#i need to stop posting 1 thing then leaving this acc for months

[lettersbydahlia]

arcade ♡ valorant (jett x phoenix)

"Hey Phoenix! If you die, I call dibs on your jacket." "Ah, don't be like that, you know you'd also want my shoes!" ♡ Things weren't supposed to end like this.

♡ jett x phoenix ♡ pt. 1 of as the world caves in ♡ tw's: major character death, canon-typical violence (blood, use of weapons)

♡ 3.6k ish words, title creds: arcade by Duncan Lawrence, some lines of Jett + Phoenix are from the game's voice lines, but mostly everything is written by me.

♡ originally posted on ao3 on my prev. acc, @/mortedeveles. this is the edited version! pt. 2 is yet to be posted. enjoy!

''Alright, what do we have here?''  Jett stretched her legs on the table, ignoring the look Sage shot her way. 

''We've got some intel on the Mirror Earth's missions. They're going to strike again, even after Venice,'' The healer said, walking towards the table as she set down some papers.

Jett didn't miss the glance Sage sent her way but refused to meet her gaze. Venice was in the past, and there was nothing they could do about it. Jett frowned as she saw the pictures of herself, Raze, Cypher, Killjoy, and Viper. Were these the enemies from the Mirror Earth? Why was she there? 

''They're going to steal the radianite with the enemy Killjoy's spike. They're heading towards Split- Kingdom's old headquarters in Japan, but what site they'll be taking is unclear. Phoenix and Skye will stay at Site A, Sova will lock down mid, and Jett and I will push them out of Site B and force them to rush A, where Skye and Phoenix will be waiting for them.'' Before Sage could continue to talk, Jett raised her hand, brows furrowed in confusion.

''Wait a minute,'' she pushed the papers away from her, not liking how her stomach twisted at the sight of her copy. ''My clone is on the enemy team. You want me to kill myself ?'' 

Sage sighed and Sova took a seat on Jett's left, patting her shoulder assuringly as his bionic eye glinted in the light.

''You are a free spirit, Jett. It is hard to catch you- it will be harder to catch your clone. We need your help. Brimstone and Sage decided that the best is to bring you along on this mission. No one knows you better than yourself, no?''

Sighing reluctantly, Jett nodded, despite the churning in her stomach. Something told her this wasn't going to end well. 

''Hey, hey!'' Phoenix's voice boomed through the room as he walked in with a wide smile, before slightly sobering at the sight of Jett's sullen face. He slid into the seat on her right, his left arm going around her shoulder to give it a light squeeze.

''What's got my favorite girl looking all disappointed? What's going on?'' His attention turned towards the other agents, confusion spreading across his features. 

''We've got a new mission,'' Brimstone stood from the head seat at the table, pushing the stack of papers in Phoenix's direction. ''And you're going on it, Phoenix.''

''Oh?'' The fire user's attention was quickly caught by the news. He snatched the papers and began to read them, eyes trailing over the words.

''Mirror Earth's Jett is on the enemy team. Are you sure it's a good idea to bring both Jett and me on this mission?'' Phoenix's face quickly grew serious, shooting Brimstone a questioning LOOK. 

Brimstone sighed, rubbing his temple. ''This isn't up for discussion. We're low on numbers as it is, with Killjoy, Yoru, Breach, KAY/O, and Cypher in Morocco. Astra, Reyna, and Viper are still undercover, and they won't be back in months. I’ve decided to stay behind and monitor headquarters. No one can step down from this mission. Killjoy left behind a spike defuser she recently built, and we've got a five-man team against another five-man team. We've got everything we need. All we need to do is strike fast, and do everything in our hands to stop them from planting the spike on Split. Understood?'' 

Everyone murmured in agreement, and Brimstone cleared his throat before nodding.

''Very well. Everyone, head to the armory and suit up. You’re leaving in thirty.'' 

»»————-　♡　————-««

''Hey.''  Jett didn't notice Phoenix's first nudge, lost in her train of conflicting thoughts. What if she didn't kill her clone? What if she hesitated? What if-

''Ow!'' A yelp left her lips at the sudden sting of pain on her forearm, turning to glare at Phoenix. He grinned, shrugging nonchalantly. 

''You zoned out, so I had to do something to get your attention.'' 

''Sorry,'' she mumbled, her attention not entirely present. ''Just thinking about something.'' 

''Hmmm, is that so?'' Jett felt the weight of one of Phoenix's arms wrap around her waist, pulling her flush against his body. If this were any other situation, she'd be smiling and snuggling into his side, but today was different. ''What's got you thinking so hard that you're frowning?'' Phoenix's warm breath fans Jett's ear and her face grows warm. But this isn't the time nor the place to do anything- and the glare she can already feel Sage giving them isn't helping. 

''It's nothing.'' She averted her gaze from the fire user, staring out of the plane’s window. The sun was still out, sunlight shining through the windows. Jett spotted a few clouds, but mostly the sky was a cleared path and a vibrant sky blue. 

''It can't be anything if you're so distracted that I took your glock and you didn't even notice,'' Phoenix clicked his tongue in disapproval and Jett's eyes widened at the sight of her pistol in his palms.  

''What- give it back!'' She reached out for the pistol, but Phoenix only pulled her further out of her reach, a mischievous grin on his lips.

''Not until you tell me what's going on.'' He twirls the pistol with his fingers, and Jett groaned. Damn Phoenix and his reflexes. But he was right about a thing- she shouldn't be distracted. Hell, Jett was supposed to be the fastest agent on the Valorant protocol! That included reacting in a blink of an eye, pinning down an enemy on the ground, or shooting them before they could even react. Yet here she was, still shocked that Phoenix had taken her gun from her waistband without her noticing.

He sobered up at the sight of her distressed face, sighing before giving back her pistol. The arm that was wrapped around her waist went to her back, gently rubbing circles. 

''Relax,'' he murmured. ''This is just another mission. Everything will be alright.'' 

Breathing deeply, Jett shifted in her seat as she nodded.

''You're right. It'll be okay.'' But she still felt troubled, her mind unsettled and stomach twisting. All she could hope for was that the five of them would return in one piece. 

»»————-　♡　————-««

 By the time they landed,  the Korean girl felt much more assured and her confidence quickly returned. After all, she's Jett. The fastest agent in the protocol, with a speed and agility that no one could match much less defy. Except herself, she thought but quickly shook away the idea as she stepped off the jet, Phoenix at her side. Everyone had taken their gear and weapons, sporting a Vandal or a Phantom- minus Sova, with an Operator strapped to his back. Jett reached for her ears, making sure her communication technology was still hooked in. 

''This is it, everyone,'' Sova spoke over the loud whirring of the jet's blades until Sage turned off the engine and stepped out of the jet. ''Brimstone left instructions: once the spike has been retrieved, rush back to the jet. But I want you all to remember something,'' the man's gaze drifted off to his interface communication, brows furrowed. He then raised his gaze, expression solemn. 

''We can't afford to lose any of you. If things go sideways, return to the jet. It does not matter if the spike is left behind, you must retreat and return to the jet. Understood?'' 

A collective murmur of 'yes', and 'okay' was heard among the crew, and then Sova nodded with satisfaction. 

“Good. Let's go in.'' 

Everyone began to split ways, but before Jett headed to Site B with Sage, she called out for Phoenix, a teasing grin on her lips.

"Hey, Phoenix! If you die, I call dibs on your jacket."   Please don't die. 

The fire user turned around with a bright smile on his lips, and Jett's heart skipped a beat. Why was he so breathtaking? It wasn't fair. Phoenix chuckled, tugging at his jacket as he showed it off. "Ah, don't be like that, you know you'd also want my shoes!"

Jett smiled. If Phoenix could still laugh, then so could she. Right now, she really wanted to kiss him. Jett stepped forward but hesitated. No- she'll kiss him after the mission. She has to come back to him, no matter what. Waving farewell, the Korean quickly turned around and jogged to catch up with Sage.

"Sage, you lock 'em down, and I'll take them out. Just like we practiced." The healer nodded at Jett's words, shooting her a small smile before Sova’s voice boomed in their earbuds.

''Time to move in. Stay safe, you all. Over and out.'' Jett went back to hearing radio silence. Sage and Jett shared a look, before moving in. They were deathly quiet as they moved into the site, guns held out as their eyes swept over the area. 

''B main is empty. No activity so far. Over.'' Sage spoke into her microphone while Jett slowly began to move into the open area of Site B, eyes narrowed. When she reached the entrance to the open area, she cursed as a tripwire caught her by the foot, and a cage was opened.

''Shit!'' She quickly shot at the wire, letting out a wince of pain as Killjoy's all too familiar turret began to shoot at her, grazing her cheek. Jett threw one of her smoke clouds before rushing forward, shooting down an unsuspecting Killjoy. 

''Killjoy and Cypher's setup is at B. I've just taken down Killjoy. Over.'' Jett spoke into the mic, ignoring the aching in her cheek. Sage quickly rushed over and in one swift movement, raised a jade wall, blocking the main entrance into B.

''Weren't they supposed to rush B? What's going on?'' Jett turned to look at Sage, who looked just as confused as her.

''I'm not sure.'' She murmured. 

''Sova, Skye, Phoenix. What's the situation over there?'' 

“I’VE BEEN HIT! Two of them are mid, I've shot one of them down! The other fled.'' Sova shouted over the mic, and both Jett and Sage tensed as they heard bullets slice through the silence.

''There's three of them rushing A. Get over here, now!'' Skye yelled into the microphone. Sage and Jett rushed towards A site. 

''I'm going to rush heaven, you take back site!'' Jett yelled at the healer before racing forwards, willing the air to help her. 

Within a matter of a few seconds, chaos roared in Jett's ears. Bullets shot through the air, one after another, and her heart dropped at the sound of the beeping noise that grew louder as she approached the site. The spike had been planted. 

Quickly dashing into the site's top floor, Jett shot down the enemy Cypher and raced towards the ramp, where she heard Skye and Phoenix shouting. 

''I'm here! What's going on?'' 

Jett's eyes widened at the site of a large gash in Skye's forearm, but the ginger paid it no mind as she pulled out one of her wooden figures; a Tasmanian tiger. Jett clenched her jaw. They didn't have time to scout the area; they had to rush in.

''Sova! What's going on over there?'' Jett shouted into the mic.

''Raze is flanking A! Watch your backs.''

''I'm going in,'' Jett shouted before rushing into the site, ignoring Skye's shouts of protest. She stopped at the sight of the poison cloud surrounding the site, the faint beeping of the spike coming from within the cloud. Fuck! Their Viper had locked down the spike with her poison gas. Jett's heart sped as she wracked her head for ideas. The Viper was inside the toxic cloud, Raze would be coming in flank, and she had no idea where her clone was. 

''It's now or never,'' Jett murmured to herself as she ripped the sleeve of her shirt and pressed it against her nose before stepping into the cloud. Immediately, she could feel how her chest and throat tightened, eyes stinging from the toxic chemicals. 

Jett kept forward and caught sight of Viper's hair. She raced forward, sliding to the floor as Viper turned around and shot at her but narrowly missed. The Korean girl slid under the scientist’s legs before jumping to her feet and landing a kick on Viper's face, knocking her down. Jett pulled out her glock and shot one bullet straight between Viper's eyes, breathing heavily as blood splattered on her pants. 

''I've taken down Pandemic!'' She shouted into the mic. ''I have eyes on the spike, who has the defuser!?'' 

Before Jett could take another step forward, her blood ran cold as Raze's voice boomed in the air.

''FIRE IN THE HOLE!'' 

Shit. She needed to take cover, now! Jett rushed to screens, catching a glimpse of Phoenix and Skye rushing towards heaven while Raze sprang out of A main. The loud boom of Raze's rocket practically shook the ground and Jett tapped into her comms, hoping no one had been taken down. 

''Everyone, status update!'' 

''Skye's injured, and I'm holding off Raze!'' Phoenix's voice echoed loudly and Jett raced towards heaven. 

''Sage, heal me when you can. I’m going A!'' Sova shouted between labored breaths before Sage spoke up. 

