or who ignores the malevolent nature of dog-whistling and historical context take pleasure in smugly feigning ignorance (or exhibiting true ignorance) as they rebuke attempts to call out blatant racist pundits and propaganda.  Even centrist self-proclaimed liberals and generally rational/logical thinkers decry events of Twitter de-platforming of people like Alex Jones of the Far-right Infowars media site once he incited violence (aside from the appalling transgression of spreading hate speech and lies for years on his website) or refusing to give admitted nazis and white-supremacists such as Richard Spencer an opportunity to speak publicly or on campus as attempts to destroy “the first amendment”.  You can safely bet that most of these thinkers and skeptics are white men who have no (colored) skin in the game.  Media and those powerful people who manipulate it (in front of or behind the camera/the computer/the writing desk), greatly, terrifyingly shapes the world by shaping our understanding of it.  Media puts thoughts in our heads, opinions in our hearts, feelings in our psyche, and subsequently puts our action into motion, which if we aren’t careful can put our children into cages, our bodies into illness, our parents into addiction, our siblings into prisons, our families into poverty, our environments and our communities into disrepair, all of this and more culminates in our very humanity and moral, unifying aspirations into shambles.

[occupythebronx]

On this date we remember the Tuskegee Syphilis study. This American episode is part of the recurring chapter of racism against blacks in the United States. In 1932, the American government promised 400 men, all residents of Macon County, Alabama, all poor, and all African American, free treatment for Bad Blood, a euphemism for syphilis which was epidemic in the county. Treatment for syphilis was never given to the men and was in fact withheld. The men became unwitting subjects for a government-sanctioned medical experiment, The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. The Tuskegee Study, which lasted for 4 decades, until 1972, had nothing to do with treatment. No new drugs were tested; neither was any effort made to establish the efficacy of old forms of treatment. It was a non-therapeutic experiment, aimed at compiling data on the effects of the spontaneous evolution of syphilis on black males. What has become clear since Jean Heller broke the story in 1972 was that the Public Health Service (PHS) was interested in using Macon County and its black inhabitants as a laboratory for studying the long-term effects of untreated syphilis, not in treating this deadly disease. The head of the PHS at that time was Talaferro Clark. The Tuskegee Study symbolizes the medical misconduct and blatant disregard for human rights that takes place in the name of science. The study's principal investigators were not mad scientists, they were government physicians, respected men of science, who published reports on the study in the leading medical journals. The subjects of the study bear witness to the premise that the burden of medical experimentation has historically been borne by those least able to protect themselves. The government doctors who participated in the study failed to obtain informed consent from the subjects in a study of disease with a known risk to human life. Instead, the PHS offered the men incentives to participate: free physical examinations, free rides to and from the clinics, hot meals on examination days, free treatment for minor ailments, and a guarantee that a burial stipend would be paid to their survivors. This modest stipend of $50.00 represented the only form of burial insurance that many of the men had. By failing to obtain informed consent and offering incentives for participation, the PHS doctors were performing unethical and immoral experiments on human subjects. From the moment the experiment began, the immorality of the experiment was blatantly apparent. Many critics of the Tuskegee Study draw comparisons to the similar degradation of human indignity in inhumane medical experiments on humans living under the Third Reich. How could such callousness happen outside Nazi Germany? To deny that race played a role in the Tuskegee Study is naive. All 600 subjects (399 experimental and 201 controls) were black; the PHS directors and most of the doctors who studied them were white. In July 1972, Jean Heller broke the story. Under examination by the press, the PHS was not able to provide a formal protocol for the experiment; in fact, one never existed. While it was obvious to the American public as a whole, PHS officials maintained that they did nothing wrong. By the time the story broke, over 100 of the infected men had died, others suffered from serious syphilis-related conditions that may have contributed to their later deaths even though penicillin, an effective treatment against syphilis, was in widespread use by 1946. On July 23, 1973, Fred Gray, a prominent civil rights lawyer, brought a $1.8 billion class action civil suit against many of those institutions and individuals involved in the study. Gray demanded $3 million in damages for each living participant and the heirs of the deceased. The case never came to trial. In December 1974, the government agreed to a $10 million out of court settlement. The living participants each received $37,500 in damages, the heirs of the deceased, $15,000. Gray received nearly $1 million in legal fees. Was The Tuskegee Study government-sanctioned, premeditated genocide? Were the subjects of The Tuskegee Study taken advantage of? Although the survivors and the families of the deceased received compensation, no PHS officer who had been directly involved in the study felt contrition. No apologies were ever tendered; no one ever admitted any wrongdoing. On the contrary, the PHS officers made it clear that they felt they were acting in good conscience. They felt betrayed by the government's failure to defend the study they commissioned. But as one survivor said "I don't know what they used us for. I ain't never understood the study." Arthur Kaplan, PhD, director of the medical ethics program at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, described the Tuskegee study as "America's Nuremberg." On the 50th anniversary of the Doctor's Trial in Nuremberg and the 25th anniversary of the end of the Tuskegee study, researchers, the public, and the U.S. government are still coping with the damage caused by the Tuskegee study. To promote healing, President Clinton offered a formal apology on May 16, 1997. The president praised the survivors for their spirit of forgiveness, saying, "Today all we can do is apologize but you have the power. Only you have the power to forgive. Your presence here shows us that you have shown a better path than your government did so long ago. You have not withheld the power to forgive. I hope today and tomorrow every American will remember your lesson and live by it." The former president announced government bioethics fellowships for minority students funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. He also proposed a $200,000 planning grant for a bioethics center at Tuskegee University, which was not affiliated with the study but whose reputation has been tarnished by it. Reference: Tuskegee's Truths: Rethinking the Tuskegee Syphilis Study Studies in Social Medicine by Susan M. Reverby University of North Carolina Press Copyright, July 1, 2000 ISBN: 0807825395 https://ift.tt/2NAhOiW

