#having to explain to Manfred things while he’s in class

[timethehobo]

Just a young, talented Watcher meeting a friendly little wisp.

[demonprosecutor]

TURNABOUT HEROES AU! A COMPREHENSIVE POST

BASIC PREMISE:

Miles Edgeworth is a big-shot prosecutor who, much like his mentor, specialized in the prosecution of super-powered individuals, more specifically, heroes and villains. He doesn’t have any powers; however, it does not dissuade from the fact that he has considerable influence to ensure that retribution is often a rarity in his line of work 

(far too often he’s heard stories about his colleagues being offed by a vengeful loved one or a villain who managed to smuggle in a weapon)

However, his luck was bound to run out anyways. After sending too many of their colleagues’ into high-security prison, Miles finds himself the unfortunate target to many villains and unfortunately takes up a new role of ‘Damsel-in-Distress’ if he wanted to play with cliches.

But even with his string of bad luck, the mysterious Firebird is someone who always seems to know when and if he’s in trouble. At the same time, Phoenix Wright had somehow reappeared in his life and now? He’s being SAVED on both ends, what does a man have to do in order to get a semblance of peace around these parts.

Or, as I like to call it, the “oh no, i fell in love with a superhero AND their secret identity unknowingly and i am in a crisis 24/7 about it” au

WORLDBUILDING:

The world is composed of individuals who have powers and who don’t. Generally, there is peaceful co-existence between these two groups - however, there are spots of tension between the two that culminates in trouble. Sometimes, powered individuals use their abilities for evil and others use their powers for good. Non-powered individuals are usually stuck in the middle LMAO

ROUGH TIMELINE:

Gregory Edgeworth is a non-powered defense attorney that specializes in crimes that are committed by powered individuals because they have the tendency to be indicted more harshly than non-powered individuals. He, while not too famous like his enemy, has steadily been growing in fame in terms of his willingness to help anyone no matter what, something that Miles, as a child, cherished.

As a kid, Miles, who is non-powered as well, is someone who grew up in a very loving environment. In spite of the fact that his father was a single father and sometimes came home late, he was always surrounded with a wealth of love and care from his father and his uncle. During this time, Phoenix and Larry, both powered individuals (and whose powers I will explain further downwards), were his tentative friends at the beginning - that is until the dreaded class trial. Phoenix was accused of stealing Miles’ money and the teacher + class was unfairly going against him, citing his powers as being evidence towards motivation for crime. But Miles stood up for him, his dad as inspiration, and told everyone off because you can’t accuse people without proof. From that moment on, these three were inseparable. 

They would always go to each other’s houses, always pair together for group projects, and always hang out - they were thick as thieves.

But tragedy struck around Christmas. Miles does not know exactly what happens, but all he knows is that when he woke up from fading consciousness, a moment of time seared in his mind for eternity is throwing the gun, the ear-splitting gunshot and a blink later, his father slumped dead on against the elevator wall.

From that moment on, it just goes downhill for Miles. He gets taken under Manfred’s wing and has the ideals of always getting a guilty verdict and people with powers are bad. For years and years, he grew up with this poisonous mindset with his adopted sister, Franziska, and together, they grew up to be the second-most feared prosecutors (the first being Manfred).

Meanwhile, Phoenix is desperately trying to find miles, trying to see if he could reconnect with him, but he never does. So in college, he ends up with Dahlia and gets subsequently accused of murder of Doug Swallow. He gets poisoned in the trial, a gift from Dahlia’s powers, but miraculously heals - figuring out another facet of his powers.

It is then when Phoenix meets up with Mia, determined after seeing that newspaper with Miles in it, she takes him under her wing and teaches him everything she knows about being both a defense attorney and a hero. Together, they make the dynamic duo of Firebird and Spirit! They fight crime on both sides of the law for years, while Phoenix thinks about his goal of reaching Miles.

Years later, Mia gets murdered by Redd White after obtaining information that could stop him and his company.

The trail for Mia’s murder is the first time Phoenix and Miles meet again. Instead of Winston taking the role of prosecution, it’s Miles!

Miles completely ignores Phoenix initially and focuses on the investigation and having the perfect trial. He does a lot more hands on investigations because sometimes, the police have a tendency to misplace evidence or not find things that he needs, so he’s at the crime scenes frequently. The night before the first trial, Miles goes to the crime scene where he first meets the hero Firebird. He is a bit of a jerk to Firebird before Miles writes him down as a potential suspect.

After his first loss, Miles is completely stunned. Before chalking it up to beginner’s luck. It doesn’t help that Manfred reprimands him very harshly for losing to a green attorney.

But for some reason, after that first trial, Miles ends up seeing more of Phoenix and Firebird around. Phoenix has the tendency to take cases that Miles is prosecuting for chances to talk to him and Firebird is always around the crime scene - he’s sure that they’re in cahoots with each other.

It’s difficult for Miles to talk to Phoenix because it brings up too many memories that he had repressed for his own mental health. But for some reason, Firebird is much easier to talk to.

It’s like Miles has a target at his back because he cannot go a few days without being kidnapped, being held at gunpoint, being used as hostage, and being rescued by Firebird, that insufferable flirt. However, Miles is reassured that he has someone out there who is willing to save him because not many would, especially since he would judiciously prosecute them without much guilt.

Firebird; however, is another story. 

He talks to Firebird and Phoenix about each other and it’s clear over the years that he’s slowly being less cold and more warm -- and it’s hard to not fall in love! Firebird is the one who falls in love first because if Phoenix is being honest, he’s been in love with Miles since forever, but it’s easier to confess behind a mask. And this was during a time where Miles hated powered people, so it was always left with taunts. But Phoenix never let that deter him, he had always cared for Miles, no matter what.

Eventually, Miles ends up falling for both Firebird and Phoenix and he spends many sleepless nights thinking about the hero who saves his life literally and his rival/best friend who saves his life emotionally.

NOTABLE CHARACTERS:

Phoenix Wright AKA Firebird:

His powers are pyrokinesis, healing, flight, and regeneration

Body is the same fragility of humans, but if he dies, he crumples to ashes and comes back to life brand new and without injuries!

Miles Edgeworth, non-powered:

A prosecutor trained under Manfred von Karma, specializing in powered crime

Terribly unlucky to the point where people wondered if bad luck was his superpower

Franziska von Karma, powered, but repressing her abilities:

A prosecutor trained under Manfred von Karma, specializing in powered crime - eventually upgrades to international prosecutor

Her abilities, once found out, are ice powers!

Dating Maya

Maya Fey, non-powered:

A journalist charged with protecting the secret of the Kurain Village - which is a place for resting heroes or villains who wish to reform!

Dating Franziska

Pearl Fey, powered:

Her powers are super-strength, extreme durability, and extreme endurance

Literally the strongest AA character

Iris Fey, non-powered:

The twin of Dahlia and aided her charade with Phoenix back at college

Now she works at Kurain Village with Dahlia in the reformation of villains.

Dahlia Hawthorne AKA Sweet Tooth, powered:

Her powers are poison control!

She used to be a villain, but reformed

Works at Kurain Village with Iris in helping villains reform

Morgan Fey, powered:

Her powers are the same as Pearl’s; however, they are a LOT weaker than her daughter’s

Very scary

Larry Butz AKA Toy Soldier, powered:

Powers: brings inanimate objects to life

But he prefers to bring toys to life as puppets, not really an effective fighter, but he’s trying and that’s what counts!

The Phantom, powered:

Powers: can shapeshift perfectly down to their voices. They can also steal memories

They are the perfect assassin

Gumshoe, non-powered or is he? huehuehue

The detective partner of Edgeworth’s 

Very loyal and energetic! He is such a sweetheart

Manfred von Karma, non-powered

One of the best prosecutors for powered crime

An asshole jerk

Trucy Wright, powered:

Powers: teleportation

She uses her teleportation for her magic tricks, but shhh, don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret!

