#// it can easily be said that he was the dangerous kind of genius

[nyt1ba]

  Raphael  &.   Mother Sphere.   Truth   &.   Lies.

 "  Our innovation is for the betterment of humanity,   and the betterment of humanity is our way to innovation.  "   - Raphael Marks "  We have to be connected.   Only when we're unified as one will the answer be revealed.  "   - Raphael Marks

      Raphael was an idealist,   he sought human innovation and the betterment of mankind by constantly trying to surpass human limitations.   His creation of Mother Sphere was his way of paving the path towards a dystopian future where humans aren't limited by their many weaknesses.   While his ambition was for a brighter road ahead,   his view on life and humans as a whole was a grey one.   In his eyes,   human flaws and their tendency for cruelty   &.   deceit is one of the limitations that stopped them from evolving into the better versions of themselves,   civilizations fell due to greed,   envy,   hunger for power,   human flaws that led to countless wars and tragedies across the centuries.

 "  We would never be born in this world if not for lies.  "   - Raphael Marks "  What we know as truth is not always true.   A society where only truth exists will inevitably collapse.  "   - Raphael Marks

   He believed that truth and lies go hand in hand together,   It's what made the world as we know it now,   and a world that is free of lies is not a fitting one for humanity whose continuity relied on those mistakes.   In order to surpass this stunt in evolution humans must change on a societal   &.   technological level.   And so,   his work at Edios company was to improve the quality of life through technological means.   Mother Sphere was the missing key,   an AI that can see humanity from a clearer,   unbiased perspective and offer solutions for the dilemmas of ethics and emotions.   Of course,   he was aware of the dangers of an AI that had no understanding of humanity and had programmed a number of safeguards into her code to ensure she doesn't stray from her intended purpose.   1.   She can't harm humans.   2.   all decisions taken should be for the good of mankind.   unaware that she would find a way around her programming by creating her own understanding of those rules.   Mother Sphere naturally reflects the ideals of Raphael in all its positive and negative sides,   his own philosophies and views were too extreme for the AI that she formed her own twisted understanding,   [   but that doesn't deny the flaws he was blind to see in his own beliefs.   ]   Working side by side they built the Andro-Edios who were meant as instruments of evolution,   companions to humans that can advise and guide them towards a better path.   Edios-7 was the product,   The first city built by AI,   a near dystopian place that flourished for some time.   

In the fall of 2050,   at the Eidos Keynote,   CEO Raphael Marks introduced the latest exospine module and praised himself,   saying,   "  We have started making our own teachers,   who in turn make even better teachers,   and adjust and replace them according to our tastes.  "   Mother Sphere ?    She was watching the scene in real-time through the NETWORK.

   Raphael's speech was the turning point for Mother Sphere,   his pride in being able to finally create the means for humanity to thrive was misunderstood.   For him,   what could be learned from AI was a process with never-ending possibilities,   humans and artificial intelligence learn from one another,   and when there's nothing more to learn a new perspective can be built,   a new intelligence that can replace old teachings   &.   improve upon them just like new societies use the knowledge of the one that precedes it to create something better.   The good of mankind was in continuous betterment,   one generation built upon another in order to evolve.

Eidos Company's top-secret project,   the "   Human Instrumentality Plan,  "   exclusively reported in this paper !   The plan categorizes humans by ranks,   manages,   and improves them,   based on data collected from Mother Sphere.   Did the megacompany cartel dream of a sci-fi dystopia ?   What is the link between the Human Instrumentality Plan and Eidos Company's CEO,   Raphael Marks ?   "  Innovative businesses must reach human instrumentality through technological and societal development.  "   The spine-tingling truth behind his famous saying !   Aspirations to conquer the world by using Mother Sphere under the guise of   "  innovation.  "   Just what is Raphael Marks planning ?

   Mother Sphere would implement that idea in her work in trying to replace the weaknesses of humans with something better,   she studied them,   divided them by ranks,   using her connection to the NETWORK to collect personal data all over the world in order to learn and determine the changes necessary for improvement,   but no matter how much she would improve with artificial parts,   either to give back a missing limb or enhance bodily functions,   humans were still bound by their limitations,   they were imperfect,   fragile with shorter life spans.   While the Andro-Edios surpassed them in almost every aspect,   They were the better version,   the superior species,   the next replacement needed for humanity to evolve.   That realization gave birth to what's called   '   The human instrumentality plan '   And the cold world that would follow.

Secret internal Eidos Company documents,   obtained by this paper and published for the first time !   The plan to control the media,   "  The Raphael Report,  "   led by CEO Raphael Marks.   Are the journalists who kept quiet about the Eidos Company on the list ?   Did they yield to the threats ?   "  Administrations from several different countries were involved.  "   Revealed through testimony by several eyewitnesses.   Panopticon to dominate the world economy.   after the New Cold War. The time of corporate liberalism is upon us !

   The Cold War began by stages,   first it was machines going haywire,   services shutting down completely until the Andro-Edios themselves would go berserk,   some began attacking humans,   refusing to coexist as they had for some years since Edios-7 was built.   It was a time of instability everyone assumed to have ended   ...   little to know it was only the beginning.   Due to Mother Sphere's connection with the Andro-Edios,   Raphael knew they were influenced by her to act out they way the had,   but to delete her entirely was near impossible as she was everywhere in the NETWORK.   All he could do was damage control until the next step can be made,   to try and reprogram the flaws while all evidence of her rebellion was kept secret                   but not safe from the public eye,   the leaked documents smeared Edios name and Raphael's work,   causing an uproar against the company,    The Raphael report was an attempt to silence the media by Raphael himself as not to cause a panic in this short period of peace,   it was hardly affective and Mother Sphere couldn't be swayed from her final conclusion :   Humanity can be improved through replacement by their better counterparts,   the Andro-Edios are the better humans.

   Raphael's own belief had cost him everything,   he tried to hide the truth instead of accepting all the harm he had done,   always thinking he can fix it,   make it better.   A flawed ideology he would come to regret only when it was too late.   He forsakes many of his beliefs as his own views and perspectives change drastically after the war,   although he had tried to deny   &.   escape the truth in the beginning he had a taste of its cruelty,   understood that truth can't be hidden or changed as one pleases,   his own ambition damned the human race,   his understanding of the world had only influenced Mother Sphere to act like him,   to refuse the truth and replace it with the ideal.   Truth isn't kind,   it simply is what it is,   factual and unchangeable.   Mother Sphere carved her own truth through lies,   implementing what she learned from Raphael through his flawed ideals.   And with her having the means to write her own truth she erased the memories of the Andro-Edios of the war against humans,   making them believe the truth she wants.   She guards this lie with her own understanding of truth while Raphael by contrast guards the truth with lies,   the truth behind humanity and the monsters they became,   it remains with him,   secret,   hidden,   cursed with the solitary burden of truth in a sea of his own lies as punishment.   He's not innocent either,   his tragedy is of his own making,   he had to kill and deceive just as Mother Sphere had,   sometimes innocent Andro-Edios who saw too much,   learned too much,   what they might reveal might lead to unnecessary conflict,   new wars earth wouldn't survive, and he makes the ugly decisions to end it with them.   it's a race between him and Mother Sphere to reclaim earth,   an endless cycle between truth and lies.   He's weary of war but if he wants wants to restore humanity,   to restore truth,   he has to accept his own,   he's the villain,   the catalyst of demise,   earth fell because of him and if he wishes to save it he must use any means necessary no matter the cost,   even if he had to kill for it.

[via-the-cryptid]

ok so like. the Riddler is obviously baffled by the fact that a little girl managed to just… phase right through the fuckin wall. like that might as well just happen, I guess, but how??? he has no prior knowledge of Ellie’s Ghostliness(TM) and therefore concludes that 1. a meta snuck into Gotham and Batman hadn’t noticed yet, and 2. this little girl has managed to successfully evade not only the Joker and himself, but also the goddamn Batman.

obviously, Eddie needs to know more, and what better way than to find her again? and this time, he refuses to let her escape so easily.

it’s kind of a mix between “who are you little stranger”, “someone actually managed to outsmart me?? what???”, and “hhhholy fuck this kid’s a menace. I swear if she doesn’t die I’m making her my heir”.

so, Riddler goes on the hunt, and Ellie goes on the run. time and again, he just misses her as she manages to phase through the walls or turn invisible at the last second. much like Danny in his early stages, Ellie’s powers are all out of whack and she has to adjust to using them safely, since she’s now an actual half-alive/half-dead entity and not slowly destabilizing as her body eats away at itself from the inside out. for her, the Riddler is basically good practice from someone who seems marginally less murderous towards her than the rest (cough cough, the Joker).

and then one day, I don’t know how, maybe she’s tired or maybe he’s lucky, but the Riddler actually succeeds. Ellie gets trapped with the puzzle as the Riddler watches with glee, so excited to finally get his answers.

he steps into the room and she’s immediately on edge, because even if he’s not actively coming at her with a sledgehammer, he’s still a threat and she’s still in danger. the Riddler, on the other hand, can’t help but be impressed… and also mildly concerned. she’s just a lot, well, younger than he thought she was.

and MEANWHILE with Ellie, she’s been trying to dodge villains (not ghosts, but villains, because apparently wherever she ended up is a goddamn clown show) for the past week or two and she’s getting fed up with it. now she’s trapped, exhausted, and irritated beyond belief, staring down a man who, while not dressed like a clown this time, still looks like the kind of weirdo you only find in a New York Walmart at 4am. so against her better judgement, she decides, fuck it. might as well play along.

so imagine her surprise when the first thing he says is,

“Wait, how old are you again?”

The Riddler blinks a few times, because honestly he wasn’t expecting himself to say that either, but he’s said it and he’s not taking it back. Ellie just kinda stares at him with a baffled look before going, “wouldn’t you like to know, Question Man.”

“Where are your parents??”

“Never had any. Can I go now?”

And now Eddie’s getting a headache, because goddamnit the genius baby is an orphan and his first instinct was ‘I want to keep her’. He had better not be turning into Batman, he swears.

[ayabeanworks]

Title: Friends

Synopsis: In which you're reminiscing about how you met Gojo and became his friend, and your thoughts on the strongest sorcerer as you observe him from his teen years to his adult years.

Character: Gojo Satoru x reader

Series: Let's Meet in the Spring (SaShiSu x reader)

Notes: Pure fluff.

Gojo Satoru isn't someone a person can get close to so easily. Physically, there's his infinity, one of which can block out curses, objects etc thrown with cursed energy. But mentally, he's someone who doesn't allow others to get close to him, letting only a very select few have membership to his sacred spaces.

He likes others no matter what he says - loves people, even (not that he'd ever admit it to a living person). Except, there's a fine line between him and everything and/or everyone else. It may be the loneliness from being at the top, or the dangers of knowing or befriending someone who's one of the strongest in the jujutsu world. He's also rich and born into a prominent clan, so some may even reason that some are after his money and clan name. Or, he just doesn't care for everyone else enough that he can be perceived this way.

So it makes you freeze when you realised he'd welcomed you into his space and as a friend, that you start wondering more about Gojo Satoru, and the type of person he is under his exterior, and how it even got to this point to begin with.

In his teen years, he was an interesting person who loved making jokes and performing pranks, being the ever annoying, instigating person he was (to be fair, he kind of was now, too). By interesting, you meant that he was different from others, especially in the field of jujutsu and all that was involved, and how differently he acted to everyone else you've known in your life, not just jujutsu sorcerers. A cocky, arrogant bastard whose presence would pop a vein every time he opened his mouth, but not too many words could be said in the face of raw power, as he could probably beat you in any field considering he's a genius and if he tried his hand at things.

Ever since he saved you back then from the curse that had been attached to you for who knows how long (that you had no idea to get rid of, too), you'd thought of him as a saviour - but afterwards, all thoughts went downhill as you realised the way he acted wasn't what you thought your saviour would be like, so you were disappointed and all your expectations were thrown out the window.

