#you made a statement. the community responded accordingly.

[grunge-mermaid]

local business during the pandemic & occupation: we have no respect for our community or our customers and we're gonna keep shouting about it

local community: ok we'll get our ice cream somewhere else

local business now through crocodile tears: we're at risk of going out of business because the community hates us and keeps bullying us so we've laid off everyone and demand you feel sorry for us but we stand by everything we said and did during the pandemic and occupation why does everyone hate us

local community:

[beardedmrbean]

Jewish leaders in Chicago are calling on police to charge the illegal migrant accused of shooting a Jewish man to be charged with hate crimes, with one Jewish group slamming the city’s mayor for omitting the victim’s faith in a statement about the heinous act.

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, an illegal migrant from Mauritania in Africa, is facing 14 felony counts, including six counts of attempted murder for shooting a Jewish man multiple times on his way to a Chicago synagogue. Local Jewish leaders believe this was a targeted hate crime, but no hate crime charges have been filed as of now.

Police say he attacked the 39-year-old male victim on Saturday morning in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Police said that the suspect was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police "returned fire, striking the offender." The victim, who was wearing traditional Jewish clothing, survived the attack.

Jewish Community ‘Shaken’ After Chicago Man Shot On Way To Synagogue, Attacker Fired At Police

Police said they recovered a weapon from the scene and that Abdallahi was "placed into custody, transported to an area hospital and subsequently charged accordingly."

The victim was shot in the shoulder and is now recovering at home, according to 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein.

On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, released a statement condemning the attack, expressing his "heartfelt thoughts and prayers" with the victim, but he did not mention that the victim is Jewish.

That led Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Council, an umbrella organization for 43 major Jewish organizations in the Windy City, to quickly call out the mayor’s omission.

"You failed to identify that the victim was a Jewish man, in a densely populated Jewish neighborhood, going to synagogue for Shabbat morning prayers," the group wrote on X. "What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?"

In his October 2023 post regarding the death of a Palestinian American, Johnson said, "We grieve alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our state as we reckon with this unthinkable loss."

In that case, authorities say a landlord in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield fatally stabbed the child and attempted to kill his mother because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the Israel-Hamas war, according to The Associated Press, which also reported that the assailant has pleaded not guilty to hate crime and murder charges.

In contrast to Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is also a Democrat, made direct reference to the victim’s faith in a press release and came out in support of hate crime charges being added.

"I am deeply troubled by the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man as he walked to his synagogue in West Regions Park Saturday," Pritzker wrote in a statement shared on Wednesday.

"I pray for the victim, his family, and our entire Orthodox Jewish community, and I support all efforts by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute this senseless act of violence. The motivation of the shooter deserves a complete and thorough examination to determine if this should additionally be charged as a hate crime."

Other leaders in the Jewish community say the attack was targeted.

"We have faith in God, but we are scared for us; this shooting a few days ago was not just another act of violence," Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, the executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said per ABC7 Chicago.

"It wasn't just another shooting on the streets of Chicago. When a visibly Jewish individual in an otherwise pleasant neighborhood is shot unprovoked on his way to synagogue, we are terrorized."

David Goldenberg, Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League director, also suggested hate crimes be added.

"We urge, in the strongest terms possible, that CPD and others conduct a thorough investigation into the motives of these heinous crimes, and that charges be added as appropriate," Goldenberg said, per ABC7 Chicago.

The Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League also released a statement Monday, saying that the community has faced "an onslaught of antisemitism" since Oct. 7, 2023 and before.

"Synagogues have been vandalized, Jewish community members have been assaulted and harassed with anti-Semitic slurs and threats … As CPD’s investigation continues, let’s be clear: For the Jewish community, Saturday’s crime feels like a hate crime regardless of where the investigation lands."

On Monday, Silverstein said during a Monday news conference that the shooting had "shaken my community to its core."

"I am concerned by the lack of hate crimes charges in this case. While the motive is still under investigation, the community is rightfully troubled, given the nature and timing of the attack," Silverstein said.

"While we respect the legal process and understand that charging decisions are complex, I, along with many in my community, urge that all aspects of this case be fully examined, including bias or hate-related motivations," she later added.

Four law enforcement sources say that Abdallahi was apprehended in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector in March 2023 and was released into the U.S.

Mauritania is a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security deems illegal immigrants from Mauritania as "special interest aliens" due to security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially told Fox News Digital that it had no interaction with the suspect. Law enforcement sources say that there is a detainer request for Abdallahi — a request that he be transferred to ICE custody in the event of his release — but that "sanctuary" policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with it.

[petwyvern]

making my own post to comment on this cuz i don’t feel like being directly involved with the people in this convo since they’re all kids fbdbxjdbdbd

—

so they were responding to the statement (directly quoted), “petplay also overlaps with non & alterhumanity and deserve to use relevant tags” to which they avidly and dare i say… aggressively? disagreed. there was also a lot of commentary on the post saying petplay is something that shouldnt be associated w/ alterhumanity and pet regression. (that’s my understanding, anyway.)

so first off, i think it’s just blatantly incorrect to say that there isn’t an overlap between alterhumanity, petre, and pet play. not everyone who is alterhuman does petplay, not everyone who pet regresses does petplay, but some do. that’s unavoidable! there is going to be overlap, even if it isn’t the experience that everyone has. because alterhumanity isn’t something experienced by Only Children. adults do adult things & the fact of the matter is, tumblr is kinda catered more towards adults in the first place anyway. if this were actively a children’s website, i’d say ofc we should keep petplay elsewhere. but if once in a while, someone who is both in the alterhuman & petplay community uses tags accordingly, i don’t really see the issue? this is what tag blockers were made for. + you can’t really kick adults out of their own communities. tumblr is literally one of the only places people can go to even discuss any of this stuff. this is THE meeting place. obvi i don’t think people need to be posting straight nsfw in the alterhuman tags but certain tags pertaining to like, (animal)girl, (animal)boy, etc — yeah, there’s probably gonna be nsfw due to the general culture surrounding its usage anyway. minors can exist here on tumblr but heck!! make ur own sfw tags if you continue having this problem! be a pioneer! idk man. i hope that all makes sense. i struggle with writing down linear thoughts. it’s bedtime now 🐉

[forthegoodofamerica]

Delving into the Phenomenon of Soft Disclosures

In the age of social media and rapid communication, the way people share personal information has evolved significantly. One intriguing trend in this shift is the rise of soft disclosures. But what exactly are soft disclosures, and why have they become a phenomenon in today’s society? This blog will explore this trend, its implications, and its role in our communication today.

What Are Soft Disclosures?

Soft disclosures refer to the practice of sharing personal information in a subtle or indirect manner. Instead of outright stating facts about oneself, individuals may hint at their feelings, experiences, or situations through storytelling or vague statements. This form of communication allows for a sharing of information without revealing everything at once.

For example, someone might post a photo from a recent event with a caption that suggests they had a profound experience without detailing what made it special. This kind of sharing can create curiosity among followers, often prompting them to ask questions or express interest. It encourages interaction without demanding total vulnerability from the person sharing.

The Appeal of Soft Disclosures

There are several reasons why soft disclosures have grown in popularity. First, they provide a layer of protection for individuals. By not sharing everything, people can maintain a sense of privacy while still engaging their audience. In a world where oversharing can lead to negative consequences, soft disclosures create a balanced approach to sharing.

Additionally, soft disclosures allow for deeper conversations. When individuals hint at something interesting, it invites others to dig deeper, fostering an environment for discussion. This can lead to more heartfelt conversations, as people often connect over experiences rather than mere facts.

The Role of Social Media

Social media platforms play a crucial role in the trend of soft disclosures. With the rise of platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, users are presented with a unique stage for sharing their lives. These platforms allow for quick updates, but also grant users the flexibility to choose how much they share.

As a result, many people have turned to soft disclosures as a way to navigate their online presence. They can maintain relationships with followers while choosing how much of their personal life to expose. This makes social media a space where individuals can connect without feeling entirely vulnerable.

The Importance of Context

The context in which soft disclosures occur is essential. The same statement can carry different meanings depending on the audience and the situation in which it is shared. For instance, a comment made among close friends might invite deeper engagement than similar words spoken in a professional setting.

Understanding context helps shape the impact of soft disclosures. Individuals gauge the audience’s response and adjust their communication style accordingly. This adaptability is one of the appealing aspects of soft disclosures, as it allows people to respond to social dynamics.

The Psychological Impact

Soft disclosures can have various psychological effects on both the person sharing and those receiving the information. For the individual sharing, it may provide a sense of comfort and connection. It allows them to express their feelings without having to fully expose themselves. This can lead to relief in times of stress or vulnerability.

For the audience, soft disclosures create a sense of intimacy. Followers feel privy to someone’s life while also understanding that the individual is not obligated to share everything. This balance fosters trust and builds relationships, even if they remain largely online.

Get Your Free Copy of George Magazine

If you are intrigued by the concept of soft disclosures and their role in today’s communication, consider exploring more topics like this in George Magazine. This publication dives into various trends shaping our society and provides interesting insights into modern living. You can get your free copy of George Magazine by signing up at this link. It’s completely free, and we just need your email address to send it to you!

In the latest issue, you will find engaging articles that touch upon soft disclosures, social media dynamics, and much more. For instance, the Collector’s Edition features in-depth discussions about how communication styles have evolved in our tech-driven world.

Navigating Modern Communication

As we navigate this complex world of communication, understanding the nuances of soft disclosures is crucial. They offer a way for individuals to connect and share their lives without losing their sense of privacy. This shift in how we communicate reflects broader changes in society, where vulnerability and authenticity are valued, but so is individual security.

Soft disclosures aren’t just about what’s shared; they are about the relationships formed and the connections sparked through those conversations. By learning to engage within this framework, we can foster deeper relationships, both online and offline.

Explore the fascinating topics around communication and modern living by signing up for your free copy of George Magazine at this link. Join the conversation and learn how you can navigate your own soft disclosures in a meaningful way!

[legalassistance]

Steps to Take If Your Spouse Files for Divorce First

Facing an unexpected divorce can be one of the most stressful experiences in life. If your spouse has filed for divorce first, it’s crucial to understand the steps you need to take to protect your interests. This guide will walk you through the necessary actions to manage this situation effectively and ensure you are well-prepared for the journey ahead.

Understand the Divorce Papers

The first step when your spouse files for divorce is to carefully read the divorce papers. These documents will outline the grounds for the divorce, the demands of your spouse, and any court dates or deadlines. It's essential to:

Review the allegations made by your spouse.