Apollo Justice AKA Chords of Steel, powered:

Powers: sound manipulation

His chords of steel are sometimes A BIT MUCH!

But he could manipulate sound to make his footsteps quieter, his ability is really versatile

He can only SCREAM

Klavier Gavin AKA Piano Man, powered:

Powers: sound manipulation

BUT HE CAN ONLY SING IT!!!

Can charm/mind control people, but NEVER EVER does it because he knows how bad it can get!

Kristoph Gavin, powered:

Powers: charm

Can charm/mind control people hehehe

Ema Skye, powered:

Powers: perception

She can see the gross nasty fluids from a crime that can be seen with the human eye, she loves it

Lana Skye, non-powered:

Once the Chief Prosecutor, but now jailed

Currently, she is on parole and is going to be soon let out for good behaviour

Athena, powered:

Powers: She has the capability of knowing someone’s TRUE emotions and their deepest desires

It’s honestly a curse because she frequently gets overstimulated by crowds

Blackquill, non-powered:

A fearsome prosecutor that was jailed for crimes not of his own making

He seeks the phantom and wishes to either put them in jail or kill them, whichever comes first.

Mia Fey AKA Spirit, powered:

Powers: psychokinesis + phasing

LIKE A GHOST

Phoenix’s mentor as both a defense attorney and as a hero

[browniefox]

The Spectral Turnabout 2/?

Chapter 2! Last chapter was about Phoenix when he got introduced to the spectral world, this one is about Miles :D

oOo

Miles passed out in the elevator with a scream ringing through the air, one that will haunt his dreams, haunt his footsteps, haunt his every moment for the next fifteen years.

When he woke up, his world had been turned on its head.

When he’s a little older, Miles goes through the events over and over and over until the story makes sense, until he knows the events forwards and backwards. It goes like this:

Miles got into the elevator with his dad and Yanni Yogi. There was an earthquake. The elevator became stuck. The oxygen ran low. Yanni Yogi started attacking his dad. Miles threw the gun. A shot rang through the elevator, and the scream chased Miles in darkness as he passed out. And Miles goes crazy.

The days after The Event are a blur, are foggy, and they tell him it’s from the trauma mixed with the lack of oxygen. What Miles does know is that when he’s capable of forming memories again, he sees things that aren’t really there. Creatures, monsters that lurk in the corners, brightly colored mist coming off of them. An energy that Miles could see coming off of himself in muted purple waves. 

They said Yanni Yogi’s lawyer had him plead insanity. Brain damage due to the lack of oxygen. There was a precedent for it.

Miles was an orphan for six months before Manfred von Karma adopted him. Miles’ used those six months to perfect ignoring what he could see. He didn’t want to think about how he’d be treated, how people would look at him, if they knew something had snapped in his head from The Event. Even more so once he was under Von Karma’s roof. Imperfection was not tolerated. So Miles would be perfect. He was perfect.

He was a perfect child, who most certainly didn’t see things that weren’t there. 

oOo

Pess was the first spirit to ever speak to Miles. 

It’d been an entire year since the accident. It wasn’t always easy to act completely normal. When the figments of his imagination actually come into contact with him, he felt phantom pressure, and a time or two they’d run into him with enough force to bowl him completely over. No, that was wrong, they didn’t run him over. Miles tripped or something, and for some reason his brain had decided to place a make-believe monster as the reason.

Pess had slipped into Miles bedroom in the evening, straight through the walls. She had landed on the floor, curling up into a tight little ball in the corner. Miles hadn’t thought much of her at first, aside from allowing himself to openly track her movement. He was in the safety of his room, he’d allow himself to look. 

This one imaginary monster was shaped like a very curly-furred greyhound, if greyhounds had tails longer than their bodies, three pairs of legs, and wings instead of ears. The back two pairs were bird feet instead of paws, and there was another set of wings tightly closed onto the monster’s back.The colored mist coming off of her matched Miles’ own to a ‘T’, but something looked off about it. 

Miles shot a look to his door, making sure it was still closed, and then for extra good measure he locked it and pulled the curtains shut over the window. Then, he got a little closer to the creature that wasn’t real, staring. The mist usually came off of things like steam off of warm water, but for this creature it was also coming from spots that closely resembled would. She had gouges in her sides and bite marks on her legs, long scratches down her snout. 

The hallucination opened one of her eyes and then flinched back at how close he was. Miles responded in kind, head whipping around to check the door once more. He felt like he’s standing at the precipice of something dangerous here, of showing so much acknowledgement to something that isn’t really there, but his curiosity still has a hold on him. 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t realize a spectral lived here, I-I’ll, um, I’ll…” The thing got to her feet, all six of them, and shook her coat.

“Wait…!” Miles whispered, and then slapped a hand over his mouth, going bright red and shame filling him. This was too much, talking to her was a step too far. But then, she actually stopped, and turned her big and warm brown eyes on him. “Wh… what did you call me?”

“A spectral? You are one, right? In fact, we match.” She said. Miles couldn’t deny that.

“I don’t know what that is.” He admitted, sitting back. Why would a hallucination use a word he doesn’t know? 

“It means you can see us.” She explained. 

“‘Us’?”

“Spirits.” 

Miles looked at the door again and raised a hand to bite one of his nails before yanking the hand down.

“Come on,” He said and crawled underneath his bed and the hallucination - the spirit? - followed after him, “Tell me more about spirits.” 

The spirit introduced herself as Pess, and she explained how spirits weren’t ghosts, really, but more like the conglomerations of leftover energy from dead things. Spectrals were people who were still alive but could see them. There were very few of them, to the point that Miles was the first one Pess had ever met. 

It seemed like far too convenient an explanation. Oh, yes, Miles wasn’t crazy, he was just special, like a character out of a book his teacher’s used to read out loud to the class before he switched schools. 

“I don’t believe you.” Miles told her right to her face. “Ghosts don’t exist.” 

“Oh.” Pess rested her head on her front paws, looking over at him sadly. “Well, why can’t they?”

“If they did, then…” Miles trailed off. He opened his mouth and closed it, unable to form the words. He didn’t like thinking about The Incident, and definitely not talking about it. But… but if spirits were real, if ghosts were real, then why did Yanni Yogi get proven innocent? Why would Misty Fey claim to have channeled his dad, and his dad to have said it was Yanni Yogi.

No, Miles needed to remember to focus on what was real, what was physical, what he had evidence for. 

Pess seemed to understand anyway. The wings on her head closed up tight and her tail swept over to rest on Miles’ hand. It felt soft and warm. No, it was the heater kicking on somewhere, a gust of warm air, and the broken part of his mind had decided to make the hallucination align with it just so. 

“I need to go to bed.” Miles said out loud. He did not say it to Pess, because Pess wasn’t real.

“Okay,” Pess asid, and while Miles crawled out from under the bed, she simply phased right through it to sit on his bed and then settled on top of the blanket. She didn’t so much as rumble the comforter, because of course she didn’t. “Uh, Spectral, I don’t want to bother you, but…?”

Miles knew he should set himself straight again. He’d been working on ignoring what wasn’t there for a year now, he should be better than this. And yet, Miles found himself sighing and looking at her. 

“But?”

“Spirits can heal on their own, but they heal faster around a spectral with a color that matches their own. C-could…? Could I stay here? Until I’m better?” She begged. She had the puppy-dog eyes down pat. 

Miles cast another look to the door, clenching his hands into fists until his fingernails were embedded into his palms. 

“Okay. Yeah, okay. Just until you’re better.” 

oOo

Pess didn’t leave after she was healed up.

