#journalistic negligence

[reynard61]

[reynard61]

Because the Corporate Archons who own the media pay their worthless scribblers to ignore anything that might make The Fascist Gasbag look bad.

Vote for Kamala

[yzzart]

I KNOW, MY EYES ALREADY LOVE YOU ── KENJI SATO

── summary: What could be Kenji Sato's certainty and weakness?

── content warnings: F!reader, 18+, nsfw, morning sex, unprotected, riding, playing w/ nipples, dirty talk, praise, petnames, kenji being a fucking tease, explicit words, explicit content.

── word count: 1.798!

Kenji did not know, or did he understand, some certainties about his life, and, perhaps, it could sound like imprudence, the purest act of negligence he had the opportunity to tolerate; in fact, it was obvious. — He believed in this line of consciousness, attempted reasoning.

He declared that he made mistakes, countless mistakes, and, currently, he still thinks about the hypothesis that he could make them to this day; even though he wanted to, and tried, as much as possible, not to reveal what he believed to the cameras, journalists and specific people around him. — Sato wouldn't stand it, he knew that.

However, resonating with a merciless and sweet irony, seeming such a surprising incongruity, Kenji was, he knew, certain about one thing in his existence, something that he would not dare lie, deceive himself or dissemble; he imagined he might die if he did that. — His chest burned, sharply, just thinking about it.

You were one of Sato's weaknesses; in his view, the only one. — At the same time, it was his strength; knowing that, you can destabilize him, with ease and incomplexity, conceiving a change in his concentration and everything around, just by directing your eyes against his would be able to be seen as ridiculous and playing a vulnerable side and stealing his attention was peculiar. — Something incredibly curious.

But in Sato's eyes, it was a form, way of how to worship you; being able to feel a passion, intensely, disoriented and burning in his heart. — Admitting something so angelic and serene. — Not hiding the fact that you were his refuge, a place where he felt safe and loved and knew that it would protect him at all costs in his life; experiencing being worthy of you.

And every morning, every second and minute of it, at dawn next to you, with his body entwined with yours, Kenji thought about it.

"A kiss for your thoughts?" — A sleepy, so sweet voice exclaims in the boy's ears, spontaneously bringing a cunning smile to his lips; Kenji loved your humor, even during the early morning. — "What do you think?" — Even with the huge cuts in the windows, showing weak and soft bands of light, you refused to open your eyes at that moment, yawning.

"That's a very good proposal, should i accept it?" — He asked, looking down at your leg, which was in the region of his hips, and felt, deliciously, you pressing yourself against him; Sato's smile grew even wider due to the fact that you only had the blanket stuck to your bodies. — "Good morning to you too, kitten."

He considered some sleepy, boring mumbles and grunts that came out of your mouth as a response, and found it adorable; bringing his lips to your forehead, kissing it, while stroking your hair. — Taking care of his girl with delicacy and gentleness. — And more melodic hums were made by you.

You couldn't stop that familiar and delightful tingling between your legs, and soon you was clumsily rubbing yourself against Kenji's hips, — who didn't fail to find your morning boner fascinating and hungry — without a hint of shame.

"I see someone…" — A sensual laugh vibrated in your temple. — "…woke up very well." — He added, feeling a lump in his throat, unable to contain his shaky breath. — "No?" — Your hand snaked over Kenji's athletic chest, a line of coldness crossed his skin, caused by the ring you had on your finger; your engagement ring.

Not knowing how to resist, and never could, your movements, the painful, throbbing sensation began to burn, sharply, Kenji's dick, showing the large bulge developed in the blanket; he was already starting to feel needier than usual, wanting to fit his face into your neck and dive into your pussy.

Just thinking about being inside you makes Sato's breathing become a panting mess, not wanting or admitting to waste another second.

"I always wake up right next to you, Kenji." — You replied, lifting your head, directing your lips to the eldest's shoulder, trailing kisses across his skin; showing affection. — "Always." — The little kisses went up to his collarbone, your warm hands remained on his chest.

During the small movement between the sheets, caused by you, part of your boobs were exposed and shivering as they hit Kenji's skin; he didn't wait and anxiously felt the beak of one of them, squeezing it with a certain and frank force. — Drawing a sigh from you and making the player bite his lip, like prey. — The damn man liked doing that.

Sato was, indisputably, diabolical, the most arrogant and delighting provocation to ever stand before you.

“Come here, come.” — He asked in a whisper, cunning and with eyes clouded with desire, looking at every point of your face and eyes, running his tongue over his lips, leaving them wet and, faintly, shiny; waiting to be responded to, which didn't take long. — "Pretty girl."

Yours lips, eagerly, came together in a sinful, appetizing and wet kiss; Kenji's sharp tongue rubbed and caressed your, wanting to taste your mouth, as if it were the first time. — Sometimes causing a shock of contact between your teeth and his, nothing could stop you. — Moans, coming from you, delighting in his mouth, were muffled and made Sato smile bewildered.

Kenji felt, even so apprehensive and focused on your mouth, his body being touched, covered by your hands, and, lightly, your nails scraped his skin, desperate to touch him. — He couldn't help but find it cute and naive the way your hand moved to the back of his neck, shocking your bodies even more. — Feeling himself throbbing more and more.

You would be the death of Kenji Sato. — That was another certainty that covered his mind.

Moaning during the mediocre fraction of a second in which your lips disconnected, feeling an emptiness, you came across thin and fragile strands of spit slowly breaking and you vibrated when you heard Sato's smug laugh; his eyes surrounded your mouth, wanting it again. — He smiled, forming a pretentious and ambitious expression as he brought his thumb to your chin, holding it.

"Ride me like a good girl," — Sato clicks his tongue, incoherent. — "my good girl." — Aa words, referring with a hint of possessiveness and premise, made your pussy throb with exultation. — "Please, huh?" — Your lover pouted, almost sounding mocking but not hiding the need he burned for you.

He didn't need to say it twice, he knew there would be no need, even though he saw some clouds of pleasure, leaving you completely at the mercy of the excitement, leaving you beautiful head. — And, also, it wasn't long before your legs were around Kenji's hips, grabbing them with the limited strength you had; abandoning the silky, white sheet somewhere on the mattress.

Settling down, adjusting his posture on the soft, padded pillow, hoping for a good view, Kenji couldn't help but adore the image before his eyes; you were deliciously mounted on him and comfortable on his lap, in your honored place and feeling deified. — It seemed like an inexplicable, surreal and reprehensible scene, it could be the taste of the paradise they prophesied. — No, you were Sato's own, true and only paradise.

