#it's either that or the legal profession

[scoopstrooptm]

     i really do think that a career in politics or some official government capacity is on the cards for erica, at least in terms of my endgame plans for her anyway

[cocklessboy]

The biggest male privilege I have so far encountered is going to the doctor.

I lived as a woman for 35 years. I have a lifetime of chronic health issues including chronic pain, chronic fatigue, respiratory issues, and neurodivergence (autistic + ADHD). There's so much wrong with my body and brain that I have never dared to make a single list of it to show a doctor because I was so sure I would be sent directly to a psychologist specializing in hypochondria (sorry, "anxiety") without getting a single test done.

And I was right. Anytime I ever tried to bring up even one of my health issues, every doctor's initial reaction was, at best, to look at me with doubt. A raised eyebrow. A seemingly casual, offhand question about whether I'd ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Even female doctors!

We're not talking about super rare symptoms here either. Joint pain. Chronic joint pain since I was about 19 years old. Back pain. Trouble breathing. Allergy-like reactions to things that aren't typically allergens. Headaches. Brain fog. Severe insomnia. Sensitivity to cold and heat.

There's a lot more going on than that, but those were the things I thought I might be able to at least get some acknowledgement of. Some tests, at least. But 90% of the time I was told to go home, rest, take a few days off work, take some benzos (which they'd throw at me without hesitation), just chill out a bit, you'll be fine. Anxiety can cause all kinds of odd symptoms.

Anyone female-presenting reading this is surely nodding along. Yup, that's just how doctors are.

Except...

I started transitioning about 2.5 years ago. At this point I have a beard, male pattern baldness, a deep voice, and a flat chest. All of my doctors know that I'm trans because I still haven't managed to get all the paperwork legally changed, but when they look at me, even if they knew me as female at first, they see a man.

I knew men didn't face the same hurdles when it came to health care, but I had no idea it was this different.

The last time I saw my GP (a man, fairly young, 30s or so), I mentioned chronic pain, and he was concerned to see that it wasn't represented in my file. Previous doctors hadn't even bothered to write it down. He pushed his next appointment back to spend nearly an hour with me going through my entire body while I described every type of chronic pain I had, how long I'd had it, what causes I was aware of. He asked me if I had any theories as to why I had so much pain and looked at me with concerned expectation, hoping I might have a starting point for him. He immediately drew up referrals for pain specialists (a profession I didn't even know existed till that moment) and physical therapy. He said depending on how it goes, he may need to help me get on some degree of disability assistance from the government, since I obviously shouldn't be trying to work full-time under these circumstances.

Never a glimmer of doubt in his eye. Never did he so much as mention the word "anxiety".

There's also my psychiatrist. He diagnosed me with ADHD last year (meeting me as a man from the start, though he knew I was trans). He never doubted my symptoms or medical history. He also took my pain and sleep issues seriously from the start and has been trying to help me find medications to help both those things while I go through the long process of seeing other specialists. I've had bad reactions to almost everything I've tried, because that's what always happens. Sometimes it seems like I'm allergic to the whole world.

And then, just a few days ago, the most shocking thing happened. I'd been wondering for a while if I might have a mast cell condition like MCAS, having read a lot of informative posts by @thebibliosphere which sounded a little too relatable. Another friend suggested it might explain some of my problems, so I decided to mention it to the psychiatrist, fully prepared to laugh it off. Yeah, a friend thinks I might have it, I'm not convinced though.

His response? That's an interesting theory. It would be difficult to test for especially in this country, but that's no reason not to try treatments and see if they are helpful. He adjusted his medication recommendations immediately based on this suggestion. He's researching an elimination diet to diagnose my food sensitivities.

I casually mentioned MCAS, something routinely dismissed by doctors with female patients, and he instantly took the possibility seriously.

That's it. I've reached peak male privilege. There is nothing else that could happen that could be more insane than that.

I literally keep having to hold myself back from apologizing or hedging or trying to frame my theories as someone else's idea lest I be dismissed as a hypochondriac. I told the doctor I'd like to make a big list of every health issue I have, diagnosed and undiagnosed, every theory I've been given or come up with myself, and every medication I've tried and my reactions to it - something I've never done because I knew for a fact no doctor would take me seriously if they saw such a list all at once. He said it was a good idea and could be very helpful.

Female-presenting people are of course not going to be surprised by any of this, but in my experience, male-presenting people often are. When you've never had a doctor scoff at you, laugh at you, literally say "I won't consider that possibility until you've been cleared by a psychologist" for the most mundane of health problems, it might be hard to imagine just how demoralizing it is. How scary it becomes going to the doctor. How you can internalize the idea that you're just imagining things, making a big deal out of nothing.

Now that I'm visibly a man, all of my doctors are suddenly very concerned about the fact that I've been simply living like this for nearly four decades with no help. And I know how many women will have to go their whole lives never getting that help simply because of sexism in the medical field.

If you know a doctor, show them this story. Even if they are female. Even if they consider themselves leftists and feminists and allies. Ask them to really, truly, deep down, consider whether they really treat their male and female patients the same. Suggest that the next time they hear a valid complaint from a male patient, imagine they were a woman and consider whether you'd take it seriously. The next time they hear a frivolous-sounding complaint from a female patient, imagine they were a man and consider whether it would sound more credible.

It's hard to unlearn these biases. But it simply has to be done. I've lived both sides of this issue. And every doctor insists they treat their male and female patients the same. But some of the doctors astonished that I didn't get better care in the past are the same doctors who dismissed me before.

I'm glad I'm getting the care I need, even if it is several decades late. And I'm angry that it took so long. And I'm furious that most female-presenting people will never have this chance.

[hannieehaee]

OUTTA MY MIND (teaser)

18+ / mdi

summary: getting a brand new job as a senior idol's manager was scary enough on its own, but it became even worse when said idol was jeon jungkook, idol of all idols. what made it even worse? when jungkook began taking a special liking to you, damning any conflict of interest his crush on you may have had.

content: idol!au, staff!reader x idol!jungkook, jungkook is shameless about his crush on reader, but it's fine bc reader likes him back!!, reader acts hard to get bc her job is too important though boo, afab reader, banter, jk is a flirt, reader is a little bit shy, a lot of rlly wrong info about working in the industry, smut, oral (f receiving), penetrative sex, etc.

(^ no actual content warnings in the teaser)

wc: 924 (teaser); 7.7k (full fic)

release date: may 31st

or you can check it out on my ko-fi or patreon today by subscribing to either one!

a/n: ive had this in the drafts for a while but kept forgetting to finish it lol anyways i hope u guys enjoy it once it comes out<3 (also not 100% proofread oops..)

masterlist | kofi/patreon

support me through a one time tip<3

Whenever you'd tell someone you worked within the entertainment industry, – the music industry, to be precise – people always showed a little extra interest in your words, probably assuming you to be involved in the flashier aspects of it. The statement on it's own sounded exciting, enigmatic even. This would only then be followed by disappointed upon finding out your specific profession of choice, deeming it less exciting than most.

