#i suppose part of it stems mostly from how i personally ship characters (friendly or otherwise). i just like the idea of characters talking

[tardytothepardy]

So recently I caught up with The Owl House (which is really neat, I thought I'd have to wait until the second half of season two came out on Disney+ which would take months probably), and aside from Having Some Thoughts about all that is going on and being very concerned and curious as to what the fuck Belos is doing (is he trying to take away all the magic??? For what??? I know he's a British white man from the vague 1600-1700s but c'mon man) and all the stuff with Raine and Eda (ugh the angst and miscommunication abound 😔), but one thing I want to talk about specifically here is that I've kinda been seeing some is people romantically shipping Willow and Hunter.

I Have Some Thoughts about that too. Not bad ones, I'm not gonna say "uGh dOn"T sHiP tHEm" or something, that's just annoying lmao

Instead, I kinda want to point out how much the characters themselves actually know each other, y'know? Like we, as the viewers, know all kinds of stuff about both characters, such as both of them having a difficult relationship with their magic, but like,,,,, I don't think they know that about each other? (Like, genuinely, how many times have they been around each other, I don't remember this kinda stuff)

Like I was kinda thinking about it, there's a good chance that Willow knows more about Hunter bc Luz would bring up some time she ran into him or whatever, but Hunter doesn't know anything about Willow, other than her (let's be honest) terrifying plant magic (like I'm not even being mean but just imagine trying to run away but giant vines burst from the ground around you, encase you, and then transport you a considerable distance from where you were. I would be losing my fucking mind if that happened to me. Willow can be terrifying and I love that for her), and also that she is enthusiastic about the derby thing (i forgot what it's called 😬).

So that's why I don't romantically ship them at the moment, though I will admit there is some nice potential. (I'd also just be happy with Hunter getting more friends, especially friends his own age jfc the kid's lonely :,)) The trope of character A being all stuffy and uppity and trying to show the entire world that they Can Do It and Will Be The Best At It because it's all they know and character B seeing right through it and allowing character A to be themselves and accept times when they can't be the absolute best and it's just,,, ugh I love that, it's so good. (i mean, that trope also works fantastically platonically but anyway)

Hopefully he doesn't go off and do something like,, really shitty and fuck it all up. That would be really sad, I would be sad if that happened. Like I feel like at the end of "Any Sport in a Storm", there was some kind of 'no hard feelings, maybe? Just don't do that again' kinda vibe from Willow, but I guess we'll just have to see. She's a pretty forgiving person, which is really cool of her (i wish i could be like just a lil portion as forgiving as she is)

[pixelgrotto]

Night City, I barely remember ya

I beat Cyberpunk 2077 last month, and honestly, I haven’t thought about Cyberpunk 2077 that much since.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. CD Projekt Red’s follow-up to The Witcher 3 was meant to be the sort of game that would stick in your mind after completion. It was promoted over eight years of hype stemming from its initial 2013 reveal as a example of CD Projekt’s infamous “vodka and Slavic magic” - a behemoth destined to change open world RPGs forever. But in the roughly 12 weeks since its release, the stuff that’s happened to Cyberpunk 2077, including its delisting from the Playstation store for being chock full of bugs and the theft of its source code by hackers, has been more cyberpunk than the actual game.

I was one of those people super hyped for this game when it was first announced. I mean, the Witcher franchise left an indelible impression on me; how could I not be psyched to see its devs tackle one of my favorite sci-fi genres? But my hype deflated over the years, largely due to tales of terrible crunch emerging from CD Projekt’s studios and social media marketing that was ill-advised at best and transphobic at worst. Everything seemed to slowly hint that the game’s vision of “cyberpunk” - a genre that can tell incredible futuristic tales of social upheaval and marginalized peoples - would be mostly style with not so much substance.

Despite me keeping my fingers crossed, the end product is pretty much what I feared - and I guess I should’ve known, since the official sourcebook for Cyberpunk 2020, the tabletop RPG that CD Projekt Red used as inspiration, actually lists “style over substance” as one of its rules.

