#so those guidelines Are the legal requirement.

[birdpal]

it remains just so incredible to me that there are literally laws locked behind paywalls in the US

like the law is fully in effect and enforceable but you have to pay sometimes hundreds of dollars to even know what it is

[artfight]

I'm not really understanding why nipples need to be mature filtered. They were shown all the time in the cartoons I watched as a kid? Off the top of my head, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Dexter's Lab, heck even The Little Mermaid? Can you guys explain the reason for deciding they're inherently mature? Because it feels like an over-correction from tumblr and twitter's "Female presenting nipples"?

The government where we are based (United States of America) has required us to censor female-presenting nipples, however we have decided to filter ALL humanoid nipples, regardless of gender, to combat that sexism.

I was not on the team when the decision was made, so I am not sure which specific law requires us to do so, but I imagine it is similar to COPA; as we have minors on our site, we must comply with those guidelines. It's unfortunate that we have to do so, though we may look into our legal options to remove the required filter sometime in the future.

[ouroborosorder]

Guide Ahead Means Something To Me

Writing about Guide Ahead is…. extremely difficult, for a few reasons. One is that it is a very dense story, and to fully unpack it would require an essay so unfocused that it would be functionally unreadable. But the biggest one is that Guide Ahead is a story that focuses really heavily on the subjective nature of interpretation. How can I speak authoritatively on the thematic meaning of the plot when even a basic description of its events demands a deeper poetic interpretation?

The answer is “I can’t.” So, let’s piss off my English teacher, and coat an entire essay in the phrase “in my opinion.” Because I have to get personal if I’m going to tell you why Guide Ahead is my favorite video game story ever told.

I was raised Mormon. My mother was religious, but my father was absolutely not. You can understand why I related to Cecilia basically immediately.

Ultimately, the thing that draws me to Guide Ahead is the very thing that makes it hard to write about. Guide Ahead is, in my reading, a story about the subjectivity of divine meaning.

The most obvious manifestation, and the most important, is Law. But, Law’s execution, in traditional Arknights fashion, is kinda unclear, so I’ll recap for those who have hobbies outside of this, unlike me.

Law is the supercomputer buried underneath Laterano, and is the sentient religion that binds all the Sankta together into a hivemind of sorts. The Sankta are actually just Sarkaz connected to Law, given halos, wings, and empathic communication between each other. But, the main thing they gain, is a biological impulse to obey the Lateran religion’s thirteen doctrines. Anyone who breaks these doctrines are marked as Fallen, are cut off from the empathic connection, and slowly revert back to Sarkaz. Law represents religion as a concept and a community. Saints and sinners are just one and the same. But despite that, the laws of religion are created just to perpetuate the existence of a special in-group. One enforced by empathic connection they cannot share with anyone outside of them. That is Patia’s point - the Sankta have created an “us” and a “them,” and even the devout Liberi are not seen as “us.” They’re just converts, not real Sankta.

But, Falling has… weird grey areas. Like how Andoain was able to shoot Lemuen, or draw his gun on the fucking Pope, and not Fall in the process. This is because the doctrines are not actually the guidelines they’re held to. The Doctrines are subjective interpretations of the objective Law that they are all beholden to. That Law being “It must survive.” Law only is interested in the perpetuation of Itself, and, as a result, the continued existence of the Sankta as a societal structure.

This is the first and strongest example of what I mean when I say Guide Ahead is about meaning. Law says that the failure of religion is ultimately that religions supplant any subjective meanings with an “objective” meaning. But this “objective” meaning is just another person’s interpretation of the in-group’s best interest. Laws biologically programmed into the Sankta’s souls are revealed to be nothing but interpretation of Law’s interpretation of events.

People Fall not because they have broken a concrete law, but because Law… because the in-group has decided they did. Or when they broke the rules, they did something that’s good for the church. There is no objective laws within the Lateran religion, no matter what the machine is named. The system just declares sin when it deems worthy, and absolution when sin is a benefit.

It is this very hypocrisy that drives Andoain.

——————————————————————————————————

I remember being pulled aside at church one day. Everyone above 14 was given a sermon about the recent legalization of gay marriage. He said it was wrong, the church would never accept it. I asked him if it was like the time the church refused to give black people the Priesthood. He said this was different. I asked him how. He did not answer. I left and someone followed me out. He asked if I was okay. I told him whatever he was saying in there was not the teachings of any god that I know, and wasn’t the teachings of any god that loves me. I kept going to church after that, but deep down, I think I didn’t believe in it anymore. I didn’t feel like part of the community, I lost that reciprocation with my people. I just… began to think.

Andoain, as an antagonist, is defined by a search for meaning. He was the bishop of an Iberian church, and Iberia is doing pretty bad lately. His request for aid from Laterano was denied, and the message was clear to him. “You are one of us, but they are not.” But that answer just created a new question. Why? Why would those who claim faith and utopia as their ideals reject those who are suffering?

He searched for an answer in exile, and he didn’t find one. Instead, he found another story. The Sarkaz man who died in the watchtower to warn a town who hated him of an invading force. And this story made his question develop. Why would someone who is hated by everyone give their life to protect those very people? And why would those people then cry over the grave of someone they hated?

He had seen the realities of the Sarkaz and Sankta laid bare, but he couldn’t figure out the meaning behind it. He tells Cecilia these stories, knowing full well he doesn’t know what to make of them. I think he tells them to hope he finds the point partway through.

——————————————————————————————————

As much as I hate the Mormon church for dear god everything they’ve ever done holy shit look at them? My feelings are predictably complicated. Years later, my family fell upon hard times. I don’t want to say more than that for my own sake. We were struggling to even live. But… the church helped us. None of us gone to church for years, but they offered a hand. They gave us access to the Bishop’s Storehouse, gave us food and supplies for free, because we were starving. 

And yes, I know. I know they do this in an attempt at creating a false brotherhood in an effort to create a fascist sense of community. I have also read that part of Brothers Karamazov. I have also read Guide Ahead, come to think of it. But… Shit. Most of them tried to pretend we didn’t exist when we met them in the grocery store. And… they still helped us. In their eyes, I was Fallen.

But still, they saved us, and didn’t even ask for faith in return. I still can’t figure out why.

This is why I just… can’t see Andoain as a villain. I mean, yeah, he shot Lemuen, but even she doesn’t blame him for shooting his friends while holding the Stick That Makes You Shoot Your Friends. His entire goal is an attempt to sort through the cognitive dissonance between what the church tells him and what the church does. A dissonance that is, because of Law and the doctrines, innate to what the church is. An experience that should feel damn familiar to anyone who has spent time as an apostate. His plan is to simply confront the Pope about this hypocrisy, to get an answer, to find a meaning.

The answer he gets back is… It Must Survive. Law must survive. The in-group must survive. It doesn’t matter if we cry over the grave of the Sarkaz, because the Sarkaz would die for us. He searched for the answer to a question, the meaning of a statement. You are one of us. They are not. All this time, he searched for the meaning of those words, but in reality, those words were the meaning. That was all they ever had to say. He just needed to accept that.

…but if the in-group is all that mattered… why allow Mostima in Laterano? Why give her her position? She’s not needed for the survival of the in-group, the Law has deemed her an exile.

And… Why not Andoain?

Before he leaves, his gun is taken from him. A gun that, according to the church, has meaning. A meaning he takes as truth. He believes a part of him is left behind there. I don’t think he realizes it, but Mostima and Fiammetta are the question he left behind. They are Not Sankta, but yet they are accepted. And… I don’t know if there is a meaning to that. I still can’t figure out why.

——————————————————————————————————

For a long time, I missed those days spent in the community I had left. I would remember the things I left behind. The churchball basketball games we were destined to lose. The conversations held on the roof of the storage building behind the church. The scouting activities that were clearly an excuse to go bowling. The shitty halloween parties with the game where you ate donuts tied to a string hanging from a fishing pole. I missed it, for a time. I couldn’t help but look back.

Cecilia is searching for meaning to almost everything. When Andoain tells his stories to Cecilia, he tells her that he can’t find the meaning of them. That if there is meaning to be found, she’ll have to find it herself. So. She does.

Cecilia was faced with the same situation Andoain was obsessed with. But for her, it wasn’t hypothetical. She existed between Us and Them. She felt the pull between the community and the love and fun they represent, and the outsiders who were hated and rejected by the people around her. Society told her the meaning of her dual identity, the meaning behind each half, and then told her to choose. But… she’d experienced otherwise. She’d felt the kindness of the Sarkaz from the Pathfinders, and the hatred from the Church. She’d felt things that contradicted the meaning that she was told was true.

Her story isn’t just being forced to pick a side between the church or apostacy, it’s being forced to pick what meaning she ascribes to the world. Ultimately, that’s why her answer can only be her own. Your belief is… subjective.

And she answered… with a bell. A Sarkaz girl, bearing a halo, ringing a bell that has not been rung since the Sankta were still called Teekaz. A bell that once marked the beginning of the new era. A bell that carries the weight of a Sarkaz, hated by the place they called home. A bell that rings with the melody of a Sarkaz lullaby once sung by a Sankta. A bell that asserts her answer. She’s not Sarkaz, she’s not Sankta. She is Cecilia.

Everyone else finds their own subjective meaning within that action. Something as mundane as the ringing of the bell suddenly has more meaning than divine scripture.

No one else understood the nuance of what she said, but they understood parts of it. They understood what they wanted to. Those who know nothing of Lateran culture understand it as just… a beautiful welcome, celebrating the arrival of talks of peace. Most have their meaning determined by the church’s traditions. The pious see it as the beginning of a new era, whatever that signals to them. To the Church, it is that their talks will bring about a new era of peace. To the Pathfinders, it is a signal to begin their attack on Laterano to begin their new era.

There is so much meaning in that action, but in the end, it’s still just a fucking bell. There’s got to be hundreds, maybe thousands of them in Laterano. But this bell meant something more than the other bells. This bell had meaning, and that meaning made it divine.

This, to me, is what Guide Ahead has to say. That there is so much meaning to be found in something as mundane as a ringing bell. Within such a simple action, there is personal expression, liberation, the sound of change. And in all of this, there is the echoes of divinity, the echoes of faith, as if all of these things are, in themselves, divine.

——————————————————————————————————

When I left the church, I couldn’t help but look back, still tethered to a community who hated me. I think I wished I could stop looking back. I don't know if I realized I was.

