— Nobody ever lets you have fun anymore.

[Hard: Success] — The perspective on the doctor's right hand is impossible, like an Escher mezzotint. The ring and middle fingers cannot connect to the palm at the angle they're sticking out from it. The "baby", similarly, is anatomically incorrect; the large, hollow tube emerging from its right shoulder doesn't match any bone that a human has.

— Israel's own Kahan Commission also found that their Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon, was directly responsible for a failure to ensure the safety of civilians in Beirut. He refused to resign, and Prime Minister Menachem Begin similarly refused to fire him. After someone threw a grenade into a peace protest and blew up eleven people, Sharon then decided to remain within the cabinet, but step down as Defense Minister. 51.7% of Israelis polled thought that the Kahan Commission was unfair to Sharon.

— What was he doing in the cabinet without a title?

— Biding his time. Sharon was made Prime Minister of Israel in March of 2001.

[Challenging: Success] — In June of 1982, the Israeli Defense Forces marched into Lebanon in the hopes of forcing Palestine Liberation Organization members out of the area. The Lebanese Forces, an umbrella party made up of all of the right-wing militias in Lebanon, were engaging in a civil war with the Lebanese government, and agreed to partner up with the IDF. On September 16th of that same year, the Lebanese Forces armed themselves and walked into the neighborhood of Sabra, and then into the adjacent Shatila refugee camp. The IDF encircled the area, preventing the Palestinian and Shiite Lebanese civilians from escaping.

— Don't ignore that feeling in the bottom of your stomach. Hearing this is going to hurt you. Make sure you're ready.

::: spoiler [Endurance 12] Listen to the rest of the story. — An estimated 3,500 civilians were killed in the ensuing massacre. Janet Lee Stevens, an American journalist present in the area, wrote that she saw "...dead women in their houses with their skirts up to their waists and their legs spread apart; dozens of young men shot after being lined up against an alley wall; children with their throats slit, a pregnant woman with her stomach chopped open, her eyes still wide open, her blackened face silently screaming in horror; countless babies and toddlers who had been stabbed or ripped apart and who had been thrown into garbage piles."

— What happened after the massacre?

— Nothing. The UN held a vote to condemn it, which passed. Representatives and speakers for the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Ireland complained that it was unfair to call the actions of the IDF and Lebanese Forces a "genocide". Elie Hobeika, the Lebanese Forces leader accused of ordering the civilians to be killed, was later assassinated by an Israeli car bomb before he could testify as to who was responsible for what.

— There's nothing Israel can accuse Hamas of that they haven't already done themselves.

[Hard: Success] — War, and murder, and violence...they're all just so terrible. So, so many people are suffering, every single day. And worst of all are the ones who pay back violence with violence. You worry that it merely ensures an unending cycle of ever more violence. Just more and more people being hurt. It is a history of abject failure.

— "Haiti, Angola, South Africa, Cuba, Vietnam. I could genuinely go on."

— Oh-ho, this one knows much, Sire! Good, good! This may prove to be an interesting debate...

[Challenging 12] — Recall everything you know about the history of violent uprisings.

CHECK SUCCESS

— Delving deep within the recesses of your mind, poking around inside all of the grey little folds and corners, you manage to come across a pale, faded memory. Exerting a little concentration frees it from the gummy surface of your liquor-pickled brain, bringing it into focus: it's the sum total of all of the knowledge you have ever possessed about the history of violent uprisings.

— It's blank.

— No. Surely there has to be something in there.

— You're a moralist, detective. Why would you know anything about history?

— Ooh, yeah, baby! This right here is gonna make the last three days worth it. A fat syringe full of clear, medical-grade, Federally-backed estrogen. Aqueous estradiol valerate, to be precise.

— What happens when I inject myself with estrogen?

— Oh, no. No, no, no. Don't tell me you forgot what estrogen does. Estrogen. Remember? Uh...anticistamines? Feminephrine?

