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newlyy · 3 years ago

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Maybe i'm insane & also i don't know law. but so often i think that if i get married i want to have a clause in the prenup that protects me from being "trans widowed." I know it has to be a rare occurence but i've seen waaay tooooo many stories of husbands "suddenly realizing they Were Always Girls" the second their wife gets pregnant and is trapped with them.

I would tell my sweetheart listen... i love you and trust you and i'm marrying you under the genuine belief you have been honest with me. And there are some things that if they come to light (you are hiding transsexuality, you have ever r*ped or sexually violated anyone, things like that) this contract is automatically null and void. And just pray I havrnt had children with him before that happens.

I don't want to go through a difficult divorce just bc some men are very very good at being dishonest. Do you think concepts like this are even possible to define in a prenup? Sorry to use you as a free law resource lololol

I can't give you legal advice, obviously, because I'm only licensed in my state and idk what state you live in or its laws, BUT I can tell you just some general family law principles.

There are two ways to terminate a marriage: divorce or annulment.

An annulment is when a marriage is considered invalid because of some impediment at the time of the marriage. There are specific grounds for annulment, but the two that I think MIGHT POSSIBLY come into play with trans widowhood is (1) lack of capacity ("fraud going to the essentials of marriage", specifically) and (2) "incurable physical impotence."

My bar review books defines "fraud going to the essentials of marriage" as "misrepresentation as to ability or willingness to engage in sexual relations or bear children." Idk if a trans identity would constitute fraud, especially if the husband claimed at the time he was unaware of his true identity or whatever (again, you need misrepresentation), but it might. An argument in favor of it constituting fraud would be to compare it to a female person passing herself off as male and then revealing herself to be female after marriage. If the court is pro-trans, they might view trans-identified men in the same way. Idk though. It's philosophical and murky. The "bearing children" part of fraud is interesting, too, if the husband decides to later sterilize himself with hormones or surgery. That also ties into "incurable physical impotence," which my review book defines as "the inability to have normal sexual relations with a spouse." idk though, I'm thinking out loud and I honestly doubt there's a lot of (if any) case law on it. Again, this isn't legal advice. There are things I'm leaving out.

Absent an annulment, you'd need a divorce to terminate a marriage. A prenup is an agreement that would come into effect upon divorce; it wouldn't avoid divorce or create grounds for an annulment. I would assume you could put a clause in the prenup about a later trans identity (again, I doubt this issue has come before any court, but i can't think of anything that would prevent you from putting it in), but it would likely just go to determining distribution of money/property upon divorce. You'd also have to nail down the language to describe trans identities which are purposely undefinable. idk. murky.

#i hope that's a helpful starting off point for you

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detectivejigsawpines · 5 years ago

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A Pinesmas Carol-part 4 (Truth is averted by trouble)

I have never been to Piedmont; I apologize for any misrepresentation that might occur.

In Ford’s experience with children who were between the ages of two and six, most of your time with them was spent saying, “Put that down!” or “Don’t touch that!” or “Go to your room until you can behave!”

Admittedly, he had not spent a lot of time with children of any age since going to college, but from what he saw of other people who interacted with children he had assumed that was the gist of it. However, once Xander warmed up to his uncles Ford was reminded that there was much more involved.

Mainly this came from watching the boy’s interaction with Stan. Once the house was decorated and dinner eaten, Xander immediately grabbed Stan’s hand and tugged him into the living room, asking for him to read his favorite book. Stan only put up a token resistance before making himself comfortable on the sofa, with the kid tucked in his lap, and began reading Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, complete with voices and occasional dry commentary on the cheesier sections, which made Xander giggle even as he protested that “that’s not what it says, Uncle Stan!”

Ford, feeling that he should be doing something to pull his weight around here, offered to wash the dishes; Rebecca was more than happy to allow this, turning to Shermie and commenting dryly that he could learn a lot from his little brother. Shermie just rolled his eyes and kissed her on the cheek, before they went and joined Stan and Xander in the living room.

By the time Ford had finished washing the dishes and stacking them in the drying rack the counter was damp with water and soap suds, so of course he had to clean that up, and then he wiped down the table and swept the floor, especially getting the spot where Xander had sat because he’d spilled quite a bit of food there. It was far more fervor than he ever showed in cleaning up back home, but it seemed only fair to make things a little easier for their hosts when they were having to feed and take care of two extra people.

He was startled out of his examination of the garbage disposal (and his thoughts on possibly making a few improvements to it as one of his presents to the family) by Stan’s voice saying, “Oi, Poindexter, someone wants ta say goodnight!”

Ford whirled around and saw Stan there, holding Xander’s hand and looking at him expectantly. He blinked.

“Oh. Um.” The hand that was within their line of sight started to slide into his pocket.

But then, unexpectedly, Xander rushed up to him and grabbed it.

Ford tried to jerk away at once, but the boy had a surprisingly tight grip. He examined Ford’s hand, tapping each of his fingers once, then twice, mouth moving quietly and little forehead scrunched up in concentration. Then at last he looked up at Ford, and said with a delighted smile, “You do have six fingers!”

Ford gave a slow nod. “That is indeed the case.”

Xander finally let go, and held up his own hand. “High six?”

He glanced over his shoulder at Stan, with a ‘Did I do that right?’ expression. Stan gave him an approving nod.

Ford, who to his surprise had acquired something in his eye for a second, tapped his hand lightly against the boy’s. “High six.”

Xander grinned, and finally allowed his mother to come and shoo him off to bed.

****

“So,” Stan asked when it was just grown-ups, “anyone up for some poker?” He produced a deck of cards with a grin.

Ford gave him a disapproving look. “Is that your marked set?”

Stan quickly closed his hand over the cards. “What are you, a cop?”

“Stanley, shame on you!” Rebecca put her hands on her hips.

“...I was only gonna suggest playin’ for gelt.”

“We have our own cards, if you don’t mind.” Shermie went to retrieve them.

Even without using rigged cards, Stan was still the champion of the poker table. As they played, they talked, filling Rebecca in on what life in Gravity Falls was like for them (still using the abbreviated version), and discussing what their plans were for their stay here. Shermie hadn’t planned on their doing anything big, just sticking around the house and catching up for the most part, but Xander had wanted to go see the lights on Oakland Avenue tomorrow; would they be okay with that?

Neither of them objected, so after the final hand they retired for the night.

After changing into pajamas, Ford tucked himself into bed-Stan was right, these were quite comfortable-and tried to adjust himself to the new environment.

It was strange to hear the sound of cars driving by on the street below, and see lights through the window. Not to mention there was no snow down here in California, and no need to worry about gnomes rooting around in the trash cans. All the sounds were wrong.

Even though the bed was perfectly soft, for a while Ford was unable to sleep, trying to adjust to this change in nighttime sounds.

And then Stan started snoring.

Contrary to what you might expect, the noise was actually...very comforting, in a way Ford hadn’t been expecting.

It was loud, yes, and rumbled in a way that made him surprised it wasn’t rattling the window the way it had the car’s windows on the way here. But it was also familiar, and reminded him of falling asleep to the noise for years in high school, so before he knew it his eyes were drooping and his thoughts turning to snowdrop glorgle murg zzzzzzz…

****

He woke up before Stan-situation normal. What was less normal was that it was at least an hour after sunrise, and he was actually feeling like he’d gotten a full eight hours. But hey, it was a holiday season-he’d allow it.

With a yawn Ford got up and headed for the bathroom to wash and dress; when he came back in, though, Stan was still asleep. And when he saw him, an unusual spark of mischief rose up in his heart, so he came and crouched down next to his brother’s bed.

“Stan-ley…”

“Mmph.”