In the end, everyone else looks back. They still have meaning to be found in Laterano. Andoain looks back, a part of his soul anchored there by the symbol he was told to believe in. Mostima looks back, knowing she’ll return just as she always does. Fiammetta looks back, because she refuses to let herself leave. Ezell looks back, unsure if he will be able to return home after what he has found.

But… Cecilia doesn’t. She has decided that she is not defined by the church, or the meaning they try to give her. She has decided to leave Laterano and see the world outside of it, to explore the world around her and find the meaning for herself.

And the last thing Cecilia does is... defined by ambiguous meaning. She sees Andoain walking in the sunset - and a word appears to her. The title of Martyr. A title she doesn’t understand the meaning or weight of, but that she feels is appropriate regardless. A title that, to other people, would mean something more. But to her, brings to mind the saints she heard of as a youth, a word her mother told her was important.

The story is ending, and they end it with an assertion. Cecilia is finding meaning, and others will find what they will within. Perhaps even she doesn't know all of it.

A while back, during a theater rehearsal, I suddenly remembered a conversation I had years before I left the church. I remembered speaking with my friends outside of the chapel after a sunday service. My friend said a sentence that has stuck with me ever since. “I don’t think science goes against God. I think God uses science and math. I think those things are holy, because they’re… what everything is made of.”

I remember looking around the rehearsal space and thinking that if science could be sacred, then… so is this moment, now. So is my time spent with the people I love. This is sacred. What I missed, what kept me looking back. It wasn’t the actual religion, but instead… just belonging to something. So… I stopped looking back. In that moment, however fleeting it was, I had found whatever it was I needed.

—————————————————————————————————

Look. You probably had a different interpretation of Guide Ahead. This story is just… So goddamn dense. There is so much there that I didn’t even touch on. For the love of god, I just did an analysis of Guide Ahead and didn’t even really discuss Fiammetta?? What kind of hack writer am I? (I just… couldn’t talk about her without being more personal than I am willing to be in public.)

If you have an interpretation that is different than mine, that’s great. I encourage you to hold on to it, and hold it close. That meaning is yours, and yours alone, and that’s a precious thing.

Because to me, what I found… is that very idea.

There is meaning to be found in anything - and a meaning that is yours, and yours alone. All you have to do is find meaning. and the idea that there is meaning to the world, that everything has meaning not because there is a “true” meaning to it, but because we find one there, because we put one there… that makes everything feel… divine, to me.

So… wherever you find meaning, you can find the divine.

You can find divinity in a ringing bell. In a terrible cactus tart. A carnival game you know how to beat. The promises of peace around a table. A cup of coffee. A city you hate. A community you love. A flower growing near a grave. A weapon you carry. A people you surround yourself with.

Those are all… holy to me.

And to me… that meaning is enough.

I hope yours is for you.

[mbta-unofficial]

If your city is a Brand, it’s already too late

Long post time. What is it that drives gentrification? Also, what is gentrification? Is it when a city gets blue hair and pronouns? No, it probably already had those.

Gentrification is the result of concentration of wealth in the hands of business owners, including landlords, over and above the hands of residents.

Let’s start with rent. Rent, like any good, is priced according to the laws of supply and demand. Supply of available rental housing is primarily determined by construction costs and estimated return on investment for new construction, and property management costs and estimated return on investment for existing units.

Breaking that down a bit, the higher construction costs get the higher the rent needs to be to break even on new construction. Construction costs include labor (which can always go down but you want it high for moral and practical reasons), materials (highly variable depending on the project) and bureaucratic costs. A bureaucratic cost is a cost that is based on how projects fit into the legal and practical environment, and are usually non-negotiable. Dig Safe, a program which requires three days of surveying local records before breaking ground, is an example where the function is to prevent crews from flattening a neighborhood by puncturing a gas main. Environmental Impact Statements, Fire Codes, Habitability Guidelines, and other regulations increase costs to projects. These programs are good and need to exist, but do stop smaller projects from happening at all because the capital investment required just to actually break ground on a new house might cost as much as the land and materials put together at which point you might as well build another 120$/sqft luxury midrise.

Property management costs for existing units are largely dependent on age and wear. A unit with no occupant is going to depreciate little, and may also appreciate in value. Depreciation and appreciation here are sort of unintuitive because they can happen at the same time. Imagine an old luxury sports car with a high resale price. Driving depreciates the value because it’s literal condition is poorer, even as the resale value goes up over time. The appreciation needs to beat both inflation and the value of depreciation for it to go up in real value. For companies with large capital holdings however, losses such as through the upkeep of empty apartment buildings are useful to a point because they reduce these organizations’s tax burdens. A company that makes a killing on the stock market only has to pay taxes if they keep it: if they buy houses they then don’t rent, they can claim they “lost” their stock market earnings with “bad investments” and then pay no tax while saving the real estate to rent later. Again, this favors the largest possible projects and the largest possible operators because small companies can be killed by an unprofitable quarter or 4 while large ones explicitly benefit from unprofitability in reducing their tax burden.

Expected ROI is the final piece of this, which affects both new and existing units. Every private developer and landlord wants to make as much money as they can, unless they are explicitly are renting as a service. An example of renting as a service would be families, who will rent to each other at favorable rates or for free, privileging people with large and/or wealthy families that are friendly with each other. Now, ROI is also subject to supply and demand. Everyone wants to build 120$/sqft luxury apartments but once everybody does nobody can sell/rent for those prices without setting a price floor and waiting for buyers to catch up. If you are a small developer, you can’t afford to do this. Your expenses will eat you alive. If you are a big developer, though, those expenses are offsetting the gains you make and serving to reduce you tax bill. Units at prices nobody can pay are effectively furloughed, meaning off the market, and, so long as they remain cheap to maintain, will remain that way, artificially restricting supply. It doesn’t matter if it’s for sale or not when it’s at a price you can’t afford. (Sidebar, anyone who tells you that the minimum wage depresses hiring because it artificially restricts demand is lying to you. It’s not strictly false, but like the above it’s a multi-variable equation and blanket statements about cost of labor are aimed at killing wages.)

What this alludes to also is a need for greater income equality. In order for rental to be a competitive option with furlough, not only does the price of furlough have to be increased, the real value of wages have to be increased in order to create opportunities for people to splurge. This is a twofold strategy, of both increasing the rewards of putting units on the market and increasing the costs of keeping them off. If real wages barely cover cost of living, or don’t cover cost of living, nobody can realistically spend more real wages on rent regardless of the percentage of their income it is. (Real wages here refers to the political power implied by dollar wages. A dollar is really worth whatever it can be exchanged for, whether that is a candy bar or a square inch of a 144$/sqft condo) The real value of everything except time and land are also constantly going down because of constant improvements in manufacturing. The cost in acres of land and hours of labor of a pound of beef, a bolt of cloth, or a pint of beer have dropped dramatically in the last century. Unfortunately, land is one of the few things that remains in marxist terms uncommodifiable, because it cannot be fully abstracted from the physical properties that make it valuable and we can’t make more of it just by making a better machine. This means that as the real value of things goes down because of supply and demand, the value of land only goes up because the supply is hard capped. If the value of everything under capitalism must go down because of increased production, while the value of capitalist assets must go up, or the system collapses, it makes sense that land would become a fixed point in that equation, the marxist speed of light observable from all reference points. The best approximation of land as commodity is, what else, apartments, which make available as living space the empty air above us. Because production never stops, the value of everything but land must go down. Therefore, as time passes, the price of land, and hence the price of housing, must tend upwards. Therefore, in order for housing to remain affordable, real wages must grow. This is the opposite of what is currently happening, as real wages have gone down for decades.

This income inequality which is one facet of capitalism is not new. For as long as people have lived in urban areas there have been issues between the abject class, the working class, the ruling class, and the professional class, a four part distinction I will seriously argue for in opposition to a lot of marxist theorists. The ruling and working classes ought to be familiar, or at least self explanatory. However, the other two classes I identify, the professionals and the abject, are useful to this analysis because they fill both a racial gap in the primarily marxist analysis I put forward and identify the two most likely groups to rent, which is to say the worker who works to produce but owns without governing and the professional who works to govern but does not own. The ruling class both governs and owns, but its court is full of courtiers who are there to push various agendas from within the rule of law without per se producing. Likewise, the working class pensioner exists in opposition to the abject who is denied the opportunity or the resources to be productive explicitly as a means to manufacture a threat against which inter-class solidarity between the workers and the rulers is developed. The textbook nazi conspiracy theory about “elites” doing a great racial replacement picks out perfectly what I mean by both the racial character of the professional and the abject and their utilization to foster solidarity between your plumber uncle and Elon Musk. This is relevant to both the broad theme of gentrification and the narrow theme of rent because gentrification is a wedge issue that divides the working class and the professional class far more than its impact on any other. The working class’ disidentification with doctors, lawyers, PMCs and other yuppie types, as well as the professional class’ disidentification with union politics, illegalism, and radicalism in general is brought to firecrackers in virtually any conversation about gentrification which seems in passing to be more about tapas bars than about real politics. Likewise, these groups shared distrust of and disdain for the abject, who are explicitly labeled by the state as constitutionally guilty, is the basis for the very broken windows policing strategy that empties neighborhoods of minorities regardless of class. The Rent is Too Damn High, and excluding homeless people from the “working” working class is a big part of how we got here specifically because the interests of small time owners and small time government functionaries, carried to their conclusions, are necessarily self defeating. These two groups eliminate the presence of the abject from their spaces at their own financial peril.

In addition to class, there is also a specific historical movement that is crucial to the understanding of gentrification as it exists, which is the movement of factories in search of cheap labor. The United States is not a good place to find cheap urban labor. You build a factory and suddenly everyone complains about air quality and labor violations and you can’t just kill them because everyone has lawyers. You kill one (us citizen) organizer and the NLRB is trying to get you in court for intimidation. What’s the country come to? But a shipping container costs a quarter cent per mile and the goods aren’t perishable so you go to Guangzhou or Cape Town where you can kill union bosses in peace. But for the American city, that’s a loss of what once made land prime real estate. What jobs can replace the insatiable demand for labor that a 24 hour paper mill once produced? Service labor, which crucially is site specific and therefore not outsourceable, is what the US has predominantly turned to. (and arms manufacturing which is not outsourced for very different reasons) However, service labor is only in demand if there is already a stable population that can be served, which requires a constant influx of capital holders in demand of service. This is why Airbnb exists and is hollowing out rental availability, why Boston as a college town is the way it is, and why there are in fact so many damn tapas bars. Fred Salveucci talked about being able to go north of the expressway in the 70s and being able to get a plate of mac and beans for half a buck. I went looking for a 5$ slice of pizza on my lunch break today around Government Center and found two places that were boarded up and ended up spending 20$ at Chilacates. Cities are being slowly turned into Cancun, complete with the fences to keep out the homeless.

