#seems like the issue isn't really 'theft'

[inserttemptitlehere]

For a website that was all about pirating movies, TV shows, and music it suddenly got very anti-art theft on here.

And for a website that was all about fanfiction, fanart, and OCs, it suddenly got very anti-derivative art.

[ms-demeanor]

i’m curious what your opinion is on the finer points of the case mentioned in the JSTOR post you reblogged earlier. the two sources in the post say that JSTOR didn’t press charges against him and had already settled with him by the time he killed himself. from what i read on wikipedia, the concern seems to be that JSTOR complied with a subpoena, which i don’t believe they have a choice to ignore? if anything it seems like the us government had reason to want him dead for wikileaks and public court records reasons, so they took a terms of use violation and blew it up into a dozen federal crimes.

is there more context i should be aware of? i have no particular affection or malice for JSTOR but the sources i found don’t exactly implicate the database or its employees in murder.

That's from page 175 of this document. This line: "The activity noted is outright theft and may merit a call with university counsel, and even the local police, to ensure not only that the activity has stopped but that - e.g. the visiting scholar who left - isn't leaving with a hard drive containing our database" is where I think the culpability starts.

If someone is downloading 1000s of articles (what seems like reasonable threshold for us to take action), what's wrong with us - or the university in collaboration with us - alerting the cyber-crimes division of law enforcement and initiating an investigation, having cop search dorm room and try to retrieve any hard drive that contains our content, etc. Our content is extraordinarily valuable and hard to replicate by the sweat of one's brow, but can be duplicated by savvy hackers and who knows what they want to do with the content?

Page 379: "Does the university contact law enforcement? Would they be willing to do so in this instance?

From page 1296:

I think the important thing to note here is that JSTOR had worked with MIT and had plans in place to prevent future similar downloads, but remained focused on identifying the person responsible for the downloads and ensuring that their data was deleted.

"I might just be irked because I am up dealing with this person on a Sunday night, but I am starting to feel like they need to get a hold of this situation right away or we need to offer to send them some help (read FBI).

And there it is. Page 3093 of the document.

JSTOR can hem and haw about it all they want, but you can't un-call the cops.

MIT was working with JSTOR on preventing future incidents of pirating, but JSTOR repeatedly said that they weren't going to let it go, that it was unacceptable to drop the issue, that they were going to continue to pursue the pirate.

You can scroll through the document and see the JSTOR tech department and abuse team talking about Swartz as a script kiddie, and a hacker. You can see someone talking about how this was real theft - making the comparison to stealing books even while admitting that piracy doesn't close others out of access.

You can see the thread starts with a joke about punching someone in the face for hacking their system, and includes the tech team ominously considering whether they should threaten the MIT librarians with the FBI.

There's something really important to note here which I don't think that people who aren't PRETTY DEEP into hackery shit aren't aware of: US law enforcement is absolutely rabidly feral about prosecuting hackers. People may be more aware of this now because of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden (and perhaps a bit on tumblr because of maia arson crimew), but people who work in tech and who are in infosec - like the people joking about calling the FBI in these emails - would be aware of the bonkers disproportionate punishments faced by hackers. And knowing that, they kept pushing and pushing and pushing for identification of the hacker. They kept digging with MIT, they kept saying that simply preventing future incidents wasn't enough.

Early in the exchange someone from JSTOR asked "what's wrong with us - or the university in collaboration with us - alerting the cyber-crimes division of law enforcement and initiating an investigation, having cop search dorm room and try to retrieve any hard drive that contains our content, etc." and the answer is what happened to Aaron Swartz.

It is absolute bullshit for JSTOR to say "we arrived at a solution privately and didn't want to press charges" after law enforcement has gotten involved with a hacking case, especially one where they're talking about "real theft" and are attempting to quantify and emphasize the amount that was "stolen" from them.

The *public* may believe that private individuals or institutions are the ones who "press charges" but that's simply not the case. It's prosecutors who decide whether or not to go ahead with charges; they do it based on what cases they think they can win and what their office's perspective is on the crime. When you hear about people choosing to press charges it simply means that they decided to tell the prosecutor they wanted the case to go forward. It's up to the prosecutor whether or not that happens.

And the tech team at JSTOR had to know that law enforcement wasn't just going to wag a finger at an academic hacker.

There's a parallel here that happens sometimes when people have their identities stolen by their parents. If you mom takes out a credit card in your name, that's identity theft. That's fraud. That's illegal. If you reach the age of 25 and realize that your credit is ruined because your mom has been defaulting on cards in your name, you've got two choices to fix that: one is to accept the debt and pay it off and build up credit, and the other is to report the identity theft - which will end up with your mom in prison for a decade or so. Ruin your own personal finances, or your mom goes to jail for ruining your finances. So if you find out that your mom stole your identity you can't just call the cops to pressure her into transferring the debt to her name or something. That's not an option. The cops are not a threat to wave over people, they are not a way to get people to fall in line or act right. They aren't someone you can send to a college student's dorm room to retrieve a hard drive and have the matter drop.

When you call the cops on someone you are sending the full force of the law after them, and the full force of the law falls really heavily on hackers, and how heavy that blow can be is something that the JSTOR team must have been aware of when they were making snide comments about calling the FBI because they were frustrated with the noncommittal responses they were getting from librarians.

Ultimately it was the carceral state that killed Aaron Swartz, but they would not have been involved if JSTOR didn't think that what he did constituted theft.

Taking an *EVEN LARGER* step back from that, the idea that information can be owned and locked behind a paywall is what killed Aaron Swartz, someone who fought for information to be free.

Like. JSTOR is a licensing company. At the end of the day, cute social media posts and all, they're the same as the RIAA and ASCAB. They exist to extract a fee from people attempting to access information.

Aaron Swartz and all that he stood for are an existential threat to their core function.

Are JSTOR's hands as dirty as the federal prosecutors? Absolutely not. But they operate on a model that puts them in opposition to open information activists and it ended up with a hammer falling on Aaron Swartz that they dropped.

[thatdogmagic]

So, there's some posting going around, and after being alerted to what exactly is being made public, it's pretty clear I can't go with my initial inclination which is 'leave this alone.'

First things first:

a) I'm not going to fight any accusations of having done something potentially racist. I'm a white person raised very white; when I was made aware that the default ways I was responding to things were reading very poorly in the context of a white person and a black person, I apologized. No matter how I feel about what's happening *currently*, I still am sorry about it. I really hadn't thought of how it would come off until I saw it in hindsight.

I can't say for sure what all is being referenced aside from that instance. I'm not going to be the best judge, for the reasons mentioned above. The best I can do is absorb, apologize, keep learning to be better, and continue to chip away at the boneheaded 40yo white person shit.

b) re: ableism, the sad irony of the screengrab posted is that I was having an autistic meltdown at the time (which, no, is not an excuse). Use of the r-slur, in reference to myself, is a very sure sign I'm in the middle of one, reaching for an impact word and choosing a really terrible one. Like the verbal equivalent of hitting yourself, giving voice to what are, yes, at root, ableist thoughts that live in my head about my own diagnosis. I can and do get very frustrated with my autism sometimes, especially when I 'fail' to learn fast enough to manage it (read: fail to prevent a meltdown).

I'm also genuinely sorry people had to see that, both people in the chat and now, everywhere. I did, yes, delete it because I hated it being there, and I didn't want especially that to be the footprint I left on the server, if it was ever repurposed/the channels weren't recycled (brief note on that later).

Anyway yeah it's something I really need to work on. And it's disheartening to see it cherrypicked when everyone there was aware of the context, but yea; if you see some really wild shit from screencaps, please keep in mind that a lot of it has already been extremely cherrypicked/context is going to be missing. If the whole conversation isn't present, ask to see it.

That's the heaviest stuff that needed addressing.

The accusations of character theft are another thing, because that involves Ependa, and a conversation I had personally with Jackal that was settled amicably a year ago. Or so I thought.

It's the one conversation I did think to save in its entirety, because I just-- had a feeling it might end up being in the cherrypicked pile, or removed from the record entirely. I didn't expect to have to need it this soon, but here we are.

So here it is, in its entirety:

All of that is true, on my end. I was the one who told Ependa to go with a darker complexion on Lacey, and it really didn't quite occur to me at the time that it'd be much of an issue. It should have. The characters are distinct to me in a variety of ways, but as said in the screengrabs, it's a small pond. Past that, if there was more we could do to differentiate then it wasn't discussed with either of us, and we were both open to making further alterations as-needed.

This is not the first time this conversation has been had among werewolf creators, fwiw, or the first time we've had to chat amongst ourselves about potential crossover. I've had to have a similar talk with another artist I know and respect because there were a few too many similarities going on with a set of pieces I was already working on.