“Stannn-leyyy...”

“MMMPH.”

“Stanley, I think I locked the keys in the car by accident.”

“Wha-?!” Stan’s eyes flew open, squinting blearily at the morning light.

Ford smirked at him.

“Knew that’d wake you up.”

Stan growled something unprintable and smacked him with the extra pillow that beds in guest rooms always seemed to feel a bizarre need to have, before twisting onto his side. “Go ‘way Sixer ‘fore I kill you.”

“We have plans today, remember?” Ford made no move to leave his twin’s bedside. “C’mon, get up-Xander’s probably waiting on us.”

“Rrrr. Usin’ my own nephew against me-that’s low, even for you.” But Stan twisted and sat up, scratching his chest and stomach, and finally slid out from under the covers.

Xander was indeed waiting; he was already wearing his bright red jacket, and as the grown-ups finished breakfast, he seemed to practically teleport from place to place in his excitement.

Once they were outside, Stan asked, “Wanna ride on my shoulders, kid?”

“Yeah!” At once he was standing in front of Stan with his arms held out. It required a little more maneuvering than that, but soon he was perched on Stan’s shoulders, and Stan was stomping down the street with his legs and arms stiff, and saying in a robotic voice, “FEAR US, HUMANS. WE ARE HERE TO DESTROY ALL IN OUR PATH. BEEP BOOP,” while Xander held onto his head and squealed with laughter.

“Stan! You’re going the wrong way! Oakland is this way!” Shermie called after him.

Stan paused for a second, then turned and robot-walked towards them.

“I. KNEW. THAT.”

Ford rolled his eyes.

****

The lights weren’t the most fancy decorations ever, but Xander loved them. He and Stan chattered happily to each other as they walked, looking in the windows at the merchandise and pointing out their favorite things. Ford hoped Stan wouldn’t try to steal anything, and turned his attention to Shermie and Rebecca, who were walking hand in hand.

He tried to think of an acceptable topic of conversation. They’d already discussed his and Stan’s work last night, and asking how Shermie’s family was doing was a little idiotic under the circumstances. That left...um…

He was still searching for something when Shermie asked, “So, you wanna tell us how it happened?”

Ford blinked. “Huh?”

“You and Stan didn’t communicate with each other for five years, and suddenly you’re sharing a house and from what I can see you’re both happy again. There’s gotta be a story about that.”

Ford felt his stomach churn. “I thought Mom talked to you.”

“Yeah, and she says she doesn’t fully understand what happened, she’s just glad you two have stopped fighting.”

Crap. Crap crap CRAP. Ford felt his palms starting to sweat. “It’s...complicated.”

Now they were both looking at him with interest and that was making it so much worse, how exactly did he explain that Stan had been told by a fortune-teller that he, Ford, was going to destroy the world by making friends with an evil yellow triangle if Stan didn’t make up with him without sounding like he was describing an elaborate television show for kids or something?

“I-um-”

Suddenly, Stan and Xander were by their sides, and Stan was handing the boy off to his parents with a “Sorry, kid, but I gotta put you down; my shoulders are killin’ me.”

Ford breathed a small sigh of relief...until he saw the look on Stan’s face.

His eyes looked frightened-not like they were when they got that call from Ma, and it was just not wanting to deal with her wrath, like a real , genuinely worried about something big kind of frightened. He was trying to act casual, but his shoulders were ducked down, and it almost felt like he was trying to hide behind Ford, which completely upset the normal paradigm.

“Everything okay?” Ford asked, looking at his brother.

“Yes. No. Maybe.” Stan’s words were clipped, but soft-Shermie and Rebecca were busy talking to their son about something, so for the moment their conversation was going unnoticed. “It depends.”

“...On what?” Ford’s inner radar was blaring louder by the second.

“I...I think I saw someone in one o’ the shops who could be trouble. And he might not’ve seen me, but I’m not sure, and if he did we’re screwed if he figures out where we’re living right now, so just remain calm and don’t go drawing any attention.” His eyes darted around, scanning the groups of people out and about right now. “And hope he didn’t bring the rest of the gang here.”

“What’s he look like?” Ford kept his voice as soft as Stan’s.

“Kind of a big guy, blond, wearing a jean jacket over a black shirt. He calls himself Archer. And he doesn’t like me much.”

“How much?” Ford didn’t see anyone matching that description, but right now that didn’t prove anything.

Stan grimaced. “...Not here. When we get home.”

“When we get home what?” Shermie asked.

Both of them winced.

Their brother frowned. “Guys? What’s the matter?”

“...It’s a long story,” Stan said. “But we should probably go home soon, as calmly and normally as possible.”

So much for a nice, peaceful vacation, Ford thought.

#gravity falls #flipside au #stan pines #ford pines #shermie pines #piedmont #trouble #cute kid

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lycorogue · 5 years ago

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Marinette’s Song: Chapter 2

You can read Chapter 1 here.

UPDATE (2/15/20): You can also now find this story over on AO3, on FFN, and on DA.

Summary: Whenever Luka creates music it affects people. He can’t handle having to hide his music anymore, and so he goes to the Tom & Sabine Charms and Potions shop for some help. Can Marinette’s witchcraft allow Luka to finally share his music with the world? Witch and Mythological Magic AU

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 10,943 Words This Chapter: 1324

Status: Completed; 7 chapters

Disclaimer: I wanted to anchor Marinette’s magic in Wiccan as opposed to “Hollywood witchcraft”, but I’m Christian. I tried to do my research, but I also know I’m taking a lot of creative liberties. If you notice any glaring misrepresentation of Wiccan, please let me know.

Luka regretted leaving his bike behind about four blocks into his run. He only managed to spur himself forward with the promise of two things: finding a way to dampen his power, and the prospect of seeing Marinette. She was one of Juleka's friends and classmates. A sweet girl that always treated his sister with kindness and appreciation. It kept Luka quite some time to officially meet her, due to the awkwardness even two years age difference caused when one was young. Once he did though?

His fingers twitched as if he were playing strings on his guitar. He concentrated on his breathing, pushing himself to run faster; fast enough that he had no spare breath to hum, no matter how many notes sang in his head whenever he thought of Marinette.

Focus on a solution instead, he reminded himself. Any way to suppress this curse has to be priority.

It kept him nearly ten minutes, but soon the Place des Vosges came into view. Shortly after, the little charm shop at the end of the encasing terrace houses peeked out from behind the park fence. Tom & Sabine's Charms and Potions was probably the greatest magical establishment in all of Paris. The greatest one Luka knew of, anyway. It was pure luck that it happened to also be owned and run by Marinette's parents.

Either that, or perhaps Fate?

He skidded to a stop in front of the store's door, bracing himself against his knees as he took in a few panting breathes. Slowly raising his head, he looked through the glass storefront, and his lungs stilled. Leaning on the check-out counter as she doodled was Marinette, oblivious of Luka watching her from just outside her family's store.

She leaned heavily on her left arm, propping her head up as her right hand scribbled in a fury across the paper before her. The rest of the store was still. Even Marinette herself was like a statue, her eyes already so heavy lidded Luka barely noticed her blinking. Her hand, though, never paused as it danced across its canvas.

Luka no longer knew if his heart was pounding from his run, or from watching Marinette. His throat still burned, but his breathing evened out; mostly because it was hard to re-catch it. Notes buzzed loudly in his mind, frantically scrambling into the perfect formation to play out the aura that shone from Marinette. His fingers again twitched on their own as they bent to the guitar chords best fitting the melody singing inside him.

