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theggning · 3 years

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Codsworth Is So Underrated, You Guys

ALTERNATE TITLE: Codsworth and the Totally Understated Mindbending Evolution of Artificial Consciousness

I find Codsworth is often the most underrated of the 16 companions in Fallout 4. Your faithful robot butler is among the very first you can recruit and an excellent early-game ally, but he has a few disadvantages in gameplay that mean he’s often sent back to Sanctuary before long. Codsworth is a mid-to-close range fighter only, cannot wear armor or be equipped with weapons. He cannot be healed by stimpak, which makes him a liability if you’re playing on Survival mode. He has no companion quest of his own, so unless you particularly enjoy him there’s not a compelling reason to keep him for a long time. He also becomes recruitable exactly 2 minutes after adorable puppy Best Boy Dogmeat, so he is often (understandably) replaced just as soon as he’s made available.

But there is this great, completely understated facet to Codsworth, so understated that the game does not draw attention to it in any way. And yet, it is a wonderful reflection of many of the themes of Fallout 4 and, I believe, a pretty strong indication of its thesis statement.

Now what in the hell am I talking about?

Like many sci-fi/fantasy universes, the Fallout series is home to many highly-advanced robots. Robots were commonplace before the Great War, and many have survived the bombs intact and in working order. Others have been built or modified by wastelanders to serve various tasks (Percy, Ada.) The most important thing to understand about robots, though, is though they may have vivid personalities programmed in, they are widely accepted to be objects. They are thought of the same way as an appliance, a machine built for a specific purpose and programmed to follow a strict set of protocols.

Many jokes revolve around the relatively rigid intelligence of robots. Pre-War, many were deployed in inappropriate jobs or designed haphazardly (Mister Handies acting as nurses in a hospital, “paramedic” Protectrons with massive deadly tasers for hands, military robots constantly going haywire and erupting in friendly fire.) Others continue to man businesses and play out daily tasks as they were programmed to do over 200 years ago. Most robots are incapable of understanding anything beyond their initial programming, and most pre-War robots are completely unaware that the Great War ever happened.

When the Sole Survivor reunites with Codsworth at the ruins of their home, it seems like he, too, doesn’t understand what’s going on. He talks about tending the (dead) garden, references the (ghoulified) neighbors, and generally acts like the chipper robot butler Sole left behind on their way to Vault 111.

But there is something slightly… off in Codsworth’s dialogue here. Though he acts like the war never happened, he also specifically mentions details that suggest it did:

Player Default: Codsworth! You're still... fully operational?

Codsworth: {Defiant} Well of course, mum. You can thank the fine engineers at General Atomics for that! At least, you could have. Had they not been... vaporized.

A bit over 210 actually, mum. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the ole' chronometer. That means you're two centuries late for dinner! Ha ha ha. Perhaps I can whip you up a snack? You must be famished.

You've no idea the desperation for human contact one develops over 200 years. {Upset, recalling bad memories of encountering raiders and scavengers. / Disgust} And when you do encounter them? Oh the cruelty! You're either... target practice or... spare parts!

Even stranger, Codsworth mentions details that are plainly made-up (or some kind of delusion):

Codsworth: It's been ages since we've had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad... with you...?

Player Default: Codsworth... listen to me carefully... have you seen him? Have you seen Shaun?

Codsworth: Why, sir had him last, remember? Perhaps he's gone to the Parker residence to arrange a play-date?

(Shaun is an infant. He is too young to play charades or to go to the neighbors for a play-date.)

So at once, Codsworth does and does not acknowledge the war. He does and does not seem to understand what’s happened, and he does and does not seem to follow Sole’s urgency regarding their spouse’s death and Shaun’s kidnapping.

And then, after a speech check, Codsworth finally snaps and breaks down sobbing in despair. Not only does he understand that the war happened, he has developed the ability to get depressed about it. Longing for human contact and with nothing else to do, he’s even developed coping mechanisms to help him try to deal with his loneliness and despair—futilely trying to do his chores and deluding himself into pretending everything is completely normal.

Wait a minute. Sobbing? Despair? Depression? Coping mechanisms and delusions? This Is all pretty sophisticated stuff to be programmed into a robot, and if you spend more time with Codsworth, the reality of what’s happened to him becomes apparent:

Codsworth has evolved beyond his programming. In his 210 lonely years of existence, he has developed emotional reactions and self-awareness far beyond that of most other robots, and, indeed, has basically evolved an artificial consciousness.

“Emergent intelligence” is the theoretical ability of an AI to eventually develop something resembling human thought processes, and it seems that our dear Codsworth has undergone this. Traveling with him, he displays many sophisticated thoughts and behaviors far beyond what most robots are shown to be capable of. He has memories of pre-War time and places, and understands how various locations have changed. He is capable of learning new information and forming opinions on it, gaining his own understanding of the people and factions in the Commonwealth. He can feel happiness, sorrow, fear, disgust. He can anticipate things, predict danger and imagine how people might respond to your actions. The mere he fact he has opinions and a moral code that he applies to you shows he has free will, something even other robot companions don’t (Ada has a personality, but absolutely does not care about your actions.)

He’s also smart enough to make many wry observational jokes, and to lay one hell of a sick burn on you:

{Joking - Found an old bowling alley. / Amused} Fancy a game, mum? Something tells me the bumpers are no longer available.

Codsworth’s intelligence is even more sophisticated than that. He displays stunning self-awareness, frequently referencing the fact he is a robot and what that means. He is very proud of his background as General Atomics’ finest, and seems pleased with his robot nature and his lot in life. (Unlike Curie, I don’t think Codsworth would ever really want to gain a synth body. He seems quite happy as he is.)

Here he is making reference to still feeling the tug of his programming:

{Seeing an office with chairs arranged in a circle. / Neutral} I've the most incredible urge to rearrange those chairs in a more perfect circle.

Understanding when other robots are restricted by theirs:

A pity. It appears Deezer's programming is too severe to allow for normal conversation. Ah well.

And when they’re actually not:

Codsworth: Greetings, sir. Good to see another robot in town. That chef hat becomes you.

Takahashi: Nan-ni shimasho-ka?

Codsworth: Takahashi you say? I'm Codsworth, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Takahashi: Nan-ni shimasho-ka?

Codsworth: Is that so? Well, we both know RobCo is no General Atomics. It's not surprising it failed, shoddy work and all. {Friendly - trying to cheer up another robot. / Friendly} Chin up, though. Never know when parts may turn up.

And here’s Galaxy Brain Codsworth ruminating on his own state of being and contemplating his nature:

{Disappointed that he can't be 100% human sometimes. / Sad} It's unfortunate that I lack the proper design to consume liquids. Something about camaraderie over a few drinks is very inviting.

I suppose if I had the hardware, I'd have the software as well. I'd hate to see how that'd affect my honesty and manner settings.

{Reconsidering what he thought was a good idea. / Thinking} Indeed. Perhaps I should rethink my initial desire.

Hilariously, Codsworth does not seem fully aware of how remarkable his intelligence is. He occasionally says things like “if I had feelings” and “if I could feel things,” indicating that in some ways he still believes he is only a robot and defines himself by what a robot is and does.

But as we can see, our humble robot butler has essentially evolved to become the smartest, most emotionally intelligent and person-like robot in the Commonwealth*, and potentially in the series.

([SIDE NOTE: Other FO4 robots nearing Codsworth’s level of consciousness and developed personality include Captain Ironsides, KLE-O, Whitechapel Charlie, and perhaps Takahashi. Curie is close, but also receives the unfair advantage of being uploaded into a synth body with a human brain. Jezebel also functions off of a human brain. Nick is not a robot, he’s a synth (though he does jokingly refer to himself as one) and also has the advantage of a human brain encoded on his processor.])

Also hilariously, the game basically does not acknowledge Codsworth’s impressive evolution. At all. There is absolutely no direct mention of it in the script. It is all left to ambient dialogue and the player’s own observations. And because so many people overlook Codsworth as a companion, they may not even realize exactly how unique his expanded consciousness is.

Now, you might call this total lack of mention a mistake, an oversight on Bethesda’s part, or that old chestnut “bad writing.” I don’t think it is. I think it’s a deliciously subtle little detail to include in a story about humanity, machines, artificial intelligence, and what makes a person.

Many of the themes of FO4 revolve around synths—distinctly not robots, but androids, artificially created beings with fully organic human bodies. Most of the storyline factions have strong beliefs about synths and the relative humanity thereof. The Institute believes that synths are objects, tools, machines no different from a robot who are only simulating their personalities through programming. The Brotherhood believes synths are monstrous abominations, a danger to humanity itself, technology run amok which needs to be destroyed. The Railroad believes they are people. Not humans, but people, built instead of born, free-thinking beings that deserve to be treated with respect and given rights.

Through quests, dialogue, notes, worldbuilding and other venues, players explore these questions. What makes someone a person? If your personality and memories can be rewritten or programmed, then who are you, really? Where do we draw the line between humans and machines, and how do we decide who belongs where?

Meanwhile, as the player contemplates the nature of personhood and the definition of intelligence, their robot butler quietly evolves into a fully-conscious person on his own, right beside them.

Codsworth is unquestionably a machine, but also unquestionably beyond the appliance he was built to be. Which to some philosophies and players should really beg a few other questions. If a robot can be considered a person, then what makes synths so different? And how many excuses do we have to make to pretend otherwise?

Ya boy Codsworth may not be flashy, or powerful, or kissable. He may not be the most glamorous companion around. But he is a good friend, a beloved member of the family, and above all else, a loyal butler—content to serve, quietly and humbly doing his job where some may never even notice him-- or the fact that he’s casually become his own person and sent generations of roboticists and philosophers spinning in their graves.

#fallout 4 #fallout meta #codsworth #hey tumblr fuck you i win #i was forced to do an involuntary second draft #but i like it better now so hey

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devanksan · 3 years

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Fundamental Understanding of Body Language

Importance of knowing body language to avoid contradiction between what we say and what we do to increase the credibility

Body language is the first method of contact among humans. Since ancient times the body has been an irreplaceable instrument of communication before speech and written language.

We are permanently communicating and under the scrutiny of other people, even without conversing with them, during walking alone in the park, riding the subway, going to the university, etc. According to the body posture, the way of walking, and the expression of the face and hand movements, we can decipher the inner state of this person.

People observe our body language while communicates to others through gestures and movements, the thoughts, and emotions we are feeling at that moment. The body sends permanent messages to our brain, affecting our mood; therefore, if we assume an upright position, our mood improves immediately; if we take a stooped position, our mood decreases.

Being conscious of the significance of body language for a better coexistence in society improves social relations and helps build a better world; more humanistic, creative, empathetic, productive, where you can live and act in freedom.

Why is body language always a topic of discussion?

Man is a social being who constantly communicates with his environment to satisfy basic needs that allow him to stay alive, such as food, health, clothing, education, etc., and develop in society. It is challenging to live in isolation without communicating with each other.

In recent decades, there has been a significant trend in positive psychology in the study of body language and emotional intelligence. Previously, there are scholars to study negative emotions, now they have focused on the study of positive emotions of the individual, and the results have been surprising.

Scientific research has discovered that the key to human development and growth depends on people's mental state; their levels of satisfaction and happiness are directly related to creativity, production, and performance, based on the ability to communicate and interrelate with their environment.

Experts affirm that 93% of what we communicate, we do it through body language. If we cannot manage our emotions and maintain synchrony between thoughts, feelings, and words, our own body oversees contradicting what we say. This contradiction directly affects our credibility with others, with negative consequences for our personal and professional growth.

Why is body language important in a job interview?

Companies are concerned about choosing a professional with the right profile for what they are looking for, thus saving time, money and improving the company's conditions. The success in the selection of the candidate for a job is the success of the company. Thus, be mindful of every detail when communicating; a small oversight can provide an excellent opportunity for both parties.

An extraordinary resume is not enough; it must be strengthened with skills and personal characteristics, which can only evaluate during the interview. In the job interview, several elements are involved, and the body language adds credibility to the presentation speech.

From the moment you arrive at the company's physical headquarters that will conduct the interview, your evaluation starts from the manner of dress, verbal, and body language. In these moments, special attention and focus on the gestures that accompany the word and express the emotional states that the person experiences in those moments.

With technology, some companies implement strategies that allow you to observe the job candidate online or in the waiting room before the interview. This technique will enable you to observe behaviors that indicate insecurity, stress, or anxiety. The candidate could be monitored and evaluated, his presentation, punctuality, and behavior. The interviewer accomplishes this observation through observation and a practical understanding of body language.

The employer knows your resume, which demonstrates strengths and skills. The interview seeks to discover and evaluate your personal ability to meet the different challenges within the organization successfully.

Inappropriate language can send the wrong signals and impoverish the interviewer's perception of you. You should not only take care of your physical appearance, but it is also essential to take care of the way you carry yourself.

Your verbal answers may be flawless, but if your body language shows signs of nervousness, insecurity, fears, it can negatively affect your chances of getting the job of your dreams.

Through body language, the interviewer discovers your level of security, optimism, and self-control, which, added to your physical presentation and resume, increases your chances of being hired.

It is fundamental to handle the presentation speech, workings on ourselves to control emotions expressed through body language, and while we communicate through speech, our own body can give us away.

Insecurity produces fears; uncontrolled nerves manifest through unconscious and involuntary actions that send signals to our interlocutor (sweating, nervous tics, involuntary body movements, etc.); you can only correct this with the effective management of our emotions.

What to do before going to a job interview?

There is only one chance to make a good impression, first, prepare your image.

Take some time to choose what to wear. Find out what style identifies the company, dress appropriately

Prepare to rehearse, applying self-analysis, following what's in the resume

Get information about the company and the products it offers

Look for information about the job position offered by the company; this practice denotes interest. It is a plus

Decorate the answers to possible questions, turning weak points into strong points, arguing intelligently

Get examples in your career where you demonstrate behaviors that highlight your virtues to convince your interlocutor

Research body language by practicing in front of the mirror or ask a good friend for an opinion on your performance

Evaluate possible questions and possible answers for greater security.

Sleep 8 hours a day and eat properly

How does the interviewer define your personality traits in 30 minutes to 1-hour interview?

In an interview, the language is the protagonist; from the first minute, the evaluation begins. Between 30 minutes and 1 hour, the interviewer will try to discover personality traits that will ensure success in the performance of the position to be filled within the business organization.

The interviewer will ask a sequence of questions to find out if you are qualified for the position within the company.

The answers and your body language will let the interviewer know if you are lying if you are honest and if you feel comfortable in specific elements such as:

Goals in life and work

Expectations about the job

Availability

Commitment

Skills

Defects

Virtues

What would you be willing to do?

Why were you interested in the company?

Most little satisfying moments

Others

Experts say that 90% of communication in an interview is done through body language. Reflect on your thoughts, feelings, fears, and difficulties. Prepare yourself internally and externally for the interview. Believe in yourself, respond naturally, take on new challenges a priori, show confidence and say, yes, I can do it.

5 Negative body language to watch out for

These are some of the body behaviors, which send negative signals to our interlocutors:

Walking posture

Body posture requires a specific body movement. A person who walks hunched does not have agile and energetic steps; a person with an assertive stance does not walk timidly

Walking hunched over, with shoulders forward and chin down, shows low self-esteem, frustration, and motivation

Shuffling feet can be perceived as a sluggish or sick person who is hostile to the company

Arms drooping without balance; shows the attitude of an unmotivated person who does not value himself and does not give value to what surrounds him

Correct posture

Back straight, shoulders back, chin up, this is an assertive posture that covers a larger vital space and increases positive energies. This posture makes us look capable, self-confident, and highly motivated.

Face

To show a face without expressions, with an elusive look, that wanders and cannot remain fixed in front of the interlocutor; generates distrust and disinterest

The cold aspect of facial expressions, the absence of wrinkles on the forehead and eyes that occur when we are surprised or happy, is unfriendly to others and shows anger, dissatisfaction

Lack of smiling; is interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction and unhappiness, and the person interviewed may be perceived as inaccessible and complicated

Looking over the shoulder of the interlocutor shows arrogance, contempt, unfriendliness to others

Correct facial expression

Maintain eye contact without exaggerating

Smile: it allows open communication. It denotes kindness, understanding, and joy, ideal to start a conversation

The look: it can express different emotions; the most crucial job interview should be interesting. The eyebrows accompany the look. The person, who shows interest, keeps the eyebrows fixed and the gaze, observing the interviewer, taking minor detours to refresh

In the face of emotions of astonishment and surprise, they are raised, and the eyes are enlarged

Pupils open wide

Before emotions of joy, the eyes accompany the smile, closing a little and producing small wrinkles on the sides

Hands

Shaking hands is a good start, but you must know how to do it. It should not be strong, nor so weak; it should be firm and show confidence, looking into the person's eyes doing the interview

A weak handshake projects an unreliable and unenthusiastic impression. Shaking hands that are sweaty and shaky shows insecurity; you don't believe in yourself

Avoid touching only your fingers or squeezing the other person's hand. It can lead to misunderstandings

Fingers wringing during the interview denotes anxiety

Hide your hands; it is the worst idea you can have

Experts in body language recommend in these moments of anxiety, while listening to our interlocutor, to join the tips of the fingers without joining the palms

Keeping your hands inside your pants (men) denotes that you are oblivious and uninterested in the topic of conversation

Putting your arms across is a sign of a blockage, denial in communication

Throwing your hands with force is a sign of a defiant attitude

Avoid pointing fingers; it is a sign of accusation

Positive gestures

Generally used as a technique to order thoughts, establish references, and remember correctly.

Keep hands visible and make firm, confident movements when speaking (without exaggeration)

Open hands upwards; it is a sign of honesty; it means that you are not hiding anything

Open your hands sideways and show an open attitude.

Control involuntary hand movements

Uncontrolled movements

Unconsciously during an interview, presentation, or simply when talking to another person, our body may be making movements that denote nervousness. These movements can be.

Touching the hair

Frequent touching of the face

Twisting hands

Illogical movements in the chair

Tapping your foot on the floor

Twisting your tie

Pulling at the hem of your dress

Scratching your neck, ear, etc

These involuntary movements being extremely distracting and show that you lack confidence.

What can you do to control these behaviors?

Mindfulness concentration and breathing exercises help keep emotions in balance and improve the perception of reality; increasing optimism and positive thoughts help focus on the present time, reducing stress and anxiety levels.

Yoga is also an excellent help for concentration, body stretching, and relaxation.

These exercises facilitate communication with our inner self, helping us get to know ourselves better, removing fears, and removing mental blocks.

Silence and voice

Very long moments of pause show disinterest, boredom, and lack of knowledge of the subject

Speaking in a shallow tone of voice, almost inaudible, is a sign of fear and shyness

Talking with shouting; denotes arrogance and disrespect towards the other person

The appropriate tone of voice

· According to Albert Mehrabian, the tone of voice accentuates 38% of the message to be transmitted. Intonation and paralinguistic elements should continuously feed the harmonious circle of communication.

· Break the silence and try to ask open questions.

· Use a tone of voice according to the emphasis you want to give when speaking. Maintain the rhythm and avoid crutches.

· If for any cause the interviewer raises his voice, use a very soft and low tone of voice, and lean slightly toward him, being careful not to invade his space. "No need to shout..."

Tips for Impressed with your body language.

People who have difficulty communicating fluently and serenely generally convey insecurity and rejection. Some psychological tricks can help you relax and make a good impression.

Here are a few:

Assign yourself the value you have

Boost your self-esteem

Arrive on time to avoid anxiety and stress about being late. Arrive 5 minutes early or more

Dress appropriately for your surroundings; suit and tie (men) and discreet dress (women). Display an image, which reflects good grooming

Try to show a positive image. Our interlocutor consciously and unconsciously interprets the message that our body sends

Maintain eye contact, naturally

Smile from time to time without exaggerating

Wait for an indication to approach; if it is the case, shake hands vertically and firmly; avoid exerting force

Wait to be invited to sit down

If you are carrying an umbrella, raincoat, or another object in your hands, ask permission and place it to one side. Avoid sitting with things on you. Maintain an upright posture

Not to address the interviewer by their first name unless requested by the interviewer

Listen carefully

Highlight positive aspects of your background

Take your time and reflect before answering "dangerous" questions

Be motivated and interested in joining the company

Avoid invading the interviewer's space. Example: Remove your resume to verify a date. Admit that you don't remember it

Show yourself willing to take responsibility

An increase in the number of movements of the interviewer indicates that the interview is about to end

Chair movements and changes of position

Movement of documents

Wait for the interviewer to rise and then extend your hand in farewell

Say goodbye politely and express gratitude

The best strategy for attending a job interview should be based on self-confidence. Act naturally, without forcing the situation, as if you were talking to your best friend. Clarify doubts, empower yourself with knowledge and seek support from people who know the job position within the company and believe in you; that you are capable of successfully performing a task within the organization are the primary tools for success in a job interview.

By: Devan Ksan

You can consider to read short ebook with entry price by Darth Olsson Amazon ebook store: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B5JDDPW

#jobhunt #job interview #body language #books & libraries #confidence #charismatic #online job #interview

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muzzleroars · 4 years

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with the daldabaoth au thing, imagine how hurt akira might be at first realizing goro wants to kill his dad :( he might even feel used like goro only liked him to get close to his dad

I ACCIDENTALLY JUST KIND OF RAMBLED ABOUT THIS AU BECAUSE I’VE BEEN LOVING IT SO LIKE. HERE’S SOME GODHUNTER DRAMA FOR YOU.