Ependa had to recently have that conversation with Trashasaurus (which I'm paraphrasing a Ependa's request), re: commissions that had requested a character that had taken a lot of visual inspiration from both Lin and Toska. She'd noticed Toska's traits and vibe and wasn't entirely comfortable with it, and upon learning they had been requested asked Trashasaurus not to take on those commissions anymore. Trashasaurus agreed and that seemed to be the end of it, save to drop some warning about the 'Lacey talk' which-- well. See above. That's it, in its entirety.

If Ependa wants to post the logs of her conversation, she can, but I'll leave that up to her.

So, that's the heart of the matter at the moment.

It's yet another fallout of yet another failed project by yet another group of artists. It's a tale as old as time, and I would've really loved to have not given it fuel, but the r-slur thing backed me into a corner and needed to be addressed. And if that was being addressed, then others things needed to be addressed, too.

The thing about character theft, though-- yeah, IDK. If there was a problem, there was a year to solve it, and the offer made to post publicly about the oops/acknowledge it right there in that moment was genuine. So far as anyone knew, this had all been settled, and any time it was brought up after there were a million assurances that it wasn't an issue.

Last: I deleted my presence on the server because I a) wasn't sure if it was going to be repurposed and wanted a lot of very personal conversations/old images removed if that happened, b) was frankly concerned about something like this happening; cherrypicked conversations getting tossed up online if things got any worse. I used undiscord, which deletes chronologically, because deleting everything is easier than finding specific conversations/image files.

Because the worst of the fights happened last, well. Yeah it's gonna look like I'm deleting the worst parts first.

I also wouldn't have willingly agreed to be on a server using third party logging software/deleted message retrieval plugins, either, had I known that was in play, but that's a 'live and learn' moment for me, unfortunately.

Anyway that's it, that's all. I can't tell anyone how to think or feel about any of this. I'll be here and will continue to post art, though, for those who still feel like sticking around.

[experthiese]

my first one is messy and honestly not the way I'd want it, so here's my shot at a public vs. private information post, version two.

"but pluto, where does my muse fall on this?"

I don't know! I don't write your muse! realistically speaking, even lupin's canon can't even seem to keep itself consistent with what's known and who by, so I'm not really all that fussed about how you choose to interpret this list. go with whatever feels right, and I'll play along accordingly.

so, let's get started!

PUBLIC.

He is the grandson of Arsène Lupin, phantom burglar of France.

He is the son of Lupin II, attempted founder of the Lupin Empire.

Like his predecessors, Lupin III is a master thief who targets valuable items from all across the world. He's a household name, and even has official merchandise (including the infamous plushie claw machines).

He's affiliated with what's informally known as the Lupin Gang: his 'inner circle' of friends. The current active members are Jigen Daisuke, Goemon Ishikawa XIII, and thieftress Fujiko Mine. She's more of an independent force, and is just as likely to betray Lupin and co. as she is to aid them. More members may be present, as dependent on verse and muse connections.

His eternal rival is Inspector Koichi Zenigata of the ICPO. Zenigata is the only person able to consistently get close to Lupin, and has managed to capture and detain him over one hundred times. The issue, of course, is that Lupin has been able to break out over a hundred times.

He's polyamorous and can often be found surrounded by short-term lovers whenever he's out spending his heist gains. He makes no attempt to hide this or deceive anyone: he's poly, not a cheater.

He's a polyglot, able to speak as fluently as a native regardless of where in the world he travels. Despite French and Japanese being his mother languages, he has no noticeable accent when speaking outside of them. Lupin also knows a select handful of dead and computer languages.

He's a master of disguise, able to forge documents as the need arrives and change his entire appearance at will. He can fake scars, injuries, identifying marks such as birthmarks or tattoos, and adopt the face, voice and mannerisms of anyone he pleases. His masks do have tells, however: such as not showing sweat after a period of exercise, while real skin would.

His chosen weapon is a Walther P-38, kept holstered against his chest.

There's a tongue-in-cheek saying that, for a Lupin, walls and gates and security systems simply do not exist. Many believe them able to get anywhere and everywhere, regardless of any preventative measures attempted. While this isn't entirely true, it is exceedingly difficult to keep Lupin out of somewhere, with even supposedly 'top security' buildings having been compromised more times than I care to count.

He was married to Rebecca Rossellini, Italian heiress, model, actress, and general celebrity.

He was the star of the Lupin Game online phenomenon, where he was tracked day and night by drone cameras, whose footage was live-streamed across the internet. People were encouraged to take photographs or video clips if they saw him.

SEMI-PUBLIC.

His calling cards lay out the rules of his heist. He will appear on the date and time listed, and he will leave empty-handed if he's unable to complete his theft before the end time listed on the card. The heist's no fun if there's no game involved.

Lupin doesn't kill unprovoked. That's one of the rules of his game. Taking another's life only becomes an option once they cross the line and endanger the lives of himself or his friends. Under all other circumstances, he'll always shoot to disarm first.

Not only does Lupin have copycat thieves aiming to impersonate his crimes, but this no-killing rule is one of the biggest copycat downfalls, often being the thing that gets them discovered. Thief he may be, but Lupin has a strict code of ethics that both he and Zenigata are very well acquainted with.

He has an IQ of 300, and can temporarily raise it to 301. He's incredibly intelligent, far more than he's often given credit for, but prefers to hide it behind a silly and easily underestimated persona.

His marriage to Rebecca wasn't his first, nor his last. However, the only real 'love match' was his attempt to settle down with Fujiko, while ultimately failed and lead to a separation. All other marriages are used as a means to an end, a way to get himself closer to whatever treasure he's aiming to steal.

He was the star of dark web phenomenon Happy Death Day, where people would bet on the date Lupin would die. This inevitably ended up attracting prominent assassins who would compete to kill Lupin on their predicted date, and after a particularly large confrontation, most of these competing players have been declared dead.

He's AMAB, just androgynous enough that many databases find it difficult to make a definitive decision one way or the other. As a result, this field is often left marked inconclusive.

He's bisexual, and appreciates pretty faces of all genders. His love for womanising and vocal adoration for his beloved Fujicakes just tend to overshadow the times he pursues everyone else.

SEMI-PRIVATE.

He stayed in France for the early years of his childhood and was raised within his grandfather's sprawling Paris estate. Arsène taught him the ways of Lupin family thievery from the moment he could stand, and he had already mastered several of its skills by the time he was able to write.

He attended the later years of elementary and early years of Junior high school in Tokyo, Japan. However, he left the system before graduating.

He targeted dark web drugs trafficking and money laundering giant Marco Polo in an online heist, draining their crypto wallet and making off with millions in BitMoney currency. He was also involved in the arrest of its three executives: Chuck Glay (Peekaboo), Kunal Robinson (Chap Tip) and Sonia Boutella (MooMoo).

He can pilot any vehicle, be it for land, sea or sky. It's safe to assume that he owns at least one mode of transport for each, and tends to favour cars, submarines and planes respectively.

He's been declared dead many times. One time 'Lupin' was even publicly hanged, though this was later revealed to be a clone. Lupin himself had no hand in the clone's creation.

He has chapodiphobia: a fear of octopi. This fear extends out to squid, cuttlefish and anything else under the cephalopod umbrella.

He's... somewhere under the nonbinary label. Most likely genderfluid, though he lacks the vocabulary to express this (nor does he have much desire to explore / pin himself down to any particular label).

His marriage with Fujiko ended poorly, and left a rift between them for some time. While she was the one to actually leave, a lot of their inner conflict was a result of Lupin and his discomfort at being truly transparent, even to her.

PRIVATE.

He has connections to the Grand Duchy of Cagliostro thanks to his efforts to save its ruler, Clarisse, from an unwanted marriage.

He's incapable of dreaming, lacking the subconscious needed to activate REM sleep. This void was once said to be the consciousness of an idiot or a god, though it's impossible to tell what one Lupin is.

The only marriage still standing is the one with Onabes, an art collector. He's the husband of Lupin's Miss Marie persona, making him Onabes' wife in the eyes of the law. Lupin has requested divorce several times, but Onabes is yet to sign the necessary papers.

He's got an occasional telepathic ability, though this link has only been shown between him and Fujiko, and it only seems to activate in times of life-or-death danger. Lupin's aware of this ability, and once called it the miracle of love.

He has safehouses in every conceivable corner of the globe. Some are luxurious mansions with grand estates attached. Others are rickety wooden shacks held together by hopes and dreams and prayers, with no running water and a single flickering lightbulb. All of them are owned under false names.

All gadgets are handmade, as are any smoke bombs or chemicals he uses. Lupin's a capable scientist when he wants to be, an often occupies himself by engineering new little toys to try out.

