A Cup Full Of Dragons

1) Figured this out.

It was written as a parody of the fairly corrupt Japanese legal system, exaggerated for both humour and gameplay reasons, giving us such lovely gems as:

They don't have manslaughter

It's never stated outright to my knowledge, but it's generally implied that the penalty for murder is universally or near-universally the death penalty

Trials are legally mandated to go on no longer than three days, no matter how complicated they can get. The lab analysis for a poison isn't completed in three days? You can't use it in the poisoning trial. Your witness can't be tracked down on the last day? We go to the verdict without their testimony.

Everyone is assumed guilty until proven innocent. The defense attorney has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, within 3 days, that their client could not possibly be guilty, or they're gonna get a GUILTY verdict

In practical terms, this means that if your client is innocent, you have to not only prove that but usually find the actual killer within the three days to show it's a different person. This isn't officially mandated as part of the defense's duties but in pretty much every case it's what Phoenix has to do to exonerate his client, even if he's otherwise proven the killer couldn't be (or is extremely unlikely to be) his client.

Both sides can just show up to the courtroom with new evidence and demand it's accepted as evidence during the trial. There's no verification process for this and no requirement that the other side has access to it pre-trial. You can show up with a letter in hand and halfway through the trial be like "this letter was found in the victim's apartment!" and it becomes part of the case then and there.

There are no restrictions on where or how you can find evidence. You, a defense attorney who doesn't work for the police force and has no equivalent of warrant law, can break into a witness' house and steal evidence from his personal safe to show in court the next day. This is not a crime apparently.

It's normal and accepted that the prosecution will coach all witnesses, usually telling them to lie. It's a huge advantage when you get to interrogate a witness who the prosecution hasn't been able to tell what lies to tell yet. They never face repercussions for this.

The prosecution will frequently falsify evidence. They receive no punishment for this and are allowed to continue practicing law. Witnesses will regularly lie on the stand; they receive no penalty for this and the rest of their testimony is still considered reliable. It's up to the defense attorney to expose every single lie; if you can't prove a word against your client is a lie, even from the mouth of a known liar, then your client must be guilty of it.

All of your trials are overseen by the same judge and he is comically incompetent. This isn't an oversight of the game he is deliberately written to suck at his job, be easily bullied by the prosecution, generally have very little idea what's going on and issue his verdict based on Vibes.

The lawyers will straight up make bets mid-trial with each other like "if you can't find a problem with this next witness' testimony, you have to admit that you're wasting our time and the verdict will be Guilty". The judge lets them do this. This is considered practicing law. Prosecutors will also physically assault other lawyers and the judge in the courtroom but this is okay because it's funny.

The cops work directly for the prosecuting attorney and the prosecuting attorney will openly threaten police witnesses right there on the stand in front of everyone if the witness isn't saying what the prosecution wants them to.

The level of corruption in the prosecutor's office is just. I couldn't describe it in a bullet point. Prosecutors are straightup hitmen for hire and their weapon of choice is the death penalty.

Guess who's about to get tased and robbed in the police precinct evidence room by a highly respected and successful prosecutor!

Prosecutors have full access to crime scenes and it is implied that they lead the police investigations

Defense attorneys are not supposed to engage with the crime scene or investigate at all! (Hence why phoenix has to worm his way in or break into crime scenes to get evidence)

It is expected that all evidence AND witnesses come from the prosecution. The fact that Phoenix brings in his own evidence and witnesses is *weird*

It is implied that not only do trials have to end in three days, but if a trial lasts that long everyone is very confused and miffed about it. The judge was very torn about having to go a second day on one trial bc he made dinner plans

False evidence is solved by "whoops, I'm sorry, I didn't know" on the side of the prosecution.

False evidence from the defense can result in the attorney being disbarred even if the false evidence came from the prosecution in the first place

There is a game where defense attorneys literally get the same sentence as their defendant (put to death) and thats why [insert place here] has no lawyers anymore

It was flagged as "Eksplicit", shadowbanned, and every reblog turned invisible. The flagging is also unappealable (unless that is an error, thanks tumblr)

Happy Trans Day of Invisibility from your tumblr mods!

Only found out because I tried to reblog with an update from your local trans unicorn siblings!

I cannot even LINK to my old comic without every new post getting deleted.

In this screenshot the Poster (pictured otter) is claiming in-group status by bemoaning the lack of bears at a hypothetical, likely not real “bear 🐻 night” gay nightlife event.

The Commenter then tries to revoke the Poster’s in-group status by flagging his “flat tummy” (we cannot verify this to be true without further insight, however, it can be asserted that “flat tummy” is a subjective descriptor). This is a direct attack to the Poster’s legitimacy and authenticity in being allowed to complain about gay bear in-group politics.

