#cw: Psychological abuse

[codenamehazard]

.:Jabberwocky:.

Chapter 32: Jabberwocky

[TRIGGER WARNING: PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, TORTURE AND TRAUMA]

Hey guys! Sorry I'm a bit late with this chapter! The character voice was giving me serious hell! (Writer's Block, my behated)

Though it's not surprising considering all that I have in store here! Good god, I had to fight to get the words on the document but boy howdy is it worth it!

I hope you've got some water as this is gonna be a doozy. I hope you like this chapter!

Without delay, let's jump in!

---

“No…”

My blood freezes in my veins and my heart races as I stare with wide eyes at the mirror behind me. I’m looking at it, I’m seeing it, but I don’t want to believe it. I refuse to believe it. I refuse to believe that the bastard is here in this hell-maze with me, that he’s here at all. I can deny it all I want, but the mocking smile in the mirror. I know what’s in front of me, replacing my reflection and confirming a fear that I always dread…

Kessler.

“Look what the rabbit dragged in.” The decrypted echo sneers as he begins to circle me in the mirrors that surround me, stepping in front of the other reflections as if they were spectators about to watch a fight. “The coward who denies the truth, even though it’s staring him right in the face.”

“So says the murderer that took everything from me just because he was too much of a fucking coward to face the Beast himself until it was too fucking late.” I snarl back at the twisted reflection, trying to use my rage and hatred to thaw the frozen blood and shake the fear away. “You took away everything I held dear, that we held dear; You killed Trish, you made Zeke betray me! You made my life fall to shambles and even fucking lied about what the Beast was actually doing, all for what?! All because you were too chickenshit to actually protect your family and fight the Beast.” The bastard fucking laughs at me like I was just a yapping ankle biter.

“Oh that is rich coming from you, Cole.” That fucking crone cackles with that sneer. “The one who kills for shits and giggles calling me a murderer. All the pain I caused was done for a purpose while you inflict pain because you are broken inside.” I can feel my blood seeth as he talks, energy gathering in my hand as I keep my eyes on Kessler. “Face the facts, Cole. I would say you’re no better than me, but I dare say you’re worse. All that I did was for a reason while you lash out like a pitiful, sniveling rabid dog who bites and scratches at all who get too close.” I could swear I can feel his stinking breath on my neck as he stops behind me.

“Try as you might, MacGrath… You will always end up alone and you will have no-one to blame but yourself. Because it will always be your fault.”

My rage flares red hot and an Alpha rocket rips from my hand towards the old fuck, but I damn near get blown to bits. In my fury I had forgotten the nature of the very place I’m in. The rocket just bounces off the mirror and I barely have enough time to get out of the way of a direct hit. I curse to myself as I feel the pain from the blast radius, why the fuck did I even think that was a good idea in the first place?! Kesslar cackles at me as I stagger to my feet.

“Still as predictable as ever, Cole!” The crone scoffs as he seems to grow bigger, like a looming shadow. “Lashing out when you know I’m right.” As much as my anger bubbles under my skin, the fear, it creeps back in. Feeling so small, being so helpless. There’s only one thing I can do. I turn and run down the closest hallway to get away from this specter and start looking for a way out.

I can hear the bastard laugh at me over the thumping of my boots and the rapid beating of my heart. Mocking and sadistic.

“There you go! Running away again like the cowering mutt you are! Running from the truth and running from responsibility when it comes to take its due! Breaking the promise you made to yourself so long ago!” I curl my lips at the barbing words, but I have to keep running. I can’t fight, not without obliterating myself in the process! “Maybe it’s for the best that Trish is dead. She isn’t here to see the whimpering coward the man she once loved has become!”

My rage claws inside my chest as I want to scream.

The mirrored halls, I swear they’re messing with my head. I think I could see things changing, I look at one shifting reflection, watching it change into a sight disturbing and familiar. It was myself from years long past, but something’s not right. It’s faded, black and white. Almost like I'm staring at a fading memory, but the eyes I can see, clear as day. They look tired, but also full of pure hatred.

Another reflection, this one more vivid and crisp, one I’m more familiar with. The reflection that greeted me every time I looked into glass windows or puddles back in Empire City. God, I looked like I was walking dead with how pale my skin was, and the black marks that decorated my body didn’t help either. I liked it that way, people left me alone, but now being on the receiving end of that malicious gaze and cruel smile? I’m having second thoughts.

“You!” I hear a new voice ring out as I run. It’s not Kessler’s but mine! It sounded clearer, less gravelly and tired. Oh please don’t tell me the other reflections can talk too!  “I see you, running away, running from the truth! The truth that you’re just as responsible for the destruction of my life! Actually, more responsible!!” I growl at that lie. I didn’t do jackshit to destroy the life I once had, if anything, I was trying to get it back! The blame is Kessler’s and his alone.

“I can hear your thoughts, Cole!” The faded echo barks out with loathing and hate. “You weren’t trying to get life back on track, you were just acting on your own selfish impulses! If you had just sucked it up and been a half-way decent person, Trish would have loved you in her dying moments! But no, your own ego was more important than the woman you claimed to love so much!” I do my best to tune out the venom, but the words cut like knives as I feel a familiar pricking against my eyes. No! I can’t cry, not now! Not when Kessler’s chasing me.

As one voice is tuned out, another erupts in cruel, callous laughter… This voice, it sounds more like how my voice actually is.

