#it is fun learning to move past needing them but they are fun to execute | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thearcanecat · 7 months ago

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Hey Arc! If you dont mind, would you share some of your head canons for Miss Holloway or maybe Hatchetfield in general? /nf

Also just wanna say that I really love when you add on to my random idea posts, its really fun! 💜/p

Oh dear I have so many and they are not well organized. Let's start with the timeline. All of this is subject to change as well but I've actually been pretty consistent within my fics. Dates and names from her past and such should line up between them.

1776: The United States of America was founded.

October 31st, 1795: Holly-May Logan (Holy, holly berry, bitterness, month of May: hollow, lowland) is born.

1795-1810: Lives somewhere in the south because of the accent. Born Holly-May Logan. (land by the road, courageous fighter) She is feared because her red hair marks her as a witch/unlucky/cursed somehow. The Waylon family her mother is from has a history of magic although they do not know about the Lords. After her father’s death (probably due to something magical, maybe accident spell from Holly gone wrong?), they move to Nantucket, Michigan at the request of her Aunt. Holly's mother is resistant to this but widowed woman with a daughter being called a witch she really needs the support.

1810-1825: Holly-May Waylon gets adopted by her Aunt, who kept her maiden name even after marrying the mayor. (Magic runs through the female lineage). Holly’s mother doesn’t like magic as it has caused her much pain. Holly learns about magic from her Aunt against her mother’s wishes. She meets Willabella who is experimenting with lightning and keeps lots of journals. Willabella had emerged from the Woods many years before and was adopted by the Waylons. She emerged covered in mud, gaining her last name Muckwab. (Kinda Adam/first one created from mud/clay general folkloric motif.) She is disliked by the people who suspect her of magic. Willabella often debates religion with people and interrupts church, not helping her public perception in a very Christian town. Only the Waylon’s power keeps her safe. Her experiments succeed one night and 5 lightning bolts strike simultaneously, tearing into the fabric of the world. This allows Willabella to enter Nightmare Time and meet the Lords in Black. She devotes herself to them as they promise her respect and power. She experiments more, murdering children as their blood gives her writings power and are necessary for some of the spells. She creates the map and learns more about the Lords.

1812: Willabella has a child out of wedlock, further distancing her from the town. Father is a Hatchetmen with the last name Forrester, this eventual turns into Foster. (Potentially closer to her execution. She got pregnant specifically to delay her hanging. I was doing math with her children to get the Foster sister to be the proper amount of greats but I don't remember what my conclusion was so I'm not going to mess with it right now.)

1824: Willabella drafted a spell for immortality, which she is halfway through performing in the middle of the smaller island (what will become Waylon Hall), but it is unfinished before she is caught and executed by the Hatchetmen. The spell required blood which the hanging did not provide. The Waylon’s manage to escape by blaming Willabella as a witch. In her capture, large portions of the Woods were burned to the ground. The Men rename the island to Hatchetfield, after the new land. The judge plants three of the Villagers who showed signs of the Gift next to Willabella’s grave. They grow supernaturally fast to become the first of the Witchwoods. The Judge is a distant relative of the Metzgers.

1825: The remainders of Willabella’s cult join together to survive the Hatchetmen’s scourge. They ask the Lords for help and sacrifice Holly-May, their prodigy witch, to Nibbly in order for their safety. She is killed with the Black Blade. However, this is performed over Willabella’s incomplete spell in the Nibbly altar. Holly dies and the sacrifice is complete, saving the Church. A bit of blood drips in just the right place, completing the spell. The page in the Black Book changes from Willabella to Holly. (Could also be blood somehow perfectly landing on the hair to color it? But I like the idea of the Book having a life of its own. Like Willabella could write on it and only certain things would stay.) Lords offer Holly immortality in excahnge for what she cherishes most, her legacy. The Hatchetmen plant Gifted souls including Holly’s mom.

1837: Michigan state is founded.

1825-1840: Miss Huckleberry (sweetberry) Holly-May wakes up permanently 30, alone in the Nibbly altar. She is alive but some things are fuzzy. She wanders the Witchwoods for a few years, slowly going crazy. She hangs out with Chumby. This is the first true unexplainable event. (Referenced in KT) She likes the Huckleberry plants but feels they aren't quite right. She also likes the Hickory trees. (I have so many H*y names and I will shove all of them in here.) She wanders and meets a Stockworth son. They are a rich family who supported the Waylons in exchange for their magical knowledge. Duke is distantly related to them, he doesn't know this, but his name is a call back to the Stockworths being Dukes/Duchesses. The Stockworth son convinces her to rejoin society where she immediately gets swept up by the surviving members of the Church again.

1840-1855: Miss Hickory (tree) Going by Hickory as the records are muddled along with her memory, she quickly rises through the ranks to become a leader of the Church. The Church recognizes her as a reincarnation/gift to return for the first sacrifice to Nibbly. Most of the other members like her Aunt have died. She rebuilds it and secrecy becomes less key with members returning to high positions of power. This attracts the attention of the Hatchetmen who attack several of the members. Throughout this she realizes the extent of her memory curse.

Next few decades are basically just her learning more magic.

1855-1870: Miss Holleday. Pokey focus. Continues trying to build relationships despite memory deal. Learns her hypnosis and mind control magic.

1870-1885: Miss Hollisey. Blinky focus. Perfects more rituals in the Book and ends up leaving it in the hands of Willabella's grandaughter who manages a variant of the immortality spell with Webby's help. (Something with my Foster math again.) She has a more passive role in this identity, watching from afar and departs from the church for a while.

1885-1900: Miss Holloday. Tinky focus. She's a news reporter and investigates various goings on around Hatchetfield. Has a vision of the future where the world in overtaken by the Lords with her help. Starting to have doubt about everything.

1900-1915: Miss Hollowey. Nibbly focus. Agatha and Matthias marry and come to power within the church. Matthias becomes the mayor. Hollowey helps out and provides him with information that will be passed down to future mayors, along with information on how to contact her. This is what allows Solomon to reach her later. She reveals the map and the Black Book. The Waylons build Waylon Hall, the old schoolhouse, a mill, the Hatchetfield Gazzette and the Starlight Theatre at the locations marked by the map. Holly panics as they approach Waylon Hall, associating it with her first death. She leaves the Church with the goal to learn more about Webby and why she is so different from her brothers.

1915-1930: Miss Hollyday (holy day) Wiggly focus. Hollyday tries to enter the Black and White to reach Webby, however she is intercepted by Wiggly. He says that she has promise and takes her under his wing, the first true disciple since Willabella. He tries to turn Hollyday against Webby but that just makes her more curious. The Youngs are married and Mr. Young becomes the new leader and holder of the Black Book. Seeing the negative side effects of Willabella’s granddaughter's immortality they opt for stealing life instead. Webby finally reaches out to Holly and hides her from Wiggly.

1930-1945: Miss Hollaway. Webby focus. Webby brings Hollaway to Clivesdale, which she hates but it is out of the Lord's center of power. She explains that her mother the Spider Goddess used to rule to Black and White before being overthrown by the Lords who took her in. They claimed Webby as a sister but she began to see their flaws. Webby no longer trusts them and transfers her Gifts to Pamela’s Aunt, rather than Willabella’s granddaughter who has become corrupted. Holly is gifted a fraction of Webby’s power in a spiderweb in a jar. (one of the artifacts she has in KT). Webby teaches Hollaway the Witch in the Web song, reinvigorating her love of music.

1945-1960: Miss Honey. Return to Hatchetfield, avoiding but watching the Church. The First Honey Queen Pageant occurs and she realizes people are still being sacrificed to Nibbly. She mentors Pamela’s Aunt into her powers with Webby as a guide. Another girl, Rosemel Waylon who is very similar to Holly, becomes jealous and competes against her for Honey Queen against Honey’s wishes. She is chosen and killed before Honey can help, becoming the first of the 3-girl creature. Honey’s Nightmare Time becomes the Starlight Theatre, where the sacrifice took place.

1960-1979: Miss Holleway/Miss Honesty. Continue to mentor Pamela’s Aunt (Selina) and Mother, both growing into their powers. As Miss Honesty, she feeds information to the Hatchetmen like Bob Metzger and Emma’s Great Grandfather. One of the Hatchetmen is shown the Black Book and driven insane. He makes some of the marks within the Book (mostly the mad scribblings) and records some of the spells like the Ritual of Soul Transference, eventually becomeing Tape Voice. Pamela’s Aunt is overridden by her power despite Holly and Webby’s attempts to save her. She becomes the 2nd girl. Pamela’s Mother becomes afraid of her power and is traumatized.

1979: Pamela Foster is born. The Hatchetmen attack the Church of the Starry Children at Waylon Hall. They murder them all but the immortality spell is triggered. Holleway is able to destroy most of them but some escape, like Sheila Young. As the year turns to 1980, Holly is finally free of the Church. She steals the Black Book.

1980-1990(?): Miss Heavenly. Finally free of Hatchetfield she ventures out through the world as a touring musician. Some song ideas are from Webby. She finds a passion for the 80s and writes Run Away With Me. Throughout her travels she meets Wilbur Cross and learns of PEIP.

1987: Professor Henry Hidgens is struck by lightning and foresees the events of the split timeline. He carves a version of Pokey and the Lords which Harmony keeps. (strange carving in KT) While in the throws of Pokey's power he persuades Holly to do one last show in Hatchetfield.

Casey is a fan and while performing at the Starlight, Pokey tries to initiate the apotheosis. Holly manages to escape and resuce Casey too, but they are caught and killed by Hatchtmen afeter. Holly comes back, Casey doesn't. 3rd girl.

1990-2005: Miss Holliway. Back stuck in Hatchetfield she decides to help PEIP as an informant before climbing the ranks to General, despite being young (or is denied a title?). She avoids revealing too much information, warry that they will be influenced by the Lords, but this makes some others suspicious of her. When she learns that they are building a portal she is initially wary but comes to see it as an opportunity to free Webby/destroy the Lords. She volunteers to go in but is dismissed as she is known to lie/hide information and Wilbur is trusted more. (I think PEIP and Wilbur specifically hid this info from her because they knew she would be mad) Wilbur enters and returns as Uncle Wiley, the next true disciple of Wiggly since Holyday. He is freed from the curse and knows Holly-May’s history. Holliway tries to keep the timelines together, even as black and White energy rips it apart. Holliway leaves PEIP to John MacNamara, Wilbur’s mentee. Leaving her identity behind also wipes PEIP from the memories of the President and his cabinet as the government had been pushing them to create weapons. John’s views on the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart are secured. A lot of his quotes are from Holly such as “time is a pressure thread in the fabric of the universe” and “I can show you the path but only you can walk it” His reliance on it helped Holliway forgive herself and work to move forward. It is troubled by Wiley but eventually John pushes through to become the leader PEIP needed.

1998: Holliway helps Pamela Fosters, whose Gifts are beginning to overtake her. She is able to help her suppress them but not before Pamela is addicted to several drugs and generally very mean.

October 17th, 2004: Holliway helps Ted Spankoffski, now the Homeless Man. She gets the timeline back in order and prevents it from breaking although the strain will make it weaker. He gives her the Bastard’s Box. (KT artifact)

October 5th, 2005: Hannah Foster is born, the most powerful psychic mind in history. The seams holding together the universe are broken and the timelines split. This is actually Webby's doing, not Tinky or the Lords. She is the one who always had control of the multiverse. By splitting it apart she hopes that she can win in just one universe, and then make that the main one. The Lords attention is split, allowing her to get away with more things, but the veil between worlds is also loosened allowing them to make worse apocalypses.

Apotheosis 2005-October 2018: Miss Holloway. Owns Miss Retro’s and is killed by Wiley.

Black Friday 2005-2015: Miss Holloway. (sunken road: leader) Owns Miss Retro’s and helps a young Ethan Green escape Wiley as he prepares for Black Friday. Lex is involved as her power peaks in 2015. While applying for a job they stumble across protype Wiggly dolls and in the ensuring scuffle Ethan is banned from Lakeside Mall. Holly gives him the Magic Hat before she is killed in the duel with Wiley by the Black Blade. The Black Blade, being made by the Lords, is able to kill her. Lex and Ethan forget most of the event because of the memory thing.

Nightmare Time 1 2005-2020: Miss Holloway and Duke, owns Miss Retro’s and helps Duke, now a social worker. She kills Wiley in the Starlight with the Black Blade. She enters Hannah Foster’s Nightmare Time in order to exorcize Willabella Muckwab, destroying her for good.