What can be done about this? Obviously the factors we’ve discussed that favor consolidation of housing are mostly either contained within a gordion’s knot of tax policy or intrinsic to capitalism/goods as commodities. But, given that we narrow our objectives to making the rent lower, some obvious weaknesses jump out: increasing the cost of vacancy forces units out of furlough, because companies are no longer able to justify the losses, and increasing real wages increases the availability of capital for workers to spend on rent. These are the prongs I talked about earlier.

Legal means to pursue each prong exist. Both a minimum wage and a maximum wage, depending on their implementation, can potentially increase real wages, and vacancy taxes directly increase the costs of vacancy. The government can also ignore the market and directly mandate maximum rents within certain parameters. This tends to decrease the long term supply of housing for the reasons discussed at the outset, given that if the revenues from house building don’t cover the costs of building, less gets built. However, any political movement that exists exclusively within the white lines of the law fails to genuinely threaten change. Landlords, like bosses, break the law constantly with the impunity that a lawyer provides them against consequence. This is why a healthy dose of illegalism is an important part of any effective political movement. The most direct action one can take is property occupation, or squatting. Squatter’s rights are nearly non-existent in the United States. The most leeway that any state grants to any unknown persons occupying a dwelling is 60 days notice to vacate the property, and there are states that allow no notice evictions or lack statutes governing squatting at all. Every single state regards the occupation of owned property as trespassing, meaning most kinds of squatting are prosecutable offenses. However, squatting, even temporarily in ways that don’t expose the squatter to liability provided they don’t get caught, can seriously impact the value of properties. You have heard of rent lowering gunshots. This is the serious version of that. At the same time, illegal action needs legal defense, both in terms of non-compliance with police to protect those willing to take illegal actions from arrest and in terms of legal, 1st amendment protected disruption to keep focus on the issue. The most effective movements have a radical wing and a institutionalist wing who do not acknowledge each other but share the same tactics and objectives.

If you are housed, you need to be willing to protect and support homeless people because they are your front line. Start or join an Occupy movement, where they are your peers in occupying a public space illegally in a way that is too public to prosecute. Give to people on the street, and smash anti-homeless architecture if nobody is watching. Be willing to distract cops if you see someone doing something dodgy so they can get away. Remember that following the law is a tactic, and so is breaking it.

The case for this being on my transit blog is arguably weak, but I felt compelled after a particularly hateful experience looking at facebook memes about homeless people on the T. You should want those people there. You should want those people breaking down the doors of luxury apartments and setting up shop. You should want them keeping your city safe because the cops you hire to separate you from them will train their guns on you next.

And for gods sake, don’t let your city become a brand. Branding is marketing. Branding is clean, and bloodless, and a gloved hand around your throat that leaves no fingerprints.

[decepti-thots]

i think it's really interesting how rung gets more flack in fandom as a character for stuff like the fact Roberts makes an off-colour joke about Whirl through him in the short story (which, yeah, it is a shitty thing to say, but it's clearly an issue of the comic/text itself at that point making such off-colour jokes and not specific to Rung's character, IMO, so I tend to treat that as more of an issue with the comic at that point personally) and not. well. the canonical fact that Rung was involved in signing off on state-ordered and presumably non-consensual lobotomies. i suppose it may be that a lot of people in fandom take the view that 'he would have just used the opportunity to refuse to ever sign off on them, of course!' but tbh, I do not find that enormously convincing given the framing we get! (and if you're someone who is interested in stated author intent, which admittedly i'm not overlmuch, roberts did discuss this in an interview and the intent seemingly was for rung to be willing to sometimes sign them off. so.)

like yeah, the joke about Rung being unconcerned about Whirl banging his head against a wall is unpleasant, in the same way the comic's snide approach to Red Alert in the earlier issues can be, and so on. but the later revelation that pre-war Rung was essentially performing a legitimized form of Shadowplay if he could be convinced there was a medical justification seems uhhhh. more relevant to any discussion of Rung as a character who has done bad things in his role! i wonder if it's because people implicitly feel like being a bad therapist in the sense of 'breaking the law/medical guidelines' is worse than in the sense of 'being legally required to do bad things as a licensed therapist', regardless of the relative morality of those actions in their own right.

[cannibalisticdespair]

https://www.tumblr.com/cannibalisticdespair/756868066294497280/a-lot-of-people-dont-understand-how-legal?source=share

This doesn't really make sense to me can you explain it please (only if you wanna)

Absolutely. A law requires legal logic. You have to defend it from challenges in court, and then if that defense is accepted that defense becomes legal precedent for anything else. It’s consistency. “It promotes [illegal thing here]” would be the defense in court. Whether or not that’s true isn’t important; what’s important is whether the court can be convinced that 1. it is and 2. that that it overrides the first amendment. It’s sorta like “screaming fire in a crowded building”, which is illegal and has gotten such a ruling. The first amendment is overridden by there being a belief it serves the public good.

So if the court rules “because we believe that this speech promotes xyz, it can be outlawed”, you have now established legal precedent that a form of art or speech can be outlawed if it promotes committing crimes. This is a nebulous case where there’s no proof it does, so any case where instead the media is explicitly saying “do this crime!” would 100% be screwed.

If you establish that as precedent for outlawing something, it gets to be used over and over again. Does your usage of free speech explicitly promote illegal protests? Revolution? Smoking weed? Any other drugs? Punching a Nazi? Shoplifting? Supplying HRT to minors where it’s not allowed? Minors being trans without their parents knowing where that’s not allowed? Literally anything else that is outlawed? Well then, they can pass laws against that speech with such a legal precedent. They could make it illegal to make, say, a song that promotes smoking weed. Or a drawing that promotes violence against cops. Or a social media post that promotes revolution. You see the issue? They can ban promoting breaking the law. That’s not possible right now. It’s illegal to break the law, but it is not illegal to promote breaking the law. You can have a record company publish a song by a band explicitly called “Puncha Nazi” that promotes physical assault, a crime, and it’s not illegal.

Then, when you challenge those laws, it goes to the courts. The Supreme Court has already set a ruling, which is then used by the federal courts as guidelines on how to rule. The federal courts thus will rule that those laws are legal, because the Supreme Court has ruled that it is legal to override the first amendment if speech promotes crime. The Supreme Court is unlikely to hear those cases and will leave those rulings standing because they’ve already said that doing it for that reason is legal. The established legal precedent set is that if speech promotes a crime, it can be outlawed.

The reason lolisho is the block is because it’s the only situation where this isn’t extremely politicized. You could get general support across ideologies for this, which means it would be the hardest one for public outcry to oppose. Consider the climate and all that. Preventing that law from passing would prevent it from going to court which prevents the ruling. Once the law is passed, it’ll be challenged, so it goes to court, so a ruling is made. Furthermore, it’s one of the ones that’s most likely to get a ruling like this from the Supreme Court.

It’s generally a small, niche thing, but successfully banning it would be the death of literally any speech or art that promotes breaking any laws. And we do not want to lose that. Any time you promote piracy, shoplifting, revolution, illegal protests, doing drugs, or anything else illegal, you are benefitting from the same protection. If you take away that protection, nothing is stopping them from outlawing all those too, because now it’s been set as legal to outlaw those. And you know they would love to outlaw all those and more.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Yascha Mounk

Published: Dec 21, 2024

After Donald Trump won reelection, scores of Americans once again failed to make good on their loudly shared and oft-repeated plan of moving to Canada; but a good number of them did partake in a different, rather less cumbersome, exodus. Complaining that Twitter had been unrecognizably transformed under the ownership of Elon Musk—whom they also blame for supporting Trump—hundreds of thousands of progressives decamped to Bluesky.

Widely touted as a “kinder, gentler” alternative to X, Bluesky aims to emulate the up-to-date news and specialized information-sharing in which Twitter has traditionally excelled. It also promises to cut all the toxicity. In the past weeks, the platform announced plans to quadruple the number of moderators it employs. "We’re trying to go above what the legal requirements are, because we decided that we wanted to be a safe and welcoming space,” Aaron Rodericks, the head of the Trust and Safety Team at Bluesky Social, vowed.

The platform has some features that really do put the user in charge in appealing ways. In traditional social media networks, the executives of profit-driven companies control the algorithm that governs the content which is presented to individual users. Especially on micro-blogging platforms like Twitter, this feature—since well before Musk turned it into X—meant privileging controversial posts that elicit angry debate over milder, more consensual ones. On Bluesky, each user can choose between a great variety of open-source algorithms, which theoretically makes it possible to curate a less rage-inducing experience.

When Bluesky launched, I hoped that it would succeed. But the platform has quickly shown that it is hard for any social network to deliver on its promise of being the place for a kinder or gentler discourse. At its best, Bluesky has become a giant progressive echo chamber, with Blue MAGA accounts freely sharing “misinformation” such as the notion that the vote count in the 2024 election was fraudulent because millions of Democratic votes inexplicably went missing. At its worst, it openly revels in violence—so long as that violence can make a claim, however tenuous, to defend or avenge righteous victims.

In accordance with the platform’s policy of moderating content much more aggressively than X has done under Musk, Bluesky’s moderators have been quick to act when users flout the site’s ideological consensus. In the last weeks, both small accounts with few followers and well-known writers with an established audience have seemingly been banned for such trivial “infractions” as suggesting that the Democratic Party leaving X would be a counterproductive form of “purity politics.” And yet, it was on Bluesky that prominent journalists—including, but not limited to, the infamous Taylor Lorenz—openly rejoiced in the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. As long as progressives perceive the victim of a crime to be morally evil, the moderators on Bluesky appear to believe that threatening violence against them is justifiable.

More recently, Bluesky users with major followings reveled in the prospect of violence against Jesse Singal, a center-left journalist who has ended up in progressive crosshairs because of his reporting about detransitioners and involvement in other heated debates regarding trans issues. Some consisted in crude death threats: “I think Jesse Singal should be beat to death in the streets,” one wrote. But a surprising number explicitly justified calls for violence as being necessary to defend themselves against the ways in which he supposedly put them at risk. “Jesse Singal and assorted grifters want us dead so i similarly want him dead,” another user wrote.1

Though they blatantly violated Bluesky’s restrictive community guidelines, the platform hardly took action against such accounts. It even failed to ban users who shared what they believed to be Singal’s private address or made especially graphic threats against him. Evidently, the people making decisions for the kinder, gentler platform don’t mind actual death threats—as long as they are directed against those who, in their judgment, have it coming to them.

