#the best way to resolve that is to make making drugs legitimate

[maybesimon]

also fuckin hell just legalize drugs already

#i dont even use drugs but if your problem with drugs is 'the illegal production/supply chain' #the best way to resolve that is to make making drugs legitimate #because then people can handle conflicts using the civil system #instead of enforcing it themselves #if you dont wanna do drugs dont do them! just like abortions! its easy! #you dont see people selling illegal moonshine on the street corners here because guess what alcohol is legal #also imagine the tax revenues on drugs... get your money government pls

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

'How can a sane society permit the medicalisation of children who don't fit gender stereotypes?' - Andrew Doyle

Making predictions is always a mug's game but I think I'll give it a shot.

So, I have a strong suspicion that historians of the future will look back at our current period of time in utter bewilderment. How is it, they will say, that a supposedly sane society permitted the medicalization of children who did not conform to gender stereotypes? How is it that figures in authority in the political class and the medical establishment thought it was a good idea to encourage the use of puberty blockers, which almost always lead to the taking of cross-sex hormones, and sometimes irreversible surgery for kids too young to possibly consent to such interventions?

None of this makes sense.

But there are some signs that the tide is turning. So this week, the NHS confirmed that children suffering from gender dysphoria will no longer be put on puberty blockers in the two new clinics being set up to replace the Tavistock pediatric clinic, which will be closing soon, following the report by Dr Hillary Cass which revealed that it was unsafe for children. The NHS has noted the the ominous exception of "clinical tests" which might end up being a loophole. The draft policy still uses language such as "gender affirming," so we probably still have a long way to go. We're going to have to wait to see what happens. But this is definitely a promising development

Things aren't looking so positive in Wales and Scotland where the governments have seemingly been entirely captured by gender identity activism. And the same is true of the US and Canada.

But gradually, reason will prevail. For one thing, the Tavistock is going to close, although that closure does seem to keep being postponed. And one of the reasons why it was considered unsafe was the use of puberty blockers. The Cass review confirmed that there was simply not enough research into the long-term impact of these treatments.

And one would have thought when it comes to doling out drugs to kids, we might want to be sure that we're not putting them in danger.

In fact, studies show that in the vast majority of cases feelings of gender dysphoria in youth are resolved through puberty, so by blocking puberty, you are blocking the remedy. Whose bright idea was that?

And even in those cases where the feelings persist, surely we can all agree that children aren't best placed to make life-changing decisions about their own bodies. And this has all happened very quickly, mostly because discussion on these issues has been stifled. Only today, Dr Ahmad Malik has tweeted out a thread confirming that he is being investigated by the General Medical Council for expressing concerns that there has been an alarming increase in cases of child gender dysphoria and surgery.

But why should this lead to an investigation? Dr Malik is simply asking some legitimate questions. And it's bizarre that a health professional raising the alarm should be treated as some kind of heretic who needs to be silenced.

All of this can be explained with one word: ideology.

I've spoken before about how a small but powerful elite in the western world have succumbed to a kind of hysteria, particularly around the notion of gender identity. The conflation of LGB with TQIA+ has confused a lot of people, because of course, sexual orientation has got nothing to do with gender. And as I argued on the show last week, gender identity ideology promotes anti-gay rhetoric and anti-gay concepts in order to sustain itself.

If you want to understand how self-styled progressives have got it so wrong, consider this example. In 2020, Pink News released the following report on Pakistan.

"Lastly, in a historic move, transgender people in Pakistan will finally get access to free healthcare. The government plans will also include covering all transition-related costs. Pakistan just said 'trans rights!'"

Of course there was a reason why the government of Pakistan was offering to support transitional surgery. It's the same reason the government of Iran does. Because homosexuality is illegal, and there is a widespread belief that it can be corrected through sex reassignments.

So Pakistan, which by the way has since struck down all legal protections for trans people - it wasn't supporting trans rights at all. It was attacking gay people.

The Pink News couldn't see that, because the impact of ideology is that it blinds you to reason and stifles critical thought. And that's why activists continually misinterpret regressive ideas as though they were progressive.

We know that between 80 and 90% of adolescents who were referred to the Tavistock were same-sex attracted. So they were effectively correcting gay kids. The theocrats of Iran and Pakistan would be proud.

And even for those kids who weren't same-sex attracted, surely there needed to be more discussion. Surely we should be telling young people that there is no one way to be a boy or a girl. That being a tomboy doesn't make you less female, and playing with dolls doesn't make you any less male. And certainly being gay doesn't mean you're trapped in the wrong body.

But in recent years, we've been avoiding those conversations, and as a result, we've been regressing. This latest statement from the NHS is a step in the right direction. Admittedly, it's only a small step, and what feels like an impossible journey.

But if I'm right, the historians of the future will be baffled that we ever allowed ourselves to stray from the path of reason in the first place.

==

Congratulations, I guess, on not giving kids endocrine disorders for being gay.

This is where we're at.

#Andrew Doyle #Tavistock #gender ideology #genderwang #queer theory #gay conversion therapy #gay conversion #homophobia 2.0 #homophobia #sex trait modification #puberty blockers #ideological capture #ideological corruption #medical corruption #medical malpractice #medical scandal #medical transition #anti gay #religion is a mental illness

[butterytoaster469]

Three Questions About Confidential Computing

Confidential computing is the ability to safeguard data and applications by running them in secure enclaves, may be the next big tech industry buzzword. However, this is only half the truth. In reality, secure computing is already at forefront of a number of groundbreaking instances. However, the concept isn't widely used because of a lack of knowledge around what it is and how it works, and how it works.

Organizations need a new strategy in the current environment, where rising security concerns and high-visibility security threats clash with the "go faster" shift to cloud computing and DevOps. Enter AWS Nitro Security, where it helps businesses run more efficiently and makes work that was previously thought to be impossible. It has the potential to equip security teams with the ability to resolve issues the business did not think were possible.

What is confidential computing?

It is better to concentrate on the data in order to protect it in a data-driven world. On the surface data is able to exist in three different states. When it's being stored at rest, it's "at at rest" and when it's being processed or processed, it's "in use"; and when it's traveling across the network, it's "in transit." Nowadays, the best security practices use encryption to protect information when it's not in use or moving through the network. The data remains vulnerable to unauthorized access and tampering during processing or in the course of running. So, securing the data while in use is crucial for total security across the data's lifecycle.

Confidential computing can be described as a method to safeguard data as well as the applications that use it. It isolates both the data and the code to prevent unauthorised access, even if the infrastructure has been compromised. Confidential computing does this using trusted execution environments that are based on hardware (TEE) which utilize hardware-backed techniques for increased guarantees of security for code execution and data security within that environment.

What can I do with Confidential Computing?

Confidential computing has already shown its potential in several innovative uses. The main concerns are security and privacy concerns. Confidential computing does not permit sharing of crucial information in real-time while still ensuring strict compliance regulations. Technology is already helping speed getting new drugs to market with a less expensive method.

Consilient is using the technology to combat fraud in the financial sector by utilizing machine learning as well as an Azure confidential computing model which allows for AI learning without centralizing the data. In practical terms this means that government organizations and financial institutions can identify malicious activity more precisely and efficiently, lowering false-positive rates and improving risk management for legitimate companies.

Then, there's the UC San Francisco Center for Digital Health Innovation's efforts to speed up the development and validation of clinical algorithms. In healthcare, securing regulatory approval for the clinical use of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms is a process that requires rich and extensive clinical data - it's the only way to create accurate, reliable and unbiased algorithm models.

Companies can run sensitive applications and data on infrastructure that is not trusted, like public clouds or other hosted environments with hardware-level encryption. This vastly increases the security and privacy of the applications and data within and outside of their established security perimeter and can prevent networks from becoming insecure. It's simple: companies need to encrypt their data and keep track of their keys or they will be hacked by someone else.

When is the best moment to begin Confidential Computing?

The UCSF example above illustrates that the solution is "now". However there are many practical uses. This includes providing anonymized and secure analytics on multiple data sets, and also protecting models that use machine learning data.

Every business is eager to tackle a macro trend which is the application of information it has collected. For most, siloed data isn't complete and becomes valuable when combined with information from other organizations. In addition most data is confidential, meaning that there must be safeguards in place.

[passitonsg]

3 Questions To Be Answered Concerning Confidential Computing

According to the current state of affairs as of now, confidential computing - the ability to secure data and applications in use by running them inside secured enclaves may appear as the latest buzzword in the tech industry that only the most embedded professionals understand. However, this is just half the truth. Confidential computing is being used in numerous creative ways. But, it is not yet widespread because of a lack of understanding of what it is and how it functions and what it is used for.

The organizations need to adopt a different strategy in the current environment, with increasing security risks and high-profile attacks clash with the "go faster" move to cloud and DevOps. Enter Azure confidential computing Security, where it makes business faster and makes work that was previously thought to be impossible. Actually it is able to provide security teams with the capability to resolve issues that companies didn't think were solvable.

Confidential Computing: What is it?

The best method to safeguard it in an increasingly data-driven world is to use a method that focuses on the data. Data can exist in three different states at a fundamental level. It can exist in three states: when it's stored, it's "at at rest" while being processed , it's "in use" and when it travels across networks, it's "in transit." Security most current practices employ encryption to safeguard data, when it's in rest or when it is moved across networks. But, the data is still vulnerable to unauthorised access or manipulation in the course of processing or during runtime. Therefore, protecting the data while in use is critical for complete protection throughout the entire lifecycle of the data.

Confidential computing provides protection of data and the applications that utilize it. It isolates both the data and code to block unauthorised access, even if the infrastructure is compromised. AWS Nitro Enclaves Confidential computing accomplishes this using hardware-based trusted execution environments (TEE) that utilize hardware-backed strategies to increase the level of security for the execution of code and protection of data within the environment.

Confidential Computing: What should I do?

Confidential computing has already proved its value in a range of creative applications. One example is that Leidos utilizes it to create a trusted network of computing environments that improve the speed of the clinical drug trials. Security and privacy concerns, Leidos cannot facilitate sharing crucial data in real-time, and still meet strict compliance regulations. Technology is already helping to speed the process of getting new medicines on the market in a more economical manner.

Additionally, Consilient uses the technology to stop financial fraud by using machine learning as well as a private computing model that allows AI training, without centralizing the data. This means that banks and government agencies can more accurately identify fraudulent activity, which lowers false-positive rates, and improves risk management for legitimate businesses.

Then, there's the UC San Francisco Center for Health Innovation's efforts to speed up the development and validation of clinical algorithms. To obtain regulatory approval for clinical AI (AI) in healthcare, it is necessary to have a lot of clinical data. This is the only way to create an optimized, scalable, and objective algorithm models.

Businesses can run sensitive software and data on infrastructure that is not trusted, like public clouds or other hosted environments with hardware-level encryption. This significantly improves security and privacy and protects the security of networks from being compromised. Companies must secure and encrypt their data. Otherwise, they will be attacked.

When Can I Start Using Confidential Computing?

The UCSF example above shows the answer is "now". However, it has many other useful applications. This includes securing the data used in machines learning models, securing blockchain and providing anonymous and secure analytics on multiple data sets.

Every organization is keen to address an important macro trend that is the utilization of the data that it has amassed. Many people think that data siloed can only be valuable when it is combined with other data. However, many information is confidential and needs to be protected.

This results in a compromise between usability and security. The business must be in a position to gain access to and use information to collaborate with other companies, gain new insights, and also keep it protected. It can be a tall task with all the moving parts in play however confidential computing is a reality.

Bottom line: Data is the new gold. But how do organizations extract it? In the end, as confidential computing as a technology grows more commonplace and innovation increases, organizations will come up with innovative and effective ways to put their data to use, eventually making it more valuable.

