Let's Play Fair and Square!

fireballpitcher:

That had Magnum smothering a laugh of his own, as he shook his head at Topjoy’s ideas. Then again, from what he’d heard, Topjoy wouldn’t exactly want to stay at Dark for long. Not that he could be blamed.

Still, it was time to go, and he gave Juurouta a final pat on the shoulder, before moving off to get the week started.

He just hoped it would go by quickly.

One boring, two hour long trip later, the group of four finally found themselves in a room with four recharge slabs as well as a large TV, an intercom and what looks to be a private shower.

“They really did plan this all out…” Top Joy muttered as they looked around. “Wasn’t this just a maintenance room when any of us was here last?”

“I guess they had to remodel it with the situation and all…” Windy said, being…ok he wouldn’t say ‘mildly’ but he was concerned about the situation considering Girochi somehow planned this far ahead. The same man that tried to plan how to beat the team a year or two ago!

Magnum may have dozed off, just a bit, on the drive over.

Still, the room is...far more furnished than he thought it would be. He hadn’t been expecting this level of preparedness, and was caught off guard. This would have taken at least a full day, even with Dark’s crew, to flush out. Two hours would not have been enough time. So, like Topjoy said, it was like they had this all planned out before today.

fireballpitcher:

“Good luck, we won’t be away too long.” Magnum replied, as he followed everyone else out, hoping what he said was true. He really didn’t want to be gone for long.

Still, he nodded along, as Windy and GZ went over the situation of where they would be staying. While it was true that they were separated by sports, at Dark, it was also true that they were only there temporarily. So, there would be no reason to show them off, or kick others off their beds. He did hope that Windy was the correct one; he didn’t want to be separated from his team.

“They were…” it did look a bit bleak, but Dark was known for jumping the gun a bit. Though they may have been banking on Silver Castle not being able to pay for the fees a lawyer would ask for, to defend them.

“We will, don’t worry.” he patted Bull on the shoulder, as he and the others got ready to leave.

“I still stay by my statement of ‘we can sneak away back here’!” Top Joy grinned. “I mean, yeah we’re technically staying there for a week but there’s nothing about them saying we can have a sleep over or two with our actual team, right?”

“You would be trying to find loopholes,” Juurouta chuckled before sighing. “I’ll try to comm you all as well once I get to where I’m staying.”

That had Magnum smothering a laugh of his own, as he shook his head at Topjoy’s ideas. Then again, from what he’d heard, Topjoy wouldn’t exactly want to stay at Dark for long. Not that he could be blamed.

Still, it was time to go, and he gave Juurouta a final pat on the shoulder, before moving off to get the week started.

Hey did you know that there’s mind invasion in The Last Jedi? Prowl didn’t! He does now!

He does not, however, know what happens afterwards.

The European Union is planning to censor the internet - but it’s much worse than the Net Neutrality in USA.

Article 13 is a provision in the proposed EU Copyright Directive mandating that all content uploaded to the internet be monitored and potentially deleted if a likeness to existing copyrighted content is detected. This provision will be voted on by the end of 2018. Find out more from C4C, Copybuzz and Save the Link. Whether a creator or a consumer, everyone who uses the internet will be affected by this law — which is why we all need to speak out against it. If you are a creator or independent business, the content that you upload to share with your audience might be deleted without your consent. Creators include but are not limited to artists –such as cartoonists, gamers, illustrators, photographers, documentary filmmakers, animators, musicians, DJs, and dancers,– bloggers, journalists, and technologists. Online platforms will be required to implement complex and expensive filtering systems and will be held liable for copyright infringement, potentially incurring fines that threaten their economic viability. Article 13 would restrict the ability of Internet users to consume content – meaning they won’t be able to find and enjoy diverse kinds of cultural expressions that they have grown accustomed to. The days of communicating through gifs and memes, listening to our favourite remixes online or sharing videos of our friends singing at karaoke might be coming to an end. Ultimately, the internet culture that has emerged in recent years – a culture that enables connections and democratises information – will become bureaucratic and restrictive.

While reconciling a tangle of copyright rules makes sense, the way it is playing out could be disastrous for everyone. Julia Reda, a German member of the European Parliament, has repeatedly warned of the negative consequences of the pending legislation as an “attack on the hyperlink.”

The law has two major problems according to Reda:

-Link tax: The law would require permission and potentially licensing fees to embed links in a piece of digital content, unless there’s a copyright exception. Europe does not really have a formal fair use doctrine. This essentially operates as a “link tax.”

