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stillness-in-green · 4 years

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Shigaraki, the League and “Redemption”

(In this post: 1700 words about how much I feel like stories/meta in which Shigaraki is rescued or redeemed miss the entire point of Shigaraki.)

It's a big open question how much of Shigaraki's backstory was engineered by All For One. We're not even sure if AFO is the villain who killed Nana's husband, the event that kicked off the entire downward spiral of the Shimura family, much less what degree of involvement he had in Tenko's manifestation of Decay. There's a tremendous amount of well-thought-out, interesting meta and fic about what will happen when Shigaraki finds out the truth, whether he can or should still be redeemed as he currently stands, or how Tenko might have been saved from ever becoming Shigaraki to begin with. While I have read and enjoyed quite a lot of those theories and stories, I still find myself bothered by the prevalence of that line of thought because it ignores the fact that hero society stands condemned regardless.

Whether or not AFO gave Tenko the Decay quirk knowing what would happen, whether he found out about Tenko the night of the accident or never lost track of Kotaro from the very beginning, in truth, none of that matters to the narrative of the League on the whole. Nothing about Shigaraki's past has any bearing on the pasts of the other members. Trying to decide how to "save" Shigaraki avoids the fact that he is the leader of the League of Villains and their pain still stands regardless of their leader's history.

You cannot act as though saving Shigaraki--with All Might, Inko, Izuku, Eraserhead, anyone--would redeem hero society, because Shigaraki is not hero society's only victim. He's not even its most straightforward one! The condemnation he articulates of the world he lives in can't be addressed by him realizing he was manipulated by AFO all along or getting a good therapist in prison, because the world he lives in has failed a good many more people than just him.

Let's break it down.

The League Members

Twice fell through the cracks because of a lack of social support after his parents were killed in a villain attack. He was just a teenager back then--what arrangements were made about where he was going to live? If he was old enough that foster care/being placed in a group home wasn't a good option, did he instead have a stipend from the government? Where was the social worker who should have been overseeing his case? Where was his homeroom teacher when he dropped out of school? What support should have been available when he wound up homeless on the streets? Heroes stop villains and are rewarded both socially and monetarily for doing so, but the much more difficult and involved work of dealing with the fallout from those battles is clearly undervalued, badly so, in comparison. Hero society, which prioritizes glamorized reaction over everyday prevention, failed Bubaigawara Jin.

Spinner had the wrong kind of face. X-Men-style mutant discrimination left him isolated and alienated, shunned by the inhabitants of his backwater hometown because of his animal-type quirk. To say nothing about the threat of violent hate crimes implied by the existence of a KKK analogue! But it goes further than just the bigotry of his neighbors--Spinner's quirk was also unremarkable, meaning that, in a society that prizes flashy and offense-based quirks in its heroes, Spinner would have had few if any role models. Given how many heroes there are, it seems strange to consider that there isn't a single straightforward heteromorph for Spinner to idolize, but given how strongly he latches onto first Stain's warped ideals and later Shigaraki's nihilistic grandeur, Spinner is clearly a young man desperate for a role model--if a hero that fit the bill existed, he wouldn't be a villain today. So he's failed directly by his community for their bigotry and indirectly by society for the way it told him, in a thousand ways big and small, that Iguchi Shuuichi was not a person worth valuing.

Toga had the wrong kind of quirk. It's true that, more than anyone else in the League, she feels like a character who would always have struggled with mental stability, even with the best help imaginable--but she didn't get the best help imaginable, did she? She got parents who called her a freak, who berated a child barely into grade school about how unnatural and awful the desires she was born with were. She was put into a quirk counselling program that apparently only caused her to feel more detached from society. If Curious' characterization of quirk counselling is at all accurate, it seems to focus not on how to manage one's unusual or difficult quirk in healthy or productive ways, but rather on stressing what society considers "normal," on teaching its participants how to force themselves into that mold. Hero society wants people with different needs to learn how to function like "normal" people; it is unwilling to look for ways to accommodate such people on a societal level. Toga Himiko was failed by a society that demonized and othered her for a trait that she did not choose and innate desires that she never asked to experience.

And then, most prominently of all*, there's Dabi. We all know where the big Dabi backstory mystery is going, and his is the most open condemnation of hero society of them all. Dabi was raised on a heady cocktail, parental abuse mixed liberally with unquestioned acceptance of the fundamental importance of having a powerful quirk. Whatever else can be said of Endeavor's path to redemption, the old Enji is emblematic of everything wrong with hero society: the fundamental devaluing of those without power, the fervent strain to push oneself past one's limits over and over and over again, regardless of the consequences to your health or your relationships, the practice of raising children to glorify a dangerous profession that fights the symptoms of societal ills rather than the root causes. The ugly secrets hidden in the Todoroki house are the ugly secrets hidden within hero society's ideals, and because he embodies those ideals so thoroughly, of course Endeavor is lionized and well-paid by a society that never had to see Todoroki Touya's scars.

Mirror of Reality

All of these issues map to things in real life, and I don't only mean in a vague, universal sense--I mean they reflect on specific and observable Japanese problems. Read up on koseki family registries and consider how the dogged insistence on maintaining them impacted the Shimura family, tracked down by a monster. Look into societal bias against orphans and imagine how it shaped peoples' reactions to teenaged Jin and his alleged 'scary face.' Read up on how Japan approaches mental and physical disabilities, on what it regularly does to homeless camps, on what responses get trotted out when someone comes forward with a story about closeted abuse. The League embodies these issues in indirect, sometimes fantastical ways, but they're not what I would call subtle, either; there's a reason the generally poor, disenfranchised League members are contrasted with powerful, urbane criminals like All for One, callous manipulators like Overhaul, and entrenched pillars of society like Re-Destro.

Hero AUs are a fun thought exercise and all, but the League exists to call out and typify very real problems in heroic society and, by metaphorical extension, modern day Japanese society as well. Hero society studiously looks away from its victims. It doesn't want to see them and it thinks even trying to talk about them is disruptive and distasteful. There's no indication in-universe that there's even a movement trying to change this state of affairs. Certainly there are a great many things that could have changed to spare the BNHA world Shigaraki Tomura, but none of those quick, easy solutions would have saved Twice or Toga, Spinner or Dabi. The League of Villains is the punishment, the overdue reckoning that their country will have to face for its myriad failures--for letting its social safety nets grow ragged, for failing to stamp out quirk-based prejudice, for allowing its heroes to operate with so little oversight. For growing so complacent that not one person had the moral wherewithal to extend a hand to a bloodied, lost, suffering child.

Shigaraki, Past and Future

One of the most heartbreaking and yet awe-inspiring aspects of Shigaraki's characterization in his Deika City flashback is that he was thoughtful and compassionate enough to reach out to other kids who were being excluded and teased by the rest of his peer group. The League is foreshadowed for him even as a child, because even back then, he was a kid suffering repression and repudiation and so had empathy for others in similar straits. Young Tenko is the person who would have reached out a hand to the scary but obviously needy Tenko wandering the streets; Tomura, despite everything All For One did to him, still retains that core of fellow-feeling that invites other outcasts to play with him.

"Saving" Shigaraki without addressing the societal flaws that created the people gathered under his banner negates the entire point he and the League exist to raise. I think readers will be forced to confront those flaws alongside Midoriya and the rest of his classmates, who the story has made a point to keep mostly isolated and on a steady PLUS ULTRA diet of all the same rhetoric that leads to consequences like the League to begin with. I only wish more of the fandom--hero and villain fandom alike--was on the same page and writing their fic and meta accordingly.

Footnotes and Etc.

*The only characters in the League whose backstories we don't have much window on are Mr. Compress and Magne, both of whom are framed as seeing society as repressive. Magne openly says as much to Overhaul; Mr. C intimates it to the 1-A kids during the training camp attack. I'm inclined to hold off on commenting on them very thoroughly, though, because in neither case do we know exactly what drove them to crime in the first place. That's not a huge problem for Sako--if anyone on that team is into flamboyant villainy for the sheer joy of it, it's him--but I would definitely want to know more specifics about Magne's personal history before I correlate her experience as a trans woman with her portrayal as a violent, even lethal, criminal. That would get right into the problematic elements of portraying all these societal outcasts as villains, people who undoubtedly have a point, but have taken to terrorism to illustrate it. It's very possible that, for all that the League maps to real problems in Japan, we're still going to get a very mealy-mouthed, "But it's still wrong to lash out when you could protest nonviolently and work with your oppressors to seek a peaceful solution," moral from all this.

P.S. None of the above meta even takes into account the multiple non-League characters whose stories illustrate various failings of hero society--Gentle Criminal, Hawks, Shinsou, even Midoriya himself, as those endless reams of Villain!Deku AUs are ever hasty to expound upon. Vigilantes touches on the idea of "hero" and "villain" categorizations as being almost entirely political in their inception, as is also hinted at with historical characters like Destro. Seriously, the mountain of problems with hero culture just looms higher with every passing arc!

P.P.S. I absolutely do not mean to imply with this meta that Japan suffers uniquely from any of the problems discussed above. Other countries obviously have their own difficulties with homelessness, accessibility of care, victim blaming, and so forth. Horikoshi is writing in and about his own culture, though, and stripping Shigaraki of his villainous circumstances in the interest of making him happier and/or more palatable strikes me as being kind of culture-blind in a way that it’s very easy for Western fans to unthinkingly slip into. Just some food for thought.

#shigaraki tomura #tomura shigaraki #league of villains #boku no hero academia #bnha meta #my hero academia #my writing #bnha

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vettingsanders · 4 years

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He Did Nothing For Years

The Bernie Sanders Story

I was going to title this post something that more adequately expresses my rage, like “Bernie Sanders is a Grifting Fuck and a Garbage Human,” but then I decided to be classy and paraphrase a quote from Evita instead. But I’m also petty so consider the subtitle of this rant to be “A Grifting Fuck and a Garbage Human.”

I was going to wait to post this until the primaries are over because if by some unholy hell miracle Sanders wins the nomination, obviously we all have to unite behind even the shittiest, most doomed to fail candidate, but fuck it. Vote blue no matter who, that goes without being said, but Sanders is the worst possible choice and was even when there were a dozen plus horses in this race, and now y’all are going to hear all the reasons why.

The Early Years: Sanders the Deadbeat

Sanders graduated from the university of Chicago in 1964 with a BA in Political Science and chose not to work until he was elected mayor of Burlington in 1981

I say “chose not to work” because he was fully capable but preferred being a bum. He had no student debt, he had no health conditions that prevented him from working, and the 1960s were characterized by rapid growth of the workforce, with three out of four college graduates holding high level positions by 1970

Sanders occasionally did some freelance writing and carpentry during these years, according to his resume, probably so he could claim he was trying to work in order to collect unemployment. Let’s take a look at some of his writings:

At age 28, he wrote an article for alternative newspaper The Vermont Freeman entitled “Cancer, Disease, and Society.” In the article, he argues that sexual repression can cause cancer, and women who are virgins, have fewer orgasms than their peers, or simply don’t enjoy sex are more likely to develop cancer. The article includes statements such as “the manner in which you bring up your daughter with regard to sexual attitudes may very well determine whether or not she will develop breast cancer, among other things” and “How much guilt, nervousness have you imbued in your daughter with regard to sex? If she is 16, 3 years beyond puberty and the time which nature set forth for child-bearing, and spent a night out with her boyfriend, what is your reaction? Do you take her to a psychiatrist because she is “maladjusted” or a “prostitute,” or are you happy that she has found someone with whom she can share love?” He also argues that the education system contributes to cancer, as does having “an old bitch of a teacher (and there are many of them).” https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2157403-sanders-cancer.html

In 1969, in another article for The Vermont Freeman, he wrote, “In Vermont, at a state beach, a mother is reprimanded by Authority for allowing her 6 month old daughter to go about without her diapers on. Now, if children go around naked, they are liable to see each others sexual organs, and maybe even touch them. Terrible thing! If we [raise] children up like this it will probably ruin the whole pornography business, not to mention the large segment of the general economy which makes its money by playing on peoples sexual frustrations.” https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/bernie-sanders-vermont-freeman-sexual-freedom-fluoride/

His resume, incidentally, also lists him as a freelance youth counselor during his period of unemployment, which is just great. The man who thinks thirteen year olds should be getting pregnant and children should touch each other’s genitals, counseling your kids. Fantastic.

In the 1970s, Sanders stole electricity from his neighbors rather than paying his own bill. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-vermont-119927

He stole food from the refrigerator of The Vermont Freeman’s publishers https://newrepublic.com/article/122005/he-was-presidential-candidate-bernie-sanders-was-radical

He was asked to leave a hippie commune in 1971 due to sitting around engaging in “endless political discussion” rather than working. Let me repeat, he was too lazy for a hippie commune. https://freebeacon.com/politics/bernie-sanders-asked-leave-hippie-commune/

Now, all of this apart from the theft is arguably okay. It’s his own life, and if he wants to squander it publishing poorly written essays and doing jack shit, whatever. Except it wasn’t just his life, because he had a son, Levi. And he was a deadbeat, paying no child support and causing Levi’s mother, Susan Mott, to rely on welfare, which made her face discrimination when trying to find housing. https://twitter.com/m_mendozaferrer/status/1093295853907922946

Bernie Sanders is a deadbeat dad. No respect.

Failing Upwards: Sanders the Politician

In 1971, Sanders joined the Vermont Liberty Union Party, a socialist political group. From 1971 to 1977, Sanders was the party chief and habitually ran for office, failing every time. He left the group in 1977, stating that they did not do enough to fight banks and corporations during non-election years. This is just one example of Sanders decrying everyone else as too impure for him.