He needed to hear it; to make sure it truly was Marinette's music serenading him. Despite the fire smoldering behind his Adam's Apple, Luka softly hummed his Ballad of Marinette. It wasn't quite right, but the proper base was there. It was plucky, a little clumsy, but somehow moved gracefully, as if the clumsy bits were on purpose. It was strong, with powerful notes hummed loudly, but also held meek movements that were soft and sweet. It was simple enough to hum, but would be so much better once the true complexity could be played on his guitar.

Luka desperately wanted Marinette to hear it; to know how he saw her, and what he thought of her.

Behind him, a couple of kids squealed with delight as they sprinted down the sidewalk towards the park. There was the quickened pounding of their little feet, the high-pitched chime of their tiny laughs, and then the loud screech of tires skidding to a stop.

Luka whipped to his left. A car was partially in the intersection separating the little charms store and the park, barely stopped a meter from the four children who were carelessly still laughing as they played tag in the street. They didn't seem to even notice the car, despite the driver's window now down so she could shout at their obliviousness. The children ignored her, too drunk on the joy Luka poured into the world with his song.

Burning from guilt, Luka stumbled his way into the store, ringing the single bell that hung above the entrance.

“Luka?” Marinette was already on her feet, racing towards one of the store's side windows. “Is everything okay out there? I heard the car-”

“The kids are fine.” He wasn't sure if he was informing Marinette or reminding himself.

She pressed a hand to her heart, heaving out a sigh with closed eyes. “That's good to- Luka? Are you okay?” She jogged to his side, and rested a hand on his chest. Her eyebrows knitted together as her eyes scanned him. “You're shaking, and you look pale. The car didn't almost hit you, did it?”

“No, I-” His fingers twitched once more, so he calmed them by wrapping them around Marinette's hand. A soft blush stained her cheeks, and the world became alright again. “I'm better now that I've had a chance to talk to you,” he cooed.

Marinette whipped her hand away and took a step back, her blush deepening as she broke eye contact. A hint of a smile teased at her lips, and her arm jerked towards her ear so she could play with her crimson studded earring.

Luka didn't bother fighting against the smile stretching across his own face. He kept his distance though, not wanting to rattle her any further.

Marinette cleared her throat, and shook her head to help clear that too. “Good. I'm glad you're okay. Is- Was that why you came here? To, uh, to talk to me?”

Luka's smile vanished. “Actually, no. Well, maybe yes? I was looking for something that would negate hereditary magic, and I hoped you might be able to help.”

“Hereditary magic?” Marinette's eyes grew wider each time she frantically blinked at him. “You have hereditary magic?”

Luka nodded.

“Juleka too?”

Nod.

“Your mom? Or was it inherited from your dad's side? Oh!” Marinette slammed both hands into her mouth to shut herself up. Slowly lowering her hands back down so her lips were just barely visible, she softly spoke. “S-sorry. I know you two don't really talk about him. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject, I just-”

Luka held up a hand to stop her apologizing. “It's alright. I know you need to know so you can better find a solution for me. It's alright. I'm not offended. Truth is, we're not entirely sure who we inherited it from. My mom seems to know a lot about it, but doesn't have our power. So we're not sure if it came from our dad, or if it just skipped a generation. Maybe both parents had really thin bloodlines, but combined it was enough for a power resurgence?”

“Like a non-dominant gene activating? Yeah, I can see that being possible. Come in, let's figure this out.” Marinette started walking towards the back of the little shop and wove for him to follow. She laced around the check-out counter and snaked towards the back room. Luka stopped at the register, assuming she had to fetch something and then return.

While he waited, he took in the doodle Marinette was so fixated on a few minutes before. It was a cocktail dress design: thin straps, squared neckline, and close-fitted bodice that then flared at the hips. The design also had sleeve fingerless-gloves that attached at the middle fingers, and matching thigh-high stockings. Also included were designs for round-toe heels and a headband with flowers and a ribbon bow down the one side. Luka admired the skill Marinette had in design, and pictured her wearing the outfit. Maybe on a date.

Realizing Luka wasn't behind her, Marinette jogged back, and grabbed his hand to tug him behind the counter. Her hand never left his as she led him through the dark curtain separating the back room from the rest of the store.

And the whole time, Luka's heart belted out Marinette's song.

Read Chapter 3

@discoveringmiraculouswriters

#ML #Miraculous Ladybug #fanfiction #LycoRogue writing #LycoRogue fanfic #Lukanette #Luka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #chapter story #long post #Secret Admirer event #for justknitstuff #story gift exchange #Marinette made an appearance!#witches AU #mythical creatures AU #AU story #LycoRogue original

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naamoosh · 6 years ago

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I also share a love for ratchet and I love your work and how proud you are of your heritage. I was wondering if you could do a little something for me. What would ratchet's reaction be when he sees his S/o celebrating a holiday that they're heritage has celebrated for years. Thank you, I love your work and I cannot wait to see what this is going to be like!

Hi! I’m sorry this took forever but I hope you’ll like it ^_^

not sure what you were expecting it to be but here are 1,000+ words of how I think this would play out!

A cause for celebration

Pamela slowly exited Ms. Darby’s car and immediately looked over to the improvised workstation where she knew her favorite Autobot was bound to be hard at work.

To her surprise Ratchet looked up, having heard the car getting in probably and instead of getting back to work and letting her come to check in on him, as usual, he gave her that crooked half smile he seemed to keep especially for her and came over to the entrance to their hideout.

“You came in rather late today,” he remarked as he bent down to pick her up and return to their usual spot. “It’s not that rare that Raf is kept away by his mother to study but you always come as soon as you can… I hope this won’t change” he looked at her and said with a tenderness she would never have associated with the medic when she first met him all those months ago “I’ve missed you”.

“We were only a couple hours late, Ratch”, She settled down gently at the palm of his hand.

they used to pretend it was only to make talking to each other easier but by now were comfortable enough together that they both could admit they enjoyed the closeness of it.

“you’d think an ancient being like you would find that time enough to miss anyone at all, you must either really like me or find this place extremely boring!” her fond laugh was however cut short by a sudden burp and her face turned bright red.

Ratchet’s optics widened and after a couple seconds of stunned and awkward silence, he said “was… was that normal? I never heard anyone make that kind of sound before!” Pamela didn’t finish stammering out a reply when a loud burp came from the couch where Raf just settled down yo play video games with Miko and Jack.

“What happened to you two today?” Ratchet lamented and then his optics cycled down on her in the way that always made her feel like she was the only thing that existed for him at that moment. “Also… did you change your… what did you call them again?” he gestured in her general direction. “clothes?” she tried “Yes!” he exclaimed.

really his giddiness at remembering and understanding human concepts was one of his more endearing qualities.

“Well, today was kind of a special day,” she said “it’s called ‘Dia del Ninos’ or children’s day I guess” she shrugged. “Rafael and I went to celebrate with our families”

“Children’s day, eh?” he hummed “and how would that explain the change in appearance and the… sounds?”“Well, it’s a day for spoiling children, basically”

she picked at the hem of her new shirt, it really was nice, her aunt definitely knew her well.

“families get together and the parents, great parent - you know, the adults in the family? buy the children toys and clothes and make special delicious food, it’s great!” she reclined a little back and smiled a bit as she felt him shift his fingers to better support her back.

“the… sounds are pretty normal in humans, usually, after we eat too much or too fast. I wouldn’t be in this mess if it was at all possible to say ‘no’ to Abuela when she asks if you’d like more food… that would also explain this.” she gently rubbed her full, aching stomach.

“Well, that answers some questions but leaves some very important ones” Ratchet raised a brow and tilted his head to the side with a small smirk “why do you even have that holiday? and why are you and Rafael the only ones celebrating it?” “Because different cultures have different holidays,” she replied stretching lazily “Rafael and me are Mexican, and 'Dia del Ninos’ is a Mexican holiday. it’s traditional. I’m sure the others have their own holidays on their own time.”