[politicalfilth-blog]

Smearing Snowden and WikiLeaks In The Name Of Anonymous

We Are Change

The WikiLeaks and Snowden smears are getting more disingenuous by the day.

In the latest attack on what is without doubt the most significant media organization in the world—WikiLeaks—a far less consequential publisher—The Daily Kos—has managed to squeeze an entire article out of one Twitter rant by what they describe as a “quasi-official Anonymous Twitter account” – @YourAnonCentral, also known as YAC.

In doing so, The Daily Kos is the latest to demonstrate that there is nothing more intellectually insubstantial than the recent trend of quasi-journalists slapping together an entire quasi-article about someone having had a moan on Twitter.

Poorly-investigated and deficiently-sourced, their article fails to dig any deeper than the surface contents of the singular thread, trusting that it contains sufficient reference points that no one will invest the time or effort to look into the matter any further.

Unfortunately for them, we have.

The 25-tweet diatribe their article is based off can be read in their article and is dissected tweet by tweet at the bottom of this one. But first, let’s look a little deeper into the opinions and attitudes espoused by @YourAnonCentral, and give you the story that The Daily Kos didn’t.

YAC doesn’t just hate Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He also has it in for Edward Snowden.

The animosity isn’t restricted to silly memes or playing favorites among whistleblowers. It extends to pronouncements that blatantly violate the basic principles and beliefs of the Anonymous movement.

The idea that an Anonymous account would be openly calling for the prosecution of a whistleblower and advocating that they be subjected to “law and punishment” with “no exceptions” is not only contrary to the ideological premise of the collective, but is frankly extreme in its audacity and hypocrisy.

For an account claiming to be a part of a movement whose members have been aggressively hunted by law enforcement agencies, to advocate throwing a whistleblower to the dogs, is flabbergasting.

But their vitriol doesn’t end there. Since July 2014, YAC has been waging an unrelenting smear campaign against the pillars of the activism community.

Major Anonymous accounts like @AnonymousVideo, tweeting content from Thomas Drake to YAC, go without amplification or acknowledgement.