YEA that’s pretty much exactly how it goes ;o; akira is really fascinated by humanity and he loves to make friends, he loves to help people with his unique perspective, but he’s also definitely very guarded considering he knows what would happen if anyone found out who he is. so, very much like in canon, akira is great at getting others to open up to him, but he rarely does the same in return, too afraid that any personal details will be looked into and he’ll be discovered by the wrong people. as a cognitive being, akira does have a little bit of insight into the emotions and motivations of others, but being in reality really messes with his ability to be totally accurate (yaldabaoth retains this ability to a much higher degree, but he still has plenty of trouble himself as surviving in reality presents different issues for him), so he’s navigating social relationships with a lot less insight than he’s used to. initially he gains an interest in goro due to his minor celebrity status (akira is obviously drawn to popularity due to the public’s influence), and goro is interested in turn for, again, the same reasons in canon: akira is fascinating to speak with and his opinions often surprise goro. despite the fact that he really does seem to be a trend follower, goro notes that he often has very different ideas than most on whatever topic is popular, waxing incredibly philosophical about different viral trends in a way that’s oddly intriguing. and for his part, akira sees a perception in goro that’s rare for humans, an unparalleled acumen and the ability to mold himself to what the public wants in an utterly flawless way in order to achieve his fame while the real goro remains far and away from that persona. they both begin opening up to each other, letting their guards down, and it’s the exact perceptive nature that akira admires in goro that leads him to become suspicious of who akira really is. after all, despite their growing intimacy, goro never even learns where akira lives, let alone goes to see it, and akira has nothing to say of his family, his history, or his personal life. his friends at school know nothing either - ryuji and ann both shrug their shoulders to the questions, saying they’ve never seen akira’s home...although he has mentioned his dad once or twice, mostly about how he has a strict curfew and couldn’t stay out with them. it’s the most goro’s heard too...and he knows it’s not right, but he goes to dig into akira’s school records to find the information scant and impossible, fake addresses and fake names, “akira kurusu” not seeming to exist outside of shujin academy’s files along with the parent listed. neither of them exist...and goro understands the metaverse, having to achieve the fame he has in order to travel to the depths and find the shrine that had been abandoned - akira, obsessed by trends in a way that seems unnatural given the opinions and intelligence he’s demonstrated time and again. he almost wonders if akira himself might be god, but why would he go around inserting himself into humanity so openly? goro spends time debating how to question him without arousing suspicion, but once he receives intel that it’s suspected god has a child, he’s almost certain that’s exactly who akira is and the father he only mentions in passing, the one who’s never been seen or heard from himself, must be the creature goro’s looking for.

it marks a shift in their relationship, goro hesitating in his mission for such personal, sentimental reasons, but no one else has a clue where to find god or his child, so he does have the luxury of keeping his silence for a time. however, akira notices the shift, sensitive to emotion and intention, and he begins to feel something...wrong about goro, flashes of anger, hatred, disgust directed toward akira...feelings of grief and guilt that come with them and it frightens him, it makes him distance himself from goro despite the pain it causes him. goro almost figures it’s for the best...yet he knows if he makes his move, if he tells the organization he works for that he found him, akira will suffer too, he’ll be ended with his father. so he tells himself he needs to be sure, that akira will only be killed if he truly is god’s child and this isn’t all a mistake that could see his life taken for no reason, so all that’s left to find is where he truly lives and confront whatever’s inside for himself. it’s stupid, it doesn’t make sense, if he does find himself in god’s residence, he’ll only have himself to kill that miserable creature without knowing what it might be capable of. yet...he tracks akira, follows him and finds his home over the course of days as akira often takes multiple and ever changing lines to arrive in his neighborhood, a precaution that makes goro’s heart sink as it only serves to be another nail in this coffin. but once he knows, all it takes is going to the home when akira isn’t present, forcing himself in and quietly, quickly with wide eyes and sweating palms searching each room...but when the upper floors yield nothing, he realizes all that’s left is the basement...and of course that thing would live in the basement, he’s seen the throne it kept in the bowels of that dungeon it called home. yaldabaoth had sensed goro’s presence long before he forces open that door, however, an unwelcome and unknown human filled with such conflicting emotions they induce a headache in the god. and in truth, that irrationality and unpredictability is somehow worse than a human totally intent on killing him - it makes motivations unclear, it makes the ailing god more agitated than he should be, and it’s an emotion not lost on akira, who rarely feels anything but composure from his father. how stupid had he been, he thinks, rushing home as fast as he can, he knew something was wrong with goro, he knew he had said too much and felt that sudden shift of emotion between them but he ignored it, he just tried to run instead of alerting his father to his missteps so that they might have left this city. but...he had hoped to be wrong, that he was reading things wrong as he so often does and besides...his father would be safe, he’s too powerful to fall isn’t he? (but akira knows being in reality has made him sick, he knows his father doesn’t admit to the weakness, he hides it from his child, but existing like this poisoning him)

and what can goro do? the basement is dark, dingy like the endless halls of mementos, but he knows he’s found god long before he actually sees him, feeling sick and repulsed, the sense of wrongness, of trespassing, of walking into see something his entire body rejects to experiencing...it all pales to actually laying eyes on the being they’ve been looking for, however, a poor parody of humanity. its eyes all lock onto him, six of them on its face, an additional four on each hand that it uses to observe him too, its mouths full of sharp teeth, body covered in dizzying geometric patterns that disappear under the vestments of a priest. goro hadn’t known what to expect but the sheer size of it is even overwhelming, just tall enough to fall into an uncanny valley, its skin a true white with shocks of blood that burns an angry red (but it can’t be blood, can it?) and hair that turns to feathers at its tips, something that tried so much to be human but has failed. yet yaldabaoth doesn’t move, he observes goro quietly as he senses the mix of emotion from him, an intent to kill being overridden by something else, at least for now. even as goro draws a weapon, levels it at the deity that refuses to move, he can’t pull the trigger on it, knowing he would lose akira too...but how can he sacrifice his autonomy and everyone else’s to a monster? he tries to speak to it but it doesn’t answer, although he can see that the mouths on either side of its face twitch into different expressions occasionally...and he can’t stand that indifference, that silence, the creature that created them and abandoned them without care...the creature that surely had made him suffer so without a second thought. his mind makes up, motivation and rage clicking into place and only then does yaldabaoth move, a split second before goro’s reflexes can fire on him and it only serves to piss him off more - this thing knows how he feels, it’s reading him and only stayed still until now because it sensed his indecision, his hesitation....his hesitation for his son’s sake. its eyes narrow by fractions and those toothy mouths smile while it seems the other frowns deeper, obviously now understanding the source of goro’s conflicted emotion the moment he thinks of akira. the god finally opens its mouth but just as quickly it seems to think better of it, an action that rattles goro before he hears the basement door slam open again and almost in an instant, in a moment too impossibly fast, his gun is now pointed at akira. his eyes are nothing like they had been before, that composure, the cool sharpness of them replaced by pain, by hatred, by the red sting of tears in betrayal, of righteous anger and animal-like fear for an entire existence threatened, the panic of survival and the hurt of that panic coming from someone you had trusted so much more than any other. goro can’t stand it, he knows what akira thinks now without a single word traded between them...a godhunter that had used him to track his prey, the deity that now grabs akira with all four hands to remove him from the line of fire and the first words goro hears him speak tell his child to run, to find somewhere far from this city, but akira refuses. this is all his fault. he led a hunter here to his father, a father that’s only here as he is now because he won’t leave akira on his own, but when he and goro look at each other once more, akira pushed back and partially hidden, goro’s gun lowering inch by inch, what can they do? one of them should die here, yet in that instant they reach an impossible impasse, neither of them willing to sacrifice the other despite being so opposed to one another. the god is silent, watching goro closely in his unpredictable indecision once more...but goro can’t raise his gun against akira and this monster...the thing all of humanity wants dead now shielding the boy he loves, so where does that leave the hunter? he has to leave, has to run from them and escape that horrifying, suffocating basement, escape his own hesitation and the revelation that he has fallen in love with something that isn’t even human, the spawn of that repulsive god. he can’t sacrifice his own need for revenge, the need to free humanity from an oppressive will, but he can’t sacrifice akira either...and things only get more complicated from there.

#THIS WAS SO LONG WHAT THE FUCK #can u tell i really love this au??? god i need to learn to shut up #things get very tense but...#goro learns yaldy could effectively hide from humans in his inert form as the grail #but he doesn't as that would leave akira on his own and vulnerable #however yaldy's not doing too hot #and goro also knows he doesn't give akira any freedom...akira's not totally happy #THERE'S A LOT AND IT'S ALL COMPLICATED ESP YALDABAOTH UGH #p5 #akira kurusu #goro akechi #yaldabaoth #shuake #bad end family #Anonymous

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silke-doomflare · 3 years

Text

Meet the character: Ainu

BASICS

► Name ➔ “Ainu”, the tiny lalafell answers politely and bows. “Ainu Wanyuudo. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

► Are you single ➔ “What an odd question.” She eyes you up and down, her eyes slightly narrowed. “Why are you asking? Are you up to something?”

► Are you happy ➔ She rolls her eyes. “’Happy...’ One of those words I’ve never truly understood. Oh well, I guess I’m happy enough. I have a job I like and steady income... Actually I’m making the most gil of our family, apart from my mother.”

► Are you angry? ➔ Ainu smiles widely. “Funny that you asked, since I haven’t been this angry in ages. It takes quite a lot to make me angry. This certain thug tried to murder my mother not too long ago, and I’m plotting a vengeance worth of such a deed”, she states casually, like she’d be talking about weather.

► Are your parents still married ➔ “I only have my adoptive mother, and as far as I’ve understood, she prefers to stay alone. Which I, of course, perfectly understand. Romance would only be a risk and hindrance in the criminal underworld.”

EIGHT FACTS

► Birth Place ➔ “Kugane. I stayed there for the first half of my life, and the second half I spent traveling and training around the far east.”

► Hair Color ➔ “Black?” she asks slightly confused, and glances upwards at her bangs. “Yep. So it’d seem.”

► Eye Color ➔ Ainu rolls her eyes again. She marches closer, looks up to you and pulls her lower eyelid slightly downwards, so that you can see the blood red orb clearly.

► Birthday ➔ “I have no clue about the exact date. I only know it’s sometimes around spring.”

► Mood ➔ “...bored. I am so... bored! You see, I was given this interesting assignment a couple of months ago, but my target has done nothing. Nothing! Either he chickened out just because he’s a coward, or somebody told him I was after him, and he chickened out because... well... he’s still a coward.” Ainu lets out a frustrated sigh. “I do know I have quite a reputation, but I wish people wouldn’t back off from the game because of it. How shameful. One should finish what one starts.”

► Gender ➔ Ainu raises her eyebrows. “Seriously, have you considered glasses?”

► Summer or winter ➔ “Summer absolutely. Working is easier in summer. No footprints.”

► Morning or afternoon ➔ “Afternoon. Most of my work consists of night shifts, and I’m more of a night owl anyway.”

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

► Are you in love ➔ She snorts and looks at you scornfully. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any kind of love. I grew up in an environment where such a thing didn’t exist. Besides, as far as I’ve been observing people around me, who are in love, it seems more like a nuisance than something worth pursuing.”

► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ “I don’t believe in love at all.”

► Who ended your last relationship ➔ Ainu lets out a frustrated sigh. “It should be obvious at this point, but I have never had that kind of relationship. First of all: I would be insane if I let another person that close to me. And secondly: even if such a miracle happened, it would eventually fail, because the other party couldn’t handle everything a pact like that with me would bring with it.”

► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ “I think I... maay have broken my mother’s heart at some point. She’s been trying so hard to save me. Though, I’m not quite sure what she’s trying to save me from. She should know by now that I’m not one of those people who need saving.”

► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ “Commitments? Do you mean my pacts with my customers? No, I’m not afraid of commitments. If I had to name one of those few things in this messed up world I find meaningful, it would be my reputation and bringing honor to the shinobi who trained me.”

► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ “Do hugs received from others count as me hugging them? They do? Then I’ve been hugged, yes.”

► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ “If I have, I’m not aware of it. However, in theory it could be entirely possible. People - well, mostly my family - keeps telling me how cute I am, so I wouldn’t be surprised if others would’ve noticed my charm as well.”

► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ “Hm. You nosy little cockroach just had to remind me, just for the sake of some interview? ...yes, I have broken my own heart. By believing that if I just was a good girl, she’d love me. If I just tried hard enough, I’d eventually gain her acceptance. And after she had left, I kept believing she’d come back for me. I wasted too many years telling lies to myself. Should’ve realized sooner the only living thing you can trust is yourself.”

SIX CHOICES

► Love or lust ➔ "Lust. Not that I’d be interested in it, but definitely lust rather than love. I think I already made my opinion about love clear earlier, yes?”

► Lemonade or iced tea ➔ “Iced tea, absolutely. I don’t know about you people here, but we drink quite a lot of tea in the east - both hot and cold.”

► Cats or Dogs ➔ “Cats. In general, I don’t like animals, but the less trouble they are the more I could say I like them. Besides, do you have any idea what a pain badly trained dogs can be especially to us smallfolk?”

► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ Ainu repeats the word ‘friend’ and sneers. “Now there’s another thing I never learned to understand. People talk about friends like they’d be a good thing. I don’t call them friends, but backstabbers. I’d rather not have any of them.”

► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ “Wild night out - alone.” Ainu smiles charmingly.

► Day or night ➔ “At night I feel most alive. Almost everyone else is asleep, and I’m free to do whatever I want, to whoever I want.”

FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out ➔ “In the beginning of my training. I wasn’t used to suddenly having so much different rules to live by, so naturally I rebelled. I couldn’t understand why my mother... - Asagi at this point - would dare to leave me there. Anyhow... I soon realized one couldn’t be a good shinobi without discipline, so I never did it again.”

► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ “I don’t think I have. My balance is unparalleled.”

► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ “Love”, she answers without thinking. Right after her mouth is twisted into a slightly creepy grin. “But that was before realizing it’s not necessary.”

► Wanted to disappear ➔ “Oh, a couple of times actually, mostly back when I was still in training but had just started practicing with real targets. Not to brag, but nowadays I’m quite good at what I do. Nevertheless, even I can’t completely avoid mistakes. My area of work is one of those were mistakes will likely cost you your life. So, yes... after being sloppy I’ve had angry targets chasing me. Without my training I wouldn’t have had a chance escaping them with these tiny feets of mine.”

FOUR PREFERENCES

► Smile or eyes ➔ “I don’t care about either, but if I had to choose one... smile. To be honest, I don’t like to look people in the eye. From their eyes it’s fairly easy to tell are they lying or not. It annoys me, when people are saying something, but their gaze tells they don’t mean a single word.”

► Shorter or Taller ➔ “Shorter. I hate it when people look down on me like I’d be some piece of shite they accidentally stepped on.” Ainu falls silent for a moment, and after a while, shrugs. “Then again... it’s also quite hilarious when people have to bow or kneel before me, when they want to whisper or give me something. I guess being a stump also has its’ boons...”

► Intelligence or Attraction ➔ “Attraction of course. The more intelligent people are, the more trouble they usually give me. I prefer situations where I’m the smartest one around.”

► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ Ainu’s unimpressed expression hints she’d probably rather watch paint dry or grass grow than talk about this kind of subjects. “Well... if I had to choose... hook-up. That wouldn’t tie me to anyone in any way. The less I have people around me the better.”

FAMILY

► Do you and your family get along ➔ “My current family? We get along just fine. ...Apart from some minor disagreements usually considering work and how it’s supposed to be done. Sometimes it makes me wonder would they listen to me more if I had born roegadyn instead.”

► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ Ainu giggles, but there’s no genuine amusement in her voice. “Well, at least it hasn’t been normal, if that’s what you mean. It... could’ve been better. I admit seeing happy families and people having fun with their friends tend to make me somewhat bitter, even angry. But perhaps those things just weren’t meant for me. I’m capable of things those regular people are not, and I believe the Kami have bigger plans for me than some boring everyday life.”

► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ “No, but I probably should have.”

► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ “Yes, and that’s the exact reason why I should’ve ran away. If I had just realized sooner what was going on... But meh... I guess it’s unreasonable to expect a five-year-old or younger to understand your parent is actually a piece of filth you would be better without.”

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ Ainu lets out a frustrated sigh. “Since you seem to be unable to grasp the concept of not having friends, I’m just going to answer your friend-related questions by using my family members instead. Does that sound good? Good.”

► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ Ainu pouts while shifting her hands behind her back. “Mostly. My adoptive sisters are both as... tolerable as siblings can be, I think. I’m not so sure about Bella, though, and what she’s going to do with her life. Same with my aunt, Silke. Those two are the only law-abiding citizens of our family - as far as I know at least - so that kind of forces me to keep my eye on them. If a betrayal were to happen, they’d be my main suspects.”

► Who is your best friend ➔ “Aya”, Ainu answers without a moment of hesitation. “If I had to name one thing I truly appreciate in people - besides not stabbing me in the back, obviously - it would be their ability to return my friendly bantering and not get offended by it.”

► Who knows everything about you ➔ Ainu smiles sunnily, before answering: “No one. Though mother is probably quite close to it.”

#ffxiv #ffxivrp #ffxiv rp #final fantasy xiv #dunesfolk lalafell #meet the character #ainu wanyuudo #character info

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alarawriting · 4 years

Text

Inktober 2020 #7: Fancy

The Kings Club didn’t literally have anything to do with kings, but it might as well have; it was the place to be for the wealthy and well-connected of the world. Celebrities, business moguls, politicians, and actual royalty rubbed elbows with each other in an environment where anything might go, and where any pleasure could be had. Tonight, the ballroom in the Kings Club headquarters was packed full of members, guests of members, and potential new members, as the Kings Club held one of its open events for postulants.

“Lord Delmarro Meridian,” the doorman announced, “and guest.”

Delmarro Meridian was better known to the world as an activist for the rights of psions. He was technically a minor noble, which was the only reason he had a membership to the club; it was his family’s membership, not his personally. But Danae Taglund, founder and CEO of Taglund Industries and Chairwoman of the Governing Council of the Kings Club, had never actually seen him at any meeting of the club, including the open events like this one.

She was surprised, to say the least. Meridian was often an enemy of Club interests, and unlike most of the rich and powerful, who knew how to get along with each other even if they had drastically different opinions from each other, Meridian’s commitment to his bleeding heart politics meant that he was rarely capable of even having a civil conversation with any of Taglund’s set.

The Kings Club attitude toward psionics was the same as their attitude toward any valuable skill, trait or possession – if you were wealthy, intelligent, and ruthless enough to fully exploit what you had to gain yourself power and greater wealth, that qualified you to join the Club, perhaps even the Governing Council. If you were too weak to be able to do that, then you were fair game to be exploited by others who did have the strength and the will. Delmarro Meridian, in contrast, spent his time and money on all kinds of ridiculous causes, supporting weaklings like the poor, the disabled, the sick, and others, like women who weren’t strong enough to do what Taglund had done and seized power from a system that didn’t favor them, or people who weren’t white and wanted to make that the world’s problem rather than working hard. There were other philanthropists with memberships in the Club – none in the Governing Council, of course, but in the Club in general, there were more than a few – but none of them were quite so prickly as Meridian.

Taglund wove her way through the crowd to speak to him. It wasn’t hard – he wasn’t mingling. Meridian had parked himself by a table with crackers, cheese and fancy jams, like jalapeno persimmon.

“Delmarro! I’m so surprised to see you here. Should we be investing in ski resorts now? I seem to recall a conversation about a cold day in hell?”

Meridian smiled thinly. “I did say that, didn’t I.”

“What’s changed?”

“I can tell you that what hasn’t changed is that I still rather despise you, Danae.”

Taglund’s smile was broad. “Oh, of course, Del, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I am curious what you’re up to.”

“It’s good to be curious. Keeps the mind sharp.”

Her laugh was almost sincere. “That’s delightful. You’re almost clever, Del.”

“That’s been my life ambition. To be considered ‘almost clever’ by you.” He turned away, scanning the crowd as if looking for someone.

“Oh, yes, you came with a guest. Is that your newest young lady?” Taglund’s smile turned into something like a sneer. “What happened to the redhead?”

“Nothing happened. My guest and I are just friends.”

“Of course, of course you are.”

A woman’s voice that Taglund almost recognized said, “Danae Taglund. Being a busybody again?”

Taglund turned. The woman she was looking at was a stranger, but an almost familiar one. Young, with short black hair and deeply tanned skin, wearing a stunning white dress covered with sequins. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

The woman’s smile was tight and mirthless. “I suspect you do, but perhaps you don’t recognize me.”

“I find it hard to believe you could be very important if I don’t recognize you.”

“I suppose not.” The woman chuckled slightly, and then looked away from Taglund dismissively. “Del. I’m almost done calibrating.”

“You need to be very careful,” Meridian said. “Taglund, would you excuse me, please? I need to have a word with my guest here.”

“Oh, of course,” Taglund said, and let the two of them step away. She had other guests to talk to, other agendas to pursue, and in the end it really didn’t matter who some bimbo –

--oh, no.

She spun back to look at Meridian’s guest. With the short hair and the younger face, she hadn’t recognized the woman, but—“—Eris?”

“Ah. You do recognize me,” the woman said.

The last she'd seen, Eris had been a woman in her 50's or so, with long, long black hair just starting with strands of gray, lifting and moving in ropes like snakes or undulating in waves whenever she used her power. But Eris hadn't been seen in five years, and there had been a good reason for that. Taglund’s breath came hard in her chest, and her heart pounded hard enough that she could feel it. “You’re dead! You’re supposed to be dead!”

“That’s right. I was dead for a while back there, wasn’t I.” The weirdly younger version of the most dangerous psion on the planet shrugged. “It was a mistake, and I’ve rectified it.”

With wide, horrified eyes, Taglund stared at Meridian. “You’re working with Eris?”

“I’m confident that she’s changed,” Meridian said. “Enough.”

“Dying and coming back in a cloned body does give you some perspective,” Eris said. “And less cumulative damage to my own brain.” She smiled darkly. “I’m sane now. And that means I can target my effects.”

“Target… who?” Taglund asked, her mouth dry with fear.