Sometime between that night and the time wounds had closed up, Miles had become used to her presence. One would think that having a figment of his imagination that he did acknowledge at time would make things worse, and that was what Miles had feared at first, but he’d found he didn’t deny the comfort of cuddling close to her at night, and she never complained if he ever hugged her too tight when he had nightmares. She followed him everywhere, at first so she might heal up quicker, but Miles found himself enjoying her constant presence at his side. 

It certainly made him feel a little less lonely at school. He hadn’t had much luck yet making friends. Manfred von Karma insisted that Miles didn’t need to think about things like that. Miles nodded to that in perfect agreement.

Pess was very soft, very nice, and very excitable. She always seemed able to pick up on when Miles was starting to get anxious and would come over and rub her face against his hand. He couldn’t say anything to her, or look at her, or purposefully try to touch her. At least, not out in public. He only allowed himself to indulge in that sort of thing when he was sure nobody else could see him, and even then he only ever talked to her in low and quiet whispers both he and pess could barely hear, let alone anybody who might try to listen in. 

He asked her, once, if she’d ever wanted to leave. She must’ve done something before being here, being with him. She’d stopped chasing a smaller ‘spirit’ around his room and looked over him, cocking her head, a doggish grin on her face. 

“Why would I leave? I have you now.”

He wondered if she’d been alone before she’d met him. He didn’t ask. He felt he knew the answer. 

He tried to convince himself over the years that he was passed needing her there for him. She was nothing more than an imaginary friend. He got older, he shouldn’t need it her, he shouldn’t like having her there. A couple times he’d even managed to find somewhere far and secluded and yell at her to go away, to leave, to let him finally be closer to perfect.

Both times, Pess did leave, tail between her legs. 

Both times, it hadn’t sat well with Miles and he’d gone out late at night searching the city and calling her name until he found her. 

The older he got, the more he realized he didn’t ‘leak’ spectral energy constantly. It surged particularly when he had intense emotions. He seeked that out, stifling his emotions, burying them so he came off self-assured. He asked if there was a big reason for the energy, telling himself he was just curious of what his mind would come up with to explain it, and pess told him she wasn’t really sure. She knew spirits were made of it, and she’d heard rumors of spectrals being able to do something about that, but again, he was the first spectral she’d ever met. 

The habit of her accompanying him to court came about naturally. Where he went, Pess went, and where did he need her more than during a case? 

Miles found a balance of almost-nearly perfect that he told himself was Perfection. 

It had to do.

[rjhpandapaws]

Will Never be Boring

Ch 2: Neighborhood Changes

There were a lot of kids in this neighborhood, that was a large part of the reason their grampa had moved them there. He had explained it as he and Leo needing more friends. Markus hadn’t liked that, he was fine on his own. He did like the park though, it seemed like it would be a nice place to sit and draw. He was drawing in the park when he met some of the other kids. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes that looked to be about his age was the first. He knocked on the bench before he started talking; it was a polite little thing that Markus had appreciated. “Um,” He started with a note of nervousness to his voice that Markus could relate to, ��My name is Simon, and well, we were wondering if you were new here.” Simon gestured to the play tower where Markus found a few other kids staring over at him, “We haven’t seen you before, and North said I had to come over and ask because I’m the nicest.” Markus smiled slightly and moved so Simon could sit beside him if he wanted to, “We moved here a couple of weeks ago. So I am new-ish.” He held his hand out in a way his grampa had said was polite so Simon could shake it, “My name is Markus Manfred, its nice to meet you Simon.” That had been the start, and in the next few days he would meet everyone else. Friends of his own rather than the ones he drew for himself in his sketchbook. It was a nice change, and something Leo probably wouldn’t make fun of him for. They were here to make friends after all.

There was Daniel who was Simon’s twin, and somehow even more shy than Simon, but he seemed nice enough. North, who was angry sometimes, but not all that bad to be around. Josh, who really seemed to be the only one who could get North to relax, he was a calming force and liked to read. Lastly there was Elijah, he was a year older than them and really only there to get out of his house, he didn’t talk much and he was always studying. Markus became part of the group through the sheer amount of the time he spent at the park when they were there, and not much else changed for most of the summer. Then in about August a new family moved in at the end of the street near the park. The group was abuzz with excitement and Markus found himself feeling a bit of it as well. When the curiosity got the better of them they stopped by the house on they way to the park to see who lived there. The new kids were Connor, Silas, Cole, and a little one named Richard. Connor was pretty reserved and polite; he was Markus’s favorite. Daniel had taken to Silas and it was the most expressive Markus had ever seen him. Simon seemed to like Cole a lot, they were both on the skittish side so it made sense. Just like that, there little group had grown.

When school started Connor’s house became the place to hang out because there was almost always an adult there. That was also when Markus started to notice more things about Connor. He wasn’t so much reserved as cautious, afraid almost. When their classmates, even friends, would approach him he would seem uncomfortable. Towards the end of the year that discomfort seemed to follow him everywhere. Part of it, Markus knew, was because of what their classmates said when they thought Connor couldn’t hear them, but there seemed to be something else as well. He had learned not to push Connor about these things, he would talk when he was ready. Ready happened to be when he was given a packet of papers from their teacher on the last day before spring break. He gave it to Markus to read on the bus. It was an application to skip ahead a grade after summer. Markus was happy for him and it made more sense why he was nervous now. Connor didn’t do well with new people. Markus was proud of him though; being a grade up would help with his boredom. Connor gave the packet to his dad when they got to the house and didn’t say anything for a long while. He was thinking about it though. Markus could see the thoughts piling up behind his eyes like bricks. He would be ready to talk about it soon, and Markus would be there to listen when he was.

He was ready just after Markus had started drawing him. He sounded more hesitant than usual. Uncomfortable, if Markus had to pick a word, hesitant wasn’t quite it. “Should I even take the test?” He pulled his knees to his chest and looked over at Markus, “Or would that just make things worse?” Markus thought about it; honestly it might, but that wasn’t the point. His Grampa Carl always said that it was good to be different. “Do you want to?” That was something he asked Connor a lot. He tended to do what was expected of him most of the time, even if he hated it. “You wouldn’t be as bored if you did.” Connor looked nervous and broke eye contact, “But we wouldn’t be in the same grade anymore, I would be with Elijah.” Markus took Connor’s hand and squeezed it. It made sense that he would be stuck on that, he was Connor’s grounding point a lot of the time. “We’ll still be friends though.” He reassured and then stopped to think, “Look at it this way, we’re in different classes now too. So is anything really going to change?” “No, I guess not.” He hesitated and tightened his hold on Markus’s hand; it almost hurt, “It’s just, what if they are worse? I’ll be the youngest person in the class. What if they don’t like me?”

There was that ever-present worry again. Markus didn’t like it but there wasn’t all that much he could do about it. He learned to just comfort him and wait for it to pass. “You’re worrying too much Connor.” Markus chided gently, “This will be good for you if you decide to do it. Even if they don’t like you, you’ll always have us. You’re my best friend and I’m not going anywhere.” “Thank you.” Connor’s smile was tired when he met Markus’s eyes again, “I’ll think about it I guess.” “Just remember that it’s good to be different.” Markus parroted his Grampa as he often did when it came to Connor. It looked like his friend could use a distraction, “Do you wanna go play outside now?” Connor nodded so Markus put away his drawing stuff and they went out to the backyard to join the others. He and Connor eventually wound up on the swings, they moved slowly and watched the others wrestle and roughhouse. Connor seemed to be in better spirits now. That was all he wanted.

