#people admonish the us for these issues and then laugh at the victims

[empress-hancock]

Those other countries around the world find male violence funny. They say "we're not laughing w you ppl we are laughing at you", they find women and children experiencing male violence funny, that's why they joke about it.

The fact that so many mass shootings in the US are based on misogyny (boy is rejected, man wants control over ex wife, man is angry at women in general for not dating him, etc) is something that even people in the US aren’t well aware of, so I think it’s possible that a lot of people outside the US aren’t aware either, but I’m sure plenty of people (men) would find a sick amusement in it if they did know, and possibly even start bringing up the fact that women and girls end up bearing the brunt of the issue.

Aside from women and girls, though, other common causes for mass shootings are racism, prejudice against other religions, and homophobia. But sooooooo many people want to pretend it’s just particularly disturbed men who can’t control themselves and they refuse to acknowledge that a lot of mass shootings are targeted and deliberate

[unacknowledgeable]

Continued: Serial killer reader x yan!batfam

.........Ooooookay, I guess yall really liked my serial killer!reader? I guess I'm honor bound to continue??? Oh noooo, the horrorrrr. But seriously, I'm glad! Because it only gets worse from here! >:}

Anyway, this was really difficult to write because I literally could not find good starting and stopping points, I tried to make my thoughts flow into each other as seamlessly as possible but there's SO MUCH I wanna write for this, it’s eating me alive, (also like, feel free to send asks bc I get sidetracked a lot in my writing and looove just answering questions as jumping off points, so please gimme gimme)

That being said, enjoy!

WARNING for disturbing imagery, untreated mental illness and trauma, blood, and depictions of murder (seriously)

So obviously, this M/c is a serial killer, so how do they go about keeping this hidden while simultaneously living with the world's greatest detectives?

Simple, ya don't.

Okay so that's not completely true. Compared to the average criminal, you put in a lot of effort to not get caught, but the average criminal doesn’t live with THE Batman either

Compared to the rest of your family though? You basically put in the bare minimum required to hide your… unsavory activities

Of course, you'll wash your blood soaked clothes yourself, in the lesser used washrooms of the manor, but once in a blue moon, when you’re too tired to care or your catch of the night put up a greater fight then anticipated, you'll throw your tainted clothes in with the rest of the families

And they just… don't fucking notice.

Or when they do, they just assume that one of the others had an unfortunate run in with some criminal while in civvies 

You've overheard many admonishments from Dick or Alfred over the years, telling Tim or Jason to “Please stop putting bloody clothes in with the whites, there's a basket for them two feet away!”

It was always pretty hard trying to keep a straight face when hearing those scoldings, but you always did, you didn't want Damian demanding to know what was so funny and dampening your mood

Or Cass giving you one of her calculated looks and suddenly getting nosy, that would make losing your clothes to Tim’s closet a lot less worth the laugh.

It’s just that, this assumption is waaaaay more plausible then say, the serial killer they've been tracking relentlessly for literal years, is just…tossing their VERY incriminating evidence in with the family's laundry, then passing out on some couch in one of the many sitting rooms of the manor, while the family goes out and discovers their latest victim

It's just easier to assume it was one of the others, Dick would never connect you, of all people, to the gore tossed haphazardly in the hamper, it's way more likely to be one of the many crime fighters of the family, not the soft spoken hermit of the manor, and even if that was a possibility in his mind, you don't even have a scratch on you

Not that he’s ever bothered to check you for injuries before, like he does almost religiously for the others

And Alfred? Well he's of the belief you'd grown out of your… tendencies, that it was a one time thing. Despite his reputation as an omnipotent presence in the manor, he never did realize just how deep your mental issues ran. Not until it was far too late.

You don't even have a specific weapon either, half of the time you'll just take one of Alfred's steak knives and hit the lower levels of Gotham, wandering around the decrepit streets till you found someone suitable 

Other times, when you’re in an exceptionally bad mood, be it because Damian said something particularly venomous or Alfred missing an important event for you because something came up with one of your siblings, or even when your classmates decided it would be funny to key your car-

Or it's just one of those days

Those days when the abstract voices simmer louder in the back of your mind, pushing and nagging. Images that you desperately want to forget but can't help the need to recreate. All threatening to boil over until you either crumble into a sobbing heep on the floor or go out and do the one thing that has always been able to shut. them. up.

Those days you’re… forgetful

On those days, you forget to grab one of Alfred’s pristine knives, but that's fine, Gothams streets are littered with dangerous items, so there's no shortage of tools at your disposal. You're creative, resourceful, you can use whatever's on hand at the time, whatever's in reach.

But if there's nothing? No sharp objects, no discarded bricks or loose pipes or even a half empty beer bottle, well… you're no stranger getting your hands dirty

Those times however, are pretty hazy in the aftermath.

You’ll forget certain details, like how they gripped your arms in a vain attempt to draw your own blood as you drew theirs, in the event that if they dont get away, at least you'd be caught, (all it leaves are dark, tender bruises along your arms, that you'll spend weeks poking and prodding at, in the hopes of reliving that moment)

Or how they'd flail their legs, inches from the ground, trying to kick your legs out from beneath you (it was kinda cute, how much shorter they were then you, how little their attempts to free themselves did when it mattered the most)

Even their last, warbling pleas for mercy were lost to you. You know they said something, could vaguely recall that they spoke, too absorbed in watching their bloody lips turn blue as the oxygen in their body slowly ran out (No no please please…My girls are waiting)

No, no you don't remember much but what you do remember, what you always, always remember, are the eyes 

You remember the tears, the fear, the acceptance, the rage, the refusal, the disbelief, the confusion, the indignation, and most of all the recognition. 

Whether it be them recognizing just who you are or realizing that this is who will end their life, you don't know, you’ve never bothered to ask. 

You prefer to think it’s the latter, it's hard to explain, but it makes you feel so so important

When it’s over, and the adrenaline in your veins soften, your breathing calmer, the blood rushing through your ears no longer so deafening, and you can feel the pleasing ache in your limbs, you sit, and asses the damage, as you always do

You always make sure to grab their wallet, take out the ID and memorize it, before gingerly putting it back, and finally walking away, head clear and numb in the cold Gotham air

There's no real reason why, its mostly force of habit at this point, it started with your very first kill, you don't feel like breaking the little ritual now, or anytime soon

It just feels wrong, to take a life and not even know whose life it is...was.

Later, long past any reasonable hour, you lay in bed, fresh out of the shower and thumbing the bruises, listening to the voices over the family's communicators (you stole one of Dicks, he has a nasty habit of leaving them around the manor) as they patrol the Gotham streets for crime and mayhem

You honestly can't help the small smile that graces your face, falling into sleep, as you hear the quiet, defeated sigh over the highly protected com link, “B, I've found another one, it's…it’s pretty rough tonight”

The pause is long before a small, gruff, “I have your location, ETA in 10 minutes”

You slept pretty good that night

Damn, sometimes the shit I come up with scares even me, again, feel free to send asks (shh I'm not begging), the brain worms are always hungry and I have sooooo many thoughts about this thing. lol 

Hope you enjoyed!

[mobius-prime]

175. Sonic the Hedgehog #107

Crouching Hedgehog, Hidden Dragon (臣人豪猪臧龍) (Part Two)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Yes, those are the same Chinese characters as last time. I was kind of hoping they would have used different ones so we could have a second nonsense phrase to laugh over, but alas. The morning after the dragon's attack, Sonic and Tails are playing video games when they're called to a morning meeting with Station Square's president. Once in the meeting, the president begins to explain his strategy for taking on the dragon, but Sonic is less than interested.

Sonic suddenly realizes he recognizes the team as the one that captured him at the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2, and promptly bursts into hysterical laughter, remembering how easily he disarmed them last time. Sally is quick to salvage the situation by claiming that it's Mobian tradition to laugh at their allies as a show of respect, and a confused president and annoyed Paladin Team look on as every Mobian at the table howls with laughter to keep up the ruse. Sonic, however, is not pleased with the tough-guy, humorless attitude that every member of the team exudes, and Sally, Rotor, and Antoine stay behind in the city as Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie airdrop in with the team to Pyro Island, where the dragon is believed to be hiding out. The Mobians are cheery, singing and chatting with one another, but the leader of Paladin Team admonishes them for not taking things seriously. While everyone is distracted, two of the Paladin Team members lag behind everyone else, not realizing that there's a shadowy, snakelike figure stalking them from behind. As the Mobians and humans begin to argue, they suddenly notice the disappearance of two of their team members.

While the humans angrily head out to find their missing team members, Sonic, Tails and Bunnie press on into the trees, trying to figure out where a dragon might hide. Tails spots a cave behind a waterfall, and they duck inside, to be immediately greeted by… Dulcy! It's been a while since we've seen her! Her arm is in a sling, but otherwise she seems fine and happy to see them. Suddenly, the red dragon emerges from behind her, but Dulcy quickly explains that this is Zan, and she's in a relationship with him. However, he begins to act aggressive, insisting that the others are their enemies and shouldn't be here, to her dismay.

Well, that changes things a bit. Everyone tries to convince Zan to settle down so they can talk things out peacefully, but Zan becomes even angrier when Dulcy agrees. He's interrupted from scolding her for relying on them when a net entangles his mouth, shutting him up, and the humans all rush in with guns drawn, ready to kill both dragons. Sonic utilizes his super speed to take apart all their guns before they can fire, but then Zan breaks free of his muzzle, gloating that now that they're unarmed he can kill them easily. Sonic steps in the middle to prevent that from happening either, and then Dulcy, from the back, quietly speaks up.

So this isn't the only "surprise domestic abuse" plot in a Sonic canon. Anyone who's played Sonic and the Secret Rings knows that an abusive romantic relationship plays a big part in that game's plot as well. But it still does come as a big shock here. Sonic freaks out, infuriated that Zan would hurt his friend, and begins wailing on him, while Tails and Bunnie rush outside to check on Dulcy. She repeats certain stock phrases that are common of abuse victims, such as "he loves me" and "maybe it's my fault," while Bunnie reassures her that she's not at fault at all and deserves better than to be treated this way. It's honestly a decent portrayal of the guilt that abuse victims become stuck with, just very condensed, because this comic doesn't have time to throw in a whole long subplot about Dulcy's emotional recovery. Instead, it takes a fast-track approach, as while Sonic and Zan fight, Paladin Team sets up explosives and blows up the entire cave, with Sonic and Zan still in it! That'll solve it!

