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derangedsilence · 4 years

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Karlheinz

Permissions

Please feel free to check any of the Sakamaki Bros.’ permission lists. It’s pretty repetitively the same.

The only exceptions:

Shipping - Within any verse he’s participating in, it’s entirely possible for him to form romantic and/or sexual partnerships with anyone who suits his needs, fancy, etc. Canonically had three wives, you know what you’re signing up for if you aim for this. However, as Karlheinz is very good at controlling his partners to suit his needs, I would prefer that many of his romances not get commented on by the public unless they’re somewhere they could be witnessed or if the individual themselves talks about it. Feel free to ask me!

Participation - Hop into getting involved in plots and storylines! Just do the dashboard commentary thing and tag this blog so I can be sure to see it. This much is the same. However, for some people, plots will need to have certain secrets kept, etc. until later. You’re still welcome to get involved, but it might be better to discuss with me and any other involved players how to participate instead of commenting on the grapevine for those particular plot aspects.

Biography / Stats

FULL NAME. Karlheinz ALIAS. Tougo Sakamaki, Reinhart AGE. Appears 35-45 || Actually significantly older at 2000+ BIRTHDAY. Unknown GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male, he/him ORIENTATION. Heteroflexible. He’ll play it up for whoever can be used. SPECIES. Vampire. OCCUPATION. Vampire King (of the demon world), Japanese politician, school nurse... RESIDENCE. Someplace in the demon world, but visits the Sakamaki household from time to time.

HAIR. White, reddish/purple-ish EYES. Golden BUILD. “What the fuck, man, it’s like you’re photoshopped.” HEIGHT. 6'2'' ADDITIONAL NOTES. A known shapeshifter, not even his sons are sure they’ve seen his real form. He can easily appear as a man, a woman, etc. to suit his needs.

ZODIAC. I Hate You, Vampire Dad is a zodiac, right? ALIGNMENT. Unknown. POSITIVE TRAITS. intelligent, charming, goal-oriented NEGATIVE TRAITS. merciless, sees people as means to an end, lacks the ability to feel deep emotional attachment

BIRTH PLACE. Japan NATIONALITY. Japanese PARENTS. Unknown SIBLINGS. Sibling: Richter. Wives: Beatrix, Cordelia, Christa (also his cousin). Sons: Shuu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Laito and Subaru Sakamaki EXTENDED FAMILY. Adopted Sons: Ruki, Kou, Azusa and Yuma Mukami. Bastards: Kino, apparently? EDUCATION. Unknown SPECIES. Vampire NOTABLE SKILLS. Being the worst dad ever, running extremely complicated and often successful experiments, is charming enough to be able to convince people who are fully aware of his nature that he really is sincere for them specifically, etc. LANGUAGES. All of them FAVORITE FOOD. The fruits of his labor

PUREBLOOD. Inhuman strength, increased speed, vision, hearing, and smell. Fast healing & healing saliva. TELEPORTATION. Can teleport instantaneously. FLYING. He can fly. SWORDSMANSHIP. S OTHER. In addition to the racial abilities of a pureborn vampire, he also possesses the highest level of magic in the Demon World and his power is considered by his race, as a whole, as well as his sons, as “Godlike”. Karlheinz is capable of unleashing his magic and destroying the entire Demon World. In addition, he can shapeshift and change his appearance as it suits him. Oh, did we mention he also has the ability to MANIPULATE TIME and REVERSE EVENTS until he’s satisfied? WEAKNESSES. None? DISLIKES. People not doing what he wants them to do in his experiments.

Appearance

*Will be updated as various ‘personae’ are implemented.

As ‘Karlheinz’, at least as most of his sons know him: A pale-haired, golden-eyed figure who dresses in extravagant capes. His hair falls past his knees in waves and he looks absolutely ethereal.

As ‘Reinhart’, the school nurse, he is pale with blond hair wrapped into a ponytail and wears glasses.

Personality

One of the most powerful creatures in the demon world, he is viewed by the vampires (the bat clan) as a God. Which may or may not affect his personality, but the fact is that it is universally understood that a man that’s over 2000 years old is in want of a new life goal. Or death.

INTELLIGENT AND MANIPULATIVE: Karlheinz rarely directly engages these days, usually pulling strings in the background. He manipulates for the better and for worse, only determined to get closer to his personal goals. If that heals some and hurts others, so be it.

AFFECTION: It’s well-known that demons do not experience the same emotions as humans, or at least, they do not act on nor feel them the way humans would. Even within the “emotions” and “bonds” of demons, Karlheinz is incapable of deep affectionate sentiments and believes that all demons are similarly incapable. He is obsessed with human emotions despite or because of his inability, glorifying them and incorporating them into his new demonkind 3.0 ideas. His inability to feel this deep affection doesn’t save him from confusion and hesitant behavior on the rare occasion his plans and experiments are not succeeding.

It’s worth noting that he is considerably kinder when engaging with humans, as he blatantly punishes his own kind for their very nature (of which he is entirely aware). However, humans break much more easily, so this may be a necessity for engaging those tools compared to his sons.

FAMILY: His sons, wives, etc. are all tools and test subjects with which to create a new race and “save” the Demon World. If they become failed experiments, he has no issue disposing of them himself. When it comes to his kids, he’s extremely neglectful but does not hesitate to order their punishment when they displease him. He’s imprisoned Laito, sent Shuu to the North Pole, and tossed Subaru into the ocean. Most of his abuse was directly on his wives and directly affected how they would raise their sons, however, for which most of the Sakamaki children loathe him.

PRINCE CHARMING: Karlheinz excels at charming and manipulating others. As with Cordelia, he promises everything to obtain them, spoils them, and then acts in whatever manner best executes his experiment.

History

Under construction.

Quick summary: Really good contender for ‘worst dad’ and ‘worst vampire dad’ awards.

