#a lot of his experiences are more psychological than violent and I just like to think about it

[science-lings]

I love the potential of how fucked up Phoenix could be/ is. He's got no mention of a family, not even when he was on trial for murder, he's been the potential victim of poison multiple times by someone who he was very in love with, (which leads to some very interesting flavors of trauma which could affect how he reacts to being sick and even getting medicated for being sick and explains his reluctance to getting romantically involved with anyone ever.)

He faints when under very sudden intense amounts of stress like a woman written by a man in a historical work of fiction (Maya channeling Mia for the first time, getting whipped a whole lot, etc) He gets hit in the head so hard that he forgets who he is and that's just fine apparently.

He found his mentor's dead body and has been threatened by the mafia and fell through a burning bridge into a death river, and his best friends keep getting accused of murder or kidnapped or going mysteriously missing or leaving him behind. All of this has to leave some scars on this man's psyche and that's before he was tricked into losing his purpose in life and adopting a kid right afterward.

I feel like so many characters and their traumas are based on the violent acts they've witnessed or have been done against them so it's kind of fascinating to me how different Phoenix's experiences differ from that kind of thing. He isn't bothered by loud noises like gunshots but he could refuse to take over-the-counter medicines or get paranoid over his things being poisoned or otherwise tampered with. Maybe his complete lack of mentioning any romantic relationships since he was in college is because that one just messed him up so badly that he's afraid to try again, even after so many years.

I guess I'm just so used to characters being traumatized by violence and abuse that it's really interesting when that deviates, especially among the fanbase bc you know the companies making these fucked up little guys aren't going to delve deep into the consequences of the things they put them through.

[howtofightwrite]

re: the question about stunning someone with head trauma (and how you Should Not unless you're okay with them dying) would knocking the wind out of a character be a better way to have that happen?

Yes, but no.

So, knocking the wind out of someone is a lot safer. I wouldn't say perfectly safe, this is how Harry Houdini died, after all. However, it's a lot safer that head wounds, and usually wouldn't result in any major injuries.

The downside is against a trained opponent, who's ready for the hit, it's not going to work. This isn't called a, “sucker punch,” without reason. If your abdominal muscles are tensed for the punch, they will absorb a lot of the blow. So this works better against the unaware or the untrained.

The other problem is, it's not going to take someone out for the duration of the scene. In a self defense situation, winding your attacker is great, because it lets you create an opening to start your escape. But, it's not going to stun someone for minutes. From personal experience, you can measure the time you gain from winding your opponent in seconds.

There are combos that start with winding someone and lead into more painful blows that can extend that opening. But, there is a continuity of force: Incapacitating someone for longer requires inflicting harm that is increasingly difficult (impossible) to moderate.

If the goal is to escape from someone who means you harm, then yeah, an elbow strike to their stomach, will give you the opportunity to get out of there.

If the goal is to have a prolonged conversation while standing over a defeated (but still living foe), that's not really something you can do intentionally. At the same time, intentional application of lethal force isn't as reliable as you might expect. For example, gunshot wounds to the head are only fatal ~98% of the time.

The issue with this train of thought is that the individual inflicting harm cannot moderate for the desired outcome. Knocking someone out, only for them to recover, is 100% possible. However, you can't do that intentionally. And having a character who does bounce another person's head off the pavement until they stop twitching, is an incredibly violent act, and it's not going to be a casual, “well they're just knocked out.” It's a, “Carl, that kills people,” moment.

If you want a character that is disproportionately violent, and probably scares everyone around them a bit, this will feed into that presentation. If you want a character who's a good person because they don't kill people, then attempting to inflict life altering injuries on someone is probably not the best way to demonstrate their ethics.

(Remember, Batman doesn't kill people, he just shatters their spines; leaving them at the mercy of the American health care system. So, the real moral lesson of Batman is that it's better to be psychologically unwell and wealthy, than economically disadvantaged. You can murder half of the city, and he'll gently deposit you in a padded cell that you can escape from whenever you get bored of the place, but if you so much as imply that you'll resort to less than legal means to put food on the table for your starving family, he will end your existence as a vertebrate.)

And, yes, I fully realize that, by the nature of his character, and comics, Batman (like most superhero comics) is poorly suited to discuss the complex factors involved in street level crime. This this is more of a critique on the treatment of “violence is okay, so long as no one ends up in the morgue,” more than a specific character critique.

There's another part to this that worth remembering, and I know I've said this before, but when you're writing, violence offers diminishing returns. Violence releases the tension you've been building. You can think of it like a rubber band gun. Until you pull the trigger, that rubber band is under tension, and the moment you release it, you hit your audience. Now, getting hit a rubber band is a sharp, and somewhat unpleasant experience, but the second time is going to annoy you less than the first, and if you're constantly bombarded with them, you'll quickly become numb to their impacts.

I'm not saying that you can't, or shouldn't, use violence, however as a writer, you are paying a very real cost whenever you use violence to resolve a scene. It's something that you do need to consider carefully. Part of my aversion to questions like this comes from this structural consideration. A lot of writers make the mistake of using non-lethal violence somewhat indiscriminately. This can absolutely harm the credibility of your characters, and your world.

There is absolutely a place for violence in stories, however, this is a tool that is most effective when used sparingly, or deliberately. (This doesn't mean the violence itself needs to be deliberate, just your use of it.)

A lot of the time when someone says, “I want to use violence to temporarily remove a character from the scene,” that's a scenario that will harm your story. There are a lot of ways to remove a character from a scene, and I don't mean, “alternatives to fighting,” like hiding from them or talking them down. The limit here is your creativity, and in a lot of ways, violence is the least interesting way to achieve your goals.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[bugs1nmybrain]

Shigaraki's Psychological Conditions Headcanons - (a long ass post)

So, I'll preface this by saying I am NOT a psychiatrist and am not qualified to diagnose shit. I do however have a history of personal mental health disorders and am going to school for mental health work. This is mostly just for theory sake. My word is not absolute

Let's begin

warnings: mental illness as title suggests, not proofread and probably has typos

Antisocial Personality Disorder / Conduct Disorder

This one sort of goes without saying cuz duh he's a villain or whatever. I want to specify that in terms of Antisocial Personality, he likely is a sociopath, NOT a psychopath

I hear people call him a psychopath all the time and it's infuriating because people throw around labels without understanding what they mean. Psychopaths are more cunning and charming, and very manipulative. This isn't to say that Tomura is none of those things. Psychopath, however, applies to people like All For One. Almost diplomatic and very persuasive.

Tomura is a sociopath because he's known for recklessness and abrasive behavior. Psychopaths often pretend to have feelings, but for sociopaths aggression is a key emotion that's visibly displayed. They are also able to feel remorse in some cases, and I run this back to Shigaraki because he spent years in what was implied to be repressed guilt regarding the death of his family. Tomura admits it himself in his flashbacks, but ultimately decides to let go of that guilt (that he still fucking feels and is in DENIAL but that's another post). Hence, his forgiving nature toward his mother and sister when he's dreaming during surgery.

Even after Tomura let that burden go, he has no desire to be cool and collected, he just fucks around and finds out. Overall, though, he disregards people's lives and doesn't have remorse for what he's done because he throws his trauma and desires over it as a bandaid. He does show care and consideration to people in the League, though.

The conduct disorder part of it is self-explanatory. He's a violent criminal, lol.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Duh.

Trauma is pretty much all Tomura has known. I won't reiterate his backstory, but being physically abused and rejected as a child, the murder of his family, being blatantly ignored by people on the streets, and AFO's upbringing? That's a lot

His PTSD is so dehibilitating that it took hold of his body language and behavior. Before the end of s5, Tomura was rigid and hunched over. In the MHA video games, he's also seen as very restless and moving his body around (until s4 era in One's Justice 2). I'll attach a video below.

He's also just very irritable and easily set off at the reminders of his trauma and rejection. "I HATE YOU" is a key example, as up to that point Tomura had been improving his rash behavior, but he's very unsettled by his past and continues to be now.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

His case of OCD is connected to his trauma and emotions. You'll find that a lot of his conditions feed into one another. For him, he has a variant of dermatillomania (often known as the skin picking disorder). For him, that is in the form of scratching rather than picking. But he does it compulsively and without thought, and he does it in attempts to self soothe. I believe he does it occasionally as a self injurious behavior, resulting in itching himself rather than lashing out. He even just does it when he's only moderately anxious or irritated.

Depression

While we don't see Shigaraki slumped in bed or feeling sad in the ways we see in many cases of depression, his "I hate everything" mentality puts him here. Actually, it's safe to say he experiences anhedonia, which is the lack of enjoyment in anything. He seems to somewhat enjoy video games, but his bio states "nothing" as his likes. I'm inclined to believe he feels no personal joy or happiness, and tries to attain that through murderous rage. Never works tho, does it Tomura?

Bipolar Disorder and Unspecified Psychotic Disorder

This one might stir some debates, but I do genuinely think he has a mood disorder. I don't want to feed into stigma that bipolar and psychotic people are "evil," because I myself have these conditions, so maybe I'm projecting lmao. He's definitely not medicated, and so I'd say his case is Bipolar Type 1. This type is characterized by intense manic symptoms, though depressive symptoms can be severe, too.

Tomura has manic tendencies, and he's impacted by mania in that he seems to get spontaneous motivation, but he also will stay stagnant for some time. I saw this as the case when Spinner literally went at Shiggy for putting the League in a complacent stage, but he's done this before, such as when he was in a slump about Stain. When his motivation surges, though, he goes above and beyond and doesn't put extensive thought into it. He just lunges into his desires in pursuit of satisfaction. He also has delusions of grandoisity to some degree and has a moment where he treats himself as invincible. He fought Gigantomachia for almost two months, and kept fucking going at him. Surely, he could've asked the doctor to call him off, but Tomura wanted that power so bad. Tomura also went into his surgery without asking many questions about it. He makes very impulsive decisions, even after people insist that he "matured." He also gets flicked into motivation like a snap of a finger, and proceeds to be lead mostly by endorphins and gratification.