[bestworstcase]

on ‘villainy’ and varian’s and cassandra’s moral codes

for all that varian’s and cassandra’s villain arcs get compared to death they’re really more different than they are similar, and i think one of the more interesting distinctions is the characters’ moral perspectives on their own actions--namely that varian recognizes his own choices as villainous and consciously self-identifies as a ‘bad guy’ and cassandra not only…doesn’t do that but appears legitimately taken aback when varian says she’s ‘become the villain.’ from this we can infer that varian is transgressing his own personal sense of right and wrong while cassandra isn’t.

and… well with varian i think it’s pretty straightforward: he’s a kid who desperately wants to make the world a better place and make his father proud, but his impulsivity and recklessness and general disregard for lab safety foil his plans and get him into trouble. then one of his accidents puts his dad into what is essentially a magical coma and varian becomes singularly focused on reviving him--and, when he realizes that the king is more invested in covering up the problem than fixing it and his only hope lies with a zealously guarded relic belonging to the kingdom, he decides that the only way to achieve this goal is to start breaking the rules.

so he asks rapunzel--his friend who promised to help him--to retrieve some information the king is trying to steal from him, and then persuades her to help him access the sundrop vault; then when she balks at stealing it he makes it clear that he no longer trusts her and escapes with the flower. at this point he’s in the morally dubious zone; being strategic about what he tells rapunzel to make sure she helps him, spiking cookies with truth serum to sow chaos and get information he needs, and doing things that are crimes on paper but also largely victimless. i think these were things varian could probably rationalize as okay--not exactly good, but no one got hurt and he got what he needed.

except the flower’s magic is gone. he drugged the palace, manipulated rapunzel and broke her trust in him, and committed treason all for something useless because the actual magic of the sundrop is in rapunzel herself. now he’s in trouble, because he needs rapunzel’s help but his desperate measures guaranteed she won’t be willing to help him again. and this is when varian realizes that his only options are 1. give up on saving his dad and turn himself in and hope rapunzel takes pity on him, or 2. accept that no one is going to help him now and do whatever it takes to free quirin himself.

so--mutating ruddiger, attacking the city, kidnapping arianna and threatening her with encasement in amber, building an automaton army to defend him while he works--these are all things that varian feels are wrong, but chooses to do anyway because he doesn’t trust that anyone else will even try to save his father. despite his anger and his rationalizations, at the end of the day varian sees himself as doing bad things for good reasons. (“Believe me, I know/I’ve sunk pretty low” & “I’m the bad guy, that’s fine”)

and when his reasons fall through--when he fails to free his dad--he falls quickly into guilt and despair over having hurt people for nothing. he stews for a year in how unforgivable and ashamed he feels, and even when he teams up with the separatists, he’s doing it in, basically, pursuit of a reset button: he wants to take back what he did. and when rapunzel shows him that he can be forgiven, he can have a second chance, he does have people who are willing to help him and trust him again, he drops the memory-wiping idea and his alliance with the separatists without a second thought--because what rapunzel actually does is give him a way to pursue his goals without sacrificing his conscience, which is what he really needed the whole time.

now, cassandra, on the other hand…

cass is an interesting character in this regard because, while she does want to be a hero, she’s not at all altruistic. she’s consumed by her lack of autonomy and she craves not only control over her own life but also respect from the people around her--her desire to be a hero is very self-interested, at its core. and moreover she has a somewhat fatalistic view of the world wherein some people (not her) matter and some… just don’t. 

moreover cassandra, despite her ambitions of becoming a guard, doesn’t so much as blink at eugene’s or the pub thugs’ criminal pasts--she is suspicious of lance at first, but on the grounds that he’s an unrepentant thief who showed up out of the blue under suspicious circumstances to ‘reconnect’ with his old partner in crime; eugene is also distrustful of lance, for the exact same reasons--and of course she doesn’t think twice about breaking the law herself. literally one of the very first things we see cassandra do is commit treason to make her friend happy. cass doesn’t care about the law, and she only wants to be a guard because she associates getting the job with having her dad’s approval and it’s also her ticket out of lifelong servitude.

on the other hand, cass does seem have a strong sense of right and wrong where people she cares about are concerned. she is constantly putting the desires and well-being of her friends ahead of not just her ambitions (e.g. in beginnings for rapunzel, or great expotations for varian) but also her own safety (e.g. risking her livelihood and home to sneak rapunzel out for the night in bea, or setting aside her misgivings about the sketchy bird people in freebird). 

which is all to say--cass isn’t exactly amoral but the moral framework through which she sees the world is… more complicated than varian’s. she doesn’t seem particularly motivated to help strangers but she’ll move mountains to help people she cares about; she doesn’t care much about rules or laws except insofar as she doesn’t want to get caught breaking them, and she has this hierarchical mindset that some people matter--meaning, they get to make decisions for themselves and have people care about what they need and want--and some don’t, and that she herself is stuck in the latter category despite her best efforts to climb out of it.

which brings us to the subject of the moonstone, and cassandra’s villain arc, and why cass, unlike varian, doesn’t consider herself a bad person.

i think what it comes down to most is this: taking the moonstone is an act of defiance against not only rapunzel but also fate itself. waiting in the wings sets up cassandra’s resigned acceptance of this hierarchical order and her own cosmic insignificance, and then in crossing the line she REJECTS that same order. she’s raging against rapunzel but also against the cultural and legal and destined systems that put rapunzel on top and forced cass into subservience. she is very literally fighting for her freedom against the universe itself.

and when cass was not an altruistic or heavily morally motivated or even particularly law-abiding person before, and when her conscience has always been predominantly oriented around taking care of her friends first and herself second, and when the thing that drove her to this breaking point was her friends spitting that back in her face… well.

it’s easy to say “cass literally tried to murder rapunzel a bunch of times, how can she possibly believe she’s the good guy?”--but rapunzel maimed cass, blamed her for it, and consistently prioritized her destiny over cassandra’s wellbeing; and rapunzel represents the cosmic order that cass is fighting to liberate herself from. and while i know that the -popular- take on be very afraid is “cass is terrified of hurting rapunzel,” i submit it’s actually “cass is terrified of having to fight rapunzel, because she still believes that fate is literally tilted in rapunzel’s favor and she can’t win a direct fight with rapunzel.” that’s why she’s so scared; that’s why rapunzel seemingly deleting the red rocks hardens her resolve; that’s why she marches into corona with maximum drama and bluster and builds a fortress and tries so hard to mess with rapunzel’s head before the battle begins. she’s trying to even the odds. and that’s why, when rapunzel stomps her into the curb, cassandra’s immediate response is “i need an army.”

cassandra isn’t scared for rapunzel. she is scared OF rapunzel.

we do also see cass trying not to harm people she considers to be innocent bystanders; she uses the truth serum on varian bc she needs the incantation, but afterwards she doesn’t even bother to restrain him until after he starts pestering her, she says flat out that she doesn’t want him to get hurt when she fights rapunzel; similarly she is willing to hurt calliope to force rapunzel to comply, but--despite her deep personal dislike of calliope--uses a minimum amount of force and again verbally expresses that she doesn’t particularly want to hurt her, that it’s a means to an end and nothing more. attacking rapunzel? that’s fine, rapunzel is her enemy. attacking eugene? of course, he’s rapunzel’s closest ally. mind controlling the brotherhood? that kills two birds with one stone--eliminating powerful enemies with a vested interest in taking the moonstone away from her and turning them into allies who can level the playing field between her and rapunzel. and when she does finally snap and raze corona to the ground? the people of corona attacked her first. i think cass ABSOLUTELY sees herself as fighting a purely defensive war against people who have or will hurt her.

and this is, of course, ultimately why varian failed to get through to her during ‘nothing left to lose’--he appealed to her sense of morality and her sense of morality shrugged. 

as for the thing that snaps her out of it? the moment that forces her to question whether she’s really as right as she thinks she is? it’s learning who her new friend really is. it’s the shock of finding out that she’s been allied with, confiding in, taking advice from a legendary villain, from a monster she likely grew up hearing stories about. cass takes it as a given that zhan tiri is evil--and if she’s friends with zhan tiri, what does that make her? and even then, cass is resistant to the idea that she might be a villain--“No, no, I’m nothing like you. Just because I’m pursuing my destiny doesn’t make me a bad person!”--which is, ultimately, very telling of her whole mindset. she’s not a bad guy, she’s fighting for her freedom. she’s not a bad guy, she’s protecting herself against people who want to exploit her. she’s not a bad guy, she’s just putting herself first for once.

and OAH generally, i’d argue, is not actually about cassandra trying to reconcile with rapunzel or redeem herself or be a better person, it’s… literally cass trying frantically to prove she’s NOT the bad guy. it’s “oh yeah? you think i’m a bad person? well could a bad guy do THIS? *lies and impersonates a former coworker and gets up on a stage to justify her own actions in front of a crowd*” it’s “a bad guy wouldn’t apologize, rapunzel never apologized for anything, and to prove i’m a better person I’M going to apologize! see? SEE!?”--and then everyone in corona attacks her and she goes “FINE, i’m the bad guy, fuck you all” and wrecks the place.

only then--only in plus est en vous--does cassandra get into a mindset similar to varian’s, of “i am the bad guy but if i can pull this off it will be worth it.” she’s not sorry. she still sees rapunzel as an enemy trying to get her under control again, and the only thing that’s really changed is cassandra acknowledging that she has in fact done bad things too.

and… i would argue that by the end of plus est cassandra… feels some guilt but isn’t sorry. “i’ve failed” and “i’ve done terrible things” and “i tried to prove i was more than everyone thought but they were right”--her anguish is not like varian’s anguish in RR, where he was consumed with despair because no one could possibly forgive him for the things he did. cassandra is upset because she did awful things and failed and she perceives that failure as proof of her own worthlessness. she’s right back to feeling how she felt in waiting in the wings but with a hefty new helping of self-disgust and shame for having been stupid enough to believe she could change anything for herself. 

she’s not sorry. she’s not pleading for forgiveness. she just wants rapunzel to give up and leave her alone--& then, after rapunzel convinces her that she’s wrong, and she does have worth as a person, and she does have a destiny of her own, cass does what’s necessary to clean up the crisis she created and then… just bounces. she gets the freedom she wanted and leaves without a backward glance.

(which. good for her.)

tl;dr: varian’s villain arc explores his moral scruples and what it takes for him to be willing to ignore them, whereas cassandra’s villain arc explores her incendiary reaction to a lifetime of injustices; she isn’t amoral but her sense of right and wrong is, unlike varian’s, very contextual and personal. varian is a pragmatic idealist who wants to be lawful good but is capable of setting his own morals aside in pursuit of a goal he considers to be important enough, and cassandra is one radicalizing incident away from realizing that her grievances are not a unique personal failing but a systemic problem and then leading a class uprising.

#tts

[reachexceedinggrasp]

Fated to Love You here reaffirming my long held conviction that no pure romance drama should be 20+ episodes.

This show is... really something. It is, in the fullest possible sense, A Lot. It starts out as an all-out screwball comedy wrapped around a troperiffic romance fluff plot. Wall to wall clichés, but not in a bad way; in a meta, self-aware, peak performance, finest Velveeta way. And if you’re not familiar with screwball comedy, think ‘light-hearted crack fic with slapstick and farce’. There is nothing believable or grounded about any aspect of it, it starts at Bonkers Level: Platinum and it only climbs higher as it goes on.

(On a side note, this results in the leading man being possibly the most memorable love interest in romcom history. His introduction scene is nothing short of batshit insane and you can't reliably predict how he will respond to anything. I have never seen a main character like this, he is all over the shop and utterly singular. Your first reaction to him is ‘wtf?’, your second and third reactions are ‘really?! this guy??’, your fourth reaction is ‘okay he do be mad hot tho’, your fifth and final reaction is ‘I cannot believe this performance exists, I have no idea what he is doing, but it is amazing.’

Appropriately(?) the actor who plays him is an uncanny Korean doppelgänger of Johnny Depp and- between the resemblance, the mannerisms, and the fearless total commitment to a bold as fuck acting choice with the very serious chops to back it up- I’m not convinced they aren’t half brothers separated at birth.