Understand the demands regarding asset division, child custody, and support.

Note important deadlines for your response.

Understanding these details will help you know what you're up against and how to prepare your response accordingly.

Hire a Divorce Attorney

Finding the right legal representation is critical. A qualified divorce attorney San Jose CA can provide invaluable guidance through this process. Your attorney will help you understand your rights, develop a strategy, and represent you in court. When looking for an attorney, consider:

Their experience in handling similar cases.

Their understanding of local laws and regulations.

Their communication style and availability.

Choosing the right attorney can make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.

Gather Financial Documentation

Divorce involves the division of assets and possibly alimony or child support. You will need to provide detailed financial information. Start gathering:

Bank statements and financial records.

Tax returns for the last few years.

Documents related to assets like property deeds, car titles, and investment accounts.

Information on debts such as credit card statements and loans.

Having these documents ready will help your attorney build a strong case and ensure a fair division of assets.

Respond to the Divorce Petition

Once you've reviewed the divorce papers and consulted with your attorney, you'll need to file a response. This step is crucial to ensure your voice is heard in the proceedings. Your response should:

Address each point raised in the divorce petition.

State your counter-demands regarding asset division, custody, and support.

Be filed within the deadline specified in the divorce papers.

Filing a timely and well-prepared response is essential for protecting your interests.

Consider Mediation or Negotiation

Before heading to court, consider alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation or negotiation. These processes can:

Save time and money compared to a lengthy court battle.

Reduce conflict by promoting cooperative solutions.

Allow both parties to have more control over the final agreement.

Your attorney can help you decide if mediation or negotiation is appropriate for your situation and guide you through the process.

Plan for Custody and Support

If you have children, determining custody and support arrangements is a critical part of the divorce process. Consider:

The best interests of the children when proposing custody arrangements.

Financial support needed for the children's upbringing.

Creating a detailed parenting plan that outlines schedules, holidays, and decision-making responsibilities.

Working out these details can be one of the most contentious parts of a divorce, but prioritizing your children's well-being is paramount.

Protect Your Assets

During a divorce, it's important to take steps to protect your financial interests. This can include:

Freezing joint accounts to prevent unauthorized spending.

Changing passwords for online accounts and social media.

Documenting valuables and any property in your possession.

Taking these actions can prevent potential disputes over assets and ensure a fair division during the divorce process.

Why Choose Us

At affordableandexpresslegal.com, we understand the challenges and emotional strain that come with divorce. Here’s why you should choose us to represent you:

Experienced Attorneys: Our team has years of experience in family law and has successfully handled numerous divorce cases.

Personalized Attention: We provide individualized attention to each client, ensuring your unique needs and concerns are addressed.

Affordable Services: We offer competitive pricing without compromising on the quality of our legal services.

Efficient Process: Our streamlined process ensures that your case progresses smoothly and quickly, reducing the stress of a prolonged legal battle.

Comprehensive Support: From filing responses to negotiating settlements, we offer comprehensive legal support throughout your divorce.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you during this difficult time.

Conclusion

Facing a divorce can be daunting, especially if your spouse has filed first. By taking the right steps, such as understanding the divorce papers, hiring a divorce attorney San Jose CA, gathering financial documentation, responding appropriately, and considering mediation, you can navigate the process more smoothly. Protecting your assets and planning for custody and support are also crucial steps. For expert guidance and support, consider the experienced team at affordableandexpresslegal.com. We are here to help you every step of the way.

Reference URL :- Steps to Take If Your Spouse Files for Divorce First

[iceheap]

Alright, so it has come to my attention that there is a live stream with both Shelby and Lexi (LexiMariex) where they discuss that many male friends in the friend group downplayed and discouraged them from making their respective statements or coming out about their experiences.

With this added context, this post makes more sense. I will say, however, that generalizing like the OP is not necessarily the best thing to do.

From what I watched in the VOD (haven't finished it yet but have made it to the 1:31 mark) most of the experiences were actually coming from Lexi's recounting of her respective situation. They both talked a lot about disingenuous activism, and I support their statements about the respective topic 100%. What I'm not necessarily in agreement with is, well... Look. The unfortunate fact is that we do not know who they are talking about. They mentioned friends names who were supportive and who helped them, believed them, and listened to them, but they didn't name those who did not believe them and treated them poorly in regards to coming out about their situation. They did say that all of these negative people were men, but we have no other context clues about who they are.

they also said that their exes were manipulative. They would twist situations in their favor. (Lexi recounted a time their ex was literally groping them in a bar and when she called a friend to come and help her, he pretended it was someone else doing it and ran around like a moron accusing others of groping her, making the friend believe Lexi was making it up and therefore taking her less seriously.)

I understand why this is upsetting and why OP would say that none of these creators care about us and stuff. As it stands, though, we don't KNOW if they were talking about Tommy, Tubbo, Jack, or Phil. Or Charlie, or anyone else who has responded to the situation. As it stands, I don't see this conversation as productive. We have to take things at face value, and if later it comes out that they were disingenuous, then we take that in stride and move the conversation there accordingly. This sucks. I hate this. OP, this makes me as angry as you are. But again, my point still stands. You could potentially be alienating other victims of these two individuals who can't speak out yet due to their mental health. Some probably genuinely didn't know.

Something I have learned over the years is that assumptions only make things worse (I have a diagnosed inability to read social situations and facial expressions, so I have had to rely on facts. I think it's better than neurotypical communication honestly. Just some added context.) Please stop assuming that these specific people don't care about Shelby when Shelby has never singled any of them out. You don't have to like them, but be logical. Logic is the best in situations like these. And logic doesn't always mean being a robot, either. Logic is pointing out when something you are feeling is illogical. Like, "I am furious because this situation makes me feel betrayed and hurt on Shelby's behalf even though I'm not the one who was abused." "I don't like these people because I just don't like them. I do not have to justify myself, but I will also not be overly critical of them or try and find reasons to validate my dislike of them."

I say follow court rules. Innocent until proven guilty. We are beholden to Lexi and Shelby's wishes, as they should be, and they have not singled anyone out because they do not want to. We need to respect that.

This is the only post I will be writing in regards to Wilbur Soot's statement.

It was a shit apology. I'm not going over that. We can analyze it to death but it absolutely reads like the apology of someone who is now represented by some label's legal team. The only thing I'm thankful for is that he did not release text messages between him and Shelby in some attempt to distract people. She doesn't deserve that embarrassment.

But, I really hope you read this, I need you to stop treating this like a party. I need you to stop giving every CC that speaks up about this a hit post or hit tweet by liking it.

Almost none of these people liked a single post of Shelby's or uttered the words "I'm so sorry for what Shelby went through" They waited until it was safe to say something. They waited until they could write a "coming in with a steel chair reply." They waited until they knew it would look good.

They revealed that Wilbur has always been manipulative, a narcissist a bully and mean to his friends. They revealed they've always thought he was a bad person. They've revealed that they don't think he's taking accountability while they stayed silent.

And not just silent for a few days. Some of these people are saying they knew for better for weeks, months, years that he was a horrible person. And they said nothing. They let people spend time and money and energy on a community of a person they knew was dangerous and cruel and they said nothing.

They didn't need Shelby Shubble to come forward and say how bad of a person Wilbur Soot was. They didn't need Shelby's story, if they thought he was a bad person, to not appear in videos with him or be in a group channel with him or mention him on stream or tease content with him or be on Anvil Cards or follow him on all social media platforms.

But they did anyway because, to these content creators, it's better to be silent and let a bad person flourish than cause "drama" online.

These people do not give fuck. I need you all to please take this advice that none of these online creators are worth the time and energy you put into them. You don't know what else they're sitting on. You don't know what they've done. You are lying to yourself, right now, if you think Phil or Tommy or Tubbo or Jack or whoever your current fave is wouldn't have been fine saying nothing if Shelby hadn't spoke first. You're lying to yourself if you think whatever new smp or content creator group you're currently into doesn't have horrible shit that they're all choosing to ignore.

The amount of manipulation required by these content creators to maintain the devotion and investment of their communities is horrific.

Do not trust your mental well being, your comfort, your whatever to these people. Any of them.

[mr880fan]

The Fight for Free Speech – Black Community News

The violence, looting, and mayhem that this nation has seen over the last several months have much of its roots in academia, where leftist faculty teach immature young people all manner of nonsense that contradicts common sense and the principles of liberty. Chief among their lessons is a need to attack free speech in the form of prohibitions against so-called hate speech and microaggressions. Here are examples of microaggressions: “You are a credit to your race.” “Wow! How did you become so good in math?” “There is only one race, the human race.” “I’m not racist. I have several black friends.” “As a woman, I know what you go through as a racial minority.” It is a tragic state of affairs when free speech and inquiry require protection at institutions of higher learning. Indeed, freedom in the marketplace of ideas has made the United States, as well as other Western nations, a leader in virtually every area of human endeavor. A monopoly of ideas is just as dangerous as a monopoly in political power or a monopoly in the production of goods and services. We might ask what is the true test of a person’s commitment to free speech? The true test does not come when he permits people to say those things he deems acceptable. The true test comes when he permits people to say those things that he deems offensive. The identical principle applies to freedom of association; its true test comes when someone permits others to voluntarily associate in ways that he deems offensive. While free speech has been under attack, we are beginning to see some pushback. More than 12,000 professors, free speech leaders, and conservative-leaning organization leaders have signed “The Philadelphia Statement.” The 845-word document says in part: “Similarly, colleges and universities are imposing speech regulations to make students ‘safe,’ not from physical harm, but from challenges to campus orthodoxy. These policies and regulations assume that we as citizens are unable to think for ourselves and to make independent judgments. Instead of teaching us to engage, they foster conformism (“groupthink”) and train us to respond to intellectual challenges with one or another form of censorship. A society that lacks comity and allows people to be shamed or intimidated into self-censorship of their ideas and considered judgments will not survive for long. As Americans, we desire a flourishing, open marketplace of ideas, knowing that it is the fairest and most effective way to separate falsehood from truth. Accordingly, dissenting and unpopular voices — be they of the left or the right — must be afforded the opportunity to be heard. They have often guided our society toward more just positions, which is why Frederick Douglass said freedom of speech is the ‘great moral renovator of society and government.'” The recognition of the intellectual elite attacking free speech is not new. In a 1991 speech, Yale University President Benno Schmidt warned: “The most serious problems of freedom of expression in our society today exist on our campuses. The assumption seems to be that the purpose of education is to induce correct opinion rather than to search for wisdom and to liberate the mind.” Tyrants everywhere, from the Nazis to the communists, started out supporting free speech rights. Why? Because speech is important for the realization of leftist goals of command and control. People must be propagandized, proselytized, and convinced. Once leftists have gained power, as they have in most of our colleges and universities, free speech becomes a liability. It challenges their ideas and agenda and must be suppressed. Attacks on free speech to accommodate multiculturalism and diversity are really attacks on Western values, which are superior to all others. The indispensable achievement of the West was the concept of individual rights, the idea that individuals have certain inalienable rights that are not granted by the government. Governments exist to protect these inalienable rights. It took until the 17th century for that idea to arise mostly through the works of English philosophers such as John Locke and David Hume. And now the 21st century campus leftists are trying to suppress these inalienable rights. COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM Photo credit: By Emilie Foyer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. The views expressed in opinion articles are solely those of the author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Black Community News. Source link Read the full article