In 2016, the Vermont Liberty Union Party voted to brand Sanders as a war criminal. Their general secretary, Peter Diamondstone, said of Sanders, “ He never was a socialist!" https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bnjby3/the-vermont-political-party-bernie-sanders-founded-isnt-into-him-anymore This is just one example in the long list of Sanders alienating his allies.

He finally won the mayoral election for Burlington in 1981, by only ten votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Burlington_mayoral_election

Sanders was only elected to the US House of Representatives in 1990 because he had the support of the National Rifle Association. The incumbent Congressman, Republican Peter Smith, advocated for an assault weapons ban, so the NRA flooded Sanders with money. https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/stickin-to-his-guns-the-nra-helped-elect-bernie-sanders-to-congress-now-hes-telling-a-different-story/Content?oid=27816693

In 2006, 2012, and 2018, when running for the Senate, Sanders ran as a Democrat in the state primaries, then declined the Democratic nomination, and ran as an independent in the general. This made it basically impossible for any Democrat to run against him. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/21/bernie-sanders-democrat-independent-vermont-601844

After a landslide loss to Secretary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, Sanders demanded changes to the DNC primary structure that would make the process easier for him to win with just a plurality of delegates instead of a majority. These rule changes were the reason the 2020 Iowa caucus was such a clusterfuck. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/bernie-sanders-iowa-caucus-winner-trump-democrats-a9317761.html

Despite all his talk of getting out the youth vote and inspiring disenfranchised voters, Sanders planned all along to squeak by with only thirty percent of the delegates in the 2020 primary by provoking infighting among other candidates to split the moderate vote. The supposed movement he claimed to lead is a sham. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/04/bernie-sanders-thinking-he-will-win-it-all-2020/587326/

“I Never Saw Him”: Sanders and Civil Rights

Sanders touts his participation in the March on Washington in 1963 as proof of his devotion to civil rights activism. He loves to remind people that he marched with MLK, as seen during the She the People 2019 forum where he repeated that old chestnut for the millionth time and was booed by the attendees. https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-met-with-boos-after-name-dropping-martin-luther-king-at-she-the-people-summit

In actuality, Sanders was one of 250,000 people at the march, along with Mitch McConnell, who is clearly no champion for civil rights. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/7-things-know-about-sen-mitch-mcconnell-r-ky-part-flna6C10621413

Representative John Lewis, an actual civil rights hero who worked with Dr. King and whose skull was fractured by police on Bloody Sunday, said that he “never saw [Bernie Sanders]. I never met him,” during the movement. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2016/02/11/john-lewis-never-saw-bernie-sanders-during-civil-rights-era/80263450/

Sanders was charged with resisting arrest during a segregation protest in Chicago in 1963, and was charged $25. He later white flighted to Vermont, one of the whitest states in the country. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/bernie-sanders-core-university-chicago/

Sanders never bothered to vote during the Civil Rights movement, only putting forth the effort when he himself was running. https://imgur.com/gallery/mmS40Gq#460q6bS

During his speech in Jacksonville on the 50th anniversary of MLK’s death, Sanders rewrote history and tried to claim that King’s real focus was economic justice and not civil rights. "All of us know where he was when he was assassinated 50 years ago today. He was in Memphis to stand with low-income sanitation workers who were being exploited ruthlessly, whose wages were abysmally low, and who were trying to create a union. That’s where he was. Because as the mayor just indicated, what he believed — and where he was a real threat to the establishment — is that of course we need civil rights in this country, but we also need economic justice.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rubycramer/bernie-sanders-revolution-needs-black-voters-to-win-but-can

In thirty years in Congress, Sanders has not sponsored any bills pertaining to civil rights: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/browse?sponsor=400357#current_status[]=28&enacted_ex=on

Sanders voted for the 1994 crime bill https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/bernie-sanders-has-dodged-criticism-crime-bill-vote-while-others-n1020726

In 1994, he praised the bill and stated that the US needed more jails. https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1221468426855755776

He touted his vote for the crime bill on his website at least until 2006, as proof he was “tough on crime” and “strong on the cops” https://web.archive.org/web/20061018180921/http:/www.bernie.org/truth/crime.html

In 2015, during a meeting with police reform activist group Campaign Zero, Sanders responded to being asked why he thought a disproportionate amount of people of color were incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses with “Aren’t most of the people who sell the drugs African-American?” Those present at the meeting stated, “Even confronted with figures and data to the contrary, Sanders appeared to have still struggled to grasp that he had made an error.” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rubycramer/bernie-sanders-revolution-needs-black-voters-to-win-but-can

In 2018, fifteen racial and social justice leaders in Vermont, including multiple NAACP branch presidents, ACLU organizers, and BLM activists, sent an open letter to Sanders and the Sanders Institute to complain that they were “excluded” from the “national progressive movement that Senator Bernie Sanders is trying to foster.” The letter asks “how could Senator Sanders host what is supposed to be an intersectional, progressive event without inviting the very people whom he serves?” http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/vpr/files/201812/sanders-letter-2018.pdf

Curtiss Reed, Executive Director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, stated that the exclusion of Vermont POC from the Sanders Institute’s event was “a catastrophic failure of his sort of tone deafness to marginalized communities in the state of Vermont” and added “I’m tempted to say this is no longer a question of benign neglect on the part of the senator, but willful ignorance on his part not to include marginalized voices in this national conversation on the progressive movement.” https://www.vpr.org/post/we-find-ourselves-excluded-racial-justice-leaders-ask-bernie-sanders-get-program#stream/0

Vermont Black leaders stated they were “invisible” to Sanders, and that the senator “was just really dismissive of anything that had to do with race and racism, saying that they didn’t have anything to do with the issues of income inequality. He just always kept coming back to income inequality as a response, as if talking about income inequality would somehow make issues of racism go away.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/vermonts-black-leaders-we-were-invisible-to-bernie-sanders

In his 1998 autobiography, Sanders repeatedly and needlessly used the n-word. He chose to keep the word in the text when republishing the book in 2015. https://www.inquisitr.com/5620596/bernie-sanders-under-fire-for-use-of-n-word-in-2015-book-clip-from-audiobook-version-goes-viral-friday/

“I Will Not Make It a Major Priority”: Sanders the Ally

During an interview as mayor of Burlington, Sanders said LGBTQ rights were not a “major priority” for him and he would “probably not” support a bill to protect gays from job discrimination. https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/10/bernie-sanders-on-marriage-equality-hes-no-longtime-champion.html

Also during his time as mayor, Sanders signed a resolution affirming that marriage is between “husband and wife.” https://www.washingtonblade.com/2016/02/06/clinton-surrogates-pounce-on-sanders-over-82-marriage-resolution/

Sanders and his wife stated in 1996 that they opposed the Defense of Marriage Act simply because it would weaken states’ rights. Only later did he claim his opposition was due to support for same-sex marriage. https://time.com/4089946/bernie-sanders-gay-marriage/

Sanders argued same-sex marriage was a states’ rights issue in 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=57&v=kej9QAsS3uI&feature=emb_logo

In that same year, after same-sex civil unions had been legal in Vermont since 2000, he responded to a reporter asking if same-sex marriage should be legalized in Vermont with “Not right now,” after the “very divisive debate” preceding the civil union legislation. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407064606/http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060607/NEWS/606070302/1003/NEWS02

In thirty years in Congress, Sanders has not sponsored any bills pertaining to LGBTQ rights: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/browse?sponsor=400357#current_status[]=28&enacted_ex=on

Sanders the Warmonger

Sanders loves to tout his opposition to the Iraq War as proof of his moral superiority. But in 1998, he voted for the Iraq Liberation Act, which states that “it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.” He also supported Clinton’s airstrike on Iraq. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/105-1998/h482

In 1999, Sanders had anti-war protesters at his office arrested. https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/27/bernie-sanders-savior-or-seducer-of-the-anti-war-left/

The Iraq War Bill that Sanders voted against required Bush to first try diplomatic efforts and abide by UN rules of military conduct. It also required transparency and progress reports. https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-joint-resolution/114/text

The Authorization for Use of Military Force Act (AUMF), which Sanders did vote for, required none of that and is the reason the Afghanistan War was so much of a clusterfuck. Bush would have used the AUMF to invade Iraq even if Congress had voted down the Iraq Liberation Act. The only person to vote against the AUMF was Representative Barbara Lee. Sanders voted in favor of it. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/sjres23/text

Sanders claims to oppose the defense industry. But he brought Lockheed Martin and their 1.2 trillion dollar, over budget, outdated stealth fighters to Vermont. https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-loves-this-dollar1-trillion-war-machine

During his tenure as mayor of Burlington, he fired the assistant city treasurer when she was jailed for an anti-war protest. https://academic.oup.com/publius/article-abstract/21/2/131/1917641?redirectedFrom=PDF

Sanders the Healthcare Crusader

Sanders was chairman of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee during a 2014 scandal when dozens of veterans died while waiting for medical care. During his tenure, Sanders only held seven hearings on VA Oversight, as opposed to the House committee’s forty-two hearings. Veterans argue that Sanders was too invested in the idea of the VA as a shining example of government healthcare to address its failings. Despite the scandal and tragedy, Sanders as recently as 2017 bragged that he was involved with “the most comprehensive VA health care bill in this country.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-veterans-scandal-on-bernie-sanderss-watch

He voted against the Clinton plan for universal healthcare in 1993. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/14/1501210/-Where-Was-Sanders-on-Health-Care-in-93-and-94-Against-the-Clintons

Sanders also voted against CHIP, the children’s health insurance program that AOC relied on to see a doctor in her youth: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/105-1997/h345

Despite campaigning on Medicare for All since 2015, Sanders was unable to explain how much the program would cost during a 2020 60 Minutes interview. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/24/politics/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-2020/index.html

When Senator Warren did the math for him and released her detailed M4A plan, Sanders attacked her, calling his plan “more progressive” and saying hers would “have a very negative impact on creating jobs.” https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/03/politics/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-health-care-plan/index.html

Sanders claims that his healthcare plan is standard in other countries. But his M4A plan would ban private insurance, which is not done in any country but Canada. In the Scandinavian countries Sanders loves to hold up as an example of government healthcare, the market for private insurance is growing. https://aapsonline.org/no-bernie-other-countries-do-not-ban-private-care/

“Too Brassy, Too Bitchy”: Sanders the Feminist

In his autobiography, Sanders quoted an article calling his 1996 primary opponent Susan Sweetser “too brassy, too bitchy.” https://books.google.com/books?id=_2YjBm2_JGUC&pg=PA173&lpg=PA173&dq=sanders+too+brassy+too+bitchy&source=bl&ots=SWrIR5Xa8m&sig=ACfU3U2-Hj1-UXIOM0Zz274h6_Nu8juoBg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHhtObq6LmAhWvUt8KHc8mDVUQ6AEwA3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=sanders%20too%20brassy%20too%20bitchy&f=false

In his Vermont Freeman article “Cancer, Disease, and Society,” Sanders called teachers “old bitch[es]” and blamed them for men developing cancer. He also said women developed cancer due to sexual repression. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2157403-sanders-cancer.html

Referring to their 1986 governor race, his opponent Madeleine Kuhn stated, “When Sanders was my opponent he focused like a laser beam on “class analysis,” in which “women’s issues” were essentially a distraction from more important issues. He urged voters not to vote for me just because I was a woman. That would be a “sexist position,” he declared.” https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/02/04/when-bernie-sanders-ran-against-vermont/kNP6xUupbQ3Qbg9UUelvVM/story.html

Sanders called Planned Parenthood “a part of the establishment” because they endorsed Secretary Clinton for president. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/planned-parenthood-bernie-sanders-218026

Sanders called Hillary Rodham Clinton, former law firm partner, former First Lady, former Senator, and former Secretary of State, unqualified to be president. https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/06/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-qualified/index.html

In January 2020, leaked phone banking scripts from the Sanders campaign called Warren a candidate of the affluent who wouldn’t bring any new voters to the Democratic base. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/11/bernie-quietly-goes-negative-on-warren-097594

In response, members of Warren’s campaign leaked information that, at a dinner in 2018, Sanders had told Warren he did not think a woman could win the presidency. Sanders and his supporters decried this as a lie, even though reporters knew of the dinner and had been asking Warren if Sanders had discussed women’s electability there for over a year. https://twitter.com/mlcalderone/status/1104477933886935040?s=19

Sanders supporters then flooded Elizabeth Warren and her supporters’ Twitter mentions with snake emojis.

