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distraughtlesbian · 2 months

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sorry for speaking my truth it will happen again. i think my main issue with valax’s redemption arc is literally just that there’s never a moment where the mc gets to actually talk to her about what she did—there’s not really a cathartic conversation, so valax and mc moving past what she did to them feels less like forgiveness and redemption and more like an agreement to ignore the elephant in the room

like sure we got to talk about our trauma (in chapter 17 of 20. lol. lmao, even) to the party, but valax wasn’t present for that?? and like, sure, she says once that she is sorry “for the pain she caused [them]”, but there’s a difference Tew Me between “sorry for hurting you ig ✌️😗” and actually being like “yeah, i abducted you and forced you into a magically induced coma and stole your blood and robbed you of a full year of your life and repeatedly tried to murder you, to say nothing of the grief i caused your loved ones. i did all that shit and i’m sorry for it and deeply regret it, and i acknowledge that you don’t owe me forgiveness, but i will spend the rest of my life working to build a better world for my people instead of being my mother’s pawn”, and a difference between “my mother is unhappy with me for saving you :(” and actually like, giving the mc space to talk about the impact of her actions towards them. like girl you are not getting out of this shit with one sentence’s worth of apology and a sex scene lmfao!!!

during the first half or so of the book the focus for mc is not falling the fuck apart bc they have a friend group to tentatively piece together and they’re averse to showing fear in front of valax, so they’re repressing all their trauma—and by the time valax joins the party, the narrative has gone full Valax Cool And Good mode, and fully allows you to flirt with her and tease her and generally stops taking her seriously as an antagonist. which would be all fine and good if we had actually at any point gotten to be like, “hey, you abducting me and keeping me in a magically induced coma and stealing my blood and trying to kill me has actually caused me a lot of lasting fear and pain,” followed by some set of choices wrt forgiving or not forgiving her for all that in light of the revelation that she did all that shit bc her mom tortured and brainwashed her

like why are my friends more pissed off about the time this bitch abducted me and did evil little experiments on me than i am. free valax she did all that shit bc of her mommy issues but i should’ve gotten to call her a cunt just once. pb stop making all your mcs generals in the idgaf war challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

#maeve speaks #playchoices #choices #pixelberry #blades of light and shadow #bolas #choices bolas #choices valax #bolas valax #blades valax #valax #princess valax #valax x mc #JENNY HOLZER VOICE INCORRECT MERCIFUL IMPULSES POSTPONE THE CLEANSING THAT PRECEDES REFORM.#YOU TASTE BLOOD AND KNOW THAT LIFE IS LOVELY FRAGILE AND YOU REMEMBER THAT THE OPPRESSED ERUPT AND MURDER.#the conflict between the shadow and light realms and the nature of the ash empire’s war is interesting.#valax using the mc’s pain as a means towards the ultimate end of a better life for her people is interesting.#but you can’t focus a whole story on revenge—you can’t give your big bad a partly-justified revenge quest—and then just not talk about #forgiveness and vengeance on an interpersonal level. nia forgives aerin no problem. mc forgives valax no problem.#can we get fucking real? and also a grip? and also a clue? do you think i come on this stupid fucking app to swallow rage the way i do irl.#aerin at least acknowledges the myriad ways that he wronged nia and nia gets to be impacted by his actions even a full year later #but EYE am barred from any meaningful discussion with valax abt her misdeeds bc she’s sad and hot?#who let the blades 2 writing team cook 🗣🗣💯💯#bro out of recipes again 🔥🔥‼️‼️🗣🗣🗣#bro turned the stove off he aint cookin 🔥🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣‼️‼️#etc etc. just so many great plot points and characters and FUMBLED execution every time.

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randomnameless · 4 months

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I think the writers didn't write set in stone rules for Crest so they could have a more varried experience for the cast and all but some of them just... makes me ask question. Like why is there so many in Empire people who have several crest, not only all of Mercedes and Jeritza's half siblings, but also Edelgard and Lysithea yet in other country they don't and it's not all people of the Empire because Caspar doesn't have one and Hanneman's sister doesn't have one...and then you learn that they experimented on Lysithea first when she is 2 years younger then Edelgard who was 14 when she was experimented upon by the Agarthans... just... what the heck is this game ?

Jugdral too apparently didn't have rules for Holy Blood inheritence!

But... the games aren't all gung-ho about blaming Holy Blood for everything wrong in this verse...