[hardynwa]

States insist on contempt charge against Malami, Emefiele over Naira redesign policy

Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states have finalised arrangements to initiate contempt proceedings against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele despite the Monday night directive to commercial banks to accept and dispense the old naira notes. The lead counsel for the three states, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, SAN, disclosed to The PUNCH on Thursday that the press statement released by the CBN in which it directed banks to accept the old naira notes was a mere camouflage to give the impression of compliance. The Supreme Court had in its March 3 judgment extended the legal tender status of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes until December 31. In the ruling delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, the apex court held that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), breached the constitution in the manner he issued directives for the redesigning of the naira. The seven-man panel also slammed the President over his February 16 broadcast in which he said only the N200 note should remain legal tender in flagrant violation of the restraining order made by the apex court. The court ordered that the old notes shall remain legal tender till December 31. However, the AGF and the CBN governor failed to comply with the order despite pressure from Nigerians. During this time, the banks also refused to accept or dispense the old notes, citing the lack of directives from the CBN regarding the judgment. Further to the enforcement of the judgment, the plaintiffs served the enrolled order and Certified True Copy of the Supreme Court judgment on the AGF penultimate Friday. Following the failure of the respondents to obey the judgment, the plaintiffs threatened to file contempt charges against the two officials should they fail to obey the apex court order. On Monday night, the CBN in a statement directed banks to receive and disburse the old notes as directed by the apex court. The statement signed by the acting Director of Corporate Communications, CBN, Isa AbdulMumin, read, “In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the rule of law principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court judgment of March 3, 2023. “Accordingly, the CBN met with the Bankers’ Committee and has directed that the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender alongside the redesigned banknotes till December 31, 2023. Consequently, all concerned are directed to conform accordingly.’’ But speaking to The PUNCH on Thursday, Mustapha dismissed the CBN statement as a gimmick, insisting that the apex court had not complied with the Supreme Court order. The senior advocate revealed that he had his clients’ instructions to initiate contempt proceedings against the AGF and the CBN governor. He stated, “The press release made by the Central Bank of Nigeria is just a mere camouflage just to give an impression of compliance. There is nothing like that. And our clients, Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, and states have told us that we should go on with the already initiated contempt of proceedings against the Attorney General and the Central Bank Governor. “The decision of the Supreme Court has not been complied with. They are in contempt of court. We are going to reactivate the already-initiated contempt proceedings. There is a legal process around it.” On when Nigerians should expect the proceeding to commence, he said, “There is a legal process around it; over time you are going to see it. I can confirm to you that we have a clear mandate for our clients to proceed with the already initiated contempt proceedings because it is clear to all and sundry that the CBN is just playing pranks. “They are not sincere. And they are acting as if they are above the law. The constitution is clear that all organs and everybody must ensure that the decision of the Supreme Court is enforced.” The AGF could not be reached on Thursday for comments on the move to commence contempt proceedings against him as calls to his media aide, Umar Gwandu rang out. He had yet to respond to a text message sent to him on the issue as of the time of filing this report. Also, the CBN spokesman did not respond to calls and a text message sent to him on the plan to cite Emefiele for contempt. Meanwhile, Deposit Money Banks have begun to halt the disbursement of old and new notes as they run out of cash in their vaults. This came barely five days after the CBN declared the old N1000, N500 and N200 notes as legal tender. Findings by our correspondent on Thursday showed that the Automated Teller Machines in the Redemption Camp of the Redeemed Christian Church of God along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, were not dispensing cash. Similarly, the ATMS at Guaranty Trust Bank, Union Bank Plc, FCMB and PremiumTrust Bank were not dispensing the old or new notes. According to the bank customers, Premium bank only dispensed cash for about five minutes before the error message “temporarily unable to dispense cash” was displayed. A customer who identified himself as Kenny told The PUNCH, “ I have been to other ATMs today and none of them is dispensing. I am tired.” Read the full article

[some-stars]

so the OTW does not provide an email where you can contact them, only a web form limited to 1000 characters, so I’m going to post the letter I wrote here and link them to it:

I am writing in response to this question and the OTW's response from the 9/29 board meeting minutes:

This might be a little off-topic but I have to satisfy my curiosity. Is the board aware of the continuing public “pressure” being exerted by outside groups who want the OTW to implement changes to Ao3 that could result in unfavorable changes for creators? […] Sure, there’s been a troubling amount of talk (and maybe it’s just all talk) on outside social media sites (It’s Twitter, it’s always Twitter) of groups that want to pressure the OTW to implement censorship guidelines for Ao3. Is that even on your radar?

This is a perennial pressure for the Organization for Transformative Works, but the AO3 was founded to protect inclusivity of content and we remain committed to that mission.

(It can be found here. I have a screenshot if they delete it.)

It is sickening to me that not only did the board not push back on the wildly inaccurate framing of "BIPOC fans criticizing AO3's racism and calling for immediate meaningful action" as "outside groups" calling for "censorship guidelines"--rather than fans who have been reading and posting to AO3 since its inception, which is what they actually are (and also white allies, also longtime AO3 users, with the same criticisms)--not only did the board not correct this false and racist framing, it implicitly endorsed it.

You have made a very clear statement to BIPOC users of AO3: you are not part of our community, you are not one of us, and we don't want you here. This is utterly unacceptable. I used to donate to the OTW every single year, but I haven't since 2019 because of this exact kind of behavior and refusal to take action against racism--but even with the OTW's lengthy track record of failing to address BIPOC fans' needs and concerns about the rampant racist harassment that gets ignored by the abuse team and pro-Nazi/slavery/genocide trolling fic that gets posted with the deliberate intent of making fandom hostile for BIPOC--even despite your long record of alternating total inaction with brief lip service, I was genuinely shocked to see the board actively affirm that it considers BIPOC fans an "outside group." (Not to mention affirming that it sees requests for such things as, say, actually responding to reports of racist harassment, or providing a built-in user blocking tool, as "censorship.")

If the OTW has even the slightest genuine intention of becoming a less racist organization and working to repair the harm it has done and continues to do, it is imperative that everyone in a leadership position read this thread on how to start fixing the internal culture and this thread on how to start meaningfully addressing the concerns of BIPOC users (and again, there are MANY white allies who feel strongly about this, lest you think all white fans side with you, but BIPOC must be centered in every step of the process).

It is imperative that the OTW spend money on hiring consultants trained to lead this kind of work, and on compensating BIPOC fans for their input. It is imperative that the OTW listen and act accordingly to the feedback they receive. It is imperative that any OTW leadership who refuse to take meaningful immediate action against racism in the way that professional consultants and BIPOC fans decide they should be kicked out of the organization before they can do any further harm. Until these things are done, the OTW will remain an actively white supremacist organization that is apparently quite happy to be one.

----

(FYI, I’m white, so if there’s a post responding to these meeting minutes by a BIPOC fan please let me know so I can boost it!)

(And no, I don’t think this is about antishippers/purity police who claim AO3 is a den of pedophilia, because no one outside the puriteen circle seriously thinks the AO3 is in danger of giving in to them. not to mention that antishippers and people criticizing racism are widely conflated, which is a problem in itself.)

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat” or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

Simply Meant To Be (pt 2)

[Part 1]

You don’t need to read part 1 to read this one since that one is Roman backstory and this one is Janus backstory

Rating: teen

Word Count: 3456

Pairings: Remile, Moxiety kinda (they’re kids, but they’re soulmates so I guess it’s future moxiety), Roceit but only at the very end

Warnings: religion, religious cults, religious guilt, child abuse, internalized homophobia, childhood trauma, stalking, threats of kidnapping, throwing up, psychological warfare (?), paranoia, swearing

I think that’s everything

It’s worse than you’d expect after the first part, but not quite as bad as the warnings make it sound, but if any of the warnings make you uncomfortable then feel free to skip this part