Sanders said of Secretary Clinton, “It is not good enough for someone to say, ‘I’m a woman! Vote for me!” https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/21/13699956/sanders-clinton-democratic-party

Bending the Knee: Sanders the Dictatorship Fanboy

During a 2020 60 Minutes interview, Sanders inexplicably decided it would be a good idea to start praising Fidel Castro’s genocidal regime, stating, “We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but, you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. When Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing, even though Fidel Castro did it?” https://www.vox.com/2020/2/24/21147388/bernie-sanders-cuba-60-minutes-nicaragua

He doubled down on this praise at the next debate, whining, “Really? Really?” when the crowd booed him. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article240627047.html

In 2014, Sanders visited Cuban prisoner Alan Gross, who lost over 100 pounds and five teeth during his captivity. During the meeting, Gross recalls Sanders telling him, “I don't know what's so wrong with this country.” https://www.npr.org/2020/03/04/811729200/former-prisoner-recalls-sanders-saying-i-don-t-know-what-s-so-wrong-with-cuba

In 1985, Sanders praised bread lines and food rationing. “American journalists talk about how bad a country is because people are lining up for food. That's a good thing. In other countries people don't line up for food. The rich get the food, and the poor starve to death." https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/21/1920767/-Time-to-switch-out-from-Bernie-he-praised-nations-with-bread-lines-that-s-a-good-thing-Danger

Sanders hung a USSR flag in his office as mayor of Burlington. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/24/bernie-sanders-reveals-his-radical-inclinations-ov/

He honeymooned in the USSR, and praised the state of the Soviet Union. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-bernie-sanderss-1988-10-day-honeymoon-in-the-soviet-union/2019/05/02/db543e18-6a9c-11e9-a66d-a82d3f3d96d5_story.html

In the 1980s, Sanders attended a Sandinista rally in Nicaragua where the attendees chanted, “Here, there, everywhere, the Yankee will die.” https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/bernie-sanders-pro-sandinista-past-problem.html

Sanders recently praised China, saying that it has made "more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization." https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/458976-sanders-china-had-done-more-to-address-extreme-poverty-than-any-country-in-the

“They Can’t Stop Us”: Sanders the Conspiracy Theorist

Despite conceding the 2016 primary and stating that “Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination and I congratulate her for that” (https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/index.html), he later made the Trump-esque statement “Some people say that if maybe that system was not rigged against me, I would have won the nomination and defeated Donald Trump.” https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-defeat-donald-trump-2016-rigged-primary-dnc-nbc-kasie-hunt-1446116

On February 21, Sanders tweeted, “I've got news for the Republican establishment. I've got news for the Democratic establishment. They can't stop us.” https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1231021453270769664

After Super Tuesday, Sanders stated that Buttigieg and Klobuchar were pressed to drop out as part of an establishment plot to defeat him. https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/486503-sanders-klobuchar-and-buttigieg-ended-campaigns-under-great-deal

Sanders has repeatedly attacked the press as “paid by the corporations and billionaires who own the media.” He’s promoted the conspiracy theory that Jeff Bezos makes The Washington Post write negative articles about him. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/27/bernie-sanders-attacks-media-press-fair-or-trump-2020-democrats

During the Nicaraguan conflict, Sanders accused American reporters of ignoring the truth and told a CBS reporter, “you are worms.” https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/bernie-sanders-pro-sandinista-past-problem.html

Sanders accused The Washington Post of trying to harm him in the Nevada caucus by reporting on Russia’s attempts to boost his campaign. https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-takes-a-shot-at-washington-post-good-friends-when-asked-about-timing-of-russia-report/

“We Support Them”: Sanders the Spoiler

Robert Mueller’s investigation found that Russian interference sought to boost both Sanders and Trump’s 2016 campaigns, stating “we support them.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/02/17/indictment-russians-also-tried-help-bernie-sanders-jill-stein-presidential-campaigns/348051002/

Sanders was well aware of the Russian efforts, stating “What we knew is–well, of course we knew that. And of course we knew that they were trying to cause divisiveness within the Democratic party. Uh, that’s no great secret.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDYbHult0Do

When The Washington Post reported on Russia’s efforts to boost Sanders in 2020, Sanders had already known for weeks and said nothing. After the report came out, he attacked the Post and accused them of trying to tank his performance in the Nevada caucus, stating “I’ll let you guess, about one day before the Nevada caucus. Why do you think it came out? It was The Washington Post? Good friends.” https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bernie-sanders-takes-a-shot-at-washington-post-good-friends-when-asked-about-timing-of-russia-report/

The Fish Rots from the Head: The Sanders Campaign

The 2016 campaign breached the Clinton campaign’s voter data and harvested and stored voter information https://time.com/4155185/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-data/

The 2016 campaign received a 645 page letter from the FEC detailing the campaign’s finance violations (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-bernie-sanders-donors-who-are-giving-too-much/482418/) and had to pay a $14.5 K fine to the FEC after receiving donations from non-citizens. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/376373-sanders-campaign-pays-145k-fine-to-settle-fec-complaint

The 2016 Nevada campaign director sought to rig the state’s caucus by urging staffers to buy double-sided coins for tie-breaking coin tosses http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/sanderss-nevada-director-floated-two-sided-coins-for-tiebreaks-report/ar-AAhHiAI?getstaticpage=true&automatedTracking=staticview

The 2016 campaign initially decried superdelegates as “undemocratic” (https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/23/opinions/superdelegates-democratic-party-kohn/) before attempting to persuade them to go against the primary’s outcome and back Sanders instead of Clinton https://www.npr.org/2016/05/19/478705022/sanders-campaign-now-says-superdelegates-are-key-to-winning-nomination

The 2016 campaign was accused by staffers of sexual harassment, demeaning treatment toward women, and pay disparity by gender https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign-sexism.html

Weeks before the 2016 general election, Jane Sanders retweeted a video from an April town hall of her husband telling an attendee to “make these decisions yourself” regarding whether or not to vote third party if Secretary Clinton won the primary https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/26/retweet-bernie-sanders-wife-jane-raises-questions/91140254/

The 2020 Sanders campaign appointed Russian interference denier and Jill Stein 2016 voter Briahna Joy Gray as the campaign’s National Press Secretary https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/888555665865814017?lang=en

Following promises to run a civil campaign, Sanders hired David Sirota, a man who’d spent months attacking other primary contenders online, as a speech writer. The campaign also confirmed that Sirota had already been serving in an advisory role prior to his official hiring https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/sanders-promised-civility-hired-twitter-attack-dog/585259/

Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray called for the doxing of a Sanders critic on Twitter. If there was any repercussion for this behavior, it has never been made public. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/14/1879124/-Bernie-Sanders-s-Campaign-Doxed-a-Critic-on-Twitter

The 2020 campaign hired and fired YouTuber Matt Orfalea within 24 hours after being alerted of his sexist, racist, homophobic, and ableist content, suggesting he was not vetted before his hiring https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/bernie-sanders-matt-orfalea-mlk-youtube-video/

Despite his firing and the campaign decrying his behavior in October 2019, in January 2020 Jane Sanders was still retweeting and praising Orfalea. https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/1236861997398048768

In March 2020, Orfalea posed as a Biden volunteer and made calls to voters claiming that Biden has dementia. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jgeanp/a-man-fired-from-sanders-campaign-is-calling-biden-voters-and-saying-he-has-dementia

They hired and fired Darius Khalil Gordon after two days after being alerted of his sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and ableist Tweets https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/12/bernie-sanders-new-head-organizer-called-people-fgs-bhes/

The campaign also hired former Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour as a campaign surrogate. The Women’s March cut ties with Sarsour following anti-Semitic statements. https://nypost.com/2018/11/20/womens-march-founder-calls-on-current-leadership-to-step-down/

Sarsour was also condemned by the Anti-Defamation League for the statement that “a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.” https://forward.com/news/national/435964/bernie-sanders-linda-sarsour-jewish-voters/

Sanders National Campaign Co-Chair Nina Turner claimed that Biden’s strong support among Black voters is due to the voters’ “short memories” and “not a true understanding of the history” https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/473161-top-sanders-officials-hits-biden-over-riding-on-obamas-coattails

The 2020 campaign paid staffers working 60 hours a week an average of 13 dollars per hour despite Sanders campaigning on a 15 dollar per hour minimum wage https://www.vox.com/2019/7/20/20700841/bernie-sanders-minimum-wage-staff-pay

Bernie Bros attacked Biden’s Detroit rally on 3/9/20, striking senior aide Symone Sanders in the head with an iPad and knocking her down. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/joe-biden-detroit-protests-sanders-124874

“Nobody Likes Him”: Sanders Himself

In 1996, Congressman Barney Frank said of Sanders, “Bernie alienates his natural allies. His holier-than-thou attitude—saying in a very loud voice he is smarter than everyone else and purer than everyone else—really undercuts his effectiveness.” https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/04/11/history-barney-frank-bernie-sanders-criticize

In her recent Hulu documentary series, Hillary Rodham Clinton briefly spoke about Sanders, saying “He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.” https://twitter.com/Burkmc/status/1235863901813661697?s=09

A former campaign staffer called Sanders “unbelievably abusive.” Another campaign insider called him an asshole, and a former Senate staffer recounted, "He yelled in meetings all the time.” https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/anger-management-sanders-fights-for-employees-except-his-own/Content?oid=2834657

One aide stated that Sanders “never makes you feel like you’re good enough to be in the room with him.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/us/politics/bernie-sanders-image.html

Sanders voted in favor of dumping nuclear waste on the poor and predominantly Latinx community of Sierra Blanca, Texas https://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/28/Sanders-Nuclear-Waste-Votes-Divide-Texas-Activists/

When asked if he would visit the site in Sierra Blanca, Sanders answered “Absolutely not.” https://archives.texasobserver.org/issue/1998/09/11#page=11

Sanders voted five times against the Brady Act which required universal background checks and a waiting period to buy firearms. https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/13/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-voted-against-brady/o

He also voted against the AMBER Alert System. http://archive.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/09/21/sanders_vote_on_amber_alert_emerges_as_key_campaign_issue/

He wanted to primary Obama in the 2012 election cycle. https://www.thenation.com/article/yes-bernie-sanders-wanted-obama-primaried-in-2012-heres-why/

After saying millionaire senators are immoral (https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/24/politics/bernie-millionaire-senators-immoral/index.html) and railing against millionaires and billionaires in his 2016 campaign, Sanders responded to criticism of his millionaire senator status by saying “if you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.” His stump speech now only rants about billionaires. https://theweek.com/speedreads/834228/bernie-sanders-says-millionaire-like-write-bestselling-book

Upheld a ban on rock concerts as mayor of Burlington like a Footloose villain https://i.redd.it/atpybo1rcwa31.jpg

Despite running on forgiving student loan debt since 2015, when pressed for specifics during an interview with Dana Bash, Sanders responded, “I don't have the plan in my pocket right now,” because, you know, why on Earth should he know the details of his key campaign promises? https://mobile.twitter.com/DanaBashCNN/status/1137779734467792897

Two days before the 2016 general election, Sanders tweeted “I do not believe that most of the people who are thinking about voting for Mr. Trump are racist or sexist.” https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/794941635931099136?lang=en

Sanders had a heart attack at age 78, making his continued life expectancy 3.1 years. https://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/topics/acute-coronary-syndrome/study-65-older-mi-patients-die-within-8-years

He could have dropped out of the race after his heart attack and endorsed Warren, and she could have spent the primary building coalitions with the demographics where she was the weakest, and could well have been the front runner by now. Instead, he selfishly stayed in the race, screwing her over and knowing full well the odds are against him living through a single term. He continued to do the only thing he’s good at: fucking everyone over.

Say whatever you want about Biden, it’s not like there aren’t things to say. But I’ve seen so many posts about how “Sure, Biden’s the worst EVER, but he is EVER SO SLIGHTLY less worse than Trump,” and excuse me, fuck off. Biden horribly lost his wife and daughter before his 1972 Senate term even started, and instead of dropping out, he continued to serve his constituents while commuting home two hours every night to raise his sons. Meanwhile, in 1972, Sanders was a deadbeat bum stealing electricity. There’s no comparison.

#long post #Bernie Sanders #politics #2020 election #election 2020 #primary 2020 #2020 primary

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missjosie27 · 4 years

Text

Year 3 Part 8- Winter Battles

Hey, guys! New chapter is up! I hope I’ll be able to update a bit more often but in the meantime enjoy this longish chapter as a reward for patience! David’s got his hands full in this one broh!

Unfortunately for David, another Christmas passed in the usual manner in which he described it to his friends (give or take a few details). More than ever he eagerly anticipated coming back to Hogwarts to resume the search for the Cursed Vaults and his brother. He didn’t think he could take another holiday season in which his parents remained emotionally stunted about Jacob missing from their lives.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for things to pick back up again. It was mutually agreed that Bill would clear the corridor the next time anyone needed to enter his brother’s room to prevent any suspicion surrounding them or Snape finding out. Though the Potion’s master kept a sharp eye on him during class he did not say anything more about the vaults or make threats.

He did, however, receive an interesting visit from one of the school’s slowest during that same class. Barely a week went by after New Years break when he was confronted by none other than Barnaby Lee. The lesson was already over and David placed a bottle of his sample on his desk (which as usual Snape never acknowledged) when the burly Slytherin cut him off before reaching the exit.

“Merula told me to spy on you,” he said simply.

His expression was difficult to read and David wasn’t sure if he was making a threat or simply being a simpleton.

“Fantastic. Call me crazy but isn’t the point of a spy not telling your target that you’re a spy? Just food for thought.”

He was as sarcastic as ever, but for some reason it didn’t resonate with Barnaby. It almost never did.

“Is it? I hardly learned anything in spy class,” he wondered aloud. (When David realized he was being completely serious he resisted the urge to smack his forehead) “I wouldn’t call you crazy, though. Merula claims you are but you seem quite nice.”

“That’s because Merula is a two bit liar. Why are you even helping her anyway?”

Fully aware this was the boy who threatened to vanish all his bones at one point in time, David was careful not to antagonize him too much. That being said, Barnaby didn’t look angry, far from it, he actually appeared thoughtful.

“I don’t really want to but she promised to make me the most powerful wizard at Hogwarts. I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“There’s always a choice, Barnaby and there are other ways to become more powerful.”

“You’re certain of this?”

“I’m certain getting away from Merula will improve your life dramatically...it did wonders for me, though I don’t always succeed. Not for the lack of trying mind you.”

Despite the jokes, he could see his words were making something of an impact on the tall Slytherin boy. He just wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or bad thing.

“I never thought of it that way…”

Sighing, David knew he’d best skidaddle before Snape scolded them for loitering near his classroom.

“Look, Barnaby, great chat and all but I have places to be. And if you try to spy on me again you’ll have my wand to answer to.”

This time, Barnaby laughed, much to the Gryffindor’s confusion.

“I’ve never lost a duel, Grant. You don’t want to go against me.”

David looked straight back into the Slytherin’s bright, green eyes, his own hazel-blue full of steel.

“I’ve never lost either. I’d suggest you don’t sully your perfect record.”

He weaved around Barnaby’s massive arms and shoulders before he was called back one more time.

“Grant, Merula’s coming after you. Believe it.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No...I just...thought you should know.”

