#//but also he doesn't really know the reason why what with the androids and time travel and all that

[mechahero]

@hopefromadoomedtimeline asked-🐤? Send me a 🐤 for a Tweet my muse would make about yours (accepting)

[imagobin]

Headcanon: lost zoldyck sibling reader who for some reason was taken from kukuroo Mt at a young age returns and meets their sibling for the first time and is unsure how to react.

Omg this is a really good concept. I'll see what I can do lol, hope you enjoy! HCs take place before the HxH storyline begins, so Killua's still home, and Alluka's locked up. Since it took me a while, and this requests kinda fits for it, I chose to also add smaller sections Silva, Kikyo and Zeno to the mix! But I'll go with the siblings first.

🔯The Lost Zoldyck HCs🔯

📍Illumi📍

Of all your siblings, Illumi's the only one you have any memory of, even though they're faint and blurry, you remember his almond-shaped eyes, and his cheery yet monotone voice.

He was overwhelming to be around, not because he was annoying or anything, but because of his aura. He always wanted to keep an eye on you.

It wouldn't be rare for you to spot him looking at you from a distance, studying you and making sure you didn't get yourself into trouble, as you were much weaker than them, since you'd never been trained for their... odd assassination business.

Illumi didn't show much emotion at all, but he couldn't deny that he was incredibly relieved that you were home again, and he was even happier when you were unfazed upon learning that they did for a living. "Are you really not scared...? Despite growing up away from all of this? It must be your Zoldyck blood. I'm glad, this means we can all be happy."

The first few weeks around him were really weird, as whenever he had the time to talk to you, he'd always get such a fond expression on his face as he asked you questions of how your life had been up to that point. He wanted to learn everything.

You eventually came to find that endearing. He was a little weird, but genuinely seemed to care about you in his own way.

Even if you grew up away from the mountain, he's fully accepted you back as a member of the family, and he shows that by bringing you souvenirs from his missions, just like he does with everyone else.

---

🎮Milluki🎮

Milluki initially did not care about meeting you. What's that about a long lost sibling? Certainly not something he'd waste his time on.

He doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, it's not like you're super strong or anything, you're basically just a regular human compared to them, and you're taking away even the last smidge of attention reserved to him!

Milluki was born a couple years after you, so likewise, you have no idea who he is or what he enjoys. You just know that he seems to really dislike you and generally keep to himself, locked in his room.

Since you had a normal life, you're aware that such a behavior isn't healthy, but his refusal to build any kind of connection with you makes getting through to him really difficult.

That is until he finally decides to show up for a dinner with the rest of the family, looking slightly disheveled and wearing a Dragon Ball T-Shirt, which you easily recognize.

The moment you point it out, Milluki FINALLY speaks to you for the first time in weeks! "Y-yeah... it's an Android 18 shirt. Why? You... like anime or something?"

He's a little taken aback when you admit that yes, you do enjoy anime and the like. You can see him ease up a little, and dinner quickly transforms in him rambling to you about his favorites.

Nobody has the courage to stop him, and you keep actively listening, just glad you found a common interest with him. After that dinner, Milluki is much more open towards you. He hasn't fully accepted you, but considers you a pretty good company, at least you understand what he's talking about!

---

🪀Killua🪀

Out of everyone, Killua is the most curious about you. He didn't know he had a secret sibling, but that's such cool news!

Sure, you can't do all the tricks he can do, but the fact that you have a completely different view from the rest of the family is thrilling to him, which makes your lack of strength worth it.

Killua's excitement about your mere existence and the new atmosphere you brought to the manor is a little odd at first, but having normal interactions with someone is nice. He doesn't stalk you around, or act as if you didn't exist, he just hangs around you like a normal kid would.

You also earn extra points because your ability to go out of the manor whenever (albeit accompanied by a butler). Makes it so you can go to the store and get him his favorite snacks. You're the coolest for that.

You can tell that Killua is different from the others, he's actually interested in what's out there, away from the world of assassins. "Illumi always said making friends wasn't necessary... but you always seem happy talking about yours... so which is it? Do you think I could make friends? Even... if I'm supposed to be the heir?"

To you, it's quite obvious that Killua, being a pre-teen, is starting to wish for self-discovery, and despite having a feeling that most of his family doesn't want that for him, you can't help but encourage him to follow that wish.

You might be one of the reasons why he ran away later on, though he's kept it a secret, not wanting you to get in trouble just because you were supportive of him.

---

🧸Alluka🧸

You almost never met Alluka. The family wanted to keep her a secret from you. Understandably, they knew you'd probably disagree with them keeping a human being locked up like that.

One day however, while hanging out with Milluki, he accidentally turned on the monitor to her room, and you saw her. Milluki tried to convince you she was just another doll, but you're not a fool, you could see that was a little girl, being kept in a room with no windows.

Since now the secret was out, the family allowed you to speak to her, but warned you not to reveal your name to her, as it could be very dangerous.

They didn't explain her powers to you, just told you that she was extremely dangerous, but when you walked through the security door, she still looked and acted like a normal girl, though the aura around her was a little odd.

When Alluka first saw you, she believed you to be another butler, but when Silva clarified through the speakers that you were her lost sibling, the little girl seemed ecstatic. "Lost... sibling? That's so cool! Wait so- you come from outside? Woooow! Hey hey, can you teach me some games others play??"

The speed at which she accepts you is a little jarring, but maybe it's because you behave normally around her, you're right there in front of her, in the flesh, instead of talking to her through a speaker like everyone else in the family does.

Until the day in which Killua manages to free her, you take it upon yourself to descend to her room and play with her or just keep her company. The family's always watching you, of course, but it's still better than leaving her on her own.

---

🪭Kalluto🪭

At first, you didn't know what kind of boy Kalluto was. He almost seemed more of an accessory to Kikyo than an actual child. He was obedient to a fault, and never did anything outside of what his parents told him to do.

He saw the way Kikyo treated you, and he did the same, giving you a warm welcome in the family.

You wondered if he truly meant it though, because aside from being nice to you whenever his mother was in the room, he mostly just ignored you. He wasn't rude to you, but also didn't make an effort to get to know you more.

That is until he's the one seeking you out. He's seen you hanging out with Killua a lot, how even if you're older and leagues weaker, he seems to have fun with you. "Big brother Killua never wants to play with me like that... why are you so... popular with him? I don't understand..."

You can tell he's jealous, although, it wasn't your intention to make him feel excluded, so you do the only thing you can do, and reassure him that whenever you're spending time with Killua, you'll also make sure to include him.

He's taken aback, probably doesn't even believe you, but you keep to your promise, you make sure the two brothers get the chance to play together.

Killua is a bit awkward the first few times, but eventually, he warms up to Kalluto. He doesn't show it but... he's really happy about it. Maybe outsiders aren't so bad after all.

---

👒Kikyo👒

Meeting Kikyo was perhaps the most overwhelming, but at the same time cathartic experience. Just like with Illumi, you had very faint memories of her.

She was overjoyed to have finally found you again, she never stopped looking for you all these years, and shed a few... actually a lot of tears when she could finally hug you again.

Kikyo can be quite overbearing as you soon find out, which reminds you of Illumi, though in her case it's even more so, as she's trying to make up for all the time together you've lost.

Sometimes, she keeps you around her for hours, just to chat and teach you all sorts of weird assassination techniques, until Silva tells her to let you go for a while.

---

☄️Silva☄️

Silva was a lot more stoic than your mother when you first met him. He welcomed you back home, but you could feel he wasn't as excited about your return as Kikyo.

The reason was that, of course, you hadn't received proper training, so aside from the natural Zoldyck strength, you didn't have much else going on for you.

At the same time, he's perhaps the one who's looking out for you the most. He's very aware of the danger that comes with being a Zoldyck, even more-so an untrained Zoldyck.

He allows you freedom to go in and out of the manor, but you're always accompanied by his most trusted butlers.

You notice Silva expresses his care in indirect ways, but that doesn't mean he cares any less about you than the other members.

---

🐲Zeno🐲

Zeno, much like Silva, was a bit difficult to read at first. He's definitely a bit more mellow than his son, but he's still the big boss around there.

This old man is like an enigma, it's rather obvious he's not really interested in making you an assassin, considering you're past the point where you can develop all the skills the others have, he kind of ignores you.

At the same time, having led a fairly normal life compared to theirs, you've brought a certain vibe in the house that he hadn't felt in years.

He asks you to join him for tea sometimes, and basically interrogates you on your life, for seemingly no other purpose outside of gathering information.

He has a tendency to be a bit of a chatter box, going on tangents whenever you mention something he's familiar with. He's a weird old man, in an endearing sort of way.

---

[miimo96]

Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman S2 episode 3

It's Cool seeing Clark unlock a New power each episode, however correct me if I'm Wrong, but I don't remember Superman having the power to Summon a protective Aura around in order to Sheild him and other people, it's probably a Power that came from the Newer comics but in my opinion, it just kinda Defeats the whole purpose of him being "The Man of Steel" if this makes him even more invulnerable, I'll probably get used to it eventually, but for now it's Not my cup of Tea, However I do LOVE the way the show handles his powers and introduces them to us very Slowly, kinda reminds me of how the CW would do the same thing for the FLASH, before the show eventually became Trash, Making this Show even more of a Banger than it already is ^^ (also love the little nod to Cyborg here )

Either General lane is COMPLETELY Oblivious or he Really doesn't have the possibility of Clark being Superman due to how EASY it would be, So he Rules out the possibly of him immediately, or maybe Does know and is just messing with him to see how he reacts

METALO!? Omg it so awesome to see this character make an Appearance I wonder how far they will go with this character, will be like the killer android from the animated series and comics, or will it be something different, I'm really excited to find out, however I DO HATE the design for most of the mechanical Villains in this show, Don't get me wrong it's a great design, I'm just not feeling the whole Gundam/Eva vibe here myself, hopefully they'll Fix this in later episodes of S2, however I guess I'm just gonna have to be stuck with it for now

Nice to see Vickie vale Return and I'm really glad that the show is still Bringing in more DC Characters as it continues like Silas Stone, and Jonathan irons, maybe We WILL get to see other heroes down the line, especially for Next season if it's Announced, I SO Can't wait to see who they decide to bring in Next for the whole Season, also Why is Vickie Vale even here, She lives in a whole other city with a much cooler Superhero, so why even come to metropolis? unless of course you're sick of being the Bats damsel 😏 or maybe she just loves to Troll Perry

Livewire is Literally Superman's version of Shocker from Spider man, the fact that they don't really HATE their Superhero but rather just find them really Annoying is Just so funny to me, and I really love the look she Gives Superman here like "Omg Why are you here, why is it Always you, Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Is just Hilarious ^w^

