#also sara is such a good protag

[fereldanwench]

Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @corpocyborg! Thank you, bb!! ♡

Last book I read: I still haven't finished There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job Kikuko Tsumura I started back in January, lmao. Not for any reason other than I just haven't been in the right headspace to sit down and read for the past few months--What I have read of it is great, so hopefully, I can make the time to pick it up again.

Greatest literary inspirations: I like the female protags in Karin Slaughter novels, and I love Tanya Huff's Torin Kerr from her Confederation series--I'm sure they've inspired me on some level. Oh, and Phedre from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, too, although it's been ages since I read those. But I think most of my inspiration actually comes from other forms of media. I love the action babes of the late 90s/early 00s: Lara Croft is the number one inspo here, and pretty much all of Michael Turner's comic girls but especially Sara from Witchblade. And I think Better Call Saul is easily one of the best-written shows ever made--That's one I always go back to when I feel like I need to refill the inspo well.

Things in my current fandoms I want to read but I don't want to write: I have a confession: I usually only read a ton of fic when I first get into a fandom and I can't get enough and I just want to soak it all up, but after a certain point, I just don't have a lot of headspace for other people's stories. 😬 I feel bad about it sometimes, and it's not like I never read anything after that point, but 90% of the time, what I wanna write is what I wanna read. It's kind of a closed loop, I guess.

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: Well, I'm not at all deterred by being the only person interested in something I write, haha. One of my favorite one-shots I've ever written is between my Cousland and Hawke meeting briefly at Ostagar, and it's probably my least popular fic on AO3 by a big margin. But I do like deep-diving into my own OCs, and it generally is harder to get an audience for fic that doesn't have canon characters. Ain't gonna stop me, though!

You can recognize my writing by: Lots of pining and banter; obvious thesaurus abuse

My most controversial take (current fandom): Yeah, no, not gonna be sharing my actual most controversial takes, lmao.

But I do also love the Devil ending! I don't think there's one objectively "best" ending--What's good for one V isn't necessarily good for another--But for my Valerie, it suited her story the best. I love the poetry of her going back to Arasaka after getting fired by them, I love storming Arasaka Tower with Goro, I love the conflict with Johnny, I love making Goro confront how fucked up the Arasakas are, I love the possibilities of Mikoshi--The only way it would have been better for me is if this nixed idea had actually been put into action.

And I wish we could roleplay a V that is actually more "pro"-corpo in the game, especially if we had the corpo lifepath. Sticking it to the man is sexy and all, but I just love delving into characters that align themselves with shitty institutions and exploring different motivations (I personally like cynical pragmatism/self-preservation and delusional idealism) that lead a person there.

Top three favorite tropes: 1) Rivals to friends to lovers 2) Mutual pining 3) Forced proximity

What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): Like, 0.5, lmao. I've been rereading and organizing my WIPS, so there's some effort being put in there, but I'm very much in one of my "ummmm, how do I even write fiction?" phases.

Share a random frustration: I have ZERO discipline when it comes to writing. I need to be in a fully feral, totally isolated from distractions place or I just can't get shit done. When I'm in the zone, I'm in the fuckin' zone, but I get like 3 months of that every 5 years, lmao.

Tagging (with no pressure, as always) @ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian, @dread-red-queen, @vorchagirl, and @aceghosts <333

[roulettefeel]

Sara past episode/minisode:

I have doubts we are meant to view Mr Chidouin’s actions as abusive, like Sara feeling like she should bring her dad along to friend outings because he’s a hassle to deal with otherwise kind of sucks, but stuff like blocking her from leaving the house and she exits out the window feels like a very Anime Protagonist thing to happen. It’s been a million years but if I remember right I think Ichigo from Bleach had a relationship like that with his dad and I’ve absorbed information that the protag guy from Re: Zero had a relationship like that with his dad? Where a protagonist can be chilling in their room and dad comes in with punches and elbowing and all that stuff with the fighting being portrayed as some sort of bonding activity and explains why the protagonist has any fighting proficiency when they were otherwise portrayed as normal.

Nankidai could go either way with Mr Chidouin right now, whether he’s meant to be someone we are meant to view as a good or bad person. And despite the matching sprites I’m leaning more towards Meister being treated as his own person even if they turn out to be a human and a doll or whatever is going on with them. I can’t believe that a father as overblownly protective as Mr Chidouin would have been able to be quiet with some of Midori’s behavior towards Sara.

It would be interesting if Nankidai actually portrayed Mr Chidouin as a bad person and have his goofy behaviors taken seriously. His possessiveness can easily be portrayed in a bad light. But I also expect that Nankidai prefers his characters to be a bunch of silly guys, so while the story can go scary places and have scary implications I dont think Nankidai as a writer will commit to that horror fully.

[lunariamv]

about me :>

so i just realized i cant just be some random person posting stuff without much context..... so here we go

┊⠀┊   ┊⠀┊

┊ ˚➶ ｡˚     ✧

˚✧

hi, my name is lunaria, or luna ^^

˚✧ some grill that wants to be a artist, writer, and maybe like a lowkey game dev

˚✧ i consume a lot of media: video games, anime, yt, movies, tv shows, books, fanfics, etc

˚✧ i really love the impact media and stories have on the world and people, and there's a lot i love, but also there's a lot out there that frustrates me, or feels like it's missing something, so i wanna throw my hat into the ring and make my own content for me and other girls like me <3

˚✧ atm i write fanfics to practice writing and build an audience, and i draw fanart to improve art skill, also just so i have an art portfolio,,,, cuz if i just started posting games without much of a background i feel like ppl are gonna be like,, "who tf is this???" lol

⊹˚. game dev??? ⊹˚.

i'm really interested in making my own games, specifically rpg maker ones because rpg maker/rpg horror/indie horror is my fav genre (pewdiepie's misao gameplay was my first horror game ever <3); i just love retro horror style a lot

so i'm practicing pixel art and stuff and then later i want to learn some 日本語 so i can translate the games, and also learn to make music so i can go full toby fox lol

and then maybe later on if i got rlly ambitious and had a lot of money id make fancy otome games, manga, fancy horror games, and pERSONA FOR GIRLS

i have a lot of ideas for diff series and id love to share them all <3

⊹˚. my inspirations: ⊹˚.

