#you will see the same opposing counsel again and again

[kaurwreck]

One of my law professor once said, "You're a lawyer defending your case. There's gotta be blood. It has to be bloody because you're not nice. You shouldn't be nice. You're a lawyer. And you're here to win your case." and although im aware that he said it mostly as a joke—before he said that he pointed one of my classmate to tell him how they'd defend their company in the face of lawsuit and got a little disappointed with how tame my classmate answer was—i can't help but be curious of your thought on that as someone who's working in the field

We are ethically obligated to be zealous advocates for our clients. However, it is immensely difficult to advocate for your client effectively if you've managed to make everyone else involved, including the judge and opposing counsel, angry.

To provide an example, when I was a paralegal at a plaintiff-side workers' compensation firm, opposing counsel once forced our horrifically injured client to travel an hour to our office for a settlement conference, despite not having the authorization to settle for anything close to an amount he should have recognized as reasonable. My attorney, rightfully and righteously furious, laid into him in the middle of our office, humiliating him in front of the parties and our firm. Four days later, my attorney realized we needed a deadline extension, for which we'd have to request opposing counsel's permission. Opposing counsel was gracious enough to agree to the extension, but he very well could have said no after how we spoke to him, and that would have damaged our client's case.

More recently, as a transactional attorney, I was tasked with drafting a disengagement letter addressed to a manufacturer who had failed to design the product my nonprofit client ordered to my client's specifications, which had, for lack of a better term, fucked my client re: my client's other obligations. The law and facts were on our side; if the matter went before a court, we very likely would have won, and easily at that. (For frame of reference, my client serves disadvantaged children. Even the optics were on our side.) But, my client is a nonprofit, and every penny spent on litigation would have been a penny taken from my client's mission. Thus, to zealously advocate for my client, I couldn't go balls to the wall such that the other party became incensed and filed suit or protracted our disengagement process.

You don't have to be nice, but you have to be professional, thoughtful, and strategic. You don't win lawsuits and negotiations from drawing blood. You do so by achieving the outcome that your client asked you to achieve.

[regainingparadise]

Relistening to TMA Season 5, I am again struck by how goddam badly Martin and Jon need couples counseling.

I love them both. I ship them very much. But oh lord they have issues

Like, these are two individuals who, under the very best of circumstances, would really need therapy both individually and together. They are both people with plentiful quantities of relational trauma from childhood that neither of them have worked through even the slightest bit.

And then you throw them into the apocalypse. And you add a metric fuck ton of guilt, helplessness, and the dynamics of being "The Antichrist and +1"?

On a surface level--Jon is in a perpetual state of information overload. Martin is in a perpetual state of "can you please just explain the basics of what's' going on in a given situation and not just say "it's complicated" or launch into a gruesome monologue"

But on a deeper level, their childhood relational traumas have left them each with opposing avoidant tendencies: Jon is unwilling to broach a difficult conversation, which leads him to hide information until he's confronted. Martin, on the other hand, has a finely honed ability to ignore information that he doesn't like until he no longer can hide from it.

Biggest example of their avoidance tendencies: Martin's Domain

Way early on, when we barely understand any of how the hellscape works, Jon mentions it, Martin shuts it down hard and deflects quickly with a bid for affection from Jon

Martin is in deliberate denial, but Jon admittedly wasn't particularly clear to start with.

"We all have a domain."

Jon means it, presumably, as "Me, You, and other 'Avatars.'" Jon is used to being grouped with those empowered by the Entities. Martin isn't. (see also: MAG185: Martin" Is that how these creatures see us now? As one of them?") But that's not what Jon says. And this is MAG167--they've only been through four domains, at least that we've seen. Jon is speaking from a place of knowledge, and assuming his listener has that same knowledge.

And when this issue comes up much later in MAG183, Martin has spent 17 episodes ignoring or forgetting that he has a domain, not letting that information in so that he has never processed it. (See also: Mag170: "Sometimes I wonder if I forget things on purpose. Easier not to think about them, I guess. Easier to just let them… slip away. They can’t hurt you if you don’t think about them.").

Martin confronts Jon on his avoidance (because while Martin may be good at ignoring things he doesn't like, he's far better at bringing up challenging topics), Jon is able to manage some A+ communication on his feelings and the genuine challenging of figuring out how to share upsetting information when he has All The Information, Martin accepts that. I just desperately want a therapist to be there and make them continue this conversation and practice ongoing good communication skills!

Though they resolve this, even though Jon has an explanation that makes sense...he was really leaving this conversation to the last minute. Would he have "[brought] it up at the crossroads" as he claims to Helen? Or would he have avoided it entirely, as she accuses, or waited till they were at the threshold, as he does with The Desolation and the Hunt, leaving Martin to confront terrifying situations without forewarning or planning or explanation.

Again, Jon kind of tried to bring up some of the potential issues with Basira and Daisy before entering the Hunt domain, but kept it Vague and Ominous ("Things aren't...good"). Martin took that vagueness as an opening to avoid engaging with potential bad news. The teensiest bit of therapy for either of them about their communication issues could have let Jon add "I know you're exited but FYI here are some specifics that you should know" and/or Martin go "I'm excited to see them but given that nothing is good right now, can you be more specific?"

Instead, Jon approaches difficult conversations by being Vague and Ominous, Martin gets snarky or passive-aggressive at the vagueness, upset or aggressively avoidant at the Ominousness, Jon closes back up like a turtle into his shell, and the conversation only comes back up when the situation has drastically escalated, leaving them both more upset.

Jon wants Martin to trust him, because explaining what he knows implicitly is an ordeal for him, and because his upbringing by his grandmother has suggested that communicating is generally unwanted and burdensome (See: MAG081 A Guest for Mr. Spider).

Martin wants to know what is going on, because he's in an awful hellscape of shifting rules about what can and cannot hurt them, completely dependent on a brand-new romantic partner for his survival and purpose, and also because his upbringing and coping mechanisms as a caretaker rely on him knowing enough to help, and his time as an archival assistant has given him some not-inconsiderable trauma about being left in the dark (See: MAG118 The Masquerade) (There's also another post in my head about how MAG118 primed Martin for both the Lonely and his development as a more confrontational character in S5)

All that to say.

Martin needs therapy to deal with the way he chooses not to absorb information he doesn't like. Jon needs therapy to understand that sometimes it's ok to bring up important topics even if the other person will be upset. They both need therapy to cope with all the guilt and helplessness around the apocalypse so they stop taking it out on each other. They need therapy together to learn how to work through their conflicting coping mechanisms.

[thewistlingbadger]

One of the strategies Sauron uses to get Galadriel on his side is using her own words against her. And sometimes this is successful and actually works (the Halbrand scene in S2), but there's one big time that it does NOT work and fails epically.

In the season 1 finale, Sauron repeats something that Galadriel's brother told her when she was a child. "To find the light, we must first touch the darkness." He repeats this same phrase AGAIN in season two finale. This strategy fails BOTH times, and it actually motivates her to oppose him. I believe there's two main reasons why all the other times he uses her words works and why this instance fails.

1. Sauron is misunderstanding/misinterpreting the phrase.

2. Sauron does not understand galadriel.

Sauron takes this quote WAY too literally both times he uses it. When he says this phrase, he's basically telling her to come join him, and then she'll be powerful, respected, and a lady of light. Touching the darkness means joining him, but this isn't what finrod meant. Finrod told his baby sister this piece of advice it obviously doesn't mean go side with evil and then come back. What the phrase actually means is that in order to be good, you have to know what's bad. You have to touch the darkness. Joining Sauron is not touching the darkness, it's full on manhandling it.

I think the reason he misunderstands this phrase is because of the way galadriel said it to him. Her brother tells her this to comfort and counsel his sister. Galadriel tells this to Sauron as a stranger, who's being defensive and aggressive. In the forge scene, galadriel is trying to convince him to go back to middle earth. He's very against it and they have a fight about it. Galadriel says this phrase hostily in the fight as a defense, and it COMPLETELY throws him off guard. Why? Because elves are just and proper and they're rigid in their beliefs and morality. He sees galadriel as the epitome of the light, and that idea conflicts with this phrase of moral ambiguity. This phrase in this scene is what actually plants the idea in his head that Galadriel can be turned, because she's already expressing desires for darkness. This phrase is what literally stops their argument, cools him down, and completely changes the course of their conversation. He goes from being heated to being in awe. "What do you know of darkness?" Now there's more to her than what meets the eye or the surface. Now there's something to be curious about, something worth digging and discovering. Perhaps, even a perfect compliment.