Honey Festival NMT2 2005-2020: Miss Holloway. Owns Miss Retro’s and helps Duke with Rose. She was initially nervous about helping kids since the last three died but Duke convinced her that she’s a good witch. After dying to the Killer Track and returning, Duke demands answers but forgets their conversation. After destroying the Killer Track, Duke's memories are wiped once again.

Nerdy Prudes Must Die 2005-???: Miss Holloway. Gets killed by Wiley and Solomon inherits the book, sacrificing his wife to gain power.

Honey Festival NMT2 2020-2035: Miss Holiday (holy day) is a guidance counselor at Hatchetfield High. She meets Duke again.

PEIP Character interactions

Holliway & John A teasing and joking relationship built on trust. They poke fun at each other all the time and function more like peers even though Holly’s a higher rank than he is. She teaches him a few things, especially if Wilbur got something wrong about the B&W that she can correct John’s knowledge of, but isn’t his main mentor. Holly encourages him to ask out Xander and John in turn teases her about Wilbur and is the person to point out he has a crush on her. Holliway respects him, and knows he’ll be a better leader than the General, and is sure to leave rememberable documents recommending him for promotion after she leaves.

Holliway & Xander An academic mentor relationship. Holliway is Xander’s mentor and teaches him all about the B&W. Together they create the foundation of knowledge that the entirety of PEIP is built on. They nerd out together, finishing each other's sentences when they’re on the same brainwave and filling up blackboards with theories and equations. They go through chalk so quickly they got called out at a budgeting meeting for it. Xander learns about magic, and has a small touch of the Gift. The first day they met to talk about the B&W, Holliway told him that magic isn’t always logical and breaks its own rules and Xander was like that’s just how theoretical physics works. Xander admires Holloway’s knowledge and listens to all her advice, perhaps a little too strictly. The General dislikes him for his closeness with her.

Holliway & Cross Rivals to lovers. Holliway disliked Cross when they first met, because he came off as trying to help a damsel in distress. Will liked her immediately and her dismissal of him just intrigued him more. The General told him to keep an eye on her, purposefully seating them next to each other and assigning them on missions. Will kept annoying her, asking her questions about her past and pointing out when she was lying, though whenever he hit a real boundary he backed off. After Holliway realized he had on crush on her, she told him to stop it, which he didn’t. He started flirting more openly until she finally gave it. He’s good at breaking through the walls she’s built over the years. Of not trusting or caring because everyone will just forget and it will hurt again. It’s not the most functional relationship. Holliway is so lonely and desperate for a connection that she puts up with a lot once she admits to herself that she likes him. And Will is more enamored with the idea of her, as well as being pretty flighty and disloyal. Like he definitely still looks and flirts at other women, though he wouldn’t actively cheat on Holloway while they’re in a relationship. He’s one of the few people to make her laugh and they jokingly steal stuff from each other all the time (the jacket.) He doesn’t listen to Holly’s advice though, which gets him in trouble numerous times, most vitally with the portal. He has a million different nicknames for her, and she calls him Will sometimes.

Holliway & Scahffer They don’t interact much, but find solidarity as the only two girls. Schaffer has been at this much longer, and knows how to subvert the General, important knowledge she passes on to Holly. Schaffer can come off as unemotional or uncaring, something Holly respects in her but Schaffer dislikes. Schaffer corners her one day to tell Holly she can care for people, even in this line of work. Holly refutes this and Schaffer tells her about her partner who died in the line of duty, but that she never regretted it. They trauma bond a bit. Holly starts to open up more.

Holliway & General Oc to be an oppositional force to Holly. They hate each other. The General is very distrusting and fearful of magic. He sees it as an evil to be rid of, not a tool that depends on the will of the user. He is rude and dismissive of Holly, withholding promotions and ignoring her ideas, even when they are prove to be very right. Holly hates him because he hates her, although he words hit closer to home than she likes to admit, paralleling her own concerns over her morality and past. The General purposefully subverts her when it comes to the portal. After the portal, while everyone is still reeling, Holly seeks him out hiding away in his command room. She has a chance to kill him, but chooses not to, instead pointing out how his actions endangered the whole company before making him resign.

Holliway & Douglas Sr. Holly met Doug first out of the group. In her new life she wanted to help people, and had a few run-ins with the Sheriff. Douglas had been given a very vague talk about how if he saw anything strange or unusual he should call this number (connects him to PEIP). He figured out what they actually were pretty quickly because Hatchetfield is such a hot spot for magic. Holly mainly worked at base, but kept in contact with Doug, helping set up sensors and giving him advice. He in turn shows her what a good cop could be, again paralleling witches. (Still acab we’ll get into it at Duke’s backstory) Duke doesn’t factor in much, besides the sense that Doug cares very much for him. They spend a lot of time together, which Will jokes about, though this doesn’t actually become jealousy until Wiggly turns him insane. Doug and Holly save a kid together, maybe Pamela?

John & Xander They love each other. John is pretty outgoing and reckless, which Xander helps to reign him back in. Xander is more quiet and needs John to tell him to take breaks or get him out of his shell. They both can talk for hours about the subjects they care about. Xander can be pretty anxious about his position and place in PEIP, and John helps reassure him that he belongs. Xander in turn reassures John about his decisions and helps take so much guilt off his shoulders. They both know they could lose each other in the line of duty, which puts a damper on their relationship, but they would rather have each other than not.

John & Cross Mentor-mentee relationship. Cross mentors John and teaches him everything he knows. This goes beyond PEIP things, although Wilbur’s advice on dating and such is unreliable at best. John looks up to Wilbur, but can also admit his flaws. Cross can be harsh when John messes up, but always forgives him, though not before John understands consequences that could result from poor decision making. Cross is pretty casual with John, joking with him, though it is always clear he has the higher rank.

John & Schafer John heavily respects Schafer. She usually runs in different circles from him but is well trained in combat and Cross pulls her in to help train every once in a while. Schafer offers him advice about dating within the agency, and is up front about the risks he is taking. She is straightforward and to the point, which John prefers. After the portal and John starts rising the ranks, Schafer becomes his new mentor until he outpaces her, at which point she becomes his second most loyal supporter (behind Xander of course.)

John & General John admires the General and looks up to him. He sees him as the epitome of what a PEIP agent should be. He’s a little blind to his flaws, or is quick to make excuses for him. The General likes John the most out of the new recruits, giving him preference in training and mission choice. The General sees himself in John and marks him out for promotion. The General does his best to turn John against Holly, but never really succeeds. John thinks too highly of everyone the whole “strength of the human heart.”

John & Douglas Sr. Don’t interact much. A few check ins, where they get along well. Both struggling to do good in an institution that doesn’t always support that. When John does become General, he is very inspired by Douglas and takes a lot of his leadership to heart. John learns about holding his values even in hardship, when to fight and when to spare, how to deal with bad coworkers. Douglas helps point him in the right direction and tells John that he hopes he never had to kill a single person.

Xander & Cross Xander is a little awkward around Cross. Like meeting the parents. He doesn’t quite get Wlbur’s teasing as a love language. He recognizes it's in good fun, but doesn’t feel it. Cross thinks Xander is cute, and a good fit for John, but doesn’t see him as an equal. Cross sees Xander as the bookworm, a scientist that will never see active duty, and underestimates his combat capabilities. Xander tends to avoid Cross and when they do talk be very professional.

Xander & Schaffer Introvert buddies. They get along surprisingly well. Schaffer understands all Xander’s technical stuff and can give good input. She’s usually in charge of checking his numbers. Xander respects Schaffer and she teaches him his combat skills. They are usually very quiet together, communicating through body language or their own code language they accidently developed. They are frequently partnered on projects and are both relieved when that happens so they don’t have to talk to someone they don’t know.

Xander & General Xander can see through the General’s bullshit but isn’t in a position to do much about it. Whenever possible he subverts the rules and keeps Holloway afloat with what’s going on, but he can’t ignore a direct order. Xander illuminates some of this to John, who recognizes and accepts it, though he still idolizes the General to a degree. Xander advocates for magic and has done several powerpoints on its benefits, none of which changed the General’s mind. The General dislikes Xander because of this, but has to admit he’s the best theoretical physic he’s ever had. He disapproves of Xander’s ideals, but doesn’t see him as a threat.

Xander & Douglas Sr. Xander interacts with Douglas the most out of the PEIP agents. He helps set up sensors round town and is responsible for the briefing about who to report weird happenings from. Douglas was like who the hell is this when he had his briefing but after his first encounter with the supernatural came to respect Xander. Xander likes Douglas. They listen and communicate well. Xander met the young Duke a few times.

Cross & Schaffer They both know of eachother but don’t work together that often. Schaffer dislikes Wilbur’s casual attitude and can see that he’s susceptible to bribery and corruption. Cross knows Schaffer could beat him up so he stays away. It’s a little bit of fear, but also she kinda freaks him out. Like he knows she knows something about him that even he doesn’t know.

Cross & General Cross and the General get along well. Wilbur is good at sucking up to authority and got on his good side early on. The General gives Wilbur the most important jobs (portal) which he does with pride. Wilbur doesn’t mind the General’s morals. He definitely subscribed to them until he met Holloway, at which point he ditched them at the drop of a hat. When the General tells him something confidential, Cross listens and keeps it secret. One of his jobs was spying on Holloway, and the General is convinced Wilbur is just really committed to the bit.

Cross & Douglas Sr. Cross and Doug don’t interact too much. He mostly gets reports and hears that Holloway likes him. He teases Holloway about a crush, which she shuts down real fast. He’s not really jealous of them until Wiggly makes him. There’s a mutual respect for the other’s position, but after they talked for the first time, Douglas disliked him. After the portal, he is Cross’s first mark. It’s a trial by Wiggly to see if he will kill someone on the same side. And Douglas knows a lot about Hatchetfield and was working with Holloway to strengthen the Web.

Schaffer & General They don’t like each other. Schaffer used to be the agent he trusted to get the job done until Wilbur came along. Then he dropped her. Schaffer knew him from before he grew fearful of magic (insert tragic backstory here. Maybe Schaffer’s partner died here?) but that’s no excuse for his actions and she tells him that a lot. The General knows she’s a good combatant, and often sends her on long and dangerous missions. Schaffer does these to protect the country, not for him.

Schaffer & Douglas Sr. They have never met. Schaffer’s heard of him because she’s heard of everyone. She knows he’s got a good heart and asks Holloway about him on occasion. Douglas does not know she exists but occasionally he gets a message from PEIP that Schaffer wrote where she usually rewards him for doing a good job.

General & Douglas Sr. Also a weak connection. The General knows Douglas as one of many names of informants. Douglas knows vaguely of the top dog at PEIP but doesn’t like him based on the stories he gets from Xander and Holloway. He thinks it’s a disgrace of the job but understand how one could come to those assumptions.

Holliway & Carlo (this is the name I decided Charles Coven is going by when he works with PEIP) They don’t get along. Carlo sides with the General, sucking up to power. He sees magic only as a tool and Holliway as a loaded gun to be treated with caution. Holliway can tell Carlo is thirsty for power and an easy target for the Lords. She makes an effort to keep him out of things, but he always worms his way in regardless.

John & Carlo John tries to get along with Carlo but they don’t know each other well. John tries to give a little smile and wave, but is usually ignored or treated as lesser. Carlo sees John as a little brother and rides his coattails when it’s helpful and ditches him when it’s not. Carlo doesn’t respect him much and John is kind of confused by his demeanor and eventually starts ignoring him.

Xander & Carlo They interact the most out of the main cast & Carlo. Carlo tries to befriend Xander, who sees through him immediately and calls him out on it. Carlo tries to play it cool, but Xander still dismisses him. Carlo sees Xander as a weak link and an easy target to get information out of. Xander proves a more difficult target than he expected, but Carlo is still able to sneak a few materials out, which he uses to create the bottle imps.

Wilbur & Carlo Wilbur and Carlo recognize each other as schemers and have an unspoken agreement to stay out of each other's way. Wilbur inadvertently keeps Holliway and co safe by claiming them as his. Carlo respects this, though asks Wilbur for some clearance to hidden areas. They have a mutual respect but are always trying to screw each other over when possible withholding information and making deals.

Schaffer & Carlo Schaffer also sees through Carlo. She warns the General about him and is dismissed. They don’t cross paths often, but when they do, Schaffer points out any inconsistencies in his stories and is ruthless about it. Carlo dislikes her because of this and often shit talks her behind her back, which she is well aware of.

