#and if you HAVE to resort to using an on-demand service you have to use a vpn

[mostlysignssomeportents]

When the app tries to make you robo-scab

When we talk about the abusive nature of gig work, there’s some obvious targets, like algorithmic wage discrimination, where two workers are paid different rates for the same job, in order to trick occasional gig-workers to give up their other sources of income and become entirely dependent on the app:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

Then there’s the opacity — imagine if your boss refused to tell you how much you’ll get paid for a job until after you’ve completed it, claimed that this was done in order to “protect privacy” — and then threatened anyone who helped you figure out the true wage on offer:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/07/hr-4193/#boss-app

Opacity is wage theft’s handmaiden: every gig worker producing content for a social media algorithm is subject to having their reach — and hence their pay — cut based on the unaccountable, inscrutable decisions of a content moderation system:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

Making content for an algorithm is like having a boss that docks every paycheck because you broke rules that you are not allowed to know, because if you knew the rules, you’d figure out how to cheat without your boss catching you. Content moderation is the last place where security through obscurity is considered good practice:

https://doctorow.medium.com/como-is-infosec-307f87004563

When workers seize the means of computation, amazing things happen. In Indonesia, gig workers create and trade tuyul apps that let them unilaterally modify the way that their bosses’ systems see them — everything from GPS spoofing to accessibility mods:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#gojek

So the tech and labor story isn’t wholly grim: there are lots of ways that tech can enhance labor struggles, letting workers collaborate and coordinate. Without digital systems, we wouldn’t have the Hot Strike Summer:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/02/not-what-it-does/#who-it-does-it-to

As the historic writer/actor strike shows us, the resurgent labor movement and the senescent forces of crapulent capitalism are locked in a death-struggle over not just what digital tools do, but who they do it for and who they do it to:

https://locusmag.com/2022/01/cory-doctorow-science-fiction-is-a-luddite-literature/

When it comes to the epic fight over who technology acts for and against, we need a diversity of tactics, backstopped by tech operated by and for its users — and by laws that protect workers and the public. That dynamic is in sharp focus in UNITE Here Local 11’s strike against Orange County’s Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa.

The UNITE Here strike turns on the usual issues like a living wage (hotel staff are paid so little they have to rent rooming-house beds by the shift, paying for the right to sleep in a room for a few hours at a time, without any permanent accommodation). They’re also seeking health-care and pensions, so they can be healthy at work and retire after long service. Finally, they’re seeking their employer’s support for LA’s Responsible Hotels Ordinance, which would levy a tax on hotel rooms to help pay for hotel workers’ housing costs (a hotel worker who can’t afford a bed is the equivalent of a fast food worker who has to apply for food stamps):

https://www.unitehere11.org/responsible-hotels-ordinance/

But the Marriott — which is owned by the University of California and managed by Aimbridge Hospitality — has refused to bargain, walking out negotiations.

But the employer didn’t walk out over wages, benefits or support for a housing subsidy. They walked out when workers demanded that the scabs that the company was trying to hire to break the strike be given full time, union jobs.

These aren’t just any scabs, either. They’re predominantly Black workers who rely on the $700m Instawork app for gigs. These workers are being dispatched to cross the picket line without any warning that they’re being contracted as strikebreakers. When workers refuse the cross the picket and join the strike, Instawork cancels all their shifts and permanently blocks them from new jobs.

This is a new, technologically supercharged form of illegal strikebreaking. It’s one thing for a single boss to punish a worker who refuses to scab, but Instawork acts as a plausible-deniability filter for all the major employers in the region. Like the landlord apps that allow landlords to illegally fix rents by coordinating hikes, Instawork lets bosses illegally collude to rig wages by coordinating a blocklist of workers who refuse to scab:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/company-that-makes-rent-setting-software-for-landlords-sued-for-collusion/?comments=1

The racial dimension is really important here: the Marriott has a longstanding de facto policy of refusing to hire Black workers, and whenever they are confronted with this, they insist that there are no qualified Black workers in the labor pool. But as soon as the predominantly Latino workforce struck, Marriott discovered a vast Black workforce that it could coerce into scabbing, in collusion with Instawork.

Now, all of this isn’t just sleazy, it’s illegal, a violation of Section 7 of the NLRB Act. Historically, that wouldn’t have mattered, because a string of presidents, R and D, have appointed useless do-nothing ghouls to run the NLRB. But the Biden admin, pushed by the party’s left wing, made a string of historic, excellent appointments, including NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, who has set her sights on punishing gig work companies for flouting labor law:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/10/see-you-in-the-funny-papers/#bidens-legacy

UNITE HERE 11 has brought a case to the NLRB, charging the Instawork, the UC system, Marriott, and Aimbridge with violating labor law by blackmailing gig workers into crossing the picket line. The union is also asking the NLRB to punish the companies for failing to protect workers from violent retaliation from the wealthy hotel guests who have punched them and screamed epithets at them. The hotel has refused to identify these thug guests so that the workers they assaulted can swear out complaints against them.

Writing about the strike for Jacobin, Alex N Press tells the story of Thomas Bradley, a Black worker who was struck off all Instawork shifts for refusing to cross the picket line and joining it instead:

https://jacobin.com/2023/07/southern-california-hotel-workers-strike-automated-management-unite-here

Bradley’s case is exhibit A in the UNITE HERE 11 case before the NLRB. He has a degree in culinary arts, but racial discrimination in the industry has kept him stuck in gig and temp jobs ever since he graduated, nearly a quarter century ago. Bradley lived out of his car, but that was repossessed while he slept in a hotel room that UNITE HERE 11 fundraised for him, leaving him homeless and bereft of all his worldly possessions.

With UNITE HERE 11’s help, Bradley’s secured a job at the downtown LA Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, a hotel that has bargained with the workers. Bradley is using his newfound secure position to campaign among other Instawork workers to convince them not to cross picket lines. In these group chats, Jacobin saw workers worrying “that joining the strike would jeopardize their standing on the app.”

Today (July 30) at 1530h, I’m appearing on a panel at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the wonderful, award-winning “Ghost Post” Haunted Mansion project I worked on for Disney Imagineering.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/30/computer-says-scab/#instawork

[Image ID: An old photo of strikers before a struck factory, with tear-gas plumes rising above them. The image has been modified to add a Marriott sign to the factory, and the menacing red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' to the sky over the factory. The workers have been colorized to a yellow-green shade and the factory has been colorized to a sepia tone.]

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[bluecollarmcandtf]

Influencer Island

Isn't this generation the worst! My family's resort used to be a peaceful retreat, but now it's crawling with whiney influencers who spend their time staring at their phones and ignoring our service. All of them are rude and obnoxious to the staff, but I have a new plan for every entitled brat I find.

"Hey you!" a snide call comes my direction.

He's lean, muscular, and emerging from the tropical shrubbery of the hotel's expansive gardens. The guy is clearly a fitness YouTuber, and he's just returned from a sweaty jog. His body seems to be the only thing on his mind, because he flaunts it in front of me without even glancing in my direction.

"Grab me a towel," he insists and brushes past, "This place is humid as hell."

A bored look sits on his face as he begins routinely stretching the toned legs inside those tiny shorts. The guy actually scoffs and looks offended when he realizes I haven't raced off to fetch his towel. It's the first time he's actually looking in my direction, and I can practically feel the sense of entitlement dripping off of him.

"Dude, I want a towel. The air on your island is wet and gross," he slowly repeats, like I must be an idiot who can't understand.

"Shut up about the humidity, Carlos!" my anger gets the best of me, but I finally put my diabolical plan in place.

"Who the hell is Carlos?"

For the first time, the influencer's smug face flashes to one of confusion. He doesn't believe someone like me would talk to him like this, let alone call him the wrong name.

"Carlos is the new gardner," I explain in a spiteful voice, "He's hard-working, he's humble, and he isn't bothered by the wet muggy air one bit!"

The athletic social media star looks completely taken aback now. He's retreated from my barrage of words, but there's no escaping the transformation he's already undergoing.

His revealing shorts rapidly unfold into a more coarse material that extends over his shoulders, forming a baggy pair of working overalls. Our hotel staff polo pops up beneath the straps of his workwear and leather gloves appear on his hands.

"How...?" he quietly gasps, "What am I wearing?"

"Carlos isn't very smart, but he makes up for it by shutting up and working hard. Don't you, Carlos?" I continue, "You spend all day in this disgustingly humid air, trimming bushes, pulling weeds, and manicuring the shit out of this garden. It's the only thing you're really good for. Isn't that right, Carlos?"

"Yeah," the former jock answers numbly.

A name tag appears over his chest, sealing his identity as Carlos the gardner. His face ages and takes on the character of a Hispanic local. His once youthfully lean body expands outward, filling his new uniform with a layer of fatherly pudge. This guy looks like he's spent his entire life working on this island. I know he'll spend the rest of it here too.

"Get back to work, Carlos, and don't let me catch you taking a break again," I say.

"Yes, Señor," he answers humbly, turning to a wheelbarrow full of mulch right beside him.

I watch sweat glisten on Carlos' forehead as he dumps the wood chips and rakes them around the plants. I note the damp air already permeating his heavy uniform before leaving and stepping inside the hotel lobby.

The interior of my family's hotel is quite grand and luxurious, but it's Mediterranean architecture creates an atmosphere of culture and class. Unfortunately, not many of my younger guests have the same culture and class. Approaching the front desk, I find a handsome young man in a vehement debate with the concierge. Apparently, his room was not up to his standards.

"Do you know who I am?" he asks tersely.

"I have 300k followers on TickTock! Everyone sees my travel vlog, so don't piss me off," he demands loudly.

My employee working the front desk looks overwhelmed and exhausted. Guests should never verbally assault my staff. This guy needs to learn how to behave at my hotel.

"So you're the famous influencer!" I jump to the defense before voices are raised any further, "We of course prepared a premier experience for you and your followers."

The entitled TickTocker's eyes roll but he seems relieved that somebody is finally treating him as he believes he deserves. I send a comforting wink to the concierge before gracefully escorting the rude guest away from the front.

"About time," he clicks his tongue, "That bellboy could barely speak English. You'd think a supposed luxury resort would be a bit more accommodating."

"I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, sir. How may we be of service to you?"

"Well to start, my room faces the forest. I booked one with a view of the ocean," he explains, missing my blatant sarcasm.

I'm done playing around.

"Come on, Jose. You don't care about looking out windows," I correct him, "Just cleaning them."

The young man stares back at me like he's just been insulted. He can't believe I have the audacity to call him by the wrong name.

"I'm not Jose," he snaps.

"Sure you are," I go on, "You're the Jose I've always known. The Jose that keeps his head down and gets his work done. The Jose that is quiet and respectful with the guests."

"That's not me," he growls, frustratedly denying it.

"I know there's a bit of a language barrier, Jose, but come on. Just look at yourself!"

The influencer narrows his eyes before nervously glancing down. As he does, his crisp white shirt fades to an old blue color. The buttons latch themselves all the way up to the base of his neck as the shirt tail stitches itself seamlessly with his pants of a now identically worn material.

"What I have on!" he gasps with an awkward inflection.

"Jose, it's your uniform," I laugh, "You're the hotel janitor! You wear coveralls, buddy."

"Estoy el janitor?" he questions with a heavy new accent, but his mind is already accepting the new role.

His eyes glazed over as he pulls out a pair of rubber gloves from his back pocket. He slips them on like it's second nature, and a uniform cap appears on his head of dark hair. The final touch of a name tag reading 'Jose' slides over the breast of his coveralls, cementing the reality of his new life.

"Jose," I say slowly.

"Sí, jefe?" he seems to snap out of an idle daze.

"You know your not supposed to loiter in the lobby unless you are cleaning."

"Lo siento, señor."

Jose fishes a rag and spray bottle out of his pocket to act busy wiping down different surfaces in the lobby. He keeps casting nervous glances in my direction as I supervise his work.

"Jose."

"Sí," he returns to my side like an eager puppy.

"The staff bathroom has a clog in it. Take care of that and the rest of the staff area. You can clean the lobby tonight when guests aren't here," I instruct.

"Por supuesto, jefe," he nods and shuffles through a staff-only door to the rear of the building.

Thank God I took that pretentious jerk down a peg. Thanks to me, the hotel has one less raving social media nut and one more quietly dedicated janitor. He'll certainly help clean up after all the other careless youths who make a mess everywhere they go.