There are some things Sauron understands about galadriel, but there's so much he just doesn't understand and can't understand. What he fails to realize/recognize is the fact that Galadriel already HAS touched the darkness. Her brother's death filled her with hate and she had a thirst for revenge. She became violent and bitter and hostile. This behavior isolated herself from everyone else and she didn't care. Let her be alone but right. She lost regard for the lives of others, slaying orcs and having her own men killed whilst on her quest (we only see one elf die bc of this in s1 but it makes me wonder how many others there are). She's disobedient and prideful, only seeing herself as correct. It's so bad that the elves in Lindon are like "HELL NO send her ass home please!" So now not only is she a social outcast, but a LITERAL outcast as well! And that makes her more bitter because in her eyes, she's being punished for being right. She used Sauron and numenor to wage war because it would make her feel better, it would make her feel like she personally is doing something about the shadow over middle earth. It's only until AFTER he reveals himself that she realizes she was in the wrong.

This whole ordeal, ALL of season one WAS her touching the darkness. Season 2 is when she starts her journey to the light. She's more obedient, she takes a step back, and she turns down Sauron a second time. This is why she says the door is shut! She's not joining him, she's not going back to her old ways, she's not joining back to the dark. This time, she's actually going to be light.

I think the reason he doesn't understand this is because he's never had to make a journey to the light. Like galadriel, he started out light. Like galadriel, he was corrupted by evil. Like galadriel, he was in darkness (not to the same extent but whatever). This is where their paths diverge. After the darkness, galadriel made an effort to be good. There was no after darkness for Sauron. There was once a time where he was open to good and redemption but he didn't go for it AND galadriel didn't give it to him. He doesn't know about the journey to light because he's never had to do it.

[codenamesazanka]

AU idea. Spinner is the one who dies, and Shigaraki lives and gets the last words.

Spinner gets warped to the same rock Mic and Aizawa were on; dying, he asks them to give his last words to Shigaraki. Not very coherent, very rambling, a lot of it more airing out his regrets, but still last words:

Tell Shigaraki... I knew it wasn't... you. I'm sorry I didn't... that extra step. My life, my heart... empty. But following him... my first friend. Tell Shigaraki Tomura... 'You are my hero.'

After the war, Mic and Aizawa are somewhat of opposing opinions on whether to relay this to Shimura Tenko, who's in prison awaiting trial.

(Shimura still has AFO and OFA, but the combination of the two has "blocked" him from accessing any of it without decaying his body inside out, making him effectively quirkless)

Mic thinks they don't owe it to a Villain - he's grief-stricken and believes that Spinner and Shimura was responsible for breaking down Shirakumo, somehow. But Aizawa is more pensive - that Shirakumo gave his life to save Shimura, at the last second during the battle; and Iguchi Shuuichi would call the villain a 'friend'. Shirakumo was Mic and Aizawa's friend, whatever form he took, and given what he did, that's reason enough for them try. So in the end, Mic and Aizawa do go to see Shimura.

(All Might accompanies them; he calls Shimura 'Tenko', which Shimura does respond to).

Through the prison bars, Mic and Aizawa tells Shimura the circumstances around Spinner's death, and those last words... but Shimura is seemingly unmoved. Is that all Spinner said?

Mic gets upset, and he lays out all his frustration into Shimura. That's all he has to say? That was his follower's last words! Shirakumo died for this? Did Shimura ever cared for anything? He really is a monster who tried to destroy the world for nothing but some sick desire. How could anyone think Shimura is a Hero is beyond him.

This rant brings a bit more life into Shimura, who darkly wonders that since they're the real Heroes, why couldn't they save Spinner, so that Spinner didn't have to rely on a monster like him?

Mic yells at Shimura that that was his fault, giving Spinner extra quirks; while Aizawa butts in to say they did try to help Spinner - they warped Spinner back to Central Hospital, but it was too late. Spinner was declared brain dead.

That was something Shimura didn't know, only having heard that Spinner did not survive the hospital attack. Shimura asks when exactly Spinner died, and All Might pipes up that it took a while, but a relative (Spinner's older sister, but in disguise) finally came to finalize decisions and pull the plug, though she did not claim the body. The village refused to let him get buried back 'home'. Currently Spinner's unclaimed urn is at a pauper's grave facility.

Same as Toga.

Mic backs off a little, after that. No matter how he feels about the League, that's a pitiful end.

Aizawa asks what Shirakumo... what Kurogiri and the League meant to Shimura.

Shimura says that Kurogiri called the League his (Shigaraki's) friends. Kurogiri was there when the League was formed. Kurogiri had watched over him for nearly 10 years. Toga once teased him about being lonely that Kurogiri got captured.

He had wanted his League to live as they pleased.

After a moment of silence, Shimura also says, more softly than he had ever spoken before, that Spinner was the one who got him to play PvP again. So when Spinner wanted to see the horizon again, he wanted to make that happen.

Mic says, And that's why he called you his Hero? What a dumb reason...

Shimura says, Between friends, isn't that reason enough?

.*.

Months later, All Might is at UA, meeting with Nedzu. Mic sees him, says hi, observes that All Might has been coming in a lot to meet with Nedzu.

Yes, All Might responds. There's lot of reconstruction left to do. To improve things. Heteromorph discrimination, quirk counseling, Tartarus reform, welfare...

Mic expresses surprise and admiration for how much All Might and Nedzu is tackling.

All Might says it's not actually him - he's been acting as a liaison for Tomura.

Mic: For Shimura?

All Might says he's since insisted on using the name Shigaraki Tomura again. Despite the death sentence... Tomura has been trying to make use of his remaining time. So he's been working with Nedzu, to share his experiences.

Mic: For something like prevention? What, is he trying to atone?

All Might says, Yes. Well—Tomura's own words were... 'The Villains still need a Hero of their own.' And that's what he'll do until the end of his life. He'll fight to destroy for the League until the very end.

Mic considers this. He still doesn't like Shimura or Shigaraki or whatever name he's going by. But Mic also thinks about Shirakumo giving his life for this.

With a huff, Mic wishes them best of luck. ganbare.

[controld3vil]

split

pairing(s): sub-zero/bi-han & reptile/syzoth x reader (seperate) synopsis: shang tsung’s proposition tempted you. his powers guaranteed so you took it. how can they see you now, when you’re going against your morals for yourself? alt: requested by this ask! notes: - reader is gender neutral - anon, thank uu for requesting !! i also wanna mention, im capable of writing for most of mk1 characters :] i should’ve specified on my pinned comment but as long as you read my rules, it’s all good - btw this was such a fun concept to write !!

BI HAN/SUB-ZERO  -> It works in his favor, while Bi-Han struggled to make amends for the well-being of Lin Kuei. Circumstances were failing him - his father, no doubt, created a bad example for him. He could not guide him on the significance of maintaining order on Earthrealm. Your recent habits did not surprise him - you were always a kind-hearted person. You were the one who helped Tomas when he struggled to make a perfect score and who volunteered additional counseling for new Lin Kuei trainees - you were dutiful to follow his steps and to protect Earthrealm.

