#we never agreed to arbitration!

[apleasurableillusion]

This lawyer sent me back a “revised” version of an agreement I wrote and she completely rewrote it in ways that make no sense? And somehow turned it from a modern docx to a windows 98 doc?????

And I wouldn’t really care if she just said, hey this agreement doesn’t work for me because X, Y and Z but instead to just say she’s “amended it per the client’s wishes” when the client’s wishes are below in the email chain and don’t say anything like what you’re saying? Just tell me you’ve changed things and why

Honestly why the fuck did I waste my time writing an agreement if you were just going to use your own precedent. Insane behaviour on a non-contentious file

[gmggmgracielasblog]

DO NOT ARGUE WITH DONKEYS

The donkey said to the tiger:

- “The grass is blue.”

The tiger replied:

- “No, the grass is green.”

The argument became heated, and the two decided to submit it to arbitration, and for this they went to the lion, the King of the Jungle. Before reaching the clearing in the forest, where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey began to shout:

Your Highness, is it true that the grass is blue?”.

The lion replied:

“It is true, the grass is blue.”

The donkey hurried on and continued:

“The tiger does not agree with me and contradicts me and bothers me, please punish him.”

Then the king declared: “The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence.”

The donkey hopped happily and continued on his way, happy and repeating: “The grass is blue”...

The tiger accepted his punishment, but first he asked the lion:

“Your Majesty, why have you punished me? After all, the grass is green.” The lion replied: “Indeed, the grass is green.”

The tiger asked: “Then why are you punishing me?” The lion replied: “That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave and intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey, and then come to bother me with that question. The worst waste of time is to argue with the fool and the fanatic who does not care about the truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on arguments that make no sense... There are people who, no matter how much evidence we present to them, are not able to understand, and others are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and all they want is to be right even if they are not.

When ignorance screams, intelligence is silent. Your peace and tranquility are worth more. OR NOT?

لا تجادل مع الحمير

قال الحمار للنمر:

- "العشب أزرق."

أجاب النمر:

- "لا، العشب أخضر."

واحتدم الجدال، وقرر الاثنان عرضه للتحكيم، ولهذا ذهبا إلى الأسد ملك الغابة. وقبل أن يصل إلى الفسحة في الغابة، حيث كان الأسد يجلس على عرشه، بدأ الحمار بالصراخ:

صاحب السمو، هل صحيح أن العشب أزرق؟ "

أجاب الأسد:

"هذا صحيح، العشب أزرق."

أسرع الحمار وتابع:

“النمر لا يتفق معي ويخالفني ويضايقني، أرجو معاقبته”.

ثم أعلن الملك: "سيعاقب النمر بالصمت لمدة 5 سنوات".

وقفز الحمار سعيدا واستمر في طريقه سعيدا وهو يردد: "العشب أزرق"...

قبل النمر عقوبته، لكنه سأل الأسد أولاً:

"يا صاحب الجلالة، لماذا عاقبتني؟ ففي نهاية المطاف، العشب أخضر." فأجاب الأسد: «في الواقع، العشب أخضر».

سأل النمر: لماذا تعاقبني إذن؟ أجاب الأسد: لا علاقة لذلك بمسألة هل العشب أزرق أم أخضر. العقوبة لأنه لا يمكن لمخلوق شجاع وذكي مثلك أن يضيع وقته في الجدال مع حمار، ثم يأتي ليزعجني بهذا السؤال. إن أسوأ مضيعة للوقت هو الجدال مع الأحمق والمتعصب الذي لا يهمه الحقيقة ولا الواقع، بل انتصار معتقداته وأوهامه. لا تضيعوا الوقت أبداً في حجج لا معنى لها... هناك أشخاص مهما قدمت لهم الأدلة لا يستطيعون الفهم، وآخرون يعميهم الغرور والكراهية والضغينة، وكل ما يريدونه هو أن يكون على حق حتى لو لم يكونوا كذلك.

عندما يصرخ الجهل، يصمت الذكاء. السلام والهدوء الخاص بك يستحق أكثر. أم لا؟

[talkfastwalkfaster]

Moonglade ~ AOTC!Anakin Skywalker

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊

A/N: this took me way too long to write & i'm not completely happy with how the beginning turned out but. also, this quickly became a purely self-indulgent fic, especially during the end portion. but i hope u guys enjoy this as much as i ended up doing ♡ WC: 2,035 Warnings: fluff, making out

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊

You glanced around the temple halls — despite knowing that the chances of you two getting caught after hours were slim, you still wanted to be careful. “Are you sure we should be doing this out in the open? Anyone could walk past and see us, Ani,” you whispered, wondering why you agreed to meet him behind a column instead of in one of your quarters.

Anakin chuckled softly before leaning in and kissing you. “You worry too much, angel. What’s the point of sneaking out if there’s no excitement to it? We’re not even truly doing anything. Besides, I missed you.”

Your heart fluttered at the sentiment. Since the war started, you hadn’t seen much of each other lately — with Anakin co-commanding the 212th with his master and you the 104th with yours. You supposed that he was right. The two of you had done worse when sneaking out — from taking a speeder and exploring Coruscant to hiding on top of the temple, this seemed insignificant compared to them.

You smiled and unconsciously leaned closer to him, wanting nothing more than to be intertwined with him so you would never have to be apart again. “I missed you too. I’m sorry for missing your comm yesterday. Master Koon was very insistent on having no distractions during training.”

Anakin had returned from a mission yesterday and craved to see you again after being apart for the better of two weeks. Despite having possessed this longing, he waved off your apology, knowing that he only commed to inform you that he was back, nothing too important. “It’s alright, I understand. We all get busy.”

You shook your head, feeling guilty that you weren’t able to welcome him back as soon as you would have liked. “Still, I should’ve at least sent a message, even if it was a small one.”

Anakin gave a soft shrug, his blue eyes glanced over to you before looking up at the murals — he didn't really mind that you hadn't messaged him, though he found it sweet that you felt bad about not being able to do so. He let out a soft laugh as his eyes wandered back to you. “You really gotta cut yourself some slack, angel. You're always getting stressed over the little stuff," He said softly, his hands slipping from his robe’s pockets to rest on his hips.

While it may not seem like a major thing to anyone else, it was important to you. You took your relationships very seriously, always ensuring that you were not purposely ignoring someone and always attempting to ensure everything went smoothly. You supposed that was why you were a Consular —  you consistently made sure that issues were arbitrated and were more than ready to be the mediator if needed. 

You scrunched your nose, not liking how dismissive he was. You knew that if the roles were reversed, he would be doing the same thing you were attempting. “I’m trying to apologize here,” you argued adamantly, wanting him to understand this was meaningful to you, despite him waving it off as nothing.

Anakin understood why you were being pushy about this, he knew you didn’t enjoy avoiding people, regardless of it being your intent or not. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected you to answer in the first place — he understood that your life was getting hectic now, especially with your trials coming up soon.

 He snickered softly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Oh, that was an apology?" He said with a grin as he nudged you playfully. He couldn't resist teasing you, having already forgiven you before you even attempted to make amends with him — despite there not being a reason for you to apologize. 

You nodded, unwilling to give in. “Mhm, I apologized, and now you’re supposed to accept it and forgive me. That’s how this works.”

His eyebrows raised slightly as he shook his head — you could be the most difficult person sometimes. He couldn’t complain about it though, it was one of the qualities he loved most about you and something that drove him to you. “Is that how it's supposed to work? Because it sounds like you're being a bit pushy." He taunted.

You crossed your arms and leaned back on the pillar, investing in the banter. “I’m not being pushy; you’re just not cooperating.” You weren’t truly attempting to force your apology down his throat — you knew there was no need. But you did enjoy this type of conversation with Anakin; it allowed you to detach from the turbulence that was becoming extremely common in your life.

Anakin gave a low chuckle as he looked down at you. “Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you are," He teased, leaning closer to you while his mouth curved into a playful smile.

