#and they’re both secretly masterminds

[twistedappletree]

[accirax]

Eden’s Garden Mastermind Theory Ranking (Least to Most)

Greetings, Eden’s Garden fandom, and happy... uh... two days past the three month anniversary of the prologue release! I know I’m really late to the punch on this, but after thinking it over for a while I have ranked every student in Project: Eden’s Garden based on how likely I think it is that they are the mastermind. Also, I drew them all, because their designs are really cool. So, without further ado:

#16: Grace Madison

Out of all of the characters, I think Grace would be the most bewildering mastermind. This is the girl who screamed “get me out of here” so much that she got shocked, clubbed Tozu until he was writhing on the floor, and nearly got executed for it! She’s been shown to be violent, but not in a particularly manipulative or intellectual way. Yes, you could argue that all of that was an act, but she’s been shown as so honest and blunt that it makes me doubt whether she could really pull that off. I personally believe that Grace may make a deep run in this game (even to the point of being a survivor), but I can’t think of any particularly compelling reasons as to why Grace would be the mastermind.

#15: Jean DeLamer

So… it’s the pirate guy. No, a ship captain! Either way, I think Jean would be a pretty strange mastermind. To me, it feels like a mastermind Jean would have to lean into the sea aesthetic somehow, and given the locale and theming of Eden’s Garden Academy, I can’t see how that would tie in. The way that Jean portrays it, Ultimate Ship Captain is a title built on bringing people together. So, the writers would have a lot of work to do to justify him being someone who would lead his friends to tear each other apart. Overall, this seems pretty unlikely to me.

#14: Damon Maitsu

And here he is, our protagonist boy! While the protagonist being the mastermind certainly isn’t a foreign concept, I personally don’t think it’s what the Eden’s Garden writers were going for here. Protagonists secretly on the evil team, such as Hajime, are typically missing a lot of memories, and Damon doesn’t seem to be missing any more than the average student. It would certainly be bold to have Damon be an active and aware mastermind under the players’ noses for the entire game, but based on how difficult Kodaka has said it was to write just a single case in which the protagonist was a killer, I find it dubious that this is a realistic possibility. Personally, I also didn’t see any thoughts, actions, or dialogue of Damon’s that would indicate that this was the case. If something weird was going to happen to prevent Damon from being the long-term protagonist, I think it would more likely be a shockingly early death as either a victim or killer. However, I think that Damon has a great character arc set up before him, and that he’ll probably survive to the end as our innocent protagonist and POV character.

#13: Jett Dawson

Jett is pretty similar to Jean in that they’re both big, sociable guys with a seemingly killing-game-irrelevant talent. Because of that, it might seem strange that I put Jett above Jean, considering that he’s even sillier and dumber than Jean. However, I think that because of that, it would be more fun for him to have an eleventh hour heel turn and become the mastermind. I also think that him being sillier would allow him to better blend in as a simple comic relief character and believable survivor nearing the end game. And, of course, he’s wearing that mask, the taking off of which could be a fun twist in Trial 6. Despite all of this, however… he’s still 13th overall. And that’s because, overall, I still think it’s pretty implausible for our goofy, Scooby Doo-impersonating Jett to be the mastermind.

#12: Mark Berskii

I’m pretty indifferent on the concept of mastermind Mark overall. His alligator imagery is questionable, given his apparent personality; and having a tech-related talent could be helpful in creating a killing game, somehow…? But, he also seems pretty soft spoken and anxious during introductions, and more of a sarcastic straight man in the Class Trial, neither of which scream “mastermind” to me. Really, the most suspicious thing about him is that Damon specifically points out that Mark is staring at him on the train, and that Mark was sitting in the back of the train near the sleeping gas bag. Currently, I don’t really have anything that can argue him better or worse than 12th place.

#11: Eloise Taulner

Given how much Eloise has already demonstrated how much she cares about her family, I find it hard to believe that she would put herself in danger by placing herself in a killing game. But, on the other hand, maybe her family is her reason for starting the killing game in some twisted way, and her loyalty to them could explain her actions…? I can’t deny that it would be fun to see such a shy and sweet character flip in the final Class Trial to reveal her masterminding ways– sort of reminiscent of Mikan’s character flip, though hopefully on a more solid foundation. Fencing is also a violent talent, one that Eloise specifically pointed out is a calculated mental game more than a physical sport. However, I’m a pretty strong believer in early killer Eloise, so personally, I don’t think that she’ll make it late enough in the game for her being the mastermind to be a real topic of discussion.

#10: Ingrid Grimwall

Being the Ultimate Blacksmith, Ingrid has a weapons-based talent, specifically one that fits in with the old fashioned stylings of Eden’s Garden Academy. She thinks pretty highly of herself and her skills, and is shown to be flippant about safety laws when it comes to cleaning supplies. These traits, in my mind, make her a more viable candidate than Jett or Jean, but I just can’t shake the feeling that Ingrid would be a really random mastermind choice. I don’t know what her being the mastermind would say about her or people like her, or what it would add to the story and world development. Ingrid isn’t a terrible choice, but I think there are far better options to consider.

#9: Kai Monteago

Yes, Kai is incredibly silly, and I probably shouldn’t have even had him this high just due to how much of a meme it would be if he were the mastermind. But, I think that out of the more silly mastermind candidates, Kai stands out for one reason and one reason alone: attention. Kai has already presented himself as someone who wants everyone to know his name, and what better way to do that than slaughtering some of the country’s brightest? The way Kai initially resigned himself to being an observer of the practice Class Trial before jumping in and eventually providing a lot of commentary could speak to him being a fan of killing games or mysteries in a way he couldn’t manage to contain. And, look– I know that his behavior was probably just to communicate that even when he’s underinformed, Kai is still a chatterbox who wants to be the center of attention, alright? I know that he’s probably here primarily as comic relief, especially if he winds up an early death. But at least compared to most of the students ranked below him, I can imagine a point or message that the writers would be trying to convey about social media and fame with him being the mastermind. His other limiting factors prevent him from cracking the top half, but that alone gets him part of the way there in my list.

#8: Wenona

In terms of actual feasibility, Wenona has to be high up there on students who we know could logistically be the mastermind. Cited as a billionaire, I’m sure she has the resources necessary to run a large production such as this killing game, as well as a shrewd, business-oriented mind that could potentially diminish the value of people’s emotions and lives. Plus, depending on what the writers’ collective political leanings are, I could see some kind of message about the evils of capitalism cropping up if she was revealed as the mastermind. Ultimate Entrepreneur is a talent that Damon already respects, so there’s also potential for drama there if she turns out to be evil. So, after all of that, why don’t I have her higher? To be honest, I don’t know. To me, there’s just something about Wenona that makes me think she isn’t the mastermind. It’s not because she’s so sweet or innocent that I couldn’t believe that she could pull it off– to be honest, it’s the opposite. Even if Damon respects her talent, she came off as fairly antagonistic and cold to me in the prologue. If she is the mastermind, I would imagine that she’d keep that attitude throughout the rest of the game. Then, in Chapter 6, we’d be faced with the revelation that, wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess? There are a lot of good reasons why Wenona could be the mastermind, but for those reasons, I don’t think she’s it.

#7: Wolfgang Akire

Similar to Wenona, Wolfgang for me is hampered by the fact that he’s already been set up as Damon’s rival. A lot of people are already suspicious of Wolfgang in one way or another, so if he’s revealed to be the mastermind in the end, players might feel vindicated, but not necessarily surprised. That’s why, if Wolfgang is the mastermind, I think the most interesting thing the Eden’s Garden team could do would be to reveal him as such early. I’m talking, like, first Class Trial early. We’d get to see Wolfgang’s calculating mind openly act as the mastermind throughout the killing game, let the other students deal with repercussions of having their trusted leader be the mastermind for a while instead of just in the last chapter (after he may have already done some morally gray things), and explore what people would think about Bargain Bin Damon when they know that Wolfgang is the mastermind. Would they make Damon their new hero, now that they can’t rely on the Ultimate Lawyer anymore? Or would they distrust Damon, potentially thinking he’s working with Wolfgang? Wolfgang being the mastermind also has the benefit of his talent. Given that Damon is so good at Class Trials, I feel like pitting him against, say, the Ultimate Music Producer might be too easy of a fight for him. Lawyer vs Debater is something that would not only be an even match, but has already been set up and, in some ways, executed. For Wolfgang, I think there are a lot of ways that him being the mastermind could go “wrong,” but if the writers play their cards right, Wolfgang could be one of the most interesting and unique masterminds we’ve ever seen in a Danganronpa game, canon or fanon.

#6: Eva Tsunaka

While Eva has a blunt and cold personality, she has the benefit (as compared to Wolfgang or Wenona) of being a character that the player is supposed to feel aligned with. You wake up with her, you investigate with her, she’s the one to agree with Damon when he takes a stand against the common complacency at the end. A lot of people have compared playing as Damon to if we had seen Trigger Happy Havoc through Byakuya’s eyes, and in that case, I think that Eva would have to be our Kyoko. And, although Byakuya and Kyoko had their disagreements, if Byakuya were forced to designate someone as his support character, who could he really trust and intellectually respect enough besides Kyoko to give that title? I think Eva will be our support character of the game, which would only make it more devastating if she betrays us in the end. That would also be a pretty unique road to go down, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fangan in which the support character was actually the mastermind, as opposed to a traitor or garden-variety killer, especially in a situation where the protagonist isn’t evil as well. It would also be brutal to make the player confront the Ultimate Liar really being the untrustworthy mastermind all along, after we presumably come to trust and like her. Given the comparison to Kyoko, I think it’s more likely that Eva will not be evil, and instead have a character arc about opening up and being more vulnerable, potentially dying in a late chapter or surviving. However, I would be super excited to see what would happen if Eva were the mastermind, and especially how Damon would react to it.

#5: Desmond Hall

Desmond is this high on the list because, really, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be the mastermind. He’s the Ultimate Marksman, a talent that’s obviously tied to killing and violence, especially when we already have guns at play from the practice Trial and Mara. And, yes, he claims to have never killed anyone himself before, but 1) that could be true and he still could be evil, or 2) he could just be lying. Along with Eva, Grace, Wolfgang, Toshiko, and Eloise, Desmond is one of the characters that you meet before entering the room that contains the other half of the cast, which automatically makes him stand out more as compared to those who were grouped together. He’s shown to have a chill personality, but in a way that (at least to me) could totally be an act. Or, he could even retain that cool attitude as the mastermind, but in a way that just makes him detached from caring about life or death. However, given that we don’t know much about him, I don’t have any particularly damning evidence that he is the mastermind, either. After getting an initial look at him, I really didn’t have any strong inclinations on where his character might go– early death, late death, survivor, what kind of arc he could go through, etc– which is what makes him a more compelling suspect, to me. I plan on keeping a close eye on Desmond to see if there’s any future evidence that swings my opinion of him in one direction or the other.