''I'm caught up with Jett!'' The healer yelled and Jett's eyes widened. ''Someone come help me at B's back site!'' 

Jett stopped in her tracks. Should she go help Phoenix or rush after her clone? 

''I'm heading to the jet!'' Sova’s voice boomed through the microphone and Jett made her decision. Shooting a smoke cloud at the entrance of ramps, Jett dashed in, meeting Phoenix's widened gaze. He was panting heavily, blood smeared across his shirt as he held Skye up. 

''Take Skye to Sage, I'll take care of Raze!'' Jett shouted and rushed towards the Brazilian agent, leaving Phoenix no time to protest as she pulled out her knives, determined to land the shot. 

''I'm going in to defuse the spike! Keep Raze distracted, Jett!'' Phoenix spoke into the mic and Jett nodded to herself as she leaped in the air and shot two knives at Raze, who staggered in her steps but wasn't knocked down. Grimacing, Jett dropped to the ground and shot Raze's boombot, dashing to her left as Raze's bullets grazed her thigh. ''Fuck!'' She murmured, breathing heavily as she clutched her injured leg. But Jett couldn't stop, not right now. She'll deal with an injured leg later. Rushing towards Raze's direction, she jumped into the air and somersaulted over Raze, quickly twisting around as she landed on her feet, and shot two bullets into Raze's head. Jett grimaced at the pain that shot up her leg and felt her knees buckle. Taking a deep breath, she tried to ignore the pain coursing through her body as she spoke into her mic.

''Raze is down! How's the spike going?'' 

''Clone Jett fled from B, she's on her way to A! I’m on my way to the jet!'' Sage shouted into the mics, before Phoenix quickly cut in.

''Skye's defusing the spike and I'm covering her back. We don't have much time left, make sure to keep Clone Jett out of A site!''

''I'm injured,'' she spoke into the mic, breathing heavily. ''Raze shot me in the leg, but I'll make my way to Clone Jett." 

"What? No!" Phoenix shouted through the mic, but Jett rushed forward and tried to ignore the excruciating pain in her knees and her thighs as she ran towards screens, so caught up in both her pain and rush of adrenaline that she didn't notice Phoenix rushed after her. 

"Fuck." Jett cursed as she reached screens entrance, clutching her left thigh tightly. The pain almost had her on her knees, and she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to move forward.

"Jett! Slow down, you're injured. Skye's handling the spike, it's time to move out!"

"No!'' She gasped desperately, feeling her chest grow heavy. "I have to- I need to go after Jett. We can't let her go."

''Calm down! We need to-,'' Phoenix was cut short as the unmistakable noise of a bullet rang through the air, and they both froze. The noise came from Skye's direction. Both of them rushed towards the site, and Phoenix began to shoot at the retreating Clone Jett, while Jett rushed towards Skye. Thankfully, she was still conscious, sitting on the ground as she held her bleeding arm. Shit. That wasn't good. 

''Keep defusing the spike!" Skye shouted through gritted teeth. "There's little time left."

"Okay," Jett kneeled and continued to defuse, feeling the spike's heat strong against her hands, but she persisted and held down tightly on the defuser. 

"I've got Sova with me. We're almost at the jet, is everything handled over there?" Sage shouted through mics, and Jett grimaced as she kept pressing down. Almost done, almost- 

''Watch out!'' Phoenix's voice boomed through the air and Jett had no time to react as a foot landed against her chest, toppling her over as the defuser fell from her hands. 

Skye pulled out her gun and cocked it at Clone Jett, who quickly threw a smoke cloud and jumped into the air. Fuck. Jett coughed as she stood on her feet, feeling the adrenaline wear away as exhaustion began to flood through her bones. But she quickly pulled out her vandal and looked above her, looking for her clone. Jett stepped away from the spike, meeting Phoenix's gaze for a split second before his eyes widened, and rushed towards her. What? Her ears rang, overwhelmed with all the commotion as Phoenix rushed towards her in a matter of mere seconds, and a bullet rang out. Another bullet rang out, and another, and two bodies hit the ground. 

''Phoenix?'' She called out to him, feeling his body pressed against hers, his face obscured. What had happened? Jett’s heart skipped a beat as a warm liquid began to soak her shirt.

''Phoenix?'' Jett repeated as she sat up and gently pushed him off, her voice much more urgent this time. 

No... Phoenix coughed as his hand gripped his chest- right where his heart should be. There's a bullet hole in his chest, and Jett feels her world come crashing down on her.

''No, no, no!'' Her palms are trembling as she rips off her other sleeve, pressing it against Phoenix's wound.

''You're okay- everything's going to be alright, okay?'' She mumbled, and Jett wasn't sure whether she was trying to reassure herself or Phoenix.

''Don't look so sad,'' the fire user let out a weak chuckle as his hand wrapped around Jett's wrist, giving her a small smile.

''It's okay. Don't cry,'' his thumb reached for her cheek and wiped away stray tears and Jett shook her head violently.

''No, don't talk like that, you idiot! Don't talk like you're dying. You're okay, everything will be alright, we just need to get Sage here.'' 

''Sage?! Sage!'' Jett desperately pressed her microphone, body trembling but her grip remained strong on Phoenix's body. Her ears ring and everything's happening at once- Skye's frantically shouting as she tries to pull her away, the loud beeping of the spike that only grows faster, the faint shooting of bullets across the site. Jett doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not.

''Sage!'' Jett half screamed and half sobbed into her microphone, relief flooding through her chest when Sage's comms are finally turned on.

''Jett! We don’t have much time left, what is it?!"

''Phoenix-Phoenix is down. Get over here right now, you need to revive him!'' A rather long silence passes through Sage's side, and Jett sobs as Skye's shouting breaks through her trance, and she looks up at the ginger Australian. 

''JETT! Bloody hell, we need to go! The spike is about to detonate, we don't have time!'' 

''What? No! Phoenix- we need to bring Phoenix with us! Sage can revive him, I just need to bring him with me!'' But Skye ignores her pleas, ripping Jett away from Phoenix. 

''I'm sorry, Jett.'' Sage's voice is strangely clear and loud through the comms, flooding Jett's ears. ''I can't revive Phoenix.'' 

The Korean girl feels her life flash before her eyes as the loud beeping of the spike grows louder and she watches as the pavement begins to crack and erupt. Phoenix gives her one last smile before his eyes go lucid and Skye drags her away from the site. Jett hears the roaring of blood in her ears and her hands are still tightly grasped around something, though she can't tell what. She's not sure if she wants to look down. Skye and Jett rush towards the jet, the engine already whirring to life as Jett sees Sage on the pilot seat, shouting at them to hurry. Before either of them could take another step forward, a loud boom echoes behind them, and they're pushed forward by a strong gust of air. Jett barely manages to stay on her feet as she turns around and watches the detonation of the spike, the black dome a fingertip away from dissolving her. Just as fast as the dome expanded, it quickly returned to the spike, leaving a heavy silence behind. Neither of them says a single word, still looking back at the aftermath in shock. 

''I'm sorry, Jett.'' Skye's hand is heavy on her shoulder, and Jett's frame trembles as she glances down at her bruised and bloodied hands, and the cloth held between them.

Phoenix's jacket is soft and warm between her fingers, and a sob builds in her throat as she squeezes the piece of clothing. A sob wracks through her body as she buries her head in the soft material, her lover’s scent still lingering on his jacket.

 "Hey, Phoenix! If you die, I call dibs on your jacket."

a/n: this is a bit of older writing but i wanted to post valo content for my blog. pt2 is currently pending! do rb + comment if u enjoyed <3

#valorant fanfiction #valorant phoenix #valorant jett #♡ valo #valorant ships #jett x phoenix #phoenix x jett #valorant #fanfic #fanfiction #valorant fanfic #writerblr

[hanzos-chin]

good evening again laika fandom

#i need to stop posting 1 thing then leaving this acc for months #Iko's shit #memes #laika #LAIKA studios #kubo movie #Kubo And The Two Strings #shitpost #ms paint

[dutchdread]

No offense bro, but why are you always so protective of Cloud? No disrespect to you or anything but I've heard quite a bit of different opinions and theories on Cloud myself and I do agree with the people who say that he takes Tifa for granted. Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior. He also does act like he's the only one who has suffered in his life. Do you have other reason to defend him other than the fact that you "relate" to him? Just wondering.

Sorry for the late reply, my life has basically left no room for hobbies these past months. Your question is hard to reply to because I am not sure what you mean when you say I am protective of him. I guess you mean I defend his actions? Specifically in ACC? Firstly let me state that there is a difference between being a good character and being a nice character, there is also a difference between agreeing with someones actions, or just understanding them. Personally, I never really liked Cloud, especially not when I was younger. A lot of my defense of Cloud doesn't come from me personally liking him, but from me thinking he's a good character. I also think Snape is a good character, but I don't like his actions, and I don't defend them, although I still understand them to a certain degree. I should also say that as I started to understand Clouds character more, I also started liking HIM a bit more, although I still don't like the things he did, and would very likely not be friends with him. But I do understand why he did what he did and cannot be too critical of him because of that. You've probably heard that before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That's great advice, if you want to judge someone, you should imagine what it would be like to be them, however, I've noticed that too often when people try to walk a mile in someone elses shoes, they refuse to take their own shoes off first. They don't think "what would it be like to be him", they think "what would I do in that position". But Cloud is not you, and you cannot judge him by how you would act, you've not gone through the same things he has, your thought patterns aren't the same etc. This matters because too often I see people judging Clouds actions in ACC, and establishing his motivations by saying things that boil down to "If I were in his position, I would only do those actions if I loved Aerith/didn't love Tifa/whatever". But they're not Cloud, and they're not understanding how Cloud thinks, and that it's different from how THEY think. But like you said, I do see some recognizable elements of myself in Cloud, which is why I do understand his actions, and why I feel relatively certain in defending them, because I see them coming from a good place. It's common for me to react to things in a way that others find counter-intuitive. Let me give you an example, my brother once was mad at me because I had not told him my girlfriend of several years and I had broken up while I did tell a random stranger at the pub. He said that he felt like he wasn't important to me if I told a random stranger but not him. The truth was the exact opposite, I love my brother, and could not bear to face him for some reason, as I told him: "if not caring enough was the problem, then I wouldn't have told a random stranger". I see people exhibit that same lack of understanding when discussing Clouds actions, where they feel like his actions must be the sign of him just being a bad person, or not caring. But ask yourself what is more likely, that Square-enix wants their hero to be a bad person, or that you simply are misunderstanding the character? I understand why people don't get Cloud, Cloud suffers from obvious mental health issues, and mental health issues simply are not something that the general public understands, even today. Not only that, but Cloud went through the most insane series of traumatic events anyone could ever imagine. He had an alien parasite in him, saw his entire town murdered before his eyes, then saw Zack murdered in front of his eyes, then saw Aerith murdered in front of his eyes, and just when he started living a peaceful life he is forced to watch his child succumb to sickness in front of his eyes, and then he finds he himself is dying. All this on the psyche of a man who had had a fear of failure ever since he was a child, spent most of his life essentially in war, and had a severe identity crisis as well. Do you think you can honestly judge him by going "that's not what I would have done"? Would that not be incredibly

presumptuous? Have you suffered from depression as a result of severe post-war PTSD and a lifelong feeling of inadequacy combined with a fear of failure and the belief that many of your loved ones died because you failed and were inadequate? Because that's the context in which you have to view Cloud when watching Advent Children. Saying "Going through trauma in the past is not really an excuse for his behavior" is just incredibly short-sighted, your behavior is determined by who you are, and who you are is determined by what you go through in the past. You can't expect a broken child to become a well-adjusted adult when being a well-adjusted adult is the result of having a normal childhood.

I also don't want to cause offense, but this really is a mindset you should change, because this mindset is one of the most pervasive and damaging ones in our society, it's the one that probably bothers me most when I hear it because it makes zero sense. It's like breaking a robots self-repair unit, and then being angry at it on the grounds that the self-repair unit should have fixed it. It's also very insensitive in general, it's the equivalent of saying "why are you depressed, just stop being depressed", people don't choose to be depressed, people don't choose to have a fear of failure. People don't choose their emotions, they're just there. They can be influenced by behavior over time, sure, but behavior is equally influenced by who you are and your emotions, which, as mentioned before, is determined for a large part by your past. People don't just "snap out of it". They fight and fight and fight, and sometimes they win and break out of the spiral, and sometimes they lose and it breaks them.