Verses

Brief summaries of the verses for Karlheinz along with potential links for those less familiar with Diabolik Lovers but still want to interact with him. For the sake of keeping things clean, encouraging community-wide and cooperative storytelling in roleplay, and not letting things get too crazy, verses will be limited. More may be made over time as needed.

Summaries:

VERSE - HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

Karlheinz is...somewhere. Doing things. Like usual.

*This verse will be typically be the default, 'main verse'. In this, it is assumed that Yui Komori is staying at the Sakamaki household with some version of the first game having taken place. If the second game is included, it's with the idea that Yui stayed with the Sakamakis.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; KARLHEINZ; HAUNTED DARK BRIDAL

VERSE - MORE BLOOD

Karlheinz is somewhere doing things, but now there’s Mukamis!

If for some reason it's absolutely necessary to differentiate between the verse above and a verse where More Blood has certainly occured, but Yui did not (at least initially) stay with the Sakamakis and instead is currently living with the Mukamis or was, until recently, still living with the Mukamis. Rivalry abounds and attempts to procure Yui are likely.

Verse Details | Tag: #V; KARLHEINZ; MORE BLOOD

VERSE - MISC.

Posts that could take place in the Sakamaki or Mukami verses but involve duplicates (whether Yui or others) in the same scene in a manner that would be hard to pass off as typical flow for those verses. Also includes nearly ANY time fellow characters are staying at the mansion, otherwise we’d end up with verses of 20+ additional characters hanging out in the Sakamaki villa.

Verse Details | Tag:#V; KARLHEINZ; MISC

SITUATIONAL VERSE TAGS

#V; KARLHEINZ; UNIVERSAL

Posts that can easily be assumed to have occured in either the Sakamaki or Mukami verses, typically answering asks, etc. that aren’t directly related to events unique to their timelines.

#V; KARLHEINZ; WHAT IFS & #V; KARLHEINZ; ONESHOTS

Likely reserved for one-off threads exploring a “what if”, a romantic meme that would otherwise be inappropriate, etc. If a meme doesn’t quite fit with one of the existing timelines, it’ll get one of these.

Trivia

Successfully cucked by Richter for years, but he kind of encouraged it to begin with so who really loses?

Can and will wear you out in the bedroom and leave you a flower to wake up to in the morning.

Gave Reiji a pocketwatch that shows how much time is left until the end of the world. Demon world? Human world? Who knows.

Really just wanted to know if Shuu would actually fight back against polar bears when he sent him to the north pole. Now he knows.

“Even when he loses, he wins” is a theme with this guy. I hate him, too. I know.

Tags

THREAD / WRITING TAG: #echoes in the halls; karlheinz

HEADCANONS: #hc; dialovers; karlheinz

IMAGES: #itt // karlheinz

MUSIC: #music; dialovers; karlheinz

#blog; stuff #blog; muses

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windsorgirllove · 5 years

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The Prince and The King: Dirk Strider and Kazuaki Nanaki

It may be 4 whole months after the Epilogues came out, but guess what - I’m still thinking about Dirk Strider. And who can blame me, considering… well, everything. Dirk caused a lot of different reactions from everyone, but the way that his character finally clicked for me was watching him take over Jake’s mind and realizing “oh, he’s trying to ‘all will be one with the King’ them”. And then I realized that that would make sense to literally one other person in the whole world, so I decided to write an essay about it. As you do.

Spoilers for Homestuck, including the epilogue, and Hatoful Boyfriend and Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star.

I. Who are these nerds?

For those of you who don’t know, I’ll give a quick summary of these two characters before I start comparing them.

A. Dirk Strider

Dirk Strider is one of the human characters in Homestuck. He is the biological father of Dave Strider and Rose Lalonde, and is an alternate Universe version of Bro Strider. He grew up alone in a post apocalyptic world after an alien queen took over Earth. He is the Prince of Heart and a Derse Dreamer. He is a big gay nerd. In the Homestuck Epilogues, his worst traits come out: his self obsession and his splinter selves that come about due to Heart shenanigans, which led to him making some… morally dubious decisions. By which I mean obtained ultimate power and started rewriting the wills of his friends because “he knows best”. Also he’s aware of the fact he’s in a story now, so he became the narrator. And in one of the timelines present in the Epilogues, he killed himself.

B. Kazuaki Nanaki/The King

Kazuaki Nanaki is a bird featured in Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star. He is a depressed college student studying literature. He fell in love with a boy who ended up pushing him further and further into depression, until the two of them decided to kill themselves. Kazuaki went through with it, his boyfriend did not. He woke up in the afterlife alone and scared. He ends up creating a star from a candle and a chair, which attracts other souls to it’s light. He lured people in because he was lonely, but didn’t want to get hurt again, so he absorbed all the souls into his will, and became the King of the star. And then all the characters end up in the afterlife too, most of whom are still alive, and it’s a whole thing.

So how are they similar? Well, they both are clearly mentally ill, both gay, both killed themselves, both took over the wills of their close friends. Let’s look at their big three narrative similarities: their ascension, their revenge on boyfriends, and their takeovers of will.

II. The Ultimate Self v Kinghood

The Ultimate Self is a concept that was brought up at the end of Homestuck and was explored properly in the Homestuck Epilogues. It seems to be the endpoint for all of the godtiers, wherein they fully realize their Aspect. For example, Rose is ascending as well, and since her aspect is Light (ie knowledge), she gains knowledge of all timelines all at once. Dirk’s aspect, meanwhile, is Heart, which here means soul, so his Ultimate Self is all his splinters combining into one person. (As I sidenote, I wonder how much their classes play into this - Rose is a Seer and is seeing timelines, and Dirk is a Prince and is destroying everyone’s sense of self). It also appears to come along with an awareness of the narrative structure and the fact that they are in the story, which certainly does wonders for the mind. Dirk takes control of it - the narrative, that is - because he believes that he knows best for all his friends.

