#i have beef with my stepsons best friend? more likely then you think

[afollyinacrate]

"They're an insufferable little..."

(MY KITTY :D)

hi. this is my cat socket

@marsh-tothe-all why does adam hate you

@afollyinacrate why do you hate them

bye

[krinsbez]

A Topic For Discussion: On Memory, Identity, and Stolen Valor

(once again, trying something different in a way to get more original content in here)

OK, so I've been pondering this for months. It started with one scene from an episode of a soap opera my mom was watching (yes, I know, bear with me), and then I realized it actually opens fertile ground for discussion. I'm gonna simplify the situation tremendously, because soap operas be crazy, but we've got three important characters: -Jason Morgan, long-time character, hitman-turned-PI. Had a long-lost twin brother. Used to be someone else, but adopted his current identity after brain damage caused amnesia and a permanent personality change. Also, picked up a bunch of enemies over the years, some of whom have mad science. Left town for awhile. -Franco Baldwin, famous artist. Also, serial killer and general murderous loon. Believed he was Jason's long-lost brother, did numerous things to screw with him. Discovered he was not, actually, Jason's long-lost brother, and also that his insanity was caused by a brain tumor. Became less evil but still kind of a jerk after said tumor was removed, but also lost the spark of genius that made his art special. Set about building new, non-evil life, eventually was reluctantly accepted as a non-bad guy by most characters and forgiven his previous sins (though they didn't necessarily like him), got married, bonded with step-kid, developed a good relationship with birth father, develops a few strong friendships including with... -Drew Cain, Jason's actual twin. Ex-Navy SEAL. Got kidnapped by baddies who had beef with Jason and his family, had Jason's memories downloaded into his head, suppressing his own. Then was in an accident that gave him amnesia and required extensive plastic surgery; eventually built a new life which fell apart a bit when everyone came to believe he was Jason, rebuilt it, and then had to rebuild it again when the real Jason showed up. Was eventually given the chance to have his real memories restored, but at the cost of losing the memories he's developed since then; having worked so hard at building a new life, he decided not to. You got that? OK, so some baddie comes along with some horrible evil plot, and wanted to download Drew's pre-kidnapping memories into Franco's stepson; since the procedure was invented for twins and no one knows if it's survivable for others, Franco volunteered instead. When he wakes up from the resultant coma, he has lost his own memories and believes he is Drew. Also in the mix: -Oscar Nero, Drew's teenage son, who recently died of a fatal disease. -Kim Nero, Drews's ex, Oscar's mom. Not dealing well with the above. -Scottie Baldwin, Franco's birth father. Worked very hard to build a relationship with his newly-discovered son. Not happy with the current situation. -Elizabeth Webber, Franco's wife. Also, Jason's ex. Also, had a thing with Drew when she thought he was Jason. Also not happy with the current situation. -Cameron Webber, Elizabeth's son, Oscar's best friend. Finally accepted and became close with his stepdad just before the whole "kidnapped by a maniac who wants to upload someone else's memories into his head at gunpoint" thing. Needless to say, having a very bad year. Jason never liked Franco for obvious reasons, so he's staying out of it. Drew wants his buddy back. Elizabeth wants her husband back. Scottie wants his son back. Cameron is, obviously, a total mess. Franco-Drew doesn't know or care about any of them, and is quite fine as he is. Also, wants to get back with Kim, who he doesn't remember breaking up with. Kim, who is reeling from losing her son, is amenable, since he's a way of holding on to Oscar. There is a procedure that could restore Franco's memories, but it's experimental, and even if it does work, he'd lose Drew's memories. He doesn't want to undergo the procedure, especially because, y'know, Franco was kind of a terrible human being who most people in town have only recently begun to stop hating. Scottie and Elizabeth sue to force him to undergo it (on the grounds that he's not of sound mind, because...well, he thinks he's another person, and that Elizabeth, as his wife, has the right to make medical decisions for him), and he shows up at the court hearing in uniform, being supported by Kim. OK, you got all that? So, there's a lot to unpack here, but let's start with some questions: -Who should win the court case? -Who has a greater claim to being Drew Cain? -Is Jason, as the root cause of all of this, obligated to get involved? -And is Franco-Drew wearing the uniform and decorations he remembers being entitled to, a form of Stolen Valor?