FFVII, and especially Advent children, is all about that struggle, and during those struggles you will have high-points, and low-points. FFVII shows all of those. It shows Cloud trying, it shows Cloud wanting, it shows Cloud failing, but it also, ultimately, shows Cloud prevailing. Judging Cloud for not breaking out of the spiral by the time of Advent children, when he was mentally only barely 18 years old, and when he started at the worst place anyone could ever imagine, is just not reasonable. It's the modern day equivalent of "let them eat cake", something that can only be said from the place of privilege of not knowing what the struggles of the people you're critiquing are actually like. So having that out of the way, lets look at Clouds actions from the perspective of Cloud. Cloud is a young boy, and he's in love with the girl next door, he wants to get her to notice him. One day said girl walks up a mountain and he follows, she falls off a bridge and ends in a coma. Cloud followed her because he's in love with her, and he gets the blame from the adults. Cloud internalizes this, and its important to imagine what this must be like for a child, to have the adults all tell him it's his fault that the person he loves ended up hurt. "your fault", "your fault". Afterwards Cloud starts thinking Tifa hates him and starts acting out. I think this is a good moment to point out btw that this child has no father figure. This is the start of his feelings of failure and inadequacy, he blames himself for not being able to protect Tifa, failure number 1, he thinks that if he were strong, he'd be able to protect her, he thinks that if he were like Sephiroth, then even Tifa would have to notice him. Now until this time Cloud is not an asshole, he's a bit of a rebellious kid yes, but notice that he's not a bad kid as much as he's a kid who wants to protect someone, has no direction, and is acting out. So Cloud thinks he's not good enough, but he leaves town confident that he'll become good enough, and even makes a promise to Tifa. All this follows logically from what we know about Cloud, and tells us a lot about how deeply seated these feelings are. Becoming Soldier wasn't a small thing, not some small passion project that he just came up with one day, it's the result of the things that happened in his childhood and he left everything behind make it so. He told the girl he loved, he promised, he boasted. And then he failed. Failure number 2. He comes back to Nibleheim and can't bear to look Tifa in the eye and admit that he couldn't do it, that he's a failure. His entire life so far has revolved around this and he wasn't good enough. So here we have Cloud, not in a great mindset, thinking he's a failure, and what happens? His entire town is murdered by the person he admired, someone he worked with. His Mother is killed, and Tifa, the girl he PROMISED to protect, gets slashed open so badly that apparently she needed to have her ribcage reinforced with metal. I think we can all agree that this by itself would be enough to potentially scar a person for life. (Cloud, not Tifa XD) So what's next for the boy who left town in order to become a hero? Well, he gets captured and experimented on for 4 years, during which his mind and sense of identity is bombarded with memories and knowledge of the lifestream in the form of mako, muddying up his thoughts. Cloud already had a weak sense of self as a result of his childhood, it's why he failed to enter Soldier and now this distaste for who he is makes him extra susceptible to Jenovas influence. The next thing Cloud sees, (he didn't consciously experience the 4 years of mind-fuckery) is his best friend getting killed trying to protect him, because Cloud wasn't strong enough. Failure #3. At this point, in Clouds mind the list of people dead because he could not protect them, because he's a failure, include his mother, his entire town, his best friend, and as far as he knows, the girl he loves. This is his life. His mind is broken, he hates himself, he doesn't want to be himself,

he has a mind-altering parasite inside of him trying to adjust his identity and Clouds just goes "I reject this reality and constitute my own". And why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he want to live in a fantasy world where he wasn't a failure, where he made it into soldier, where he was cool and successful and not a disappointing failure? Zack tells him to be his living legacy and Cloud goes with it, then he runs into Tifa, Jenova adjusts Cloud further based on Tifas memories of them and rejoined with the girl for whom he joined Soldier Cloud is unconsciously all too willing to play the part. FFVII starts and it doesn't take long for the cracks in his fake persona to show, he meets Aerith, and becomes her bodyguard. He gets to be the hero he always wanted to be. But then, even as "Cloud strife, soldier first class", Cloud is still a failure, the plate still drops, killing thousands, he gives Sephiroth the black materia, he beats up Aerith, and ultimately, fails to save her as well. Tifa was the First Failure, and Aerith was the Final Failure. Even as a soldier, Cloud still couldn't save anyone, he loses even more faith in himself, he doesn't know who he is, he doesn't trust himself, and then when he also loses Tifas trust in who he is, he just breaks and gives over to Jenova/Sephiroth. Even Hojo calls him a failure. Cloud feels like a nobody. Now mentally weakened, under the influence of jenova cells, he gives Sephiroth the black materia AGAIN, and meteor is summoned. Another entry on the long list of moments Cloud can look back on in shame later on in life. He falls into the lifestream and again his psyche is under attack. We know what happens afterwards, Tifa finds him, cares for him, and saves him through his feelings for her. Cloud realizes who he is, realizes he's weak, and goes after Sephiroth without lying to himself. In the end he defeats Sephiroth mentally and is supposedly rid of his direct influence.

But that doesn't mean that this mentally 17 year old is now fine, we should remember these events when analyzing ACC. Cloud has been in constant fighting/war/peril ever since he left home as a child, and is now a traumatized 17 year old in a 21 year olds body. Novels and other materials give us an insight into how Cloud thinks during these times, and how he thinks about himself. We hear him say that he's going to live because that's the only way he can atone for his sins. He talks about wanting to change, and about believing he can change because he now has Tifa. He's a man (boy) who just exited war, and wants to be positive, but is still clearly blaming himself. We see that this initially goes well, we are told that Cloud experiences peace and happiness that he's never experienced before. We're also told about the things that make it go badly, when he has to deliver flowers to the ancient city for instance. While Cloud regained the sense of who he was the belief that he wasn't good enough, that he was a failure, was never solved, if anything it was put on hold until he got his memories back, and now he is forced to deal with it.

While he is no longer directly manipulated by Sephiroth he's still suffering from PTSD and, most notably, survivors guilt. He blames himself for the deaths of Zack and Aerith in particular, and starts visiting the church. Now most people might think it's natural to avoid places that make you feel bad about yourself, but that's not how a depressed person thinks, Cloud thinks he deserves to feel badly he WANTS to punish himself, he WANTS to feel bad. He's ashamed of the moments where he's carefree and laughing with Tifa. Why should he get to be happy when Aerith and Zack are dead because of him? He shouldn't be happy, he should be in pain, he should remember them, not doing so would be an insult to their memories, he must never forget how he failed them! That's how Cloud is thinking. We know of course that this is non-sense, Aerith and Zack wouldn't want this, if anything it's this mindset that is tarnishing the memories of Aerith and Zack, but that's not how a mentally unwell person thinks. Cloud wants to atone, and thinks he finds salvation in Denzel, whom he finds at Aeriths church. He thinks that by saving this life, he can, in some way, make up for all the death he caused. Tifa has a similar belief when she finds out Denzels parents died in the plate crash. And when Denzel joins the family, and Cloud has path towards redemption in his mind, things start getting better again. Because this is the cause of the problems Cloud is having in ACC. When Nojima says:

first off, there’s the premise that things won’t go well between Tifa and Cloud, and that even without Geostigma or Sephiroth this might be the same

This is the conflict he's talking about, he's not saying "Tifa and Cloud are incompatible, it has nothing to do with Sephiroth", he's saying "if Sephiroth didn't show up during Advent children, Cloud and Tifa would still be having problems because Cloud is going through survivors guilt."

But the good times don't last, Denzel has Geostigma and Cloud cannot find a cure, Denzel....is going to die. Cloud, has failed again. Not only that, but Cloud catches Geostigma....Cloud is going to die. And THIS is why Cloud leaves in Advent children. And you have to look at this as Cloud. Cloud said he was going to live to atone for his sins, but instead he's going to die. He won't atone for his sins, even worse, he's going to leave Tifa and Marlene behind. He failed again. He couldn't protect Denzel, he potentially brought an infectious disease into their house as well. Literally all Cloud can think about is that literally everything he's ever tried has ended in failure, everyone he's ever tried to protect, he's failed at. Do you understand how easy it would be for a person like this to fall into the trap of thinking "I deserve to die", "I don't want Tifa and Marlene to see me die", "Tifa and Marlene are better off without me anyway", "they'd be happier if I weren't here". Etc. Now we know this is nonsense, but come on, how many instances have you heard of depressed people genuinely believing that their loved ones would be happier and better off if they just didn't exist? However, throughout the movie, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith, all confront Cloud, and urge him to not give up. Cloud eventually does try again, and ultimately finds redemption not by being stuck in the past, but by letting the past rest and be beautiful (a lesson Cleriths unfortunately never learned). "I never blamed you you know, not once" "I want to be forgiven. By who?" "Isn't it about time you did the forgiving?" In the end, Cloud moves on, and therefore, so do Zack and Aerith. Aerith and Zack walk into the light, Cloud plants flowers on Zacks grave, and lets Zacks buster sword rest in Aeriths church, now no longer rusting, but shining. Instead of the past being a negative reminder, Cloud lets the past be beautiful. Cloud was doing Aerith and Zack a disservice by remembering them the way he did, because it was ruining his life, it wasn't a good thing, but it did come from a good place, from a good man whose ashamed of not being good enough. Yes, it harmed Tifa, people going through these things often do hurt those around them, but it's not because they're bad people, or even weak, but because people are imperfect and Cloud has gone through hell, both internally, and externally. Are his actions really that weird or deplorable? "He didn't even go save the kids!" Yes, he's hesitant about saving the kids, why shouldn't he be? Everyone Cloud tried to protect or save, ended up maimed or worse, or as Cloud puts it: "I can't even save myself". "He left Tifa alone!" Yes, he thinks he's going to waste away and die, can you blame him for not wanting to put Tifa through that and for thinking she'd be better off without him? "He drinks!" Wouldn't you?! Who wouldn't want to forget that stuff? But in the end, He's only gone for about a week, he never intended to harm Tifa, he never physically harmed Tifa or cheated on her, his entire life revolved around wanting to be better for Tifa and blaming himself when he wasn't good enough, how is it reasonable to say this man takes Tifa for granted when the fact that he thinks he has to BE BETTER in order to be worthy of being with her has been a constant throughout his entire life and story? He DOESN'T take Tifa for granted, that's why he's beating himself up, that's why he leaves, not because he thinks he's better than her, or that he'll always have her, or that she'll follow him like a dog, or something like that. But because of the opposite, because he thinks HE is not good enough, that SHE would be better of without him. Saying Cloud takes Tifa for granted, is honestly, simply, wrong. It's 180 degrees the opposite of what is happening in FFVII, the biggest constant in Clouds life, is that he doesn't take Tifa for granted, and I don't understand how anyone could argue otherwise.

#cloti #FFVII #ffvii crisis core #ffvii advent children #ffvii remake

[jonginsboyfriend]

How do you analyze Ji's behavior (his clothes, his Instagram posts and what he says) after enlisting Ks. What if ks has to do with it.

The only things worth discussing here are his behavior and maybe his clothes.

1) First His beahviour is also connected with his IG. After ksoo's enlisment annoucement he suddenly stopped posting on IG for two months. Then close to when exo were about to have their first concerts in July he said he sent word through ra*vi to say he forgot his password. That was in itself odd since why would he do that people would be more vocal about his lack of posting than if he stayed quiet. Also didn't he know there's a way to recuperate your pw especially if you're a verified acc?? That was fishy

Then right on the first days of EXO's concerts and baek and sc had music out he went live on IG from another phone and then a few days later found his pw by the same method he didn't know existed when he made ra*vi post. Seems he found out about it, why make such a fuss a few days prior if you were already looking for ways to recuperate the acc?? Maybe actually he didn't really felt like posting ever since 30/05. He started doing lives listening to all the other member's music but no word about ksoo's song. Then he stopped posting for a while again....until sperm promo was on its way. Now he posts regularly while sperm promo is underway. And jd also has music out. It seems to me he only posts when he HAS to when something is happening that he has to promote related to him or exo. Before ksoo's enlistment annoucement he used to post regularly even when there was nothing going on.

