#Canadian immigration help

[uglyandtraveling]

Living in Canada as a Newcomer: Essential Tips for a Smooth Start!

Discover essential tips for newcomers settling in Canada! From surviving winters to finding housing, jobs, and more—here's your ultimate guide.

[choiceimmigration]

[menderash]

did you guys know that the mother fucking UN's humanitarian and legal experts have been saying israel's occupation of palestine territories is and has always been illegal, as it violates the FUCKING GENEVA CONVENTION? did you know it was britain that 'gave' the land that wasn't theirs to give to found the state of israel as a tactic to get more jews to join the british army in their already-active war against the ottoman empire? did you know that just between 2008 and 2022 the idf killed almost SEVEN THOUSAND palestinians, as opposed to the 308 israelis by palestinians in the same time period? did you know that israel itself admits to 'forcefully evacuating' palestinians from their homes over the course of their annexation of the country? did you know the british army helped them? did you know that any palestinian who didn't want to have their house taken from them and given to american immigrants being shipped in to populate britain's pet project was killed on their spot? did you know that back in 2018 palestinians did nothing but MARCH in protest of their occupation and in response, the idf is CONFIRMED to have killed almost 400 of them, including FIFTY FIVE CHILDREN? did you know palestinians are not allowed to build anything on the land they have left? did you know they aren't ALLOWED TO LEAVE?? did you know over HALF of christian evangelicals support israel solely because the bible says israel has to exist in order to bring about the second coming? did you know that in 2021, over 88% of us congress were evangelical christians? did you know israel is confirmed to have knowingly bombed palestinian hospitals and the idf had been caught targeting journalists? did you know israel is committing another war crime at this very moment by dropping white phosphorus on gaza civilians? did you know the israeli press was just confirmed to have completely fabricated an account of palestinian war crime right after their own got caught on film? did you know the defense minister of israel openly called all palestinians 'animals' to justify the deaths of their civilians? did you know holocaust survivors are presently speaking out against the israeli state's ethnic cleansing of arabs?

why, in the united states, is criticizing a settler colony's active attempts at extermination labeled antisemitic because of the religion the settlers happen to practice, but rooting for the complete eradication of a muslim country that was already there and is barely still there not islamophobia?? why is religion being used as a shield to justify genocide?

when a sudden act of politically charged violence occurs, like the hamas attack a few days ago, i ask WHY? i ask WHY until i get as far back as i can. i read accounts written by all sides. i try to find out why this is happening in the first place. half of these facts have come from the israeli government itself. all of them are easily found and easily confirmed by reputable sources. a lot of them are caught on film. all of these facts lead me to know that the state of israel was created by britain in order to gain an advantage in an unrelated war. i know the state of israel has caused unimaginable harm to the country it's slowly eating, and has suffered just a fraction in return. i know religion justifies none of it.

palestinians deserve to live in their own country. palestinians deserve to not be forced to give their homes to americans. palestinians deserve to live, to leave, to stay, to wave their own fucking flag. they do not deserve to have another country plopped on top of them and then have their settlers ask 'don't WE have a right to exist?' as their own right to exist is being extinguished.

fuck the idf, fuck israel, fuck manifest destiny, fuck all settlers who think they deserve someone else's home enough to kick them out of it. literally, in israel's case. indigenous americans, indigenous canadians, chicanos, pacific islanders, filipinos, mestizos, we should all be standing with palestine, because we KNOW how colonial violence goes and what it looks like. solidarity between all colonised peoples. free palestine.

[abroaddream]

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[allthecanadianpolitics]

Hello! I'm sorry if you've been flooded with this question lately, but my friend and mutual had recommended your blog to me. I would like to know what the chances of a queer American person of color being granted asylum in Canada are and if it would even be safe and worth it to try? Would my chances diminish if I bring my pet?

About 20% of Americans who applied for refugee status in 2024 were denied. That's all I can really say about chances.

The Canadian government said this in 2016 during the last Trump presidency (Bold for emphasis):

VICE: Could we see certain groups of people in the US claim refugee status in Canada due to the Trump presidency? Last year we saw a case where a black American man said he was fleeing police brutality in the United States, which was ultimately denied.

Raj Sharma: I suppose so. We saw some refugee claims from Iraq War military deserters. There was the Jeremy Hinzman case a few years ago, and Randy Quaid. I used to be a refugee protection officer, and I know what’s an acceptable refugee claim by an American. The problem is this for a refugee claim: You need a personalized risk. It’s got to be persecution, which is a significant interference with a core human right. Disagreement with Trump or being the victim of police brutality or profiling, that really comes more under the lines of discrimination and harassment, which is not covered by refugee definitions.

There’s two other hurdles. One would be internal flight alternative—if there’s a problem in one part of the country, could you be safe in another part? That problem has to be everywhere in that country. If you can [move to another area], you don’t get international protection. Then you have state protection: Can you go the police? There’s various levels of protection in democratic countries like the US and Canada.

-- Canada has also been moving in a more xenophobic direction by decreasing the number of immigrants we accept due to right wing politicians, so I don't think that'll help either.

If you feel its an option, feel free to go for it, but a lot of things recently hasn't given me a lot of hope that Canada will step up and help Americans.

