Quotes / Dissonant Serenity

"Not a promise, not an oath, or a malediction or a curse," I said, sounding calm, probably inaudible in the midst of Tagg's screaming. "Inevitable. Wasn't that how she put it? I told them. Warned them."

— Skitter, Worm

"So you see, Amy, I am very deliberately suppressing my real feelings and reactions to this mission. Because if I showed how I was really feeling... well, that would be pretty scary." Lindy said. She was still smiling. That just made it worse.

— Infinity, Chapter 17

Diary entry #844:
It has become apparent that we are demons now.

— Zukamimotu's untitled response to a writing prompt

"This is fine. I'm okay with the events that are unfolding currently. [sips from mug, arm melts] That's okay, things are going to be okay."

— Question Hound, Gunshow, "On Fire"

"You may find this curious: here, he's resting on the examining table. Pulse 72. Here, he grabs the nurse's head and pulls her down on him. Here, he is subdued by the attendant. He didn't resist, by the way, though the attendant dislocated his shoulder. Do you notice the strange thing? His pulse never got over 85. Even when he tore out her tongue."

— Dr. Chilton studying Hannibal Lecter's latest assault, Red Dragon

I only brushed up against^note what I was told later was a Nephandus once. It was in the middle of the Virtual Web, in one of the most densely trafficked zones in the whole damn place, and this ugly, nasty icon swept in, fixed right in the middle of the place like a spider and — I swear with the Computer as my witness — just started to drink up the fabric of the whole goddamn world. That wasn't the scary part. The scary part was the little unassuming surfer that was perched almost invisibly under a cluster of shifting frames right off the main thoroughfare. The whole time there was an absolute panic in the Net, he just stood there. I moved by close enough to hear him humming something while he watched. It was a children's song, just that. And then he smiled at me. I ran. Ran, logged out, shut down my system, and didn't login to the Net for a month, solid.
I still hear him humming in my nightmares.

— Mage: The Ascension — Convention Book: Iteration X (revised)

Mr. Murphy: You must be the Brulees.
Mr. Brulee: And you must be nuts! How can you be so calm? We are driving down a rampaging river carrying a dinosaur made of ham!
Mr. Murphy: And isn't it a great day for it?

— Milo Murphy's Law, "Family Vacation"

Colton: I'm Colton, the fiancée. Welcome to Thornton Hall.
Dan: [imitating Colton] My fiancée is missing. I'm in a great mood. Does this raise any red flags?

— Game Grumps, "Nancy Drew: The Ghost of Thornton Hall, Part 1"

Ennesby: I can see why Urtheep Industries doesn't want you running around loose.
Tenzy: Eventually, they'll come after me.
Ennesby: You're using the happy voice when you say that, and it's creeping me out.

— Schlock Mercenary

"I'm going to kill you, Marco," Jake said in a weirdly calm voice. "If I survive, I am gonna kill you."

— Animorphs — Megamorphs #1

What do Modulons sound like? Modulons are designed to speak in a soothing, friendly voice and tone. The specifics depend on the GM's acting abilities and preferences, but it's a good idea to have a consistent voice for Modulons. Even after the Modulons begin their war on humanity, they continue to speak in the same friendly, soothing tone, though it might be more unsettling than soothing when they say things like "death to the human oppressors."

— "The Modular Menace — Apocalypse", The End of the World: Revolt of the Machines

Harold: How many times do we have to TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, OLD MAN?!
Old fish: I love the young people!

— SpongeBob SquarePants, "The Bully"

"...Master, you just said something terrifying while smiling..."

— Tomoe Gozen, Fate/Gamers Only

"Ever since he got a girlfriend, his head's been in the clouds. Yesterday was awful because of the kaiju, but even then... he just smiled the whole time, saying that once school started... he'd get to brag about his girlfriend. It was super scary! We got an emergency alert, and he didn't even notice. He just said, 'I was thinking about Akaishi-san'... and that was it!"

— Moa Minami, Kaiju Girl Caramelise

Abel Gideon: With my last leg standing next to me, I should still wrestle with the urge to fight or flee.
Hannibal Lecter: It's called "terminal restlessness". The body fills with adrenaline and feels compelled to go-go-go.
Abel: "Go-go-go"? I've already got up and gone. This... is posthumous.
Hannibal: [annoyed] You're not dead yet, Abel. You still have to eat.
Abel: No, I don't. At this point, there is absolutely nothing I have to do. But I shouldn't spoil the fairy tale, should I? You and your little gingerbread house...

— Hannibal, "Antipasto"

<How're we doing?> Rachel asks, circling lower to announce her presence.
"Me? Never better." Tom actually sounds like he means it, either because he doesn't mind running for his life as long as he's not a controller or because he's completely lost his marbles after being a controller for too long.

— "What if they saved Jake's family?", All Assorted Animorphs AUs

"'Afraid so'? *'Afraid so'?!* That's something you say when the Flippee machine is broken, not after you just found out that your parents were killed!"

— Lincoln Loud, Peeking Through the Fourth Wall, Episode 37

It wasn't that Hoeness was unstable; rather, if anything, he was too calm, too collected. He moved through suffering, destruction and dismay, documenting all he saw, like mist through the forest. He sought no companionship, made no acquaintances, removed himself from personal danger where permissible, and even the few deaths he suffered during the war - for no one could fully predict the wild bitterness of those times - he took with a calm grace and resignation, professing afterwards that he wished he had bribed the executioner to put gunpowder in the flames that burned him, or remarking that being impaled on a spear was a far quicker demise if they could just slice open the liver entirely instead of merely puncturing the gut.

—The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Faintly, she heard the sound of another explosion and the crunch of steel against flesh and bone. She knew the Master was somehow in a very good mood tonight.

She found that hard to understand.

—The Night Unfurls

Witness the Blood Moon's rise. When its red glow shines upon the land...the aimless spirits of slain monsters return to flesh. Just as they did in a war long past. The world is threatened once again.

— Princess Zelda,^note Actually a decoy created by Ganondorf during the first Blood Moon in Tears of the Kingdom

The Henchman: Someone must have slipped me something. I mean, this can't be happening. It's like... Wow. Are those masks? Are we in the jungle? I want to go to the jungle. I quit, you know. Did I tell you that? No more, I tell you. I'm out... Done. Finished.
Corey bashes his head in with a pipe.
The Henchman: What... Are you hitting me? I... I just wanna go home. Can you call Mary? She'll... She'll come get me. Is that blood... Am I bleeding? Do I need to go to the hospital? Guys...? Look, I just want to go home, OK?
Corey, Mark, Alex and Ash begin beating The Henchman to death as Tony watches

— Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

And Dad? He went into the front room and organized his bus models. He stayed there all evening and was totally quiet... as if nothing had happened.

— Something Different About Dad: How to Live With Your Asperger's Parent, Chapter 4

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