“hmmm…” Ratchet stroked his chin thoughtfully and continued in his 'I am attempting to learn about these puny human and their planet’ tone - “when did this tradition get started then?”Pamela reached into her pocket and fished out her phone, Ratchet was a scholar, after all. she should have known he’d like to know every detail about any topic that was previously unknown to him, she couldn’t fault him for being curious about what was essentially an alien culture to him.

and besides, it was nice to be the one teaching him for a change.

“Apparently it started in 1925, so that’s almost 100 years ago now”Ratchet looked at her for a moment before letting out a dismissive ’pttt’ sound

“I suppose for a species as short-lived as humans that would seem like an old tradition… a hundred years, really? and why in the name of vector sigma do you have a special holiday to celebrate the existence of young members of your species anyway?

the way it seems to me they seem almost like uncompleted humans, in need of a lot of training and learning before they can actually become productive members of society.”

“well maybe that’s the reason!” she said, perhaps more sharply than necessary, but Ratchet’s casual remarks regarding how short and fleeting human lives were compared to the incomprehensible longevity of Cybertronians always made her feel a hole in the pit of her stomach.

she guessed he couldn’t help it - to him, the length of human life was so small as to be ludicrous, and it probably made it a little hard to take seriously

“maybe because our lives are so short we want to celebrate all of it! I don’t suppose you’d understand… children are more than 'incomplete humans’! they are small and vulnerable but they are as human as any adult. maybe when you’re a species as short-lived as mankind you learn to appreciate every moment you do get with your loved ones and family, and this holiday does just that - brings everyone together to celebrate just…” she fumbled for a moment and looked at the ground

(his hand. she was sitting in the palm of his hand, he is a giant alien and he probably doesn’t understand anything she is saying)

suddenly embarrassed by her outburst “you know, just having fun and being together, I don’t really expect you to understand…”

“No” Ratchet sounded thoughtful and as she looked up at his optics she saw him looking away from her with a soft, almost wistful look in them.

his gaze was on the 3 teenagers still playing and laughing on the couch

“Lately, since becoming more closely acquainted with some of these short-lived humans,” his optics turned back to her and her breath almost stopped at the sadness and love that shone in their depths, “I think I understand far more than I ever thought I could.”

A/N: I spoke with @theoneandonly-02 and they specified they wanted a Mexican S/O (Pamela) celebrating 'Dia del Ninos’.

I am not Mexican so any mistakes and misrepresentations are on me, feedback & corrections are appreciated!

It’s my first fanfiction ever so I can only hope it turned out ok 💞

#theoneandonly-02 #my first fanfic #I'm so excited!#I hope you like it #ratchet #reader insert #dio del nino #tfp ratchet #i wrote it at 3am

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bizarropurugly · 7 years ago

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I try to be understanding of smokers. Addiction is tough.

But so far just about every smoker I’ve ever met is a huge asshole. Complaining about not being allowed to smoke indoors, complaining about not being allowed to smoke around children, having to put up with coworkers’ CONSTANT smoke breaks, getting pissy when people ask them not to smoke in their homes or cars....

They talk about smokers’ rights. They think these are issues of rights.

You wanna talk about rights? Mistreatment?

How about the fact that you get quitting programs for free. Know how many addicts get to do that? None but you.

Do you get fired from your jobs for smoking? Nope.

Do you get denied healthcare insurance, or medicine? Nope.

Do you go to jail? Nope.

Could admitting to your addiction possibly cost you all these things? Nope.

Are you forced to quit? Nope.

Everyone accepts you fucking smoke. Nobody makes you quit. Every fucking convenience store, retail store, truck stop, gas station, offers dozens of options for your habit. You have hundreds of them available in every town.

The only thing nobody accepts is your “right” to expose the rest of us to it, your “right” to hand out secondhand smoke.

You get all that shit above and you still whine about how you’re addicted and you have rights, you get supported in your habits, you get free options for quitting which are OPTIONAL, but oh no you can’t blow shit in people’s faces, you can’t endanger children’s health. Gosh, don’t you have it so hard?

You know when I was in the psych ward there was a person “detoxing” from pain killer addiction. They had fibromyalgia. They wouldn’t let them have ANY medication because they abused their meds. And after their stay there, their next stop was prison. I would walk into the activity room and find them sobbing from the immense pain they were in.

That’s how other addicts get treated. You ever been arrested and then submitted against your will to a hospital that refused your treatment so you can “detox” from nicotine? No you fucking haven’t.

I’m sorry for the rant but the other day my two supervisors got into a confrontation over this, the one keeps going for smoke breaks and leaving us hanging and the other told them it had to stop. The former complained about being discriminated against. No, fucker, you don’t get to have all this extra down time that the rest of us don’t get, you don’t get to unload your work onto us, just because you fucking smoke. Get over it!

I’m sorry addiction is hard. It is hard. But it doesn’t entitle you to rights that others don’t have.

[edit]

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate smokers inherently, I really don’t care that they smoke as long as it’s not around me. It makes me sick, literally.

I’m just so tired of the ones that are such complete assholes and try to act like it’s about their rights as a smoker, and that they have these extra rights nobody else does.

Addiction really is hard and if you struggle with quitting I do have sympathy. If you don’t care I don’t care; I’m not going to make you quit or anything.

And I fucking hate most “stop smoking” campaigns and commercials; any sort of Above the Influence type bullshittery is obnoxious and misrepresentation of the issue, insistently refusing to examine how and why these addictions start in the first place in favour of telling teens addiction is all about being a conformist weakling with no personality or convictions.

I don’t really have an issue with smokers themselves, just these asshole ones who cry discrimination when people tell them they can’t smoke anywhere they want, around anyone they want. You don’t know what discrimination is.

