#for profit businesses don't get volunteers

[mudwerks]

(via Chick-Fil-A Restaurant Required To Pay Workers In Legal Tender, Not Chicken Tenders - Wonkette)

In July of this year, a Chik-Fil-A franchisee in Hendersonville, South Carolina, tried to save some money by asking "volunteers" to come work at their store directing customers to their new Drive Thru Express in exchange for chicken dinners.

"We are looking for volunteers for our new Drive Thru Express! Earn 5 free entrees per shift (1 hr) worked," a Facebook post read, "Message us for details."

then

Now, instead of saving a few bucks, franchise owner Joel Benson will be required to pay all of his "volunteers" in actual, non-edible money. The Labor Department ordered him this week to pay $235 in back pay to seven workers — on top of, we can assume, the five chicken entrees they were given at the time — as paying them in chicken was a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Imagine that!

and

In addition to the backpay, this particular Chick-Fil-A is also being fined $6,450 in civil penalties for violating child labor laws by allowing three minors to operate a trash compactor, which is also illegal. While people under 18 can work, there are laws regulating what kind of work they are allowed to do, and operating a trash compactor is not one of the things they are allowed to do.

don’t go there - this entire company sucks in every way

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Bad King Richard got rich by exploiting workers at King’s Faire

Next Tuesday (Oct 31) at 10hPT, the Internet Archive is livestreaming my presentation on my recent book, The Internet Con.

King Richard's Faire is the largest renfaire in New England, and its owner, Dick Shapiro, extracts a reported $400k/day – a sum that is only possible thanks to systematic and likely illegal worker misclassification, which lets him pay performers sub-minimum wages and deny them benefits:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/172267v/kings_faire_inc_aim%C3%A9e_bonnie_shapiro_nets_over/

Many of the performers at KRF are absolutely unpaid – these are the "villagers" – who mill about looking picturesque in exchange for free admission. They even have to buy their own turkey legs.

When the faire is rained out, all workers – "volunteers" and paid workers – are sent home without any compensation. Attendees are also sent home with rain-checks, many of which go unused (there's no refunds in the land of King Richard).

Staff work from 8am to 730pm and are paid a day-rate that works out to $6/hour. After heavy weather events, staff are ordered to show up early to do cleanup, but are not paid for their time. Staff don't get health benefits – instead, local community groups like the Elks put on fundraisers to cover the health-care costs of the performers.

Now, King Richard's worker mistreatment is not an outlier in the medieval reenactment industry. Think of how the knights at Medieval Times – who put on nightly, potentially lethal performances to generate profit for their employer – unionized in the face of exploitative labor relations. To add insult to injury, Medieval Times sued the union, arguing that its name – "Medieval Times Performers United" – was a trademark infringement:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/medieval-times-sues-union-trademark_n_63485fa5e4b0b7f89f54546b

This trademark wheeze is the latest desperate tactic to be deployed by the ruling class in the face of a surging labor movement with broad public support. Starbucks – one of the world's most notorious unionbusters – is doing the same thing to its union, Starbucks Workers United:

https://seattle.eater.com/23923490/starbucks-workers-united-union-lawsuits-copyright-trademark-israel-hamas-palestine-social-media

These moves are wildly out of step with the current of public opinion, which has swung hard for union rights in a manner not seen in generations. The outpourings of public support for striking entertainment industry workers were handwaved away as exceptions driven by the public's love of actors and writers. But that doesn't explain the strong, ongoing support for the UAW in their strike against all of the Big Three automakers:

https://pro.morningconsult.com/instant-intel/uaw-strike-public-opinion-october-2023

Bosses have always tried to smash worker power by dividing workers – by race, gender, or "skill" – but workers are workers and solidarity is the source of worker power. That's why the whole labor movement backed Equity Stripper NoHo, the first strippers' union in a generation:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/14/prop-22-never-again/#norms-code-laws-markets

Creative workers are part of a class of workers who suffer from "vocational awe," the sense that because your job is satisfying and/or worthy, you don't deserve to get paid for it:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

(Think of joke about the father who finds his runaway son at the circus shoveling elephant shit: "Son, come home!" "What, and quit show-business?")

Creative workers have long been encouraged to see themselves as "independent businesspeople" – LLCs with MFAs – and this mind-zap is augmented with our bosses' repeated insistence that the unions are for big burly blue-collar workers, not ethereal dreamers and pencil-pushers. Our bosses tell this story because it discourages us from forming unions and demanding fair pay and good working conditions (obviously).

Think of J Edward Keyes, the cartoon villain who serves as editorial director of Bandcamp. When the workers Keyes managed formed the Bandcamp United union, Keyes called them "white-collar tech workers…appropriating the language of the legitimately oppressed," adding "Fuuuuuck Bandcamp United":

https://www.404media.co/bandcamp-editorial-director-fuuuuuck-bandcamp-united/

Keyes's contempt notwithstanding, it's clear why Bandcamp workers need a union – after the company was flipped twice in rapid succession, its new owners, Epic Games and Songtradr, fired all its unionized workers. Keyes responded to coverage of this mass firing by calling the Pitchfork reporters who wrote about it "absloute amateur journalists."

The attempt to divide-and-rule "knowledge workers" from "industrial workers" is a transparent bid to shatter solidarity and make it easier to abuse and exploit all workers. Thankfully, workers are wise to that gambit, and understand that when all kinds of workers struggle together, they win.

Take the UAW strikes: for many years, the UAW was an objectively bad union, ruled over by a dirty-tricking clique who sold out the membership. It's normal to blame workers for bad leaders, but the UAW old guard had rigged union elections, making sure that they would stay in charge. It's not workers that like corrupt unions – it's bosses.

Before the UAW could fight back against their bosses, they had to fight back their bosses' minions in the upper ranks of their own union. That's where the the Harvard Grad Students' Union comes in. After years of worsening exploitation and working conditions, the Harvard Grad Students organized under the UAW, then joined forces with reformers in the union to oust the corrupt leadership.

During the leadership struggle, Harvard Grad Students helped their comrades from the auto-sector master the union's baroque constitution, so when the old guard tried to prevent motions from reaching the floor, the grad students were able to cite chapter and verse back at them. In the end, grad students and auto-workers together won the victory that paved the way for the strikes:

https://theintercept.com/2023/04/07/deconstructed-union-dhl-teamsters-uaw/

A strong, unified labor movement is necessary if America is to save itself from inequality, racism, the climate emergency – the whole polycrisis. The idea that creative workers aren't workers is bullshit – and so is the lie that all workers are uncreative. The "Worker As Futurist" project recruits Amazon drivers and warehouse writers to write science fiction about a future without Amazon:

https://jacobin.com/2023/09/amazon-workers-sci-fi-writing-bezos-imagination-speculative-future

They call this a "belief that rank-and-file workers, whose bodies and minds are exploited by capital, might have access to some knowledge about capitalism that is beyond even the most brilliant theorist or analyst of capitalism."

