#incarceration mention

[mrsmarissamartinez]

talk about one person your muse loves.

Character Headcanons || Still Accepting

Marissa’s relationship with her father is complicated. Growing up, especially after her mother’s arrest, Marissa and Gregory were best friends. She learned everything she knows about conspiracy theories and leftist politics from her father. She wouldn’t be the person she is today without his influence, despite the fact that she has grown to question some of the things he taught her. Becoming his sole caretaker as a young adult and realizing that he had lied to her about her mother’s whereabouts for eight years made their relationship more strenuous, but she still loves him nonetheless. 

#answered questions #askbox memes #incarceration mention

[thecruellestmonth]

Do you guys really believe that killing is the singular bad thing that cops do?

Or even that killing is the most frequent bad thing that cops do?

Are you saying that if cops didn't kill, then they'd be the same as Batman? Because then you're suggesting that effectively Batman already is a cop, with the exception that he hasn't killed (just like the majority of U.S. cops, who have never once shot or killed anybody).

I'm a bit worried to see opinions suggesting that only killing is wrong—and that violence, stalking, and humiliation are okay. In real-life, police commit countless acts of those "little" abuses, terrorizing entire communities, before they murder anybody.

Invading people's privacy is wrong. Hurting people to the point of hospitalization is wrong. Forcibly drugging people is wrong. Putting people in cages is wrong. Torture and "enhanced interrogation" are wrong. Ambushing people in their homes and safe places is wrong. Keeping inexhaustible wealth is wrong.

Superhero comics are power fantasies. Not all fantasies need to reflect our ideology in reality. But once you apply your real-life values to fiction, once you decide that fiction showcases exemplary real-life ideology—then your praise for Batman's ideology does become a worrying reflection of your real-life understanding of social issues.

#copaganda #Bruce Wayne critical #GCPD #fandom discourse #Batman copaganda #police brutality cw #Almost sorry to drag serious discussion of copaganda into ridiculous superhero comics but I swear the other guys started it first... #To be clear I'm completely disinterested in condemning or interrogating Bruce over his personal choice not to kill. #But I am so fascinated in how he justifies his own use of violence and privilege!!! So very very fascinated!! #Once again: LESLIE THOMPKINS IS RIGHT. #Actually I'm not gonna tag this post as @nti Bruce W@yne--because really I enjoy canon Bruce a hell of a lot more than his stans do lol. #Sorry but Batman isn't a darling anti-cop revolutionary. If he were then he'd get in line behind Green Arrow and like the Invisibles. #I mean maybe The Audio Adventures version is anti cop but still in a free-market libertarian power fantasy kind of way if you can dig that. #violence mention cw #murder mention cw #fandom drama #This is why Cheer doesn't work because Red Hood realizes 'Oh I don't want kids to lose their parents like I lost mine-- #--therefore I won't murder anymore. It's time to put my faith in the system. 👼👼👼' #Jason sweetie... you lost your father firstly to criminalization and incarceration for property crime. #You lost your mother to poverty and addiction. You are actually not like Batdaddy and your trauma is not a mere echo of his trauma. #Batman discourse

[even-disco-baby]

JUDIT MINOT — You open the door of the shack to find a very startled patrol officer standing on your doorstep, hand raised as if to knock.

PERCEPTION (Sight) — No, wait. She’s not here as a patrol officer. She isn’t in uniform, or even plainclothes bearing the RCM insignia. Just a simple white shirt and slacks.

COMPOSURE — She’s frozen, at a total loss for what to say now that she’s face to face with you.

HALF LIGHT — She’s bracing herself for an onslaught of anger.

EMPATHY — She feels that she deserves it.

Say nothing. Just walk calmly past her.

Slam the door right in her face.

“What are *you* doing here? Come to see if I kicked the bucket yet?”

“Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“You came back for me! I *knew* you would! You guys would never just abandon me!”

Stare back, equally lost.

“…Hi.”

JUDIT MINOT — “Hi…”

She swallows hard, eyes flitting from your cold-stung cheeks to your shadowed eyes, and then down to the sleeve of your blazer, where Isobel has done her best to repair the damage from you ripping off the halogen watermark. Her gaze lingers there for a moment, then returns to your eyes.

