everyone's like wehhhhh why doesn't doctor house gets suuuueeed! like my man. literally every patient he sees is someone that's been trying to find a diagnosis for ages. i could live with a little medical malpractice if it were coming from someone ready to break into my home to look for allergens and not simply half heartedly listen to me before suggesting I lose weight and take ages of back and forth arguing to order a single test
"it's medical malpractice" have u ever been a doctor? most medicine is malpractice. let the man limp around chewing vicodin doing 50 invasive tests please
Once Taub (derogatory) derisively said about a patient with unexplained chronic pain “7 doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him, what does that mean?” and House replied without even thinking “it means they’re idiots” and proceed to work his ass off to diagnose the patient Taub wanted to write off as a faker or something. If a doctor had said that when that patient was ME, I wouldn’t dream of suing them in a million years
After the girls talk about the events of the Idol awards, do you ever wonder if Mira thinks about the fact that she just… gave up?
In her mind, she’s probably fretting over how everyone else needed a reason. An offer. Rumi had lost everything she had ever worked for in the span of less than an hour. Gwi-ma promised Bobby and Zoey that they would never be alone, and have a place to belong. Mira? Gwi-ma didn’t offer her anything. She was reminded that she didn’t deserve a family, and willingly walked towards Gwi-ma’s flames.
She pushed two of the people she loved most away. She raised her weapon at Rumi. She left Zoey. She had nothing to live for after that. Not when everyone she loved was pretty much gone.
(Wow, writing angst is fun. I can see why you guys like it so much @garnetislovegarnetislife and @crypticparableprowler)
“And if you’ll give me 40% of the MOST POPULAR VOTE, I’ll give you my SPECIAL REWARD... A year’s supply of NON-GLOOBY SLIME!!! Never or BARELY used!!!” Tenna concluded his speech with a huge smile, jetting his hands up in double peace signs.
The crowd roared in confused enthusiasm as Tenna gave a gracious flurry of low-FPS bows, pausing only for the occasional stink-nose at his audience plants who weren’t throwing enough 3D roses.
Eventually, the room fell silent. It was Senshi’s turn to speak.
He puffed out his chest, took a long, sweeping look over the audience… and shook his head.
“I can see not all of you are eating properly.”
The crowd murmured with embarrassment.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s time to take the turkey out of your icebox. I have seen the ingenious technology with which your people store food... and I have also seen the waste which results from such convenience.
“The food you take had a life. Beasts grew fat on the grass of the field, plants grew from the sun’s rays, and mushrooms grew from minerals in the cracks of caves. And yet, it sits in your iceboxes, collecting moisture until it perishes.
“Eat what is given to you. Because its life will make you stronger, too.”
Without another word, Senshi left his podium and stepped away from the stage. The crowd murmured in confusion. “Is he really like that?” somebody said. “I only remember reblogging the photosets of him tripping and showing ass.”
--
Back in the Green Room, Tenna wrung his antennas nervously.
“Y-y-you think they liked me!? They HAD to!! I mean, I don’t know what Asgore was thinking, getting that weird haircut and running that food waste campaign, but… YOU thought I did good, didn’t you, Kris?”
Laios nodded aggressively, a streak of blue face paint peeling from his forehead.
“You did AMAZING, Tenna! By the way, now that we’ve seen all your insider campaign secrets, do you have any more videos of Susie? Especially her tail... If I could get a look at that, I could finally tell if she’s a dinosaur or --”
THWACK. Fake antlers butted Laios’s head.
“LAIOS?? Weren’t we dressed up to help SENSHI???” Marcille hissed, gesturing awkwardly with her hooves.
Suddenly, Tenna turned to the two adventurers.
“Hey, WAIT a second. SOMETHING’s not right here...”
Laios and Marcille held their breath.
“Where the heck are my POINTS!?”
Just then, the door opened. Chilchuck took one step into the room, whistling and holding a large bag.
Everyone turned to him.
Chilchuck paused, took a step backwards, and closed the door.
“CHILCHUCK!!!” yelled Tenna.
“How come Chilchuck got to stay Chilchuck!?” yelled Marcille at the same time.
--
Meanwhile, in outer space somewhere, some guy was making out with a rock.
First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>
---
"The zoo?"
Jazz didn't wait for Jason to answer, already rushing off the bike and taking her helmet off. She barely registered her boyfriend's chuckles in the distance, eyes fixed on the entrance of Gotham's Zoo and Aquarium.