#4: Toshiko Kayura

Alright, raise your hand if you didn’t think that Toshiko seemed suspicious from the first time you saw her. Given that she’s introduced eavesdropping on your conversation and always conceals half of her face, it’s no wonder that she gave a lot of people bad vibes. While Ultimate Matchmaker might seem like a silly talent to give the mastermind, it could also be a ruse to distract us from the fact that Toshiko has a talent that allows her to read people well and make choices that will impact their lives dramatically. Toshiko obviously stands out from the rest of the cast due to her age, though some people might consider that a reason to avoid suspecting her. However, it’s not like the canon games have strayed away from evil children– in my opinion, Monaca is Danganronpa’s best written villain– and a 14-year-old mastermind could bring up a lot of interesting scenarios which haven’t been popularly explored. Maybe Toshiko has a point to make about child prodigies, and how putting so much pressure on someone to be talented at such a young age is bound to mess them up. Maybe Toshiko grew up in such a terrible, Tragedy-inflicted world that she would be more vulnerable to corruption than her older peers. Maybe killing games are a family business, and traditional Toshiko is being raised to carry on that ritual. On that last note, though, I do think that Toshiko is more likely to be a traitor type than a mastermind, assuming that a role like that exists in this game. I could definitely see her working under the influence of someone a little older and wiser, which is why she’s still only at 4th place. She did seem to have a genuine, screaming reaction when Cara’s fake body appeared, which also points to her not being the manipulator behind it all. Still, I’m wary of Toshiko’s cuteness, and will continue to keep an eye on her and her fan.

#3: Cassidy Amber

Out of all the comic relief-based characters, I think Cassidy has the best shot of being the mastermind. She has Kai’s media and fame angles with the added benefit of being someone who streams games. You know… like killing games! Through that hilarious ladder/stepladder reference, we even know that Cassidy is a fan of Ace Attorney, a trial-based mystery solving game. I think that if Cassidy is the mastermind, a great way to foreshadow it would be to use the games that she references to show the potentially dark subjects she’s into and how she could be blurring the lines between reality and a video game in her head. Similar to Wenona, we know that Cassidy could have the resources to pull off a killing game, even if she usually donates most of her proceeds to various charities. She could also potentially have Wenona’s political angle if the writers wanted to use a killing game to critique communism… somehow? (Personal leanings aside, I genuinely don’t know how a killing game would be a good metaphor for communism in any way. I also feel like Cassidy is a communist mostly for the meme.) An Ultimate Pro Gamer mastermind could also draw on the meta elements showcased in SDR2 and V3, given that Eden’s Garden is, y’know… a video game. While Damon is initially opposed to her after she starts calling him Bargain Bin (stirring up that drama for the viewers), I think it would still be surprising if she was the mastermind because of how hard she reads as a comic relief character. If she made it to the end, I think people would expect more of a Hiro than a Junko. However, that could be just the trick that the writers are trying to set up to make Cassidy a fun and surprising mastermind. But, that’s just a theory… a GAME(r) theory.

#2: Ulysses Wilhelm

I wasn’t all that sold on Ulysses being a good mastermind candidate before I watched Ocean Unknown’s video, Project Eden’s Garden: Who Is the Mastermind?, in which she laid out some really interesting reasons why Ulysses could be it. I’ll summarize her main points here, though, because it’s mostly those I agree with. First of all, Ulysses’ name means “wrathful,” something of note given how uncommon Ulysses is as a name in the modern day. His last name, Wilhelm, means “vehement protector.” While this sounds nice, he could just as easily be protecting his wrath, the legacy of the killing games, or something else evil like that. Secondly, some of the very first words to appear in the original trailer for Eden’s Garden are “HISTORY REPEATS,” which is obviously suspicious for the Ultimate Historian. Ulysses’ symbol is the owl, and while it can symbolize wisdom (befitting an academic like Ulysses), it also means death and bad luck in many cultures. Damon also makes a really interesting comment about one of the paintings in the hallway, a woman with an owl’s face, when you click on it: “Sheesh. Owls always gave me the creeps.” Why would the writers give Damon that character trait, knowing that they have a character symbolized by the owl, unless they were trying to foreshadow something? It could just be a joke about how some owls eat snakes (Damon’s symbol), but… isn’t that kind of suspicious, too? Ocean Unknown also pointed out that we never actually see what Ulysses is taking notes about, meaning that they could be about the killing game in some capacity, although that particular trait of Ulysses’ screams “victim’s unique truth bullet/trial mechanic” to me. Despite all of this, Ulysses isn’t my number one mastermind suspect just because I think he was a little too underdeveloped in the prologue to have a huge role later on. I think it would be really easy for him to fall into a victim role as a relatively unimportant character. However, that lack of focus could just as easily be a front to save Ulysses’ true nature for later on. Don’t sleep on the sleepy boy– he might just be the mastermind behind it all.

#1: Diana Venicia

What a shock: the number one most suspected character in Eden’s Garden is my number one suspect for being the mastermind! Who could have guessed? Although this does feel a little basic, there are just so many things that make Diana suspicious. First of all, she’s the Ultimate Cosmetologist, symbolized by the chameleon. This has obvious parallels to Junko and Tsumugi, two canonical masterminds with fashion-based talents who disguised themselves (Junko via Mukuro, and Tsumugi in chapter 6). The fact that the practice trial featured the hyper realistic mockup body could also be something that Diana did using her talent. Speaking of the body, Diana excused herself from investigating like Toshiko, but wasn’t shown to have the same panicked reaction that Toshiko, Eloise, Jett, or Kai did. That would make her uneasy reaction much easier to fake. Also, is it just me, or does she kind of look like Cara? Secondly, there’s the decal on her shirt that’s oddly reminiscent of the Hope’s Peak Academy logo. It lacks the Monokuma eye that would make it really suspicious, but it’s still notable that she nearly references Hope’s Peak in her core design. Diana has a bubbly and sweet personality that would make her seem innocent, but just like a good foundation, that could be a cover up. It would be a little strange to have the mastermind be, after age revisions, one of only two minors (Diana being 17), but again they could be making some sort of point or connection there. Really, the main thing that holds me back from believing that Diana is the mastermind is just that it seems so obvious that people would suspect her immediately, which takes away from some of the surprise. It almost makes me think that she might be part of the cast as easy mastermind bait as opposed to a true mastermind. But, it’s possible that they could go for something non-standard with her (like an early mastermind reveal, as I talked about with Wolfgang), or they may have hoped that people would get more tripped up by Diana’s cute demeanor and young age. I’d still say that Diana is my #1 mastermind candidate for now, but I’m excited to see whether my prediction is correct or if they’ll go for a different option.

[firecurls-27]

I would absolutely love to hear about your new cupchal fankids and is there anything new about the current ones?

(Holy shit this was forever ago-)

Yayayay I’d be happy to tell you! (Both fun facts and new facts!!!!)

Important info: these guys grew/growing up in the 40s-50s, cuphead is not grail’s father, elder kettle outlived the cupbro’s parents, I might make more cupchal kids if I gain more ideas-

Grail

- 16 (oldest)

- nothings really changed personality wise, he still doesn’t like cuphead.

- he used to have a twin sister but I decided just not to use her because I had no ideas for her.

- he has a crush on a guy who works at the soda fountain, and takes all his siblings as an excuse to talk to him.

- has an interest in cars and mechanics.

- owns a motorcycle.

- has no connection to his biological father, yet misses him dearly.

- has a part-time job in janitorial work.

- loves singing and dancing with his mom.

Minty

- 14

- adores those 50s skirts with the poodles and the fun patterns

- gets very overstimulated easily (I can imagine why she’s bullied by her siblings constantly)

- her anxiety is so bad. Oh my god it’s so bad.

- if anything happens the others blame it on her. (Except grail and the twins, they’re better than that.)

- loves music and hopes to be as good as her parents.

- despite not being very sociable, she gets love letters constantly from kids in her grade asking her for dates. Cuphead disapproves of this.

- loves both her parents equally and gets stressed when someone makes her choose sides-

Camo

- 13

- mamas boy.

- loves baseball and hopes to be a baseball player someday.

- porcy-Lynn’s partner in crime (more like a villain sidekick)

- terrible at math. Has minty tutor him.

- loves music and hopes to be as good as his parents.

- thinks before he does.

- good at piano like his pop.

- if he gets in trouble he pins it on minty. She’ll take the fall.

- secretly has a pet turtle he doesn’t let anyone know about.

- inherited the country boy-ness. Likes to help out elder kettle with his property.

Pepper & Lemony

- 12 (lemony is 5 minutes older)

- stereotypical “creepy twins” but in reality they just hate people.

- lemony has an interest in herbology, specifically the poisonous plants.

- pepper has an interest in biology, specifically bones.

- both terrible at singing.

- one prefers women over men, and the other prefers men over women. But I’ll let you guess which is which. ;)

- they both have preferred parents, but won’t say who.

- minty tutors them in math.

- they don’t trust Grail that much, but likes that he takes them out for ice cream.

- they rarely sing with their siblings, but enjoy it.

- one has a black cat, the other has a white cat.

- they love Grimms fairytales and always had cuphead read it to them when they were small.

- defend minty when she gets blamed for Lynn and Camo’s antics.

Porcy-Lynn

- 9

- if Shirley Temple could swear.

- her “hair” is made from coffee foam.

- she really is a sweetheart deep down. deep. deep down.

- ride-or-die.

- loves music and hopes to be as good as her parents.

- inspired by Darla Dimple. Just a little bit less evil.

- criminal mastermind. Has all of 4th grade wrapped around her finger.

- her middle name is “Vessel” after the grandfather she never got to meet. They would’ve been best friends.

- cuphead gives her several nicknames such as sweetness, firecracker, honey-bun, and so on.

- daddy’s girl <:)

- very upset that she’s no longer the youngest.

- if she gets in trouble she pins it on minty. She’ll take the fall.

Junior

- 2 months (youngest)

- just a lil fella.

- just sits there.

- no problems.

- he likes to scream.

- loves his blankie. :)

As I said I may create more kids in the future but who knows ;)

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 19

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “Everyone has thought about killing someone, one way or another.”

Number 19 is…Will Graham, from Hannibal.

Before I get into the sort of nitty-gritty things with this character, I need to clarify something: I’m referring here SPECIFICALLY to the version from the TV series “Hannibal," played by Hugh Dancy. This, of course, is not the only version. Will Graham, of course, started off in the book “Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris…but I have read none of Harris’ novels, so I can’t really comment on his literary origins. In films, there have been two versions of Will, both taken from screen adaptations of the same book. The first was “Manhunter,” which starred William Petersen (a.k.a. Gil Grissom from CSI, who appeared earlier in the countdown). The second was “Red Dragon,” a sequel to the much-lauded “Silence of the Lambs,” which had Edward Norton as the character.

I have nothing against Norton or Petersen as actors, and neither of their portrayals of Will Graham are really all that bad. However, in both cases, they feel a bit too similar to other characters I’ve seen in other movies. They’re not invalid approaches, but they don’t feel like they stand out a lot when compared to various other detective figures, at least in my opinion. Dancy’s Graham is a whole different story. Not only does Dancy benefit from the series being able to do more than either film could accomplish, on account of being longer, but I feel it does a great job expanding on concepts present in those earlier versions (and, I presume, in the book), and creates a much more unique and fascinating character overall.

In “Hannibal,” Will starts off as a forensics instructor at the FBI academy. He has abandoned field work due to depression and stress, both of which are caused by his signature ability as a detective: Graham has what is termed as “pure empathy,” which allows him to almost literally see a crime through a killer’s eyes. He’s able to not only put the pieces together, as any great detective does, but he can actually FEEL the way the killer felt during the course of any crime. He can understand their motives and their emotional standpoints in a way nobody else seemingly can. While this ability does allow Will an advantage in solving cases, it’s just as much a curse as a blessing: some crimes you can understand on a basic, sympathetic level, sure, but Will has the strange ability to empathize with even the most depraved and disgusting human beings. Somewhere deep down, he feels he’s just as rotten as any murderer, and so his skills are also something he struggles to contain.