˚✧ game wise: currently my inspirations are charon (of those yan charon games) and dsp (ik they go by a different name now but that's what i know them as, also its funny because the name reminds me of darksydephil HAHAHA); i like the retro pixel and slight horror themes and aesthetic of their games, but i dislike the writing, so i'm gonna make my own :D

also i like the idea of an oc multiverse like dsp's so i want that too

toby fox is also technically an inspiration too; i wanna learn music so i can make my own bangers with little references and leitmotifs for fun :>>>

˚✧ writing wise: i have a lot, but my main inspirations are mostly like writing in the anime-ish games; danganronpa, persona, ace attorney, yttd, kakegurui; psychological stuff where you gotta think about them, but they also have unique quirky characters and they interact with each other in creative ways

also horror and psychological, i like writing about scary stuff and characters with their complexities, and addressing the rlly messed up parts of humanity and society bc its spooky;; sometimes with a very dark nihilistic outlook bc i love angst, or sometimes with an optimistic one

((thats kinda why i like yan stories but more in the horror sense, like look at all the crazy scary stuff this person is doing lol))

but for characters in general, i like stuff with FEMCS <33333 persona 3 with ya girl kotone shiomi, danganronpa v3 with kaede, sara in your turn to die, genshin lumine, and that one part in ace attorney where we get to play as mia fey

that's also why i lowkey like the writing in romcom/chick flick movies, cuz its just unique characters and stories and usually has a female protag or a group of girls as the mcs

LIKE MISS CONGENIALITY, MEAN GIRLS, AND LEGALLY BLONDE I LOVE THOSE MOVIES SM AND I HAVE MILLIONS MORE EXAMPLES BUT WE'D BE HERE FOREVER

but aside from heavy and horror stories, i also like simple cute straightforward stories like older barbie movies XD (or winx, mlp, bratz, monster high…); they're just really wholesome and cute where ya girl goes on a magical adventure with quirky characters and learns good lessons like trust, courage, friendship, etc…

ITS MUSHY BUT I LOVE IT AAAAA

so my main theme is being a girl and doing stuff, bc girlbossing is fun

but ya know i like making hot guy characters too wwwww

⊹˚. my art/writing style ⊹˚.

i'd say in general its like a mix of asian themes with western; its like anime but with western elements in it

i'd also sometimes like to explore other cultures too, kinda like how jjba has varying characters bc that's cool;; but if i have characters with varying nationalities its because i want to, not bc a woke person held me at gunpoint

⊹˚. aesthetics ⊹˚.

i have a lot that i like, but here's my main favorites i guess that will be in my things

˚✧ cute + edgy; melanie martinez, lucy loone, yandere, ddlc;; basically anything where you juxtapose cutesy with scary horror -- its so fun and subversive

˚✧ femcel/female sigma/doomer girl/anti-egirl; LANA DEL REY LANA DEL REY bc i'm a sad girl

˚✧ retro things; 80s and 90s but mostly early 2000s stuff; early internet, old stuff, y2k, scene/emo, mcbling -- huge emphasis on mcbling, i love the girly hedonistic aspects of it -- ayesha erotica, panty and stocking, bad girls club;; that aesthetic i love it sm LETS DO OUR NAILS AND PARTY ^^^^^^

˚✧ internet horror stuffs -- indie horror, analog horror, internet mysteries, meta horror, local58, mandela catalogue, fnaf, creepypastas, liminal spaces

˚✧ then some internet guy stuff -- vaporwave, cyberpunk, blade runner, hotline miami, madness combat, carpenter brut, etc -- i'm tomboyish in this regard xd, i fangirl over guns and edgy sigma guys fighting

⊹˚. extra stuff about me (bc who tf r u >_>) ⊹˚.

writes a character bio

˚✧ name: luna

˚✧ some randy girl that likes to make stuff

˚✧ not rlly a weeb but i like asian culture a lot, japanese, chinese, korean, vietnamese, thai, laos, filipino (yes), etc

˚✧ sigma?? i think people should be rewarded based on talent and skill, rather than their identity. if i am successful, its because my work is good, not because i am a minority. i'm also learning to draw, write, make music, etc because i want to make content without having to rely on others for assets. why ask other people if i can do it myself? B)

˚✧ i like cute things and being girly, like dressing up and having stuffed animals and cute stationary everywhere :> if i have a chance to be extra and decorate something, i will take it in a heart beat

˚✧ i'm a stocking kin, i love sweets, cake specifically, and milk tea (im addicted to boba its horrible T-T)

˚✧ i like tea, i drink 2-3 cups a day :) oolong is my fav atm

˚✧ cat >>>>

˚✧ unhealthy attraction to fictional men… currently thirsting over tohru adachi 💀💀💀 LOL my friends are like "eww wtf is wrong with you???" i must be a raccoon because i really love garbage

☸ my links ☸

all my links are on caard, but here's an organized list of the main ones; my tumblr will be my main hub for stuff i guess; the degree of activity ranges ;-;

˚☸ art stuff

✧ newgrounds (i wanna be a newgrounds girl tbh)

✧ twitter

✧ insta

✧ tiktok

˚☸ writing stuff (fanfictions)

✧ quotev

✧ wattpad

✧ archive

˚☸ oc archive

✧ deviantart (bc im too lazy to code toyhouse atm)

also apologies if i dont respond to things fast enough, im shy

˚☸ dividers by cafekitsune

[madamemimic]

Just got fully caught up with Your Turn to Die. Thoughts under the cut!