[Hard: Success] — You haven't forgotten. Generally speaking, patients undergoing hormone replacement treatments will experience a variety of physiological and mental changes. Drier skin, growth of breast tissue, weight redistribution, decrease of body hair growth, shifts in facial fat and musculature. Emotional changes vary wildly between individuals, but are often reported to be "intense".

— Bzzt. Wrong. Estrogen is like junk, baby. A calm, soothing, smooth-like-butter body high. A referral letter from two medical professionals and a couple of shed tears in a therapist's chair are the only things keeping every sucker on the street from turning into an E-junkie. Getting it is hard; stopping after you've had your first sweet shot is even harder. This is serious shit. And now it's all yours. Shoot it up!

— Bad news. The wömen are acting up again.

— Oh, no. What have they done this time?

— The same thing they always do: take something from the past that you love and hold dear and shit all over it. Shit all over what was once strong, and proud, and good. Shit all over your ancestry. Instead of King Bowser calling Kammy Koopa an "airhead" like he did in the original release, the new version of the game makes him call her a "lunkhead", instead. It's sickening.

— "Kim. The wömen censored Paper Mario."

— He lifts his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'm sure they did, Detective. Let's try to focus on the murder for now."

— Of course, but not every post has to be purely for the person it's replying to. Sometimes — sometimes — it's enough just to be for everyone else reading it.

— The New York Post, Vanity Fair, Euronews, The I, The Kyiv Independent, The Daily Star, The Sun, Radio Free Europe, Business Insider, International Business Times, and a handful of other non-English media outlets you've never heard of.

(SIGHT) — You can't make out much beyond colors and blob-like shapes bleeding into one another, like a drawing in a child's coloring book. Astigmatic lights sparkle around you.

[Trivial: Failure] — No, wait...this might be working. Everything that was once blurry is slowly, slowly starting to come in to view, as though someone is adjusting the focus dial on your retinas. If you cross your eyes just a bit, the images seem as though they fade into one another. It's beautiful. Your vision works without assistance. At the very least, this is how it ought to work. Keep the glasses off, and you'll eventually be healed.

— Are you sure? I don't think I can see anything.

— About 96% of the people who complete this Masterclass can see just fine. Didn't you pay attention to the testimonials? Maybe you're doing it wrong. The instructor did give you that sample week to follow. Daily application of Immortelle® oils, epsom salt and zendocrine foot baths, beef liver and organ capsules; if you quit before you try them, how can you say it didn't work?

— Beef liver and organ capsules naturally increase T-levels and SHBG. Good for curing soft men. This wöman might know what she's talking about...

New task: Finish your Masterclass homework

SORTIR DU PLACARD

Bonuses from the thought:

-1 Authority: Exposed

-1 Composure: Volatile

+1 Pain Threshold: Been through worse

+1 Psyche: All pieces in place

You once suggested going "as a girl" for Halloween and didn't understand why your father was so angry at the idea. Once you hit puberty, you began stuffing your shirt in secret to see what you would look like if you had breasts. You've penned an inordinate amount of terrible lesbian fanfiction, and always wondered why you never felt excluded when your fellow authors complained about men invading their women-only space. Your life could have been a lot easier if you'd realized this earlier — but it would have been far worse to never realize at all.

— It's called "The Secret". The basic idea is that there's a latent psychic energy that all humans tap in to in order to manifest reality. Most of this is done subconsciously, but a select few who truly believe in this supersensual spirit field can use its power to re-shape the world around them. It's as powerful as it is dangerous.

— Can I build communism with this "The Secret"?

— No. People only use it for small things, like hitting two fewer red lights on the commute home from work, or finding five reál in an old coat pocket.

[Medium: Success] — Aaaugh, this is pointless! Nobody's ever snorted an idea, or shot up positive thinking! Your interests are a lot more material than that, baby. The Frittte liquor shelf is just around the corner.