When Tomura experiences what he perceives as a "positive" emotion, it overtakes him. He becomes pretty much engrossed in his bodily sensations. Through maniacal laughter and taunting language that's charged in a hate induced fuel. When Shigaraki has "voila" moments, he has a surge in neuroactivity and gets into aggressive mood stages, but I guess that could apply to most of the villains. I saw this when Deku told him the difference between him and Stain, and Tomura had a surge in manic-like bliss and drive.

I'm not sure if Tomura hearing the voices of his family before his epiphany was just intrusive thoughts, but I thought they may have been auditory hallucinations. Tomura admits to hearing things that aren't there and seeing visual hallucinations, too. Evidenced by:

I hate how the dub translated this into "when you're this tired" as a broad statement. The manga gives this more personal association to Shigaraki, and he says that it happens when he's sleepy, and doesn't specify if it's only when he's extremely sleep deprived or just tired. Also, him staying up for days on end and smiling his ass off reeks of mania. He has delusional sprinkles in his thinking process, but they're not of bizarre nature, and are usually tied to his trauma. At this point in the manga he's very psychotic, though. That has a lot to do with him being fueled with adrenaline and also just breaking out of AFO's control.

I think he is either bipolar type 1 with psychotic features or has a mild case of schizoaffective disorder. Probably the first one, but I'm not sure.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)

This one is more of a gut feeling for me, but I see Tomura as being easily distracted and aloof to his surroundings at times. He's fidgety and does shit on whim.

Also, look at his room.

I'm not saying that everyone with ADHD has a messy room, but from what I can see, he goes from one task, drops it entirely without picking up, and goes to the next. Some could argue that Tomura simply doesn't care, and that's true, but he's at least got some decency to put the shit in trash bags. Trash bags that he HASN'T EVEN TAKEN OUT. I think he gets too caught up in the shit he's focused on that it slips his mind to do simple things like that.

He has spontaneous interests from what I can tell from the many books and toys he has that seem to have gone untouched for some time. He also hyperfixates, and I don't mean interest wise. I mean that when he's dwelling on something, it doesn't leave his mind for DAYS, until he gets some gratification. All Might in s1 and Stain s2 for example.

-

In conclusion, this boy has a grocery list of conditions, but I love Tomura. I love my beautiful prince with a disorder, and he is so dear to me.

I'm open to discussions about this, but please keep them respectful.

[liberumalas]

I LOVE YOUR DRAWINGS/ ART STYLE ALASTOR AS A CHILD IS SO CUTE !!!

What do you think baby and child Alastor was like growing up like personality and how did he get along with others and what he was like at school? Do you think he was a hard to handle baby or one of those quiet ones (fully conscious baby lol 😭)

ATTENTION, THESE ARE ALL HEADCANNONS. I'll refer back to canon when there is information but we don't know much of Alastors early life. Or of anything about him at all that much. This is gonna be a loooong one...

I also think, I'll colour code a little; orange is what is actually canon and blue is the stuff that i thik ive read somewhere but might not be true or might become outdated.

I. Alastor and mental health

I think it is very likely that Alastor has ASPD (antisocial personality disorder) othervise known as psychopathy. Now people with this disorder are not inherently evil, but I'd think their upbringing takes a lot more care, attention and knowledge than the avarege person because people with aspd don't experience empathy, and regret after hurting someone or at least these feelings are very limited. They are also very likely to disregard rules, be reckless, agressive, impulsive, decietful, etc...

Alastors childhood propably stems from the 1900s to the early 1920s roughly (we don't know when he was born, only that he died in 1933 and was in his 30s-40s). Psychology was not as advanced as it is today, and it was especially propably unavailable for a child of colour.

So I think that Alastors behavior was very poorly managed throughout his childhood, leading to him becoming a not very good person (a serial killer).

II. School life

In school he'd act violent toward classmates he didn't favor. It's been said that he has a messed up moral code, but a moral code still, so I'd imagine that means either getting revenge for those who were wronged in some way and could not protect themselves (and Alastor actually liked them) or protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Either way, these likely ended up in Alastor beating another boy up, putting glass shards in his sandwich or ruining his stautus or reputation in some way. In fights he'd be creative and use his surroundings, other than mindless punching. Oh, look, a rock! And a scissor! Oh, boy is it my lucky day? It must be becuse there is a glass bottle at hand!

Towards his friends (whom were very likely all girls) he'd act very polite, charming and even kind. He'd enjoy spending time with them instead of other young boys who were a lot less mature and sometimes straight up repulsive and barbaric. Him and his friends would hang out, gossip, dance, etc, he was always just *one of the girls* lol. This is also where I'd imagine the moral code comes in, because of early 1900s mentality and sexism and boys bothering girls and Alastor standing up for them and those were very different times and Alastor just seems like a very uniqe case.

So he'd get into trouble all. The. Time. His poor mother is just tired and at a loss at this point. Nothing makes this kid behave better, there is no use of punishing him, she (or his father) can beat him (reminder that those were different times), talk to him, talk to teachers, punish him with chores and work, nothing works. It is a miracle he wasn't arrested yet.

III. General behavior and perception

I think he was always very confident, charismatic and passive agressive rather than outright violent (which he reserved for those he particularly hated and actually could fight or trick). He was polite usually (his mother thought him well in that regard, and being polite is very useful anyways) and very intelligent and tactical. People rarely caught onto his mischief and the targets would usually be too afraid to speak out. Usually. Or just be annoyed and if the target was an adult, hooo boy.

I think the people who knew him would see him as a troublemaker but someone who would have great potential if he wasn't such an annoying pain in the ass. He is theatrical, dramatic at times, they just really didn't know what to make of this kid. People who didn't know him would see him as a good kid, who has a strange sparkle in his eyes that could be something harmless and innocent or something that is very worrysome. Family thought he was strange, worrying, but outside that, helpful and a sweet kid. Other than the beating classmates up.

IV. Family stuff. God help me...

So... this is the part where the source of angst for every Alastor fanfiction comes from.

-About his mother:

I have two versions for this.

The first one being that his mother was a caring, sweet as candied apple but a very troubled person. Troubled because of her husband, his son and society. But she was also very firm and and had a spine, and she was a great scource of inspiration for Alastor. He loved her very much (in his own way) and enjoyed being around her.

In the second version, she was very unstable, propably had some kind of mild to severe mental illness (along the lines of scizofrenia or psycosis). She had her good or better times and then the bad times. It got worse as time wnent on and again, no psychology help for women especially creole or poc women (fyi we don't actually know, which of Alastors parents was creole and which one was white or smth else. All we know is that he himself is mixed creole and I assume, people gave the creole part to his mother because it fits the story better I guess). Again, troubling husband and son, even though Alastor would recognise her need for help and would decide to help her in the little ways he could. She was still kind to him and loved him very very much, but her illness and her son's just made everything so much more difficult.

Alright those are the two versions. Some common traits would be that they liked to cook together, Alastor loved his mother's cooking and they'd both like jazz and swing and all these types of fun. She encoureged him throughout his life, though she likely didn't know about his serial killer hobby later in life.

And oh boy, oh, man, the father of the year.

-Dear old Dad.

I don't think that for Alastor to have a valid reason to hate him (and by extension almost all men) his father had to be phisically abusive, even though beating or hitting your child was common practice to punish them. What I mean is he didn't have to throw bottles at his son's head, beat him to a bloody pulp or strangle him and his mother for Alastor to hate his guts. I think that him being pathetic and disgusting in Alastor's eyes is very much enough and maybe makes even more sense. Hear me out.

Think about the stereotypical man. The ones women oh so hate. He drinks, he smokes so much, you can't see him, he cheats and lies and he is just a mean little bitch.

(I'm a man myself, don't kill me, I wrote that from the perspective of Alastor Manhater.)

And if his father did these things that were (are somewhat still unfortunately) not at all uncommon among other men, Alastor's hatred of this can be easily extended to every man who cannot prove otherwise. Maybe even those who can or could.

So I think that while it is possible that dear ol' Dad was horribly violent towards his family, it would be a lot less clichè and maybe even make more sense for him to be a pathetic cheater who drinks and smokes and is just unpleasant to be around.

Alastor would fucking hate his guts. His father is rude to his mother and to him, he is useless, he is pathetic, he is spending the hard earned money on cigarettes, alcohol and brothels. He lies, he's mean, he's just a horrible person.

Alastor would never want to be like him, though ironically some traits he can't help but learn from him. Lying, being mean to others, he'd also as an adult would occaisionally smoke.

I also think that his relationship with his gender is not the best, in a sense that he doesn't like being a boy, because all boys are douchebags and he doesn't want to be a douchebag. Not like his father anyway.

Okay, closing words.

First of all, I'm not a native english speaker and i wrote this very very late.

Second of all, this is, again all just my idea of what Alastors early life might have looked like. Season 2 is coming soon and it was said that Alastors backstory would be important and would be explored, although that could mean his arrival and early times in Hell as well, we'll have to see.

If you yourself have any other ideas or thoughts or you think I got something wrong, comment it, I'd love to read other fans' thoughts!

Anyways, thank you for reading this far! I'd love to write in a similar format about Alastor's time as an adult or a mixed person working in radio in the late 1920s to early 1930s, so let me know, if that intetests you! I'll propably do better research for that, in this one most of the history knowledge is from memory, so if ive made any errors, again, let me know.

Alright, goodbye now.

[shadowqueenjude]

hi, i agree with a lot of what you’ve said in your last post about acotar opinions that should be universal - but would you mind not throwing around diagnoses like that of DID with little to no context? i agree that tamlin was acting out of character to some extant, but i attribute that to sjm’s bad writing more than anything else, and i think pathologising the behaviour of a fictional character who’s already so hated (however unjustly) further contributes to the stigma. i don’t think he changed as much as the narrative’s attitude towards him. i’d be interested to know why you think he has DID because i can’t think of anything that would suggest the same. i apologise if i’m coming off as combative, but as someone who takes issue with the ease with which this fandom throws around words like abuse - or pathologies/labels in general, i can’t help but implore you to think twice about this, or at least explain why you hold this opinion, if you don’t mind.

