#some testimony was from judge too much | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bittermarching · 2 days

Text

(I've said this before but,) It's annoying to me how so many people feel compelled to spread disinformation and present every situation as completely black and white, regardless of the facts, to manipulate other people into agreeing with them. This happens all the fucking time, especially online.

A recent example: M. Williams, the man who was recently executed in Missouri (not putting his full name bc I don't want a bunch of illiterate keyboard "prison abolitionists" telling me to kms). Lemme first preface this by saying I Do Not think he should've been executed. Just to be clear.

There are a million zillion posts on this site claiming that there was "overwhelming forensic evidence definitively proving his innocence" and that the "only evidence" linking him to the crime was the testimony of two cellmates who were rewarded for their testimonies. Both of these things are false.

What linked him to the crime was a) the victim's stolen items were found in his possession (obviously he could have just been a fence, but the items found were a ruler and a calculator, which have no value so why would a fence have that?); b) the testimony of his girlfriend who said that he confessed and had scratches on his neck and blood on his shirt and the victim's laptop in his car; c) the victim's stolen laptop was recovered from a man who said Williams sold it to him; d) the alleged jailhouse confession his former cellmate claimed he made. Neither Williams' girlfriend or the man who bought the laptop received any reward for testifying, as far as I could find. The gf was awaiting trial on an unrelated crime, but it doesn't seem like she got a plea deal or anything for testifying. The cellmate did receive a reward, so that imo makes his testimony somewhat less persuasive. There was also the fact that he had a history of armed robbery.

However! And this is why his death sentence should have been overturned (regardless of whether you support the existence of the death penalty at all), there were several serious issues with how the crime was investigated, the trial, and post-trial handling of the case.

First, regarding the forensic evidence, the DNA of an initially-unidentified man was found on the knife. It turns out, that DNA belonged to one of the prosecutors who contaminated the evidence by repeatedly handling it without gloves. (This is where people seem confused, claiming that the DNA belongs to the real culprit, but that is false). The fact that the evidence was mishandled alone should have been enough imo to overturn his sentence bc the jury did not have this info when they convicted him.

Second, the prosecuting attorney handling voir dire (jury selection) had a Very Clear racial bias, as he eliminated all but one Black juror, and the reason he gave for eliminating one of them was that he "looked too much like" Williams. Which, I mean. Come on, that's just insanely clear anti-Black racism.

Third, the bizarre, intentional mishandling of this case post-trial. First, the former governor stays the execution and forms a panel of judges to review the case. But then, the new governor suddenly dissolves the panel before they finish their investigation and just decides to lift the stay on the execution. A lawsuit was pending to have another trial into Williams' innocence, given all the new evidence about the mishandling of the trial, but the state supreme court found that they didn't have the authority to withdraw the execution order. Williams accepted a plea deal devised by prosecutors that would have his conviction commuted to life without parole. The state sup. ct. blocked the plea deal. The governor denied his plea for clemency. Basically, the people in positions of final authority seemed absolutely determined to go through with this execution no matter what.

I might've missed some details here, I read a bunch of articles and tried to piece things together, but the length of this post was already getting away from me.

But the point is, I hate how ppl feel the need to oversimplify complex issues and events in order to convince others of the point they're trying to make. It is true that there were actual, material pieces of evidence linking Williams to the crime and that he did have a history of armed robbery. But it's equally true that the investigation and trial were biased and mishandled and that the governor and state supreme court seemed hellbent on having this man executed. Honestly, I don't think he was innocent -- it's undeniable that he was at least involved in the crime in some fashion. HOWEVER, if there is any doubt at all about a person's guilt, the death penalty should be off the table. And there was absolutely doubt. The evidence did not conclusively 100% show that no one else could have committed the murder and the investigation, trial, and post-trial were all very messy to say the least. And that should be enough to make people outraged at his execution! You should be able to accurately present the facts and let people decide whether they agree with you. And yet every post I've seen on this case falsely claims that there was definitive evidence proving that he was completely innocent, portraying him as just some random man the state decided to target despite having no connection to the case.

Even when I agree with the point being made, the disinformation people spread to manipulate others into agreeing with them really pisses me off. It's like we're all mini-politicians nowadays willing to say anything to accomplish our own agendas and I can't trust anything without verifying it with 15 separate independent sources. (I mean I've always done that bc I'm a full time skeptic, but still). This case is just one example, but it's constant and it drives me insane.

And, for the record, I'm not some death penalty fanatic who just loves throwing people in prison for no reason. I have done volunteer work for the Innocence Project, including their death penalty divison which aims to get inmates off of death row. Which is more than most of y'all can say, so.

#and yeah i count rb'ing things without reading articles past the headlines as willfully spreading disinformation #it doesn't take that long to verify the truth of what ur spreading #and i KNOW most of y'all have the time on the loser unemployment website #i looked all this up despite having a full-time job so i know it's possible #long post

15 notes · View notes

thezombieprostitute · 6 months

Text

Sparks Fly - Part 6

Summary: After working as an engineer for Wilford & Gilliam Trust for several years you find evidence of seedy dealings and burned books. After turning in the evidence you find yourself in danger and seek help. You're taken into the protection of a mob family where you run into your high school best friend, Mace.

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: Courtroom stress. Implied violence and murder. Please let me know if I missed any.

Part 5 -- Epilogue

Series Masterlist

During the recess Mace left the courtroom to get some sustenance. He needed something since his nerves had already eaten through his breakfast. He wasn’t allowed to check in on you. No contact with you or the people looking out for you to make sure there was no connection that might be used against your testimony. And it was killing him.

He hit up the nearest vending machine. Not exactly the best option but he didn’t want to stray too far. He kept his eyes moving to his periphery as he watched the candy bar drop. Franco the Younger arriving at the courtroom? Franco the Elder was likely nearby. He knows the security guys are going to be on the alert as well. Maybe they’d already found him and took care of him. Maybe the brothers had both hightailed it. Maybe they were hiding, waiting for an opportunity. There were just too many ‘maybes’ and he needed to calm the hell down.

He turns and tears into the candy bar, hoping the sugar doesn’t make things worse. He looks around and sees Nick coming out of a door labeled ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. Mace makes sure to not look directly at him or draw attention to him in any way but he felt reassured that Nick had done something about at least one of the Francos.

As stressed as he was, he couldn’t imagine how draining this was for you. Having to deal with the barrage of questions, all of the attention focused on you. But damn you were doing an amazing job. He hadn’t had the education and experience you had but he was still able to follow along with your testimony really easily. He hoped that translated to being understandable to the judge and jury.

He hurried back into the courtroom, not wanting to be late for your return. He checked his phone and saw a note from Teach saying she thinks she’s found a job for you but has to discuss the details to make sure it’s a fit. Mace smiles, hope alighting in his chest. He just got you back, finally got to confess his feelings, and there’s a chance he won’t lose you again!

As the trial resumed he hoped you’d be able to see his smile and know that something good was happening.

You wolf down the proffered food and drink. You haven’t had this kind of intense questioning since your Doctorate defense. And that was with people who spoke at your level on these topics! You didn’t have to pull double duty and think of, not just the answer, but how to put the answer in a more generally accessible wording. You’re extra grateful for Scott’s help on that front.

As he’s going through his phone you can see some worry lines form on his brow. You want to ask, but at the same time you’re scared to. If something bad has or will happen, you don’t know that you want to put your tired brain to work trying to process that on top of everything else. It’s scary enough having to give your testimony. Having everyone looking at you. Knowing your every word is being scrutinized.

Scott snaps his fingers in front of your face, startling you out of your panic spiral. “You okay there,” he asks. “Do you need anything?”

“Sorry,” you shake your head. “Just…just started spiraling.”

“For what it’s worth you’re doing an amazing job. I’m nowhere near smart enough for all the technical stuff and even I can follow what you’re saying.”

You smile appreciatively, “how much longer do we have?”

“We’ve got another 20 minutes if you want to stretch your legs or something.”

“More like pacing around the room,” you softly chuckle. They were keeping you in a small, windowless room. The only thing you liked about it was the private bathroom making sure you wouldn’t have to leave Scott’s protection for the public ones.

“Yeah, I know,” he nods. “I’m a pretty active guy so this kind of thing is stifling to me, too. But it is necessary.”

“For my protection,” you concede. “Are there any chocolate chip cookies? I could use some comfort sweets.”

“Of course,” he pulls his phone out again. “I’ll have someone bring a few right now.”

“Thank you,” you say. It’s not as much comfort as being able to be with Mace would provide, but it’s something.

Mace spends the rest of the recess answering questions from his employees and renewing his thanks for them covering for him during the “family emergency”. He’d been so invested in the time spent with you he’d pretty much forgotten about work. That was unheard of since he started working for The Family. Mace chuckled at that thought. He’d been on Curtis to make schedules more consistent so everyone could have planned downtime and then he never actually used his time off. He’d just spend it on-call for the apartments he managed. From what you’d told him your life was pretty similar. Just with a big corporation instead of apartments and mafia intel gathering. Maybe this was a chance for the both of you.

As he’s getting lost in the thought of waking up to you every morning he’s startled out of his daydreaming by the sounds of the trial getting back on. He makes sure to keep a smile on his face. It’s easy to do when he sees you and thinks about getting to spend his time off cuddled up with you. Thinking about getting to hear your laugh every day. Getting to feel your touch. Just getting to be with you without the fear of something or someone taking it away.

You begin answering questions again and Mace spots Nick in his periphery. He’s not sure if that’s a good or bad sign. Is there another hitman here in the crowd? Is Nick just making sure there isn’t someone else? He can’t think about that now. He’s gotta focus on you, reassuring you with a smile if and when you need it. When Nick walks out he does find he can relax a bit more.

When your testimony is over Mace makes a beeline for his truck. On his way out he recognizes Hal in a repairman getup, flirting his way past the front desk. Nick must’ve taken out the younger Franco. Mace feels like he should be helping but he’s been ordered to take care of you first and foremost. You’re his mission.

In the safety of the apartment you let yourself collapse onto the couch. You are beyond exhausted. Mace sits next to you and pulls you in, snuggling you, gently kissing the top of your head, repeatedly telling you what an amazing job you did. You let yourself enjoy the sound of his voice, the feel of his arms holding you tight, the gentleness of his kisses. No concerns, no stress, for just a moment.

