#employees protest for transfer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-eeveekins · 1 month

Text

The Witch From Mercury: Tying Up Loose Ends

A look at the state of different characters, organizations and plot points after the epilogue of The Witch From Mercury.

Earth vs. Space, and Earthian Inequality

The crux of this conflict was the growing inequality between Earthians and Spacians, and that Spacians were exploiting Earthian labour and resources for their gain, while also pitting them in proxy wars. When Miorine dissolved the Benerit Group, all their assets were placed into Earthian hands, including all the resources the plundered from Earth and presumably a number of weapons. With this, the main driving force of the conflict is resolved, although tensions very likely still linger, especially among those who lost family and friends to the Benerit Group.

While it may not be a perfect long-term solution, it has definitely helped in the short-term. Gund-Arm Inc. has survived the transfer and we see Miorine working with Earthian protesters to solve lingering issues. And we even see that Sedo is now getting an education. Clearly, Miorine’s actions havehad a positive affect on Earthian lives. Suletta & Miorine changed the status quo in a far greater way for the better than many Gundam main characters manage to do in their own worlds.

The Benerit Group

The Benerit Group was dissolved, and all of the political and military might it wielded as an entity was destroyed. Obviously many members of the group found ways to continue working, and many will have had some assets stashed away not attached to the group, but they would lack the combined strength that the group wielding before.

We see that Delling and Sarius are under investigation in the epilogue, so even if they're still free as of the epilogue, they may not be so for very long. And for Delling, who formed the Benerit Group as a means to enforce a tyrannical "peace" upon the world, his life's work was destroyed by his daughter, and all the power that came with it.

We do see the Peil Ladies, who seem to have slinked away to some sort of retirement home in the aftermath of events. While some see this as a good ending for them, keep in mind they had just double crossed the BG in a play to be the next major power in the business world after the SAL wiped them out. Instead, they were left with nothing. No power, no super company. You can see how miserable they look in the epilogue.

The children of the Benerit Group all seem to have found a future, one way or another. Gund-Arm Incorporated is still around, with all it's Earthian and Spacian employees. Elan, Secelia and Guel are still kicking and running their own businesses, though it's unclear if they found positions with the new owners of their old companies or started over.

GUND Technology

The Prologue started with showing GUND as a means for humanity to travel into space, as well as conquering various other physical disabilities. The work of the Vanadis Institute is now continued by GUND-Arm Incorporated, which we see in the epilogue is producing medical technology to aid those with disabilities, like Petra and Ericht.

Shaddiq

I have talked about this a lot in the past, but Shaddiq doesn't have a bad ending. His goal was to dissolve the Benerit Group and transfer their assests to Earth to balance the powers, and Miorine successfully achieved his goal for him. Sabina and company came away from everything with their freedom and now work to better Earth. And as a cherry on top, since Shaddiq was already under arrest for Plant Quetta and Asticassia, he also took the fall for Quiet Zero as well, to protect Miorine’s new family.

Mercury & The School

We don't actually see Mercury in the series itself (except in a flashback of the Lfrith hanger), but we don't really need to. The planet itself doesn't have any relevance to events, and Cradle Planet (which does take place on Mercury) makes it pretty clear there isn't anything of interest out there anyway. And while Suletta is from there and wants to build a school there, she never once expressed a desire to return. We can pretty safely say that Suletta built her school there, based on the line "You're going to build another school here?"

Lingering Questions

The Space Assembly League

Quiet Zero not only shook up things in space due to the dissolution of the Benerit Group, but also the revelation that the SAL was directly supporting Earthian resistance groups and helping them carry out attacks against their own citizens, not to mention very publicly trying to wipe out millions of it's own citizens with a giant space laser. Presumably this caused a massive shake-up within the SAL, and between that and the Benerit Group dissolution, the entire political structure of space very likely changed significantly, but the epilogue doesn't really give much of a hint about what that looks like.

The Lfrith AI

A plot thread in the Prologue that completely disappeared afterwards. While I'm not personally convinced it was ever meant to be a plot point beyond the Prologue, I was convinced it was worth bringing up. It was meant to overcome the Gundam Curse and allow people to pilot Gundams without negative permet damage. However, by all accounts, it never succeeded. The show very heavily implies that Ericht's unique ability to coexist with the Data Storm is what allows her to connect to the AI and pilot a Gundam without harm, and it's never brought up again. Not to mention the Darilbalde used a new advanced AI that could pilot a mobile suit with pilot input at all, but not even that was seen as a solution to the Curse for the Schwarzette.

Elnora and the Covern

We know Suletta was the key. It was necessary for someone to pilot Aerial because Ericht couldn't. Whether it was Ericht's permet resistance that Elnore needed, or maybe just a close bond family bond to push permet scores, the solution she found was to clone her own daughter. Through context we might assume this isn't exactly unheard of in Ad Stella, given the lack of surprise about her origins from Suletta’s friends. But what about the Coven? We see that by the time Ericht "dies" and she is uploaded to the Aerial, Suletta was already born. Were they made before or after Suletta. Before implies they were clones that tragically could not survive and Elnora desperately uploaded them to the Lfrith to save them, unable to bear more loss. Afterwards implies that they were necessary for control of the Gundbits. Where they more repli-children uploaded, or did Ericht simply copy her data into clones to handle the bits more easily? There are so many questions about what Elnora did to make the coven.

Notrette

The woman of mystery. We never even see her face. Depending on who you ask, the mystery is a good thing and any more information would ruin it. We know she's from Earth, that she wanted to apply the evolutionary mechanics of plants to humans, and that Quiet Zero was the key to her plans. And that, for whatever reason, she left a backdoor into it for her daughter based on the genetic code of her tomatoes. Why did she marry Delling? What was her original goal with Quiet Zero and what did she intend with it? How exactly did she die? Did she have a love affair with Prospera that saw her help Elnora create a clone of her daughter?

The Future of Gundams

Perhaps the ultimate sequel hook: we do not know what the future holds for Gundams after Quiet Zero. The Ur is presumably still around, and even if it remains a forbidden technology, we've seen that there are those willing to sacrifice lives to use that power. On the other hand, is the original goal of GUND-Arm Inc. a possibly? Can GUND Format equipped Mobile Suits be operated safely and for the good of humanity, instead of as a tool for war?

Asticassia

With help from Guel, Elan and Secelia, Asticassia survives 3 years later. But what is it's purpose? Is it still a training ground for the spacian elite to train the next generation of oppressors, or has it found new life as a technical school that takes in students from anywhere, without prejudice.

The Three Kids

In the epilogue, we see Suletta playing with three children in the wheat field. Are these children that Suletta & Miorine adopted? Or simply some local kids who Suletta likes to play with? Due to the fact that they seemingly disappear for the rest of the scene, I'm inclined to believe the latter.

#g witch #the witch from mercury

22 notes · View notes

deedi-hh · 2 months

Text

Y'all I'm scared

I'm not an adult, I am a minor. I can't vote, and my word practically means nothing. Please, if you're a young adult, don't vote for Trump. For starters, Trump will strip people of their careers, leaving many, many people without jobs, or he would change people's jobs to a 'better job' in his eyes (at least that's what i got from the article). Secondly, he's going to make the people that investigate the president work *for him*, and that federal employees have to pass a new civil service test he made (prove their loyalty? I dont know, i didnt see the test). He's going to make a travel ban on Muslim-majority countries to "keep out the terrorists", which not only is racism but if someone has family members in one of those countries, and those family members want to move to them, that'd be *impossible*. He's practically going to brain-wash immigrants to be all-good Americans, to not hate him, to basically call him the best. He's going to end birthright citizenship, so people born of illegal immigrants can not get a citizenship from federal agencies. He's going to end transgender rights, so no more surgeries, transferal hormones or hormone blockers. He's going to make project 2025 continue in it's tracks if he wins, and if that happens, civil servants will be sacked, giving Trump even more power, dismantling the Department of Education. I'm genuinely on the verge of tears right now. I wont lie to you, I'm really young. And that dismantling of the DE means that Trump is going to change the curriculum however he likes, which in turn means kids won't learn about important stuff, they're going to have to pay for their food, (which a lot of families, like mine, can't really afford). He's going to make abortion illegal in every state, and the women/people with female anatomy that have been S/A'd or R-worded won't be able to get rid of the outcome of that traumatizing, terrible situation. It's not good too, since nearly 70 PERCENT of those cases are against CHILDREN 17 AND UNDER. A CHILD BEING FORCED TO GIVE BIRTH COULD KILL THE CHILD. It's so horrible, it's vile. I am sure a whole group of you is nonplussed, and I am too, but I can tell that voting for trump obviously isn't going to end well. He's going to send MILITARY workers out on *PEACEFUL* Protests, which weren't endangering anybody. He said he LIKED WATERBOARDING (I'm assuming he's going to do that to secret agents, stuff like that) and thought that it *wasnt tough enough*, so he likes torture. He's going to make birth control so hard to get a hold of, which sometimes is used to help women with terrible periods that leave them bedridden, and he's wanting to end Planned Parenthood, which speaks for itself, since its not good at all.

That's not even all of it. (Read: https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f) Please, if this man wins he's going to make America terrible. A living hell for all of us, and he needs to lose. I'm scared; I can't do anything, basically, but I can say this. Don't vote for him, I beg you. He's not going to make America great, he's going to make it a borderline dictatorship. If you think these aren't enough reasons, that's because I didn't cover them all. You can watch videos on youtube, tiktok, anywhere, I think, and there are going to be so many reasons. From an American to another (if you are one or just live in the country), do not vote for trump. I live in a red state, and I am ashamed. I hope some of you will vote for the right person, AKA anybody but Trump.

31 notes · View notes

mackenzielovee · 2 years

Text

parenthood blurb: a wife's intuition

a/n: this is a little long for a blurb but i hope you guys enjoy it! i'm a little on the fence about it but let me know what you think. happy sunday <333 xoxo

warnings: swearing, crying, depictions of anxiety

ambivalence masterlist , parenthood masterlist

You collapse on the couch Thursday night alone, which is something you’re wondering if you should get used to. Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and now tonight, Rafe has had to work late, and each night, he shoots you a last minute warning text telling you he can’t make it and he’s sorry.

This fact, combined with dinner, bath time, and taming both kids into bed has you near tears. Every once in a while is different. Rafe’s picked up your slack plenty of times without the tears, and a part of you feels guilty that you find it so overwhelming when he isn’t present. But three nights in a row of not taking your eyes off of two children who will run away at the drop of a hat, combined with never-ending questions about where Rafe is feels a little unbearable.

You hear the door to the garage open and force yourself to sit up on the couch, wiping your waterline of any stray tears that may have escaped. You inhale and plaster on a smile, not wanting to make him feel guilty.