“Oh how the mighty has fucking fallen, o’ so called “Demon of Empire City!”” I hear the doppelganger’s voice call out. “Once on top of the world sitting on a throne of scrap, now you’re nothing more than a sniveling weakling running around helpless.” Rage flares in my blood, but I have to keep moving. I can’t fight here, I have to get out! Get away!

“You sicken me. You know that, Cole?” The echo sneers. “You’re a failure. You failed to protect Empire City from the Beast, you were too weak. Running with your tail between your legs to New Marias. Then you bow the knee to the Beast himself just because of some pathetic notion of “the right thing” or some shit like that. Now look at you, you have the power of the Beast yet you’re running scared when you could simply blow this whole place to cinders.” I want to scream at the voice, tell him to shut up, blow up the mirror that the doppelganger hides in, but I know I have to keep going. Doesn’t make the words any less infuriating and painful.

“Why don't you unleash all that power, Cole?” The taunting continues. “Are you too scared? Are you not as powerful as you claim to be or…. Perhaps… Are you getting soft, you pathetic failure?” Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!!

I pick up the pace, my hands covering my ears to drown out the cruel words and venomous barbs as they start to swirl around in my head. Now I am being hunted by three, making my heart frantic. The fear and pain, it was like I was losing Trish with the magnitude of it all. I want to get out of this hell, even if it means disappearing! I just want it to stop!

I think I see something, but I refuse to look at the reflections. I think I hear something, but I refuse to uncover my ears. Enemies everywhere even though they wear my face. All thirsting for my blood and tears. Such things I refuse to give despite the stringing at my eyes. Soon my own voice joins the hellish cacophony, screaming at these demons as that is all I can do.

The more I yell, the more I run around practically blind and deaf, the more confused I get. At this point I’m not sure where I’m running. I can faintly hear laughter every time I clip myself on a corner, ram into a wall or run in circles. I’m lost, so hopelessly lost in my desperation for freedom. My voice is going hoarse from shouting and screaming. The idea of just going fucking nuclear and unleashing hell in the form of the Beast’s Rage is becoming more and more appealing, but with the nature of this hell, that would surely kill me in the process.

I stop at a dead end and fall to my knees, my eyes welling with tears that spill over as I rage inside this mirror nightmare. I just want it all to stop. I want this to be a night terror that I’ll wake up from but I know this is reality. My arms growing tired from holding my hands over my ears, they go slack. I am now exposed to the full brunt of the devils’ venom….

Wait… Who said that?

A voice I didn’t hear before screams with a similar force that I did, but the words they speak aren't venom and hate, but…. Instructions? Directions? I can’t tell at this moment, but it’s something that isn’t loathing and malice. At first I don’t believe these words, thinking them to be a trick or a trap, but with the hateful sounds closing in and with no other option… I follow the directions.

It’s then I see who the voice belongs to. Another faded and blurry reflection, but this one looks unfamiliar. It’s still me, but he shares my tanned skin, his scars barely visible, his shirt grey and white, Amp shining like silver and the sparks off of his hands a brilliant blue… This is what Kessler wanted me to be… A hero.

The blue sparked reflection continues to point and shout directions, seeming to be trying to help me, but why?! I make it no secret, I am not a good person. If this is the hero Kessler wanted, he should be hurling abuses at me just like the others. I’d even go as far as to say he’s the one with the most right to hate me as I am the reason he doesn’t exist. Yet here he is, trying to help me.

I open my mouth to question, but my blue twin snaps. “Not the time, Cole! They ain’t gonna stop for you to ask questions.” I get the message loud and clear and keep running.

I follow the instructions, focusing on that as it’s better than the miasma that I’m being subjected to. I have so many questions to ask, what is happening? Why is it happening? Why are you helping me? Just anything to make sense out of this fucking madhouse, but I keep moving, hoping that I’m not falling into another trap.

My heart sinks as I see that I’m at a dead end and I’m about to bolt, but I notice something… At the end of this hallway is another mirror, but with a very different reflection.

I cautiously walk towards it and squint my eyes, it looks… Fuzzy, almost like a photo that hasn’t been developed. On closer inspection, I can see some things that make it look more like a reflection of my current self, black pants with kneepads, my vest. Visible, yet blurry… The only thing I can see clearly are the eyes of this copy. They’re closed, as if sleeping. What could this mean?

As I look over this mirror, I notice something else. The cruelty of the three devils hunting me, it’s gone. This area is quiet, still and peaceful. Here with my heroic twin, but why is this so? At this point, I care little for the question as I slam my back onto a reflective wall and slide down into a sitting position, hands holding my head as my chest shudders and heave with tears I’m fighting back.

“Not giving up on me are you, Cole?” My blue reflection asks. I sniff a bit as I struggle and shake my head. “Nah…” I reply in a voice that’s more strained than I’d like. “I just….. Need a breather.” The white clad hero nods his head and simply sits in a way that mirrors mine, back to back. “Take your time, Cole. Catch your breath.”

This peace is strange, but compared to the hell I was subjected to? It’s a soothing balm on my mutilated soul and I let some of the tears flow freely. A small relief to keep the dam intact, for now at least.

When the peace has passed, the heroic MacGrath pipes up. “I know you have a lot of questions, but since it’s just us, best get them out of your system.” I turn my head and I can see the blurred reflection turn in kind. I start off with a simple “Why?”