— i’m also not trying to imply that there’s anything wrong with tamlin or anyone having DID - just that there are a lot of misconceptions about such disorders, and having failed to find evidence supporting the same, wanted to understand your assertion a little bit more. which is to say i don’t want someone to think “if tamlin is bad and tanljn has did then tamljn is bad because he has did, ergo did is bad.” which is a terribly oversimplified statement and a bit of a reach, but within this fandom? i wouldn’t be surprised.

Hello! I am not just making the diagnosis on a whim, I have actually taken psychology courses and Tamlin fulfills many of the DSM-5 symptoms. DID often occurs as a result of severe childhood trauma, and Tamlin, apart from having abusive parents, was sexually harassed as a child by Amarantha which continued long into his adulthood.

I think the age break scenario does personally suit him as a character even more than the personality break.

Because it is at incidences of high intensity. So, not all of the pain he’s suffered is going to result in a crack. But it would build up overtime

For example, leading to the first crack being at childhood meeting with Amarantha, after two years of living with an abusive parent. Which creates a “brain save” in his mind of twelve year old Tamlin. Fast forward to UTM, where I am almost certain Tamlin was raped. Considering he already had past SA from Amarantha, the trauma he experiences UTM is likely to become associated with the experiences of childhood. So the “brain save” of age twelve will then mix with the new age of twenty three / five hundred

And a new crack is formed, creating a need for a new save. Think of it like a computer auto saving. It’s the minds way of seeing a future crash and ensuring that you don’t wake up not knowing who you are. In ACOMAF we see two distinct sides of him. We see one side that is gentle and kind as he was before, and we also see a more violent, panicky side where he seems to be losing control of his magic. If you want to know more, my friend @positivelyruined has actually had DID and recovered from it and she agrees with my diagnosis!

[adipostsstuff]

The 'Es is Mikoto's younger sister' crack-but-not-really theory post

@74n5n don't say I don't do things for you.

This is mainly a joke theory I thought of randomly but when I thought about it more there was actually a lot of evidence for it so I'm going to compile a list of it here.

They have similar appearances, doen to their ahoges. I reblogged a post earlier about this one.

Es is a similar age to what Mikoto claims his sister to be (early high school age)

Mikoto calls his younger sister brilliant. I don't know about you but I consider memorising large sections of law, psychology and philosophy to be pretty brilliant. They canonically "have a thirst for knowledge" and enjoy learning about new things and may possibly be the most learned person here despite having thr least amount of lived experience.

Es refers to themself as 'uchi' in his second voice drama, which a less formal and more childish pronoun rather than 'boku' like they usually do, which may indicate dropping their guard in front of him and becoming more comfortable around him. This is the only time they refer to themselves as that. (Credits to @/somokoto for pointing this out.) (Side note: it is somewhat amusing to me that the characters Es seems to be closest to are the ones voted guilty trial 1.)

The rest of this is mainly behavioural similarities which isn't actually evidence and more so parallels but I'm going to list them anyways.

5. Both are prone to overworking themselves.

6. Both are a lot stronger than they appear to be. Mikoto is "a normal man with average build" yet he is the 3rd strongest prisoner out of the lot. Es and Kotoko both point out that their physique is not very strong yet they fucking knocked Kazui off of his chair. Sure, he was taken by surprise, and they were quite panicked, but Kazui is heavy and Es is tiny. They should not have the muscle to do that from their appearance alone but they do. They could probably vault half of the prisoners across the room and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

7. Onto the last point, both (well, John more so than Mikoto, but he is just a different aspect of him) have violent instincts, which is something they share with many others and is likely the result of forgotten trauma.

8. Both have identity issues and dissociate.

9. Also I believe in the "Es committed a murder in the past" theory so that in this context is very funny. Siblings who kill and then forget about it entirely separately.

Like, I do not believe thus will actually happen because I'm not sure where to fit that in narratively and it seems like a pretty big reveal to just gloss over, and also you would think Mikoto would recognise his own younger sister (unless he's been away from home for that long and hasn't been able to return, which, given his work situation, isn't entirely implausible), but it would be wild if it were to come true.

[freezingmcxn]

Do you have any more to share about your Slender Man and Zalgo?? It’s very interesting to read :o) Also, good to be back Moon 🤍

SLENDERMAN IN MY AU

Absolutely! I’ll give you the run down of slenderman. Im so sorry your ask is so late, I’m horrible at keeping my motivation up D:

I have a whole time line explaining the situation with Zalgo that I’m working on so I won’t talk about him right now if that’s okay.

Slenderman is not the main focus of my AU. It’s more so about the creeps and the cult that caused the forest to be the way it is ;)

Au post

Physical Appearance

He is still a tall, gaunt figure with unnaturally long limbs and an eerie, faceless visage.

However.. the only difference is he doesn’t have his iconic tentacles or suit.

He is quite literally just an extremely tall, pale and faceless entity.

He is a silent, motionless figure who needs no words nor movement..he is something watching, always watching.

Origins and Purpose

Slenderman's origins are shrouded in mystery, but he is believed to be as old as the forest itself.

As you already know: he awakens every five years for a duration of one year.

He seeks to harvest as much fear as possible and come the closest he can to civilisation within that year before he is compelled to return to his slumber.

When he awakens, the forest itself seems to react, growing darker and more foreboding, as if aware of the evil stirring within.

During his year of wakefulness, Slenderman is feeding off victims brought by his proxies, these victims are Wanderers and random strangers who got lost on hiking trails.

As the year progresses and his time grows short, Slenderman’s activities become more frantic and desperate (meaning people usually go missing during the autumn/winter months).

At the end of the year, Slenderman retreats back into the depths of the forest, his resting place. The woods gradually return to their “natural state”, and the sense of dread lifts.

Prey and Proxies

He preys on those who venture too far into his territory, purposely or not.

So.. like I mentioned, Hikers, campers, and the curious who stray from the path as well as Wanderers.

Proxies are essentially Wanderers (dead) bodies that ended up getting possessed by him, they carry out his will and bring victims to him in Zones 3 and 2 of the forest.

They are extensions of his power and have no further reason in life other than to assist him, they are rotting corpses who are nothing but puppets of Slenderman.

Proxies do things such as stalk, kidnap, or even harm victims just to instill fear for Slender Man to feed off.

They do these acts in either Zone 3 or Zone 2 of the forest (depending on how far Slenderman has been able to travel).

The fear generated by these actions empowers Slender Man, enabling him to maintain his influence and grow stronger.

Attacking

When proxies are not available he attacks on his own.

Slenderman’s approach is slow and methodical compared to the violent and brutal nature of the proxies.

He does not attack directly but instead instills fear through subtle and relentless psychological torment.

His victims experience hallucinations, hear whispers in the wind, and feel an unshakable sense of being watched.

As their fear intensifies, Slenderman grows stronger, feeding off their terror until they ultimately die.

That’s all for now!

My asks are open, I am busy working on some but don’t hesitate to send in anymore. Thank you for all the endless support, I’m glad I have people finding me again :)

I love you all lots look after yourselves :)

[fruitymocha]

Laboratory of Love

Starring: Idia as The Creation, Ortho as The Assistant, and You as The Mad Scientist

Warnings: Yandere themes, mental instability, mentions of corpses and general post-mortem shit, violence/violent tendencies, murder, and psychological torment (both self inflicted and from an outside source). I DO NOT CONDONE ANYONE’S ACTIONS IN THIS STORY. THIS IS PURELY FICTION AND SHOULD NOT BE EMULATED. DNI IF YOU ARE YOUNGER THAN 16, ARE EASILY FRIGHTENED, OR DO NOT LIKE DARK/YANDERE THEMES.

A/N: you guys! As of writing this author’s note, Little Songbird has over 90 likes! Thank you guys so much for the interactions, it means a lot, especially since I was kinda worried it wouldn’t be received well when I first posted it. Also yes, I know it’s been a year, but it’s fine, just go with it. This literally has been sitting in my drafts collecting dust since last October, so it’s about time I resurrect this thing (yes this is a purposeful joke). I hope that you guys enjoy Laboratory of Love just as much as Little Songbird, and without further ado…

Round and round we rewind the reel…

Y/N L/N. That is my name. My mission is to investigate the world of the living and find the spark of life.

Unfortunately, the people outside are cold and unyielding to modern science. They are stuck in their old ways, believing my research and experiments to be… sacrilegious.

Hence why my secret lab is hidden away in an abandoned tower. It’s close enough to the city that I can easily acquire modern equipment and resources, but also foreboding enough to keep people away. Or did my reputation do that for me? Who knows.

“Ortho, have you acquired the book?”

“Yes Doctor. The Book of Shadows, as you requested,” The young boy handed me a thick leather book, his fiery blue hair flickering in child-like joy.

“Thank you, Ortho,”

“You’re welcome, Doctor,” I flipped through the pages, hoping to find its alchemy section. “Doctor, do you think science and magic are compatible?”

“There’s only one way to find out, Ortho, and you know what it is,”

“Aren’t you worried about what could happen if you use dark magic?” I sighed.

“Ortho, we’ve been over this,” I said, focused on the alchemical symbols in the Book of Shadows. “I don’t believe in ‘dark’ magic. There’s no such thing as ‘light’ or ‘dark’. Society simply deems ‘light’ to be the ‘safe’ and acceptable type of magic, while ‘dark’ is more dangerous and selfish. But if humanity never trifled with danger, we would never be where we are today. We would still be at Nature’s mercy,”

“I understand now, Doctor. But please be careful!”

“You know I will, Ortho. They may call me mad as much as they want, but I have no death wish. I know how to take precaution,”

Ortho. Another societal outcast. Allegedly cursed with his fiery hair, and considered a bad omen. They said his blue locks were from the fires of Hell. So I took him in as my assistant, and I found him to be quite curious and inclined to help. A perfect job for him. Society may call me many things, but to call me cruel would be untrue.

“Doctor, what do you plan to do?”

“Learn the ways of Nature, and acquire that power for myself,” I said simply

“…why?” I thought about it hard. Then I knew.

“My time in university could not satisfy my thirst, so I will seek out the solution myself,”

“It’s only been a few months since your graduation, Doctor,”

“Yes, and that means all my higher education is still somewhat fresh in my mind, Ortho. It will help me,” I stared off for a moment before something struck me as odd.