You shrugged, “Once or twice.”

You both knew that you were the most determined person he had ever met, and he adored you for it. Anakin laughed softly before lowering his voice and leaning even closer to you, his sapphire eyes shining in the darkness.

“Let me rephrase that —  do you realize how insanely stubborn you are?"

You scrunched your nose and attempted to hide your growing smile, “So I’ve been told.”

Anakin chuckled, leaning his forehead against yours as he spoke softly, “Mhm, you're a stubborn girl who doesn't easily yield."

You smiled tenderly, loving the closeness between the two of you. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

Anakin's cheeks heated at the proximity, glancing down at you with those twinkling blue eyes that made you want to dive in and be engulfed in him forever. “I actually think it’s quite an endearing trait.” His voice was soft as he spoke in a whisper, as though he was telling you his greatest secret.

You tilted your head up to look into his eyes — you knew you would never be tired of looking into them — they were one of your favorite features of his. They were like a siren’s call, pulling you in until you could no longer have any thoughts that didn’t involve Anakin. Before you got too lost in his eyes you quickly remembered he had spoken to you and murmured back, “Is that so?”

Anakin nodded softly as he smiled at you — his heart raced at your admiring gaze, and he couldn’t help the soft blush that spread across his cheeks. “Oh, most definitely.” His voice was low and gentle as he lowered his head a little closer so that his nose was hovering just above yours.

You leaned up and kissed him tenderly, a reflection of the love you hold for him. His breath hitched at the sudden but pleasant contact of your lips. One of his arms wrapped around your waist while the other found its way to the back of your head as he gently pulled you closer, his lips pressing firmly against yours.

The feeling of your body pressed against his made his heart rate skyrocket as he kissed you back with equal passion and fervor.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. You wanted to be encased in his hold forever — to simply be with him and never have to worry about anything else. The soft proclamations of love that came from both of your lips said everything the kiss did not: how much you ached for each other while he was gone, the unspoken promise of spending as much time as you could before one of you was shipped off onto another mission.

Anakin panted lightly as he pulled away from you — his need for air overcoming the urge to kiss you for all eternity. He slowly brought the hand that was behind your head to cup your cheek, softly caressing your skin with his thumb and looking at you as if you hung the stars. His eyes roamed your face taking in every freckle and scar, wanting to burn you into his memory in hopes that you would haunt his dreams when he was unable to see you physically. 

He dipped his head to quickly kiss you again before gently murmuring, “Let’s get married.” He had fantasized about this for ages now — never having enough courage to reveal his deepest desire to you, but now seemed like a better time than any. 

“What?” You whispered incredulously, not quite believing the words that came out of his mouth.

Anakin laughed softly and lowered his voice, “You heard me. We should get married.”

You moved your hands to his shoulders, lightly gripping them, “Is this your way of proposing to me?”

His eyes twinkled with amusement, his gaze never breaking yours. “Maybe,” His voice was soft and soothing as he lowered his head once more to briefly press his lips against yours. “Yes.”

You thought about it for a moment — secretly dating is one thing, but getting married would mean you were fully going against the Code, something you could never come back from. However, a part of you rationalized that you had already done that, and if you had already broken it, what was the harm in going one step further?

“Okay, let’s get married,” Your face broke out into a grin and you giggled softly, not quite believing this was truly happening, but you wouldn’t oppose it if it meant you were wholly committing to your love for Anakin.

Anakin felt as though his heart would burst out of his chest as a smile spread across his face and his eyes lit up with excitement. His mind was quickly filled with thoughts of being tied to you forever, of never having to worry about losing you to someone else. He couldn’t contain himself and brought his other hand to your face to cup both of your cheeks while he smothered you with kisses all over your face. 

His voice was soft as he pulled back slightly, “You’re completely okay with this?” Despite your agreement, he wanted to ask again to ensure you were completely on board with the idea. He knew you wouldn’t lie to him or say yes just to make him happy, but he wanted to be reassured that you were committed to going through with this.

You nodded and brought your hands up to cover his, unable to contain your smile. “I’m sure. I want to be with you, Ani, forever.”

Anakin laced his fingers with yours and squeezed them gently; a warm, fuzzy feeling spread throughout his body — he was overjoyed with your answer. It was difficult for him to believe how he got so lucky with you; he liked everything about you — your smile, the way you spoke, the way you carried yourself… You were simply perfect in his eyes and he was grateful that you were willing to spend the rest of your life with him.

The thought immediately made his heart sing — he was going to marry you; he would have you all to himself and soon be able to call you ‘his wife.’ “I love you, angel,” He spoke softly, his voice full of love and joy. He buried his face into the crook of your neck and gently kissed where it met your shoulder. 

His actions made your heart melt — you cherished every moment with him. You kissed the side of his head and lifted a hand to cup the back of it while you murmured, “I love you too, Ani.”

A small, content sigh escaped his lips and he squeezed you tighter against him, enjoying your soft, comforting embrace. 

You ran a hand through his hair and whispered, “We should head back to one of our quarters before we’re out here too long.”

Anakin hummed softly in response before lifting his head from your neck and giving you one last kiss. He took your hand and interlaced his fingers with yours as he started to lead you out of the temple’s halls and toward his room. 

You leaned against him and lightly squeezed his hand as he guided you. The walk to his room was filled with silent bliss, and you knew that despite the chaos happening throughout the galaxy, you would always be able to rely on Anakin. 

[dailyanarchistposts]

Anarchists and Neo-anarchists: Horizontalism and Autonomous Spaces

It is not uncommon, particularly in North America, to see anarchism defined as an ideology rooted in ‘direct democracy’, consensus decision making, and the maintenance of ‘horizontal’ (i.e., ‘non-hierarchical’) social relations, particularly in autonomous zones or public spaces.

This idea of anarchism is unusual in that it places at the centre of its definition an adherence to very specific forms of procedure and interpersonal behaviour while downplaying the political ends a ‘horizontal’ movement should be trying to establish. From this perspective, reclaiming public space as an opportunity to hold non-hierarchical public assemblies, where we can hammer out decisions by consensus, is, in itself, ‘anarchist’ – whatever the result of such processes.

This has little to do with the classical, mass-anarchist tradition and its politics of revolutionary socialism. It is, instead, an approach which is better described as falling under the banner of ‘neo-anarchism’ (or ‘small-a anarchism’). Neo-anarchism is a modern conception of anarchism largely informed by the feminist and peace movements of the 70s, the environmental movement of the 80s, the alter-globalisation movement of the 90s, and the Argentinian uprising of 2001; which coined the term horizontalidad (‘horizontalism’) to describe the movement’s rejection of representative democracy, the use of general assemblies to coordinate activity, and converting abandoned or bankrupt factories into cooperative businesses.

Take, for instance, the insistence by neo-anarchists on the use of consensus decision making. Though consensus (or ‘unanimity’, as it was typically called) was sometimes a feature of anarchist political organisations, and often seen as an ideal to work towards through comradely discussion, it was never a fundamental component of the anarchist movement. Anarchists have generally agreed that the appropriate form of decision making depends on the circumstances concerned, and frequently endorsed variations of majoritarian voting; particularly in mass organisations based on commonalities other than close-ideological affinity, such as unions. The focus for anarchists has generally not been the form of decision-making, but instead the principles of free association and solidarity. Furthermore, though anarchists have always stressed the right ofthe minority to be free of the majority’s coercion, it is even more important that the great majority be free of minoritarian rule or sabotage. As Malatesta wrote in his pamphlet Between Peasants: A Dialogue on Anarchy:

everything is done to reach unanimity, and when this is impossible, one would vote and do what the majority wanted, or else put the decision in the hands of a third party who would act as arbitrator, respecting the inviolability of the principles of equality and justice which the society is based on.