[2-guns-b1tch]

Talk to Me

Arkham! Riddler x F! Reader

🔞 Minor DNI!!!

TW: past child abuse

Masterlist

Chapter 3/ AO3

“I found the answer to your riddle.”

Edward stares at you, an amused grin spreading across his lips.

“Well then, tell me.” He leans his body towards you, his elbows against the table.

“The answer is cat.”

“Very good, Doctor. Very good." He chuckles. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“The first part is about how stealthy cats are. The second and third are about how lovable yet independent they are. And from then on I just assumed the rest.”

“You are definitely exceeding my expectations. The bar was pretty low to begin with, but your effort counts for something.”

You suppressed the urge to roll your eyes, deciding to focus on the more important issue. “How did you know I had a cat?”

“It may seem impressive to you, but it was just logical thinking.” He taps his index finger on his temple. “You see, I noticed some fur on your lab coat, so I assumed you might have a pet.”

You look down at yourself and to your surprise there’s a few strands caught in the fabric just like he said. It probably got stuck in your lab coat after you hugged Meg before you left in the morning.

“Most citizens of Gotham live in apartments, so it's more practical to have a cat than a dog. And you seem like the kind of person who prefers cats.”

His remark makes you raise an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?”

Edward shakes his head. “You could be out there, with normal and good citizens of Gotham. But instead you chose to be here, among the crazy and degenerate.”He shrugs, leaning back in his chair. “A cat would be an appropriate pet for you.”

“That's just a stereotype. Cats can be very affectionate and great companions.”

“Well, I know a kitty that would make you think otherwise. In fact, her obsession with stealing makes me wonder if she shouldn't be locked here.”

“If you're talking about Catwoman I would have to disagree. Kleptomania only qualifies for theft of worthless objects, and as far as I know, she only likes jewelry and luxury things.”

“Oh, please. A sane person wouldn't go around dressed as a cat walking across rooftops. And I've seen her clean herself with her tongue once! She's definitely not right in the head."

You can't help the unexpected laugh that leaves your lips, covering your mouth in an attempt not to stroke Edward's ego, which doesn't quite work out.

Edward gives you a smug look, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “Is that a laugh, Doctor? Did I make you laugh?” His tone is humorous, proud to have broken your composure.

"Hold on. We're here to talk about you, not the other Gotham criminals." You take a deep breath, adjusting your posture in the chair.

Edward clicks his tongue. "Alright . If you insist. But let me ask you before we get started. What is your cat's breed?

The question catches you off guard, but you still answer him. “It’s a calico.”

"Oh, I see. So it's a female, isn't it?

“Your mind is pretty sharp today. She really is a female and her name is Meg. How did you know?”

“My mind is always sharp, thank you very much. I just used logical thinking again. You see, calico cats are predominantly female, because their coat is linked to the X chromosome. Calico males are more rare.” Edward explains with his index finger raised in the air.

"I didn’t know that. I'm glad you're using your intelligence for less destructive things."

The expression on his face darkens and Edward crosses his arms over his chest. “Don't jump to conclusions, Doctor. I'm just bored.”

“Then how about I ask you a few questions? Let's see…” You look through your notes until you get to today's topic. “Can you tell me about your childhood?”

"Miserable. Next?"

You put your clipboard down, deciding to maintain eye contact with him. “By all accounts that is when your fascination with riddles began. I believe discussing those years could explain your compulsive behavior.”

"Very well…" Edward sighs, rolling his eyes. “My father hated me. Always called me a moron.”

Your brows furrow slightly, a familiar feeling hitting you, but you try to push it away for now. "I see."

“I was determined to prove him wrong, so I entered a contest at school. A twenty dollar prize for the kid who could figure out an almost impossible logic problem. I won, of course.”

“And did that pleased your father?”

“Hardly,” he huffs, his handcuffs waving in the air as he gestures. “He was convinced I had cheated. He kept yelling: You must have cheated! Admit it, you moron! You cheated!” Edward recounts, his voice full of anger. "I swore I didn't and he hit me for lying."

“I'm so sorry, Edward. You didn't deserve this.” For a moment you want to reach out and touch him, but decide not to.

The wolfish grin on his face sends a chill down your spine. Edward tilts his head, his glasses on the tip of his nose. "Don’t be. He was right."

Now things fell into place perfectly. The need to outsmart everyone. His egotistical nature. How he needed to be better and superior. These were all ways for Edward to protect himself, a shield so that no one would treat him like his father had. So that no one would treat him like an moron.

You make a quick note, taking a deep breath before looking at Edward again.

“I'm still sorry, Edward. You didn't deserve to be treated that way, no child does."

His gaze softens, but he talks in a annoyed tone. “I don't need your pity, Doctor. Most of the lunatics here have troubled relationships with their parents, and unfortunately, I am no exception.”

“What I feel is not pity. I know how it is to feel this way. Scared. Lost. Lonely.”

The words leave a bitter taste on your mouth, but they don't stop flowing.

Before Edward can counter with a sarcastic comment, you pull up your shirt sleeve, showing off the burn that covered most of your forearm. The marks were old, long healed. But you could still remember the heat over your skin. The pain overwhelming every nerve in your body until you became numb.

“I know because my mom did the same thing to me.”

You don't really know why you did it. That probably break the doctor-patient code in some kind of way, but you needed to show Edward. You needed him to know he wasn't alone.

His eyes move between your burn and your face, filled with something you haven't seen before.

“Why…why did she do this to you?” Edward asks after a long period of silence.

You cover your scar again. “I don't remember exactly. I only know that I did something that displeased my mother and as punishment she burned me with the hot water from the teapot. But it doesn't matter anyway, I know I didn't deserve it, just like you didn't deserve your father's abuse.”

“I won't say I'm sorry if that's what you want to hear.” Despite his cruel voice, the expression on Edward's face was different.

For the first time, Edward appeared to be concerned about something other than himself.

“I don't want you to feel bad for me. That's not why I showed you this,” you lean towards him. “Every child deserves a parent, but not every parent deserves a child. Do you understand that, Edward?”

He doesn't bother to answer you, preferring to look down at his lap, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“I have some self-destructive habits because of my traumas,” you continue. “In my case, when I get really nervous I have a tic that makes me want to scratch my burn. You deal with your insecurities in a different way.”

Edward looks up again, his nose wrinkled as if you just said something absurd. “Insecurities? I have no insecurities!”

“I think you use self-centered comments in an attempt to feel superior because your father made you feel insignificant.”

Edward slams his fists against the table, the metal creaking with the impact. He looks like he's about to explode. His jaw clenched painfully hard, his face growing redder and redder.

But you don't look away from him. You stand your ground. Did he want to take his anger out on you? Fine, as long as he got everything out of his system.

“How dare you insinuate something so dumb about me? No one could ever make me feel insignificant. I am Edward Nygma! The Riddler! I'm above everyone else in this stupid city,” Edward snarls through clenched teeth, pointing accusingly at you. “Including you, Doctor. Don't think you can solve me. Don't pretend you understand me!"

“But I want to understand. I really want. Edward, please. Let me help you.”

“Enough of this selfless bullshit! Do you want to help me, Doctor? Let's see if you're still like this after I'm done with your furball! Maybe I'll make a scarf out of your darling kitten. What do you think?"

On your first day on the job you were told that patients could make threats, but that you shouldn't worry because they were usually empty, just a way for patients to scare therapists.

But what you felt wasn't fear. What hit you was a sudden wave of anger. If Edward wanted to push you over your limits he finally did.

“Please, Edward. Tell me what my poor cat did to be the target of your wrath. Did she steal money from the poor? Or maybe she is involved in a corruption scheme? We both know you would never attack a defenseless animal.” You can't contain the anger in your voice. Now you were the one ready to explode.

The expression on Edward's face changes dramatically. He just stares at you silently, eyes wide in chock. He almost looked scared to see you react after so many insults.

You keep going. “Attack me all you want, I can take it, but never, ever threaten Meg like that again. If this happens again I will not hesitate to send you to another therapist.”

The flame of his rage burns out, until there was nothing left. Edward takes a deep breath as he presses himself against the chair, his ego seeming to deflate like a balloon.

Something in your stomach turns over seeing him like that. The Riddler. The most narcissistic, self-absorbed man in Gotham suddenly looked so small. As much as you needed to set limits, you couldn't shake out a feeling of guilt.

“Did your mother make you feel insignificant too?” His voice is low, almost a whisper. As if he feared anyone else would hear.

You recompose yourself in your chair, your anger slowly easing. “Yes, besides other things. If I disobeyed or simply did not fit the expectations, I was punished.”

“You said you sometimes scratch your burn. Why?"

You let out a sigh. "Edward, we're not here to talk about me."