One thing we know for certain is the ascending fucking hurts. To quote Rose Lalonde: “I am ascending, and it’s terrible.” This process was enough to fully push Dirk over from “has poor judgement and a god complex” to full blown “evil and knows it.” He gains the power to take away the free will of all the other characters, and wants to make them all ascend and then stick their consciousness into robots that he made, because it’s “better” for them. He already carries this plan out with Rose, who he selected to be first because she’s the most like him. Essentially, he wants to make everyone just like him.

Meanwhile, Kinghood seems to have a lot of similarities. Kazuaki seems to gain some reality warping powers once he dies - he is able to transform a room with a candle and a chair into a star with a lighthouse and a throne. He basically makes his world run on fairy tale logic. This extends even to his form. Throughout the game, the characters are represented by photos of birds. However, when Kazuaki is the King, he is rendered in watercolors like the rest of the Holiday Star. Later, when he gets angry, he distorts into a darker colored being with multiple heads, and in his true form he is a monochrome pencil sketch. He also can appear anywhere on the star at any time, because all the residents of the star are under his hivemind. He can control the layout of his home, which is also visible from the outside (in the real world). He can create zones in the star specific to the people within in order to convince them to become one with him. And perhaps scariest of all, he can know the secrets of the people in the star, and toture them with their deepest darkest fear.

So ascending and Kinghood are very similar, except that Kinghood seems to be more in the line of eldritch horror.

III. “I’ll Never Let You Break My Heart Again”

Dirk and Kazuaki also have meaningful romantic relationships with other boys that go super duper bad and end up being their start of darkness. Their whole evil plan can basically be boiled down to getting revenge on the boy who wronged them.

A. Jake

Jake English is the boy that Dirk was in love with. He is from the same universe as Dirk, but from several centuries in the past (which is the present for us). He is the biological father of Jade Harley and John Egbert. He grew up alone on an island in the Pacific, and styles himself as a manly adventurer. Jake and Dirk end up dating when they enter the game, and break up after a few months because they’re dumb teens who can’t communicate and so are all of their friends. In the Epilogues, Jake is unwillingly wed to Jane Crocker, another of their friends, in the Candy Timeline. In the Meat Timeline, Dirk has taken control of the narration and forces Jake to confess his love for Dirk in front of a huge crowd.

B. Uzune

Hitori Uzune was the guy that Kazuaki was in love with. He was a fellow college student at the university Kazuaki was attending, and was similarly fucked up and depressed. He convinces Kazuaki that they should kill themselves, and the two of them overdose on pills. But just as Kazuaki is drifting away Hitori gets up and steals Kazuaki’s identity in order to get revenge for his dead brother. That whole thing is actually the main plot of the game, kinda. Hitori refuses to call an ambulance for Kazuaki even as he changes his mind, and let’s him die.

C. Angry Gay Selfrightousness

So first of all I think we can agree that Kazuaki is a little more valid for going off the deep end here. But they both did have a similar experience in love. Both of them felt deeply betrayed by the boy they loved. Both of them were super pissed about this, and it shows in their supervillain plans. Neither of the are directly setting out to get revenge, but their desire is written all over their actions.

With Dirk, he spends an inordanent amount of time calling Jake stupid while he is posing as the narrator, as well as inserting thoughts about himself into Jake’s mind when he’s about to have sex with Jane. (He’s also just weirdly horny the whole epilogue, in general.) After driving Jake to do his public confession in the Meat timeline, Dirk responds with “And to love Dirk is to obey him” in the narration. And finally, right before he’s about to fuck of to space Dirk plans this epic confrontation that ends with the quote that heads this section.

As for Kazuaki, the whole way he was able to become the King was because of the trauma that Hitori put him through, namely the killing him part. He absorbed people because of not wanting to be left alone again. And once Hitori enters the dream he turns all his focus onto him, blinding him and forcing him into a small pocket of the dream so he can’t hurt anyone again. And even after he is defeated he still reaches out and tries to grab Hitori.

Even when the two of them try to move on, they can’t.

IV. “All Will Become One With the King” - Narrative Takeovers and the Hivemind

In order for there to be a narrative takeover, there has to be a narrative in the first place. And both Homestuck and Hatoful Boyfriend certainly have one, and I don’t mean in the sense that they are a story that we consume. I mean that there is a narrative thread that the characters themselves are aware of.

A. Homestuck “Canon”

Let’s start with Homestuck, which in the Epilogues actually brought the term “canon” into the vocabulary of the characters via one Rose Lalonde. As a Seer and fanfiction writer, it makes sense she would be familiar with it. In the epilogues she discovered that there was something wrong with the timeline they were in - it was “non-canon”. This is different from the timeline being doomed, although it is similar. In both cases it means the timeline in question is fading away.

As defined by Rose, in order for a timeline to be canon, it has to be three things: 1. It has to be true, 2. It has to be essential, and 3. It has to be relevant. True as in true, essential as in essential to the characters or the story, and relevant as in relevant to the audience. Knowledge of the idea of canon seems to come along with ascending to the Ultimate Self, since the only people who know about it are Rose, Dirk, and Alt!Calliope.

Once Dirk ascends and realizes that the timeline they’re in is “non-canon”, he seizes control of the narrative in order to steer it back to canon and stop it from fading away. And once he takes control, he gains the same knowledge that the author would have of all the characters (except for Roxy because of his voidy-ness). He also wants to make everyone else ascend to their Ultimate Selves as well, and then take away their agency. How this worked is that he believes that their bodies wouldn’t be able to handle ascending (even though his did) and he makes them robot bodies because he’s just so nice. And the first people he assimilates are Rose and Dave, his children. And also as I said above, he inserted thoughts into people's heads and made them do things they wouldn’t normally do.