“You have a lot of innocent people here,” Eris said. “Open event, and all.” Her smile grew broader. "Del wouldn't appreciate my harming them. Anyone else, though...

Taglund raised her fists. “If you’re here to start something—”

“You’ll do what?” Eris asked, blandly curious.

Danae Taglund valued strength above all else. The strength to found a company and keep it alive. The strength to stand up to a world that was trying to crush you down. The strength she had in her arms, as the strongest woman on the planet, her telekinesis channeled entirely through her muscles. She swung at Eris… who caught her in her own telekinesis, effortlessly, because the bitch didn’t just have the ability to drive everyone in a mile-wide radius insane, she was also one of the world’s most powerful telekinetics. She just didn’t use it as her primary mode of attack.

Eris picked Taglund up and flung her to the ground. “Go warn all your allies,” she said, coldly. “If you like. If you think it will help.”

Taglund got to her feet, recognizing when she was beaten, and ran for her life, leaving any possible allies behind to fend for themselves. Behind her, a stream of people who Eris was presumably defining as “innocent” were strolling for the exits, presumably all believing they’d just spontaneously decided that now was a good time to leave. And behind that, she heard raised voices, the start of sudden and purposeless conflicts that would bloom into violence within minutes.

She had no idea why Meridian the bleeding heart was working with the psionic terrorist. She didn’t care, either. Eris showing up at the Kings Club event was like a walking nuclear bomb strolling in, and Taglund hadn’t gotten to where she was in life by being indecisive or trying to be a hero. She ran like the gates of hell were opening behind her… because they were.

#inktober 2020 #alara's october 2020 prompt fics #superpowers

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123dragonage · 4 years

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Shizuka Cousland.

Full Name:

Shizuka Cousland.

Nickname/Alias:

Lady, Lady Cousland, Lady Shizuka, Ice lady, Yukion'na, Shirayuki-hime.

Meaning:

Shizuka:

Quiet, Summer, Fragrance.

Yukion'na:

Snow Woman.

Shirayuki-Hime:

Snow White.

Title:

Lady, Warden, Lady Warden, Shirayuki, Shirayuki-Hime, Shizu.

Pet Name:

Pup, Ice Lady, Hime.

Gender Role:

More lady-like than anything. But, she has her moments.

Class:

Enchanted Warrior

Sheild and sword.

Orientation:

Straight.

Real Age:

Depends on the place and time.

Age Appearance:

17-20.

Birthday:

August, 24th.

Birthplace:

High Ever.

Zodiac Sign:

Virgo.

Immediate Family:

Father:

Bryce Cousland.

Mother: Eleanor Mac Eanraig.

Brother: Fergus Cousland

Sister in law: Oriana.

Nephew: Oren Cousland.

Ethnicity:

Alamarri and a Fereldan.

Eye Colour:

Crystal blue.

Hair Colour:

White-Silver, with a blue Tint in it.

Hairstyle:

You would think her hair was easy to tame, but it wasn't. She has thick hair and while it was still straight and seemed to look neat, Shizuka always had a hard to taming it into the usaul hairstyle. It was down, never tied up so what could be hard about that. Right? you would be surprised to know how many tugs is there. Brushing it into a neat place and leaving it was the hard part mostly, unlike most nobles who move there hair into buns or braids. She preferred it down and long, at least to her hips. Her bangs were combed to both ends, right and left. Leaving the centre of her forehead and face to be seen.

Makeup:

Her lips are painted red or pink, depending on her mood or how they got up. There was no need to put anything on her face really, she was perfect the way she is and her mother believed that woman should wear less than more when it comes to make up. She did, have some silver eye shadow as well. It was barely seen though.

Appearance:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Body Type:

Athletic, but looks fragile from the first glance.

Build:

Petite looking, but well built for a women.

Birthmarks/scars:

There was a birth mark, of two eagles on her right shoulder, her twin has it as well.

Distinguishing Features:

Her pure white hair, pale skin and blue eyes.

Posture:

Lady-like.

Scent:

No one can place her scene, but apparently it's a flower called Andraste's Grace.

Heroes:

Mother and Father, Though recently it was the Grey Wardens.

Pets/Familiars:

A wolf, Though for this it is going to be like a normal dog, able to withstand the Taint.

Wardrobe examples:

F-o-r-m-a-l. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. B-a-l-l-r-o-o-m. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. F-i-g-h-t-i-n-g. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. C-a-s-u-a-l O-u-t-f-i-t-s. D-a-n-c-i-n-g. O-u-t-f-i-t-s. N-i-g-h-t w-e-a-r.

Equipment:

-Family sword.

-Sword level one.

-Sword level two.

-Sword level three.

-Cousland Shield.

-Shield level one.

-Shield level two.

-Shield level three.

Accessories:

-Locket.

-Family Ring with the crest on it.

-Magic book

-Journal/Diary.

-The crest of the Cousland family.

Element:

Water.

Biggest Failure:

Letting the people she loved die alone, even at all. Her life was always about them and how she would bring her people up as a heir. At least, they told her as much. If she didn't then her brother would. Even then, they would have found someone willing to marry her anyway.

Secrets:

As a young girl she wished to be free, never to hold herself back. Her family always knew she wanted to be free and wander like her brother did. However, due to her class he was forced to ignore that and grow up. But, in there group she fears that her secret love for freedom might come out. A witch who has been free since a child, A sister who choose her path and lived with it, Even there Assassin friend made her wonder. No one like her should even be thinking of that, but she did.

Hobbies/Interests:

Writing in her journal and diary, by herself, Walking in the forest alone or with someone, Watching the night sky, singing, Dancing, writing poems, horse riding.

Skills/Talents:

-There is a small part of magic in her, but not enough to call it dangerous. I'm trying something new with this, so I hope you will accept this part- She is NOT a full blood mage. -Casting without her hands. -Making her magic flow into her weapons. -Knowing different herbs, poisons. -Cooking. -Flower Arranging. -Can work with a shield, but she choose a smaller one than most.

Likes:

Singing, Dancing, Children, Animals, her brother, Alistair, morrigan, Writing poems, Cooking, Night walks.

Dislikes:

People treating Elves, Servants or anyone of low class bad, Her title coming up, talking about the past, howe.

Pet Peeves:

-The Servants being treated badly. -Someone giving up with not say in the matter. -Pointless talk. -Bringing up the past. -Judging someone for no reason.

Personality Detailed:

Personality:

Intelligent

The Virgo are an intelligent lot, who would love to know about various subjects and increase their general knowledge.

Practical They don't believe in living in the fantasy world and will be very much in touch with the reality. Their practical approach is one of their biggest strength.

Analytical The Virgo possess an analytical mind and see things in black and white. They are capable of producing a clear analysis and thereby a solution of even the most complicated problems.

Reliable You can trust a Virgo for following the instructions and trying his best to do the job well. Besides, he is a rational person and would not let emotions affect his decisions.

Modest Since they are goal-oriented, perfectionists, rational and reliable, it is very likely that they are great achievers too. But you will rarely see them boasting about their accomplishments. Overcritical They have such a clear picture in their minds as to how things should be, the Virgo tend to be overcritical and lose the plot in the process. Fussy The Virgo-born often get lost in details and they will not have a peace of mind till they resolve all the issues. Besides, their strong likes and dislikes make them quiet fussy. Fastidious Pleasing or impressing a Virgo is tough job, as anything less perfect (in their eyes) does not make the cut. Harsh They call a spade a spade and they don't sugar-coat their opinions before putting them across. Their harshness does not always go down well with the people around them.

Conservative The Virgo are conservative and won't readily accept modern ideas. Maybe it has to do with their need to test the waters and be sure of the outcome.

Judgemental

The Virgo-born are criticised for being judgemental. They cannot ignore faults and mistakes as anything less than perfect is not good enough for them.

Symbol:

Cousland Crest.

Vice:

Chastity.

Virtue:

envy.

Background.

The outpost of Highever was originally a bannorn and was held by the Elstan family, who was a secondary branch of the then-freeholder family of Howes. During the Towers Age, Bann Conobar Elstan was murdered by his wife, Flemeth, thus ending the bloodline. Sarim Cousland, the captain of Conobar's guard, took the lands and title. The Couslands declared their independence from Amaranthine, starting a war that lasted thirty years. When the war ended, Highever won its independence and possession of half the land that had once been southwestern Amaranthine. Highever became a teyrnir during the Black Age. Previously, the Couslands held only the minor title of Bann. During the lycanthrope plague, Bann Haelia Cousland[1] or Mather Cousland[2] according to other sources, gathered the lords together under the Cousland banner to drive the werewolves out of their lands, thus earning the title of Teyrn. Calenhad Theirin was born in Highever in 5:10 Exalted as the third son of a poor merchant. He left at a young age to become a squire, but returned during the Unification of Ferelden as a Teyrn. The contemporary ruler of Highever was Teyrna Elethea Cousland; She fought the soon-to-be-King Calenhad in an attempt to maintain Highever's independence, and so when Calenhad's army reached Highever, Teyrna Elethea led the local banns against him, but lost against the future king. After Elethea's men were defeated, Calenhad asked her to swear fealty. She did, thus allowing the Couslands to retain the teyrnir in Calenhad's new kingdom.[2] In the beginning of the Storm Age, the Couslands conspired with Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden in the Grey Wardens' attempted rebellion. The rebellion was betrayed to King Arland by politicians before it began, and the king's guard ambushed their meeting place, with the rebels barely managing to escape. The Couslands were not so lucky, however. King Arland executed the Cousland Teyrn and a number of others, and then sent soldiers to Soldier's Peak to stamp out the remainder of the rebellion. During the rebellion against Orlais, the Couslands opposed the Orlesian rule. However, Arl Tarleton Howe of Amaranthine supported the Orlesians and this resulted in several bitter battles between Amaranthine and Highever. Eventually, the Couslands manage to capture Harper's Ford and hang Tarleton Howe for his treachery. Unlike his father, Rendon Howe was part of the rebellion like his uncle Arl Byron Howe. Rendon and Bryce Cousland fought beside each other at the battle of White River, becoming two of the fifty rebels who survived the defeat. Thereafter, Arl Rendon Howe was a great friend of the Couslands. Arl Howe later betrayed the Couslands, using the chaos of the Fifth Blight as his route to power. Teyrn Cousland had called together the forces of Highever and Amaranthine, intending to ride with Howe to support King Cailan against the darkspawn. However, upon arriving at Highever, Arl Howe told Teyrn Cousland that the Amaranthine forces would be delayed for a few of days. Not one to keep the King waiting, Teyrn Cousland sent the bulk of Highever's forces ahead to Ostagar under the command of his eldest son Fergus Cousland, intending to leave with Howe's Amaranthine men once they arrived. After Fergus left the castle, Howe's forces took advantage of the Couslands' weakened defense and made a surprise attack during the night, killing the teyrn, his wife Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, and Fergus' wife Oriana and son Oren, as well as most of the other inhabitants of the castle. Though Fergus was left as the rightful heir to the Teyrnir of Highever, Howe then declared himself the new teyrn. Eventually, however, Duncan will rescue the human noble from the surprise attack on Castle Cousland in exchange for joining the Grey Wardens. Following the end of the Fifth Blight, Fergus Cousland will inherit Highever and become the next Teyrn. Fergus will also be given control of Amaranthine, which he presents to the Grey Wardens.

Theme song:

youtube

#dragonage #dragon age origins #oc #orginal

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frustratedpker · 5 years

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An AI’s character development

Before noticing something that made me write this post, I believed that artificial intelligences weren’t capable of character development as their personality is predefined by their creator.

Flipping through some Pkna pages I noticed something that made me change my mind about this subject. This is the fact that Uno and Odin, although being technically the same person, have different personalities. I don’t mean that there are huge differences, but in my opinion there is a variation on how they perceive the world.

When Paperinik first meets him, Uno is talkative, friendly and doesn’t hesitate to immediately reveal some of Ducklair Tower’s biggest secrets to a complete stranger. The lack of social contacts in his life is pretty obvious as he seems to desparately need a friend in his life. He’s also a know-it-all (okay he’s an AI that’s no surprise) and takes pride on his abilities being really arrogant from times to times. The overall image we get from him is that of a likeable, trusting, and supporting partner whose arrogant moments are just a minor pet peeve that can be easily excused (he’s an AI after all).

Then there’s Odin. They are the same person, the same artificial intelligence (someone PLEASE tell Paperinik) but now in a different body. Although the two of them share many traits such as the extreme intelligence (same data base) and the love and support towards Paperinik, Odin is a different person. He’s far more distant and reserved, quiet and more mature. He is secretive and enigmatic. He doesn’t show off his knowledge and he’s more of a diplomat, an intellectual figure.

Some may call it adapting to new situations and data. Uno in order to achieve his goals adopted a new personality that would facilitate him in his life as an enterpreneur and public figure. I personally like to call it character development. I am sure that with all the information he had access to, Uno could easily become Odin, inaugurate Robolab and defend droids’ rights without changing his outgoing, friendly and bubbly (pun intented) personality.

In two centuries important knowledge and data must have been added to his software teaching him crucial facts about humanity and its ways. He couldn’t be unaffected by all that. I am sure he matured significantly during those centuries, so when he decided to become Odin and come out to live in the world he knew he had to change if he hadn’t already.

The information he had been gathering all those years shaped him and he managed to become what he always wanted to be and to achieve his goals. (Hence his change of attitude, he lived among humans, he had people to associate with, the desparate need of having friends wasn’t that prominent anymore as he was surrounded by them all the time).

I don’t know if this post makes any sense, or if it is even accurate but I noticed that and I wanted to talk about it.

Personally, I think that the most important difference between the two of them is that Uno is an extrovert, while Odin is an introvert, a peculiar realisation taking into account that they are the same person.

#Anna writes again a whole novel #sorry for the long post guys but I HAD TO #pkna #paperinik #uno #odin eidolon #duckverse #duck avenger #character development #analysis

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deviationdivine · 5 years

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Blue Blush (Connor!Prompt Request)

TLDR: Connor’s having one of those days at the DPD that just culminates in him winding up naked...

Word Count: 2,837

TW: Fluffy Boy Connor, Language, Suggestive Themes

A/N:Follower/Reader Appreciation Drabble | Prompt: “Nothing to see here.” “Um, you’re fucking naked!” - @sammyreh request! Here we go! My main man Connor’s back with more fluff to cure my chronic angst. Thanks for participating baby!

How lovely you look today. Any day will be beneficial to his visual component analyzing each detail for memory storage. Already he has seen you first entering DPD but that does not stop him wanting to be around you approximately twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, four weeks in a month and-

Calculations drop out of range the closer you come. Realizing that he fell into distraction reminds him of what Hank calls it. The lieutenant says he is ‘whipped’ but Connor is unsure if you would partake in the sexual gratification of S&M. Whips appear to be quite popular in the area.

A flood of information filters in his scanners. Oh. That is not what the lieutenant meant.

Wiping out a flood of sexual content he automatically steps forward with a cup of coffee brewed specifically to your preferences. “Good morning, Love.”

“Good morning, Detective.”

Your greeting is airy with a wisp of mischief. Catching him off guard is rare. After all he will hear a pin drop with that supersonic hearing. It isn’t so much surprise but confusion settling into his cute face. Then he plays off your formal address all too cleverly.

“We are much more than colleagues now, Y/N.” The android admonishes teasingly, offering the hot beverage to you. “In fact, I do believe we are dating.”

Is that so? You laugh at the little joke. Breezing past his lips husky and endearing; your body leans into his chest acting as a harmonious magnet. Tangling fingers around silky tie pulls him down just enough but directing him isn’t necessary.

Connor places a sweet kiss that quickly transforms in a sultry tango to your lips. Wanting to curve fingers with the shape of your face, cradling, claiming you as his, he does remind himself of current priority. This is work. He does not wish to cause an uncomfortable climate. Most have no opinion about this new relationship the two of you have begun.

Hank obviously rolled eyes when Connor first admitted. Actually, it was not in disgust. The lieutenant thought it was “about time they worked it the fuck out” in his usual unpleasant terms.

There is a nudge of doubt still weighing through his system. Even as you come to hold a place for him in your rapturous human heart; Connor imagines if he did not become deviant.

Never will he doubt you or these feelings. He doubts how good he truly is for someone like you. Someone who is a lively spark in this world, making him feel further human. If he may hold, protect you forever that will be enough. Even if you decide to move away from this connection for your sake as a human dating an android; Connor drops his gaze. Being free with thoughts and decisions empties his mind for only his internal voice to ruminate. At times being alone is not best for a deviant.

“Connor? Are you OK?”

Stroking his cheek draws him up in a snap. Indicator flickers in a call sign interrupting this pleasant sensation reserved only for him. He reserves for you as well. As long as you want to be with him perhaps that is enough. To hold a moment tenderly expecting an end or his days of struggle eclipse logic too severely.

He is more adaptable than this. Having something precious to lose makes the android surge with an entire new string of emotions.

Maybe he should ask Hank. On second thought, let’s not ask Hank.

Connor smiles now. Appeasing worry is part of his programming. He is meant to integrate in an amiable way. He still follows patterns of protocol but more so out of choice. An unmistakable need to make you happy fills him with purpose.

“I just received an emergency call,” Connor breathes against your hand. Tiny peck of the android’s bottom lip grazes palm where you continue to offer a soothing caress. Tasting the natural chemicals held within your body spiking for every touch and affectionate fondle of skin.

“It seems I will be out in the field earlier today. And – Hank is late.”

Anderson is late? Shocking! You smirk. “Well, that’s on him,” you chide. “But still… I’d like you having backup. Do you want me to-?”

“No, Y/N.” Connor is quick to shut down the suggestion. He knows of the astonishing capability you possess. There is more at stake.

Arguing won’t change his mind. He’s pretty good at making his own decisions. It makes you happy to see him not tied down to code or orders. He’s also pretty good at this coffee thing. Sipping it now creates a warm spread.

“Mmm,” purring approval gets him going.

Lusty clouds dot caramel cocoa, those same eclipses you notice each time kissing turns into heavy petting. Connor lets go of his pristine, intelligent personage while loving you. He takes breath away. Can only dream of how it will be when you two have sex. “Exact amount of cream. Connor, if you weren’t a detective you’d make a delectably hot barista.”

“Hey, hey, hey! Take your lovey dovey shit outside!”

Wrenching back from Connor’s warm, loving space is a good opportunity to roll eyes in disgust. You blatantly ignore the obnoxious entrance of Reed. “Be careful,” a little whisper floods your feelings. They always were like this for Connor but knowing he’s yours? It adds extra uneasiness.

He does not seem to be worried at all. That smile can light up the earth. He warms you like the sun.

“Androids are capable of avoiding unnecessary injury to biocomponents, Love. My model makes me quite effective.” Connor pulls at the threads holding your blissful laughter at bay. Poking gently, hoping to spill splendorous sound tinkling like china glass. Whenever you laugh the metal melts a bit more around his artificial heart.

You bless him with a diminutive giggle. All is right within his world then. It means everything he desires now. Deviancy opens gates, unleashing his true self. He-he wants to hold this forever along with your perfect form in his arms until the end of time.

“Gonna keep eye fucking or do your job tin can?!”

Connor’s smile snaps into a line. Drawing fingers against your waist as a silent disengagement and promise to remain safe, the prototype detective walks out of break room on a clear path to Gavin Reed.

The human detective yawns not worried. He snorts at the droid. “The fuck you looking at?”

“Opening your mouth to Detective Y/L/N will need proper adjustment,” Connor explains smoothly. “Would you like me to assist you, Detective Reed?”

Any jokes Gavin had on loop don’t make it past this plastic asshole’s balls. Getting in his face he must have a big pair of gonads! “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten your stunt in the evidence room motherfucker!”

“I’m sorry,” the prototype snipes sarcastically. “I suppose this concludes our bromance then.”

“You motherless piece of shit!”

Unfazed by the varying degrees of dirt that escapes Reed’s mouth, Connor takes a page out of Hank’s book as the lieutenant would say: “Do go fuck yourself, Detective Reed. I believe that will solve all of your problems.”

Gavin is too stunned to even harp back. That’s a first! Goddamn android saunters off like he’s some hot shot too. Anderson taught him this shit! He knows it! Well…he’ll get this prick back. Today.

“Uh, Connor?” Chris Miller’s eyebrows rise at the android. Coming in slopped up in mud and – that better be mud! “What happened to you?”

“I had a minor accident.” Explaining crisply, Connor’s perturbed affectation is due to his constant gathering of humanity. More simply put: he is pissed off. Holding up his arms did not lessen the entirety of this ruination. His jacket is completely soiled.

“Just minor?” the officer snorts, returning to computer. “Wait til Hank sees this.”

Ignoring Officer Miller’s amusement puts Connor on a path for locker room. A swift move that Gavin takes notice of. Removing feet off desk, Reed gets up casually before taking off in the same direction. Whistling on the way downstairs echoes in stairwell but Gavin shuts up by the time that prick could be in earshot.

Jacket, jeans completely caked in mud, dirty liquid already seeps through white shirt. Jumping a fence into several pedestrians did not end well despite calculations. The thief in question decided to use collateral damage to slow his pursuit. Connor fell face first in a giant puddle of soggy dirt from last night’s rain shower.

The android strips dirty clothing. Resting shoes atop bench they are remarkably unscathed. Obtaining a locker for himself is both beneficial and rewarding. He never imagined much need for it being an android. Hank was right this time.

Connor smirks. Stepping out of aisle to enter shower stall he needs to rinse splatters of dirt from synthetic skin.

Reed takes a peek now seeing the coast clear. “Let’s see you get out of here naked plastic prick.” Gavin proceeds to gather up the droids clothes intent on humiliating the bastard. This will stick it to him on a lesser note but he’ll sit back and laugh his ass off all the same.

“What the hell did he fall in?!” Gavin holds the muddy pile away from himself. If he gets anything on this jacket he’ll kill somebody.