Cyberpunk 2077’s main story revolves around a merc who dreams of big time heists in Night City named V. After a heist goes south, V ends up absorbing a biochip made by big bad corporation Arasaka that features the captured personality of rockstar-turned-terrorist Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves - who, to be fair, does a good job with the material he’s given. Cue a bunch of quests that revolve around V and Johnny coming to terms with each other, taking down Arasaka and figuring out how to separate the chip from V’s brain.

In theory, this sounds like a cool way to explore the very cyberpunk themes of identity and what it means to have a corrupt company preserve a human soul beyond its organic shell. In reality, though, the story’s a surface level examination of these concepts, and Johnny Silverhand remains a massive dick throughout most of the game, only becoming relatable if players give him the benefit of the doubt - which they’re expected to do because he’s played by Keanu Reeves.

Johnny’s animosity towards Arasaka is also never completely outlined. He - and most other characters in Night City - keep telling V that corporations are awful because they disregard human rights and destroy the environment, but we never get many chances to see for ourselves how Arasaka and similar companies, like Militech or Kang Tao, actually do this. Arasaka does kidnap Johnny’s ex-girlfriend and is behind the tech that transfers his soul to a biochip, yes, but Johnny also threatens to destroy them at all of his shows and eventually sets off a bomb in their headquarters. Not that I’m siding with the corporation, but for much of the game we’re expected to treat them as the number one enemy simply because other characters say so, which is very much a “show, don’t tell” missed opportunity. If anything, Arasaka’s portrayal feels more like a vestige of the cyberpunk genre’s unfortunate maturation during the 1980s, where the fear of Japanese conglomerates taking over the world was common and a future where Asian companies were all-powerful instead of Western ones seemed like a dystopia.

Cyberpunk 2077 is very much caught in that yesteryear mold, featuring elements that might have been progressive in the 1980s but seem passé now. For a game that relied on questionable representation of trans people in its marketing, there were no notable trans NPCs that I came across, and even though there’s a robust character creation system where you actually can make a trans person, the game makes the troubling decision to only offer binary pronouns tied to V’s voice. Despite the fact that many of the best modern cyperbunk works deal with body augmentation and the line between man and machine, most of the physical modifications you can pay for at Night City’s “ripperdoc” facilities are niche features that only offer minimal stat boosts, with only two major ones that I know of - the mantis blades and gorilla arms - actually causing extensive changes to V’s looks. And finally, while there are tons of characters of color in the game, ranging from the Haitian Voodoo Boys gang to V’s “friendly ethnic friend™” Jackie Welles, most of them are varying degrees of stereotypical. For instance, Goro Takemura, an ex-Arasaka employee, sends you text messages reminiscent of haiku at one point because he’s Japanese and has to talk like a formal, honorable samurai or something.

If you’re able to look past these issues - along with the myriad of bugs that Cyberpunk 2077 shipped with - there’s still the niggling feeling that this game could have been so much more. The signs of a troubled development process are numerous, and there are Reddit threads packed with still-visible remnants - like useless combat skill perks and an entire metro system - that were part of gameplay elements gutted at some point in order for those overworked CD Projekt Red programmers to make a long-delayed release date. Even mainstay stuff in the open world genre - like the police chases common in the Grand Theft Autos - are absent, and Cyberpunk 2077’s 2018 demo, chock full of promised features that never made it into the final product, has to be one of the most notorious bits of smoke ‘n mirrors “gameplay” in recent memory.

Perhaps most bothersome is the feeling that a lot of your choices don’t seem to matter all that much in Cyberpunk 2077, which once touted itself as “a full-fledged RPG, not a shooter with RPG elements,” but ends up feeling more like the latter than the former. The game’s three different lifepaths - nomad, streetkid and corpo - only amount to about thirty minutes of unique playtime at the start and a few different dialogue options. The vehicle combat sequences that punctuate key missions are largely scripted, looking cool but offering little consequences depending on what V aims at. The side quests I encountered had minimal branching paths, and the only time the main story opened up to offer some real choice was in the game’s final chapter. Considering that CD Projekt once developed The Witcher 2 - a 2011 game that branches dramatically at its halfway mark to the point where a lot of folks insist that you need to play it twice in order to feel satisfied - Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a step back.

