#i would consider it a moral failing if my characters liked anything else

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

CH2-13 Thoughts + CH2-14 Predictions

Hello DRDT Fandom! CH2-13 came out about four or so days ago as I'm posting this, and I finally mustered up the energy and mental strength to write down my overall thoughts, and also general predictions for what I think is to come in the next episode. A lot happened in this episode and we have a lot to cover, so let's get started! Before we do though, I think I should give us a reminder of where we currently are in terms of the swear chart and the bingo card, as of CH2-12 Swear Statistics

Bingo Card

Just like the last post, I'll be separating my talking points into character categories, so let's jump straight in with the big man himself...

Levi

Quick Disclaimer: I myself am still trying to unlearn the mindset that having low or no empathy is in any way a moral failing. If I say anything wrong or rude, please politely correct me. Remember kids: Your feelings, thoughts, and emotions, what you feel and how you feel them if you do at all, do not have any moral weight, they are simply aspects of your brain and you cannot control your brain. The only thing that has moral weight is your actions.

So as we learned in the previous episode, Levi has the murderer secret! And as we learn in this episode, he apparently killed four people, one of which being his father. DRDT continues to take Danganronpa's standard tropes and incorporating them in unique ways, in this case Levi represents the trope of the Chapter 2 Serial Killer reveal (Genocide Jack, Peko, Maki). I love that DRDT keeps doing this and I hope it keeps it up You know what else is staying consistent, though?

(x) Levi: That incident happened when I was in my junior year of high school. Levi: My junior year was also the year that Hope's Peak scouted me as the Ultimate Personal Stylist. Levi: To my understanding, it would've reflected poorly on Hope's Peak to recruit a murderer, so they pressured the court into not pressing charges.

US-HPA being morally corrupt as all fuck, that's what! Like no, seriously, it makes more and more sense as for why Xander David and Mai were most likely forming a revolution against this damn place, cause wow. The choice to scout out Levi during his Junior Year, when he was still in high school, is...interesting. Given that this Hope's Peak takes in College-aged students, why not just wait until Levi has graduated high school? In fact, that probably would've been even better because by then Levi definitely would've perfected his skills in styling by then, and thus would further justify him being enrolled in the academy. We don't know whether or not Levi was scouted before or after his incident, but given how Levi explains the events, I'm willing to bet this was after. Which...makes thing especially strange. But I'm sure it's no big deal. I mean, it's not like we have any evidence of US-HPA preying on vulnerable childre--

(x) Min: The Ultimate Contest for Eminent Students was made for a very specific target audience. Min: Those children who had no talents, who would consider spending their entire lives preparing for one single test for even a chance to become an Ultimate...

Oh. Well isn't that funny, huh?

Part of Hope's Peak's branding in general is the promise of a better future, which is something that Levi clearly wants. So I can most definitely see why the idea of being enrolled in the academy appealed to him. Levi being a delinquent in his teenage years definitely tracks, given how we know that his family was full of bad influences (including himself more than likely). And I am absolutely not surprised that Levi ended up killing his father. I think a lot of us theorized for a while that the person he killed was linked to his family.

I'd absolutely adore to learn more about Levi's family situation and what exactly their relationship with each other was, because "We were bad influences on each other" can mean a lot of things. Given the fact that not even the police cared about the death of Levi's father, I'd be pretty willing to believe that Mr. Fontana is a wanted man who has done a lot of criminal harm to others. That might even be where Levi formed the mindset that people are defined by their actions. Maybe, that's my best guess and it doesn't even include his mother and brothers, lmao. Anyway, that's enough of Murder, Corruption, and Daddy Issues. Let's talk about the other thing that was revealed about Levi this episode, or more-so put into words. His low, if zero empathy. Firstly, those who are headcannoning Levi is ASPD, I see you and I love you. So much. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that my first thought upon watching this scene was "Levi is so Autismcoded" lmao But in all seriousness, I absolutely adore this side of his character. In general something I've always loved about Levi is the fact that he, to put it bluntly, does not know how to act. He's constantly seeing what others do and copying them, and asking them for guidance when he doesn't know what to do. His first appearance shows him using Xander and Teruko's appearances to wager what kind of person they are, which is more than likely how he got into styling in the first place. He's basically masking and trying to appear as what he views as normal because he's aware that his lack of empathy is not something most humans possess. And his actions reflect that of what he thinks a good person would do in these scenarios, whether that be your friends not inviting you to an event, or someone profusely bleeding from their neck. To put it in simple terms: He's masking. I love that. It really reminds me of the experiences had by my neurodivergent friends, and even though Levi is not canonically neurodivergent, the fact that so many people headcannon him with ASPD or Autism really goes to show how DT-Dev nailed that kind of experience, and how well they wrote Levi's low empathy in general. Well-done, DT-Dev :D ...Also I think it's safe to say that Accomplice!Levi is not happening. Damn it, I really liked that theory lmao.

Ace

[not even three minutes later]

...See, this is why I always believed Ace was telling the truth about David and Arei's conversation, because wow this man is competing with the former in the Shitty Liar Olympics.

If Ace's sense of security around Levi wasn't already shattered, it sure as hell is now. Which is very upsetting to see, but also very entertaining to me as an aficionado of toxic yaoi. I was never really an Acevi girl, it was just never something I was attracted to (probably because for a majority of CH2 Part 1's airing I really didn't like Ace lmao), but this combined with the Other Thing I'll talk about later has definitely sold me on it. I hope they get worse.

I can't remember what post it was, but I remember seeing someone talk about Ace very much projecting a friendship onto Levi that was never really there between them, and looking back, I absolutely agree. I mean, where the two of them really friends? I do think that Levi does, or did, genuinely like Ace. I don't think he would've been hanging around him in Chapter 1 if he didn't. But it was simply just that, he liked Ace. Ace loved Levi, and saw him as his lifeboat in the midst of this scary unfamiliar situation. Even if everyone else either was annoyed by or straight-up disliked Ace, even if he could die at any moment, he could still rely on Levi as a presence of safety and security, but that all came crumbling down.

ace can you please change your sprite

The fact that Ace, the man famous for jumping to conclusions, not thinking anything through or in depth, and switching his opinions on others on a dime, is even asking for Levi's defense at all, is proof enough to me that even after everything Ace still wanted to cling onto the fantasy of their friendship he had built up in his mind. But upon hearing that Levi never cared about what happened to him, he can no longer do so. ...And why do I think Ace got attached to Levi so quickly?

(x) Ace: I was totally right all along to burn our friendship--No, I can't even call it it "Friendship." Ace: There's only one person in my whole life who I've ever been able to call my friend. That I ever thought, even for just a short time, that you and I were "friends" is an insult to his memory.

Yeah it's time to talk about this.

So for those who are not in the know, DT-Dev confirmed in a now-deleted ask that this friend of Ace's is named Taylor Riley.

(thank you to @/nicohakobyan / weightedblankett on twitter for providing this screenshot)

We know very little about this man other than his name, his gender, the fact that he was Ace's friend, and that he's dead. We don't actually know that fourth one, but I think "insult to his memory" speaks for itself lmao. As such, we do not know the details of his relationship with Ace... But I've made more out of less before, so let's get to talking. Here's what I think:

I think that Taylor was a presence in Ace's life much similar to how Levi was to him in Chapter 1: A strong protective figure that helped to make the scared-of-everything Ace feel a sense of safety. And then some form of incident happened that resulted in Taylor's death, leaving Ace alone, heartbroken, bitter, and terrified. That sense of security he once had was ripped away from him, and without Taylor, he doesn't know what to do with himself anymore.

And then in the killing game, he meets Levi, who provides him with a similar feeling of safety. Immediately he begins to project the memory of Taylor onto Levi and as such becomes attached, quickly considering Levi a friend because of it. And I'm not entirely pulling this idea that Ace was projecting Taylor onto Levi out of my ass, either.

Ace: dark blue/purple (reasoning: refuses to provide reasoning)

When we first got this answer, most people assumed this was referring to Levi, but I honestly think it is more likely that this is referring to Taylor. But those colors are still part of Levi's design, which automatically sets up a parallel between both Levi and Taylor Ace projected his relationship and the memory of Taylor onto a man he barely knew, and when that man lost his patience with him, his fantasy was swiftly kicked with the steel-toed shoe of reality. Hell, Ace's reaction after Levi snapped at him may had been due to his illusion of safety crumbling beneath him, but going down the road of this theory, Levi snapping at him might've been the first time Ace truly saw Levi and not Taylor. He had been giving this man a script and a role to play, and Levi responded by tearing up the paper and telling him to fuck off. In a sense, you could say that in that moment, Ace lost Taylor a second time.

Since I don't think Ace is going to be the killer as he was knocked out and thus did not have any knowledge of the murder mechanism (at least not including the theory that he tried to kill himself, which... Is a possibility, but I don't think that's the case). And if he does live past his chapter, I honestly think Chapter 3 will mark his breaking point. Any fantasy of Levi that he was clinging onto with his pinky has now shattered into pieces ten times over, the person who tried to kill him is still alive and for all he knows, could do it again whenever the hell they want to and people will take their side over his own. Next to no one in the cast likes him and they make that explicitly clear, and worse of all, he will still be trapped in this godforsaken...whatever facility this place is meant to be. So to cap off this section that got way too long, Ace Trauma Dump is on my Chapter 3 bingo card, and if we get to see Taylor and his design includes dark blue and purple I will actually become spaghettified. Please survive Ace, you are finally starting to become not C-Tier

Hu and Veronika

Lumping these two together because I have about the same amount to say about both of them and their secrets were revealed together. Hu's secret is the Hopeless Child one, and Veronika's is the Self Harm one. I think after CH2 Part 1 most of us predicted as such, but it's still very satisfying to be right. What I'm more interested is this supposed pact that they made off-screen. I have to assume that Veronika went to Hu pretty quickly to reveal her secret to her given her general disinterest in topics of suicide and self harm. So I'd wager this pact was probably made at around CH2-5. Not that that really tells us much about the actual conversation, but it's nice to have a time-frame for reference.

I don't expect the actual conversation to be shown because from what we currently have it doesn't really add much of anything, but it would definitely be cool.

(x) Hu: I've been quite selfish this whole time, keeping my secret because I didn't want you all to think less of me...

I've said this before in this post, but I absolutely believe that David eventually coaxed and pressured Hu into revealing her secret to him, as well as why she kept it for so long. And I also think David implanted, or I guess more accurately watered the seed in Hu's head that she was inherently selfish for not sharing her secret. That, I think we would benefit from a flashback, but maybe I'm just biased because I desperately want Hu lore. Please DT-Dev, I'm on my knees Hmm... what else?

(x) Veronika: After all, my own so-called secret isn't even the worst thing I've done. Isn't that so utterly disappointing for this motive?

Oh yeah there's that. What the fuck, Veronika? Like, I feel like this is something I should've expected this, but for some reason I didn't. I'll be honest here, I really have nothing right now. But whatever Veronika is referring to here, I feel like it has something to do with her 'dearest friend' mentioned in the CH2 Q&A (who's name is Alyssa Belyaeva.) What Veronika actually did? I do not have the slightest clue, you can never know with this girl. But no matter what she did, I will probably love her even more for it. Glad that DT-Dev seems to agree with the precedence of supporting women's wrongs.

Teruko

...So I'm glad to see we're all in agreement that that is not her fucking secret. I mean, I'm sure it applies to her. She is an orphan, her parents are out of the picture, and though we don't know the whereabouts of her brother and neither does she, she most likely assumes he's dead as well. But honestly, given the fact that again this is not her fucking secret, I'm starting to wonder if that's really the case... Can Teacher Tawaki theory still live on? I'll save that for another post.

Anyway what was I talking about? Oh yeah, that is not her fucking secret.

And this little bitch knows that for a fact.

I won't go too deep into this because there have already been people discussing it better than I could, but this silent agreement the two of them have to not share Teruko's true secret is so palpable and interesting to me. David knows that Teruko's secret isn't that, but for whatever reason, he is keeping his mouth shut. And he just gives Teruko that shit-eating smirk. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Teruvid? I fucking love Teruvid. But yeah, I still think 100% that Teruko's secret is that the killing game is all her fault. It just does not make sense for Xander and Min's secrets to belong to anyone other than each other as they are dead. And in general it just makes sense for Teruko's character and her role in the story. And I can't help but feel like Teruko's actual secret will be revealed at the end of the Chapter.

Eden

... I mean. Do I really need to say more? I swear I made this exact joke in the previous thoughts post, but I can't help it. It applies perfectly to this CG. When this CG, this fucking JUMPSCARE of a CG, popped up on my screen, I'm pretty sure I ran around in a circle screaming in my room for a total of ten minutes. The first of two times I would do that during this masterfully crafted scene. I want to think of some kind of insightful analysis, but the truth is basically in your face. Eden was the one who gouged out Xander's eye. Why did she do it? Where does this fit into the overall lore? I DON'T FUCKING KNOW What the fuck am I supposed to say? This CG is basically all we have, and we'll definitely have to wait for more information. Especially since Eden is totally the culprit, but we'll get to that in the predictions section. (yeah if you can't tell my writing juice is starting to run out, but if I get this out any later than today I will kill myself)

David

(...for a scumbag, he's kinda cute.) So first of all, David is slowly becoming the funniest character in the cast in my opinion, which is a huge achievement in a cast full of very funny characters. And in general I think as a character he perfectly captures DRDT's general tone of half-and-half both silliness and angst, like yin and yang. Secondly though, the big thing that David did in this chapter (besides keeping Teruko's secret and being funny) is lying to Eden about the rest of the conversation he had with Arei. Ultimately, I think David himself saw that action as a good deed.

