Reading

[It started as another normal, tense day in the city. While people have been searching around the clock for leads, there's been very little new things to unearth since the reveal that Professor Hojo and some of his associates were the ones behind it. Frustratingly so, they've been remarkably good at covering their tracks.

However for those who are in Central Square? Will suddenly feel the ground rumbling slightly, as if a small earthquake just went off. The air itself will also feel heavier, as the spirit energy in the area intensifies.

For anyone with magic detection that are anywhere in the city? Forget those subtle signs, because there will be a massive outpouring of divine light energy radiating from that part of town. The energy itself is pure white in color, resembling ghostly flames, and shines extremely brightly. For anyone whose seen Shroud in action, the signature will feel familiar even if it's comparing a couple droplets to an entire ocean in sense of scale. Even the other godly energy signatures in town are tiny in comparison.

The light will only last 3 minutes before it disappears. But in that time it should be easy to pinpoint where it came from: from beneath the Crystal Tower in Central Square.

At the same time, a message will get sent on the network. Nephrite doesn't know how long he'll have to broadcast, so the first thing that goes up is a pre-written block of text.]

This is Nephrite Curtiss of the Black Order. The captives you're all searching for are being held in the basement of the Crystal Tower. I accepted an offer to work with the research team in order to remain close. I've been doing what I can to gather information, sabotage Hojo's results, and ease the suffering of the subjects, but I haven't been able to find any way out by myself. Follow the beacon Jun is setting off and get here as quickly as you can: some of them are in serious need of medical attention. They've been forced to fight in a "gauntlet" that pushes their endurance to the limit, and those who have fallen out of the running are in bad shape. Jin, Veldora, and Dante are the only ones still in fighting condition right now.

All of us are wearing bracelets that suppress our powers outside of experimental sessions; it may be better not to remove those recklessly, as some of those who are particularly badly injured might see their powers go out of control.

[Then, a video feed pops up. Neph is alive and uninjured, although he looks very tired and stressed.]

I don't know how long I'll have to broadcast. Jun has done something reckless to offer us this opportunity; he wouldn't explain to me the details, but I'm sure he would have done it sooner if it wasn't risky. I'm the only one who hasn't been-

[A door opens behind him, and Hojo enters, flanked by guards. Nephrite turns to face him.

"Of course. And I thought you were a man of science."]

You never understood one single thing about me.

["Clearly."

The feed cuts off. Nephrite will not be responding.]

Back in August of 2025, we announced a temporary block on account creation for users under the age of 18 from the state of Tennessee, due to the court in Netchoice's challenge to the law (which we're a part of!) refusing to prevent the law from being enforced while the lawsuit plays out. Today, I am sad to announce that we've had to add South Carolina to that list. When creating an account, you will now be asked if you're a resident of Tennessee or South Carolina. If you are, and your birthdate shows you're under 18, you won't be able to create an account.

We're very sorry to have to do this, and especially on such short notice. The reason for it: on Friday, South Carolina governor Henry McMaster signed the South Carolina Age-Appropriate Design Code Act into law, with an effective date of immediately. The law is so incredibly poorly written it took us several days to even figure out what the hell South Carolina wants us to do and whether or not we're covered by it. We're still not entirely 100% sure about the former, but in regards to the latter, we're pretty sure the fact we use Google Analytics on some site pages (for OS/platform/browser capability analysis) means we will be covered by the law. Thankfully, the law does not mandate a specific form of age verification, unlike many of the other state laws we're fighting, so we're likewise pretty sure that just stopping people under 18 from creating an account will be enough to comply without performing intrusive and privacy-invasive third-party age verification. We think. Maybe. (It's a really, really badly written law. I don't know whether they intended to write it in a way that means officers of the company can potentially be sentenced to jail time for violating it, but that's certainly one possible way to read it.)

Netchoice filed their lawsuit against SC over the law as I was working on making this change and writing this news post -- so recently it's not even showing up in RECAP yet for me to link y'all to! -- but here's the complaint as filed in the lawsuit, Netchoice v Wilson. Please note that I didn't even have to write the declaration yet (although I will be): we are cited in the complaint itself with a link to our August news post as evidence of why these laws burden small websites and create legal uncertainty that causes a chilling effect on speech. \o/

In fact, that's the victory: in December, the judge ruled in favor of Netchoice in Netchoice v Murrill, the lawsuit over Louisiana's age-verification law Act 456, finding (once again) that requiring age verification to access social media is unconstitutional. Judge deGravelles' ruling was not simply a preliminary injunction: this was a final, dispositive ruling stating clearly and unambiguously "Louisiana Revised Statutes §§51:1751–1754 violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution", as well as awarding Netchoice their costs and attorney's fees for bringing the lawsuit. We didn't provide a declaration in that one, because Act 456, may it rot in hell, had a total registered user threshold we don't meet. That didn't stop Netchoice's lawyers from pointing out that we were forced to block service to Mississippi and restrict registration in Tennessee (pointing, again, to that news post), and Judge deGravelles found our example so compelling that we are cited twice in his ruling, thus marking the first time we've helped to get one of these laws enjoined or overturned just by existing. I think that's a new career high point for me.

I need to find an afternoon to sit down and write an update for dw_advocacy highlighting everything that's going on (and what stage the lawsuits are in), because folks who know there's Some Shenanigans afoot in their state keep asking us whether we're going to have to put any restrictions on their states. I'll repeat my promise to you all: we will fight every state attempt to impose mandatory age verification and deanonymization on our users as hard as we possibly can, and we will keep actions like this to the clear cases where there's no doubt that we have to take action in order to prevent liability.