All workers can and should tell their own story. Doing so isn't just a way to change the narrative – it's also a way to change policy. The new merger guidelines from the FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division explicitly incorporate labor-market effects into antitrust policy. As Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan write for The Sling, the testimony of workers and unions can help produce the evidentiary basis for blocking the mergers that lead to monopolies:

https://www.thesling.org/workers-are-an-untapped-resource-for-antitrust-enforcers/

The rising labor movement is a force for profound change in every part of our economy and politics. Workers can be our knights in shining armor.

https://www.thesling.org/workers-are-an-untapped-resource-for-antitrust-enforcers/

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/25/huzzah/#bad-king-richard

[implausiblyjosh]

Cohost Criticisms

The following was posted on cohost, which you can find here:

Being upset that people are like "why aren't the financial updates on time, why aren't you explaining the downtime" is baffling to me. They built this site on transparency! Their funding comes with the expectation of financial transparency! Regardless of if people should put faith in the four randoms running the website, people have and it's definitely worrying when the "here's the forecast on how long the lights stay on" post isn't on time.

Additionally, it's totally fine to worry about adding on a ton of extra workload to the site. Remember when the bug report page was overrun with viagra and gambling spam for weeks because no one kept up with it? Or when the site was down with no communication. Apparently paid Artist Alley posts got backlogged. It took someone making two posts on here about horribly bigoted comments on a staff post before moderation happened because the official moderation channels were not working (and the one moderator of the site was a bit of a self-admitted coward in handling moderation of a bigoted comment!). And now you're telling me you're adding tag wrangling, a feature that AO3 seemingly needs a volunteer army for, to your site with no plans of making it sustainable? Y'all seemingly couldn't get one of the other three people of the four person team on the ball with the financial transparency posts that are part of your funding agreement, why should we be excited or hopeful for this new feature?

I get people really want this site to work for them. I'd love for any new social media site to work for me! But unless something drastically changes, the writing is clearly on the wall that this is not that site.

The following is new for you, people reading on Tumblr:

There's a lot of stuff busted with Cohost, and while I think a large part of it comes down to culture issues, there are genuine issues at the foundation of the site. The company that owns it is an LLC, despite being labeled as a "not for profit" operation. But that really doesn't matter, they will never get a change to make a profit, because they're paying themselves "tech workers in silicon valley" money to run their site that makes no profit. Additionally, they have not found a way to crack that nut of profitability, being only funded by some pseudonymous wealthy friend, and with no clear path to "making enough money to get out of debt and/or pay staff", let alone profit.

So there are core issues foundational to the site, but Cohost diehards get extremely upset about the concept of criticizing or talking about cohost in ways they don't like, trying to paint people as bad faith as soon as possible. It's incredibly frustrating! A lot of those Cohost diehards are friends of the owners, so every criticism of cohost is an attack on the friends. You can see this here, where one of said friends of the owners is in my comments defending their "if you don't like it, just leave and stop criticizing my friends business" comments. At one point, people were saying that complaining about accessibility features was like whining to McDonalds cashiers and trashing bathrooms... when the site is worked on by the owners. There are no cashiers, just well-paid owners trying to sell you on a nonprofit fantasy so you'll buy ads or get a subscription.

I want the site to work out because I would like for there to be a semi-permanent place for me to exist online. However... it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen if they refuse to change and they keep up this shitty culture.

[pearwaldorf]

what... should we do about this?! should we just set Ao3 down, find a way to choke down such fucking feelings that we should have been used to by now, and go use squidgeworld or somethin until it too goes down that route or whatever? there isn't any hope, is there? how do we cope with this?!

I mean this in the most loving way possible and I'm not picking on you specifically, to be clear. The easiest way to make something hopeless or inevitable is to treat it as a foregone conclusion.

There is a Jewish precept called tikkun olam. Roughly translated it means "world repair", which modern Jews have taken to mean an obligation to practice tzedakah (justice/righteousness) and participate in efforts to make the world better. I'm not Jewish, but it is a thing I strongly believe in.

Nowhere in these teachings is stuff about whether or not it will change things. Of course it is a hope you will, but none of that is guaranteed. There are things you do not because you think you will succeed, but because it is the right thing.

You're not wrong that trying to hold the OTW Board accountable is difficult. It is indeed hard to get it through people's heads that this organization that has done so much for fandom is also deeply dysfunctional in a way that is probably not reformable, especially in a climate where people are prone to "everything has to be entirely good/bad" and other such black and white thinking.

If we see something is wrong and we don't speak out, what does that say to azarias and other OTW volunteers? That their abuse and traumatization is an acceptable price to pay for keeping AO3/OTW running? That we are willing to sacrifice our fellow fans' humanity on the altar of the non-profit industrialization complex? (And make no mistake, a non-profit is capable of just as much abuse as any money-making business.)

I don't have a next steps Powerpoint or anything, but I think a reasonable action to take is to contact OTW and express your displeasure at how things have been handled. (I think Communications is probably the most appropriate dropdown, but if anybody has a better suggestion please let me know.)

Be polite, and list your affiliations with AO3/OTW if you have any (member/former member/donor, AO3 user, volunteer/former volunteer, etc). Make clear (if) you are part of the community this organization claims to represent.

Demand the resignation of the Legal Committee and the Board of Directors. Insist upon the creation of a new policy to protect volunteers from this sort of abuse and endangerment and a timeline for when it will be developed and implemented.

I don't know what kind of response you'll get, but I would not be surprised if it's extremely generic.

I anticipate there will be more opportunities to make your opinion known in the future. This is an issue that should not be swept aside.

[colleendoran]

An answer

I'm not going to post the question because I don't want the person who asked it to get piled on.

The magical art fairy did not give me a great and grand education that my mommy and daddy paid for.

My parents were poor and at one point homeless. They lived in a pigeon coop. With pigeons.

I was not super popular in school. I was a nerd in the dark days before being a nerd was something people aspired to. I had braces, glasses, bad acne and was a bit chubby. When I no longer had any of these things (well, I still wear glasses, I prefer them to contacts,) people acted like I always looked that way and sailed the seas of success on a wave of appearance advantages.

My parents did not pay for my education. I went to regular school like everyone else. I had one year of college which I attended on academic scholarship, and I majored in business. I had an art class with a professor who almost never showed up. When the scholarship money ran out after one year, I left.

After I'd been a professional artist for more than twenty years, I took an online digital art class at one of those for profit art schools, which was quite a trick on dial up speed, I must say. Shortly after, I realized it was a scam, I contacted the administration to demand my money back. I got it. The school was eventually sued into oblivion and went out of business.

