#He was a thinker

[usefulquotes7]

He was a thinker, but also a man of action. Dan Millman

[loriache]

"I've been waiting for ages for somebody to unmask them."

This moment tends to elicit negative reactions in a first read through, and I've got some opinions about why where Kabru is coming from here actually makes a lot of logical sense. So I thought I'd elaborate on that.

I think people hear this and go, "He thinks they must be hiding something because they gave money to someone? What a cynic." Or "he dislikes them because they did charity?? What's wrong with this guy!". And obviously, a lot, a lot is wrong with him. But I think this makes more sense than it seems at first glance! What people evaluating this judgement miss is why Kabru is paying attention to Laios and co to begin with.

Kabru knows of the Touden siblings because (he's a little bit of a stalker-) he is keeping an eye on all the relevant parties in events developing on the island, in order to be able to guide them to his preferred outcome. This includes adventurers because they are the ones actually exploring the dungeon! He's well aware that something as minor as internal tensions between party members could be key to the historical events that are developing. (He would love the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.)

His desired outcome is that whatever the rewards are of breaking the dungeon's curse, whether that's kingship or the ancient elven secrets of dungeons, are claimed by:

A) a short lived person

B) Someone who will be a good, effective leader and/or use those secrets and the power they carry wisely, with foresight, and to establish a political bloc for short lived people.

The person he can best trust to do this is, of course, himself. But due to his PTSD regarding dungeons and monsters, he's not able to develop the necessary skills to conquer the dungeon. Once he realises this, he starts looking for someone else who he can support to that end.

But most of the adventurers don't have any intentions of conquering the dungeon, don't have the skills, or are unsuitable in other ways. In fact, it seems like some potentially suitable people are the Toudens. There are a lot of good rumours about them going around - they actually seem to have a very positive reputation! That's what Kabru means when he says "unmask".

So when Kabru is observing something like them giving money to an old comrade from their gold-peeling days, he doesn't consider it a problem because "they're giving money to this person who doesn't actually need it" or because they must have some dark secret if they act superficially nice. I think he actually understands this situation and what it implies about Laios (in particular) perfectly well.

Laios and Falin gave money to an old comrade who got injured and couldn't work. That person then healed up but kept taking their money. Then he used the money to start smuggling illicit goods to the island.

The key is that for Kabru, the problem here is the same as with the corpse retrievers - people using the dungeon's resources to fuel dangerous, selfish, or violent pursuits cause problems for the island, attract more criminals and people with motives other than breaking the curse, and increase the chances of the whole situation ending in tragedy.

Kabru is willing to work with the Shadow Lord of the island if it gets him to his goal - he isn't scrupulous - but the criminal element of the island increasing is something he sees as a major issue.

Also, when you're evaluating someone as a candidate for power, riches, secrets, potentially kingship - then being curious about how the money you give to people is going to be used is kind of a relevant trait!

Interpersonally, Kabru's actually very easygoing - I mean, Mickbell isn't exactly an upstanding guy, is he! But Kabru likes him and they get along well. These traits wouldn't be a problem at all in a friend, or a comrade, or someone Kabru was confident he could use. But he can't get a handle on Laios, and Laios is someone who has the potential to be a major player!

On Laios' end, this is the same as with the marriage seeker who joined their party. She kept asking for things and he gave them to her, because he tries to be nice to others. He even gives her money! It's the exact same thing.

That's fine, but it became a problem because he basically wasn't interested in her motives, didn't notice she was trying to manipulate him, and it also didn't occur to him that the other party members would notice or be affected. We can assume the situation with the gold peeler is the same. When Kabru says that "It's not that they're bad people, they just aren't interested in humans," he isn't wrong.

The extent to which this is true of Laios is linked to his autism imo, (because it isn't just disinterest - he genuinely isn't able to notice nonverbal cues that people are lying to him or have ulterior motives) but to a greater or lesser extent I think it's a very common trait. Most people aren't actually that interested in other people who aren't close to them. Kabru is the weird one here. It isn't an issue except as a leader - which is why we see an immediate comparison to the Island's Lord, because that's how Kabru is evaluating them.

And disinterest in/lack of ability with people to the extent Laios exhibits it, it does, actually, make him a worse leader... it's just that as we see in the story, people can help him out. The rest of the party tell him the marriage seeker is taking advantage of him so he tells her he can't give her special treatment anymore. They're pissed and it's a crisis point - he couldn't have recovered their trust without Marcille and Falin - but that's exactly the point. With Marcille and Falin, he was able to recover their trust.

And he has other good traits that make up for it, such as his intelligence, strategic knowledge, open-mindedness and sense of fairplay.

Kabru doesn't disqualify Laios as a candidate based on what he sees about him from afar, though - he still tries very hard to get close to him, obviously hoping that if he manages he can steer Laios to defeat the dungeon and make up for his lack of people-skills in the aftermath. (Which... he does eventually achieve that goal!) He completely fails until the events of the story, so... definitely I think "They just aren't interested in humans" could also partially be a stung reaction to Laios' complete disinterest in him.