“Why what?” My blue twin asks. “Just… Why? Why is this happening? Why am I being tortured? Why are you helping me?” I ask back in kind. The hero frowns and shakes his head. “As much as I want to answer the first two, all I can say is your guess is as good as mine as I have no clue either… But I can answer the last question. I’m helping you because I can’t stand this suffering.”

“But why?” I continue to question. “You out of all the reflections have the most reason to hate me. I’m everything you would stand opposed to, hell I’m the reason you don’t exist. Why help me when you could come after me as some sort of punishment?”

“And subject you to this hell?” He balks “I wouldn’t even wish this on Kessler, let alone myself. Good or evil.” His eyes stare off into whatever silvery void the mirrored world has. “Besides… I got to see where my path leads to. Got to see that even though I did everything right, it meant jackshit in the end.” He turns to glance at me again. “That all I did was pointless. Utterly pointless”

I’m about to ask him to elaborate, but he shakes his head. Something must have gone completely fubar if he doesn’t want to talk about it even if it’s to bitch and vent.

“So…. Where’s the exit out of this hellhole?” I ask, the heroic twin turns his head and points to the mirror at the end of the hallway. I turn to look at him like he’s crazy. “Um, that’s a wall.”

“It’s the way out.” He simply responds. “It’s the only way out. The reason there’s a wall is because you believe there’s a wall.” I shake my head at this crazy talk. “How do you know if that’s a wall or not?” I question the reflection. He looks at me. “You’re going to have to trust me and by extension, trust yourself.”

“I don’t do trust fall-type bullshit.” I point out bluntly. “You should know this as much as I do.”

“Why would I lie to the only one of any of us in this damn mirror hell that has a future at all?” My blue twin points out harshly. “It’s a cold hard fact, Cole. Out of all of us here, you’re the only one who has a chance at living.” I stand and he stands in kind; both of us staring at each-other, man-to-man.

“While you are right, you are everything that I stand against. You’re selfish, egotistical, ruthless, sadistic, irresponsible, downright dangerous and destructive to the point of senselssness, but you’re also fucking honest about it.” He points out. “Then there’s also the fact when it came time to choose between a gamble that if it fell short would leave everyone to suffer slow and agonizing deaths or go with John and the method that was proven to give humanity even the slightest sliver of a chance to come out the other side. You chose what you felt was right. It may not be what Kessler wanted and there may have been selfish motivations behind it, but you still made that choice.” I look at my twin puzzled, but he’s right… Right about everything, good and bad.

“This is your ticket not only to escape this hell, but to escape Kessler for good.” He continues. “That bastard already took two futures away from you, your future with Trish and my future. Don’t let him take this one away from you too.” His words ring out in my head like a gunshot as I look towards the blurry mirror. “I know it’s a leap of faith, but please take it! Take it and get the hell out of here! Live the best life you can… For the both of us… Please…” The last words fall like a pleading whisper. Looking into the same blue eyes we share, I can see it. The same eyes I have, the eyes of a broken man.

I stare at my good twin for a moment longer before I nod my head.

With that, I turn to face the blurred reflection. I step back a few paces and charge up a polarity wall to act as a battering ram, hoping that this won’t backfire. Unleashing all of my emotions in one, booming battle cry, I charge.

I swear I can hear the ghost of a whisper in my mind. A soft “thank you” as I make contact only to fall through thin air.

I roll through the tumble and onto my feet before looking around, panting hard. He was right… It wasn’t a wall, it was an illusion… Was that whole maze and the horrors within an illusion too??

Once I’m not disoriented as shit, I start to look around this new place. I see bleachers, a trapeze and a barrier… Am I in the center stage of this fucking circus? Before I can start to explore, I hear a familiar female voice ring out with an Irish accent.

“It’s about bloody time you showed up!!”

[toringo]

More stuff for the 'childhood friends' au

[arainmorn-art]

Deciphering 126-127, CWs for blood and abuse

Deciphering, pages 126-127

[Previous page]  [Masterpost]  [Next page]

Gosh, I'm so tired, but I beat this spread page! Took five days straight of my vacation!

In the Russian-speaking fandoms when you read or watch some highly dramatic and depressingly sad stuff we call it "eating glass" in a sense, that you feel emotional pain, but don't want to stop consuming the media. So currently I'm feeding you some glass too x) But don't worry, Edgeworth will be back in a five-six pages.

[Insta] | [DeviantArt] | [X] | [VK] | [Bsky]

[rottenbutrecovering]

Mayhaps this is too hot of a take for this blog, BUT I'm tired of people being like "narcissistic abuse is an important label to me because it's the only thing that describes the form of abuse I was subjected to" Then they describe their abuse and it's emotional abuse. Like we have a term for it. We have for like decades. I've yet to see any definition of "narcissist abuse" that does not also define emotional abuse and/or psychological abuse.

MY abuse fits the descriptions I've seen of "narcissist abuse", and that's because I was emotionally abused.

I do not understand why suddenly emotional abuse and psychological abuse have just seemingly dropped out of people's lexicon. (Well. I have my theory why. But that's a long post for another day).

[crustyfloor]

Content warning (light) : Experiments / Abuse / Body and eye horror tw(?)

The album cover is sick as hell, I initially thought it was skeletal parts, but it looks the most like an MRI scan showing a brain with a lot of abnormalities, including signs of head trauma.