-> But perhaps on that day, when Shang Tsung turned Bi-Han against his brothers, it made you think twice about what was at stake. Kuai Liang knocks him out and brings him back to the compound in solitary confinement. “Kuai Liang told me you aligned with the enemy?” You questioned, him half expecting you to be furious at his endeavor. The Lin Kuei's Grandmaster scoffs at the mention of Scorpion, his scorned brother, the one to betray him. “He was a fool otherwise - What Shang Tsung offered will lead The Lin Kuei to glory.” Part of Bi-Han’s mind pondered your disapproval of his defiance - you always disliked the mistreatment of power, leaving no justice for those less fortunate. Why you are willing to stand by his stand is unknown to the Grandmaster. -> You do not visit for a few days, and the cryomancer grows wary of your rejection against him. Coincidentally, you were more aligned with his younger brothers, accepting the peace that Liu Kang made - you were never to oppose, even suggesting alternative solutions when issues struck. Liu Kang nonetheless appreciated your advice but never took upon your suggestions. Bi-Han feels enraged by this - you had many skills, faring better than some of his soldiers.  -> The night he escaped the compound, Sektor and Cyrax reassure him of your safety. It was your idea, and Bi-Han feels relief when he encounters you keeping watch. Lin Kuei soldiers – devoted to him and your cause, are by your side, monitoring the site. The Grandmaster drained from numerous hours of inactivity, bolts to you. “I thought you would stay,” Left me – a fear he would never tell. However, you catch it in his eyes, promising, almost pleading for you. “I am by your side, Bi-Han,” you say, interlacing your hands with his. “Never forget that.”  -> Your peculiar habits began bit by bit after the battle with Titan Shang Tsung. With the service of Sektor, Bi-han was able to elevate the Lin Kuei with cybernetic soldiers. He acknowledged this was the more reasonable choice than Shang Tsung’s soul stealers as it was discreet from Liu Kang’s notice. You believed the same - the Lin Kuei required more allies, and building their strength would be a nifty task. The revelation brought you to the masterful sorcerer. Shang Tsung is disingenuous but does not worry you. As long as he did his end of the bargain, you considered - would be adequate. In exchange for control, he could summon you at any time. An easy compromise that you assumed - would not disrupt Lin Kuei’s plans. -> Time after time, you were not like yourself. You felt you had gone through a dramatic shift after inheriting new powers. It was as if you were reborn with greater intention. The things you used to tend for did not feel the exact or vital. Scorpion and Smoke pointed this out when they witnessed you again in Japan. Things have changed — you have changed. They could see it in your eyes and demeanor. You were no longer the gentle and maternal figure they grew up seeing. [ bi-han ]: together, side by side, the lin kuei will fare no better glory. [ you ]: if only kuai liang and tomas understood this.

SYZOTH/REPTILE -> Syzoth is worried about you. Every minute you stand by Shang Tsung’s side, darkness infests your mind. Syzoth had bare witness to the mischievous schemes and understood it would be detrimental for you. Compared to him and everyone else, you were the last person someone would wish to pursue into madness. How should he explain this? -> When Syzoth met you, it was a pure accident. You were gazing through the multiple fruit stands the city had to show. He was performing a show per Shang Tsung’s persistence. To reveal his Zaterran qualities, Reptile continuously did tricks, transforming back and forth between forms. His stunts were not the first thing that captured your stare. But merely his smile - you knew what happiness and joy felt like. From afar, you saw how broken he was. At the end of the night, Syzoth scurried backstage to prepare for the following day. Unexpectedly, you arrived, arms crossed behind your back with a cutely curious expression. “You’re the performer, right? The one with Zaterran blood?”   -> “What does it mean to you? Here to insult me?” His voice is sharp and rigid as he dismisses your presence, shaking the boxes beside his tent. Numerous strangers were keen to spend time with him. Most enjoyed the entertainment he produced. You saw the void Syzoth had, standing out on the podium like a puppet. It was degrading to a living being. You wanted to help him - however, Syzoth rejected it. If Shang Tsung witnessed your compassion, who knows what manipulative excuse he would use?  -> Though it struck him by surprise what Shang Tsung told him the following morning, “A benevolent soul has sent their regards to you and has convinced me to travel with us. I must thank you, Syzoth.” Horror struck the Zatterian as if he had witnessed the most vile crime. His intent was never to pursue you into his mess. Nonetheless, he frets for your safety and what would happen to your mind once corrupted.  -> Your innocence is what kept Syzoth going. In the opaque chasms of Shang Tsung's experiments, you were the one person he could lean on when circumstances had driven him mad. You are supportive and affectionate. And you know the ways and words to console him from his night terrors. While the longer you stayed with him, the more you saw misconduct and depravity. There was an appeal to the sorcerer. Born with little power, you became curious for a better life. Shang Tsung gladly offered and gave you what you considered a gift from the Elder Gods. Like day and night, you were conspicuous with your odd habits. There were times Syzoth questioned your motives, always collecting materials for Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. You were delighted to comply with their requests, even going out of your way to exploit their payment. -> However, one thing he knew that was true was your fondness for him. You deeply cared for the shape-shifting Zatterran. Always there to safeguard him from unwanted matters. All the horrific experiments tormented him. And when they fetch new subjects, the laboratory would be the worst place to reside. The nauseating smell of flesh and blood could never escape him. That is the burden Syzoth must carry forever. You were his guardian angel in some ways. In frantic need, you make all his fears go away. Simply by your presence alone, Syzoth will feel at ease. Where he is near, you are never too far off. You have sacrificed much for him.

-> The two of you looked out for each other. There was no line you would not cross to save Syzoth. Even now, as you two fled the wretched laboratory of his former master, you had suggested killing the Earthrealmers. Which Syzoth immediately brought down, scolding you for how casual you made it sound to be. Johnny, Kenshi, and Kung Lao were not like Shang Tsung. They were deemed trustworthy - for setting him and you free from imprisonment. He knew you meant no harm, simply looking out for his safety and yours. Syzoth hopes one day to change your perspective on outsiders and Earthrealm alike. He believes you would thrive better here at Lord Liu Kang’s sanctuary.  -> Initially, the Fire God had given his friend, Johnny, a questionable look. After he deemed him, you, and Asrah compatible with Earthrealm's cause, you were welcome with open arms. It was the first step for you to contemplate and rehabilitate yourself. He hopes for you to stay away from harm. Syzoth all knew of the toxic threads Shang Tsung had placed on you - he anticipates you freed of them. And to allow yourself to aid people for the greater good.  [ you ]: don't believe all of what liu kang has to say. [ syzoth ]: why? and trust shang tsung instead?

[schraubd]

How To Hack The Law

Do you ever idly puzzle through various ideas for a "perfect crime"? It's awkward to talk about -- you don't actually want to do them, you don't actually want to give anyone a bright idea, but they're still so interesting to think through.

The legal community is abuzz with the story of a lawyer who relied on ChatGPT to do his research and submitted a brief filled with entirely invented cases. ChatGPT just made them up out of air -- complete with names, citations and quotes -- and the lawyer dutifully added them to the brief. When opposing counsel tried to read the cases for themselves, they were baffled because they couldn't find any trace of them. The presiding judge went so far as to contact the clerk of the courts where the cases were allegedly filed, confirming their non-existence. Now the lawyer is facing sanctions; he is begging for mercy on the grounds that he had no idea ChatGPT would lie to him like that.

I know of very few lawyers who have sympathy for this lawyer. But imagine a slightly different case. Let's say that LexisNexis developed a glitch where it invented a case. If you typed in the (invented) citation to the case, it would pop up on Lexis the same as any other case -- name, judge panel, court, reasoning, everything. But the case isn't real; it was a complete invention. If a lawyer came across such a "hallucinated" decision on Lexis, I think we'd be very forgiving if she ended up being deceived and relied on the case in her briefs. Indeed, I actually wonder, in a situation, like this, how long it would take the legal community to figure out that the case wasn't real.

For example: the last case contained in volume 500 of the Federal Reporter (3d) is Jacobsen v. DOJ, 500 F.3d 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2007). That case ends on page 1381. Suppose an enterprising criminal hacks the Westlaw and Lexis database* and adds another case, call it Smith v. Jones, cited to 500 F.3d 1382. To further cover her tracks, the criminal "assigns" the case to a panel of judges who are no longer active on the court, to make it less likely one of them will see it and be like "I don't remember that decision." Smith v. Jones, of course, can be about and say whatever the criminal (or the unscrupulous lawyer who hired her) wants it to. Need a precedent that appears to decisively resolve a contested point of law in your favor? Voila -- the new case of Smith v. Jones is there to meet your needs. Indeed, the diligent criminal could add one or two new precedents per volume on a range of topics, providing bespoke "new" precedent to shift the legal terrain on an array of different issues.