You were a manager. No, you were not an active member of the entertainment industry itself, but you were one of the many pillars necessary for the talent to create the entertainment people would always seek.

Being as young as you were, it had been hard to get to where you were so quickly. Networking had been your best friend all throughout your career, eventually landing you in your current role – one that would only open even more doors for you.

It had only been a week since you had received a call from your friend – an old friend from an internship who just so happened to be a former Hybe video producer – letting you know of a recent opening as one of the many managers at the company. Having been between gigs at the time, you jumped at the chance without a second thought. Hybe? The biggest entertainment company in Korea? You didn't need any details before agreeing.

It was a few days later in which you found out the details. The opportunity had been even more life-altering than you'd thought.

Originally, you had believed you'd end up becoming manager to one of the many brand new rookie groups in the growing company. With so many surging youth in the industry, it made sense to you that you'd be assigned such a role, not having had any prior experience within Hybe itself.

Except that wasn't the case. Having previously worked and interned at a few other South Korean entertainment companies through the years, it seemed like Hybe deemed you experienced enough to assign you the role of becoming a senior artist's manager.

Jeon Jungkook.

Senior artist had been an understatement. Those had been the words written in your contract, explaining your role in excruciating detail, yet failing to mention that your client would be Korea's most popular singer.

You couldn't lie, you were insanely intimidated by your new role. Despite being proudly skilled at your job, becoming the manager of an idol who had been in the game for longer than you'd even been out of college was a bit scary. Jungkook had gone from the absolute bottom to the top, he had most likely lived through it all by now – what kind of expertise could you offer someone who had already seen it all?

Being manager of an idol differed slightly from managing any other person. Idol companies usually handled the schedulings, bookings, and the legalities of their artists. As a manager, you somewhat took the role of a bodyguard. You were meant to show up everywhere Jungkook went and become his spokesperson – vying for him as if your life depended on it.

And now it was too late to back out – not that you actually wanted to. All paperwork had been signed, you had your own personal Hybe badge and all the benefits that came along with working at the company. Any feelings of intimidation or fear for the role would have to be put aside as you walked into the Hybe building to meet with your new client; the boy you'd have to stick by 24/7 from now on.

You weren't sure what you were expecting upon meeting him. It wasn't like there would be any special introduction, or even as if you were his sole manager; no, he actually had a few others who would occasionally aid him in the absence of his main manager, which was now you. Today was a workday for him, meaning that he likely already had a few people in supportive roles as he did whatever it was that Jeon Jungkook did while working.

Walking into the huge building, after getting lost a few times, you made your way to the seventh floor, which, as you'd been informed, had various rooms designated for photoshoots. That's where you'd find Jungkook for the first time, presumably having one of the many shoots scheduled for this week.

Having possession of his schedule made you realize how busy idol life was. Despite having no public schedules all this week, he had a packed itinerary, filled with either shoots or signings or producing sessions. You hadn't even met him yet, but you were already assured that he was overly hardworking – and you had maybe also stalked him online this past week.

It was very unlikely you'd even speak to him, seeing how busy he was. Your duty, after all, was just to be one of the many members of his team, taking care of any logistics as you went around with him, but not taking away from his time by socializing with him.

Upon entering the room, he was the first thing you noticed. Ignoring every other person working the room, your eyes focused specifically on him. It was hard not to, since he was quite literally standing under the spotlight, modeling for a camera. But it was more than that. He had an aura that filled up the room. Putting aside every stylist and photographer in the room, every staff member and intern, he was truly the epitome of main character.

Fuck. Was this going to cause trouble?

....

you can check it out today on my ko-fi or patreon by subscribing to either one!

[pr0cyon-lotor]

Au where it was all a ✨dream✨

A collective dream specifically, sorta....

Okay, we're dropped in a scene Shen Yuan is dying. He sacrificed himself to save Binghe from idk a demon attack or something. But he's Shen Qingqiu's husband because there was a previous courtship full of drama, misunderstandings, and eventually love.

So he's being held by Shen Jiu, and as Shen Yuan finally drops. The system pulls up for everyone saying something about how they had completed an exercise, before anyone can even blink all plot relevant characters just drop to the floor.

Anyway PIDW isn't important anymore, let's go to the modern world.

Shen Jiu wakes up in a hospital bed, his memories rushing back. He's... A historian— no, a modern day scholar?... he's renowned for his research papers... Ugh, the voices.

Shen Jiu is told he was in a plane crash that had hospitalized most of its passengers, which is better than the alternative. He asks if there's a Shen Yuan in the hospital, the nurse hesitates and asks why. Shen Jiu got that Shen Yuan is in the hospital but is probably either in bad condition or his family isn't allowed the staff to talk about him.

Shen Jiu says that they're married. The nurse hesitates and then says he is and he's doing worse than before and is in critical condition. Shen Jiu is left to stew over the information.

He is forced to go into physical therapy and all that stuff. He meets the other passengers and can clock each of them. From his Qi-ge to Mobei Jun. It was strange, to see them like normal people when he has a memory of them being greater than that.

They all talk and Shen Jiu takes note of their professions and connections. Once he recovers, he tries to visit Shen Yuan and is told he needs a proof of marriage.

And Shen Jiu being the spiteful and conniving motherfucker he is uses his recently made connections to gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss some legalized falsified documents of his and Shen Yuan's marriage, which was a year before the plane crash and their anniversary landed on the day of the crash. How unfortunate truly :,( (he totally didn't pick that day because that was the day they met so in his brain that was they day that led them to be together or anything)

So he shows the documents and then visits Shen Yuan each time he can. He does try to avoid his family and got good at remembering their schedules of visits. He always keeps his hand over Shen Yuan's chest, just so he can feel his heart beat so he knows he's still alive aside from the mechanical beep of the heart monitor.

The day Shen Yuan wakes up, it was during one of Shen Jiu's visits. He wakes up with Shen Jiu . He's still half delirious and still mixing things from his coma "dream" and real life. So he says:

"My husband will get upset if he sees you touching me like that on my chest."

Shen Jiu is amused and puts Shen Yuan's glasses on his face softly and says that he is his husband. Shen Yuan stares at his demure beauty of a husband, mouth agape. The heart monitor picks up and he just says "sup" which confirms to Shen Jiu that he is still the nerdy man he fell in love with.

Shen Jiu tells him they've been married two year by now and kisses his forehead. A nurse bursts in to make sure no one is like y'know dying and sees that Shen Yuan is up. She is shocked because for all intents and purposes he shouldn't have woken up yet. She shoos Shen Jiu away and tells him to wait outside.

The Shens are notified and they finally meet Shen Jiu. He manages to gaslight and charm his parents and siblings. He convinces them that Shen Yuan totally mentioned him and they were totally going to meet if not for the plane crashing. (Shen Jiu remembered when Shen Yuan and him were talking in the plane that he mentioned that he was visiting family. Shen Jiu was flying to speak in a convention or something but they don't need to know that.)

Once Shen Yuan fully awake, his family start worrying over him and then ask why he didn't tell them he was married. Shen Yuan, who did realize his husband was lying is going along with it, said he was going to but things (the plane crash) got in the way.