Patting myself on the back for a job well done, I leave the lobby and head deeper into the building and towards the kitchens.

"Excuse me?" a wandering voice calls from down a hall.

An exasperated sigh blows out of my nostrils. Am I really about to deal with another entitled young man again?

"You shouldn't be down here, sir," I explain impatiently, "This is a staff-only area."

"Oh, I know," he throws his hands up in mock surrender, "My family owns a hotel back home, so I just like to check out the behind-the-scenes when I travel different places."

"Well, then you know hotel staff could use less distractions in their work space," I retort.

The young man doesn't seem to understand my frustration. He throws his hands in his pockets and slumps his shoulders.

"I just like to see how the employers of hotels treat their employees," he defends himself, "Especially in a place like this."

"What do you mean a place like this?"

"You know," he continues, "Foreign countries don't have all the protections for the working class that America has. I wouldn't be surprised if this hotel took advantage of the natives."

"You think I take advantage of the people from this island?" I shake my head in utter disbelief.

"Well, maybe," he goes on, "I write a blog about-"

"Let me stop you there," I cut him off, "You know I don't take advantage of the locals because you are one, Pedro."

"I'm not Pedro. Does he work here?" he raises an eyebrow.

"Yup. Pedro started working down here about four years ago. He was so excited to get a decently paying job," I explain, "He reminds me of yourself, only he keeps his hair neat and trim, the way a good employee should."

The young man seems interested in my story but doesn't seem to realize it's about him. His oversized Hawaiian shirt slowly tightens into a fitted jumpsuit while thin gloves glide over his hands. Meanwhile, his wildly long hair shrinks into a head of neatly cropped black curls.

"Pedro doesn't leave the basement too often, but he doesn't mind because he is so excited to finally have a consistent source of income. His bedroom is right around that corner, actually."

"Really," the guy asks dreamily, completely unaware of the uniform cap that's dropped over his new haircut.

"You're Pedro."

"I'm Pedro," he agrees without resistance, and a name tag materializes over his yellow coveralls, finalizing his transformation.

"Pedro," I say, "I know it's nice to catch up, buddy, but don't you have a lot of work to do?"

Pedro glances down the hall towards the laundry room. "Your right, sir," he responds with a new accent.

"A lot of guests arrived today, and I heard quite a few of them put in requests for clothes to be laundered and pressed."

"I'm on it, sir," he assures me.

My newest employee races to find an empty laundry hamper and starts rolling it down the hallway. The idiot is rolling the laundry bin towards the guest elevators in the front of the building.

"Come on, Pedro!" I call.

"Yeah, sir?"

"Son, use the service elevator in the back," I remind him, "The front ones are for guests. You know that."

"Right! Sorry, sir," he shakes his head and turns around, lugging the hamper in the opposite direction.

Pedro climbs on the old elevator and hits the button. Rusted machinery groans to life, pulling the laundry boy and his hamper slowly up to the top floor.

I take a seat and rest in the service corridor. It's been a long day of transforming insufferable influencers into good employees. Their absence will no doubt improve the atmosphere of my hotel greatly, but I may need to consider expanding the business if I keep taking on so many new workers...

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

Woman ‘dehumanised’ partner and wouldn’t let him go to the toilet

A domineering girlfriend subjected her lover to a campaign of belittlement and humiliation over his weight, hair, sex drive and his breath.

Student nurse Sarah Rigby, 41, forced NHS project manager Gareth Jones to eat salad, wear a hat and swallow tooth paste and mouth wash in the wrongful belief he was fat, bald and had bad breath.

During their abusive six month relationship, Rigby – who has six children from other partners – taunted 40-year old Mr Jones over his sexual performance and dismissed him as ‘the money source’.

She was quoted as saying: ‘If I’m not pregnant this month, I am going to find someone else to have sex with and get pregnant. I need to get pregnant this month. If I don’t, I’ll dump you.’

In other instances, Mr Jones, who moved in with Rigby was thrown out of her house in Winsford, Cheshire whilst dressed only in his underwear, was refused his own door key, and would not be allowed alone in the property whenever she went out.

She wouldn’t let Mr Jones use the toilet in her home either – only at the pub or library.

The victim would be ‘frisked’ by Rigby before leaving the house and was condemned to pound the streets or do his job from their local library, pub or supermarket cafe until she came home.

Mr Jones was also forced to forfeit his £4,000 a month wage, allow her to check his phone on demand, and he even resorted to giving his own mother a ‘duress code’ to indicate when it was safe for them to speak without Rigby listening in.

In one row he was hit in face by a glass candle holder leaving him with a scar across his nose.

When Rigby’s children became the subject of family court proceedings involving her ex-partner, she made Mr Jones pay for a £3,000 expert report and file a false witness statement supporting her plea to get custody.

During one tirade, Rigby told him: ‘I may not control social services, but I can control you and I am loving it.’

At Chester Crown Court, Mr Jones told how he was driven to the brink of suicide by the abuse as Rigby, who admitted coercive behaviour, was given 20 months jail suspended for two years and was banned from contacting the victim for five years under the terms of a restraining order.

He said he was now so haunted by his experiences he kept minimal possessions and would have a ‘grab bag’ with him containing a tooth brush, and washing products and a towel at all times.

He also accused Rigby of showing ‘contempt’ for him by turning up to court appearances flaunting a £400 Marc Jacobs shoulder bag he was ordered to buy her.

Mr Jones told the hearing: ‘After the abuse started, the effect of being constantly belittled and abused made me nervous, feel degraded and worthless.. My image of myself became distorted and I had low self esteem – I still feel like this to a degree.

‘When she used to say things like I had halitosis and forced me to drink half a bottle of Listerine or eat toothpaste, I started to believe that I had things wrong with me.

‘I was forced to wear a hat every time we went out together because she didn’t want to be seen with someone who was receding and kept on that she wanted me to have a hair transplant. l also felt degraded as Sarah used to try and intimidate me and ridicule my manhood regularly.

‘I had regular bruising on my body from when Sarah used to kick, bite, scratch or claw me. I was nervous to consult my GP for fear she would find out and beat me further. As Sarah would not allow me to eat – l was called a “fat, smelly slob” – l became paranoid about food.

‘If she kicked me out and I was able to stay with my parents, I would be afraid to eat with them in case she summonsed me back and would be able to smell food on my breath. She regularly kicked me out, making sure I had no belongings with me and as a result I started hiding a toothbrush, shower gel and a small towel in my work briefcase.’

Mr Jones also said his relationships with friends and family became strained as Rigby isolated him from everyone.

He added: ‘After leaving, I became extremely stressed. I was petrified that she would take reprisals and arrange for someone to come to my parents’ house to damage property or even that she would arrange to have me beaten up or worse.

‘I no longer feel open to having a relationship as I’m still afraid that I’ll be abused again. I do not feel l can trust another woman at present. When I am out in public and I see someone with the same hairstyle and colour of Sarah’s, I become scared. I also feel nervous about telling people what has happened to me due to the stigma behind males not being seen as victims of domestic abuse.’

The court heard the couple met in the summer of 2021 through the Plenty of Fish dating website.

Mr Jones contacted the police in early March 2022 when he went to work out of the house. Police later urged Rigby to return the victim’s possessions including his work computer and sentimental items, but she repeatedly denied she had anything to return.

In interview she falsely claimed Jones had been violent, coercive, controlling and manipulative towards her.

In mitigation defence counsel Miss Jade Tufail said Rigby had been diagnosed with PTSD due to an undisclosed ‘trauma’ she suffered in her childhood.

But the judge Mr Recorder Eric Lamb told Rigby: ‘Your conduct has led to a substantial detrimental effect upon Mr Jones, who even today when speaking of the impact of the relationship upon him was plainly close to tears and in great distress when speaking on where the relationship had left him.

‘There were multiple methods of controlling or coercive behaviour intended to humiliate and degrade him.’

[summerlinenss]

out of curiosity, if Max doesn’t release its metrics, then what metrics are you actually using to make these statements about the show’s popularity? what does “it’s currently in the 99.7th percentile of the comedy genre, meaning it’s in higher demand than 99.7% of all comedy series in the u.s.” even mean? How are you measuring what’s “in demand” - by who? Where? It’s bold to claim that this show was wildly popular (despite the fact that I never hear about it outside of tumblr, tho that’s a personal anecdote) but cancelled just for being queer, so I would be really interested to know where you’re getting all these numbers from. Thanks!

hey anon! first of all i am so sorry for the delayed response. i started typing something up and then i got distracted with something else and totally forgot about this in my drafts.

sure, i have no problem citing sources. i probably should’ve linked some in my original post, that’s absolutely fair.

this ended up way longer than i planned so bear with me, but a quick overview of what i’ll be going over:

1) what are the stats/where did they come from?

2) how is the show so popular?

3) was it really cancelled for being queer?

(also just a disclaimer that this will contain spoilers for the show)

1) first, the numbers

you’re right that hbo doesn’t release metrics to the public. in fact, ceo casey bloys tried to justify the cancellation to the hollywood reporter by saying “the numbers weren’t there,” despite refusing to say what exactly those numbers were or where they came from.

however, there are websites dedicated to researching/analyzing the data of different media. one of those is parrot analytics, who focus on industry insights like audience demand, competitive analysis, and content valuations. they’re trusted as a reliable source by forbes, the new york times, reuters, the wall street journal, and more.

this is what we can learn from them about our flag means death from a basic google search (note that all of this data is relevant to the last 30 days as of january 26 2024):

audience demand for our flag means death is now 33.6x greater than the average tv series in the united states. as explained in the “about demand distribution” section, this means it’s one of only 0.2% of all u.s. shows to fall in the “exceptional” performance range compared to the “average” demand benchmark of 64.1%.

the change in demand for ofmd in the u.s. has increased by 7.5% compared to the average tv series.

ofmd now actually ranks at the 99.8th percentile in the comedy genre in the u.s. i’m not a math person, but in basic terms, this is like a scale of measuring and comparing performances to create an average score. essentially, ofmd is performing at the very top of all comedy series in the u.s.

ofmd has 100% home market travelability. as it says above, the market of origin is always 100%, so in fairness i included the graph of international markets for comparison. some of these aren't super high, however (as explained by parrot analytics themselves) one of the key issues with the international market is accessibility to content, which has been an ongoing struggle for international fans. many people (i guess fittingly) have resorted to pirating ofmd because they don’t have access to max or affiliate streaming services in their country.

there are more stats i could have and wanted to go more in-depth into but it would make this even longer than it already is, so i’ll just leave some links you can check out if you’re interested and move on:

• comparison of ofmd's success to shows like ted lasso, euphoria, and peacemaker

• ofmd's placement as #1 most in-demand breakout series in the u.s. for 8 weeks

• ofmd's impressive 94% critics score and 95% audience score on rotten tomatoes

• how ofmd evolved from sleeper hit to a flagship series at max

• a list of ofmd's past and present award nominations/wins

• praise and recognition from news/entertainment sites: the atlantic (2022); the new york times (2023); tv guide (2023); vulture (2023); forbes (2023); the los angeles times (2022); vanity fair (2023)

2) so why haven’t you (or others) really heard of the show outside of tumblr despite all this success? likely because max did a terrible job marketing it.

ofmd first aired on hbo max (pre-merger before it was “max”) in march 2022. the entire season aired over one month, every thursday at 12am pst. season 2 followed a similar release schedule in october 2023.

season 1’s marketing was almost non-existent, pretty much relying on taika waititi’s name being attached. there was one teaser and one full-length trailer, as well as a few clips on youtube of taika and rhys darby answering pirate-themed trivia, all painting the show as a “silly pirate workplace/buddy comedy.” but hbo max didn’t put any real effort in because they didn’t care. david zaslav and the other higher-ups had no faith in the show and expected it to fail.

most people weren’t aware it was actually a romance due to the poor marketing, and although there were many romantically charged scenes between them, many were still wary to believe it wasn’t queerbaiting until ed & stede confessed their feelings and kissed.

showrunner david jenkins has said in interviews that he had no idea how deeply queerbaiting had hurt audiences and impacted their ability to trust what’s on screen without feeling like they’re being ridiculed, despite the fact that he was calling it a love story the whole time. it wasn’t until people realized they weren’t being queerbaited and that it was a funny, sincere show with a compelling plot that word-of-mouth began to spread. by the time the season 1 finale aired, there was a decent-sized fandom that continued to grow as it received more praise.