If this happened, again I ask: how long would it take for the legal community to figure it out? If the initial hack was undetected, could one get away with doing this? Certainly, there would still be ways to confirm the cases are not real. If one back-checked the cases back to the clerk's office, one would discover they're vapor -- but realistically, that almost never happens. We take Lexis and Westlaw as proof enough; I'm not sure I can imagine a circumstance where I would try to confirm the veracity of a case I saw on Westlaw or Lexis by contacting the clerk's office. There probably would be some other hints that the cases were suspect -- the lack of citations from other cases would be a significant hint that something is shady -- but I can imagine a crime like this slipping by us for some time. And the longer it goes unnoticed, the more these cases have the opportunity to subtly adjust the overall trajectory of law in a new direction.

It's a scary thought, no? We're very reliant on the robustness and reliability of online databases. If they start to falter, we run into seriously trouble very quickly.

* Note: I assume -- and desperately hope -- that this is difficult-to-impossible to do.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/hLkYFA1

[mysteriesmuse]

Parent/Teacher Conference Pretty!

————— You clutched your purse to your side, an anchor to hold you with how light you’d felt, as you exited the hallways of the City Prefecture Counsel Building. The Musutafu School Board had used the second of their semi-annual quirk-restraint training program recertifications for all elementary grade teachers; an operation that was undertaken in huge part by the local hero’s. Those that had A-grade All-Around clearance for using quirk restraining devices conducting certification seminars and tests for your C-grade CEI Citizens certificate: a child emergency intervention certificate. A required licensure for all educators as quirk manifestations and adolescent tempers tend to let towards quirk accidents - and you’d been part of the first batch of teachers in the district to go update their certification. Your entire Grade 3 and under colleges had all been assigned to room 112 - which held number 19 ProHero Shoto as your re-licensing coordinator. Kiyata, another elementary teacher, at your school walked briskly beside you, “I can’t believe that! We just got to spend 3 hours being in the same room with the Shoto.” She whispered into your ear. You swallowed sharply, “Me neither.”

You’d seen ProHero’s Shoto and Deku in-person once doing a special speech for the city’s students on hero-day. You were beside yourself with the amount of pictures and letters your 2nd graders had fisted into the boxes of mail at the front. Utterly enchanted by the two hero’s - you could seriously understand the sentiment because you’d just spend 3hrs hanging off every single perfectly rich n’ smooth word that fell from Shoto’s perfectly perfect little mouth.

And you weren’t the only one you, Kiyata, and every other colleague of yours was so rapt at attention - these things were usually such a bore with the amount of times you’d heard the same information over and over again. “Um, excuse me, has anyone seen Miss L/N?”

That was ProHero Shoto’s voice - you’d know because you’d been listening to him with full attention all evening. You stopped in your track and turned around. The Prohero standing at the door of room 112 and holding up a cream-colored yeti that held a dangerous amount of caffeine in preparation for another boring meeting. All but untouched as he cooly held it in one hand - that famously electric blue eye of his scanning the hallway. Nervously you speed-walked back towards the door leaving Kiyata gapping in the hallway as ProHero Shoto stood calmly clutching your yeti to his chest. “Miss L/N,” he breathed staring down at the cup. You reached for it blurting out, “- oh my gosh I’m so sorry thank you for grabbing it for me.” Your own hands brushing against his slender fingers as you took it back into your own grasp. The quirk on his left side surely couldn’t ignite invisible fire on a persons body, could it? “You’re very welcome,” he intoned eyes finding your own, “I see you don’t like coffee much, then?” you blinked - oh right the coffee in your cup that you didn’t drink.

“Oh no, I do,” you waved, “you just made the seminar so interesting is all.” You clutched the lukewarm metal against your stomach. ProHero Shoto seemed to seriously consider this a corner on his face coyly lifted - centimeters away from flashing a boyish smile that would blind you. “So you do like coffee?” You nodded. Every teacher ever likes coffee. He laughed, talking a step out of the doorway and moving his broad shoulders out into the flurescence of the hall. “So you wouldn’t be opposed to getting more coffee tomorrow before I hand out certificates?” You nodded almost automatically. “- with me?” Shoto added leaning in with a small smile - the smell of that mint gum he’d been chewing washing over your lips. “I’d absolutely love to go get coffee with you!”

Who wouldn’t? The man was absolutely downright beautiful - no, gorgeous was probably more correct. Spelling lists be dammed he needed a better n’ bigger word to describe him. He seemed to blink back surprised at this - and oh no you’d developed a bad habit of talking out loud from being in the classroom all alone during recess. The heat along the shell of your ear flared bright pink. “I see. Well, I’m not sure what goes past gorgeous then, but once you figure it out I’d be more than happy to ascribe that adjective to yourself, Miss L/N.” Plus Ultra! The pink flaring across your skin was probably visible from that colony on Mars right about now. Shoto pulled out a phone from his pocket and smoothly placed it into your bag. You gapped at him confused, “You left this too.” He added, turning back towards the classroom. “I’ll text you later this evening about when to meet tomorrow afternoon.” And then Shoto left with a closed-lipped smile on his face as he cooly walked off down the hall in the opposite direction as you. “Damn girl!” Kiyata. You whirled around cup still held by white knuckles. “How on earth did you land that?!” you gulped and shook your head in disbelief as you fell into step beside her walking out of the building. I mean you’d gotten your teeth whitened and your manicure down for parent conferences this week, but you couldn’t believe that beyond-beautiful Shoto had called you beyond-gorgeous. Kiyata snickered, “Clearly whatever it is - is working!” You laughed, apples of your cheeks still warm, “It’s the Parent/Teacher Conference prep. That, and I guess take your vitamins everyday,” you shrugged. Because clearly that was the secret to clumsily landing a coffee date with ProHero - could-be-a-model-if-he-wanted-to - Shoto.

[melrosing]

How would you imagine a Ned that grows up at Casterly Rock (Ned/Jaime truther here) to turn out?

hmmm 🤔🤔🤔 keeping all other things the same…

so assuming he’s ward to Tywin, I think Ned would feel very uncomfortable to start with and dislike a lot of the customs and culture at the Rock. I think the Arryns can be kind of pretentious but they’ve got nothing on the Lannisters, and the Starks fancy themselves very straightforward people. also the Rock is fucking ugly and probably a somewhat depressing place to be sent to. ‘only a Lannister could love the Rock’ etc

but I think young Jaime sounds like a pretty open and pleasant kid who doesn’t struggle to make friends, so I think he would welcome Ned, and Ned would grow to like him after having a chance to warm up to the place a bit. I do think young Jam could also be a bit irritating (like when he’s intrigued by someone he’s kind of a circling pest like with Brynden, I picture him the same with Arthur lol) but ultimately likeable. and I think he likes personality types like Ned’s. and Ned warmed to Robert fine, I think he’d warm to young Jaime.

assume the thing between Jaime and Cersei is still going on. can see it being a source of awkwardness if Ned ever did find out (and maybe what Jaime and/or Cersei needed at that age was a trusted peer saying ‘excuse me but what the fuck’). cue them falling out over it and managing to make up at some point.

does Jaime still join the KG with Ned on the scene?? maybe, maybe not. I like to think they’re close enough that Ned could’ve counselled him otherwise, but maybe he still does and Ned’s just like ‘you’re a fool’ and is low-key sad for him

THEN. supposing things play out the same way with Rhaegar and Lyanna, this would make things v awkward between Ned and House Lannister. House Lannister are (supposedly) a staunch Targaryen ally, but Brandon would still join forces with Robert in this AU, and Ned would no doubt want to join him in defence of their sister. Tywin’s refusing to take a side would be a source of great friction though, and Jaime would be sworn to Aerys so: oh no they are on opposing sides of the war!!

come the point of Jaime becoming Kingslayer tho…. this would be the best part of the AU imo because now Ned knows Jaime enough to know he’s not a skeevy guy - but the Tywin’s underhandedness and Jaime joining the KG for Cersei rather than anything else would have him thinking perhaps Jam is just an opportunist and I didn’t really know him?? and ALSO. he knows Jaime was there at his father and brother’s death just watching the whole time and how does that make him feel!! like what did the guy THINK as he watched this happen!!!

