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calciseptinefic · 11 months

Text

then out of nowhere, somebody comes and hits you with an ooh la la la, ooh la la la, ooh la la la, ooh

Marvel || Wade Wilson/Peter Parker || Part 9 notes: Title from 'Mad Sounds' by Arctic Monkeys. Many thanks to babygato for her beta on this chapter. this fic is also available on ao3 warnings: none

← previous: Part 8

The clock in the right hand corner of Wade's laptop reads 2:53 AM as he pulls the files Weasel emailed him. Compared to some dossiers Wade's read in the past—both for the government and for private contracts—there isn't much. A small digital stack of records that boil Peter's entire existence down to its skeleton, devoid of the details that flesh it out into a life:

A birth certificate, a government-issued ID, a marriage license. Medical records. Multiple education transcripts, scholarships, and science-related awards and accolades, as well as various research papers and a Ph.D. dissertation. Bank and credit card statements. A 401(k) retirement plan and several years' worth of tax returns. A lease agreement.

Sitting atop his unmade bed, legs crossed and hunched over the computer, Wade cracks his knuckles and begins. The first thing he does is pull up Peter's ID. It was issued several years ago and the picture of him isn't great, as most identification pictures are; yet despite the grainy quality and the bad lighting, the man depicted looks the same as the man sleeping on Wade's couch. Brown hair, brown eyes, button nose. The only difference is that his curls are a little longer in the photo, hanging messily past his ears.

Kinda mad scientist looking, Wade thinks fondly.

Wade goes through every document meticulously. He learns that Peter was born on August 10th to Richard and Mary Parker. He doesn't drive—unsurprising, considering he was born and raised in New York City—and he grew up in Bayside. During middle school and high school, he won first place eight separate times in various science fairs and—as an undergrad—he was an honors student who graduated with a 3.8 GPA. He has a prescription for an MDI to treat mild asthma; a generic prescription for generalized anxiety; and prescription glasses for moderate myopia.  

And according to the date on the marriage license, he and MJ have been married for nearly five years.

Five fucking years, Wade thinks. Peter would have been twenty-one, married in the brief pause between finishing his bachelor's and starting his doctorate.

When Wade was twenty-one, he was in Indonesia. He spent his time picking up Malay, developing a tolerance for spicy food, and trailing various members of an extremist group who sold dirty bombs on the black market. Marriage had been the last thing on his mind. Hell, marriage hadn't even occurred to Wade until he was dying of cancer. For months he wondered if it would be kinder to leave Vanessa as a dead boyfriend or a dead husband; when he finally proposed, Wade could barely hold his arm up, and Vanessa had just cried, and cried, and cried.

He guessed that meant no.

Inhaling deeply through the nose, Wade sets Peter's marital status aside and delves into the other documents, focusing mostly on his academic accomplishments instead of personal information. Interestingly, the scientific papers Peter has co-authored are focused on spider silk: the elucidated molecular structure of various species, mechanical properties, and potential benefits of a bioengineered polymer combined with inorganic nanoparticles.

I synthesize it in a lab, Peter had said. It's definitely not... organic.

Peter's dissertation is a variation on this theme, and the company he works for develops unique polymers for 'sustainable and long-term use'. Wade wonders if that's where Peter creates the web-fluid he used the night before to immobilize Wade's hand and gun. Personally, Wade can't think of any way such a thing could be used commercially. He can think of ten different ways it might be weaponized, but he's also an ex-soldier turned man-for-hire, and he sees the world differently than a scientist invested in renewable resources.

Maybe the military saw it differently, too.

Yet despite Wade's hunch—that Peter's powers came from top secret government hijinks—nothing Weasel sent him indicates that Peter's tied up in anything of the sort. There isn't even a hint of suspiciousness. If there is a larger power at work behind everything, then they've done an incredible job of hiding their involvement.

Pulling up Peter's bank and credit card statements, Wade does not see anything unusual either. Rent payments, student loan payments, various subscriptions, and other random purchases. Most of the extraneous charges hover around $10 to $15. Lunch, Wade guesses, or take out. The most recent statement ended over a week ago, however, so if there was any disruption to Peter's normal card usage, Wade can't confirm it.

Wade sighs. As Weasel said earlier, Peter is a dead end.

The last thing Wade opens is Peter's lease agreement. It's a decent apartment in Astoria—one bedroom, one bath—with a monthly payment that's neither cheap nor exorbitant for its location and size. Both Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson are listed as legal occupants. They've had it for three years, and the address listed is different from the one on Peter's ID card. Technically Peter should have gotten a new ID when he moved but—

Wait.

Wade's eyes crawl back up to the address listed.

It's familiar. Not in the 'I've lived in New York City for seven years and I know my way around' kind of way but the 'I know this place well enough to start ignoring the street signs' kind of way. A strange feeling comes over Wade as he pulls up Google Maps and types Peter's address in, hitting the 'enter' key with more force than necessary.

The page loads.

Peter's apartment is a mile away. One point two miles to be exact. An easy fifteen minute walk. Wade knows because he's made it many, many times since moving into his current apartment, at least once every two weeks. Sometimes more.

That's by my favorite Thai place. Wade runs a hand over his buzzed hair, stopping at the nape of his neck and squeezing the tense muscle. I could have walked past him a hundred times.

And maybe... Maybe Wade has.

Staring at the tiny red pin on the map, Wade feels the sharp scratch of realization inside his skull. One of the biggest mysteries Wade has not been able to solve was why Peter latched onto Wade. If Peter was indeed from this universe, as Wade mostly believed, why him?

At first Wade thought it was purely coincidence. Maybe Peter had scuttled into Wade's apartment at random and imprinted on him, his trauma-riddled brain constructing an entire backstory in the five seconds they stared at each other. Unlikely, Wade knew, but so was super strength and sticking to the ceiling.

A smaller part of Wade—a part he had been actively ignoring until now—wondered if it went back even further. Wade enlisted on his eighteenth birthday and had been an active soldier until his dishonorable discharge at twenty-six. He's been all over the world. Done a lot of things. Met a lot of people. It's doubtful that Wade met a barely legal Peter during his last year of service, as most of it was spent being a grunt protecting capitalism's investments in the Middle East, yet there was no way to be sure. Wade really doesn't want to think that he was in any way involved, even unknowingly, but...

Again.

There is nothing probable about Wade's current situation. In fact, Wade would say that his situation lands firmly outside the visible portion of the bell curve, in one of those tail ends that stretches out infinitely towards 'not gonna fucking happen'. Except it is fucking happening and Wade has to figure out how to navigate the impossibilities.

This, though. The fact that Peter's listed address is right next to one of Wade's favorite and most frequented restaurants. Maybe Peter saw him, time and again for years while Wade remained oblivious. Maybe Peter's break from reality was a long time coming and the resulting delusion had been crafted from slowly collected details. Wade is loud and he often overshares in the form of a bad joke; it wouldn't have been hard for Peter to learn things about him, especially the cancer.

And all that stuff he asked you? It was specific, but what did he really know about you? whispers the forever rational and unforgiving corner of Wade's brain. He acts like he knows you, trusts you, but he doesn't actually know anything. You just wanted to believe it and so you did.

This new insight explains why Peter might have latched onto Wade instead of one of the other eight point five million people living in New York City. Sure, it would still be a coincidence that Peter constructed a false reality with Wade as one of the major players, but the coincidence has firm roots in Wade's routines and—most importantly—it makes sense.

"Still doesn't tell me jack shit," Wade mutters. He is no closer to finding out the truth than he was an hour ago. All he has are mundane details attached to an exceptional person, and that leaves him with two options:

Option #1: Let Weasel and Peter do their respective research and go from there, or Option #2: Be proactive.

Wade quickly considers the pros and cons of both before deciding on the latter. He's never been the kind of person to sit around and wait; inaction makes him antsy, and the more antsy he gets, the more... inventive his responses become. It is truly in everyone's best interest that Wade tackles this mystery immediately instead of making him mull over more possibilities while he rigs increasingly dangerous C4 explosives in the spare bedroom.

Besides, Wade's approach is unique from Weasel and Peter's. They approach situations from more cerebral angles, and nerds like them tend to forget that most people are dumb, basic animals. Sometimes the best intel can't be gathered digitally. It needs to be found under a not so metaphorical squeaky floorboard or stuffed in a not so metaphorical mattress.

Or, in this case, from a not so metaphorical apartment in Astoria.

Tomorrow—or today, considering the late hour—is Thursday, which is a good day to break into someone's apartment. Most people tend to be at work during the day on weekdays and, in an apartment complex, this means there are less people around to potentially catch you when you jimmy open a door. Obviously, Peter won't be there, but MJ? Wade knows nothing about her other than she's married to Peter, including if she has a job that will remove her from the premises so Wade can snoop safely and uninterrupted.

Opening a new tab on his browser, Wade searches for 'Mary Jane Watson'. He knows that it isn't the most effective way to search for people, but he's hoping that he'll get lucky and—

Whoa.

The images that show up under the search bar feature a red-headed bombshell with beautiful green eyes, a femme-fatale smile, and old Hollywood glamor. She's wearing full make-up and gorgeous dresses in every photo, posed against varying sponsored backdrops. Below the small collage of pictures are links to several social media accounts and a Wikipedia page. Wade skims the small 'ABOUT' section that automatically populates on the right-hand side of the page. She's an up-and-coming actress that's played various small television roles, was born the same year as Peter, and... is married to Peter Parker.

