#breach of a court order

[darkartsanna]

This is bullshit! This website is dedicated to preserving not just books, but audio files, videos, websites, this is the source of the wayback machine! They have effectively lost the right to lend out digital books, regardless of origin. This now limits our resources even further. It's another book banning issue, and it needs to be heard.

[thisismenow3]

With Republicans, EAIAC (every accusation is a confession)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The CFPB is genuinely making America better, and they're going HARD

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

Let's take a sec here and notice something genuinely great happening in the US government: the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's stunning, unbroken streak of major, muscular victories over the forces of corporate corruption, with the backing of the Supreme Court (yes, that Supreme Court), and which is only speeding up!

A little background. The CFPB was created in 2010. It was Elizabeth Warren's brainchild, an institution that was supposed to regulate finance from the perspective of the American public, not the American finance sector. Rather than fighting to "stabilize" the financial sector (the mission that led to Obama taking his advisor Timothy Geithner's advice to permit the foreclosure crisis to continue in order to "foam the runways" for the banks), the Bureau would fight to defend us from bankers.

The CFPB got off to a rocky start, with challenges to the unique system of long-term leadership appointments meant to depoliticize the office, as well as the sudden resignation of its inaugural boss, who broke his promise to see his term through in order to launch an unsuccessful bid for political office.

But after the 2020 election, the Bureau came into its own, when Biden poached Rohit Chopra from the FTC and put him in charge. Chopra went on a tear, taking on landlords who violated the covid eviction moratorium:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cfpb

Then banning payday lenders' scummiest tactics:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/29/planned-obsolescence/#academic-fraud

Then striking at one of fintech's most predatory grifts, the "earned wage access" hustle:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

Then closing the loophole that let credit reporting bureaus (like Equifax, who doxed every single American in a spectacular 2019 breach) avoid regulation by creating data brokerage divisions and claiming they weren't part of the regulated activity of credit reporting:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

Chopra went on to promise to ban data-brokers altogether:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/13/goulash/#material-misstatement

Then he banned comparison shopping sites where you go to find the best bank accounts and credit cards from accepting bribes and putting more expensive options at the top of the list. Instead, he's requiring banks to send the CFPB regular, accurate lists of all their charges, and standing up a federal operated comparison shopping site that gives only accurate and honest rankings. Finally, he's made an interoperability rule requiring banks to let you transfer to another institution with one click, just like you change phone carriers. That means you can search an honest site to find the best deal on your banking, and then, with a single click, transfer your accounts, your account history, your payees, and all your other banking data to that new bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Somewhere in there, big business got scared. They cooked up a legal theory declaring the CFPB's funding mechanism to be unconstitutional and got the case fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, in a bid to put Chopra and the CFPB permanently out of business. Instead, the Supremes – these Supremes! – upheld the CFPB's funding mechanism in a 7-2 ruling:

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/05/supreme-court-lets-cfpb-funding-stand/

That ruling was a starter pistol for Chopra and the Bureau. Maybe it seemed like they were taking big swings before, but it turns out all that was just a warmup. Last week on The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner rounded up all the stuff the Bureau is kicking off:

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-06-07-window-on-corporate-deceptions/

First: regulating Buy Now, Pay Later companies (think: Klarna) as credit-card companies, with all the requirements for disclosure and interest rate caps dictated by the Truth In Lending Act:

https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2024/06/cfpb-applies-credit-card-rules

Next: creating a registry of habitual corporate criminals. This rogues gallery will make it harder for other agencies – like the DOJ – and state Attorneys General to offer bullshit "delayed prosecution agreements" to companies that compulsively rip us off:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-creates-registry-to-detect-corporate-repeat-offenders/

Then there's the rule against "fine print deception" – which is when the fine print in a contract lies to you about your rights, like when a mortgage lender forces you waive a right you can't actually waive, or car lenders that make you waive your bankruptcy rights, which, again, you can't waive:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-warns-against-deception-in-contract-fine-print/

As Kuttner writes, the common thread running through all these orders is that they ban deceptive practices – they make it illegal for companies to steal from us by lying to us. Especially in these dying days of class action suits – rapidly becoming obsolete thanks to "mandatory arbitration waivers" that make you sign away your right to join a class action – agencies like the CFPB are our only hope of punishing companies that lie to us to steal from us.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and much of it – including an active genocide – is coming from the Biden White House.

But there are people in the Biden Administration who care about the American people and who are effective and committed fighters who have our back. What's more, they're winning. That doesn't make all the bad news go away, but sometimes it feels good to take a moment and take the W.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

[zvaigzdelasas]

A court in Germany has overturned a Europe-wide travel ban imposed by German authorities on Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, the British Palestinian surgeon who spent weeks saving lives in Gaza at the beginning of Israel’s ongoing genocide.

In recent weeks, Abu Sitta has been barred from entering France and the Netherlands in order to speak about the Israeli war crimes he witnessed during his 43 days working as a doctor under Israel’s savage and indiscriminate bombardment.[...]

The draconian German ban constituted “a serious breach of freedom of movement and expression in Europe and now a judge has ruled that the travel ban should be overturned,” said the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) and European Legal Support Centre (ELSC), which assisted in the case.

“This is a significant victory for freedom of speech and a significant turning point in challenging the chilling environment that many Palestinian human rights advocates have to operate in,” the two civil rights groups added.

The ban on Abu Sitta had also drawn criticism from Human Rights Watch, which asserted that the “attempts to prevent him from sharing his experience treating patients in Gaza risks undermining Germany’s commitment to protect and facilitate freedom of expression and assembly and to nondiscrimination.”

15 May 24

[oceanreveuse]

𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝗵𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻, 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲.

◟sub!neuvillette, dom!reader, canon!au, two dick!neuvi send tweet!! overstimulation, orgasm denial, handjob(s), dacryphilia, forked tongue!neuvi… pet names (baby, mon amour - my love), not proofread, pronouns not used so can be read as gn!reader!!