Your body surrendered to him, precise movements, with a moderate, almost weak strength and still clouded with sleep, against the young prodigy's hips, feeling his entire length sink, preciously, into your sticky and hot walls; never getting used to the way you was filled by Kenji, — and, wanting, dirty, at no point to get used to it. — leaving you more stimulated. — When you felt him completely, your lips opened, moaning harmoniously and delightfully, attracting panting sighs in the name of your lover.

And, with your boobs, delicious and juicy boobs, exposed, wide open, which, according to your movements, swayed and shivered in front of Kenji, wanting to devour them with desire and modesty. — And not tolerating losing the delicious vision, he preferred to remain where he was; but, he didn't hesitate in sliding his hand towards one of them and squeezing it, now, tightly.

"Ken..ji." — You moaned, whimpered, moving your hand towards his, which held your nipple, unbearably, sensitive with his calloused fingers. — "Fuck-k!" — You sobbed, threatening to release tears from feeling all that pleasurable pressure in your system; and, feeling the lack of sustenance, with the other hand, you moved across Kenji's chest. — "Ken, Kenji..."

"Is it good, my love?" — He says, removing his hand from your boob and repositioning it on your waist, guiding your movements, noticing your almost exhausted rhythm, poor thing. — "Fucking good, huh?" — He growled when he noticed a sudden tightness in his cock; your pussy choked and sucked him, divinely, well. — "O-oh, look what we have here." — He laughed, digging his short nails into your flesh.

The sharp, thin lamentations and melodic moans vociferated in Sato's ears sounded like masterful music, stirring him with every descent and ascent that you made in his lap; also mentioning the wet, filthy melody that your pussy made while swallowing his cock. — Such a greedy, hungry, desperate little thing for every inch of him.

"Keep it up, kitten." — He swore, quickly guiding your hips and showed a satisfied and happy smile when he saw that you responded to his orders, winking shamelessly in your direction. — "I love filling this pussy, fuck…" — He breathed deeply, shaking with another grip on his dick. — "with my cum in the morning." — Listening to Kenji's filthy words was a sin.

It was blasphemous, unacceptable to be able to tolerate, endure, for so long, all that excitement, — all that infernal provocation coming from your man — and adequately endure the stings that reached, perfectly, your sensitive and delicate spot, which only Kenji knew how to reach. — And he took advantage of that.

With incandescent, burning pleasure replacing all sensations, reactions of your body, finally, that nervous, tingling thread, trapped in your stomach, breaks free; accompanied by a tearful and disoriented scream, crying out for Sato, coming out of your mouth. — Cumming on his cock, having some spasms around it, you feel weak, about to become weak. — Like a pathetic little doll.

"Baby." — Hot, delicious jets of sperm painted your inner walls, taking him to the limit, as always; cumming inside you, Kenji filled you, leaving you satisfied, sated and fulfilled. — Having the impression that, still sitting on his lap, you was leaking yours mixed releases, causing an appetizing mess. — "Holy shit." — Ken moaned softly, smiling bewildered and drunk for you.

Tilting your head to the side, merely acting in a naive and harmless way, still with a look of tiredness and exhaustion, a thin and innocent smile tugged at the corner of your lips; making you even more adorable, captivating.

"Good morning to you too, Ken."

Yeah, in fact, you were Kenji Sato's main weakness.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The latest questions are centered around Anat Schwartz, an Israeli who co-authored several of the paper’s most widely circulated reports, including the now well-known and scrutinized December 28 article headlined: “‘Screams Without Words’’ How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.” Independent researchers scrutinized the online record, and raised serious questions about Schwartz. First, she has apparently never been a reporter but is actually a filmmaker, who the Times suddenly hired in October. You would expect the paper to look for someone with actual journalistic experience, especially for a story as sensitive as this one, written during the fog of war. Surely the paper had enough of its own correspondents on staff who could have been assigned to it. Next, the researchers found that Schwartz had not hidden her strong feelings online. There are screenshots of her “liking” certain posts that repeated the “40 beheaded baby” hoax, and that endorsed another hysterical post that urged the Israeli army to “turn Gaza into a slaughterhouse,” and called Palestinians “human animals.” (Just this morning, more evidence emerged online; Schwartz apparently also served in Israeli Military Intelligence.) Finally, one of her co-authors on two of the reports was Adam Sella, who is her nephew.  Let’s pause here. What would happen if the Times suddenly hired a Palestinian filmmaker with no journalistic background, who had recently publicly “liked” posts that called for “pushing Israeli Jews into the sea,” to co-write several of its most sensitive and contested reports? 

[...]

There’s another related example of how the Times has botched the sexual violence story. One of the first Israeli organizations that arrived on the scene of the Hamas attack was Zaka, a volunteer group that recovers dead bodies. On January 15, Times reporter Sheena Frankel wrote a positive profile of the group; she included 3 or 4 sentences of criticism, only to quickly dismiss them. This site had already raised serious doubts about Zaka weeks earlier, pointing out that “the organization’s volunteers have systematically given false testimonies, and continue repeating them to journalists on behalf of the Israel government.” Then, on January 31, the Israeli daily Haaretz published a long investigation, that highlighted “cases of negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props.” Haaretz cited one Zaka report that said a volunteer had seen a murdered pregnant woman, with the baby still attached by the umbilical cord — before concluding that the incident “simply didn’t happen.” At this stage, there are serious doubts about many aspects of Israel’s overall account about October 7. Only a genuinely independent and impartial investigation might some day get closer to the truth. But meanwhile, at the very least the New York Times must publicly recognize its errors, and assign new, unbiased reporters to try to clean up its mess. 

Continue reading

[possiblyunhinged]

In the past year, especially with the recent elections across Europe and in the US, it’s become blazingly clear that regardless of your political leanings, everyone is fucking fed up to the nines. You can see it in our attitudes towards traditional media and government. Sure, we land on different conclusions about what might get us out of this mess, but the reality is—it’s not in our hands. It probably never has been.

The Luigi Mangione situation has truly blown my head off my shoulders—the sheer arrogance and disconnect from normal people that traditional media and government officials have shown. Take the Mayor of New York, for instance. Sweet Jesus. He’s like a character from a shit pantomime. Whether you’re on the left or the right, he’s the villain of the piece. People are done. And let’s be real, it’s only going to get worse—because I’m a positive princess like that.