"Please." The request seems so genuine and Edward stares at you like a sorry puppy. You can't help how gentle your voice comes out.

“Sometimes the pain can serve as way to cope, but it's a bad habit and I'm trying to stop. That's why I adopted Meg.” It felt right to tell Edward this. Despite everything it felt right to tell him this. Maybe you weren’t so different, even if he was a criminal.

“Can you bring me another book?” He sounds shy, staring at his hands as he picks at his fingernails. For the first time you can see the small scars and calluses that covered the skin of his hands.

“Of course, Edward. Another puzzle book?”

His cheeks flush in the bright light of the room. “No, I was thinking of something different this time, maybe a literary book. What do you think of Frankenstein?” He proposes awkwardly.

A mad scientist tormented by his own creation. It suited Edward.

“I'll see what I can do. We're done for today, but I'd like to continue this conversation in the next session."

Edward doesn't look back as he is led back to his cell. This time you're the one watching him until he's out of sight.

——

Unlike Director Sharp's office, Dr. Young's office had good lighting and was ventilated.

Dr. Young had definitely opted for a more minimalist style. The furniture was simple with grayish colors. All the books, files, and paperwork were neatly organized. There were no decorations, except for the picture of her family on the desk.

You settle into the uncomfortable chair, checking the clock on the wall one more time. This time it was Dr. Young who was a few minutes late for the meeting.

A part of you wanted so bad to explore the room. You imagined what it would be like to read her files and notes, see a small fragment of her amazing mind.

Those thoughts are send away when the door behind you opens, Dr. Young's footsteps alerting you of her presence.

“Sorry for my delay. I had some work to finish, but I'm here now.” She passes you, a file under her arm.

She goes to the metal cabinet behind her desk, opening one of the bottom drawers. You catch a quick glimpse of the file before it disappears, managing to make out the name "Titan" on the cover.

“Have you been waiting for too long?” she asks as she closes the drawer, causing your gaze to turn to her again.

“Only a few minutes, but no problem.” You smile understandably, trying to hide your how tired you were after a long day.

She sits across from you, hands clasped together on the table.

"Director Sharp apologizes for not being able to be here, unfortunately he had other matters to attend to."

That explained why you weren't in his office. "I understand. But my next update wasn't for another two weeks.”

“You see, Director Sharp has proposed an idea for the treatment of Edward Nygma and I think it would be a good way to improve his condition.”

You frown slightly, unable to hide your displeasure. Quincy Sharp might be the director of the asylum, but he was no therapist. Despite this you nod your head for her to continue.

“We thought it would be a good idea to start shock therapy with Mr. Nygma.”

The words are so wrong in your ears and for a moment you hope you heard wrong.

“Wh… what?” You stare at her open-mouthed.”

“No need to be worried, Doctor. Shock therapy can be very helpful in treating patients.”

"Of course, but only in cases of the violent ones or those with severe depression. And that’s not his case.”

Your heart is pounding against your ribs as if you've run a marathon. Your hands cold and covered in sweat.

Keeping silent and accepting orders from your superiors was so much easier, you always hated confrontation. But you couldn't let them do that to Edward, he didn't need or deserve something as drastic as shock therapy.

How could Quincy Sharp suggest something like that? And worse, Dr. Young seemed to agree with him.

You swallow hard, trying to pull yourself together. “Dr. Young, as Edward's therapist I don't think this is the best solution for his behavior."

She raises an eyebrow. “Edward? I would advise to not be on first name basis with the subjects. It encourages them to get…attached.”

You bite the inside of your cheek. Why did you feel like you were caught doing something wrong?

“I prefer patients to feel more comfortable during sessions, but that's not the point. I remain against shock therapy.”

Dr.Young stands up with a sigh, walking around the table to your side. She towers over you, staring down at you with her green cold eyes. You can't help but feel small in front of her.

A gentle hand covers your shoulder. “You know what we do here is for the good of the patients, don't you? I would never suggest something I didn't believe was necessary." She smiles at you, but instead of being comforting it makes the hair on your nape stand up.

“Y-yes, Dr. Young.”

“I will trust your decision, but think more about our idea, alright?”

You nod, a feeling of unease running through your body.

As you get up to leave you stop in front of the door, turning to face Dr. Young once more.

“Earlier, when you talked about calling patients by their first names, you called them subjects.”

Her gaze remains on you, but her smile falters slightly. "Did I? I didn't even notice. Forgive me, I must be tired.”

The explanation doesn't sound convincing, but you would accept it for now.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 37- Part 12

And the final bookshelf! Awesome! Let's celebrate by committing some theft!

Okay the Weakness Policy in particular is very good, I'm glad to have that.

And I think we've found Serra's room now, aaaand READ-OUT! THERE YOU ARE!

Alright, let's do some reading and get a better idea of what this Field is all about. And…ah heck, there's already math involved!

Pokémon's positive Accuracy stages + Pokémon's positive Evasion stages + Target's negative Accuracy stages + Target's negative Evasion stages

You're telling me that, in the absolute worst case scenario, the opponent's critical hit ratio can be boosted by 24 stages??? How does that even calculate?? They don't even need to go that far to get the full six stage crit boost! Between the positive and the negative stat changes, could be:

Three and three

Two and two and two

Two and two and one and one

Three and one and one and one 

And I hate that! I feel like I'm getting flashbacks to the Victoria and Kiki fights with the crit risk here! Uh…what else, surely there can't be anything worse than- if a contact move misses, we take damage!? And it loses a stage of raised Evasion!? That's terrible, goodness gracious! There's gotta be something here that works in my favor, right??

Oh! Lax Incense increases Evasion on switch-in and the Zoom Lens increases Accuracy and applies Laser Focus on switch-in! I have both of those items! I can use that! What else…single-target special moves always hit, even with raised Evasion, that's good- if I had a Pokémon that knew Focus Blast, we'd be golden. And these other moves that get boosts…Bubble Beam, Charge Beam, Ice Beam…Aurora Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Flash Cannon…and Mirror Shot is special, of course, gets a boost too and guaranteed to hit.

Flash Cannon in particular could be really good here, and Brick Break can probably help against the screens (Reflect, Light Screen, Aurora Veil) because those get boosted too (they now last eight turns automatically and give an Evasion boost, the latter of which seems a bit overkill in my opinion). The Synthetic Seeds also give boosted Evasion and apply Magic Coat, and I've got a good amount of those, to be sure.

Oh! We can shatter the mirrors too! Crater can do that with Earthquake! That could be a good last resort if I get really tired of the…everything of Mirror Arena.

And there sure is…a lot…oh, this next Gym battle’s gonna suck, isn't it…?

Well…that'll be a problem for future X. Current X has decided to spend this last part of the session taking care of…literally anything else! Like finishing the Kadabra lady's request!

I mean, Xera's stolen a TV before, so stealing a cabinet isn't that out-of-character for her.

Oooh!! We just heard about that in the last chapter!! That's pretty good!!

Mmm…that could be useful if I need to do some grinding for a whole team, but for now I'll keep it off. Now, does she say anything else?

Okay, don't need that password, but glad we could help a lady out!

Speaking of helping ladies out- it's time to see if we really can go back to Reborn City, because we've got a house key to deliver. Let's head back through the Underground Railnet…

Out from Yureyu, so far so good…

And here we are! It was not a point of no return, I was worried for nothing! And that means we can go to Onyx Ward without issue!

This lady has been sleeping outside for more than an in-game week now, but no longer!

Previous

Next

[grimescum-2]

other jan hcs (ft. luke) :o3

- him and luke are from new york, born to a lower class family

- both are mixed to some degree (black n white), luke is just the lighter skinned of the two

- jan got the extroverted behavioral issues adhd and luke got the introverted withdrawn adhd

- both have depression. i think luke in particular would have an inflated ego and low empathy. jan denies having depression and feeling sad at all while luke handles it pretty well, even if he internalizes it.

