#he was a guardian angel which in this case means his default state is having a human body since he dealt with humans on earth basically all

[boyheros]

that au of the MVRCK story deals with angels but it's like I don't actually care or know about christianity so a ton of the stuff is way different or whatever and like I got rid of god. even heaven is in a post-apocalyptic state congratulations. Anyways what I really wanted to share here is that bc of that the rules for "falling" are so arbitrary (and possibly non-existent at this point) so some angels fall for seemingly NO reason and the byproduct of that is angels will regularly attack and steal divinity from each other to regain their status. cannibalization of the divine 🤨

[fresh-prince-of-denmark]

Analysis of the Devil Ending: Who Died and Left Aristotle In Charge of Ethics? (Pt 5)

Hello and welcome back to me over-analyzing everything in Cyberpunk. If you haven’t read my other posts, please read those first! (V’s Mikoshi Poem, Johnny’s Mikoshi Poem, The Sun, New Dawn Fades).

This part took me a lot longer to complete. Not because it was particularly long…it was just painful. Jesus Christ. I hated every second of this ending. That shit hurted.

There were a few shards located at Arasaka’s estate that I chose to skip, as I did not find ant that were unique to the location. The three the game seemed to want to draw your attention to were actually not scattered as shards, they were spoken-word. The only shard I was able to find was a portion of The Odyssey. The other two pieces of literature are In Kyoto, which is quoted to V by the guard to takes her to the hospital room, and (what I believe to be) a reference to Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave. This section is going to be super theoretical. Like, more theoretical than the rest. So bare with me please.

Let’s start easy. This is the poem that the guard quotes at V as he leads her out of the operating room:

In Kyoto,

hearing the cuckoo,

I long for Kyoto

(By: Basho, translated by Jane Hirshfield)

Ten words. What could ten words amount to? The saddest goddamn words you’ll ever hear, dammit.  This poem is a feeling more than a concept. Ever feel homesick when you haven’t gone anywhere? Lonely when you’re around other people? That’s V. This was supposed to be a victory, supposed to be what they wanted. But now Johnny’s gone, scorned and betrayed, and no one they calls seems to even be able to give V the time of day. This was supposed to be a victory, their way of going back to the way things were, getting their life back, going home. But we can never go back, can’t ever erase our experiences, what we learn, how we grow. As Misty says, we should not fear change in of itself, but who we might change into. This just goes to show what happens when we betray ourselves by rejecting our own growth: all that’s left is bitterness and sorrow.

The next day when V wakes, you can pick up a shard containing a section from Chapter 8 of The Odyssey. Now, I’m not too familiar with the Odyssey. In fact, I hate the Odyssey. So if anyone wants to jump in here and add something more intelligent, I’m all for it. The Odyssey is the tale of Odysseus, who has been trying for ten long years to return to his wife and son after the Trojan war. Odysseus is basically listening to a bard remind him of all his Trojan War trauma, and begins to weep, at which time time people start questioning what’s up with this guy:

Say what thy birth, and what the name you bore,

Imposed by parents in the natal hour?

(For from the natal hour distinctive names,

One common right, the great and lowly claims:)

Say from what city, from what regions toss'd,

And what inhabitants those regions boast?

So shalt thou instant reach the realm assign'd.

In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind;

No helm secures their course, no pilot guides;

Like man intelligent, they plough the tides,

Conscious of every coast and every bay,

That lies beneath the sun's all-seeing ray;

Though clouds and darkness veil the encumber'd sky,

Fearless through darkness and through clouds they fly;

Though tempests rage, though rolls the swelling main,

The seas may roll, the tempests may rage in vain,

E'en the stern god that o'er the waves presides,

Safe as they pass, and safe repass the tides,

With fury burns; while careless they convey

Promiscuous every guest to every bay,

These ears have heard my royal sire disclouse

A dreadful story, big with future woes;

How Neptune raged, and how, by his command,

Firm rooted in a surge a ship would stand

A monument of wrath; how mound on mound

Should bury these proud towers beneath the ground.

But this the gods may frustrate or fulfill,

As suits the purpose of the Eternal Will.

But say through what waste regions hast thou stray'd

What customs noted, and what coasts survey'd;

Possess'd by wild barbarians fierce in arms,

Or men whose bosom tender pity warms?

Say why the fate o Troy awaked thy cares,

Why heaved thy bosom, and why flowed thy tears?

Reading this made me feel just how tired V must be. All this fighting, all this war, and for what? Much like Odysseus, V has been through hell and back (literally, depending on how you see it). And it never seems to end. V has been fighting for so long, yet there’s always something more; the tests the doctor gives her are endless, and they’re always being asked to do more, over and over again, with no results or end in sight. Odysseus is teetering on despair; nothing he does seems to do will ever be enough, just like V. The world will just take and take and take. It’s exactly what V’s poem asserts in Mikoshi; the world cannot be fixed, and resistance is futile. You can’t change how corporations rule the world, and as a protestor states on the TV in the hospital room, the rich have no boundaries or morals, and we are powerless to stop them from taking whatever they want. They can take not only our souls, but our bodies, devour them in order to prolong their own lives. Johnny would, of course, disagree. Even a slap in the face to The Man is better than submitting to a corpo-leash, even if that is the easier path. And in fact, he may be right, since it seems taking Hanako’s offer is the conformist path, and the only one that leads to Saburo coming back.

But Johnny isn’t there anymore to walk the rebel path at their side. No more guardian angel to whisper when they it most to never stop fighting.

There’s a lot more we could go into here with the Odyssey; comparing Arasaka to the story of Polyphemus and the cave, talking about themes of passion vs. commitment, yadayadayada. I hate the Odyssey so that can be someone else’s problem tbh.

The final piece is what the doctor asks V to read as one of their tests. Now, on surface-level, this is foreshadowing if V will choose to stay in their body, or be turned into an engram. It’s laughing at them, really, both pitying and mocking the fact that they believe they have a choice, since either way they’re once again at the mercy of the rich and powerful:

“And it was a sight to behold, he said, how a soul would choose its life; sometimes pitiable, sometimes laughable at times wonderful and strange. For in most cases, the souls made their choice according to the habits of a former life.”

I couldn’t find where this was from, or if it was a quote from anything. But googling it does bring up Plato’s Allegory of The Cave, which I thinks tracks pretty well. I found a quote from this chapter of Plato’s The Republic, which is strikingly similar in meaning. For the sake of my sanity, lets assume that this quote is referencing this one from Plato:

“And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the cave.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the allegory of the cave, it’s a philosophical discussion from Plato’s The Republic. It’s about how human perception is limited, and so true knowledge comes from the self via philosophical reasoning. Much like humans imprisoned in a cave with only shadows as their entire world, we cannot imagine the true world outside the cave until we leave to see it for ourselves.  Those who are freed from this limited reasoning have a duty to go back and free others, subjecting them to the full experience of awakening; both the pain and the triumph it entails. V starts out with a limited perception of things; a surface-level world, never stopping to see the bigger picture, until Johnny comes along and encourages them to question the status quo. In all other endings, V accepts this enlightenment. They challenge Arasaka, and try to follow Johnny’s legacy and Stick It To the Man. Yet if they accept Hanako’s offer in an attempt to return to “the habits of a former life,” they are rejecting this new understanding, refusing to leave the cave and live in ignorant bliss. This, I believe, is where Johnny’s true feeling of betrayal comes from: not because he’s being shredded, and not because he thinks V doesn’t know any better. V learned and changed just as much as he did, and this growth was something they were able to gift to one another. Johnny is proud of his change, proud to be someone trusted by V, proud at a second chance not to fuck things up. When V gives him control to go with Rogue to Arasaka, he’s ecstatic to prove himself worthy of that trust, to prove that he’s changed. Yet V, the person who aided in that change, is now actively ignoring and rejecting their own growth, and thus is betraying themselves. By not using their enlightenment to actively oppose the status quo and rebel, they are choosing the side of the oppressor by default.

Some of her last words if you choose not to sign the contract are to Goro, “You have no idea how good it feels to be free.” But the truth is, V is not free, and now they will never be free. By walking the path they have, they are choosing willful ignorance, stubbornly clinging to the darkness of the cave because it is easier to convince oneself that they are not a prisoner at all than it is to leave the comfort of one’s chains. Either way, they are caged, even if the bars the rich and powerful build around her are clear instead of solid. Her so-called freedom (and knowledge) is pure illusion — shadows depicted on a cave wall.

[tes-trash-blog]

So, uh, a while back you mentioned making a post about how Prisoner McNord might affect the player experience/perceptions of the "default" and I would be super interested in reading that

So!

I have a few thoughts already on what is considered “default” in Skyrim to be expanded upon in a future shitstorm rant (it’s on the list, between Almalexia Is Interesting Actually and Even More Crying About Snow Elves Part 17: My Tears Have Become Sentient And Are Also Crying).

And as always, keep in mind that Skyrim is coming up on 9 years old, elements of it have not aged well, and this is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a “If you like Skyrim then you’re Bad” rant. In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of love that game. It has flaws; all games do, and frankly it’s a miracle this game is as solid as it is. The writers are that, writers. They had deadlines to make, hardware limitations to consider, and above all else, worked for a company that wanted to make money.