Trump isn’t going to magically make prices drop; he’s literally said as much. I can’t fathom a single politician who could genuinely make a difference when the CEOs already hold all the power. Musk and his ilk were invited to the table long ago, and let’s not forget the donors—pouring huge amounts of money into all political parties. It’s a silent agreement: their influence comes first, their profits are prioritised, and the rest of us are left to scrape by.

What gets me is how people still talk about “the rich” like it’s actors and musicians pulling the strings. Sure, they’re rolling in it, and the entertainment industry has plenty of rot, but compared to the wealth of CEOs? Negligible. The real bastards are the ones we couldn’t even name. The ones cutting corners, exploiting workers, and choking the planet with plastic while pocketing the profits.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry puts on this Truman Show pantomime—a performance of accountability so we can cheer and boo. Every public takedown, every cancellation, every PR scandal—it’s all theatre designed to make us believe the system works. And while we’re caught up in the spectacle, what the fuck are the people at the top of the means of production doing? Bumping up their profit margins and giving themselves bonuses.

These people live without consequences. And when the internet (rightly or wrongfully) memed the murder of a CEO, they responded with Gotham-level theatrics to reassure their donors that they’ll always protect their own. They even tried to pin terrorism charges on a man whose frustrations most normal people can empathise with.

Why is it that those in power are never arsed about creating a spectacle of a CEO in handcuffs, dragged out for decades of exploitation? Because the system doesn’t just protect them—it is them.

At this point, the only thing these people are achieving is making everyone angrier. And the politicians we like? They’re the ones who seem to reflect the nonstop screaming going on in our heads. The incompetence, the lack of solutions, the sheer disregard for normal lives—it’s all making tensions worse. And it’s going to blow up in their faces. (Not literally—calm down, loves.)

I know I sound like David Icke, okay? But sincerely, I’m fed up and I would love nothing more than a shred of accountability for billionaires—and for politicians and journalists alike to do their fucking jobs.

It’s embarrassing.

[luminalunii97]

tw: suic*de, harassment

An iranian highschool student took her own life after receiving relentless harassment by the school staff over hijab dress code. School system in Iran is as awful as you can imagine. the harassment, the belittlings, the use of misogynistic language to keep girls in line, and the physical and verbal abuse. The principal and management staff in iranian schools are normally students' first bullies.

Things I've personally experienced at school, first hand (happened to me) or second hand (happened to my friends), are: getting slapped (x2), getting your hair pulled violently, getting your uniform ripped, getting suspended for three days because you dared to wear makeup/pluck your eyebrows/dye your hair, getting permanently expelled because you brought a cellphone to school (electronic devices are forbidden at school), getting called a wh*re by school principal because they found a love note from your boyfriend in your bag (the school has the right to check students belongings including looking into their bags and doing body checks to see if they have illegal things on them), and using fear inducing tactics to threaten you into following their backward rules (for example in my highschool they used to force us into watching "educational" videos about girls who got r*ped because they didn't have hijab and talked to boys, or video simulations of what hell looks like for women who don't wear hijab. In both instances, some of my classmates got so sick that they spent the rest of the hours crying, and one of my best friends literally threw up)

These are pretty common experiences for many iranian girls at school. Needless to say, many iranian teen girls hate school, have very low self esteem and a lot of mental health issues. Society is already pretty unsafe and hateful towards woman, school as an extention of the regime is the cherry on cake for us.

Of course the school experience is different from person to person based on the city/region/environment, but the difference is in the degree of how bad it was.

[Tweet made by Iranian journalist and human rights activist, Masih Alinejad, Nov 5, 2024:

Forced Hijab Claims Another Life: 16-Year-Old Arezoo Khavari Takes Her Life After School Harassment Over Dress Code Violations💔

A 16-year-old schoolgirl named #ArezooKhavari tragically took her own life by jumping from a building after being sent back from a school trip for violating the dress code by wearing jeans instead of the prescribed uniform.

Her grieving father revealed that this was not an isolated incident; Arezoo had faced repeated harassment from the school for her attire and her non-compliance with the mandatory hijab policy. Last year school almost refused to enroll her.

Following her death, her father lodged a formal complaint against the school authorities, accusing them of negligence and insensitivity, especially for their failure to offer any condolences or follow up after the incident.

A reliable source told me, that she was threatened with expulsion after the school’s vice principal handed over a video of her dancing without hijab to the principal for disciplinary action.

This case echoes a broader issue in Iran where in 2023, nearly 1,000 schoolgirls were victims of poisoning attacks, believed to be linked to the enforcement of discriminatory hijab laws in gender-segregated schools.

The responsibility for Arezoo’s death falls squarely on the shoulders of the Islamic Regime in Iran. /End of tweet]

#woman life freedom

[icedsodapop]

An American journalist from Arizona who attempted to self-immolate in Washington DC said he became overwhelmed by how the US media, and by extension himself, framed Israel's war on Gaza and the killings of innocent Palestinians.

Samuel Mena on Saturday attended a pro-Palestinian rally, where he gave a speech about objectivity and both-sideism and chided American newsrooms for their coverage of the war.

"It is we, the American journalists, through lazy negligence at best or through corporate influence at worst, created the environment, incubated, and carried to term the tools that the leaders of our government would use to dismantle the truths of the world in which we live," Mena said in his speech, which he posted online a day before Saturday's rally.

"To the 10 thousand children in Gaza that have lost a limb in this conflict, I give my left arm to you. I pray my voice was able to raise up yours, and that your smiles never disappear," Mena said before lighting his left arm on fire.

[herbgerblin]

gonna ramble about worldbuilding

:0 come play with me in this space

I've been refining old concept art of the city of my story, Spiro and Nova, (because it sits in my head always and never truly leaves.) The sunflower skyrise is a giant, flower-like skyscraper that is supposed to open and peel back to protect the city beneath it from frequent, violent storms. In the setting of the story, it has been fixed in its closed position for several years.

(I am driven a little insane by how rapidly our climate crisis has increased since 2018 when I first started thinking about this story.)

I am not a true crime girlie, but I am a horrible history girlie. I listen to a lot of construction tragedy stories and I feel angry because they're all caused by corporate greed and negligence. I also read a lot about architectural greenwashing, when a building is marketed as eco-friendly and has all the stylings of a solarpunk utopia, but is really environmentally hazardous and costly to maintain/destroy.

I'll be real, my inspirations for the city are Power Rangers RPM and Attack on Titan. As a kid, they made me ask a lot of questions about urban design: What happens when your livelihood is dependent on a single, declining structure? What happens when that structure fails to work as intended? Who is hurt by this? Who benefits?