Everyone outside is horrified and rushes forward to try to dig them both out, but Sonic emerges safely, tunneling his way out from under the rock. However, Zan isn't so lucky. The team contacts the president, informing him that the dragon that menaced them is dead and the city is safe again, and he agrees formally to take in the Overlander refugees, while Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie stay with Dulcy at the ruins of the cave till nightfall, letting her mourn despite the abuse.

Fittingly, our character file for this issue is for Dulcy! She's an outlier in almost every way compared to the other characters so far. Since she's a dragon, you'd expect her to be bigger than the others, but I wasn't expecting her to be so massive. She's a whopping 240 cm or 7'10" tall, and weighs 111.8 kg or 245.9 lbs! That's easily taller than Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma, the tallest characters in the games (not counting bosses such as Iblis or Dark Gaia), though not nearly as heavy as either of them. Her wingspan also comes out to 169 cm or exactly five feet, which correspond well enough to how they're usually drawn as proportionately small. However, that's not the most interesting thing about her file. Based on her behavior and this recent relationship of hers, how old would you say Dulcy is? Seventeen? Eighteen?

She's thirteen.

I was honestly shocked when I found this out. This means that most of the previous times we've seen her, she was literally only twelve, not even a teenager yet. This actually puts a lot of her behavior into perspective - her somewhat crybaby attitude and nervousness in the face of danger, all that is due to literal immaturity. This means she was only about two years old when the war against Robotnik started, with her birthday being August 23. The file explains that when Robotnik began his coup, he heavily targeted dragons before any other creatures due to their sheer power. One such dragon, Sabina, sought protection for her daughter Dulcinea (Dulcy's real name) among the Kingdom of Acorn before she too was captured. Dulcy grew up over the years and helped the Freedom Fighters, though she mainly lived outside on her own due to her massive size. Interestingly enough, the file also attempts to provide a bit of a retcon for the whole "dragons can sense truth" plot hole that I pointed out all the way back during Endgame, instead suggesting that Dulcy in particular is just a very trustworthy individual who doesn't like telling lies and has an instinct for knowing when someone is being truthful, which I can accept. It's a lot better than the handwave from before, anyway.

Reunification (Part II)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Robbie O'Quinn

Lien-Da is pissed. Apparently, she actually didn't expect Knuckles to be able to reverse the effects of the Quantum Beam, despite Dimitri not only promising Knuckles he'd do so himself, but even encouraging Knuckles to do so on his own. Dimitri is also shocked, though more at the sheer extent of Knuckles' power, which exceeds even his own when he was Enerjak.

What, Lien-Da? You think you're gonna recruit Remington or something? Remington's an upstanding guy, man, I think your chances are… uh… well, I suppose we mustn't forget about the time traveler girl who apparently thinks he's gonna murder Knuckles. Remington asks her for her name and she gives the name "Jani-Ca," though internally she notes that she's trying to hide her own identity, meaning this isn't her real name. Wynmacher and Lara-Le rush up, concernedly asking after Knuckles, and while Remington states he hasn't seen him, Jani-Ca hides her surprise at seeing a younger version of her grandmother. Wait - grandmother?! Then that means she's…

The Chaotix are back as well, having landed right back in the ruins of the Grand Conservatory, with their dialogue again suggesting that they haven't been away for long due to the slower time scale within the Twilight Zone. In Haven, the various members of the Brotherhood are dismayed to find the place trashed from Knuckles' earlier bursts of uncontrolled power, though they instead suspect the Legion's hand. They notice that Matthias and Hawking are no longer there, realizing that they've both died and headed on to the "next evolution," AKA echidna heaven. They sense one more soul with them, whom we know is Tobor, but they can't figure it out. Locke briefly worries that it might be Knuckles before hearing Knuckles' ghostly voice reassuring him that he's fine and currently in the city. Far from reassuring Locke, this only makes him worry that instead of his great plans for Knuckles to be a savior, instead his worst fears have come to pass. What, Locke, you starting to think that maybe genetically engineering and irradiating your unborn baby wasn't a good idea after all?

*sigh* So, yes, everyone, this is Knuckles' future daughter Lara-Su. Anyone who knows Penders and his whole lawsuit debacle will know exactly who this is. Now, she's kind of an unpopular character because of this (and because many people essentially dismiss her as Penders' Mary Sue OC), and there are definitely valid criticisms to be made about her inclusion into the comics, but I'm not going to immediately jump into hating her just because of the circumstances of her creation. After all, we still know basically nothing about her, not even how she came to be, and anyway you all know that I prefer to judge a character or story on its own merits and not on how likeable its creator is.

Everyone's conversations are interrupted by a flash of light, and Dimitri materializes in the middle of the group. Remington, of course, steps forward intending to arrest him, but Knuckles stops him much to his shock. Dimitri grins in a super-duper-not-an-evil-villain way and says that Knuckles has finally seen that he and his Legion only wish to rejoin the rest of echidna society, and that they're prepared to do whatever it takes to reintegrate…

[ivedonestranger]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Teen Titans (Animated Series) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Robin/Jinx Characters: Robin (DCU), Jinx (DCU), Raven (DCU), Koriand'r (DCU), Garfield Logan, Victor Stone, Gizmo (DCU), Mammoth Additional Tags: Angst, Mistakes, Language, Jinx swears a lot, Unplanned Pregnancy, Cheating Summary:

Robin made a simple mistake in the moment of grief. Now what?

----------------------------

The rain was nonstop as Robin ran from rooftop to rooftop. Beast boy, in Eagle form, soared ahead while Starfire and Raven flanked him on each side. Cyborg took up rearguard, making sure they weren't flanked. The call came screaming over the criminal alert when Jump City PD reported meta conflict in the southern part of the city. Robin landed on edge and crouched, keeping a low profile while the others gathered around him.

Down in the street, Robin quickly picked out the forms in the center. A massive behemoth in black and yellow, the dark caped teleporter, a pink-haired girl, and the rest of her team.

"Of course it's gotta be the HIVE 5," Beast Boy growled.

"Been a while since we rumbled with them. Looking forward to kicking Gizmo a few times," Cyborg laughed.

It was Raven who alighted beside Robin that saw what he did.

"Something's wrong."

"Yeah," The boy wonder said, drawing his bow staff. "They're surrounded."

From the corners of the streets and moving slowly on them were armored soldiers in black and gold firing on the HIVE 5's perilous positions. An open black van waited in the far reaches.

"It's a grab team," Robin said, his heart spiking as he saw the pink-haired girl flinch as a chunk of hot metal from a round struck her in the face.

"What do we do?" Starfire asked.

"Those aren't police issued uniforms," he said. "Defend the HIVE."

"What?" Beast Boy said, surprised, but they were already gone.

Firing his grapple gun and creating a rappel line, the boy wonder slid down, over the head of the HIVE, and right into the lead soldier that was preparing a grenade. The sonic weapon detonated among his companions behind him.

"Titans! Defensive positions. Talon maneuver."

Immediately Starfire and Raven took to the air. Koriandr's starbolts were ripping into the surprised troops while Raven through up a half-circle of dark magic protecting the battered HIVE members. Robin slid in beside them, quickly accessing. Gizmo had raised his weapon at Robin, but Jinx smacked him down.

"He's helping us, you idiot," her voice cracked in admonishment. Their eyes made contact, and he could see the sincere relief. "Thank god, it's you, pajama heroes."

"What's going on?"

"HIVE retrieval team," Kid Wykkyd muttered in his quiet voice. "We kinda….revolted."

"A story for later," Jinx said quickly. "We thought we had enough of a head start, but Private HIVE turned on us. Gave away our location."

"Make for the Titan's tower," Robin said, grabbing Jinx's hand and placing his ID card in it. "Pin is 10-9-14-24. We'll cover your retreat."

"We're not walking right into prison, ya scrum sucker-" Gizmo started to complain, but Jinx shot him a dark look that made Robin uncomfortable.

"Retreat Pattern Theta on Robin's mark," Jinx said cooley as the team turned away, she grabbed Robin and planted a kiss on his mouth. "Thank you."

"Now!" Robin said, trying not to get lost in the intoxicating touch of those forbidden lips. He had a mission to focus on and his team.

Charging out and lobbing a handful of mini-bombs, the loud explosion shook the gathering advance of the HIVE attack teams. With bo-staff extended, Robin began to fight the way he was trained. At a glance, he could see the HIVE splitting into 2s and vanishing in different directions.

"Where are they going?" Cyborg demanded.

"Don't worry about them," Robin said, pointing to the three black vans. "Cyborg, can you take out their vehicles? If we make this battle not worth it, they should back off."

Cyborg did not question why he thought that but had changed to his sonic cannon and was making his way towards the vans to get the best shot.

A green velociraptor shot by him and the following screams of the terrified soldiers running away was as expected. Black bolts mixed with green bolts descended until the two of the vans erupted in flames. That was when they decided it was over. Fleeing in different directions, the HIVE agents took off in the remaining vans, in the air with powered boots but everywhere.

Raven was about to grab one when Robin yelled to her. "let's go."

She stared at him with an intense curiosity for a second before returning. They turned and made their way to the tower.

It took 2 hours to clear up everything with the police. The police and SWAT teams descended to seize and arrest the injured HIVE agents that had not escaped. They each took their reports, but Robin made sure that it was known that the HIVE 5 had left the scene and did not appear to be involved, but they had no other information.

They trudged back to the tower with Raven and Starfire being considerate and staying with their team. Robin's feet hurt, but he knew his day wasn't over yet.

"Why did we not do battle with Jinx and her ilk?" Starfire asked, still trying to process a different direction.

"Cause your boyfriend decided we should protect them," Cyborg said with a laugh. "I think you've been keeping him too distracted, Star."

"I have not!" Starfire said indignantly. "There has been moderation when it comes to the nightly-"

"Star," Raven interrupted amused. "This is one of those boundaries things."

"Oh, yes," she said, surprised but understanding. "I forgot that some relationship activities are not usually discussed in public, even among friends."

Robin grimaced. Back at the tower, when Jinx was gone for a few weeks on her missions, the boy wonder felt like the world was back the way it was supposed to be. Afternoons talking with Starfire about her day, curled up watching movies in the evening, but he knew it was all an act. An act Bruce had taught him, to pretend everything was fine when you were a monster inside.

They arrived at the tower, and Cyborg typed in his passcode. The doors rumbled open, and he walked in.

"Well, I'm hungry, and I want pizza," he said. "So, if we're not going to discuss how we're going to catch the HIVE, then I'm going to-"

It was at that point that they realized that the tower was filled with a delicious smell of baked goods and cheesy goodness.