[dertaglichedan]

CEO of Canada’s 2nd biggest company defends Trump’s tariff demands, slams Trudeau for not stopping trade war

The CEO of Canada’s second-largest publicly traded company says Canadians want their government to do all the things that President Trump is demanding — and slammed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not preventing the trade war.

Trump, 78, on Saturday, signed an executive order to slap 25% across-the-board tariffs on America’s northern neighbor, citing its failure to meet his demands on helping crack the fentanyl and illegal immigration trade.

“Canada thrives when it works with America together. Win by helping America win. Trump believes that Canada has not held its side of the bargain,” Tobi Lutke, who co-founded Shopify, wrote on X.

“These are things that every Canadian wants its government to do, too. These are not crazy demands, even if they came from an unpopular source. These tariffs are going to be devastating to so many people’s lives and small businesses.”Lutke’s withering critique came in response to a clip of Trudeau announcing 25% retaliatory tariffs on $107 billion worth of US goods and pushing for policies targeting red states. Shopify, the e-commerce giant that Lutke co-founded in 2006 is worth about $150 billion. It’s Canada’s biggest tech company and biggest ever startup — and second only to the Royal Bank of Canada in size.

[wiisagi-maiingan]

I think the thing that bothers me the most about this wave of "actually I do think all settlers should leave" posts coming from NDN bloggers (who would NOT be saying that shit just a few months ago) is like. Who is exactly is considered a settler?

Is it Black people whose ancestors were brought to North America as slaves?

Is it immigrants who came to the US and Canada in hopes of a better life compared to countries who are being horribly exploited?

Is it refugees who fled from war and violent persecution in their home countries?

Or is it just white people? What if they're immigrants for the above reasons? Are we okay with sending people to their deaths? How do we even decide who's white enough to be a settler? Who would be deciding that? Will things like ethnicity and religion be taken into account, especially when those things are relevant to their safety in their families' home countries?

And what about mixed people? What about mixed Natives? How many Native people can honestly say that they don't have "settler blood" and family members who aren't Native? Would it be based on things like tribal enrollment, even with all the already horrible tribal politics going on? Or what about blood quantum and all its issues and its role in colonialism? What about Native people who, for whatever reason, don't know their tribes? What about tribes that aren't federally recognized? What would happen to them? What would happen to us?

There's a reason why indigenous sovereignty and Land Back movements are so intent on rejecting the idea that sovereignty would mean everyone else leaving. It's not just out of kindness, it's also because that kind of separation IS NOT POSSIBLE. It just isn't. There is no clean line between "settler" and "indigenous", especially not after a few hundred years.

(And I've said it before, but to all the non-Native Americans and Canadians posting about how they'd actually be sooooo fine with being violently murdered in an indigenous revolution: shut up. You are not helping and you're a fucking liar who's only comfortable saying that shit because you know it'll never happen to you.)

[neechees]

Raisedeyebrowemojii Scamming information post

So as some of you know, it's been revealed that @raisedeyebrowemojii was a scammer, and for those of you that don't know, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. This is going to be an information post on raisedeyebrowemojii's scamming, lies, the evidence, and where they stole from, and the debunking of all their claims as comprehensively as possible to help the people they scammed and manipulated get some closure, and hopefully to provide insight on how you might spot them again.

I carried out an investigation on the now confirmed scammer, and now deactivated user @blktransdyke, who deleted within hours of my callout post. On that post I connected blktransdyke as being the same person behind raisedeyebrowemojii due to the information both of them had posted for alleged fundraisers, which you can see in the post here. For a short recap, both blktransdyke and raisedeyebrowemojii "Jay" both had the exact same story of allegedly being trans/homeless/disabled and posted photos of the exact same brown tabby cat named "Trouble", both claiming that it was their "best friend's cat" and raisedeyebrowemojii created a patreon for Trouble the cat, only for me to find that Trouble the cat is a hyperpopular cat vlogging/fanpage with 42K followers on facebook, and both of these blogs stole from this page and neither of them were affiliated with this famous facebook.

Moving on, with some help, ive also found more evidence that raisedeyebrowemojii was a scammer. I know many people were already convinced by the callout post I already did, but I think it's important to debunk a lot of raisedeyebrowemojii's claims due to the fact that so many people thought they were genuine, that they had died, and due to the fact that they stole pretty much every detail of their alleged life from somewhere else, and I can prove it, so I want to clear things up, and maybe allow some people to gain peace in the knowledge that "Jay" did not die, and was never in danger of dying to begin with.

The rest of this post will be under the cut because again, this is going to get long. I encourage everyone who was approached by or donated to raisedeyebrowemojii to reblog to help get the word out, thank you. Image descriptions will be available in alt text.

