#i probably should have a better tag

[elipheleh]

Section 28 & Henry

So I wrote a series before the film was released where we learnt together about things from the book. I’ve been seeing some things about Henry growing up & not necessarily having the queer visibility available to him in the same way Alex did. Someone was writing about Henry at school, or mentioned it in passing - I can’t find the post now - and it reminded me of something that non-UK folk (and even perhaps the younger UK folk) wouldn’t be aware of, but would have been a part of Henry’s schooling if he had been at school, both as book-accurate age but especially as the aged-up film version. (Alex is aged up to 27 so im putting Henry at a similar age.)

This post will talk about the history behind Section 28 & its legacy, and then some personal anecdotes that will contextualise what it might’ve been like for Henry, under the premise of the real world being comparable to the RWRB universe.

—

Section 28 was part of a wider Local Government Act, and was enacted in May of 1988 by a Conservative government under Thatcher. ‘The amendment stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship".’ (source) In simple English, this meant that teachers - and anyone on staff - couldn’t talk about or make reference to anything that wasnt cis-heterosexuality, nor could they be openly queer. Student support groups for queer teens also had to either close or self-censor, and many teachers worried that stepping in to stop homophobic bullying would result in censure & so didn’t speak out.

Section 28 was repealed in Scotland in June 2000 and in the rest of the UK in November 2003 (under a Labour Government), but the shadow of it was present for years after - and arguably still to this day to some degree.

It was enacted for a number of reasons, but predominantly due to moral panic resulting from a negative shift in opinion about non-straight sexualities & the AIDs epidemic. Alliances between labour unions & LGBT groups (for example Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners and the National Union of Mineworkers - if you’ve seen Pride, this is the two groups featured there) caused the introduction of a resolution at the Labour Party Conference in 1985 to criminalise discrimination against LGB people. During the election campaign in 1987, then-Prime Minister Thatcher & the Conservative Party ran a smear campaign that suggested the Labour Party wanted to teach young children about explicit queer sex in schools (they didn’t).

The resulting response after the enactment of Section 28 was that of increased homophobia alongside an spike of action by the British gay rights movement. One of the UK’s leading queer groups, Stonewall, emerged from the response to Section 28, and Ian McKellen came out as a gay in 1988, whilst arguing against the legislation. However, as I mentioned previously, the shadow of Section 28 is still felt now. In 2014, 10 years after its full repeal, 29% of secondary school (age 11-17) teachers weren’t certain that they were allowed to teach lessons about LGBT topics. In 2016, it was found that school libraries still had very little queer literature or support from librarians for queer students, and 3 years later there were still British librarians who assumed Section 28 was still law - a full 16 years after full repeal. A 2018 study found that teachers who had worked under Section 28 were still cautious about being openly queer, in contrast to those who were trained as teachers after 2003.

—

for context, i am 30 & was schooled in England specifically. i did go to a same-sex high school (secondary school) but i did not go to a private school (as Henry would have, were he real!) so some things will differ but it would not have been better for Henry than my experiences.

On a more personal note, I started school in 1997 and left in 2011. Throughout my schooling - my entire secondary/high school experience was once Section 28 had been repealed - I can count on one hand the number of times I encountered anything that was positive about queer people, and even less if you limit it to being ‘approved’ information. My most common exposure was hearing someone being accused of being attracted to the same sex, usually with slurs, and I use ‘accused’ here intentionally as it was meant to be insulting. There was no-one openly queer in my school - my friend was trans, but we didn’t ever call it that. I just knew from their reaction that their very-gendered birth-name made them uncomfortable & the neutral diminutive was preferred (as an example, Alexandra and Alex - this isn't their name). I don’t know if they knew the word for it then, I certainly didn’t. We didn’t learn about sexuality in PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education), and we definitely didn’t have openly queer teachers. Straight was the default & the only option.

I talked to my friend about their experience - they’re 22 so Henry’s schooling would fall in between mine & their's in both book & film - and realistically there was not much difference. They were at a mixed-gender school, and had a couple of mentions of ‘gay’ in classes (e.g. one reference to ‘g is for gay’ in an alphabet song) but were also expected to debate if being gay was wrong in RE (religious education). Being queer wasn’t ‘okay’ but it wasn’t necessarily inherently terrible in the way my experience implied it to be. They also didn’t have any lgbt/queer clubs in school.

Another friend a similar age to myself had no positive mention of queer sexuality until they were at university, but instead was surrounded by constant slurs, was accused of being a lesbian, and heared queer (as a slur) & the f-slur thrown around on an almost hourly basis, with teachers ignoring it.