"What the-"

"Everyone calm yourself, I-," Robin started as they entered the common room. See-more and Mammoth sat on the couch watching the evening's baseball game while Gizmo was tapping away on one of the computers in the corner. Kid Wykyyd was at the bar sipping on a bright drink while Jinx was laying out the fourth hot, luscious pizza.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE!" Cyborg roared activating his weapons, and the entire Hive team froze. "AND…...is that pizza?"

"Yeah," Jinx said sheepishly. "Didn't know when you all were coming back, so I thought to make some pizza and blueberry muffins might keep you from murdering us."

"Until after dinner, of course," Kid Wykyyd remarked wryly from his corner.

"There's….there's even a tofu-vegetarian blend," Jinx coaxed, pushing one towards Beast Boy.

"That's nice and all," Raven said coldly. "but that doesn't give me a reason why I shouldn't stick your asses in an alternate dimension until I'm good and ready to hand you over to the cops."

"Cause I let them in," Robin said, trying to get ahead of the conversation before it turned bad.

"What?"

He scooped up the passcard that was on the table and pocketed it. "I made a snap decision. The Hive 5 was under attack, which made them the victims at this moment, and there is nowhere else they could stay away from the grab teams."

"Snap decision….is that what you're calling it?" Beast Boy said, and Robin gave him a puzzled look, but the changeling stuffed a slice of pizza into his mouth.

"Why are you being chased by your people?" Starfire asked, standing beside Jinx. Robin could see her trying to remain calm, having the Tamaranian that he ha been cheating on standing so close. If she knew, Jinx wouldn't last a second that close.

"I….I was running," Jinx started, but Gizmo came over with arms folded across his chest.

"All because one of you stupid hero types knocked her up."

The room was silent, and Robin could barely breathe. He tried to force himself to show not a single bit of emotion, and nobody was looking in his direction, except for those beautiful, imploring, pink feline, eyes. Raven and Starfire looked at each other with surprised while Beast Boy about choked on his pizza. Cyborg was mid-bite at the words.

"Congratulations," Raven asked, coming over and removing the mitts from Jinx's hands and escorting her to a seat. "But that's a pretty bold claim."

"Hey," Gizmo said. "She told us the father was one of those Justice League shits and if the Hive found out, they'd use this to their advantage."

"Who is the father of the little bumgorf?" Starfire asked excitedly, alighting beside Jinx brimming with joy. Jinx flinched again. "This is such a glorious occasion!"

"She isn't saying," Mammoth growled as the baseball team he appeared to be rooting for was declared out on the television. He shoved a muffin into his mouth.

"I'm not comfortable saying anything until I speak with him," Jinx said quietly. Robin had moved to the kitchen near the pizza, where it was the farthest from her. He grabbed a slice to appear normal desperately.

"So, you all defected for...Jinx?" Raven asked incredulously.

"Our team sticks together, just like yours," Gizmo growled. "And I don't appreciate the insinuation that we don't."

"Well, it looks like we're going to have new roommates for a little while," Cyborg said. "And I don't think a prison cell is not gonna cut it for a pregnant gal."

"You're not sticking any of us in there either," See-More said, his southern twang escaping. "We came here voluntarily cause your boss told us too. You aren't sticking me into any cell."

"Everyone gets rooms, " Robin said for the first time trying not to sound like his mouth was dry. "but you'll understand if we are taking some security steps while you're here."

"Not like we got much of choice, " Gizmo muttered. "I'm just hoping they keep this in house and don't hire outside talent. Then we're really screwed."

"I'd like to discuss our arrangements with your leader," Jinx said officially. "I think if he and I come to some terms, we can keep our respective friends in line. I'd like for this to all stay as civil as it has been so far."

"Sure...um…," Robin said, trying not to look so confused. Everyone was no looking at him, and Raven had a quizzical look on her face.

"My office?"

"Sure."

He motioned for Jinx to follow.

"Everybody relax," Robin said to Cyborg, and Jinx added for her team. "And all you do is eat pizza until I get back."

Down the hall, they went, and the lights turned on low to light the way. The sensors kept the lights off when not in use, part of Cyborg's green initiative. He tapped his passcode into the wall computer, and they both strode in.

Papers were strewn everywhere, and the multiple cases lay open on his desk — a large light burning down on it.

"Computer. Medium lights." Robin said.

The room brightness raised a bit more, and all it did was show the mess more. As soon as the doors closed, Jinx launched herself into his arms and deeply kissed him, her tongue exploring his mouth. Oh, god, did she taste so good? He pulled her beautiful gray face back, and she looked quizzically at him.

"What? You don't like my kisses anymore?"

"Raven and I have a bond from one of our missions along time ago, " Robin said, trying to catch his breath. "She can sense my emotions very well at short range."

"Ooooo. So I get to fuck you physically, and she gets to mind fuck you?" Jinx cooed teasingly. "I didn't know you were into threesomes."

"Jinx," Robin said, trying to keep the silly grin off his face. "The pregnancy thing. Why did you choose that tactic to get access?"

"Um…," Jinx said, raising her eyebrow and wrinkling up her lips in irritation. "It's not a joke, buddy. I've been throwing up every morning for the past three weeks. The test came back positive. I'm pregnant, and it's yours, Richard."

Robin groped around for a seat but wound up sitting on the floor. He looked up at her, stunned.

"I'm keeping it, sweetie," Jinx said, pushing around a few papers on his desk.

"I have a girlfriend, Jinx," Robin started, but Jinx turned on him hard, her fiery eyes locking on to his.

"Don't start with that shit, Richard. You've been going through the motions with her while you've been coming to my place and sticking it in every hole you wanted. I've seen you at your vulnerable, and you're an honest guy. God, you're such a hero that it makes me sick, but I can't live a second without thinking about you."

"And I can't stop thinking about you either, Jinx, but we agreed this was a mistake."

"And then we agreed that it was good to have some friends with benefits. We kick each other's asses in the daytime, and then we do it again in the sheets. It's great stress relief."

Jinx sat down on the floor in front of him and took his hands. "I know what I said. I know I said that I just wanted to screw and have a good time, but...this baby made me realize that this is my chance for a different trajectory, and I want the baby to have a father."

"If I come out and say the baby is mine, the JLA will strip the Titans of their certification and I will be removed from the register," Robin said slowly. "Starfire will be devastated and will more than likely kill me."

"Not me?"

"You have a little bumgorf," Robin said with a dark chuckle. "She'll kill me twice. Raven will probably shred me with her powers the Beast Boy, and Cyborg would never speak to me again. In short, it'll shatter the Titans to the core."

Jinx sat there quietly.

"So...the choice appears to be me or your entire life and identity."

"Yeah...I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you're a real ass," Jinx said, pulling in her knees and laying her chin on it with a pout. "I know I was living in a fantasy world and hoping that maybe you'd choose me over them. I'm a stupid girl, aren't I?"

Robin reached out and stroked her head, but she pulled back.

"You can't treat me like your love, Robin if you're just going to toss me aside in the end."

Robin's hand froze there for a second before he returned it to his lap. They remained silently for a few minutes before Jinx spoke up again.

"You do know this conversation is moot?" Jinx finally said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to remain silent and not admit to Starfire that you've cheated on her and that the baby inside a villainess is yours?" Jinx said, playfully punching his leg.

"You're the white knight, the truth, and justice deep in your soul. You're going to tell everyone, and you're going to take the beating you're going to get a cause that's who you are. You made a mistake, and you're going to pay the piper."

Robin hung his head in shame. Since the first night he spent on the roof with Jinx, he knew that his days were numbered. He desperately wished he could lie, cheat, do something to keep things from changing, but the pinkette in front of him was correct. He was too much of a good guy.

"Yeah, I'll tell them, but not tonight," Robin said. "Let them have one more night of happiness before I destroy everything."

With the heavy burden on his shoulders, Robin went back into the main room. For tonight, was the last night of acting.

---------------------

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AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/49752254

FF.NET: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13378869/2/Such-a-Simple-Mistake

[asagimeta]

The Weirdness Of "Girl Trouble"

So I've talked probably atleast two or three times in depth about the worst episode of Hey Arnold ever- "Curly's Girl", wich is like a How To guide on rape culture- but I had sort of forgotten about "Girl Trouble" until rewatching it just now and it's... oddly almost as bad- now don't get me wrong, there are actually a couple of qualities about "Girl Trouble" that I like and it isn't quite stomach-churning like "Curly's Girl" is but it also displays some pretty hefty messages about abuse.... in the wrong way

Hey Arnold! has a very weird dichotomy in terms of toxic relationships in that it either portrays them almost FLAWLESSLY- think Helga and her parents- or just about as nightmarishly as you can imagine- think Curly and his "relationship" with Rhonda- and as much credit- as much real, TRUE credit- as I give to them for complete GEMS like the Patacki family or Ernie and his one-off model girlfreind, I also can't help but see the toxic relationships that flood the show

The good thing is that alot of them are occassionally addressed- Susie leaves Oskar at one point and is constantly calling him out on being a bum, Pheobe has several episodes where she either calls out Helga on what an abusive person she is or leaves her (be it as an intentional break in their relationship or not), and the bullies in the show are atleast usually given what's coming to them- but these things, like almost everything in HA!'s continuity, never stick around past an episode or two, Susie sticks around, Pheobe goes back, the bullies learn for the length of a half-episode but it never makes a lasting impact, and in a way I can excuse it because the issues DO atleast present themselves properly and he only reason I believe the changes don't stick for good are because HA! tries to have a very fluid continuity where you don't necessarily need to have seen episode three to see episode four, with the exception of some charectors coming (Lila, Mr. Simmons, Lorenzo) or going (Ruth, Torvald, the teacher before Mr. Simmons who's name I forget..) and HA! also typically tries to stick it's charectors to their archetypes, wich they overcome episodically (Rhonda learns not to care so much about her appearance and/or wealth/status in atleast three or four different episodes, because she's The Rich Spoiled Girl, Harold is always portrayed as The Dumb Bully no matter how many times he's shown to actually be very sensitive and- when he puts his mind to it- pretty smart, etc) So TL;DR I can forgive HA! for not keeping the changes it makes because the format of the show may not have worked as well- especially for the target audience and especially in the time period- if the charectors had had linear development, if Oskar and Susie had gotten that divorce, if Phoebe had decided to break things with Helga for good (or if Helga stopped treating her like a sidekick) if Rhonda stopped being spoiled, etc, we know from shows that DO develop their charectors episode to episode like As Told By Ginger that it's usually an older audience who gets attached, not grade schoolers, but I digress

The problem I really have is that "Girl Trouble", just like "Curly's Girl", simply sends a terrible message: If someone is abusing you it means they like you, so sit down and take it and whatever you do, DON'T fight back or you'll be the bad guy