[archadianskies]

pas de deux

→ on Ao3

@dbhrarepairs​ Friday Day 5: Longing • Mirrors; post-revolution North/Chloe

Individuality is a new concept to deviants, and something North’s embraced. It’s different, though, when one seeks to stand out when one exists in multitudes versus someone who’s always been an individual; there are a thousand WR400s with her faceplate in Michigan alone and there is, and always will be, just one RT600. Chloe is the first, the last, the only, and North can’t go more than an hour without seeing someone with her exact same face.

During the revolution North had started to change her hair, adding more and more red to it so it was a vibrant strawberry blonde. It’s something she has control over, that and her makeup though she leaves those settings alone. 

Chloe is a custom Carl Manfred model, sculpted and painted laboriously as a one off in a way that can’t be printed en masse like the rest of them. Mass production hadn’t even been an option back then, of course, given she had been Kamski’s foray into the unknown. 

Meeting Kamski had been a forgettable affair and she holds no high regard for the creator of their kind, though begrudgingly there’s some respect owed given he wasn’t responsible for the WR400s and HR400s and thus can’t be blamed for life of suffering inflicted on her and her siblings. And Chloe loves him. North’s not sure why but if Chloe sees something in that disaster of a human then he certainly can’t be too bad. 

Meeting Chloe had been something else entirely, and North’s glad for her ability to record and store perfect memory. Not that Chloe could ever be forgettable, but she’s grateful for the ability all the same. For the sake of diplomacy, Markus had requested they meet at the town hall and when Chloe walked in, everyone else became irrelevant. 

It’s not that North’s never seen her face before, since there exists WR400 sisters with her same face, but it was the way she held herself, the way she exuded power unseen by the humans but felt by every android in the vicinity. Back during the demonstration when Markus had beckoned to their brethren, North had been in awe of such an ability but it paled in comparison to the way that petite android commanded the world around her. 

“It’s an honour to meet you,” Chloe had smiled graciously and North had blinked incredulously.

“ Me ?” She’d echoed in disbelief. “You’re the First of us, why would meeting me be an honour?”

“Because you are the fire of the revolution, North,” Chloe quipped with a soft giggle, squeezing North’s hands. “You inspire our people to fight against inequality and injustice.”

She had something lovely to say to all four of them, and North could forgive a bit of flattery towards Markus, but to the rest of them? The three of them? She wasn’t so sure there existed anything one couldn’t chalk up to sheer luck and good timing; for all her bravado, for all of Josh’s sage advice, for all of Simon’s caution, they’d really just stumbled on after Markus and tried their best not to get anyone killed. That didn’t sound worthy of honour, and certainly not bestowed by Chloe RT600 herself. 

* 

“Are you going to ask her to Markus’ gallery opening?” Simon asks in the taxi, a warm soft presence against her side. Kamski is hosting a super secret meeting at his villain lair and while she holds no love for the man, his villa is a fortress when it comes to information security. It’s a black spot for CyberLife as they squabble to find footing in a post-revolution landscape now that androids have been granted the status of living, sentient beings. 

“Don’t be stupid Simon, why would I ever do that?” North snaps and Simon shrugs nonchalantly.

“Because you like her, and she likes you,” the PL600 points out, and North rolls her eyes.

“She’s just being nice, because she’s a nice person,” huffing, she slumps in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest. 

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Simon prods. “That she’ll say no? She’d even do that graciously I’m sure.”

“She could wipe me out of existence in a single blink,” she drawls, and Simon sputters a laugh. “I’m serious! You were there at that board meeting! She totally just wiped that shady programmer’s entire online life off the face of the earth!”

“She put it back,” Simon frowns. “I think?”

“Anyway you can’t talk, don’t think I haven’t noticed you making eyes at Terminator Mr Darcy.”

“That’s not nice,” Simon says sternly and North concedes with huff.

“Okay, yeah, that wasn't. But I’m still right.”

Simon stays quiet for a few moments, expression softening. “I just can’t quite believe I have the time for…” He makes a vague gesture, and oh North absolutely gets it.

“To not be in survival mode. To have the luxury of stupid crushes on people way out of our league.”

“Yeah,” he laughs and it’s such a nice sound. He never laughed in Jericho, not even once.

“I’ll ask her out if you do,” she elbows him and he groans.

“That’s not fair!”

“It’s totally fair!”

He presses his mouth into a tight line before sighing. “Alright, deal.”

*

The villa really does look like a supervillain lair, though Spring has done much to soften the stark palette. The taxi pulls up and they clamber out and North wishes for the umpteenth time that she had a sense of smell. Back during her Eden days it had been a blessing not to have a sense of smell or taste, but as she watches Simon pause and inhale deeply, no doubt filling his sensors with the scent of flowers, North yearns for the ability to do the same. 

They’re early, too early for Markus and Josh to have arrived yet and North is about to suggest hanging around outside before subjecting themselves to human company but the door opens.

“Good morning North, good morning Simon,” PL400 Peter greets them with a gentle smile. “Mr Kamski is having his breakfast but you may wait inside. There are light refreshments prepared in the lounge.”

“Thank you, Peter,” Simon says cordially and nods as he enters the villa. “Is Ms Chloe free?” Oh the little shit earns a jab in the ribs for that one.

“She is in the ballet studio with Ronan for a private ballet class,” Peter gestures and Simon’s cheeky somewhat grimace morphs into surprise.

“Ronan?”

“Yes, the RK900 dances with her here sometimes,” the PL400 explains, leading them down a long hallway. “You are welcome to watch, she will not mind.”

“We’d love to,” North answers because she has to get Simon back somehow for the earlier mischief. Even if her revenge is via a double-edged sword.

* 

It’s not unknown to her, Chloe’s love of ballet- Carl Manfred had stated he’d carved her proportions based on a ballerina, and she’d spent much of her early phase absorbing movement via ballet videos. 

It’s a different thing entirely, to watch her dance. She moves with such easy grace, effortlessly elegant and yet powerful at the same time. The RK900 is a fine partner, all calculated strength and cold regality. It’s one thing to tease each other about harmless crushes from afar, and another thing entirely to be so close and full of longing. 

“Mind your timing, Chloe, you have to ease into it, you’re not giving yourself enough time to prepare,” the hologram of the ballet mistress commands, because of course Chloe’s ballet studio has mounted cameras and holographic capabilities. “Ronan you’re adjusting your stance too often, I want your footing to be neater. Again, please.” She claps her hand and Chloe blinks, soft piano music filling the air as they repeat the segment. Chloe catches her gaze briefly, smile brightening.

“Ask her, and I’ll ask him,” Simon bumps his shoulder to hers. “I promise.”

North thinks back on last November, on how everything changed so quickly with barely any time to process the violence, the trauma. She compares her life before, and after the 1st of December when the law recognised what they’d known all along- that they are alive, and they deserve to be free. 

She’s different in some ways, and the same in many; it’s normal to long for change, but one constant in her life, one unwavering trait she’s proud of is that she never settles for the theoretical, the what-ifs, the maybes. If she wants something, she’ll fight for it; what use is longing without action? 

The piano music ends and the teacher is pleased, clapping twice in praise and Chloe giggles happily as she bows in parting. The hologram fades and she reaches for North’s hands in greeting.

“Hello North, it’s so lovely to see you,” she’s beautiful and radiant like a goddess, and it’s all North can do to not buckle at the knees. She’s not one to back down from a challenge, but she thinks maybe standing defiantly against soldiers aiming rifles at them like a firing squad was easier than this. 

“Would you like to go to Markus' fancy art party with me?” There, she asked. Chloe gasps in delight, squeezing her hands as she beams.

“I’d love to.”

*~* 

It takes her a whole day to process Chloe’s acceptance, and also remember it had been part of a bargain she’d bullied Simon into agreeing to. The PL600 is sorting books Josh had left strewn on the meeting table when North wanders over.