AND! I think Jaime would feel enormous guilt about having watched Ned’s family be slaughtered and would struggle to speak to Ned subsequently, so Ned may still be free to assume the worst!!! oh god we’re back at Ned and Jam not understanding each other despite having many things in common just like in canon

so this could fester over many years and then things play out roughly the same as canon and they meet again in AGOT and ooh tension. or we could cut things short and they manage to speak shortly after the Kingslaying and if this were a JamNed fic they get together then. I don’t know choose your own adventure but there you go

[scentofdriedflowers]

ok let's start SNW episode 2

wait I need already a second, that little Una's backstory

dishonorable dismissal????! how dare y- the fuuck 'they are greatful for your service', yeah but we will kick you to the curb because we're scared of you and your people, fucking starfleet, Una is one of the best starfleet officer ever you don't dishonorably dismiss her just 'cause you're racist.

this is a good deal, wHaT??! where??!!!

who the hell is this himbo subpar lawyer? did he just pass the space-bar test??! give her a damn good one! Pike hurry up with the ivy league lawyer, she's trapped in the worse law&order episode ever right now!! oooh the lawyer is an illyrian, hell yeah now we're talking!! I already love her!

ooooh what happened between this Neera and Una?! interestiiiing, *please let her be an ex girlfriend*

this whole interaction between them have me like 👀 👀 what on illyrian earth happened between them?!

now I want a full story of Neera and Una 300k thanks

'I'll tell the opposing counsel their deal is rejected' HELL YEAH

'that plea deal was her best shot,' oh no honey Neera is her best shot, gurl watch and learn, fight the laws that are unjust.

20 YEARS?? the fuck?! look, Neera has the best bluff face in the universe or she got it, her face is like 'bring it on bitches I'm ready, instead Una is like 'wha 👁️👄👁️'

'are you being funny? you were never funny' sdfghjkjfdfghjkjhgfdfghjk fun's funeral old friend knows it too 😂 I love these two together I need to know more about their backstory gimmeeee

I love La'an silently seething, frothing at her mouth about to snap if she can't find the one who snitched on her Una! she's like

WHeRE IS iT??!! that asshole...

jesus Batel is kind of a horrible counselor tho technically speaking, why you screaming that loud 'objection' gurl?! I can hear youuu, she needs to binge watch some law and order and take notes.

look at all these pompous people act so affronted when being called out as racist lol I love Neera she demolished them lol

'an affinity for gilbert and sullivan musicals' I fucking knew it Spock would said that sdfghjklkjhfdsdfghjk

I like the fact that Batel wants to fail tho lol I give you that gurl (lol when she was forgetting to object) I like you better

oh sweet La'an 🥹 'Counselor, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Una' 😭😭 Una is family 😭❤

excuse me but Neera and La'an exchange was absolutely amazing and important, La'an needed to hear that, I love Neera. And La'an utter relief of finding out she was not the one who unintentionally caused Una's identity leak was wow such a good scene my poor bb was so scared to have been the one 😭

Una backstory is heartbreaking and you could see that she wanted to explain it to Neera too and apologizing and she did, Neera's voice was breaking a bit too. These two give me emotions I love their interactions so much.

lol that admiral calling her toxic was funny, because she's literally the opposite of toxic as an illyrian since she can heal herself and others by exposure lol

Batel reading that starfleet code that practically saved Una and laughing and be like, I lost!

Damn I love Neera and how she speaks, I was like omg she is asking for asylum and bitch it's working, she saved Una and made a damn good point

*whistle* 'First Officer on deck'

I'm sorry but that prolonged hand holding 👀 *cough cough* I wanna know more here, I need Neera back ASAP I love her so much already

her little moment with La'an I cry 'welcome home, it wasn't the same without you' 🥹 these two that are not huggers or extroverts find their way of telling each other how they feel, they're family.

commander Chin Riley is back bitches!! the brain cell holder is back everything is gonna be ok

after all these roller-coaster emotions I propose an Enterprise Bingo match again just to raise the spirits and have F U N

[addictedtostorytelling]

I miss your csi insights so I thought I’d post a question…

What do you think Grissom meant when he asked Sara if she has completed her counseling?

I’m reading a fic and the author’s take is that Grissom doesn’t want to be part of a twelve step program for closure.

This question has really stomped me as to what Grissom meant...obviously everyone is allowed to have their own interpretation, but I'm interested to hear yours 😊

hi, anon!

so my take on that line is that grissom is trying to remove unnecessary guilt from sara.

i draw this interpretation not only from grissom’s body language and tone—while some fans read him as trying to shut her down, to me, he seems much too bright-eyed and forward with the way he’s talking to her to really be in that business here; as he says the line, he looks her right in the eye and nods at her encouragingly—but also from the wider gsr context of early s5 and where they’re at in their relationship trajectory at this point.    

back in s4, grissom had been trying to impose arbitrary social distance between himself from sara in order to “set them both free;” however, he had been wildly unsuccessful in his efforts to do so, not only in the sense that he was never actually able to move on from sara emotionally or to encourage her to do the same from him but also insofar as he eventually ended up causing damage to sara by being so aloof/curt/harsh with her over the course of the year. 

come the events of episode 04x23 “bloodlines,” he finally realized just how badly he’d stepped in it with her when she narrowly escaped getting a dui. 

from there, he decided to change tacks: to step up and show her how much he actually did care for her, as opposed to trying (and failing) to pretend that he didn’t.

so going into s5, we see a much more open grissom when it comes to sara—one who is personally involved with her, who wears his heart on his sleeve, who not only unabashedly flirts with her but who is quick to remind her just how much she matters to him and to check in with her emotionally.

and, thankfully, it makes a world of difference: while all of sara’s life problems aren’t magically solved just because grissom is giving her the time of day again, she does really benefit from having his friendship and support, and their relationship at the start of the season especially is very strong, perhaps easygoing as it’s been since late s2.

so.

cut to episode 05x12 “snakes.”

on sara’s side of things, i think she’s looking at the last few months of interaction between her and grissom and going, “okay, so, i fucked up and scared the shit out of grissom with the whole drunk driving thing. immediately afterward, he felt like he had to be very hands-on with me and check up on me all the time. it took me a while to convince him that i didn’t need the kid glove-treatment, but now (after months of me toeing the line) i think he feels pretty confident in the fact that i am okay™—and not only okay but cool. i’ve shown him that i am capable of being friendly, collegial, chill, etc. honestly, things have been going pretty well for us. we’ve gotten to a place where we can be friends again. but now i have to be careful, because this is the point at which i would normally screw things up by coming on too strong with him. having his friendship again has been so amazing, and i don’t want to do anything to jeopardize it. i need to make sure that i don’t overstep, so i’m going to just talk to him and be up front—to tell him flat-out that i understand what’s what so he’ll know that i’m capable of maintaining the good status quo and not pushing.”

meanwhile, on grissom’s side, i think he’s looking at everything from the perspective that he was the one who was in error leading up to sara’s near-dui because he was being a weird, standoffish jerk who didn’t know how to manage his own hang-ups and emotions around her and that now it’s on him to “do penance” for it. while he knows he’s made progress toward being a better friend to sara ever since that turning point, he also feels as if the burden is still very much on him to finally do right by her. he knows he has a long way to go before he will finally undo all the damage he did to her self-esteem.

so then she walks into his office one day and starts apologizing to him for all sorts of things which he knows are not actually her fault, acting like she’s the one who’s not only to blame for the team split but also for whatever awkwardness there has been between them in the past (and, certainly, here, grissom can’t help but think about how he treated her during s4).

not only is she apologizing on professional grounds, but she’s also apologizing personally, insinuating that her personal feelings for grissom are part of the overall problem.

and, honestly—

grissom hates that he’s made her feel that way.

he’s given her such a guilt complex about their whole relationship dynamic, putting it in her head that she’s the one who’s been out-of-bounds, when in reality he’s been the one who’s been leading her on and confusing her and constantly changing the rules up on her for years.

so.

to break the interaction down:

sara comes into his office and leads off with, “we really haven’t had a chance to talk since the staff changes. i, uh—i wanted to let you know that i said some things to ecklie that might have done the team a disservice.”

grissom, quite sensibly and accurately, assures her, “ecklie wanted to break up the team, and he did.”

in no way is the team breakup her fault.

however, sara still feels (undue) guilt. she admits, “he asked me if you and i had had our post-peap counseling session—”

“—and we didn’t,” grissom acknowledges. however, the fact that they haven’t is hardly on her, and he tells her as much. “regardless, you should never have to cover for your boss. i’m sorry.”

here, sara’s façade of professionalism slips. 

she starts to get personal. 

very personal. 