He doesn’t even take the time to set down his keys or remove his shoes, but instead, comes rushing into the living room. When he sees you on the couch, he tosses his wallet, keys, and phone into the armchair, then drops to his knees in front of you.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, cupping your cheeks in his hands, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

You shake your head, thankful for the lack of lighting so he can’t examine your face as closely.

“Everything’s under control,” you murmur, even giving him a small smile, “Are you hungry?”

“I’m going to eat,” he says slowly, “But I’ll get it.”

“It’s okay, baby, I’ll get it for you,” you reply, wanting to be the partner for him that he is for you, “Sit down. I bet you’re tired.”

“Sweetheart,” he stops you, “You’re the one who must be tired.”

You shake your head and stand while Rafe remains on his knees, moving his head up to look at you.

“Come tell me about your day.”

Just Rafe’s presence in the house is enough to calm you down. After a mere few minutes, all of your anxiety seems to melt away, and before you know it, his food is in the oven and you’re on his lap in one of the chairs belonging to the kitchen table.

“We got the preliminary site plans back for the marina, and I don’t know, Dad fuckin’ hated ‘em. He said the way it was laid out was dysfunctional, and gave me all these notes. The client’s up his ass. I sent Maria and Coop home, like, an hour ago so I could concentrate, but all I could think about was you guys.”

You give him a little smile, brushing his hair behind his ear with your fingertips. He leans into the gesture, seeking the comfort it brings.

Maria, a newer employee at the office, is a step below Rafe, but is still consulted on all of the major projects. You’d never met her, but Rafe speaks highly of her work ethic. Cooper, Rafe’s oldest buddy at the office, is also Josie’s office crush. Every time she sees him, she blushes and giggles and wants to hang out with him in his office.

“We’re fine,” you promise him, even though it makes your heart ache, “Let me check on your food.”

“Mmm,” he hums, protesting you getting up without giving him a kiss.

His expression makes you laugh, and you lean down to kiss him before you can help it. He lets you get up after a minute to check on his dinner, which looks done. You transfer it on a plate and serve it to him with a bottle of water.

“How were the kiddos?” he asks, thankful that you sit to join him while he eats.

“They missed you,” you say quietly.

He nods, “And their mom?”

Your eyes flicker up to him, watching how his expression changes. His lips slowly turn upward, and so do yours. Naturally.

“She didn’t even notice,” you tease him.

He laughs, dropping his fork on his plate before he looks over at you with raised eyebrows.

“Really?”

“Mhm,” you nod, “I mean, it’s really—”

“Is Daddy home?”

Both of you turn to the doorway, finding Josie confidently standing in the middle of the kitchen, while Connor stays back. You smile and usher him in, watching his saucer eyes flicker cautiously between you and Rafe.

“I’m home, princess,” Rafe says.

Josie wastes no time crossing the kitchen and crawling up Rafe’s lap, where she eventually settles herself, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Missed you, Daddy,” Josie pouts, “Stop workin’.”

Rafe chuckles, “I’m sorry. Did you drag your brother out of bed?”

Connor stands beside you, his hand on your leg as he waits for Rafe to give him a hug. Josie shrugs from her place on Rafe’s lap while he leans down, embracing Connor.

“She was in my room,” Connor explains, “She was trying to sleep, but got lonely without you, Dad.”

Your bottom lip juts out as you pull Connor into your lap, hugging him tightly. Rafe presses his lips to Josie’s forehead, looking regretful.

“I’m sorry, baby girl,” he whispers to her, “Daddy’s sorry, okay?”

“It’s okay,” she replies. He looks over at you, and when he notes your tired eyes, your dropped shoulders, and the way your grip on Connor isn’t as tight as usual, he pushes out his chair and stands, setting Josie on his hip.

“Come on, munchkins,” he announces, “Back to bed. Give Mommy her kisses and tell her thank you for taking care of you.”

Connor turns and looks up at you, giving you his best smile, “Goodnight, Mommy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, handsome,” you reply, giving him a hug and a kiss.

“Night, Mama,” Josie says. Rafe leans down, letting Josie reach out until you could kiss her on the cheek.

“Night, honey. Sleep tight.”

Rafe tucks his arm around you and presses a quick, sweet kiss to your temple, then nods his head in the direction of your room.

“Go,” he whispers, “I’ll be right in.”

When Rafe comes in about twenty minutes later, you’re already laid down. He smiles and steps over to you, watching as you faintly drag your eyes open to register that it’s him. You smile when you see his figure, but when you move to speak, he hushes you and pulls the blankets up over your body.

He joins you a few minutes later, after he changes and brushes his teeth, and presses himself right up against you in the bed. His arms wrap around you, his scent fills your nose, and you can physically feel your body relax under his touch.

“This okay?” he asks you quietly.

“Perfect,” you reply, “I love you.”

“I love you more, sweetheart,” he whispers, “Get some rest.”

The next day, Rafe texts you and asks if you and Josie can come by his office and have lunch with him. You decide it’s a good idea, and before you know it, you’re unloading a bag full of takeout food from the Club and a fussy, desperate-to-see-her-dad Josephine.

“Daddy’s gonna eat all my french fries,” she says, and you can’t tell by her tone whether or not she wants that.

“I got Daddy his own fries, sweetie,” you promise her, pulling her from her carseat.

“He says mine taste better,” she remarks.

You laugh, because of course he does, and pick up the food, praying like hell your purse stays in place on your shoulder because you have officially run out of hands to hold it. Once you’re out of the parking lot, you let Josie walk with her hand in yours through the office building. Rafe’s section of the office seems busier than the remainder of the building, and the first thing you see when you walk in is Cooper.

“Well, hey, Josie girl,” he grins, “Didn’t know you were coming in today.”

Joise draws back, her lips tipping up into a cheeky smile and her posture melting as she takes him in.

“Hi, Mister Cooper,” she greets, giggling.

Cooper laughs, “Did you come in to see me?”

“No, my Daddy.”

“Oh, okay,” he nods in understanding, reaching out for a hug from you, “Hey, Y/N.”

“Hi, Coop. Is he in his office?”

“Yeah, yeah, should be. And hey, if you get bored, Josie, come see me, okay? I’ve got a basketball hoop in my office.”

Her cheeks flush, “Really?”

You laugh at her cheekiness, at the way she’s totally crushing on him, and Cooper knows it too.

“Oh, yeah. Anytime you want.”

“What do you say, Jo?” you remind her, watching her purse her lips.

“Thank you, Mister Cooper,” she grins.

“No problem,” he smiles in his most charming smile, “You guys enjoy your lunch.”

Josie tucks herself behind your legs as Cooper walks away, giving your arm a friendly pat as he passes. You laugh at her but let her remain there, clutching your leg as the two of you move toward Rafe’s office. You stop in front of his door, just for a moment, to get a better grip on the food and on your child, when a voice sounds through the hustle of the office.

“Can I help you?”

Only out of pure curiosity do you spin around, being met with a pair of dark brown eyes. You scan down her body before you can help it, at her white blouse and pencil skirt, tan legs and heels that look a little too expensive.

She draws back at you, too, you notice, eyes widening slightly as she looks at you, then down at Josie, who is still hiding between your legs.

“Mrs. Cameron,” she breathes, “Oh.”

You swallow and shake your head, trying to put on your best friendly face. You smile, noting silently how her cheeks go pink at the understanding of who you are.

“Hi,” you say, “Sorry. We’re going in, I was just losing my grip on the food.”

You hold it up as if it’s evidence, to which she just nods. She’s starting to look downright uncomfortable, and for a brief moment, you wonder what she’s doing guarding Rafe’s office the way she is.

“No, no,” she replies, “I’m the one who should be sorry, I didn’t recognize you at first, but when I saw your face — Rafe has a picture on his desk of you — I mean, Mr. Cameron, um—”

“Hey,” you chuckle, reaching out and patting her forearm as an effort to relax her, “It’s okay, I promise. I’m not offended.”

She nods, but looks like she might throw up, “Okay. Sorry.”

You smile, ready to convince her that it’s all okay and ask for her name, when Rafe’s office door whips open.

“Daddy!” Josie exclaims, letting go of you completely and reaching for him.

“Hi, princess,” he greets her, leaning down to pick her up.

You turn and give him a smile, tangling your hand in his when he grasps onto you, “Hi.”

“Hi, sweetheart, I was wondering where you were,” he smiles, kissing your forehead, “I see you’ve met Maria.”

Maria. Maria with a good work ethic. Maria that he’s spent every night with this week. Maria, whose face is bright red now, as she observes her boss kissing his wife and daughter. Maria, who knows there’s a picture of you on Rafe’s desk, and who has looked at it so many times that she recognized you when you turned to face her.

“Maria,” you smile, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

She gives herself away instantly. She refuses to meet Rafe’s eye, and only gives you quick glances, which is how you figure it all out. Rafe, seemingly oblivious, takes the bag of food from your hand.

“You get fries?” he asks Josie, “You’ll share, won’t you, baby girl?”

“No,” Josie protests, “Mommy got you your own french fries.”

Rafe turns back into his office, expecting you to follow, “But yours taste so much better!”

Maria clears her throat, clearly uncomfortable under your glance, but you give her a smile anyway.

“It’s nice to meet you, Maria,” you say.

When she looks up at you, she can see it in your eyes. You can tell.

“You too, Mrs. Cameron,” she says weakly, then turns to walk back to her desk.

You spin around and walk into Rafe’s office, closing the door gently behind you. He’s got Josie in his lap and has already unpacked the bag of styrofoam containers, serving her food to her first.

“Did you mean to get tomato on your burger, baby?” he asks you, knowing you never do, “You can eat mine. Here.”

Your mind is still focused on her, still focused on not imagining them working late, alone, in this office, her in that short skirt, legs on full display, maybe she bends over a bit too far, maybe, just for a moment, Rafe thinks of how her body must look, never having been changed with child bearing —-

“Y/N,” he draws you out of your thoughts, “Sweetheart, sit down. You said we only have an hour.”

You swallow and nod, “Sorry.”

He gives you a hesitant look but hands over his burger and fries, which makes you shake your head.

“That’s yours,” you object, waving it away.

“No,” he says gently, “They put tomato on yours, so I’m gonna eat it. You take mine.”

“You didn’t get tomato?”

He chuckles, stealing one of Josie’s fries, which makes her giggle. You remain standing, staring, wondering why he wouldn’t get tomato if he likes it.

“No, I haven’t gotten tomato on my burger since we started dating.”

You frown, “Rafe—”

“Sit. Tell me about your morning.”

You’re being ridiculous. That’s what you tell yourself all throughout lunch. It’s Rafe. The same guy who has been in love with you since he was six, the same guy you’d been married to for seven years, the man you know would never jeopardize what you’ve created together. You squirm in your seat every time you can feel his eyes on you, and although you try to play the part, you can’t seem to get your heart all the way into it.