Think of it from his perspective: This is a man who has had hope and change presented to him on a silver platter multiple times, and then had it violently ripped away from him. And the most recent example of that, Arei, presented him with a better future and the possibility of change only to be killed upon trying to act on said change. If he told Eden that Arei still had hope, that she still wanted to change, it would aspire Eden with that same hope that in his eyes is destined to crash down on her. So instead of inflicting that same pain onto her, he instead chose to say nothing at all Maybe I'm giving David too much credit, what he did was still at the end of the day, incredibly dickish. But that interpretation is what makes the most sense to me personally. That's all I really have to say in regards to David... So, let's move onto what was, in my opinion, the star of this week's episode.

Arei

Arei Nageishi.... Ohhhh save me Arei Nageishi.... Arei was already one of my favorite characters in the cast due to her personality, design, voice acting, and most of all the character development she had throughout the course of Chapter 2. But this episode, this scene... It cemented her a well-earned spot in my top four, sitting only behind Whit, Teruko, and David.

The flashback scene of Arei and David in this episode is honestly up there with some of the best scenes in the whole show to me, almost solely because of how it caps off Arei as a character postmortem, and the story that she, along with Chapter 2 as a whole, is meant to tell. This whole chapter has been themed around the idea of what classifies a good person, and this flashback scene provides such a great payoff to that theme and it is everything I could've ever wished for. The message I got from Arei's story is that, ultimately, the idea of a "Good Person" and a "Bad Person" are nothing more than just that. Ideas. And in being ideas, they are above anything else, arbitrary, subjective, and at the end of the day, incredibly meaningless when it comes to discussing actual human beings. Insistence on categorizing yourself and the people around you into boxes of "pure saint that can do no wrong" and "irredeemable demon who will burn in the pits of hell" is a fast track to viewing a complicated, colorful world into a few shades of black and white. That's how David views the world, and has viewed the world probably for years. And I'm going to be honest and say that I think before being confronted with the truth of David's actions, Arei was heading right down the same path that he had headed.

(x) Arei: Of course I wanted to change myself. Who wants to be a grab-bag of negative personality traits? There's not even anything positive you could say about me. Arei: Still, for the longest time, I thought it was stupid to even try. I'm rotten to the core, and I might as well be a different species from saints like Eden and you. Arei: A pig never hopes to grow up into a human, because it knows that such a metamorphosis is impossible.

And this is the line that really, really makes me think that. She calls David and Eden saints because (up until this moment) she viewed both of them as the ideal of what makes a good person, similar to how David views Xander. And on the contrast, claims herself to be rotten to the core, ontologically evil with no redemption in sight. She's even performing David's habit of self-dehumanization, likening herself to a pig in the same way David likens himself to a cat in the LGI video, which goes to show how this mindset of black-and-white is, above all else, a dehumanizing view on the human race that relegates people into cardboard boxes with the flaps taped shut. If she didn't find out the truth of David's actions, I am confident that she would've done down the same path that he did, becoming convinced that she will be a terrible person until the day she dies because she cannot reach this worthless standard of a good person that she has set up in her head. But we know that's not how it goes. Arei does realize that the man she once thought of as a saint might be, in his words, a lying manipulative scumbaggy piece of shit. And upon realizing that, the second half of the message unlocks itself. There is no such thing as irredeemability.

Change is a part of being human. Humans are not built to run in a hamster wheel for the rest of their days, reliving their mistakes over and over again wallowing in their self-hatred and guilt. Eventually, they have to get off the wheel and start taking the steps necessary to grow, change, develop and flourish to properly better themselves. (This applies to yourself just as much as it applies to the worst, most depraved individual you know by the way) The alternative is living in a four-by-four black box of self-loathing and relentless stagnancy, which is not productive for the person or the people they've hurt. It is only when you reject these black-and-white categories of "Good Person" and "Bad Person" and accept that no matter what you've done, you're capable of becoming better, that you can achieve true growth and change. The way this message was executed, especially through a character that dies before the halfway point of the story, is something that I marvel at as an aspiring storyteller. DRDT's beating heart will always be its character writing, and this scene is one of the primary examples of that. Thank you, DT-Dev, for making Arei Nageishi and the rest of your amazing cast of characters. :D

Extra Thoughts !!! - FURUYA FANDOM (me) THE TRACK PLAYED LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO!!! - I am very excited to find out more about Nico's attempted murder given all of the questions surrounding it. If the method of murder really was replicated, and Nico wasn't the culprit themself, you guys should take a wild guess who that implicates. (this is probably obvious by this point, but I really don't believe in the theories that suggest that someone other than Nico was responsible for Ace's attempted demise, be it Hu or Ace himself. I feel like it doesn't line up with the current narrative direction that Nico seems to be going in, the physical evidence of them stealing the turpentine, and...I'm gonna be honest, I just don't like it lmao. I'm sure DT-Dev would do it well, but just as a premise I do not favor it. Nico's attempted murder + subsequent regret from it felt like such a big moment in the chapter's narrative in relation to the themes of All That Glitters and the cast revealing sides to themself that weren't as prevalent before, as well as the themes of change and moving on from the past littered all throughout the chapter. I think if Nico's attempted murder was responsible by anyone but Nico, it would just dampen the impact of their overall story for me. That's just me though.) - WE FINALLY GOT ANOTHER NONSTOP DEBATE LETS GO BOYS!!! Nonstop debates I MISSED you - "Hey why does Whit know so much about hangi--" Look. This man is so unbelievably suspicious in every single way that for the sake of my sanity, I'm just gonna assume DT-Dev chose a random character to give the hanging explanation. It is the only way I will survive this chapter - But hey, at least we got this

- As always, I adore the new sprites we got this episode, especially Ace's new ones. It's probably the first sprite of his that actually appears emotionally vulnerable when he's not bleeding profusely from the neck. And of course, I loved David's shit-eating grin towards Teruko, I hope he never changes. - Speaking of Teruko, us getting Tutor Teruko was lovely. She is perfect, she is a little bit of everything all of the time.

(x) Whit: If you're so inclined to complain, Sir Light Pollution, why don't you try and think of some good evidence? Charles: Light pollution? Whit: You know… Cuz he had stars, and now he doesn't, and light pollution makes stars disappear… or… or… something….. Charles: I am truly impressed…by how bad that was.

- I love these dorks so much. I can tell DT-Dev has a lot of fun writing them.

- Teronika Consent animation! I guess after Acevi's Soap Opera, DT-Dev decided to feed the yuri crowd as well. Love it when we get to see those little sprite animations, too.

Predictions for CH2-14 - The episode is 40 minutes long, the longest episode we have had so far. (40 minutes of DRDT content... I'm excited just thinking about it!) Because of that, I think I will just start with my biggest prediction: I think we're getting the culprit reveal this chapter. I don't think that just because of the length either. When you really look at it, we have basically used every piece of evidence at least once with the exception of three: - The conditions of the gym (which I assume will be discussed next) - The scuffs on the ground - The ball of starchy clothes All three of those pieces of evidence I think can definitely be cleared up in the span of 40 minutes, especially since full focus is now on the murder case. I don't necessarily think the trial will end in this episode, but I think we have at least one more trial episode to go before the post-trial + execution + ending of the chapter. - And as the culprit reveal is approaching, I have formulated a tier list of who I think is least - most likely to be Arei's culprit. I will provide my reasoning for each.

No. 17/16 - Xander Matthews + Min Jeung I mean, what it says on the tin. They're dead, and thus couldn't had committed the murder. No. 15/14 - MonoTV + Arei Nageishi There are explicit rules against them being the culprit. Rule 8 and Rule 11 in particular. No. 13 - Teruko Tawaki She is the protagonist. Didn't stop Kaede, but I highly doubt that's where DT-Dev is going. No. 12 - David Chiem Other than the previous five who I've all disqualified from being the culprit, David is probably the character I suspect the least. He has an alibi for the time of the murder, getting breakfast with J and Veronika, and thematically...well, he's basically being set up as the antagonist. I don't think we'll be rid of him this early lmao. No. 11 - Charles Cuevas Charles has a fear of blood and dead bodies, and though I wouldn't say that completely disqualifies him from becoming a culprit in the future, in a case like this with such a complicated mechanism like this where he'd have to be in very close proximity with the body at all times? I highly doubt it. He also has an alibi for the fish (He was with Whit). No. 10 - J Rosales J both has an alibi for the fish (Arturo following her around), and an alibi for the morning (getting breakfast with David and Veronika), and both of those alibis can be confirmed. I don't think she did this. No. 9 - Veronika Grebenshchikova I'll be honest, I really don't see Veronika committing a murder at all. She clearly wants to see this through to the end, and killing someone would come with the risk of her being executed, which I don't think she would see as a satisfying conclusion to her story. That, combined with the fact that she has an alibi for the fish (bothering Teruko) and an alibi for the murder (getting breakfast with David and J) makes me think she didn't do this. No. 8 - Nico Hakobyan You might think it's weird to place Nico this low on the overall tier-list despite them not having an alibi for the fishes, and their morning alibi being...somewhat flimsy but I'll get to that with Hu, but here's my logic. Nico was driven to attempt murder from very specific circumstances. That being, Ace's relentless bullying and abuse towards them. Nico has said before that they'd understand murder if the perpetrator didn't like the victim, and while I don't think they exactly liked Arei, I do not think they harbor the same animosity towards her as they did towards Ace. I truly believe that Nico would only ever resort to murder if they truly despised the person in question and saw no other solution. So that is why I feel comfortable placing Nico at eighth. No. 7 - Hu Jing Hu is also another character that I think some will be surprised to see so low, but I don't think this was her doing. She has an alibi for the fish (cleaning up with Eden), and though again her alibi in the morning is very flimsy (having tea with Nico in the morning,) I do believe she is telling the truth because if she was lying about her alibi, I think the brutally blunt Nico would call her out for it. I'm sorry, I just simply cannot imagine Nico letting that shit slide regardless of how many theories I read. Not to mention I can't really think of a motive for why she would kill Arei specifically when, if she really did want to kill someone, Ace is right there. No. 6 - Whit Young Whit is supremely fucking suspicious and a lot of his behavior in the trial is literal shenanigans, even more so given the fact that he doesn't have an alibi for the actual murder. But he does have an alibi for the fish (again, he was with Charles) which is the main sticking point of Whit!Culprit. His other sticking point is his lack of motive, both in terms of the secrets and Arei specifically. I don't know like- just look at this man, do you think he did this? /joke

No. 5 - Levi Fontana The number one suspect in the fandom for a while, and he's only at number five. He ultimately lacks an alibi for the morning, and his alibi for the fish was that he was doing his laundry... With no one else around. Shady as fuck. But I think given his principles discussed in this episode ("it is a good thing to make sure someone else doesn't die"), and the genuine desire to be helpful he has expressed throughout this trial, I think him being the culprit is unlikely. That's why I was adamant on him being an accomplice for a while because I still thought he had some role in the case, but oh well. No. 4 - Rose Lacroix I'll be honest, Rose is only this high because her alibi situation is worse than Whit's and Levi's combined. Both of her alibis are that she was sleeping in her room, which cannot be proven and can be very easily lied about. But other than that, I don't think she is the culprit. I think this case requires too many physical maneuvers for someone as lethargic as Rose to pull off successfully, and if she were the culprit I don't think she'd bring attention to the missing grippy tape at all. No. 3 - Arturo Giles Arturo does have an alibi for the fish (following J), but does not have an alibi for the morning. Unlike basically every other character here, something else that puts Arturo above them is that he was capable of overhearing Eden and Arei's conversation and forging the note. But there is also a discrepancy present that is also present with every character here, and that is the fact that Arturo did not witness Nico's attempted murder or the condition of Ace's body and the gym, so there was no way he could've replicated the murder method used for Ace on Arei. So though logistically he is a more likely possibility, I don't think it was him. No. 2 - Ace Markey Ace, to me anyway, is the second most likely candidate to being Arei's killer. He does not have an alibi for the fish and could've very easily grabbed them after David and Arei left the Relaxation Room, and he doesn't have an alibi for the morning either. He has a very clear motivation for taking a chance at killing someone, of "someone literally sliced my neck open not two days ago and I know I am not safe here I need to get the fuck out." If you choose to factor in strength, Ace is one of the strongest members of the cast and would be more than capable of the physical maneuvers made to kill Arei. Though I personally don't believe in this theory, if you think Ace attempted suicide instead of Nico trying to kill him, he has the murder method down lock too because he tried to commit it onto himself. He has been shown to be nosy, so it is not improbable that he listened in on Arei and Eden's conversation. And lastly, he is one of the only two suspects who was capable of stealing the grippy tape that was used in the murder. All of the evidence is practically stacked against him... But there are a couple of problems. One, if you believe that Nico did try to kill Ace, than the point about Ace knowing the exact method of death goes out the window. He was knocked out by the turpentine, and woke up in extreme pain in a blinding fury of rage and bloodlust, I don't think his surroundings would be the first thing on his mind. But a much bigger issue we have is the question of... Why would Ace take the tape? Following this theory, his murder plan wouldn't had started until the day after Nico's attempt on his life, it would make no sense for him to take the tape then. These two sticking points are why, though a likely candidate, I do not think Ace is the culprit. That award of main suspect goes to...