-Aggressive copyright takedown rules: Platforms would be liable for infringements by users, with some exceptions. Accordingly, content sites (e.g., music and video) would likely be compelled to proactively scan uploaded content before publishing to make sure it didn’t violate copyright rules — resulting in potential censorship.

fireballpitcher:

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. But good luck just in case.” they were a soccer team, and they did have all of their members there…but no one to trade out if injuries occurred. He really hoped that they wouldn’t have a game before their time was up, if only so Silver Castle had players to trade in and out.

“…oh. I thought Carl pitched last time, while I was down? Why not have him try his hand at it again?” last he heard before he switched in to that game. Though…he wouldn’t blame Carl if he didn’t want to pitch again, given that the only time he had, he had been attacked by the other team for doing so. Still…the Lavender had held out against them, so that was promising. Maybe move Rinky to first base, and put Silky as shortstop…and get his mind back to the conversation at hand.

“When, yes. It will be. But for now, we just have to get over this.” he smiled, as he both saw and heard Juurouta relax. They were going to get through this.

“That is true…we’ll go over it during practice….and drag Jake to it for once,” Ryuuken muttered before shaking his head. “We’ll miss you guys and hopefully they’ll keep you busy this week so it’ll go by fast.”

“Eh, if not we’ll sneak out and join you guys for practice,” Top Joy winked, grinning widely as GZ started heading for the door. “And we’ll look out for each other!”

“My only concern is where we’re staying in the building….” GZ muttered, opening the door and started filing out with the others. “With all of us in different sports we may be placed with those teams during our stay.”

Windy rolled his eyes. “I doubt it because then the players would find out the moment we step into their recharge chambers, not to mention that we’d end up kicking someone out of a bed since those things aren’t movable since they’re screwed to the ground,” he pointed out. “We’ll probably be placed elsewhere,” the striker added, silently hoping that was correct.

The group made their way outside where one bus with Dark’s logo was waiting for them and one car being driven by one of Segal’s servants sat beside it, having plenty of room to hold Juurouta inside. “They really were anticipating this…” Bull murmured. “You guys comm us once you’re settled and know what’s going on, ok?”

“Good luck, we won’t be away too long.” Magnum replied, as he followed everyone else out, hoping what he said was true. He really didn’t want to be gone for long.

Still, he nodded along, as Windy and GZ went over the situation of where they would be staying. While it was true that they were separated by sports, at Dark, it was also true that they were only there temporarily. So, there would be no reason to show them off, or kick others off their beds. He did hope that Windy was the correct one; he didn’t want to be separated from his team.

“They were...” it did look a bit bleak, but Dark was known for jumping the gun a bit. Though they may have been banking on Silver Castle not being able to pay for the fees a lawyer would ask for, to defend them.

Sources: http://ow.ly/HsGP10168R5

Sign the Petition: https://saveyourinternet.eu/

fireballpitcher:

“Exactly.” he nodded, after Bull’s comment, tilting his head down to hide his own smile as Topjoy continued to try and lighten the mood. The basketball leaguer could be counted on to do that.

“One week, and then we all can put this behind us.” he gave Juurouta’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before taking a step back. They had to be going…even if it was only for a short time. He really didn’t want to be going anywhere, but their hands were tied in this situation.

“…has anyone informed those not in the room?”

“I have,” Ryuuken answered, raising a hand. “I sent messages the first chance I got to them once Segal left the room. They told me that if any games come up in the next week, they’ll do their best to fill your spots. Though they seem to be wanting me to pitch if we do baseball?”

“One week….you four stay safe while you’re over there,” Juurouta said, relaxing a tiny bit at the reassuring squeeze. “And if…and when we see each other again, I hope it’s under better circumstances than this last week has been.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that. But good luck just in case.” they were a soccer team, and they did have all of their members there...but no one to trade out if injuries occurred. He really hoped that they wouldn’t have a game before their time was up, if only so Silver Castle had players to trade in and out.

“...oh. I thought Carl pitched last time, while I was down? Why not have him try his hand at it again?” last he heard before he switched in to that game. Though...he wouldn’t blame Carl if he didn’t want to pitch again, given that the only time he had, he had been attacked by the other team for doing so. Still...the Lavender had held out against them, so that was promising. Maybe move Rinky to first base, and put Silky as shortstop...and get his mind back to the conversation at hand.

