#today he learned about malicious compliance

[lemonandpeach]

metro boomin will go to the depths of hell because i have “bbl drizzy, bbl drizzyyy got the best bbl in history” stuck in my head since i woke up this morning 😭

[circlebuttons]

Rafe on Love Island

- this is a throw away rant because of how obsessed i am w love island us rn. I feel like Rafe would be a mix of leah and rob with a bit of caine for rule breaking.

-

You get coupled with Rafe in love island on the very first night. When all the guys walked in your eyes were on him immediately, he's taller and broader than everyone else in his sharp grey suit with his white button down being unbuttoned just a tad. The closer he gets you notice that his eyes are already locked on you. His eye contact makes your heart race and the cherry on top is the sly smirk that creeps up on his face when you lean over to the two girls you already befriended in such a short time and quietly inform them that, "Buzzcut is mine." He scoffs out a silent laugh on account of you never look away from him once or block your lips from being able to be read. You're the first person he introduces himself too, holding your hand firmly and probably for a bit too long.

He sits on the couch facing you and during the icebreaker questions you learn that Rafe Cameron is a man who's lived a lot of lives but is now a certified businessman, looking to find his first ever stable relationship. The most important thing you learn is that your feelings of attraction are mutual when he pulls a card that reads "Kiss the islander who you think is a gold digger"

His eyes immediately land you and he clarifies to everyone that he's picking you not because he thinks your a gold digger, but because he'd rather have you be his sugar baby, it's all about perspective at the end of the day.

"You can take all my money" he mumbles before kissing you gently at first with a coy hand on your neck, but you're the one to deepen it and he follows your lead immediately before you break apart, softly saying, "Nice to meet you" while using your finger to wipe the rouge lip combo that you both are now wearing.

There's no doubt in your mind when picking Rafe to couple up with. After the coupling Rafe is on your heels following you like a puppy to an area of couches where you're meant to get to know each other a bit better before sharing a bed. There he asks a lot more questions about yourself, hanging onto every word that leaves your mouth. You eventually leave to go get ready for bed and he reluctantly separates from you, being the first one under the covers laying awake with bright eyes when you climb in on the other side of him. "Courtesy pillow?" he asks looking at you cautiously. "Not unless you need it, I'll behave for the first night" you smirk at him before turning to your side and getting comfortable and little do you know how long he stares at the ceiling replaying every event from today, avoiding reminiscing on the kiss to avoid becoming to worked up, but worked up nonetheless because he feels insane for falling for a girl this fast into the game.

That morning Rafe wakes up with a smile on his face for the first time in ages and he wakes up like that everyday in the villa because no matter what it's always you. He's nothing short of obsessed with you, just as much as you are him, but the two of you being head over heels doesn't make for good tv until Rafe starts playing more defensively. The first male bombshells that get added to the villa get nothing but glares from him as they get way to comfortable with you in the games and attempt to pull you for chats while you're literally right next to him. Production had made it clear that it was off limits to physically fight, so Rafe had to settle for pulling in other guys for secret "chats" instead where he'd just loom over them and make sure it was understood you were happy being coupled with him.

Production would have to step in again to remind rafe that it was also against the rules to hinder filming in anyway meaning saying blunt no's when another girl tries to pull him or turning his head when the objective of a game is to kiss. It unexpectedly makes better tv when Rafe starts his malicious compliance as he sits either blank or stank faced and awkwardly silent in one on one chats with girls who insist on talking with him and in challenges the cameras capture the disgusted tight lipped faces he makes when he's forced to kiss someone else. You feel the same way he does, you're a bit more complacent with production and don't mind participating. It bothers Rafe sure, but at the end of the day it fuels him seeing you kiss another islander and knowing that he's ten times better than any of these guys will ever be. You and Rafe discussed that you have to do what you have to do for tv, but outside of mini games there was to be exclusivity. Exclusive is a word you use a lot, waiting until the outside to be a real couple.

Although what you don't wait for is having sex in the villa after finding out all the guys left for casa amor. Hearing that Rafe was the only guy to refuse not only made you proud, but surprisingly horny too. Making out at night or even grinding on each other wasn't foreign to either one of you, it's when your hand drifts into Rafe's waistband that he shoots up to flip you under him, eager to finally have all of you. After that night the two of you sneak around fucking like absolute bunnies. You protest weakly every time he starts kissing on your neck, knowing what's about to to happen, mumbling "Fuck me, my moms watching" before you the two of you duck under covers and have the best sex of your lives.

[coolcattime]

hellooo!! I’ve had the royalty au microwaving in my head these past few days, you’ve given just enough information for my interest to be more than piqued but oh man I’m like like I’d so would love to know more if you’d like to share ofc!

but first if you’d allow me to paint you the picture that I have been painting in my head of Jordan and Capsize’s dynamic,

both of them are in their mid to late teens when they first meet; both of them being brought up in very different backgrounds (Jordan from the royal family and Capsize from a house with very little to it’s name). Out of all the suitors that show up Jordan picks the one that doesn’t. Her name is on the list of eligibility, but Capsize is very much on her first trip out to sea, starting off as deckhand not much but she’s hoping for a higher position later in life. Unfortunately, when they make it back to land Capsize is met with the royal guard waiting to escort her.

Jordan is hoping to make at least a friend out of her. He can never come to love her, but maybe they can grow to like each other. The issue is is that Capsize has had a taste of freedom and Jordan has taken that away from her. She can hardly even be her own person. Dressed to match him, treated as an extension of him, it’s all about him even when it’s about her because he’s the prince. Not much she can do about it other than maliciously comply with the situation. Jordan can’t understand why she acts the way she does, her family’s taken care of, she can literally get whatever she wants…he’s the one that’s trapped here, in his obligations and what not.

I’d like to imagine there was one moment between them that for Jordan felt like a “maybe we could get along” but right after Capsize realizes how much of an accessory she is that they she drags them both back to square on. Oh and another moment where they’re having a ball to commemorate their engagement and Jordan tries to inform Capsize that he’ll take the lead because he knows and understands just how nerve racking playing politics is at one of those but she’s already off talking and mingling since that’s the one way she’s able to explore.

If she can do anything other than interact with her fiancé, she will.

Really hoping my interpretation wasn’t too far off base from your own. I’ve just been rotating this in my brain so much today.

Hi hi hi!

I'm really glad you've like the royalty AU. I definitely am planning on sharing more, I just need to rotate some pieces a to figure out exactly what I want with them.

I love this dynamic!!

I had very much been imagining Capsize being from a smaller house which allowed her more freedom than she would've gotten in a house of higher rank, and definitely more than she gets once the engagement happens.

Jordan is 1000% the sort of person to pick the one person who didn't show up, I imagine the idea of her being too busy to show up for a royal invitation is the most interesting thing any of the suitors had done. And no one exactly tries to steer him away from the choice, since she's logically a good match. So he picks her out of intrigue and thinking that, logically, anyone would be happy to get a royal title. He just sincerely didn't consider that Capsize was far happier with freedom.

Oh gods yes to everything about Capsize's lack of freedom. She is very much seen as Jordan's fiancée as opposed to an individual person and it eats away at her. The only person who still treats her like herself, a person who isn't just there to stay next to the Prince, is Redbeard but they can only really talk in letters so it isn't much of a help in keeping herself from being resentful. And just YES to the malicious compliance. She learns exactly when it's socially accept for her to disagree with him and takes full advantage of that while otherwise being polite but mostly short and not putting forward any real personality.

And Jordan just doesn't understand, definitely for the reasons you've put, where she now has a life of riches beyond what most could ever dream, and her family has more than they ever have, and also because she *is* open to other people. Not to everyone, as overall far too many interact with her as a counterpoint to Jordan, but he hears the occasional person talk about a person he feels like he hasn't met and he finds it so frustrating that she just doesn't seem to be giving him a chance.

Oh and 100% to them both feeling trapped, but feeling far too frustrated by the other to actually discuss that feeling and figure out any sort of solution.

I had a moment in the works where Jordan and Capsize briefly get along where a couple of weeks after her arrival there's a festival that's more like a tournament but is treated as an excuse for the common folk to celebrate while the nobles compete. While she isn't required to compete in any of the contests, Capsize jumps at any taste of freedom and Jordan sees her genuinely happy and passionate for the first time... and he has no idea how to get her back to that. (I haven't decided exactly what Capsize competes in yet though)

Oh and I love the ball idea!!! Jordan attempting to take the lead as a kind gesture only to find that she has immediately gone off is just so good. She takes such an interest in even just listening to tales of places far away that she's so unlikely to actually visit now (and being away from Jordan is a plus). He's glad that she seems happy, but gods does he not understand her.

I also think her enjoying herself at the ball ends up being why Jordan notices so quickly when she doesn't turn up to the later one because it's one of the few times she seemed to be fully happy.

[alteredsilicone]

It's fun how, whenever DE was asked a specific lore question in the AMA, there usually was a non-answer, which makes sense, since a lot of things aren't set in stone (I really don't mind, I don't want specific numbers and like the speculation aspect of the lore), but I am also a gremlin and will perform Malicious Compliance.

Anyways, long story short - someone asked the Corpus Age Question (even mentioning how Ergo looks older than Frohd despite being his pupil), and I think Megan did a jokey non-answer how their aging depends on how much they praise the void.

WELL, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A LITTLE STORY I COOKED IN MY BRAIN-

ok, it's not that big of a deal and sorta irrelevant, but here is a tl;dr:

When Nef and Ergo were younger, an accident happened on a ship they were working on and the void drive created a portal and they fell through. They got lost in a weird liminal space but managed to find one another and get out.

To this day, Ergo thinks that Nef is a little bit off. So basically - Nef died in the accident and Ergo took back with him a void construct which may or may not be tainted by Wally.

There is no bigger meaning, well, unless the accident never happened but it's Ergo coping with the fact that the Nef he fell in love with is nothing like the Nef of today so once he learns about the Tenno, the Duviri Paradox and all the void shenanigans, he convinces himself that he took the wrong Nef home and that the real one is Out There.

[archetypal-archivist]

Grian- Boots for the Rain Gone Cold

Kind of a story idea for Ex-Watcher Grian, 3500+ words. This is what happens when you listen to the song Welly Boots on repeat for a couple hours. The premise is that Grian and the Hermits aren’t quite as nice as they seem, and when Grian has to flee Hermitcraft to keep his friends safe from the Watchers, his friends do some malicious compliance to take care of him while he is away.

------

A story in which the hermits take care of their own, even beyond borders they should not be able to cross.

Take a standard story about Watcher Grian. See him come to Hermitcraft, lost and alone and afraid. He has been through Evo, killed a dragon whilst alone and afraid, was taken against his will, watched his friends Pearlescent Moon and Taurtis die. He knows how to take care of himself, but nothing more than that.

Hermitcraft changes that, for him. Standing outside a portal that is unlike any he had ever seen, even during his time as a watcher, seeing a team of 20+ walk out is terrifying. But they had seen him, looked at each other, then rushed forward to claim him as their own. In the beginning he is left alone until he tentatively reaches out, saving Scar's stuff after he has died. An action unlike him, but he had appreciated their kindness in letting him stay, so he does his best to repay that.

Tit for tat is something he understands from the Watchers, even if this is a kinder variant.

Grian watches as people start to reach out to him, watching him with admiring eyes as he builds his first shops, offering items he's never needed or touched before now. (Conduits are so cool and he'll deny the shiver of excitement that crept up his spine when Xisuma first handed him one to his dying breath.) He watches as they smile and laugh at his antics, rather than come at him and his with sword and shield for his pranks.

He watches. He is good at that. He is significantly less good at returning their kindness, a trouble-maker to his core, intentionally or no. But he tries, and in the eyes of the Hermits, that is all that matters.

Iskall feeds him, sometimes, when he is sick and delirious, screaming at the shadows in the corners. They do not let him starve himself to death. (He learns to hide half stacks of golden carrots in their chests, just enough to replenish their supply, but not enough that they'd notice.)

Mumbo is patient with him when he comes crashing into his base like a wrecking ball, sometimes plowing into the taller hermit's redstone face first in the process. He just helps Grian up, smiling and laughing, helping him brush the red dust away. (Grian learns that Mumbo cannot sleep without noise, too used to the ticking of redstone clocks and firing pistons to sleep in quiet. He learns to fly in on late nights when Mumbo's base is still lit up and talk with his friend, chattering away until Mumbo can find it in himself to turn the lag machines off and fall asleep to the sound of Grian's voice.)