COMPOSURE — Strangely, she looks just a little more at ease.

JUDIT MINOT — “Harry, I…” Her voice trails off. She closes her eyes and takes a quiet breath.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“You mean back to the precinct?”

“You mean back to my place in Jamrock?”

JUDIT MINOT — She nods. “You weren’t there when I went to check on you, so I figured you must still be stuck here…”

DRAMA — She knew exactly where you would be, sire. It just made her feel less guilty to hope that you had made it back home on your own.

EMPATHY — She came back to try to make things right.

“Go to hell, Judit. I don’t need you or anybody else.”

“Don’t worry about me. Unlike back at the precinct, the people here actually *care* about me.”

“No. I want to stay here. I never want to go back to where I was before.”

“Yes, please, take me home. I don’t want to be lost anymore. I want to go home…”

“I know I have to go back eventually, but… I’m not ready yet.”

JUDIT MINOT — She nods slowly, her gaze falling to the creaking planks under her feet.

“Is there… anything you want me to bring you, then? Something from home? Or… anything?”

EMPATHY — She wants to do *something* for you. Whether for your sake or to assuage her guilt, who can say?

“I don’t need anything from you.”

“No, please, don’t bring me anything from home. I don’t want to see. I don’t want to remember…”

“I wouldn’t even know what to ask for. I can’t remember anything about home at all.”

“Thanks, but I’m okay, Jude.”

VOLITION — As you say the words, you’re surprised to find that you really mean them. You’re content and cared for here in Martinaise. You get the feeling that it’s been a long time since you felt this way.

+1 MORALE

JUDIT MINOT — “…Okay,” she says quietly. “I’m glad, Harry.”

EMPATHY — She means it, too.

JUDIT MINOT — With a pursed smile and a nod, she turns on her heel to leave.

REACTION SPEED — If you leave it at this, she’s not going to come back to bother you again.

Let her go.

“Hey, I was just about to go fishing. Do you want to come with me?”

JUDIT MINOT — She falters to a stop. “Fishing…?”

YOU — “Fishing. For tonight’s dinner. You could stay and eat with us, if you want.”

JUDIT MINOT — For a moment, she hesitates. Her expression is strange as she looks at you, both of you standing upon some kind of threshold.

EMPATHY — She’s afraid of something, but even she doesn’t know what. Some line she’s toeing, unsure of whether she can bring herself to cross it.

JUDIT MINOT — And then the moment passes. Judit nods briskly. “Sure. There are some… some things I’d like to talk with you about.”

“I’d rather not. Fishing is more of a contemplate-life-in-silence kind of pastime.”

“Sure. We can talk.”

JUDIT MINOT — She just nods again, her expression difficult to parse.

And then you are walking toward the shore together, side by side, in a way you’re certain you must have done before, but never quite like this.

Snow crunches softly under the worn work boots a dock worker passed down to you. You adjust the collar of your polar anorak, a precious secret between you and Martinaise. And Judit follows in silence, her eyes dark beneath her furrowed brow.

EMPATHY — She doesn’t know what to make of your unfamiliar shape.

VOLITION — That’s good. That means you’re changing.

JUDIT MINOT — “I resigned.”

The words come out sudden and ungraceful. She grimaces at herself, pulling her coat more tightly around her shoulders.

AUTHORITY — Resigned?! My god, man, what have you done? Not only have you ruined *your* career, but your subordinates’ careers, too!

VOLITION — Don’t be so self-absorbed. Let her tell her own story.

“…From the task force?”

“…From the RCM?”

JUDIT MINOT — She shakes her head slowly.

“I quit, Harry. I’m not with the RCM anymore.”

“Oh, god. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“Good. Fuck the police.”

“Hell yeah. Unemployment buddies.” [Hold your hand out for an Ace’s High.]

“Are you gonna be okay? What about your kids?”

“I don’t know what to say…”

JUDIT MINOT — “You don’t have to say anything. I’m… I’m the one who should be apologizing to you.”