“you’ve always been a little more than a boss to me,” she tells him, offering a timid smile. “why do you think i moved to vegas?” she smirks, trying to play off the enormity of what she’s just said. however, grissom isn’t oblivious; he realizes the nature of what she has just admitted to—not only in the sense that she’s just told him she’s (still) in love with him, but also in the sense that she’s attempting to take the blame for their whole impossible situation, which is exactly what she tells him in the next breath. “look, i know our relationship has been complicated. it’s probably my fault. it’s probably definitely my fault.”

check out sara’s body language and tone here: she is so skittish, blinking a lot, stammering; the self-consciousness is rolling off of her in waves.

but here’s the thing: in the past (and particularly during s4), grissom might have allowed sara to feel as if her feelings for and behavior around him were the problem—that she was the one who’d been out of line; that they had so much trouble being “just supervisor and subordinate” because she couldn’t rein herself in and just act normal™ in his presence.

not now, though.

grissom knows that he’s the one who has spent the last four and a half years giving her the runaround, always keeping her at arm’s length from him while at the same time never letting her fully go. he’s sent her so many mixed signals. been simultaneously too much and not enough. prioritized his needs at the expense of hers. made her feel guilty about things that never would have even been an issue if he could have just been honest with her from the start.

so to hear her sitting there, castigating herself, making it out that she’s the problem—

all he can think is that she needs to know it isn’t her fault.

that she isn’t in the wrong.

they’re not in the right environment and he’s not quite brave enough for him to tackle the larger implications of what she’s said regarding their feelings for each other and the course of their overall relationship immediately in this moment. however, he can talk about the more micro-level issue—which in a way is symbolic of the larger thing, anyway.

“you, uh, completed your counseling, right?” he asks, and he’s trying to point out to her is that she hasn’t been remiss in anything; that there’s no reason for her to feel guilty.

he means to absolve her: not only did she complete her required counseling, just like she was asked to, but, lest she forget, she even tried to approach him to talk about it earlier in the year (see episode 05x01 “viva las vegas”).

—he’s the one who failed to follow up.

so when she can honestly answer yes, she did do all her sessions, he hopes that it will make her feel better.

he also hopes, when he asks her how her sessions went, that he’s repenting a bit of his misstep—finally doing now what he should have done back in september.

that’s been his whole mo with her, ever since he picked her up from the waiting room at pd eight months ago: to try to undo whatever harm he’s inflicted a little bit at a time, as much as he can; to apologize for the things he’s able to; to change his behavior and do better.

and his hope is that eventually he’ll get to a place where he’s not just in a position to try to make up for past mistakes but where he can proactively be the thing he needs her to be—where he can finally step up and be brave and own up to their feelings for each other in a way that would really mean something.

he doesn’t quite make it there in the course of this conversation—though, personally, i think that if sara had given him just a few more seconds before she got scared and cut the conversation off abruptly, he might have—but he’s definitely trending that way.

the very next episode is, of course, episode 05x13 “nesting dolls.”

he’s working up to finally saying what he should have told her years ago, to finally doing what he should have done years ago.

it’s a process.

“it’s not your fault” > “it’s my fault, and i’m sorry” > “now i’m going to do what i should have done before.”

anyway, that’s my take:

“you, uh, completed your counseling, right?” is grissom’s way of reminding sara that despite what she might think, she’s not the one who blew it. it’s him shifting the blame off of her and back onto himself—or at least that’s what he means it to be.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.   

[panharmonium]

sometimes (always) i sit around and think about how kakashi, specifically, is the one who sails in at the last moment to stop sasuke from using chidori to kill the only two people he’s ever been able to call his friends.

it’s more than just a teacher showing up to protect students in danger.  it matters that it’s kakashi, specifically, who grabs sasuke’s lightning-swathed wrist and forcibly wrenches him away from making the worst mistakes of his life.  it matters that it’s kakashi, specifically, who stops sasuke from having to live with the kind of agonizing regret that kakashi himself, blameless though he was, has been tortured by for years.  

kakashi, in his capacity as a jonin leader, has always been defined by the declaration he makes to himself at the end of the anbu arc - “whatever happens, i can’t allow a tragedy like that to occur again with a new generation of shinobi.”  everything he does is done with the explicitly articulated goal of never letting another child suffer the same way he did, or die in the same horrifying, senseless way as his own friends and family.  stopping sasuke from killing naruto and sakura isn’t just about preventing yet another needless death; it’s about preventing the creation of another young person who can’t sleep at night because all they dream about is their burning hand buried in their friend’s chest.  the protective action is multi-directional, springing from the same selfless roots as everything else kakashi does: i don’t want anyone else to go through what i went through.  i don’t want anyone else to live the life i lived.  

kakashi knows full well what’s it’s like to live with the knowledge that you killed someone you cared about, and even though what happened in his case wasn’t his fault, it almost destroyed him.  if sasuke deliberately murders one of his friends - kakashi knows it’s something he won’t ever be able to come back from.  that kind of mistake is a hole sasuke won’t be able to climb out of.  and even though sasuke left the leaf village a long time ago, kakashi, particularly at the beginning of 214, is still trying to preserve an avenue of return for him.  he’s still trying to save sasuke from doing something unthinkable, something that can never be undone.  

i often think back to what naruto says to gaara, way back at the end of the chunin exams arc, when gaara asks “why would you do this for anyone but yourself?” - and what naruto says in response is “because they saved me from myself.”  that’s what kakashi is doing for sasuke in these scenes, even if sasuke doesn’t acknowledge it yet.  kakashi isn’t just protecting naruto and sakura from sasuke; he’s protecting sasuke from his own worst impulses.  at the most catastrophic of moments, kakashi averts disaster and arrests sasuke’s most self-destructive urges, stopping him from making a mistake he can’t take back, from doing something he’ll regret for the rest of his life.  and if sasuke ever does make it back to the light some day, it’ll be not only because of how deeply his friends believed that he could make it home, but because of how hard his teacher fought to keep him from destroying himself before he had the slightest chance of getting there.

[storiesofsvu]

Opposing Counsel Ch 6

Warnings: language, mentions of injuries/sexual assault.

Rafael felt like a complete fucking fool, he’d just been playing the snarky lawyer game the two of you usually played, he knew he’d crossed the line, especially as the squad walked him through your case. He felt a twinge in his chest looking through photos of your injuries, he’d been so wrapped up in the subpoena that he hadn’t even noticed your split lip. Not to mention the blackening literal finger marks on your neck you’d had hidden. By the end of the day, Cain had been arrested, booked for 2 counts of rape 1, spending the night in the tombs before arraignment the next morning, and Rafael couldn’t get the images of your bruised neck out of his thoughts. He knew he had to make things right, finding himself outside of your apartment door twenty minutes later. You were slightly surprised when you opened the door to find him there, 

“What? Come to gloat? Tell me I deserved if for attempting to defend him?” Rafael’s face fell, both at your comment and being able to see the bruises in real life this time.

“No…”His voice was quiet, soft, so drastically different than you usually heard it as you reluctantly let him into your apartment. “I came to apologize. I was…a fucking ass, exactly like you said.” You were leant on the arm of the couch, arms wrapped around yourself when you looked up at him, surprise in your eyes.

“Oh please…you just want to be in my good books for the trial.” He saw the shimmer of tears in your eyes, “You need me to go through my story again?” His heart sunk into his stomach at that, you’d been through literal hell and then had to relive those moments at least 3 times already, not to mention mentally preparing to testify. 

“No…not now..” He reached out a hand to you, “May I?” You felt your body moving towards his before you even realized it, letting him curl his arms around you, hand soothingly burying into your hair. The entire gentleness of the movement had you suddenly shudder, letting out the tears you thought you’d already cried out. You felt Rafael’s lips against your head as you silently cried onto his pristine suit. “I’m so sorry Carino. That bastard’s going away, I promise you. He’s going to get destroyed on the stand, I’m not holding back.”

“Why do you suddenly care so much.” He pulled back a smidge, tipping your chin up to gaze into your watery eyes, you were shocked when you could see the tears reflecting in his eyes. He sighed gently,

“Because I care about you. I know we have this teasing hatred to rile each other up thing going on, and as much as I do love that, I…actually have feelings…for you..”