- jan was a sweet, albeit obviously troubled kid, and the least favorite child because of the problems that came with it. he was smart, shown by his grades, but the problem was how little he turned in assignments. he didn't see why he should and felt as if he was forced to because of it

- he often felt jealous of his brother since he seemed to be the one getting all the praise and attention. they were still close despite this and did damn near everything together (usually because of jan's insistence)

- luke ended up doing a lot of his schoolwork for him. jan still feels indebted to him after all this time, but luke just tells him not to worry about it. jan doesn't know luke cheated most of the time

- jan felt like nobody really cared for him other than his brother. developed an intense hatred for other people and, specifically, those who're in a position of power for not doing anything to help him or people like him. a lotta his violent tendencies probably stems from that alongside bottled up rage and jealousy

- has heavy trust issues because of this and doesn't immediately believe people when they say or try to show that they care

- jan went to jail for theft and some other minor charges in his youth. he still commits crimes obviously, he's just much smarter about it now. luke has always been much more meticulous and planned with his crimes

- didn't have a lot of luck with relationships if they lasted long enough to even be considered one. thinks romance is just buy thing for girl and do the sex and dismisses everything else as "corny". ironic considering his surname

- luke is very much the opposite but still had trouble in relationships due to the fact that he just didn't care for any of his partners, being mostly in it for the compliments and the benefits to himself. he'd end up cheating a lot of the time

- jan probably wouldn't even recognize any genuine displays of affection. if he did, he wouldn't know how to react, defaulting to insults and awkward laughter. he doesn't shut up often but telling him "i love you" would do it real quick

- luke isn't phased by compliments; it's just telling him stuff he already knows. he knows how to pretend to be flattered, though. would probably be the type to say "thank you" to someone confessing their undying love for him. you'd honestly have more luck earning his fancy by insulting him (NOT BECAUSE GHES LIKE A MASOCHIST,, idk thats up to you BUT because it's something new and different)

- jan still thinks men shouldn't cry and seriously beats himself up for it when he inevitably does. luke thinks the same, except he just doesn't. he can recall very few occasions past childhood where he actually cried

- jan's thoughts are faster than his mouth, luke thinks before he talks. jan will say the most out of pocket uncalled for shit ever heard by another human being and act like it's a normal thing to say

- jan's handwriting is only legible by him and his brother due to luke learning from the little schoolwork jan did do. luke writes almost exclusively in cursive, the one exception being if jan is going to read it

- jan drew those shitty S signs everywhere. luke dabbled in writing as an emotional outlet and jan would draw those fucking S signs all over his work

- when jan read his writing (usually without luke's consent) he would read it aloud and yell about how good it was, embarrassing luke in the process

- jan says shit JUST to make people mad. his ass would start an argument only to be like "haa u mad u mad". luke just naturally gets under peoples skin

- jan plays stuff like gta, metal gear n silent hill. has a few video game consoles and he plays with luke sometimes (w jan's temper he's admittedly not the best person to play games with)

- jan stole a motorcycle once, got all excited to ride it and immediately crashed bc he doesn't know how to ride one. luke let him ramble on about whatever and snuck in cigarettes and liquor for him while he was hospitalized

- luke does love his younger brother, he just doesn't like the constant noise; it overstimulates him and most of the time he's not interested in what jan has to say. instead shows his love thru small things and being overly protective. if you manage to stress jan out in any capacity luke will NOT let that shit slide

- jan frequented those shock/gore websites as an emotional outlet. consequently became desensitized to stuff of that nature and interested in weapons, particularly guns

- jan is extremely reckless with his stolen money. enjoys gambling and placing outright dangerous bets that luke often has to talk him out of despite him doing the same

- jan impatient as shit. if he isn't immediately good at something he gets mad and loses interest. luke is patient but significantly less so with people

- i think jan is chill with the lgbt community. he'd be one of those allies who have no clue what any of it means but r supportive anyway. luke does not give a single shit

- neither are inherently bad or evil!!!!! but i think luke would be the more morally incorrect out of the two. jan knows what it's like to go through tough shit while luke doesn't— and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

- regardless of jan's beliefs he'd always say "no homo" before giving anything that's even remotely a compliment to another man

- likes hardcore, hard rock, metal, metalcore, punk rock and old-school rap. luke isn't much of a music person in comparison, but he did manage to get jan into smooth jazz

- jan would blare his music loud as fuck and turn it up louder whenever someone tells him to quiet down

- jan does care about how people perceive him, he's just good at pretending like he doesn't. luke only cares about his perception for the social benefits that come with looking and acting more refined. he does actually enjoy the fashion aspect quite a bit, but he probably wouldn't say that (unless its to brag about how expensive his suits are)

- both's fashion sense is "whatever makes me look cool" but for different reasons. jan leans a little more towards whatever is comfortable

[spaceorphanssecondbreakfastclub]

SO's Bookclub: Who Are You?

Title: Who Are You? Author: Joan Lowery Nixon Genre: YA Mystery

Goodreads Summary :

Kristi Evans and her parents can't understand why police detectives are telling them that a man named Douglas Merson has been shot. They've never heard of him. But it becomes important when they learn that Mr. Merson has kept a secret file on Kristi for her entire life. Suddenly Kristi finds herself investigating who this man is and why he has intruded on her privacy.

When Kristi goes to see Mr. Merson in the hospital, she discovers he is a professional artist; he even offers to help her pursue her own dream of being an artist. Kristi has always wanted someone with whom she could share her passion for art. Her parents not only don't understand it, they want her to do something more practical. Now this stranger seems to be offering Kristi the piece that has been missing from her life all along, but at what cost to her relationship with her parents? Who is this man who seems too good to be true?

Review:

Okay, there are only two more of these left after this, and I'm a little grateful. At the beginning of this experiment, despite the books being not all that great - there was a kind of nostalgic affection I had for them. This last batch has been a bit of a struggle because gone is the nostalgic affection I had for the campy atmosphere they brought.

We're now in the late 90s, and while this book brings back a lot of her old tropes, it's become somewhat generic in atmosphere. I'm gonna guess that now that we're at the end of her career (and her life) Nixon kind of fell back on how she knew how to write and let the world change around her without too much comment on it. I did appreciate in the last few books that things like newer technology made an appearance, but this one seems to be void of, well, anything that sets it in a particular time and it feels a little off because of it.

This book is -- kind of weird. The whole thing starts out that this dying man is asking for a sixteen year old girl due to a plot twist that is... a bit odd. Kristi goes to seek him out - and learns they have a shared interest in art. And then gets herself involved in some weird art theft shenanigans. None of it is really that interesting. And Kristi herself, while being one of the more competent protagonists in one of these books, is about as dull as a block of wood.

It does feel like a classic Nixon. We're back in Texas. There's issues about college and parents who are kind of pathetic - including somewhat depressed mom. There's a hilarious attempt at a romance that lasts, like a few chapters and is so obligatory it seems like Nixon was mandated to include it -- because the dude not only has very little page time, Kristi barely seems interested, and the guy just has no real part to play in the novel.

There isn't much of a mystery here either. A lot of time is spent on why this dude wants Kristi's attention and there's some clues that point to the guy's son having a connection with Kristie's mother. But it drags out in the most boring of ways, and by the time we get a resolution it makes you question why we went through all of the things we did.

Overall, this book is mostly forgettable. There's just not enough going on in the book to make it that intriguing. It's sad that even though this is closer to one of her thrillers, the trend of these being a bit more boring than her original books is... sad. Ah well.

Rating: 2.75 Stars

[computerized]

Heyyy!!! Can I ask about Malware :o out of all the characters of urs he seems the coolest so far

-Chris!

malware is my special boy (i say this about all of my ocs)

mal is a part of a DID system composed of himself + dani + jeanine. he's a persecutor and he's 15 and he thinks he is so scary and cool but he's kind of lame in that special way only a 15 year old can manage to be. he's not ACTUALLY 15 per say but that's around when he was host (13-16) so it's very cemented in his being to. act like a 15 year old. he split off when his system was really young and accidentally got a few viruses on the family computer and were afraid of the repercussions of it breaking hence why hes like that. he's a computer virus. he is the only member of his system who has any issue with their girlfriend. when he was host he committed a lot of petty crimes. mostly theft. got them in trouble a few times. one time while he was at the police station after getting caught another student who was there for getting into a fist fight or smth saw him and went and started some crazy rumors about him actually being super scary and whatnot. when he gets back to school these rumors have escalated into some students believing hes like, a murderer, and he uses this to his advantage and basically runs his school for a bit. hes living the dream life of any emo 13 to 16 year old. then dani splits off as "damage control" + from the stress of having been arrested and becomes host and whatnot and he gets all mopey about it because he doesnt WANT this to change and he LIKES having control over something for once in his life. his favorite artist is STOMACH BOOK and he thinks dani and jeanine are LOSERS and jeanine calls him "bug" and he HATES IT and he thinks feeling anything that isn't anger or like. smugness is WEAK AND LAME. he picked october 31st to be his birthday (he thinks this is so cool and he loves having a special day dedicated to HIM!!!) and he's a light sleeper and hates sleeping and he hates his parents forever and ever (unlike dani who tries his best to like them and jeanine who recognizes all of the highs and lows of having bad parents who are Trying). he used to scam people out of their money in middle school and he likes to break things dani makes to upset him on purpose. and his eyes get big like a cats when hes silly or excited or causing problems on purpose

special special special boy

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Lots of talking ahead spurred by me reading Cinder's adventure

You know from a lot of the text surrounding Magpie in the series and outside of it, it talks so much about Maggie being a possible threat and her being trouble with the BIGGEST OF squinting eyes

But Maggie's pov just shows her with a similar view to Nova in the beginning, which is PRETTY VALID, and her using her power to steal so she can pawn it for money.