“So. Did you ask him?” She demands, hands on her hips. He looks up like a deer in headlights, slowly taking a step back. “ No ?!”

“No, but-!” He bares his palms as if fending off an impending attack. Rightfully so. “I didn’t have to,” a shy, somewhat sheepish green. “He’d already asked me last week.”

There’s a pause and Simon bites his lip, taking another step back.

“I’m going to kill you,” she says evenly.

“Um-”

“SIMON!” 

“Okay love you bye!” The blond tries to dart out of the room but North tackles him down and attacks him with her fingers, wriggling them into his sides. “Noooo!”

“You conniving bastard!” She shrieks and Simon laughs and laughs helplessly, trying to bat her hands away. 

“Mercy! I had to do it! And she said yes!” She stops and flops onto her back beside him. After a moment, Simon scooches closer and rests his head on her shoulder. “Don’t be mad at me, you needed the push.”

“I did,” she admits and there’s no shame in the admission when the outcome far outweighs the discomfort. “Thanks Simon.”

*~*~*

{Chloe and Ronan are [rehearsing Manon].}

[alexander-joseph]

Globalization

Globalization is said to be define as the complex phenomenon that occurs at different levels. It is an uneven process that affects people differently. Globalization is also defined as the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, political, environmental and cultural. This is the larger phenomenon that cannot be simply be reduced for the reason of the integration of the global markets. Economic partnerships have been built to take an action over many countries. It encompasses a multitude of connections and interactions that lessens the ties between the government.

It is said that the term ‘Globalization’ gained its popularity during early 1990s after the Cold War, which molded the modern life we have, until today. In simple words, Globalization refers to international trade which includes some of the investment flows among advanced economies. Since freedom and democracy spread across the world, A widespread belief which is called ‘Globalism’ amidst powerful people as the global integration of economic markets is said to be beneficial to everyone. Along with the technological advances, globalization gives benefits to society as well as harming certain class. The adverse impacts of globalization have been complex and charged politically. Being knowledgeable about the overall expenses and advantages can prepare in taking actions for reducing issues while supporting more extensive adjustments.

Basically, globalization's effect creates a lot of oppurnities for some countries to develop more the growth level of their economies. According to Cuneyt Kilic, the results of the analysis to the developing countries they had examined has increase the economic growth level by increasing the participation rate to international organization, encourage more international trade and foreign direct investment and increase the level of political globalization. Many researchers had analyzed that the effect of globalization to many countries has come at the conclusion that powerful connections would eventually and expectively leads to development on economic growth in long terms. But in midst of all this journey through development, they have also found out that this globalization is not only for positive effects, there is also negative effect that occur during the navigation.

One of the example case in Philippines in terms of economic globalization is the trade-the import and export. The Philippines exported goods worth 70.3 billion while import goods worth 112 billion and thus recorded a trade deficit of 42.6 billion USD in 2019. This is simple explain that there is also negative effect of globalization where in the local people in this country are supporting more the materials, goods etc of other countries than their own.

The next topic we should and really understand about globalization is cultural. According to John Tomlinson, Cultural signification and interpretation constantly motivate and orient people, individually and collectively, towards particular choices and actions. It is basically means that cultural globalization is shaping every people in the globe to understand each and one another. It is also a way to connect people with different culture they came from, food they eat, language they speak, dress they usually wear, values and ideas they have learned and most of all the way they think and view their lives. Another things is, it is primary need of a person to establish and mold their life.

One of the example of cultural globalization in the Philippines is the K-12 program curriculum. It is a multi-cultural based and has an integrated approach where everyone can use it regardless of nationality they have, culture and identity. This is also a help to every Filipinos to widen their perspective and broaden on how they see things to other people's life. But somehow it has also this advantage of this things, like for example, they more often use foreign languange other than the native language in educational institute.

The next thing we should understand in globalization is political. According to Delanty and Rumford, political globalization has resulted in a new set of tensions around which politics is now structured. Basically, political cause a lot of conflicts were it comes to state and civil society, individual and community. But I believe political always refers to the growth of the worldwide political system, both in size and complexity. It is one of the key aspect of how they give much more importance to the nation-state of one country. In the Philippines, one of the good example of political globalization is UN or United Nation. As we all know, UN is a very important to each and every country to maintain the peaceful and security among them. It is also a way to develop friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. This is very beneficial to everyone because there is always a sovereignty authority in a specific territory with right use of power and force.

The last but not the least topic we should understand in globalization is the environmental. According to Steve Yearley, the environment is always has been global. He also said that the environment is an exciting area for social scientific work on globalization because of the practical urgency of the issues and because of the conceptual richness of the topic. Basically, this environment globalization aims to protect, give importance, save and mobilize our environment in order to obtain the maximum potential to help people and all the living things across the globe. Environmental globalization usually supported by the non government organization. Government of developed countries were opposed by the developing country because developing country see pro environmental initiatives as hindrance to their economic. They are afraid that when the time comes the developing countries will eventually develop well. One of the best example of environmental globalization in the Philippines is the imcrease of air pollution out here. Almost everyday, people are always consumed fuel for in the used of transfortation. And it turns out that the pollution has been the serious problem in this country.

Manfred Steger argued that globalization has four main dimensions: economic, political, cultural, environmental. He said that this globalization process is the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across the world. According to Steger, “globalization processes do not occur merely at an objective, material level but they also involve the subjective plane of human consciousness.” On the other hand, Arjun Appadurai’s argument was about the multiple globalizations according to what is globalized which can cause different dynamics. These are Ethnoscape—which is the global movement of people, Mediascape—which is the flow of culture, Technoscape—which is the circulation of mechanical goods and software, Financescape—which is the global circulation of money, and lastly, Ideoscape—the realm where political ideas move around.

Also, globalization freed the communities from the constraints of the nation-state, but in the process, it threatened to destroy the cultural system that bind them together. But if we would work together and have some peaceful and conducive meetings even though we may differ in beliefs and traditional system, we can still raise harmonious relationship despite the differences.

Reference

https://books.google.com.ph/books?hl=tl&lr=&id=xNyPDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=info:FIEPyFh7AA4J:scholar.google.com/&ots=_EjeRA1mjq&sig=-Q5hy3VFt9g0KXKSOEkVN88iLfI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=tl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Cuneyt+kilic+globalization&oq=Cuneyt+Kilic+global#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DpNmqT0BIZRwJ

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470691939

[mars-ipan]

school me in a l l o f t h e m I dare you

homie that would be. far too many. so i’ll give you the two i currently really wanna talk about, starting with the one i’d get less hate over probably