#aggressive --//#that's a text post

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deffy03 · 4 years ago

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Hi, My name's Arran. I am husband to a wonderful wife and two beautiful children. In April 2019 we made an offer on a home in Crieff, Scotland, having been renting a small home for a couple of years that was full of damp and we had to fight all the way to the ombudsman to prove that the estate agents had rented a property without properly declaring it's condition. We were successful, but what we thought was going to be a new chapter in our life, where we could begin to build a future, turned out to be an even worse nightmare. The Situation: We completed the sale in July 2019, and we were so happy to be moving into our new home - somewhere that was ours, that we could fill with love and fun. We took advantage of the Scottish Government's LIFT Scheme (where the government puts 30% towards the house, to be repaid on sale) - they approved the property after assessing the home reports and documents provided by the sellers. My wife is a full-time mum, and I work in IT (from home now, of course!) and she wanted to contribute to our income. The property we bought had a good-sized garage - perfect for one of my wife's ideas - dog grooming! All it would take is a little bit of renovation and some learning. After taking out a £20k loan to get off the ground (materials, labour and training courses), we hired a joiner to get to work on putting up a partition wall and an electrician to start expanding the electrics that were in the garage. One afternoon in December 2019, the joiner informed me that the garage was completely rotten - to the core! Suddenly dog grooming was a lot further away. We had the garage assessed by a damp and timber specialist, who concluded that the structure was not fit for purpose and posed a danger to life. As he was drilling, one of the main joists in the structure crumbled away due to dry rot. During our viewing we asked about the water stains on the ceiling panels - the sellers told us there was a leak in the roof which they have fixed and that the whole structure was sound and dry. Given it was a also listed as a category 1 - we had felt confident that it was at least a usable structure. The joiner feels that the state of the garage is due to there being a leak in the roof for YEARS, then once the leak was fixed the owners then added new ceiling panels and vents in order to dry out the beams - this is what caused the rot and where the water staining has come from. Of course, we contacted the surveyors who had provided the Home Report (which claimed everything was a category 1, with only a category 2 for 'uneven cobbles' in the front garden). They came out, investigated, and concluded that - yes, they should have marked this as a category 2 - it was obvious (to a qualified surveyor) there had been leakage and damage through damp, and should be noted on the report so that potential buyers could assess. The surveyors offered to send a contractor to fix the structure of the garage - we advised that according to the joiner and the timber and damp specialist that this was NOT an option. We politely asked for a little bit of time to decide, as we'd been recommended to check out some of the other areas of the house given that the garage had been covered up. We organised our own independent home report and the differences between the first one and our subsequent report are devastating! Our surveyor advised that we cannot legally sell this home due to the state of disrepair and our home was devalued by £6000. Our home is also category 3 for damp, rot and infestation (we have woodworm, with no definitive of whether it’s active or not) - the original home report had this as a category 1. We were advised by our surveyor to have the roof, electrics & boiler checked by specialist as these were all recategorized as a 2 and not a 1 as originally reported. There is no way the Scottish Government would have granted permission for us to buy this home through the Lift Scheme. In all, our home report flagged up 14 category 2s and the category 3 for 'damp, rot and infestation' (the original report had ONE category 2 - for uneven stones). We would expect home reports to differ on some matters, but to see such obvious contradictions was soul destroying. It became clear to us that the original surveyors had not conducted an actual, realistic report on the house. As we have been told frequently "you were presented with one house but sold another". We also discovered that the surveyors have an existing 'business relationship' with the sellers, and there was multiple, similar complaints, outstanding against not only the surveyor company, but the SPECIFIC SURVEYOR that was supposed to have produced the report on our home. We had an electrician come to do a report on the house, and he found that not only were the electrics dangerous, none of them met any kind of standard and were highly illegal - he suggested that the electrics had not been done by a professional. Our electrics were subsequently condemned. None of this was declared or noted in the documents prior to sale. Our electrician said that if something were to go wrong with an appliance, we would likely be electrocuted. He also said that if he had the power do to so, he would have to shut the electrics off. Further, he noted that there was no earth wire to the boiler, and recommended we have someone check out the boiler as it looked extremely unsafe to him. The boiler engineer was unable to check anything as he discovered that at some point, someone had drilled a toilet screw into the boiler casing (having presumably lost the original) which had ruptured the case. He was concerned that any attempt to service the boiler would result in a CO2 leak, and cause our gas to be shut off immediately. In the meantime, we are entitled (through Warmer Homes Scotland) to a replacement heating system. We were successful in the application, and an engineer came out to run tests and draw up for plans for installation. On doing a safety check in the kitchen, he found that the electrics were at a dangerously unsafe level, and therefore he would be unable to conduct ANY work in the house. Our shower broke, and the technician found the same thing - the electrics were far to dangerous for anyone to attempt any repairs. What have we done? After our initial panic and anger subsided, we began looking at how we could fix this situation. We contacted the original surveyors again, who came out to reassess. We also contacted our insurance provider, alerting them to a possible legal claim against the surveyors and sellers for misrepresentation; our insurance legal team suggested the case would be for criminal negligence. The surveyors concluded that they had indeed 'fallen short' of their 'usual high standards'. They would not specify in which regard they had fallen short, and offered us £3000 for full and final settlement. They would not specify what areas the settlement was for. Throughout, the surveyor's attitude was belligerent, avoidant and patronising. They repeatedly refused to answer questions or provide documentation that I asked for (such as proof that a surveyor had even attended the property). Given that we were already £20k down on a loan, £129,000 down on a mortgage for a house we would never have bought, we had to refuse the settlement. We then went through The Royal Institute For Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who offered us £4000. Our insurance legal team indicated that we had a likely claim, and we needed to be compensated adequately, not fobbed off early. After months of waiting, refilling out forms, discussions, letters, our insurance finally informed us in February 2021 (having first contacted them just under a year earlier) that they would be unable to cover any legal costs, as we were not covered by their policy at the time of making an offer. We are currently going through a complaints process to find out why we could not have been informed, even indicatively, that this stipulation would apply. We then started frantically contacting lawyers (who would be able to provide legal aid as all our money not tied into repayments, all our potential for credit has been exhausted by living here). We have been waiting for months to have phone calls returned, for emails to be replied to, for ANYTHING to move. Every law firm we have spoken to has said that we have an extremely strong case - but they either don't have the capacity to take us on, or don't provide legal aid. Even the Scottish Law Society (who are supposed to help you find legal assistance in a situation like this) are not taking phone calls and have not replied to a single email. We have called and written to MPs, to the solicitors who acted for us during purchase, to the estate agents who advertised the property - and nobody is helping us. We have recently had the electrics fixed (we could not live in such dangerous circumstances any longer, every day worrying about our children touching something) - and have had to borrow the almost £5000 from my in-laws to pay for it. What Do We Need? We now have NOTHING. We are living out of an overdraft that keeps getting deeper (and we're about at the limit). We have no prospects. To add to our distress - our eldest was diagnosed with ASD and probable ADHD and was excluded from school during his first few weeks in Primary 1. It has since been determined that it was completely unlawful, that he should have been protected by the Child's Plan from nursery and that the school lied repeatedly to try to avoid scrutiny. However, despite all this, there has been no justice for our son. Just a shrug and 'sorry'. Further, I was offered a lucrative opportunity by someone I used to work for. If I could pass the interviews, I would have been on a career path with massive potential. Slowly over a period of a few months, this opportunity was taken from me, without any explanation or reason and then eventually, he has decided to ignore my messages. I imagine the budget it no longer there to hire - but instead of being open about that (which I can more than handle), the decision has been to pretend I don't exist. With hindsight, we should have realised that the reports and description of the home was too good to be true. Given that no work had been declared, and there was no indication on the home report that things were anything less than in great condition - we were really not in the position to get surveys done for a potential offer. We're now left with a house we would never have bought (especially coming from a rented home that was damp), with debts we cannot pay, with dreams crushed, and with no conceivable way out. No one will help. No one is being held accountable. We have all relevant documents, and I am happy to answer any questions We always considered ourselves good people - trying to help when we can, donating to causes, helping friends and family where they need it. Giving people the benefit of the doubt and never asking for more than what we felt was fair. I have asked for £75,000 - to help us pay back our debts, bring the house up to the standard we were presented with at sale, to help us bring this case to court and to give us some room to breathe after being under crushing stress, depression, and hopelessness for so long. It will also allow us to repay my in-laws for the recent electrical work. But any amount would be greatly beneficial to us. All donations have our sincerest gratitude. Arran & family

#crowdfunding kickstarter crowdfundingcampaign fundraising indiegogo startup donate support covid kickstartercampaign crowdfund funding art p

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aclockworkfilmsnob · 8 years ago

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Thank you for making it so clear you support pedophiles. Since you are encouraging support for Split and Split has the very clear message that CSA makes the one girl "better" and "pure" you obviously agree with this view, which at least victims know to block you now you have been so open about your support for our abuse. Misrepresentation of DID was far from the only problem with Split.

I’m glad you see my end. Just like how I support rape and murder because of Alex being the protagonist, and the definitive example of an organic human being, in one of my all time favorite films, A Clockwork Orange. I also support satanists because of Rosemary’s Baby, murdering your children because of Titus, fascist control because of Starship Troopers, organized crime because of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, and allowing innocent people to die with complete apathy because of Escape from New York. You clearly understand cinema more than I do.