“Have you heard anything from Teach,” you ask.

“She texted me earlier today saying she might have something.”

“Did she tell you what?”

“No, she still needs to meet with you and make sure it’s a good fit.”

“The sooner we can meet with her the better. As nice and safe as this apartment is, I know I can’t stay here forever.”

“I’ll ask her when she can stop by,” he kisses the top of your head again. His stomach growls loudly and he blushes, “in the meantime, maybe I should cook up some dinner.” You giggle and let him get to the kitchen.

That night you ask him to sleep in your bed. No sex, you just need to be held. He’s happy to acquiesce.

You’re the first to wake up and the sight of Mace in bed with you makes you feel instantly safe. Remembering that you’re supposed to meet with Teach this morning you check the time.

“Oh, shit,” you exclaim. “AC, wake up! AC, Mace! We slept in!” You start pushing on him and he grumbles awake.

When the words register his eyes snap open, “what time is it?”

“We’ve got about 20 minutes before she’s supposed to be here,” you jump out of bed and go to change.

“Shit,” Mace hisses and follows suit.

You’re both scrambling to change out of your pajamas while also trying to sneak looks at each other. Mace’s build is so much more muscular than you were expecting. The strong arms were one thing but seeing how thick and firm his entire body seems to have become has you stifling a groan.

Mace grabs his phone and sees the text from Teach that she and Curtis are almost there and they’re bringing breakfast. He lets out a sigh, thankful that he at least doesn’t have to worry about food. He’s catching glimpses of you getting dressed and has to keep himself in check. If he didn’t have to worry about timing he’d have already smacked your gorgeous ass and pinned you to the bed.

The two of you manage to get dressed and brush your teeth just as Mace receives the text that Teach and Curtis are here, confirmed by the knock at the door.

When everyone is settled in and eating, Teach tells you what she’s found. “It’s not a high paying job and it’s definitely not high profile like you’re used to, but the free clinics the Family sponsors, need someone to maintain their medical equipment. You’d be reporting directly to Dr. Chris Beck, the Family’s primary physician and the man in charge of keeping the clinics running smoothly. I’m pretty sure you’ll be asked to help with other daily operations, nothing that would violate HIPAA nor anything that would require an actual medical degree, nursing or otherwise.”

You nod as you eat. She’s not wrong that it would be quite the pay cut but she promises that, not only would you, unofficially, be on the Family’s payroll, but that there would be a lot of benefits. You also appreciated that you’d still be allowed, if not encouraged, to continue pursuing your engineering interests. Patents could be negotiated as they came up but those, and any papers you wrote, would all have your name on them.

While you’re going over those details, Curtis and Mace are talking about their work. Mace has to get back to managing and intel gathering within a few days. Especially since it turns out Franco the Elder is on a bit of a rampage. The Wilford & Gilliam company is looking at major fines and payments to families hurt by their products so they’re tightening the grip on their resources. The elder Franco is going out and causing fear in their territory, reminding their people who is in charge. It’s a prime situation for a coup and the Family needs to keep all of their eyes and ears at work with this.

By the time Teach and Curtis head out you’ve signed all of the required paperwork to start your new job. Hell, your new life. Looking over your things you realize, “I’m definitely not going to be able to keep my apartment. I wonder if there’s a studio near one of the clinics.”

“You could always move in with me,” Mace offers. “It’s only a one-bedroom but I can sleep on the couch.”

“Why would you sleep on the couch if it’s your apartment?”

“Because I’m a gentleman like that,” he retorts with a smile.

“Or, we could share the bed,” you tease. “Like last night. But maybe with a little less clothing. Or are you too much of a gentleman for that?”

In a blink Mace has you pinned with your back against the wall, his mouth on yours, his hands roaming and squeezing. You can’t help but moan into his mouth as you wrap your arms around his neck, urging him not to stop.

He chuckles at your whine when he pulls away to catch his breath, “don’t worry, DC. I’ll make sure the sparks fly with every kiss.”

Part 5 -- Epilogue

Series Masterlist

Tagging:

@alicedopey

@chibijusstuff

@icefrozendeadlyqueen

@jamneuromain

@jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory

@rebekahdawkins

@texmexdarling

Please let me know if you'd like to be tagged.

#mafia!james mace #mob!james mace #james mace x reader #mace x reader #mafia au #mafia!mace #mob!mace

34 notes · View notes

mim526 · 1 year

Text

How Do You Solve the Problem of Harry

From Daily Mail:

‘Our country is judged globally by the state of our Press and our Government — both of which I believe are at rock bottom. Democracy fails when your Press fails to scrutinise and hold the Government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so that they can ensure the status quo.’ ~~ Testimony given in court June 7, 2023 by Harry Mountbatten-Windsor, 5th in line to British throne

Now he's done it. Harold has truly set the fox among the chickens.

Excerpts from one of the best summaries I've read of the situation with Harry and what needs to be done to address it:

"...what he wrote about [the Government] being at ‘rock bottom’ amounts to an unprecedented attack by a senior member of the Royal Family (Harry is fifth in line to the throne). No such royal broadside against elected politicians has ever before been delivered during the history of our constitutional monarchy. It is deplorable — and dangerous.

"...Yet here is the highly privileged Harry, who wrongly accuses the Press as a whole of not holding the ‘rock bottom’ Government to account, doing his utmost to curb newspapers — so that they won’t be free to hold rich and powerful people like him to account. It’s mind-boggling. "This spoilt and entitled man can say whatever he likes, however self-serving. I don’t even mind too much his ignorant attacks on the Press since the Fourth Estate can look after itself, and has survived more formidable foes than Harry

"What I do object to is his assault on the Government — not because I like this crew very much or esteem their competence, but because they are our elected representatives, and shouldn’t be publicly excoriated by an unelected, and foolish, senior member of the Royal Family. "Our constitutional arrangements are a delicate organism, the product of past divisions and compromise. We tolerate — some of us may revere — an unelected head of state, and a Royal Family with all the trimmings, on the firm understanding that they stand apart from politics. "It has worked well enough for the past 200 years because, with a few exceptions, we have had monarchs who have understood the limits of their powers, and respected the right of elected politicians to govern, albeit with the benefit of royal advice. "Of course, no one better understood the importance of safeguarding this precious relationship between Crown and Parliament than our late Queen, Elizabeth II. How Harry’s coarse political invective would have grieved her. "He’s like an unguided missile, sighting enemies here and there, emitting a good deal of smoke and making lots of noise, before finally crashing to earth with an inevitable explosion — and then mysteriously taking off again, seeking some new target. "In short, he’s potentially lethal. If he describes the Government today as ‘rock bottom’, next month or next year he will unearth another disobliging adjective in defiance of our constitutional traditions.... "Or he may direct his rage once more against the royal institution that nurtured him and endowed him with such significance as he will ever have in this world. His father the King hasn’t been immune to his criticisms in the past, and won’t be in the future. "Harry is a divisive figure. He sets people against each other on issues ranging from the Press to the Royal Family to racism and now, his latest bugbear, the Tory Government. "We can work on the assumption this tumultuous character isn’t suddenly going to learn how to behave. That’s never going to happen, with him 6,000 miles away in California, and Meghan by his side. Their future income depends on fomenting controversy. "Harry is the King’s number one problem. And it is not, as Charles should know and his mother certainly realised, primarily a family problem, though it’s partly that. Harry is chiefly dangerous because he is a constitutional liability. "The King loves his errant younger son, despite the lack of respect he has shown to him. I’m sure he hopes Harry will one day return to the fold. But think of the damage he could do before that happens. And of course he might never return. "If the two of them were still close, and spoke to each other, a way might still be found of persuading Harry to stop stirring. But he is alienated from his father, and the rift inevitably widens with every inept public intervention. "There’s only one way. It may be hard for the King as a father, but it should be easy for him as a monarch and head of state. Prince Harry must be told that if he wishes to remain a member of the Royal Family, he will have to behave as members of the Royal Family are expected to. "If he can’t accept this ultimatum — and I don’t imagine he could — Prince Harry must become a private citizen, in which role his facile declamations will soon be barely noticed, and cause no more damage to the country he once served."

What this journalist did not say is

Even if he agrees with Harry about the government -- King Charles needs to initiate action as monarch/head of state to a) give Harry the ultimatum to behave as a royal then b) work with Parliament to divest Harry of his royal status if he refuses to comply.

The Prime Minister as head of the government needs to view Harry's comments re: the government given in court as the constitutional crisis they are and accordingly, advise the King to take this action

What could/should happen to Charles as monarch if he does not deal with the legitimate and serious constitutional crisis a senior member of the monarchy has created.

Interesting discussion of monarch/prime minister roles: What role should the monarch have in a constitutional crisis? | The Constitution Unit Blog (constitution-unit.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are way past W&C vs. C&C fandoms now. This journalist is absolutely correct that Harry is Charles' number one problem for which there is but one solution. We can debate whether Charles was a good father; he certainly was and is a loving one.

Being a good monarch is more than charitable works and long hours on the job. I would argue that more consequences for bad behavior as a child could have addressed the uber entitlement/arrogance underlying Harry's foolhardy, but dangerous activities as an adult. There weren't consequences, however, so here we are. Harry's responsible for Harry now, period, full stop.

I hope Charles can be persuaded to firm his resolve and do what he won't want to but needs to do to preserve the monarchy. It cannot survive if Harry is allowed to continue pitting it against the government. That is not an exaggeration: Harry made very clear he was acting as an HRH and senior member of the royal family when suing the British press and speaking against the British government. Word to the wise, Harry will not stop with the British government....

#Harry #MirrorGroupTestimony #ConstitutionalCrisis #It'sCrunchTime

108 notes · View notes

thebottomfromhell · 17 days

Text

I am completely sorry for leaving you all hanging again, this apology is probable very cheap at this point, it's been rough lately. Right now I feel as if my mental health was in shambles. You see, I sometimes do work for my mother, who is a judge, and write of some testimonies on court and the last one really got to me. It was a SA case between cousins, one a young adult (the accused) the other a teen (the victim) in which almost everyone took the side of the accused, creating the story the girl (the victim) was lying, that it was "consented" but she fear the consecuences from her mother, who everyone in that family knew was abusive but nobody ever did everything. I have been hoing through statement after statement, writting people defending the guy and I'm done, I'm exhausted, both mentally and emotionally. Never a case has gotten me this much.

