#even for tkdb that is INSANE WORK

[star-bitten]

“you get to keep the prettiest thing, don’t you?” IF THAT IS NOT THE MOST ROMANTIC SHIT IVE EVER HEARD. KISS.

[timeslipcamp]

thoughts on episode 5

hotarubi!!! god this chapter was such a rollercoaster when i read it for the first time. the last like, ten chapters had me on the edge of my seat and i was texting my friends who had never even heard about the game lol

other than the dolls smh not a fan sorry zenji

spoilers through ep 17

like why did it have to be a doll 😭😭😭

anyways

love that this chapter opens up with romeo demanding things. mc working with sinostra is so funny she really can do it all. good for you girl be multi faceted!!

OH THE HOUSES omg i forgot how early we saw the info. look at her getting her research on. it's still wild to me that there were 10 (potentially 8 or 9) houses worth of gen students and they all managed to fit in five this year lmao. hope there was enough dorm rooms

moby does point out that hotarubi has a "pristine" reputation among the students and the professors. darkwicks pets much. no wonder haku transferred there.

alright wait hold on you're telling me ANYONE can use this 3D printer in the library to get a perfectly detailed layout of ANY place in darkwick??? 👀 oh boy if this isn't foreshadowing idk what it is then. like, any location???

dude rereading this chapter and knowing about zenji makes it ten times more sad lol like noticing the scene cuts and the lines....that plot twist was so well done. i SCREAMED when i read it the first time

also hotarubi is just so pretty???? like these are my fav aesthetics for suuuure

man im gonna start keeping a list of which ghouls get called handsome in canon lmao we've got what, jin twice over and haku? and the JANITOR lmaoo

once again wishing subaru was a lesbian...

mc bowing back is so funny dude i love her

LOVE how shifty subaru got when we explained why we were there. i know it might technically have to do with lyca but the way his expression dropped and got so serious for a moment...love it love the tense moment. also love that all the other inspectors quit lmao

haku why are you always taking walks dude what are you looking for

dude they really frame subaru's meetings with lyca as so shady 😂 the all black background, "it won't be long now," tkdb please. not to mention moby's warning of "the hotarubi ghouls are hiding something"

it's also fun to see haku step up and see how competant he is on missions, like no wonder darkwick trusts him. he gets shit done and looks great doing it!!

i really hate creepy dolls man. every once in a while this story reminds me it's horror based and i'm like oh yeah i'm a giant wimp!!! honestly i'm impressed i kept reading after episode 2 hahaha fuck that thing

when i say i screamed the first time i read this

anyways

"not even us ghouls understand our stigmas that well" this game makes me feel insane.

mc getting sleep paralysis right when zenji's trying to leave a note 😭 messenger boy at it again i love him. unintentionally freaky as hell

OH MY GOD DANTE AND ALANS MEETING IS THIS CHAPTER mc i love you, you peeping tom

"why are you alive" never change alan

hey wait. subaru's said a couple times that people suck more than anomalies and then that wickhive screenshot said they were dissidents during the clash. what happened between then and now that made them have such a "spotless" reputation with the staff?

COULD THE ABBOT SEE ZENJI????

"Why do you work so hard for everyone around you?" Haku: "There's someone I wanna help. Call it practice."

ughhhhh i love hotarubi chapters i love you haku

also once again, fuck darkwick for keeping so many anomalies locked up like this. absolutely insane. and this was ultio's gig?? oh wait lyca was at the romanian branch. ed is most likely from romania based on what he said in like ep 17 i think, do you think they were at the same facility? and then both ended up here? he did say his ideal life has a big loyal dog in it...

i really dont say this enough but props to lyca's voice actor for going in on the barking lmao i love it sm

"Special missions are classified. You can't tell anyone." how many secret missions have the other ghouls gone on? what did they have to do?

iris-colored eyes is an interesting way to describe subaru's eyes. that probably doesn't mean anything lmao that's a reach

so what do we think subaru was lying about? was it lying in general about lyca? or did lyca actually murder someone? was it something else about his special mission? EDIT nvm it was his stigma lmao

"i'm done suspecting people" says mc immediately before finding haku talking to that creepy doll

oh my god speaking of creepy 😭 i forgot about the ghost kids. brb while i get my post it notes to cover my screen while i read

i still would love to know which rogue anomaly killed zenji but nooooo haku said not to poke the hornet's nest. ugh. i want the clash details so bad i'm actually going to lose my mind whenever it finally happens, i won't shut up for WEEKS

also good to note that both tohma and haku have a skeleton key. and that subaru doesn't have to say his word at all, it just starts. the staff really knows nothing huh

LOVE LOVE LOVE that the first time we see haku with an actually mad expression is when subaru reveals he was lying to darkwick. "look where you're standing. you of all people should know better than this." haku has seen first hand what happens when ghouls become liabilities and subaru has seen lyca been locked up for less! he's still in here! haku has INTIMATE knowledge, especially after what he was implying in the prologue/chapter one around the rui conversation, of what happens to ghouls that disagree with darkwick. UGH ugh ugh haku im shaking you in a jar TELL ME ABOUT THE CLASH

so i spoke a little about haku's motivations in my traitor theory post but i'm almost kind of wondering now if haku became the traitor as like, a sacrificial move. like he fell on the wire so no one else would have to. he's mentioned a couple times in a few episodes and screen lines about how his family is a big deal but he's nothing special, always takes the easy way out, etc. maybe him making the play to become darkwick's puppet was his way of making up for that, that this is how he could finally do something big and worthwhile.

or he's just slimy, who knows.

anyways it made me so genuinely happy to see lyca being freed even if darkwick put that wack ass condition on it.

this chapter was such a whirlwind the whole way through and had one of the best plot twists i've seen in this game. love hotarubi so much and lyca deserves the WORLD. 10/10