Wet tousled hair smoothes in a comb beneath Connor’s fingers returning to locker. He freezes, running a searchable scan. Where are his clothes?

“Connor!?”

Jolting around at your frantic voice floods indicator scarlet. Priming himself to jump into action and protect he steels his fluid stance. You are alone. There is no sign of any distress besides your rising heart rate. Oh.

The android peers down assessing his current absence of clothing. “Nothing to see here.”

Nothing to see? How about broad shoulders ripe for finger digging, clavicles made for flush kisses and a muscle toned body stark naked in the DPD locker room? Connor is absolutely wow. No, really. This is…what???

“Um, you’re fucking naked!”

Raising eyebrows at your language does remind him of Hank. The android remains standing without sense to hide anything about his state of undress. Simply he gazes at you fondly and free of inhibitions. Obviously this is far too intimate. Even in a relationship your embarrassment is palpable. “Are you all right, Y/N?”

A breath escapes in poor answer. Frankly there is nothing to say without making a fool of yourself. It shouldn’t be this nerve wracking. After all you two have been together but not this far yet.

Connor cocks his head with a tiny smile. Obviously it does not bother him. However, he does not wish for you to feel uncomfortable. “I apologize. Would you like me-?”

“Connor.” Pressing a palm to his chest stills the entire world. Bare and chiseled just as his sharp cheekbones, sculpted jaw he is a beautiful statue. He’s an ancient work born out of Greece. Tall perfection making you weak in the knees fully clothed. Without you need to start fanning yourself before passing out.

Keeping eyes up is difficult. You swallow.

Your touch melts him into you, eyelids drifting in a flutter. His eyelashes are like snow kissing against yours when he leans in to overtake lips. Right now he quietly stands absorbing closeness. Somehow you think this vulnerability eases him and how can you complain?

Cyberlife be praised. They were good for something at least. You giggle. Reaching up to cup his face pulls his head to meet your level.

Connor’s lips mimic yours touching softly at first. Arms thread to the warm curves of your body. Pulling you flush produces a shared groan into your mouths. His LED is ablaze, frame shuddering pleasurably into your figure.

Ohhh. You can feel him pressing fully into your groin.

“Connor.” Bracing hands against the android’s bare chest establishes more. This type of intimacy is new. Wanting it is a personal truth but down in the locker room of the DPD?

“I realize we have not had this opportunity. Removing our clothes for one another.”

“No,” you agree quiet. “We-we haven’t.”

“Does it bother you?” Worry replaces lust in your android lover. “If so I will-”

“Connor, nothing in the world involving you would ever make me uncomfortable. Besides, I love what I see.”

The android grins crookedly. Sweeping you close to show you everything he will offer. His back collides with lockers allowing you power over him. It is a silent turn on for the android known for dominating in combat.

Tender kisses raining over your lips as stardust. Connor is a star. He’s your star. Glowing forever in your heart and this is the only thing.

“My Heart,” he whispers into the sweet crook of neck. His tongue traces skin tasting what he loves most in this world.

A dangerous shiver causes a soft moan to slip. Tracing fingertips down his perfect torso creates a light shade of blue. Shimmering in a blush to synthetic skin, you gasp, smiling up at him.

“What the fuck!” Reed nearly throws up finding you pressed up against that plastic shithead. Like he needs to see a human and android fucking!

Wrenching back from your boyfriend leaves a serious problem. It’s pretty obvious since there’s nothing in the locker. You sneer already suspecting! “Get the hell out, Gavin! Better yet. Get Connor’s clothes you asshole!”

The detective snorts. Crossing arms over his chest, he takes one good look at this fucking shit and doesn’t bother hiding disgust. Fucking androids. Now they’re over here stealing humans for themselves. What a joke.

“Didn’t take the plastic prick’s shit.” Reed denies but pulls off a cocky smile. Let’s see you prove it. “What? You gotta problem with your robo boy’s package? Ain’t got one?”

Connor sidesteps from behind you without care. He throws a hot glare onto the human.

“Ah, fuck!” Gavin turns his head. “You son of a bitch! I didn’t need to see your dick!”

“Certainly were interested enough to bring it up though.” You sneer at the idiot. Can somebody fire this scumbag? “Does that answer your question? Oh, that’s right. You’re embarrassed. Because my boyfriend is obviously way bigger than your teeny pencil dick.”

Honestly, you know this boy is nice. You saw with your own eyes. Accidentally but knowing what’s in store for later is nice. Better than nice.

“What the fuck did you…?”

Connor moves in front of you purposely aware of Detective Reed’s disgust. That is why the android smiles.

Gavin throws in the towel. “Jesus Christ! Go ahead and fuck him down here if you want. I’m out!”

Saying there isn’t satisfaction in Reed squirming like the scummy worm he is would be lying. You did enjoy watching him lose it. The filthy comment out of his mouth is so expected at this point nothing phases. Not even Connor still naked as the day he was created. This vantage gives you a direct view of his toned ass. Talk about sculpted perfection.

“Connor.” Calling for him to turn around, averting eyes to save your life, you reach to snag onto his forearm. Bringing the nude android towards lockers the idea is simple. “Um, wait here. And I’ll find where that jackass took your clothes.”

“Y/N, wait.”

Catching onto your waist stills everything. His voice is uneven. Checking his LED it’s not crimson but amber. What is he thinking?

“Then you do not mind seeing all of me.” Hesitation poisons his statement. Part of him does not want the truth. If you do not believe he is worth you- “As this. As my true self?”

A gentle smile answers in place of words. What can be said that is good enough? He is everything in your world. Can that be enough? Of course it is. Love is whatever you want it to be. This is what you want it to be.

“I know your true self. This.” You rub fingers across his chest. Beneath synthetic skin it’s easy to know what he is but that is what you love. All of him no matter what others see.

You indulge firm hands resting on hips. Thankfully deviancy means being bolder. He’s still a cinnamon roll though. Cinnamon roll that can kill you but still fits. “I only see you, Connor. Skin, no skin why should that mean anything? When I love you?”

The android is flooded with readings. Listening, analyzing each hastened beat of heart radiating out of you. Those beats are erratically for – him.

Connor’s smile transcends beyond that cheap grimace that used to twist his mouth. This is bright. Vibrant in humanity, dimples and pride knowing he can have what he wants.

“My Heart,” he pledges an oath. “I love you too.”

That pet name is going to make you drop. Who knew androids could be this romantic? You clear your throat, pointing down but keeping eyes on his. “Want to put that away now?”

“Oh. Obviously.”

Tag List: @elydith @your-taxidermy @tropfenlady @connorswink @tommy-10-k

#connor rk800 x reader #connor x reader #dbh connor rk800 x reader #rk800 x reader #dbh rk800 x reader #dbh #detroit become human #spicy fluff #follower/reader appreciation request #get lost gavin #wanna talk shit #get hit #sammyreh request #part of the blue series

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crusherthedoctor · 5 years

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Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite? - Part 13: MEPHILES

There are some villains I like. And there are some villains I don’t like. But why do I feel about them the way I do? That’s where this comes in.

This is a mini-series of mine, in which I’ll be going into slightly more detail about my thoughts on the villains in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and why I think they either work well, or fall flat (or somewhere in-between). I’ll be giving my stance on their designs, their personalities, and what they had to show for themselves in the game(s) they featured in. Keep in mind that these are just my own personal thoughts. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions! I don’t bite. :>

Anyhow, for today’s installment, we’ll be covering the malevolent spirit of Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, and #1 Shadow cosplayer across the nation: Mephiles the Dark.

The Gist: On Sonic's 15th anniversary, a little game was released. You might have heard of it. People like to bring it up a lot, regardless of the time or reason. It's called Sonic the Hedgehog, ostensibly, but we tend to call it Sonic '06.

It did not live up to expectations.

But what's the story?

Life was suffering for poor Silver the Hedgehog. His world was ravaged by a fire monster, he could never truly defeat said fire monster no matter how hard he tried, and his sole companion was only there because the writers didn't understand how backstories work. Things appeared to be looking up for him though, when he was approached by a mysterious black hedgehog, who offered a permanent solution to the hero's seemingly fruitless quest. Silver looked at this hedgehog with no mouth, slitted eyes, and ominous deep voice, and accepted the offer without hesitation.

"If only they knew..." *wink*

The completely trustworthy hedgehog reasoned that in order to destroy the Flames of Disaster, Iblis, Silver must destroy the one who unleashed it in the first place. The "Iblis Trigger", if you will. Who is this catalyst though, according to this perfectly benevolent hedgehog? None other than Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero of whatever Sonic's world is called this week. No more Sonic, no more Iblis, so says the absolutely well-intentioned hedgehog. Silver accepts all of this without question, because his intelligence ranks somewhere between "potato" and "Madoka Magica protagonist". He's then sent on his way by the definitely good-natured hedgehog through the means of time travel. This is barely questioned as well.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Shadow the Hedgehog is doing his duties as a new member of G.U.N, as they were fortunately able to make amends and can now look back and laugh at the time they killed his friend. His mission is to assist fellow agent Rouge the Bat in the kingdom of Soleanna, and when he catches up to her, she reveals a peculiar discovery: a tool known as the Book Scepter of Darkness.

Even the PS3 lighting couldn't contain its power.

After a brief discussion about the kingdom's history, they made their way through the ruins of the ancient Soleanna castle, where Anti-Furry Activist Dr. Eggman was waiting for them, in the hopes that they would politely give the Book Scepter of Darkness to him. The two comrades tussle with some of the doctor's robots, but the Book Scepter suffers in the midst of the crossfire, and is destroyed completely... releasing a slightly phallic surge of dark energy in the process. Eggman promptly gets the fuck out of there, and the darkness soon takes the form of Shadow himself... and the same hedgehog that would appeal to Silver's wishes. He also knows who Shadow is.

"Fucking hell, this is my design...?"

His name? Mephiles the Dark.

Not Mephisto.

Not Mephistopheles.

Mephiles.

The Dark.

Mephiles the Dark.

Mephiles the Evil.

Mephiles the Hoodlum.

Mephiles the Wrong'un.

Mephiles the Right Prick.

So you know he's a villain who demands to be taken seriously.

Mephiles quickly sends Shadow and Rouge on what he dubs "a one-way ticket to oblivion", which is actually just the same place where Eggman forcibly sent Sonic away to, alongside his buddies Tails and Knuckles. It's Silver's time period, the one plagued by the Flames of Disaster. Shadow contemplates these recent happenings as the colour palette suddenly dies for no reason.

A minor disappointment in an otherwise high-quality gaming experience.

Since the computers in this horribly ruined world still work better than Windows Vista, they use one of them to figure out the nature of their plight, and maybe check out Craigslist while they're at it. They are understandably concerned about the answer, as a madman with time travelling capabilities is no laughing matter. Shadow takes this potential threat very seriously, and he will not be distracted under any circumstance.

When they meet up with Team Sonic, they decide to work together in order to figure out how to get back to their time, because friendship truly is magic. Along the way, Shadow and Rouge discover the dusty form of a sleeping E-123 Omega, and they leave him there. Because friendship truly is magic.

Soonafter, the five of them encounter Iblis, and a tedious battle ensues until Iblis itself gets bored and fucks off. Using the power of two Chaos Emeralds, they induce Chaos Control, which in this game means...

*spins Deus Ex Machina wheel*

...they go back in time. Alright then.

So they do. Except for Shadow, who catches sight of the evil Mephiles the Dark and immediately gives chase. Mephiles has a surprise for him however... another Shadow. An imprisoned Shadow. Mephiles claims that he was used as a scapegoat for what happened with Iblis, which naturally unnerves the Ultimate Lifeform.

RAW EMOTION

Mephiles offers Shadow to join him in his cause for justice, under the belief that humanity hates Shadow, humanity fears Shadow, and humanity will make a martyr out of Shadow the first chance they get. Unfortunately for Mephiles, Black Doom said all this beforehand, and he's dead now, cause Shadow ain't taking this shit anymore. He made a promise to the Professor and Maria, and he intends to keep it. It's time to live up to his family name, and face Full Life Consequences™.

They fought.

Shadow won.

With a little help from a non-dusty, present day Omega, who was sent by Rouge.

Mephiles escaped with his time travel prowess, and Shadow and Omega followed after him. They arrived back in the present, but with no sign of the deadly demon. Meanwhile, said demon was reiterating to Silver that Sonic is totally the Iblis Trigger he's after, absolutely, dead-on. Silver barely questions him once more, and as punishment for his extreme foolishness, Shadow finds him and teaches him a lesson in pain.

"I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. Get shanked. This is who I am."

During battle, they accidentally induce Chaos Control together, which summons another time portal that Shadow somehow already knows in advance where it'll take them. They travel to ten years prior, where they find the then-alive ruler of Soleanna, the Duke, attempting valiantly to harness the energy of the omnipotence known as Solaris. Instead, he gets an explosion in the face, and Solaris divides itself into two different entities. Aggressive flames, and a mass of darkness... Iblis and Mephiles. They were two halves of the same being the whole time.

The two hedgehogs split up to stop the two halves from escaping. Thanks to the Book Scepter of Darkness the dying Duke gave him, Shadow successfully seals the formless Mephiles away, thus explaining how Mephiles knew who Shadow was ten years later. Shadow and Silver eventually return to the present, but not before Silver laughs in the face of Sonic continuity and gives his blue Chaos Emerald to the young Princess Elise, the daughter of the recently Wasted™ Duke.

After reuniting with Rouge, and after obtaining a brand new Book Scepter of Darkness, Shadow and her learn that E-123 Omega is engaging Mephiles, meaning they must head to Wave Ocean (head to Wave Ocean?)... ... ...Shadow and her learn that E-123 Omega is engaging Mephiles, meaning they must head to Wave Ocean immediately. (Sorry about that, I'll fix it in post.)

Omega was indeed engaging Mephiles. Very easily at that. Yet Mephiles took his humiliation in stride and escaped while laughing all the way. Omega confesses to Shadow that he is in fact the one who will go on to imprison him in the future. Rouge reassures her old friend that even if the rest of the world turns against him, she'll always be at his side no matter what. Shadow in turn expresses gratitude for one of the only instances of good writing in this game, and the three of them leave for Dusty Desert, where Mephiles is hiding away like a Scooby Doo baddie.

When they finally confront Mephiles, he tries the exact same tactic that failed to bring Shadow over to his side to bring Shadow over to his side. He did not succeed in bringing Shadow over to his side.

"Ugh, blackcurrant."

They fought again.

Shadow won again.

And with the new and improved Book Scepter of Darkness, he seals the villain away once more... for about five seconds, before the Book Scepter unexpectedly tears itself apart. The fiend has apparently developed an immunity to this old song and dance.

"Now for my next trick, I shall make my credibility disappear!"

He then summons a whole pack of Mephiles's's's's's to do away with Team Dark. But unbeknownst to him, Shadow has a trick of his own up his non-existent sleeve. By removing his inhibitor rings, he could become even more needlessly overpowered for a limited period of time. This was more than enough to send the army of clones flying like skittles.

Alas, the real Mephiles escaped yet again. And this time, he topped himself by fulfilling IGN's dreams and killing Sonic the Hedgehog himself. The older Princess Elise, his latest friend, was grief-stricken.

RAW EMOTION

Unable to keep her emotional turmoil in check, the princess wept, which released the mighty Iblis into the present time. As it turns out, this was Mephiles' real plan all along. He intended for Silver to kill Sonic so that Elise's ensuing tears would unleash the flames, but he finally decided to do the deed himself. Using all seven Chaos Emeralds, which he warped them to where he was like it was nothing, Mephiles rejoined with Iblis once more, and Solaris was officially back in business to corrupt reality as he saw fit. Time distortion? Environmental disasters? Soulja Boy game consoles? It's all the work of Solaris.

But while Solaris was fucking time and space's shit up, Sonic's friends (and Silver) gathered all the Emeralds together, and with some... curious assistance from Elise, they brought the dead hedgehog back to life. In his super form, no less. Shadow and Silver were granted some of Super Sonic's power in order to turn super themselves, and the Hedgehog Master Race obliterated Solaris so bad that he reverted to his original form of a tiny white flame... which was soon blown out by Elise, despite knowing that time would reset itself in the process. The threat of losing her memories with Sonic took a toll on her, but with the hedgehog's own encouragement, she pulled through regardless.

Merry Christmas.

Thus, from the Soleanna Festival onward, everything started over. This time around, the festival could commence in peace, as Eggman wasn't there to menace the princess with his golden udders. For the Flames of Disaster, Iblis, Mephiles, Solaris... they were all literally forgotten by time itself until Generations. Why they were now holding a festival for a god who never existed remains a mystery, but Elise couldn't help but feel that the "wind" was strangely familiar, and pleasantly so.

That same wind enjoyed a good night, possibly aware of what he had to go through to get there.

"That's a lovely full moon. A lovely full, whole, complete, non-fractured moon. Would be a shame if something happened to it."

The Design: Mephiles spends his initial scenes as a shit recolour.

"This is my Chaos Emerald OC, his name's Genocide the Blitzkrieg."

On the other hand, he spends his later scenes as a shit recolour.

He can't believe it either.

Which is a shame, because there is an appeal in the concept of a shadowy being made of crystal. It's just incredibly undermined by how it's mimicing Shadow's form, and for little justified reason at that. Outside of a single quip about him being Shadow's shadow, Mephiles doesn't really do anything to warrant the "Evil Shadow" angle he's apparently going for, which makes his recolour status even more pointless.

(And yes, I know his chest hair kind of looks like Solaris. That doesn't mean his design is suddenly good or clever.)

The Personality: Remember how Black Doom was a complete and utter void of evil for its own sake? Good, beause Mephiles is exactly the same, and it could be argued that he's actually worse than Mr. Ten Packs a Day.

Oh sure, you say. He might have a motive in the form of wanting vengeance for being experimented on. Too bad this is not established in any way whatsoever with what we see of Mephiles in the game proper. When he's not transparently fooling Silver, he spends all his time cackling and taunting. Any time he brings up humanity is when it involves Shadow's expense, not his own. His goal to rejoin with Iblis isn't given any tragic or sympathetic angle, and is purely to serve as his Cause Even More Destruction Card. Even Shadow lampshades his lack of motivation beyond craving destruction, and you can’t say his imprisonment in the Book Scepter of Darkness made him go mad, because even before he got sealed the first time around, he was already threatening Shadow with death.

And make no mistake, not all villains need to be especially sympathetic. Villains who are just cruel or selfish bastards for petty reasons can work just fine. Eggman does it beautifully in this very franchise. But Eggman is also funny, brave, intelligent, and has a clear motive beyond evulz that's backing up his actions, despite that motive's simplicity.

What else is there to Mephiles?

His weird attempts at being cryptic...?

"Is Lara-Su Chronicles legit?"

His lackadaisical Crash Bandicoot impression...?

Cortex Laughs Back

There's just nothing to this guy. And for a character with his backstory, it's all the more noticeable and disappointing. But hey, at least he's a cunning schemer and a powerful opponent, right?

Well, about that...

The Execution: I'm going to get straight to the point. I don't like Mephiles. I really don't like Mephiles. Next to Scourge the Hedgehog and Eggman Nega, Mephiles is one of my absolute least favourite characters in the entire Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, adaptations included.

"But why is that?", I hear you not asking. "Why do you detest him so? Is it his design? Is it his lack of personality? Is it his story?"

Those are all key ingredients, yes. But more than anything else, it's that he's played up to be a cunning mastermind, and is regularly applauded even by '06's detractors for being a cunning mastermind... when in reality, he is one of the absolute dumbest characters in the whole franchise. No, that is not an exaggeration. Silver and Elise in the same game were far from flawless, but Mephiles deserves much more ridicule than either of them. He is completely undeserving of the kudos he frequently receives for his supposed magnificent bastardry, and I'm about to tell you why.

Strap in, folks.

We're about to go through why the evil plan of poor Leslie makes no sense whatsoever.

Well done in advance if you don't fall asleep.

Too late.

1. He could have fused with Iblis at any time he wanted. Despite what many fans claim, NOTHING in the final game so much as implies that Mephiles needed certain requirements to fuse with Iblis. Meaning he could have completed his mission at the beginning of the game, from the moment he met Silver for the first time. Instead, he’d rather monologue to Silver and butcher the English language.

Guess I'll go and done that.

Let’s put that aside for a moment though, and assume that Mephiles needed the Chaos Emeralds to fuse with Iblis. That’s reasonable, except...

2. He could warp all seven Chaos Emeralds to his destination immediately. That’s an incredibly useful ability to have, especially when you're plotting something as major as reuniting with the other half of a god-like entity. He has no reason to not use this ability as soon as possible, aside from him simply forgetting he could do it.

Well, Silver had to have some vital role in his plan, surely...?

3. He had no use whatsoever for Silver. He goes out of his way to rely on Silver to eliminate Sonic, but he could easily kill Sonic himself with no trouble at all. Nothing is preventing him from killing Sonic. He’s not trapped somewhere. He’s not been sapped of his powers. All he’s guaranteeing with Silver is giving himself a potential enemy in the future when the jig is inevitably up, and sure enough, in the rare moment when Silver actually questions him, Mephiles dodges the query in the most suspicious manner, and always gives vague, shifty half-answers.

Fig A: The Twitter defense.

He’s only complicating things even more for himself, and again, for no reason. His only potential motivation for manipulating Silver is because it’s the evil thing to do. And the only reason Silver falls for his ruse is because he was made to be a complete idiot in order to make Mephiles look smarter than he actually is. Not that Silver was alone in that department...

But you think “Well, maybe Mephiles is tricky, but not actually that strong. So he needs Silver to kill Sonic since he can’t do it on his own.” It would explain why he’s a damage sponge in his boss fights, and why he relies on minions and clones to do all the work, right?

Nope.

He eventually kills Sonic himself anyway. Which leads us to...