She looked back, blinking away the tears building up on the corners of her eyes, refusing to let her make up be ruined so soon into their date.
Jason was watching her carefully. "You like animals and fish... right?"
Somehow, his question made the feelings bubbling in her chest rise to the surface. She laughed, the type of laugh that makes your whole body move, and nodded. "Yes! I like fish. And zoos. And sea lions! I've never seen one in real life!"
He smiled, grasping her hand in his calloused hand. "Well," he licked his lips, "I've heard there's a sea lion show in about…" he checked his watch "half an hour. And then every two hours."
She made a sound that definitely was not human, excitedly jumping on her feet. "I wanna see the sea lions!"
He, of course, knew she would. Danny told him about the sea lions when he texted him — via the special app they installed on his phone— and about how Jazz would try to hide the fact she thinks monkeys are cute and watch out for signs that she gets dehydrated. For that one Jason didn't need a warning, he knew how Jazz forgot to take care of herself when she was too focused on something.
"Then sea lions it is," he chuckled, totally okay with being pulled inside and quickly shuffled through the entrance by a very excited Princess.
He had previously studied the layout of the Zoo and Aquarium, so he didn't need a map to guide her towards where she wanted to go. She never asked how he immediately knew where to go or when he offered her a water bottle or complained when he deemed it was time for a snack.
Jason was happy enough to let her run around and talk about the animals and what she knew or didn't know about them. It was… domestic. It was normal, the kind of normal he now understood she craved when she moved to Gotham, the kind of normal both knew their lives would never be. If they had this stolen moments to remember to be human, he was happy to stand the looks they kept getting from other Zoo guests.
He hoped Jazz was too deep into her excitement to notice, because people didn't know how to keep their looks and whispers down. He was used to it, specially when he was outside The Narrows, and even more when he was around "polite society" — a big man with scary eyes and visible scars was not exactly family friendly. He tried to ignore it every time a kid froze in front of him before they were scooped away by concerned parents.
He chuckled. Narrows kids no longer froze when they saw him, even in his suit. A few shameless ones even asked for help doing homework.
A cold hand took him out of his thoughts. "Everything okay?" Jazz asked.
"Yeah," he nodded, enjoying her concerned eyes and soft touch, gently rubbing his hands in a thoughtless manner. "Just thinking."
"About?"
"Kids." Jazz lifted an eyebrow, her cheeks turning slightly red. Mortified, he realized what it could be interpreted as. Jazz didn't need to, mistakenly, think he was considering having kids. Not that he ever considered such a thing. "Not like that."
"Then what about kids?"
"There's a reason I don't take jaunty walks on the park, darling. Apparently parents and children alike think I'm up to no good." He shrugged. It wasn't that big of a deal, even if it stung a little every time.
She looked around, finally noticing the safety bubble of space the rest of the people seemed to be giving the couple. Some people kept giving Jazz glances, clearly written on their faces what they thought about them together.
"Well that's stupid. You are like, the nicest boyfriend I've ever had."
"The bar for that is in hell, darling."
"Well. I mean, yeah. But still." She smiled up to him, patted his cheek a couple times and then pulled them into the aquarium area. "Let's go! I read they have some sharks here!"
The rest of their day was a blur — Jazz "dragged" him around to check all the animals and an educational video or two, they took plenty of pictures of both animals and themselves, and Jazz puppy-eyed him into buying a themed drink that she seemed to enjoy.
This dating shit was easy. Why didn't he think about it before? It felt ridiculous to keep wondering about being inadequate to be with her, specially when she smiled and giggled so much. He promised Danny he would keep making her smile, and he was doing a pretty good job if he say so himself.
Soon it was time to grab real food, so they made their way to the overpriced Zoo restaurant and grabbed a table on the outside area. Jason offered to get their food so he left her behind as he went inside the restaurant, ordered what he thought sounded like something Jazz would want, and checked his phone while he waited.
"Hey there, handsome."
He looked up to find some kind of biker chick who was trying to get his attention. First thing he noticed was her bright and voluminous green curly hair framing her face and bouncing down her shoulders. Even if he was not supposed to, he couldn't turn the vigilante brain off, so he took notice of the out of place outfit the woman was wearing — definitely not family friendly either.
"Can I help you?"
She smiled, leaning closer to him and placing her hand on his chest.