I live in a major city that is actively destroying the very forest that it is iconic for. I've been writing about that a lot as a journalist this past year. That experience (and the pandemmy) has made this idea not yet story hit too close to home sometimes. But at the same time, that's why I don't want to let it go.

[xcziel]

hadn't seen this on here yet

South Korea Is Fighting for Democracy Again—And the World Needs to Know

by Heesoo Jang

Assistant Professor of Media Law and Ethics, Journalism Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst 

South Korea is once again at a critical juncture in its democratic history. More than a hundred thousand protesters, joined by over 4,000 professors and 1,466 Catholic priests announcing their declarations of the state of affairs, are calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s resignation. This echoes the massive movement that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in 2017 for corruption and abuse of power, showcasing South Koreans’ enduring commitment to holding leaders accountable.

What’s unfolding in South Korea is not just a domestic issue—it’s a reminder that democracies everywhere require constant vigilance. Yet, international media, like the BBC and AP News, have largely missed the bigger picture, focusing on soundbites and foreign policy instead of the underlying democratic struggles. This oversight leaves out important context for the global audience to understand the deeper context of widespread domestic dissatisfaction of the state of democracy in South Korea.

At the heart of the protests are allegations of corruption and abuse of power. President Yoon has exercised his veto power 25 times since 2023, blocking investigations into allegations against his wife, including claims of stock manipulation in Deutsch Motors. This is the most frequent use of veto power South Korea has seen since South Korea’s first president, Syngman Rhee, who faced impeachment in 1952 and eventually resigned in 1960 amid widespread public outrage over his authoritarian rule and attempts to consolidate power. 

These vetoes, alongside scandals like the “Myung Tae-Kyun Gate,” have eroded public trust in the administration. The gate alleges that political broker Myung Tae-Kyun, a close ally of Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, manipulated public opinion during the 2022 presidential election. Through his Future Korea Research Institute, Myung reportedly conducted biased polls favoring Yoon to influence election narratives. A leaked phone recording released by the opposition Democratic Party has further implicated Yoon in discussions about candidate nominations, fueling allegations of election interference.

Beyond these vetoes, Yoon’s administration has faced widespread criticism for systemic failures in governance, public safety, and economic management. The Itaewon tragedy, where 159 people lost their lives during a crowd crush, starkly exposed grave inadequacies in public safety protocols and emergency response systems. A special investigation on this tragedy was also a bill the President has vetoed. Similarly, the death of Private Chae during military service revealed systemic abuses and negligence within the military. Instead of enabling accountability, President Yoon has repeatedly vetoed special prosecutor bills aimed at investigating these military abuses. Public frustration has only grown as investigations into these tragedies have failed to hold senior officials accountable. Meanwhile, Yoon’s administration has also faced allegations of undermining press freedom by targeting journalists and media outlets critical of the government. 

Adding to these failures is a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, where prolonged medical staff shortages, exacerbated by budget cuts, have caused long-term disruptions in patient care. Instead of addressing these structural issues, the government has opted for a hasty increase in medical school quotas—a move experts warn will only further destabilize the system. Yoon’s economic policies have similarly drawn heavy criticism for favoring the wealthy with tax cuts while reducing public welfare budgets, deepening inequality between South Korea’s elites and its struggling middle and working classes. Rising household debt and record-breaking small business closures have fueled calls for reform, yet the administration’s inaction has only alienated the public further. Compounding these grievances, a 15% cut to South Korea’s research and development (R&D) budget has alarmed academics and scientists, who warn that this decision jeopardizes the nation’s innovation-driven economy and long-term global competitiveness—a concern echoed by prominent universities like Yonsei and Ewha Womans University, which cite these cuts as emblematic of broader governance failures.

Despite the scale of unrest, international media have failed to convey the full significance of this crisis. Instead of contextualizing public discontent and the erosion of democratic norms, they have focused on peripheral issues, ignoring the protests’ broader implications for democracy. This has also allowed misinformation to muddy the narrative internationally, preventing the international public from gaining important contextual information about what’s happening in South Korea. For example, posts on Chinese social media have falsely portrayed the protests as anti-war rallies rather than demands for accountability and reform. 

South Korea’s struggle is a powerful reminder that democracy is not self-sustaining—it requires active vigilance. The protests and demands for reform exemplify how civil society can confront governance failures. The world deserves more context and a nuanced understanding from international journalism about what South Korean democracy is facing, as its fight for justice, transparency, and the rule of law holds lessons for all democracies.

[darkeagleruins]

ELECTION INTERFERENCE: The recent 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris exemplifies election interference dressed up as journalistic production. CBS didn't just break the rules of responsible journalism—they obliterated them—by creating two different versions of some interview clips. The initial teaser showed Harris in a light that sparked backlash, but instead of responding transparently, CBS aired an altered version for the full episode. This isn’t mere negligence; it's an orchestrated attempt to manipulate the candidate's image for public consumption in the run-up to the election.

This is no minor lapse in journalistic integrity; it is calculated deception. By deploying different versions of Harris's responses, CBS reshaped the narrative to protect her, thus undermining the audience's ability to judge her candidacy accurately. The American people deserve an immediate apology, a release of the unedited interview, and a thorough explanation. Wendy McMahon and Shari Redstone must address this flagrant breach. Anything less reveals the manipulation was not an accident but a deliberate act to influence voters under the guise of unbiased journalism.

[fansplaining]

Today we're thrilled to publish our newest article, by longtime pop culture journalist (and even longertime fan) Kayti Burt. On the especially precarious position of fan-journalists in an already precarious industry:

To be in entertainment reporting and cultural criticism today means to constantly be fighting to do a good job in an industry that feels increasingly designed to chisel away at the dignity of the work and profession. Most days, aspiring to a higher quality of writing feels less like a fight against intentional industry bias—as fans may assume is the case—than it does a fight against the negligence that comes from ongoing institutional decay. 

And speaking of paying journalists, we were only able to commission this article because of our patrons! If you'd like to see more in-depth fandom journalism out in the world (especially as Fansplaining transitions into a written-only publication), please consider donating.

[its-zaina]

Walid Daqqa, his daughter Milad, and Israel!

Today, Walid Daqqa was freed from his prison..

And today Walid Daqqa was freed from his illness, thus becoming the martyr Walid Daqqa. The sixty-year-old spent many years in prison, with cancer, under an Israeli policy that intensified on his thin body called “medical negligence.”

This little girl is his daughter, Milad. Her full name is Milad Walid Daqqa, which translates into English as (The birth of Walid Daqqa). He wanted this name to be his new birth into this life, he felt that he was brought back to life with her birth.

..