“I still don’t understand why you call me Doctor, Ortho… I have not earned a doctorate degree,” I said slowly

“Because I think you deserve the title, Doctor,”

I closed the Book of Shadows, and silently turned to the setting sun out the window.

“Ortho?”

“Yes, Doctor?”

I thought for a moment. Am I sure I want to do this?

I sighed, and said it anyway.

“Where is the nearest cemetery?”

~*~

“Are you sure we won’t get caught, Doctor?”

“To be quite frank with you Ortho, getting caught is a very real possibility. If you’re not up for the risk, you can go back to the lab-”

“No. I- I want to help you,” I sighed while looking at the blue-haired boy.

“Okay. Let’s find some corpses,” I handed Ortho the smaller of the two shovels I brought. “Let’s get digging,” I walked in a random direction, with Ortho following close behind, looking for recently dead, young male bodies.

First Gravestone

We dug down and inspected his body. Unfortunately he wasn’t a good candidate. He died of plague.

Second gravestone

He was missing chunks of skin.

Third gravestone

His head was smashed, face unrecognizable.

Finally, we reached the fourth gravestone. We dug with less enthusiasm and more difficulty than when we started. But all the effort was worth it. The body was tall, skin sallow, head shaved. But his body was unmarked by plague or brutality. He was not rotting… yet.

“He’s perfect,” I whispered to myself.

Ortho and I loaded the corpse onto a wheelbarrow, but not before wrapping it in inconspicuous cloth tied together with rope.

We were lucky not to get caught.

As we made our way back to the lab tower, I thought about what I would do with the body. Create a puppet, perhaps?

No.

Better.

Create a sentient being.

Ambitious, but The Book of Shadows would likely have the power I need.

Now all I needed to do was find the right spell, get the materials, and do what needed to be done.

~*~

With the corpse strapped on the gurney, attached tubes and wires connecting to monitors and rudimentary electrical machines, and Book of Shadows in hand, I was ready to commence my ambitious experiment.

Thunder rumbled and rain pelted outside. I paid it no mind. I had drawn the sigils in my own blood and placed them on different areas of the body, just as instructed. Blood sigils were also drawn and dried upon my palms. Keeping the book open, I read aloud the incantation.

“Withering Corpse, cold as night

Your early death has caused you strife

I avenge your soul, I’ll make it right

I give your body the gift of life”

A blue glow began to radiate within the room, and I could feel the surge of power coursing through my veins.

The rain pelted. I paid it no mind.

The body in front of me became surrounded in a magical blue glow.

The wind shrieked. I paid it no mind.

The sigils on my palms thrummed and the drawn sigils on the corpse pulsed like beating hearts. Ortho looked on in amazement.

The thunder roared. I paid it no mind.

Any signs of the corpse’s state of death seemed to disappear, instead in a seemingly peaceful slumber.

But then lightning struck through the glass ceiling, and I did pay it mind as it struck the body.

A smaller, stray ray of lightning struck me too, and the last thing I remember was the pain of hitting the ground, and getting rained on by rainwater and broken glass.

~*~

I awoke to the sound of soft rain and Ortho by my side.

“Dr Y/N please wake up!”

I opened my eyes to see that I was in one of the spare hospital beds in my laboratory. I got out of bed, much to Ortho’s shock and worry. When my feet touched the ground, a small shock coursed through my body, and I convulsed briefly.

“Dr Y/N you need to rest, you were struck by lightning!”

“Ortho I must see him!”

Ortho sighed, but reluctantly handed me a wooden staff. I suppose it should do as a walking stick. With the stick’s support on my dominant side, and Ortho staying close by my other side, I shuffled my way to the Enrichment Room.

The Enrichment Room was a room co-designed by Ortho and I, meant for intellectual stimulation without putting too much strain. A less sophisticated way of referring to it would be The Brain Break Room. It was filled with leisure novels, puzzles, riddle books, and other activities that require some form of focus and thought.

Sitting there on the ground in a strange and twisted position, fiddling with a metal handheld puzzle, was The Creation. Instead of normal hair, he had long, blue fire, very much similar to Ortho’s. Hair from the depths of hell. His eyes were striking yellow, not unlike Ortho’s. His skin was still quite sallow, but at the very least it wasn’t post-mortem pale like it was just hours before. His mouth was slightly open, exposing his pointed teeth. Ortho also had pointed teeth, a fact I had grown accustomed to as he stepped into the role as my lab assistant.

I decided to attempt to carefully approach The Creation.

“Hello,” I said.

He looked up at me with wide, curious eyes.

“I’m the one who gave you life. You can call me Y/N,”

The Creation put down the metal puzzle and reached out a hand. The fingers were spread wide in an awkward position. It seemed that The Creation was struggling with fine motor skills. I took his hand, only for him to pull me down with him, walking stick rolling off to the side. His physical strength was remarkable! He stared, fascinated at my dominant arm, which bore red, jagged, bruise-like marks from the lightning strike. He then placed his palm on my upper arm, his own arm completely outstretched in a strange position.

“We should give him a name, Dr Y/N,” Ortho said, coming closer to The Creation. I looked into his eyes. Unaware, void of knowledge or experience, but curious.

“Ortho, I think when the time is right, he should choose his own name,”

The Creation croaked out a deep noise from his throat. I supposed he was trying to talk like Ortho and I. His existence is fascinating indeed.

When I went back to bed, I heard the creaking of footsteps, and Ortho speaking, though it sounded muffled as this was happening on the other side of the door, far from the bed.

“…be careful…need rest…tomorrow…this way…”

I turned to my side in bed, and I tried to relax so I could focus properly tomorrow. However, that proved to be quite difficult. Breakthroughs and discoveries wait for no one.

~*~

As the days went by, I noticed that The Creation had taken an interest in my work just as Ortho had. Occasionally, I would ask him to retrieve items or hold something. Otherwise, he spent many of his days in the Enrichment Room playing with the various handheld puzzles. One by one, he’s started to solve them, and I wonder just how intelligent he is.

I was just about to open one of the ingredient containers when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. The Creation looked over my shoulder, hunched, and maintaining that gloomy default expression.

“What is it?” I asked him. He pointed to Ortho, who spoke for him.

“He wants to learn how to talk,”

I looked at him for a moment, but then smiled to myself, shaking my head.

“Of course you do. And I would be more than happy to help,” I said to The Creation.

He smiled, in his own awkward, sharp-toothed way. It was charming, in its own way (though most of society would likely beg to differ).

And so, I taught him how to speak.

~*~

Weeks went by as I taught him how to be human. He learned to read. He learned to write. He soon mastered all the puzzles I had, and contented himself with disassembling and reassembling things in his free time.

He named himself Idia.

And he treated Ortho like a brother.

“Y/N,”

“Yes, Idia?” I asked, studying the Book of Shadows once more.

“I have come across this concept of ‘love’. What does it mean to love?”

I halted my study for a moment, turning to him. “Love can be many things. There is love for your family. There is love for your friends,”

“I mean romance, Y/N,”

“…that is something you will come to know when you meet someone very special,” I said finally.

“Is there anyone you love like that?”

“…in university, I knew someone, yes. That person is long gone from my life now,”

Idia stayed silent. I returned to my studies, disheartened by the conversation, and wanting to distract myself.

“…will I find someone to love me?” He asked.

I thought for a moment on how to respond.

“…I…don’t know,”

“Why not?”

“The outside world is not kind. It has not been kind to me, or to Ortho. They don’t be kind to you either,” I said, perhaps a bit harshly.

Idia did not respond anymore.

When I had time to look up from what I was doing, he was already gone.

~*~

A year has gone by since Idia’s creation. And he’s become something of a mechanical genius. He’s now the one who builds and fixes my machinery. How convenient.

But as the seasons have passed, he has become increasingly attached. Perhaps not healthy behavior. But what am I to do? His hair is blue like the flames of hell. He would be an outcast before anyone ever gave him a chance.

I felt the autumn breeze coming in through a window.

“Ortho, please close the window”

The window did slam shut. But when I looked up, it was not Ortho who shut the window.

“Idia? What brings you into the lab?”

“I’ve read more books. About love,”

“…And?”

“I want someone to love me. Make me my other half,”

“Idia, creating Life is not a simple task. Do you know what happened the night I created you? You got struck by lightning and so did I. If I do it again, especially in inclement weather, it’s very possible something could go wrong. Do you know how hard it is to find a body undamaged? Unravaged by plague? No part of this process is easy, Idia,”

“I don’t care how hard it is.” He said firmly. “Make me a lover, or I’ll make my own,”

I swallowed. It felt like my mouth was stuffed with cotton. He was serious.

“…alright. I’ll see what I can do,”

“You have one week,”

And with that, he left the lab.

~*~

It was considerably more difficult to find the second body. But I managed.

…but guilt was slowly consuming me. Idia was my best creation. A lovely, fascinating, raw creation. Proof of my conquering of Life.

But I couldn’t do it again.

So I took the body with me, and I used a rowboat to get to the center of the lake.

It was there that I dumped the sacrilegious body. I watched the corpse sink below the tides, never to be rediscovered.

I felt relief for once. Despite Idia’s threat before, I felt relief that I disposed of that body.

That relief was very short lived, and before I realized what was happening, I blacked out.

~*~

When I awoke, I was strapped to a gurney. Ortho looked at me, concerned.

“Doctor, I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop him,”

Idia emerged from the shadows, wearing my lab coat and protective gear.

“I told you I would make my own lover. And guess what, Y/N? I have,”

“Who did you hurt?!”

“I didn’t go into the town, don’t worry. They are stuck in their old ways. Unyielding to modernity. Unwilling to embrace progress. But you were,” he smiled his sinister, shark toothed smile. He and Ortho looked like brothers. But knowing what my dear creation has become, that comparison felt unfair.

The restraints on the gurney unlatched, and I stumbled off.

There was an unnatural pallor to my skin.

My limbs were somewhat rigid.

Something was wrong.

I scrambled around, looking for a reflective surface. I needed to know what happened. And I found a small handheld mirror. There was dried blood on my head. My skin was unnaturally blanched.