What can possibly explain the descent of a platform populated by progressives who claim to abhor all forms of violence into an echo chamber that revels in violence against anyone who defies its taboos or threatens its ideological conformity?

Some of the dynamic likely has to do with the nature of social media in general, and of microblogging platforms like Twitter and Bluesky in particular. There is also an ideological element—a justification of violence has been interwoven with far-left ideology for well over a century. But as I puzzled over the strange transformation of Bluesky, I was also reminded of a series of interesting social science papers published over the course of the last years. They suggest that the tendency to justify violence by the need to help virtuous victims serves a strategic purpose that is less than benign—and may even have worrying psychological roots.

-

Traditionally, most people have wanted to avoid being seen as a victim.

In “honor” societies, like the aristocratic milieus of early modern Europe, the impression that you could not defend yourself spelled dishonor and invited further attacks. When someone failed to pay you the respect to which you believed to be entitled, you did not claim to be a victim; you challenged them to a duel.

The same aversion to casting yourself as a victim persisted even after feudalism gave way to capitalism, and aristocratic “honor cultures” transformed into bourgeois “dignity cultures.” For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, people who were maltreated in some way would insist that such forms of disrespect did not have the power to undermine the dignity we all have as humans. If the duel is the canonical encapsulation of honor culture, the canonical encapsulations of dignity culture are an adult’s determination to keep a “stiff upper lip” in the face of adversity or a child’s resolve that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me.”

But as Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning have argued in The Rise of Victimhood Culture, we are now entering a new era. Dignity culture is waning rapidly. In its place, we are witnessing the rise of victimhood culture. This new dispensation “differs from both honor and dignity cultures in highlighting rather than downplaying the complainants’ victimhood.” Under these circumstances, people who portray themselves as victims enjoy an elevated moral status. And that, Campbell and Manning write in one of their papers, “only increases the incentive to publicize grievances, and it means aggrieved parties are especially likely to highlight their identity as victims, emphasizing their own suffering and innocence.” (Anyone who has spent time on social media—whether it be Bluesky or Instagram or TikTok—in the decade since Campbell and Manning first wrote that line can’t help but feel that it has proven to be prophetic.)

Ekin Ok and three co-authors from the University of British Columbia pick up on this thread in a 2021 paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Because of the spread of egalitarian values and the paramount importance they give to alleviating suffering, Ok et al argue, contemporary Western democracies have become highly responsive to people who are perceived as victims. Under these circumstances, making a claim to victim status may allow a great variety of people “to pursue an environmental resource extraction strategy that helps them survive, flourish, and achieve their goals.” As a result, “claiming one is a victim has become increasingly advantageous and even fashionable.”

But being a victim may not be enough. Even in contemporary Western societies, the perceived moral status of the victim is likely to influence how much assistance they will receive. As Ok et al demonstrate, for example, respondents are more likely to offer financial assistance to a man who gets shot while volunteering at a charity softball game than they are to a man who gets shot while patronizing a strip club. For “victim-signalling” to have the desired effect, it needs to be accompanied by “virtue-signalling.”

Some people, of course, really are “virtuous victims.” They have suffered genuine injustice. But since managing to establish your status as a virtuous victim is potentially lucrative, it also stands to reason that others will falsely claim to fall into this category. As Ok et al write, some people “intentionally and repeatedly convey their victim status as a manipulative strategy with the explicit aim of altering the behavior of receivers to the signaler’s advantage.”

The authors of the study even have a hypothesis about who is most likely to do that. People with Dark Triad traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, they argue, are especially likely to engage in “self-promotion, emotional callousness, duplicity and [a] tendency to take advantage of others.” Narcissists seek the limelight. Machiavellians are obsessed with gaining and exercising power over others. Psychopaths don’t care about social norms and disregard others’ emotions. People with all three traits are thus likely to be hugely overrepresented in the “subset of the population both adept at and comfortable with using deception and manipulation to attain personal goals.”

In a succession of clever tests, Ok et al provide plausible evidence that their theory is borne out by reality. Their first striking empirical finding is that people with dark personality traits are also more likely to falsely portray themselves as victims. In one of their studies, they ask you to imagine that you are an intern who is asked to work closely on a project with a peer who is competing for the same full-time job. The other intern is friendly to your face but you get a bad vibe from him. He doesn’t take your suggestions seriously, and you suspect that he may be talking badly about you behind your back. How do you respond?

That seems to depend on who you are. Asked to report on the behavior of the other intern, most participants in the experiment shared some negative opinions but refrained from making false or exaggerated statements. Respondents who had scored high on the dark personality triad, by contrast, were more likely to falsely report that the other intern had engaged in discriminatory behaviour such as making “demeaning or derogatory comments.”

The paper’s second striking empirical finding shows that the tendency of people with dark personality traits to falsely claim being a virtuous victim may also give them cover for engaging in bad behavior. In another experiment, they asked respondents to play a simple coin flip game, which was manipulated in such a way that its participants could easily use deception to increase their monetary payoff. It turns out that people who have portrayed themselves as virtuous victims were far more likely than their peers to lie and to cheat.

This helps to explain some of the features about Bluesky and other social media platforms that might otherwise feel puzzling. The kinds of claims to virtuous victimhood that are so common on that forum don’t just create cover for manipulative people to serve their own ends; they also seem to create license for disregarding moral norms—whether these consist in a prohibition of lying about others to ostracize them or (apparently) even calling for them to be killed.

-

When the study by Ok et al first came out, it made some minor waves. My fellow Substacker and recent podcast guest Rob Henderson argued that people with dark personality traits do what they can in any particular social environment to obtain benefits like prestige or material wealth. In current circumstances, he concluded, “those with dark triad traits might find that the best way to extract rewards is by making a public spectacle of their victimhood and virtue.” The psychologist and podcaster Scott Barry Kaufman put a similar conclusion even more starkly: “Some people,” he wrote, just “aren't good-faith actors in this ‘victimhood space.’”

At the time, I found the paper by Ok et al to be intriguing. And I knew that both Henderson and Kaufman usually have a good nose for bullshit. And yet, I have refrained from writing about its findings until now. After all, social psychology suffers from a serious replication crisis. Time and again, findings that are a little too neat or pleasing—from the idea that a child’s ability to resist the temptation of eating a marshmallow predicts later life outcomes to the promise that striking a “power pose” can set you up for success in a job interview—turned out to be dubious or outright false. And isn’t there something a little too neat about the idea that all of those people attesting to their superior virtue are secretly just narcissists and psychopaths trying to manipulate you?

It also seemed to me that a piece of the puzzle was still missing. Some of the people who target others on social media really do portray themselves as virtuous victims. They claim that they are part of the group which the victim of their attacks has supposedly targeted. And many of them clearly have self-serving goals, ranging from increasing their social clout to asking followers to donate cold, hard cash. But others who gang up on, or even threaten violence against, anybody who breaks perceived community norms don’t claim to be victims themselves; rather, they invoke the existence of supposed victims as an excuse to engage in cruel behavior. For all of its strength, there is something about the phenomenon I’ve been trying to make sense of that Ok’s paper can’t quite explain.

But then my research assistant sent me a new paper about the same subject. In a major effort, Timothy C. Bates and five of his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh set out to test whether the finding by Ok et al would replicate. Based on a larger dataset and employing alternative ways to measure key concepts like virtuous victim signalling, they came to an unambiguous conclusion: virtuous victim signalling really does seem to be driven by what they call “narcissistic Machiavellianism.”

More importantly, the paper by Bates et al also adds the missing piece of the puzzle. The “willingness to assert victimhood,” they hypothesize, may also “be amplified by the motive of sadistic pleasure in the downfall of weakened opponents.” In other words, the people who invoke the need to defend victims in order to justify treating others poorly don’t necessarily have a concrete strategic goal in mind; some of them do so because they are looking for a socially sanctioned outlet for their sadistic instincts. In those cases, the cruelty is the point.

To demonstrate that this is indeed the case, Bates et al use a standard battery of questions to measure respondents’ tendencies towards sadism, asking them such questions as whether they would be willing to purposely hurt people if they didn’t like them. They then test whether people with such sadistic tendencies are also more likely to score high on what they call the “victimizer scale,” which asks them to report on such questions as whether they have recently “enjoyed helping cancel someone;” whether they have “joined in on the persecution and condemnation of an individual or group accused of victimizing others;” and whether they have “sought to hurt the reputation of someone accused by others of victimizing.”

Two things are especially notable about this. First, not all sadists claimed that they themselves were virtuous victims. But second, the claim that they were acting on behalf of such victims—whether themselves or others—was the crucial fig leaf they needed to get away with their behavior. This finding, Bates et al argue, supports

the suggestion that sadism may be adapted to exploit strategic opportunities, specifically the legitimization of punishing and inflicting harm on individuals or groups which is created by successful virtuous victim signalling. If individuals high on Machiavellianism and narcissism exploit the resource-release response of nonvictims, sadism appears, as predicted, to exploit the opportunity created by victims in the form of the moral license granted by non-victims, legitimizing attacks on the victimizer by removing moral protection from those accused.

-

Many people really do suffer genuine injustices. It is on the whole a good thing that contemporary societies are much more likely to give people who claim to have suffered undeserved misfortune a respectful hearing than they might have gotten in the past. While trying to keep a “stiff upper lip” may have its uses, we certainly wouldn’t want people to fear advocating for a more just society, or coming forward about ways in which they have been maltreated, because doing so might undermine their dignity or bring shame upon them.

But to be sensible and sustainable, every social dispensation—whether it consists in an explicit set of rules or an implicit set of norms—must protect itself against bad actors. When a platform or political subculture allows anyone to portray themselves as victims without any real evidence, bad actors will recognize an opportunity to swoop in. And then these bad actors will quickly weaponize false claims to victimization as an excuse to harass or physically threaten people who supposedly have it coming to them. In a culture of victimhood that has no inbuilt defenses against bad actors, things will—as the recent blowup on Bluesky reminds us—always eventually get out of hand.

Every community, however noble its stated intentions and however progressive its purported values, needs a mechanism for defending itself against the small minority of people who are prone to exploit and manipulate their social environment. If yours doesn’t have one, it’s inviting the sadists, the narcissists and the psychopaths to run the show.