I did manual field labor as a kid, worked in a veterinarian hospital, parked cars, and ran a roller coaster. I picked up dog poop and did volunteer work at the U.S.O. and the AIDS Housing and Education Fund. I worked as a condo association attendant.

I don't know where people get the impression that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. And it's not like I don't have some advantages. But money and status weren't among them.

Most of the people in comics from my generation come from poverty. Some didn't. But most did.

I am self taught and most of what I learned was from the Famous Artist Course books my mom got as a kid. I was very grateful that my dad invested in a set of encyclopedias for the family when we were still quite poor. I devoured them.

I started sending out portfolio work, story ideas, and resumes at age 12. My first rejection letter was from Random House. I got my first advertising gig when I was about 14-15. The woman who hired me was Linda Wesley Salake.

I met artist Frank Kelly Freas at a science fiction convention I found out about from an advertisement. He was very kind and mentored me. He didn't teach me much about art, but he did teach me a lot about the realities of the art centered life.

I cooked and cleaned house for him after his wife Polly died.

My average income for my first ten years as a professional artist was less than $10,000. And for part of that time, I was not living with my parents. So I supported myself on less than $10,000.

Eventually, I lasted long enough in the arts that I started making some money. Then things got worse. Then they got better. Then they got worse. Then they got better.

Advantages, contacts, ability - none of that is distributed equally. But if you can, make art because it is something that means something to you, and it gives you joy.

And we all deserve some joy.

If it was just about the money, I'd have ditched this bug bin long ago.

That's all.

[margareth-lv]

🎪It's all fake, it's all tricked🎪

I've been very busy over the last few days (well, weeks), so I haven't been on Tumblr much. So, frankly, I don't know if there was any discussion here before New Year's Eve about Outlander_Starz's controversial post on Instagram called "In Memoriam" (...To everyone we lost this year, you will be missed. Well, some of you...).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Outlander (@outlander_starz)

*** *** *** Maybe I'm very old (eh, no, I'm not) or very conservative (no, no, I'm not conservative at all), but I'm not amused by "In Memoriam" for rapist and murderer Allan Christie or rapist and murderer Richard Brown. Sure, Outlander is fiction, literary and cinematic, but even in fiction, characters shouldn't be given altars if they were (fictional) bad people, should they? Has the person who is in charge of these hopeless posts on Instagram even read the plot of Outlander? Does that person take the audience seriously? Or is he or she just a kid/an intern/a casual volunteer messing around to promote and advertise Outlander_Starz? *** *** ***

On this side of the fandom, we are convinced that Sam and Caitríona are controlled by psychopathic marketing and PR profiteers who, in order to maximise their benefits, have decided that a married Sam will not sell well, let alone Caitríona who is madly in love with Sam. Most of the time, the marketing and PR for Sam and Caitríona is hopelessly naive and incoherent. But aren't these marketing and PR professionals just idiots? They are just plain fools. They are stupid. They don't understand anything. They don't get the basics. And on top of that, they don't love, they're not loved, they don't have families, they don't give a damn about values and ethics.

*** *** ***

The Fraser family, separated by a chasm of 200 years, was the 'In Memoriam' post that saddened me the most.

There is nothing funny about a broken family.

There is nothing funny about missing your children or your parents.

But apparently some idiots find it amusing.

Like yesterday's hopeless post about "energy" for 2024. What part of the fandom finds the (controversial) energy of Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin fascinating?

*** *** *** How stupid do you have to be not to know that we're here for Caitríona and Sam?

[By the way, I spent about three minutes of my life googling the meaning of 'soo la voo', and in general my French isn't all that bad.

Yes, oddly enough it's about 'c'est la vie' and the Tik-Tok video from a month ago. Who else, apart from thirteen-year-olds, would know about the news from Tik-Tok? This confirms my theory that Starz PR is done by thirteen-year-old volunteers. Bravo]

*** *** ***

And finally, the icing on the cake. Someone in the Starz PR department woke up and thought that maybe Caitríona and Sam were important to the fandom after all, so a lovely InstaStory like this was posted:

The 'Just Jared' result had been predictable for days. Our lovebirds' lead over the other actors was growing at a dizzying rate.

By the way, it is impossible to overlook the fact that 169,160 people voted for Sam (which represents 52.06% of the total votes) and six times less people voted for Caitríona, 29,347, which represents 82.94%.

Who votes for men? Could it be women?

Is (maybe) Starz PR right to strategise on horny grannies?

😜

[January 4, 2024]

[seafoamreadings]

week of september 24th, 2023

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: let's just be honest, this is a romantic week for you. don't be afraid to commit if you feel a spark; your impulsive nature actually serves you here. overthinking it isn't likely to help matters. the only problem is where there is no such spark.

taurus: this hyper-venusian week gets a boost from both jupiter and mars. if you're not romantically entangled, romance yourself. actually, that wouldn't hurt even for happily partnered taureans. let it all be fun and easy.

gemini: the equinox heralds airy libra season which gives you some breezy chill oomph that you might have been missing under virgo vibes, which can feel stuffy. a full moon in your 11th house encourages you to be active in your local community; vote or volunteer or walk your neighbor's dog, whatever makes a difference.

cancerians: while it IS a romantic and spicy week, big huge cardinal-sign vibes along the libra-aries axis all throughout the week can make this period a frenzy for you. it may be fun but it's not relaxed, and this can cause such sensitive beings as yourself some emotional distress. take care!

leo: you benefit from the good fortune of others all week. furthermore the fiery aries vibes boost your philosophical and spiritual intelligence, which can help you to be your best self and live your best life.

virgo: things that have been now float away on the breeze like a last breath. it can feel mournful, intangible, and permanent. but nothing is permanent, everything only changes form, and this week is also full of joy for you. watch for it.

libra: the start of your sign's season by solar ingress is accompanied by dazzling activity of your romantic ruling planet venus. it's a beautiful time of year, if not in meteorological terms then at least socially! don't be afraid to be seen.

scorpio: this week is all about your immediate environment. the people, the community, the land you are on, your microbiomes even. be kind to nature and strangers and siblings all alike, and be ready for helpful people to enter your life in seemingly miraculous ways.

sagittarius: the last in the recent cycle of mercury-jupiter trines occurs this week. the energy allows you to profitably tap into areas of your life or the world where you normally feel out of your element. take chances and see how you're divinely supported.

capricorn: the full moon this week is over your public-private axis. most capricorns like to keep these arenas quite separate but this moon might challenge your personal authenticity and integrity; if they start to blend together, do you run to hide things?

aquarius: venus is direct, yes, but a square by her to your ruling planet uranus this week is like your own personal red flag against sudden love moves or aesthetic changes. if you go looking for drama make sure you're ready for it to backfire. soap opera life can be fun, but enough is enough.

pisces: your themes this week are all around money and partnership. this could be separately, but most likely it is all together; a shared bank account, an inheritance from some in-laws, going into business with a friend or lover. it's not off limits but proceed with great caution.