"Holy shit," Wade says because, honestly, holy shit.

Wade doesn't know what he expected from Peter's spouse. Held at gunpoint, he would probably describe Peter but in lady form: someone good-looking but not immediately arresting, until the details and personality came out like a sucker punch. Wade isn't downplaying Peter's physical attractiveness—far, far from it—but MJ is Jessica Rabbit levels of hot, the kind of hot that gets wolf-whistles and double-takes.

Wade hadn't been that hot even before his face was permanently disfigured.

Not that it matters, Wade berates himself. It's not a competition. He's already married her.

Scrubbing a hand over the lower half of his scar, the thick line of keratin smooth beneath his touch, Wade ignores the re-emerged jealousy bubbling acridly in his gut and thinks about what MJ's career means for his plan. As an actress, her hours are less predictable than the average salaried schmuck. Of course, this won't stop Wade; there's no fun in a little B&E without the element of uncertainty. He'll just have to compensate for potentially barging in on Peter's starlet wife.

Having decided on his course of action, Wade exits out of everything on his laptop, closes it, then sets it underneath the bed frame. He makes sure he has an alarm set, checks that his gun is underneath the opposite pillow, then turns off the bedside lamp. He lays back down and spreads his limbs wide, the cotton sheets pleasantly cool against his bare feet and naked forearms. None of the deep shadows on the ceiling or in the corners of his bedroom move. Yet unlike the night before, when Wade had passed out almost immediately after making Peter pancakes, sleep will not come to him. His thoughts keep turning in an effort to make connections that aren't there and, in the end, he keeps asking himself one question:

What do an ex-soldier, a quantum information scientist, a monk in Nepal, a vintage car mechanic, and an actress all have in common?

Wade wakes. His hand is under the pillow, gripping the handle of his gun—but it was the familiar blare of his alarm that woke him, not panic, and his fingers slide away easily. It takes more effort to roll to the side and grab his phone off the bedside table, hit snooze and drop it on the mattress next to him.

He falls asleep again.

Wakes.

Snooze.

Half an hour after his original alarm, Wade sits up. 9:37. He yawns, mouth opening so wide it hurts the hinge of his jaw. Untangles his legs from the sheets and shuffles across the room. Opens the door, looks at Peter still asleep on the couch, and shuffles into the bathroom. Brushes his teeth. Hops in the shower and pees down the drain. His dumb, traitorous dick grows hot as he scrubs his body down; his hand is nice and slippery with soap, and this is usually when he starts to jack it.

"Not today, buddy," Wade tells his pitifully hopeful half-chub, the head poking out tentatively from the foreskin like a question. "Letting you drive the car yesterday was a mistake."

Wade gets out of the shower, skin pink, and wipes the condensation off the mirror to look at the rough stubble of his face. A few white hairs are growing on his chin to match the ones on his temples, but he once again postpones shaving. He rubs on some moisturizer—he isn't a heathen—and some deodorant. No cologne though, because cologne is a bad idea for both stealth missions and inappropriate wooing.

Wrapping his towel around his waist, Wade exits the bathroom. Glances over into the living room. Peter is barely cognizant, sitting up with his hair a fluffy halo around his face. Seeing him awake surprises Wade somehow, and he stops halfway between his bathroom and bedroom, dripping on the floor.

"Morning," Wade says reflexively.

Peter groans, the barest approximation of human speech.

"Bathroom's free, if you want." The combination of his lack of mental coherency from having just woken up and his almost nakedness make Wade feel wrong-footed. "I was gonna get dressed and start breakfast. Sound good?"

"Coffee too?" Peter garbles.

"Like either of us can function without it."

Peter turns his head to look at Wade, eyes flickering down the length of him: skin still damp, thighs barely contained by the towel, nipples tight in the cool air.

"Mmm," Peter hums, eyes half-lidded. "Okay."

Wade all but retreats into his room and tries to tell himself that there is no way—absolutely no fucking way—that Peter was checking him out. People just did that sometimes. Looked at other people. Especially when said other people were mostly naked and wet and standing like a fool in the hallway. And Peter's eyes were glazed because he was still sleepy and not because he liked what he saw and wanted to get all up on that—

Wade's dick gives another valiant twitch.

"No," Wade hisses at the little eager bump beneath the towel. "Down boy."

Once again ignoring his dick, Wade dresses in briefs, socks, and black joggers, and layers a black crewneck over a long sleeve shirt. He also picks out new clothes for Peter. Peter can wear the jeans from yesterday again, but Wade grabs a fresh pair of socks, a plain white tee, and a sturdy flannel.

After that, Wade opens the bottom drawer of his dresser and pulls out a pair of gloves and a balaclava, a lock-pick set, a camera detector, and two tactical daggers in clip-on sheaths. All of these go into one trusty fanny pack, which he takes out of the bedroom with him and hangs next to his jacket by the front door. He also brings the clean clothes with him; Peter has already ensconced himself in the bathroom, so Wade sets them on the floor.

"Pete!" Wade half-yells, knocking on the bathroom door. "Clothes!"

"Thanks!" Peter shouts back.

While Peter showers, Wade brews coffee, toasts the leftover bagels from yesterday, fries up four sunny-side up eggs, and heats the pre-made sausage patties in the microwave. The bagels, eggs, and sausage patties are assembled into breakfast sandwiches, one for Wade and three for Peter. Peter emerges as Wade is pouring the coffee out into clean mugs.

"Looks good." Peter sits on the barstool, wet hair sticking to his forehead and neck.

"Hot sauce?" Wade asks as he sets a mug in front of Peter. "I have Cholula or fiery habanero."

"I do not have your spice tolerance, Wade. Do you have ketchup?"

"Firstly, fuck you, you vile blasphemer," Wade says even as he moves towards the refrigerator to get Peter his bland condiment. "And secondly, get out of my house."

Peter merely smiles sweetly, shakes up the bottle after Wade hands it to him, and squeezes a huge dollop onto the plate. Wade slathers his own breakfast sandwich with the fiery habanero hot sauce as though proving a point.

They are quiet as they eat. Neither one of them mentions the night before. It was too emotionally raw and—if Peter is like Wade—he'll need a few days to process before he can talk about it with minimal deflection. By the time Wade has finished his singular breakfast sandwich, sucking the grease and traces of hot sauce off his fingers, Peter is already starting on his third.

"I have never seen anyone eat as fast as you do," Wade says. "Can I just say how impressed I am by your ability to unhinge your jaw like a snake? Or is that a secret spider power too?"

"Sometimes, if you don't eat fast while on patrol, you don't eat at all. Do you know how many times I've left a half-finished sub on a rooftop only to find it gone when I came back? Too many."

"What the hell was taking it?"

"It's New York," Peter answers with a shrug. "A rat? A cockroach? A particularly tenacious pigeon? I don't know and I don't wanna know."

"Crazy," Wade mutters because, yeah, he doesn't want to know either. He takes a swig of his coffee and changes the subject. "Anyway, I'm gonna head out soon. Got a new job from Weasel yesterday."

"The boring stuff?"

"A dead end," Wade answers truthfully. "I'm gonna see if I can't dig up a little more. Shouldn't take me too long, and I can pick something up for lunch after. Do you like Thai?"

Peter hums in affirmation. Nothing about his expression or body language changes. Not that Wade was expecting it to, but people could be odd about their triggers; if Peter associates Wade with Thai food at all, he doesn't show it.

Putting their plates and his mug into the sink—the dirty dishes starting to build into a precarious mountain—Wade retrieves his laptop and charger and sets it up in the living room so Peter has something to do while he's gone. Peter smiles at Wade and thanks him as he grabs his boots and laces them snug.

"Try not to get arrested," Peter says.

"No promises," Wade answers as he clips on his fanny pack. Then—with a cheeky salute—Wade is out the door, down the stairs, and on his way to commit a class A misdemeanor.

The apartment building is a brick, post-war walk-up with fire escapes crawling down three of the four sides. Unfortunately for Wade, each side is highly exposed to the semi-busy street below and—even if they weren't—he has no idea which one will lead him into the correct apartment. So he goes in the old-fashioned way: through the front door.

Peter's apartment is labeled with vinyl stickers, a black, italicized 4-B printed against a white, rhomboid vinyl. Wade stands there for several minutes, eyes closed, and listens. The fourth floor and apartment 4-B are still and silent. Wade cannot hear anything, not even the murmur of a television or the shuffle of a moving person, so he opens his eyes, unzips his fanny pack, and crouches down onto one knee.

Years of experience guide Wade through the next minute without hesitation or thought. He needs everything he put in the fanny pack, so he takes care of each item as he randomly pulls it out. The tactical daggers get strapped to his boots; the balaclava gets pulled over his head; the camera detector is set down on the ground by his left heel; the lock pick set is placed by his right knee; the half-eaten bag of shark gummies—

Ooh, shark gummies! Wade thinks. He takes one of the gummies out of the bag and pops it into his mouth. Must be from last time. Thank you, past me, for your generosity and forethought.

The shark gummies go next to the camera detector, and his gloves go next to the lock pick set, which he grabs now that his fanny pack is empty. He pulls out two of the picks and—in under ten seconds—has the key pins leveled at the shear line, opening the lock. He gently twists the doorknob and cracks the door, peeking inside.

It's dark.

Empty.