‘hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don’t cry.’ you remember the rhyme as clear as day, like you’d been raised with it carved into your mind. it’s chimed like a chorus on the streets of fontaine by the children, small and innocent - and adherently unaware of the world around them.

the room fills with another choked sob, whimpering into the pillows of your shared bed. the bedsheets, silk and shiny, are sodden by numerous liquids; tears, drool and if you’re kind enough to your beloved husband, cum. if only that was the circumstance, dragging both of your lithe hands up and down red tipped cocks in languid strokes. you never lose your rhythm and as much as NEUVILLETTE has always held a candle of admiration to your resilience and dexterity, by the archons he wishes you would let up for just a moment - just for him.

neuvillette can feel himself slipping away, crumbling in the palms of your hands the longer he attempts to endure your torture. his cries seem to fall on deaf ears, drowned out ironically by children innocently on the streets of the court of fontaine, outside the window as they chime happily in the downpour, “hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don’t cry!”

there’s a smug look on your face, eyes glittering as you lean over the iudex’s muscular body, decorated nicely by those white hairs that almost pale in comparison to the man’s skin colour. plush lips linger by his pointed ears, breath fanning over his skin that’s warm to the touch. neuvillette has never been one for sweating but it feels like hours since you started and there’s beads glittering on his forehead and neck, threatening to run down crevices untold.

“how sweet of them, don’t you think baby?” you murmur and neuvillette chokes on a noise that gets caught in his throat, his adam’s apple bobbing as he tries to swallow the lump. his whimpers are so light and airy, almost as dainty as the way the large man carries himself - as if he’s fragile porcelain.

“m-mon amour— hhnngh— p-please—” you cut off the male by capturing his lips in a searing kiss, messy when he arches his back in order to press more against him. he uses it as an escape to muffle his moans that get louder, threatening to breach the walls - and windows - of the bedroom and reach the ears of unsuspecting bystanders. you use it as a means of silencing the otherwise loud dragon, saving yourself the time of hearing his pathetic attempts at begging you for mercy.

he ruts his hips into your hands, forked tongue slivering to fight against your tongue in a hopeless battle of dominance. he wants so badly to finish, for thick ropes of white to paint his abdomen or the back of your throat but you’re relentless and he should have known this from the start. crystalline tears run rivers down flushed cheeks and sharply carved jawlines, rain battering against the windows as the citizens of fontaine call for their children, ushering them into shelter.

the chorus of rhymes end but it doesn’t stop you from filling the silence with a symphony of neuvillette’s desperate whines and delicate whimpers, his moans breathy as he pants to catch his breath. you swipe a thumb teasingly over the tip of one of his cocks, collecting treasured drops of precum and eliciting a sharp hiss from the parted lips of your husband.

your hands pick up pace, watching the way he claws at silken sheets to grasp anything - literally anything. there’s a fire in his abdomen, heavy balls tightening when he’s finally climbing those precious stairs to climax. he’s ready, he’s oh-so-ready for your praise and the soft aftercare you’ll spoil him with, that he’s very much deserved. the poised man prepares himself, rocking his hips into your fists as he chases his high, only for your hands to pull away just at the precipice. his hips stutter, cocks needy and twitching from yet another denial as he chokes out a sob.

your amused voice chides into the hot air of the bedroom, soothing your palms over his tense thighs, “hydro dragon, hydro dragon, don’t cry.”

© oceanreveuse 2024 | reblogs appreciated | do not repost, steal, translate, etc. on any social media platform & do not feed to ai.

[ the magazine is affiliated with @houseofsolisoccasum ]

[sayruq]

Spain became on Thursday the first European country to ask a United Nations court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. South Africa filed its case with the International Court of Justice late last year. It alleged that Israel was breaching the genocide convention in its military assault that has laid waste to large swaths of Gaza. The court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah but stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the enclave. Israel has not complied and shows no sign of doing so. “There should be no doubt that Spain will remain on the right side of history,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after his foreign minister made the announcement. Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Libya and the Palestinians are waiting for the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to grant approval to their requests to join the case.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Libraries have traditionally operated on a basic premise: Once they purchase a book, they can lend it out to patrons as much (or as little) as they like. Library copies often come from publishers, but they can also come from donations, used book sales, or other libraries. However the library obtains the book, once the library legally owns it, it is theirs to lend as they see fit.  Not so for digital books. To make licensed e-books available to patrons, libraries have to pay publishers multiple times over. First, they must subscribe (for a fee) to aggregator platforms such as Overdrive. Aggregators, like streaming services such as HBO’s Max, have total control over adding or removing content from their catalogue. Content can be removed at any time, for any reason, without input from your local library. The decision happens not at the community level but at the corporate one, thousands of miles from the patrons affected.  Then libraries must purchase each individual copy of each individual title that they want to offer as an e-book. These e-book copies are not only priced at a steep markup—up to 300% over consumer retail—but are also time- and loan-limited, meaning the files self-destruct after a certain number of loans. The library then needs to repurchase the same book, at a new price, in order to keep it in stock.  This upending of the traditional order puts massive financial strain on libraries and the taxpayers that fund them. It also opens up a world of privacy concerns; while libraries are restricted in the reader data they can collect and share, private companies are under no such obligation. Some libraries have turned to another solution: controlled digital lending, or CDL, a process by which a library scans the physical books it already has in its collection, makes secure digital copies, and lends those out on a one-to-one “owned to loaned” ratio.  The Internet Archive was an early pioneer of this technique. When the digital copy is loaned, the physical copy is sequestered from borrowing; when the physical copy is checked out, the digital copy becomes unavailable. The benefits to libraries are obvious; delicate books can be circulated without fear of damage, volumes can be moved off-site for facilities work without interrupting patron access, and older and endangered works become searchable and can get a second chance at life. Library patrons, who fund their local library’s purchases with their tax dollars, also benefit from the ability to freely access the books. Publishers are, unfortunately, not a fan of this model, and in 2020 four of them sued the Internet Archive over its CDL program. The suit ultimately focused on the Internet Archive’s lending of 127 books that were already commercially available through licensed aggregators. The publisher plaintiffs accused the Internet Archive of mass copyright infringement, while the Internet Archive argued that its digitization and lending program was a fair use. The trial court sided with the publishers, and on September 4, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reaffirmed that decision with some alterations to the underlying reasoning.  This decision harms libraries. It locks them into an e-book ecosystem designed to extract as much money as possible while harvesting (and reselling) reader data en masse. It leaves local communities’ reading habits at the mercy of curatorial decisions made by four dominant publishing companies thousands of miles away. It steers Americans away from one of the few remaining bastions of privacy protection and funnels them into a surveillance ecosystem that, like Big Tech, becomes more dangerous with each passing data breach. And by increasing the price for access to knowledge, it puts up even more barriers between underserved communities and the American dream.