Xisuma watches the world with all the focus and patience that Grian once used when designing stars and bedrock towers. For Xisuma, Grian will watch the world too and ease its updates when he can- one less burden for his admin to carry, taken and handled with silent, secret grace.

Joe reads and reads and reads, spinning tales of his finds to all who stand still long enough for him to pin down for a bit. For Joe, Grian will bring out some of his old high school textbooks for him on the days when the man runs out of books to read.

Zedaph lives in a cave, warm and dry, but without color, the only life being the experiments rattling around in the background. For Zedaph, Grian will sneak in mushrooms and moss, encouraging them to grow in the shadows until the cavern blooms with them.

For the hermits, Grian is kind. For the hermits, Grian will learn.

Then one day it all comes crashing down, perhaps in the face of a bedrock tower springing from nowhere, perhaps in violent, screaming outburst of purple fire, perhaps in the face of a friend he once thought dead. The Watchers had tried their damnest to stamp out his heart and they nearly succeeded, but just as they could not stamp out his free will they also could not stamp out his humanity, and people- regardless of shape or size or color or race or species- are born to love and be loved.

Grian loves his Hermits. To protect them, he must leave. And so he does, quietly and in the dead of night, the faint echoes of screams ringing in his ears. If he has it his way, never again will he hear his hermit's pain, imagined or otherwise. It would be best to just forget.

Grian settles in a rainy little single player server that turns out to not be as single player as he would like. It seems instead to be an abandoned multiplayer server, lost dogs and empty houses abound in the distant corners, and every once in a while a new player stumbles in, running from something, settling in long enough to call the server home. Sometimes, these new players stay. Sometimes, whatever is chasing them catches up and they are forced to leave. Grian refuses to care for these fellow vagabonds, even as he watches from under the eaves of his perfectly constructed rustic house, rain dripping down and obscuring him from their wondering, pained eyes.

Grian has given up on having happy ending, and if the ending the narrative seems to want to give him is a tragedy, then he will seize it with both hands and rewrite it himself. What he does not take into account, however, is that the Hermits don't take kindly to being abandoned.

Grian was once a Watcher, and while watching and mimicking are perhaps some of his better skills, he was still new to the server and as such there is much about his Hermits he never had a chance to discover. Their pasts in large part remained a mystery to him, as he had learned to mimic kindness too well from them to ever pry. (They would have told him, if he had asked. Love was another thing he had learned from them, and if he had been seen and not just watched, he perhaps would have noticed how strongly they cared for him too.)

But yes. Though Grian was perhaps the only one of their number on the run from literal gods, he was not the only one with a tragic back story.

Xisuma, who watched the Hermitcraft server with all the vigilance of a soldier who had watched his fellow troops and their enemies weaponize glitches against each other, to the mass extinction of both. Evil X, who ran from it all, only to end up in a place where nothing violent simply became nothing.

Joe, who read and read and read, devouring knowledge the way he once devoured worlds, eyes flickering white on the nights when hunger panged in his stomach worse than usual. Cleo, who also knew the pain of consumption, from both sides of teeth like knives.

Zedaph, who popped into existence one day, whole and unsullied, with a vast, empty void where his past ought to be, who forgot sometimes that people are supposed to have likes and dislikes and colors and an instinctual obedience towards the laws of gravity. Tango and Impulse, who watched their friend and each other with eagle eyes to keep their trio from slipping back into old, self-destructive habits. (Overwork, overclocking, over-stimulation. All were equally killer.)

Grian, who's first and best skill, even before his building, was causing mischief and creating fun. A welcome distraction from old pains.

They loved him, the Hermits. In whatever flavor they chose, they loved him. They knew his darkness, though perhaps not the exact nature of it, and they knew that he loved them back. And then he left them.

The Hermits were powerful with love and sorrow and determination. Grian thought he could leave them so quickly, uproot himself from their hearts like a ghost in the night? Ha.

As. If.

It begins like this- Grian wakes in his little spruce house in the middle of a mostly abandoned town. The rain is pouring outside as it nearly always is and the rushing of wind through the trees puts him in the mind of his old ship-in-a-bottle base, warm and safe from the wet outside. He wakes up, stretches, thinks of eating. Steps outside and-

a brand new pair of bright red rain boots, almost glowing in the grey mist of early morning. They are in his colors, Grian just knows they would fit him perfectly. A welcome sort of gift, perfect for a world drenched in rain. Perfect for him, gifted with thought, with care. His stomach curdles and he just knows he won't be eating breakfast today either. A curl of a finger and the boots go up in purple flames, the scent of burnt rubber joining the petrichor of the air. He goes back inside. Goes back to sleep. Tries not to dream.

The boots are back the next day, shining red and a little closer to the door to better keep them out of the rain. He burns those too.

The boots keep appearing. Always bright red, always perfectly sized to fit him- squeaky new rubber, perfect for keeping out the rain. In the face of that, red boots like clockwork, is it any wonder that Grian gets tired? His front porch stinks of burnt rubber and there are new planks wherever he had to remove the scorched oak. Perhaps it's the burning that causes a new pair to appear- if there are no boots, a new pair comes to replace them, so perhaps a different method of disposal is in order.

He throws the next pair into the river. A new pair comes back to him the next day, alongside the old ones, dripping with sea grass and mud. Hmm.

(Cleo has friends in the rivers and oceans. It's easy enough to call in a favor or three to get the boots returned.)

Creepers next. A loud hiss and an even louder boom has him flinching back, phantom burns dancing across his fingers, but the boots are naught but ash. Three pairs of boots next time, one of them a dark swirling grey rather than the traditional red, as if mocking their scorched past.

(Doc's work. He's had enough experience with accidentally blowing up his own tools to know how to make a blast protection charm strong enough to keep his clothes and armor safe in the case of an unfortunate accident. The grey starbursts left over the material are just a neat bonus.)

Lava. Concentrated spider venom. Flattened by pistons. Dropped into the void. Left under a lightning rod. Thrown up into a tree. Fed to a guardian.

Each and every time, the boots come back, usually with some change in pattern, color, or marking that signals just what they have been through. All in perfectly usual condition, even the pair he cut in half with an axe.

(Stress had a field day piecing that pair back together, using molten honey and mending enchants to stick the halves together again. She always had loved a challenge.)

Eventually, Grian's front porch is covered in boots in all manner of designs, and fed up with the mess, he sets the whole mess on fire again with his signature purple flame, the only thing sure to reduce the number of boots permanently. He sets his house on fire in the process. Hmmmm.

There's an influx of new people into Grian's world all of a sudden. A pair of twins jump in, bloody, battered, and exhausted, and not a week later a roughed-up blond boy joins, snappish and hurting. All three lack shoes.

Now, Grian very firmly does not want to interact with any of them. He had found true friends among the Hermits and if he can't interact with them, then he certainly doesn't want to interact with a trio of traumatized children- however, he does have a pair of boots to give and dropping them on the children's doorstep requires no interaction at all. The female twin puts them on, marveling at how big the red boots are on her while the other kids stand watch suspiciously. Grian watches this from his front porch, hidden by the mist but eyes glinting purple in the gloom so he can see comfortably. The male twin seems to spot this, shouting and pointing, and Grian goes back inside to avoid the mess.

The next morning, the boots on his doorstep are rainbow-striped and several sizes smaller, perfect for a child's feet. Grian stares down at them, something hurting and tremulous in his heart, but his face remains blank. These boots are placed on the trio's doorstep as well. The male twin wears these, and the last child ends up with a pair of blue and black spotted ones.

(False had had fun with the patterns, feeling a little bit of relief that she could hunt down some rubber in a pattern other than plain red.)

Rumor spreads of a purple-eyed monster in the woods that gave people boots to keep them safe from the rain, although Grian very carefully avoids such stories. The children begin leaving trinkets for their monster in hopes to repay him, and Grian ignores these too until one day, the children somehow manage to get an old red dog collar to give him. Upon spotting this, Grian's heart gives a squeeze as it reminds him of Rendog, and he pockets it to put on his rather empty bookshelf. Other things also get picked up, all things that remind him of the friends he had to leave behind.

An allium, pressed into a book of galactic picked up from a stronghold. A jar of electric blue ink dried into a gelatinous cake. A tiny knight figurine, scuffed and missing an arm. A handful of spicy red jellybeans. Eventually, as time passes on and on and the rain bears down harder on Grian's tiny world, a trio of heartfelt, thankful cards appear on his kitchen table, all three drawn in crayon and filled with cheerful scribbles.

It rains harder, and the world shrinks down to just Grian and the three children who call out into the gloom every morning, grateful for the boots and the glimpses of purple eyes and feathered wings in the dark that tell them that they are not alone. The boots stop coming.

In their place, new things appear.

A toaster. Firewood. New sweaters and combs and soap. Little things designed to make life easier, many of them children-sized or painted in rainbow stripes or blue polka dots or a shade of red just off from Grian's favored color. These too go to the children, and the number of gifts Grian receives increases, many of them built from the material that he gives the trio of children.

(If the Hermits cannot gift things to Grian directly, then they will gift them to people who will transform them into something their wayward friend would accept. They do so with equal parts love and spite, angry to have been rebuffed but unwilling to let Grian feel himself forgotten. The trio of kids end up with a rather odd assortment of things. Tango, for example, is fond of the easy-bake oven he sent them that always burnt the food it made. Grian got nothing but his favorite chocolate chip cookies for a week, all of them scorched.)

In time, Grian does his best to drive the children off, building traps and leaving weapons on their doorstep to scare them. The stories of the monster in the woods increase in number and many more children join the server, encouraged by tales of purple-eyed, winged beast that taught its charges to be wary and gave them tools to defend themselves. Grian's cabin remains hidden in the mist, but many more wooden structures join it in the forest.

New boots appear on his doorstep. They aren't made to fit him.

(His heart aches, but his eyes remain dry. Morning dew condenses on Grian's cheeks.)

It comes to a head like this- no world, no matter how small or safe, is fully protected from the Watchers' gaze, and in the end, they find him. Only now, there are people here that cannot leave, that Grian cannot leave behind.

The children scream for their monster to save them. He rises from the mist, eyes heavy and wings heavier, dragging upon the ground and leaving trails in the brick red mud. They think they are saved. They are wrong.

Chains shoot out from the mist, forcing Grian to his knees as a huge female Watcher, Astrid, stares down at him, mouth turned down into a tiny frown and the rest of her figure still as stone even as she floats in the air, white robes fading into the surrounding fog. The purple emblem on her mask glows like a brand. Grian watches her with purple eyes glowing dim and dull, resigned to his fate but unwilling to flee if it means the deaths of those who do not deserve to serve his sentence in his stead.

He thinks, quietly, that he will die here. He wonders if this- any of this- is worth it. He thinks, yes. Yes it is.

He is wrong.

A figure coalesces before him, clad in yellow armor and arms crossed, the very picture of annoyed defiance. It tilts its head back, hard light construct featureless but practically radiating scorn, and from the mists a voice echoes.

"You are going to leave him alone. He's not for you." Astrid hisses behind her mask, galactic crackling and vile from between her lips, and the sound of wingbeats thrums like a heartbeat through the clearing, bass-heavy and loud in Grian's ears. He winces, closing his eyes as more chains shoot out from the ground to attach to Xisuma's- for what else could it be but his admin projected across time and space (that stupid, crazy, wonderful man)- construct. They coil around it, doing their level best to drag it to the ground, but the figure remains still and hovering before Grian, entirely unmoved.

"No. You will leave him alone." Xisuma's voice again, commanding and stern even from a figure that looks more like a glowing yellow armor stand. "I'll ask that you don't test me, it took a while to put this projection together and it will not dissipate until it fulfills its intended purpose." Astrid merely hisses again, this time with an underlay of static beneath it, and Grian's wings are suddenly pulled back tight and away from his shoulders- all three pairs of them, not merely those he prefers to wear.

The sound of flesh and feathers ripping through one plane and into the next has Grian feeling sick. Wrong, his mind repeats on loop, screaming. Wrong wrong wrong. Xisuma's figure freezes at his pained squeak before unfolding its arms and going carefully still. It tilts its head to the side, considering and cold.

"Is that your game? You do realize that that is death sentence, right? We would never let you survive it." Astrid nods. The chains rise up again, clinking softly as they loop once, twice, three times around Grian's outermost pair of wings, the ones most used to the physical plane and with the most nerve endings besides. The damp air is cold and aching in his lungs.