In the show, Graham befriends the titular character and villain protagonist of the series, Hannibal Lecter (played by Mads Mikkelsen). Lecter is a twisted psychiatrist who is secretly a criminal mastermind, as well as a serial killer: a cannibalistic psychopath who enjoys turning his victims into gourmet meals. Lecter forms a strange bond with Graham, and tries to push him into embracing his dark side and becoming a villain himself. The series focuses on the unusual ups and downs of the pair’s warped and highly peculiar relationship, as they alternate from hating each other as much as any person can hate anyone, to having ties so close to each other it borders on the romantic. This is somewhat like our previous pick, L from Death Note; Graham has the advantage of getting to stay through the entire story.

I love seeing the journey Will goes on in the show, and I feel this version tapped into something different that earlier screen versions didn’t quite recognize. The relationship between the two main characters is what really makes this show work, beyond anything else. Ultimately, the main reason Will from “Hannibal” doesn’t rank higher is also the same as our previous pick: he’s the main detective, and a major part of the story, but he’s not actually the protagonist. The rest of our options to come are.

Tomorrow, the countdown reaches the halfway point, with Number 18!

CLUE: "You don't have to trust me, as long as you can persuade me to trust you."

[nesisamess]

(TW for mention of suicide will be highlighted in red)

So… altdrdt has 11 students. that’s cool. Wait, but why 11? We know that the killing game has been started already, so there are less students than before, but… that’s an uneven number. For most chapters, 2 people die in total. There are 4 explainations that I came up with:

1: This is probably the most obvious, but maybe there were 2 victims in trial 1 or 2. Of course, traditionally, the double murder doesn’t happen until chapter 3, but fangames don’t always have to follow these rules.

2: Also probably an obvious/simple answer, but maybe there were an uneven number of participants starting out. This number could, truthfully, be any odd number, but it most likely would be either 15 or 17. Both of these could offer some interesting theories, such as why there might be a special person included or excluded. Perhaps Teacher is not a Hope’s Peak student, but instead a student teacher like I mentioned in my last theory post. Maybe the mastermind is a cowardly bitch and didn’t want to be in the killing game themselves.

3: One of the participants committed suicide.

4: Now, this is the one this post is really about. What if, instead of any of the other explanations, instead, the murderer had not yet been caught? Think about it. What if one of the students committed a murder, but the memory wipe happened before they could be executed. This could be for plenty of reasons: maybe the mastermind was the murderer, or the murderer was someone who the mastermind didn’t want dead (that one is my personal favorite theory just for all the interesting storytelling opportunities it would give). Alternatively, maybe the mastermind wasn’t involved in the memory wipe whatsoever, and perhaps their memory was accidentally/purposefully wiped too, so they don’t even know they’re the mastermind. Since we know so little about this fangame, we really aren’t able to tell whatsoever, but we can still make theories about it. This was just a fun little theory I came up with, I’m not saying it’s true or even likely, but I’m going to continue believing in it because, to me, it’s the most interesting option (though i’m sure drdtdev will make it interesting no matter which one is true). Additionally, I think it would make an interesting case to try to figure out a crime that no one has any memory of whatsoever. Maybe the culprit secretly still has their memory, but is hiding it from the group. There are lots of possibilities, but I feel like this specific number of participants is going to end up being important in some way.

[eoieopda]

Idk if you’re open to this but now that you’re a Carat, I want to know who you think is most to least likely to commit a crime lol. Since you’re a lawyer, I also want to know who you think would get away with it 🫢

omg my inbox is always open to questions like this!! i love these, lol. so, keep in mind that i’m still getting to know everyone, but i’m gonna do my best 🙇🏻‍♀️

most likely to commit crime:

joshua, who is also the most likely to get away with it because he hides his insanity really well. like, you can’t tell by looking at him, but this man is an absolute crackhead. you can’t predict his next move. he knows this and he will capitalize on it.

jeonghan isn’t getting away with it because everyone’s got his number by now. you may not know what he’s up to, but you know he’s up to something. he’ll sway a jury, though, so he’ll get acquitted eventually.

soonyoung & chan may be masterminds, but they’re too chaotic to be uniformly successful. if there’s a plan, they won’t remember; and if they do remember, they won’t follow it anyway. they would’ve gotten away with it, but they blew their cover by bragging about how good of a job they did.

tbh, junhui probably fell asleep at the scene — and he doesn’t give a fuck. what are you going to do about it? nothing.

seungkwan can and will talk his way out of arrest, so does it really matter if he gets caught? no. no, it doesn’t. and if that charm wasn’t enough, he’s got friends in high places, too. he’s both stacked and in possession of enough secrets to make him untouchable.

can’t be bothered to commit a crime:

hansol loves the drama of it all and wants the details when the others come back, but the vibes aren’t right for criminal activity, so he’s gonna pass.

jihoon hasn’t left his house in three weeks, sooooo….. what did you expect? phone is on “do not disturb” because he’s not getting roped into this shit, either. bail yourself out.

minghao put an entire outfit together, but he’s still not coming. just know that the fit would 👏🏻 be 👏🏻 right 👏🏻 if he did!!

can be peer pressured into crime:

wonwoo might hang back to commit cyber crimes and/or hack shit on everyone else’s behalf because they asked nicely. he’ll stick his neck out for ✨ friendship ✨, not for any real desire to break the law. he’s the first phone call from jail, and he’ll post bond 💕

seokmin is just glad to be invited. he sent a looong ass text to tell them as much, full of feelings and emojis. this admission of intent — in writing, no less — is a massive problem. but he’s so cute, who could ever be mad at him??

seungcheol knows they’ll fuck it up without him. somebody needs to tie up loose ends, drive the getaway car, etc. he’ll complain about what they’ve roped him into but secretly likes feeling needed 🥲

wasn’t involved, wasn’t informed, and did nothing wrong but was the one everyone pinned it on:

mingyu. need i say more?

[moderndayamymarch]

mash characters as taylor swift albums:

trapper: 1989; immaculate vibes, party central, city boy, tough act to follow

klinger: fearless; “in my best dress/ fearless” (enough said), unhinged, talks about home/family a lot (i.e. fifteen, the best day)

margaret: reputation; tough on the outside but secretly soft, bad bitch, donald penobscott was her getaway car

potter: debut; horse girl

radar: speak now; all about coming of age/loss of innocence, both are country™️, hawkeye looks at radar and “never grow up” just plays on a hoop in his head

winchester: evermore; so much older and wiser and I-, but both are intellectuals and value alone time

bj: midnights; just unhinged as hell, bj definitely feels like everybody is a sexy baby and he’s a monster on the hill, he is the mastermind, sweet nothing feels very him and peggy

sidney: lover; this album has its shit together and so does sidney, also he’s such a cinnamon roll, he deserves this

and finally, I saved the best for last…

hawkeye: double feature of red and folklore; yes he gets two albums- I’ll break it down

red: early seasons hawkeye, he’s happy free confused and lonely at the same time, but both the album and hawkeye are concerned with the passage of time, both experience a wide range of emotions, and both have a deeply ingrained sense of what should be (and it’s a deeply ingrained sense that’s being tested), and they’re both rebellious in nature

(if you are so inclined “the last time” is him saying goodbye to trapper and “begin again” is him meeting bj)

folklore: later seasons hawkeye, concerned again with the passing of time but this time in reference to childhood vs. where they find themselves now, both want to go home but can’t, both are concerned with a need to perform for others despite hawkeye’s shattered edges glistening, both are concerned with the idea of “madness” and what it means to be labeled as “mad”, also “they told me all of my cages were mental so I got wasted like all my potential and my words shoot to kill when I'm mad I have a lot of regrets about that I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere fell behind on my classmates, and I ended up here”

[sebsxphia]

Sebbyyyyy so I had this idea hehe, this is kinda like the parent trap, but babysitter reader and Bradley!!!

Nick (Bradley’s son) realizes that you both like each other and he’s decided that you two HAVE to be together, so he comes up with a plan with the help of his uncles Jake, Bobby, Mickey and aunt Nat.

Nick tells you how much his daddy talks about you when you’re gone; how pretty, smart, sweet you are and how he feels so lucky to have found you, how he misses you after you have to leave to go home every night.

And he does the same with his daddy, he tells him how he caught you once writing in your diary about Bradley, how you sigh in love whenever you see him, how once you blurted out that his daddy was very handsome and cute and how you can’t believe why he’s still single.

Both of you can’t believe it bc you’ve been crushing (not so secretly) on each other for months but you’re too shy to make a move, unbeknownst to you two, a little kid is already making them for you!

And one fateful night with the help of his uncles and aunt, Nick cooks dinner for two (kinda like in the parent trap haha) and tricks you two into getting ready for it, he tells you that he wants to play “restaurant”.

Jake and Nick get the table ready, Nat and Bobby are in charge of the dessert and Mickey of the music.

When you two arrive to the dining room you’re confused when you see all of that but no trace of Nick, you turn around when you hear the lock of the door, and there you are, both of you alone with all that tension, so you have no choice but to enjoy the romantic dinner and maybe do something more. (I’m kinda picturing that beauty and the beast scene where they’re having that romantic dinner and belle’s wearing a yellow dress)

When the night ends, is safe to say that you and Bradley confessed your feelings and decided to start a relationship.

Just as you’re about to lean in and kiss you hear a little voice screaming “yes finally” you giggle and the doors finally open, you see the 5 masterminds there and you can’t help but laugh even more, Bradley pulls you in and kisses you and everyone’s cheering you.

When you ask who planned all of this Nick smiles brightly and says that it was him, Bradley hugs his son and thanks him, you’re a blushing mess but you’re so happy you don’t care about anything else in the world.

Jake even jokes about taking Nick home to have a sleepover so you two lovebirds can enjoy your first night together alone and Nat covers Nick’s ears.

aaaaaaah i love this so much my dulce angel 🥹 i will be a sucker for this trope forever and it’s sooooo much cuter when someones kid is involved in it! jake jokes about taking nick for the night and bradley plays it off, but then pulls jake aside and is like uhhhhh actually. could you. please.

daddy just wants to get his dick wet 🥴

hehe thank you so much for this my dulce angel! 💌

[tiodolma]

So, as you're watching Camelot, who's the better Merlin? 😗 Physical appearance, character, magic, the way he behaves?

As of writing this, i have only been finished watchcing 5/10 episodes of Starz Camelot (2011). I’m going to just answer with what I know for now.

Will contain some spoilers.

I love Colin Morgan but without a doubt, Joseph Fiennes’s Merlin is the best Merlin adaptation I have seen so far. (tbf i've only seen like 3 arthuriana adaptations or 4 if u include monty python)

Physical appearance: I wish his Starz Merlin wasn’t bald. He looks too modern. But BBC Merlin is still more modern-looking compared to him. Starz Merlin’s baldness could be a dealbreaker to some. I know because I had been skeptical at first. Anyway. This Merlin is OLD. No one knows his true age (im still at ep5). This is key because he’s a lot more famous, respected and feared not only coz of his magic but because he knows and has seen things.