Granted, iirc, do we know if the Emile and Mercie's step siblings had crests? I thought their step father wanted to shag Mama Martitz to get crested more kids - bar Emile who was already a crested Bartels !

Also, Hanneman's sister had one, that's why she died when her hubby tried to re-roll many times to get a crested heir?

That's partly why I'm curious about Adrestia, because we know there are crested nobles/people who are either fit to be pawned off as wedding prizes, or they just... exist, and no one gaf about them.

There's a heavy dose of sexism in how the Empire deals with this issue, but tbh, I wouldn't say it's specifically a "crested" issue, but more one where... Adrestian's society sucks, because some people try to become "more powerful" by any means necessary, let it be alliances where they offer their daughters, getting "high valued" babies or just, getting rid of people because they can (house martitz, house nuvelle, etc etc).

Monica was adopted by Baron Ochs, but she wasn't offered to a potential husband who started to work on his legacy to get a trillion crested heirs.

Bergliez was retconned in Nopes to have a Cichol Crest, even if all of Caspar's supports in FE16 treated him as a "non important" member of the House not because he was crestless, but because he was a second son...

But in general, yep, at least in backstory, Adrestia has a lot of unnamed randoms with crests (which is represented in Nopes, some generics have crests!) and yet they're randoms and not the ones calling the shots, almost as if having a crest, or not having one, isn't as important as being born male to the right family.

(and I will die on this HC-hill, Adrestia must have a least 3 different branches of the Hresvelg House, meaning at least a dozen of legitimate randos with a Crest of Seiros, Supreme Leader must have had some cousins too, and we're not even talking about bastard children!)

#anon #replies #contrary to what ionius thinks #leicester isn't part of adrestia #Lys is from Ordelia localted in Leicester #crust system nonsense #this issue everyone is blaming is less of an issue but more something like #horrible people will take everything as an excuse to be horrible #no crust mean you suck? But even with crust you suck so #Adrestia stuff #the pre Supreme Leader state or Ionius' Adrestia really was a bleak place #and we don't know what Supreme Leader did during her tenure bar starting a war and letting Uncle run internal affairs in FE16 #I don't want WoH Adrestia to be perfect or a paradise #but at least i doubt it was a sucky as it is in the present #tfw wolf planned some reforms but 'was died' before the 7th year of his reign

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theres-whump-in-that-nebula · 16 days

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I found my relatives who are estranged because they left the cult (among other, much more complicated things)… and through their friends list I found my creepy uncle who I saw exactly once in person, walking through a foyer at a funeral.

Now, I bear a striking resemblance to my late grandmother so I could theoretically scare the living bejeezus out of him… 👀 but I’m not going to do that or talk to any of them right now in any way; because I don’t want to open that can of wormssssssss

#I guess it’s in that side of the family’s DNA to scheme and be evil and covertly cause as much mayhem as possible #I’ve inherited a double dose of whatever that is because I’ve been dying to cause widespread mayhem in disguise #hungering for it even— THIRSTING AS IF MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT #But there are no healthy or morally correct ways to Do That right now; so I guess I’ll suffer until I find an opportunity #I have no problems with my relatives. I like my relatives and would love to speak to them #However uh… the uncle #And of course the man’s profile picture is with him holding a toddler… fucking yikes #I mean maybe he’s reformed #He’d better be #Otherwise I will put on my rain boots #pack my bag with granola bars #and with a compass in my hand walk eighty miles north to beat his skinny ass into a seething pulp #[Caligula voice] “Get a dog who’ll eat a dog.” I am that dog. I am now #going #to bark at you #Woof woof barkbarkbark woofwoofwoof bark bArk—#Just imagine me jumpscaring him at his door absolutely drenched in sweat like “Hello uncle I’ve never formally introduced myself to you #My name is [Tarrie]. Prepare to die.” and then I immediately fucking pass out and impale myself on my folding scissors #because I’ve been walking for 80 miles straight only eating granola bars birch bark and dandelions #That would be horrifying and extremely embarrassing… so this is proof that this is all a joke and I would never do that #because I value… [checks notes] my health. Yes. [nods emphatically]#No the real reason is because I have no viable way to figure out any reason why he hasn’t reformed from many decades ago #which sucks because I prefer to deal in absolutes but that’s the way it is and my resources would be better spent observing other things #which I KNOW are actively harmful to others in order to fix them #[Caligula voice] But fear not dear uncle (derogatory); I’ll still stalk you from afar