At like 11-12 years old.

And then it says "some people were always meant to be villains"

And I'm HUHH??????

SHE'S SAID ONLY FUCK YOU TO A WORLD THAT HASN'T SHOWN TO CARE ABOUT HER

From what we understand of her motivations, they seem pretty reasonable. She even showed herself to feel a little guilty for some of her theft, but had to rationalize it cause she's surviving.

She's a child. Trying to survive. A misunderstood Magpie. I have a hard time believing she can scale up to become a bigger threat later. Marissa Meyer will have to give a bit more motivation for her to be an actual threat rather than a child with self preservation and a bitter personality.

She's antisocial and a thief that's like. The majority of what all the characters that we've seen interact with her acknowledge! (Correct me if I'm mistaken)

Adrian I think is the one to show the most sympathy, hopeful that she'll try to change her ways in the renegades. But.

No one, from what has been shown, has addressed her living situation. Where is she living? It was marked unknown so why is that even an issue? Adrian says they TRY to match kids like Magpie with renegade families but. Why is there a TRY in the first place it should be a guarantee

No one is holding an intervention from what we've seen. No one. They were busy during the books, yes. And Maggie isn't the focus in the books, yes. But how long has Maggie been in the renegades and it hasn't been addressed. What about the time between the first and second book? WHO'S SHOWING CARE TO THIS GIRL

No one apparently

Maggie's pov REAFFIRMS this when her pic confirms that it was clear no one cared about "another orphaned prodigy"

That's why I'm not convinced I should be treating Maggie like she's a villain, or evil. I'll accept she might take on the title of "villain" as a badge and say "fuck you" to her world, but so far it looks like she's right to say that.

I'm not convinced that a kid acting rude, abrasive, annoying, melodramatic, etc would justify any of the renegades not stepping in and intervening. I'm just not.

Her actions should sprout concern from at least ONE person to be like. Hey. Why is that child acting this way. Maybe we should look into this.

Really do hope we get another book in the future for Maggie. Preferably more of her pov. I get that from what we've seen they're setting her up as a villain that had a tragic backstory that may or may not be redeemed. But.

Marissa Meyer can't have a whole bunch of characters stand around and say "she's trouble" and do nothing.

If there's another installment I really need to sink my teeth into some Maggie backstory and perspective so I can see what is her fault, the fault of the system around her, and really just get to analyze her under a microscope

I say all of this but I am looking heavily at some sections of Cinder's adventure that hint similar events could play out to what is shown here in future books for Renegades

Though tbh even though the events in Cinder's Adventure aren't canon, if this is supposed to be a small hint of what's to come I have the biggest sigh to give

The actions of Nova and the anarchists don't seem to have made any difference and the cycle has repeated with the renegades having too much power. I did get a chuckle when Cinder was like "Thorne's more heroic than these renegades" like yes dhchfhv

It probably won't be written badly and I'll be along for the ride if a book installment comes out, but it does look to be a similar story repeating itself

TLDR Future installments need to expand Maggie's character more than she actually is if she's going to be a believable threat. Current foreshadowing through characters standing around saying "that girl is trouble" isn't convincing with what has been given

[disneyfemslashcomics]

Hi!! I'm sure you've been asked this before so feel free to ignore this but what are your favorite Disney femslash ships? I have a lot that I like, but some of my own faves are Esmeralda/Jasmine, Aurora/Snow White, Merida/Mulan, Elsa/Isabela, and Ariel/Moana!! (Also, thank you for your post about blocking people who post AI art in the tags lol. I will not say who but someone I followed for a long time whose blog I loved started suddenly posting about AI stuff and I had to unfollow. It was crazy to me because they themself were an artist who didn't seem to realize or mind that AI art steals from artists like them.)

Oh my but this is one of my favorite questions and the answers do change over time.

Right now my favorite ships are (in no particular order)

Alice/ Wendy Darling (particularly my interpretation of them as adults)

Snow White/Jasmine (honestly OTP of all time material, ask me about them and I'll tell you)

Tiana/Cinderella

Snow White /Luisa - they're so cute

Esmeralda/Isabela

As for AI, I do have some room for nuance in it. There are tools that look at patterns in images and try to complete the pattern that I think would be incredibly useful and are notably not theft as they're largely pulling from an image that you're choosing to feed into it, and things like clip studio paint's auto colorize specifically when taking partially colored images, where I could see it being exceptionally useful to comic artists if you could control the inputs to only be your own art. My understanding of things like this is that they're also less of an energy drain and more sustainable, which is not a small issue when you're talking about full scale generative ai.

Where AI is right now isn't ethical. I want to make myself clear too that my biggest issue with AI is the destruction of the community aspects of fandom, because it's true that it steals and uses a lot of energy but the same can technically be said of AMVs and I'm pretty sure that we all like those here. I'm not inherently opposed to image manipulation and mash-ups, even of my own work, but I do want for people to be able to find my art and be able to talk to me and ask me to draw things if they want.

People who are generating images in private don't have to talk to anyone in order to get more of the same type of image, and while it's still definitely possible to share things around and make friends through mutual appreciation of the same thing and sharing that thing, it's not really the same experience as talking to people and building things together.

I want for people to make friends and talk to people, especially queer folks who are more likely to be isolated. And I want for artists to be included in the communities that they're making works for.

[magnoliamyrrh]

When it comes to prison abolition I wish people would focus on specific crimes or types of crimes instead of this binary approach. There seems to be no space for nuance in western leftist thought these days, you have to go all the way in one go or it isn't worth doing.

Okay the current system isn't perfect but it's better than letting pedos, rapists and sex traffickers get away with continuing to abuse women and girls. Domestic violence too, there's just so many areas where justice already doesn't exist for victims. Until abolitionists can provide a good answer for those crimes they should admit that their theory doesn't yet work in every scenario.

Let's go back to focusing on drugs, theft and other crimes against corporations, the imprisonment of those suffering from severe mental illnesses and general anti social behaviour. Crimes where imprisonment does unjustly impact people's lives and we do already have noncustodial solutions we can implement.

"there seems to be no space for nuance in western leftits though" youre certainly right abt that and its annoying as all hell. there are prison reformers who hold more nuance on this generally, but many prison abolitionists act like they're almost traitors for not being fully on board

and it bothers me that the keep treating this part of the issue as some sort of annoyance, thing we can think abt afterwards, or minor issue. or on the other side they wanna treat rapists the same way theyd treat some poor person who stole food,,,,,,like no, all of these things are actually incredibly common, and sadism and predatory actions are not same at all as many crimes. as far as im concerned theyre much less explicable than even many cases of murder and i will 100% vouch for the reform of a murderer than a rapist, particularly a pedo. and my conclusion frankly is i dont think these ppl rly care abt the saftey of children, girls, or women much

like, as you said. ill admit any day the system is fucked too. and yes the system is the consequence in america of colonialism and slavery, and in many parts of the world the prison system implemented by imperialists has been a tool of opression. and yes the system puts at a disadvantage and targets certain kinds of people and for certain kinds of offenses it makes no damn sense. like i think were all on board with this part of things??? and clearly countries like the semi-socialist northern euro ones have shown that better, more humaine systems can be implemented. im all on board for reform when it comes to 98% types of offenses, and generally i think prison reformists make very good, grounded points which seem feasible. and they suggest changes which we may actually see in our lifetimes

but then prison abolitions want to take it to such...... levels that it stops making sense. to an extent i get it, like i definitely get wanting to abolish the system and implement something new, the issue is that that "something new" makes little sense when you hear them speak. because they define annny form of incarceration or being restricted in movement as prison essentially, and we must get rid of that. so, frankly, by their own logic i dont even know if they could force rapists and pedophiles into """"recovery programs""" for any period of time - maybe theyd just let them go immediately and theyd have to voluntarly show up our of their own good will 🥺 (im sure thats gonna happen) - because anything else would be taking away their bodily autonomy.. ...really, truly, even though these ppl call themselves leftists this is such a ??? western individualistic opinion to hold?? like putting individual bodily autonomy and "rights" in any damn case, no matter how dangerous, above the wellbeing of society at large strikes me v v much as western individulism taken to an extreme