From my understanding & perspective, Henry would have had a more repressive existence than our experiences. Private all-boys boarding school, especially Eton (the school of choice for the male British royals!), would have had much more negativity surrounding being gay, and I doubt the repeal of Section 28 had much impact in such a conservative setting like that. There are open letters from former students of Eton, some of which lay out their (predominantly negative) experience with being queer at school. I've linked them below.

-

Sources/Additional Reading: Wikipedia - Section 28 BBC - Section 28: What was it and how did it affect LGBT+ people? Tribune - The Long Shadow of Section 28 Attitude - How Section 28’s painful legacy is still being felt three decades on - cw for homophobic violence, addiction, suicide Metro - Section 28 was repealed 15 years ago but I can’t forget the impact it had on me so easily - cw for homophobic violence, mention of grooming, suicide & addiction Guardian - Section 28 protesters 30 years on: ‘We were arrested and put in a cell up by Big Ben’ LSE - Section 28, three decades on: the legacy of a homophobic law through the LSE Library’s collections Daily Beast - I Was Eton’s Only Out Schoolboy Pink News (in response to the above) - Comment: Yes, there is homophobia at Eton Huffington Post (similar as above, more information/context) - Former Eton Student Jamie Jackson's Open Letter Proves There IS Homophobia At The College

[wasabi-gumdrop]

Kabru has a secret admirer in the castle!

[webbelzebub]

this is their dynamic to me

[wasyago]

we're at it again🕺

[mugwot]

sometimes you sound bit too mean, it happens

it was Supposed to be in colour, and them the bw version Just Looked better

this is mostly based on this meme

[amelia-yap]

AUEGH

[lynxfrost13]

EULR-S2313 “Holt”

Awesome artfight attack of her by archivebottles on twitter ^^

Holt time let’s go!!

- she’s an old EULR unit that works in Sierpinski-23’s medical wing, she takes care of both replika repairs and patching up gestalts. She’s known throughout the facility as one of the better medical units due to her experience and patients often request her not only for her skills but her company (she’s a terrible gossip even by Eule standards!).

- Holt was given her name from her tendency for hand holding both professionally to comfort her patients, and to generally show affection! Those who know her well also know that her name comes from her stubbornness for a EULR. When she sets her mind to something she refuses to let it go!! She does not take no for an answer! Especially when she’s caring for patients!

- She has a petty grudge against Storch Sieben. No one knows why, but the two of them don’t like each other and can’t be in the same room for very long unless someone wants a shouting match

- When a certain Kolibri unit had an accident in the mines, Holt fixed her face and then after learning that the Kolibri had lost her bioresonance and was being considered for decommission, pulled some strings and kept the decomm request at bay. This initially caused some friction between her and Kolibri, with Holt wanting to keep her alive and well, but Kolibri feeling purposeless without being able to hear her cadre. Although they got off on the wrong foot they grew close and spent a good deal of their spare time together (cue much teasing in the Eule dorms)

- Holt and Kolibri eventually became lovers, Holt had had a crush on her for a while and finally worked up the nerve to confess it. Kolibri felt the same and the two kept their relationship under wraps due to the already tense situation Holt had created in preventing her Kolibug’s decommission request. They still had each other and were happy for a few more years at least (there was much teasing and even more kisses in that time, they loved each other dearly)

- The mysterious illness infecting the replikas of Sierpinski-23 eventually claimed Holt though. During the infection she worked hard to try to treat ailing replikas, or at least bring them some comfort before they had to be put out of their misery. When Holt began showing signs of sickness, Kolibri stayed by her side in the medical office as her condition worsened to the point that she couldn’t recognize her lover at all.

- Holt couldn’t control herself and was confused and scared, she attacked Kolibug when she came to check on her that last day. Kolibug killed her in self defense and remained by her beloved’s side afterwards.

[unordinary-diary]

Seraphina and Arlo: The Brainwashing of High Tiers

Exposition:

— Remi, Episode 50.

There is a heavy implication that Seraphina and Arlo were raised in much the same way. The pressure on Seraphina comes from her parents, so I’ll extrapolate that the same goes for Arlo. This raises the question: how do the authorities create such a strong societal pressure on such a small percentage of the population? Most high tiers will probably not know any other high tiers besides their parents. Take Wellston Private High School for example: it’s the most prestigious private school around, and canonically has the “highest concentration of high tiers in the region”. There are six high tiers in Wellston. Apply this to god tiers specifically, and there are only three. Not to mention that this current group of students is uniquely strong, even for Wellston. In Rei’s senior year, he was the strongest at 5.8 max.