Josie asks to see Cooper again, to which Rafe dials him on speaker on the office phone and lets Josie talk to him herself. She blushes and giggles when Cooper offers to come scoop her up so they can play basketball with the hoop he hung on the back of his door, eventually accepting the offer with the promise that Cooper will be right over to get her.

He enters Rafe’s office not two minutes later and asks if he can carry her over, grinning widely when she nods and holds her arms up. Cooper takes her from Rafe’s lap and smiles proudly, then turns to both of you.

“Obviously, you guys are welcome, too,” he says.

You glance at Rafe, who shakes his head at you subtly. Normally, you would’ve declined when Rafe wanted to, but with the way he’s looking at you now, you give Cooper a smile.

“Sure,” you reply, standing from your chair.

Rafe clears his throat but you ignore it. Cooper starts out of Rafe’s office, busying himself with Josie. You hear Rafe stand as you start to follow them, and just when you reach the threshold of the door, right where Maria can see you, Rafe calls to you.

“Hold it.”

You halt immediately. You can feel Maria’s eyes, but you don’t look at her. You don’t turn around to Rafe, either. Instead, you swallow and remain rooted in your spot, ready to convince him that everything is fine.

His arm maneuvers its way around your waist and pulls you into him, spinning you around once he can. You give him a gentle smile which he returns, not caring in the slightest about who can see the two of you.

“What’s up?” he asks you quietly, “You’re distracted.”

You can’t help the way your eyes flicker to Maria’s desk. She averts her gaze immediately, flushing yet again as she scrambles to look busy.

“Nothing,” you lie, hoping it’s convincing, “I think I’m just a little tired.”

Rafe raises a brow, “You sure?”

You swallow just as Rafe’s office phone starts ringing. He doesn’t even flinch, but you glance over at it and then back to him.

“Shouldn’t you get that?”

He turns his head halfway, calling over his shoulder, “Maria?”

Your eyes move to her before you can help yourself, and you watch as she quickly stands, banging her knee against her desk at the abrupt movement and wincing.

“Yes—” she clears her throat, dropping her gaze from you, “Yes, sir, Mr. Cameron?”

“Can you get that line for me?”

She nods, even though Rafe’s focus is still on you, “Yes, sir.”

“Talk to me,” he begs you, dropping his volume.

You look into his eyes, meeting the desperation, the need to know what’s bothering you, and you smile. You smile because he’s working so hard to find out. You smile because he hasn’t gotten tomato on his burgers since you started dating in case you wanted a bite. You smile because, as he told you last night, he works late with Maria, and all he can think about is coming home to his family.

This smile is believable, and it visibly relaxes him. His shoulders fall and his grip loosens slightly, like he no longer fears you running from him.

“I was having a moment,” you mumble, “I’m okay now.”

He leans down to kiss the corner of your mouth, “Promise?”

Nodding, you answer, “I promise.”

“All right,” he gives in, “Why don’t we go see if our daughter’s gonna go pro, okay?”

You laugh, “Okay.”

He grins and takes your hand, leading the way to Cooper’s office without so much as a glance away from you.

You and Josie leave pretty soon after. Rafe walks you two all the way down to your car, where he promises to be home on time tonight. After you leave, both you and Josie pick up Connor from school and head home, where you work on your laptop in the living room while the kids play together. Connor tries to teach Josie different facts about each of his stuffed dinosaurs, to which she politely states that she doesn’t really care to know that stuff, and instead invites him to play a game with her on the iPad they share.

The second your laptop closes, Connor rises and walks over to the couch, carrying his favorite dinosaur toy.

“Snuggles, Mama?”

You grin, “Come here.”

You pick him up and lay him down on your chest, letting him cuddle in. He moves his head to look up at you, giving you his best dough eyes.

“You okay?” he asks.

His question forces a deep breath in, unable to believe that he’s so intuitive at his age. You nod and give him a smile, one that you pray is believable.

“I’m great, baby,” you promise him.

Josie’s head peaks up over the coffee table and her eyes narrow when she sees the two of you. She stands abruptly and waddles over, glare still prominent.

“I want snuggles, too,” she pouts.

“There’s enough room for you, sweetie, come on up,” you smile at her, helping her climb over the couch.

That’s how Rafe finds the three of you. He gets home about twenty minutes later, and when he catches sight of the view, a part of him wonders why he even bothers leaving for work during the day.

He dives right in, moving Josie onto his chest and giving Connor a kiss while he asks how his day was at school. You just smile, unable to believe that you’d been insecure for even a moment about your marriage, or your body, or your husband.

Rafe makes dinner, cleans up, and bathes the kids and puts them to bed, trying to make up for the fact that he hadn’t been home for that process all week. When he descends down the stairs with exhaustion written all over his face, you open your arms to him and laugh when he collapses on the couch beside you.

“I finally managed to pry my hand from around Little Miss,” he tells you, “She’s got one hell of a grip.”

“She does,” you reply.

“All right,” Rafe sighs, making himself comfortable, resting his head on your chest and shoving his hands underneath your shirt so he can feel you up, “Why don’t you tell me about your little moment today at my office.”

“Rafe, come on, it doesn’t matter—”

“It matters to me,” he says, his tone harsher than he means, you’re sure, “I don’t like it when something’s bothering you and you won’t tell me what it is. I don’t care if you think it’s stupid. I don’t care if it’s gross or weird or—”

“Maria has a crush on you,” you blurt, feeling him freeze from his place on top of you, “And it made me a little uncomfortable. But only for a minute. I’m fine now.”

He takes his time forming a response, but you note how his fingers begin to stroke the skin on your stomach a little more lightly, more tender, more gentle. You feel his jaw shift back and forth against your breast as he considers your words, and you hear him inhale a sharp breath before he sits up and looks at you, his eyes full of concern.

“You should’ve told me,” he says, “I would’ve asked her to leave.”

“Leave?” you sit up, staring at him as if he’s lost it.

“Yeah, leave,” he shrugs, “I don’t want you to ever feel uncomfortable when you come see me at work—”

“Rafe, that’s ridiculous. You couldn’t have asked her to stop doing her job just because I was there.”

“Why not?” he questions you, “I’m her boss.”

“Okay, just hold on,” you sigh, pushing your way out from under him and walking the length of the living room, “It was dumb of me to even be bothered by it. Can you at least admit that?”

“No. I would be bothered if someone you worked with had a crush on you,” he replies.

“Yeah, but—”

“But, nothing,” he stops you, “Sweetheart, if you express to me that something is making you uncomfortable, I would never just brush you off. You know that.”

“Yes, I do, but this is stupid, Rafe. Maria seems like a sweet girl, and honestly, who can blame her for having a crush on you? I can’t, because I do, too. So, I don’t want you making her leave the office when I come in. I’m not that catty. This is silly to even talk about. I’m just tired. This poor girl has done nothing wrong, and—”

“Y/N,” he practically laughs, “Would you please just come sit down and relax for a second?”

You frown as you walk over to the couch, intending to sit beside him, but no part of you is surprised when he pulls you onto his lap instead.

“I mean it, you know,” you mumble into his shirt, “I’m just tired, and I felt insecure, and I was thinking every single cliché thought about — well, her. She’s done nothing wrong.”

“I understand,” he says calmly, shifting your hair to the side and bringing his lips down to your neck, “What were your cliché thoughts?”

“Rafe,” you laugh, and so does he.

“Come on. I want to know what was going on inside your head. You looked like you were one second away from getting sick all over my office.”

“I was not.”

He chuckles, pressing another soft kiss to your neck, “Tell me.”

“You know, all the typical shit,” you shrug, “She’s beautiful, and you guys are working late, and she’d start flirting with you, and—”

“Hmm, I don’t think I want to hear any more, baby,” he says quietly, his voice deeper than it had been, “I’ll handle it.”

You freeze, “What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what you think it does,” he replies, “Because it’s not just a matter of you seeing her when you come in. It’s a matter of me seeing her, too, isn’t it?”

“No—” you stop, shake your head, “Rafe, please don’t fire her—”

“I’m not going to fire her, sweetheart,” he laughs lightly, “I’ll put in a transfer for her. It’s not a big deal.”

You sigh, “This is so—”

“It’s not stupid,” he grunts, “I know that you trust me, and I know that you know me, but I’m not going to let you continue to be uncomfortable with this. Everything is fine. Just relax.”

“I feel ridiculous,” you pout, but cuddle yourself into his chest anyway.

“You shouldn’t,” he replies, “All you did was tell me the truth.”

“But, you told me how she has a good work ethic, and if you need her or whatever—”

“The only woman I need is you,” he says, a teasing smile forming on his lips, “So, no, I personally don’t give a fuck if she’s in that office or not.”

You purse your lips to hide a smile, “Okay.”

“I’ll hire a really old guy to take her place, how’s that sound? But, if he starts crushing on me, too—”

“Stop,” you groan, burying your head in his neck to hide your embarrassment.

Rafe laughs, and the sound of it makes you smile. His grip tightens around you, pulling you closer to him.

“Kidding,” he mumbles, “Although, I am still thinking about how you admitted to having a crush on me.”

“Oh, my God,” you laugh, “Seriously?”

“Mhm,” he hums.

“Of course I have a crush on you, you goon.”

Rafe laughs, loosening his grip when you move to turn around on his lap. He smiles once you’re face to face with him, placing his hands on your waist and squeezing.

“Sweetheart,” he whispers, “I’ll always pick you. Your happiness, your comfort, your security. I don’t give a shit about the rest of it, it’s all noise to me anyway. Clear?”

“Clear,” you repeat, “I love you, you know.”

“I love you, too. Can I take you to bed now?”

You grin, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good,” he mutters, pressing a quick kiss to your lips, “It’s been a long fucking week, and I haven’t been paying proper attention to my wife.”

You giggle like a little kid when he stands up, guiding your legs around his waist so he can carry you to your room. You kiss him as he walks, trying to kiss your thanks into him for being so understanding, so compassionate, so yours.

Your phone buzzes in your pocket just before you enter your bedroom, and when you pull it out to check it, you find a text from Maddie.

Did you talk to him?

Rafe laughs as he looks over your shoulder, “You should totally mess with her.”

“What, like tell her we’re breaking up over it?” your eyes go wide.

“She’d freak,” he chuckles to himself, “But, no. Don’t speak that into existence. You’re stuck with me. Even Maddie knows it.”

You smile and kiss him again, your heart swelling in your chest at the feeling of being so close to him, so in love with him, and so needed by him.