Other old school Anonymous accounts like @AnonSwedeninfo get acidic responses from YAC…

Or are completely ignored when they attempt to share relevant content with them:

Sputnik News noted the disparity between the positions of @YourAnonNews and YAC, on Snowden:

YAC’s smears against Snowden are completely baseless. Even the most cursory knowledge of his revelations and activity easily dispels them. Take for example, the following tweet:

In their desperation to discredit him and hoping that any mud will stick, Snowden’s detractors routinely contradict each other’s narratives. While some deride him for having spoken out about NSA spying on Chinese university students while still in Hong Kong, YAC audaciously claim that he has never cared about non-US citizens. Yet by the time of their above tweet, in October 2015, Snowden had spoken via video conference in a whole host of non-US countries, about revelations specific to those citizens, including but not limited to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and others.

  Of course, if you wanted further proof of how far YAC have been barking up the wrong tree, you need only look at their own historical tweets, which disprove their more recent ones:

Time and time again, YAC stumbles over its own opinion and contradicts its own messaging. For example, they cast aspersions on radical leftists and Russian-based media organisations, despite having a long history of sharing information from precisely those sources.

At various times they accuse Snowden of being both aligned with US government and the Russians. Likewise, with WikiLeaks.

They accused WikiLeaks of being beholden to other foreign governments:

…yet make bizarre attempts to associate WikiLeaks staff with being pro-US government – specifically claiming that they have “ties to the US military and intelligence”:

The attempt to portray WikiLeaks as being an agent of the US military-industrial complex is followed by, three months later, a switch of course to complain that WikiLeaks only exposes US war crimes:

In aggregate, it seems that they don’t care who WikiLeaks or Snowden is or isn’t working for, they are only trying to cause the maximum possible damage to their reputations, as seen by the posting of skewed opinion polls such as the following, which do not provide any dissenting option.

Glenn Greenwald is another frequent victim of attempts to detract from those doing the most significant and visible work to circulate revelations from the Snowden archives.

Accusations that The Intercept has not released enough documents, or with the speed that many would like, are commonplace. However, YAC chose the precise day that Greenwald and TI had just released further major revelations, in order to attack them about it. Ultimately serving as a distraction from the information that had just been released.

Rather than analyzing and amplifying the documents that they claimed to be so eager to see released, YAC just tore chunks out of those doing the actual work instead.

Things didn’t always used to be this way. A trip down memory lane reveals that at a certain point, there was a seismic shift in YAC’s position.

Going back through YAC’s tweets in reverse-chronological order, there was a clear delineation between the original stances of the account, with its reversed positions and open hostility.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the old YAC:

So what happened? How did YAC go from an account covering Occupy-related media and sharing pro-whistleblower content and leaks, in neatly laid out well-sourced tweets, to what appears to be an angry and aggressively anti-Snowden/WikiLeaks admin?

In the course of investigating this story I discovered the below tweet from fellow ex-Occupier and WRC journalist, Cassandra Fairbanks.

Suddenly, it all clicked. The concise news-style presentation of the early YAC tweets is likely attributable to Cassandra’s efforts. I reached out to her and asked for her take on what happened.

We Are Change: Cassandra, the @YourAnonCentral account shared a lot of great work throughout the Occupy movement and had a really effective tweet style with a focus on info-sharing, up until June of 2014. Since then it devolved into what appears to be one person’s endless rant against pillars of the activism world like Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks. Can you tell us how this occurred?”

Cassandra Fairbanks: “That’s about when I left YAC. I had been using it to promote WikiLeaks and Snowden stuff, but we had massive internal agreements so I quit. The main person running the account was using it as a tool to promote the person they were dating (@georgieBC) who had personal issues with Wikileaks even though she had previously ran WikiLeaks Central, which was essentially a fan site.”

YAC’s anti-Snowden tweets have very little uptake and the threads routinely feature dissenting opinions by readers that are puzzled by the maliciousness on display. Likewise, the malevolent nature of the specific accusations leveled at WikiLeaks by YAC that were picked up by the Daily Kos, did not escape notice.

So let’s break down the 25 YAC tweets, referenced by The Daily Kos.

Tweets 1-2/25: YAC tweets at @Khannoiseur, an anti-Trump, anti-WikiLeaks journalist, that they find his conspiracy theory that Julian Assange is being blackmailed by Putin “fascinating and quite in line with reality” and “would like to touch on the subject, given that we have somewhat of an insight into the matter.”