My eyes held the blue flames of hell.

“Idia…what have you done?”

“…I only meant to knock you unconscious. I am much stronger than I thought. But it’s okay, I found your Book of Shadows. I fixed it,”

I looked at him intensely.

“…you learned from the Book of Shadows?”

“Yes,”

“…and it worked…you…you’re incredible…” I said in awe.

“Doctor, what does this mean?”

“…It means Idia, my creation, has become a creator” I said.

“Just as you reshaped me and gave me new life, I have done the same to you, Doctor Y/N,” Idia smiled a satisfactory smile. He had made me into a creation. Like him. It had finally dawned on me. He remade me in his image. The “lover” he made was me.

And I laughed. I laughed until I couldn’t breathe. Until I forgot why I was laughing. Until I started to cry as I laughed. I laughed such a laugh they would have called me mad.

Well, they already did before.

Maybe they were right.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

As long as we all held the blue flames of hell in our bodies and souls, none of it mattered.

~Fin~

[rynnthefangirl]

In regard to JL&J vs. A&V, I wonder if the fandom animosity has anything to do with Viserys II being the absolute worst.

He forces his daughter to marry his rapist son and then steals his niece’s throne, using Rhaenyra as evidence to why women shouldn’t rule.

In contrast we have dashing Prince Jace who dies fighting for his mother’s claim and goes down in history as one of the greatest kings Westeros never had. George’s own words btw.

No one can say Westeros was better off with Daemyra’s son on the throne instead of Jace and most of us can agree that Rhaenyra’s definitely cursing Viserys II from the grave.

The ideal ending was King Jacaerys I Targaryen, the tragedy is that we end up with King Viserys II Targaryen.

Boy oh boy, you activated my Viserys II and Aegon III defense protocol.

First, to be clear I 100% agree King Jacaerys I would have been amazing, and (along with Queen Baela) one of the best monarchs Westeros would have ever seen. Westeros was robbed, and FUCK the Greens for that.

But Viserys II the absolute worst? Not even close.

First, the Daena issue. Viserys gets a lot of shit for this, but let’s look at the reality. He has just spent 14 years trying to protect the realm from the follies of his nephews, Daeron the Warmonger and Baelor the Religious Zealot. Now he has two options. Option 1. Let Daena take the throne. Daena was said to idolize her brother Daeron (the violent war monger who got 50,000 men killed to stroke his ego), and likely sympathized with the anti-Dornish (read: racist) faction at court forming since Daeron’s failed conquest. Viserys’ own great grandchild is half Dornish, and the peace with Dorne was hard won — does Westeros need a Queen who may threaten to break that peace? How many more will die if Daena decides to avenge her brother? Daena also has been locked in isolation for 10 years— while obviously she should not be punished for that (and I cannot stress this enough, FUCK Baelor), you do have to wonder what kind of effect that may have on her psychology. Now I love Daena, I truly truly do, but there were a lot of red flags as to what kind of Queen she would be. Had Elaena been next in line (and her competence that we later see been known to Viserys), I think it could have been a different story.

Option 2. Take the throne himself. Viserys II is arguably the most competent statesman House Targaryen ever produced. He has buckets of experience running the realm, and truly put the good and prosperity of westeros above all else: above his ego, above his vanity, above his ambition. I don’t believe for one second that Viserys is some devoted male primogeniture advocate that believes women shouldn’t rule: but I think he (correctly) saw that he was more suited to the throne than Daena was. The major downside of Viserys is that his son and heir is awful. BUT Aegon’s flaws would have appeared to be excess lust and gluttony, something he was already indulging in as a prince, and theoretically would not have been so bad for the Realm as a whole if he had just sat back and let the council do the ruling for him, as Viserys likely expected he would. Like Robert Baratheon. And after Aegon, the next in line is Daeron, who at the point of Viserys’ ascension had already been shown to be smart, kind, capable, honorable, wise— all the makings of a great king. Viserys probably figured the realm could tolerate a decade or so of Aegon fucking around while the small council and Hand ruled, to be followed up by an ideal heir, Daeron. This is also all assuming that Viserys was not planning to disinherit Aegon and make Daeron his immediate heir; he may have simply died (or been poisoned) before he had the chance. By contrast, Daena has no true born children yet, so there is no telling how good or bad her heir might be. Would Viserys flip the coin on if her son would be Maegor come again, or go the way he knew had a competent heir one generation down?

I hate to see another Targaryen woman screwed out of her birth right, but please understand how vastly different this was to what Aegon II and the Greens did. This was not just “oh women shouldn’t rule, male primogeniture is great, fuck my mother Rhaenyra” or “oh I’m a greedy asshole who wants the throne and will screw over my own family to get it”. Viserys is simply a practical man who deals with reality the way that it is, not the way that he wishes it to be.

I also think it is worth considering another thing— from what we know about Viserys II, he deeply loved and was utterly loyal to his brother Aegon. I think it’s fair to say his love would extend to his brothers children. He served Daeron and Baelor faithfully… and they both died young, struck down after their personal follies were amplified to a horrifying extent by the absolute power they wielded. Perhaps Viserys worried that power would drive Daena to a similar fate as her brothers, and felt that he was protecting Aegon’s beloved daughter from herself. Now is that incredibly patronizing? Yes. But it may not have been entirely incorrect, and would be coming from a place of love and good intentions.

At the end of the day, Jace is amazing, but he never had to face the same difficult choices that Viserys II and Aegon III did. He was in a war where the goal was simple : win, and protect your family. But what do you do when forced to choose between your mother’s legacy (not her life, her legacy) and peace for your people? When the choice is ego and pride over safety and stability? When to preserve the future, you must let go of the past? Jace died at 15, before he ever had to face such decisions. At age 13, Viserys stood his ground against the Kingsguard, holding out against a secret seige for 18 days and using his courage and wit to undo all of Unwin Peake’s schemes. No part of me doubts that 15 year old Viserys would have jumped on his dragon and rushed to save a little sibling from the the Battle of the Gullet, dying for his family. Jace and Viserys simply cannot he compared. Jace is forever 15, forever flawless and forever brave and forever our perfect would be king. He will never make a mistake. Viserys had to grow up and realize that not everything is as black and white as sending Sandoq the Shadow to protect your lady wife. It’s kind of like what Maekar said to Duncan after Baelor Breakspear died: anytime anything went wrong, people would say “Baelor would not have let this happen, but the Hedge Knight killed him”. Would Baelor have been a phenomenal king? Absolutely. But it’s hardly fair to assume he could and would have fixed any issue that ever went wrong in Valarr’s (or as it would be, Aerys’) reign.

Now— the Naerys issue. I am not going to defend this one as I defended him ascending the throne over Daena. I love Viserys as a character, and rarely do I love characters because I think they are wholly good. Viserys doomed his own goddamn daughter to life of misery and endless marital rape. That cannot be denied. In truth, Viserys II is much the same as Jaehaerys I. Both great men, great kings… and absolutely godawful fathers.

I will offer some context about it though. Because Viserys did not marry 36 year old Aegon to 33 year old Naerys. He married 18 year old Aegon to 15 year old Naerys (and as to the age thing, this was a normal time for Westerosi women to marry, and Viserys in particular is going to have a messed up view on the matter considering that he was married at 12 and seemed to have developed a kind of fucked up Stockholm-esque love for 19 year old Larra). Now, the accounts make it seem like the extent of Aegon’s awfulness did not become truly apparent until he got a bit older, and the mistakes he made were written off by court and realm as the follies of youth. I think one of Viserys’ biggest mistakes and worst characteristics is that he allowed himself to get so caught up in his duty to his brother and realm, that he utterly neglected his own children. They weren’t living in a massive war as he and his brother did in their childhood, so what guidance did they truly need? I think he felt that Aegon had the lust and gluttony that many spoiled rich kids would have, and that time and stern discipline would set him straight. I don’t think he was paying enough attention to see that Aegon was a burgeoning sociopath. Viserys probably thought that sweet, dutiful Naerys would be a good influence on Aegon, and help shape him into a better person. I think it also was a politically motivated match, some classic oldest son-oldest daughter incest to show the realm that the loss of the dragons did not mean House Targaryen was abandoning its ancient customs.

Again, I truly am not trying to say Viserys was in the right here. He should have cared for his children enough to see how fucked up Aegon was and that he was putting his daughter in an incredibly dangerous situation. If Naerys hated her father and cursed his name and never forgave him, she would be so fucking right to do so. But Viserys in truth reminds me a bit of Maekar— I think he was (either through negligence or stubborn willfullness) ignorant (at that point) to his sons true depravity. Maekar thought Aerion (clear born psychopath, broke Tanselle’s fingers, tried to kill Duncan, threatened to castrate his little brother, threw a cat down a well, drank wildfire, Aerion) was a promising young man who just needed a shove in the right direction— until Aerion’s monstrosity got his Uncle Baelor killed. In the same way, I think Viserys saw Aegon as lazy and gluttonous and lustful… but someone who could still be put on the right path. Then by the time it became clear that that wasn’t the case, and he doomed his daughter to marriage to a rapist sociopath, it was too late. Divorce does not exist in Westeros.

The tragedy was not King Viserys II. The tragedy was King Daeron I, King Baelor I, and King Aegon IV. The worst thing Aegon III and Viserys II did was fathering these absolute fuckfaces. But their sons being the absolute worst does not make them the absolute worst. Even the best most noble and amazing person can be cursed with a psycho as a son. Aegon V, lord protector of smallfolk, had none other than Mad King Aerys himself as a grandson. Had Jace ascended the throne, I promise at some point that corruption and rot will rear its ugly head— whether in his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, etc. Not because it’s endemic to House Targaryen, but because it’s endemic to humanity and having absolute power be inherited to every first born son no matter what is a terrible idea.

At the end of the day, I stan and love ALL of Rhaenrya’s children. Jace, Luke, Joff, Aegon, Viserys— every single one. I won’t deny Viserys is the worst of them, but he also lived the longest, and as such of course is going to have more fucked up shit to his name than literal children who died fighting a war. My original post was calling out Aegon and Viserys “fans” who shit on the Velaryon boys, and I stand by that. I’ll go to war for the Velaryon boys. But I’ll go to war for Daemyra’s boys too, the broken kids who had to pick up the pieces of their broken realm in the wake of the most catastrophic war westeros ever saw, who never asked or wanted any of it. They did their best.