To keep this relatively short I’ll focus on how your perception of Skyrim is influenced by the first few minutes of the game via Ralof, the Nordiest Nord to Nord since Ysgranord, and how the writers really, really really wanted you to hold on to that perception.

Overanalysis and spoilers (Metal Gear Solid, Borderlands, and Bioshock respectively yes this will all make sense in context) under the cut.

Part 1: How To Make A Perspective In Three Easy Steps

As the saying goes, first impressions are lasting impressions. This is evident in.. well, every bit of media you can find. The first chapters of a book, the first episode of a show, the first 15 minutes of a video game, all as a general rule:

1.) Introduces the setting, a part of the main plot, and with these two, sets the tone of the medium (high fantasy movie, light hearted TV show, mystery series, horror game, etc.). Exceptions exist, especially in horrors, mysteries, and certain visual novels, but even these exceptions rely on setting a tone so they can subvert your expectations later on.

2.) Give you an idea of what is going on. This is normally accomplished with exposition of some sort; Star Wars had its famous screen crawl expositing the dark times in the Galaxy, Borderlands literally begins with “So, you want to hear a story..”, Metal Gear Solid briefs Solid Snake (you, the player character) on a vital mission to save two hostages and end a terrorist threat, so on and so forth. And again, there are exceptions: Bioshock purposefully disorients you with a plane crash in the middle of the ocean so you’re inclined to trust the first person who talks to you.

This all serves to suspend disbelief, immerse you, and earn your trust. This is a new world, you have no idea what’s going on, so you’re gonna take cues from someone who does. Combine points 1 and 2, and that..

3.) Gives you an idea of what is ��good” and what is “bad”. Damn near every story has a central conflict, you gotta pick a side, and there’s gonna be a bias as to which one is superior or morally just. Using Bioshock again, this mysterious man named Atlas guides you through the first level, and tells you how to fight and survive in the hostile environment of Rapture; meanwhile, Andrew Ryan taunts and belittles you, and also has a giant golden bust of himself. The shorthand is: Atlas is humble, helpful, and good, while Andrew Ryan is a megalomaniac who wants you dead. Leaning on Borderlands again, the first voice you hear is literally a guardian angel telling you not to be afraid, and that you are destined to do great things. Once more with Metal Gear: Your organization and your commanders are good, you are good because you’re saving innocent people, and FOXHOUND is bad because they’re terrorists who have the means to launch a nuclear warhead.

Keeping all this in mind, let’s do a quick runthrough of the first, let’s call it 15 minutes of Skyrim. No commentary on my end, just a play by play of the beginning of the game.

Part 2: First Impressions In Action

You wake up on a cart. Your vision is hazy, and you are clearly disoriented. You see a man bound and gagged, another man in rags, and several men dressed like soldiers. Everyone on the cart is tied up, and the people driving the cart are wearing a neat, vastly different uniform.

Then comes the famous line: “You! You’re finally awake! You were caught trying to cross the border, got caught in that Imperial ambush same as us, and that thief over there!” The thief bitterly remarks how these damn Stormcloaks had to cook up trouble in a nice and lazy Empire. The Nord who first spoke with you nobly says that we’re all brothers and sisters in these binds.

The presumed Imperial tells you all to shut up. Undeterred, the thief and the Stormcloak provide more exposition: The gagged man is the leader of the resistance, is supposedly the true High King, and since he’s on the cart, it’s clear that everyone on board is bound for the executioner’s block. The thief is terrified; the Nord accepts his fate, but takes a moment to opine on better days when he flirted with girls and “when the Imperial walls made him feel safe.” There is also a remark about General Tulius and the Thalmor agents; the Nord, in a rare bit of anger, damns the Elves and insinuates they had a hand in this capture.

It’s execution time. General Tulius gives a speech about how Ulfric started a civil war and killed the former High King; Ulfric, being gagged, cannot say a word in defense. A Stormcloak is executed to mixed reactions (“You Imperial bastards!” “Justice!”, etc.). The thief runs away; he is shot by Imperial archers, demonstrating the futility of escape. It’s your turn. The Nord in Imperial armor states you’re not on the list; the Imperial captain doesn’t care and orders you to the block anyway.

You see the headsman’s axe rise up when, as if the gods intervene, a dragon appears and interrupts your execution. In the chaos, you run with the Stormcloaks. The game does not give you the option to run away alone, or with the Imperials; until you meet Hadvar again in the fire and death, you take orders from Ulfric.

Part 3: The Crux

A lot happens in the first few minutes of Skyrim. You’re disoriented from being unconscious, and that’s compounded by your two near death experiences (point 2), the first person you meet is a calm, almost reassuring mouthpiece of exposition while the other side, at best, doesn’t care if you die (points 2 and 3), one major aspect of the plot is revealed (point 1, and the tone is that this is a classic Rebellion story).

And people love rebellion stories. Americans especially; we spend billions on the day when a bunch of white guys said “fuck you” to a bunch of other white guys. With the additional layer of when Skyrim was developed, by who, and in what landscape it was written.. Yeah. There may be two ways to go for the Civil War questline, but for most players (myself included!) their first gut instinct is going to be “side with the guys who didn’t just try to kill me.”

It’s the same song and dance. In Bioshock, your instinct is to trust the Irish guy who wants to help you get out of Rapture alive, but he needs your help first. In Borderlands, your instinct is to trust the woman who is literally called a guardian angel, and she shows her compassion by asking you to help the people of Fyrestone and the poor robot who got hurt in a gunfight. In Metal Gear, your instinct is to shut down the threat because terrorists are evil and these ones are not just terrorists, they’re deserters. Hell, even in other Elder Scrolls games the plot is laid out by helping hands: you’re a prisoner being contacted by your murdered friend, and given the goal to stop Jagar Tharn (Arena), you’re a Blades agent tasked with putting a vengeful spirit to rest that leads you to a weapon that can secure the Empire’s power (Daggerfall), Azura literally tells you not to be afraid, and that you destined to stop an old threat (Morrowind), and a soon-to-be-assassinated Emperor voiced by Actual Grandpa Patrick Stewart recognizes you in a prophetic dream (Oblivion).

Where Skyrim departs from these games, and even the other Elder Scrolls titles, is how much it enforces the first thing you see as solidly good and evil, and how little it tries to subvert that perception. Remember point 2, when the game makes it clear that this person is trustworthy? Therein lies the bread and butter of psychological horror, mysteries, and heart wrenching plot twists: that trust gets tested, and often broken.

The rebel leader Atlas? He’s somehow more evil than Andrew Ryan, and has subtly controlled you the entire time with a command phrase (“Would you kindly..?”). You are unable to stop yourself when you bludgeon Andrew Ryan to death at Ryan’s command. “A man chooses,” he tells you. “A slave obeys.” His final words are him telling you that you are a puppet, only able to obey.

The end of Borderlands reveals that “Angel” was watching you the entire time.. from a Hyperion satellite. You were tricked into opening a Vault holding back a dangerous monster, and you don’t even know why. Borderlands 2 goes further into just what (or rather who) Angel is: a teenage girl and a powerful Siren, used by her own demented, evil, father, Handsome Jack, to manipulate the Vault Hunters and gain more power for himself. Her final mission given to you is simple: she wants you to set her free and end her father’s mad march to power by killing her.

Metal Gear Solid ultimately plays it straight in that you stop the terrorists and disable the nuclear threat, but you don’t emerge from the rubble as an action hero; you’re forced to kill your own brother, the terrorist cell is revealed to be composed almost entirely of people exploited by your organization, and you secretly carry  a virus designed to kill the people you were trying to save. War, as it turns out, is not as clear-cut as “we good, they bad”. The people you’ve killed without thinking are your genetic brothers. Sniper Wolf, the assassin who shot your commander’s niece, survived a genocide and has never known a life outside of war. Psycho Mantis’ telepathic gifts were exploited by both the KGB and FBI until he lost his mind. Ocelot is Ocelot.

Oh, but those are other games. What about The Elder Scrolls? Well..

In Daggerfall, your search for hidden correspondence leads you to finding the Mantella, a sort of soul gem that can power the superweapon everyone wants: The Numidium. There are six entities total who want the Mantella, some for their personal gain, one to make a home for his people, and one so he may finally die; the Underking’s soul is in that gem, you see, and he’s been trapped in this misery since the days of Tiber Septim.

In Morrowind, Dagoth Ur recognizes you not as a schlub with a dummy thick journal, but as his oldest and dearest friend. The Empire who guided you for so long? They’ve manipulated you into taking down the Tribunal, destroying the one weapon that could stand against their might, and depending on your interpretation of “then the Nerevarine sailed to Akavir”, have possibly killed you.

And what of everyone’s favorite game in the series to mock? Surprise! Oblivion isn’t even about you, hero! It’s about the actual chosen one, Martin Septim! Sure you can join the Thieves’ Guild and cavort about as Grey Fox, or uncover the traitor of the Dark Brotherhood, or run off and become the Mad God.. but none of those events actually acknowledge you. To be the Grey Fox is to literally be forgotten, by the time the Dark Brotherhood questline is complete there is effectively no more Dark Brotherhood, and to become Sheogorath is to lose yourself entirely. The Hero of Kvatch is one who is ultimately forgotten. Your actions were important, have no doubt, but such is the fate of the unsung hero: they’re not sung about.