Character: It’s like Starz Merlin popped straight out of Prose Merlin. Starz Merlin has the madness, the mystery, the wisdom, the experience. This one is a proper kingmaker, strategist, and an actual tutor to Arthur. He is still very protective, caring and watchful for him not in a “i am your servant” kind of way but more like in a “you better not fck this one up, kid. I placed all my bets of the future in you so can you pls live up to your birthright and pendragon name ffs.”

Magic: He’s as powerful as BBCMerlin (i think). He does not flaunt his magic because the consequences are too great. He’s a proper sorcerer tbh. He’s witchy and etc. His logic and motives are mad and you better just say yes to what he will say. This Merlin is plagued by visions. He can scry effortlessly and without the use of magical objects like waterbowls or crystals. If u watch the show u can see how he does it. He uses his scrying to his advantage tho (which is frkn great i love it.)

The way he behaves: if BBC Morgana has her trademark smirks then Starz Merlin is kinda the same lol. Starz Merlin is crazed and barely holding it together and yet still getting things done. He masterminds a lot of the organizing, the propaganda, the political maneuvering... just to prove arthur’s legitimacy, claim and worthiness. It’s very close to Merlin from the legends I think.

Power Comes At a Cost

What’s important is that Starz Merlin’s main thing is “power comes at a cost”. This is vital in the characterization and what I had been looking for in the entirety of BBC Merlin. Both Starz Camelot’s Merlin and Morgan get hurt or suffer terribly from using their powers. I think it’s also why Starz Merlin has a lot of other skills. Unlike BBC Merlin who rarely shows any regret when he kills/hurts somebody using his magic or just for the sake of “destiny”, Starz Merlin does feel remorse and is afraid of the fact that he can kill people if they dont give him what he wants. This makes his character a lot more nuanced and compelling.

The Plot and Other Characters

I have to admit though Starz Camelot’s storyline is more solid. The characterization of Arthur, Guinevere, Morgan is also strong and goes on par with Merlin’s. They’re not caricatures imho. Plus they act In the age they are supposed to be in the show. Arthur and Guinevere are the youngest but they slowly grow out of impulsivity and into maturity and assertiveness. Morgan Pendragon shows the result of 15 years stuck in a nunnery while stewing in magic, knowledge, revenge and hatred against Uther and Igraine. It’s not a Monster of the Week kind of thing so there is not a lot of senseless killing involved —make no mistake, there is killing involved but it’s not the main focus....unlike in the BBC Show where the story at its core is to “secretly eliminate every threat to the pendragons” due in part to the Monster of the Week format.

The main focus, as of ep5, for Starz Camelot is Arthur growing to be A King with and without Merlin’s constant guidance and protection. This makes the plot and writing better and more coherent (in this first 5 episodes anyway). Moreover I do not think the good vs evil plotline is rubbed in one’s face. In fact there is no blatant mention of good vs evil (which is a relief gdi, everyone in Starz Camelot have a bit of asshole energy in themselves).

BBC Merlin vs Starz Camelot Merlin

I do understand though that BBC Merlin and Starz Camelot were two different stories. BBC Merlin told the storyof Merlin growing into his power whereas Starz Camelot’s Merlin already has power but just refused to use it. In the BBC show Arthur is 2 years older than Merlin and was already trained as heir-apparent and kingdom administrator. In Starz Camelot, Merlin’s age is uknown while Arthur was basically a teenager who he just plucked out of the countryside right after Uther was assasinated. We can already see the power dynamics and scope of influence just between their ages alone. Moreover In BBC Merlin, the magic ban, the genocide, and kilgharrah/gaius, all influence and dictate a lot of BBC Merlin’s secrecy and life. They’re both very lonely characters but Starz Camelot’s Merlin has more freedom and has more control of his own life because there is no magic ban. As expected, BBC Merlin has a more uphill battle.

They both have their idealogies and act in extreme and atrocious ways to getting there but... I know I’ve said this before but BBC Merlin acts more like an indoctrinated bioweapon secret service agent rather than an actual person. Starz Camelot’s Merlin is a lot more nuanced, more grounded and more complicated. Starz Camelot’s Merlin is not the extremely self-righteous-i-am-holier-than-thou-as-the-Emodiment-of-Love-Light-and-Loyalty-creature we know as BBC Merlin Emrys.

Starz Camelot’s Merlin is A Sorcerer and A Kingmaker, in every sense of the word:

smart, tactful and resourceful

Cautious but still cunning

Knows how to handle and manipulate people

Remorseful,

has seen things,

snakey,

duplicitous,

Has meltdowns when overwhelmed,

still sad and caring in his own way and

...most of all have a certain degree of prickly and dangerous madness (and i think he is aware of it)

This one is more faithful in spirit to the basic arthurian legends compared to BBC Merlin.

Conclusion: BBC Merlin (the character) has his charms, but he can be extremely frustrating to watch because he underperforms constantly. What I am trying to say is that everything I complained about BBC Merlin had been fulfilled/achieved/fixed by Starz Camelot’s Merlin in just 5 episodes.

I do not know what is going to happen yet but as for now I am impressed and quite satisfied.

[spyrkle4]

Since ep 8 of despair time is almost here ima scream about my thoughts on ep 7

read more contains major chapter 2 spoilers, esp for the end of the ep!

Teruko even when she’s being a grumpy cat is a big mood

*sleeps in four hours in* “I’M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!” “Wait I’m in a killing game I don’t have school”

and then nopes out of drama much to the audience’s dismay (these eps being livestreamed makes the meta of Despair Time being a tv show 10x hilarious, it’s like v3 all over again)

Part of me expected Ace to damage his vocal chords or lose his voice due to him neglecting his throat wound, but it must’ve been surface level since he’s still at 110% volume, Eden must’ve dragged him to the infirmary, she’s got willpower, she could do it

and Nico being oddly quiet makes me think that they regret trying to kill Ace and it was a “I am in so much stress I’m going to express it in a very unhealthy way” and that way was attempted murder

Doesn’t make what Nico did okay... but I get why they tried to kill Ace, they have really bad experiences with getting bullied and Ace constantly picking on them in an environment like the killing game is not good for one’s mental health, (plus getting outed w/o their consent DAVID--)

the convo with Rose at the gym makes me think of the vine of “I thought you could do a kickflip--” “I can! I did one this morning!”

Wonder why J was in the gym, hmmmmmmmm

and then Rose realizing Nico stole her art supplies to commit murder--

*shakes Nico* I love you but *points to Rose* you gave her anxiety, apologize asap

I think they’re genuine friends but Nico def made some bad choices and should apologize 

Best part of the ep is no doubt the charwhit shenanigans, everything else is on fire and they are vibing, I also love that Whit is helping Charles learn how to cook and they both are finding things they have in common

Veronika is an interesting character for sure, she reminds me a bit of Junko but if Junko dealt with her despair addiction in a healthy matter (aka horror movies)

I don’t think Veronika is like the mastermind or secretly a serial killer (please god do not let us have another chapter 3 serial killer), she is just a little Unhinged like your everyday tumblr user

and then the BDA happens this ep and *sigh*

...Arei : (

Was really terrified once David noticed she was missing and the way she died... wtf to whomever killed her I have words for you

It really sucks bc (a. the playground of all places?! b. She had a really bad hand in life and C. I wanted to see her be happy!) 

I’ve seen a lot of people debate it being David or Hu or Eden (I doubt it’s Eden since the BDA went off and I think she has some part to play) but I’m not sure, but it def wasn’t an accident like Xander

and it’s def gonna be a long trial since bda files aren’t a thing in this game, which is super cool and it made the first trial really interesting as part of the mystery was the cast assumed Xander died from a throat wound but in reality he died from electrocution 

who knows what’ll happen next ep but I am def scared for the investigation 

[totaleditorial]

TRANSCRIPT:

So, today’s episode, I am focusing on the number one most important thing when it comes to a book, as well as the number one thing that most people ignore. And that is that you need an audience, if you’re going to launch a book.

Take it from somebody who did six books without ever thinking about an audience. One, a novel based on my recovery, one a fictionalized version of a details magazine story I wrote about prostitution, one on reality shows, why not, one on less. There was no consistency, there was no thinking about, I did a book on reality TV without bothering to think, oh, hey, reality TV fans want to watch reality TV and not read books about it. And you know what, people who don’t watch reality to TV probably don’t want to read a book about something they don’t care about.

So, I cannot explain the importance of this, and if you’re familiar with Bernie, my cat, he certainly agrees because he’s crawling all around. He wants you to have readers. I often say without readers, you’ve written a journal. So, the delusion that we all suffer from in previous episode about rose colored glasses, I talked about how we all secretly think we’re going to be the exception, even though we hear, oh the average book sells 300 copies, we kind of just go well, but you know what, you know what? I’ve always kind of thought I was like going to do well, you know what I mean? And you know, she’s very fabulous. And Guido meets with Kamala Harris and sells millions of copies without someone to do it. I could do that, too. No, no.

You know, the very first agent I ever talked to who was a complete douchebag, and really, frankly, quite creepy, said something to me that has always stuck with me, which is... I said, I want to do a book of essays, because Sex in the City was both a very big book and big show at the time. And I said it could be like Sex in the City. And he said, never compare yourself to the exception. Compare yourself to the rule. You can always be pleasantly surprised if you are that lotto ticket that happens to win. But it’s probably not going to happen. So certainly go into it expecting that.

So how on earth do you find readers?

The bad news is that it’s all that stuff that you’re probably not comfortable doing, which is audience building. The good news is that you’re not alone. We all hate it at first...

So, it requires a lot of work at first to get anyone to care. And it’s very easy to compare and despair and say, oh, this person has 10,000 followers and I don’t have any. Well, everybody started with the same amount, which is one. So just start and the fewer people there are, the more you can experiment and take risks and not worry. So this whole concept of the riches are in the niches, is that you want a group of people who will feel like the book that you’ve created is just for them.

When I was writing, Make Your Mess Your Memoir, which is the last book I wrote before the one I’m currently writing, I thought about two people as I wrote. They’re married to each other. And I apologize if you’ve heard me talk about this on the show before, but they are my surrogate parents. Not really, they’re not old enough. And they haven’t totally agreed to this, but I know them from Genius Network, this Mastermind I’m a part of, and they’re just lovely. I’ve just always loved them. And years and years ago, they said, you know we need to, they’ve done a book, but we need to do another book. You know, maybe we’ll hire your company to do it. And I said that would be great. And then nothing happened. And then, you know, we were working with other clients, I forgot about it. But then when I sat down to write Make Your Mess Your Memoir, I thought about them. And I thought about them not once, not twice, but pretty much every page. I said, would that speak to them? Would that speak to Michael and Ros? Would they be offended by that? Would they understand that? And I thought about them on every page.

And when the book came out, you know, I was lucky enough to get on Good Morning America. And lots of people read the book and lots of people hired my company. Now when I say lots of people, I don’t mean hundreds, I mean that we have this very high-ticket expensive offer. So just 10 people hiring us as a result of reading that book, is a year’s worth of business.

Michael and Ros, they didn’t read it. They didn’t even know about it. Maybe two years later, no, I know exactly when it was, it was from the time I’m recording, a year ago, I run into them, at a Genius Network thing. And I say, oh my God, I have the funniest thing to tell you. I wrote a book for you guys. And they just go, what? And I said, I know, it’s crazy, but whenever I write a book, I try to think of one person or two people, and I just thought of you guys on every page. And they said, what is this book? And I said, oh, it’s over in the gifting suite. And they went and got a copy. And guess what, they hired us, we’re now working on their book. That’s really like a cute story and they’re adorable people.