Fucking loved it.

I first gave this game a shot two years ago and while I enjoyed it quite a bit, I found myself bouncing off because I wasn't a huge fan of the point-and-click adventure style puzzle solving.

Fast forward to today and holy shit am I glad I stuck with it. The shift in gameplay styles in each chapter is super novel and I had a ton of fun adapting to each of them. While I think the minigames could use some work (saving Gin from the cage and a few of the chapter 2 attractions were kind of awful), the overall gameplay loop is a lot of fun.

I think most of my grievances with the gameplay are because it's being made in RPGMaker MV. It's an engine issue - not much you could do about that at this point. Later chapters fix a lot of these issues by using the game's strengths (analysis, puzzle-solving, character knowledge) a lot more often than just "click on this thing before a timer runs out!"

Some of the logic during debates can be a little strange, too. A few times in the first two chapters I found myself getting really frustrated because, while I was technically finding potential arguments and item-statement matchups, they weren't the ones that the game wanted, so it counted them as incorrect. Also, not being able to draw statements out of characters without lowering the timer in the Gin/Q-taro minigame kinda sucked. However, I had none of these issues during the chapter 2 main game and the chapter 3 banquet, so overall the game improved on that front quite a bit.

Music isn't great, but it's one dude doing his best with garageband loops. At the very least, each song fits its respective moment super well. I'd love to see this game with an original soundtrack, though...

The art is great. Character portraits are super dynamic, character designs are super solid and memorable, and the backgrounds look absolutely fantastic. There are a few awkward character portraits (Q-taro and Gin's can be a little strange sometimes), but those are nitpicks. Game looks great.

The characters and story... hoo boy, where do I even start? I don't dislike a single character in this game, which was a shock coming from the Danganronpa series. The worst I can say is that some of the characters weren't super interesting, but that was only for like two of the dolls in chapter 3. Big fan of Keiji, Sou (Shin?), and Reko. Every character feels unique and feels like they have a place in the story. Even some of the first characters to die are given proper characterization as the story goes on, meaning that really any character can be someone's favorite.

Sara is a pretty good protagonist, too! I often have trouble relating to protags in these kinds of games, but Sara is fairly interesting in her own right. If she were a side character instead, I think I'd like her a bit better... but hey, she isn't, so I'm not judging her on that. She's a fine protagonist with lots of character.

The story has the highest Revelations Per Hour of any game I've ever played. God damn. You get zero down time, especially in the latter two chapters. I haven't been this surprised by a game in a long, long time. Fuckin' love it.

By the way: On my playthrough, I've chosen Reko over Alice and Kanna over Sou. No dolls have survived.

Overall I loved what there is of YTTD so far and can't wait for even more in the future! Also, Alice is trans and you can't convince me otherwise.

[pechebeche]

Rearise 001 for the ask thing?

YESSS I HOPED ID GET THIS ONE!! some spoilers for s2 in here uwu

Favorite Character: THIS IS SUCH A HARD CALL.....it's weird to say since they're essentially an oc but probably the protag, just because their blank slate nature meant i put a Ton of mental work into their character, which means I've just thought abt them a lot more

Least Favorite character: ANOTHER...REALLY HARD ONE........i guess the spiral origin? for a series with such good writing i thought they were a pretty boring final villain

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): 1. SARA/MICHI 2. takumi/protag 3. eiji/kaito 4. takumi/kazuma 5. maya/mimi, i know it's technically crossover but Hear Me Out

Character I find most attractive: chihiro!!! that's my trans wife

Character I would marry: CHIHIRO!! THATS MY TRANS WIFE

Character I would be best friends with: i think mayu and i would get along really well!! we both struggle with being pushovers i think we have a lot in common

a random thought: LISTEN. REARISE IS ABSOLUTELY SET IN ADVENTURE VERSE I HAVE MY BOARD OF RED STRING AND I AM POINTING DIRECTLY AT IT

An unpopular opinion: while i love the gay undertones of kazuma and takumi's relationship, i honestly think kazuma and mon have a more interesting and mutually growth-inducing relationship

My Canon OTP: saramichi is just about as close to canon as a digimon ship ever gets, and also is perfect in every way

My Non-canon OTP: I HAVE. SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT TAKUMI/PROTAG

Most Badass Character: listen when eiji was just this pleasant guy and all of a sudden the moment he turned slightly away from the viewer his gaze went hooded i SCREAMED. PEAK character art choice

Most Epic Villain: i am ALWAYS a mugendramon/machinedramon stan. it is what is in my heart

Pairing I am not a fan of: while i love them as friends, the idea of takumi and maya as romantic is.. a little too comphet for my tastes

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): i was actually pretty disappointed with how rushed takumis reunion with the group was. i know they had a lot of stuff to deal with but i felt like it could have been handled better

Favorite Friendship: mon and takumi!!! like i said above i prefer them as platonic but their bond is just SO mutually beneficial and fun to watch

Character I most identify with: the protag for obvious reasons!

Character I wish I could be: as always. chihiro. my beloved trans wife with a steady job. i care you

[nagito11s-yttd-stuff]

YTTD Survivor Predictions (good endings)

Emotion Route (Has Main Game):

Sara (I just can't see the protag being killed in an ending, especially since it happened in 2-1 with Q-taro and that was just a game over.)

Kanna (We killed the one guy who could actually help us escape to keep her alive. If she dies, it'd disrespect our choice harder than the banquet disrespected the 2-1 choice.)

Alice/Reko or Keiji (I really hope the remaining Yabusame doesn't just get killed off like a second thought but just only having Keiji and Gin die in 3-2 is way too predictable. Also I can't see both kids surviving so this being the choice makes sense imo.)