Tags:

@witchwyfe @ghostselena @goldenjo @itsalexwin @onmykneesforrafe @lovedetlost @mardema @wishing-i-was-rafes-princess @malums-trash-can @emotionalbruv @rosetintednorth @rafecameronswhore @wanniiieeee @sarahwasfound @lilgoddesshines @abrunettefangirlnerd @absolute-fcking-chaos @premixed-margarita @anonymousobxfan @samcaniglia @midnightanticss @iammirrorball @r0und3bitch @thesimpletype @notdisneychannel @gillybear17 @solllaris @i-is-for-inspiring @luversgirl @maybankxw @mattyskies @imobsessedsblog @ryswritingrecord @barbietiingz @sierraahhhh @starkeyobx @pittbull-enthusiast @nourfine @outerbankspov @drewsephrry @elizabethrosecresswell @lienoec @luhdrew @localhockeygirl @alinaharlow @urmommas

#rafe cameron imagine #rafe fic #rafe obx #rafe cameron #rafe #rafe cameron x you #rafe x y/n #rafe x reader #rafe x you #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron x y/n #rafe outer banks #outer banks netflix #outerbanks #outer banks #outerbanks netflix #ambivalence

544 notes · View notes

radicallicious · 1 year

Text

A female inmate at Mexico’s Chalco Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Center has reported that she was sexually assaulted by a trans-identified male who had been placed in her cell.

The male inmate had a history of sexual violence, and threatened to harm the victim’s children if she spoke out about what happened to her.

The assault occurred in July of 2022 after the trans-identified male inmate was transferred into the victim’s quarters. Despite having a history of violent sexual crimes and misconduct, the perpetrator was allowed to move into the women’s area where there was minimal security, with some sections being separated only by fabric curtains.

While the victim had initially been threatened into silence as the trans-identified male had promised to harm her family using contacts he had on the outside, she eventually reported the assault to prison authorities.

CODHEM, the Human Rights Commission of the State of Mexico, launched an investigation and determined that “one of the [incarcerated women] was sexually assaulted by her roommate, who was a trans woman with previous complaints of misconduct and probable sexual harassment.”

CODHEM further revealed that “the aggression was not prevented by the prison authorities,” with the facility administrators having conducted an insufficient assessment of the inmate without follow-up and with no consideration for the possible risks the trans-identified male inmate posed to the women.

But disturbingly, despite affirming that the sexual assault had taken place and that the transgender inmate had been a risk to the women, CODHEM ordered prison staff to attend a “gender perspective” course.

As reported by El Gráfico, members of the Interdisciplinary University Seminar on Citizen Security at the National Autonomous University of Mexico were in charge of giving the course on human rights and “gender perspective” to eighty prison officials.

The same University was recently embroiled in scandal after trans activists staged a “coup” and took control over one of the largest women’s washrooms on the campus in protest of a lesbian mural being painted nearby. Trans activists vandalized the washroom, painting graffiti that threatened women critical of gender ideology with “rape and death.”

Despite Mexico’s political constitution outlining that prisons must be sex-segregated, the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico has declared that there is no “strict difference between men and women.”

Since news of the assault broke, Mexican media have almost uniformly referred to the assailant as a “woman,” or “trans woman,” using feminine pronouns to refer to the rapist.

Speaking to Reduxx on the disturbing case, Laura Lecuona, the head of WDI Mexico and author of Gender Identity: Lies and Dangers, slammed CODHEM for perpetuating gender self-identification policy in light of the obvious risks it posed.

“A man with a history of sexual violence is serving his sentence in a women’s prison, where he raped and threatened a cellmate, and the state human rights commission thinks that the solution is to give prison employees a little course on ‘gender,'” Lecuona says, questioning: “What will they teach them in this course? Likely that ‘trans women are women.’ The only solution is to recognize that self-declaration of sex involves several dangers for women.”

Lecuona also says gender self-identification policies must be “abandoned” completely in order to protect women.

“Feminists have been warning about this for years. There is still time [for authorities] to rectify and fulfill their obligation to guarantee women a life free of violence.”

The employment of “gender” counselors in cases where women have been involuntarily housed in close quarters with men who declare a transgender identity is an international phenomenon. In July, Reduxx revealed that a man who identifies as transgender presented a speech for a Women’s Empowerment event held at New Jersey’s only correctional facility for women, where he lectured female inmates on the importance of “inclusivity.”

La’Nae Grant reportedly told the women that he believed “cisgender women” may hesitate to accept trans-identifying men as female due to jealousy or “competition” between the groups for male sexual partners. The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women has been plagued by violent male convicts being transferred into the prison, including a sadistic trans-identified male inmate who was handed a 50-year sentence in 2003 for the brutal rape and murder of a sex-trafficked woman from Ecuador.

Placing males' feelings and delusions before women and compromising their security in the process... Absolutely terrible. I took my time to read about Perry Cerf (the man mentioned at the end of the article) and I was this close to vomiting. The description of his crime and what he did to the woman (who was referred as a 'hooker' by other media outlet... Nice) is gut-wrenching so be careful.

And the immediate solution to a sexual assault committed by a trans-identified male in a women's prison is taking courses on gender perspective, suggested by the National Human Rights Commission out of all people... Noted.

#radical feminism #radfem #personal

96 notes · View notes

magz · 5 months

Text

Palestine summary for April 24 to April 26, 2024 from LetsTalkPalestine.

[Lets Talk Palestin Link Tree, with ways to help and sources.]

April 24, 2024.

Day 201:

• 79 Palestinians killed, 86 injured in Gaza in last 24 hours

• IOF bombed home in Gaza City, killing a mother & her child and injured 6

🇪🇬 Egypt detained 10+ women, among them lawyers, journalists & civil society leaders, protesting in solidarity w/ Gaza & Sudan

• Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoon & Jabalia in north Gaza under continuous Israeli strikes since ordering evacuation in Beit Lahia, giving them minutes to flee

🇯🇲🇧🇧 Jamaica & Barbados officially recognize a Palestinian State

• Israel built 6 new military outposts since Jan, totaling 9 outposts each within 3 miles of Gaza + plan to transfer 2 combat brigades (4-10 thousand soldiers) from Lebanon’s border down to Gaza — fueling fears of a looming Rafah invasion

🇩🇪 Germany to soon resume coordination w/ UNWRA after Israel failed to provide evidence on its allegations against the agency’s employees

🇺🇸 Biden signed to law aid bill giving $26bn to Israel

• IOF abducts 15 Palestinians including former detainees overnight in West Bank

April 25, 2024.

Day 202:

• 43 Palestinians killed, 64 injured in the last 24 hours

🇺🇳 UN to investigate Nasser Hospital mass graves as Israel denies reports of 392 bodies showing severe signs of torture and mutilation

• Hundreds of Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa Compound under IOF protection as raids across West Bank cities intensify

🇧🇪 Belgian aid worker & his 7-year-old son killed among 7 others in targeted bombings on Rafah despite disclosing his location to Israeli forces; 6 aid groups affected by recent attacks

🚢 Freedom Flotilla Coalition delays from departing Turkey due to Israeli pressure on Guinea Bissau in an effort to prevent aid delivery to Gaza

• Israeli forces abduct three 13-year-olds from Ramallah, West Bank as 200 children remain captives in Israeli jails

🇫🇷 France to expand sanctions on Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians, with recent EU sanctions imposed on settlers and organisations for similar reasons

April 26, 2024.

University encampments going global 🌍🔥

🎓 Encampments for Palestine which started in US universities have now spread to France, Australia, and the UK, advocating for divestment from companies & arms manufacturers complicit in the Israeli occupation.

The 42 encampments are mostly in the US, but include 2 in Australia, 1 in France, and 1 in the UK, with more expected.

🤐 Arrests at Columbia (100+), Yale (50), Emerson (100+), NYU (dozens), USC (93), Uni of Texas in Austin (55) & more as US political & corporate elites fear the surging power & popularity of the Palestine solidarity movement.

Columbia canceled in-person classes, NYU built a wall around the encampment.

👩‍🏫 Many faculty have joined in protest of their administrations’ Zionist stances.

Biden admin. & Netanyahu, a foreign leader, released statements condemning the students.

🔥 In 1985, students forced University of California to divest $3.1bn from South African apartheid

Inspired? @ pal_actionus posts advice on starting one 🫡

Day 203:

•⁠ 51 Palestinians killed, 75 injured in the last 24 hours

•⁠ ⁠Rising temperatures in Gaza worsens condition of displaced Palestinians in tents, UNRWA added 2 kids so far killed by the heat

•⁠ Former head of HRW accuses Israel of obstructing investigation into Nasser Hospital mass graves

🇳🇱 Netherlands to consider resuming UNWRA funding after Israel failed to provide evidence on its allegations against the agency’s staff’s complicity in Oct 7

•⁠ Eastern Rafah under continuous Israeli shelling, targeting homes, injuring at least 2 Palestinians

🇺🇸 US puts halt on potential sanctions against 1 Israeli military unit, despite allegations since before Oct 7 of severe human rights abuses in West Bank

🇱🇧 2 killed in Israeli strike on a car in south Lebanon

🇪🇺 EU announces $73m in essential aid to Gaza despite refusing to sanction Israel

⚖️ ICJ to soon announce ruling on Nicaragua’s case against Germany, seeking emergency measures to halt German military assistance to Israel

#on palestine #palestine #text post #o post #sij #magz upload

22 notes · View notes

mayamistake · 2 months

Text

"A California man with a history of political violence was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison for repeatedly attacking police with flagpoles and other makeshift weapons during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

David Nicholas Dempsey's sentence is among the longest among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Prosecutors described him as one of the most violent members of the mob of Donald Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.

Dempsey, who is from Van Nuys, stomped on police officers' heads. He swung poles at officers defending a tunnel, struck an officer in the head with a metal crutch and attacked police with pepper spray and broken pieces of furniture, prosecutors said.

He climbed atop other rioters, using them like “human scaffolding” to reach officers guarding a tunnel entrance. He injured at least two police officers, prosecutors said.

“Your conduct on January 6th was exceptionally egregious,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Dempsey. “You did not get carried away in the moment.”

Dempsey pleaded guilty in January to two counts of assaulting police officers with a dangerous weapon.

Only former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has received a longer sentence in the Jan. 6 attack. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for orchestrating a plot to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.

Dempsey called his conduct “reprehensible” and apologized to the police officers whom he assaulted,

“You were performing your duties, and I responded with hostility and violence,” he said before learning his sentence.

Justice Department prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 21 years and 10 months for Dempsey, a former construction worker and fast-food restaurant employee. Dempsey’s violence was so extreme that he attacked a fellow rioter who was trying to disarm him, prosecutors wrote.

“David Dempsey is political violence personified,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher told the judge.

Defense attorney Amy Collins, who sought a sentence of 6 years and six months, described the government's sentencing recommendation as “ridiculous.”

“It makes him a statistic,” she said. “It doesn't consider the person he is, how much he has grown.”