And Dirk taking control of the narrative isn’t an isolated incident, either. The narration has been passed around like a basketball, or more accurately stolen like loose change by a clumsy pickpocket. For the most part it is regulated to the cherubs - Caliborn and Calliope, as well as Doc Scratch - and Andrew Hussie. And that’s not even to mention all the people that give commands to the characters. The fabric of the text is very present in Homestuck.

B. The All Knowing Eyes of the King

The King also tries to take control of the narrative as well, although not in the same way as Dirk. He isn’t aware of the fact that he is in a story in the same way. However, by trying to bring the whole cast into his hive mind he is essentially taking control of the narrative, since whoever controls the characters controls the story. He can’t full on insert thoughts into people’s heads like Dirk, but he can know the secrets of the people in the Holiday Star, similar to Dirk gaining the knowledge of the author. Then he uses a person’s deepest fear to convince them that the world outside is too scary, too dangerous, and it is safer to stay with him. Plus he uses creepy picture books to do it, which is certainly an aesthetic choice.

Two of the best examples of this is how he deals with Shuu and Yuuya. In Shuu’s case, it’s his most effective argument for staying on the Holiday Star - possibly because it is so similar to his own. Shuu was in love with a (married) colleague of his, but never told him, even as he passed away. Being as this was the only person Shuu cared about, he fell into a depression and also started murdering people. The King convinced him that there was nothing more in the real world that he could find a use for - that it would be better if he stayed here, where he could experiment and research forever. It worked so well that it took the ghost of his love to shake him out of it.

On the opposite side of this we have Yuuya. Yuuya was not actually supposed to be on the Holiday Star, but he dove in (basically) in order to save his little brother. And The King probably had the best chance of blackmailing him, because Yuuya has done some shit - including the murder of his infant half-brother. He did this in order to help his little brother, but still, jeez. The King uses this to convince him that he’s a bad person, that he would be better off in the Star, where his guilt couldn’t hurt him anymore. This doesn’t work, mainly because Yuuya is a more emotionally mature person that the King. He refused to be converted, because all the bad things he’s done has made him the person he is today, and to get rid of that would be irresponsible. His whole speech ends with this truly phenomenal quote: “It’s my grief. And you can’t have it.”

V. Conclusion

So, what have I learned from this? Um, don’t trust gay men I guess. And also that mental illness and suicide is a very serious thing. I feel that with this essay I have run into the problem that my professors have told me numerous times - I can identify an interesting point, but I have trouble drawing meaning from this. So if any of you can figure out what this connection means, please let me know! Mostly to me it seems like there are definite links between my favorite stories, and it’s that giving in to despair is not the answer.

VI. Miscellaneous: The Meta of HB - Hiyoko as the Narrator

Hatoful Boyfriend is not quite as meta as Homestuck - nothing really is. But it isn’t the benchmark of weirdness for dating games for nothing. And most of this weirdness revolves around Hiyoko, which makes sense. She is the narrator after all - and I don’t just mean that in the normal story sense. I mean that in the Homestuck sense as well.

Hiyoko is aware of the fact that she is in a game. She makes references to her stats, and is aware of the interface of the screen. She also doesn’t know the name of the town she’s lived in all her life until someone else says it in Holiday Star, because it was never established in the first game. She is also aware of alternate universes of each romance route. Because Hiyoko dies. A lot. She dies in Shuu’s route, in the neutral route, and in the true route. And in Holiday Star (which in it of itself is an alternate universe to the main game) she meets Death and is able to recognize him from all the other times she’s died.

The important thing to get from all this is that unlike Some People, Hiyoko never goes crazy from this fact. She’s in a game, and she knows it, and she’s cool with it. It should probably be pointed out that Hiyoko is dumb as a box of rocks, and with ignorance comes bliss, they say. But still, it is interesting to see an example of a character with meta knowledge who manages to deal with it, instead of going full supervillain.

#homestuck #hatoful boyfriend #homestuck epilogue #hs epilogue #hb #hatoful boyfriend holiday star #dirk strider #kazuaki nanaki #the king (hatoful boyfriend)#hs meta #My writing #she speaks!#six whole pages #be grateful #also let me know what you think!

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taintedfirelight-moving · 5 years

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Motivations

<< Below the cut is a detailed analysis of Sauron’s motivations throughout his life. Most of this is personal headcanon, however, it is based in canon and psychology. Also note that this analysis explores Sauron as a person from a neutral perspective, rather than as a villain, and neither condemns or defends his actions. >>

Canonically: Driven by a Need for Order

We know from Morgoth’s Ring that Sauron desired and valued order and coordination above all else, and that he joined with Melkor because he thought that the fallen Vala would provide the means for him to achieve that.

This begs for some investigation, though, considering the fact that one of Melkor’s actions was to bring about chaos and confusion, things that Sauron is known to detest.

Because of this, it is likely that Sauron joined Melkor not only for his power to bring about his designs, but so that he could bring order to Melkor’s chaos. No doubt he was initially repulsed by Melkor and his actions, notably during the Music, but perhaps even as far back as then, and certainly after the creation of Arda, he began to think otherwise. By the time of his seduction, Melkor only had to water the seed that was already there.

This desire for order fueled his initial corruption, but it would also fuel Sauron’s most famous deed—the deception of Celebrimbor and the forging of the Rings of Power. Upon obtaining the seven and the nine, he was quick to distribute them to Dwarves and Men, as he’d already failed to control the Elves. Sauron wished to use the rings to create a network throughout Middle Earth, and ultimately to control all of its peoples.

Sauron had no desire to destroy Middle Earth, or to cause chaos. Had the Free Peoples not resisted him and his plan come to fruition, it’s likely that the continent would have become an efficient dystopia, with a specific place and task for everything. This is further proved by the fact that Sauron, as a Maia, is part of a race of beings that were each created and given a certain role and purpose.