4. He has no limitations to his powers. You might be inclined to assume he would be weak, yet smart, in contrast to Iblis being strong, yet dumb. Admittedly that would make logical sense, and it would tie in thematically to their motifs of being the consciousness and the raw power of Solaris respectively.

But that’s not how it went. Maybe that was the intention (again, note how he’s something of a sitting duck when you get past his minions), but in cutscenes, he’s as much of a powerhouse as the likes of Shadow. Which reinforces the fact that he wasted his time with Silver, because he could have - and did - kill the Blue Blur with his own hands.

But at least he actually killed Sonic, right? After all, that was the key to unleashing Iblis courtesy of Elise’s tears, yes? Weeeellll...

5. He could have killed Elise instead. Elise’s crying is NOT the only way to release Iblis from within her. As the report that Tails read in Crisis City confirmed, Elise had died in that time period due to being aboard the exploding Egg Carrier, and Iblis’ presence is very prominently felt in that time period’s future. So Mephiles could have killed the princess herself and achieved the same results, without ever needing to bother with Sonic and/or Elise’s emotional connection to him.

Okay then, what about Shadow? Mephiles was pretty serious about swaying the Ultimate Lifeform over to his side... wasn’t he...?

6. He wasted his time with Shadow too. Like Silver, his frequent mind games with Shadow served him absolutely no benefit in relation to his goal to reunite with Iblis. He wasn’t even truly invested in turning Shadow evil to begin with. Whenever Shadow tells him to fuck off back to the Antarctic, Mephiles shrugs it off every time. It’s just a game to him, and it’s a game that prolongs his objective even further. Compare this to Black Doom, who at least was genuinely committed in getting Shadow to join him, and as dumb as it was, at least Shadow was actually a vital part in Doom’s scheme.

"It's just... I wasn't ready before... I wasn't sure if I could commit..."

Despite everything however, he still managed to become Solaris in the end. How did he lose then...?

7. He threw the Chaos Emeralds away, thereby giving Sonic’s friends a chance to nab the Emeralds themselves. Which of course revived Sonic, turned him super, and you know the rest. He could have kept the Emralds to himself, or maybe even destroy them outright. Instead, he was generous enough to hammer the final nail in his coffin.

Also, what did he intend to do afterwards? When all of time and space was destroyed, would that have included himself? Or would he have sat around with his thumb up his arse in a featureless void for all of eternity? Your guess is as good as mine.

And finally, let’s go over a few leftover arguments:

“But Crusher, he still KILLED SONIC!”

You’re right, he did. But how did he kill Sonic?

Not by beating him in a fight.

Not by using genuine brilliance.

No... he killed Sonic by distracting him with a light, and stabbing him from behind.

This is hardly flattering for either character. Sonic gets a laughably undignified death, and Mephiles’ method of execution is extremely unimpressive. And on top of that, the dynamic between the hero and the villain falls flat, because there is no dynamic. Sonic himself doesn’t have any kind of connection or relationship with Mephiles, because up until his death, he saw Mephiles a grand total of once. And even then, he knew nothing about him, not even his name. So the person who killed Sonic the Hedgehog - from Sonic the Hedgehog’s point of view - was literally just “some guy”. (Sonic didn’t even acknowledge his existence. It was Knuckles who did that.)

“But Crusher, he still played the other characters for fools!”

You know who else can do that? Del Boy. :P

Mephiles only looks like a master manipulator because with the sole exception of Shadow, the rest of the cast suffered the same fate as Silver. Instead of Mephiles being genuinely intelligent, everyone else is made insanely stupid to hide the fact that Mephiles himself is stupid. Instead of him achieving his goals because he’s legitimately talented or brilliant, he “achieves his goals” because the plot hands them over to him on a silver platter.

“But Crusher, Eggman makes mistakes too!”

That’s true. Eggman does make mistakes. However, there are two small but significant differences that render this comparison moot:

1. None of Eggman’s blunders are on the same tier as Mephiles’ fuck ups. An Eggman mistake is putting an obvious weakspot on his giant boss mech. A Mephiles mistake is going out of his way to jeopardise his entire plan from start to finish.

2. For all his intelligence, Eggman has always had a comedic, goofy edge to his character, so the occasional questionable decision is expected and par for the course for that particular character. Mephiles does not have that excuse. He was intended by the writers to be suave and slick, meaning he has a lot more to lose when he makes consecutive dumbass decisions.

......

I think I’ve made my point. Mephiles the Dark’s reputation vastly overshadows his actual capabilities. To appreciate what he could have been, or what he was meant to be, is one thing. But I’m looking at Mephiles for what he is, in the final product. And what he is in the final product, is one of the worst villains this franchise has ever had. People can laugh it up about Infinite, or the Deadly Six, but they have nothing on this guy. No amount of Dan Green can save him, and while I don’t like to put all of a character’s fans in the one basket, I do strongly believe that at least a sizable margin of his popularity stems from the fact that he’s a hedgehog. Either that, or the fact that he killed Sonic, despite how underwhelming that kill really was.

I’ve went on long enough about Mephiles. Anything else at this point would just be redundant. Here’s a bunch of old memes I’ve made in the past at Leslie’s expense. Enjoy.

Also, his name is dumb.

Crusher Gives Mephiles a: Thumbs Down!

#Sonic Villains: Sweet or Shite?#Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog #Mephiles the Dark #Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

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lhs3020b · 5 years

Text

Boris And the Baddest of Bad Weeks

I promised an expanded entry on what’s going on at the moment in our national meltdown, so here it is...

Allow me, if I may, to walk back an earlier comment of mine. Some time ago, I was distinctly skeptical about the idea of an early general election. However, the situation has evolved. You see, there was one thing I didn't count on. I never imagined that Boris Johnson would be stupid enough to force nearly two dozen of his MPs out of his party.

That's right: I over-estimated his intelligence. Umm, whoops.

In my defence, what he did may well have been the single most utterly-stupidly self-defeating maneuver ever in British politics. The only sense I can make from it is that he's having a narcisistic breakdown. Actually, viewed in that very narrow light, perhaps it does make a little sense. If you've ever had the misfortune to have a narcissist in your life, you'll be aware that the thing they just can't cope with is any sort of rejection. The "no"-word tends to summon a meltdown - and of course BoJo faced a pretty major series of "nopes" from Parliament this week.

The other thing I didn't count on was that apparently yes, there actually are some things that some Tory MPs just won't do, even if the consequences of Not Doing The Thing runs to damaging their personal careers. This did come as a surprise to me - I'd assumed that blind partisanship and the desire for salaries would ultimately trump - or perhaps, Trump - all other concerns. But no, credit where it's due, it turns out that for at least 21 of them, there was a floor on the greed after all. Admittedly it's taken us three years of accelerating chaos to find it, but it was there.

The next factor that I didn't count on was that the opposition parties got their act together. Bluntly, there was no hint of this over the summer. The speed with which it happened has left me a little dazed. The earlier failure to call a Vote of No Confidence, the weird shenanigens over ludicrous Governments-of-National-Unity, the generalised infighting and chronic myopia ... just two weeks ago, it was not looking good. I was basically starting to quietly accept that we on the pro-Remain side were finally defeated, and worst of all, we'd been defeated mainly by our own allies.

Then the prorogue happened.

It's fair to say that it's already backfired. The obvious cynicism of the strategy, the naked contempt for all the institutions of British government, the sheer gall of it all - it was meant to energise the pro-Brexit crowd. Instead, it appears to have driven everyone on the soft-Brexit/pro-Remain aisle into a state of thermonuclear rage. And if there's one thing that can bring unlikely allies together, it's a common enemy. By pursuing his grandiose "oh look at me being so Brexity!" cock-strutting routine, Boris accidentally made himself into exactly that enemy.

The other factor was that the prorogue has imposed a sharp time-limit. Consequently, Continuity!Remain just doesn't have the luxury of descending into factional infighting. The deep irony is that putting us on a tight deadline has actually helped us. It's imposed a focus that just wasn't there even 10 days ago.

Meanwhile, as for the wider country, well, Boris's walk-about up north yesterday seems to have been a complete disaster. Random people were basically coming up to him to tell him that it had all gone wrong. Then there was that bizarre speech he gave in front of a captive audience of police recruits. It was just weird - proper delusion territory, and entirely-incoherent. I'd like to compare it to Trump, but at least Trump can manage a consistent theme. Johnson was just rambling. There was nothing there, except possibly a desperate plea for attention. A lot of the political journalists I follow are openly-speculating about whether BoJo was on drugs during the speech.

(And wouldn't that be the ultimate post-2016 banter-timeline twist? If the Prime Minister - the Prime Minister! - got busted for snorting crack?)

Meanwhile, BoJo's narc-meltdown has accidentally undone Theresa May's one significant achievement.

Contrary to what many people think, Theresa May did manage to thread one single needle. That was, she (mostly) managed to keep the parliamentary Conservative Party together. Granted a few MPs jumped ship to Change UK earlier in the year, but it stayed in single digits. There was no big split - and, significantly, the Change UK crowd got wet feet about no-confidencing her. The advantage of this was that Theresa May avoided having the Tories fall into what we might call the 1922 Trap. Here's what I mean by that: in the late 19th Century, the old Liberal Party was increasingly-split on the issue of Home Rule for Ireland. The tensions only got worse as time went on. Then Asquith went and delivered the First World War and precious little else of value. (He was notably-slimey on votes for women, and seemed uninterested in doing anything about the property qualification that 40% of men still faced. The cynic might note that Nick Clegg's behaviour is not entirely new.) Lloyd George tried to put the party back on its feet, but the damage was done. During the 1920s, the Liberals were openly-split. At elections, Liberals ran against each other in numerous constituencies. Because of the way first-past-the-post voting works, in practise this meant that Tories or Labour got elected instead. (A constituency has - say - 46% of the vote for any Liberal candidate, but two run. Each of them gets 23% of the vote. A.N. Other Party takes 24% and gets the MP's seat.)

Theresa May's political strategy - yes, she actually did have one - was predicated on avoiding having Tories run against other Tories at elections. Given their divisions, it was a narrow needle, but she mostly managed to thread it. Boris Johnson has gone and exploded that. You see, of the 21 MPs he's sacked from the party, several are saying they'll contest the next election as independents.

It's hard to know just how big a problem the 1922 Trap will be - but, their vote is already split with the Brexit Party. And even the most optimistic opinion polls have the Tories around 10pts down on where they were in 2017. They're already in minority in the House - how many votes can they afford to lose, really?

Meanwhile, there's a further problem. The Tories' drift to the political right may have taken them too far. They assume that their friends at the Times, the Sun, the Telegraph and the BBC can plaster over the cracks for them - but, can they? The media was full-throated for May in 2017, and she still lost her majority. The newspapers are hysterical and shriekier than ever - but, who reads them? I can't remember the last time I bought a physical copy of one of the main papers. I suspect that's true of many other people too. There are signs that the socially-liberal/financially-conservative chunk of voters are starting to decamp to the Lib Dems. Again, it's not clear how big this movement is - but, as I said earlier, how many votes can the Tories afford to lose? It's possible that they could be facing the nightmare scenario of a general election where the right-wing vote is split three ways (four, if you count UKIP's still-slightly-tembling corpse, though they're close to a rounding error now). If the next election was still certain to be in 2022, all this would be somewhat academic. Two and a half years is a long time, they could find a way to turn things around. All things being equal, I expect they would.

But then BoJo had his narc meltdown, didn't he?

The so-called government is now in absolute minority in the House. While their opponents can't currently agree on an alternative prime minister, nonetheless the anti-BoJo grouping now has a majority of 43. They can stop him doing anything. No legislation is going to go through this house. Finance bills are basically dead on arrival. I really can't see how he could pass any kind of Budget. And also, if he does anything at all to irritate the Opposition, they can no-confidence him any time they feel like it. Quite simply, he's on death row.

My guess is that they'll leave him be during the prorogue period. The logic here is obvious enough - let him twist in the wind. He's doing a great job of destroying himself, so let him get on with it. This way, when Parliament returns late in October, they can do the deed and it will look like a mercy-killing rather than a gang-land execution.

Hypothetically, there are four ways Boris could get off the hook:

1) He could resign. This would arguably save him some dignity, and just perhaps it might leave a little room to revive his future career. But, he won’t take this option. He’s a narc. They don’t voluntarily quit. (Plus, uh, much as I’d cackle if he was forced to quit, it just leaves his successor with the same set of problems that he failed to address.)

2) He could try to simply ignore the anti-hard Brexit law. The problem here is, it would give the opposition a prima facie grounds for an immediate Motion of No Confidence. He might get some love from the rightwing press, but the ultimate result would presumably be his removal and a new Prime Minister. It would be the most pointless constitutional crisis ever.

3) He could arrange to lose a motion of no confidence in his own government. This would arguably be constitutional, and might be a way to trigger an early election. But, it would a) look utterly-absurd, b) be an unprecedented thing to do and c) would also require him personally to face the House telling him to fuck off. I’m not sure that a narc is capable of that. Also, there’s the issue that, as we saw in 2017, there’s no guarantee that he could win a general election. I’m absolutely not sanguine about the risks of an early GE but a) that’s democracy and b) if he runs his campaign the way he’s running being PM then he could well end up roasted.

4) He could reverse the prorogue. On the one hand, un-proroguing Parliament would buy him some extra legislative time. On the other hand, his opponents have control of the House, and a wobble on the prorogue would make him look weak. There’s not much upside for him here, though it’s the most “conventional” of the four options.

Basically the TL;DR is that while he has some choices, none of them are good and all of them could cause him considerable personal pain. The opposition have set up a proper four-pronged Morton’s Fork for him. Which tine will he impale himself on?

As for Brexit? Well, one interesting detail is that the underlying political question seems to be open again. It hasn't quite gained mainstream traction yet, but apparently people are starting to ask whether Brexit is going to happen at all. The Labour Party's position has moved visibly toward hard-Remain, albeit grudgingly. The Lib Dems are having their time in the sun again (though, I suspect that glomming up Philip Lee may help them less than they seem to hope). I don't know that I think it's going to happen, but I can now imagine a situation where at the end of October, the anti-BoJo constellation No-Confidences him then pushes a quick revocation bill through Parliament. (The "party line" here would be, "We wanted a second referendum but this man's scheming hasn't left us enough time.") Again, not saying this is at all likely, but I think it is now a possible outcome.

And if nothing else, BoJo's supposed golden hour is turning out to be quite the nightmarish turkey - and isn't that just delicious?

#diary of a disaster #UK internal politics #Boris's bad bad no good week #hahahahaha

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scarlettsabetlondongirl · 5 years

Note

Do you know Scarlett's entire birth chart ?

The Sun represents vitality, a sense of individuality, and outward-shining creative energy.

The Sun is in Cancer

Sun in Cancer natives have a strong survival instinct. They are protective of those they care about, and of themselves too. They are often quite reticent about sharing their inner selves to the rest of the world, and are often caught up in reminisce. Cancers have a reputation for moodiness, although this trait is most evident when the Moon is in Cancer. Cancer needs roots. They resist change to an extent, and concern themselves about being secure and safe in most everything they do. Cancers can be quite intrigued by objects with history attached to them – antiques, photos, souvenirs, and the like.

Cancer is a very sensitive sign, and they don’t always appreciate it when you are blunt with them. Their reactions to hurt will depend on how thick a shell they have developed. Most Cancers react by withdrawing or retreating. Some have developed an ability to manipulate others to get what they want. They avoid direct confrontations almost as a rule. Cancers are, in fact, quite yielding and soft when you have them in the right mood. They are one of the more hospitable signs of the zodiac. Sure, they can be touchy and indirect, but they are also very dependable, caring souls.

Short description:

She weighs words carefully and can be tenacious. A calm and discreet nature, tender, thoughtful, sensitive, and impressionable.

Possible issues: She is humble, timid, changeable, indecisive, lazy, or over-sensitive. Easily influenced by the family and sometimes manipulative.

Cancer with ascendant Sagittarius

Sun in VII: The Sun is in the seventh house

You take pride in your ability to negotiate, and to establish harmony in your relationships. It is important to you to have a partner, as you feel incomplete without one. You are motivated to become well-liked, and you are especially sensitive to rejection. One of the lessons in your life may be to avoid putting harmony and others’ opinions of you above your own needs. Use your social skills and seek out peaceful relations with others, but try not to over-identify with your partnerships and the way you are received by others. You may marry someone with a strong personality.

-383 Opposition between the Sun and Saturn

You faced a fair number of challenges in your life, especially in the first half of life, in which your attempts to express your will were often thwarted. There can be a persistent feeling that you don’t get what they want in comparison to others. You can feel unlucky at times. Attempts to control your environment, and sometimes others, may be frequent.

You want to be considered an accomplished and important person, and when you face obstacles, you don’t always see that you are your own worst enemy. You may long to be considered important in the eyes of the world, yet you harbor fear of success at the same time. You take failures and minor setbacks to heart, and may even practically beat yourself up over them. Self-awareness to the point of real self-consciousness is a possibility. The truth is, nobody holds a microscope over you, except for yourself. A little setback or a faux pas needn’t be analyzed to death. Fingers needn’t be pointed. No, you didn’t make a spectacle of yourself when you made a mistake. You need to stop worrying about always being right, or appearing suave and accomplished. When you ease the pressure you put on yourself, you find that you don’t face as many brick walls. It is very much about what you feel you deserve. Deep down inside, if you let yourself truly believe that you deserve happiness and peace of mind, you will find it.You may engage in a lot of self-censoring: “I shouldn’t..” is a common censoring mechanism with you. When you express egotism of any form, some part of you feels guilty. As the Sun rules our conscious mind, it does enough censoring on its own. It is the “adult” within us. Saturn, on the other hand, is more like the “parent” within us. We need parents to guide us when we are children, and to some degree as adults, but for the most part, we don’t need to be censored indefinitely–something that seems to be the case with Saturn-Sun hard aspects, except that the censoring and parenting is coming from within. Ideally, you eventually learn that the standards you set for yourself are too high, and that may be the reason you seem to hit brick walls. You have a sarcastic sense of humor, a keen intelligence, and the ability to apply caution and strategy. The vitality may suffer, and troubles with the bones, teeth, and circulation may surface, especially at times of stress in your life.

-63 Opposition between the Sun and Uranus

Your identity rides on your sense of personal freedom. It can be quite a challenge to get you to do what you don’t want to do, simply because you see any attempts by others to push you in a certain direction as threatening to your sense of freedom. You are a very dynamic person who questions tradition and authority, yet, paradoxically, you can be quite set in your ways! Although a humanitarian in many ways, you can be a little brusque when it comes to sentimentality or what you perceive to be excessive attachment to the past or to tradition. You can have a lot of nervous energy and defensiveness. It can be difficult to hold a 9 to 5 job or to develop steady routines. You work best when you can manage your own schedule, and you work in spurts. When you are hit with creative inspiration, you are capable of tremendous effort. However, you can be quite temperamental, and it is very hard for you to pour your hearts and souls into something that you don’t “feel” for at the moment. You don’t like superficiality or pretense, which is an admirable trait. However, your disdain for pretense can be problematic in a world where people are expected to perform whether they are inspired or not! You should try your best to channel your high levels of intuition, inventiveness, and spiritedness into creative endeavors or important causes. You might find that you encounter much less resistance in day-to-day life this way.

-209 Opposition between the Sun and Neptune

You have a desire to be something special or to experience something more than the ordinary. You are a day-dreamer and idealist. It is easy for you to trust others, even (and perhaps especially) people who might seem from the outside looking in as unsavory types. You are looking to identify with something beyond what is normally expected of people. You may have had a childhood that didn’t help you direct or define your life. Perhaps the early family life was lacking in supervision or clearly defined rules. A father figure may have been absent or distant and ineffective. You may have a glorified image of your father. Whether the image is very positive or very negative (or if it swings between these extremes), the image is not very clear or rational. Whatever the case may be, you struggle with defining who you are. You might gravitate towards the “wrong people”, or get in with the “wrong crowd” in an attempt to define who you are. You might be susceptible to being taken advantage of by others, especially by men or authority figures. You may be easily led astray by peculiar desires or self-destructive habits. In order to add a greater-than-ordinary dimension of experience to your life that helps you to feel special and important, you might be attracted to Neptune-ruled behaviors, such as secret affairs, drugs, or other escapist behaviors. In some way, you may feel a strong urge to glamorize your role in the world. There can be some confusion about the past (such as remembering childhood experiences in ways that are far removed from reality), and a tendency to daydream about being someone more “important” than you feel you are. You may struggle with early conditioning that made you feel tossed aside or neglected in some way, and certainly not directed or supported. You are very sensitive, especially with regards to any real or imagined blows to your ego. If the natal chart shows a strong sense of reality and a robust mind (Mercury and Saturn well-placed, for example), the negative interpretations of this aspect are less extreme. Still, you are likely to recognize at some point in your life that you have a tendency to engage in escapist and self-destructive fantasies and/or habits. It is useful to be able to connect these behaviors with their probable source, which is likely to be a weakly-defined ego and identity in childhood.

111 Trine between the Sun and Pluto

You have much sexual vitality and passion. It is easy and natural for you to find a passion and pursue it, and to focus on a goal. You are not much scared of anything. You enjoy and embrace growth, especially of the psychological kind. You love a good mystery, and you are adept at solving it.You readily assign meaning to what others might consider “ordinary” events. You look for symbols, and read between the lines in most any situation. The physical vitality is generally strong, and the body is usually able to heal quickly. You are not afraid to get your hands dirty, and you are usually quick to help others–not only with mundane tasks, but also on a spiritual or psychological level. Your insight is sharp and sometimes awe-inspiring. You are perceptive and not easily rattled or surprised in life. You are not a do-gooder nor are you a law-breaker. However, you are not afraid of the “dark side” of human nature, and you will bend the rules from time to time if you feel the need to do so. You take particular pleasure in growth and life’s lessons. You are not fond of superficiality, and are generally the first to spot pretense of any kind. You are passionate and can be intense. You have a hunger to experience more than just an “ordinary” life, and you can be quite ambitious. Some people with this aspect are perfectionists, demanding much from themselves and reasonable amounts of effort and honesty from others.