David said nothing else, grabbing his bag and heading out from the dungeons and to Care of Magical Creatures. However, Barnaby’s behavior intrigued him. Almost like he was becoming...less bad. Setting that private topic later, the Gryffindor teen set off.

He could already sense it was going to be a topsy turvy second semester.

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The second semester also brought in a fresh round of boggart scares. The first two weeks back saw over two dozen cases in the hospital wing, suggesting heavily that they were either multiplying or coming from a direct source. No matter how many times the teachers seemed to get rid of them, another always popped up in its place. Dumbledore issued a series of guidelines to prevent more incidents (including never traveling the castle alone and avoiding dark places) but there was little doubt that Hogwarts was increasingly on edge. To add insult to injury, one of the victims was Ben Copper.

David, Rowan, and Charlie all decided to visit him in the hospital wing, knowing full well just how frightened their friend could get. Though long past his insecurities as a muggle born, Ben still lacked the necessary confidence to live up to his true potential. The rampant spread of boggarts only made that shaky confidence worse.

“Poor bloke,” Charlie said, shaking his head. “I heard the boggart kept changing into different things he was scared of.”

“Is that even possible?” David asked, incredulous.

“I suppose anything is possible with these boggarts. These aren’t standard ones after all,” Rowan pointed out. “The vault is clearly manifesting itself in the form of these creatures.”

“Does that mean the boggarts aren’t real?”

“Oh they’re real, however I think the power they induce clearly stems from the vault. It’s only a theory of course, but your brother’s writings indicate as much.”

Rowan had deciphered about a quarter of the notebook thus far though most of the information was more Jacob’s private thoughts on the vaults and what they were andwho built them. He referred to the current one as the ‘vault of fear’. However, there was still no indicator of a location or anything pointing to one for said vault.

“I never knew how much my brother researched about them,” David said. “That’s why I’ve got to get back inside his room. It could give us more clues.”

They shut their mouths, however, as they rounded into the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey alert. At least a baker’s dozen students were sitting on or by bedsides in some form or another. The majority were second year or below but a fair number were older students as well, many of whom were studying in the library when attacked according to Chiara. It seemed that the boggarts made no discrimination between child and young adult.

Chiara, who often worked at the wing to assist Madam Pomfrey pointed out where their friend was located.

“He’s...still quite anxious,” she told them. “Best to be gentle.”

“Thanks, Chiara. Don’t worry, we will.”

Ben was sitting at the far end of the wing, conscious but a tad disoriented similar to the previous year when he was found caught in cursed ice.

“Dave, Rowan, Charlie? Is that you?”

“It’s us, mate. How are you feeling?”

Ben didn’t immediately respond as he breathed in slowly and exhaled.

“Why am I always the one ending up in here because of a cursed vault?”

“Not your fault. It’s affecting a lot of people. Look around you,” Charlie pointed out.

“Yeah…”

Clearly he wasn’t feeling any better and the three Gryffindor boys knew that, nevertheless they tried to provide some measure of comfort.

“Ben we’re going to solve this. Just like last year,” David told him, trying to sound confident.

“Avoid it, Dave,” Ben replied, his chest rising and falling more rapidly. “T-the closet by the Great Hall...it’s there…”

He could only mean the boggart that attacked him but before any elaboration Madam Pomfrey quickly shooed them away.

“Mr. Copper needs more rest and another dose of calming potion. You may come back and visit him later.”

They obeyed without question (one never violated the rules of Madam Pomfrey’s wing) but just as the trio turned to leave, David felt a tap on his shoulder and was surprised to see Tulip standing behind him.

“Uhhh, hey. What are you doing here?”

“Hope you had a nice break too,” Tulip teased him. “I was actually looking for you, but this is even better timing. I overheard Copper talk about his boggart.”

“Why is that good timing?”

Rowan and Charlie looked at each other with raised eyebrows before turning back and trying to introduce themselves.

“Tulip, right?

“Hi, I’m Rowan. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

But the Ravenclaw carried on as though they weren’t there, which was disconcerting to all those present.

“Because, David Grant, we have an opportunity to practice our new spell. And Copper just told us the perfect place to do it.”

“And you want us to go now?”

“Why wait?” Tulip replied with that ever present mischievous smile. “The longer we tarry the longer these boggarts will keep hanging around and we get no closer to this vault. Follow me.”

As she left the hospital wing, David looked back at Charlie and Rowan, who were utterly nonplussed.

“What are we? Ghosts?” Charlie asked aloud.

“Ghosts may be transparent but at least you can see them,” Rowan complained. “It’s like we didn’t even exist. What’s with that girl?”

“I don’t know,” David responded, talking to himself just as much as he was to his two best friends. “But I’m going to find out one way or the other. Give me an update on Ben when I get back, yeah?”

And he set off to follow Tulip to the desired destination. Hopefully he could kill a boggart and find out the mystery to her odd behavior at the same time. Either way, curiosity and determination were abound.

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David tried to bring up the topic to Tulip before they entered the junk closer (otherwise known as Ben’s hiding spot) but she gave him little time to gather any thoughts.

“You know the incantation just like we researched.”

“Yes. Riddikulus.”

“Right. Remember, we have to laugh at this thing in order to get it to disappear. Once we master this, it’ll be time to go back into your brother’s room. Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said. “But Tulip-”

“No time. We have to cast the charm before the boggart can scare us out of our wits.”

She opened the door and the two entered before David could raise more objections. But he wouldn’t have had time anyway. Though the room appeared like it normally did- full of junk, a chalkboard, and half open cabinets- a puff of smoke issued forth out of nowhere revealing the presence of the dark creature. He shut the door behind him quickly, and drew his wand; it would not do to have the memory of You Know Who visible to anyone else.

But when he turned around, it was a vestige of the Dark Lord, but Merula Snyde. Except it wasn’t Merula. This version of her sported torn, tattered clothing and looked completely demonic as opposed to just sour or grumpy. By far the most frightening aspect of all was her eyes, the whites of which were completely lavender, mascara running down her cheeks. Even more surprisingly, she wasn’t turned towards him but Tulip.

“I was your friend, your only friend,” the boggart Merula spoke in a high pitched, guttural tone. “You betrayed me…”

The Ravenclaw was white as a ghost and trying not to lose her composure.

“No,” she whispered.

“You’re a liar! A thief! A fraud! No wonder your parents sent you away!” it shrieked towards her.

“That’s not true!” Tulip shouted.

“I hate you! You’ll never be trusted! You’ll never have any friends! I HATE YOU!!!”

It was then that David suddenly realized he needed to take decisive action and fast. Pointing his wand at the phantom Merula he spoke calmly and clearly.

“Riddikulus!”

Immediately, the demonic version of his rival changed into something very un-Merula like. Tattered robes vanished replaced by a neat skirt, white tights, mary janes, and a white cardigan with pink flowers decorating it. Her hair was neatly combed, complete with a juvenile looking bow and her posture changed from that of aggressive and accusing to sugary sweet.

“Hi!” the boggart said in a supremely girly tone. “I’m Merula! I love rainbows, and unicorns, and kittens, and lollies! Do you love rainbows, and unicorns, and kittens, and lollies?”

“Merlin’s beard,” David said aloud, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing.

“Oh my,” was all Tulip uttered.

“Rainbows! Unicorns! Kittens! Lollies! Yay!!”

It was too much. Suddenly, the two teenagers started laughing uncontrollably. In fact David was chortling so hard, his stomach began hurting. Unable to stand the hilarity, the boggart vanished in a puff of smoke.

By now both third years had tears streaming from their eyes, but soon Tulip’s turned from joy to genuine sadness and overwhelmed from the change of emotions, had to sit down on the floor.

Unsure of whether he should comfort her or not, David decided on the former and sat down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. It broke his heart to see Tulip crying like this.

“Tulip…”

She kept on silently weeping, as though he weren’t there.

“Tulip,” he said with a little more emphasis but still gently. “It’s okay I’m here.”

The eccentric Ravenclaw hadn’t shown much true emotion thus far, David didn’t peg her for being touchy feely like Penny but in a split second she threw her arms around his shoulders, tears touching down on his uniform.

“I-I’m sorry, David. I’m being s-stupid.”

“No you’re not,” he reassured. “But I think I’m owed an explanation. Why have you been avoiding my friends? Why is your boggart Merula?”

Tulip wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and gave an almighty sniff.

“I suppose you deserve to know the truth, but it’s a bit of a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” David said kindly. Technically speaking it was true. He didn’t have Herbology for another hour or so but he would have skipped it all the same. Tulip adjusted her skirt and began to explain.

“No one knows this, but Merula and I were friends from the minute we arrived at Hogwarts. She invited me to sit at her table the first week and we instantly hit it off. I suppose I gravitated towards her because she had everything I wanted.”

“And what was that?” he asked, refraining from making a joke about Merula having anything anyone would want.

“Freedom,” came the simple reply. “Her parents are in Azkaban for serving You Know Who and they weren’t around all that much before they got arrested. She’s used to doing whatever she wants.” Her face turned resentful and angry. “My parents both work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. My whole life has been rules. I couldn’t so much as sneeze without permission.”

David could sympathize, in fact he did. He knew what it was like to have overbearing parents. But his weren’t always that way. From the sound of it, Tulip’s upbringing was far stricter than the one he experienced before and after Jacob’s disappearance.

“When I came to Hogwarts, I was finally free to rebel and do what I wanted. Merula and I started in opposite places, but we ended up the same. We learned new magic together, broke rules together, and played tricks together. Then we heard about the cursed vaults...from you actually.”

“Glad I could be of service,” he joked which caused some of the mischievousness to return to Tulip’s face.

“We made it our mission to find them first. To show everyone how powerful we were and prove ourselves. But I betrayed her…”

This part David was extraordinarily curious about. So she had betrayed Merula?

“Why?”

“A multitude of reasons,” Tulip answered honestly. “It was partially my fault. I wanted the glory for myself and began hiding clues from her. But that was because I started to see the other side of Merula...the ugly side. You don’t need me to tell you this, but she became controlling, domineering, and constantly cross. It was always about her, her glory, her vaults, her way of doing things. She was obsessed with you by the way, never could shut about that ‘smug arshole’ David Grant.”

“I always knew I lived inside her head, rent free.”

Tulip laughed this time and continued on.

“It wasn’t long until Merula found out and when she did we had a huge fight. In the end, we decided that if both of us couldn’t have access to Jacob’s room, no one could. We created a lock with two keys, took one each, and went our separate ways. We haven’t spoken until that day you dueled her and took the key back.”

“And when did this happen?”

“End of second year,” Tulip said sadly. “She’s right to hate me, though. And she’s right that I’ll never have any friends because I don’t deserve them. I’m not afraid of Merula, I’m afraid I’m stabbing people in the back...including you and your friends.”

Echoes of the duel in the courtyard reverbed through David’s mind as he thought back.

Watch out for this one, Grant. It's only a matter of time before she stabs you in the back

“That’s what she meant by that. And that’s also the reason you’ve avoided my other friends.”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to treat them like rubbish I just…”

She fell silent and David knew it was time. He smiled at her and spoke genuinely.

“It’s okay, I’m sure they’ll understand once they know the reason. Everyone makes mistakes, Tulip, but I’m glad we met. I’m glad you're my friend.”

“You mean that, David Grant?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “And like I said before, anyone I associate with, there aren’t any tricks or deceptions. We can be honest with each other. Finding the vaults for us isn’t about proving we’re the best. It’s about family.”

Except when it comes to my actual family...no one needs to more than they already do

Ignoring the image of Jacob that popped up, he offered a hand and pulled her up.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile devoid of any mischief, which David actually thought was quite cute. “Now enough of my moping. Let’s get back to your brother’s room and find the location of this vault.”

“I’ll do you one better,” David offered. “We’ll be able to go down to the room when no one is around so we don’t get caught this time.”

“And what’s your plan for that?” Tulip inquired.

“Two words: Bill Weasley.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That was the plan moving forward. In order to avoid the wrath of Snape, Filch, or any other authority figure Bill would take a shift patrolling the Herbology greenhouses on a Saturday evening, allowing Tulip and David unfettered access to the room.

In the weeks leading up to that however, the Gryffindor cursebreaker took the time to introduce Tulip to his friends in an effort to get her to feel more comfortable. The Hufflepuff table was most welcoming of course as its reputation preceded it. Penny and Chiara were ecstatic at the idea of having another girl in the group, while she also apologized to Rowan and Charlie for her impoliteness earlier in the week. Though Tulip loved to cause mischief and chaos, she and Rowan shared a love of knowledge that almost all Ravenclaws possessed.

“It’s a wonder you weren’t put in Ravenclaw,” Tulip laughed one day while studying in the library.

“I get that all the time,” Rowan said good naturedly. “I guess I wanted to be in the same house as Dave. The hat seriously considered it.”

“You told the hat you wanted to be in the same house as me?” David asked. He’d never been told that before.

“Yeah...you were the only person I knew, I guess,” Rowan replied, sounding a bit embarrassed.

“Hey you belong where you belong. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make you an honorary Ravenclaw,” Tulip told him much to the delight of the Indian lad.

But of all the people she became acquainted with, none had a bigger impact than Nymphadora Tonks. Spunky and precocious by nature, the metamorphagus also loved playing practical jokes and having a bit of fun at the expense of Hogwarts rules. Tulip’s creativity combined with Tonks’s powers made for quite the pair and the two became quickly inseparable. It got to a point where they received a stern talking to and a detention from Flitwick and Sprout respectively for an elaborate plan which involved dropping a bucket of porridge on Jane the Hufflepuff prefect. It was a fast growing friendship, and unlike Merula, Tonks didn’t have a mean or controlling bone in her body. And because of that, it didn’t take long for Tulip to assimilate herself into the group.