And yet, despite all of these criticisms, I still put nearly 80 hours into the game over the course of December, January and February. You don’t do that for something that’s patently unfun, so let me be clear - there is an entertaining experience buried beneath an avalanche of unfulfilled potential here. Driving on my Akira-esque bike through Night City’s slums as the game’s best song bumped on the radio, taking out legions of baddies with my mantis blades and relishing in the game’s extensive photo mode (as you can probably tell by my screenshots above) was a good time. In spite of his assholery, I did feel something akin to attachment for that bastard Johnny Silverhand by the finale, and there were a few key moments - like when I was scuba diving in the ocean with my girlfriend Judy, looking at the remains of a town destroyed by the land seizing machinations of corporations - that felt like this game had something to say beyond “bang bang gunplay and neon aesthetic.”

But at the end of the day, while I do feel moderately interested in someday checking out Cyberpunk Red (the newest iteration of this franchise’s tabletop RPG), CD Projekt’s seven-year-hyped-up behemoth has largely faded from my brain one month after beating it. On Twitter, I’ve seen Cyberpunk 2077 described as something akin to a flashy Netflix series with lots of fanfare and flair but not much else - and I can’t really argue with that statement.

Night City was supposed to be the stuff of a long-term relationship. Instead, it feels more like a fling.

[silverstrike]

Ezri Dax, Tasha Yar and Kilana for the character meme?

4O w O!!!

Ezri Dax

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: quite a bunch actually, with my tops being Weyoun 6, Kilana and, to some extent, also Ziyal (I’m still very much devoted to Ziyal/Lal ship so XD). I also like the idea of Ziyal in polyships, esp with the “Vorta polycule”: like I have these plotbunnies/HCs going about my head that Ezri somehow gets involved in an integrations exchange programme, through Odo, as a means to have the Dominion races coexist peacefully with the Federation, and this has a group of Vorta (Weyoun, Borath, Yelgrun, Kilana, Eris and maybe even Keevan? Idk) come to DS9... and hijinks ensue because all the Vorta (except for maybe Kilana who makes the first move) are flustered since they’re all attracted to this cutie-pie Trill councellor (I also like to HC that Vorta are usually down for poly relationships, as it stems from their instincts - ancient Vorta would often coexist in packs as a means of survival as it provided them with means to communally raise their offspring, and also for genetic variety in terms of breeding), but none of them has the idea how to approach her on the subject.

I’m also toying with the idea (and please don’t hate me for this weyountalag shippers) of having Ezri in a polyship together with Weyoun 9 and Rotan’talag. Idk how, but I personally find the idea interesting to explore.

favourite friendship: I think I mainly enjoy Ezri’s interactions with all the main DS9 cast. I think her friendship with Julian had the potential to be something truly sweet and adorable and I honestly HATE the fact that it had to venture into the romance territory. As for the completely non-canon stuff... I like the idea of Ezri trying to find out whatever happened to Virak’kara (the Jem’Hadar from the episode “To the Death” - the one who has the friendly exchange with Jadzia), and the two of them meeting/running into each other after many years. It honestly would’ve been so sweet, like she recognizes him and is all friendly and Virak’kara’s like “who are you?” and is completely astonished/bewildered at the whole story. Also if their meeting took place like when Virak’kara was made into an Honored Elder (which would be twelve years I suppose), I could imagine Ezri being super happy and proud, and insisting on celebrating the occassion.

general opinions: at first I was kind of conflicted what to make of Ezri, since I really adore Jadzia and her death is something that I refuse to accept as being part of the canon. But as I started to get more into DS9 I started loving Ezri more and more. On top of being adorable and being a precious, at times awkward, little bean, I find her easy to relate to in quite a few ways. I also think she and Six have a lot in common in terms of their similar experiences and feelings of uncertainty and awkwardness. Tho I’m still conflicted what to do with her, because on the one hand, when I come up with my AUs and HC I wanna keep Jadzia alive, but at the same time it’d mean there’d be no Ezri or at least not Ezri Dax...