Wade exhales slowly and puts the picks back, then stows the set and the shark gummies. He dons his gloves, then grabs the camera detector with his left hand. Stands. Opens the door and steps inside, using the hem of his crewneck to wipe the doorknob free of prints. Closes the door. There's a security guard bolted to the jamb that Wade uses; if anyone tries to get in while he's there, it will buy him at least a few seconds to exit via the fire escape.

Without turning on the light, Wade gives the apartment a cursory glance. It's a nice place. Renovated recently—within the last few years—and has the neutral walls, white molding, and nice wood veneer flooring that are currently popular. To Wade's left is a small coat closet, which then turns into a small galley kitchen. A decent sized living room. Two doors beyond that, both ajar, identified easily as the entrances to the bedroom and bathroom. Both of those rooms are dark as well, but Wade quietly beelines to the bedroom to make sure the no one is sleeping.

Again, empty.

Wade sighs with relief, shoulders sagging. He has definitely walked into occupied rooms in the past, and the fallout generally involves being shot at.

Turning back, Wade goes back into the living room, flipping on both the overhead lights and his camera detector. He brought it to check for recording devices, in case the military had eyes on the place, and the first thing he does is a methodical sweep of the space. When nothing causes bounce back, he begins to search. Wade doesn't know what he's looking for exactly, but he figures that he'll either know it when he sees it or he'll get lucky and find a USB taped somewhere weird.

Wade really hopes he find a USB. To him, it's the modern equivalent of finding buried treasure.

In the living room, Wade opens every drawer, both of the tv console and the side tables; he checks under the couch, under the couch cushions, and in the couch cushions; and he checks behind the television and on top of the ceiling fan's blades. He finds nothing but dust and crumbs there so—with a put out sigh—Wade moves to the kitchen.

The kitchen is a little messy. Crusty dishes are stacked up in the sink, the counters are cluttered with appliances, and unopened mail is littered about in various piles. There are take out containers and a bag of wilted lettuce in the fridge. The trash can is full of wrappers, empty cans of seltzer, and the boxes of microwave meals. The oven desperately needs to be cleaned, bits of old food charred lumps carbonized to the bottom floor. Wade scours every inch of the kitchen but—once again—he finds nothing.

"If this is another fucking dead end..." Wade mutters as he moves to the bathroom to start the process over again.

The bathroom is where Wade starts to put together the puzzle pieces. It is as vaguely dirty as the rest of the apartment, a swatch of disarray layered over by a thin tinge of neglect, but the lack of cleanliness isn't what makes him suspicious. It's the fact that every single product in the bathroom is geared towards men. The gray bottle of two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. The Irish Spring soap. The razors, the deodorant, the body spray. The dark blue towels and washcloths. The rumpled bathmat and single PEVA shower curtain.

There isn't a single thing in the bathroom that indicates a woman lives here at all: no products, no make-up, not evening a fucking tampon.

Leaving the bathroom, Wade enters the bedroom. Scans for cameras, finds none. Goes to the closet and sees only button downs and slacks and blazers hanging from nice wooden hangers. There's a dresser below that has more clothes in it: folded jeans and colored seersucker shorts, a pair of red swimming trunks, graphic t-shirts, underwear and socks.

No clues.

No trace of MJ, either.

Going to the bed, Wade kneels to check underneath the frame. A lone sock is balled up underneath with the dust bunnies. Nothing else. Wade groans and gets back up. Eyes the large, unmade bed. A mess of blankets and two standard pillows, one more rumpled than the other. Wade imagines Peter sleeping, curls splayed across the sheets, mouth slightly open.

"Eh," Wade says aloud as he eyes the pillow. "Fuck it."

Tugging the balaclava off, Wade flops face down onto the bed, feet hanging off the edge and nose smushed into the pillow. He's being a creep—he knows that—but the action itself is harmless. So he breathes in, and in, and in.

Detergent. Shampoo, soap, and sleep sweat. The faintest traces of musk.

Peter.

Rolling onto his back, Wade reaches into his fanny pack and pulls out the remaining shark gummies. They're a little stale and extra chewy, giving him something to physically gnaw on while he mulls over the reality that Peter's apartment is overwhelming ordinary. There is no surveillance of any kind and there was nothing unusual to be found. Which is weird. Military institutions love to keep close tabs on their pet projects. If Peter isn't being monitored, then no one knows he's missing or...

Or no one knows he has superpowers.

It's an idea that Wade hasn't had before. Perhaps Peter is one of those crazy scientists who believed so firmly in his own research that he injected himself with spider DNA and kept the results a secret. Or maybe that story Peter told Wade two nights ago—in which he was bitten by a radioactive spider—contains a kernel of truth. Either explanation feels too good to be true; in Wade's experience, nothing is ever so simple or easy.

And then there is the fact that MJ does not live here.

It doesn't add up. The lease Weasel pulled says that both Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson rent this apartment. Peter says he's married and wears the ring. But there's no trace of another person in the apartment, despite what the lease says. If MJ ever lived here, she hasn't for at least the past several weeks.

Wade sighs, annoyed.

Another dead end.

Swallowing the last masticated shark gummy, Wade pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. 1:16. He's been combing through Peter's apartment for over two hours. He should leave soon, go get enough Thai to knock a normal man into a tryptophan-induced coma, and head back to his place. After lunch and a nap, he can scroll through some of the social media accounts MJ and see if he can't track her down. Peter wanted to keep distance between himself and his loved ones, but...

The thing is, Wade's been doing shifty stuff since he actively went against orders and was slapped with a dishonorable discharge. Stuff that would have gotten him into trouble with the law if he was caught and stuff that have gotten him into actual trouble with the lawless who hunted him down. He's done some not shifty stuff too, like dog-walking and helping old couples move heavy boxes and threatening people's abusive dirtbag exes. But mostly it's been shitty, because Wade is very, very good at doing the shitty stuff.

Doing recon on the wife?

Well, it's shitty, but it won't be the shittiest thing Wade's ever done. So he gets up, takes one final look at the semi-depressing bachelor pad that is Peter's apartment, and leaves.

The Thai place Wade frequents is down the block and around the corner. It takes about twenty minutes for his order to be finished and he spends that time sitting at one of the small tables, mindlessly scrolling through MJ's public and personal instagram accounts.

There is a lot of content, but all of it is curated: no bad angles, no controversy, no wedding ring. Even the selfies are flawless. Wade cannot begin to imagine how exhausting that must be. Sure, his scar is ugly, and he's violently reminded of its existence every time a stranger looks at him for longer than a glance, but that's just his face. Having every inch of yourself scrutinized by thousands—by millions—must be awful.

"Wade!" the man behind the counter calls. "Order 67! Wade!"

The shout knocks Wade out of his thoughts. He pockets his phone, thanks the worker, and takes the two plastic bags stuffed with styrofoam take-out containers.

Outside, the brisk spring air nips Wade's cheeks and keeps him cool as he walks home. The foot traffic is light but his eyes still flit around, checking buildings and other people out of long habit, before unconsciously settling on the back of a man's head about twenty feet in front of him. The man is shorter than Wade, with brown hair and a lean body. The jeans he's wearing do little to hide his frankly spectacular ass and, when he turns his head to the side, Wade can see that his glasses have slipped down his nose. It's a cute nose, round and upturned, and—

"Peter?" Wade says loudly, abruptly.

The man stops—

Turns around—

And in the space of heartbeat, as Wade stares at the familiar face of Peter Benjamin Parker, a shadow emerges from the adjacent alley to drag him away.

next → : Part 10

#spideypool #spiderman #peter parker #wade wilson #deadpool #pairing: wade wilson/peter parker #rating: m #fandom: marvel

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qnewslgbtiqa · 12 days

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WA finally moves to reform Australia's worst gender laws

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/wa-finally-moves-to-reform-australias-worst-gender-laws/

WA finally moves to reform Australia's worst gender laws

The Western Australian government will introduce a bill to parliament this week to reform gender recognition laws in the state, which remain some of the worst in Australia.

WA is the only Australian jurisdiction to still rely on a Gender Reassignment Board. The board comprises a panel of doctors and psychologists who decide if a trans person can legally change their gender. Advocates describe this process as slow, expensive and cruel.

In recent years, the Board has been inactive for periods of time. This created a backlog of applications and trapped numerous trans folk in legal limbo.

This week, the WA government will finally put forward a bill to abolish the Board. Instead, gender recognition would move to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, similar to the rest of the country.

Under the proposal, transgender people who want to change their gender will no longer require surgery to do so. Western Australia and New South Wales are the only two Australian states to still have that requirement.

However, the WA government would still require a supporting statement from a doctor or psychologist.

“Everyone deserves the respect and dignity of being recognised as themselves, to have their legal identity align with their lived identity,” Premier Roger Cook (pictured below) said.

“These important reforms will mean that trans and gender-diverse members of our community will no longer be required to undergo gender affirming surgery to change their gender on their birth certificate.

“[This removes] the outdated barriers that deny people identity documents that accurately reflect their gender.”

Image: Facebook

‘Trapped in an outdated system’

LGBTQIA+ advocates have criticised the government’s years-long delays in updating Western Australia’s gender laws.

Stevie Lane from Rainbow Futures said in November that WA continued to lag behind the rest of the country.

“People born in WA are trapped in an outdated system that still requires them to prove who they are in front of a board,” Steve said.