I started with some religious stuff right off the bat, so I put the entire fic below the cut

~~~START~~~

When Janus was growing up, he was taught that the colorblindness that everyone was born with was a test from God. God created a beautiful world full of wonderful colors, then gave man the ability to view only a fraction of this beauty. The wicked ones searched selfishly for ways to see even more, but the humble ones were grateful for what little beauty they were given. 

Soulmates were frowned upon in the Community. Janus was taught from a young age that soulmates were a trick, sent by Satan to lead people away from God. Even those who met their soulmates by accident were expelled from the Community. 

As such, Janus never expected to see color — for a while he’d even dreaded the mere thought of it — so he taught himself to discern between shades of gray. He was very good at it, almost to the point that someone who could see color would be fooled into thinking Janus could too. 

The Elders were not very pleased with this skill, and the Community as a whole was torn as to whether it was a sin or not. They said it was a reflection of his desire to see colors, of his desire to stray from God. 

So Janus repented. He begged forgiveness and promised to abandon his skill. He was devoted to God and only God. 

That was a lie of course, Janus prided himself on his ability to discern shades of gray, but he didn’t see why that had to be mutually exclusive to being devoted to God. 

Pride was a sin, and so was lying, but they were lesser sins to the Community than soulmates and colors. God would forgive him. 

He lived in the Community for twenty years, rarely leaving the town and when he did it was only for a few hours. 

He carries a lot of baggage from those twenty years, but he’s doing his best to shoulder it, to not let it affect his relationships with those around him, to not let any of the Community’s teachings hurt his son. 

Sometimes the little voice in the back of his head told him he was being selfish. Janus always silenced this voice with one thought: there’s nothing wrong with a little selfishness. 

Janus started going to gay bars on Saturday nights to feed his selfishness. He was never looking for anything, he had a young son at home after all, but one time, he kissed a man — he threw up in the bathroom afterwards, but he still counted it as a victory. 

There was a teenager that lived in the apartment next to Janus and Virgil’s first home outside the Community, and they were always willing to watch Virgil for a few hours, even if Janus couldn’t afford to pay them much. Elliot was Janus’ first friend outside of the Community, probably his first real friend ever. 

Janus hit Virgil once. Virgil was about two and a half at the time, and he’d proudly told Janus that his favorite color was magenta — after the dog on Blue’s Clues — and Janus hadn’t even thought, he’d just slapped his own son across the face. In the Community, a slap on the face would be the least of a child’s concerns after saying such a thing, but this wasn’t the Community, and Janus was trying to be better than them. He’d been completely consumed by guilt before the tears even began forming in Virgil’s eyes. 

“I’m so sorry baby!” Janus apologized, pulling Virgil in for a tight hug and rocking back and forth in a soothing motion. Virgil easily accepted the hug, and that only made Janus feel worse. Virgil trusted him completely, and he’d betrayed that trust. Janus was going to be better; he was going to do better. He was never going to hurt Virgil again. “I’m so sorry darling. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was all my fault; I shouldn’t have done that. I did a very bad thing, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay daddy. I forgive you.” Janus’ heart broke even more; he didn’t deserve forgiveness. He didn’t deserve this child. 

After Virgil went to bed that night, Janus searched the internet for therapists. Doctor Emile Picani came highly recommended, and after a brief email exchange, they agreed to help Janus, even though he couldn’t afford their usual rate. 

Picani was an… interesting character. They made several strange statements then told him that they were references to cartoons that Janus had never even heard of. TVs in the Community weren’t for children to use, and Virgil was only two, he mostly just watched Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, and Sesame Street. After telling Picani that, they changed their references accordingly, telling Janus that they had their own two-year-old at home, and they were more than familiar with the kind of shows Virgil was watching. 

Picani didn’t think Janus was a bad person, which was a foreign thought for Janus, who was certain that he was going straight to Hell. They were good at finding ways to make the little voice in Janus’ head shut up. It took Janus a while to believe him, but it got a little easier every week. 

Over the years, Emile became his friend, and Janus was grateful to have them every day. 

Emile was the one who insisted that Janus let them throw a birthday party for Virgil’s 5th birthday. Birthday parties hadn’t been a thing in the Community, and even after he left, Janus mostly just celebrated Virgil’s birthday by getting him new clothes, a whole party was a completely foreign idea. 

But Janus had said yes and agreed to bring Virgil over to Emile’s place the following Saturday. The party, he’d been told, would just be Emile, Emile’s husband Remy, and their son Patton. That was good, neither Janus nor Virgil were very good in crowds. 

Of course, whether there was a crowd or not hardly mattered when Virgil had met Patton and informed Janus that “everything is prettier now!”, Janus had a panic attack either way. 

Virgil can see colors! That isn’t allowed, they’ll take him away! He’s only five he needs me! They won’t let me keep him! This is all wrong!

“-five, six, seven. Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good. Are you with me, Jan?”

“Yes,” Janus croaked. He was in a different room now, with only Emile. Virgil was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Virgil!?”

“Breath, Janus. Virgil is in the living room with Remy and Patton. Remy is teaching them all the different colors.”

“They’re going to take him away!”

“No one’s going to take him away. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him meeting his soulmate. Everything is going to be okay.”

“I don’t want to lose him.”

“You’re not going to lose him. You’re not in the Community, there’s no reason anyone will take him away.”

“I’m sorry,” Janus apologized, wiping at his tears. “I probably scared the kids.”

“Would you like a hug?” Janus nodded. That was one of the nice things about being friends with Emile, they gave great hugs and gave them freely. “Virgil was a little concerned about you, but Patton didn’t notice. Remy’s with them now, they’re okay. Do you want to go join them?”

“Not yet.”

“Alright.” Emile allowed them to sit in silence for a while before speaking up again. “I’m proud of you.”

“Why?” Janus asked miserably. 

“Your son met his soulmate and you didn’t respond with anger, you didn’t repeat any of the Community’s teachings, it’s a big step for you.”

“It doesn't feel like a big step.”

“Well it is.” And that was that. 

Ten minutes later Janus was feeling up to joining the others. Virgil climbed into Janus’s lap as soon as he sat down, and having his son in his arms did wonders as far as calming himself down went. 

“This is my source material!” Virgil informed Patton and Remy happily. Patton accepted that information easily, but Remy shot Janus a bemused look. 

Janus shrugged in return. As soon as Virgil had started getting anywhere near being able to speak, Elliot started teaching him weird phrases in the hope that Virgil’s first word would be strange, some of them stuck. 

Virgil started babbling after that, telling Janus about how ‘Mr. Remy’ was teaching him about colors and soulmates. Internally, Janus was grateful that someone else had given Virgil the soulmate talk, someone who hadn’t grown up with a cynical and toxic view of soulmates. 

Other than the hiccup at the beginning, Virgil’s birthday party went pretty well. Patton was a very nice boy — though he’d have to be considering he was Emile’s kid — and Janus truly couldn’t have picked a better soulmate for Virgil if he tried. Patton seemed to have an absurd amount of emotional intelligence for a not-yet five-year-old, and when Virgil starts fatiguing towards the end of the night, Patton’s energy level changes appropriately. 

Janus headed home that night with a sleeping child, two new stuffed animals — one of Blue and one of Magenta — a box of Playdough, a Sesame Street coloring book with crayons — a last minute addition thrown in because of Virgil’s newfound colors — and newfound sense of peace. His son met his soulmate and nothing bad had happened. 

Play dates became a regular thing, and Janus was glad his son would already have one friend going into kindergarten in the fall. One of the kids’ favorite things to do during play dates was painting, and as a result, Janus found himself using his skill to baffle Remy with his ability to paint everything the correct color, even when Remy tried to trick him. Painting, however, was not particularly fun to Janus in and of itself, and wasn’t something he partook in when he and Virgil were at home. 

Remy was actually the one to suggest a different medium for Janus: makeup. Remy even allowed Janus to use him as a canvas, and Janus’ skills on a living canvas soon flourished. Often he would sit down to practice on Remy, and Virgil and Patton would do the same with Emile. Janus’ work would of course look a lot better in the end, but Emile vehemently claimed to love both looks equally. 

Eventually Janus started a YouTube channel dedicated to makeup tutorials. He always used Remy or Emile as models, appearing himself with contacts and half his face painted to look like a snake, hoping that was enough to obscure his identity in case anyone in the Community ever came across his channel. 

His channel became fairly popular, not enough for Janus to make a living from that alone, but he did make enough from the channel for it to pay for itself. He could afford better makeup brands, which meant he could make cooler designs, which made his channel more popular. It was going well. 

Until his mother showed up on his doorstep one day, nearly a decade since he’d last seen her. 

“Janus.”

“Mother.” He didn’t have anything to say to her. Not a thing. Ten years and he hadn’t once felt the need to reach out to her. 

“When are you going to stop this silly game and come home, Janus? We miss you, and this is no environment to raise Virgil in.” She gestured to Janus’ apartment, and Janus’ blood began to boil. 

“Well excuse me for not meeting your standards, mother, but as I recall, it wasn’t my choice to leave in the first place!”

“If this is about Emmaline-”

“It’s not just about Emmaline! Virgil and I are perfectly happy where we are, and I’m not about to go exposing him to your toxic-”

“TOXIC!? Janus Lysander Hadley you take that back this instant! I will not have you speaking about our faith that way!”

“It’s not my faith, mother, it’s yours, and it has no place in my home!”

He should have been expecting the slap, it was a common way for his mother to respond to anyone disagreeing with her, but it had been so long, the sharp sting on his cheek came as a complete surprise. 

“Step aside, Janus, I’m taking Virgil home whether you’re coming or not. You’re clearly not fit to raise a child.”

Her trying to push past Janus and into his apartment shook Janus out of his shocked stupor and he blocked her advance. 

“You’ve never been fit to raise a child in your life!” He hissed, pushing her away from the door. “Now kindly fuck off, mother, you aren’t welcome here!”

He slammed the door on her shocked face, and quickly locked the door, locked the deadbolt, and slid the door chain in place. As soon as the door was thoroughly locked, his mother started pounding on the door, the gravity of the situation sunk in, and his panic started mounting. 

His mother found him. She knew where he lived. She wanted to take Virgil from him. He yelled at his mother. She knew where he lived. He made her angry. She wanted to take Virgil from him. She knew where he lived!

“Sperm donor?”

His son’s voice snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. Virgil was peeking out from behind the partition for the living room, where he wouldn’t have been visible from the door. He was clearly scared, because of course he was, his father had just had a screaming match with a woman he probably didn’t recognize outside their apartment, and said woman was proceeding to yelling abuse through the apartment door. It had to have more than a little unsettling for the ten-year-old. 

“It’s okay, mini me, everything’s going to be fine.” Janus crossed the room to pull his son into a hug. Virgil latched on to him immediately, shaking from stress. 

“I don’t want to go with her,” Virgil mumbled into Janus’s sweater. “She’s mean.”

“You don’t have to.” Janus tightened his arms around his son protectively. “You’re staying with me.”

Janus’ mother stopped pounding on the door eventually — presumably because one of the neighbors either threatened to call the police, or actually called the police — but Janus and Virgil’s nerves were both shot for the rest of the day, and they both ended up spending the night at the Picanis’. 

Janus didn’t see hide nor hair of his mother for weeks after the incident, but his paranoia levels were through the roof. He wouldn’t let Virgil be home alone anymore, instead having him go home with Patton after school, staying at the Picanis’ until Janus could pick him up. Every day when he got home he would search their apartment for anything out of place that would suggest that someone broke in, he even went as far as constructing minor booby traps for anyone who tried to root around through their things. 

“Janus — I’m saying this as your friend, and as a mental health professional — I’m concerned about you,” Emile told him one day when he came to pick up Virgil from their house. “You’ve been on edge for weeks, it’s not healthy, for you or for Virgil. He told me he’s been having nightmares, you know.”

“I know, I know! But I don’t know what to do!” Janus stressed, he was dangerously close to his breaking point, but he didn’t know how to stop it. 

“Have you considered moving?” Emile asked gently. “It’s clear you don’t feel safe here, maybe putting some more distance between you and your parents will ease your distress.”

“I can’t move; you guys live here. I can’t just take Virgil away from Patton, he’d be devastated.”

“I’m not saying move to Antarctica and become a hermit, we can visit, and Patton and Virgil can Skype. Yeah, it’ll be hard and both of them, but this is hard on them too. Janus, I think it’s important for you to feel safe in your own home, and you obviously don’t.”

“I don’t know…”

But a week later, Janus would be pushed over the edge. 

He came home from work — thankfully before picking Virgil up — to find his apartment door wide open. Cautiously, he searched the apartment for any intruders, but after twenty minutes he was confident that no one was around. 

There were a few things missing, mostly all of Virgil’s crayons and colored pencils, as well as his coloring books and some of the drawings he’d made that Janus had put on the fridge. There were also a few photos of Janus and Virgil missing from their frames, and a tile with Virgil’s baby handprint missing from the kitchen. And three of Janus’ booby traps had been sprung telling him that whomever broke into his apartment — presumably his mother — had opened the hall closet, the cabinet next to the fridge, and the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. 

As if that was bad enough, there, in plain sight on the dining room table was a copy of the Community’s version of the Bible. 

“We have to move.” Janus wasn’t sure how he ended up at the Picanis’; everything after finding the bible had been a panicked blur. All he knew was that he couldn’t stay at that apartment anymore. 

Moving was hard. Virgil didn’t like it, but he was afraid of their apartment too, and if Janus and Virgil just moved in with the Picanis — which Remy had suggested — then Janus’ parents would just start terrorizing them too, and Janus couldn’t have that. No, it was better that he and Virgil move away, not just to a new apartment, but to a new city, a new state even! Somewhere his parents wouldn’t find him or Virgil. 

They ended up moving to Florida, halfway across the country. Remy had a cousin in Florida, one that he swore up and down that Janus would love, and moving somewhere where he sort of knew someone was better than starting over from scratch a second time. 

Remy and Patton came with them to help them move and to allow Patton and Virgil to spend as much time together as they could. Emile stayed behind since they couldn’t reschedule all their appointments on such short notice. Emile did suggest a new therapist near Janus’ new home, and included a suggestion for Virgil too. 

Having Remy around for the moving process was good because he was able to parcel things out in ways that didn’t make Janus feel overwhelmed with the amount of work that went into moving. Having Patton around for the moving process was good because when all Virgil could see were negatives, Patton pointed out the positives and had a way of making Virgil begrudgingly agree to them. 

Part of the moving process was for Janus to change his and Virgil’s name in the hopes of throwing his parents off their scent. Since Virgil was taking the move so hard, Janus let him pick their new last name to make him feel better. Of course Virgil was beginning to enter his emo-pre-teen-angst phase, so he picked a name that was edgy and extra: Storm. 

Janus Storm. 

He sounded like a supervillain, but it made Virgil happy, and he could never resist anything that made Virgil happy. 

Before Remy and Patton went home, Remy introduced Janus and Virgil to his cousin: Thomas Sanders. Thomas owned a theater in town, and offered to let Janus use him as a model for his YouTube videos. He was alright; Virgil seemed to like him well enough, and Janus trusted Virgil’s instincts on these kinds of things. 

It was a teary goodbye when Remy and Patton went home, and Virgil refused to speak for the rest of the day, but once their plane touched down, Patton called on Remy’s phone, so maybe the distance wouldn’t be too bad. 

The Picanis came to visit for Virgil’s eleventh birthday since it occurred during Patton’s winter break. They ended up staying for almost a week.

Almost a year after Janus and Virgil moved to Florida, Thomas called Janus to tell him that the makeup artist at his theater quit, and that the job was Janus’ if he wanted it. 

Taking that job turned out to be the best decision of his life. 

“I’m Roman.”

The moment Janus had been dreading since he was a child was finally happening. The moment Janus had learned to be cautiously optimistic about was finally happening. 

Slowly, as though someone were carefully turning up the volume on a speaker, the monochrome world around Janus began to change, and he finally understood what Virgil meant by ‘everything is prettier’, because it was. It was wonderful and terrifying all at once. 

“Janus.”