.. they dont have answers. they just dont. its either deflection, minimizing the issue, acting like youre the crazy one for asking, or some completely unrealistic bullshit abt making these men see the light - as if they dont already understand they should rape or beat women and children - or reintegrating them into the same communities that they traumatized. prison abolitionists wont admit that they have no real damn solution because, like western leftits in general in most cases, they a)dont actually care abt feminism b)dont have a fully understanding of what theyre talking about and are just screaming slogans and saying what sounds good to be right and woke and make themselves feel good and enlightened c)are allergic to actual nuance and discussion or being challenged

it also pisses me off too because ive seen a lot of them pull that woke version of noble savage shit, in which they pretend like the nonwestern world or the world pre-colonialization was this lovely perfect place with no issues no violence and everyone sat in a field and braided flowers in each others hair and talked abt their feelings. or something. when in fact, the concept of punishment for certain things has Definitely existed pre colonialization??? for gods sake even chimps, apes, several other animals have a concept of "actions have consequences" and they punish, either physically or through social exile, members of their species who have crossed a line. Several native american tribes had quite physically harsh and borderline torturous forms of physical punishment for what they deemed to be crimes, or would exile ppl (which in certain cases, like in winter, may as well have been a death sentence for some). In phillipines before colonialization for certain communities the punishment for rape was death. For gods sake islam too,,,, like,,, have these ppl never read qur'an and seen that physical punishment is one of the forms of punishment prescribed for certain offenses which are seen as affecting community negativity? Theres obviously a million other examples out there. I dont know what these people are smoking to think that the concept of "actions have consequences" was invented by the white man or whatever

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 6.4

Avery was awake. Saying Verona was working on it might have hurt her, karmically.

lol

On the reverse side were their names. Beneath each were keywords, key traits, and random thoughts that each of them had had about themselves.

oh I want to read this. Maybe an extra material?

Lucy characteristics:

sense of justice injustice

conscious

protective

frustrated

clearheaded when upset

I like all of these for her! I think the justice/injustice thing makes sense: not so much seeking out right as correcting wrong. Not that people get what's deserved, but that they don't get away with what's not. And on the "clearheaded when upset" thing: even when dealing with Paul and let loose her emotions, she stayed really focused and coherent in a way I don't think the other two could/would have.

“The coolest moments I’ve seen with you and the practice is when you shine through. It’s great when you… I don’t know the term.  Illustrate yourself?  Exaggerate yourself? Even when you’re not actually using the practice, you’ll do this thing where you seem to decide ‘oh, it’s on’.  A lot of people who aren’t used to it would run away screaming or get stuck.  I go quiet with all that.  And you just tackled it."

yesss. I feel like this meshes well with the setting an arena thing Guilherme taught her: making people meet her on her terms and ground.

I mean… I think I definitely don’t want a weapon. I don’t regret using it for awakening, but like… if I used it for awakening, and then I used it in the Paul thing, and I choose it as my path for the future…? Is that me? I don’t want that to be me.

she brought this up early on! After the confrontation with John, wondering if she should look for a familiar who was comfortable with combat so she wouldn't have to be. Which is part of why I've been focused more on her as the face of the group than as a fighter.

This whole thing was asking her to do a lot of introspection.  At the same time, she was opening herself up for the analysis of her friends.

the mortifying ordeal of being known

“The kind that runs six days a week, eight to five, with study sessions in the evenings and on Sundays.  If you aren’t part of a study group the teachers will give you very disappointed talks and call your parents until you focus appropriately on your studies.”

what the fuck. possibly more disturbing than the fucked up practice bits

“A forswore B, and then A got expelled,” Melody said.  “And friends of A and B were up in arms, fighting over who was right.  This feels like that.”

wonder if either of these guys will show up

“It’d suck to avoid all friendships for the whole summer just because things are hairy,” Avery said.

and Corbin and Melody are Dabblers, which probably means their family isn't that powerful, so I'm inclined to be well disposed toards them

“My dad says I can’t get a familiar until I’m older,” Melody said, scratching Snowdrop.  “I have to turn sixteen, then live with it for two years before I seal it with the ritual.”

honestly pretty reasonable

I was personally involved in one case where an Apsasû, a divine servant and protector of humanity, took it on herself to shelter a group of humans.  She kept them in what you could describe as a Garden of Eden, curing all that ailed.  Faith, physiology, and mind twisted and knotted despite or because of her efforts.

... this reminds me of the Doe that Avery talked to

Lucy’s notes consisted largely of ‘yikes’ ‘frigging yikes’ ‘huge yikes’ ‘yikes and yikes’… and ended with the ‘oh no’ line. Subhumans? Wow and yikes.

I am going to let Lucy's notes speak for me here

It felt weird, just taking for granted that he’d said he wanted to apologize.

I guess the not-lying thing could end up helping with the uncertainty that's normally an issue with microaggressions?

“If you were to draw a picture of yourself, no context, in the utmost quality, meant to hang in a gallery, what would you be doing?”

(for me it would be reading)

Theft, some violent crime. He dealt with some criminal groups as a youth, only a few years older than you are now.

huh.

It would be ugly to forgive Charles but not Alexander, simply because I know Alexander’s victim but Charles’s were anonymous.

I'm with Lucy on this one, I don't agree with this but I'm having hard time articulating it. Two elements: Charles was actively working on making amends, while we haven't seen any signs that Alexander even regrets his actions. The other: the difference between societal forgiveness and interpersonal forgiveness. I'd argue that everybody deserves the chance at a fresh start and new approach to life, but don't have the right to that second chance coming from the same group the offenses were committed to. I think it's hard, as someone who was friends/colleagues with both men, to forgive Alexander without taking his side over Charles. Meanwhile Charles's victims aren't being further harmed by some guy they've never met looking past Charles's actions.

[doubleddenden]

I beat Pokemon Opalo recently. Opalo is a Spanish pokemon fan game translated into English by another fan. Spanish Pokemon fan games in particular go REALLY hard from what I've seen, and this game is no exception.

Full review under the cut- But fair warning, the game isn't totally politically correct if you catch my drift. It's not 4chan offensive mind you, but it's a game that tries to make statements the creator may be ignorant about and also has some humor that may not exactly appeal to everyone. I wouldn't say it's purposely offensive, basically.

anyway, more under the cut, but I'd give it a 7 or 8 out of 10, mainly points docked for not being totally translated at times when the story is happening and some other stuff. I'd still say it's a really good fan game though, and I've had a lot of fun with it.

The story was pretty damn amazing and once the gas was pressed, it never let up for a moment. It went dark places, it delved into American colonization and theft of Native lands, American imperialism and toxic politics, death, and a bunch of other twists. Not to mention, this game went more American than even Unova did, visiting places from all over the map, including the south!

But the game isn't perfect, and I do think that the creator was maybe a little ignorant about certain things, but I don't think it was necessarily malicious in intent. As an adult that consumes a lot of media, I've learned to look at things with a bit of nuance, and I don't really think he meant to harm anyone. That being said, it does mystify and exotify Native Americans to a certain extent- you could argue it's not any particular tribe, but it's pretty obvious that they're the basis for the in game Natives and delve into good and bad stereotypes (admittedly for both sides as well), and it does delve into a lot of the atrocities that America and settlers have committed against them- especially one very disturbing scene towards the end game.

That being said, any extremism is definitely painted as wrong, and there's definitely an understanding that the government is wrong in how they handle things, and it seems like the natives have a happy ending, so there's that at least.

Just be prepared for that kind of stuff. Sort of look at it like you would an anime or video game interpretation of that kind of stuff. I mention it not to excuse it, but sort of as a head's up, and because I as a white person don't really think I have the authority or really the knowledge to talk much about subjects such as this, but I'd feel awful if I didn't give some sort of head's up.

However, the story I think is still.... Very, very good. Like Metal Gear meets Pokemon meets Disney's Pocahontas meets Final Fantasy type stuff. When you think "They can't possibly go higher" they go higher. I know I mentioned a lot of stuff about American govt vs Native tribes, but the plot also goes so far and beyond that. I can't even say some of the stuff that happens because it's that much of a spoiler.

Overall I think it was pretty fun and tough. I don't joke when I say that my team at the very end literally hit level 100 and STILL had difficulties- That being said, it's not too difficult until the very end. The game is paced very well, and the special EXP share system it has makes leveling up a breeze. There's hardly any grinding necessary other than to catch a new team member up sometimes, and even then most Pokemon you catch will be roughly your level anyway.

There's not really a lot of new Fakemon per se, in fact you're only going to see about... 20 of them? I think? 9 being starters, 9 more being starters from a previous project of the creator, and then 2 being the legendaries of the game.

BUT, there's a good bit of regional variants in the game that all look pretty amazing. My main issue is that a bunch are harder to find or are located in West Cefira instead of East where we start. But that is forgiveable, I think. Oh yeah, there's 2 regions- er, 1 region split into East and West. Don't worry, it's not like GSC or HGSS with the levels- as I said, the pacing is very good.