In response to the concern over minoritarian sabotage, he continues by asserting that such a situation would

[make it] necessary to take forcible action, because if it is unjust that the majority oppress the minority, it’s no more just that the contrary should happen. And just as the minority have the right of insurrection, so do the majority have the right of defense, or if the word doesn’t offend you, repression.[3]

As for ‘autonomous zones’ and the tactic of reclaiming public spaces (as seen in the Occupy movement) – here we have no connection to anarchism as a revolutionary tradition, and an example of a tactic which has repeatedly shown its inability to extract significant reforms, let alone revolutionise production and destroy the State.

The fundamental limitations of the ‘public occupation’ or ‘autonomous zone’ , and the defeats which have followed from these limitations, have led some former advocates of the strategy to make a notable transition from neo-anarchism to parliamentary politics. Though inexplicable to some outside observers, the change is easily understood when we consider neo-anarchism’s peculiar view of ‘direct democracy’, or ‘horizontally organised spaces’, as the defining characteristic of anarchism, and not a theory of libertarian revolution against the State and capital.

If we accept the idea of anarchism as proposed by the neo-anarchists, there is no fundamental contradiction between anarchism and involvement in parliamentary politics. If the political party is a directly democratic one, composed of social movements, and committed to horizontal interpersonal relations, what difference does it make if the decision made (ideally by consensus) is to campaign for political candidates, or even administer the State?

We have seen this with the so-called ‘Movements of the Squares’ in Europe. Activists who took part in the 15M (or ‘Indignados’) movement in Spain abandoned their dismissal of all politicians (“¡Que no nos representan!” – “They don’t represent us!”) with the formation of Podemos and various other ‘municipalist’ parties.[4]

A similar trajectory was followed by the anthropologist David Graeber towards the end of his life. Graeber – a figurehead of Occupy Wall Street and, prior to that, a participant in the alter-globalisation movement – apparently saw no contradiction between his professed (neo-)anarchism and his efforts to join the British Labour Party in support of Jeremy Corbyn. In particular, Graeber was enthusiastic about the Labour-affiliated organisation Momentum; an outgrowth of the Corbyn leadership campaign, which he argued constituted a unique attempt to fuse a radical social movement with a traditional parliamentary party.[5]

More recently we have witnessed the absurdity of a self-proclaimed ‘libertarian socialist’, Gabriel Boric (who touts his association with Chile’s radical student movement), ascending to the presidency in the aftermath of a militant popular uprising.

The damage caused by these supposedly ‘unique’ attempts to translate the ‘horizontalism’ of neo-anarchism into the party-form – which, in reality, hardly differs from the historic approach offered by Marxists as an alternative to anarchism – has been outlined well elsewhere, and there is no need to go over the details here.[6] It suffices to say that in each case there was bureaucratisation, accomodation with the necessities of administering the capitalist state (or even just campaigning to administer it), and zero empowerment of workers against the bosses.

The reality is that there is no way to fully ‘prefigure’ anarchy and communism through ‘directly democratic’ spaces of ‘autonomy’. Anarchism requires a specific anarchist movement and anarchist practice. Though we must certainly organise ourselves from the bottom up, with a consistent federalist structure, we can not simply bring about our ideal by ‘living anarchisticly’ or relating to one another as ‘horizontally’ as possible. Similarly, the content of anarchism can not be limited to the structure of our movement – its content of revolutionary class struggle must be maintained. To quote Luigi Fabbri:

If anarchism were simply an individual ethic, to be cultivated within oneself, and at the same time adapted in material life to acts and movements in contradiction with it, we could call ourselves anarchists and belong to the most diverse parties; and so many could be called anarchists who, although they are spiritually and intellectually emancipated, are and remain, on practical grounds, our enemies.But anarchism is something else… proletarian and revolutionary, an active participation in the movement for human emancipation, with principles and goals that are egalitarian and libertarian at the same time. The most important part of its program does not consist solely in the dream, which we want to come true, of a society without bosses and without governments, but above all in the libertarian conception of revolution, of revolution against the state and not through the state… [7]

[annieqattheperipheral]

Ok just watched episode 3: learning to win. sway vs. mchucky

This episode was crafted so well. Gave us the introverted intellectual vulnerable hearthrob musician vs. the boisterous popular shit-talking quarterback jock storyline.

Since i like neither the bruins nor panthers it was more like watching a fun sports movie and letting the characters make me fall in love with them with those tropes in place. I really do compartmentalize how i interact with these teams and their players so ok let's break it down, here's how my heart and head battles it out:

Bruins? A bigass boo from this leafs fan. I hate them on principle just for that, for a generational og6 rivalry. But. But i respect their locker room. Their leaders have created a cohesive unit i envy tf out of for generations past present and future. They're a good group of ppl ...with a shittastic front office of old world hockeymen. Sorry to bruins fans for having to deal with that bs

Panthers? Another huge groan but for both personal reasons and the leafs thing. Yea kicked leafs ass in playoffs '23 round 2 but that's like whatever (that was leafs own doing, didn't bring it. or anything really). It's that personally i hate their style of play, it takes the fun out of watching the skill and speed of hockey. I can't abide by the dirty shit, just makes it un-fun for me.

Ok this is where it gets weird. Let's talk about the people

mtkachuk: i love him, i loved him with the flames, i love him still. Amazing kind gracious funny personable. But put him on the ice with the panthers and who? Who dis? No sir i do not know this man. I cannot explain why my brain does this but it's the only way i know how to enjoy Matthew while also having disgust for the panthers playing style. I mean maybe this is how/why we love/hate the teams we do. It hits the right or wrong chords in your own heart. So yea, that's the logic, rational or not.

Paul Maurice: i love this man and if i knew him in real life like maybe my uncle or someone, i would chat with him for hours during a family dinner party like i do with my favourite relatives who i respect so much. His interviews hug me to the core. He fascinates me with his clarity on life. I don't agree with what he has his players do, but i respect tf outta his drive and purpose and how he leads. Once again, a battle bw my heart and head *shrug*

Swayman: honestly i never paid much attention to him. I've never been a goalie crazy person so while i had classified him as one of the elite ones in the league, i wasn't ever taken by him (yes even thru all the cutesy goalie hugs). That said, it was really lovely getting to know him and what a beautiful voice. His dad was endearing as heck, reminded me of one of my colleagues. What a sweet gentle-hearted family, but also so tough mentally to get your kid into the nhl, while holding true to their vulnerable emotional side. Pretty fucking incredible i think. Sway got thru arbitration and used it as a checklist to drive himself further. Amazing. Fuck yea he's got an element of corniness to him but Matthew's corny as heck too in 24/7 florida frat boy party mode so whatever everyone's being their own true selves I'll embrace that.

I laughed very hard at the tkachuk family scenes. Good stuff. But hell no, no ty, i could not survive in that environment lmao. I do jokes yes, I'm usually the funniest person in social settings but i don't do shitting on each other stuff (why i hate hanging out with stand-up comics. improvisers tho? my favourite ppl, all about yes and'ing each other)

But all of that was great insight into the who what how why's of matthew and brady beyond any interview ever could. Pretty great what they've got going on. god how open those tkachuks can be with one another with sentiments disguised as insults and jokes, and not have feelings hurt. Ofc that family keeps on thriving. They can say anything to each other and know that they can fight back and still be supported. Like that's fuck awesome. I'm envious as hell. Just as i am tho, with how i was raised, i wouldn't survive them lol.

Lmao this epi review got loooong. Like i said,

fun sports movie vibe

Made me love sway and hate matthew lollll. I would show this to non-hockey ppl as a gateway into hockey.

Also someone pls tell matthew to get seat belts for his golf cart wtfffff!!! He's driving that shit on the road with actual cars!!! My heart could not take it😳

[indiesellersguild]

Etsy’s Plan to Prevent Class Action Lawsuits

Did you know that when you agree to Etsy’s Terms of Use, you agree never to join in a class action lawsuit against them, no matter what they do?

At least, that’s how it used to be. Until very recently, Etsy had a mandatory arbitration clause. It stated that by using their service (or continuing to use their service) we automatically agree that any disputes we have with them will be handled individually by the private arbitration company that they have chosen.