For starters, raisedeyebrowemojii went by the name "Jay", and on the donation posts of theirs (scams), they used the paypal name "Jay Baldwin", and Jay claimed to be disabled (allegedly they had tourettes, autism, cerebral palsey, were deaf, in a wheelchair, had a terminal kidney disease, and allegedly other undisclosed disabilities), Canadian, that they lived in the city of Toronto (in Ontario, Canada), and a trans lesbian. Screenshots for that below

Misuse of terminology & racefaking

Let's talk about their bio first. I suspect that the scammer behind this blog is neither Black nor Canadian, due to the fact that, as I mentioned in this post, 1. Black Canadians don't really refer to themselves as "African American" as much here in Canada, partly due to the fact that a lot of Black Canadians actually have roots from the Caribbean & not directly from Africa or America, 2. "Jay" claimed to be Canadian but also said they had an uncle & grandparents still living in South Africa, which means they're implying they're either a first or second generation African Canadian immigrant, so why would they call themselves "African American" if they have no national/ethnic ties to America, and they are Canadian? So, like the blktransdyke blog, who i proved is most likely the same person as raisedeyebrowemojii, both of these blogs are using incorrect/strange terminology for the ethnicities they claim to be, thus indicating racefaking and a falsified Nationality.

Falsified Nationality

Here I also have reason to believe this person is not Canadian, or in the very least, did not live in the city of Toronto, or likely the province of Ontario. Partly due to the evidence ive just given above, but also due to the reasons I'm about to give & the connected next point I'll get to soon. For one example, "Jay" made the donation post in the first screenshot i gave where they claimed they were scared they were going to freeze to death, and that they could hardly even type on their phone due to the absolute insane cold temperatures of Toronto.

However, I took a look at the Toronto weather forecast for the day that raisedeyebrowemojii posted that update (February 12th, 2023) and found that the temperature had gotten up to 6°C (or 42.8°F), with very little wind, and it didn't even get below freezing temperatures that day, and only got two degrees below freezing the night before (which is when they claim they were staying in a shelter). Canadians will know that this type of temperature in FEBRUARY is actually very very warm and pleasant. Like, unseasonably, weirdly warm. Screenshot for that below.

Now, for an actual homeless person, being outside in the cold, even if it's warmer than usual, this is still difficult and harsh conditions to live under. However, this is still a large exaggeration from what Raisedeyebrowemojii claimed it was, and youre not very likely to freeze to death in this kind of weather compared to the usual Canadian temperatures. The way "Jay" described it makes me think that it is not a Canadian who made this post, and is someone who was not in Toronto to actually know what temperature it was that day, but just assumed it would be very cold.

Impersonation of the real Jay Baldwin

Thanks to some help (of people whom I will keep anonymous for their safety & as a precaution of the scammer harassing them), i managed to locate the identity of the REAL Jay Baldwin, and was able to concretely find out that this person is who raisedeyebrowemojii was impersonating. So, who is the real Jay Baldwin you ask?

Jay Baldwin is a Black, disabled (who uses a wheelchair and has Cerebral Palsey) nonbinary Canadian and the founder of the private Facebook support group "Disabled, Queer, and Fabulous" with over 1.1K members, and is a student at Carleton university in Ontario, Canada, and this Jay Baldwin has actually been doing really well for themselves, and has gotten pretty famous in the Ottawa area. And, as you can see, the raisedeyebrowemojii "Jay" apparently has a lot in common with THIS Jay Baldwin, including their names, being Black, a disabled wheelchair user with Cerebral palsey, nonbinary, Canadian living in Ontario, and both use they/them pronouns. But let me show you how I know they've been stealing from this person.

One way I can tell that raisedeyebrowemojii definitely was not THIS Jay Baldwin is their faces. On the screenshot to the left is the icon that raisedeyebrowemojii (of allegedly "themselves") used for their blog, taken from the webarchive screenshot of their blog, and to the right is a cropped portrait photo of the real Jay Baldwin, taken from this information page on the official Carleton University website, which also lists most of the information I just listed about the REAL Jay.

Obviously these two people look absolutely nothing alike. And we can tell that raisedeyebrowemojii meant for their scamsona to look like the person on the left, because they also used a photo of another dark-skinned Black person in ANOTHER donation post. So they stole these selfies from a different person altogether, although I haven't yet been able to locate where they'd stolen them.

One of the reasons that raisedeyebrowemojii's lies were so convincing though is that they were stealing or misconstruing some of Jay Baldwin's life experiences almost in real time, and I believe that raisedeyebrowemojii was keeping tabs on Jay in order to harvest their life details. For example, on a Facebook post, Jay Baldwin mentioned the death of their father a few times, but also on June 26th 2022, made the memorial post below about the death of their uncle

and meanwhile, on August 25th 2022, raisedeyebrowemojii ALSO suddenly started saying that their dad died, which you can see on the screenshot of their tumblr profile, which as webarchive screenshot shows, was not there before. While they changed the dates, raisedeyebrowemojii was clearly pulling from the real Jay's life, so it looks like we can see around the time that the dcammer decided to randomly incorporate this into their scamsona. As far as I can find, raisedeyebrowemojii never made a donation post regarding their "Father" and said that he was abusive, so adding this detail from the real Jay's life shows that it was unnecessary except to look more real and to manipulate people into believing them.

In the ways that raisedeyebrowemojii misconstrued things, they also of course constantly used the story that they were either homeless or on the verge of being homeless. Where Jay would post facebook updates of doing very well and being happy in life and even doing & hosting events for disability rights, raisedeyebrowemojii around the same time would post about needing money due to either allegedly starving, of dying, needing medical attention, or being homeless.