This may have been his main motivation, particularly at the beginning of time, however, as he developed a more complicated identity than he had initially, there were other motivations that would be introduced.

Intelligence and Anxiety

And now we begin to delve into psychology-based headcanon. Sauron is shown to be a highly intelligent individual, at least at the beginning, before he became overconfident. Scientific studies have shown that people with greater intellectual ability may be more prone to anxiety. While there are some contradictions to these studies, it’s been particularly shown that those with a one-track, goal-oriented mind are more likely to be anxious. We know already that Sauron is extremely goal-oriented, and thus it would not be surprising for him to also suffer from anxiety.

(Sidenote: I know that Maiarin psychology is likely somewhat different from human psychology, and I’ll be discussing my personal views on that in a later meta, but in my opinion it isn’t incredibly different, and there aren’t any official studies on Maiarin psychology to refer to.)

Those with anxiety are more likely to make assumptions that blow minor problems out of proportion. So we can assume that even the slightest reprimand from Aulë would be believed to be serious by Mairon. Therefore, it’s easy to believe that Mairon thought that he was disliked by Aulë and others of the Ainur of Eä. We also know that as far as Maiar are concerned, Sauron has a great deal of power relative to others (he’s been described as mighty, and as the greatest of Melkor’s servants, which include other Maiar (balrogs and possibly others)), which could easily lead to high standards being set for him from the beginning.

Need for Appreciation and Fear of Failure

This brings me to my next point, and the reason that this intelligence and anxiety can be used to explain Sauron’s motivations.

Oftentimes, those who have great power or intelligence have a fear of not being good enough, or of doing things the wrong way, or of looking as though they don’t know what they’re doing. They have a need to have their strengths praised, and are sensitive to their weaknesses being revealed. This also has to do with pride—another known trait of Sauron’s.

Based on these facts, we can infer that Sauron has a need to be praised and is sensitive to criticism. Due to his intelligence he’s likely to think and act outside what might be considered the norm.

As a result, he was almost certainly an outcast in Almaren, and did not get enough validation on his ideas and inventions from Aulë or the others of his kind. They, on the other hand, are wary of his free-thinking because of Melkor and all that happened—and is continuing to happen.

In this case, all Melkor really needed to do was show more appreciation for Mairon’s ideas than Aulë did, which wouldn’t be too difficult.

Thus, we can say that Sauron’s initial corruption was due to both his desire to bring order to Melkor’s chaos and the fact that he felt like an outcast among the people of Aulë, and thought that he would be more appreciated if he were serving Melkor instead.

These same fears likely drove many of his later actions. We can see a notable change in Sauron after his defeat during Beren and Lúthien’s quest for the Silmaril, and it’s as though he never quite recovers from what is likely his first major defeat. In fact, whereas before his greatest emotional motivator was likely the desire for appreciation and praise, from now on it seems that fear takes its place. That need remains, but it is far less driving—Sauron has failed, and he’s unlikely to forget that failure, and he knows now that it’s quite possible for him to fail.

Therefore, what drives him now is a fear of failing again.

Fear as a motivation can be seen in the remainder of Sauron’s documented actions at the end of the First Age, namely, his surrender to Eönwë and subsequent fleeing. The initial surrender and plea for pardon are easily a response to fear. Sauron had just seen his master—the greatest of the Valar—openly and violently, and feared a similar fate himself. He knew also that he could not stand alone, and thus the best option was to repent and ask for pardon. When Eönwë told him that he would have to face the judgement of the Valar, Sauron, not thinking that they would pardon him and not wanting to be cast into the Void, once again reconsidered and fled, now believing that continuing on his own would be the safer bet—and the motive of self-preservation goes hand-in-hand with the fear of failure. Since death for a Maia is simply the destruction of the fána, it would be more of a failure than anything else.

Revenge, but Not As Much As One Might Think

While many villains are motivated by revenge, it’s not one of Sauron’s motivations, except for in one instance—where Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants are concerned. It has already been established that Sauron is a very proud person. Thus, his defeat, even while at the height of his power, by Númenor basically caused him to hold an ages-long grudge against that people, and to a lesser degree against Men in general.

This grudge is what ultimately inspired him to bring about Númenor’s downfall, and led him to allow himself to be captured and further humiliated in order to get into the king’s confidence.

Sauron didn’t mind if Númenor were simply enslaved to his will—they could be useful after all—or destroyed entirely as it was. Thus, despite the loss of his body and substantial power with it, he still views Númenor as one of his successes. However, his grudge against the Númenoreans and their descendants would only continue to be strengthened after his next defeat by Isildur.

While revenge isn’t one of his greatest motivators by any means, it still plays a key part in his particular prejudice against Gondor, Arnor, Aragorn, and Men in general.

Maiarin Psychology and the Vala-Maia Bond

It is here that I delve into my own expansions upon the mythology, into the peculiarities of Maiarin nature, and Ainurin nature in general, and how the motives detailed above fall in line with that.

As Eä was constructed by the Ainur who entered it, they all share a deep need to shape the world, even after Aman was removed from Arda. It is this base desire that drives Sauron’s motivation to bring about order.

In addition to that, there is also the fact that, as a Maia, Sauron feels a strong obligation to serve another through the Vala-Maia bond. At first, the bond was between him and Aulë, but after his corruption it transferred to Melkor, and was much stronger. Possible reasons for this will be explored in a later meta.

Even after Melkor was imprisoned in the Void, the fragments of the bond still remained, and were most likely an indirect driving force as well. Sauron feels the need to continue Melkor’s purpose. While this is not the strongest of his motivators, and grows even less throughout the Second and Third Ages, it likely played a small part nonetheless.

Furthermore, the need to be appreciated, wanted, and/or needed is also an intrinsic part of Maiarin psychology, which is the basis for why Sauron was corrupted in the first place.

