Legalisenuclearbombs

https://archiveofourown.org/works/85368441

i’m so sorry i just saw this!! i read it and its so cute thank you so much :D :D :D i’m a massive sucker for fluff and a little deprived of it but this is so lovely!! go read it!! :)

But when it comes to nyc carriage horses it's always someone's fault when a horse dies. I've witnessed many horse deaths in my time. Several this year alone, every one of them some freak accident on a previously healthy horse. No abuse involved. Heck no riding involved in any of the cases. One broke a leg in the field, one broke a leg free lunging, and another was struck by lightning (had access to shelter, he was a retiree given free range on pasture). Fortunately no cardiac events, knock on wood, but I've seen those too, both on horses in work and resting.

Imagine being so resilient against torture that the literal only way for people to break you is to use literal mind control and an identity replacement method. But. Not even that works.

The real Bell, under all that, in the subconscious, rebels and keeps fighting so they never get the biggest piece of information behind the red door. Even with MkUltra destroying their body, Bell still fights back; regardless of their understanding that that's what they're doing now.

And it's only when Bell gets a literal brain injection with painful chemicals, and almost dies, that they finally see the truth. All the power is placed into Bell's hands right there, this is literally a historical moment that Bell is responsible for.

It was a choice. Adler had no control over what Bell chose to do, and I think that is why they had to die. You can't fully control a fighter, you can only kill them. If they had perfect control over Bell right down to their identity and personality traits, they definitely would've kept Bell around because that's something that is nothing but useful even if Perseus might be gone. A soldier you have full control over and has very useful skills, AND they're very intelligent? Of course, they would keep Bell, despite all this tearing at their body. You think they care?

This does not determine if Bell is a good or bad person. While saving the world is an absolutely heroic thing that someone deserves their flowers for, Bell can still end up returning to being a terrorist or an international criminal if they want to. After all, you can't benefit from your criminal acts if there is no market for them because you killed your clientele.

That's why Bell has such a conflicting role in the series. For Bell to be a good person, they have to own whatever evil things they were an accessory to (because trust me, an organization like Perseus with members willing to torture people would certainly have evil things going on behind the scenes) and work against them to repair the damage as best they can.

Putting them through MkUltra was not holding them accountable or making them into a better person. No one was holding Bell accountable for any bad things they may have done, assisted in, or was silent about despite being a witness. Torture is not accountability.

I can't believe I have to say that, but unfortunately, "what Adler did was justified because Bell wasn't cooperating, and they were a terrorist" is an actual serious take I have seen (one that got a lot of support in that comment section mind you). I hate to be political right now but "Terrorists deserve to be tortured" is literally how we end up with torture camps that accomplish nothing but horrific human rights abuses. There is no scientific basis for torture accomplishing anything in the long term.

I want to be really clear when I say this, I do not support terrorism and the harm of innocent people. Intelligence work is absolutely necessary for these organizations to be stopped. In theory, we need organizations like the CIA and the FBI for the safety of the population. But I do not support torture. I will never support torture whether it be from the CIA or some other terrorist organization. I do not support literally kidnapping people and imprisoning them without trial because that's how we ended up with Guantánamo Bay. (Oh and I don't support my country purposefully getting dictators into power so that they can ruin their countries for generations to come, which then leads to lives being lost or ruined.)

Sorry for that diatribe. Just a reminder, Adler is not a good person there is canonical basis for this take, and he is not the hero in this situation. That honor goes to Bell, and in the next game, Case is the hero.

Over 500 years spent trying to cut down a whole trunk of human culture.