The allegory in the caption written by tumblr user gaypornvideoswebsite describes when infamous rapper and singer Azealia Banks began vocalizing her support for Israel shortly after October 7th, 2023. This included tirades against queer people who were advocating for Palestine, standard zionist pinkwashing, and regurgitating state propaganda against Palestinian liberation. This support culminated in Banks eventually taking a trip to Israel, presumably to solidify her support of the ethnostate, but shortly after commented on the harsh reality of being an outsider to an ethnostate, retracting some of her previous statements. Notably, Banks is neither white nor Jewish.

Why this allegory?

In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, the gay community is well known for its perpetuation of body fascism. Gay men in particular are encouraged to identify with a subgroup, typically defined by body shape, size, and gender presentation. Occasionally, groups with more lenient body standards (for example, the somewhat nebulous but interest-oriented “gaymer” category) persist, however they are often appended by another group category (ie gaymer bears). Bears, in this instance, describe large, masculine, and typically hairy* men. Otters, twinks, and jocks describe other varieties of body shape and hairiness in some combination. Notably, there also exists the subgroup of Chubs who are distinguished in a metric somewhat beyond the comprehension of this analysis.

These categories exist for common ground and kinship, but also exist to reinforce sexual borders within the gay community, often bringing with them increased racism, sexism, misogyny, and transphobia. Deviations from the norm are noted as being alternative or requiring some form of nominal modifier in order to appease the order. Gay men, not unique to bears, are often culturally criticized for associating with people who bear striking resemblances to themselves, often present in group photos in gay destinations such as Fire Island and the Atlantis Cruises. Sociosexuality is a vital part of gay men’s socialization, and often results in feelings of exclusivity and identity loss.

The Bears are directly compared to Israel in this post due in part to their tendency to perpetuate allegorical ethnostates (visual homogeny, but also racial homogeny in many situations). The Commenter represents the social urge to exclude at the expense of feeling excluded by the larger society (ie fatphobia). This defense was historically used in the perverse and violent creation of Israel as a “state” by the perpetrators of Jewish prosecution in the early 20th century. Azealia Banks is directly compared to the Poster due to her immensely gray moral character with difficult to defend assertions as a public figure.

Lastly, the post does not stand to defend the bear community, which the tumblr user would hope would be crystal clear given the assigned allegorical roles. The post zooms out at the larger sociopolitical interplay between groups. The tumblr user does encourage gay men to think far less about their bodily aesthetics as an integral aspect of their queer socialization.

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.

In Canada, roughly 18% of singleton pregnancies (ie, pregnancies with a single fetus) end in a c-section delivery. For twins, that jumps to 50%. It's not all or nothing, either - it's exceedingly common to have one twin born vaginally, only to have to deliver the second by c-section. For twins to be delivered vaginally, the larger twin must be head down and presenting first - if the smaller twin comes out first, the second twin could get stuck in the birth canal. The possibility of a vaginal birth for my twins was only conclusively ruled out last week when we found out my smaller twin is presenting first

There's other things to consider. Delivering multiples takes longer, so there's more chances for things to go wrong. All placentas must be fully delivered, and if you've got more than one (like I do), that's more chance part of a placenta will get left behind - which could lead to serious infections. A healthy, full-term singleton baby will almost always be between 2.7 - 3.6 kg (6 - 8 lbs), with anything below that being concerning. Multiples are almost always smaller - I can expect my twins to be about 2.2 kg (5 lbs) each, and the typical birth weight for multiples goes down the more multiples you're expecting. The uterus can only expand so much, after all, which limits how big your kids are going to get. Multiples are also more likely to be premature - twins are considered full term at 38 weeks as opposed to 40, but 60% of twins are born between 35 and 37 weeks, and again, this only gets more common the more multiples you're expecting. Low birth weight and premature birth are the leading causes of infant mortality worldwide

Second person (top) is laughing at FP's insult —because what the fuck are they talking about??.

Last comment (bottom) is a parody of the original comment + the SP's comment about how this read like a Greek mysogony level insult

The castle does not run itself. The castle would remain a pile of stones without servants to keep it running. The guide below focuses on the private household of the lord himself, anybody who worked inside the main keep of the castle. I will be expanding outside the walls in a future post.

The Steward/Seneschal

This person was the head of the household staff. They would have the task of running things on the Lord’s estate. They are the managers, so it is up to them to keep the staff in line. The steward would keep the castle accounts and keep the lord informed of all of the goings on of the lands and tenants. They would have to be educated needing to do accounts and write letters. Though the castle’s Lady would be expected to do all these things, the steward served as a backup and assistant in all the tasks even representing the lord and lady when they were unavailable.