David was very happy to see his new friend endear herself and was even more excited to finally get back into his brother’s room. Though the thought of seeing You Know Who was still unsettling at least he could take solace in that it wasn’t real and could try to turn it into something funny, though he didn’t quite have anything in mind yet. There was another factor as well: Tulip had told him her backstory and the origin of her boggart, there was no doubt she was still curious as to why his boggart took the form of You Know Who. He wasn’t sure he wanted to reveal it because he wasn’t really sure himself. Helping people with their problems was one thing, but his own? He buried them deep and out of sight.

But he couldn’t avoid the day of reckoning. Bill managed to sign up for a nightshift on Saturday night, providing them with an easy pathway to the room. Facing the boggart was nigh upon him and it didn’t feel any easier when they approached the door.

“Remember, quick and easy,” Tulip reminded him. “Don’t get scared just because it’s You Know Who.”

“I don’t get scared,” David said in a monotone keeping his eyes forward in the door.

“Everyone gets scared,” Tulip replied astutely. “But you know the spell. You know what to do.”

“Right.”

“Ready? One...two...three!”

They opened the door, shut it, and peered back around. Tulip used the lighting charm to see throughout the room and sure enough a puff of smoke originated from nowhere and rising from it came the terrible figure of Lord Voldemort, wand raised, evil blood eyed stare and all.

Except this time, both teens knew it was a fake and David was ready. Despite the pounding in his chest, he issued forth the spell as loudly and clearly as he could.

“Riddikulus!”

The visage of the Dark Lord immediately erupted in a full clown outfit, big shoes, makeup, and a big red wig. It started dancing around in a silly manner. However, neither Tulip nor David laughed.

“I’m not sure I like this…”

“Yeah this is scarier than before...change it again.”

He performed the spell once more and the clown became a man stuck with a pumpkin around his head which induced the necessary laughter to vanish it in a puff of smoke.

“Dave you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to but-”

“Why is my boggart You Know Who?” David finished the question for her. “You told me the reason for yours, only fair I tell you mine. And to be honest I’m still not sure why. I remember looking over my dad’s shoulder when I was little while he was reading the prophet and I saw a photo of him inside. One of the few the Ministry was ever able to procure. It was terrifying.”

He pocketed his wand and looked around the dark, dusty room. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her the second reason why. It was rumored Jacob had actually joined Voldemort after being expelled from Hogwarts and the thought of his brother running around in Death Eater robes was a prospect more frightening to him than You Know Who himself.

Thankfully, Tulip made no further inquiries.

“That makes sense. Thank you for telling me that. Anyway let’s check this room out. Merula and I never had a real chance to explore it before our falling out.”

They used lumos to peer around and saw that the space was quite a mess. There was a desk, a board with several photos all pointing to each other in some manner or another, and hundreds of dislodged or disorganized papers skewed about.

“Mum never could get him to clean his room,” he muttered.

“Personally, I rather enjoy chaos as an aesthetic,” Tulip said with a smile.

“Yeah, it doesn’t help us find what we’re looking for. Let’s spread out and see what we can find.”

Finding anything amongst the messy remains of his brother’s room proved to be difficult. Some of the papers were blank while the drawers of the desk were stuffed with trinkets and useless crammed up notes that didn’t make any sense, almost like a schizophrenic wrote them. Some were in the strange Aramaic language and without Rowan there was no way of knowing what they said. But luck was on their side that day, as David flashed his wand over to the wall and found a note written in English.

“Hey, Tulip. I think I found something.”

He gestured her over and plucked the note off.

“What does it say?”

“‘When the vault was first tampered with, there were more boggarts in the library than anywhere else. The vault must be there.’”

David could have kicked himself. Of course. That’s why Madam Pince had been reducing hours and where many of the older students had been found frightened out of their wits. How could he have been so stupid?

“We have to explore the library then,” Tulip surmised. “It’s just as well. Tonks and I have been thinking of new ways to prank that hawk of a librarian.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to hold off on that until we actually find the entrance,” David replied. “There are thousands of shelves in that bloody place. How are we supposed to find it?”

“We should assemble a team to sort through it when we all have time. I’ll keep exploring this place for clues when Bill’s on his shift.”

David nodded. They finally had an inkling to where this vault was and it was another step closer to the ultimate goal.

“Then it’s off to the library.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A team was indeed assembled and it was the largest one yet in finding a cursed vault. Rowan and Bill were onboard as was Ben, who by now was back to his normal frightened self instead of a state of mass panic, though he hated the idea of seeing another boggart. Penny and Tonks also volunteered to come along, the latter becoming increasingly interested in assisting with the vaults herself. David was actually quite touched at the enthusiasm and even more amazed they all found time after lessons to head down to the library (Charlie was at Quidditch practice as per usual).

It also didn’t hurt that Bill was a prefect and therefore could give them a degree of cover, a job that Rowan had plenty of questions about as they walked down towards their desired destination.

“What’s it like being prefect?” the Indian lad asked enthusiastically. “Have you given out a lot of house points?”

“We mainly take away points,” Bill said honestly with a small smile. “To stop the younger kids from acting like gits.”

“But there have to be benefits right?”

“Oh yeah. You get a nice bathroom for starters, and you can be out as long as you want when you take night shifts in the corridors. Which is what I’ve been doing to help you lot, actually,” he laughed.

“I want to be prefect,” Rowan commented, beaming with enthusiasm. “Then I can become Head Boy and then the youngest professor in Hogwarts history!”

“Same!” Penny declared happily. “Dave might give you a run for your galleons, Rowan. There can only be one prefect per gender in every house.”

David scoffed.

“Please. I’m the ‘cursebreaker’, I break too many rules. Plus I’ve already received stern talking to’s from Dumbledore and McGonagall. Pretty sure I’m as likely to be prefect as Snape is at finding a bottle of shampoo.”

That caused the group to laugh, though Rowan beamed at him.

“You’d make just as good of a prefect as me.”

“Please, our own prefect doesn’t even like me. The chances are slim to none.”

That wasn’t strictly true, he and Angelica had gotten on quite a bit better than the previous two years since he lost his proclivity for losing house points. That being said his reputation preceded him. Jacob certainly hadn’t been a prefect.

“Don’t knock it, Dave. You never know,” Penny encouraged.

“And if you don’t, you’re still among friends,” Tonks chimed in. “You can always slag off with Tulip and I in detention.”

“Speaking of, where is she?” Rowan asked.

“Detention. Where else?” David snorted. “Got caught sending Filch a present. Turns out it was a dungbomb. What a shocker.”

“How did they know it was her?”

“McGonagall saw her transfiguring it near Filch’s table at the Great Hall.”

Bill couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh.

“I really don’t know how Chester Davies can handle her.”

The group chatted and bantered like this until they reached the library otherwise known as the lair of Madam Pince in which they quickly kept their voices to a dull roar and idle chat to a minimum.

“Alright we have to spread out and look for any sign of the location of the vault,” he said to them quietly as they gathered near one of the shelves.

“What should we look for?” Rowan asked.

“Yeah, a library isn’t exactly an unlimited space,” Penny added.

“Ordinarily I’d say use revealing or transfiguring spells as it was with the ice vault,” Bill suggested. “But Madam Pince isn’t too keen on students doing anything here except reading and keeping their mouths shut. So just look for anything that seems out of place.”

“We won’t run into any more boggarts, will we?” Ben asked fearfully.

“I’ll go with you just in case,” Bill reassured him kindly. “We’ll work in pairs. Let’s go.”

Tonks and Penny went as a pair and so did he and Rowan. They scoured the shelves and every corner of the old library for anything out of the ordinary but it seemed plain as could be. Once in a while they would pull a book off the shelf, look at it, then put it back to keep Madam Pince from getting suspicious but overall it was tedious work. That is, until Rowan’s genius and curiosity came in handy once more.

Working over near a shelf by the entrance of the restricted section, he pulled out a sheet of paper at the very end of a stack of books that looked ancient and unread for centuries. Opening the note, his eyes widened and he adjusted his glasses.

“David!” he said excitedly but in a hushed tone. “Check this out.”

“What?”

“It’s a half torn page with the same ancient Aramaic ciphers as your brother’s notebook. I can’t make it out but if there’s a half torn page inside somewhere-”

“-it could tell us the location of where the vault is.”

They quickly gathered the rest of their group to tell them the news but evidently they became much too loud because the next thing they knew Madam Pince was shooing them off with as though she were an old lady swatting away a dog.

Still, it was another lead and once Rowan was able to match the cipher with another inside of his brother’s notebook. David felt a new wave of excitement engulf his senses and in fact he was so caught up in this new breakthrough he did not notice a pair of unfriendly, lavender eyes watching him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

January moved into February and with it came ever more snow and windy weather. However, the days were getting slightly longer and with it some extra time to spend outside. Sometimes this meant snowball fights with Tonks, Penny, Tulip, Ben, and Charlie (Rowan was content to watch). But it also brought another pleasant surprise. One snowy Sunday he received word from Hagrid he was invited over for tea at his hut which David gladly accepted. In fact he felt almost guilty since the two had discussed meeting back during his first trip to Hogsmeade.

He soon found out the giant man held no grudge and was extremely warm and friendly like he always was. Fang was also there, (by now fully grown of course) and was excited to have company over just as much as Hagrid was. Of course, coming over to the hut also meant another surprise, one that nearly cost him a trip to the dentist. Not knowing what a rock cake was, David naively took one and tried to bite into it and almost cracked a tooth. In an effort to avoid hurting Hagrid’s feelings, he sucked on the odd treat for a while and noticed that while the taste wasn’t bad, it was still quite lumpy and its texture filled with something he believed were raisins.

At the very least the tea was delicious and more importantly, the third year Gryffindor got a chance to know the gameskeeper a little better too, especially since they were far away from the crowded and noisy Three Broomsticks. Hagrid regaled him with more stories from his own Hogwarts days, including the various exploits he got up to, though he was mum on the reason for being expelled (David didn’t press the topic). He also asked about Care of Magical Creatures classes with Professor Kettleburn.

“Well he’s kind of a loon,” came the reply. David didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t his favorite class in the world. But Hagrid laughed all the same.

“He’s a good man, Professor Kettleburn. Really knows his stuff when it comes ter creatures. But he’s lost too many limbs fer his own good.”

“Sometimes he’s not always the best at practicing what he preaches when it comes to safety.”

“No denyin he’s gettin up there in age. Been there almost as long as I have…” he paused, bearded features suddenly becoming thoughtful.

“What is it Hagrid?”

“I dunno...forget it. It’s stupid.”

David smiled encouragingly.

“You can tell me. I’m sure it’s nothing of the sort.”

“Well I..err...I was hoping ter teach someday when Professor Kettleburn has had enough. Always been a dream o’ mine.”

The third year teen beamed at him.

“I think you’d make a great teacher.”

Hagrid’s beetle, black eyes watered with appreciation.

“Yer really mean it, Dave?”

“Absolutely.”

The vote of confidence seemed to put Hagrid in an extra jolly mood and the conversation continued. They talked of classes and Quidditch, something the big man loved as much as he. David also found out the gameskeeper was a Gryffindor like himself in his youth. However, the biggest takeaway he received from the experience was the unique brand of wisdom Hagrid seemed to possess. Though not worldly nor eloquent with words, it was the genuineness and sincerity of the man that made him so endearing.

“I’m glad ter see you’ve made so many friends, David. Truly, it’s a blessing.”

“I’m glad I have them too...did Jacob have a lot of friends?”

He asked this knowing full well his brother never told him anything about his time or exploits at Hogwarts. Curiosity abounded in him.

“He was much more of a loner, I won’t lie to yeh,” Hagrid answered truthfully. “Such a kind and polite lad, but he preferred his own company most of the time. That’s why I think it’s important yeh got the friends yeh do. Specially the Weasleys. They’re good folk.”

He poured David another glass of tea as well as himself, sitting back in his enormous, comfy chair.

“I may be speakin out o’ line, but I always worried yer brother was too obsessed with them vaults. Whatever’s to come, David, keep yer friends close. And remember that not everyone in the Wizardin World has yer best interests at heart. There are those who’d show their true colors in a minute if they could.”

The teen knew Hagrid spoke of the wizarding war and the Death Eaters who were never caught but he appreciated the sentiment all the same, especially when it came to his friends. He promised to keep them close as advised.

Before they could continue, however, a message arrived through the open window in the form of a paper airplane. Taking it with his hands he opened it and saw it was from Tulip which reported she had made a breakthrough in Jacob’s room and to come straight away. Though he hated to leave Hagrid, the gentle giant was understanding.

“Speaking of friends…” he began but he was waved off.

“Not a problem, Dave. We’ve been talkin fer well over two hours. Go and see em.”

“We’ll do this again soon,” he vowed. “Thank you for having me over.”

“My pleasure o’ course! See ya soon!”

David closed the door of the hut behind him and began trekking through the snow in his boots and warm overcoat. Though it was mild by the standards of the month, light flakes still fell from the sky as he raced back up the grounds and the visibility was poor, a light fog descending from above as the sun began to settle into the west in the late afternoon. But that didn’t concern him at the moment, so eager he was to find out what Tulip discovered.

He almost didn’t see the jet of red light that nearly hit him smack dab in the face.

Pulling his wand out he immediately took a defensive position before a jinx hit him in the back sending him face first into the snow. It was only then that his attackers came into view: Barnaby Lee, Ismelda Murk, and of course, Merula Snyde, who’s lavender eyes were alight with malicious intent, wand pointed directly at him.

“Fancy seeing you out here in the snow,” David told her, not moving from the ground in fear of being hexed again. “I thought snakes tended to avoid cold weather.”

“Be quiet or I promise you’ll never be able to use that mouth again,” Merula threatened not taking her eyes off of him for a second. “I’m going to say this once: I saw you and your little gang in the library and I know you found something. You’re going to tell me what it is or else…”

David couldn’t help but take another pot shot at her.