21 years after Walid’s marriage to journalist Sanaa, Ms. Sanaa was able to give birth to their child, Milad, using smuggled sperm, ( the prisoner Walid was subjected to isolation after exercising his right to paternity).

The child Milad didn't know her father except as a prisoner in the Israeli prisons...

..

Israel killed the father of Milad, a prisoner suffering from cancer, after he had spent 38 years in Israeli prisons, and after depriving him of his right to treatment, and after increasing his imprisonment for an additional two years, and after it hurt the hearts of his family, Milad and Sana.

..

Walid, Sanaa, and Milad is a Palestinian family from thousands of families separated by the Israeli occupation.. Milad is a Palestinian child from thousands of children whose tears were caused by Israel.

|

[starrykatamari]

Saw Lore Contained Within SAW II: Flesh & Blood

Hello again!! I'm still Kris, and today I'm going to be showing you all the lore bits you can find through collecting case files and audio logs in the second third-person action game that was made for the Saw franchise. Once again I will only briefly be touching on the plot of the game itself since it only serves as a sequel to the gap-filling narrative of its predecessor.

Long post incoming, but if you're interested, let's begin! I wanna play (another) game...

TW: Sui mentions, SH mentions, canon-typical violence mentions and imagery, drug use mentions-- it's a Saw media, please be careful I love you.

Disclaimer: I will not be covering any material that is not directly relevant to the movie franchise this game is based on. If it’s in the game and you don’t see it here, it’s skippable, I promise. This post will also have less trap and film references simply due to the fact that they are mostly just repeats of the first game’s.

The plot to this game revolves around Michael Tapp, David Tapp’s son. He is a journalist, and the person who leaked David’s police negligence on the Jigsaw Killer case to the press. He is kidnapped, put into one of the Jigsaw Killer’s games, and pitted against those David Tapp arrested during his career. He must also save certain individuals while navigating the maze of traps and tests. This game is a direct continuation of the ending to the first game in which David Tapp takes his own life in his apartment. Again, this is a gap-filler of a story, we’re here mostly to talk about the references to the movie and the lore the case files give to us. Let’s begin!

Case File: The Right Choice

A memo apparently written by Detective David Tapp, in reference to the events of Saw (2004). For reference, most of these case files are written by David Tapp– but I’ll keep writing that in so that it continues to be easy to follow.

“I met the Jigsaw Killer, and I let him escape. His price was too high. And I was too weak.

Jigsaw was holding Gordon’s family hostage at gunpoint. Shots were fired, and I ran over to respond. If I hadn’t been in the next building…I don’t know what would’ve happened. We had a shootout in Gordon’s apartment, then Jigsaw escaped and I gave chase.

Jigsaw was a short man with brown hair, large blue eyes. I gave a render to the officer that found me after I was released from that hellhole, Whitehurst. Jigsaw trapped me there…he did…horrible things. In the end, he made me choose; give up chasing him so that others may live, or continue pursuit and watch them die. I gave up the chase. 

I don’t know if I made the right choice.”

The Whitehurst in question refers to the asylum the first game took place in, in case that wasn’t clear.

Case File: Team Members: Kerry

A memo written by David Tapp about Kerry.

“Allison Kerry - I’ve heard stories about how she screwed her way to a detective shield, but that is most likely gossip. Gorgeous, though. She seems sharp enough, maybe a little too flirty with the other detectives. Her file says she’s applied to FBI a couple times, but they haven’t gotten back to her. May need to watch her as a potential leak.”

Case File: Team Members: Sing

A memo written by David Tapp about Sing.

“Steven Sing - I’ve worked with Sing before on the Bilson murders, and he’s the best cop I know. He knows the job, never quits, and has unerring focus. If there’s anything I would say I don’t like about him, it’s that he tends to drink more than most. Doesn’t seem to affect his judgment though. Looking forward to working with him.”

Case File: Team Members: Hoffman

A memo written by David Tapp about Hoffman.

“Mark Hoffman - This guy is pretty quiet, sort of an introvert. Good for unpaid overtime hours, willing to do the busy work. May want to keep him out of the field though; he’s a straight arrow, and won’t be willing to bend the rules.”

Audio Tape: Assignment

Voice of David Tapp about the murder of Cecil Adams and the beginning of the Jigsaw Killer case.

“Chief Jacobs put me on a murder today that I just can’t seem to wrap my head around. I’m hoping that keeping track of the case using this journal will help organize my thoughts, keep me sharp. I’ve worked plenty of murders before, but this one is different.

Victim is Cecil Adams, a typical drug addict asshole by all accounts. He was found tangled up in razor wire, cause of death is exsanguination (AN: blood loss). The murder weapon was a frame to which the razor wire was wound, and it looks like he was thrown into the tangle of razor wire. The more he struggled, the more the wire constricted and cut him. I would most likely conclude this was some sick gang violence, if it wasn’t for two outlying variables.

First, the victim had eight straight incisions on his face, atypical of injuries sustained by razor wire. They are clean blade wounds, but all eight are perfectly parallel across the face. This leads me to believe that the wounds were industrial by nature, which doesn’t fit any gang modus operandi I’ve ever seen.

Second, the victim had a piece of flesh missing from his upper left shoulder. Since the body was in such bad shape, we missed it on initial examination. The missing flesh was cut out in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle piece.”

Case File: Paul Leahy

A memo written by David Tapp about the murder of Paul Leahy.

“Another victim, this one named Paul Leahy. Jigsaw left behind a tape, some bullshit about how Leahy cut himself and how he has to cut himself to escape the razor wire cage. Looks like Leahy didn’t have much choice in the matter; none of us could see a clear way through the wire.

The killing cage looks very similar to what killed Cecil Adams - I’m having Hoffman check into what kind of razor wire they both used.”

Case File: Amanda Young

A memo written by David Tapp about Amanda Young and her test

“Someone survived one of Jigsaw’s sick games. Her name is Amanda Young, a junkie. No known address or family. She’s still recovering from shock, but what she has given us is substantial. Everything about this one was different.

Jigsaw’s usual audio tape was replaced by a videotape. He is speaking through a carved wooden puppet that we later found sitting on a toy tricycle within the crime scene. Sing thinks the reason he used a video and puppet this time was to show off what would happen to Amanda if she didn’t unlock her device in time.

By Young’s account, her ‘test’ involved the murder of a man named Donald Greco. She stated that she had to cut open Greco’s abdomen to find a key hidden somewhere in his small intestine. No body was found, but Greco was identified by blood evidence found at the crime scene. Frankly, Young is covered either way with a duress defense - her life was definitely in danger.”