Below are screenshots of, in the order that they appear (so we're going chronologically in time that these were posted by both raisedeyebrowemojii and Jay Baldwin respectively) from left to right, raisedeyebrowemojii asking for money on February 16th 2023 talking about being in allegedly horrific conditions, then Jay Baldwin posting a peppy update on facebook, looking very happy and having a drink with the caption "Cheers to life!" on February 22nd, and then another donation scam post by raisedeyebrowemojii begging for money saying they're "on the streets" and "will die", posted on February 26th 2023.

You'll be happy to know that the real Jay Baldwin is not homeless or food insecure, and seems to have had a good relationship with both of their parents and is in an accepting home, unlike what raisedeyebrowemojii claimed THEY had, and claimed they were being abused. Raisedeyebrowemojii likely falsified all that while still impersonating Jay and keeping tabs on them in order to create a false sense of urgency whenever they wanted money at random.

Normally I wouldn't go into this much detail about the people who were stolen from in scams, but I feel like this case in particular it was important to point out where the scammer was pulling from to debunk their lies, but also because the real Jay Baldwin has become quite an iconic figure in their area, and all this information was taken from multiple publicly available sources, and so I can only assume that Jay is comfortable with this personal information being known.

Little to no life details, interests, or personality outside of the impersonating Jay Baldwin, and manipulation

As I'm sure many of you know by now (as ive mentioned it in previous posts, and that some of you currently reading this were victims of the scammer), but raisedeyebrowemojii contacted multiple, predominantly Black users to attempt to befriend them, and they did this in order to appear more legitimate, and most likely so that they had "friends" to call upon should any of their scams have been questioned. We've also seen this with multiple other scammers where a new blog will appear and suddenly start tagging mostly Black users to ask them to (unknowingly) reblog their scam posts.

And as a more famous example, we've seen this with the famed scammer Laura Deramas where she befriended multiple users to get them to stick up for her.

But to get down to the title's point, outside of the life details they were stealing or misconstruing from the real Jay, Raisedeyebrowemojii didn't have much of their own personality or traits, which is common in scams. Say, for example, a scammer will create a scamsona who is a lesbian and loves cats and is making a fake donation post for a sick cat, and so in order to make their blog look more convincing, they will randomly reblog popular posts from tags about cats or lesbianism.

In Raisedeyebrowemojii's case, we had one user mention that while Raisedeyebrowemojii was trying to "befriend" them, Raisedeyebrowemojii would only answer very generic questions asked of them despite the fact that they sent the messages first appearing to try to get to know that user, like answering "I like reading!" Instead of answering what their favorite books are if asked about their interests. Below is a screenshot of that conversation. This user emphasizes that they never got an answer to the last question they asked.

"Kidney disease" and alleged "death"

I stated on my blog that I believe raisedeyebrowemojii randomly said that they were diagnosed with a "terminal kidney disease" (allegedly chronic kidney disease) specifically with the view that they could leave, deactivate, or abandon their blog and then move onto ANOTHER scam blog (and likely this was the blktransdyke blog) without looking suspicious or weird, because then people would just assume they had died, which is exactly what happened.

Raisedeyebrowemojii stopped posting around June 2023, and the blktransdyke blog appeared in early April 2023, which makes me think this is when they started to move to that blog or potentially even another blog we don't yet know about. Funeral scams, or scams where the scammer pretends their persona has "died" in general is not new and is actually pretty common. It's possible that raisedeyebrowemojii was going to (or may still attempt) to return on another blog and pretend to be a family member or "friend" of the raisedeyebrowemojii in order to ask for alleged "funeral money", which we've seen with blogs like the now deleted blog @destrawberry.

But the main reason I think why they stopped posting in specifically June is because that is around the time the real Jay Baldwin was gaining popularity again, doing multiple public events, and was doing very very well, so I think the scammer became aware there was now more of a chance of people discovering their scam. In June, Jay won an award at an LGBT film festival for a documentary they had made ("Supporting Out Selves") and an Academic Hospital wrote a piece on their success, and in August they announced that they teamed up with ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabities to host their 3rd student summit in September. You can find evidence of this by googling or by looking at Jay Baldwin's facebook, but of course, please give respect to the real Jay Baldwin & do not pester them.

Conclusion

All in all I hope that this clarifies a lot of things for those of you that were confused by all this, and again, I extend my dearest sympathies to those who donated to raisedeyebrowemojii and were manipulated by them, I know the feeling and I'm so terribly sorry that it's happened to you too. I advise any Black users especially to be very cautious about any new blogs with a donation post up that is new, and this new blog is trying to ask you to reblog their donation post: it's common for scammers to retarget anybody who may have donated to them, talked to them, or even just barely interacted with them before.

I'll put some of raisedeyebrowemojii's old paypals, gfm accounts, etc in either the replies or another reblog, because for now I'm running out of space. If you donated to them at any point, i suggest you report their accounts where you did the donating. And in the mean time, my colleague @kyra45 is taking testimonies on raisedeyebrowemojii, so if you have an experience with this scammer and would like to share that experience with us so we can document this scammer's behavior, please send Kyra an ask.