General & Carlo The General respects Carlo and brings him on board for the portal project. Carlo thinks the General is a coward and that magic is a tool, not something to dismiss entirely, but sucks up to him because he knows the General is the only one preventing him from getting kicked out. The General thinks Carlo is like minded, and generally praises and rewards him even when he doesn’t deserve it.

Douglas Sr. & Carlo They have never interacted. Carlo was an informant but from a different city. He respects the position but would think Douglas is easy to exploit. Douglas would see through him and ignore him.

ID Numbers - based on the Stith Thompson - Motif Index of Folklore

Wilbur: D1310.10.1. Magic apple gives supernatural knowledge. Holly: G220.0.1. "Black" and "white" witches. Malevolent and benevolent. John: B147.2.1.2. Eagle as omen of victory. Xander: J1291.2. Theological questions answered by propounding simple questions in science. Douglas Sr.: A1101.1.1. A1101.1.1. Reign of peace and justice (under certain king). Schaffer: J674.1. J674.1. Wild-boar sharpens tusks when no enemy is in sight. Tells fox that when enemy comes there are other things to do. General: K1088. K1088. Dissension aroused in army by casting suspicion on general. A general destroys everything except what belongs to the general of the enemy. Thus he brings about suspicion that the two leaders are in league. Carlo: G514.0.1. G514.0.1. Demon must bring treasure to those who have released him.

Duke's Backstory: After his father died he got disillusioned to the police force, realized that no matter how much good his father tried to do it was overshadowed by his support of a corrupt system + the murders on his hand. He went on an apology tour to victims families that was not well received. (Teenage boy randomly knocking on your door to remind you that his dad killed your love one.) He started volunteering at charity events and got involved with Bill's church. (before it went all chastity and abstinence) Bill was a helpful mentor to him as Duke started to have more questions about what makes people turn to crime in the first place. Seeing and helping people in rough times increased his compassion and wish for everyone to be treated with human dignity. He has a degree in sociology and master's in social work. (There's more of this in my Holloweane 36 Questions AU whenever I have time to finish that. Winter break, hopefully?)

The Blade of Truth: Webby showed Holly how to make them and each require a secret to be sacrificed for its construction, something that the maker can never say again or else the blade shatters. This is perfect for Holloway. It can also be helpful in combat where you stab someone and then say the secret while it’s still in them, sending shrapnel deeper into them. When Holly worked at PEIP she left them a few blades. My design for them is all in contrast to the Black Blade: guard facing down, vines rather than thorns, a moon instead of a star.

Willabella's tree: Gnarled roots extend from a bulbous center. No leaves hang from its crown of branches. It is not natural. Nothing grows near it, except the apples that grow for its branches, never ripe and always rotten. A hollow in the center is swarming with spiders whose web spans across it. Several scars are evident from where the Hatchetmen, once they realized their mistake, tried to cut it down. From its branches hand charms of protection and containment that replace old ones of worship. It grows behind the old Waylon Hall, over the sight of Willabella’s execution. Like the Hall, many rumors swirl around it and foolish children often dare each other to touch the bark.

Lords as sets of 2

Wiggly & Pokey: Most powerful and have their own dedicated musicals, playful Blinky & Nibbly: physical forms, Watcher World and sacrifice, sensory mouth and eyes, Sniggle gets a song (so does Wiggy’s) Tinky & Webby: animal based, time and space/universe

Random Headcanons

John majored in Philosophy.

Gary Goldstein is the most corrupt lawyer in Hatchetfield. He helps Roman Murray cover up the riches he received from Nibbly, which is how Linda found him. He also helps Sheila cover up her age which is how Sherman knows him.

The Hatchetmen founded Sycamore High so as to avoid the Church at Hatchetfield High. Timberwolves are a sign of the Hatchetmen and symbolize guardianship while Nighthawks symbolize the church in the darkness and camouflage.

The Obnoxious Teen is actually different versions of Pete after an encounter with the Bastard Box.

Apples. Wilbur has an apple representing the Tree of Knowledge (one Adam and Eve were told not to touch). Holloway took the one from the Tree of Life (got her immortality). Just a fun visual for when both make their deal with the Lords.

Wilbur has stolen every part of his denim outfit. He shoplifts, steals from the lost and found, borrows and then never gives something back etc.

A bunch of retro games from Pizza Pete's have an unbeatable high score by an HLY.

There is a rival Italian restaurant to Pasqualli's that all the teens hate on principle. It's been vandalized several times.

Liz Cunningham and her husband have a Romeo and Juliet love story of learning to love across the town rivalries.

Hatchetfield has a higher crime rate than most major cities in the US.

#the arcane cat can talk #arc's land of headcannons #pip hide

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zephyr-rat · 6 months ago

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Green Giant Saga 2024 Year End Retrospective - Twitch and Moving Past the Sewer Kingdom

This is part of a yearlong retrospective since I’m halfway through the Green Giant Saga since I started work on it very late last year.

As fun as I had writing Twitch, I do think there are a lot of improvements to be made, especially since Twitch had a decent amount of focus in this first half of the story, being a main character with substantial focus for 6 out of 10 episodes, specifically on his relationship with Zac.

Let’s start with the premise of the character, which has always been the premise of the character since I roleplayed him in high school. The premise is built out of the motivation he had in the old lore in which Twitch is trying to recreate his sentience. In Green Giant Saga, Twitch is a mutated rat who declared himself king of the sumps because he’s the monster with the biggest stash. By his logic, if you kill a creature (human or otherwise), you get to steal their things and the more things you have, the more security and luxury you have in a cutthroat environment like the inhabitable sumps. In this case, he truly thrived, accumulating more and more stuff for his throne.

As Twitch accumulated more wealth, he started to get more lonely. He read fantasy books and romance books that told stories of companionship that he truly wanted, but he’s always been taught that the sumps were to kill or be killed. The people that you put your trust in can always backstab you or exterminate you to steal your stash. As such, Twitch didn’t try to make friends the normal way, he aims to recreate his sentience and make more mutated rats. If he’s their creator who gave them life, surely that would make them loyal to him. However, he keeps failing and failing and failing in his sentience experiments, leading to more rat corpses in his lair than he knew what to do with. This was until one day, Twitch looted a special green goopy ingredient in the aftermath of what was, unknown to him, a warden raid into Zac’s home. When he combined it together, he finally created his first subject: not a mutated rat like himself, but the Zaunite Amorphous Combatant.

However, Zac didn’t act like the optimal servant that Twitch wanted. Zac had radically different morals, attitudes, and beliefs that frustrated him. There are many times when Zac would actively disobey him and go against his wishes. He wants him to be so much better than what he got; there are times when he wants to create a better subject, but he can’t give up on him. Too much blood, sweat, tears and dead rats were burned to get to his first sentient subject. What does that say about him if he couldn’t even make this first relationship work, and so, a lot of Twitch’s arc is him trying to make his relationship with Zac work in the context of him being the sewer king, a delusion based on his own beliefs.

(Art by PirateSylph on Twitter / X)

In general, I think this is a good premise in the context of the Green Giant Saga. A major theme of the story is resolving the differences between a childlike fantasy to the real world. For Zac, it’s his image of superheroism, and for Twitch, it’s being a self-proclaimed king. It also emphasizes themes of empathy. Throughout the relationship, Zac and Twitch’s empathy for each other gets tested. In particular, this core belief that “the only subjects I can trust are those that I create” is set up to be challenged with the nature of how Twitch recreated Zac from his remains. What happens when he finds out that he didn’t actually create him?

However, in execution, I think there are some problems with it. The main problem I have that I’m looking to resolve moving forward is that Twitch’s character plotlines feel too centered around Zac. Zac is currently the main vector for Twitch’s development. I think this is fine at the start, especially with how possessive Twitch is, but I do imagine it getting repetitive. I get that sometimes people need to learn the same lesson multiple times, but Twitch learning to respect Zac’s wishes and compromise twice in a row isn’t exactly great. I still like “Monster under the Trashbags” and “Zac’s Day Off” and they both have their differences, but that’s not great for character growth and I’m going to try to avoid that same arc if I can.

I also want more stories exploring his internalized logic of how “the natural sumps” work, mirroring how people would internalize systemic abuses as “part of the real world”. This is 100% being challenged by Twitch’s reaction to Zac’s heroic deeds (Puffcap Adventure and especially Fresh Sump Blood in particular) but I think we can challenge them more directly. It allows Twitch to be developed in a vector other than his relationship with Zac in addition to exploring the themes of systemic abuse.

Another improvement that I want to make is to have more opportunities for Zac to learn from Twitch. So far, most of the stories are Twitch learning from Zac which makes the relationship feel very one-sided. Granted, I think Twitch has a lot more to learn from Zac than vice-versa, but I wanted it to be mutually beneficial in which both are learning from each other. This is already getting addressed in the next story I’m writing (coming out mid-january), but I do want to look for other opportunities for Twitch to offer Zac something.

I also wonder if I’m not being funny enough with Twitch? I think the latest stories in particular don’t show his more zany, comedic side more often, and instead display his more desperate, greedy, and possessive side. It’s funny because back when I did the roleplay blog, I thought I leaned super hard on the comedic side and now it’s the opposite problem, and if I want to write Twitch well, I need to strike a really good balance between the two. I think I noticed this when I went over some of the cover ideas of the current stories and found that a decent chunk of them has Twitch looking miserable or paranoid. Writers do love torturing characters I suppose, but I shouldn’t be too hard on him.

Negatives aside, I do think a good dynamic is starting to form between the two (at least Fresh Sump Blood and the current story I’m working on). Zac is starting to become the reckless moral heart of the story, wanting to do good by everyone sometimes through stupid actions, and Twitch is the one that makes sure Zac doesn’t bite off more than he can chew through his paranoia and caution. Through Zac, Twitch is starting to learn a worldview beyond basic violence and greed and through Twitch, Zac is growing more confident in his heroism. I do think more work needs to be done to develop since a lot of the relationship’s initial teething problems were ironed out in Zac’s Day Off, the last Twitch/Zac episode. Twitch, in general, also just has the strongest voice out of any POV character in the series with how distinct and loud he can be. I wonder if it comes off as annoying sometimes.

I hope I can make good on these goals in the later half of the series, but I still think my Twitch is decent, albeit a bit repetitive sometimes. Definitely better than the nothing Riot has for him right now. It's so weird to say I'm more proud of my work on Zac than my work on Twitch because in my high school roleplaying days, it was the exact opposite.

—————————————————–

If you want to read more of Zac and Twitch’s adventures in Zaun. Check out the entire saga!

Ao3 Series

Main Tumblr Page (Character Insights and such)

#league of legends #twitch #rat #plague #lol #ao3 fanfic #the plague rat #green giant saga #green giant 2024 retrospective

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calliecat93 · 3 months ago

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ST: DS9 S1 Episodes 9-14 Watchthrough

The Passenger: It was okay. Has a pretty cool and outright terrifying concept with the body surfing. But it's been about two weeks since I watched this one, and I for the life of me cannot tell you what exactly happened. Aside from the main plot and a specific character's weird acting, I barely remember it once we realize who's been possessed. The last two minutes were fun though, I do remember that. Good concept, but unmemorable overall... I REALLY wanna remake this with the TOS cast though XD 2.5/5.

Move Along Home: Apparently, this one is pretty unpopular, and I think I saw even Avery Brooks (Sisko) disliked it. I guess I can see why, even by 90's ST standards this is super goofy and weird... but I kind of loved it? It's so silly but it's not so goofy that it takes me out of it. I love everyone's reactions to being stuck in a game, and the alien leader is just having SO much fun, I love that guy! And Quark learning that cheating never ends well... okay he probably learned nothing, but at least he has a tad bit of a conscious haha. It's not a great episode, but it's a fun one, and sometimes that's all you ever need. 3/5.

The Nagus: Well this is a first, a Ferengi-focus episode. Overall, it was fine. Quark sucks, but he's so damn fun I can't really hate him... but he totally had what he nearly got coming, especially with how he treats his brother. I hated the Ferengi in TNG cause they were so freakin' dumb and not in a fun way, but so far DS9 has figured out how to make them fun! I don't have too many thoughts other than that it was a decent watch. I'm also loving Jake and Nog's friendship and how Sisko is at first opposed to it, but for reasons I won't spoil ends up proud of his son. Oh and Jadzia casually eating Sisko's dinner XD 3/5.

Vortex: Now this was a good one! Odo finds out that he is a Changeling, but no one's seen them in an eternity save this one criminal slated for execution on his home planet. I can't even imagine the position that Odo has been in his whole life, being the only one of his kind and not knowing if there's anyone else like him. Then someone comes along and says he can lead him to them, and while it of course isn't what it seems when we find out the guy's true motivation... well, it hits HARD lets say that. This is the kind of episode that Odo needed, and I freakin' loved it! 4/5.