The remaining doll (This refers to either Mai, Kurumada or Hayasaka btw. I can see this being determinant since they can be destroyed pre-banquet. I just hope they aren't left behind as they can still offer stuff. Plus, 3-1 keeps bringing up how the dolls matter so them being forgotten kinda goes against that message.)

(As for Gin, I can see him being the sacrifice in the main game. It could allow for another ending like massacre but less awful for the characters.)

Logic Route (No Main Game):

Sara (Again, no protags were harmed in the making of this death game.)

Shin (I can't see him dying tbh. Plus, him always living gives his words in 2-2 about how "You won't get another chance like this" much more weight.)

Keiji or Gin (Maybe it's a little predictable but there's not much I can do with 2/4 characters getting immunity. Besides, Sara's choice between her two closest allies being delayed instead of prevented will still hurt so it's fine. This choice could also determine how Shin acts. If Gin is killed, he could see that as the strong once again killing the weak. I can't see him and Sara reconciling on this route but the three would still escape. However, if Keiji is killed, this could lead to Shin and Sara making a start at reconciling. I doubt they'll become friends by the end of the route but they could at least still work together for escape.)

The remaining doll (Same as the reasoning in Emotion Route.)

[homoeroticvillain]

i hate every time some one compares yttd and danganronpa but also im goin to compare that. by that i mean yttd is such a better written game but god danganronpa means more to *me*

[jesusology]

yttd text posts time *halo emoji* *devil emoji*

[honeyfizzly]

Throughout playing yttd I've noticed character is prioritized over twists, which imo makes the story alot more stronger.

For example, Joe dying in the beginning follows the "best friend dies" trope seen in so many games but feels alot more compelling than the twist of Kaede dying in danganronpa.

Long post lolz, also spoiler warning for yttd chap 1-2 and ending of danganronpa v3

In yttd, Joe's character is very much fleshed out before his death and his death very much felt like a conclusion.

Joe at the beginning of the deathgame is initially suspicious of the group, being the first person to suspect there may be a traitor. Joe also keeps an eye on Keiji by teaming up with him but later Joe's suspicious begins to crumble

Mishima's death seemed to affect alot of the group, especially Joe.

Joe is caught between suspicious vs trust and when talking to Sara about if Keiji is a cop or not, Joe says "just a difference in opinion has me feeling uneasy".

Joe undoes Alice's ties and in his final moments Joe admits that he couldn't see anyone as bad guys.

The scene that best shows this trust vs suspicion dilemma is when Joe says that he's the sage and makes everyone promise that they wouldn't vote for him.

If people had voted for him out, it would prove his suspicious of them and if they didn't, then it would prove that he could trust them to take protect Sara after he dies.

Joe's character arc felt completed when he died and not that he was wasted potential unlike a certain other death game visual novel.

While danganronpa does have instances of good writing, what happened with Kaede and Shuichi is not an example of that good writing.

It's a good twist that flips the tropes of the games on its head, but it also falls into "fridging" tropes and also wastes Kaede's potential as a protagonist.

Kaede was unlike the other danganronpa protagonists, she was headstrong and was way more active and determined than Makoto and Hajime. Also she was the first girl protagonist (I'm gonna ignore Makoto's sister because she was a protag only in a side game that was trash).

Kaede's character really did feel wasted to me as it only really served to help Shuichi's character grow (and while you could make the argument that Joe's death was for Sara to grow, the story had also used Joe's death as a way to conclude his own character arc too).

Kaede was barely brought up afterwards and not until the end where it's revealed that she was framed for murder, which also kinda sucked as well.

It takes more away from Kaede's character by having her not actually kill Rantaro, and while she did have the intent, the fact that she didn't actually kill anyone just kinda takes away from her character rather than add to it.

Sorry for the long rambling post, i just kinda wanted to get my thoughts out there. Also this is all my opinion, if you thought the plot twist of Kaede was good and Joe's death was bad then that's fine and it's your own opinion.

(Not gonna put any danganronpa tags on this tho cause I don't wanna get into any arguments with the more feral fans, I've seen what it's like on tiktok)

[sleepyjuniper]

Not enough people talk about the A-X-L movie.... So I guess I'll sing some praise for it. Keep in mind I'm limited to what gifs and images I could find on Google, since there's not a lot.

Cool Animated/Blueprint Intro to A-X-L!

This goes on for a good two minutes and gives us some exposition about who and what the robot is and why he was made. As well as introducing us to one of the pseudo-villains.

FANTASTIC Robot Character Design

From what I understand, our boy AXL (short for Attack, eXploration, and Logistics, and pronounced Axel by our protags) is a practical puppet in some shots, and fully CGI in the more active shots. He moves in a very believable way, and his little visual detail of having red eyes when aggressive and blue eyes when looking at someone he trusts is very neat. And he's basically just a giant goofy puppy dog. You WILL in love with him. Do not resist.

Miles, and the Classic 'Boy and His Dog' Trope

After our introduction to AXL, we cut to our first introduction to the main protagonist, Miles Hill. He rides a dirt bike and is somewhat antisocial. He meets AXL, and of course because he already rides machines, he is naturally curious, and ends up helping to repair our robot boi after finding him damaged. Some time later, they 'biometrically pair', making Miles the robot's admin. He gradually learns about AXL's origins, and how the scientists who created him were mistreating him. Also the two of them do laps around a junkyard and AXL makes himself into a ramp for Miles to drive over and it's just so neat like they fit together so perfectly-

Funny Gags and Cute Callbacks

It would seem unexpected if you were simply looking at the cover of this movie and hearing my answer, but if you asked me to describe this movie in one word, I'd answer 'cute'.