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marlinspirkhall · 1 year

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The UK is really speedrunning the "Irish reunification of 2024" arc

#thankfully not in the way Lt. Data predicted but in a much funnier way.#Scotland gender reform bill #For context #edit: preempting this with: No obviously the theorietical timeline where The Troubles continued into the 2020's ISN'T funny #so I guess literally anything is funnier than that the bar is low

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vamptastic · 3 months

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I need to come out to my synagogue soon because my voice has dropped a noticeable amount and it's getting to the point where not saying anything raises more questions than not. The congregation is very progressive, albeit in a way that is sometimes too enthusiastic, and I need to find a way to let everybody know that both isn't a big attention-grabbing statement and lets enough people understand my deal that I don't have to field a million individual conversations

#I mean there's going to be questions and conversations obviously. I just want the least amount possible #Dgmr I'm reform Jewish in the Florida version of a blue haven (which is more uhhh purple). They'll be fine.#We have a booth at pride every year. Honestly they've all just thought I'm a butch lesbian since we joined when I was like 11.#Probably also think I'm nonbinary or something because I asked for the male traditional gift at my bar mitzvah #And wear kippot and yk. Call it a bar mitzvah #Idk. We had a guest come who was writing an article #And I told her my legal name then froze up when she asked my pronouns and told her to use whatever. Which definitely #Made her think I was nonbinary. Feel bad for leaving a bad impression esp since we discussed gender and Judaism #Like at this point I need to say something before the whole congregation starts they/themming me without asking #*Wrong impression. Whoops

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tempoaryblogformightyjensblog · 2 years

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I do not quite like the whole 'Philip would not actually be prejudiced or xenophobic aside from the witch stuff' and such.

Like, I can buy him being progressive in some ways for the time, he seems pretty open minded about science and such for example.

But...well, Philip is largely supposed to be a representation of the evils of bigotry. He is literally a Puritan witch hunter from colonial times.

So for him to be super woke outside of one weird hangup would be super weird. Both from a doylist POV(It would feel confused with the shows themes) and a Watsonian one(How extreme Philip is in his beliefs from his times)

Plus some of the 'evidence' I have seen is not stuff I really buy.

There is the obvious lack of any queerphobia in the Isles, but we know that Philip has an intense genocidal hatred of all of them anyways. So that does not translate much to what he would personally believe. And some people, like a friend of mine, has written good posts explaining stuff like that.

The thing that is slightly stronger is his lack of discrimination against Luz, despite her being demonstrably non-white. Even trying to make attempts at 'kindness' to her, like offering her the chance to go to the human realm.

But even then, she is the first human he has seen in centuries, but also he does have a...bit of a condesending view of her? He essentially turns her into an agency-less 'victim' for him to save, and reacts violently to whenever she does not play along. Like nearly decapitating her in his mindscape for calling him evil, after he tried to give his boast. To trying to kill her in the most sadistic way he could after she rejects his offer, and throwing her against a table when she insults his fashion sense.

Basically, even if he does not openly discriminate against her, he shows lots of condesending-ness to her? Like, he turns her into an agency-less victim for him to 'save', and reacts violently whenever she will not play along. He does not really show respect to Luz or anything like that

#the owl house #owl house #owl house philip #philip wittebane #emperor belos #racism TW #Homophobia TW #Its not like 'progressive for the time' was a high bar either #this was a time where reform was stuff like 'burning people to death for being witches is inhumane! lets hang them like civilized people'

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heliological · 7 months

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here's my proposal for renaming all the main series ace attorney games so their names make thematic sense. thank you

aa1 - ace attorney: trials and tribulations rfta - phoenix wright: ace attorney aa2 - ace attorney: spirit of justice aa3 - ace attorney: dual destinies aa4 - apollo justice: ace attorney aa5 - ace attorney: rise from the ashes aa6 - ace attorney: justice for all

#trials and tribulations: there sure are #pwaa: he's okay at his job now #spirit of justice: grapples with whether the courts can deliver true justice & also establishes legal precedent for ghost murder #dual destinies: 2 attorneys 2 sisters etc #ajaa: he is!#rise from the ashes: phoenix retakes the bar & there's explosions #justice for all: haha what if we comprehensively reformed a country's legal system jk unless #also apollo's relevant again #ace attorney

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jaythelay · 8 months

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Honestly I don't know how companies aren't immedietely bending over backwards to avoid the strike and just give into demands.