“For me, as a non-binary person, it’s a system that doesn’t even acknowledge my existence.

“Right now, there are hundreds of people across the state who are living in limbo.”

At a trans rights rally last year, WA trans woman Andrea described WA’s Gender Recognition Board process as humiliating and arduous.

“I’ve known who I am since I was four. And since I have known who I am, other people have owned my identity, my body, my expression of myself, and my legitimacy as a human being,” she said.

“Through my journey of transition, to become the woman that I’ve always been, I’ve had to go to doctors, to psychiatrists, and ask them for permission to exist.”

To apply to the Gender Reassignment Board, Andrea said, a trans person must “gather together documents from a whole range of people.”

“From medical practitioners, from psychologists, from family, from friends, from anyone that the board thinks are important,” she said.

“Who is the one person in the process that is not asked to provide any testimony to the board?

“Me, the person making the application, the woman who has to go there and beg to have her gender recognised.”

It’s time for Western Australia to stop gatekeeping trans identities

Trans folk stuck in legal limbo after Gender Board’s sudden hiatus

ACT reforms will make big difference to gender diverse people

New hope for gender-affirming surgery coverage on Medicare

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

#transgender

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onlineudyamregistration · 2 years

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The Udyam Registration Procedure for a Proprietorship Firm in India

Udyam Registration Need:What' is a Possession firm?

The Udyam certification is the approval allowed by the final public authority of an Asian nations to limit the scope of financial specialists or associations. The endorsement comes as a testament, that you simply should get by achieving your organization name on the Udyam Registration Portal. The certificate is given by the Ministry of MSME of the govt. of India.

What's the motivation behind the general public authority providing this certificate?

The Indian government has sent off another arrangement to facilitate personal ventures and associations in development to tons of necessary levels. to use the advantages and elements of this plan, entrepreneurs ought to enlist their organization on the situation of the Udyam Certificate.

To amass certification for your organization, you want to at the beginning finish the hitch cycle at the ensuing gain level. You'll be able to accomplish associate degree elevated expectation and increment the organization’s ubiquity with basic usefulness. All of the data are found by visiting the Udyam Registration.

Udyam Registration period Process:

you'll be able to enter the specified data by sound on the udyam enlistment section and find into the site. Kindly finally find yourself the entire section with the individual’s and friends’ data. it' needed to supply the aadhar card selection to it. At long last, you acquire the OTP from the authority site, that ought to} enter at intervals the section.

Following that, you'll actually need to urge a remarkable 14-digit variety for enrolling the organization on the site. Then, at that point, you get a call from a chief requesting simply} just offer the OTP created on your phonephone to complete the certification cycle. It takes longer than fifteen days to make the authentication for the client.

You'll be able to capture the certificate by visiting the site, and it accompanies a QR code, making it a valuable one to have. you'll be able to get data concerning the organization’s subtleties from the web site page by filtering the QR code. the three staple items for hitch are,

Aadhaar selection

Pan range

GSTIN number

the final public authority of Asian nation apportions and offers guaranteed organizations to foster comprehensive funds on need. the foremost reality to recall is that except if the PAN card number is that the exemption, you can’t get to change individual or association subtleties.

The certification offers the only facilitate and hotspot for the organization’s development. the aim is once the arrangement is distributed with cash and guaranteed organizations get tons of proposals on it. organizations get further advances from each bank, and progress within the organization is obtainable extraordinary thought.

Endlessly get edges from the final public authority on it you'll be able to opt for a a lot of necessary level of profit. accomplishment a company is firmly steeped in Udyam Registration light-weight of the actual fact that it provides the choice of effort the business and profit level at a more elevated level. making the general public authority certification will provide and build individuals’ and shoppers’ trust.

Increasing the amount of purchasers who come to the organization can create high development academic degree profit levels for many years. The thoroughbred organization focuses on effort a bank credit from each organization, which has less documentation progress. What’s more, Udyam Registration Process the declaration aids the beginning of another business and its succeeding development at a high-benefit level. On every bank credit, the organization gets a loan worth endowment, and that they are safeguarded against late installments and an absence of provisions.

Business is where individuals have to be compelled to be compelled to usher in cash by mercantilism their thoughts associate degreed considerably tons of. organizations want a lot of edges and shoppers to amass and continue with things of the pie. In India, the possession firm is that the most typically recognized quiet business. The prepare of action is the foremost ideal choice for each new business and business visionary.

money managers can register in an possession firm beneath the MSMED Act of Udyam Registration. The hitch interaction is simple and compelling, and it provides an elevated degree of quality to assist the organization' development and creation.

decide on the only choice on an appointment by victimization its quality and elements to make its prominence and development. you'll be able to get larger government help, moreover as expense waivers and support for essential conditions.

#Udyam Registration #MSME Registration Process #MSME Documents Required #Udyam Registration Process #Udyog Aadhar Registration #MSME Certificate #Udyam Certificat #MSME Registration Benefits

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snailpound2 · 2 years

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Discover On Visa Facilitation For Candidates Inoculated With Chinese Language Covid