She looks down at her feet as she walks. She’s still wearing the same shoes she wore to work every day. “I’m sorry for leaving you here.”

PAIN THRESHOLD — A hard lump rises in your throat. It’s hard to breathe around it. It hurts just to think about that day— watching your world turn its back on you.

VOLITION — But then a new world opened its arms to you. You survived it.

EMPATHY — She was afraid that you *wouldn’t* survive. That she would open that shack door and find your corpse.

“Thank you for apologizing. It means a lot.”

“It’s fine. I don’t care anymore.”

“It’s okay. It actually kind of ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Keep your apologies. I don’t need them.”

“You’re not the one who should have to take responsibility…”

JUDIT MINOT — “No! No, that’s not why I— I mean, it *is,* but not like— Oh, hell…” The former patrol officer pinches the bridge of her nose, letting out a crystalline sigh. “It’s not just about that, Harry…”

ESPIRIT DE CORPS — *No one* was going to take responsibility for what was done to you. No one was *expected* to. She doesn’t have the heart to explain this.

JUDIT MINOT — “I didn’t do it to take a fall for you or Jean, or… anything like that. I just…”

Her eyes are glassy and sunken as she stares out at the sea.

HALF LIGHT — Like those of a corpse.

JUDIT MINOT — “I think I hate myself,” she says flatly. “I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

ESPIRIT DE CORPS — Looking away as Joseph Mills made yet another “joke” about the women in their custody. Looking away from hands making exchanges under the table. Looking away with little more than weary sighs and toothless protests. Turning her children’s eyes shamefully away from herself and her peers.

Looking away from Lieutenant Kitsuragi’s anger in the hospital. Looking away from you, bleeding in the cold.

JUDIT MINOT — “I took responsibility for myself, and only myself. That’s all.”

“That’s all anyone can do.”

“It’s too late for that. For either of us.”

“Still, I’m sorry. I know I really made a mess of things…”

JUDIT MINOT — “It’s okay, Harry.” She smiles awkwardly and reaches out to pat your arm. “I know you didn’t mean for things to turn out like this.”

AUTHORITY — Is that… *condescension,* I hear?

ESPIRIT DE CORPS — You can’t be blamed, she thinks. Not entirely, anyway. You’re not well. You need help.

“Thanks, Judit.”

“No. I *did* mean for this to happen.”

JUDIT MINOT — Her mouth parts in surprise. “Excuse me…?”

“This was all part of the plan. You can’t even *comprehend* the plan. I’m fifty steps ahead of you and everybody else. Everything is *totally* under control.”

“I’m a jackass who wanted to blow my life to smithereens and get anyone dumb enough to be close to me caught in the crossfire. I may not remember, but I can put two and two together.”

“I *wanted* to be left behind to die. That’s why I pushed you guys out of Martinaise in the first place, isn’t it? I wanted to feel miserable and alone enough to finally just kill myself.”

JUDIT MINOT — Her face twists with grief and discomfort for just a moment. “Harry…”

YOU — “Don’t treat me like a child, Jude. The choices I’ve made are mine, and I can take responsibility for them, too. Or even be okay with them.”

JUDIT MINOT — Her mouth flattens into a thin line. Her eyes fall back to her boots. Snow dusts her hair and the shocks of white make her look older.

EMPATHY — It’s less of a struggle for her when she thinks of you as hapless. Easier to *forgive* you. But harder, perhaps, to see you as a peer. She has never realized this before.

She does not like herself any better from this perspective, looking in from a newly discovered outside. But she swallows her pride.

JUDIT MINOT — “…You’re right,” she says quietly. “Sorry.”

YOU — “…It’s okay.”

FISHING VILLAGE — A more comfortable silence falls over the two of you as you trudge onward toward the shore. Shafts of pale sunlight occasionally pierce through the clouds, glinting off the snow and dazzling your eyes.

ESPIRIT DE CORPS — Sunrise, Parabellum.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Your great big lives start today.