“I…I know,” the kendo leaguer murmured. He knows that they’re worried about him, about him leaving. About being stuck and never returning. He doesn’t want that to happen either but this felt like this was the only option. Or the only possible outcome and he just couldn’t shake it off and- He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “…I…I guess I’m just worried after the last few meetings with Segal and….I didn’t know he would do that, that he would pull the Owner card on you as well and-”

“Then we probably would’ve ran the first chance we got if Girochi didn’t do that Owner return thing,” Top Joy pointed out. “I mean, we’ve face worst stuff and right now we’re worried about you and how….weirdly ok you are with this? Or like…”

Bull placed a hand on Juurouta’s other shoulder. “What he’s trying to say is, we’ve never seen you just…give up like this. And Magnum’s right, we’re going to be worried no matter what you say or what happens because you’re part of this family,” he said.

Top Joy tapped his chin. “Does that make him the emo brother or-OW!” he yelped getting lightly punched in the arm by GZ.

“I didn’t punch you that hard.”

“But still!” he argued, a small smile twitching on Juurouta’s lips as he watched.

“Exactly.” he nodded, after Bull’s comment, tilting his head down to hide his own smile as Topjoy continued to try and lighten the mood. The basketball leaguer could be counted on to do that.

“One week, and then we all can put this behind us.” he gave Juurouta’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before taking a step back. They had to be going...even if it was only for a short time. He really didn’t want to be going anywhere, but their hands were tied in this situation.

Ruri watched as the others ex-Dark members slowly nod in agreement. Just one week, they figured. Hopefully no more… she shook her head before looking back at Girochi. She hated all of this but she didn’t have a choice… “Looks like we’re all in agreement,” she said, glaring at Segal. She’ll get her family back if it’s the last thing she do!

Windy growled as Segal stood up and dusted off some nonexistent dirt as his servants were already going to open the door. His rage was mixed with despair as he watched Juurouta silently follow the humans out the door. This…. “Juurouta! How are you ok with this?? After everything?!” he blurted out, stepping towards him. “How can you be ok??”

Juurouta sighed softly. “Who says I am? Besides, I’ll be fine. You guys are fine, that’s what matters in the long run.” 

“Can you guys stop pulling a Magnum??” Top Joy asked, moving away from the group to approach the other two. “Look, you have…every right to be upset! It’s ok to show it!”

Girochi awkwardly cleared his throat as Edmund escorted the humans out. “We’ll be outside. Segal saw it fit to get vehicles to transport you but I’m sure that he’ll allow a minute or two for goodbyes.”

“Not goodbyes, more like ‘see you later’!” Top Joy argued as the rest of the humans left the room, leaving only the leaguers.

Magnum shot Topjoy a mildly offended look, as he put a hand on Windy’s shoulder. Since when did he become a term? And he had a very good idea of what it meant too, without the following explanation. He wasn’t...he was getting better. Slowly. Sheesh.

“It’s only a week. That’s...not too long. But it’s worth it.” he sighed, before shaking his head, “Juurouta, we’re worried for you.” he dropped his hand, pulling away from Windy again, to approach the kendo leaguer, “Yes, we’re going to be fine, but we can’t say the same for you. And that worries us.” he placed his hand on the kendo leaguer’s shoulder, squeezing slightly, “And you’re not going to talk us out of it, either. You’re family, and that means we’re going to worry about your well-being.” he added, grinning slightly, as he did so.

::I know…:: Windy said, squeezing his shoulder tightly. ::There has to be something….:: It was hard to think of something to counter his argument and by the looks of it, Ruri was struggling to think of something too.

Girochi sighed, leaning forward in his seat. “How about we come back in a week when I return the Leaguers? Segal can take home Juurouta, I take the ones that are still under my name and we will all return within one week,” he suggested. Segal started to protest before Girochi glared at him. “You don’t have to return the Leaguer, but seeing how you drag me into this, the least you can do is entertain me by allowing the Leaguer in question to stay in your home for a week and consider if everything was worth it while he’s there. Understood?”

Segal scowled and crossed his arms. “Crystal.”

“Good. Now then. Miss Ginjo? I know that today has probably been hard for you and everyone, but I need you to let me take the Leaguers back to Dark. It’ll only be for the next week since they’re all technically under my company’s name. Is that alright?”

Ruri bit her bottom lip as she looked around the room, not sure how to react. “One….one week.”