They do sabotage my happiness several times by starting to randomly style his (long, beautiful) hair very weird, fixing it right when the plot is rapidly circling the drain so he looks his hottest just as the show becomes briefly unwatchable, and then ruining him for the entire second half of the series by shearing it all off. WHY, my anguished cry goes up. Why do you do this?! Why does he have like seven hairstyles over the course of the show? Much later they even briefly give him that ubiquitous Kdrama Second Lead haircut with weirdly forward combed fringe in a solid straight line across the brow all the way back from the crown. It looks terrible on everyone and I hate it so much. This version was less bad than most but it is still bad. Anyway.)

So it’s an incredibly fun time to start but there are some problems with the tone and plot even in the first 9 episodes, including when the lovers start getting along really well right away and they’re both thoroughly decent people so there’s nothing keeping them from having a lovely time together making the best of the circumstances (forced/fake marriage). And, instead of introducing new conflict or advancing one of the dozen conflicts previously established and actually moving forward, there is a painfully contrived rehash of something they already dealt with which is then just never resolved. They make the hero leap to a conclusion his wife is nefarious after he’d already decided once that she isn’t (though it was completely reasonable for him to think she was- the fact that he decided to trust her so quickly just speaks to what kind of person he is), never try to find out more or talk to anyone about it, start pushing her away because of it, and have all this come to absolutely nothing. It only exists so he’ll stop being so incredibly nice to her and they won’t fall in love too fast.

You’d think they would have to eventually clear the air before the romance advances right? No. It wasn’t a real plot point, it was just a reset button to get them estranged and hostile again after they connect over their kindred spirits and we’ve spent a bunch of time showing how profoundly supportive and honourable our hero is. He’s being beautifully mature and selfless because he’s a really good dude (unusual for a romcom drama, right? for the main guy to be nice and considerate? to accept responsibility even if he doesn’t have to? Gun’s weird but he’s wonderful), but the writers need him to be cold and standoffish, so they just make him act like an unreasonable idiot for a while. He’s been thus far hugely proactive and direct and honest about everything, it’s one of his most prominent character traits, but suddenly he’s going to avoid confrontation in favour of being super passive aggressive?? Then the writers never solve it. Never! It just goes away. He got over it, I guess? He decided he doesn’t care if she’s a gold digger who deliberately trapped him? God forbid we have motivations that make sense and organic character drama, right? It's not like he didn't have totally valid reasons to be suspicious that could have led to legitimate conflict our heroine would struggle to vindicate herself from.

But anyway, apart from that kind of lazy bullshit, it’s a fine romance plot with extremely endearing characters who have great chemistry. They are fun and well-rounded and incredibly human despite all the silliness and OTT antics. Their relationship is hugely, hugely engaging and the dynamic is perfect, they really complement each other as characters and organically drive each other's arcs. There's the genuine depth and warmth and quiet pathos so often lacking from this kind of show. Things progress at a semi-reasonable pace. They work up to confessing their mutual feelings and get into some cute shenanigans before making out. It happens soon enough that you are not frustrated, but there's still plenty of build-up. Then- uh oh! We’re only 9 eps in and we have another 11 hours to fill with this fluffy plot!

Time for a bunch of absolute fucking nonsense. Time for our show, which has been so goofy and removed from reality it occasionally resembles a Monty Python skit, which has been so light it asks you to ignore the frankly incredibly fucked up implications of its premise for the sake of comedy (they were both drugged and proxy raped resulting in a pregnancy- the FL was a virgin prior to this and Gun had a girlfriend he wanted to propose to- and it was the FL’s family who did this to them: SUPER FUCKED UP), so farcical that it makes Some Like it Hot look like a gritty crime drama, that show to cover a bunch of serious heavy shit.

First, the rankest of melodrama. The families and the world all turn on our couple, but their love is true and will conquer all- UNTIL, he randomly collapses and gets convenient Soap Opera Amnesia. He’s forgotten their entire relationship and a series of coincidental pieces of misconstrued evidence, the machinations of his scheming ex girlfriend, the Soap Opera Doctor’s advice, and his closest confidants all going along with this conspire to make him believe (AGAIN) that his wife just wants his money.

This whole terrible episode is mercifully brief, but it just gets worse after his memory returns. This is where we get into the Noble Idiocy. The ‘pretend you don’t love them to “save them” from getting hurt by hurting them and making their important life decisions for them as if they don’t have a basic fucking right to decide that themselves’ kind. Which goes on for three FUCK years in the show. He wastes three years of their lives they could have spent together because he’s worried he might die young (in a terrible way) and doesn’t want to put her through that. And, of course, they inevitably get together later, so all he did was make it infinitely worse for her either way. To say nothing of how he thus couldn’t be there for her through the loss of their child. Possibly my most hated fucking trope of all time when done this way.

And, yep, you read that right. This show that has the single most batshit bonkers over the top slapstick I have ever seen in a kdrama, this show has a storyline where the fluffy romcom trope accidental pregnancy ends in massive trauma. Because she was standing around in the street after realising he does remember her (he continued to pretend he had amnesia after his memories came back, it’s all part of the stupid noble idiocy so I glossed over it) and gets hit by a car in the middle of their angst staring.

It is nearly Meet Joe Black levels of hilariously abrupt and incongruous.

so, blah blah, they lose their baby (there’s a very stupid whole thing about her telling everyone to save the baby instead of her- the baby is not far enough along for this to have been remotely viable. She is like 3 months pregnant. They all act like there’s a choice to be made between them and she’s mad at her husband for choosing to save her, but there was NO CHOICE. Either she lives or they both die! ffs I’m so irritated about this) and then he dumps her ~for her own good~~ because he loves her too much to make her go through losing him? So she loses him sooner?? right after their baby died???

Why do people in these stories always think being betrayed and abandoned for no reason and being incredibly angry at someone you love while also not getting to be with them is somehow less painful than making the best of your life together and then losing them against their will? ‘I will make her hate me and then she won’t be sad we broke up/I died!!!!’ is such a fucking galaxy brain take and I despise it with the heat of ten thousand suns. Fuck you, Spider-Man. You aren’t protecting anyone, the villains still know you love MJ and will still use her against you, you clod. Emotionally torturing the person you love is not going to make them not a target because the villains are not as fucking stupid as you two. Anyway.

Amnesia was right where I started fast-forwarding and skipping around (because I couldn’t bear it), but it only goes downhill from there. Maybe I would have toughed out more of the wretched middle part plot twist if they hadn’t cut all the hot guy’s hair off. If I’m going to watch total nonsense tedious melodrama, I need it to at least be pretty. I understand it was a Symbolic Haircut but damnit! Let me have this!

And it ultimately does the thing that kdramas seem obsessed with and which makes me want to claw out my own eyeballs with frustration. There’s a giant time skip, the female lead gets a personality transplant, all narrative momentum is lost, and the characters who eventually (at ENORMOUS length) get together permanently are essentially completely different characters with a completely different dynamic than the couple you were shipping for 90% of the story. It is so FUCKING unsatisfying and it is EVERYWHERE.

Not so much with this one because this one still had a lot of very romantic scenes late in the game, but most that do this, it’s also like all the romance is sucked out of the post-time skip episodes and the ending is a consolation prize instead of a triumphant culmination. Inevitably, the heroine abruptly cools off and is suddenly wary of the hero and wants this Important New Career she never mentioned until the penultimate episode but is now her one true life’s dream. What the apparently irresistible appeal is of these contrived separations and demure conclusions is I CANNOT FATHOM. I’m here for the fucking romance guys, you have not made Citizen Kane, please just indulge me with a big schmoopy finale.

And if not that, it’s frequently that there’s been so many random mood swings and so much shitty behaviour by the end that the relationship doesn’t make sense and you don’t know why they even bother to get back together.

I’m not inherently against all misunderstandings (they are the bread and butter of low stakes romance let’s be real) or attempts at noble idiocy from misguided characters, but the duration and seriousness of the drama these generate needs to be in proportion to how ridiculous they are. If your entire plot can be solved by a thirty second conversation there is NO REASON not to have and the continuation of the misunderstanding is a result of someone just NOT SPEAKING UP when any functional human being would have spoken up seven times by now IT’S BAD.

Do little cliff-hangers, whatever, but don’t draaaaagg out silly misconceptions into Shakespearean tragedy, it’s just wearying. It makes me hate the characters for acting like emotionally constipated toddlers with terminal stupidity. If there is so little trust, so little understanding, and so little basic patience between these people, they probably shouldn’t be dating, so try fucking harder, writers. And noble idiocy that is more than an impulse they fairly quickly see the error of is just insulting. You are not helping the other person, you are being domineering and selfish. I have a whole complex about wasting time and seeing endless parades of characters flushing years down the toilet for literally no reason gives me hives. Especially when the whole issue is about time!

(And, btw, so much of the plot is about how desperately the family needs an heir and everyone still wanting them to have kids the second time they get together- while the ~dilemma used to keep them apart is a GENETIC DISEASE which could STRIKE AT ANY TIME. Do you SEE THE PROBLEM WITH THIS WRITERS????? NO, I KNOW YOU DON’T. ommmmmmmmggggg that’s awful! So they’re just dooming more kids to Soap Opera Brain Disease? And maybe growing up without a father just as Gun did? And no one even considers suggesting adoption??? He never considers that he shouldn’t have biological children despite thinking he shouldn’t have a wife?)

ANYWAY. Please do watch the first nine episodes and the last three, it’s bananas. They are cute as fuck, Gun is The Best, and the tropey romance scenes are top quality. You don't get those things executed so well, it doesn't happen, so you need this in your life. The acting is of a calibre you never usually see in modern romcoms; these are people at the top of their game committing utterly and taking these characters completely seriously. In that way it is pure wish fulfilment for me as someone who loves romance and is almost always disappointed by popular romance media, and thus the show is incalculably special. But skip the middle. Just skip it. It's not worth the suffering. I find the tone whiplash honestly just this side of crass.

I’ve been thinking about it for over a week and I truly love the main characters so it did plenty right, but I just cannot with wedding the two things this show is trying to be together, especially when it goes so hard in two mutually exclusive directions. but also the Meet Joe Black sudden car accident device is not redeemable under any circumstances. Can we never do that again, please.

#fated to love you #kdrama #jang hyuk #writing

[r0h1rr1m]

rambly inception thoughts p.2

this has been kicked off, specifically, by disliking that i failed to include yusuf in this post but there’s already so much going on there re: exact limits/mechanics of imagination in dreams, how to call down projections, moral relativism, crack chara psych, and speculating on the future of ari’s career--and i explained most of it poorly anyway so it’s probably for the best!

to start with, i’ve always imagined that there’s a huge variety in the caliber/class of chemist u can hire in dreamshare. the title probably applies even to people whose capability starts and stops at sourcing base product for somnacin and/or the finished drug. the next level up can maybe mix up different kinds to standard specifications. idk how much education/training u’d need to be able to do this, bc i v much do not chemistry, but i’d bet there’s a lot of variety in ppl’s qualifications in this category, too. a standard formula might affect different ppl slightly differently, like any psychotropic drug (is that even the most sensible analogy to real-world science? idk and i don’t want to risk hours of ultimately fruitless wikipedia spiralling), but in the same vein, the variances will all probably fall within a reasonable range of the same functionality. without, like, some sort of neuro degree, probably, the most fine-tuning a chemist could do is optimize doses/known variants of the drug through trial and error in preparation for a job.

our man yusuf definitely has a high-level neuro degree

so, just like the rest of the team, yusuf is obviously a total powerhouse in his field. like i said, it must take sophisticated knowledge of brain chemistry in order to do what he did on the fischer job, as well as the same mad genius as the rest of them. (as an aside, can i just say how utterly delightful a team dynamic is “group of geniuses who surround themselves with enough people who are the same kind of batshit to normalize it”? i’m weak) and idk how someone gets famous in like neurochem but yusuf is so brilliant he was probably p well known. js imagine the comedic potential of whatever rising-star chemist meeting yusuf and js going dr. ____?! who published those completely revolutionary but completely balls-to-the-wall studies on x and then after throwing the discipline into an uproar either a) dropped off the face of the earth and is now known as smth of an urban legend/cryptid in the community or b) still corresponds w experts in the field but now about the wildest shit and ppl kind of have to mythologize/not think too hard abt the dude who walks in ppl’s heads in order not to risk js breaking everything

so yusuf knows his shit and his initial assertion that 3 levels is impossible can be trusted to carry a lot of weight. which means the fact that he proceeded to do it more than secures his place in the cast of demonstrable prodigies

now, bc this is ostensibly a continuation of a post that’s loosely focused on charas’ moralities, let’s look at the 2 parts of the movie where we most directly confront yusuf’s: his dream den and hiding the sedation from the team. i’m going with the assumption that any legitimate/legal research and application of dreamshare has been discontinued.