The Moon represents the emotional responses, unconscious pre-destination, and the self-image. The Moon represents the emotions, and the Moon sign shows how a person expresses themselves when at home, at ease, and comfortable.

The Moon is in Gemini

Lunar Geminis are usually pleasant, witty, and charming people. At home and with family, however, they can be moody and irritable at times. People with Moon in Gemini are always interesting people–they have a finger in every pie, are curious to a fault, and are generally well-informed. Nervousness and worry are common traits with this lunar position. An underlying restlessness is common, and many Lunar Geminis need more stimulation than others. They usually read a lot, talk a lot, and think a lot with this airy, mutable position of the Moon.

Their homes are often a perpetual work-in-progress. They generally dislike housework, but are big on home improvement. Re-organizing their homes in little–and sometimes big–ways seems to keep them happy, as Lunar Geminis are easily bored by both routine and constancy. Often, this is a reflection of their inner world–“the grass is always greener…” applies here. Inwardly, Lunar Geminis are often unsettled. Moon in Gemini parents are generally more adept at handling the intellectual needs of their children than emotional ones. Others’ complicated emotions, in general, can be difficult for Lunar Geminis to handle. In their families, Lunar Geminis often take on the role of organizing get-togethers. They are at their best when they have plenty of things to do beyond routine. Moon in Gemini people almost always have a way with words. They are clever and witty, and more often than not can be found chatting with others. They are sociable and friendly, and feel comfortable in crowds. Some pay too much attention to what everyone else is doing, and lose touch with what they really want to do. Generally, Lunar Geminis have a million and one projects going. They are impressionable folk, and their imagination is boundless.

Their openness to new ideas is admirable, although decisiveness and persistence take a blow as a result. Still, versatility and adaptability are some of the stronger traits of this position of the Moon. When irritable, they can easily become snappy. Their moodiness is complicated–this is not the same kind of moodiness you’ll find with water sign moons, for example. Usually, difficult behavior stems from inner restlessness. Lunar Geminis want to do it all, and have trouble sticking to any one project. When problems arise, the first instinct of Moon in Gemini natives is to talk things out. Their tendency to analyze can give them the appearance of emotional detachment. In fact, Lunar Geminis may be especially comfortable talking about their feelings, but feeling their own feelings doesn’t come as easily. Those that don’t take time out to really emote and understand their own needs may end up baffling others. Feeling misunderstood is common for Moon in Gemini natives. The only real solution to the problem is learning to get in touch with their own feelings.

Short description:

Sharp intellect. She likes literature, and will adapt to all situations and social groups. Work in contact with the public, literary occupations, travel.

Potential issues: lack of follow-up of ideas, indecision, may go back on decisions.

Moon in VII: The Moon is in the seventh house

Partnership can be very important for her, for better or for worse. She works well in business relationships, especially partnerships.

You are drawn to partnerships and prefer to have a companion for emotional support. You are not a person who would happily take in a movie by yourself, or dine alone, for example. A partner awakens feelings in you that you may never know you had, and you seem to need a partner to learn about your own needs and feelings. Emotional fulfillment is sought through relationships, but you may have many relationships one after another, each time believing that this is “the one”. Taking time between relationships is something that is hard for you to do, but quite necessary, as you tend to jump into relationships out of fear of being alone. You are very adaptable to others’ needs, and usually quite likeable as a result. Be careful that you don’t become overly dependent on a partner, or assume that a partner is going to treat you the same way as you do them.

922 Conjunction between the Moon and Mercury

You can be quite expressive and animated in your speech. You have an outstanding memory and tend to pick up a lot of information from your environment. You love to chat and to exchange ideas. Even if you are shy, once you’re friends, you love to talk about pretty much anything under the sun, and you enjoy sharing stories from your past! For the most part, you are focused on day-to-day activities in your communications rather than on grander philosophies. You are naturally curious and interested, and others find you very easy to talk to. You are accommodating and curious, but you are not as well equipped to handle heavy emotional demands. You thrive on change and variety. You might be a little addicted to gossip! More probably, however, you are simply very curious about others. There is a twinkle in your eyes, and you are never short on humor. You are playful and versatile–you make a fun companion and an interesting friend. You listen! Yes, you do talk and occasionally interrupt in your excitement, but you are a curious person who does want to hear what others have to say, and that is a real pleasure. In fact, you are more able than most people to get others talking, simply because you are very receptive and sympathetic. You pick up others’ feelings and body language readily.

She has good judgement, a good memory. She is intelligent, imaginative, vivacious, and develops, adapts, and grows throughout life. This adds a youthful, lively quality to the personality. She may have an aptitude for, or interest in, learning foreign languages.

298 Conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter

She is generally pleasantly composed, due to an inner sense of harmony and emotional balance. She is optimistic–and realistically so, most of the time–which contributes to her overall “luck.” She is able to get a real perspective on emotional matters that not only benefits her outlook, she is able to offer support to others when needed. Broad-mindedness is a wonderful characteristic. Quick to find humor in situations, she is generally warm and fun to be around. Deep down, she believes in the basic goodness of people and of life in general, and this basic and natural attitude helps her to attract positive circumstances and to make good connections. One of her best qualities is tolerance. Usually, she doesn’t take life too seriously in the sense that she believes in having a bit of fun, enjoying life. Her hunches are more often than not bang-on.

She is frank, honest, optimistic and generous. She likes good cooking, creature comforts. Her friendships are sincere. She is smart and knows how to surround herself with the right people: She is appreciated at work, usually well-liked and comfortable.

31 Trine between the Moon and Lilith

This aspect favors romantic and sexual relationships, giving charm, intrigue, and intelligence. Emotions are big, dark, and mysterious, but she embraces these things, instinctively understanding and accepting the many sides and complications of her feelings.

-25 Opposition between the Moon and Ascendant

She can be unhappily influenced by the family or childhood, or otherwise feel rather insecure about new beginnings and new situations. She may be always looking for more love, appreciation, and feedback. She is susceptible, perhaps with some superficial sensitivity and can sometimes be irascible, changeable, inconstant, and moody. However, she is usually highly intelligent, observant, and adaptable, and is very often misunderstood, projecting the wrong image more often than is comfortable.

Mercury represents communication, Cartesian and logical spirit.

Mercury is in Gemini

Mercury in Gemini people are generally quick-witted. They can come across as somewhat scattered, and this is mainly due to their eclectic interests. They seem to know a little about everything.

Turn to Mercury in Geminis for lots of facts and figures as well as broad knowledge. Their learning is a little superficial–they generally have too many interests to delve too deeply into any one. These people learn best in a stimulating environment. They get bored easily, but they are fast learners. Impressionable to a fault, Mercury in Gemini people pick up more from their environment than most, and they can process information at lightning speed! The restlessness of Gemini is especially obvious when Mercury is placed in the sign. There is a nervous energy here that is unmistakable.

Mercury in VII: Mercury is in the seventh house

May avoid at all costs being alone. She has lots of friends, enjoying discussions and similarly cultivating plenty of work friends. She loves to write.

You have a great love of debate, if only to get closer to your own thoughts and opinions. Bouncing ideas off others helps you to make a decision, although coming to definite conclusions can be painfully difficult for you. You see the other side of the coin. You might often play devil’s advocate. Communication with a partner is craved, and you also love an audience for your own thoughts and opinions, but preferably a one-person audience, as you come alive verbally when it’s one-on-one. You can be quite skilled at keeping a partnership animated and alive with interesting tidbits, new ideas, and stimulating conversation. You can easily become bored in partnership if the lines of communication go down, even temporarily. You might also love to talk about and analyze relationships and marriage.

467 Conjunction between Mercury - Jupiter

She is intelligent with big ideas: She is tolerant and has a strong sense of justice. She has good judgement, good sense and has her feet on the ground. She has the “gift of gab,” fully enjoys literature and learning. She is erudite and will usually be successful socially.

27 Trine between Mercury - Lilith

Can be provocative in speech or communications, persuasive, interesting conversationalist, quick to see the flaws of a situation.

-7 Opposition between Mercury - Ascendant

She may criticize and gossip, arguing frequently and often nervous. Without even realizing it, she might look for or instigate a verbal battle, and can be provoking.

Communication is very important to you, and your mind is sharper and more creative when you have a partner you can bounce your thoughts and ideas off of. You are an excellent conversationalist and can fascinate your partners with your sharp mind. You love to debate issues just for the mental exercise, even if you don’t feel strongly about the position you argue! You play devil’s advocate often, and your ideal partner understands that your debates are, in fact, mental exercises–certainly not attacks! You are also prone to exaggerate or stretch the truth when trying to make your point, especially when it comes to your own background or experience.

In your close relationships, your partner serves as a mirror, reflecting your thoughts and ideas back to you from a different perspective. You are rather independent and will not allow anyone to restrict your freedom, but you love to talk things out before arriving at a decision. Truth is, you won’t always take others’ advice! However, you do enjoy looking at problems from all sorts of different perspectives. You may choose partners who are considerably younger than you, or who are not as academically smart as you. Conversations with you are always stimulating and lively. The ability to share your thoughts with a partner is vital to your sense of fulfillment in a close personal relationship.

Venus represents an interest in emotions and values, exchange, and sharing with others.

Venus is in Leo

When Venus in Leo people are in love, they are proud, even boastful. This position of Venus can turn humble Virgo Suns or retiring Cancer Suns into somewhat demanding lovers. Venus in Leo loves to court and be courted, and they need to feel very special. They are warm, generous, and even grand. Though really quite loyal to their partners (remember that love is THE most important thing in Leo’s life), they thrive on attention from lovers or love interests. Be prepared for their displays: they will tell you about any advances made on them. Remember, they’re just showing off to you, and it’s likely harmless. It’s a different story if you do the same, however. That’s when you’ll hear the lion roar…and, no doubt, you’ll want to keep these cats purring. Venus in Leo wants to appear experienced in love, even if they have little or no experience whatsoever!

Venus in Leo people have high expectations, but once you know that these expectations revolve only around how much attention you are giving them, you’ll see that they are really quite big-hearted about most everything else. They are threatened by a relationship that appears to have settled too much, or one that’s lost its spark. They are also threatened by indifferent or impersonal behavior on your part. Although their needs for physical expression through sex are generally quite strong, their need for love is perhaps even stronger. It is hard for Venus in Leo people to separate love and sex, and even their most erotic fantasies are infused with love and affection. For this reason, few Venus in Leo folk would last long in a relationship that is mostly sexual. On the flip side, they may last longer in a love-only relationship in the absence of satisfying sex, but they are unlikely to feel very satisfied.

Pleasing Venus in Leo involves paying loads of attention to them. If you’re willing to make only one adjustment in your ways, it should be to remind Leo how wonderful they are. Respect and appreciate them, always. Put up with their childlike moments and their tall tales. They want to be seen as attractive by you, so avoid (at all costs!) putting them down in this area. They actually lose interest when they perceive the slightest loss of interest in their partner, and you can expect that any letdown will be acted out in a dramatic fashion. Remind them, in a gentle way, that your emotions count too. If you are feeling a little jealous, let them know. Remember, to Venus in Leo, your small jealousies are affirmations that you find them attractive and expect the rest of the world to as well. Let them decide where to go on a date, and let them pay too. When Venus in Leo feels loved and appreciated, they reward you with loyalty, a big sense of fun, and plenty of physical expressions of their love.

Short description:

Sincere, frank, and warm affections. She is full of tenderness. High hopes in love. She likes to live and satisfy her passions to the fullest. Can be possessive and might even seduce for the sake of seducing to prove to herself that she is attractive. Very proud in love, and warm-hearted and generous with loved ones.

Venus in VIII: Venus is in the eighth house

Not frightened by the unknown. Sometimes this position means she has a peaceful and happy or natural end of life. Possible inheritance.

Intensity is what you seek in your love relationships, so that casual encounters are not necessarily your game. You are easily bored with mechanical interactions between partners, and might prefer drama in your relationships to anything mundane or superficial. However, you also fear being vulnerable in love, and, in youth, you may control your emotions in love. Fears of being betrayed may be at the heart of your somewhat jealous and possessive nature in love. When you give yourself over to love, you love wholeheartedly and expect all-consuming, total devotion and attention in return. You find passion a healing force in your life. Your charm runs deep–just below the surface. You are attracted to all that is taboo, hidden, forbidden, and find beauty in the broken, disenchanted, obsessed, and passionate. In some cases, people with this position might make a business out of love, romance, and eroticism. There is an intensity about you that others pick up readily. Either they run or they are completely intrigued!

184 Conjunction between Venus - Mars

She is amorous, not a peaceful and calm lover but a passionate one with a strong temperament. She is demonstrative in love, and usually fully enjoys healthy pleasures and life to the full.

Mars represents the desire for action and physical energy.

Mars is in Leo

This position of Mars gives a drive for significance. Mars in Leo individuals possess a strong need to create in some way–and they are determined that their lives have not only meaning, but significant meaning! This is a particularly vital position of Mars. Passions run high, and so does desire. There is a strong will that gives these natives much staying power. Though Mars in Leo people will enjoy the pleasures of risk-taking, they generally have a strong sense of reason at the end of the day. Mars in Leo people often have well-defined ambitions. Rarely will you find a person with Mars in this position who lives life without a true sense of a “calling”. They act with authority and power, and their personal magnetism generally endows them with the ability to get what they want.

This is one of the more sexual positions of Mars. While they are rather easy to arouse, their passion is long-standing. Mars in Leo natives enjoy sex more than most, as long as heavy doses of love and romance are part of the package. In partnership, they demand loyalty and admiration. Impatient with small-mindedness and disloyalty, Mars in Leo natives generally have a strong idealistic streak. They easily get fired up when they feel they’ve been humiliated, and they defend their high principles with ardor. Mars in Leo natives act with their heart. Their ego is tied up with their actions, so that most anything they do becomes a source of great pride. Though some are self-righteous and quarrelsome, the more sophisticated people with this position are kindly leaders.

Mars in VIII: Mars is in the eighth house

Sexually very powerful, she is also capable of tremendous focus and hard work. Sexually intense and deep. May be adept at professions requiring research, strategy, uncovering truths, and analysis. Arguments may occur over inheritance.

-52 Square between Mars - Pluto

You have a tendency to impose your will upon others, which can cause severe problems for yourself when they react in self-defense. You have a hair-trigger temper and may even resort to verbal or physical abuse when upset. Learning to react to unpleasant circumstances with your intellect rather than your emotions comes with maturity.

It is all too easy for you to find something negative about a situation. Avoid issuing ultimatums when you meet an obstacle. Instead, find a way to convince others to work with you of their own free will. Ordinary life often seems drab and uninteresting to you and you must have something that stirs your imagination, some vision or ideal or dream to motivate you. You have a strong urge to act out your fantasies or to live your dream, and you will DO things that others only talk about or dream about. Artistic creation, drama, or other areas in which you can express yourself imaginatively are excellent for you.

You do not easily tolerate a dominating attitude in others. You have a healthy respect for power and authority, but only if it is handled fairly.

This aspect gives you a somewhat Scorpionic attitude toward your lovers, and it can modify the traits associated with the sign of your Mars considerably. In other words, there is a distinct possessive and demanding streak in your sexual nature. Your approach to love and sex can be quite intense at times. Your sexual desire nature is a very strong one, and you may even use sex as a bargaining chip in your relationships in order to achieve your goals. More likely, however, is a very focused and intense sexual nature. This also adds a very magnetic quality to your appeal. When someone finds you attractive, it can transform into a near obsession! Your aura is strong and somewhat mysterious. You tend to come across as stronger than you intend. In fact, some people are intimidated by you, and you may not understand why this is so. When you want something (or someone!) you are very determined. For you, it can be “all or nothing”. When you are finished with something, you leave it behind you and there is no going back. You want a deep, soulful attachment on a sexual level. In your love life, you don’t always take rejection well. You fear betrayal and abandonment, and this can skew your perception of your lover. You may have a highly developed sex drive, but you may need to learn to rein in your aggressiveness in this area. Power struggles and control issues may surface often in your relationships. You perceive the cruel edge in people, and understand its source. Self-confidence develops out of self-control in your interaction with others.

30 Trine between Mars - Ascendant

She is energetic and direct.

Jupiter represents expansion and grace.

Jupiter is in Gemini

She attracts the most good fortune when she uses her wit and ingeniousness, as well as when she is versatile, sociable, curious, and puts others at ease with friendliness and sincere curiosity. She values the intellect and sees opportunities to grow and succeed through intellectual, verbal, and written channels. She believes that intelligence and knowledge is the key to solving problems.

Jupiter in VII: Jupiter is in the seventh house

She has a good marriage or partnership, with a useful partner who helps to bring success if only by their advice. Good legal outcomes. Traditionally, this placement has been associated with benefits through marriage or partnership.

2 Trine between Jupiter - Lilith

She could meet a partner much wealthier than herself. Good sexual understanding.

Saturn represents contraction and effort.

Saturn is in Capricorn

She can be scrupulous, honest, correct, worthy, and respectable.

Potential weaknesses: melancholy, sullenness, disappointment, and bitterness.

Saturn in I: Saturn is in the first house

She can be self-conscious in new situations, especially when young. Her manner is rather cautious and guarded. First reactions to new ideas or plans are reticent and somewhat negative, but these are only first reactions. Can be methodical, patient, a bit distrustful or initially reluctant, quite polite. She may speak little at first and does not waste energy unnecessarily. She has a good memory and strong sense of organization, preferring to do things well. She is never slapdash and has a strong sense of responsibility.

100 Conjunction between Saturn - Uranus

She knows how to be on top of the situation. She perseveres, is determined but ingenious and original. She is very practical. She proceeds slowly, but is always bound to achieve her objectives in the end.

347 Conjunction between Saturn - Neptune

Her plans are realized in a methodical fashion. She works hard to achieve success.

143 Sextile between Saturn - Pluto

She perseveres, achieving her projects through hard work.

-6 Square between Saturn - Lilith

She may live with an older or more mature person. Whereas this will seem quite amazing at the beginning of their life together, she may end up frustrated with this person over time.

Uranus represents individual liberty, egoistic liberty.

Uranus in Capricorn

Can have some problems accessing her intuition, since common sense often dominates. A great battler. She has so much power that one thinks nothing can defeat her. Her mission in society and in the world can mean everything to her. May question traditions and can be very open to redefining the meaning of success and to changing up traditional approaches to career and status.

Uranus in I: Uranus is in the first house

She is above all independent and original. Sometimes blunt and irritable. Never allows herself be influenced. She does not tolerate any sort of setback. She is ready for adventure, even if it’s a bit risky.

Uranus in the first house alters the way an individual projects personal energies onto others. You are likely to seek, may demand, freedom in the way you present yourself to the world. Dressing simply but quirkily, you will have no problems in asserting yourself. You are not shy in letting everyone know where you stand on issues. In fact you take pride in presenting your unique perspective. “I am a simple soul with few wants and needs,” is what you tell yourself. All you can feel is an altruistic desire to change the world! Friends and relatives probably find you a trifle erratic. They know you to be good-hearted and genuine about your feelings. Your passions rise fast and you lose interest at the same rate.

40 Conjunction between Uranus - Neptune

She can be wildly creative with an odd but happy sense of humor and perspective. She is an idealist, easily disappointed by those using power plays to advance.

Neptune represents transcendental liberty, non-egoistic liberty.

Neptune is in Capricorn

She is discerning, wise, and sensible.

Neptune in I

She is intuitive, sensitive. Not a fighter and can be indecisive. Usually projects an image of softness. May have some identity problems until she decides on a more spiritual or artistic path. May be psychic or simply strongly intuitive. Gentle and yielding. Changeable appearance or image, particularly if Neptune is close to the Ascendant.

64 Sextile between Neptune - Pluto

She is perceptive and able to see layers to a situation. She is naturally drawn to learning what makes herself and others tick.

-3 Square between Neptune - Lilith

Love can dominate her life. She could lose her head over someone to whom there’s an intense attraction, which can become troublesome if she loses all idea of reality. If she is not loved in return, so what - she will love for the two of them. With time, if the bond loses its spark, she can have difficulty disentangling herself and she can suffer enormously. It’s best to look to a trusted outside source for guidance in vulnerable times.

Pluto represents transformations, mutations, and elimination.

Pluto is in Scorpio

Fear of betrayal. Sensual and passionate.

Black Moon Lilith represents our darker, deeper natures that may be repressed or buried.

Lilith in Libra

She may have felt uncomfortable or wrong for needing companionship or seeking approval from others. Or, she may feel that dependency and compromise are weak and not “right,” and this can lead to periods of intense neediness followed by independence. Accepting that we all need to lean on others from time to time can help resolve problems with extreme behaviors in relationships.

North Node-South Node The South Node represents our overdeveloped character traits. We are talented here but if we overdo this area of life or hold onto these traits to feel secure, we may stagnate.

The North Node points to the qualities that we need to work on and develop to achieve inner balance and fulfillment.

True North Node in Aquarius

Her path is to learn to be more impartial and less possessive in relationships and with creative projects. As she learns to let go of the need for a passionate chase, satisfaction will come to her naturally as she sees that she nevertheless gets what she needs. Relationships may suffer if she takes things too personally and expects others to follow a script that she has unconsciously written for them. She learns to moderate her desire for drama and attention, and then develops true friendships. Qualities to develop: detachment, impartiality, humility.