No. 1 - Eden Tobisa Yeah, if you've spent any time on this account you probably know I'm an Eden!Culprit truther. There are many well-written posts about this theory that I'm sure you've seen so I'll try to keep this short, but though the theory does have a few flaws to it, the big one being Eden's alibi for the fish that she was cleaning up with Hu, I think Eden being the culprit makes the most sense from an evidence, thematic, and motive standpoint. I know some people have dropped the theory upon the fork reveal, but DRDT is not unbeknownst to killing off characters with certain mysteries left unanswered. That is basically all for my predictions related to the culprit, but I still have some predictions for the overall episode. - Nico's gonna get placed in the hot-seat, obviously, which will definitely cause a reaction out of both Hu and Ace. And I honestly feel like the two of them are going to keep interrupting Nico until they eventually snap. And I hope that happens honestly because unless you count the "I'll kill you" line, we have yet to see or hear Nico when they're actually angry angry. Nico obviously doesn't like conflict, but they might have to get over that if they actually want to defend themself knowing the other two. - I'm still holding out hope we'll get a Random Guess segment lmao - And lastly: I need Whit to break the forth wall at least once I didn't put that on the bingo card for fucking NOTHING

Conclusion I'm gonna be completely honest, I do not have the energy to write anymore and I just want this out lmao. But overall, this was one of my favorite episodes in the whole series. I loved the Levi and Ace stuff, I like that we now have all the secrets, and like I said, the scene with Arei is probably one of my favorite scenes in the show. CH2-14 is going to be a wild ride I can already tell, and if we do find out who the killer is, you will see me screaming. Regardless of if it's Eden lmao.

UPDATED SWEAR STATISTICS CH2-13

UPDATED BINGO CARD

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

I’m still disappointed in the way they wrote Stella. It was so… boring. For a show that champions it’s “messy” and “morally grey” characters, Stella is turned into a one-dimensional hate sink who exists for the sole purpose of being mean to Stolas. The show never fails to consider that she was forced into this marriage too and retcon’s Octavia’s comments about them not always hating each other. Which sounds more interesting, a noblewoman forced into an arranged marriage who puts up with it for the sake of status until her husband threatens to bring it all crashing down upon both her and her daughter so she hires an assassin to prevent her life from going down the drain or a whiny brat who exists solely to torment him?

Yeup you can see how they retconned Octavia’s comments and things they established about Stella and Stolas etc. It’s really noticeable and it makes the show anger inducing. No, you can’t just go back on all that stuff you set up because it’s inconvenient now. The fact it’s done for the sake of some horrible forced ship that abuses Blitz makes it even worse.

Their attempts to dumb down Stella more and more to make her a villain actually just made my Stella sympathy even worse though, ironically. Because by adding Andrealphus they reveal they decided to write Stella as having no property rights. For some fucking reason. I guess marriage for goetia is different? But if Stolas dies it all goes to her Octavia, despite Stella being his wife. That’s how it would have operated for women irl hundreds of years ago and confirms Stella has no property ownership in the marriage (historically also why women couldn’t really vote, as voting has historically been tied to property ownership and married women, everything was automatically owned by their husband). And there’s no way Stella could have just decided to work or do something else because the marriage was arranged since childhood. The arranged marriage favours Stolas and protects him more than her so it’s even worse for her. I wish more people analysed that part and talked about it cuz it’s nuts they wrote that like it’s nothing and makes Stella even more of a bitch or something. If they do some sad arc where Stella’s horrible for expecting to be able to still live somewhere and own a home after the divorce because that’s stealing from poor Stolas and she doesn’t deserve anything at all from him!!!!!1 I will actually fucking scream. Who said it Reddit bros who don’t think women should have divorce rights or Helluva Boss lmao.

The “Why do you stay” (I don’t remember exactly how it goes) lines from Stolas boil my blood because of that too. Like what the fuck do you mean? She’s your wife which according to what we’ve seen, for goetia, means owning nothing and everything going to your husband. She’s not like you Stolas. She can’t just leave like you. She has nowhere to go as far as we know except maybe her brothers but he’s a condescending creep towards her and she still wouldn’t have any control or actually own anything. Also she had Octavia to think about too with moving and leaving. Stolas’ home is Stella’s by just as much, and it’s hers by way less choice than it is Stolas’.

Why in the fuck did they make a cheated on woman with no property rights “just a bitch” the list of reasons Stella has to be rightfully angry is actually crazy. As well as the fact she owns nothing and had no choice in marrying him, she also has Stolas cheating on her in her own fucking bed! He brings other people home and fucks them on the bed she has to sleep next to him in. He is brazen and completely unapologetic about cheating on her right in her face. His lines about finding a hotel, they’re him saying he’s just sorry he got caught, that’s it. They imply he absolutely is going to do it again since his concern is just not getting yelled at for it and he has no shame in telling her that. She also has Stolas reading smut at the dinner table, saying completely inappropriate things in front of their daughter, and him calling her a bitch to Octavia.

Making Stella say she sticks around just to torment Stolas is weak. All this rage and her not wanting him to cheat yet no, she definitely doesn’t love him or care or anything she’s just mean and likes being spiteful. WHAT? She puts so much energy into all the yelling and makes all the spiteful remarks “just because”? Not because she’s hurt instead? There’s not a single thing other than random spite motivating her? It’s shit. You are right anon. All these well explored, humanized morally grey characters and yet the one with a plethora of understandable reasons for being mad isn’t allowed to be mad about any of the actual reasons she has to be. Rather she’s mean just so she can be a yaoi fanfic antagonist opposing the sexy mlm relationship. It’s transparent, childish and it’s boring. Dare I say it’s misogynistic too. It’s atrocious writing plain and simple.

[pedroshotwifey]

Hungry Like The...

Pairing: Werewolf!Frankie Morales x AFAB!Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Tags/Warnings: Smut, PIV sex, oral sex (f receiving), fluff, established relationship, no use of y/n, Frankie has a monster cock, im missing stuff but I want to go to bed so...

Summary: You and Frankie decide to attend an 80s themed Halloween party. Through all of the excitement, you must have forgotten what day the full moon falls on.

A/N: I'm gonna go ahead and say that I rushed the absolute fuck out of this one, but I think it turned out pretty good. I really kind of jumped outside of my comfort zone with this, so I'm kinda proud that I did that. That being said, please feel free to call me out on anything that might not make sense or anything that I should change at all because I'm half clueless with this kind of stuff. Please consider reposting and/or liking. Thank you for reading and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! <3

***

You have no idea where Frankie snuck off too. 

He claimed he was going to get the two of you more drinks, but that was about ten minutes ago. You’re well aware that it should have taken less than half of that for him to find his way to the refreshment table, pick up some drinks, and bring them back to you. 

Right now, though, you’re too blissed out to care—not that you have much to worry about with your loving boyfriend anyway. The lights are almost blinding as you spin around beneath them, but they transform into a nice glow thanks to the buzz you’re sporting. “Mony Mony,” is blaring through the speakers and you're in your zone as you swing your hips to the beat. 

You’re glad that Frankie had suggested that you two attend this party specifically. The only requirements were that you had to dress up as an 80’s character in order to fit the era the party revolves around. 80’s costumes, 80’s music, 80’s decor. Luckily for you, the 80’s is one of your absolute favorite decades, and you’re pretty sure Frankie knew that when he signed the two of you up. 

The dance floor is packed with people to the point where you can’t stretch out all the way without bumping into someone. Usually, that would irk you, but you can’t find it in you to mind tonight. It’s not like anybody else does. 

As you snap your hips to the beat, you look around at all the different costumes in the crowd. You see a handful of Star Wars characters, a couple of Freddy Kruegers, some Ghost Busters, and—of course—a shit ton of Madonnas. The rest, for the most part, are pretty original. 

You’re pretty proud of your own costume, to be honest. You had spent a couple of weeks configuring a custom-made Storm costume. You’ve been an X-Men fan for as long as you can remember, and it made you so happy to try on your costume for the first time a few days ago. It’s pretty damn spot-on. 

Frankie, on the other hand, had insisted on being a werewolf. Like turning into one once a month wasn’t enough already. You had simply rolled your eyes and asked him what he had in mind so you could make his costume. It was worth it to see the way he lit up, even though he’s cutting it close with the party’s theme. 

After the year he had, he deserves to be happy—even if it means you have to endure his stupid jokes every now and again. When he gets tipsy, his goofy humor always makes an appearance. It’s one of your favorite parts about nights out with your boyfriend. He never fails to make you laugh. 

Just as you begin to worry that he might have gotten lost in the crowd, you feel a hand spin you around. You’re getting ready to tell someone off until you come face to face with those irresistible brown eyes. 

“Hey there, Hermosa,” he says as he cuddles up to you, swaying you to the song. “Having fun, sweetheart?” 

You giggle as he bends down and nuzzles his face into your neck. Glancing down, you almost aren’t surprised to see that he doesn’t have any drinks. 

“Frankie?” You ask casually as you throw your arms around him. 

“Hmm?” 

“Did you find the drinks?” 

Suddenly, he stops moving and stands up straight again, a playful smile plastered across his face. 

“Guess not,” he says. “Found something to eat, though,” he winks and you playfully roll your eyes as he throws himself back onto you. As the song changes to “When Doves Cry”, he begins to dance with you. Frankie has never been the best dancer, but it's better this way. Neither of you take anything seriously as you push and pull your bodies together, giving eachother flirty kisses every now and again. 

You laugh as you bump into someone and flash them an apologetic look. Frankie really loves to bring out your careless side. You honestly didn’t know you were capable of being so care-free until you had met him. Sometimes he makes you feel as if nothing else matters but you and him. It’s times like these that you really realize just how lucky you are to have him. 

“Alright, baby,” Frankie says after a moment, bringing you out of your thoughts. “I’m going to go get us those drinks now.” 

Instead of answering him, you get up on your tip-toes and kiss him. He begins to wrap his arms around you again, but you gently push him off, giving him a faux stern look. 

“Alright, alright, I get it, baby, I’m going!” he says over the music before turning around to scamper away.

You have to suppress a giggle when he jolts as you deliver a light slap to his ass. He turns just enough to flash you a dirty look, and you give him one of feigned innocence in return, well aware he’ll get you back for that eventually if you continue to tease. 

“Hurry up, wolfboy!” you shout after him. 

***

Alright, you’re actually about to be pissed this time. 

There’s absolutely no way he lost you—or rather, you lost him—twice. He has to be playing with you, right? Whatever, if that’s the case, two can play at that game. 

You’ll just pretend like you don’t even notice something is missing. Maybe once he sees you where he left you, completely unaffected by his absence, he’ll stop being such an ass. 

Perfect. Perfect plan. 

You shake your head and dance as the song ends. You can have fun by yourself if your boyfriend wants to be immature. 

Well, it would have been a perfect plan. 

As if he could somehow read your mind—which you almost wouldn’t doubt at this point—you spot Frankie in your vision once again. However, this time, he’s not coming over to you. 

He has a familiar dark look in his eyes that immediately soaks you, despite yourself. You stop dancing because as quick as you see him, he’s gone again. You spin in a panicked circle as the song changes to one by Duran Duran. You almost laugh at the irony as “Hungry Like the Wolf” blares through the speakers. 

Your phone buzzes in the small pocket of your bodysuit, and you pause your quick search to look at it. Your brow furrows as you see that it’s a text from Frankie. What the fuck is he playing at? Quickly, you unlock your phone and open your messages. 

“Better start running, baby,” the text reads. You look up, your eyes frantically scanning the crowd around you. Maybe the song choice isn’t so ironic after all. 

“Don’t let me catch you… feeling hungry like the wolf tonight…”

You don’t stop to think before you make a mad dash toward the exit, your heart dropping to your stomach as you go. You get some pissed looks as you shove through people, your heart hammering in your chest and your eyes darting every which way. 

You have no idea where he could be at this point. Maybe he’s somewhere inside, having missed your exit. He could be trailing right behind you, ready to grab you at any moment.

Soon enough, it is revealed that he is, once again, always one step ahead of you. As soon as you step out of the doors, a large body is engulfing yours and carrying you to a secluded spot on the patio, though there’s nobody outside anyway. 

You would scream if not for the large hand that covers your lips when he grabs you. You know it’s Frankie, of course, but the exhilaration that comes from the scare really adds to the game the two of you just started. 

You ignore the heat simmering between your legs as he sets you down on your own feet and removes his hand from your mouth. Neither of you move, you don’t look up, he doesn’t crouch down. You just stand there, breathing heavily as Frankie embraces your figure. 

You can’t help but lean back into him, letting your guard down probably isn’t the best idea right now, but you can’t find it in you to care about that fact at the moment. 

The fresh air feels nice on your heated cheeks, but Frankie's front against your back feels even better. The music continues to play faintly behind you as you sway side to side, Frankie’s arms wrapped tightly around you, his head resting on your shoulder. 

You swear you could stay here forever. Actually, you could stay anywhere, as long as you had Frankie. But right now, you can’t imagine anything more perfect than this. As long as you have your boyfriend’s arms around you, you would do anything or go anywhere he wants to. 

Your body may be his, but you decided a long time ago that your soul belongs to him as well. He can pick it up and do whatever he wishes with it, and you know he could never do anything that would cause your trust or love for him to dull.

“Look up, sweetheart,” Frankie’s soft voice brings you out of your thoughts, making you open your eyes. You hadn’t realized they had slid shut in the first place. 

The sight of the full moon high up in the night sky confirms your suspicions. Frankie’s going to turn tonight. 

Fuck, you’re screwed, your subconscious automatically screams at you. 

You can't miss the way your panties dampen as the thought crosses your mind. Your body stiffens as you fight the urge to run, the adrenaline getting the best of you.

Frankie must feel the way you tense up because his arms immediately tighten around you. 