-

1 Like many of the things that are said or written about Singal, this claim of course lacks any basis in objective reality.

==

When victimhood is currency, expect counterfeiters.

We must fully depreciate "victimhood" as a form of social currency.

[anxiouslyfred]

The Ritual

Summary: Society demands everyone does the ritual to earn their soulmate bond. Here's why Janus won't.

Warnings: Unhappy ending, character death

Authors note: Happy Bithday Lance! @twofacedbelief I hope my attempt at soulmates horror is okay

~

Everyone could have a soulmate and so far as society went, everyone should and MUST do the ritual to get one. It was a legal requirement with monthly rituals those turning 18 were invited to. Nobody got past 21 without participating in it. Some didn’t want to, thought the idea of sacrificing something treasured was ridiculous, or managed to read through the ritual first and knew it was always doomed to fail.

A sacrifice for a soulmate would always be a doomed ritual, but the generally shared knowledge was that a trophy or favourite book would do. The generally shared knowledge was wrong.

~

“Come on Janus, help me pick!”

“Try some of your art. You love those paintings and sculptures.”

“They won’t let me use anything lewd. You know that! And those are the ones I cherish the most.”

“So your writing then. They never read through the written works submitted, especially if you put the cover of a book over your notebook. Can’t see how this ritual could be successful if the people organising it limit the sacrifices so much though.”

“It’s all in the guidelines sent out. Come on Janus, you know it’ll be you!”

“I do not know that at all. I’m trying to find out if anything can be certain but all I’m finding is the reports of times the ritual failed.”

Romulus smiled as if they amused him, “It doesn’t fail that often, or we wouldn’t do it.”

“Fine, what about that story you’ve been writing for the last two years? Do you think you treasure that enough?” They returned to the afternoons goal with a roll of their eyes.

~

Once, Janus would have looked forward to the day, spent hours with their friend trying to decide what to sacrifice when forced to do so. Once felt like a lifetime ago now, but was really only two years: Two years since their friend was gone, since they gained two friends in his place.

One of their friends still believed in the endeavour, had tried bringing up their upcoming time a lot and forgot how they broke. The other didn’t care, was off chasing impulses whenever he wasn’t with Janus and they both liked that.

Neither realised their ritual failed, that societies lies had proven true once again.

Janus wasn’t going to the ritual their letter demanded they attend and they wouldn’t go to any of them at all. They had seen the pain and had no urge to go through that themselves.

~

“Tell me you believe in Us, please.”

“I believe we’ll stay together.” Janus comforted, “Whatever the outcome of this.”

Romulus nodded, “Yeah, you’re not leaving me and I won’t abandon you. Just bring my soulmate into the friendship.”

They nodded in return, “See, our friendship will grow, not fade.”

“One last throwing paint at canvas? Before that changes things?” Romulus brought out all the art things he’d figured out how to carry comfortably.

They laughed, “That I definitely believe in. Maybe this time I actually will frame it.”

~

"It's True Love! Souls destined for each other!"

Janus stared at their friend, before yanking themself away from him. They couldn't express what seeing their friend torn apart in their rituals had done to them, but they were sure whatever the ritual did, there was nothing true about the loves brought by it. 

His friend only added to the affront, seizing the painting from the wall. “And this would be perfect for-”

“Nothing!” They hissed, snatching it back. “It’s going nowhere. I’m not doing the ritual.”

~

“I’m only inviting you to the ritual.” Romulus admitted, the night before the event took place. “The letter only allows one, though you can pay for more. I only want you there.”

Janus smiled at the sentiment, “And I can’t wait to see it happen. You’ve been so excited for it.”

Romulus’s returning smile was strained, “My mother insists she comes along. It’s going to be an argument.”

“Then say that’s an addition to your sacrifice, the cordial relationship with her.” They teased before turning serious at his clear concern. “She’ll understand when we’re there, I’m sure. This is something you need to do your way.”

~

They were being dragged into the building, forced into the ritual and were looking around for their friends. One, they knew where he was, three steps behind them and carrying the picture he’d no understanding of the importance of. The other was elsewhere.

Janus knew he’d be close, but didn’t want to call out. They were busy instead thinking of a way to escape the ritual now. Nobody should demand that sacrifice from them.

The room of the ritual looked like it had done years ago, candles lining pathways, an alter that couldn’t decide to be in the centre or front of the room and a cauldron for the sacrificed item to be placed in.

They stopped struggling with the people bringing them in, acting awed by the room and ritual about to happen, leaning closer to the candles until they could twist them, start a run of fire over the seats and walkways.

Janus didn’t pause before grabbing the painting and his friend’s hand to get them all out of there.

~

Something was going wrong. The light people had recounted bestowing their soulmate bond was going on too long but when Janus tried to go to Romulus they were held down, firm hands of officiants gripping their shoulders hard enough to bruise.

The writing seemed to be full of copper from the flames in the cauldron and they regretted ever suggesting using it as the sacrifice.

Then Romulus was screaming, voice seeming to double the longer it lasted and they wouldn’t give up trying to help him. They dodged being thrown to the ground but by the time they reached him the light was fading and the screams had ended.

Through the next hour, Janus swore one thing; They would never do the soulmate ritual. Never willingly let anyone they befriended do so either.

~

"For your crimes, you are sentenced to life forever alone. No partnership outside of the bond allowed and you are forbidden to now ask to do it." The judge declared, getting gasps from people around the court as if that was damnation itself.

Janus glared, biting their tongue against their thanks. Their friend was gone, no matter who they knew now.

"They're our friend. They won't be alone." Roman declared, hand heavy on their shoulder.

"And that's all you shall ever be." The judge agreed, waving for them to be led out.

Remus spat back at them, hissing and frothing with rage on their behalf but Janus could only feel grief and victory.

It was over. They'd got their wish, but would still not have their friend.

~

“Janus? Why are you crying?” Half their friend asked, speaking for the first time since the ritual ended.

They shook their head. “It’s been an emotional day. What should I call you now you have your soulmate bonds?” They asked, looking to the third person in their group as well.

“I’m Remus and he’s Roman. We haven’t changed our names because of a ritual, Jaybird.” Remus replied, cackling as though the question was ridiculous.

Janus only nodded, and made sure to say goodbye to both by name as their mother met them outside, frowning at the pair.

The ritual failed, was perhaps always meant to fail.

[laikaflash]

Newish lioden player. What's up w the rumble marking drama?

I've been playing since 2018, so I'll set the scene. Strap in.

Before we had the Rumble markings, there were some new features added to the May event in 2019. This was a huge month for updates, the relevant ones here being a "Reputation Shop" for both of the storyline NPCs where you can get Brawl and Inverted Brawl marking applicators. These were the first app markings made for this event, and you can see in the responses to this announcement post that they got a fairly warm reception at the time.

Note that Brawl has a very busy and squiggly look to it. Put a pin in that. (I swear I've seen similar textures on foam gym mats. I'm not sure if that's what they were going for, though.)

Then came May 2020. Among other things, the Rumble marking applicator was introduced to the game. It has a similar look to Brawl, but with a somewhat jagged look. A few days in, there's a rash of threads in the forums about Rumble, the most serious thing mentioned in them by far was that the marking was a potential seizure risk. Some players brought it up in the announcement thread a few days into the event.

How is that possible, you may ask. Well, let me make this clear: I am not a neurologist and I've never had a seizure in my life. I'm not the person to ask about photosensitive epilepsy (or any other type); I'm just describing things as best as I understand them. From what I can find, there is ongoing research into why high contrasting patterns in still images may trigger seizures in some people with PSE. (Medical News Today has more technical info here.)

In any case, the seizure concerns got the admins' attention. On May 4 that year, the Rumble marking was hidden from view and the applicator removed from the shop. Forum threads about the marking were locked and players advised to refrain from making any more about it. (Source) The next day, the admins made a statement:

Today, we sought legal clarification over the marking. We have been advised that we are compliant and meet all legal requirements and there is no reason that the marking should be removed from the game or that any additional warning notice needs to be given out. Additionally, the marking itself was not flagged as a typical risk. [...] We must ask that if you have noticed any adverse effects while accessing Lioden at any point, to discontinue use of the site immediately and seek medical help from a physician.

(Bolding theirs! Excerpts from Rumble Marking Clarification)

With that, Rumble was reinstated with some faded effects added presumably to make it less harsh on a contrasting base. Lioden operates in the UK, so I think these are the guidelines they're trying to adhere to. However, those are mostly about video content and the May event doesn't have any animations as of yet. (And for the ones that do, you can toggle the animations off.)

But that wasn't enough for some people. Some of the players had already telephone-gamed the whole thing into "DANGEROUS MARKING AT ANY OPACITY" with the growing vibe of "If you have Rumble/Brawl lions, you're evil". Note the reminder of the section of the game's TOS against threatening, harassment; etc. in that same clarification post. This shit was nasty enough that I thought I could get dogpiled just for selling the applicators, so I buried them for a time. (You have no idea how relieved I was to find anyone this December with this marking app on their wishlist.)

You are reading this right: a year after Brawl was introduced, it got lumped in with Rumble. If memory serves, one of the game's artists was also scapegoated because of course that happened.

Finally, on May 8, the marking censor was added as part of a development update. (Announcement here.) This setting allows players to hide any marking they wish from their view without affecting gameplay for anyone else. That should do it, right?

Even then, the hostility didn't completely end there. Short of the entire art team leaving, I don't know what some of these people really wanted here. On a game that has around 2000 players online most of the day, I can't ascertain how many adversely effected by the Rumble marking that week, but under the circumstances, I think the admins did the best they could. I wouldn't put this incident on the same level of Cyber Soldier Porygon. It was a shock at the time, but ye gods did some people take it too far.

And that's why I grit my teeth every time I see a "RUMBLE/BRAWL FREE DEN" message after having seen loads of garish customized den designs after all this time. Fortunately, you can toggle those off too.

[neverendingdreams-net]

hi, stay! welcome to never-ending dreams net! ✦

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[hydro-dragon-neuvillette]

I am Iudex Neuvillette, the Chief Justice of Fontaine.

I don't mean to condescend to humanity, but it is quite clear to me that society's concepts of justice, fairness, equality, and rule of law are not equivalent, and can never be.

As Chief Justice, I can assure you that all matters in regards to which complaints have been formally filed will be handled with utmost care and urgency.