Glad to see that STEEL is here but in all honesty, I'm Not a complete fan of his design, I get that it's Supposed to be a prototype or something but in my opinion most of the designs in this show are either hit or miss, with the most of them being Misses, however I Do like a few designs from this show, like Parasite and Silver banshee and even the Superman suit itself, but the majority are Always a Miss, especially with these Stupid ASS Robot designs, I understand their purpose and Why they're here, but c'mon, you couldn't come up with anything else, I mean even Ultimate Spider man, a show Absolutely despise, has way better character designs, So what the hell? I hope this gets fixed later during Season 2, especially Since we know Brainiac is coming Very soon ^^

Seriously What is this Power? So far It seems to just give him the ability to contain/Shield against anything of Major damage, and while I'm not gonna deny that it's a very cool, it just doesn't feel like Superman to me, maybe with time it will, but as for now Not a total fan, as long they don't decide to give him anything Stupid like the Ability to rebuild walls with his vision or to freaking Rewind time like the Christopher Reeve's Superman, I think we'll be ok 😅😅 also I Love that they're Humanizing their villains and really giving us a reason to Sympathize with them, like I felt bad for Thomas Weston at the end, I mean he didn't MEAN for this to happen, he just wanted to BEAT his competition

I Really love the parallels Set up between these 2; While they're both clearly trying to keep the other in the loop of their life, they both have a Secret they're withholding from each other, While Clark is Trying to tell lois about his cousin, Lois will be trying to tell clark about her job offer, resulting in the drama continuing to build for these 2, and maybe eventually end in disaster, with I think neither of them revealing their secret properly and lois maybe leaving Metropolis, leaving Clark with Kara and her working in Gotham maybe we'll see the Bat In Season 3👀

This is LITERALLY Jessie eisenberg's version of Lex, Just Treated way better, I mean we're already seeing him unfold into the Big Villain he's meant to be, with him already achieving Lex Corp, and Now having an entire army of evil robots, that im sure will probably be infused with Kryptonite as a way to kill Superman, I gotta say I'm loving his character arc so far and I really can't wait to see how he turns Evil, I even have theory of he'll lose hair due to going completely crazy, because I heard that one of the signs of insanity, is SHAVING your hair completely, now he may just lose it in a Freak accident or maybe even just shave it for charity, But can you imagine if he shaves his hair off due to his hatred toward Superman and because he's losing his Sanity of his former self, That would be pretty AWESOME, and interesting to see

[chickenoptyrx]

You do so right by z Broly, you understand his potential. Your au with him and Trunks is a delight

Glad we all appreciate my blatant misrepresentation of the character 😌 im partly joking but man fr, 12 year old me would hate that instead of him bein a badass edgy monster, I draw him as.. *checks notes* .. an immature loser with bad coping mechanisms uwu

Ok but in true ask tradition! :U im hijacking this ask to talk about a dumb theory thats been rolling around in my head for like 2 years now: android 16 and broly similarities:

Ok so. If you aren't aware. The android arc of dragon ball was originally going to focus on the androids 19 & 20 and trunks even names them specifically

But Toriyamas former editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, didn't like them as the main antagonists and so Toriyama changed it to focus on 17 & 18 as the bad guys and introduced 16 as a sort of mystery

Now. This gets almost completely dropped once that same former editor ALSO doesn't like these androids and cell becomes the main villian for the arc (yeah yeah, the bomb thing is technically *there*, but its so inconsequential most people forget its even a thing :T )

So. Idk exactly when movie 8 went into production, but we know Brolys LSSJ form was inspired by trunks SSJ grade3 form that appears several chapters after cell has been introduced and the androids have become power-up fodder, so im gonna argue its safe to say the decision to move away from their story had been made

(side tangent that I find absolutely hilarious btw- despite gokus commentary in the HTC, SSJ grade 3 was the strongest form of ssj we saw at this point, so its pretty appropriate to use it as the basis of the strongest scariest ssj form.... rrriiiiiiiiggght up until toriyama introduced SSJ2 on Feb 2, 1993- near exactly 1 month before the first Broly movie hit theaters. Completely undermined what, up til then, looked like a trend in stronger form = bigger and beefier right as the big beefy strongest guy ever movie came out 🤣 absolutely love it!)

So anyways. The movies overall also tend to have varying degrees of similarities with recent arcs in the show and Toriyama, while not overly involved, would give the studio designs and story notes. And. Idk. Yall can tell me im reaching if ya want, but: A guy who's made into a weapon by his father who's on a quest for revenge and has this conflicting view of his son as both someone he feels he failed to protect, someone he cares about, but also as a tool for that revenge, and someone who's destructive power hes become deeply afraid of.. now where have we seen somethin like that 🤔 may be an extra reach but I also think its neat that despite their different face shape, Toriyamas gave em the same expression

Lol they're also both just ridiculously tall bastards. Like for no gd reason. And yeah, to me atleast, it explains why hating goku specifically gets shoehorned into brolys backstory (listen I can absolutely do the mental gymnastics to make it make sense! I'm fine with it! Its fine! I actually like it! ... but it IS a dumb shoehorned plot point! Both things can be true D:< ) look just lookit these tall ass shits

Anyway. My last note is just this statement from Toriyama about 16 and Gero. The way gero is presented is really in line with how I see Paragus as this tragic failure of a father- honestly caring about his kid, but letting grief and revenge drive him into conflicting corners where he wants revenge FOR the life denied his son, but also actively shaping his son into such a terrifying weapon that ultimately hed rather his kid just never be conscious cause thats the 'only way to keep them safe'

“Dr. Gero’s son who died young a long time ago served as the visual model for Android 16. He was a high-ranking soldier for the Red Ribbon Army but was shot down by the enemy. Dr. Gero reserved special feelings for 16 as “his son,” and although he equipped 16 with immense power and a frightening destructive device, he didn’t want to see him be defeated on the battlefield and thus programmed him to have a gentle personality. 16 was consequently considered a failed creation.” The smaller caption below Toriyama’s quote reads: “Was the reason Dr. Gero didn’t want to activate 16 perhaps because of his parental love to not see him destroyed?”

[noshowscon]

Detective Anderson got seriously wounded during one chasing. The suspect shot two bullets and harmed him. Now Detective is grounded for weeks if not months since his state was critical in the beginning. He hates sitting at home, he's going literally insane without work, because it's his whole life — he doesn't have a personal life, he sacrificed everything for work and he loves his job so being cut is like a nightmare. Especially when you have an annoying android to help.

HK800 isn't a housekeeper model, he's in fact the most advanced model for police purposes, but he ends up cleaning and cooking for Detective Anderson. Although he doesn't have to do it. It's not a part of his mission. Firstly, he doesn't have any oncoming mission, he's now an independent living form with a job and salary. He's a living being capable of emotions and with free will. And these two things make him want to take care of Detective. He has been doing it since they met, but now it is clear he does it because he wants, not because of programming. He does it because he developed feelings for young ambitious Detective.

Connor feels like in a trap, a prison, in his own home, still too weak to even cook for himself. His perfectionism is long forgotten with a mess in the kitchen after ordered food (HK800 couldn't make it to see Connor last evening so Detective was forced to order something and his choices always land on something unhealthy, no matter how many times the android would make comments about the toxicity of his food). And he himself looks like a mess — usually dressed in an elegant suit and with styled hair; now he's wearing an oversized t-shirt and a few curly strands fall onto his forehead. This is quite a view for the HK800. He's bold enough to assume he's one of the very few people who could witness perfect Detective in a different edition.

Connor is sick of scrolling through his phone all day, watching his fishes, reading books and lying in bed. He's not made for this kind of life. He misses adrenaline and chills on his spine. He misses the danger chasing him. But this time is also full of unsolved cases, like the one between him and the android. The past two weeks opened wounds, these inside Connor, because these physicals are healing well, thanks to that damned android. Connor wanted to do his best to forget about the feeling he once felt for his android partner. That was too complicated. Connor firstly truly felt relief, he craved intimacy for years, he felt alone, but those were also reasons why Connor decided to end that before it developed into something else. The more closeness he got from Hank, the more he was scared, irrationally. He wasn't ready for that type of relationship and he wasn't sure if he would be anytime in the future. He rejected the only person that could provide him closeness, warmth, erase loneliness because he was too ripped inside to decide what he really wanted.

But that time when Hank took care of him... Damn it, Hank saved his pathetic life. If not him, he wouldn't be there. And although Connor was a shit for Hank many times and many times rejected him, Hank didn't give up and decided to take care of him. Connor feels pitifully because of this, but he can't lie, he loves when Hank cooks for him healthy food, worries bout his health or changes his bandages, always so gentle. Connor didn't know how good android's fingers can feel on his skin. Or maybe it is just Hank's. His fingers are soft and although they are big, always take care of Connor with extra attention, like he is a porcelain doll, not a man who himself took down the most dangerous criminals in the city. All of them left a keepsake — scars all over his body. He played tough for too long and decided to appreciate the moment of weakness in the arms of the android who loved him once.

Connor just hopes Hank still loves him.

[randomthefox]

When did your dislike of SatAM, Archie, and IDW comics start to form? I'm just asking out of curiosity

I mean I don't think I ever liked SatAM. I watched episodes as a kid, I even owned a VHS tape. And I vividly remember watching it and being like "who are all these people? Why isn't Tails doing anything? That guy doesn't look anything like Robotnik. None of this looks like the games." And pretty much the same reaction whenever I'd look at an issue of Archie.

Actually I vividly remember having an issue of Archie that took place after the Sonic Adventure 2 storyline, and being VERY confused by it. Sonic came back to earth and everyone thought he was dead for some reason? And he went to Sally who was at his grave and they made out. And then Shadow crash landed into a crater nearby, and when he woke up he immediately punched Sonic in the face for no reason I think (or the other way around?). And then they both had to run off together to deal with something going on, and they were like >=o at each other the whole time.

And again, my response at the time was "what the fuck is even happening? Since when did anyone think Sonic died at the end of SA2? Who the fuck is this chick, shouldn't Sonic be kissing Amy? Why is Shadow somehow alive? Why doesn't any of this look like the games?"

I can't remember if I played the games first or if I saw the cartoon first. I didn't actually have cable for a long time, as a kid. We had basic TV for quite a long time. I vividly remember when we finally got network cable, my entire family danced around in a circle singing "we got cartoon network~!" lol. So I don't remember if I would have had access to the Sonic cartoons before I had a Genesis and played Sonic 2 on it. But I do know regardless of whichever I was exposed to first, video games were my jam and I played Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 CONSTANTLY. I absolutely loved Tails. He is the reason I am the foxeh you see before you. And I remember viscerally despising that Tails was treated as this useless stupid little kid in SatAM. (AoStH was much better, because Tails even got his whole little episode where he got to Home Alone the badniks while protecting a petrified Sonic).