“It’s alright, hermosa,” he whispers into your ear. “Just means we’ll have a bit more fun than usual.”

You try but fail to stifle your grin at his menacing tone. Just because you know you’re screwed doesn’t mean you don't enjoy it. 

“Probably got less than ten minutes now,” Frankie says far too casually. “Let’s pick up on our little chase, yeah?” 

He lets you out of his grasp this time, and you turn around to give him a peck on his cheek, allowing your hand to brush past his erection as you pull away. The touch is just enough for Frankie to grit his teeth as he hisses out. The warning glance he gives you makes arousal burn deep into your core, only serving to make you more excited. 

“I’ll give you a head start, sweetheart,” he says, his tone giving you a warning, “I’d take it if I were you.”

With his word, you spin on your heel, ready to plummet into the forest, but you only get about a foot before he has a large hand wrapped around your wrist. Your heart beats louder in your chest as you turn to look at him, his eyes dark with lust. 

“Don’t let me catch you this time,” he says, pulling you close enough for his lips to flutter across your ear as he speaks. “I won’t go easy on you.”

You ignore the shiver in your spine as you pull back as much as you can. 

“Maybe I don't want you to go easy on me,” you whisper back, earning a slight growl from Frankie. He lets his hand linger on you for only a moment more before letting go, this time allowing you to back away. 

“Don’t push yourself too hard then, because I’m going to fucking exaust you when I catch up.” 

You smile before turning once again, pushing yourself into the trees without looking back. 

***

The sound of your heartbeat is deafening as you run through the otherwise silent forest. The steady pitter-patter of the organ combined with your ragged breathing and your frantic footsteps make a horrifying symphony. Even those sounds seem muffled, though, with the amount of pure adrenaline that courses through your veins and drowns out your senses. 

Frankie can’t be too far behind you now. You guess you’ve been running for about fifteen minutes. There’s no doubt that he has turned at this point; he proved it with the howl you heard bellowing through the woods a couple minutes ago. 

Since then, you haven't stopped to take a breath. There is pure fear in the fact that you have a beast on your trail, but also excitement in knowing what will likely happen once he catches up. 

For now though, fear is the dominant emotion. It’s prominent enough to keep you going even as your hair gets tugged by branches and your skin gets scratched and torn by twigs and thorns. None of it seems to matter right now just as long as you can keep your distance from the monster hunting you down. 

Suddenly, you hear a snap from somewhere behind you. The noise is sharp, a twig snapping beneath heavy weight. It reverberates all around you, sending a shiver down your spine. Soon after, You pick up on the steady thumping of what sounds to be an animal hot on your tail. 

The sound gets closer and closer even as you push yourself to run faster. Your entire body is shaking and you can feel tears welling up in your eyes. You can practically feel Frankie’s breath on your neck, the sensation almost more powerful than the ache overtaking your legs and abdomen. 

“Please, leave me alone!” You cry out the plea over your shoulder, your voice bordering a sob. Your gut is curling with a mixture of panic and arousal. The responding growl makes the tears you have been holding spill over and your knees buckle. 

For a second, you’re worried that you might fall, but you’re pushed into the ground before you have the chance to do it yourself. The weight of Frankie pouncing on top of you knocks the wind out of you, a sharp cry leaving your lips as your breath is taken. 

In the time that it takes you to get your breath back, Frankie has your bodysuit torn enough to pry off of your shaking body, and your lacy panties shoved–or ripped–down your legs. Luckily, the bodysuit was the cheapest and easiest to find component of your costume. You can feel a whisper of his claws against your skin as he drags scraps away from where he needs you most.

Your arms flail wildly, your fingers trying to grasp a handful of fur from the beast atop you. Frankie sees what you’re trying to do, and with a growl, he ducks down and slides toward your feet, away from your hands. 

Before you can question what he’s doing, you feel something thick, wet, and warm against your bare, soaked cunt. 

A high pitched moan tumbles from your lips as Frankie drags his tongue across your pussy before dipping it into your core.

The hot muscle digs deep into your cunt, curling once it's in all the way. You can feel his nose bobbing up and down against your ass as he starts to work his tongue in and out of your cunt.

“F-Frankie, fuck!” You scream, feeling your orgasm building embarrassingly quickly.

The way his tongue swirls and scrapes against your walls is absolutely delicious, and that combined with the tip of the muscle prodding against your g-spot? You’re fucking done for. 

You’re writhing as Frankie brings his tongue out to swallow down the slick he’s collected, and you can feel the way a combination of your arousal and his saliva leaks out of your pulsing cunt, coming down to collect at your clit and make you shudder. You’re so close to coming, a warm feeling that can only be described as pure euphoria making a home deep in your lower abdomen. 

Almost as soon as he was gone, Frankie shoves his tongue back inside of you, meticulously prodding all the right places. You’re gasping and moaning so loud you have half the mind to feel bad for whatever critters might reside in these woods. 

That thought passes quickly, though, once you feel yourself returning to the edge. Frankie flicks his tongue one more time and you’re suddenly convulsing around him. The high seems to go on forever, your toes curling and your fingers grasping at the leafy ground in front of you. 

The beast doesn’t pull away as you come, instead, he allows you to rock your hips back and forth in order to prolong your pleasure for as long as possible. You don’t even notice that you moved your arm until you feel one hand entangled in soft fur, your subconscious mind telling you to hold him to you. 

You hear Frankie whine from behind you and you have to suppress the urge to giggle. He’s always liked it when you tug at his hair, and apparently, being in this form leaves no room for exceptions. 

Your body goes limp as Frankie backs away from you, making it easy for him to nudge you to prop you up where he wants you. Hands and knees, of course. He wastes no time in getting into position behind you, crowding you in with his massive form. 

The tip of his cock feels massive against your swollen cunt, but it only takes a few swipes of the beast’s hips before he is notched into your entrance. With one more thrust, he’s pushing in all the way, making you scream as your pussy stretches to accommodate his girth. 

Frankie lets out a series of whimpers as he starts a brutal pace, not giving you a second to adjust. Your hands come up to grasp above his paws, which are positioned on either side of your head, and then up a little. 

“F-Frankie!” Your moan comes out more like a screech, the pain quickly turning into a sick pleasure as he rips you open on his cock. Each time he thrusts, it’s accompanied by a puff of breath which fans out across your cheek. 

The sound of his whines and ragged breathing mix with the squelching noises coming from your cunt and the panting coming from your lips, everything combined making the filthiest symphony you’ve ever heard. 

Your second orgasm starts to build rapidly, your cunt beginning to flutter around Frankie’s unforgiving length. With each punch, the tip of his cock touches something heavenly within you, making your eyes roll to the back of your head. 

You’re pretty sure you’re drooling, but you find that every limb has turned to jelly, preventing you from bringing your hand up to check. If not for the monster above you impaling you on his length, you would likely be flat on the forest floor right now. 

Every thought that had previously occupied your mind is forced out of you as Frankie effortlessly pries another orgasm from you. He doesn’t slow or pause as you squeeze around his cock like a vice. If anything, it only spurs him on and gets him going faster, if that's even possible. 

With each slam of his hips, you feel your body being sent forward, only stabilized by your palms, which are somehow still firmly planted on the ground. 

‘Oh god, Frankie,” your voice sounds hazy to your own ears. “F-feels so fucking good, Francisco.”

You hear him grunt at the sound of his full name, something you usually only call him in bed—or in this case, in the middle of nowhere. 

It does feel good, his cock feels absolutely massive. You know that it is definitely bigger than when he’s in his human form—the size of which should be considered supernatural in it’s own way. Right now, though, he feels bigger than ever, thicker, longer. The only thought occupying your mind at the moment is how badly you want to suck his cock. 

How the fuck does this man fuck you so good to the point where you fantasize about giving him a blowjob while he’s already inside of you? Next time, you’ll have to get his dick in your mouth before he shoves it into your cunt. 

Your eyes droop as your second orgasm morphs into a third, your body growing weaker with each movement from Frankie. You ignore the shaking to spread your legs wider to allow him better access, which results in him getting to a deeper spot with the new angle. 

Your mouth drops open as you begin to come again, a silent scream getting stuck in your throat. This time, as you constrict around his monstrous cock, you can feel his hips stutter. He’s getting close, which is probably a good thing considering you’re about to pass out from both pleasure and exhaustion. 

“C-come on, Frankie, f-fill me up,” you command through moans. It very obviously eggs him on because before you know it, he’s stilling inside of you, howling into the trees, and blowing his massive load deep into your core. 

The feeling of his cum painting your walls is fucking heavenly. Spurt after spurt of his warm seed fills you to the brim until it eventually starts to seep out around the base of his cock. If you thought you had felt full before, that was nothing compared to now. 

Frankie gives you a few minutes to calm down before he starts to lower himself to the ground, laying on his side and tugging you with him. Your body and mind are equally compliant with his request. 

As your eyes shut once again, you can feel Frankie starting to shift behind you, probably making his transformation back to his human form. Try as you might, you know you won’t have enough energy to wait for him to be done, so you make the most of it and snuggle into his soft fur. You know that you’ll wake up safe and sound in your bed, tangled with your kind, attentive, and very much human boyfriend.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

i still think the worst jgy meta is the victim blaming madam qin one

If we're thinking of the same meta--the one that goes into detail about how long the betrothal/wedding planning process would have likely gone on for--then that meta is SUPREMELY frustrating to me, because the information it brings up is worth considering, but then it draws the conclusion that "Madam Qin is the real cause of the problem here!" which is both victim-blaming and oversimplifies the whole tragedy.

The tragedy of Qin Su is that multiple people close to her decided that she shouldn't know a critical piece of information about herself. If it were just JGY, I think her reaction wouldn't have been as intense as it is, but when QS receives Bicao's letter, she receives with it the knowledge that Bicao, JGY, and her mother have all withheld this from her, and she'll never get closure on it because her mother is dead and JGY is insisting that she carry on like it never happened. QS deserved to know! This was a breach of her trust!

But at the same time, you understand why everyone makes the choices they do, and why they believe that QS will be better off not knowing. In Madam Qin's case, we can assume that she fears for the damage to QS's reputation and prospects in even a best-case scenario if she comes forward. It's fully possible that Qin Cangye could disown QS since she is not his child, or (if QCY is a real one and stands by his wife) that the Qin clan as a whole would suffer retribution from JGS for besmirching his name, since he's Chief Cultivator and they don't have any concrete proof. Madam Qin also would have feared for herself. I mean, we don't know what kind of many QCY was. He could've killed his wife for committing adultery, for all we know! Or JGS could've had her killed to shut her up! Fearing for herself isn't a moral failing!

Understanding how protracted the wedding process would have been just drives home how horrifically trapped Madam Qin must have felt. She's kept the secret of her rape for two decades, and now it's coming back to hurt her in brand new ways, and she feels so powerless that she can't do anything but watch it happen until finally, at the very last minute, she works up the courage to talk to the one man in the situation who doesn't hold authority over her (and is therefore a safer bet)... and it's too late, because her daughter is already pregnant,* and to call off the wedding now would obliterate her reputation even without the incest.

Now she has to live with the regret of not acting differently on top of everything else. It's haunting. It's awful. It's not something to point at and judge her about. And I think it's telling that, IIRC, JGY himself doesn't ever blame her, either. There is no "how dare you blame me when her own mother didn't tell her!" or "I wouldn't have done it if Madam Qin had spoken up sooner!" Instead, he simply states that Madam Qin, like him, was afraid of JGS, shutting down any questioning of either of them. JGY places the ultimate blame for all of this firmly at his father's feet, and that's where it belongs.

*(It should go without saying that I'm talking about my understanding of the novel here, because the show makes the deeply cursed choice to cut the whole premarital pregnancy thing. But it's still JGS's fault there too, and I wrote character study fic about it once if you want to have a bad time.)

[deadtiredghost]

So I watched the entirety of Mashle as a drinking game and these are my non-coherent, drunkard rambling thoughts on the anime. (Sploilers obvs).

Mash - is it better than HP; not objectively, but do I enjoy watching it far more, yes 1000x yes.

"Our world has no shortage of problems" - UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY

Mash is so smart when it comes to fighting and so dumb when it comes to literally anything else. I love this boy. Mash is so cute when he lies. I want to adopt him so bad. The paternal feelings haven't been so strong in a whileeee. (Not about anyone other than the turtles)

He just really loves creampuffs. He has an unconscious reflex to people taking his creampuffs.

"I see you as nothing but an unusually clever rabbit" - ironic because most people might see Mash as the opposite of clever.

For a comedy anime Mashle is so dark. Like the world is so fucked and euthenasia is the norm. But here I am making a drinking game out of the comedy anime and casually ignoring all the child abuse and trauma all the characters go through - someone should write an analysis on that.

Mash forgives people way too easily - 'since u have feelings I guess ur not a shit person even if u crippled and thus sent to be euthanized a whole host of students.'

I love that Ron Weasley-s wand has barbed wire around it - it's so unnecessary.

Unironically I love Love, or whatever her name is. Reminds me of Teruhashi but less developed and I hope he does get more developedz.ź

"I think Mask Guy wants to eat cream puffs too" • A line you would only see from this show • *talking about a guy who is actively dying from being impaled*

Every single villain: and they failed to consider that... Mash was just built different.

Abel: my mother taught me morals. I forgot them for 10 years but now they're all coming rushing back to me after Mash suplexed me and gave me brain damage.

Rayne's reaction to the green haired shit is overboard to us and the main characters, there is no use in continuing to kick someone while they're down, but from his point of view he has probs had to deal with similar people over and over for his entire life and gotten bored of them double crossing him or something. Sidenote: i have never met a "Rayne" (that spelling or otherwise) that isn't genderqueer in some regard.