“Who are you and what have you done with Rafael Barba?” A small grin stretched his lips at your sense of humour showing through, his thumb stroked your cheek, wiping away a loose tear. The air shifted, you’d been in a pit the entire day, wallowing in self pity, sorrow and rage but at Rafael’s admission you started to open up, admitting to yourself that you did feel the same. That at least something positive ended up coming from this. 

“I’m full of surprises Hermosa.” 

“Still…you can’t date a defence attorney.” He smiled down at you, 

“Just watch me…” Rafael’s lips met yours in the softest kiss you could ever imagine, gently cupping your cheek in the curve of his palm. It was so daringly different from the usual way you came together and it felt like absolutely magic, lips moving with ease as you wrapped your arms around him, pulling you to him. When you eventually detached he was quick to lay his lips on your forehead, pulling you into his embrace again, soothing you. You let out a frustrated groan, pulling away slightly, “What?” He asked gently, 

“You just cost me fifty bucks…Rita’s gonna have a fucking field day with this….”

[wackythighjinks]

Yes, this, but also if you’re in the USA, you don’t have to go back to the 70’s for gay panic homophobia. All these were things people said in the 90’s and 00’s and 20-teens too. They’re still things people say, right now, just more quietly, until they can make it more broadly socially acceptable again. The people who said all that shit about gay people are still alive now.

None of this history is old. Obergefell v Hodges, the legal case that guaranteed the right to marriage equality in the USA, was decided in 2015.

This fucking website is eight years older than universal marriage equality in the United States.

And while we are talking about it, you should know that universal marriage equality is directly connected to rising anti-trans rhetoric in the U.S.

Ever wonder why don’t you remember hearing this much seething public brouhaha over trans people before 2016? Well, for one, Obergefell hadn’t happened yet. Before the landmark decision, same sex marriage was still unavailable in fourteen states. Conservatives were incensed by the decision, claiming it violated their religious freedom to hate and legally discriminate against queer people. One man, in a largely forgotten incident, stormed the Court and interrupted proceedings, shouting that they would burn in hell if they supported gay rights.

He wasn’t the only one. The steps outside the capitol had plenty of detractors who opposed queer rights. Here is archival footage of the line of conservative bigots and other anti-queer protestors outside of the Supreme Court (as well as gay rights supporters), just eight years ago as they awaited the Court’s decision.

So it should be no surprise that in the wake of that historic decision, rashes of anti-trans and homophobic laws allowing businesses and individuals to legally discriminate against gay people were passed as part of an overt conservative strategy to combat the rights of queer folk:

"You're seeing an explosion of religious liberty legislation in the wake of Obergefell," says Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, a conservative law firm and think tank involved in the effort. He calls it "just the tip of the iceberg of what we will see as Obergefell begins to settle on the rest of the country.” [Link]

The fight for queer people was never over with the small recognition of so-called same-sex marriage. Obergefell himself acknowledged this immediately after he won his case, stating: “We will have to continue the fight.” Organizations who supported the Obergefell decision also warned that conservatives would find new ways to discriminate against all of us—a people whose existence they hate and would see eradicated from the earth if they could.

I urge you to remember this the next time you see some TERF-adjacent “centrist” claiming that trans people are asking for too much or are too loud or need to wait their turn. The people who stood outside the Supreme Court less than a decade ago with these signs are just waiting for the chance moment to make all queer people’s existence illegal.

Cowards who are willing to excise trans people from public life in order to cling to whatever small crumbs they’ve been thrown in the last decade are just carving their own epitaphs.

The indoctrination never stops.

Conservatives need a minority target to keep their followers focused/unified on hate. As the followers obsess on hate, their lives/emotions are much easier to manipulate.

Conservatives always vow to restore the country to some distant past that never existed.

It's an endless loop of failure.

[imagining-in-the-margins]

Reunion Challenge Fic List

Hey everyone! I want to start by saying thank you so much to everyone who participated - it was so much fun to write alongside you all, and I can’t wait to share everyone’s hard work.

So without further ado, here are the entries for the Reunion Challenge!

SFW Spencer/Fem!Reader

Distance by @mercy-burning: About two years after Y/N gets transferred across the country, the team comes by for a long-overdue visit.

Mother's Daughter by @fortheloveofwonderland: Reader's mother kept secrets so well she even hid them from herself. You wonder if you are your mothers daughter after all.

The Pact by @radiant-reid: Years have passed between the time Spencer and Reader broke up, but it doesn’t stop them from jumping back in head first when given a little prompt.

Angel in a Denim Jacket by @writer-in-theory: What if, on the worst day of young Spencer Reid’s life, you had been there?

Reflections by @sinfulspencer: After you left the BAU for the Sex Crimes Unit, Spencer hasn’t been the same. One day Luke confronts him to find out the truth.

You, My First by @aperrywilliams: Reader was Spencer’s schoolmate and a very good friend, but they lost contact after a regrettable misunderstanding. What happens when they meet again years later?

The One That Got Away by @/sinfulspencer: Spencer didn’t think he would see you again after ten years. Now he has to come to terms with his prior mistakes.

Something Gave You the Nerve by @samuel-de-champagne-problems: At Diana’s funeral, Spencer sees a familiar face he thought he’d never see again. But then again, he had a habit of being haunted by the living.

Defining Family by @/imagining-in-the-margins: Spencer finds out he’s a dad… to a 12 year old girl. Your 12 year old girl, who just broke into the FBI.

Dead Air by @/imagining-in-the-margins: Professor Reid is hesitant to be a guest on his old student’s YouTube series, but is surprised to find it’s not so bad.

GN! and Male!Reader, NSFW, and Wes fics below the cut!

Assorted Readers/Spencer

Drunk Dial by@/imagining-in-the-margins: (GN!Reader) It’s been years since Reader talked to Spencer, but after a bunch of drinks it seems like a really good idea.

Kiss Them or Keep Them by@reidgraygubler: (GN!Reader) Necromancer!Spencer loses his best friend, but has a secret gift to bring them back.

Pretty Boy by@/imagining-in-the-margins: (Male!Reader) Spencer thinks you’re just the bully who likes to pull his pigtails.

NSFW Spencer/Reader

* All fics are Fem!Reader unless stated otherwise.

Relief in Regrets by @/imagining-in-the-margins: Spencer turns to his ex-girlfriend in a time of need.

It's Just Indifference by @andiebeaword: Reader goes on the best date of her life. Her only regret was not getting his number in return. 15 months later, they see each other again at her favorite coffee shop.

Duet by @foxy-eva: Spencer and Reader both suffer after their break up and have to make a decision.

Second Time's a Charm by @foxy-eva: Back in college Spencer Reid and Reader left many things unsaid. Years later they give it another try.

Unholy by @/sinfulspencer: Spencer and Reader see each other again after 14 months. Sexual tension is palpable, but there’s a problem: Reader is dating someone.

Opposing Counsel by @/imagining-in-the-margins: Spencer runs into his childhood rival at trial for a case. Now that they’re older, they found a new way to resolve their differences.

Assorted Characters

How I Met Your Father by @/reidgraygubler: (Wes/Fem!Reader, SFW) You and Wes have a one-night stand and don't see each other again until years later… and You have a toddler.

[beardedmrbean]

People are terrified of euthanasia being legal. There is this huge myth that people can take their elderly to Switzerland to be euthanised, but it isn't true. By law you must be a swiss national and you must have what is called "capacity to consent" wherein no one can make that choice for you and you can only make that choice if you are considered able to consent. That means people who are mentally ill to the point of having little understanding of the situation are NOT eligible for euthanasia.

They also tend not to consider you eligible for euthanasia if you have a history of depression. If you are bipolar, schizophrenic or have a mental illness that messes with your perception and/or gives suicidal thoughts prior to having a terminal illness, you are not eligible.

You must go through counselling for several weeks after you decide to go through with it, and the slightest change in decision will cancel the whole thing. You can also cancel up til the very last second with no problem. Again, they will not do it if you are not awake and fully, 100% conscious. The slightest doubt that the person cannot consent properly or has changed their mind calls it off.