11 September 2024

[drdemonprince]

Yo! I'm writing a class assignment on why Internet Archive is so right for breaching copyright laws and why the court is so so wrong for siding with publishers, and I wanted to talk about some authors who encourage others to pirate their work because so little of the money from book sales actually goes to the author.

Do you have any writing on this philosophy?

Thanks!!

I don't have any formally published writing on it, but you can site this message as "personal correspondence" (yes that's a thing in APA/MLA/Chicago style whatever).

I encourage people to pirate my work because I care first and foremost about the ideas within the books to reach an audience. I started writing for a general audience because I cared deeply about making information more accessible, and removing financial barriers to access is a core element of that. I also write work that targets populations that tend to be very poor -- disabled people, queer people, overworked people, and so on. It's vitally important to me that they can read the books, which means not requiring that they pay. Philosophically, I recognize that my ideas come from a long lineage of scholarship from other thinkers, including many disabled activists who always made their work available for free, and I don't deserve to profit from that thinking while others can't. I don't believe an idea can be owned, and like all forms of property, I believe intellectual property to be theft.

The act of writing is labor and I do think that deserves to be valued and compensated -- to wit, it bears mentioning that most authors do not earn any money from book sales. In order for an author to receive royalties, a book must first sell enough copies to "earn out" its advance, which may require selling anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 copies, depending on the size of the advance payment. And 95% of books sell fewer than 5,000 copies ever. This means the vast majority of authors never see a single cent from a book sale. Even if their books do "earn out", they are only looking at about 12.5% of the profits in royalties after that point. So it's hardly a lucrative venture. There's really no reason for me to be invested in the commercial success of my books, from a labor rights perspective, and certainly not from an intellectual or scholarly one. So I always tell people, steal, steal away, with my blessing.

[maslows-pyramid-scheme]

A teenage boy in the middle of the night found his father holding a brick over his unconscious mother on the kitchen floor. "I'm not going to stop until she's dead," the father, in his late 30s, told his son. The man ... smashed a window to enter the house ... hit his wife's head against a wall and repeatedly stomped and kicked her head, leaving her unconscious. The husband cut off her waist-long hair with a kitchen knife and left it on the bench [and] had repeatedly smashed his wife's face into kitchen tiles because he suspected she was cheating on him. The man had no prior criminal record. However, he did have an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) imposed on him. ... The Herald's analysis of ADVO's over a five-year period has found a rise in the number of offenders breaching ADVOs even amid a police crackdown [up 35% between 2019 and 2023], while punishments are becoming less severe [fines increased as a proportion of punishments from 12% to 21% between 2019 and 2023].

Domestic violence is so prevalent that, once a week, local courts dedicate an entire courtroom just to hearing DV offences (which they call 'DV day). The average DV hearing only takes 10-20 minutes, so you can imagine how many hundreds of men are have been charged with DV offences (and the key word here is 'charged,' because many women never contact the police, and so many men are never charged).

It's so prevalent that judges, prosecutors, and defendants don't even seem to take it seriously - I've seen a judge and defendant mock a victim's family, I've seen defendants turn up in old clothes full of holes and sports gear, I've seen prosecutors forget to bring court documents because of the sheer volume of DV cases.

[tsunami-of-tears]

A Fresh Start

Poly+ ACOTAR Week 2024 - Day 1 (Beginnings)

Cazriel x Healer Reader

Summary: Azriel rescues Reader and takes her back to the Night Court.

Pairing Masterlist

Wordcount: 2.4K

Warnings: mentions of violence; kidnapping; injuries.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:

You first met Azriel while he was spying on the human queens in the mortal realm. 

The queens had captured you from the small village in Spring where you worked as a healer and were now holding you to study your magic - attempting to harness it for themselves. 

Azriel had infiltrated their dungeons and was sneaking through the lower levels when he saw you. You were curled up on the rough stone floor of the cold, dim cell.

Azriel’s shadows whispered that you were covered in injuries - all at various stages of healing where they’d beaten you and taken samples of your blood and tissue. 

When Azriel scented your fae heritage, he knew he couldn’t leave you there. He didn’t care if it ruined his mission. He knew what it felt like to be caged, he couldn’t leave anyone else to that fate. 

Your eyes flutter open as a tall male shrouded in shadows, approaches the iron bars. He speaks to you in a calm and deep voice, “I’m going to get you out of here.”

You nod at the male, too weak to talk.

Azriel’s shadows allow him to slip into your cell easily, and just as easily winnow you away. He scoops you up, your body so frail in his arms, and he allows his shadows to envelop you both. He transports you to the River House where Rhys and Madja are expecting you. 

————

Reader

The cool wisps of darkness wrap around you, soothing your many open wounds as your cell disappears into the black. The shadows disperse and you find yourself in a charming living room. The sun streams in through the open curtains, so bright you have to cover your eyes as they adjust. 

You can’t remember the last time you felt the warmth of the sun on your skin. 

You lower your hands to find two fae standing before you - a tall, handsome male with black hair and an ancient healer with a kind face.

You can feel the healer’s magic pulsing towards you as your legs give out beneath you. You feel strong hands catch you and the world around you fades into nothing. 

————

Azriel 

Madja tuts as she examines the female. “She’s a healer. They’ve been using faebane to slow her abilities. She’s lost so much blood, it looks like they’ve been extracting it - Mother knows what they plan to do with it. Praise the Cauldron that you got her out safely.” 

Azriel looks over the female’s emaciated body, covered in wounds and bruises, and asks Madja, “Is she going to be okay?” 

“Yes, she will be. I just have to flush the last of the faebane out of her system, then her magic will do the rest.”

Azriel nods and looks up at Rhys. “I know I ruined the mission, but if they were using her blood - who knows what their plans are.”

“You disobeyed an order and revealed that their wards can be breached. You know what situation this puts us in,” Rhys sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But, this is bad news. Whatever they planned to do - I’m glad you rescued her.”

Azriel pauses, he expected to argue with his High Lord, but he didn’t expect his support. 

“Come to my office and you can give me the full report. Madja will see to the female,” Rhys says, nodding at Madja as he turns and exits the room.