But the point is, it’s so much easier to write for one person or a very small group of people. Because if there’s one of them, there’s many. I’ve also said before, I would rather have 100 people read my book and be completely moved by it, and hire my company than 10,000, who don’t really care. So, if you have 100 people, and they feel like it’s written for them, you know what happens when you feel like something, think of something that was the, you know, creative work that you liked so much, that you kind of felt like it was made just for you. I know, I felt that way about the show Girls, and the show White Lotus, and many books that I’ve read.

If you can write something that’s so specifically for a certain group of people, they will then become your salespeople. They will go out and start doing your work for you by telling everyone else they have to read it.

So, if you’re worried that the niche you’re writing to is too small, the example I like to use is there is a Facebook group that is called, A Group Where We All Pretend to Be Ants in an Ant Colony. And that has, as of this recording over 1.8 million members. So, your group is not too small. And think about your own experiences.

I think a lot of us are scarred a little bit by these English teachers who taught us these very rote ways to write papers. And we learned along the way that like we needed to sound smart. Sounding smart is great, but sounding “smart” can lead you to speaking writing cliches, and right in this very professorial language that doesn’t endear you to anybody, and is usually quite boring.

So, my favorite writers are the ones who have a voice. Lean into your voice and think about your own experiences. My favorite compliment I ever get from anyone who reads one of my books is, if it’s someone I know, I felt like I was hanging out with you for a week, it was like going on vacation with you. And I love that. And keep in mind that controversy. You can’t be too you, you know. Think of Mark Manson, the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, who sold 12 million copies by telling people they shouldn’t give a fuck. So the advantage of being you in front of this audience that you’re building is that you’re finding out what they like. You’re finding out what they respond to.

And by building I’m talking about being on social media, I’m talking about creating a newsletter list and gathering people to it. I’m talking about joining groups, you know, whether that’s on Facebook or Reddit or Discord or frickin Mastodon, which I’ve never been on, don’t even know how to spell, but apparently, it’s a thing. Get out there. And you’ll find that some things people respond to, some things people don’t respond to at all, and some things people go crazy for. When you hit on that, you know, you’re finding your audience. Double down on that.

And I look at it as a creative thing rather than going, oh my God, what do you mean, I have to toast about building authority through a book if I want to establish my authority around it. How about it’s a creative exercise, I’m a creative person, I wouldn’t be writing books if I wasn’t. So why don’t I use some of my creativity in order to build my audience.

Now an example that I give in my book that’s On Good Authority, which you can sign up for a front row seat by going to www.annadbook.com. I talk about my friend Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. Now she’s a New York Times bestselling author of many books that are about entertainment. She worked at Entertainment Weekly. And her first book was about the Mickey Mouse Club. So, she writes this book, and she goes, and she tries to find like Boomer websites on Facebook, and she can’t summon up interest. Then she goes home to Chicago, and her dad takes her to one of his veteran organization meetings. And she finds her audience and they’re like, oh my God, Darlene tell me, I don’t know who any of these people are. I love it when I can say this, but Mickey Mouse Club was before my time. But so, she finally found her readers, and only realized the importance of finding her readers when the book was out.

So, Dave Chesson, previous podcast guest, all around the amazing person. When I had him on this podcast, he talked about how, go to the Amazon search box, type in your topic. The example he told me about is a woman he was helping with her book, and she was selling art. And she was writing a book about that. That was what she knew about. That’s where she was building her authority. So she goes to Amazon, she types in, how to sell art. What pops up is how to sell art online. She’s like that people care about, I didn’t know that. So, she not only adds a whole bunch to her book about how to sell art online, but she creates a lead magnet, about how to set up your accounts on online art sales platforms.

Now, Jay Abraham, who was both on the podcast and is quoted in the book, and is a genius, like the father of marketing, wrote an amazing book called Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got. What he recommends, is go to your competitors’ books, go to the books that are on topics like yours. Look at the five-star reviews. What did they say? Then go to the one-star reviews, the two star reviews. I actually find like a three, a two- or three-star review more useful because a one-star review, like I’m sorry, those are dicks, those are people who need to get out of basements or deal with whatever resentment it is that it’s making them take out their power on an author who’s put their work out there.

But look what people respond to very passionately, whether they’re very happy or unhappy with something. They use language, that as Jay Abraham says, penetrates right past the conscious mind. And you know how I was talking about people feeling like a book was written specifically for them? You’re using their language; they are going to feel that it’s really easy when you know a lot about something and you’re writing a book about it. We let expert blindness literally blind us. We know how something works. So, we assume that the people, the readers know our language, speak about it the same way. We assume they understand something they don’t, because it’s really hard, if not impossible to remember to break it down and remember when you learned something, and when you didn’t know it.

An example from publishing is in traditional publishing, people when they say blurbs, they’re talking about endorsements. A blurb is a recommendation from a luminary about your book. I noticed when I got more invested in the self and indie publishing world, that when people said the word blurb, they actually were using what they were calling book descriptions blurbs. I don’t know how it happened, but it started to happen. So rather than me sticking to what I know is “right,” I’m going to be better off using the language that my audience uses. And it’s really hard to break things down.

I’m always reminded of one of my favorite movies, Reality Bites. If you haven’t seen it, well, if you’re a Gen Xer, you know what I’m talking about, if you’re not a Gen Xer, it’s a frickin amazing movie. And if you ever want to understand the Gen Xer in your life, just go see that movie. But there’s a scene where Winona Ryder gets in the elevator with Anne Meara and she’s just interviewing for an internship, or a job and Anne Meara says define ironic. She’s like, oh, you know, it’s like when something’s ironic, you know. And then of course Ethan Hawke who plays Troy Dyer, this sanctimonious dick, who she’s in love with, he can of course, define it perfectly.

But the point is, it can be really, really hard, if not impossible to describe things that you’re so familiar with, that you don’t need to describe them. So that is what you can learn about from your audience. And from those one- and five-star reviews and from all the audience building that you’re doing.

So that is that. That is all about the importance of readers. I hope you got a lot out of this episode. Find out, you know, like I said, more about this book that this is from, get a front row seat, find out all the tips, tricks and techniques that I am using to launch this book and you can use for your own at www.annadbook.com and I will talk to you next week.

Find more at: https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/podcast

Follow me on IG: @AnnaBDavid

Get my free elevator book pitch template: https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/elevator-pitch

[outerbankies]

listening to mastermind and a question came to mind: was new light!rafe and his dm the mastermind?!?! (Also, did our fave simp freak out when she turned him down and by freak out I mean get really sad)

it’s hard to say exactly 🤨 i think about the dm a lot. i know i started to take creative liberties with my own fic when it comes to filling in their backstory (aka, making things a lot more serious and dramatic between them than i planned when i first started this fic simply because it’s fun) and i’m fully okay with that! but sometimes i just think “really? all of that, and they finally get together because he DMs her on ig…” but two things:

it’s kind of perfect, honestly. like just finally randomly getting the timing right, they’re both ready to jump in head first. a dramatic confession after years of pining and wondering is soooo not their style! their style is very much them both seeing an opportunity present itself and secretly thinking “ok sure, i’m only going to take this as seriously as the other person does and maybe it will just be a fling, who knows we’re not even that close anymore” which turns into “oh no wait i forgot i was in love with them for years?” and

they had to grow apart to fall back together! they both changed so much during the first three years of college (for good!) and those changes helped them because they people they needed to be in order to feel like they could finally make it happen

so to answer you, while they both kept each other on their radar over the years… i do think rafe was the only one who really thought “yeah, one day it could happen with her”

rafe didn’t take it lightly at all - i think we saw that with how actively her pursued her after the initial strike out (also to answer your parenthetical - the rejection stung but i know he still smiled when he read it). he got one chance and he quite literally ran with it and made it count to the best of his ability. but she’s seriously his dream girl and he wanted to be realistic lol. he wasn’t holding out for her but… she’d probably be his no. 1 foreverrr

tldr: yes, rafe was the mastermind 😌

[waifuoftomonori]

Thoughts on Scarlet Fate Characters (Love Interests and Shiki)

Before I get into the nitty-gritty: these opinions are based on incomplete information. No, I have not read all of the characters’ routes or stories, and yes, I am biased by the ones I have read. (I don’t know if anyone else ever grows so deeply attached to one or two characters from an otome that reading any other character’s route becomes painful, because the whole time you’re thinking of how wrong it feels to be with anyone other than the character you really care about, and they must be so hurt and/or lonely in this route, and if you do interact with them the interactions will probably revolve around the designated love interest and not even a simple check-up on your true love’s well-being— or if that’s just a me thing. But yes, that happened to me with Scarlet Fate, so I’ve only read a couple of routes and have no desire to complete any others.)

Furthermore, I apologize if my assessment of certain characters comes off as rude or disrespectful. Sometimes it’s a joke, for what that’s worth. Obviously, you are allowed to disagree, love whoever you love, etc. At this point it would be cool just to meet someone else who’s still as obsessed with at least one of these characters as much as I am. Or, well, even just half as much. If you are a fellow Hiiro no Kakera 4 enjoyer, even in September of 2023 (or later!), please message me and we can gush together. I know I write a lot of sexy stuff, but I’m happy to keep the conversation on strictly PG topics if you’re not comfortable with that.

Sorry that took so long. Onto the opinions. (Warning: some of the details might be a bit NSFW.)

Shiki (a.k.a. Princess Tamayori)

One of the most badass otome heroines I’ve ever encountered, and definitely the edgiest (but in a good way.)

Cool enough to get her own CG. (Technically multiple CGs, if you count the one from the summer festival story where she’s performing the dance.)

Single-handedly made Gentoka’s route enjoyable.

Hard for me to assign a DnD class to. (I’ve spent probably an abnormal amount of time thinking of what class everyone would be.) I can see elements of Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, and Warlock (probably the celestial kind for the healing). Maybe she’s a multiclasser or took some feats or something.

Tomonori

The guy who ruined all other otome love interests for me, for which I am eternally grateful.

Definitely a top.

Fully clothed eye candy.

Halfling (reskinned as short human) mastermind rogue, easy. —Yes, he’s a halfling. You read what happens in Tomonori’s story and tell me he doesn’t display both a notable resistance to intimidation attempts, most of them by a man twice his size, and an uncanny amount of good fortune right when he needs it. Probably a lightfoot because they’re the sneakier ones.

HIs DnD alignment is a more complex question. Where to start? He’s perfectly willing to either destroy or save the world at the request of the woman he loves. He’s willing to kill innocents for her, if necessary, and he encourages people to sacrifice themselves for her (as with the suicide-bombing mages in one of the early prolonged fights against the Void), but all of the people who die for the Princess do it knowingly, of their own free will, and he’s not happy about their deaths. He’s also fully willing to sacrifice himself for this purpose. He’s a government figure and comes up with a lot of plans and schemes, which are usually logical and well-thought-out, but he’s also secretly dedicated himself to freeing Shiki and dismantling the whole system from within. Oh, and he commits outright document theft in Akifusa’s route. I think he’s mostly a good person, but I also can’t overlook that he knowingly bound himself to a Chaotic Evil artifact bent on ending the world and allowed it to possess him for a time. For the purpose of destroying it. …I’m going to be a little controversial and say True Neutral, although I think you could make a convincing argument for several alignments.