Contrary to Popular Belief…

Sauron was not sadistic, violent, or destructive by nature, at least at first. Many of his actions would seem to imply this, however, these actions were either tools to achieve a purpose, an attempt to please his master, or used to further his own knowledge.

Notably, let’s examine his use of torture, which occurs multiple times in canon and even more behind the scenes. It is never implied that he wishes to cause pain simply for the sake of hurting another, or that he gains sadistic pleasure from torture. As a matter of fact, when he is shown torturing, it is always to gain information or to achieve some goal (e.g. Celebrimbor, Gollum, Beren, Finrod & Co.).

However, despite not gaining sadistic pleasure, it isn’t impossible to say that he doesn’t torture for fun. He doesn’t simply want to cause pain, though. He always wants to learn something from it. Rather than being sadistic, Sauron is fascinated by the psyche, fascinated by the body, and fascinated by what they can and cannot withstand. In that way, torture is more of an experiment—how much can a being take before they die? What causes the most pain, what can be more easily shrugged off? What innovative methods can be employed, how do they work? And as a creator and smith, how can he mold minds and bodies to his will as he molds the elements?

Rather than an outlet for sadistic urges, torture is a hobby, a means by which to exercise his intellect.

As for violence and destruction, it is shown that Sauron, particularly during the First and Second age, much prefers to go about things using deception as a tool rather than brute force. This is because he has no desire whatsoever to destroy things. He would prefer to capture and hold dominion over them. It has been shown that Sauron’s methods are far more discreet than his master’s, and that he would prefer to simply rule without a fight. However, he is often drawn into battle anyway due to the Free Peoples’ wish to remain free, and thus it is easy to assume that he enjoys war and destruction.

Another possible reason for this assumption is the behavior of Orcs, however, they were primarily created by Melkor, who we know already is extremely destructive by nature.

However, because of what we know of Sauron’s nature, it is safe to assume that he is not motivated by sadism, destructive, or violent urges.

In Conclusion

Based on what we know from the text, and what can be extrapolated based on psychology and (at least my own) headcanon alike, Sauron is a highly intelligent, highly organized mastermind who seeks order and coordination, appreciation for his work and methods, to please the Vala he serves, and occasionally revenge. He is not by nature sadistic or destructive, but is willing to use both violence and destruction as tools. He is a goal-oriented person who will use anything at his disposal to achieve those goals. As a scholar, craftsman, and inventor, he always wishes to expand his knowledge along with his power to act upon it. However, he can also be rather insecure, driving him to perform many actions out of fear, and despite convincing himself otherwise, knows inwardly that his ultimate defeat is possible and may be coming at some time.

#x || the nature of the ainur ;; headcanons #lotr #sauron #mairon #lord of the rings #silmarillion #tolkien #analysis #send help #it's more fun to look at villains objectively

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somethinglantern2 · 5 years

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Tropes in manga and anime that I wish would stop, occur more, or be altered

I recently rediscovered my passion for manga/anime and because of that I rediscovered anime tropes so as the title says this is a list about personal tropes I wish would either happen more in the manga/anime community, stopped or not used so often, or altered a bit.

More what if episodes/ alternate universes- Some shows make arcs and even movies based on characters being in an alternate universe. I like this as not only do we get to see something mostly used for comics in something where continuity is key, but we get to see what could have been if something different had happened in that series. I think this should be used more, at least as either a filler arc or manga omake(s)

More interesting one shot episodes/adventures in filler arcs- Though some hate them, filler seasons/arcs can be interesting as not only do we get to see something new and original, but since the things in it aren’t going to be referenced later on, it gives the writers the chance to do whatever they want, though I hate it when the filler time is used to focus on one specific arc that is similar to what usually happens in the canon arcs instead of something different.

Personally I think instead of getting the same old, there should be more one shot episodes that explore something different, like what the characters do when there’s nothing big is going on or put them in a unusual situation like going to a dance in order to do a mission, or have the main cast go on multiple adventures in one arc instead of just one big one, kinda like in season 3 and 4 of Naruto though maybe not as many as that.

Other characters using skill main character uses- I find it kinda odd that in some action manga/anime series we never see many characters use abilities commonly found in there series, like how no one in Naruto uses the shadow clone jutsu as much as Naruto even though its a common jutsu, I know his version is different then others but still. I know everyone in these kind of series is suppose to have a specific skill set but I don’t see the harm of some people having some abilities as the main characters, though at the same time they shouldn’t do what One Piece is doing with Haki or make that character be a copycat. Maybe doing more of this could also make the show’s world a bit more realistic.

Stop 2-3 minute recaps at beginning of episode- I personally don’t see the purpose of anime episodes recapping what happened in the last episode in this day an age by replaying scenes from a previous episode following a intro, which can be pretty long in some. Sure it had its uses in the past when you couldn’t watch your favorites shows whenever but now that you can with ease its just seems like a waste of time, time that could be used to show more of the current story. Writers should either stop doing this or make recaps shorter, like Avatar the Last Airbender short.

More decisive fights between main/side characters- In a series when fights are common it’s a bummer that we never see certain fights happen, like instead of Naruto fighting a one time villain, he should fight with Rock Lee, or instead of another fight between Natsu and Gray, why not Natsu vs. Juvia or another water wizard. Of course it is hard to get every fight combination while also advancing the story but still, maybe for the future writers could try and make more decisive choices for fights.

Side effect to the protagonist newly discovered power/ability- You’ve probably seen this before, bad guy is about to win but after something happens, the protagonist gets a new power (or something like that) and uses it to defeat the bad guy with ease, even though its there first time using it.

Though tired and predictable, this could be fixed if instead just of the good guy just winning after using it, there were scenes where there are negative effects to the new power the protagonist has obtained. Some examples I can think of are the protagonist loses there other abilities for a period of time, they severely hurt themselves or an ally (maybe even kill someone) because they don’t have full control over the power or scenes where though they win due to him he almost didn’t due to lack of experience, causing them to train in order to use it properly. I have seen theses examples used in shows before, like in Avatar the last Airbender and My Hero Academia, and if played right can make the series more intriguing.