They’re making a change to their arbitration clause – as outlined in their recent email, “A quick update on our terms of use & policies”...

Read the full blog post on our website for further details and calls to action.

[nym-wibbly]

Some themes should be banned on ao3 like incest and underage. How do you support a web site that treats things like that as normal?

Firstly, I don't particularly support - or even like - AO3 as a platform for publishing or reading fanfiction. I accept AO3 as the currently best-available tool and venue for sharing my fanfic with the widest possible audience, for finding things to read with relative ease, and I deeply appreciate the OTW's efforts to protect and preserve fanworks and create a space that's just for fandom. It's more than we deserve with all our pointless infighting, goodness knows.

As to what "should" be allowed there... Do we use your list of fictional never-events or mine? There's a bunch of stuff on mine that you didn't mention, and neither of your things is on mine. If not yours or mine then whose? "Underage" in your location or mine? (Mine is 16.) Highest age of legal consent in the world? (Currently 21 as far as I know.) Lowest? (About 11, I believe, or "anything goes if married" in places that don't pick a number.)

To what degree of affinity is fictional incest unacceptable, and does your view on that nuance agree with that of everyone else who objects to incest-fic on principle? Is it okay to depict incest as long as the piece doesn't glorify or eroticise it? What do we do if even the "no incest" crowd can't agree on where to draw the line on incest? Do we vote as a community on each individual controversy and debate that arises? If so, how do we make sure it's a fair and democratic process? Do we ask a team at AO3 to do that for us? If so, who appoints them and how do we avoid bias - or outright political agenda and manipulation - in their selection to ensure that arbitrating questions of good taste doesn't become knee-jerk censorship and a power trip?

I'd sooner live in a world where [insert Nym's bugbear] wasn't even a thing, let alone archived alongside the kind of works that I do want to see - but that's just me and my personal preference. And what I think about [insert Nym's bugbear] is no more or less valid than what that champion of [insert Nym's bugbear] over there thinks. How can it be? Who decides that? Who is objective enough to decide? I'm not. I know I'm not! My bugbear thing would be down the censorship toilet and stranded on an archive all its own if I got the mad boss power but - objectively speaking - that content I dislike so much is harming no one who doesn't go looking for it, or choose to click on it having found it. AO3 even makes it easy for me to filter it out of search results so I don't have to see it. So why should anyone respect my preference about content that's perfectly legal? Or yours?

By setting the bar at "it's not illegal to publish this content in the United States", AO3 avoids appointing someone from our fandom ranks as a subjective arbiter of good taste and decency. The choice is a practical one: the OTW is a US organisation and subject to US law. Letting local law in the archive's homeland have the final say is the least-worst option in terms of fairness, in a fandom community that's generally quite passionate about censorship being a bad thing, whatever else it's fighting about. So if there's content you, personally, don't want on AO3, you first need to fight to change decency and censorship laws in the USA. In the current judicial climate over there, who knows - you may just win, eventually, and get that content you disapprove of made illegal. At which point AO3 would remove it. But what will you do, then, when someone else does the same for some content that you do want to see on AO3?

[silverliing]

why is genderbending bad? /gen

This is kind of a loaded question and I will answer it to the best of my abilities and through my own understanding of genderbending and gender identity politics but if you don’t want to read all that i’ll just leave you with the short answer: It’s complicated. I don’t think “genderbending” is inherently a bad thing (i do it) what i do take an issue with is the actual name of this trend as well as some of the rhetoric and ideas about gender that run rampant along it that have largely been ignored or gone unchallenged.

I also do not think that the bulk of this work has been made with malicious intent, rather just out of ignorance in a cissexist society. so yeah, complicated. I would also like to point out that I am gender non-binary and identify as trans, so these are just my personal thoughts regarding this type of content in fandom spaces and the ways I think it (more often than i’d prefer) plays into the erasure of trans and intersex identities from the conversation and can perpetuate cissexist ideas of gender and gender identity.

Anyways, long answer is long so more after the cut -> -> ->

For starters I think the most egregious thing to me about this whole genderbend thing is the name. now, i absolutely hate the name because genderbending is never just about changing a characters gender is it? what we generally understand as genderbending in fandom is typically the changing or switching of a character’s sex from male to female or from female to male and assigning to them the gender that “matches” their sex. And if this is exactly what you’re trying to do then that’s fine! i don’t want to be the arbitrator of what people can or can’t do in fandom spaces so… just maybe call it what it is? maybe also understand how this trend feeds into the rhetoric that gender is a binary and how it conflates sex and gender as if they were interchangeable or one and the same as well as perpetuating some outdated and ill informed views on sex, gender and sexuality too!(since typically when a character gets genderbent their sexuality changes as well)

There’s a lot of discourse on this very topic and much of it might probably disagree with me on these points so i encourage everyone to seek alternative opinions on the matter, but from my own understanding of gender, gender identity and gender expression, i find that the idea of “genderbending” —in the ways it has been traditionally done by fandoms— can have some cissexist implications:

It implies that there are only two genders which are opposite from each other, and that those are (generally cis) “male” or (generally cis) “female”.

Gender is not a binary and gender is a social construct. this is something that psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, biologists, gender theorists and medical professionals have all agreed upon for decades. The thing that happens in genderbending where a character can only jump from fully mature phenotypical male “man” to a fully mature phenotypical female “woman” (or vice versa) without any wiggle room in between is ill-informed at best. And then there are people who will say “oh well that’s not true because i saw a non-binary intersex genderbend once!” and all i have to say to this is… okay. Yes this kind of NB “genderbend” does exist but it’s is not the norm. For the most part when looking up the genderbend tag will generally bring up a lot of stereotypically female petra parkers and harriet potters, and this is just the truth.

It implies that physical traits and gender are related.

Usually this type of work will have things like a tall, flat chested, muscly “masculine” character switch genders to become short, curvy, large breasted, “feminine” one (usually without any regard to how that character’s personality and lifestyle affect their physical attributes) typically the act of genderbending will come along with changes to a characters genitalia, gender markers, and phenotype, not just their gender. I trust you understand how this idea is inherently cissexist and reinforces the thought that things like the set of genitals you were born with ought to dictate the gender you identify as. This also gets into the territory of intersex erasure. Since our society has yet to come to a consensus of how intersex individuals ought to look like (and how could they!) it is less likely that you will find a genderbend that envisions a character as intersex given that genderbending isn’t just about changing someone’s gender but also making them look the part. Which is a whole other can of worms because what does a woman or a man look like? what does an intersex or a non-binary or an agender person look like? these nuances often get pushed to the side in genderbending. And if you have found genderbent art or fanfic that subverts all of these trends that’s awesome! But again, it’s still not the norm.

I know this one sounds bad, but there are some arguments against it that are very valid to me; namely that although not every trans person’s goal is to appear cis-passing, there are some trans folk whose goal is to look as cis as possible and their visions and fantasies of what their ideal gender presentation ought be reflected in this type of art is imo quite valid.

It implies that someone “changing genders” can be reduced to a thought experiment.

Maybe this isn’t the best wording but it’s when you see genderbend being done as a way to explore how a character would be different if they had just been born in a different body. This one doesn’t sound too bad, it’s just a little thought experiment right? and in a way it is but i still want to bring it up because again, it assumes that being born with a specific set of physical attributes will dictate a persons gender. This also could imply that anyone who identifies with a gender that is different to the one they were assigned at birth does not have an equally as meaningful relation to their own gender as someone who was born with the “right” set of genitals. It is also kind of funny to me that some of these genderbenders who just want to do a thought experiment with their blorbo would want to see said blorbo navigating the “opposite” gender from a cis perspective. Now i don’t have any sources to back me up on this but i’m just going to assume that between a trans person and a cis person, the individual who is most likely to be aware of gender identity politics is probably not going to be the cis person. just make the character trans just make them trans

Why I do it

Literally i had not thought about this topic in over a decade, and i had no genuine interest in seeing characters under this type of lens since i was like 12. However, the idea for lesbyler was born as a response to the critiques toward byler fans that said the ship would not be so popular if they had been two girls instead of two boys. I guess you could say it started as a joke or out of spite but in my personal case (which i know is true for many others in the fandom) it became a way to project my own sapphic youth into a ship that is so special to me. Of course i would love them more if those characters had been written as girls! Byler has such a soft spot in my heart because it’s the story of my first love —its the story of a lot of peoples first love— and so in that vein i thought it was permissible to make it all the more mine. I did not entertain the thought of “making” them girls because girls are the opposite of boys and i thought that was cool, or because i wanted to see lesbian rep instead of gay rep, i entertained the thought of two lesbian best friends navigating first love because it’s the story i would have liked to see in a show like stranger things.

