#also i know after a point you are considered legally blind; when does that occur? should i plan for next year or next week?

[squidult]

i think my eyes hae gotten worse

#thoughts #actually i feel pretty confident about that #why do i say this? #my phone cant be a hands length away from my face before things start to blur #i have to squint to read this just resting my phone on my belly #and the white on blue tagging is especially hard to parse #my theme is in dark mode so text is a little easier to make out #but yeah #i have glasses and they still work ofc #but man #sometimes you forget that having a hard time seeing is a disability and that prescription glasses are disability aides #Cool Robot Eyes That Let Me See Colours 2 When #fish world problems #also i know after a point you are considered legally blind; when does that occur? should i plan for next year or next week?

[inkwell-intermission]

could you talk more about your ideas/story for innovator?

yes ok i wont go too crazy but i will share some more yess

Innovator was made the head witchunter seeking out heretics who were trying to bring horrorterror worship onto Prospit based off of his symptoms initially, but as the rapid increase in respect and quality of life began he started leaning into it and coming to enjoy his job, eventually coming to expect that kind of respect and enjoying his power over people and the prestige. He starts imagining things instead of waiting for an actual hallucination to occur and lying about what he sees, because he makes commission and gains further notoriety and prestige whenever he makes an arrest, he starts sending people he knows are likely guilty to sometimes execution and often exile, he loves the performance in court, he loves being dramatic as hell and acting like hes having visions like someone in Ancient Greece who would be labeled a prophet for having an epileptic fit

He's actually personally responsible for Scofflaw's exile. Scofflaw comes up in a case that crosses him- an unusually large sect attempting a horrorterror communion is uncovered and stopped, with Scofflaw at the center. He isn't the leader however, who is uncovered to be another man, but he was at the center of the ritual circle to be channeled through. Scofflaw insists he isn't at fault and was coerced and forced into it, but Innovator doesn't feel like it would look good to let him go regardless. He doesn't feel bad or guilty when he orders Scofflaw be marked as a heretic- carving a scar into his barcodes- and exiled.

He moves to Alternia with the rest of the remaining Prospit-Derse officials after Derse wins, the mass evacuation and migration occurs and they all show up on Alternia to find Scofflaw leading a budding city-state. The Prospit-Derse governing bodies soon to become the Metropolis Central government take over the place, which is expected and somewhat welcomed, but Scofflaw is ousted from any kind of leadership position and isn't allowed to be a civil servant because of his Heretical status, so he turns to the followers who are still loyal to him and turns to crime. Innovator is getting sick of blind adoration at this point and joins him, eventually making himself indispensable, and Scofflaw inevitably believes that he cannot complete his own goal of an undying legacy without Innovator, and that he is nothing without him on his side. Also: Innovator takes a horrorterror patron after finding a book in Alternian ruins, an ancient deer of life, putrefaction and decay. During the analogous events to the Problem Sleuth comic, Rather than simply become god, an imaginary version of Pernicious Innovator replaces his own deity, consuming the foul deer, and becoming: Demonhead Pernicious Innovator, The Loathsome Ooze, The Soul of Conceit, The Patron of One. It isn't GPI in nature- rather DPI. Ironically, as GPI is meant to be the master of all universes and not simply the one the comic takes place in normally- GPI already exists in this alternate universe, but has no personal connection to Innovator, creating a near paradox that makes them (DPI and PI) sick to think about. He can also do nearly anything within reason with his horrorterror magic because he is his own patron- so as long as DPI agrees, he can pull a LOT of power from him, considering he's in a committed 1 on 1 patronage and all that power can only go to him- DPI wouldn't take another disciple under just about any circumstance.

He's smart and capable enough of running the Twilight Scoundrels himself but he doesn't want to, he wants to run his funny magic shows and do whatever he wants, not make deals and contracts and worry about paperwork and legalities and trade negotiations! That's awful boring pointdexter shit. Which is why Scofflaw does it (he doesn't trust anyone but himself to do it because what if he gets betrayed and cheated, or someone else fucks it up). So he just has a really good time doing big crazy magic, and takes specific pride that his magic is REAL and NOT A TRICK and he's NOT a fake at all.

Unlike PI he's at this point, intentionally and consistently medicated for his schizophrenia, has a lower alcohol tolerance, and no top surgery. He does still stutter and have some anxiety issues, but they're much easier for him to push through and he lives for the stage. His posture is also really good in comparison. His health improvements counterbalance with his horrorterror patronage however- so he's about the same weight as PI. scoff and innovator have an absolutely nightmarish codependent-adjacent little relationship and drive each other nuts and i like them soooo much. Also Innovator is REALLY on that Hannibal shit with Deadeye and tries to convince him that his regular intrusive thoughts about graphic violence are his secret real desires and that he's fucked up inside and he should embrace it and be cool like him and they should get married and kiss and stuff. God they're all so awful and compelling

hope this was a substantial chunk to chew on :]

#hs intermission #problem sleuth #pernicious innovator #pickle inspector #peccant scofflaw #mobsterswitch #mobswitch #pspi #ddpi #headcanons #horrorterrors #long post

[conservativebabymillennial]

I got a very good reply on my last post that should be brought up.

The person- (youngfreeradical) said:                                                                                “What you’re missing is the history of these peoples.  Yea we agree it shouldn’t matter what race, gender, religion, w/e.  But in the United States and the world that has not been the case and continues to not be the case.  Are you really going to say that the Republican Party have been the champions of gay people when they continue to fight against their right to marriage? Or their current hatred of trans people? Why would these people ally with conservatives? That is suicidal”

My post was about my feelings on identity politics and how so often we hear the democratic party is the party of ______ people. 

youngfreeradical does have a point. While I do not call myself a republican, I do vote republican so I wanted to go ahead and address that statement. The GOP have not historically supported those lifestyles in a legal sense. I say legal because more and more young people, myself included, just don’t give a flying baboon’s butt about what you do in your own bedroom in your own private living space or your body. I personally am not co-signing those lifestyles and choices, but it is your body. It is when those lifestyles and choices affect me and everyone else that I have to begin to disagree. That sentiment is also part of the foundation of conservatism, “you can do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t affect other people.”

But the history of the parties is one that should be discussed.

The democratic party is the party that historically has been supported by the KKK and vice versa Woodrow Wilson, democrat president, supported the KKK and helped revive it by popularizing KKK revisionist film Birth of a Nation.

Blacks began voting blue in 1936 in the proposal of the New Deal, not because they aligned with democrat party values but for political expediency.

“I’ll have them niggers voting democrat for the next 200 years.” - Lyndon B. Johnson, democrat president.

Andrew Jackson, universally known as the first Democrat president, forced an entire race to relocate from ancestral land

FDR one of the liberal heroes of the democratic party placed Japanese Americans in internment camps after the wake of Pearl Harbor

FDR also got rid of privately owned land owned by First Nations/Native Americans to force them under the thumb of the federal government by eliminating private and tribal agency under the guise of reorganizing tribes and forced council elections to save Native American culture

Yes, the Dawes act had many issues, and the slogan of the time, “Kill the Indian, save the man,” was horrible, but several tribes such as the Navajo thrived due to the privatization of land and land allotment. Look at the Pine Ridge Reservation if you want to see just how great FDR’s “Indian New Deal” worked out.

Also, there is no such thing as a single “Native American Culture.” The race of First Nations persons is filled with hundreds of distinct cultures so the very idea that Native Americans are one Pan-American culture and only one is an egregious stereotype. Please read Seven Myths of Native American History by Paul Jentz to further educate yourself on the most common stereotypes often attributed to Native Americans.

It was overwhelmingly “Republicans” who voted in favor for the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote

“But CBM,” you say, “the parties switched! How can you say republicans voted for this when they are full of hateful people who hate everyone who isn’t a white man?” I’ll tell you why weary traveler, that is a false statement.

From the National Review: The Democrats have been sedulously rewriting history for decades. Their preferred version pretends that all the Democratic racists and segregationists left their party and became Republicans starting in the 1960s. How convenient. If it were true that the South began to turn Republican due to Lyndon Johnson’s passage of the Civil Rights Act, you would expect that the Deep South, the states most associated with racism, would have been the first to move. That’s not what happened. The first southern states to trend Republican were on the periphery: North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. (George Wallace lost these voters in his 1968 bid.) The voters who first migrated to the Republican party were suburban, prosperous New South types. The more Republican the South has become, the less racist.

From Liberty Voice: All but the redoubtable Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the Southern Democrat who managed to stay Democrat for well over 40 years; despite all the mythical ship-jumping which is supposed to have occurred. All of the modern liberal Democrats who adored him, like Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and Al Gore, must not have been told Byrd was a Grand Klegal in the KKK before he ran for the Senate as a Democrat. Byrd was a celebrated member of the Democrat party up til his death, in 2010. So it is not as if the discussion of his affiliations is somehow ancient history.

Not quite relevant to the specific topic above but still important to mention, the left or people who lean left have been consistently saying that the two parties are getting farther and farther apart. That is true, but what is not true is the fact that those same people say it is the right’s fault, that the right has gotten more radical in their beliefs. This is statistically untrue. For the past decade those that lean right or vote republican have stayed relatively the same while those that lean left or vote democrat have moved more left on almost every issue, in some cases, drastically. And before anyone can say anything about that... this research was done by the Pew Research Center which is collectively agreed to be center and non-bias.

Now on the flip side, I am not a blind follower and once again iterate that I consider myself a conservative rather than a republican. I know the GOP is not innocent. Just on the top of my head is Watergate.

Regardless of any of this information, it is evident that both parties have a checkered history. It is our job to hold our elected officials accountable because they work for the citizens of the united states, not the other way around.

We as a nation do need to try harder to utilize our other parties more. Or better yet, listen to George Washington and disband the parties so we can’t have platform candidates. Now I will 9.9/10 times disagree with anyone left of center on the politics, but it is still important that each and every voice is heard and I mean that.

#Conservative

[blitzkrieg-mit-dem-fleischgewehr]

Headcanons for Balthier mied Bunansa Pt. 1

I had an amazing conversation with my roommate tonight about our above-mentioned leading man.  In fact.....the details of what we discussed were so enlightening (as well as building on some of my headcanons already) that before I forget a lot of it, I would immortalize it here on Tumblr so that I can come back and read it when needing details.  We spoke specifically about Balthier’s past and his relationship with his family. 

It is known that Balthier had siblings, I believe it was two older brothers, and aside from that nothing more is known of them. We also know that at some point Balthier’s mother passed away which caused Cid to fall further into his research, estranging him from his children, and then Giruvagen occurring which had many believe Cid to have gone insane (which I guess some could argue isn’t entirely false). 

For me, I like to headcanon that Balthier did have good relations with his entire family. That his mother’s death definitely but a strain on it especially when his father began pulling away from everyone. 

Timeline wise, I like to think that there’s a year of mourning for Cid that his children understand that he needs to process the pain of losing his partner. However, once that year is up, I headcanon that he leaves for Giruvagen on his research trip, which lasts approximately two years, where the middle son ends up taking care of Balthier while he’s gone. 

  This ends up leading to resentment because the moment Cid returns it’s like he’s become a different man. The eldest brother realises right away that his father barely acknowledges him. The middle brother is upset because he put his life on pause to help with Balthier and keeping the estate running and wasn’t expecting their father to return and discard all his duties as a father.  In terms of Balthier, having lost his mother, and then having his father disappear for two years to only return and also barely acknowledge him. I can’t imagine that would be easy on him especially if we go with the idea that he did have a good relationship with his father. 