#disco elysium #harry du bois #judit minot #suicide mention #thinking abt judit’s paternalistic and condescending moments #and how institutionalization is incarceration #and cops and ableism. etc #i do think judit could potentially quit like she does here #but. then what. u know? she’s got a lot of work ahead of her #EDIT I FUCKED UP THE FORMATTING. this is why u don’t post things at 1 am. bye. #edit 2 i actually ducked up the formatting in multiple places. fuck this gay earth

[trans-axolotl]

have not left bed today + found out another friend got locked up + want to beat up every single adult that saw what was happening to me and looked away or actively made it worse

#personal #vent #suicide mention tw #i need to call her. last time we talked she said she was going to kill herself if she got incarcerated again #i love her. nothing makes me more angry at so many systems than trying to do suicide support with my friends who are locked up #trying to do this shit over the phone with people listening in. trying to figure out what meaningful support we can even give #because when she says that death is better than months of solitary i know exactly how she feels and what she means and i cannot fucking #most of the skills mainstream peer support has ever taught me are useless in that situation and my best is not enough #there are so many places that need to be burnt down. #there are so many people i love who are not out and it starts to kill me a little bit #and cops are starting to fuck with us here more. i've gotten bruised up a couple times from being shoved around #nothing too bad yet but just #jesus christ #sorry for coming on here to vent all the time but my offline life is a little crazy at the moment and half this shit i can't talk about irl #i honestly think i need to like. start learning how to fight properly again. bc i have so much anger right now #and learning how to actually fight sounds like a better idea then fucking off and getting into random fights like i used to #idk. will look into it

[cuntryclubs]

??

#not to mention handling of climate change. rates of indigenous incarceration etc etc #auspol

[justmaghookit]

Zero days since some white fuck head hurt indigenous children in Australia.

Guy zip tied a pair of first nations kids, their ages 6 and 7. Allegedly for trespassing and swimming in his pool. He's been arrested but who knows if he'll be charged, Australia loves to let white men go.

I reiterate, two indigenous kids, six and seven years old, zip tied together by a grown ass white guy for the crime of doing things kids do.

Hell i used to hop a neighbours fence to go swimming, the most i got was scolded for not asking. But I'm white, and we all know black kids are disproportionately punished over their peers when it comes to things like this.

#bird chatter #zero days since our last shit fuckery #guess i better get working on that indigenous incarceration post #since the absolute geniuses who wrote the story decided it was a good idea #to mention the new juvies being built #that will most likely be used to unfairly imprison indigenous children #better add Queensland's OVER FULL juvies to my list of things to write about

[anotherpapercut]

society if Richard Nixon hadn't've decided to halt all research into the psychiatric effects of LSD and MDMA as part of his war on drugs in an attempt to impede the anti war and black liberation movements

#so many people would still be alive :( #its cured peoples addictions and ptsd ocd and depression and anxiety and greatly reduced symptoms even in those who werent cured #psylocybin and ketamine too. not to mention mescaline (the compound in peyote) which the nac literally calls 'medicine' #all my life ive been given genuinely dangerous medications and nothing has helped #and then i found put about the numerous wildly successful clinical trials on this stuff in the 50s-70s #which were entirely supressed by the government to make us believe these drugs are more dangerous than prescriptions when they just arent #how many people did Nixon and Reagan condemn to death with their war on drugs. this + over policing and incarceration... #hundreds of thousands of lives were probably lost or ruined as a result of their petty reactionary actions

[lavampira]

latine crew game night ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ

#i don’t think i mentioned it here but mal is biracial latine & these bonding moments with steve and james are everything #spacer origin where she’s lived her life moving between ships almost a diasporic feeling about home and culture #and missing her dad dearly. making friends with others like them that bring a bit of that home comfort #prob felt slightly better when her life was upside down those 6 months incarcerated having james to talk to too #dani plays me #game: mass effect #oc: malena shepard #ch: steve cortez #ch: james vega

[newsfromstolenland]