This time he also did a live where he listened to members songs but this time he mentioned ksoo's name and you could tell he was nervous about it. He was scraching his eyebrow while saying it meaning he wasn't really comfortable or sure about doing it. There is a analysis of this moment made by another kd shipper here on tumblr which is amazing and explains it better.

In my opinion sm made ji distance as much from ksoo as possible shortly before and after ksoo left. He actually hadn't mentioned ksoo since their bdays in January. The separation was needed because there couldn't be a case where ji posted smth for ksoo like he did for xiu*min. But that was even more obvious for kd shippers since it was really telling why ji posted smth so beautiful and full of love for xm but stayed quiet for his fav hyung. It's obvious he was told not to associate himself with ksoo in any way. Until recently when he said 'i love you and i miss you' and did a salute in concert and mentioned him on IG. At this point idt it is that much of a problem for sm. They're more lax cuz some time has passed, people made up peace more or less about ksoo leaving, ji is with sperm. Nobody paid that much attention to kd. If he were to say smth right after ksoo left it would have attracted more unnecessary attention.

2) Now about his clothes...tbh I don't want to put much importance on this since clothes are clothes. They are bound to be similarities between how people wear them. Plus most of idols clothes are chosen by their stylist or sponsors most of the time and they don't have any say in it. But it is worthy of note that Ji and Ksoo have had similar fashion styles for the past 2 years or so thus it may not be a concidence that Ji is dressing in the way he remembers he used to do when ksoo was around. This is smth you either want to consider or not. *shrug*

3) His IG posts have nothing to do with ksoo in my opinion. Wearing a shirt with lips on them is common and that level of proof some people are doing with his ig photos is some chan*baek level of proof, in other words cringy as hell. Or even worse jk lovestragram cringeness where you take random pics and say there's a connenction between them.

The conclusion is that I do think he misses ksoo in the way that he seems lonely in concerts, he doesn't really engage in social media anymore except when there's smth to promote, also CONFESSION, and its lyrics who where written by him and pcy...that is also a red flag. The fact he could mention anyone but ksoo for a long time is also very telling. About the clothes theory...maybe he looked up pics of ksoo and tried to imitate his iconic garbage bag look lol.

But yeah Idt his IG posts mean anything (the pics). We may find more proof about their rlship in the things ji doesn't say or post, or the subtle things. That is very important.

#kaisoo #kadi #ask #anon

[doberbutts]

And the followup post, here.

Okay folks, this is one I’ve resisted posting about for a while, but enough people have sent it to me (including a link from WADTT from a group where the author goes further into detail on this subject, thank you darling <3 ) that I guess it’s time.

I’m going to start with- this is why I don’t like it when people who are not involved in something decide they want to judge something they don’t know anything about. I’m, of course, not saying this woman doesn’t know anything about dog training- her credentials are enough to say otherwise. But the phrasing of both of these articles indicate that she has never taken her dogs through a CGC before and, indeed, has never done any sort of AKC event before. In fact, one of her main problems with it (and one of her source’s main problems with it, but I’ll go into that later) is that the AKC is an organization that makes money because people do stuff with their dogs with said organization. Her source is more talking about puppy mills- in which it exaggerates a bit and implies that the money the AKC makes yearly is mostly coming from litter entries (ignoring the large sums coming from show entries, titles, etc) while her post implies that they’re getting quite a hefty sum from CGC entries (ignoring... all the other stuff the AKC does). Another reasons she gives for not liking the CGC is that the rulebook states that they don’t care what method you use to teach the items- something true of all AKC titles- as long as your dog is in the approved back-clipping non-restrictive harness, flat collar, martengale collar, or slip collar come testing day. She even does not like that the CGC allows the slip collar to be used during the test, despite the fact that- like all AKC titles- it’s not meant to be used during the test, as correcting your dog even verbally will fail you.

Far be it from me to claim the CGC is the end-all of dog behavior. We have had dogs right here on dogblr that decidedly were not the epitome of good temperament pass CGC and even CGCA. I’ve passed a dog that I know is dog aggressive, but he was not during testing time or class, so I also could not fail him. I just had an argument with a high profile dobe breeder about why the CGC program is not an ideal standard for service dogs. I have my own problems with the program, and my own problems with the AKC, and I can’t really say either is perfect.

I’ve taken close to 50 dogs through the CGC in 2018 and the first couple days of 2019 alone at this point. As most of you are aware, I am not a +R trainer by the strictest sense of the term. As most of you are also aware, I am required to be so while at my job. That means the vast majority of my students must adhere strictly to force-free methodology, and exceptions may only be made when there is a serious safety concern regarding strength of dog vs strength of human. This also means that the majority of my CGC students have run through the CGC without ever feeling any sort of pressure or compulsion. While, yes, the rulebook does state that whatever methods you want can be used for teaching the items, my job states that I am much more limited. Besides that, I’m pretty pro-don’t-punish-your-dog-for-not-reading-your-mind and anti-use-corrective-collars-to-fix-your-shitty-foundation, so there’s that too, even with my personal dogs aka dogs I’m allowed to actually do whatever I want with. Just as an aside, but I took CGC classes at Petco as well when I ran through the program with Creed because I can and they’re free for me, so I also was not allowed to have him on anything more corrective than a martengale during class or test. This means no slip collar either- something allowed by AKC rules but not by the testing facility. Clearly the CGC can be passed while sticking firmly to a +R ideology.

But that’s not enough- in the group where she discussed her reasonings for this, the mere fact that the CGC rulebook states that it allows slip collars, that you can do whatever you want in training, and that the AKC refuses to totally ban metal aversives is bad enough to never want to take a CGC. Simply funding the organization with your $10 is bad enough to not want to do it. That, to me, is more than a little ridiculous.

Onto the next point- the fear that more people beginning to require a CGC to insure or rent to dog owners would split up dogs and humans- specifically fearful or aggressive dogs, and low income families. This is a tricky one to navigate, and one that I’m very much wishing she hadn’t thrown human social talking points into (misogyny, violence against women, income status, etc). First of all- there is no current punishment for failing your CGC besides a little bit of embarrassment or frustration if you thought your dog was ready, so the whole “scarlet letter of bad citizen” is exaggerated hyperbole at best. Second of all, no insurance company to date has required a CGC that I am aware of, but has given discounts for one being present. Third, HOAs and landlords have actually changed from disallowing pets completely to saying that they will allow a pet if it’s trained to a visible standard- this is a good thing. This is not “landlords and HOAs used to allow dogs all the time but now they require your dog pass a test”, it’s “landlords and HOAs used to not allow any dogs or only allow dogs smaller than 25lbs or have breed bans and now instead of that they just want to make sure your dog is somewhat trained”. Forward progress. Creed failed his CGC at 13 months. He passed it at 22 months. Failing it the first time had literally zero effect on his ability to pass it the second time, except that I knew what things he still needed practice with before our second go around.

If your dog is too fearful or too aggressive to pass a CGC test with dedicated training, you probably shouldn’t be renting with it. These are easy things to pass and things your dog will have to navigate at some point in its life. Your dog is going to need to be touched by strangers at the vet or groomer. Basic obedience- positions, recall, stay, those are things that literally save lives in emergency situations. Your dog is going to need to be able to peacefully coexist with other dogs when going outside to pee, on a walk, at the vet, at the groomer. With the increasing number of vets that take the dog into the back, away from its owner, for simple procedures like shots and blood draws, your dog is going to need to be okay not being next to you for a whole 3 minutes. Not everyone likes dogs, so it’s imperative that your dog can walk by strangers without bothering them, especially if you have neighbors in the same building. While loose leash walking and distractions are perhaps the most easily discarded of all of these items, the #1 complaint I receive as a dog trainer from new clients is that their dog pulls on leash. The #2 complaint is that the dog is easily distracted by everything and thus “doesn’t listen”. That’s your 10 items on the CGC. If your dog cannot do those things with a combination of training and management techniques, then, yeah, your dog probably shouldn’t be in a rental and you should look into additional training. Additionally- dogs that bark constantly, especially at movement/sound from neighbors or due to seperation anxiety, get their owners evicted. That’s the hard truth. Dogs that are not properly housebroken get their owners evicted, or at the very least get their owners charged thousands of dollars for repairs when an angry landlord has to replace flooring or carpet or furniture. That’s why the dog owner pledge exists.

HOAs are much the same- barking dogs get neighbor complaints which then get you evicted or fined. Leaving a dog outside to bark in the yard is one of the biggest reasons animal control gets called on dog owners. A pesky neighborhood gardener has the right to work in peace- if your dog won’t stop barking, nothing is stopping you from bringing it inside or moving it away from the windows. I don’t know why we suddenly jump to taping the mouth shut or surgical debarking- unless the dog cannot be calmed once it starts, in which case a visit to the vet and a behaviorist (or trainer otherwise skilled in BAT) is in order to determine what combination of management techniques and medication is required for the dog to have its extreme anxiety or aggression calmed to a more reasonable point where it stops being unfair to the dog to exist in such a stressful mindset. The pledge does not say you can’t do that- and anyone working with a trainer to pass the CGC should be provided that option should they request it.

People don’t like it when dog owners let their dogs poop in their yards. Even if you clean it up, there’s still residue. It’s also pretty terrible for the environment to not pick it up in your own yard, as well as a public health and safety hazard if allowed to collect over a long amount of time or if there are multiple dogs. E.coli, salmonella, coccidia, giardia, and various parasites such as roundworm and tapeworm can and do spread to humans if on contaminated ground- a worry for children who may not know better than to put their hands in grass a dog has recently pooped on and, since there’s no visible trace of poop anymore, then puts their hands in their mouths. Distemper, parvo, and lepto spreads to dogs with weak immune systems that cannot be vaccinated, or puppies who have not completed their vaccinations yet. Rain water pushes these diseases out of a dog owner’s yard and into other ground as well as into rivers and other sources of drinking water. Making sure that your dog only uses certain areas to go to the bathroom, and then immediately doing your best to pick up after your dog is the only acceptable compromise. And people are very bad at even doing that- outside of my store, where there is a poop bag station every couple of feet, we still completely fill a trash bag full of poop weekly because people will not pick up after their dogs. That’s why the dog owner pledge exists. At least daily inside of my store, we discover a trail of feces and urine down an aisle from a dog owner that either wasn’t paying enough attention to their dog to see that it was doing that, or that didn’t care enough to clean it up, even with several easily accessible clean-up stations within the store. Sometimes it’s right at the clean-up station.

That’s why its phrased the way it is. Good citizen- or in Canada, good neighbor. It’s an attempt to curb bad human behaviors while also teaching dogs a very simple, easy-to-pass test. If the CGC or CGN isn’t your cuppa, there’s also others such as CLASS and SPOT and even various things from DMWYD. But all of them are similar in that they attempt to solve this problem as more people with more dogs becomes more widespread.

As for the rest- dogs that growl get dismissed from the test. This does not mean dogs-that-growl-ever. This means, dogs that growl during the test. It’s included because the AKC got tired of evaluators and judges and other dogs being attacked by dogs. Any aggressive behavior whatsoever displayed during the test is grounds for automatic dismissal in the vast majority of AKC events. This prevents the owner from attempting to “work through it” and invariably flooding the dog and getting someone bit. Instead, the dog is dismissed, and the owner is forwarded to someone who can find out why the dog is growling and how to make the dog more comfortable with whatever the problem was. Dogs that cannot hold their urine for the 30 minutes max each test takes, yes, get dismissed, because nobody likes a dog that pees all over everything. This includes dogs that submissive or excited pee, because the owner should be working with a vet and behaviorist on proper management solutions. Dogs are allowed to startle during distractions, as long as they do not attempt to flee, run, or bark. It even says the dog may look at the distraction with (mild) interest, as long as it is neither pulling towards the distraction nor running away from the distraction.