Let me ask you a question, friendo. Who advocated the corruption of mankind in Split? Was it the protagonist? Oh, wait, no it wasn’t. It was the beast. The one with the clearly established misguided motives, like Mr. Glass in Unbreakable. At no point does the film say “See, it’s a good thing that Anya Taylor Joy was molested by her uncle.” No, it only ended up saving her because of the depressing harshness of reality. The film says that the ones who have been exposed to abuse are the ones who understand that the world is a cruel place, they are the ones who are not asleep. The film does not say that this is a good thing, Again, that’s just like saying that Alex DeLarge, the rapist murderer, was RIGHT for doing what he did because he was the embodiment of how organically terrible the world can be. It’s not right, it’s absolutely wrong and immoral. But it’s not like it’s a reality we can hide from.

Casey suffered, and her life would have been better had her father been there to protect her from her uncle. The film is so fucking obvious in saying this. She does not live a better life because of what happened to her, but she grew stronger through the events of being locked up by the horde that the audience could infer that she was strong enough to fight against it. It’s not an easy pill to swallow, and we don’t know if she succeeds in exposing her uncle for the monster he is, but she grew through controversial and unsettling means (NOT through her being molested, that was the major conflict she had to overcome, NOT what made her overcome such conflict)

I’m sorry that you’re cherry picking things to belittle Split for since I’ve already supplied some pretty compelling arguments against the DID claims. That’s actually kind of sad, thinking about it now. It’s like beating somebody in an argument against ACO supporting rape, and then the person says “Oh yeah, well... why didn’t Alex rape the cat lady? What was she not young or attractive enough for him? Thanks for letting me know that you support sexism.” Like okay, that’s not a stretch at all.

I’m sorry if you’ve suffered through these issues in real life, genuinely, I am. I can only imagine what you’ve been through and I really hope you stay strong to overcome and embrace the hardships of your life, I understand that it is a very difficult thing to deal with and you have my full sympathy and support in your real life endeavors, my heart goes out to you. But I need to make something abundantly clear, ignoring everything about this fictional movie. I still view you, and everybody similar to you, and everybody who suffers so much more than you and would kill to be in your position, as a person. I am not going to treat you like a caged animal and give you special treatment as if you’re some wild creature that should be kept in an endangered animal preserve. People who suffer from mental illness are still people in my eyes. And some people are cowards and assholes.

You are a coward and an asshole. This is completely irrelevant of what terrible things life has thrown your way. You still anonymously accused me of terrible things. You’re hiding your identity behind tumblr’s anonymous ask system, you don’t even have the yarbles to reveal your account name, which probably has 0 information on what your identity actually is. I show my face and my name, and if I’m going to accuse somebody of something so fucking extreme, I will not hide behind anonymity like a little child. You have the audacity to accuse me of advocating something as horrible as pedophilia and you can’t even do the bare minimum and expose your account? Yeah my stupid SJW trolling phase may have been a waste of everybody’s time, but at least I showed myself. Because I was confident in what I was saying, and I had no problem backing up what I said when people inevitably replied to my claims. You, on the other hand, are a weepy child. You make outrageous claims absolutely antagonizing me, and you have the safety of my followers not knowing who you are because of the possibility that I could debunk your stupid fucking claims.

For whatever you’ve been through in life, my heart goes out to you and I hope things improve for you. But as a person, you get 0 sympathy from me. You’re an overly provocative asshole hiding behind safe spaces and outlandish claims, and that will get you nowhere in life. You talk about the people being offended by my claims blocking me, and if they’re anything like you, I couldn’t ask for a better gift. People like you can keep sending me these stupid anons, keep calling me out on frivolous nonsense that just isn’t true, and keep antagonizing me as if you know who I am and you know what I’ve been through in my own life. But I’ll always have the satisfaction of knowing that I can state my opinion without being scared of what people have to say to me directly in response to my controversial claims. I have a lot of unpopular opinions, buddy. I’m convinced that 60% of tumblr would consider me racist, sexist, misogynistic, and insensitive to people with mental illness. And if you want to accuse me of such, I welcome it, I’ll gladly have that debate. A nozh scrap anytime you say. But if you want your argument to be redeemable or respectable in any way shape or form, at least have the decency to show yourself. Otherwise, no matter what you’re fighting for, you’re telling me and everybody else that you are afraid of backlash, and you are not confident in your argument. And in that case, no one will take you seriously. Not even if you’re right.

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harryandmeghan0-blog · 6 years ago

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Rowling does gays more harm than good - Royal Gazette

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/rowling-does-gays-more-harm-than-good-royal-gazette/

Rowling does gays more harm than good - Royal Gazette

J.K. Rowling never had to fight for her freedom to marry and it shows.

Seemingly unsatisfied with the shock value of making the characters in her Harry Potter franchise racially ambiguous, she has decided to double-down on her 2007 declaration that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, a beloved elderly male character, is gay. Last week, in an interview added to the Blu-ray DVD for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Rowling confirmed something fans have long wondered: Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, a dark wizard who is a friend-cum-rival, had “a relationship with a sexual dimension”.

I have never cast a spell before, so here goes nothing: tedious gravitas!

In the DVD commentary, Rowling says: “Their relationship was incredibly intense. It was passionate, and it was a love relationship. But as happens in any relationship, gay or straight or whatever label we want to put on it, one never knows, really, what the other person is feeling. You can’t know, you can believe you know. So I’m less interested in the sexual side — although I believe there is a sexual dimension to this relationship — than I am in the sense of the emotions they felt for each other, which ultimately is the most fascinating thing about all human relationships.”

Viewers and readers especially cannot know feelings between two characters when neither uses words or actions to express them. There’s a word for that: closeted. By imbuing Dumbledore with a sexuality that does not speak its name, ink its page, or fill its screen in 2019, Rowling outs herself again as a 1990s throwback of a grandstanding faux-ally. “Do not pity the dead, Harry,” Dumbledore tells Harry in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. “Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.”

Pity characters penned in fictional, unnecessary closets even more.

Rowling published the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in Britain in 1997. She wrote six more Harry Potter books before she outed Dumbledore, which she did only after the final novel was published. Just like this time, that revelation came not in the text, but in a 2007 question-and-answer session with fans, who broke into rapturous applause. She described Dumbledore not just as a gay man, but as broken, pathetic, unrequited, lonely, doomed. In those intervening years — when 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in an anti-gay hate crime, when same-sex marriage was illegal in most US states and in Britain — the children reading her books could have used a beloved gay character, which might have given gay life some sorely needed heroes. Rowling has said she wrote some aspects of the novels, such as Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley’s relationship, as “a form of wish fulfilment”.

An openly gay Dumbledore was not her wish.

What if she had heeded Dumbledore’s own wisdom? “It’s our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities,” the Hogwarts headmaster tells the boy wizard in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. “Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

Here’s a sharper take from WNYC’s Nancy, a queer podcast, which, in a 2017 episode called “There Are No Gay Wizards”, took issue with Rowling getting too much credit for writing an “iconic gay character”, as the show’s producer Matt Collette put it. “Of all J.K. Rowling’s many accolades, there’s one I find particularly noteworthy: queerbaiter,” Collette said. “That’s a writer who puts in just enough of a queer storyline to appease the fans who’d like one, but not so much as to offend anyone who doesn’t like gay people. There’s subtext — hints at queer stories — throughout her work, but nothing more.”

How could this clumsy betrayal by a clueless straight woman get any worse? By her straight male director, David Yates, chiming in within the same DVD commentary: “I was very conscious of wanting to try to suggest that Dumbledore still held this affection for Grindelwald. There was not just regret, but there was still a love that existed between the two men.”

The love existed between them because neither offered a bridge to close that distance.