Edit: I’m now realizing this may have come across as aggressive overkill considering that it is genuinely very fair to criticize Viserys. Apologies Anon😅 I’m just really passionate about him and Aegon III (they are my favorite Targs) and this gave me an excuse to talk about a lot of the thoughts I’ve been meaning to make posts about.

[akria23]

Suspect / Character Chart Update:

Nobody:

So this week’s episode moved us off the path of Nuth as he claimed that Nant committed suicide - including some possible flashbacks of the body. This moves my Nobody theory - specifically Nobody: Theory A into sus rank 1.

Do I believe that Nant committed suicide tho? No I’m not convinced yet. I do think he’d have a lot of reasons for suicide - which I pointed out the first time I posted - but there’s so many questions left with that option. Where’s the body? Did nuth hide it? Why? What about a suicide note - not everyone leaves one but it seems strange of Nant in particular to not want to get out to his brother what he’d never been able to say while living.

I do think this does move up other aspects of the Nobody theory tho - they confirmed debt collectors so maybe Nant faked his death & went into hiding, or they harmed him. We still have the possibility of psychological break & Nont and Nant being the same person who just suffered a traumatic experience or drug usage that caused a break in his psyche - I still don’t want this the most but I can see it being this cause it is the safer route to end us off with.

Nuth:

Nuth has moved down in the ranks to the number 2 spot. Hes not lower because while he claims that Nant ruined his life and committed suicide all of his flashbacks of Nant so far hasn’t shown Nant be violent or harmful towards him. He’s pictured supportive, sexualized, and a hurt Nant. That’s not to say Nant couldn’t have harmed him or even made his life worse - it’s just a possibility that Nuth isn’t a reliable source even his flashbacks. We’ve seen him have hallucinations so it’s difficult to say what he recalls or sees as 100 proof of things happening or have happened.

Also…did they ever tell us what the bloody hand print was from… If Nant was selling drugs to pay his debt is it the same ppl Nuth is selling for? Theres also these lines or cages placed over Nuth sometimes and I’m not sure if it’s metaphor for criminality or a metaphor for how trapped he feels. There’s still one of two threads they can pull and circle back around to it being Nuth so he stays on the list.

Prom:

It’s still all vibes no evidence. He doesn’t slip, he doesn’t miss. He’s almost the perfect specimen partner wise in the sense that he has an ability to read Nont in a way no other does. He’s not overbearing, or controlling. He doesn’t try to change Nont’s mind after boundaries are set. Anything Nont says he needs or wants, Prom goes along with - an active supporter (plotting, research, giving him the weapon). But that’s the thing, Nont is more honest with him than he is with any other characters - and he has to see the frayed edges but he doesn’t pull Nont back at all. He enables…he’s supporting his descent.

The question I’m lost on is why. Maybe it’s empathy, relatability- I too am sadistic in my way, I too have rage, I wanna kill someone - and because he’s so good at repressing he admires & desires Nont who doesn’t repress who just acts and reacts. And this is what makes them revenge lovers.

But there’s still always that niggle at my brain that reminds me that Prom inserted himself and then had had influence over the case ever since. The show is always highlighting something off when Prom is in the mix - the music change, the aesthetic of the room, the way they position his def in scenes at the Playboyy with Aob & Puen (which I’m sure is to show us how he’s a source that benefits from the competing nature). He still feels like an invisible hand, still feels like he’s playing chess and seeing moves ahead of his lover. There’s so much mystery surrounding him still that’s it’s difficult to move him off the suspect board.

Porsche:

I still can’t tie Porsche into his death so he stays at number 4 ranking but I still wonder if his sugar daddy had anything to do with Nant that would’ve set them into a competitive nature for his resources and therefore enemies…that’s my mind working theories from what the story has given us thus far tho.

[h-worksrambles]

James' interactions with Eddie are something I've found myself thinking about a lot since finishing Silent Hill 2. Pretty much every character in the game serves double duty as being fleshed out as individuals, while also serving as a commentary on some facet of James as a character. Maria is the most obvious, but you also have Angela's self loathing and suicidal ideation, which reflects James' own self flagellation through Pyramid Head. Laura echoes many of the regrets James himself feels about his distance and possible neglect of Mary before she died, and throws those thoughts back in his face out of her own anger. By that same logic, I'd argue Eddie is a means for James to confront his denial as well as his capacity for violence.

Eddie comes to Silent Hill on the run after lashing out against those who bullied him since childhood. After being mocked for years due to his appearance and weight, he shoots both his bully, and the bully's dog, and so ends up coming to the town. Like James and Angela, he too committed a crime of passion (assuming Angela did indeed kill her abusive dad as is implied), and all three are trying to come to terms with what they did. Unlike Angela, who knows what she did and has been conditioned by her abuse to blame herself, Eddie is closer to James, seeming to actively deny what he has done. Or at least only sometimes. It's not entirely clear (and I invite anyone to correct me if I'm minsinterpreting) but Eddie seems to experience multiple personalities. He flips between being more aware of his surroundings and past, and more out of it and unaware. Sometimes he's gleefully boasting about how the people he's killed had it coming. Sometimes he's sat eating pizza like he isn't even aware what kind of place he's in. And we see this flip when James confronts Eddie in Toulca Prison, finding him standing over another body. At first he revels in his kill, and rationalises it, before seeming to flip, and attempt to feign ignorance, as if the prior conversation never happened. For all his bravado, I'd imagine the blood on his hands is extremely traumatic, just as it is for James, and this is likely a psychological coping mechanism. With his false memories repressing his past actions and allowing him to deny it, Eddie mirrors James in that respect. As well as how they're both mild mannered people but who are capable of acts of terrible violence when pushed far enough.

What really stands out to me is that every encounter with Eddie is done in a way that allows James to claim the moral high-ground. When James finds Eddie vommiting in the apartment bathroom, he expresses concern. When Laura runs off from the bowling alley, James berates Eddie for not showing more concern for her safety (giving us one of the most iconic meme lines in the series). And most blatantly, James is horrified when he finds Eddie, having just shot somebody dead. Most tellingly he says "You can't just kill someone just because of the way they looked at you!" And yet, isn't that precisely what James did? He killed Mary because of the exhaustion of caring for her in the late stages of her illness. Because of the way she spoke to him. The way she looked at him. James spends all his interactions with Eddie trying to convince himself that he's a good person. A better person than Eddie. But the more he encounters Eddie, the more Eddie becomes a mirror to him. He definitely has his own struggles as a character and makes a very prescient point about what happens when people are constantly rejected, mocked and socially isolated by society, convinced that they are unlovable (in some ways, Silent Hill 2 was making some very relevant points about incel culture in 2001). But he's also a means for James to confront the parts of himself he doesn't like. His frustration, self-loathing, denial and violent streak. When Eddie tells James that they're the same, that they were both called by the town for a reason...he's right.

And ultimately, for all of James' posturing, all his denial, all his attempts to be the moral voice of reason, James still ultimately ends standing over Eddie's corpse.

Once again, he's killed another person. And confronting that side of himself one of the last things he does before arriving at the Lakeview Hotel and being forced to fully accept the truth...

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

I deeply crave a character analysis on HOTD and how you perceive them in canon vs who they are to you in your fanfictions.

I love your portrayal of them it’s so layered and interesting, truly you are a sorceress of words 🩷

Firstly, you are so sweet???? Thank you for reading my fics and for your wonderfully kind compliments, these stories and characters feel very real to me and it is just the coolest thing ever to have awesome people like you to share them with 🥹💜

Secondly, I don't even know how to start because I have SOOOOO many thoughts about so many characters! So I'm just going to focus on Aemond and Aegon (our fav disaster blonde boys), but PLEASE ask if there is someone else you would like me to expound on specifically, I would be delighted to, believe me 🥰🥰

Aemond: My understanding of canon Aemond is that he a) is psychologically wounded by his experiences as a child, b) sees himself as more competent/worthy than Aegon and is always trying to prove it, and c) bonds with few people but when he does he does so very intensely.

I draw upon all these fundamental traits, but I also think I see more potential for tenderness in Aemond, even if he is guarded and kind of emotionally illiterate. Additionally, I feel that Aemond (while he is often bad at showing it) loves his family, especially Aegon, and does not intend to betray them. In my fics, Aemond is always bad at processing emotions and deeply...not normal 😂 But that can manifest in a lot of different ways! Aemond can be devoted to an extent that is obsessive, unhinged, or even unwise (HYNITYID/NICIY), he can sabotage his relationships with insecurities (Comet/Napoleonville), or he can be locked in an endless battle to prove he is the most worthy and enact his vision for himself and his family (NTTF/WTWICD/1968). They're all the same man, just in different fonts. 🙂

Aegon: HOTD canon Aegon is a bit difficult to get a handle on, mostly because I think he has been written in an inconsistent (and not very good 😬) way. What we see of him in the show is that Aegon a) uses alcohol and sex to distract himself from the abuse and neglect he has suffered since childhood, b) can be ruthless, reckless, violent, and maybe brave (???) and c) is pretty isolated within the Targaryen family and, while he clearly hates Rhaenyra, has nebulous feelings towards his fellow Greens (ex. tries to abandon them all, but then is devastated when his son is killed, but also has children in the fighting pits???? idk, don't get me started on all that).