As for any situations involving our... ahem, Hydro Archon-- those will have to be redirected towards a later date as they require a far deeper analysis.

Working in close quarters with the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, the Opera Epiclese can promise fortitude worthy of any legal system.

With the Oratrice Mécanique d'Analyse Cardinale on the side of the law, all judgements towards persecutors are sworn to be right and fair-- but may still be opposed by further truth or morality.

Notes from the moderator:

Mod also runs the @hydro-eidolon-kaveh-official rp account, so the format is her own and is not plagiarized :)

Guidelines:

~ Keep the asks sfw if you please, suggestive is okay!

~ No random links in asks

~ Be kind, please. Any hateful comments related but not limited to racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, ageism and transphobia will not be tolerated here and you may be blocked.

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#hydro dragon don't cry 🌧️ : Art reblogs

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Masterlist post of Genshin-official blogs linked here

[dee-the-red-witch]

The Monthly Roundup

Okay, normally, this is just a free monthly post over on my Patreon, but I figured I should push this out into the wild as well, because this kind of stuff's always needed. Want this, and a bunch of weekly readings from a cursed tarot deck, media reviews, and other content including fiction and the occasional build post? Maybe consider adding me over there as well. Anyways, like I said, it's a monthly roundup- in this case a bigass collection of links and resources for folks interested in pursuing gender transition one way or another. And while a bunch of it is transfem specific and sometimes medical transition specific, because it's stuff I dug up while hunting down things for myself, there's also things in there good for anyone of any gender, and resources for legal/social transition as well. And this is long enough to deserve a cut for once, so...

Hey! What If *I'M* trans?

The Gender Dysphoria Bible- https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en Wondering if you're experiencing Gender Dysphoria? This may be a good place to start. Realize the GDB is slanted largely towards transfem folks, so it doesn't necessarily apply evenly to everyone, but it does cover a lot of ground that folks may identify with.

Trans Medical Resources

DIY HRT- https://diyhrt.cafe/index.php/Main_Page (for legal reasons, I'm going to tell you to at least try to see a licensed physician or endocrinologist before starting to DIY your own hormones, but keep in mind, I'm not your responsible adult, and if you don't choose to listen, that's on you) This is the main, best hub for sourcing and getting info on doing your own hormone therapy. Keep in mind, it's once again slanted towards feminizing methods, because testosterone is still a controlled substance in most of the world (which is bloody fucking stupid, but that's a rant for another time).

GALAP- The Gender Affirming Letter Access Project- https://thegalap.org/ While we may have new WPATH guidelines with the Soc 8 updates that dropped a little bit ago, most providers and insurers are still on outdated requirements that insist on letters from mental health providers for transgender-related care. Which can affect access to surgeries, HRT, and more. GALAP exists to connect folks with providers who'll give those letters,m in some cases free of charge even.

Gynecologist List- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Djia_WkrVO3S4jKn6odNwQk7pOcpcL4x00FMNekrb7Q/htmlview This one's more for uterus-owners in general and less trans-specific, but giventhe number of folks with uteri who'd can end up with a hard time finding a willing doctor for some procedures, it's important for everyone. This is a Google database of hundreds of gynecologists, listed by location, willing to perform sterilization procedures with informed consent, without secondary authorization from anyone else. The list is patient-vetted, so your mileage may vary, but for those seeking sterilization and/or hysterectomies as part of their transition it may prove to be invaluable as a resource, because doctors willing to do this work can be few and rare in some areas.

Transfeminine Science- https://transfemscience.org/ Articles, journals and all sorts of researching into, well, just what the name says, transfeminizing science. A lot of medical professionals simply don't have knowledge in the field and are acting on what they learned in med school, which may be way out of date. If they're willing to listen, there's stuff in there to help bring them up to speed. Better yet, it;'s also a great resource to educate yourself so you can advocate for your own care a bit better.

Other Transition resources (legal, social, etc)

NCTE's ID GUIDE- https://transequality.org/documents The National Transgender Center for Equality's guide to changing your legal identity, in a handy format that lets you break it down by state or territory, or even federal documents (United States only, sorry.) and links to the right paperwork to use. Rainbow Passage- https://rainbowpassage.org/ It sucks that we need organizations like this in these times, but I'm glad to see there's people already stepping up to the task. Rainbow Passage is an organization dedicated to helping trans youth get out of trans-hostile states and relocate to safer areas. And if you can, volunteering for them is a great way to help improve safety for trans folk in general.

Seattle Voice Lab- https://www.seattlevoicelab.com/ if you've seen me on social media much lately, then you've seen me talking about this place. This is who I'm (through February and March at least) taking voice lessons through to feminize my own voice more. They also have a bunch of online resources, a discord server, and other help if you need to figure your own vocal chords out a bit better.

Strands For Trans- https://strandsfortrans.org/ Need a haircut, or color or other beauty services you're using for the first time ever as an out trans person and you're not sure where's going to be safe to go? Strands For Trans is the first comprehensive database of Aesthetics businesses for hair and everything, AND THEY VET THE BUSINESSES, to ensure your safety and comfort.

TLC's Life-Planning Guide- http://transgenderlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/TLC_Life-Planning-Documents-Transgender.pdf The Transgender Law Center put this guide together specifically for planning end-of-life details. Yes, it's a depressing and tragic thing, but protecting and making sure our identities are still properly preserved after we die is still just as an important part of what we're fighting as anything else is. This guide will help you with establishing a Living Will, controlling hospital visits, and setting up proper Powers of Attorney, so that nothing potentially falls back into the hands of people who might refuse to recognize who you truly are. (In many states, you can designate someone other than your next of kin to take charge of your body when you die (next of kin is defined by law, not by preference). If you need to do that, go to nolo.com and look up article on "[your state] funeral law" to get a rundown on if and how to do this.

Trans Media

The Digital Transgender Archive- https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net "The purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world." (In short, this is one of several free libraries of trans history.)

Totally Trans- https://www.patreon.com/totallytrans/posts Hey, look at that, it's another Patreon! Except, no, wait, it's a podcast! Totally Trans looks at media both historical and modern with a transgendered lens. Sometimes it's silly fun, other times, it's great insights into queer and trans history, and all around it's a great show to add on whatever service you're already getting podcasts through- or you can hit the link above to help support them at the same time for early access.

Trans News, Blogs, and Notes

Erin In The Morning: https://www.erininthemorning.com/ Erin's newsletter runs almost daily these days, mostly with updates regarding trans legislation all around the US. It's a good way to stay up to date, but it can also be a drag these days, largely because it's practically just a constantly expanding list of bad news thanks to the GOP right now.

Stained Glass Woman: https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/ aka Doc Impossible/Zoe. I first discovered her work and writing when WPATH released their new SOC 8 guidelines, because she was one of the few people that could make the thing actually make sense in non-legalese. But I subscribed andkeep following here for regular updates both because she presents a trans coming out narrative that was just a joy to read, and also covers interesting  news in the field of trans medicine from time to time. Definitely worth adding to your feed.

A Self Defense Study Guide for Trans Women and Gender Non-Conforming / Nonbinary AMAB Folks: https://www.silversprocket.net/2021/09/13/a-self-defense-study-guide-for-trans-women-and-gender-non-conforming-nonbinary-amab-folks/

This is, quite honestly, one of the best self-defense guides I've seen for gender-nonconforming folks (and one of the few, to be honest), short of private defense instruction. AND it's available to read in full for free at that link, or in print for just a 5$ donation. Go check it out.

Other general roundups

Grassroots GAC Resources- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19kSzBLo_hjpiBjHN8tvK73sVHU25NKWjMau2vNl8uuM/edit#gid=778305468 Google spreadsheet of links in general, from therapy help and hrt assistance, to all sorts of other info, some of which are repeats from here, but there's also a bunch of others I haven't had time or opportunity to vet yet.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Managing space debris through space law

It's becoming increasingly crowded in the orbits around Earth that are popular for space travel. And that's not just due to satellites—there's also more waste material, which is compromising safety. Ph.D. candidate Zhuang Tian is conducting research into the legal aspects of discarded space equipment. Whoever leaves debris behind should take responsibility and clean it up.

In the near future, probes with robotic arms will be hovering in orbit. The arms will have four metal tentacles spread out like a spider's legs, ready to catch a discarded satellite where the probes maneuver minutely. It's one of the techniques the company ClearSpace is currently simulating—only on Earth for the time being.

Active debris removal

With his specialization in space law, legal expert Zhuang Tian is following these developments closely. He will shortly be defending his Ph.D. thesis on the legal aspects of space debris disposal. The specific focus of his research is how companies like ClearSpace and the Japanese company Astroscale are planning on actively removing debris, because there is another option: space equipment that removes itself after use by burning into the atmosphere. But as Tian explains, current satellites can't yet do that, hence the need for a collection service provided by private companies.

"Space agencies such as ESA could encourage the development of active debris removal (ADR) missions and their exploitation," he says.

Antisocial campers

As Tian explains following his Ph.D. research, space law is lagging behind, and so it's essential that clear rules and international agreements are put in place. He compares the behavior of countries that are the registered owners of discarded satellites with that of antisocial campers.

"You can compare it to a campsite littered with cans and plastic bottles. Of course, you could solve the problem technically by constantly removing the waste. But what works better is putting rules in place that inform campers about responsible behavior. I started investigating how space law encourages the countries and space agencies in question to clean up their space debris. Because even now, it's not clear to the states concerned that they're obliged to do this."

An international mechanism

Tian has encountered legal hurdles along the way. From a legal perspective, it appears to be risky for a state to clean up another state's scrap. Space equipment is the property of the state of registration, even if it has since been discarded. Those who start the cleanup process run the risk of a country, company or government organization holding the cleaner liable for damage to property.

"So currently, cleanup missions only focus on waste that is owned—or is at least allowed to be owned—by the cleaner," explains Tian. "There needs to be an international mechanism that makes it easier for countries and space agencies to request and grant permission."

A double-edged sword

Tian explains that another factor at play is that removal technology—such as the ClearSpace tentacles—have a dual-use nature. Every part of a spacecraft could potentially be used as a weapon in space, even if that was never the intention when it was designed. A peaceful clean-up process could cause misunderstandings.

Tian adds, "If you're able to grab space debris, you're also able to grab another vehicle or deliberately collide with it. If a country removes a discarded object that belongs to another state, that state might perceive it as a hostile act—even if the intentions were good."