Even Arena plays a little bit with your expectations in that the Staff of Chaos alone isn’t enough to stop Jagar Tharn; you need friendship (just kidding it’s a magic gem in the Imperial Palace). Skyrim.. kinda glosses over that. They land a few punches, but for them to stay with you, you have to keep an open mind.

Part 4: Why does that matter?

Because if your expectations are never subverted, your trust never tried in any meaningful way, then your perception of a very specific, spoon-fed worldview is never challenged. The trust you build with a group that is, in essence, a fascist paramilitary cult is never shaken in any way that’s meaningful. You get some lines intended to evoke sadness when you sack Whiterun, but by then it’s too late. Not that it matters; at the end of the Stormcloak questline, there’s not much question about who was in the right. You never lose friends or allies; the Jarls in the holds change, but is there much difference between Idgrod Ravencrone and Sorli the Builder? You might feel a little guilty when you see the Dunmer forced to live in the slums, but then the haughty High Elf says that she didn’t laze around and instead made a name for herself, or the Dark Elf farmer who complains about his snowflake kinsmen harping on about “injustices”. The Argonians seem decent until you meet the skooma addict/thief, and the Khajiit.. let’s just say that even if we disregard the two Khajiit assassins sent to kill you, there exist a lot of extremely harmful stereotypes that none of your friends dispel. They commit no horrific war crimes in your presence, the worst you hear is a Nord (normally a bandit) yell “Skyrim is for the Nords!”, or the clumsy Welcome to Winterhold script where a Dunmer woman is harassed by two Nords; one’s a veteran, by the way. Got run through the chest by an Imperial craven, or so the story goes.

Your only chance to rattle the Nord-driven story is to go against your gut feeling and side with the Imperials (the plotline is pretty weak, not gonna lie), or complete the optional quest No One Escapes Cindha Mine where you see what a Stormcloak sympathizer does to the Forsworn. Even if you complete that quest, the Forsworn still attack you. “They’re savages,” say the Nords, and the game isn’t too inclined to say otherwise.

When it comes to portraying the Nords in any light that’s not negative, Skyrim doesn’t deliver like it did in other games. You saw what life is like in Morrowind under Tribunal rule; it’s not great. The Houses are almost universally awful and they have slaves. You see the destruction in Cyrodiil and hear the rumors on how much the Empire is flailing with the Oblivion Crisis. Hell, even Arena tells you that life in Tamriel kind of sucks, but it’ll suck a little less when Tharn is dead.

That doesn’t happen in Skyrim. You are encouraged to join the sympathetic Stormcloaks, you find out your destiny as Dragonborn, and you set all these things right. Of course you do. You’re a hero, baby. Others have gone on about how storybook the Dragonborn questline is so I won’t go too much in, but that’s it exactly: Storybook. You’re Neutral Good. You’re going to kill the bad dragon that wants to do its job and eat the world. 

And that refusal to really examine the nuances and horrors of war, to consider what it means to be a hero that is never morally challenged or forced into a Total Perspective Vortex, to never challenge an extremely biased perspective or even explore its “logical” conclusion?

It leads to extremely dangerous ways of thinking if unchecked.

[mpmwrites]

Fallen: Penance

Hoh heeeeeyyyy there! I’m back with something totally new and different? @the-writing-of-a-gay-idiot maybe had a Guardian Angel Hankvin AU that I ran away with. SO here’s somehting that I probably might continue at least a little bit. Enjoy. T for language.

”Fuck.” Gavin cursed.

He never disliked work. He’d worked hard to get the move to children, and every day worked his hardest, knowing one slip could have him shifted right back to politicians, or felons, or teachers, or something equally as tedious and fruitless.

This was his slip.

He couldn’t have prevented the car accident. He'd spent the hours leading up to it shifting moments and stoplights and making the waitress at their table move a little faster with a sweet wave from Cole. He’d gotten Cole’s dad to leave work early and prevented the usual custody swap bitchfight from lasting too long. All to prevent the worst of hundreds of potential outcomes. To prevent Cole and his father from dying instantly, to give them their best chance. They were going to get hurt and he couldn’t prevent all of that. It was the worst part of his job, futilely watching as things happened he couldn't stop. There were things he just could not do. He couldn’t keep the road from icing over, couldn’t keep the truck from sliding, couldn’t make the car move slower.

Couldn’t stop Cole from hitting his head on the door panel.

Couldn’t keep the surgeon from getting high off his ass.

And now he was watching, begging, willing with all power he had to make the fucking android move faster.

Elijah Kamski’s guardian must  have been some kind of powerful to get those things created, but had never thought of the outcome. Guardians had no power over androids, not even in the slightest. He watched as the android was woken from stasis as soon as the nursing staff determined the surgeon couldn’t work. He watched as Cole was intubated while the android walked calmly through the halls.

He watched Cole die under his care, with the android still sanitizing for the procedure.

“Oh fuck.” Gavin repeated, breathless and stricken. The other three children in his care slept soundly in their beds, and as he began to cry, he sent them a silent farewell. They'd be taken from him, and there was nothing he could do.

He had to call it in, and even so, it was a painstaking few hours before the report made it through the proper channels and had someone showing up to relieve him. He had his wings tucked close to his back defensively, like a dog with its tail between his legs. He tried to focus on Hae-Joo who’s day was just beginning in South Korea as he fought his mother on getting up for school because of the exam he had that day. As he convinced Hae-Joo to eat a proper breakfast, Adra in Greece stretched for dance practice and Louis in Greenland continued to sleep.

Cole lay motionless in the morgue.

“Gavin?” The voice behind him made him flinch, sudden panic accompanying what he knew was next. “My name is Connor, I’m your relief sent by the balance department. I’ll be overseeing your charges while you’re put under review.” Spoke the other guardian. His wings were a pure white, contrasting sharply against his black suit. They made Gavin’s own mottled wings look tainted.

“Balance.” Gavin nodded, turning to his replacement. “You’re the dipshit that’s gonna take care of them?” He snapped, looking Connor up and down. “I swear to god if you hurt them I’ll rip every damn feather out of your wings one by one.” He seethed, more emotional than necessary, “Hae-Joo has a history exam today and he’s really fucking nervous even though he studied all last night. And Louis wants to ask Joanna out but he’s gonna get hurt if he does because she has a boyfriend, so make sure he’s careful and his friends are there, okay?” He was babbling, filled with his own panic amplified by what was to come for his kids. "And Arda has an audition coming up but there’s talent scouts coming and she doesn’t know, don’t let her forget to stretch before it!” He demanded, “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some prick from balances fuck up my kid’s lives.” He promised, hands fisting.

“I assure you that they’re in good hands, Gavin, you’re expected at the balance department’s review center.”

“And you better take care of Cole’s mom and dad.” Gavin punctuated coldly, shoulder checking Connor as he left.

”They’re not your children, Gavin.” Connor spoke plainly, causing Gavin to stop in his tracks. “They have mothers and fathers, but you are nothing to them. They don’t even know you exist.” He wasn’t snarky or mean, he stated his explanation factually.

“That doesn’t fucking mean I love them any less.” Gavin breathed, low and dark sounding. There was a tense moment of quiet between them, and Connor turned to watch him go.

“Be honest with the balances reviewer. It’s… unlikely that you’ve upset the balance with one child, but you will have to pay penance for your actions.” Connor offered, his tone light in a show of goodwill. “But, honesty goes miles for them, and leniency can be shown, especially for... someone who cares for his charges as much as you do.”

-----

“Gavin, Cole Anderson was not fated to die tonight, and under your care he did. While the death of one boy will not tip the scales dramatically, a life, especially that of a child, is absolutely not negligible.” Amanda preened. Her white dress gave way to the crystalline wings of a department head, similar to those of Perkins, the head of Gavin’s own department.

These were the most ancient and experienced guardians, ones that the likes of Gavin never wanted to have cause to counsel with. “However, it is clear that your oversight on the surgeon was unintentional, and that you truly do regret these events. For that, you will be allowed to seek redemption.” She explained, summoning a view of a face familiar to Gavin. He made to speak, but she held up her hand to silence him. Gavin closed his mouth and felt small before the two superior guardians, and stared at the face of Cole’s father, his hair was graying at the temples with age, and he looked so desolate, so broken, so gone.

Amanda began speaking again over the silence of Hank Anderson’s ex wife marching up to him with matching tears on her cheeks as she screamed. Hank didn’t even react. “You will be assigned to a special case, one which will allow you to soften the damage of what you’ve done. Hank Anderson will be your only charge, and your results on his case will be indicative of your future capabilities and assignments.” Amanda explained. “Connor will oversee your former charges, as well as your work with Hank. Do not let us down again, Gavin.” She preached, and Gavin felt the weight of it all pushing down on him.

"What am I supposed to do for him?" He spoke. What else could he say?

"The same as you do for any other charge; nurture him. Keep him safe in the way you failed to do for his son."

The answer hurt. It echoed deep within him as he was returned to his work, and festered there like some kind of pestilence.