I really don't want to turn this into a ramble, it wouldn't be appropriate of me to take this things out here. But I want to give you some tipa if you are ever in court or need to take something, specially SA, to court. Idk, I feel this is the minimun I should be doing.

Check the actual age of consent where you live. There is an age where is you are touched or anything sexual is done it you, is automatically considered rape, but that age is never "under 18". In most places from 13 years old to older you WILL need proof that it was forced/violent to prove it was not consented. That being said, be aware that an adult going for a minor, while not ilegal, IS creepy, IS bad and actions should be always taken.

The first thing you do if you are hurt and want to take it to court is go to get medical attention, the first. Same thing if something happens to someone you know, if you don't know what to do, go get medical attention. In some countries there are medical centers linked with the local investigation/cop organization, those WILL be cheaper. Always tell the one attenting you what happened, sometimes they will lead you to a doctor/psycologist/investigator dedicated to court.

You WILL have to give several testimonies most of the time, one to the police/investigators if included, one to the lawyers, and one to the court/jury. Sometimes the jury and lawyer will use your previous testimonies to clarify things or spot contradictions. Everyone in court have these documents at hand, so don't you even think of changing the story and ALWAYS specify if you are adding a detail you disn't say before and say why you didn't add it.

Your testimony and statements must always be as detailed as possible, never assume, while they do, that the jury knows what happened. You are the one telling. In case of SA you must say the name of the specific body parts that were touched, with what and how. It's all for it to be coherent with the results of the medical evaluation.

In most cases you will have to wait years for evidence and people to be recolegted to have some to go to court. It's valid if you don't remember everything, but take note on places, time and date, and if possible, faces and/or names (nicknames count too).

"I don't know" and "I don't remember" are VALID answers in court, always say this lines instead of lying.

Never refer that you don't remember other testimonies you gave, it gives the impression you don't remember your "lines". Just say "I don't remember what happened exactly, what I remember is..."

Sometimes layers will ask the same thing several times, phrased differently, in order to get a different answer. Don't be ashame to repeat the answer and call them off by saying "I already answered (say the answer again)" in case the lawyer in your side is bad and doesn't object the question for repetitive.

In case of vaginal rape, AFAB people have all different types of hymen, it doesn't always break, but there are still other rypes of vaginal scarring. Infections are also common in case of SA. Penetration of almost any type leaves scaring, other forms of touch that are not punches or hit does not.

Try, if you have the means, to have a psicologist with experience in court (in spanish profesionals linked to court are called peritos) and colaborate. Even if you don't have the symptoms of a "good victim" "default victim", you WILL have simptoms, that their testimony explaining thems helps a lot to make the jury believe you.

In some places if you are a family member of the accused you will be obligated to attend to court but you will have the right of not giving testimony if you fear your word can be used agaisnt that person. The accused also tends to have the right of not giving testimony, and if they do give testimony they are not obligated by law to say the truth unlike witnnesses (because, let's be real. Who is going to admit it?)

You can be charged for lying in court, conviction will change depending where you live. However, if nobody (the lawyers, the judges and the jury) decide to let it slide in order to not make a whole new case based in that you lied, you might get away with it, specially if you lied in a detail. (Really, I have seen so many people get away with it.)

Anyone who fears being accused of rape over being raped doesn't know shit and it's a massive red flag. In court you have to prove both that there was "sex" and that it was "forced" as two separate things. Most of the time you can't prove it without scars that match a medical history and proves of violence used against the victim. Most of SA cases never get to court anyway, then proving it is even harder.

Always anwser the question of the lawyer first and then explain. First, because your testimony is being registered so that makes it easy to mark, and second, if you start with the explanation you might loose the focus and not only never answer the question, but it looks af if you are making an excuse.

Most white cisgender straight people, specially man, don't really know what SA is. Most of them will think that doing it while the other person is drunk, to give an ultimatum, to insist until the other will allow in order to be left alone, to scare them into doing it, anything if there wasn't penetration, or even things like groping and catcalling don't count as SA. They do. So most of these people will defend the idea that it wasn't SA because they genuinely don't understand that what they did was SA. Always be explicit and precise with what happened.

Related to the other point, most people, again cis staight men mostly, think that it has to be violent, that one must be forced to submit, and there must be punches for it to be rape. That is not the case, but always be prepared to have to fight off this idea.

Defense lawyers, in my personal experience, tend to be assholes more than any other lawyer. Some will even treat the case as if winning a competition over making justice.

Cases CAN be reopen if a LAWYER asks for it, but most of the time it doesn't work because witnneses refuse to go a second time, specially the victims as it opens wpunds and forces them to live the trauma again, specially with minors.

It can vary in different countries, but most of the time is actually harder to condemn than not. To condemn the judges have to specify what evidence makes the story of ehat happened believable, build up a story/theory of that happened linked to everything exposed and the sentence must be approved by the jury. On the other hand, a "there wan't enough evidence" is enough to absolve. (That is why to reopen the case might lead to setting the accused free in a easier way, since there aren't as many testimonies nor as many evidence as the last time)

Some lawyer of defense, this links from the two previous point, will be assholes for that, to make the work harder for everyone. Witnesses, other lawyers, judges and jury alike, so the evidence and testimonies can't be collected properly.

I will see if later I have anything more to say, but this is all I can recolect for now. Reminder that laws might change depending where you live, always check them and try to be aware of your rights.

#i don't know what to tag #i'm just so tired #i'm sorry again #promise I will be working in your asks

13 notes · View notes

gatheringbones · 11 months

Text

[“Beyond the glamorous magazine covers of celebrity activists, beyond the surface-level empowerment rhetoric deployed by influencers and millionaire actors, survivor justice movements haven’t actually progressed that far in the mainstream, contrary to narratives that it’s progressed “too far.” It’s been well over a decade now since a Nebraska judge in 2008 prohibited a rape victim from even using the word “rape” during her testimony—she was one of several women told during their 2000s trials to use the more palatable term “sexual assault” instead, ostensibly to help their case.

Not much has changed nearly two decades later. On the 2021 HBO miniseries Catch and Kill, an exploration of the rigorous journalism that led to Weinstein’s undoing, New Yorker deputy editor Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn recalled at one point, “Weinstein’s team was pushing very, very hard for us to not use the term rape, to use assault—and it seemed that was the direction things were going.” Tammy Kim, a New Yorker fact checker, added, “There were a couple colleagues who were skeptical or thought readers would be skeptical if we characterized certain acts as rape.” “Would using the term be sensationalist?” journalist Ronan Farrow then asked Kim and New Yorker head of research Fergus McIntosh, who were responsible for fact-checking the Weinstein report. McIntosh responded, “Being cautious about something isn’t an excuse for not telling the truth about it. Being cautious means being really sure about what happened.”

As Catch and Kill and the US Department of Justice explain, sexual assault is legally defined as “an attempt or apparent attempt to inflict bodily injury upon another by using unlawful force, accompanied by the apparent ability to injure that person if not prevented.” Rape is legally defined as an “act of unlawful sexual intercourse accompanied through force or threat of force by one party and implying lack of consent and resistance by the other party.” The extensive conversations that guided the New Yorker’s editorial choice to specify that several women alleged Weinstein had raped them are a focal point of that particular Catch and Kill episode. But even beyond the docuseries, the policing of victims and survivors’ language and characterizations of their lived experiences persists all around us.

In the introduction of Chanel Miller’s memoir Know My Name, in which Miller recounts her story of surviving sexual assault perpetrated by Stanford rapist Brock Turner, she writes: “The FBI defines rape as any kind of penetration. But in California, rape is narrowly defined as the act of sexual intercourse. For a long time I refrained from calling [Turner] a rapist, afraid of being corrected. Legal definitions are important. So is mine. He filled a cavity in my body with his hands. I believe he is not absolved of the title simply because he ran out of time.”

When we hyperfixate on correcting the language survivors use that feels most honest and true to their lived experience with trauma, what we may be striving for is accuracy and a patriarchal conception of objectivity—but really, we’re just reinforcing the ways that patriarchy protects abusers by casting doubt on victims and their credibility.

Whenever survivors speak up, they’re frequently forced to hear some condescending argument about how false accusations happen—and they do—but without the crucial context that all credible research shows this is highly rare, and there is nothing to gain and everything to lose from coming forward about experiencing sexual assault. When we focus on a very narrow set of experiences over a far more common one—that one in five women is a victim of completed or attempted rape—this is a direct manifestation of violent, sexist power dynamics. The maintenance of these power dynamics relies on the implicit and explicit characterization of women and victims as untrustworthy. They are either purposeful liars or, at best, irrational, overly emotional, and likely to exaggerate—for example, by erroneously calling their experience a rape.”]

kylie cheung, from survivor injustice: state-sanctioned abuse, domestic violence, and the fight for bodily autonomy, 2023

#kylie cheung #cw rape #cw abuse #currently reading

27 notes · View notes

akiology · 1 year

Text

In the Dead of the Night || Part 3

You are married to two of the most infamous information brokers in Tokyo.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Word Count: 1.1k Pairing: Akira Kurusu x Reader x Goro Akechi Note: THIS IS AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!! this chapter focuses more on akechi's history! also i am still not sure how long this is gonna be so you might see me gradually add parts to the links haha

The thought of never being born delights Akechi. And it's not just because of his self loathing, although it plays a part, but he genuinely thinks that his mother's life would be so much better if he was never born. His mother was definitely not the best, but she tried. That is what Akechi experienced and believed.

He didn't know much about his mother's life before she had him, but he knows her life would have been so much better. When she chose the active decision to keep him, is when her misery started. Many people shunned and judged his mother for having a child out of wedlock. She had lesser job opportunities, and thus she resorted to being a nightclub worker.

He was not dumb, he knew the kind of work his mother does. When his mother brings someone home she would give him some spare change and send him to the bathhouse. But regardless, he wishes to grow up fast so that he can work instead and get his mother out of that hellhole.

Until... that day.

"Mama! I am home!"

"Mama?"

".... Mama? What happened to you?"

Perhaps if he wasn't born, then maybe her mother would have had a stable job, and married to a man who will actually take care of her. Maybe if he wasn't born, then maybe she would not have to work herself to the bone, to the point where she could not recognize the person in the mirror. Maybe if he wasn't born, then maybe... she would actually be happy.