[sirthisisa-wendys]

Okay so I’m not exactly sure where this could go, but it’s stuck in my head. So you go to Japan for a nice long vacation you either meet one or more TR guys at a club and you hook up with them on and off during your vacation. It’s time for you to go back home and that’s when you find out your pregnant with one of the guys baby.

Let's do this for my favorite "unexpected baby daddy"... Mucho.

Heaven: Yasuhiro Muto x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.1k

tw: nsfw

masterlist

"Having a good time?"

The club is packed. You squirmed through the crowd to the front of the bar to get a drink and then wormed your way back to the VIP area to sit among your newfound friends.

"Yeah," you reply to the black-haired man, his braided hair out of place in the other crowd of clean-shaven men. "The staff didn't lie when they said this place is the most popular in Tokyo."

"Lucky we saw you when you were trying to get in." Ken shifts in his chair, lacing an arm around the back. He's dressed in a black t-shirt and nice slacks like the rest of his companions, but you look beyond him at a tall man in the crowd, his face unmoving and eyes roaming about the place with an unamused glance.

"Who's the stiff?"

"Oh, him?" Ken follows your gaze, then thumbs to the giant. "That's Mucho. He's one of us." Before you can reply, he whistles loudly, and the man looks at him curiously. "Hey, Mucho! Come over here and meet our new friend!" Your nerves spike as the man works through the crowd, his turquoise eyes brightening in the pulsing lights as he approaches you.

"Mucho, this is y/n. I met her when we came in - She's from the States."

"Oh," Mucho states simply, not opting for a smile. "Hello, y/n."

"Hi..." You've never seen someone so tall and handsome, but the cat gets your tongue and mutes you.

"Hey, take my seat," Ken urges him, standing up suddenly. "I have to go check on the bartenders." Your protests die in your throat as Ken walks off, patting Mucho's shoulder as he sits across you. For a moment, you can't seem to drag up any words from the ether of your mind. But Mucho beats you to the punch.

"You're from the States?"

"Yeah," you reply eagerly. "F-from D.C." Mucho's face remains blank. "The capital city."

"Ah," he finally replies, nodding. "Must be a busy life."

"It's nothing like Tokyo. Things are much busier here."

"How long are you staying here?"

"Me?" You clutch at your purse, which is sitting in your lap. "I'm here for the month. It's sort of a vacation." Mucho hums, tips his drink up, and then points to your empty glass.

"What'd you have? I'll get you another one."

"You don't have to," you pipe up, shaking your right hand. "I'm--"

"It'd be my pleasure." A ghost of a smile crosses his lips, and you melt, smiling back at him with ease.

"I had an old fashioned."

"We'll make that two then." Mucho raises his finger, and a server suddenly appears to take your order. Mucho orders for both of you without hesitation, and the server walks off. He returns just as quickly with your drinks, and despite sitting in near silence for a minute or two, you hold the glass with gratefulness.

"A toast," Mucho begins. "To your vacation." You clink the glasses together, then toss the drink back, swallowing as much as possible. "And to new friendships."

Friendship wasn't the best way to put it now that you reflected upon your actions after that night. 'Friends with benefits' was more proper. Mucho's stayed in your hotel room many nights, sleeping the night away between the sheets and cuddling your frame before leaving when he pleased. Mucho would take you out to eat and show you places in Tokyo. He'd even invited you to a fundraising dinner for Tenjiku, the non-profit he volunteers with. Your appearance at the dinner had raised some questions, but you were fully prepared to allow Mucho to address them. In addition, he fucks you every night you let him, and each night is better than the last. You're not sure how it's possible, but he's made you cum without fail. You turn over in bed, counting the days you'd have to leave what felt like heaven.

"Hey," Mucho murmurs, reaching over to touch your face. "Are you feeling okay?" You rumble a little, frowning.

"Do I look unhappy?"

"You look uncomfortable," Mucho whispers back, kissing your forehead. "I'll get you some water and have the concierge bring breakfast." He smooths your hair back once more, then rises from the bed and walks into the main room. You get up and stroll to the bathroom, grunting when you feel a headache coming on.

Three weeks in Tokyo, you muse as you sit on the toilet. One more to go. An ache resurfaces in your breasts as you stand, but you think nothing of it. It's only after you wash your face and pull out your toiletries that you see the lone tampon rolling about in the bottom of the bag. A troubling thought flashes into your mind like a warning beacon. But you forget it just as fast.

On the last day of your trip, Mucho has you splayed out for him on the bed, his cock driving into you. Your lips are covered by his, and his hands grip your flesh tightly. "I don't want to let go," Mucho admits. "Stay with me for a while."

"I have to go back," you pant, though you wish your words weren't valid. The universe is playing a cruel joke on you, you think, as he kisses your breasts and sucks on your nipples with a warm mouth. "Easy..." Your hand cups Mucho's neck, and he looks up at you with his turquoise eyes, capturing you in his gaze. He continues to suck, however, meeting your lustful gaze.

"I'll come to you, then," he breathes, letting your nipple free. "I'll get on the next flight out to you."

"You have a life here." Mucho shakes his head and then lifts off of you, turning you onto your side. His hands take your top leg and anchor it on his shoulder before he turns to kiss your ankle sweetly.

"I'll come to see you either way. Then I'll bring you back here and make you mine."

Your fingers fumble with the phone in your hands. You raise the item to your ear and wait for the dial tone to cease.

"Y/n... you kept me waiting for a while," Mucho murmurs once the other end does pick up. "Thought about my offer?"

"I have," you answer, wiping your sleeve across your face. "Yasuhiro, I--" The confession sticks in your throat. Mucho waits patiently on the other end. "I'm pregnant." There's a brief pause before Mucho responds.

"You're keeping it."

"I wouldn't have told you otherwise."

"What do you want me to do?" Your fingers tremble as you hold the phone to your ear. Your voice shakes as you whisper,

"I need you."

"Then I'm on my way," Mucho replies instantly. "I'll be there in a day. We'll sort everything out, baby."

"You're not mad at me for--"

"No. I'm just glad I get to hear your voice again." You hear the sounds of a keyboard rattling away on the other end. "I'm on my way, baby. Just hold on for me."