My versions of Aegon are basically entirely inspired by Tom Glynn-Carney's interpretation of the character, which left such a huge impression on me even with his...like...10 minutes of screen time in Season 1 😂 I feel that Aegon is beaten down by the rejection of his family but that he directs that pain inwards more than outwards; he is gentler than Aemond, less confident, less composed, less conventionally successful, less moralistic, oftentimes less capable, but he has way more emotional intelligence and is better able to read and empathize with people. Aegon can be annoying, irresponsible, and unreliable, but he is also underneath all of that a good person, and in my fics Aegon tends to have a bit of a redemption arc. He also, like Aemond, genuinely cares about his family, even if he shows it in unorthodox ways. I am just obsessed with that sad floppy little dude!!! 🥰

[prongsfish]

sigh

im post blocked

anyway

FISHALICIOUS

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE EVAN ROSIER HEADCANONS

(ive been asking everyone because he's slowly becoming my favourite)

just now realising you asked this nearly a month ago i'm so sorry i don't know why i struggle with answering asks so much!! but anyways evan headcanons i will GLADLY give. my characterisation of him is less concrete than characters like barty or regulus but i think about him loads still i love him...

this is a classic ofc but i will always see him and pandora as twins!! i love siblings in media so much and i think it allows for suuupper interesting dynamics between them, even in canon

in muggle aus my go-to career for him is either a piercer or something in the medical science field. i can just picture him as this mildly off-putting medsci student who goes on to be a forensic pathologist or something, he's really intrigued by the human body and how it functions in various ways. could definitely also go the way of unlicensed surgeon or mad scientist who performs fucked up experiments on people but that sort of thing doesn't quite fit into every fic lmaoo

i've always thought of him as more of a piercings guy than a tattoo guy (which is the opposite to barty). he'd definitely have both but i associate him more with piercings if that makes sense? i imagine he'd have a labret, bridge, stretched lobes (~7/8"), stretched septum (~0g), eyebrows (normal and middle placements), and high nostrils. all symmetrical!! plus probably some other non-facial piercings

he'd love sci-fi, thriller, and horror (especially psychological) films. anything super tense and probably confusing

when he was a child he and pandora would trap and kill insects. they'd spend ages examining little bug bodies and dissecting them with sticks and stuff... as he grew older he became more and more interested in bigger animals. occasionally he would kill animals himself but more often he'd search for those already dead, especially roadkill. once he was finished with any given specimen he'd carefully remove, clean, and reconstruct their skeletons to give to pandora. she didn't like the organs stuff as much as he did but she loved collecting bones and taxidermy insects, in exchange one year for his birthday (10-14th, maybe) she spent ages searching to buy him a surgical set from an antique store

waaay scarier than barty. if you don't know them you might be more initially scared by barty but while barty is loud and crazy and violent and laughs at pain/danger, evan is creepy. he knows way a million and one ways to kill someone without leaving behind any evidence. he knows every single pressure point on the human body. someone mentions a medicine they've taken their whole life for the first time and when someone else asks what it is he can explain in minute detail exactly how it works to the point where not even the person who takes it knew even half of what he says. he's super quiet moving without even meaning to be so he scares the shit out of people all the time. he doesn't blink as often as he should but just often enough that you don't notice until you're paying attention. and this is all revealed gradually, whereas barty's most "scary" traits are purposefully the most surface level things about him

he loooves medical dramas. he's watched tons of them. he HATES the good doctor though, purely on principle because once someone said that must be his favourite because he's autistic. his actual favourite is house

he runs cold and NEVER wears shorts. lots of beanies and jackets

these were so random and i went on a few tangents but oh well i did like five other things between writing these so it's a bit of a mess LMAO

[faejilly]

one thing i hate in fics is when they say that alec is less flexible than magnus, matt being less flexible than harry? absolutely.

but ALEC LIGHTWOOD accomplished warrior, master archer, and much more, being less flexible than magnus just doesn’t make sense to me,

like i’m my mind all shadowhunters are crazy insane flexible bc it just doesn’t make sense that they’re not, so that whole notion is bullshit to me and once i would love to see alec being more flexible than magnus

12/10... I would say no notes but actually I have SO MANY NOTES so the meme dies with me. (This is not a new thing. 😅)

There are a lot of different types of 'flexible' but I will agree that like... Magnus' physicality is absolutely partly about knowing he can handle any situation thrown at him, is part self-defense and psychological armor and health, strengthens his magic and his mind and his mood, but it's also for FUN and dancing and teasing and playing!

And all of that, even the self-defense & fighting when necessary, is entirely different than the physicality of a trained soldier who fights every single damned day of his life and has since he was (at least) ten, and probably younger.

(Shadowhunters were all child-soldiers! They're deeply fucked up and violent and competent! EMPHASIS ON VIOLENTLY COMPETENT.)

And I wrote a whole tangent on child-soldiers and Alec as a mentor but that is NOT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT WHOOPS, I'll try and come back to that somewhere else at some point.

The whole point of Shadowhunters, however, is that they can successfully fight demons AND (however reprehensible this bit is) they have the skill & power to subjugate the entire Down World, including the Warlocks who have vast and flexible magical powers that can pretty much do anything they want them to.

Now, part of this is numbers, because even if they are in a constantly losing battle against the demons, they do still have children which as far as we know none of the Downworlders can manage.

But part of this must be that they can, in fact, handle/fight against magic, demonic skills, and people who have hundreds to thousands of years of experience keeping themselves alive in a world that is hostile to them. They can hold their own against vampires and werewolves and warlocks and even seelie knights who ALSO TRAIN TO FIGHT FOR DECADES OR CENTURIES, because the fae do in fact prefer to stay in their own realm rather than fight for an equal seat at the table with the nephilim.

Like. WTF think about that. The Seelie Queen is capricious and powerful and power-hungry and terrifying and she lets her people be second-class citizens in our realm because it's not worth trying to fight the nephilim.

Now part of that is clearly she doesn't want to have to be the one dealing with demons and she does in fact have her own realm to live in, but still.

STILL.

Nephilim must be absolutely horrifying.

The most famous 'greeting' from angels when they meet humanity is "Be Not Afraid" but nephilim want and encourage that fear.

They are infected with angelic grace in a way that overrides their humanity, in a way that even overrides demonic power, because children of nephilim are always nephilim even when they don't know it, even when one of their parents is demonic or Downworlder. (Even Jonathan Morgenstern is still a nephilim, as well as everything else he is because of Lilith's blood & Valentine's abuse.) They have runes to enhance and control and shape their angelic grace, but even without a single rune activated they are not mundane.

Even a bb!nephilim with minimal training like Clary can survive being thrown off a building and breaking every part of her body. She survives! (When apparently unprepared and without active runes!) Long enough to be healed with magic/iratzes/handwaved-something-or-other off screen and for it to be entirely irrelevant five minutes later. Alec gets stabbed in the heart with adamas (which has been shown to be very hard to heal from in other contexts!) and is fine the next episode! We all kind of complained about the lack of healing/comfort/explanation in the show, but THINK ABOUT IT.

They can heal from almost anything to the point that they're child soldiers who don't even have to learn what mundanes would consider basic first aid because they don't need it.

Magnus puts on a good show but he is terrified of the Circle returning. Now there are a lot of very good reasons for this, including politics and prejudice and systemic power structures but it is also because nephilim even on an individual level are terrifying.

They have to be, or their historic ability to oppress the rest of the world falls apart. They can neutralize and hold their own against vast cosmic powers (the more powerful demons) and ancient vicious capricious warriors who have no love for them (fae) and/or wild magic powered by incredibly emotional beings who are terrified for their lives and souls and giving it their all because they have absolutely nothing the fuck left to lose (warlocks), and the nephilim consistently, reliably, win.

Not without cost, of course, but still. They win. They are not trained to survive or outlast or get away to hide and fight back another day, which is clearly the goal of most Down Worlders. They are trained to end a threat quickly and economically and sacrifice themselves if necessary to do it. (Survival is preferable, so you're around to fight the next thing too, but it is understood that it is not always possible.)

Realistically, this means that if a nephililm is actually trying to fight they will be able to do things with their body that are impossible, and they will be able to work through damage that would be fatal to everyone else without even flinching, and if you're close enough to see how a nephilim can really move you're probably already dead you just don't know it yet.

[psychopasss4]

Kogami: His return to Japan.

This analysis had long been running to my mind ever since I watched Sinners of the System 3: Beyond the Pale of Vengeance.

This might stir a lot of violent reactions for some folks out there. But bear in mind that this reflections are from SS3 era. So hold your horses and refrain from flooding my inbox with hated remarks 😅😁🙈.

💮💮💮💮

In PP the Movie (Gekijouban), we saw Akane immediately bought a plane ticket to SEAUn the moment she received the news of Kogami's whereabouts. (Our dear Akane-chan is a bit aggressive there. Chasing the man she loves respects most 🤭).

And she tried to indirectly persuade him to go back with her to Japan. But she's unsuccessful. That scene when she wants to join Kogami (before his epic motorbike stunt with Shem) showed how eager she is to stay with him until he's ready to return. But Kogami-chan shove her off while assuring her that he won't die just yet with a smirk on his face.

But then, a year after that he came back after a shared bottle with Frederica and their midnight discussion about Cigarette puff psychological context 🤗😅😁😜

I've been thinking hard what could be playing on Kogami's mind when making those choices and I believe it has something to do with his view of the two women whom he worked with.

Note: Look how old handsome he looks in here 😜😅😳

✨✨✨✨

Kogami's View of Akane

Respect and Admiration: Kogami respects Akane's strong moral compass, intelligence, and dedication to justice. Her idealism and determination to uphold her values in a corrupt system likely resonate with him deeply.

Influence: Akane has a significant influence on Kogami, helping him see different perspectives and consider the importance of lawful justice over personal vengeance.

Bond: Their bond is built on shared experiences and mutual growth. Kogami likely sees Akane as someone who understands him on a fundamental level, given their shared past and the way they've shaped each other's views.

Kogami's View of Frederica

Professionalism: Kogami likely views Frederica as a competent and resourceful colleague. Their relationship is rooted more in professional respect and shared goals.

Pragmatism: Frederica's pragmatic and strategic approach to their work might appeal to Kogami's tactical mindset, but it doesn’t necessarily imply a deeper, personal connection.

Support: Frederica provides Kogami with opportunities and resources that are beneficial for his missions, fostering a sense of mutual benefit rather than personal attachment.

Why Kogami Returned to Japan After Meeting Frederica in Sinners of the System 3 vs. Akane in the First Movie

Return to Japan After Meeting Frederica

Mission-Oriented: Kogami's return to Japan after meeting Frederica in "Sinners of the System 3" was driven by a clear mission and purpose. His focus was on addressing specific threats and working towards goals aligned with his professional objectives.