Anyway new Shen in the family. He probably likes Shen Yuan's little sister and mom.

[sebsrainbowbicycle]

Whats your opinion on the whole Christian Horner thing?

Let me preface this by saying, I have intentionally stayed away from this subject for many reasons, but given there was an outcome of the investigation today, and some of the information I’ve seen here throughout the past weeks, now is as good a time as any to respond to this ask I got weeks ago. This is not, nor will I be offering in the future, my opinion on whether Horner is guilty of the accusations or not. I just want to maybe provide context, and information from my experience and career thus far, that might help people understand, and also my opinion on the reaction from people. Caveat - I am not a lawyer, nor will I go into specifics of my current or previous job, however I worked in the legal profession where I worked on legal cases, reviewed evidence, and made submissions and recommendations that went in front of Judges.

Okay my thoughts. My thoughts are that an internal investigation that should have remained private for all parties involved, especially the alleged victim(s), was leaked and used as clickbait and gossip by the media and people on here and other social media sites. I think people decided guilt without having any genuine information, without seeing the evidence and without any credible sources. I think were the person being accused a different member of the paddock that the reaction would have been different. I think people used this to virtue signal and cry out about what good people they are. I think people that constantly say that the media and journalists shouldn’t be trusted, fed into a feeding frenzy that led to the name of the alleged victim(s) being published, which will undoubtedly impact them for the rest of their lives.

Onto specific things I have seen that I’d like to offer my take on:

Christian allegedly offering the victim a sum of money - First of all, for anyone who has a certain amount of wealth, especially those in the public eye, this is a usual occurrence. You try to avoid an investigation by any means possible, whether you’re innocent or guilty, because a) it’s easier and usually cheaper in the long run, b) pr and public image are damaged by even unfounded accusations and these things can run on for an extremely long time, and c) trial by media is a thing, and innocent people get tarnished for the rest of their lives because of something they were accused of. Now, I’m not saying any of those are why the offer was allegedly made, but those are some of the reasons. Companies do the same thing, when someone has an accident at work and hurts themselves, even if the company do not believe themselves to be at fault they will make a settlement offer, to avoid any legal back and forth. Settlements are not an admission of guilt, but a way to make something go away quickly.

Said money being why the investigation “went away” - I saw a quote that said “the grievance has been dismissed”, that means there was a finding, not that it was withdrawn. even so, this was a red bull investigation carried out by an external barrister. Once the company were made aware of the allegations, their investigation is independent of either party involved, so even if the alleged victim(s) withdrew their grievance, the company would still have a duty of care to ensure that any inappropriate behaviour or actions were identified, investigated and addressed. Most importantly, red bull want to protect themselves legally, and following the procedures and carrying out a thorough investigation, which would identify if they were potentially exposed to risk, is how they do that.

How can they ignore 100’s of pieces of evidence - We don’t know that they did. It was reported, but never confirmed that there was over 100 pieces of evidence submitted, so this is absolute hearsay. Further, I would be extremely surprised if the investigation ignored any piece of evidence, given the ramifications of an incorrect or improper investigation. Also I think it’s really important to say that evidence does not equal guilt or that one party to the proceedings is correct. Allow me to provide you with a personal example. I worked on a case where there was over 5000 pages of evidence submitted into a legal bundle. Approximately 4000 of those were from the appellant who argued that the other party had acted incorrectly. (forgive my vagueness here I’m not about to doxx myself). 4000 pages of evidence, which I reviewed and made a decision that I did not support their argument. The judge agreed with me also. Evidence can be subjective, and sometimes it can be completely irrelevant. The presence, and submission of evidence is to support one sides view of things, the other side will have their own, and both are examined and balanced and decisions made on that and sometimes also on other independent investigation.

The investigation is private and cannot be shared - This is law. GDPR in fact because this is occurring within Europe. I’m literally spending this entire week on a GDPR course, and have an exam on Friday, so I really don’t want to go on about legal basis and restrictions for sharing personal data, but let me tell you it’s for good reason, especially with investigations like this. All parties involved in this have a legal right to privacy, covered by the human rights act, and unless there is a compelling legal reason why their data should be shared, then it can’t be without their explicit consent. Simple as. And that’s disregarding that there will be confidential company information within the investigation that also cannot be shared.

Horner committed a crime - given that we do not know the specifics of what occurred we simply don’t have enough information to know this, HOWEVER, from the information I have read, and by the fact that I have not seen an indication that the police have been involved with this, nor are they carrying out their own investigation, I am working under the assumption that no law has been broken.

tl;dr - These are real people’s lives, we are not involved and we have no right to know anything. This isn’t salacious gossip, and it’s not a fun thing to band around and use as a stick to beat people with to prove how good we are. Processes and investigations like this should be private, and basing things on hearsay and unscrupulous reporters does more damage to any alleged victims than good. Having seen how fans and social media have treated this investigation, do you think that makes any other alleged victims want to come forwards? I think not. But that’s just me.

[spiderfreedom]

“No woman could have been Nietzsche or Rimbaud without ending up in a whorehouse or lobotomized.” - Dworkin

Ok but this is such a raw quote. Think about it seriously. What woman would have been allowed to ignore household chores to focus on learning and writing? What woman would have been allowed to be acerbic and controversial?

Women were paid so poorly for their work that being a spinster meant being destitute. You can’t publish your great masterpiece if you spend most of your day working and the rest barely hanging on with the misery you’re paid.

The high paying professions are closed to you. Higher education was closed to you. You could become a prostitute, and historically prostitutes for the upper class have access to more education in order to entertain wealthy man. But most prostitutes don’t serve the upper class and are subject to the same poverty as the working spinster. Even the courtesan who dared to publicly exist risked the wrath of men, because men loathe prostitutes going “outside their place.”

So you marry, and to marry you need to stamp down all your intellectual traits. You must preoccupy yourself with menial labor. You must flatter mens egos. You must have and rear children. There is no time to write or think, and your husband may destroy your work if you do.

A very small number of women (usually from upper class families) managed to write and think, against all odds. But they had to be born to good class and have very supportive family, and either avoid marriage or have a very supportive husband. In other words, the equivalent of winning successive lotteries.

If you were too out of control, you could be committed to a madhouse, or lobotimized, or drugged into submission.

The path successful women thinkers had to walk was extremely narrow; and the cliffs led to poverty, disease, abuse, death, servitude. We’ve only recently succeeded in broadening that path, thanks to the ceaseless work of women pioneers in the 19th and 20th centuries that broke legal and social chains. And there are more chains to break yet. Too many great thinkers are doubtless still being lost by virtue of their sex, race, class, disability, country, etc.

Don’t forget what we’ve lost. Keep fighting. We can make the narrow path into a supportive field.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Bungou stray dogs except it’s not a bounty that’s placed on the tigers head. It’s a missing persons alert on Atsushi’s.

The story goes that a teenager was newly adopted that had either run away or been taken. A poor scared child who had an ability that he couldn’t control, please someone help him.