Transparency surrounding missions

Tian examined the rules, guidelines and laws for responsible behavior that would prevent space debris removal from being perceived as a threat. He says, "Addressing concerns is more effective than setting technical requirements dictating that objects may not be used for war purposes. After all, in space you could use any piece of equipment for military purposes. That's why I also recommend transparency surrounding space missions."

An international hotline

He is pinning his hopes on soft law—instruments that are not legally binding and yet serve as guidelines for behavior and practices in space. While they are voluntary, they can make up for the gaps in the prescriptive articles found in space treaties. He advocates international guidelines for active space debris removal. He also says that countries could increase their commitment to multilateral and unilateral agreements. This would put pressure on commitments made by states to do something about the debris. The United Nations could make a more active effort to agree on rules for clarity and safety in the event of dual use.

It's also important that countries coordinate with each other on this—perhaps by setting up an international hotline that countries can use to register spacecraft in the event of imminent collisions.

Future generations

Tian wants to expand the law governing space debris removal, and in the future hopes to get a ticket for a trip into space if it's affordable. By then, the chance of collisions with space debris should have decreased.

"I'm positive about that—there's a strong common awareness about sustainable use of space in the future. That will also benefit future generations, as space travel is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives."

[wanderingmind867]

I've remade my Justice League of Canada idea for the hopefully last time. I added two new characters and got rid of an old one. But I think I am finally okay with what I've got written. And I'm glad about that.

Justice League Canada: Originally conceived around 1988 or 1989 when the Justice League Detroit gets a mission in Canada. The mission goes well, and the Justice League gets some contacts in Canada. A year or two after this, the Justice League loses a fight in disastrous fashion and their public reputation sinks even lower. Knowing that the United States has turned on them, the Justice League use their connections in canada to keep the team running. Only one requirement: the team will have some oversight by the canadian government. Nothing too severe. But there will be some oversight and guidelines.

They serve as a Justice League branch solely isolated to Canada and (occasionally) the US states on the Canadian border. In those cases, they closely work alongside the revived Justice Society of America.

Justice League of Canada Founding Members:

1. Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz): When the Justice League Detroit moves from Detroit to Ottawa, only two members of the Detroit team come to Canada: Martian Manhunter and Gypsy. Martian Manhunter acts as the team's leader again, the same way he did back in Detroit. He moves his private detective practice as "John Jones" from Michigan up to Ottawa, giving him a convenient excuse to be in Canada.

He's with the team for their first year or two. If this were an actual comic, he'd be on the team for the 10-15 issues. But after a year or two with the team, J'onn leaves to head back to the states. He's gotten an offer from Harley Quinn and Captain Cold to supervise their team of reformed (or semi-reformed) supervillians, and he couldn't say no to the offer. Especially since his brother was on that team.

2. Blue Beetle (Ted Kord): Ted Kord is known as the Canadian Bruce Wayne. Well, maybe not explicitly by that nickname, but that is the type of character he shall be. I wrote so much for his origin that it needed it's own seperate post/note. Which I did make. He's also just going to be a better character than Bruce Wayne, no ifs ands or buts.

3. Aqsarniit: That's supposedly the Inuit word for the Northern Lights. So that'll be my placeholder name (if not permanent name) for this character. They're some Norse and/or Inuit demigoddess or nature spirit with ties to the northern lights. I want something to match Wonder Woman, except with more of the beautiful mystique of the snow and aurora, as well as with more respect paid to the indigenous communities of Canada. I have a well formed image of this character because this is a character type already beaten to death (honestly), but I think we could find a way to make it unique.

Oh, one thing that makes them different: they're either gender-fluid or two-spirit or something. Being a nature spirit who looks like the personification of the northern lights, they don't really have any traditional gender.

Aqsarniit is a founding member of the team, but they aren't actually there very often (in those early issues, at least). Being a spirit of the aurora, Aqsarniit is often far busier with their own affairs then to help the league. Kind of like a combo of Thor and The Hulk. Like Thor, she's tied to mythology. But like the Hulk, they leave the team by Issue #2 or #3.

4. The Red Bee (Richard "Rick" Raleigh): Richard "Rick" Raleigh is a crown attorney in Victoria, British Columbia. Known for his brilliant legal mind and steadfast devotion to justice, the mob desperately wished to dispose of this man. They hired a mad scientist to help them kill Rick. This scientist decided to play upon Rick Raleigh's hobby of amateur beekeeping to kill him, in a bit of dramatic irony. He'd spray him with a shrinking gas and trap him inside his beekeeping equipment.

Locked inside the box where he kept his bees, Rick has to think fast and save himself from the attacks of his bees. And he does this in a most ingenious way. Rick tricks his bees into trying to attack him, and manages to get them to accidentally tip his beekeeping box over. Now that him and all his bees are free, Rick baits the bees into attacking the mad scientist and his goons. From here, Rick manages to find the antidote to the shrinking gas in the scientists pockets, and he becomes normal sized again.

But knowing that the gangsters who tried to attack him are still at large, rick begins working on a way to combat them. And he finds his way to do so. He manages to duplicate the growing and shrinking serums used by the mad scientist. He studies the communication methods of bees and learns to speak with them on at least a rudimentary level. He also builds himself a jetpack and a stinger gun (basically just a taser) to help him fight crime (both of these items shrink with him). Using all these skills, he manages to catch the gangsters by sneaking into their hideout in a costume! And just like that, The Red Bee was born!

I'd like to think that Blue Beetle and the Red Bee have a rivalry going on. They're both named after insects, and they both are founding members of the Justice League Canada. I think it'd be funny if there's some resentment between the two.

5. Captain Marvel/Shazam (Billy Batson): I saw someone say Captain Marvel was from Minnesota. I don't know if that's true, but I'm rolling with it. Mostly because I've seen jokes online before that Minnesota is the US state most like Canada (or at least I swear I heard that somewhere), and now I need to roll with it.

Captain Marvel/Shazam aids the team, but he's not actually living in Canada (like the other team members). Nobody knows why Captain Marvel isn't in Canada, let alone a Canadian citizen. Nobody even knows why he asks strangely naive questions or never stays around too long after missions. Well, maybe Martian Manhunter knows. But the secret is safe with him..

6. Gypsy (Cynthia Reynolds): I know that there's a good chance Gypsy was DC's ripoff of Scarlet Witch, so let's take it one step further. Let's embrace the mild plagiarism. Her and Red Tornado will have a brief romance (although theirs crashes and burns a lot faster than Vision and Scarlet Witch's relationship).

When the Justice League Detroit disbands, only three members agree to head up to join the Canadian branch. Martian Manhunter, Gypsy and Captain Marvel/Shazam. The rest of that team stayed back in the states or were otherwise too busy to agree to join the new team.

Additional Members:

7. The Angel of Dawn/Ange de L'aube (Samantha Guizzon): Samantha Guizzon is a highly skilled CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) Agent. She's one of their best agents, known for her skill with research, espionage and for her very detailed knowledge of non-lethal combat.

Oh, and she's also got metahuman abilities. She can generate and manipulate light. She got her nickname (Angel of Dawn) because she can use her light powers to form shining hard light wings upon which she can glide through the air. She can also emit blinding light from her body, not unlike a miniature solar flare.

Samantha was assigned to the team to represent Quebec and Canada's francophone community. The people of Quebec were deeply upset that the team had no francophone founding members, so the canadian government had to assign Samantha to the team to quell criticism. Originally from Montreal, Samantha is proud to represent Quebec on the team.

8. Booster Gold (Michael Jon Carter): Michael Jon Carter is from Edmonton. But I get really bogged down in backstory. So much so that I had to give him his own seperate post/note. Because I wrote like 7 to 9 paragraphs, too many to share here (especially when I'm trying to write about a whole roster of team members here, not just one).

9. Red Tornado: Although not really Canadian (being an android created in the United States), the Red Tornado is asked to join the team as a personal favour by the Martian Manhunter. Moving to Ottawa and taking on a human identity as university professor "John Smith", the Red Tornado becomes the team's heart and soul.

10. The Geomancer: This is a placeholder name for now, but I have a backstory. Daughter of a PEI farmer, young Emily Harrison is a metahuman with the power to control earth (and more specifically, dirt and soil are her specialities). Emily took over running the farm when her father had to retire, and she now runs it with her dad's best friend, an old, burly acadian man named Jean.

Emily never intended to be a superhero. She was content to just till her fields using her powers, and never have to worry about anyone judging her for them. But then one day the Justice League Canada came to PEI. Because the villian the Justice League was chasing also kidnapped her father, Emily and Jean help the Justice League stop him. This brings her to the notice of the Justice League.

This later, when Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel and the Angel of Dawn all take absences from the team, they ask Emily and Jean to join the team. Emily was pretty reluctant to join, until she managed to get a promise the league would send her someone to help with the farm when she's doing super hero work.

11. Jean Boudreau: Jean is an acadian man from New Brunswick. A while ago, he moved to PEI to get a job as a farm hand. There he met Emily's dad, and began working on his farm. When Emily inherited the farm, Jean has already been working there for 10 years. He knows Emily the same way he knew her dad, and he wants to help protect her from the judgement of the world

When the Justice League comes to PEI to stop the villian who kidnapped Emily's dad, Jean is outraged. That's his old friend they kidnapped, and Jean will go to the ends of the earth to save him. Similarly, Jean follows Emily onto the Justice League when she joins them to help protect her.

Jean has no superpowers. He's just a strong, older man with all the physical abilities that entails. He does take martial arts training while he's on the league, though. He's also one of (if not) the only member of the team with no secret identity. He's just Jean.

12. Green Lantern III (Guy Gardner): I actually like what I skimmed of Guy Gardner's backstory off of wikipedia. That being said, I'm still going to make a reinterpretation post. Because there's a few extra details I'd add to get him on this Canadian team. I'm not changing the core components, but I will mess around with his early life to get an explanation for him going from Baltimore in the comics to Vancouver (where I'll have him be raised in my reinterpretation).

13. Captain Newfoundland: There used to be a superhero called Captain Newfoundland in some old comic strips. I know little about him, but he looks super cool. And I want to take him, add some cool new details, and bring him to a wider audience. I'd add elements of Captain Universe and of The Phantom Stranger.

The last relic of an old alien race which came to earth eons ago, Captain Newfoundland and his kin were the original settlers of Newfoundland. Except back then, it wasn't Newfoundland. Back then, it was called Atlantis. This ancient race of star beings settled on Atlantis. They made it a paradise on earth, lush and beautiful. But then Atlantis fell to a massive volcanic eruption, and all of Captain Newfoundland's people either died or fled back into space. But not him.