Helga and Arnold's relationship defies stereotypical gender roles by making Helga the aggressor/abuser and Arnold the passive victim, but it's still a highly abusive relationship, and I think that fact gets really, really lost on people- especially the HA! writers- when it comes to episodes like "Girl Trouble"

Basically, Helga is acting especially cruel to Arnold and Grandpa advises him not to retaliate because "You'll have to be dealing with this girl for a very long time, it's best to make peace with it" and tells a story about how a girl in his school was just as mean to him (fondly, wile laughing) who we later learn is actually his wife Gerty, Arnold can't stand to take the advice, however, and after Helga throws paint on him, he throws paint back at her, Arnold is immediately given detention but Helga has no consequences for that /or/ for the cruel prank she had pulled the day before (covering Arnold's backside in glue and feathers) and when he gets home and explains what happened Grandpa freaks out and admonishes him about not fighting back- AGAIN, Arnold stews and Helga laments over the fact that her sweet, pure Arnold had finally been "pushed over the edge" due to her cruelty, but when Arnold calls and apologizes she's just as mean as ever and that's the "resolution"

Typically during episodes like this there's some ACTUAL resolution, a good example being "Pheobe Breaks A Leg" when Pheobe finally has a heart-to-heart about how abused she feels with Helga, Helga seems sincere in not wanting to hurt her anymore and promises to do better, even though the last shot is back to the same old dichotomy of Helga bossing Pheobe around, there was atleast a very honest realization on Helga's part that she was doing something wrong and Pheobe had the chance to confront her, but that isn't the case here

Here, we see nothing but a victim being told multiple times to learn to live with the fact that his abuser is going to be around for ages and he needs to get used to it, punished when he acts out back at her, and then tossed immediately back into the Toxic Tornado when HE apologizes to HER and is verbally put down, insulted, and screamed at again

Now, to be clear, before I go any further, I LIKE Arnold and Helga, I ship them and HAVE shipped them since the beginning.... but I ship them in a HEALTHY relationship where they're a little older and Helga has made more progress with her mental health and Arnold has started standing up to himself and not allowing her to bully him so much

There's actually an episode that I freaking ADORE about their relationship- "April Fool's Day", wich consists of a prank war between them, it isn't mean-spirited, just competitive, and at the end there are no hurt feelings or punished parties, just two kids having fun together, Arnold decides to best Helga however he can- wile, again, not being mean-spirited, just competitive- and doesn't let her bullying tactics push him around or scare him off

"Girl Trouble" is a serious problem because it perpetuates that the only abuse is male -> female, not so much in the storyline that Helga is being abusive to Arnold and he's not fighting back- that's pretty typical of HA!- but because of the actions *around* Helga and Arnold, namely: Arnold is punished for fighting back and Helga isn't, Helga having a breif moment of realization that she may have gone too far but not even coming CLOSE to admitting that (we know Helga is capable of being nice to Arnold when the circumstances are really serious, "Parents Day" being a good example) and worst of all, Grandpa repeatedly telling Arnold that he not only would have to deal with the abuse "for years to come", but that he should never, under any circumstances, defend himself, what is that saying to young boys who are suffering from something similar?

I just can't really understand- much like "Curly's Girl"- how the writers looked at the end outcome and went "Yeah, this is a reasonable message to send", in particular because Arnold broke their usual dichotomy for once, and they couldn't hide behind "Helga is aggressive and Arnold is passive, Arnold is the bigger person" like they usually can, that was the entire POINT

Wile I COMPLETELY agree that there should have been a message of "Be the better person and don't engage with a bully", there ALSO shouldn't have been such a heavy handed message of "Your abuser is going to be in your life for years and there's nothing you can do about it, and in fact, you'll probably fall in love with them!", and Helga's actions being flat-out romanticized is deeply troubling

A much better way to handle it is to keep things the same up until Arnold gets detention; give him and Helga BOTH detention (Gerald can testify that Helga tossed paint on Arnold first) and let them have detention together, maybe add a throw-away line about Helga having gotten detention for her prank the day before, and let the rest of the episode take place there, at first Arnold and Helga won't speak to eachother, but Helga makes a casual comment about Big Bob going through the roof over her having detention again- if he notices, that is, and how he'll just compare her to Olga again, Arnold says that she brought detention on herself this time and they argue until Helga says something about always bullying people because "How ELSE are you supposed to deal with them all the time?" and Arnold simmers down and makes a gentle, slightly vague comment about how you're supposed to treat people and then another apologizing for what she has to go through at home, a simple "I'm sorry they make you feel that way" or something would suffice, wich brings Helga to apologize for tormenting Arnold over the last couple of days (in her crass Helga way) and they sit in silence for a few minutes before detention is finally over and they can leave, at wich point Helga makes a very small comment concerning deciding to give Arnold something of a break from now on

The next day she's shown throwing spitballs at him or something and when he makes a face she winks and lets him borrow one of her books, or something like that

Just something like that, something that could possibly show that just because the attacker is female that doesn't give them a free pass, and to not push such abuse as a "funny love story" the way they did with Grandpa and Grandma

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

// The Rotten Royals - A look at how fucked up the ‘good’ Royal Family of Spirit of Justice really is.

So having finished SOJ and having had a little time to mull it over, I gotta say that I still find a lot of the antics of the supposed “good” royal family pretty fucking fishy. 

We’ve got an emotionally insensitive king-consort, a skeevy prince and a woefully useless queen, all of whom are fiercely protected by the writers’ mouthpieces in the game.

The title is a little misleading as only one of the people mentioned actually has any royal duties, but the point here is to point out how the writers accidentally made their supposed ‘complicated heroes’ into straight up assholes. 

Each section will be prefaced by a name in case you’d rather just read one section rather than all of them (cause there’s a lot to write)

So, as promised, here’s my little analysis of the Royal Family of Spirit of Justice.

DHURKE

So let’s start off with Dhurke, shall we? Because Dhurke sucks.

Now I’m going to be as fair as I can while still maintaining my grievances. As I’ve mentioned before, I can see where they were going with Dhurke. They wanted him to be the awesome rebel leader who laughs in the face of death and danger, and who roguishly rescues the poor endangered hostages. etc.

And I can accept him as that. I can accept him as a rebel leader. What I can’t accept him as is a reliable, caring or competent father figure.

Since the points are numerous, I’ll put them in bullet form and then expound. Oh look! One bullet per shot in Dhurke’s chest. Nice!

•Dhurke provided no emotional security for either of his sons, sometimes even the exact opposite 

Early on, Apollo recounts a particular story that happened in his childhood; when he was small, he and his foster brother Nahyuta were playing by a river when the two of them fell in. Dhurke quickly rushed to their rescue and scooped them out of the water, insisting that any time they need him, they should call, and he’ll come running (a little hard to pull off for a kid with a lung full of water, but i digress). However, he also proceeds to essentially tell his two toddler aged sons to “suck it up; boys don’t cry” about nearly dying. This kind of ‘manly man’ behaviour persists for the length of his character, despite the fact that he lived in a Matriarchal society that most likely wouldn’t have those kind of roles enforced on their boys.

Later on in the case, Apollo nearly drowns again, and while Dhurke saves him a second time, the moment Apollo comes to, Dhurke proceeds to make light of the situation. One could say he was trying to lighten the mood and comfort Apollo, but the fact that he allows Datz to howl with laughter at Apollo’s expense (not to mention Trucy if I remember correctly,) proves that he doesn't see the situation as very upsetting because Apollo survived, despite what Apollo might feel on the subject. 

Dhurke also appears to Apollo right the fuck out of nowhere, without a single word of warning, after FIFTEEN years of complete radio silence. Apollo is understandably pissed off, but Dhurke makes no attempt to talk Apollo’s feelings through with him OR apologize– he simply does everything he can to play off this awful behaviour as no big deal, and even asks Apollo for a favour. When Trucy gives Dhurke the benefit of the doubt, not knowing their shared history very well (and having Daddy issues of her own), Dhurke immediately suggests Apollo marry her, apropos of nothing– implying he wants nothing more than Apollo to immediately accept him, rather than confronting the emotional issues he started in the first place. 

Apollo isn’t the only victim of this either; when Dhurke interacts with Nahyuta, both his tone of voice and sprites indicate a bewildered sort of patronizing air. He asks why Nahyuta has betrayed his cause, but doesn’t seem to show much actual betrayal or hurt on the subject. The way he treats Nahyuta while talking about his motivations and morality makes it seem like he doesn’t actually care about how Nahyuta feels or thinks– he sees him as more of a piece in his game rather than a beloved member of his family. 

This seems even harsher when we take into account the fact that Nahyuta is doing all of this against his own will– so not only does Dhurke seem completely indifferent to him, but he admonishes him like a child when Nahyuta himself is going through an incredibly difficult time. 

Dhurke doesn’t even trust his own son, not for a second wondering if perhaps there are extenuating circumstances behind his supposed betrayal, despite knowing what kind of a woman Ga’ran is. 

•Dhurke often undermined Apollo’s skills, and kept glaring secrets from him

One of Dhurke’s first orders of business on arrival to America is to give Apollo a plate of sushi and say something to the affect of “wow! you’re doing WAY better than i imagined you would be, son!” which, to someone like Apollo, must sting a lot. Dhurke does say that he believes in Apollo later on, during the trial, but considering the other evidence, it seems disingenuous, and more like he was just trying to pep him up so that he could achieve his desired result. 

Continuing a point from the previous bullet, Dhurke pops right the hell out of nowhere to visit Apollo after years of neglect. Sure, he may not have been able to leave the country, but considering the stuff he did manage to do, there was nothing stopping him from secreting letters to his son. Either way, his motivation to finally visit his son was the fact that he’d run out of time to do just that. He was DEAD, and he knew he had to see his son one last time before he went. Seems kinda sweet.... until you remember that he also went to secure Apollo’s services to help him in the final trial against Ga’ran. 

And thats what brings us to his ridiculous secret keeping– the fact that he kept his death a secret made a load of the final trial an absolute chore to get through. If he’d simply explained to Apollo that he was already dead, a lot of the contradictions in the trial would have been removed, thus making it easier to come to the truth. He actively sabotaged his son’s chances of winning to keep up a useless charade. Because whether he told him then or after, Apollo would have to live with the fact that Dhurke got himself killed before he ever managed to see Apollo again. Sure, letting Apollo believe he was alive at first might have spared him a large amount of initial angst– but in the long run it was an absolutely idiotic move. It put Apollo in deep emotional turmoil while in the middle of a very sensitive case, and directly decreased his chances at surviving the ordeal. 