Azriel is torn between not wanting to leave the female on her own, and not wanting to disobey Rhys any further. Azriel doesn’t know her name, but he leaves her in Madja’s capable hands as he follows Rhys down the hall.

————

Reader

You awake to the sound of birds chirping and wind rustling through long grass. You glance around, taking in your surroundings. You recognise this place - it’s the meadow near your village. 

‘How did I get here?’

A spring breeze caresses your senses, filling your nose with the scent of lilacs and fresh grass; the scent of home. 

You walk through the meadow, and the grass withers and dies under each step. The shrill laughter of the human queens rings in your ears. Your heart pounds and adrenaline courses through you as you turn around, frantically searching for your captors. 

With no one in sight, you sprint to the edge of the meadow where the trees will provide you with some cover. 

You lean against a tall oak to catch your breath only to find it’s not real, and you fall to the floor. The illusion shatters and you’re back in your cell in the mortal realm. 

You cry out, rattling the iron bars like a caged beast. You can taste your freedom on the tip of your tongue. 

Feeling hopeless, you curl up against the stone wall, trying to find some warmth in the dark, damp place. 

You see a figure approaching you, A winged male shrouded in shadows, reaching out his hand to you. 

You crawl, trying to take hold of it but he’s too far from your reach. He slips away from you and fades away into the dark.

————

Your eyes open hesitantly and you try to make out where you are. You don’t recognise the room, but it’s not your cell.

You can’t tell if you were still among the living, or if you’d finally succumbed to your injuries and blood loss. Did you dream up the mysterious winged male? Did he save you? Or was he an angel of death sent to accompany you to the next life?

You sit up only for a splitting pain to shoot down the side of your abdomen, and a broken cry tears from your lips.

Pain. You are very much alive. 

Wincing, you peel back the covers to inspect your body. Most of your wounds have healed, leaving only faint yellow-green bruises. Jagged silver scars fleck your skin as far as you can see, all various sizes. Whatever the queens did to you left a mark. Marks that your magic couldn’t heal.

A soft knock at the door grabs your attention. “Come in,” you croak, your voice hoarse with disuse. You look up as a dark stranger slowly opens the door. Your saviour. 

“I heard you were awake,” he says softly.

“How long have I been out?” you ask.

“Two weeks.”

It’s a long time, but you’d been in that cell for months. Two weeks was nothing. 

“Do you have any family we can contact, to let know you’re safe?”

You had no more family, they were all killed during the conflict with Hybern. There was no one to miss you so you simply shook your head at the male.

“Madja, our healer, said they’d used faebane on you to prevent your healing. She’s on her way to check on you now that you’re awake.”

“Thank you,” you say. It’s not enough, but you’re too tired to say anything more.

“I’m Azriel,” He says. “What’s your name?” 

“It’s Y/N.”

Sensing you don’t want to talk, Azriel nods and exits the room as Madja enters with her supplies. 

————

Madja ordered you to remain in bed for another week. She arranged for all your meals and medicines to be delivered to the room with magic. You hadn’t seen another person aside from her and Azriel since you woke, but even with the added comforts - you were feeling as confined by the bedroom as you had your cell. 

By the third day, you’d had enough, so you decided to explore the house. 

You get up, no longer wincing in pain thanks to Madja’s tonics, and make your way across your bedroom to the closet. You didn’t expect there to be clothes for you, but it was worth a look for something other than the silk nightgown you were currently wearing. 

There wasn’t much clothing of use to you. There was a fair amount made from black leather, but nothing that seemed comfortable in your current state. You did find a robe, so you could at least cover up before potentially running into someone else. 

You exit the bedroom and walk down the red stone hallway into a large open dining room. 

Inside, Azriel is sitting at the table having breakfast with another male. They have the same broad leathery wings topped with great talons. This new male has longer hair, pulled back into a small bun on the back of his head. 

Azriel watches you enter the room as if he knew you were coming. “You’re up,” he states bluntly.

“If I have to spend another day in that room, I will lose my mind,” you reply.

“Fair enough,” Azriel shrugs. “ Are you hungry?” 

“Yes, very,” you say. 

In an instant, a late plate appears on the table with a full breakfast. You take a seat next to the other male and start cutting up your food. 

The male turns to you and says, “I’m Cassian by the way, I live here with Azriel. I’m Rhys’s general.” 

You pause before taking a bite to ask, “Who’s Rhys?” 

“You may not remember, but he greeted us when we got back here from the mortal lands,” Azriel explains. “He’s the High Lord of the Night Court.”

You look back and forth between Azriel and Cassian with wide eyes as the realisation of who they are dawns on you. 

“You are… This is… Oh gods,” you exclaim. 

Living in the Spring Court, you’ve heard the stories about the Lord of Night and his inner circle - none of them good. But, they certainly didn’t match the males sitting before you. 

Your thoughts are interrupted by the loud gurgling of your stomach growing impatient for food. 

“Eat,” Cassian says, a concerned look on his face, “You must be starving.”

“You don’t have to be worried, you’re a guest here,” Azriel chimes in.

You nod and tuck into your food. 

When the first bite hits your tongue you moan softly. After being fed mortal food for months, even the bland food Madja was giving you had been an improvement. But this? All etiquette was forgotten as you shovelled more and more food down. 

Your magic was using a lot of energy to heal all your injuries, so you easily polished off the large plate. You noticed Cassian staring at you with a slight smirk on his face. “Something wrong?” you question. 

Cassian laughs and shakes his head, “No, I just haven’t seen a female eat like that before.” 

Your cheeks heat with embarrassment. 

“Oh no, I’m impressed,” Cassian reassures you with a wink. 

You roll your eyes and shake your head, laughing. ‘Typical male.’

“If you’re feeling up to it, Y/N, Rhys would like to speak to you,” Azriel states.

You look down at your attire and grimace. “May I have something else to wear?” 

“Angel, I think you look great in that,” Cassian says, causing you to raise an eyebrow at him, “But we can find something else.”

————

After some searching, Azriel found a simple day dress in one of the other rooms. There was a slit on the side that showed more skin than you preferred, and the colour was not one you’d ever worn - a deep navy like the night sky.

It was still an improvement to the nightgown, so you changed and freshened up before returning to the dining room to meet Azriel and Cassian. 

Cassian gave you a wolfish grin and asked, “Y/N, have you ever flown before?”

