#parental controls

For chapters 1 and 2:

If someone were to claim this to be the worst day in Leo’s life, they wouldn’t be wrong. They’d be forgetting one detail about it, though. While this was, in fact, the worst day of his life, it was also by far the weirdest.

In the span of twenty-four hours, Leo had beaten the pizza stack record, discovered a new catchphrase, met a teen who came from an apocalyptic future caused by Leo and was trained by Leo’s future self only to be sent back in time because Leo and everyone else in the world had died because of him to warn the family of the coming apocalypse, watched Raph get captured by the Kraang protecting him , discovered these aliens could mutate people and things, had his ninpo locked away, unlocked it when he helped Raph defeat the Kraang parasite, willingly trapped himself into an inescapable dimension with a homicidal alien, and then felt a tug on his ninpo pulling him out of it only for him to pop up at Hueso’s with his injuries magically healed and Hueso panicking and then Raph showed up and—

…

Leo should be dead. He knew that. He hoped that his brothers would be able to figure out a way to free him, he knew that if anyone could it would be them, but…

Well.

He wasn’t an idiot. He knew that by the time they’d figured it out, he probably wouldn’t be in any… good. Condition. He knew what closing that portal meant for him. But he also knew that there wasn’t any other option— not any that would work in time. It’s not like they’d miss him anyway.

But suddenly he was back. And he was ok. Better than ok, actually, he felt as though the past twenty-four hours hadn’t passed at all. Which in itself was a red flag because Prime packed one hell of a punch pizza SUPREME it had hurt.

Yet he felt fine, now.

Then Hueso had dropped his pizza at the sight of Leo. He could’ve sworn that he started crying. Leo was confused, trying to figure out why he wasn’t hurt anymore, trying to figure out how he’d gotten out, he’d hardly noticed the fact that the restaurant was empty. Run of the Mill was never empty.

Hueso hadn’t given him much chance to dwell on it, however. After a chaotic minute of confused screaming, Hueso had ushered Leo to his usual table, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, and put a pot of tea on to boil. He stepped into another room to make a call, presumably to Leo’s family to let him know he was safe.

Leo took the chance to take stock of his body.

He felt… strange. Light. Like gravity wasn’t quite there anymore. Which felt really backwards? Gravity was so small in the Prison Dimension, being back should feel heavier, even if he hadn’t gotten much chance to fully adapt to the Prison’s physics. And of course there was the complete and total lack of injuries.

…Karai hadn’t been injured when they freed her from the Shadow Realm, right? Just tired. But she’d also been trapped for a thousand or so years. Leo had only been in there for five or so minutes.

Hueso came back, an unreadable expression on his face. He set a cup of tea in front of Leo, then sat in the booth across from him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Leo opened his mouth to say something, when—

The portal whirled to life. Hueso startled, Leo spun around to look and was greeted by the large (large large large too large why is he so large) form of his eldest brother. He just. Stood there. Staring. Eyes— eye. Wide. Breathing heavy. At least he wasn’t crying— oh, no, there were tears, ok, wow.

“Raphie!” Leo called out. “Thank pizza supreme, I’m so glad you’re here. Hueso’s acting weird, he won’t tell me anything about what’s going on. Mind explaining? Why are we at Hueso’s, anyway? Raph? …Raph?”

Raph didn’t say anything. He just.

He just kept staring.

Leo slowly got up from the seat, letting the blanket fall from his shoulders.

“Pepino, wait—” Hueso began, getting up from his seat as well. He was interrupted by the portal coming to life again, and out popped… Sunita? Dang, Leo’d only seen her like, twice before.

“Raph, wait, calm down…” she started saying, running up to him. She froze mid-step when she saw Leo. She gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth, only serving to confuse him further.

“Raph,” Leo said seriously. “Raph. What’s going on?”

He didn’t.

Blink.

The portal opened again.

Mikey came running in.

Leo had to take a step back, because…

…

Mikey did not have hair. Mikey was not his height.

“Sunita, what’s going on? Donnie said something about Le…Leo…”

Mikey froze in his tracks as well. His eyes flew wide open in horror.

“Leo?” He gasped, strangled, horrified, disbelieving, but at least he acknowledged him, and at this point that was the best Leo was going to get, right??

“Mikey,” Leo said in response. Calmly. So calmly. He took a deep breath. “…nice hair?”

Mikey whined. His hands flew up to his mouth, mirroring Sunita’s expression. He took a step back.

“Oh. Oh. Ohmigosh… Leo…”

“That’s my name,” Leo agreed. Mikey took another step back.

“I… I have to… he can’t…”

Mikey didn’t get a chance to finish, because the portal opened a fourth time. This time the visitor came running. It was a blur of gray, green, and purple, and the next thing Leo knew he was being gripped by strong hands at his shoulders, holding him at arms length, red and blue eyes staring into his own.

Leo had never wanted to escape from Donnie’s grip before. Touch had always been a complicated topic with his twin. He liked hugs just fine, as long as he knew they were coming. A common rule with him was to let him initiate the contact, and that rarely happened, so physical affection with Donnie was few and far between. That made it something to be cherished. Eye contact was even rarer. Pure, focused attention from Donnie was something special, something precious. Especially for Leo.