I love the little symbolic scenes, like when Miles and AXL first meet, they both have some kind of covering obscuring their eyes; for Miles, his bike helmet, and for AXL, his protective eye shields. And then when they actually connect, Miles takes off his helmet, and AXL peels back his eye coverings, quote on quote 'seeing eye to eye'.

There's also a bit of romance subplot, where a girl named Sara gets involved with the whole fiasco, and in a moment of peace, AXL plays 'Dancing in the Moonlight' by pairing with Sara's phone, and projects some pretty disco lights over Miles and Sara as they dance together. During this scene we also see through AXL's scanner, and it shows that he can see Miles' and Sara's heart rates, steadily rising as they move together. This also checks out, considering AXL was made to be a companion on the battlefield, so it would be necessary that he can read vitals, and, as later seen in the movie, detect injuries such as bone breaks.

There's also a funny recurring gag where AXL speaks in a distorted robot voice, but it's only one phrase, and it's one that embarrasses Miles, and I love it.

A-X-L will always be a movie I hold close to my heart.

There's something about this movie that is just so sensual to me, about a human and a robot forming a bond that's just as real as a bond with another living being, all because some random humans decided they wanted to make a machine that could experience the world the way they do, and bond with them the way they bond with other humans.

It calls out to that primal need we all have: to connect, to live, to experience.

It makes me wonder; what if? Could we, one day, have technology this advanced? Could, one day, a real AXL exist?

I hope so. But until then, this movie is what we have, and if you enjoy the 'boy and his dog' trope, or the 'boy and his robot' trope, like Iron Giant, or EVEN the 'human and their alien/non-human companion' trope, this is the movie for you.

[is-it-my-turn-to-die-squidward]

Joe Tazuna Character Analysis

This will contain whole game spoilers! 3-1B at the moment.

At first glance, Joe is the cliche main character's best friend. Kinda goofy, good friend, and willing to follow the protagonist into danger.

He's peppy and light-hearted, but when Sara is in any danger, he's willing to help and protect, even if he's jumping head first into said danger.

I'm not sure how much I can count the first trial as a part of Joe's character, as it was we as the player controlling that part. But Joe was able to solve the trial and escaped with both him and Sara unharmed, which proves his ability to think calmly under pressure.

_

When introductions were happening, Joe was rather cautious. He refused to give out his name and didn't even speak until Sara woke up. This is a basic survival instinct, not letting strangers learning about you, especially after being kidnapped.

What I'm saying, and what I'll continue to say, Joe is intelligent.

During the investigation, Joe partnered with Keiji. This is because Keiji was the most suspicious to him at that time, and Joe wanted to try and learn more about Keiji, or more precisely, what he was hiding.

That is probably why he wanted Sara to be the challenger in Russian Roulette. Sara was the only one Joe actually trusted, and he didn't want to risk her getting injured.

Joe wants Sara to trust him, which is understandable, as they had only met these people a few hours ago, but had known each other for awhile.

Because earlier, I said that Joe cares a lot about Sara, but I also made a point to show he's smart and cautious. In his end, those two things cannot mix well.

Sometime later, Joe gets the Sacrifice card.

We're not sure exactly when, but we know it must have been somewhere Joe, or possibly Nao or Kai, was supposed to find it.

Because as we learn in the next chapter, those three (plus Kugie), were not supposed to be participants in this death game. They were only there as tools, assumingly Nao for Mishima, Kai for punishment, and Joe to make the game fair.

I much as I would love to go into details about Nao and Kai, this is about Joe.

In chapter 3-1B, we learn that Joe was only there to keep Sara tame for awhile a stop her from killing.

This is all kind of insulting to his character. First we learned that Joe wasn't supposed to be in the game and was always going to die, then next it's that Joe was taken on purpose, always to die in order to traumatize Sara enough to make the game fair for the participants.

That was so we knew, no matter how smart Joe was, he always had a zero percent to live.

Because in the main game, he was very smart.

Joe was able to convince people he was a Commoner, then a Sage, all by using selective wording and lying enough that people could trust him.

But his plan failed, bring down both him, and Kai, as it was written by the game masters.

But Joe openly will admit that if he got enough votes, he would have taken Sara to leave with.

Joe isn't stupid. I see people say things like "Joe never really planned on winning". That's not true. Joe was planning on winning the game for him and for Sara, and would have killed everyone else in the process. Joe obviously didn't want to, but he had no choice. He had a plan to live, he was almost able to succeed in it, and failed.

Joe was smart, and he died.

Joe and Kai were both very important characters, but as the game continues, we just get more questions and no answers. Kai has basically been forgotten about, and I'm sad to say that despite being Sara's friend, he's of no use to the plot continuing on.

I would also like to Talk about what Joe and Kai talked about, but we don't know, and I'm not sure if we'll find out.

Joe and Kai were both very important characters, but as the game continues, we just get more questions and no answers. Kai has basically been forgotten about, and I'm sad to say that despite being Sara's friend, he's of no use to the plot continuing on.

Notice how almost everything about Joe is surrounding Sara?

Joe is basically a warning to the participants. "No matter how smart you are, you could always die".

But Joe was basically screwed over from the beginning. The protagonists best friend who was smarter than they let on died in order to advance the plot and give the protag character development surround their death.

Then people in the fandom often think he's dumb. I really hope I proved that's not true, but I also understand why people do that.

Making him more relaxed in non-death game aus, that's fine! He's a teenager, he shouldn't have to be making decisions to save his life.

But also don't take away his basic intelligence. I'm a teenager myself, and yes we can be idiots, but don't write people basics on one random character trait.

This is all I really can write at the moment, and I'm not looking at island, but I might update this when we get him as a protag.

Next I might write Kai, because he's my favorite character and I want to talk about him.