Once again, far be it from me to be the white knight of the CGC or even of the AKC, but this article is, frankly, mostly the same type of nonsense I always hate seeing from people who wish to make talking points about things they’ve never experienced and thus don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. Again, I am not saying this woman doesn’t know what dog training entails. Her credentials alone say otherwise. But I am saying that it’s very clear she’s never even attempted the CGC, nor attended a class of people attending the CGC. Again, in the FB group where she discusses her reasoning, she even says that while she understands people do go through the CGC with all forcefree training, her problem is that it allows people to not do that, and so it’s still unacceptable. So all training is required to be forcefree, written in the rules, or else there’s the potential that someone somewhere might do something to their dogs that she doesn’t like, and so it’s bad. That’s... ridiculous.

There’s also some things at the end about wanting legislature to require forcefree only training, about wanting all dog trainers to pass a certification that requires people to only use forcefree training, and some bits about people like me who occasionally use tools not allowed by +R methodology in certain circumstances being inhumane and unethical, but I won’t go into those more than my warning that I always have for things like this.

Always be careful about strong opinions formed by people who have never done or experienced or worked with the thing they have strong opinions about. Especially so when they are strong opinions that may become enforced by law. At that point, everyone loses.

#links

[fate221]

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE "LEAKS"? IF ITS NOT FAKE WILL YOU STILL SHIP SHIDGE PLEASE IM CRYING

oh shit I din’t expect I got asked about that this soon D:

I’m not gonna post those “screenshots” here because I don’t wanna problems, if you need to see them go to other accs or Instagram

Yeah anon don’t panic, I saw that bullshit and now I have two things in mind:

1) From one hand it looks pretty much real I mean it’s literal studio mir style, line, coloring and other stuff.

2) I’M LITERALLY SCREAMING WTF DREAMWORKS Lol apparently that’s a guy from old anime who appeared in first episode like an easter egg and now he’s gonna marry Shiro? That easy? I’m not talking now about different copyrights and stuff (if you had to deal with it you may know that it’s not very simple shit lol) the matter is that it looks very fake itself that they made Shiro to marry other guy literally in a season after he lost Adam, whom he dated for four years and they still haven’t been married. And we know nothing about that guy because he’s just a fucking Easter egg + apparently on the “leaks” his skin is darker so idk if it looks very um right. And would Dreamworks really let THAT importamt info to be leaked? The main spoiler? Not sure about that.

The thing is that I remember LGBT rep in OUAT and how fake and forced it looked there and I don’t want Dreamworks to make the same mistake. It’s better to don’t have a rep at all than having it like that - with a certain deus ex machine just to show that “we’re progressive, love us”. It’s not even because I ship Shidge I never principally wanted it in canon and even in my hc it took time for him to develop feelings to another person after Adam because that’s just not that easy to move on. And there was no sense to add Adam at all if you still wanted to marry him with another dude. 

SO here’s my humble absolutely subjective theory you don’t have to agree with and trust to:

producers see all the explosion in the fandom after what they did to Adam

people blame creators in not getting proper LGBT rep and making “bury your gays trope”

creators want to leave everyone happy and at least push some lgbt rep for Shiro even though they never originally planned it and never wanted to make smth else besides Adam 

they bring already done few months ago last episode back, bring some animators back from their well deserved vacation to draw 3-second piece with him kissing a guy we first see (well second but you know what i mean)

apparently they think people will be okay with him making out with smb off screen, not explaining this new relationship at all and with all of this thing looking forced and absolutely deus ex machina for everyone

because lots of people already like Adam, they made aus with him, where he is alive and after that they still want to make Shiro move on that easy with random guy? Adam didn’t deserve it honestly. I’m not even talking about all the Shaladin shippers lol.

so the creators want to test this addition to the already done story to know people’s reation and know if it’s positibe or negative to avoid any mistakes and being blamed in all sins once again.

and they make “leaks” to know what to do when they need to air the episode.

My opinion is - if this was really like that, if they really add that in hurry after episode was already finished, they will literally make no one happy. As I’ve already said - good LGBT rep = logical LGBT rep with being properly added to the plot and having influence on it. I don’t know what trick they’re planning to make but personally I think that they need to stop and let it be before it’s not too late. 

That was a hot take I hope I explained my thoughts clearly.

OR THIS SHIT IS JUST SOMEONE’S VERY QUALITY MADE FAKE AND WE ALL ARE FUCKED 

thanks for coming to my TED talk. 

P.S Nothing will ever stop me from loving my OTP, none leaks, none plot twists okay thank you

[universalsatan]

vent👏🏼time👏🏼

hi i had half a cocktail earlier and i could sift through my thoughts in HD and decided i need to vENT about my crush to a bajillion strangers and i guess there ppl here i know p well too bUT here we go

haha i havent seen them in ages (well since summer began but like its long enough for me to be ://// about it) and like i really notice how much i miss them even though??? we never talked that much later on :(((( i cant even contact them rly but i have both their instas??? they dont post that much tho. also since i was like ready to settle down w aro/ace this fucker came along a few months ago and i was happily in oblivion and it literally took me like 3 fuckign months of denial to finally accept that i liked them and i found wAYY too many clues about them @ me but im shitty at this and cannot make a move whatsoever so nothing happened??? anyways i knew them in 2 things except they left one of them so then i could only see them across the room in another but i guess that was fine for me?? not for the first while i missed being beside them and chatting for an entire hour but whelp,,, but i guess we had similar interests and i started listening to the type of music they do a bit and there were even times where like ive read their mind (like said what they were thinking when it was really obscure) and i just MISS being able to talk to them and be with them i hATE THIS WHY AINT I FULLY ACE and not only that but when i did follow them on insta they were liking and commenting stuff basically leaving clues about liking somebody and them not liking anyone back??? and their side acc right after they followed me and i followed back (all at 1 in the morning btw) they cHANGED THAT USERNAME TO s2gfamlemmelive lIKE BOI NO U LEMME LIVE STOP DOING THINGS SCARILY COINCIDENTAL TO ME IM GOING TO THINK ITS RELATED TO ME but yeah ive been suffering and i wanna speak w them and theyre so pretty ive drawn them one and a half times i just wanna d i E more clues for yall shits that know me irl and wanna kno who they are when i first met them i thought their name started with an e but turns out its actually an m sabina if u find this SHUSH UR MOUTH I KEEP UR SECRETS wink wonk anywaysssssss im just going to continue suffering over this cause for some reason my dumbass brain just does Not Know When To Stop™

:)

#if you read all of that i honestly do not know what to say to you #good job???? #its like a textbook worthy paragraph #personal

[hotokeiki]

Week 125: J-pop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCOmPW-8FW8

Ladies and Gentlemen! The time has come for the coming of the time. And even though that time has been greatly delayed, that time is nigh. Nay, that time is now!

I decided that I HAD to post in January, at least in my time zone. A lot of you then don’t get a post in January, but it’s only off by a day, so it’s basically still January, right? Right?

It’s kind of poetic to post on the last day of the first month to bring in the new year.

Editor’s note: I’m not gonna bullshit it. That wasn’t the plan.

I was hoping to bring in the new year earlier, but I’ve been through some shit, OK!? And don’t worry, I will explain the happenings thus far of 2017 in GRATUITOUS detail. Here we go.

Linda: Oh great, now he’s going to write an epic.

Me: Y’know, this is hard for me to, Linda! I’m just gonna write until it’s ALL out there.

Linda: Please don’t.

Me: You can’t stop me!

Editor’s note: This might take a while, so you can skip to this icon if you want { >> }

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So, I got my wisdom teeth removed on January 5th. I was required to have a guardian (my mom) drive me home, because I wasn’t legally allowed to drive. I was going to be put under, so I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything 8 hours before the surgery. I had a weird dream the night before that I was in front of a table with a bunch of food on it, and I was being tempted to eat and drink. I was freaked out about not eating or drinking for 8 hours, so my brain was stressed. Anyway, I was put under, and the surgery went off without a hitch. I had an intravenous anesthetic to put under and a local anesthetic to numb my whole mouth. When I came to, I was kind of groggy, but I couldn’t feel any pain. I was also very aware, and the nurse helped walk me to the car. I had gauze in my mouth that I wasn’t supposed to remove for an hour and thirty minutes, if I remember correctly.

What was surprising was that my mom could make out almost everything I said through the gauze. For the first day, I was only supposed to eat soft foods, so we needed to make a trip to the store. I decided to go the store with my mom instead of just resting at home. I leaned on a cart at while we were at Wal Mart and used it to walk myself around. We got cream of wheat, chocolate pudding, and Häagen-Dazs ice cream (which I’d never had before). When we got home, I brought my computer chair out from my room to the kitchen table, and just sat there mostly. I had to alternate icing each side of my face, and I could hardly feel it. The parts of my face that were numb were from my bottom lip down to the base of the chin, a little bit more of my cheeks, the front parts of my ears, and part of the inside of my left ear. The inside of my mouth was numb, including my tongue, except for my palate. I could eat ice cream and drink cold water without any temperature sensitivity. The weirdest thing is trying to drink something when you can’t feel you’re bottom lip or tongue. You don’t know where the glass is, and it feels like your bottom lip is pushing up the glass, and your mouth is closed. That’s why you want the glass to rest on your bottom teeth. Still spilled a bit XD

As soon as I had out the gauze, I started trying to talk. My older brother said that somebody should record it, because it would be hilarious. (It was. We didn’t record it, though. *sadface*) The anesthetic started wearing off, and I had a HUGE temperature sensitivity. The water had to be tepid, like a cat’s tongue, for me to drink it. I also made sure to take my meds on time. Around 5pm that day, the anesthetic had completely worn off, and I could talk like normal. So, what do I do? Talk in a Discord chat. Yeah. That was a great idea. (Linda: Sarcasm, Me: Czar chasm, Linda: what?, Me: I win.)

There were some rough times where I had a lot of pain, and one almost sleepless night. I couldn’t take the pain meds unless I ate something. That was really rough. I may have had a dry socket, because I had a LOT of pain. But overall, I felt pretty good. The first week of school was a little rough, and I kept taking the meds when I could. Eventually, I went down to a lower strength pain killer, and now I don’t need it. I still get food caught in the removal sites, and need to swish around some water to get it out, but that’s too bad. The other thing is that I kind of have some bone that sticks out further from my gums on the left top side that mine to get filed down. It’s kind of weird. Other than that, I’m healing up nicely. I do heal really fast. I say my body makes up for my stupidity XD

And while I was recovering from the surgery, my immune system was probably recovering, which is why I got sick. Although, my parents were both sick, so that could be the reason. (It also could’ve been because I talked too much.) The back of my throat was inflamed and swallowing was uncomfortable, and that lasted roughly three days. And then I got sick with something else. My mom and I could’ve gotten sick on the day that we spent 5+ hours in Fleet Farm. We were having some work done on the car, which ended up taking a while. The head guy there was sick with the “Minnesota Crud” (it’s just a bunch of congestion really). Anyway, I basically got over that, and then last week, I got what I would qualify as food poisoning. I didn’t vomit, but I had intestinal cramps and indigestion, and occasional dizzy spells. I was pretty good on Monday, but Tuesday was BAD.

Editor’s note: Seriously, you probably want to skip this. You’ve been warned.