————

You were sure your screams could be heard all over Prythian as you soared through the sky in Azriel’s arms. You kept yourself tucked in close to his chest, so close you could feel the vibrations of his laugh when you screamed.

He touched down on the ground very smoothly and gently placed you on your feet. He held your hands for a moment to steady you.

Cassian landed beside you, a wide smile on his face. “Seeing someone fly for the first time will never get old,” he laughs.

You turn to follow the two males towards the manor when Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, appears in the doorway.

“I could hear screaming from the other side of Velaris,” Rhys laughs. “Nice to see you up and about, Y/N, please come inside.”

Once in his office, Rhys sits behind the large mahogany desk. You sit in the chair across from him while Cassian and Azriel stand behind you.  

“Welcome to the Night Court, I must say it suits you,” Rhys says, flashing a feline grin. “I was hoping you could shed some light on what happened in the mortal realm. Any information you can provide will help us in stopping the queens. I’m a daemati, so with your permission, may I look inside your mind?”

You pause, wondering why he bothered to ask. ‘At least he’s polite about it.’ You nod and take a deep breath before allowing the High Lord into your mind. 

You feel him sifting through your memories. Of years spent working in a village on the border of the Spring Court and the mortal lands, helping with war efforts. Of you being captured and the queens ordering experiments to be performed on you. From what you overheard in the dungeons, they were trying to figure out a way to use the magic to become immortal.

“Thank you, Y/N. This information will be very helpful. I also have a proposition for you. You can say no, but I believe your powers would be invaluable to my court. I’d like to offer you a permanent role here as a healer.”

“Thank you, my Lord, it’s an honour but I will have to think about it.”

“Please, call me Rhys. And of course. We can discuss the details once you’ve fully recovered. If you’re up to it, Azriel and Cassian can show you the city this afternoon.”

“I’d like that a lot, Rhys, Thank you.” You nod farewell to the High Lord, standing to face Azriel and Cassian. You give them a broad smile, “Shall we go?”

The three of you exit the manor and enter the streets of Velaris. Despite your injuries, you have a skip in your step as you walk along the winding paths. You feel oddly at ease with the two males and you can’t contain your excitement over your newfound freedom, over your fresh start. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *

Tags ♡ @littlestw01f @impossibelle @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @the-wall-willow @xasael

[c-rose2081]

Art by @nnobodoodles <3

Ariana Rose (OC/Character Introduction)

-

Story: We the Anti-Heroes

Fandom: Disney Descendants

-

Full Name/Title: Princess Ariadne Nevaeh Rose-Corleone of Coventry

Nickname(s): Ariana, Ari

Age: 17

Birthday/Star Sign: August 16th / Leo

Personality Type: ESTP

Home Country: Auroria-Coventry

Style Preference: Bold, Colorful, Showy/Promiscuous, 2000’s/Britney Era

Favorite Color Combo: Marigold & Turquoise

Art by: @tinta.negrita (Cara/Insta)

Family:

immediate family -> Queen Rhea Rose-Corleone (mother), King Jedrick Corleone (father), Prince Adonis Rose-Corleone (little brother)

extended family -> Queen Leah Rose (maternal grandmother), King Stephan (maternal grandfather), Queen Aurora Rose (maternal Aunt), King Phillip (Uncle), Audrey Rose (first cousin)

family via marriage -> Chloe Charming (cousin-through-marriage), Chad Charming (cousin-in-law/psudo uncle/Audrey’s husband), Queen Ella (aunt-in-law), Charming (uncle-in-law)

Art by @descendantofthesparrow

(Other) Relationships:

Hadie Phobos (boyfriend), Herc Hercules (ex-boyfriend), Zevon (ex-boyfriend/platonic friend), Claudine ‘Dina’ Frollo (friend), anti-heroes club (friends), Dr. Mason Blythe (therapist)

Face Claim: Samantha Logan

Descriptors (negative): Over-dramatic, Toxic, Bitchy, Difficult, Unstable, Spiteful, Attention Seeking, Anti-social

Descriptors (positive): Loyal, Protective, Theatrical, Fearless, Bright, Intelligent, Streetwise, Affectionate

Descriptors (environmental): Neglected, Skittish, Aggressive, Scarred, Broken, Emotionally Disregulated, Touch Starved, Temper Prone

Ailments/Disabilities: Emotional Disregulation, PTSD, Violent Tendencies

Felonies: Aggravated Assault, Underage Alcohol Consumption, Falsified Identification

Lesser Convictions: Expulsion (Auradon Preparatory Academy)

General Information:

- Ariana is currently in the middle of a guardian dispute due to her parents neglect towards her. She lives away from her home country with Audrey as her main point of contact while attending Auradon Prep.

- Ariana doesn’t have a good relationship with her family and generally avoids them at all costs.

- Ariana was expelled from Auradon Prep after her Freshman Year but was readmitted at Audrey’s insistence.

- Was arrested for aggravated assault after sending a man to the hospital (by nearly gouging his eyes out).

- Currently attending regular therapy sessions once a week (on Saturday mornings) to help with her aggression, anger management, and emotional disregulation by order of the court.

- Is a hairs length away from going to jail if she breaches her parole agreement.

- Struggles with her panic disorder stemming from PTSD.

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 83 (Heather Loses Her Cool at the Courthouse)

Over a year after his arrest, John Brindleton's bench trial had finally arrived. After squatting in the Brindleton Light, confessing attempts to destroy the lighthouse and with it the local fishing industry, he faced charges of vagrancy, damage to heritage property, and conspiracy.

He risked several years in prison on the latter charges. The off-duty officer who made the arrest was the star witness for the prosecution, and Heather had come to Brindleton County Courthouse to support him.

"All rise for Judge Morrison."

The buzz inside the courtroom dwindled to silence as Judge Morrison entered the room. He did his usual preamble and urged the defendant to stand. "Mr. Brindleton, you understand these are very serious charges against you, sir."

The defendant nodded. "Yes, your honour."

"How do you plead?"

"Not guilty."

Once the trial was underway, the prosecution called Sargent Conrad Gordon to the stand.

(I almost put him in a suit, but he looks real good in his detective uniform and I overuse this look without shame!)

"Sargent, on the night in question, you were still a senior detective with Brindleton PD."

"That's correct, but I was off duty that night."