“Why on earth are you spying on us? Are you jealous I have actual friends and you have nothing but lackeys? I know it’s a foreign concept to you-”

A nasty curse he recognized as some kind of skin disfigurement sailed past his shoulder.

“Not. Another. Word,” she hissed viciously. “I want the information and I want it now. I’m not going to lose this time, Grant. It’s three against one.”

“Any sudden movements, you’ll be going back to West Country in a box,” Ismelda sneered.

David took a slight pause to take a look at his three challengers. All stood over him at a different angle. Merula’s intent was obvious and Ismelda, despite having only one visible eye underneath her black mop of hair, seemed gleeful, even hopeful at the prospect of harming him. Barnaby on the other hand said nothing and was stoney faced. In fact, it looked as though he didn’t want to be there at all.

It’s a shame what I’m about to do him next

Formulating a plan in his head, David suddenly grabbed his wand with his right hand and used his left to send a flurry of snow into Merula’s face temporarily blinding her. Caught off guard he bellowed, ‘Meteolo!’ at Ismelda. The effect was immediate as a concurrent of bad weather- hail, rain, and snow- began pelting the Slytherin girl and forced her to beat a hasty retreat as she cried out.

Spinning around he ducked below Barnaby’s stunner and sent a disarming spell.

“Expelliarmus!’

Barnaby tried to catch the dislodged wand in his wands, but as he juggled it, he lost his footing and tumbled to the ground in a painful heap. This left Merula as the sole challenger left.

Snarling with uncontained rage she sent a body-bind curse his way, which he dodged and returned one of his own. She in turn dodged it and caught him in the face with a curse that felt like he had been hit by the Hogwarts Express, which caused him to see stars. But David persevered, keeping his wits about him (despite knowing his nose was likely broken) and had just enough time to counter what came next.

‘Glacius!’

Merula sent a freezing charm his way and he countered with its natural opposite.

‘Incendio!’

Fire met ice, and the former prevailed as the heat caused Merula to stagger and sway off balance in order to avoid the flames. It was all David needed to finish the fight.

‘Depulso!’

The jet of red light caught Merula in the stomach, sending her straight onto her back and into the snow, skirt and stockings in disarray. The Gryffindor teen ran up and kicked her wand away in order to prevent her from pulling a fast as she was apt to do. In a twist, the roles were now reversed.

“Don’t you ever get tired of this?” he said through quick breaths. “What’s your deal anyway? Are you mad Tulip’s my friend now? It’s not my fault you treated her like garbage-”

Merula gave an unearthly scream and leapt at him from the ground but the snow under her boots caused her to slip and fall forward onto her stomach in a humiliating fashion.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t try that again. Not unless you want me to transfigure your nose into a rhinoceros horn, which I can do by the way.”

But Merula merely spat on the ground at his feet, digging her black gloved hands into the snow with unbridled rage.

“I don’t care about you or your stupid friends. Tulip’s going to stab you in the back, but I promise you the next time we duel I’m going to do something far worse. You mark my words, Grant.”

“Oh sure. I’ll just whip out my favorite quill and parchment and jot it right down. Just for you.”

The injury to the Slytherin’s pride seemed to outweigh the physical damage as hurt flooded back into the angry, lavender eyes which now seemed almost vulnerable.

“I hate you,” she practically whispered. “I-I…”

Just then Barnaby reappeared on the scene, though Ismelda was still nowhere to be found. He looked dumbfounded and more than a bit confused but he had his wand back which David and Merula seized on immediately.

“What are you waiting for?!” Merula screeched. “Hex him! Do something!”

But the burly Slytherin didn’t do anything. Far from raising his wand arm, it remained at his side, emerald eyes taking in the scene before him.

David switched his wand to point towards Barnaby but didn’t fire. He’d wasted enough time dueling with the trio as it was and he wanted to find Tulip. Slowly, he backed away, not taking his eyes off his opponents for a second. It was only when he reached the door to the inside of the castle that he turned and ran, but not before he heard Merula’s demeaning insults.

“...can’t believe you didn’t do anything! Honestly, I don’t know why I have such a pea brained idiot like you around!”

David didn’t really feel all that sorry for Merula.

He did, however, feel a pang of sympathy for Barnaby.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he reached his brother’s room Tulip was there waiting for him but there was considerable concern etched on her face.

“Blimey, David. What happened? You look like you just battled through a blizzard.”

“Worse. It was Merula and her goons again. They attacked me when I wasn’t looking.”

Tulip shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you they were skulking about. But they were on the grounds and not anywhere near here. How did you run into them?”

“I went to Hagrid’s for tea. Got ambushed on my way back up. Managed to get away though.”

“That’s obvious otherwise you wouldn’t be here,” the Ravenclaw pointed out. “I was beginning to get worried too. Wait…”

She came up to him and placed a hand on his cheek, a finger touching his nose which caused him to wince.

“That’s a broken nose, alright. Don’t worry I actually know a few healing spells.”

David didn’t have time to object but he did trust Tulip enough to let her try and mend his injury.

‘Episkey’

In an instant his nose shifted back into place, good as new though it still felt a little sore.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. That’s one of Merula’s signature moves. She likes to use the blunting curse. Small bit of dark magic but not anywhere near what she’s capable of.”

“Hallelujah,” David said sarcastically.

“Anyway, I called you here because I found something that might interest you but I wasn’t sure what it meant.” Tulip pulled out a note from her jumper pocket and handed it to him. “Do you have any idea?”

David took it and again saw it was in English. It was also very short.

“‘The book opens the way.’

Thinking back, it took a few moments for David to remember just what book his brother was referring to...the one he found in the ice vault the previous year.

“What does it mean?” Tulip pressed.

“He’s talking about the book I found last year in the previous vault. I found it there along with his broken wand. I temporarily forgot about it because it was blank and didn’t think it meant anything. But it must be the ticket to getting inside the vault of fear.”

“We just need the location of the entrance now,” the Ravenclaw girl added. “Once we know that, we can enter it and break the curse.”

“Rowan’s still digging through my brother’s notebook,” David said. “He’ll find the missing link and be able to work out the code to get us there. But there’s also another problem at stake here: Merula. She’s becoming more and more of a threat and she’s not going to stop harassing us until we’re out of her way.”

Tulip nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. Which is why we need a fast solution to said problem. Thankfully, I believe I’ve come up with just the thing. You know Barnaby Lee?”

“The huge, slow bloke that serves as a bodyguard for Merula? What about him?”

“I suggest we try to enlist his help. He’s the strongest wizard in our year and not to mention he’s a Slytherin. He knows things about that house we don’t.”

David thought back to his previous conversations with Barnaby and recognized a pattern to them over time. Far from being a typical monster, he was quite amicable as the year progressed.

“He seems nice sometimes, I’ll give you that,” he said to her. “Too nice to be working with Merula.”

“Exactly, and what better way to undermine Merula than to sway someone to join our side from her own. Believe me, I know what’s like to be ordered around all day by her and I’m sure he’s getting sick of it too…”

David had to pause for a second to ensure he heard Tulip correctly.

“Wait, wait...let me get this straight. You want to enlist a bloody Slytherin in our cause?”

“He’s not just any Slytherin, he’s one that fits multiple requirements to aid us in this quest. I’m aware that Gryffindor House doesn't take kindly to the house of snakes, you least of all, but look past it this one time. He could be a big help.”

David, despite his immense personal dislike of Slytherin, couldn't deny she had a point. Barnaby was strong and to convince yet another one of Merula’s ‘friends’ to switch sides would not only tip the balance further in their scale but it had the potential to be the knockout blow. And of all the snakes he had interacted with thus far (with the exception of Liz Tuttle) Barnaby also seemed to be the friendliest. After all, he failed to hex him when he very well could have not too long ago. And to Tulip’s point, he also seemed quite unhappy.

“Alright, you convinced me. I’ll try and talk to him. But what the hell am I supposed to say?”

Tulip placed an arm around his shoulder and gave a shifty grin.

“You have a way with words, David Grant and you’re quite charming when you want to be. Just don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of this one.”

Much as he was loath to admit it, she was right. In his three years at Hogwarts there had not been a single positive interaction with Slytherin and as a result he currently despised them, seeing them only as future dark wizards and fodder to crush on the Quidditch pitch. But now, it was time to swallow his pride even though disbelief still remained active in his mind.

He had to try to convince Barnaby Lee to jump ship.

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geeky-writes · 4 years

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Chasing Demons Chapter 13 Preview

Behind? Catch up HERE 😊

“C’mon, Pete, it’ll be better once you get it out,” Dad said.

“No, I’m not really sure that it will,” Peter mumbled. He leaned forward, reaching for his tablet on the coffee table. “I—we—um… we got a new assignment in our Government class yesterday, we’re supposed to choose one of the bills that are pending debate in the Senate and write about it… and when I went looking through them, I—I found—I found—”

He broke off then, shaking his head as he pulled up the bill’s text with the offensive sections already highlighted, and handed it to Papa.

“I found that.”

The penthouse was eerily quiet while Papa read it over, with Peter trying to focus on the sound of Papa and Dad’s distinct heartbeats as he tried to keep himself from just dissolving into a complete sea of panic. His throat was raw from the tears he’d been trying to hold back since the night before, and most of his muscles felt as stiff as iron rods.

And then Papa finished, handing Dad the tablet with the exact look of resigned horror on his pale face that Peter had both predicted and dreaded. His fingers tightened every-so-slightly on Peter’s shoulder as Dad read, almost as though he was afraid that Peter was going to be snatched away from him if he let go.

“Holy shit,” Dad said slowly, his hand holding the tablet dropping to his lap. “Those goddamn sons of bitches are really going for it.”

“Tony—” Papa started, with Dad cutting him off with a single sharp look.

“No, nope, nada. Don't you even try and bring that up right now, Steve,” he warned, his voice rising with every word. He got to his feet, curling his fingers around his left arm as he started pacing back and forth. “Don't you even try and pull that bullshit chivalrous nonsense again, ‘cause I have already told you multiple times that it’s not a goddamn option, so there’s no point in you wasting your breath—”

“And I’ve told you that I’m not going to allow you or Peter to become slaves to the government, or whatever else they’re planning on doing with this!” Papa protested as he got to his feet, taking Dad by the elbow. “Tony, I can’t do it, you know that I can’t!”

Dad’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Papa’s shaking chin. “Well, you're just gonna have to figure out a way then, ‘cause it’s not gonna happen. There is absolutely no way in hell that I’m leaving you to fight this alone! Thor can take Peter, but I’m staying right here and that is it!”

“But what if I don't wanna go anywhere?” Peter cried, immediately clapping his hands over his ears as he broke into a cold sweat. He tipped over sideways on the couch, curling into a tight ball and wishing he could just sink down into the cushions and disappear. His senses were already going bonkers since he hadn’t slept the night before, and listening to his dads shouting at each other was only making it worse. “Why would you think that I’d want to be separated from either of you, isn’t that exactly what the Nazis did? Ripped families apart? Why should we let the government rip ours apart when we can still fight back? Isn’t that the very reason why they’re trying this? ‘Cause they’re afraid we’ll fight back? They just want to control us, that’s all this is!”

Both Dad and Papa turned to look at him, their expressions the exact same mix of pride and anguish. Papa scrubbed a palm down his face as he dropped to his knees in front of Peter, gathering him into his arms and burying his nose into Peter’s hair. He reached a hand behind him which Dad promptly took, allowing Papa to tuck him in close too.

“The last thing in the world that I want is to be separated from the two of you,” Papa said, his voice raw, like he’d been shouting at the top of his lungs for the last three days. “But I know I couldn’t live with myself if I let anything happen to you, not if I thought I could prevent it. And the way I see it, the best way to keep you both safe is to get you as far away from here as possible, and preferably before this bill gets passed. Because I wouldn't put it past them to come banging on our door before the ink is even dry, and that’s just not something that I’m prepared to allow. Not while I’m still alive.”

“Goddamnit, Steve, you don't need to be talking like that,” Dad muttered into Papa’s chest. “You're gonna scare the kid.”

“I’m not scared, I’m mad,” Peter said sharply. Now that his dads knew what was happening, the fear that had consumed him ever since the previous night was being rapidly replaced with anger. “Who do these people think they are, thinking they can just single us out because we're a bit different from them? It’s the worst kind of discrimination, and I can’t believe that you think we should just run away from it instead of fighting back.”

Papa’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, cupping Peter’s cheek in his hand. “You're right, little guy. You're absolutely right that people need to fight back against discrimination like this. But Peter, this is HYDRA, and you're just a child, you have your whole life ahead of you, and—”

“But I’m not a child, why can’t you see that?” Peter snapped, pushing against his papa’s chest and almost knocking him over. “I’m a teenager, and I’m even stronger than you! Papa, you know that! So why can’t I fight too? Why can’t I stand up for myself against the bullies just like you and Dad?”

“Buddy—” Dad started.

“No! Don't give me the same stupid excuses that you always do just ‘cause you guys are scared! I’m not a child—!”

“You’re my child!” yelled Dad. He huffed out a sharp breath as he took hold of Peter’s shoulders with shaking hands. “You're our child, and I don't give a damn how strong you are, or the fact that you call yourself a teenager, you're still our responsibility, and we’re gonna do what we think is best for you whether you like it or not!”

“But you can’t even agree on what’s best!” shouted Peter. He tore himself from Dad’s grasp and shot to his feet, running his fingers through his already wild curls. “You guys have been going round and round about this for weeks already, so which is it? What exactly is the best for me?” He paused for a second, his heart racing so fast that he felt lightheaded. “Sometimes I think you wish that I was still that weak, sickly kid that I always was, instead of what I've become.”