In universe they mention machine guns and bunting from baseball whÿyyyyyy .

Was this world Formerly the real world?

It happened in Tokyo Revengers too, but what's with characters being like "if u don't have anything to live for, live for me in servitude"? Like... u don't owe them ur life and death my dude. There are other things to live for than a maniacle megalomaniac

I love Mask Guy! And where the fuc is Lance? How long has Lance just been absent? Who the fuc is this random that appeared out of no where to tattle that Mash has no magic? Why is this show so fucking random?

Finally we r on season 2 and I get the fun opening - it has been in my brain since Jan when I first watched the op on youtube (Basement gang danced to it)

(Does anyone else pace to music? Or is it just me doing maladaptive daydreaming shit?) Blim blam blam blim blam blam blim blam blam boom.

Season 2 opens to: GASLIGHTING

Just the casual threat of euthanasia hanging over Mash's shoulders at all time.

Is 'blight-blood'a slur? That deffo counts as a slur. Worse than 'no-mage' at least.

Mash gave Mask Guy a handkerchief that healed him being impaled in the chest - and that was a pretty serious impalement. So why couldn't any of the school nurses help Ron Weasley?

Best line in the whole series: "forgive him, Abyss calls girls 'females' that's how little experience he has with them." 😂😭😂😭😂😭

It would have been fun if the blonde dude in season 2 was the dad of draco malfoy in season 1 - he isn't but it would have been fun if we got a return of the draco malfoy character humbled.

Tho he is incredibly powerful but no one respects him and I don't understand that.

*Mash does anything* - looks like magic to me!

Japanese dub: You're a (in english) NICE GUY Eng Subtites: you're hot stuff

Everything everyone does in this show is so unnecessary - what is it even for? (Sand guy I'm looking at u)

Okay but tell me that in an alternate universe the Divine Visionaries aren't just a harem anime with an aromantic Mash in the middle.

What Rayne says: I agree with the headmaster's opinion What Rayne means: my brother is weak and this no-mag accepted my bunnies

I find it interesting that Dumbledore has one line. U know he got more somewhere.

Can you have extra lines elsewhere? Like not ur face? On ur arse? Tramp stamp line?

WHERE is the government? Is it jus the Jesus ppl that are doing all this? Is the government the schoo?

Mash coming in like a caterilla will never mot be funny to me. My friend: "I feel like I've been witness to a crime."

I love the soundtrack. "It's so heavy that no one can lift it!" - I wonder where this is gonna go. Who fucking made it then?

OLIVER WOOD IS BACK! I forgot he existed.

Unpopular opinion: I like Margarette. I get that their design plays on tropes, but at the same time, people do be like that. Not like how Margrette acts but looks. Man really go told something opposing her worldview and then played the piano. But also she has the best lipstick. I would have preferred it if Margarette wasn't portrayed as creepy by thr characters around him, but I'm just happy to have a he/she/they character in a show I like. (Same Margarette same)

I don't think she is any more goofy than any other villain character in this show so far. I also don't think that the character is meant to be harmful. I can see why people might dislike her, especially considering past anime and the failed rep that ends up judt offensive, but to only see good trans rep as characters who "pass" and look gender conforming is harmful in itself. You can clearly see that Margarette is gender-non-conforming in his design, they are such an icon. Jawline doesn't determine the gender of the character! And I don't believe that Margarette is an "Okama" in any way of the word.

We support women's rights and their wrongs in this household.

"I'm not putting tartar sauce on my shrip... I'm putting shrimp on my tartar sauce." • My baby bro showed me this like 3 yrs ago in the manga and I didn't rlly know what he was on about until I started watching this awesome show.

I love the use of the soundtrack tho. I love Margarette but why is she like this? (I scream out when he starts playing the piano) why are the eyes rolled back 😭😭😭

Are they playing tabletop role play games!!! D60? Anyone? Skip 320 turns????? Wtf? Dnd would be a very different game is those where them rules. There is no way that fucking dice is a D100.

I love all the characters they are so goofy.

I feel so bad for finn rn in the tournament like - someone keep him safe!

Mash flatlined at the prospect of doing academic work - for half a second there he was fucking dead

Why is he breakdancing? I need therapy after this. I don't understand.HOW DID IT WORK!!!!

Is the odd guy actually chill? WHAT THE FUC? I thought Orca didn't matter. But the orca guy is hot at least - it's the hair for me. WHY R ALL THE HOT ONES EVIL! I like Rayne best tho.

Man got held back a year get fucked. I feel bad for the guy who helped Mash - I was so sus of him

Same Mash, I'm having a hard time retaining attention on the rules too 😭 All the sympathy left my body at the smashed crystals.

In the op Dumbledor is in a sheet. No top just a sheet covering his nips. Is anyone else seeing this?

I've been routing for fin the entire time tho - he has rayne's genes! FUCK YEA FINN - ugh. I wanted Finn to do something. Sorry I'm going back to Tokyo Revengers, but Takemichi being beaten and beaten and continously getting up and not relenting for his friends is so powerful, in comparison to Finn where it feels more like a damsel. I love Finn and I want him to get more powerful so we can get something badass out of him, but this episode was not it rlly. Not yet anyways.

Creepy wand alert! And I usually like anatomical hearts.

How did Mash just do that? That the fuc? U can't sculpt that with ur hands. I was almost expecting a Yor.

He's doing a Gaara - why the redhead doing a Gaara? Margareit being fucking horrifying rn. I know he is the bad guy, but that doesn't mean that they're the bad guy.

Not everyone underestimating my boi Rayne - they have proved themselves!

Sand fuck I'd called Madl? Mans name is fucking: Oter Madl?

We haven't had an opportunity to play the drinking game much season 2.

Mash: ah ur the guy who bullied me the other day Guy: want to play a little game? Alright jigsaw

THEYRE RIPPING OFF MY GOAT ITACHI!

"It's obvious ur attempting to guard something" wtf is wrong w mash - seriously. I love him but my god.

How does he do that? That's not something strength does??!! - built different.

Quadriceps magic - why even bother at this point. Everyone knows.

Mash's face: I didn't sign up for this shit

Margareit looks so cute with hair - idk how she did it but they look so cute with it. Her eyelashes tho!

Is Mash's ear his weakness? Same. When someone gets to close I feel a shiver and freeze up. It's the autism.

Margaret's power is actually pretty cool tho

GET UR FUCKING HANDS OFF OF MY SON! Dumbledore plz save him.

It's giving slightly more than creepy.

I was under suspicion that dumbledor was a natural triple liner... but oh my gosh. This is orochimaru shit.

The autism is strong with this one.

Mash's father is so wholesome!

This group is desestible

I will never forget that Mash named his individual muscles - its funny but also he was entirely alone his entire childhood so its kind of sad if I think about it

Ginger afro kid doing a Brock

I love that the school is called Easton - it's so generic English prep school.

Mash's gym clothes are just one with his body.

All the Jesus metaphors are in abundance with this show tho 😭

They're so fucking dramatic. All of them.

Sand guy is such a fucking loser tho.

Sidenote: who names their kid Cell War?

Woop woop necromancy! I would care more about any of this if they gave more screentime and build up to the villain characters, but ya I called it a long time ago and I'm not mad - it's a gag anime with casual euthanasia mentions, what more could u want?

Idk how to feel about 2-bit-merlin (who is literallt called Adam Jobs but is nothing like Steve Johs thank fuc) being silly goofy in the flashback but I love the design of the guy with the sharp teeth - I love me some sharp toothed character.

"It had the best specs" fr fr

Imagine being a bystander watching anime fights but not being able to hear the inner thoughts... they're just floating there

I didn't know they went Super Saiyan in Harry Potter!

In one shot it looked like Dumbledor had a hearing aid?

Wow I forgot that literally the entire school had just been frozen in time while the 7 jesus-chosen mages and the 3 first years that have no buisness being here are just fighting for their lives.

FATHER? WHO THE FUCK IS FATHER? WHY DID THIS TURN INTO FULL METAL ALCHEMIST ALL OF A SUDDEN? religion vs science (physical athleticism) is a theme? I guess??? Pushig it????

Is grindelwald "father" am I misreading this?

Wtf is going on. Mash deserves a nap but like... seriously? Mash is me, he thought it was a dream 😭

No one should wait for the monolouging to end. Just punch them. Mash has the right idea.

My place of learning. Oh no. - the autism is strong with this one.

ARE YOU FUCKIG KIDDING MEE WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENINB? This is a weird and unusual torture and Mash has never looked more like a psychopath.

Okay. That makes more sense. I was about to loose my shit. I love this show but what the fuc.

It's a good thing they taught us early on that if u K.O. someone all their magic attacks dissappear! /sarcasm.

I love that someone else has been traumatised by the creampuffs.

I'm so annoyed I sobered up before this episode. I needed to be drunker for that.

The ginger fuc turned up again! I love hos hid afro moves in the wind but I love moreso the blonde fuck's broom being so extra.

If it's to do with low magical power then why are the very powerful purple students effected?

Grindelwald is Dio now! Oh. Wait no. Grindelwald has Sundail (from epithet erased) Grindelwald looks so young compared to dumbledor as well so u know he's chasing immortality and doing some time shit to have effect skin and long fucking lashes. Such a twink. He is not daddy, he looks like sephiroth- the og hater. (Now I see it I can't unsee it)

Dmbedor is so cool in this, why can't actual dumbedor be the cool??? (Jk I hate jk and we all know why)

Oay Steve Jobs is growing on me. Adam Jobs is just me now w the animal facts; but I'm not a teacher and never would be.

Fucking called it. Why do they always do this? Like I know half ur face might die and decay after this fight but there is so much to live for - like being the only one stopping Mash from being euthanized rn.

Oh my god its biblically accurate gundam

Screw Netero with his Buddha, gimmie Dumbledor and his Uranus.

I wish this fight ficed everything going forward and all the future issues but its not gonna.

"No manner of attack can affect me who can control time" - what does that even mean? And you know that Mash is gonna pop up with no magic or smming later.

I love how just like the source material, dumbledor has his favourite gryffindors.

Whenever Oliver Wood pops up I get a jumpscare but also why was Dumbledor spying on children during their non-achool time? I know this is just random flashbacks but him saying "I was watching" and then giving us this implies he was spying and that's hilarious to me.

Conclusion: dumbledor and grindelwald fucked when they were teens. But not the romantic shit just the toxic two queer kids in a small town type shit.

Okay that was dramatic and all but I need the screen to just zoom out and show Mash kicking his legs to stay in the air.

Okay, okay, recap, now zoom out please. YESSSSSSSS. (Did dumbledor just say Mash was so awesome)

Dumbledor has short eyelashes but I like that one eye of eyelashes are burnt off with the injury from before.

Why is twink grindelwald doing that to his face?

Okay. Go Mash. Beat that twink up! His face cant be ruined any worse than what's currently goig on.

A perfect human. U ain't even human anymore bro.

Is grindelwald doing an orochimaru? Body stealing? Is that where this is going?

"I didn't think he could move that much" - HE IS LITERALLY CONTINOUSLY KICKIG AT AIR TO KEEP HIMSELF AFLOAT - what r u on about????

"We'll finish this another time" - no get back here bitch! Stab him while his back is turned!!!

What is with wizard megalomaniacs and wanting to get rid of education? I mean heck I'm not complaining, he education system leaves a lot to be desired irl let alone in this fucked up world.

Flop.

"We won't make it in time" - I wonder who will (I don't wonder. I have never had to. But I still feel the hype whenever Mash enters)

He's just built different.

I mean I wouldn't call it "playing" but sure. Also the students are so fucking ungrateful to even even be questioning Mash's acceptance. He has literally just saves ur lives, why do you even have to ponder this?

Blood don't splash like that.

Gaaraa moves afain! - I love to see Sand Tomb being reused in great anime.

They enjoy some down time dont get me wrong, but I'm getting some whiplash at the tone change all of a sudden.

One failed exam and your immediately expelled??? That's so harsh. I sympathise hard w Mash rn, the education system sucks and exams are even worse 😭

Mash isn't rebellious in the slightest! "It seems like you can put effort in when you need too" stfu, this is ableist, he isn't lazy!!!

Omg it's Oliver Wood again. I forgor he existed.

Lackmagic? Blightblood? That's worse than Muggle - which come from the word "Mug" which is a gullibal person (derogatory)

One pretty girl cab instantly quiet a horde apparently. Wow. Well it is anime.

"Catching someone who can't use magic is child's play" - famous last words from a cocky dipshit

Why is his chin like that tho? Why are his lips like a cat's?

I just want to grab Mash and explain how much better a person he is than the vast majority of the ppl in this world. It's kinda like Iruma-kun where the MC is in a world where he is so kind that everyone is just confused as to why.

[m4gp13]

Okay time to talk about Al's hero complex and Ethan's martyr complex more in-depth because I love it so much <3

Al's hero complex is pretty obvious. He thinks he's Katniss Everdeen fighting a valiant battle against the Capitol because no one told him he's not the main character. He sees himself and those who agree with him as the Heroes (tm) while any who oppose them are the Villains of Unrivalled Evil because obviously his people wouldn't be fighting them if they were anything less. Al definitely has the overwhelming optimistic approach of a heroic paragon who believes it's impossible for him to fail because he's the good guy and good guys always win (Ladies, Gentlemen and Assorted Genders I would now like to direct your attention to "heroes never die, right?"). Which is how he ended up getting the remainder of his army massacred because he wouldn't accept defeat and pushed them on for a last-ditch attempt at victory. He's willing to sacrifice his people for the greater good, and in this way he and Percy are like the inverse of "Villains will sacrifice the world to save their loved ones, heroes will sacrifice their loved ones to save the world."

