Probably not. Punisher’s approach to those criminals who are actually trying to go legit has historically been to scare ’em straight by demonstrating (in graphic and gory detail) exactly what would happen in case of a relapse.
That said, I really doubt there’s a Punisher-figure in the world of PS238…the setting isn’t anywhere near dark enough for that.
Plus heroes like Revenent would probably lock em up before they last to long. The only reason Punisher hasn’t been done away with long before now in the Marvelverse is because he has plot armor.
You act like locking the Punisher up in prison would be a punishment. To quote a similar character from the Watchmen when he was locked up: “I’M not locked in here with YOU, YOU’RE locked in here with ME!”
And this the importance of black mail… and the greater importance of knowing how people react. It doesn’t matter if you have blackmail. I have blackmail that lets those people know about your little secret and they hate you a lot more than me! Have a nice Monday!
On the other hand, they would probably be equally upset to learn that the Headmaster has been meddling and it was that meddling that led to the need to have the headband removed.
No matter what is at stake, you do not, ever, allow yourself to be blackmailed.
There is no outcome of such a scenario in which you do not eventually lose. There is only one outcome in which the blackmailer does not win, and that is if you refuse to be blackmailed. Your only hope of salvaging anything from such a scenario is an attempt to take your attacker down with you.
Cranston isn’t doing that. He’s just not taking an active hand in the matter, by allowing Herschel to use his own discretion.
Now, Herschel may knuckle under as well, but that’s more likely to be a reasoned out decision than the emotionally based one associated with blackmail. Personally, I suspect he’d start his own version of Armor Wars to destroy the PA’s stolen tech, but we don’t have another issue to know.
The trouble with “never yield to threats” (the generalised form of “never allow yourself to be blackmailed”) is that sometimes the threat is worse than the consequences of yielding.
There are several options when faced with blackmail:
1) unconditional surrender – become the blackmailer’s buttmonkey for life
2) limited acquiescence – so long as you’re careful about not providing your blackmailer with more material to use against you, you can limit the damage (and, in the meantime, start accumulating evidence of the blackmail as insurance) – it’s a tough balancing act to pull off, but may be an acceptable option
3) establish some sort of counter-threat – if you can bring them down with you, then their negotiating position gets substantially weaker
4) Straight-up refusal and leave it up to them whether they carry out their threat
5) Defuse the threat by revealing your secret yourself
Not all of them are realistic options in every circumstance, but it’s more nuanced than buttmonkey or exposure.
Also depends on if the blackmail is time sensitive. If for example someone threatens to damage your academic standing before you can achieve a goal. The threat only lasts till you reach the goal.
Yeah, there’s a teensy problem for Cranston in applying that here — if he doesn’t at least appear to knuckle under, the entire Federal government is going to want his head on a plate. The people whose pet projects he scuttled with his telepathy likely won’t care that the alternative was death, because they can never be sure how much he really knows about them.
Look at it this way: The man who knows your deepest, darkest secrets made an agreement to eliminate his power to read minds. He just got it back. How far would you go to make sure he could never blackmail you again?
Anyone that dark would already have gone into cleanup mode since he already has the dirt. His telepathy is a potential vulnerability and was supposedly only going to be suppressed for a limited time. He got his powers back early because of the invasion. That he did not report this fact immediately and it had to come from an outside source indicates he is up to his old hiding his abilities schtick and untrustworthy.
Can the whole of Pretoria academy be made into cheese ?
It it full of kids so chocolate would work better.
It can’t repair itself from that.
At least two supers here can do it.
And here I thought I had a bad monday!
Nice hand tipping there Senator . . .
Simple enough. There should be a Punisher equivalent in that ‘verse. Just tip him in on “Headmaster” and…, watch the heads roll.
I’m not familiar with Punisher or his expies. Wouldn’t he also go after Cranston?