You see, Captain Newfoundland was an exile amongst his people. He was friendly to the humans and animals of earth. He took it upon himself to watch over them and care for them. Since his people felt this made him too tender-hearted for his own good, they exiled him to the farthest tip of Atlantis. Funnily enough, this tip was the only part of Atlantis that survived the explosions. It never fell to the seas, and became the place we now call Newfoundland.

Nowadays, Captain Newfoundland is the humble protector of "The Rock". There's just one catch: he needs a host body. Kind of like how the Spectre needs a host body to do his thing, Captain Newfoundland needs a human host body to serve as a conduit between him and humanity. His current host body is an old Newfie, Brian Wellford (name subject to change if I think of anything better).

Captain Newfoundland is not a permanent member of the Justice League Canada. Kind of like the Phantom Stranger, he comes and goes wherever he's needed. Also, he doesn't often leave his stronghold on the east coast.

14. The Question (Vic Sage): Vic Sage was a popular television host in the montreal area. He had his own investigative journalism tv series, syndicated both in quebec and across canada (since he was bilingual and proficient in both english and french). Besides this new angle of him being French-Canadian, I think his backstory would remain much the same as it is in the comics (I skimmed his wikipedia page earlier, and it seems his backstory is fine as is).

15. William Nielsen: William Nielsen is the team's second android. I wrote my own note about him earlier To make him different from Red Tornado, William is both more lifelike and more anti-heroic.

William found out the truth of his identity after almost 2 years travelling the world searching for answers. He was built to be the ultimate soldier, one in a long line of mindless drones for his power mad creator's army. But his creator died while creating him, so William ended up a lost amnesiac in the woods. Or well, his creator almost died. But instead, he narrowly managed to transfer his essence into a computer. And now that William's stepped into his lab, his creator plans to steal his body and use the power to conquer the world.

William manages to narrowly escape from his creator, but only after his creator managed to move his essence into a duplicate of William's body. So William flees to the Justice League's headquarters in ottawa, where he runs into The Question and Willow. Together, these three defeat William's creator and earn their way onto the ranks of the justice league.

William's story arc is particularly interesting, and it all comes back to him, Willow and The Question. William started as an amnesiac android, but he slowly becomes more jaded and bitter towards humanity once he joins the team. It's only once a friend of his nearly dies in combat that William learns the art of humility. Willow trains him along this path, since she sees so much of her old self in him.

William probably ends up leaving the team to become a nomadic traveler. He can't let himself be violent and arrogant anymore, but he can't be around humans much either. He just wants to be alone. He's like a robotic, more humanoid version of The Hulk. Also, Willow may have shared her knowledge of the many universes with him. So William almost definitely is aware of the Marvel universe. May even travel there with Willow sometime. Hell, Willow may bring the whole team with her sometime. Who knows?

16. Willow: As we all know, Mantis was an Avenger in the 70s. She became the Celestial Madonna and then went off into space and wasn't seen again for a decade. We also know that Mantis showed up under the name of Willow in one 70s Justice League story. So let's play with that, and reinterpret it a bit.

Shortly after the Justice League Canada falls to their lowest possible point, Willow randomly breaks into their headquarters. This is when she meets The Question and William Nielsen. Initially seen as just some weird woman with martial arts prowess and an aura of deep mystery, she helps the team defeat some incredibly deadly foe and then ends up invited to join the team (alongside The Question and William, of course).

Also, Willow has met the team before. Her one adventure with the original Justice League of America did happen here, but nobody remembers it. The only JLA members she met then were Aquaman, Elongated Man and The Atom. None of them are on the team now, so nobody recognizes Willow.

And the fact that Willow would be working with Red Tornado and/or William Nielsen would give me (or anyone writing this) ample excuses to hint at her true identity. Red Tornado reminds her of The Vision and she would have ample opportunity to subtly draw comparisons. While William reminds her of herself years ago, back when she was a haughty, arrogant woman dating The Swordsman. So she takes William under her wing, and they form a deeply personal bond.

[beardedmrbean]

Two conservative groups say San Francisco and the state of California are racist for illegally giving away millions in tax money to three non-profits that exclude recipients based on race and gender identity.

The American Civil Rights Project and the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation say the city and state violate the law by picking who gets federal money based on skin color.

The suit names three guaranteed-income programs.

The Black Economic Equity Movement hands out $500 a month exclusively to young, Black Bay Area residents.

SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR PUSHES ADDICTION SCREENING FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS

Guaranteed Income for Trans-people pays $1,200 a month to Black, Indigenous and Latino recipients, provided they are also transgender.

The Abundant Birth Project gives out $1,000 a month solely to pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women.

"We are asking for these programs to be halted until they are no longer discriminatory," says lawyer Dan Morenoff of the American Civil Rights Project.

"Each of these three programs qualifies and disqualifies individuals from participation and benefits based on their race."

San Francisco established the Abundant Birth Project in 2020 through its department of health. It provides $1,000 to $1,500 a month, for roughly nine months, solely to "Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco." Other races are not eligible for this "unconditional" income. Its annual budget is $1.8 million, but new $5 million in grants expand the program to four additional counties.

Advocates say that Black and Pacific Islander women need the help because of higher rates of premature birth. "This risk is primarily due to racism, both structural racism and racism that birthing people experience when they interact with physicians and other medical providers," says Dr. Zea Malawa of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

True or not, the lawsuit claims, it remains illegal to exclude White and Latino women, especially those with higher risks of complication.

In November last year, San Francisco launched another guaranteed income program.

"To participate you must be Black, between the ages of 18 and 24, and live in certain areas within Oakland or San Francisco," according to BEEM guidelines. Those applying as 'White' on-line are told they are 'not eligible'.

The GIFT project provides $1,200 a month for 18 months to "Transgender, Non Binary, Gender Non-Conforming and Intersex" individuals provided they are "Black, Indigenous or People of Color."  The program is run through the city's Office of Transgender Initiatives. Last week, the watchdog group Judicial Watch also sued San Francisco over the GIFT project.

The money in all three programs is provided with no strings attached, via a debit card replenished each month.

"Guaranteed Income is a temporary monthly payment made to people without any requirements or obligations," says BEEM. "It’s an approach to supporting people, so they have a little breathing room, can take care of immediate needs, and plan for the future."

Similarly, the GIFT project says, "the $1,200 stipend will be provided to participants so they may focus on their basic physical and mental health and wellness without worrying about income."

Fox News reached out to all three programs, but all declined an interview. Mayor London Breed's office said in a statement that the programs are legal and that it looks forward to addressing the charges in court.

[olderthannetfic]

Wait I’m genuinely curious about the mechanisms of this - so I know about ao3 and copyright law, but what about zines? I think the earliest are from the 1970s but how have they, as a media form, survived for so long if they’re also technically breaking the law by profiting off an IP? I get a lot are for charity and companies would be reluctant to sue projects for charity but I’ve seen some being sold that aren’t?

And also what about authors who post early updates on patreon or have patreon exclusive fics? That surely has to break copyright law?

Possibly answering my own question but maybe it’s because companies don’t care about this but I also did live through Nintendo viciously taking down let’s plays because they thought it breached their copyright by disincentivising people from playing the games?

Companies can be really strict about their IPs, so I’m really curious as to how this is happening and how people are protecting their works.

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Getting away with shit and shit being legal are two very different things. ;)

And, to be fair, shit being illegal and companies threatening you with legal action are also very different things.

The oldschool ones were not for charity. You could make a fair use argument, but most zines survive simply because rights holders don't bother to go after them. Small print runs of physical objects are often not seen as significant enough to bother with. Zine makers often argue that they're only charging because they need to cover the printer's bill. Some prices on old zines bear this out; others don't.

Plenty of zines did get shut down by rights holders, however, from big-for-sff-publishing names like Chelsea Quinn Yarbro to Hollywood types like George Lucas. The reasons ranged from "My historical figure vampire is super original and your random-ass zine is endangering my copyright" (Fuck you, CQY. I'm never reading a page of your crap!) to "I just don't like Luke/Leia for some reason but won't tell you why" (LOL). I hear Lucas went after horny zines in general too. I wasn't around for any of this, obviously, but there are writeups online, including on Fanlore.

I presume modern zines benefit from the greater awareness around fair use and around bad press from suppressing fanworks, but they could still be in danger from big rights holders. Being legal or illegal is less important than who has the money for lawyers. Sometimes, a fan can get a big corp to back off by brazening it out, but you have to tell them your legal name and go "Come at me, bro!" Who wants to do that?

Fic Patreons are not only on shaky legal ground, but Patreon does not allow that use of the site. It's a private company, not a public service, and it can pretty much do as it pleases. Here are the guidelines in part:

Restrictions We don’t allow creations and benefits that violate our terms or policies. You can learn more by visiting our Community Guidelines and Benefit Guidelines. A high level summary of those rules is that we don’t allow:

illegal creations or benefits;

creations or benefits that are abusive towards other people;

creations or benefits that use others’ intellectual property, unless you have written permission to use it, or your use is protected as fair use;

or creations or benefits with real people engaging in sexual acts.

If your fans include people under the age of 18, then please remind them that they need their parent’s or legal guardian’s permission to purchase an offering or membership subscription on Patreon, and that those under the age of 13 cannot use Patreon. We are not required to allow any particular person or group of persons to be a patron or otherwise access Patreon services.

Now, yes, they do make an exception for fair use, but I doubt they'll side with the majority of fanworks creators on their particular Patreon works counting as fair use. (Actually, they might be more lenient on RPF. That "real people" rule is about porn starring live actors, not about RPF.) They might rule in favor of the person selling their fic on there, but they very well might not, and even if you were willing to fight it out in court, you probably couldn't since Patreon would be denying you service on their site, not suing you. They can deny service to whomever they want any time they want.

I don't advocate tattling to Patreon simply because I don't think there's any social contract around respecting Patreon's wishes, nor are Patreons I don't back super visible and in my face. Patreon is built by people who get paid to do that; the extra ethical issues present on AO3 are not present here. I don't really approve, but I'm also not going to go out of my way to rat on people. However, I'm sure that fandom enemies of BNFs with Patreons do tattle. I'd advise anyone monetizing this way to have other contact info for their patrons in case they suddenly get kicked off.

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Basically, people are flying under the radar, and then periodically, there's a big drama where a rights holder or hosting site destroys everything.