Trap Reference: Razor Box

A clear reference to the same trap from Saw II! Only this time the victim has to turn cubes to arrange numbers into a code (given by Michael from another room).

Audio Tape: Reverse Bear Trap

Voice of David Tapp about the device used to test Amanda.

“The Jigsaw device unlocked by Amanda Young is different from his other killings. This device, what he describes as a ‘Reverse Bear Trap’, is mechanically more complex than what we’ve seen so far. The design is elegant. There’s no other word for it. Elegant. It’s a hinged retractor, spring-loaded with enough force to wrench open the victim’s jaw well past the tearing point. I’ve studied it so much by this point I wouldn’t even need the key to release it.”

Case File: Seth Baxter

A memo written by David Tapp about Seth Baxter’s murder.

“I.D. came back on a victim, name is Seth Baxter. He was identified on the spot, in fact. Every cop in the department knew this scumbag - he killed Hoffman’s sister, got away with 5 years on a technicality. Looks like Jigsaw did us a favor for once.

Jigsaw’s devices are getting bigger, more technical. He built a giant pendulum this time, the blade of which slashed open Baxter’s gut. His hands were also crushed in what looks like two mechanical vices. I’m not sure how this one is supposed to work yet.

Hoffman isn’t taking the news well, and I guess I can understand why. He asked to avoid the crime scene, so I put him out to knock on doors.”

Quick aside here to note that I do like the choice of having Hoffman avoid the scene entirely rather than coming right face to face with it the way he does with Fisk in Saw V. It just makes more sense from a character standpoint. Although I do understand to a point that he’d want control over the scene.

Case File: Interrogation

A memo written by David Tapp about his and Detective Sing’s interrogation of Lawrence.

“Sing and I interrogated Gordon earlier this afternoon. Guy is definitely missing some bolts - I have pretty good instincts for these things. I brought in Amanda Young to recount her story in front of him, behind the two-way of course. Told Sing to observe him, see if there was any recognition, guilt, anything that would give him away. Sing said he seemed genuinely horrified, but I’m not so sure. He’s hiding something from us.

Could be his alibi, one of his students named Carla Song. She said Gordon was helping her setting IVs on patients for her rounds on the night in question. It’s not too crazy to think the family man is stepping outside his marriage with a student, is it?”

Case File: Following Amanda

A memo written by David Tapp about sending Hoffman to tail Amanda for information.

“I had Detective Hoffman follow Amanda Young home after she was released this morning. Station doc said she’s good to go, just a little shaken up. The DA isn’t going to press charges for the whole disemboweling element. She’s been through enough.

Hoffman’s report is pretty uneventful. Young got cleaned up at her shithole apartment, went down to the international District and looked like she was trying to score some drugs from a blonde with tattoos. The blonde in question happens to be an informant named Sarah Blalock, so she was very co-operative.”

Audio Tape: Dr. Lawrence Gordon

Voice of David Tapp about Lawrence’s penlight being found at a Jigsaw scene.

“Positive ID on the fingerprints came back as Dr. Lawrence Gordon. He’s an Oncologist, a cancer surgeon. He was in the system because of some trouble when he was 19; apparently he had a breakdown, had to be institutionalized for 6 months. His medical file is…chilling. White male, mid-to late thirties, obsession with human biology - checks all the boxes for a typical serial killer profile.

We’ve got a work address - I’m waiting on Sing to get back from Forensics and we’re going to pick him up for questioning.”

Again, worth mentioning here since I got an ask about Lawrence being the potential patient in the two redacted case files from the first game– Lawrence is canonically forty-six during the events of Saw (2004). I have no idea why they fudged this to mid-late thirties…it looks like they are either possibly trying to have us believe those medical files were for Lawrence when they were so clearly describing John, or moved his age back to fit the serial killer profile better (which does exist and is as Tapp described). Now, I am aware of the overlap in their general philosophy– it’s what makes Lawrence such a good and loyal apprentice– but some of the things in those files don’t describe what we see Gordon act like in Saw (2004). Just some food for thought. It could all be the writers on this game being devil-may-care about ages. 

Bonus point that my husband put forth as I was writing this: why the hell would they redact Lawrence’s name on medical files? It’s gotta be John since Tapp’s game in the first entry to this videogame series revolved around his obsession with finding out who Jigsaw is. Anyway…

Case File: Jill Tuck

A memo written by David Tapp about Jill Tuck and her involvement with the case after reading Cecil’s journal (which detailed the events that lead to her losing Gideon).

“Finding the woman mentioned in Cecil Adams’ journal was fairly easy. What he did to her, to her unborn child…what a monster. There were only six reported assaults on females that night, and only one at a Free Clinic.

Suspect’s name is Dr. Jill Tuck. No spouse listed. Cursory search shows heavy community involvement, not surprising since she works at a Free Clinic. Revenge for the death of her unborn son is a possibility, but I don’t see her stalking Cecil for any length of time. Maybe look to a boyfriend or family member.

The ‘pig mask’ element mentioned by Cecil is also interesting. Celebrations for the Year of the Pig are going on in the International District. Pig mask used for camouflage, maybe? Or is there something more significant behind it?”

Case File: Gordon Surveillance

A memo written by David Tapp about sending Kerry to tail Lawrence.

“I put Detective Kerry on Gordon duty. Her reports have been pretty standard up to now - man works long hours, goes home to have a late dinner with his family, sleeps, and repeats. But there was an anomaly last night. He spent 30 minutes in his car with Carla Song. Nothing sexual, but definitely outside a healthy teacher-student relationship.

If Gordon is manipulating Carla Song, his alibi is no longer reliable. Gordon is back on the table as our chief suspect.”

Audio Tape: Jennings

Voice of David Tapp, about trying to get information on the case after he was officially taken off (due to his negligence causing Sing’s death in Saw (2004)).

“I got Jennings in a corner, tried to get some details on the case. Gotta give the guy credit, he stalled until Kerry turned me around and told me to back off. She basically cut my balls off, screaming at me about how I just need to let it go and that she’s the lead Detective now.

She’s young, she doesn’t understand. She can’t. I will never stop for what that bastard did to Sing.”

Case File: Hiring Adam

A memo written by David Tapp about hiring Adam to take pictures of Lawrence.

“I followed Dr. Gordon from his office last night, but he spotted me before he got where he was going. He knows my car, my face…I’m going to need outside help on this one. Bernie at the station mentioned a guy he used to catch his wife cheating on him…Adam something. I’ll give him a call.”