~~~END~~~

Janus’ backstory wasn’t supposed to be quite this angsty but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ here we are. It’s probably never going to get this heavy again

Let me know if I forgot to tag anything or put anything in the warnings

taglist:

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple @northlight14 @mistythegenderqueermess @bluerosesbleedred @sevencrashing @awkwardjester @everythingisstardust

400 followers!! Thank you all 💜💜💜

[miraculous786]

Hello, congratulations in reaching 900.

How about big brother Tim, I mean everybody knows the tropes of big bro Jason, but I imagine Tim and Marinette when they were kids or in a business trip and meeting again when Bruce brings her one day to the Manor and tell them she is their new little sis and everyone gets crazy minus Tim that is already used to it.

P.S: Love your work.

~*~*~

Note: Thank you! And you’re right about the trope of ‘Big Bro Jason’ - we need more ‘Big (or Small) Bro Tim’!

Masterlist

I Expected Business, Not…Babies?

“And here I thought I’d be able to finish my work here,” Tim grumbled, ducking down and turning into an alley. “Guess not.”

The young man sighed, leaning his head on the wall behind him. He pulled out his phone, and began to research certain information on the internet. Meanwhile, explosions and shouts echoed above and around him.

There was around a minute of him staying silent, until he hummed. “Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris, fight someone named Hawk Moth-” he let out a tired sigh, “-have been for over two years, this is an akuma, yada, yada, yada…”

Tim’s eyes scanned across his device’s screen for another few seconds, until he swiped down and pressed on the app for his camera. He clicked the recording button.

“Bruce would probably freak if I didn’t get a video…” he muttered, soon after stepping out into the morning light showering the ground.

On a rooftop nearby, there were several crashes and bangs, followed by a body being thrown into a building across the street. Cracks spread along the brick it was tossed at, and the unknown groaned in pain.

From where their attacker was, a figure stalked out. “Paris! I am the Youngster, and you will all feel my wrath for daring to make fun of my childish spirit!”

The villain - a female - floated up into the air, and proceeded to shoot rays of energy at unsuspecting people around. As soon as one made contact made with someone’s skin, they were enveloped by a blinding flash of blue, before leaving behind a shorter version of themselves.

No, Tim realised when a moment passed. Younger.

He quickly crouched down when the akuma turned her head his way. Then, he waited with baited breath for her to focus her attention elsewhere.

She finally seemed to when a distinctly male voice called from afar, “M'Lady! Are you okay?”

“Guessing that’s Chat Noir,” Tim mumbled aloud. “And the one chucked like a rag doll was Ladybug.”

He poked his head out from the car he was behind, and, after deeming it safe enough, walked out with his phone in hand. Blue eyes narrowed at the structures above, where three individuals fought each other in a heated battle.

~*~*~

“ALFRED!”

“I assure that you do not need to shout, Master Tim. I have already answered the call.”

“Sorry, I, I just…can I have some help?”

Tim moved the phone back, revealing what he was holding in his right arm. A toddler, by the looks of it, who was sleeping peacefully with her head leaning on the man’s chest.

Alfred schooled his expression, merely raising a brow at the camera.

“Master Tim, am I correct in saying that you were in Paris only for business?”

“Yes, but it turns out that there’s some man using magic to terrorise the people here. Apparently, he’s after something called the ‘miraculous’ - and he uses one of them himself to turn people into villains to do the work for him.”

The butler froze minutely at the mention of the sacred jewellery.

“And who would that girl be that you happen to have, Master Tim?”

He turned his head to the child in his grip, and responded, “Ladybug, one of the heroes here. The ‘akuma’ running rampant right now has the power to make people younger.”

“I assume you want me to call Master Bruce?”

“No, no,” Tim denied, shaking his head. “I just wanted to ask for some advice on how to look after a child well. I tried to call Dick, but he wouldn’t answer his phone.”

There was an explosion in the background, causing him to jump and almost drop his phone. Figures in orange and green sprinted past from just outside the balcony of his hotel room.

“First, Master Tim, I suggest that you close all doors and windows to keep Ladybug peaceful and asleep.”

“Oh, crap. Probably should have thought of tha-”

The CEO was cut off by a whine from where his chest was, and glanced down to see Marinette wiggling about in his hold. He yelped when she almost escaped, as he noted that her destination after would have been on the floor.

He placed his phone to the side.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay,” Tim soothed, rocking her slightly back and forth. “Shhh, don’t worry.”

The cries she let out lessened after a minute, and she soon gazed up at him with shiny, watering eyes.

“Bwuda?” her tiny voice asked in a wobbly tone.

“W-What? I-I’m not-”

Her lower lip started to tremble.

Tim resigned to his fate with a sigh. “Yes. Brother.”

Marinette giggled, attempting to hug him with her short arms. Her tiny teeth showed in her wide grin. She ceased struggling from him.

The girl then kept repeating, “Bwuda!” whilst jumping about giddily in his grip.

Though he tried to fight it off, he couldn’t help the smile that he adorned on his features, as he nodded along to her chant.

Unaware of Alfred still listening in.

Or the cat-themed hero frantically trying to search for his partner right outside by shouting out her name.

~*~*~

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet your new sister - Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

There was absolute silence for several moments, consisting of said girl and the Wayne family regarding each other.

Then, everything became a ruckus. Three of the males present began to talk over each other loudly, with either annoyed or excited looks on their faces. Cass and Tim remained quiet, along with Alfred.

Marinette flickered her wide eyes between them all, whilst inching a few feet back.

“That’s enough, boys.”

At Bruce’s statement, they froze in what they were doing, and turned to the woman at the side. She was now shuffling on her feet and twiddling with her fingers from anxiety.

Dick spoke first, kindly saying, “Hi, I’m Richard - or Dick - and this is Jason and Damian.”

He pointed to them accordingly.

“Over there is our awesome sister Cass and-”

“Tim.”

Even Bruce was surprised by her strong tone, and the fact that she already knew his name.

A smile tugged at her lips, as she made her way over to the smirking man. He embraced her tightly, ignoring the shocked looks he earned from the action.

After finishing the hug, Marinette walked to Alfred, and giggled, “It’s great to finally meet you in person.”

She tilted her head to Cass.

“And you too.”

The dark-haired female nodded, communicating that she felt the same.

“Wait, wait, wait, how do you know Timbers already?” Jason broke in, asking the question that most there wanted the answer to.

“Oh! Well, he’s my-”

“Brother,” Tim replied for her. “…And I’ve already called dibs.”

“What?” Bruce quizzed. “When?”

“Hmm…two years ago, if I’m right. When Marinette here turned into a kid.”

“Hey! I thought we’d never mention that ever again!”

“Welp, you thought wrong, Sis.”

The designer groaned, burying her head in her hands.

“…You’re French, aren’t you? I can tell with the accent,” Dick input. “And didn’t Tim go on a business trip to Paris that long ago?”

“Yes, Dick. I did.”

“So, how did she turn into a kid?” Jason marvelled.