Tasha Yar

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: my fav ships with her are probably either Ro Laren or Kira Nerys - due to the fact that they have so much in common, tho I also love her with Deanna Troi. She and Jadzia also would’ve been an item.

favourite friendship: Data, Geordi and Worf are the ones that come to mind first and foremost, tho it honestly makes me wish that she was alive for the rest of the series because I would’ve also loved to seen her interacting with the Bajoran characters (seeing as she came from a war-torn world herself so she’d more than likely be familiar and understanding towards their struggles) and maybe even join DS9 at some point and become friends with the crew - she would’ve fit in the setting perfectly, as she’s a Federation officer that doesn’t necessarily fit the mold, plus it’d have been such a joy to see both her and Kira completely roast Gul Dukat.

general opinions: Tasha should’ve lived. I think we can all agree with that. The character had such a potential, and interesting backstory and a wonderful personality to work with... and honestly it makes me so upset that none of the TNG writers ever stopped and thought that they could do something with her (and I mean other than have her star in that racist piece of shit of an episode). Same goes for alternate-timeline!Tasha too like... man... that character doesn’t get a breather does she? I also find it baffling that Tasha left her homeworld and left her little sister behind like??? NO. That didn’t happen. Like I wanna retcon this idea it’s so bad.

Kilana

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Ezri Dax, Weyoun and the two other girl Vorta (Eris and Luaran).

favourite friendship: speaking based on HC, fanon and beta-canon stuff mostly (since we don’t get to see anything of that in the actual series), I like seeing her interact with other Vorta. One of my favorite ideas originated from @mostlyhydratrash ‘s fics is the idea that the first Weyoun and Kilana clones were kept alongside each other during their early, vulnerable days, with Kilana being protective of Weyoun. That’s honestly super sweet. I also like to imagine she’s on friendly terms with her Jem’Hadar soldier, inspite of the fact that she’s their commander.

general opinions: I honestly wish we got to see more of her... the ending to the episode she was in honestly broke my heart, and I’m hoping that the implications weren’t that Kilana would get executed and her line terminated for her failure to retrieve the Founder. I also find Kilana to be super beautiful like??? (tho same can be said for any Trek lady out there).

[vanityxburke]

( character reference sheet . )

Voice:

Typically soft-spoken and rarely raises her voice around anyone, even when angry. If frustrated, her tone takes on a sharp, cold edge.

Limited use of contractions around the pureblood crowd; more polished; fake af.

Playful, witty banter around most others. Pleasant and unassuming.

Generally more crass around the Knockturn Crew out of habit.

Demeanor:

Bright and charming around the pureblood crowd; constantly smiling; submissive.

Cold and withdrawn around the DE’s when they’re on missions/at meetings together. Shuts herself down to be able to better navigate the brutality without losing her nerve. Doesn’t bother “turning on the charm” since she knows the DE’s aren’t the least bit interested in her ass kissing.

Blithe and matter-of-fact around the Order, though still friendly enough (pre-betrayal).

Personality/Quirks/Idk:

That Gemini Bitch

Weird mix of Phlegmatic and Choleric 

Cold, clinical, unflappable on the inside; playful, easygoing, and polite on the outside.

+ Calculative, strong-willed, clever, practical, savvy, adaptable, hardworking

- Duplicitous, manipulative, icy, pessimistic, self-serving, amoral, numb

Stepford Smiler for days; Sugar and Ice personality

Probably too passive for her own good. You gotta shake her a little to get her to care about anything that isn’t quidditch.

Carries patience in spades (unless it’s about Mundungus’ wardrobe). It takes a lot to get her to lose her temper, partly because retail experience and partly because she’s too detached to really take things all that seriously. That patience is a bit two-fold, though, because it lends itself to her being exceptionally good at holding grudges. She’s not completely one track minded about revenge and what not, but she will remember those who’ve wronged her (Order and DE members alike) and if and when she’s allowed the opportunity to fuck them over, even if it’s twenty years later, she’ll jump at the chance.

Pragmatic and efficient; relies more on cold, hard facts than emotions. Quick to make most hard decisions.

Egotistical at school both to keep up appearances and because she legit thought her quidditch skills made her Hot Shit; this leveled out when she joined the Magpies who a) were just as good as she was, and b) weren’t all snooty purebloods she had to posture for. Still maintains a prideful streak, though -- just ask her trophy room.

Her inferiority complex re: purebloods isn’t nearly as bad in the present as it was when she was growing up, but it’ll occasionally pop up from time to time

Ambitious in terms of knowing what she wants and being willing to work hard for it, but she’s not particularly power hungry or greedy. All she really wants rn is peace of mind and the freedom to tear up the pitch without having to worry about the DE’s stringing her up for being a halfblood.