Anyway, that's my read on what exactly Kabru's "issue" with Laios is. Obviously, once he does find out what Laios' true nature is like - about his love for monsters - he develops an entirely new set of fears about Laios' priorities. But since Laios kept that a secret until the start of the story, he has no idea of that yet.

Given all that, I think it's interesting that he says that he doesn't think that the Toudens are suitable to defeat the dungeon, and that he's hoping they'll turn out to be the thieves. As some of his few potential candidates, people who he thinks may play a big role in the island's future, you'd think he'd hope they would be good people!

I suppose it's better, in his eyes, because it means that he's involved in something "interesting". They haven't just had their stuff stolen by regular criminals (boring, puts them further away from his goal) - they've been caught up in the beginning stages of "a historic event". The desperate and dwindling group forgetting morals in their quest to retrieve their lost comrade probably appeals to his sense of melodrama. Because he also just... loves drama.

Despite it being "uglier than anything he was expecting", he still pursues Laios as the person he wants to conquer the dungeon pretty much as soon as it becomes clear that he won't be able to do it himself and they are out of time. That's because... well, to be fair, there aren't any other options. And he fits standard A: he's short-lived!

and Kabru still hopes he can fit standard B, too, and be persuaded to use the power he wins for good. No matter how many nightmares he has about Laios, or whether he thinks about killing him. He doubts him, but ultimately he puts his faith in him and seems happy after the manga's ending that he made the right decision.

[batsyheere]

The unreliable narrator that is Shang Qinghua haunts my thoughts almost daily because he quite literally wrote ten thousand words a day? He survived this long in a world he half remembers, managed to make it as a spy and peak lord, had plans and ideas that were somewhat coherent and worked out in the long run even if not fully in tact, and he still had the audacity to think himself on the lesser end of characters in the world.

??? Buddy. This is poor self-esteem and a life of survival mindset that has you comparing your competency to others. You are, in fact, one of the more dangerous beings on the mountain.

[yuukirita]

Today B-127 has constructed a noise box. 

His task was to make something useful 

Suffice to say, he failed. 

Supplementary note: He spends too much time with Soundwave.

[chimifuckinchanga]

why is deadpool just straight up the most shippable character of all time. this man can be with anyone and it’s adorable. logan?? goes without saying. spidey?? for sure. vanessa?? totally. cable?? why not.

it’s becoming baffling at this point like. is he drinking magical ship juice. how did this man harness such lovable magnetism

[zvezdacito]

*dear theodosia audio*

Look at my son

Pride is not the word I'm looking for

[patrothestupid]

death by thinking

[polyshodivorce]

Random Rui trait I like is how he looks alittle angry when he’s thinking really hard

[re-colligere]

Unfortunately, yes, I'm here to deliver yet another oc for this thing. Good lird! Design may still change but I like this general idea. I started with the personification of Logic / Reasoning, though I kinda like the idea that she goes by a different name altogether.

I had a lot of starting concepts and I was indecisive on their stature (tall vs. small). I'm leaning towards the smaller body shape 'cause I think it's fun that this important figure would have a hard time making its presence known.

Forgot to mention that the Architect has a base somewhere in the mindscape (the think tank??) where they could properly assess the information their human has collected for the day, as well as monitor the other parts of the mindscape. They prefer order but they understand that chaos is sometimes the easiest way to arrive at a beautiful conclusion. I don't know what that means.

Sorry that these are all so wordy LOL I have a lot of stuff for archie over here. I've transcribed the text on the pictures beneath the cut.

lead designer of the mindscape, figures out the most compatible infrastructure based on the human's personality/style of thinking

though sometimes their designs influence the human as well. looping feedback

mainly runs around on the continent outside HQ

(tries) to lead the other Mind Workers based on her plans

he's also concerned with how the human understands the world around them

…and it tries to keep the human's thoughts tethered to reality…

…and she tries to keep up with the maintenance of the mind…

…AND xe tries to make sure those nincompoops over at HQ don't get carried away with their feelings when it comes to understanding the world.

extremely busy guy. but they like the hustle and bustle. keeps the mind alert.

generally neutral towards the emotions, but the different perspectives drive Archie up the wall.

still, he understands their purpose…he just wishes they would listen to his voice now and then.

thinks a little too highly of herself

his work gets snubbed constantly though. someone's gotta keep up his morale and it might as well be himself

loves to watch brain storms in their downtime (and picks off the stupidest ideas. for safety)

it travels fast. hard to tell how it pulls that off

[Design Notes]

white glasses to see clearly & without bias (…is what she says)

shades of grey

largely angular, with the curves mostly being on the head

shortstack

patterns are drawn by them (usually plans, flowcharts, math equations, grocery list, etc)

freckles have a specific, unchanging arrangement: right cheek - forms an upright triangle, left cheek - forms a downward triangle

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Sydney's back tattoos will be revealed through Carmy's eyes.