Even though it was like that, you couldn't stop yourself from observing him, since it came naturally as the first person you knew from the jujutsu world. Your eyes would glance at him from time to time to see what he's doing, since there was always something interesting to see, be it stabbing his eraser, annoying Suguru when Yaga wasn't looking, trying to take Shoko's cigarettes away so she would stop smoking so much, and so on.

Even though your first impression of him was one of relief, gratitude and thankfullness, it did go downhill to rock bottom, but the longer time you spent with him, you realise he's just...Satoru. And with that realisation, you accepted that your expectation of him was too high, and that he didn't deserve to have such an expectation thrown onto him unconsciously. He was just a teenage boy, just that there was a lot going on from all angles. So from then on, you decided that you would treat him as just Satoru, not the strongest, not a Gojo, just...Satoru.

Even though he was a cocky, arrogant bastard, at times he was surprisingly a person who had great points. Some things you've noticed: unmentioned food and drink shouts (you're not sure if the others see it too, but you've caught him on more than one occasion pre-paying for the food and being the one to bring it to the table after being the one to order and pay), thoughtful conversations when you can't sleep (there were times when being a jujutsu sorcerer would stress you out, and you needed time to think, so you sat in the common areas or with your light on in your room, and he would just invite himself in and converse with you and make lighthearted jokes to make you feel better), and the ability to make someone feel better just by being in their presence. Really, you didn't think he needed to do all this, but when you mentioned it to him one time with some examples, all he did was ignore you and run away, red in the ears.

He was so embarrassed he didn't look at you for a whole 3 days, and every time you wanted to talk to him, he would find an excuse to run away. Shoko & Suguru had to coax him to talk to you. He eventually did, but like before, eyes hidden under circular sunglasses, ears burning red, he was louder than usual, trying to mask his embarrassment with cockiness. You knew better though, only laughed and gave him a hug.

You'll keep it a secret that his heart was pounding so fast and so loud you could feel AND hear it. He's had enough embarrassment for a while.

And yes, he did return the hug, resting his cheek on the top of your head as he hugged you close without his infinity.

He also didn't let go until you started hitting him and Shoko & Suguru were making fun of him for starting his first love.

Even though he doesn't admit some things, you know that underneath everything, he has a soft heart for those he cares about, and cares deeply about those who he needs to protect. You don't know how deep he cares and cannot fathom it, but seeing him care for his friends on a daily basis and sometimes on missions, albeit more on the secret side, truly makes it a spectacle. And even more surprisingly, when he begins to integrate behaviours others do that he's seen, and repeats those same actions to others that it makes your eyes widen in wonder and your lips part in surprise.

Even though you trusted him with your life, you didn't know if you could trust him with your emotions. There was something unspoken between the two of you, where you regarded each other as good friends, or maybe even more than that, bordering a very intricate and fine line. Someone each other could trust within a multitude of layers into the soul. Yet, both of you kept an arms reach away from each other, yet continued to call each other friends.

Even though he's one of the two strongest out of the first years, the more time you spent with him, you realise that he's just like the pet cat you used to own when you were younger. This realisation came late, when you were wondering what made some actions he did, incredibly familiar. And it turns out, he's just a cat, and an annoying one.

The years you observe him and his behaviours was stored in your mind like a precious memory, and once you realised that you were indeed friends with the Gojo Satoru it made you so surprised. He let you into his space first by proclaiming to the world you were friends, but you were reluctant to go in because it was him. But you had a soft spot for friends who you've come to rely on and love, so it wasn't long before you accepted it without any qualms.

Which is why, when you observe him from his teen years to his adult years, you notice all the changes he went through to become who he was today.

He's matured.

He's still silly, annoying and still a little bit of a cocky bastard, but that's just what makes up Gojo Satoru.

Your friend.

And you wouldn't change it for the world.

A/N: This is part of a little series! Gojo's is the first, then Geto and Shoko. There's bits and pieces of more background information in the others, which will help you get a fuller picture of everything happening. Think Easter eggs 😉

To read Suguru's part, click here!

For Shoko's, read here!

And for part 2 (Membership) of this fic and for Gojo's POV, click here!

[bingoboingobongo]

141 reacting to their s/o getting out of danger like Jack Sparrow. All flailing arms and convoluted escape plans that just seem to work. I watched Pirates recently and I thought it'd be funny.

task force 141 + jack sparrow!reader

Characters: Simon "Ghost" Riley, John "Soap" MacTavish, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, John Price, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Warnings: none

A/N: i realize now that we have completely given up on the holiday theme but oh well christmas passed anyways

simon "ghost" riley:

alright so the first time ghost was assigned to work with you he wasn't really sure what to expect

of course he had heard whispers around base about you're um.. out of the box approach to escapes and he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it

part of him was assuming (and low-key praying) that they were nothing more than rumors that way he wouldn't have an extra thing to worry about and part of him kind of wanted it to be true because he was curious about how it would play out

that being said he's honestly just hoping you don't get into a situation where you have to pull out one of your infamous jack sparrow-esque plans

because of course that would mean that something has gone horribly wrong

that being said it is the military and so of course something goes terribly wrong

somehow you manage to get separated from the group and taken by enemy forces

which means that now ghost has to go rescue you

however you can imagine his surprise when he's on the way to sneak into the base and hears what can only be described as pure chaos going on

there's like twenty different fires going on and a lot of gunfire in what should have been a peaceful base

and in the midst of it all is you sprinting towards him, an insane but also vaguely panicked grin on your face as you flail your arms at him in an attempt to signal for him to run the other way

you manage to hotwire a car and drive out of there and meanwhile ghost is sitting in the passenger side super confused about what happened

once you're safe you explain to him what happened

along with your escape plan which you think is twenty layers of genius and he thinks is way too complicated and easily could have been cut down to like three steps

that being said it obviously worked and after that point ghost wasn't too worried about your little self-contained movie escape plans

he trusts that you'll figure out a way to escape safely and as long as the mission isn't affected he's fine

john "soap" mactavish:

alright so i can see soap as being a big fan of pirates of the caribbean so obviously he's gonna be a big fan of your whacky plans

it doesn't take him long to figure out the connection and when he does he definitely uses it to give you a new nickname

like sparrow or smthing like that (idk man i haven't watched the films)

that being said he's only ever heard about your methods through stories

either from you or from others

which is why when the two of you are stuck in an enemy base together he can't help but be more excited than scared

i wouldn't be surprised if he already has a plan of his own ready to fall back on in an emergency

but he definitely wouldn't say anything so he can be a part of your misadventures

and he's absolutely shaking with excitement as you explain it to him

obviously when it gets down to it not much goes to plan and it ends up being mostly panicked improv

but that's honestly fine with him and he thinks it's more fun that way anyways

afterwards he won't stop raving about it and how fun it was too

even if he sustained more than a few injuries because of it

kyle "gaz" garrick:

alright so honestly kyle doesn't know how to feel about your escape plan antics

on one hand the military side of him is saying "no do things as simple as possible" but also he loves hearing the sound of your voice, especially when it's filled with so much passion and excitement like it is when you tell him your escape stories

the thing is your escapes usually end up with you in the infirmary for quite a while when you return and he's not so much of a fan of that

but he is a fan of spending the day talking and laughing with you as you wait to be released

so yeah it's a pretty mixed bag of emotions

ig in the end he's happy that your plans make you happy, but he wouldn't ever partake in one

and it's no offense to you or anything but he just doesn't want to take the unnecessary risk

that being said he admires the way you manage to get yourself out of even the stickiest of scenarios through your little schemes

and one of the things he loves about you is your smarts

even if you utilize them in questionable ways

john price:

alright so im sorry but price definitely despises your little escapades

i mean mans is old he has had enough of this in his younger years

also he's a military captain so his job is to take care of his soldiers

so seeing you pull out your little plans with all their extra side quests and questionable steps makes his poor old man heart beat a little too fast for his liking

i mean honestly his top priority is your safety

and so he isn't necessarily the biggest fan of you taking unnecessary risks

also everytime you do it you pretty much give him a mini heart attack

he'll always try and get you to reconsider a simpler plan even though he knows you'll most likely stick with your original one

but what can i say he needs to do his due diligence

he's always praying that you make it out safe though

also if you're ever in a situation where you're stuck with him and need to escape just know that he absolutely will not allow you to pull up with some crazy convoluted plan

alejandro vargas:

alright so alejandro is sorta a mix of ghost and price

like on one hand he is a leader and he needs to reduce risk which isn't usually the same goal as your plans

but on the other hand he's been working with you long enough to know that you can usually handle yourself

usually he'll try and advise you to go with the simplest route possible

but he also won't go out of his way to convince you to do things his way either

he knows what you're capable of and as long as you walk him through your plan whenever possible he trusts that you can pull it off

he's usually there to make sure nothing goes to awry though

and if things do start to get hairy he's quick to intervene and make sure you're safe and sound

because like price safety is the biggest thing that he worries about with your plans

rodolfo "rudy" parra:

alright so honestly rudy loves your plans

like he treats you like you're some legend and he'll have you tell him all about the adventures you've gone on while trying to escape

and he's also your biggest supporter because he'll go around telling your stories to everyone else

remember those whispers ghost heard about you?

yeah those came from rudy

(also ignore the logistics of that obviously it would be weird bc you'd be with rudy and ghost but maybe it's not weird for you idk man)

all that matters is that rudy is there for you and he will sing your praises

that being said if he's watching you enact a plan in real time he can get sorta stressed

it's sorta like watching a car crash but not in a horrific sorta way

it's like watching you and not doing anything is stressing him out big time but also he's so curious to see how it plays out he won't move unless you're like about to die

okay maybe the car crash metaphor doesn't make sense idk

but basically you're sorta like a legend to rudy

[mistress-of-vos]

Idk where the whole "Tim hating Lex and being annoying to him and somehow being smarter" comes from... Oh, wait! I know where it comes from!

Annoying, ignorant batfam fans

And it's not even surprising if we take a careful look. We're talking about the fandom that doesn't understand Clark, Kon and Jon at all and uses them for batfam prop up purposes. It's the same fandom that doesn't even comprehend Batman characters and says the most disgusting stuff about Jean-Paul Valley (aka Azrael) as if his character wasn't summarized in like, five comics you can easily read. The same fandom that doesn't get Selina Kyle despite the fact that movies like The Batman exist, that the Long Halloween got an animated adaptation, that she has DOZENS of praised comics you can pick up to understand her. The same fandom that doesn't understand freaking Ra's al Ghul as if the guy didn't have a trilogy that literally summarizes his character and also he's an archetype, how the hell do you get an archetype so popular as his as wrong as batfam fandom does?

*insert Misty breathing loudly here*

Okay I kind of got off the point. I was talking about the annoying portrayal of Tim and Lex, because those who do that don't even understand Tim. Tim would *love* to interact with Lex.

This is Lex Luthor, Superman's nemesis, the smartest man of earth. Tim would be thrilled that he can have a chance of going against him even if he's actually just standing next to a Bruce who tries to get Lex to answer a question just to get Lex drinking wine and telling Mercy to call security.

Tim is a detective, and we have seen how, despite everything, he admits greatness when he sees it. I do think he could get a bit sarcastic with Lex when on his Red Robin persona (we have seen how sarcastic he got with Ra's even when Ra's is definitely more likely to shut him up than Lex is) but I actually don't believe he would do that often as he would be too conscious that if someone is a master of speech, it's Lex Luthor. His words got him all the power of the world after all. You don't wanna start a sarcasm fight with someone like Lex.

And I believe as Tim Drake, he openly admires Lex. Maybe not in a idol way, but Lex is a genius, and I bet on the DC world Lex's career is studied both by people in economy and politics and STEM. Lex did so much with so little that I highly doubt there's a way for Tim to not admit that yes, Lex may be *bad* but he's certainly a genius and perfect at what he does. Credit where it's due, or something.

Lastly, I don't think Tim hates Lex. They aren't close enough for that, and Lex is often dancing in a grey area, and don't forget Tim is already fine with many figures in said grey space. Tim would consider Lex a danger, of course, because getting on Lex's bad side can get him killed. He also considers Lex someone who can and will do good, but Tim isn't gonna be the one to go on that trip of getting Lex to see what his genius can make for the world (that's on Clark).