it was a fight to even get the show renewed for season 2, and david jenkins and the cast have majorly credited that renewal to the unexpected and massive fan response to the show, which basically forced hbo’s hand.

max didn’t bother trying to properly promote the series until season 2, when they begrudgingly accepted that it was one of their most profitable and successful shows. ofmd had huge billboards in times square, downtown los angeles, and on the side of hbo headquarters. they started accurately marketing the show as not just a workplace comedy at sea, but a heartfelt romcom. max began selling long-demanded merch (which became best sellers) and spent money on an FYC campaign.

i will emphasize, whether they liked it or not, they knew ofmd was their new moneymaker (especially with the recent end of succession, which was obviously a cash cow for hbo).

photo credit: @/bookishtheo

3) now if it was that successful, was it really cancelled just for being queer?

i mean, i can’t say that definitively. no one can. there are several potential factors at play that we may never know, and there have been a lot of rumours and speculation (many of which i don’t feel comfortable discussing in case they aren’t true) since the cancellation.

but do i believe the fact that it’s a queer romcom was one of those factors, especially since max has a history of cancelling and scrapping its most diverse projects? absolutely.

first and foremost, i can’t stress enough that this isn’t just a show with a few characters thrown in for token representation. ofmd is built on a diverse, intersectional cast and narratives, including:

• lgbtq+ representation: 5 main couples are explicitly queer (including mlm, wlw, nblm, and nblw relationships). multiple characters are implied to be poly, and there’s a polycule forming in season 2 that was hinted to be developed more in season 3. beyond relationships, it’s confirmed that (similarly to the way wwdits depicts all vampires as being pansexual) all of the pirates are somewhere on the queer spectrum.

• bipoc representation: the majority of the main cast are people of colour. this includes david fane, joel fry, leslie jones, samson kayo, vico ortiz, anapela polataivao, madeleine sami, samba schutte, ruibo qian, and taika waititi, as well as many guest actors (like rachel house, simone kessell, and maaka pohatu) and extras.

• disability representation: multiple characters have physical disabilities, most notably amputated/prosthetic limbs and visual impairment. a lot (actually most) of the characters also deal with mental health issues, particularly coping with severe trauma and suicidal ideation/behaviour.

• the show has been praised for addressing difficult and serious themes like toxic masculinity, colonialism, and self-discovery, all while still managing to be a witty comedy and not come across as “preachy.”

• the diversity also extends off-screen, with a team of directors, writers, and additional crew comprised of numerous bipoc, women, queer people, and trans/non-binary people.

my point isn’t just the quantity of representation, but the quality. they take great care and respect into every marginalized group depicted on-screen. the actors would often be consulted about their characters’ costumes, hair, tattoos, and the kind of language they use. it’s not a world where discrimination magically doesn’t exist, they just have zero tolerance for it. if a character does something homophobic or racist, you can guarantee they’ll quickly (and often violently) be punished.

so okay, sure, it’s got great representation. what does that have to do max cancelling it?

because they’ve been interfering with production from the start.

i already mentioned the marketing issues so i won’t get into that. it was also revealed in interviews with david jenkins after season 2 that hbo cut their budget by 40%, which is why they had to do everything they could to save money. this included letting go of some of the original cast (and even still having episodes where some of them don’t appear at all) and moving the entire production to AoNZ. the budget cuts also meant two less episodes, so they had to rush to fit an entire season’s worth of plot into eight half-hour long episodes.

but one of the biggest frustrations is hbo’s (alleged) censorship of the show. samba schutte revealed that the entire plot of episode 2x06 was completely different in the original script. before it was rewritten as “calypso’s birthday,” the episode took place during lucius & pete’s wedding and focused on the crew getting sick of the sexual tension between ed & stede and trying to get them to hook up (this aligned with lucius & pete getting engaged and ed & stede deciding to take things slow in the previous episode).

vico ortiz and writer jes tom have also commented that many scenes between jim, oluwande, and archie establishing them as a polycule were cut, including one of the three of them emerging from a bedroom in their underwear. jes has mentioned other elements of season 2 that had to be cut out or rewritten, like the implication of other poly dynamics between the crew and more sexually explicit scenarios and jokes.

considering that ofmd is an extremely sex-positive show that isn’t afraid to be raunchy or taboo, it’s clear that either higher-ups at hbo forced them to cut these things out or they had no choice but to cut them out due to tight budget/time restraints.

in addition to this, a recent article citing an “anonymous insider” has alleged that hbo was uncomfortable with and was unsure how to market the “shock violence” in the show (the same network that aired game of thrones), which david jenkins outright called out as being bullshit. ofmd is rated TV-MA and the posters and trailers all show the audience that it contains violent content. there is literally nothing more graphic in ofmd than any other pirate show — it’s probably a lot tamer than most of them, actually.

violence on the show is most frequently used in a comedic context, in the sense that it’s not meant to be seen as scary or taken seriously. the few instances of serious graphic imagery on the show are meant to invoke a mood shift, like ed’s transformation into the kraken or ned low’s murder. it should also be noted that some of the most graphic deaths are reserved for bigots, like ed snapping the neck of a colonizer who was ridiculing stede’s love letter.

it’s also most often used in a sexual context — not sexual violence, but violence as a sexual metaphor. more specifically the act of stabbing as a metaphor for penetration, as seen with both ed & stede and anne & mary. bearing all this in mind, it seems like the real issue here isn’t executives struggling to market explicit violence to a mainstream audience, but rather explicit gay content.

as much as we joke and affectionately call it the “gay pirate show,” ofmd has always been nothing more than an opportunity for rainbow capitalism for hbo (e.g. the fact that they waited three months to announce season 2 just so they could do it on the first day of pride month). like other cancelled queer media, ofmd was a way for hbo executives to show how “inclusive” and “accepting” they are when it was convenient (aka profitable) for them, but they never actually respected the show or us as a community.

it’s impossible to be certain of what the exact reasoning for cancellation was, especially when they won’t give us a clear answer themselves. and maybe it had nothing to do with ofmd being a queer romcom at all. maybe that’s all a horrible coincidence. but for hbo/max to axe a critically acclaimed and beautifully inclusive show that’s successful by every metric, with an extremely devoted fanbase, especially after casey bloys just had the nerve to ask “gay twitter” to hype up the gilded age? it doesn’t exactly put them in the best light regardless.

in summary, i’ll leave you with this editorial, which details how the campaign to save ofmd isn’t just about one show, but a fight to save the future of all queer art.

[goferwashere]

PUNCH-OUT!! (Wii) MONSTER AU 🗣️💥

FIGHTING FOR YOUR FUCKING LIFE IN THIS RING. LETS GO 🔥🔥

It’s a bit long so I added a cut 😭 I spent the past three days on this

THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE BUT OH LORD I FORGOT HOW MUCH FUN MAKING AU’S IS

ALSO PLEASE PLEASE ADD MORE HC’S AND STUFF IF YOU HAVE ANY

Please just assume that just about every monster on this list comes with super strength unless stated otherwise.

Glass Joe:

Human - Monster Hunter/Boxer

- Wants to retire, but knows that without him some of the more unruly and dangerous monsters would dominate the circuit.

- Not everybody knows that *he’s* the infamous monster killer within the WBVA. Some do, but he doesn’t want it to be common knowledge. He needs the edge of “Poor, weak Glass Joe” to get the jump on his opponents.

- He doesn’t kill often, only if things get extremely out of hand. He’s basically the only thing keeping the humans and monsters from starting a full out war in the WVBA.

- Despite his job, He’s friends with a couple of the other boxers. Some knowing that they were monsters, some that he assumed were human and were actually monsters, and some that were just human.

- He doesn’t have anything against monsters, only those who try to take advantage of their power.

- He still trains and goes into the ring, trying to enjoy himself. To be fair, he does still enjoy boxing despite everything else he’s doing. Even if his record does stand at 1-99.

- On that note, his one win wasn’t an accident. He fully intended to win that fight, lacing Nick Bruisers gloves with Garlic so he’d be fighting with his hands essentially on fire.

- Even though he’s got a serious job, he far from a serious guy most of the time. He’s friendly with just about everybody, and tries to be civil with the people who treat him like shit.

- He’s also still clumsy. Almost died a few times as a result.

Von Kaiser:

Vampire - Boxer

- Being turned during his military service, he’s gotten good at hiding the obvious signs. He covers his bite mark and eye bags, and excessively dyes his skin using turmeric. (It fades fast though, leaving his skin looking a healthy colour.)

- Claims he has a garlic allergy, which makes him sad because he quite enjoyed garlic before turning.

- Enjoys the perks of being a vampire, but just can’t seem to keep up with the amount of blood his body demands. So he often twitches and looses focus, being sluggish and tired quite often.

- He enjoys the chase when tracking down his prey. It makes him feel powerful.

- Is 100% on the monster’s side. He believes that they’re superior, and will often be snarky with the human boxers (even if they’re ranked higher than him).

Disco Kid

Human (Possessed by Kid Quick) - Dancer/Boxer

- Disco is being possessed by the ghost of a boxer that was killed during one of his matches (yes that’s his unfinished business)

- Whenever he’s doing anything involving boxing, that’s Quick’s doing, but personality wise that’s always been Disco

- Disco is surprisingly chill with it, always wanting to try boxing but never having patience to train (so Quick does it for him lol)

- His personality leaks into Quicks movements and taunts, since despite liking boxing he’s got ‘no flair’ (As Disco puts it)

- Doesn’t have any super strength, but if they work together they can pull of some nasty combos, with Quick grabbing them and pushing them into Disco’s attacks (Disco isn’t a huge fan of that though, so it’s only really a last resort.)

- He’s honestly nervous when he finds out about the monsters in the WVBA. Quick assures him that they’ll be fine as long as they keep their heads down.

-…Which of course, Disco would never do. So when he gets mixed up in the drama he doesn’t really have anyone to blame but himself.

- He knows that he should *technically* count as a monster, but him and Quick are in support of the humans.

King Hippo

Tulpa - Boxer

- He was created by a little boy who loved boxing, and created him. Giving him a backstory and a cool design. He thought about him so much that he just. Spawned one day.

- The only thing on his mind was boxing, so that’s what he did. He has no idea that he was just a figment of some random kid’s imagination, but I doubt he’d care (or believe it) if he was told. His only goal is to box.

- Not really involved in any of the WVBA human/monster drama. He’s rather quiet outside of the ring.

- Nobody is really clear what he is, but everyone has mutually agreed that he’s not human. No way.

Piston Hondo

Human - Boxer

- Everyone who knows him has a lot of respect for Hondo. He fights fair, and his technique was able to beat actual superhumans (granted, some of those wins may have circumstantial).

- Some of the other boxers are really confused as to how he can keep his ranking, and make speculations as to how he does it, but no one can come up with a solid theory.

- Unless he’s exposed to be a dirty trickster like Ryan, or doped up like Soda, everyone just has to respect the insane effort he puts in.

- Hondo is oblivious to the fact that the WVBA is infested with monsters, and has always thought that international boxing would naturally have more difficult opponents. Nobody knows what would happen if he found out, but nobody wants him give up if he did. Just about everyone (regardless about what side they’re on) will band together to keep Hondo in the dark.

Bear Hugger

Werewolf - Boxer

- He’s more or less happy with being a werewolf. Obviously he’s mad when he has to lock himself up during the full moon, but otherwise he’s chill.

- Essentially a Disney princess with how well he gets along with wildlife. Like. It’s actually insane.

- Thought he’d do well in boxing, so quite literally trained with bears before going to NY. He thinks it’s noisy and polluted, but stays to hopefully bring down the champion and take the belt home to show his friends.

- Cheers on everyone, regardless of what they are. He doesn’t really care about the fate of the WVBA and is just there for a good time.

Great Tiger

Human - Informant/Boxer

- A skilled magic user. He’s been learning since he was a little kid, and the jewel on his turban gives him a good chunk of extra power.

- Uses his tricks to get intel and feed it to Joe.

- He *LOVES* to stir the pot. He knows that he’s safe, and may even stick out his neck for Joe, but will never do anything that’ll put himself in harms way.