[lesbian-stu-macher]

Musicals based on history/true stories that aren’t Hamilton (most of which are better imo)

my personal faves are bolded

- lizzie: THIS FUCKING SHOW OKAY— 1. all women cast. 2. lesbians. 3. sickass rock score. based on the borden axe murders (tw for murder, sexual abuse, and animal abuse)

- assassins: i fucking love this show ok. if you’ve seen the politician, yes it’s a real sondheim show about (most of) the people who killed (or tried to kill) us presidents. (tw for murder obv, suicide, and the n-word is used once)

- six: if you’re on tiktok, you probably know about it. i always said it’s like if lady gaga wrote hamilton. based on the six wives of henry viii (tw for death and some sexual assault mention?)

- catch me if you can: two words: Aaron Tveit. based on the autobiography of frank abangale jr, a conman during the 60s (based on the movie!) oh also kerry butler and norbert leo butz r in it

- jesus christ superstar: okay hear me out. alw wrote this without the intention of religion, he wrote it to tell a story of someone who was in the right place at the right time. written in the 70s and full of absolute bangers. the recent nbc version featured John legend, Sara barrellies, Jason tam, and Brandon victor Dixon. tw for death obv

- evita: okay so there is a total whitewashing issue with this cast, but the music really does slap. alw back at it again and you can’t move an inch in any direction of the theatre fandom without knowing don’t cry for me Argentina exists. tw for death

- 1776: this is an older one, but my local library had the movie, so i watched it. Hamilton actually references this show (“sit down, John, you FAT MOTHER-“ is a reference to one of the best songs from the show, sit down John.) and the music vibes. it’s a pretty short soundtrack, so definitely recommend. there’s a weird song about slaves in there somewhere but they don’t say the n word or anything in it, I’ll have to listen actively if there is an issue.

feel free to add!

UPDATE: others that i love sm and totally forgot abt bc this is an old draft

- fun home: inspired by the book of the same name! tells the story of Alison bechdel; a lesbian cartoonist. first broadway musical with a lesbian protag, very gay, jenn colella and Caitlin kinunen (I cant spell it’s fine) were in a reading of it as Alison and medium Alison respectively. oh Michael Cerveris too. tw for death, a literal song about kids having fun in a funeral home, and suicide (mentioned multiple times, given a visual description and acted upon)

- Bonnie and Clyde: cmon. it’s Jeremy jordan and Laura osnes, need I say more? Oh also Louis Hobson from n2n is in it as the antagonist. not gay but it’s the 20s and the music slaps hard. also harmonies that could literally kill. tw for death, murder, guns, crime, I think that’s it?

- come from away: probably my favorite show on bway rn. absolutely gorgeous show about the planes rerouted to Newfoundland, Canada after 9/11. shows the impact on real life people in multiple situations, how minorities are impacted, etc. tw for Muslim hate, 9/11, death mentions, I think that’s it?

- parade: haven’t heard it all, but the one song I have heard is amazing. Based on the true story of a Jewish man being sentenced to death (I believe?) after a false accusation of him raping a young girl. tw for rape, death mention, probably some antisemitism (again, haven’t heard it all the way)

These two are more so period pieces inspired by true events but nonetheless

- ragtime: haven’t heard it but I’ve heard it’s really good. talks about three different groups in the early 20th century America (African Americans, Jewish Latvian immigrants, and an upper class family)

- miss Saigon: original production is kinda a big yikes but the music is good. they’ve noted some of the error of their ways and there is no more yellow face and there is actual Vietnamese rather than gibberish in the show now. Pulls a lot of white savior bullshit too. (ppl can stop telling me about how problematic this show is because I’m fucking aware, okay? That’s why I wrote disclaimers. Jesus Christ.) About the Vietnam war. tw for death, war, prostitution

[gingus-doon]

Thoughts on Sara?

ahh i’m so sorry for responding to this so late!! i honestly kinda wasn’t sure what to say about her, lol. but i really love sara!! she’s one of my favourite characters in the game, which i think is really a testament to nankidai’s writing considering that i usually have lukewarm feelings on protags at best. of course, there’s also her fondness events which give an outside perspective on her character and make it less malleable by taking away the player’s control over her choices, which was really a great decision on nankidai’s part imo.

one of the things that’s so great about her character is that she’s an amazing protagonist. she’s very sympathetically written, and the writing for her character takes some common protagonist tropes and kind of flips them on their head. most protagonists seem invincible-- even if they struggle, their struggle may feel superficial because you know they’ll get through it anyway. sara is not invincible, she suffers severely from joe’s death and from the pressure placed on her shoulders. however, many of her allies treat her as though she’s invincible, and regardless of whether or not they acknowledge the pressure she’s under, the burden of being the leader remains her’s regardless. and the fact that there’s endings where sara can crumble under that pressure (e.g. the massacre ending with nao or the ending where she uses safalin’s hallucination begone machine too much) makes her struggle more real. i also think it’s important that her imperfections as a protagonist don’t make her any less likeable as a character-- they’re understandable flaws and they’re very humanizing. her weaknesses and potential failures as a leader actually make me like her character more, lol.

each time i think about sara in a death game setting, it makes what she goes through a little more heartbreaking each time. i’m just over here sobbing like “;; sara deserves better!! WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS 😭😭” the more analyses i read about her and her relationships the more i feel for her!!! she’s honestly just some dorky kid who got thrown into this godawful situation and it’s just so cruel. one thing that really made me feel this way is her fondness events-- seeing her in a situation reminiscent of the death game but nowhere near as unfortunate. there’s this conversation her and mishima have, specifically:

MISHIMA: “Life is nothing but choice after choice. Miss Sara, I’m sure you’re a person who can make choices she won’t regret.”

SARA: “… I don’t know about that… But I do my best.”