Furthermore, i also do not see my lesbyler characters as inherently cis, I still see them as an offshoot or extension of the original characters, so in my head they’re just inherently trans. Of course that is just me and there is nothing wrong if you prefer to see them as cis as long as you understand the aforementioned discussions of gender at play.

Am I also perpetuating the harmful rhetoric by indulging in this type of trend regardless of my intent? Maybe. It’s so hard to put yourself on blast but I will for a second here. I think the vast majority of this type of content is ill-informed, but i don’t think the bulk of it was made with the intent of harming minorities, so i don’t think making it is inherently bad. I think what can be harmful is to have these ideas go unchallenged in this specific trend where they would have been more widely addressed if it were on any other more publicly available platform, and i think that talking about it and bringing this topic up when i make this type of work is a good opportunity to make others aware how cissexism can be perpetuated even in the ways we interact with fandom.

I don’t believe i am spreading hate or harm when i make this type of work, but maybe i’ll cringe at this and change my opinions for the better in the future who knows. All i’m saying is that i think the best way to approach this trend is through information and awareness and on that regard i do consider myself more well-read on this topic than your average joe 🤷🏻

There’s many people that will disagree with me who will say genderbending is more harmful than i claim it to be or that it is not wrong at all, so i would just like to reiterate that this is all based on my experience, understanding, and knowledge on the topic of both genderbending and gender identity politics.

One more time I don’t think imagining a character as a different gender is inherently bad but i do think that a lot of the ideas perpetuated by fandom genderbending are some of the same rhetoric and propaganda that has been used to erase and harm trans and intersex individuals.

Last thing and i am saying all of this in good faith, if you ever looked at my lesbyler (or any genderbent art really) art and thought “those characters are cis girls”, or that they had to have been “born” girls because the opposite of boy is girl, i would like you to consider and challenge why you had those thoughts. Maybe even question why little compulsory cissexist thoughts like those are part of our every day lives. I also just want to say that if you want to make genderbend art or fic go for it, but I do strongly urge you to first consider understanding and acknowledging the arguments i’ve made here. Just know what you’re getting into and know that there is more than meets the eye with this topic. aaaand just remember that these arguments feel hidden and compulsory for a reason, cissexism is everywhere, even in fandom spaces.

Also there’s a chance you’ll probably go your entire fandom career without ruffling anyones feathers about it but i would just advise to be careful, be respectful and know when to apologize and move on. And most importantly don’t forget that trans, non-binary, intersex, agender, gender fluid, etc. identities exist so there’s a lot more options and experiences for you to think about if you do decide to play with the gender and identity of a character.

[septembersghost]

I'm feeling embarrassed that I show so much love for Taylor and like all my friends know and I've gotten a lot of them into her too because now idk what to say to them about this situation and it feels. bad. do you feel like you should stop posting or anything?

well, i am not here to invalidate your emotions, sometimes we just feel how we feel and that's okay. people are different, people are flawed, people make choices (people are people and sometimes we change our minds...). and we don't have to like or agree with all of those choices or behavior, or even understand them (or have to like them if we do understand them!). i also feel like some are forgetting that liberal dirtbags unfortunately persist - someone can be quite progressive in their ideals and yet still say/do harmful things because of lack of empathy or foresight or tact or intersectionality, etc, which is i think an issue here regarding mh. though it doesn't in any way excuse it. that said, while you have every right to be upset about association, how much that affects your engagement is entirely up to you. i feel it's important to remember this doesn't change things we know to be true, and on a wider/more fundamental level it doesn't change the artistry or the music. if that's important to you or something you've loved and found comfort in, i don't believe you should give that up or even allow that to be tainted (easier said than done at times, i understand).

so here's a bit of a tangent - obviously i love classic hollywood and old music. the studio system was corrupt and abusive (towards women and poc especially), the music industry is often terrible, and i recognize that, but it doesn't cause me to dismiss the art that was made in those films or the joy the music brings me. there were perhaps decisions and behaviors i don't agree with even from artists i love dearly, and i can parse that some of that is because it was a very different time, some was down to individual circumstances and traumas and experiences, some was just people being imperfect humans. we decide what we can keep and what we can't. (like i won't watch w**dy all*n films, but i enjoy a bunch of hitchcock. granted, he is no longer profiting off of that work, but it's ultimately not about him for me, it's the actors' performances, the stories, the design, the costuming, and so on. i saw a post the other day joking about how nobody today would survive fleetwood mac and i laughed). if i judged the performers i enjoy for every misstep, i wouldn't be able to be a fan of anyone's. i know a lot of actors (gn) and musicians i love simply weren't perfect, so i ask, did they try to do better? did they work to grow, did they ultimately share more kindness and good? humans are fallible, but also beautiful. love and compassion and art live on. separation of art and artist is a necessity at times, but i really like the approach, where possible, of lending understanding to the artist through their art too.

i don't think moral arbitration and judgment based on art an individual enjoys does much for real social change and justice, because where does it end? there are things we should have no tolerance for, and yet even on those topics not everyone agrees where the line is? then you have to ask, is someone intentionally hurting others, actively harming marginalized communities, spreading prejudiced ideology with no compunction, profiting off of that harm or exploitation, and doing more damage? or did they mess up personally because they're human, but still do more net good?

she's not suddenly revealed something monstrous about herself, though it’s disappointing that she’s willing to overlook things he’s done. tbh it seems like she's…going through it or whatever and maybe not thinking too clearly. human. we can dislike a choice without discarding every other true and meaningful thing. you shouldn't be embarrassed by something you love that makes you happy. you should never be embarrassed about sharing that love with others, that's really special and helps it grow. the music is what it always was. the meaning to you is paramount. even if you need to take a bit of space, i would encourage you to not let anything steal your love or your joy.

[captainfanoftheceiling]

Close, but it is actually family member of anyone that has used Disney+. The living person used Disney+ signing they agree to arbitration always, no word on if the person they killed did.

Maybe we can just have 1 person per family that signs all terms of use and agree that person never files lawsuits.

[tyrannosaurus-trainwreck]

For everyone being like "The fucking what?!" about the other Mullenweg lawsuits, there's JENNIFER L. WESTMORELAND VS. MATTHEW C. MULLENWEG ET AL and ASMAHAN ATTAYEB VS. MATTHEW C. MULLENWEG ET AL.

The defendants tried to get both bounced to arbitration, the plaintiffs said "We never agreed to the arbitration agreements your software says we signed," and the judge didn't think the defendants adequately demonstrated that the plaintiffs had in fact given their electronic signatures agreeing to arbitration.

They seem to be heading to jury trial. The tl;dr of the lawsuits seems to be: moving homecare assistants across the country, installing them in company-owned housing so their employer had 24/7 access even when they stopped paying for 24/7 access, forbidding them to leave specific geographic areas, making them put spyware on their phones to let their employer enforce that prohibition while they were off the clock, multiple wage theft schemes even in the face of HR employees going 'this doesn't comply with California law, bruh', and sundry other workplace abuses.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"St. Vincent psychiatric ward: Gazette team finds relative calm, order," Montreal Gazette. December 20, 1969. Page 3. --- By RICHARD NUTBROWN In a continuing probe by The Gazette into conditions at St. Vincent de Paul penitentiary, a reporter-photographer team has found the psychiatric ward to be relatively calm and well-kept. A visit was made to the ward a day after charges that guards are being "constantly bombarded by sudden deafening outbursts of yells and cries of men clinging to cell bars in the psychiatric ward, screaming to high heaven about their desperate state" were made by Robert Deslauriers, assistant research director for the Publie Alliance of Canada.