One could say that Dhurke simply kept the secret so that Apollo would cooperate with him more willingly, thus giving the trial (and therefor the revolution) a better chance at succeeding... but that would simply support my point by showing that Dhurke’s a cold, calculating bastard who used Apollo as an unwitting pawn. 

Either way, his decision to keep his death a secret was deeply disrespectful to Apollo’s feelings, and his refusal to grant important information nearly killed his entire family. 

•Dhurke often put people in needless danger for absolutely no reason at all and performs insanely boneheaded moves for the supposed head of a revolution. 

Let’s start chronologically with a problem that’s been glaring at me from day one. 

Upon becoming a fugitive, Dhurke sent Apollo to America to keep him safe from the dangers in his country. This, at first, seems like a kindly move on his part. But it falls apart when you consider the fact that he kept Nahyuta with him, and the consequences it had.

His decision doesn’t work emotionally or practically, because.... 

-On the practical side, he sent Apollo away to keep him safe, but keeping Nahyuta meant putting Nahyuta through the very danger he wanted to protect Apollo from. Not only did Nahyuta risk imprisonment or death by his association with Dhurke, but he was also canonically ostracized by all members of his society and affectively made a pariah until he became Ga’ran’s right hand man. This makes Dhurke look like he considers Nahyuta his property (being his biological son) rather than a loved member of his family. Sure, sending Nahyuta away to America would leave him childless, but it would assure Nahyuta’s safety, and being with Apollo would mean he wouldn’t be alone. Practically, this would also mean Dhurke wouldn’t have to actively worry about his children’s safety while rescuing Amara and getting the revolution underway.  

-On the emotional side, he sent Apollo (his adopted son, therefor not his flesh and blood) away to a place the child knew nothing of, to grow up an orphan abandoned by his birth and adoptive parents. It’s notable that during flashbacks, Nahyuta calls Dhurke ‘father’, while Apollo simply calls him ‘Dhurke’. These two together make Dhurke look like a callous man who didn’t consider Apollo his real son, or a valid member of his society, and simply sent him away to prevent him from becoming a hindrance. 

Neither option paints him in a kind light, and it makes you wonder what was going through his head at the time. To be a little more meta on the subject; the decision makes sense to the writers, who have to shoehorn this backstory into Apollo’s established past, but they failed to realize how awful it made Dhurke look as a human being.

Now onto the next point. During the trial, Dhurke keeps numerous important secrets, mouths off at the queen and generally behaves very difficultly the whole time. This would be nothing more than an annoyance during a normal trial... except this is a trial where the DC act is in place. And Dhurke knows that.

Dhurke knows full well that if they lose, Apollo, Phoenix, and his entire rebel group (if captured) will be put to death. Yet he continues to act like a roguish piece of shit the entire time.

This makes Dhurke look almost sociopathic– he cares more about being rebellious than the safety of his own son and numerous other people. Because he’s already dead, his line of reasoning appears to be “well, i’m dead! who cares if they kill me?” which once again means that he’s completely disregarding the other lives he has on the line by putting them in this predicament in the first place. 

As mentioned above, not telling Apollo about his death put major obstacles in Apollo’s way to winning the trial, thus putting him in grave danger. If we assume that Dhurke was trying to spare Apollo’s feelings for as long as possible, you just want to shout “Apollo’s life might be a little more important than his emotions right now, Dhurke!”

This leads me to my second... third? Point.

Correct me if I’m wrong, because I’m still totally mystified on this…

Why did Dhurke take Maya back to the hostage situation? 

Dhurke rescued Maya from Inga and got himself killed (in the most idiotic and short-sighted way possible– good job o glorious rebel leader) and then asked Maya to channel him so that he could visit Apollo for the last time.

Ok, that seems all very well and good. Except... why would he take Maya back to the hostage situation he rescued her from?!

This was days after he’d saved her life, and even more importantly, he knew that he had done so. It wasn’t like with Dahlia, where she didn’t realize Maya was the one channeling her– Dhurke knew full well why he was still on earth, and who he was cruising around inside (which also makes his actions in the cave a little nasty too– being pretty careless with MAYA’s body, aren’t you, Dhurke?).

Returning Maya to the hostage situation not only put her in danger, but it also allowed Ga’ran to put forth her evil plan in the first place. It’s not clear if Dhurke knew about the plan from the beginning, but if he didn’t, there’s literally NO reason for him to make the “exchange” for a girl who isn’t there. In fact, why did Inga even think he still had a hostage? Dhurke rescued Maya days ago.  What the hell was anyone thinking?!

Let’s say this does make sense; let’s say that both sides “collaborated” for different reasons to bring this sham together so that we could have the trial of our final case (Ga’ran wanting to crush the rebels, and Dhurke wanting to crush Ga’ran).

- If Ga’ran knew Maya was already rescued, what reason would she have to assume that Dhurke would return with her, rather than taking her to safety?

-If Dhurke knew about Ga’ran’s plan, why wouldn’t he try to sabotage it and expose Ga’ran right then and there?

The entire ending of the game, including Ga’ran’s plot, seems to hinge on completely backwards actions. I really cannot fathom why Dhurke would bring Maya back to a hostage situation he’d already rescued her from. 

Granted, for this point I will say that the plot is so convoluted that I may be missing something that makes sense of it... But considering the quality of the writing, I doubt it.

The final point I will save for Amara’s section, as it concerns her. But rest assured, it is an ENORMOUS plot hole.

NAHYUTA 

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi. Sad-mad indeed. Not only is Nahyuta a complete ripoff of Simon Blackquill (who in turn is a ripoff of Miles Edgeworth and Jowd) but he’s an even more unlikeable ripoff of said character.  

Right from the beginning, Nahyuta is presented as a smug, holier-than-thou douchebag who uses the excuse of “it’s my religion!” to treat people abominably. 

His accusations are shaky at best, and his reasoning seems to be less fuelled by logic and more by malice. During the two turnabouts he faces in America, Nahyuta claims the defendant would kill over incredibly trivial or easily manageable matters, and claims that he's completely right because... karma..? Yeah– his Prosecutor Power isn’t even ever explained, and rarely brought up. We know Simon is a manipulative bastard, but Nahyuta’s “karma” powers are never satisfactorily explained in any way, shape or form. 

His odious nature is amazingly difficult to deal with, and the poor attempts of Lol Foreign Guy humour they throw in barely makes up for it. Godot was an asshole, but he was charmingly eccentric and charismatic. Edgeworth was an asshole, but he showed proper logical thought in his deductions. Franziska was an asshole, but she and Edgeworth share the Von Karma excuse, as well as also being quite clever in her rebuttals. Simon was an asshole, but he had a generally good reason to keep up his nasty behaviour. 

Nahyuta? Well, he shares the same excuse– he’s trying to protect someone by acting the part of the evil prosecutor. Except... he only really has to do that while he’s under Ga’ran’s eyes, e.g., in Khura’in.

While in America, Nahyuta has NO excuse to act like such an insufferable prick. Not only does he force his religion’s dogma down others’ throats (which would be equally obnoxious if it were any other religion, say, Christianity) but he’s actively malicious for no good reason. As I’ve mentioned before, but must mention again– He directly tries to use Athena’s PTSD against her to make her unfit to act as Defence.

When we get to the reveal, Nahyuta claims he’s being blackmailed with his sister’s safety into submission by Ga’ran. However, this doesn’t explain WHY he has to act like such a terrible person. He could very well have simply acted as a devout, if civil prosecutor, doing what Ga’ran asked of him without any further malice. But let’s say he put on a horrible facade to further placate Ga’ran.

Then why does he keep up the charade while out of her line of sight? If he truly hates his situation, as he says, one would think he’d find foreign trials to be a welcome respite from his terrible, exhausting act of villainy. 

But no– he gleefully flings self-righteous abuse at foreign lawyers, while in THEIR COUNTRY, serving under THEIR LAWS. And this, combined with the fact that he only puts up a resistance to Ga’ran when Apollo already has her on the ropes makes him look like a bully who actively enjoys his power, and quickly defects to align himself with whoever is suddenly on the winning side. 

AMARA 

And at last we come to Amara, who is the least malicious and most mysterious of the three. 

Amara is held up by the people of Kura’in as a just, benevolent queen who brought them prosperity and peace. Her death is greatly mourned by her people, and much rejoicing is had when she returns to them.

But is Amara really that great? Well, considering the circumstances, no.

Amara’s excuse for siding with her villainous sister is the same as her sons; she’s scared of what will happen to Rayfa if she disobeys. 

Now, while it’s never directly stated, this is supposedly what prevented Amara from simply revealing herself to be still alive, thus dethroning her horrible sister. 

But there’s a window of time that doesn’t match up with this excuse– and that’s during her pregnancy. 

Here’s the excuse the game gives us: 

- Amara claims that she didn't trust Dhurke when he rescued her, which is why she returned to her sister’s service.

This is most likely a lie, because she says so while still under Ga’ran’s power. But if it IS a lie, it makes no sense why she wouldn’t out her sister at the nearest available moment. 

If she trusted Dhurke, it would be easy to deduce that Ga’ran was behind the initial arson. After all, the chain of events went thusly:

Amara’s house nearly burns down, but she miraculously survives. Her sister claims that Dhurke caused the blaze, and encourages Amara to fake her own death to ward of any further assassinations, meanwhile giving Ga’ran the crown. Ga’ran keeps Amara under house arrest and has her make it look like Ga’ran can channel spirits. Ga’ran puts a law in place that outlaws defence attorneys, and makes defence of criminals punishable by death.

When Dhurke convinces Amara that he didn’t set the blaze, then the only logical (or at least, deeply suspicious) culprit is Ga’ran. 

If neither Amara nor Dhurke realized this, when putting their respective stories together, they’re colossal idiots. If Amara DID realize this, then her inaction is inexplicable. And finally, if Amara really didn’t trust Dhurke... then the writers of Spirit of Justice are implying that Rayfa is a child of rape. Because I highly doubt a woman would willingly consent to sex with a man she believed tried to kill her. 

Later on, there’s a second excuse for why Amara didn’t try to challenge her sister.

- Amara was a kind soul who loved her sister, and didn’t want to hurt or mistrust her.

Well this is absolutely ridiculous. If Amara simply didn’t out her sister because she loved her, then she’s an absolute shit queen. This means that she cared more for her sister’s peace of mind than the wellbeing and safety of her own people. She was foolish enough to believe that the woman who framed her husband for murder and usurped her crown would be a fair and just ruler. And letting– LETTING her sister impose the DC act meant that she was indirectly responsible for the oppression and death of many of her people. 