Dempsey was wearing a tactical vest, a helmet and an American flag gaiter covering his face when he attacked police at a tunnel leading to the Lower West Terrace doors. He shot pepper spray at Metropolitan Police Department Detective Phuson Nguyen just as another rioter yanked at the officer’s gas mask.

“The searing spray burned Detective Nguyen’s lungs, throat, eyes, and face and left him gasping for breath, fearing he might lose consciousness and be overwhelmed by the mob,” prosecutors wrote.

Dempsey then struck MPD Sgt. Jason Mastony in the head with a metal crutch, cracking the shield on his gas mask and cutting his head.

“I collapsed and caught myself against the wall as my ears rang. I was able to stand again and hold the line for a few more minutes until another assault by rioters pushed the police line back away from the threshold of the tunnel,” Mastony said in a statement submitted to the court.

Dempsey has been jailed since his arrest in August 2021.

His criminal record in California includes convictions for burglary, theft and assault. The assault conviction stemmed from an October 2019, gathering near the Santa Monica Pier, where Dempsey attacked people peacefully demonstrating against then-President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.

“The peaceful protest turned violent as Dempsey took a canister of bear spray from his pants and dispersed it at close range against several protesters,” they wrote, noting that Dempsey was sentenced to 200 days of jail time.

Dempsey engaged in at least three other acts of “vicious political violence” that didn’t lead to criminal charges “for various reasons,” according to prosecutors. They said Dempsey struck a counter-protester over the head with a skateboard at a June 2019 rally in Los Angeles, used the same skateboard to assault someone at an August 2020 protest in Tujunga, California, and attacked a protester with pepper spray and a metal bat during a August 2020 protest in Beverly Hills, California.

More than 1,400 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related federal crimes. Over 900 of them have been convicted and sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from a few days to the 22 years that Tarrio received."

5 notes · View notes

aces-and-angels · 5 months

Note

bearing more agnes and jina asks because once again, I love them:

what got them both into law? Do they have certain thoughts about the academia?

what's their favourite part about the park & davis hq? the offices, the proximity to coffee shops etc, y'know like their own little office space?

do they consider themselves as a mentor? If yes, what do they aspire to do/teach? if not, what do they consider themselves as to their employees, outside of the whole coworker/boss/etc denomination?

i too love and adore them- so i must give these wonderful questions wonderful answers. here's round two of an exclusive interview with agnes and jina🖤

---

what got them both into law?

a: law was not my end goal by any means. my original plan was to end up working in a lab doing research and whatnot. j: sounds dreadful. a (snorts): says the woman who barely passed chemistry. j (deadpanned): i was a poli-sci major for a reason. a: wasn't your father an electrical engineer? j: aptitude isn't genetic. a (smirking): clearly. j: just get back to your story, yeah? a: fine. well, i was- how do you say- 'radicalized' during college. couldn't pry that megaphone out of my hands no matter how hard you tried. even if ji over here had a problem with it. j: the issue wasn't you having a megaphone. it was where you were pointing it at that was the problem. your protests had zero direction. a: good thing i met you then, huh? j (rolls eyes fondly): met is putting it lightly. you, my friend, were impossible to ignore. a: one conversation with ji was all it took for me to march over to my advisor's office and switch to pre-law. j: i don't think i said all that much to you. a: are you kidding? the whole 'i'm but a speck compared to the injustices others have experienced. i want to be a part of the solution.' that's what you consider as not much? j (suppressing a grin): hm. a: she won't bring this up, so i will. ji was also captain of her debate team in high school.

do they have certain thoughts about academia?

j: there's a lot of politics surrounding it. on paper, we did everything right. but legacy is a powerful thing in academia as well as the legal profession as a whole. where you go to school, who you know- all of that matters. a: it's a never ending cycle of elitism that systematically keeps these organizations- j: white. a: exactly. right now, we're an anomaly. that's why we fund the scholarships we do. there are so many brilliant minds who just need to be given a chance to truly thrive.

what's their favorite part about the park & davis hq?

a and j simultaneously: mr. mercado. a: i adore that man. he owned one of the food carts that was stationed near our old office building. best veggie tacos i've ever had. j: our entire staff loved him so much that we decided to bring him along with us when we moved our hq to manhattan. now he's one of the main cooks at our commissary. a: i'm also a big fan of our in-office garden walls. j (chuckling): of course you are. you designed them. a: what, i can't be proud?

do they consider themselves as mentors?

j: i'm not sure if mentor is the right word to describe our role a: i'd like to take on mentees, but it's not feasible with our current schedule. j: what we do is pair our newer associates with more senior members of the firm based on our annual evaluations. the goal is for both parties to enhance their abilities. a: the system has its growing pains. some pairs get along better than others. j: that reminds me- mendoza's newest mentee- what was his name again? a (scans through spreadsheet): zahir. j: ah, yes. he seems to be having a hard time acclimating. should we reassign him? donna's last mentee recently transferred. a: give it time, ji. i still think those two will be good for each other.

#DONE OMG #this was supposed to be done for mother's day but better late than never amirite #jina davis #agnes park #park & davis #enid mendoza #zahir saidi #playchoices #choices #into the windverse #laws of attraction #inlocusmads

3 notes · View notes

symmetricalkazekage · 2 years

Text

Story time!! I had joined Tumblr years ago after a friend showed it to me, but I never really used it. But then my lovely friend @m1dnyt3-w0lf sent me a tmnt fic and I was swept up (I had fallen in love with tmnt again at this point).

We are currently in the middle of writing our own chaptered stories, beta-reading off each other, but I wrote her this last year for new years, and I just wanted to share it. She gave me her self insert character to use, so I present to you my Leo x OC fic (the first fanfic I've written since 2016 👀).

Feel free to change the name as you read, and please leave me critique.

Also tagging @turtle-babe83 and @thelaundrybitch because I really like your writing and you kinda got me back into writing 😖🙏🏽

The holiday season, Christmas. Just like all the previous years it had come and gone all too quickly. Eventually to a point where you didn’t even feel the holiday cheer anymore, all the while people around you were all festive. Your Christmas was spent working overtime, extra shifts, over 2 jobs. You didn’t really have anyone to spend the holidays with anyway, so you kept your self busy by working, sometimes pulling all-nighters. Everyone, coworkers and customers alike always asked the same question, “Why are you working, it’s Christmas!”; your answer always being that you could use the extra money coming into the new year. You always received pitiful looks, but you were numb to them now.

You were mopping the floors of the diner at your second job, finally closing after the late evening rush. Your mind flooded back to 6 years ago, to when you were kicked out of your home and your family. You were always the odd duckling in the family, but when you started bringing up that you wanted to pursue full time work instead of college, you were immediately thrown out. Everything you owned tossed into the snow, which wasn’t much. A “Good luck” was all you got from them. You had couch surfed for the few months left of high school before you graduated. A month later you landed a job in a warehouse that paid it employees’ good money. 2 years later everyone who helped you was repaid and you had moved into a small apartment somewhere in lower Manhattan in New York. You got a transfer to a closer warehouse and managed to picked up a night job at a diner 2 blocks away from home. It was a struggle at first, but now, everything was so natural to you. You smiled wryly to yourself in bitter triumph.

‘See, I can succeed without college,’ you muttered into the space.

‘Well, you’ve definitely proven that.’

Fight mode kicked in; you spun around swinging the mop with you ready to beat a bitch down! You relaxed when you saw your manager Jenny standing there with a grin and a bag.

‘Oh crap, sorry Jenny!’ you yelled frantically dropping the mop and fumbling with the handle.

‘At ease Ashley, I came to tell you that you can go home now. You’re already here 3 hours passed your finish time,’ she smiled taking the mop from you, ‘and I am more than capable to finish up here.’

‘It’s okay I’m nearly done anyway,’ you said reaching for the mop, only to have it pulled form your grasp.

‘I’m serious, missy. You worked through Thanksgiving and Christmas; its New Year’s Eve and you’re still working!’

‘It’s not a bother honestly!’ You tried to protest, but she just shook her head. You watched her walk behind the counter with the mop, only to trade it with your bag and winter jacket.

‘But it bothers me, do you really not have anyone waiting for you tonight?’ Your phone pinged answering her question. ‘Ah, so there is a someone is there?’ she winked.

You pulled out your phone. ‘Nope, just the phone company letting me know my bill is due next week.’

‘Aw, that’s a shame. You’re such a pretty girl, you really need a boyfriend.’

You just laughed as you pulled your coat on and headed for the door, wishing your boss a happy new year. The cold New York wind hit you as you headed home. Its not like you wanted to be alone, you just kept everyone at a distance for safety. Well, almost everyone. You looked up to the sky, watching the snow begin to fall again. You weren’t surprised when you saw a giant figure bound from roof to roof under the cover of darkness, it also didn’t surprise you when you saw the figure stop on the corner of your apartment building. So, he’s here again, is he?

You walked into your apartment, placing your bag on the couch. You stood there for five minutes before thinking “what the hell” and headed to your window, climbing back out into the frigid air and up the fire escape. You were puffing and heaving by the time you reached the roof, why am I doing this again?

‘Need a hand?’ That’s why.

You looked up to the face of the smooth voice. Of course, he would be here, it had become religious at this point.

‘Thank you, Leonardo,’ you said breathless reaching for his hand. It always astounded you just by the sheer size different. You knew you were short, but standing next to him, definitely made you feel it. And it made you mad. ‘Do you have to be that fucking tall?'

‘Do you have to ask that same question every time we meet?’ he laughed.

‘Yes. I. Do!’

He laughed again, and you melted inside. It was like music, and you felt blessed every time you heard it. And that smile, made your knees weak on sight. He followed behind you to the other side of the building where a table and chairs sat, mainly for those that hung their washing during the hot days. You set your still hot food down on the table top before you turned and leant against it. Looking up, you jumped a little to see Leonardo standing close to you. His brilliant blue eyes glowing in the low light of the night.

‘Why are you here again Leonardo, I’m sure you have better things to do.’ You didn’t mean it to sound so dejected, but that’s how you were feeling.

‘Crime’s been slow since it’s New Years. And how many times have I told you to call me “Leo”?’ he shifted closer ever so slightly.

‘I’ve lost count at this point.’ You turned your head to the side, he wasn’t even that close, but you could still feel the heat radiating off his body. ‘Also how are you not cold, aren’t you a reptile?’

‘Donnie says its because of the mutagen, Raph says its because the stress keeps me running, and Mikey says and I quote “It’s because you’re too hot to handle dude!” so I really don’t know.’ He laughed again, but from the corner of your eye you watched his shoulders slump.

‘What’s up?’ you asked walking around the table.

‘It doesn’t bother you that I’m a mutant?’ he asked.

Not this again. ‘No, it doesn’t.’

‘I don’t scare you?’ his head dropped; he was no longer looking at you.