The kind, generous (and rich) Francis Fitzgerald who had previously lost a child now going out of his way to help another lost soul. Who wouldn’t eat up such a story, especially when they have no idea what he wants said child for.

The Agency takes the case because despite Fitzgerald being American, the teen and was adopted from an orphanage in Japan. Apparently he met the now Headmaster of the place many years ago on one of his adventures.

They’d stayed in touch and Fitzgerald had visited the place to meet up with his old friend. Which is where he met his now missing ward.

It all seems above board and yet Ranpo and Dazai sense something off.

Atsushi running away from visions of a tiger and seeing missing posters for himself. He doesn’t get it, he was kicked out he knows he was kicked out. Why are people looking for him?

He’s not sure who this man it says to return him too is. But Atsushi knows immediately that he’s dangerous. He starts to avoid the police along with what he believes is the tiger.

It’s part of why he doesn’t try to steal from anyone. Because he can’t and because if he does and he’s caught they’ll take him away. And Atsushi would rather be dead and free than alive in captivity.

But then he gives in and saves a man to rob him, who turns out to be a detective.

Dazai wordlessly convinces Kunikida to play dumb and though both tell Atsushi their profession they act like they know nothing about his case. Or that they’re the ones on it.

They convince Atsushi to stick around and get to know him. Dazai nullifies his ability so he doesn’t transform that night. Atsushi is subtly questioned and eventually he tells them everything.

That he doesn’t know who this man is. That he’s not adopted and he never was, he was kicked out. And it doesn’t take a Ranpo to know Atsushi’s telling the truth.

He still joins the Agency and Dazai goes off to the Port Mafia to do some digging. They are still after Atsushi, let’s say Fitzgerald still pays a large sum for the safety return of his ‘son.’

It’s not the Port Mafia’s usual job but money is money.

Everything goes semi smoothly until the man himself shows up at the Agency and is overjoyed to see Atsushi safe and sound. And demands he return with him, and lo and behold he has official adoption papers naming him Atsushi’s guardian.

And Atsushi’s signature is on them, it’s identical and doesn’t look to be forged. Legally there’s nothing the Agency can do and Atsushi is taken away.

Before he’s taken, Dazai promises him that they’ll figure this out. That Atsushi’s home is the Agency and it always will be. It hurts all of them to watch Atsushi, clearly terrified leave with this man.

And it’s only after he leaves that Dazai and Ranpo put it together that Fitzgerald is part of the Guild. A mysterious criminal organisation that doesn’t exist to the outside world.

So that’s why they wanted the Agencies special ability license, to make them legitimate and legal ti uphold this charade.

And they just let him walk out with Atsushi.

Atsushi who glares daggers at the man before him who smiles cruelly “oh don’t look at me like that boy you’ll break your father’s heart.” Fitzgerald says sarcastically and Atsushi only glares more, trying to free himself from his shackles.

“Shut up! You might have everyone fooled but you aren’t my dad!”

Fitzgerald chuckles “no but I’m probably a step up from him, aren’t I? After all, he abandoned you and I came back for you.”

“How do you….?”

“I know you. I know you were treated horribly by your parents. That the headmaster tried to kill you and how he did it. And I know you’ve got a powerful ability that will find the book I need.”

“You couldn’t just ask a librarian?” Scoffs Atsushi trying to hide his panic. Fitzgerald scoffs “again with the snark, you must get it from your mother.” His eyes glint dangerously as he walks up to the bars separating him and Atsushi.

“And no, you are the key to finding this particular book. Tell me or don’t, I’ll get you to show me where it if it’s the last thing I do.” It’s so casual it’s almost friendly and yet Atsushi knows he’s in trouble. He has no idea what Fitzgerald is talking about.

Fitzgerald grins, cold and amused and his next words could’ve made Atsushi’s heart stop.

“I hope you said goodbye to those friends of yours, because unless they’re fireproof it’ll be the last time you ever see them. And know that it’ll all be your fault.”

[teabutmakeitazure]

Cogency of the Deluded

>Yan! Chrollo x Fem! Reader

>Word count: 2.9k

>a/n: similar to Prerogative I wrote for Childe! Might give this one a part 2 who knows

Part 2 | Part 3

You love your parents.

You really do.

But when they’re casually laughing with the man who is the bane of your existence, you really want to bring yourself to express your displeasure. However, you don’t have the heart to shatter their beliefs, so you remain quiet, only nodding when absolutely necessary. It’s an outdoor setting, an outdoor restaurant. Of course you don’t want to make a scene either.

Chrollo eyes you with a challenging smile while your mother is busy whispering to your father, asking if they should invite him over for lunch the next weekend. You hate it. You absolutely loathe that when you glare at him, he simply looks smug in return.

He stalked you even when you were with your parents and had the gall to approach the little family outing and as the cherry on top, was invited to join them for dinner by your own father. You father! The man who gave you a stern look whenever you even mentioned a male specimen from your class or such invited this vexatious individual to join you all for dinner!

This is too unbelievable to be true.

Being the ‘gentleman’ that he is, he won the little discourse over the bill and ended up paying for everyone. You’re certain that your mother is just swooning on the inside. If only your parents were aware that auctioneering isn’t his actual profession. Ah, such a smooth liar.

Well. At least you know that you won’t be able to down the ice cream you were planning on eating after you got home. There is no way you can stomach it after seeing how your mother had innocently asked Chrollo how you both became friends. God forbid the proud smile on his face haunts your nightmares. You don’t think you would be able to sleep again if that were to happen.

You remain quiet during the entire exchange. Your mother obviously notices that something is wrong, but before she could ask you, Chrollo answers.

“[Name] and I recently had a little disagreement. I can understand why she’s quiet.”

“Did you?” Your mother's attention shifts back to him. “What happened?”

“I had asked her to allow me to meet the both of you. She… hadn’t appreciated that,” he chuckles. “I once again apologise if I happened to intrude on this family outing.”

Then sound more sincere when you’re sorry!

“Not at all, son,” your father replies. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

Your mother expresses her happiness and fortune of meeting him as well, and he just smiles at that, not even bothering you a glance.

"Ah, where are you from?" Your father finally voices the billion jenny question, the possible deal-breaker. "I don't believe I asked you earlier."

Your attention shifts to him, every ounce of it directed towards him and observing every single twitch and change of his facial expressions. To your dismay, it remains the same. No change occurs, and it's almost as if he isn't a person who doesn't exist by legal records.

"York New." The lie slips through his lips with ease like the many others he's woven this evening. "I started my career there as well. It's a hub for auctions and merchandise of all sorts."

"That explains your accent," your father chuckles. "You must've picked it up with all the sophisticated people around haha!"

Your mother smiles at the jest, and you have to refrain yourself from making a disgusted face. Chrollo continues humouring them, telling them about his hobby of reading and how it actually shaped his way of speaking and vocabulary more than his surroundings did. You figure that this statement might be the first truth he's told this evening except for his name.

Speaking of names, you hope to God that neither of them ask his full name. You don't even want to know what second name he might make up.

"And what about your parents? What do they do for a living?"

Ah. There goes another question. Will your father drop the enquiries already?