- In the same vein he’s always listening to drama. He will gossip like a high schooler, and he knows everything about everyone. He loves being cheeky and keeping other boxers in the dark about what he knows.

- Literally the personification of “🎶I know something that you don’t know~🎵”

- He’s basically on an even playing field, so has no trouble keeping his place in the major league. Honestly, he’s more in it to see how this drama will play out, and who’ll come out on top.

Don Flamenco:

Siren - Matador/Boxer

- He very much using his ability to charm people all the time.

- This includes getting the ref to give him decision wins (even if he doesn’t deserve it), and always to leave a good first impression on just about everyone he meets.

- Yes, sometimes it’s also to pick up ladies (and men? Sometimes? Depends on his mood…) but will never go too far with it.

NOTE: While I think it would be totally in character for him to sleep with them, I don’t want that for him since that’s not consensual. so let’s say that despite seeing humans as lesser he doesn’t want to cross that line. (For his *own* sake of course. The last thing he would do is use tricks to woo “lesser creatures” to bed with him.)

- He’ll whisper under his breath after taunting, convincing the opponent to throw the match. But he’s not great at it, and will sometimes encounter someone who doesn’t have great hearing. He usually loses those matches.

- Wants an all-monster WVBA. He can manipulate just about anybody, and generally sees humans as lesser (Unless they’ve proven to him otherwise, like Joe and Hondo) so he wants them out.

- He’s very charming and friendly, but if you get on his bad side he is NASTY. Like ruin all your relationships and steal yo girl/man nasty. (He keeps all that under wraps though, he can’t have his image be tarnished.)

Aran Ryan:

Human - Boxer

- To everyone’s surprise, he’s actually human. But for all the craziness he projects out in the ring, he’s a smart guy.

- He taunts boxers by trying to get them to hit him because he knows that one wrong move and they’d expose themselves. If they hit him too hard (he figures that one punch would be enough to kill him with their strength) he might die but knows that it’ll be hell to pay for their opponent as well.

- Same with the headbutts, it throws them off their rhythm because they need to react, even if they didn’t feel it.

- That’s why he cheats, because he knows that without it he’d stand no chance.

- But still, you can’t be asking people you know could kill you easily to hit you and be mentally stable. He’s still eccentric about making it as a boxer, this is just an extra challenge to him.

- Has a disdain for monsters, and will do just about anything he can to gain in upper hand in those fights. That flail has gotten him out of a few sticky situations.

Soda Popinski:

Human - Boxer

- He can only compete fairly (at world circuit level at least) because he’s doped up to hell and back.

- Way into the idea of the ‘indomitable human spirit’. He truly believes that human ingenuity can overcome any challenge, and this is no exception.

- He 100% wants to get monsters out of the WVBA. But because he knows that he’s already got a big enough target on his back for cheating he can’t make a big fuss publicly.

Bald Bull:

Minotaur - Boxer

- Nobody’s really sure where he came from, but some people have seen him in his Minotaur form and that’s been enough for the others to accept them onto their side.

- He’s close with a lot of the other monsters, and follows along with their plan to have monsters take over the WVBA circuits. He only does so for them, he doesn’t have a personal agenda.

- This is the first place he’s really felt accepted, so will do what his friends ask of him even if he isn’t entirely on board with it.

- That said, he does belittle the human competitors quite often. To their face and while they aren’t present.

Super Macho Man:

Dragon - Supermodel/Bodybuilder/Boxer

- Got tired of living in a cave, and made it to LA to see what had become of humanity.

- By god, he loved it. He’d chosen a particularly handsome form (even though he didn’t know it at the time) and loved the attention he got from the ladies. He quickly picked up on our customs and had plenty of gold to sell (after years of hoarding it up in a mountain somewhere, he figured that now was the time to use it).

- Always wears enchanted golden jewellery, because the last thing he wants is for his facade to slip. He doesn’t need all of it, but to him it’s a necessary precaution.

- He can breathe fire. He does it often as a party trick, and has even figured out how to change its colour.

- His skin is also very hot to the touch. You’d think he was always just finishing with an intense workout.

Mr. Sandman:

??? - Boxer

- Nobody knows, and nobody is brave enough to ask. He seems to beat monsters with relative ease, so everyone assumes he must be one as well, but nobody can figure him out.

- Everyone wants to keep him out of what’s happening, because he’s a loose canon. Nobody knows who’s side he belongs to and nobody wants to find out they’re his enemy.

PLEASE HELP ADD ONTO THIS IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS BECAUSE IM EXPLODING OVER THIS

[simplydannie]

Hi Dannie! I just thought of another fanfic idea, what if the twins had some sort of redemption arc where they work at Bruce n’ Sons as community service for their crimes. I’ve seen fanart based on this but I would love to see it be turned into a story! No rush, take all the time you need! ❤️

Haii!

Sorry it took me awhile! There’s a lot I’ve been doing lol Omg I’ve seen that fan art too! Their time at Bruce n’ Sons would honestly be so interesting! Of course fun times await them at Bruce N Sons, but before all that, Velvet and Veneer’s name weren’t that greatly received when they started there:

Bruce didn’t like this one bit. No matter what Floyd would say, they were still criminals. Bruce just couldn’t see how he still wanted to give them a second chance, he couldn’t see how in the world they were redeemable, but he agreed, he’s doing this for his brother.

Bruce sighed as he put on his apron, “Well, time to get the day started.” He walked out the door.

It was 6:15 in the morning, he told the twins to report at 7 to debrief them in their shifts, he was definitely surprised when he saw the two Rageons waiting for him in the kitchen.

“Morning Bruce!” Veneer chimed. The kid was literally to happy for his own good. His sister, well, the complete opposite. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Good morning. And nice to see you to princess.” Bruce said.

“Whatever. Can you just tell us what we need to do and get this over with please.” Her tone earned her an elbow to the ribs from her brother.

“Well since you did say please so nicely.” Bruce smirked. “Let’s see yesterday we had Velvet working the mini bar, Veneer you washed dishes. So far so good. So today, Veneer you seem like you have a likable aura, I want you waiting tables.”

“Oh!” Veneer said happily taking the notebook and pen by Bruce’s side, “I’ve always wanted to give this a try.”

“Velvet, you’ll be cleaning up tables today.”

“Why can’t I do the minibar again?”

“I want you guys experienced in every area. So we’re going to get the practice that you need while we can. Besides, it’s all going in your community service record.”

Velvet rolled her eyes as she reached over for an apron, “Fine. Whatever.” She walked behind the counter to collect her cleaning supplies.

“Vennie, Brandy has your waiter outfit ready for you. Go get dressed.”

“Okay!” He was off. Bruce rolled his eyes, a gesture Velvet noticed and scowled at. She waited till Veneer was out of ear shot before she walked over to the Troll.

“Quick word.” She demanded.

“Well thanks a lot for asking. What’s up?” Bruce turned around and looked up at Velvet… he still couldn’t get over how big Rageons really were, much taller than Vacationers.

“There are these young people at the resort that keep giving me and Veneer a hard time. Well, more Veneer now than me but….”

“Oh ya! What’s up with you beating up some of my customers?”

“They were asking for it! They wouldn’t stop…”

“You’re supposed to be redeeming yourself.”

“Yes, but Bruce I was defending-…”

“No excuses.”

“But Veneer, he’ll…”

“He’ll be fine. Now get ready.”

That day and Bruce N Sons was busy. More tourist were coming in day by day… and the one thing they came to see… where the twins.

Word had gotten out that the fallen stars Velvet and Veneer were spending the rest of their time doing some service hours there. People wanted to marvel and see how the twins actually worked… this panicked Bruce. He had to make sure the twins were on top of their game, his reputation was on the line.

But he didn’t hear what they would yell at them: “fakers”, “frauds”, “abusers”… Velvet pulverized a guy the other day for harassing her and her brother. He promised not to press charges on Bruce n Sons but Velvet had to pay his medical fee from her own check. After that incident, many left her alone… but Veneer was a different story.

Velvet watched him as he waited tables, many didn’t withstand giving him a nasty remark. Veneer would just smile and say, “May I take your order?” He loved earning his dues, he loved trying to make it up to the Trolls, despite them not trusting them… it made him feel good. So Velvet couldn’t stand when he allowed anyonento just talk down on him.

Velvet was cleaning near the mini bar when Veneer came up.

“I think I’m getting the hang of this! Look! I even got my first tip!” He pulled out a white piece of paper and opened it…. His face dropped to a frown… “Oh.” Was all he said.

“What? What is it?” Velvet attempted to grab the paper but Veneer withdrew.

“They didn’t have any money on them so they’re just thanked me…with very, colorful words….” He forced a smiled. He’s lying, Velvet thought to herself.

“Whatever. I don’t care.” She fumed and continued to clean.

“Here you go sweety! Order for table 21 is ready.” Brandy chimed as she brought out the food.

“Oh! Okay! I got this! Thanks!” Carefully grabbing the tray Veneer mad his way over to the table. Velvet rolled her eyes as she saw how hard he was working. Pathetic, she thought as she turned her back to him.

CRASH!

The sound of crashing dishes and broken plates echoed through the area. Velvet whipped her head to see Veneer on his knees.

“Oh, no, no, no.” He murmured to himself. Velvet saw that next to him, a group of teens were snickering. One bent over, she could hear the whisper he gave Veneer in his ear, she could read his lips.

“That’s what you get fraud.” The teen snickered spitting on Veneer. Everyone in his table laughed. An anger rushed over Velvet as she saw Veneer helplessly try to gather the fallen plates and food.

“Hey! That was my order!”

“Apparently he can’t even get that right!” People began to shout. The teen who tripped Veneer still hovered over him laughing, making it obvious what he did. Before she could comprehend, Velvet was at her brothers side, pushing the teen back against his booth.

“Hey!” He yelled.

“You leave him alone dickhead!” Velvet scowled.

“Vels!” Veneer warned.

“If I ever see you touching my brother again, I swear-…”

“Velvet!” Bruce’s voice was heard from across the dining area. The small Troll quickly made his way where the twins stood, the teen leaning back in his both in fear. “Vel’s, Ven, what’s going on?”

“She’s threatening me!” The teen pointed towards here. She scowled…Oh how she wanted to rip his arms out..

“He dropped all our food!”

Complaints and shouts began being yelled left and right, Bruces head began to swirl and hurt. This can’t be happening, this restaurant, this resort cannot be going downhill so quickly…he worked to hard for this. And all this, for a batch of criminals he decided to help, all for his brother. Velvet and Veneer had done nothing but mess everything up since the day they kidnapped his brother. Why did Floyd care what happened to them? He should care that his business was going down to the ground.

“Okay, okay!” Bruce held up his hands, attempting his best to keep his cool. “I hear all your complaints, and I’m sorry. I have no control what these two have been up to since their prison days. We agreed on community service to help them…” He turned to look at them directly in the eye, “But they have yet to prove themselves.”

“Are you freaking kidding me! He tripped Veneer on purpose!”

“This is the second time you harass a customer. You CANNOT be doing this! You’re costing me customers, money.”

“She’s just trying to protect me Bruce.” Veneer said as he finally stood up.

“Stop making excuses for her. And could you NOT be clumsy for a second! You keep dropping and breaking things. It costs a lot to replace EVERYTHING you break.”

“But…but sometimes it’s not my fault…It’s…” Veneer casted a side eye at the teens who sat at the booth.

“No excuses. I’ve had enough. I can’t do this anymore. Get out.” Bruce stated with a rising anger in his voice.

“But…but Bruce…” Veneer began to say.

“Out! We’re done.”

Velvet narrowed her eyes at the Troll, “Fine! Screw you!” She grabbed her brother by his wrist and pulled him away before anyone could see the tears forming in his eyes. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose…a gut feeling that he had just done the wrong thing, made the wrong choice, but it was done. One of his other associates picked up the mess and took over the customers, attempting to satisfy them. Bruce needed some time…he walked away and headed towards the back…he needed some space to think, some time away from this chaos. He stopped when there in the hallway, leaning against the wall…was Veneer. He was hugging his knees, tears falling down his face. Velvet was attempting to sooth him, comfort him.

“…Why are things always my fault…” He heard the boy say.

“This isn’t your fault. That jerk kid is going to get what’s coming to him, you’ll see.”

