What Would You Do?

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What would you do?

Authors note: There are some strong themes alluded to in this story, including rape and forced feminization. Please be careful reading this.

Father, thank you for taking time to listen to me, and I appreciate the fact you will not tell anyone what I tell you. I am not Catholic, but I need to confess. I need someone to listen to me. I … I am an evil person, Father. I have done something horrible, and because of that, I am faced with a decision, a decision that can only result in suffering for another.

But I might as well start at the beginning. I can’t believe its only been six months since it started. It feels like a lifetime. And maybe, in a way it was.

But it all started when I made the mistake of getting on the wrong side of Tony. Tony wasn’t the biggest guy in our school, but he was … crazy in a fight, and no one messed with him, or at least not twice.

Up until that point, I had stayed under his radar, because I wasn’t anybody. I was pretty much invisible, and I liked it that way. Then I joined the drama club. I knew I was never going to be an actor, but since they always needed guys to be spear carriers, or whatever, I figured I could blend in, and I did, at least at first.

Things were great at the beginning. I was in the background in a couple of productions, and when they didn’t need me on stage I did everything from run lights to take care of costumes. I had it made, until Linda took notice of me. She was... is a true talent. Pretty, smart, and blessed with both acting and singing skills, she was the clear choice for the female lead for any show we did.

But then, not long after she came to our school, Tony tried to hit on her. I was standing a couple feet away when she turned him down. He was not happy, but kept his cool, asking her why. She looked over, saw me watching, and came over to me. She said to Tony “because I already have a boyfriend in Adam here.” She then planted a kiss on my lips, making my head spin. “Now if you would excuse me, I have to get ready for rehearsal” She said, and walked away. I was still trying to get my act together when Tony came up to me, and said “You just made my list, Adam.” and stalked away.

All I could think was, “Oh.... crap.”

I hurried to catch up with Linda, and said, “What the heck was that about? “

She giggled “Well, maybe if you play your cards right, it could be the truth.”

Now what the heck was I supposed to say to that?

“You don’t know Tony, Linda.”

“There are a lot of pretty girls, he’ll find someone, I’m sure.”

“It isn’t like he needs have a girl, Linda, or even have you specifically, not anymore. Now its about keeping his spot on the top of the dog pile. It’ll be a matter of pride. And I’d rather graduate in one piece. Tell him it was just a joke, please.”

“How come you’re scared of him? He isn’t that much bigger than you.”

“Like I said, Linda. You don’t know him. He’s …. dangerous. I have seen the biggest members of the football team back down rather than confront him.”

She shook her head, and said “Boys. Honestly.” Then she walked into the girls changing room, and closed the door.

The rest of the day, my head was on a swivel. I tried to stay close to teachers when I could, and just waited for the hammer to fall. At the end of the day, I waited for a bit, cleaning up in the theater, and then figured I should run home. It was Friday, so I would be able to hide at home for the weekend, and be safe until Monday, or so I thought.

But on my way home, Tony was waiting for me. I looked around, and saw he was alone. I figured he was just going to threaten me, since any humiliation would require an audience.

I was wrong.

Father, by the time he walked away, I was basically naked, and bleeding from a place no heterosexual man should bleed. I don’t think you need the details, do you?

I gathered up my clothes, and staggered home. If I had been able to think clearly, I would have called the police, gone to a hospital, something. But I felt...soiled in a fundamental way, and all I wanted to do was get clean. I stood under a hot shower until the water ran cold, i stuffed my clothes in our washer, and I cleaned up the remains of my lunch that I brought up when I had gotten in the door.

When my mom came home, I told her I was sick, and went to bed.

I pretty much stayed there all Saturday. The only time I got up is when I had another shower. I couldn’t hold down food, I couldn’t look at myself in a mirror. And somehow, I knew the worst was not over. Tony would be back. I was sure of it. Having had a taste of that kind of thing, he wouldn’t stop. It would happen again, and again.

And a monster made of rage was born in my heart.

On Sunday, I got up, got dressed, and went looking for Tony. I had no clue what I was going to do, but I knew I had no choice but to find a way to stop him.

All it would cost me would be my soul.