His monitor was no longer sectioned into quadrants, but soley featured Hank wailing in his car in the hospital parking lot. Some privacy, Gavin registered as Hank sobbed and his nose ran and he wiped at his face with filthy, soaked sleeves. He was in no condition to drive, but Gavin checked possible paths of action anyway. Hank was 83.7% likely to stay at the hospital, though being there wasn't going to change anything that happened. No, the only thing that would change, that could change was what Hank did from that moment forward. What Gavin helped him to do.

He didn't interfere as Hank tried his damndest to get himself together enough to go back inside, but was overtaken by another wave of sobs. The bottom of the view read out 'Primary Emotive States: Guilt, Loneliness'. With a quick 72 hour check, Gavin could see that loneliness was something like Hank's default, but the guilt was entirely on Gavin's bloodied hands. It all hit him anew, and Gavin's tears flowed while Hank broke down completely. It was too much, way too much. Hours ago Cole was happy and laughing as his dad tried to sneak chicken nuggets off his plate and now Cole was gone, and Gavin would never see his toothy smile again. He'd never see Cole finish the drawing he started of Sumo before Hank took him to eat. It wasn't fair, not for Gavin, not for the surgeon who wouldn't have to answer for Cole's death, not for Cole, and absolutely not for Hank.

Hank started the car and fear plagued Gavin. It was still dark, still icy, and Hank was still shaking all over. Gavin preset the radio to light jazz, knowing Hank didn't need the distraction of talk radio or the intensity of the heavy metal that was listed in his profile prefernces (curated by his previous guardian). The notes had Hank draw a long breath that came out shaky but calmer than before, and Gavin watched with bated breath for the entire thirty-six minute drive home. Sumo barked loudly as Hank entered, but sobered immediately when Cole wasn't with him.

The empathy of animals astounded Gavin. In all his time as a guardian, he'd always had a preference for charges with pets, because, truthfully, they made his job easier. Sumo fed off of Hank's hurt, and followed his owner with his head hung and produced a small whine every now and again as Hank ignored him. Sumo would be Gavin's first tool to help Hank through this, and he hoped he wouldn't need any more.

He was wrong, and Hank seemed to know it.

For months Gavin tried, and tried, and god fucking damnit tried as Hank spiraled, worse and worse by each passing night. Gavin pleaded with him every night. He begged Hank not to drink, to eat something, to feed Sumo, to get some sleep, and no matter what he did, it was always the same. He would get Hank's card declined at the liquor store, only for Hank to pull out cash. He'd get Hank to completely forget his wallet at home, and Hank would still go back out to medicate himself. He'd get a suspect to give Hank a good chase to exhaust him, and Hank would only drink until he passed out sooner than usual. The only way he could get Hank to eat anything healthy was when he had the takeout guy deliver a side salad with his pizza by mistake.

He was failing, and felt his failure grow exponentially with every carefully manipulated round of Russian roulette. "Stop fucking blaming yourself." Gavin demanded out loud, knowing full well Hank couldn't hear him over the click of the empty pistol barrel. "It's not your fucking fault." He cried as he eased the probability and the barrel stopped one shot short of fatality. "I did this to you." he swore as tears fell and Hank found another slug of whiskey more appealing than the next shot. "Stop." he kept begging, watching Hank stand to stumble to the bathroom, only to return and spin the barrel again. "What am I supposed to do for you?!" He screamed as Hank wavered with the revolver aimed near his temple. His hand shook enough that he dropped the weapon and conceded for the night.

Gavin's wings fluttered with frustration, and a feather or two drifted to the ground as a result of his stress. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes as Hank collapsed on the couch, Sumo dutifully coming over to lay within arm's reach. Gavin kicked out, but there was nothing for his foot to land on in the blank room where he worked, so he marched to the wall and punched it. It felt good, and Hank began snoring, so he did it again, and again, and again.

If he were human, his knuckles would have at least busted open, if his fingers themselves weren't broken form the impact. As a guardian, there was no physical evidence of his outburst. He tugged at his hair, willing himself to not give up. He couldn't, not after what he did for Cole, and Hank needed him. If Gavin hadn't watched his every move for the past few months, Hank would have killed himself already, but Gavin didn't know what to do anymore.

He laid his palm against the view in front of him and pleaded one more time " I want to help you." The sob that shuddered out of him was unbidden, but Gavin didn't hold back. "I'm sorry. God, I'm so fucking sorry, but you have to stop blaming yourself."

[shidoukanae]

VRAINS Mystery Masterpost (1)

VRAINS Mystery Masterpost (Part 1: Episodes 1-14). Note that each masterpost will be listed on my page here so that way people can find them easier later down the road.

So I was bored and I figured that I’d rewatch VRAINS and note anything of interest that has yet to be explained by the show itself. While I was doing that, I thought about putting together a master list of mysteries and questions I had with the show while we’re still in the early stages.

The reason for doing this is to try and see what the VRAINS plot solves and what gets missed out on. I want to see how in-depth the show goes with answering our questions as well as wanting to see, later on, when everything appeared and how it all connects.

Granted, I probably missed a few questions here and there so if there’s a question someone has that hasn’t been answered by the show yet, send me a message and I’ll add it here!

I’m going to organize these as best as I can on an episode by episode basis. I’ll also add in references to quotes or actions of the cast as well as the episode numbers that the question first arises from. Any evidence supporting a question will also be quoted. When a mystery is solved, it will be crossed out and have the episode number that it was solved in written alongside it in the masterpost assigned to it.

I will also make a masterpost of (new) questions every ten episodes (so, when the show hits episode 20, 30, etc. I’m including ep 1-14 bc that’s where we’re at currently) so as to keep up with any new mysteries that appear. Questions mentioned in previous masterposts will not be re-brought up due to the fact that there are already quite a lot of questions the fandom needs answered and I prefer to split up the different questions and mysteries by each section of masterposts.

Okay, now, moving on, for the mysteries we have so far they are:

Episode 1:

-Why doesn’t Yusaku like dueling? Why is he so against it?

-Why are the other five AIs trapped in a magic circle and why, exactly, was Ignis not trapped alongside them?

-Who are the six Ignis’s and what are their purpose (including Ai)?

-Why did Ai consider himself to be an outcast in comparison to the other Ignis’s?

-Is the Revolver of five years ago the same as the Revolver now?

-Who is the owner of the voice Yusaku hears? (Ep 1, 2, 12)

-Why does Yusaku speak in reasons of three? (Introduced in episode 1 and a continuous concept through later episodes. SOLVED in episode 12 when Yusaku’s mysterious friend tells him to find three reasons to live and thus gave Yusaku his penchant for speaking in groups of three)

-What is the Cyverse and, why, exactly, is it such a threat to Hanoi?

-What does the tower in the Cyverse signify and what purpose does it have to be presumably protected by five (six?) AIs?

-Why does Shoichi know about the Data Storms and how, exactly, does he know about them when the rest of the public seems to have never recognized Data Storms before? (“Some time ago there was a wind that blew inside of VRAINS called a Data Storm…there were rumors of countless monsters that lived amongst the wind…”. I go more in-depth about this here: LINK)

-What group of people is Shoichi referring to when he talks about the Data Storms? (“A certain group of people did something called Speed Duels on it...”)

-What do the six colorful birds and the one giant white one represent? What purpose do they serve for in the opening? Symbolism or...is it perhaps some sort of weird foreshadowing we’re seeing here?

-Why does Yusaku seem to have a connection to Link VRAINS and to Ai himself? (He seems to sense when something’s going wrong in the VRAINS after a knight of Hanoi appears as well as knows where Ai is. This is partially solved by episodes 9 and 11 when Ai gives it a name – Link Sense – but Yusaku does not specifically state where he got it or why, exactly, he has this ability. He does, however, state that, ever since he was young he had the capability to do so: “You can sense the presence of the network. Since when?” - Ai in a flashback from episode 8 - and Playmaker’s response: “Since I was young. That’s right. I could sense the pulse of the network since then.”)

-What is the Data Material? (We know it is used to maintain the VRAINS but why is it also the catalyst to calling up a Data Storm?)

-Why were we shown beautiful and lush city-like settings in the VRAINS world in this episode with Blue Angel’s and Go’s duels and, yet, every time since the characters have dueled in the VRAINS it’s basically been a desolate city? Is there a reason why the city ruins look seems to be the default and why we haven’t seen places like the below landscapes ever since episode 1? (This is minus, to some extent, Ema’s first duel on-screen bc the VRAINS still looks city-like but at least it changed color and added in a highway)

^ is the settings we were shown in episode 1 with the last two images being from Ema’s duel. Note that episode 14′s city still looks much the same as the below images just with a greener color scheme and a highway added in. v is the settings we’ve been shown so far from episodes 2-13. What happened to the beautiful landscapes here exactly?

-to that extent, why does the Link VRAINS default look seem to always look like an eerie and abandoned city? Does this serve as any specific purpose for foreshadowing or something along those lines or is there a reason why we’ve yet to see something akin to Blue Angel’s and Go’s duel match settings in the first episode again?

-how and when did Yusaku meet Shoichi? Why is Yusaku so concerned for Shoichi’s brother and is it possible Yusaku had past relations with said brother?