Stop making it seem that the protagonist are going to lose/die- There’s only a certain number of times this can be pulled before it gets really fucking annoying. Either writers need to stop doing this every time a fight happens or make the protagonist actually lose/die. Stuff like this could be GREAT for the story. If they lose from time to time it shows that they need training as well as get development and if losing involves getting knocked out by the opponent in a series about fighting, it could also mean a side character can jump in and save the day which causes that character to get some development. Same for if a protagonist dies as it means other characters can get screen time and character development, plus you can always bring back that character after a while.

Protagonists with more then one dream/goal in life, either make it happen before the series finale, or change it/ find a new one later on- Its good for characters to have goals and dreams but how come they always just have one that always come true at the very end of the series, isn’t there anything else they want to do ? If characters in a series showed that they wanted to do more with their lives and achieve them along the way, the series as well as characters would be a bit more interesting and more relatable. No one complained about Usopp getting more dreams in One Piece or Sanji achieving his dream so why not do that more often ?

While there at it maybe in future stories we can get characters who at some point change there life long goals, one example is about a story where after half of the series is over the main character finds outs the organization he always wanted to join are working for the series antagonist, so he decides to change his dream to starting his own organization that follows what he believes is right. I also think having more goals would be good, cause if we see them finish the goals it at least shows progression in the series story.

Making characters who are romantically involved get together before the end of the series- When 2 characters show clear signs that they love each other they usually get together at the end of the series. I am FUCKING TIRED of this as it’s not only predictable as fuck but the outcome of the characters getting together is really small compared to how LOOOONG it took for them to get together, as again when the characters do get together (if the writers want them to) they usually just admit there feelings and/or finally kiss and that’s it, course some series show more of what happens afterwards like the characters getting married, having a child, or a picture of them in the future living happily ever after, but its usually just the former.

Again we often never get to see what happens after they get together like see them try and be more then friends after being so for so long, how other characters in the series react to there relationship, or see if they even stay together. Course this is for drama but showing more of the relationship might be good for the story. For romance series it can lead to seeing the characters grow as a couple instead of just being friends as well as break the cycle usually used in it, I mean the manga My Love Story was praised for doing this.

This would also be good in action adventure series as well, which though has the same problem, gets a small pass as they focus more then just romance. I bet we’d get some good fights and drama if characters that liked each other were in a relationship. I’m not saying they should make all the couples get together before the series ends but maybe they should just do couples that either wouldn’t change the story that much or the 3rd or 4th most popular character couple/ship. Star Vs. The Forces did this for both examples, making there main ship canon twice and made a minor ship canon for over a season, both (with the exception of the breaking the main ship up the first time) were liked by the fandom so why not do that more ?

The following are tropes from romance and harem series.

Make harem protagonist get with someone in series- This genre has a similar problem as the previous trope, but its much worse as pretty much all shows (with SOME exceptions) end with the male protagonist, even at the end of the series, still having no idea which girl he loves more/would want to date/marry, even if its clearly shown he likes one girl more others, even mature manga/anime do this. Again this is for story but it wouldn’t kill the writers to make the protagonist end up with someone, heck maybe if a series did do this (or one where a guy marries all the main girls unless its illegal to publish fictional polygamy, even in fictional mature manga) it would be praised.

More relatable male protagonist in harem/romance series- Most male protagonist in theses all seem to have one trait that describes there personality and usually its one of a small list of traits used in harem/romance series like the dumb guy, shy guy, or stoic guy sometimes they have 2 traits but there also the same like “the nice guy who gets afraid when the slightest sexual advance” or “the dumb/oblivious character with a heart of gold”. I just think it would be more interesting if the male protagonist had more personality. I mean I know there are some that aren’t like this but those are outnumbered by protagonist with traits that I just described.

Give the male protagonist in harem series a true male friend- Another thing that bugs me a bit about male harem protagonist is how he never has any guy friends and when he does there also predictable, whether it be ones he only hangs out with at school (not during weekends/adventures), the jealous/perverted one who either hangs out with the protagonist to get to a girl(s) he likes or complain about how lucky he is, or someone who is related to one of the girls in his harem in someway.

I’d like to see a series where the main character has a true friend that not only appears often, but also can help the protagonist out, or for humor willing get him into trouble from time to time. A benefit of the main character having a friend is that he could become a possible love interesting for one of the girls in the harem, thus adding more drama to series.

Mix up the tsundere trope a bit- There are two types of Tsunderes but I’m talking about the one where the girl always fights with the guy they like, even hurting them physically depending on the character. This has been used a lot in romance and harem series and I know it will continue to be used in the future, but I wish someone would at least try to change this trope a bit somehow.

I have 3 personal ideas to how to change this trope. One is instead of a tsundere we get a character similar to Centorea from Monster Musume who though loves the main character puts her duties/responsibilities before that, though she still does things to show that she like him like get jealous when other girls are near him, happy when he says or do something nice/romantic or mad when he does something inappropriate. Another is to make it so that the tsundere’s anger is actually out of her hand, as in she has either some medical/psychological condition, or was cursed with magic at a young age that makes her hate people that are close to her (like friends, family and boys she like). That would not only be interesting as seeing the tsundere have more trouble control her anger then usual, but would add more drama to the series. And the 3rd is that the girl isn’t always a tsundere. Maybe in one scenario she just hates the boy in question for a good part of the series but after something big, she turns into a tsundere or in another scenario she’s the opposite as that she is a tsundere at the beginning of the series but later on accepts her feeling and does whatever it can to date the boy. Either of these ideas would make this trope a little bit likeable to me.