Literally the only thing keeping us from revolting and telling them to pick their favorite wall is distractions and escapism, how do you think we're in worse times than the french revolt? They were bored. We aren't.

I truely expect the CEO of every entertainment company to actually jump into a vat of acid just to ensure capitalism continues it's late-stage madness without any bumps to come in the future. If it works for media, it might work where so many eyes aren't.

They won't, because they're too stupid to see we already picked them out their favorite wall, and it'll be the last thing they see for delaying my beloved escapism completely needlessly just to avoid treating people like people.

I will add onto this, however, that while the strikes will work in the gaming industry, they've only been asking for the biggest shitkick to the ass since I was a child, the fact is, strikes won't work everywhere else, because The Consumer is on the side of the Company, until the Company makes it impossible for the Employee to create the product.

Gaming? We'll have alot of talking heads pretending everything is fine and that "Gamerz" are the real problem, not knowing they themselves are the very Gamerz they pretend Pro-Consumers to be.

But somewhere like, mcdonalds? Walmart? Car repair? Secretary work? Shit, anything that isn't keys dangling in your face, the large community support simply won't be behind.

Think of it this way, people support (actors) because they played (hundreds of characters) on your favorite tv show, (Tv show).

Bob working the register didn't work on my favorite IP, so I'm not nearly as interested.

#strikes #unions #wga strikes #as it always is #strikes need to be handled by pro-human and organized adults #gaming is so full of children and Gamerz you'd be lucky if half the companies bend the knee at some point #bar none #there is no other industry with as much toxicity in the fanboyism as gaming #they will defend companies #but there's an absolute avalanche of adults that have been biting away at some massive reform being possible #changing and informing minds #gaming ain't gonna surpass the strikes #but by golly will Gamerz fight tooth and nail otherwise #to be clear to the uninformed #a gamer is someone that plays games #A Gamerz is basically a GamerGater #the kind that sends death threats to developers for begging for a delay for their unfinished product #the kind that LARPs hustle culture with their mom's credit card and a bunch of new released games everyone hates #the kind that adds you on steam to flex the RE2 DLC as if you didn't already own and review all of them negatively #those are Gamerz #and they need to be admonished into embarrassmenr

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fyodorkitkat · 9 months

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HC: you would be fun to go clubbing with.

I'm a great time this is true

HC ask game

#i partied too hard in my 20s. clubs bars shows i used to work jam and edm festivals as well that was like my hobby i had a hook up with a #couple promoters and 'worked' a couple hours and got in everywhere for free #id still do it now if i had the time and energy but without so much liquor lol #im reformed 🙏#ty for the ask hergie 💜🙏#-Lue asks

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redxriiot · 2 years

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BNHA AU where post-War, Shigaraki and AFO have been successfully separated and Tomura survives it all abd is apprehended, and sent to a facility to be reformed. And his most frequent visitor is Mirio. Who has every intention to help him, make his time there easier, and overall just be a friend to him

#bnha manga spoilers #//I mean; TECHNICALLY?#//Considering Mirio is Tomura's No.1 advocate even after all the destruction and his friends near getting killed #//Now wasn't THAT a shocker #//Mans really saw signs of Tomura in through the AFO possession and was like 'Is anybody gonna help him?' and dID NOT WAIT FOR AN ANSWER #//I say facility for reform instead of prison bc you BET I can believe Mirio would advocate for this man #//And ask to be involved in his betterment. or at the very least; keep him company through his consequences #//Tomura finding him 100% irritating at first; not wanting any of his 'pity'; not TRUSTING him #//But Mirio is determined to show him he's genuinely there for him. genuinely WANTS to be friends and help him ay way he can #//Barring breaking him out or hurting anyone; anyways #//Well #//MAYBE bends a few rules to prank/get back at anyone mistreating Tomura #//Or to amuse him #//Sees about possibly bringing a gaming system in there to hang out with Tomura further along the line #//If not just games from nearby him while Tomura backseat games him and snarks whenever Mirio getsbhis ass kicked #//Idk; it's V self-indulgent #//But i love it #//So I'm putting the idea out there to be used if not by myself jehrb #plot ideas #//That possibility and pspspsp KIT I HAVE A NEW AU-#;mun has spoken #//I just really LOVE the idea of this hero and villain duo. they tickle my brain

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weyounbathwater · 2 years

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I think I should watch body parts more often