Episode 2:

-Why do people not remember what a Data Storm looks like if the Cyberse only disappeared five years ago? Shouldn’t people (other than Shoichi and Akira) have known what a Data Storm was beforehand if it was only five years ago? (ep 1, 2)

-What are the Cyverses that Yusaku has and why did they go ‘extinct’ by Hanoi’s hands? Why does Hanoi despise them so much and why then does Yusaku have the only remaining ones in existence? (episode 2)

-If Ai has no memories, why does he suggest that he does in the battle with the Knight of Hanoi? (He says “Has the enemy evolved too!?” when he realizes that the tactics Hanoi employs are different than before)

-To that extent, why does Ai know how to Speed Duel and why does Playmaker find it familiar as well? (Ai teaches Playmaker how to speed duel and he recognizes it as familiar even though he obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing)

-Blue Angel’s energy whip which has appeared in this episode only. Does it have a further purpose and, if so, is it possible that this creation of energy relates to the plot in some way? Will it ever reappear again or is it something we are only doomed to see ever once? (Nope, we get to see it again in episode 16 lol. Still not related to plot though past saving Yusaku)

-It is hinted at when Yusaku says his first reason in this episode for living that he is aware there are five other children who were rescued with him. If that’s the case and he wants to find out what happened in his past, why hasn’t he tried to find these kids and contact them for information? Is it possible that he can’t track them down and that’s why he doesn’t recognize Aoi or Go as possible keys to his past? (When Yusaku says: “In order to take back my time that was stolen from me!” he seems to suggest that he wants to find out what happened before he was rescued from the park woods. The logical connection would be to hook up with those who suffered the same fate as him and hope someone remembers enough to give him coherent answers)

-Actually, adding on to that, who are the six kids? We can assume Yusaku, Aoi, Go, and Revolver are four of the six kids but where are the other two right now?

-Who is Kusanagi’s brother and why does he need to be saved from darkness? What kind of darkness is Yusaku referring to, exactly? And, is the boy in the image provided Kusanagi’s brother or Kusanagi himself? (“…In order to save Kusanagi-san’s brother from darkness!” is what Yusaku says in reference to one of the three reasons he must live)

Episode 3:

-Why does Playmaker not know about who the Knights of Hanoi are if they’re the very people he’s been seeking out and studying for a long time? (“Knight of Hanoi! Who are all of you?!”)

-Who are Frog/Yamamoto-senpai and Pigeon really?

-Why can cards that came from a virtual world manifest in the physical world and why? (Decode Talker’s card manifested into a real one despite coming from a Data Storm in the VRAINS world)

-What is Ema’s and Akira’s relationship to each other and why are they familiar with each other to the point of using each other’s first names? (Ema knows that he’s going after Playmaker’s AI in order to regain the Cyberse and seems surprised when he doesn’t ask her to duel Playmaker like it’s ordinary for him to ask Ema to do such things for him)

-Also why the fuck does Ema have elf ears, again?

-Who is Go Onizuka’s manager, exactly? Does he play an important role in this show in any way considering he’s the guardian of Go?

-Is Yusaku connected to Revolver and, if so, in what way considering he seems to connect more to Revolver than with Aoi or Go, the supposed other two children mentioned in episode 3? (Yusaku can see Revolver in the other world despite being in the physical one)

-Why is Revolver’s father in a coma?

-What do the six red triangles on Revolver’s real life form mean and do the other kids have the same mark? If not, why does Revolver specifically have these marks?

-Bringing this back, an interesting quote from Yusaku is: “I knew how to Speed Duel…that wasn’t the first time I had felt something like that”. To what is Yusaku referring to here? (Yusaku seems to be referring to having the sensation of finding something familiar regarding another event before Speed Duels but has yet to bring up any other deja vu events he’s witnessed in his past)

-What kind of accident occurred to Kusanagi’s little brother? And did Yusaku witness it firsthand and not understand what occurred or did something happen behind the scenes that lead Yusaku to search for answers in the first place? (“I need to find out the truth behind the accident that happened to Kusanagi-san’s little brother…”)

What is inside this box that is inside Yusaku’s house? Surely there’s a reason that he has a box taped and shut inside his room? Maybe is it mementos from his childhood such as the clothes we see his younger self wearing?:

Episode 4:

-Who are the duelists on Akira’s screen? Will they ever appear or have relevance to the plot past somewhat cameo appearances?

Episode 5:

-Actually a background question I have is whether or not the distorted multi-colored space that Yusaku/Go/Aoi/Revolver enter into when Link Summoning will have relevance to the plot?

Episode 6:

-Why is Kusanagi researching Blue Angel/Aoi Zaizen? For what reason, exactly, did he choose her as a target and why just out of the blue? Does Shoichi know something more about Aoi and her possible connection to Yusaku as well?

-Does Aoi still suspect Yusaku is Playmaker or has her suspicions faded? (she notices his old type duel disk and seems to take note of Ai when he talks to the AI in her duel disk as well as asks to see his deck for further inspection. However, when she gives the cards back it seems like she alleviated any suspicions she had of him)

-Who is Specter exactly and why does he seem to have the power to distort the VRAINS and making people forget about him after having appeared before them?

Episode 7:

-Does Aoi share the same memories as Akira and, if so, why weren’t we introduced to them through her view alongside Akira’s own? It would have been nice to see what Aoi thinks of Akira’s hard work ethic as well as what Akira thought he was doing to create an interesting contrasts of perceptions for why Akira’s actions lead to Blue Angel’s demise.

-Why did a card have the ability to essentially shut down Blue Angel’s train of thought, make her dizzy, send her into a berserk mode and essentially take control of her mind and put her into a coma? How advanced is Hanoi “technology” to be able to do such a thing? (SOLVED in episode 8 as a computer virus of advanced capabilities that was likely created by Dr. Kogami to aid his plans)

Episode 8:

-Who is the red-haired doctor and what relevance will she have to the plot, if any?

-Did Ema know of Aoi’s existence beforehand or was the scene at the hospital the first time that Ema learned about Akira having a sister?

-Does Ema also now know that Blue Angel=Aoi Zaizen and will she use this information against Aoi if so? (As of ep 16 it’s implied that Ema does know that Blue Angel=Aoi Zaizen and uses Aoi’s situation to get her to fight as Blue Angel alongside Playmaker under the deal of “restoring her reputation”. Ema’s true intent behind doing this for Aoi is a mystery so far. Lol nope Ema just wanted to use her as distraction alongside Playmaker and that was all) 

-To what type of favors does Ema refer to and how often does Akira ask for them?  (“Oh my. Another favor? Wow. You know what I did right?)

-Why does Akira consider Ema as his only ally when she clearly has been shown to do things that jeopardize his job and hinder his progress with his personal issues on a constant basis?

-What are the Ignises to Dr. Kogami and why does he consider them akin to his own children?

-Who is Eagle irl?

-Why can Revolver control the Data Storms?

Episode 9:

-Who is Ema waving to the camera at and does she know that someone else other than Akira is watching through her cameras? (For clarification: it is suggested that she’s sending to Kusanagi because his feed shows her waving to him but, outside of this scene, Ema does not seem to interact with anyone inside the VRAINS aside from Akira despite later recognizing that someone is guiding her into the Data Storm. Furthermore, she has two screens opened which suggest two different people are watching but, again, doesn’t seem to recognize the fact that an outsider is paying attention to the battle as well)

-To that extent, why does Ema consider it no fun if Hanoi takes Ai? (“If Hanoi takes Ignis, that’s no fun” is what she says in this episode. Presumably solved in episode 14 where she suggests she wants to sell Ai for money.)

Episode 10:

-Is the place where Revolver and Playmaker battle (the center of the Data Storm) an actual place in the VRAINS or a program created by Dr. Kogami? Are there other “floating islands” in the ”eyes of the Data Storm”?

Episode 11:

-Where is Ai in the beginning of the episode when he’s in the water? Why, exactly, was he banished to this giant body of water and for what purpose does it serve? Will it be a reoccurring scenery or a one-time one?

-Okay, in episode 10, it was shown at the beginning that Ghost Girl’s cameras disconnected and neither Akira nor Shoichi could see inside Link VRAINS. However, here, the connection is restored. What occurred between then and now to have caused the re-transmission of the image feed to both adults watching?

(^ is episode 10. v is episode 11. There is no transition to explain why the camera visuals are suddenly working again)

-Why is Ema left unaware that it is her own video feed that is letting “Playmaker’s helper” able to watch over her and assist her in the VRAINS? (Relating back to episode 8, when Ema waves to the camera assumedly at Shoichi. If she had waved at Shoichi knowing he was watching, why does she say “…Playmaker has an ally who’s watching out for him…that person is telling me to go inside?”. If she purposely sent the feed to Shoichi in the first place, why was Ema confused about who created the path that helped her to enter the data storm?)

-Also, is Ema possibly transmitting this feed to other people? She has four cameras that are following her, presumably one for Akira, one for Shoichi and one to record for episode 13’s purposes, but what is the fouth one being used for? Or are all four cameras simultaneously recording every angle and sending it to both Shoichi and Akira at the same time (which is unlikely considering her camera feed doesn’t seem to flip angles of her perspective every few seconds or even show the other three cameras on screen)?

-What is the facility that Yusaku is located in and for what purpose does it serve? Is it the reason why Yusaku despises dueling?

-Is this special person of Yusaku’s an AI or a living person?