The full chapter will post on Monday, December 9th 😊

#chasing demons #superfamily #stony #iron dad and spider son #superhusbands #superfamily fanfiction #stony fanfiction #iron dad fanfiction #tony stark #steve rogers #peter parker #parent tony stark #parent steve rogers #kid peter #avengers family #gwen stacy #pieces of echoes series #chapter 13 preview #geeky writes

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rivkahstudies · 5 years

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hey Rivkah! I've seen you post about having career goals related to linguistic anthropology and you've also posted that discrimination, especially linguistic discrimination, is one of the worst things about society your opinion. I was wondering if you had any ideas about how one could counter linguistic discrimination, either as part of a career or on the side. I'm especially interested in hearing your thoughts on how one might be able to do this outside of doing ling anth in academia.

Hi honey! I’m really honored to receive this question because it’s so insightful and dedicated to something I’m incredibly passionate about. It overlaps with sociology, law, and politics. So, first I’ll talk about what I’m personally planning to do outside of/past academia, and then I’ll talk about other avenues one can take, both on a large and small scale.

Right now, my goals are to be either a medical or legal interpreter, and I’m leaning toward the latter. What that means, for those that don’t know, is that I want to go through a graduate degree or certificate program in order to be certified to translate specific languages orally in a highly specialized workplace, namely a hospital or a courtroom.

The reason why I’m so passionate about this job is because, while we have laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (which prohibits discrimination based on “national origin,” which is closely tied to the native language you speak) we still see a lot of prejudice and violence against people who choose to speak their native/a different language on their own terms in public.

More specifically, what I aim to do is make it easier for non-native English speakers (especially, but not limited to, immigrants) receive the same services all people have a right to but they may have difficulty getting, such as medical attention or accurate legal representation. Interpretation is incredibly high stakes in my eyes because you have to translate automatically, in person, with a lot of pressure on you to do it quickly and accurately. And that’s really scary, but to me, what’s scarier is that someone might not be getting the care they need or be understood in a courtroom, and that could impact their health, their safety, their freedom, or their ability to get justice.

While someone might not necessarily be actively sabotaged in a courtroom or a hospital, those are high profile environments with a lot of pressure, and not a lot of time for patience and forgiveness if you’re trying to get through a case or to the next patient. The odds are stacked against someone who doesn’t have the specific vocabulary needed to accurately describe their symptoms or deliver their testimony.

And that’s not even counting the ingrained and/or active biases that are found on a serious level in the United States healthcare and justice systems. One of the reasons I’m leaning toward legal interpretation is because I would love to be employed by an organization that protects immigrants from being exploited or abused by our current administration. And that’s so much easier to do when you have bilingual representation to fight with you for your rights.

So, that’s a little background on what I’m specifically studying and fighting for. Here are just a few quick bullets that I always tell people when talking about linguistic discrimination and our role in it.

On a large scale, you can:

Go into a career like mine (law, interpretation, translation, etc) that focuses on combating it.

Support political campaigns and anti-discrimination bill campaigns by volunteering your time to organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and RAICES (Refugee And Immigrant Center for Education and legal Services)

SPEAKING OF WHICH, if you’re like me and you use Lyft, you can donate to RAICES with each Lyft Ride. They’ll round up to the nearest dollar on your fee and donate that extra. All you have to do is go to the app and opt in under “Donate.”

Attend conferences, meetings, workshops, and rallies that center around this topic and intersecting ones that you may be interested in.

Volunteer your time to places like housing projects. This is something that I’m on an email/calling list to do. Specifically for me, it’s the Boston Housing Authority, and their volunteers send in a resume, state which languages they have high proficiency in (mine is currently only Spanish) and then attend a training to understand how to do it accurately and with cultural sensitivity. It’s great practice if you need to polish your language skills, are planning to go into a career like mine, or want to use highly-specialized vocabulary. I’ve had to pick up a lot of words that have to do with landlords, rent, housing laws, etc. A lot of the people serviced by the BHA are immigrants or non-native speakers and struggle with things such as reading official letters or making appointments with native English speakers. When they struggle to do this, they’re more likely to get taken advantage of by landlords, evicted unfairly, or mistreated.

Support (through volunteering, donating, etc) indigenous or indigenous-helping groups that combat issues ranging from seizure of land in the Amazon to indigenous groups working on their terms to preserve/revitalize their language(s). It’s really easy for indigenous voices to

On a small (but equally important) scale, you can:

Call out linguistic discrimination that you see, such as people denying individuals service based on hearing them speak in another language, or unnecessarily bothering them in public. Whenever possible, take video of the incident.

Have polite and informed discussions with people who want to know more about it or might not understand why it’s a problem. This is particularly important to have with kids, and while I was volunteering/teaching Hebrew I made sure that it was integrated into the lessons.

Remain informed on cases involving linguistic discrimination.

Call your representatives when cases come up concerning linguistic discrimination or immigration policy.

Vote for representatives who believe in acceptance and equality for people who come from different backgrounds/languages.

Boycott/denounce companies and organizations that improperly handle workplace/customer discrimination or instigate it themselves.

Follow native speakers, particularly indigenous individuals and/or minority language speakers, as well as linguistic/social activists and journalists/academics, on your social media feeds (my preferred one to check is Twitter) for updates and opinions on issues that may help you get more informed outside of a classroom/professorial setting.

Be aware of the kinds of resources you should reach out to (administration, superiors, HR, etc) should you find yourself experiencing or watching someone experience linguistic discrimination.

Disclaimer: before stepping into any confrontations, make sure you assess the danger of the situation (this where it’s really good to go to trainings to learn how to handle these kinds of situations). Your goal is to always de-escalate and make the person being discriminated against safer, as well as of course keeping yourself safe too. If there’s violence or anyone is in immediate danger, call the authorities and document whatever you can safely. I’ve only ever seen people being verbally abused for their use of their language(s), but it’s a scary world out there right now.

Overall, it’s really important to remember that this kind of discrimination does not exist in a vacuum and almost always has ties/roots in other forms of discrimination and racism. While it may seem like you’re only doing something small by stepping into and diffusing confrontation/condemning discrimination, you’re having a ripple effect that lets people who linguistically discriminate know that they should be ashamed of their words/actions.

ALSO, friendly reminder that people who discriminate/harass someone for speaking in another language, having an accent, etc, are not entitled to be put up with due to free speech. That isn’t what it means.

A couple more resources on language discrimination in the workplace:

Language Discrimination & Workplace Fairness

Legal Aid at Work

World Language Education: Preventing Linguistic Discrimination

THIS IS BY NO MEANS ALL-ENCOMPASSING! It is also fed by the researched but incomplete knowledge I have on the subject as a non-expert and a student who is aspiring to meet these kinds of goals. Because I’m a student, I’m always learning, and that means growth must sometimes take the place of changing things I thought I knew and admitting mistakes.

If you have anything else you want to add to this, please feel free to message me or reply/reblog.

If you see any inaccuracies, incomplete information, or other concerns/issues with what I’ve written here, please take the time to contact me and educate me!

I hope this is a good answer and satisfactorily answered your question, @stressfulsemantics ? Please feel free to ask any follow-up or message me for anything you may need!

#stressfulsemantics #rivkah answers #linguistic anthropology #interpretation #about me #career goals #linguistic discrimination #i am so sorry i have been awol so much yall this summer has been pretty freaking crazy and i'm leaving for boston tomorrow #WOOT

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cookinguptales · 6 years

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Today is the anniversary of the Capitol Crawl, an event in 1990 in which disabled activists pulled themselves from their wheelchairs and quite literally crawled up the steps of the Capitol Building. This was done to protest the living conditions for disabled people in the United States, and it was done to pass the ADA. And fuck yeah, they did it.

These activists along with hundreds of others managed to secure rights for disabled Americans for decades to come. However, all that heroic work is now being threatened by H.R. 620.

I’ve been talking a lot about H.R. 620 lately because frankly, it scares the shit out of me. It’s a bill that’s designed to strip rights from people with disabilities, and it has already passed the House of Representatives.

A little background:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, the year I was born. Because of that, I have lived under its protections for just about my entire life. When my high school tried to prevent me from graduating because of my medical struggles, we were able to use the ADA to procure a 504 plan. When my dorms and classrooms were inaccessible, it was the ADA that got me accommodations. I am afforded extra assistance when traveling, when voting, at the doctor, and the only reason I can do any of these things is because of the ADA.

I now have a college diploma and a full-time job. I would have neither without the ADA. It’s not a perfect solution, but the protections it does provide have been invaluable in my life and the lives of my family. (My family members with a different disability have also Gone Through Some Shit but that’s really their story to tell.)

I think most of Americans know that some semblance of protections for PWD exist. I’m not sure most Americans understand how difficult they are to use. It’s not like the ADA provides, idk, inspectors who go around looking at buildings to see if they’re accessible. They don’t take complaints from PWD if the elevator in their building stopped working and their landlord won’t fix it. There is no safety & health inspector of the disabled world. The ADA is instead enforced via lawsuit.

To put it simply — if a disabled person has been discriminated against, they have the right to get a lawyer and sue the establishment that has discriminated against them. They cannot sue for damages. They can only get the place to change. (Though some courts have levied additional monetary damages for noncompliance.)

This is already a pretty arduous process. I mean, you have to get a lawyer and go to court. No one enjoys doing that, especially when you know there is no financial reward. But H.R. 620 aims to make this process much, much harder. It requires PWD to gather a ton of evidence and documentation, it requires a system of letter-writing and complaints, just a mess of things that many PWD will not have the time, money, energy, and/or know-how to be able to do.

More importantly, though, H.R. 620 changes how businesses need to comply. H.R. 620 aims to change it so a business or institution has six months before they even need to start showing a plan to change. I repeat. This is not six months before the work is done. This is six months before they even need to start moving. Six months would have been an entire semester when I was in college! And even then, all they need to do is show “progress”. Progress can mean anything! It sure doesn’t mean that I can get in the building!

In effect, this would strip PWD of their ability to actually have the ADA enforced. It puts a very onerous process on the back of the people being discriminated against so they’ll be too confused, tired, or burdened to exercise their rights in the first place. And then, if they get through that wholly unnecessary roadblock, the place they need to get into may not actually become accessible for — well, ever. There is no part of the desired amendments to the ADA that would actually require accessibility. Ever. Which is mind-blowing.

H.R. 620 is popular amongst business conglomerates and real estate developers, for obvious reasons. They don’t want to deal with the extra expenses that come with making their properties accessible. Because of this, they have started a misinformation campaign saying that PWD are using the ADA to attack small businesses with frivolous lawsuits, which puts undue burden on people ~just trying to make it~.

Wow, talking about what “burdens” PWD are. Like that’s not a misconception that leads to self-harm and discrimination every day.

There is no evidence that there is an outbreak of frivolous lawsuits. There are a couple lawyers who have been engaging in fraudulent lawsuits, but frankly, it’s not hard to find an unscrupulous lawyer, and none of them have been successful in court.

Even if there were some uncontrollable outbreak, taking away protections is not the way to deal with this. I can’t imagine this being the reaction to any other group’s civil rights. “Oh, well, some lawyer’s being a dick, better take away civil rights for an entire marginalized group just in case someone tries to abuse it!.” There are so many better ways to deal with misconduct than systematically stripping a marginalized group of its civil liberties.

Again, PWD CANNOT MAKE MONEY FROM THESE LAWSUITS. There is no one sitting in some wheelchair made of gold that they got from taking sandwich shops from cute grandparents who just wanted The American Dream (tm). This is a boogeyman that does not exist — but it does play into a lot of nasty stereotypes about disabled people.

It is telling and depressing both that PWD fighting for their right to live with the rest of society is being framed as “frivolous”. So many things that disabled people need are framed as frivolous every day. So many things people insist we don’t really need. This bill would deny us access to stores, hospitals, schools — you know, the things we need to survive. But even if it were just some shop down the road? The ability to live in equality with our peers IS NOT FRIVOLOUS. Our enforced separation from the rest of society has led to a series of abuses against us that can only be rectified if we are allowed to live lives as independently and openly as possible.

The ADA was passed almost thirty years ago. Properties that are not accessible have already had almost thirty years to fix this. Businesses aren’t given thirty years to make sure their fire safety measures are up to code. Restaurants aren’t given thirty years to make sure their health measures are up to code. This is a law that already wasn’t being enforced, and now you act like this is some new issue that’s onerous on property owners? Good lord. Historic buildings were already exempt — what, are y’all just waiting until every building is old enough to be historic? Jesus.

The long and short of it is that the businesses who make money off of our oppression are trying to turn us into the villains of the story so they can pass legislation that will remove their financial responsibilities and take away our civil rights.

H.R. 620 has already passed the House. It moves on to the Senate shortly. Please, please call your senators and tell them that you support the ADA and want them to vote against H.R. 620. So few people are even talking about this issue, but it is a matter of life and death for a lot of people. This, paired with our current administration’s other crimes against the elderly and disabled, is looking to make this country uninhabitable for PWD. And that’s terrifying.

Please help us.

(Note: If you’d like more info on H.R. 620, the ACLU has put out a handy guide on myths and misconceptions about the bill.)