[pommunist]

I don't wanna say this under my own name because I'm friends with too many Quackity fans, but god, everything about his actions just makes me think that what he cares about is just avoiding legal trouble and protecting his own public image

And maybe also about his friends to be fair

(I mean to his credit, I don't think he cares about money either)

He says he's doing all this for the viewers, but I guess that doesn't include the viewers who care about the French streamers or the French characters

And I don't see any hint of him genuinely caring about the workers. This is not how you treat someone you care about. He keeps implying that he can't talk to anyone because of "leaks" but what the fuck could be so bad about the "leaks" that it justifies this kind of disrespect? Why is this secrecy more important than the needs of the workers?

Nobody's asking him to reveal his biggest secrets to the workers, everyone is just asking for him to TALK to them at least, and hearing them out

He also says he can't talk because he doesn't want to make false promises, then just say that! Again, nobody asked him to promise them a job in the future, we just want him to be honest and respectful! Just tell them directly that you don't know yet and listen to their thoughts on the situation! Ask them how you can alleviate the inconvenience if it's within your means! Just talk to them like they're fellow adults who are capable of having a reasonable conversation! Because they are!

The union mentioned that some of the workers had basically been told by management that they should be grateful to be allowed to work for Quackity Studios and ngl, I wonder if this is not only the view of higher management but of Quackity himself too. That's the question I keep asking myself and not daring to say out loud: does he see the lower level workers as just fans who should be happy they were even allowed to participate at all?

- 🐧

First I never mind anonymous asks so no problem dont worry !

Second I tbh don’t want to assume what Q true intentions really are because heavy speculation isn’t productive and can lead to more stress in general. However I think that we can agree that he isn’t doing it all for the money, given that we’ve always known QSMP was never and problably even supposed to be a profitable thing (just the hosting and translation costs alone point to this).

That said, I do agree that everything that has been done up to this point and since Lea started to reveal things seems to be more damage control and trying to avoid legal issues than actually trying to be fair to the workers. This isn’t even speculation if you consider the sudden firing of Twitter admins and the silent towards all the other admins.

Obviously, when you’re a company or an individual you wanna avoid a lawsuit at all cost. It is a logical business move, morally I don’t agree with that mindset ofc, and I also feel like it’s a misunderstanding of the intentions of most of the admins.

I don’t know any of them personally but none of them, so far, have publicly said they wanted to take the legal route or even sue Qstudios. In fact, most if not all of them have expressed their love of the project and wished for it to continue with better working conditions. Some admins also said they didn’t care about getting paid, that volunteer work was fine if they had done it without the stress and pressure. Side note if it ever comes out that some admins want to take the legal route to make their rights be recognised and be compensated then my full support to them.

As if he is doing all this for preserving his image (i say IF) then what a terrible job he’s doing. I hope I’m making very clear that QSMP and Q’s image with french speakers fans (and non fans, and other French Ccs) is in literal ruins.

Also I feel like there was a genuine wish to add different cultures, I’m talking specifically about the French and BRs here, but an underestimating of the work it takes to actually merge people from different backgrounds and that it goes beyond just putting CCs from all over the world on minecraft with a translator. The fact that there was no FR, PT or KR speaking upper admin at all in the team baffles me to this day.

Worst thing is that we probably only know like a fraction of the overwork, miscommunication and intimidation that went on behind the scenes. Heart aches for all of those who went through it. All the love to them ♥️

[paper-gold-theories]

Villainous Theory: P.E.A.C.E.'s Business Model and Only The Top Heroes Make Money

(featuring SunBlast, Miss Heed, and G-Lo)

In the past being a hero is a volunteer job and one of the reasons heroes have secret identities is to get civilian paying jobs to make money to support their day-to-day lives. But sometimes it's difficult for heroes to juggle their heroic duties and civilian jobs in their secret identities, which causes them to struggle for money.

P.E.A.C.E. saw this problem as a business opportunity to create the company with a business model that makes being a hero as a career where you can get paid instead of only a volunteer work.

P.E.A.C.E. tells the public is the reason they are paying the heroes is to help those heroes who sincerely want to help people earn an income so that they don't have to worry about day-to-day expenses. Hence, it enables the heroes to focus more on saving people more.

Additionally, P.E.A.C.E. states that "good deeds should be rewarded" so the more "heroic" a hero is the more money and benefits they will earn (e.g. housing, their own city, and a higher paycheck, ect). As well as rewards from the city and other companies (e.g. a statue/museum in their honour and sponsorships). Hence also stating that it is possible for a hero to become rich (and famous) from helping people.

So it's a win-win situation for everyone.

However their business model is flawed as there are several problems with this such as:

1. People become heroes for the wrong reasons

After people heard that you can become rich and famous if you become a hero at P.E.A.C.E, more people want to become heroes not because they want to do good, but because of money and fame.

2. P.E.A.C.E. actually secretly based their hero ranking and benefits allocation based on how they are "perceived as good" rather than how good they actually are and how popular they are.

-> How P.E.A.C.E actually calculates the heroic deeds of a hero is based on how publicly popular their heroic deeds are (e.g. covered on the news, social media, and word of mouth, ect).

-> Basically, how P.E.A.C.E defines as a "good hero" is how good they are perceived to the public rather than actually doing good deeds.

-> For example it's hinted in Miss Heed's Instagram post that wants to help and protect the Umbras for selfish reasons such as to make herself look like a better hero.

-> Another example is when Miss Heed mind controlled Coyote and made him look like wanted to redeem all because of her.

-> Both cases make Miss Heed look like a good person when in reality she is not.

-> Hence the heroes that are not that good or even bad people, (e.g. do bad deeds, have bad intentions) can also cheat the system as long as they “look good” to the public and hide their “bad side”. So heroes who know how to make themselves look as good as possible, such as GoldHeart, will be the one to be the riches and not the actual good people and get benefits.

-> P.E.A.C.E probably knows how bad the heroes are behind the scene but choose to ignore it because it benefits the organization.

-> Additionally despite what they told the public, P.E.A.C.E is still a profit organization, hence would also prioritize and allocate more benefits based on how much money and profit the heroes make them. Which is determined by how popular the hero is, how much sponsorship they are getting (which they probably get a large cut of the profit), and how their merch sales they are getting. To sum it up, the heroes are like the celebrities while P.E.A.C.E is the agent/agency promoting them.

3. Only the top heroes earn money.

-> The biggest flaw in their system and what P.E.A.C.E. doesn't tell the public is that only the top, most popular heroes earn money and get the benefits and those who are not at the top percentage barely make anything or don't make money which is equivalent to how hard they work.

The top, most popular heroes such as The Golden Rule, can create a loyal fan base that would buy their merchandise, sing praises of them on social media, ect. This would lead them to become more popular and be given more sponsorships, a statue in their honor and make them grow a larger fan base and the cycle continues.

-> These loyal fan bases as mentioned earlier would be less inclined to switch to other heroes as they already have a favorite. Hence, the heroes who became popular earlier on can control the system through monopoly.