come yell at me for over oversimplifying, but that makes the question of the dream den seem p straight-forward. yusuf faced giving up dreamshare research (or came onto the scene after it was already illegal, which could make for some rly interesting stories abt how he would’ve found out abt it) and couldn’t, so he had to find a way to continue on his own. and since it would be in rly bad faith to assume he doesn’t have the full consent of all his test subjects, that’s js that. (i’m not going to argue abt the difference b/w ethics and morals, and i’m laughably unqualified to discuss the ethics of human experimentation anyway so moving on)

hiding the fact that the team was sedated was a major plot point and is discussed w according frequency, so i’m sure most ppl have their own opinions abt what this says abt the parties involved. i’ll readily admit that my view is heavily colored by the fact that i js plain like yusuf. he’s a likeable guy. (i’ll try not to go off on a tangent, but i know that my reasons for disliking cobb are a little unfair; it’s more about narrative structure than any of his personal failings. the fact is i have a weakness for hypercompetence, and cobb is presented as someone who used to be the best, but is no longer reliable. he shows flashes of his old brilliance running the mr. charles gambit successfully and improvising capitalizing on the appearance of fisher’s browning projection on l2, but he’s desperate enough to be untrustworthy and further, he’s untrustworthy in a way that is eminently predictable by the audience. we know from the get-go that his shade is gonna sabotage something, and it’s hard not to blame him for that. we also know from the get-go that he’s desperate enough to drag other ppl into a fool’s mission, and that he’s hiding something dangerous from arthur, who by all appearances should be the person cobb can trust, and the person to whom it’s most important to know that kind of shit. i’m not gonna pretend i anticipated that big twist in the parking garage on l1, but it makes a ton of sense in retrospect and all this makes it easy to see why cobb is so widely mistrusted/disliked by the fandom. and i went off on a tangent, whoops.)

so picking back up at yusuf is a likeable guy--he seems p friendly and easy-going and i thoroughly enjoyed every scene of him on l1. i’m gonna say a lot of his moral considerations come in the form of deciding what is or isn’t his responsibility. mbe he avoided or suitably resolved the thorny ethical question of human experimentation in the same way i kind of did: by saying that the participants agreed to it on their own and leaving it there. this kind of reasoning is how he would’ve let cobb take responsibility for sedating and then informing the team. it’s also probably how he decided to cue the kick early on l1 and make it everyone else’s problem. which i do think was the right decision! it would be absurd to suggest that this highly intelligent man’s patterns of reasoning are always questionable. but i do see a pattern.

as for the advice he’d give ari, i think a lot of this relates back to my mention in the earlier post of whether or not she could let an institution/legislation dictate her ethics to her. i’ve since decided that it’s simpler to assume the institutions are all outside the law, though, so i’m not going to think abt that anymore unless directly prompted. one thing we do know abt ari, though, in contrast to my suppositions abt yusuf, is that she has a v strong sense of responsibility. she took it upon herself to manage cobb, and she took it upon herself to save the job, fisher, saito, and cobb when it looked like everything had been ruined. thinking abt it now, this makes for further interesting contrast w arthur, whose sense of responsibility seems to revolve around personal loyalty, eames, whose sense of responsibility is acutely pragmatic, and saito, whose sense of responsibility is on the grand scale of stopping a monopoly (suitably ironic).

again, idk if i’ve rly made any kind of point, and now i want to go back and build elaborate hierarchies of skill in each job description (architect, extractor, etc) like i kind of did for chemists but, well. if u made it this far bless u, i hope u have a wonderful day. vote

#inception #yusuf #ariadne #arthur #eames #saito #if u haven't check out p.1 cus there's a lot there that i never rly expanded but am figuring out how to #running my mouth #yes absolutely #dom cobb

[dreamlighter]

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[queenjunoking]

Wolf Taming Pt 31

CW: Noncon - Shock Collar - Pain - Petplay - Drugs - Kidnapping  - Manipulation - Abuse

(Note: On Z’s half of the story more heavy abuse will be seen. I will be putting the tag in bold when it’s relevant)

Briar

I watched as Z poked despondently at the french toast I made her while I made some calls. It was difficult to say Z was an emotional person. An outright lie to say she was an emotionally healthy one. But I had rarely seen her shut down like this. In a way it was better than the alternative. I was sure if I hadn’t said anything she’d be walking all the way over to Eos’s farm with a knife. I doubt she’d even bother to put shoes on.

“Z, please eat your food.” She looked up at me like she was just registering that I was there before going back to poking at it. I sighed and looked at the pile of energy drinks in her recycling bin. I started making a list of basic things she needed; I was disappointed to see that her fridge was nearing empty. I doubt she had any intention to go to the store anytime soon, she didn’t even have a car.

“Briar?” A voice came over my phone.

“Yes Van, I’m here.” Van was strange by Society standards. He was more interested in the laws and rules that governed the group. He never attended events. I’m not even sure he owned anyone. But he knew more about the rules than anyone that wasn’t at the top of the organization. I had to cash in an emblem just to talk to him.

“Bad news or good news?” I could hear him hesitate.

“Let’s start with the bad news. I could really use some good news to look forward too.” I didn’t like that there was bad news at all.

“Ok, so Mistress Eos’s acquisition seems to be legitimate. She argued that Z does not have the capacity to train Callidora-” I interrupted him.

“Sasha. Z named her Sasha.” It would be easier for everyone I dealt with to go by the name Z gave her. I didn’t really know what her reaction would be to people calling her Callidora if she could overhear them.

“Right. Sorry. So she argued that Z was in immediate danger. She has a video of Sasha attacking her in the garden. She pointed out that Z had no plan or capacity to get Sasha into the basement again if she did not cooperate. Having to give away an emblem in order to get her back downstairs did not help her case. I did some less legitimate digging and found she has an extended video which shows Z… um… pleasuring herself shortly after the incident.”

Admittedly I blush a bit at that and had to stop myself from asking to see the full video. Z never seemed like a very sexual person. Never any toys in her room when we were breakers. She seemed pretty desensitized to what she did to people. I occasionally caught a smile on her face when she did something but she did her best to hide it. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a masochist as well as a sadist. She was unfortunately very good at hurting people.

“So is there anything we can do to resolve this in an easy way?”

“The short answer is no. There’s nothing illegal about what she did. Its rushed but the argument that Z was in immediate danger justifies it.” I heard him sigh.

“And the long answer?” There had to be something.

“Well the long answer is the good news. Maybe. Someone who is a high enough rank could challenge her. Eos is a fairly high ranked person but someone of higher rank could… make enough members of the council reconsider their decision. You’d need to do that before an appeal could be put in. You need someone with enough standing. A higher rank than Eos. An epithet would help their case. It’s going to be several days of work before you can get her back.”

Several days is what I didn’t really have. Z was on the edge of doing this in the only way she was able to process it at the moment. If I didn’t chain her to a bed tonight I knew she was going to walk off the moment she was out of my sight. I was fairly good at the job i used to have but I couldn’t get someone to process their emotions in a healthy way in just a few hours.

“Thanks Van, you’ve been very helpful. I think I have an idea of what to do.” 

“No problem Briar. I hope things go well for you two.” The line went silent as he hung up.

I sighed. I knew exactly what to do. Or what not to do. Satori told me who took Z’s emblem. They’d be knocking at the door eventually to cash it in. There was nothing that needed to be done until then. I walked back into the kitchen to check on Z.

She was still poking at her food, nothing more than a few nibbles removed. I sighed and placed a glass of juice next to her. Something other than that concoction of chemicals she drank in semi-lethal amounts.

“Is it legitimate?” Z looked up at me. I couldn’t answer her. But she got the message. “What am I supposed to do? I told her I’d get her back. She trusted me.”

“We’ll figure it out.” I started cleaning up the kitchen. The food went to waste but I wasn’t going to make her eat right now. I decided to make an ironic compromise with myself. I opened one of the energy drinks and slipped a pill inside before I handed it to her. She took  it from my hand and began sipping from it. After two minutes she slumped over. I didn’t feel great about doing it, but she needed to get some kind of sleep.

I picked her up and moved her to the couch. I sat on the floor next to her and petted her head. Z was always on the defensive when she was awake. But she looked so sweet when she was asleep.

The Society was probably the worst place Z could have ever ended up. The most damaging parts of her personality were encouraged here. Her occasional violent tendencies and her general lack of empathy. Z thought she understood empathy. She always thought she was doing the kind thing. Z was someone who needed help of some kind, it wasn’t just the everyday sociopathy of the Society that weighed on her.

I knew Z would either keep spiraling into a depression or she’d become violent and go after Eos. Instead she’d sleep for the next few hours. The messenger would have to come today.

The next few hours I spent cleaning and organizing. Throwing out the mountain of cans, arranging the cabinets and cleaning up the pile of tools in the Wolf’s Den. Small things to make the house nicer. Z had been asleep for two hours by the time the doorbell rang. I stopped what I was doing and answered it.

A maid stood on Z’s doorstep. I knew exactly who she belonged to. The light was gone from her eyes. I saw scars and bruises littered her body. Her impeccable latex uniform contrasted with her battered body. She was carrying a letter.

This was one of Rayne’s maids.

She looked up at me and spoke softly.

“Good evening Miss Briar. Is Miss Z the Torturer home?”

“Please don’t call her that, hun.”

“I’m sorry Miss Briar. I have been instructed by Master Rayne to address anyone with an epithet by their epithet.” I saw her body shake slightly, she was terrified that she thought she upset me. “If my behavior was unacceptable please let Master Rayne know so she may correct me.”

I hated Rayne with a passion. Everything she did to people. There were no short of truly terrible people in the society. But Rayne? She was pure evil. But she was an evil we needed to get help from.

“No sweetheart, everything is fine. I’m not going to tell anyone. You aren’t in any trouble. Just go with Miss ok?”

She visibly relaxed. “I have been instructed to deliver this message to Miss Z myself. May I please come in?”

Z

“....Z? Z honey, wake up. You have a visitor.” I distorted voice pulled me from my sleep.

“Sasha?” I shot up, feeling slightly light headed. I looked over and saw Briar kneeling next to the couch, a maid was standing by the counter.

“No Z. You have a message.” Briar helped me sit up, the dizziness hadn’t cleared away yet.

“What?” She looked annoyed at the newcomer, I had had enough messages for the day.

“Good evening Miss Z. My owner, Master Raynes, has requested your presence tonight at her mansion. It is her wife’s birthday and she wishes for you to attend.”

“What if I don’t want to attend their stupid party?”

The maid was getting nervous. If Z didn’t attend there was really no way of knowing how Rayne would blame her.

“I apologize Miss Z. Master Rayne has requested that you read this.” She handed me a letter.

Greetings Z,

Its been a long time since we last spoke. I believe the last time was when I passed my epithet on to you. I really thought you'd be more grateful for that, its not often someone of my rank recommends someone like you for such an honor.

I'm sure you're very aware that my wife, Flora, was a big fan of your wares. She was quite devastated when you quit your work as a breaker. Today is her birthday and I would like you to attend. Getting to speak to the person who made her favorite art supplies would be a wonderful present for her and I'm sure she would love to show you what she's done with the materials.

If my humble request isn't enough to convince you to come please look at the photograph attached to this letter.

We will see you at 4 P.M. sharp. Do not worry about clothes, I'm aware you dress very plainly. We will have party clothes for you. If you do not have transportation let the maid know and we will send transport.