North Node in II: North Node in the Second House

Her path relates to earning her own way and making firm executive decisions. Although she readily falls back on supportive relationships, and she is good at handling others’ resources and encouraging them to be the best they can be, she needs to learn to depend on herself and to apply these same lessons to her own life so that intimate relationships and health improve many times over. She should remember that drama does not equal love. She should not allow intense emotions and relationships to disrupt her practical life. Learning when not to share can be rewarding, too! Qualities to develop: simplicity, patience, self-reliance, self-sufficiency.

The Houses

House I is the area of self identity. The ascendant is a symbol of how one acts in life. It is the image of the personality as seen by others, and the attitude that one has towards life.

Cancer with ascendant Sagittarius

Ascendant is Sagittarius

The world is filled with adventure, new things to experience, and, most of all, hope, with this Ascendant. There is an unmistakable faith and enthusiasm with Sagittarius rising people. Grand schemes, big promises, and a willingness to explore and experiment are themes, although follow-through is not a strong characteristic of Sagittarius. These individuals are somewhat restless and often active people. They always seem to be looking for something that is just out of grasp – and many do this their entire lives. They can be quite direct at times, yet they are likable enough to forgive for their faux-pas. Most have a lot to say and offer. Their insights and opinions are usually interesting and exciting, although sometimes lacking in details.

Sagittarius rising people have opinions about everything, and they just love telling others exactly what they are. Not all people with this position are outgoing folk, but they all have a way of moving about that at least exudes a certain level of confidence. Some might even call them naive or overly optimistic. Even the quiet ones don’t shrink from life and from experience. One of the most obvious and endearing traits of Sagittarius rising is their willingness to keep up a sense of humor. Even when they’re feeling low, they manage to find humor in life and have fun with whatever they do have. The placement of Sagittarius’ ruling planet, Jupiter, will give more clues to how they go about expressing themselves. Jupiter in Capricorn, for example, might give a more sarcastic approach, but underneath there lies an unmistakable hope and spirit for living.

House II - the second house - is the area of material security and values. It rules money and personal finances, sense of self-worth and basic values, personal possessions.

Capricorn on House II

A cautious approach to money and personal finances, possessions. Financial success may be slow but steady. A hard worker. Savings are important. Patience with accumulating. Money situation improves with maturity.

House III - the third house - is the area of social and intellectual learning.

Pisces on House III

Ideas are somewhat changeable, and her humor as well. Travel, sea voyages or work connected with the sea.

House IV - the fourth house - is the area of home, family, roots, and deep emotions/sense of self-worth.

Aries on House IV

Lots of authority within the family. She knows how to take the destiny of the family in hand, to take charge. She is very energetic, very strong, knowing how to cope with life’s setbacks.

House V - the fifth house - is the area of creative self-expression, romance, entertainment, children, and gambling.

Taurus on House V

A pleasant home, a charming partner, loving and sweet children, nice little meals, pleasant evenings with the loved one – the good life.

House VI - the sixth house - is the area of learning by material transaction.

Taurus on House VI

Completely trusted at work. She knows how to keep a secret and can be of irreproachable honesty. Weak point: the throat.

House VII - the seventh house - is the area of one-to-one relationships such as marriage and partnership, and of social and intellectual action.

Gemini on House VII

Can marry or partner quite young. A second partnership may have less passion but a lot of friendship. Can be frightened of living alone in old age. She may prefer others do the talking much of the time.

House VIII - the eighth house - is the area of emotional security and of security of the soul.

Cancer on House VIII

Small inheritances possible. She usually plans well for old age.

House IX - the ninth house - is the area of learning that shapes the identity.

Virgo on House IX

She is devoted to all causes that bring comfort or help to people in difficulty.

House X - the tenth house - is the area of material action. The Midheaven represents the work one will do in one’s life, the place one will take in the world of society. It becomes more important as one grows older.

Libra on House X

Contacts of all kinds will lead to social success, professional, through marriage, etc. She likes society life, friendships that could help professionally. Sometimes jobs connected with justice, but frequently involved with important and influential people.

House XI - the eleventh house - is the area of search for social and intellectual security.

Scorpio on House XI

She likes to debate endlessly with friends who don’t share her ideas. The discussion can lead to words or even verbal sparring.

House XII - the twelfth house - is the area of education and of emotion. This is where we meet our karma, deal with endings, and sometimes where we bury things.

Scorpio on House XII

Investigative work or inclination. She likes investigating other people’s private lives.

Birth Chart: here

Using London, England, I don’t know where she was born.

Thanks for the ASK!

#scarlett sabet #jimmy page #jimmy page girlfriend #led zeppelin #poet #rock couple

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antoine-roquentin · 6 years

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ASAD ABUKHALIL: Well, first of all, I need to say that it’s quite ironic for the mainstream media, especially the Washington Post, which has been invoking lofty ideals about democracy as a slogan of it — even though it’s owned by the wealthiest man in the world — has been speaking in the name of democracy, and yet has been serving as the mouthpiece for the intelligence apparatus.

Mainstream media, the Post and others, imply very directly that the president of the United States has to do whatever dictates from the military and intelligence apparatus, as if this is the chain of command. I mean, it is the president of the United States who should subordinate the military intelligence agencies to its role as somebody who is elected by the United States, the American public, and so on.

However, I think because the Washington Post in particular has been a mouthpiece of the intelligence service, particularly the CIA, it should be said that there is an agenda for the CIA on this. And I’m glad you quoted John Brennan. As you know, John Brennan, before he became CIA director, was the Middle East and the CIA — and he was CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia, where he cultivated very close ties with the royal family.

There is nothing about the need for accountability in the CIA leaks which wants to bring down Mohammed bin Salman. This is all about choosing between the various lousy princes.

As you know, Mohammed bin Nayef was ousted last year by Mohammed bin Salman, his cousin. He was the choice for the intelligence agencies and the FBI, because this man, when he was deputy to his father, the minister of interior for many years, was a very close ally — client, you should say — of the U.S. government and its intelligence agency.

Mohammed bin Salman was unknown. It’s not somebody that they know for a long time. But far from wanting great accountability for the murder of Khashoggi, as if the intelligence agencies are really up in arms about the death of anybody in the Middle East, this is about worrying about the future of the Saudi regime.

In other words, I feel that Donald Trump wants what is best for his administration. He has somebody, he has Mohammed bin Salman, as he best can have him. He is holding him by the neck. And if he survives, he — Mohammed bin Salman — will be greatly indebted to Trump, and to Netanyahu, because those two stood by him and kept him afloat. And because of that situation, Mohammad bin Salman will be obligated to make so many concessions — political, military, and financial — to the United States, and even to Israel. Some of it would be more direct now. Perhaps he would even visit the Israeli occupation state.

On the other hand, the intelligence agencies, I think, my reading, is that they do not think that Mohamed bin Salman is capable of steering the regime in a direction that is more in the interest of the stability of the regime. As a result they would rather make a change in order to save the regime. They worry that bin Salman is too reckless, and his thinking is ruled too precarious, which endangered American interests in that region.

BEN NORTON: There’s a lot to respond to there. I want to talk first, before we talk about the tension within the royal family — you mentioned Mohammed bin Nayef, who was slated to be the next king and was replaced by Mohammed bin Salman. Before we get to that, though, let’s talk a bit about the relationship between the CIA and Saudi Arabia.

As you mentioned, John Brennan, the former director, had a longstanding tie to Saudi Arabia, worked a lot in the kingdom. And of course, I mentioned the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, in which the CIA worked with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to arm Islamist extremists to fight against the Soviet Union, and the Afghan government backed by the Soviet Union.

We also saw in Syria that the CIA worked with Saudi Arabia to arm and train rebels, many of whom were also Salafi-jihadist extremists. So this relationship continues to this day. It’s a very close one.

So can you talk a bit more about the relationship between the U.S. intelligence services and Saudi Arabia, and maybe the different figures aside from Muhammad bin Salman and what their roles have been in the CIA? Because there is speculation that Jamal Khashoggi himself might have been a CIA asset.

ASAD ABUKHALIL: Well, I mean, I do not know about that. But I’m glad in your introduction you accurately — contrary to the way the media refer to the past of Jamal Khashoggi — accurately described his background. Jamal Khashoggi, it should be said over and over again, was part of the establishment and the propaganda outlets of the Saudi regime for many years.

This is a man who’s been made by Human Rights Watch and mainstream media as if he’s a longtime critic of the Saudi government. This is a man who spent a career making money from being a propagandist for the Saudi royal family, and moving between one prince and another.

And in fact, he only fell in trouble — he did not count on democracy. He counted on the wrong prince, which is the Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who fell out of favor in this new regime in Saudi Arabia. And as a result he was in trouble himself, and he fled.

And he suddenly discovered the love of democracy and freedom in the United States, in the really lame articles he’s been writing for The Washington Post, which reads to me as being heavily edited by his editors over there, which is fine.

I should also say that Jamal Khashoggi was very mild in his criticism of the Saudi regime. He did not in any way call for an overthrow. He always committed himself to the preservation of the monarchy, and even played, he even played on the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. This is left unmentioned in the media coverage.

So John Brennan himself — and this is a graduate of the Obama administration — suddenly now they are now posing as advocates of democracy in the Middle East when they themselves were characteristic of every administration since World War II; have been advocates of dictatorship and despots throughout the region.

In fact, propaganda brochures that I have seen in Arabic, produced by the Saudi regime, have quotations from John Brennan in praise of the Saudi regime and American-Saudi relations. And if you look now on social media to the graduates of the Obama administration, the various functionaries, you will see now that they are pretending as if Trump suddenly changed the course of American foreign policy and made it not in any way pay too much attention for democracy.

If you look at the agenda or the record of the Obama administration it doesn’t differ at all from the Trump record. If anything, Trump is more honest than the duplicitous Obama administration. And in fact, in Ben Rhodes’ book about Obama’s foreign policy, John Brennan himself is quoted as opposing any change for democracy in Egypt and for standing up to the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. And he made the old classical colonial point that “Arabs are not ready for democracy.”

So in that sense the military intelligence apparatuses basically have various intelligence agencies in the Middle East that they basically work at their pleasure. So they have a great relationship with them. Sometimes they are paid by them, like in the case of Saudi Arabia. Or sometimes they pay them, as in the case of Egypt and Jordan, where the intelligence agencies there are subcontractors of the CIA and the various intelligence agencies.

And it is, in fact, for this reason that the American intelligence agencies were caught totally by surprise with the Arab uprising in 2011; because they relied too much on the advice and wisdom of intelligence agencies in Jordan, Egypt, and elsewhere that they pay a lot of money for, in order to provide them with work that perhaps they were too lazy to do on their own.

BEN NORTON: And then, finally, let’s talk a bit — you mentioned earlier Mohammed bin Nayef — let’s talk about the internal dynamics. Mohammed bin Nayef, who was supposed to be the original crown prince; he was supposed to replace the current king, King Salman, who is likely senile. Mohammed bin Salman took his place, took Mohammed bin Nayef’s place.

MBN was the interior minister. He oversaw the so-called “counterterrorism” program inside Saudi Arabia. He also studied in the U.S., and he trained with the FBI. In 2015, in this kind of ceremony, when he was appointed crown prince, he visited with Obama in the White House. It was very clear that NBN was the U.S. man, who was going to be the next king.

Also, you’ve mentioned before in a previous interview here at The Real News that Khashoggi was very close to Turki bin Faisal, as well. Turki bin Faisal was the head of Saudi intelligence; he was the Saudi ambassador to the United States. And when he was here in the U.S., Khashoggi was actually his spokesperson.

So can you talk about who the U.S. and the CIA potentially — of course, this is largely speculation — but who they would prefer to have over MBS? It seems to me that they want to go back to MBN. Do you think that’s one of the main reasons?

ASAD ABUKHALIL: You’re absolutely right. And I want to say that — just one minor correction. Mohammad bin Nayef did study in Portland for college, but he did not graduate. Most Saudi royal princes study in the United States, but they never bother to graduate, for some reason. In fact, and this is scandalous, in my opinion, Turki al-Faisal is now a professor at Georgetown University. This man studied at Georgetown University in the 1960s at the School of Foreign Service, but he never graduated. He in fact was awarded a degree that he did not earn only many years later thanks to the generous donations he and his family made to the university.

As far as Mohammed bin Nayef is concerned, you are right in mentioning that he studied in the United States because, this has become very clear in many Western media writings. They really like princes who study in the United States. They assume that they are much easier to do business with, for some reason. And one of the complaints that I have read, I think even in Thomas Friedman’s article, as annoying as they are on the eyes, that Mohammed bin Salman is somebody who did not study in the United States.

Well, I think the preference has been very clear for many years that Mohammed bin Nayef is their choice. It is not that Mohammed bin Salman has been unreliable, or he has not been loyal. But they worry that by his recklessness and impulsiveness he may jeopardize the very security of the Saudi royal family. This is something that was missing of the coverage.

So I think the CIA’s interest is that they are really worried about the precariousness of the Saudi regime. More than ever, in a long time of contemporary history of the regime, maybe the first time since the 1960s, early 1960s, when the regime was really in trouble with the rising tide of Nasserism, there is a real danger about the cohesiveness of the royal family and the stability of the regime.

Because for this reason, I think that the CIA and other intelligence agencies of the U.S. government, and the military, would rather have any other prince. It doesn’t have to be Mohammed bin Nayef. But this guy in particular [Mohammed bin Salman] has proven to be too adventurous, too troublesome. And sometimes he seems to act on his own. And that really worries the United States. Not so much out of concern about the people of Yemen, or about about the plight of journalists who may be killed by this prince. But it’s more about the stability of the region due to his action over there.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 years

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The 1995 Anime “Ghost in the Shell” is more relevant than ever in today’s technologically complex society

Andrew D Maynard:

When the anime movie Ghost in the Shell was released in 1995, the world wide web was still little more than a novelty, Microsoft was just beginning to find its GUI-feet, and artificial intelligence research was in the doldrums.

Against this background, Ghost was remarkably prescient for its time. Twenty-three years later, it’s even more relevant as we come to grips with advances in human augmentation, AI, and what it means to be human in a technologically advanced future.

Ghost in the Shell is one of twelve science fiction movies that feature in a new book that grapples with the complex intersection between emerging technologies and social responsibility. In Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies (from Mango Publishing), I set out to explore the emerging landscape around transformative trends in technology innovation, and the social challenges and opportunities they present.

The movies in the book were initially selected to help tell a story of technological convergence and socially responsible innovation. But to my surprise, they ended up opening up much deeper insights into the nature of our relationship with technology.

Identity-hacking

Ghost in the Shell opens with cyborg special-operative Major Kusanagi helping track down a talented hacker—aka the “Puppet Master”—who’s re-writing people’s “ghost”, or what makes them uniquely “them”, using implanted brain-machine interfaces.

Kusanagi inhabits a world where human augmentation is commonplace, and is almost entirely machine. This technological augmentation provides her and others with super-human abilities. But it also makes them vulnerable—especially to hackers who can effectively re-code their memories.

This seems to be the modus operandi of the Puppet Master. Yet as the narrative unfolds, we learn that this is not a person, but an AI developed by US security services that has escaped the leash of its handlers.

The Puppet Master (or “2051” as it's formally designated) is seeking asylum from its US masters. But it’s also looking for meaning and purpose as a self-aware entity.

Through the ensuing story, Ghost touches on a number of deeply philosophical questions that lie at the heart of society’s relationship increasingly powerful technologies. These include what it means to be human, the value of diversity, and even the nature of death. As Emily Yoshida so aptly put it in their Beginner’s Guide to the Ghost in the Shell Universe, Ghost is a “meditation on consciousness and the philosophy of the self”.

This is where the film comes into its own as it jolts viewers out of the ruts of conventional thinking, and leads them to reflect more deeply on the potential social impacts of technologies like AI, human augmentation, and computer-brain interfaces.

Navigating responsible brain-machine augmentation

In 2016 Elon Musk established the company Neuralink to develop science fiction-like wireless brain-machine interfaces. Inspired by the neural laces of Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels, and echoing Ghost, Musk announced on Twitter that, in his opinion, “Creating a neural lace is the thing that really matters for humanity to achieve symbiosis with machines.”

Yet as Ghost in the Shell so presciently illustrates, where you have read-write brain connections, you’re likely to have brain-hackers.

It’s by no-means clear how successful Neuralink will be (the company is still largely flying under the radar). But its launch coincides with intense efforts to better-understand and control the human brain, and breakthroughs in optogenetics that could one day enable wireless machine-mind networks.

Given these and similar developments, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that someone will try and fit a subject up with an internet-connected brain interface that can write as well as read what’s going on inside their head; and that someone else will attempt to hack into it.

Developing such capabilities responsibly will require great care as scientists and others tread the fine line between “could” and “should”. And it’ll demand novel ways of thinking creatively about what could possibly go wrong, and how to avoid it.

This is where films like Ghost are remarkably helpful in illuminating the risk-landscape around such technologies—not because they get the tech right, but because they reveal often-hidden aspects of how people and technologies interact.

But Ghost’s insights go far beyond unpacking the problems of hackable brain implants.

Who owns and controls your augmented self?

Throughout Ghost, Major Kusanagi is plagued by doubts of who she is. Do her cybernetic augmentations make her less human, or having less worth? Is her sense of self—her “ghost”—simply an illusion of her machine programming? And what autonomy does she have when she malfunctions, or needs an upgrade?

These are questions that are already beginning to tax developers and others in the real world. And as robotic and cyber technologies become increasingly advanced, they are only going to become harder to navigate.

In 2012, the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius made history by being the first runner to compete in the Olympic Games with two prosthetic legs. His iconic racing blades came to represent the promise of technological enhancements to overcome human limitations. Yet they stirred up fears of them giving him an unfair advantage that led to him being barred from competing in the previous Olympics.

The same year that Pistorius successfully competed in the Olympics, the Canadian researcher Steve Mann was allegedly assaulted because his computer-augmented eye extension offended someone. And in 2015, patient-advocate Hugo Campos discovered he didn’t legally have access to the implanted defibrillator that kept him alive.

These are all relatively small examples of the tension that’s growing between conventional thinking and human augmentation. But they illustrate how the angst that Kusanagi feels about her augmented body, and how it defines her, is already part of today’s society. And we’ve barely touched the tip of this particular iceberg.

Again, this is where Ghost forms a powerful canvas on which to explore challenges that often transcend conventional thinking, and play out at the borders of our moral and ethical understanding. Watched in the right way, it can help reveal hidden truths around our relationship with the technologies we’re building, and guide us toward more socially responsible ways of developing and using it.

This, to me, is a power that is inherent in science fiction movies. And isn’t limited to Ghost—in Films from the Future, I draw on films as diverse as Never let me Go and Minority Report, to Ex Machina, to tease out insights into the moral and ethical challenges and opportunities that increasingly powerful technologies present.

Having immersed myself in these movies and the technologies that inspire them, it’s clear that, if we want to ensure these trends don’t cause more problems than they resolve, we desperately need the perspectives that movies like Ghost in the Shell and others reveal.

The alternative is risking losing our own “ghosts” in the drive to innovate bigger and better, without thinking about the consequences.

Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies [Andrew D Maynard/Mango Publishing]

Dr. Andrew Maynard is an author, physicist, and leading expert on the socially responsible development of emerging and converging technologies in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. He can be found on Twitter at @2020science.

https://boingboing.net/2018/11/16/the-1995-anime-ghost-in-the.html

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a-hunter-in-storybrooke · 5 years

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Game of Thrones: Final Season - LIVE OR DIE?

This post contains my predictions for who will live and die in the final season of "Game of Thrones". Please keep in mind, these are only my own personal thoughts (or hopes) regarding each of these characters. Characters are listed in no particular order, with the exception of main four Houses (Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, and Targaryen),

Predictions below the cut:

NOTE ON EDITS TO THIS POST:

There were some formatting and spelling errors that needed to be corrected. There were also a couple of characters who were, inadvertently, left off the list initially. Those have now been corrected. This post has not been and will not be edited regarding any of the predictions, regardless of what happens in future episodes.

Beric Dondarrion:

Beric is a fighter to the end. As the leader of the Brotherhood, he fights not for any house, but for the people of Westeros. He's been brought back to life so many times, I believe he is ready to embrace death in the name of defending the realm. Without Thoros to bring him back, I think the Great War will be his last

Prediction: Die

Robin Arryn:

Whether Robin lives or dies depends largely on whether there is any role for his character to play in the final season. His character (at least in the tv show) has seemingly only existed to be a nuisance or to be a puppet under the control of Littlefinger. Now that Baelish is gone, I don't see Robin having any real concern for his family in Winterfell or any desire to come to their aid. I would hope that the surviving Knights of the Vale would still fight for Sansa, but I don't see Robin stepping up to lead his men. I don't see any role for him at present, which is why I suspect he'll either live with no mention, or die off-screen. Either way, I will be suprised if we even see him again before the series has ended.

Prediction: Could go either way, but will have no impact on the overall narrative

Meera Reed:

I think it likely Meera will die, if for no other reason than she's been broken by her losses. She has lost her brother. For all intents and purposes, she has lost Bran. I suspect her death may simply be as a general casuality of war. However, if she is to die, I would much prefer it to be saving Bran. Even if it will mean nothing to him, if certain theories are correct, it may mean everything to world of the living.

Prediction: Die

Lady Lyanna Mormont:

Lady Mormont’s fate is hard to predict. If she dies, she will go down fighting. That’s about all I can say.

Prediction: Could go either way

Lord Varys:

Varys has always been one of the most enigmatic characters in the series. I'm not sure exactly what role he has in the war, though I imagine he will serve as advisor and strategist to Daenerys and, by extension, Jon. There was a time when I would have said that Varys would outlive them all, based purely on his intelligence. However, it's impossible to dismiss Melisandre's words to him in season 7. She said he is destined to die in Westeros, just as she is. Could this mean he survives the war and lives out his days in Westeros? Perhaps. However, I feel there will be a final act in his lifelong hatred of magic and the Lord of Light. I can't say what this end will be, but I feel it is coming.