And honestly that’s all folks! This game is worse in quality than the first, but I really do recommend watching a no-commentary longplay of it just to have the experience. It’s pretty funny at the very least.

Just like before, if you have any questions or anything funny to share in reference to this game, PLEASE don't hesitate to send me an ask! I'm basically a font of knowledge about these two spinoff games. :)

Be kind to yourselves and remember to cherish your life (YOUR LIFE)!! Oh and happy pride!! Bye!!

[mariacallous]

A Bulgarian woman boxer’s defeat at the Olympics has inflamed ongoing disputes about gender identity issues, triggering discriminatory rhetoric from politicians and media misinformation.

Controversy over an old source of discord has erupted again in Bulgaria after Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan defeated Bulgarian woman boxer Svetlana Kamenova Staneva at the Olympics featherweight quarter-final in Paris at the weekend.

Media commentators and politicians have spread ill-informed stereotypes and encouraged discriminatory rhetoric, according to media experts.

There had already been controversy internationally over the inclusion in the Paris Olympics of Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif of Algeria, who had previously been disqualified by another sporting body, the International Boxing Association, from 2023’s boxing World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests. 

The International Olympic Committee, however, questioned the reliability of these tests.

During Sunday’s bout, Kamenova raised the gender question openly by forming the letter “X” with her hands, symbolising female XX chromosomes, while her coach, Borislav Georgiev, held up a banner with the slogan: “Save Woman Sports” (sic). He later claimed that the Bulgarian fighter “was robbed” and referred disparagingly to Lin Yu-ting as “a creature”.

After the fight, Bulgarian President President Rumen Radev joined the fray, saying that Kamenova Staneva “found bravery in fighting not only for victory in what people considered a lost game but also standing up for normalcy”. 

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee criticised the decision to allow Yu-ting and Khelif to participate at the tournament. 

News media and major TV channels – including some credible outlets – also piled in, referring to Yu-ting and Khelif as “transsexuals” and as “intersex” persons, even though they were born female. The controversy even briefly overshadowed Bulgaria’s long-running governance crisis and the difficulties in combatting wildfires across the country.

Many local media outlets cited a statement supportive of Kamenova issued by a Bulgarian organisation reportedly calling itself the Network for Protecting Women’s Rights. 

However, no source for the statement could be traced and the organisation has no online presence. 

The coverage of the dispute prompted the Association for European Journalists – Bulgaria to accuse the country’s media of “negligent” behaviour.

“Under-researched and stereotypical coverage of such topics not only fuels homophobia and misogyny; it may serve external interests to destabilise democracy but could also have a severe impact on the mental state of various groups and individuals. Unfortunately, even respectable outlets were repeatedly negligent in covering the matter,” it said in a statement.

‘Complete disregard for the facts’

The bout in Paris has only highlighted deeper problems with gender issues in Bulgaria, journalist Peter Georgiev of sports podcast Victoria told BIRN.

“For years, Bulgarian society has been extremely sensitive to sex and gender issues, but opinions are often ill-informed. In the case of Khelif and Yu-ting, a number of coaches, politicians and even professional sports commentators reacted emotionally to Kamenova’s loss, showing little understanding of terms such as transgender and intersex,” Georgiev told BIRN. 

“Their complete disregard for the facts and public outrage amplified misinformation and fuelled a wave of unjustified hatred,” he added.

Georgiev sees the case as representative of a wider failure by the media and society to properly tackle gender issues: “This is especially disappointing because it shifts the attention away from the very real debate about fairness in sports,” he said.

He noted that the dispute between the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association also caused problems for the boxers themselves.

“The fight between the IOC and international bodies governing boxing illustrates how much athletes suffer, physically and mentally, when there’s no consensus on the eligibility criteria,” Georgiev said.

The IBA’s president, Umar Kremlev, a Russian sports businessman and well-known ally of Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly asserted that the association’s test revealed that the boxers had XY chromosomes, giving them a testosterone advantage over other women fighters. The IOC has contested this, saying the testing was “so flawed that it’s impossible to engage with it”.

Politicians play on gender anxieties

In Bulgaria, the issue of gender has often been used and misused for political purposes. 

Since 2017, the so-called Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, has often been interpreted, especially by conservative and anti-Western voices, as promoting LGBTQ+ rights and as focusing on a definition of gender as a social construct rather than a biologically determined factor. 

This has been a main talking point for two of Bulgaria’s pro-Russian parties, the far-right Revival and the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, which in 2023 called for a “referendum on gender ideology”. 

Arguments that liberal reforms might undermine Bulgaria’s “traditional values” and promote the rights of sexual or gender minorities were used against the passage of amendments to the Law on Domestic Violence.

In the last few years, controversial court rulings have limited the rights of transgender people in Bulgaria.

Politicians are using the latest boxing controversy as fuel for their populist rhetoric. Centre-right GERB party member and former Sports Minister Krassen Kralev wrote on his personal social media accounts, before the match started, that it was “the most shameful page in the history of the IOC”.

After the match, Kralev criticised the “pink-liberal sect in Bulgaria” for defending the Taiwanese contestant and congratulated Kamenova Staneva for standing against “that thing from Taipei” and calling the match “fixed”. 

There has been no indication that Kralev might face legal action for hate speech. Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Olympic Committee has not challenged the outcome of Sunday’s match.

[sheisaquarius-blog]

Hi regarding your last ask idk if you're accepting ian day prompts as early as now but feel free to ignore this if you aren't yet lol sorry but I wanted to share a prompt that idk if it fits your style so feel free to ignore this if not. No worries and no pressure this is just my random ianthony brainrots lol. anyway prompt is superhero!anthony + reporter/journalist!ian. He finds out identity while being saved. childhood bestfriends. has a crush on anthony's hero persona. You can add your own personal details as well as I love your ideas lol sorry if this is also cliche but sometimes we just need a good cliche. Anyway thank you absolutely love your writing

this is SO nice of you!! this is such a good fit for my style, i had a blast. there's probably a really serious, gritty, angsty version of this prompt that would be a lot of fun to write, too, but i love a joke. i'm also a comic book nerd in recovery, so deciding that all superheroes exist in the same world for this one was fun! plus, i got to stuff it full of smosh references too. i had to hold myself back, i could have done a LOT more.

“Only in Bit City,” Ian grumbles to himself while he ducks under a marble counter. He flinches as a few bullets glance off, shedding debris onto the bank floor. Ian reaches a hand inside his messenger bag and presses record on his tape recorder. Old fashioned, yes, but criminals only ever ask for phones and watches nowadays. Ian’s never lost a story since he started carrying this thing around.