- Master Rayne

I looked at the photo. I saw Rayne, tall with short black curly hair.  She was sitting on a gold throne with red cushions. She was using some slavegirl as a foot stool. Her body was littered with cuts and bruises. 

Another was bound to next to the throne. Currently unmarred. Arms bound behind her, breasts on display. A blindfold covered her eyes. She had a utility gag in her mouth, it was a coaster gag. I could tell she was struggling to hold Rayne's drink up. I could see the tears streaming below the blindfold, glistening in the photo. I was sure shortly after this picture was taken she would have dropped it. I'm sure by now she was no longer unblemished. Rayne would have taught her a very harsh lesson. 

Rayne was rich enough to buy a slave to use for no other reason to use it as a coaster, break it beyond repair and buy a replacement. I hated her so much. It took a few seconds of scanning the picture to see what it was that was supposed to convince me. In her hand, barely visible, was my emblem. She was cashing it in.

"I need to keep looking for Sasha. I don't have time for a stupid party." I saw the maid shake. I'm sure she was thinking about what awaited her as the messenger of my decline. Had she been broken properly she wouldn't have had to worry about that.

Briar was about to say something when the maid shakily spoke up. "M-miss Z. I was standing behind Master Rayne as she wrote the letter. I-I think there's a message on the back of the p-photograph."

P.S. Maybe if you make Flora's night we can talk about your dog.

"Tell Rayne we will be attending."

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[toonpunk-game]

GMs only 1: Some Basic Characters

Psst! Hey, this post is for GMs only: specifically, it’s a bunch of advice on how to use the characters outlined in my previous post about characters. We’ll be posting these separately, so as not to ruin the surprise for our readers--who definitely exist, there are definitely more than 2 of, and are not at all figments of my imagination brought on by my desperate desire for acknowledgement by someone, literally anyone, who is not one of my parents.

BEING PAPA MALORN

Papa Malorn never wanted to be a mob boss. In fact, he wanted to be a police officer when he was younger. The bombing changed him forever: he spent his youth on a quest for revenge, and when it was over he was a hard man with an empire at his command. He started down the road to infamy on the day his parents’ killer was sentenced: his name was Bartosz Juspeczyk, and he was innocent.

Thomas knew William Hackerschmidt killed his parents: while in the hospital, Hackerschmidt visited him and revealed his affiliation with the Zamboni crime family—who, he claimed, had masterminded the Malorns’ deaths for refusing to enable the Zambonis’ black market shipping. While Hackerschmidt extended an offer of employment, Thomas rebuffed him harshly. Three days later, Juspeczyk was falsely sentenced to death; and Thomas was livid when the District attorney categorically refused to re-examine the case. That was when Thomas resolved to take justice into his own hands—and though it took him decades, he eventually earned it.

The specifics of his career need not be dwelt upon. What must be understood is that to him, crime was only ever a means of revenge: everything he did, he did to hurt the Zamboni family. He attacked their members and burned their businesses; he founded a gang of his own, and steadily grew it into an empire; and he even funded Ariel Levitt’s mayoral campaign.

Now, two years after destroying the family, he looks at his empire as more of a business than anything else. He does not really consider himself a mafioso, even though that is what he is. If asked, he will describe himself as an anarcho-capitalist: he provides services that the government cannot be relied upon for, and does well by doing good. His hatred and distrust of the established system is so great that he truthfully believes this: in his eyes, his augmentation smuggling is a perfectly reasonable alternative to expensive legitimate channels; and his protection rackets ensure safety that the police and fire departments can’t or won’t provide.

AS AN ALLY OF THE PLAYERS

Papa Malorn is a simple man with simple rules: “if you don’t interfere with my business, I don’t kill you.” Players will find him to be amicable and open-minded. While he fiercely defends his employees and those he is paid to protect, he is unusually moralistic for a mob boss—to the point that he has made several non-competitive decisions regarding other criminal organizations in Saskatoon for the sake of keeping his employees out of harm’s way. That being said, he is also a man of ambition—and he fully intends to run the city one day.

He is an ideal source of employment for players who are embroiled in the underworld, but not necessarily wicked people. Malorn might hire them to do something as morally grey as foil an arson attempt by a rival gang, or bust up a drug dealer who has been dealing to children. Perhaps he might even be called upon to provide manpower for the players’ heist, or discretely leverage his connection to Ariel Levitt to make key evidence against the players disappear.

AS AN ENEMY OF THE PLAYERS

As simple as he is to have as an ally, Malorn is even simpler to have as an enemy. There are several behaviors he considers worthy of enmity: specifically stealing from or bringing harm to his friends, employees, or protectorates. If someone interferes with his business then he will, quite simply, try to destroy them. He will not beat around the bush, and he will not take his time: as soon as he learns who has wronged him, and where they can be found, he’ll send a few lads over with pistols and pipes to stove their head in.

If the players should prove better than average at resisting his henchmen, Malorn has several other tricks up his sleeve: he will hire mercenaries or other toonpunks to dispatch them, and if all else fails he’ll show up and do some ass kicking himself.

BEING WALKER STONE

Being Walker Stone is a very simple thing: be hardnosed, be unyielding, and be singularly devoted to the greater good. Despite his past as a villain, he means what he says about his motivations and his intentions: he opposes crime and wrongdoing. Do not mistake him for a Javert, however: his only goal is to ensure the health and well-being of as many people as possible, and he sees the law as the most efficient way to do it. It is nothing but a tool to him, and if it stops being the best way to ensure safety in Saskatoon, he will bend or even break it.

It is this fact that has placed several skeletons deep in his closet for the enterprising player to find. He has broken several major regulations during his time as commissioner, and he keeps these secrets buried deep—though perhaps not deep enough to evade keen-eyed investigators. First and foremost, he has cheated his continuity test: by recording the answers he gives on the test and leaving them as a coded note to himself in his journal, he has been able to successfully create the illusion of being identical between incarnations, regardless of how each one changes over time—an illusion that has allowed him to maintain his office even between deaths.

His second great secret—though this one is far less actionable—is that he has a very low opinion of Mayor Levitt, and considers him a mere pawn in his plans for the city: a smiling face and trustworthy image to which he can affix himself, and nothing more. Unbeknownst to him, Levitt thinks much the same—and is in fact a secret criminal kingpin, who cleverly uses Walker to further his own nefarious designs. A clever GM can leverage this dynamic numerous ways.

As a character, Walker is quiet and thoughtful—he likes to have as much information as possible before committing to any action, no matter how minor. When he speaks, he will be to-the-point and blunt, perhaps even standoffish; he does not like to repeat himself, because he is secretly ashamed of his lilting Southern drawl. Bear this in mind when writing dialogue for the character.

AS A FRIEND OF THE PLAYERS

Walker Stone, even though he is a stubborn police officer, is more likely to be a friend of the players than the Mayor. Despite running on the same anti-crime platform, he is not above cutting corners in the name of justice: he will tolerate vigilantes, spies, or thieves working in the common interest (but never admit so, obviously). If the players are particularly outspoken against organized crime, or even a particularly immoral corporation, Stone might even contract them for work the police cannot legally handle—though he will no doubt insist that the operation remain bloodless, and that the player characters minimize collateral damage.

He might be a valuable asset to player characters who work for justice, even if they use slightly illegal methods. As a GM, you might have him deprioritize ongoing investigations into the players’ capers, or deliberately slow police response times to their crime scenes. However, it is easy to lose his loyalty, and difficult to maintain it: if the players begin killing police officers, Stone will turn on them in a heartbeat; and it is entirely possible that a nefarious enemy might uncover his connection to the players and take measures to have Stone ousted from his position.

AS AN ENEMY OF THE PLAYERS

For murderous or chaotic players, Walker Stone is a dangerous foe. He does not abide killers, anarchists, or rabble-rousers. He does not despise their crimes per se, but rather what they represent: criminals like these are a threat to his vision of a safer Saskatoon. He does not take his work personally, but nevertheless pursues it with the compulsive obsession of a perfectionist. If the players earn his ire, they will find him to be ruthless, and utterly implacable: they can expect the police to shoot on sight, and shoot to kill. No matter how many times they kill him he will keep returning to command, more determined than before. Killing him will prove borderline impossible—removing him from power will be much easier for your players to attempt, in that it will merely be very difficult.

[tessatechaitea]

Justice Society of America #8

Oh no! Hate! It must be stopped!

That caption sounded sarcastic, didn't it? It sort of sounds like a centrist arguing against somebody saying something that nobody should be on the other side of. "Of course Black Lives Matter! Nobody is saying they don't! Why even bother bringing it up?! You're just causing trouble!" is the kind of thing that has made me hate people who identify as "non-political" or "centrist" or "libertarian" or "Proud Husband. Father. Christian." Nobody needs to hear from you if the only thing you have to say is that nobody needs to be fighting for the things they need to be fighting for! "If it's already a crime, why do we need more stringent laws for punishing crimes motivated by hate. Aren't all criminal acts hateful?" says the person ignoring reality for their own selfish interests of which I can't even begin to guess. Enough about people who have chosen to be non-people. Let's discuss a comic book from 1993 that probably takes a stronger stance against fascism than a frightening large number of Americans today.

This advert on the inside front cover would be better if the picture over "very rare" was a cow. I mean, it wouldn't work for baseball cards but I would like it better.

I think the best part about actually living in a world where superheroes are real is that day in 5th Grade when Hawkman and Hawkwoman visit your class to talk about Egyptian archaeology. The issue begins by catching up with Hawkman and Hawkwoman as they continue their quest to steal Egyptian cultural artifacts. You have to give them a pass on this though! In 1993, people just believed archaeology was a thrilling way to bring treasures into museums for everybody to share! It's not like we had hundreds of years to reflect on how terrible this practice was. You have to do some cultural math by subtracting the number of years Western culture believed whatever it did was right and just from, I don't, negative 100? Do you think we'll have learned some humbleness and respect in one hundred years? Most kids who grew up in the 70s wanted to be boring ass truck drivers but by the 80s, thanks to Indiana Jones, they wanted to be boring ass archaeologists. Kids aren't the greatest at determining what a fun adult job might be. Did you know there are people who get angry at the supposition that digging up and taking cultural artifacts and treasures from other countries to bring back to your own might be theft? Generally they're the same type of people who believe that all advances to civilization were brought about by white culture. They hold this opinion through absolutely no evidence at all. How do I know they don't have any evidence? Because if they looked for evidence, they'd wind up reading history and realize their claim was too ludicrous to continue defending.

You might think Hawkgirl is commenting on the gigantic sarcophagus the native archaeologists are opening but I know she's making an innuendo about Hawkman's cock because she's doing that thing with her hat where she lifts it up and down and waggles her eyebrows.

It's not really much of a joke though because nobody expects Hawkman's penis to be as large as a fifty foot long sarcophagus. I mean, I'm sure it's big but it's not going to be unwieldy! It's probably almost exactly the same size and shape as his mace. Interlude: here are some Facebook posts I made on several different July 26thes because I guess I think of it as a holiday to entertain my future self every July 26th? Whatever the case, I love Past Me more than Future Me and possibly even more than Present Me. Because of the Hays Code, Alfred Fatcock had to change his name to keep making films. How patriotic would you consider a person who got a flag pregnant? War Games is my favorite movie because it taught me that trying is pointless. The first item on my bucket list is to buy a bucket. End of Interlude. Can you tell I'm stalling because maybe eight issues of this comic book was too much? Here's an adult riddle: What's twenty-five feet long, wrapped in bandages, and has an eye in the middle of its head?

This guy's penis!

I don't recognize the guy with three eyes but I'm sure he's some immortal wizard named Amn Thoth or something. While the Carters discover ancient mummy curses, Johnny Quick tries to convince Rex that his hour of strength doesn't come from a drug at all but deep inside him. He doesn't need to pop pills to be a superhero; he just needs to balance his chakras and figure out his mantra. Then he'll tap into some deep spiritual part of himself that is probably just a meta(l)gene and whammo! Hourman is back and straight edge! But Rex doesn't buy it. Especially since learning his mantra isn't going to cure his son's cancer (which he got from taking Miraclo). Also in the hospital is Wesley Dodd who is doing therapy to recover from his stroke. Plus his friend Bishop Tumutuu who was some guy who fought against Apartheid. And because the Bishop is in the hospital, the white supremacists are gathering outside to not wish him well.