The accusations were presented in a brief to an arbitration tribunal in Ottawa by the alliance on behalf of 2.000 prison guards.

Mr. Deslauriers also claimed that the psychiatric ward at St. Vincent de Paul was "awfully dirty."

Dr. Bruno Cormier, head of the prison hospital, told The Gazette the alliance's statements were "completely false" and that he has never heard of or met Mr. Deslauriers.

"Sure there has been some noise at night," he said, "but this is a mental hospital. The last time we had trouble with a patient was in July. Since then it has been very quiet, this I can assure you.

The psychiatric hospital is located in a wing which has been isolated from the rest of the prison, and to which was added a pre-fabricated construction for offices, occupational therapy, nursing-post and treatment rooms.

Psychiatric services first began in 1965 and it was decided then to set up facilities similar to those in the general community, with full hospitalization services, including an out-patient clinic, Dr. Cormier said.

Several inmates, many so troubled they had become psychotic, are alive today because of the hospital, Dr. Cormier said.

Experience in the psychiatric hospital at St. Vincent de Paul has been that most psychotic inmates are not dangerous," he pointed out.

"The difficult offender is not generally found among the psychotic ones, but among those with severe character disorders."

One patient is serving 30 years. When young he decided on an armed forces career but was discharged for psychiatric reasons. He was first convicted in 1960.

He was released in 1968, but four months later was back on the 30-year term. This patient would cut deep gashes into his flesh then burn the open wounds with matches or cigarets. "I suffered so much he told The Gazette.

"Now with a staff of five psychiatrists things are much better, he said. "Before, Dr. Cormier was all alone and I could only see him about once a month.

Another patient is serving his second term. Prior to being placed in the mental hospital, he had seizures and was difficult to deal with

All I had was a loud speaker prison closed-circuit radio)," he said, "and I didn't have anybody to talk with when I got nervous

He is receiving treatment daily and is recovering slowly. He said the food was good but and stopped, looking at the prison official listening to the interview.

In the hospital cell section itself, there is an unpleasant mingled odor of antiseptic and perspiration. The walls, remnants of a 100-year-old former convent, were painted last December.

The windows are very dirty. The bleak light, refracted through the glass and dirt, gives the ward a medieval air.

But the floors are swept daily, and each inmate cleans his own cell. Nothing is spotless, but an attempt is made to keep things clean. The choice and taste of the food is the prisoners main complaint

One inmate in the mental hospital described the food as 35 per cent bad and 75 per cent needing improvement while a disgruntled prison official listened. He also complained that "food delivered to the patients is always cold."

The Gazette's photographer-reporter team tried a sampling of prison food. Both agreed that the soup was good, but neither could figure out what it was. The rest of the meal, hamburger steak, peas and potatoes, was edible not palatable.

Caption: Prisoner scrubs floor of St. Vincent de Paul psychiatric ward

[libraryofcirclaria]

05 October 1281

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Six: Meona Bell

Dyla will not hear of it, the caution part. She went up in front of the whole group and got them to vote on a name for their group: "Legalize Darkfire."

I would not have done that myself. But I do agree with her, so I will not stop her.

Unfortunately, it did spark a turn of events. I was about to go back to the Arturian Realm to find out more about the White Baroness when Taylor Lorens stopped me in my tracks and urgently bid me follow her. There was apparently an ongoing public confrontation happening between Dyla and Kara.

The confrontation was happening between the Fountain and Fleming House, and it had escalated to Dyla and Kara shouting at each other. Kara had supposedly responded to "Legalize Darkfire" by accusing Dyla of "witchcraft by darkfire" which is an accusation that is, thankfully, not legally recognized. Nonetheless, Kara called for Dyla's lynching. Before Kara, herself, arrived, Dyla's supporters responded by forming a human chain around Fleming House; and Kara's cronies confronted them with fistfights. The Campus Watch had intervened and arrested those cronies.

Then Kara, herself, arrived, and went up to Dyla's window, challenging her. Dyla came down to her in a fit of rage, and thus the screaming match.

It was in the midst of this, and the gathering of Dyla's friends and more of Kara's friends around the two when I showed up. I tried to calm Dyla down but then she took a black glove out of her pocket and slapped Kara in the face with it.

"I challenge you to a DUEL!" Dyla said.

I'll never forget the response of the crowd. Some of Dyla's friends gasped, while others cheered. Meanwhile, Kara's friends jeered, shouting "Wrayther!" and "Witch!" Kara, herself, reached into her pocket and pulled out a glove of her own. She struck Dyla with it, except I believe no part of the glove hit Dyla's face, rather it was the back of Kara's hand. "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Kara screamed fiercely.

Honestly, I did not know this until now, but duels are actually legal here in the Retunian Republic. This one, a spellfire duel, is going to happen between Kara and Dyla, as stupid as I think this is on behalf of both women. And this is going to be facilitated by an Arbitrator under certain safety and conduct standards to determine the outcome. This went to University Affairs, who scheduled the duel to happen on Friday October 15 at 300p along the sidewalk between Fleming House and the Flagstaff.

I met with Julian Mackwell and Ivella Ogden to put a stop to this. We tried to convince the University Affairs Office otherwise. When they would not listen, we tried to hopefully get the Headmaster to at least say something.

Even that was over-hopeful though, however. We waited outside his Office only to receive a short written note from him explicitly stating that he is completely okay with the duel happening on the honorable Cabotton University Campus.

And I'm even more furious with the Flagstaff joining the other newspapers across Gentry County giving dramatic coverage of this, saying how "this is the very first spellfire duel to take place at Cabotton University," and how "this is the very first spellfire duel between two women to take place in the Province of Ereautea."

I am going to take a break and visit my wife, Sari.

<- 04 October 1281 <- || -> 15 October 1281 ->

[polarisbibliotheque]

So, ok. You guys know I don't reblog this kind of thing here, but hey, IT MIGHT HELP ANY OF YOU WITH EVENTUAL LEGAL TROUBLE WITH THIS KIND OF MOTHERFUCKERY.

'Cause you know. Lawyers have a degree on motherfuckery. And I happen to be a Lawyer ✨👍🏻✨

The Disney+ thing doesn't even make sense in their argument saying the person has to arbitrate any disputes. It seems like common sense, but ✨Why?✨

Well, because that happens to be a Contract clause (or section, if you prefer). That means that THAT thing that's been set on the clause applies ONLY for the Contract.

Meaning, yes. Any disputes should be resolved with arbitration - BUT ONLY DISPUTES PERTAINING TO THE CONTRACT. The Contract is binding for a service provided by them to the person who is receiving - so, say they want to sue because Disney+ isn't working or whatever... They can't because they agreed on arbitrating first.

(Which in my country could be argued because we call those Adhesion Contracts and Abusive Clauses, which are contracts you can't negotiate the clauses and only agree with them, so one of the parts is clearly in disadvantage and there's a huge discussion to be had there, but that's a whole other side tangent)

THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO ANY OTHER ISSUES THEY HAVE WITH THE SAME COMPANY OUTSIDE OF SAID CONTRACT. You go to a Disney Park and you sign Disney+? Being at the Park is a completely different kind of service that has NOTHING to do with Disney+ and NONE of the Disney+ contract clauses apply to your stay at the Park. Plus (pun intended), being at a physical location has their OWN laws and rules they MUST abide to - specially when it comes to responsibility, both civil and criminal.