Currently, international nationals who have stayed in designated countries/regions inside the final 14 days are denied entrance to Japan except such international nationals are beneath particular circumstances. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many international locations have closed off their borders and worldwide travel has turn into a difficult if not nearly impossible task. While there have been talks about “travel bubbles”, corresponding to that proposed between Hong Kong and Singapore, concrete plans have but to come to fruition. That is, until most just lately, when the EU announced a model of its “vaccine passport”, under which those that can produce proof of vaccination with numerous recognised vaccine manufacturers could travel free from quarantine obligations into continental Europe. A certificate of adverse nucleic acid and anti-body blood take a look at outcomes are required for airline boarding to China. While Zhao didn’t elaborate on what help China would provide, a notice from its overseas affairs ministry in Hong Kong painted a clearer picture. Visa applicants traveling to mainland China for work will no longer have to present invitation letters issued by state-owned enterprises or the commerce departments and international affairs workplaces of provincial governments so long as they've taken Chinese jabs. Those who're family members of Chinese nationals or everlasting residents of the country, or who maintain a particular enterprise journey card issued by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation also can file functions. In early January 2022, new guidelines have been released which additionally require passengers flying from the US to get tested seven days before their flights. Test outcomes have to be accredited by your local Chinese embassy or consulate, then introduced upon check-in in your flight to China. Two totally different negative coronavirus check outcomes are now required for all vacationers permitted to enter China. 台胞證過期 whose destination is China, together with Chinese nationals, must current each a adverse COVID-19 nucleic acid check and a adverse serological take a look at for IgM antibodies earlier than boarding their flight. Present Status Of U S Visa Providers By Country The allowed time for visa-free stays is brief; it ranges from a couple of days to a couple months. Regardless of your nationality, you must verify your visa requirements before traveling. Usually, this type of visa is issued for twenty-four as a lot as ninety six hours, however it can also be issued for ten days up to two weeks—depending on which nation you transit through. You have to apply for a transit visa earlier than traveling; transit visas are not issued at the airport. The kind additionally asks whether or not the visitor holds dual nationality. Your insurance coverage letter or certificate will also comprise the coverage number and date of effectivity or begin date. The AXA Sawasdee Thailand supplies a one-page certificate of insurance coverage which is perfect for the Thailand Pass software because the system will only permit one-page document to be uploaded. Starting May 1, 2022, the Thailand Pass requirement for the COVID Travel Insurance will be reduced to 10,000 USD from the earlier 20,000 USD requirement. Insurance policies with 20,000 USD, 50,000 USD or a hundred,000 USD coverage will remain valid. Government offices might be closed December 24, 2021, and January 6, 2022. Government places of work might be closed January 1-3 and seven, 2022. To be taught extra in regards to the visa software process, pay the visa application payment online, schedule an appointment, and follow up on the status of your software please go to us-visa-info.com. All visitors to the Consular section, together with all visa candidates and U.S. residents, should enter the services through a devoted consular entrance on Old Hope Road. Visa Faqs In instances where visas are denied, the applying fees are nonrefundable. However, ROC overseas missions could offer a refund beneath special circumstances after approval from the Ministry. The aforementioned telegram fees shall be stipulated by the Ministry and will vary based on region. The postage costs for mailing documents shall be decided in accordance with the postage costs of each utility incurred by ROC overseas missions . CIBTvisas service charges and consular charges charged by the country issuing the travel visa shall be clearly listed within the CIBTvisas Application Kit. Go to Visas to see the travel visa requirements for your specific vacation spot. CIBTvisas obtains travel visas by submitting a completed journey visa utility, and other required documents, to embassies or consulates in your behalf. This eliminates the need so that you can go to, talk, and correspond instantly with the embassy or consulate of your destination nation. To see the travel visa requirements for a selected destination go to Visa Quick Check. Students from these international locations merely should register their handle with the Resident Registration Office and apply for a residence allow within 90 days after their arrival in Germany. In addition, immigration authorities on the arrival airport have the facility to deny the issuance of the allow to any person not assembly the precise necessities set forth by the airport, and the person will also be removed from Mainland China. Permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau with multiple entry visas can apply for a separate sheet of paper at border checkpoints in Shenzhen and Zhuhai for Chinese entry and exit stamps. Holders of Macau Resident Identity Cards are automatically eligible for a quantity of entry visas legitimate either for 6 months (for non-permanent residents) or 12 months . United Kingdom (except British Nationals passports) are required to carry an invitation issued by the Chinese authorities except they're arriving at Beijing, Shanghai or Chengdu. Non-visa-exempt nationals who are residents of Hong Kong or Macau require a visa to go to the Mainland. May go to Suifenhe and not using a visa for up to 15 days if traveling with a minimal of one companion. Visitors utilizing this coverage is not going to have their passports stamped and do not want to complete arrival playing cards or departure cards. Also, ship's crew members, as well as their accompanying members of the family, usually are not eligible for seventy two or 144-hour transit. They must hold appropriate visas when getting into China. China Vacationer Visa, Journey L Visa Software Necessities & Forms The China visa consulate payment for American citizens is $140, whereas citizens from different international locations can anticipate to pay quantities ranging from $30 to $90. The payment is made at the level of visa collection, while some locations would require payment at the point of utility. People visiting China for various functions like research, lectures, cultural curiosity, and different non-commercial purposes qualify for this visa. The F visa was once often identified as the Chinese Business visa and accommodated a lot of activities. The visa period is between 30 and 90 days, with single and double-entry options out there. Non-Chinese citizens who wish to enter the nation for numerous causes like well being, training, tourism, conference, transit, etc. must obtain a Chinese visa. The a call for participation is a vital document that is written by an entity in China showing why you intend to visit the nation. Due to COVID-19 and the health of our workers, we is not going to be accepting new applicants at this time. If you're inquiring about an software currently in course of through Passport Health services, please contact us via this kind. The citizens other than European Union or Shengen Member States ought to present the original and duplicate of the resident allow or Kela Card. Your college will doubtless appoint an area employees member to act as your liaison when you arrive, helping you with all of the initial appointments and bureaucratic processes – so don’t stress, you'll not have to do any of the next steps, on your own. You can read our weblog on10 issues to know before moving to China. Once you get your passport again, examine your new visa very carefully. It’s not all that uncommon to be granted a visa other than the one for which you have utilized. Somestuff-ups happen occasionallyso go over it with a fine toothcomb. To obtain any type of visas it is necessary to pay a visa fee, which sum is dependent upon the visa class, validity term, number of entries and even on the country-applicant. The information on visa fees may be obtained from the PRC embassy or consulate in the nation concerned. In accordance with the legislation of the PRC international nationals need a visa to entry, exit and transit through the country’s territory. Nonimmigrant Visa Data Adjudicators are evaluated on how fast they carry out interviews, not the quality of adjudication selections. Nationals of Samoa may apply for group permits for a stay of as much as 7 days , or individual permits for a keep of as much as 14 days (fee of US$10) or 30 days (fee of US$40, besides for kids beneath 5 years of age). The visa policy of the United States consists of the necessities for overseas nationals to journey to, enter, and remain in the United States. Visitors to the United States should obtain a visa from one of the united states diplomatic missions unless they come from one of many visa-exempt or Visa Waiver Program nations. The exception to the need to acquire an entry visa is that vacationers from certain eligible countries could possibly visit the us without advance permission, through the Visa Waiver Program . To find out whether your nation is on the VWP record, examine the Visa Waiver Program web page of the U.S. Temporary visitors to the United States normally need to get hold of an entry visa, and the B visas are most common. The course of of making a US visa software, from deciding on the correct of visa to finishing the required documentation and attending your interview at a US Embassy, may be lengthy and complicated. In order to enjoy the privelege of unencumbered journey within the United States, aliens have a responsibility to show they will return overseas after a visitor or pupil visa is issued. Our immigration legislation requires consular officers to view each visa applicant as in intending immigrant until the applicant proves otherwise. Individuals who intend to apply for a "green card" is in all probability not eligible for nonimmigrant standing. Their nonimmigrant visa application could also be denied if they appear to have the "dual intention" of coming to the united states quickly whereas pursuing everlasting resident standing. Digital Visa Update System Evus Frequently Requested Questions Is there any method to get a M visa for Friday or Saturday pickup? It’s often finest to price range a couple days for the process, until you’re willing to pay additional to have every thing expedited. Something else to remember is that the Visa Office is closed on weekends and holidays so when you arrive on a Saturday you may have to wait until Monday to apply. You’ll need a minimal of 60 and 85 points to qualify for a category B and A visa respectively. Depending on circumstances around your travel to China, you could or could not want to apply for a piece visa. But as a rule of thumb, when you're not a resident in China and employed there, you may need a piece visa. On the pickup date, you'll often must go to location where you applied to select up your passport with the Z Visa in. Now enterprise actions require an M visa and the F visa is simply allowed for non-commercial visits to China. It is dependent upon the place the applicant is making use of from (i.e., the place is the embassy located?). Information for K-3/K-4 visa holders about adjustment of standing, permission to work within the United States, and journey outdoors of the United States is on the market on the USCIS web site underK-3/K-4 Nonimmigrant Visas. Same-sex spouses of U.S. residents and Lawful Permanent Residents, together with their minor children, are actually eligible for a similar immigration advantages as opposite-sex spouses. Those who meet the necessities shall be issued a green well being code. Japan Visa For Chinese Language Residents Applicants will simply must have a legitimate Chinese passport and a credit or debit card to pay the visa charge. From April 2020, Chinese vacationers will be succesful of apply for a new Japan eVisa for brief journeys to Japan. The on-line application will only take a couple of minutes to fill out and it will save vacationers the trouble of stepping into person to an embassy or consulate. For instance, if you are in Australia you must apply for a travel doc by calling the Department of Home Affairs, filling within the kind, and calling the Department once more to set up an appointment to submit your paperwork. If you're out of the country, you want to contact the closest Australian representative workplace. Once the appliance has been submitted to the appropriate issuing authority, full charges will apply. Additional cancellation fees could additionally be utilized for early withdrawal of the application. CVSC reserves the best to decline processing of paperwork for any purpose, together with however not restricted to incomplete documentation, insufficient processing time, and diploma of issue in procuring documents as a end result of purpose of travel. Additionally, candidates from a couple of different territories in Asia are solely capable of capable of get hold of a business eVisa if they have a suggestion from the native Taiwan External Trade Development Council. Once the traveler submits the form and it is accurately processed, a replica of the permitted eVisa for Taiwan shall be despatched to the traveler’s e-mail handle. Below you will find a whole list of visa rules to journey to Taiwan out of your country of residence. All other nationalities should apply for a visa at a Taiwanese diplomatic authorities workplace. Because of reciprocal agreements, residents of Canada and the United Kingdom are also capable of prolong their visa-free stay as much as one hundred eighty days. South Africa Visa Requirements For Chinese Language Residents Nationals of Thailand —except those holding diplomatic or official/service passports—are eligible for the visa exemption program, with a length of keep of as a lot as 14 days. The Interview Waiver Program remains a useful device to many visa holders who wish to renew visas. A nice majority of present tourist, business customer, pupil, and change customer nonimmigrant visa holders will remain eligible for IWP processing. China “M” business visas are issued for commercial and commerce actions, such as visiting shoppers, assembly with business partners, and attending commerce gala's. US residents could additionally be eligible for a 10-year multiple entry visa. The class “F” business visas are for academic trade including conducting research, attending conferences, and University collaboration. Crew Issued to crewmembers involving international-based transportation by trains, airway and ships and their accompanying relations. Private Visit Issued to family members of foreigners residing in China for work, research, etc. China Visa Application Form - Applicable to countries like US and New Zealand. Applicants of different international locations please check the embassy web site. ◆ Original and duplicate of the household relationship certification (such as marriage/birth/kinship certificate) - not required for Q2 Visa. ◆ Proof of proposed travel, corresponding to round-trip air ticket reserving and resort reservation record are required. For single- or double-entry visas, should you use up your last exit while the visa remains to be legitimate, you will want to apply for a brand new visa once more. Similar to journalist visas, there are 2 kinds of visas for school kids – the X1 visa for college kids seeking to research in China for over a hundred and eighty days, and the X2 for less than one hundred eighty days. You won't need an invite letter from a college or company to apply for a vacationer visa. Since all Mongolian residents are eligible to use for the normal "E" series strange passport, therefore, in practice, all Mongolian residents get pleasure from visa-free entry to China for 30 days.

#台胞證

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robertreich · 3 years

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youtube

The Filibuster is Unconstitutional

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the filibuster these days. But here’s one thing about this old Senate rule you might not know: the filibuster actually violates the Constitution.

41 Senate Republicans, who represent only 21 percent of the American population, are blocking the “For the People Act,” which is supported by 67 percent of Americans. They’re also blocking an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, supported by 62 percent of Americans. And so much else.

Even some so-called moderate Democrats, like Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema, have outsized power to block crucial legislation thanks to the filibuster. Many of those who defend the filibuster consider themselves “originalists,” who claim to be following the Constitution as the Framers intended.

But the filibuster is not in the Constitution. In fact, the Framers of the Constitution went to great lengths to ensure that a minority of senators could not thwart the wishes of the majority.

After all, a major reason they called the Constitutional Convention was that the Articles of Confederation (the precursor to the Constitution) required a super-majority vote of nine of the thirteen states, making the government weak and ineffective.

James Madison argued against any super-majority requirement, writing that “the fundamental principle of free government would be reversed," and “It would be no longer the majority that would rule: the power would be transferred to the minority." Alexander Hamilton, meanwhile, warned about “how much good may be prevented, and how much ill may be produced” if a minority in either house of Congress had “the power of hindering the doing what may be necessary.”