Shouldn't they hear what they have to say and debate them to better strengthen their own side of the argument on why all people should have equal opportunity with all rights and freedoms promised by this country?

I'm absolutely for freedom of all speech. But the problem that the American media and a lot of people on the Internet have fallen into is the idea that all speech needs to be discussed and debated equally. That's the whole "freedom of speech" trap. Whenever somebody on Twitter wants to debate some terrible topic that nearly all kind and forward thinking people realize is a monstrous and terrible idea and you simply mock them for their terrible beliefs or tell them to shut up, they think you're clamping down on their free speech. No, sir. You were able to say the stupid thing you wanted to say. What you actually want is for a Constitutional Amendment that forces me tor respect what you said and debate it as if the matter has yet to be resolved. The media does this all the time by allowing both sides of an opinion to debate which only legitimizes the side with the terrible take. Sure, we should allow racists to go on CNN and declare their stance on race relations. But the people on the other side shouldn't be debating that topic with them. They should just laugh at them and point and tell them how terrible they are. Maybe get some of that slime from You Can't Do That on Television for rebuttals. Freedom of speech needs way more mockery and far less debate if it's going to recover. Hourman responds to the white supremacists with a "None of my business!" because he's a terrible centrist who believes that if the status quo isn't making his life rough, why rock the boat? Also his son is dying of cancer so maybe he's a bit distracted. I shouldn't be so hard on him when he's wracked with the guilt of probably killing his son with his drugs. The white supremacists begin making trouble so it's time for the JSA to put an end to hate! Or will hate win out? I mean, this comic book was written in 1993 and I don't feel like hate has backed down.

Sure, he's against metahumans now. But just wait until one of them decides to wear on of those stupid hats and silly robes!

Watching the speedsters begin to get pummeled by the huge mass of white supremacists, Hourman accidentally balances his chakras! He's suddenly powerful without the drugs or the black lights or the Doctor Fate deep muscle massages! Now if he can convince his son that the power of Miraclo has been inside him all along, his son will have the strength to battle the cancer! Why did I use an exclamation point on that previous sentence when I don't really fucking care about Rex Tyler and his son! Hourman crashes out of the hospital window to save Johnny Quick. He lets Jesse do her own thing because he's heard about women's lib and also she's not an old man whose powers have significantly dwindled over time.

My adrenal gland just got bigger too!

In the end, the Bishop is saved and even Wesley Dodd joins the fight! Or he just absentmindedly shot off his sandman gun and coincidentally put the Bishop's assassin to sleep. It's hard to tell since he's still suffering from his retirement party stroke. The issue ends with Green Lantern surfing the television when he comes upon Carter Hall's interview program where he's interviewing the mummy they dug up, a man named Edmund Kulak. Since Green Lantern recognizes him, I guess he's one of the JSA's foes. According to the Who's Who, Kulak can use his third eye to cause everybody on Earth to hate each other. I guess that's why the white supremacists were acting up (and also wearing eyes on their hats and robes). Having a magical reason for racism is always a better comic book story than acknowledging a lot of people are racist of their own free will. Imagine all the angry letters that the pre-Comicsgate generation would have had to write in! "I'm not racist but I don't think you should portray all white people as racist because that is racist! Logic for the win!" That might seem like I created a 1993 Strawman but have you read the letters reacting to the Tales of the Teen Titans Spotlight on Starfire about Apartheid? My pretend letter was practically verbatim of one or two of the letters Mike Gold had to respond to on that series! Justice Society of America #8 Rating: B-. I think I've read enough old stories about old people fighting immortals. The whole mortality angle is really bringing me down!

#Justice Society of America #JSA #DC Comics #Mike Parobeck #Mike Machlan #Len Strazewski

[batbootie]

My hands on your hearts -chap.2

Damian was bored. Out of his mind, left counting the holes on the ceiling, that bored students like him did with a ruler and an ink refill. Boredom was recurrent whenever he is at school, because no one can match his intelligence, even the teachers. The most of them can’t even resolve a three-degree equation without the help of a calculator.  He was raised since birth to rule, and he will be going to inherit the leadership of Wayne enterprises anyway, so there is no need for him to learn anymore. And to go to school for that matter. Really, what kind of school has no adaptation program for children who clearly are way superior then the average student?

But today, his boredom was reaching new heights. If boredom even has a level. Economy class was a, as Jason so colourfully puts it, pain in the left nut, because he already knew everything on the subject of the horizontal division of work from Adam Smith and its consequences on the society, but the teacher decided that, even though his grades showed that he clearly had the level of a university student, he should stay in class to try and socialise with the others.

Clearly, M. Judas had a chat with Father or Grayson. Traitor.  So, Damian was left glaring at the clock or at the teacher, urging for the class to end so that everybody, mainly him, could get on with their lives. He had started drawing a while ago, but even his imagination was bored. He couldn’t even get inspired by his surroundings, because school was boring even his imagination. He had drawn all his classmates, and his sketches were all about school, complete blueprints of the building’s structure and how many escapes routes existed. It was so uninteresting that despite the correctness of the sketch and the ideas for escape, Mother would be ashamed to see that his child was incapable to stay focused for more than 10 minutes or that he was not murdering them for boring him to death.

Sighing, Damian let his pencil roll out of his hand, wishing that he was anywhere but here, or that something interesting would happen in the course of the next three minutes. If nothing occurred in this time lapse, then he would come up with a shitty excuse, like a Father had a ski accident kind of lame excuse, even though that one was getting old, and go straight back to the Manor, to continue his work on the drug shipment case or search an idea for a gift, to offer at Jason’s birthday.

He already had everything planned for Grayson’s. For Drake, on the other hand, it clearly was a challenge. Because he knew next to nothing about Drake, except that he considered sleep like a distraction and that he’s a genius. But Damian was trying to make amend for some time now, and the only way to show Drake that he meant what he said back then. Back when he realised that he had grown to love his brother and that trying to murder his adopted brother was not how he would be accepted by Father or the entire family, even Cass disapproved his behaviour, or even a way to show love. But because Drake was a mastermind, he wouldn’t believe a word Damian said as an apology. So showing through actions, kind gestures was the plan. And what best opportunity is it then a birthday gift?

Even Grayson didn’t know about his change of heart. If he did, Damian wouldn’t have lived that down and Drake would’ve suspected something fishy. And he would lose all kind of credibility to make amend.

Hearing a forced cough, Damian came back to the sombre reality, realising that he was still in the classroom, and that the three minutes were up. Leaning to the side, he was ready to snatch his backpack and leave this smelly room full of goons in a matter of seconds when M. Judas decided to use this very moment to stand in front of the class and start speaking with a stern voice, eyeing carefully every student and quirking an eyebrow at Damian, clearly seeing that he had no intention whatsoever to stay.

“Okay everyone! I know some of you are impatient to leave for your Geometry class, but before the hour is up and I give you homework, I have some announcements to make. First of all, there was a change in the school policy, thanks to a reorganisation on the teacher’s level. As some of you may know, some teachers overlooked the actions of bullies, rich ones particularly, deciding to turn a blind eye and let things happen. But not anymore. You need to know that this is unacceptable, and will be punished, should you be a perpetrator or only a bystander. If anything of this nature occurs, I want to be informed, because if I don’t know anything, then I won’t be able to help you. Is that understood?”

The class hummed a half-hearted affirmation, some students clearly not believing that this new policy would change anything and deciding to continue their little games of pushing around the weaker students. Damian rolled his eyes, because really? This decision came from a good intention, but any students that would decide to take the teachers upon their offer will end up ostracised, being an even bigger target.

“Secondly, there’s a new student coming in today.”

The silence in the classroom was broken, the students starting to buzz with energy, eager to meet a new classmate -or a new victim, depending on the person-. Murmurs spread, questioning on the new student’s identity. Damian perked his head up in interest, letting his backpack fall to the floor and leaning in, something finally happening that would maybe enlighten his day. The teacher decided to open the door and stretched his neck in the corridor, calling and motioning for someone to come in.

The tension was palpable, like lions getting ready for the innocent lamb that would inevitably be thrown in. Finally, a hunched form made its way to the front, hiding behind the teacher’s back, the hoodie on its head and completely drenched in rainwater. M. Judas turned around as they came to a stop on their way to the teacher’s desk and whispered something to the new student, probably trying to encourage them and reassure them that nothing bad is going to happen. As if he can protect them from it, heh. He then stepped aside and let the class take the new student in.

Freckles. And scared. Those two elements jump in front of Damian’s mind as he takes the appearance of the new student, a girl, or a boy? They look androgynous. The next ten seconds are spent in silence, as the student shuffles with their hoodie, trying to hide their nervousness. A big breath, and they finally speak, catching everybody off guard by pushing off their hoodie. “Hello. My name is Isaac. I’m fourteen, like the most of you. I transferred here because my family had a job offer in Gotham and now I see why it was so well payed. I hope that we will understand each other and get along well. I am pleased to meet you.”

His voice. He is fourteen, but his voice has already cracked and is in a lower tune then the teacher’s. Damian is puzzled. His stance clearly shows that he is near a panic attack, ready to bolt out of the classroom should anything go wrong, but his voice is perfectly controlled. No wavering because of the nervousness, just a low tone hitting all the notes, in a perfect rhythm. The class is mesmerized, everybody’s jaws is on the floor –the teacher and Damian alike-  looking at what seems like the perfect embodiment of the absolute pitch, even being slightly awkward.  

With that, the boy, Isaac, his name’s Isaac, blushes furiously and quickly goes to his seat, to only stand awkwardly in the alley when he realises that he has none. “Hum… M. Judas? Where should I sit?”

The teacher shakes himself after being asked that question, but can only motion to an empty area near the window, next to Damian, with an incoherent gibberish. Clearly, if the teacher had all his brain cells functioning normally, he would’ve put Isaac at the extreme opposite, but no, Damian is stuck with Isaac for the rest of the year.

Damian shrugs himself out of the magic Isaac’s voice induced. Furious, verging to kill and hide the body kind of anger, without crossing that line in reality (really), he felt attacked by the teacher to consider him appropriate for the new student to sit beside him. Even if Isaac is a new kid, it doesn’t mean that he, Damian Al Ghul Wayne, has to give up the privilege of sitting alone and not have to be annoyed by unnecessary gossip other students love to share. Sitting down, Isaac looks Damian dead in the eye until Damian snaps, “What?” He just shrugs before looking down to his backpack, taking out a pen and a piece of paper before answering him, “Nothing, just don’t kill me.”

Don’t kill me? Why would I? Except getting on my nerves, I have no reason to legitimately kill you.

Damian quirked an eyebrow at Isaac, surprised by the last sentence, that had been said with gravity, absolutely no jokes in there. The tone was still controlled, like during his little speech in front of the class, but was tenser than before, if that was even possible. In fact, after Isaac had spoken, he avoided any eye contact with the Wayne sitting beside him, going to the extent to turn partially his back on him.

Perplexed, Damian shifted in his seat, to see Isaac flinch so slightly that without his training, he would’ve missed it. He taped his pencil on the side of the table and then on his sketchbook, observing Isaac for this experiment. For every sound, the boy moved, crocking his head to the side at the first tap before relaxing slightly after associating the sound with a pencil when he reproduced it on his own pencil case. Isaac was giving Damian his undivided attention, but without looking at him.