When he saw me coming, he shooed away his gang, and came toward me. He chuckled, and said, “Well. well, well. You come for more? I thought you were having a good time Friday”

I looked at him, and saw that my hunch was right. No matter what I did, he was going to do it again. I could give him Linda on a silver platter, and it wouldn’t matter.

That’s when I committed my crime.

I wouldn’t blame you for not believing what happened next. All of a sudden, I was inside his head. I can’t describe it well, but it was like I shoved his identity, his soul, into a closet, and took control of his brain. I visualized it like a control room, and I threw some switches and turned some knobs, and left.

I came to myself, and he was just staring at me. After a minute, he turned and ran. I went home, thinking I must be dreaming. I spent the rest of Sunday laying around. I felt. ... numb. The hours dragged by without me moving or even thinking much. I did the bare minimum to survive, and that’s it.

Monday finally rolled around and I shuffled to school. I’m not sure why I went, except that school was such a big part of my routine not going never crossed my mind. Not that much was crossing my mind anyway. I was just going through the motions, waiting for something to happen.

The only time I broke out of my fog was when I went to Drama class and saw Linda,. She came up to me, and gave me a hug, and said, “well, how was your weekend? You considering my offer to be my boyfriend?”

I took her arms from around my neck and said, “I tried to tell you Tony wouldn’t just leave it alone. Its your fault he.... he...” I couldn't continue. I shoved her away from me, and went to my seat in the class. I refused to look at her the rest of the class, and after it was over, I went back into the numb cocoon that I had been in all day.

At the end of the day, It finally occurred to me that I hadn’t seen Tony, but I let it go. We didn’t share classes, so I had no real reason to expect to see him, except for what happened on the weekend. I made it home, and went to bed early.

Day after day passed, and finally, it was Friday again. My personal fog cleared enough to realize Linda was pretty upset with me, but I found I just didn’t care. She wasn’t the one who had been ... well, it didn’t matter, anyway.

The other thing I realized was that Tony hadn’t come back. I found that confusing. To miss a day, maybe, but a whole week? That wasn’t like him. What had happened on Sunday had become more dream-like, but something about it nagged at me as I thought about his absence. Finally, I could take the suspense, and Saturday, I headed for where he lived.

Why was I worried about him? He ….hurt me. But I couldn’t shake the feeling he was hurting, and it was my fault. I was very close to the spot where he had... met me last time when a girl got my attention. She waved me toward the shadows, and once my eyes adjusted, I could see her clearly.

It was Tony.

God forgive me, it was Tony.

He (She?) was wearing a dress that was obviously too big for him, and nothing else feminine, but something about the way he stood and moved just screamed “Girl”.

And again, the weirdness happened. I could see clearly his mind. The old Tony, the one everyone was scared of, was … trapped, unable to control his own body, because he was … overlapped by a second self. A utterly, totally female self. She had stolen her mother’s clothes and makeup, been caught by her father, and been kicked out. She had been living on her wits since.

I had done this.

Me.

I could feel the loss of sanity, an intense pain I can’t do justice to. I had to fix it. So I tried to fix things inside him.

Father, I tried. I truly tried.

I failed.

I honestly did not know what to do. I invited her back to my house. She came willingly enough. The female self seemed … bonded to me. She was almost pathetically grateful for even the smallest kindness. The male part was more confused.. On the one hand, his anger and hatred of me was still there, and had gotten worse, but he also seemed to see me as his only hope to regain control.

I took her back to my house, figuring I could at least get her some warm clothes and a meal. When we got there, I offered her some boy clothes, only to have her freak out. Some how, this female part of him couldn't even think of wearing male stuff.

And since she was in charge, the only option we had was some of my mom’s. That didn’t make the male side happy, but since it was either that, being naked, or staying in a dress she had been wearing for a week, he went along.

Once clothes were taken care of, I made her some soup, being not a great cook. Again, she was grateful in a way that ate at my heart. After we ate, we watched some tv together until my mom came home. I introduced my her to my mother, saying she was a classmate who had come out as transgender to her parents, and been kicked out.

It was as close to the truth as I dared go …

Being the kind of person my mom was, she let “Toni” stay overnight, but would have to take her to the authorities in the morning. I panicked, thinking of the sort of abuse she might suffer in some foster home, and said, “Listen. before we do that, let me try talking to her folks.”