Strategic Opportunity: Frederica's proposal likely offered a strategic advantage or opportunity that aligned with Kogami's current goals and needs, making it a pragmatic choice to return to Japan.

Not Returning After Meeting Akane in the First Movie

Unresolved Conflict: After meeting Akane in the first movie, Kogami might have felt that returning to Japan would complicate their unresolved personal and professional conflicts. His presence could disrupt Akane’s work and potentially put her in difficult situations.

Self-Imposed Exile: Kogami's self-imposed exile and desire to atone for his past actions might have kept him away, feeling that his return could do more harm than good, both for Akane and for himself.

Protective Instinct: Kogami's decision could also stem from a protective instinct, wanting to keep Akane safe from the dangers associated with his return and the attention it would bring from various factions.

In summary, Kogami's interactions with Akane are deeply personal and complex, while his interactions with Frederica are more pragmatic and mission-focused. His decisions are influenced by the nature of these relationships and the strategic implications of his actions.

Postscript:

After watching PP3/PPFI on 2019, I think Kou-chan is way more comfortable in working with Frederica 🤔. Why?

They've been working for almost 2-3years after SS3 and compliments each other's skills better. Compare with Akane whom Kogami only worked with for only several months.

Yes, yes despite of that Shinkane still have more deeper bond, I know..I know.. but I'll talk about that bond and the intensity of it in the next Shinkane analysis...

🤭😘❤️

[ohno-the-sun]

I have lots of thoughts on how the animatronics minds work (especially Sun and Moon) and idk where to put this since it’s not fanfic worthy but I feel the need to put it all down somewhere

Sorta just a brain dump don’t mind me

(just some preface I have very little programming experience and while some of this alludes to real psychology, this is not scientifically accurate at all, just my headcannons)

Now first to establish how the AI work it’s essentially a learning system that compiles multiple directives and inputs to make a decision.

Basically there are multiple learning modules that each receive the same sensory input, but each module has a different directive that it codes for. For example pretty much every animatronic has a “safety” directive that prioritizes human safety and the Glamrocks have a “showtime” directive that helps them perform on stage. Each animatronic can have hundreds to thousands of directives running at any given point. Each directive essentially works by taking the sensory input given to it and spitting out a suggested “action” that should take place given its directive. These actions are then sent to the core processor where there the taken action is chosen. For example, if an animatronic sees a fallen child, an action suggested by the “showtime” directive would be to sing to the child, but a directive from the “safety” directive would be scanning for wounds. Both actions would be sent to the core processor, and based upon probability algorithms (where each action is assigned a probability of 0-100% of being chosen, based on a variety of factors), it would likely choose the safety protocol action. So like the singing option would be assigned a probability of 2% and the scan for wounds suggestion would be assigned a probability of 98%. (Staff consider the “choosing” of a particular action to be completely random, but to the animatronics it’s sorta their free will) This process happens multiple times every second, allowing for adaptability and additions to the behavior. Very basic robots, like the staff bots, only work on one or two directives, making them much less adaptable and sentient compared to the others. It should be noted that not all suggested actions are actual “physical” actions, some could be replaying a memory, changing the probability of another directive being chosen, or simply stating a fact/opinion that a particular directive emphasizes. For an example for the last one, the safety directive could point out “there is snow outside, it will be cold” which could lead to a change in probability for another directive, like the “proper attire” directive.

Now one thing about these directives is that each animatronic has differing levels of awareness of them. Awareness of directives manifests as sorta being able to hear one’s thoughts, like being aware of your own decision making process or hearing thoughts that you otherwise would not act on. Ranking the more complex animatronics in order of least to most aware of their directives we have, Monty, DJ, Chica, Freddy, Roxy, and the DCA (my beloved).

Starting with Monty, even though he’s the least aware of his directives, this doesn’t mean he’s the least sentient. Simply put, he’s a action man first think later kinda guy. He doesn’t like dwelling too long on thoughts or feelings that aren’t important to the present situation. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t still have them though. This ends up messing with his core processor probability mechanism, making him far more impulsive than any other animatronic. When he starts getting errant inputs from a virulent directive (cough cough the peepaw virus) this causes him to act out more violently. He also has a bit of an issue straight up ignoring thoughts that are “bad” to him, like anything to do with a certain rabbit animatronic. 

DJ simply vibes man. He has fewer directives compared to the other complex animatronics, mainly because he rarely directly interacts with humans and tends to stay in one place. This however makes him unstable when a new set of directives are put in place that entail security (the bouncer mode). But he’s overall less impulsive than Monty and is self aware of what directives are running at any given point. He rarely has any conflicts with any of the thoughts he receives, so he doesn’t dwell on them. He is the second most stable animatronic emotionally.

Chica is sorta similar to Monty in that she tends to avoid her thoughts and feelings. She’s a far more self aware of them, and purposely takes actions to avoid hearing them (ie overeating) but other than thoughts that depress her, she’s relatively in tune with them. She ends up being very extroverted as she becomes less aware of her directives when shes with others. This makes her seem kinda airheaded, but when she is alone she does tends to get more contemplative. However when a virus starts to isolate her and increase the number of directives/thoughts that upset her, she goes fully into her bad habits.

Freddy is probably the most stable out of all the animatronics (other than maybe DJ). Even before the virus started to effect everyone, Freddy was always the most dependable and strong. In terms of his headspace, this is mainly because he has a good balance of aware and unaware directives. As seen with those previous, having too little awareness of one’s directives can cause impulsiveness, and we will see later what over awareness can do. Even when Freddy has unwanted thoughts/directives, he is able to reason and process them in a healthy way. Some directives relating to Bonnie do mess with his processor though, but other than those, he is relatively stable.

Roxy tries to seem like she doesn’t care, or hear her own thoughts, but that is a fat lie. She has a lot of errant directives that greatly affect the probability calculations of her core processor. This mainly stems from a lot of her directives being related to her appearance, giving her a lot of input she can’t do anything directly about unless she calls staff. This has given her a lot of self image issues. She makes up for this by continually choosing the most “cool” options, even if it’s not the best action for the situation. This leads to her being pretty mean to the other animatronics, staff, and kids. She’s closest to Chica, as she’s the only one who also has a lot of appearance directives (ayo sexism?), but as mentioned before she has more methods to quiet those thoughts.

Last but not least the daycare attendant. The daycare attendant is unique in that it has two main “modes” Sun and Moon. Each mode has the same directives and core processor, but the probabilities of suggested actions being chosen are changed greatly between the two. For example, the probability of naptime and security directive actions being chosen are reduced greatly in Sun mode, and playtime and crafting directives are reduced in Moon mode. Meaning if the situation calls for it, the other mode can still access its counterparts directives, but in daily use the likelihood of those options being taken are so low they basically never happen. This was meant to be the only difference between the two modes, as with only one processor, there would essentially be only one animatronic in the body. But there was a bug that lead to the memories of the daycare attendant to be split. Now one thing to clarify, memories are considered sensory input, so they go directly to directive modules to aid in learning, but don’t necessarily need to pass through the main processor. However, the only way animatronics are able to consciously recall a memory is if a directive  suggests playing it to the main processor, and that can change its probability calculations. Now the bug Sun and Moon have prevents directives from replaying memories from their counterparts database, essentially preventing recall from an event that happens to them in the other mode. But, the individual directives still processed the memories as they happened regardless of mode (for psychology nerds Sun and Moon basically share implicit memories but don’t share explicit). Now if the daycare attendant were any other animatronic, they would probably be okay. Maybe have some memory issues but their directives are in sync so they would still be one animatronic, except both Sun and Moon are hyper aware of their individual thoughts/directives. Moon sometimes gets thoughts to yell and wake all the children he spent an hour trying to get to bed. Sun wakes up to suddenly have multiple thoughts about certain children needing punishment, except for Sun that child was fine for him. For both, the others memories and directives creates intrusive thoughts for the other, making it difficult to discern which thoughts and feelings belong to them, and which belong to the other. This made both start to develop distinct identities, to the point they consider the other a completely different AI (even though again, they only have one processor). Moon’s directives are far more dangerous compared to Sun’s so for him this has created massive anxiety and frustration. He is not only receiving thoughts and input that are not safe for when children are around, but he is also constantly second guessing himself, not knowing whether or not an action will cause unwanted harm. This makes Sun the incredibly nervous person we see. Moon in general is less scared of his counterpart’s interference, but the constant barrage of both his own and Sun’s thoughts is a lot to deal with. This leads to him being kind of a recluse and really quiet, earning the reputation as the plex cryptid from the other animatronics. He also has a major complex when it comes to comparing himself to Sun, being overly self deprecating and having a skewed viewpoint as to how Sun is like (since they don’t really ‘know’ each other very well). His overthinking is somewhat lessened when he becomes friends with Monty and forms a line of communication with Sun (essentially writing notes to each other constantly), but once Monty joins the main band and the virus starts affecting Moon, everything starts to go south. The virus is a directive, so technically it affects both Sun and Moon, however, the probability of “virus” directives being chosen is far higher for Moon than Sun (since it’s categorized as a security directive). Therefore we have both Sun constantly receiving these extremely distressing thoughts and Moon acting on these thoughts. Tldr, both Sun and Moon are extreme overthinkers who have intrusive thoughts, for Sun this causes anxiety, for Moon this causes depression.

Extra stuff:

Sun and Moon tend to get overwhelmed when they are in situations that activate their counterparts directives. For example darkness and conflict for Sun and bright lights and loud noises for Moon. This leads to them both avoiding these situations as often as possible (Sun being conflict avoidant and Moon preferring a nice dark quiet space to hide away in).

Staff are not sure what determines how aware an animatronic is of their own directives and write it off as a bug.

The virus very specifically targets instabilities in the animatronics programming, taking directives from the base processor and twisting them to be more violent and bad. Basically taking their worst personality traits and turning them against the animatronic. For example, for Moon it amplifies his negative thoughts about Sun, the other animatronics and himself, and suggests violent ways to deal with it. This is how they are able to amplify the probability of these violent actions from being chosen.