Thinks she’s “above” petty stealing; still does it from time to time because she’s a hypocrite and it’s a force of habit.

Lights up when talking about quidditch or an artifact at the shop she’s taken a real shine to.

Cares more about her crows than u.

Big believer in you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Had an Identity Crisis when she found her father’s journal and was emo about it for a while. Got over it when she started her quidditch career but it’s come rushing back now that the question of blood statuses and paternity is everywhere; feels like she’s letting her father down with her morally bankrupt life choices while simultaneously thinking he’s a weak bitch for caving under the DE’s pressure.

Is most herself around her quidditch teammates and the Knockturn crew because she can strike the perfect balance of “asshole with an occasional side of decency” without having to worry about playing pretend for anyone.

The type to spew off morbid and unsettling factoids relating to the Dark Arts in a deadpan voice only to smile at you three seconds later like she’s only just read you the morning paper.

Motivations:

To survive, bitch.

Maybe find out ~who she really is~ 

The current political climate has further exacerbated Emma’s insecurities about her identity. Growing up, so much of who she was supposed to be was rooted in her parent’s legacy and the Burkes’ pureblood heritage. She learned to play the part of a pureblood convincingly enough, though as someone raised outside the world of aristocracy, she never quite felt as though she measured up. When the discovery of her father’s journal proved so much of what she’d been told all her life to be a sham, it fractured whatever sense of stability Emma had built around her pureblood persona. Eventually, she forged an identity around her quidditch prowess, something that was hers and hers alone and that couldn’t be challenged. Now that she’s had to give that up and is back to wearing a mask in order to survive, Emma finds herself torn again, unsure of who she really is.

Really wants to return to her quidditch career and just fly away from all the world’s problems but she can’t really do that with a severed head, so schmoozing it is.

Her joining the Order was a last-ditch effort at trying to get back some semblance of normalcy in her life where she isn’t constantly under the DE’s thumb and not because she especially cares about the little problem of muggles and muggleborns being slaughtered everywhere.

Her eventual betrayal is because she blames the Order for Caractacus’ death after she came to them for help upon his arrest and received no aid; deep down she knows the DE’s are obviously more to blame but in her grief the Order was the easier target and a slew of failures on their end only added to the idea that they were a sinking ship anyway and that at least the DE’s could offer her a better deal in terms of protection.

Beliefs:

Believes people are inherently selfish; don’t trust them or care about them, it’s just a hassle.

Cynic, never expects good things to stick.

Finds the Order members equal parts amusing and exhausting for their self-righteous goals; patronizes them on the regular.

Mostly views people from an angle of what they can offer her/how useful they can be.

Doesn’t buy into the pureblood ideology but growing up at Hogwarts surrounded by her affluent peers, she attached a high value to their lofty lifestyles, egged on by the Burkes’ desire to ingratiate her fully into pureblood society for the sake of their own reputations. This, coupled with her sudden elevation of status at Hogwarts on account of her quidditch skills, led her to believe she deserved better than what Knockturn had to offer; she was meant for the skies, not the grimy streets. Eventually, when her professional quidditch career distances her from the purebloods direct sphere of influence and even later when she returns to Knockturn after leaving the League, she comes to find she will always be drawn back to the place she grew up in and that it’s more a part of her than the pureblood world will ever be.

Her sense of loyalty really only extends to the parameters of Knockturn’s Code: you look out for your fellow thief and stand alongside your community in times of trouble – within reason.

^^^ Borrows from that same standard of loyalty when it comes to her quidditch teammates bc ball is life.

Strong interest in the Dark Arts and the world of the occult that stems from her upbringing around Knockturn Alley and Borgin & Burkes. Was heavily invested in necromancy at one point when she was younger because she used to believe she could somehow bring her parents back from the dead.

Violence for the sake of violence disgusts her. She sees brutality as only a means to an end if force is absolutely necessary. The DE’s sadism straight up terrifies her.

Quotes for reference:

“I don’t deserve to die. I’m not finished yet. See, I actually want to be around for when they release the Nimbus 1700, and the Nimbus 2000 after that, and whatever comes next. I want to live to pick up a broom again and not have to owe anyone a damn thing. So, you compromise. You keep your head low and swim to their current because you’re not fucking finished yet. You do what you need to do first, and then you get to live. Don’t let anyone tell you there’s still a fight here, Benjy. Let the martyrs throw away their lives if they want, but you? You have to know better. Everyone’s got dead people; not all of us are looking to join them.” 