And, sorry, Yates was very conscious of wanting to try to suggest? What does that mean? Wanting to try is for bucket lists and Kamasutra positions. There’s such barbed hypocrisy in this self-congratulatory pride about a closeted character from someone who was so aware of the power and perils of representation and misrepresentation that she hid her femininity behind her initials.

Cowardice expellum!

I understand Rowling is a 53-year-old children’s book author and that maybe it is difficult to access Gossip Girl or Riverdale or Big Mouth in Britain, but teen romantic culture — and sexual culture — has come a long way since she began this franchise in the 1990s. It doesn’t need to be the rote, prudish Potterverse pettiness of ill-conceived Valentine’s Day dates, rookie kisses, and showing up to the school dance with a surprise on your arm. Remember when Rowling prided herself on the length of the books, scolding the industry for underestimating the amount of complexity young readers could handle? What happened to that person?

For her characters, romantic and sexual emotion exists in Rowling’s mind with the no-questions-asked simplicity of invisibility cloaks and the quidditch rulebook. Harry never ever thinks of Cho Chang when he is kissing Ginny. Ron and Hermione do not have talks about how to spice up their sex life — pardon, their lovemaking. She has fetishised Dumbledore’s gay pain so much that she is unwilling to write any healing for him. But Dumbledore deserves that Brokeback breakthrough every out person gets: “It could be like this, just like this, always.”

Rowling does not understand how painful it is for queer people to see a straight person be proud of open vagueness. In the real world, we don’t get to do that. All queer sexual identities are defined explicitly by their expression. While straight virgins are accepted and respected, queer virgins are rushed with gaslighting doubts, such as: How do you know until you try it? Are you confused? Could this be a phase?

The books and movies span seven years of Potter’s life and decades of ours. But no one has lived in the Potterverse longer or deeper than Rowling. Her persistence, then, in promoting a storyline that isn’t actually in the story is becoming unforgivable. Closeted Dumbledore is her Jar-Jar Binks, and she is curdling into the Potterverse’s George Lucas — well-intentioned and respected as tenured emeritus, but ultimately distrusted to continue the canonical work.

If Rowling thinks, in a fantasy world of magic and possibility and polyjuice potion and metamorphmagi, that easter-egging a character as ex-post-facto closeted is in any way helpful to anyone wondering what to do with gay thoughts and gay feelings, she is wrong.

Dumbledore’s pep talk on love rings as hollow as gays who strike thirsty NOH8 poses and cheer #lovewins but then also decry fats, femmes and “black guys” on their dating profiles or hook-up apps.

Rowling’s toxic vacuity is not an incidental problem. Her fans are the sort of people who have been so inspired that they have created the Harry Potter Alliance, which “turns fans into heroes” for equality. It’s a beautiful manifestation of fans who grew up and decided to bring the magic of literacy to others. It’s time for Rowling to grow up, too.

As an artist and creator, she has the ability to show us anything. Then, why choose to show us so little of what she has imagined for Dumbledore? In all these years, in all her work, she does not yet believe in the full power of the only real magic wand that exists in her world: her pencil.

•Richard Morgan, a freelance writer in New York, is the author of Born in Bedlam, a memoir

Source: http://www.royalgazette.com/opinion/article/20190319/rowling-does-gays-more-harm-than-good&template=mobileart

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therichmondpapers · 7 years ago

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Why Liberalism over Socialism?

This is a harder question than Libertarianism or neo-Liberalism because I feel more able to clearly articulate the aims and strategies of Libertarianism and neoLiberalism because the words are defined a little more narrowly. Socialism is defined so broadly, by so many people, in so many different ways that it’s really very difficult to talk about as a whole. I’m therefore using this essay to break down my understanding of Socialist thought and the distinctions within it. Sadly that means this essay will, again, be a little bit of a self indulgent and pompous self referencial jargon-fest… sorry. So I’m going to start by breaking down Socialism into different blocks and giving an overview of my understanding of them. I don’t think I will manage to perfectly and accurately encapsulate them and I’m not going to suggest that I have the requisite knowledge to understand them all perfectly or as their proponents understand them. I also want to slot Socialism into my version of the political compass that I started talking about in ‘Why Liberalism over Libertarianism?’. So I’m going to deal with three broad categories: -The utopian version of Socialism and its relation to Marx’s notions of fully formed Communism but also non-Marxist understandings of Socialism. -Narrowly defined Socialism including, but not limited to, Marx’s lower form of Communism, i.e. Socialism -Broadly defined Socialism including Social Democracy and Social Liberalism. I’m going to start at the end and deal with that broad definition. Here Socialism seems to be basically anything that isn’t anarcho-capitalism or at least Libertarian or neo-Liberal Capitalism. Firstly I just want to say that I think this is an extraordinarily broad definition but it is used both by those on the right but also by people on the left, at least in English speaking countries, including people like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jeremy Corbyn and the Owen Jones wing of the UK Labour party. This is a big enough topic, I think, for its own essay so I’ll save that for ‘Why Liberalism over Social Democracy?’ and limit myself here to defining the scope of what fits into this bracket of Socialism and what doesn’t. Here allowing private ownership of Capital, along with free markets, is compatible with Socialism so long as there is a strong welfare state, co-ops are allowed and the state is willing to regulate the market not merely to ensure strong competition but also for the good of citizens generally. This is clearly distinct from Laissez Faire capitalism and the usual doctrines of monetarism as it relates to neo-Liberalism. I would personally call these ‘mixed systems’ rather than Socialist ones but I do acknowledge that Socialism has a broader history beyond simple Marxism and doesn’t necessarily have to involve the ending of private ownership of Capital. Any more than that I’ll save for the other essay. A brief aside into Stalinism and Maoism. I appreciate that they come under the broad definition of Socialism due to state ownership of assets and indeed are the first thing people think of when they think of Socialism but I honestly believe they are just not at all representative of any of the philosophical underpinnings of any Socialist thinker. Just as the Nazi’s may have called themselves National Socialists but be wrong, I don’t buy the idea that Stalin or Mao were enacting Socialist ideals just because they say so. If anything better analogies would be other authoritarian regimes like old imperial China, Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. Ok so now back to the first item on the list- utopian Socialism. I think it’s important to deal with this so as to get to grips with the ideology but it’s important to acknowledge that very few people are claiming that utopia is literally possible or at least possible in the current moment. That’s simply a misrepresentation. I want to compare and contrast it with anarcho-capitalism. I would argue small or zero state capitalists are either arguing that unregulated capitalism will result in a perfectly structured society where the “right” people will be at the top OR that capitalism unleashed from restraints will abolish hierarchy and lead to every individual being able to get anything they want (at least it will take equal effort for any individual to achieve any particular personal goal). Basically unlimited negative liberty will lead to unlimited positive Liberty, or at least as much positive liberty as can possibly be achieved. I obviously don’t think this is how it works in the real world and I’d argue almost everyone agrees on that. I think Utopian Socialism is the mirror of this on the left. In what I’m describing as Utopian Socialism (or what you might call Marxist Communism or Luxury Space Communism if you spend too much time on Tumblr) would be an ideology arguing that the dissolution of class boundaries (and probably private ownership of capital) along with society being run collectively by people for the benefit of all will automatically result in everyone achieving maximum fulfillment. This isn’t necessarily perfect negative Liberty (even when it’s stateless) because there is a some assumption that Society isn’t going to let you do something that might help yourself but reduce equality or the common good, but nonetheless there is something close to perfect positive Liberty because everyone can have what they want and be fully fulfilled. (Or as close to this as is possible.) I don’t believe this is any more possible than the utopian vision laid out by anarcho-capitalists. To achieve the perfect positive Liberty you need to allow more variation and inevitably what people want will conflict in ways that will require some “sacrifices for the common good” that will limit people from getting what they want. Marx himself points this out, arguing that perfect equality is impossible without restrictions on liberty and even then it is impossible in every dimension. If you set wages at an equal amount per hour then those who work more are wealthier, an inequality, but if you set wages equally per person then those who work longer hours are losing out in terms of leisure time. And what if someone has more dependants, like children? The point being that there are some practical limitations. The response to those practical limitations must be either a compromise where authoritarianism is used to bring people into line or else more variation is accepted. This is just as true of Liberalism. Ideally I would want absolute negative Liberty and absolute positive Liberty. The ability to be left alone when I want is simply more attractive to me than the social harmony utopian Socialism offers, but I am forced to accept that it isn’t possible to achieve perfect positive Liberty without some sacrifice of negative Liberty. Therefore Liberals must either accept the poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity of Libertarianism and neo-Liberalism or else accept more government action in order to correct for those problems. Socialists face a similar choice and that brings us to practical but narrowly defined Socialism. By practical and narrowly defined Socialism I mean the ideological space that is possible to achieve and fits with Socialist goals but is clearly distinct from other ideologies. So where Social Democracy is sometimes described as Socialism, it is also Capitalism. I want to look at the ideological space that is clearly not Capitalism, Conservatism, Liberalism or Authoritarianism. It is ONLY Socialism. I believe the best space for this is the mirror image of the ideological Capitalism I described in the last essay. I believe that it must be a space where private ownership of capital is either non-existent or extremely rare and capital allocation is done in some other way. It must also be distinct from Liberalism in that while Social Liberalism may recognise the importance of society in the lives of the individual, Socialism’s starting point is society and the common good. This doesn’t require the wholesale disregard of individual rights, that would get you back to the authoritarian doctrines of Stalin or Mao and almost inevitably brings back class distinctions, but it does require a social and community oriented mindset. I believe this can be done in broadly two ways- Democratic Socialism where what is acceptable/the best way to live for the happiness of the individual and the community is decided by simple majority and Liberal Socialism, where more than just basic minimum rights are guaranteed to every individual and there is an expectation that the community must allow a little more leeway for individual choice and action even while, because this is still Socialism and not Social Liberalism, the individual is expected to make concessions towards the community. Liberal Socialism is, to me, the Socialist counterpart of Liberal Capitalism, what we call neoLiberalism, I would argue they are both Liberal versions of their own ideologies but are not Liberalism itself. Essentially this splits narrowly defined Socialism into: one form of true Socialism that has more regard for positive liberty and one that only prioritises positive liberty in so far as basic minimum rights for all. So, to finally get to why I’d choose Liberalism over Socialism. There is an argument to be made that people are simply not able to be as happy under a Liberal individualist system and that every individual needs guidance from the community and from society. I recognise and understand that argument, however, while some people may genuinely be happier in a more community oriented society some will not and I simply believe that it is more effective to provide social and community outlets to those who want it under Social Liberalism while also providing more space and protection FROM community for those who want it. I do not believe that the narrowly defined Socialism I’ve laid out here is necessarily bad or evil but I do believe it falls into the trap of assuming that everyone (or at least most people) in Society deep down want broadly the same things as the proponents of Socialism. I don’t believe this is the case and I do believe that the wants and needs of individuals in terms of what they want from the society they live in require us to build a society with wide variations and options that allow us to fulfil the wants and needs (as best we can) of both the most ardent Socialists and the most committed Capitalists. While I acknowledge that neoliberalism does not and can not do this I believe that social and radical Liberalism can do this task better than any other system of thought or ideology. That’s why I believe in Liberalism over Socialism.