A rip. A scream. And then everything shrinks down to a flicker of brilliant yellow light, the shrilling of broken violins, and the long, drawn-out death wail of a Watcher unused to pain. A computer crash in slow motion complete with a harsh base note as Astrid's wings fall to join Grian's in the mud.

The world expands again, overwhelming. Agony. Silence.

Chains clink to the floor, broken, as Xisuma's hard light construct comes forward to stand before the Hermits' erstwhile server mate, slumped over in a pool of blood but conscious, something in his purple eyes bent, if not a little broken.

A voice, hoarse, achingly loud in the quiet of the glade. "You didn't stop her."

"No."

"...Is this my punishment then?" A moment of quiet and then the figure stoops down to gather Grian into its arms, its featureless gaze doing little to ease his fear.

Then, gently, ".....No."

Grian slumps, the last bit of tension seeping from his limbs as the pain in his back begins to register, sapping at his will and leeching into his voice.

"I'm sorry, you know. I- I'm sorry. I didn't want to go. It just- it hurts. Hels it hurts, so much. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"I know. I know." Xisuma's figure stands up, hoisting Grian a little higher up against its chest so that hiss remaining wings don't drag on the ground quite as much, then turning to face the cowering children. Eventually, a little girl in bright red rain boots stands up to meet its gaze.

She blinks back tears, scrubbing at her face to hide them, but her expression is brave. "Where are you taking him?"

The figure clutches the children's monster close, looking just as fierce as any dragon in a fairytale. "Home. Will you stop me?"

The girl pauses, considering. "No. Don't think I could, really."

"Will you try?"

"To keep going? Yeah, of fucking course, sure as my name is Clementine. To stop you? Not bloody likely, I like my head right where it is." Xisuma's figure nods, satisfied, and with a blink, it and their monster are gone.

Notes:

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Thurs 4 Feb ‘21

Confirmation is here at last of Harry’s role in the film adaptation of My Policeman, brought to us by queer fave Greg Berlanti (and his husband). Harry will costar with Emma Corrin, who you may remember from the at the time inexplicable seeming Harry/Emma cross promo last August-- given the pains they took then to emphasize that the relationship was platonic, one assumes this film will go for a different promo tactic than the current one! They share a stylist though, so they’ll no doubt be beautifully coordinated. Harry will play Tom, which some people object to on the grounds that Harry is the wrong person to play the role of a closeted man which is certainly… one opinion. Aaaaand there’s plenty more of that discourse (and about him playing a policeman) to come over the coming months so I’ll just leave it there for now! Anyway and as for that current project, we got more DWD set pics today, featuring Harry in various costume outfits! There’s ones where his character looks bloodied, and ones where his character looks clean but absolutely terrifying, grown up frat boy from hell looks to give you CHILLS, plus some of Harry as Harry in a bright orange hoodie designed by his friend Kunichi Nomura.There was also {moustache spoilers} some weird facial hair on display. Okay then!

Project Defenseless has been launched to push Defenseless up in the streaming charts and push for radio play! The fan single project offers resources and organized pushes to get people streaming and promoting on all the platforms and reaching out to radio, and has fans making lots of very cool edits besides! “I see what you’re doing with defenseless! You are all incredible!” said Louis. That song is such a fitting choice for this kind of project! Its journey has been all about the fan response from back when Louis played it for us for the very first time in 2019 (it was the one everyone was screaming about from soundcheck clips for the few hours between that and hearing the songs for real even) and afterwards he told us about how although he’d always liked the song it clicked for him in a new way after getting the fan reaction, saying “something happened to it when I performed it live, and ever since then it really kind of got me,” and “the fans make everything sound amazing, they made it sound so good,” and “the fans for whatever reason really took to this song, so now it has a special place in me heart definitely”. Plus of course there was the long saga of fan stress when it seemed like it might not be on the album and rejoicing when Louis finally definitively confirmed that it would be, after what seemed like might have been a reversal on his part due to the outcry about it. And now she’s climbing all kinds of charts like a the star she is! The song shot up on itunes (#3 worldwide, #1 in 16 countries) just for starters and the project has only just got going. Louis commented on the stats-- “An album track off an album that’s a year old. You lot blow my fucking mind! Thank you so much!”

Louis also commented on a Jack Saunders (BBC indie music DJ) tweet and followed guitarist Johnny Took of the DMAs on twitter which is weird only in that he didn’t already.

There’s news about Zayn’s Zach Sang interview, and it’s not the most surprising news but it is very sad; Zach says “hi beautiful humans, this convo was scheduled for last week but we got a rain check from his team. this conversation can still happen, it ain’t over yet! we’ll keep ya in the loop. I listened to this album 7 times! we’re determined” Well... damn. However Zayn DID pop up with some spon-content but like… the WEIRDEST ad content?? It’s for Coors Light and, well I’ll let Zayn tell you about it! “They’re gonna see if they can put a commercial inside your dreams... which is kind of messed up.” HAHAHAHA I have nothing to add! What Zayn said!!! “So we’re gonna give that a go and uh see if it works,” he says, sounding appropriately skeptical, followed by “wish me luck”. Does this kind of sponcon count as malicious compliance? Technically he DID say the stuff he was supposed to- and he’s doing an instagram live for them Sat, supposedly. I can’t wait to see how that goes! Wish him luck! The latest installment of the NIL comic book video series is also out today, but just one this time instead of a pair. This week’s song is Connexion and the new comic shows us that the figure pursuing our hero is, drumroll-- himself! The call is coming from inside the house!

Unlike interview shy Zayn, however, Gigi is out there ready to overshare, as long as it’s to Vogue. She has plenty to say about giving birth to zaby Khai (newly revealed nickname: Khaiba) at home at the Pennsylvania farm. The article says that they decided to have the birth at home due to COVID placing restrictions on hospital births that would have prevented Bella and Zayn and Yolanda all being present, and after she and Zayn watched the documentary The Business of Being Born. “They placed a blow-up bath in their bedroom and sent their three cats and border collie away when the midwife expressed concern that the sphynx and Maine coon felines might puncture the tub with their claws,” the interviewer learns while horseback riding with Gigi. The article also says Zayn “caught the baby” but it isn’t a direct quote from Gigi and I’m thinking a bit of an exaggeration perhaps. Gigi had the baby at the Hadid family farm but she and Zayn have since relocated to live at his farm, which is nearby, where they say they will be raising the child, with Z’s mom Trisha coming to stay to help out for the first month, that Khai sleeps with them, and that Zayn said his experience of the whole thing reminded him of the birth in a lion documentary they’d watched. Neither mentioned it but it has been spotted that Gigi and Zayn each now have tattoos of the name, Khai, in Arabic.

Meanwhile, Niall surfaced only in golf guy mode- a Modest Golf announcement and a podcast appearance to promote the new Modest initiative to get young people into playing golf. He says they want to “get rid of that thing that’s been holding golf back for a long time, that it’s a boring sport…” and I know he means he’s trying to combat that idea but when I tell you I LAUGHED!

[oxzebi997]

Read it on AO3

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Day 5 Favorite Trio

Shore leave. A rare treat, but Commander Wolffe knew better than to question his luck. The barracks on Coruscant provided little privacy, but there was the office area. Officially it was High Command only, meant for reports and meetings, but Marshal Commander Kote had made a special request for the presence of both Wolffe and their little brother Rex, citing their shared leave period.

Wolffe arrived earlier than Kote had scheduled, not that anyone was going to question him here these offices were free range for Ranking officers, he sat on the corner of the desk for just a moment before noticing a new addition. A floor length mirror covered a portion of one of the walls, likely to offer some visibility of anyone sitting on the opposite side of the desk. Wolffe gave himself a little look over, pride may not be the way of his Jedi but he looked pretty damn good in his blacks, and he was going to appreciate it for a moment.

The door hissed open and Wolffe glanced up to see an amused grin on Rex’s face who began to laugh as the door shut behind him, “you self absorbed bantha.”

“Not my fault I’m the pretty one vod’ika.” He grinned, not turning away from his own reflection, but watching Rex at the edge of the mirror.

“Tsh yeah, with your regulation cut? Please at least I stand out.”

“Like a sore thumb, blondie.” Wolffe turned as Rex closed the gap between them, a grin on both their faces as they grappled on to one another.

A few failed attempts to gain an edge on one another, Rex had gotten better since they were all Cadets and Wolffe was proud of him, but he wasn’t about to lose to his little brother, not in an unofficial spar.

“Your blocks are almost impressive, but your hits are still pretty sad.”

“I’d never forgive myself if I hurt an old man.” Rex’s eyes were deceitful and Wolffe ha Denver yet been on the receiving end of this particular expression, though he had seen it once before- Rex ducked suddenly to the left, Wolffe moved to block the attack, but Rex kicked to the right and yanked his leg back, his toes pulling Wolffe’s knee forward from behind and dropping him, while Rex rolled and tackled him from above.

Laughing now Wolffe rolled over, on top of Rex “how did you do that, that was dirty.”

“No dirty would be aiming a little higher without your armor on.” Rex growled playfully.

“You two having fun?” Kote interrupted, that quiet smile lighting up his eyes as he took in the sight of his aliit actually smiling and not broken by the galaxy around them.

“I was just giving Wolffe an important lesson in humility.”

Kote smiled wider and stepped fully into the room as the door hissed shut and he walked toward the desk, Wolffe and Rex got to their feet and noticed a funny little box with handles and some kind of loosely clasped lid.

“What’s that, Kote?” Wolffe tried to peer between his brother’s hands, but saw nothing between the thin woven wood panels.

“This, Vod, is the reason for our little meeting today.” He smiled. Kote’s look of mischief often meant he had found a loophole to exploit, or had performed some delightful malicious compliance, “genuine Stewjoni whiskey,” he opened the little basket to reveal a gorgeous clear bottle fullofthe richest amber Wolffe had ever seen “aged since 3610, bottles straight from the barrel, and completely legally obtained through wartime information bartering.”

“I dunno Kote, Rex might not be old enough to drink.”

“Oh kriff off,” Rex grinned, as they all took a seat.

“I’ve missed you both and I thought, since the General prefers tea except when dealing with General Skywalker, and of course he didn’t mind, that we might benefit best from this rich resource.”

“You practice that the whole way here just to impress us?” Rex jabbed.

“Did it work, and vod’ika?” He smiled back as he twisted the cork out of the bottle and poured for them all “I practice all my little speeches just for the two of you.”

They all laughed a little and started to take a drink, when it became clear that they had learned their taste in drinks from their generals. Rex made a face, but it didn’t stop him. Wolffe let the liquor burn down his throat with a satisfied hum. Cody took a third of his glass in one go before leaning forward on the desk with a pleasant grin.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying their drinks very differently from one another, and the presence of each other providing safety and warmth to the brother next to him.

“Think it’ll be like this when it’s all said and done?” Rex broke the silence, “once we’ve won and the galaxy is right?”

A pause, the room started to feel heavy, Kote set his drink down heavily breaking the tension before it formed.

“Probably not,” he said lightly, “when the war’s over we’ll be able to go into town and grab a drink in public instead of hiding down in the offices.”

Wolffe laughed a little, “that’s on you, Kote, 79s is always open, you had to go and get this fancy booze for us and hide us all away like General Kenobi’s liquor cabinet.”

“How did you-“

“I may only have one of my own, vod, but I have eyes everywhere.” He grinned devilishly and took a sip of his drink, leaving the two to wonder which of their men fed gossip to other battalions without trading new leads back into the groups.

After a moment, a light chuckle from Rex which quickly turned to laughter from all three. It hadn’t been that long since they’d been all together, but it had been awhile since they’d been easy together. Wolffe quietly hoped, against all odds and likelihood, that it would get to be like this.

When everything was over.

[celtics534]

Look What You Made Me Do

Covert Love Chapter 18

I hope the last cliffhanger didn’t hurt y’all to bad lol. Don’t worry it’s gonna escalate from here 😝. The title of this chapter is from the gorgeous Taylor Swift!

Read on: FF.net and AO3

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Every inhale made a knife stab into her lungs. Then there was the pounding headache that seemed to spread across her whole head. And Ginny couldn’t even start to think about the pain from her left leg. What made it all so much worse, was the fact that Ginny had no idea why or how she got into so much pain. Every time Ginny opened her eyes, it was just darkness. The first time she’d thought her lids hadn’t opened, but after three forceful blinks, Ginny knew that wasn’t the case. 