Veneer wiped his tears away, “….Vels….You need to start a new life on your own. People need to see that you really aren’t bad, that you CAN change. I’m just ruining it…You don’t need me doing that…”

“Shut up!” She cut him off.

“But…”

“I said shut up! I’m not leaving you, and your’e not leaving me. You hear me you idiot!” She wiped away some tears that were beginning to fall down her face. “It’s just us two. And we need each other now more than ever. Everyone is going to be mean and we have to be careful..”

“….We deserve it though…After what we did…I don’t blame the Trolls for not forgiving us…”

“I know…I know…” The twins fell silent as they contemplated on what their next steps were….Bruce N Son’s was done with, they messed that up along with everything else they have tried. A feeling hit Bruce in his gut, seeing them now, he began to see the twins in a different light…They were still kids, misguided kids. He couldn’t imagine having his own children misguided into doing things they weren’t supposed to. Luckily they had him and Brandy to guide them along. Who did Velvet and Veneer have? Their parents were gone…They trusted Floyd, and Floyd trusted his brothers to help him…Finally now, Bruce understood why. Both twins sat next to each other against the wall, Velvet leaned her head on her brother’s shoulder, both of them feeling cold and distant…The way they looked, reminded him of his own kids.

With a deep sigh Bruce made his way towards the Rageons. “Hey.” He stated simply. He earned a scowl from Velvet, but a small, weak smile from Veneer. “Listen…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have went off on both of you the way I did. I should’ve heard both sides of the story. You guys have been trying…and you’re not perfect, so why should I expect the work to be perfect. I’m sorry.”

Velvet opened her mouth to say something, but for the first time, she was speechless, she didn’t know what to say. Instead she looked at Veneer. He pursed his lips, “Maybe we should go. Having us here probably isn’t the best…given our reputation. But Floyd tried, you tried….”

“Stop right there kid. I didn’t try. What I did try was to blame you and get rid of you, yeah, that ain’t happening anymore. No you guys deserve a redemption. People need to see the REAL you and not some peacock, pop stars you guys painted yourselves to be. What do you say? Want to give it another shot?” Bruce extended his small hand. The twins looked at each other: Veneer gave his sister a smile and small nudge, Velvet knew this look…he wanted to try again.

She sighed in annoyance, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She finally replied.

“Oh! Before we begin again, there’s a small announcement I need to make.” Bruce turned around and headed back towards the busy dining area. The twins looked at each other questionably, they scurried to their feet and quickly followed after Bruce. The small Troll stood on top of the mini bar, with a booming voice he called out…

“Attention all customers of Bruce N Sons!” The crowd quieted and hushed as they heard his booming voice, “Early on, there was a misunderstanding. An accident caused by a reckless load of customers that caused one of my associates to fall.” He eyed the teens, “Don’t deny it! We have cameras! Listen, we all know, and word has spread quickly, that the one and only Velvet and Veneer are here. Rest assured, they are, and they are working for me in hopes of redemption. While they work for me, they will be provided with the same care I give all my associates, and that includes protection from harassing customers.” He pointed out the group of teens, “You guys, out!”

Security came and removed them, sending a wave of talk and murmurs amongst the crowd.

“You may not like it, and you are more than welcomed to leave. I was too worried about loosing customers rather than helping two kids in need. Rest assured, the twins are trying their best, a little socialization never hurt anybody. If you decide to stay, please expect them to be regular faces here for a good while.” Bruce turned and smiled as the twins watched by the door. Turning to face the rest of the crowd, he was surprised to see no one leaving… everyone stayed…, “Alright then, let’s enjoy the rest of the evening!”

Music began to play again, laughter and talking filled the room. Bruce walked over to the twins to find that two of his kids were at Veneer’s ankles.

“Can you play with us pleeeaasssseee?” One begged.

“I uh…” Veneer didn’t know what to say.

“Later kids! He’s got work to do. Veneer start waiting those tables again. We need that happy smile out there.”

“Yes sir!” Veneer chimed as he headed towards the tables. Bruce turned to face Velvet.

“I have something else in mind for you.” He smirked, “How would YOU like to be our bouncer?”

[jasfhercallejo]

Located not far from the Coco Grove resort where we stayed, Runik Siquijor - Adults Only has made a name for itself over the past few seasons and the quality of the services meets the expectations of the most demanding.

This captivating resort welcomed us with Asian-Mediterranean architecture that for sure took our breath away. They had big tents and beds near the cliffside, offering both the cosy comfort of the interior and the raw beauty of the exterior.

There is an in-house restaurant, plus free private parking and free WiFi are available. The infinity pool features a pool bar and a DJ on lucky nights (we went on a weekend so we witnessed how the DJ made the scene alive). Guests can take in the views of the garden from the patio, which also has outdoor furniture where you can enjoy your food and drinks.

Three day pass options are as follows: (1) PhP 500, which limits you to the restaurant only; (2) PhP 800 lets you into the bar, use the pool, and roam around, but you can't use the beach beds and cabanas. If you want to use those, you'll have to shell out PhP 2000. Since this was our last night, we took one beach bed and everything was history.

From its delicious food to its great drinks and lively music ambiance, Runik is a must-visit destination for anyone looking to immerse themselves in the flavors and rhythms of the Mediterranean.

The standout feature of Runik is its Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. With a focus on simple, high-quality ingredients, the menu features a range of dishes from different countries. There are also plenty of vegetarian and seafood options available. The drinks menu at Runik is equally impressive, with a variety of cocktails, wines, and spirits on offer. The bartenders are skilled at crafting delicious and creative drinks, and there’s always something new and exciting to try.

In addition to its great food and drinks, Runik is also known for its lively music ambiance. The bar hosts live music performances several nights a week, with a mix of local and international acts. The music here is a blend of Mediterranean and world music, with plenty of upbeat rhythms and melodies. The atmosphere is lively and energetic, but not too loud, making it easy to chat with friends or simply enjoy the music.

[eldritch-spouse]

So uh. I may end up doing this ask for several characters in the future but the main few that have been burning in my mind, the Icons Vesper and Zizz, I've been really curious as to how they would react to a deaf/Hard of Hearing s/o?

Their s/o has a Hearing service dog and have an uncanny ability to somehow sense when someone is approaching, watching, or standing near. The hearing service dog would also alert the s/o if unfamiliar figures or concerning noises such as screaming, gun shots, and other loud noises; also when someone is approaching or trying to get the attention of the s/o.

Would they try to figure out a way to communicate with the deafness or just use magic to circumvent the disability? Would they allow their s/o to continue keeping their service animal or force them to get rid of it?

Also, a bit more on the NSFW and/or dark side, would any of them use the deafness to their advantage? Say things they normally wouldn't say around their s/o, such as their deepest or darkest desires towards their s/o?

I'll probably think of more stuff later on but this had been burning in my mind cause of my own deafness and I can't help but imagine a thousand different scenarios of what would happen with each Icon. I love your writing, Pinnie!! I found you through Ao3 by the way. :)

-ZN

Most of them are lazy/selfish. And you've seen that through several asks in the past, wherein even if their Queen had a disability or two, they would sooner resort to expensive magics than deal with the workload of said disability the common way.

Many of them will use enchanted jewelry in your day to day outfits to circumvent deafness. The thing is, said jewelry usually can only establish an understanding between two people, those who wear the pair (like a set of rings). For everyone else, you'll have to do things normally, which is something the Icons will realize very soon as well...

Here's where it gets tricky though- Can your dog adapt to Hell? Is your service animal trained to be able to work in the presence of imposing being such as demonlords and other high-rankers? Can it withstand the heat of some Rings? It could be beneficial to get a second service animal born in Ring you'll be ruling over. Or, alternatively, you could get an imp of your own... Eitherway, if your dog happens to not adapt well enough, you can, with enough bothering and whining, demand proof that it has been sent to a loving home or is staying with relatives.

It's not too weird for them to see you be attentive to vibrations or other minuscule shifts. They've seen a plethora of monsters who rely on other senses to survive, but they can admire that you have more awareness than the average human. Icons like Livius and Vesper will make it a game to try to sneak up on you, Cero, Rinx and Vorticia are polite enough to find ways to announce their arrival, Kalymir will deliberately try to startle you and sulk when it fails (because you can likely feel the thunder of his walking) and Zizz will sometimes throw his blob around you to alert you of his presence.

Your dog can be accepted by all of the Icons with enough work, but you should be careful in some instances. Some of Vorticia's kids may be tempted to just eat it. Kalymir's lizards play too hard with other people's pets, so there's a chance they can hurt your service dog unintentionally. Cero will fuss and throw a fit if there's drool on the house or he gets licked. Rinx wants certain collections hidden from the dog, but also gets carried away buying things for it. Zizz will have a horrifying fit if your dog ruins any of the plushies/pillows in his room. Vesper would prefer you get an imp instead of a service animal because of the hyper-sexualized nature of his home...

[girlactionfigure]

The dark-haired girl on the right with the impish smile, her name was Eddie Lou, she was about 8 years old when this photo was taken in 1909. The picture was taken at the Tifton Cotton Mill, Tifton, Georgia. The girls worked there.

The photograph was taken by Lewis Hine, who visited factories such as this mill and took photographs of the children who worked there as evidence for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC).

In another part of the country, Mary Harris Jones, also known as "Mother Jones", led a march of children from Philadelphia to New York in what would be known as the March of the Mill Children, a three-week trek by striking child and adult textile workers on July 7, 1903.

Children had been forced to work in coal mines and mills, when their fathers were killed or injured, unable to support the families. As a result, many children suffered stunted growth and were injured, maimed. Mother Jones described the children, "some with their hands off, some with the thumb missing, some with their fingers off at the knuckle. They were stooped things, round shouldered and skinny. Many of them were not over ten years of age, the state law prohibited their working before they were twelve years of age."

“Since 2000, for nearly two decades, the world had been making steady progress in reducing child labour,” according to the United Nations. “But over the past few years, conflicts, crises and the COVID-19 pandemic, have plunged more families into poverty – and forced millions more children into child labour. Economic growth has not been sufficient, nor inclusive enough, to relieve the pressure that too many families and communities feel and that makes them resort to child labour. Today, 160 million children are still engaged in child labour. That is almost one in ten children worldwide.”

This is an update of a series of stories that have been posted for Labor Day. You can find those stories in the Peace Page archive or Google the information on your own to find out more.

~~~~~

“Over 100 years ago, the National Child Labor Committee used photos of children doing industrial work to demand change in America. Several states adopted child labor laws, and after much debate and several setbacks, the Fair Labor Standards Act became law in 1938. Its protections included the nation’s foundational child labor laws, including restrictions on the age of workers and hours they can toil,” wrote Michael Lazzeri, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Chicago

Max McCoy of the the Kansas Reflector wrote today on September 3, 2023:

“After more than a century of progress, you might think child labor is a thing of the past, something we condemn other countries for but that we don’t need to worry about here. Tragically, that shadow army of workers is still with us, and many of those workers are children. These underage exploited are often immigrants . . .”

“In February of this year, a cleaning company was fined $1.5 million for employing children ages 13 to 17 at meatpacking plants in eight states. The firm, Packers Sanitations Services Inc., was the target of a federal Department of Labor investigation that found 102 children working illegally, including 26 at the Cargill meatpacking plant at Dodge City.

“Appallingly, many states are now racing to loosen — not tighten — child labor laws.

“Arkansas, for example, in March did away with the requirement that the state’s Division of Labor had to give permission or verify the age of children under 16 to be employed. Although those under 14 still cannot be employed, the ending of age verification requirements is an invitation to child labor abuses.

“Other states are making similar moves.

“Iowa, for example, has made it legal for teenagers to work in meatpacking plants and children as young as 16 to bartend. New Jersey and New Hampshire have also lowered ages for some types of work. The argument goes that work builds character and that overly restrictive laws prevent young people from fully developing their capacity to earn a living.

“But such arguments stink like the stuff you find on a slaughterhouse floor.”

~~~~~

"In the early 1900s, Hine traveled across the United States to photograph preteen boys descending into dangerous mines, shoeless 7-year-olds selling newspapers on the street and 4-year-olds toiling on tobacco farms. Though the country had unions to protect laborers at that time — and Labor Day, a federal holiday to honor them — child labor was widespread and widely accepted. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that around the turn of the century, at least 18 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 15 were employed," according to the Washington Post.