But this was different.

Donnie was… he was so much taller? They’d always been about the same height. And his entire body was wrapped in metal, like a full body brace to built to support him.

He wasn’t wearing his battle shell, he was wearing Leo’s sweatshirt. Leo’s. He only did that when he needed extra comfort. And it looked so much more worn than it usually did. Like Donnie had been wearing it nonstop for a while, which didn’t make sense. The invasion had only been five minutes ago (though Leo was becoming less sure of that by the second).

…He wasn’t wearing his mask either. His goggles were around his neck rather than resting on his head.

This felt wrong. Everything about this felt wrong, and Leo wanted to get away from this whole situation. But Donnie’s grip was firm. Almost painful.

“…It worked,” Donnie finally breathed. “Pizza supreme… It worked..”

“Donnie.” Mikey’s voice was firm, but shaky. He sounded… scared. “What worked.”

Donnie didn’t respond. But he slowly removed his hands from around Leo’s shoulders.

“Donnie.”

Leo startled at the sound of Raph’s voice. It seemed he was finally out of his strange stupor.

Donnie’s shoulders hunched in towards himself at his name. He seemed determined to stare at the floor and only the floor.

“Donnie,” Raph said again, quieter but not any less firm. “What did you do.”

It wasn’t a question.

“…I did what Mikey could not,” Donnie said eventually. Mikey made another noise, like he was being strangled. “I got him back.”

————————————————————————

“I’ve gotta get going, G,” April said for likely the tenth time. Gentry whined, tightening her grip around April’s arm.

“Aw, c’mon Apes, just five more minutes?”

“You said that five minutes ago,” April laughed, leaning over and planting a kiss on Gentry’s forehead. “Who’d‘ve guessed a goth witch would be so clingy?” She teased.

“You say anything and you’ll be finding wyrms in your socks for a month,” Gentry warned.

“But seriously,” April continued, sitting up. “You know why I have to get going.”

“Yeah, I do…” Gentry sighed, following April’s lead. “And I’m not asking you not to go. I just… I don’t like how you get when you see them, April. You’re so muted. You’re working on healing, and they’re not.”

“Everybody heals at their own paces,” she defended, turning away from Gentry. “You of all people should know that. And Mikey’s doing really well these days! Raph’s got a job and everything, you should see the two of them, I’m so proud of them.”

“…And Donnie?”

Even after all this time, Gentry’s voice darkened at the mention of his name.

Their relationship wasn’t perfect. But they stuck it out, they worked on it, set up boundaries. Donnie was the messiest one, though.

“…it’s complicated,” April said slowly. “You know that.”

Gentry was silent for a moment. April heard the bed creak, and then Gentry was hugging her from behind, her head resting on April’s shoulder.

“Keep me updated?” She whispered. April turned her head to kiss her cheek.

“I will,” she whispered back.

Gentry pulled away from April, allowing her to get up and gather her stuff to leave.

“And promise to leave if it gets too much, ok? Don’t hurt yourself for their sake. Please.”

“I promise,” April replied, shooting Gentry a shy smile that she returned. April grabbed her phone, only to see that she had… three? Oh, wow, three missed calls. One from Sunita, one from Mikey, and one from…

“Donnie?” April murmured. Donnie never called her these days.

They each left voice mails. Sunita’s was the most detailed, explaining something about Hueso calling and telling Raph to get over there early. It had something to do with Leo.

Mikey’s was slightly panicked, as he was racing to get there before Donnie. “If it’s serious, it won’t be good. I hope it’s nothing, but Hueso wouldn’t call if it wasn’t serious, so… just be ready, yeah?”

Donnie’s was short and sweet. “I’m assuming you’re aware Hueso has summoned us. And if this is what I think it is…

…

Get here. Now.”

“Everything ok?” Gentry asked.

“Yeah,” April replied, pocketing her phone. “Yeah… I uh. I need to go, now. I’ll talk to you when I get home.”

Gentry clearly knew she was lying. She didn’t call her out on it.

————————————————————————

I’m being paranoid.

CJ pulled his knees to his chest, refusing to look over at the lump on the recliner beside him.

It’s been exactly a year now.

The television kept playing. He didn’t really like the television.

It’s just in my head. I didn’t really feel him…

The television.

Stopped.

Casey’s breath caught. The television hadn’t stopped playing in nearly a year, now.

I’m being paranoid…

He looked over at Splinter. His hand was on the remote, frozen, mouth agape, eyes wide.

…

No way.

Jack Walker at The Advocate:

A new mobile phone network that launched this week claims to block LGBTQ+ content from subscribers to its phone plans. Radiant Mobile is a Christian mobile phone network that will operate on the T-Mobile network, seeking to deliver “faith-focused mobile service,” according to the company’s website. The company launched on Tuesday with support from the Israeli cybersecurity firm Allot, and is believed to be the first mobile plan aimed at blocking content it deems as harmful from users, British newspaper The Independent reported. Paul Fisher, founder of Radiant Mobile, previously told MIT Technology Review that he wanted to create a service “void of LGBT” and “void of trans.” “We are going to create, and we think we have every right to do so, an environment that is Jesus-centric,” he said.