‘No, you don’t. why are we doing this again?’ food forgotten, your face scowled. You could never understand his self-sabotage. It was completely on accident that you had seen him and his brothers, you were just chilling on the roof when they dropped in. You were surprised at first, but you simply tossed them some chocolate and wished them a good evening before disappearing back into your building. Since then, Leonardo had made it his goal to annoy you, visiting almost every night. Originally, he said it was to make sure you wouldn’t say anything to anyone. But now, he had probably listed every excuse in the book to be where he is now. At first it bothered you, but then, you began to warm up to him. And eventually, you heart had decided that he was the one it wanted.

“…do you really not have anyone waiting for you tonight?” echoed through your mind as you stared at the giant turtle in front of you. The longer you stared, the harder it was for you to hide the blush that was forming; even harder to resist the smile that was forming at the corner of your lips. I actually do this time. You didn’t wait for his answer, you just scooped up the snow into a ball and threw it at his face.

‘If I was scared of you, I wouldn’t have done that…’ you said triumphantly at his stunned face, ‘or… THIS!!’ you threw another snowball at his face, your smile full of sass and devious planning; your heart flipping with glee. New Year’s resolution: be happy for me for once. ‘So, what are you gonna do about it, Le-o-nar-do?’

He blinked before he wiped the snow off his snout, wiping away any self-doubt; replacing it with the most evil grin you’d seen on his face. It made you shiver with delight. He didn’t say anything, he just charged for you at full speed. You dodged him, skidding under the water tank. You quickly made another snow ball ducking out and pegging it at the back of his head. It hit him square, and you watched him shiver; snow must’ve gone down his shell. He turned on you again, giving you no chance to make more ammo. You ducked back under the tank backing out the other end with more snow in your hand. You ran out into the open with the new ball and turned ready to throw; but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Your eyes scanned every inch of the roof, stepping as quietly as you could with your guard up.

‘Boo.’

You spun and went to throw your weapon, but he was much faster, catching your arm like it was nothing. You dropped the winter ball; time seeming to stop around you as you stood mere inches from each other. The height difference meant you had to crane your neck to see him, but it didn’t seem to bother you this time. He lowered your arm, but his grip didn’t leave you; instead he began to gently massage small circles into your wrist. Those small motions made your heart race as you instinctively moved closer, as did he. You both began breathing heavily, creating smalls could between you from your hot breath. You both just stood there staring, in silence, as the world around you began the countdown into the new year.

‘What’s your resolution?’ you asked.

He smiled, pulling you in with his free hand and slowly dipping down. ‘To make you mine,’ your heart skipped, ‘what’s yours?’

‘To be happy,’ you whispered.

He chuckled softly, ‘Sounds good.’

‘And to kiss you finally.’

Before he could say anything, you reached up on your toes and planted a kiss against his warm lips. He froze for a moment, clearly shocked. You starting to thinking it was a bad idea, but you felt him lean in closer, pulling you flush with him. The world around you was full of cheers and “happy new year’s” as you kissed on the rooftop, feeling the happiest you had ever felt in many years.

When you finally parted, you were both dazed and breathless. He smiled down at you as you shied away into his chest, embarrassed that you had to be the one to initiate. He just laughed at you, resting his chin on your head as he wrapped you in his arms.

‘Happy New Year, Ashley,’ he whispered.

‘Happy New Year, Leo,’ you whispered back.

#leonardo #leo x oc #tmnt #tmnt leonardo #tmnt bayverse #tmnt fic #tmnt fluff #new year

45 notes · View notes

sanguinosa-blog · 6 months

Text

U.S. approved more bombs to Israel on day of World Central Kitchen strikes

The Biden administration signed off on thousands more bombs to Israel despite global condemnation of the IDF’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen employees

By John Hudson　April 4, 2024 at 9:37 a.m. EDT

The Biden administration approved the transfer of thousands more bombs to Israel on the same day Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed seven aid workers for the charity group World Central Kitchen, three U.S. officials told The Washington Post this week after the incident elicited global condemnation.

The transaction demonstrates the administration’s determination to continue its flow of lethal weaponry to Israel despite Monday’s high-profile killings and growing calls for the United States to condition such support on greater protection for civilians in the war zone. A U.S. citizen was among the dead.

The move also casts new light on the emotional statement by President Biden that he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the tragedy and was insistent that such events never happen again.

“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “They were brave and selfless.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The Israeli government confirmed it carried out Monday’s strike but called it “unintentional,” saying the military would conduct a “transparent” investigation and make the results public.

The State Department approved the transfer of more than 1,000 MK82 500-pound bombs, over 1,000 small-diameter bombs, and fuses for MK80 bombs, all from authorizations granted by Congress several years before the latest hostilities between Israel and Hamas began, said the U.S. officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive arms deals.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed the approval and said it occurred sometime “prior” to when the Israeli aircraft struck the aid convoy.

The U.S. government has the authorityto suspend an arms package any time before delivery, which the spokesperson said probably would not occuruntil 2025 or later. It has not done so in this case.

When asked why the Biden administration did not at least pause the process afterthe incident or until the Israelis’investigation was completed, the spokesperson did not provide further comment.

Officials have not publicly disclosed what type of munition struck the aid truck, but the small-diameter bombs the United States has provided to Israel are “certainly comparable,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department arms expert who resigned in protest of the administration’s Gaza policy.

Biden, in his statement followingthe attack, offered his most pointed criticism to date of Israel’s treatment of humanitarian workers, who have died in greater numbers than in any other recent conflict.

“Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians. Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen,” Biden said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the slain workers, who included individuals from Australia, Britain, the Palestinian territories, Poland, and a U.S.-Canadian dual national, were “heroes.”

“They have to be protected. We shouldn’t have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk,” he said.

Some Democratic supporters of the Biden administration criticized such statements, saying they result in little change when U.S. actions convey unconditional support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/04/world-central-kitchen-us-weapons-israel/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert

#free palestine #save palestine #gaza #israel #ceasefire now #Biden #U.S.#IDF

3 notes · View notes

selenacosmic · 6 months

Text

Romance in the office.

Chapter 25 - The decision ~his POV~

Ever since shingen opened up to Selena, things seem to have gotten better, it felt like a heavy weight was lifted from his chest. Well. Figuratively speaking, of course. In the literal sense, there was still a terrible pain that reminded him constantly that he needed to treat his illness, but now wasn’t the right time to do this. Soon, he reminded himself. Now that he had a lover whom he could confide his worries with, he had a feeling that he would be able to accomplish his goals. Being able to dream of a life with her after they solve everything together was definitely a pleasure, and a privilege he never realized he could have.

After they made up, shingen had decided to keep Selena as his secretary, which seems to have caught some of the workers off guard. Most of them were expecting her to be transferred to another state, so it was a bit shocking to see her again the next day. Even Yukimura scolded him for going back on his word so quickly, though he still hasn’t stopped doing that.

“… oss. Boss! Are you even listening to what I am saying?” Yukimura looked at him annoyed, noting how shingen payed more attention to his paperwork than to his scolding.

“Yes, Yuki. I can hear you clearly.” He let out a chuckle at how adorable his employee was, even when he was angry. Yukimura had always been like a son to him, or perhaps a little brother.

“You weren’t… listen, you should be careful about getting attached to her. After everything that you have done until now, getting closer to this woman might mess everything up.” Shingen could understand Yuki’s concern, specially since his surgery was getting delayed on purpose and could have terrible consequences.

Noticing that he wouldn’t be able to focus on his work with Yukimura there, he decided to tell him the truth of what happened between him and Selena, perhaps it would help clarify things. “Yuki, I know that you worry about me, and I am aware that secretly, you also care about Selena’s feelings.” Before he could protest against that statement, shingen raised his hand to stop him. “You don’t have to explain yourself, she was working close to you, some sort of friendship must have developed.”

“I wouldn’t say friendship… she was closer to Yoshimoto.” That much shingen knew as well, which, even now, made him feel strangely jealous of his own cousin. A childish thought he would need to push away.

“Well, you two were also friend in a way. But don’t worry, Selena and I had a conversation two days ago, we sorted things out between us.” Being reminded of the two pleasant days he had the opportunity to have her in his arms, to become closer through their conversations, even sharing breakfast made him miss her.

“Wait, two days ago… did she go to your apartment right after you transferred her to another department?” That seems to shock Yukimura, perhaps spooked even.

“I know that look, don’t even start giving her your… special nicknames.” Speaking of Yukimura’s nicknames, he would need to have another important conversation with him to teach him the proper way to address others, specifically women. “The important thing is, she reached out to me and made me realize that I don’t need to push her away after all.”

Yukimura raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious about what went down between them. “And that means what, exactly?”

“That she is with us now, she knows about the plan and what we will need to do.”

That revelation made Yukimura open his mouth for a second, in shock, before shutting it again as he tried gathering his thoughts. “Boss… are you sure it’s a good thing to drag her into this? Very few people know about this.”

“Don’t you worry, Yuki. She is a reliable woman.” His words didn’t seem to fully reach Yukimura, but it became clear that he was more accepting of the idea.

“Fine, I guess there is no changing your mind, I just hope you know what you are doing.” He finally smiled, Yukimura looked happy at shingen. He wasn’t entirely sure, but if he had to guess, it was because Yukimura was happy he finally found someone. His young employee was always worried about his happiness, which warmed Shingen’s heart. Despite his brute exterior, Yuki was very sweet underneath… even when it wasn’t apparent.

After clarifying what had happened between him and Selena, shingen and Yukimura went back to work. He was hoping he could finish his paperwork quickly so that he could go see Selena. Before they officially started dating, when they were just pretending to date, he did hold affection towards her, though it wasn’t as deep as it is now. Part of him couldn’t distinguish whether he was just attracted to her, or if he felt something more. The little touches they would exchange, the kisses that he thought were just part of their acting, it was all real to him. And after they talked, he was happy to know that they were real for her as well.

The moment he had finished his work, shingen got up in one swift motion, his excitement unable to be masked. Which was surprising given that he was very good at masking his own emotions.

“Woah there, we barely finished and you are already getting up? You aren’t one to rush things.” Yukimura was startled by his boss, looking up at shingen with wide eyes.

With a chuckle, Shingen roughly patted Yukimura’s head, almost like a father to a son. “Once you fall in love, you will understand.” Before Yukimura could reply to that odd statement, shingen was already out the door of his office, going to search his cute lover around the building.

Walking towards her office, he caught a familiar silhouette through the window of the resting room, which consisted of a small kitchen where workers would keep their lunch and where the coffee machine was. Selena was preparing a drink at the coffee machine with her back facing him, though coffee wasn’t the only hot drink the machine could prepare. He knew his lover had a bit of a sweet tooth, nothing compared to his though.