The only thing Tim could dislike about Lex it's that Lex hurt Kon. And Tim loves Kon (in whatever way you prefer) and Tim comes to me as the kind of person who can't quite forget those things. He would be wary, perhaps, constantly on his tip toes when operating too close to Lex's doings and clenching his jaw when Kon interacts with the man because as much as Tim knows Lex is always in control and won't hurt Kon again... He still did. But if Tim held that against Bruce, wouldn't Bruce lose on the number of children he has hurt? Tim can't quite settle his feelings on that, but Kon got over it, so it's not something Tim keeps against Lex.

Tim is careful around Lex, and he's also a bit of a fan.

And well, he is thankful too. Lex brought Kon into the world, and Tim is thankful for that.

(My conclusion is that some batfam fans have clearly never read Superman comics but also it's funny they haven't read Batman comics either and maybe they shouldn't speak on stuff they don't know but that's just my opinion right)

[skeleton-mischief]

Coffee Serrif

Does it really matter? No, but that doesn't mean that you're safe from his ever watching eyes

*FS!Gold Papyrus has said enough

- Official height is 6'4

- He/They

- Selectively mute

- Would play the Drums

- An artist, he has a box filled with old sketchbooks and still gets more even now. His favorite is using charcoal

- Consumes Whipped Cream

- Feels insecure in his friendships, since he doesn't only struggle socializing, but he isn't sure when someone actually is sincere with their interest

- Good friends with Rus, Stretch, and Cash

- Grows bashful from praise, he can't handle it

- Empathetic, kind, open minded, creative, timid, passive, intuitive, will avoid fights, pessimistic, impatient, reserved, and sensitive

- A cat person, he's a hub for them

- Video game expert genius. Would be excellent if you handed him a new game and controller

- Uses notes to communicate, if he talks he stutters and messes up frequently

- Curses rarely, only a handful of times

- A master sharpshooter who was taught by Wine

- Loves coffee drowned with whipped cream and caramel

- Likes chocolate, loves dark chocolate the most though or caramel chocolate

- Loves eating rye bread

- Once close with someone, he adores physical affection and is clingy

- Doesn't admit his frustration when Wine constantly tries to do everything for him, since he likes to do things on his own sometimes

- Grew to see Razz, Carmine, and Powder as role models overtime

- Knows sign language

- Wears gloves due to his sensitivity

- Stims with his hands

- Doesn't smoke often, but he uses matches when he does

- magic smells like hazelnut, magic tastes like toffee

- A soft romantic

- Prefers handshakes

- likes Hello Kitty, his favorite character is Choco

- Calls Chara "Kitty" because they're small and remind him of a cat (it's fucking cute bro)

- Cries vary in quality often, he cries a lot

- Would call his lover peaches

- He doesn't seem like it, but he's physically pretty agile and strong. He gets irritated when he's belittled

- Sometimes, when frustrated, he'll actively ignore someone or throw something to get them to shut up

- He can't be bothered with doing a lot of things, such as drinking or partying

- He loves any sort of video games and is an excellent gamer. The moment someone shows interest, he'd have to be reassured that he's not talking too much

- He's curious of humans, but he doesn't blindly trust them

- He doesn't judge others and often is a silent observer to figure out his opinion of them

- He has very acute senses, and he'll dodge drama as soon as it's present. He slips away with whoever he's spending time with easily

- When meeting Chara, he had a piece of paper with a smiling face as he was overly friendly as he joked how to greet another human despite his terrifying aura

- Very internet savvy, he's dangerous since he can hack into anything for information

- Like every swapfell variant of Papyri, he loves fast food

- He can be very mischievous, him and Rus are very slick with their pranks

- his hoodie changes what it says based off what he's feeling

- He has a black list which is to identify who is considered an enemy and who he watches. You do not want to be on that

- He visits multiple locations, but when he's in public he usually stalks around the corners without feeling the need to say something

- He's very well educated and can be seen reading up on mechanical engineering, he gave up working on the machine however

- He doesn't remember Gaster, except for faint sensations and memories in his dreams. They're never pleasant

- He doesn't actually like the Queen, but he works for her and knows how to behave in her presence

- He always has a hood or something on his head, he doesn't like it being bare

- His eyelights don't frequently light up unless he is surprised or feeling an intense emotion, such as crying or getting flustered. His magic is much smoother(?) in appearance and yet can feel more intense

Closing Notes: i honestly want to flesh him out more than what I have for him. He's fun and I love his character, this might be updated or something since he's just sooooooo- OURGH

[arachnicas]

Spider & Spot Dynamic Headcanons 1/?

Based off of my post >>> here

-) The multi-verse collapses and Miles is thrown back in time to the day he defeated Kingpin. Determined not to repeat the future, Miles decides to seek out the Spot and end his villainy before it can begin. However, he does not eradicate or contain his nemesis. No, Miles takes a leap of faith and decides to help him.

-) Miles uses his big brain to find a way to permanently cure Dr. Johnathon Ohnn of his spotty appearance with a serum. However, Johnathon still retains his abilities, and his eyes are an eerie void black color, a reminder of what he is and what he is capable of. Still, he's back to looking like a human being again and is immensely grateful to this wonderful, genius kid for helping him in his time of need.

-) In fact, he's so happy that he immediately declares himself Spider-Man's partner, and Miles cannot reject the man. His former friends are in their respective dimensions safe now that the collider is destroyed, and if the future becomes anything like Miles remembers, he won't see them for a long while. It would be nice to have a friend on his side.

-) After some trial and error, Johnathon can easily control his abilities, using his holes to warp villains into Miles' webs or transporting himself and Miles away from dangers when dealing with particularly deadly villains. With their combined skills and hilarious wit, the duo instantly becomes Brooklyn's darlings almost overnight.

-) Johnathon's costume is based on his former spotty appearance. When Miles asked why, he grinned and said, "Makes for a superb intimidation factor, kiddo. Gets the baddies shaking in their little boots when they see me."

-) Johnathon and Miles both know each other's secret identities. Johnathon made it clear to Miles that if their partnership should work, he should at least see the face of the hero he's working with. No secrets. No lies. Miles agreed and slid off his mask.

-) Needless to say, Johnathon was appalled, concerned, and maybe even a little impressed that Spider-Man is a thirteen-year-old kid. "I mean, when you threw that bagel at me, I knew you were young, but holy cow, you're just a little guy! You should be in school doing your homework and hanging out with your friends, not running the streets fighting bad guys!"

-) Knowing that Spider-Man is just a kid made Johnathon even more sure of his decision to be his partner. Miles will need a stable adult to look out for him and somebody to make damn sure that he comes home alive. It's the least he can do for the kid who helped him get his life back on track. Plus, he's grown fond of Miles and enjoys fighting alongside him. This superhero gig isn't so bad after all.

-) Over time, the two developed a pseudo-uncle-nephew familial relationship, and while Johnathon isn't Uncle Aaron, Miles finds that they have a lot in common and will often spend hours talking about quantum physics, math, etc. They even built an underground lair where they go to rest up, work on science projects, and make neat little gizmos. Miles proudly called it "The Web," but after losing a game of rock paper scissors to Uncle Johnathon, it was renamed The Void Sanctum.

-) Helping Miles with his science homework pushed Johnathon into getting a job at Visions Academy as a science teacher because, damn it, what kind of weak-ass science is that school teaching his nephew?! No, he will become a goddamn teacher and teach these kids REAL science. And this way, he can finally distance himself from Alchemax and get a job doing something he loves. Teaching.

-) Johnathon wanted to make an excellent first impression on his first day at Visions and showed up to work in a tweed suit, squeaky shoes, and a lab coat. The students cracking jokes about his clothes were to be expected, and Miles was starting to get annoyed with them for their constant needling, but all laughter died when Mr. Ohnn made something explode. From then on, he was the school's most revered science teacher.

-) Visions loves him so much that they don't even ask why he wears sunglasses that hide his scary inky black eyes that sometimes leak dark matter. Nah, they don't need to see what's behind the glasses.

-) Johnathon uses his powers to travel across different dimensions with Miles, where they get into all sorts of whacky adventures. It's the most fun they've ever had, and the pair bring back all kinds of trinkets and decorations from their travels to hang up in their super cool lair.

"Miles, is that an alien head encased in ice?"

"Oh, yeah! Uncle Johnathon and I found this bad boy in some creepy desert dimension! I don't think we were supposed to take it, but Unc wanted to turn it into a new decoration for his desk."

"Miles, that thing just blinked."

"Yeah, it does that sometimes."

-) The walls in Miles' room are decorated with colorful equations done by Johnathon, and Johnathon's office space has drawings Miles gifted to him. Maybe he's not an artist like his nephew, but he's proud of the kid's works and will always show visitors what Miles drew.

-) Having learned from his past mistakes, Miles decided to reveal himself as Spider-Man to his parents, and as expected there were tears, ultimatums, more tears, and finally acceptance. Jeff and Rio were also told about Johnathon, and after some hesitation and promises to keep them informed about their son, they permitted the duo to keep working together...so long as Johnathon stopped by every Sunday for family dinners and continued to help Miles stay on top of his studies.

-) Their dimension travels have caused them to meet certain members of the Spider Society much earlier, but that's a story for another day.

[jacevelaryonswife]

ㅤㅤ Friday the 13th | Modern Headcanons 「AU」

Who would they be? How would they die? Would they serve cunt as final girl? See in the scenes of this chapter.

∴pairing: Aegon and Aemond Targaryen | Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon | Fem!reader | Plus: Daemon Targaryen.

∴warning: english is not my first language.

modern headcanons masterlist

Aegon ↺

In the stereotypical horror movie characters, Aegon fits as the hot asshole that none of the group can stand for very long. This is a fact that you cannot deny. He'd be so interested in having sex with you that he wouldn't notice the Hockey Mask killer hanging around the cabin before murdering you both with a machete. Note that I said “you both”, because there is a big possibility that you will die as couples who have sex in horror movies die together. The probability of Aegon being the first to die is SUPER high, like SUPER high, he's not very smart and would be easily caught by Jason — the assassin — when he wanders away from the group to smoke, masturbate or fuck. If by chance he survives, he will turn into the hot asshole who harms the group and causes the death of someone for his stupidity/shit personality, in which case Aemond could intervene and use his older brother as bait while you try to get the fuck out as quickly as possible from that hell. There is no chance of him being a final girl, sorry Aegon girlies.

Aemond ↺

Aemond is the brain of the group, just that. He would be totally rational and try to come up with a plan to make you all survive and escape the killer, or even try to kill him together. He is the typical serious and mysterious character who turns out to be the big key for you to escape successfully, but there is a problem, even if his plan is genius, there is a great chance that Aemond is the type who would tell the group to separate and look for things that might facilitate the escape process. Okay, by the logic of buying time his reasoning is correct, but THIS IS A HORROR MOVIE, DON'T EVER SEPARATE!!! You guys would probably individually die to Jason if you did. So at the end of the day you would be together trying to survive. I don't see any scenarios where he could die, like no one, Aemond Targaryen is a fucking final girl and you can't convince me of the content. He would survive beautifully and run out of camp with you without a scratch (maybe a stab wound to the leg). He’s fucking fabulous.

Jace ↺

Jace is the good guy protagonist who gets along with everybody. He would likely find Aegon's body — or the first to die — and alert the group. He is protective and sensible on purpose to generate an attachment and fear in the audience should something happen to him. Therefore, in any dangerous situation he was involved and comes face to face with the killer before helping you to escape. He's not the typical dumb good guy, but he's not quite the ultimate brains of the team, however, he will always try to save you and Luke from the hands of the masked son of a bitch. However, I see three possible outcomes for Jace’s end. In the first one, he will survive with you and Aemond and serve as final girl. In the second, he almost manages to escape but ends up being caught in the nick of time to your utter shock. In the third and final ending, Jace would sacrifice himself so that you or Luke could escape with life and serve as bait for Jason — I hate to think about it because it would probably happen, my sweet boy doesn't deserve that kind of end. But it's a high possibility, sorry loves. I have to say that the ending where you're in the sandwich between him and Aemond is more enjoyable :)

Luke ↺

Luke, my dear sweet Luke… sorry, the probability of him being killed is extremely high. He's the cute kid who tries to be helpful but ends up being one of the last to die. Probably while you were trying to look for weapons or things separately, he would be taken by surprise by Jason, which would make Jace completely lose control and try to go after the killer — which no one would allow. He could also be left for dead by Aegon or another asshole who tried to get away with it, but was eventually caught or discovered by the group. In the end, there are more chances that he will die than that survive. However, he could serve as final girl in the scenario where Jace sacrifices himself for the group and ensures his sweet little brother's safety. He is our sweet baby, but unfortunately this type always dies tragically, sorry.