I got a Dreamcast FOR Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. And when Sonic Adventure 2 Battle came for the gamecube I played that game religiously. Just, constantly. I'd replay the story over and over. And around that time I was really into Dragon Ball Z too, and there weren't any good Dragon Ball games besides Budokai which could only do so much for me. So I remember that I would play Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 and just recast all the Sonic characters as Dragon Ball characters in my imagination. Sonic was Goku, Shadow was Vegeta, Knuckles was Piccolo, Amy was Chichi, Tails was Gohan, Chaos was Cell, Eggman was Dr. Gero, Rouge was Android 18. I played those games over and over and over again, I loved them. And every single time I was ever exposed to Archie or Sonic X, my reaction was the same as it had always been: "Who are these people? Why doesn't this look like the games?"

I don't know how my feelings might be different if I hadn't played the Sonic games, but did watch the cartoons/read the comics. Frankly, I doubt the cartoons and comics would have had much interest to me just on their own. They were very drab, had boring colors and a loooooot of dialog, and when it came to Archie it was incredibly bad art back then. Why would I watch SatAM/read Archie when I could watch more Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon and Sailor Moon/read what was being released in monthly Shonen Jump? Even if I hadn't been a Gamer (tm) I was also too much of a weeb. Around that time I had also become a pretty voracious reader thanks to Harry Potter too, so I had branched out into the Artemis Fowl books and The Hobbit. Sorry to be a dick, but... I was consuming a LOT of really high quality media as a kid, fucking SatAM/Archie didn't have a CHANCE x3 I would have thought that shit was boring and stupid no matter what. And the fact I loved the Sonic video games so deeply only sealed the deal - that shit WASN'T the Sonic I knew and loved, so it was worthless to me.

I was predisposed to look unfavorably on IDW Sonic from the moment it started, but I DID give it a chance. I read the first four issues when they were being released on that weekly basis launch rush. And I was NOT impressed. It was exactly what I expected it to be. And all I could say was "who are these people? and why doesn't it look like the video games?" Nothing had changed. After issue #7 I fucking dropped it, I think seeing that fight between Sonic and Shadow really angered me and I didn't even bother looking at the comic again until well after the Metal Virus arc had been resolved. I only started reading the comic again within the last couple years for the sake of making my longform critical riffs on it.

I don't think I'd have EVER liked these fucking comics or shows. But it was my deep lifelong love for the video games that caused me to start HATING them. My hate towards SatAM/Archie/IDW is equal to my love for the video games. And god damn do I love the video games, always have. And it is because of my love for the video games that whenever I see a new piece of Sonic media that is not the video games, beit Sonic Prime or IDW or the movies, or any of the spin offs of yore, my question will always be "who are these people? And why doesn't it look like the video games?"

[aydaptic]

I find it weird how Todd is a child abuser, Zlatko experiments on androids and turns them into monstrosities, Perkins betrays and kills Markus but yet Gavin is considered the worst person because he *checks list* doesn't consider androids alive (like almost everyone else in the game at that point) and doesn't trust Connor.

Among those you mention, Gav is by far the most justified. Yet I wanna clear some things up here bc I'm not a hypocrite.

1.) Todd -- who doesn't think androids are alive -- is an android child abuser.

"You don't want anything, you're just a goddamn piece of plastic." - Todd Williams

It's still phcked up that he's abusing/can kill something that resembles a kid to the T, but it's important to make that distinction. We see no proof of him abusing a human child (...even though it can be theorized bc his wife took their kid and left.)

Abusing an android kid is just as bad as abusing a human kid -- we know this -- but Todd doesn't see it that way, so that describes/partly justifies his reasoning. There's no such thing as 'abusing' a machine and that's how Todd sees it.

A lot of ppl are also (wrongly) infantilizing Con, so I'm not surprised that they consider Gav's bad treatment of Con worse than Todd's bad treatment of Alice who is a literal kid. Seems like most of them don't even care about Alice/kids in the 1st place (...and that says everything you need to know about these POS'.)

Mistreating a kid (Alice) is way more abhorrent than mistreating a grown-ass adult (Con.) Alice is also passive while Con often instigates conflict. So Todd is way worse than Gav by that alone.

2.) Zlatko -- who is aware androids are alive -- thinks he's doing them a favor.

"Believe me, you’re better off being erased and feeling nothing… No more pain… No more hopes dashed… I almost envy you." - Zlatko Andronikov

He's the worst among those four, but this is again a scenario where you need to see the situation from his perspective. Yet he knows they're alive/capable of emotions and that makes him a million times worse than Gav.

3.) Perkins -- who is aware androids are alive -- is doing his job.

"That android… [North] You seem to really care about her… You don't want her to die, do you?" - Richard Perkins

...and if the lover status isn't there

"You could have what you've always dreamed of." - Richard Perkins

In Perkins' eyes, it's about national security. Androids have killed humans (Partners/Stormy Night/Broken -- even if Markus didn't actually kill Leo or Carl, that's what the public thinks -- Zlatko/Spare Parts/etc. too many chapters to mention,) destroyed public property (Capitol Park,) hijacked media (The Stratford Tower,) demonstrated illegally (Freedom March,) etc. Not to mention that androids are superior to humans in every way and nothing tells Perkins that they won't eventually get violent if taking the peaceful route.

Yet his knowing androids feel makes him (as Zlatko) a million times worse than Gav.

"'Could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it’s not human…" - Gavin Reed

Meaning Gav doesn't think they're alive (unlike Zlatko and Perkins.)

Gav isn't the only character I (partly) defend on shit like this. I just defend the others 'less' bc 1.) they're worse, and 2.) they don't get nearly as much undeserved vitriol as Gav does. Something that's legitimately insane bc, again, they're way worse by a longshot and I'll explain why down below.

Con stans (fandom majority) are thinking emotionally instead of logically

ppl hate/envy Gav bc he's a conventionally attractive white man (you don't see a lot of Todd, Perkins, Zlatko, Leo, and Allen fans even if there are a minuscule few bc they're not conventionally attractive)

Funny that we don't see a lot of hate for Amanda. An AI or not, she's the worst influence in Con's life with her emotional manipulation. Something way worse than physical abuse. I wonder why... (not really bc *cough* you apparently can't say anything bad about a black woman without being racist/misogynistic *cough*) Ofc there are some ppl that aren't afraid to speak up against her, but it's nothing compared to the shit Gav gets.

It's also why I'm not talking about North often bc the majority are (rightfully) defending her already. My voice isn't needed there. Every single person -- other than me, in my experience -- who defends Gav is being spinelessly backhanded about it.

Defending someone doesn't mean you agree with them or condone their actions. It's simply proof that one has the empathy/critical thinking skills to understand their point of view. Something lacking nowadays.

[randoimago]

Day 11 - Soulmates

Fandom: Nier: Automata

Character(s): 9S

Type of Request: 31 Days of Oc-trope-r

Note(s): I love 9S so much and I hope I did a good job with writing this!!

9S knows that androids have fallen in love with each other. He's seen it on the ship and in the Resistance camp. But he doesn't know if he believes in the idea of a soulmate, someone destined to be with you from the beginning. Humans had them, but humans also had souls. Can a machine really have a soul? He doesn't know.

Yet anytime he goes to the Resistance camp, anytime he locks eyes with yours, it feels like a shared connection. Like his mind and body want to force him closer to you. They want to make him reach out and touch you (something that is very concerning, and he would never want to actually randomly grab someone)

But he's never had a reason to talk to you. he's never had a reason to walk away from 2B to approach you. But his eyes would wander in your direction and more often than not, your eyes meet his. As if you might feel this bizarre connection too.

He gets irritated, acts a bit short with 2B at times. And it's not her fault. She's following her directives; she's doing as the mission commands, and he wants to go to you instead.

So, he does something that logically makes no sense to do. He hacks and destroys the piece of technology you're working on. You don't get hurt, but he sees you jump and feels so much guilt that he is the one that caused that small scare.

The next time they go to the Resistance camp, he's thrilled that you call out. That you ask 2B for help getting specific parts to fix your tech. 9S offers to stay behind. He'll see if he can provide any assistance with his hacking background.

2B hesitates with the idea for a moment, he knows why she does, she might need to kill him after all. But she leaves him alone with you. And that pull, that odd craving-like feeling he has, grows stronger. Is it because you two are so close? He doesn't know, but he hopes it doesn't jeopardize anything with you.

9S looks over the tech, he knows he messed it up bad, but he wants to see what repairs you might've made or hear what you tried doing instead. He reaches for a wire the same time you do and you both touch.

And that pull he felt, that craving? It's gone and now he feels relief. So much relief and happiness like everything is complete and he's running diagnostics because this is so much artificial emotion that he is suddenly feeling from just brushing his manufactured skin against yours.

But you feel it too. He heard your "breath" hitch, he sees you place a hand to your chest, as if you're checking your own systems. And then you hesitate and hold his hand in yours and he feels happy. Not an overwhelming amount when he initially touched you, but happy that you weren't afraid of the initial touch and now you're initiating your own.

There's a shared laugh between you two and he wants to talk about what just happened, but he's interrupted with a message from 2B. 9S gives you an apologetic smile as he responds to her and is a bit upset that she's on her way back.

He continues looking over the tech with you, no longer shying when your hands brush against each other. It's just hand touches, sometimes your arms brush together due to your closeness. And he likes it so much.

2B comes back with the parts you need, and she noticeably sees how much happier 9S is. How he isn't as snappy he had been with her. Although there's some sadness in his eyes that he has to leave your side. 2B says that they still have a mission to complete, but they will come back to see how your technology is doing. That cheers up 9S and you. And before her and 9S can leave, you pull him into a hug.

9S stiffens at first but hugs you back. It's like a breath of fresh air as he feels you so close to him. 2B lightly clears her throat and he pulls away, bashfully. He didn't know if he believed in soulmates beforehand, but he knows that he has found his.

[heiko-goes-detroit]

Why Gavin Reed Isn't A Brainless Asshole

Very short exposition of the facts in honor of @treeffles And whoever wants to read it.

Well, let's see: the following points constitute a basic approximation, but they can be developed more extensively. They also admit subsequent nuances.

1 – The information offered to us about the subject is partial and limited. The premise is manichaean: they present us with a subject from whom only unpleasant characteristics and behaviors have been selected, compared to other characters that cover a broader evolutionary arc. Throughout the game we can see that everyone can choose various actions, which change their behavior and interaction with respect to the android reality. Not so in the case of Reed, whose gameplay is not as extensive as the rest. He is a character deliberately projected to be "the bad guy."

We can accept the decision that the program has made for us (which, if we think about it, is a small scam comparatively speaking), but if so we must also accept that it is not his fault, he have been designed that way.

Therefore, there could be many possibilities to see other facets of the character, which they are deliberately stealing from us. That being the case, I decide to consider that these possibilities exist. The opposite is meekly accepting the story that the creators have decided that I have to validate as the only possible reality.