He silently entered the room, sneaking behind her to catch her off guard. He gently puts his hands over her eyes once he gets close enough, moving not so fast as to not startled her. “Guess who?”

At first, she stiffened, but a smile grew on her lips when she recognized his voice. Selena placed her hands over his while humming, as if thinking hard about it. “I wonder, who could be behind me? Could it be…” she turned around in his arms and kissed his lips, making him sigh pleasantly at the feeling of her lips on his. “Shingen! Did you finish your work already?”

“For the morning, yes. At least i finished enough to earn a small break.” There was still a load of paperwork waiting for him at his desk, but it could wait until his lunchtime was over. “I see you are free as well, I was just about to go take you to eat lunch with me.”

“I finished my work just now too! Since you are already here… how about you drink with me? It’s not too sweet, but it’s sweet enough.” Looking over her shoulder, he could tell she was making cappuccino. While it wasn’t as sweet as he liked, shingen appreciated the offer to drink together with her.

“Even though it’s almost lunch, a bit of chocolate wouldn’t hurt.” He gives her a kiss upon her lips, their warmth exchanging through that small touch, before letting her finish making two cups of cappuccino for the both of them.

Shingen takes the mug that she was offering him, taking a small sip as to not hurt his tongue. Selena leaned against the counter while holding her own mug, giving him that enchanting smile of hers. One that he could gaze at for all eternity without getting tired of it.

“You know, I’ve been think…” she looked down at her mug as she began to speak. “Ever since we visited the carpenter shop, I was thinking of ways to help with your plan of saving your mother’s legacy. I know this might seem like an obvious solution but… have you ever thought about talking directly with your grandfather?”

Taking a more serious stance, shingen took a sip of his drink before responding. That was one of his first attempts of solving this problem, but it proved unsuccessful, leading to more complicated solutions. “If it was that simple, things would have been solved a long time ago, angel.”

“I know, but maybe it can be different this time.” One thing he admired about her was how positive she could be, and how much she would offer to help him whenever he needed. But on this case, he doubted that his grandfather could have changed so much to finally listen.

“As much as i would like to believe that, i don’t think his answer will be much different than last time we spoke.” Shingen could still remember how infuriated he was as he left after arguing with his grandfather, the very thought making him boil inside.

“That was when you were alone, but now we are in this together. Maybe if we both go there together, we can create a bigger impact on him!” It seemed clear to him that Selena wouldn’t give up on her idea, which was quite endearing to him.

With a chuckle, he cupped her cheek, his finger sliding from her temple to her chin in an affectionate way, the very act making his lover tremble a bit. “Fine, I can never say no to you. Even now, you don’t give up until you are able to convince others.” It was just like how she broke his facade and made way into his heart two days ago.

“W-well… I just want to make sure this option really isn’t possible. If it doesn’t work, we can plan something else.” She tried hiding her blushing face by drinking her cappuccino, using the mug to mask her flustered face.

Pleased with the reaction he got out of her, shingen drank the remaining of his drink and walked closer to Selena, retrieving her mug once she had finished hers. “Go ahead and get your things, we are having lunch out today.” He placed a kiss on her cheek before going ahead to wash their mugs. Just like he asked, Selena left right away, perhaps because of how flustered she was.

—————

After lunch, they both had to regrettably go separate ways to finish their work for the day. Although it was just for a while, being with her brightened his mood, feeling like he could go back to writing a thousand reports if it meant seeing her again that night. He excitedly rolled up his sleeves to continue from where he left off, feeling motivated.

While he was focusing on his paperwork, the door to his office opened to reveal Yoshimoto carrying a package of a local bakery. His cousin truly knew what kind of sweets he loved. “Still working hard, shingen? I was sure you would skip work to go spend time with your lover.” There was a hint of teasing in his voice, it was thanks to him that he and Selena got to make up after all.

“As much as i would love to, i need to finish these first before that can happen.” He set his pencil aside to focus on his conversation with his cousin. Yoshimoto placed the package of sweets on top of the desk, taking a sit across from shingen.

“You know, you seem to have changed a lot ever since you two got together.” Yoshimoto’s attention turned to the beautiful furniture that shingen had in his office, running his fingers over the surface of the wood.

Shingen was enjoying himself with the sweets, raising an eyebrow at his cousins words. “So you have noticed? A beautiful goddess can change a man completely. I own that to you.”

“I wouldn’t take the credit for it, you two were already falling for each other before i could interfere in it.” He was being modest, after all he helped them in many other occasions, like giving Selena classes to learn how to act like a lover. That… still bothered him a bit. “You know, I am happy for you, shingen.”

Now that caught him off guard, his words came out of nowhere. “I am grateful that you worry so much about me, Yoshimoto. You should know that I am here if you need my help as well.”

“I am merely repaying you after all the years of kindness you have given me even after others gave up on me.” While they didn’t quite grew up together, shingen knew of all the struggles his cousin suffered because of their family, he wish he could do more to help him.

“Kindness doesn’t need to be repaid, just appreciated.” Shingen tried to give that much comfort to Yoshimoto, though he knew it wouldn’t change how he thought. To try and change the subject, Shingen decided to mention the plan he developed with Selena. “You know? Selena and I might have a meeting with grandfather to change his mind.”

That shocked Yoshimoto to the point of making his eyes grown wider, as if the plan was far too risky. “Cousin… are you sure about that? It didn’t go very well the last time you tried this alone.”

“I know why you are worried, but I have decided to trust my lover and act more. I want to solve this problem immediately, risking my future with all of you is not an option.” It was rare for shingen to use ‘i’ and ‘want’ in the same sentence, given his illness. To think that a relationship could make him long for a future so desperate gave a spark of hope to Yoshimoto, that his cousin would succeed and live with them in the future. A smile appeared on his lips, graceful and elegant as ever.

“I trust you both as well, shingen.” Yoshimoto’s words were a bit more distant, as if he was gazing at the future already. They spent the rest of the afternoon like this, talking and working together.

To be continued…

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikemen sengoku shingen #ikesen shingen

3 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 1 year

Text

ByNuria Muíña García. August 19, 2023

A female inmate at Mexico’s Chalco Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Center has reported that she was sexually assaulted by a trans-identified male who had been placed in her cell. The male inmate had a history of sexual violence, and threatened to harm the victim’s children if she spoke out about what happened to her.

According to El Capitalino, the assault occurred in July of 2022 after the trans-identified male inmate was transferred into the victim’s quarters. Despite having a history of violent sexual crimes and misconduct, the perpetrator was allowed to move into the women’s area where there was minimal security, with some sections being separated only by fabric curtains.

The Chalco Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Center houses approximately 450 women, and features a daycare room for female inmates with young children.

Maribel Cervantes Guerrero, head of the Secretariat of Security, touring the prison’s daycare in 2019. Photo Credit: Quadratin

The president of CODHEM, Myrna Araceli García Morón, also recommended the training not only to the Chalco staff, but to the staff of all penitentiary centers in the region.

Since news of the assault broke, Mexican media have almost uniformly referred to the assailant as a “woman,” or “trans woman,” using feminine pronouns to refer to the rapist.

Lecuona also says gender self-identification policies must be “abandoned” completely in order to protect women.

“Feminists have been warning about this for years. There is still time [for authorities] to rectify and fulfill their obligation to guarantee women a life free of violence.”

#Mexico #Men in women’s spaces #KeepPrisonsSingleSex #Chalco Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Center #CODHEM #the Human Rights Commission of the State of Mexico #But this never happens #Children in the prisons daycare were also exposed to a violent man

7 notes · View notes

girlactionfigure · 2 years

Text

Righteous Dutchman

Protected his workers.

Frits Philips was a Dutch businessman who saved thousands of Jewish employees during the Nazi occupation of Holland.

Frits was born to a prosperous family in the Netherlands in 1905. His father and uncle owned the Philips electronics company, founded as one of the earliest successful lightbulb manufacturers in 1891and over the next few decades branching out into other products, such as vacuum tubes and radio technology.

A friendly, intelligent boy with a deep Christian faith, Frits attended Delft University of Technology, where he received a degree in mechanical engineering in 1929. That same year, he married Sylvia van Lennep, with whom he would have seven children.

Frits and Sylvia were introduced to the Oxford Group, a Christian organization founded by Frank Buchman, an American Lutheran minister. Buchman believed that all human problems stem from fear and selfishness, and the only way to overcome these destructive influences is to “surrender one’s life to God’s plan.” Buchman’s teachings were a strong influence on Alcoholics Anonymous and the twelve-step method for achieving freedom from addiction.

In 1935, Frits was appointed to the board of Philips and began serving as vice-director. Meanwhile, in nearby Germany the Nazi party rose to power. Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, and by early 1940 it became apparent that he would soon invade the Netherlands. At this point, most of the Philips family left the Netherlands and moved to the United States. Frits was unwilling to abandon the Philips company and workers, and he alone stayed behind to “mind the store,” successfully leading the company through the turbulent war years.

As the boss of Philips, Frits was both liked and respected by his thousands of employees. He truly cared for them and made sure they were well paid and enjoyed good working conditions. As the Nazi occupiers began arresting, deporting, and murdering Jews, Frits immediately pledged to do whatever necessary to support his many Jewish employees.

He separated the Jews from the rest of the workers, making sure they worked in a protected location. He gave them food rations, which became known as “Philips-prak” named after a popular Dutch meal of soup, mashed potatoes, carrots and meat. The Philips company was forced by the Nazi occupiers to contribute to the war effort, and Frits used this to protect the Jewish workers. He convinced the Germans that the Jewish workers at Philips were absolutely indispensable, and that factory productivity would plummet without them at the company. For this reason, 382 Jews were saved from deportation and continued working for Frits until the occupation ended.

In 1943, Philips factory employees went on strike to protest the Nazi occupation, and as their boss, Frits bore the brunt of the punishment: he was incarcerated in Camp Vught, the only SS concentration camp outside of Germany. After spending three months in brutal conditions at Vught, Frits was released. Now that he and his workers were being watched, Frits worried that he wouldn’t be able to protect his Jewish employees from deportation. At this point, he opened a Philips lightbulb factory in Norrkoeping, Sweden, and began transferring the Jews there, knowing they’d be safe in Sweden, a neutral country. After the war ended, Frits kept the factory open to employ Jews who’d been liberated from the camps and had nowhere to go.

Frits’ heroic activities extended far beyond Holland. In their book “Blood from a Stone” (2003), Richard Hammer and Yaron Svoray described how the Philips company, under Frits’ leadership, helped Jews throughout Europe. “Philips… did not buy into the Nazi philosophy regarding Jews. The safety, and rescue, of Philips’ Jewish employees became a major concern as the Nazi tide rolled over Europe. At its Austrian subsidiary, all the Jewish workers were sheltered, declared essential to the war effort, and all survived under Philips’ protection. At its subsidiary in Lithuania, Philips’ executives provided visas to Curacao for Polish and Baltic Jews in its employ. This despite regulations promulgated by the Nazi regime in Holland forbidding Dutch-based companies from aiding Jews in any manner, Philips managed to rescue nearly five thousand.”