-> As a result, it becomes difficult for newcomers/recently popular heroes or those at the bottom ranking such as sidekicks to earn money as compared to the more popular ones with a loyal fan base.

-> Let us take a look at 3 examples: Miss Heed, SunBlast and G-Lo

Newcomers /recently popular heroes SunBlast

I consider SunBlast a recently popular hero because he mentioned in Episode 1 that he got fame recently in 2017 after he came to Atreno and become the city's protector.

It is also shown in Episode 1 that SunBlast is an extremely famous hero, and is shown to be an extremely popular hero that has a lot of fans cheering for him and brand sponsorships.

So my first impression of him in this episode is that he is probably rich as well as popular from all the sponsorships.

But in the Shrunken Rescue comic we see that SunBlast was shocked that Miss Heed has a lot of houses while P.E.A.C.E. only gave him a lousy apartment.

As mentioned above, P.E.A.C.E. is like the agency and the heroes are like the celebrities under that agency. So most or nearly all of the percentage of the sponsorships SunBlast gets go to P.E.A.C.E. pocket while SunBlast gets barely a fraction of what is left, unless they are the top heroes like Miss Heed or the Golden Rule who probably have exclusive contracts or deals with P.E.A.C.E.

Meaning that despite how popular he is and how many sponsorships he is given he is still barely given benefits from P.E.A.C.E. as compared to Miss Heed because he is famous but not that popular as the top heroes who are allocated most of the benefits.

For Miss Heed

As shown above she is able to become the top 5 most popular heroes due to mind control and being in the Golden Rule which gives her enough clout to rise to the top.

So she gets a lot of benefits from this such as multiple villas. (23 to be exact)

--

(Side note as since P.E.A.C.E. gave Miss Heed multiple villas, I headcanon that probably gave their top hero GoldHeart multiple private islands, most likely in the shape of hearts to match his public image. 😆)

--

Sidekick: G-Lo

-> There are hits that G-Lo, being a sidekick, is struggling for money.

Alan mentioned on twitter that G-Lo works on Christmas patrolling because most of the big super heroes take the day off.

I feel like another reason she does (aside from the possible important tradition mentioned) is because she has to do it for extra money.

P.E.A.C.E. probably would pay extra for heroes/sidekicks to work on days no one wants to such as holidays.

-> In this newspaper article she is shown to have a Sidekick 4 Hire sign. The full translated article is here, but to summarize the point, G-Lo basically struggles to find employment after her mentor, Bicep is beaten up and GoldHeart stated he and the league will not to do anything about it because it endangers the life of the citizens, but I believe that might be just an excuse as sidekicks are not a priority for P.E.A.C.E.

-> Finally, another comic also shows G-Lo is shown to be willing to babysit villain ghost children which go against her morals as a "heroine in training" because Mother Poltergeist is willing to pay her $100/hour which shows how strapped for cash she is.

(translation by nightfurmoon)

--

So to conclude and summarize P.E.A.C.E. is an organization that cares about the perception of looking good rather than being good because it makes it money. Hence hiring heroes that help them do so even when they are not good people and the heroes that benefit are the top ones that make them the most money.

[strqyr]

okay but, consider: murder mystery / investigation in mantle.

there's been three murders just in the last week; all people who have been critical of ironwood / atlas. ironwood cannot send the ace-ops to investigate, because the people of mantle are, understandably, wary and mistrustful of anyone connected to the atlas military.

so ruby volunteers her team to do the job. they've investigated on their own before, so it's somewhat familiar ground to them, and they're not affiliated with the military to the same extent as the ace-ops are—though they'd still report all their findings to clover, or ironwood if he's not busy. to ensure that they've got all the legal things in order, ironwood grants team rwby their licenses, and off they go to mantle.

once there, team rwby has time to reflect: not only is this like the good old days at beacon—investigating torchwick and the white fang and what not—but it's their first official mission as licensed huntresses, and they're doing it as a team. was this what they expected it to be like? how does ruby feel, being barely seventeen and already a licensed huntress, when in normal circumstances she'd only be starting at beacon the next year? who's killing all these people; is it really someone connected to the military? is someone trying to frame ironwood? is it someone from mantle, unhappy with the city's state, or someone from atlas who's rich and powerful enough to cover their tracks, unhappy their profits are taking a hit thanks to the embargo, or has salem already managed to send her followers to cause mayhem?

( maybe qrow shows up to chat with them, totally not following them as a bird to keep an eye on them, he's not concerned or anything, no sir. )

four huntresses who barely look the age to have graduated is surely going to gain some attention... and that they do, of robyn and the happy huntresses, who are already investigating these murders on their own.

they're shadowed first, making team rwby feel like they're being watched but never quite finding anyone there when they look around, but after weeks go by and robyn can be certain these kids don't mean any harm and are actually trying to help, they end up meeting properly, team rwby getting chance to talk with the happy huntresses on their own terms before shit hits the fan.

maybe they do end up finding tyrian, right on the election result night. a chase happens, and they call back-up with penny being first to arrive as she was already in mantle, doing her own job. maybe that chase leads them to the same hall where the 'victory' party is happening, right on time for the massacre; however, instead of just penny being framed, now team rwby is in the spotlight as well, and the question of why has ironwood granted these 17-19 year olds licenses, they haven't even graduated, what is going on? puts ironwood in even more hot water than he already is in.

[beatricebidelaire]

thinking about georgina/bertrand again and lauren's fic fool me once, the way how georgina has always been a bit of lone wolf figure, because most don't understand her visions - to her, sometimes people can't keep up with her, either in intelligence/knowledge or moral flexibility, etc. she always kind of feels like she operates better on her own. and maybe it is a little lonely sometimes, but she thinks she's used to it and that she doesn't mind. and truth is probably that she doesn't mind, mostly. generally. she doesn't mind being on her own, she doesn't mind that others can't keep up with her, she doesn't mind the volunteers not associating with her - in fact, she thinks it's her not associating with them, not them not associating with her. (it's probably both true.)

she doesn't really get lonely, generally, or so she tells herself, which is mostly true. mostly. like, she'll at most think that if there's an equal who understands her, get her vision, match her intelligence, and not morally rigid like vfd, then she's open to having a partner, work or otherwise. but she's fine without that. she doesn't need it. she thinks of herself as independent, and she is independent. she has managed on her own quite fine, has her own business, carries her own scientific research. her skills make her profitable enough, and she doesn't need someone.