“It…It’s a long story,” Marinette summarised, visibly wincing. She took a glance down to her purse. “You might wanna sit down for a bit.”

~*~*~

@northernbluetongue @moonystars14 @soupfilledboots @virgil-is-a-cutie​

[falencityhq]

what tribe does the native admin belongs to?

hello! native admin here. considering the fact this is the internet full of people i don't know, which is why i use an alias, i won't be sharing that kind of information. not only because i don't know you, but also because this is being asked for malicious reasons. normally we wouldn't even respond to this kind of message, but because you all are dragging this out; we've decided to answer.

the comments made about this roleplay and the assumptions made about the admins, mods and players are despicable. not only are the admins and mods poc's, but so are most of the players. not only that, but our list of faces being used are diverse. i can speak for me and the other admins and mods, when i say you can say whatever you want about us. all wrongdoings that you see can be blamed on us. but the integrity of our players being questioned is not okay. not when they took no part in the making of the roleplay. another thing i would like to point out is that there's a line between constructive criticism and bashing and bullying, which you all claim you don't do. and yet.... one person came to us in messages, told us about the connotations about using the phrase "spirit animal", which one of the mods said they would bring it to the admin team. they did, we talked about it and changed it accordingly. i, as a native, was not offended. because the phrase wasn't used in an harmful way. but discussions of why it shouldn't be used was had and thus we made the change. but the information told to them was from a friend, who was excitedly telling them about a new roleplay she was in and about her characters and she too wanted them to join. funny how that turned into this over an im message about a problem that we changed. not only has that player left because she felt guilty because of said friend ( who bad mouthed her before all this ), but because her chosen face claims were also bad talked. being called racist? transphobic? when most of are muns are part of these communities that are minorities is pretty laughable. because not one of us would let any of that fly. disliking something is okay. making a statement about the dislike is okay. presenting a problem to someone in hopes they correct it is okay. trying to tear down a whole group of people? mostly female and who are also poc and/or a part of lgbtq just like some of you? that's the thing that should be questionable here. all in all i hope you all have nice night. <3

[archivalflags]

[ Image Transcription : 

A flag with seven stripes, three deep green stripes are on the top separated from three deep blue stripes on the bottom by one white stripe in the middle.

End Transcription ]

A compiled history of the first popularized Gay / Gay Man / Gay Men / Gay Male flag proposal. UPDATED 4/12/22 WITH IMPORTANT INFORMATION, PLEASE SCROLL TO “UPDATE SECTION”.

This history is somewhat incomplete because of the lack of consistent documentation of this flag as it gained popularity. As resources are found and more research is done, it will be updated accordingly.

This post was made as a reference and is free to be cited.

Creation

The Gay Man Flag was created by an anon and Mod Hermy from @.ask-pride-color-schemes [1].

[ Image Transcription :

“Anonymous asked: Relating to the old discussion on a separate flag just for gay men a while back (since the regular gay flag tends to be used for LGBT overall). Since theres a lesbian flag that is the lipstick lesbian flag minus the lipstick symbol, maybe a gay man pride flag could be the gay bear flag without the bear symbol? Alternatively, maybe the same set up as the lesbian flag, but using blue and purple colors instead of red and pink. Just some suggestions!”

Mod Hermy responds “Looks like someone already beat you to the blue/purple idea and used it for the Butch lesbian design: *image of the blue and purple Butch Lesbian flag*

*image of the proposed gay flag*  And I dunno about the other idea, I think the brown colors might be so distinctly ‘bear’ that just removing the pawprint will just confuse people, but who knows!”

End Transcription ]

The history of this flag is muddled as it was not credited during it’s initial spread. It was somewhat popularized through people arguing about it after transmedicalist/transmed/truscum blogger @discourse-king posted it without credit and it gained traction [2].

Some claimed that there were meanings behind the stripes and that it was created by one person, but there were no “official” meanings posted by the creators, and (as previously stated) the flag was a collaboration over asks. [3]. Many mis-attributed the flag as @discourse-king’s creation, thinking that it was somehow pro-transmedicalist.

The Anon that suggested the flag could be Truscum, however Mod Hermy & Ask-pride-color-schemes are not, so it's unlikely that a Transmed would be contacting them. Additionally, the Anon's suggestion was modified by Mod Hermy who actually made the image, so even if a Transmed suggested it, they didn't create the final product.

Overall opinions on the flag seem to be mixed. Commonly seen criticisms are the color scheme being primarily blue, it’s similarity to the lipstick lesbian flag, and arguments over the “need” for a more specific flag beyond the rainbow flag [4] for gay men.

A common statement about the , making it appear as shades of light & dark blue if the image quality is less than perfect, if your screen brightness isn’t high enough, or if your computer or phone display doesn’t have very sharp colors, hence the “all blue” moniker.

The flag has been adopted for use by multiple communities, most unfavorably by r/LGBdroptheT [5], who have actively complained about similar trans-inclusive proposals for both lesbian and gay flag designs.

[ Image Transcription : 

A r/LGBDropTheT post criticizing @gayflagblog​'s gay flag proposal for including trans men and nonbinary gays with the header “Not mentioning me is not allowed anywhere”

End Transcription ]

[ Image Transcription : 

A r/LGBDropTheT post criticizing @sadlesbeandisaster’s lesbian flag proposal for including trans women and nonbinary lesbians, with the header “The ‘new’ lesbian flag includes men and women who don’t want to be women.”

End Transcription ]

However, usage of the flag by an individual or group does not directly indicate trans-exclusionary or transmedicalist views, as the flag is neither explicitly inclusive or exclusive of trans/nb spectrum gay men.

This flag has commonly been mistaken for other proposed flags, either due to similarity in color scheme or number of stripes.

[ Image Transcription :

A flag with five stripes, two deep green stripes are on the top separated from two deep blue stripes on the bottom by one white stripe in the middle.

End Transcription ]

Tumblr user Gee-Makes-Flags has made a “simplified version” of the flag which has also been used in place of the original.

UPDATE SECTION

On March 3rd, 2021, Mod Hermy came out of Hiatus on ask-pride-color-schemes and commented on this post. [6]

[ Image Transcription :

A reblog of this post by ask-pride-color-schemes, it says

 “Mod Hermy here: I’m just getting off hiatus from this blog and am now learning about all the discourse about this flag. I’m going to make a longer post later but I’m super pissed it got stolen and co-opted by some truscum/transphobes. I updated the description on my Deviantart post”

A link to the pride-flags Deviantart page is given

End Transcription ]

Mod Hermy then updated the description of the flag’s Deviantart page to the following [7]:

[ Image Transcription :

" Two years late and I'm just learning about a ton of discourse surrounding this flag. APPARENTLY some truscum/transmed took this flag and reuploaded it, wording it in a way that made everyone think it was made by them (and "official"). Also,it seems like it's been co-opted by truscum and transphobes to exclude trans and nonbinary gay men.

So I'll try to clear things up.

Around May 2017 an anon made a suggestion on my blog ask-pride-color-schemes about a flag specifically for gay men:

“Relating to the old discussion on a separate flag just for gay men a while back (since the regular gay flag tends to be used for LGBT overall). Since there's a lesbian flag that is the lipstick lesbian flag minus the lipstick symbol, maybe a gay man pride flag could be the gay bear flag without the bear symbol? Alternatively, maybe the same set up as the lesbian flag, but using blue and purple colors instead of red and pink. Just some suggestions!”

I responded saying that a blue and purple one would look too much like the butch lesbian flag so I suggested this blue and green one (also that a bear pride without the paw would probably be confusing).

I posted it and it never got a follow up from anon and the post got like 6 notes so I just moved on with my life. I did see it around once or twice but never thought about it much because I've helped make lots of flags before.

This was never meant to be a finalized design, it was simply a suggestion since the anon's was too similar to the butch lesbian flag.

This post explains a lot of what happened. [ A link to this post is given ]

I'm going to contact the creator of the edited flag @gayflagblog​  and work with him and the pride server I'm in to come up with meanings for the stripes so hopefully truscum/transphobes will stop using this one.

Definitely going to keep the top/middle/bottom stripe meanings but would also like to add stripe(s) for ace/aro/mspec gay men.”

End Transcription ]

Mod Hermy then made a Tumblr post on March 5, 2021 talking about how they were extremely upset at what had happened, and stated that all of the flags they make are inclusionary of all non-harmful LGBTQAI+ and MOGAI identities. [8]

[ Parts of this post which are heavily similar too, or the same as the updated Deviantart description are not shown, the full post is linked below as source 8]

[ Image Transcription :

"I am beyond pissed off at this, especially since I don’t remember anyone telling me it was stolen.

To be very clear:

I never want any of my flags being used to exclude part of the LGBTQAI+/MOGAI community. I am fully supportive of all aspec identities, “MOGAI” genders (including xenogenders, kingenders, neurogenders and neurorientations) pronoun noncomforming gays and lesbians (or anyone, really), GNC trans people, people who use the SAM, low/non-dysphoric trans people, and anyone else who may get excluded.

Basically, any identity (that’s not centered around harming people or animals) is amazing and valid.”

End Transcription ]

Hermy then shared the official meanings of each of the flag’s stripes which they had based off of gayflagblog’s proposal and made with the help of their personal Discord server and several gay men in a pride.

[ Image Transcription :

“I’m not quite sure what to do regarding damage control around the exclusionists that are using my flag, but I started by working with several gay men in a pride, and my personal server to come up with meanings for each stripe (based on @gayflagblog​ ‘s flag) that explicitly include GNC, nonbinary, trans, ace/arospec, split-attraction, and pronoun nonconforming gay men (also made it prettier).“

A flag with seven stripes, three deep green stripes are on the top separated from three deep blue stripes on the bottom by one white stripe in the middle. Meanings are superimposed over each stripe: [Community] [Inclusion] [She/her and pronoun noncomforming gays] [GNC, nonbinary, and trans men] [Ace/arospec and split-attraction gays] [Love and attraction] [Diversity]

End Transcription ]

The post ends with Hermy sharing gayflagblog’s proposals, calling it “a better version... to deal with the problems with my proposal/suggestion” as well as sharing another link to the pride-flags Deviantart’s Gay Man/MLM flag section.

[ Image Transcription :

“Here’s a better version made by @gayflagblog​ to deal with the problems with my proposal/suggestion:”

Two flags made to look similar to the first flag but with bolder colors. The blue stripes are slightly more purple and the green stripes are slightly more green. The first flag has seven stripes and the second is a simplified 5-stripe version.