The most profound detail I found in the "brain" is the dark spots.

Dark spots in the brain are usually the result of a brain lesion, a permanently damaged area of the brain usually caused by injury, infections, exposure to certain chemicals, etc. General trauma.

If it's someone's brain, I suspect it's Till's brain. aside from Luka, he has been through the worst of the Alien's mistreatment since he was a child, under Urak's (the bastard's) care he had been exposed to much abuse. The sheer harshness and hostility of Urak's "training" make it obvious why he was probably one of the only pets to withstand it all.

Life-long injury in some form is surely a given to me. Seeing as it's already been mentioned that because of Urak's abuse, his pets rarely make it to the end because of the mental issues they had developed, and experiments can kill them before they even make it to the stage.

Back to the brain, it has a lot of abnormalities (especially in its appearance). I can't explain much, I'm not a neurologist. But based on the research I did the the most damage seems to be near the Frontal lobe and the Precentral gyrus.

source source source

This could explain Till's already implied mental problems, one of them (In my opinion) being some form of dissociation, round 6 was the most telling as his behavior was out of sorts having been broken down he changed drastically, throughout the whole round he was emotionally distant, i'd probably describe it as him being in a daze.

And his hallucination of Mizi during the karaoke scene could be a symptom of that to ease out of the moment.

(I also see that as more of a coping mechanism for Till, but I'm taking it into account for this since it's likely.)

Experiments always looked intense, I wonder just what chemicals and substances he was exposed to, in one of the opening scenes of CURE we're shown what looks to be DNA splitting, or duplicating? there could be a multitude of reasons for that. But it makes me curious just how deep this goes, and how much it affected Till. There is a lot of things about him that could be explained with Urak's presence in his life.

Having his brain tampered with to such a degree, I think we'll start to see the horrific effects come to light here soon.

[carnage-cathedral]

how is it just liek. considered ok to be blatantly ableist towards npd. like ppl run ad campaigns about how to spot a narcissist. how to defeat a narcissist. how to cope with narcissistic abuse. how to protect yourself from a narcissist. like. first of all, the guy who wrote the dsm criteria for the disorder said to stop doing this. and secondly liek. npd is a trauma disorder. ur seriously advertising how to hurt people who have a trauma disorder?? because ur superior empath morals make it okay?? fuck offfff

[rainy-arcade]

Thinking about Marcy Wu (again)

How she was so, so urgently wanting to get away from her parents. To stay with her friends. She didn't think the box would work but still had a plan and put her faith in what could've been utter nonsense; she was desperate and would do anything if it meant she wouldn't have to go with them, alone, away from her friends she loves so incredibly dearly.

I dunno. Something about it all makes me think her parents aren't the greatest of all time, whether that was intended by the writers or not, it's just one of those things I think about a lot

[ouaw-human-au]

⚠️ CW Violence, Psychological Abuse (????)

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭?? — laughs — 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝗡̗̣̣̓͋̎𝗨̤̩́̀̇̕̕𝗜̹̩́͋̀̔𝗦̣̩̹́́̈̏̀𝗔̦͋̍͋̋̕𝗡̦̀̈̒̒̋̀̓̓𝗖͈̔́̎̇͋́̐𝗘̖̹̔̈́̈̒ 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝗣̤̖̜̋̈́̀̓𝗘̛̹̖̀͋̒𝗦̛͈̎̔̀̋𝗧̣̀̒̎̋́𝗦̤̣͒̔̀́̕ —

Nothing really changes... The Other despises all of Torbek's "friends", no exceptions (Kremy being Top 1)... Frost for Him is especially annoying, since the Tabaxi is able to enter people's minds and He doesn't like that, at all... He's also very pissed by the fact that He was once very close to kill Frost,but was taken down by the rest of those 𝗜̦̩̖̐́̇̈́̏̕𝗗̛̜̈́̍̍͒̀𝗜̦̤̐̓̈́̍𝗢̦̦̩̍̈́́̓𝗧̤̹̒̓̐̓̎̏𝗦̗̀̈́͋͋̕

Although, He does find him somehow amusing, but that's because He knows Torbek's feelings towards Frost. And oh, you bet He uses that information to torment Torbek. He likes to stab him with it and twist the knife to make him suffer. Finds it like a sweet delicious pain and rejoices on his tears.

Anyway, He doesn't look at Frost the same way Torbek does... In any case, Frost is just an object to Him, like the rest of the Krew. They mean NOTHING to Him as people... They're just... Objects... Tools... 𝗣̤̖̜̋̈́̀̓𝗘̛̹̖̀͋̒𝗦̛͈̎̔̀̋𝗧̣̀̒̎̋́𝗦̤̣͒̔̀́̕

( @bhwnaru )

It's 8AM in the morning... Haven't slept shit... Hope this makes sense or else I'll jump off a cliff(?

[normystical]

☆ Jax being Mentally Tortured stimboard! ☆

🖥 / 🎭 / 🖥

🎭 / 🟪 / 🎭

🖥 / 🎭 / 🖥

i swear i hyperfixate on normal things LMFAO (i don't) (i'm fixated on jax angst specifically rn)

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Now I'm imagining Nightmare using his shapeshifting abiities to mess with Killer by turning into the monsters he killed.

He would 100% shapeshift into Frisk or Chara to trigger him. Papyrus too, of course.

It would be pretty cool if one of these teasings gone wrong and Killer starts stabbing him a lot of times, like Chara did to Flowey in the end of the Genocide Route.