“No, she’d have to bide her time; forge useful connections, build a stronghold for herself in the pureblood community, and, above all else, make sure she mattered enough. If and when the dust settled she needed to have secured a rock solid reputation that shielded her from any scrutiny. Slughorn’s recent rejection for a lunch meeting had struck a sour note; without her flashy career Emma knew she really wasn’t much of anyone in the pureblood community. There was no well-connected husband waiting in the wings, no posh manor house to call her own that the rest of the Burkes wouldn’t try their damnedest to keep her from getting. She was just a salesgirl with a name bigger than herself. Quidditch changed that. It was the only part of her identity that neither Emma, nor anyone else, had ever needed to question. Her one truth in a life built on lies.”

“Maybe she was little more than a sheep in this new world. Maybe she’d gotten so used to biting her own tongue and working within the confines of her shiny silver cage that she’d forgotten others weren’t quite as content with smiling their way through the horror and bloodshed, especially when they didn’t have big, lofty surnames to fall back on. Maybe she was just as big a hypocrite as she’d accused Mundungus of being. But if there was one thing Emma refused to be guilted into thinking, it was that she’d done any of them wrong in trying to survive. She’d been doing that all her life; she wasn’t about to start making excuses for herself now.”

“It was funny how easily the years could come rushing back. She might have faked it till she made it all her life, but it was in the presence of people like Narcissa that Emma was sorely reminded of what she lacked. The pedigree, the posh upbringing… all the things she thought she’d remedied with her sterling quidditch career. That she would never be quite on their level was a thought that’d been lost amongst the chorus of cheers surrounding her name and the lofty heights of flashy stardom, because at the very least she was still someone. Without that reputation to fall back on, she could feel the slight strain now beginning to tug at her smile, once again mindful of the differences that’d bolstered both her resentment and admiration for Narcissa so long ago.”

“Most days her “fellow” purebloods were manageable enough. Emma had found that a decent chunk of them simply liked to hear themselves talk, and if she indulged their lofty chitter chatter of imported curtain drapes or the appropriate silverware for dinner parties with minimal input and the occasional nod, they were putty in her hands. Others were quieter, more calculative; they tended to save their two cents for preaching the gospel of pureblood superiority, wasting no time on the insipid. Those you allowed room to speak, matching their proud, defiant carriages and chiming in every so often to denounce the filth that’d contaminated the Wizarding World. Then there were ones like Amycus; the hardcore traditionalists. Brutal. Unforgiving. A little o f f . Full-fledged Death Eaters with a flair for the sadistic. Those were the ones she’d never quite learned how to deal with.”

“What it can’t hide are the eyes. Hers are a sharp green; they are constantly in motion, making slow circuits around a room like a cat sizing up its prey from a near distance. They are the eyes of someone raised in a business and brought up by thieves; they appraise everyone around her, judging their potential usefulness as if they’re nothing but gemstones being traded in at the shop. The second she spots a crack too big to gloss over, her probing gaze moves on in search of a better deal, discarding all those that fail to measure up. They are eyes that don’t necessarily see as they’re meant to – they are eyes that dissect.”

“And she tells him the truth. She tells him about the old crone who mugged her in the alley once and how Caractacus forbade her from stepping foot in Knockturn for a year after that. How in that year her aunt Eustacia refocused her efforts on ingratiating her into the pureblood world, and how a person would’ve needed to surgically remove her head out of Narcissa Black’s arse that year at Hogwarts as she followed her around everywhere like some pathetic little puppy, intent on molding herself into a perfect pureblood lady. How she let the boyfriends her aunt would handpick for her push her around at school, belittle her, treat her like absolute shit all in the name of being someone in their gilded little world. She tells him she needs this place, that it grounds her, that she hates the person she is when she cuts herself away from it entirely; that she’s three steps closer to knowing who she really is amongst the grime of Knockturn than she ever was seated at a silver table in Narcissa’s world.”

“Talk less, smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.”

"People don’t get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don’t stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it."