Now, I'm not North American and Law works differently everywhere, but if there's a thing that's kinda worldwide (it has exceptions) it's principle of territoriality. Basically: if it happened in your backyard, you're responsible for it. "Oh, but I didn't see it happening" - too bad, it's still your backyard and you SHOULD KNOW what happens there.

They didn't ~waive their right~ to an arbitration; they gave up on this ASURDLY FUCKING FOOLISH piece of an argument, because it would NEVER hold on court. Judge would look at them like "are you fucking kidding me, mickey?" and dismiss without a second thought.

Because you CANNOT apply a clause of a Contract that ISN'T EVEN LEGALLY BINDING ANYMORE (newsflash, when the service is done/canceled, the contract is over, even Satan knows that) to try to bullshit your way out of something COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE that happened out of NEGLIGENCE right ON YOUR BACKYARD by someone wearing YOUR COMPANY LOGO AND NAME.

(We have a few principles here. I'm directly translating from my language, but you should find something similar in yours: temporality - regarding the contract and how long it lasts - civil and criminal responsibility - an employee is seen as an extension of your company thus it's your responsibility even if you, owner, wasn't there - crime out of negligence - when someone doesn't have the intention but it happened anyway - and just general irresponsibility - that one isn't a Law one, it's just common sense)

They NEVER HAD THE RIGHT TO BEGIN WITH.

I was a company Lawyer for years, and trust me, half of my arguments were just me trying to bullshit my way trough the case and see if the judge would be too tired or, being honest here, too stupid to notice.

Sometimes, it worked. Most of the times, it didn't and the judge called me out on my apparent stupidity - but there wasn't much I could do when the company did SO many wrong things I was like "I don't even have an argument to win this" and my boss used to forbid me from trying to cut a deal with the other part because I was in a "loser mindset".

No, asshat, it isn't a loser mindset. It's a "we are completely wrong and there isn't anything to help us win, if this goes to court we'll have to pay double the amount, lemme try to at least cut it to half so we don't end up losing too much money with this" kind of mindset.

Also, funfact. When you have legal cases, you have provisions - meaning you have to predict how much money you're gonna lose with that case and tell the ~money department~ to hold that money so you'll have funds to pay for it eventually. If the case lasts YEARS, the money is stuck for YEARS.

What companies want from legal departments is to get rid of cases so that money can be used for business and not just sit there, stuck. Every paid decision, every lost case, is seen as lost money that could've gone to business and generate more money. I used to go for settlements when I absolutely couldn't win and was certain I'd lose, so it was already seen as a loss - if the provision was 50k and I cut a deal in 30k, it was a 20k win for me even if the person thought they were winning 30k.

In a 50k case, for instance, we'd start negotiating with 10k and people would settle for 15k or 20k, when I was authorized to go up to 35k, 40k. People don't even KNOW how much power they have in those situations. Companies settle because they are AFRAID of losing MORE, not 'cause they're being nice.

SO. IF YOU GUYS ARE EVER IN A LEGAL BATTLE WITH A FUCKING BEHEMOTH OF A COMPANY. KEEP IN MIND THEY ARE USUALLY (not always, but it's usual) IN DISADVANTAGE, CREATING THE MOST LUDICROUS ARGUMENTS TO SEE IF IT STICKS ON COURT - AND IT'S YOURS, AND YOUR LAWYER'S, DUTY TO REMAIN WITH YOUR CONVICTIONS AND CALL THEM OUT ON THEIR BULLSHITTERY. GO TO THE HIGHER COURTS IF YOU HAVE TO, BUT KNOW THIS IS AN ABUSE AND A COMPLETELY BASELESS ARGUMENT.

Oh, and no Contract binds your soul forever to anything (unless, Satan). If that was the case, heaven forbid you tried to protect your rights against anything in this world.

Can you imagine? You'd literally sell your soul for a bag of chips, c'mon. At least Satan knows we're worth more than that and offers more to bind you for eternity. Think about that.

And fuck big corpos and their legal departments. Study the basics on Law to protect yourself and kick their sorry asses.

Thanks for coming to my very-fucking-annoyed punk-against-the-system Lawyer TED Talk

straight up cartoonishly fucking evil corporation

[deusexlachina]

Wannabe Warden Finale: Sacrifice my dreams to save the innocent

In which I am forced to delve deeper into the forbidden art of Politics, Anders gets off Scot-free and we refuse to listen to the villain's monologue.

I finally check my mail to learn that Meredith is planning to raid the Circle, which she's doing right now because I read my mail right now. Either this is another embellishment of the narrator, Varric "Never Read Your Mail" Tethras, or both Meredith and Orsino were waiting for me to come back to Kirkwall before they did anything, in hopes that I'd be able to resolve things for them.

I stop to try and settle the argument in my new Grey Warden threads, but we get nowhere because Meredith is secretly high on red lyrium and years of prejudice. Orsino, being a reasonable man who would never turn evil, decides to refer the matter to third-party arbitration. Meredith tries to stop him, dreading the mountain of legal paperwork.

Unfortunately for both of them, Anders is not interested in compromise and has bombed the Chantry. I ask him what he did that could have both invented and planted an explosive device, without my help, in the whole minute between both of us getting back from the Vimmark Mountains and Anders coming out here with me. But he does not answer.

In response to Anders blowing up the Chantry, Meredith orders every mage but Anders executed. This bad decision is because she is high on red lyrium and years of prejudice.

Other Aveline decides we have to help...Meredith? To kill all the innocent people? This bad decision is despite Other Aveline neither being high on red lyrium or harboring any prejudice against mages. I tell Other Aveline I'm helping the mages and she says if I do this, she's not sure if she can follow. So I say I'm doing it anyway and she says she'll follow.

For some reason, Fenris doesn't follow me. I don't know why. I got him to max friendship and did all his companion quests. My sister suggests it's a bug, perhaps caused by my "approximately a million mods." Checks out.

Anders expects to die for his crimes, but I'm not about to let a fellow Warden die, so I tell him to help fight the templars, which he enthusiastically agrees to. Honestly, he might have led with this rather than bombing the Chantry. This is where Sebastian would press the issue and threaten, in his delightful Scottish Starkhaven accent, to raise such an army that there will be nothing left of Kirkwall for these maleficar to rule. But I want there to be something left of Kirkwall for these maleficar to rule, so I never recruited Sebastian and thus Anders gets off Scot-free.

There's no time to ask Anders questions like why, if he had the ability to infiltrate the Chantry and plant a bomb there to incite war between the mages and templars in order to ultimately overthrow the templars, he didn't simply infiltrate Templar Hall and plant a bomb there. I think Corypheus gave him brain scramblies.

I fight my way through...Lowtown? Not the Gallows where this whole fight took place? As with the Qunari invasion, the city is on fire, and, as with the Qunari invasion, I start somewhere different from where I was when the fighting actually started. Bethany shows up to help me, apologizing for complaining about me saving her life instead of following tradition and euthanizing her because her health was between "stomachache" and "instant death."

If I've learned anything up to this point, it's that the Grey Wardens are politically neutral (at least on paper). I tell her this, and she says that right now, she's not a Grey Warden, she's my sister. This is a stark reversal of her previous statement, to Tallis, that she is a Grey Warden and isn't my sister. (I'm starting to think she was just in a very bad mood that time).

This is character development, because she's learned from me the importance of family, and from Anders that Grey Wardens can suddenly and unilaterally decide to not be Grey Wardens when being one would be inconvenient. (This is not true). Honestly, this angle would be more plausible if she wasn't wearing her Grey Warden uniform. However, because she's travelling with me now, onlookers might just assume it's another Wannabe Warden. It runs in the family or something. The important thing is that the Hawke sisters are together again. Just like old times.

Indeed, it is very much like old times. Just like old times, we're vastly outnumbered - the streets are full of templars, who are trying to kill me because I sided with the mages, and blood mages and their minions, who are trying to kill me for fun I guess. There's a massive fight with lots of templars and demons, so I do the sensible thing and run right past them. They're each other's problem. To cover my escape, I use my poor, poor dog as a distraction while me, Bethany, Anders and Other Aveline run to safety. When we've killed anyone chasing us, I call off the dog so no enemies have anyone to fight and they just give up. Just like old times.