Battle Lines: This sure was something. I feel mostly good about it, but I for the life of me could not get invested in the conflict going on between the two species. IDK, the leader of the one group was so freakin' dull and boring, I could not care. That said, the message of these two at odds for all eternity truly hits hard, especially as they can't die as the planet brings them back to life. What really got me though was everything with Kira and the Kai Opaka, the Bajoran's spiritual leader. The Kai ends up killed in a shuttle accident, but the planet resurrects her... and we find out that she can't leave or she'll die. Being on this planet causes Kira to have to confront her past as a freedom fighter and of the horrible things she had to do for survival and deal with having to lose the Kai as well. This poor woman is so broken and scared that she can't move on, and the Kai comforting her... God it made me an emotional wreck. I wish I could care more about the two sides, but it did wonders for our main cast and with the Kai gone... well, I guess we'll see what happens in the future. 4/5.

The Storyteller: This was... meh. I love having O'Brien and Julian on a mission together and Julian getting on O'Brien's nerves... but the actual plot is incredibly dull. Long story short, O'Brien ends up made the new savior of a Bajoran village when he doesn't want to be, oops. It's saved by the O'Brien and Julian interactions and I can't even lie, finding out why O'Brien was made the hero is legit hilarious. But it's still overall pretty dull, especially compared to the B-Plot. IDK how DS9 made a silly plot with Jake and Nog trying to get a 15-year-old girl who si also a political leader to loosen up and have fun... but it was legit so fun! I wasn't a huge fan of Wesley in TNG so I wasn't sure I'd like plots involving Jake, but he and Nog have been a delight thus far! Heck Nog's crush on the girl is kinda cute and doesn't veer into creepy, it's a miracle! This is very much an episode where the A plot isn't really much of anything, but is carried by it's B-Plot. 2.5/5.

The post for the remaining six episodes will likely be posted this weekend, I'm three episodes away from finishing Season 1! I'm so excited~!!!

#st watchthrough #ds9 #ds9 watchthrough

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sebastianthecollectorandcreator · 1 month ago

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Debunking Cartoonshi: The Loud House's FAILED Spin-Off (The Casagrandes)

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"The Power Of K-Pop, Mom, It's Real"

(Cartoonshi Groans)

While I've Never Interacted With A K-Pop Fan, I Can Say That Sid Is Probably The Most Restrained K-Pop Fan In Fiction.

"The Loud House A While Back Got Popular, Despite Long Running Past The Point Of Being Good, But Also Inadvertedly Making Amphibia A Worse Show"

While I Have Yet To Revisit Amphibia (Maybe I'll Do It Next Year, Who Knows), I Haven't Seen This In The "Executive Meddling" Section On The Show's TV Tropes (If This Is True, Then Get To Editing If You Have A TV Tropes Account).

"It Was Granted An Entire Spin-Off Show Focusing On A Recurring Character Of The Original Series"

(Snippet Of "The Cleveland Show" Theme Plays)

I Prefer To Think Of The Casagrandes As The Angel To The Loud House's Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Due To Watching All Four Concurrently). In Both Cases, I Find Myself Preferring The Spin-Off To The Original.

"Okay, That's The Only Cleveland Show Joke I Make In This Video, I Swear. Lord Knows Everyone Ran That Into The Ground Before I Did"

At Least We Can Agree That The Cleveland Show Comparisons Are Overblown (I Prefer The Angel Comparison As Mentioned Above).

"Ronnie Anne, The Previous Bully-Turned-Love Interest Of Lincoln Loud, Who For Some Reason Brings Mr. Enter An Inch Closer To An Aneurysm"

"Which Is A Message That's Not Only Wrong, But Dangerous"

"Bro, It's A Bad Message, But Put The Fedora Down, We're Talking About The Loud House"

While I Agree That Ronniecoln As Portrayed In The Early Seasons Was Eeeh..., But They Explained Why She Is That Way (Because Her Parents Divorced), And Has Softened Up Since Moving To Great Lakes. I Personally Think The Way They Handle Ronniecoln Now Is Much Better.

"A Quick Look At The Ratings Shows A Horrifying Reality"

To Be Fair, Cable Was On The Decline At The Time Due To The Rise Of Streaming, So That's Not As Damning As You Think It Is.

"I At Least Enjoy Making Fun Of This Franchise And The 9-Year-Old Kid Who's Been Calling Me Slurs For 2 Years Now"

You Could Have Picked A Comment Where Someone Actually Was Saying Mean Things About You.

I Semi-Follow The Guy Who's Comment Is Shown In The Video. He's A Grown Adult (Though It May Not Help Your Case) And He's One Of The Least Bad People In The Fandom (A Lot Of Decent People In The Fandom I Come Across On Reddit, YouTube, And Blue Sky (Most Of The People Who Show Up Here Are From Reddit)).

"So There Should Be A Relatively Fun Little Beating Session"

"Lori Is Canonically 18"

Yes, But As Of "Heavy Meddle", She Was Still 17 Like In The Text From The Wiki You Pulled Up.

"This Is Still A Pretty Gross Message"

Even Though We Look At The Franchise In Different Perspectives, So Far In This Video, There's Plenty Of Things We See Eye-To-Eye On, Like How Iffy "Heavy Meddle" Was.

That Said, I Don't Go Into Media To Learn Lessons (That Said, If You Catch Me Complaining About Something Forcing "The Message", Don't Hesitate To Stage An Intervention).

"Ronnie Anne's Brother Is Bobby, Who's Dating Lincoln's Older Sister Lori, And In The Whole Episode (Save The Date), Lori And Bobby's Relationship Is Wavering Until They See Their Younger Siblings Kiss Together And Suddenly Decide They're Back Together Again"

Now's The Best Time To Say That Bobby Being Moved To Great Lakes Was The Best Thing To Happen To His Relationship With Lori.

(Pulls Up Nick's Tweet Describing Lincoln As The "Goth E-Boy We Didn't Know We Needed")

Admittedly, That Was A Little Out Of Pocket For Nick. As I Said During The Actual Scene The Screenshot's From (The Episode In Question Is "A Grave Mistake"):

Even Lincoln Can Do It Better Than Jojo Siwa.

So Far, A Good Chunk Of What He's Said I Agree With. When Do I Get To The Part Where I Debunk What He Says?

"Even By The Loud House's Frankly Abysmal Standards At This Point, These Episodes Were Really Distinctly Shit Because They Were Boring"

That's Fair, Though I Didn't Find Them Boring. If You Want Boring, Watch "Love On The Spectrum".

"Say What You Want About The Loud House, I'm Showing A Lot Of Restraint, I Promise"

(Camera Pans To Notebook Reading "Pedo Jokes")

I've Seen More Pedos In The My Little Pony Fandom Than I've Seen In The Loud House Fandom (To Be Fair, I've Mostly Interacted With Loud House Fans Mostly On YT, Reddit, And Blue Sky).

"The Casagrandes Is Not Similar To The Loud House, It's Actually The Exact Same Show, Except Somehow Fucking Worse In Every Conceivable Way, Due To It Being Agonizing To Sit Through"

To Each Their Own, I Found It To Be Better Than The Loud House (Mainly Seasons 2-3 Are Better Than The Entirety Of The Loud House In My Opinion).

"Even When It's At Its Absolute Worst"

(Shows The Title Card For "Kings Of The Con")

Worst Episode Of That Season? Agreed. Worst Overall? No. Brawl In The Family Exists. That Alone Clears Kings Of The Con.

"Each Of The Main Characters Are Personality Vacuums"

On The One Hand, I Disagree. On The Other, Ronnie Anne's Friends Not Named Sid Are Pretty Undercooked In Some Areas, To The Point Where The Fans Have To Fill In The Gaps:

(Image Courtesy Of @jpomare)

"If There's One Thing I Can Give To The Cast, One Of The Characters, Carlos Jr., Or CJ, Is A Young Kid With Down Syndrome, And He's Honestly The Sweetest Part Of The Show, Like They Handled This Kid Pretty Well, And I Can See Such A Positive Portrayal Of Down Syndrome Having A Big Impact On Many Kids With Developmental Disabilities"

Add To The Fact That It's Never Drawn Attention To In-Series, And He Gets To Partake In A Lot With No Issue, And I'd Say That CJ's The Best Down Syndrome Rep We're Gonna Get (And This Is From Someone Who DOESN'T Have Down Syndrome). I Like To Look At Him As One Of The More Chaotic Members Of The Cast.

"She's Lincoln 2.0, Just Minus The Casual Sociopathy"

I Disagree, I Think She's Gotten Better On Her Own Show And The Loud House Episodes Centered Around Her Family.

"Lincoln Has His Group Of Five Friends In The Loud House, Ronnie Anne Also Needed A Group Of Five Friends"

"None Of Them Actually Matter Except For Sid, Whose Main Personality Traits Involve Being Really Nice And Also Having A Parasocial Relationship With A K-Pop Star, I Wish I Was Making That Last Part Up"

(See My Statement About Ronnie Anne's Friends Above)

"She Also Has A Birthmark Of Abraham Lincoln, And I'm Just Going To Let You Guess Where That Birthmark Is On Her Body..."

"It's The Foot, It's Always The Foot, Old Habits Die Hard As They Say"

Here's What I Said During That Scene In "Gossipy Girl":

Joss Whedon Is At It Again.

"The Casagrandes Either Has The Most Bland And Boring Execution Of An Episode Based On Babysitting An Alpaca"

While I Consider It To Be Among The Show's Weaker Episodes, It's Far From Bland And Boring.

"The Most Interesting Moment Of The Show Is When They Have A Guest Appearance From George Lopez, And It's Only Because I Can't Unhear Mr. Electric (From "The Adventures Of Sharkboy And Lavagirl") Every Time He Speaks"

At Least We All Can Agree About Ernesto Estrella (George Lopez's Character On The Show).

"The Comedy Is About On Par With The Loud House Post-Season 3, Which Is To Say If You're The Kind Of Person Who Scrolls Through Facebook Looking At Boomer Comics, You're Probably Going To Get The Most Value Out Of This Show"

I Know Comedy Is Subjective, But I Thought It Was Funny (I Have A Bit Of An Edgy Sense Of Humor, Which Bled Into My Recaps Of The Franchise So Far).

Towards The End, Toonshi Notes How The Low Ratings Is Due To The Decline In Cable And Rise Of Streaming (Before Streaming's Own Decline In Recent Years). I Just Have To Note That In Case Anyone Were To Get Mistaken.

"I Don't Know If I'll Be Talking About The Loud House Very Much Going Forward, I Guess We'll Just Wait And See How That Halloween Movie Plays Out..."

"Yeah, Who Am I Kidding? I'm Definitely Talking About That"

Cartoonshi Has Never Made A Loud House Video Since Then. If He Were, It Would Likely Be About The Pair Of Movies Released On Streaming Last Year (Or Possibly Providing Rebuttals To What I Have To Say In A Future Video If One Of His Viewers Were To Send Him This).

#the loud house #the casagrandes #cartoonshi #Youtube

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stinkrascal · 9 months ago

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hey, do you have some tips for storytelling?😅

hmm well this is a bit vague, is there anything specific you need help with? i will give you some random tips but idk how helpful it will be!

1 when im taking screenshots indoors, if the space is too small to get a good shot i'll delete the walls wherever the camera is positioned so i can get a better angle.

2 using the tool mod to select objects and move or elevate them helps if you have a screenshot that's at the perfect angle but there's an object/sim in the way.

3 mess around with in-game lighting. for instance, if im taking screenshots in a living room, i might turn off all the lights except for a lamp in the corner of the room so the scene looks more dynamic. or if you're taking screenshots in a mall or a grocery store, you might want to turn all the lights on and change the color to a bright cool white to give it that soulless corporate feeling all shopping centers have.

4 consider the movement whenever you're making a scene. even if two characters are just talking, it looks more interesting to watch them move around while they're having a conversation. they don't have to just infodump on the couch... they can go from the couch, to the fireplace, to the kitchen, and then back to the couch. way more interesting to look at that way.

5 i know yall collectively groan whenever i tell you to learn blender... but... like... you should learn blender lmao. you dont have to be a pro by any means, im certainly not! even just the basics like frankenposing and extracting ts4 rigs into blender will help a TON. you can definitely get away with only using poses made by others like it's 100% possible. but having the ability to execute your own ideas makes the process a lot more fun in my opinion. that way you won't find yourself in a situation where you have to rewrite plotpoints bc you can't execute it in-game. and if you become more advanced in blender and learn how to turn deco objects into posing accessories then you open up SOOO many possibilities for your story! seriously i would not be able to tell standstill if i didn't have this skillset lol.