Surprisingly kinky. His route alone includes bondage, punishments, controlling people via the Power of Words, emotional sadism, bodily possession (as the one possessed), drinking blood via kiss, and plenty of teasing. …Do I exaggerate his dominant tendencies in my fanfiction? Yes. Is there a solid basis within the game for that interpretation? Definitely. Does the list of kinks grow even longer in the CD Drama? You bet it does. (He would probably also enjoy vanilla sex, though, and it’s hard to imagine him going in for physical sadism with Shiki, for obvious reasons.)

Akifusa

Sunshine-and-puppies cinnamon roll boi. Deserves head pats.

Definitely a bottom.

Barbarian who thinks he’s a paladin (or at least a fighter who adheres strictly to an Oath of Honor) because he doesn’t learn how to fully rage until halfway through his own route. Lawful Good, of course.

Zero sex appeal… until you realize you’re looking at him from the wrong perspective, and he’s a sub with high pain tolerance, incredible stamina, and insane recovery time (canonically from near-death experiences, but it’s never specified that he doesn’t also recover from orgasm at the same rate :P). Oh yeah, and he transforms into his uber-buff ancestor with horns and fangs when he “rages”, so you could play with that aspect of it too.

Gentoka

One of the three characters whose main routes I’ve fully read.

I found him boring. (Read his route if you want to see Shiki kick ass, though.)

The most interesting thing about him is Aterui.

Probably a wildfire druid. Alignment: Chaotic Good? He really likes fire and ignores societal rules, but meeting (and instantly falling in love with) Shiki somehow made him reconsider most of his life’s choices and decide that some humans are okay after all.

Furutsugu

Pox-ridden whore who committed two unforgivable acts at the end of Gentoka’s route: 1. killing the cinnamon roll and 2. indirectly killing the best boi as a result. (True, you’re left to read between the lines for why Tomo suddenly “disappeared” after his best friend got murdered protecting Shiki from this bourgeoisie bastard, and the woman he’s loved for years gets hitched with some random fox guy she met in the woods a couple months ago… but personally, I think it’s pretty obvious. He doesn’t feel loved or needed, it’s probably torturing him to see Shiki with Gentoka but he knows she’s happy now and doesn’t want to make a scene, and Akifusa’s no longer there to talk him out of it and bolster his spirits with unflagging optimism. So yeah, fuck Furutsugu. Not in the way he’d want.)

I kinda love to hate him, though. He’s great inspiration for fanfic plots, largely because he still hits on Shiki after she’s married, and hating / mistrusting him is one of the few things Tomo and Aki agree on without question.

One of the high-rizz spellcasters. Not Warlock— Sorcerer or Bard? The source of his magic’s probably closer to Sorcerer (I think; I’ve never played his route), but he acts more like a stereotypical Bard. He’s flirty and plays the flute. Would gladly seduce a dragon if given the opportunity. Alignment: I’ll tentatively guess Chaotic Neutral. (Tempted to knock him down to Evil out of spite, but I’ll resist the urge.)

Kuso

Darling of the Internet. Everyone online who’s played Scarlet Fate, other than me, seems to have something nice to say about him.

I’ve heard his route is good, for people who haven’t fallen so desperately in love with Tomonori that the mere thought of “romancing” someone else breaks their hearts. Go play it and tell me if Tomo has any cute / snarky / sweet / sexy / romantic / just Tomo moments in it.

Probably some kind of -dere? He gives -dere vibes. I think there’s one that acts like a snob on the outside but secretly has a soft center. Yes. That is probably what he is.

From the scant knowledge I have of him, he uses magic to gain information a lot and is the only one who actually studies it. Divination Wizard. Alignment: Lawful Neutral, maybe? In Chapter 3 of Tomo’s route, he suggests they just let the tsuchigumo die and focus on the demon until Tomo points out that means they won’t be fighting the demon with full firepower. His objection to Tomo’s sly suggestion to “eliminate” the tsuchigumo is solely logical: that’s causing the exact thing Tomo claimed his plan would avoid. He gives off strong “rational scientist” vibes (layered on top of the -dere vibes).

Kodonomae

Shirtless eye candy.

Seems like a chill dude.

Eldritch Knight Fighter, maybe. Mostly uses a giant anime sword but can use some kind of water magic effectively. Alignment: no clue, but not Evil and probably not Lawful.

Aterui

Not over Gentoka. (Seriously, why is this guy even a romance option for Shiki? I got eight or nine chapters into his story, and although she was clearly crushing on him by that point, he still seemed much more interested in his old flame, pun intended.)

To clarify, I have nothing against gay people, or gay characters in otome. I just think it’s misleading for a romance game to make a route for a character who has no romantic or sexual interest in the player character— especially when he seems much more interested in someone else throughout the whole thing.

Honestly, just let me romance Aterui as Gentoka. That would be cool, and it would solve the issue of his lack of interest in Shiki. (Also, in a hypothetical world where they did release that route, they’d probably also have a route for Aki x Tomo, considering Tomo’s Winter Snowflakes story was released at the same time as Aterui’s. And considering Tomo’s idea of a joke when the two of them are “friends” is to tie Akifusa up with rope and calmly say he’s going to leave Aki outside to die, you know that route would be kinky as fuck.)

Either Neutral or Chaotic Evil in most routes. The guy’s a serial killer murdering nobles for revenge against an atrocity none of them have personally committed by this point. In his own route, from what I remember, his killing did have more of an immediate justification, so maybe he gets bumped up to Neutral there.

I don’t know what class he is. Does it matter? Barbarian or Fighter. He’s pretty angry, but I can’t tell if that’s just his default state of being or if he gets even angrier in a fight.

Maybe also into BDSM / a dom, but if he is, it’s exclusively physical sadism. Just sheer brutal violence. Then again, I’m basing that on the time he tried to choke Shiki to death, and I don’t know if he actually enjoyed that or if he was just losing his temper. Tomo clearly gets a kick out of tying people up, ordering them around, and “punishing” them in a few notable cases; Aterui just really likes committing violence and killing people.

…Please don’t hate me for saying any of that.

[kurt-wagner-official]

Post #45: NM issues 15-17

New Mutants 15 opens with Illyana secretly casting an astral projection spell to go check on Kitty, who was supposed to call when she landed. Instead, she finds her friend kidnapped by the White Queen, who pulled herself out of her Mastermind-induced coma and is back to trying to control mutants. She taunts Kitty with the knowledge that both she and Doug have feelings for each other that they’re denying. She currently has Doug imprisoned under an illusion that he’s dancing with Kitty, and she plans to blackmail Kitty by threatening her parents. Somehow, Kitty is able to see Illyana’s astral form, and through her telepathy, so can the White Queen, who blasts her with psychic energy. Back at the mansion, the attack causes Illyana to lose control of the spell and unleash spectral demons through the mansion. Dani conjures their worst fear- Illyana in her demonic form, and they flee, allowing Illyana to regain control. She comes clean about her power, which as she expected scares the others, but they put that aside as they all agree they need to save Kitty. Because the Avenger and Fantastic Four have all disappeared, and they don’t have a car or know how to fly a plane, they take the bus, and we get some nice character moments on the ride. Dani and Sam are taking charge and trying to strategize, but they know very little about their enemies. On his way back to his seat, Sam stops to talk to Rahne, who’s terrified that Illyana is the spawn of Satan, just like her. Sam was also raised Christian, and he basically tells her that’s bullshit. Rahne’s minister is a flawed human, and it’s not his place to condemn people in the name of God. Sam says God works in mysterious ways, and to assign labels based on what humans think is His will is pointless. The only thing to do is try to do your best with what you’ve got. Sam then opens up about how much he misses his family. He promises to bring Rahne next time he goes hoke to visit. It’s a very sweet moment, but also tragic, because he sees her as a little sister and she has feelings for him. They finally arrive and break into the compound, but are confronted by the White Queen.

Amara causes an earthquake that gives Illyana a chance to teleport them all into a closet. They capture a couple guards, and Dani makes them talk by torturing them with their worst fears. She has to take a moment to compose herself, hating how she uses her powers for pain. Surprisingly, Illyana is the one to comfort her. In her inner dialogue, Illyana thinks she’s a monster, but really she’s very empathetic and loving. The team splits up to find Kitty and Doug, but they’re attacked by the Hellions, Emma Frost’s own team of young mutants. Thunderbird, who seems to have the same powers as the original, and Roulette, who manipulates probability, take out Berto and Rahne, while Catseye, who's like Rahne but a big purple cat, and Tarot, who brings tarot cards to life, attack Illyana and Dani. Sam and Amara are attacked by Empath, who manipulates emotions, and Jetstream, a flier and a cyborg. They defeat them but are taken prisoner by the White Queen’s illusions. She tries to do the same to Dani, but Illyana is immune to telepathy, and transports the two of them away.

In issue 17, we get to know the Hellions a little better, starting with Jetstream, who attacks Empath. In the last issue, Empath had Magma shooting lava that accidentally hit his teammate, and if Sam hadn't saved his enemy Jetstream would be dead. Empath takes control of his emotions until Emma comes in to break up the fight and begin a performance review of the battles. Emma and the Hellions are a twisted reflection of Xavier and the New Mutants. She teaches them, and does actually care about them, but her motives are selfish at their core. Meanwhile, the New Mutants are imprisoned with Kitty, who's still being a jerk to them. In Limbo, Dani and Illyana awaken, and Illyana realizes that her teleportation must always go through Limbo on its way to its destination. Illyana casts a healing spell, and the spell circle is silver, signifying good magic, but in the shape of a pentagram, not a star, a symbol of evil. She then teleports them back, and learns something else- she can time travel. They're in the future, where the New Mutants have been brainwashed and joined the Hellions. Before they're caught, Illyana brings them back to a week after they left, the closest she can. Emma is away, but they're caught by the Hellions, who have a plan under her nose. They all chose to join, and don't want to force the others to, so they decide to give them a chance- a one-on-one duel for the New Mutants to either win their freedom or be forced to stay. The team looks to Dani for a decision, and she accepts. The fight is Sam vs Jetstream in the Hellions' version of the Danger Room, and though Sam wins, it's interrupted by the arrival of Shaw and Emma. They have no trouble beating up the New Mutants, but Kitty sneaks off the turn on the Danger Room, creating a diversion. Berto is hurt by the machines going haywire, but Catseye helps save him. The heroes ask her to come with them, but she refuses, and Illyana teleports everyone away. Back at the mansion, they nurse their wounds, their confidence shattered. Dani has another problem- a vision of the bear that killed her parents, telling her she's next.

The Hellions are a fantastic addition to this book, both as thematic parallels for the main cast and as recurring antagonists that pose an appropriate and believable threat. Some of them are obvious direct mirrors of the New Mutants, like Catseye and Rahne. Rahne has been questioning whether she deserves to live as a human and feeling more and more drawn to her wolf form. Catseye stays in her cat form almost all the time because she believes it to be her natural form. Jetstream has very similar powers to Sam, and as we saw in their duel, a similar but less moral code of honor. Sam has been struggling with his lack of progress in controlling his powers, and Jetstream's robotic parts give him huge control over his. But those enhancements also represent Jetstream giving up his identity, and Sam needs to hold on to that, because that's what will shape him into a great leader. Some of the parallels are less obvious, like Empath, who can be interpreted as a version of Dani without the self esteem problems or love for other people. If I have one complaint about this arc, it's that there was no moment of Kitty being humbled and grateful for the New Mutants. She'll get there eventually, but it would have been nice to see just a little bit of teamwork or an apology. Other than that one nitpick, a really solid arc. It moved the plot forward and introduced a lot of new characters to the cast, as well as establishing Illyana's weird and strained relationship with her new teammates.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Relentless - chapter 14 - ao3

Unfortunately, despite both men agreeing to focus on the subject at hand, that was as far as they were able to get.