[riflesniper]

spent enough time cooking up this guy behind the scenes and now i feel like i can toss him out here now. this big boy is aegis :3 a sapient mech that ran from his makers to a resistance militia, who plopped a gay little pilot (green) into his hands. more details below the cut

patreon | commissions

his storyline takes place a few centuries in the future, where a small-scale war has kicked up between a newly socialist canada and a dystopian oligarchical US. aegis comes from a particularly powerful corporation called valkyrie machines, who definitely pioneered sapient AI tech some hundred years prior and definitely didn't just steal the tech from somewhere else before stealthily bribing the actual inventors into a silence or death deal

on the other side of the border is the canadian shield alliance, though most people just call it the alliance or the shield. they've played a lot of roles since their inception that was also some hundred years prior, notably aid programs, disaster assistance, fighting for land back/secure human rights/immigrant protections, scaring corporations into NOT being shitty, better economic policies, etc.

unfortunately the US did NOT like any of that. when canada's economic system is officially changed from mixed to socialist, the oligarchs of the states kick off a race to try and see who can annex it the fastest. fortunately, the shield doesn't give them an inch.

aegis is one of valkyrie's newer warden models; nimble, fleet-footed mechs with sapient AI cores to enhance battle prowess. valkyrie is Very strict about what their mechs and pilots do and don't know, and are not above both executing pilots who try to rebel and wiping AIs whose thoughts stray too far. aegis and his last pilot were able to keep sneaky about their plans to escape, but said pilot was disposed of before it could be carried out, aegis made a break for it on his own, racing from the montana base he was stationed at to the albertan border.

despite broadcasting a plea for the shield to find him, he didn't get out unharmed; valkyrie's air fighters were eventually able to catch up to him before he scaled the wall. they plucked at him for a couple hundred kliks until the shield managed to find him near a small town. a skirmish broke out to claim him, ending with one shield mech being non-fatally damaged and all of the valkyrie fighters being shot down.

aegis, battered from the run, was hoisted to a shield base near calgary for major repairs before being shipped to the edmonton for external repairs and retrofitting. it's here that he's assigned a new pilot; green reinhart, a skilled, kind man with a underlying justice-driven rage to match the heart on his sleeve. a man who would not be killed so easily, not with the transhuman tech that's available. it's here that aegis would actually get his name, and so much more that he never would have had back in the states.

the world was opening up to him now. his pilot wasn't the only one talking to him like he was a person anymore. green gets him a proxy frame to explore with. the two of them spend hours together, on and off the field; perhaps this is the best thing that's could've happened for either of them.

(first image is when they've already been partners for a long while; green's organic body does eventually get killed in a battle, and his transhuman body is activated. im still kinda fleshing out the details, unsure if i'll get much deeper into the socio-political-economic shitshow behind the worldbuilding, since i originally made this guy to just have a gay mech/pilot thing w/ green, but its kinda feeding off the current shitshow of the US wanting to annex canada in this day and age. i gotta focus more of that energy on makin characters WAUGH

if anyones got suggestions for like. videos or audiobooks that Could help add onto the worldbuilding though, im all ears. just keep in mind that i struggle with text only stuff, so audiovisual is heavily preferred)

[phrogarmyinvasion]

Calling All Americans and Canadians!!

hey y'all, i know the title of this post sounds dramatic but i promise it's cool!

canada is bracing for an influx of americans seeking asylum, and i thought this would be the perfect moment for some helpful solidarity. i'm making a discord server for canadians and americans, that way anyone who is trying to immigrate or seek asylum amidst what's going on in america can ask me and other canadians for whatever help you might need.

the goal is to have channels for whatever might be needed, from housing and healthcare information to friends that will make the move less difficult. the goal is to give you as much of a support circle as possible, because moving is a pretty drastic change.

now, i will need some help.

firstly, americans, i need to know what kinds of channels you're looking for in this discord. what would be most helpful for you?

secondly, canadians, i need to know what kinds of channels you think would be helpful to post general information on what to expect upon moving to canada. especially if you're an immigrant in this country like i am, this could be very helpful.

thirdly, i need y'alls help to spread the word. i have a tiny corner of the internet, but if this channel is going to help people escape crisis, we're gonna need all hands on deck. even if you're not planning on joining the discord, please consider reblogging so people can get out safely.

if you've stuck around this long and you feel like joining, here's the link! please comment or DM me if the link doesn't work, and i'll send you a new invite.

[choiceimmigration]

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for refusing to buy my friend gold? 

I (f/33) have a very good friend (f/39) who is Hindu and an Indian immigrant, and this year she invited me and my wife (33) to celebrate Diwali with her. My wife and I are white canadians and not religious. We’ve been friends with her for almost a decade, but in the last few years have become very close and now she is basically family. We happily accepted.

We brought over food and the stuff to make paper lanterns, and we had a lovely time. The problem came when near the end of the night, when my friend told me that it’s been so long since she had people to celebrate Diwali with, and she was getting excited for presents. I didn’t know Diwali included presents so I hadn’t brought her anything, besides the craft supplies and food, she said that was fine and we could get her something next year.

I asked her what sort of gift she would like, and she said gold was the traditional gift and, I quote “but make sure it’s above 10 karat or it’s basically tin, I’d just throw it away.”

I thought this was a joke at first so I laughed, which made her confused. I explained that I would never give anyone gold as a gift, I’ve never even gotten my wife gold, we couldn’t even afford wedding rings. When she still looked confused I tried to clarify, and asked how much is a gift of gold, traditionally (since I’ve never bought gold, I had no idea how much it would cost.)

She told me a minimum of 500 dollars.