Probably not. Punisher’s approach to those criminals who are actually trying to go legit has historically been to scare ’em straight by demonstrating (in graphic and gory detail) exactly what would happen in case of a relapse.
That said, I really doubt there’s a Punisher-figure in the world of PS238…the setting isn’t anywhere near dark enough for that.
Plus heroes like Revenent would probably lock em up before they last to long. The only reason Punisher hasn’t been done away with long before now in the Marvelverse is because he has plot armor.
You act like locking the Punisher up in prison would be a punishment. To quote a similar character from the Watchmen when he was locked up: “I’M not locked in here with YOU, YOU’RE locked in here with ME!”
And this the importance of black mail… and the greater importance of knowing how people react. It doesn’t matter if you have blackmail. I have blackmail that lets those people know about your little secret and they hate you a lot more than me! Have a nice Monday!
“happy monday” ? HAPPY MONDAY!? that man is PURE evil!
Ok, that guy needs a visit from someone with a limited sense of humor…
Nice ‘coincidence’ that this got posted on a Monday, nice way to make the threat more visceral.
On the other hand, they would probably be equally upset to learn that the Headmaster has been meddling and it was that meddling that led to the need to have the headband removed.
Cranston is making a classic mistake here.
No matter what is at stake, you do not, ever, allow yourself to be blackmailed.
There is no outcome of such a scenario in which you do not eventually lose. There is only one outcome in which the blackmailer does not win, and that is if you refuse to be blackmailed. Your only hope of salvaging anything from such a scenario is an attempt to take your attacker down with you.
Cranston isn’t doing that. He’s just not taking an active hand in the matter, by allowing Herschel to use his own discretion.
Now, Herschel may knuckle under as well, but that’s more likely to be a reasoned out decision than the emotionally based one associated with blackmail. Personally, I suspect he’d start his own version of Armor Wars to destroy the PA’s stolen tech, but we don’t have another issue to know.
The trouble with “never yield to threats” (the generalised form of “never allow yourself to be blackmailed”) is that sometimes the threat is worse than the consequences of yielding.
There are several options when faced with blackmail:
1) unconditional surrender – become the blackmailer’s buttmonkey for life
2) limited acquiescence – so long as you’re careful about not providing your blackmailer with more material to use against you, you can limit the damage (and, in the meantime, start accumulating evidence of the blackmail as insurance) – it’s a tough balancing act to pull off, but may be an acceptable option
3) establish some sort of counter-threat – if you can bring them down with you, then their negotiating position gets substantially weaker
4) Straight-up refusal and leave it up to them whether they carry out their threat
5) Defuse the threat by revealing your secret yourself
Not all of them are realistic options in every circumstance, but it’s more nuanced than buttmonkey or exposure.
Also depends on if the blackmail is time sensitive. If for example someone threatens to damage your academic standing before you can achieve a goal. The threat only lasts till you reach the goal.
Yeah, there’s a teensy problem for Cranston in applying that here — if he doesn’t at least appear to knuckle under, the entire Federal government is going to want his head on a plate. The people whose pet projects he scuttled with his telepathy likely won’t care that the alternative was death, because they can never be sure how much he really knows about them.
Look at it this way: The man who knows your deepest, darkest secrets made an agreement to eliminate his power to read minds. He just got it back. How far would you go to make sure he could never blackmail you again?
Anyone that dark would already have gone into cleanup mode since he already has the dirt. His telepathy is a potential vulnerability and was supposedly only going to be suppressed for a limited time. He got his powers back early because of the invasion. That he did not report this fact immediately and it had to come from an outside source indicates he is up to his old hiding his abilities schtick and untrustworthy.
Well, the price of Toby removing the hex was that Cranston would have to give up redemption. . .
The under the school space station has been introduced although in my opinion under used. It is there for a story relevant reason.
Fun to be had 😉
Can the whole of Pretoria academy be made into cheese ?
It it full of kids so chocolate would work better.
It can’t repair itself from that.
At least two supers here can do it.