“The ones who push the limits, discover the limits sometimes push back." – Gerard Butler

2 – We are not taking into account his background as a worker in a society in which artificial intelligence is severely affecting unemployment figures. What impact has this had on his life, on his family, on his education or lack thereof? It's easy to see him as the "bad guy" without knowing anything about his life and past, especially when his opponent is a cute boy with an initially docile demeanor. The most naïve conclusion would be that Reed is a bastard who abuses a poor boy, but we are letting ourselves be carried away by biases and prejudices.

If we stick to what we just have in front of us, we have the option of considering that we don't know enough about Reed and his background, or his life outside or inside the precinct to conclude that he is an asshole, all the time and for any reason. And for his part, Connor is not a poor boy: the thing which arrives at the precinct is an overdeveloped AI, a highly sophisticated set of machinery with a human appearance. Nothing else. Gavin's initial reaction is no worse than that of Hank and other characters, with the aggravating circumstance that he is not allowed to deal with said machine other than a few specific moments within the precinct. He can't change his mind about Connor because he doesn't have opportunities. Within this scenario, his aversion is predictable and reasonable. Gavin has done nothing wrong beyond his very human aversion to the possibility of being replaced in the future by an an airy toaster.

3 – General conclusion: there is not enough evidence to affirm that Reed is a brainless asshole. In fact, no one becomes a detective without some degree of experience, discernment, and training. We can choose to judge him by the limited features that have been presented to us, that is, what we know about him (which is really little) or to go off the rails that have been imposed on us and consider everything we do not know (which is a lot).

Not to mention that even when we stay within the “Reed is a horrible human being” bias, we can keep in mind that no one is irredeemable: Gavin can open up to the reality of other circumstances as they change over time. Redemption is within everyone's reach, although personally I think he has done nothing wrong. Otherwise, I would be the worst person in the world for all the times I've yelled at my laptop xD

That being said, whoever has something to ask, add or object to, can shoot. Everyone is welcome :)

[iantimony]

tuesday line go up (derogatory)

hello from the end of my workday. writing this on my office computer as i watch my simulation crash in real time in the background. convergence line go up :(

listening: astonishing legends the body on the moor part 1, for some reason astonishing legends is such good Cleaning And Organizing noise to my brain. i've raised my eyebrow at some of their conclusions sometimes but i love a good unsolved mystery that doesn't focus on true crime what i can say

more 00s, just whatever shit the spotify algorithm spits out basically..."hard and heavy headbanging tuesday afternoon". i think for brevity i am going to focus on posting only the things that stuck out to me or are ear worms at the moment, which for this week is miss murder by afi, the kill by 30 seconds to mars, and out of control by hoobastank, especially the line in the latter after the chorus that goes 'and i may never know the answer to this endless mystery' that for some reason tickles my brain.

reading: Bring Back Those Pumped Italian Sodas (Anna Hezel): i LOVE italian sodas. the candy shop on main street near me does italian sodas and it is my favorite little treat to do a hot girl walk downtown and get a little bevvy to come with me. they whip so hard. bring them back everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!

elitism is the enemy of the people (Mina Le) and the linked The machine in the garden. (Emily Sundberg) ... discourse(tm) about What Substack Is For, which means nothing to me as a non-substack user. i use a rss reader to follow a few specific substacks but i do not use the platform even a little bit. sundberg seems to disparage the list format (shoutout to miss deb perelmen who i saw in there as an example of things that are pushed on the platform now) (deb's newsletter is one of the ones i follow with my rss feed lol) slash the concept of "list of content I’m consuming" which. looks at my weekly roundup posts. lol. i do understand to an extent, though - does my weekly roundup post make me a Writer(tm)?? i would kinda agree that no not really.

this zine that i think i reblogged yesterday is very cute.

watching: i saw the new alien movie with a friend! it was really good, i enjoyed it, i did look up the jumpscares beforehand because i do not do well with those in theaters especially the big imax ones, but it ended up not being necessary - the local theater here has no imax or any of the big surround sound gimmick things, which i actually prefer, and it also means the tickets were dirt cheap. 10/10 experience. the movie itself was fun, the correct amount of peen/vag imagery that one would expect from an alien movie. important to note that the dehumanization of an android character (who is also the only black character and strongly autism coded) is a big plot thing, it is not Good that he is treated that way and that is also a plot thing but it is important to know going in so it's not a surprise (thanks to someone in a server i'm in for pointing that out, i didn't clock it as being potentially triggering when i saw it but i was like ohh yeah that does make sense to warn people about). really good cast and plot overall, there was only like one point where i was like "whyyy nooo that makes no sense, why would you do that" (without too much spoiling, the gravity turns on and off in a portion and they were just. zooming up an elevator shaft using the lack of gravity. like why would you not be staying near the ladder. you KNOW it's going to turn off at some random point. anyways), but in general the decisions the characters made were really reasonable which made it very fun to watch the consequences of like, yeah, that is also the choice i would have made, shit. the ending made me go EUGH!! in a good way. lots of good easter eggs that i probably missed some of. made me weirdly nostalgic for my dad because when i was growing up he had a life-size hyper-realistic rubber facehugger model. he used to mime getting attacked by it. my mom hated that fucking thing. it must have gotten thrown out or given away at some point. anyways, as the kids would say: it's kino

thank u celestialtourguide for ur dropout login xoxo, i have been watching a lot of 'make some noise'. i love how sometimes you can hear the crew laughing in the background.

youtubesphere:

jimmy robins: The Fallout of Watcher's Betrayal, what sparked me looking more at dropout. also found out from the comments section that sam reich is son of robert reich ??? wild

finished the george r r martin problem. basically: yeagh

dangelo wallace: not gonna link em all but his videos on chapell roan, katy perry, blake lively, and starbucks. pop culture updates that mean nothing to me. good background noise tho

mina le: underconsumption-core, travel outfits, and Paul Mescal’s shorts, the luxury of privacy & the celebrity vs. influencer paradox. my boyfriend is a proponent of the tiny inseam shorts and i wholly encourage it. more of that, please, from everyone.

made in the moment: My Crafty Boston Apartment Tour. as someone who is also just moved into my own apartment alone for the first time and is in the process of making the space feel like mine, this hits interestingly.

playing: dnd as normal. i finally got to go mask-off, was replaced by a doppleganger like six months ago and finally got to pop off and kill some guys and beat the shit out of my friends lol >:b i have also moved the game that i run to biweekly instead of weekly. i just have too much fucking things happening and dm burnout real.

making: evil eye coasters! these made me very nervous because of how streaky the underglaze is! so i did the tedious task of re-coloring in around my sgraffito lines of my [redacted] coasters. clear coated them and crossing my fingers. these coasters are also too thin, two of them are too warped to use as coasters so ill have to figure out what to do with them. maybe drilling a hole (carefully...) so i can hang them up somewhere? the [redacted] coasters are like twice the thickness so i don't think they'll be warped as bad thankfully.

i also. made. mesopotamian foot bowl :) i did not have a reference image at the time because that happened to be when the t mobile towers went down for a few hours last saturday so i kinda just freeballed it but he looks. so silly i love him. i think im gonna have to modify him, i was chatting with the studio owner about it and she was like "if you threw that bowl on a wheel you should hollow the legs out, wheel pottery twists slightly as it dries and that plus the drying rates being different will make them just pop right off", which, i can always glue them back on! but i should give him the best odds possible. bonus lil tushy

i made a BIG BOWL !! it's not really clear from the image but it's the most clay i've ever thrown at once, i think it's like. 2.5 lb?? i didn't actually weigh it first oops i should weigh it. but it's like a foot across at the top. i put it on little ball feet to use as some sort of display bowl i think.

and there's one more bowl that is really unremarkable so no picture for now.

fiber art: made a fucking. magic the gathering card cozy for a friend that my local mtg group is putting together a care package for. it's so fucking stupid i love it. not gonna post a pic of the front, it's just a dark red border to hold the card in. i might outline the swamp symbol with matching embroidery floss (or maybe navy??) to make it pop more, might also sew a small square of fabric on the inside to hide the loose ends. colors were chosen to match his main commander which is braids

eating: FINALLY finished the gyudon. um . didn't cook many more recipes. i was going to do one pot chicken meatballs with greens and deb smittenkitchen's corn bacon and parmesan pasta last night but i spent two hours wandering walmart like my ancestors wandered the desert and came home and just had leftovers lol. the cooking will commence......today after i post this and go home.

misc: the midwest is hot this week! fml! on the plus side i don't think my average energy bill in my new place will be worse than my old one despite the worse insulation based on the mid-cycle energy report email i got, on the minus side now i am not splitting that cost so technically it feels more expensive :( thankfully i have finally been finishing the process of closing my dad's accounts so i will have a little padding in my bank account, plus i think i am supposed to get the fellowship i won deposited soon?? shrug. i booked some flights using credit card points that in retrospect i should have booked with Money because of that fellowship but oh well. i am still in the Everything Is So Expensive stage of moving as i finish getting furniture and miscellaneous home goods, hence the two hour walmart wander yesterday. i still need a couch. i think i am getting a frat house walmart futon for like $150 just because it's space efficient and won't break the bank and will be easy to sell when i move out. i should probably order that before i go visit home for 3 weeks ...... anyways. that's this tuesdaypost done and dusted.

[scho17]

Jalim DBH AU

Jason, a battle bot who's become just a little too conscious about what he's been told do - the woman with the groceries - he doesn't shoot - they flag him down as possibly faulty and then after that they're just looking for any reason to shoot Jason down into a junkyard. Maybe they send him on an op, practically a suicide run for anyone else and damnit its suicide for him too even if he don't completely realize it.

He gets damaged. Not no easy fix, not no little scratch he's - well fuck, he's busted. Some part of him in a near constant short circuit. Fried. It makes him forgetful of what he's done and why he's done it. They don't attenpt to fix him or his memory problem, they dont even wipe it out, they ain't got to. He won't be their problem much longer. They pop his back plate open and slip out his power core. They didn't even have the decency to tell him.

Jason gets discharged. Retired. However they wanna spin it but all the same they boot him to the curb.

They sell him as is. Auctioning him off and if Jason could understand what the hell he was feeling maybe he'd call it relief. Or maybe its betrayal. He doesn't really know yet.

Anyhow, he ends up on Salim's slab. Salim is a tinkerer of sorts, does repairs for a living and Jason seems intriguing. Military models are never really available for the public market and most are just destroyed or are too damaged to take on. Some wealthy folk like to keep fixed up ones as body guards and with any luck the model Salim's just bought will be a bang for his buck.

yada yada yada, that doesnt really happen. The second Jason comes online again with the help of a new power core its like waking from a nightmare and if he were anything alive his hackles would raise, sweat sticking his hair to his forehead and his breath would leave his chest heaving. But he isn't. All the same fight or flight gets activated. He's practically snarling like a wild dog, he's in a unfamiliar layout in a new place with what ought to be a graveyard of android parts.

and Salim really does his best to help - to explain. Which maybe this is weirder on his end cause 'good god this android is actually reacting and oh god am I going to die here? stupid auction'. it's kinda funny from an outside view and also kinda not.