There was an article about a "death chamber" with carbon monoxide or something. Exit immediately said it was inhumane and rejected the invention. People claiming the swiss are going to use it can't do their due diligence.

Also, the swiss euthanasia program isn't a government program. They also protect the swiss right to refuse resuscitation, which is rather rampantly denied.

Just wanted your thoughts on this, as Trudeau showed up on my dash and people are freaking out about euthanasia and insulting Switzerland for allowing it, whilst claiming we just kill off anyone we want for profit.

The death pod, ya slowly pulls all the oxygen out and replaces it with nitrogen all things considered there's worse ways to go about it this is probably one of the gentler versions.

Don't know a whole lot about your laws regarding this, I'll take your word on all the steps and requirements about it, which seem more robust than Canada's and Belgium's from what I've seen and can recall.

Got very little info on Canada, but I know Belgium has about the same only one I can say with 100% certainty is different is you don't need to be Belgian, British guy who's ex girlfriend threw acid on his face leaving him scared and in excruciating pain got a green light and there was a I think Aussie scientist who was just old and wanted to go before his brain gave out or something like that.

People are going to see this kind of thing and it's gonna hit a primal point in their brains.

I think as it goes the best option people in your situation have is just do your best to tune it out very few people are going to be listening to folks that actually know and even less will be believing them I'd wager.

I will say the pods look cool, even if that is a bit macabre.

Hopefully time does its trick and people let the actual information get absorbed in their heads, gonna have people opposed regardless but at least they'll be informed

[lightofraye]

So… I’m going to hate myself for even having to agree, let alone what I’m going to write next. However, this emphasizes the point I’ve been trying to make for the last few weeks, including arguments with anons: Jensen is not perfect. He is not beyond reproach. He has made a lot of mistakes, starting with creating The Winchesters without notifying or including Jared in the process. It kind of snowballed from there, his attitude and treatment to fans who were hesitant or against the idea of The Winchesters, the inevitable ‘battle’ of Prequelgate, the Russian Game mess, the lawsuit from the cameraman on The Winchesters, and so on.

As my industry consultant had said, Jensen has been wildly inconsistent with his image, with his “brand”. He seemed lackluster about the work on The Winchesters; he never really promoted the hell out of it. If anything, I saw more about his work on The Boys than I ever did of The Winchester (I mean on his Instagram). The same about Big Sky, now that I think about it. The Boys he actually showed some things about his work and preparation; Big Sky and The Winchesters were virtually non-existent. (In rechecking, I see precisely one post about Big Sky, and nothing of The Winchesters.) He might’ve done more on Twitter, but again… consistency was lacking across Social Media.

Then there is his marriage to Danneel. He might’ve told ‘stories’ of Danneel at cons, but they’re usually stories that make it sound… separate. Not things done together (and no, moving furniture around isn’t really a couply thing to do), but emphasizing just how separated they are. How ‘scary’ she is. The whole “shark” thing (again, in business terms, that is a bad thing), comparing her to “Scary Spice”, and everything else he’s said about her. His stories are also inconsistent if people pay attention and guess what? We are.

Okay. Maybe not the AAs or the fanatical base, but the rest of us? We are. Oh we are.

So my thought is… he should lean into the PR of a marriage falling apart. Bad publicity is still publicity. What he’d have to do delicately is how he handles the fall out. (Are you listening, Gersh?) If he leans into the divorce/separation thing, it should then be followed by tons—and I mean tons—of outings with his kids. Some time spent with JJ alone, time spent with Zeppelin alone, and then time spent with Arrow alone. And then with all three. It’s summer, it’s hot—go to the blasted water parks (I’m sure Connecticut has water parks!). Do this in between conventions. That would hype the ‘family man’ image without the ‘wife’ image.

Here's why: no one (again, outside of the AAs and fanatical base) believes he and Danneel even love each other. Danneel has more chemistry with Steve Carlson than she does with Jensen. Hell, that’s fed her cheating/affair reputation. At least Jensen had the grace to never make his own affairs noticeable or public (if he’s had any during his marriage as opposed to before the marriage; heck, he and Danneel can try to change the story all he wants, we know he and Danneel were cheating as they got together).

He’d have to do that narrative consistently (there’s that word again!). Not just for a couple of months, but bare minimum of a year! During filming of Countdown, he should try to visit his kids as much as possible, make posts about how much he misses them, maybe even shots of him Facetiming them. Every time there’s a break in filming, he should go. Not hang out at bars; he should go see them!

If he proceeds with a divorce, be amicable as possible. No slamming Danneel at all; be graceful and rise above it. Mention going to therapy/counseling—embrace healthy masculinity! (As in, lean away from Soldier Boy’s toxic masculinity.)

I do believe that would help promote the “family man” image tremendously. Honestly, as I’ve mentioned, a lot of folks have noticed he’s unhappy and miserable with Danneel, the scant few times they’ve been photographed. The stories just don’t do enough. They aren’t coming up when Googled, so they don’t matter.

What would matter: tons of social media posts of him with his kids (candids would be better, not staged stuff!)—on all his social medias. (I believe he just has Twitter and Instagram, right?) If he isn’t able to handle that, hire someone.

And then, y’know, maybe humble himself and be a human being again. Not Dean; be Jensen.

I was on a live with my friend who has an account on Instagram specifically for Spn and she revealed that she went to a con and Jensen didn’t have his wedding band on and his manager found him, gave the ring to him and demanded he wear it. Apparently he seemed upset that he had to and he looked visibly sad and was anxiously fiddling with it the rest of the day. He doesn’t even hide his misery in front of us. Why do people choose to turn a blind eye and think danneel is a great person?!

Hi there!

Y'know, I had gotten this message this morning, but could not answer until now because of so many reasons, one of which was to ask which con this was at! Plus, I had to ask if you wanted me to hide your identity or not. I imagine there will be some Danneel stans and potentially AAs that will not take kindly to discovering that Jensen is very, very unhappy. It shatters their delusion of the "perfect marriage" and all that.

I'm heaving a sigh, because this is going to just pissed them off some more.

As I (and so many others!) have said: Jensen isn't happy!

Anyway, after corresponding with the asker, I have been able to confirm where and when this happened!

Credit to the asker who asked their friend and got me the information.

It happened at Burcon, during the St. Patrick's weekend. If it's the Gersh agent that was with him during at least one of the European cons (JIB, I believe?), I'm stumped as to why they would even care if Jensen was without his ring. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time.

According to the asker, it happened again while Jensen was at JIB.

We know that his "branding and endorsement" agent from Gersh was with Jensen. It's puzzling as to why. Maybe something involved regarding Countdown, but once again: why?

As confirmed by the person I spoke to, the follower who has been in the creative and entertainment industry, Jensen's narrative has always been inconsistent. If Jensen retained Gersh to expand beyond "brand and endorsement" to help improve his "family man image", I have so many questions!

Namely: the ring means jackshit. No, seriously, it means jackshit. All it indicates is that he's married--not that he's faithful, loyal, or anything. It's the keeping of the vows that make the difference, not the freaking jewelry.

Secondly: if he's so damned miserable--and anyone with eyes could tell, even in photos with Danneel, not that he's been seen with her in an age--why go through it even longer? Why impose such misery? Just end the blasted marriage and find happiness elsewhere already.

Third: if it is to improve the "family man image", uhhh.... going about it the wrong way. Especially given we haven't seen Jensen with Danneel since that one outing in Dallas... and that was just with Danneel. Family man image makes me think of him and his kids, which need not include his wife.

Fourth: Why does the manager/agent have the freaking ring?!

Soooo many questions, not nearly enough answers. I appreciate the asker for this incredible and heartbreaking update.

Oh! Before I forget! The asker asked: Why do people choose to turn a blind eye and think danneel is a great person?!

Because despite what they accuse me of, those Jenneel/AAs fans are putting themselves in that delusion. They want the marriage to be perfect, to have Jensen beyond reproach, to believe that Danneel is sweet and kind when we know better (seriously, I have quite a bit of evidence and there are others!). To see Danneel otherwise shatters that delusion and they can't accept it.

I, on the other hand, see Jensen as a talented actor who in a situation he's been miserable in for some time, placed on a pedestal that he never wanted to be on in the first place. However, to survive that attention, he became the mask. I don't know if he'll be okay....