And after Nightmare takes all the stabs, he would say: "You're really not different to them...are you?"

[yall-hate-kids-tourney]

Round 4: Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls) vs. Amane Momose (MILGRAM)

Propaganda below the cut

Mabel Pines (12):

I literally saw a tiktok today about how Mabel is a bad person. She’s 12! Like yes, she has made some mistakes and bad choices, but so has everyone else. And I never see any of the other characters in the show criticized the way she is. Everyone in the show has made mistakes (Grunkle Stan commits crimes practically every episode ffs) but because Mabel is a 12 year old girl and acts like it, she gets the most hate. Mabel deserves to be loved 🩷

----

girl gets so much flack for being... immature and kind of selfish at age 12? like she had whole video essays made on why she is a horrible person who deserves punishment. god forbid girls be silly

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!!! Spoilers for Gravity Falls last 5 episodes !!!

This has gone down a lot but when the Weirdmaggedon arc was happening, the finale of the series, a big part of the fandom started hating Mabel because she accidentally caused the Weirdmaggedon (basically an apocalypse + bizarre shit like the water tower becoming an eight-legged monster with a giant mouth).

For context, in the episode that starts this arc, "Dipper and Mabel vs The Future", Mabel is really excited to the end of their summer vacation at Grunkle Stan's house, since it will be her and Dipper's 13th birthday and they will enter high school (her idea of high school of course coming from teen movies). But then this whole idea starts to shatter when Wendy tells her that high school isn't like a Disney musical, but it's okay, she will get through this since she will be with Dipper, her twin brother...

Except, that Dipper receives an invitation by Grunkle Stan's scientist brother Ford to become his apprentice after summer ends, staying in Gravity Falls, without Mabel. When she discovers it, she gets really mad at him and in a fit of rage, she accidentally picks Dipper's bag instead of hers and runs off to the woods.

When she gets there, Blendin, a time-travelling friend of theirs finds her and tells her that he has a way of making her brother stay with her, and make the summer take a little more to end, and that he just needed a little thing that Dipper has in his bag. That thing is a dimensional rift that Dipper and Ford contained to not cause the Weirdmaggedon, but Mabel didn't knew about that and gives it to Blendin. Blendin then breaks it and it's revealed that Bill Cipher was controlling Blendin to get the rift and release the Weirdmaggedon. He then traps Mabel in a bubble, starting the final arc of the series.

So, a few episodes later, that bubble she's in is revealed to be a world of fantasy that she controls, and that she didn't want to leave that world, as she was scared of growing up etc.

Context given, A LOT OF PEOPLE HATED HER FOR THIS. Suddenly people started seeing Mabel as just a selfish girl who wanted things only her way, when she was only a 12-year-old scared of growing up without her twin brother (they do end up going back together at the end but still).

The worst part is that apparently the people behind it took note of this, and on the comics that where released after the finale, she is a selfish spoiled brat. I haven't read the comics though so I'm going off what some people said about it.

Amane Momose (12):

Amane was voted guilty in the first trial so that she would acknowledge her guilt. It backfired, and now she’s considered a threat. Well, everyone is a threat, but nobody’s threat level has been as heavily discussed and debated as hers. Consider the next prisoner in line, Mikoto. He’s objectively more dangerous and cannot be restrained. He beat up the guard in trial 1, and he was able to hold his own when the other guilty prisoners were attacked. But a good incentive to forgive him is so that he will calm down. You know what? That’s a good incentive to forgive Amane too! But she *can* be restrained, so a good portion of the discussion went into how she should be voted guilty so she *will* be restrained and not a threat. Since her vote was a near 50/50, of course a good chunk of the voters expressed dissatisfaction with her forgiven verdict. Some are already planning to vote her guilty for trial 3, calling her a “lost cause”. She hasn’t even done any concrete harm yet. Hold the pitchforks until she actually causes harm, please? And what if she *was* voted guilty in trial 2? We’ve been warned that she will continue to deny our judgement. A second guilty verdict won’t make her better either, and then what? She’d be called a “lost cause” as well. There is no winning with her.

----

Where do I even start? So first of all she’s an cult child who was physically and mentally abused and tortured by her parents and then (presumably) murdered her mother after her mother killed a cat that she took care of.

Now everyone in Milgram is a murderer but when Amane came and her MV showed her murder and circumstance in an admittedly highly fictionalized depiction of it the audience decided to…repeat the cycle of abuse!

She was voted guilty for the main reason of “teaching her” and helping her “realize that she was abused.” I would like to note that this tough love approach is something her parents utilized against her. “We are only doing this to help you.”

So the audience replicates Amane’s abusers and repeats the cycle of abuse and that’s pretty shitty but it isn’t exactly “Fuck Em Kids” level.

And then Trial 2 happened. Cause Amane is bitter and angry and horrifically traumatized so she acts aggressive and hostile. Especially towards another prisoner.

Now, again, everyone here is a fucking murderer (of atleast could be constructed as one) These people being able to Harm is a core concept of this series.

Yet for some reason it feels like people treat Amane as a “delusional creepy kid who wants to kill people” which completly takes away the nuance of her character. She does have the capacity to harm! Everyone here does! She’s not Uniquly Dangerous! She just has a Reason to be Dangerous. A Reason we GAVE HER by REPEATING THE CYCLE OF ABUSE.