"I apologise if this makes the conversation awkward, but they aren't around." Chrollo looks at your mother with a little smile and if you were in her shoes, you would call it sad. "I grew up without them. I'm afraid I don't know much about them."

Well. That's another truth. How much is he willing to divulge?

Your mother returns his smile with one of her own. It makes you happy that she's so sweet but knowing who's on the receiving end makes you borderline nauseous. "It's alright my dear. You have us, so don't ever hesitate to ever ask us anything or reach out if you ever want to."

Did… did she really just indirectly adopt him?

"Thank you very much for your hospitality ma'am. I'm actually quite glad I gathered the nerves to approach you tonight." Grey eyes now staring at you, he gently nudges your foot under the table and you freeze. "I just hope that [Name] forgives me for doing so without her permission."

A challenge. He wants to see what you do next. Should you say something? What should you say? You can't possibly tell your parents anything. He's already painted the perfect picture for himself. There is no possible way that you could defile the painting without revealing the truth.

Doing something so horrible to your parents is out of the question. They don't deserve to see their daughter be harassed by a criminal in front of them. No. Not at all.

Chrollo nudges your foot again, smile widening and you snap out of autopilot. Mind blank, you hastily reach and grab at anything you can in your brain, any string of coherent words that you might voice as an answer. Unfortunately, your pacifist nature allowed for one single word to be spoken.

“Alright.”

Your mother elbows your side. Groaning, you side eye her for the abruptness of the action, but she simply shrugs. Excusing herself for a moment, she goes to whisper something in your father’s ear. Dread settles in when the man opposite to you smiles at you again, the chatter of the outdoor restaurant being the only noise that covers your wildly beating heart.

You sincerely wish you could go home already.

The seconds that pass by during your parents’ hushed conversation feel like hours. Chrollo, however, finds your anxiousness amusing. He rests his chin on the back of his palms and outright ogles you, uncaring of your father taking notice of the action. His gaze along with the background chatter proves to be too much for your brain, so you look away but he nudges his foot against yours once more.

There’s no reaction from your side. You know what he’s trying to do, and you refuse to give him the satisfaction. Being the persistent man that he is, he hits his foot against yours again before giving it a harder nudge, one that instantly makes you face him again. There’s no reaction from him except for a tilt of his head and his narrowing eyes.

Finally. Finally your mother separates from your father’s side, a soft smile on her face when she looks at you then to Chrollo.

“Chrollo, dear, is it alright if you drop off [Name]?”

What?

“I want you both to work out any arguments you may have,” she continues. “You may drop her home when your differences are worked out. I’m sure you won’t give him trouble, right [Name]?”

Her voice was strained when she said your name. It’s a warning from her. You know that, yet you still tell her that it’s nothing but Chrollo cuts you off.

“I would love that. Thank you, and I’ll be sure to drop her off as soon as possible.”

No one listens to your hesitant objections, and your parents simply bid you goodbye, leaving you standing alone outside the restaurant with the man who’s been terrorising your life for a significant amount of time.

When they’re roughly out of earshot, he speaks. “They’re a lovely bunch. I’m glad I met them.”

“Please, for the love of God, Chrollo don’t hurt them.”

He turns to you, hands in his pockets. “Who said anything about hurting them?”

Speechless, you look at him with your mouth open. He seems as nonchalant as ever. Maybe even content. It makes you all the more unbelieving of his words. “I mean it. Please, Chrollo. Just… listen to me.”

Glancing to the direction where your parents took off, you breathe a sigh of relief when you don’t spot them but immediately turn back to the man in front of you. Your index finger and thumb grasp his sleeve, eyes pleadingly looking into his. “Don’t hurt them. You… you would either hurt them or… or…”

You can’t bring yourself to voice the other possibility. Chest heaving, you sincerely hope that no one around you notices the state you’re in. Eyes fall to the ground, staring at your shoes, but you push through even against the fuzziness in your head from the anxiety. “Or you would… would end them. Please. Let them be.”

There’s no immediate answer from Chrollo. You wonder what kind of face he’s making but with your gaze fixed on the ground, you don’t have it in you to look up and face the confirmation of your fears. A few dreadful moments pass without any words spoken, and when you feel like you’re finally at your wits end, he grabs your chin with his other hand and makes you meet his gaze.

“Like I said, there’s no reason for me to hurt them.” He smiles, rubbing the corner of your eye and catching a tear before moving onto the other. “They brought you into this world. I don’t see any reason why I should treat them with anything less than courteousness. And to be frank, I’m looking forward to having lunch with them. It’ll help me get to know you better. How their personalities and habits shaped you is something I find quite intriguing.”

You retreat your hand, holding it to your chest by the wrist as though you just burned yourself. Chrollo simply chuckles at the display, both hands now holding your face as his thumbs run over your cheekbones.

To any onlooker, the scene might resemble that of a young couple spending time together but to you the scene is of Chrollo implicitly showing his power over you. It’s honestly disturbing how he reduced you into begging without even giving a direct threat.

“So, where do you want to go? We don’t have any arguments to make amends for, so we might as well kill some time.”

You gently brush away his hands, afraid that using too much force might invoke his wrath. “I don’t believe you. This… this can’t be right.”

“Am I so bad that simply being nice to you is suspicious?”

“You have no idea.”

Chrollo’s grin widens. “Unfortunately for you, you don’t have a say in whether you want to go or not. I’ll give you another chance. Pick a spot or I’ll pick something for us.”

You internally shudder at the word ‘us’. "I don't believe you when you say that you won't hurt them."

"You won't believe most of what I say until I do it," he challenges. Begrudgingly admitted, he is right. You didn't believe him when he said that he knows where your parents live. If you didn't still live with them, the signed flower bouquet he sent might've been discovered.

You don't humour him with a response, watching how he raises his sleeve to check the time. "One hour," he demands, "I want at least one hour with you and only then will I allow you to go home."

"As if I can't just get a cab if you refuse to drive me-"

"I used the word 'allow' for a reason, darling." Hands once again in his pockets, he gives another one of his smug smiles. "It would be daft of you to think that I can't monopolise you in this way."

A thought slithers into your mind. You could just run away, turn on your heel and not look back. This is a public place. The most Chrollo can do is run after you, but when the chatter and noise of the people around you floods your hearing, you throw away the idea. It will never be worth the risk.

Putting innocent civilians in danger just to act out a little temper tantrum is not what you want to do. But still… the prospect of seeing his eyes go wide as he watches you go farther and farther from his reach is tempting. For once, you want him to know what it feels like to be helpless.

"What might be more important than me that you've drifted off?"

Perhaps you'll get lucky and dream about that expression on his face.

"My parents. Let's just go, Chrollo."

He slings his arm around your shoulder, satisfied at your compliance. "Next time," he whispers, "I'll take you to where I'm staying."

The ice cream in your freezer lives to see another day it seems. There is no possibility that you can stomach it after all this.

-

"I might take offence if you remain this silent."