In cases like SC, where the law takes immediate effect, or like TN and MS, where the district court declines to issue a temporary injunction or the district court issues a temporary injunction and the appellate court overturns it, we may need to take some steps to limit our potential liability: when that happens, we'll tell you what we're doing as fast as we possibly can. (Sometimes it takes a little while for us to figure out the exact implications of a newly passed law or run the risk assessment on a law that the courts declined to enjoin. Netchoice's lawyers are excellent, but they're Netchoice's lawyers, not ours: we have to figure out our obligations ourselves. I am so very thankful that even though we are poor in money, we are very rich in friends, and we have a wide range of people we can go to for help.)

In cases where Netchoice filed the lawsuit before the law's effective date, there's a pending motion for a preliminary injunction, the court hasn't ruled on the motion yet, and we're specifically named in the motion for preliminary injunction as a Netchoice member the law would apply to, we generally evaluate that the risk is low enough we can wait and see what the judge decides. (Right now, for instance, that's Netchoice v Jones, formerly Netchoice v Miyares, mentioned in our December news post: the judge has not yet ruled on the motion for preliminary injunction.) If the judge grants the injunction, we won't need to do anything, because the state will be prevented from enforcing the law. If the judge doesn't grant the injunction, we'll figure out what we need to do then, and we'll let you know as soon as we know.

I know it's frustrating for people to not know what's going to happen! Believe me, it's just as frustrating for us: you would not believe how much of my time is taken up by tracking all of this. I keep trying to find time to update dw_advocacy so people know the status of all the various lawsuits (and what actions we've taken in response), but every time I think I might have a second, something else happens like this SC law and I have to scramble to figure out what we need to do. We will continue to update dw_news whenever we do have to take an action that restricts any of our users, though, as soon as something happens that may make us have to take an action, and we will give you as much warning as we possibly can. It is absolutely ridiculous that we still have to have this fight, but we're going to keep fighting it for as long as we have to and as hard as we need to.

I look forward to the day we can lift the restrictions on Mississippi, Tennessee, and now South Carolina, and I apologize again to our users (and to the people who temporarily aren't able to become our users) from those states.

WHO: AZ and you!
WHERE: Gemini && Hotel Z if anyone wants to check it out down where the city shoves all the french people
WHEN: Early February
WHAT: AZ found a hotel and is doing something with it
WARNINGS: None for now!

[There's the fading hum of something electric as the video clicks on, showing an old man with impossibly long, shaggy white hair standing in the gentle light of a modestly decorated room.]

... I confess, I'm not the best at beginning statements meant for the masses. [Still, AZ tightens his hold on his cane, straightening up as much as he can, the camera wiggling a little higher to keep him centered in the frame.]

For those who do not know me, my name is AZ. I've lived in the city for a short while, now - [almost a year, you impossibly old man, that's not a "short while"] - though I have only been on this application for the past few months.

For a long time, I've done my best to provide beds for those who need them. Places to stay in at least moderate privacy. And while I've had a modest location in the city... I came across something the other day that appears to be... mine.

[He's not sure who else would have a hotel adapted to someone of his height and decorated with paintings of pokémon and lamp sconces in the style of his dear Floette, after all.]

Given the state our city is in and the efforts being put in by all, I would like to extend the help I might be able to offer.

If there are those looking for a place to lay their head for a night or two, if there are those who are in need of a hot meal and a chair to sink into, or if there are those in need of a place to gather and strategize -- then the doors of Hotel Z are open to you.

It's located near the harbor, which I understand contains another central meeting point in this city. And considering everything that has happened to our own - [And the work he's seen people putting in] - for the time being, do not concern yourself with recompence.

This is a time to come together as one.

In the fighting spirit of some old friends of mine; Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

[With a happy electronic trill, the Rotom in AZ's phone ends the feed.]


action;
[Should anyone be curious about the hotel itself, it's a modest little building tucked away in the business of the harbor. It's not wide, by any means, but does stretch up seven stories. The outside is covered in ivy, the inside quiet and cozy. Old, but in that well-loved way.

AZ spends most of his day, after making that announcement, in the chair behind the lobby counter, conversing quietly with the Rotom inhabiting his phone. His night will be spent in Flins' light house, as will most of his days after this announcement is made, but for today he will be here to greet anyone who comes by.]

WHO: Lucifer and YOU
WHERE: Around Town
WHEN: February
WHAT: Lucifer is here, I am sorry
WARNINGS: The Devil Himself

( “The )

WHO: Varian and anyone in the lower levels of Meropide
WHERE: His workshop/production area in the Fortress of Meropide
WHEN: A week+ into the kidnapping, nebulous timey wimey
WHAT: The continued Bad Time that everyone is having
WARNINGS: Probable talk of torture but no specifics!

( You can't stop the turning of the screws )

Hi all!

I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.

Thank you!

( You're about to view content that the poster has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

WHO: Varian, Lycaon, Hugo, Lighter, Belle, and various others
WHERE: The Alley, Meropide
WHEN: After Varian's call to action
WHAT: Catch-All for investigation/mobilizing in Meropide, specifically in the Alley
WARNINGS: Eau de God, I'll update it as necessary

( I'll go everywhere you go, from Chicago to the coast. )