Her inaction during her time on the run with Dhurke cost her country hundreds if not thousands of lives, culminating with that of her own son.

One might say that Amara might not have been safe enough from Ga’ran’s forces to reveal herself– yet, she was protected by Dhurke’s rebels, and the royal guards would most likely have still been loyal to her at that point, especially if she revealed that her sister couldn’t channel (which appears to be the only reason they follow her. what a delightful system they have in place)

Even during the time when Rayfa’s reputation (and possibly life?) is at stake, Amara makes no attempt to even try to oppose her sister. She simply sits idly by while her people suffer and die under her sister’s iron-fisted regime. Sure, it would probably be dangerous to attempt, and it would be a tragedy if Rayfa’s life was taken in the process... but compared to the hundreds of other families destroyed by the DC act and Ga’ran’s corruption, it seems like a smaller price to pay. Sometimes leaders have to make difficult decisions for the good of their people –something that is deeply impressed upon poor little Rayfa throughout the game– and Amara fails to rise to the challenge. 

So in the end, Amara’s portrayal makes her look naive and childish at best, and callous, apathetic and neglectful at worse. She is, at least, certainly not the excellent queen everyone makes her out to be.

In general, the Sahdmadhis are all kind of assholes. And what’s most depressing is that if the writers had put just a little more effort into writing them (instead of having other characters mindlessly extol their virtues), they wouldn't have been. With a few simple dialogue/story tweaks, Dhurke could have been a complicated, but ultimately sympathetic and loving father. Nahyuta could have been a deeply conflicted but ultimately virtuous person in a desperate situation. Amara could have been an intensely tragic character who tried to protect those she loved, but was ultimately rendered powerless by forces beyond her control. 

But strangely enough, it seems that all the failings the writers accidentally heaped onto these three are completely absent, or explored in depth in...

RAYFA

Little Rayfa, only fourteen years old, who has been spoiled and abused all her life, somehow manages to be a better person than all her family combined.

Once Rayfa is exposed to a different way of thinking by Phoenix as early as the third case, she begins thinking critically about her situation and actions. Despite being a child, and being raised to think a certain way and never question it on pain of... well, something horrible, Rayfa not only shows a surprising amount of compassion for her stunted moral growth, but actively defies her “mother” several times. She puts herself in a surprising amount of danger to help two people considered criminals in her country– simply because, despite her conditioning, she sees something wrong with the situation, and wishes to fix it. 

Rayfa stands tall where Nahyuta cowers, she reaches out where Dhurke pulls back, and she looks deeper where Amara looks away. 

If this were intentional on the part of the writers, it would be a deep and interesting moral. But considering the context, Rayfa is just accidentally far more heroic and sympathetic in comparison with her family.

As I said during my play-by-plays, I don’t loathe Spirit of Justice, and I think the game introduced some interesting concepts and ideas. It simply failed to play them out with any sort of competence. I don’t judge anybody for liking Dhurke, Nahyuta or Amara, but I can’t sit idly by without pointing out the piss-poor writing job the characters had. 

You can’t just write a character who makes terrible decisions, and then make them “good” just because everybody else says so. A complicated character needs effort put into their portrayal, and this effort is simply something that the SOJ writing team didn’t bother with. 

But that doesn’t necessarily mean the characters are out of luck. We’re role-players– writers! We have the power to fill in the gaps the original authors neglected or forgot. There’s hope for the royal family yet– it’s just not in the hands of Capcom.

[momonetmoproblems]

On Clout Nine

The Dangers of Social Media Pranks and Social Experiments

Have you ever seen something on social media and the only thing that your mind can come up with is “Why?!”

A popular saying on social media platform, Twitter, in response to the often obscene and unabashedly done acts and statements made is

“Clout is a dangerous drug”.

Lately, it seems like a lot of attention-deprived people on social media are trying to do the most shameful, extreme, scandalous, or ostentatious things for the rewards of the potential impact on each platform.

Clout is traditionally defined as influence in politics or business, but that definition has evolved to encapsulate having influence in online communities and, more accurately, wanting attention on social media. 

Over 2 million Instagram posts have been tagged #clout, videos with the same tag have gained over 3.7 billion views on TikTok and, words such as cloutchaser (Bamidele, 2019), clout check and cloutlighting (Nagesh, 2018) have been coined. The word even inspired an app of the same name — “Klout”, a service which boldly displayed one’s social media interactions and engagements in the form of an algorithm generated figure (Edwards et al., 2013.) And, had that platform survived, people would have definitely found a way to wear their scores on their foreheads if they could or add it to their résumé. (Hello, influencer marketing is the present and the future.)

From licking ice-cream straight from the tubs and putting them back in the freezer to persons falling to their deaths from seven-story buildings after failed Planking Challenge attempts (Shears, 2011) or YouTubers dying from a close range shot to the chest during a stunt with a Desert Eagle handgun (Brantley, 2018), so many people across the world are craving the fleeting sensations of clout.

Users will therefore use a sensationalized headline or caption, clickbait, to garner as many clicks or interactions with their content as possible in tandem with the already obnoxious or shocking display, and people fall for it every time. It’s like those completely obvious magazines in supermarkets from the early 2000s that you find yourself picking up even though you KNOW the headline is a trap!

(Just look at these stories. I mean, 2006 Me is SHOOK!)

The development of the internet and social media has created new opportunities for using pranks and social experiments as a veiled means of accumulating clicks and engagement by social media users. This clout manifests in the form of likes, quote tweets and retweets, subscriptions, reposts, shares, among other tools. Stacey Koosel, in The Renegotiated Self: Social Media’s Effects on Identity, states that this need for attention, to share and be a contributing part of the online community:

...motivates people to share more with each other in hopes of entertaining their audience and receiving positive reinforcement or reception of the content they posted, and in doing so, creating a sense of camaraderie or community.

Therefore, according to Koosel, some Internet users engage in “electronic exhibitionism” in an effort to lure as much attention as possible, and become celebrities by the careful construction of their online identity.

While pranks and social experiments can be a good laugh or even eye-opening, in the form of social commentary or satire, sometimes, things go a little too far. These pranksters tend to get so high off of the fame these stunts bring them and the effects can be sobering. I call this On Clout Nine. 

Physical Harm

The Tripping-Jump Challenge

Earlier this year, one of the most dangerous pranks to plague social media swept across the globe, claiming a few lives in its wake. The Tripping-Jump Challenge features an unsuspecting victim and two provocateurs on either side of him or her. The aim of the antagonists was to convince their target that they were all going to see who could jump the highest on camera, sometimes with a small cash reward as an incentive. When the middle person jumps, the persons on their right and left kick out their feet mid-air causing them to take an awkward tumble.

The injuries ranged from bruises to fractures to even death.

As news of the prank spread on social media, it wasn’t long before it was picked up by Jamaica’s youth and three Meadowbrook High School boys were met with the consequences. But, this challenge is merely one on a long list of pranks and social experiments that are steadily becoming a threat on our little island.

Popular local YouTuber and Prankster, iHeart Manii (née Kymani White), met his match when he scouted the Half Way Tree area for potential victims of his latest social experiment. For this act, Manii would pretend to find money at the people’s feet, hold the money up very obviously and either walk away or ask the person if the money is theirs.

Yuh ever owe a Jamaican money yet? Lol.

Naturally, the responses were downright comical as most participants were dishonest and, at times, convincingly insistent. Thus, the video was circulated on social media rapidly. Today, the May 8, 2019 upload has since gained over 187,000 views, 10,000 likes and almost 2000 comments. While this is a huge accomplishment for Jamaican content creators, any well-thinking person must wonder if Kymani has really assessed the risks associated with these stunts.

The woman in both screenshots above was the real star of this video as she violently challenged Kymani regarding the ownership of the money, even after being told countless times that the events were staged, eventually causing him bodily harm.

Despite run-ins with law enforcement and hostile responses to his antics from some Jamaican victims, Kymani continues to develop new prank ideas as his primary means of income and rise to fame, stating to Jamaica STAR Writer, Stephanie Lyew, “The more pranks I upload, the faster my followers grow; for example, each time I upload a prank I gain an average 400 new subscribers.” The STAR previously put Kymani’s page at 15,000 subscribers in May 2019, growing from 5,000 over ten months. Today, White’s channel boasts approximately 96,400 subscribers and the ongoing pandemic has not stopped him from executing and uploading his experiments and pranks.

Yes, these videos have proven to be profitable content but at what cost? The unpredictability of Jamaicans is what makes these pranks such a risk to the entire iHeart Manii team. Today, it’s the old woman stabbing him. Tomorrow, maybe the woman is a man, maybe the knife is a gun...

Furthermore, Manii’s pinned prank upload features himself and fellow Jamaican YouTubers, Gio of Gio and Ken, and Rolley of Trouble Link, calling local taxi companies under the guise of heading to the airport with an extremely heavy suitcase. Each of the young men takes a turn being secured within the luggage, unbeknownst to the cab drivers, until the hidden participant begins to struggle and groan giving the appearance of a kidnapping in progress.

The first and third drivers were perturbed and refused to take them upon the realization that the young men had kidnapped someone. The second driver, however, began negotiating the fare and admonishing them for not speaking in hushed tones due to the nature of the act they were about to commit. This was just as, or even more disturbing than, the prank itself and, of course, my mind took OFF:

This clearly isn’t the first time this man has done this!!!

Yeah, I’m never taking another taxi again, thanks, xoxo.

So many women have been kidnapped within the public transport system. Hello, Jasmine Dean?!

Which company does he work for? Mortec?! Gadgepro?! On Time?! Mortec????!

Would he have carried the act right through for the right price?! I bet he would, the scum.

Is he going to be investigated? Paging JCF!!!!

Not ONE of them couldn’t see something wrong with this???

But, I digress (one issue at a time, Monét, one issue at a time). However, my mental tirade brings me to my second point.

Desensitization

Around October 1, 2020, a chilling video of a woman being abducted circulated on social media. In the two-minute-and-20-second-long video, the woman is shown walking down a roadway before she is restrained and pulled into a motor vehicle by four masked men. The man, Nathaniel, driving the getaway car is the woman, Tish’s, boyfriend and the video was originally uploaded to the couple’s YouTube as a prank.

Scathing reviews were aired out on every platform the video could be found as social media users condemned the men for their insensitivity and came to the woman’s defense. However, story come to bump when the video was removed for violating the platform's harmful and dangerous content policy and the girlfriend blamed it on envious people and guaranteed that the couple would come back bigger and better. So...she was in on it?!