6 i know everyone writes their sim stories differently, but i recommend writing out as much as you can so you have a complete idea of what it is you're trying to say. for me personally i like to keep 3 documents, the "main" document where standstill is written, one where i dump all my brainstorming notes, and one which was created during the rewriting process, where i copy/paste deleted excerpts into, in case i need to reference those scenes later on.

sorry these are pretty vague but i hope this helped even a little 💌

#jade answers #Anonymous #if you have specific questions about how i execute certain things i will gladly answer w more detail!!#these are just the tips i had off the top of my head

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xylaes · 1 year ago

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February DWC Day 2 - Suppress

The Cleaner Part 2

Previous stories in this series: Prologue Part 1 Wiping the sweat and blood from his brow, Xylaes sank down against the back wall with a grunt. There were some days when all he wanted was a stiff drink, and today was one of them for a variety of reasons. He was a few years sober now, but that didn’t make it any easier when he had been dependent upon it for so long. It was easy to forget the past or your current circumstances when you could just snort a line of dust and down a bottle of whiskey to wash it all away for a while.

No matter how persuasive the desire, he suppressed it in the best way he knew how: Beating the absolute shit out of someone at an underground brawling ring. He was still relatively new to this particular circuit, and thankfully the people here didn’t know nor care about his criminal past. That was the best thing about places like this, wasn’t it? Many here had done time in prison, were currently running from the law, or probably should be running from the law. No questions were asked, aside from his level of skill as a fighter.

Given that he had spent decades training in the Elite Forces, being in the more advanced groups seemed like the fairest route. He knew all the weak points of the body and he knew how to take someone down with minimal effort. But that wasn’t all that fun for anyone, was it? Part of the thrill for himself and for the crowd was to give them an action-packed fight. Plus, he never wanted to show all of his cards at once; some tricks needed to be kept up his proverbial sleeves.

So he took the beating. At least for a while. Compartmentalizing pain had always been easy for him, another trick learned during his time in the military. The longer this match dragged on and the more it seemed as if he were going to lose, the better the payout for him.

However, that wasn’t the main reason why he was here tonight. He had found Elrothos Sol’sil, and it turned out the man had quite the penchant for gambling at this particular ring. This was the man that had previously been connected to Rasen Cinderblade, the target Xylaes was currently seeking. Of course Mr. Cinderblade had vanished after the execution of Ouro’s family during The Hallow’s End Massacre, which is exactly why Ouro wanted him to be found. He had likely changed his name and moved away, but finding Elrothos was a good start.

It was also good fortune that Elrothos seemed to have a preference for dangerous, unpredictable men. It was no wonder he had gone into business with Rasen Cinderblade in the first place.

“You know I lost thousands of gold tonight because of you.” And just like that, Elrothos showed his cards with that sly smirk. He was clearly not hurting for gold by any means given the way he was dressed. Xylaes tilted his head to one side, lips curling into a flirtatious (and slightly bloodied) grin. “Shame. Guess you’ll just have to put your gold on the hot guy next time.” Elrothos grunted in amusement, the flirtation was not lost on him. “Buy you a drink?” The internal struggle was real, and Xylaes knew this was going to happen. Denying the request would ruin the plan, but there were ways around it. He pushed up from the ground, standing a good half foot above the other Sin’dorei. The way the other man’s gaze openly raked over his bare torso, he realized this was going to be much easier than he first thought. “How about I buy you a drink to make up for your loss?” Elrothos nodded, eyes darting up to Xy’s face, “I think that’s perfectly fair, but that won’t completely make up for it you know.” “I know.” Xylaes pointed to a few tables off to the side in the darkened corner of the room, “Meet me over there and we’ll chat about how else I can make it up to you.” His tone and the body language were both quite suggestive, but it’s certainly not where this particular conversation was headed. The other man eagerly agreed, fingertips brushing along Xy’s arm as he made his way towards the agreed location. A gin and tonic and a plain tonic water was ordered. There was no obvious difference between the two, not even when Xylaes poured a small vial of liquid he had in his pocket into the gin and tonic.

@daily-writing-challenge

#dwc2024 #story #xylaes #februarydwc2024 #the list series

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virocci · 5 months ago

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おはよう　みなさん！ welcom back to the blog ppls

i figured i should do a life update once more since its been a good while.

firstly,

i think i wanna try speaking more japanese, im learning it with my school rn and ik that i understand and can speak quite a bit. its just i forget vocab so easily :,) maybe ill start tryna speak/test more in my blog posts :>

game segment *woosh woosh super cool transition*

i bought the $30 season pass for strinova hehe. i went level like 85-87 and then bought it and gave me and extra 25 to complete the battle pass :> idk if im gonna go ahead and do that again, it all depnds what in the pass and if i feel that ill be able to finish it :,)

i also pulled THE HERTA in hsr :> (my last post) but i speant all my stellar jades on her which is soooo sad. i was planning to get jade for her if i got herta early... but i didnt :( i think ill try to farm for jades and to see if i can pull jade :> i reeeeeeally wanna build a herta team hehe. i also still havent built sunday yet... or rappa for that matter. i think one day ill have to sit down and js do allll my grinding lol

also, i havent acc rll touched zzz since i completed the event but ive been feeling and itch to log again so maybe ill do that. im saving to get the vtuber girls and they supposedly are supposed to come out in march SO I REEEEALLY gotta be saving HARD.

also miku in fortnite. i legit downloaded fortnite JUST for miku and am acc lowk thinking abt buying her skin lol. only problem is that both of skins is like 4.6K vbucks and if I were to buy it id need to spend 50$ and i cant rlly afford to do that rn :(

ive also gotten like 10-ish hours into persona 5 :> the point to when your exploring the second castle. :D im reeeeally enjoying the game so far AND I CANT WAIT FOR FUTABA.

game segament done *super cool silly woop woop transition*

this next two weeks i have aaaaall my finals so iv been studying super hard. this friday i have my grade 12 math final exam and omggg im have been studying HARRD. I AM LOCKED IN FRFR. i rlly hope i do well so i atleast wont have to redo the exam when i do the course again :>

also eggrolls (the g u y, refer to past posts lol), COMPLETELY turned away from me when i went to see a friends that has lunch on the same floor w/ him. theres a whole group of ppl there and he eat w/ those ppl since his gf is there. And, my friend wasn't there so i was tryna ask someone ik we she was, and i looked to eggrolls for a minute (HE COMPLETLY avoided me btw) and HIS GF answered saying my friend isnt eating there anymore (or today idk what she said). but either way i found it kinda funny. idk if i mentioned this but i ended up never following him back on his public account, i js thought he didnt deserve it :) also there was a day we were doing some activity in class and he tried asking me for answers, i js pretended i didnt hear him and didnt move (there was also a group around his desk/behind me so it was plausable i didnt hear him) and i feel kinda proud of myself for not budging.

also there was a day during winter break i saw people from my old school when i was out with wifey 2. they were two guys who bullied me and were just assholes to me back in 8th grade. they just made fun of me for watching stuf like gacha and anime (listen i was in a phase back then) and also for wanting to dress more alternativly. acc, everyone in my class would say i was weird cause i wanted to dress differently and less basic (if i may say). that day i was wearing like a SCRUMPTIOUS fit. and after we saw them, i felt so proud of myself for being able to prove them wrong. like it felt so satisfying showing the ppl who put me down for being myself and prove that i executed it SO WELL.

anyways, i believe thats it for now :) i think another life update will have to come after exam unfortuanelty :(\

side note... if anyone actually sees this and reads this its kinda just a public journal :3 i feel i should be documenting more things that happen to me so this is my way of doing so. either way id still appreciate some interaction... i like seein ppl listen to what i havce to say :3

here is a yummy song for chu since you read allllll that :3

youtube

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kidcataldo · 2 years ago

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While Peter Capaldi is ultimately my favorite doctor, I think any character development for him got lost when trying to boost falling ratings. In good scripts, he shined. In bad ones, he was just there not really developing. So here’s what I would do if I controlled BBC during his reign (an essay):

Firstly, his grumpy old man arc was executed so poorly and could have been so so much better.

Clara was the wrong choice for his companion because she had too much baggage with the 11th doctor. We needed something new, something we hadn’t seen from the doctor yet (or at least for a very long time).

I would have had Clara leave at the start. Like, she sticks with him a few episodes but she doesn’t know how to help him and he’s refusing any attempts at being helped, so finally she’s like “hey I’m out, I can’t do this anymore, sorry”

And suddenly he’s all alone and getting drastically worse. He doesn’t see the point anymore. He doesn’t know why he’s helping these people, who, in his eyes, aren’t worth helping. He’s hitting rock bottom, contemplating quitting because people aren’t worthy of his time anymore. They’re annoying now. They didn’t use to be.

And then suddenly, innocence appears at his doorstep. A child (?). Someone human-like (but doesn’t necessarily have to be human, could be alien) and someone that has unconditional love. More specifically, someone who has unconditional love for the doctor, despite all his faults, despite his grumpiness. And the doctor, in return, does not want this kid’s affection and recoils at the very thought of it (like we sort of see with Clara).

At this point in the doctor’s arc, saving people is just mechanical and he does it only because he’s the doctor and that’s what the doctor should do, not necessarily what he agrees with.

But when he lands on a planet of war, on a planet of destruction, he finds himself drawn to this innocent child. This child, who shows him kindness despite his aloofness, who offers to help him when others pull away. Why? Because, briefly, he sees a glimpse of his past bumbling self. This new character is the light in so much darkness and he for some reason is drawn to it

and maybe he subconsciously wants to go back to being that person again. So uncaring, yet so loving.

(And the reason I say a kid would be a good choice as the 12th doctor’s main companion is because the 11th doctor was just a goofy little kid and it worked. But every doctor can’t be the same doctor each generation. It gets boring, otherwise.)

Okay, so he saves the kid and suddenly they want to stick to him like glue. Each attempt to get rid of them fails miserably. And he becomes this sort of reluctant foster parent to this child, who’s so full of life and innocence. It’s overwhelming.

The kid’s more nuisance than companion at the start. They’re reckless. They get the doctor in more trouble than it’s worth sometimes. But they’re also kind. They help people not because it’s a chore, but because it’s the right thing to do. And they push the doctor to do the same thing.

And slowly, they rub off on each other. The kid, over time, learns to be more serious, to take responsibility for things, to face the devastation head on, while the doctor relearns how to have fun despite the destruction around him.

And they eventually part as equals with the kid deciding to go back to his planet, to help rebuild it (that’s been damaged by war) and the doctor moving on (like he always does), except now helping someone is no longer a chore for him. He does it because it’s the right thing to do and he realizes he wants to be the one doing it. And dammit he wants to have fun doing it.

Anyway, this is a jumble mess and more fanfiction than story board. But I’ve been rewatching doctor who lately, and I just wish my fave doctor had a better arc ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#doctor who #peter capaldi #12th doctor

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somewhat-insane · 2 years ago

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Shadows of the Beach: Chapter Two

Here's the masterpost

Tethered

Pairing: Ao Lie/Sun Wukong/Macaque

Rating: Teen and up Audiences (for mild language, mildly disturbing topics (mentioned))

Tags: Playful Banter, Teasing, Awkwardness, Slow Burn, Jealousy, Possessiveness (not like, yandere level or nothing, Macaque just gets in his feels and is kind of a jerk about it,) Unreliable Narrator (just for like... one part where Macaque is comparing how Wukong is acting about Ao Lie to how he thinks Wukong acted when he found out Macaque was alive,) TW mentions of death and corpses (not anything too detailed, just a part where Wukong says he thought Ao Lie was executed and a part where the narration goes off on a slight tangent about how Wukong refused to part with Macaque's corpse for a few days so... fun times.)

A/N: So, this was going to be longer but it's already like... 2,000 words over what I had originally planned so, uh... I decided to just cut it off here. I was also going to go harder with the argument in the flashback but I decided I was getting sidetracked and should probably focus more on furthering the plot than just making them scream at each other. I'm not super happy with how this chapter turned out but I'm glad to be done with it. Don't worry, we'll get to happy gay times eventually.

Summary:

For a long time, Macaque hadn't known who to be angrier at, Wukong for leaving him or the pilgrims for taking him. Wukong being the only one still alive when Macaque was revived, the choice seemed fairly obvious.