That or make it so that there are consequences to there actions, as even in the most realistic anime series the tsundere can get away with a lot of things that would result in consequences. Make her pay for her actions like have her get grounded, detention or get a bad reputation for it. I’d like to see that happen as this could result in her trying to be nicer, be a good change of pace for the show, or to make things more dramatic as another consequence could be that her attitude drives the boy she likes away to a point where he doesn’t want anything to do with her or date a girl the tsundere hates, thus breaking her heart.

Episode where guy or girls are mysteriously gone/don’t act like themselves- I always wondered what would happen if the routine of the male protagonist or the girls in a harem series just stopped for an episode.

What I mean is what if we got an episode where after the male protagonist had a bad day caused by the girls in his harem, he gives a rant to them eventually saying he wished they would stop bothering him (or disappear) and the next day it comes true and this lasts for a few days. It would be interesting to see how the male character would react to this this and see him try to get use to his life after dealing with the girls for so long. This could also work for the girls as well, which I think would be more interesting because we would see what the girls would do if the guy they liked wasn’t in there lives anymore.

Episode where other people cause harem to stay apart- Similar to my previous idea but this time a known outside force is causing the characters to be apart as I also wondered if there were people in harem shows that got tired or angry at the shenanigans the main characters in a harem always got into, especially characters like the parents, the students, or teachers. So what if they did something about it, like make a rule or get restraining orders prevent the characters from hanging out. It’d be interesting to say the least.

Girl in harem falling out of love with protagonist- Again what would happen if a girl in a harem fell out of love with the protagonist, what would happen ? Would she just try and stay friends with the boy or try and avoid him at all cost ? Plus would she rejoin the harem later on or fall for another character ? Would it be as good as any other couple where one falls out of love for a bit or not ? I say a show should test this to see what happens.

Which of these tropes would you like to see change ? Are there any tropes not on this list that should change ?

#manga #anime #tropes

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adamantiiine-blog · 5 years

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MOTIVATIONS

Below the cut is a detailed analysis of Sauron’s motivations throughout his life, both in canon and in terms of my portrayal. Most of this is personal headcanon, however, it is based in canon and psychology. Also note that this analysis explores Sauron as a person from a neutral perspective, rather than as a villain, and neither condemns or defends his actions.

Canonically: Driven by a Need for Order

This begs for some investigation, though, considering the fact that one of Melkor’s actions was to bring about chaos and confusion, things that Sauron is known to detest.

Intelligence and Anxiety

Need for Appreciation and Fear of Failure

This brings me to my next point, and the reason that this intelligence and anxiety can be used to explain Sauron’s motivations.

In this case, all Melkor really needed to do was show more appreciation for Mairon’s ideas than Aulë did, which wouldn’t be too difficult.

Therefore, what drives him now is a fear of failing again.

Revenge, but Not As Much As One Might Think

This grudge is what ultimately inspired him to bring about Númenor’s downfall, and led him to allow himself to be captured and further humiliated in order to get into the king’s confidence.

While revenge isn’t one of his greatest motivators by any means, it still plays a key part in his particular prejudice against Gondor, Arnor, Aragorn, and Men in general.

Maiarin Psychology and the Vala-Maia Bond

It is here that I delve into my own expansions upon the mythology, into the peculiarities of Maiarin nature, and Ainurin nature in general, and how the motives detailed above fall in line with that.

Furthermore, the need to be appreciated, wanted, and/or needed is also an intrinsic part of Maiarin psychology, which is the basis for why Sauron was corrupted in the first place.

Contrary to Popular Belief…

Rather than an outlet for sadistic urges, torture is a hobby, a means by which to exercise his intellect.

Another possible reason for this assumption is the behavior of Orcs, however, they were primarily created by Melkor, who we know already is extremely destructive by nature.

However, because of what we know of Sauron’s nature, it is safe to assume that he is not motivated by sadism, destructive, or violent urges.

In Conclusion

#( 𝗆𝖺𝗂𝗋𝗈𝗇 ) — about

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adamantiiine-a · 5 years

Text

* ✧ ∗ H E A D C A N O N ;; mairon

M O T I V A T I O N S

Canonically: Driven by a Need for Order

This begs for some investigation, though, considering the fact that one of Melkor’s actions was to bring about chaos and confusion, things that Sauron is known to detest.

Intelligence and Anxiety

Need for Appreciation and Fear of Failure

This brings me to my next point, and the reason that this intelligence and anxiety can be used to explain Sauron’s motivations.

In this case, all Melkor really needed to do was show more appreciation for Mairon’s ideas than Aulë did, which wouldn’t be too difficult.

Therefore, what drives him now is a fear of failing again.

Revenge, but Not As Much As One Might Think

This grudge is what ultimately inspired him to bring about Númenor’s downfall, and led him to allow himself to be captured and further humiliated in order to get into the king’s confidence.

While revenge isn’t one of his greatest motivators by any means, it still plays a key part in his particular prejudice against Gondor, Arnor, Aragorn, and Men in general.

Maiarin Psychology and the Vala-Maia Bond

It is here that I delve into my own expansions upon the mythology, into the peculiarities of Maiarin nature, and Ainurin nature in general, and how the motives detailed above fall in line with that.

Furthermore, the need to be appreciated, wanted, and/or needed is also an intrinsic part of Maiarin psychology, which is the basis for why Sauron was corrupted in the first place.

Contrary to Popular Belief…

Rather than an outlet for sadistic urges, torture is a hobby, a means by which to exercise his intellect.

Another possible reason for this assumption is the behavior of Orcs, however, they were primarily created by Melkor, who we know already is extremely destructive by nature.

However, because of what we know of Sauron’s nature, it is safe to assume that he is not motivated by sadism, destructive, or violent urges.

In Conclusion

#* mairon ;; headcanon #.and here's this long-ass meta that i posted on my old blog

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