========================================

I only had two classes, but I barely made it through the first class (Communication Systems) before having to go the bathroom. And then I was trying to get my reaction paper finished before my Psyc class, so I made my way from the bathroom to the ACC (computer lab. It has a different name now, but I don’t care) to finish typing my paper and print it before class. I didn’t make it that far. I had to stop at the bathroom. I thought I was good, so I went into the ACC, booted up a computer, copied the draft of my paper onto my flash drive, plugged the flash drive into my computer, THEN immediately pulled it out, put all my stuff away, and went back to live forever on the toilet. (why did I leave in the first place?) I was actually kind of worried. I had finished both of my waters (I had started carrying two bottles in my backpack), and emailed my Psyc professor that I was going to for sure be late and maybe not show up at all. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it through a 2-hour and 40-minute lecture. Well, I was late, and hadn’t been able to finish my paper, so I finished and went to class late. My instructor was very understanding and emailed me the notes that I missed out on. I’m stilling having some problems, and I might have the flu, but I’m basically healthy (Linda: Except you’re not)

So many people I know are sick. We should quarantine Minnesota, maybe XD

========================================

Classes have gone pretty well. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I got kind of behind on homework. I actually did some homework on the toilet. I turned in the Communications assignment late for a small deduction, but otherwise I’ve turned in all of my assignments on time. My Psyc class is Psychology of Women, and it is quite interesting. We only meet on Tuesdays. Our assignment for this week was to find a magazine targeted toward girls or women, and answer some questions about it relating to media bias towards white slender women, etc. It was also preferable for me to bring it to class. After work, I asked my friend which magazine she recommended, and she said I would hate it but it was exactly what I was looking for: Cosmopolitan. I bought this month’s issue of the Cosmopolitan, and told my friend that I didn’t think I’d hate it as much as she thought I would. She told me to get back to her. From what I’ve read, there are some useful articles and good advice, but the ads and trendy stuff don’t mean anything to me. I do plan to finish reading it. It’s really not that bad, but I’m not going to buy more.

And the last thing, My Japanese 101 lessons. I’m teaching Japanese lessons during the second half of Otaku Club, which only meets Mondays. I have only had one so far, and that was yesterday. The first attempt: canceled because the instructor’s kid was sick. The second attempt: all afterschool activities were canceled due to inclement weather. The third attempt: the instructor was sick, and they were unable to find a sub because all of the faculty were in meetings that were supposed to happen the week before. But this week, I was able to give my first lecture, and it went off without a hitch! Everyone was so attentive and hanging off of everything I said. The lectures are set up with the main lesson only being Romaji, and after questions, I have a Bonus lesson that goes into kana and Kanji, and talks about more in-depth topics. They unanimously decided to have the lesson earlier, and they all stayed and paid attention during the bonus lesson. And there was even some discussion that happened. It was great!! Now, I just have to make more lessons. XD

Here’s a link to the folder on my Google drive that holds all of the Japanese 101 material

(https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzJ6ikuPRgCLY04xTm5EdVE1WXM)

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>> 

Well, it’s time to bring in the new year. I was trying to figure out what song would really be uplifting and motivating as we continue through 2017. I had a song picked, but then I changed my mind!

Saa, ikimashou!!

PUNCH☆MIND☆HAPPINESS by Happy Clover is the opening to Anne Happy (Unhappy Go Lucky! or Unhappy).

I have not seen Anne Happy, but I’ve seen the opening, and I definitely will watch the show at some point.

 Here’s the plot. It looks fun!

 Tennomifune Academy (天之御船学園 Tennomifune Gakuen) is an elite school where students train in various subjects such as arts and sports. That is, except for the students of Class 1-7, a.k.a. the "Happiness Class", who have been deemed "unfortunate" and must try to overcome their own misfortune and achieve happiness. The series follows Anne "Hanako" Hanakoizumi, who has terrible luck, and her classmates Ruri, Botan, Hibiki, and Ren, who each have their own misfortunes, as they try to find their own happiness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Happy

 So, as mentioned before, I was planning to post a different song, but then I decided to do this song instead.

 Well, funny story.

 So, Rae brought a bot into the Discord chat that she named Ai-chan. Rae was showing us the different functions that Ai-chan has, one of which is +anime ( ). I used this to look up Charlotte and found out there was an OVA for Charlotte! So, I thanked Ai-chan. She’s kind of fun to talk, but she can be very random, and we argue. (I accidentally married her by saying “I do” XD)

 Anyway, I watched the Charlotte OVA, which brought back so many memories, and was really fun. But it’s also Charlotte and Jun Maeda likes to see what he can do to your emotions. It was great, and I ended up crying a bit. I also had a hollowness, and just didn’t feel happy.

 So, I tried playing some anime openings I know. I watched the opening to GochiUsa, which didn’t do it. Then Soul Eater Not!, because I forgot how boring that song is. And then I decided to do the fourth opening to One Piece, because Bon Voyage! Is really fun, but the opening is a feels-fest. And then I tried the second ending to Soul Eater. None of it was “happy” enough.

 I decided to search for “happy anime openings”, and clicked on a video labeled “Top 50 Kawaii Anime Openings of ALL TIME [HD]”

Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAFwFJ9gJnk&t=321s

 And during the disclaimer before #50, I heard a song that sounded really happy. I saw in the description that it was PUNCH☆MIND☆HAPPINESS by Happy CLOVER (Anne Happy Op).

 So, like I do, I watched the opening, and a huge smile spread across my face, and all of the bitter sweet feelings I had from the Charlotte OVE dissipated. It was such a fun upbeat song, and the opening was colorful and fun! I am absolutely watching this show!

 The song is really cool. It has a jazz feel and instrumentation, and some cool rhythmic parts. There is a part that reminds me of Kouchou Kouchou (Suzumiya Haruhi OST) and a part that reminds me of Calendar Girl (Aikatsu). It’s just a beautifully crafted song. The harmonies are great. The variety of voices is fantastic, and it’s JUST SO HAPPY!

 Here’s the full version:

https://soundcloud.com/ada7me/punchmindhappiness

 Album: PUNCH☆MIND☆HAPPINESS - Single - Track: 01 Lyricist: Aki Hata Composer: Hidekazu Tanaka Arranger: N/A Artist: Happy Clover

 (The only name I recognize below is Hibiku Yamamura, because she voiced Kirara Amanogawa from Go! Princess Pretty Cure)

 Happy Clover:

-------------------

Anna Hanakoizumi (CV: Yumiri Hanamori)

Ruri Hibarigaoka (CV. Haruka Shiraishi)

Botan Kumegawa (CV.  Kiyono Yasuno)

Hibiki Hagyū (CV. Hibiku Yamamura)

Ren Ekoda (CV. Mayu Yoshioka)

-------------------

 And there you have it. I hope this helps make your 2017 better!

 I also wanted to mention that I binge read an amazing Korean web comic called 4 Cut Hero. It’s fantastic. I’d definitely recommend looking that up. (when you don’t have homework that you should do instead *whistles suspiciously*) I may or may not have read the entire series up to date in one day instead of reading short stories for Psyc.

I also participated in Souly’s stream on Friday with Raela and Hamza. It was fun, and Rae read my Week 124 post in her stereotypical ditzy female anime character voice.

Alright guys, that’ll do it for this week.

 It feels so good to be back!!

 I promise that I’ll do a better job of staying on top of my work.. and hopefully, stop being sick.

 Well, we’ve still got 11 months to make 2017 the best year it can be.

 Talk to you later, guys.

 Ja ne!

 “Unhappy wo Bye Bye”

 - Chris  ——————————————————————————- Minna, gokitai kudasai!!

#Anne Happy #Happy Clover #Punch Mind Happiness #PUNCH☆MIND☆HAPPINESS #Yumiri Hanamori #Haruka Shiraishi #Kiyono Yasuno #Hibiku Yamamura #Mayu Yoshioka #Weekly J-pop #Week 125

[gyrlversion]

MICK HUME on the Orwellian law that would leave media freedom in ruin

There can be no doubt that the Government’s plans to counter ‘Online Harms’ unveiled yesterday are based on good intentions. But as the old proverb reminds us, the road to hell is paved with those.

For, no matter how well-meaning, the proposals to regulate the web could give a future less liberal government – perhaps one led by Jeremy Corbyn – the power to clamp down on the thing it most fears: freedom of the Press and free speech.

A week, as they say, is a long time in politics. Just last Friday Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, himself a former Culture Secretary, announced to great fanfare that celebrity human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will be Britain’s ‘special envoy on media freedom’.

It was supposed to be a signal to the world that Britain will lead the charge against the rise of despotic leaders and the introduction of draconian censorship laws around the world.

Yet three days later, the very same Government of which Mr Hunt is a senior member proposed setting up an official regulator in the UK armed with the sort of repressive powers we associate with totalitarian police states.

Will Special Envoy Clooney lead a designer-heeled demonstration up Whitehall in protest? I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Just last Friday Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, himself a former Culture Secretary, announced to great fanfare that celebrity human rights lawyer Amal Clooney (pictured with him at Media Freedom Press announcement) will be Britain’s ‘special envoy on media freedom’, writes MICK HUME 

The Online Harms White Paper proposes a sweeping, punitive system of regulation that hopes to remedy a range of problems, from terrorist propaganda and child pornography to ‘fake news’ and trolling.

In a chilling section that could have been lifted out of George Orwell’s 1984, it states the Home Secretary of the day would sign off the rules on terror and child exploitation content.

At the moment, the ostensible targets of these measures are tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, which have been rightly slated for hosting potentially harmful content.

But give censors an inch and they will take a mile. It would, I predict, be only a matter of time before Britain’s proud history of media freedom and freedom of speech lies in tatters.

The White Paper’s one-size-fits-all approach would hand extraordinary powers to a new regulator, Ofweb, to fine, restrict and ultimately bar non-compliant websites – regardless of how big they are.

Pictured: Amal Clooney at the G7 meeting in Dinard, France for the launch of the media freedoms campaign 

Former Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, now Foreign Secretary, is pictured at the event in Brittany, France on April 5 

This means that the same rules that govern behemoths such as Google and Facebook – both of which have expert in-house legal teams and billions of pounds at their disposal – will apply to any website, however small or harmless, that allows users to post comments.

Tory MP and former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, writing at the weekend, was completely justified in warning that the proposals risk dragging Britain into a ‘draconian censorship regime’ more akin to China, Russia or North Korea. No other Western democratic state has countenanced similarly far-reaching controls.

Of course, Theresa May is no Putin-style ‘strongman’ and current Home Secretary Sajid Javid would make an unlikely Kim Jong-un. But once such an apparatus is in place, what is to stop a future, more regressive government from using those powers for its own political ends?

Imagine Labour’s blinkered Home Secretary Diane Abbott, entrusted with overseeing the regulator which enforces the rules for what can and cannot be seen online?

While her hapless TV performances in recent years suggest she may not be much good with numbers, we can have a fair notion of what her No 1 target would be.

Since Jeremy Corbyn took control of the Labour Party in 2015, he has waged a shameless Stalinist war on what he sees as the trouble-making media.

His party may not agree about Brexit or much else, but there are no divisions on Labour’s front-bench when it comes to bashing the Press.

Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Moscow today 

Deputy leader Tom Watson – himself the recipient of £500,000 of donations in one year from multi-millionaire Max Mosley, an ardent campaigner for stricter Press control – has long crusaded for greater media restrictions.

Years before Watson became Labour’s deputy leader, he was a zealous supporter of the celebrity-led Hacked Off campaign for tighter Press regulation.

Back then, he had no qualms about using the victims of phone-hacking as the human shields behind which he could advance his political agenda.

Since his rise to prominence under Corbyn, he has championed the introduction of ‘Section 40’ measures that would in effect blackmail the media into signing up to Britain’s first system of state-backed Press regulation since 1695.

Last summer, in a rare speech spelling out what a Labour government would do, Corbyn also made clear his own disturbing desire for government-approved journalism produced by a tame, state-financed media.

He suggested plans for a special tax on tech giants, not to fund social care or anything useful, but to finance ‘public interest journalism’ as defined, not by the public, but by a Labour-controlled organisation.

There is no question that the current Labour Party hierarchy would love to nationalise the news to stop the media asking awkward questions of those in power.

‘Just because it’s on the front page of The Sun or The Mail doesn’t automatically make it news,’ Corbyn said last summer.

Theresa May is no Putin-style ‘strongman’ and current Home Secretary Sajid Javid would make an unlikely Kim Jong-un (pictured today). But once such an apparatus is in place, what is to stop a future, more regressive government from using those powers for its own political ends? Asks MICK HUME 

What he meant was: ‘Just because it’s news, doesn’t automatically mean it should be allowed on the front page of The Mail.’

Corbyn’s contempt for Press freedom has some surprising allies in high places. Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Britain’s top anti-terror cop, last month published an ‘open letter’ to the media on ‘how to report terrorism’ following the Christchurch mosque atrocity in New Zealand.