Why aren’t there more inmate unions? Forced labour is probably slavery right? I agree labour shouldn’t be forced and they should have much higher wages. I didn’t think of it but yeah prisoners should be able to have holidays, and no overtime and unions. I guess prison gaurds and prison make it harder to form unions because they are beating and raping prisoners all the fucking time. God fuck prison gaurds and cops!

it is especially difficult for incarcerated people to unionize for a variety of reasons. they've been stripped of many of their human rights, they recieve very little support from the outside world, going on strike can mean being put in solitary confinement, their petitions and complaints to the government and prison staff are ignored because those in power don't want to listen to "criminals", and many people believe that they deserve to suffer because they broke the law. prisons function as dictatorships; inmates have no say in their living or working conditions, and a frightening amount of people think that's okay and that they deserve it.

prison staff can do whatever they want to incarcerated people and there's no one in power who cares enough to stop them. prison riots are met with deadly force even more so than other riots

all of this factors into prison unions and the lack of them

#asks #anonymous #rape mention #workers rights #unions #prisons #incarceration #human rights #mine

[strawberry-barista]

⚅— @fangedstories asked: —⚅ ⚅— [Bind] to put handcuffs/shackles on my muse "You knew this was coming the minute you took him in. Looks like he failed you, Sanae Hanekoma." (non-canon bad ending to the Ward Saga) —⚅

Kidnapping Meme

— ★ ⚄ ★ —

Hanekoma didn't struggle as he allowed himself to be bound, eyes hollow as he stared out into a far away nothingness. He had nightmares about this moment all the time. He had thought about it over and over and over again. He knew perfectly how absolutely final this all was. And honestly, he really thought he would be crying right now. Instead, all he could do was stare blankly at the ground while they tied him up.

He really didn't know what had gone wrong, even thinking back on everything he'd done. He had taken very careful steps not to break any rules in his cold rage against Joker's former Higher Plane branch. He'd operated under his regulations, filled out the necessary forms, and he'd been gracious the whole time. And yet somehow as he was finalizing everything he had been hit with this. This information coming out like a tsunami through the hivemind that Sanae Hanekoma had been continually breaking his parole. That he had been committing crime after crime, and somehow everyone suddenly knew what he'd been up to.

He didn't know how they'd gotten the information or from where, but he'd stood in stunned silence as he listened to every transgression he'd ever committed blasted across the hivemind in great detail. It hadn't taken them much longer after that to come and apprehend him, and now he didn't know what to do. A terrible knot twisted in his stomach as he was prepared for incarceration. He knew that he'd never get to see Shibuya again. Or if he did, it would not be as who he was now.

Joshua, Joel, Minamimoto... Api and Ean and Queenie... Hope and Emi and Hazelnut... Kariya, Uzuki, Izumi, and Natsuki... Tsubasa and Uriah and Pinky and Aoi... Yir and Aku and Beat and Raizen... Joker. Every person he had ever met gone from him entirely. Every person he had ever loved, no longer a part of his soul. Stripped bare and broken. Stripped bare and broken. Joshua's worst nightmare....

Hanekoma turned his eyes up to Joker and Raizen, eyes wet but still not a tear to be see, and after swallowing several times he finally spoke just two words: "I'm sorry."

#busy dizzy and lazy ⤙ic⤚⚄ #you still lack in experience ⤙answer⤚⚄ #is this a place to shine? ⤙post neo⤚⚄ #i can't do what you’re expecting of me — fangedstories ⊸ #long tags tw #kidnapping tw #arrest tw #incarceration tw #angst tw #ask to tag #mentioned: kingsmedley #mentioned: mundanemiseries #mentioned: the grim heaper #mentioned: catncore #mentioned: dandybarista #mentioned: the composer #mentioned: hopeful hugz #mentioned: insightful mother #mentioned: lollipopsandgunshots #mentioned: x whiskeylullaby x #mentioned: empyreous #mentioned: mystical strawberry sheep #mentioned: skater brain #//long cast in this one #//but i figured if it was going to be the end of decaf #//even in a non-canon scenario #//he deserved to give out all his honorable mentions #//and that means anyone i could think of off the top of my head #//even if their relationship isn't canon to my portrayal #//or like mains/affiliates

[hjxjongsu]

jailhouse blues//jongsu and talon

date: may 30, 2023 location: hanjeong town jail @talonxhj Trigger Warnings: incarceration, sex mentions, talon, death, you know it's going to be inappropriate due to talon

Jongsu sighed dramatically. "Did you tell them this was a conjugal visit? Because they kept asking me that and giving me looks on the way here." Jongsu had looked mildly disgusted at the fact, but he had also been amused. The idea that Jongsu had a lover that would come visit him was wild. Not many of them survived a night with him. Whether emotionally or physically. "I swear some of those officers are mooning over you."