Hence, the Framers required no more than a simple majority vote in both houses of Congress to pass legislation. They carved out specific exceptions, requiring a super-majority vote only for rare, high-stakes decisions:

Impeachments.

Expulsion of members.

Overriding a presidential veto.

Ratification of treaties.

Constitutional amendments.

By being explicit about these exceptions where a super-majority is necessary, the Framers underscored their commitment to majority rule for the normal business of the nation.

They would have balked at the notion of a minority of senators continually obstructing the majority, which is now the case with the filibuster.

So where did the filibuster come from?

The Senate needed a mechanism to end debate on proposed laws, and move laws to a vote — a problem the Framers didn’t anticipate. In 1841, a small group of senators took full advantage of this oversight to stage the first filibuster. They hoped to hamstring the Senate and force their opponents to give in by prolonging debate and delaying a vote.

This was what became known as the “talking filibuster” as popularized in the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But the results were hardly admirable.

After the Civil War, the filibuster was used by Southern politicians to defeat Reconstruction legislation, including bills to protect the voting rights of Black Americans.

In 1917, as a result of pressure from President Woodrow Wilson and the public, the Senate finally adopted a procedure for limiting debate and ending filibusters with a two-thirds vote (67 votes). In the 1970s, the Senate reduced the number of votes required to end debate down to 60, and no longer required constant talking to delay a vote. 41 votes would do it.

Throughout much of the 20th century, despite all the rule changes, filibusters remained rare. Southern senators mainly used them to block anti-lynching, fair employment, voting rights, and other critical civil rights bills.

That all changed in 2006, after Democrats won a majority of Senate seats. Senate Republicans, now in the minority, used the 60-vote requirement with unprecedented frequency. After Barack Obama became president in 2008, the Republican minority blocked virtually every significant piece of legislation. Nothing could move without 60 votes.

In 2009, a record 67 filibusters occurred during the first half of the 111th Congress — double the entire 20-year period between 1950 and 1969. By the time the 111th Congress adjourned in December 2010, the filibuster count had ballooned to 137.

Now we have a total mockery of majority rule. And it bears repeating that just 41 Senate Republicans, representing only 21 percent of the country, are blocking critical laws supported by the vast majority of Americans.

This is exactly the opposite of what the framers of the Constitution intended. They unequivocally rejected the notion that a minority of Senators could obstruct the majority.

Every time Republicans use or defend the filibuster they’re directly violating the Constitution — the document they claim to be dedicated to. How can someone profess to be an “originalist” and defend the Constitution while repeatedly violating it?

Senators whose votes have been blocked by a minority should have standing to take this issue to the Supreme Court. And the Court should abolish the filibuster as violating the U.S. Constitution.

#filibuster #U.S. Constitution #Mitch McConnell #James Madison #alexander hamilton #senate #Senate Republicans #video #videos

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sheepfroggy · 3 years

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History of the Welsh language

Welsh is an ancient Celtic language that has been spoken in Britain for many hundreds of years. This may leave you wondering why not all Welsh people speak Welsh. In order to answer this, we have to take a look at the history of Wales and the Welsh language.

Nobody’s particularly too sure when Welsh began, or how. Unfortunately, old and scarcely documented history is pretty difficult to pin down like that. It is, however, widely proposed that Welsh has been around for at least roughly 4000 years. I don’t know if you’d agree, but that’s a hell of a long time! However, we do know that Welsh developed alongside closely related languages like Cornish and Breton, as well as the more distantly related Gaelic languages, across the British isles and parts of mainland Europe.

For a long time, Welsh was free to grow and develop from Old Welsh into Middle Welsh. Lots of Welsh prose was created during this time, and it is within the lifespan of Middle Welsh that the Mabinogion (a famous collection of Welsh mythologies) was compiled. Many great bards* also passed on tales in Welsh during this period. Welsh continued to thrive and grow freely for a period of time *Bards in Welsh culture are storytellers through the medium of music and poetry. They were considered to be fairly powerful in courts of nobles and are an important historical and tradtional position to have been appointed

However, trouble struck when Henry VIII was on the English throne. Wales had previously been conquered by the English and, during Henry VIIIs rule of England and Wales, the Act of Union was passed. As part of this act, the use of Welsh for administrative purposes (e.g. in laws, in the workplace) was completely banned, with the Welsh language no longer being recognised as an official language under the crown. This act meant that all students in Wales were no longer allowed to be taught in their native language and, for most people, the only language they knew at all. Children were forced to attend schools in a completely foreign language, which began the supression of Welsh. Additionally, within schools a tool of supression was used to stifle all communications in Welsh. Any child caught speaking Welsh during the school day would be made to wear the Welsh Not, which was typically a wooden board with the words “Welsh Not” painted on. The child that was wearing the Welsh Not at the end of the day would be subject to corporal punishment, which typically was a beating with a cane.

It was not until the Welsh Language Act of 1967 that the Welsh language gained any form of legal protection against the supression and brutalities faced previously. This act allowed the use of Welsh in legal proceedings within the government. However, Welsh still had a long ways to go. In 1980, members of the political party Plaid Cymru pledged that they would go to prison rather than pay for TV licenses in order to advocate for the need for a Welsh language television channel. Their efforts were successful and they were rewarded with the Welsh Fourth Channel, commonly known as S4C. Finally, in 1993, the Welsh Language Act of 1993 was passed. This act meant that, for the first time in hundreds of years, the Welsh language was now considered legally equal to that of the English language. Alongside the passing of this act came the benefits for the Welsh language that Welsh could not legally be discriminated against and must be available easily from all public bodies. This meant that all road signs in Wales could now be bilingual and that all government work must be published bilingually, to name a few examples.

I greatly hope that I have managed to teach you something interesting, and if not that you enjoyed the read on the history of the Welsh language. As a Welsh person and Welsh speaker, this topic is very important to me and fills me to the brim with a fiery Celtic passion. I hope those of you from elsewhere can empathise with our fight to preserve our language and I hope it might encourage interest in Welsh as a whole.

Diolch am wedi darllen, Cymru am byth <3

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everlastingrandom · 3 years

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I haven't seen a lot of posts about recent voter supression and reform legislation, so I made these slides to try to condense the most recent info. Reblogs are appreciated! The full transcript is under the cut because this ended up going longer than intended.

[Transcript: First slide shows a light blue graphic of the state of Georgia, against a black back ground. There is a graphic of peach right beside it. The header reads: What is GA House Bill 531? And the For the People Act. A caption with an arrow pointing to the state reads, "TLDR; state voting rights are at risk." Another caption reads, "girl help I'm manifesting #Bleorgia again." The rest of the slides follow conventional headers and bullet points.

On March 1st, 2021: Georgia House Republicans passed HB 531 to "Preserve Voter Integrity." Limitations listed in the bill include:

"No excuse" requirements limit allowed absentee voters to those 65+, people with disabilities, and people who will be away from their precinct on Election Day.

Requires GA Driver's License, ID number, or a photocopy of another government-issued document in order to request an absentee ballot.

Shortens absentee ballot request window from 180 days to 78 days. Also sets window to end 11 days before Election Day.

Same early voting dates & times across counties: Three weeks of Monday-Friday, one mandatory Saturday, & then an additional Saturday or Sunday during the first weekend

Counties cannot have more than one absentee box or early voting location per 100,000 active registered voters

Requires all ballot boxes to be inside buildings & only available during in-person early voting hours. Inaccessible after building closes

Other limitations include:

Banning "line warming" — volunteers giving water or food to voters waiting in long lines

Restricting mobile voting buses and pop-up voting locations to emergency use only

Who will be hurt by these measures?

Reduced weekend & early voting hours hurts voters living in metro counties and/or without job flexibity

Drop boxes & voting locations in relation to population hurts voters in rural counties with smaller populations

Restrictions on mobile voting locations hurts voters without transportation and/or with disabilities

Only one optional Sunday for voting specifically hurts Black church led "Souls to the Polls" events, which regularly moblize higher turnouts of Black voters

On March 3rd, 2021, the US House passed the "For the People Act" (HR 1), which includes a swath of reform proposals, such as:

Prohibiting states from restricting a person’s ability to vote by mail under any circumstances

National, automatic, opt-out voter registration

Restores voting rights to people convicted of felonies who have completed their sentences

Requires Facebook and Twitter to disclose the source of and amount of money for political ads on their platforms

Requires the President and VP to disclose previous 10 years of their tax returns

Stops members of Congress from using taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment or discrimination cases

Contact your representatives

HB 531 is on its way the GA senate, where there is a 34 - 22 Republican majority. If signed, this bill will serverly injure state democracy.

HR 1 is on its way to the United States senate. With a 50/50 split, 10 Republican votes are needed to withstand filibuster & reach the president. The bill has already been shot down previously in 2019.

Final caption at the end of the slide reads, "Protestors have already alluded this legislation to Jim Crow Laws. "Voter Uniformity," is just "Seperate but Equal" with a fancier hat." End transcript]

#voter supression #us politics #us voting #georgia politics #state politics #us election #voter disenfranchisement #republican #democrats #boy i'm tired of living in interesting times #infographic #long post

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tl-notes · 3 years

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Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 9 Notes

...設立から大分地盤が固まってきており、少しずつだが、業態は改善されている。

One thing to note here is that Kobayashi(‘s narration) isn’t saying the company has already made solid improvements, it’s that the company has finally established itself somewhat (as it was only founded relatively recently, and typically new companies are especially busy while trying to get off the ground) and now is starting to make improvements.