He called for a ‘sensible conversation’ which seems eminently reasonable. But what ACC Basu was really calling for was powers for the police or other authorities to issue orders to newspapers and TV broadcasters on what they can and cannot publish – something that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Orwellian police state.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that ACC Basu has expressed his support for the new White Paper. After all, it smoothly followed on from his warning that ‘we cannot simply hide behind the mantra of freedom of speech’.

But if there is a ‘mantra’ being chanted repeatedly in Britain today, it is certainly not in defence of free speech.

Instead, we face a new breed of thought police who preach that society needs even more restrictions on what is permissable to say, hear read and even think.

Freedom of speech and of the Press are the lifeblood of any civilised society. And Britain has led the way in securing those liberties. Our nation’s history is awash with heroes who would fight to the death for a free Press, from the Levellers during the English Civil War through to John Wilkes and Thomas Paine in the 18th century.

Brave people went to jail – and even the gallows – to ensure that the Press remained untainted by state interference. Today’s politicians would do well to remember their actions.

Racist, sexist and vile online content should always be condemned. But the problem, once you decide to impose new limits, is always the same: who decides where to draw the line?

Should it be the PM or the Home Secretary? A few high court judges? Or Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow cabinet? Or perhaps Simon Cowell and Cheryl?

Or should we just leave it to the unaccountable members of an ‘independent’ quango such as Ofweb?

When it comes to media regulation, there is no such thing as ‘independent’. There are no ‘independent’ angels hovering on a cloud above the political fray below; everybody has an agenda, an angle, or an axe to grind.

However worthy the motives, every attempt further to restrict freedom of expression inevitably invites more of the same.

Defending media freedom online may not seem the easy, comfortable option. But there is always one thing more harmful than free speech – and that’s its opposite.

Mick Hume is the author of Trigger Warning: Is The Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?

How the new rules work 

 Analysis by Ian Drury for The Daily Mail 

DUTY OF CARE

Under the new rules, tech firms including Facebook, Twitter and Google will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to users. 

This will make them responsible for vile content such as child abuse images, ‘suicide porn’ and extremist propaganda. 

Failure to remove it could see them fined millions of pounds or even blocked. But as well as the Silicon Valley firms, the proposals apply to any platform that allows users to post comments, including news sites.

A WATCHDOG WITH TEETH

A regulator, funded by the tech industry, will police the duty of care. It will draw up a legally-enforced code of practice spelling out what social networks and internet companies must do to safeguard users. 

The independent watchdog will be able to impose penalties and name and shame tech firms that flout the rules. News websites will be covered even though many are already independently regulated.

TERROR AND CHILD ABUSE IMAGES

Tech firms will face further stringent requirements to ensure child abuse and terrorist content is not disseminated online. 

The regulator will decide how quickly platforms should remove extremist content, such as the live-streamed New Zealand mosque massacre. 

Firms must also develop technology to stop certain content getting online. There are fears this could hamper legitimate news coverage or give the Home Secretary powers over what can and can’t be said about terrorists.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNDER THREAT?

The White Paper says the regulator will have a legal duty to protect ‘freedom of expression’, so the crackdown on tech firms is seen by some as a major victory. But there is a risk that a government could use the legislation against opponents and clamp down on dissenting voices on news websites.

TROLLING AND DISINFORMATION

The proposals would make tech firms tackle ‘trolling’ and ‘disinformation’ online. 

They will also be required to have dedicated fact-checkers, especially during elections. 

Again this raises the question as to who would decide what is allowed to be said. A malign government could effectively decide the boundaries of public debate – as with the authoritarian regimes in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

AGE CHECKS

Technology firms will have a legal duty to protect children from inappropriate content. 

They could face significant penalties if they fail to introduce stringent age verification checks. It could mean that millions of children are barred because 40 per cent of under-13s use social media.

Critics brand new internet regulation laws the ‘most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world’ as they warn it could threaten the freedom of speech of millions of Britons

By Joel Adams for MailOnline 

Critics today warn the government’s new plan to clean up the internet could be the most draconian crackdown on online free speech in the Western democratic world, and would impact social media users but not the tech firms it is designed to target.

The Online Harms white paper proposes taking sites offline to UK citizens if the sites fall foul of new regulators, and suggests levying massive fines on companies like Facebook and Google and their employees in an effort to crack down on the spread of child abuse images, terrorism, revenge pornography and hate crime.

But campaigners warn the Culture Secretary’s stated aim to make the UK the ‘safest place in the world to go online’ could mean regulators or even algorithms decide what websites or content Britons can see.

Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group told MailOnline: ‘We are talking about the potential for the most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world.

Campaigner Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, said: ‘We are talking about the potential for the most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world’

‘We’re talking about banning content that the government won’t make illegal – it won’t legislate to ban it, but it wants companies to do so.

‘They’re saying ‘we don’t like Facebook so we’re going to give Facebook more power to regulate our content more’, it’s a terrible irony.’ 

The Open Rights Group is a crowd funded organisation which works to protect digital rights including privacy and free speech.

In its analysis of the white paper it warned that ‘in its drive to make the internet ‘safe’, the government seems not to recognise that ultimately its proposals don’t regulate social media companies, they regulate social media users.

‘The duty of care is ostensibly aimed at shielding children from danger and harm but it will in practice bite on adults too, wrapping society in cotton wool and curtailing a whole host of legal expression.’

The organisation warned that ‘governments both repressive and democratic are likely to use the policy and regulatory model that emerge from this process as a blueprint for more widespread internet censorship.’

It said firms would protect themselves by creating filters which blocked the uploading of content which might incur fines – but warned such technology would be incapable of differentiating between abusive or harmful content, and content which was parody, comedy, satire or editorial. 

Ex-Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said the new internet reforms risked giving tyrants an excuse to restrict free speech

Mr Killock added: ‘The government’s proposals would create state regulation of the speech of millions of British citizens.

‘We have to expect that the duty of care will end up widely drawn, with serious implications for legal content that is deemed potentially risky, whether it really is nor not.’

Former Culture Secretary John Wittingdale warned the proposals risk dragging Britons into a ‘draconian censorship regime’, adding: ‘This mooted new UK regulator must not give the despots an excuse to claim that they are simply following an example set by Britain.’

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer at Howard Kennedy, said: ‘We are the first Western regime to consider this. The only other countries doing this are Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia. It is not appropriate for a Western democracy.’

The proposal to block sites which fall foul of new regulations is one of a slew of reforms set out today in the Government’s White Paper on Online Harms, designed to force tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to clean up harmful material on their platforms.

It also suggests companies could be wiped from internet search results and app stores if they fall foul of the law. In the most serious cases they could be banned from the internet altogether.

Under the new rules, any website which allows users to post content will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to all users.

The regulations will apply to firms such as Google and Facebook, which have repeatedly come under fire for hosting vile material, including terrorist and paedophile content. 

Under new rules, any website which allows users to post content will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to all users

But they will also apply to smaller websites which allow users to post comments, including blogs, and online news and review sites.

Web firms will be held to account by an independent regulator, which will set out the new code and have the power to hand out severe punishments.

However, the regulator’s rules on terror and child exploitation will have to be approved by the Home Secretary.

The Government is launching a consultation on the extent of the regulator’s powers, but the paper’s proposals include:

Personal fines for individual senior managers at firms which seriously break the rules;

Web firms needing to provide annual reports setting out the amount of harmful content on their platforms;

Civil fines of up to £20million, or 4 per cent of annual turnover, for firms which break the rules;

In the worst circumstances, the regulator could have offending websites blocked by internet service providers, so they cannot be accessed in the UK.

The regulator will also have powers to tackle disinformation – so-called ‘fake news’ – although the White Paper concedes this has no clear legal definition.

The measures come amid growing concerns that tech giants are damaging democracy with misinformation. They have been criticised for circulating instruction manuals for would-be terrorists, hosting extremist videos and providing a ‘service’ for paedophiles to direct each other to illegal material.

The Government will say it is considering the extreme measures due to ‘the serious nature of the harms in scope and the global nature of online services’. It will add that the threat of disconnecting websites from the internet would ‘only be an option of last resort’.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said: ‘The era of self-regulation for online companies is over. We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to go online.’

Charities and campaigners welcomed the measures.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: ‘Social networks have failed to prioritise children’s safety. It’s high time they were forced to act through this legally binding duty.’

Last night the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the White Paper had ‘no intention’ of impacting editorial content. 

A spokesman said: ‘These measures are not about regulation of the press, they are about tackling online harms and the damage they can do to people’s lives. The independent regulator will take a sensible, risk-based approach.’ 

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[giantsfootball0]

North Carolina Tar Heels national championship team will not visit White House due to scheduling conflict

3:39 PM ET

Jeff GoodmanESPN Insider

Close Joined ESPN as a college basketball Insider in June 2013 Previously wrote for CBSSports.com and FOXSports.com

The national champion North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team will not be going to the White House, but it has nothing to do with President Donald Trump.

“The team and Coach [Roy] Williams wanted to go, but we couldn’t find a date that worked for everyone,” North Carolina spokesman Steve Kirschner told ESPN on Saturday afternoon. “We offered up eight or nine dates, but none of them worked.”

President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the Golden State Warriors are not welcome at the White House to celebrate their 2017 NBA championship.

Speaking on Friday night, President Donald Trump said he believes fans at NFL games who see a player protest during the national anthem should simply leave the stadium. “I guarantee things will stop,” he said. “Things will stop.”

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Prior to and even after North Carolina beat Gonzaga in the national championship game in early April, Williams was noncommittal as to whether the Tar Heels would accept an invite to visit the White House. Williams had previously criticized Trump during the ACC tournament when responding to a question about social media.

“Now everybody’s got social media, and we don’t need the New York Times to find out what in the dickens is going on in this country,” Williams said then. “You know, our president tweets out more bulls— than anybody I’ve ever seen. We’ve got social media.”

Kirschner said North Carolina has been trying for months to find a date that worked.

“We wouldn’t have been working on a date if Coach Williams and the players didn’t want to go,” he said.

The Tar Heels visited the White House after their 2009 championship. The 2005 championship team did not because a date could not be decided upon, Kirschner said.

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from https://dailystarsports.com/2017/09/23/north-carolina-tar-heels-national-championship-team-will-not-visit-white-house-due-to-scheduling-conflict/ from https://dailystarsports.tumblr.com/post/165661218256

[gyrlversion]

MICK HULME on the Orwellian law that would leave media freedom in ruin

There can be no doubt that the Government’s plans to counter ‘Online Harms’ unveiled yesterday are based on good intentions. But as the old proverb reminds us, the road to hell is paved with those.

For, no matter how well-meaning, the proposals to regulate the web could give a future less liberal government – perhaps one led by Jeremy Corbyn – the power to clamp down on the thing it most fears: freedom of the Press and free speech.

A week, as they say, is a long time in politics. Just last Friday Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, himself a former Culture Secretary, announced to great fanfare that celebrity human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will be Britain’s ‘special envoy on media freedom’.

It was supposed to be a signal to the world that Britain will lead the charge against the rise of despotic leaders and the introduction of draconian censorship laws around the world.

Yet three days later, the very same Government of which Mr Hunt is a senior member proposed setting up an official regulator in the UK armed with the sort of repressive powers we associate with totalitarian police states.

Will Special Envoy Clooney lead a designer-heeled demonstration up Whitehall in protest? I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Just last Friday Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, himself a former Culture Secretary, announced to great fanfare that celebrity human rights lawyer Amal Clooney (pictured with him at Media Freedom Press announcement) will be Britain’s ‘special envoy on media freedom’, writes JIM HULME 

The Online Harms White Paper proposes a sweeping, punitive system of regulation that hopes to remedy a range of problems, from terrorist propaganda and child pornography to ‘fake news’ and trolling.

In a chilling section that could have been lifted out of George Orwell’s 1984, it states the Home Secretary of the day would sign off the rules on terror and child exploitation content.

At the moment, the ostensible targets of these measures are tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, which have been rightly slated for hosting potentially harmful content.