It's the only way.

[thecruellestmonth]

Remembering stuff like Alfred having Bruce and cutting his hair and and dressing him. Which could mean anything but really reinforce the upstairs/downstairs servile relationship. The lack of modesty or shame a rich person has around their staff is something else. And it’s just a like. Almost a Caste system where Alfred is second class and can never BE on Bruce’s level as an equal let alone authority figure. And Alfred is happy with that! Because that’s the story and he is, after all, the butler

[laufire's cool post on Alfred & Bruce]

Yeah, Alfred is not Bruce's father. Bruce is the pater familias of his household like his father before him, and Alfred is his very cherished manservant. Alfred can be a caretaker and a confidant, he can even be parental (-ish), but he's not a parent. (Note to self: rant about the awkward and aggressively enforced line between "parental" and "parent" in Batman mythos.)

IMO one of the most compact arguments on Alfred's role is in Batman: Year One (IIRC the very comic that established Alfred as an old servant of the Wayne family, instead of his original story of being hired by Bruce). Grant Morrison was on some podcast (I think either Kevin Smith's podcast or "Hypertime to Podcast"?) talking about the significance of how Bruce's first act as Batman is to ring a bell to ask for Alfred to help him. We see Morrison emphasize this moment in The Return of Bruce Wayne, where The Bell is a relic on the same level as The Pearls and The Gun.

I can agree it's a defining moment. To some extent I'm willing to accept Morrison's suggestion that Bruce ringing the bell symbolizes the value of asking for help, teamwork, comradery, family, humility, etc—and most fans would be happy to sprint with that interpretation. But I can also juggle a separate interpretation that branches off and veers to the left...

You do not ring a bell to ask for help from your parent or friends or family—you ring a bell to summon a servant.

Bruce becoming Batman in Year One is the story of a prince reclaiming his kingdom. (The Return of Bruce Wayne is a renewal of that story.) Summoning the family manservant is the act of Bruce finally accepting his royal inheritance, after his foolish attempt to slum it with the rabble. A good king is kind and attentive to his subjects, and considers the opinions of his advisors—but they're never his equals or his superiors, no matter how much he cherishes them. They're his subordinates. Nobody is on Bruce's level as an equal, nobody can win a case against his authority, in Gotham. Bruce is the rightful heir of his kingdom. The king and queen are dead, long live the king.

—I know some vocal fans are very critical of Miller, but there's no disputing that Miller's Batman: Year One is the definitive Post-Crisis story of Bruce's invention of Batman, and pretty much every modern comic writer and fan recognizes it. It's likely no comic writer or story has had as much enduring influence on the Batman mythos since Miller wrote Year One and The Dark Knight Returns. Case in point: Alfred.

So yeah. Alfred isn't Bruce's dad. The Gotham TV series probably makes the strongest case for Alfred as Bruce's dad, and even then I personally think there is wiggle room to say eh they're family and they love each other but they're not quite parent & child. Everything else—Batman '66, BTAS, the Nolan movies, Lego Batman, Battinson—ultimately doesn't Alfred cast as Bruce's dad, for the best. Recent comics and the later Arkhamverse games try to force the father-son thing, but it's cheap and unearned.

[astraystayyh]

whenever i need a lil laugh i rewatch this video of changbin like WHAT WAS HE DOING 😭😭😭😭😭😭 THE WAY HE PAUSED IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS IT'S TOO FUNNY

[disguisedcheezed]

John really likes to annoy Dirk and see him irritated until Dirk genuinely smiles for once he gets SO MUCH CUTENEES AGRESSION he wants to punch objects to dust and eat it with an inner monologue repeating "KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM"

But for Dirk, he could detect when John is Not actually expressing the real emotions he's showing, until John Genuinely smiles after a crying session which Dirk DID NOT expect. He's getting cuteness agression but the calm way with his inner monologue saying "I'm in heaven." and he just wants to hold John in his arms forever.

> John looks so calm and smiley all the time but he's actually very violent and when he's very mad he would love to punch everything and make them explode to prevent himself from thinking about anything.

> Dirk looks destructive and intimidating but he's actually just a guy who likes to hold someone's hand and blush in anime.

[shivroy]

the thinkers

[stargazer49]

GRUNKLES INCORRECT QUOTES

(Near the beginning) Stan: Hey, so I get that triangle guy is your boyfriend or whatever but-

Ford: BOYFRIEND- I mean, boyfriend? My muse is not my- I mean, unless he said-

Stan: ...ok, I don't know what's happening there, but tell your freaky space cube to stop leaving inverted animals on my porch

[letters-to-rosie]

there's something deeply ironic about Vi insisting Silco can't be negotiated with at the council meeting leading to the factory raid, and meanwhile Silco negotiates at first opportunity, as soon as Jayce offers; says a lot about her mindset