You cross your arms at Chrollo's words, letting the silence in the car persist. After parading you around with your hand in his, you are in no mood to entertain him with conversation. The vicissitude of your situation has been anything but pleasant or welcome, and you're sure that the man driving the car revels in your displeased attention.

"Are you mad at me?"

Shaking your head, you settle your eyes on his hands. They grip the steering wheel, muscles flexing whenever he moves it. Perhaps the possibility of you gazing at his arms is why he folded his sleeves. You did notice that he stopped wearing coats around you when you accidentally did that once, sleeves randomly exposing his arms every now and then.

"If you aren't mad, then why aren't you speaking? You know I love your voice."

You sigh. "I'm tired."

"Hm."

Chrollo takes a right turn, and you watch how his hands move the steering wheel, fingers elegantly tapping an unfamiliar tune on the surface. You feel your eyelids get heavy, but you refuse your body any sort of rest, readjusting yourself in your seat when you notice Chrollo going straight instead of turning left.

“Hey, that’s the wrong way,” you call out.

“It’s the wrong way for one destination but the right way for another.”

“Chrollo, turn back.” Unable to dig up any courage when he continues driving, you don’t even try to look at him. “Please, turn back. I need to go home.”

Your voice comes out shakier than expected, and Chrollo graces you with a brief glance. However, he continues driving. There’s no sign of him stopping, so you try your luck again.

“I need to go home. My parents will be worried. Please.”

“Had they been worried, they would’ve called you,” he reasons.

“They’ve sent me texts.”

“My point still stands.”

“They didn’t call because they trusted you with getting me home safely.”

“I am taking you home.”

Eyes fixed on your fidgeting hands, you take a deep breath, voice low. “That’s not home.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The car slows as though reflecting Chrollo’s slow consideration of your words. On the next junction, he takes a U-turn, but neither of you comment on it. It’s a little over half past ten which is very late into the night by your standards to be out. You’re sure your mother is worried. You just wish that he realised that instead of messing with you.

The promise to take you to wherever he’s staying is still haunting you.

Silence once again fills the car. Chrollo’s lack of comments is partly due to your timorous demeanour. He doesn’t wish to upset you more, but he still wants to mess around. Thus, he internally debates whether or not he should let his hand roam over your thigh all the while glancing at you now and then.

Before he could reach a conclusion, the car stopped in front of your home. Your hand immediately reaches for the door handle but Chrollo is quicker, locking the car through the driver’s controls and simply smiling at you when you look at him appalled.

“Your mother is watching,” he points out,” so try to be civil.”

“How do you know?”

“The kitchen window. She’s peeking through the curtains.”

She was very likely waiting for you to come back home.

Chrollo instructs you to remain seated, but exits the car himself. Smoothing out his shirt, he casually saunters over to your side, opening the door for you and gesturing you to take his hand when you get outside. You know what he’s doing. He’s putting on a show for your mother. How charming.

Chrollo calls your name when you’re near the door, but when you turn back, he doesn’t say anything. All he does is walk up to you and lean in. Lips tickling your earlobe, he whispers in a low voice like he’s sharing a secret between the two of you.

“I’ll drop by after midnight. Don’t lock your window.”

The silence of the residential street is synonymous to your speechless reaction. Suddenly, you regret not taking up the attic as your bedroom.

[cakerybakery]

Hell had the best lawyers, really a benefit to being in hell. Lucifer like lawyers, they were as meticulous about contracts as he was. Tricky too, which he also liked. They were in hell, not heaven.

Not all lawyers went to hell, obviously. Most weren’t even in hell because they were bastards that used their profession to sin. Lucifer’s personal lawyer, James, was in hell because he kept cheating on his wives and drank and ate to excess, which is what killed him.

When wife number seven burst into the room as he was finishing up inside the sixth person he’d cheated on her with that month, waving a gun, screaming and crying hysterically because she just found out he’s been cheating since before they got married three months ago. He didn’t stand a chance as the gun went off and he dropped dead, from a heart attack.

The bastard still ran around chasing anything in a skirt and drank and ate until his guts ruptured each night. But he went to work stone cold sober and did his job during the day. He was a professional and Lucifer liked that about him.

Lucifer still double checked the contract before signing and sliding it over to Adam.

Adam was struggling to get through all the legal jargon. He learned to read in heaven, not even any of the human languages either. Angelic texts. Satan’s English was newer for him.

It was weird how the language invented by Wrath leaked up to Earth, then Heaven. Lucifer was pretty sure Satan did it on purpose to fuck with Heaven after the whole tower of babble thing.

Adam could certainly speak the language, even if it wasn’t his first language it seemed to be his preferred now. Lucifer couldn’t fault him there. He himself only spoke the language of the angels if he had to now. The language taught first to Adam.

James raised an eyebrow at Lucifer as Adam struggled, silently asking the question everyone asked. “What do you see in him?”

Lucifer couldn’t explain it. Adam was often rude, crude, and cruel. But that cruel streaked turned into an insatiable lust as they physically came to blows one day. The crudeness was a turn on as it was turned onto him to describe everything Adam wanted them to do. They both got a thrill out of Lucifer trying to tame Adam’s rude tongue. With Lucifer in the bedroom as a focal point for Adam’s worst traits, his best started to shine through.

He sung like an angel, a fallen angel, but no matter how hard and harsh the song was, Lucifer loved listening to that sweet voice singing it. Adam’s hands were rough with him, but gentle with the plants and dirt. He had no devil given talent for it. Just centuries of knowledge. Children were a weakness of his. And it made Lucifer weak in the knees to watch Adam being so gentle with Lucifer’s grandchild.

Soon to be officially their grandchild. It was just the first set of documents they were signing today. Some prenup stuff, in case of a divorce. They were both divorced men known for their tempers, if something did happen, they both wanted to make sure they had each other over a barrel to make their parting as easy as possible. Later it would be the marriage certificate. But right now, they were adding Adam’s name to a bunch of the assets. If someone offed Lucifer it just made inheritance easier. More likely they would need Adam to be able to sign off on things when Lucifer hit a depressive low and couldn’t be roused to do paperwork.

A reason Lucifer retained such a great lawyer. Charlie certainly needed the help when he had hit the worst of a slump after Lilith left. Acting as the ruler of hell for a few years while he couldn’t get out of bed.

James started to clarify some of the things Adam was reading. “These fifty pages are all the assets Lucifer holds in this city. This stack is the rest of the ring, and these ones are for the other rings. You can read over everything if you like or just sign at the end to acknowledge that it’s all there.”

Adam signed, trusting neither of them were trying to screw with him. Which they weren’t, but he really needed to teach Adam to stop being so damnably trusting. That’s how he ended up damned.

“And this is acknowledgment that you’ll pay the listed price to be added to the assets.” James tapped the next set of documents.

“What’s the listed price?”

James grinned, “a kiss. To be paid to Mr Morningstar.”