"What were you doing on Deadgrass Isle?"

"I was with my fiancee and our pets. We all enjoy the sea breezes out there. The station's gotten reports about strange things happening at the lighthouse for years - weird sounds, lights going on and off - and we walked up to the point. I'm naturally curious, but I wasn't really looking for anything."

No one needed to know he'd been chasing ghosts at the lighthouse that night. He wasn't the man on trial here.

"Then what happened, sargent?"

"Our dog's a trained K-9 and we saw Mr. Brindleton jump out a window in the gatehouse. Gord took off after him and he hesitated just long enough for me to catch up. I reached for my badge and he attacked me. When I subdued him, I started to get his story."

"When did he confess to wanting to destroy the lighthouse?"

"After he admitted he'd been living in the lighthouse once he was kicked out by his parents. He wanted to destroy the fishing industry so he'd never have to work it, and also get revenge on the competitors who put his father's fleet out of business."

"And you had already placed him under arrest, so he knew anything he said could be used against him."

"Yes. My fiancee saw the whole thing and gave her statement. It's in the exhibits."

"And what was the state of the gatehouse when your detachment entered the premises that evening?"

"Squalor. There's no working plumbing in the lighthouse but Mr. Brindleton said he was afraid of strays dogs and wouldn't go outside. He said at home, someone cleaned up after him, and he was still getting used to doing it himself."

"No further questions, your honour."

On cross-examination, John Brindleton's lawyer leaned against the desk. "Just one question. Showing your badge before an arrest makes the action legal. And yet your whole department followed your lead without so much as a thought to your breach in duty?"

From her seat in the back of the courtroom, Heather glared at the defense attorney.

"I brought it out after he attacked me and I'd subdued him. It's in the exhibits."

"Your Honour, this trial is a sham!" A grey-haired man in the front row, behind John, shouted at the judge and a murmur started.

"Order! Order in my court!" Judge Morrison bellowed. "Mr. Brindleton, silence your gallery! Your family name got you far in this town, but I still find you here before me like any common defendant. You will not turn my courtroom into a circus."

Once Conrad stepped down from the stand, each side paraded a few more witnesses before the judge left to deliberate. Character witnesses described the defendant as an aimless man from a crooked family. In less than an hour, Judge Morrison found John Brindleton guilty.

His sentence was five years plus time served, and the spoiled legacy heir faced the prospect of prison with fear in his eyes. It had all gone wrong for him; his lack of ambition and zest for revenge both cautionary tales. He hugged the grey-haired couple who'd roused the courtroom earlier - his parents, George and June Brindleton, whose only child was headed to prison.

Heather and Conrad put on their coats and stepped outside. On her way down the courthouse stairs, Heather accidentally ran into Mrs. Brindleton. "I'm so sorry," she said apologetically. June looked at her with sad eyes and Heather wasn't sure what else to say.

"You!" George Brindleton whipped around when he heard Heather's voice and zeroed in on Conrad. "You destroyed our family!"

"Sir, I was just doing my job," he insisted. The grey-haired man marched up to him angrily.

"The Brindletons built this place!" shouted George. "That statue right there? That's my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Silas Brindleton! And you, a scummy little cop! You made this town he built a home, only to destroy his entire legacy?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir. But we brought you in for questioning and you were evasive with everything you were asked. Beyond that, I can't talk to you about your son's case."

"Conrad, what's going on?"

"Heather, it's fine. Why don't you go start the car so we can pick up the kids?"

"Is this your fiancee? Wouldn't it be terrible if someone destroyed your legacy in return for you ending mine?"

"Mr. Brindleton, if you're threatening me, we could always open a new investigation into the financial activities that really put Brindleton & Sons Fishery out of business."

"I didn't threaten you at all."

"What the hell are you saying?" Heather approached them, wild-eyed. "You want to come after me and our kids? I'm right here! Why don't you try me?"

"Heather..."

"No, I'm sorry, but if he wants to threaten the kids he better believe I'll be in the way!" She turned back to grey-haired George with a growl, as his grief-stricken wife joined their circle outside the courthouse. "You think Conrad destroyed your family's legacy by doing his job? What about you? Your son had nowhere to go when you kicked him out. The last thing he wanted was to carry on your family name and your crooked business. You could never hope to measure up to Conrad if you tried."

"Heather, it's alright."

"The only person responsible for tearing apart your family name is you, Mr. Brindleton."

"Watch yourself, girlie. You don't want to open a can of worms. Fish love worms."

Conrad's blood boiled. Some days, he wished he wasn't an officer of the law. Anyone else could have punched George square in the face, and he certainly deserved it - even before he threatened to turn his fiancee into fish food.

"Are you done yet, George? Every single one of our family's problems can be traced back to you and your gambling." June grasped her temples in frustration. "I'll be in the car, and I don't want to talk to you for the rest of the week. I mean it."

"Heather, let's go."

George Brindleton followed his wife several paces behind, walking slow to have the last word with Heather and Conrad. "You think you know so much about how I lost my business? Wait until you find out exactly what the Brindletons can get away with in this town. Consider it one last gasp before our name fills nothing but gravestones in the cemetery."

Conrad wrapped his arms around Heather and urged her not to respond. Fighting a desire to claw the man's eyes out, she let herself relax in his arms until George was gone. Slowly, her hands stopped shaking. "Is he really going to come after the kids?"

"He's just upset. He won't touch them, I swear to the Watcher."

Heather took a deep breath. "I thought you were paranoid when you got those security cameras. Brindleton Bay's too safe, I thought. But after meeting that man, I'm glad you thought to install them."

"Let's just go get the kids from Mrs. Goth's before they accidentally meet the Grim Reaper."

"Maybe they're safer with Grim right now."

Conrad ran his hand through her hair, forcing a smile as guilt tore a hole in his stomach. Immediately after being threatened by a sorry old man wasn't the time to admit the cameras were meant to address an entirely different problem.

"I'll always protect you, just as much as we'd both protect the kids. I love you so much."

Heather sought comfort with a gentle kiss before they headed for the car, and Conrad smiled for her.

He was already stressed with work and hiding the search for Rafa Bonilla, and now he was forced to consider just how dangerous George Brindleton might be. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: I need some more deco sims, clearly. I thought I downloaded three different sets of sitting decos, but only ended up finding one set in build/buy. I gather this is how I learn I need to avoid high poly decos? That's the only thing I can think of as to why they're not there!