Oh well. She was one of those, huh.
"Oh yes, you can definitely help me with something, handsome."
Jason had half a thought to push her away from him, but he didn't want to make a scene. This date has to be a success.
Instead, he grabbed her hand and kindly put it back on her side, careful not to touch the exposed skin between her short red skirt and her black top. She huffed.
"I don't think I'm the kind of man you are looking for."
"And what kind of man is that?" She kept trying, batting her brown eyes, knowing she was beautiful.
"Single." He straightened his back and glanced at the restaurant's order screen, noticing their order was ready. "Desperate."
Instead of insulted, the woman threw her head back and laughed, attracting a lot of attention. Weird woman. He wanted nothing to do with her.
Quickly, he grabbed the tray with the food and walked towards their table, finding Jazz having a hushed argument with a man. She clearly knew him by the way she didn't seem wary, and was rather comfortable enough to lean into his face to hiss something between her teeth. The man's body language was relaxed, one gloved hand reaching out to brag Jazz's shoulder, and she let him.
"Hey." He said, unable to actually said what was going through his head. Stop touching my girlfriend? Who is this man? Is he bothering you? "I got food."
He didn't take his eyes off the strange man, so he didn't see her face when she noticed him approach, but he noticed how her body language relaxed immediately at his presence.
"Hi, I was— What the hell are you doing?"
Jason finally looked at Jazz, frowning at her upset face. Then, he felt it. Cold hands reaching around his chest and a cold body pressing against his back. By the dark skin and red leather jacket he new it was the same woman from before.
"Look, I don't—"
But she wasn't talking to him. "Kitty, if you don't stop groping my boyfriend we are going to have problems."
The woman chuckled, but let him go. "Just teasing, Princess. No need to get so serious."
Princess. So these people knew who she really was.
He ignored the building argument to turn his attention to the man still sitting on the table, one hand flat on the surface and the other used to hold his head as he watched the other two argue with an expression he was sure he displayed when Jazz was involved. The man — ripped pants, leather coat, fingerless gloves — was romantically involved with the biker woman. They knew Jazz as a Princess, so either they were ghosts disguised as humans or they were some humans that were let into the secret.
The blond man noticed he was being watched and turned to look at him. He smirked, blue eyes flashing green for a second.
Ghosts, it is.
Jason huffed and sat down, giving up on everything. He was hungry. Food was getting cold.
"Jazz." He called. She stopped arguing with the woman, Kitty, and sat back down. "Care to introduce your friends?"
"Yeah, Jazzy, introduce your friends." The biker man purred, and Jason felt him nudge Jazz with his steel-toed booted foot.
"Don't call me that." She huffed. "Thanks," she said to Jason when he pushed her burger in her direction. "I don't see why I have to do anything when you guys are not supposed to be here."
"Here?" Jason asked.
"In the Mortal Realm." She chewed angrily. "Out of the Infinite Realms. Where is safe." She added the last part with a pointed look.
"We had to come see by ourselves," Kitty shrugged, taking the last available chair. "See if the rumors were true."
"What rumors?"
The man gave Jason a pointed look. "Word on the streets is that our dear Princess found a suitor." He lifted an eyebrow.
"Danny." Jazz growled. Of course.
"Don't be too hard on the kid, Jazzy— Ouch!" The man rubbed his shoulder, where he got punched.
"Told you to stop calling me that." Jazz huffed again. "And crashing my date is your worst idea so far, Johnny."
"Aww, a zoo date?" Kitty cooed, stealing a fry. "My Johnny doesn't take me anywhere nice anymore." She fixed her eyes on Jason, who noticed they were now brownish-red. "Good job, Mr. Boyfriend."
"Jason."
She smiled as she stole another fry.
"I had to come check, beautiful." Johnny kept talking to Jazz. "You know I have to."
"There's no such thing as 'first boyfriend duties', Johnny. We talked about this."
Whatever the guy said in response, Jason didn't hear.
First boyfriend.
This was the guy! What was that Jazz said? He tried to kill her to resurrect his girlfriend? When she was sixteen? He looked at said girlfriend, Kitty, who was watching their partners argue with a delighted air. She noticed him staring and winked at him.
Looking at them you'd never know the story behind — they argued like old friends more than petty exes, and both ghosts felt too comfortable in the presence of their ruler.