 Another observation Ginny made, rather quickly, was the fact that she was tied up. Her wrists tugged against what she assumed was rope based on the rough feel the braids on her skin. She wiggles her nose, feeling scratch fabric tickle the top of her nose. So she was blindfolded, tied up, and hurt in multiple places. Fuck…

 She tried to steady her breathing. Ginny knew she needed to try and keep herself calm. Panicking did no one any good. What she needed to do was try and get out of there… and remember how she’d gotten there... wherever there was. 

 Ginny tried to think, but her head just continued to throb, making it impossible to remember what had happened. 

 “Oh good, I was worried I gave you too much.” The familiar voice sent a violent shiver down Ginny’s spine. She didn’t need to see to know who was there with her. 

“Prue.” Ginny forced her tone to be calm, all while her belly rolled like a raging sea. “What have you done?”

 She heard the woman let out a derisive snort. She was somewhere to her left. Maybe a meter? “What have I done? I think the question should be what have you done, Ginevra.”

 Ginny had never been overly fond of her full name, but the way Prue said it… Another shiver shot down her spine. She swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you mean.”

 “Please.” The annoyance in Prue’s voice was practically palpable. “Of course you know what I’m talking about. Potter.” She spat out the word like it was toxic. “You let him…”

 There was silence except for heavy breathing. Ginny counted to ten, keeping beat with every inhale Prue took. Then Prue spoke again, her voice calm and slick as a wet eel. “Anyway, we don’t need to discuss such unpleasantries. Instead, we’ll focus on what we can do to fix your naive mistakes”

 Ginny wished she could see her old friend. She wanted to look Prue in the eye and tell her how crazy she was. But even with her distracting, pounding head, Ginny knew she needed to keep her temper in check. If she pushed Prue too far… well, Ginny didn’t want to know what her kidnapper would do. 

 So instead of giving in to her urges, Ginny remained silent. Prue seemed content with Ginny’s silence, most likely taking it for compliance. “First, we need to make sure you understand the wrongs you’ve committed.”

 A hand grazed across Ginny’s shoulder blades, making her stomach sink. A lump appeared in her throat as a cold bead of sweat rolled down her back. She steeled herself, refusing to let Prue know she’d been rattled. Ginny forced her voice to be level. “What does that entail?” 

 The hand slowly lessened into just fingers as they forged a trail down her right arm. “I don’t know if I ever told you about my father. Did I, Ginevra?” 

 She could feel her body trembling as Prue’s fingers stroked up and down her forearm. “I — I don’t think so.”

 Prue hummed her acknowledgment. “No, I wouldn’t have. I don’t really like talking about him. He wasn’t a good man, Ginevra. He liked to hurt people.”  Prue went silent, making Ginny’s entire body become tauter, if that was possible. She let out a humorless laugh before continuing. 

 “He loved to hurt me. But, Ginevra, it taught me a few things.” 

 Ginny’s mouth had gone bone dry as she listened to her old friend. There was none of the friendliness or warmth Ginny was used to. No Prue sounded… well, for a lack of a better word, insane. It was like Prue had become emotionless, which made Ginny’s heart race like she’d run a marathon. It was more terrifying than anything else at that moment.

 “Aren’t you going to ask what I learned?” Prue prompted. Ginny counted to five, waiting for Prue to continue but instead of the explanation she expected, a hand struck her cheek. “You should answer when I ask you a question.” Prue’s once detached tones had become venomous. 

 Ginny forced herself to slowly breathe in and out through her nose. Her cheek stung and she had to hold back a sob, but Ginny refused to give Prue any satisfaction. 

 “Let’s try this again.” Prue’s voice had gone cold and malicious. “My father taught me a few things, would you care to find out?”

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 Prue stared up at the ceiling, a slow smile spreading across her face. She’d done it. She’d finally done it! Ginny was now safe from everything… from him. Potter could never touch her again. No one would ever touch her again. 

 She’d left Ginny sleeping after a good session. That was a good word for it. A therapy session. The gracious Ginevra just needed to rid herself of any contamination before achieving her true destiny. 

 Of course Ginny didn’t understand that yet, but Prue was certain she could help bring her friend into the light. That’s all Ginny needed, someone to lend a hand in showing her fate. To help release her to her calling. 

 Sure, Ginny didn’t understand now, which was why she refused to acknowledge Prue’s help, but she would come around. Prue was certain of it. A few more sessions, just a few more sessions. 

 Prue let her eyes drift close. She had another long day ahead of her, and Prue needed to have enough energy to assist Ginny with her transformation.

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 Ginny couldn’t hold back the grunt of pain as she became conscious. If she thought she’d hurt before… She let a slow breath out of her mouth, trying to ignore the sharp stab of pain in her lungs when she inhaled. Prue had been… savage with the things she’d done.

 And had Prue done things. Ginny shivered, remembering the way Prue’s hands had felt on her skin. The weight that had covered her chest after every hit of Prue’s fists. How a knife had torn through her skin as Prue muttered about cleansing her down to the bone. Cleansing… Ginny still had no fucking clue what that meant! And of course, Prue hadn’t exactly explained that while she’d been brutalizing Ginny’s body. 

 But no matter how brutal Prue was in the moment, she’d healed all of Ginny’s wounds. Every cut and bruise had been healed. But that didn’t mean the residual pain didn’t linger. Even after the slice was cleaned and sewn back up it still stung like hell. 

 For some reason, Prue didn’t use her wand. Not once! Every time she’d hurt Ginny it had been with some muggle method. She’d done the same to Harry and Ginny had no idea why.

 A chill washed over her as if she’d dove straight into the freezing ocean. She was freezing all over as if… Ginny swallowed hard. She was ninety percent certain that she was now naked. Based on the feeling of cool uncomfortable wood on her ass, she was naked at least from the waist down, but she was rather certain her top was gone as well. 

 “Ah, you’re awake.” Ginny had to stop herself from flinching when Prue’s voice spoke from somewhere to her left. “You were starting to worry me.” 

 Ginny didn’t move, didn’t say anything. She waited and listened. There were footsteps on what she had to guess was wood flooring, the rustling of a bag, and was that birds? Yes! There were chirping birds, but they sounded far away. Ginny had to guess that a window was open somewhere in this… whatever she was trapped in. 

 “How are you feeling today?” Prue’s unctuous tone made the hairs on Ginny’s arms rise. Ginny’s entire body stiffened as a warm finger touched her bare cheek before sliding down to hover at the hollow of her throat. 

 Prue let out a huff of annoyance. “Now I know I didn’t cut out your tongue, my dear. So I’ll ask again, how are you feeling?”

 Ginny swallowed. She didn’t want to answer, but Ginny knew that making Pure angry wasn’t going to do her any good. “As good as you’d expect.” She’d meant the words to come out strong and feisty, but her throat was so dry that they came out more of a croak than anything. 

 Prue laughed. “Your wit is always something I’ve enjoyed about you, Ginevra.”

 “Enjoy it enough to let me go?” 

 Another chuckle. “Afraid not. I have a responsibility to help you reach your destiny, and if I let you go… well they say we never know what’s good for us and you don’t seem to have a clue how good this will be for you.”

 Ginny had to clench her teeth to stop herself from saying something rash. Prue seemed to approve of her silence because she began to hum a pleasant tune that Ginny couldn’t quite place. 

 The bag rustled again, and Ginny heard the sound of clattering metal. Her heart dropped into her feet. She remembered that sound from before. Those were the knives... those fucking knives from the last time. 

 Even though she knew it was coming, Ginny still flinched at the cool metal grazing her skin. 

 “Now.” Prue’s voice lost all its amusement. It was like she’d become someone else. Like there were two different Prues. One Ginny had played quidditch with, laughed with, talked about blokes with. Then there was the hard, cruel mobster like Prue that played with knives and talked in a dead tone. “How about we pick this back up where we left off.”

 “I — I still don’t know what you want, Prue.” Ginny wished she hadn’t stuttered but with the way her heart was beating, she was just relieved that her voice still worked. 

 Prue let out a disappointed yet (if it was possible) understanding sigh. “I understand that it’s a lot to take in, but I think we’ll make some good progress today.” 

 Ginny could feel the sharp tip of the blade slowly trail up her arm and over to her collarbone. She couldn’t prevent herself from shuddering, then clenching her teeth as the cool blade cut into her neck. 

 Prue made a tisking noise. “Now, Ginevra, look what you made me do.” The blade disappeared as cotton was pressed to her wound. 

 So many things spun around Ginny’s head as Prue dressed her wound. How long had she been there? Why did Prue do everything as if she didn’t have magic? Did Harry have a clue of where she was? Because there was no doubt in her mind that Harry was searching for her. 

 Her chest tightened as her mind replayed the image of Harry as he expressed his fears of this exact situation. He'd looked distraught at just the idea of it, so right now...

 Ginny could imagine the panic currently fueling her boyfriend all too well. Boyfriend... no, it was fiancé now! Her throat began to close on itself as the fact that she might never see him again burrowed into her mind. 

 No! That wouldn't happen! She wouldn't let that happen. 

 Ginny would get back to him even if it was the last thing she ever did.

 Prue sighed in what sounded like satisfaction. “There we go.” Her hand pulled away from her skin, only to be replaced with the cold blade again. “Now, how about we take this from the top?” 

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 Prue tapped her fingers against the marble countertop. Her knives laid out before her, all still stained red. Ginny had been silent throughout her lesson. Not a peep came out of her mouth. But Prue had known her friend had been in pain. 

 She'd been able to see it in the way her jaw had tightened and her body had shaken. Why Ginny had refused to scream or cry was a mystery to Prue. Letting out was all a part of the process. If Ginny just gave in and submitted herself to her release, then it would over so much sooner.  

 But instead, she'd held all her pain inside. Pain was a good thing! Pain showed you that you were progressing! 

 Prue's fingers stilled as a thought appeared in her head. Could it be that Ginny hadn't learned that lesson yet? Prue had personally been taught that tidbit of life from a young age, but Ginny… She hadn’t had a father who enjoyed abusing her. She’d grown up in a happy and healthy home. Maybe she just needed some more time… Yes, she just needed a chance to learn!

 Ginny wasn’t a fool, once she had a chance to understand she wouldn’t refute so much. Prue smiled to herself. This just meant she got to spend a bit more time with Ginny, and that would never be a problem for Prue. 

 She thought about Ginny up in the spare room, her glorious body tied to the chair… Ginny’s body was even more attractive than Prue had imagined, and if she was fully honest with herself, she’d pictured it many times. It had been a form of torture resisting the urge to touch her… to run her finger across every one of her gorgeous freckles. A spike of lust coursed through Prue, and not for the first time. It seemed like every time she thought of Ginny, some beast crawled its way into her chest and demanded release… to be given the approval to sample every part of Ginny Weasley she could reach. 

 Prue shook herself. No! She couldn’t give in to those urges! Those desires! Ginny Weasley needed to be made pure before being released from this world, and Prue wouldn’t be doing her true duty if she allowed her primal cravings to take control. 

 No, she would focus on purifying Ginny. Which could only be done once Ginny repented her sins. Prue took a deep breath, forcing the fire of lust raging inside her to dim. Knives didn’t seem to be the way to shatter Ginny’s resolve. So the question was, what would?

 Prue’s nails began their steady melody against the marble again. If bodily harm to Ginny didn’t make the woman understand, maybe the idea of the same thing happening to someone she cared about would push her over the edge. Prue thought about the people in Ginny’s inner circle. Potter (the name still gave her indigestion) would be the prime choice, but he would be on high alert. There was no way he wasn’t looking for his girlfriend. Ginny’s brother would be another decent option, but he would be working with Potter and the aurors. 

 Then the answer hit Prue like a well-cast stunner. She smiled. Ginny’s brother had a little girl… and a pregnant wife. 

 She grabbed her knives off the counter and turned on the kitchen tap. The water took a few seconds to heat, but Prue didn’t wait before dunking the bloody knives until the water ran red. She needed to go and meet up with a few people, and she wanted her knives ready. 

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 Ginny forced herself to breathe slowly. She needed to keep calm and focused. Leaning her head back to the side, Ginny continued to try and push the blindfold off her eyes with her shoulder. It was slow going, but she’d definitely made progress because she could see a small amount of light from the bottom of the cover.  

 And with that light, Ginny could look directly down. She was tied to a hardwood dining chair. It was heavy enough that the likelihood of it toppling over was slim. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Her arms were bound behind her with her wrist joined. Her legs were tied to the legs of the chair making it impossible for her to even move her foot an inch. 