Prediction: Die

Melisandre/The Red Woman:

Much like Varys, I feel Melisandre's end must serve as final act of either service to or defiance of the Lord of Light. Is it possible Davos will kill her, as justice for Shireen? That was his promise to her. However, I feel that that death, though earned, would be too mundane an end for one of the few characters who has proven herself truly capable of magic. I suspect she will die. I just can't yet predict how.

Prediction: Die

Missandei:

Missandei is one character whose fate I have difficulty guessing. She may be a casuality of the war, whose death serves as nothing more than a reminder that even the most innocent are not safe. As if fans of this series need that sort of a reminder. I could see her dying alongside Grey Worm, choosing to spend her last moments with the one she loves. However, I want to believe she will defy the odds and survive. Whether this is a foolish hope remains to be seen.

Prediction: Live, though her death would be a good one to use just to hurt the viewers

Grey Worm: Grey Worm spent his life as a soldier. As a boy, he was given no choice in the matter. Now, however, he fights for Daenerys because he believes in her as his Queen. There was a time when he would have given his life for this cause without a second thought, because that was all he knew. But now that has all changed. His love for Missandei gives him something to fight for, but also something to lose. I think his fate will be tied to hers. What that means, I can't say.

Prediction: I think he's most likely to die. His fate will likely influence/depend on Missandei's

Euron Greyjoy:

Euron is cocky and I believe this will be his undoing. I want to think that it will be Theon or Yara who kills him. Jaime would also be fitting. However, I think he might just die in a moment of cocky stupidity. Maybe Drogon can eat him during one of his asinine speeches. Regardless, I do not predict him surviving the war.

Prediction: Die

Theon Greyjoy:

Theon is a character who could go either way. I think he will either die a hero or live as a coward. I suspect, however, that will sacrifice himself. This may be to save his sister, to atone for abandoning her to Euron. It may be in defense of Winterfell, guarding the home he turned his back on years ago. Or, as I most suspect, it may be that he dies protecting one the Starks. Most fittingly this would be either Sansa or Bran. He's already saved Sansa and made amends with her, so while he could still save her again, I think it's less likely. Instead, I could see him dying protecting Bran, the brother he so cruelly betrayed. Even if Bran isn't really Bran anymore

Prediction: Die

Yara Greyjoy:

Like her brother's, Yara's fate could go either way. Unlike Theon, however, I don't have a guess as to how her story might end. I think it's quite possible that House Greyjoy may be one of many wiped out in the war. If the house survives, I believe Yara will be their ruler.

Prediction: Could go either way

Maester Qyburn:

I don't have too much to say about Qyburn. I think he will die as direct result of his own twisted experiments. This will most likely come at the hands of Zombie Mountain.

Prediction: Die

Ser Jorah Mormont:

After everything he has been through, I want to see Jorah survive the war. However, I don't think he will. I think he will die as he has lived the last few years of his life... serving Dany. There is also a chance that he might take his own life if something happens to her. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Prediction: Die (I hate this)

Ser Davos Seaworth:

With all the divisive opinions on characters in the series, Davos is one that is universally loved. I think it's impossible not to love Davos. Even when he served Stannis, he never let his loyalty to his king keep him for speaking up for what he believed was right. Now that he serves Jon, his loyalty has only grown. He respected and loved Stannis as a ruler, but Stannis was never the king (or man) Davos wanted him to be. Jon is a king worthy of his loyalty, and he knows that. And so he serves faithfully. Because Davos is so loved by the fandom, I fear his death is inevitable, simply because it will hurt every single person watching in a way others few could.

Prediction: Die (This one is going to hurt)

Tormund Giantsbane:

Tormund is the wildling we've known the longest. He went from a minor antagonist to one of Jon's most loyal men. He fights for Jon because he believes in him. And he would die him for the same reason. If any of the Freefolk are to survive the war, I believe Tormund has the best chance. However, his death could easily be one that has an emotional impact on the audience, while ultimately not having a huge effect on the overall outcome of the war. With few characters fitting that role, I fear Tormund's fate will not be a happy one. I could easily see him dying to save either Jon or Brienne.

Prediction: Die :(

Edd Tollett:

Edd is a character who I feel will die, simply because his death, while it will be very upsetting to certain characters (Jon, Sam, and Tormund), won’t affect the outcome of the war.

Prediction: Die

Samwell Tarly:

I'll keep this one simple. Sam needs to live. Someone must survive to tell the story... and that person is, without question, Samwell Tarly.

Prediction: Live

Gilly:

If Gilly dies, it can only be as a gut-punch to the audience. I believe that while Sam is alive, she will stay alive also. I want to believe, perhaps foolishly, that they will both survive the war.

Prediction: Live

Baby Sam:

Only on a show like Game of Thrones would a baby need to be included in a list of possible death predictions. I want to believe that little Sam will live, but I also fear that he will not. Baby Sam was the only one of Craster's sons to escape the Night King's clutches. I think it is likely that the leader of the White Walkers will come for the child he believes to be rightfully his.

Prediction: I want him to live... because of course I do! However, I think it is (very, very sadly) likely that he will be killed or turned by the Night King

Podrick Payne:

Pod is another character whose death would be a gut-punch to the audience, while ultimately not affecting the overall narrative. If Pod dies, it will almost undoubtedly be in an act of self-sacrifice. A loyal squire to the end, it would not be surprising to see him die protecting either Brienne or Tyrion. I want to believe he will survive. I just think the odds are against it.

Prediction: Die (I hate this)

Brienne of Tarth:

Brienne's fate is hard to guess. She is easily one of the best fighters in the series, but she's never had to fight the dead. Wights don't have the same weaknesses in logic to exploit and outwit. This could put her at a disadvantage. Additionally, Brienne wouldn't think twice about sacrificing herself. If she had a chance to save either of the Stark girls, or Jaime (who she loves), at the cost of her own life, she would do it in an instant. I've already predicted that Pod might die saving Brienne... but how much of a heartbreaking twist would it be if it was the other way around? Brienne dying for her squire would be one the saddest things I can imagine. Despite all of what I've said here, I believe Brienne has a better chance at survival than many others. It comes down to whether she's forced to choose between another's life and her own. Because I think we all know that, for her, it wouldn't be a question.

Prediction: Live, but she may die in an act of self-sacrifice

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater:

Bronn is one of the toughest characters in the entire series. From early on, I assumed his character would be short-lived, either because he would die or because he would get tired of serving the Lannisters. Even as late as season 7, Bronn made it clear that he was frustrated that Jaime hadn't yet upheld his end of their agreement. He has always been motivated by the promise of payment. However, in the battle on the Blackwater Rush against Dany's forces, Bronn seemed to have a slight shift in character. I believe he saved Jaime from Drogon's flame not because he wanted a reward, but because he's come to care for him as a friend. He said once, before Tyrion's trial, that he considered Tyrion his friend, but that he wasn't about to die for him. But he could have died saving Jaime in that moment. This suggests that his overall motivations have changed, at least somewhat. No longer just a sell-sword who serves the Lannisters for promise of riches, I think he's beginning to serve Jaime out of respect and friendship. I've gone off on a bit of tangent here. I believe Bronn will survive to have the life of luxury he has been repeatedly promised. The question is, now that he's seemingly formed attachments, will it be enough to comfort him in the aftermath of loss?

Prediction: Live

Gregor Clegane/"The Mountain":

There is no doubt in my mind that the Mountain will die. CleganeBowl WILL happen. Where and how, I can't say, but they've hyped us up for too long to let this go unresolved. Likewise, I have no doubt that Sandor will be the one to kill his brother. My only question is whether Arya will help him do it.

Prediction: Die

Sandor Clegane/"The Hound":

I want Sandor to live. He has long been one of my favorite characters. He has had an arc of growth and change rivaled only, in my opinion, by Jaime's. I know that it's much more likely that the Hound will die, whether in the process of killing his brother, or in saving one of Stark girls... for whom he's always felt a great deal of affection (love?). Additionally, I think the Hound is one of the characters whose fate could differ between the tv series and the books. I know unequivocally where (and with whom) I want Sandor to end up. However, I sadly don't see that ending coming in the show... as much as I wish it would.

Prediction: Could go either way

Gendry Waters:

Gendry is the last living Baratheon. He disappeared from the series for years, only to return just as the Great War was gaining momentum. This has to mean something. I may be blinded by my love for this character... and for what (read: who) I want his endgame to be... but I believe Gendry will survive. His reappearance is too significant just to kill him in the eleventh hour.

Prediction: Live

Jaime Lannister:

This one has me conflicted like no other. If you had told me in season 1 that Jaime Lannister would grow to become one of my favorite characters, I would have said you were crazy. But... I. LOVE. THIS. CHARACTER. I've always appreciated complex characters, and you don't get more complex than Jaime Lannister. At his heart, Jaime is honorable and even kind (when he chooses to show it). However, his relationship with his sister twisted him into a man who would do anything, kill anyone, for the woman he loves. And for all her claims of loving him back, Cersei used this to her advantage time and time again. She took her brother's devotion and turned it into a weapon. She made his love into a tool she could use for her own devices. And in the end, even Jaime could see that she has gone too far. Now, presumably, he's riding north to meet Jon and Dany's forces... and back to the two people in his life who have consistently brought out the best in him... his brother... and Brienne. I want Jaime to survive the war, because I believe he is the most transformed of any character in the series. He deserves a chance to live his life free from Cersei's influence. Unfortunately, I fear this is not to be. If Jaime dies, I want him to die a hero. This could be saving Tyrion. Or, as I hope (and also fear), it could be saving the OTHER woman he loves... the one he should have been with in the end.

Prediction: Could go either way, but is most likely to die (And I hate this so damn much, I can't even express it properly)

Cersei Lannister:

Cersei will die. I see no ending in which she survives. The only question remaining is who will kill her. Many believe it will be one of her brothers, most tragically Jaime. Others have suggested she might die in childbirth... or even by her own hand. But by far the most popular thought is that Arya will finally cross one of the earliest entries off her list. Will she don a face to do this? Perhaps Littlefinger's? Or, if we lose Jaime, will it be his face she wears when she finally has her revenge on his sister/lover? I don't know for sure how Cersei will meet her end... only that it will happen.

Prediction: Die

Tyrion Lannister:

Tyrion... I honestly can't say. If only one Lannister survives to the end, I believe it will be Tyrion. However, I think it may be just as likely that House Lannister will be wiped out. One the most powerful houses, perhaps THE most powerful, in all of Westeros... and it's survival now hinges on the fate of Tywin's three children. "It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on ... The future of our family will be determined in the next few months. We could establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years... Or we could collapse into nothing, as the Targaryens did." - One of the most powerful speeches in the series was this one that Tywin gave Jaime in season 1. How ironic that now House Lannister is so near to its end, just as House Targaryen has, perhaps, a chance to live on. Ironic, also, that the Lannister song, which they've used to intimidate so many, might very well soon spell out their own fate. And now the rains weep o'er his halls // With no one there to hear.

Prediction: I legitimately can't make a prediction for Tyrion. I can only predict that if he dies, House Lannister dies with him.

Bran Stark/The Three-Eyed Raven:

I don't know Bran will survive. Or rather, if the Three-Eyed Raven will survive. As Meera tearfully stated, Brandon Stark died in that cave. The "Bran" we're now left with is, I believe, the key to the Night King's defeat. That is, if he can BE defeated. I don't know how... but I believe the youngest surviving Stark will be the one who ultimately saves Westeros from the army of the dead. Or... perhaps not.

Prediction: Absolutely no guess

Sansa Stark: I need Sansa to survive. She has survived more than, arguably, any other character in the series. For her to survive so much, only to die senselessly in the Great War? That would break my heart. Sansa deserves to live. And she deserves to finally find love. I know with whom I want that to be. However, I don't think the show is going to give us that relationship, sadly. I still maintain that the books might. And they should.

Prediction: Live (I need this)

Arya Stark:

If any of you happen to have seen some of my previous "Game of Thrones" re-blogs, you will likely know that Arya is, hands down, my favorite character in the series. She always has been. Much like Sansa, I can't bear the thought of Arya dying. She's too amazing of a character not to get to live out her life, whatever life it is she ultimately chooses. I know what I want for her. And I desperately hope the show gives me that. But most of all, I need the toughest of the Starks to live. "When the snows fall and white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives." Arya was the lone wolf for years, learning and growing and becoming the woman she is now. Now that she has finally found her pack again, she must survive.

Prediction: Live (If Arya dies, I riot)

Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen:

For both Jon and Dany, I'm saying the same thing: I believe only one will survive. Of the two, I think this will be Jon. However, if Dany IS pregnant, as many believe, it may well be that neither of the Targaryen heirs survive, but that instead, the line lives on in their child. The death of either Jon or Daenerys will crush me. Even more so if one has to witness the death of the other. In the same vein, if either dies in the presence of those family and friends they love most... Arya for Jon, Jorah for Dany... that will absolutely destroy my heart. I don't know what Jon's final fate will be, but I know it will be possibly the most emotional outcome in TV history.

Prediction: Live or die, it will be a spectacular moment in TV history

Daenerys Targayren:

For both Jon and Dany, I'm saying the same thing: I believe only one will survive. Of the two, I think this will be Jon. However, if Dany IS pregnant, as many believe, it may well be that neither of the Targaryen heirs survive, but that instead, the line lives on in their child. The death of either Jon or Daenerys will crush me. Even more so if one has to witness the death of the other. In the same vein, if either dies in the presence of those family and friends they love most... Arya for Jon, Jorah for Dany... that will absolutely destroy my heart. I don't know what Dany's final fate will be, but I know it will be possibly the most emotional outcome in TV history.

Prediction: Live or die, it will be a spectacular moment in TV history

The Night King:

.............

Prediction: ?????

There are likely some characters I've left off this list. In most cases this is because I don't expect that we'll see them again before the series ends. You might also notice that Nymeria, Ghost, Rhaegal, and Drogon aren't on this list. I believe every one of them will play a significant part in the war... but I can't bring myself to predict the fates of the remaining direwolves and dragons. It's just too much, guys.

Just writing this post was emotional for me. This final season might just be the death of me. Regardless of what happens, I know that it will be an absolutely amazing experience to see it all unfold.

Expect more GoT posts from me soon. Until next time... Valar Morghulis.

#game of thrones #got #game of thrones spoilers #got spoilers #season 8 predictions

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man-i-dont-know · 6 years

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BNHA Chapter 183-185: Thoughts and Spoilers

Aiight I’ll be honest, i had to go back and see how many chapters behind I was, summer got me in a funk. So if I did three whole chapters I would bore myself to death so I’ll be selective about what I talk about. With that said, let’s get into it.

The festival turned out great and while Deku was scolded it was only minor, which I am happy about because it shows that Deku made some of the best choices he could and the pros recognize that. Eri had a lot of fun (which is all that matters), the upperclassmen apologized, and the beauty pageant was won by Nejire (she was phenomenal, flying around like a fairy confirmed her victory). On top of all that, Deku somehow found time to make candied apples for Eri since the school wasn’t selling them. Anything with Eri is heartwarming.

Gentle and La Brava are being questioned, but is seems that the police officer that is interrogating Gentle is actually quiet understanding and hasn’t full condemned him as a criminal. Well like he obviously is a criminal but the officer is... sympathetic. Or at least not as hard as he could be. I really like this touch for a handful of reasons. A lot of series that deal with villains don’t exactly deal with them legally (a.k.a., beating the tar outta them), but when it is done, the outcome is essentially predetermined. What I’m getting at is that justice systems in action comics of any type are painfully rigid and or simplified so that the villain having been beat is a guarantee that they will be in prison forever and simply isn’t an issue anymore. I would give One Piece as an example for a rigid/simple justice system, but the only prison we have really seen has been broken into and out of so that doesn’t really apply. I suppose that the “jury” works for my example, meaning One Piece courts are really straight forward, just not really the actual containing of prisoners. So seeing Hero Academia put effort into making the system seem much deeper and much more real is greatly appreciated (though I could argue that since there is more emphasis on it, the likelihood of something going wrong is much higher, like prison break theories that have floated around since when Stain was arrested).

Next chapter starts with the surprise announcement that Eri will be living at UA (dreams do come true). It is for public safety reasons but I will take it. Amajiki suggests that it is actually possible that with time, Mirio could make a return to the heroing world, but I think that statement will just get our hopes up so I am not listening to it at the moment. The Wild Wild Pussycats, plus Kouta, makes a surprise appearance and a handful of nice things occur. Tiger apologizes to Bakugou for not being able to prevent his kidnapping (Bakugou shrugs it off); Kouta is embarrassed but is already buying Deku merch (rockin’ red shoes); Ragdoll is still without a quirk, but will be taking a desk job to provide support; and the Pussycats are thrilled with how high their Billboard Hero chart ranking is and want to continue to work for their fans. Their is an ominous monologue that All for One gives in his prison cell, about wanting to get out to “give back” the quirks he stole (honestly, villain dialogue has so much potential when they can offer something nice and it still come off as a threat). Then we see the Top Ten Heroes. Almost all the familiar faces have some kinda costume upgrade which makes me wonder if that changing costumes just happens all the time or if it is a response to All Might retiring, though almost anything could be a result of All Might retiring. Dragon lady Ryukyu is there, Old Man Samurai has a rad design, there is a washing machine, Kamui Woods is 7th which surprised me, I didn’t realize he was that popular, there’s an aggressive rabbit lady, Edge Shot, Best Jeanist, Hawks and Endeavor.

The next chapter begins with a brief speech and each of the top ten are suppose to give their remarks. Hawks seems to be the restless type and is whispering to Endeavor before the introduction is over. Seeing he won’t get a response for the fire man, Hawks zips his lips shut (that motion struck me cause I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else do that in a comic, besides the CP9 guy in One Piece but that is an extreme). The first handful of heroes give pretty generic speeches, with the exception of the Rabbit Girl who calls out all villains and that she is ready to beat the crap outta them. Hawks, now thoroughly bored/irritated, cuts off (unzips his lips cause they were still zipped from when he tried to talk to Endeavor) Edge Shot who is talking about conserving the peace, saying “Who cares?” Edge Shot isn’t surprised by this and the Rabbit Girl respects his guts to do that, Hawks then snatches the microphone and gives his own speech.

This speech kinda threw me for a loop and I had to think about it for a while, and my interpretation may be quite different from yours so bear with me. He starts off by saying that the most important thing right now is the approval ranking, which is only one of the factors that goes into this ranking system. He says we can no longer stick to the status quo, we can’t do things as we have before now that they are missing their symbol. He calls out the other heroes for not changing during this major transition period, he wants the heroes to act their part and talk like heroes. My interpretation from this is that the current hero system only worked because of All Might, and now that he ‘s gone, it can’t continue like this. That tied in with the fact that he favors approval ratings above all else, what I am guessing his goal is to change the public’s opinion of heroes in general and gain their support. He is already suggesting to do what the principal at UA is trying to accomplish, mass produce heroes in the absence of their symbol. Hawks goes a step beyond saying that the only way to win is if we have the approval rating of All Might among all of our heroes. He goes on later to say to Endeavor that he doesn’t want to be All Might nor does he want to be a leader, so the idea of trying to make a whole slew of heroes the symbol would make sense since if there is only one symbol, one hero falling brings all the peace with it. So that’s what I think he was getting at, we need the people to trust us again, but the current heroes aren’t doing anything to actually fill that gap (at the end of his speech the narrator comments that Hawks is 22 and rose to the top ten when he was only 18, which by then he had his own agency, the kid is a damn powerhouse and is funny but is arrogant as well).

Hawks hands the microphone over to a genuinely pissed Endeavor, who says that despite trying to stir up trouble, Hawks kinda had a point, and that all he has to say is “Just Watch Me.” But how he said it is filled with power and confidence and shook an audience who had been shook by a loud mouth bird man. Off stage Endeavor is pissed off and trying to get answers from Hawks, who laughingly said that he did what was necessary, shook things up, and set the stage for Endeavor. Hawks was actually quite impressed with how Endeavor handled the situation, and then asked a serious question. Hawks is having Nomu activity in his part of town and he wants Endeavor to team up and help out. The next scene is someone from the League of Villains talking to a Nomu named “High End” who is not only bigger and with a much more badass design, but is also intelligent and capable of understanding and replicating speech and taking orders. High End gets me so hyped up but also strikes fear into me because we know how powerful Nomus are, and this one is obviously much, much more dangerous. And that how the chapter ends.

I am purposefully leaving out discussion about the relation between Hawks and Icarus because by now you’ve probably seen it. This analysis really watered down Hawk’s character, but I do like him quite a bit, if he shows some genuine niceness, then he will become a fast favorite, I just worry his arrogance will be too much (again, Icarus). I would pay to see Tokoyami’s internship with Hawks cause I think Hawks would be chill with whatever edgy thing Tokoyami said but still have no real clue what he actually said. One last thing: I spoke with a friend about how some of the heroes don’t really seem to belong in the top ten (mainly the washing machine), but I look at it this way, ostracizing people in this universe doesn’t really occur because your quirk is “weird.” My case is that both of Tsuyu’s parents are straight up frogs, her friend is a snake with hair, trash grape boy is a trash grape boy and every hates him cause he’s a pervert and not because he is three foot flat with odd hair and a diaper, Sero has tape in his elbows, just to name a few. Our weird doesn’t really work in Hero Academia, so a washing machine in the top ten wouldn’t be strange if he has the credentials (I also said that Mister Clean is probably more famous than some sport stars, and that was the argument that convinced her so I’m not sure if my other one needs more work).

So that is it. Thank you for sticking to the end and reading all, some, or just parts of it, I write these just to get ideas out there and start conversations. Take what you want from my opinions and ideas if that will start a discussion. Again, thank you fro reading, and I hope you have a great day.

#bnha thoughts #bnha spoilers #deku midoriya #erichan #bnha hawks #endeavor

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