But now that he's learned one of the old pilgrims might be alive and just when Macaque and Wukong had started not trying to kill each other? Oh, ho ho, he's not happy.

Now the only thing he needs to figure out is how to keep Wukong from leaving to search.

Macaque almost wanted to laugh. Life was indeed a cruel, cruel mistress and Macaque had eternity to deal with it, unlike the brief deal he had entertained with the Lady Bone Demon.

Still, Macaque was eager for life’s touch despite the misery it brought.

Idly, Macaque wonders if Wukong was glad for the past panic the younger version of him had felt over mortality, if he was glad he hadn’t died yet, or if he regretted the precautions he took.

Maybe Wukong still fears death but knows he would be better off gone. And wasn’t that such an amusing thought? Macaque tried to convince himself of such but his tail flicked in irritation at the thought and he didn’t feel like unpacking why.

Personally, Macaque felt that, perhaps, he now understood where the younger Wukong was coming from. Macaque’d gone without life once and wasn’t keen on doing so again.

His magic still bore the mark of death. A potent, unshakable thing, one that is useful in terrifying his victims but tends to… push people away even if they don’t notice it happening. Not that Macaque necessarily minded the distance.

The instinctive urge to survive is such a strong thing in most beings that they avoid death without even knowing it, only registering it as this odd sense of unease around Macaque because of his “demeanor” as they had called it.

MK, having listened to Macaque talking about this when the dark-furred monkey was explaining why it was probably best he didn’t go to the group hang-out they were having, snorted and said Macaque definitely didn’t help anything by being such a grump all the time, but he hadn’t pushed any more than that, willing to respect Macaque’s boundaries. ‘Unlike a certain someone,’ Macaque thought distastefully.

He had moved to sit on the ground, his elbow propped up on his knee and his chin cradled in his palm as he watched Wukong return to his hoard.

Silence sat heavily between them, Wukong well aware that Macaque wasn’t exactly happy with this news but not wanting to elaborate out of fear of sparking a fight that he just really didn’t have time for right now.

Though, of course, neither of them could stay quiet forever. And both of them knew that.

Wukong tensed, silently cursing his fate at the sound of Macaque sighing and shifting to cross his arms, “so the dragon pony boy’s alive then?”

‘Maybe,’ was heavy on Wukong’s tongue, eager to correct the other but the words carried an uncertainty with them that he wasn’t willing to face at the moment so instead, after stepping out of the piles and dusting himself off, Wukong shrugged, obviously trying to look nonchalant, a front he tended to put up around others because if you care too much about anything it will be exploited as a weakness or brutally torn away from you, both Wukong and Macaque had first-hand experience with this and weren’t keen on having it reiterated for them.

Still, Macaque, with his experience from knowing Wukong for years both as his friend willing to help and his enemy looking for a weak spot, quite easily saw through the facade.

How could he not? He put on the same mask, after all.

Besides that though, for all the grandeur Wukong pretended to house, his confidence had waned over the years, and Macaque had to admit it no longer took such expertise to read Wukong like a book, the small signs he had shown before the battle with the Jade Emporer growing more prominent. And right now, Macaque easily noticed the not-so-well-hidden tell-tale signs of Wukong’s nerves, namely the way his tail jerked from side to side and curled and uncurled around his legs with the barely restrained need to be moving, (idly Macaque mused that if you forced Wukong’s tail still he might start vibrating from all the pent up energy,) and the way he scratched at his wrist, something that had been common when he was nervous or thinking when they were younger.

Macaque was helpless against the bittersweet concoction of memories that plagued him as he recalled gently prying Wukong’s hands away from each other and calming him down by gently rubbing his thumb over his knuckles, cleaning away any blood that was drawn. But he couldn’t do that now. A part of him was still eager to lie and say he didn’t want to even as his fist clenched, fighting back the urge to assist his old friend.

Either way, he felt if he tried to touch Wukong while he was like this, he would end up getting his other eye clawed out.

A bitter feeling rose up Macaque’s throat like bile as a part of his mind wondered if any of the pilgrims had taken his place and soothed Wukong in his absence. He wondered if they took Wukong’s hands in theirs and told him it would be okay. If his master had helped groom his fur or if Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie had made sure he ate when he got into those moods where he wouldn’t want to take care of himself. He wonders what Ao Lie did to make Wukong so… eager to see him. He wonders if they took care of him.

Macaque doesn’t know whether he’d be more mad if they did or didn’t and that thought has him clenching his jaw and digging his claws into his palm. He hated the idea that Wukong, his friend–his sun–had been stolen from him by people who probably didn’t see him as anything more than a weapon and he hated himself for not wanting them to care because them caring meant they got to have with Wukong what he desperately craved but could probably never have back. But at the same time… would he rather Wukong suffer? His instinctive answer was yes, that Wukong deserved to suffer. But at the same time… Macaque shakes the thoughts from his head. That was all unimportant right now.

The fact that Wukong was so… jittery over just the idea that one of his old friends might be alive had Macaque’s stomach tying itself into knots, a mass of emotions he refuses to unpack festering in his soul like a storm contained only by a fragile glass bottle, destined surely to shatter.

Not that he was too keen on exploring the concept of ‘destiny’ right now, Macaque huffed, nose wrinkling in distaste. Or anytime soon.

Wukong clears his throat, averting his eyes to the ground to avoid Macaque’s sharp, angry gaze, “Um… so, anyway, I kind of need to get back to-”

“You said he ‘might be.’”

“Wha-”

“You said he ‘might be alive,’ you don’t know??” Macaque asks, his voice coming out sharper than he meant it to, silently berating himself for being so easy to read. Wukong is quiet for a moment, a contemplative look on his face as he chews on his lower lip.

“Tang… uh… he… he says it’s possible and I-…” Wukong finally said, his words hesitant as if embarrassed to admit the urgency he felt at just the possibilities he had been presented with. Hilarious, Macaque mused, Wukong getting all worked up over the possibility of one of his old pilgrim friends being alive but he didn’t remember Wukong acting this way about him.

Macaque wills himself to calm down, think, and keep his cards close to his chest, he can’t lash out at Wukong now or he risks exposing all the things he can’t admit. He risks exposing that he cares. He risks letting that weakness be taken advantage of… again.

More than he already has, at least, he muses distastefully as he looks around at the cabin he had helped build.

Wukong’s already pretty tightly wound from a mixture of his own urgency and Macaque’s sharp tone… he’ll need to change the topic if he’s going to keep Wukong from blindly throwing himself into a possibly dangerous situation. Years ago, distracting Wukong from his impulses was a regular occurrence for Macaque, he hopes he isn’t too rusty.

The shadow monkey’s nose twitches in thought as something occurs to him, something perfect to derail the conversation even if only slightly, “You called Tang by his name.”

Wukong looked momentarily startled, most likely not expecting the sudden change in topic and surprised Macaque would’ve noticed such a small detail. However, it’s probably something he should be used to by now, Macaque always has had a way of picking him apart. It brought butterflies to his stomach just as much as it brought anxiety to his brain.

“Oh- I- uh… it’s…” The jerky movements of Wukong’s tail began to slow as he pursed his lips, considering the best way to say, ‘I’m tired of living in the past’ without saying that, probably knowing Macaque would snark back with something about how ‘isn’t looking for Ao Lie technically living in the past?’

But it’s not. Wukong knows it’s not. Because if Ao Lie is alive that makes him a part of the present. And just like how he wanted Macaque to be a part of his present, Wukong wants Ao Lie to be a part of it too.

“Just seemed more… respectful…?” He lies through his teeth.

Macaque raises a brow, “‘respectful’?” he asks, scoffing, “When have you ever cared about being ‘respectful’?”

Wukong frowns, it is in times like these that he remembers that, even if they’ve succeeded in not killing each other and are on close enough terms that Macaque is willing to help build Wukong a new place to stay, they still haven’t really… talked about anything.

Sure, both of them had come to their own conclusions about the big bad and the bigger bad, but as far as sitting down and clearing everything up? Nada. The best Sandy had been able to get from them during their little ‘couple’s therapy sessions’ back after they defeated the Lady Bone Demon is their agreement not to fight in front of MK.

“So…” Sandy started, looking between the two monkeys sitting in front of him on opposite sides of the couch, glaring at each other with their hackles raised like cornered cats, he wouldn’t be surprised if they started hissing at each other.

He hoped that wouldn’t be the case because it would most likely irritate the cats he had on board, and while they probably wouldn’t lash out, being trained as therapy cats, it would still be sad to see them frightened.

“This is stupid,” Macaque is quick to grit out, finally looking away from Wukong and directing his furious gaze to a random spot on the ground. Wukong’s hackles rise further as if personally offended by Macaque’s words.

The reaction Macaque was able to pull from Wukong, despite only being able to see it out of the corner of his eye, made a grin spread over his lips, sharp teeth glinting in the light though Wukong didn’t seem offput. If anything, he looks like he’s about to say something but Sandy interrupts, if only because of their penchant for getting into physical fights and, as much as he wanted them both to be able to express themselves, they could schedule a time to do something like that when they aren’t on Sandy’s boat or near the city.

“If it’s something that could help, it’s worth giving a shot, don’t you think?” Sandy said carefully, taking a sip of his tea as a soft smile appeared on his face at the sight of Wukong glancing over at him uncertainly before slowly relaxing back down into a more defensive position rather than an offensive one, which still wasn’t ideal but Sandy would take what he could get. As he understood it, the two had been fighting for years, it was clear that wasn’t working. They needed to talk but neither one of them was willing to let their guard down. Especially not in front of the other.

Macaque scoffed but didn’t argue any further, his eyes narrowing at that one spot, a small crack present in the wood there. (It wasn’t until the next morning when Sandy woke up and noticed it had been repaired that he understood why Macaque was staring at it. Despite the fact that Macaque had technically broken into his house, he was appreciative of the action and attention to detail. He made sure to give Macaque some tea to bring home during one of their one-on-one sessions as thanks, to which Macaque seemed surprised that his small efforts were noticed, much less acknowledged, and Sandy had to wonder how much Macaque had done for people in the past that went unnoticed.)

“Yeah, Macaque,” Wukong huffed, straightening his posture and plastering a grin on his face, most likely to try and seem less vulnerable though it was clear he was uncomfortable with the situation. Whether that was because he was in such close proximity to Macaque or because he was expected to talk about his feelings, Sandy didn’t know, “The only thing stupid here is you.”

“Now, now let’s-” Sandy tries to intervene, only to stop as a low snarl from Macaque makes some of the nearby cats swivel their ears around to listen, some even prematurely skittering off, and despite Sandy’s willingness to give the monkeys the second chance they both needed, he wondered if it was a smart idea to do this in his home.

“That’s hilarious,” Macaque chuckled lowly, lifting his gaze from the ground to glare at Wukong, “because I’m looking at something pretty fucking stupid right now.”

Wukong gasps, the comment hitting Wukong in his clearly already wounded ego, and his fur puffs up more as a low growl starts in his throat, “Why, you-”

“Stop,” Sandy says, sternly but not yelling, observing as a spark of fear flashes in Wukong’s eyes, and almost instinctively his growl cuts off (tapering into a whine he does his best to stifle out of embarrassment and shame) as he sinks back into the couch. Macaque notices too, his brows furrowing slightly in contemplation. Sandy hoped it was because Macaque cared and not because he was filing this away as another of Wukong’s weaknesses.

Macaque rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his head as he pretended not to think about it anymore, the only tell that he actually was, in fact, thinking about it, being the thoughtful crease in his brow and the way his tail flicked idly. Finally, he sighs and looks up at Sandy.

“Well, as you can see, big guy, there isn’t a chance this will help since his royal asscheeks over there,” Macaque said, gesturing with his head toward Wukong who gives an indignant huff at the name, “is too much of a uneducated troglodyte to admit to any wrong doing.”

“Oh, because you’re so good at holding yourself accountable,” Wukong huffs, trying to seem disengaged from the conversation with his elbow propped up on the armrest of the couch and his head turned away from the other two, but his ears were angled back towards Macaque as if hanging onto his every word. Because he had to be, that was the only reason Macaque was so easily able to chop away at Wukong’s ego because Wukong cared what he thought.