IMMEDIATE FLASHBACKS TO LOGIC ROUTE. OH NO. she certainly is trying her best ;;

ONTO HAPPIER TOPICS THOUGH !! not only is sara an excellent protagonist, but she’s also just a neat character! i would say she probably became one of my favourites when i first played ytts and saw her fondness events. in the death game, she’s limited to being Protag / Leader Sara who is (rightfully) freaking out at the situation at hand, but in ytts we get to see more of casual nerd sara! nerd sara who asks mishima for help on every subject while being kidnapped to an island, nerd sara who kicks ass in chess tournaments, nerd sara who wants to be at least good enough at art for her friends to make fun of it! brusque, dorky sara at her finest. a death game isn’t really the ideal time to show these casually endearing qualities, and while you’re playing as her, your consciousness just kinda melds with her’s so you don’t see her as an entirely separate entity lol, but the fondness events really make up for that and i just love them so much omg.

in conclusion, she’s a sympathetic, geeky, blunt big sister type, and i love her for that. she has the protag energy without feeling generic and without feeling like she’s not her own person. i just like her a lot lol, big appreciation for sara chidouin

[sillyguyhotline]

i hate when people compare shin tsukimi to kokichi ouma/nagito komaeda and here’s why

hi first off spoilers for yttd up to chapter 2-2 and for chapter 5 of sdr2 and ndrv3

hi, this is a little disorganized because it was one of my first analysis posts on here lmao. it’s in lapslock and kinda rushed because i wrote this rant to my friends and then decided to post it here!!

ok so!! first of all, sou has very distinct and established reasons for why he acts the way he does: the survival rates. the game shows us that, prior to the death game, sou (shin tsukimi) was very pleasant, even compassionate, and was generally a good dude.

 but the identity he adopted for himself, sou hiyori, the one who trusts nobody and lies to everyone and is a pretty huge dick, is a direct consequence of miley telling him he had no chance at survival. the antagonist characters in danganronpa are just...like that. yeah, they probably have their reasons (we know that nagito lost his parents and has a very weird relationship with luck, and we can infer that kokichi doesnt have parents and probably hasnt for a decent amount of time) but they were turned into their more manipulative selves over time, and that's who they are, whereas "sou hiyori" is more of a mask or an alternate identity than anything

secondly, i know a lot of people lump him in with the dr antags bc they consider him an "antagonist" character, but honestly?? he's really not. (either way, the term antag doesnt really fit kokichi or nagito cuz junko is the antag, they're still technically on our side and id consider them antiheroes). but,,,sou honestly doesnt do the things kokichi and nagito do. those two fuck with you in the trials and then they both have chapter 5, where they stage a murder that is directly intended to confuse either you or the mastermind. 

but sou doesn't do any of that shit! yeah, he declares himself as the keymaster and lies about that kind of stuff, but it's not intended to directly oppose you, he's just trying to survive. it just so happens that sara is the keymaster in the first main game, so sara is the one who has to expose his lies. he's a liar, but especially in the first main game (not as much in the second but i'll get to that later) he's more concerned with his survival than anything. both kokichi and nagito, however, have other goals (expose the traitor from the future foundation and get them out alive/end the killing game) and even when they arent executing those goals they go out of their way to oppose the protag.

thirdly, sou embodies his own, very distinct themes. he's still a foil to sara, as the antags are with the dr protags, but in quite a different way. (oh also ive seen some people point out that sou is also a foil to keiji). kokichi, most distinctly, embodies the theme of truth vs. lies; he's a liar and his entire personality is developed out of him constantly lying to everyone including himself, while shuichi, the protag, struggles throughout the game with the burden of exposing the truth of the murders. 

a lot of people look at sou and immediately think that the main point of his character is his lies (which is fair, as he lies to both sara and himself, similar to kokichi) but it's not- it's his inability to trust anyone. you'd think that him hiding his true personality and fabricating the "sou hiyori" personality would demonstrate that he is, at his core, a liar, but "sou hiyori," especially in comparison to the "shin tsukimi" he once was, is characterized by how little he trusts everyone. this is how he is different from sara, and why he envies her: sara has managed to gain the trust of the entire group, despite being nothing but a high school girl, and is able to utilize this to her advantage (hence why he breaks down in the first main game; he has already separated himself from the group for his own survival, but panics upon seeing everyone choosing to believe sara instead of him). his separation from the rest of the group and the way he loathes sara for the trust she's gained is what's at the core of his character, not his lies. his lies only aid his lack of trust for everyone else. 

also, another thing that separates sou from the other antags is something i outlined earlier: when they die, it is to serve a purpose greater than them. when sou dies, it is to save kanna. he's always been identifiable due to his desire to survive. this is why he becomes sou hiyori, this is why he is unable to trust anyone, this is why we view him as an "antagonist," because we as the player, usually, automatically want as many people as possible to make it out alive. but he forms such a bond with kanna, despite pushing aside everyone else, that he is willing to lose his life, which he's fought so hard to protect, in order to save her. this is also representative of how much more yttd focuses on its characters; nagito and kokichi refuse to die unless it ends the killing game because that is danganronpa's endgame and it's the only reliable point of dr's admittedly shoddy plot. yttd, however, focuses on how the characters grow as people and how relationships between individuals develop, which is why sou's character is so heavily dependent on kanna. he either dies for her or identifies himself as a true threat in order to avenge her, which makes him much more compelling.

sou may be a liar, but he's much more of a human than the danganronpa antags, he presents much less of a threat to the character, and he's able to actually develop bonds with kanna. 

i also find it pretty interesting how both nagito and kokichi's relationships with the protag reflect the main themes of their respective games (hope vs despair, truth vs lies) whereas sou's relationship with sara revolves around trust as opposed to the game's overarching theme of logic vs emotion (which he also helps to embody, but through his actions, not his relationship with sara).

this was very long and probably didnt convey my thoughts as well as it could have but in essence sou and the dr antags are very very different from each other, in both character and their role in the game, and when people compare them it feels like they're looking at a sou that they want to see rather than the sou who actually exists.

as an afterthought i find it sort of ironic that most of the humanization and development of the danganronpa characters occurs in fan circles, whereas sou is already developed and humanized by yttd to the extent that fans instead have to boil him down to danganronpa stereotypes.

if you made it this far, tysm!! this was kinda rushed so if there are any flaws in what i said please lmk and i’d like to hear if anyone else has any other thoughts on this topic!!