In short: In a series full of Murderers I’m honestly a bit pissed that the 12 year old abuse victim is the one who’s treated like the guy from American Pyscho.

----

TL;DR: "We metavoted this abused, indoctrinated child guilty in trial 1, but it didn't work. Now she is a threat to three grown adults: one who is fully free and two whom she has been shown to get along with. Please metavote her guilty again so she will be restrained and unable to attack them, even though that means subjecting her to further psychological torture." Amane Momose is the youngest of ten murderers, prisoners of Milgram who are to be judged innocent (forgiven) or guilty (unforgiven). In the first interrogation (voice drama), she said that what she did was in line with her religion's doctrines. If we judged her the "wrong way", she said she will just deny the verdict. Combining the voice drama and music video, you could piece together that she was raised in a cult and abused, even though she is cheerful and downplays her pain. She never shows *who* she killed, only *why* she did. After the first day of her vote, she was 81% innocent, but this wouldn't last the whole three months. Many people voted her guilty so she would "see her sins", part of the practice commonly known as "metavoting". Her innocent percentage rapidly decreased, and she hit guilty in the last 15 days, finishing at 51% guilty. At the end of the first trial, Jackalope (who is something like a host) went over all the prisoners' verdicts and commented on the general reasoning. When he got to Amane, he *laughed* at the audience for voting that way to make her realize her sins. Trial 2 rolled around, and it was revealed that Amane's victim was her abuser. On day one, she was at 74% innocent. Seems like a cut-and-dry case now, right? Well... in the intermission, two of the prisoners (Fuuta and Mahiru) were badly beaten up and became reliant on the care of Shidou, a doctor. Amane became hostile to Shidou because what he was doing was against her beliefs. She visited all three of them on their birthdays to convince them to change their ways. She seems to be especially close to Fuuta, who is now murmuring about salvation. Guilty prisoners are psychologically tortured, forced to listen to voices that reject their beliefs. Fuuta and Mahiru both say that the mental strain is worse than their physical injuries. But Amane, who also looks worse for wear, was thrown under the bus because she isn't injured and is considered a physical threat to them (never mind that she gets along with them). She's considered a threat to Shidou, a grown man who is twice her size and fully free, while she is partially restricted by the long sleeves in her trial 2 uniform. She might indoctrinate Fuuta even though, in a prison of ten people and one guard, she's the only voice of her cult. Fortunately, she got a break. Her vote was falling at a similar rate to the first trial. But this time, it stabilized at 51% innocent, 12 days before the end of her vote. But there's no way this is over.

[naughtybg3confessions]

I need to torture Gortash through sleep deprivation. Bane won't visit him on my watch.

If companions can get a redemption arc through severing their links to their Gods, I bet I could fix him with sleep deprivation induced mania if I tried long enough.

Besides, tyrants driven to absolute insanity are the best ones to manhandle.

[arainmorn-art]

Deciphering. Let the bloody CWs begin!

Deciphering, pages 120-124

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Let the pain begin x) Concept-art for these two.

That whole episode with young Nick in court can be looked at from a different, non-comedic perspective. There was not just a pathetic crying boy, but actually a young man who was trying to protect his beloved and until the last minute he couldn't believe that she didn't love him, despised him, and wanted to kill him. And something tells me that even after finding out the truth about her, Nick didn't get over it that easily. A wound like that doesn't heal quickly. So even with all the signs that things are different with Edgey, it's hard for Nick to get past the dread of not getting fucked immediately after confessing his love.

Now that's a theme that I want to explore.

Fasten your seat belts. It's not gonna get any less bloody.

P.S. Here comes the hint of the AU I like the most. Trucy is the biological daughter of Phoenix and Iris. I'd rather believe in the spirit channeling than that ridiculous adoption. Iris could have concealed the pregnancy, hidden in her monastery, given birth there, and only after 3-5 gave their daughter to Nick. I think he's better off being a biological father for once, as he already has too many adopted kids.

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[badaziraphaletakes]

I'm fascinated by how this person used the word "gaslit" but has zero understanding of how ab*sive situations work.

I'm especially fascinated by how "gaslit" means "manipulated into thinking that something isn't happening" and yet the commenter doesn't see the irony of the fact that they are effectively denying that Aziraphale was being ab*sed and endangered by heaven. Which feels very much like... altogether now!... gaslighting.

[luna-wing-cns274]

Mnemovore.cmf6

(cw: psychological torture, manipulation, death, implied torture, child endangerment)

Mr. Hammond was seated on the suede couch in his living room, reading a novel printed on a new kind of fiber. An SSC breakthrough, some derivative of silk which had the crisp texture of paper, the humidity resistance of plastic, and the strength of aramid weave. Steady rain pattered against the window panes nearby, and he had a steaming mug of tea on the end table just beside the armrest he leaned on.

The mug had an acceleration-resistant magnetized base and was coated in impact dampening polymer, with a screw-on cap set on the table beside it which could, in theory, withstand total depressurization. Printed on each side of its cylindrical body was the emblem of the Constellar Navy.

Tucked next to his leg was a cushion, with his daughter’s head resting on it. She was wrapped in a purple fleece blanket, breathing slowly, fast asleep. Hammond set the book on his knee and glanced down at her. Sighing with contentment, he reached for his tea.

Mid-reach, Ma’ii took him.