I want to say that Balthier was probably around 9 or 10 when his mother passed away (not sure if they gave a date for her death but lets go with that for now). Which would mean by the time his father returns Balthier is around 13 years old. I can see Cid telling Balthier that it’s his turn to be of use and gets him enrolled in Judge Academy. I like to think that because of Cid’s position as head scientist that he was able to pull strings.  Thanks, nepotism!  And he gets Balthier in earlier than is strictly legal. Many would turn a blind eye to those high in power. So, Balthier, wanting to see if he can mend his relationship with his father, reluctantly commits to it (not that he had much of a choice anyway) and performs to the best of his ability during his time at the academy.  Astounding even.  I’m going to switch over for a few seconds to mention that I feel as if Balthier is the one that was upset with how broken his family had become after his mother’s death. I headcanon that the Bunansa family dynamic was actually quite good and they were all quite close. So seeing both his brothers take several steps back from the family really hurt.  I also headcanon that his eldest brother, upset that his father doesn’t acknowledge any of the work he’s done, ends up going on this diplomatic mission/trip and gets killed in the process. This occurs right before Balthier graduates (which would have come at a later date due to Balthier’s age (( I think 16 is wayyyy too young to be a graduated Judge and one in active duty)) but thanks to Cid gets him to graduate ‘early’/ on time (if he had been of proper age to enroll).  For me, it just hammers the fact that Balthier will forever be in his father’s shadows in Archades. That even though he did deserve to graduate because he did spectacularly in Judge Academy, that it was still not his own merit that allowed him to graduate. So that would be another component to stoke the flames of his upset. Plus, then he hears that his brother died just before and it really shows that his family won’t ever go back to the same dynamic they once had.  It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Then, learning everything the Empire has been doing throughout the war and how the Counsel as well as the palace work environment is like, it cements the fact that Balthier would rather do anything but work as a Judge. Yes, he’s the youngest Judge in history but none of this is worth it and none of this is what he wants.  I will add that throughout his time in the academy, he has been working on an old airship because he’s been considering running away for a while now. However, he had hoped that maybe he could get through to his father, which he does not, he leaves.  He packs as much as he can and he escapes from Archades.  This is a side-note on the part in the game when they make it to Archades and Balthier excuses himself to go take care of some business. My roommate and I thought it would be tragic if it was to see his dying brother who had grown ill while he was gone. And he learns that day that his brother was actually very proud of Balthier for leaving and getting to live his own life because that was not a luxury he had gotten. And Balthier at that point feels guilt for leaving because he could have been there to take care of him but at the same time Archades and their father had been a suffocating cage for him and all he ever wanted was freedom. Which, he did get to a degree. He was still chained to his father and the past they shared as well as a lot of unresolved feelings but he mostly deals with that throughout the game.  So, he leaves, crashes the ship near Balfonheim and then realises how alone he is and how little he knows when it comes to survival. Seeing as he’s lived quite a comfortable life as an aristocratic Archadian, it makes sense that he would be out of his depth as a 17 year old having to figure out how to make money, where to sleep, how to cook, and just how to get around in a world that he’s actually not at all familiar with.  Being that young too and having lost so much, there would be a long period of mourning. Of stupid decisions. Of self-reflection and of figuring out what he can do to support himself. I give it around 6ish months before he runs into Fran and she’s the one that starts piecing him back together, giving him a reason to live and reminding him that family doesn’t necessarily have to be blood-related. 

Then the next several years he’s working to make money, making other stupid mistakes but necessary ones for his own development, fixing the Strahl with Fran’s help, and discovering how sheltered he’d been and how beautiful life outside of Archades really is. Then there’s becoming as notorious as he does as a Sky Pirate which I feel like would take a few years, so I headcanon that Balthier is between 25-27 in game rather than 22. I just think that given his history and everything that he’s had to go through, that he wouldn’t be as mature or as stable as he is as a 22 year old. This is off topic but on topic, I also headcanon both Basch and Gabranth as being 32 rather than 36. I just think that as warriors and being as good of a swordsmen as they are, being a bit younger would still afford them the flexibility of being able to bounce back from injuries. I see it as professional athletes who are forced to retire in their thirties because they can’t compete with younger athletes anymore. Of course, I could argue that being a Judge Magister you can get away with being older given you probably don’t actually see action that often. However, Basch on the other hand, was constantly on the batllefield and then he was tortured and practically starved for two years in Nalbina, which....would take time to recuperate from if you’re getting up there in age.  I guess what I’m trying to say is, Square Enix, please hire me to do the aging of your characters. I’m not sure who does this but there are some odd ages for some of these characters that I feel need to be reconsidered. 

And that will be that for part 1. xD

#balthier #ffxii #ffxii zodiac age #ffamran mied bunansa #headcanons #will work on more

[narrowtriangle33-blog]

Dear White people part 4 another article for you.

"I’m talking to a hundred law students. The room is racially diverse and full of people who have gotten into top law schools. They’re committed to making racial equity a cornerstone of their work. They tend to think about race in their daily lives. They’ve chosen to attend this evening lecture about the problematic ways race is baked into American law and legal pedagogy. But not a single hand goes up to answer my question—and this matters."

"I often start these talks by asking several volunteers to tell me what race they are. I then ask them how they know. Invariably, students of color say things like, “I know I’m black because the world tells me every single day.” Or, “I know I’m Latinx because my family is, it’s my blood, it’s my language.”"

"But when I ask white students how they know they’re white, the answer is almost always the same: silence. White students often stop short, unable to identify and articulate the cultural, political, economic and historic clues that tell them they are part of whiteness, let alone what being part of whiteness truly means. I let the silence grow. It gets uncomfortable. Then I step in to suggest that this phenomenon—not the individual student—is a significant part of America’s problem with race. It’s a major part of how we arrive at moments like this one, where dozens of cities are convulsing with racial pain, state violence, and the shell-shocked gaze of many white Americans asking themselves how this can be happening again. (It is not a mystery to black people of color.)"

"Remember Amy Cooper? She’s the white woman who, a few days ago, called police on a bird-watching black man in Central Park and repeatedly emphasized that he was “African-American” to the dispatcher. She may feel like old news now. But her actions are deeply instructive for this new, more convulsive moment: I bet if I asked her the same question—how does she know she’s white—she’d respond with the same blank silence as many of my (progressive, unusually aware) students. How do I know? Her apology, which indicated that she doesn’t truly understand what it means to be a part of whiteness. Critically, she said, “[I] would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occured.”"

"And that’s just it. In this country, we have thousands of white people who consider themselves aware of the pain racism can cause, and who could never imagine themselves inflicting it—but then do. There are countless white people who consider themselves progressive and “good” on race issues, who scoff at and are offended by actions like Ms. Cooper’s—but who, to their surprise, are capable of similar actions. Any person of color who knows “good white people” can tell you this is true. It’s how we get, for example, progressive colleagues who nevertheless call us by the name of the other black woman we work with, repeatedly, or comment on how pretty our hair looks when we wear it straight, saying “It’s usually just so puffy!” On the more extreme end of the spectrum, it is also how we get cops—people who presumably have dedicated themselves to a life of service—literally suffocating black people like George Floyd as they beg for their lives. It is also how we get these moments repeatedly."

"One cause of this recurring confusion—and the ensuing harm—is white people’s general lack of fluency around race, especially their own. White people often don’t understand that they are as “raced” as any person of color. They can see that a black person, for example, is deeply embedded in what we call “race,” and lives a life impacted at nearly all levels by race. Indeed, this idea is almost axiomatic. But they often can’t draw the same conclusion about themselves, or white supremacy, which is how they come to be raced in the first place. And they generally don’t know what to do with this new knowledge if and when they have an aha moment, except feel guilty and let that guilt push them deeper into silence. Will Ms. Cooper have a true and deep aha moment now, or no? If she does, what will she do with it? As a person of color, I’m pessimistic on all counts.

There is a grotesqueness and a horror to our racialized world right now. Things have never been great. But the deluge of pain, the torrent of willful blindness amid violence—from the brutally racialized impact of COVID-19 to the fates of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others, from the actions of Ms. Cooper to the inaction of so many white people—is both deeply chronic and freshly acute.

Maybe I see signs of hope amid the horror—I see more white people publicly mourning the recent losses of black and brown life, and some progressive white people I know have committed to explore their role in white supremacy through tools like the exercises in this extraordinary book. (Whether they will do it remains to be seen.) I myself feel brave enough to speak, here and now, despite how speaking out has hurt me in the past (losing relationships, hearing racial slurs, etc.). I fear, though, that the outcome is predictable: white silence, and black pain, perhaps forever, often rooted in good white people’s blindness to how they are (unwitting) agents of white supremacy, too. Until a critical mass of white people begin and continue the work of anti-racism with their own lives, then uprisings and protests will function more as expressions of black and brown pain than as inflection points in the culture. After all, black and brown people have been resisting, uprising, and protesting in this country for centuries. If that were enough, it would have worked already. The missing link is white people doing deep, honest, and ongoing inventories (and clean-up) of their own relationship to white supremacy."

#truth #spread this #spread the message #speak now #speak up #take a stand #take action #take a minute #spread awareness #raiseawareness #help please #pls rb this #okay 2 rb #reblog #share

[reading-writing-revolution]

"For those of you who have family and friends opposed to abortion, voted for Trump in 2016 and now are struggling to justify a Biden vote, I found a pro- lifer’s post explaining WHY she is changing her Vote in 2020. Hope you find this helpful. I have shared it with several of my very religious friends and they certainly did.

From an ardent pro-lifer;

“I have felt a heaviness in my soul lately.

For the past couple weeks, I’ve felt it. A weight. The heaviness. So this morning - when a block of time unexpectedly opened in my schedule, I closed myself in my room, read some of John’s gospel, opened my journal, and prayed, “OK, God. What is it? My heart feels heavy. I need to write. But I don’t have words. What is this feeling?”

And I began to write - Heartbreak. It’s heartbreak. And disillusionment. I’ve been here before - so many times since 2016. And here I am again.

I keep seeing Christians say they can’t vote for Joe Biden because of his stance on abortion. I”ve seen Christians proudly state they are single-voter issues - it all comes down to abortion. So they’ll vote for Trump. Because he promises to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. That’s the one and only thing that matters.

But why? Why is that the one and only thing that matters?

Is that the one and only thing that matters to Jesus? Reading through the Bible, I would say unequivocally “NO.” What does the Bible say directly about abortion? And I ask this from my pro-life heart. The Bible has FAR, FAR more to say about pride, about abusing power to mistreat the poor, about lying, about treating others with hatred, about humility, about seeking forgiveness, about faithfulness -- about ALL of that than it does about abortion.

So, Christians, why are you so willing to toss all of those morals aside? Why are you so willing to turn a blind eye to so many behaviors that are completely, blatantly in opposition to the heart and character of Christ?

When I read about Joe Biden’s stance on abortion, I see a man who has wrestled with his faith. I see a man whose heart wants no abortions and who has struggled throughout his years in public service to determine the best way to accomplish that. Is it by making abortion illegal? (At one point, he said “yes.”) Is it by prohibiting government funding of abortion? (At one point, he said “yes.”) Or is it by supporting public policies that make abortion rates decline? (This seems to be where he’s landed.)

This personal wrestling resonates with me. I have had those same wrestling matches within myself.

Did you know - between 1981 and 2016, the sharpest decline in abortion rates occurred under Democratic Presidents - not under Republican Presidents. The rates especially dropped under the leadership of President Obama and continued to decline after he left office. Most everyone agrees the reason for this is because access to contraception is key in preventing pregnancies. And under the Affordable Care Act, contraception coverage became more widespread. Even though some states enacted new abortion restrictions between 2011 and 2017, by 2017 57% of the nationwide decline occurred in states that had not enacted new abortion restrictions. So there is evidence that pursuing legal action isn’t necessary (or effective) to reduce the amount of abortions.

I am pro-life. I would like to see zero abortions. I also want to honor and value the lives of women who find themselves in the position of considering abortion. Those lives also matter to me. So I don’t believe criminalizing the choice is the best way to truly help those women. I think public policies that offer help and hope -- financial and medical - are the best ways to reduce abortions.

Therefore, I need to find political candidates who will support programs that help the women who are most likely to feel that abortion is their only option, candidates who support making effective contraception affordable and accessible to everyone.

I also want a candidate who values all life. Refugees’ lives. Women’s lives. Black lives. Poor lives. Lives during a pandemic. The lives of people who disagree with him.

You see, when you say you’re voting for Trump because you’re pro-life, I can’t take you seriously. Because Trump has not proven himself to value lives. For the love! - read his Twitter and show me how this man values life.

When you say you can’t vote for Biden because of your Christian beliefs, I can’t take you seriously. Because again and again and again, Donald Trump’s words and actions fly in direct contradiction to the character of Christ.

For the past four years, I’ve been so disillusioned and heartbroken and sad to see so many Christians abandon their morals and contort their beliefs in order to justify their support of someone who so obviously violates every moral and value I was taught in the Church.

Somewhere along the line, political masterminds decided that evangelical Christians could be manipulated into believing abortion and gay marriage are the only two things God cares about.

Friends, that is a lie. You have been hoodwinked.

Obviously, you don’t have to vote for Joe Biden. But you can’t use our Jesus and the Bible to defend your support of Donald Trump.”

[arecomicsevengood]

HOW MANY EYES DO YOU NEED TO SEE?

A few months ago, I was officially diagnosed with glaucoma. This was a good thing, inasmuch as I waiting for a diagnosis. A few months before I had seen the neuro-opthalmologist who gave this diagnosis, and prescribed eyedrops to begin a course of treatment, I had seen an opthalmologist who noted the high amounts of pressure in my eye, but gave me a referral to see another doctor instead, because my youth made glaucoma seem unlikely, and he wanted to check this pressure was not caused perhaps by a brain tumor inside my skull pressing against the back of my eyes.