But he was born, and there's nothing he could do to change that. But what he can do is become stronger, powerful, to the point of untouchable, so that he and all the people he loves will no longer be resorted to the kind of pain he felt as a kid. And to make Masayoshi Shido, his asshole of a father, pay. The thought of him groveling pathetically while on his knees and at his complete mercy... Akechi smiles at thought.

/./

"You know... you seem a little too young," A man clad in an expensive suit looks over Akechi's resume. He is incredibly smart yes, but he is just a college student.

"I am more than qualified for the job regardless of my age," Akechi confidently answers, and flashed the guy a big smile.

The man seemed to mull it over. While Akechi is young, all they needed was a scapegoat. Currently, news of illegal activities has been circling around their company. The higher-ups needed someone to eventually take the blame, a fall guy, but they put it under the guise of looking for a new secretary.

"Alright, kid."

Little did they know, Akechi knew. And underestimating him was what caused their downfall.

/./

"Boss?" Akechi one day approached his office, with a folder filled with business documents in hand.

"Yes, Akechi-san? I am very busy, so I am going to need for you to make this quick," he was dismissive.

Akechi sighs, "I got a call earlier this morning. I am apparently under investigation?"

"Ah yes. Be sure to be on your best behavior." He looked away from Akechi and focused on the documents he had on the table.

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Akechi was surprised.

"Hm? What else do you expect me to say?"

Akechi's expression greatly darkened. "Don't play dumb with me, old man. I could just turn you in to the police right now."

"Ha! Don't get cocky, kid. Nobody will believe you."

"That's true, whatever will I do?" Akechi laughed, but it was dry. "I have detailed documents and evidences of the illegal shit you do around here. I also have a few anonymous people that are willing to turn in their testimonies."

"Oh? And you think that's enough? I have more power and influence over you. Just throw some money their way and they will shut up."

"Have you no shame?"

"That is nothing. It is a dog-eat-dog world. The weak are weeded out. I am merely cutting down costs, and allocating more funds for the betterment of the company."

"They were going directly to your pockets."

"Well, I am the head of the company so I think it is well-deserved!" He laughed boisterously.

Akechi brought out his phone, clearly showing their conversation was recorded. "With just the press of a button, I could send this to the police right now."

"You! You wouldn't."

"I won't if you give me what I want."

"And what is that?"

"A bar."

/./

The old man stayed true to his word, and Akechi found himself being the owner of a bar in Kichijoji. After he established himself and his bar gaining enough profit to sustain himself, he decided to take care of the only link he has that could destroy him.

"Are you Goro Akechi?"

"Yes I am," Akechi was seated in front of a certain Sae Nijima. She was a prosecutor who was chasing down his previous boss, but did not have enough evidence to warrant an arrest, much less an investigation.

"I was told that you could help me with one of my cases."

"Jin Fukuhara, my previous boss. I have detailed evidences of his corruption, and how he silenced any employees that go against him. He also has ties to some shady dealings with the yakuza," Akechi handed a portfolio filled with the information, and raised a pouch. "Inside this is a USB device with his confession, and the testimonies of his workers."

"You... this... This could be good for my career!" Sae gawked at the papers in her hand, but then narrowed her eyes at Akechi. "What do you want in exchange for this?"

"Just keep my name out of this, and remove any connections my bar, Jazz Jin, has with him. I will rebrand."

"That..."

"This is good you know? My bar is known to attract customers who may have valuable information that could help you in future cases..."

And so Jazz Jin became The Jazz Bar. Jin Fukuhara was sentenced to prison time. Sae Nijima found herself with an unlikely consultant who did not want to be named in her operations. That's fine, she gets all the credits for her cases so it's a win-win.

/./

"Where are we going, Akira?" Akechi grumbled, feeling perturbed especially since they left you behind.

"We have a client, they want to meet at somewhere near Shibuya." Akira was just as displeased, but they it is not like they can easily turn their backs on their jobs. It would have been even more dangerous if they did.

"What about the bar?"

"I've asked Ryuji and Yusuke to take care of it."

Akechi sighed, resigning himself to the job. "Who's our client?"

"Someone named Kaneshiro."

#persona x reader #akira x reader #fanfic #goro akechi #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #akira kurusu x reader #goro akechi x reader #goro x reader #reader-insert #reader insert

43 notes · View notes

heartofstanding · 1 year

Note

What are the famous rumors about Margaret of Anjou? What's the attack on her? Is there a book that objectively describes her? As for her son Edward, is he really an arrogant and cruel person in the description?

Hello anon, I answered the first part of your question on my Lancastrian history sideblog here.

The book I always recommend on Margaret is Helen Maurer's Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power. This is less of a biography and more of an academic study of her queenship so that may not be what you want, but it's pretty much the standard text on her. Maurer writes in her preface that she thought Margaret was a "real bitch on wheels" before she began her research but found a much more complex and sympathetic woman throughout the course of her research so that might count as "objective" in the sense that this is where Maurer's research led her rather than a pre-conceived idea directing her research.

The other books on Margaret are:

Jacob Abbott, Margaret of Anjou. I don't recommend this because it was published in 1877 and is therefore superseded by well over a century of research.

Amy Licence, A Marriage of Unequals: Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. Licence isn't the best with sources (often giving Victorian historians the same weight/authority as a medieval source) and from memory, she's a bit too forgiving of Margaret but it's fine.

B. M. Cron, Margaret of Anjou and the Men Around Her. I have a copy of this but haven't read it in full; Cron is sympathetic but sometimes judges Margaret harshly. I'm not fond of some of her summations but Cron is one of the leading scholars on Margaret and her stuff is always worth reading.

B. M. Cron and Helen Maurer, The Letters of Margaret of Anjou. This is collection of the surviving letters Margaret wrote, not a biography. Could be interesting for further reading, though.

Joanna Arman, Margaret of Anjou: She-Wolf of France, Twice Queen of England. I haven't read this and I don't have a copy yet so I can't comment fully on it; I believe it's a sympathetic take and I've enjoyed Arman's scholarship on Henry V so I'm cautiously hopeful.

As for Edward of Lancaster...

The truth is we know very, very little about Edward of Lancaster. He was only alive for eighteen years and spent most of his life in exile. The most famous description of him comes from Giovanni Pietro Panicharolla, a Milanese ambassador in France, who wrote:

As the king [Louis XI of France] persisted in his praise of the Earl of Warwick, the duke [of Calabria, Margaret's brother] said that as he was so fond of him he ought to try and restore his sister in that kingdom, when he would make sure of it as much as he was sure at present and even more so. The king asked what security they would give or if they would offer the queen’s son as a hostage. This boy, though only thirteen years of age, already talks of nothing but of cutting off heads or making war, as if he had everything in his hands or was the god of battle or the peaceful occupant of that throne

Panicharolla detested the Angevins (Margaret's birth family and on whom she and Edward were reliant while living in exile in France) so we should hesitate to put too much weight on his testimony. We also have to accept that Edward was living in and had lived in circumstances where this sort of attitude was entirely understandable. From a Lancastrian perspective, the Yorkists were traitors. They had deposed his father, attainted his entire family, disinherited him, and had spread rumours of his mother's adultery and declared him a bastard. They were the reason he had lived pretty much "on the run" since he was a small child and were the reason why he and his mother were living in reduced circumstances and in exile. He was also only twelve years old at the time so he does very much have the excuse of youth.

Chief Justice John Fortescue also gives us a few snapshots of Edward of Lancaster in De Laudibus Legum Angliae. This was a text that appears to be a legal treatise combined with a "mirror for princes" advice text, so whether or not the Edward Fortescue wrote about is the "real" Edward can probably be debated - he might represent an ideal Edward or a figurative Edward who plays the role of studen to Fortescue's teacher. Fortescue includes a wish that Edward would be as

devoted to the study of the laws with the same zeal as you are to that of arms, since, as battles are determined by arms, so judgements are by laws.

But it's impossible to tell if this is a real reflection of Edward's character or a construction of Edward as a student in need of Fortescue's legal knowledge. Here's another snippet:

The prince, as soon as he became grown up, gave himself over entirely to martial exercises; and, seated on fierce and half-tamed steeds urged on by his spurs, he often delighted in attacking and assaulting the young companions attending him, sometimes with a lance, sometimes with a sword, sometimes with other weapons, in a warlike manner and in accordance with the rules of military discipline.

This might sound alarming but it's important to remember that Fortescue seems to be viewing this positively - this is what Edward should be doing (note the reference to "in accordance to the rules of military discipline"). We could also look to the idea that this was something a medieval king or prince was supposed to be doing. Thomas Walsingham criticised the favourites of Richard II by saying:

they were the knights of Venus rather than knights of Bellona [Roman goddess of war], more valiant in the bedchamber than on the field, armed with words rather than weapons, prompt in speaking but slow in performing the acts of war.

We also find a similar comment about Henry V's wild youth, where the Vita Henrici Quinti records that, "although under the military service of Mars, he seethed youthfully with the flames of Venus too". In other words, if Fortescue's criticism of Edward of Lancaster was that he paying too much attention to warfare and not to his legal studies, he at least wasn't neglecting his studies and his military training to become "more valiant in the bedchamber".

Again, this is understandable from an emotional perspective. The only way Edward's family could return to the throne is through warfare so of course he's going to dedicate himself to readying himself for war.

We have very little evidence of anything else. Beyond Panicharolla's account (which, as I've said, is hardly an unbiased account), there is little to suggest that Edward was "arrogant and cruel". Yorkist efforts at denigrating him seemed to focus most on the question of birth and legitimacy. Yorkists (both contemporary and modern) have tended to want to demonise Edward as the head of the Lancastrian resistance, to undercut any support and loyalty he might claim and show him to be the inferior alternative to Yorkist rule. It's not uncommon to see a modern day Yorkist snark about how the Lancastrians were fully aware of their status as illegitimate kings and thus should have stepped down and bowed down to the Yorks. In other words, Edward's arrogance is his refusal to accept that his claim was inferior to the Yorkist claim.

The apparently obvious inferiority of the Lancastrian claim was not obvious at the time, either. There was considerable confusion around the succession throughout the late Middle Ages, no clear-cut answer as to who had the "rightful" claim. And even if there was, the simple fact is that had any Lancastrian king or prince willingly stepped down, they would still be a focal point for resistance to the new king and whether or not they were willing to play that role, they knew this would put them at serious risk. From Edward of Lancaster's perspective, he was the son of the anointed King and Queen of England, his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been anointed kings.