 She continued to roll the cloth up until finally it was off her eyes, making it sit on her forehead like a bandana. It took a few seconds for Ginny’s eyes to adjust to the light. She blinked rapidly for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings. 

 The room was small, maybe just slightly bigger than the average closet. There wasn’t a piece of furniture, except for the chair she was tied to. Actually there wasn’t anything in the room except her. There was a small window high on the wall to her left, which was now closed but provided the only light source in the dank room. 

 Ginny breathed deeply, just having her sight back was a huge relief. Sure she was still bound to the bloody chair, but now she could see. After letting herself revel in her victory for only a short moment, Ginny started to wiggle her wrists. That was her next target. If she could get her hands free then her feet would be a piece of cake. 

 The only question was, how long did she have until Prue came back?

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette’s Villainy Lessons with her Uncles, Victor Zsasz, Jerimah, Riddler and Ed

Reminder, the rouges know her as Jillian Strange and are aware her cover in Gotham is Jillian Smith in public.

Most people would think a hitman and casual murder would make a horrible, horribly godfather. At least for morals. 

Well, her father is Strange so he’s not most people. Her Maman had to have dated him or something so she probably isn’t normal either, Marinette would think as lessons began.

“Okay, now today we’re going to review how to take down  someone bigger than you. What do you do first?”

Marinette hummed. “Check what’s on them and around them. Look for weapons and weak points while keeping distance.”

Uncle Victor smiled. “Good job Jill!”

Marinette beamed at that. “Second step?”

“disarm them.”

“Good, now next thing?”

“Exploit wekanesses. Use weapons if possible.”

“In the kitchen, no knives open. but there’s a spork.”

“Spork?”

“Don’t question it. what do you do?”

“aim for the eye?”

“Good! popped out eyes are very distracting. Now, after that’s done, what do we do?”

“Run away and call the family.”

“And why not the police?”

“Batman will know. And he and the police will take me away.”

“And do we want that?”

“NEVER!”

“That’s my Jilly bean. Now, self defense in theory you have down. and you kept up with punch practice, right?”

“And kicks and the bendy-training.”

“Flexibility. You already have strength down, so we can focus on lean muscle like gymnasts and acrobats for you.”

“If i become an acrobat does that mean i have to be nice to batman?”

Zsasz shook his head. “Just because bat is in it, doesn’t make it his.”

“He calls his boomerangs batarangs. I’m not taking chances.”

--

“Now, its all in the wrist, Bend it back, like that, when the target is close.” Jerome hovered over Marinette, watching her form closely.

“I need to do this to take out the bad guys right?”

“If a bat goes after you when you’re with one of us, hit them hard.” He wouldn’t have Strange and whoever Jill’s Maman was after any of them for losing her mid-lesson to a zealous Batman or Robin. 

“Knees are better targets right?”

“Since you’re not allowed to kill, yes.” Jerome still didn’t get that rule, but whatever. His niece followed her Maman’s rules most of the time, and was adamant about that one. it made lessons more difficult, but they worked around it.

“Maman said something about it staining the soul,” the girl threw the knife, just missing the target.

“Eh, mine’s fine.” He didn’t regret any of it, something about him being incapable of remorse. 

“They were bad people right?”

“Of course, i don’t hurt actually good people--they make it so things don’t happen in the first place.” After all, letting things happen was bad too, and worse as far as Jerome was concerned. He still remembered everything his family did and how no one said anything about what was done to him. Silence and acceptance was far worse than doing in his books.

“Like Uncle Victor?” Marinette was still fuzzy on good and bad and the in betweens. her Father said its because binaries can’t contain her understanding so she needs another frame of reference or something.

“Like Uncle Victor,” Jerome agreed, watching Marinette closely as she sunk the next knife into the cereal box. “Now, i think we’ve done enough with weapons for now. Want to practice trapeze tricks?”

“But Aunt Harley isn’t here.”

“Safety nets are there for a reason.”

Marinette considered it for one second. Then bolted up the post and threw each trapeze into one another., making them swing for a challenge “I can’t fly for a few hours!”

“Good! Sooner you get used to falling, the less scary it is, trust me!”

“Okay!” Marinette grinned as she got a running start. She loved lessons like this.

--

Uncle Riddler decided today was a software programming day. And a cyber-crime day, she guessed. But those are always boring--she practices these with Hero Stalker and sometimes Max in Paris anyways.

“See, this is how you beat their firewalls, a simple virus that looks like a normal email. when it’s opened then we have access to the servers and get the information we want, okay?” Riddler was trying to be more clear with her today. Ed was probably trying to keep control.

“How long does it take?”

“Varies.”

“Can we get icecream while we wait?”

Riddler almost sighed. almost.

“Why?”

“Why not? We can’t build anything without the base and Father said no more autopsies in the kitchen.”

“It wasn’t even a human, just a bird. but nooo, that’s traumatizing and damaging to your mind.”

“But it was cool!”

“I know, i know. Bodies are just bigger puzzles... Hm, what’s broken when spoken Jilly bean?”

“The ice cream machine at McDonalds. And Silence, but that one’s an easy answer... OH! hero’s name is a honophone with crazy!”

“Batman.”

“Yep! Did he find the new base yet?”

“Nah, Dent got him off the trail last with another robbing spree.”

“Oh, is it going to Mr. Freeze for his research or bills or the RKC?”

“I... am pretty sure Rose stole it so your group won this time.”

“Yes!” Marinette fist pumped. “I told them operation bouncy ball would work!”

“....I. is that why they were everywhere.”

Marinette grinned back. “Just like you all keep saying, misdirection is the key to getting what you want when dealing with someone with more.”

Riddler grinned, the one that spelled doom for everyone else. “Our little jilly bean is already pulling off jobs on her own! I’m so proud!”

there was shift on his face, his stance altered and he was more... Uncle Ed than Uncle Riddler. “Jill, we talked about this. You need to be at least thirteen before you start plotting on your own.”

“I had co-conspirators of age so i didn’t break that rule!”

Uncle Ed was in control now. “I curse the day Dent taught you about malicious compliance and loopholes.”

“No you don’t. You’re just mad i used it against Dent and you missed him  tripping on everything. Don’t worry, Ghoul had cameras and made a montage.”

 Uncle Ed’s lip twitched. “Really?”

“Ice cream and we watch.” Mairinette knew her horrible stealth uncle had to be good at something. business things.

“Oswald is a terrible influence on you.”

why wasn’t this working? Wait, this is Riddler... “Ice cream please?”

“... fine. but no sparkly sprinkles.”

“But those are the best kind!”

“Jillian Strange,” Uncle Ed warned. “We do not leave evidence at the scene of a crime. Your favorite sprinkles leave evidence everywhere. Do you want to answer to your father about spoiling dinner again?”

“.... No. But after?”

“I want to know who gave you a metabolism like this, but sure. No telling Strange.”

“Okay!” Marinette ran off to the kitchen, returning with a large bowl for herself--half the gallon Ed noted--and a more normal serving for himself. “Here! and this is the video,” Marinette pulled out her ipad and played a few minutes of Dent tripping over various bouncy balls swarming his base.

“You really are a baby mastermind,” Uncle Riddler cooed. “Remind me to set you up with Puzzles later.” 

“Huh?” Marinette looked up from her empty bowl. 

“Nothing,” Ed said, almost glaring. 

“Oh, are you two fighting again? I’ll clean up until its over. Then we can work on the reality augmentation glasses, right?” Marinette asked with her infamous kitten eyes.

“Of course, I think you’ll like the new coding patterns we’ve been working on..”

--

Hope you enjoyed a slice of Marinette Strange Dupain Cheng’s Gotham life. 

Bonus:

“Jill, why are we missing a gallon of ice cream?”

“Uncle Ed took it.”

“...Please tell me it wasn’t for another biology lesson.”

Marinette thought for a moment. She is bad at lying. but letting her Father come to his own conclusions isn’t lying, right?

“I have to remind him that biology lessons are for his base again then, wonderful. I will bleach the counters. Put on  something while i do.”

“Breaking News,Poison Ivy’s Plants are out of control again.”

“Rose ran away again!” Marinette yellled.

Strange took a deep breath. “Get her room ready, I’ll call Harley.”

Marinette nodded, wandering off to find Ghoul and Frost in the ‘extra room’ already. “So who’s turn is it to tell Aunt Ivy to stop?”

“You’re here the least.”

Marinette groaned. “Do i get a disguise?”

“Green wig, colored contacts, and some baggy clothes i can feel you trying to burn.” 

“If i had heat vision it wouldn’t be trying.”

a few minutes later, the boys worked on fixing up the room while Marinette walked through the plant infested section of Gotham. The vines moved away from her, cuasing the few semi-conscious to stare at her. 

“Aunt Ivy! She’s on her way to my place, ok!”

Poison Ivy dropped to Marinette’s level, appearing from a bunch of vines. “Why didn’t she tell me!”

“You do this but at home when she does.”

“She knows better!”

“She’s six. She really doesn’t. Did you feed the flowers human blood again?”

“They were already dead, and they weren’t even half decent poeple. just abusers and pedos this time.”

“Did you tell her or...”

“They’re my children, why do i need to tell my non-plant daughter what her sibblings are eating?”

“So she doesn’t think you’re murdering for fun.”

“Oh right, that..”

--

Marinette casually curbing the rogues while learning how to villian and applying skills in the opposite direction will be a trend in the au. And they support her 100% when she does this as that’s their girl, theirs!

they tolerate whoever she adds though. eventually. 

[whumpity--whump--whump]

Psychology in Whump: Conditioning

OKAY, some of y’all know nothing about conditioning, so I’m gonna clear some things up. Don’t feel bad, these are common mistakes. I’m basing this off of everything I learned in AP Psychology, so I know what I’m talking about more than the average person. If you ever have a psychology question, you can always send an ask and I’ll be more than glad to answer.

Classical Conditioning

Ever heard of Pavlov? This is what he did. Essentially, this is call and response.

There are four things: Unconditioned Response, Conditioned Response, Unconditioned Stimuli, and Conditioned Stimuli.

Let’s use Pavlov to explain this. Pavlov was a doctor doing experiments on dog salivation and accidentally made a huge psychological discovery. Essentially, he would ring a bell every time he was bringing food to the dogs. Over time, the dogs would salivate when the bell rang, even if there was no food.

The Unconditioned Stimuli was the food, and the Unconditioned Response was salivation in the presence of food. Dogs do not have to be trained to salivate when there’s food. That is an innate biological response.

The Conditioned Stimuli was the bell, and the Conditioned Response was salivation upon hearing the bell. Dogs don’t normally salivate when they hear bells; Pavlov’s dogs were conditioned to.

Classical conditioning works when Unconditioned are combined with the Conditioned. Over time, Pavlov’s dogs connected bells with food. They knew a bell ringing would mean food. So their salivary glands would jump the gun on salivation, and they’d salivate no matter what.

Classical conditioning can easily happen by accident, as was the case with Pavlov. It can also be done on purpose. To give a whumpy example, perhaps a whumper classically conditions the whumpee. The Unconditioned Stimuli could be whipping. The Unconditioned Response could be fear, panic, crying, begging, something along those lines. The Conditioned Stimuli could be AC/DC music that the whumper had on speakers while whipping the whumpee. The Conditioned Response could be being scared/panicking/crying/begging/etc when the whumpee hears AC/DC. Perhaps it was accidental on the whumper’s part, or perhaps it was intentional. Either way, upon learning this, I’m sure the whumper would enjoy turning on “Thunderstruck” and listen to the whumpee beg even though the whip is nowhere in sight. 

Classical conditioning can be broken, as can any form of conditioning. That means a whumper has to alternate between whipping and not whipping when AC/DC is on. If they go to long without the whip, it can dampen the conditioning. With some exposure therapy, a caretaker can also help the whumpee listen to AC/DC again. If a caretaker exposes the whumpee to AC/DC multiple times and no pain is involved, then eventually the conditioning will dampen or be gone entirely.

Depending on multiple factors, some things can be deconditioned faster than others. Pain is a big factor. I’ve classically conditioned myself to dilate my eyes when I hear my ringtone once for my psych class, but it lasted fifteen minutes. Because it wasn’t life threatening and no pain was involved. Your brain will latch onto things related to pain. So anything the whumper does will have a long lasting effect on the whumpee. Time is also huge. If the whumper has only whipped with AC/DC a couple of times before, the whumpee will be conditioned, but it will break fast. So a caretaker wants to rescue the whumpee fast to make deconditioning as fast as possible.