At this point is the behaviour I think might make me an asshole, because I was laughing in complete disbelief very openly. I told her that was completely insane, and I would happily spend every Diwali with her and get her a gift, but there was no way I was buying her 500 dollars worth of gold, ever, especially not if it was a yearly thing.

I know that in India, my friend was of a pretty high caste socially and her family is well off, and here in Canada she is an accountant who owns her own condo, and is looking to buy more property and become a landlord. My wife and I live frugally, we’re blue collar and both from working class families. An average amount I spend on a Christmas or birthday gifts for someone I’m close to would be about 20-50 bucks.

After I’d explained all this to her, I could tell she was disappointed and it had made her sad and confused. Part of me feels bad for laughing at her tradition, especially since she made the effort to include us and has no family here to celebrate with. But it honestly boggles me, and makes me a bit mad, honestly, which I know is unfair since it’s just differences in how we grew up, but I can’t help feeling annoyed and like she’s not seeing her privilege.

This has been compounded by the fact that for Christmas, which we also celebrated with her, she actually gave us gold, worth quite a lot, in the form of a special coin. We’re not the type to display fancy stuff, so it just sits in storage now. But I’m worried she may expect tit-for-tat, even though the only way we could possibly afford to give her gold back in exchange is if we sold what she gave us which we are definitely not supposed to do.

We still hang out constantly and we will continue to do so, she is a for-life friend for a lot of reasons, and I’d love to make her holidays and celebrations special, but this is just a sticking point for me, and I find myself feeling/acting like a prick every time it’s brought up.

So, AITA? Does anyone have suggestions for this situation?

[db-1986]

I recently read a post from some idiot why basically said that he didn't want his taxes (probably about $5 worth of his taxes) to go towards people who can't help themselves by building their houses out of fire proof materials and not having fire suppression systems. I had to "kindly" explain that there are no building materials that can withstand a wildfire. An event that can literally burn a lot of metal cars to the ground. And that each house would require its own lake to supply enough water to suppress a raging wildfire.

MAGAts are not smart people. All that they know is what is shoved down their throats by their cult leaders. Meanwhile, in the real world, immigrants, Mexicans and Canadians (you know, the people Trump campaigned against) are currently on site risking their lives to help the US. Remember that people. Non of them have to, but they do it because it's right. How much has Trump given to the cause?

*edit*

I just wanted to add this tidbit. 44 Republicans voted against a funding bill that would have helped decrease the severity of the fires and aid firefighters. Now the same assholes are spreading their prayers. How about do your fuck jobs and protect Americans.

[fcble]

COLONIALISM, COLLABORATION, AND K-POP: THE CASE OF FABLE'S BYEONGHWI

In the almost seven years of their career so far, South Korean boy group Fable have made a name for themselves with their unflinching and unapologetically traditional Korean concept. In an industry whose fans debate the Westernization of the genre daily, Fable provides a breath of fresh air.

That isn’t to say they’re without their fair share of controversies. They remain notorious for a 2020 scandal where netizens revealed that one member, Mingeun, lied about his nationality, presenting himself as South Korean when in reality, he’s Canadian. They were also the subject of a call-out post by a YouTuber who later debuted as the center of co-ed group Lightspeed. The video was addressed by Fable members Mingeun and Jaeseop, which perhaps led further to its infamy.

Having called into question who can be in Fable (does a passport make an identity?) and what exactly the group stands for (a still-hotly debated topic), the latest Fable controversy centers the group’s youngest member, Byeonghwi—or more accurately, the group’s youngest member Byeonghwi’s great-grandfather.

On January 22, 2025, Fable members Byeonghwi, Haksu, and Andrew—the last of whom is sometimes known better by his stage name, Yejun—participated in an ad campaign for Ssijok+ (씨족+, from the Korean word for “clan”), an online platform similar to Ancestry.com that provides insights into a person’s ancestral past. The ads, which aired both on television and across social media, showcased Byeonghwi’s discovery of the tax records collected by his great-grandfather, Haksu’s confirmation of his noble roots, and Andrew’s findings of the ship manifests on which his great-great-grandparents immigrated to the United States via Hawaii. The ads were meant to be followed by longer videos on Fable’s YouTube channel, where each of the three members shared their discoveries in more detail. Byeonghwi’s individual video was released first. It remains the only one of the three videos publicly uploaded. Although no longer available, it has been archived by netizens and sliced into pieces for the most online to decipher.

NOW PLAYING: SSIJOK+ with BYEONGHWI, originally uploaded by Fable on YouTube, January 24, 2025 “Once upon a time! Hello everyone, I’m Fable’s Byeonghwi.” He sits behind a desk in the center of the frame, hands clasped together on the table in front of him. “Today, I’m going to share a story of my past with everyone. I’m the first member to do this, so please look after me well.” He bows his head. From somewhere outside of the frame, he retrieves a stack of papers. “Ssijok+ helped me find this information.” He shows the top paper to the camera: a glossy black and white photo of a middle-aged man with a stern expression in a formal Western-style suit. “My great-grandfather was the first of my family to live in Jecheon. He was born in the South Hamgyong province in the north and fled south during the war when the Soviets occupied his hometown. I knew a little about him because he picked our surname, Lim. Since he was born during Japanese occupation, he only had a Japanese name for the beginning of his life.” He picked up the next paper, a shadowy scan of a clearly crumpled piece of paper littered with characters. “This is my family’s register. The character for Lim is the one for responsibility.” He points out one section of the register, where the Hanja characters begin to blur together. “His first name was Shidae, from one of the characters of his given Japanese name, and Daehanminguk.” 