Adam rolled his eyes at Lucifer’s cheeky smirk and leaned over. They exchanged a kiss and Adam signed, followed by Lucifer and James to attest the Adam had indeed made payment in full.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lisa Needham at Public Notice:

It’s been barely a week since conservatives on the US Supreme Court radically upended the balance of power between the branches of government, giving the federal courts the exclusive power to interpret statutes rather than deferring to agency experts. And we’re already seeing impacts on the ground. Right-wingers have been in the habit of running to their preferred courts to get regulations overturned, but the decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which officially destroyed agency deference, will make it easier — even routine — to block every Biden administration rule they don’t like.  Lawsuits to invalidate specific rules had been proceeding through the federal courts before Loper Bright, generally arguing that agencies exceeded their authority in promulgating a rule. These lawsuits exist in no small part because the Supreme Court made it clear they would destroy Chevron deference for years now, with Justice Neil Gorsuch having led the way well before his appointment to the Court. 

Trump appointee Sean Jordan, who sits in the reliably hard-right Eastern District of Texas, was so eager to block a Biden administration’s overtime rule that he dropped his decision the same day Loper Bright came out. It runs 36 pages and mentions Loper Bright multiple times, which means either Jordan was so confident of the Supreme Court decision that he either wrote it in advance or he hurried to stuff Loper Bright into his already-written opinion. Jordan’s opinion also rests heavily on dictionary definitions rather than expertise from the Department of Labor, which issued the rule. So now, the rule that would have made 4 million more Texas workers eligible for overtime, and thus more pay, is blocked thanks to a hurried read of a SCOTUS opinion and Webster’s Dictionary. 

What this mean is that anytime a business doesn’t like a federal rule, it can just sue. It promises to be a free-for-all. Three hospitals in New Jersey sued HHS the day Loper Bright came down, saying the agency’s interpretation of a statute governing Medicare reimbursement is unlawful. In another case, filed before Loper Bright, a trucking company challenging the Biden administration’s rule that addressed misclassification of independent contractors filed a memorandum on July 2 arguing that Loper Bright means the court should not defer to the Department of Labor’s interpretation of the law. The next day, Trump appointee Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas enjoined enforcement of the Biden administration’s rule prohibiting non-compete agreements but limited the injunction to the plaintiffs, which are various pro-business groups like the Chamber of Commerce. 

[...]

Bigotry from the bench

Unsurprisingly, much of the assault on administration rules relates to any regulation that would protect transgender people. Four days after Loper Bright was handed down, another Trump appointee, Judge John W. Broomes in Kansas, enjoined the Department of Education from enforcing its Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs rule in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming. The Department of Education spent two years finalizing the rule, which would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identity under Title IX.  The unofficial text of the rule, which runs 1,577 pages with supporting material, is jam-packed with legal analysis. Hundreds of pages are spent explaining how the DOE considered and addressed public comments and the document details the mental health impact of discrimination against LGBTQ students. 

Broomes’s expertise is in natural resource law, a background that does not lend itself to a detailed understanding of Title IX, sex discrimination, or gender identity. But none of that matters. His opinion sneers about “self-professed and potentially ever-changing gender identity” and insists that things like using correct pronouns for students and allowing them to use the bathroom that conforms with their gender identity is an issue of “vast economic” significance. Given that the only costs of the rule are things like updated administrative guidance and perhaps hiring additional Title IX staff, the idea it is a vast economic question is, to put it politely, a reach. Instead, Broomes sided with the conservative plaintiffs, including Moms for Liberty and an Oklahoma student who asserted that using the correct pronouns for other students violated her religious beliefs. Because of this mix of conservative state litigants, private anti-trans groups, and an Oklahoma student, the extent of Broomes’s injunction is even weirder than the patchwork blocking of the HHS rule.

Besides blocking the rule entirely in four states, the rule is also blocked for the schools attended by the members of two private plaintiffs, Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United, and all schools attended by the children of members of Moms for Liberty. So now, if you are a transgender student unlucky enough to attend school anywhere in the country where a child of a Moms for Liberty student also attends, you’re out of luck. If your school is free of children of book-banners, you get the protection of the federal rule — unless you live in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, in which case it doesn’t matter what school you go to.  Over at Law Dork, Chris Geidner has a good rundown of not just how the courts are sledgehammering LGBTQ rights, but also how having courts, rather than regulators, make these decisions results in an uneven patchwork of rulings over a Health and Human Services rule that prohibited health care providers from discriminating based on gender identity. Only five days after Loper Bright was issued, three separate federal courts issued rulings blocking parts of the HHS rule. There’s no chance that William Jung, a Trump appointee to the federal district court for the Middle District of Florida, hadn’t already written most of his decision before Loper Bright was issued, but the case gave him far more ammunition. Fung’s ruling in Florida v. Department of Health and Human Services blocked part of the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule from going into effect — but only in Florida. 

The Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling by the judicial activist MAGA Majority on the Supreme Court is having devastating consequences.

[mayasaura]

I've finally finished the six games in the main Ace Attorney series! That's right!! It's time for my review!

I think it's fairly common knowledge that Ace Attorney is a political commentary on the Japanese legal system as it existed in 2001. I know I knew that going in.

What I didn't know was just how topical the games were. I didn't figure that out until I started looking into what the fuck was going on in Apollo Justice, and what I discovered makes Apollo Justice my favourite game in the series.

At the time the Phoenix Wright trilogy was first being released, Japan did not have any form of trial by jury, and boasted a conviction rate to make Edgeworth and Von Karma's records look almost credible. Four months after the release of the third game, the Japanese National Diet passed a piece of legislation implementing judicial reform with the explicit intention of “the promotion of the public’s understanding of the judicial system and … their confidence in it.”

The next installment of the series—Apollo Justice, released in April of 2007—builds the themes of legal corruption explored by the first trilogy into a passionate argument for reform by restoring judicial power to the citizens.

Phoenix Wright, seen through the eyes of the new protagonist, appears to be a jaded shell of his former self: retired from the legal profession, beaten down by trying to champion truth and justice from within a broken system. The circumstances leading to his forced retirement come to light in the game's climactic final case, hand in hand with the revelation that Phoenix never really gave up on his ideals. He just gave up on the system. Speaking directly to the player, he casts the player as one of a panel of six civilian judges in a new reformed system of trial he and Edgeworth developed together. At the end of the trial, the player directly casts the final vote to decide the verdict.

In May of 2009, two years after Phoenix Wright handed the player direct power over the outcome of a trial, the real Japanese legal system conducted its first trial utilising civilian lay judges under the newly reformed judicial system.

I don't know nearly enough about how the current Japanese system works to judge the accuracy of Apollo Justice's vision to the final real result of real Japanese lawyers and judges' efforts, but from my casual perspective, it's pretty close. Close enough for it to be clear the game developers were following the progress of the real reform. Perhaps the game was meant as a celebration, or maybe they hoped it could work as an educational tool to introduce the concept to the public. Either way, these games were made by someone or someones who cared deeply about criminal justice, and I love them for it.

I also love them for their fun and immersive mysteries, of course, and their ludicrously charming cast of characters. It's no wonder the series has withstood the test of time, thriving on their own solid merit as games even far removed by both time and distance from the context of their social commentary.