-What does Yusaku mean by “connect all the moments of my life”? (“#2: To learn the truth about then and connect all the moments of my life.”)

-Did the Knights of Hanoi possibly capture Yusaku’s special person? “If that person is still captured, I must rescue that person!”

Episode 12:

-What happened ten years ago and what does Dr. Kogami, Specter and SOL Technologies have to do with it? (SOON FOR SOL TECH)

-How much does Revolver know about this aforementioned event as well since he seems to recognize Playmaker? Does he know about Yusaku and who Yusaku actually is?

-What is Dr. Kogami’s final plan that he mentions in his last appearance this episode and what does it involve?

-Who are the chess pieces really and why do they exist? What, exactly, do they want and how are they involved with Yusaku and the other five children?

Episode 13:

-Why does the show imply here that Kusanagi and Ema know each other? (Their entire conversation in the beginning of the episode suggests that they are familiar with each other in some way and yet Ema talks about the hot dog stand like it’s the first time she’s been there. “I’ll come again if it’s delicious” is a line that suggests Ema has visited the stand for the first time considering she is unsure if the food is good or not. Episode 14 further cements that Shoichi knows neither Ema nor Ghost Girl and that Ema is unaware of Kusanagi being Playmaker’s helper which is odd considering how much the show has been implying they know each other.)

-Does Ema suspect who Playmaker actually is? (She appears coincidentally in front of the hot dog stand, talks about Charisma Duelists and then immediately directs the topic to Playmaker while she ‘s there. It’s suspicious foreshadowing, if nothing else)

-If Ema plans on a second special does that mean that, sometime in the future, we’ll get a second recap from her that is relevant to the plot itself?

Episode 14:

-Why does Ema have two different places she seems to live at/use? What purpose does it serve her to have two different areas of “operation”?

-Why is a Data Storm visible from a computer? Shouldn’t Data Storms…be more localized in the VRAINS only? Does SOL’s data bank being guarded by a Data Storm mean that SOL, to some extent, has control over Data Storms like Revolver does to guard their information?

-The fuck does Daddy Long Legs mean and why is it Shoichi’s seeming nickname? (Presumably solved in the assumption that “Daddy-Long-Legs” is a reference to the novel by the same name. The ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’ in question from this book is an unseen benefactor who helps the novel’s protagonist in secret. This is likely how Ema interprets "Playmaker’s helper’s” relationship to Playmaker and thus the reason for Kusanagi’s weird nickname. Thanks to @authoratmidnight for pointing this out)

-Also, what did Yusaku mean about Ema when he said: “#1: In her message, I sense Ghost Girl’s determination, despite her weaknesses?” To what kind of weaknesses is he referring to?

-Why do Ema and Shoichi both mention things about an unknown world if they show no signs of knowing anything about said world? (Episode 1, episode 14. Shoichi says (about the Data Storms): “And that (they) lead you to a brand new world”. Ema mentions during her link summoning sequence: “Open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!”)

-Adding on, as according to Ema’s little speech, is it possible that Link summoning will be connected to going to aforementioned unknown world? (refer to above dialogue point; is this foreshadowing for something more, possibly?)

-What did Ema mean by “My dreams get larger?” at the end of this episode? What kind of dreams is she referring to that she needs an exotic amount of money just to presumably fulfill it? And, what kind of dreams did she set her eyes on if they are only now getting “larger”?

[neitherfleshnorfleshless]

More Detail on Changes to the NBC Canon: Because some changes have long-ranging effects and complications that need to be addressed. First and foremost, Hannibal does not kill Cassie Boyle nor does he call Garrett Jacob Hobbs to warn him that the police know.  This does not change Will finding the family, as the evidence needed was found by Bev on the girl GJH returned and Will, by book canon, would have found GJH anyway - with the same result.  Hannibal does not need to be involved in this.  He is still there when Will goes to the Hobbs’s residence; this continues as normal.  Cassie does still die, just not as a result of Hannibal’s manipulations. Whether or not Marissa dies is up to the other writer - I suspect she still does because that isolates Abigail, however, if this is the case, Hannibal did not kill her.  That said, if she’s dead, I have no idea who would, seeing as Hannibal is the most likely killer in the NBC series.  -shrugs- Hannibal is Will’s therapist and uses Will’s connection to Abigail to understand him better.  It is Will’s reaction to GJH’s murder and his immediate desire to protect Abigail that makes Hannibal think he might be another fallen guardian angel like himself.  This is not the case, but this does lead to Hannibal’s intrigue into Will’s psyche.  This mistaken belief that Will might be like him persists throughout the following events until stated. Because Cassie still dies, Nicholas Boyle still confronts Abigail and still dies.  Hannibal still intercedes to hide his body (and still knocks Alana out to do so).  No one called GJH, so there is no secret to be kept on Hannibal’s behalf.  He hides the body to protect Abigail, not out of a sense of manipulation.  Boyle’s death would make Jack more suspect and prevent any healing for Abigail, and Hannibal is against that.  He knows from previous experience that if Abigail was involved, then it likely was not her choice. Hannibal murdered the killer in Coquilles.  He did not commit suicide.  Hannibal was appalled that someone was attempting to create guardian angels in this way.  This is an affront to who he was and who he is.  Hannibal’s attempt to drive a wedge between Jack and Will has more to do with the effects that Will’s work is having on him and less to do with trying to manipulate or isolate Will. Hannibal has been murdering people since Gideon was incarcerated.  However, he has been killing in less blatant ways.  No showcasing bodies.  Keeping the bodies as long as possible to consume all of the flesh as needed. There is no Miriam Lass.  Hannibal does not kill women or children.  He certainly does not keep one in captivity drugged for two years.  Jack can have other reasons for doubting Gideon’s claim that he is the Ripper. Hannibal does pose the body on the bus so that whomever is harvesting organs does not receive the full weight of his crimes.  He does NOT murder a bunch of people for a dinner party because he does NOT feed people to normal people.  That’s a waste of nutrients that actually benefit him and harm other humans.  The only time he feeds people to people is if he thinks they are another fallen guardian angel like himself.  So, yeah, he probably feeds Will people. However, this episode does prove that Hannibal can kill people and take organs without all of them being found, which proves my previous “Hannibal totally could have killed people while Gideon was incarcerated” point. Tobias kills Franklyn.  Hannibal kills Tobias in self-defense.  Tobias is likely another fallen guardian angel like Hannibal is. Hannibal believes that Will’s missing time is a result of recovering his past memories.  The examination by Dr. Sutcliffe reveals two things: 1) the encephalitis and 2) Will is not a fallen guardian angel - as there would be subtle differences in his brain chemistry that simply are not there.  It is at this point that Hannibal recognizes Will as a source of danger (primarily towards Abigail) and begins to set him up to take the fall for his crimes as The Chesapeake Ripper.  It is in this stead that Sutcliffe dies. I do not believe that Hannibal killed Georgia Madchen because Hannibal does not kill women and children, except in the protection of someone higher in priority (re: Bev died because he was trying to protect Abigail). Hannibal sets Gideon towards Alana under the knowledge that Will would intercept him.  Alana was in no danger.  Gideon was.  That was the point. The rest of s1 proceeds as normal.  Hannibal takes Abigail under his protection and Will is incarcerated.  This is the proper end.  Because Hannibal did not kill the three women used to implicate Will, it is even more essential that Will is implicated in Abigail’s apparent death.  He may also use evidence from the man posed on the bus. Regardless, Will is framed and safely in jail.  However, Hannibal probably doesn’t use Abigail’s ear.  Probably something smaller and less essential.  Like a toe. THERE ARE MORE CHANGES TO SEASON TWO THAT HAVE LESS EPISODE-BY-EPISODE ANALYSIS. Will is exonerated by Bev’s death, not by the murders set up to free him.  Hannibal would not have wanted Will freed.  This was a side-effect he did not like. Hannibal did kill the mural killer and stitch him into his work of art.  He did still take his kidneys.  He did not replace them with Bev’s - and, in fact, ate nothing of Bev because he did not want to kill her and only did so to protect Abigail. Will still sends Matthew Brown (who still killed Sykes) after Hannibal.  This proceeds as normal. If Hannibal sleeps with Alana, it is not for the need of an alibi.  He does not go after Gideon unless Gideon escapes again.  It has already been proven in previous episodes that Gideon’s memory is faulty at best and that he is easily susceptible to having his beliefs - even about himself - formed by others’ suggestions.  Further, he does not feed Gideon to himself because, if he was going to kill Gideon, he would not go with extended torture.  That is not his style. Hannibal asks Randall to kill Will because Will is dangerous...and Hannibal doesn’t want to eat Will.  When Will kills Randall, Hannibal hopes to use this to get him captured.  Because Will is working with Jack to catch Hannibal, there is no hope of this working.  On realizing this, Hannibal enters the bait with Will - not to be seduced by him but to turn it against him.  Which, oddly enough, would work, re: Kade and they only have evidence that Will killed someone.  This is further defended by Jack attacking Hannibal first and Hannibal proceeding to act in self-defense throughout Mizumono. Hannibal does not warn Mason that Margot is pregnant.  He does not kill women and children.  He would not let someone like Mason know something like that.  Honestly, remove the Mason/Margot subplot here.  Mason can be mutilated somewhere before s1.  Margot can still be in therapy.  Move all of the people-eating pigs to the Hannibal plot where they belong.  Take out the pig baby.  Just.  No. Because Hannibal acted in self-defense throughout Mizumono, he likely would not be held accountable for any actions therein.  Abigail does not die.  Will should be in jail again but probably isn’t because Jack probably got him out.  Hannibal still flees because they attacked him in his home, which means his home is now a crime scene, which means lots of evidence against him.  He did get shot by Alana when she was shooting on the second floor before Abigail pushed her out the window; Will did try to shoot Hannibal but also did not have bullets (which is why Hannibal gutted him); and if Abigail chooses to stay (which Hannibal will allow her to do with Alana because Will should be in jail), Hannibal does slit her throat in a non-fatal way to prevent her from being a suspect.