In an interview with The Weekend STAR, Trish claimed:

The prank was actually acted out. It can teach other persons. As you can see when I was walking, I was looking. Persons, young girls, should look around and know them surroundings. That was the whole idea.

These men seemed very experienced to several Twitter users, including myself.

Very believable, 10/10 performance.

Who knew Jamaica had so many fine male actors doubling as activists, aiming to raise awareness around kidnapping incidents?

Even if that was the intention, they went about it in the wrong way. There was no trigger warning to prevent potential viewers, or victims from having to see or relive their worst nightmare for a few laughs. The Jamaica Constabulary Force said it best in their statement addressing the situation:

Evidently, Cyberculture is blurring the lines between safe fun and harmful risks, between harmless pranks and trivialized social issues. For a little bit of clout, persons have been seriously hurt, sued, investigated by the authorities or have lost their lives. Social media has transformed the general perception on the value of lives as so many seem so eager to throw them away for a few clicks. 

Moreover, when we trivialize issues in the form of pranks and social experiments, desensitization is amplified exponentially. While there may have been outrage in response to the couple’s kidnapping prank, who knows how many men secretly thought this was a good idea, who may desire to attempt it, take it too far, not in an effort to cReaTe AwARenEsS, but to really catch a woman unawares with the intention to do more than shake her up a bit? 

Hopefully, these trends dissipate like so many ephemeral online fads. Until then, there is no doubt that these antics will only get worse, affecting more and more lives as this digi-cultural currency, clout, increases in its value and the risks increase in their damages. After all,  when it comes to Cyberculture, the road to fame is paved with shame, (Koestenbaum, 2011.)

Meanwhile, I? Feel zero remorse for these cloutchasers and the repurcussions which are sure to meet them when they come down from their high.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. 

References

Bamidele, M. (2019, November 4). Clout Chasing: 5 instances celebrities have stirred controversies to stay relevant. The Guardian. https://guardian.ng/life/clout-chasing-5-instances-celebrities-have-stirred-controversies-to-stay-relevant/

Brantley, K. (2018, June 24). Pictured: Book that YouTuber died holding after encouraging his pregnant girlfriend to shoot him for videotaped stunt. DailyMail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5878953/Prosecutors-release-pictures-bullet-holed-book.html

Education ministry warns against 'Jump Trip Challenge'. (2020, February 16). The Jamaica Observer.

Edwards, C., Spence, P. R., Gentile, C. J., Edwards, A., & Edwards, A. (2013).  How much Klout do you have … A test of system generated cues on source credibility. Computers in Human Behavior, volume 29 (issue 5), pages A12-A16. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563212003767

Hobbs, R. & Grafe, S. (2015, June 30). YouTube pranking across cultures. First Monday, volume 20 (issue 7). https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5981/4699

Koestenbaum, W. (2011). Humiliation. New York: Picador.

Koosel, S. (2015). The Renegotiated Self: Social Media’s Effects on Identity. Alfapress.

Lyew, S. (2019, May 17). Kymani the prankster - Man leaves call centre job to fool around. The Jamaica STAR. http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20190517/kymani-prankster-man-leaves-call-centre-job-fool-around

Merrifield, R. (2020, February 24). Parents warn kids against YouTube 'killer Jump Trip Challenge' after two deaths. Mirror. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/parents-warn-kids-against-youtube-21563313

Nagesh, A. (2018, November 29). Cloutlighting: From online 'pranks' to toxic social media trend. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/2f85d272-c509-4d2c-86bf-d4ed4f4e6d9b 

Russell, T. (2020). Attorney Going After Miami-Dade School Board After Teen Injured In ‘Jump Challenge’ Prank. CBS Miami. https://miami.cbslocal.com/2020/02/11/jump-challenge-prank-south-dade-high-school/

Shears, R. (2011, May 16). Bizarre internet craze 'planking' claims its first victim after man plunges from balcony to his death. MailOnline. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387272/Planking-claims-victim-Acton-Beale-falls-balcony-death.html

Taylor, T. (2020, October 2). Kidnap prank’ creators surprised by backlash. The Jamaica STAR. http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20201002/%E2%80%98kidnap-prank%E2%80%99-creators-surprised-backlash

White, K. [iHeart Manii]. (2019, May 8). “Gimmi me money” Finding money in public social experiment. [Video]. YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQUetpE2V8c&t=703s

White, K. [iHeart Manii]. (2020, March 28). Kidnapping Prank On Taxi Drivers (GONE WRONG) *must see* || Gio and Ken || Trouble link tv. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0HuRomRDzI

[ayomeansjoy-blog]

Why I’m not going to the anti- UniteTheRight protest and I think you should stay home too

In response to the hateful and violent message of Unite the Right, counter-protestors who represent anti-racist interests confronted the demonstrators.  This led to arguments and a brawl, and then, around 1:45pm, James Alex Fields Jr, a white man from Ohio drove a car into the crowd, killing Heather D. Heyer, a young white woman from Charlottesville and an ally in the fight for the disenfranchised and for racial and social justice.  In the hours that followed, politicians from the right and the left have condemned the “Unite the Right” demonstration and the terrible actions of Mr. Fields.  In response to the violence, Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tweeted, “Our hearts are with today’s victims.  White supremacy is a scourge.  This hate and its terrorism must be confronted and defeated.” Many non-profit and advocacy groups organized counter protests here in New York City and across the country to denounce white supremacy, racism and bigotry.

While I think the message of these anti-racist protests is important, I want to suggest that perhaps they are bit misguided.  Most Americans already agree that white supremacy, at least as it is espoused by people like David Duke, Richard Spencer and now these “Unite The Right” demonstrators is a deplorable and false idea.  Even Paul Ryan, who I believe is one of the most racist people in our government, has spoken out against this overt white power agenda, calling it a “scourge”.  Yet just weeks ago, Paul Ryan supported a bill that would have stripped healthcare away from 24 million Americans, thousands of whom are poor Black children who rely on Medicaid to fund critical student support services that help secure their right to equal education, in order to provide a superfluous tax cut to rich white male billionaires.  Mitch McConnell, along with 50 other Senate Republicans voted to debate an even worse version of the House bill that would have literally sentenced people who rely on the ACA to death, for no other reason than that they wanted to taint Barack Obama’s greatest legislative accomplishment.  While Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and the other republicans do not openly align themselves with white supremacist ideals, they support the gerrymandering of districts and the rollback of protections of the Voting Rights Act, a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement and one of the beacons of progress that this white supremacist backlash aims to suppress.  They have calculated gerrymandering efforts underway in key districts to neutralize Black votes, while also voting for legislation that strips away anti-discrimination statutes, healthcare and education for poor children, while expanding mandatory minimum sentences, defunding opioid treatment programs, and a whole host of connected actions that have the collective effect of stripping away any progress, real or perceived that non-white, rich, male people have made towards social equality. It is disingenuous for Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz and others to denounce white supremacy and then to support the Trump’s executive order to ban Muslim people from entry to this country on the basis of religion, to support an immigration policy that privileges those who already speak English and skilled labor over unskilled labor, to support an education policy that defunds the public schools that serve children without economic privilege, and a healthcare bill that strips the most vulnerable children of their ability to see a doctor.  These kinds of actions and policies represent, in my mind, white supremacy at its most potent.  

Ever since the terrible sleepless night that we saw 45 ascend to the presidency, there has been a palpable resurgence of white supremacist beliefs into the mainstream discourse. The first time I ever heard of David Duke was when he endorsed Trump’s bid for the presidency, though I studied the backlash to reconstruction that birthed the Ku Klux Klan when I was in college.  I’m positive that before that endorsement and Trump’s refusal to denounce it gained national attention, I could have convinced at least 10 people in Brooklyn that the Ku Klux Klan no longer existed.  This is due in part to ignorance, but mostly to the fact that the Ku Klux Klan is considered now even by white racists (not all white racists are vocal about or even conscious of their racism), to be a fringe group that does not reflect the values of American national identity.  They weren’t getting a lot of airtime on mainstream media in an America that uses the rhetoric of “colorblindness” to actually deny that racism is even a problem anymore.  Months after the election, Richard Spencer, who I also had never heard of before, was suddenly on CNN debating with Roland Powell if whites had been responsible for technological, scientific and agricultural advances that white historians and whites within the contemporaneous record, had already documented as the work of non-white peoples. A quick Google search will reveal that first irrigation system was created in Egypt and that written language was developed in Mesopotamia, and yet, here was Spencer charging that white people had created everything of value of mankind.  Even more fascinating, there was Roland Powell looking like he was about to pop a blood vessel from sheer frustration.  In other words, he wasn’t, as he perhaps should have been, laughing at the clearly counter-factual, ridiculous case for white superiority that Spencer was making, that a high school student with a modest understanding of American history could disprove.  

The injection of confidence that 45 put into white supremacists with his hate speech against women, Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, disabled people, and anyone else who was not a cis-gendered, rich, white male, is very real and has consequences.  Hate crimes are on the rise.  Stories of young boys attempting to assault women by grabbing their genitals, photographs of mosques defaced or burned, assaults of Muslim people, particularly women, seemed to be peppered throughout my Facebook timeline for the months directly following the election, and many of these tragic and senseless acts of violence and harassment have been reported nationally.  There can be no question that white supremacists identify with and feel emboldened by Trump and the ideas that he represents.  I would also argue that the support for repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the absence of any viable replacement, the resurgence of mandatory minimums and the rollback of civil asset forfeiture statutes that required police prove a crime was committed in order to seize property, the defunding of AIDS prevention and women’s education programs in countries in Africa and around the world, as well as countless other initiatives that seek to strip protections for the poor and most vulnerable populations among us, are an outgrowth of white supremacist ideals that are encoded within not only the Trump agenda but the Republican party as a whole.  In February the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent states and cities from setting up automatic retirement plans for small business workers who do not have access to 401K’s.  This is just one of many examples of legislation targeting a program that experts agree helps the economy, helps the American middle class and helps our country, because it was an Obama-era initiative.  These legislative moves that are reaching every area of our lives from education to healthcare to environment and criminal justice, are undergirded by a racist backlash to any progress real or perceived toward upsetting a power structure that privileges white, straight, rich cis-gendered males.  In my view, it is the insidious expansion of policies and practices that can only be called racist and violent, that drive the wealth gap between rich and poor, erode any progress toward racial and environmental justice that has been made in the last 50 years and particularly in the last eight, that most deserves our protest and attention.