We also have to consider the impact of the Ricardian movement on Edward's reputation. Edward, after all, was Anne Neville's first husband and Richard her second. Ricardians generally accept the Yorkist image of Edward as arrogant and cruel, but react to the marriage in two ways, by downplaying the marriage or by insisting on its violence.

In the first option, it is argued that the marriage was never consummated because Margaret wanted to keep Edward free for a more advantageous marriage and intended to get the marriage annulled. Thus, the marriage was never a "true marriage" and Richard III was Anne's one and true husband (with all that entails). Usually, Edward and Margaret treat Anne like dirt - after all, she is not "worthy" of the marriage - to emphasise how horrible this marriage would be for Anne. In the second option, Edward is abusive and rapes Anne, who is generally assumed to be nothing but a tragic pawn forced to reluctantly marry her enemy and bear this abuse as best she can, allowing Richard III to soothe her trauma and show her what love, marriage and sex is really like.

There is absolutely no evidence for either option. It is possible that this is what happened but, imo, unlikely. It would be rather short-sighted, cruel and remarkably stupid to mistreat Warwick's daughter when they were still reliant on Warwick (they did not know of his death until their return to England in 1471) to gain back his throne. They could not risk antagonising him, even if they wanted to - and we don't know that they wanted to. They may have been justifiably angry at Warwick was his past wrongs but Anne was not her father, it doesn't follow that they automatically took their anger out on her as a stand-in for her father. They may have very logically understood that a 14 year old girl was not responsible for her father's actions, and endeavoured to have a positive relationship with her. Hell, they might have even liked her for herself. Edward and Anne could even have become friends or fallen in love! We just don't know because there's no evidence.

We know very little about Anne Neville herself. The fact that Edward was commemorated as her husband in the Beauchamp Pageant (probably commissioned by Anne Beauchamp, Anne Neville's mother, probably made over 10 years since Edward's death) suggests that Anne and her mother's feelings about him were more complex than historians and historical novelists have tended to allow her.

In conclusion: we have no idea but there's not a lot of evidence to support the idea that he was especially arrogant and cruel. This reputation seems to be the result of largely non-contemporary Yorkist and Ricardian narratives and is fairly unevidenced.

#edward of lancaster #margaret of anjou #asks #anon

27 notes · View notes

danco110 · 8 months

Text

“So, what kinda motley crew am I looking at here, detective? Cause it don’t look like any one of the Families to me.”

“Well, sir, that’s a bit of a weird story.”

The rookie detective stepped past her boss, and pointed to the row of thugs standing in the mugshot room. She gestured to each criminal in turn as she explained the situation. “So, to start, we didn’t pick up these five. They turned themselves in.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. And they…admitted, too? I think that’s the word.”

“‘Confessed,’ detective.”

The young detective pulled the bill of her hat down over her eyes in embarrassment. “Sorry, I guess I’m just not used to having our arrestees…confessing, you said?”

“It happens,” chuckled the older sleuth. “So, nothing to do with Family ‘business.’”

“So we think, anyways,” nodded the detective. “Then we looked into their…alibi?”

“Testimony.”

“Right. And we found some pretty concrete evidence that they made a victim of - this - man.”

The young detective slapped a folder down onto a nearby table, conveniently opening it from the force of impact against the hardwood. A set of photographs flew free from the manila, all depicting a striking aven in a dark suit. Her boss looked at the pictures, eyes growing wide with recognition.

“Oh. Him. Lemme guess, they disappeared him?”

“Well, that’s one word for it. I doubt there’s enough left of him to get an autopsy on, judging from their, uh, testimony. I’ll say that much.”

“I see,” grumbled the older detective. “Well, I’m sad to see him go, but to be honest, he’s had this coming for a long time…coming.”

The rookie nodded. “So they said. Uh, just one thing, sir: how did you say you knew the victim, again?”

“Well, I met him…er…” Now it was the older detective’s turn to pull down his hat. “Well, let’s just say he was something of a heartbreaker.”

“That lines up with their testimony,” muttered the rookie, as she bit back a laugh. “Hey, at least you didn’t join them in this mess.”

“Right…”

[Scene: Aven Heartstabber dies, milling its controller two. Then later in the game, they recur a full five with Rogues’ Gallery, in part thanks to the milled two.]

#mtg #magic the gathering #new capenna #story bites

17 notes · View notes

ketchhhaglendadelle · 5 months

Text

路線どThis is a route.

ロ円どThis is Loyal Road.

Wanna bounce? Click here!

( ^-^)ノ∠※。.:*:・'°☆

地帯ネ Chine; This is a local area.

賃上げ How about a wage increase here?

youtube

Damη δats some opening schleam

Dear Maria Bartiromo,

When the "Nazi's" inevitably 'come up' offer people w good squint@

youtube

そいちいノモのと呂

S'Neice (*´-`)Coqpuncher(￣ヘ￣メ)

(#ﾟДﾟ)y-~~((ヾ(≧皿≦ﾒ)ﾉ))

And that's why:

youtube

Ducks honk and

Women gasp

WYD, I have come to rue the day at a toronto restaurant tower Reservations!

But; First off, may I begin with noting that it woyld all depend on your definition of Italy where a long funeral is televised with a jump scar

Pope John Paul II, dead again

Found Dead at the Vatican

Aged 84:Σ緒

So the "judge asks ,politely what seems to be the material instigation? Inert Paws, it looks like a Ritz cracker with a square of Cheddar topped with carrot shaves and a couple raisins then microwaved 'tillimperialslimyum someone's doublinkHyperBeam old man.ALT左児:Everybody Loves Raymond;yeah the dentist thing

And the response, simply 'put 'is the look on Lisa Rubin's face the fir$ time she hears her $aff's

been adding $ I'm to things they want to c'mon lplease sußscribe a penis off screen ends up in a garbage disposal

そ呂Be aware the air Is always s.darko you

Sewage cleansing

cleansing

Chapter 12

Those with songbooks they stole from a hotel room at home feel free to

Jem was twelve.

follow along

I must be patient with him and disturb him as little as possible.

It really doesn't look like she's going to get to lily before lily gets to the garbage disposal switch

"Mister Jem?"

"It: was the best of times,

His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him I consulted Atticus: "Reckon he's got a tapeworm?"

it: was the worst of times, it

After one altercation when Jem hollered, "It's time you started bein' a girl and acting right!"

t.hing XtAright!

was the age of wisdom,

This change in Jem had come about in a matter of weeks.

"Don't you fret too much over Mister Jem--" she began.

it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of

He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody.

belief, it

Mrs. Dubose was not cold in her grave--Jem had seemed grateful enough for my company when he went to read to her.

was the epoch of incredulity,

фывапролджэйцукенгшщзхячсмитьбю,.1234567890!@#₽%^&*()-'":;,?FINDYOURSELF6and^andбand;semicolonand!exclamationPointConnectedStraightThroughToPardonPageTopicalFire

it w

"Baby," said Calpurnia, "I just can't help it if Mister Jem's growin' up. He's

as the sea

Atticus said no, Jem was growing.

son o

Overnight, it seemed, Jem had acquired an alien set of values and was trying to impose them on me: several times he went so far as to tell me what to do.

f light, i

"Yeah, he's just about Mister Jem now.

t was the se

I burst into tears and fled to Calpurnia.

on of dark

"He ain't that old," I said. "All he needs is somebody to beat him up, and I ain't

ness, it wa

big enough."

s the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" is a famous opening paragraph from Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities"

An entire Novel

written to enhance

For newspaper subscribers

A less than whole page

TKAMBEone2

...Jan 6 theTexasMassacre

brought上Twice 参捻拗 number fore間yes

The Hanky Pangs円

in エエ under four minutes

So they go over it again la dee da las dit da. Look what we find so we thought you thought China was bone plate it's really a Cartesian Orient. Orei 'Storm clouds. RAIN clears in One two three steps. Japanese, impossible

Simplification: A member of Mika Brezinski's staff is waiting to 'enter' Hannah's, inevitably sexually abused body, post testimony for a classic! Obama '12 second chance;$175M

Why can't I party with Biden? I have my own plane:

TRUMP

by bae

youtube

No shit that show's theme's the scene from signs where the family gets on top of the van. You didn't catch the exchenge midlürek

The Alphabet

-Jean-Louise Finch❧

Scout: abcdefgNaRuけーナル

Csee 目mee 四Four 糸years 五clear

ABCDEFGHighmusickleSwitch Activated

Oak the Pokémon¶rof

OAK 鐶謹厶 This is a house.

the iron house; actually.

A: it was the time no one realized they were participating as Jury 日jerk.リ of The Brittiah Empire of Newfoundland and Labrador' Aslan Thuring test on omnimon, a Japanese cartoon character of a different name and pronunciation and albeit awesome and introversion infrared for God knows how many techomos

ま;Manor Attitude and amortization period

めんードウ世話面！reparations

youtube

Enjoy your Sunday morning squanch from a murmury burpy homo this rom needs luv

A treasure Island scoundrel I wasn't clear your honor you try play it black Han dot mark is ηdrip

Beyond easy and very pertinent from forgetting to rinse out thur suds

Playback checks out 伍! I wasn't 五 alone then either

So Mika comes in handy and invites the claimaint of Google translate welcome to our tea pot

Hello there! Snowy riverscape

Wel3ome to the ßQWanche!

I will find you again,

And I cease球Superficial will repost you

youtube

Eventually,10ne;Four.

you'll develop a knack for it, too.

the Myth and the Melania

'N.M.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the French definition of echo

point-virgule écho ワ

Don't take me out coach

laisse-moi m'exclamer

Whoopi Goldberg

youtube

マイへコべ。哀話

There gIS the reason "we're all here

there means your still at least ar. step to far and Hello's

a grand way for Great things to frame welcome sayings if you were really face to face with someone who does the thing that keeps the tooth paste commercials on the air.