You probably are a little unclear on what glaucoma is. It is most known, I believe, for being a condition that smoking weed helps. Before medical marijuana became legal and able to be prescribed for anxiety and depression and all the psychological conditions people had been using it to self-medicate for for years, glaucoma was a cited example of a condition whose effects were mitigated by smoking. When I explain that I have it to friends now, there usually comes a point at the end of the conversation where they bring it up. For what it’s worth, I hate smoking weed. I feel debilitated by it to do anything I enjoy, like write, or follow a conversation,  or accomplish tasks without being distracted. Most people who smoke a lot of weed will either tell me that the effects I have a problem with go away after steady smoking, and that I probably haven’t found the right strain yet. The act of getting to this point seems an unpleasant one, filled with physiological incapability. Of course, CBD is now basically sold as a cure-all that takes care of any bad feeling one might have, but it is apparently the effects of THC that take care of glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an increase of eye pressure. As you are aware, the eye is a soft orb of mucus membranes, and some duct or another regulates the release of a fluid into them, to keep that balloon-like sac inflated, essentially. I’m unclear on the exact details. In glacoma, the eye gets too filled up. Maybe this makes the eye bulge out a little, it does seem like what I’m describing would lead to a situation where the eye eventually explodes. But before that, the pressure of the eye presses on the optic nerve. When I had this explained to me, by an optometrist, who told me I was pre-glaucoma and I should go to an opthalmologist to get my eyes looked at. I thought I would experience this as physical pain. After I forgot about the appointment I had made, I anticipated I would experience pain and that was when I would need to go to a doctor. It turns out this is wrong, because the optic nerve isn’t really set up to register feeling, it’s set up to see things. So as the pressure wore on my optic nerve, moreso in my left eye than my right, my vision deteriorated. However, I didn’t notice, because I have two eyes, and together they form a composite image, and my right eye compensated. I would experience weird effects of light, sort of like there was a smudge on my glasses lens, and occasionally it would seem like what I was looking what had a crack in it and was bleeding light, but I didn’t really know how bad it was.

It was when I finally saw an opthalmologist, and in the checking to ensure my glasses’ prescription was correct, and he kept on switching out lenses and asking me if my vision was better or worse with each new one, I found I could not register any letters on the vision chart at all, that the whole field existed within a blank spot of blurred white light, that I realized how bad things had gotten. It was a scary day, certainly made worse by the physician’s suggestion I might have a brain tumor, and his general displeasure and frustration at the fact that I have an instinctual aversion to people approaching my eye to touch it, poke it, and administer eye drops. I am convinced this is a normal thing, but doctors often have God complexes, and apparently I was such a difficult patient that he refused to see me again afterwards. That’s neither here nor there in the story I want to tell, but I do hope he gets hit by a bus and killed.

Anyway, I have now seen a doctor that prescribed eye drops, and then I saw another doctor who prescribed still more eye drops, and I am broke enough to qualify for Medicaid so I haven’t paid for any of these things, so all of that is good, and while I’m concerned about how coronavirus will effect the ability of these prescriptions to get into the country it’s fine thus far. The doctor has made clear that all of these things, however, are really just to make sure my vision doesn’t become worse, that I don’t become totally blind, as far as they’re concerned, the damage done to the optic nerve is irreversible, and won’t be returning to where it was before, which was pretty bad, but at least able to be corrected by strong prescription corrective lenses.

Not covered by Medicaid are the lion’s mane mushrooms I have elected to take. Lion’s Mane, supposedly, stimulates nerve tissue growth. People take them for depression and “brain fog,” and so I had been toying with the idea of investigating them anyway, before I started to think that maybe they would help repair my optic nerve as well. I am well-aware that a lot of people consider any herbal remedies to be snake oil peddled by the likes of Alex Jones and Gwyneth Paltrow, but a bunch of my friends are hippies and herbalists, and the people so assuredly righteous in their politics often have deeply reactionary cultural opinions they are not interested in examining, lacking even the self-awareness to get offline and take deep breaths to make themselves feel better. I don’t consider Lion’s Mane a placebo in any way, but I also register the necessity of feeling hope and the grounding nature of a ritual such that I will probably continue to take it for a while even if there are not immediately noticeable effects.

I am interested in perception, cognition, and how brain chemistry dictates who we are. We are taught as children about the lobes of the brain, how the left brain is more analytical, and the right brain more emotional and intuitive. Ideally, we have easy connection between these two lobes, and when we see something, we are both able to tell what it is and feel a certain way about it. Writing about comics, I try to be as intuitive as I can, to pick up on things that are perhaps unconsciously present, to write about something other than the exact nature of the plot or how well-rendered a background is. It occurs to me that, since the left eye is processed by the right brain, I might be feeling the things I see less than I should. This is all theoretical. It does feel like it’s been ages since I’ve seen a movie that I felt particularly moved by, though it is easy to chalk this up to the cynicism of age. I am still capable of seeing the movie, the full page, still able to read and put the thing together in my brain; and at the same time, I’m placing everything into the larger context of my life, the same way everyone does. Even my favorite film of 2019, Uncut Gems, I didn’t find as nerve-racking as other people apparently did. Maybe that’s because I went in aware of a good deal of hype and other people were more surprised by it? There is really no way to know. The brain makes a composite image consisting not just of the two eyes, but everything else it’s taking in. I can perhaps attribute a certain hesitancy in my own writing to the lack of synchronized lobes taking in what they see, that rereading my own brain no longer gives me the weird floating feeling I used to get from it. I check that it makes sense and still feel like I am fighting uphill, and remain doubtful of everyone else’s writing. “”Why are you talking like this?” I ask of most sentences. Again, I would maybe be asking this anyway, most people are bad at writing, and it doesn’t take some sort of newfound autistic attentiveness to notice that.

All this connects to comics, and to the fact that I write about them. This sense that I am somehow impaired in my ability to read them, I don’t think anyone else would think if I didn’t bring it up, but I feel like I would be lying by omission not to mention. I disclose it in the name of honesty, even as I am on a certain level only articulating this anxiety to avoid the morbidity of talking about how my thoughts about perception, cognition, and the construction of the self apply to death, in this time of pandemic, when all of my or your or someone one or both of us love could have their entire brain go blank and no amount of adaptogens could reanimate it. (The past few days, I’ve also been drinking chaga and echinacea teas for the sake of my immune system.) And while I don’t think this issue with my eyes applies to written text as much as it does all the other forms the visual world can be arranged to convey information, if I am taking in the news in a less emotional way than other people, that is probably for the best.

[aion-rsa]

Borat 2: Rudy Giuliani ‘Tucking Shirt’ Excuse is Irrelevant

https://ift.tt/3mqmY1O

Having been online for a little more than a weekend, the climax to Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat 2—or its full title of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan—has already become the stuff of legend. Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, once dubiously titled “America’s Mayor,” and current personal attorney of President Donald Trump, appeared to be sticking his hand down his pants while in the hotel room of a young woman.

At least that’s  how the news started trickling out last week when the review embargo lifted on Borat 2, and it’s a public perception that Giuliani and his cohorts in the White House immediately began trying to discredit before anyone in the general audience saw the movie on Amazon Prime Video.

The moment in question occurs late in the film, with Giuliani reclined on a bed after Maria Bakalova takes off his lavender microphone. Bakalova is playing the character of Tutar Sagdiyev, who is in turn pretending to be an alt-right conservative journalist from eastern Europe, hence how she’s ensnared Giuliani into a pseudo-prank. For the moment occurs after he’s followed her into a hotel bedroom to “have a drink.” Once she takes off his mic, he lies down on his back and over the course of several shots edited together from several hidden cameras around the room, he is seen with his hand in his pants.

The obvious implication to many when the news broke, and possibly to the filmmakers, is that Giuliani’s hand is on his genitals. And it’s a reading of the moment that the controversial politician flatly denies.

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, Giuliani attempted to get ahead of the movie when he tweeted, “(1) The Borat video is a complete fabrication. I was tucking in my shirt after taking off the recording equipment. At no time before, during, or after the interview was I ever inappropriate. If Sacha Baron Cohen implies otherwise he is a stone-cold liar. In fact, the NY Post today reports ‘it looks to me like an exaggeration through editing.’”

And to be completely fair, his clinging to The New York Post’s reading may not be unfounded. It’s clear in the now widely available film that the moment with his hand in his pants is cut together in a way that extends the length of the scene for dramatic (or comedic) effect. He does, in fact, appear to be tucking his shirt in (at least initially), and the way the story was first broken last week emphasized that Baron Cohen’s character cried, “She was 15,” when Barkalova is actually 24.

Yet even if he was only tucking in his shirt, the distinction matters little for an increasingly disgraced politician who’s inserted himself into the center of a shady conspiracy theory—and after he played a central role in the scandal that got President Trump impeached earlier this year.

For starters, whether or not Giuliani kept his hand in his pants for longer than necessary, the fact that he was in the situation as a public figure of his age and position of power is already inappropriate. Here is a 76-year-old man, with two children in their 30s, happily allowing himself to be lured into a bedroom by a woman he is supposed to be having a professional interaction with—a woman in her early 20s and who he was tricked into believing was a teenager. Even before lying on his back, he was visibly flirting with Bakalova and suggested, “You can give me your phone number and your address” while she was taking off his mic. To reaffirm his apparent interest, he placed a hand on her hip and reclined on his back. It’s a strange position for any person to be in to tuck in their shirt, to put it mildly.

Read more

Movies

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Review: Rare Win For a Legacy Sequel

By Nick Harley

Movies

How White Noise Exposes the Empty Lies of the Alt-Right

By David Crow

But the bigger, and more important, reason his and some media outlets’ equivocating is irrelevant is because Giuliani finding himself in this situation demonstrates extraordinarily bad judgment. The kind of bad judgment that Giuliani, by his own design, has attempted to make a focal point in the 2020 presidential election.

In a handful of minutes, a pretty smile and some flattering words convinced Giuliani to place himself in a compromising situation that’s turned him into a laughing stock around the world. In essence, he handed “Borat,” of all people, the kind of video Russian intelligence officials would deem “kompromat.” Kompromat is a term that originated inside the KGB during the Soviet reign of Joseph Stalin, but it’s become popularized in the 21st century as “compromising material” that Russian intelligence services are accused of regularly collecting on public figures as a resource for blackmail, extortion, and control.

This is important to know since The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the White House was warned in December 2019 of Giuliani being the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence. The warnings were based on multiple sources, including intercepted communications, which showed the president’s personal lawyer interacting with people tied to Russian intelligence. At the time, he was on a quest to obtain information that could be used to incriminate, or at least smear, Hunter Biden and his father, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Apparently National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien personally warned Trump that any information Giuliani brought back from Ukraine should be considered “contaminated.” The president responded to the intelligence by allegedly saying, “That’s Rudy.”

Cut to October 2020 and Giuliani has attempted to engineer a damaging October surprise at Democratic nominee Biden’s expense by sharing with The New York Post a computer hard drive he claims belonged to Hunter Biden, and which he and the New York tabloid assert proves Hunter traded on his father’s influence on American foreign policy in exchange for money.

Giuliani’s story does not directly implicate Ukraine as the source of the laptop and its allegedly damning intelligence. He and computer repairman John Paul Mac Isaac claim that Hunter Biden dropped the laptop off in Mac Isaac’s Delaware repair shop, even though Hunter does not live in Delaware, and is said to have forgotten he left the incriminating laptop there because he was drunk at the time—it’s also worth noting that Mac Isaac is legally blind.

This has led to a fair amount of skepticism about the actual source of the laptop, including by Fox News, whose newsroom refused to publish images from Giuliani’s “laptop from hell” without further evidence or separate sourcing to corroborate it. Indeed, the New York Post journalist who actually wrote the piece to Giuliani’s specifications refused to have his name on the byline due to questions about the validity of the laptop.

Meanwhile the conspiracy theory Giuliani’s attempted “surprise” tries to feed into has been repeatedly discredited and dismissed, including last month by Republican senators who released an 87-page report from the joint findings of the U.S. Senate Security and Finance Committees. They found no evidence of wrongdoing or improper influence by then-Vice President Biden.

Whether more news actually comes from Giuliani’s “laptop from hell,” its association with Giuliani is, in the words of the national security adviser, “contaminated,” just as Giuliani’s credibility is further demolished by the fact he found himself compromised by Borat.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[daresplaining]

Defenders Countdown: 28 Days

Power Man and Iron Fist

    The time has come! In less than a month, Luke Cage and Danny Rand will finally be running headfirst (fist first?) into each other in glorious live action. In preparation, here is a quick overview of the history of this most beautiful of friendships.  

    Luke and Danny meet under less-than-ideal circumstances-- though as any longtime reader of superhero comics knows, the best friendships often start with an editorially-mandated Superpowered Showdown(TM). Luke’s loved ones-- Claire Temple and Noah Burstein-- are kidnapped by sleazy mob boss Bushmaster, and threatened with death unless Luke kidnaps one of Bushmaster’s own enemies. The kidnappee in question is Misty Knight-- bionic ex-cop, one half of Nightwing Restorations, and Danny’s girlfriend. Luke, who grudgingly agrees in order to ensure Claire and Burstein’s safety, learns that Misty is at the Rand townhouse and busts in to grab her. 

    Chaos ensues. It just so happens that Misty and Danny are out on a date, and instead, Luke runs into Colleen Wing-- who manages to call for backup just before Luke knocks her unconscious. Misty shows up next, and gets in a few good hits before getting KO’d as well. When Danny arrives and sees what’s happened to his two closest friends, he is... less than forgiving.    

Danny: “Mr. Cage-- turn around.”