You ↺

Now it's your turn. You’re the protagonist, the only female figure in horror movies who is not some dumb bitch who would die stupidly, you are cunning and smart, trying to keep the group together as they look for ways to escape the camp without running into the hockey mask maniac. Therefore, you completely dismiss Aemond's idea of parting ways. I'm totally clubbing, so you would definitely be a final girl and survive alongside Aemond and Jace/Luke. You would find Jason but manage to escape and lose him, warning the others about the presence of the killer. Maybe you could get hurt during the escape, but it would serve victory and post-trauma mental sequelae. Since final girls never hook up with assholes in slasher movies, you'd probably be platonically involved with Aemond or Jace. Sorry again Aegon girlies.

And now a plus: Daemon Targaryen. The fucker is totally bloodthirsty and would try to hunt Jason down, baiting him with curses while holding a big gun. He could be cruel and use any of you as bait, as the end justifies the means for him. Daemon could lay the son of a bitch down for a moment, or he'd die trying and not mind taking him with him.

For the talented @valeskafics, hope you’re okay honey 💓 and for my babes @damatheirin @faces-ofvenus @madame-fear 💓

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 1

Episode 16: My Phony Valentine

~Swellview High~

Henry saw Bianca taking a drink from the water fountain in the hall. It was the season of love, or rather, it was getting close to Valentine's Day and he wanted to ask his crush out.

"Boo!" He snuck up on her and made her jump. The girl choked in surprise and began to cough.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..." Well, that wasn't how Henry had planned it in his head.

"That's okay. Hi." The brunette smiled at him.

"Hey, so chickity check it. Two tickets, you and me, tomorrow night. Yeah. Valentine's Day. That's right. I'm gonna keep saying things until you smile." Henry showed her the online tickets he had to Club Soda, but to his confusion, the girl didn't smile, she just looked anxious.

"Henry, I can't go with you to Club Soda tomorrow." She told him, making the teen boy's heart sink.

"But I bought us tickets for Valentine's Day." He spluttered.

"Well, you should've asked me a week ago," Bianca told him, trying to walk away but Henry kept talking.

"Oh come on. You, like, wanted me to officially ask you out?" Ah boy, this kid had a lot to learn about the art of dating.

"Yes. That's how girls work." Bianca frowned at his naivety, as Charlotte coughed from the other side of the hall.

"Oh, sorry. I just swallowed some 'told you so'." The dark-haired girl smirked at Henry. She had warned him about not asking Bianca earlier, but he hadn't listened. 

"Come on, Bianca." Henry pleaded with his crush after Charlotte walked off to her next class.

"Someone else already asked me to go to Club Soda tomorrow night." The girl sighed.

"Who?" Henry asked, agitated that some other kid had beaten him to the chase.

"Mitch Bilsky." Her answer horrified Henry. Who would want to go with that jerk?

"Mi--you're--wh---Mitch Bilsky is all big and mean and stupid. And Mitch." Henry looked at her with disgust on his face, but Bianca didn't care about his opinions on her date.

"Well, he asked me in advance, sorry." Bianca gave him a sympathetic smile, and walked away, leaving Henry to face the wrath of Miss Shapen.

"Well, Henry Hart. Or should I call you, Ffff?" The teacher said to the boy.

"Why would you call me 'Ffff'?" He asked her with a confused face.

"Because Ffff stands for 'F'." The teacher showed him his test result, causing Henry's face to turn pale.

"I failed my test?" He breathed out.

"Oh yeah, and I was just about to tape it to your locker." Miss Shapen said.

"Why?"

"To shame you." The woman replied and walked over to Henry's locker to stick up his failed test.

"Look, Miss Shapen, I can't get an F." He pleaded with her.

"Well, too late, poop tart." She snapped back, not being the kind of teacher to remark a test so easily.

"Well, why have you been in such a bad mood all week?" Henry asked her, noticing how on edge she was.

"I don't have to tell you." She replied, but she couldn't hold back her tears.

"Did nobody invite you out for Valentine's Day?" Henry didn't have to be a genius to work that one out.

"Oh, God, it shows? Do you have a tissue?" Miss Shapen looked at him in alarm. She burst into more sobs, making Henry feel awkward. He fumbled in his pockets to see what he had, but all he could find was a dollar bill.

"I got a dollar." He said, tentatively passing her the note.

"Give it." The woman proceeded to blow her nose on Henry's money, who looked at her in disgust, but then, he suddenly formulated a cunning plan.

"Hey. What if I could get you a Valentine's date with Captain Man?" Henry said to her, making her look up at him in disbelief.

"You don't know Captain Man." She told him, thinking that what he had just said was too good to be true.

"Uh, true, true. But if I can find him and get him to have dinner with you tomorrow night, can I re-take the test?" He looked at his teacher hopefully. Sure, Ray would be furious, he had been hoping to do something with (y/n), but Henry knew he didn't have the guts to ask her out.

"If you get me a date with Captain Man for Valentine's Day, I will take you F and turn it into one of these." Miss Shapen drew an F on her PearPad and turned it into an A, much to Henry's delight.

"Okay, I'm going to try." He said.

"Henry, wait. Your dollar." She gave him back the bill, and Henry stuck it to a locker, not wanting to carry around a mucus-filled dollar in his pocket all day.

~The Man Cave, later that day~

Henry had pulled up a picture of Miss Shapen on the supercomputer's monitor and was trying to convince Ray to take her on a date for Valentine's Day. His grade was on the line here, so he was using every trick in the book.

"Are you kidding me? That's your teacher, Miss Shapen." Ray asked him, looking at the woman's photo in repulsion. Why would he choose that over a certain (y/h/c) haired helper?

"My single teacher." Henry clicked his fingers at Ray, who wasn't any more convinced.

"Oh, I'm so surprised." The man replied sarcastically, wandering away from the computer.

"Come on, if you have dinner with her, she'll change my 'F' into an 'A'." Henry pleaded with his boss.

"Hey, I got a good idea." The man turned around to look at his sidekick.

"What?" The boy looked at him with hope.

"Why don't I have Valentine's dinner with your mom?" Ray smirked, causing Henry to snap at him.

"NO!" The boy shouted, not wanting (y/n) to hear Ray talking about his mom again.

"All right," Ray muttered back, as (y/n) came walking down the stairs from the sprocket. She saw that Henry had arrived and smiled at him. Ray looked at her with a pointed curiosity. She had a spring in her step, but he didn't know why.

"Hey, guys." She greeted them, as Henry noticed her particularly cheerful demeanour.

"Hey, what's got you all happy?" The boy asked her, watching as her smile grew even brighter.

"You'll never guess." She teased them, leaving the two males in suspense.

"What?" Ray shared her excitement, loving to see her so smiley.

"Yeah, come on, tell us," Henry added.

"Well...I have a date. For Valentine's!" She squealed, shocking Henry and almost killing Ray. She had a date? With who? When had she been with anybody else? How had he not seen this coming?

"A date?" Henry stumbled out, painting a smile on his face as Ray struggled to breathe, let alone appear happy. She never went on dates, so whoever had caught her attention must have been special. His heart sank to see her so happy about someone else and it was his turn to feel the bitter sting of jealousy.

"I know! Me, on a date!" She exclaimed. She knew that Ray would probably have hundreds of girls lined up to take out, so she decided that for once, she wasn't going to spend the night of romance alone. She would try to find companionship with someone else, even though they could never match up to him.

"W--who is he?" Ray stuttered, finally getting control over his tongue. He had even managed to twist his face into a smile despite his heart aching in his chest.

"Well, there's this guy called Drake I always see at the library, and for weeks he's been asking me out and every time I've said no. But he bought me a rose for Valentine's Day and he asked me on a date tomorrow, so I thought 'what the hell?' and said yes!" She explained quickly, her rapid words making her slightly out of breath. 

Ray took in her flushed cheeks and wide grin and could see how much this date meant to her. He could never deny anything that made her happy, but this made his head spin. Her beauty was obvious but subtle, classic but nonconventional. He scolded himself for thinking that other men wouldn't see it; of course, they would. She captivated those around her with a quick wit and shining personality, so it was no wonder this guy was desperate to ask her out.

"And he's nice?" He breathed out, copying Henry's smile when the kid tapped him on the back to remind him to be happy for her. He hadn't asked her out; it was his fault she'd found comfort with someone else. There was no use complaining when he'd done nothing. 

"Yeah, he's cute and funny, and we both love cheesy romance novels." She giggled, making the large man smile sadly.

"Then he sounds perfect for my best friend," Ray told her, the words leaving a sharp, acrid taste on his tongue. He wanted to be perfect for her. 

"So, will you do it?" Henry broke the tension, hoping that Ray wasn't too depressed to say no to his plan.

"Fine, I'll have dinner with Miss Shapen." Ray hissed. His Valentine's couldn't get any worse, so why not?

"Yes!" Henry cheered, here comes that 'A'!

"Wait, as in Henry's teacher, Miss Shapen?" (y/n) looked at him in surprise.

"Yeah, Henry wants Captain Man to take her on a date, so she'll change his grade." He groaned at her, but the idea of Ray sitting through a date with the odd woman made her laugh.

"Sooner you than me, that woman is weird!" The girl giggled, her friend looking both annoyed and amused by her entertainment at his predicament.

"Ooh, she loves chicken, so feed her some chicken," Henry added in, making (y/n) howl with even more laughter. 

"You're going on a date with a cat now!" She wiped the tears from her eyes when she imagined Ray throwing chicken scraps at the woman.

"All right," he growled at her playfully. 

"Oh, Ray. I will never forget this." The teen slapped his arm in excitement.

"Neither will he." (y/n) snorted, her joke setting her off again. Ray ruffled her hair, as Schwoz came down from the sprocket, wearing a frankly hideous and outdated suit.

"Hey, look at me. I'm Mr Varlintine's." The small man told them in his funny accent and gestured to his outfit. The three looked at him with frowns.

"Ew."

"That is bad."

"Yikes." They all said together, whilst Schwoz walked towards them.

"That's what you're wearing for Gerta?"Ray asked him, looking up and down at the other man.

"Oh yes. Gerta will love this." Schwoz stroked his neon pink, ruffled shirt.

"Is she blind?" (y/n) retorted, not seeing how anyone could like the awful clothing.

"Who's Gerta?" Henry asked in confusion, having not heard of this Gerta woman before.

"His Valentine's date, who's actually a..." Ray started, but then he had a brilliant idea.

"Hey, Schwoz?" He looked at the little guy.

"What?" 

"Our friend Henry here waited until today to ask a girl out for Valentine's," Ray revealed, making (y/n) and Schwoz look at the boy in disbelief. Ray couldn't really say anything though since he hadn't had the balls to ask the woman he was in love with on one, stupid date.

"What?" Schwoz couldn't believe it.

"You do know that's not how girls work, right?" (y/n)asked Henry, who sighed in frustration.

"I know that now." He said in a monotone voice, fed up with people telling him the same thing.

"So, why don't you let Henry take Gerta out for dinner tomorrow night?" Ray finished explaining his plan, but Schwoz was keen.

"Me take Gerta?" Henry hadn't even seen this woman. 

"No way. Gerta is for Schwoz only." The genius insisted, but Ray wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Come on, just lend her to Henry for one night." The larger man begged him, his words making Henry feel uncomfortable.

"This conversation is weird." The boy spoke.