"I don't need—"
"I know! I know!" Johnny lifted his hands in a placating manner. "But I had to."
Jazz blinked, noticing the charged tone. Jason looked between both, watching as his girlfriend's expression morphed into something more… vulnerable.
"I had to, Jazz. After—"
"Well, it's different." Jazz didn't let him finish. "He's different."
Jason pretended he didn't mind the two ghosts' dangerous red eyes glancing at him. He understood where this came from, now. Jazz had no idea how many people cared about her, did she?
He watched Johnny trying, and failing, to keep a light tone as he kept justifying their actions, specifically Kitty trying to seduce Jason, understanding that this was more than just a social call. After what Jazz went through, they just wanted to make sure Jason was not a sleazy guy. He could respect that. Wished they didn't ruin their date, though.
***
"Are you… Nevermind."
"Hm?"
Jazz shuffled in place, nervously looking at her feet.
Back home from their date, which was salvaged after they were rudely interrupted, he was attempting to check all the boxes and leave her safely at her door with a goodbye kiss.
"Attempting" was the key word.
"Yes?" He insisted when she didn't continue, and just bit her lower lip.
He watched as she took a fortifying breath. "Are you breaking up with me?"
Scratch. Stop. Roll back the tape.
"What?"
"Was this a last nice memory or something? I had a lot of fun, and I—I—I understand if—"
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
She tilted her head. "You are not?"
"What? No! What makes you think that?"
"I don't know?" It sounded like a question. She was looking anywhere but his face now.
He grabbed her shoulders. "Hey, look at me." He shook her until she did. "I love you but you are not making any sense right now."
"I know…"
"So?"
"So what?"
He sighed, letting her go. "Are you gonna tell me why the hell you think I'm calling it quits? After being the perfect boyfriend today?"
He called it a win that she chuckled. "You were perfect today, yes." She pulled her hair behind her ear, sheepishly looking away. It was so fucking cute. "Too perfect, maybe."
Okay. This was not as hallway conversation. "Why don't we go inside for a moment?"
She nodded and opened her door, welcoming them to the familiar inside of her cozy apartment. Ignoring everything else, he guided her to the couch and made her sit down with him so they could talk.
"Ok, start from the beginning. What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong." She said too quickly.
God, making this woman talk about what upset her was like pulling teeth. He glared at her and refused to engage until she talked.
Jazz sighed, looking at her hands. "You've been… distant. Lately. After Danny and your family, and with all that's been going on, I thought…" She rubbed her hands together. "I guess, I— And Duke said, and I overheard the others talk and I don't know…"
Jason had to use every calming technique at his disposal to not stand up, grab his guns and rush the Manor to find the motherfucker who made Jazz think they should break up. Jazz needed him here and now.
"What are you trying to say? You think I'm mad at you?"
"No? Maybe? Yes?" Her shoulders came up to her chin. "I guess I haven't been very present either. Between work and patrols and investigating the Lazarus Pit."
He gave her a minute to elaborate, but she didn't add anything else.
"If I wanted to call it quits I wouldn't be a coward about it, Jazz. Today was a date. You deserved one, a real one, that doesn't end with me dying."
"There's still time."
He chuckled, enjoying watching her giggle as well.
"And whatever the others have said about me doesn't matter. They don't know me. You do—" he grabbed her hands between his warm ones — "and that's all I care about."
Her eyes watered and her lip was back between her teeth. Oh no. What did he say?
"Oh, Jason. They truly don't know you. I was— Duke said something and I didn't notice but once I did I couldn't unsee it. Is like— like— and is not like they are mean and that makes it worse—"
He squeezed her hands, frowning at the tears went down her cheeks. "Was anybody mean to you?" He thought everyone behaved, she seemed happy, but maybe he does need to kick someone's ass after all. His money was on Bruce.
"No!" She grabbed his hands instead. "They've just— I'm sorry I didn't believe— I didn't understand."
"What are you talking about?"
"Duke said— I don't think he meant it as a bad thing, but he kind of implied I fixed you, that I had somehow mellowed you." More tears gathered in her eyes, "He described you as something I know you are not—"
"Angry? Violent? A mindless killer?"
He understood now. They got comfortable and opened their useless mouths to feed her the crap they threw to his face from time to time. He wondered what Jazz thought about that — after all, they knew him at his worst, and it was different to read about his exploits when he arrived to Gotham than to hear first hand experience.