She agreed, and soon was showing Toni to our spare room. I went to my own, and struggled to sleep.

The next morning we went back to Toni’s house. I knocked on the door, still having no idea what I could do. Her father answered, and as soon as he saw Toni, he glowered. He raised a fist, and I had to do something. I went into his mind, just a touch.

<“This is your child. You love your child. You protect your child.....” > I repeated.

A few moments later he was inviting us in. I did the same gentle touch with Toni’s mother, and then turned to leave. “Wait.” Tony whispered, “What about school?” <“And what about ME?” > her male side asked mentally.

“I will be with you tomorrow.” I whispered back. Mentally, I added, <“And I will keep working on a solution.”>
The next day, I waited anxiously for Toni to arrive. Finally, she did, driven by her mother. “Mrs. Carillo?” I asked. “Can I help?”

She smiled at me, and said, “I will talk with the principal. If the school wont protect my daughter, I will have no choice but to pull her out until I can find a school that will.”

<“I don’t think going here is a hot idea”> I heard Tony say mentally. <“I don’t have a lot of friends, you know.”>

<“You were the most popular guy in school.” >I broadcast back.

<“No. I was the most feared guy in the school. Now its going to be payback.”>

<“Not like you dont deserve some. What you did to me...”>

<“You got your payback. The rest will come for theirs.”>

<“Wait a minute. You didn’t rule this school by being the biggest guy. You got people to respect you by being one crazy fighter.”>

<“So?”>

<“So you still have all those skills. You show a couple of the bad guys you are still a bad-ass, and they will leave you alone.”>

<“Sounds good, except one thing. I’m not in charge anymore. She is.”>

<“Okay. I have another idea. I will do for the school what I did for your parents.”>

Then she hugged me and said out loud, “Thank you.”

I really didn’t know what to do about that. Toni, the female part, seemed to be in love with me, for lack of a better word for what she felt. The male part was disgusted, but helpless. I realized I had a horrible choice. Return the hug, and hurt the male part, or don’t, and hurt the female part.

Before I could try and decide what to do, the male part pulled back, and Toni hugged me tighter.

<“What happened?”> I broadcast to her male side.

<”Just realized it was hopeless. If she wasn't attracted to you, it would be some other dude. And they wouldn’t know or care about me. And as long as she is around you, maybe you can fix this screw-up.”>

<”I’ll keep trying. And I will do my best to protect both of you.”>

So I had acquired a girlfriend.

I slipped in to the meeting Toni’s mother was having with the principal. Not having any other idea, I gave him a gentle nudge to accept the change in gender. He even appointed me to help introduce the new Toni around, which gave me a chance to to do the same for most of the kids and teachers we met.

I tried to be extremely careful. If it took more than a very gentle nudge, I let them be. For most of the guys, all I did was remind them of the scary side of the old Tony, and let them make the assumption that she would be just as dangerous if cornered. It was enough.

The next while became a blur. Every day I would spend as much time with Toni as I could. It seemed like a feedback loop. The more I was around her, the more she wanted me there. In essence she became addicted to me.

I could have abused this, Father. By the third day, she made it clear she would sleep with me if I wanted her. But I simply couldn’t. I am ashamed to admit that it was only partially because I felt like that would be as bad as what the male Tony had done to me. The other part was the simple fact that despite her clothes and actions, she still had a male body.

Besides me, the only real friend she had was, ironically, Linda. Linda seemed to take it all in stride without any modifications from me, and made it a goal to help Toni be the best girl she could be. That earned her my forgiveness, and more. I apologized for my reaction to her advances, and let her work her magic on Toni. The results were.... amazing.

But I continued to try and fix the problem, and failing. And now things are getting serious. Toni wants to actually transition, to become female in body. this is making the male Tony more desperate, more crazy, and the conflict is harming both of them.

So I am left with a horrible choice, as I said. I have found out I can … remove the male part, permanently. That would free the female side to have as good a life as possible.

The other choice is to do nothing. I just let the male Tony suffer until he goes mad, maybe taking the female part with him. I cant seem to suppress the female side. I cant even seem to comfort the male side anymore.

So which choice is worse? Since I started “dating” Toni, I have been looking into transgender, and reading a lot of TG fiction. One of the big controversies on one of the fiction sites is about the idea of “identity death.”