As CEO of one of the Netherlands’ most successful companies, Frits received many awards and honors, including “Dutch entrepreneur of the century,” and “Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.” However the most meaningful award this heroic businessman received was “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israeli Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem in 1996.

Frits Philips died in 2005, a few years after his beloved wife Sylvia. He was survived by his seven children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

For using his position and resources to save thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps, we honor Frits Philips as this week’s Thursday Hero.

Accidental Talmudist

#Thursday Hero

30 notes · View notes

brytnoter · 2 years

Text

Feeding The Prisoners

Can't stop thinking about this so I'm going to plague you all with it as well.

Y/N works for GHOST and meets Starscream while he sits in his cell. And the resulting scene after he sees Ravage running around and becomes convinced of his inevitable escape.

"Quick Notes" version ... and I literally can't write any more until we have a new episode, so don't ask!!!!!! xD

Contents: prison stuff, gun stuff. no smut. (need other tags? let me know)

~600words

GHOST's Cybertronian-Human relations might sound sweet, but comes with more paperwork than any job you've ever done.

You tell your coworker one day that you dreamed of being a SECRET AGENT since you were a kid, but you always imagined that you'd be a bodyguard for the president, not stuck in some sunless underground office surrounded by screens.

A week later, your boss has transferred you to "Decepticon Department" which you think sounds really cool, and you start imagining recon missions, laser gun fights out in the field, and praise for capturing bad guys. But you realise the elevator is going down.

On a floor lower than you thought possible, you step out to meet your new supervisor. She is friendly, except for having to shout at her employees for giggling at you. They are taking bets to see how many days you last before begging to be returned to the office.

You realise from being shown a floor plan that this is the floor where GHOST is keeping all the captured Decepticons.

Your job now is to literally hand out food rations several times a day to the prisoners.

A little bit of explaination and you're thrown right into it. You find yourself pushing a cart full of energon slabs down a corridor before you can protest.

Some of the 'Cons are in the back of the cell sitting quietly (but evily). Some are pacing. Some are glaring at you. You can only remember half of their names. You manage to keep your head down until one of them says "ANOTHER new guard?" as you approach and you look up to meet his eyes accidentally.

And he's closer to the forcefield than any other 'Con. So when you look up at his eyes, his height makes you want to faint. There's a forcefield, sure, but you've never been this close to a Cybertronian. They're freaking HUGE???

Over the coming days, Starscream is eager to take up all of your shift time telling you about his feats, and you humour him, even if you don't believe him. You learn that in the years he's been locked up, not one agent stayed for more than three weeks.

He reminds you of the number of days every single day. He tells you daily the names of staff who you've beaten in the metaphorical race. Every day there are less names, but there at least one name every day.

A normal Tuesday.

In two days time, you will have been at the job for three weeks and one day. You know this because Starscream won't shut up about it.

You show up for your shift and there's one more "food ration" in the pile. Someone was captured after you clocked out yesterday. Your first new prisoner.

You had heard the staff gossiping about how Soundwave put up a hell of a fight, and you wonder whether such whispered chatting happens every time a 'Con is captured.

This one day, when you get to Starscream, he has a suspicious smile that makes your skin crawl. He takes the ration and says quietly, "It was nice meeting you, y/n. Such a shame I won't get to see you break the record." Your hand moves to your holstered blaster in stunned horror, and he changes the subject by nervously talking about something else.

You tell your supervisor to put more guards on duty "just in case", but for some reason, you know if the 'Cons have a plan to escape, they will squash any human who gets in their way.

#starscream #earthspark #transformers #maccadam #i just want the chance to shake his hand in all timelines ok???

25 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 10 months

Text

Serbia’s Higher Prosecution Office has been shaken again, this time by accusations about forged statements. Zeljka Nikolaidis, a prosecutor for organised crime in the Higher Public Prosecution, confirmed to BIRN that her alleged statement used in a disciplinary complaint against her superior, Nenad Stefanovic, and his deputy, Brankica Maric, was forged.

The statement was submitted without her signature, with the Prosecution Office facsimile misused without her knowledge during her vacation, she said.

Her alleged statement, which she called “80 per cent inaccurate”, was used in favour of Stefanovic and Maric in a disciplinary case initiated by two other prosecutors who were previously moved from their posts against their will while leading a corruption case involving a company linked to the ruling party.

The disciplinary case against Stefanovic and Maric, who were previously accused of favouring the ruling party, was dismissed.

“I cannot say who did it but my logic says that it was probably those who had an interest to do that. The disciplinary case was against Stefanovic and Maric. My statement likely influenced that case against them being dropped,” Nikolaidis told BIRN. She added that she will ask for the removal of her statement.

“This is a serious criminal offence and the Prosecution for Organised Crime needs to react,” she said.

Nikolaidis resigned a month ago as chief of the Special Department for the fight against corruption in the Public Prosecutors Office but has remained to work as a prosecutor.

The stir in the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office started in February when two prosecutors – Bojana Savovic and Jasmina Paunovic – who had worked on a corruption case in EPS, the state-owned electric power company, were transferred to other positions.

Their removal came after the police arrested six people suspected of having lost EPS $7.5 million during the performance of works at the thermal power plant Kostolac B. Some of the suspects were employees of a company long linked with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.

Prosecutor Stefanovic and his associate Maric denied a political motivation for the removals but giving several conflicting explanations about the reasons for transferring the prosecutors in the middle of an operation to arrest the suspects.

The Association of Prosecutors of Serbia has backed Savovic and Petrovic, while a protest was held in Belgrade in their support with calls for the independence of judiciary.

2 notes · View notes

anniekoh · 2 years

Text

elsewhere on the internet: cancel culture, tech ideologies and more, per adrian daub

Literary scholar Adrian Daub wrote a thorough debunking of Stanford’s latest “cancel culture” kerfuffle on “banning” the word American.

Also have really been enjoying Daub’s 2020 book What Tech Calls Thinking: An Inquiry Into the Intellectual Bedrock of Silicon Valley.*

From the intro: “This is a book about the history of ideas in a place that likes to pretend its idea don’t have any history.”

From page 74: “The genius aesthetic that rules the tech industry relies again and again on this purely gestural kind of courage, on hyping everyday things into grand acts of nonconformism and even resistance.”

From page 86: “Silicon Valley has a habit of pretending to have a debate when in fact desiring no such thing. One version of this is reflected in the infamous ‘Google memo’ that James Damore uploaded.

There’s a delightful close reading of Ayn Rand’s “funhouse version of capitalist society“ (p 61) / “an economic system dreamed up by Borges” in which the “all-powerful architectural critic (yes you read that right) Ellsworth Toohey who is a Marxist and also in league with monopoly capitalists and also beloved by the populace, schemes to take over Gail Wynand’s newspaper on the strength of (and I’m not making this up) his writing a column in it.”

* Though there is a now anachronistic, overly kind to Musk aside on the “billionaire’s sense of responsibility to others and planet.”

Other helpful posts on Daub’s Substack (note that the German version is first, the English translation comes second)

Ein paar Überlegungen zu Cancel Culture Transfer (on their new book)

there is a mini-genre of Starbucks-related anecdotes that in fact almost seem like cancel anecdotes, but almost never appear in the context of cancel culture discussions (in Germany, as far as I could see, they do not appear at all ). These are incidents in which police officers in restaurants in the United States are (or claim to have been) the target of abuse or disrespect from staff — it’s not clear which, often testimony stands against testimony in such cases. Even though of course these incidents are clearly concerned with freedom of expression (of which we are told that we have to tolerate it, “even if” it is repugnant, objectionable or whatever), even though the case is amplified by an outraged response from the public (particularly online), even though the employer usually panics and just goes ahead and fires the employee(s) in question: in spite of all of this, these aren’t usually treated as episodes of “cancellation.”

Macht es was aus, dass es ein Sandwich war?

Does it matter that it was a freaking sandwich? "You've definitely heard of silly stories like this," playwright, novelist and PEN President Ayad Akhtar told his audience at the Festsaal Kreuzber on December 2. "Students at Oberlin College protested that sushi was being served in their university cafeteria." It was a bánh mì, not sushi. And the story is almost ten years old. And it wasn't about cultural appropriation. And the story turns out to be incorrect.

Maybe none of that is super important. But with exactly two examples, at least in the (according to the newspaper “slightly abridged”) speech text that was published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the fact that one of the two is wrong feels sort of relevant. In my book Cancel Culture Transfer I try to show that the sloppiness of these anecdotes represents something of a hermeneutic alliance between the author and a certain reader/listener. I'm sure you've heard of this made-up story, Akhtar told his audience. I'll tell it to you again, of course without googling it first. Speaker and listeners gather around a fiction as though around a warming campfire – that can of course be the role of the writer, but perhaps not when he sets out to provide facts.

I take no pleasure in having to dissect Akhtar's text here. I'm generally a big fan of his writing, Homeland Elegies was one of my favorite books during the pandemic years. But maybe that's also important here: when Akhtar is good, he's tremendous. But for topics like this, he is … not tremendous. He doesn't have to be. That's part of the genre. In recent weeks, many interviewers have asked me incredulously whether I really think all the cancel culture Cassandras, many of them luminaries (Peter Sloterdijk! Anne Applebaum! Josef Joffe! Frank Fukuyama!), are “that stupid”. No, I do not think that. I'm friends with some of them — and find much of their other work good, or at least interesting. But what I do think is this: once they sound off about Twitter shitstorms, “woke mobs” and so on, they're almost never doing their best work. Or their best thinking. The same goes for Akhtar. He didn't google the case in Oberlin because it didn't matter. Such gestures of casualness are not a by-product, but rather the beating heart of this discourse, and they seem to infect anyone who ventures into its shallows: look, this kind of text says, I don't even have to bother.

My strategy in Cancel Culture Transfer was simple: I did bother. You don't have to follow my analysis at every point, but I hope you've learned something from reading the book even when you don’t. And you don't get that with a text like Akhtar's — at least I don't think so. So in my next few posts, I'm going to do a few close readings of Cancel Culture articles in the German press, how they function, and why I think they're grounded in a hermeneutics of sloppiness that tells readers: don't worry too much about the facts.

Two more from Daub

Here at the End of All Things : On losing oneself in the geography of fantasy worlds, from Middle Earth to Westeros (Longread, Aug 2017)

The technolibertarian crossover of Germany’s would be kaiser (NY Mag, 2022)

#technology #cancel culture #libertarian #silicon valley

4 notes · View notes