But give censors an inch and they will take a mile. It would, I predict, be only a matter of time before Britain’s proud history of media freedom and freedom of speech lies in tatters.

The White Paper’s one-size-fits-all approach would hand extraordinary powers to a new regulator, Ofweb, to fine, restrict and ultimately bar non-compliant websites – regardless of how big they are.

Pictured: Amal Clooney at the G7 meeting in Dinard, France for the launch of the media freedoms campaign 

Former Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, now Foreign Secretary, is pictured at the event in Brittany, France on April 5 

This means that the same rules that govern behemoths such as Google and Facebook – both of which have expert in-house legal teams and billions of pounds at their disposal – will apply to any website, however small or harmless, that allows users to post comments.

Tory MP and former Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, writing at the weekend, was completely justified in warning that the proposals risk dragging Britain into a ‘draconian censorship regime’ more akin to China, Russia or North Korea. No other Western democratic state has countenanced similarly far-reaching controls.

Of course, Theresa May is no Putin-style ‘strongman’ and current Home Secretary Sajid Javid would make an unlikely Kim Jong-un. But once such an apparatus is in place, what is to stop a future, more regressive government from using those powers for its own political ends?

Imagine Labour’s blinkered Home Secretary Diane Abbott, entrusted with overseeing the regulator which enforces the rules for what can and cannot be seen online?

While her hapless TV performances in recent years suggest she may not be much good with numbers, we can have a fair notion of what her No 1 target would be.

Since Jeremy Corbyn took control of the Labour Party in 2015, he has waged a shameless Stalinist war on what he sees as the trouble-making media.

His party may not agree about Brexit or much else, but there are no divisions on Labour’s front-bench when it comes to bashing the Press.

Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Moscow today 

Deputy leader Tom Watson – himself the recipient of £500,000 of donations in one year from multi-millionaire Max Mosley, an ardent campaigner for stricter Press control – has long crusaded for greater media restrictions.

Years before Watson became Labour’s deputy leader, he was a zealous supporter of the celebrity-led Hacked Off campaign for tighter Press regulation.

Back then, he had no qualms about using the victims of phone-hacking as the human shields behind which he could advance his political agenda.

Since his rise to prominence under Corbyn, he has championed the introduction of ‘Section 40’ measures that would in effect blackmail the media into signing up to Britain’s first system of state-backed Press regulation since 1695.

Last summer, in a rare speech spelling out what a Labour government would do, Corbyn also made clear his own disturbing desire for government-approved journalism produced by a tame, state-financed media.

He suggested plans for a special tax on tech giants, not to fund social care or anything useful, but to finance ‘public interest journalism’ as defined, not by the public, but by a Labour-controlled organisation.

There is no question that the current Labour Party hierarchy would love to nationalise the news to stop the media asking awkward questions of those in power.

‘Just because it’s on the front page of The Sun or The Mail doesn’t automatically make it news,’ Corbyn said last summer.

Theresa May is no Putin-style ‘strongman’ and current Home Secretary Sajid Javid would make an unlikely Kim Jong-un (pictured today). But once such an apparatus is in place, what is to stop a future, more regressive government from using those powers for its own political ends? Asks JIM HULME 

What he meant was: ‘Just because it’s news, doesn’t automatically mean it should be allowed on the front page of The Mail.’

Corbyn’s contempt for Press freedom has some surprising allies in high places. Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Britain’s top anti-terror cop, last month published an ‘open letter’ to the media on ‘how to report terrorism’ following the Christchurch mosque atrocity in New Zealand.

He called for a ‘sensible conversation’ which seems eminently reasonable. But what ACC Basu was really calling for was powers for the police or other authorities to issue orders to newspapers and TV broadcasters on what they can and cannot publish – something that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Orwellian police state.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that ACC Basu has expressed his support for the new White Paper. After all, it smoothly followed on from his warning that ‘we cannot simply hide behind the mantra of freedom of speech’.

But if there is a ‘mantra’ being chanted repeatedly in Britain today, it is certainly not in defence of free speech.

Instead, we face a new breed of thought police who preach that society needs even more restrictions on what is permissable to say, hear read and even think.

Freedom of speech and of the Press are the lifeblood of any civilised society. And Britain has led the way in securing those liberties. Our nation’s history is awash with heroes who would fight to the death for a free Press, from the Levellers during the English Civil War through to John Wilkes and Thomas Paine in the 18th century.

Brave people went to jail – and even the gallows – to ensure that the Press remained untainted by state interference. Today’s politicians would do well to remember their actions.

Racist, sexist and vile online content should always be condemned. But the problem, once you decide to impose new limits, is always the same: who decides where to draw the line?

Should it be the PM or the Home Secretary? A few high court judges? Or Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow cabinet? Or perhaps Simon Cowell and Cheryl?

Or should we just leave it to the unaccountable members of an ‘independent’ quango such as Ofweb?

When it comes to media regulation, there is no such thing as ‘independent’. There are no ‘independent’ angels hovering on a cloud above the political fray below; everybody has an agenda, an angle, or an axe to grind.

However worthy the motives, every attempt further to restrict freedom of expression inevitably invites more of the same.

Defending media freedom online may not seem the easy, comfortable option. But there is always one thing more harmful than free speech – and that’s its opposite.

Mick Hume is the author of Trigger Warning: Is The Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech?

How the new rules work 

 Analysis by Ian Drury for The Daily Mail 

DUTY OF CARE

Under the new rules, tech firms including Facebook, Twitter and Google will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to users. 

This will make them responsible for vile content such as child abuse images, ‘suicide porn’ and extremist propaganda. 

Failure to remove it could see them fined millions of pounds or even blocked. But as well as the Silicon Valley firms, the proposals apply to any platform that allows users to post comments, including news sites.

A WATCHDOG WITH TEETH

A regulator, funded by the tech industry, will police the duty of care. It will draw up a legally-enforced code of practice spelling out what social networks and internet companies must do to safeguard users. 

The independent watchdog will be able to impose penalties and name and shame tech firms that flout the rules. News websites will be covered even though many are already independently regulated.

TERROR AND CHILD ABUSE IMAGES

Tech firms will face further stringent requirements to ensure child abuse and terrorist content is not disseminated online. 

The regulator will decide how quickly platforms should remove extremist content, such as the live-streamed New Zealand mosque massacre. 

Firms must also develop technology to stop certain content getting online. There are fears this could hamper legitimate news coverage or give the Home Secretary powers over what can and can’t be said about terrorists.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNDER THREAT?

The White Paper says the regulator will have a legal duty to protect ‘freedom of expression’, so the crackdown on tech firms is seen by some as a major victory. But there is a risk that a government could use the legislation against opponents and clamp down on dissenting voices on news websites.

TROLLING AND DISINFORMATION

The proposals would make tech firms tackle ‘trolling’ and ‘disinformation’ online. 

They will also be required to have dedicated fact-checkers, especially during elections. 

Again this raises the question as to who would decide what is allowed to be said. A malign government could effectively decide the boundaries of public debate – as with the authoritarian regimes in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

AGE CHECKS

Technology firms will have a legal duty to protect children from inappropriate content. 

They could face significant penalties if they fail to introduce stringent age verification checks. It could mean that millions of children are barred because 40 per cent of under-13s use social media.

Critics brand new internet regulation laws the ‘most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world’ as they warn it could threaten the freedom of speech of millions of Britons

By Joel Adams for MailOnline 

Critics today warn the government’s new plan to clean up the internet could be the most draconian crackdown on online free speech in the Western democratic world, and would impact social media users but not the tech firms it is designed to target.

The Online Harms white paper proposes taking sites offline to UK citizens if the sites fall foul of new regulators, and suggests levying massive fines on companies like Facebook and Google and their employees in an effort to crack down on the spread of child abuse images, terrorism, revenge pornography and hate crime.

But campaigners warn the Culture Secretary’s stated aim to make the UK the ‘safest place in the world to go online’ could mean regulators or even algorithms decide what websites or content Britons can see.

Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group told MailOnline: ‘We are talking about the potential for the most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world.

Campaigner Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, said: ‘We are talking about the potential for the most draconian crackdown in the Western democratic world’

‘We’re talking about banning content that the government won’t make illegal – it won’t legislate to ban it, but it wants companies to do so.

‘They’re saying ‘we don’t like Facebook so we’re going to give Facebook more power to regulate our content more’, it’s a terrible irony.’ 

The Open Rights Group is a crowd funded organisation which works to protect digital rights including privacy and free speech.

In its analysis of the white paper it warned that ‘in its drive to make the internet ‘safe’, the government seems not to recognise that ultimately its proposals don’t regulate social media companies, they regulate social media users.

‘The duty of care is ostensibly aimed at shielding children from danger and harm but it will in practice bite on adults too, wrapping society in cotton wool and curtailing a whole host of legal expression.’

The organisation warned that ‘governments both repressive and democratic are likely to use the policy and regulatory model that emerge from this process as a blueprint for more widespread internet censorship.’

It said firms would protect themselves by creating filters which blocked the uploading of content which might incur fines – but warned such technology would be incapable of differentiating between abusive or harmful content, and content which was parody, comedy, satire or editorial. 

Ex-Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said the new internet reforms risked giving tyrants an excuse to restrict free speech

Mr Killock added: ‘The government’s proposals would create state regulation of the speech of millions of British citizens.

‘We have to expect that the duty of care will end up widely drawn, with serious implications for legal content that is deemed potentially risky, whether it really is nor not.’

Former Culture Secretary John Wittingdale warned the proposals risk dragging Britons into a ‘draconian censorship regime’, adding: ‘This mooted new UK regulator must not give the despots an excuse to claim that they are simply following an example set by Britain.’

Mark Stephens, a media lawyer at Howard Kennedy, said: ‘We are the first Western regime to consider this. The only other countries doing this are Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia. It is not appropriate for a Western democracy.’

The proposal to block sites which fall foul of new regulations is one of a slew of reforms set out today in the Government’s White Paper on Online Harms, designed to force tech giants such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to clean up harmful material on their platforms.

It also suggests companies could be wiped from internet search results and app stores if they fall foul of the law. In the most serious cases they could be banned from the internet altogether.

Under the new rules, any website which allows users to post content will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to all users.

The regulations will apply to firms such as Google and Facebook, which have repeatedly come under fire for hosting vile material, including terrorist and paedophile content. 

Under new rules, any website which allows users to post content will have a legal ‘duty of care’ to all users

But they will also apply to smaller websites which allow users to post comments, including blogs, and online news and review sites.

Web firms will be held to account by an independent regulator, which will set out the new code and have the power to hand out severe punishments.

However, the regulator’s rules on terror and child exploitation will have to be approved by the Home Secretary.

The Government is launching a consultation on the extent of the regulator’s powers, but the paper’s proposals include:

Personal fines for individual senior managers at firms which seriously break the rules;

Web firms needing to provide annual reports setting out the amount of harmful content on their platforms;

Civil fines of up to £20million, or 4 per cent of annual turnover, for firms which break the rules;

In the worst circumstances, the regulator could have offending websites blocked by internet service providers, so they cannot be accessed in the UK.

The regulator will also have powers to tackle disinformation – so-called ‘fake news’ – although the White Paper concedes this has no clear legal definition.

The measures come amid growing concerns that tech giants are damaging democracy with misinformation. They have been criticised for circulating instruction manuals for would-be terrorists, hosting extremist videos and providing a ‘service’ for paedophiles to direct each other to illegal material.

The Government will say it is considering the extreme measures due to ‘the serious nature of the harms in scope and the global nature of online services’. It will add that the threat of disconnecting websites from the internet would ‘only be an option of last resort’.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said: ‘The era of self-regulation for online companies is over. We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to go online.’

Charities and campaigners welcomed the measures.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: ‘Social networks have failed to prioritise children’s safety. It’s high time they were forced to act through this legally binding duty.’

Last night the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the White Paper had ‘no intention’ of impacting editorial content. 

A spokesman said: ‘These measures are not about regulation of the press, they are about tackling online harms and the damage they can do to people’s lives. The independent regulator will take a sensible, risk-based approach.’ 

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