So much of this brainwashing relies on the parents to do all of the work, and it only takes one or two people to break the cycle. So how are the authorities creating this immense pressure? One tactic could be by isolating high tiers. There is a very widespread concept that one shouldn’t associate with those outside their level range. A caste system like this that affects everyone is much easier to create and maintain than an expectation for a small group, and it also means that high tiers are only being influenced by those who are also high level. This creates an echo chamber. I’ve researched cults and how they brainwash victims, and the first step in the process is isolating them in exactly this way.

But, if there are so few high tiers, how the hell are they supposed be isolated from other groups? The answer is that high tiers are just isolated in general. Take a look at Arlo: his only friend is Remi, and even her, he keeps at an arm’s length. Arlo is only close with Remi in the first place because he was close with Rei, who, at the time of meeting Arlo, was presumably close in level with him. [EDIT: I forgot about Holden, which I think says a lot about his relevance. He is kept at more than an arm’s length and doesn’t seem to have any actual influence on Arlo, let alone a deep relationship. He is also not presented as an equal.] Take a look at Seraphina: before meeting John, she didn’t seem to have any friends other than possibly Arlo. Seraphina and Arlo pre-John seemed to have had more of a professional relationship, and while they were not close in level, Arlo did fit the bill of being a fellow god tier, and strong enough to also be brainwashed.

Now let’s look at Remi. In episode 60, Cecile says to Remi: “And yet here you are... Always hanging around those two monkeys, Blyke and Isen. Letting them treat you as an equal even though you’re in a completely different league.” This struck me as odd because, aside from Cecile herself, the Wellston students closest in level to Remi were Arlo, Blyke, and Isen. And who is she friends with? She actually was doing a pretty good job at following that social convention, unless Cecile wanted to be friends with Remi, which she clearly didn’t. But... her friends were still not close enough to her level. Was she supposed to just not have friends at all? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. Can you think of any genuine friends that Cecile has either?

Friendship simply isn’t considered a necessity for high tiers.

But... why is it that Arlo and Seraphina were brainwashed differently? Creating a societal norm for an isolated group of people is one thing, because those people’s mindsets feed into each other. Putting pressure on individual families to keep them in line, but doing it all in different ways? That would be near impossible. My theory is that Seraphina recieved the typical high tier brainwashing, and that Arlo was raised differently because he was being groomed to work for the authorities. Seraphina didn’t have a set career path planned out for her, but if she’s trying to be “perfect” by the standards of those controlling her, she’s bound to end up going in a direction that pleases them. Arlo on the other hand was specifically planned to become an authority figure. That’s why his brainwashing is so centered on leadership. Also, growing up with direct contact to the authorities makes it more possible for them to customize his brainwashing in this way.

But does all of this apply to high tiers in general, or is it specific to god tiers? Let’s take a look at the high tiers in Wellston. We have Seraphina, John, Arlo, Terrence, Remi, Cecile, and Blyke. John is a unique circumstance because he wasn’t raised by high tiers, so we’ll cross him off the list. Terrence was also unique, so we can cross him off as well. Remi was different from the norm as well. Why is that? Well, Remi actually wasn’t raised by high tiers either. Rei said on screen that both of his parents were elites. We can cross Remi off. Blyke doesn’t fit the bill either, but that’s easy to explain. He was an elite for a large part of the story, and he shot up rather quickly. We don’t know much of his family, but he probably wasn’t expected to be a high tier at all, and was raised as an elite. (All of this also serves to emphasize how much of this brainwashing comes from a person’s parents.) That leaves only Seraphina, Arlo, and Cecile to look at.

Cecile does seem to have high tier brainwashing, but it’s not nearly as intense as with Seraphina and Arlo. She doesn’t seem “obsessive”, and she wasn’t one of the examples Remi mentioned in chapter 50. It’s clear that high tiers are brainwashed in general, but god tiers are kept on a much shorter leash. This makes sense, obviously, because keeping a population in control like that is less necessary the lower the level. However, it’s also a chicken an egg situation: god tiers are both more important to keep in control, and also easier to keep in control. It’s important to note just how many exceptions we had to cross off. People like Remi and Blyke aren’t actually that unusual— a lower leveled high tier is much more likely to have non-high tier parents, or to have not always been a high tier themselves, or just in general, to have way more day-to-day interaction with non-high tiers. The brainwashing gets more and more diffused the lower down the ladder you go.

[littleblueberryartist]

"Mr Jackson how did you get the funding for this impressive facility?"