“I’m better at it than you,” Macaque grumbled, smirking slightly when Wukong whipped his head around to glare at him, “at least I wore the villain title with pride, you were just always trying so hard to be the hero. Well, guess what mr-”

“When did I ever say I wanted to be a hero!? I just wanted to protect my people and spend the rest of my life with-” Wukong cuts himself off, fur poofing up and his cheeks flushing slightly as he looked away and curled his tail around himself. This wasn’t some cheesy romcom where Wukong would curse at himself and deny caring about the other, he wasn’t stupid. He knew he cared about Macaque, he always had and he felt almost certain he always would. But he couldn’t just say that. It wouldn’t fix anything and would most likely blow up in his face as Macaque used it as yet another thing to tease him about. Macaque had made it clear where the golden-furred monkey stood with him and it wasn’t anywhere advantageous. Plus, Wukong had done a lot more harm than just killing him. It took a long time for Wukong to realize he had been hurting his friend for so much longer than he thought, maybe even for the entire time they knew each other. He had Macaque wrapped around his finger and he hadn’t even noticed…

“Oh, don’t make me laugh,” Macaque said through grit teeth, “you were always going on about how much power you would have and how people would remember you forever-”

“I was a stupid kid-”

“THOSE AREN’T APOLOGIES, WUKONG!” He spat, his eyes flashing violet before his glamour settled back down into place, hiding them behind a hue of gold.

Both Sandy and Wukong flinched from Macaque’s outburst, and Sandy was about to step in but paused when Macaque heaved a heavy sigh and started speaking again, calmer this time but still not entirely pacified, that much was obvious in the way his tail lashed at the couch and his eyebrow twitched, “I didn’t come here to listen to your pathetic excuses, I came here to prove to the kid that no amount of talking could fix…”

‘Us,’ is on the tip of Macaque’s tongue, but he shook his head, “no amount of talking could fix… this.”

A bitter feeling welled up in Wukong’s throat at the idea Macaque had only come to prove a point, but, in a way… wasn’t Wukong doing the same? Sure, he wasn’t exactly trying to prove it to anyone else, but he was trying to prove it to himself. He needed to know for sure that he had damaged this relationship beyond repair, otherwise, that hope would keep festering in his soul. He needed to know, even if he knew he was going to spend the next week curled up into a despondent ball while his subjects cooed worriedly and combed their fingers through his fur, straightening out knots and restoring his coat to the radiant fluff that was one of the many reasons he was regarded as a sun.

“What exactly do you want Mr. Monkey King to be taking accountability for?” Sandy asks, trying to bring the conversation back on the track of ‘couple’s therapy.’

Macaque scoffs out a cruel laugh, “Oh, where to start!” Macaque crows mockingly but pauses when he realizes he doesn’t actually know where to start. There are the obvious things, his death, the fact that Wukong hadn’t listened to him when he told him crossing the Jade Emporer was a bad idea, but there was so much more than that, wasn’t there?

Eventually, Macaque just looks away from the both of them and grumbles, “it doesn’t matter anyway, he wouldn’t take accountability for something to save his life.”

The golden monkey’s fur bristles, but before he can say anything, Sandy speaks up, “This working relies on you cooperating just as much as it does on Wukong, why don’t you just give him a chance.”

A moment passes while Macaque considers his response to this before eventually saying, “he doesn’t deserve a chance.”

Scoffing, Wukong glares at Macaque, “and you do?”

“I never said that-”

“You implied it.”

Repressing a sigh, Sandy ran his fingers through his hair and looked between the two of them. MK said this would be a challenge, but perhaps Sandy had underestimated how much pent-up hatred could build over the thousands of years the two monkeys had been alive. Yet they still act like toddlers, he mused.

“Okay, maybe we’re going about this the wrong way,” Sandy sighs, “we should consider our goals. Both of you came because MK suggested this, right?”

Macaque and Wukong nodded.

“And MK seemed like he wanted the two of you to mend your relationship, but is that what you want?”

The two of them pause, glancing at each other with a frown. Both of them want to say no, possibly out of spite, but they’re smart enough to know that will drive an even larger wedge between them, and as much as they may lie and say it is, that’s not what they want. Wukong finally looks back at Sandy with a nervous chuckle, “Let’s just put a pin in that and come back to it later.”

Sandy nodded understandingly, “but clearly you both care about MK and MK cares about the two of you. I can imagine seeing the two people you care about constantly at each other's throats isn’t amazing.”

Both of the monkeys guiltily look away from Sandy, Wukong sheepishly scratching the back of his neck while Macaque frowns.

“I… guess you do have a point…” Wukong mumbles.

Macaque sighs, “yes, you do have a point. I… may be willing to not antagonize Wukong as much… for the kid.”

“And I won’t try and rile Macaque up…” Wukong mumbles before quickly adding, “in front of MK at least.”

Wukong’s eyes widen as he hears the amused snort this pulls from Macaque, and he can’t help the way his heart flutters at the sound.

Perhaps, he thinks, the hope he’d been feeling wasn’t as unfounded as he originally thought.

Wukong frowned, pulling himself back to the present and reminding himself that he was supposed to be offended that Macaque had insinuated he was disrespectful and pretended to be shocked at the idea he was trying to be.

‘Let’s see how you act when you have a stupid piece of metal spot wielded to your head that gives you a splitting migraine whenever you step out of line,’ Wukong thinks sarcastically. The impulse to say it aloud was strong, just to prove to Macaque how wrong he was about, well, everything, but he bit his tongue, not entirely wanting to bring it up right now. Knowing Macaque would just use it as a reason to try and convince Wukong not to go looking for Ao Lie.

He understood Macaque’s hesitation, but couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt. He really wanted to formally introduce them to each other so they had more to go off of than just ‘one of the people who stole Wukong,’ and ‘the person Wukong killed.’

Seeing as Wukong wasn’t going to respond anytime soon, Macaque allowed his gaze to drift over to the treasure pile, brow furrowing as he considered the best way to get more information on the situation without Wukong getting so urgent again. He needs to be careful and play his cards right. The only problem was that he was used to knowing Wukong’s hand and having a good guess of what he would play. Things had, undeniably, changed, even if he loathe to admit it, Wukong had become less impulsive. He’d always been mildly secretive, he’s only grown more so over the years.

Finally, after a moment of idle contemplation in which Wukong once again began to fidget slightly, Macaque cautiously asks, “What about Mei?”

Wukong stops fidgeting and raises a brow, “What do you mean?”

“Isn’t she the reincarnation of Ao Lie? Shouldn’t that mean he has to be dead?”

Admittedly, Macaque wasn’t exactly joking when he said Mei was the dragon girl he’d ‘heard so little about,’ but it made sense to him that Mei would be Ao Lie’s reincarnation since, well… all of the others were reincarnations, so shouldn’t she be?

She didn’t look as much like her supposed past iteration as any of the others did though…

Macaque frowned, watching as Wukong’s tail began to twitch restlessly again. Wukong shook his head, seeming mildly annoyed though more at himself for not having noticed sooner than at Macaque himself, “She’s the only one who isn’t a reincarnation, hence why Tang had his theory in the first place. She’s his like… a thousand times great-granddaughter or something, she’s just a descendant while the others are direct reincarnations. He could still be alive and I-”

Shit… Macaque needs to change the subject, Wukong is getting panicked again.

“What were you looking for?” He asks, gesturing toward the pile behind Wukong.

Wukong blinked at Macaque for a moment at the sudden subject change but he easily got back into his rhythm, theatrically huffing and turning to glare at the treasure pile distastefully as if it had personally offended him.

“A few different things, most importantly something to bribe Ne Zha with… but looks like he took everything that belonged to him when he left with the scroll and the Jade Emporer’s power.”

Before Macaque can even ask why he needs to bribe Ne Zha, Wukong continues, easily following Macaque’s train of thought from the years he had known them. As much as they both had changed, Macaque continued to be the more thoughtful and logical of the two while Wukong’s mind jumped quickly between topics and conclusions that for a long time he had just expected people to be coming to as well, only to be told by Macaque himself that no, most people don’t, in fact, follow his weird line of thinking. Having to explain things to people was a rough adjustment but nothing the monkey king couldn’t handle.

“Ne Zha was the one responsible for returning the scroll and releasing the people trapped inside. Admittedly, I’m not sure if-”

“The scroll? Why does that matter,” Macaque interrupts, earning a glare from Wukong followed by an annoyed sigh at having to explain, okay, maybe it was a little something Wukong couldn’t handle considering it’s been centuries and he still hasn’t gotten the hang of it but, hey! Cut him some slack, he was living as a hermit for a few years.

Irritation wells up in Macaque, this is what he gets for not wanting Wukong to get trapped in that damn thing again, he supposes, frowning. Sure, Wukong didn’t know that was why he asked, but he was still being a little-

Macaque shook the thoughts from his head, he needed to focus right now.

“Tang’s theory is that the version of Ao Lie that Mei talked with when she was in the scroll was actually Ao Lie since, y’know, Pigsy, Sandy, and Tang all became their past variants and then they weren’t there when they changed back, but Mei never was Ao Lie so she didn’t become him, but he was still there.”

Admittedly, the logic made sense, but Macaque had to ask, “Why would Ao Lie be in the scroll?”

Wukong opens his mouth to respond before closing it and sitting down with a huff, running his hands through his fur anxiously.

‘Checkmate,’ Macaque thinks, and he can’t stop the triumphant grin from spreading on his lips. The celestial realm could be strange and cruel in their punishments sometimes but as far as Macaque was aware, Ao Lie hadn’t done anything to deserve being trapped in the scroll.

Macaque was about to open his mouth again to offer some snark, maybe add insult to injury but paused when he heard Wukong mumble something, a look on his face like he just had a realization.

“What was that?” Macaque asked condescendingly.

“To contain the Samadhi fire…” Wukong answers, a far-away, almost dazed look on his face before he shakes his head, covering his face with his hands and cursing loudly as he leans back and falls to the floor with a thump, dust being kicked up around him, “They shoved him in there because of something I did and I didn’t even know about it!!”

Macaque raised a brow and scoffed, of course, Wukong didn’t know what happened to his so-called ‘best friend’. Did he ever even wonder about it before now?

“Yeah?” Macaque starts, clear offense in his voice, “Well, what did you think happened to him?” He asked, ready to berate Wukong for how crappy it was of him not to know, “because it didn’t really seem like you were worried until-”

“They told me he was executed!” Wukong snapped and Macaque immediately closed his mouth, ears pinning back to his head with how suddenly loud Wukong was.

A briefly apologetic look passed over Wukong’s face as he removed his hands to look at Macaque but it was gone before Macaque could even register it as such.

Frowning, Macaque tilted his head, “why would they say-”

“Ugh,” Wukong groaned, once again more irritated with himself than at Macaque as he covered his face again. How could he be so stupid? Why did he trust anything they said? Wukong sighs, “Probably because they knew I would try to get him out. Admittedly, a smart play on their part, but that doesn’t make me any less mad. I should’ve demanded to witness his burial or something- anything that would’ve given me proof or closure…”

“Why didn’t you?”

Wukong briefly uncovers his eyes again to glare at Macaque, “Why do you think?”

“Because you’re a wuss?” Macaque smirked, and all Wukong could do was roll his eyes and cover them again, this time with his arm as he took in a shaky breath.

“Something like that,” he grunted, not seeing the way Macaque raised a brow at the response.

It wasn’t entirely a lie, Wukong mused self-deprecatingly. He was a wuss, he always had been but had somehow deluded himself into believing otherwise, but the real reason he hadn’t demanded to see Ao Lie was even harder to accept than that, and he couldn’t exactly tell Macaque about it, not now at least.

He couldn’t tell him that the last time he had seen the corpse of his best friend he refused to leave its side for days, growing more hostile even to the point he almost bit his master’s hand off when the monk tried comforting him.

Ironically, back then, it was Ao Lie who had finally convinced him to part with the lifeless shell of the friend he once knew and brought him over to a river to dutifully clean the stench of decay off of his matted fur.

He remembered how unafraid Ao Lie seemed back then, even as Wukong growled and snapped, words melting into a more primal mess of grunts and snarls.

Wukong still doesn’t know if Ao Lie wasn’t afraid of Wukong hurting him or if he knew Wukong wouldn’t be able to, but he had approached, putting out his hand for Wukong, which Wukong, surprisingly, took the time to warily sniff, only then noticing who was in front of him, the red angry haze he had been seeing through for the past few days fading away slightly, his pupils dilating as he somehow managed to focus on Ao Lie’s face. And the absolute mortification that crashed into Wukong at that moment was palpable, the idea that he could’ve been protectively guarding two corpses instead of one making his throat tighten as he apologetically leaned into Ao Lie’s touch with a weak whimper, the anger of his own actions melting away into pure despair. That was the first time Ao Lie had seen Wukong cry.