Mother Jones would say after the march, "I held up their mutilated hands and showed them to the crowd and made the statement that Philadelphia's mansions were built on the broken bones, the quivering hearts and drooping heads of these children. That their little lives went out to make wealth for others. That neither state or city officials paid any attention to these wrongs. That they did not care that these children were to be the future citizens of the nation."

Many industries hid the fact that they employed children. They took advantage of poor families, such as Eddie Lou's family. Eddie Lou's father had died and left her mother with 11 children and no income. Her mother was forced to work at the cotton mill for $4.50 a week. Eddie Lou and four siblings also worked there and they were all together paid $4.50 as well. Eddie Lou and her youngest siblings would eventually be sent to an orphanage because her mother wasn't able to provide for them.

“If we don’t hold the line on child labor, we risk losing one of the things the has sets us apart as a nation founded not only on laws, but of morals,” wrote McCoy. “Of course children provide cheap labor, but business profits should not be the gauge of our society. In addition to the mental and physical tolls that children suffer in jobs that are inappropriate — and can you really imagine a 16-year-old wiping down the bar and asking what’s your poison? — there’s also a danger these children will become primary breadwinners for their families, with their educations coming a distant second.”

The children at the march carried banners that said, "We want more schools and less hospitals" and "We want time to play."

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[hypnotisedfireflies]

what would it look like if Maria had to enlist Tessjoel’s “services” of askin real nice. say someone or a group someone’s did something really hurtful to tommy or lachie on patrol but got caught or something like that?

OMG okay you’re getting a drabble for this.  I don’t know where this fits in Driftersverse canon or if this is totally AU but here you go anon ilu.

Three dead and a list of demands Jackson couldn’t meet.

Two hostages in the jailhouse basement.

One last chance. 

Maria Miller walked slowly past each cell and ascended the creaking stairs.  Their prisoners didn’t know who she was, her connection to the man they claimed to still have alive in their camp.  The hope kindled in her heart when they gave her a name as proof – Tommy – was smothered when she considered just how bad it might be for him.  They didn’t know where he was, and they had no means of getting these hostages to talk without meeting at least some of those demands. 

And Jackson did not negotiate with raiders. 

It was in the charter Maria had helped pen.  They didn’t hold themselves to ransom.  The community was greater than any one person.  What made them different from the savagery beyond Jackson’s walls was their civility and commitment to remaining human.  It was a standard not so impossible when the greater good was held to the highest standard. 

But it hadn’t challenged Maria, the woman and not the leader, personally before.

Two council members and Lachlan Maynard were waiting for her upstairs.  The latter took one look at her face and turned to the others.  “Could you two excuse us for a minute?”

Maria gave them a nod and she quietly shut the basement door.  “I know what you’re going to suggest and the answer’s no.”

“It’ll be over quick, I can guarantee you that.”

“No.”

“You don’t even have to be here.  In fact, it’s better you’re not.  Plausible deniability and all that.”

“It’s not how we do things here.”

“You could have Tommy back tonight.”

“No, Lachie.  I’m saying no.  That’s not how we do it here.  We can find a way through this without – resorting to that.”

Lachie paused.  “You’re telling me the moral fucking high ground means more to you than Luke’s dad?”

“Oh, give me a break - it’s not that simple and you know it!”

“Yeah, it is.”  Lachie pushed off the desk.  He started to say something and then changed tact, holding up his hands to her.  “It’s Tommy.  He’d do anything to get you back, Maria.”

“I know all about Hannah.”

“Really?  I don’t think you do.  I was there.  I was there, Maria.  And I watched them work three people over with the kind of efficiency that would make your bloody head spin and put your counsel agenda to shame.  It was done like that,” he snapped his fingers, “And we had Hannah back that night.”

“It’s not right.  It’s not human.”

“You think that they’ll do to Tommy’s human?  You think they’re playing by your airy-fairy rules, Maria?  What do you think they’re doing to him right now?”

“Stop.”

“Guarantee he’s not in a nice warm cell.  Guarantee he doesn’t have water.  Bet he’s just conscious enough to know what’s comin’ next, Maria –“

“Stop!”

“Bet he knows you won’t make the call.”

That was enough.  Maria advanced on Lachie and shoved him hard into the wall.  “I told you to stop!”

Lachie was completely unruffled.  “You gotta tell Joel who you’ve got down here, Maria.  And then you walk away for awhile, until I come get you.”

Maria knew he was right.  She could feel the panic barely kept at bay seeping in, her eyes watering.  She squeezed the front of Lachie’s shirt and took a few deep breaths.  Was that what Tommy was lying out there thinking?  That she would place the community above him?  Or worse yet, was he waiting for his brother to come and get him, believing he was the only one who’d risk so much?

“Where are they?”  She finally asked, looking up, expression rigid.

“Out looking.”

“Bring Joel back in.”

“You’re going to need them both.”

It was two hours before Tess and Joel were located and quietly brought to the converted jailhouse.  Lachie had filled them in on the way over and when they arrived, Maria forced herself to stand still.  She tried to keep the fear out of her eyes, but she was failing – she knew she was failing by the tight little smile Lachie offered her.

Joel looked at her just once, gesturing to the door to affirm that was the way to go.  Maria nodded and down he went, leaving it ajar for Tess.  He lacked all expression but there was a stridency in his movement that so lethal that Maria felt her stomach tighten.  This was who her husband had ran from, Maria thought. 

Tess paused in front of Maria.  In contrast, Tess seemed almost completely normal:  poised, even relaxed.  She took Maria’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

“It’s almost over,” Tess promised.  And then she followed Joel, closing the door behind her.

Lachie sat down at the desk.  “You’d better get out of here now.”

Maria hesitated.  The smart thing to do was go – like Lachie said, she could have plausible deniability about what took place in the basement.  She had never wanted these tactics here.  This was not the future Maria wanted to build in Jackson.

But she wanted Tommy more.

She sat down opposite Lachie and held her hands in her lap. 

“No.  I think I’ll stay.”

Part Two

[beelmons]

@limeyyyyz said: Spencer Reid....and my love language is touch❤️

Physical touch + Acts of services (Spencer's love language)

Sis, you got a hard one. Spencer likes to solve stuff, riddles, situations, people. He'll drop you breakfast at work, take you to fix your car, help you through everything and anything. Attentive and loving, there will be one, very small problem. He probably hugs you like once a year, on your birthday.

That's an exaggeration, of course, but he's not the one to initiate contact on a daily basis, unless an extraordinary situation demands it. He will always welcome your touches as long as he is in a comfortable environment, but you will have to ask him specifically when you want to be touched. He can go days without a hug or a kiss, and that doesn't feel strange to him.

To feel loved, he needs words of affirmation. So pair up your touches with some sweet talking and you'll Pavlov him into craving more. If you want to give him a peck, kiss him and tell him how handsome he looks. If you want to show it in public, you're going to have to be more descreet. Brush your thighs together, hold his hand for a little bit, cup his cheeks and smile at him, nothing too over the top or he might end up feeling suffocated.

During hard times, though, keep in mind that he will resort to acts of services, so if you need physical comfort, you will have to use your words. If you struggle with words of affirmation, or you feel like acts of services is just insulting your capability, you might encounter problems, and he has difficulty expressing his feelings, so you might have to be the bigger person and strike the conversation. Once he understands your psyche, though, he will totally become self-aware and take the initiative every once in a while.

Scenario:

You had just come back from Rossi's and you boyfriend had decided to stay the night at your place. The road home was quiet, since both of you were tired, but the second he closed the door behind him you turned around with a dead-serious look on your eyes. "Be honest, do you not love me anymore?" you asked.

"What?!" his eyes narrowed, his eyebrows furrowed, and his head tilted with utter confusion "Why are you saying that?"

"Have you ever noticed that, whenever we're at Rossi's, not once do you kiss me, or hug me, or hold my hand" you pointed out, your arms crossing over your chest "Not even during the slow dancing part of the party."

He had skipped that song, sure, but it had been because you had mentioned your feet hurting due to having worn an uncomfortable pair of shoes, and he had ran off to ask Rossi for a couple of slippers so you could change into them and continue dancing. Could you not see that?

"I'm sorry?" he said, unsure if it was actually his place to be apologizing "I didn't think it was a big deal."

"Well it is to me!" honestly, you had been a bit sensitive during the night, and the way your tears flodded down was just a burst of mixed emotions and insecurities you'd been holding for a while now.

Spencer just stood there, frozen, observing as you wiped away the salty dropplets running on your face. "I didn't mean to upset you, how can I make it better?" he asked, genuine concern on his face.

"You don't have to fix everything, Spence, just hug me. Hug me today, hug me when you're sad, hug me when you're happy, hug me when the sun shines, and when the wind blows, hug me because you love me, hug me just because." you sobbed in his direction. He didn't need anymore hints, because in a blink his arms were around you, and his hands were holding your head close to his chest.

"I love you. I do love you." he reminded you.

That night, his arms didn't leave your body as you slept soundly. And you wouldn't find out until years later, married and all, that he set an alarm every morning to remind him to hug you just because.

[painsandconfusion]

13 - Tabled for Later

[Previous | Masterpost]

Celine groans as you go limp, making her literally drag you into the room. "You little shit-" she cusses under her breath as she tries to tug you along, but your rain-damp clothes grip the cement, making the task all but impossible.

She drops you, resorting to kicking you hard in the head.

The world spins and sways, flickering muffled for a long, ringing moment.

Then Harrison is above you. Your limps aren't quite listening, flopping lazily against him as he lifts up under your arms, letting Celine grab your legs.

Together, they slap you onto the metal table. It's icy against your skin, water and steel leeching away your warmth. But they're warm.

Their fingers wrap around your wrist and ankle, tugging them toward the leather straps.

[Previous | Masterpost]

(tag list: @whumpnonny @whumpsday @wormwriting @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @hidden-dreamland @a-whumped-tea @mirasorastone @elvenfforestydd @shywhumpauthor @happy-little-sadist @kisaisacat @seetheothersideofparadise @fishtale88 @whump-and-other-things @winged-wolf-s-collection-of-arts @hiding-in-the-shadows @whumper-meg @whump-queen @heavenly-whumper @rainbows-and-whumperflies @bloodsweatandpotato @sapphirechao @whatiswhumpblog @mypoorocs)

[tehri]

Meanwhile in Sweden - Banking-Edition, or Why Do I Still Have This Account, or We Have Customer Service (Allegedly)

I really have to wonder if the bank I have an account with in Sweden even wants customers to be able to contact them. Or if they just want anyone who is not already a customer to be unable to contact them.

Context: This bank relies heavily on a digital identification method (as does a lot of shit in Sweden, but that's a whole separate rant). They rely on it to the point that if you, as a customer, try to call them for help with something, you have to identify yourself with that. There used to be a number you could call if you didn't want to use that; this was just for general questions and wasn't really for customers to use. I say that there used to be a number like that, because I tried calling it today, and it demands that particular identification method now. Fun.

Extra context: My old phone is a 2012-model that doesn't support the OS demanded for the new update for the app running this digital identification method. Since March, I haven't had access to any online services for my account, which is An Issue. I recently got a new phone as a graduation gift. A gift that I did not really want and very specifically only got because I am pretty much softlocked out of everything in Sweden if I do not have this particular identification method. Tax-office shit, banks, fucking anything, you NEED this thing (again, separate rant). I still have a fucking student loan to pay off in Sweden, so I've kept the account with this bank for the purpose of Minimal Fuckery (which has turned into Maximum Fuckery).

The problem?

I cannot activate this digital identification method on the new phone. It won't let me. You can normally do this in three differnet ways - using your old phone's one (obviously not possible, it won't even let me use the app now), a security calculator thing (think two-step authentication device; I Had one, but it's dead, and you can't switch batteries in them and the bank doesn't send them to addresses not in Sweden, so this is out too), and a passport or ID. I tried using my passport. Works fine - up until I agree to the final terms and conditions, upon which it suddenly gives me the message that it doesn't work and that it's to do with the bank's terms and conditions, but it doesn't tell me what part of those terms and conditions are broken, so Idk what's up.

The additional problem?