The Chamberlain

The chamberlain is the servant employed to look after the Lord’s bedchamber. He would look after the Lord’s clothes as well and keep track of the other servants’ liveries, the official uniforms of the guards, pages and squires. This was not always the case, some larger households had a separate office but most medium seized manors and castles lumped them together. The chamberlain’s main task was ensuring the lord was kept happy. He would even be the last servant a lord would see at night before he went to bed at night. They would be educated.

The Marshal

A Marshal was in charge of the stables as well as the military presence in the castle. They would oversee the household’s horses, carts, wagons, and containers. He oversaw blacksmiths, horse grooms and stableboys. He also oversaw the transporting of goods. The Marshal was sometimes in charge of disciplining servants. They would likely come from a middle class background as well as having military experience and education.

The Page

A page was a young noble boy about seven years old who would be sent to serve a Lord. He would be in charge of tidying up after the lord, carrying messages to other servants and occupants of the castle and serving him at meals. Unlike others on the list, the page would not be paid. His experience was his payment as he would learn the running of a castle and manners of a lord.

The Lady’s Maid

The lady’s maid is be the female body attendant of the castle’s noble women. She would be in charge of caring for the lady’s chamber and her things. She would dress the lady and attend her wherever she would. (The lady’s maid would basically do all the work a chamberlain would but you know the wage gap…)

Maidservant

A housemaid/maidservant works to clean the castle. She would be among the first to awaken every morning. Her first task would be sweeping the floors. The thing with mediaeval floors a that they were often covered with a thin layer of rushes, a kind of grass. Weekly if not daily, a maidservant would be expected to change out the rushes and scatter new ones. If it really needed it, she would scrub the stone floors which would be done with a soap called lye, made from ashes and lard. The maidservant would also be expected to go into the bedchambers when the occupants awoke. She would empty the chamberpots if need be. She would get rid of the ashes from the fire and ready the fire for later. She would make up the bed or strip it for the laundresses. She would wash anything that needed washing including furniture and ornaments.

Laundress

The laundress was responsible for the cleaning of anything made of fabric in the household. The laundress would have to fetch their own water either from the castle well or from a nearby river. They would heat the water in large vats and add lye soap (the most popular of the cleaning agents). The constant exposure to soap and hot water was physically tough on the hands of the laundresses and their backs. When the detergents were added to the water, the laundress would dump them into the vat and stir that shit like soup. To dry it they would pin it out on lines or beat the water from it. The laundress might make money by selling secrets. Since they are handling unmentionables, they knew what happened behind closed bedchamber doors or what didn’t.

Nursemaid

The nursemaid was in charge of the castle’s children. They would ensure the child was fed, washed and generally kept alive while the parents would either be away at court or busy with the lands. The nursemaid would be a common woman from the surrounding lands who would come in to care for a noble child in the stead of the mother who would be expected to get on with other jobs. The nursemaid would be an underlying of the noble governess, a sort of hands-off nanny.

Cook

The cook was one of the most important servants in the castle. They would have the task of overseeing the running of the kitchens and keeping supplies in order. They would likely be on call at all times. Henry VIII’s cook was often woken in the night because his royal master wanted a midnight snack. The cook was a valued member of the household and would have been highly sought after if they were a very skilled cook. Cooks would have been paid a handsome wage.

Scullion

The scullion was the lowest member of staff. They would be responsible for scrubbing and cleaning the servants quarters and the kitchens. They would scrub floors with lye, scour pots with sand, sweep put the fireplace and clean up after the other servants. They were the first to rise in a castle and tasked to light all the fires in the kitchens.

Payment & Lifestyle

Within the mediaeval household, payment came from the hand of the steward. As the Lord’s manager of accounts, he was in charge of paying staff.

The grander jobs in the castle such as the marshal, the chamberlain, nursemaid and lady’s maid would pay better. They would have certain privileges including better bedchambers.

A nursemaid who was breastfeeding the Lord’s children would be a valued member of staff. She would be fed better than the other servants.

The page would sleep in a chamber off the lord’s bedchamber or sometimes at the foot of the bed. A page would wear the Lord’s livery so he would be dressed on the Lord’s coin.

The chamberlain would have rooms close to the lord and lady, just in case they were needed by the master in any kind of emergency.

The cook would sleep near the kitchens so they were close enough just in case they are needed in the night.

The other household servants would all sleep in chambers together. The women would sleep in one and the men would sleep in another. Nightly dalliances were frowned upon massively.

It's rude. You're making someone take their time to read something you couldn't bother to write. You're telling them they were so unimportant you couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to say something yourself. And frankly, you're lying about it while you're at it.

I had to turn this off, but it's something that allows Windows and anyone using your device to generate text/images.