"My wife is famous :)"

[astralisstar]

art dump heh… 😈

[mestos]

3rd entry in my """"daily""""" (its probably not gonna be daily) coai date in promo clothes challenge! this time, it's these fits!

i don't really have a set prompt list for these, usually just sketch them based on what they're wearing <:) but anyway, i couldnt see the full version of these fits so I just guessed what their bottoms looked like....

in my head, they order coffee through agasa's account and pick it up so no one finds them suspicious

[lloydfrontera]

i don't buy that lloyd would get over his fear of the restoration of fate that quickly. he was doomed by the narrative for years and now he's supposed to shake it off in less than two weeks? absolutely not, he literally tried to kill himself in order to avoid it, ain't no fucking way he just stopped being scared about it in a couple days i don't believe it

anyway. this is my way of saying that lloyd refused to cross dimensions until he made javier swear that he would kill him with his own hands if there was even a hint of the restoration of fate starting up again. he wouldn't consider going back if it meant putting his family and home in danger again even if it meant being left behind in a place he would've rather died than stay at.

and they both know that javier would fall on his own sword before hurting lloyd but they also know lloyd would take his own life before allowing him to do that or to let his existence put his loved ones in danger again. they know lloyd doesn't really need javier to kill himself, not if he's really committed to it. he's done it before it after all.

him asking javier this is. a warning. of what he's planning to do if the restoration of fate starts again. it's his way of telling javier that he cannot promise things will be okay if he comes back. that he must be ready to lose lloyd again if necessary because lloyd won't allow anything else.

it's also maybe... an indulgence on lloyd's part. he's felt himself die so many times now. and so many of his deaths were painful or terrifying or surrounded by his enemies and sometimes all three at once.

but he remembers a sunset, a coat over his shoulders, shaky yet reliable hands holding a sword. a quick, peaceful death on his own terms, done by someone lloyd trusted with something far more important than his life.

and he knows it's selfish, he knows it's cruel, but if he has to die, for real this time, can't it be at the hands of his best friend? if he has to be killed, can't it be done by someone lloyd knows cares for him? if he has to close his eyes and never open them again, can't the last thing he ever sees be the face of the person he loves enough to die for as many times as necessary?

and javier agrees because. what else can he do. he spent so long hoping lloyd would finally trust him enough to tell him what he was planning so javier could help him in anyway he was able to and now. now lloyd is asking this of him.

he desperately doesn't want to say 'yes'. but he cannot say 'no'.

what else can he do.

what's the point of being the most powerful human on the world if he can't even protect the one person he swore to protect above all things. what's the point of him if the only thing he can do is promise to kill his best friend because he has no other way to protect everything they've worked for.

how can he promise lloyd that everything will be okay, that things will work out, that if needed javier will die for him before letting anything happen to him, when he already failed before.

what else can he do

anyway. i don't think any amount of end spoilers and confessions to the jewel of truth are enough to soothe the terrified, paranoid and utterly traumatized part inside lloyd's chest that goes tight any time anything goes even remotely wrong for a good while. it takes a couple months, maybe a few years even, before lloyd stops going cold every time there's even a hint of trouble around him. before he stops reflexively looking to javier's sword to calm himself down whenever things don't go perfectly right in every way.

it takes a while. but it does happen. and things aren't perfect, that's not how life works, but they're good and even when they aren't, lloyd can finally face them and believe they're not his fault. that his existence is not an obstacle for the happiness of the people he loves.

[miodiodavinci]

i found one of my old middle school sketch books while cleaning up today and saw there was A Good Deal of ghost trick art in it, so i decided to spend some time paying tribute to the ghost detective that fundamentally changed my brain chemistry in 2011 w

old ghost trick art under the cut—minor spoilers in the dialogue whoops👇

[gwenboucharddidnothingwrong]

rushed nimona watercolour to celebrate the oscar nomination

[drinkingdeadpeopletea]

man not to read too much into spahr's "there was a reason i picked him" about phineas but. i am always keeping in mind that spahr pulled phineas out of the delta personally. he didn't meet phineas as a prospective adsecla he met him as a scared little kid! maybe it wasn't so much that spahr actually thought phineas was the best choice as that he really wanted to believe he was. maybe without even being aware of it! how could he not want to believe in the rags to riches of it all? something that started with that scared little kid HE was able to help save? a tangible representation--beyond valor--of something good he did? but now of course that whole narrative has crumbled around him! phineas did something horrible (that was all spahr's fault as far as he's concerned) and now phineas is dead! that's it! story over! :)