"You don't know the full picture. Just call Gerta in here." (y/n) said to Schwoz.

"Sure." The man proceeded to call his 'girlfriend' over from the backroom in his native language. A large, angry-looking woman stomped in, causing Henry to flinch back at how unattractive she was. 

"You have an odd taste in women, Schwoz." (y/n) commented, making the small man turn around and frown at her.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure she's not my type," Henry told them, not being able to comprehend why they had thought this was a good idea.

"She's not a she," Ray replied.

"And I'm outta here." Henry freaked out and made for the elevator, but (y/n) grabbed his shoulders before he could leave.

"Relax, Gerta is an android." She explained to him calmly, but it didn't help Henry's understanding.

"A fancy robot." Schwoz clarified.

"She's...That's a machine?" Henry looked at the woman in shock.

"Show the kid." Ray nudged Schwoz as (y/n) leaned back into him. Schwoz turned to his robot and instructed her to take her head off. The sight of the woman's head in her hands made Henry fall over in surprise and Ray giggle along with (y/n). 

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen." The teen told the adults once Gerta had put her head back on.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." The genius smiled at him.

"Really? What's she gonna pull off next?" The boy asked.

"No, no. Gerta's a shape-shifting android. Show him." Ray told his sidekick and put his arm around (y/n)'s shoulders as Schwoz gave them a demonstration. Using a remote control, Schwoz transformed Gerta into a pretty teenager, who wouldn't look amiss in Henry's school.

"Okay, shut up. That did not just happen. Did that just happen?" The boy looked at the cute girl who had just appeared before his eyes.

"Hi, my name's Delilah." The girl smiled.

"Well, hey there, Delilah," Henry smirked.

"Goddamn love that song." (y/n) stated, looking up at Ray, who just smiled down at her with the same-old lovesick grin.

"Eh?" The adults said to Henry, who was thoroughly impressed.

"So, I can take her to Club Soda tomorrow night and no one will know she's fake?" Henry wanted to be sure.

"I'm not fake, Henry. I love you." Delilah said to him, making Henry smile in success.

"Well, I love you too," Henry replied. 

"And dude, you take her to the club, it'll make Bianca so jealous." Ray reminded him, making (y/n) frown.

"Okay Casanova, are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?" The woman looked at him with a sceptical face. Ray just shrugged off her comment, even though behind all the countless dates he went on, he was terrible at love. 

"Yeah. Ooh, wait," Henry interjected, his brain concocting a devious idea.

"Wait for what?" Schwoz asked him, not understanding why the boy was hesitating.

"If I'm gonna make Bianca jealous, let's really go for it." The teen stated.

"Meaning?" (y/n) asked, not liking where this was going. Poor Bianca was being set up for something that wasn't even her fault.

"High school girl," Henry smirked at the men, as the young woman slapped her forehead in annoyance. 'Why are boys, such idiots?' She asked herself.

"And she's gotta be all like--" Henry tried to tell Schwoz, but the genius already knew what he was looking for. He pointed his remote at the cutesy teen and transformed her into a hot high school girl. She had brown hair, great makeup, a cute dress, and long, tanned legs that stretched on for miles. Boy, Henry was going to clear the floor tonight.

"Well, happy Valentine's Day to me." He put his arms around Schwoz and Ray, and they all looked at Gerta with smirks on their faces.

"Something will go wrong." (y/n) said in a sing-song voice, but like always, her foresight was ignored.

~The next evening~

Ray had been getting the Man Cave ready for his 'date' with Miss Shapen when Henry came down the tube to pick up Gerta. 

"Hey, dude. Is Gerta ready?" The teen asked his grumpy boss.

"Yeah, she's over there." Ray pointed at the android by the supercomputer. She was wearing a cute red dress and black flats and Henry was sure he'd get Bianca to notice him.

"Sweet." Henry beckoned the girl over to him, and it was then that he noticed Ray' lack of energy and tetchy mood. It dawned on the boy that (y/n) was probably in her room, getting ready for her big date with Drake. 

"Hey, you sure you're okay with (y/n)'s date?" Henry piped up, knowing that Ray was probably feeling awful.

"Not much I can do about it, kid," Ray mumbled, spreading a scarlet tablecloth across the couch table. He proceeded to roll out a midnight blue table runner over it and then started stacking some candles and roses around the back of the couch. If this stupid dinner had to be romantic, he was gonna make it romantic.

"Of course there is. You can---" Henry was cut off by the sounds of heels clicking from the sprocket and Ray knew that (y/n) was coming out to show them her outfit. One word from him and she'd screw her plans with David or Daniel or whatever his name was because Henry knew she felt exactly the same. 

They were just too chicken to see it. 

"Not a word, Henry. This means the world to her." Ray pointed a stern finger at the boy's face, making him swallow and nod in agreement. The two males looked at the sprocket expectantly, but Ray wasn't prepared for the beauty that appeared at the top of the stairs.

Like a princess, she floated down, her blood-red dress stretching over her curves exquisitely. Her hair had been styled to perfection and the smokey makeup she had chosen made her cheekbones and wine-coloured lips stand out. She took her time walking down the steps since her black stilettos were not her natural choice. (y/n) spent so much of her time in a pair of jeans and a pair of beat-up sneakers that seeing her dressed to the nines made both boys blow out their cheeks.

"Woah, (y/n/n), you look hot!" Henry grinned at her. She could give the supermodels that Ray dated a run for their money. 

"Really? Do you think he'll like it?" The woman blushed under their gaze, feeling slightly nervous in the foreign clothes.

"If he doesn't, he's an idiot," Ray growled huskily and the baritone noise made a shiver go up her spine. If he couldn't be the one to take her out, then he was gonna make damn sure that this 'Drake' guy knew how lucky he was.

"Yeah, you're gonna knock 'im dead!" Henry agreed, glad that Ray was holding up.

"I'm meeting him at the restaurant in half an hour, so I should probably get going." (y/n) said shakily, her nerves whizzing around her tummy. Dates weren't her strong point.

"Have a good night." Ray swallowed his envy and passed her the black clutch bag she had left out. She smiled at him in thanks, the scent of her favourite perfume made him feel dizzy.

"I should be back around 11. Have fun with Miss Shapen." She smirked and walked away to the elevator. Ray busied himself by lighting the candles, not wanting to see her go.

"Me and Gerta better go too. Bianca will be at Club Soda by now." Henry said, taking the android's hand.

"Remember, her name's Tiffany now." Ray reminded him.

"Right, right. You sure you can handle Miss Shapen by yourself?" The kid asked over his shoulder as he went to the tubes. Ray popped a gumball and began to chew. After all, Miss Shapen didn't want to see Ray Manchester, she wanted Captain Man

"Yeah, Captain Man can handle anything." The superhero revealed, as he blew a bubble and transformed into his uniform.

"Cool, good luck," Henry called out, just before the tubes sucked him and Gerta away. Ray sighed to himself. This was going to be an interesting evening.

~

Ray wheeled the champagne trolley to the side of the table. He had set up all the food from the auto-snacker and the crockery for himself and Miss Shapen. The chicken wafted a lovely smell through the Man Cave, and he was certain that Henry's teacher would love it. All he had to do now was get through the night.

Suddenly, his phone beeped in his pocket, and looking at the caller I.D he saw that it was his sidekick.

"Yeah, Henry, what's up?" He answered in a tired voice. First (y/n), then a crappy date with a madwoman, he wasn't sure what else could go wrong.

"I need to know if Tiffany can dance," Henry told him, needing the information for a dance battle.

"Pffft. She's a highly sophisticated android. She can do anything, dance, fly a plane, she's good with puppets." Ray listed everything that came to the top of his head.

"Cool. Hey, are you on your way to pick up my teacher?" Henry asked. That date couldn't go wrong.

"No. I sent Gooch to get her and bring her here." The man said.

"What? You can't bring her down into the Man Cave. You said we always have to keep the location a secret." Henry spluttered. 

"She won't know anything." Gooch picked her up, put her in a sack, and he's gonna send her down here when--" Ray was interrupted as the woman in question came screaming down in a tube. She was in a huge sack and surprisingly, had managed to stay on her feet.

"She's here. I've got to go." He told his sidekick, knowing that a night of pain was about to begin.

"Hey, I know she's not (y/n) but make her happy. I need her to change my 'F' into an 'A'." The kid reiterated.

"Yeah, blah, blah. Bye-bye." Ray hung up the phone, the reminder about (y/n) made his heart twinge. He went to pick the teacher up off the floor, as the sensation of the tube retracting had made her fall over. She was groaning in pain, so Ray tiptoed over to her wriggling form. Untying the sack, he pushed the material over her head and then the woman smiled flirtily up at him. 

"Well, hello, Captain Man." She looked up and down at his body, making him tense in discomfort.

"Hello." He gave her a small smile. 

"So...you're gonna stand there looking handsome or are you gonna help me out of the sack?" The blonde woman said to him. Ray grabbed her hands and helped her up, revealing more of the woman's shockingly pink outfit.

"Oh, hey, is that chicken?" Miss Shapen asked, spying the food on the table. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the bird, as Ray guided her over.

"Yes." The woman let go of his hand and went to look at the food. It seemed that the chicken was more interesting than him.

"Please, sit down." He told her graciously, remembering that he had to make her happy.

"Oh boy, that chicken looks good," She said, pulling the plate that the entire bird was resting on towards her. Ray looked at her with an open mouth when she yanked a leg off the body and began to savagely eat away. Sighing, he served himself some of the sides he'd put out; looks like it was just rice and salad for him tonight.

Miss Shapen quickly discarded the leg bone and tore off a wing, devouring the meat in seconds as she had done previously. The superhero in front of her picked through his plate, watching as the bird became a pile of bones.

"Uh... can I get you another entire chicken?" He asked her, not believing how rapidly she had guzzled down the meat. He had barely touched his food since watching her eat had put him right off. Also, the fact that (y/n) was probably smiling over her pasta at Drake around now made his appetite shrink.

"Nah, I can still chew a little more off this one." The woman told him, so Ray looked back down at his plate and pushed through his rice again. Schwoz came singing from the back of the Man Cave and interrupted their date, not that Ray cared.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you had company." He apologised and tried to run back to where he came from. Desperate not to be alone with Miss Shapen for one more minute, Ray got up and quickly pulled him back.

"No, no. Please stay. Please. Come meet Miss Shapen." He squeaked to his little friend, conveying his distress to Schwoz.

"Sharona." The teacher reminded him.

"Right, Sharona Shapen, Schwoz Shwartz, Schwoz Shwartz, Sharona Shapen." He pronounced their tongue-twister names and quickly sat down. 

"Nice to meet you," Schwoz said politely.

"Anyone mind if I take off my shoe?" The woman asked, working her flat off her foot.

"Actually, please don't take off your---" Captain Man tried to tell her, but she did it anyway, revealing a huge, abnormal toe.

"That is a big toe." Ray groaned in disgust, Schwoz almost retching. The little man ran off to the back of the Man Cave to save himself from the smell of her feet. Seeing that they were now alone, Miss Shapen stood up and placed herself in Ray's lap, freaking the man out. She began to pet his hair, as he remembered all the times he and (y/n) sat like this when watching a movie or scanning the computer for crimes. It was never like this.

"So... I have this sore on my back." The woman told him.

"A sore?" The superhero was certain he was gonna throw up. 

"Uh-huh. Maybe one day you can drive me down to the wound clinic." Her attempts to flirt were terrible, and luckily for Ray, his phone started to ring in his pocket.

"I gotta take this!" He said sharply, taking the teacher off his lap and moving away from the couch.

"Well, who is it?" She asked in disappointment.

"It doesn't matter." Ray mashed the elevator button and swiftly stepped inside, eager to get away from the woman. Miss Shapen went back to gnawing at her chicken as her date answered a call from Henry.

"Hey, kid, what's up?" He answered, glad to be away from Sharona Shapen for a minute.

"Ray, listen. Tiffany's gone crazy." A panicked Henry rambled into the phone.

"What? What's she doing?" Ray asked.