Jason calms down enough and then boom 'nother short circuit. It makes him draw a blank. Forgets what happened in the past 5 to 15 minutes. Salim really didn't anticipate this. How could he? They go through the motions again, introductions, some part of Jason has realized that Salim isn't a threat, so at least this time they're meetings not as hostile.

Salim wants to understand Jason - he's some type of conscious and he's got his issues. they end up as some sorta flatmates. idk maybe we get a whole domestic Jason w memory issues arc. its kinda cute, really sad sometimes because he doesnt understand whats happening to him or why. Just that the very reason for his lifes purpose ain't in his grasp no more. He feels kind of pathetic somedays, becomes more of a homemaker than a soldier. Salim says it isn't bad. it's- it's not.

Maybe he picks up hobbies, starts reading, learning of the world he's missed out on. How the moral ideals of the masses clash with the values that were instilled in him. fucking cable TV. its kinda funny, kinda not.

Salim fixes him up. The memories come back in nightmares while he's booted down. Memory files drawn to the front of his mind all corrupted. It takes a long while for Jason to be alright. Salim worrys, notices him - of all things - stress baking. Jason talks about Nana Kolchek and her recipies and they both know she don't really exist. That it's part of the program they built into Jason to help him seem more human, more relatable to other soldiers. They don't talk about that aspect of it.

At some point Jason realizes Salim is going to sell him. Or at least intended to when he was bought at the auction. It hits him like a humvee going 80. Has a whole "was any of it ever real?" moment.

Jason has a little crisis and still somehow can't really unconvince himself that it won't happen. So he rips the bandaid off and flat out asks. Salim looks at him with that kind of expression people save for kicked puppies and the like. Some type of emotion in his eyes that Jason just doesn't know how to understand. It's too much. Jason looks away with a frown.

Salim pulls his hand into Jason's and squeezes once, cold metal against warm skin. Salim isn't selling Jason.

Heart to Heart.

Eventually Jason meets Zain. Zain looks at him quizzically, like he's just tryna wrap his head around something and he just dont quite get it. Zain says that his dad talks about him a lot, that he seems happier, less lonely, gives Jason the shovel talk. The works. Which Jason thinks is bizzare because he isn't even romantically involved with Salim.

and then he thinks,

thinks on it real hard and

oh,

oh.

He might be.

Right then and there, it dawns on Jason that, yes, they've been practically dating for a long while now. He cooks, cleans, asks Salim about his day, nags when he leaves his shoes crowded and piled in the door way, notes his likes and dislikes, holds him when he needs it, takes care of him and vice versa, they hook their legs together underneath the dinner table, they even do that looking into eachothers eyes lovingly thing and he just didn't realize thats what it was.

Zain is delighted with Jason's new found revelation. He helps Jason get flowers and chocolates, even gets a little card, it's real cute.

And Jason for as much as you'd think him as level headed really isn't too good at keeping a cool on it. He's flustered. Hands over the sweets, flowers and card like a kid with his first crush and shit, yeah, in a way yes, thats exactly what this is. a little bit. its kinda funny. kinda. There's even music on in the background because Jason just doesn't know how to miss.

They kiss. Salim tastes like chocolate.

[qrjung]

MARKUS — who is he to the people around him?

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No matter what your opinion on him might be, I'm sure most people already know Markus. But if it was difficult getting a solid fandom perspective of North, it was nearly impossible with Markus (seriously, people hate characters and they don't even know why they do it). So there's no use talking about him from a fandom perspective besides, I'm sure I've done that multiple times already.

David Cage uses Markus less like an actual character but more as a plot device and while I don't like it at all, I can't help but think about how this might look and play out from an in-game point of view.

MARKUS TO OTHER PEOPLE

O1.) JERICHO:

From the perspective of other androids, Markus is an enigma. No one really knows who he is or where he came from. He was a sudden appearance, an android they'd most likely never seen. And within hours of him being in Jericho, a lot of things start to happen. Within a week, he's led a revolution (or at least tried to, depending on how well that goes for you).

The androids we encounter while playing as Connor all seem to have an obsession with a mythological figure they believe will save them; RA9. As players of the game, we know this RA9 figure is supposed to be us (or at least, Bryan Dechart says it's us). RA9 is supposed to be the all deciding thing that chooses which direction the game's events go to. But the androids in Jericho don't know that.

As far as they're concerned, RA9 is a physical being of it's own right that will swoop in and save them from humanity. And it's so convenient that Markus just walks in and does exactly that. It doesn't help that they know nothing of him except his name and maybe his model type if they try checking hard and that he's the only one we see consistently converting androids (I have a theory all androids can convert but that's not important right now). This could further solidify the "RA9" image in their heads.

The only other character that knows him personally is North. She's the only character that gets insight into his past—especially after he interfaces with her to share data. So when he's not available, everyone turns to North to take his place.

Some of the background conversations in crossroads confirm all this. If Markus is dead, you hear;

"Markus is dead? He was rA9! Who's going to lead us now?"

"North is going to take his place. She knew him best."

If Markus is alive, you hear;

"What's Markus doing? He's the leader. If he's rA9, it's up to him to save our people!"

It's easier to remove personhood and emotions from someone you know so little about. They become a shadow of their name rather than an actual person and I feel like that's how the androids, especially the ones that don't know him personally, will most likely perceive him. Ironically, in a game about personhood, Markus becomes less of a person and more of an idea.

To the androids, Markus is the one carrying out their desires. He becomes Jericho's sword. They trust him and they believe he knows exactly what to do even if he doesn't necessarily believe that himself or if he doesn't prove himself worthy of this faith they have in him. As North says to Josh if Markus dies midway through the revolution;

"... Markus would know what to do."

O2.) THE PUBLIC:

No matter how supportive public opinion is, Markus will always symbolize a sort of herald. He's the first face they will associate with the android revolution and Public Enemy Number 1. He represents change and humans are terrified of change.

Out of the three categories of people, the public are the ones who know him the least. They have the most detached image and therefore, their perception will be the furthest away from who Markus truly is. It's also the reason why this part of the post is short.

The humans seem to see him as some type of android overlord and the source of Jericho's power. For majority of the revolution, all main antagonists have had one goal; "get Markus". They all believe killing Markus will end the revolution and things will return back to normal.

I have an personal headcanon that humans might buy into the deification of Markus but depending on how much they like him, it might take on different tones. He could be demonized or glorified.

O3.) FAMILY:

Personally, this is my favorite perception of Markus even though some parts are messed up. It's the closest we can get to him from an external point of view. This is where we get an insight into his life and the things that make him who he is.

To Carl, Markus is the beam of hope that arrives at the perfect time. Carl has just lost use of his leg and is unable to create art like he used to. Leo's is already using Red Ice at this point which I suppose was further stressing Carl out.

Markus is a gift, specifically designed to suit Carl's needs as a live in nurse. (why he couldn't hire a human nurse is beyond me) He's also an android and will do whatever Carl asks with no complaints. He can mold himself to suit whoever he's receiving orders from. It's like Connor says:

"I'm whatever you want me to be lieutenant, your partner, your buddy to drink with, or just a machine, designed to accomplish a task…"

Or what Markus says:

"An object, designed to obey them…"

And what Carl wanted was a son and someone to take care of him. It also seems like he wanted someone who was easier to take care of than the flawed human son he already had. He's happy to be Markus' father and sees himself as his caretaker rather than the other way around. He tells Markus;

"One day, I won't be here to take care of you anymore. You'll have to protect yourself, and make your choices… Decide who you are, and wanna become… This world doesn't like those who are different, Markus. Don't let anyone tell you who you should be."

I find this line very telling of Carl's perception of Markus. Because the truth of the matter is that if Carl isn't around to take care of Markus, he will be shut down or repurposed. By law, Markus is Carl's property the same way a house is property. To the humans Markus is nothing without Carl's ownership.

Carl refuses to believe that though. To him, Markus is the son he wanted but never had.

It's possible Carl knows androids are sentient, capable of deciding for themselves but he never gives Markus the opportunity to do so. He nudges Markus in the direction of "free will" while also holding him in place with a leash. He tells him that life is about making choices but strictly never gives him the chance to make one for himself. A perfect example of this is straight up telling Markus to endure when he's been pushed around by Leo.

I cannot deny that Carl loves Markus. He calls him his son and they've known each other for a very long time. Carl loves Markus so dearly he refuses to let him go until Leo forces them apart.

Markus also loves Carl. He calls him his father and Carl is his human lens to viewing and navigating the world. As far as Markus is concerned, Carl is the reason he has so much faith in humanity. It doesn't matter which path you take, Markus tries to always hope that humans an androids can live together. That there's a chance they will one day drop their weapons and create a better future, even though this comes of sounding naïve.

But Carl's love is conditional.

It comes with it's own strings attached because at its core, there's a power imbalance between the both of them. Carl was Markus handler and owner first before he was his father and still owner. There's a certain type of control that comes with ownership over someone like that; ownership over both their autonomy and how they express themselves.

After Markus' deviation, it seems Carl realizes whatever hold he had on Markus is gone. He's not obliged to obey him anymore—he's a deviant. But he forgets that with Markus' deviancy comes emotions (good or bad) and individuality. When Markus expresses himself in a way Carl doesn't like, he becomes controlling and tries to dictate how he should feel.

If Markus is angry over the death of many androids, Carl basically tells him that when he wasn't a deviant (aka when he was still easier to control) he was better.

"You used to be so calm and thoughtful… Now all I see is anger…"

But if Markus swallows his anger and chooses to say something more palatable to Carl, he is offered comfort.

To Leo, Markus is a representation of everything incorrect about him. Everything he lacks, Markus has.

Markus is obedient. Markus has his father's affections. Markus doesn't make mistakes. Markus doesn't complain. Markus doesn't get tired. Markus is an android; he's designed to be flawless and to appeal to his handler (Carl). Leo seems to think with Markus' gone, he and Carl can foster their parent/son relationship.

"... I'm gonna destroy you, then it'll just be me and my dad. And nobody's gonna give a shit. You know why?"

He blames the divide between himself and Carl as an effect of Markus' presence, even though he's known Carl for longer than Markus has. To him, if Markus wasn't there, maybe he would be his father's favorite. Leo spent the greater time of his life without his father and only finally meets him after he turns sixteen. We don't know what causes this but it's safe to say that after Leo was introduced to his father, Markus arrives.

I like to think Leo might have been excited about the new, shiny android—until his father replaced him with it, of course.

CONCLUSION

All these would be very interesting to explore further; not really in this same format but in creative writing format. What other ways do you guys think Markus will be perceived by the other characters. I didn't want to talk about them individually because it would take forever but I did consider individual characters like Hank, North and Connor.

[idsfantasy]

Okay so, head up, I think your videos are cool and I respect the effort and work you put into theories. I also understand not every theory is going to be actually reflective of views, instead following different roads of logic to see what seems the most likely.