Actually, for another prompt, Pavlov’s experiment could work for a pet whumpee. Then there’s even more comparisons between them and a dog.

Classical conditioning, generally, is harmless, or even helpful. At most, generally, irrational (for example, dog bites you for once and now you’re scared of dogs). But usually it’s little things that don’t matter all that much (flinching when someone pretends to throw something at you) or helpful (fear of strangers). But give a whumper classical conditioning, and your whumpee is in for a bad time.

Operant Conditioning

“Michelle, I already know about positive and negative reinforcement!”

“Great, can you tell me about it?”

“Positive reinforcement is giving a reward for a behavior, and negative reinforcement is a punishment.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THAT IS NOT WHAT NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IS.

Repeat it after me.

Negative reinforcement is not punishment!

There are in fact four things involved in operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

Reinforcement is meant to increase a behavior.

Punishment is meant to decrease a behavior. 

Positive means it is adding something.

Negative means it is taking away something.

Positive Reinforcement is when you give something to increase behavior. This is often called the “carrot.” Letting a whumpee sleep with a blanket when they are good is positive reinforcement. The whumpee is more likely to be good for the whumper and not defiant because they were rewarded for their compliance. Or it could be caretaker giving praise to the whumpee when they are recovering and don’t call caretaker “Master.” The whumpee is more likely to call the caretaker by their name than “Master” now that they’ve been praised for it. 

Negative Reinforcement is when you take something away to increase a behavior. This could be a caretaker giving whumpee ibuprofen for a headache. Taking ibuprofen takes away the pain, which makes the whumpee more likely to take ibuprofen for headaches in the future. A whumper taking away the whumpee’s mobility via restraints will make the whumpee stay where they need to be. In the future the whumpee will stay even when not restrained.

Positive Punishment is giving something to decrease behavior. This is the “stick.” Your average whump is positive punishment. Whumper beats whumpee for not being good? Positive punishment. A caretaker can also practice this theoretically (I’ll talk about healthy conditioning later). Caretaker could give whumpee a stern talking to for acting out. They’d have to be extremely careful though, and I’ll talk about that in a moment. 

Negative Punishment is taking away something to decrease behavior. The whumper can take away the whumpee’s shoes to decrease their behavior of trying to go outside. The caretaker can take away the whumpee’s collar to decrease any behaviors associated with being a pet. 

Some of these can be kind of two at once. For example, the caretaker taking away the whumpee’s collar so they don’t act like a pet is negative punishment. If you rephrase it to say the collar is taken so the whumpee acts more like a person, that is now negative reinforcement. The action of removing the whumpee’s collar is both negative punishment and negative reinforcement, it just depends on how you look at it.

Conditioning isn’t inherently bad. Everything in existence has the potential to be good and the potential to be evil, it just depends on how we use it. Conditioning can be very good, very bad, or not affect anything. It all depends on how it is being used. There is healthy conditioning that is very good. Through too much or too little operant conditioning, you can have serious psychological problems. For any of you guys that have kids you take care of in your life, a good mix of these four is healthy when done right! Generally you should do more reinforcement than punishment when possible because it helps with motivation (which is a long rabbit hole we won’t go down today), but punishment isn’t necessarily bad. I’ve given both good and bad examples of all four types of operant conditioning. Whether it’s good or bad depends on the person.

I can go into greater detail on all four for both the whumper and the caretaker, but I think most of it you’ll have down now. I’ll delve into positive punishment by the caretaker to demonstrate this specific problem the caretaker might run into. While this does include the whumper’s beatings and torture, positive punishment isn’t necessarily physical. With children, typically adding chores or lecturing is good. Not necessarily with a whumpee if you want the whumpee to recover (though, I suppose you could make the caretaker terrible at their job and accidently punish the whumpee in unhealthy ways for more whump). If a whumpee was a slave and forced to clean, the caretaker shouldn’t make cleaning a punishment. It will positively reinforce the behaviors the whumper wanted, which is not good. If the whumpee was “lectured” to (way more maliciously than a typical parent would), lecturing would be a terrible idea because it also would reinforce the whumper’s desired behaviors from the whumpee. The caretaker has to be extremely careful with all four methods. They have to be careful to not reinforce the whumper’s desired behaviors and punish the undesired ones. Which can be really hard if the whumpee hasn’t told the caretaker what happened (HINT HINT this could be some good whump HINT HINT). The caretaker can also do mini physical positive punishments, like in @deluxewhump ‘s Max and Pet series when Max hits Carlo with a rubber band. ONLY IF THE WHUMPEE FEELS THEY NEED SOME SORT OF PHYSICAL POSITIVE PUNISHMENT. If the whumpee doesn’t want anything to do with being hurt, do not do this, this is what the whumper would do. This only really works with small things like rubber bands or else it is too painful and that is especially problematic for all involved. Physical positive punishment done by the caretaker is not ideal, but can be helpful in the early stages of recovery with some whumpees.

As for deconditioning, studies have shown that if after every time a person does the behavior, they get the consequence, they decondition faster than if it’s every few times. Which might be good for the whumpee! Most whumpers I’ve seen are pretty consistent about always punishing or reinforcing the whumpee! Though, if you get a psychologist whumper...that can suck for the whumpee. I can go into more detail later on this since this kind of gets tricky. Look up operant conditioning schedules if you don’t want to ask.

Social Conditioning

I’m not going into a lot of detail because if I do I’m going to go into social psychology and that’s its own field and we don’t have time for that. 

Basically, we act like people around us. This dives into conformity and roles and whatnot. We’re all socially conditioned. This especially effects kids. They watch adults do things and imitate the adults. That’s why kids know you are supposed to hold your phone up to your ears and talk. This is why people don’t want kids watching rated R movies because studies have shown that when kids watch violence they are more likely to be violent, especially the younger they are, and no one wants a ridiculously violent five year old. I can name a famous experiment for this, Bandura’s bobo doll experiment, where kids watched adults beat up a bobo doll and then proceeded to do the same. 

This can be used in whump for whumpees raised in slavery because they’re socially conditioned to act like a slave. And it would be so hard to break that conditioning. If you have ever moved to a country with a vastly different culture you’d know how hard it is to break social conditioning.

Now That You Have That…

Go and write conditioning correctly. Seriously. Psych nerds hate hearing the “negative reinforcement is punishment” thing. Seriously, please don’t. And please reblog so people will see this so that more people in the whump community will learn this.

If you ever have questions concerning psychology, send me an ask, I’ll be more than glad to help! I love psychology! This can go for disorders, therapy, social psych, learning/conditioning, memory, motivation, health, development, etc. If I don’t know the answer, I can look it up, or give you good sources to look into.

For anyone interested, I recommend taking psychology classes. If you’re in high school I recommend AP Psychology, and I don’t know anything about college psych classes, but I’m sure there are good ones. It will help you in your day to day life and help you write whump. Plus it’s fascinating. 

[imaginarose]

Marionette - Part Three

Full story (Ao3 version)

The whole courtyard stared at him. Nino ran to him.

“You are…” Nino asked him.

“Were.” Adrien corrected him. “Fuck…” he cursed. “Where is Ladybug?”

“I don’t know. But Alya… or whatever she’s now… she had recorded all of it. She’s… streaming it.” Nino told him. Adrien gasped. He knew, what that meant.

Everyone would know by the evening.

Not that it mattered, since his Miraculous was gone. Probably permanently.

“I should go home.” Adrien sighed. “I’ll call you… if I’ll get the chance.”

***

She followed the connection to Hawkmoth location. She found it pretty easily. She stepped inside of the dark room.

He was waiting there.

“You know Adrien?” she asked him, as she handed him the black ring.

“That’s none of your business.”

“I told you I’m not stupid.” she said, as she took off her earrings. “I saw, how you tried to protect him. Always.”

She stopped before taking off the second earring.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked her.

“He would understand.” she said. “He would have joined you. You always meant more to him than us.”

And she handed him the second earring.

“You’re really smart.” Hawkmoth nodded, when he looked at the Miraculous in his hands. “I was planning to take back your powers… but I think you deserve to keep them for now.”

She smiled and headed out of his lair again.

“You know there is a price for everything you do with them, right?” she said.

“There isn’t a price I wouldn’t be willing to pay.” he assured her.

“You’re wrong.” she raised her voice a little. “There is something you aren’t willing to lose… we both know, what it is. And so does the universe.”

She looked into his eyes. He knew, what she meant. Of course, he did.

“The question is… who will you choose?” she smiled and headed out again.

She was smart.

There was no denying it now.

***

She didn’t return to school. She looked at her bracelet and watched, as the two colored beads glowed pink, then lost their color.

She didn’t plan to reveal Chat’s identity… but she didn’t have much choice there.

She knew she couldn’t fight him.

And so she didn’t.

Malicious compliance.

She wasn’t completely herself, and yet she was more herself, than she could ever be.

She lost all inhibitions and for once in her life, wasn’t afraid. She gave Lila, what she deserved and got a bit back at her so-called friend, too.

But she didn’t hurt anyone.

She was in control.

She saw him in his room, through its giant windows. One of them was open.

She smiled and swung his way.

His eyes widened, as he saw her.

“What more do you want?” he asked her. “Did Hawkmoth send you to finish me off?”

“You have a lot to learn.” she chuckled. “Can I sit down?”

“I guess.” he sat down in his chair, folding his arms. She noticed, how he accidentally mirrored his father’s mannerisms. “What did you do to Ladybug?”

“I already told you. Nothing.” she shook her head. “Sorry�� it’s a bit of a chaos up there.”

“You seem… calm.” he pointed out.

“The akuma amplifies my strengths… and my emotions. The worst combination ever.” she chuckled. “I think much faster than usually. Which is already enough.”

“I will ask again… what happened to Ladybug? Why didn’t she come? I know you didn’t have time to get to her.”

“I didn’t do anything to her.” she shook her head. “I couldn’t. It’s me.”

He stared at her blankly. She kept it a secret for so long, and now she so nonchalantly said it.

She seemed to regret it immediately.

“Another problem of being an akuma. No filter.” she sighed, a bit of color returning to her cheeks. “I’m sorry I revealed you like that. I wouldn’t do it, if he didn’t push.”

“You gave him the Miraculous, didn’t you?”

“I did. But… I don’t think he’s going to use them.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think he’s willing to pay the price for his wish.” she said simply. “If my guess is correct. And it usually is.”

“By the way… I don’t think you’re a stalker.” he smiled at her. “What Lila did was wrong.”

“She won’t do it again. I assure you.” Marionette looked at her bracelet. “I think what I have shown today should be enough.”

“You know, what I told you about that.”

“Look at me.” she chuckled. “I’m an akuma. She won’t be doing any more trouble.”

“You seem so sure.”

“Might be a side-effect.” she shrugged her shoulders and tapped on the lucky charm. “You’ll see everything will get better from now on.”

“No, really, why are you so sure he’s not just… going to do something horrible with the Miraculous.”

“That’s not my place to say.” she chuckled and pulled something out of her purse. A box of macaroons. “You want one?”

“Why do you have that?” he asked, surprised.

“I stopped home on the way here.” she shrugged her shoulders. “I always have some ready.”

“Baker girl.” he chuckled, as he took one.

Someone knocked on the door. Adrien tensed up, as his father entered the room.

She smiled only wider and offered Gabriel Agreste a macaroon. The man shook his head.

“Father… I can explain…” Adrien begun.

“There’s no need for that. Would you…”

“Sure.” she said and got up, leaving room for Gabriel to sit.

“I should have expected you would come here.”

“I had to apologize.” she shrugged her shoulders. “In case I was wrong.”

Adrien’s eyes shifted between the two of them, trying to understand, what was going to.

“It’s good to see I wasn’t.” she added, walking to the window. “Should I leave you two alone?”

“It’s up to you.”

“Will someone tell me, what’s going on here?” Adrien asked.

“Isn��t it obvious?” Marionette asked back. “It’s not. Fine.”

“I’m not really good with explanations.” Gabriel admitted and reached into the pocked of his jacket, handing Adrien the Chat Noir ring. “So this will have to suffice.”

“Good thing you’re already sitting.” she chuckled.

“You… you are Hawkmoth.” Adrien whispered.

“Wow… took you long enough.” Marionette rolled her eyes. Gabriel glared at her. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” he assured her.

“How long did you know?”

“I had my suspicion for over a year. I never dropped it. Even after the Collector incident.”

“I thought it was convincing.”