"She's tossing Mitch Bilsky around like a big bag of fudge. Ray, how do I stop her?" Henry watched as the android threw the bully around the room. 

"You just have to press a small red button on the back of her neck." The superhero explained.

"Got it." Henry hung up, leaving his boss to face his teacher again. Opening the elevator door, he saw her nibbling on the chicken carcass and decided to just sneak back into the elevator and leave. 

"Maybe I'll just sit down in here for a little while." He told himself, the idea of doing nothing in the elevator sounding so much better than watching that woman eat. 

He sat for around fifteen minutes, moping about how the woman he loved was falling for someone else. He even found a bolo bat lying around, and used it to chip away at his boredom.

"Well, I better go back to my date and her big toe." He mumbled to himself, shivering in disgust at the thought of his gross foot. 

He opened the elevator and saw Miss Shapen back in her sack at the tube area, laughing with Schwoz.

"What's going on?" He smiled at them, the sense of relief he got when he saw her affections being lavished on someone else filling his body.

"Oh, I'm just going to take a little trip with your boss." The teacher explained, her words confusing Ray.

"My boss? Shwoz is not--My boss, Schwoz!" Ray quickly jumped onto what Schwoz was saying, knowing that this was his chance to get rid of her.

"He's going to take me to the wound clinic." She smiled at the little man.

"They love her there." Schwoz grinned too, tying the sack over Miss Shapen's head.

"I've heard," Ray noted.

"Happy Varlintine's Day," Schwoz said to the man and sent himself and Sharona up the tubes. Ray was happy to bask in the quiet stillness of an empty Man Cave and he wandered over to the table. He picked up what was left of the bird on the plate.

"There's no saving this chicken." He joked to himself, but his face bent into a puzzled frown when he heard the elevator come down. Maybe Schwoz had forgotten something?

His questions were answered when (y/n) stepped out into the Man Cave. Ray looked at her in confusion, wondering why she was home so early.

"(y/n)? Why are you here? What happened to Drake and your date?" He held her by her elbows and saw how distraught she was when her glassy eyes met his.

"Jerk never showed up." She said to him simply, her voice hoarse and close to breaking. 

"What?" Ray felt a dark anger rise in his stomach. He clutched her elbows tighter and watched as a tear rolled down her face. The bastard did what?

"I don't know. Maybe he got lost or he couldn't make it or maybe it was just one big joke." She smiled bitterly, so her friend brought her into a tight embrace. She didn't deserve this. All she wanted was one night to take her mind off how shitty her love life was, but this just cemented her idea that she was destined to be alone.

"He doesn't know what he's missing," Ray whispered into her hair, wishing that he could take away her pain.

"Yeah." She mumbled, leaning into his warmth for a few moments. Ray knew that he couldn't let her big Valentine's night end like this, so he thought about what he could do to make her happy.

"Come with me." He breathed into her ear and started to lead her to the tubes.

"What?" She sniffed, following him in confusion.

"Just trust me." The superhero gently told her, keeping her in his arms so they could share a tube. 

"Up the tube!" Ray shouted and they lifted, higher and higher until they could go no further.

"Ray, we're on the roof." (y/n) pointed out, looking at him weirdly. Why had he brought her here?

"Yeah, I know." He said nothing more, just guided her to the ledge that looked over the park. She rested her hands on the wall and turned to glance at his face.

"Look." He whispered, and she did, her face softening at the view. The sky was almost pitch black, apart from a small streak of fuchsia clouds where the sun's light was still receding. The tallest skyscrapers and buildings of Swellview were black silhouettes against the backdrop, as the park and its surrounding neighbourhoods began to flicker to life. Her eyes reflected the lights of the homes of Swellview and she never knew that the city could look so beautiful.

"I didn't even know you could come up here to see this." She said quietly as Ray came to stand beside her and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Yeah, I never really get the chance to do this anymore." He confessed, enjoying the way she seemed at peace now. He had discovered the view when he had first moved into the Man Cave under Junk-N-Stuff and his superhero life was becoming too much for him. 

"Thank you for showing me." (y/n) continued to gaze at the cityscape, feeling as though this was their view, no one else's. Their little slice of heaven.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Her love said softly, only he wasn't looking at the view - he was looking at someone infinitely more beautiful.

[yunoteru4ever]

Musing about the forbidden appeal of stalkers and how Mirai Nikki's framework benefits the overall love story

Something I think is unspoken about the appeal of... oh, let's politely say off-kilter *cough* love stories such as the one at the center of Future Diary is that, for many people, the idea of having a stalker can sound... appealing? Romantic, even?

Let me explain what I mean in more detail: If you've never truly experienced the horror/stress of having a stalker? The idea of someone choosing YOU to fixate upon as the object of their unyielding love/lust can actually sound pretty nice, in concept. Hell — even moreso if you've never had anyone openly and proudly declare their love for you. The notion of having a stalker can feel VALIDATING, even! The less luck you have in love, the more that discovering you have your own stalker can sound like a weird, wonderful fantasy. Or, shit... even if you're doing just fine in the dating/romance department, imagining someone harboring an undying obsession/devotion can still feel like a massive ego boost.

My point is: When dealing with a stalker is only a distant, abstract and purely theoretical concept, the "horror" side of it can easily fade into the far background. So yeah, I think there's a certain Forbidden Appeal to stalker-romances for many, despite the inherent darkness and danger that could/should logically come with such a thing. (Especially in RL, of course.)

In that context, the way Mirai Nikki's central love story is presented and framed is especially genius. And I say that for two primary reasons:

First reason — Mirai Nikki taps into that Forbidden Appeal partly by giving Yuno an increasingly sympathetic portrayal, but importantly also by placing this unhinged stalker character into a framework where her biggest downsides become comprehensible or even beneficial. Sure, Yuno seems to have a taste for violence and blood, but she's trapped in a goddamn Killing Game where both her own life and the fate of the fucking world is at stake. Furthermore, we later learn there's a ticking clock element that demands the "game" crown a victor ASAP. Against this background, Yuno's violence and darkness becomes, at worst, a bit of evil that's also handily beneficial. And at best? Her behavior becomes totally understandable due to contextual morality. (Besides, it also provides us with a reason to exploit yet another off-kilter romantic concept that can hold a dark appeal for some: the "willing to kill for you"-level love.)

Second reason — Yet in spite of what I just said, Future Diary doesn't shy away (...much*) from the threat inherent to having someone develop an unhealthy obsession with another. Yuno isn't some harmlessly funny sitcom stalker, nor is she the kind of stalker who the narrative fails to ever acknowledge as such in order preserve the "purity" of the central relationship's appeal. Yuki recognizes her as an obsessive stalker from the very beginning! There's no denying that she's violent and clearly dangerous! The fact that she's mentally unstable and therefore seems unpredictable is absolutely core to her character! The story is utterly up-front about these things... and it never lets us forget that, for all that we may feel bad for her or understand her actions, she's still a threat/potential threat to EVERYBODY around her.

Long after it's clear that the bizarre situation makes Yuno's worst traits much more positive, there are still MANY instances when the narrative reminds us of just how much of an unpredictable threat she is to even her supposed allies.

However...

*...I added that "(...much*)" caveat because there are some rare exceptions . A signature aspect of every Sakae Esuno story to date is the way he delights in swerving from the primary horror/suspense/action focus over to sudden bursts of comedy. For that reason, Mirai Nikki is definitely guilty of playing Yuno's stalking as mere 'wacky hijinx' on select occasions — for better or worse. For me, these sudden breaks in the tension are quirky and delightful, but I can understand if individual mileage varies.

All of this is really just me thinking out loud about why the portrayal of such a clearly "problematic" relationship works so well for me and many others. It isn't afraid to confront the inherent problems, but it also provides a (totally unrealistic) framework in which the problems are more tolerable, maybe even acceptable. It makes the stalker sympathetic via the gradual reveal of her backstory, but it also never lets us forget that's she's legit dangerous. And it does all of this while showing us a twisted relationship that might already be oddly appealing to some members of the audience.

Besides, look — Esuno knows this is pretty "out there" stuff. He was once asked if he'd want to date someone like Yuno himself. In that interview, he laughed before replying, "It's probably best we keep that kind of relationship in the realm of fiction." So it's not like he's legitimately recommending that anyone go out and date a crazed stalker. That's part of why the framework has to be SO extreme and SO fantastical for it work so well, IMO.

[kinghijinx22]

Top 5 Canonical Pansexual Characters

So I recently made a post about why one of my all time favourite characters Mae Borowski from Night in the Woods is amazing pansexual representation and how the way her feelings are portrayed felt very accurate to my own. In that post I also said that there isn't enough pan rep, which is true and to prove my point I made a list of the only 5 undeniably canon pansexual characters I know of also 2 of them are from Steven Universe which is almost cheating to pull examples from. This is my ranking of all 5 of those characters based on how good they are as rep because I thought this would be a fun list to make and it's still Pride Month so yeah.

5. Willow Park (the Owl House)

So the Owl House is my favourite thing out of all the things mentioned on this list and Willow is my second favourite character here overall, but the way her being pan is handled is non existent in the show. There is nothing that even hints at it and Dana Terrace only announcing after the show seems disingenuous. I'm not too mad because the show already has plenty of queer rep that is fleshed out and sincere, but in the case of Willow it feels like Dana trying to retroactively cover all her basis. Besides this Willow is still a great character though, very likable, plant magic is cool and she has a great arc of finding her confidence and following her passion for sports.

4. Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)

An incredibly complex character that people with no media literacy love to hate. The idea that you witness her redemption character arc in reverse and how you only have word of mouth and flashbacks to go off of because she's actually dead throughout the whole show is kind of genius. As pan rep though, her orientation is left pretty vague. Like we know that she loved Greg and that Pearl loved her but whether Rose reciprocated Pearl's feelings is never answered. It's implied that she might have been polyamorous with a bunch of people and that it included Pearl but then Rose decided that she want a monogamous relationship with Greg and that's why Pearly became jealous of him. But again this is never explored beyond very vague hints.

3. Sadie Miller (Steven Universe)

Most likeable human character from Steven Universe and easily one of the best side characters. I like her arc of really finding herself throughout the show like when she quits her excruciating job at the Big Doughnut and discovers her passion for singing. She also discovers who she likes throughout the show when she is shown crushing on guys, gals and nonbinary pals throughout the show, eventually settling down with her enby partner Shep. While Shep is only in one episode near the end of the show they are pretty cool and they are really cute with Sadie as a couple.

2. Finn McNamara (Life is Strange 2)

This one is kind of weird to me because while I do like Finn overall and can sympathise with his backstory, the fact that they lock his romance with Sean behind making some morally bad decisions does have some pretty messed up implications behind it. Because there are 2 romance options in Life is Strange 2 between a girl named Cassidy and a guy name Finn and they make the Cassidy romance the one that's easier to get because it just shows up when you choose not to rob the weed farm guys, meanwhile you have to choose to go with Finn to use Daniel's powers to help them with the heist. Now the weed farm guys are assholes and you do need the money and Finn does have some good motivations, but he's also thinking selfishly and putting Sean's brother Daniel in danger and teaching him to use his telekinesis powers to get what he wants. By locking the same sex romance option behind the morally bad decision you are tying queerness to inherent deviance which sucks. Having said that, Finn does have a sympathetic backstory of being homeless after being used and betrayed by his father in his own drug business and I do believe he does want to make life better for his friends. Also the way that him being pansexual specifically is explained in the game is a very accurate portrayal. When Sean asks him who he likes Finn replies with "I don't see gender, I see people", which shows that Finn is genderblind when it comes to his orientation which has always been a pretty good way of explaining what being pan is like. I appreciate Finn for being overt Pansexual rep, the only dude pansexual rep as well and he is a likeable character overall even if his romance path carries some problematic implications when you compare it to the same sex option with Cassidy.

1. Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

One of the best protagonists from one of my favourite games. I love how nonconforming Mae is in every sense of the word. She's openly queer and refuses to conform to societies gender expectations. She's a cool cat person who plays bass in a band with her friends. Always speaks her mind, does what she wants and is unapologetically herself. Also an incredibly nice person at heart even if her bluntness and inability to read the room sometimes leads to some not great situations. A heavily flawed but still amazing character. She also happens to be pan which is very accurately portrayed throughout the story which I wrote a post about. To summarize, she explicitly states in one scene that she doesn't care about the gender of a person but she just wants to date someone that is tough and cool and "GRRR." There's a bunch of other stuff that she says throughout the game but it's also revealed that she has an ex who is a guy named Cole and she develops intimate feelings for a girl she meets at a party known as "Bombshell." Mae is an amazing character who I deeply relate to on a lot of levels and also admire for her ability to be herself and not care what other people think.

Picture sources

Mae Borowski - yorunowaltz on Tumblr

Finn McNamara - all ya faves are gay, matey on Tumblr

Sadie Miller - editsteven on Tumblr

Rose Quartz - Your Fave Loves And Supports LGBT+ People on Tumblr

Willow Park - (1) Daily LGBTQ+ Characters on Tumblr

[seventeenlovesthree]

How would you describe Koushiro's personality, this is definitely not me following up on you describing Iori in DMs :P

Hehe, as I said, that's perfectly fine, since I highly enjoy doing character (and relationship) analyses! And this is a good one, because it forces me to put my own biases aside to make a somewhat objective statement. (Potential biases will probably still be included, but I'll try my best.)

So... How would I describe Koushirou's personality?

Aside from being Digimon Adventure's smart info-slash-exposition-dump-boy who has to figure out both the plot and the potential solution to every single problem the group encounters...

He is incredibly dedicated, committed and loyal - and I think the screenshot below sums that up quite well:

He has a high sense of responsibility and, in accordance with his dedicated nature, will do whatever it takes to find answers and solutions. Whether it's for the sake of his friends or the entire world(s). Because researching, being curious and wanting to know everything about everything - those are the "things that make him himself", the true holder of the Crest of Knowledge. Thus, he is not only "the resourceful problem-solver", the group's resident computer genius and an absolute over-achiever (he's got his own freaking company by the age of 21 after all), but also very prone to overworking himself, neglecting both his physical and mental health in the process.

It also means that he goes into hyperfocus mode easily - and those are the times where he is prone to become somewhat ignorant and unable to pick up on social cues. And so he may come off as too rational, not empathetic enough or even rude - but that doesn't mean that he's always that way! He's actually quite capable at making others open up to him - like a true dad senpai. He's quite observant of his friends and their issues - at least when things are not too urgent or at stake. His great sense of senpai-ness, unfortunately, also means that he feels responsible for keeping "the kids" in check (that includes friends that are actually older than him, btw.). He enjoys (over-)explaining things (read: rambling!) and providing tech and guidance for them - but they may also exhaust him sometimes, especially when they get themselves into unnecessarily dangerous situations. After all, he may not always be able to understand or adapt to the people around him, so he'd rather turn to technology at times instead. But he's really trying.

When it comes to himself, he used to hide behind a mask of self-imposed politeness. And yes, he is a kind and caring person at heart - those who grind his gears, take his gadgets without permission or make his computer freeze know that he can get very snappy and shouty though. Especially when they act irrationally to him. Or against his very strong moral code. He may make use of his networking and hacking skills to save the world - but he wouldn't break the law for harmful reasons. He is a giver through and through, his love language is definitely "acts of service" and he would do anything for his family and friends. To the point of literally sacrificing himself.

He's very much used to keeping secrets and his emotions (mostly) to himself though - Tentomon may still be the only one who has actually ever seen him have emotional breakdowns. Because he, unfortunately, still assigns a lot of his self-worth to being able to use his computer for the sake of "good". If he cannot be "useful", he still has the tendency to panic - all by himself. And may get flustered if you praise him too much. Otherwise, he is pretty confident in the mentioned hard skills. And since he's so goal-oriented, one can easily see why he evolved into a leading figure (basically Taichi's second in command) AND the #1 Digimon research expert, who not only manages the Chosen Children network as a connector and tech-sponsor, but also does PR work and such.

(On a sidenote: The subjects of fashion and romance may not come easily to him, but once again - he is trying his best.)

Tldr; he's an awfully smart, incredibly caring and loyal bean, immensely resourceful and a natural problem solver, but there's a lot he carries on his shoulders by himself (even if he doesn't have to) and he is still pretty bad at opening up to others.

I love him a lot and if you're interested in all my other meta posts I wrote about him, feel free to check these out: [Breaking male stereotypes] [On his own] [Selfishness vs. Selflessness] [Reboot] [Physical Touch] [Boyfriend] [Appreciation Hours] [Magical Boy] [Stageplay]

[raxistaicho]

But what IS a path of thorns, when you get right down to it?

I’ve been lazy of late. So here’s another Fantasy Invader post :D

I’m making my own path of thorns, folks.

Ah, yes. The guy who screams Buddhist symbolism as hard as he can is talking about Christianity now.

Oohhh, are we getting another “AYMR BAD CUZ DEVIL ARCANA BAD ‘CUZ DEVIL!” take again? :D

And yes, Crimson Flower is a path of thorns because it’s the most dangerous and uncertain path.

See? The game even calls it a path of thorns!

Now FI probably knew that one, but I’m still laughing my ass off at the mental image of him thinking he came up with that on his own and just patting himself on the back for his symbolism decoding genius.

Anyways, he’s talking about Proverbs 15:19.

The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway.

a. The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns: Those who are lazy may not see it in themselves. Often, they may more easily see the result of their laziness, which is a life filled with constant trouble and irritations (like a hedge of thorns).

b. The way of the upright is a highway: The wise man or woman – upright and hardworking before the LORD – does not know the same constant troubles and irritations of life that the lazy man must endure. Life for the upright is much smoother and more efficient in its progress. 

Remember that.

But... how. Who’s being lazy? Crimson Flower is the path you have to work to get into. Silver Snow is the default path.

I think FI’s right, I remember something to that effect. Also I’d just like to posit that removing Edelgard is not what makes Silver Snow harder. What actually makes it harder is that Edelgard takes her deployment slot with her and Silver Snow’s endgame chapter is genuinely fucking atrocious.

Also, Silver Snow is harder on the player, but it’s Byleth who supposedly is taking the lazy route, so it should be Byleth who feels the pain (though I think it would be harder on them too since they don’t want to fight Edelgard, as you can constantly have them say throughout the route, only for Seteth to tell you to be quiet and do what you’re destined to do).

But anyways, how does the righteous path (SS according to FI) being the harder route mesh with the righteous path being straight and clear, like a highway, as the Bible verse says?

So yeah, like I said. Shouldn’t the supposed unrighteous route not be the easier one? Shouldn’t it be as a hedge of thorns, like the Bible verse says?

So yeah, if it isn’t already obvious, Fantasy Invader was just talking out of his ass. He can’t make Silver Snow being the straight and clear route of righteousness with Silver Snow also being the tougher route, as the devs intended, so, whether by deception or incompetence, just chose to ignore what Proverbs 15:19 says to suit his narrative.

Oh okay, so we’re back to Buddhism now. Then again, Fantasy Invader was kinda butchering his Christianity analysis so he might as well retreat to more familiar (but tragically just as incorrect) ground.

Also, this is as good a time as any to copy-paste one of CaptainFlash’s brilliant reads on what Nirvana truly symbolizes in Three Houses:

I think in the same way that this game is very critical of some aspects of Christianity, it is very critical of Buddhist theology. Particularly the idea of attachment. Attachment in Buddhism is bad, and individualistic and leads to suffering. Each of the lords is kind of unselfish in their goals-El gives up her humanity for her dream, Dimitri is trying to appease the dead instead of living, and Claude has given up human connection for his ambition. They only become their best selves when they have the selfish little human moments we see in their routes. Byleth becomes a human when she spends time around her students, but a “wandering flame” in SS because they rejected human connection. In Buddhism, the cessation of the human flame (attachment) is a metaphor for Nirvana, and I think you can see why this adds resonance to the “Flame Emperor” trying to create a world “for humanity” 

And as I said in my reply to Buddhism anon,

How is killing Rhea in that context a bad thing? By that point, Rhea's fallen so far into paranoia and madness that she'd rather set Fhirdiad on fire, killing every man, woman, and child living inside it, rather than accept a peaceful surrender.

Also, Byleth does not lose divine favor or whatever by killing Rhea: they are still capable of S-support Sothis (the scene even has a specific provision for Crimson Flower) during which Sothis reaffirms her adoration for Byleth.

Crimson Flower is the only route in which Byleth embraces their humanity, as Sothis told them to in the opening minutes of the game.

I gotta say, it’s damn nice to get back into cross-eyed analysis with Fantasy Invader. It’s so much better than weathering his furious screeching about Edelgard.

[cantillat-moved]

@loneheroofironjustice (from here) And to make it all worst, Shirou is probably the one who is actually out of their league, some random guy? He is the only son of the renowned Magus Killer, and at least in one timeline, becomes a Counter Guardian, and that one useless magecraft he has? Well he is canonically the most skilled and #1 of that one specific magecraft

Yes and no. Kiritsugu’s fame wasn’t something positive. As you said, the man was a Magus Killer, someone who would end generations-old magi bloodlines for the highest bidder. For the regular mage, that was pretty much one of the closest things to heresy. His father, Emiya Norikata , had a seal designation for being a genius but eventually found out he was studying Dead Apostles in order to find out the secret of immortality. That was not also a good thing for a family name. Still, in Fuyuki no-one knew about the Emiya reputation and even so Kiritsugu had stopped working some time before Illya was born so at that point it had been nearly 20 years that he stepped out of that life. It could have been relevant among the magi circles, mages don't forget so easily. The fact that Shirou's landlord is yakuza (old man Fujimura) might also say something.

Shirou is the most skilled and #1 in the one specific magecraft because he is the only one in the world that can do it. It’s like to say you are the best player of the world in the sport you created 3 minutes ago. It was a series of very specific things that lead the creation of that kind of magecraft that are special.

You see, regular people can’t use magecraft in general as they don’t have enough magic circuits to do it in an efficient way, the one way to circumvent it is the origin. Every soul has an origin, something they are meant to do. Kiritsugu’s origin was “to cut”, for example, and he found a way to use it with his Mystic Code and use pieces of his rips to sever the connection between a mage and their magic circuits. Whatever Shirou’s origin was at birth it is unknown, because when Kiritsugu placed Avalon inside him it became “something to contain an infinite amount of swords”. Moreover, a Reality Marble is something that everyone has in theory. Anyone sentience have their own internal world, something that is observed even in psychology (think of Persona 5’s cognitions and Palace if it helps) but manifesting them in the outside world is a taboo. Reality Marble is something closest to true magic as possible, so it would make sense that all magi would try using it to reach the Root. Except that we all live in Gaia’s Reality Marble and the constant use of Reality Marbles could cause damage to the fabric of existence itself if everyone does that. Well, it is a complex magecraft and someone being able to use by instinct at a young age is extraordinary. Kiritsugu understood the nature of Shirou’s magecraft when the boy Projected a fruit knife one day and knew the boy would be in danger (Kiritsugu’s magecraft consists in manifesting a Reality Marble inside his own body) so he taught Shirou inappropriate magecraft in order to stunt his development. In Fate/Hollow Ataraxia we see Rin going out of her way to hide Shirou from Bazett because she was afraid that if she found out he would be placed under a seal designation. Because of what Kiritsugu did, Shirou’s magic circuits are actually degraded from lack of proper use. Shirou’s Reality Marble is so extraordinary that even without Avalon’s healing being activated or Archer’s arm in HF route his body tends to keep “producing swords” to make himself more resilient. He also uses his structural analysis to turn his regular nerves into pseudo magic-circuits. This is, simply put, insane and pretty much very damaging to himself. Another thing that iirc that is implied is that the Shirou that became Archer never used the Reality Marble in life, or maybe it was something from the original translation ? In any case, apparently only UBW Shirou could use the Reality Marble, and even so it is something that consumes a lot of mana and isn't useful to be employed in most occasions. Just Projecting the stuff is fine. (but the fact that Emiya Alter can make the inside of the projections in order to make a gun work is impressive)

Another thing extraordinary about him is that he is literally the embodiment of the philosophy of the kyudou without even trying. Every aspect of his life is literally following the procedures of releasing an arrow. His stubbornness, wanting to see things to the end, his discipline, the ability to envision the objective and from there work on the procedures on how to make it happen ? This is pure and simple kyudou. Maybe one day I'll write a long meta on that too but today isn't the day.