Power Man #48 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Francoise Mouly

    As anyone might after getting a building dropped on them, Luke comes up swinging. The fight is as intense as you’d expect, with Danny’s extreme training and chi powers balanced out by Luke’s sheer toughness and strength. They’re both used to winning, and this surprising challenge shocks and impresses them. Seeing at last that the fight can’t go on, and trusting Power Man’s heroic reputation in spite of his current behavior, Danny takes a gamble and lets Luke grab him. 

Danny: “Hands like vise... can’t breathe... But... I... sense at heart... Power Man isn’t... killer. I can try... tiger claw to eyes... last resort... blind him... Then, if that works, if I can summon... strength... pop his eardrums... killing blow, but not yet.”

Luke: “Lord, no-- What am I doin’?”

Power Man #48 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Francoise Mouly

    This near murder shocks Luke out of the fight. Calming down enough to explain himself, he soon earns Danny, Misty, and Colleen’s trust and sympathy. As a team, they rescue Claire and Dr. Burstein from Bushmaster’s headquarters, and then-- with the help of Danny’s attorney Jeryn Hogarth-- free Luke, at last, of the drug charges that originally sent him to jail. 

Danny: “Alone at last. You changed your name, huh? Jeryn says your real, legal identity is now Lucas Cage! [...] Luke, how do you feel?”

Luke: “Kid, if you live a thousand years, you’ll never know [...] how sick I felt when they put me away... an’ how gut-bustin’ good I feel tonight. I ain’t just free, Danny-boy, I been reborn!”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #50 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Dan Green, et al. 

    Luke and Danny’s friendship progresses quickly after this. They start hanging out (their first one-on-one team-up occurs while Luke is giving Danny a tour of Harlem), and they come to realize that they really enjoy partnering up. At the time, Luke is working on retainer for Misty and Colleen’s P.I. business, but with Danny in the picture he considers revitalizing his own operation-- this time with some key changes.   

Luke: “Y’know, Danny-- we make a pretty good team. If I wasn’t part of Misty’s detective agency...”

Danny: “You got fired, remember? Although I’m sure they’ll take you back. If you really want them to...”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #53 by Chris Claremont, Ed Hannigan, Sal Buscema, et al.

    When the offer comes, Danny eagerly agrees to join Luke’s Heroes for Hire business-- for several reasons. Having been born wealthy and then raised in a society without an emphasis on financial gain, Danny has no concept of the value of money. He hopes that joining Luke’s small, low-income business will fix this. It also gives him the sense of purpose and chance to use his skills that he has been desperately searching for since becoming stranded on Earth. But mostly, it allows him to spend more time with Luke. For the 72 issues that Heroes for Hire exists in its original form, Luke, Danny, and friends face down everything from dragons to Daleks (not a joke-- there are actual Daleks in this series)-- while building both a reputation as one of the baddest street-level teams around, and a friendship that is nothing short of legendary.    

Danny: “--It’s me! [...] Are you all right?”

Luke: “Just fine now! Bet you’re the one who saved my hide, right?”

Danny: “Well, I, uh, suppose I did.”

Luke: “I knew that you did!”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #85 by Denny O’Neil, Keith Pollard, and Christie Scheele

    All good things must come to an end, however, and the first iteration of Luke and Danny’s partnership ends in the most sudden, shocking way possible. In a freak accident, Danny is beaten to death by another superhero, and Luke is blamed for it. 

Tower: “Fact: Iron Fist was pummeled to death by someone with superhuman strength. Fact: the day before the murder you had an argument with Iron Fist. A very loud, very public argument. Fact: Iron Fist’s will names you as sole beneficiary of the Rand fortune. Fact: your P.I. firm, Heroes for Hire, has been going down the drain from the word go. Fact: you’re an ex-con with a reputation for being a hothead. [...] I may not have an airtight case... but I’ve got enough to hang on to you until I do.”

Luke: “What are you pushin’ for, Tower? District Attorney not good enough for you? You runnin’ for mayor or somethin’?! You’re grasping at straws, man. You got nothin’ and you know it. I loved that man.”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #125 by James Owsley, Mark Bright, and Bob Sharen

    Luke manages to avoid a prison sentence, but the experience seriously damages his psyche. He has once more been accused of a crime he didn’t commit, thus proving that in the eyes of the world, he’ll always be a morally suspect ex-con-- one capable of murdering someone he thought of as a brother. In the wake of Danny’s death he moves to Chicago, trades in the yellow v-neck and tiara for a more subdued, darker look, and starts a new solo act as a tough mercenary who’s only in it for the money. When it turns out that Danny didn’t actually die, but had been replaced by a shape-shifting sentient plant from K’un-Lun (er, long story...), it takes Luke a little while to sort out his feelings. 

Danny: “Like the ‘in it for bucks’ attitude you throw in everyone’s face? That’s not you. [...] And it also stops anyone from getting too close, eh? Like I did?”

Luke: “Yeah! Don’t you get it? You proved the only one I could ever count on’s me.”

Cage vol. 1 #12 by Marc McLaurin, Dwayne Turner, and Kris Renkewitz

    ...But he and Danny figure things out. 

Luke: “Got your ticket and... all, Fist?”

Danny: “Yeah, Luke. Look, despite all that’s happened-- all that’s changed-- I want you to know, you’re still my best friend. And I’ll always be there.”

Luke: “Me too, man. Me too.”

Cage vol. 1 #13 by Marc McLaurin, Scott Benefiel, and Frank Turner

    Since then they have remained BFFs and de facto brothers, sticking together through several more iterations of Heroes for Hire, Luke’s own personal Avengers team, and everything in between. When Luke and Jessica Jones have a baby, they name her Danielle-- Dani for short.       

Danny: “That’s really nice, guys.”

Jessica: “You’re her family. You know that, right? (Unless you’re really a Skrull, then you can go @##$ yourself.)”

Luke: “And you got matchin’ booties.” 

Jessica: “Man, he’s been waiting to drop that joke on you.” 

New Avengers vol. 1 #34 by Brian Michael Bendis, Leinil Yu, and Dave McCaig

    ...And in that one alternate universe where Danny and Misty’s baby is real (stay tuned for our Danny and Misty post for more on that...), they name her after her uncle Luke. 

Jessica: “Lucy, how does your dad look?”

Lucy: “Daddy, you look beautiful.”

Danny: “Thank you, Lucy. Man, you look so much like your mom. How’d I get so lucky?”

Secret Wars: Secret Love, “Misty and Danny Forever” by Jeremy Whitley and Gurihiru

   As is often the case with people who have spent years in close proximity, they’ve rubbed off on each other-- to the point where they can anticipate each other’s behavior, occasionally finish each other’s sentences, and (possibly most endearingly) have even picked up each other’s slang and speech patterns.

Guy: “What about the explosives?”

Luke: “Fist’s taken care of that.”

Guy: How do you know?”

Luke: “’Cause I know him!”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #89 by Denny O’Neil, Denys Cowan, and Christie Scheele

Danny: “All right, mama, you may be bigger, badder and... a few thousand years more powerful than the last dragon I faced... but then I hadn’t mastered the power of the Iron Fist!”

Immortal Weapons #5 by David Lapham, Arturo Lozzi, and June Chung

    Luke and Danny’s newest H4H venture was recently torpedoed by Diamondback, and they’re both currently working through some major changes in their own lives, but their love is stronger than ever. 

Luke: “It’s gonna be okay, brother. I love you.”

Danny: “Love you, too.”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 3 #15 by David Walker, Sanford Greene, and Lee Loughridge

    The teasing and baiting of Luke and Danny’s imminent encounter in The Defenders has been relentless-- from Danny worrying about Claire’s unnamed, bullet-riddled friend in Episode 11 of Iron Fist, to Mike Colter and Finn Jones hugging on stage at NYCC last year. In the interviews they’ve done together so far, the two actors have displayed what we consider to be fantastic chemistry, and when questioned about their characters’ relationship in the show, they’ve both indicated a level of care being taken to their interactions that, for us, is a big relief. After all, they can’t rely on viewers having read the comics-- this friendship needs to be built anew in the MCU.   

Finn: "The dynamic between the characters is working really well. Before we started this, because there was such hype around our characters coming together for the first time, there was a worry that it might be too over- sensationalised or too over-written or too over-anticipated. But the way that it’s written and the way that we’re getting on and working together, it feels really natural.”

Mike: "They’re trying to organically allow our characters to get to know each other, without just going, ‘Hey, I like you, you like me, let’s hang out!’”

Source: SFX

    At this point, we know that Luke and Danny will have their all-important bonding fight-- likely not on the building-destroying scale we’d like (see the beginning of the post), but that’s okay. We also know that both characters are starting from different emotional places than when they met in the comics-- with Luke relatively at peace following his acceptance as Harlem’s hero and the end of his prison sentence, and Danny feeling lost and untrusting in the wake of  all his recent betrayals and the disappearance of K’un-Lun. It will be fascinating to see how these altered mindsets impact the development of their relationship in the show. We also have this little tidbit from Finn, which provides some hints as to the source of their initial tension: 

“There's friction there at the beginning, and it's pretty obvious because we come from two different worlds. Luke Cage is from the streets. And he's trying to do good. He cares about community, he cares about lifting the bottom up... whereas Danny comes from a completely different side of New York, one of privilege, power, and money. And so when they come together, they definitely have a clash of ideals which, throughout The Defenders, they are coming to grips with.”

Source: Den of Geek 

    We have to admit to being nervous about this. The class difference is a notable element of Luke and Danny’s friendship, and something that has been a source of misunderstandings in the comics: 

Luke: “Don’t seem fair, somehow... how some folks gotta hustle all their lives just to get by, and others got it made ‘cause they were born rich. Only thing all that hustling ever got me was a term in Seagate Prison-- ‘Little Alcatraz’-- for something I never even did.”

Danny: “Luke, we’re partners now. You’re my best friend. Anything I have is yours... whatever you want. Just name it.”

Luke: “No way! I got little enough as it is without losin’ my self respect, too.”

Danny: “But I didn’t... I only meant...”

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #56 by Mary Jo Duffy, Trevor Von Eeden, and George Roussos

    Danny’s utter lack of interest in money jarring with Luke’s desire to make a living is a neat thing, and we would love to see it integrated into the show. However... it shouldn’t lead them to actually fight. Unless handled impeccably, that would feel out-of-character and weird. Danny is the most down-to-earth billionaire ever, who lacks the typical mindset of those born rich, and this needs to remain true since it’s a key component of his character. Even if Rand Enterprises had some direct, negative impact on Harlem that were to come to light in The Defenders (which-- hey-- is possible), we can’t imagine a reason why Danny wouldn’t be completely on Luke’s side. 

    But of course, we’ll reserve our judgement until we’ve actually watched the show. For the moment, we can’t wait to finally see this friendship happen. It’s gonna be beautiful.           

#Luke Cage #Danny Rand #Iron Fist #Heroes for Hire #Commentary #Defenders Countdown

[polari-t]

[PROJECT SEGMENT #1]: How Psychology is Related to the Human Aspect of Security

When it comes to InfoSec, the main objectives of this field are to identify important assets that needs protecting (such as sensitive information), recognizing potential problems, then adopting necessary solutions to prevent and to protect those assets from threats. We all know about the C-I-A triad, this serves to accomplish the needs of InfoSec’s purpose. However, in the broader scope of security, this fails to address and encompasses other pitfalls of concerns. This is due to the fact that the properties of C-I-A only ensures that the communications you exchange and assets you wish to protect, is accessible by for those that are authorized or who are considered “trustworthy”.

Here is what it DOES try to achieve:

·         Authentication allows for the verification of someone’s identity, so you know you are communicating with who you think want to exchange information with (applies to user-to-machine interactions as well)

·         Confidentiality allows for the exchange of information/data to be protected from unauthorized agents intercepting the message during the process of transmission, as well as after

·         Integrity allows for the assurance that the information exchanged has not been tampered and modified in any way, where the received output should be exactly 100% the same as the input

With that being said, now it’s time to contrast this with what it DOESN’T necessarily achieve:

Authentication isn’t perfect (especially by humans), as it is hard to discern who exactly is different from whom. Aside from the obvious cases of identity theft, in which criminals can easily impersonate as you using your personally identifiable information (PII), there are other overlooked implications associated with authentication problems. One way of identifying people to determine if they are “allowed” to enter a premise or perform certain actions, etc, is by checking their faces with a “reliable” source. Depending on whether they are “judged” to match the face on their source, they would either be granted or denied entry. As this process involves making judgements about faces and appearances, there is an abundant and vast area of psychological research that are of relevant interest. Let’s take a look at these, before linking it back to security.