Damian’s eyebrow shot to his hairline when he realised that his new classmate was using a technique to get him to relax. With a behaviour that screamed ‘nothing to see, so not a threat here’ with his back turned on him, Isaac was exposing the back of his neck to Damian, in a sign of peace. He was trusting the Wayne not to kill him, like he asked. That kind of behaviour spoke to the animal that was walking alongside the rational part of the brain, sharing with each other the human skin. This gesture was like coming up to someone with the hands wide open, arms free, torso unprotected, but Damian wouldn’t have trusted such stance, because hands were as deadly as weapon. But how Isaac was sitting didn’t allow him to move quickly enough to make a move on Damian or to defend himself should Damian decide to attack. The power of decision was in the hand of the fifth Robin, even though Isaac was clearly following every of his movements, not being stupid enough to trust him on an intimate level.

Damian was intrigued. Clearly, Isaac thought that Damian was enough a threat that he should make clear on an instinctual basis that he wasn’t there to threaten him. So it meant that he was completely serious back then, when he asked not to kill him. He truly believed that Damian had already killed, and that he may consider him a threat and decide to eliminate him. But he wasn’t submitting to his strength, merely offering an olives branch. If he wanted acknowledge Damian’s ‘dominance’ and show that he was situating himself below him, then he would’ve exposed his throat and heart, making Damian’s life easier if he wanted to rip his throat out.  

They stayed like this for three minutes or more, in complete silence, Isaac still turning his back on Damian but assessing the threat he represented and Damian weighting the pros and cons. Finally, he sighed, “-Tt- I don’t kill, so there is no need to bare your neck and pray for the best. I’m not going to begin with such a low-life like you. You don’t even have a last name, Isaac.” Isaac’s back relaxed completely, his shoulders slopping down. He turned to Damian, still not looking at him in the eye, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. “Hey, I mean, you were going all Silence of the lambs on me, so you can’t blame a boy for trying his best to avoid a bloodshed, especially if he’s the one who’s going to end bolognesed. Man, red was all over the place. And it was buzzing like crazy, with the war tambours out.” He shuddered visibly, and scratched his ear, as if trying to get rid of an annoying sound. “Why were you angry?”

Damian scoffed, annoyed that he pinpointed that out, even through his mask of the annoyed but perfect student, and escaped the question “Red?”. He did not grasp completely why his new tablemate used the term red to describe the situation.

Isaac just shrugged, oblivious of the boy’s glare, “Yeah, red, like all over your hands and hair when you first looked at me.” Before Damian asked even further questions, he suddenly turned around to face the Wayne heir, as he calls himself. Isaac’s body was facing him, but he still didn’t look at him in the eye, instead tilting his head to the side to signify that he was listening to Damian’s move. He continued when he understood that Damian was staying dead silent on purpose, just to throw him off and make him forget about his initial question, “Right now, red is draped around your eyes and your mouth, and you’re just fucking with me.”

Before Damian could ask him the how and why Isaac could see something like colours around people, the new one just flat turned back on his chair and focused on the teacher, whispering a quick “Anyway, nice chat. I have to concentrate on the course because I don’t want to fall any further behind in Economics. Cool to meet you, Damian, even if I don’t know your last name.” And forgetting in a matter of seconds Damian’s existence.

The Wayne was left fuming, the deepest scowl on his face anybody in the school had ever seen, trying to untangle all the information Isaac let slip and trying also to cover his bruised ego at the other boy’s capacity to ignore him successfully, even when he was glaring holes in the back of his skull.  

First, rude. And second, how in the world can you NOT know me, you baboon? Did you live in a jar for the last 40 years to not know the Waynes?! We are worldly famous for Father’s shenanigans as Brucie (and the ones from his family, but let’s not dwell upon that). Isaac did not lie when he said that he did not know them, they were no signs of it. No muscles contraction, no dilated pupils, nothing. He was truly ignorant.

Even more perplexed, Damian resumed his doodling from before and began to chew on the mystery Isaac was beginning to become. The guy came from nowhere, was seeing colours in places that didn’t exist in this reality realm, had the behaviour of an animal in order to prevent any unfortunate dismemberment and finally was rude. That smelled trouble, in capital letters. Damian observed Isaac closely, and by the way he was crouched on his chair and listening to the teacher, he seemed like he couldn’t hurt a fly. But appearance could be really deceiving, so Damian decided to keep an eye on the new walking mystery for the sake of his sanity and to push away his boredom. He didn’t trust Isaac to not bring some crazy ass monsters straight from Allah knows where. Maybe it was his paranoia speaking, but anything new meant more than he liked something bad coming, and he wasn’t about to take any chances.

Economy class went without any incidents, but Isaac sent Damian a few glances in Philosophy class every time the teacher -this teacher got on Damian’s nerves more than others because of this attitude of considering that his words equalled God’s word and therefore should not be questioned- spewed some bullshit about artists being prostitutes, selling themselves through their artwork and desperately trying to lure people and get their attention, or started yelling at some students because they didn’t highlight in the right colour. And to be honest, his mood only worsened when he discovered that Isaac had decided to sit next to him for every class they had together, much to their classmates’ surprise (they expected –and for some of them, hoped- for a public execution at the second the economy class was over)

During lunch, he observed from afar, and could analyse the interactions Isaac had with some other students. He was clearly guarded around them, talking gladly with them, offering a smile, but anytime someone new approached or one made a grand gesture, he was immediately wary and tensed. He stared at every person when they were talking, clearly assessing their threat level, but avoided eye contact at any cost. He refused to look at them when talking to them, preferring to turn an ear to them or the discussion- much like he did with Damian at their first meeting-.

Surprisingly, even with bullies that only made contact to get a taste of a potential victim, he relaxed after a few seconds of interaction and didn’t pull the same stunt he did with Damian. Unsurprisingly enough, the behaviour of his classmates changed when the discussion came to colours he was seeing around people. Some of them were clearly uncomfortable, thinking that this poor dude had not all mugs on the shelf, as he showed them where the colour should be. But none of them asked what the position of the colour meant, and Isaac never offered an explanation.

School life and rules obliged, because Isaac was a bit out of the box as normal, and because of his apparition during the middle of the year, all added with his behaviour, he was quickly labelled freak, like Damian – though not with the mention dangerous, can dislocate a shoulder without blinking- and was left mostly alone. People came to talk to him about work he had to catch up with or just small talk, but beyond exchanging names or homework, everybody stayed away from him. Something set them off about Isaac. Meanwhile Damian ignored him in class, even when Isaac tried to talk to him about uninteresting matters, but watched him from afar during lunch, PE, basically every time he could, and took notes of anything weird on a villainous level.

But quickly, it became not enough. Damian’ paranoia was leaving him awake at night, wondering if this new boy was the calm before the storm, ready to shred them to pieces. He had to pierce this mystery, or he would end up with grey hair before his puberty.

The best strategy became clear: he would put Isaac under constant surveillance, at school and at home. He hacked the school servers to retrieve an address, learning Isaac’s last name: Menourem. There was no mention of any parents of any kind in Isaac’s file, just a sister, Elilian. He broke in during school hours, knowing that nobody would be there, Isaac’s sister working from 7am to 8pm every day and Isaac himself being at school. He bugged the whole apartment, placing cameras in every room – not forgetting the bathroom, even if he didn’t want to have the image of Isaac taking a shit on his camera feed-  and designed his patrol route so that he would pass on the rooftop in front of Isaac’s bedroom. He would then watch Isaac and his sister have a complete normal life.

His brothers picked up on his change of route and Father confronted him about it, but he quickly dismissed his worries, saying that he had saved someone during patrol and they had asked to keep an eye on them, scared that whatever monster attacked them would come back if Robin wasn’t there. And him being the white knight on the mighty horse that he was immediately agreed. He got teased for it, but it was better than having his brothers snoop around and have at the end to explain himself to them when they would see that he was stalking the perfect little civil Isaac was.

Himself thought that way too, but just to be sure, he stalked him even harder, going to the extent of mapping his whole movements, following him to his dance courses and taekwondo training for the whole week. The only one in the loop was Alfred, who merely arched an eyebrow when he got a call from Damian asking to be picked up near the sports club, in the pouring rain, to only respond that he was already on his way.

Pennyworth knew all along. Is he sentient? I know Father tested him for any mutant genes, but his deductive abilities are humanly impossible. He nearly resembles Sherlock Holmes, without the annoying doctor at his side.  

Disappointed that nothing crispy was going on, but reassured that it meant nothing dangerous would be dumped on them, he continued his nightly surveillance for about a week just to be sure, and ignored him at school.

But Isaac didn’t hear it that way. School went on his nerves, aggravated by the change of scenery and all of the new people, making fun him while his back was turned. So when he saw Damian not even casting a glance in his direction when he greeted him at the beginning of Philosophy class on Monday, he snapped. Slumping in his chair, he took out his notebook, angry, trying to reign his temper before he would explode. Damian, being the fine detective that he was, frowned at his tensed shoulders and the anger radiating from his persona, even with his breath controlled. Normally, everything should be fine, Isaac didn’t see his sister in the morning, because she normally left for work early as always but they shared a civil meal the evening before, Damian knew, because he was watching over them. Maybe in the bus, he was run over by an old lady and her rollator. The fifth Robin was perplex, but he didn’t really care if Isaac was angry, if it only meant that he would leave him alone.

The class began, the teacher spewing nonsense as always. Isaac waited for the teacher to start a rant about the Oedipus complex, and how much we are fucked up in our heads because we were part of a love triangle early in our lives, before turning partially to Damian and whisper-scream “Are you bloody bipolar?!”

Damian blinked, not really understanding why Isaac’s anger was directed at him and enjoying the slip in the most British accent he ever heard, aside from Pennyworth’s. Surely he left the new one alone, so why should he be angry? Avoiding as always eye contact, Isaac got the confirmation that Damian was not going to talk when the Wayne tapped his pen on his paper, and continued, getting even angrier, “I told you that I wasn’t a threat and that I wasn’t here to do you harm, so, here comes my question… WHY?!”

“-Tt- What are you talking about? I left you alo-”

“No, you didn’t! Watching me from afar in school, noting every strange behaviour – which, by the way, must be hard, because my face is next the definition of strange in the dictionary- is not leaving me alone. But school I understand, you want to have every bits of information about your new classmate. Won’t blame you for paranoia, in this city. What I don’t really understand is stalking me. Like, really?!! Following me home? Lurking on a rooftop, watching me in my bedroom like a bloody weirdo?!?!”

“Again, what are you talking about? Is that a new technique to try and get my attention? If it is, then take a ticket and wait in the line. I have other things to do then paying attention to an extra.”

“Really, Wayne? We’re going down this road? Okay, then how do you explain the boy I saw Wednesday evening, just in front of my window, with the same height, same body mass – I saw you jump in sports class and the sound of the landing was the same, so proof- and same shoe size than you? Hell, I can just do a DNA test on the hair I found when I went to check I wasn’t hallucinating. What will the results be? A 100% match maybe?!”

From annoyed, Damian went to deadly in matter of seconds. In a blink, his knife was drawn – which slipped Grayson’s thorough search and patting this morning, thank you very much- and the sharp end went to Isaac’s thumb and sliced. Blood pearled and Isaac withdrew his hand, hissing, more surprised by the location – he thought that Damian would’ve gone for the throat and ask question later- than in pain. Standing up, the Wayne boy took him by the arm and forcefully hauled him up, managing to get everybody’s attention. Turning to the teacher without letting go of his arm, he declared in a flat tone, “He cut himself on the edge of the table. I’ll show him the infirmary, because I don’t think anyone already has.”, and looking at Isaac, “Now come, you fool, I don’t want to have your DNA on my papers.”

Isaac snorted and murmured, “Like you don’t have some on your knife to test it...”

They exited the classroom together, with everybody’s eyebrow shooting up to their hairlines. They walked a few meters and left the main hallway, turning left to the administrator section, which was less frequented.

As soon as they disappeared in the hallway, Damian slammed Isaac against the wall, putting the knife against his throat. “What. Are. You. Talking. About.”, he hissed, blocking Isaac’s airways for a brief moment, to make him understand the precarious situation he was currently in. Isaac merely relaxed and sarcastically quirked an eyebrow, looking away from Damian’s face as soon as the fifth Robin came too close for comfort, “What am I talking about? Oh, I don’t know, how about you sweeping through my flat, putting bugs and cameras in every corner, invading my privacy and my sister’s?! See, when I spotted you, I wasn’t so sure, but honestly, Robin doesn’t just do surveillance from a window. He bugs you, inspect all your accounts, learns everything about your life. I’m also talking about you wearing a bloody neon costume, lurking at my window, watching ME! I would’ve been flattered if I wasn’t so pissed that I had to abstain from jerking off for two whole weeks!”