I escape Lowtown to the Docks, where more enemies are waiting for me. I then repeat the exact same stale strategy as before. Just like old times. (Note the paltry experience, from defeating just one enemy who unwisely followed me to the area transition).

I then take a boat to the Gallows, the place where this fight started and which I didn't have any reason to leave in the first place. I can only attribute this bizarre inconsistency to Varric's narration or something. We stop a mage massacre only to be apprehended by Meredith and Fenris. I ask Fenris pretty please to join me and he tells Meredith he changed his mind and will stand with his friend, instead of standing with a raving villain.

After fighting off another wave of templars, Meredith leaves to go get more templars, giving me one last chance to talk to my friends. When the chips were down, despite me being a rank nuisance who yoinked her name, Other Aveline was by my side. She's let me down time and again, but her loyalty is true, and for that I respect her enough to grant her a better moniker.

Non-Emo Warden Bethany (NEWB) has learned to appreciate the true value of being a Grey Warden, several years after I did. She is not a Wannabe Warden, nor a Wannabe Non-Warden, but a Happytobe Warden.

Orsino gives a rousing speech to his mages, acknowledging that this is a hopeless battle, an attitude he must have gotten from the cutscenes rather than the gameplay, where I have my entire party, Orsino and several nameless mages in case my small army gets lonely. It is a hopeless battle...for the templars, who unwisely chose to be weak against spirit damage. I'm equipped to deal as much spirit damage as possible, making me the ultimate darkspawn slayer and, incidentally, the ultimate templar slayer.

Having seen me mow down dozens of templars easily, Orsino decides that there is no choice but to turn himself into a monster and kill everyone for no reason. Unfortunately, this monster is vulnerable to spirit damage, so he dies very easily and has to hide behind an army of zombies, which are also weak against spirit damage. I then play "got your tongue," pull him out of his giant flesh vessel and step on him.

Cassandra is too invested in this gripping tale of heroism to ask why Orsino would despair despite outright embarrassing the templars, how he turned into a monster created in a lab by the dwarves, or why he didn't do this against Meredith instead of against Aveline, his own ally. "Anyway, Seeker, that's why your people found dozens of corpses but not Orsino. He turned himself into a monster made of dozens of corpses."

Meredith arrives (again) to confront me (again) and says she's going to kill me, whereupon her subordinate Cullen openly dissents for apparently the first time in his life, because they were supposed to arrest me for stopping their massacre against random people they know to be entirely innocent of blowing up the Chantry, not kill me! What a heroic man. I hope he comes back later so I can fight by his side and also fuck him.

Meredith attacks, revealing that she made the red lyrium idol into a cool glowy red sword which gives her powers like...making giant robots and...flying?

But this preposterous array of indistinctly-themed superpowers is no match against me and my companions! I charge forward with NEWB, Anders and Captain. Late in the fight, Meredith stops attacking to monologue. To prevent you from getting an advantage from this, she uses her red lyrium powers to stun us so we don't interrupt. Unfortunately, I gave me, Anders and NEWB anti-stun equipment, and Captain is immune to stuns, so we keep attacking her. Meredith is furious that a fellow cop would resist her authority and/or status effects, and personally threatens her. At least she got her name right. ("You were wrong to turn against this city, Captain.")

I will admit that I chose this party because I wanted Warden Nathaniel to show up as a final Grey Warden cameo, and the wiki said that he joins you if there aren't other cameos or your dog, Donnic only joins if he's married to Captain, and Zevran only joins you if you have a rogue in the party, so I was purposely avoiding Varric and Isabela. But Zevran not only appears but does a sickass backflip in the background as I kill Meredith.

I have stopped Meredith from killing innocent mages and saved Kirkwall, just as King Alistair commanded...but at the terrible price of engaging in Politics. My name is synonymous with mage freedom, and so I can never join the Grey Wardens.

Fuck this, I'm leaving.

[paleparearchive]

Calm and Composed

Giotto's 2nd initial 3★ story (2/2) ( 1 - 2 )

Location: atelier 1 (morning) | Characters: Giotto, Kuroda, Manet, Aoi/MC

Giotto: … Let's go in.

Aoi: Y-Yes…!

(I don't believe the fight is already over…)

—

Manet: Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?

Aoi: (Yeah, it's not over…)

Manet: There is nothing wrong in the color I have chosen after careful consideration.

Kuroda: Goodness… I'm saying that you're below the bottom because you won't take people's advice.

Aoi: (The atmosphere... The atmosphere is so bad... This might make you want to run away…)

Kuroda: Why don't you look around a little?

Manet: Are you trying to say that I don't see what's going on around me?

Kuroda: Oh my, it seems you can understand human language. Since you don't listen to people at all, I thought you had an intelligence below the average.

Manet: There is simply no need to listen to something that is not worth listening to.

Kuroda: Sigh, I feel sorry for your works, Manet. There is still so much room for growth in the future.

Manet: It is up to me to make the most of my work or kill it. I don't deserve to be told what to do by others. Or do you take everything others say and produce your works? Once you stop thinking about it, it won't no longer be your work.

Aoi: (The two of them often get into fights, but rarely do they get so heated… This may indeed be difficult to arbitrate even for Giotto-san…)

Giotto: I see. This is 'bout right.

Aoi: Huh…?

Giotto: Well, just watch.

Aoi: (Huuuh…!? He smiled and walked in between the two of them, but will it really be okay…!?)

Giotto: Now now ya two, why dontcha just calm down a lil'?

Manet: What kind of thinking is it to suddenly jump in a conversation? It has nothing to do with you.

Kuroda: He's right. Also, we're quite calm. Your point is extremely misguided.

Manet: Yeah, and that point could be made for you too, Kuroda. The misguided part.

Kuroda: Oooh… Let's hear carefully how I was misguided.

Manet: If I have any free time for that, I would want to go ahead with my own production. I don't have the slightest bit of time to spend on your sterile discussions.

Aoi: (Aaah…! They're back to fighting again…)

Giotto: Manet. It's good to stand up for your beliefs, but is that enough?

Manet: … What?

Giotto: If ya listen to other people's advice, ya might discover somethin' new that ya might not realize on your own.

Manet: Well… That's certainly true, but…

Giotto: Kuroda, why dontcha phrase it a lil' different way?

Kuroda: Are you trying to lecture me, Giotto?

Giotto: No, I just thought it'd be a waste. Even the best advice can be taken either favorably or negatively, depending on how ya say it… As a teacher, ya should know it best, right?

Kuroda: Well… that is right.

Giotto: Ya both just did up each other's buttons wrongly. There's no point in ya two arguin'... Dontcha agree?

Manet: Sigh… This is getting ridiculous.

Kuroda: Yeah, that's absolutely right.

Aoi: (Thank god… Manet-san and Kuroda-san seem to have stopped arguing.)

Aoi: Thank you so much, Giotto-san.

Giotto: Well, it's called wisdom of age. I'm the oldest person in this museum, after all.

Manet: What wisdom of age? It's not like you're much older than us.

Kuroda: I agree with you. How dare you talk to me like you're that much older? It seems that you're more skilled at self-deprecation than anyone else.

Giotto: Oh? For the first time, the two of ya are on the same page! At this rate you'll be makin' up soon!

Manet: What's the point of making up? We were never on good terms to begin with.

Kuroda: I agree. And at our age, who says we're going to make up?

Manet: I'll continue painting in a different place. Farewell.

Kuroda: I think I'll go to a quieter place.

Aoi: … The two of them are gone.

Giotto: Good grief… They ain't honest at all.

Aoi: (He seems to be enjoying himself while saying that. Giotto-san is truly reliable.)

Giotto: Well, now that the atelier's at peace, let's go call those who ran away from here.

Aoi: Right!