“One week. So you can get all the Leaguers back at the same time. If Magnum’s contract is difficult to retrieve, I might have to make a few adjustments on the stay, but I will return in one week and any week that it may take with a report.”

“I….If everyone else is ok with the conditions, I’ll accept.”

There was no answer, as Magnum tried to push his temper down. It wasn’t something he was used to, having his temper flare like this on him was worrying. Still, he let Windy’s grip center him, to pull himself away from the anger that threatened his rational thought.

Though, with Girochi’s announcement, he felt that anger die, as he realized that they would be going back to Dark. Not for long, thankfully, but...they still would be there.

While Girochi tried to get his contract back.

He really needed to not think of that. Not now. He didn’t need to worry if it could be done or not. Panic later. When things were stable. Not now, he was still in front of Segal, and he didn’t want the boy to think that he had any more leverage than he did.

Prowl and Soundwave are Completely Frigging Exhausted.

On the bright side, Prowl figured out that he can send his alternate visual feeds of the movie so she can watch too.

so there was a fucking eruption yall

about 20 minutes ago a huge spout broke out on the road

@ anyone living in leilani estates in pahoa hawaii please be safe and get outta there

edit: there is now an aerial shot and holy shit its way bigger that i thought

PLEASE evacuate if possible.

If you haven’t seen the news articles or channels yet, the Big Island’s volcano Kilauea erupted and is now causing earthquakes and fissures in the southern side of the island.

For more information, google is your friend, but also here is how to donate to the Red Cross and if you live on the other side of the island or in any way get the opportunity in the area to donate to the shelters currently housing the evacuees, they need pillows and towels the most and cannot accept clothing items or non-canned/shelf stable foods.

At this point, ‘antis’ need to be zero platformed within fandom communities

Full stop

When we see people doxxing, harassing, or otherwise treating a real-life human like garbage because they wrote something awful in fiction, we need to close ranks and shut these fuckers out

Delete their comments, don’t respond to their messages, don’t reblog their shit even to argue with them

Report them as abusive comments, report their blogs for harassment

Ban them from your Tumblr, ban them from your fucking discord

Just shut this fuckery down

And yes, this is going to take work because antis have made it harder to have honest conversations about safety 

We’re going to have to be suspicious of whispernet asks 

We’re going to have to look for context, details, dates and times, and even motives why someone is spreading a rumor

We’re going to have to remember that screenshots can be faked, stories can be invented, and most of all that depicting something in fiction is not the same as performing that action in real life

Because I swear to God if I ever log in again and see some fucker claiming that an artist is a real life ‘abuser’ simply because they drew a fucking cartoon, I’m going to lose my shit

How fucking dare you

How fucking dare you act like something two dimensional is exactly the same as shit many of us have experienced in real life

And then you get to have fun playing judge, jury, and executioner 

News flash, you insipid assholes: bad people don’t come with helpful little warning labels like “draws a certain pairing”

You know them by their actions

And antis’ actions are fucked up, and affecting real people, and I am done acting like they shouldn’t have consequences because we’re afraid they’ll come for us too

“While I admit that my father is proof of this for the last few years or so, if I were to bring this to court, the law would end up being in my favor! Let’s face it, this is one battle you can’t win, Magnum. No matter how much you struggle, no matter how much you wish for the opposite to happen, it’s clear that neither of us plans to back down and I have the advantage,” Segal said, having an edge in his voice.

Edmund and Girochi shared a look before they both sighed. “So what you’re saying is that if you take it to court, we’ll lose,” Edmund said. “That’s your only advantage.”

“In more ways than one….tell me, does your team have the finances to hire a lawyer? To pay for whatever legal fees? I’m sure my father could lend you a few but at the same time I doubt they’ll be cheap to afford, especially if he has to deal with the company that wants Magnum’s contract at the same time and of course there’s probably what little fans you have that might start looking at you in a different light if it were to be made public,” Segal shrugged, gaining some composure as he watched Ruri bite her bottom lip. With the lack of financial aid to keep the team running, there’s no way they could afford that route…

“I’m simply offering the less painful method: give me Juurouta and your team will come out unharmed.”

::Bastard:: Windy growled over the intercom to the others as he placed a hand on Magnum’s shoulder. He wasn’t going to pull him back, but he was going to at least let him know that he wasn’t alone in his anger.

Magnum tried to keep the philosophy that everyone deserved a chance...but Segal was making it very difficult to keep to that. The bubbling anger was not a feeling he liked, but it was there, and it was only his strong willpower that kept him from acting on it.