it's kind of how bertrand in the fic managed to ..... gain her trust and eventually even some kind of affection, and then breaking it when he betrays her. of course, georgina isn't easily fooled, and she's in no way the lonely, desperate type that'll fall for any company that comes along. she'll easily see through most plots. she's not the type to pour her heart out, to love more than the other, or anything like that. she doesn't fall for charming words, or nice looks, or wittiness, or suave flirtations. but even so, she is perhaps .... weak in just a very specific aspect, that when she meets someone who - maybe not completely match her level, but somewhat there, close enough, who slowly gains her trust - then the, not exactly loneliness, but just, the feeling of, finally meeting someone like this, who gets her, even if not completely, even if just in certain aspects not all of them - then suddenly - she trusts more than she usually would. it's kind of what happened in fool me once, which is so good that it's the canon backstory of g/b in my heart.

my feelings on georgina/olaf and how it's presented in netflix has always been .... a bit mixed and complicated. but i suppose i can see why georgina would've dated him, if i dissect georgina from this angle. i don't think she thinks he matches her intelligence/knowledge, but she possibly thinks what he lacks in that he makes up for in moral flexibility, and the way he comes up with various evil schemes. most likely she just thinks of him as, someone she works with for certain schemes they had together, and probably for quite a while she considers herself the planner and he, better than a lackey, but not an equal partner. and maybe gradually, he gets upgraded, though never quite an equal partner yet, but there was a change, and change she doesn't quite forgive herself for, even if it's not "equal partners" level. but she already feels she trusted too much. that's how we got the "water under the bridge" line. she was probably equally capable of leaving this relationship behind as he was, but he did it first, and she doesn't forget nor forgive that.

georgina's not lonely as much as she is alone, and she is definitely independent and can do without a partner, but even someone like her feels like if there is, a potential someone who she could work with, maybe even friends or something, that wouldn't be so bad either, and in the end that's maybe what created her weakness. she won't fall for just anyone. it's arguable if she even fell for either b or o. but there was possibly some trust (not all), and possibly some affection or attraction, or maybe even just, feeling of entertainment, because paltryville was probably quite boring. and she gave that trust/affection/whatever, and she doesn't forgive the betrayal. and this'll make her decide, firmly, that ultimately it's better to just stay on her own. but this decision, in turn, makes her more alone than possibly again to the same kind of attack, except it won't look the same the next time, because she'll be watching for that. and while it's kind of the same mistakes in a way, they're also very different. bertrand and olaf are very different. it's possibly because how different they are that georgina didn't think to be wary in this case, because, hey, she's kind of going for the polar opposite now, isn't she? what could go wrong?

[duplicitywrites]

Hi Duplicity! I’m asking you this with no intention to cause offence, and because you’re a creator in this fandom I like a lot, but how do you balance your content with JKR Rowling’s views ? I keep seeing people say that we should all stop consuming and producing Harry Potter content, because despite the intention, or Hc-ing it to suit our views, any engagement with the source material is bringing it to attention, and thus bring her and her hateful views against Trans people to attention, furthering her platform by ensuring her works remain in the collective mind of many people instead of letting it die out and somehow contributing to her legacy. I know you’re very very supportive of LGBTQ+ folks and seem like a very kind person, and I’m not insinuating at all you support JKR herself, but how do you deal with that implication and the unintentional effects your fanfics may have ? Just because it is somewhat true that fandom fuels popularity that fuels profit and yada yada. Please don’t take this the wrong way! Thank you and bless you for your writing ❤️

no offense taken! i hope you'll take my response the same way 💗

to be blunt, i think people who say that we should cease any engagement with the source material are wrong. the equation of content consumption with someone's personal morals is reductive and ultimately harmful.

this (often literal) armchair activism disrespects and disregards the very real efforts people make on a day to day basis -- whether that be through volunteer work, charitable donations, or simply serving as support to friends/family who are a part of those very minority groups that those naysayers claim to advocate for.

jkr is extremely vocal about her garbage opinions -- why are people not directing their ire at her instead of the random strangers they encounter on the internet? well, strangers on the internet are easier targets. it's easier to get a response. it's easier to ostracize and bully someone who doesn't have the security and following that a public figure like jkr has.

it's concerning to me how the concept of "doing the right thing" has shifted more and more towards "attacking the 'wrong' people". who is the target in these situations? is it actually a transphobic person who is being criticized, or is it someone who just likes harry potter? because in most situations i've seen, it's the latter. moral policing in fandom spaces has only gotten worse as the internet slowly morphs into one homogeneous corporate blob, and this is just another example of it taken too far.

harassing someone for liking harry potter doesn't miraculously make them a good person -- it doesn't make them morally superior. it just makes them someone who likes to attack others to feel better about themselves, someone who often looks for 'acceptable' excuses to do so. i'm secure enough in myself that i don't let this bother me, and i certainly don't accept anyone who thinks this way as a 'better' person than me.

i know i am not responsible for the opinions and actions of my readers. it is insanity to claim my writing harry potter fanfiction is making transphobes be transphobic, just as it is equally ridiculous to claim that writing about murder will turn people into murderers.

personally, i believe the best step is to not financially support harry potter as a franchise. this means not paying for official merch/content. but that's my own business -- i won't judge, insult, or attack the people who do, and that's because it would be hypocritical to hold anyone to this standard.

what about disney? what about walmart, or amazon, or any other company that profits off of the misery of minorities and the disadvantaged? people will say there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, but that is just another black-and-white approach to an incredibly nuanced topic.

the world we live in is flawed, with "problematic" humans involved at every level of society. there is no clear answer for every situation, so at the end of the day, i can't and won't tell you what to do or what to think, other than encourage you to make these decisions for yourself.

as individuals, the best thing we can do is take responsibility for ourselves. think critically about the actions we take and the impact these actions have on others. live the best life we can under the circumstances we've been given.

(much better than dunking on someone for putting their hogwarts house in their social media bio.)

[copperbadge]

Hi Sam!

My mom wants to start a nonprofit as a second career, focusing on providing free menstrual products to schools, colleges, universities, homeless & domestic violence shelters, and prisons in our local area (feel free to dm me for specific location info!).

I was wondering if you had any insight on grants and funding ect. at the start of a new nonprofit since you've been working at one for so long? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Somewhat unfortunately in this case, I've always worked for very established nonprofits -- even at the much, much smaller nonprofit I work for now we have a multimillion-dollar yearly revenue, and we've been around for something like 20 years. FWIW my current nonprofit did start in a garage, so startup nonprofits can be successful! And I do have some advice but I'm not sure how helpful it will be.

If she hasn't worked for/with nonprofits before, she should find something adjacent to her interests -- probably a food pantry or shelter, since they deal in similar "procurement" work, getting needed products into the hands of people who need them -- and volunteer (or even apply for paid work there). It'll give her an idea of how they work, how much work is involved, and even to an extent the landscape of nonprofits in her region. Possibly (usually very likely) there's already a nonprofit doing the work she'd like to do, in which case if she doesn't work with/for them, she should at least know a great deal about what they do and how. Starting up a nonprofit is pretty similar, laborwise, to starting up a for-profit company; it can be both complicated and labor-intensive, so if she isn't knowledgeable about nonprofit work, that's where I'd recommend starting.