At this point, we can either go book route and have him get caught due to whimsy or go show route and have him get caught re: Hannibal plot-- but if we go show route, expect that there have been years in-between when he flees and when he gets caught, as per Hannibal plot.  He does not go to Florence first; he goes to Brazil.  And who he takes with him is dependent on other writers and plotting.  He has the primary potential of taking either Abigail or Bedelia or both, but others can be plotted as needed. My default is to assume he gets caught due to whimsy and go book-route.  Red Dragon plot, regardless, follows book-route.  No murder husbands here because Hannibal is not a fan of Will.  In fact, there’re probably more connections re: fallen guardian angel in relation to Dolarhyde, but that’s...up to plotting.

[atrayo]

Jewels of Truth Statements and Favorite Quotes of the Month

Hello All, Today I'll be sharing another trio of longhand written "Jewels of Truth" channeled angelic wisdom statements. With perhaps a channeled meme or two from the angels that I've shared prior on my "Atrayo's Oracle" Facebook fan page as well. The topic's I'll be sharing is on the Afterlife, Abortion, and being Vulnerable. The latter two are rather unique since I was channeling an Ancient Greek Angelic Goddess known as Hera. Otherwise, known as Juno to the Ancient Romans besides being the Imperial wife of Zeus / Jupiter. Hera, is a mother goddess of women, marriage, family, childbirth, and so forth not unlike the Christian Mother Mary. However, here she points out that abortion in her view or perhaps Heavens a.k.a. Elysium's views it as a crime. As an act of transparency, I'm personally Pro-Choice in terms of abortion as a person here on Earth. I'm struggling to reconcile this angelic goddess point of view. In time I will probably change my opinion on abortion but not as of yet. Since I see humanity ending up like the inhabitants of Easter Island depleting their island of resources. In our case, it's globally since humanity is already over 8 billion souls plus and growing not to mention we're behaving like locusts. The other statement on the Afterlife is another intriguing conceptualization that sees it as a collective sphere of a metaphysical reality. Where the endless Heaven's, Limbo's, and combined Infinite Hell's are superimposed on top of each other separated by tonal frequencies. Since the afterlife is without spatial orientation a.k.a. space and without time as dimensions. It is moreso spoken as a State of Being that we channel by our passionate expressions here on earth and beyond. As always I hope you each maintain a critical mind even if you disagree with the assertions I've channeled above. By means of clairvoyant inspired automatic writing as a technique, I've practiced now for over 23 years plus as a dharmic devotion. Like I always state as long as your inventory of ideas is expanded towards new horizons of the heart and mind. May you enjoy these thoughts as spiritual teachings by unconditional love for all. Amen.

Afterlife: 2706) With all there has gone by we lament not realizing the grandeur in our surroundings. That when we lived as people, creatures, environments, entire worlds, and so forth. We cared not to realize our whole divinity in its splendid outworkings. It is with this understanding we now speak fervently without hesitation and without remorse in our United Spirits with God(dess) Everlasting. That the realms of the afterlife endless that they are indeed. Aren't realms as places occupying space physically nor metaphysically. It is rather a state of perpetual Divine Being at least those of us belonging to Heaven. The identical phenomenon occurs for the wicked souls as unholy children of God. Hell isn't a place here or there but a State of Unholy Being. Equally, it can be said of Limbo as a neutral realm of nowhere in a state of being metaphysical. To take this analogous principle of divine law one step further is to reiterate. As Heavens, Limbo, and Hell are metaphysical States of perpetual Etherical Being. They are a collective whole sphere united akin to a globe. Not so much divided as hemispheres but mixed as one continuum without a place as occupying totality everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. A living and dying conundrum of a loop of existence as a paradox mysteriously so it is. To picture this cosmology of Enlightened Divinity is to denote the Wonder of God's Will at work beautifully so as an ineffable truth. This our reality what one will's they become instantly without the dilation of time to interfere. Heavenly souls of God occupy this whole globe in frequencies of everlasting grace. Superimposed within other channels of expression are unholy layers upon such an identical continuum of a sphere of the afterlife. The same phenomena for all of Limbo for those atheist souls that believe in absolutely nothing whatsoever. All souls are by default Enlightened because of each share in the Image and Likeness of God. As the Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer of all realities combined as One Supreme Existence Forever. Amen. ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

Abortion: 2707) We the guardians of the Heavens be we known as Olympians or not. Know many forms of inherent expressions that plainly are divine exaltations, to say the least. I "Hera" Greek Olympian Everlasting declare the motherhood of once maidens deeply sacred to me personally. Be one a person or of another equal kind of living mortal form. I endear not to be disturbed by lame tendencies that rob me of our Holy Mightiest Peace upheld by the elder angelic deities of Olympus. I wish to declare as Mother Imperial Queen to all that worship the feminine nature. That I too acknowledge greater mother deities than I upon Creation. No matter I continue to embark upon what is mine to endeavor. That to rob a newborn of its birth upon realms like your Earth is an unfortunate crime upon the innocent spirit therein. To abort a fetus of any species is an unholy act in the Eyes of the One you call God. The punishment is self-inflicted instantly as a laceration of a psychological wound in a masochistic manner every time. The mind reels unconsciously and the emotional heart grows cold and eventually deeply disturbed. This isn't even mentioning the spiritual unease perpetuated on oneself directly. Aside from birth control which is a legitimate chemical preventive act of health and lifestyle choice. Abortion is not of God for a truly absolutely loving supreme Creator slaughters no one! I understand the complexity of mortal living where unwed mothers and moreso other abandoned single mothers are forgotten by entire so-called modern societies the world over. To be cast into material poverty due to cowardly men forsaking the grace of the mother and the children in one fell swoop. One crime of abortion follows another by secular societies the world over by dismissing young unsupported mothers to a life of miserable poverty. I say this is abhorrent to the Will of God! To those other fools that declare that abortions are a social necessity of population culling. Has failed to reason properly that eight billion plus souls of humanity and growing are ravaging the planet unceremoniously. It is a failed mechanism sociologically and is an act of murderous barbarism. To injure motherhood in whichever form is an injustice remembered by God. For not even the angelic gods and goddesses such as I belong to can escape the Divine Holy Law of Karma. Amen. (Channeled by Hera / Juno Mother Goddess of Ancient Greece and Rome as the wife of Zeus / Jupiter.) ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

Vulnerable: 2708) To all that abhor tragedies listen well for the greatest sadness is usually self-inflicted upon this world. Not even the betrayal of friends and dear loved ones can the stupidity of a self-inflicted wound can spell vindication. For here I "Hera" Mother to all that supports Greece and its subsequent generations across the world. Do I remember and love your ancestors that worshipped me so dearly and unceasing. Yes, to worship an angel as the gods aren't quite right. However, it is not considered a crime when passionate reverence, when sanctioned with adorations, is always offered. For even Roman-Catholic Christians worship the Virgin Mother Mary of Christos. She too is a mother goddess such as I "Hera" upon the Ancient Greeks and "Juno" upon the Ancient Romans thereafter. I adore my fellow Angelic Queens as Mother Goddesses the world over. For our dominion is only united by the Will of God everlasting. We the Olympians may not be forgotten although we are labeled as mythologies instead as our religions are all but dead to this world. To all the progeny of our beautiful ancestors live well and live strongly for one another. We the gods of Greece have never left your sides. Albeit the faith of the land and sea has changed hands in these few short eons. We bid our eternity for mystics such as this oracle of "Ivan the Atrayo" to recall our true love once again. We are no more pagan than the Christian Gnostics slaughtered by the Roman-Catholics centuries ago in the Name of God, moronically so. To all that seek the embrace of the celestial mothers of old. We are here for you whether of Olympus or elsewhere of another mythological paradise. We love you always! Call upon any blessed angel you may wish. For God keeps us busy for the suffering of your world is always great, unfortunately. Be advised we are strong and Elysium stands at the ready to repel evil wherever it may set foot upon the Holy Children of God Everlasting. Amen. (Channeled by Hera / Juno Mother Goddess of Ancient Greece and Rome as the wife of Zeus / Jupiter.) ---Ivan Pozo-Illas / Atrayo.