Damian must’ve made a face, because Isaac sighed and whispered, “TMI?”

The knife was pressing even harder, threatening once again Isaac’s blood vessels, and restricting his movements so, that if he tried to move, he would end up with the imprint of the blade in his flesh, making a smile like scar on his Adam’s apple. “How.”, was the only word he was able to get out of his gritted teeth, already hearing the shame and anger in Father’s voice when he would announce that he got busted by a classmate he stalked. Mother was screaming in his head to kill him and let the body be a feast for the fishes of Gotham City. Isaac’s stance relaxed even further, going as far as wrap his hands around Damian’s wrist to show them and leaning more comfortably against the wall. “Dude, you said you don’t kill. But I know for a fact that you did before- Robin is infamous like that-, so why not pull out the knife before anybody sees us. I am way too angry at you to hug you in order to hide this wonderfully made slicing object.”

“I am seriously reconsidering my no killing rule, so do not test my patience with witty banter. Answer. How?”

Isaac only smiled, a confident smile, “I can see your battle with your blood lust. Not killing is harder than you thought, but right now, red is not around your eyes, so you’re not losing your shit. Yeay, win. So you won’t kill me – or anyone for that matter- today. Applause.”

Again with the Red, Damian was lost. Isaac had seen perfectly what had happened in his mind and pinpointed that out with the use of a colour. The fifth Robin was getting suspicious that the colours had something to do with his revealed identity, even though it seemed clearly unbelievable. During his search in the Merounem’s apartment, he didn’t find any sign of magic or suspicious furniture, - Isaac’s sister only having weird taste in decoration-  which lead him to think that Isaac was indeed crazy. Clearly, he was wrong.

Seeing that Damian had no intention of moving any time soon, Isaac shrugged and tightened his grip on Damian’s wrist and pushed the knife a tiny bit away from his throat and tilted his head, eyeing the floor thoughtfully. He then looked at the ceiling, “I know. Follow me and I’ll explain how I knew it was you beneath the hoodie. And then you can take out all the bugs and cameras you put in our flat, before we go completely Ghostbusters and fry them.”

Damian was not trusting him, but after everything Isaac had said and done to signify that he wasn’t a threat, nor willing to be taken as one in the future, he decided that he was smart and trained enough to handle any unexpected situation. Pocketing his knife, he motioned for the new boy to lead the way, glaring at him for good measure. Much to his surprise, they exited the school by signing themselves out, using the skiing excuse for Damian and a cold for Isaac, and hit the streets. The walk went on without any sound from each other, Damian growing more and more curious and wary at Isaac, who was seemingly perfectly fine with leaving him in the dark. As they walked nearby a bakery, Damian finally recognised the neighbourhood – he took this route when following Isaac home, the first time he got out. - Knowing now where they were heading, Damian was only left wondering why. But when Isaac opened the door to his apartment, the truth slapped him in the face like Barbara did when he accidently tripped a wire and sent the nest on lockdown.

Colours. They were colours everywhere. The first time he came in, he didn’t pay attention to all the nuances on the walls and around the furniture, to busy searching for information. But now that he was invited, he could look up and take in all the undertones of beiges and whites of the living room and the ceiling, how the black of the piano on the corner and all smoky colours of the other instruments lying in different corners of the room brought out the sofa and the table near the kitchen area. It was like a wool sweater with a collared neck and décolleté that succeeded to underline elegantly the breasts of the wearer and her figure, giving it a respectable atmosphere and kind of homey. There were plants everywhere, with flowers popping out, in different colours and shapes. Damian, as an artist, was slapping himself for not seeing it the first time he came here. But it was understandable, because he came here as Robin in the skin of Damian, and not as the artist that popped in whenever he was safe and alone in his room, free to draw whatever he wanted.

Isaac laughed and Damian realised that he had been staring. Adverting his eyes as soon as the Wayne boy set his own on him, Isaac motioned with his hand to follow him further into the place. Picking up his jaw left on the floor, Damian followed him into his room, to be awestruck for a second time – bitch slapping himself for the second time today -. Like the living room, Isaac’s bedroom was all about nuances and glimpses of warm and cold colours in unexpected places. Brown and green were dominant, with the bed and the wooden table in warm brown, and the sheets and the three stripes on the wall to be a pine green, with blue pooping up on the walls with photos and some purple picking out from his underwear drawer. The room was lit up by the dull sun from Gotham, blocked by all of the pollution, and gave a peaceful atmosphere when Isaac stood in the middle. He looked surreal, and Damian only wanted to sit down and draw him, to capture this moment out of time, purely human and truly beautiful.

The moment was broken as Isaac reached out for his chair. Damian had it preciously stashed in his memory to try to recreate it later. But the moment turned from beauty to pure confusion as he watched Isaac frantically beginning to search through his desk drawers, pulling out papers and papers filled with crap – doodles of the philosophy professor, one of what he did not want to believe was a caricature of him with snots running down his nose- before coming to a sketchbook that wasn’t there when Damian searched the room. Pulling it out, Isaac sat down on the floor and looked up to Damian, only to advert his eyes when he met his. “I think you’re beginning to understand, but I’ll give you the final proof that will maybe the last nail to my coffin if you decide that I’m a threat and make me disappear form the face of Mother Earth. Without killing me, sure.” He then reached out his hand holding his sketchbook and gave it to Damian, who opened it, perplex of why Isaac was giving him his clearly most precious belonging, giving himself bare to the scrutiny of Damian’s mind.

Curious and more excited than he would admit, Damian opened it and refrained his desires to let his jaw fall to the floor –for the third time today, seriously honey, could it stop?!-  and to bolt at Isaac to kill him. In the sketchbook were drawings of him. Not just him as Damian, but also him as Robin. On the first page were two drawing, looking almost like pictures: His face as Damian, looking bored, probably drawn from a memory of History class, and his face as Robin, hood down and domino mask on. The shades and contours lines were put in the same places and the two drawing, minus the domino, looked identical. But the interesting part was the colour on it. His faces were done with a pencil, and the shades too. But droplets of colour were on it. As a civil, red was around his mouth and eyes, while as a vigilante, red was around his hair and ears. Red.

“You said you saw red the first time we met.”  

“Yeah, and it was around your hair and ears, like something bad was whispering to you, or just anger was showing through.”

“This is how you found out?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Thing is, those places are general for all people. If someone’s angry, then it’ll show like it showed on you, same places. But what gave it away was the colour. Everybody has a unique colour and that’s how I recognised you, Damian Wayne, as Robin. You were going all weirdo under my window, and if it wasn’t for the colour, I wouldn’t have spotted you. It’s pretty weird to recognise your table neighbour as one of the famous thigh clad vigilante, lurking in the dark like the roof top is your playground. Every colour has its nuances, and for you I used #eb1523, but around your stomach there’s another nuance, duller and sombre, almost like #70060d.” Damian took a short breath at the mention of his stomach, but Isaac continued, undaunted, “The colour of blood. That’s weird, ‘cause I’ve never seen something like this before.”

So it meant that Isaac was a mutant. No doubt. An a dangerous one for that matter.

“You’re a meta.” His voice was cold, weighing if yes or no he should tell Father about new metas roaming Gotham. One that could bust out his identity by one look.

Isaac tilted his head on the right side and smiled, “Naaa, not it this sense. When you recognise someone on the streets, I recognise a colour. Same difference, our brains are just not made the same. I’m no mutant with a radar, I just associate things differently than you do. But I don’t know why I see two colours on you. Maybe someone who left an impact on you… I dunno. ”

Isaac seemed content with his explication, and did not look curious as why another colour was lingering on his body. His stomach. The pain flared as he remembered his death by the hand of his mother, obscuring his vision. It had been the worst moment of his life (pun intended).

What had really pushed him metaphorically on his knees was the realisation that he wouldn’t be able to help Father anymore. That he wouldn’t be there to ensure that Father would not kill, him and Todd taking that decision for him, taking out some villains permanently in order to keep their father’s sanity. If Father lost his moral compass, then they were all doomed, because once you tasted blood, there was no coming back, not really. Todd understood now why Batman couldn’t kill, but it didn’t mean that they couldn’t kill for him. Grayson turned a blind eye and sometimes Tim provided the targets.

But knowing that they would have to continue without him, that he wouldn’t be there anymore, it had struck him. That he wouldn’t be there to enjoy the company of Alfred, with some Earl Grey and Pennyworth on his lap, purring. That he wouldn’t be able to put his fist in the face of the goons they fought every night. That he wouldn’t see Father smile at Superman and Wonder Woman like they were the most precious thing he ever had the chance to hold. Like Jason looked at Dick whenever he thought that no one was looking. Selfishly, he thought that he was too young to die, had too many things he had now the right to explore to be run through by a katana.

Coming back to reality when a hand waved in front of him, he snapped his eyes back at Isaac, who was wearing a concerned face. “What?” he spat, clearly not over the fact that a civilian had discovered his identity and was now concerned.

“You okay? I have the feeling you went in a bad place of your memories, ‘cause the red on your stomach started to spread.”

Oh right. Colours. Seriously, it was starting to get kind of annoying. Those colours were like an emotional state detector and it was unnerving to know that a stranger could read all his emotions by just looking at the colour on his body. Scowling, he sighed, “I am well, no need to dump your worries on me.”

Isaac just snorted, disbelieving. An awkward silence settled, the two boys not knowing what to say anymore. Everything had blown off, they had nothing more to discuss. Damian wanted to go back home to figure his next move about Isaac – maybe locking him away to make sure that he wasn’t about to hand him to the cops, or someone worse for that matter- and take a nap before patrol. Standing up, Isaac handed him his hand to help him up and turned at his face him for the first time of the day, eyes glued on a point over Damian’s head. “You know what? I think you’ll want to keep an eye on me, secret identity yada yada, so why not be friends? That way you can drop the creepy act and I’ll have a conversation partner in school. Win-win situation.”

Damian wanted to laugh at his face. Him, a friend? Had Isaac really gone insane for him to ask that? And also, he hadn’t ignored him for a while to now become friends with him. That would absolutely be counterproductive. But seeing Isaac stare nervously in the space them, he doubted his judgement for the first time today.

That was way too simple. Or maybe not, Kent had done the same and they were now on ‘friendly’ terms. But the situations were different. Kent was an alien with superpowers that fought alongside him, while Isaac was a stranger that busted his identity in no time with some weird brain powers. It smelled trouble, and Damian wasn’t sure this would be a good idea. But he had come a long way from the antisocial brat he once was, being rude, seeing friends as a liability more than a strength and he had to admit, Isaac was getting more and more interesting. So if this contract allowed Damian to keep his surveillance without getting caught, then he would maybe give it a shot.  “-Tt- Alright, your idea merits considering. But keep your bragging to a minimum or it won’t be viable anymore.”, he said, standing up on his own, refusing Isaac’s hand, who let it drop at his side with a slight frown.

“You are so weird, Damian.”, muttered Isaac so quietly that Damian didn’t pick it up. He then went in front of him to lead him out of his room, shouting at him before exiting for the bathroom, drowning him in a flow of question before locking the door. “You like hyperrealism? Oh and there’s coffee under the counter. Put it in the coffee maker and start it, I think I need a cup to celebrate our newly sealed friendship. Surely you want one as well, don’t you Wayne? Do you even know how to make coffe?”

Damian almost smiled at the absurdity of it all. Almost.

Boom, there ya go. Second chapter. find me on Ao3 under Neverask, or with the name of this story. 

Do not reupload to another site without my consent. If you do, I will find you and I will send Wade after your ass. He’s very fond of the spider I’m bringing to the team.

#jaydick #damain wayne #robin #robin x oc #batfam #british #dcu fanfic