“The obliviousness is genetical, isn’t it?”

“Keep it.”

Instead of answering, Marionette made an obviously exaggerated box.

“There is a long history to explain.” Gabriel finally said after a minute or so of awkward silence.

Marionette leaned on the wall and picked up the box of macaroons with the strings.

“Macaroon?”

Part one <= Part Two <==> Part Four

[localcryptideli]

Also even as kids you can feel parental pressure when you are asked that, and kids' perception of gender may not even be accurate. When I was about three or four (my parents were still together), I kept crying and complaining "I am not a girl!" to which my grandma said, with a tone of reproach "oh? what are you then? A man?"

Now, I was very little and I was already able to understand that the question was, in fact, a rhetorical question, to which there was only one answer available to me, which was "no." I already knew any other answer would have caused mayhem - and would have likely been dismissed anyway.

Still, kid me was very defiant when it came to some things - I was the type of kid who learned about malicious compliance very early in life, so I was ready to fight it. I was not a girl, I said, and thought: girls are pink and glitter and dolls and dresses and skirts and soft things, and I didn't like that nor I liked being called a girl.

But my grandmother's question (and tone) got me to hit the brakes: was I a boy?

And then I went one step further, and I asked myself: what is a man?

And, folks, my small toddler brain came up with a very clear, definite answer. Up to this day I have no idea how I came to that conclusion - but let's be frank, I blame my grandfather and his obsession with history and him playing as some historical figure (usually Philip II of Aragon) everytime he played pretend with me.

I asked myself, what is a man, and I then answered to myself: Luis XIV of France.

I considered this very carefully.

... and I just decided then that stockings and long curly wigs were definitely not for me.

So I politely and meekly said "no." to that.

Now, it took me nearly two decades after that to realize I am nonbinary and kinda masc in my presentation. And of course the correct parental reply to that would have been let me play with gender and offer me support if I ever changed my mind.

But my grandma's tone stayed in my brain (I still remember it today) and put me off exploring for ages. I still didn't conform to expectations of femininity, but I was not very vocal about it unless someone tried to put me in a skirt (I avoided them like the plague until I was in high school when I discovered how comfy they are).

Still, I find it very funny to this day that as a toddler I asked myself "am I a boy? what even is a boy" and despite being surrounded by male friends and cousins and a brother, my brain decided to take a Baroque man as a reference when asking itself "what gender am I?" and reached the conclusion "no idea, but not this".

The narrative that a "real" trans person would have shown "signs" of being trans at a young age really needs to die. How do you even measure that? A lot of kids didn't have the opportunity to experiment outside of assigned gender roles, sometimes because they didn't know it was a possibility, sometimes because they weren't allowed to. Even if a child expressed discomfort in their assigned gender, a parent or other adult may have forced them to suppress it, or may deny that it ever happened at all. A good number of trans people also lean heavily into gender stereotypes and gender norms prior to coming out in attempt to suppress it themselves, even if no one in their life has forced them to do so. Also...people change. Gender can be fluid. Maybe as a kid you felt content with your assigned gender at birth, but grew uncomfortable with it as you grew older. There is no way to measure or prove that someone is trans.

[datalosspreventiontips]

Becoming a Cybersecurity Analyst

Computer security, also known as cybersecurity, is the process of safeguarding computer systems and networks from being hacked, or having information disclosed or stolen. It protects the computer hardware, software, and electronic data from being misused. It also protects services from disruptions or interruptions. In other words, it keeps people safe when they use a computer. This g suite dlp type of protection is critical to the safety of your data, and to your business.

A security analyst analyzes vulnerabilities in infrastructure and recommends solutions. He or she may also perform vulnerability assessments and assess the impact of attacks on infrastructure and data. The analyst may also perform tests to ensure compliance with security policies and practices. This position may also help create and manage security solutions. Typical duties include performing security monitoring, data/log analysis, incident response, and code review. If you're interested in a career in cyber-security, there's plenty of room for you!

Today, everything relies on computers and the internet. From email to interactive video games, transportation to social media, medical records to credit cards, everything relies on computers and the internet, and if one thing is not secure, there's a risk that another. Therefore, organizations need to take the steps necessary to protect their data. The Cybersecurity Guide can help new professionals and students navigate the field. So, what are the benefits of becoming a cybersecurity expert?

It's vital for organizations to prepare for the cyber threats that are constantly changing. Companies should implement various types of cybersecurity to keep their information secure. They should also consult with cybersec experts to ensure that they're taking the proper steps to protect their information. And, in addition to these benefits, it also protects end users and endpoint devices. So, what are you waiting for? It's time to start learning about cybersecurity. If you're up for the challenge, you'll find a world of opportunities in this field.

The benefits of cybersecurity are endless. It protects your customer's information, business data, and other valuable information. It protects your endpoints from hackers, malware, and insider misuse, click here to learn more. It protects your data and infrastructure from the threat of cyber attacks. Using security solutions is a crucial part of preventing data breaches. If you have the skills to become a security analyst, you can be confident that your company's IT infrastructure is secure.

There's more to cyber security than just keeping your data safe. It's also protecting your customers' data. The threat of hackers and malware is real, and it's crucial to protect the information and the endpoints of your customers and employees. It's imperative to secure your system from unauthorized access. By following these guidelines, you can protect your customer's information and make it more protected. This will prevent any malicious activity that will affect your customers' data. Check out this post that has expounded on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_loss.

[sheminecrafts]

Ireland opens GDPR investigation into Facebook leak

Facebook’s lead data supervisor in the European Union has opened an investigation into whether the tech giant violated data protection rules vis-a-vis the leak of data reported earlier this month.

Here’s the Irish Data Protection Commission’s statement:

“The Data Protection Commission (DPC) today launched an own-volition inquiry pursuant to section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to multiple international media reports, which highlighted that a collated dataset of Facebook user personal data had been made available on the internet. This dataset was reported to contain personal data relating to approximately 533 million Facebook users worldwide. The DPC engaged with Facebook Ireland in relation to this reported issue, raising queries in relation to GDPR compliance to which Facebook Ireland furnished a number of responses.

The DPC, having considered the information provided by Facebook Ireland regarding this matter to date, is of the opinion that one or more provisions of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 may have been, and/or are being, infringed in relation to Facebook Users’ personal data.

Accordingly, the Commission considers it appropriate to determine whether Facebook Ireland has complied with its obligations, as data controller, in connection with the processing of personal data of its users by means of the Facebook Search, Facebook Messenger Contact Importer and Instagram Contact Importer features of its service, or whether any provision(s) of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 have been, and/or are being, infringed by Facebook in this respect.”

Facebook has been contacted for comment. Update: The company did not provide a statement but confirmed it’s in contact with regulators to answer their questions.

The move comes after the European Commission intervened to apply pressure on Ireland’s data protection commissioner. Justice commissioner, Didier Reynders, tweeted Monday that he had spoken with Helen Dixon about the Facebook data leak.

“The Commission continues to follow this case closely and is committed to supporting national authorities,” he added, going on to urge Facebook to “cooperate actively and swiftly to shed light on the identified issues”.

Today I spoke with Helen Dixon @DPCIreland about the #FacebookLeak. The Commission continues to follow this case closely and is committed to supporting national authorities. We also call on @Facebook to cooperate actively and swiftly to shed light on the identified issues.

— Didier Reynders (@dreynders) April 12, 2021

A spokeswoman for the Commission confirmed the virtual meeting between Reynders and Dixon, saying: “Dixon informed the Commissioner about the issues at stake and the different tracks of work to clarify the situation.

“They both urge Facebook to cooperate swiftly and to share the necessary information. It is crucial to shed light on this leak that has affected millions of European citizens.”

“It is up to the Irish data protection authority to assess this case. The Commission remains available if support is needed. The situation will also have to be further analyzed for the future. Lessons should be learned,” she added.

The revelation that a vulnerability in Facebook’s platform enabled unidentified ‘malicious actors’ to extract the personal data (including email addresses, mobile phone numbers and more) of more than 500 million Facebook accounts up until September 2019 — when Facebook claims it fixed the issue — only emerged in the wake of the data being found for free download on a hacker forum earlier this month.

All 533,000,000 Facebook records were just leaked for free.

This means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked.

I have yet to see Facebook acknowledging this absolute negligence of your data. https://t.co/ysGCPZm5U3 pic.twitter.com/nM0Fu4GDY8

— Alon Gal (Under the Breach) (@UnderTheBreach) April 3, 2021

Despite the European Union’s data protection framework (the GDPR) baking in a regime of data breach notifications — with the risk of hefty fines for compliance failure — Facebook did not inform its lead EU data supervisory when it found and fixed the issue. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) was left to find out in the press, like everyone else.

Nor has Facebook individually informed the 533M+ users that their information was taken without their knowledge or consent, saying last week it has no plans to do so — despite the heightened risk for affected users of spam and phishing attacks.

Privacy experts have, meanwhile, been swift to point out that the company has still not faced any regulatory sanction under the GDPR — with a number of investigations ongoing into various Facebook businesses and practices and no decisions yet issued in those cases by Ireland’s DPC. (It has so far only issued one cross-border decision, fining Twitter around $550k in December over a breach it disclosed back in 2019.)

Facebook’s tardy disclosure of breach timing raises GDPR compliance questions

Last month the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the implementation of the GDPR which expressed “great concern” over the functioning of the mechanism — raising particular concern over the Irish data protection authority by writing that it “generally closes most cases with a settlement instead of a sanction and that cases referred to Ireland in 2018 have not even reached the stage of a draft decision pursuant to Article 60(3) of the GDPR”.

The latest Facebook data scandal further amps up the pressure on the DPC — providing further succour to critics of the GDPR who argue the regulation is unworkable under the current foot-dragging enforcement structure, given the major bottlenecks in Ireland (and Luxembourg) where many tech giants choose to locate regional HQ.

After the @EP_Justice and other EU DPAs raised concerns, the Irish Parliament is now also planning to look into the work of @DPCIreland in a hearing on April 27th.

Glad to see pro-active steps to debate how #GDPR can be effectively enforced in all EU member states!

https://t.co/2mDaFOwEiR

— Max Schrems

(@maxschrems) April 10, 2021

On Thursday Reynders made his concern over Ireland’s response to the Facebook data leak public, tweeting to say the Commission had been in contact with the DPC.

He does have reason to be personally concerned. Earlier last week Politico reported that Reynders’ own digits had been among the cache of leaked data, along with those of the Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel — and “dozens of EU officials”. However the problem of weak GDPR enforcement affects everyone across the bloc — some 446M people whose rights are not being uniformly and vigorously upheld.

“A strong enforcement of GDPR is of key importance,” Reynders also remarked on Twitter, urging Facebook to “fully cooperate with Irish authorities”.

Last week Italy’s data protection commission also called on Facebook to immediately offer a service for Italian users to check whether they had been affected by the breach. But Facebook made no public acknowledgment or response to the call. Under the GDPR’s one-stop-shop mechanism the tech giant can limit its regulatory exposure by direct dealing only with its lead EU data supervisor in Ireland.

A two-year Commission review of how the data protection regime is functioning, which reported last summer, already drew attention to problems with patchy enforcement. A lack of progress on unblocking GDPR bottlenecks is thus a growing problem for the Commission — which is in the midst of proposing a package of additional digital regulations. That makes the enforcement point a very pressing one as EU lawmakers are being asked how new digital rules will be upheld if existing ones keep being trampled on?

It’s certainly notable that the EU’s executive has proposed a different, centralized enforcement structure for incoming pan-EU legislation targeted at digital services and tech giants. Albeit, getting agreement from all the EU’s institutions and elected representatives on how to reshape platform oversight looks challenging.

And in the meanwhile the data leaks continue: Motherboard reported Friday on another alarming leak of Facebook data it found being made accessible via a bot on the Telegram messaging platform that gives out the names and phone numbers of users who have liked a Facebook page (in exchange for a fee unless the page has had less than 100 likes).

The publication said this data appears to be separate to the 533M+ scraped dataset — after it ran checks against the larger dataset via the breach advice site, haveibeenpwned. It also asked Alon Gal, the person who discovered the aforementioned leaked Facebook dataset being offered for free download online, to compare data obtained via the bot and he did not find any matches.

We contacted Facebook about the source of this leaked data and will update this report with any response.

In his tweet about the 500M+ Facebook data leak last week, Reynders made reference to the Europe Data Protection Board (EDPB), a steering body comprised of representatives from Member State data protection agencies which works to ensure a consistent application of the GDPR.