"They don't know you!" She leaned in, claiming his attention. "Jason, you are the sweetest man and I love—"
"Jazz, you know there's some truth to what they said. I am a killer. And violent."
"And I love you anyway!" He blinked at her sudden fit of fury. "But they said I changed you, that I fixed you. Like— like some kind of pet project," she shook her head, disgusted, "like it is a good thing, something to encourage, that your girlfriend changes who you are."
He pondered her words, realizing it's been a while since the last time Bruce or Dick looked at him with pity. Like he was a broken, prodigal son that needed to return home.
"Well, you know the truth, and I know the truth." He shrugged. "Fuck them."
She held his gaze, searching for something. "Aren't you mad?"
"Oh I'm furious," he smiled, all teeth, "but I don't give a flying fuck if they think your love magically cured me or whatever. They don't know me, and I gave up a long time ago." He got one of his hands free so he could wipe her tears away and brush her hair back from her face. "I love you," she smiled a little, and it was adorable, "and you changed something, but not for the reasons they think."
She tilted her head. "What?"
"I wasn't sure, it isn't like I was keeping track or knew what was happening until it did, but," he pulled on her hands so they were touching his chest, "I can feel something has changed. My head is clearer. Since I was revived, the first time, I've had this… it's like my emotions were out of control, like sometimes I was swept away by rage or anxiety that turned into violence and paranoia and there was no way to stop it."
"The corrupted ectoplasm." She gasped in realization.
"That's what I think it was, after reading your reports." He nodded. "After you brought me back that second time, I've felt in control like I haven't in a while. So thank you." He lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles, smiling when she giggled.
"That's why you've been distant, too?"
He looked away. He couldn't lie to her, he didn't want to. Not after everything they went through. "Remember when we first met? There were some kids and you got hurt?"
"Yeah! Did something happen? Are the kids okay?"
"Kids are fine, I've been checking on them from time to time," he didn't miss the relieved sigh, "but the guys we fought, well. I let them live."
"And that's… bad?" She tried to follow.
"They went running to their higher ups about a redhead woman who helps Red Hood. They saw your face."
Jazz blinked a couple times. "And that's… worse?"
He chuckled. Jazz unfazed by a gang upset with her was definitely one of the things he liked about her. "Usually I would take care of this. Not my first gang, etcetera, but the Black Clovers are sneaky and a well organized and a pain in my ass. I've tried to chase them off for months. They deal with child and sex trafficking."
She frowned. "That's definitely bad."
"Hm," he agreed. "And a group with their firepower and logistics are going after you. Latest reports from my lieutenants is they are seriously looking for you. Apparently you are my 'weakness'."
"Cliché." She rolled her eyes. "Well I don't see the big deal. Just let me help you."
For a moment, he considered it. He shook his head instead. "These people are not ghosts, Jazz. You are still mortal. As strong and resilient as you are, you can still die. And that's not something I'll allow to happen."
He saw her wanting to protest and insist she could take it. He knew what she could do, he had no doubt she could defend herself; but all she could think of was Jazz staring down the barrel of a gun right when he jumped in the fight. Maybe his feelings for her were clouding his judgment, but if there was still a chance she got seriously hurt, he didn't want to take it.
"Just— Let me take care of it, ok? Please."
She wanted to argue with him. He knew that look. Still, he watched her breathe and nod carefully.
"Fine. But keep me in the loop?" She bit her lip. "I thought— I was scared you were thinking I was too much and was second guessing or something."
"Oh I did some of that too. But your brother set me straight."
She seemed confused for a second, then remembered. "The Batburger." She huffed, leaning back on the couch. "I knew something happened."
"It was fine. I needed to hear what he said."
Jazz was considering asking, but after a couple of heartbeats she nodded and let it go. Good, because he had reached his limit on this emotional talk business.
"We good?" He asked, hoping for a quick yes.
"We good." She smiled, leaning in to kiss his softly on the lips. It felt good.
"Great, because I'm hungry." He very dramatically slapped his thighs as he stood up. It made Jazz chuckle. "Do you have actual food in the fridge or are we depending on my leftovers?"
When he didn't hear an answer he turned to look, surprised to find her right in front of his face, smiling. Jazz grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to kiss him, and he obliged. After all, today he was the perfect boyfriend.
