#and like don't berate yourself for enjoying dark stuff you're talking to someone who likes Sukuna from JJK for pity's sake

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

This is something I've been asking myself, but can you tell me everything the brothers Carla and Shin did wrong throughout all the games in and out of their routes? I've been wondering about this recently, sorry if this is sudden to ask...

Hi anon, while I do know quite a lot of Carla and Shin's routes off the top of my head, I'm not quite as good with all of the other Dark Fate routes and there are still routes in CL I haven't played that I don't really want to spoil for myself if I can avoid it. In order to do what you're asking, I'd basically have to go through every single DF and CL route and double check their LE routes (which admittedly I know a little too well but I do generally like to double check things). To my memory Lunatic Parade doesn't contain them doing anything particularly bad aside from Shin picking on some of the guys but if you were to do a really thorough job it wouldn't hurt to check those too.

I'm afraid that is a monumental amount of work that I'm really not willing to commit to for the sake of a single ask, especially as what I qualify as bad enough to make the list might not necessarily be the same as you or someone else. If you genuinely want to know all of the things Carla and Shin have done, then honestly I would suggest you read their routes for yourself as all of the DF routes have been very kindly translated by @dialovers-translations (who has put an incredible amount of work into her blog over the years) and their LE routes have also been translated and you can find links to them on @vampirerosemary's incredibly useful masterlists.

Now if you're asking this because you're not particularly comfortable with dark content and want to know whether to avoid DF or not, I'm afraid I would honestly suggest just not engaging with any of the main games and instead focusing on the bonus drama CDs and Lunatic Parade which is much more fluffy. I know some will say you shouldn't ignore the darker aspects of the series but at the end of the day, it's just fiction and looking out for your own well-being matters more than berating yourself for not engaging with all of the content.

On the other hand, if you're asking this just to measure how "bad" Carla and Shin are compared to the other guys, I'll cut to the chase. Literally all of the diaboys are problematic in one way or another (and even Yui can be in some of the bad endings) so I honestly don't think trying to find a "least bad" is really all that meaningful, especially as you may consider certain actions to be far worse than someone else (for example I actually found Shuu's HDB route to be way more off-putting than Laito's, which as far as I can tell, is a very uncommon opinion).

I have said before that I think out of all of the boys, Azusa is the least malicious but even then he's hardly a saint.

However, I don't think there's any use in feeling guilty about fangirling over the diaboys even though they've all done bad things. I think if you're mature enough to properly engage with some of the themes that feature in DL, then you should be able to distinguish reality and fiction. As long as you understand that irl you should run for the hills from anyone who acts like the boys, there's nothing wrong with having fantasies with dark elements if that's what you enjoy.

Another thing I want to just say while I have the chance that I saw mentioned many years ago but seems to have been forgotten about is this idea of choice. So, in game, particularly the early games, Yui does not have a chance to consent to what the boys do to her, and if you look at it from that perspective, DL is pretty much entirely a horror story (it's one of the reasons why I don't particularly enjoy writing Yui x diaboy scenarios versus reader x diaboy material).

However, the thing you have to take into account is that you, either through listening to the CDs, or playing the games, or reading the translations are effectively giving your consent to keep the scenario going and see what happens. At any point, you have the ability to take out your headphones, or turn off your console or stop reading, make up some ending in your head and never think about the series again. At the end of the day, the person in charge isn't the boys, or Yui, or even Karl, it's you.

Now I know some people prefer to view the player as being completely passive (i.e. Yui is her own character and we're just helplessly watching her story), but the fact of the matter is that in the games, that straight up isn't true, our decisions control the ending. And like I said, if anything comes up that makes you uncomfortable, you can just stop playing, and I would recommend you do at that point, especially if you're not too clear on what your own limits are when it comes to consumption of dark material.

Anyway what I am trying to get at here? Basically, the reason why you can enjoy DL as a dark fantasy is because at any point, you can disengage from it. If you find yourself reading DL and just getting upset about bad things happening to Yui, it's not that those feelings aren't valid, but honestly you are far better off taking a step back, maybe writing her a happy ending yourself if you enjoy writing, and then leaving it be. Please do not read things that only upset you, life is too short to inflict misery on yourself.

Anyway I'm sorry this isn't what you asked for anon, but hopefully it has at least been some use to you.