Tweet 3/25: YAC describes Julian Assange as a “fascist ideologue“, without any reference or source.

Tweets 4-5/25: YAC says that the attributes commonly associated with WikiLeaks including supporting “human rights, gov’t transparency, and open government” are “not in line with Assange’s politics”.

YAC then sets about trying to ascribe those qualities to people who have ceased working for WikiLeaks in the past, in an attempt to effectively strip WikiLeaks of its identity.

Tweets 6-7/25: YAC claims that WikiLeaks ability to receive leaks was dependent upon someone who had departed the organization. YAC says “the software developer behind it (leak platform) left the project. We assume he is still writing software.”

The software developer in question may be Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who volunteered full-time for WikiLeaks in 2009. In this annotated transcriptof the film “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” an unauthorized biography by filmmaker Alex Gibney, WikiLeaks points out that

“…in 2007 WikiLeaks uncovered billions of dollars’ worth of corruption in Kenya, a leak that made front pages around the world, and is widely viewed to have changed the results of the Kenyan 2007 Presidential Election. In 2008 WikiLeaks defeated the largest private Swiss bank in US courts after revealing its Cayman Islands trusts, costing the bank hundreds of millions as it cancelled its scheduled US IPO. However these leaks pre-date Domscheit-Berg’s substantive involvement.”

If the leaks pre-date Domscheit-Berg’s involvement, the idea that Domscheit-Berg was the sole engineer of the WikiLeaks platform—or so crucial that his departure crippled the technological functioning of the organization—is counter-intuitive. Meaning that in fact, the claims made by YAC in these tweets are demonstrably false.

But in fact, they are worse than merely slanders of WikiLeaks. They are an attempt to form a revisionist history that seeks to raise the profile of someone—Domscheit-Berg—who was not simply a disgruntled former volunteer. He was without doubt, a saboteur.

Here is why I can say that with such confidence: Domscheit-Berg didn’t merely beef with WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. He didn’t merely sell-out by writing a book slamming them and selling the movie rights to Dreamworks. He did much, much worse. By all accounts, he deliberately destroyed evidence of war crimes and other corporate transgressions and withheld documented proof of such that were entrusted to him. WikiLeaks also confirmed that Domscheit-Berg made off with the “internals” of up to 20 neo-Nazi organizations.

From this open letter by Guatemalan Human Rights lawyer Renata Avila:

“I gave WikiLeaks some documents detailing proof of torture and government abuse of a Latin America country. The documents were only in hard copy. I entrusted those valuable documents – the only copy available – to Wikileaks because of the expertise of the people running it, their procedures and the mechanisms they used to maximize impact when published. I did not intend to give such material to Mr. Domscheit-Berg personally, as was made clear to him by me at the time. My intention was to give it to the platform I trusted and contributed to; to WikiLeaks. The material has not been published and I am disturbed to read public statements by Mr. Domscheit-Berg in which he states that he has not returned such documents to WikiLeaks.” – Renata Avila

Avila describes being present at Domscheit-Berg’s home when he was toasting journalist Heather Brooke with champagne. Brooke later stated: ““one of [Assange’s] disaffected colleagues gave me a full set of the US diplomatic cables that Assange was planning to use in his next publication.”

These were, of course, files supplied to WikiLeaks by Chelsea Manning. Of Domscheit-Berg’s attitude towards Manning, Renata Avila notes:

“After the arrest of Bradley Manning became public, I asked Mr. Domschiet-Berg how I could help the young soldier, but he did not appear to be interested. He was on holiday. I sent him contact details of human rights workers I thought would be able to support Manning, which he said he forwarded on to someone else. He never followed it up. I was under the impression that he didn’t care or that someone else must have the situation well in hand. It was only after he was suspended from WikiLeaks that he became outspoken about Manning.” – Renata Avila

The comments section on Avila’s post is well worth reading, to begin to understand the full extent of the betrayals by Domscheit-Berg, referred to as DDB.

OpenLeaks, DDB’s project to springboard off WikiLeaks, was a spectacular failure that resulted in his temporary expulsion from the Chaos Computer Club.