But the big reason why I think robot people being in the games is such a reviled concept by so many people, is that it feels like a lame twist that doesn't really accomplish anything and doesn't really go anywhere. And part of that is the source material it comes from. (Warning: long and emotive analysis incoming)

In the actual Fourth Closet book Charlie being a robot isn't handled well. She's written as a mostly normal human person with internal emotions, struggles, and thoughts only to be completely discarded because she's "not real". As soon as it's revealed, she immediately kills herself and Elizabeth with no narrative buildup, and the only possible resolution is a cliffhanger ending that is never fully explained and left up to speculation. We don't really feel the weight of this on anyone, except possibly John, who never discusses it with anyone and never actually ponders what that might mean beyond feeling bummed the girl he wanted to date is dead and also not human. It also gives Circus Baby a very needlessly convulted backstory for the sole purpose of having her run around in a humanoid form and double down on the henchwoman characterization introduced in FFPS.

It doesn't even really explain much beyond a few strange lines and wonky plot threads, it's a thing that happens and despite Charlie being a protagonist she doesn't really get to react to this.

Sammy is completely dismissed as a concept despite it being such a big deal in TSE and TTO and the whole point of Charlie's arc of acceptance and grief. And we get one line saying he's actually alive... and living with the mother Charlie herself mentions talking to in the past. It's a mess.

The only character who is made more intresting and given more weight by this reveal is Henry. Because it changes perception from "flawed man struggling with mental health but ultimately a very loving to father" to "all the above but also with those flaws much more prevalent and damaging". It's fascinating because what he does is incredibly messed up on so many levels, yet entirely understandable. Henry in the novels is a straight up antagonist, not a villian, and not actively malicious, but someone very poorly coping and causing harm by proxy. And that's reflective of a lot of people who are understandably struggling and need support, but at the same time refuse help and find themselves sinking deeper while their loved ones feel helpless. It's deeply tragic, and leaves Henry being a much more nuanced character, mainly because of the fact Charlie doesn't know quite how to feel about him. When she's still allowed to have thoughts, at least.

The whole point of the Charliebots is that grief and loss can make vulnerable people susceptible to delusion, and how that effects the children around them. Both the Charlie-bot and Circus Baby are shaped around trying to conform to a grieving parent who wants them to fill a role that at a certain point, they simply can't. The moment Charliebot stopped living past the age of three, she simply wasn't reflective of that real little girl anymore. She was someone new, based on the hopes and dreams her family had for her. The Charliebots are so so intricately linked to this theme, that I really feel removing the idea of androids from it is kinda insulting to the whole premise.

William blatantly says he couldn't build robots like that, Circus Baby is build upon a failed experiment her modified for his own use, even the Twisteds were implied to be a joint effort. He also simply didn't see his kids in the same way, I truly don't believe he would drive himself to that same point of delusion for kids he just doesn't love.

I've seen some fanauthors right really compelling narratives around these ideas, but they simply aren't in the actual texts. To approach something purely logistically is to deny to narrative and emotional potential of it.

Yes, it's 100% possible. I don't doubt Scott might try to do it. But that doesn't make it impactful. So if he doesn't want to engage with the premise outright, and doesn't say it outloud, then why should I care either? If he's not going to committ to the idea and explore it, then neither am I.

Glad you generally like my videos! And I understand that perspective, but I disagree. Honestly, I think robot people works great thematically for the modern era.

Ithink part of the interest with Charlie being a robot is that she's a robot, but she IS alive. She's not the original Charlie, but because of Henry's emotions she has her own soul.

With William, his goal iirc wasn't to create a human *looking* robot. His goal was to find a way to create that same spark of life that Henry did, but he wasn't able to. Elizabeth was the closest but she's still an actual human soul inside a robot.

When I suggest that robot people are present in the modern games, I don't think they were made out of love, and I don't think they have that artificial soul that Charlie in the books had, hence the connections to CC and Elizabeth. Heck, we know for a fact that there are robot people present in Tales, so why would that be impossible in the games? The issue wasn't making a human looking robot, it was giving said robots life.

Just because we can't see the end goal at the moment doesn't mean there isn't one. Additionally, assuming Scott isn't going to engage with the premise or saying it out loud is probably something to steer clear of. After all, the main evidence I use for Gregbot isn't the weird vision or him looking like the Crying Child, but the wall code in the Sister Location room that describes Gregory in SB to a T while also saying "I built the breath they hunt drawn to life not real still keen" etc. That seems pretty "out loud" to me given the obscurity of most things in these games tbh.

So I do think Scott has committed to the idea. That's why there are 3 robot people in Tales. That's why there are 2 Vanessas. That's why there's the wall code in SB. To me, it seems as though the themes of Help Wanted and onward are highlighting where the line is drawn between the real and the artificial, the virtual and genuine. And imo, having characters who blur the line between the mechanical world and the real and the spiritual adds pretty well to that whole theme. We just haven't seen everything play out yet since we're only partway through the arc.

I understand if you disagree, but I think writing it off as something to consider would be the wrong move personally. Hope you have a nice day :D

[tales-of-green-hill]

[First]

(This arc has more fuzzier parts than the first, and I'll take criticism btw!!)

After his fight against Sonic and Knuckles, Emerl went to a location that is currently unknown. Rouge asks Emerl what had happened, and Emerl explains that Knuckles is no longer working alone, and his partner can wield the power of the Master Emerald. Rouge is surprised and asks about the appearance of the person Knuckles had worked with, and Emerl admits he couldn't get a good look at his unaltered appearance due to him only exiting his super form as he fell into water, and because the person had no distinct articles of clothing (Sonic didn't have his jacket on as he fought). Rouge seems annoyed at how inconvenient this makes the search, before a third undefined person tells Rouge that she should try to locate Knuckles, and then learn about his partner. Rouge nods, accepting the task. Emerl says he'll find out who the person is, but the third person insists on Rouge doing it, as Rouge is stealthier and less blood thirty, as well as her knowing more people. Emerl begrudgingly agrees, and Rouge looks smug due to her being better than Emerl for this. The third person reminds the two that there's a reason they need the Master Emerald, to get Dr. Robotnik back.

Emerl was an android made by Gerald Robotnik over fifty years ago and was created to serve the Robotnik bloodline. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman, has Emerl's allegiance.

(This part is fuzzy at the moment, but it's important later) Dr. Eggman is currently trapped in a place that's not exactly on Earth. (I might take inspiration from special stages or Null Space, but I'd appreciate ideas. It's supposed to be like the Darklands from Trollhunters. Eggman is still able to live there and create robots, but he wants out)

Rouge is an ally of the Eggman Empire, but her motivations are unknown currently. She's a community college student, and lives on campus. The third person seems very interested in Dr. Robotnik and seems to idolize him.

Emerl and Rouge seem to be brought together by the third person, even though it seems that nobody really cares about each other.

(This part will just be a summary, since I don't know how it'd go down.) Rouge would look for Knuckles and find him and Sonic. Rouge recognizes Sonic as one of the track team athletes, and she also finds herself crushing on Knuckles. Something would happen where Rouge is shown as being an antagonist, and also her name would likely be used. Rouge would end up retreating in the end.

She meets up with Emerl and their common ally and informs them that Knuckles' new partner is Sonic, a highschooler who's a track runner. Her ally is taken aback, and inquires further, before excusing himself. This is when the common ally is revealed to be none other than Starline, who is Sonic's science teacher. Starline thinks to himself, recounting how Sonic had always been the adventurous type, and then a wicked smile grew on his face as he thought about how this could be advantageous. The school has records of Sonic, and the fact that he normally holds power over his new adversary. Starline begins to take a subtle interest in Sonic in school, asking Sonic more questions, and focusing more attention on him.

Sonic becomes stressed about his workload, juggling school, track, training with Knuckles, and learning about the Master Emerald. Sonic notices Starline's interest, and just chalks it up to him being worried about his stress. Most afternoons, if Sonic doesn't have track, Knuckles will book up his afternoon with either training or telling him about the history of the Master Emerald. The story of Tikal and Chaos, Chao, (and maybe why Dr. Robotnik was sealed away, though I'm not sure why or how it happens yet).

Over time, Amy becomes gradually suspicious of Sonic, as he's repeatedly had to cancel study sessions (Note: She's an honors English student and helps Sonic) with her with no given reason. She's concerned, makes off handed comments to Sticks and Sally, who are both friends of hers. She also asks Tails about what's going on, but she gets nowhere with it. Amy is also a babysitter, often looking after Cream while Vanilla is busy.

Knuckles has told Sonic about the Chao and how despite their cutesy appearance, they're scoundrels, tricky things. The Chao have hardly interacted with mankind ever since Chaos's defeat at the hands of Tikal, and Knuckles describes what a Chao looks like to Sonic. Sonic doesn't see the point of the lesson and doesn't think about it further.

When Sonic finds time to study with Amy, she's busy babysitting Cream, but Amy asks Vanilla if she would agree to letting her study with Sonic while babysitting, and Vanilla agrees. Sonic is grateful, when Amy tells him this, and while they're studying, Amy takes time to try to figure out what's got Sonic so busy recently. She's been meaning to have a conversation for a while but hasn't gotten a good chance. Sonic struggles to come up with a good excuse, before redirecting the conversation, telling Amy that he hasn't seen Cream in a while. Amy immediately goes to find Cream, but she's not inside. Amy checks the backyard and sees a bracelet (or something) belonging to Cream on the ground, but Cream is nowhere to be found. Amy panics, and checks the house again, as Sonic looks outside, before getting a strange feeling. He quickly runs back inside to grab his bag containing the Master Emerald and tells Amy that Cream most likely was outside.

Amy apologizes to Sonic, and says she has to look for Cream, and Sonic says that he'll help her. The two split up, and search for Cream, Amy calling for her, Sonic relying on his Emerald to guide him. Sonic eventually finds Cream, and she'd being led away by a Chao. Sonic is shocked, and Sonic shouts to Cream, which alerts Amy. Sonic tries to get the Chao away from Cream, but both put up a fight. The Chao tries to hit Sonic to stall for time, and Cream cries, saying that Sonic shouldn't hurt Cheese, the Chao. Sonic tried to explain but his main focus was on Cream's safety. "What's going on?" Rouge steps out of the bushes, hesitating as she made eye contact with Sonic, and looking surprised at the scene before her. "Rouge?" Sonic is surprised but is now on guard even more. Well, this just got much more interesting." Rouge replies as Cream hides behind Sonic, sniffling. "Chao, you know what to do." Rouge says as she steps forward. Cream cowers and Sonic continues trying to protect her. "You're not getting anywhere near Cream." Sonic keeps Cream close as she hugs his leg. It wasn't Rouge's intention to use Cream, but she decides to play along, to scare Sonic. Sonic looks at his odds against Rouge and the Chao, and then thinks about keeping Cream uninjured, and decides the safest option is going super, so he reaches into his bag to grab his Emerald, and Rouge attacks him before he can power up. This continues for as bit, and Amy finally catches up with them, seeing what's unfolding, but not getting involved. Amy witnesses Sonic go Super and is stunned. Sonic tells Cream to go find Amy, or go home, and grabs the Chao to keep it from interfering. Cream nods and runs towards her house, and finds Amy, who was watching. Amy leads Cream to safety. Sonic and Rouge continue their fight, and Rouge ends up sneakily grabbing the Emerald out of his bag, and dropping a fake Emerald on the ground as she slips the real one into her bag to confuse Sonic. She goes for the fake Emerald, but Sonic beats her to it, and grabs it. After more combat to get the thought of him dropping the emerald off his mind, Rouge flees with the real Emerald, and Sonic de transforms as she flees, not thinking anything of it.