[mrpsychokiller]

I don't know much abt yttd, but uhhh Sara my beloved for the ask game :3c

First impression: yeah that sure is a protag! she seems like a I'm Just a Regular Teenager kinda protag, nothing really special. her haircut is really funny though

Impression now: Sara my beloved!!! Sara IS a I'm Just a Regular Teenager protag but she's like, incredibly well written for the role!! the way her grief is written is good and shows very well how just a regular person would break with so many horrible things happening to them! definitely better than like. danganronpa protags.

Favorite moment: I've stated it before but I LOVE all the scenes where you choose silly dialogue options and Sara just does or says something incredibly funny she IS the funniest guy in this game. but to choose a serious scene..... the scene where gin hugs her and calms her down when she's having a panick attack.... oh god...... also the (positive) sara and ai joe scene :-)

Idea for a story: I don't really know....! maybe someone could write something about Sara interacting with characters we haven't seen her interact with yet.... personally I think kugie and sara could be lesbian solidarity <3

Unpopular opinion: I THINK SARA IS UNDERRATED like it may be just a completely wrong impression but I always feel like people don't pay that much attention to Sara herself as they do to other characters??? I just want to see more content of her and more of her relationship with characters we don't see as much ❤️ (like other than Joe and keiji)

Favorite relationship: OF COURSE I obviously love Sara and Joe's friendship, they're like, some of the best m/f relationships written out there!!! But......... Sara and Gin is my favorite. they are BIG SISTER and LITTLE BROTHER and they love and care for each other so much I cry everytime they interact

Favorite headcanon: I LOVE lesbian Sara so much. Sara is like. definitely not straight but I like lesbian cause it means she absolutely can't have any romantic feelings for joe or keiji at all <3

[mybrotherandmedraw]

Stardew Valley AU where Joe and Sara are both the protag just in two very diff ways.  More details under cut xoxo  

Joe and Sara were high school friends who parted ways after college, still keeping in contact during the collage years, then slowly drifting apart after Sara starts her career as an attorney. While they still talked from time to time, Sara was busy with her cases, while Joe was now taking care of a large piece of land, tending to a farm. It was when Sara started noticing someone stalking her, that she decided she needed a break from the city life, and a change of scenery. She hits up joe and asks if she could stay at his place for a few weeks to take a break, not telling him the full truth of her sudden call.

and yeah Asunaro replaces Joja Corp, just pretend all the floor masters as like managers or workers there

Sara

city girl through and through

she’s an attorney! she’s still in touch with Ryoko who lives in the same city and owns her own fashion line!!

still texts joe frm time to time, but rarely initiates the convos

i like to think she cuts her hair after living on joe’s farm for awhile, thats why you see the 2nd img she has her ponytial–>1st img she has her weird cut hair

wears glasses, usually has contacts on when she goes out though

at first she doesn’t really do much to help around the farm, she just coops herself up in the house and continues her work from there

sometimes she’ll go out to buy groceries or seeds for joe, avoids the townsfolk like the plague and will Not continue small talk they try to start

she ends up getting along with the towns children first and its a slow, slow, slow process of her befriending others but gin, kanna and hinako are the first to prod sara outta her shell

yes she and sou still have this mutual dislike towards each other

Joe

a country boy who moved to the city, and then back to the country

finished college (idk what major he’d do tbh), but eventually went back to his hometown to takeover his grandparent’s old farmland

he has the funny floppy ear dog , its named Charm

mostly a cattle farm, has a lot of cows and sheep, Charm does great sheparding :)

the town loves him, hes just a funky lad

hes good friends with sou! on the weekends they hang out at the bar

grows out his hair because he doesn’t find the time to bother cutting it, plus it’s just easier to tie it and it’s not as sweaty having a mullet sticking to his neck

also many many many new ccol hair clips, i like drawing him in food themed ones, especially strawberry hehe + headbands!!!! joe in headbands…sighs

Townsfolk

Mishima: Carpenter / Teacher

Nao: Apprentice Carpenter

Keiji: Sherriff

Alice: Ex-Convict (hides out in the town)

Reko: Rockstar (not always in town)

Sou: Freelancer

Kanna: Student

Gin:  Student

Hinako:  Student

Qtaro: Store owner

Kurumada: Pub owner

Anzu: Pub employee

Mei: Baker

Ranmaru: Asunaro employee

Hayasaka no i will not look up how to spell his name: Asunaro employee

Characters who live together

Joe, Sara

^^ Roommate situation except one of them is a LEECH and doesn’t help around the farm for months 

Nao, Reko (when shes in town)

^^ “And they were roommates” 

Keiji, Alice (sometimes) ^^ Alice usually lives on the edge of town in a tent, but Keiji lets him crash at his house since he’s rarely there himself and Alice helps house sit. win-win.

Sou, Kanna, Kugie, Kugie’s parents 

^^ Family + family friend situation

Qtaro, Hinako , Gin (sometimes)

^^ Gin’s parents are around but sometimes Gin stays over when his parents are overwhelming, Hinako is an orphan and Qtaro takes care of her

Others live alone (sometimes Anzu and Ranmaru stay at Kurumadas place just bcs they can raid his fridge)