Slashdot sums it up:

Then of course, there’s another tiny problem with the theory of DDB being the technical brains behind the WikiLeaks leaks submission platform.

It turns out he wasn’t actually a developer, a programmer, a computer scientist or a software architect. Nor did he invent, design, build or maintain the platform. He just did a really effective job of at sabotaging and temporarily compromising it.

Tweets 8-9/25: YAC alleged that WikiLeaks “copied the publish everything leak platform” concept from Cryptome.org‘s John Young. Then YAC alleges that Cryptome “left” WikiLeaks but still adheres to the principle. According to Young, Cryptome curate their content and do not simply publish everything. Nor do they guarantee the authenticity of the documents they publish, nor do they offer any protection to their sources. According to the Wikipedia page for Cryptome, Young says their organisation does not believe in “context“, “verification, authentication” or “background“. Additionally, unlike WikiLeaks, they have complied with official requests for removal of content.

Cryptome has a long established history of obscuring events related to the security of their website with conflicting statements.

Given the massive disparities between the two organizations, not the least of which is their core modus operandi, it is hard to decipher precisely what it is YAC now accuse WikiLeaks of copying from them. The function of receiving documents? That’s what journalists do. Cryptome might have been an early influence for WikiLeaks but they did not invent journalism.

Of WikiLeaks, Young said in a 2010 interview with The Observer:

So after joining WikiLeaks in 2006, publicly trashing it in 2007, printing its internal communications and then doing mainstream media interviews about the project he had abandoned after discovering years later that it had become successful regardless, John Young is a WikiLeaks “member”, “insider”, “devotee”, “critic”.  Take from that what you will.

This is, of course, the same John Young who claimed to Vocative in July 2014 that Cryptome would be imminently publishing the Snowden documents that had been withheld from the public. He described the leak of the full archive as inevitable. It has yet to eventuate.

Tweets 10-11/25:  These tweets are virtually meaningless. YAC says that WikiLeaks postures itself as anti-war and then attributes that stance to Chelsea Manning. Then anomalously states that Chelsea still holds these beliefs. As if WikiLeaks prior to 2010 wasn’t anti-war, when it clearly was, or as if WikiLeaks is somehow pro-war. The assertion is such a lame duck that it’s not even worth taking the time to debunk. Look at what they were releasing prior to 2010, and what they have since, and the writing is on the wall.

Tweets 12-13/25: YAC’s attempts to insinuate that WikiLeaks is usurping the achievements of others, with a complete lack of context, continues. Swiftly moving on to Iceland, invoking the terms ‘open government’ and ‘transparency’ then raising the IMMI (Icelandic Modern Media Initiative), brainchild of Iceland’s Pirate Party leader Birgitta Jonsdottir. What YAC fails to mention is how events in Iceland came to the head that they did. The tide of public dissent that the Pirate Party was able to ride to prominence came about from leaks published by WikiLeaks, exposing gross corruption on the part of Icelandic bankers.

Their supposition that WikiLeaks was not involved in IMMI at a fundamental level is also factually incorrect. In this 12 minute video of Birgitta and Julian Assange speaking at the 2010 Logan Symposium, the truth couldn’t be any more clear, or any more different than YAC portrayed it.

“The reason why I am here is that early this year me and a group of people including WikiLeaks started to work on a proposal for the Icelandic Parliament tasking the Icelandic government to create sort of a reversal ideology of a tax haven, where they pick good legislation around the world to create secrecy, we want to pick the best possible legislation from around the world to create transparency…

…when I heard this idea, originally the idea about IMMI was introduced by Julian Assange and Daniel Schmitt at a conference in Iceland in December last year, where I was also speaking. Coming from a background of being an activist, a journalist and a writer and a pioneer on the internet, I immediately understood the importance of this.” – Birgitta Jonsdottir

The video is well worth the watch so here it is:

Tweets 14-16/25: YAC says that WikiLeaks only “supported human rights, horizontal governance and was a megaphone for those at risk… based on their (@wikileaks) Twitter feed from 2010 to 2012. News tweeted by @Wikileaks then was based on work of @GeorgieBC.” Once again, this is a ridiculous statement. WikiLeaks interest in human rights both pre and post dates Georgie’s admittedly excellent work on @WLCentral, which for a time was a brilliant and regularly lauded contribution to the WikiLeaks platform.