#ableism #disability #HR620 #HR 620 #activism #us politics #long post

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tomshufflepuff · 6 years

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you literally said that someone calling someone else conservative is an insult. and you get so riled up when I call your beliefs a mental problem. most liberals tend to be hypocritical snowflakes. Trump has done more in his short time as president than Obama did in his 2 terms.

okay and? Lmao I didn’t say it was a mental disorder. It can be an insult in my opinion if it’s by match the actual 100% conservative that don’t believe in equal rights for everyone (don’t fight me on this lmao most conservatives don’t like the LGBTQ community and are very traditional and don’t support women’s rights). I got all “riled” up because what you said is bullshit and disgusting. And nah you’re not right about Trump doing more. If you mean saying more offensive things then yes you are correct. Sorry I don’t know how you can support someone who calls Africa a “shithole country” and insults the CONTINENT’s people, but welcomed white immigrants from Norway? (His wife is an immigrant and doesn’t have US citizenship just an fyi) and someone who categorizes Mexicans as rapists and blaming them for the drug and job problems in this country.Let’s look at what good things Obama did:1) He rescued the country from the Great Recession, cutting the unemployment rate from 10% to 4.7% in 6 years2) He signed the Affordable Care Act which provides health insurance to over 20 million uninsured Americans3) Ordered for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden4) Passed the $787 billion America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to spur economic growth during the Great Recession5) Supported the LGBT community’s fight for marriage equality7) Commuted the sentences of nearly 1200 drug offenders to reverse “unjust and outdated prison sentences”8) Saved the U.S. auto industry9) Helped put the U.S. ontrack for energy independence by 202010) Began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan 11) Signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allowing as many as 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally to avoid deportation and receive work permits12) Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to re-regulate the financial sector13) Dropped the veteran homeless rate by 50 percent14) Reversed Bush-era torture policies15) Began the process of normalizing relations with Cuba16) Increased Department of Veteran Affairs funding17) Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act18) Boosted fuel efficiency standards for cars19) Improved school nutrition with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act20) Repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (which is honestly one of my favorite things he’s done)21) Signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, making it a federal crime to assault anyone based on sexual or gender identification (something our country desperately needed)22) Helped negotiate the landmark Iran Nuclear Deal23) He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to combat pay discrimination against women (he a feminist lmao don’t fight me. Another thing he did that’s one of my favorites)24) Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, making her the first Hispanic ever to serve as a justice25) Supported veterans through a $78 billion tuition assistance GI bill26) Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”27) Launched My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative designed to help young minorities achieve their full potential (again, he believes in equality FOR ALL)28) Expanded embryonic stem cell research leading to groundbreaking work in areas including spinal injury treatment and cancersooooo should I go on orrrrr 🤷‍♀️🤔And the things Trump has done for this country can be debated on if it’s actually good.He wants to be allies with Russian and North Korea. North Korea has gone back on MANY promises in the past to not attack using military weapons. Russia, well Putin was a spy and now he’s president and he’s involved with multiple dangerous people.He pulled out on the Paris Climate convention which says the US will not be participating with other major countries in trying to stop global warming. Oh and he said global warming isn’t real.He said his inauguration crowd was larger than Obama’s (lmao it wasn’t.)He accused Obama of wiretapping him, which Obama never did.He kinda confessed on Twitter that that Trump tower meeting with DJ jr. was to get “dirt” on Hilary. Keep in mind that he lied about it many times. He supports Roseanne Barr who is a known anti Jewish and a racist.He called Mexicans, “rapists” and said they were bringing drugs and crime into this country. Not knowing that there’s more white American citizens who have been prosecuted for rape. He blames immigrants on everything, including “stealing jobs”. No okay lmao first of all, no one is “stealing” any jobs. The employer is often going to hire the employee who is a better worker. So stop complaining like a little bitch saying a Mexican stoke your job and start working on becoming a harder and better worker. Plus another reason why more immigrants are being hired is because a lot of them don’t have much money after coming here from Mexico. And they are willing to work for anything to be able to have enough money to provide for their families. The American employer sees that and doesn’t give them a fare pay because they know the immigrant will work for anything. So they take advantage and lower the pay for that employee so they can keep the money for themselves.He also body shames women and treats them as if they were objects. He hates NATO because okay lesson time, NATO was put together because of the Soviet Union’s (Russia) rose to power during the Cold War and were taking over many nearby cities and torturing people. So some countries in Europe and and the Americas established NATO as an alliance to fight against the Soviet if they ever rise to power like that again. And you know why Trump pulled out of it? Because he’s friends with Putin and doesn’t want to be in an alliance against him.He also wants DACA gone because it protects immigrants. Not knowing that you can’t get a DACA if you have a criminal record of any kind.Says he loves all of the dreamers yet he’s very racist and unfair to the majority of the dreamers in this country (Latinos and Latinas).Promotes a “Space Force” lmao what even is that the next Star Wars movie.He wants abortion and birth control gone and his excuses is because of his religion (along with Mike Pence) and they wanna get rid of Planned Parenthood just because they give abortions. Planned Parenthood does get government funding, but that funding does not go to abortions, just basic medical help to new moms. My mom went to planned parenthood, she obviously didn’t get an abortion 😂And recently, Trump locks children in actual cages in support of Jeff Session’s “no tolerance policy” saying that if you come into this country illegally, they’re gonna rip your children away from you. Not only that, but they didn’t even bother to keep track of children in any way and many children are still separated from their parents. And Sessions quotes a bible verse while speaking about the policy. Yet Trump supporters who call themselves Christians ignore this one bible verse, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself for you were foreigners in Egypt. For I am the LORD your GOD.” Hmmmm 🤔Also, there’s this thing called Separation of Church and State that was mentioned by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, going into detail about the First Amendment in the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise of the First Amendment. So he really shouldn’t use a bible verse to back up his shit. Along with Pence and Trump using their religious beliefs to cancel abortions.

But I do not agree with everything Obama did. He did do some, well not so good, well bad things too. So I do acknowledge that Obama isn’t all perfect. And I’m pointing out a lot of bad things Trump has done because those are the major key points. He hasn’t really done anything good for this country, or our allies. And he’s not a good leader by being racist and sexist.

#Obama is pretty cool #tom holland is not a conservative #tom holland supports the LGBTQ community #tom holland is a feminist #reminder he’s friends with laura and zendaya #aka two of the biggest lgbtq supporters and feminists #zendaya #laura harrier #tom holland #peter parker #tom holland likes Obama

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cmitroff19ahsgov-blog · 6 years

Text

The 3 Ps Assessment: Parties, Political Interest Groups, and PACs

· · · · Research the position of the following political parties on your issue: Republican (https://www.gop.com/platform/), Democrat (https://www.democrats.org/party-platform), Libertarian (https://www.lp.org/platform/), Green (http://www.gp.org/platform), and Peace and Freedom (http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/about-us/platform/full-platform). Search party platforms.

1. Include:

a. A brief statement assessing the position of EACH party. If you cannot find the party’s position on your issue please state so and provide a few general inferences as to why the party may not include this issue in their platform.

Democrat: Healthcare is a right: Everyone should contribute money to a single payer system and government should monitor healthcare funding. Democrats strongly support Medicare and Medicaid, and oppose slash funding and grant blocking. They want to reduce prescription drug costs, focus more on mental health and women’s rights.

Republican: Healthcare is a privilege: Republicans believe that healthcare should not be controlled by the government. They reject Obamacare and want to reform Medicare and Medicaid so that it can function in our modernized society. They plan to modernize Medicare by prioritizing patient choice, financial competition, and protects patients against fraud. They also want to invest in block granting for mental health, which would allow doctors the flexibility to experiment with treatment options. They do not support abortions.

Libertarian: Free Market Healthcare: People should be able to choose their providers, their insurance, and their medicine. Libertarians emphasize the need for freedom in choosing healthcare systems.

Green: Healthcare is a right: The Green Party supports single payer healthcare and preventive care for all. They focus on helping those with AIDs/HIV related illnesses. They also believe in reducing illness through environmental reform: To improve public health, water, food, air must be improved. They support women’s choice.

Peace and Freedom: Healthcare is a right: The Peace and Freedom party strives for a democratic and publicly funded healthcare system. They emphasize education, prevention and nutrition.

b. Do you agree with their position? Why or why not?

I disagree with Republicans and Libertarians because I think a free market system is inefficient for healthcare. Since you can’t predict when you are going to become sick or injured, it’s not always possible to choose the best provider or treatment options. I side more with the Democrats, the Green Party, and Peace and Freedom in this case. I believe that healthcare is a human right. Despite all of this, the best system would attempt to fuse both systems together. For example, in France, which is known for having the #1 healthcare system by the WHO, 70% of healthcare is covered through public costs and taxpayers money, whereas the remaining 30% is covered by private sectors. This enables patients to have access to much more affordable healthcare as well as stimulate the free market competition of private companies. In conclusion: We should be more like France.

c. Which party position do you identify with most? Is that surprising? Would you vote for the Presidential candidate?

I agree with the democrats on this case for the reasons I mentioned up above. However, I also support the Green Party’s emphasis on the environment to help improve public health. I was very surprised and disappointed to find out how dysfunctional our healthcare system is compared to other countries. Despite my support for a more socialized healthcare system, there are a lot of factors that make up a presidential candidate, so I don’t think that their stance on healthcare policy alone would determine my vote.

· Please go to: http://votesmart.org/interest-groups

· Under the state tab, choose national, then click on the issue tab and choose the category which represents your civic action issue.

2. Identify one national interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a. Interest group name: Planned Parenthood Action Fund

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

This Interest group is democratic: They advocate for affordable and accessible healthcare for all as well as support women’s reproductive freedoms.

c. Visit the interest group’s website. Spend a few minutes exploring and reading about what this group believes, what it wants to happen in Washington, and how it seeks to influence politicians. List five important pieces of information which gives a picture of what this interest group believes.

-Abortion: PPAF plans to vote against anti-abortion propositions in order to allow women to have access to safer and legal abortions.

-Birth Control: Planned Parenthood strives to give everyone access to birth control. They influence politicians by voting against many anti-birth control decisions the Trump administration

-Accessible Healthcare: Particularly for those discriminated against due to their gender, sexual orientation, or race. On their website, they repost and reference many news stories in which people were denied healthcare for discriminatory reasoning. By doing this, they bring what they consider important issues into the spotlight.

-Sex Education: To combat the lack of funding towards sex education, Planned Parenthood tries to protect any funding programs that are already in place, such as Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). They also actively try to provide sex education across different schools and communities.

-Fighting Back: PPAF works in courtrooms and collaborates with state legislatures to insure that the bills that are passed and the laws that are enforced prioritize women’s rights

d. From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

On May 30, 2018, PPAF announced their endorsement of Dianne Feinstein , who advocates for reproductive and LGTBQ+ rights. She also has a reputation of fighting for affordable healthcare.

e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

Their main offices are located in New York City and Washington DC. There do not appear to be any local meetings, although there are many ways that one could contribute to their cause online.

f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they?

The Interest group website did not have any clear volunteer opportunities listed, however, Planned Parenthood allows you to sign up as a volunteer and they notify you when there volunteer opportunities. For example, one can help educate others about sex education at pride festivals. In addition, the Planned Parenthood club at Acalanes has ways to get involved.

g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

I was surprised at how much they cared about racial and LGBT groups. It makes sense, but from their reputation I had assumed they were focused more on women’s healthcare and non healthcare for everyone.

· Return to http://votesmart.org/interest-groups . Under the state tab, choose California.

3. Identify one state interest group that represents your issue. Include:

a. Interest group name: Health Access California

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

Health Access California strives to provide high quality healthcare for all Californians.

-Accessible care: They work to protect already existing healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid by assisting them with the funding necessary to keep them alive and improving.

-Consumer Protection: Works to make sure that all Californians have access to honest and reliable care.

-Expanding Coverage: Health Access has worked towards reforming healthcare through a single payer approach. They want to continue improving upon the Affordable Care Act

-They fund and wish to improve upon public buildings and employer-based benefits

-They strive to provide healthcare to those with pre-existing conditions

d. From your research, describe one (preferably current) piece of legislation, specific policy action, or candidate this group desires or endorses.

They support SB 910 (Hernandez), a bill that would limit short-term coverage in insurance. This would allow patients with preexisting conditions to get the care that they need, allow more people in general to get healthcare, and prevent discrimination from insurance companies.

e. Where is this interest group located? Are there any local meetings you could attend? When?

They are located in Sacramento. They don’t appear to have meetings. Like the Planned Parenthood website, you can subscribe to a list that notifies you whenever a meeting is approaching or happening. Specific meetings are not mentioned on the website.

f. Are there volunteer opportunities? If so, what are they? ‘

Their website asks volunteers to send letters to specific legislators that oppose the groups core ideals. By doing this, their voice can be heard, and politicians can make laws that agree with the group.

g. Identify additional developments you find interesting from the website/group.

The website is disorganized and difficult to manage. I think that fixing this would help more people get involved.

4. Finally, compare the two interest groups. Which one seems more organized? More successful? Who is their target audience? Supporters? Additional thoughts, concerns, observations welcome. Be sure to follow them on twitter.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund is more organized, successful, and has a larger audience. I think making abortion access one of their central priorities has gained a lot of attraction from liberals and has turned many conservatives away. I feel like they’re using the feminist movement as a marketing scheme to pull in more supporters. I really like what Planned Parenthood is trying to accomplish with universal healthcare, but I worry that since they have become so politicized in the media, it will be more difficult for them to achieve their goals.

· Please go to: www.opensecrets.org/pacs. On the left side, choose Industry Breakdown and pick the industry that best matches your issue. Be sure to also check single issue and other.

5. Choose one PAC or Super PAC that pertains to your civic action issue. Include:

a. PAC name: Unitedhealth Group

b. A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the PAC.

They want to help people live healthier lives and make the American health system better for everyone.

c. How much money have they raised/total receipt? How much have they spent? How much cash do they have on hand?

In 2018, they raised $3.2 million and spent $3 million. They have $242,591 begin cash on hand and $442,513 end cash on hand.

d. How much of their budget is spent on: Republicans? Democrats?

In 2018, 47% of their budget was spent on Democrats and 53% on Republicans.

e. Click Donor. Who are some of their donors? How does this reflect the interests of the PAC?

Most of their donors are individuals working in various healthcare industries. This makes sense, because the PAC strives to better healthcare in America.

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