As it turns out, this is far from the entire story. While everything Byeonghwi mentioned is accurate, there is, of course, much more he didn't mention. The first person to discover this was the anonymous author of a Pannchoa post who asked in the title, “Did anyone do their research? Fable’s Byeonghwi has chinilpa relatives.” The author used the same service as Fable, except they started with the name of Byeonghwi’s great-grandfather. From there, as the poster described, his name was discovered as part of a list of Korean collaborators with imperial Japan. As if to damn Byeonghwi even further, Ssijok+ also surfaced ancestral records of his great-great-grandfather, whose name was found on the same list. The anonymous poster did not have to explain much more, as netizens quickly drew their own conclusions, which many of them left in the comments of the post.

At the time of this writing, the most popular comment, with nearly three thousand votes, reads, “Ah, it’s shameful, isn’t it? To be a normal citizen with chinilpa heritage is one thing. To be a Fable member with chinilpa heritage is fucking embarrassing.” 

To grasp the gravity of the situation—and to understand the conclusions netizens found themselves at—we have to take a few steps back. The term “chinilpa,” which appeared no less than ten times in the original post, and in nearly every comment, is a derogatory term used for Korean citizens who worked for or with the Japanese empire. The most prominent examples are the five imperial ministers who signed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 that turned the Korean Empire into a Japanese protectorate. Lesser examples would include, according to Institute for Research in Collaborationists Activities’s list that Byeonghwi’s ancestors found themselves on, military officers, intellectuals, and officials who assisted the Japanese government.

Fable, on the other hand, have always presented themselves as pro-Korea, and lean into nationalist sentiment from time to time. From supporting South Korea’s claim to the Liancourt Rocks to Intak’s Yi Sang-inspired solo debut album, they present a fervent front of Korean culture.

In an effort to protect Byeonghwi’s image, Fabulists—the collective name for Fable’s fans—would end up digging a deeper grave. The Institute for Research in Collaborationists Activities created their list based on rank and title, rather than deeds. The days following the spread of the Pannchoa post nearly turned into a witch hunt as fans did their best to exonerate Byeonghwi and prove his ancestors were part of the list because it covered their jobs. Instead, they discovered, with all too much ease, that Shidae—Byeonghwi’s great-grandfather—inherited much of his standing from his father, Kitadai Hitoshi (来代 将). It is presumed that he had a Korean name, but much of the information related to him was found in relation to his Japanese name. Educated in Japan, he was appointed as a low-ranking government official shortly after returning to Korea. The official annexation of Korea saw his promotion to a moderately high-ranking finance minister. Perhaps the most incriminating piece of evidence of his wrongdoings was his signature of approval on the budget of the Manchukuo National Railway through modern day North Korea and China’s Jilin province.

While there is no way we in the twenty-first century can definitively understand Hitoshi or Shidae’s motivations, the remnants of their actions are enough proof for many to denounce them and now their descendant. It is possible that Hitoshi saw Japanese annexation as a path to Korea’s modernization—it wasn’t too long ago that Korea was the backwater of East Asia, rather than the country producing world-renowned idol groups and hit Netflix shows and Nobel Prize laureates—or he simply wanted a way to survive what looked like an inevitable force of empire at the time. It is also possible that he supported the ideology of imperial Japan.

In the modern day, having firmly painted Byeonghwi in a rather negative light, Fabulists turned to the next best thing: Fable’s agency, Zenith Entertainment. Their approach, however, was far from unified. They expressed a myriad of sentiments, both online and in person. Byeonghwi should leave the group. Byeonghwi should take a hiatus and reflect. Byeonghwi shouldn’t have to repent for the actions of his deceased ancestors. Byeonghwi shouldn’t apologize for something that happened a hundred years ago.

Clearly aware of the online firestorm, Zenith Entertainment began to quietly make their move. The timeline was chronicled by one of Fable’s most prominent Western fanbases, prodbyfable on Twitter. Byeonghwi’s video was first made private on YouTube, before being removed completely less than a day later. The ads, which had at first featured prominently across various social media platforms, grew less and less frequent. Ssijok+ even removed Fable’s promotional videos from their website. The original Pannchoa post also vanished around this time. 

Throughout this entire ordeal, the members of Fable were uncharacteristically quiet. Given that they had defended their honor when attacked via YouTube video essay, it came as a slight surprise that no one said a word in defense of Byeonghwi. The single exception came from an audio recording posted by a fan who attended a variety show shoot.

NOW PLAYING: An audio recording released by a Fabulist, originally uploaded by @a2uz7ha3k1 on TikTok, February 4, 2025 HOST: We’ve seen a lot of buzz online about you lately, Byeonghwi-ssi. Can you give us your side of the story? BYEONGHWI: [laughs] I’m preparing for our new album, of course. We’re looking forward to— HOST: [interrupting] I think I speak for quite a few people, Byeonghwi-ssi, when I say that what I really mean is were your ancestors collaborators? [silence] KIYOUNG: You shouldn’t ask him questions like that. HOST: Don’t you think your fans deserve to know the truth about who they’re supporting? MINGEUN: [softly] Ow. ANDREW: Byeonghwi is the same person our fans have always known. He isn’t responsible for what his great-grandfather did. 