Al was the most powerful child of Hecate and as such was chosen to lead the rest of her children into battle. For such a young guy, this probably gave him a sense of grandeur, importance and self-respect which translates well into him seeing himself as the hero of his story. He had Luke and his propaganda to look up to, Mt Othrys to run things from and the Princess Andromeda to help things along, as well as a swarm of younger demigods who saw him as a hero. Now I'm not saying it all got to his head but that is pretty much what I'm saying. There's also Hecate, who is a pretty loving mother all things considered and was helping and supporting Alabaster and her children all the way through the war. With her encouragement exacerbating Al's self-righteousness instead of giving him a reality check, his hero complex could only grow until it made the Al we see in Son of Magic. He has lost everything and has never been in a worse place but he is still so sure of himself and his own moral superiority.

Ethan's martyr complex is a little more subtle but it's there if you're looking. My guy sacrificed his eye to his mother and was A-Okay with the arrangement. He was asked, from a very young age, to go through a lot of short-term physical pain with the result of a long-term disability in order to make a change in the world, which he agreed to. So he already doesn't think too highly of himself which is a great start! His mother uses him as a vehicle for her goals and he is aware of this and consenting to it. He has already relegated his own life as a tool for someone else. And then there's the arena battle in the labyrinth where he was very quick to offer Percy his own head on a platter. He was thinking very pragmatically at the time. He didn't seem to care much about "holy shit I'm going to die" and was instead just thinking "If he kills me then I die but if he spares me then we'll both die 2-1=1 so if we go with the first option then that will be one less death" HE DOESN'T GIVE A FUCK. His own life is something he can step back from, view in the context of the bigger picture and figure out how detrimental the loss of it would be to everything else going on around him. And then to further prove my point the last thing he ever does in the series is actually martyr himself to stop Kronos from ruining his mother's plans. Way to make it easier for me buddy.

As for how he ended up like this, his mother is fucking Nemesis. A hero complex and a martyr complex run antiparallel to each other with the key difference being that a hero will do whatever it takes to succeed while a martyr is all too happy to throw their life away for The Cause. In the eyes of a young child desperate to please his mother who is known for harshly punishing the prideful and arrogant of the world, being a hero who desires personal success and glory would be far too egotistical, and in order to be a hero his mother would approve of, he must be entirely selfless about it. She would despise anything else.

[azquine]

Can I get something on the JoanFK tag that ISN'T just complaining? It is ok to be feeling shit that things went badly in the show, but do you have to tag that negativity on the ship? The negativity is all that there is to see whenever I try to interact with the show and it's making me feel horrible.

I've been in far worse fandoms, and they didn't make me feel this bad.

It all feels so puritanical, like you have forgotten what a teen drama parody entails. Did you forget that they were ALL assholes in the first season who backstabbed and did shitty things to eachother for their own selfish gain? You are applying pretty strict rules of morality onto characters who intrinsically must break those rules to allow the narratives of their genre to move.

This was a short kiss, the result of feelings that JFK and Harriet had actively been trying to avoid for the sake of Joan. This could have been resolved by open communication, but that's not how either drama shows OR stupid hormonal teens work. After making this mistake, they did the most responsible and moral thing they could have and confessed it literally within the same episode as soon as Joan would not, you know, DIE as a result.

All things considered, it wasn't a secret relationship, it wasn't sex, it wasn't a long term secret held until it accidentally spills out and ruins everything. It could have been SO much worse, it was none of my worst fears, and I'm honestly relieved a kiss was where it stopped. And I am also really glad they confessed to quickly because I HATE liar revealed plots more than ANYTHING and I probably would have stopped watching. If they were going to do this plotline it was the best case scenario for me.

And do you know what is even better? What should be the bare minimum but is actually pretty rare in dramas from my experience? Neither of them tried to mitigate Joan's reaction, to say she was overreacting or to dance around the issue to make it sound better beyond a truthful 'we felt nothing'. Joan was allowed the space to fully process the information and her emotions, even if through a montage. And damn I wish I saw that more often.

As for those saying JFK would need a redemption for what he has done- does being open and honest about his wrongdoings not do that pretty succinctly? Beyond having not done it at all what else do you want? Pretty puritanical to want him to suffer before he can be forgiven.

And granted, Harriet got plenty of unjustified hate before she had even done anything, but post-kiss most of the discussion and anger I have seen has been directed solely at JFK. Harriet was part of that kiss too, knowingly going against her friend. Why is the romantic relationship deemed worse to betray? Both of them did a stupid thing together, and fixed it together.

And I'm not saying Joan putting all the consequence on Abe is justified, he didn't do shit wrong either, he tried to keep his friend alive in a tricky situation.

All of your feelings are valid, and I do see why the dominant opinion is what it is. Cheating is an awful thing to do and you should not be with someone you do not trust, I cannot refute that.

Yet at the same time, I felt it was important to put forward some differing points that I had been having. This show will not be enjoyable if we hold a position of being negative and moralistic. To some extent there has to be an acceptance that this is a fiction and moral failings are often part of a narrative structure.

(And while many of you have legitimate critiques on the execution of the show, it feels like some of you are taking the 'thing done badly because I don't like it' route)

I really hope nobody takes this as me trying to enforce cheating or to say that JFK and Harriet kissing was ok. It was shitty of them to do in the first place, but they are not morally irredeemable. Teen do stupid bad thing is not new. I'm also not interested in having an argument over this, I get caught up far too easily in that so I won't be answering any replies or asks. It is fine if you disagree, I'm here to propose a counterpoint.

Sorry if this was repetitive or lengthy. It just felt like I had to get it out there despite it being the early hours of the morning.

[androgynouspenguinexpert]

babe wake up androgynouspenguinexpert posted another character analysis from the train during her finals week because she's banned herself from drawing anything new

its time to tackle vega, because he's cool.

all of the characters carry a unique narrative theme or motif - the importance of self worth for gavin, impostor syndrome for asher, consent and control for marcus, etc. vega's theme is one of, if not my favourite: nature vs nurture, learned behaviour, and the morality of necessary evil.

vega doesn't start out as a moustache-twirling villain, but he's certainly hurting people for selfish reasons. however - the line between right and wrong starts to blur even across vega's first few appearances. as he points out himself later, vega has essentially created a closed loop of suffering to feed from. yeah, he got someone roofied and kidnapped, which is bad, but he's limited his victims to two people. ivan and baby. there's even a case to be made about baby's safety - ivan is volatile and incredibly dangerous (breaking either glass or ceramic with his bare hands???), but we never see him physically harm baby other than restraining them.

vega's age (pin this) has granted him an incredible level of experience and therefore intellect. he's probably the smartest piece on the board right now, save maybe for brachium (but he's sort of on a board of his own anyway). vega knows exactly what he is. he feeds on suffering and agony, and there's nothing that can change that. equipped with this knowledge, vega has managed to streamline the production of agony without really getting his hands dirty, and basically guaranteed the survival of both people involved.

then in comes caelum. he accidentally discovers vega's operation, and immediately runs to freelancer for help. vega proceeds to kick the shit out of caelum for snitching, and almost kills him. again, this is bad. i'm definitely not defending vega's actions here - but think of it from his point of view: he's set up a way of passively producing agony and is minding his own business. a daemon who is 24 (at time of writing) stumbles across this, and immediately threatens to shut it down as well as get him arrested. that's like a toddler walking in on a meth lab and running to the cops. vega probably could drop everything and relocate to avoid the department, but that would take a lot more time and effort than just soccer kicking the toddler over a fence. so he tries, and fails, because gavin steps in. gavin being able to overpower vega - despite being potentially hundreds of thousands of years younger - speaks to the inefficiency of vega's agony system, and he's smart enough to be well aware of that. agony (in a relatively nice part of california, anyway) isn't really a renewable resource like lust or joy are. harming someone, whether physically or otherwise, enough to fuel vega for any significant amount of time would either permanently damage or kill that person. that's not sustainable.

and then vega gets arrested. the human government asks a being probably older than civilisation to pinkie promise he'll stay in a little concrete box for a while. vega explains later that he doesn't believe in unnecessary violence - unless he decides that it is necessary, i guess - so he probably went along with his arrest fairly peacefully. there's another analysis in here somewhere about where (or from whom...?) the department learned its containment methods, considering they haven't really figured out aria yet.

but anyway - vega gets tossed into maximum security. and even from behind the ward, he's finding subtle (and less subtle) ways to stir the pot, especially with his new department-assigned therapist (another quick aside that's too good for the tags; did anyone else find it super fucking funny that vega's first real friend on elegy is his therapist?). i think vega feels neutral about elegy, leaning ever so slightly towards liking it, but he knows what he is. a demon. vega never was, and never will be, human. that's why he never audibly speaks (which is a fantastic detail) - he's rejecting the most basic form of modern human communication. language. yes, he knows english, but he's probably never spoken a single word out loud. vega's fear of daemons growing away from their roots is also why he starts testing for cracks in the warden's façade - he's worried that daemons are starting to assimilate a little too much. they're losing their identity as a separate species, and losing sight of the sacrifices made during the cacophony. and he's right - the cacophony has entirely faded into myth. his suffering and loss has now been turned into a fable; a cautionary tale about dealing with forces beyond our control.

next is the escape, which is both interesting and sick as hell. vega proves that he's not a fan of violence for the sake of violence by mincing some solitaires, tossing an unconscious warden over his shoulder, and escaping the detention facility. this is vega's first real selfless action. he definitely could have left the warden to the solitaires, but chooses to save them because of their compassion towards him. this shows a little of vega's internal struggle - he's never been around unconditional like, let alone love, because he doesn't need to. he needs to be unlikeable. manipulative. cutthroat. these are the things that keep him safe, but more importantly fed. we know from his imperium counterpart (who will eventually be getting a post of his own) that vega wants to be wanted. as much as he denies it and dodges the topic when it's brought up, vega is not intrigued by the warden because he can toy with them. he's drawn to them because they're willing to understand. they're hesitant, but for now they're giving vega the benefit of the doubt. he's never been given that before.

he also starts to wear down the warden's already fragile sense of morality with the kidnapped department officer. although his methods are very questionable, vega is correct again when he explains that he doesn't really have a choice. he won't hurt the guard, and the guard can't hurt him or the warden, but will keep spewing out hate that vega can feed on for the forseeable future. he's killing two birds with one stone as well - the warden is an inchoate. it's far easier for vega to track down (read: kidnap) one racist than to juggle the emotional intake of two people.

i don't think vega is just trying to break the warden out of their department mould for the sake of shenanigans, nor does he want to return to the glory days - vega knows that humanity and daemonkind are now inseperable after the imprisonment of the sovereigns.

he just doesn't want daemons - genuinely good people trying to make the best of a not fantastic situation - to lose sight of what they are. what they used to be. not anarchists, or pawns for the department. starchildren.

forgive me. i tend to wax poetic.

[c6jpg]

okay okay arlecchino story quest thoughts

overall i liked it but mainly the whole duel sequence which was fucking awesome but some points that bugged me:

the release of arlecchino's animated short basically spoiling the entire story quest

mentioned in the tags of my previous post but yeah i think the story quest would have been a lot more... idk interesting? revealing? if the animated short had been released after this patch/story quest. you basically spend the entire first half of the story quest already knowing the "twist" and have to watch literally everyone else figure it out which is never really engaging nor fun story telling.

like you KNOWWW arlecchino is not "that evil" and you KNOWWWWW all these atrocities were from the previous knave so seeing literally everybody go through these theatrics is a little. sigh. idk. like i was just waiting to get to the boss fight bc i knew the corresponding cutscenes would be awesome (and they were) and getting random fatui insider knowledge was fun i enjoyed having what was effectively seeing arlecchino and childe in the office break room but we didn't really learn anything we didn't already know

also. arlecchino is hardly the first but it really is just kinda. sigh when you basically get a whole scene of the character explaining their OWN tragic backstory. once again genshin fails to show not tell

freminet

i know a lot of people are upset about the freminet timeline. honestly idc at this point i'll suspend my belief whatever yadda yadda but i do think it was a cop out for freminet to have like. not at least been SUSPICIOUS that clervie was possibly talking about the previous knave just because crucabena "didn't talk about it and all the experiments ended" by the time he joined the house

like he spent a significant time with clervie (half a month right?) trying to help her out and even if clervie was "a child stuck in the past" she wasn't exactly trying to hide anything and they ALL knew she was some sort of ghost or maybe something tied to memories/leylines. and he KNEW crucabena so i'm just like. a little aghast he didn't have any damn idea like at least make him suspicious right so he and the traveler can join heads and be like "hmmmmmmm something is not right here HMMMMMMMMM" like if you are SO sure arlecchino isn't "that kind of person" (ig this was more lyney saying this but still) wouldn't you consider maaaaaaaaaaaybe the previous knaves were?

there was a single moment when they were at the table sharing intel that freminet was "lost in thought" and i think that would have been a fantastic moment for freminet to be the star and voice his suspicious but we got literally nothing from that.

honestly just disappointed freminet didn't do more in the story tbh. the trailer was really hyping him up to literally change the game lol

the results of the duel

i mean we saw it coming we knew she was gonna spare those children somehow. idrk how to describe it like on one hand yes would be nice to have more morally fucked up characters and its a little disappointing that arlecchino isn't "that bad" she's actually super normal all things considering (childe fucking LIED) on the other hand i don't necessarily hate this is the way they made her character? but the result of the duel still felt like a huge cop out lmao like it was basically an indirect "your resolve towards family impressed me so i'll let them live" which was exactly how i didn't want this to be resolved but also don't know how they would have done it otherwise

arlecchino's curse/flames/????????