---
First chapter || << Previous chapter || Next chapter >>
Danny: Hi, I made the horrible mistake of existing in the same environment as you and calling you "really pretty" where my friends could hear, and they forced me to come bother you. Would you mind looking vaguely amused by me for 5 minutes? Then as soon as they stop watching us I'll make a break for it.
Danny assumes she's just playing along like he asked. So naturally he tries to 'stop bothering her,' at the first chance he sees. But oddly enough, there's always something stopping him.
Cass meanwhile is having a lot of fun with her new friend. Especially seeing how many subtle ways she can distract or delay him from prematurely withdrawing. It's cute how baffled he is about it. Watching the anxiety bleed out of his body language, replaced by confusion. How long, she wonders, before he catches on.
alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.
we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)
please rb for larger sample size!
Question 1/3
What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?
Zoey used to think Celine would be super chill to have grown up with. Now it felt silly to even entertain the idea.
She recalls when she first arrived for training. She was clumsy, and kept bumping into things. The woman’s excess of wealth seemed to make her care less about the material things.
Zoey had broken some vase while Mira and her had been roughhousing. Despite trying to act tough, Mira had seemed more scared than Zoey herself had been at the time. Mira said she was willing to take the fall, but the girl had clearly been stressing.
Zoey ended up telling Celine, and she expected yelling, or at least for Celine to be angry at her. Instead Celine asked her to be more careful, and helped her clean it up.
Celine used to cook for them. At least when she could. Often the older woman would be busy with hunting, running a company, or training, though she would make time to make sure they ate something.
Zoey remembers, Mira had had a particularly bad day. She hadn’t known why Mira had been so mad that day, though she could only assume it was at least in part due to the letter she received from her parents that morning.
Zoey knew Mira didn’t have a good relationship with them. Zoey didn’t know the exact answer to why about that either. She did know however, that Mira had been on edge that entire day, and lashed out at both her and rumi.
Later in the day, Celine had called Mira into the kitchen, and Zoey could hear Mira stomp over. Whatever happened, Zoey was not present for, but when called over for dinner, she saw the taller girl was wearing a plain apron and looked noticeably lighter.
When they began eating, Mira had ended up apologizing to Rumi and her. Zoey had looked down into her food and could make out bits of food cut more consistently then other bits, some cut with practice and others with uncertainty.
Mira had joined Celine in the kitchen a lot more after that.
When Zoey thought of Celine then, she thought the woman was kind, patient, and understanding.
Now Zoey is older.
Now, with a clearer picture, she thinks of Celine again.
And that leads her to Rumi.
The girl she thought she knew became the woman she does know. And what Zoey does know about that woman, is that life for her was different than what life was for them when it came to Celine.
After learning about Rumi’s patterns, Zoey had learned a lot more.
After the secret had come out, other things came to light too eventually. Rumi would vent to them about things on her mind more often, as they had continued to beat ‘your faults and fears must never be seen’ out of Rumi’s head.
Even knowing that Celine likely did what she did out of love, thinking she was protecting Rumi, Zoey knows it wasn’t good for Rumi. Hell, she doesn’t think it was good for any of them.
Zoey had known long ago, Celine wasn’t an emotional person. Or at least didn’t let others see it. She wasn’t one for talking about emotions closely related to her. Like her emotional heart was a muscle that she didn’t exercise.
It had taken Zoey a long time to see why that was such a problem.
Celine was hurting, and stressed while she had to raise Rumi, but that didn’t excuse her.
Celine hurt Rumi.
Rumi was anxious wearing shortsleeves, because she hated the idea of people seeing her patterns
Rumi was a perfectionist because that is what she was told the Honmoon demanded
Rumi was alone, because she couldn’t fully rely on Zoey and Mira when she was always worrying about keeping her secret.
While the first two haven’t changed much yet, Zoey really hopes the latter had.
At the moment, Zoey and Mira stand a little bit behind Rumi as Rumi stands before the door. Rumi turns her head to glance back at them, a mix of worry and other emotions Zoey can’t quite decipher just from one quick glance, before looking back to the door.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Mira asks, ready to leave if Rumi was to say anything.
ppl arguing that Rumi and Jinu don't make sense as narrative foils because "Jinu's shame is justified and Rumi's isn't"
.......yeah, that's like, actively the thing that the movie is trying to get you to contemplate by making the two of them narrative foils. like. they did that on Absolute Purpose. That's like. The Point.