Well, I could do that. I could “kill” the male Tony. But am I really doing him any favors by letting him live? To be permanently stuck in a body he has no control over? To be helpless while the female side make the body match her mind, instead of his? And even if I never sleep with her, its probably too much to hope she would remain a virgin forever. And she only likes guys....

So Father, that’s my confession.

And I want your advice.

What would you do?

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Comments

What Would You Do?

Unless I am sadly mistaken, Tony was in denial of being transgendered. Only after his brutal attack and its aftermath was the real Toni born. Hopefully Adam can get through to Tony and learn the truth so that he can heal the broken soul that is Toni-Tony, Could Tony have had a twin sister that died?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Other pathways not yet explored

Tony. The path of least resistance is to offer him the choice, to stay or to be removed. Other paths may be to try to merge the two.

Linda. Was she really that unknowing about Tony's rep, or is there more about her than was shown? She is one who accepted Toni without any nudges, or... She was the one who set the events in motion. She is under suspicion.

Faraway


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Big Closet Top Shelf

Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!

Faraway


On rights of free advertisement:
Big Closet Top Shelf

Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!

Tony/Linda

I agree that Asking Tony seems like the most ethical option, assuming a merger isnt possible. As for Linda as suspicious? Hmm, that might be interesting.....

 

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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Ethical Questions on Big Closet???

Dorothy,

Once again you have done the impossible. You've raised an ethical question in the form of a story! You've done it in a well written and engaging manner as well! Thank you!!

Wow!

I enjoyed this story immensely. The question at the end will surely raise eyebrows, and possibly cross eyes. I know a lot of the people here have strong feelings about "identity death." Personally I have no problems with the idea of a permanently changed mindset. Especially where the one changed has memory of their life prior to the change.

Completely wiping a mind of all traces of the former identity raises more issues. For me it's not the same as actual death, but it comes close. Where you have a twisted and warped personality, as Tony clearly was, changed into true humanity, then Tony, as well as humanity at large, is clearly a winner. Is this "death"? I don't think so.

I'll probably get a dozen nasty-grams for this point of view. I'd rather not, but such is the risk you take when advocating a drastic solution - no matter which side of the question you advocate.

The most important thing in your story is in the raising of the question. When you've done so in such an entertaining and well written way, it becomes a pleasure to contemplate such complex ethical questions. Thank you so much!!

Blessings,

Beth

thank you dear

that was my goal, and I am glad you thought I succeeded. I wanted to make people think a bit, which is not something I usually shoot for...giggle.
 

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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Psychic Manslaughter

laika's picture

I say manslaughter and not psychic murder, because your young narrator didn't even realise he HAD these powers until he was suddenly using them on Tony. One thing I would probably do---while it's not particularly noble and doesn't address the central conflict of this story---is expend a lot of energy reminding myself of that. You've created a brilliant story here (one of the best telepathy stories I've read since Robert Silverberg's Dying Inside), leaving both him and us readers with a dilemna that doesn't seem to have a good solution, only various shades and degrees of awful.

In addition to the manslaughter defense, there's also the self-defense line of rationalization, and that Tony was an evil rapist puke and you've rid the world of him, prevented him from hurting and exploiting god-knows-how-many others. This would be harder to do though when you're a basically compassionate soul who can feel Tony's pain and fear so intimately through the psychic link.

It was indicated that letting Tony live inside a cage in Toni's mind would destroy them both in time, but if you went ahead and finished Tony off at least one of them would get to live. The Benthanite approach. But is Toni even a real person, who had some existance within Tony prior to the protagonist's manipulations, or the false creation of a dangerous telepath? Ethically, a lot would hinge on the answer to this, although he might never get to find out. From here I'd say to kill the rapist and save the trans-girl, and then figure out what you're going to do with your dangerous self from now on...

Are these powers too uncontrollable to risk allowing yourself to be around others? If that's true the life of a total hermit might be for you, up in a shack on some remote mountain. Though you might have to scam up some money from somebody rich enough that they wouldn't miss being telepathically hoodwinked out of enough to keep you alive...