GIRL CAN YOU ELABORATE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE i know it has to do with her being part of some khaenrian (?) bloodline or something but lajdksfldjflads can you elaborate what do you mean your flames can be extracted and burn memories we're just all gonna take that and run with it huh

anyways.

regardless i loved the main battle cutscene in her boss form. loved that bit where she blocked freminet and lynette's dual attack and was like "sorry for what? this pitiful excuse for an attack?" i was banging my fist on the table i loved that bit sooooooooooo fucking much dear god

ending cutscene was expected and bittersweet but i liked it a lot as well. really the graphics and me just really liking arlecchino saved this quest for me LOL i think it has a lot of plot holes compared to other story quests but also a much more interesting story (bar is in hell) although you're guaranteed to get some sort of lore with a weekly boss but anyways it averages out to being a pretty okay but not spectacular story quest 👍 maybe like a 6/10, would have rated it higher if the animated short didn't spoil everything

[camelliagwerm]

SIX CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS — VALERIUS DRAGAVEI

Both @halkuonn and @dragonologist-phd suggested Valerius, so Valerius it is. Explanations are under the cut. Art is from @swordcoasts

BILLY FLYNN (CHICAGO, 2002)

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the silver tongued prince of the court room - the Emcee, All I Care About Is Love

When I think corrupt lawyers, two come to mind: Saul Goodman and Billy Flynn. And because I'm in the process of watching Breaking Bad but haven't come across Saul yet, I can't add him to the list retroactively. But I can add Billy; I think about the line "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the silver tongued prince of the court room" a lot for Valerius once I'd established that he had been a criminal lawyer before he became an antipaladin of Urgathoa, and I realised that in his lawyer days, Camellia is exactly the sort of client he would have taken on in another life - it felt...eerily reminiscent of Billy Flynn to me, especially since towards the end of his career, he had a near 100% success rate because of his vampiric charms, and not because he actually did well at the University of Lepidstadt (he would've actually failed several classes, had he not done some stuff that is between him and Urgathoa), and very rarely did he care about his clients in the same way Billy doesn't care about his.

SORIN MARKOV (MTG, SPECIFICALLY INNISTRAD: CRIMSON VOW, 2021)

"It's always morally correct to steal from WOTC" - me, circa 2021 as I left my last job.

So if you feel like you've seen that picture before, it's because it was. For the longest time, I've been using Sorin Markov ala Innistrad: Crimson Vow as a portrait for Valerius, and that's because around the same time that WOTR came out and my son came to be, Crimson Vow was in its pre-release cycle. Now, I used to work in a WPN (Wizards' Premium Network) store, so MTG pre-releases were always our busiest periods. I injured my feet shifting stock for this Godforsaken deck, and so once I settled on Valerius as my WOTR pc and was taking medical leave until the end of my contract, I decided that the least WOTC could do was provide the portrait for my handsome dhampir lad as reparations lmao. Of course, Valerius' appearance has varied and strayed, so he's a not one to one copy (and I wouldn't want him to be <3) but including Sorin felt correct. Sorry, buddy, you're Valerius to me now.

(Though, both Valerius and Sorin have dedicated a great portion of their lives to their whims and pleasure, leading them to have a detachment, confidence and seeking out new experiences for the novelty and diversions.)

SAREVOK ANCHEV (BALDUR'S GATE 1, 1998)

Your death is inevitable.

The Sarevok I'm referring to for this is exclusively in the original game — on paper, Valerius and Sarevok have enough similarities that I consider him a retroactive inspiration: they both utilise an extremely similar combat style that combines the art of intimidation, strength, cruelty and brutality on the battlefield that seeks to control and paralyse enemies, as well as deal hard-hitting blows. Deathbringers and Tyrants, at least, can have that in common. They both can be seen as a deity of death's Special Boy (Sarevok, as Bhaal's strongest progeny; Valerius, who believes himself Urgathoa's favourite antipaladin) before a fall from grace or death proves them otherwise, and both of them cause widespread panic and chaos through the iron shortages / string of Bhaalspawn murders and Valerius killing what was left of Mendev's royal line and subsequently breaking Drezen from its sovereignty.

GOMEZ ADDAMS (THE ADDAMS FAMILY, 1991 & 1993)

To mirth, to merriment… to manslaughter.

I'd say Valerius is a little bit of an evil variant of Gomez in his own way. Both are madly in love with their tall, dark-haired wives (and can be exceptionally jealous if someone else was to flirt with them), regularly smoke cigars (for Valerius it's not so much about the hit itself, since tobacco doesn't really do anything for him, but more the act of it and the level of sociability that comes with smoking - e.g. with Greybor), skilled at swordsmanship, and would harm anyone that would endanger their children.

VLAD DRACULA III (BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, 1992)

I love you too much to condemn you.

As inaccurate as this movie is at times, I actually love Gary Oldman's Dracula and a bit of him did rub off on Vali. A Church Militant type, fighting for a God(dess), born from an ancient, prestigious line; who falls either because or in part of the love for their partner - Vlad because he was told Elisabeta's soul was damned , Valerius because he refused to damn Camellia's to ascend - and a perceived Fallen Hero from the eyes of the Church and the Fifth Crusade respectively.

Both also have, ahem, exceptional prowess (judging by dialogue), are considered well-dressed, attractive (at least in Vlad's younger form), and they even both share the tears of blood.

EDWARD HYDE (JEKYLL & HYDE, 1990)

I have an adversary steeped in sin — Henry Jekyll, Streak of Madness

What better inspiration of Valerius' most base desires is there than the personification of a man's? Edward Hyde serves as a way for Henry Jekyll to indulge in his desires, pursue what he would not otherwise engage in - soliciting sex, committing murder, and generally not depriving himself of anything. It reminds me a lot of Valerius' own hedonistic tendencies, and how he tends to corrupt or encourage others' base desires around him — life is short, and one day we shall all meet our inevitable ends in the form of death, so seize life has to offer and do not deprive yourself. Indulge.

[neurotonic]

Do you have any sort of hypothetical 'bad end' for any of your OCs? A future for them that leads to tragedy, despite their attempts? Not that it needs to be 'bad' morally mind you. Mamba is a villain, so their bad end would probably spell good for the Agency, and et cetera

It's definitely not something I think about a lot, nope! But this did make me think about the possible bad endings these characters could get.

Discussion of death and a brief mention of depression under the cut

Death is an easy answer, but I couldn't think of anything else worse than death for Mina and Starling. Mina's death would especially domino into a bigger political problem due to her already high-profile status and family connections, which is something she'd been trying to avoid all this time. If there's one thing she hates, it's getting other people involved in problems she made. To involve the bigger world into this, with her last act (dying) is definitely. the worst !

Starling dying early would prevent him from achieving his dreams of being a hero. To die in vain is an even bigger salt to the wound, because his death wouldn't even be considered helpful. This one is Still in the works, and I'm trying to decide whether Starling does die early on in the story.

Marshall's would be somewhat connected to these two. She's been working her ass off to prevent any more unnecessary deaths in the field after seeing the horrors of being viewed like a tool instead of a person. If she failed to save anyone in this story, she'd be devastated beyond belief. I think she'd just quit and fall into a deep depression. She could still stand up, but it will take a lot of time for her to really make peace with the fact that she failed.

Dr. Schaden is a bit more interesting...His bad end would be becoming a supervillain exactly like Dr. Zor. It feels a little odd, since Schaden wanted to be a world-renowned supervillain, so why not follow the footsteps of a master? My main thing with him is that he's a villain-to-be with morals. He has standards. He loves the villain industry but it could be a little better if the boss knew how to appreciate their henchmen. Dr. Zor is someone he...doesn't end up looking up to, and in fact he's using their techniques as guidelines of not what to do. I like the idea that he's genuinely a pretty nice guy, but he has all the ability to manipulate and lie and commit psychological warfare to anyone if he wanted to. He's knowledgeable in that field, but he chooses not to. If he lost what he valued the most...that's no longer Schaden.

Mamba's a bit simpler. I think not getting any closure with Phoenix would be the worst case scenario for her. It's already tearing her up from the inside out. Ironically, if she does kill Phoenix without talking about...Everything, she has effectively doomed herself into an unsatisfying existence. she'll never get the answers she actually wanted to hear from them. To continue living instead of dying feels a little more tragic, because then she doesn't even get the relief of not thinking about it anymore when she dies.

[championofravens]

My problem with Risen doesn't even start with Crow, it starts with Saladin's story and his little "moral." He's asked to stop a thief (when thieving was punishable by death), finds that a little girl was the culprit, and shows her mercy. Good.

But all he does is give her an extremely vague platitude before slaughtering her "caretakers," then goes on his merry way.

Mercy wasn't the problem in this situation, because people do deserve second chances! Things could have turned out differently if he'd put slightly more effort in, because ultimately the only thing he gave to her was a moral compass that said might makes right and something vague about wolves.

He left a literal child to fend for herself during one of humanity's darkest ages and had the audacity to call that mercy simply because he didn't kill her. How am I supposed to take this seriously as a moral lesson?

So, I read this aloud to my husband in the car during a drive. As soon as I finished, he told me he completely I agreed. I told him he was stupid. But we hashed it out for a good chunk of the drive and I really felt like we nailed some new points of contention with Bungee overall.

1. You *are* right. Both in recalling the canon events and the logical frustration of Saladin's actions. Because yeah. Why didn't he save that little girl? Why didn't he take her... anywhere else? Do anything else? Why were the only paths he saw before him to kill her or leave her? And that's when my husband relayed his frustration to me of Destiny's recent dichotomy issue in storytelling. Nothing rests outside it. The story presents a good option and a bad option which must be taken urgently over and over again with little desire to consider third options. Further more, we both agreed it would have been MUCH more in character for Saladin to have done something else! Something much more helpful! And this is an issue with has infected every aspect of Destiny's seasonal storytelling since (imo, it's most obvious with how Eramis is treated in the seasons that come after)

2. So, why did I disagree so strongly when I read your ask the first time? Yeah I'm a Saladin enjoyer but I'm also terminally INTJ pilled. I bow to logic and canon. I think my issue was that I felt it was... cheating. To even put forth the idea that Saladin could have done something else. Because the dichotomy. If you question any bit of seasonal storytelling with "why not just do something else?" a lot falls apart really fast. It's like watching a romcom and pointing out the obvious miscommunication. You are not WRONG but I feel like if you enjoy Destiny at all, you have to suspend your belief in certain ways or you start to pick at too many threads. Unravelling the tapestry.

3. But back on track- if you are right, if you are saying that the real moral was "Saladin failed in continuing the violent cycle of might makes right"

.......

THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT?

What does that have to do with mind reading Hive Guardians. What does Saladin failing a human child by adhering to barbaric justice have to do with Crow bumbling his way into killing a guy so he can turn off a machine? What does this moral have to do with Season of the Risen??? What was the fucking point of any of this. I'm tired.

4. This still proves Saladin shoulda just killed her, hilariously. Like yeah you've convinced me what he did was fucked up. Shame third choices don't exist in Destiny. GUESS SHE'S GOTTA GO!!!!!

[seventeenlovesthree]

I’ve been kind of in a downturn spiral about this pairing so I think I need another pair of eyes to see it for me.

It seems to me like the Takeru Iori DNA digivolving partner schemeta is basically the leftovers. I get the others. And basically Iori does detective work or lawyer research to learn about Takeru and his past.

And I get it. Takeru’s hatred for darkness and Iori wanting to understand. And then Takeru gives him the nod and it just kind of works.

Yet, I try to look for evidence beyond 02. Aside from positioning and partnering I am just trying to find aside from this how much better friends they are because of it.

Daisuke and Ken are close friends. Stay in touch a lot and grow feeding off Ken’s reasoning and Daisuke’s optimism. Hikari and Miyako also have grown closer. Miyako helps Hikari find her voice and become more sociable I would say and more honest with herself and Hikari does the same. They both balance each other when one of them gets too hurt. They need harsh friendly rebuke you could say.

And then, there is Takeru and Iori. Just what is there? Aside from their age gaps I see potential for what their could be, but since 02 even though it’s a small sample size and even from the bonus Kizuna meeting with all the 02 Digidestined I fail to see how the two of them have grown as friends.

Perhaps it’s not seeing things in black and white from a righteous or moral perspective. Or maybe Iori just loosening up? But you know I would not attribute that to Takeru. I would give that credit to Jou, Koushirou and even Ken.

I wonder what you think about this. It might be another of my Takari pairing excuses but I am open to understand how Takeru and Iori have strengthened each other and become better friends.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, this had taken a while, because I wasn't in the best headspace to add anything of quality to your points, since I feel like you have already summarized the majority of what their bond contains.

I had once tried to outline their relationship here - mostly platonically, but also with the potential romantic angle, since that was the essence of the game. The problem they have is: their initial set-up is incredibly solid, because they parallel and contrast each other perfectly. In theory. Because practically, you could tell the series didn't have enough time to elaborate on them the same way it did for Daisuke/Ken and Miyako/Hikari.