End Transcription ]

Sources:

[1] https://ask-pride-color-schemes.tumblr.com/post/149449006549/relating-to-the-old-discussion-on-a-separate-flag

[ Archive.org ]

https://ask-pride-color-schemes.tumblr.com/post/186058593899/do-you-know-who-can-be-credited-for-the-proposed

[ Archive.org ]

[2] https://tsurushokubutsu.tumblr.com/post/182729528749/this-is-the-official-gay-male-flag-a-wonderful

[ Archive.org ]

[3] https://the-diddly-darn-transmed.tumblr.com/post/182738942414/in-case-anyone-who-sees-this-is-confused-about-the

[ Archive.org ]

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

[5] https://imgur.com/a/6Tcglh5*

[ Archive.org ]

[6] https://ask-pride-color-schemes.tumblr.com/post/644684177601642497/image-transcription-a-flag-with-seven

[7] https://www.deviantart.com/pride-flags/art/Gay-Man-Proposed-Original-630382215

[8] https://ask-pride-color-schemes.tumblr.com/post/644881530268811264/clearing-up-some-things-about-the-official-gay

* for the purposes of not promoting or giving traffic to a hate group, this post will not be linking to the subreddit itself. Screenshots are provided instead. 

Edit : r/LGBDropTheT has been deleted in a recent Reddit banwave of subreddits found violating the TOS, live subreddit posts can no longer be accessed.

[lastsonlost]

Call me crazy but I think this girl is the one who needs to be suspended and have a restraining order against her..

Williams College suspended a male student based on his failure to pursue a relationship with a female student after “kissing and touching” her, according to a lawsuit against the private school.

Both the unnamed Hispanic student “John Doe” and his accuser “Sally Smith” are foreign students. She accused him of sexual misconduct not because he acted without her consent, John claims, but because he was “culturally insensitive” after their amorous encounters.

<It’s “culturally insensitive” to not date a woman. Yeah, fuck your culture! No means no bitch!

Adjudicators misrepresented the evidence in the record, ignored Sally’s messages to John expressing positive feelings about their first amorous encounter, and didn’t even correctly apply the “preponderance of evidence” standard, the suit alleges.

John claims that he was subject to several disadvantages during the investigation and hearing, including that Williams refused to judge the credibility of Sally and witnesses “face to face.” Sally also physically threatened him but the college did nothing, he alleges.

Williams even refused to let John offer evidence that Sally had a history of making “repeated accusations of cultural insensitivity,” casting doubt on her accusations against him.

The college wrongly found John responsible based on “a flawed disciplinary process” where gender bias was a “motivating factor,” the suit claims, citing biased and stereotypical training materials for the Title IX panel.

The accused student claims breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violation of Title IX. The court docket shows that U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni granted John permission to continue his litigation under a pseudonym.

Mastroianni previously approved a similar lawsuit against another Massachusetts private college, Amherst. It settled the lawsuit rather than allow its disciplinary procedures to be examined in a trial.

Williams College spokesperson Greg Shook did not respond to several requests for comment on the lawsuit, which was filed Feb. 18.

College allegedly ignores physical threat by accuser.

While Sally claimed that John did not obtain her “affirmative consent” in the amorous encounters – which apparently stopped at breast-touching – it was really her “conservative religious values” that motivated the accusation, the suit claims.

The college Code of Conduct expressly states that “consent once given may be withdrawn at any time,” but Sally tried to withdraw her consent after the encounters, as judged by her messages to John, he says.

Sally initiated the relationship with John in November 2016, telling “a number of her friends” before their first dinner that she was interested in him. She told him on a walk after dinner that she had “never kissed a boy” owing to the “restrictive cultural norms in her home country.”

John asked for Sally’s permission to kiss her in his dorm room, and she agreed. The kissing escalated to “consensual touching” while fully clothed.

Two days later she sent him a message saying “I’ve liked you quite a lot” and calling their amorous encounter “amazing.” She apologized for “being so weird and awkward the entire time.”

Though she values “the emotional aspects” of the encounter “over the physical ones, I’ve been feeling so different and liberated after it,” Sally wrote. “I’ve not been this happy ever since I started college.”

When he responded four days later, John showed less enthusiasm, saying that they should “hang out at some point next week” but warning that “I’m just going to be super busy until the end of the semester.”

They didn’t talk again until January, when Sally interviewed for a position in a campus organization where John served in leadership. She asked to speak with him before learning she got the position, which he communicated to her at their meeting in his dorm room.

Sally “expressed anger about what she saw as Doe’s cultural insensitivity around their prior interaction” – failing to seek a romantic relationship with her after showing physical affection.

While John told Sally he was “emotionally unavailable,” he again asked to kiss her, and she agreed again. The suit claims that he “asked Smith before initiating any new touching and did nothing without her consent.”

She rejected his first request to touch her breasts but approved his second request a few minutes later.

Several days later, John asked Sally why her friends were “treating him strangely.” She told him he had “emotionally manipulat[ed]” her, “tak[en] advantage of [her] lack of knowledge of American cultural norms” and “disrespect[ed]” her own cultural norms.

But what panicked John was when Sally allegedly said she “had lots of people ready to hurt him.”

Though Ninah Pretto, associate dean of international student services, told him that this could be construed as harassment, the director of sexual assault prevention and response, Meg Bossong (below), told him she couldn’t help. He got the same response from “[e]veryone” else he asked for help.

Advisor encouraged her to see incident as sexual assault.

Three months later – after Bossong talked to her “junior advisor” – Sally filed a formal Title IX complaint against John alleging both November and January encounters were nonconsensual.

The notification letter he received from Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom was short on detail, including “the nature of the sexual interactions,” specific dates and locations, and even whether Sally claimed she was “incapable of consenting.” It also did not specify which code provision John allegedly violated.

As a result, he could not intelligently prepare for his meeting with the outside investigator hired by Williams, Allyson Kurker. (Her name shows up in at least two other Title IX lawsuits against Williams by accused males.)

Because Sandstrom barred John from reaching out to potential witnesses whom he may have spoken to about Sally, one of the witnesses he recommended to Kurker turned down the interview, apparently unaware what it was about.

Kurker also violated Williams policy by not giving John the opportunity to suggest questions to ask witnesses, the suit claims. She withheld details about testimony by Sally’s witnesses:

Accordingly, the College completely deprived Doe, for the entirety of Ms. Kurker’s investigation, of all information regarding the identities of five of the eight witnesses interviewed, the substance of their statements, and the topics about which they were interviewed.

The draft report issued by Kurker (left) disclosed for the first time that Sally had accused John of using force and leaving her with “bruises,” while excluding “many significant facts” John had provided. This made John wonder about “similarly important facts” that Kurker might have left out from her other interviews.

The deans prevented John from providing his own relevant evidence in response to the report, he claims. One was a series of texts that suggested Sally was initially hesitant to accuse him.

A witness told John’s then-girlfriend, “who was not interviewed in the investigation,” that Sally had told her she “still loved” John and did not want to “get the deans on this.” The witness also said that Sally’s junior advisor – a sort of live-in mentor for freshmen – was encouraging Sally to accuse John of sexual assault.

Though Sandstrom justified the ban on the basis that the texts did not “describe direct knowledge of the incident in question,” she allowed the inclusion of texts against John by the junior advisor that also provided no direct knowledge.

Sandstrom also ordered Kurker to remove credibility-related testimony from the report: that Sally’s friends said she was “motivated” to accuse John because he had received “a particular honor” at Williams. The dean refused to tell John how Sally explained the “discrepancy” between her denial and her friends’ testimony. (John speculates that Sandstrom, who is “close” to one of his relatives, mistreated him “in order to shield herself from accusations of favoritism.”)

Pretto, the international dean who initially told John that Sally may have harassed him, banned John from providing evidence that Sally had a pattern of making accusations of “cultural insensitivity.”

Sally allegedly told him during their November encounter that a professor was culturally insensitive, and during their January encounter that a freshman sexually harassed her. Pretto excluded this second recollection.

Trauma-informed training encourages panel to ignore inconsistencies.

The main evidence used by the hearing panel – Kurker’s final report, stripped of relevant evidence submitted by John – provided no information that would help adjudicators make credibility determinations, the suit claims.

Though Kurker was “the only representative of Williams who spoke directly” to the parties and witnesses, the report lacked information about “the parties’ demeanor during their interviews … motives to make false statements” and their consistency across various statements.

The panel was also likely operating under a set of stereotypical assumptions based on the training they had received, John claims. He submitted a 90-page training manual on adjudicating sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and retaliation cases at Williams. (Though undated, it cites research from as recently as 2015.)

“These training materials contain anti-male bias and encourage panelists to stereotype men as sexually aggressive and more likely to commit sexual assault,” while also suggesting that panelists can ignore the “intent” of the accused student.

“The training materials include claims about ‘traumatic memory’ suggesting that panel members should ignore inconsistencies in complainants’ accounts,” the suit says. (Such “trauma-informed” techniques have been criticized as unscientific by memory and neuroscience experts.)

The three-member panel – all appointed by Sandstrom (right) – eventually concluded that John violated Sally’s consent in January but not November.

It cited her “discomfort” after the November encounter, as evidenced by her message to John about valuing “emotional” over “physical” aspects of the relationship. The panel ignored the other parts that described Sally as “liberated” by the “amazing” encounter.

Rather than cite contemporaneous evidence that Sally told John she viewed their encounters as nonconsensual, the panel cited witness statements that came to that conclusion.

It also misread an email John had sent Bossong, the director of sexual assault prevention and response, as admitting that Sally “felt that he had mistreated her” in November. In fact, the email conveyed that Sally was upset John hadn’t pursued a relationship with her after kissing her, the suit claims.

‘He should have guessed that she would not want to engage in kissing or touching’.

The panel also seems to have invented a provision that isn’t written in the Code of Conduct: that students can’t ask for consent for a particular sexual activity more than once.

Adjudicators found that Sally had “expressed a clear ‘no’” more than once in the January encounter, even though John had claimed he respected her “no” answers while asking for consent again, which Sally granted.

“The panel clearly did not credit Smith’s assertion that Doe engaged in forcible sexual contact over her verbal objections,” John argues: “Instead, it essentially held that he should have guessed that she would not want to engage in kissing or touching under the circumstances.”

Though the deans had excluded much relevant evidence from the report, and John feared what Kurker might have left out, the report did document that Sally had “repeatedly lied” to her friends and tried to mislead Kurker, the suit claims.

She falsely claimed that John was “in a leadership role over her” at the time of their November date, and therefore “she didn’t know how to tell Doe that she was uncomfortable.” Since she didn’t turn over her messages to Kurker, Sally also got away with mischaracterizing her November message to John as a warning to him.