You're introduced to Rumi, and she's so lovable and forgivable. Her shame is obviously not justified because she's "one of the good ones," a perfect victim who hasn't done anything wrong and has worked so so hard to make up for her so-called flaws.
Pretty much the entire audience finds it very easy to recognize that Rumi should not be ashamed of herself. From the moment it's revealed that Rumi's dad was a demon--you see this in reaction after reaction--the audience is on Rumi's side. Because that's not her fault. She didn't ask for that. She hasn't done anything bad, other than maybe lying, and even that is understandable given the circumstances. (Most audience members forgive her very quickly for lying, if they even consider it an issue in the first place.)
Rumi's arc is lovely, but not very transgressive in this way. It follows a pretty well-known message in stories nowadays, which is that you shouldn't feel shame for your identity, for who you are.
But Rumi doesn't see it that way. To Rumi's mind, she is wrong and bad in measurable ways that she needs to make up for, and no amount of "no, it's not your fault" will convince her otherwise. Such is the nature of shame: everyone who feels it believes that it's a justified feeling.
...So then we get introduced to Jinu.
Jinu is... not the perfect victim, although he is a victim. He starts out as the antagonist of the movie. Where Rumi overcompensates for her shame by trying to be as good as possible, Jinu's shame (and, you know, Gwi-Ma) makes it difficult for him to try and be a "good person," because to him that feels like an unattainable goal that will only hurt more to try and reach. He's "inherently bad." That's what his shame tells him.
And unlike Rumi, Jinu made choices. "Choices he had no choice in," like Ahn Hyo-Seop said, but still choices. Over the course of the movie, we see him hurt people. That's what he's ashamed of. Genuinely hurting people.
And suddenly, a large part of the audience is starting to hesitate. People who were preaching self-love and empathizing with Rumi are getting uncomfortable, because this isn't the standard shame arc. Jinu isn't a perfect victim. So like... maybe he shouldn't have self-love. Maybe he should be a little ashamed.
...That's what a lot of people start to say.
But, crucially, the movie does not say this. In fact, the movie says the opposite.
The reason why Jinu and Rumi's two shames are framed as parallels to each other isn't because they have the same source, it's because they have the same degrading effect on the characters involved, and the same solution.
The audience might not view Jinu and Rumi's shame as "the same," from the outside, but it is super critical that Rumi views Jinu's shame as the same as hers, and Jinu views Rumi's shame as the same as his--actually, they both view each others' shame as less justified than their own. Because, again, remember, everyone who's ashamed of themself thinks their shame is justified. But they're both able to recognize that they're having the same feeling, and that feeling is holding them back from so much in their life. It's trapping them in constraints and limits.
And the only good and useful way forward, for either of them, will have to be self-acceptance.
Yeah, Jinu's shame stems from his choices. The movie challenges you to think about that--it says, okay, so you sympathize with Rumi. Now what about someone whose shame comes from their actions? Will you extend him the same grace? He's suffering in the same way. Or is there a line you can cross, something you can become that degrades your inherent worth and makes you less deserving of help and support?
Because, you know, if there is a line, everyone who has shame is going to think that they've crossed it. No matter what. That's what Rumi thinks of herself.
Jinu, I think, is for all the people struggling with shame who looked at Rumi and went "okay, maybe her shame isn't justified, but mine is. I'm not like Rumi, I'm actually bad." Jinu is the movie's way of doubling down and saying, no, we mean it. Shame is never useful. Everyone deserves freedom from shame. Everyone. Yes, even you. There is no line you can cross where you don't deserve that anymore.
That's the point they're trying to make by making Rumi and Jinu narrative foils.
btw, before I get comments arguing about how shame can be a useful motivator: I use a very specific definition of shame and a very specific definition of guilt. Shame is when you feel that some part of you is inherently bad in an unchangeable, immutable way. Guilt is when you feel that you've done something bad, but that you yourself are not inherently bad. Guilt can be a useful motivator to change your behavior, shame can usually not. I learned in a sociology class I took in college that they've actually done studies on this--generally, shaming someone for what they've done or who they are is counterproductive. The person usually either learns to hide the behavior/trait they're being shamed for better (but continues it in private), or leans into it more as a way of lashing out. Guilt tends to be much, much more useful towards changing someone's behavior. I don't have the study cited anymore because it was in my textbook, but here's a psychology today article that echoes a similar sentiment to what I'm trying to explain.
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