They knew that the perpetrator had to be someone who knew of Wen Ruohan’s past so as to be able to target him so particularly, but there were no obvious suspects, despite Lao Nie’s increasingly absurd suggestions –

(“Her lover?” Wen Ruohan asked blankly. “The one I briefly banished her over? I have not the slightest idea what happened to him. I don’t even remember his name or what it was he did that was so obnoxious, much less how he turned out.”

“Oh, that’s even better! That means he could be hiding away somewhere, secretly plotting, raising children sworn to vengeance –“

“Lao Nie,” Lan Qiren hissed. “This is Wen Ruohan’s life, not a storyteller’s tale. Stop looking for twists!”

“But it’s fun!”

“He’s already paranoid enough! He doesn’t need you to help!”

“But Qiren, I so pride myself on being helpful – hey! Don’t throw books at me! What if that one was something Hanhan needed? Wouldn’t you feel bad?”

“Qiren, I really don’t know why you were objecting so strenuously to being spoken about as if you weren’t there,” Wen Ruohan drawled. “This is hilarious.���)

Moreover, as Wen Ruohan himself admitted, even with the taboo he had imposed, it wouldn’t be too difficult for someone else to figure out the details if they wished: there were plenty both within and without the Wen sect who were old enough to remember what happened, and yet more who might have heard stories from their elders. Based on the style of the attacks and the location thereof, whoever was masterminding it had to either be in the Wen sect or else have allies within the Wen sect – but who could it be?

The Nightless City was too large, the Wen sect too avid a recruiter, to be able to separate out the good from the bad with great ease. Servants and disciples had free range over much of the Sun Palace. Even if they restricted the places where Lan Qiren and his students would be, that would only serve as a defensive measure; it would not draw out their enemy.

Moreover, acting too obviously might let on that they knew what was really going on, that it wasn’t a series of random events but a targeted campaign meant to drive Wen Ruohan to the end of his tolerance and beyond. That was another complication, in fact – despite devoting serious time to it, they had trouble figuring out why someone would want to do something like that.

“I would probably stop being so subtle about my attempts to take over the world,” Wen Ruohan mused, ignoring the way both Lao Nie and Lan Qiren squawked like enraged geese and shouted “Subtle? You think you’re being subtle?!” at him. “I would go back to the way of clarity and cut off all my emotions, too. They’re clearly far more trouble than they’re worth.”

“If you enter the way of clarity, I will never touch you in a sexual manner no matter how you ask,” Lan Qiren said.

Lao Nie pointed at him. “What he said.”

“If I entered the way of clarity I wouldn’t care,” Wen Ruohan pointed out, but held up his hands in surrender in the face of their glares. “However, as I haven’t, I care a great deal. My point was simply that I don’t understand what the benefit of pushing me into insanity would be to anyone else. If their goal was for me to suffer, it wouldn’t work for very long. I’d simply become utterly intolerable instead.”

“Maybe that’s the point,” Lao Nie remarked. “They think there’s not enough tyrannical jackasses out there in the world, and they’re trying to change that.”

“Your contribution is, as always, a welcome ray of sunshine that adds clarity to the discussion.”

“As long as it’s not too much clarity…”

Completely useless.

Far more relevant to Lan Qiren, however, was what happened next, when Lao Nie finally stopped sniggering, sobered up, and said, “All right, so how are we handling Qiren’s situation?”

“What situation is that?” Wen Ruohan asked, his own smile fading away at once. “He’s doing quite well here. Better than he was before, even.”

“That he was suffering at home does not retroactively make kidnapping him for completely different reasons all right and you know it,” Lao Nie said. “And don’t pretend you were thinking of Qiren’s well-being when you did it originally. You’re as self-absorbed and arrogant as you are talented, Hanhan; you didn’t even like him before.”

“I’m capable of changing my mind when presented with new evidence,” Wen Ruohan said loftily. “And new evidence indicates that he’s marvelous and also that I want him desperately. Anyway, my initial motivation is irrelevant; look at the effects. Do you even know what they were doing to him back there? I locked him in a windowless room for six days and he looked healthier.”

“Can we go back to the fact that you locked him in a windowless room for six days?”

“He was threatening suicide, what was I supposed to do?”

“What do you mean he was –”

Lao Nie was starting to get angry again. Lan Qiren put his hand over his eyes.

“Desist immediately, both of you,” he said. “You can fight about it later. Lao Nie, you asked about my situation – at the moment, I am staying voluntarily on account of the political circumstances, which are currently structured in such a way that my reappearance would be awkward for everyone. Something that is largely your fault. What were you thinking?”

“It would only be awkward if you were willingly hiding yourself away,” Lao Nie said, skirting around the pointed question with ease. “Everyone and their brother knows that I received some information that caused me to lose my temper and fly over to the Nightless City. If you were to reappear now, in the context of a rescue, the sects that flocked to my banner – and to your sect’s – would be reassured that a war between the Nie and the Lan was not imminently on the horizon, without feeling as if they had been deliberately deceived. They’ve already gone ahead and declared themselves, there’s no point in playing coy and withdrawing now, and this way they will have less concern about the state of affairs in the future as well –”

“Leaving me and my sect to play the villain, I suppose?”

“Hanhan, you kidnapped the man, you are the villain here. Anyway, Qiren, my point is – the political situation will be fine. You can go home.”

You can go home.

Lan Qiren could go home.

Lan Qiren could –

He could face up to the fact that it wasn’t a matter of could any longer. It was a matter of have to.

There had been a certain sort of freedom in knowing that he couldn’t return, whether because he’d been kidnapped or because politics demanded discretion, but now that the option to return was once again available, Lan Qiren was going to have to stop avoiding the subject and actually think about what had happened back in his sect, with everything, with him. He would have to think about how his sect had treated him, or rather mistreated him; he would have to think about what this said about him, and them, and how he would have to deal with it in the future.

It wasn’t actually all that difficult to figure out what happened, shamefully. It had only ever been that Lan Qiren had been constantly working too hard and sleeping too little to take the time he had needed to actually consider it…though that, of course, had always been the point. This was no act of active malice, the way the present scheme obviously was against Wen Ruohan.

No, it had been something far lesser than that – pettiness, not malice; indifference, not hate.

His sect elders knew Lan Qiren’s worth, but they also knew him to be stringent and rigid, unyielding in a way his brother was not. His brother, and his father before him, had been open with their willingness to play favorites among their followers and peers, to favor some and disfavor others, applying a different understanding of the rules to those they liked and to those they didn’t. Even if his father and brother had done so within reasonable bounds, the model they had created for others to follow was a poor one – and so others, with less judgment, followed their example to flawed ends. Some even went so far as to misapply the rules themselves, inflicting abuse that Lan Qiren stamped out the moment he became aware of it, while others just continued in their own little bad habits, pampering their own regardless of merit and ignoring the rest.

(The rules said Do not form a clique and exclude others, and Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others. But once you started to pick and choose your friends, you might also pick and choose the rules you cared to follow – Lan Qiren was hardly perfect himself, breaching the rule against losing his temper multiple times, but at least he tried, genuinely and without avoidance, to follow the right path.)

If his brother had become sect leader they had all expected him to be, perhaps he would have straightened them out in his own way. Lan Qiren thought it was likely, even – his brother might be inclined to play favorites himself, but he was very conscious of his own reputation and that of his sect, which reflected on him. He was far too clever not to know that a self-indulgent and corrupt sect would be blamed upon his leadership, and he was vain enough not to be willing to tolerate it. He would have been willing to ignore his own hypocrisy and complicity in the situation he created and take firm steps to remedy the problem, provided at all times that his own sense of self was maintained.

(Lan Qiren thought sometimes that he saw hints of the same all-encompassing vanity in Lan Xichen, who was so proud of being the peacemaker regardless of situation, and in Lan Wangji, who never backed down even when he knew he was wrong, and even in himself, with his pride in his teaching and in his adherence to the rules, in his partiality towards his nephews no matter how justified it was, but simply knowing about a flaw didn’t mean he knew how to deal with it. He could only try his best to adhere ever more firmly to the rules, hoping through his strictness to impart some wisdom to his nephews.)

At any rate, when his brother had entered seclusion and leadership of the sect had fallen unexpectedly upon Lan Qiren, who was so infamously strict, there were many who disapproved, and even more who worried about what it might mean for them. So to distract him they purposefully made trouble for him, complained and blustered, and he worked himself to the bone trying to handle it all, carving out pieces of himself to meet the requirements of the role that he did not want and which did not suit him – and through that, they had figured out that it worked. They had realized that as long as Lan Qiren was too busy with sect matters, he would not have time to turn his attention towards rooting out their misconduct, focusing only on the issues that were so severe that they rose to his attention. They realized that so long as he was sunk in deep in the dust of the world, the muck and mud of the mundane, dealing with the trifles of the everyday, he would not have time to look – and without looking, he would not see them.

That was why they objected to him taking the time to raise his nephews or to focus on his teaching or his music, which would refresh and reinvigorate him and let him remember the bigger picture; that was why they declined to allow him to go into seclusion, to go out on more night-hunts than politics demanded; that was why, even though there must be others who could help him, he remained alone and unaided.

Lan Qiren almost wished it had been malicious.

He had always known that many of his sect elders did not care for him. But that they would so totally disregard his wellbeing simply to be allowed to continue their petty little privileges…

He had taken the time, these past months, to think it over, considering the long-term the way they had always feared he would, and he had identified many problems. Fighting the entrenched interests and set standards of his sect would be difficult, it would take a long time and a great deal of effort. It would require the use of all the political capital he had accumulated both within and without his sect. Returning with a new alliance with the Wen sect in hand would help, but it wouldn’t actually solve it.

It was going to be a struggle. A long, precarious, exhausting struggle, with only a slim hope of success.

Lan Qiren felt tired just thinking about all that lay ahead of him.

The worst of it was – he didn’t have to do it.

He had, unwise as it might be, chosen to bestow his affections upon the supremely selfish Wen Ruohan, and Wen Ruohan, in turn, was unaccountably fond of him. Putting aside his comments regarding sexual gratification, he genuinely seemed to like Lan Qiren, to find him funny and to enjoy his company. More than that, he was obvious enough about that liking for other people to notice and decide to target Lan Qiren in an effort to hurt him and drive him mad. This mysterious mastermind thought that an injury to Lan Qiren, or a betrayal by him, would have caused serious harm, and Wen Ruohan had agreed with that conclusion, with Lao Nie, who probably knew his lover best in the world, having concurred after only a few shichen of seeing them together.

Wen Ruohan liked Lan Qiren, even maybe loved him, and if Lan Qiren said that he didn’t want to go back to his sect and deal with all the headaches that awaited him, Wen Ruohan would be the first to say he didn’t have to. He would be delighted by it, even. Who cares about the rest of the world? He would say with a smile that actually reached his eyes. Let us be here, together, and the rest can all burn for all we care. Let he who dares to complain come knock on my door to do it!