WikiLeaks’ most significant achievement in acting as “a megaphone for those at risk” has been in the establishment and undertakings of the Courage Foundation, which is a unique if not groundbreaking organization acting to defend, promote and represent the best interests of some of the world’s most high-risk, high-profile and fiercely persecuted whistleblowers and journalists. Courage was established long after WLCentral was discontinued.

Therefore the idea that their interest in either of the aforementioned principles was somehow bestowed upon them by a departed third party is frankly, disingenuous.

With regards to horizontal governance, it is true that GeorgieBC has done some really innovative, thorough and challenging thinking and writing on that topic and made many proposals through her personal blog and elsewhere. However, YAC is clearly no expert on how WikiLeaks currently operates or is structured behind the scenes.

The proof is in the pudding really and whatever WikiLeaks are doing, they are doing it right. The stats are long since in – they were the most impactful and most significant media organisation on social media during the recent U.S. election. They sport an unblemished record of relentless publishing. It is simply sour grapes to deny them the credit they are due for having achieved so much, in such dire and drastic circumstances as having intelligence agencies, particularly those of the West, set against their success and continued livelihood at every turn yet triumphing regardless.

Tweets 17-18/25: YAC bizarrely suggests that Jeremy Hammond having leaked the GIFiles from Stratfor was the sum total of WikiLeaks work against ‘corporate tyranny’. But their established record of publishing huge leaks on (not to mention confronting in court and winning) corporates goes back to 2007 and stretches to the current day. As a campaigner against the TPPA I can tell you that WikiLeaks consistent publishing and analysis of the TPPA, TISA and TTIP texts was hugely consequential in helping to grow the movements against those ‘trade’ agreements – which were not trade agreements at all, but corporate coup d’etas undermining national sovereignty for the benefit of the bottom lines of giant transnational conglomerates – and that is just the most recent example. To swing the pendulum all the way back, it was 2007-2008 when WikiLeaks first took on banks and won.

Tweet 19/25: “People thought @Wikileaks wanted to support the weak against the powerful. That was #Anonymous, not Julian Assange.” What else is there to do but shake one’s head at this inanity? Compared to the entire might of the Western Empire and its military-industrial complex, WikiLeaks *was* the weak. They are quite literally David vs Goliath and they have delivered time and time again. The false dichotomy between Anonymous and Julian Assange is a deliberate attempt at divide and conquer. The vast majority of Anonymous supports WikiLeaks and Assange and always has. Their genesis is from the same community. They cannot be separated just by someone with a Twitter account who desperately hopes they can be. When Assange’s internet was cut by Ecuador in 2016, what happened? Vast swathes of the connectivity of the East Coast of America (and elsewhere) was taken down in retaliation. No matter how much B.S. YAC circulates to the contrary, YAC cannot break solidarity between hackers just because they wish it were so.

Tweet 20-25/25: Bereft of any actual evidence and not having posted a single source link in the entire 25-tweet diatribe, YAC resorts to ad hominems. Assange is this, Assange is that. The WikiLeaks Party, which it is well known was infiltrated, just as its parent organisation had been repeatedly in the past, and then smeared for supporting neo-Nazis, just as Anonymous itself was once smeared for supporting neo-Nazis, just as Occupy was smeared as supporting neo-Nazis, just as any significant activism movement or group supporting any kind of radical change is, is hauled into the exact same smear because it is a known tactic of the state to do so. According to YAC, somehow Julian’s support of the First Amendment of the US Constitution is also bad – despite Birgitta Jonsdottir having expressed exactly the same admiration for it in the above video.

“None of the people who have ever been involved in @Wikileaks have changed…”

Well, the people involved in @YourAnonCentral have definitely changed and it sure as hell wasn’t an improvement.

By Suzie Dawson

  The post Smearing Snowden and WikiLeaks In The Name Of Anonymous appeared first on We Are Change.

from We Are Change http://wearechange.org/smearing-snowden-wikileaks-name-anonymous/