NOTE 2: My courtroom scenes are nothing compared to @matchalovertrait's amazing courtroom series with Dulcetonio/Dulcetone! Totally inspired by your storytelling all the time, but I didn't have enough sitting decos for a jury so thank you for your talk about bench trials 😂 Saved me this week!

WCIF Brindleton County Courthouse? Thank you to @oimygiblets who found this build in the Sims 4 Gallery and also saved me this week! Newcrest Civic Building by SimJim24. It's not exactly the style of the town hall in Brindleton, but it has a tower and the same brick vibe. Suits the town. I added a founder statue in the front and some deco sims to the courtroom (all from @someone-elsa's Sitting Decos except for the lawyer at the podium which is actually a medieval deco sim by @nataliaauditore-blog) but otherwise left this lot untouched. I'm not sure how often we'll need to go to court, but I like having it for second saves!

[racefortheironthrone]

Since SAG AFTRA has also gone on strike, does that mean the negotiations between the WGA and executives went poorly?

This is a great question, because it allows me to do some educating about labor law!

Today's topic: "bad faith" bargaining.

While often honored more in the breach than the observance, U.S labor law requires employers to engage in collective bargaining with unions, once those unions have been recognized as the "exclusive representative" of the workers via card check or union election.

Because Leon Keyserling and Senator Robert Wagner were not idiots and could see it coming that employers would drag out negotiations in order to try to destroy the union through attrition, the Wagner Act of 1935 required employers to not just negotiate with unions, but to negotiate "in good faith" and made it a violation of the law to negotiate in bad faith.

Two major forms of negotiating in bad faith are "dilatory tactics" (deliberately using the procedures of collective bargaining and labor law more generally to delay the process) and "surface bargaining" (where the employer goes through the motions of meeting with the union, but refuses to engage in substantive discussions). This can include stuff like sending representatives who don't have authority to negotiate, refusing to schedule sessions or trying to unilaterally control the timeline, not asking questions or engaging in back-and-forth discussion, refusing to discuss topics that are germane to conditions of employment, and so forth.

These kinds of actions are considered Unfair Labor Practice violations and the NLRB can issue "cease and desist" orders and "affirmative bargaining" orders, as well as some rather creative "special remedies" that get around the Wagner Act's lack of monetary penalties. As that suggests, however, part of the problem is that because the Wagner Act doesn't have significant monetary penalties, a lot of companies will just budget a line item for breaking the law and treat that as the cost of doing business, while using the same dilatory tactics to appeal NLRB decisions through the courts in the hope that they can outlast the union. (This is why one of the most effective labor law reforms that could be passed in a Democratic Congress would be adding compounding daily monetary penalties and streamlining the ULP process in both the NLRB and the courts.)

From what I've read of the negotiations, I think there's a pretty clear cut case that AMPTP engaged in surface bargaining and used dilatory tactics, with the intent to run out the clock and thus provoke a strike in which they believed economic pressure would force the union into surrender, essentially a lock-out without declaring a lock-out.

I think it's backfired on them. A big part of AMPTP's strategy for winning that strike was to divide-and-rule - hence why they came to an agreement with the Director's Guild - by getting through the lean months by filming and releasing shows and movies with already-completed scripts. Now that SAG-AFTRA is on strike, that lifeline of content is immediately cut - which means AMPTP is going to run out of revenue in the near future, which as WGA leaders have pointed out means bad quarterly earnings reports, which means stock prices tank, which means investors and boards of directors get angry and executives become the ones facing the prospect of losing their jobs at the same time that all the compensation they've structured as stock options to avoid taxes loses value.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Israeli tanks, jets and bulldozers bombarding Gaza and razing homes in the occupied West Bank are being fueled by a growing number of countries signed up to the genocide and Geneva conventions, new research suggests, which legal experts warn could make them complicit in serious crimes against the Palestinian people.

Four tankers of American jet fuel primarily used for military aircraft have been shipped to Israel since the start of its aerial bombardment of Gaza in October.

Three shipments departed from Texas after the landmark international court of justice (ICJ) ruling on 26 January ordered Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza. The ruling reminded states that under the genocide convention they have a “common interest to ensure the prevention, suppression and punishment of genocide”.

Overall, almost 80% of the jet fuel, diesel and other refined petroleum products supplied to Israel by the US over the past nine months was shipped after the January ruling, according to the new research commissioned by the non-profit Oil Change International and shared exclusively with the Guardian.

Researchers analyzed shipping logs, satellite images and other open-source industry data to track 65 oil and fuel shipments to Israel between 21 October last year and 12 July.

It suggests a handful of countries – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Gabon, Nigeria, Brazil and most recently the Republic of the Congo and Italy – have supplied 4.1m tons of crude oil to Israel, with almost half shipped since the ICJ ruling. An estimated two-thirds of crude came from investor-owned and private oil companies, according to the research, which is refined by Israel for domestic, industrial and military use.

Israel relies heavily on crude oil and refined petroleum imports to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles and operations, as well as the bulldozers implicated in clearing Palestinian homes and olive groves to make way for unlawful Israeli settlements.

In response to the new findings, UN and other international law experts called for an energy embargo to prevent further human rights violations against the Palestinian people – and an investigation into any oil and fuels shipped to Israel that have been used to aid acts of alleged genocide and other serious international crimes.

“After the 26 January ICJ ruling, states cannot claim they did not know what they were risking to partake in,” said Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, adding that under international law, states have obligations to prevent genocide and respect and ensure respect for the Geneva conventions.[...]

“In the case of the US jet-fuel shipments, there are serious grounds to believe that there is a breach of the genocide convention for failure to prevent and disavowal of the ICJ January ruling and provisional measures,” said Albanese. “Other countries supplying oil and other fuels absolutely also warrant further investigation.”

In early August, a tanker delivered an estimated 300,000 barrels of US jet fuel to Israel after being unable to dock in Spain or Gibraltar amid mounting protests and warnings from international legal experts. Days later, more than 50 groups wrote to the Greek government calling for a war-crimes investigation after satellite images showed the vessel in Greek waters.