The audio clip went viral immediately. It spread past the confines of online k-pop spaces, becoming more of a general online controversy rather than one centering k-pop idols. A version of the clip with English subtitles appeared on my For You page, which is how I first learned about it. As its popularity grew, k-pop fans were quick to explain what exactly was so bad about Byeonghwi’s situation. At the peak of the online discourse, one viral Twitter thread compared Byeonghwi’s relatives to Jews who worked with or for Nazi Germany.

As the dust settled, Fabulists finally found the time to ask the next pressing question: what about Fable’s newest album, set to release in less than two weeks? (And then the less pressing and mostly unasked question: if Byeonghwi’s ancestors collaborated, who else might have chinilpa relations?)

Zenith Entertainment released their only official statement on the situation on February 9. The English version of the letter reads as follows:

Hello, this is Zenith Entertainment. Over the past two weeks, we have been saddened to see the reactions of Fabulists to Byeonghwi’s personal history. We will take proper legal action against those who seek to defame our artists. Fable has always strived to fully represent the past and provide an accurate depiction of history. There are parts of history that many would find embarrassing, shameful, or otherwise repugnant. It is our duty to recognize and acknowledge these events in order to ensure that they will not happen again. Although we recognize that many Fabulists will disagree with our perspective, we do not wish to erase or ignore the actions and repercussions of Byeonghwi’s ancestors. Byeonghwi will remain a member of Fable, although he will not be participating in the group’s fifth album. In order for the other members to properly prepare, 자수성가 (自手成家) will be released on February 20, 2025. We ask that you continue to show Fable the same love and support.

Like the original video, this statement was also quickly picked apart. Fabulists were quick to point out that it took them two weeks to prepare this, and they went as far as to acknowledge that fact within the statement. “Proper legal action” was also met with cynicism, given that it came from a company who waited until a physical assault took place to try to press charges against a stalker. With its defense of Byeonghwi and no apology, as is usual in any sort of k-pop controversy, Fabulists began to run the same cycle of debates over whether or not he has anything to apologize for.

Within the scope of South Korea’s modern landscape, Byeonghwi’s case is far from unique. In fact, it bears a startling resemblance to the twenty-year-old situation of politician Shin Ki-nam. A member of the liberal Uri Party, he supported President Roh Moo-hyun’s investigations of Japanese collaborators. The same investigation discovered that Shin’s father was a member of the colonial police force, and therefore ripe for chinilpa accusations, in the same way Fable’s initial innocent ad campaign resulted in much more than Byeonghwi bargained for.

Fable’s next album is still slated to release on February 20.

[kazhanko-art]

So given the state of things down south

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html

I doubt Canada will be granting refugee status to Americans any time soon given the diplomatic situation it could put us in, but I’m gonna see what resources I can find for helping with immigration. I imagine in light of things that lgbtq queer organizations here will try to create pathways for queer americans to get out, and given last night I could see if any Jewish organizations are looking into anything.

I can’t promise that Canada will be a safe haven, but it might be better for a bit at least. And it’s probably an easier immigration option than other places for a lot of you.

Anyway, for Americans, do what you need to do, whether that’s staying or leaving. For my fellow Canadians, we’re in for a long one ourselves, so buckle up because regardless of our election results, this is gonna be a rough one

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Hi! I have worked with queer refugees to Canada (just left that position 2 months ago and still work in the same organization, just in a different role so I'm up to date on this stuff) and had an answer for the person asking if queer Americans would have a chance at being granted asylum.

When looking at asylum claims, the Canadian government looks for proof that there's a real and immediate dange, or real government persecution. They also look for proof of your queer identity and inability to escape persecution within your home country.

Until there is real legislation, the answer is (in my and my colleagues' experience) likely not. If Canada starts accepting Americans as refugees it means the government deems America an unsafe place to be. It would put tremendous strain on the relationships between the countries. That being said, as others pointed out, Canada's refugee legislation is becoming more and more xenophobic and they're actively trying to lower the number of refugees they're accepting.

Now, most of the people I worked with and supported are from countries where they have old colonial laws as well as newer legislation detailing prison sentences for things like supporting queer rights, being in a queer relationship, having anal sex, and public displays of affection. These places also have an enormous amount of hate groups that go around targeting queer people and seeking to harm or kill them, their families will threaten their lives, and their communities will target them or give them up.

This is not yet the case in the US, and until it is, even with the best lawyers, in my experience a refugee case would be hard to win.

I'm not saying this to discourage people or say there's no hope, but claiming refugee status in Canada is really hard. They put you through the wringer and there's an immense burden of proof on the claimant. It's also a long process where they are actively looking for reasons to deny your claim. It's not hopeless, and if laws do get passed it'll become easier which is the unfortunate reality of international politics.

That being said, from what I hear it's also not easy to immigrate to Canada unless you have some real good qualifications, a long time partner up here and you plan on getting married, or a lot of capital to come as an investor or business owner. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have actual experience with this so I thought it may be helpful.

~~~~