However the body does not lead on GDPR enforcement — so it’s not clear why he would invoke it. Optics is one possibility, if he was trying to encourage a perception that the EU has vigorous and uniform enforcement structures where people’s data is concerned.

“Under the GDPR, enforcement and the investigation of potential violations lies with the national supervisory authorities. The EDPB does not have investigative powers per se and is not involved in investigations at the national level. As such, the EDPB cannot comment on the processing activities of specific companies,” an EDPB spokeswoman told us when we enquired about Reynders’ remarks.

But she also noted the Commission attends plenary meetings of the EDPB — adding it’s possible there will be an exchange of views among members about the Facebook leak case in the future, as attending supervisory authorities “regularly exchange information on cases at the national level”.

Answers being sought from Facebook over latest data breach

Europe sets out plan to boost data reuse and regulate ‘high risk’ AIs

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[endenogatai]

Ireland opens GDPR investigation into Facebook leak

Facebook’s lead data supervisor in the European Union has opened an investigation into whether the tech giant violated data protection rules vis-a-vis the leak of data reported earlier this month.

Here’s the Irish Data Protection Commission’s statement:

“The Data Protection Commission (DPC) today launched an own-volition inquiry pursuant to section 110 of the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to multiple international media reports, which highlighted that a collated dataset of Facebook user personal data had been made available on the internet. This dataset was reported to contain personal data relating to approximately 533 million Facebook users worldwide. The DPC engaged with Facebook Ireland in relation to this reported issue, raising queries in relation to GDPR compliance to which Facebook Ireland furnished a number of responses.

The DPC, having considered the information provided by Facebook Ireland regarding this matter to date, is of the opinion that one or more provisions of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 may have been, and/or are being, infringed in relation to Facebook Users’ personal data.

Accordingly, the Commission considers it appropriate to determine whether Facebook Ireland has complied with its obligations, as data controller, in connection with the processing of personal data of its users by means of the Facebook Search, Facebook Messenger Contact Importer and Instagram Contact Importer features of its service, or whether any provision(s) of the GDPR and/or the Data Protection Act 2018 have been, and/or are being, infringed by Facebook in this respect.”

Facebook has been contacted for comment.

The move comes after the European Commission intervened to apply pressure on Ireland’s data protection commissioner. Justice commissioner, Didier Reynders, tweeted Monday that he had spoken with Helen Dixon about the Facebook data leak.

“The Commission continues to follow this case closely and is committed to supporting national authorities,” he added, going on to urge Facebook to “cooperate actively and swiftly to shed light on the identified issues”.

Today I spoke with Helen Dixon @DPCIreland about the #FacebookLeak. The Commission continues to follow this case closely and is committed to supporting national authorities. We also call on @Facebook to cooperate actively and swiftly to shed light on the identified issues.

— Didier Reynders (@dreynders) April 12, 2021

A spokeswoman for the Commission confirmed the virtual meeting between Reynders and Dixon, saying: “Dixon informed the Commissioner about the issues at stake and the different tracks of work to clarify the situation.

“They both urge Facebook to cooperate swiftly and to share the necessary information. It is crucial to shed light on this leak that has affected millions of European citizens.”

“It is up to the Irish data protection authority to assess this case. The Commission remains available if support is needed. The situation will also have to be further analyzed for the future. Lessons should be learned,” she added.

The revelation that a vulnerability in Facebook’s platform enabled unidentified ‘malicious actors’ to extract the personal data (including email addresses, mobile phone numbers and more) of more than 500 million Facebook accounts up until September 2019 — when Facebook claims it fixed the issue — only emerged in the wake of the data being found for free download on a hacker forum earlier this month.

All 533,000,000 Facebook records were just leaked for free.

This means that if you have a Facebook account, it is extremely likely the phone number used for the account was leaked.

I have yet to see Facebook acknowledging this absolute negligence of your data. https://t.co/ysGCPZm5U3 pic.twitter.com/nM0Fu4GDY8

— Alon Gal (Under the Breach) (@UnderTheBreach) April 3, 2021

Despite the European Union’s data protection framework (the GDPR) baking in a regime of data breach notifications — with the risk of hefty fines for compliance failure — Facebook did not inform its lead EU data supervisory when it found and fixed the issue. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) was left to find out in the press, like everyone else.

Nor has Facebook individually informed the 533M+ users that their information was taken without their knowledge or consent, saying last week it has no plans to do so — despite the heightened risk for affected users of spam and phishing attacks.

Privacy experts have, meanwhile, been swift to point out that the company has still not faced any regulatory sanction under the GDPR — with a number of investigations ongoing into various Facebook businesses and practices and no decisions yet issued in those cases by Ireland’s DPC. (It has so far only issued one cross-border decision, fining Twitter around $550k in December over a breach it disclosed back in 2019.)

Facebook’s tardy disclosure of breach timing raises GDPR compliance questions

Last month the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the implementation of the GDPR which expressed “great concern” over the functioning of the mechanism — raising particular concern over the Irish data protection authority by writing that it “generally closes most cases with a settlement instead of a sanction and that cases referred to Ireland in 2018 have not even reached the stage of a draft decision pursuant to Article 60(3) of the GDPR”.

The latest Facebook data scandal further amps up the pressure on the DPC — providing further succour to critics of the GDPR who argue the regulation is unworkable under the current foot-dragging enforcement structure, given the major bottlenecks in Ireland (and Luxembourg) where many tech giants choose to locate regional HQ.

After the @EP_Justice and other EU DPAs raised concerns, the Irish Parliament is now also planning to look into the work of @DPCIreland in a hearing on April 27th.

Glad to see pro-active steps to debate how #GDPR can be effectively enforced in all EU member states!

https://t.co/2mDaFOwEiR

— Max Schrems

(@maxschrems) April 10, 2021

On Thursday Reynders made his concern over Ireland’s response to the Facebook data leak public, tweeting to say the Commission had been in contact with the DPC.

He does have reason to be personally concerned. Earlier last week Politico reported that Reynders’ own digits had been among the cache of leaked data, along with those of the Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel — and “dozens of EU officials”. However the problem of weak GDPR enforcement affects everyone across the bloc — some 446M people whose rights are not being uniformly and vigorously upheld.

“A strong enforcement of GDPR is of key importance,” Reynders also remarked on Twitter, urging Facebook to “fully cooperate with Irish authorities”.

Last week Italy’s data protection commission also called on Facebook to immediately offer a service for Italian users to check whether they had been affected by the breach. But Facebook made no public acknowledgment or response to the call. Under the GDPR’s one-stop-shop mechanism the tech giant can limit its regulatory exposure by direct dealing only with its lead EU data supervisor in Ireland.

A two-year Commission review of how the data protection regime is functioning, which reported last summer, already drew attention to problems with patchy enforcement. A lack of progress on unblocking GDPR bottlenecks is thus a growing problem for the Commission — which is in the midst of proposing a package of additional digital regulations. That makes the enforcement point a very pressing one as EU lawmakers are being asked how new digital rules will be upheld if existing ones keep being trampled on?

It’s certainly notable that the EU’s executive has proposed a different, centralized enforcement structure for incoming pan-EU legislation targeted at digital services and tech giants. Albeit, getting agreement from all the EU’s institutions and elected representatives on how to reshape platform oversight looks challenging.

And in the meanwhile the data leaks continue: Motherboard reported Friday on another alarming leak of Facebook data it found being made accessible via a bot on the Telegram messaging platform that gives out the names and phone numbers of users who have liked a Facebook page (in exchange for a fee unless the page has had less than 100 likes).

The publication said this data appears to be separate to the 533M+ scraped dataset — after it ran checks against the larger dataset via the breach advice site, haveibeenpwned. It also asked Alon Gal, the person who discovered the aforementioned leaked Facebook dataset being offered for free download online, to compare data obtained via the bot and he did not find any matches.

We contacted Facebook about the source of this leaked data and will update this report with any response.

In his tweet about the 500M+ Facebook data leak last week, Reynders made reference to the Europe Data Protection Board (EDPB), a steering body comprised of representatives from Member State data protection agencies which works to ensure a consistent application of the GDPR.

However the body does not lead on GDPR enforcement — so it’s not clear why he would invoke it. Optics is one possibility, if he was trying to encourage a perception that the EU has vigorous and uniform enforcement structures where people’s data is concerned.

“Under the GDPR, enforcement and the investigation of potential violations lies with the national supervisory authorities. The EDPB does not have investigative powers per se and is not involved in investigations at the national level. As such, the EDPB cannot comment on the processing activities of specific companies,” an EDPB spokeswoman told us when we enquired about Reynders’ remarks.

But she also noted the Commission attends plenary meetings of the EDPB — adding it’s possible there will be an exchange of views among members about the Facebook leak case in the future, as attending supervisory authorities “regularly exchange information on cases at the national level”.

Answers being sought from Facebook over latest data breach

Europe sets out plan to boost data reuse and regulate ‘high risk’ AIs

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[dcmarticles]

Defense Strategies to Prevent a Medical Fraud Investigation

The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud has estimated that healthcare fraud costs Americans about fifty-four billion dollars a year. Because of the enormous cost of medical fraud, the federal government has become aggressive in its measures to discover, investigate, and prosecute those suspected of this crime.

For this reason, as a healthcare provider, you are more at risk than ever of becoming involved in a medical fraud investigation. That's why it makes sense to think about how you can prevent this from happening in the first place, and what you will do if you should find that you're going to be investigated. One of the most important things you can do is to get to know an experienced, professional Atlanta medical fraud attorney from the Hasson Law Group LLP.

Avoiding Unintentional Fraud

Although fraud in the insurance industry is highly prevalent, it is a fact that much of this fraud occurs unintentionally. The laws that regulate healthcare and health insurance are complex and extensive, and it is not difficult to violate these laws without even trying. For example, if a physician orders therapy for a patient and the therapy is conducted in another building that is not under the physician's direct supervision, the patient may be billed for services that were never performed and fraud has been committed even though there was no malicious intent. Some HMOs or managed care insurance companies are also eager to find ways to deny claims or to pay less for a given claim than is warranted, so they may claim that a given treatment was not needed, raising a red flag for a fraud investigation. With the complexity of the system and the varying agendas, errors, and misunderstandings are almost inevitable. That's why any manager of a healthcare office or facility must understand how to set up the office so that charges of fraud are less likely to be made.

Maintaining Up-to-Date Documentation

Keeping accurate and up-to-date documentation on all treatments that were ordered and given and on all billing that is sent out is crucial for preventing the kind of red flags from showing up that can lead to medical fraud investigations. All treatments should be documented as soon as they are done so that this documentation is not later forgotten. Communication between departments should be thorough and transparent so that all personnel is on the same page, and meetings should be conducted often between the different staff so that any problems or discrepancies that arise can be dealt with promptly.

Using an Effective Compliance Plan

In order to be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid payments, the Affordable Care Act stipulates that providers of care like physician offices or similar facilities must have a compliance plan in place. This type of plan covers the practice standards that are required by the relevant federal health care laws, like the False Claims Act, the Stark Law, and the Anti-Kickback Statute. A good compliance plan has the following elements:

·         The election of a compliance officer ·         Violation and detection response ·         Internal auditing and monitoring ·         Ongoing education and training ·         Effective organizational communication

A compliance plan is designed to keep the office activities within the confines of the practice standards, with compliance to the law built-in. The ability to show that an office or practice has a good compliance plan is always the first step in preventing a medical fraud investigation.

Why You Need an Attorney if Charged With Fraud

Even though the goal of the federal government and its agencies is to prevent medical fraud and to identify and prosecute it when it occurs, these agencies and their personnel may at times overstep their bounds and become overly enthusiastic in charging a provider with fraud. This is why it is crucial to retain a knowledgeable medical fraud attorney if you have been charged. Always speak politely and cooperatively with any agents or personnel who have come to investigate your practice, but be sure to hire a medical fraud attorney who understands the complex health care fraud laws so that he or she can be your legal voice when you are questioned and given a subpoena. This attorney will help you gather the needed documentation to defend your case.

Call to Schedule an Appointment With an Atlanta Medical Fraud Attorney Today

If you're a healthcare provider who may be facing medical fraud charges, call to schedule an appointment with an Atlanta medical fraud attorney today.  The legal experts at the Hasson Law Group LLP will use their knowledge and experience to help you fight these charges and protect your reputation. Visit our web page at hassonlawgroup.com or give us a call at (678)-701-2869 and learn how we can give you the legal advice you can trust.