In the safety of the Nightless City, Lan Qiren could be safe and comfortable – he could devote himself to teaching and to music, to the Wen boys who were making such excellent progress and to his wonderful nephews who had adapted so well to the labyrinthine hallways of the Sun Palace in place of the gardens of the Cloud Recesses. Wen Ruohan would even encourage his efforts in teaching the children of other sects, and Lan Qiren’s greatest struggle would be in convincing him not to go overboard and do something absurd like sending out orders to all the sects throughout the cultivation world to deliver up their heirs to learn from him whether they would or no. He would not need to fight the fights left over from the previous generation of his ancestors, and which had sprung up from his brother’s folly. He would not need to do all the work for which he was temperamentally unsuited, to waste his life on the trifles of others.

He could, if he so wished and for the first time in his life, be selfish.

But…

Maintain your own discipline.

Lan Qiren loved his sect with all the steadfastness of a Lan. He loved the beauty and tranquility of the Cloud Recesses, that home they had made for themselves; he loved the multitude of their stern rules, inscribed for eternity on the Wall of Discipline. Those rules were his ancestor’s gift to him, and through him to the next generation; he had always seen them as such, treasuring them in his heart more highly than jade and pearls.

The sect, the rules, the Cloud Recesses –

All this and more were not only for him, but for his nephews. Gusu Lan was their inheritance, and they deserved to receive it in its purest form, in the best possible form that he could get it to be before they grew old enough to want to manage it for themselves. If he were to turn away now and abandon it all simply because the burden was heavy, then how could he bring himself to face his nephews in the future? How would he have the face to go to meet his ancestors when he died?

No. His ancestors had given their sect the rules, and Lan Qiren knew those rules inside and out. His reputation was upright and pristine, even-handed and scrupulously fair, even to the point of rigidity – he would spend every bit of renown that he had won through his hard work over the years if that was what it took to get people to listen to him. He would impose discipline, inflict punishment, no matter how painful to others or even to himself, and in the end he would wash the Cloud Recesses clean. He would make it an inheritance worthy of his beloved nephews.

It would be hard, yes, but it would be worth it in the end. Everything was worth it, if it was for them.

Have a strong will, and anything can be achieved.

So be it.

“– see no reason why he can’t stay here,” Wen Ruohan was arguing to Lao Nie, who looked long-suffering. “Do you know how well my boys are doing? Ever since A-Chao learned the new writing style, he’s actually been learning, rather than just getting better at cheating.”

“I know he’s a good teacher. Everyone knows he’s a good teacher! That’s not the point, Hanhan. You can’t just take someone against their will and hope against hope that they’ll learn to like it –”

“He learned to like me, didn’t he?”

“You only keep dwelling on that because you can’t bring yourself to believe it. No, don’t lie, I know you too well. You never know what to do when someone who likes you for reasons that aren’t power, and you never have. Especially when it’s someone like Qiren.”

“…it is a little surprising, yes. But that’s not the point. He could be happy here –”

“No,” Lan Qiren said, and they both turned to look at him. “I couldn’t.”

Wen Ruohan scowled. “You can’t possibly prefer the company of those old farts over me.”

“Of course I vastly prefer yours,” Lan Qiren said, and the scowl faded slightly. “But those ‘old farts’ are my kin, and Gusu Lan my inheritance, my birthright, and my duty all together. If I were the sort of person who would abandon it all for the sake of the security, comfort, and even love that I could find in your embrace, I wouldn’t who I am, and you wouldn’t care nearly as much about my regard.”

Wen Ruohan opened his mouth to disagree, but he moved his lips and nothing came out. There really wasn’t anything he could say.

Lan Qiren nodded, appeased – if Wen Ruohan had protested, it would have meant that he didn’t respect those parts of Lan Qiren that he himself valued most. “I have never known how to bend,” he told them. “It is both my worst fault and my highest virtue, both in one. My heart is with my sect, with my family, and, yes, with you, but – the sect comes first. My nephews come first. You understand that. Both of you understand that. Even if it’s hard, even if it takes time and effort and robs me of my freedom…it doesn’t matter. Without Gusu Lan, without the Cloud Recesses, there is no me.”

“There is no you if they grind you into the mud either,” Wen Ruohan objected, voice heated, and Lao Nie nodded furiously. “You were like a lantern that had burnt down to its wick, spluttering before it went out – you cannot say that that is who you are, because it isn’t. You are so much more than that. You shine so bright, Qiren; you cannot let your sect occlude you until the world is deprived of your light.”

“I have no intention of letting them,” Lan Qiren said, feeling a faint smile appear on his face. “I thank you for your concern, truly, and this interlude – however foully it began, and know that it did begin foully, that I have not fully forgiven you for it, and that I expect a sincere and fulsome apology for your overreach – this interlude has been of great value to me. I know what I’m dealing with, now, and deal with it I shall.”

“I really like how he sounds when he’s determined,” Lao Nie remarked. “That willpower. Terrifying. In all the best ways, of course.”

“It is truly something to behold,” Wen Ruohan said. He was still frowning, but less. Lan Qiren thought he could see some resignation in his eyes. “Are you sure, Qiren?”

“Quite sure. Will you let me go?”

“You have no idea how much I would like to forget myself and answer ‘no’, but I know it would only be robbing my future to pay for my present.” Wen Ruohan sighed. “Fine, yes, you can go. Lao Nie’s not wrong, it’s not a bad time for it…what about my boys?”

“You can send them to me to teach at Gusu,” Lan Qiren said. “Well, Wen Xu, at least. It’s not too long before my usual summer classes start, and I can continue tutoring him individually until then, if he needs it. Wen Chao needs a few more years, but he’s still building his foundation. Now that you’ve taken steps to help him deal with the imbalance, he doesn’t need special schooling, just a repeat of everything he should have learned until now. After that he can be back on the usual track for boys his age.”

Wen Ruohan was silent, frowning, as if that weren’t the answer he wanted.

After a little while, Lao Nie snorted. “Qiren,” he said. “When he said ‘what about my boys’, he actually meant ‘what about me’.”

“Well, why didn’t he just say that, then?” Lan Qiren sighed. “You can come visit me in Gusu as well, and I’ll come to visit you. You managed a relationship with Lao Nie for how many years, did you not? You know how it goes.”

“That was different,” Wen Ruohan said, and if Lan Qiren hadn’t known better he would have said the man was sulking. “Lao Nie said it himself, didn’t he? He doesn’t belong to me and never could, not really. But you…you’re a Lan. You love like madness.”

“And don’t I know it. How do you think I figured out that I like you?” Lan Qiren grumbled. “Love to the point of invention – I wrote you a song. I don’t even know what it does yet. It’s just…pointy. It’s probably some sort of horrible curse.”

Wen Ruohan looked absurdly pleased.

“As for the rest of it, we can figure it out. Neither of us are going to die any time soon.” Lan Qiren shrugged. “Well, assuming you fix this mastermind problem, anyway.”

Wen Ruohan lit up, and Lao Nie groaned.

“Great job, Qiren,” he mock-grumbled. “Now he thinks that all he needs to do is find this bastard and he’ll get you – well done, what a way to motivate him.”

“…don’t we want to motivate him to find the mastermind?”

Lao Nie patted Lan Qiren’s shoulder. “There’s motivation,” he said wisely. “And then there’s motivation. You’re about to learn the difference.”

[bratz-kitten]

Eva, since you have BIG DICK ENERGY, have you thought about possibly making a post about aspects and romantic partners you would be attracted to because of them. (i hope I explained it well enough) just a thought! take care

as in, who i feel attracted to because of my bde, or placements who i feel have bde? both options lead to the same answer, so. alright, buckle up

PLACEMENTS I’M DRAWN TO DUE TO THEIR BIG DICK ENERGY

leo suns: i don’t run but if the person is extremely cocky and annoying i might just jog a little.... olympics edition. i really like people with an unshakeable sense of self-worth and if a leo sun is anything is someone who WILL fight for that confidence. they’re so fun to be around even if most of them end up hating me due to severe personality clash. everything is all or nothing with them, it can’t just Be. they always have to blabber about their music taste and style and favorite art pieces and opinions and i am a hole for strong personalities

planets in the 4th house, especially sun and jupiter: strong protective instincts, everywhere they go they look to build (and lead) their pack. the most imaginative and philosophical people ever (sucking my own cock here, forgive me). attribute meaning to things that are already so meaningful within themselves. always seeking to experience the highest emotional experience, sometimes to their detriment by getting involved in chaotic situations. can make anywhere feel like home. secret crybabies. also make the most emotional gifts ever??? they can’t just buy you a gift they have to write a 10 page long letter to come along with it. lovers of books cats and cuddles

pisces moons: i am not gonna repeat for the 1000th time how much i love this placement, they are THE moon sign, they make me feel so emotionally vulnerable and that’s uncomfortable but so so hot. their brains...... oh my god their brains. it’s a whole 3 universes up in that bitch; their imagination.... they have the minds of a mastermind. they���re always excited about a book or game or anime and when they tell me about it i want to cry about how precious it is. they get me excited about things that i had no knowledge about previous to them talking to me about it

scorpio moons: dark tortured artists. slightly off-putting..... beautiful nonetheless. very dependable. i will barely know them but if they tell me it’s gonna be okay then it’s GONNA be okay. eye contact with them feels like snorting a line of cocaine (seriously i have never met people so into eye contact.... i went on a date with a scorpio moon once and at one point i had no idea what we were talking about i could only focus on the way his eyes were like. trying to look into my soul. dude it was scary but exhilarating)

mars in scorpio: they just... get it. so emotional. make a big fuss out of everything. sex has to be an insane soul-bonding spiritual experience for them. it cant ever be just sex. they cry a lot. feel a lot. big dick energy is emotional depth for me

libra risings: i can fix them

gemini mars: i can’t fix them. i will make them worse. and i’m down for it

mars-venus: these people are so fun slightly insane but they Get me. the type to joke about setting my house on fire if i don’t answer them for 5 minutes. the type to joke about getting married to me even if we’re just platonic and suddenly we’re getting the rings and a priest’s blessing and laughing our way through it. bad ideas and terrible thought-out plans but it always makes for great stories

mars-pluto: especially square. they’re very over-protective and even in friendships im drawn towards ppl like that because i know i can be very overbearing as well and the way they go batshit crazy when someone mildly offends you.... disrespectfully, i am a hole. also, they... have terrible ideas. i like tagging along under the pretense of wanting to make sure they don’t get arrested, but secretly i love it

mars aspecting the ascendant/sun/moon: look, i don’t have a hero complex. if anything, i have a lucifer complex (i’m here to sin and be sexy)....... but i am a sucker for people with hero complexes. they see the world as a fight they have to win, i want to be there when they do

no virgo in their birth chart: feels like heaven to me. okay let me reiterate: i love having friendships with virgo placements; most times, at least, but i don’t think it could ever escalate into anything more. they’re too controlling and i feel paranoid and suffocated about people trying to overpower me way too easily. i just... immediately run away as soon as they pull their controlling antics on me

uranus dominants: AHHHH!!! AWOOGA! okay at this point this is a post about how i want to marry myself, but truly. no one is more unpredictable than these people. as soon as you think you’re understanding them they pull a 360 on you and you’re back on square zero. layers upon layers.... upon layers.... upon layers? what is this, shrek? sexy and insane the bestest combination ever

saturn in the 1st/8th/12th house: i will follow them to the depths of the underworld if they ask me to

cancer suns: yes i do want to sleep with the enemy. no i will not elaborate.