He would never understand that part about humans. Jongsu preferred to live. Though, he supposed he was risking things by being friends with Talon.

He raised an eyebrow. "Now, you are sure you didn't kill him?" he whispered. Jongsu had asked before, but he felt it was best to confirm. He knew Talon certainly hadn't slept with him at least. "I thought you would have denied the torrid love affair the second you got the chance."

#thread; jailhouse blues #closed #starter #talonxhj #incarceration tw #death tw #sex mention tw

[poorlittlevampirebaby]

wikipedia said dooley is partially based on valjean but that's the wrong era of musicals so i've decided that's bullshit

#sweeney todd was also incarcerated on a bullshit charge and was sent to [australia?] for 15 years #like he can just be based on one character #and from a musical that's of the right era for the season lol #wikipedia also didn't even mention bobby's val references so... dumb #schmicago tag

[cithaerons]

among other things, this should be recognized as yet another violent instrument of white supremacy. this is a method of violently controlling black women’s bodies, of taking away their autonomy, of taking away their livelihoods and their property, of forcing them to undergo immense suffering, of murdering them. this impacts ALL women, including the wealthiest white women in the nation, but look at where these bans are being enacted, who has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the USA, who has the least access to medical care, who will have the hardest time paying $$$ to have a flight across the country to get an abortion in a state that allows it. this is NOT a coincidence. this is yet another part of a violent system of racial control that goes back to our shit country’s founding.

#not to mention prosecution for violating the bans #forcing them to undergo the system of racial control we call the incarceral system

[queerhawkeyes]

I had 10 psychiatric hospitalizations between the ages of 17 and 21, none of which were particularly helpful. but the last three hospitalizations were back-to-back at the same unit and I consider those to have been the most helpful (least unhelpful?). but when I think about what exactly was helpful, nothing is specific to the psych ward setting. the biggest factor was time. I had been stuck in a pattern of serious self harm and suicide attempts as a reaction to intense distress. but I also knew I would not hurt myself while in the hospital. so being in the hospital for an extended period of time meant experiencing that level of distress over and over without resorting to violence. it also gave me a break from my family, who was threatening (and then making good on their threat) to make me homeless. I didn’t really go to groups and everyone knows actual therapy doesn’t happen in most psych wards, so I mostly just read and hung out with other trans people. for three months I didn’t have the same kind of environmental stressors as I had at home. and so when I left and got set up in a day program and had therapy multiple times a week, I was able to actually engage with those services in a way that I couldn’t before.

but I could have gotten those same things (time, space, distance, lack of specific stressors, access to lots of books, community) somewhere else! and those things probably would have been even more helpful if I hadn’t also been locked in a hospital with people who thought my symptoms could be fixed solely by medication and telling me I lacked insight and therefore couldn’t make my own decisions, and not like, by having a safe place to live and generally being respected.

and I think I knew what I needed, because I didn’t stick with the day program for very long and instead started volunteering a few mornings a week and spending the afternoons reading at the queer youth center, where I had adults who were supportive. I kept going to therapy though and I was able to recreate most of the helpful aspects of the psych ward outside of a hospital, and while I wasn’t in active crisis honestly the only thing I probably needed in addition to that routine to make it through the previous crisis period was a different place to sleep.

obviously many people have a horrible time in psych wards and experience really awful abuse, but I also suspect that if you look at the experiences of people who found them helpful, a good portion of that helpfulness could be recreated and/or already exists outside of a hospital. to the extent that psych wards “work,” I am willing to bet that what is usually working is community, connection, time, and safe shelter, all of which locked doors, the loss of autonomy, the threat of violence, and medicalization actively work against.