I can't contact the bank for help with this. Can't call - all the numbers are softlocked behind this goddamn identification wall. Can't use a chat-service on their site - it's a virtual assistant, which has always been absolutely useless and pointless and stupid. Can't email - they don't accept queries like these via email or even their own internal messaging system anymore. Can't visit an office - the only branch office in Finland doesn't deal with private customers, only businesses.

I resorted to their Facebook page. Got the answer of A - check the page for how to activate this identification method on a new phone (already checked that multiple times, nothing pertainin to my situation there), B - call [insert number here] and use a code with 5 numbers that you picked yourself at some point as identification method instead (I already called that number, did not receive alternate identification methods as an option, and do not recall at any point ever picking a code for anything, so ?????), or C - visit an office in Sweden to get help (which I do not even know when that could possibly happen, if it's next year or the year after).

Gold star, guys. Such great possibilities to contact you. And no, I'm not mad at the customer service person who sent the answer, I'm just mad at the system they've set up where they are literally impossible to contact for anything if you do not have access to these specific things.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Student nurse, 41, threatened her boyfriend, 40, she was 'going to find someone else to have sex with' if he didn't get her pregnant within a month and taunted him over his weight, hair and breath

Student nurse forced partner to use toilet in local library and claimed he stank

Victim Gareth Jones bravely spoke out about 'stigma' of male domestic abuse

By: Josh White

Published: May 28, 2024

A girlfriend subjected her partner to a regime of terror during which she bullied, belittled and humiliated him over his weight, hair, sex drive and even his breath.

Mother-of-six Sarah Rigby, 41, forced her NHS project manager Gareth Jones to eat salad, wear a hat and swallow toothpaste and mouthwash in the wrongful belief he was fat, bald and had halitosis.

During their abusive six-month relationship, the student nurse even taunted Jones, 40, over his sexual performance and threatened: 'If I'm not pregnant this month, I am going to find someone else to have sex with.'

At Chester Crown Court, Mr Jones bravely told how he was driven to the brink of suicide by the abuse as Rigby, admitted to coercive behaviour.

She was handed a 20 months jail sentence suspended for two years and banned from contacting him or his parents for five years under a restraining order. 

[ Mr Jones bravely spoke out about  the 'stigma' of men becoming domestic abuse victims ]

Mr Jones would be 'frisked' by her before leaving the house and was condemned to pound the streets or do his job from their local library, pub or supermarket café until she came home.

On occasions he would have to work late into the night as he was made to do errands and jobs for Rigby during the day.

Under Rigby's regime, he would also have to forfeit his £4,000 a month wage and allowed her to check his mobile phone on demand.

He even resorted to giving his own mother a 'duress code' to indicate when it was safe for them to speak without his lover listening in.

In one row Jones was hit in face by a glass candle holder leaving him with a scar across his nose.

In other instances, Mr Jones, who moved in with Rigby after meeting on Plenty of Fish, was thrown out of her house in Winsford, Cheshire whilst dressed only in his underwear.

During one tirade, Rigby told him: 'I may not control social services, but I can control you and I am loving it.' She also called him 'fat', 'lazy', 'sweaty', 'a whale', 'dopey', 'thick', 'smelly' and a 'dog' during other temper tantrums.

He told the court he was now so haunted by his experiences he kept minimal possessions and would have a 'grab bag' with him containing a tooth brush, and washing products and a towel at all times.

He also accused Rigby of showing 'contempt' for him by turning up to court appearances flaunting a £400 Marc Jacobs shoulder bag he was ordered to buy her during a shopping trip to Harrods.

Mr Jones said: 'After the abuse started, the effect of being constantly belittled and abused made me nervous, feel degraded and worthless. My image of myself became distorted and I had low self esteem - I still feel like this to a degree.

[ Police praised the 'bravery that he has shown throughout the investigation' ]

'When she used to say things like I had halitosis and forced me to drink half a bottle of Listerine or eat toothpaste, I started to believe that I had things wrong with me.

'I was forced to wear a hat every time we went out together because she didn't want to be seen with someone who was receding and kept on that she wanted me to have a hair transplant.

'l also felt degraded as Sarah used to try and intimidate me and ridicule my manhood regularly.

'I had regular bruising on my body from when Sarah used to kick, bite, scratch or claw me.

'I was nervous to consult my GP for fear she would find out and beat me further. As Sarah would not allow me to eat - l was called a 'fat, smelly slob' - l became paranoid about food.

'If she kicked me out and I was able to stay with my parents, I would be afraid to eat with them in case she summonsed me back and would be able to smell food on my breath.

'She regularly kicked me out, making sure I had no belongings with me and as a result I started hiding a toothbrush, shower gel and a small towel in my work briefcase.

'Whilst I was with Sarah, my relationship with friends and family became strained. I was isolated from everyone.

'I was extremely nervous about ringing my parents as my phone would constantly be checked so I would delete all evidence of this and had to create a code word with my mum, so that she knew Sarah was not around and could speak more freely.

'I was constantly being watched and was not allowed to have any personal telephone conversation unless in Sarah's presence.

'My phone was also checked on a regular basis by Sarah and I had to provide my pass-code to her and passwords to email accounts so she could check anything at anytime.

'If I had contacted any friends or family I was controlled in what I was and wasn't allowed to say to them.

'I felt trapped as she'd always said that if I attempted to leave her, she would trash my belongings and have me up for assault as she had done with previous partners.

'When I eventually fled the property, I had no possessions with me. My finances had been abused, so I could not afford a place of my own and had to buy all clothes from scratch. This was very demoralising and left me also with a feeling of emptiness.'

He added: 'After leaving, I became extremely stressed. I was petrified that she would take reprisals and arrange for someone to come to my parents' house to damage property or even that she would arrange to have me beaten up or worse.

'I no longer feel open to having a relationship as I'm still afraid that I'll be abused again.

'I do not feel l can trust another woman at present. When I am out in public and I see someone with the same hairstyle and colour of Sarah's, I become scared.

'I also feel nervous about telling people what has happened to me due to the stigma behind males not being seen as victims of domestic abuse.

'I think I will always be emotionally scarred by the effects the abuse that I've suffered.'

The court heard the couple met in summer 2021 through the dating website Plenty of Fish.

He subsequently gave up his flat in Crewe to move in with Rigby but prosecutor Frances Willmott said: 'By the autumn she told Mr Jones he had to lose weight if he was to stay in a relationship with her.

'She would restrict what Mr Jones ate when out and if he ate anything more substantial than a salad would be verbally abusive.

'If Mr Jones ate while away from Ms Rigby she would refuse to come near him and say that he smelt of onion or garlic.

'She would insist Mr Jones swallowed toothpaste and drank mouthwash. Even when Mr Jones lost a significant amount of weight Ms Rigby was still abusive about his appearance.

'On New Year's Eve 2021 during an argument Ms Rigby clawed at Mr Jones face and and he was made to sleep on the floor as "punishment".

'Some days later she accused Mr Jones of breaking her ribs but despite x-rays showing no breaks, she demanded compensation him and threatened to call the police if he did not pay her.

'She wore Mr Jones down with repeated messages until he apologised - at which point she would threaten to use his message apologising to report him to the police.

'She did not give him a key to her property and would not let him be in the house by himself. As a result, Mr Jones would have to leave the house and find public spaces in order to work, often at short notice, when she wanted to leave the house.

'She would frisk Mr Jones as he left the house, to check what he was taking with him. She told Mr Jones he could not be trusted and therefore wanted access to both his phone and bank account.

'She made it clear she was his financial priority and told him that he was legally obliged to pay for everything.

'She accused him of being a nightmare to live with, said he had poor habits and did not let him use the toilet in the house; insisting he went to the toilet at the library or the pub.

'She would only let Mr Jones shower every few days and not change his clothes yet would also tell Mr Jones that he smelt.'

Mr Jones contacted the police in early March 2022 when he went to work out of the house.

Police later urged Rigby to return the victim's possessions including his work computer and sentimental items, but she repeatedly denied she had anything to return.

In interview she falsely claimed Jones had been violent, coercive, controlling and manipulative towards her.

In mitigation, defence counsel Jade Tufail said Rigby had been diagnosed with PTSD due to an undisclosed 'trauma' she suffered in her childhood.

But the judge Recorder Eric Lamb told Rigby: 'Your conduct has led to a substantial detrimental effect upon Mr Jones, who even today when speaking of the impact of the relationship upon him was plainly close to tears and in great distress when speaking on where the relationship had left him.

'There were multiple methods of controlling or coercive behaviour intended to humiliate and degrade him.'

Following last week's sentencing, Cheshire Constabulary's' DC Sophie Ward said: 'Firstly, I would like to praise the victim for having the courage to speak out, as well as the bravery that he has shown throughout the investigation. 

'This is the worst case of controlling and coercive behaviour I have ever seen. 

'Rigby had a stranglehold on the victim. Through her coercive behaviour she was able to control everything he did, cutting him off from everyone he knew and leaving him trapped, feeling like he had nowhere to turn. 

 'Her actions left the victim both physically and emotionally scarred, and even now, two years after their relationship ended, he is still receiving psychological counselling to help him recover. 

'Even after she was charged, Rigby continued to taunt her victim, refusing to return his belongings, and constantly delaying the trial by failing to notify the court of holidays and appointments. 

'Although she eventually pleaded guilty to her offending, she has shown no remorse for her actions. 

'While the victim will never be able to forget what happened to him, I hope that the conclusion of this case will help him to move forward and start to rebuild his life.'

DC Ward added: 'Many people think that only women can be victims of controlling and coercive behaviour, but as this case demonstrates, that is not always the case and there is help available. 

'We treat all reports we receive seriously and will investigate thoroughly to ensure that those responsibility are brought to justice. 

'If you, or someone you know, are a victim of this type of behaviour then please speak out.'

Senior Crown Prosecutor Nicky Inskip of CPS Mersey-Cheshire added: 'Sarah Rigby subjected her former partner to months of cruel and dehumanising behaviour. She seemed intent on humiliating and degrading him in any way she could.

'The abuse has had a substantial impact on this man who finally found the courage to break free from this toxic relationship and report Sarah Rigby’s behaviour to the police.

'Her treatment of him did not represent the normal ups and downs of a relationship. It was coercive, controlling and criminal. She admitted her guilt in the face of overwhelming evidence and has now been sentenced. We hope this is of some comfort to the victim.'

==

I posted about this case a day ago, but this coverage includes the victim's own statements.

Hopefully this criminal conviction extinguishes her nursing training and career.

Reminder: she starved him into losing 4 stone/25kg/56lb.

[theculturedmarxist]

41

Migrant workers are struggling to get a nibble as they fish for labourious work. Photo: Henry Wong

This is the second story in a three-part series about China’s employment environment, from migrant workers and fresh graduates to new job sources and the private sector.

For less than a cup of coffee at most major chains, a migrant worker in a major Chinese city can rent a bed for the night. But oftentimes, that is contingent on finding work and getting paid that day.

In the southeastern outskirts of Beijing, amid a record-breaking heatwave scorching the capital, migrant workers starved of both food and jobs still venture out to make a living in the sweltering sun.

Wang Ke, 36, is among those who haven’t had a full stomach in a while. He and his band of fellow job-hunters never pass up a chance to ask people, “Do you need workers?”

But the group too often returns in disappointment, wondering again when they might get their next meal, and if they will even have a roof over their head that night. Beds generally cost between 25 yuan (US$3.45) and 30 yuan a night.

“A job comes by only every few days, and a group of people rush to seize it,” Wang, originally from the central province of Henan, said from Majuqiao, once the capital city’s largest labour service market, where employment agencies and recruiters shout out menial job offerings on the street, paying usually about 100 yuan (US$13.80) or so a day.

“I am willing to work any kind of odd job, but I haven’t had any luck in four days. Ninety per cent of the people here are like me. No one can make money here; being able to fill my stomach would be the most beautiful thing ever.”

People like Wang can only wander the streets at night, finding vacant places to sleep wherever they can, changing locations several times a night to areas without people – safer areas with less chance of unwanted interactions.

The current need for migrant workers may serve as a barometer for the recovery of China’s economic activities, which has gradually lost steam amid a property slump, dwindling export demand holding back China’s manufacturing sector, and dampened confidence among consumers and investors.

China’s factory activities contracted for a third straight month in June, further putting pressure on the world’s largest exporter of goods.