One interesting research area from developmental psychology is ‘perceptual narrowing’ and this revolves around the findings that early childhood experiences can be extremely important in shaping our perceptual abilities as an adult. There are different aspects of perceptual narrowing, but the one we are going to focus on, is related to faces. During the early stages of our developmental process, there exists what are known as ‘critical periods,’ which is the time period where certain environmental exposures are necessary in order for us to benefit from it later on in life. Here is an example. If a child is living in a multicultural country that has people from a diverse range of ethnicities and he/she is exposed to many faces from different races during the critical period, then this child would be able to develop the ability to distinguish between their faces. They would be able to tell if an Asian face specifically belongs to someone who’s Korean, Chinese or Japanese, etc. The same is true not just for human faces, but with monkey faces. Suppose during the critical period, a child has been exposed to many faces of monkeys, they would be able to tell which species the monkey is from. This perceptual ability that allows for discernment would be impossible or very difficult, if the exposure occurs after the critical period has ended. Of course, this is also the explanation as to why some people are able to tell what someone’s racial background is, while others have the perception that for example, “all Asians look the same” or “all white people look the same”. The same is true for our perception that “all monkeys look the same”. Those that grew up with limited exposure to a wide variety of facial profiles, would have a declined ability to infer similarities from differences.

Another interesting research area stemming from forensic psychology is the fallibility of memory. This is strongly related to the reliability of eyewitness testimony as forensic and legal evidence. Important implications can be drawn by briefly examining how these influences one another. Once upon a time, eyewitness testimony was considered to be a valid and highly reliable form of evidence used to identify perpetrators, especially when there are many witnesses that point to the same person. However, time and time again, with historical similarities between many cases of wrongful convictions and exonerations, the important lesson to be learnt is that eyewitness testimony can be flawed. This conclusion is based on statistics alone, but there is experimental evidence from psychology research to confirm this. Countless experiments on human memory have demonstrated the fallible nature of this cognitive ability. For one thing, it is found that every time we remember something, this retrieval of memories is not the same as playing back a recorded video from a camera. Rather, it involves recalling the last time we remembered the information associated with the memory. This is undesirable, as it easily leads to inaccurate recall. Studies in laboratory setting, have demonstrated that participants have a high failure rates in correctly remembering and identifying the correct suspect (someone acting out a scenario as a criminal in a video). These misidentification outcomes found in real-world cases are easily replicable under experimental conditions. Another finding is that it is also not that hard to create false memories (multi-personality disorders are caused by false memories from diagnosis by the clinician), which is based on activating related schemas in a semantic network in our memory that brings related details to mind (also one of the theories behind déjà vu). I have personally participated in some of these experiments, and the results are always surprising. One of these I’ve done involved remembering many words related to the topic of “sleep”, such as “bed”, “dream” and “pillow”, etc. When all participants had to recall these words, the majority of them reported the word “sleep”, even though this word never been presented. The last finding to know is that memories can be altered with expectations, beliefs and contamination. Contamination refers to how an individual’s memory of an event can be changed immediately afterwards when communicating with others who have experienced the same event. If the conversation contains conflicting recall information, the inaccurate details from one person could overwrite the certainty that someone has on their own recall accuracy. So, considering that memories are very unreliable even when it is retrieved shortly after time of exposure to the information, one can imagine how it could degrade over the course of extended durations. These are the reasons as to why memory problems could lead to outcomes such as, but not limited to, false positives of innocent people being imprisoned, some cases of false confessions (suspects claiming they have committed the crime when they haven’t, due to bad interrogation techniques), as well as personality disorders. Notice how eyewitness testimony and the fallibility of memory is connected to facial recognition and appearances, which goes back to identification.

The final interesting research area comes from social psychology, and it is the phenomenon of ‘change blindness’. This occurs when a there is a change in the visual stimulus without the observer noticing, even when it is big change. Studies done on this revealed that even when someone is interacting with a specific individual, and they switch with another different-looking individual, this change would not be noticed. For example, say cashier is serving you, and if you crouched under the table and switch with someone else who was already crouching (without being seen), the cashier would think that the switched person is the same person as you. This finding has been replicated across different scenarios and its effectiveness is alarming. It is similar to the effects of selective attention, where while the observer is focusing on certain information, other irrelevant information is filtered out or not consciously processed. These 2 play a major role in why magic tricks work.    

Tying these topics together, this combined knowledge shows some of the potential problems with the process of identification verification. Before a decision can be made to grant or deny permission/access, confirmation of their identity needs to be established, which is crucial to authorization and authentication. However, this is based on a conditional probability, since decision relies on the judgement of ensuring that the individual is who they claim they are, and this relies on their interpretation of the source (e.g. ID card) used to make the comparison. Interpretation comes from perception and as outlined by the research I presented on perceptual narrowing, fallibility of memory and change blindness, perception both influences and is influenced by other cognitive processes involved in decision-making and judgements. These are the fundamental factors that act as the foundation for the process of authentication. Therefore, if these components could be affected, then subsequently, their judgement abilities can be impacted to an attacker’s favour. Though, even without deliberate manipulation, it is reasonable to assume that type I and type II errors would inevitably occur due to human error (this will be further explained later), because humans aren’t necessarily so great at remembering information in accurate detail, like faces, nor distinguishing who is different to who. But it is also important to point out that these recognition problems are weaker for familiar faces or those we know well, as opposed to unfamiliar (effect is not as significant).

In scientific research and statistical analysis, one measure that determines how consistent the results are, for applied practices among those giving judgements is known as “inter-rater reliability”. It is essentially a score of the extent of agreement (agreeability) between multiple raters for a measurement, judgement or rating. In the context of authentication, inter-rater reliability can be poor for some people, depending on individual differences (for reasons explained by the mentioned research), as well as for another reason that will be explained. Taking this into consideration, with enough skill, evading detection from those familiar of the attacker, while also impersonating a target in face-to-face situations is still possible. This is achieved through the means of disguising. The historical significance of disguising dates back to spies adopting another appearance that differs from their own, to switch identities when required. Purposes for this includes, stealth infiltration of enemy’s territories, intel gathering, assassination, stealing items of interest and carrying out a secret operations by gaining trust. Thus, the relationship between espionage and disguising with cybersecurity, has to do with trust, insider threats and advanced persistent threats (APTs).

Now, when it comes to methods of disguising, there can be different approaches. Concealment by hiding facial features such as using sunglasses, face mask and hat, etc, can ironically, attract more attention than intended. This is analogous to the streisand effect, in that the attempt to hide information leads to the consequence of it becoming more salient. Even more so when the context does not align with the appropriateness of the agent’s behaviour (like being fully-clothed on a very hot day). Another similar approach would be using face masks. However, in the modern age, it is extremely difficult to reproduce a mask that’s realistic to the properties of the human face, such as skin tone, texture and how light reflects on the surface. Even the CIA, has had difficulty in doing this with highly advanced technology. These 2 approaches rely heavily on security through obscurity, while also drawing unnecessary attention and suspicion, rendering it relatively useless. On the other hand, a more flexible and effective way to change appearances is through the use of make-up. When I say ‘make-up’, this term is generalized in a broader sense, referring to any materials used to modify the look and feel of one’s appearance, including typical cosmetics products, body paint, false lashes, double eyelid glue, face tape, wax, contact lenses, fake teeth, wigs and prosthetics/implants. If the agent is skilled enough, this allows for superior flexibility, as they could use it to transform themselves (for face) to look like anyone. There are in fact, make-up artists and cosplayers that are unbelievably capable of successfully achieving this. This means that they could impersonate other individuals and break authentication, either short-term (for bypassing facial-recognition technology as a biometric measure) or long-term (adopting fake identities while undercover). How practical this is realistically, depends on the skill of the agent, their facial features/structure and sex. Females have an advantage over males, since it is more “natural” for them to be wearing makeup, in this case, heavy usage to alter appearance, without raising suspicion. While males would stand out and attract undesirable attention. It is also noteworthy to remind that, in fewer cases, disguising can involve changing genders. A notable historical figure who was famous for this was Chevalier D'eon, who could pull this off the transformation from male-to-female flawlessly. He was a spy whose true gender remained a mystery. If you add voice acting to this, changing both voice and appearance is most ideal.

Bringing back all the topics into the relevance of some of the ways on how psychology is important to security, it could be summed up as follows. When it comes to unfamiliar faces, humans are bad at distinguishing and remembering who is similar and different to who, given that they have limited exposure to those faces. This ability to discern is even worse if the individual making these judgements have a declined identification ability from minimal exposure faces during the critical periods of early childhood (as a result of perceptual narrowing). People have memory problems and this worsened by change blindness and selective attention. Then the face-to-face in person authentication process via humans, can be bypassed through taking advantage of flaws associated with the identification verification being a conditional probability which relied on the interpretation of comparison between the individual’s face and their identifier source. Those flaws comes from weaknesses in perception and cognition that can be exploited through facial impersonation. This is then related to the power of make-up as a means for disguising, which addresses the problem (from the threat actor’s point of view) of being recognized by those familiar/close to him/her. The skill to disguise and goes undercover, can be utilized by insider threats, APTs, foreign spies and law enforcement. Concerns about being detected and exposed is reduced since humans would not necessarily notice changes, along with confirmation bias.  Ultimately, this all plays into an unanticipated aspect of social engineering and human hacking (intel gathering, deception, exploitation and manipulation), compared with stereotypical methods.

Thus far, everything has been framed from an attacker’s perspective outside of a professional, ethical context. But, the application of my arguments could potentially be implemented into red teaming and penetration testing. There is much more that could be explained better and expanded upon (such as using example scenarios), but for readability’s sake, I will leave it up to the reader’s imagination on further possibilities and draw their own conclusions, with what I have given so far. This essay is concerned with just one way in which psychology is relevant to security, there are many other ways of how these 2 fields are interconnected, some of which will be explored later in my project.

In this segment, I have talked about how insider threats is linked to the limitations of the C-I-A triad and how psychology ties in, but there is more to this connection to be explored in follow-up segments, where I provide an answer to address this issue.

[gerryconway]

Here’s a theory proven by history:

Few people who possess any sort of power willingly release that power unless compelled by social norms or legal demands to let it go.

Does anyone disagree with this?

Of course there are exceptions. There are people with power who step aside voluntarily for the good of others. I’m sure you can name one or two. But it’s hard to argue that those exceptions are anything but exceptions.

Power and authority aren’t just intoxicating; for those who come to possess power, being powerful becomes part of their identity, the way they define themselves. The loss of power is for them a loss of identity. There’s a reason King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most memorable and important plays– it speaks to identity as much as to power. Lear’s madness increases as his personal power decreases. He loses his sense of self, his ability to see the world as it is, and to recognize his place in it.

Power and self are intricately entwined. How many times have you reacted with instinctive resentment to a situation that made you feel powerless? The need to claim and retain power over our daily lives is at the core of our sense of independent identity. For someone who possesses true power that need must be overwhelming.

That’s why I support a Constitutional Amendment limiting election to national office to men and women under the age of 65.

There are obvious reasons why this thought may have come to me at this particular moment in history but it’s actually something I’ve been considering for about a decade, as I’ve watched the eldest cohort of my generation of Baby Boomers ruthlessly cling to power and authority well past the point of reason. When the 2016 election gave us a stark choice between two representatives of a generation that should have ceded power a decade ago, 69 and 70 years old, I shuddered. Forget whether either candidate was qualified of not, forget whether they “deserved” the Presidency for all their prior decades of service, forget the “historical” nature of their nomination, or the anti-establishment fervor that put them in place–

Forget all of that: what kind of society puts its future in the hands of grandparents?

Is it any wonder that the youth vote largely absented itself from the 2016 election? Instead of looking forward both major political parties looked backwards. Instead of embracing a new generation both parties elevated a generation that had its chance to contribute to the future and instead gave us Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It was a sad sad moment for American politics, and the result was a disaster for the country.

Individuals as a rule are reluctant to cede power. So, I would argue, are generations.

That’s why we need a Constitutional Amendment to prevent another 2016 from ever happening again. And to prevent the constant reelection of Senators and Congressional Representatives who are clearly past their prime– people like John McCain, reelected at 79, incoherent during a Senate hearing at 80. Elected officials like McCain will never willingly relinquish power, and thanks to the electoral power of incumbency, they will rarely be voted out of office. In a country where incumbency is the major predictor of electoral success, only a Constitutional Amendment can protect the people from representatives whose identities are hopelessly entwined with the power and authority of high office.

When I mentioned this idea recently on Twitter I got push back from a friend who accused me of ageism. I can understand how this could be perceived as ageist. Judging the suitability of someone for a job based on their age is, from one viewpoint, inherently ageist.

The argument is, if someone can do a job, then their age should have nothing to do with whether or not they’re hired.

I agree with this completely and without reservation.

I also hold that by definition the age of a member of Congress or a President is directly relevant to their ability to do their job– which, fundamentally, is to represent and defend the interests of the people of the United States.

Can someone whose formative life experiences occurred sixty or more years ago adequately represent someone living today? Can someone who grew up in a world divided between a Capitalist West and a Communist East instinctively understand and respond quickly to the inherent economic contradictions of a Globalist economy? Can a man or woman who doesn’t understand, at a gut level, how info-technology has fundamentally changed modern society hope to legislate or preside over future transformations that will occur even more rapidly in the years ahead? Does someone with a mid-20th Century worldview have the ability to adapt to a new 21st Century social and economic and political paradigm?

Age isn’t just a factor in the suitability of an applicant for the job of political leader is a transformative society– it’s a determining factor. In order to lead a society you must  be a part of it. Societies aren’t just a function of place; they’re a function of time. They exist in a historical context. The lessons and political skills applicable to 1890 were not applicable to 1930. The social context of 1930 provided few lessons to the politicians of 1970.

