Fan Works
She didn't see him move. She didn't even feel the brush of air from the motion. Just one moment she was setting the apple down and talking, feeling more comfortable with the situation and imagining that Ember was exaggerating Lament's mental state, and the next she felt the cold edge of his Zanpaktou against the side of her neck.
He'd stood, drawn the sword from where it rested next to him, and had the long curved blade against her neck in the span it had taken her to drawn in half a breath. Adagio went still and silent as she stared at him, and his eyes held a strange, frozen light to them. His voice sounded different too, like someone had drawn a razor over the strings of a guitar instead of a gentle pick.
"Finish the apple."
He'd stood, drawn the sword from where it rested next to him, and had the long curved blade against her neck in the span it had taken her to drawn in half a breath. Adagio went still and silent as she stared at him, and his eyes held a strange, frozen light to them. His voice sounded different too, like someone had drawn a razor over the strings of a guitar instead of a gentle pick.
"Finish the apple."
"Your acting was perfect; I confess myself utterly deceived. Quirinus Quirrell seemed — what is the term I am looking for? Ah yes, that is the word. He seemed sane."
— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Films — Live-Action
"I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip."
— Patrick Bateman, American Psycho
Literature
"All my means are sane, my motive and object mad."
— Captain Ahab, Moby-Dick
Live-Action TV
"Oliver Thredson, was, to all appearances, a kindly figure, fatherly in his manner. This face he showed the world, this face of sanity and benevolence, that was his real mask. Underneath lurked the real Oliver Thredson: an unspeakable monster."
— Lana Winters, American Horror Story: Asylum
"In my job I interviewed over 800 men and 25 women convicted of awful things. Stuff from the darkest part of the human soul. I was evaluating a man by the name of Crighton Dallas Wilton. Name like that, sounded like he should own an oil company and wear a big hat... Crighton Dallas Wilton. Despite doing some truly unspeakable acts, he was up for parole. And he was one of the most damn likeable people I had ever met. He said all the right things, he went to therapy. He wrote letters to the prison board to start a program to grow flowers for the waiting rooms in state hospitals, rest rooms. And I saw right through him. Saw that he was a true psychopath, that he knew how to play people, exactly how to play people. I was interviewing him next to the cafeteria. The place smelled of industrial pizza. They were polishing the floor. I had to shout my questions half the time. And there was this moment. Uh. Can't even remember the exchange. But right then I knew that Crighton knew that I knew exactly what he was. Everything he had said, had done to hide away what he was from everyone, from himself, just slipped away, and... and that model prisoner of 10 years stood up, smiled, and just cracked me across the face. His fist felt like a rock. Then he was on top of me, and the floor polisher next door was thudding out every sound. And I — and I saw his face, his — his eyes, his evil. Mask had slipped. And he was gonna kill me right then and there because he knew I would make sure he would never get out again."
— Eastman, The Walking Dead (2010), "He's Not Here"
Tabletop Games
The most frightening thing about this Madman is that he appears completely sane. In fact, as far as he's concerned, he is completely sane, lucid in a way few mortals are ever allowed to be.
Theatre
Inconspicuous Sweeney was
Quick and quiet and clean he was
Back of his smile, under his word
Sweeney heard music that nobody heard
Quick and quiet and clean he was
Back of his smile, under his word
Sweeney heard music that nobody heard
Video Games
You've done it, Harry! Whatever else you are, you're also *boring* now. It was *not* easy. You've spent most of your life trying to funk up every nook and cranny of your personality. When someone says something political, the first three thoughts in your head are a ludicrous hodgepodge of communism, fascism and stock tips. When they ask you why you did something, it's superstardom, apocalypse, or the *mea culpas* of a flagellant cop monk. It's not easy, reaching for the fourth option — the normal one. But you have. And now you're not *just* crazy, you're also *boring*.
— Disco Elysium, "Regular Law Official" Thought
The most dangerous lunatics are the ones that sound lucid. Passing on Dr. Schreber's lab results to Zurn (who isn't as dangerous because he doesn't even pretend to be lucid.)
— Kirsten Geary, in the aftermath of "Where the Little Ones Go", The Secret World
An interlude in red and gold
You lost your mind, once. They put you in a splendid hotel managed by a Cheery Gentleman who would determine when you could leave.
How colourful the other guests were! How red the curtains! How gold the fittings! How secure the locks! Eventually, you were allowed to leave. But was your recovery genuine?
No. You just learned to lie. You said what you had to, and they sent you home. Even now, your world is red and gold and splendid.
You lost your mind, once. They put you in a splendid hotel managed by a Cheery Gentleman who would determine when you could leave.
How colourful the other guests were! How red the curtains! How gold the fittings! How secure the locks! Eventually, you were allowed to leave. But was your recovery genuine?
No. You just learned to lie. You said what you had to, and they sent you home. Even now, your world is red and gold and splendid.
— Sunless Skies, one of the possible facets with its option
Web Video
Asuna: Wow, how noble of you.
Kirito: Oh, spare me, Wonder Woman, you're only doing this to prove I was wrong.
Asuna: Hey, at least I pretend to be nice to people!
Kirito: Yeah, whatever — wait, "pretend"?
Kirito: Oh, spare me, Wonder Woman, you're only doing this to prove I was wrong.
Asuna: Hey, at least I pretend to be nice to people!
Kirito: Yeah, whatever — wait, "pretend"?
Western Animation
"No, no, no, no th-thi-this isn't happening... I-I didn't think about shattering White, I-I didn't shatter Jasper, I didn't fight with dad, I— I'm Steven Universe! ...I'm fine... I'm [voice cracks] FINE!" [window next to him cracks]
— Steven, Steven Universe: Future, "Everything's Fine"