Last week, the US released $3.5bn to Israel to spend on US-made weapons and military equipment, despite reports from UN human rights experts and other independent investigations that Israeli forces are violating international law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. A day later, the US approved a further $20bn in weapons sales, including 50 fighter jets, tank ammunition and tactical vehicles.

The sale and transfer of jet fuel – and arms – “increase the ability of Israel, the occupying power, to commit serious violations”, according to the UN human rights council resolution in March.

The US is the biggest supplier of fuel and weapons to Israel. Its policy was unchanged by the ICJ ruling, according to the White House.

“The case for the US’s complicity in genocide is very strong,” aid Dr Shahd Hammouri, lecturer in international law at the University of Kent and the author of Shipments of Death. “It’s providing material support, without which the genocide and other illegalities are not possible. The question of complicity for the other countries will rely on assessment of how substantial their material support has been.”[...]

A spokesperson for the Brazilian president’s office said oil and fuel trades were carried out directly by the private sector according to market rules: “Although the government’s stance on Israel’s current military action in Gaza is well known, Brazil’s traditional position on sanctions is to not apply or support them unilaterally.

Azerbaijan, the largest supplier of crude to Israel since October, will host the 29th UN climate summit in November, followed by Brazil in 2025.[...]

The Biden administration did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Vice-President Kamala Harris’s presidential election campaign team.

Israel is a small country with a relatively large army and air force. It has no operational cross-border fossil fuel pipelines, and relies heavily on maritime imports.[...]

The new data suggests:

•Half the crude oil in this period came from Azerbaijan (28%) and Kazakhstan (22%). Azeri crude is delivered via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, majority-owned and operated by BP. The crude oil is loaded on to tankers at the Turkish port of Ceyhan for delivery to Israel. Turkey recently submitted a formal bid to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.

•African countries supplied 37% of the total crude, with 22% coming from Gabon, 9% from Nigeria and 6% from the Republic of the Congo.

•In Europe, companies in Italy, Greece and Albania appear to have supplied refined petroleum products to Israel since the ICJ ruling. Last month, Israel also received crude from Italy – a major oil importer. A spokesperson said the Italian government had “no information” about the recent shipments.

•Cyprus provided transshipment services to tankers supplying crude oil from Gabon, Nigeria, and Kazakhstan.[...]

Just six major international fossil-fuel companies – BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies – could be linked to 35% of the crude oil supplied to Israel since October, the OCI analysis suggests. This is based on direct stakes in oilfields supplying Israeli and/or the companies’ shares in production nationally.[...]

Last week, Colombia suspended coal exports to Israel “to prevent and stop acts of genocide against the Palestinian people”, according to the decree signed by President Gustavo Petro. Petro wrote on X: “With Colombian coal they make bombs to kill the children of Palestine.”

20 Aug 24

[captainofthetidesbreath]

To expand on a prior post I've made, it is really fun and it makes a lot of sense and it feels ultimately natural that Spahr is here at the end, in this last confrontation with Weepe, because he and Weepe are rivals. They're, almost unexpectedly, foils.

They're arrogant men who allow and enable awful things to happen to others to protect and increase their social standing. They hurt the people they care about most for self-serving reasons—but in the end, only one of them takes responsibility for that. (Trustfall and Ghosts are inverse parallels, and this post discusses a portion that is most relevant here.) Weepe increasingly identifies with the Trust as Spahr is increasingly disillusioned with it, and Weepe rises to power at the same rate that Spahr falls into disgrace. Just as Weepe is convinced that he will always be an awful person and fatalistically believes he cannot ever do better, Spahr has been convinced he has a self-evident righteousness but eventually sees that not only does he not, but he can and must do better.

Beyond that, they're narratively tied together. Weepe is in the Highest Light because Spahr agrees to bring him. Spahr helps Imelda lock Weepe in the Arca, and he does it in part for smug satisfaction because of his personal dislike for Weepe. He wronged Weepe by participating in engineering the circumstances that led to his torture and by failing to intervene against it out of fear for himself, and the fact that he wronged Weepe is something that Spahr is explicitly aware of and is something that weighs heavily on his conscience. It is through the Arca that Spahr traces Weepe's ascension to Tripotentiary as a direct result of his actions; he believes that he failed to stop, or even facilitated, Weepe's rise and everything that results from it.

For much of the narrative, they're racing to the same goal, even sometimes without knowing. Spahr is on Midst specifically to find the Breach centerpoint, and Weepe identifies it as the cabaret and turns it over to the Trust before Spahr has any chance to start looking. Weepe pulls the Fuze-Loxlee investigation out from underneath Spahr when he convinces Sherman to name Fuze's murderer, ultimately succeeding where Spahr fails. He takes the information to the Upper Trust himself after Spahr was removed from the investigation for, simplistically, lack of progress. Sherman chooses to trust Weepe over Spahr, and Weepe wipes his debt before Spahr can.

When Spahr is court-martialed, he is given the opportunity (read: pressured) into donating all Valor accrued during his tenure to his successor — and then that donation apparently goes to Weepe as part of a series of donations to help set him up as Most Valorous. The role of the Prime Consector gets folded under the new position of Tripotentiary, and without a Prime Consector appointed, Weepe is the sole direction that the Company has. Weepe even moves into the residence held by the Prime Consector, as we're often reminded that Spahr lived there before Weepe did. Weepe is Spahr's successor in all but literal title.

Spahr waits until Weepe repeats the order to bring Lark and Phineas to refuse. At the moment where Weepe is at his most elevated and Spahr at his most diminished, when they are such extreme ends in the hierarchy, it is to Weepe that Spahr says, finally, "No."

As Prime Consector, Spahr was ideologically (though not materially) the truest manifestation of Valor. A Consector's job is to hunt, to pursue those who have escaped the Trust and restore them to the Trust. At this point, Weepe is all that is left of the Trust, its only manifestation, and all he does now is hunt Lark and those who aid her, to rebalance and to restore what is felt lost.

As funny as it is that Spahr is here at the end as the only one who isn't a protagonist, it makes so much sense that he is here in the confrontation against Weepe. He has to be. They're foils to one another, one of their many. Their actions have deeply entangled themselves in one another's arc. Over the course of the story, very slowly, there's been a changing of places between Weepe and Spahr.

Of course Spahr is here too. He was a razor's edge from being the one bearing down on that cabin. He was very, terrifyingly close to being on Weepe's side of the door.