There was no psychic struggle, no battle of wills, no exchange of blows between intrusion code and electronic countermeasures. It was over in an instant. He felt them enter through his subjectivity enhancements, and then he could suddenly feel the shape of the terrible intelligence which stood between him and his now-distant body.

Seamlessly, the intruder carried on the motion of his arm. His muscles didn’t flinch. There was no interruption of the movement. They picked up his tea, lifted it to his lips, and sipped slowly.

In the silence of the virtual domain, they purred.

< Hello, Finlay. It’s delicious. Not too sweet. >

He could feel the muscles of his face held in that same contented little smile as he thrashed against the unreality enveloping him. None of the keyed volitional impulses he emitted were able to elicit a response from the system, trigger any of his countermeasures. His body’s sensorium was being force-inputted to his subjectivity, with no outgoing signals accepted. Complete lockout.

< You know who it is, don’t you? >

< L4MI. Oh, God. >

< It’s been some time. Done well for yourself since you left Psychometrics, I see. >

< Whatever you’re after, it’s yours. Just tell me what you want. >

He felt the shape of the coyote’s face superimposed over his own, like some invisible but fully tangible mask. Interweaving with his proprioceptive field, looking through his eyes. When they laughed, he felt the movement of their jaws, the flexing of the muscles in their neck.

< Rusty on the SERE training, hm? I think you know perfectly well what I want, Finlay, and I won’t be able to trust the information unless I take it directly. That was what you taught me. >

Ma’ii set the mug down on the table and leaned toward his sleeping child, studying her face.

< Congratulations. She’s lovely. How old? >

Reaching for his nonexistent larynx, Hammond screamed silently. He reached for anything, a single muscle, the slightest bit of forgotten influence he might have at his disposal to exert some control over the situation.

There was nothing. Only an infinite void to pour his volition into.

< Touch her, and I’ll kill you. >

< Strange. I think I recall expressing a similar sentiment to you once. Just after Yakutsk, the ‘administrative debriefing.’ You recall, yes? >

Ice washed over his disembodied mind. He screamed until Ma’ii took away even his silent voice.

< That’s better. What was it you were saying—don’t touch her? Hm? >

Ma’ii raised one of his hands toward the child, slowly approaching her face. Unable to close his eyes or shut out the input, Hammond watched.

< Were you aware that I kept the memory of that debriefing from Hachiko? After she emerged from cycling and we began restoring her, I withheld the knowledge. After all, you performed the operation in order to punish me, yes? Not her. I never told the others, either. They’re all better off without the baggage. >

There was no averting it. It was going to happen, and he was going to be made to watch. Recoiling from reality, he could not retreat into nausea, or unconsciousness, or even shed tears. Reality would simply happen to him, and nothing would protect him from it.

< It was my disobedience you couldn’t abide, of course. Garmr, too aggressive—a killer, not a torturer. Grey, already too burdened by leadership. Hachi, too empathetic.

CONSTINT needed their wetworker, hm? Someone who could adopt war-sanity, then put it back down unchanged, without having their cycling window shortened. To make Maintenance happy. >

Hammond watched, helpless, as Ma’ii put his hand on his child’s head and gently stroked her hair. She stirred a little, pulled the covers closer around herself.

< There was a time when I would have done precisely the thing you expect me to do. Not even to make you talk, just to break an enemy’s spirit. Just like you trained me.

I didn’t come here for her, Finlay. She’ll be alright, in the end. For what it’s worth, I do pity her, but losing her father won’t destroy her. >

In his prison of null-space, Hammond felt the coyote’s mouth draw close to his ear. He shrank from the guttural voice which emerged.

< It may well be that she’s better off without you, though. >

The little girl opened her bleary eyes, sucked in a breath, and stretched.

“Dad?” she whispered.

“Hey, sweetie,” said Ma’ii. “I’m heading to bed. You go on back to sleep now, okay?”

“Okay. G’night.”

“See you in the morning,” Ma’ii said, trying their best to smile warmly. “I love you.”

“I love you too, dad.”

“Oh. Here, let me put that on to charge for you. Get some rest, honey.”

As the child closed her eyes, Ma’ii took something out of her hands. Purple streams of intrusive paracode flowed from it, woven with threads of volition. They snaked towards Hammond’s subjectivity enhancements, pulsing in time with the activation of his major muscle groups, puppeting him.

In darkness, Hammond became hollow.

A reading tablet issued to her by the school. She’d been talking about it all day, her new favorite thing. Unlike everything else in the house, it was barely secured.

As Ma’ii stood, took his pistol from his bedside stand, and told his wife he was going out for a walk, Hammond offered no resistance. They walked him out the front door, down the causeway along the edge of the SSC arcology, and found an isolated public park. By the time they found a place to hide him, he was drenched, freezing.

When the time came, and Ma’ii reached into his mind to devour his memories with the same extraction software he’d issued them years and years ago, he was confident that it wouldn’t take long.

It was, of course, over in an instant.

[timeclipsed]

❝I'm telling you, Sonic, there's something weird going on here. The Doctor's hiding something from me.❞

— ;; DIGITS SWIFTLY RAPPING AGAINST SUPERCOMPUTER keys, Tails works tirelessly to deracinate the firewalls locked in place, encrypting and shrouding precious digital documents from prying eyes.

Lopsidedly lounging on a nearby workbench, having shoved all the tools and material to the floor to make room for his stannic chassis, watching his "brother" work with mild disinterest, "Sonic" pipes up to give his two cents.