If she is familiar with nonprofit work, and just needs insight on funding, I do have a bit more to offer there. First, she should be sure she's aware of any similar nonprofits and have a pitch ready about how hers differs. As with a for-profit businesses, she should have a plan for how funding will be deployed -- how many units can be bought for what price, how they'll be distributed, how she can track the work she does so she can provide statistics to potential donors. If she's capable of beginning the work before landing any big donors (ie -- if she has an existing grant or some independent wealth to put towards it) she should use that "startup" time to figure out how this will work and at what level before she brings donors onboard. Regardless of anything else, I recommend starting small, so that she can scale up rather than trying to manage a large org all at once.

Data is the name of the game these days -- she should track everything possible and keep extremely good records, because that's the kind of thing large donors and grantors want to see. The amount of information you usually have to provide to a granting foundation is significant. We have very poor records from our earliest days as a nonprofit and that's also difficult at times, because we can say we EXISTED in 2010 but we don't have a great idea of who we were interacting with, and a lot of institutional knowledge lives in the heads of longtime employees. She's going to want to have some form of good book-keeping, and start building a database as soon as possible not just of donors and mailing-list recipients but of foundations, grantors, and beneficiaries.

Charity Navigator will be a good friend because you can find registered nonprofits by region; I would also recommend a Guidestar.org account (they're free) because Guidestar will help find local family foundations, who are more likely to support poverty alleviation/aid nonprofits -- these are basically legal entities that hold the money a family wants to use for philanthropy, and the family directs where the money goes. You can see where they've given if you look in their 990 records (available on Guidestar) so if you can find say, a wealthy local family who gives regularly to food pantries, they're a good candidate for solicitation.

A friend of mine works for Resilia.com, which is aimed specifically at providing digital solutions to nonprofits; they have some really nice free offerings, especially for people looking for help incorporating or finding funders. Can recommend as a good place to start if she's not sure where to start. :D

Readers, feel free to chime in with advice! Remember to reblog or comment, as I don't post asks sent in response to other asks.

[hey-i-am-trying]

My last say of the day, because I have friends that follow me here that will hunt me down if I don't go to sleep.

You will notice that I have been really careful in what I spoke public and that because, I frankly I am not in the mood to be sued for defamation. And let me tell you, why you all should be careful.

We are still very unaware into which labor law should QSMP responde, with the amount of money that needs to be used to keep not only the server but websites and subtitles, I think it is unlikely that QSMP is not a legal company, but in which country is based, I am still not sure. Probably either México or USA, but I will not make any affirmations.

Not knowing that, I cannot say, if any of the allegation talked about possible breaches any labor law.

Also, I am not aware on how does employing international workers for remote job works, I am not sure if they need to follow the labor laws of the resident country of their workers.

It is getting even more weird, because besides many of the admins coming foward being volunteers, they had not sign any contract, only the NDAs.

I know that in Brazil, many of this stuff being alleged wouldn't be consider ilegal, volunteer work being even ilegal outside of non profit organizations, for example. And for what french people speaking up about it, some of this practices also seem to be legal in their country. In the USA, surpresing worker for speaking about their salaries is also not legal, which one of the stuff being claimed.

This looks like an legal minefield, and I am honestly not in any business to claim that any law was broken, because I really don't know.

Even if what all the ex-admins said is true(which I can't affirm), I don't know if they actually broke any law.

[blimpixels]

Wg comic story idea (WIP)

I thought of an idea to break in my newer OCs with a bigger story, and to properly establish Martha as a villain character as a foil for the others. Here's what I have so far.

Martha and Rose are on a "date" (Rose think's they're just hanging out) and Martha keeps berating her on her eating choices. So she keeps taking Rose's food and eating it to make fun of her because she thinks she can get away with it.

After their hangout Martha goes back home and does whatever and goes to sleep. But then she wakes up and gets ready to go to work but her pants are a little tighter and she gets pissed because she prides herself on being really fit and skinny So she swears revenge on Rose and plans to work off the fat but then she has another idea. If everyone else around her is fat, she'll seem skinny by comparison, so she doesn't have to exercise as much. (she's also a little lazy) so cut to their (Blake, Scott, Camilla, Martha) job. They work at a company that specializes in products and such concerning expansion stuff Camilla is working in her lab and Martha approaches her

"Good morning, Camilla. We have a new project for Research and Development. We're trying to combat food waste. Did you know that around 40% of all food is wasted every year?" "Yes" "Well making less food would be less profitable for our business partners, so instead we're going to develop a new product. Food won't be wasted if people eat more" "So you want me to make an appetite stimulant?" "Sort of. Yes. It'll be more of a line of food flavorings. Some for sweet foods, others for salty, etc. But we are going to use these specific ingredients in it"

Martha hands her a clipboard and Camilla reads it over "Martha, most of these are all highly addictive. There's some stuff on here I don't even recognize" "I'm just the messenger, Cami. Don't worry about the legality of it" "I'm not worried about the legality, I'm worried about the-" "Great! Get started immediately. All of your other current projects are on hold until this is complete" "…okay…"

Martha leaves the room with a devious smile on her face as Camilla gets to work on procuring the ingredients and synthesizing a sample Around a day or so later Martha checks back up on her. Camilla has a few samples ready but she hasn't tested them yet. Testers are basically volunteers that get paid a certain amount of money to test new products for the company. they're like gig workers or freelancers but they're freelancing their body to be used i guess. idk. anyways martha is a little more out of breath than usual. She gained a little more weight. like 5-10 pounds overall (which is honestly normal for most people, but not her) Camilla notices this. They both share a moment of staring at each other's bodies. Martha's clothes are a little tighter. A little more stomach. A little more ass. Camilla is currently smaller than she is. She and Scott exercise pretty regularly and cook at home most of the time.

Camilla breaks the silence "are you okay?" "I'm fine. Where are the samples?" "They're all here. I haven't tested them yet though." "Why not?" "You're supposed to do that. Aren't you the executive manager of the whole company?" "oh. Well you should've told me you needed some. I'll be right back."

Martha smiles, and leaves for a minute. She comes back, obviously pretending to be dejected. "We're all out" "all out? What do you mean? we have hundreds." "they're all busy." "busy with what? You said all of the other R&D projects are postponed" "Look, Camilla, we need to get this product out there soon before our competitors catch wind of it and develop their own formulas. It's not my fault we're out of testers. Just find someone from the department to test them. They'll be properly compensated." "But everyone else in R&D is still out from the last testing disaster. I'm the only one left!" "then you know what to do. I want some results by the end of the week. Or there will be no one left in the R&D department"