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omcik-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/reporters-barred-from-kushner-companies-visa-for-investment-event-in-china/

Reporters barred from Kushner Companies' visa-for-investment event in China

By John Ruwitch | SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI Organizers barred journalists on Sunday from a publicly advertised event in Shanghai that offered Chinese investors the chance to get U.S. immigrant visas if they put money in a real estate project linked to the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

The two-tower luxury apartment complex in New Jersey, One Journal Square, is being developed by KABR Group and the Kushner Companies, which until recently was headed by senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

The developers are seeking to raise $150 million, or 15.4 percent of funding for the project, from investors through the EB-5 visa program, according to marketing materials posted by the event’s organizer, immigration agency Qiaowai.

The controversial EB-5 program allows wealthy foreigners to, in effect, buy U.S. immigration visas for themselves and families by investing at least $500,000 in certain development projects.

“Sorry, this is a private event,” said a man stopping journalists from entering a function room at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

Guests at the event said Kushner’s sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, spoke for about 10 minutes, including about her family’s humble roots.

According to the New York Times, Meyer attended a similar event in Beijing on Saturday and told the audience of about 100 people the project “means a lot to me and my entire family”.

Jared Kushner, whose White House portfolio includes relations with China, sold his stake in Kushner Companies to a family trust early this year.

“Mr. Kushner has no involvement in the operation of Kushner Companies and divested his interests in the One Journal Square project by selling them to a family trust that he, his wife, and his children are not beneficiaries of, a mechanism suggested by the Office of Government Ethics,” his lawyer, Blake Roberts of WilmerHale law firm, said in a statement emailed to Reuters by the White House.

“As previously stated, he will recuse from particular matters concerning the EB-5 visa program.”

A Kushner Companies spokeswoman declined to comment in a New York Times article about the Beijing event published on Saturday.

The Times story said Meyer did not respond when asked if she was concerned about possible conflicts of interest facing her brother. Journalists from the Times and Washington Post were removed from Saturday’s Beijing event, the newspapers reported.

POPULAR WITH WEALTHY CHINESE

One potential investor, Sophie Xing, said a “very important” factor in her decision to attend Sunday’s event was the fact the project was a Kushner Companies investment and that Trump’s son-in-law’s sister would be in Shanghai.

��Actually I really don’t know how close they are but I felt that this was a pretty good project,” she said.

In a promotional text message seen by Reuters, Qiaowai made note of Meyer’s relationship to Trump and called her the event’s “heavyweight honored guest”.

Qiaowei representatives at the event declined to answer questions from journalists, and calls to its listed phone number went unanswered.

Qiaowei is also known as QWOS. Its promotional materials for the project, which it also calls Kushner1, advertise the prospect of putting money in under the federal EB-5 program.

The program is popular among wealthy Chinese looking to shift assets abroad or move overseas, but it has come under fire in the United States.

Some U.S. lawmakers have called for changing or abolishing the EB-5 program, but the scheme was recently renewed by Congress until Sept. 30.

Potential investor Xing said a Kushner representative who spoke on Sunday stressed that EB-5 rules could change after September to raise the minimum required investment.

Another person who attended Sunday’s event, Liu Guoqi, was mindful of the potential rule change. Liu said he had been to previous pitches for EB-5 investments but had concerns about the risks.

“The whole thing may change later this year so we feel that there isn’t much time left,” he said.

In the United States, the EB-5 program has also sparked concerns about possible scams. Some immigrants have been burned by misrepresentations made about the program by promoters, both inside and outside the United States. Many have lost not only their money but their chance at winning U.S. citizenship.

Trump has vowed to clamp down on illegal immigration.

In addition to Beijing and Shanghai, the road show for One Journal Square was scheduled to visit the Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan, according to Qiaowai’s marketing materials online.

It calls the Kushner family a “famous real estate clan”, and touts EB-5 immigration as “peace of mind”.

Qiaowai’s Chinese-language marketing material describes the project as “supported by the government, created by a star developer”, and says the project is its 87th EB-5 program.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Alex Richardson)

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