Similarly in the second sentence, it’s not “was” slow going, it’s “is still” slow going, and the working conditions “are” improving, not “have improved.”

This is がんば ganba, short of course for がんばって ganbatte, which I’m sure most of you are familiar with: the (in)famous “do your best.”

I only mention it because I like this shortened version of it. Ganba!

This is a fun little idiom(?)/saying: 鼻で笑う hana de warau (conjugated as hana de warawareta), lit. to laugh using the nose. It’s used to describe laughing at someone you’re looking down on for whatever reason (not necessarily in a super serious way, could just be a friend being dumb etc.; in this case it’s Elma’s being naive).

Typically it refers to like a “heh-but-through-the-nose” kind of “laugh,” but as you can see in this scene (where clearly Kobayashi is laughing with the mouth, even starting with “pff” lips) it works idiomatically even if the laughing isn’t only through the nose.

You may have heard that Japan is/was a “lifetime employment” country, where typically people would get hired right out of school and stay at that company until retirement. While that’s much less true today than it was even a couple of decades ago (and has become kind of controversial in ways), it’s still much more common of a practice than in say the US.

One result of this is that there’s a much bigger distinction placed between hiring people in spring as part of the annual graduation rush (the Japanese school year ends in March), and mid-career hiring. Typically you can’t participate in the fresh grad hiring if you aren’t one, even if you’re new to the field in question.

For larger employers (i.e. 5k+ employees), roughly two-thirds of all hirings come from fresh grads, and only small employers (<300 employees) hire more mid-careerists than people directly out of school.

Of course, this split tends to apply mostly to “standard” full time jobs, not so much part time, and is not necessarily a thing in every industry/at every company.

Just as a minor point of clarity, this “organized text” in Elma’s document refers to the phrase まとめられた文章 matomerareta bunshou. In a literal sense, matomerareta can mean organized/consolidated etc., and bunshou text/passages, but meaning-wise it’s more like “writing that gets its point across clearly/cleanly.”

This is a pretty big compliment and a very useful skill to have in organizations like this, as writing such that people can quickly and easily understand exactly what you’re trying to say often saves a ton of time and frustration.

我々はエルマの気迫に押されるがままにその書類を読み始めた。

Another minor point, but where the English could imply that they were overwhelmed by Elma’s intensity through the act of reading her report, the Japanese implies more that they started reading it because of how intense Elma was being.

It doesn’t really make much of a difference either way, but it stuck out a little for me.

To justify mentioning it, I guess I’ll explain the grammar point Kobayashi uses: されるがままに sareru ga mama ni. Sareru is a generic verb/verb conjugation for having something done to you (technically here it’s 押される, to be “pushed/pressed/pressured”), and mama refers to a state, condition, or “way” (like “do it this way”).

Put together, the whole phrase is used to indicate “you” do/did something that someone else wants you to, without (meaningful) opposition. (Something similar in raw meaning but with a very different connotation would be “going with the flow.”)

If a friend says “hey let’s go do something,” and next thing you know you’re out bowling despite preferring to stay at home, this is you.

You can stick the mama ni to various other things as well to come up with a similar idea, but without the sareru the nuance may end up different.

The word for clairvoyance here is 千里眼 senrigan, lit. “eye(s) [that can see] a thousand li”, li being a Chinese unit of measurement for length (shorter than a mile, but for general purposes “eyes that see a thousand miles” is basically the gist).

Despite the perhaps physical-sounding nature of the term, it does actually describe the same power as “clairvoyance” in English: being able to perceive things outside your actual range of vision, including potentially into people’s hearts and minds etc.

Hence why it’s a thousand screen display, when she updates it with tech knowledge:

“Tainted by work” here is 職業病 shokugyou-byou, lit. an occupational disease. The “proper” definition is a disease one gets from working in a particular job, such as black lung for coal miners or even posture-related health issues for desk workers.

Additionally, it’s used colloquially to refer to noticeable habits or quirks that people in a certain profession pick up, like a baker always waking up super early or a programmer using programming lingo out of context in normal conversation. The latter being especially noticeable in Japanese, as a lot of such terms are English in origin.

“Shocking” here is a fun word: ドン引き don-biki. “Don” here is added just for emphasis; the main meaning revolves around 引き hiki/biki, from the verb 引く hiku, meaning to pull.

The idea is that someone does/says something that you recoil from. Maybe it’s gross (“I only shower once a week”), maybe it’s mean (“They didn’t smile enough so I didn’t leave a tip.”), maybe it’s creepy (“I sent like 30 texts yesterday but still no reply.”), just anything that has you feeling like you might want to create some distance because... phew.

It’s kind of similar to the current use of “cringe” as an adjective/noun, though with less of an internet-slang feel* to it, and generally used more as something the speaker is doing rather than describing whatever/whoever is being cringe.

(*I think it started being used popularly in this way in the early-to-mid 90s, with the “don”biki variant specifically popping up around 2005.)

A “Premium Friday” is the last Friday of the month, where you get to leave work at 3 pm. It is largely theoretical.

The idea was created by the Japanese government as a way to reduce working hours and encourage domestic spending (boost demand), but it has not been implemented by all that many employers, and especially not many smaller employers. There isn’t, after all, any mandate or government-provided incentive for doing so.

Evidence from the places that did implement it suggests it is actually good for the economy, but good luck convincing bosses to give extra paid time off.

“Last Friday of the month” was chosen because most people get paid on the 25th each month (Japan tends to pay monthly instead of every two weeks), so it would usually be right after payday, when people are more willing to get spendy.

Kobayashi saying eight hours here reminded me of a “fun” fact: the typical Japanese work day is eight hours plus a one hour break. Plus a one hour break, not with. So a typical work day is actually nine hours. Most commonly 8 to 5 or 9 to 6. Not many “nine-to-fives” here.

The characters for Joui are 上井, which usually read as Kamii or Uwai. It’s “Joui” because that means, when written as 上位, “superior.” As in “a superior life-form.” Like a dragon, say.

でも、ゆっくりやる事業改善案を見せてもらえたじゃない？

This one is actually kind of a critical mistake. In the English it sounds like she’s talking about the improvement proposal that Elma made and that the boss looked at. In the Japanese though, she’s talking about a different plan, one the boss showed them*, that is similar in idea but is going to take longer to be fully implemented**. So we’re being told that while Elma didn’t get what she wanted as fast as she wanted it, it is still basically going through at a slower pace.

*In ”見せてもらえた misete moraeta,” the misete vs mite means they were the ones who got shown something, rather than the ones who got someone to look at their stuff.

**Which you can tell from the ゆっくりやる yukkuri yaru, where yaru is basically “do” and yukkuri means (in this case) at an unhurried pace.

(Re previous note: Hence why she says “immediately” here.)

“Black (ブラック)” and “white (ホワイト)” in the context of Japanese employers refers to how well employees are treated: a company with good benefits/pay, reasonable levels of overtime, and feels safe to work at is “white,” while a company that has excessive overtime, often pays poorly, breaks labor laws, and allows harassment to fester is “black.”

While “white company” was created simply in contrast to the term “black company,” the latter finds its origins in front businesses for organized crime, which were called “black” in the sense of “illegal” (similar to “black market” or something being in a “grey area”). Given the international reputation of Japanese work life, you can imagine that “black company” as a term sees much more use.

There’s been some discussion about maybe replacing it due to the racial implications (especially since it uses the English word “black”), but while typically English translations drop the color for that reason (e.g. ブラック企業大賞, an “award” given to Japan’s worst employer each year, is officially “Most Evil Corporation of the Year Award” in English), it hasn’t really penetrated to the mainstream at this point.

The rice there is in a 飯盒 hangou, a metal container that looks… like that, and is the stereotypical item of choice for cooking rice while camping. It has its origins in the mess kits used by the military, but these days they’re primarily marketed as portable rice cookers for camping use.

You can get round ones too, but the bean shape is very popular.

“Settings” here is 設定 settei, lit. exactly that, “setting(s).” E.g. if you open a computer program and look at the settings menu, it’ll be settei in the Japanese language settings (settei).

I bring it up here because there’s a bit of a difference in how it gets used colloquially like this. In English, the “setting” for a story typically refers to where and when it’s set. In Japanese, “setting” in that sense is usually 舞台 butai. But settei is still used when talking about fiction, just in a different, more expansive way.

Often in these cases settei is used to refer to the various conceits that provide the context in which the story takes place. In this show, for example, one such “setting” is that dragons are real: another is that magic exists. It comes up especially often in fantasy/sci-fi type stuff where there are major distinctions between that universe and the real world—not that stories in a real-world setting don’t have settei of their own, but they often are lumped into descriptions of the plot in that case (”a dragon comes to live with an office worker in her apartment”).

It also refers to the “settings” of characters, like name or age, and things like “they run a bakery that’s going out of business and are trying to save it.” Basically all the details you’d have in a character profile.

It also gets used in conversation to refer to pretend things or (basically) lies: like here, where Saikawa thinks Shouta is playing pretend with his ley-lines talk, or e.g. if someone is trying to tell you some outlandish story (“my uncle works at Nintendo…” or someone asking for love life advice for “their friend”) and you’re just like “Okay so that’s the settei here, I see.”