To summarize it once again: Takeru was the youngest member in his group and was afraid to be an immature burden - whereas Iori is very mature for his age, but still afraid to make mistakes while also being the youngest in the group. You can tell he looks up to Jyou, Koushirou AND Takeru for similar and different reasons. And him and Takeru in particular start off with a very black-and-white'ish thinking, which makes sense if you consider their familial backgrounds and trauma that may be linked with it. And yes, Iori craves to learn more about and understand Takeru's mood changes, his emotional outbursts. And like I pointed out in the post above, Takeru COULD have projected a lot more onto Iori, but mainly chose to uphold his brotherly mask towards him - so in a way, he WAS projecting, acting like how he thinks a big brother should behave without belittling him. To some degree, that is endearing, because Takeru may need someone he can spoil a bit. On the other hand it never really seems to go deeper than that, because he is not able to fully open up yet. Neither to Iori nor to anybody else. Which is a shame, because in return, after 02, it doesn't seem like Iori is taking note from Takeru either - as you said, that role goes to several other characters.

Looking at The Beginning once again, there isn't anything I could add to it, because the only notable scene between Takeru and Iori - is them just deciding that it's time to Jogress.

Their bond doesn't seem particularly deep, there is no indication that they spend much time on their own together outside of the general group meetings. And while Takeru definitely has become more contemplative and less aggressive in the face of emergency... Iori hasn't changed notably. And once again, we may blame the lack of screentime for that, but aside from being reasonable, exasperated and/or sassy, there wasn't much you could even say about Iori in general, which is a shame. (I was planning to make a compilation post for him in The Beginning and I may not even hit the picture limit... I seriously missed his kind, compassionate side here, but just like with Koushirou, the work-a-holic trope they assign to them takes a lot of their softness away, which annoys me a lot.)

It's similar to what I tend to say about characters like Sora - they don't really know what to do with all their characters and how to depict their bonds and changes. The movie was focusing on other relationships - for example, Hikari and Miyako didn't interact much there, so they don't appear to be particularly close anymore either, since Miyako was completely focused on Ken (and Daisuke in extension). Long story short, I'd say that Takeru and Iori as a duo always got the shortest end of the stick.

[relaxxattack]

hey, so i still havent read knifetrick yet, but i saw the post you reblogged about it being about capitalism's treatment of disabled people. im aware that this is just one interpretation of your work, but did you consciously make decisions about what messages to send within your story? did you purposefully include imagery or motifs or references or anything else to create a particular theme or idea?

im wondering because im making my own story, and im curious about what others put into theirs. i have a few key ideas i want to send with it, so i'm trying to tie all my characters and their arcs and the symbols and everything in my story to it. my brand of autism tends towards the "everything MUST have a logic to it!" and this is an obvious influence on it, but i still also think it's worth putting a lot of thought into it because theyre ideas i really care about. i want curious readers to be able to look into my story and see how it all ties together, and i want to impart messages of compassion onto my general audience as well. i think that all art has messages within it, whether personal or otherwise, and by being aware of what those are you can create a stronger and more cohesive story. at least thematically. if that is what someone wants to do, of course.

i know knifetrick is a story you started for fun. there is absolutely value in that (in your own joy) and i dont think art without intentional purposes or messages is inferior in any way. but did you ever get an idea for an overarching message in your mind, and implement it? its cool if you didnt, or if you did but dont want to say what it is too btw lol. im kinda just looking for the experience & thoughts another author had with their own thing. (i am very nervous sending this ask. i hope i dont sound like im jumping the gun.)

do not feel bad for asking this question, i'm always down to talk about my written works, even if it takes me a bit to collect my thoughts and figure out a response. yes, the truth is i went into knifetrick from the start with a lesson/moral i wanted to explore and teach. a fun fact about me is that i have several younger siblings, who are often being taught things i personally don't agree with. having conversations with them about what is really "right" or "moral" is awkward and not really doable. but stories and characters have always been a good and safe way for us to have this discussion-- why did this character do that thing, what makes this bad guy bad, and so on. this is why with writing i don't just like to tell a story, but i also like to teach a lesson. as patronizing as that sounds, i kind of just think it's pleasing when stories have a good moral behind them. although they don't need to for me to enjoy them. but back to the actual topic, yes. i did intentionally choose to explore the idea of capitalism's failure of certain groups of people in my story. that is what the main plot is actually wrapped around-- there's the obvious struggle with the main character, ran. he is physically and mentally disabled, he is treated differently than his peers. in a way he is fed from a young age the idea that the only way he can be considered equal to everyone else is to have a use to other people; to be the hardest working member of the order. his society encourages this worldview so that they can take advantage of him, but they don't actually care about him at all. they would discard him if he stopped being useful to them. the second example of this is the other main character, jackie. jackie's society also failed to take care of him-- he was orphaned, and then immediately lacked a support system of any kind, personal or governmental. he turned to a life of crime to make ends meet and repress his emotions, but all that did was eventually make his severe depression worse and manifest itself in a lot of anger issues and lashing out. by the time ran meets jackie, he's attempting to turn over a new leaf and take this opportunity he's been given to make an honest living; jackie cares a great deal about the people around him. the missing children are failed by society in the fact that they go missing in the first place, and nobody has bothered to try and find them (although the blame for that rests mainly on watson's shoulders, seeing as he tricked the king into thinking that was being solved). scoots and clem are failed by society as well- scoots is denied the job she actually wants to have due to her disability, and they are very poor. obviously this is made worse when clem goes missing, and since no one else is doing anything, scoots stops working to look for her sister. possibly the most obvious examples i can think of are maia snail and laggius maximus. maia's children are both autistic, with one of the two showing much more severe symptoms than the other. she's dealt with this in the way she best can as a mother, which is give them things they can comfortably work on to get their energy out and be helpful without having to do anything they don't like. society fails them as well, in that laggius is killed in the pit. but the more important part of their story is something snail tells ran: "i would have loved my brother even if he was never useful a day in his life, because he deserves it". essentially all throughout knifetrick, especially through ran, we are shown this idea of usefulness as equivalent to worth; i.e. how capitalism teaches us to view ourselves. we are shown how faulty of a system that is through the various characters. eventually ran realizes that he does not actually have to do anything useful to be worthy of existence, comfort, or love, and that is the sort of “end moral” of the narrative. ran ditches the council, showing that he knows his own worth and refuses to be tied to people who only ever hurt him, and then jackie helps the king start to reform subbin’s systems so that less people will fall through the cracks as he did.

so yes, that is essentially how i explored the idea of capitalism failing disabled people through knifetrick. there’s likely more stuff that i forgot but that’s what i remember off my head right now. anything anyone else sees in knifetrick about this topic is probably fair as well, death of the author and all that. this is what i intended while writing but other people might have seen more things in other characters that i didn’t think of too hard.

i hope that helps.

(bonus: firefox completely froze while i was at the end of this ask and made me fear for my fucking life. it took so much waiting and minimizing the program before i could safely save this to my drafts and then close firefox. terrifying.)

[divinequo]

It's not about assembling a healthy relationship it's about what you think would be interesting to watch and boy when I tell you it would be interesting to watch Glam and Ches fail at homosexuality I mean that. Their gay divorce would have a bodycount. Lacho vibes. Disaster ensues.

That absolutely is a fair point, I can see what you mean by disaster, I feel like they both would be incredibly awkward towards each other and fail at trying to do basically romantic stuff lmao

What I meant was a bit more serious though

(TW for Dr*g mentioned and ab*$3 implied)

From what we've seen both are extremely mentally unstable, especially glam in what is shown from his side of the story, I deeply apologize to all chesglam enjoyers (that includes myself as well) but truth is that ches is ignorant, selfish, reckless, and distraction driven, while glam is manipulative, controlling, unpredictable with his emotions, anger issues, etc, both of them are horrible to others at times (I'm not sure who is worse considering I don't have all their 'moral crimes' on a list ofc) but to be brutally honest, they're both bad people, everyone in this show is almost, (with the exception of heavy and lif) but we love them all BECAUSE its realistic, that's apart of the appeal, but with those two and their personalities at play, along with their dynamic, while at surface level seems like a pure dream, if we imagine chesglam from a realistic point of view

its quite horrifying to actually think about

With ches's substance ab*se problems he'd be unattainable, swift with his actions, and as we've seen, forgetful and careless, (ofc most of these issues are merely due to the actual substances effecting his body but still) while glam is controlling of smaller and bigger aspects, it's admirable when it's on more casual things like schedules and meal plans but pin that over to ches and their relationship and you can see where the problems would start to settle in, yelling at him during relapses as ches throws up in the bathroom, and insulting him (again mostly canon) but it being almost all the time?? Not to mention how when he has an idea of plan he literally doesn't pay attention or care about anything else, plus the lack of understanding towards how addictions work and how it effects the brain chemistry in the process would seriously lead to some loud and incredibly stressful nights for ches, but ofc he'd probably be high during it or just knocked out completely, also the way when ches lost his temper glam just immediately smacked him?? And slapping him across the face, over an emotional outburst, (yes i understand ches was insulting Victoria but like.. he didn't even know her??) and I'd prefer not to think about what exactly Glam would do to him if he actually did something wrong that was more important than what he said, in theory its ofc ok to ship them, suffer all they've had a lot of cute moments together and their friendship was genuinely healthy and more valuable when they were younger, it's just in my opinion, the combination of one guy being incredibly controlling and guilt tripping those he cares about to get what he wants and another guy who is addicted to seriously harmful substances and is emotionally unstable due to his mothers lack of attention and sudden absence and therefore being vulnerable as a result, is very... Interesting yet... You know... Not desirable to me to see or watch

All non illegal ships are valid, ship whatever you want, I ship chesglam too because the idea is cute, I apologize for the rant it's just I've been thinking this for a long while since we saw the new episode snd got more insight into their characters, would love to hear your opinions though and thoughts, stay safe everyone xoxo～☆

[jayjamjary]

light and/or L for 6/9/25?

I'm alive againnnnnn! So I can finally answer this.

Okay so I wrote a lot and don't want to make people scroll a mile at least on mobile to get past this post so answers under the cut lol. I hope you like long winded paragraphs.

Also here's the thing I'm doing this from.

L 6, I've stolen so many of his mannerisms and my posture is worse for it. His moral code (made pretty clear in L Change The World) is one I like as well and reading that book helped me consider a lot of my own moral codes that are still kinda works in progress probably forever. I'm also rather logical with a side of social awkwardness and bluntness like he is. Obviously I'm not as smart as him (I don't know if that would even be possible????) but I know a lot and I'm good at analyzing information (except when it's social information. I can't read faces I can't read tone and I suck at understanding neurotypical people's behavior). I've also taken martial arts lol but just taekwondo not the capoeira-esque thing he does. Oh and I'm snacky. I operate best on too much sugar but also then I sometimes start shaking.

Light 6, Sometimes I have to stop myself from thinking I'm above everyone else. I only get in that mindset occasionally though, like once every few years and then I just have to humble myself by remembering I'm not that cool. I've just always been really good at school stuff, and, especially this year while taking AP Bio, it's hitting me that I'm Really Good At Some Stuff Compared To My Peers. Like top of the class and I do not study and I do almost all of my work last minute and then I draw on the notes in class when the teacher is lecturing. I'll keep thinking I'm going to fail a test or something and then we get it back and I'm the top or near the top of the curve. It's odd. Anyway, aside from academics, when I was younger and first watched death note, like Light, I also didn't understand how his method was bad. Because I was like 14 and hadn't considered morals much at that time. But I've been there so I understand. If I had that kind of power and hadn't had the opportunity to analyze his methods from and outside perspective, I could see myself doing something quite like what he did. Oh also, when I was little (like ages 5-12 maybe), I was a manipulative bitch. I've lost my edge though because. I can't read people and also I'm not terribly good at producing the correct tones myself anymore :p plus I'm smarter now and realizing lying willy nilly all the time isn't the best tactic. Oh, and right now, we almost have the same haircut. My hair's a little shorter on the side but that's it. K even have brown hair too.

L 9, that's a really interesting question to answer. I would think so but only under some conditions. He would have to minimize screen light (like from computers or phones) while I'm trying to sleep. Like cover the screen and his head in a blanket and block out the light from the rest of the room or something. Then uh he would need to share his yummy little sweet treats because they look yummy. If he doesn't want to share he just needs to learn which ones I don't like and get more of those. Which should be easy because I'm very picky (I don't like most chocolate, I don't like most cake, I don't like most pastries, I'm picky with cookies, etc.). I would also appreciate if Watari came along sometimes too. In L Change The World, L takes pretty good care of himself alone, but that was a crisis situation. In a normal situation he may be more inclined to let stuff slide for being able to work longer and I don't want him forgetting to shower or eat or sleep or anything. I could try to take care of him myself but idk if he would listen to me and idk if I would always have energy.

Light 9, Could I be roommates with him? Yes. Would I want to be? No. Well maybe. If we're talking Light with no Kira I think it'd be okay, but if we're talking Light with Kira that's a solid pass. Light with no Kira is a pretty okay guy, and I feel like he would learn to respect me even if he initially looked down on me for my generally alternative style and lack of social skills since I'm pretty smart and stuff. Not only do I think Light with Kira would be judgier but also I don't want to deal with his rehehehe shit. I don't want to live with a roomate who's constantly plotting and scheming and all that.

L 25, ahhh I watched death note for the first time like 4ish years ago so I barely remember. I think I liked him a bit, like I thought he was silly, but I was weirded out by how many shots of his feet rubbing together the anime had.

Light 25, once again, I remind the reader that I was young and dumb when I first watched the show so don't judge me here. I agreed that the world is a trash fire sometimes and I was pretty on board with Light's methods of dealing with that. I thought he was kinda an ass but that was it.

Thank you for asking me the silly questions and sorry for taking so long to get to them lol.