But if you could learn to control them, well it's always seemed to me that a person who has committed a crime as big as squishing Tony out of existence would have to devote the remainder of his life to doing good deeds. And imagine the potential for good such powers might have. If you could avoid the coercive wrongness of imprinting alien thoughts into people's heads, but bring out their own best qualities, their hopes and strengths and kindness, you might have a real future as a healer. And maybe especially helping those who have been hurt by the Tonys of the world and have resorted to self-destructive means to cope, or getting abusers to face what makes them lash out and hurt others + find a better way to be.

Well I'll stop before this comment reaches novel-length, but your concluding question raises a lot of possibilities, and I can see the potential for a lot more story here...
~~hugs, Veronica

Adam as a healer

that might be an idea worth exploring. Of course, the more Adam used his power, the more likely someone would figure out he had it, and try and use it for their own purposes ....

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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What a choice...

I'd say leave the male Tony for the time being, and work on trying to 'nudge' both halves of the personality to some kind of mutually acceptable solution. The male Tony has accepted his shortcomings, that he only ruled by fear and didn't have many friends. If Adam can 'get through' to the female Toni and encourage her to take things slowly, not rushing into things, then there's a chance that the male Tony can learn to adapt. Since Adam inadvertently 'created' the female Toni, it's his responsibility to work with both of Ton*'s personas - reminding the female Toni that she has a passenger, and while it will be a lot more work, actually accepting her 'passenger' and working with him may be more beneficial in the long term than just going her own way.

After all, Tony's fighting skills could come in useful for self-defence purposes - while it may not be something the female Toni likes, if she's walking around at night and finds unwanted company, it could help preserve her... The male Tony may also have other talents / skills that the female Toni doesn't (yet) have - if she works with her 'passenger' rather than against him, the combined entity may be more than the sum of its parts.

Also, it would probably be worthwhile Adam attending the first psychiatrist's appointment. A little mental nudging to accept the extra presence, and if Adam can't 'get through' to Toni, there's a chance the professional may be able to.

Killing off the male Tony should be left as an absolute last resort if the female Toni refuses to accommodate her 'passenger', and the male Tony is unable / unwilling to accept the changes.

 

Bike Resources

There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

I like your idea

some kind of merger or compromise would be good, if achievable.

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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No killing involved

When a person, under hypnosis, thinks they're a chicken, does one have to kill a chicken to wake them up?

I think personality is a bit of a trap, a type stubborn habit we are encouraged to get into by social relationships in which people want to typecast another or demand predictability in a person's behaviour, or by one's own tendency to do the same to oneself.

Who we think we are, our "identity" is mostly an illusion. We can all learn new ways and change.

The issue here, I think, is one of "brainwashing", of altering the behaviour or beliefs of a person without their consent. This can certainly be morally dodgy - but it's very big business and widely accepted in its milder forms, and if a person changes their mind, then at what point does one measure their consent?

Somwhere between persuasion and lobotomy, there's a line to be drawn

In Tony's case, it seems the damage has been done. He needs psychotherapy now.

XX
A

psychotherapy

Would a doctor be able to help though, without understanding the true conflict? Would they be able to believe such a thing was possible? But it might be fun to be a fly on the wall during the sessions...

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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Key word

Your first sentence has a key word in it that doesn't apply to this story and most others of this kind. That word is thinks. The subject is acting the way they think a chicken acts, if they don't know what a chicken is, they can't act that way.

In this case there are two complete and separate identities, with different goals, dreams and hopes. Erasing one permanently ends it.

What I find actually more upsetting is the casual way Tony goes around adjusting other peoples minds without ever thinking of the consequences.

I think you meant Adam

And to give him some bit of a break, he was trying to fix his mistake by protecting Toni/Tony, feeling responsible for the situation. He felt by doing so, he would buy time to figure out how to solve the issue of identity. But you are right, every time he gave people a nudge, he at least risked causing serious harm.

"Let me succeed. If I cannot succeed let me be brave in the attempt." Pledge of the Special Olympics.

dorothycolleen

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Simple! = )

Extravagance's picture

Adam just needs to fuse the Tony and Toni personas into a single entity, then persuade the person to make a full MtF transition (and work out loads) and be a badass but nice MegaTomboy called Toni! :D

Catfolk Pride.PNG

yay for mega-Tomboys!

they make life more awesome!

Thanks for the comment sweetie.

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