I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred, but offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature, as a healer of misery, as a messenger of wonder, as an architect of peace. --- Diane Ackerman. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. ---Psalm 91:11. The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. ---Elizabeth Gilbert. Stay true to your deepest intuition that an extraordinary and miraculous life is possible. ---Craig Hamilton. The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be. ---Shakti Gawain. Ivan "Atrayo" Pozo-Illas, has devoted 23 years of his life to the pursuit of clairvoyant Inspired automatic writing channeling the Angelic host. Ivan is the author of the spiritual wisdom series of "Jewels of Truth" consisting of 3 volumes published to date. He also channels conceptual designs that are multi-faceted for the next society to come that are solutions based as a form of dharmic service. Numerous examples of his work are available at "Atrayo's Oracle" blog site of 13 years plus online. Your welcome to visit his website "Jewelsoftruth.us" for further information or to contact Atrayo directly.

[thenewscover]

The Rise Of TikTok | Explained By The News Cover

The News Cover: 2020 has been a year of chaos, uncertainty and grief. A global pandemic, record unemployment and nationwide protests have left people reeling. Through it all though, there's been TikTok, providing moments of levity and new dance crazes, interspersed with more serious commentary on the issues that we face. TikTok, it's like the party you want to be at, a t the moment. 

You'll see hair tutorials, cooking tutorials. People can create challenges, they can create duets, th ey can interact, they can engage. T ikTok is the most downloaded app of 2020. Since its global release less than two years ago, TikTok and its Chinese counterpart, Douyin, have amassed 800 million monthly active users, more than Reddit, Snapchat or Twitter. Its parent company, ByteDance, is the most valuable startup in the world. Its reach might surprise you unless you're a member of Gen Z or the parent of one. But as millions scramble for connection amidst quarantines, more and more users of all ages are hopping aboard. 

We're all just kind of going through the same thing together. And we happen to be documenting it all through TikTok. It's not all rosy, though. The Chinese-owned app faces a slew of regulatory hurdles, privacy concerns and allegations of censorship. Amidst these struggles, it's brought in a new CEO. This guy is Kevin Mayer. Formerly the Head of Streaming at Disney. That's basically what Kevin Mayer's first priority needs to be, is to make sure that Americans trust TikTok. In the long run, t hat may prove complicated. But in the short term, it hasn't prevented tens of thousands of new users from signing up. 

The predecessor to TikTok was an app called Musical.ly. Founded in 2014, it provided a platform for users to create short, 15 second videos set to a song of their choice. The content mostly involved lip-syncing and dancing, and it took off quickly among preteens and teens in the U.S. This is an app that was built around the fact that there was music that was licensed to be used on this app. This was something that Musical.ly decided really to invest in, because they knew that music and sharing music was inherently social. 

By July 2015, a year after its launch, Musical.ly reached number one in the iTunes app store. It continued to grow and was bought by the Beijing-based startup ByteDance for one billion dollars in 2017. ByteDance already owned Tik Tok, a similar video sharing platform, and merged the two apps less than a year later. Now TikTok's main office is in Los Angeles, California. They're essentially an American startup that is subsidized by a successful Chinese tech company. As the app has grown, it's given rise to a whole new pack of social media celebrities. 

Content is public by default on TikTok, and the algorithm that determines what appears on a user's home page gives every creator the chance to put their video in front of millions. Really what we saw was a different style of humor. It wasn't the sketches that you saw on Vine, and it wasn't longer-form YouTube videos. It was meme culture or like the general public's take on a meme. What I enjoyed about it is there was some deeper humor in there if you were paying attention to the trends that were happening. 

On TikTok, King uses creative video editing to make it look like he's performing magic tricks, a skill which has earned him over 44 million followers, the second most on the app as of June 2020. But at 30, King represents the rare millennial that's broken into TikTok's top ranks. Many of the most followed users are in their teens, and lip syncing and dancing remain wildly popular. So I originally started when I was 14 years old, and so I started using my facial expressions and hand motions to make these like larger than life lip sync videos. And as I grew up, I think the app also grew up. Now there's so much more that you can do. 

While Martin has found her niche with dancing and lifestyle content, she says there's something out there for everyone. There's like creators who are huge when it comes to comedy, some still do lip syncing, some cooking videos, tutorials. You can do whatever you want as long as it's fun, it's quick and it catches people's eye. Stay at home orders have propelled the app's rapid growth in the United States. So between October and March, according to research fro m Comscore, its unique visitors has grown from 27 million to 52 million, so doubled in the past five months. 

And within that time period, just in March alone, according to Comscore TikTok added 12 million new unique visitors. People in the U.S. on TikTok spent more time on TikTok than Instagram users spent on Instagram or Snapchat users spent on Snapchat in the month of March. That's a big deal since Snap and Instagram are two of the app's main competitors. They're all extremely popular among young users, b ut in the U.S. at least, TikTok still has some catching up to do. We estimate that this year TikTok will have 45 million users. 

But Instagram, we're estimating will have over 110 million and Snapchat will have 85 million users. But TikTok is also huge abroad, especially in India and China. In China, it operates as a technically separate but very similar app called Douyin. And in the first quarter of 2020, TikTok and Douyin were downloaded 315 million times globally, a 68 percent increase over the previous year. In April, the company reached two billion overall downloads. 

India is by far the app's largest market when it comes to downloads, accounting for 30.3 percent of the total. But China is definitely the largest from a revenue standpoint, accounting for about 72 percent of total spending on the app. The U.S. is third in terms of downloads and second in terms of revenue, and its influence continues to grow. Viral dances and memes have propelled a number of songs to the top of the U.S. charts, most famously, Old Town Road in 2019 . And now the moms, dads and siblings of the TikTok o bsessed have started to get in on the trends as well, learning dances and performing challenges together. 

You're still laughing at them, but actually the fact that parents are getting on it, I mean they needed that demo so badly to even make it to this level that they're at now. In order to build out a sustainable revenue model, e xperts say that TikTok eventually needs to attract older users. Advertisers are going after broader demographics and especially those with purchasing power. But TikTok is not under immediate pressure to make money just yet. Its parent company ByteDance is valued at over 100 billion dollars and made three billion dollars in revenue last year. 

That's because it owns a host of other, more profitable Chinese apps, most notably Douyin and a news aggregator called Toutiao. TikTok's revenue model is still very, very nascent. This is a company that has some advertising, we have some of the users starting to do sponsorships. But at the end of the day, this is a company with hundreds of millions of users here in the U.S. that's still not making as much money as it could some day. Monetization aside, many say that CEO Kevin Mayer's first priority needs to be the regulatory and privacy concerns facing the app, which stem from its Chinese ownership as well as its popularity among children. 

You know, it's never been the case that so many Americans are putting so much of their visual data in the hands of a Chinese company. And as we know, the relationship between the Chinese government and Chinese corporations is a pretty tight one. While TikTok claims that all American user's data is stored within the U.S. and is not subject to Chinese law, many security experts remain skeptical. Similar concerns exists in India, where data protection laws are weaker and thus citizens are more vulnerable. Regulators are going to be very weary of that separation. 

Where's the data held? What's the cross-pollination look like? A number of incidents over the years have provided ample reason for worry. An investigation by The Guardian last September revealed that TikTok moderators were instructed to censor videos related to Tiananmen Square and other content deemed sensitive by the Chinese government. 

While the company claimed that these guidelines had been phased out by the time of the investigation, it still helped spur the Federal Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to open an ongoing review into ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly. It seems unlikely that ByteDance would be forced to divest itself of what was Musical.ly, now is TikTok. But I do think that this all speaks to the great amount of concern and oversight over this app that's gone from a tiny little thing to this huge powerhouse. 

Most recently, the app received criticism for what it said was a technical glitch, in which post tagged with #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd appeared to have zero views when they actually have over two billion. And in the past, both India and Indonesia have instituted brief bans on the app due to concerns over inappropriate content like violence and pornography. 

Lastly, there are ongoing issues regarding children's privacy. Users under 13 are technically not allowed on TikTok, but there's not much really preventing them from signing up. In February 2019, the company paid 5.7 million dollars to the FTC to settle charges that it was illegally collecting children's personal information. This then prompted the U.K. to conduct their own investigation into the matter. While TikTok said it would make changes, in May 2020 a coalition of consumer groups filed a complaint stating that TikTok had not kept its promises. 

It's all undoubtedly a lot for Mayer to inherit. But given his background at Disney, some say he may be exactly the right person to address these concerns. So he is someone who has experience dealing with regulation, dealing with oversight, and especially dealing with online security issues, which are certainly front of mind for TikTok as they navigate their relationship with the FTC. If Mayer can secure the trust of U.S. consumers and investors, Byt eDance could be well positioned for an IPO in the next year or two. Beyond that, experts say that TikTok's long-term prospects depend upon its ability to keep users engaged while building out a sustainable monetization strategy. 

YouTube could be seen as a model in the way that YouTube shares advertising revenue with its content creators. Mayer's background in streaming services also has both analysts and creators excited about what new forms of content may lie on the horizon. I have been begging TikTok to get into the streaming game. People have speculated that TikTok might get involved in original programming.

 To make TikTok sustainable, you're going to have to do long-form content. I don't see a version where you make 60 second videos forever and it stays cool for another two to three years. King also says TikTok's live-streaming feature has room to grow. It's super popular in China, but hasn't yet taken off in the U.S. I think what's next for TikTok is how they figure out how to make money, how they figure out how to create a home for advertisers, and how they make sure that content creators themselves want to stick around and don't want to go jump off to whatever the next cool app is going to be.

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