Are we talking fiction or reality here? In reality the most modern definitions of insanity do ascribe some reasonably objective paraeters for diagnosis. In fiction, where people are neccessarily reduced to narrative traits, the real difference is based on authorial choices. But even fiction or biographical stories about or by real people with real mental illness struggle to leap the gap between what can be represented in prose and the many shades of actual life.

It's a lot easier to talk about this in fiction, though, where many characters are "damaged" - and are interesting or supposedly interesting because of it - but only a small subset of them are interpreted as mad by either fictional peers of the author's omniscient viewpoint.

If there is one difference between Victorian and modern literature it has been the rise of psychoanalysis, the public awareness of Freud and Jung in particular. Readers now are far more likely to make diagnoses of characters in light of (outdated) understandings of those actors' psychologies, expecting the character to "make sense" based on such analyses - which is off because we never get that level of clarity with real people.

This is one reason why a great bulk of modern protagonists had abusive fathers, childhood traumas, wrecked former relationships, terrible PTSD baggage etc., while there was no expectation that Sherlock Holmes or Jonathan Harker, Alan Quartermain or Hawkeye of the Mohicans needed them. They wee born in an era where, when horror struck, the characters were just expected to suck it up and get on with the job.




The Hood does not believe himself to be selfish, even though he defines himself as an archvillain. He genuinely believes that everything he does is ultimately for the best. He is clearly the right choice to correct the Parodyverse, and myst therefore be in a position to do so. He is clearly the one who must bring its tormenting Creators to justice and so gain vengeance for all the tortrued characters who have suffered there. Who else could manage it? It has to be him.

And for that he has and would sacrifice himself and everything he has.

At least that's his perspective, and probably his monomania.







The good news is, Chiaki's visions are back in UT#360. The bad news is, in all of them nearly everybody dies within 48 hours in one of millions of very horrible ways.







That's close to the textbook definition of Asperger's syndrome, one flavour of autism, which tends to manifest in intelligent people who have difficulty with the connect between their interior perceptions and needs and the external world.







One reason the Hood acquired his Portal of Prententiousness is that it can show him potential futures or evenb shift him into them.

For example, he went to a good deal of effort to make sure that, whatever futures occur in the centuries ahead from present, they have coalesced into a stable spacefaring human society by the time that the Lovely Zemo Triplets are born. They are neccessary to birth Goldeneyed, Exile, and Suicide Blonde, all three of whom he brought back to the contemporary Parodyverse eventally to play important roles in his plots. He is aware that there are still dozens of routes by which the particulat point in the future he needed might arrive but any of theim might serve.

So he gets round the lack of psychic awareness of the future using the time-traveller's cheat.




I suspect the Hood knows that Chiaki's responses would be deceptive, which is why he had not sought them. He is content for now to let her share more honest predictions with the heroes he needs to unknowingly undertake certain tasks for him.




As has been previously noted, the Hood tends to do things for multiple reasons. Amongst his intentions for Liu Xi are:

1. She is excellent poisoned bait for some of his enemies, notably the Void Scholar, the Void Spectre, and the Parody Master. She has been an important element in chains of events that have led to these enemies' destruction - and the Hood has nudged her into those events.

2. Her life has been tangled by a number of serious manipulators, some of whom the Hood is interested in understanding. Watching what Xander, Faite, and some baddies do with Liu Xi helps him discern their wider intentions and characters.

3. Her ability to traverse the Parodyverse is useful to him, especially because Liu Xi is sometimes impetuous in where she opens void portals. Most recently she managed to get to the Celestian Plane and bring Knifey there, allowing the Hood to follow in there and access an area he had been seeking to infiltrate since at least UT#80.

4. Liu Xi is useful as a member of the Lair Legion, which includes many people the Hood has intentions for. She is generally helpful in keeping those people alive and is sufficiently close to some that she might be used to distract or divert them - especially the former acting sorcerer supreme.

5. The Hooded Hood may have some long term final plans for Liu Xi, but even if he didn't, having her where she is, doing what she does, serves his purposes well. he has set up a situation where Liu Xi being around and trying to do the right thing furthers his plots, so evcen her good intentions can help him with his bad intentions. It's the achvillain way.