ゆてあリ

まんーゆてありユリあて

Time's a'jahstment

money

Canadian Glens blend into Canadian flatlands ,reversible

And give our selves a moment to thank our sponsors, the inspiration coming from the Huckabees of Arkansas and the my pillow guy, now getting in on that whole Egypth thang, and the guys from gold finger who gave me the idea to bring up the time Robin Williams and some kids lit a fart they trapped in a coffee can on fire

youtube

Then someone in the background saying if you want the cereal you need to pump the gas, then... intestines обуздать энтузиазм

ITSA SUPERMAN fridge magnet complete with thought bubble and unsolicited provocation

Warmer intestines 世話面 This is a caring place. аспект ухода

Spec. For motions that involve a change in position like moving around.

MARCEL used 矛トア

BARRIER ませけт... Myself...

Defense rose.矛Sci COVERge

greatly......矛pe. GELodud

Meanwhile, somewhere near the regional volcano where the guys can see it all, MT. CHIMNEY, water version, Hot Sex Gym, pokeStriathalon cntr, a MART where you can get FRZ HEAL, also a device for resurrecting what was possibly rock into a motor functioning organism with an appetite and ATK values

Then someone from CNN pipes in:

So ee got two by select as eighteen over seventeen and then maybe we get someone to look into the efa posttrophee bird with onion stick as a starting point looks like the 'ses only take up one character

Her bangs weren't that bad were they?

Woah! I thought she was just here testing the Gemini Roc ladders.

How did George sneak in last time?

Well she's with her own kind now it's impossible to tell.

Hmmm, I guess ... snapple?

Whoa its a Factometer Snapple.

What's it say

It says Hey Whoopi, maybe her name ISN'T Alma, all along

She reaches 4 the silent alarm &¥Σproble hモ

So to prevent arguing the Sanchez's agreed there were two Beths, none were clone Beth, one was Space Beth and the other's House Beth.

狙いろーB ΗηΞξΚκ 世話面めんうメダッサワ海月メドゥーサメダルゲームメダリオン ORPHEUS

And if you can hold in your dry heaves here's Debra Heffernan. An opportunity to slide out a quick napkin before gherkin oddish

And then

It's Stan Smith

Standing there not in his Emperor of Pour all Maply Irohoa attire

Giving you that look

Then saying:

Enter

Juno Satellite

Anderson, Brilé, Social Work; Hamilton, Ontario dUple:x 71 Main St W, Hamilton, ON L8P 4Y5

groan so ugly

We're hearing a lot of clicking on set

ガトリング砲

;はポけ矛

砲

HOW;

I'm Olive

There are no stupid questions but you're watching cartoons all wrong.

Her name's not Olive. That spongeBaB responds to 'anything pronouncing Olive Hoile so viewers would know "she was not italian. That's Baphomet

Esmerelda

Summers

Otherwise, the 'banned Micky Mouse boat tug is the first Gray Scale translation of electricity in m'oЦsе,топ.U

八喘ぎ。六和え！

す

しけせ

そ

ぬ

チたね"Captain:Directors'ヌネchaire

の

イージス艦

扒

ー

ジ

ス

艦

Water gun

Please, allow me to show you what I mean after this: it's Autobahn by Christina Aguilera

This is how I am!

Who are you talking too?

^the look on the captains face when you realize you handed the VCR the second tape and he turns to the cast and says, the Pentagon's just been struck

*facing ceiling*

An old Christmas tree I once had

力十年 all the power tone yours

HŒP巳

yeah STRENGTH!

These are both expressed in the same language but their frames are clearly different. Splif

矛Game Boy used

まSWIFT

矛SWIFT矛ァ

矛This technique always

まstrikes its foe

サイコソーダ

ポ ar. Pocket

ケ is an

ッ上impressive

ト iSocket

youtube

ぷーウ

фТбю неро

Hun:

He says something like, hey Jesse, y'üredty; how's my 'diction

See the impression the cement is forming on Tobias's hand by the end of the episode?

I know, that's FOX

The Secretary of Defense informs his staff that he has not been able to reach his wife Annalise and she is now presumed missing.

Tina Fey has broken the neutrino microwave on her grapescapade

探墜六陸 HACHχ iquano.

Tina: There's always a bigger pieace of loose leaf marking paper and Cheddar proof teflon induction stove ready cookware look mirror no tears.

Alma mater (Latin: alma mater,貝lit. 'nourishing mother'; pl.: almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase used to proclaim a school that a person has attended or, more usually, from which one has graduated. Alma mater is also a honorific title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. Later, in Catholicism, it became a title of Mary, mother of Jesus.

The term entered academic use when the University of Bologna, Italy, founded in 1088 and world's oldest university in continuous operation, adopted the motto Alma Mater Studiorum ("nurturing mother of studies").

ヤエ正 START 禾 %f$ LISTEN to the script fectch ac bjh?八Mast " ofArms. COAT

礬. BEdMAS

七二九 San: andAith shellYT MSRiddick

漆禾玖

聖<矛There is a(1) sound(Maintains Form Across Space(MANAgable) source(says someone else)

正リワ This is Seiriwa Road.

王 it came from a place in space

καρέ Name is frame ロ,mouth,B, (a(1)cross as a part of)

τίτλος Dual titan spun fresh; 出 is exit wound is a spelling

δράμα rawJah (￣ー￣)

Δράμα yeah, I smoke！Σ(￣□￣;)

;Lessis it meVoid ourse

rs.正Volution ユアリ jtherefore there's a Legal Identity via 耳co。m'口posure

The term is related to alumnぬus蟶,彁literally meaning a "nursling" or "one who is nourished", that frequently is used for a graduate.

マI haven't

ヒin my hand is)

the foggiest;🚬

#Youtube

9 notes · View notes

m34gs · 4 months

Note

What is a belief you had as a child that you no longer have? Why did that belief change?

Hi hi! Thank you for the ask! So sorry to have kept you waiting; I was working a stretch and it left me too tired to put in the effort I wanted to for this ask so I waited until I had a day off! Some of my answer gets a bit heavy, so I will put that part under a cut in case anyone wants to skip it. 💜

Some of this hurts a little to admit, but I think maybe it's good to put into words. When I was a child, I believed what I needed most in life was the approval and praise of my family. I thought that as long as I had that, I would be able to live a happy life.

That is not true. It was never true. And I didn't truly realize it until I fully moved away from the town I grew up in, when I was 23. In the middle of a the pandemic.

I had been in the closet about being queer, and I never imagined I'd be able to be open about it. I was only just starting to explore my love of horror and horror movies more fully. I was under the impression that I needed to attend church to be a good person. When I moved away, I got to be unapologetically gay in my own home. I could watch whatever movies I wanted without fear that my father would walk in and complain about how gross and bad they were...you know, he honestly tried to tell me that children cartoons I watched when I was younger were the reason I had nightmares and that Ninja Turtles (yes, the teenage mutant ninja turtles. crime-fighting turtles, a completely fantastical thing that I not only knew wasn't real but that was a massive source of comfort and joy to me when I felt really alone) were the reasons I was a sinner. I stopped going to church (partly because of the pandemic) and I realized I felt so much better when I didn't worry about other people judging me or fitting into their little mould of what is "good".

And I realized what a shitty way I was treated by my father. He's not wholly a bad person; I always feel the need to preface it with that. He does good things. He can be kind. He's just a person, not evil or pure, and unfortunately he directed a lot of his unkindness toward me. I realized I don't need him. I don't need his approval. I don't even need my mother's approval. I need no one's approval but my own. Yeah, it stings if they judge me or don't like what I'm doing, but when it comes down to it, this is my life. I realized I don't need to stress about impressing distant cousins at the family reunions, and that I don't need to tolerate the bigotry of some of my father's family. (My mother says maybe it's good I don't go to the reunions on my dad's side as much, not because she doesn't want me there, but because she hears how other people talk and she doesn't like it and she knows the things they say would upset me for sure. She's right. If I'd gone to the past few, I absolutely would've gotten in a fight, and given my newer attitude of "if you're gonna be stupid, you'd better be tough/fuck around and find out, bitch" toward people who think they can just spout whatever hate they want, I am not sure it wouldn't have been a fist-fight.)

Funnily enough, while my father can definitely tell there's a change, he doesn't meet me with the hostility and rage I was expecting. Not sure if that's a testimony of his therapy sessions and anger management courses, or if mother told him how close I came to fully cutting him off, or if my confidence scares him. Maybe it's all three. I kind of hope he is scared of me. Call me petty, but I lived in fear of him for 23 years. He can learn to fear the monster he fucking created :)

Thanks for the ask, and sorry this got a little more soul-baring than I initially intended💜💜

#ask #personal

6 notes · View notes

ink-flavored · 7 months

Text

Reworking the Plot

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents - Heaven and Angels ➡ Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

In the process of turning this project from a fanfiction to an original novel, I knew the plot was going to need some work. Firstly, a short story I wrote in a day has nowhere near the amount of beef necessary to fill out an entire book, and second, it didn’t even have other characters in it besides the two leads. Clearly, things need to change.

Though I’ve been working on retooling the plot of Pride & Justice for a while, it’s definitely not anywhere close to done. I have the beginning, ending, and general plot beats I want to hit, I have character arcs, I have antagonists, but stringing them all together is the hard part. The middle is quite flabby—basically it’s just a random assortment of cool things I had ideas for, with very little connectivity. I’m nowhere near the completion of a first draft, much less an actual finished manuscript. All this to say: it’s very possible that the things I make note of in this post will change by the time the book is done. I think that’s even cooler for you all, though! You get to see a book happen from its embryo-like beginning stages all the way to a finished product. Usually only the authors get to suffer through that!

Without further ado: here is how I reworked the plot for Pride & Justice. This first chunk will be a play-by-play of how I’m changing the fanfiction parts.

The beginning starts out relatively the same as it did in the fanfiction—Pride is imprisoned in Heaven for attempting to break in through the front door. This time, instead of being dragged off to his execution in the very next scene, he’s dragged into a heavenly courtroom. Presiding over that courtroom is Honesty, and Justice is not only the guard outside his cell, but also a witness to his crime.

Pride is predictably smarmy while Justice recounts his testimony, and even when Honesty sentences him to death, can’t be bothered to do more than sarcastically ask why they didn’t bother to ask for his side of the story. She moves to dismiss that half-question, but Justice stands up and tells everyone he’s right. Without hearing the other half of the story, all they’re doing is killing Pride based on who he is—how is that virtuous? Honesty is not happy about this, but gives Pride the chance to speak anyway.