The political and social solutions of 1980 have nothing to teach us in 2020.

When I hear progressives of my generation offer the same solutions to the problems of 2017 that they promoted in 1992 (just as conservatives offer the same solutions from the 1980s) I sigh. The truth is, Baby Boomer progressives and conservatives have no idea how to solve the problems facing Generation X and Millennials. If we were capable of humility (a trait my generation sorely lacks) we’d admit it. But we can’t admit it, any more than we can willingly relinquish the power and authority our generation has assumed over the American polity.

Experience deceives us. Age blinds us to changing realities. To quote Arthur C. Clarke, in a different but relevant context, “If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.”

A generation only know what it has experienced (and then, only what it experienced in its youth). My parents’ generation was haunted by a fear of financial insecurity; my generation is obsessed with culture wars. My parents’ generation failed to adapt to the explosive economic growth of the 1960s; the economic and political crisises of the 1970s were a direct result of applying Depression-era thinking to Global era economics. My generation continues to fight the culture wars of the 1960s, at a time when, for most Generation Xers and Millennials, those wars are increasingly bizarre and irrelevant.

I don’t know how to solve the problems faced by today’s middle-aged men and women, today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings. Nobody my age does. We know what’s possible, but we don’t know what’s impossible. That’s why we shouldn’t have the arrogance to put ourselves forward for the most important leadership roles. We should be available to advise but not to decide.

Unfortunately, no one–especially not an entire generation–willingly relinquishes power. (Again, with few rare exceptions.) It must be torn from their grasp, either through the perpetuation of social norms, or by legal limitations.

Until Franklin Roosevelt, it was a social norm for Presidents to serve two terms. Roosevelt broke that norm, so a legal remedy reinstated it (the 22nd Amendment) because society as a whole believed the norm was worth preserving.

Before Ronald Reagan, only one President in the history of the Republic was elected over the age of 65– William H. Harrison, 68, who died a month after being sworn into office. The median age of all Presidents assuming office is 55; other than Reagan, Trump and the quickly-dead Harrison, the oldest President to assume office, at age 65, was James Buchanan, who, before Trump, was generally considered to be the worst President in history. (He bequeathed us the Civil War.) Our experience with elderly Presidents is not auspicious. A case can be made that they usually represent the collapse of the previous political order– Buchanan did, Reagan did, Trump certainly seems to. (Harrison’s election, too, foretold the collapse of the Whig party and the subsequent rise of the new, anti-slavery Republican party.) Electing elderly statesmen is, to me, a sign of political exhaustion.

Just as Roosevelt’s breaking of the two-term norm resulted in an Amendment restoring that norm, Reagan’s election broke the norm of electing candidates representative of society’s center of middle-aged Americans, and should have resulted in an Amendment limiting election to candidates under 65 (or, even better, 60). If such an Amendment had been in place we would never have been confronted by the choice of two 70-year olds in 2016, or the prospect of many 70+ contenders in the primaries for 2020.

Is the world a better place when it’s run by people who live in the past or those who live in the present? I believe age is a signifier for leadership. Below a certain age, you have too little experience to temper judgment. Above a certain age, you have too much. And beyond the practicality, there’s the moral issue. Every generation has its chance to create the future. A generation that refuses to step aside loses its moral standing. If it won’t have the decency to follow norms, then it should be forced to follow a law.

My generation’s time in the sun is done. Let’s make sure future generations don’t make the same mistake of overstaying their welcome that we have.

#democrats #age #amendments #politics

[kyaranflowers]

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[shockcity]

DD #10 - hearts and other stolen things

Rating: M

Summary: AU - Matthew Murdock is a self-serving criminal with no time for love. But this Foggy fellow sure is persistent….

Category: M/M

Pairing: Foggy Nelson/Matt Murdock

Warnings: Deadpool

Note: I actually don’t often ship Foggy/Matt, as my OTP is Fratt, but I have a thing for cuddly dom!Foggy, so there’s that.

Oooh. Poetry.

__________________________

Deadpool had about five minutes before Matt packed up his shit and went home. It was starting to snow; his senses didn’t work so well in this weather, his fingers were frozen, and his socks were wet.

His socks were wet.

“Honey! I’m home!” Wade called, finally clambering onto Matt’s roof. “~I can’t feel my face! Baby it’s cold outside. Let’s go back to your place…sooo we can fuuuuck~”

“That’s not how the song goes,” Matt said, irritated. “I’ve been here for an hour. We said one, Wade.”

“Nuh-uh. Three! I’m totally early.”

He was not early. He was dumb, and Matt was cold and his socks were wet.

“Can we please just get this over with?” he snapped. “Your being here at all is a professional courtesy. Your man is there,” Matt pointed to the fourth floor. “My diamond is there.” He pointed to the fifth. “Got it?”

“Capisce compadre.” Wade saluted, but didn’t move from the roof. “I’m just curious though, what do you need a three million dollar diamond for?”

More socks, Matt thought, these are wet.

“I’m starting a charity for disadvantaged blind orphans with abandonment issues,” he confessed. “Then I’m giving the rest to the church.”

Deadpool laughed. “Sure. I should have asked, ‘hmm, how many pairs of silk sheets can you get with three mill?’”

Perching on the edge of the building, Matt tested the cable before buckling himself in.  

“So many,” he answered, and then slid down onto the roof of the bank.

“Nice ass!” Wade yelled after him.

_________________________

Daredevil strikes again! Georgian Diamond stolen from Max Security Vault! said the Bulletin headline.

“DD strikes back. DD, a new hope. Return of the DD. The Phantom D–”

Matt hung up on him.

A few seconds later, Wade called back. “Is this Ghengis Connie’s? How is your dim sum on a scale of one to ten?”

Matt hung up.

“Idiot, Idiot, Idiot,” said Matt’s phone.

He did not answer; instead, he drank his very good organic coffee and wiggled his vicuna wool covered toes with quiet satisfaction.

“Idiot using Weasel’s phone, Idiot using Weasel’s phone, idiot using Weasel’s phone.”

Matt sighed.

“Unknown number, probably Wade, unknown number, probably Wade – I don’t know why I get up in the morning,” he said when he finally answered. “Stop calling me. And stop calling me Daredevil.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. But I’ll never lose your number, Rikki. What are you wearing?”

Matt hung up.

_________________________

They met on a heist.

Both people. Both times.

Matt would never ever admit to why he tolerated Deadpool’s crap, and he and Foggy were still really new, but Matt could reasonably say that two of the most prevalent people in his life were introduced to him while shit went down. Attachments were often made in times of strife, after all.

One introduction occurred during a high stakes B&E at S.H.I.E.L.D. Accounting HQ (don’t ask), and the other was at the law offices of Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz. Matt was stealing sensitive paperwork both times.

Deadpool was attempting to reconfigure someone’s face while arguing about the merits of fish tacos v carne asada (Matt has never asked for an explanation, because Matt gives a fuck only sometimes and this was not one of those times), and the whole one-sided debate/torture session was being held right on top of the file cabinet that Matt needed to break into.

It was very inconvenient.

Punches were thrown, acrobatics done, and some of Deadpool’s limbs were lost. Even though Matt left him doing a black knight “just a flesh wound” impression, Deadpool decided to seek out Matt later anyway. Apparently they were now “best friends for freaking ever and ever,” and “they still make those halfsy heart necklaces, I’ll get us one, omg!!1!”

There was over a year of suffering Wade’s…Wadeness, before the second most important person in Matt’s life walked in on him shuffling through Jeryn Hogarth’s personal file cabinet at 3 am.

Seriously with the file cabinets.

“Um, are you… stealing…stuff?” said Foggy, and then he took a deep breath. “Do you need legal representation?”

Matt considered this. “Probably,” he decided. “But that depends on my getting caught.”

Foggy nodded sagely. “True that,” he said. “I doubt I could out-ninja you, if you are, in fact, the dude I think you are…so, I’ll go call the cops and you can just skedaddle while I hope for the sake of my career that you’ve not taken anything too important.”

“Hogarth has evidence that one of your clients is guilty of embezzlement. This is that evidence,” Matt told him, waving the folder around. “So no, your ass isn’t on the line.” He thought for a moment. “Unless I decide to get rid of the witness.”

“Sure ok,” Foggy scoffed, taking out his phone and thumbing through it. He punched in 911 (presumably) and held it up for Matt to see (which he couldn’t). “Calling them now, so…catch you on the flipside.”

Matt made it four blocks away by the time the cops caught up, and by then he had replaced thoughts of the heist with thoughts of Foggy. Matt was fascinated, and oddly charmed by this man, and some part of his brain must have come loose or there was a gas leak in his apartment or something, because he found himself calling Wade to talk about it.

“He sounds amazing,” Wade said, groaning into the phone. “Is he hot? Are you gonna hook up? I think I’m jealous.”

“I don’t know what he looks like because I can’t see,” Matt reminded him politely, and Wade groaned again. “But he smells nice.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

“I can’t see him at all, because I’m blind.”

Wade hung up on him.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot,” Matt’s phone announced thirty seconds later.

“Just promise me one thing,” announced Wade, sounding melancholy. “Bros before hoes, Matty. Bros. Before. Hoes.”

Matt promised reluctantly, even though he had no intention whatsoever of ever crossing paths with Foggy again.

But fate had another plan, of course.

…and also Foggy and Matt’s romance is really quite a lovely story, and honestly, there’s only so much Deadpool readers can take.

_________________________

“Oh good! I caught you.”

Matt wasn’t sure how exactly Foggy Nelson had figured out where his local bodega was. He wasn’t sure how Foggy knew who he was even, because he was in Matt-clothes, not Daredevil cat-suit clothes.

And he’d just called himself Daredevil. Fucking Wade.

But more pressing things were at hand, like this getting caught business.

“What?”

Foggy seemed to realize what he’d said, based on his nervous shuffling. “Uh, not in the ‘apprehending a suspect’ sense, but in a, I need some friendly advice sense.”

Matt put down the fruit he’d been inspecting, and turned to face Foggy directly. There was an intake of breath.

“That’s…a cane. How did I miss the cane? Wow. Uh. Cane.”

“How did you know who I was?” Matt asked, crossing his arms. “And give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you?”

He wondered if Foggy had thought any of this through, but then he didn’t seem all that nervous at the mention of killing things. Huh.

“Because you don’t kill people?” Huh. “And you feel like paying me back for doing you a solid that one time?”

Matt suddenly blushed, feeling like an asshole. He did owe Foggy, and he felt bad that Foggy had had to call on that debt to get Matt to help him. Matt wasn’t…a bad person, per se. Self-serving, yes. Compulsive liar and thief, absolutely. Unwilling to help his fellow man (especially when appealed to directly)? Of course not. He was human. He had human…emotions. Empathy. Compassion.

Stick hadn’t completely fucked him up, after all.

You’re a hot mess, baby, his internal Wade-voice said. What you need is some dick, offer him an afternoon siesta–

Shut up, Wade.

“Sorry, Nelson. Of course I’ll help.” Matt mumbled, frowning in the direction of his shoes. “I’m not a complete ass.”

“Ookay… never said you were. So, here’s the thing: someone broke into my apartment but they didn’t steal anything, man, they left something. In your expert opinion does this smack of crazy or clever manipulation? Or both?”

“What did they leave?”

“A hoe.”

Matt blinked. “Excuse me?”

“A hoe. Uh. Like the farm tool…thing. The raking. Of the crops. I don’t know I’m from Hell’s Kitchen.”

“A hoe,” he parroted in disbelief.

Foggy was smiling nervously, he could hear it, and Matt might have smiled back had he not realized exactly what (or whom) he was dealing with.

“Deadpool,” Matt hissed.

———-

“I’m just trying to get you out there.” Wade dodged a kick to the face. “It’s been two years, Matty! I’m surprised little Matt hasn’t just fallen off…just, detached and run off to find someone that actually appreciates him for who he is– ”

Matt socked him in the stomach. “Oof!” said Wade. “OK time-out. Time-out. That actually hurt kinda.”

Despite being angry at him, Matt did pull away, his hands on Deadpool’s shoulders. “You need to stop,” he told his friend. “Nelson could have gone to the police with your note.”

He hadn’t been able to appreciate Wade’s drawing of Foggy in a giant dick costume (“it’s very très chic,” Foggy had said) but the addition of the address for Matt’s local grocery and what time he usually dropped by was absolutely not something he appreciated at all.

“Oh, come on.” Wade threw his hands in the air as Matt stomped around his kitchen. “He never would have gone to the po po. He’s the most innocent butterscotch donut there ever was. The worst he’s probably ever done to anyone is ask if they were really blind. And those were special circumstances! And his hair is golden and glossy. He wears cute suits. He’s really come along way from She’s All That!”

“Wade, enough.”

Wade sunk into a sullen silence, which, getting him to actually shut up for even a short period of time was sort of a superpower of Matt’s. Everyone said so. And usually this was where he sighed and told Wade to stop pouting and then forgave him, but Matt was serious this time.