#nothing you have ever done to me has been more than a minor inconvenience no #protecting your mother from an fca audit. secretly settling with your striking employees were nothing more than #symptoms of a vile and insidious weakness #a weakness which makes me #loathe you!#not for what youve done but for who you are. what you are #a bartender?#a philanthropist #i am not!#you give your customers credit at the bar #you only take a thirty percent kickback on your employees' tips. and #you sold food and supplies to bajoran refugees at cost #thats not true #it was just above cost #still it was a generous. humanitarian gesture #youve gone starfleet #you might as well be wearing one of their uniforms #its people like you who give honest Ferengi businessmen a bad name #i can reform! ill start gouging the customers again! ill revoke all my employees' vacation time #you gave them vacations?#i didnt give them anything they contributed #to a central fund which i manage and #you disgust me!#look #i understand your anger #youre completely right about me #but #there must be some accomodation we can make. something other than me killing myself #of course there is #you can break the contract

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randomnameless · 9 months

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Relieved to see the "Church bad" stuff in 3H was the result of Treehouse's *ahem* liberties with the localization. One of the things I liked about Fire Emblem was that it wasn't like the 5000 generic church/religion bad JRPGs and that it treated religion with nuance and treated it's religious characters respectfully. I'd hate for the series that gave us characters like Lucius and Renault to become another bland religion bad wankfest.

Well...

It's not only on the lolcalisation, I'm afraid :(

"Church BaD" is peppered here'n'there through the game(s) because if Church BaD then maybe siding with Supreme Leader isn't completely ludicrous - but the lolcalisation amped it up to 11.

FWIW, I still think the FE series is the same series that gave us Lucius, Renault, Natasha, Yodel and the other monks/priests so it still has that nuance and isn't the generic "Religion BaD" JRPG (playing TS made me remember what was a true "Religion BaD" JRPG lol), and even in some ways, the Fodlan writers tried to warp it around "it's not the faith that's BaD, but Rhea" without ever saying what's so BaD about the faith Rhea preaches and what the difference with the faith that will be preached by her successors (Billy or the Tru Piss church)...

IIRC in Nopes Seteth mentions in an expedition dialogue how he disagrees with some church tenets... but never mentions to Barney what are those tenets he, as a saint, Rhea's right hand man and more or less her older sibling/kin, disagrees with.

Imo, the general Church BaD isn't BaD for being BaD in the og game, but a way to say Rhea BaD to both sell Hresvelg Tea and the idea that Rhea has to go so the player, through Billy, will take her place and make a better world because player wank.

The lolcalisation though? Kept the underlying Church BaD, even if their love of Tea sometimes makes their script suggest "Faith BaD"!

#anon #replies #nuance in my fodlan game???#bar that wtf line from Seteth in Nopes #we never hear what religious characters or characters who are part of the Church think about it #and if/how it should be reformed #It's more like Rhea BaD so Supreme Leader Good #and Rhea BaD so she goes away thus Billy as God's avatar and the player can rule over the world depending on the endings #or take her role and of course do better things than she did

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 3 years

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”During the pandemic, as jails raced to release incarcerated people because prisons became coronavirus hot spots, many judges nationwide responded by putting those who were being released in electronic ankle monitors that tracked their movements 24 hours a day. Other people were assigned ankle monitors as an alternative to bail as they awaited trial in a backlogged court system that moved online.

Now, early data shows how much the use of electronic ankle monitoring rose nationwide during that time, according to research from Kate Weisburd, a law professor at George Washington University and a former juvenile defender. Researchers are finding that ankle monitors are keeping people connected to the prison system longer than ever, as more remain strapped to the devices for over a year.

“Everyone is looking for ways of getting people out of custody, which obviously is a good thing,” Weisburd said. “But what's happening in some jurisdictions in the adult system is that more and more people are being released on monitors as a response to decarceration.”

In Chicago, the Cook County Sheriff Office's use of ankle monitors for adults who are awaiting trial jumped from 2,600 people in April last year to over 3,500 in December, according to data from the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, a research and civil liberties group that advocates to improve court processes and find alternatives to incarceration. Chief Adriana Morales of the sheriff’s office said in a statement that electronic monitoring is always court-ordered and confirmed that during Covid-19 there’s been a “dramatic increase” in orders for them.