Pride reveals that he broke into Heaven because he made a deal with a soul in Purgatory who had been waiting over a hundred years to be rejudged by God, and would soon lose that chance altogether. As every multidimensional being in that room knows, souls that fade from Purgatory go straight to Hell (everyone who read Pride’s backstory on Tumblr? Yeah, he was lying). And, as the fine-print of the contract states, their souls are forever entwined until he can get them up to Heaven. So if they smite him here, they’d be killing an innocent soul too. Everyone looks to Honesty to dismiss that claim as false—but she can’t.

All of the angels in the courtroom are distraught, but Honesty concludes that Pride needs to die anyway. Justice, once again, stands up and offers a solution. If they let Pride escort the contracted soul to wherever in Heaven it’s supposed to be, end the contract, and let him leave, literally everyone benefits. Heaven saves another soul from damnation or obliteration, Pride gets his contract fulfilled, nobody dies.

Honesty shoots him down, and nobody disagrees. That soul can’t be returned to Heaven, God hasn’t judged them to be worthy of leaving Purgatory. Justice argues that letting one person in against the rules is better than killing them—on purpose, knowingly. How is murdering one of His children supposed to be in service of God? At this point, the entire courtroom is in shambles, arguing over each other, and everyone is basically split down the middle of how to handle things. Pride is watching all of this very pleased with himself and also curious about the angel that bothered to give him the benefit of the doubt.

To save them from complete disarray, Honesty adjourns the trial and declares they’ll have a second one to make the final decision. Everyone leaves, but Honesty makes sure to call Justice out. As he’s escorted out, Pride listens to her reprimand him for going against God’s word, telling him that it doesn’t matter what his personal perspective is—justice is blind, do as the Lord commands. Justice is clearly not happy about this, and Pride gets even more curious.

Back in his cell, Pride is guarded by a few other angels before Justice shows back up again. He tries to strike up a conversation about how the trial went and how “excited” he is for the next one, but Justice bluntly tells him the second trial is a lie. They’re going to smite him before he even gets in the door. He also mentions they’re doing it so quickly because Honesty is worried “someone” would help him escape. That someone is, obviously, Justice himself, and he does.

Pride and Justice hatch an escape plan to get Pride to where he needs to be, drop off his contracted soul, and leave before he can get skewered by a holy sword. In practice, things don’t go quite as planned. Caught in the middle of his escape, Pride begins gleefully mutilating his way through God’s army. In the meantime, Justice is pretending to try and catch him, none too pleased that his request that Pride not harm anyone went ignored. They have a fake-battle-to-the-death where Justice “chases” Pride off the very edge of Heaven itself, and they go plummeting to the Earth.

Once there, Justice insists that Pride, for all intents and purposes, is dead. He can’t come back to Heaven, or they’re both in trouble. Justice leaves before his angel friends can wonder where he is, and Pride stays alone on Earth. He knows he can’t go back to Hell, contract unfulfilled, not to mention the shame of needing an angel’s help to escape would make him a target for much worse than a death sentence. He stays on Earth, tempting humans to sin in his spare time—which is all of it—until he can figure out how to complete his contract. Because if he doesn’t complete it, he dies anyway.

Eventually, Justice visits him on Earth again, demanding to know what he thinks he’s doing on Earth instead of back in Hell. Pride gives plenty of sarcastic non-answers, while Justice demands he leave. This whole area radiates sin and demonic energy, and if any other angel figures out Pride is still alive, they’re both screwed. Pride continues to be an asshole. The meeting ends with Justice saying he gets one last chance.

The last chance comes around, because lo and behold, Pride hasn’t left Earth. During another argument, Pride lets slip that he has nowhere else to go. Justice, sympathetic and knowing that there’s no way he can keep his secret forever, offers to join him so they can mask their respective demonic and angelic energies. Pride takes him up on that, and they agree to hide on Earth until they can figure out a way to get Pride’s contract fulfilled without setting off every known alarm in Heaven and Hell alike.

This is where my rework of the fanfiction plot ended, and where I had to start coming up with new ideas to fill the rest of the story. I have plenty of broad-strokes ideas in the works right now, still tripping over some details that I’ll list a few of later. Here are the important plot-points though.

Heaven is looking for their not-so-dead prisoner and runaway angel, a mission lead by Honesty herself. She’s determined to wrestle Justice back to Heaven and kill Pride for real this time, but first she has to find them. With the two of them living in such close proximity, their normally easy-to-differentiate energies are nearly identical to humans. The only hints they get are when Pride and/or Justice use their respective powers, a tiny blip of abnormal activity on the angelic radar.

The same goes for the servants of Hell, though for a less concrete goal. Other demons try to appeal to Pride throughout the story, telling him to ditch Justice and team up with them instead. Lust, as we discussed in the last post, is the one that shows up the most, and it refuses to take no for an answer.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As I mentioned before, this has changed a little bit. I’m toying with the idea of Lust enlisting other demons to find Pride for it, and harass him into coming back to Hell. It would make more sense than a bunch of demons randomly wanting Pride as an ally because—reasons?

When they aren’t being harassed by agents of cosmic divinity, both Pride and Justice acclimate to their new “human” lives. Justice finds a human church to attend to reconcile with his recent struggles understanding Heaven’s shortcomings, attends a book club, volunteers, and generally tries to blend in as much as he can. Pride, on the other hand, can’t help himself from causing trouble, not having much else to do, and not interested in making any puny human friends. That is, until, he meets some human friends who can rock with his sensibilities, a tiny group of queer people who can generally tolerate him. His hobbies expand to include weed, clubbing, shoplifting things that food stamps won’t cover, and eventually even learning to paint. This doesn’t stop Pride from getting into random fights, or taking to the streets when he feels like he’s been wronged, causing sin everywhere he goes and turning half the city into a prideful nightmare. He and Justice have a lot of arguments about that last hobby, especially since it sends up a beacon of sin to anyone who can detect it.

When Pride discovers that one of his friends goes to Justice’s church, their activities bleed over to one another. They start inviting each other along to various outings with their respective groups. Over the course of the story, they stop becoming “enemies on the same side out of necessity” and start becoming real friends. They complain together about the things they disliked about Hell and Heaven respectively, and teach each other about what it’s really like to live there. They discover they’ve both been living in, essentially, opposing authoritarian regimes, with different, equally iron-fisted laws that need compliance from everyone to stay up and running.

Interpersonally, Pride and Justice are the oddest of odd couples there is, but they do help each other. Justice has been taught for this entire multi-century existence that he has to be good and pure at all times, to help people, make no mistakes, follow God’s word with no exceptions. Pride helps him be a little less of a perfectionist, and he learns it’s okay to be selfish sometimes. For his part, Pride needs… a lot of help. Justice and his friends are people who genuinely care about him, a completely alien concept to him. In particular, Justice gives him space to feel safe and accepted for once, and offers him the one thing he’d never dream of getting: forgiveness. Eventually, they fall in love. Cue the section of the story where I mash my characters together to make them kiss like I’m playing with dolls.

Sadly, things start going south. The first warning is when Lust becomes obscenely angry that Pride isn’t cooperating with its demands, and they have no choice but to fight and kill it in response. This battle sends up a huge flare for Honesty and her team out looking for them, but the angels are a bit smarter about their choice of attack. Instead of charging in swords-blazing, Honesty kidnaps Pride to use as a bargaining chip. She takes him to a church and tortures him to prove to Justice—once he shows up, radiating holy vengeance—that Pride will never change. He’ll be a demon forever and he’s wasting his time trying to save the unworthy.

Justice, defending Pride both physically and verbally, asks isn’t that the entire point? How is it a waste of time to have sympathy and love for the most unloved thing in the world? How is it against God to give grace to people who’ve made mistakes? He accuses Honesty and every angel at her side of Wrath, calling them all sinners for sitting there watching Pride be tormented for absolutely no reason other than he’s a demon, and they think he deserves pain. If this is God’s will, if this is the justice he’s meant to serve, he wants no part of it.

Unfortunately, this was what Honesty was waiting for. She abandons Pride and says, okay fine. If you don’t want to be an angel, you can be a demon like him. Justice is restrained, fighting against Honesty, who takes his sword to cut his wings off and break his halo, punishment for disobeying God.

Pride uses the last of his strength and rage to tackle Honesty before she can do a thing. Justice warns him not to kill her—it’s what she wants, it will only make things worse—and it’s the only reason Pride stays his hand. He tells her that outright, that he loves Justice more than he hates her, and that’s the only reason she isn’t in pieces. The other angels let Justice go and the two of them escape.

After returning home and recovering, Pride and Justice discover something even more pressing. They’re losing their powers, becoming more and more like humans every day. This wouldn’t be a problem, if it weren’t for the fact that Pride can’t complete his contract without his power—and if he can’t complete the contract, he dies. Even farther from a plan now, all they can do is promise to be with each other until the end.

That is, until one of the angels from Honesty’s brigade shows up to help—Kindness, Justice’s sister. She was horrified by everything that happened in that church, and confessed that there’s a small sect of Heaven that’s been on their side the whole time, too small to make real change, but willing to help however they can. Justice makes it clear that he and Pride are a package deal, no matter what, and she agrees. From there, they hatch the true plan to smuggle the soul up to Heaven.

The plan itself is still hazy for me. I know that Justice gets super-charged with angel powers once he goes back to Heaven. He’s been away for so long that his normal power is extremely potent for a while, and it’s a great help in defending against the inevitable opposition. Honesty will be there, she will most likely be killed, and Pride is able to deliver his soul and complete the contract. Hooray!

Bad news again! Pride is going to crumble into a pile of dust if he doesn’t get back down to Hell ASAP to restore his power. He can’t be in Heaven any longer than he already has—but he makes Justice promise to come find him. Justice agrees, and Pride returns to Hell.

Here, there’s going to be a POV switch to Justice’s perspective, as he prepares to traverse to Hell to find Pride. Kindness and his other angel friends are skeptical, but he insists that he made a promise, he has to leave. He’s not sure if he’ll be able to come back, and it hurts him to have to say goodbye to Kindness after only recently reuniting, but Pride is more important to him than staying in service to Heaven, a place that easily rejected him not too long ago.

Down in Hell, he finds Pride, but something is wrong. In his beast form (which I unfortunately don’t have a solid design for yet, but I promise it’s cool), Pride has also be super-charged with Hell’s power, but this means he’s also overloaded with sinful, prideful, energy, and he’s decided he doesn’t care about Justice anymore. Justice doesn’t take no for an answer, and Pride attacks.