#turns out the cure was libraries and queer community and having a place to live #who would have thought that incarceration and antipsychotics would not adequately fix being homeless and having a shitty time of it #anti psychiatry #antipsychiatry #institutionalization #self harm mention #suicide mention #very brief and just for context

[mariocki]

Fay: The woman next door nearly killed herself last night.

Josie: Did she?

Fay: Yeah. I heard her. She's fractured her skull. I heard her through the wall. Sounded like someone dropping a sack of potatoes. She never made a sound.

Josie: Didn't she?

Fay: Not a peep. See what she was doing was falling off the radiator, over and over. She must've got herself up on the radiator and perched there like a seagull. Then she took a dive into the floor. Headfirst. Never put her hands out to break her fall.

Josie: That's... terrible.

Fay: It is. But you've got to admire her determination eh? Never put her hands out, headfirst into a stone floor. That's some death wish.

-

Rona Munro, Iron (2002)

#100plays #rona munro #iron #theatre quotes #suicide mention #death tw #modern drama #modern theatre #2002 #Munro's examination of the prison system comes‚ perhaps understandably‚ second to her study of generational trauma and the #relationship between Josie and Fay; a daughter and her mother‚ who killed her father #but it is there. bubbling underneath the familial drama is the question of what to do with murderers and whether imprisonment‚ as an #institution‚ is really anything more than a bandaid that can only punish and never rehabilitate #the dehumanising effects of incarceration are mostly alluded to in dialogue‚ second hand‚ and only once or twice (but very powerfully) seen #on stage. being locked up has done nothing to actually address Fay's crime‚ nor the fallout it has had on the lives of those affected; her #daughter Josie‚ her mother in law‚ herself. it's a kneejerk measure‚ an automatic response to a terrible crime with little philosophy or #psychology behind it. several times it is referenced how much easier the 'lifers' are to deal with; that in having no real prospect of #being released‚ they naturally settle into a more docile state without the uneasy desperation that comes with passing time you know will #end. but it's also mentioned‚ in passing‚ how often the short term prisoners will reoffend and return to prison. the system is a broken one #but it isn't something Munro ever feels the need to spell out. it's just a consistently humming backdrop against which #this particular story is playing out

[angerissue]

Six months before the battle of Sokovia, Bruce had sought professional help for his PTSD, but then he was retraumatized during a routine mission with the Avengers. In consequence, his body started to reject his normal form in favour of his transformed one, which caused discomfort whenever he was in his normal form. He felt tense and off, like he was in the wrong skin, and he began favouring his transformed state. This drew the concern of Natasha Romanoff, who discovered a method to help him revert without discomfort. She called it the "lullaby".

During the lullaby, Natasha rested her hand against Bruce's own, and she spoke softly and quietly to him. This made him feel more relaxed, and therefore more comfortable and willing to revert.

🚨 This post discusses gender biases associated with abuse and trauma.

🚫 Please do not reblog this post.

I. Why Natasha Romanoff?

Among Bruce's teammates, Natasha was the only person who could perform the lullaby on him. This wasn't because he liked or loved her, though. He appreciated her as a teammate and found her amicable, but if Bruce liking someone was the only requirement for the lullaby, it would have worked with his other teammates too, and this was not the case. Rather, Bruce has always been more comfortable around people who present as women, especially when it comes to conflicts and confrontations. His father was abusive, and confrontations with him never ended soundly, so Bruce becomes uncomfortable during disagreements with other men now. There's an internalized association with Brian's abuse. This intensifies when he's in a transformed state. When he initially refused to revert and his teammates tried reasoning with him, he was hostile to everyone but Natasha, partly because of the above association. Natasha’s behaviour was another reason for Bruce's favourable response. She'd been observing him and noticed he wasn't receptive to his other teammates, so she tried a drastically different approach that was calmer and way more passive, using her knack for psychological manipulation to accomplish it without coming across as fraudulent. Natasha spoke quietly and encouragingly, and she reached out and made physical contact with Bruce as well, which his teammates had not done. It was a strategic move, and it paid off better than she expected. Bruce did not pull away or fight her, and he soon reverted. Unbeknownst to Natasha, when Bruce was still a boy, his mother often held his hand and spoke gently to comfort him, which Natasha had mirrored. Just like his other association, this association was stronger in his transformed state, too. Natasha understood her actions had been successful, and this became the lullaby.