Law enforcement departments that use electronic monitoring say the devices are supposed to serve as an alternative to incarceration and help people remain in their community rather than serving time in jail. But interviews with people who have been incarcerated and then placed on ankle monitors and researchers who study recidivism say the surveillance devices hurt people trying to get their life on track after prison and that there’s no evidence the technology is rehabilitative. They often drag adults and youth even deeper into the criminal justice system and sometimes back behind bars.

“I've seen kids incarcerated for technical violations of their prohibition terms with an ankle monitor,” said Cancion Sotorosen, an attorney with the Youth Defender Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley, California. “Going to the store on the way home, seeing their friends at the park — for all of those technical violations, they can and do go back to jail.”

Law enforcement experts find that ankle monitors seem to work best for a targeted population, like adults who are found to be at high risk to reoffend, said Kelly Mitchell, executive director of the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota. “But for your average drug and property offenses, it’s not a good use at all.”

Mitchell said electronic monitoring can be helpful from a probation officer’s perspective when keeping track of individuals who have committed more serious offenses or violent crimes but would still benefit from being taken out of the jail system.

“Electronic monitoring can provide a little bit of extra something to monitor that person for a period of time if we decide that we’re ready to give them a chance in the community,” Mitchell said.

Ankle monitors were first developed by social psychologists in the 1960s in an effort to offer positive reinforcement to juvenile offenders. They came into use by the justice system in the 1980s and early 1990s.

While they still offer the upside of an alternative to prison or jail, they have in recent years become the focus of growing skepticism — particularly as their use has widened. Advocates for criminal justice reform say that while ankle monitors may appear preferable for people who hope to get out of jail sooner, they don’t address systemic issues that land so many people behind bars.

“We're not putting resources into their communities to address the issues of violence, to address the issues of unemployment and poverty and structural racism,” said James Kilgore, an author and activist with the Challenging E-Carceration project at the Center for Media Justice. “Instead we’re going to slap this thing on them so we can track them, and we can keep them locked up in their house.”

One minute late

When Evelyn Canal was first placed on probation in high school for charges associated with auto theft, she was given the choice to either be on house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor or return to juvenile hall. The device was secured so tight around her ankle that it cut into her skin, she said, causing lacerations. But Canal couldn’t loosen it. Just like she couldn’t step out of her house to take out the trash without violating her house arrest, she said, which would land her back in juvenile hall.

“All the complaining people are doing about Zoom fatigue and staying in the house and not going outside, imagine being forced to do that by the government,” Canal said.

Canal — who is now 20, based in the Bay Area and in college studying for a business degree — was one of the roughly 10,000 youth who are put on electronic ankle monitoring a year in the state of California, according to a report from the University of California, Berkeley, law school on the use of ankle monitors in the state’s juvenile justice programs. While the use of electronic monitoring is high across California, in Alameda County, where Canal lives, there have been efforts to reform electronic monitoring of juvenile offenders, according to Brian Ford, the assistant chief probation officer of the juvenile division of Alameda County. There are currently 25 young people in the surveillance devices in the county, compared to 51 youths who were assigned the monitors in 2020, he said

The electronic cuff was provided by the Juvenile Justice Center in Alameda County. Canal said she was innocent, but since she refused to turn in others who were responsible, she was incarcerated and then released on house arrest. She noted all of the rules wearers have to follow. Each violation resulted in two more weeks locked up in juvenile hall, she said.

“I got violated for charging my ankle monitor one minute late,” Canal said. “I also got in trouble when my grandma’s house had a fire at 3 in the morning and I had to evacuate. My GPS officer wanted me to turn myself in because I was standing outside my house after the fire. What was I supposed to do?”

In Alameda County, young people on ankle monitors are required to charge them daily between 7 and 9 p.m. They must get permission 48 hours in advance from their probation officer to leave their house or go to non-pre-approved locations, making it difficult to attend after-school activities, pick up extra shifts at work, exercise or go to the drug store for a quick errand.

Alameda County changed its rules in April of last year to no longer charge youth with violations for small infractions of the electronic monitoring rules, said Ford, the probation officer. While he could not comment on Canal’s case, Ford added that electronic monitoring for youth in the county is court-ordered.

In other jurisdictions, the rules are even more strict. For adults in electronic monitors in Chicago, their homes are subject to warrantless searches, and wearers have to submit a written request 72 hours in advance to go anywhere other than pre-approved locations, meaning even stopping for gas can amount to a violation. Copies of the wearer’s pay stubs may need to be submitted to the sheriff’s office, too, according to a copy of the rules obtained by NBC News.