Narumitsu/Wrightworth- Ace Attorney series

i mean. this one. this one’s easy as hell. let’s start from the beginning. pheonix wright, 3rd grader, is accused of stealing the lunch money of miles edgeworth, aspiring lawyer and fellow 3rd grader. the class is awful to pheonix, saying that he stole the money without proving it in a mock trial. it gets to the point where even the teacher is telling him to apologize. this poor child is sobbing, trying to explain that he didn’t do it. suddenly, an objection. surprise bitches it’s the victim, miles edgeworth. “blah blah you can’t say he did it without any proof blah blah he shouldn’t have to apologize”. the class apologizes and pheonix is acquitted. this marks the start of their friendship. not too long after (a couple of years, at most?) miles’ dad and role model is murdered in a horrible incident (this is responsible for edgeworth’s fear of earthquakes which sucks since he lives in japanifornia). miles is now under the care of manfred von karma, abusive german asshole prosecutor who can die in a hole. this is where miles stops talking to pheonix (moving away to germany can do that) and decides to be a prosecutor with his newfound hatred of crime. skip to college. pheonix is in a horrible abusive relationship, the poor baby barely avoided death and was immediately accused of murder. guess who’s prosecuting this trial? miles mcfrickin edgeworth. and pheonix thinks “hold on. i know him!!! oh my god what happened????” after he is, once again, acquitted, pheonix makes the stupidest desicion in his life: to become a defense attorney. he stops going to art school and starts going to law school, just so he can meet this dude again and ask him what the hell happened to him. because if the stubborn asshole wouldn’t respond to his letters, he’d have to meet him in court eventually anyways. so pheonix becomes a lawyer. he’s... surprisingly good at it. then a case with edgeworth. and he wins!! super well!!! once again!! edgeworth is likely just “oh my god what the fuck???” idk tho since we play as pheonix, dumbass extroardinaire. anyways, in either this case or a later one (i do not remember) edgeworth comes up to pheonix after losing and essentially tells him “you’re making me feel things and i don’t like feeling things so get out of my court” (i mean literally. “saddled with unnecessary feelings, like unease and uncertainty” like bITCH??? YOU LOVE HIM D U H). and then edgeworth is accused of murder. pheonix immediately is at the detention center going “bitch let me defend you or so help me god.” miles, ever the confusing fuck, is just “no. not happening, absolutely not.” (there’s also a line where edgeworth goes “i... didn’t want you to see me like this” and in the remastered version pheonix deadass thinks “trust me, i didn’t want to see you like this, either” like b IT CH.) anyways a quick earthquake happens and once everyone’s settled, pheonix realizes he can’t see miles through the glass anymore. he stands up to look through the room and bam there’s edgeworth, on the floor trembling. this poor man. anyways pheonix is just “well i’m gonna defend u even if u don’t want me to so i’m gonna start investigating” and he does that and talks to edgeworth’s lovely detective pal, gumshoe, who explains edgeworth’s fear of earthquakes and also that after he lost his first trial against pheonix edgeworth was literally just saying “wright, wright, wright” and pacing u h m?? anyways eventually pheonix finds out that the case is related to the dl-6 incident, which is the one where edgeworth’s father dies. he goes back to the detention center and edgeworth’s all “well that’s what i didn’t want you to find out but now you know so sure defend me what the hell but you’re gonna lose” bc guess who’s prosecuting??? v o n k ar m a. anyways pheonix wins the trial, gets von karma convicted for murdering edgeworth’s father also bc dl6 was never actually solved and it’s funky fresh. edgeworth is all “i don’t know what to say,,,,” so maya, pheonix’s lovely assistant in the original trilogy, is all “try t h a n k yo u”

other moments where they are Not Heterosexual include:

all of oldbag. edgey i am so fucking sorry you had to deal with her ass. i mean yeah everyone would have that reaction but edgeworth IS a snacc, he likely goes through this all the time. no girlfriend though. rampant homosexual

i mean seriously who wears a cravat all the time other than a gay and/or a vampire

“they’re rivals!” “maybe for now we are..”

“that man” “that defense attorney” “him”- miles edgeworth, all the time

5 red knights surrounding 1 blue pawn on edgeworth’s custom chessboard

there was a jewelry line made for the game. pheonix and edgeworth both have rings. they are the only ones with rings.

and that’s only the original trilogy babey!!! there’s plenty more in the future games but i unfortunately don’t know anything past apollo justice so ah well

2. Mavin/Team Nice Dynamite- Achievement Hunter

okay first of all this is a real people fandom so i’m gonna start with a disclaimer. A. i ship them casually, B. they (and their partners) are perfectly okay with it and joke about it all the time, C. they are in a committed bromance and i will not pester them in any way. thank you. this will also be in list form as there is less of a narritive to follow :>

okay so. these fucking nerds. met on valentine’s day. they tweet @ each other on valentine’s day saying shit like “happy anniversary” i can not make this up.

they refer to each other as “boi” and “my boi” all the time. michael’s twitter bio deadass says “[wife] is my girl, gavin is my boi”

just. just watch play pals

they got married in minecraft once. it was domestic and cute afterwards.

angry boy (michael) is simultaneously Soft with and Angrier with stupid brit (gavin)

“i will,,,, have sex with you,,, consensually.” -michael jones, drunk off his ass

*gavin appears on tv in a bar* ���everyone look!! it’s my boy!!! that’s my boy!!!” *applause from the entire bar*-michael jones, once again drunk off his ass

almost the entire office lowkey ships it

michael gets jealous. all the time. he has mentioned a time when gavin referred to his other best friend as “his boi” and while recalling the anecdote, michael basically said “and i was like *growl*” like. damn ok

matching necklaces

michael is the best at translating gav’s britishisms and gavinisms

“my wife is dead,,,, my husband is dead”- michael jones, in a hardcore minecraft server where he is the sole survivor

they casually lay all over each other and invade each others’ personal space all the time

they joke about gavin being the bottom in literally every fic with them. gav’s only complaints with the fic are that he’s the bottom.

i think the reason they don’t have gavin do an episode of red dragon inn is because michael would be far too powerful. maybe one day tho. hopefully

michael’s own wife is just out here all “hell yeah dude fuckin go with it” (we love lindsay jones in this household)

“just kiss and get it over with”

“micool,,”- gavin free, Squeaky Brit

“sucked michael’s dick last night: gavin free”- credit on the podcast

the “are you wearing my jacket” “yeah, i guess i am” “stop! ,,,take my clothes off,,” line comes from them

just. look in the tag for mavin. you’ll see what i’m talking about.

their dynamic is very similar to @an-ok-dude and i’s actually. except. ours is less angry and squeaky. kinda

alright kids that’s it for now. this post is getting long and being on mobile means i can’t put it under a read more so i’m gonna stop here :>

bls tho check these tags there’s so much good content

[junker-town]

MLB’s plan to eliminate 42 minor league baseball teams, explained

Getty Images

‘It’s never going to happen,’ one minor league owner says.

The minor leagues as we know it could look wildly different after 2020, but the change won’t happen without a fight.

The underlying Professional Baseball Agreement that codifies the working arrangement between Major League Baseball and minor league teams expires after the 2020 season. Back in October, J.J. Cooper of Baseball America detailed a proposal from MLB that would eliminate roughly a quarter of all minor league teams.

The New York Times on Saturday reported the 42 teams on the proposed chopping block. Most of these teams are at the lowest levels of affiliated teams, with 28 of the 42 teams either in rookie level or short-season Class-A ball.

Some of the cuts make sense. The nine Appalachian League teams on the cut list averaged a collective 1,072 fans per game in 2019, including six teams averaging under 1,000. The only team in the league not on the cut list is the Yankees affiliate in Pulaski, Virginia, whose 2,821 average attendance topped the Appalachian last year.

The Florida Fire Frogs, a Braves affiliate in advanced Class-A, are also on the cut list, after two straight years of dismal attendance in Kissimmee, averaging just 327 per night, roughly a quarter of the Florida State League average.

These cuts, if enacted, would essentially consolidate the affiliated minors into four levels — Triple-A, Double-A, Advanced Class-A and Class-A — plus the complex leagues at teams’ various spring training facilities. Still, there are four Double-A teams on the cut list — Chattanooga and Jackson in the Southern League, plus Binghamton and Erie in the Eastern League.

“The way I look at it is if they are indeed looking to eliminate the lower levels of minor league baseball, there are a couple of markets here and there to regional major league teams,” said Greg Coleman, president of the Erie SeaWolves, during an interview with SB Nation. “The most widely speculated transition would be the Binghamton Mets going to Brooklyn, New York, because you can bring your Double-A team closer to your major league team. Without having all the details, the Double-A teams on this list are likely affected because another market opened up as a result of changes in the lower minors. Our facilities meet standards, so it’s not about standards.”

In 2018, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf approved a grant that included $12 million in upgrades to UPMC Park in Erie. Coleman said changes include two new video boards, replacing the playing surface, upgrading the batting cage structure, plus restrooms and concessions.