The company says it aims to restrict access to what it describes as “harmful content,” including LGBTQ+ material, pornography, and explicit content. Even on more general websites, that includes blocking specific webpages that include LGBTQ+ content. Radiant Mobile places particular emphasis on parental controls, echoing rhetoric commonly used by opponents of LGBTQ+ rights who argue that exposure to LGBTQ+ people or issues is harmful to children. The company’s website says parents will be able to customize security settings for each child, block entire social media platforms such as TikTok, and prevent children from using VPNs to bypass restrictions. Radiant Mobile did not immediately return The Advocate’s request for comment.

Radiant Mobile, a new Christian conservative mobile wireless network that uses T-Mobile’s towers, will block LGBTQ+-related content on its phones without a way to undo them.

See Also:

1. Child safety that requires verifying the age of the child has been exploited before and it will happen again. This allows people to precisely target specific age ranges instead of being a hit or miss hoping to get a child. Look at YouTube kids from a few years ago.

I know everybody says not use reddit or wikipedia as sources but we all know that's where we go when we need information so here's this too

2. Prosecution for the perpetrators. If lawmakers actually care about the children, they need to buckle down on prosecuting the people who target children with harmful content or actions. Right now, I am seeing very little consequence for this behavior. If we prosecuted the pedophiles we already know about, and worked on hunting down new ones when they show up, they would be afraid to do anything in the first place.

3. This is not only a threat on everybody's privacy, but I personally believe it is also a threat to education. These laws are primarily focused on the private home and I have heard nothing about school or library computers. With the general age range system, schools could still provide the age range and be fine, but if you have to show a government ID card, credit card, or some other form of personal identification to all operating systems, how are schools and libraries used by the general public supposed to function without lying to the system which could get them in legal trouble? Also, this could make it so the government can decide children (and adults too) are not fit for viewing potentially disturbing educational content like history, sex ed, and any other subject they don't want us learning about. They would be able to block the content from the devices themselves. And even if they can't just through these laws, it is only a matter of time till they come up with a way to do so anyway.

4. I find it very suspicious that this is all going on at the same time big tech companies are trying to build data centers (or if we're being accurate, personal information storage centers).

5. I am going to get biblical here, so if you don't care about that (even though it is insanely relevant), skip this section. The Bible directly mentions a time where you will not be able to buy or sell without "the mark of the beast" which indicates participation in the beasts system.

Revelation 13:16-17 ESV

[16] Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, [17] so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

https://bible.com/bible/59/rev.13.16-17.ESV

(you can also look this up on Bible gateway because I think that link will try to get you to download the Bible app that I use)

This age verification law would prevent us from accessing our bank accounts, among other important accounts from our phones and computers unless we have a form of ID and participate in the system (which I can pull many other verses from revelation that almost perfectly describe the US system and other places in the world, which is terrifying, but that's for another post.)

6. Parents have an obligation to monitor what their children are watching and doing on devices, who they're interacting with, etc. The problem is, way too many parents have gotten lazy about this or believe the protections in place are enough so they don't have to put in the effort. I know kids don't like being monitored, but it's for their own good. Helicoptering isn't necessary, but having honest and raw conversations with your child about their Internet usage and being a safe space for them to come to if they have any problems or questions is imperative.

7. All these laws about protecting the children are putting the spotlight on children and bring more attention to them, putting them in the faces of the people who want to harm them. I have seen a lot of laws about "protecting the children" that are at their core, a severe breach of privacy and bordering on blatant personal information collection and/or identity theft. Not to mention heading towards surveillance that would infringe on free speech rights and put us all in danger of being victims of government overreach.

8. We can fight back. We can contact lawmakers, do research, spread information and our opinions, and make a big noise about our thoughts on this.

My mom automatically sees any number I call or text (Goodbyee abuse hotline, queer youth hotline or like. any mental health hotline)

the only app i have past 8 pm is spotify

it automatically texts my mom wjen i send “nude photos” (aka whatever the shitty ai deems nude photos, such as a minecraft screenshot from 2 years ago. like you cant make this up)

i dont have Any form of search engine on phone

Not allowed to listen to any music marked explicit on spotify. Not allowed to listen to music on any platform except spotify .

imNOT ALLOWED TO PLAY MINECRAFT ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU CAN TALK TO PEOPPE ON THERE IM GOIGN TO THROW SOMETHIG. I JUST WANT TO PLAY MINECRAFT DUDEEE

Can’t download, delete, or update apps

So um.

My younger aunt just delete my IbisPaint, Discord, Pinterest, and my email account and eventually turned on 'Parental controls' to avoid me from downloading it back in my grandmother's phone.

Now I can't work anything while I'm on a damn website — look through anything such like ships, fandoms and stuff.