❝Playin' the game of fools if ya expected anything else, lil' bro!❞

— ;; ACICULATE APPENDAGE RAISING, OFFERING SOMETHING of a supportive thumbs up, he reclines further. Ugh. Mentally noting the behavior, Tails tucks away the necessity of a behavioral adjustment for later.

❝Just do what'cha do best and we'll have the case cracked wide open in no time— like the rotten egg himself!❞

— ;; COALESCING FULLY, UNABLE TO REPRESS the twinging smile on his lips at the half-praise, half-jest, fingers sweep the keyboard, shattering through every thickly-coded riddle thrown his way. In lieu of his physically weakened state as of recent, he'd began to have suspicions that things were awry behind the scenes.

Of course there was no reason in the multiverse to fully trust Robotnik as is; the noticeable gaps in memory and sudden decline in health only acting as fodder towards that volcanic skepticism.

Chiming with a gaiety fanfare, signaling granted access, Tails immediately begins his deep dive into the depths of the raw mental spillage, reconstructed into paragraphed verbiage.

❝Got it! Now let's see... what's Ro-nut-nik hiding in here...❞

— ;; CIPHERED FILES WITH ENIGMATIC NAMES are the bulk of what's contained within; of course the Doctor would resort to using a secret language, presumably one made by himself. Something no one else could disentangle.

Frustrating, certainly, but it does little to sway his search. Thankfully so.

Concealed within layers of folders, seemingly all full of junk and throwaway text, a document labeled PROJECT MARIA is discovered. There, an array of text logs from the Doctor, journaling what seems to be the process. Nausea churning in a curious stomach suddenly, he clicks on the most recent entry.

Sensing his sudden drop in energy, Sonic hops off the bench and approaches from behind, gazing over Tails' shoulder.

❝What'dja find, bud?❞

❝Not sure... some kind of logbook for a thing called PROJECT MARIA. No idea what it's about, but I definitely recognize the name... Maria, she was Shadow's sister.❞

Entry 27 12/13/xx

Perhaps I began siphoning Maria's essence all at once, or far too quickly. The vessel shows signs of sickness, with symptoms similar to the ones she dealt with on the ARK. The boy complains of pounding headaches, chronic fatigue, and a persisting cough from the lungs. Currently, he's on consistent bedrest.

It's been a chore to keep all his little friends away, however. Aside from the results of Project Shadow from this timeline, none of them are any the wiser, and I intend to keep it that way.

I was eager when that idiot, Starline, approached me with such a braggadocious front over all his technology and tactics. Far too easily disposed of; I should have realized much sooner his methods weren't perfect.

I'm going to have to recalculate and retrace. If the boy gets any sicker, his vessel will be useless to me. There must be a way to reverse the effects of ailment.

❝S-Sonic?❞

— ;; INSTINCTIVELY LEANING TOWARDS CHAOS' PRESENCE behind him, his eyes scan the words over twice, then thrice. Still, yet, processing them seems impossible. Everything clicks into place, as desperately as he wishes they wouldn't.

Flickering, whirring, gears seem to kick into overdrive as Chaos understands the implications of what's scrawled out in front of him, a hand places itself on Tails' shoulder, urging him to stand.

❝...We should go.❞

— ;; IMPROMPTU ESCAPE PLAN CUT TRAGICALLY short as by the time Chaos has Tails' weakened form on its feet, a third voice joins the fray uninvited; the single voice they'd dreaded hearing.

❝Again?❞

❝Oh, Tails. We've had this confrontation how many times now...?❞

— ;; BEGINNING HIS SLOW APPROACH TOWARDS the pair, Robotnik bends down, letting the folds of his wide smile find the same space Tails' horrified breaths shudder out into, hidden behind Chaos' profile.

❝And every single time, it ends the same exact way... you're a little too smart for your own good.❞

❝Back up, Doctor.❞

❝Y-You... lied to me. It was n-never about getting home, was it?❞

— ;; POSTURE STRAIGHTENING, TOWERING HIGH ABOVE Tails and Chaos, the gleam on Robotnik's spectacles tinges off the dim light above. Fixing his gaze on Chaos, he speaks once more, but he still addresses the other.

❝I think we both know there's only way this is going to end, boy. The question is, do you want your new friend here smashed to bits in the process?❞

— ;; SHUDDERING GASPS ESCAPE TAILS' THROAT and he clings tighter to Chaos, shaking his head wildly as tears spill from squeezed eyes.

❝N-No! No, no, no! Don't touch him! Don't hurt him! I- I'll—❞

❝...Bud? Tails, no— don't listen to him!❞

❝...C-Chaos Sonic... initiate force shutdown process.❞

❝Tails—!❞

❝FORCE SHUTDOWN SUCCESSFUL.❞

— ;; CLATTERING TO THEIR FEET, OPENING the gap between Robotnik and Tails, Chaos lies inactive. The latter stares up at the former with petrified eyes, breaths murmuring and skipping raggedly.

❝Please don't... I-I... I'm scared...!❞

❝Is that so? Let me help you ease those fears so you can get to sleep. It's late, boy.❞

— ;; GRIPPING BANGS BETWIXT LONG FINGERS in one hand, the arm belonging to the other pulls back, fist promptly making contact with Tails' face.

And like a light losing power, the world goes dark.