“The most direct reason is there aren’t jobs that suit them, as Beijing is relieved of functions non-essential to its role as China’s capital, many labour-intensive industries have moved out of Beijing, and the labour opportunities have left with them,” said Yuan Xin, a demography professor at Nankai University in Tianjin.

Beijing has been pushing for the removal of “non-essential institutions” from China’s capital to the Xiongan New Area in neighbouring Hebei province. And many lower-end manufacturing businesses have taken the brunt, slashing the need for migrant workers without technical skills.

“We are even worse off than beggars,” Wang added. “Beggars can ask for help, while we are too ashamed, and many resort to rummaging through garbage bins to survive.”

China had around 296 million migrant workers at the end of 2022, and in the first quarter of this year, their average monthly income dropped to 4,504 yuan, from a monthly average of 4,615 yuan last year, according to official statistics.

In quantifiable terms, that lost income could represent three more nights that a migrant worker spends on the streets every month, in situations comparable to Wang’s.

But the data can hardly depict the bleakness of work prospects for the older generations of migrants, who are often too old to be office-building security guards, electronics factory workers, or perhaps amusement park staff. And they’re often rejected outright for jobs that necessitate fast learning, or when a company wants staff to appear younger.

And for many migrant workers, almost exclusively rural residents, there is no end in sight to their work, as they will not be able to retire, due to a lack of savings and limited pension coverage.

No one wants to go home without having made money. Who wouldn’t want to return home with glory and triumph? Wang Ke, migrant jobseeker

Despite bleak economic growth and sluggish factory activities last year due to China’s draconian zero-Covid measures, the conditions gave rise to a surge in demand for temporary workers, including security guards, workers for Covid testing booths, and delivery workers – all of which paid relatively well, sometimes more than 10,000 yuan a month, enabling migrant workers to cash in.

“As soon as the pandemic [control measures] ended, it became difficult to find jobs,” said another migrant worker, in his forties, who declined to be identified. It had been two weeks since he found work.

“Loading work pays 150 yuan for 12 hours, and you have to bring your own meals. Even some big enterprises pay less than Beijing’s minimum wage,” which is just over 25 yuan an hour.

Before the pandemic, Wang worked in Zhejiang province and owned his own business, was a sales manager at China Mobile, and led a large team of security guards.

After nationwide restrictions were lifted, Wang decided to test his luck in Beijing. And he’s not ready to throw in the towel yet.

“No one wants to go home without having made money. Who wouldn’t want to return home with glory and triumph? ‘Until one arrives in Beijing, one does not realise the insignificance of their position,’ I want to check it out,” he said.

Meanwhile, younger temporary workers – mostly students working summer holidays – have more opportunities. But this year, as the number of youth seeking odd jobs has increased, the monthly wage has shrunk in Beijing.

“This year there are more students looking for jobs, as last year they were all locked down at home,” said a recruiting agent for youthful temporary workers, surnamed Li, whose company is near Majuqiao.

Because students can work for such short periods – often just a handful of weeks – they have less leverage to negotiate and are often paid less.

Li said the monthly compensation for stage construction workers is about 3,500 yuan this year, including bed and board, for 12 hours a day, 30 days a month, with no breaks. That’s down from the 3,800 yuan monthly average last year.

That sort of difference could equate to not sleeping in a bed nine times a month.

Further illustrating the rising struggle among jobseekers, particularly young adults, is the youth unemployment rate, which has lately been setting record highs on a monthly basis.

The jobless rate in the 16-24 age group has been on an upward trajectory since 2020 and is expected to rise further in July and August, as a record 11.58 million university graduates are set to leave campus and flood the job market this year, posing a challenge to Beijing’s post-coronavirus recovery efforts.

Factories offer about 15 to 17 yuan per hour for [temporary workers this year], down from last year’s 18 to 20 yuan Recruitment agent, Guangdong province

In May, the jobless rate among that younger demographic hit a record of 20.8 per cent, up from the previous high of 20.4 per cent in April.

The overall urban surveyed jobless rate in May, however, remained unchanged from April at 5.2 per cent. June’s figures should be released in a couple of weeks.

In the manufacturing hubs of southern China, demand for such young workers also remains ample, but incomes have declined compared with last year, due to a reduction in the overtime working hours at small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Factories offer about 15 to 17 yuan per hour for [temporary workers this year], down from last year’s 18 to 20 yuan,” according to a recruitment agent in Guangdong surnamed Li, who declined to give her full name.

While exporting manufacturers cut full-time workers and hire more temporary workers instead, to save operating costs, the cost of living expenses have barely changed, including food and accommodation.

“The main labour force in my factory is now mainly temporary workers. I pay them about 260 yuan a day for over 12 hours of work,” said Wang Jie, a manufacturer of parts for boots and shoes, in Guangdong’s Dongguan city.

He said that to save costs, he had cut most of his full-time workers to less than 20, down about two-thirds from last year,

“Before the epidemic, we used to be paid 7,000 yuan [a month] or more in peak seasons [for at least 60 hours per week], but now we make about 5,000 yuan, including a free meal,” said a worker at a listed electrical company in Guangzhou.

She also talked about how factories in migrant workers’ hinterland hometowns are seeing longer off-season stretches, making them hard to rely on for a living, which drives workers elsewhere, with wide-reaching economic implications.

“We all cherish the stable employment, especially when we hear that more and more SMEs nearby are cutting jobs,” she said.

Elsewhere, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, sources say factories are finding it much easier to recruit temporary workers this year – even in the last couple of months as the year has gone on, and workers are generally more reluctant to leave a job midyear.

Lu Zhou, an operations director at an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) factory in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, expressed a similar assessment in his province.

In May or June of previous years, most labourers worked for fixed factories in Jiangsu, and it was very difficult to recruit workers at this time, but this year it’s been easy, he said.

“The labour cost … is about 8,000 yuan per worker. Workers can get about 5,000 yuan a month, working at least 60 hours a week, after the social security contribution,” Lu said. “One obvious change is that this year’s social security contributions [such as social insurance and taxes] have risen again.

“Many workers are reluctant to pay [into social security], and that feeling is stronger now than in previous years. Many workers probably expect that social welfare will become inadequate in a future ageing society.”

[leam1983]

Oblivion

So. Tomorrow, we're flying back home.

Seven days. A week spent with a small legion at my beck and call, bending to Walt's every whim, acceeding to Sarah's every request. One massive kitchen divided between four dining rooms, serving up everything from Americano-Mexican tentpoles to recomposed would-be Taino dishes, with a buffet where passable is the order of the day. Mornings were bland Continental breakfast affairs, but the evenings shone brightly, capstoned with the best cigars I've had in the last three years and the best damn Cappuccino in a decade.

Seven days realizing that an army is re-making my bed, giving me clean sheets every morning and fresh towels on the dot, showing extreme deference for my walker-using ass. A little cohort of maids paid Cheap Labor wages to smile, respond to everything with Es mi placer, señor, and pushed into treating USD tips in the single digits like they're Godly gifts.

You can bet that Walt was so appalled by this he starting leaving twenties. "These poor girls - cleaning up people's shit and vomit after the douchebags three doors down the hall spend the evening getting plastered on Mojitos - and not an ounce of gratitude!"

People started asking questions. Our passable Spanish led to us forming basic bonds with the staff, and turned our little bungalow in the Adults Only section into the talk of the resort. People with less manners started asking for drinks delivery and had to handle polite rebuffs, where we got the sense that the Room Service people were starting to network with the Pool Bar guys to figure out our schedule of preferred drinks.

Eventually, what had to happen happened. My feet were so swollen I couldn't put on my closed-toes shoes for the evening, as the dress code requests, but the staff didn't bat an eyelash when i wheeled in, looking like someone's favourite Math teacher, with socks and sandals. A Karen whose husband had completely overlooked the dress code was shocked.

"Why does he get to head inside dressed like this, and my husband can't?"

Yamilet, 23, born and raised in Santo Domingo and using the thankless job of the French Cuisine-oriented dining room's maître d' to pay her way through nursing school when she's not in church, gave her a Crest commercial-worthy smile.

Is un especial guest. Disculpe - see his legs. Mira?

For once in my life, I was happy to be singled out as disabled.

What really emerged from this is how gratitude really is crucial, when you're travelling. Everyone I heard who spouted variations on "having paid for the right to do whatever they wanted" received piss-poor service. Everyone who lowered their voice in a corridor, who showed basic deference and treated the staff like human beings received distinctly improved treatment. It wasn't just us - we noticed several other cultural groups in the resort, and I was actually thankful to draw a clear line between the nice Americans - and the douchebags.

In open spaces like the buffet, it's kind of impossible not to eavesdrop. If you're on vacation and you're still griping about your Democrat neighbours when you're halfway across the hemisphere from your point of origin, you're coloring your entire stay. The Trumptards who demanded service came in pissed off, stayed ornery and left irate. Anyone else, from anywhere else in the world, who politely asked, language barriers be damned, got what they asked for.

The Semester-Enders were hard to miss, too. Sixteen kids in total, barely in their twenties, who'd clearly pooled cash to rent swim-up suites together, and who turned the All-Ages section of the pool into a nightmare. There wasn't an inch of it that wasn't their private Football Toss area, and no resort-provided pool float that they just didn't claim for themselves.

It allowed for a sense of liminality to settle in. On one end of the more or less football-field-length of pool, you had pure chaos. On the other, placid waters, where the Adults Only club and our bungalow was located. I recovered the float I'd bought for myself, one of the Spring Breakers giving me a florid-faced and pleading look.

"Come on, bro!"

I gestured towards the back. "You've got seven other floats, over there, plus an inflatable mattress. I bought this one and brought it here. As it's my possession, I'd like to use it."

He chuckled meanly. "Nobody cares, man."

Christopher, 27, from Bàvàro, gave the guy a level look while climbing down from his lifeguard chair. "Everything okay, señores?"

"Me? Oh, everything's swell, Chris. It's the gentleman over there that's operating under weird delusions."

Chris nodded, his facial language obvious. Another one of those, huh? I nodded.

He smiled. No te preocupas, amigo.

The kid's response stuck with me. Nobody cares. Is this why some people work so much, hustle their way to a therapist and then book a week off to someplace where there's palapas, Afro-Cuban covers of Celine Dion classics and drinks that would make a medicated diabetes sufferer scream in abject terror? You put your ass to the grindstone and your only hope of recovery is to find a place, however theoretical, where nobody gives a shit?

Walt, Sarah and I brainstormed. We planned ahead. We rested aplenty, sure, and napped even more than we do back home - but this place energized us. We were free to create, and spent a week being the best versions of ourselves that we could possibly be.

For other people? It's apparently Adult Daycare. You get up at nine past the breakfast buffet's closure, complain that you can't get any service, throw yourself on yesterday evening's pizza, knock back cocktails starting at 11 AM and end up throwing up in the kiddie pool by 5 PM. You throw a fit because the pool boys had the gall to lift your limp ass out of the wading area before you could drown yourself while passed-out in a puddle-sized expanse of water. Because you're in your twenties, your brush with death is all but forgotten by 8 PM, and you head to the lobby's bar to knock back tequila shots with your fellow jabronis. The wee hours see you treating the public hallways like your personal hangout space, exchanging football huddle cries with equally-inebriated kids with no sense of their own mortality.

To all this should be added the resort's sense of liminality. If you forget your optimal route to your room, you'll end up in an entirely different resort. Pools look the same, everything's connected, and everyone feels transitory, obviously. It's the ersatz of a place. It's as impersonal as a hotel, except the staff are all stuck under a pall of fake-ass exoticism they can't shed. The equator line being so close means days are blisteringly hot and painfully short. By 7 PM, the sun's all but gone - and we're in May.

Nobody stays. Nobody leaves an impression. I've regaled Yamilet and Christopher with tales of La Banquise and of Schwartz' smoked meat or the bagel bakeries on St-Viateur - but I'll forget their faces just as they'll forget mine. We spent a week treating one another like culturally Latin brethren - Québécois deference having always meshed well with Cuban and Dominican confidence - but we won't remember one another in short order.

Single-serving friends, as Pahlaniuk once said.

I might as well head to the gift shop, swallow my pride and see if there's a tee-shirt on offer that reads I went to the Carribbean, and all I got for it was a lousy sunburn.