“Bit City Bank, November 30th, 3:39 pm,” he mutters as quietly and clearly as he can. “The Woke Mob are holing up the teller window. Shots fired, but no one harmed. They just kinda randomly pull their guns out and shoot all over the place.” Perhaps that last piece is a little editorial, but he’s allowed a little personal flavor when he could potentially die from sheer trigger-happy negligence.

Ian peeks around the corner, only to quickly duck back when his absolute least favorite police sergeant and his stupid mustache come barreling in, shooting even more wildly than the Woke Mob goons.

“Alriiiiiiight!” Anous shouts, and Ian is already over it. He crawls around the table and starts helping a young couple towards the door as Anous and his troupe make for a standoff with the goons. It doesn’t stay a standoff for long, though. The moment Ian dives back under the table to try and usher a few other hostages towards the door, all hell breaks loose. Bullets fly everywhere, and Ian just braces in front of a young girl with long blonde hair and a bank lollipop in her hand, distraught. She looks right out of an LA influencer’s vision board, so he assumes she isn’t from around here. “It’s okay,” he says as evenly as he can. “It’s gonna be okay. I’ve lived here my whole life. There’s always a hero,” he reassures her.

Like on cue, he hears one of the gangsters in a put upon accent shout. “Hey! You! Get outta da rafters and fight like a man!”

“You can’t say that!”

“Oh, shit, you’re right. Come down and fight like a person, however you identify!”

Ian glances over his shoulder and he sees a graceful figure in black drop down to the ground like liquid shadow, then darting around.

Great. It’s the new guy. Ian had been hoping for someone with a little more experience, a little more know-how, but a hero’s a hero, he supposes. At least it’s not the fourteen year old with the katana.

This is the moment, and Ian decides to take the chance. “C’mon,” he says, picking her up and pulling her towards the entrance. It isn’t a long way, and the dark figure seems to be managing alright, taking out a goon or two at a time.

Ian pushes the girl out of the door, just in time to feel a piercing pain right through his shoulder. “Oh, fuck,” he mumbles to himself just before he collapses to the floor.

He wasn’t exactly looking forward to getting shot today. Almost seven years he’s been a reporter, and of course today’s the day he gets shot. On his fucking birthday.

God damn it.

He falls to the floor in a heap, his right-hand clapping over his insistently bleeding shoulder and gritting his teeth. He can vaguely hear commotion behind him, but it’s drowned out by the ringing in his ears. If he bleeds out and the last thing he can hear is Sergeant Anous shouting at the top of his lungs, he’s gonna be pissed.

He isn’t sure how long it takes, but it feels like a while before a man in black with a domino mask is hovering over him. “Oh, shit.”

“Yup,” Ian agrees without unclenching his jaw. “Uh. Would love some medical attention, if you’ve got a sec.”

“Is everyone out?” “I don’t know! Isn’t that your job?” Ian squeezes his eyes closed.

“I’m new at this!”

Ian breathes deeply in and out through his nose. He peeks an eye open, sweeps the whole place, and it sure does seem like the only people left are the police and the Woke Mob. “Looks clear,” he mumbles.

“Okay, hang on.”

His tape recorder better be okay, Ian thinks as the hero scoops him up and he promptly blacks out. ***

“So,” Ian says, tilting his head to the side as he looks down the alleyway. His shoulder still aches, but if he digs his hands in his pockets, the hunching looks intentional. At the other end of the alley, the figure freezes. “Thanks for bandaging me up. I still need to lodge a complaint with BCPD, since it was an officer who shot me, but I have a few other things to square away first.”

It’s been almost a week and Ian has been going back and forth over what he should do. Turns out, his tape recorder had been fine, and it had caught a little more than he had bargained for, such as his lifelong best friend and crush begging for Ian to “stay with him,” and Ian knows what his name sounds like coming out of Anthony’s mouth.

“What do you need my help with?” Anthony asks.

“I was wondering if you could maybe hang Sergeant Anous up in a web by his ankles. Maybe in just his boxers, if we’re feeling really creative.”

“What? No, I can’t—”

“I know,” Ian says, holding a hand up to cut him off. “I know, that’s the other guy. I was kidding. Bummer, though,” he says, walking slowly towards Anthony, and now he can see it. He can see his very particular build, his careful control, the way he glances around even in that domino mask—it’s pure Anthony.

Some reporter he is.

“Would have been kind of fun to do the upside-down kiss. Oh well. I was wondering if I could get a quote from you. On record.”

“Uh, don’t rob banks?” Ian can see the tension in Anthony’s shoulders as he backs up to the wall behind him, but still, Ian presses forward. He’s going to start skittering if Ian doesn’t stop.

“Fair,” Ian says. “Now, anything you want to say, off the record?”

“Uh… No? Not particularly?” “How about ‘oh, glad you didn’t die, sorry I haven’t been by this week,’” he offers.

“I don’t—I wouldn’t—I mean. Sorry, Ian, I don’t really checkup once I do the hero thing.”

Ian lifts an eyebrow, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Caught in his own web. Shakespeare couldn’t write it better. Lois Lane… Now she’s a talent. Ian needs to call her this week because damn does he have a Bit City hero scoop. Off the record, of course.

“I don’t think I introduced myself when I was bleeding out.”

Anthony looks petrified, Ian can see it behind the mask. “You didn’t,” Anthony agrees, stalling for time. “But, your ID…”

“Was in my bag. Along with the running tape recorder, and I know you know how those things work because you sold it to me after I complained that robbers always take my phones, you little tech geek.” Ian steps forward and lifts his hands to the corners of the mask. He starts pulling the black fabric away, slow enough that Anthony could run if he wants to.

He stays still. Very tense, but still.

Brown eyes Ian would know in pitch black darkness stare at him as he lowers the mask.

“Hey, Anthony.”

“Hey, Ian.”

“Fight any bad guys today?”

“Uh, nope. Just feeding the detective agency a little intel. There was a food crime down on 69th street last night, thought Detective Miller should know.”

“Nice.”

“Detective Coffee chased me out though. Christ still doesn’t like me, but I’m her Creekside Killer contact.”

“Uh huh.”

“Um. Are you mad at me?”

“A little.”

“I think I can still give that upside down kiss thing a shot. Would that help?”

Ian considers a moment, looking up at Anthony. “What the hell, I already got shot. It’ll give me something to brag about when Peter Parker starts dropping Spider-man pics later this week.”

“That’s not—”

“I know,” Ian says, shaking his head. “You’re the other guy.”