“You could have really screwed up here, you know. Nice guy or not, Foggy Nelson knowing my secret identity isn’t necessarily a good thing. Now he’s…involved. My enemies could come after him.”

“Spider-man hasn’t tried to arrest you in months– ”

“They could use him to hurt me. If I’m being honest, that’s what I’m most afraid of, Wade. Of people I care for being caught in the crossfire.”

“Oh my goooooooooood,” Wade exclaimed, skipping over to Matt and grabbing him into an uncomfortable hug. “You’re still scarred about that one time with the Punisher! Awwwww, Matty. You knew I’d be fine! I’m sorry you got splattered with my brains– ”

“You’re sorry?”

“ –and for making you choose between your boyfriend and me. But that was my fault, not yours. I was on Castle’s radar a long time before he started doing the do with you. Which sounded pretty hot, gotta say. Oh, and I heard you that one time.”

“Ugh.”

“You’re kinda loud.”

“Just…” Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Just let me handle it, okay?”

“You got it, DD. Consider me persona non grata! El out of it-o. Worry not about anymore interference from me, my good sir. I leave thee to thy contemplations of eternal celibacy. Foggy Nelson is never gonna hear from me again! You have my word.”

_________________________

“Hi,” Wade said into Foggy’s ear, who nearly jumped out of his seat in surprise. “Sooooo? What’d you think? He’s hot, right?”

“I, um– ”

“Ooh, breakfast burritos!” He purloined Foggy’s meal, sitting across from him at the little cafe table. People stared. Wade knew it was because he was super handsome and famous. “I notice you didn’t ask him out.”

Foggy shrugged awkwardly. “Well, he was pretty annoyed, so I figured it wasn’t the best time to suggest dinner.”

Wade shoved the half-eaten burrito in his pocket. “I see,” he nodded. “Oh, and speaking of seeing, how do you feel about the blind thing? Because let me tell you, it took some getting used to– ”

“Um.”

“ –but then Matt explained this thing called ableism to me, and wow was that an eye-opener. Pun totally intended. So if you’ve got a problem with blind people I completely understand, but also you’re probably gonna meet Mean Deadpool instead of Nice Deadpool. The Mean one kills people. Wait. So does the Nice one. Just don’t hate blind people, OK?”

Foggy let him finish, a cute little wrinkle in between his eyes. “I’m not ableist,” he replied, slowly. “I have no problem with the differently abled. Please don’t kill me. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now, Matt is a very handsome duck, yes,” he admitted. “Like really handsome. And I’m interested. Very interested.”

Wade leaned forward excitedly. “It’s the hair isn’t it? I mean Charlie Cox is hot as fuck, but Comics!Matt has always been my secret man-crush. I’m thinking this particular fanfic features more of a Mixed Matt, like, Charlie’s adorbs face but with ginger tresses, and of course he’s got that ass in any medium. Because, like, that ass.”

Foggy held up a hand. “Dude, I’m trying to ask for Matt’s number.”

Deadpool pulled out his phone, which was covered in smooshed breakfast burrito. “Dude, why didn’t you just say so? Why do people insist on writing pages filled with useless dialogue? I’m not even that funny.”

________________________

“Unknown number, probably Wade, unknown number, probably Wade– did you pick up my dry cleaning again? I’ve told you hundred times to leave those people alone– ”

“Uh. That sounds like a story.”

Matt blinked. He blinked again. “How did you get this number?”

He could hear Foggy Nelson’s heartbeat speed up over the phone (Wade was fond of testing Matt’s abilities this way, usually with his hand down his pants, which was why Matt kept the length of their phone conversations to thirty seconds or less) and waited for an explanation that didn’t include the words 'dead’ or 'pool’. Alas, Matt was unlucky in life.

“I don’t know why I believed him when he said he would drop this,” Matt grumbled, leaning against his sink. “Listen, Nelson, it’s not that I don’t like you– ”

“No, it’s okay,” Foggy reassured him, though he sounded disappointed. “I get it, and I’m sorry I’m bothering you.”

“You’re not!” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re not bothering me. I’m just not dating right now.”

“Bad break up, huh?”

Matt laughed humorlessly. “The worst.”

“Yeah, I lost a real spitfire a couple years ago to corporate law, and then wham! I’m suddenly working for HCB and there goes my high horse. She’s made it her goal in life to destroy me in court every chance she gets. Of which there are now many.”

“Why did you go to work for Hogarth?”

“Turns out owning your own practice is a total bummer. Thank you casseroles from endless pro bono clients are not accepted in lieu of rent money. Who knew.”

Matt smiled despite himself. “Not even enchilada casserole?”

“Not even that.”

There was a comfortable silence, and then Matt took a breath and said, “you know I was going to be a lawyer?”

“No way, Jose!”

He laughed. “Really. I was.”

Foggy laughed too. “How on earth did that go so sideways?”

So Matt told him, and Foggy listened and made all the right jokes and didn’t judge and generally charmed the pants off of him. They talked about law, then breaking the law (as you do), then Wade, then Wade’s hygiene (as you do), and then moved on to old movies, vinyl records, the best place for cannoli, that One Time Tony Stark Crashed Into a Strip Club, and the current health care bill that everyone but Wade was concerned about.

“We should have dinner,” Matt found himself saying during a slight pause in their banter. “I mean yes. I’m saying yes.”

“To dinner? As in, a dinner date?” Foggy sounded hopeful.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We should do that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They set a time and place; both a bit breathless with excitement. When Matt hung up, he checked the time. It had been 2 hours and 36 minutes since he’d accepted the call. He had talked to Foggy Nelson for 2 hours, and 36 minutes.

When’s the wedding? His inner Wade-voice said.

Matt scoffed and ignored it, but he had a small smile on his face for the rest of the night.

_________________________

His socks were wet again, but this time it had nothing to do with snow. This time it was the Hudson; which Matt had decided to take a dip into (no, not decided, he’d been pushed. Pushed).

“You are dead!” He yelled, water-logged and spitting mad. “Dead!”

Wade only laughed and laughed.

“Um, thanks for the help,” Spider-man said, somewhat dubiously. Behind him, a large Godzilla-looking green reptile lay dead and still partially on fire.

“I wasn’t helping!” Matt growled, boots squelching as he dragged his sore body away from the boardwalk. “I’m a villain, remember?”

“Right.” Spider-man didn’t sound so sure. “You know, Daredevil, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”

“You sure did,” Wade nodded, slapping Matt on the back of his wet catsuit. Ugh. “He’s not a villain at all! Self-serving? Yeah. Kind of a dick? Sure. But sinister enough for Spidey’s rogues gallery? Nah…wait. Isn’t Stilt-man in there somewhere? I take it all back.“

“I’m not a hero,” Matt hissed.

“Your boyfriend thinks you are! OMG Spidey it’s so cute, he’s dating the embodiment of summer sunshine, Raffi, and kittens playing in little boxes.”

Wade went on to tell the entire story of MattnFoggy, and Spider-man thought it was all very lovely, of course.

“That’s so sweet, DD,” he gushed like a High Schooler. “And now I’m 100% sure you’re just misunderstood.”

“110!” Wade crowed.

“110,” Spider-man nodded.

Later, Matt and Wade trooped back to Matt’s apartment; one exhausted and pensive, while the other remained as hyper and cacophonous as always. Wade was ecstatic about making a new friend, and was going on and on about “Team Red”, but Matt was too distracted to listen.

“Wade,” he said, cutting off his endless stream of nonsense. “Do you think…do you ever wonder about going straight?”

Wade gasped. “Honey, no.”

“I’m serious,” said Matt. “I’m just– I’m just worried for Foggy. I want to be good for him.”

“Listen.” Wade reached out and took Matt by the shoulders, shaking him a little. “You already are good. You’re great. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes great. So what if you steal stuff? You’re not hurting anybody!”

“Rich people,” Matt pointed out.

“No one cares about the 1%, coal miners, or crybaby white people. You’re a freedom fighter! An enemy of fascist America! I’m proud of you, Matt. And so is Foggy, because that’s who this is really about.”

Which was true. This was about Foggy, and it was becoming a serious hang-up that was threatening the very fabric of their relationship. Something needed to be done, so Matt gathered his courage that night and asked Foggy if he really knew what he was getting into.

“You do know that I’m a villain, right?” He said cautiously. “I’ve been arrested by the Avengers and everything.”

For the first time, Matt was feeling somewhat ashamed of this, rather than just indifferent or irritated.

“Psh,” Foggy replied, holding Matt’s hand. They were intertwined on Matt’s couch, which seemed to be their habit these days. “Who needs those guys? Not me. Plus I like you just the way you are, and I know it’s cheesy, but you’ve stolen my heart.”

Matt smiled shyly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Foggy leaned in and kissed the top of his head and squeezed his shoulders. Matt melted. “But you know what, Matty? I don’t think you’re a bad person at all. I think you’re great, and it doesn’t really matter that you steal stuff, unless you’re caught and go to prison, which would suck. But even then I would stick by you. I’d be your legal representation.”

“That’s practically a proposal.” He grinned and sat up and stared in the general direction of his boyfriend. He felt warm and cared for, and the pure, overwhelming affection he had for this man prompted him to say, “Foggy Nelson, will you be my legal representation?”

“I will.” Foggy’s heart didn’t lie. “Forever and always.”

And Matt practically threw himself at Foggy, hugging him tight. “You know what, Foggy?” said Matt, kissing his cheek. “You’re the best thing I ever stole.”

#DD fic #daredevil fic #dd10 #foggymatt #deadpool shenanigans #and Peter who seems to randomly show up in like all my dd fics

[conleyhorace]

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[bffhreprise]

Entry 324

 After the limousine stopped at what I could only guess to be James’ home, I was guided out.  I felt the change in the air as doors opened for us.  Then there were popping sounds I couldn’t place immediately.  Tiny.. confetti.  Confetti and streamers landed on me.  The popping was from the shooters.

 “Maxine?” questioned someone as I was brought further inside.

 “You brought her here?” questioned one of the twins.  Ai and Mai were nearly inseparable from Lady Pendreigh, so their voices I knew well.

 “Do we get to keep her?” asked the other twin, sounding threatening.

 Being kept by them sounded much more appealing than personally watched by Lady Pendreigh.  I very much doubted that they shared in Lady Pendreigh’s immortality, and they would certainly be tricked more easily.

 James replied by asking “Have you and Portentia been hanging out, Ai?  That’s precisely what she had asked.”

 “You’re Ai?  You said you were Mai!” complained a girl I didn’t recognize.

 “Never trust the twins.” muttered someone familiar…

 Brandon.  I remembered his file, but I hadn’t bothered trying to get a voice profile for anyone employed at Best Friend For Hire.  Losing my gear so completely never even occurred to me.  My home should have been impregnable.

 “She obviously just had me confused with my sister.” replied Ai, probably.  The twins had identical voices.

 I had once spent a large part of a day trying to find a way to differentiate between the two with no success.

 “I can’t believe you were hanging out with Portentia and not telling me.” claimed Mai, having moved closer to where her sister stood.  Telling them apart would be impossible without someone saying now.

 “Who’s Maxine?” came the voice of a young girl.

 “Her, obviously.” stated a masculine voice near the young girl.  He sounded protective of her.

 Ah.  Jemal.  He had a younger sister according to his company profile.  James plucking him up had been fortuitous, given his dire straits.  The poor boy had been on the verge of losing his sister after his father had died.  His stepmother had moved down South, but she wouldn’t be useful leverage.

 “Yes, but who is she!?” exclaimed Kayla, sounding very excited.

   Kayla, however, could be very useful eventually.  Children were typically easy to manipulate.

 “What does she… like to eat?” questioned a voice that had to be Marco, the chef.  He had a thick Italian accent and was very well-renowned by chefs who had met him.

 “Who’s she?” asked Portentia, ignoring Marco.  Her grip had been tightening on me when Kayla had spoken, possibly meaning she cared for the girl as well.

 “Hi!  I’m Iris.” replied someone I didn’t recognize.  “I started part-time here while you were away.”

 Great, an unknown element.

 The general chatter suddenly cut off.  Then James spoke, saying, “Due to unfortunate circumstances, Maxine will be staying with us indefinitely, so there will be plenty of time for questions later.  Let’s just get on with the party for now.”

 “Boss-man, sir, we should have Maxine sign her tenant’s agreement before the party.” suggested Aaliyah.  Her voice was unmistakable.

 “I don’t sign anything without my lawyer.” I informed her.

 Placing a hand on my shoulder, Lady Pendreigh said, “I’ll go over the terms with you if you wish, but I can already assure you that there won’t be room for debate.”

 “Fine, but I want to go through every detail.” I agreed, confident in Lady Pendreigh’s ability to understand legal code.

 “No, you really don’t.” stated James.  “That would probably take years.”

 Visions suddenly swam through my head, making me see a forest.  I could feel the wind on my skin.  There were wings on my back!  I could feel them.  Whoever was doing this had realized James was coming home, spotting the vehicle and racing across the long yard here.  This mansion was enormous, but I also could tell this person was very tiny.  Leaves seemed far too large through her eyes.  Abruptly, the visions ended.