She told several friends that “nothing physical had happened” with John in November and also mischaracterized her November message to John in conversations with them. John alleges she made other false claims to friends about actions he took.

The only way the panel could have found a preponderance of evidence against John was through a “biased and dishonest reading” of the evidence, the suit claims: It was an “arbitrary, capricious, and irrational” finding.

The appeals process was similarly deficient, John argues. After he submitted a detailed list of material omissions of relevant evidence and procedural errors – including Sandstrom’s refusal to recuse herself as a “close” friend of his relative – the appeal was denied by Leticia Haynes, vice president for institutional diversity and equity.

Meanwhile, Williams has done nothing to stop Sally and her junior advisor from spreading false information about him across campus, John says. Title IX Coordinator Toya Camacho allegedly told him it would violate the spirit of the #MeToo movement to stop women from “speaking out about their experiences.”

John’s life and career path – law school followed by politics – is functionally foreclosed by the finding of nonconsensual sexual contact on his record, he argues.

He has already been forced to resign from a “competitive” campus leadership position after others in the organization threatened to remove him. One of his witnesses “was also stigmatized on campus and forced to leave a student organization.”

John wasn’t even able to finish his college career at the three schools that “routinely accept Williams students for temporary study.” In light of his academic credentials, “these rejections were clearly the result of his disciplinary history,” the suit claims.

Guys do yourselves a big favor and just focus on your fucking studies. leave girls the fuck alone. They’re not important to your grades or future career prospects so stop wasting your time.

[bubonickitten]

MAG 167 spoilers

I am once again back to obsessing over Gertrude and Jon as narrative foils!!

And just – the narrative does such a great job of using that foil to illustrate Jon’s neverending struggle with his own humanity. Because although Gertrude didn’t embrace her Archivist powers in the same way that Jon sometimes does, she was arguably monstrous in her own way -- in ways that Jon ultimately isn’t. 

I keep thinking back to Jon’s conversation with Gerry, in particular this bit:

GERARD: Well, she could make people tell her stuff, sometimes. They’d suddenly get real talkative, and lay out whatever she needed. She didn’t do it often though. I don’t think she liked it.

JON: Oh, er, I can do that, too.

GERARD: Huh. Do you like it?

JON: I – I don’t know. I never really thought about it. Yes, I… I suppose I do.

GERRY: Hmmm.

I think after his coma, Jon has a much more negative view of his abilities, but early on, he admits that there’s a part of him that does like being able to compel people. It fits, honestly – of course someone like Jon, so intolerant of mysteries, so prone to overthinking, so full of questions and so voracious for answers, fresh out of a paranoid episode that left him unable to trust any answer that anyone offered him, would like having the option to ask a question and receive a guaranteed answer and to know that the given answer was the truth. At least until he no longer has control over it, finds himself accidentally compelling people and unable to stop knowing things even when he doesn’t want to.

But even if Gertrude was further from the supernatural aspects of the Archivist role, she was still ruthless in her crusade. Her conviction and boldness made her a badass, certainly, but at what cost? The answer depends heavily on how you feel about utilitarianism as an ethical philosophy.

Gertrude Robinson would have a clear answer to the trolley problem and not apologize for it. Jonathan Sims would agonize over all the potential choices and outcomes until he’s paralyzed with indecision. (Annabelle Cane knew exactly what she was doing when she gave him that statement about the nature of free will in a moment where he was struggling so profoundly with self-doubt.)

People are always comparing Jon to Gertrude, telling him that he’d be better off behaving more like her, urging him to accept the premise that ruthlessness is a strength in a world that offers only fear and pain, and that humanity is a weakness and a liability that he doesn’t have the luxury to indulge.

And in Season 4, he tries that philosophy on for a brief while. The Eye drives him to compel people to tell their stories; he starves if he doesn’t obey that instinct. He feeds the Eye the trauma of innocent bystanders, and now he’s the monster haunting the dreams of his victims. (And, to his credit, that’s what he ultimately refers to them as: victims. He uses that word. That’s significant.)

When Basira witnesses him do that and calls him out on it, Jon replies by pointing out that Basira (among others) told him that he should be more like Gertrude: “She got the job done and didn’t care about the cost.” 

Basira responds, “But I thought you did.” 

And that highlights the fundamental difference between Jon and Gertrude! He’d temporarily forgotten that – he’d lost touch with that piece of himself, of his humanity. It makes sense; everyone around him saw him as a monster, and it’s hard to believe in your own humanity when no one else does, when everyone around you is building a self-fulfilling prophecy for you.

It takes Martin reaching out in the only way that he can – urging the others to talk to him – for Jon to wake up and admit that what he’s doing isn’t right and that he needs to do something to stop it. He goes back and forth with himself for a bit – Does he have any control? Is he doing it on autopilot? Is the Web influencing him? – but ultimately he decides that, no, he has to hold himself accountable. Helen asks him if he’s sure he didn’t want to do it, and he takes that hard-to-swallow pill and engages in some introspection and comes to the conclusion, Yeah, while supernatural influence is at play here, I made a choice.

BUT if he made a choice, it means that he can make a different choice going forward. He doesn’t have to be the monster that everyone else expects him to be. He doesn’t have to traumatize others in the same way that he’s been traumatized. (And, eventually, maybe he can learn to see himself as Martin sees him.) And he changes his behavior accordingly!

I keep thinking of Jon’s comment on Gertrude sacrificing Michael to end the Spiral’s Ritual:

“I thought moving away from my humanity would have made that seem more acceptable. That sort of sacrifice… But it just makes me sad. I remembered Gertrude’s notebook. We found it alongside the plastic explosives, but it rather got lost amongst the business of… saving the world at the cost of two lives.”

And this comment, from one of Jon’s many navel-gazing arguments with himself over the nature of humanity and how he fits into that:

“Why were we chosen? …Is there destiny here? Bloodlines, and prophecies? Or did we just – stumble into this. Maybe… maybe we’re the opposite of Agnes. Maybe our doubts are exactly what we need.”  

What keeps Jon in touch with Jonathan Sims, human and distinct from The Archivist/The Archive isn’t just an anchor/reason (Martin) or his own intense guilt, but that capacity for doubt. I mean, it does feed into his self-loathing and it’s unhealthy for him in a number of ways, but that doubt is also what saves him from fully becoming the thing he fears, in a way?

It’s interesting how that doubt and questioning feeds into his innate curiosity. That incessant need to know, even if his discoveries might destroy him, to go with Gerry’s definition of Beholding, is Jon’s fatal flaw, and it’s what makes him so well-suited to the Eye, but it’s also so very human.

That, along with Jon’s choice to change his behavior throughout the story is, imo, the strongest argument in favor of his humanity.

From where Jon is standing, every other Avatar has become so divorced from their prior self that they barely resemble humans anymore. But the question of free will is nebulous for most of the Avatars. 

Some of the Avatars seem to have sought out the power that overtook them, or at the very least openly embraced it. Jude Perry sought to destroy others to make herself feel more alive long before she met Agnes; the Desolation just lent her the power to do so to a greater degree, and she leaned into it. Jared Hopworth was already a bully; becoming the Boneturner just gave him a new way to express that preexisting pattern of behavior. 

Some of the others stumbled into it out of sheer bad luck, or in some way attracted a certain power. They were initially afraid, and typically resisted, but eventually were overtaken – or… gave in? Because that’s the recurring question: How much choice is involved?

Take Oliver Banks: 

“The thing is, Jon, right now you have a choice. You’ve put it off a long time, but it’s trapping you here. You’re not quite human enough to die, but still too human to survive…. I made a choice. We all made choices. Now you have to.”

Or Daisy: 

“I hate a lot of what I did back then; doesn’t mean I’m not responsible for it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t me.”  

Even if some of the Avatars could have done something differently to avoid their ultimate fate, they didn’t necessarily deserve that fate. Helen Richardson could have not opened the door, but opening a door out of curiosity shouldn’t be a punishable offense.

And when the Distortion and Helen ‘become’ one another, it’s interesting that there’s still enough of Helen left (at least at first) for her to feel guilt and doubt over what she’s becoming, in much the same way that Jon does: 

“I took a man, wandering the halls of an old tenement…. It was nourishing, but… I didn’t like it. I feel… wrong.” 

(Side note: I understand why Jon feels like he can’t trust the Distortion, but it does make me wonder what might have gone differently if he’d maintained an open dialogue with her re: humanity vs. monstrosity, similar to the sort of understanding Jon and Daisy have after the Buried.)

The story has been asking these questions all along, but MAG 167 put it back under the microscope in an important way. It really doesn’t matter as much what Jon is, because what he does is a much better measure of humanity and goodness. 

Jon looks at his own choices, looks at Gertrude’s choices, looks at the things that neither of them had control over and looks at the things that they did, and comes to a final conclusion: 

No, he doesn’t want to be like Gertrude. Human connections are important. He needs an anchor. He needs companionship. Trust and communication don’t come naturally to him, but it’s worth confronting that vulnerability in the end, because it’s what keeps him in touch with his humanity, with who he is and who he wants to be. 

It really complements Martin’s philosophy, too. I’ve gone on and on about it before, but I still think the line that most exemplifies Martin’s character is his response to Simon Fairchild’s brand of flippant, fatalist nihilism: 

“I think our experience of the universe has value. Even if it disappears forever.”

It would be so easy for Jon and Martin to just... give up. Give in to self-loathing, to guilt, to loneliness, to a world gone horribly, possibly irreversibly wrong. Early on, Jon is inclined to do just that. He tells Martin that “this is no longer a world where you can trust comfort.” But what does Martin do instead? He comforts Jon. He puts comfort into a world where it seems like none can exist. It doesn’t matter if that gesture is significant in the grand scheme of things -- however you want to define significance on a cosmic level. In that moment, Martin cared, and that mattered to him, and it mattered to Jon, and that fact won’t change, even when they’re both dead and gone. 

It’s... really the same stubborn sentiment that Jon offered in the Lonely, and Martin is mirroring it back when Jon needs it most. 

They make an active choice to build a relationship, to try to make a change for the better. Even if it ends in failure, the fact that they tried is still significant. Jon looks at how Gertrude lived her life, compares it with his past and current choices, and (rightly imo) comes to the conclusion that, yeah, it hurts to trust and to care, but it’s worth it, and it’s necessary if they want to survive (and, of course, he also doesn’t just want to survive). It’s just... a very brave, very compassionate, and very human way of confronting the end of the world.