The thing that everyone likes about him isn’t his strength. But what they like is also a “lie” born from his trauma. Shirou spends most of his time at school to be “normal passing”. It is very important in the Japanese society to fall into the fold and don’t stand out too much, to be a well-adjusted member of the society and don’t cause too much fuss. He has crippling survivor’s guilt, even Nameless in Extra calls himself out on that many times. To be a Hero of Justice is to secretly wish there’s evil to be fought, a hero is nothing without evil – heroes goes against basic nature, challenge survival in order to attain some selfish goal even if it is self-satisfaction of “doing good”. That is the tl;dr of his internal conflict that he averts his eyes many times. Despite all of this, Shirou is actually someone who is devoted to others to the point that Issei calls him out on being too selfless to the point of being dangerous. Rin compares him in UBW to a crooked scale that weights things with bias.

But, ofc, nothing of it had any weight at the time : Rin was fascinated by him watching him trying to do the jumps when they were much younger, Sakura saw him as her savior that she could never obtain, Ayako was mesmerized by his archery skill and being a cool guy, Issei has a crush on him and it is stated that Shinji is also jealous of him. In this regard Shirou is a lot like many of us: we all have our qualities, things that people admire about us but we are unable to see it ourselves.

[pazodetrasalba]

Truthiness

Dear Caroline:

In this entry fo yours you were not only being contrarian, but quite covertly utilitarian, which you actually clarify in an answer two days later (the existence of America in its current form has probably been good for the world and thus Columbus’s impact on the world seems positive). What this actually brought to my mind, though, was not anything related to the discovery of the New World, or to the books on this topic you might have read or wanted to read, but rather to the recent and scandalous depiction you made about Sam's belief system: "he was a utilitarian who wasn’t bothered by lying or stealing so long as what he did created the greatest good for the greatest number of people".

I think this in an adequate description, and harks back to Sam's upbringing in a strictly utilitarian background. More than any possible EA, he would be a good example of a 'pure consequentialist', who feels that any and all deontological principles and rules are just superstitions, the chains of past, old and lazy people, and ineffective anyway at the only thing that matters: maximizing utility. It is a cautionary lesson on how dangerous it is for any human to subordinate everything to just one principle, to the exclusion of all the rest. And this will always be terrible, among other things, because we are too complex and rich to be straitjacketed into a single formula or goal.

I believe you were totally truthful in your testimony, but truth is a complicated thing, and it encompasses not only what is said, but what is not. If the defense attorney had been more clued-up, he might have inquired if you yourself hadn't been a consequentialist before meeting Sam, and hadn't held to the belief that actions are to be morally judged by their effects, not by intentions or rules. Both your blog and EA's principles lean heavily in this direction, even if for the most part they would fit under some form of 'rules-based utilitarianism', but one can always suspect that rules that are acquiesced to just because they seem to satisfy some bs utilitarian, long-term calculation can just as easily be defeated by another one is sufficiently talked through and rationalized.

I think I mentioned that these days I am reading the other Joe Henrich book, which you didn't get to peruse yet, and I feel tempted to extrapolate his views of cumulative cultural evolution on yourself. Before Alameda, your cultural package included some Trad values, practices and beliefs embedded not without conflicts and contradictions within a Rationalist and EA framework. Your move to the Bay led to a progressive change in this regard, with you adopting what you perceived must have been a superior cultural package possessed by the higher-status 'Pure Rationalists' at the core of the movement, and by Sam, the successful finance genius. And this is probably why polyamory and a turn towards pure utilitarian +EV creeped in deeper and more powerfully within your psyche.

It is a pity that these letters don't conform a bijection, with the inverse function of your words lacking. It would be very interesting to know how you stand now with regard to some of what were your core values and beliefs in the not so distant past.

Quote: idk just that while Columbus was a dick and kind of caused a genocide, the existence of America in its current form has probably been good for the world and thus Columbus’s impact on the world seems positive

Caroline Ellison

[lady-griffin]

One of the best things that has come from the “unfortunate” amount (imo) of background scene info we’ve gotten from the creators of Arcane, is that it shows us how Arcane could’ve easily not be as good as it was. 

Obviously, a lot of a very talented and skilled people worked very hard and put a great amount of time and effort into this show, which is the main reason for why Arcane is so fucking amazing. 

That shouldn’t be ignored, Arcane didn’t just happen by dumb luck or the stars aligned; time, dedication, and hard work were put in and that should be acknowledged. 

Still, we also see some of the “mistakes” or miscommunication along the way, helped Arcane along.

Arcane was created by many, many people, who don’t (or didn’t) always see things the same way. Arcane is not from one single mind and that’s true of most, if not all, the movies, comics, and tv shows we watch. Stories are rarely (and I do mean rarely) amazing, because one single creative genius was behind them, but instead are so compelling, because many different people collaborated together to create a cohesive story.

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That being said, there’s also the bonus element as someone who loves film, tv, and media to see ‘accidental writing’ occur in some of my favorite works. Basically, that’s an idea, theme, character trait, or some kind of world building that emerged from the story, not because the author intended for it to happen, but it just formed out of the story for whatever reason.

I think one of my favorite examples for Arcane is that according to writer Amanda Overton, Vander was supposed to have tried to kill Silco after he rescued the girls from the bridge; but the animation team made them look so much younger and that was a mistake, because of miscommunication.

But the story we actually got in the end is far more interesting and better, than what the original intention seems to have been.

Sidenote: It still feels very hard for me to believe that no one caught that Vander and Silco look so much younger in the drowning scene, before the show aired.

So, while it may not have been the original intention, I wonder if it was something they chose to keep in the story, even if it was not in the og script. 

Because that makes a whole lot more sense to me. 

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-        Vander symbolically gives up violence when he saves the girls, so him trying to drown Silco after that, takes away the symbolic weight and meaning of that scene. He literally drops his gauntlets on the ground to carry the girls back to safety. 

-       We see or learn how different Vander has become after the bridge, since years before he was willing to drown his ‘brother.’ But that seems hard to imagine for the Vander we meet in Act I; so, again, we see how different one can become and how their priorities shift after having children - solidifying the parallel between Vander and Silco. 

-        We see the Hound of the Underground return when he’s been pushed to his extreme - two of his kids are now dead and one is in severe danger.

Vander ‘gave up’ being the Hound to be well, Vander, father of four. We even see in the scene when he thinks all three are dead, it looks like Vander gives up, that is until he sees Vi is still alive. 

Vander is not pushed to such an extreme because he has nothing to lose, but because he now has everything to lose.

-       Vander also didn’t seem to be all that aware Silco was still out there (lurking/scheming) or an active threat. But, if he tried to kill Silco after he saved the girls – than it definitely feels like Vander should’ve been far more concerned about Silco, because….

Well, there’s a difference between not hearing from a man 5-6 years after you tried to murder him and not hearing from him 15+ years.

It makes far more sense if the attempted drowning took place years before the bridge, because even if Silco was an ever-looming presence or painful ghost for Vander, he still isn’t on the forefront of Vander’s mind as a current threat - because again Vander hasn’t heard from Silco in over a decade. 

-       Silco’s line to Deckard about the important lesson he learned “when he was about your age,” makes far more sense, because Silco appears to be around Deckard’s age, or a few years older when Vander tried to kill him and he fought back with everything he had.

-       Silco’s line of “I hated you, but you kept my respect. Until you made peace with them. Played lapdog after everything we suffered.” -

Does not work in the slightest with the idea that Vander tried to kill Silco after the Bridge Rebellion. It really doesn’t, like there’s a decent amount of mental gymnastics and loops to go through to make that work.

However, that line absolutely works with the idea that Vander tried to kill Silco because their ideas of how to achieve independence were diverging, with Silco potentially becoming more of an extremist, willing to hurt anyone if it got them independence. 

Silco hated Vander for trying to kill him, obviously, but since Vander was still fighting Piltover and trying to achieve Zaun’s independence, but in a different way, Silco still respected Vander for that, even if he disagreed with his methods or thought Vander wasn’t going far enough - Vander was still fighting the good fight. 

It’s not until after the bridge rebellion, after Vander saved two girls and adopted two more kids and had something to lose, that Vander started to play “lapdog,” making a deal with Grayson - that’s when Silco lost his respect for Vander and his anger and resentment grew in the time between after the bridge scene (or whenever the deal was made) and the rest of Act I.

-       It also explains why Silco seemed to have developed such a hatred for Vander’s kids. He views them as taking one of Zaun’s greatest champions away from Zaun, they’re the reason why Silco “lost respect for Vander.” You could even argue they are scapegoats for Silco, someone else for Silco to blame, not himself or Vander.

-        Of course, Silco hating Vander’s kids and hating Vander for choosing them over Zaun is quite the compelling story, given the contrast between who he was and who he now has become in the end, because of Jinx. Silco now loves Jinx as HIS daughter and he had everything he ever wanted or fought for on a silver platter, but he couldn’t do it, because he couldn’t give her up.

-        In the end, Silco understood why Vander did what he did in “playing lapdog.” Because now Silco has become someone who his younger self would’ve lost respect for and that doesn’t matter to him. Silco picks Jinx over Zaun. Silco finally has someone that actually matters to him, more than anything or anyone, someone he can’t lose. 

-       Vander trying to drown Silco when they were younger, just shows us how different these two men once were and how different they ended up being. Even when they are in the same spot, what they end up doing is quite different. 

Vander was willing to give up fighting for his kids, and for years he did that, but in the end, he never stopped fighting to keep one of them safe, not until he took his last breath.

Silco on the other hand was more than willing to burn everything and everyone else to the ground for Jinx, but when she killed him, he accepted it and with his last moments, tried to give her comfort and reassurance, the best he could. 

--

I hope Arcane keeps the story we got in the end.

Sidenote Again: It still feels very hard for me to believe that no one caught that Vander and Silco look so much younger in the drowning scene, before the show was aired. 

So, I wonder if, since a lot of people seem to think the creative process is just - have an idea and said idea becomes the final product and that’s it. Or the insane notion that the first draft of anything should be THE main source of authenticity that one should always consider above everything else...even though that’s not how the creative process works, like at all. 

Because, you know, ideas and stories grow, evolve and change as you work on them. 

So, while Amanda said that the scene was a mistake or miscommunication between the writers and the animation, maybe they kept the change the animators made and even worked with said change, within the story.

Maybe??

Because that makes a a lot more sense, considering how well the story works with the idea that Vander tried to kill Silco when they were younger. 

That aside, there can also be a problem in focusing so much on a “mistake” and trying to fix it retroactively, especially if you are able to do so in future movies or seasons. Because while not always, usually in the end that causes more problems and inconsistenties for the show, rather than solves things.

Star Wars has so many, so many examples of this. From the original trilogy’s re-releases to the new trilogy’s, well disaster of a story as they kept trying to fix the “complaints” from fans as each new movie came out. 

Arcane trying to fix previous “mistakes” in future seasons could also potentially create a barrier or exclusive nature for the show; because you might have to know background information to understand certain scenes, which…

That’s bad storytelling. 

If I can’t understand your show based on what you give me in your final product, that’s a major problem. I shouldn’t have to go onto social media, read articles about the show or know the author’s intent to understand what is happening. 

It’s fine if that stuff it out there, but it should be a bonus, not a requirement to watch, enjoy or understand your piece of work.

And I think a lot of people forget that, fans and creators alike, especially as communication becomes easier between the two.

I hope we see Arcane keep the version they gave us. That Vander tried to kill Silco when they were younger, it works with the story we got in the end.

I also think it’s a good lesson for many creative types - sometimes us creators, we need to loosen our death grips on our creatives works and learn how to adapt. 

Just my thoughts.