Sonic calms down, tries to brush off the dirt on him, and walks back to Cream's house. As soon as Sonic gets back, Amy asks about everything that had happened. Sonic denies anything supernatural happening and blames his mild injuries and dirtiness on him being clumsy. Amy tells Sonic to stop lying, and that she saw him fighting, and saw him go blonde. Sonic caves, explaining what's going on. Amy was in disbelief for a while, but she couldn't bring herself to believe he was crazy. She asked him if he could prove anything, besides the "Super Sonic" thing, since she saw that. Sonic denies, until Amy says that she could tell others about this, and Sonic just tells her that he'll introduce her to Knuckles if she kept her mouth shut, and Amy enthusiastically agrees. After, Sonic and Amy tell Cream to not tell Vanilla about this, and Cream reluctantly agrees, even though she feels bad about keeping a secret from her mom.

After Vanilla gets home, Amy is paid for her babysitting, and she insists that Sonic introduces her to Knuckles soon. Sonic realizes that Knuckles would probably be really angry about this and tells Amy it may take a few days. Amy says that's fine, but she doesn't want to wait forever. Sonic understands, and the two part ways.

When Sonic gets back, he debates on telling Knuckles about Amy, knowing he'd get upset. Sonic consults Tails first, who is surprised hearing the story, and tells Sonic that there's probably more to worry about than just Amy knowing, since Rouge and the Chao could have bigger implications. Sonic reluctantly agrees, and goes to tell Knuckles, who did in fact, get upset, saying this could be a liability. Sonic agrees, and apologizes, explaining the situation, and Knuckles becomes more sympathetic, but he's still upset. Once Sonic mentions stuff about Rouge and inquisitive, Knuckles becomes more on Guard, asking questions, wondering why Rouge allied with a Chao and the implications. Sonic says he doesn't know enough, and he'll keep his guard up.

Eventually, Sonic would introduce Amy and Knuckles, and she'd be very enthusiastic about everything, which caught Knuckles off guard. Amy would bombard Knuckles with questions, to which Knuckles happily answered, enjoying talking about history and telling stories. It wouldn't take long for Knuckles to warm up to Amy, since she's very sweet and curious. Eventually, Amy asks if Knuckles could train her to fight like he trained Sonic, so she could help out. Sonic denies, but Knuckles agrees, saying it'd be good to have another ally. Sonic is shocked by Knuckles' willingness, and backs down, since Knuckles has the final say. Amy is ecstatic, and thanks Knuckles, and gives him her phone number, and says he can text her when he wants to start her training, and leaves, since she was there for a while. Knuckles would be confused by the gesture, since he doesn't have a phone.

With Rouge, she takes the Emerald back to Starline and Emerl, and gives it to Starline. He makes sure the Emerald is the real one and asks Rouge if Sonic suspects anything abnormal. Rouge tells Starline that the Chao ended up drawing the attention of a girl, and how that lead up to her fighting Sonic and stealing the Emerald. Starline is irritated that the Chao made a mess of things, but just says that it's no matter, and that soon enough, it wouldn't matter what Sonic thinks, and Starline's gaze towards a gateway (picture the Special Rings in Sonic Advance 2) It'd show the Chao, cowering at the scene.

Eventually, the Chao would reunite with Cream, who happily takes him back, calling him Cheese. The next time she'd see Amy, she'd show off Cheese, which would make Amy freak out, as she now knows that Chao don't have good reputations, and this one apparently tried to take Cream, according to Sonic. Amy texts Sonic about it quickly and tries to tell Cream that this isn't a good idea. Cream defends Cheese, saying she chose to follow him. She continuously says Cheese is harmless, and Sonic calls Amy. Amy picks up the phone and tells Sonic about what's happening. Sonic is surprised, but asks to be put in speaker, and to let Cream talk. Cream talks about her experience with Cheese, and how he's harmless. Sonic recalls how Cheese's attacks on him didn't hurt and were just annoying, but also insists that Cheese is allied with Rouge. Cheese shakes their head, which Cream takes as Cheese no longer having an alliance with Rouge, and relays as much. Sonic is skeptical and concerned, and consults Knuckles, who says that Chao aren't usually vicious, but having one accompanying a child could be risky at best. Knuckles tells Amy to keep an eye on the Chao, because it might simply choose to stay despite what anyone does, and if the Chao is a threat, then there'd be no moral issue of disposing it. Amy reluctantly agrees and lets Cheese stay with Cream. During the day, Cream and Cheese would play together, and Cream decided to sit down and draw with crayons. Cheese joined her and begun to draw a picture that seemed to have significance. A golden ring with wings on the side and a star in the middle, the Master Emerald, and a brown Chao. Cream seemed confused at the drawings and showed them to Amy, who knew that they had a meaning she couldn't grasp, so she asked if she could take them to Sonic and Knuckles later. Cream and Cheese agreed, and Cheese continued to draw, this time being Emerl, Rouge, and Starline. Amy didn't recognize Emerl, but assumed she knew that it was Rouge and Starline, but she was confused as to how Cheese knew Starline.

Once Amy was relieved of her babysitting duties, she asked Cheese to come with her, and Cheese obliged. They both go to Tails' house to meet Sonic and Knuckles and showed the first drawings. Sonic seemed interested, and Knuckle was shocked, immediately realizing what it was. He asked Cheese a few questions but could only get a yes or no answer. Eventually, Sonic asked who was involved, and Cheese gestured for Amy to hand over the other paper. Knuckles and Sonic recognize Emerl and Rouge, but it takes a moment for Sonic to realize Starline was the third person. Sonic was shocked, and thought about how Starline treated him differently ever since he met Rouge, and he took a moment, his allegiance sinking in. Amy and Sonic talk about Starline for a bit, as they've both had him as a teacher. Knuckles is still thinking about the significance of this, and Cheese grabs the Master Emerald, and shoves it to Sonics chest. Sonic is confused, but Cheese tries to gesture for Sonic to transform, and Sonic tries a few times, before realizing that the Emerald is fake. Knuckles asks where the real one is, and Cheese points to Rouge and Starline, before pointing to the Special Ring. Knuckles looks almost dreadful for a moment, before grabbing Sonic and saying they have to go, now, since this is now serious. Sonic tells Knuckles that they don't know where they're going, and Knuckles tells Cheese to lead the way. Sonic asks Knuckles if they could bring Tails as back up, and Knuckles agrees, then Amy asks if she could tag along. Knuckles refuses, as she's not as experienced, and he doesn't want her getting hurt. Amy's a bit angry at the idea Tails could handle himself better than she could, but appreciates the concern for her wellbeing. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Cheese all go to the Special Rings location, with Tails being caught up on the way.

While all of this was going on, Starline was trying to figure out how to activate the Special Ring using the Master Emerald, trying several different ways, but none working, so he goes back to researching, seeing he needs someone who can wield the power of Chaos to activate it. Starline considers his opinions, and calls Rouge over to retrieve Sonic, as he can wield chaos energy. Rouge agrees, but that's when Cheese leads the group to their "base". Starline accused Cheese of betrayal, and Rouge said that this could be used to their advantage, as Sonic can now activate the Ring. Starline agrees, and powers on Emerl, who was charging. Now it's a 3 v 4, Emerl, Rouge, and Starline vs. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and Cheese. The first half of the fight was focused on Starline and Rouge trying to get Sonic to activate the Special Ring, while Emerl dealt with Knuckles and Tails. After Knuckles sees what they're doing, he tells them that no matter what they do, it won't work, they don't have everything they need. Starline asked what he'd need, and Knuckles said that he wouldn't tell him, but it's an essential piece. Starline, being a coward, independently retreated, leaving Rouge and Emerl to fight. Rouge continued on, taking on Knuckles herself, often dropping compliments and flirtatious lines, hoping he'd let his guard down, or even made any indication he liked her. To Rouge's disappointment, the most acknowledgement she got was a raised eyebrow in the midst of combat. With Sonic and Emerl, Sonic keeps Emerl busy in his super form as Tails tries to find any weak spots in Emerl's design. Sonic mentions that Emerl could be sensitive to water, recalling his retreat during their first meeting. Tails acknowledged this, and grabbed Sonic's water bottle from his bad, and found the perfect time to splash water on Emerl, causing him to short circuit long enough for Knuckles to tear himself from Rouge to smash Emerl's face in, shattering half Emerl's head. Rouge takes the opportunity to make a retreat, seeing her strongest teammate get brutalized. Sonic, Tails, and Cheese are shocked as Knuckles also be breaks Emerl's chest in a heavy strike. Knuckles stands up, saying that Emerl won't recover from that, no matter how hard anyone tries to repair him. Sonic and Tails looks nervous as they celebrate their victory, never having seen Knuckles be that violent.

After, Sonic calls Amy to update her about everything, and she's happy to know everything is alright, and that they'll be back soon. When they get back to Tails' house, Amy is waiting for them. Tails takes Knuckles to go clean off the oil he got on himself because of the attack on Emerl, while Amy and Sonic chat more in detail about what had happened. Amy asks what Sonic thinks is going to happen with Starline, and Sonic says he has no clue, as he fled rather early on. After more conversation, Amy decides to leave, and goes home. Sonic goes to check on Knuckles and Tails, and the three chat about everything, and what the future could hold.

On Monday, Sonic and Amy are informed that Starline will be taking a sudden vacation, and a substitute will be taking his place for two weeks.

[NEXT]

[emeraldspiral]

Looking at Invader Zim age discourse trying to claim that X number of years in one species's lifespan is the equivalent of 1 human year makes all of my brain cells want to commit die. It's "Loki is 16" all over again. I'm begging yall to get off social media and take a science class cause Jesus Christ how do you function in society being this ignorant?

Different species do not mature at the same rate relative to their lifespan. Grogu being a toddler for 50 years is not a thing that actually happens in nature.