The characters are also amazingly written, with the two main rivals being my particular favorites. I actually cried at a couple of points out of admiration for how far they've come and happiness for them. I definitely think the MC gets with Gala at the end, and the ending left me in tears. I'm actually feeling something like I did BW2, where I'm sad to leave them behind. I'm doubly sad that they aren't official characters, because I feel like they have so much more depth than some real ones.

Music- Well, I think there's probably not any or much original work here. Most of it is either recycled from the games or from other sources. That being said, it works. The western vibes are very strong and I really dig the atmosphere at times. I do wish it went harder on some fights, particularly gym leaders. I'm left wishing that the gym theme had at least half the oomph Xenoverse or Uranium had behind them. But some themes fit perfectly, and usually have a western vibe to it.

There's also a LOT of really great artwork in the game and a museum in game dedicated to it and fan art. Color me surprised when that also included nsfw art. Fear not, the characters depicted are at least 23+ or and older, and the nsfw art is locked away to a bottom floor of an in game museum, and it does not come up at any point in story. Ignoring that, the actual trainer art is great, and there's sometimes very beautiful scenery painted or some great expressions on characters when presented. Trainer sprites, however, are pretty passable but could use some work. The fakemon and regional forms have much better work put in, imo.

Overall though, I think I had a very pleasant time. It's not perfect, but you can tell a lot of soul went into it, and some research into the American Gothic as well. Its actually kind of neat seeing a foreign perspective on us. I'd even argue that this game sort of depicts how I think my area would be as a game to some extent.

Anyway, that's all. Gonna upload a team shot soon

And if you have some disputes with my claims or whatever, please remember this is just an opinion. However, I'm open for a respectful opinion or take on how the game presents the whole Natives thing- particularly if you are NA yourself. Like I said, I don't mean any offense, I'm just pointing out what I believe was kinda sus stuff. I hope that makes sense, I'm just wanting to watch out for people I guess.

[snowsheba]

ALSO not to steal ur ask but at first i also wanted to ask you as many as you wanted to answer but your tags seemed so contemplative i didn't want to pry LOL but your ask has emboldened me so... any extras you haven't answered that you particularly want to share!

EHEHEHEHEHE

i love talking about myself. LOL. under cut to spare your dashboards

1. what's the fic you're most proud of?

"thanks dad, love hana" was a HUGE undertaking. kind of wild how far i went and how well i made it work looking back.

that said: i am most fond of my grand theft auto/aveyond crossover au. it's the exact brand of controlled chaos full of fun and angst and random shit that i crave, LOL.

2. what's a fic that took you to an emotional/dark/hard place?

answered!

3. what fic are you emotionally attached to?

answered!

4. what fic of your own do you read for comfort?

i wouldn't call them "fics," but i do have some long-form fic starring original characters that i wrote and read back pretty consistently because they are honestly excellent. i haven't posted them anywhere because they are super niche, but i can if people are curious.

5. what fic of your own won't you read?

LOL... the ones that remained buried in my external hard drive... they can stay there.

6. what's the hardest part of the writing process for you?

probably starting? this is why i start with writing the summary, because otherwise it gets weird when i start out. oftentimes i have like three or four false starts before i get into a groove that i like. (i save all the false starts, too! they often get reused and recycled later on in the story.)

7. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

tdlh's success kind of ruined the whole thing for me in some ways. on the one hand, you get accustomed to HUGE amounts of interaction, so having no interaction feels weird. on the other hand, there is so much interaction that it is overwhelming, and it's not good when responding to engagement becomes a chore.

before i wrote tdlh i craved feedback and support because mental eelness and whatever. afterwards... it really put into perspective who i was writing for. most often i wasn't writing for me, i was writing for others. now that i'm writing for myself, i don't need feedback or support in the same way.

i mean let's be clear though i still LOVE to get engagement in general. it feels good when people like the stuff i write!!

8. does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

my immediate family does, in the sense that they know i write it (i don't share it with them lol). my partner does as well! but otherwise very, VERY rarely do i let irl people know i write fic.

9. what's your writing process like?

answered!

10. how has writing positively impacted your mental health or overall mood?

writing saved my life! this is undoubtedly true. i would not be here if i hadn't started writing when i did for as long as i have.

these days it's less of a coping mechanism and more of a fun hobby, and i always feel good when i finish something off and post it. the satisfaction of a story well-written is wonderful.

11. Has a fic you’ve written ever caused issues/controversy?

BOY. OH YES. i learned a lot from the experience, too.

essentially: overwatch has two characters, one is [finger wiggles] hispanic and the other is white, the man of color is demonized and becomes this evil terrible terrorist (real original, blizzard) while the white dude becomes this righteous rogue vigilante. i kept these roles in the fic i wrote them in and people started talking about the racist implications of this. rightfully so because it IS racist. this isn't the only big thing, but this is the one that was focused on because people shipped these two pretty hard back in the day.

it draws an interesting line though - as a fic writer, i can change the canon and do whatever i want. but i didn't do that, because i wanted to stay true to canon. if you had asked me back then, i would have said that's a good reason to let it be, but these days, i would have if not addressed it directly then changed it as needed to both suit my purposes and also... not have racism baked in if possible...

it's tough when your source material is already problematic enough and its parent company is a literal shitshow of issues (here's a pretty good summary of events). i take responsibility for the harm that my particular rendition did, but i would be remiss if i didn't acknowledge that actively writing a fic that attempts to remain consistent with canon (i.e. i would change story beats 30 chapters down the line when new lore came out) is bound to be as problematic as the source material itself.

12. What’s your perfect environment to create/write?

answered!

13. Do you take pride in your writing, or does it embarrass you? Why?

i DO take pride in my writing. it also embarrasses me immensely.

i don't want to show my ass too much, but i grew up in a household where if i wasn't working on school stuff i'd get punished, so obviously my parents hated how much time i spent writing. there was a lot of shame that went along with it because of the whole "why does it even matter? it's not original fiction" thing as well, so i am very protective of my fanworks and don't advertise them at all irl. because it's embarrassing to explain myself over and over again to people who really don't care, LOL.

of course, these days my parents love to fawn about how good of a writer i am and make me write the yearly christmas newsletters and whatever, but that's parents for you!

14. Do you compare yourself to other writers? In a positive or negative way?

i think i used to, in the way that every kid aspires to be like a particular role model. these days, not at all - there's no point in it. i know my strengths!

15. How do you think your writing as improved over time?

i stopped using ellipses so much, for one. LOL.

in general, reading lots of books and being exposed to lots of different writing mediums has given me a lot of perspective. that's more valuable than anything else, imo. having more experiences to fall back on, more knowledge of the world around me, and a better understanding of people means that my written works have more depth and scope. i think in terms of technical skill i've plateaued to a point that i'm happy with, but when it comes to the actual content and its presentation (i guess rhetoric is the term here), there is ALWAYS more to learn. i've definitely gotten better at rhetoric over the years.

16. Do you re-read old fics? Is there a time in your writing you won’t go back to?

answered!

17. What’s the best engagement/interaction/feedback you’ve received from someone who’s read your work?

answered!

18. Do you only write when you’re inspired, or do you try and sit down at specific times and write no matter what?

these days i only really do write when i feel inspired to, but that's not because i don't think writing regularly is boring. i mentioned this in another post somewhere, but the majority of my high-volume writing output was during a time of deep depression - writing was an escape, and now that i don't need to escape anymore, it's hard to resume my previous schedule. moreoever, i don't want to, because that schedule was symptomatic of other issues for me. so just when i'm inspired! it helps that when i open a file and look at it, i often feel compelled to write a bit more as the ideals percolate in my brain.

19. If you could write an ideal fic, what would it include?

this changes day by day, but i looooooove a good banter. (what a shocker, i know.) i also love huge explosive emotions and the fallout from them. if a fic can answer the question of what it means to be human in some way, then it's ideal for me.

20. What’s the greatest gift you’ve gotten from your writing?

friends! i've met so many cool people through writing and i continue to keep meeting cool people as i continue to write. it's a gift that never stops giving 🥰

[leolaroot]

am I the only person in this big beautiful planet who doesn't have a strong opinion about the ai art Thing. maybe im just not understanding the why people are so mad but like uhm I think it's cool when a computer make a picture ❤️ and obviously art theft is an issue or whatever but I don't really care 🤭 about ai being trained off the transformers yaoi on DeviantArt or whatever........ and like yeah graphic design(?) People Might Lose Jobs but people lose jobs constantly for a billion reasons 😭 and ai art atp literally demonstrably isn't work ready for print it's more of a concepts machine tbh. it seems silly to get soooo up in arms because a computer did a picture. like sorry I just don't care too much ...... and the positives are so awesome.. like... look at this ⤵️!!!