Not really a big deal, but Elma’s line here in Japanese implies she won’t let Tohru call her that anymore (see her もう mou). Tohru’s response is also more of a “I haven’t been?”, since of course she wasn’t aware of Elma’s-mental-image-Tohru tormenting Elma in the previous scene:

The word for “full of” in the title here is ざんまい zanmai (a suffix form of 三昧 sanmai), usually meaning that there’s a whole lot of [whatever] to immerse oneself in. I mostly bring it up because there’s a famous restaurant chain called Sushi Zanmai that specializes in, obviously, sushi.

And you know, Elma is a water dragon that looks kinda like an eel… I’m just sayin’…

Not really a translation note, but wild that Elma didn’t even touch her parfait. (Not so wild that Fafnir finished his so quickly.) Serious business ahead...

“Genuinely” here is 素直に sunao ni, where the “ni” is used like “-ly” to make sunao work as an adverb. Sunao itself is an interesting word that falls into that category of “simple concept that is often hellish to translate.”

For some context, the first character, 素, is also used in the word 素顔 sugao, which is a face without makeup and 素材 sozai, basically raw ingredients/materials. The second, 直, is used in words like 直線 chokusen, a straight line, or 正直 shoujiki, honest.

Put them together, and you’ve got a word with connotations of directness and being unadorned. The original definition of the word tends toward “simple, natural” in the sense of e.g. life growing up on a rural farm.

The more common use for it these days is to describe people and their actions. Positively, it can mean something similar to a person being happy to help, or kind of like the opposite of conniving; open, frank, genuine. Less positively, it can mean someone is too trusting and easy to trick into doing things OR someone who is “too honest” and says hurtful things.

(If it helps: tsundere characters are often described as explicitly not sunao.)

In this case, the idea is that Tohru accepted the invitation easily as-is, without putting any conditions on it, or doing any “ugh, what a pain, do I have to, jeez” rigamarole—she just accepted. Another way you could put it in this case might be “It’s even more unusual for Tohru to accept an invitation like this without a fuss.”

Just to point out the hand on head thing again.

Also just to point out that this is another example of otsukare, as a reminder of how ubiquitous that word is.

And it makes a good place to end on: thanks for reading!

#maidragon #Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid #kobayashi-san chi no maid dragon #translation notes #anime

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rein-ette · 3 years

Note

If you still fancy a drabble prompt, I've always seen Canada and England having a very warm and comfortable relationship- if it interests you, maybe a prompt could be one going to the other for advice about something?

It does indeed interest me, thank you for the prompt! I've had a bunch of Mattie-Arthur scenarios swimming around in my mind for a long time, so I'm glad to have a chance to put one of them down on paper. As always, this was supposed to be a "drabble" but magically lengthened itself the more I thought about it -- I don't think drabbles are supposed to have historical notes.

"Come in."

Matthew shifted his pile of papers to his other arm and pushed through the door of Arthur's office. Inside, the fading afternoon light illuminated the rich mahogony floor and danced on the spines of the hundreds of books that lined each wall. Remembering the excitement he felt when he was first allowed to peruse these shelves, Matthew couldn't help but smile softly to himself.

Arthur himself sat at his desk, one ankle propped up on his knee as he stared idly out the window. Matthew could just barely see a white trim of bandages that peeked out from underneath his collar. That dimmed his smile. It had been more than two years now since the war had ended in Europe, but Arthur still looked as gaunt as he did during the days when engines still roared over London and — though Matthew had not thought it possible — even more exhausted. The worn smile Arthur offered him said as much, and Matthew pushed away a twinge of guilt.

Arthur jerked his chin at the seat in front of his desk and Matthew sat, stacking his documents in a neat pile in front of him. Instead of immediately going through them, however, he gazed worriedly at his old guardian.

"How are you feeling?"

Arthur sighed and shifted in his seat, dropping his leg and turning to face Matthew. He stared at the ancient, ink-stained wood of his desk for a while, and Matthew could almost see the warring emotions on Arthur's face as his desire to be honest fought with his lingering instinct to conceal and protect Matthew from the worries that plagued him. But because they were past such pretenses, he finally murmured, "Tired."

Matthew hummed sympathetically in response. There wasn't much he could do or say to change that, and he expected the reports he brought would only exhaust Arthur further. So he merely asked, "Are you remembering to apply the salve twice a day?"

Matthew flushed a little when Arthur rolled his eyes at him good-naturedly, realizing he was fussing like Arthur was his child, instead of the other way around. Thankfully, Arthur spared him further embarrasment by only answering a tad dryly that yes, he was actually capable of following simple instructions. Matthew mumbled out a reply before deciding that he might as well get on with what he was actually here for, knowing Arthur had never been one for small talk. Clearing his throat, he slid the top half of his stack of papers across the desk.

"They sent you a copy of Lord Mountbatten's plan, I think with annotations, though I haven't gone through the whole thing. And this part is the proposal for the national flag. Also," he pulled a cream letter from the pile and passed that over as well, "India asked that you be there personally, in August," he finished.

Arthur hummed and rifled through the papers. Matthew couldn't quite read his expression. After a few moments, he stacked them again and placed them to the side, with the letter on top. "Thanks. I'll go through them later."

Matthew nodded. "And here I just summarized the letters and stuff from the others. I've left them back in the box, in case you wanted to read them yourself. There's not too much going on really. That you don't already know."

"Yes. Thank you. This is a great help, Matthew, truly."

"You're welcome," Matthew murmured, and watched Arthur scan the notes before setting them aside as well. His eyes traced the shadows underneath the other nation's eyes, before dropping back down to the cotton bandages around his neck. He wondered if Arthur was sleeping at all.

"Is there anything else I can do? I'm heading back to Ottawa next week, but if you need me to take over some stuff for a bit, I can stay longer —"

"No, no, it's fine," Arthur cut him off. "Like I said, I'm just a little tired, that's all. But all this," he waved a hand at the documents , "isn't anything new."

Matthew frowned. "Isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I know the paperwork isn't new, but, these," he drew a breath, "reforms, and the war, of course. That's — I mean. No one's, you know, had to deal with that, before."

Arthur frowned, and traced a finger along the edge of his desk, before sighing, "No, I guess not." He turned again to look out the window behind him. After several long moments, he said, quietly, "But it's not entirely unexpected, either. I just—" The corner of his lips jerked down, and for a moment it seemed as if he was almost in pain. He drew in a breath, and said, "It's just. Difficult. That's all. To—but." He stopped again, grimaced, as if at his own ineloquence. Finally, he said, slowly, as carefully as if he was embroidering the words onto the air between them, "The world is changing. Let us not stand in the way, lest they make us out to be fools."

Watching him struggle, Matthew found himself at a loss as well. Never had he imagined that Arthur — sharp-tongued, quick-witted Arthur, who could neither be bullied nor silenced, who could quote from more books than Matthew had ever read — would be scrambling for words. But then, as he watched Arthur's shoulders curve in towards himself like Matthew had seen a thousand times before in another stubborn, sandy-haired nation who also seemed to have endless words but never quite the right ones, he knew what he needed to do.

Smiling again, Matthew stood, drawing on Arthur's arm so he would turn to face him and said, "I think you need a hug."

Unnecessarily Long Notes are Unnecessarily Long

I didn't state the specific setting of this scene, but the timing of the historical events mentioned means it has to have been sometime between June and August of 1947. Despite the fact that Mattie says "not much is going on", my lord, a lot was going on in 1947; hence why Artie is doing his best impression of the walking dead. Besides the Indian and Pakistan independence movement, officially achieved in August 1947 which is alluded to (Mountbatten, or 3 June Plan, was the precursor to the Indian Independence Act of 1947), Europe was also going through complete social upheaval. To mention just a couple highlights: Germany was in such ruin it was said to have returned to the Roman ages, Britain was rationing harder than ever despite the war having ended, and of course Mr. Truman and Mr. Stalin were gearing up for the Great Showdown. A quote I like which captures the feeling of the time is from H.G. Wells: "[where] other civilizations rolled and crumbled down, the European civilization was, as it were, blown up." [quoted by Tony Judt, Postwar]. Also directly concerning Arthur was the issue of Palestine, which as we all know was and is contentious, to say the very least.

Arthur's attitude to decolonisation is...complicated. Clearly I went with a softer view here, but certainly not all (or even many) British held the view in 1947 that the Empire should be decolonized at all. Hence Arthur during this time was probably a raging hypocrite and, if he wasn't already, at least 50% psychologically unstable. However, I allowed Arthur a little dignity here, in part because he's 2000 years old and as such should have a tiny more perspective than us humans, and also because the weakness of the Empire was much more evident to those in government and the army. Even if it wasn't popular opinion yet, anyone with half a braincell could see that every day Britian didn't decolonize was costing them more than they could afford. Additionally, Britain did decolonise much, much faster than all the other powers and in a relatively peaceful and orderly manner, though what ensued in the countries they left behind was neither. I should also add that Matthew is not the most objective of narrators either -- Canada, despite being a former colony, was still strongly Anglophilic, especially right after WWII. Still, I hope ya'll won't begrudge Arthur a hug.

#hws england #hws canada #fic #ask #rainbowfruitpastilles #needcake i'm working on urs next #ngl urs is kinda hard #but thats what practice is about #in the meantime send more asks :D #this is fun #fun times with the commonwealth

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