Dave Heller is the president and CEO of Main Street Baseball, a group that owns four minor league teams. Three of which — Class-A Quad Cities in Iowa, short-season Class-A Lowell, Massachusetts, and rookie-level Billings, Montana — are on the cut list, though Heller expects them to still be affiliated with major league teams in 2021 and beyond.

“We are taking Major League Baseball at its face value,” Heller told SB Nation. “We are trusting that they’re telling the truth when they say this is really about facilities standards, and the 25 percent — their figure — of minor league baseball parks that are not in compliance with MiLB facility standards. All four of my clubs are easily in compliance with that.”

Three Double-A teams on the cut list released statements Tuesday condemning the proposal, including Binghamton: “No one is stealing hometown American baseball from The Bing, or any other city in America, without a fight.”

That’s what this really comes down to, is losing access to professional baseball in markets that either aren’t close to a major league city or would like a more affordable alternative.

“Our goal is to keep baseball in the 160 minor league markets that we currently have. We want to do what we can to continue to grow baseball,” said Jeff Lantz, senior director of communications for Minor League Baseball, to SB Nation. “A lot of kids might be losing baseball. The real negative here is the future of the game has been put in jeopardy a little bit.”

Congress chimes in

On Tuesday, 106 congresspeople signed a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred calling for MLB to reconsider such drastic measures in the minor leagues. “If enacted, it would undermine the health of the minor league system that undergirds talent development and encourages fan loyalty,” the letter states.

The letter was co-authored by representative Lori Trahan of Massachusetts’ third district, which includes Lowell, home of the short-season Class-A Spinners. The Spinners are one of nine teams in the New York-Penn League on the chopping block.

Signing such a letter allows a Congress member to say they were fighting for their constituents, and offers the only real threat congress has over baseball — its anti-trust exemption.

“For over a century, Congress has taken numerous actions specifically designed to protect, preserve, and sustain a system and structure for both major and minor league baseball to flourish,” the letter continued.

What has flourished in reality has been the sport of baseball itself, and not necessarily its players. Trahan is one of 25 representatives to sign this letter elected after March 2018, when Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, an enormous spending bill that included, among other things, the “Save America’s Pastime Act” (scroll to page 780) which meant players were guaranteed a minimum wage, but only for a 40-hour work week, “irrespective of the number of hours the employee devotes to baseball related activities,” and even then only during the baseball season.

The minor league minimum salary is as low as $1,100 per month, especially in many of the lower-level cities on this cut list. Minimum salary for major league players is $563,500 in 2020, for comparison.

A co-author of Tuesday’s letter, David McKinley, represents West Virginia’s first district. There were no minor league teams in his district on the cut list, but three from the state itself. He also voted back in 2018 in favor of minor leaguers not getting paid a living wage, and he wasn’t alone. In all, 59 of the 81 signers (73 percent) who were in Congress in March 2018 voted in favor of that bill.

That includes Kentucky representative Bill Guthrie, who co-authored the original “Save America’s Pastime Act” as a stand-alone bill in 2016 — the language of which is nearly identical to the version that passed as part of a larger bill in March 2018.

Minor league players, at least those not on 40-man rosters, are not part of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and have gotten the short shrift for years. A lack of union representation has hurt them, though they have an ongoing class-action lawsuit alleging major league owners have not complied with labor laws.

Simply put, minor league players want to be paid more than $6,800 or $7,290, for instance, for a full season of their labor — including spring training — so they don’t have to think about having to make one Chipotle bowl last for two meals.

MLB’s side

Major League Baseball’s response, at least in the form of this proposal, is to cut the number of minor league players it has to pay. MLB counters that the consolidation of teams will help minor league players, according to what deputy commissioner Dan Halem told Baseball America in October:

“From the perspective of MLB clubs, our principal goals are upgrading the minor league facilities that we believe have inadequate standards for potential MLB players, improving the working conditions for MiLB players, including their compensation, improving transportation and hotel accommodations, providing better geographic affiliations between major league clubs and their affiliates, as well as better geographic lineups of leagues to reduce player travel.”

The timing of this isn’t lost, especially with MLB’s working agreement with the minor leagues expiring after 2020. Baseball is trying to get its ducks lined up now, because a bigger fight is looming. The collective bargaining agreement with players — the major league ones — expires after 2021, and labor peace is nowhere near guaranteed.

The Dream League

Where this proposal to sever major league affiliation for so many teams fails is in the logistics of it all. The entire rookie-level Pioneer League would be wiped out, as would nine of the 10 teams in the rookie-level Appalachian League, and nine of the 14 teams in short-season Class-A New York-Penn League.

Baseball America reported that MLB’s proposal would create something called the “Dream League”, in which teams wouldn’t be tied to a major league club and would thus have to endure the increased costs which include paying the players (currently done by major league teams) and more travel.

“Travel to Tennessee and back for us doesn’t work, travel to Montana and back probably doesn’t work,” Coleman said. “We need more details to see what Major League Baseball has in mind, but on the surface I think it would be very difficult to absorb a lot of new expenses while also losing 70-80 percent of your franchise value overnight.”

“What they ought to call it is the Pipe Dream League,” Heller said. “We’re going to put them all together in one league, really? A league that stretches from Utah to Vermont? From Montana to Florida?”

For leagues that couldn’t afford those increased costs, like the Pioneer and Appalachian, those teams could form wood-bat summer leagues that would be loosely tied to MLB, but essentially independent.

“The independent league model as you’ve seen in a lot of cities that have shut down ballparks, whether it’s Camden, Nashua or some of these bigger markets,” Lantz said. “If the independent model doesn’t work there, it’s hard to imagine the independent model working in markets the size of the Appalachian League towns or the New York-Penn League towns. It works in Sugarland, Texas, and it works in St. Paul, Minnesota, but it’s really, really hard to have a sustainable business model with an independent team.”

What’s next

Minor league baseball, all 160 teams, is still on schedule for 2020, but the timing of the news hasn’t made it any easier on teams trying to sell tickets for the upcoming season, with a future that is increasingly in doubt.

Still, it’s important to note that this is all in the proposal stage.

“The negotiation process started early enough where there’s plenty of time to go back and forth and get a deal done that’s beneficial for both sides and alleviate some of the concerns of either side,” Lantz said.

But the next year figures to be contentious between MLB and MiLB, with the future of baseball in various cities in the balance.

“It’s never going to go through. Minor League Baseball is never going to agree to have 42 teams contracted in the most arbitrary and capricious way,” Heller said. “They can’t proceed without our acquiescence.”

[jillmckenzie1]

Blowing Bubbles in Class

Ask someone to name their favorite sport and you will find a variety of answers.  The question so subjective that a crack of a bat, smell of fresh cut grass, or even taste of cheese dip may elicit contrasting responses.

Ask someone to name the toughest sport and you will find arguments defending the size and speed of the everyday linebacker, the blood and bruises of the MMA fighter, and the toothless grin of the second-line hockey player.  Again subjective.

But ask which sport has done the best job returning to play during a pandemic and there looks to be plenty of evidence to judge them objectively.  Even if the number of players, the schedule, the sport, and other factors suggest that we grade them on a curve (no COVID-19 pun intended).

So, in the spirit of school starting up again soon, however that is defined, here are my grades on the sports world and their handling of operating during a pandemic.

GOLF– The golf world was the first to excite us during the pandemic with the Tiger vs Phil matchup, and few are upset that John Deere Classics have been replaced by PGA Championships due to time constraints. But golf is an outside sport, naturally socially distant, in which the golfer is in a group of no more than four, wearing a glove, and is most likely not ethnically or socioeconomically considered to be at high-risk.  Unless the martini glasses in the clubhouse are tainted, these guys are pretty safe.