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tobiasdrake · 2 years ago

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A Comparative Look at First Cases

Okay, before moving on to 3-2, I want to take a moment to go over the First Cases. I feel like I should break this down into categories to make it simpler.

Okay, let's start with the motives. Motives are a lot of fun. They can be captivating and mysterious, with overarching effects that may not be clear at first glance but ultimately compel the murder.

I need to clarify that we're talking about capital-M Motives provided by Monokuma and not necessarily the specific, individual rationale for murder that the killer interpreted from it. That will come up when we talk about killers.

Best Motive: 2-1 - The Missing Past Sometimes simpler can be better than overcomplex, and that makes 1-1's Motive fairly strong. "Your loved ones are in danger; That sucks." Straight to the point. Who will be driven to murder by this?

But 2-1's Motive manages to take that simple Motive and mold it into someting that's intriguingly esoteric. Taking the grand reveal from 1-6 and frontloading it into 2-1's Motive disguises its true menace. It keeps the sequel plot moving without having to retread too much, while still delivering a rationale for murder that nonetheless ends up being every bit as hard-cutting and personal as 1-1's.

Worst Motive: 3-1 - The First Blood Perk I already went on a tirade over this but suffice it to say, the First Blood Perk is one of the most interest-terminating Motives in Danganronpa. A good Motive should make you wonder which character's particular psychology is going to interact with the Motive in a way that moves them to murder. This Motive just makes you wonder how they're going to cop out of it.

Ah, but what's a Motive without the rest of the events leading up to the case? Hanging out, being sociable, and trying to defeat the Mastermind. Let's talk about best build-up.

Best Build-Up: 3-1 - A Plan to Thwart the Mastermind All three build-ups center around two major things: Learning about the Killing Game and our fellow players, and getting to know the character who's about to betray us in a big way: Sayaka, Nagito, and Kaede.

Of the three journeys these sets of characters undergo together, Kaede and Shuichi's plan to undermine (and, secretly, assassinate) the Mastermind is immediately investment-grabbing. And while you can spot signs of Kaede's impending plot if you're observant enough, it's not quite as obvious as Sayaka's meltdown and plot to frame Makoto.

Worst Build-Up: 2-1 - Entering the Neo World Program To be honest, this was a toss-up between 1-1 and 2-1. The time we spend getting to know Nagito hits a lot harder given how much more important of a character he's going to be than Sayaka.

But the clincher for me was actually the opening minutes of the game. One of DR2's biggest reveals is that we're in a simulation, but they front-load the game with a lot of Matrix effects that give away the trick immediately as you begin playing it. The opening minutes are the disappointing 11037 clue of DR2, but made worse for being too obvious about a major endgame reveal.

Best Blackened: 3-1 - Kaede Akamatsu Okay, I know I've spent multiple posts complaining about this and it still does piss me off from the perspective of overarching game design choice. But given how intricate and fascinating her murder is and the way it plays so hard on established character traits and relationships, I'd be remiss not to acknowledge her here.

The best murders are the ones that are rooted in characters. That stem entirely from the way the character's identity, personality, and relationship to other characters interacts with the provided Motive. You should always come away from the killer's identity reveal feeling like it not only was this person, but that it could never have been anyone else. It was always going to be them.

Kaede's well-conceived but poorly-aimed plan to kill the Mastermind is a perfect example of a masterfully executed interplay of personality, motive, means, and opportunity coming together in a way that feels true to character and heartbreaking to discover.

Worst Blackened: 1-1 - Leon Kuwata

It's hard to choose between Teruteru and Leon here, because they're in a similar boat. Teruteru has an interesting motive for his involvement, but one that doesn't get examined until the very end in a bid for last-second sympathy. Saving the killer's interesting character traits for FTEs and a last-second revelation is a recurring problem in Danganronpa.

Conversely, Leon doesn't have much motive at all. He's a strong candidate for least developed character in Danganronpa. He was selected more or less arbitrarily by Sayaka to be her intended victim and then killer. He is so utterly divorced from the events of the crime that she had to scrawl his name on the wall for the sake of creating any reason in the world to suspect him. The only reason he's even here is because he thought she was hot. Which also doesn't get examined much outside his FTEs.

But between the two, I feel like Teruteru has more going for him. His fear for his mom makes for a stronger motive, even if we don't find out about it until the very end. He's only slightly better developed than Leon, but his integral role as team chef also plays into the mystery a bit more strongly than Leon "can chuck things through the grate" Kuwata's did.

Leon is Danganronpa's first attempt at writing a killer. And while his switcheroo with Sayaka is interesting, it nonetheless shows.

Best Victim: 1-1 - Sayaka Maizono This is another one that's very hard to call. Sayaka and Imposter Byakuya are both strong contenders for best victim.

As characters, all three first victims coast on external expectations that you carry into the game with you. Expectations of a Maya Fey type character, expectations of Byakuya Togami, expectations of an Ultimate ??? mystery.

What puts Sayaka above Imposter for me is that ultimately, Imposter never feels like more than an archetype. He's the leader, he's brave, he's valiant, he's selfless... He's, honestly, unlike his namesake in the way he takes charge and cares for others. But he lacks any sort of personal connections to the other characters. When he dies, his cause of death is simply "being too heroic".

Sayaka is more interesting because her character writing is deeply personal. We spend a lot of time not only developing who she is but her relationship to protagonist Makoto. She compares more to Kaede than to Imposter or Rantaro, because we get to watch her make an emotional journey over the course of the setup.

When Byakuya turns up dead, he dies fulfilling both his archetypal identity as the heroic leader and his horror role as the Horror Ace who must be killed in order for the story to begin. But when Sayaka turns up dead, it's a genuine twist... Whether you "knew" she was going to commit a murder or not, it's still shocking to see her show up as a victim.

For the short time we had these characters, Sayaka feels like she managed to do more to concoct an interesting character journey than Imposter or Rantaro did, and that's why I have to give this point to her.

Worst Victim: 3-1 - Rantaro Amami Rantaro's the other major candidate for least developed character in Danganronpa. There are things there to enjoy if you're willing to put in the work to find them but, for the most part, he's just. Sort of. There.

He's a nice guy surrounded by a lot of question marks, some of which will be explained far later in the game and others that won't be explained until post-game bonus modes. Wreathed in similar secrecy to Imposter, but lacking Imposter's captivating exterior intrigue. Rantaro has the energy of a random person who accidentally wandered onto the set and now everyone else has to roll with it.

He has a cool character design and he's nice, but he isn't here to stay and he's written like it. The others have complex and fascinating over-the-top characteristics and Rantaro is nearby, smiling politely. He likes bread.

In a similar fashion to how Nagito was a dark reflection of Makoto, Rantaro is. Like. Hajime, if he wasn't written to be an important character of any kind. You can become invested in him if you put in the work to do so but there are tons of other characters who are right there.

Meanwhile, his involvement in his own death is "Wrong place at the wrong time. Whoopsy-doodle."

Best Use of Other Characters: 3-1 - Miu, Gonta, and Shuichi (plus Kaito's mob) This is an easy win for 3-1. A Danganronpa game features a lot of characters, and the more involved they get to be in the crime both before and after the body is found, the better. 1-1 and 3-1 both offer Makoto and Shuichi a key role of adjacency, making them unsuspecting accomplices while the crime is being concocted and carried out. But between them, Shuichi has a more proactive and complex relationship to the crime taking place, while Makoto's simply a patsy.

On top of that, we have Gonta for a false lead suspect, plus the whole complicating factor of Kaito's mob forming right next door to the crime - one member of whom would become the victim.

And we have Miu, who is intricately woven into the case. Miu created the cameras and knows key information about them that becomes important to the case. She also builds a sky-camera drone which becomes supremely important to unraveling the mystery. None of this could have happened without her; Either the setup of the crime or the resolution of the mystery. V3 uses its large cast to great effect here.

Worst Use of Other Characters: 2-1 - Nagito, Peko, and Ibuki. Plus Mahiru and Mikan's investigative skills.

Nagito is an extremely back-and-forth character. Sometimes he's fascinating and other times he's a cackling ball of plot contrivance, doing ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons and getting away with it because plot contrivance is literally his Talent.

2-1 may be Nagito at his weakest. Though the drawing of straws is a fun bit, Nagito contriving 85% of the mystery and pulling it off through sheer Luck Powers for the sake of setting up Teruteru for the remaining 15% feels forced. Nagito's involvement feels like the personification of "Writer's hand moving pieces into place."

Like, the trick with the blackout seems like it'd be difficult to pull off without any testing but Nagito has luck powers so it doesn't matter. The timing of everything going down seems unlikely but Nagito has luck powers so it doesn't matter. Every over-complex detail was perfectly planned 100% by Nagito and it all went exactly according to plan, because it could only go exactly according to plan, because Nagito has luck powers preventing any unexpected complications from ever arising.

This is a toxic influence on a mystery (though it makes 2-5 fascinating). Mysteries are actually more interesting when they don't go exactly according to one brilliant mastermind's flawless foresight.

Aside from Nagito, we have... Peko being in the bathroom. An entire subplot is dedicated to the mystery of Peko's extended bathroom visit. This is a character who will be revealed to be a deadly assassin next chapter, and her sole contribution to the story prior to that point is a joke about diarrhea embarrassment.

That leaves us with Ibuki, Mikan, and Mahiru who play key roles in the investigation. Ibuki has exact photographic memory of every person who spoke during the blackout (which also feels a bit like plot contrivance), Mahiru's photographs provide critical evidence (that's fine, no notes), and Mikan... Mikan's autopsy is useful (that's good) and also the running joke about her tripping into compromising positions is critical evidence (okay, game).

2-1 suffers from a bad case of 4-D Chess Mastermind syndrome and is more interested in poking fun and ogling its cast than it is in having them do interesting things rooted in their characters and personalities that contribute to the story in interesting ways.

Best Mystery: 2-1 - The Table Stabbing 2-1 and 3-1 have a lot of moving parts. The mechanism of Kaede's trap is complicated, but not so complicated that you can't see how it worked - or, at least, was intended to work. The same is true of Shuichi's own plot to capture the Mastermind, which runs adjacent to and interweaves through Kaede's.

Like Nagito, Teruteru, and Imposter, there are multiple conflicting agendas running through Shuichi, Kaede, and Rantaro's collision - though with the intriguing and emotionally gripping complication that they all wanted the same thing. Meanwhile, 3-1 does not run afoul of All According to Keikaku the way 2-1 does.

If you don't know, on sight, who killed Rantaro? Then 3-1 can be a shocking mystery to try and solve, as no possible candidate seems to fit the bill. But if you do know? Then. Well. It's a lot like 1-1, spinning your wheels and waiting for the game to catch up. Worse, if you happen to be too observant and catch things that they don't want you thinking about until 3-6, 3-1 can be pull-your-hair-out frustrating as the game gaslights you about details that are plain in front of your eyes.

2-1's mystery isn't quite as captivating as 3-1's, but it doesn't suffer from these drawbacks either. It's less likely to have been spoiled for you by hanging out with the key figures while they were setting it all up. There's still a bit of bullshit in how it's carried out, but ultimately it simply presents a clever mystery and asks you to investigate and solve it.

Worst Mystery: 1-1 - Murder in Makoto's Shower 1-1 was the first case in the series, and you can tell. While getting to watch Sayaka undergo her emotional journey and developing her crime alongside Makoto is interesting, it does give away many of the details that are going to be Huge Reveals later down the line.

By the time her body is found, you're already 95% of the way to solving the mystery. And she wrote the remaining 5% on the wall for you to find.

Kaede and Shuichi took a lot of notes from Sayaka and Makoto on how to do something like this without flat-out explaining the plan to the audience as they go along. Though I do think that sometimes simpler cases are better than complex ones, 1-1 suffers tremendously from being too obvious about key details, leaving little to discover during investigation.

So, where does that leave the Case 1s? Tallying up their scores, we have:

DRV3: 13 points DR2: 12 points DR1: 11 points

Neck and neck in quality but V3 takes a slim lead. Featuring the strongest build-up portion, best Blackened, and best use of Side Characters, V3 edges out the competition with careful, creative, and entertaining use of its cast as a whole.

DR2 thrives on its plot details, with a great Motive and the most well-constructed mystery to spin out of the events, but suffers from poor use of its characters as well as a middling killer and victim.

While DR1 coasts by on the strength of the Sayaka twist, having a harder time establishing itself than the sequels that followed in its footsteps and learned from its mistakes.

#danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #danganronpa 2 goodbye despair #danganronpa v3 #comparative look at danganronpa cases

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