Justice can’t bring himself to actually hurt Pride, so he’s subdued pretty quickly. Before Pride can deliver a killing blow, Justice is able to remind him why they loved each other, and the influence of the sin wears off. They run away together for a second time.

EDITOR’S NOTE: You can see Pride’s beast form here, drawn by AuroBlaze. I’m also changing Pride’s motivation for not caring about Justice, and it’s from the pain of being re-traumatized. He literally fell from Heaven into Hell for a second time which is… not an amazing experience. It takes Justice a while to find him, and in that time Pride convinced himself Justice isn’t coming for him at all. When he does show up, Pride blames him for all the pain he had to endure a second time, and lashes out. I want it to showcase how recovery isn’t linear, relapses happen, but it doesn’t mean you’re broken forever or incapable of healing. I’m messing with it. The rest is basically the same, there’s a fight, Justice is able to knock some sense into him, probably some crying, and then they escape.

The ending can go one of two ways, in my mind. I have a really cool image of Beast-Pride wearing Flaming-Wheel-Justice like a collar, stalking around Purgatory, but I have no idea what they would actually be doing there—other than hiding from Heaven and Hell. The second option is they go back to Earth and live out the rest of their lives as humans, which is the ending I’m sure everyone would want for them by the end of their ordeal. Optional semi-sad bonus: it’s been a few decades since they left, but they haven’t aged a day since the original story took place. When they go to meet their friends again, everyone has aged by 20-30 years and are… slightly concerned that the friends from their youth that disappeared one day have miraculously returned and look exactly the same. That might be a bit too much, though the sadistic part of my heart has entertained it.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I chose the happy ending. They go back to Earth and live out the rest of their lives as humans with their friends. I still love the first idea though, and I might incorporate it into their escape from Hell in some way.

Details I still have to come up with include: how did Pride/Justice find a place to live? Did they steal a place, break in, use magic? Do they have jobs? Well, does Justice have a job, Pride would remain staunchly and diligently unemployed. What do the demons that try and get Pride on their side actually want from him? What are their ideas for getting back to Heaven before Kindness shows up? Do they try any? How do they fail? What’s Kindness’ plan, and how many angels are on their side? How do the other angels take Honesty during all this? Do they actually agree, or are they just following orders?

So! Plenty is subject to change, plenty still needs to be organized into a cohesive story, and plenty will of course be cut for the good of the final draft, but congrats on your first look into the earliest parts of a novel. Thoughts? Questions? I’d love to hear what you guys think!

Thanks as always for your support!

— Annika

#original writing #original fiction #original character #original characters #spilled ink #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community #annika talks #P&J #Pride & Justice #P&J: Worldbuilding

7 notes · View notes

sloshed-cinema · 8 months

Text

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

For all of its pomp and circumstance, and the dire stakes of its decisions, the courtroom is in many ways a stage. Immediately after he makes his entrance, all rising to legitimize the proceedings that are about to unfold, Judge Weaver remarks wryly that he doesn’t fall asleep too often during testimonies. All professional parties know what is involved in the meta-game of witness cross-examination. Inflammatory statements on all sides are raised almost explicitly to be stricken from the record, because as scrappy defense attorney Paul Biegler notes, the jury cannot truly comply with a request to disregard a question or action, not completely. The appropriately named Claude Dancer, assisting the prosecution, is quick on his feet, often fiery and cutting in his line of questioning, accusatory as he works to discredit or build up witnesses. But even more so he is a silent presence, tight-lipped and watching. But you can tell in his eyes he knows exactly what Biegler is doing when he bookmarks a ruling in a law book with a fishing lure, or starts to build a wider case than the prosecution would prefer to address. James Stewart delivers an exquisitely calibrated performance as Paul Biegler. Initially a cool presence when not questioning a witness, Biegler seems more interested in working on a lure than listening. But that lure is more than just a literal one. As he works himself up into a lather in the latter stages of the trial, he plays the court and the prosecution like he’s reeling in a prize trout. Some moments call for him to lean in aggressively, other times he needs to let the line play, take a strategic retreat. His methods are unorthodox, to the ire of the Dancer and DA Mitch Lodwick, and the detached amusement of Judge Weaver. With surprise last-minute witnesses and clashing psychological diagnoses, there is no way to truly set down events and rationale, and the jury must ultimately make a human choice based on what the court despite all its shit-slinging holds to be hard evidence.

The core of the fallibility of the justice system here comes in the handling of the event which precipitated the eponymous crime: the assault and rape of defendant Lt Frederick Manion’s wife Laura. We meet her first, a chic presence who wears sunglasses to conceal the bruising she was dealt by the hand of Barney Quill. Lee Remick imbues Laura with an effortless free spirit, a woman who desires to dress and amuse herself as she pleases. As she has every right to do. The line of questioning from the prosecution essentially boils down to “she was asking for it,” fixating in a misogynistic way on her wardrobe and conduct at bars. Biegler too manipulates her public image, instructing herself to dress more modestly during the trial so as not to create a certain impression, and early on in meeting her he asks her why she didn’t sense she was going to be assaulted. All of this insinuation lays much of the blame for Quill’s crimes at the feet of its victim, even if only by heavily suggested implication. That the assault is even brought up remains a difficulty for some time, the prosecution content to brush it under the table as some euphemized “trouble,” defanging the gravity of what happened to Laura. Hell, even the usage of the term ‘panties’ requires a whispered consultation at the bench. Even though she is merely a witness, Laura is put on trial, as is Quill’s daughter out of wedlock Mary Pilant when she comes forward with damning material evidence. A repeat felon can serve as a reliable witness, but Laura’s entire credibility can be called into question when she is compelled under oat to state whether she doesn’t wear panties sometimes. Justice is truly blind.

Duke Ellington’s brilliant score pushes this courtroom thriller at a brisk pace, moody and cunning and sexy in turns. The man himself even shows up in a jazz club cameo as Pie Eye, leading a band. If I were Jimmy Stewart sitting and playing (or “playing”) next to him, I know I’d be shitting bricks.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says 'law' or 'murder'.

Money concerns for the legal practice are brought up.

Someone pours a drink.

BIG DRINK

Paul doesn't have a lighter on hand.

Manion looks through bars.

Evidence is submitted to the court.

#drinking games #anatomy of a murder #otto preminger #james stewart #lee remick #george c scott #ben gazzara #duke ellington #drama #crime #courtroom drama #anatomy of a fall

7 notes · View notes

thesconesyard · 3 months

Text

(So, this one ends with some old west typical found’em guilty sentencing. Nothing is overly described, but just a quick warning of the implication of violence.)

Where the West Begins

7. Lucky Strike

Christine hoped the second day of the trial would not be as long as the first. The courthouse room had quickly become much too warm the day before. People had kept coming until it had been standing room only around the edges and in the gallery.

All of the people from the ranch had been called up the day before and the only ones left to speak would be Khan and his gang. Christine didn’t imagine much sympathy would be in the air for them.

Jim and Leonard and Scotty’s testimonies had been too damning, especially as Leonard described pulling the bullet from Jim’s shoulder. Jim still didn’t have his full motion with that arm and Christine could see on his face in the evenings that it still ached.

Khan was called up first and Christine wasted no time glaring openly at the man. She remembered thinking he was handsome, yet too thin, but now all she saw was the bastard who had hurt her friends and family.

Christine quietly drew out a fan from her handbag, the temperature was beginning to rise again in the room. As the morning went on, she watched as even the judge began to pull at his collar.

“At least it’s nearly over,” Uhura said to Christine as they made their way through the crowd of people when the judge had stopped the proceedings for lunch.

“We can hope,” Christine replied with a rueful shake of her head.

“I hope they do justice,” Jaylah said vehemently.

“They’ll be sentenced,” Uhura said. “But to what, who can say?”

It was even warmer in the courthouse after lunch and Christine had her fan out before she even sat. There came the judge. Christine hoped he would be quick with the verdict and sentencing.

“The accused will please stand.”

Khan and his gang stood, and the judge looked down at them harshly.

“Gentlemen, you have all been found overwhelmingly guilty.”

A brief whisper went through the court, but silenced immediately as the judge looked out.

“Mr. Marcus, you have been previously found guilty of murder and escape. I sentence you to death.”

A few gasps and another round of whispers, and one quiet jubilant noise from Jaylah next to Christine. The judge continued through all the members of the gang, some were to hang with Marcus, some were to spend many of their days locked up.

“Mr. Singh.”

Khan was last and Christine glared at the back of his head, her fingers tense in memory of holding Jim’s shoulder together until Leonard came.

“Mr. Singh, you've no other crimes against you besides what you’re guilty of today. I sentence you to five years.”

“What!” The word slipped from Jaylah before she could help it. Christine reached over and squeezed her hand to prevent another outburst, though she was as surprised as the younger woman. She would have given Khan more; Christine was certain he was guilty of more. Why would the man use a false name if not to hide?

“They all deserved it,” Christine said as she and Leonard walked along. The sun was low, nearly setting. The hangings had been set for sundown. Only she and Leonard had chosen to go watch.

“I don’t know if that’s for us to decide,” Leonard said slowly. “Marcus maybe. He murdered people. The others; well I don’t know what their other crimes were.”

A crowd had already gathered as they approached the square with the gallows.

“You sure you want to see this?” Leonard asked, doubt in his voice.

“Yes,” Christine replied in a low voice. These men had hurt her friends. She may have helped save many lives in her time as a nurse, but she didn’t want these ones saved.

“Alright,” Leonard sighed and made a path through the crowd.

A bell tolled somewhere nearby and the sound of spurs told of deputies bringing forth the accused men. Heads covered, they were led carefully to where the ropes were hanging.

“He should be up there too,” Christine hissed from behind clenched teeth. She knew Leonard would understand who she meant.

“I know. Who knows how many crimes he’s committed under how many names,” Leonard agreed.

One of the deputies stepped forward and read the men’s names and crimes. A preacher followed with a prayer, then the deadly moment came with a hushed gasp from the crowd.

“Good riddance,” Christine whispered.

#where the west begins #sequel to #when the cactus blooms #star trek #christine chapel #trial of khan and his gang #cowboy au #yeehaw!

3 notes · View notes