II. Bruce’s Thoughts.

Bruce never considered the above reasons for the lullaby’s success, even after it was retired. Instead, he credited its success to Natasha merely being clever, and knowing enough tactics from her years of espionage (and interrogation) that she could easily find something that worked with him. Bruce never knew there was a personal component to it, or that it harkened back to his childhood, and he never knew other people would've reacted differently, and been more resistant to what she did. Despite the lullaby's success and convenience for both Bruce and the Avengers, Bruce had mixed feelings about it. He was appreciative of its existence, because it served an important purpose and it was even therapeutic in a sense, though he had always been an extremely self-reliant person, and the lullaby made it difficult not to feel dependent on Natasha. He was frustrated that he was losing control of his body in the first place too, moreso because it reminded him of the issues he'd previously had with his condition. There was a lot of uncertainty. The lullaby was indeed useful in the moment, but he dreaded the thought of needing it down the road. Bruce's reversion issues were ultimately a result of his PTSD relapse, which was successfully treated with medication once he returned from Fiji. Bruce had not considered medication before this, because his discomfort was exclusive to his normal form and didn't affect his transformed state, so he believed the problem was directly related to his condition, rather than his mental health. He had been very confident in his recovery up to that point, and even after the last disastrous mission, he never thought it was significant enough to impede him that much. If he'd asked his teammates for input, especially Tony, who also had PTSD, he may have gained more perspective, but he was reticent about his personal issues and never bothered.

III. The Lullaby Nowadays.

Natasha Romanoff is no longer around in Bruce's most recent verse, because she had died during the team's search for the infinity stones. However, if she were still around, the lullaby probably wouldn't work anymore. There was a moment during the battle of Sokovia where Bruce wanted to sit out the fight, because of certain concerns with his condition, but Natasha forced him to fight anyways. Bruce still respects Natasha as a tactical expert, and part of him understands why she used him like this, but her actions in Sokovia created new associations that counteract how the lullaby worked. Bruce never fully regained his trust in her, and this would render the lullaby ineffective now.

IV. Where was Hulk?

Simply put, Hulk was still a dormant and passive personality in the system. He couldn't front at the time, because he still hadn't developed enough for it. This finally happened during the Johannesburg incident, six months later, when the conditions were right. Not only was Bruce forced to relive his childhood trauma because of Wanda Maximoff's hex, but he transformed when this happened as well, a process that effectively puts him into a developmental state (which also put Hulk's own development back into the blender). Before the Johannesburg incident, Hulk was around in an imperceptible capacity, but he wouldn't have been able to front or influence Bruce.

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#( headcanon. ) #( essential. ) #this is the same idea as someone refusing to see a therapist of the same gender presentation as their abuser. #or being uncomfortable in a room full of a certain gender because of previous bad experiences. #it's a very subtle thing. #bruce's issues also stem from his experiences with ross. #canonically when bruce was working on his gamma experiments he took his childhood doll and a photo of his mom to the test site. #when ross saw the doll he tore off its arm. then he said he admired bruce's father and called him a 'real man'. #which was so messed up because the guy was incarcerated for killing his wife. #so there's a whole thing about authority figures and toxic masculinity and men in general and it's all mixed up in bruce's head. #fortunately he's had many positive experiences with men since then and he's not as uncomfortable as he used to be. #he feels more autonomous and less like he's under their thumbs. maybe a little less threatened. #that said... there's a reason hulk fronted when bruce was angrily approached by bucky. and when bruce was being yelled at by tony. #both of which happened way after the lullaby was retired. #and that reason is? bruce still has issues. #abuse mention cw