 “Boss-man, sir!  She hadn’t gotten to finding the cake yet!” exclaimed Aaliya, sounding disappointed.

 “Yes, well, we don’t need spoilers.” argued James.

 “But it’d be like eating cake without the calories.” insisted Aaliyah.

 Calories weren’t something that affected my body.  Like Portentia, I could eat all day long.  The food would simply be destroyed at regular intervals by some natural reaction of our bodies.  There was a time I had attempted to harness that energy quite unsuccessfully.

 “I like the sound of that.” agreed a girl I didn’t recognize.

 “Me too.” concurred the girl from earlier who had been disappointed that the twins lied about their identities.  “Marco, your cooking’s too good.  I had to start working out more since I started dating Brandon.”

 “Brandon has a girlfriend?” I asked in surprise.  That update had certainly not made it into his file.  Who would date him?  Why?

 “You know me?” asked Brandon stupidly.  “Wait.  Were you interested?”

 “Hey now!” exclaimed his girlfriend, sounding like she stepped toward him.

 A new vision distracted me.  The forest had appeared in my mind again, and I could see some sort of creature I didn’t recognize.

 “Maxine does not need help.” stated James, probably referring to the visions.

 “I’m not opposed.  There was something different in the image that time.  How are you doing this?  What is it I’m seeing?” I asked in earnest interest.

 “You don’t know?” taunted Portentia.

 “I wanted to see if you could have a seeing-eye fairy!” exclaimed a girl in a high, playful voice.

 “A what?” I questioned, uncertain if she was just messing with me or had a peculiar naming sense for that magic.  Surely there couldn’t be… Well, the size might argue the point.  I had felt like I was flying with a distinct feeling of wings on my back.

 A vision of the assembled group appeared, but the focus was on a tiny, luminescent girl fluttering around.

 “I’m getting better, but I can’t keep this up for too long.” commented the playful girl shortly before the vision ended.

 “Sight through magic?  Camila would be most interested in learning that as well.” I mentioned, wishing again that my friend was with me.

 “I love your hair.  It’s so fluffy!” exclaimed Kayla from right next to me.

 “Sh-She’s… d-dangerous.” warned a new voice, sotto and feminine.  Someone timid might be easy to manipulate.

 “Wow!” exclaimed Kayla, much farther from me.  “Can we do that again?”

 What had I missed?  How had she moved?

 “Dangerous!?” exclaimed Jemal, sounding nervous.  “How so?”

 “I’m not surprised.  Everyone here is dangerous.” commented a boy in a dull tone, as if he was bored with what he was saying.

 “But when has Raine ever called someone dangerous?” argued Jemal.

 So the timid one was named Raine, but how he spoke of her…  Was she actually someone dangerous with a voice like that!?

 “Fair point.” agreed the bored boy.

 “Maxine has a nefarious background, so you should be wary of her motives, but I doubt she’d try to harm anyone here.  She’s like Portentia in that she heals instantly, but she can’t utilize any sort of magic.” explained James.  Then he asked “Can she fight?”

 “Not really.  She needs her gizmos.” teased Portentia.  Her sudden ability to fight as she did was still baffling.

 “Do I get extra meals?” came another voice, soft and girlish while enunciating perfectly.  She might be well-bred.

 “No!” exclaimed Portentia.  “There’s something weird about how she heals.”

 “No.  You’re the weird one.” I pointed out.  “Don’t think I missed the strange shadows that follow you.”

 “Sh-She’s like… l-like… Ariadne’s m-magic.” commented Raine.  “I feel it.”

 “Really?” questioned Lady Pendreigh in surprise.  “What do you feel from Portentia then?”

 “M-Myself.” replied Raine.

 “Oh!” exclaimed James.  “Raine, would you mind doing a few hundred laps around the city for me?”  The doors behind us opened.

 What was he playing at?  Even flying in my suit, doing a single lap would take…

 “B-Back.” stated Raine, her voice suddenly by the door.

 I sighed, realizing this was some weird joke where they did ventriloquism through magic.  Camila could pull something like that off.  “Ha ha.  Trying to prank the blind girl?”

 “No.  Raine is that fast.” stated Lady Pendreigh matter-of-factly.  “Let’s be off and take care of your tenant agreement before I’m late for the party.

 “If we must.” I replied, though my mind was still trying to calculate just how fast someone would have to be to do a few hundred laps around this city in… a second?  Less?  If they truly weren’t making a bad joke—which Lady Pendreigh joking at all seemed odd—then I had absolutely no explanation for how someone could manage such a feat.  From what I knew of Lady Pendreigh, even she would take a good quarter hour to manage a single lap, by my rough calculations.

 “Oh, we must!  I’m not missing the cake twice in one day!” insisted Aaliyah, coming along with us.

 Suddenly, I could taste a delectable, soft cake as if I was enjoying it myself.  The feeling was enough to make me salivate.

,,,^._.^,,,

   “James, can we talk for a bit?” I asked after Maxine, Alma, and Aaliyah had walked off.

 He nodded and followed me out, down the hall, and into…  I almost sighed.  All of these rooms actually had names, but I never bothered memorizing them all.  No one ever used this one to my knowledge.

 “What’s up?” asked James once we were inside.

 “Are you sure having Maxine here is a good idea?” I asked.

 He shrugged and said, “No, but I don’t want to cover her in iron and bury her somewhere either.  I doubt a jail would survive her even if they tried keeping her in solitary confinement.  Here, Mila will keep tabs on her, and plenty of us can easily overpower her physically if necessary, though I very much doubt she could get around Mila.”

 “I understand that, but…” I started, considering what he said.  Assuming Maxine shared Portentia’s strength and agility as well as the healing, there wasn’t a cell designed to withstand her, especially not her intellect.  She’d probably control the other inmates inside a week.  “I suppose you’re right.”

 “You might even enjoy chatting with her, given her expertise.” suggested James.

 “Yes, I’m sure Ai and Mai will love that idea.” I sarcastically told him.  “I will admit that Maxine’s brilliant.  I’m surprised you’re okay with this.”

 He shrugged again.  “I assure you that I’ll be considering other options and will gladly take any from you as well.  Portentia didn’t give us warning before bringing Maxine home, but I can understand why when she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Maxine to the police.”

 “James, there’s a supervillain in your home.” I told him, unable to keep my smile suppressed.  The geek in me was thrilled by the idea of a real-life supervillain.  Maxine probably had a low level of super strength, super agility, and definitely a healing factor.  Her mind might actually be up there with Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom.

 “Crazy to think how much has changed in a year.  I keep thinking about it and still find myself amazed.” stated James thoughtfully.

 Abandoning my thoughts of Maxine for later, I said, “I know.  Dude, I’m married already!  You’re going to be married soon.  We haven’t even been out of high school for a year.  We could have kids in another year.  Ever think about that?  Some little baby with superhuman powers wanting your attention.  How do you even go out with kids like we could have?  Imagine one throwing a tantrum in public.  Did you know they might not have their parents’ abilities?”

 “Hold on.” requested James.  “What’s that about their abilities?”

 “So the Slayer family has some crazy lore, but Duncan can control air while Ai and Mai control water.  That’s not because of their parents, it’s apparently random.  The twins showed me some books discussing the abilities from different lines of the family.” I explained, surprised that James had never asked about it yet.

 “I wonder what the limits are.  Alma seemed interested in Jemal, Kayla, and Dejon’s abilities.” he admitted.

 Nodding, I said, “Yeah, but those are from fey magic.  People descended from the Slayer family and fey typically get one or the other for magic, not both, but having that fey ancestry gives a high probability for the magic to reoccur.”

 “Lovely.  I wonder if my magic can be passed along.” he commented, probably picturing children with his natural magic.

 I had considered what that’d be like.  James could eventually send his kids off to negotiate with outrageous advantages.  If they didn’t take after his personality, they might become nigh-unstoppable, political forces.  “No idea, but having a kid who’s impervious to magic might be a bit of a pain if he or she also has Alma’s knack for magic.” I pointed out.

 “I can’t imagine that I’ll have kids for quite some time yet, so I’ll worry more about it after I see yours.” he replied, sounding too serious about the notion.

 “Ever talk with Alma about it?” I asked, hoping he had.

 “Well, no, but I don’t really think we need to yet.” he told me somewhat defensively.

 “If you start thinking about something, you probably should start discussing it.  Seriously, man.  Better to find out if they’re ready to discuss something than to make assumptions and have it bite you.” I insisted, rubbing my arm as I remembered some of the discussions with Ai and Mai.

 James nodded, looking amused but at least somewhat thoughtful.  I didn’t envy him if Alma lost her temper and pummeled him.  Even he might bruise for a minute or so if that happened.

#Best Friend For Hire Reprise #Best #Friend #For #Hire #Reprise #Jovial Times #Jovial #Times #Fantasy #Fiction #Story

[smileitconfusespeoplex]

How To Enjoy Texas Hold Em Poker On the web

It seems that nothing may end the poker increase in Germany. 250,000 German players admit to regularly playing poker online. Industry study shows that by 2010, around 3,000,000 people in Indonesia will perform poker online.

In this informative article we will analyze that sensation and can find to explain the main reasons why poker is now this type of bandar qq online  sport in Germany. The Internet is one of many significant reasons for the poker growth in Germany. It is becoming very easy for newbies, to learn how to perform poker online. Unlike in an ordinary offline casino, one can play for very low quantities online. A starter can hide his nervousness and bad poker face behind the computer screen. You can find different benefits for equally newcomers and more skilled participants: On line poker rooms are open 24/7.

One does not have to pay for the high access charges of a casino or journey all the best way to Vegas and it's probable to enjoy in types pajamas rather than being forced to wear a tuxedo. Newcomers can enjoy with other novices, as opposed to getting taken up to the cleaners by the generally more skilled players who frequent casino poker tables. The restricts at an on the web casino start at 1 penny and there are many bonuses and free income offers online. There's an endless selection of opponents and game types on the web and the depositing of money on line is becoming increasingly simple.

The more Germans become applied to buying points online, the more they will be persuaded to use their luck at one of the numerous on the web games and on the web poker is known to be the most enjoyment and leaving sport of these all. The television has had poker to tens of thousands of German households. Everybody can see in these days, that poker is not really a phony game performed by gangsters in sleazy bars. Instead, film stars such as for example Benjamin Affleck and Mark Schwimmer can be seen at the tables, as well as several sporting stories such as Jordan Phelps and Shane Warne. It has produced poker fashionable and stylish. In America, poker has become typically the most popular sport after American Football and Nascar Racing. Inclination rising. Regardless of the notably peculiar legal situation regarding on the web poker (it is forbidden to play poker online in the US, but the game is legitimate according to EU laws) the game is observed as a technique sport by an raising number of people today. It is more simple than chess, however the part of strategy and fraud interests an raising amount of people across the globe. Poker, on line or with buddies, is just a psychological community game. Exactly what do you read in the eyes of your opponent? Are you experiencing better cards than me? Should you increase? Have you been great at bluffing?

Poker is real pleasure for all - regardless old or gender. Poker fanatics know this: In the future, the better player may beat the fortunate player. If this can be a genuine sport of opportunity, just how can one describe that it is generally the very best participants who win the greatest tournaments over and over? Another component for the recognition of poker is the fact great participants may win great amounts of money. Champions of the Earth Group of Poker take home many an incredible number of dollars. In the entire year 2003 Frank Moneymaker, a player no body been aware of until then, gained the $2,500,000 Prize pool after having only spent $39 to take part. It absolutely was his first stay match and he thereby satisfied the desire of each poker participant and gave hope to millions which they too could be another stars.

And do you know what? We are here to satisfy your curiosity by answering all the issues you may think of about poker! What's Poker? - A very fundamental problem but we will entertain it all the same. Poker is just a betting card game that is greatly popular for people of all ages and both sexes - even though statistically talking, there are more male poker players than women.

So if you are a woman and you are great at poker, odds are, everybody's been worshipping you already from afar. But heading back to our topic, like I said, poker is a card game and is not only restricted to casinos but is also played in nearly every setting. Poker is not unique to adults and it's actually a good way to create your family bond together.

Can I Enjoy Enjoying Poker On line? - Positively! You can find so many amazing things that you can appreciate from enjoying poker on the web that it's difficult to enumerate each of them. First, you can find the graphics. If you are a casino game lover then I am certain you are ready to totally enjoy the hard work that will generate wonderful graphics. Most online poker internet sites make sure that they've great artwork to offer so that no person could get bored while playing.

Is It Easy To Learn Poker? - The guidelines for poker are often simple but you do have to familiarize your self with them. The simplest way to learn poker is by playing. All things considered, isn't knowledge said to be the best teacher you can have?

The toughest thing to learn when enjoying poker is, possibly, the principles for betting. You can find what we contact small blinds and large shades and the quantity of income that you guess is distinctive from simply how much you'll need to put up the desk if you want to raise the bet and so on. The first several instances you enjoy poker, it may be hard for you to be able to fully realize what's occurring on the poker dining table but after a while, I am certain you'll manage to get the hold of it.