[scarubaru]

Thinking about how TS Eliot and Wallace Stevens both worked office jobs while producing some of the most well know poetry of the last century. Office jobs undersells it a bit. Eliot worked as a banker for Lloyds and Stevens became an insurance executive. Stevens' education pegs him as the more conventional of the two: law at Harvard vs Eliot's English.

What's interesting to me is whether their trajectories would be possible today. For Eliot, I don't think so. The days of 'go to Harvard, land job at bank or finance firm' are over, unless you set out to study finance. The pipelines have been diverted and narrowed, so to speak. For Wallace I'm also a bit skeptical. Granted I don't follow the legal profession closely, in its historical or current form, but from what I do know, a legal career's demands on time are squarely at odds with a hobby that requires hours of daily concentrated effort. You're either a lawyer or a poet.

Of course a modern Eliot or Stevens might become a scholar in lieu of a temporary banker or permanent insurance man. Maybe. Or maybe both would would do the sensible, more conservative thing and settle in at stable, well-paying jobs. The gist is, I don't think it's currently possible to tread that line, between artist/intellectual and cog. It's one of those paths that's been closed off, for better or worse. I'd say for worse.

[tanadrin]

Five to Four is doing a series on the Federalist Society, which is very interesting--they're probably one of the most successful political movements in modern America, and the heart of the conservative legal movement. Why they have been so successful in shaping the judiciary, and taking ideas which were once part of the legal lunatic fringe and moving them to the mainstream, isn't particularly mysterious either. In the 1980s, within the legal profession conservative thought was very unpopular; in the legal sphere, liberals had achieved a lot of big policy victories, and were able to articulate a strong positive vision of the law and of policy, while conservatives in the same sphere were mostly left writing amicus briefs that said "nuh-uh" and bickering between their pro-business and libertarian factions.

The founders of the Federalist Society wanted to bring together conservative law students and lawyers, and articulate a positive, intellectual vision of conservative law. But more than that, they wanted that vision to have a material effect, and to win over people to their cause. This meant holding conferences to spread their ideas, networking and creating professional opportunities, especially under conservative judges and administrations, getting some big-name figures (like Scalia and Bork, both before their respective Supreme Court nominations) to back them, setting aside the differences of various factions within the nascent conservative legal movement so they wouldn't waste time on infighting, and, of course, no small amount of patience.

The results speak for themselves. Although the legal profession in the U.S. is still as a whole probably pretty liberal, Republican administrations are in charge about half the time, and the Federalist Society can furnish them with lists of candidates for judicial positions at every level from the lowest to the highest court. The demand for clerks under these judges and conservative legal bureaucrats under Republican Presidents means (so I gather) that there's a pretty robust pipeline from Federalist Society law student at a good law school to a promising career in government. And as a result of steady work over decades, dreams which were very distant in the 1980s, like overturning Roe or weakening the Voting Rights Act, have now been accomplished. Sure, people all over the country hate many of these decisions; but that's politics, babey!

And you don't need a theory of nebulous "elites" or difficult-to-discern incentives to understand the shifts in the judiciary since the 1980s, even for the most unpopular decisions. It's perfectly clear--it's the Federalist Society! And the Federalist Society succeeded because when they felt themselves a sidelined minor faction in law schools and in legal circles, they didn't collapse into despair. They got organized, they identified places they could exert influence, and they figured out how to make that a reality. It's a good lesson in politics.

[oodlyenough]

I haven't played the 2nd trilogy yet but with the spoilers I've read about aa4 and 5, it kind of solidifies my budding HC that Nick unintentionally has better relationships with women than men and it affects how he treats either. based on how he treats Athena vs Apollo and hell Maya, Trucy, Pearl vs Larry and any other male character. Miles seems to be the only exception here. This isn't a serious HC but it's just amusing seeing him be a genuine mentor to Athena while Apolo had to go through Phoenix's dark era before getting the best mentor treatment and he still likes to tease him here and there based from the spoilers.

lmao honestly i've been joking about misandrist Phoenix the whole time too, it's pretty funny to me. feminist ally only interested in more women in the legal profession. frankly the gender disparity in AA law is huge so he's right ✊😔

TBH I'm not super keen on the fandom tendency to stuff every possible relationship into the nuclear family and by extension assume every character under the age of 25 is Phoenix's child -- Trucy is his kid, everyone else is something else and most of them are already grown when he meets them anyway. However I'm willing to ignore that for the sake of this joke:

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

If abortion should be illegal, do you think that women who seek abortions should be punished similarly to those who hire hitmen?

No, not really, not unless they try to perform an abortion themselves. Many of the women who seek abortions are victims who are being taken advantage of by unscrupulous organizations and ideologies. They are actively having important information about pregnancy and women's health denied to them so that they see abortion as the only option. Any law that imposes punishments for abortions needs to focus on the abortion providers. The ones actually murdering and tearing apart the babies. Before we can responsibly have a conversation about what, if any, legal and moral responsibility a particular individual woman has if they seek an abortion, we need to undo decades of misinformation and almost religious dogma surrounding abortion.

People need to know that "life begins at conception" is a scientific fact, not a religious belief. They need to understand human rights and how there can be no other rights without the right to life. They need to know that there is never a medical reason for an abortion, and that any doctor who says there is one is either dangerously ignorant of their profession, or lying and manipulating in order to facilitate the murder of a child.

Taking the time to change the way society views abortion will, in the end, do infinitely more to protect children and promote human rights than locking up mothers who mostly don't even realize why what they're doing is wrong.

[starlightshadowsworld]

I love how the government are like we need to hunt down the Agency and anyone connected to them.

And yet Katai is only put on house arrest.

I get why, he’s not a member. But he was and he also continues to work with them.

Not to mention he has a close friendship with Kunikida. The dude they all recently accused of child murder. And than later almost got murdered, did they really think his best friend wouldn’t retaliate?

Katai’s no slouch either. Kunikida himself said he’s equipped to take on military cyber warefare. And well, the ones hunting down the Agency are the militaries most elite squad.

I know they’re successful at keeping him separated and powerless (until they aren’t.) But it probably would’ve been a better idea to arrest him.

It’s not like they wouldn’t have grounds to do so, Katai by profession is an information broker. Everything he does is in a legal grey area and we’ve seen him hack into places before.

Man forget Dazai, what’s Katai’s criminal record look like? Katai also is still doing this so it’s not even old news like the others.

Depending on how much they know about his ability, they may also know he needs to feel comfortable and at home.

So why not him away from his home. Keeping him in solitary confinement without access to even a phone seems. I guess they were just that confident that Katai wouldn’t be able to do anything.

But my boy is also one of the few people to outsmart Fyodor so put some respect on his name.

As much as I love Ranpo breaking him out like the others, imagine a Katai prison break scene. He’s so full of worry but his need to protect his friends wins out.

Katai tricks someone into bringing a phone into the area and without even needing to touch it, activates his ability. He’s in the system. He’s in control.

Katai steps over a fallen guard and into the control room. If he was going to help, he needed to figure out what was going on. Why his friends were being targeted, and why now?

He smiles, somewhat sadly. He’s not a detective, not anymore but he’ll do what he can. After all, he learned from the best.