Marching against, debating, tweeting about and railing against the David Dukes and Richard Spencers and “Unite the Right” folks of the world obscures the real issue.  The unintended result of protesting this kind of overt racism is to get “Unite the Right” trending on Twitter, their faces on the front page of the New York Times, and empower folks like Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz to speak up and say, “not me”, while also supporting policies and practices that continue to embolden these kinds of fringe groups.  My hope was that we would have stayed home and scoffed, or better yet, had internal meetings about organizing a march against the wretched tax reform that republicans are aiming to push through this fall.  This is not to say that those efforts are not already underway, or that we are not organizing within ourselves all the time, but it is to say that when we put this kind of hatred on CNN, on our Twitter and our Facebook, it feeds into the idea that America is consumed in a race war and that these people have some kind of legitimacy within that fight.  It gives power to the idea that we should be having a conversation about the people marching with torches against the dismantling of confederate statues, and not about white supremacy in its most effective form: racism cloaked in racially neutral language.  

To be clear, I do not admonish anyone for marching to express their disgust Unite the Right and the racist ideology they represent.  My heart and prayers are with those who were injured and with Ms. Heyer, who died simply trying to speak out for the cause of justice and equity.  However, I want to push us to think about what the effect of a demonstration like this could be: to make national news, to convince us that we are hated, to disempower those who would seek to speak out the cause of justice.  How does giving these people a platform on our social media, telling their stories on major cable networks, further that agenda?

The true purpose of the so-called “Unite the Right” white supremacist demonstration that took place in Charlottesville, VA this past Saturday, was to grasp at the antiquated notion that white men have an inalienable right to power and privilege and to affirm that whiteness itself is still at the center of “real” American identity.  This country is changing, both demographically and culturally.  As a country founded on immigration, enslavement and genocide, America has always struggled to reconcile whites as the true Americans and all other people as inferior, while also requiring the presence of non-white people to fuel the economy, culture and vitality of American society.  While I can only loosely use the term “protest” to describe what happened in Charlottesville, it really was about “protesting” the upending of white privilege.  These “protestors” know as well as you or I that there is no biological or historical basis for white men’s inherent superiority to any other group of people, but they need to believe it is so, because without that sense of power, what is this country? What is their place in it? What does America become without whiteness at the center?  Arguably, it is America’s relationship to Blackness that defines its national identity but that’s another blog post.  

Also, I caution myself and anyone against any activism that Paul Ryan can get behind.  That usually means it’s all bad.  

[readnowsleeplater]

Bang - Excerpt

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher.

Hello, hello, everyone! I'm a bit late to the party today, but without further ado, here's an excerpt from BANG by Barry Lyga! Read on for more info about the book, which will be released on April 18, 2017. There's also a list of stores where you can pre-order the book, and a schedule of blog tour stops. Long-time readers will know I love Barry Lyga's Jasper Dent series, and I can't wait to dig into this new pageturner. 

About the book

A chunk of old memory, adrift in a pool of blood.

Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one--not even Sebastian himself--can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father's gun.

Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian has only a new friend--Aneesa--to distract him from his darkest thoughts. But even this relationship cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past. It took a gun to get him into this.

Now he needs a gun to get out.

Unflinching and honest, Bang is the story of one boy and one moment in time that cannot be reclaimed, as true and as relevant as tomorrow's headlines. Readers of This is Where It Ends, The Hate List, and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock will appreciate this extraordinary novel.

''Heartbreaking and brutally compelling.'' --Kirkus Reviews, starred review ''[A] raw exploration of persistent social stigmas, a beautiful study of forgiveness, and an unflinching portrait of a parent's worst nightmare.'' -Publishers Weekly, starred review ''Lyga tackles a number of relevant issues in this heartbreaking novel, including gun control, suicide, and religious and racial prejudice. The pain and anguish Sebastian feels every day are raw and chafing, and the chemistry between Sebastian and Aneesa is tender and realistic.'' -School Library Journal, starred review ''Lyga manages his intensely emotional material well, creating in Sebastian a highly empathetic character....'' -Booklist

Excerpt

Mom says I should bring something to the party, even though there is nothing in the invitation to indicate this. “It’s polite,” she says. “It’s what people do.” And I wonder in which class do people learn this fact about modern life? What if I missed the class, skipped over it to take chemistry or biology? What other important social ingredients does my etiquette larder lack? 

“And what if I don’t bother?” I ask her. “What then? Why is being a little out of step such a major felony?” 

“Just do it. Don’t examine it; don’t dissect it.” 

“You’d think if they wanted me to bring something, they would say so.” 

“They don’t want you to. But you do anyway.” 

“That makes no sense. Doesn’t it make more sense for us to agree on something, together?” 

She sighs, but it’s not her annoyed sigh. It’s her my son is so goofy and so smart sigh, the much rarer variety. But since things are going well right now, I figure maybe this is a good time to broach another topic: “Like back on the last day of school. You wanted to talk and I didn’t and—” 

“What do you mean?” 

“When you brought up Lola and I threw up?” 

Her face goes tight. “Not now.” 

“Look, I just wanted to . . . I’m just thinking that maybe we need a way to talk about it. Her. You know? Isn’t it time?” Past time. I should try, I should make a real effort, before I go. Go away. 

With a grimace, she flaps her hands. “You’re going to be late. Don’t be rude to these people.” 

Typical. She brings it up; I recoil. I bring it up; she recoils. We’re never in sync. 

And there’s no arguing with parental authority. At her insistence, I bring a two-liter bottle of soda, as well as a truly gigantic bag of potato chips. Balancing the two of them while riding my bike would be impossible, so I have no choice but to accede to Aneesa’s snarky wish and walk to her house. 

The cookout is attended by maybe fifteen people, a decent enough total for a backyard barbecue, perhaps, but a poor representation of the neighborhood in general. Easily four hundred people live in this development. How many did the Fahims invite? I’m willing to bet most of them. 

There’s a red, white, and blue paper tablecloth on a picnic table piled high with bags of chips and pretzels, a card table stocked with drinks and cups (to which I add my two-liter bottle, it vanishing like a chameleon among its fellows), and a large plastic tub filled with ice and bottles of water. No beer, I notice. 

The grill billows forth great gusts of fragrant smoke. I take a peek—burgers and dogs, along with delicious-smelling basted barbecue chicken skewers. 

“It’s Alexander the Great!” Aneesa’s dad says, spying me lurking by the grill. 

“I didn’t cut your cords,” I remind him. 

“More like Theseus, then,” he amends. 

“Maybe more like Ariadne.” Theseus navigated the labyrinth, true, but Ariadne was the one who gave him the ball of twine and the idea in the first place, so let’s give her her due. 

He laughs and slaps my shoulder, then wields his barbecue tongs with a flourish, gesturing to the grill. 

“What can I get you?” 

I’m not a big eater, but it smells so good that I want one of each. “I’ll try the chicken.” 

“Good man!” He tongs a juicy skewer onto a paper plate for me and presents it with a little bow. “Enjoy. Aneesa’s around here somewhere. . . .” 

“I’ll find her. Thanks, Mr. Fahim.” 

He pauses just a moment, then says, “Call me Joe. Everyone does.” 

“Okay, Mr. Fahim.”

“Joe,” he admonishes, shaking his tongs in faux outrage. 

“Joe. Right.” 

I step off to the side with my skewer and do what I do best: watch. Mingling has never been my strong suit. My public life began with concentrated doses of overwhelming pity (“You poor boy!”) before transitioning into a bewildered scrutiny (“He’s still around?”) and then finally settling into a resigned acceptance of my continued existence, marked mostly by tight smiles and sharp nods and general avoidance of conversation. 

Most of the people in the neighborhood ought to be able to manage at least that level of politeness. I don’t need people to approach me, just as long as they don’t outright avoid me. Mr. Marchetti and his wife are here, without her son, Don. Too bad. He’s older than I am, but I could have at least made small talk about the comic book he publishes in the school lit journal. He’s probably off somewhere with his girlfriend, a noted psychotic who has spent as much time in a mental ward as at school. 

The chicken is delicious, slightly cumin-y, with a hint of garlic in the sauce. It’s skewered with marinated onions and peppers, and I’m in some sort of chicken heaven, scanning the backyard for Aneesa, thinking how great it is that I can joke around with Mr. Fahim, when it hits me: The Fahims don’t know about me. 

About who I am and what I’ve done.

Excerpted from BANG © Copyright 2017 by Barry Lyga. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Read more excerpts from BANG and find out more about Barry Lyga on the blog tour!

Teenreads (3/30) Novel Novice (3/31) Short & Sweet Reviews (4/3) Young Adult Books Central (4/6) Read Now, Sleep Later (4/10) Sleeps on Tables (4/12) The Cover Contessa (4/14) Mundie Moms (4/27)

Pre-order a copy of BANG

Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ  http://www.changinghands.com/book/9780316315500  Books of Wonder, NYC http://www.booksofwondershop.com/bang.aspx  Addendum Books, St Paul http://addendumbooks.blogspot.com  Blue Willow, Houston http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/barry-lyga-bang-pre-order  BookPeople, Austin http://www.bookpeople.com/book/9780316315500  Little Shop of Stories, Decatur http://littleshopofstories.com 

About the Author

Called a “YA rebel-author” by Kirkus Reviews, Barry Lyga has published seventeen novels in various genres in his eleven-year career, including the New York Times bestselling I Hunt Killers. His books have been or are slated to be published in more than a dozen different languages in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Lyga worked in the comic book industry before quitting to pursue his lifelong love of writing. In 2006, his first young adult novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was published to rave reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Publishers Weekly named Lyga a “Flying Start” in December 2006 on the strength of the debut. His second young adult novel, Boy Toy, received starred reviews in SLJ, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus. VOYA gave it its highest critical rating, and the Chicago Tribune called it “…an astounding portrayal of what it is like to be the young male victim.” His third novel, Hero-Type, according to VOYA “proves that there are still fresh ideas and new, interesting story lines to be explored in young adult literature.” Since then, he has also written Goth Girl Rising (the sequel to his first novel), as well as the Archvillain series for middle-grade readers and the graphic novel Mangaman (with art by Colleen Doran). His latest series is I Hunt Killers, called by the LA Times “one of the more daring concepts in recent years by a young-adult author” and an “extreme and utterly alluring narrative about nature versus nurture.” The first book landed on both the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. Lyga lives and podcasts near New York City with his wife, Morgan Baden, and their nigh-omnipotent daughter. His comic book collection is a lot smaller than it used to be, but is still way too big.

I hope you'll all add Bang to your Goodreads TBR shelves and check it out when it debuts in about a week. Better yet, click on one of the pre-order links above and get ready to read!