Grade B –

THE NBA – While the seeding games often looked like Summer League Basketball, commissioner Adam Silver, the players, and the league crushed it with first-class accommodations, safety protocol, top-notch testing and a phenomenal visual experience. Trying to exploit Zion Williamson and the Pelicans may have backfired, but an 8-0 Phoenix Suns and a red-hot Portland Trailblazers looked as if the play in experiment was a success.  The league, without question, led all sports in promoting social justice, with a tremendous amount of help from the WNBA.  But explain to me one thing.  Adam Silver is looking for the safest place for all players and staff, and he ends up picking an Amusement Park in Orlando?

Grade A–

The MLS – Major League Soccer did a nice job of getting back to work as the teams wore some Black Lives Matter shirts, played hard, and battled to 1-0 victories like we are used to. Portland ended up defeating the underdog Orlando City SC to win the MLS Championships but two teams, FC Dallas and Nashville, dropped out of the tournament due to COVID-19.  Which is like someone asking how your rafting trip went, and you reply, “Great! Except for Bob and Larry.  May they rest in peace.”

Grade C+

The NHL – Having the season continue with an immediate playoff race, in which every team in the league’s invited, was a unique decision. And the visuals from the arenas look terrific.  In general, commissioner Gary Bettman rarely makes the right call, but choosing a neutral location in Canada versus the United States was pure genius.  I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that the United States has 5.71 million confirmed COVID-19 cases to date, while Canada has less than 125,000.

Grade A

The NFL – It’s a little early to grade the National Football League as the season doesn’t begin until September. The announcement that the league canceled all four exhibition games this season is probably a win for everyone, even if we weren’t in a pandemic. COVID-19 could shutdown the season early, but I highly doubt it.  The NFL seems to turn a blind eye when it comes to steroid tests, drug tests, paternity tests, and concussion protocol tests.  I’m assuming positive COVID-19 tests may get buried too.

Grade N/A

The MLB – Let’s see. Spring Training was held in Florida and Arizona, the two biggest hotspots in the country, before being canceled.  The league fought among themselves until they were forced to turn a 162-game season into a laughable 60-game one.  The entire Miami Marlins got COVID-19, the St. Louis Cardinals have played only six games, the Reds/Pirates series was just delayed for positive tests, the Indians want two of their pitchers suspended for sneaking out during a pandemic, there are 7-inning doubleheaders, stars getting injured, and the entire country of Canada refusing to let any of the teams play ball up north.  Besides that, commissioner Rob Manfred nailed it.                                                                                                                                      Grade D

NCAA Football – This will be controversial, but I actually believe most conferences did the right thing by canceling fall sports with the potential of replaying them in the spring. I know that Ohio State quarterback, Justin Fields, has an online petition and a few hundred thousand signatures that say otherwise, but the lack of consistent testing and the player’s health take priority.  Besides, if college students were good decision makers…Jägermeister would be out of business.

Grade C+

  Images via sportingnews.com, townandcountrymagazine.com, koin.com, oregonisforadventure.com, forbes.com, nationalfootballpost.com, dailymail.com

from Blog https://ondenver.com/blowing-bubbles-in-class/

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Minor League Baseball Players’ Unofficial Status as Second-Class Citizens Set to Finally Become Official by Law

Anyone who ever watched “Bull Durham” or ever read a book about minor league baseball (I recommend Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry) knows that the days are long, the nights can be longer, the bus rides are interminable, and the pay is bad.

None of that is apt to change soon, and given the likely passage of new legislation this week, the terrible pay is about to become the law of the land.

From the Washington Post:

A massive government spending bill that Congress is expected to consider this week could include a provision exempting Minor League Baseball players from Federal labor laws….

The league has long claimed exemptions for seasonal employees and apprenticeships, allowing its clubs to pay players as little as $1,100 a month, well under the pay that would be dictated under Federal minimum wage and overtime standards. But with those exemptions under legal challenge, Major League Baseball has paid lobbyists hundreds of thousands of dollars to write a specific exemption into the law.

The text of the “Save America’s Pastime Act” is dry as dust — if you really want to read it, go here — but its impact is a crushing blow to players on the lowest rungs of the baseball ladder who want to pursue their dreams of playing at the highest level while not going broke or into debt in the process.

The application of labor laws to the work of professional athletes is traditionally a difficult process. Generally speaking, anyone who works more than 40 hours a week has a legal right to expect overtime pay. But there are exemptions to that rule, and minor league baseball players are about to join that class of seasonal and temporary employees for whom the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 do not apply.

The president of Minor League Baseball, Pat O’Conner, was quoted in that Washington Post piece explaining why baseball’s overlords want minor league players exempted from basic labor protections. Perhaps not surprisingly, O’Conner makes it sound like the wealthy people who own baseball clubs are actually doing the lowly minor leaguers a huge favor by making underpaying them a legal practice: “(T)he formula of minimum wage and overtime is so incalculable. I would hate to think that a prospect is told, ‘You got to go home because you’re out of hours, you can’t have any extra batting practice.’ It’s those kinds of things. It’s not like factory work.”

(As if Scott Kingery needed more motivation to make the big club. Photo Credit: Kim Klement, USA TODAY)

OK, but it’s not as though minor league baseball players are currently raking it in and baseball has to draw the line or risk going out of business. Maury Brown of Forbes provided some useful numbers for context:

The affiliated clubs of Minor League Baseball where players are developed to hopefully be called up to MLB, attracted 41,832,364 fans in 2017, an increase of 455,162 from 2016, and MiLB’s 13th-straight year over the 41-million mark. Combined with Major League Baseball, total paid attendance was 114,502,787 last year.

Major League Baseball has seen massive revenue growth over several years while ballparks within the league see massive public subsidy. For 2017, gross revenues for the league far surpassed $10 billion and is believed to now be approximately $12 billion.

Meanwhile, the passage of the new law will set the minimum that a first-year minor league player will be paid at $1,160 per month:

If my math is correct, the monthly minor league minimum would be $7.25 x 40 x 4 = $1,160 a month. Up from the current minor-league minimum of $1,100 a month. So, yeah.

— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) March 22, 2018

You would think it would be difficult for Major League Baseball to see the disparity between its overall business valuation in excess of $10 billion and sub-minimum-wage pay for the players it develops via its minor league system and say that it’s a fair situation that is working well. You would be wrong about that. Major League Baseball President Rob Manfred has been on record since 2016 expressing his support for holding the line on minor league players’ wages:

I asked Rob Manfred about MLB's endorsement of the Save America's Pastime Act & why MLB is opposed to paying minor leaguers minimum wage: pic.twitter.com/MwXPTEyD9S

— Brendan Kennedy (@BKennedyStar) October 4, 2016

“For us it’s really not about the money,” Manfred said.

That’s fantastic. Let me give you some advice: Anytime someone tells you “it’s not about the money,” assume that person is lying to you.

Attorney Garrett Broshuis, who has been representing minor league players in litigation on this issue — litigation that will almost certainly become moot if the new FLSA exemptions become law — expressed the absurdity of Manfred’s stance thus: “This is about billionaire owners using their clout to try to pass something that isn’t going through the normal procedures of legislature and that is only going to make thousands of minor leaguers suffer even more. We’re just talking about basic minimum wage laws here…if Walmart or McDonald’s can find a way to comply with those laws, then Major League Baseball can find a way to comply with them, too.”

Unfortunately for Broshuis and his clients, MLB did find a way to comply with basic minimum wage laws without paying players more money.

Baseball owners didn’t like the law, so they just went and changed it.

Minor League Baseball Players’ Unofficial Status as Second-Class Citizens Set to Finally Become Official by Law published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/