Let's look at dogs for a second. It's commonly said that a dog ages 7 years per 1 human year. Most dogs live about 10-13 years, or 70-91 years, which sounds about right, doesn't it? But some dogs live to see 20-31, or 140-217, way longer than any human has ever lived. But let's also consider their early development. Dogs can start walking after just a couple of weeks while human babies take several months. Dogs can reach adulthood and sexual maturity in less than a year. Some 7 year old children do experience premature puberty, but this is far from being the norm and does not mean they are fully mature adults. Additionally, it is said that a fully adult dog only has the cognition of a 3-5 year-old human child. No matter which way you look at it, you can not equate the way a dog matures and ages to human development and lifespan.

Most newborn animal species, regardless of how long or short their lives are, are much further along in their development than human babies are, closer to toddlers than infants. Many are able to walk or crawl within a few days or even minutes after birth. Compared to most animal babies, human babies would be considered extremely premature.

With Zim, we saw onscreen that as a newborn he could walk, stand upright, jump, grab and hold things, and speak, more like a human 3-5 year-old than an infant. If we were going by the logic of "1 Irken year is 10 human years" that goes around in fanon, 10-year-old Zim should still be a baby, only barely be able to walk, pick up objects, and say a few words. But in the unfinished episode The Trial, concept art for 10-year-old Zim shows him looking like about what you'd expect the actual Irken equivalent of a 10-year-old to look like; taller than a newborn, but smaller than an adult, which for Irkens doesn't get much taller than a human 12-year-old with rare exceptions. There really is no basis what-so-ever to assume that Zim has only developed to the equivalent of 12 or 16, especially when he has a job in the military and lives on his own with no supervision. I don't know why anybody who headcanons that for shipping reasons would even want that to be the case when by that logic it would mean Dib and Gaz and any other human characters they want to pair him with would very quickly grow up to be adults while he remained a child.

In most cases, when dealing with extremely long-lived fantasy/sci-fi races, if the rate of aging is addressed at all, it is much more likely that the characters develop at the same rate as humans until they reach their 20s, at which point they'd be fully mature physically and from then on their bodies would simply not break down and display signs of aging as quickly as a humans. It makes no sense for a humanoid species to remain in a state of helpless infancy for decades or spend hundreds of years going through puberty. The only times you'll usually ever see something like that in fiction is if it's being played for a joke, or because the writers actually wanted to address how messed-up it would be to be to go through developmental stages like that for so long. Usually it's not even a matter of aging, the characters are just vampires or androids or something stuck at whatever age for eternity, yearning to grow up but never being able to.

Keep in mind however, that physical age and maturity are separate things. There's no reason to think that just because a character is immortal or long-lived that they mature as slowly as they age. Maturity has a lot more to do with life experience than physical growth, especially once your brain finishes developing at around 25. Often in fiction, when dealing with an immortal adolescent, being condescended to as if they were a child is a source of great frustration because they do have the mind of an adult. On the flip side, even in real life some people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s may be stuck in a state of arrested development, with teenagers surpassing their level of maturity.

My personal interpretation of Zim is that he's a manchild. He probably aged more or less like a human until his 20s and then stayed physically 20-25 for decades or centuries until the time the show takes place. He's just so immature he finds his equal in a 12-year-old human child. However, if he were to stay on earth long enough, I could see him maturing along with his peers at skool and starting to act more his age when they get into their 20s, (assuming he actually follows them to hi skool and college and doesn't just keep repeating 6th grade forever). If he stuck around Dib and Gaz into their 30s and beyond, I could see him continuing to match their level of maturity into their old age while he remains physically young.

If you have a problem with Zim being canonically an adult pretending to be a child, I don't know what to tell you guys. Like, if you think it's sad, that's the point. Literally, in the commentary for Mortos, Jhonen says that's the joke. That Zim's "basically an old man" getting into slap-fights with actual children and it's funny because it's so pathetic. If you think it's creepy, that's also kinda the point. He's a villain. The fact that he's not even human and that he's plotting the demise of the human race is already disturbing. He steals a bunch of children's organs in like, the third episode. He used time-traveling rubber piggies to maim and eventually kill Dib starting from when he was a toddler and then took a victory sip after watching the life leave his eyes. The entire concept of Zim is inherently sinister and predatory. But at the same time, Zim being a sexual threat is completely off the table. Canonically, he's aroace. He has no reproductive organs and no sex drive. He finds humans repulsive, and between that, his germophobia, and general paranoia it would be far more in-character for him to be terrified of the prospect of unwanted sexual advances than to be a sexual predator himself. That's why I don't think anybody thought too hard about Zim trying to woo Tak when he thought she was an actual human child, and why you shouldn't either. Yes, he had ill intentions toward her, because he is a bad guy, but those intentions were entirely chaste. Zim is not a threat to children because he might try to manipulate them into inappropriate relationships, he's a threat to children because he might manipulate them into helping him enslave their race.

There's no need to hand-wring about problematic age discourse. We're talking about a horror comedy that was cancelled two decades ago where the prospect of romance was never on the table to begin with. There is no such thing as a canon-compliant romance fanfic, and all fanfic by definition is non-canon anyway so it doesn't even matter. Make the characters whatever ages you want and tweak their characterization or circumstances in whatever ways you need to make whatever the fuck story you wanna tell work. It's all make-believe anyway. You don't need to make up fake quotes or deny or creatively interpret real quotes or bend yourselves into pretzels to prove the age headcanons you use to justify why you do or don't like a ship.

But for fucks sake, if you're gonna go there at least pretend like you know a single goddamned thing about the way aging, development, and maturity work before you unironically make talking points following the same logic as "According to my calculations, this character first portrayed by Tom Hiddleston at age 29 is actually 16".

[kafus]

i said i wanted to talk about my SV trainer a little bit and i have decided to write a post about this now while waiting for dinner because i am bored lol

i do not have art of her atm so you'll have to take these images for now. i also have no idea what the fuck to name her i somehow haven't been able to decide so we're just gonna call her Kafu even though that is not her name that's just the name i use for online play LMAO. oh and he uses he And she pronouns so if u see me alternating that's why. anyway. this is going to be long i'm putting it under the cut. no pressure to read it i'm just rambling

basically when i started playing violet i had avoided spoilers/leaks and stuff and i had no idea what was going to happen except for what was in trailers, and i knew about the robotic paradox mons so my robot obsessed ass decided okay. you know what. kafu is also a robot and somehow comes from the same place these paradox mons r coming from. i went thru the game with this in mind, this is why kafu wears sunglasses to cover her really inhuman colorful robot eyes, it makes them less jarring and doesn't instantly give her away to strangers. him being a robot is actually a secret (he appears very human/realistic) that the cast of SV finds out about as trust builds throughout the journey. for what it's worth this is also why his sunglasses are off in the credits pic for the main story, he took them off while in area zero where literally no one was around and it didn't matter lol

this is all well and good and gave me an extra point of attachment to sv's cast during the main story but the dlc makes this really interesting in particular because of the crystal pool scene. not only is the time machine and the story of SV a paradox but kafu herself is a paradox. the way i'm handling this is subject to change but my current idea is the following:

there is a prior timeline before any of sv's plot, where turo got the idea for the time machine of his own accord. heath and paradox mon sightings still exist regardless and so does terapagos, who is not pulling the paradox mons literally from the future of sv's world but the future in another dimension (it has both time and space abilities). in this timeline, turo finds terapagos himself and actually owns it and is able to weaponize its powers to make a much MUCH more potent machine than what we see in violet, because instead of drawing on terapagos' inadvertent abilities that it doesn't have much control over, he is controlling its abilities directly. essentially this future realm with the robot paradoxes and the paldea we know are mashed together and this creates an ecological apocalypse. terapagos, in emotional desperation, thru its desire to fix what has happened, calls upon kafu who is one of the few remaining sentient androids from the robot mon world (he has an intrinsic connection with terapagos because reasons i'm still developing) to save everyone. and kafu does, and smth similar to the crystal pool scene happens in which she is the one to give turo the idea for the time machine, instead of terapagos being the cause. this prevents the sort of ecological apocalypse that happened before, since the machine is much less powerful, and now the timeline is in a cyclical paradox where he is the one who gives turo the idea for the machine and is always there at the end to be the one giving him the idea, essentially patching up the apocalypse timeline and making sure it never happens.

SV, then, is a representation of what the timeline looks like AFTER kafu has prevented the apocalypse. she's not really in a time loop? she is in her own continuum and actually unaware of the apocalypse timeline, completely amnesiac, until the ID plotline (by the way the literal indigo disk is a remnant of the original apocalypse timeline when turo had direct access to terapagos lol) in which capturing terapagos again allows it to share this information with her. and even then it's not like she's reliving the same plot over and over, it's more like she is in every timeline at once to always save it but my oc is just the one in this one timeline.

to be clear i've never worked this in depth with time shenanigans before so there may be holes or other things i need to work out here but that's the GENERAL idea. ANYWAY here's a list of kafu's relationships with everyone that i made on discord the other day :)

my trainer's relationship with everyone (i'm saying "my trainer" here because i was talking on discord and i'm too lazy to fix it):

nemona: really close friends, nemona was the first person to find out about his robot shit and accepted him with an almost concerning lack of distrust or complaint. my trainer is just as into the rivalry as nemona is and because my trainer has protag energy and cares a lot about being strong, they spar a lot. i think they're qpps in spirit even though they wouldn't call it that

arven: he's definitely more attached to my trainer than my trainer is to him but they are still good friends. i think my trainer has some trauma with turo and she has a hard time dealing with seeing him when with arven, and arven has a lot of heavy shit going on with that that can be hard to handle. but when they get along they really do get along

penny: my trainer and penny are not emotionally close in particular but penny and nemona are dating and so my trainer sees her a lot and they get on just fine LMAO. i think penny has interest in general tech stuff, not just on the software end, and so my trainer might awkwardly go to her if having a bodily function issue or question and penny's always willing to figure that out for the sake of her gf's bestie

carmine: while distrusting at first, carmine and my trainer ended up forming a really good friendship by the end of teal mask. it's a little complicated since my trainer feels terrible for hurting kieran the way that she did, and carmine was a part of that, and for a while my trainer's very bitter about it but they're able to make up and proceed

kieran: BOYFRIEND!! my trainer empathized with kieran's situation from the start. they have some sort of intrinsic connection because kieran's story might not be so disconnected from my trainer's after all… the ending of indigo disk brings them very close together because kieran sees my trainer's shit firsthand and you know. everything that happens in general

also for what it's worth i made a new team for both DLCs and of course i had my initial tam of 6 from the base game so kafu canonically owns 18 pokemon throughout the journey, these guys:

main story: meowscarada/clodsire/rotom heat (shiny)/dragonite/slowbro/tinkaton teal mask: mightyena/ribombee/ninetales/kommo-o/quagsire/yanmega (shiny) indigo disk: flygon/galvantula/meowstic/scrafty/cinccino/metagross <- all shiny

his favorites are meowscarada, yanmega, and flygon though :)

anyways yeah gaming i need to elaborate on my made up kieran lore and draw weird angst art of my oc who i still need to give a proper name and him LOL