Morales, of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, said that for minor infractions of the ankle monitor rules, offenders are issued a warning, but a person can be reincarcerated for multiple violations. Morales also said the 72-hour advance request for additional movement is necessary because of the high volume of requests the department has to process from people on ankle monitors.

Pay per day Though electronic monitoring is cheaper for municipalities and states than jail, the cost of the surveillance device is often passed on to the people wearing them. And during the pandemic, when millions of people lost their jobs and unemployment benefits were backlogged, that cost added up.

In at least 30 states, agencies require those who are placed in an electronic monitor to pay between $2 and $20 a day to wear one, not including activation fees that some counties tack on, according to Weisburd’s research. In areas like Baltimore County, Maryland, the hundreds of dollars a month people assigned to ankle monitors awaiting trial were paying as court dates continued to be delayed due to the pandemic became such a burden that the county moved to eliminate ankle monitor fees altogether.

Ankle monitors can be so expensive that some people in the system must choose between paying rent or their electronic monitor fees, according to Kilgore, with Challenging E-Carceration. Those fees are sometimes paid directly to the private companies contracted to provide the ankle monitors by law enforcement. Kilgore also wore an ankle monitor for a year as a condition of his parole.

While the cost of incarceration is higher than the cost of an ankle monitor and being on house arrest for many is a better option than being in jail, in places like Chicago, the majority of people who are on electronic monitoring are awaiting trial and have yet to be convicted. But unlike other jurisdictions, Cook County does not charge offenders.

"People are supposed to have a presumption of innocence," said Patrice James, director of community justice at the Chicago-based Shriver Center on Poverty Law. "But when you put people on electronic monitoring, you’ve not solved the incarceration problem. It just shifts the jail cell to inside our communities, inside our apartment complexes and to our residential blocks."

Technical difficulties Like so many electronics, ankle monitors also don’t always work.

When the electronic monitor senses a violation, whether from not being charged at the right time or when someone steps outside their house at the wrong time, the company running the monitor notifies law enforcement. Then officers may be sent to the wearer’s home or work.

With the dramatic increase of people on ankle monitors during the pandemic in Chicago, local watchdogs say they’re seeing a rise in violations for small infractions. Matthew McLoughlin, an organizer with the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, said he’s also seen an increase in more false violations and technical glitches for people whose ankle monitors rely on GPS tracking.

“I was talking to a gentleman who had an escape case because he was late getting home from work and had to charge the monitor. He was in Zoom court when they told him they were filing an escape case against him,” McLoughlin said.

Still, Joseph Russo, a board member of the American Parole and Probation Association, said overall, electronic monitors can be a reliable tool for tracking offenders who need a high level of supervision and they can help link people to crimes. One of the rioters who investigators say broke into the Capitol in January was caught because he was wearing an ankle monitor.

“Some people might be deterred who know their location might be tracked. But we’re not dealing with folks who always apply rational thinking to their behaviors,” Russo said. “There’s countless news reports of people being tracked back to murders and other crimes based on their ankle bracelets.”

Growing Up Evelyn Canal now is a Dream Beyond Bars fellow with Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, a nonprofit organization that provides support and advocates to end youth incarceration and criminalization in California. She’s working with the group to pass the Juvenile Justice Realignment bill, which determines what will happen to incarcerated youth in California after state facilities are closed by 2023.

She’s also working to advocate for increased funding for California’s Office of Youth and Community Restoration, which she said could have helped her when she was having trouble with her probation officers and her ankle monitor and felt there was nowhere to turn.

From a criminal justice reform perspective, Weisburd, the law professor, said there’s no empirical evidence that the technology is rehabilitative and that “more often than not people are both on monitors and are in custody because they cycle in and out on small violations.”

“Viewing electronic surveillance as an alternative to incarceration furthers and perpetuates a dangerous false binary between incarceration or monitoring and ignores an obvious third option, which is freedom,” she said.

- April Glaser, “Incarcerated at home: The rise of ankle monitors and house arrest during the pandemic.” NBC News. July 5, 2021.

Image is: Evelyn Canal, Dream Beyond Bars fellow and advocate for incarcerated youth, in Oakland, Calif., on June 24. Canal, who was fitted with an ankle monitor while in the juvenile justice system as a youth, recounted what it was like wearing a monitor and now fights for young people's rights while in the system.Peter DaSilva / for NBC News

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