#in some vd element or something

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

is everyone in milgram just dead

Okay I'm making this post because while I'm not sure how much I believe this, it's a possibility that's been eating at my head for a while, so I gotta share it somewhere even if it's not the most solid theory in the world.

So anyways, hello members of the jury! Today I want to discuss the weirdly recurring theme of the prisoners in Milgram possibly being dead, and Milgram being some sort of afterlife thing. Given the fact it clearly has some supernatural elements, it certainly isn't impossible. So let's get into it!

CW Death, murder and suicide, abortion, child abuse, drowning, cults and indoctrination, waterboarding, gang violence

Yuno and the Allegations

The biggest hint that at least some of the prisoners might be dead is the in Yuno's second VD, Absolute Zero.

Yuno: Oh! Also, that reminds me, there was one thing I'm curious about. Es: What? Go ahead and say it. Y: Am I…really alive? E: That's…what do you…. Y: Hm…if you don't know, then it's fine. E: Yuno…. Y: Hey, it's time, right? E: Y-yes. Prisoner number 2, Yuno. Sing your sins.

Weird thing to say, really. So, presumably, she has some reason to believe she might be dead. Which is especially worrying because Yuno is one of the most intelligent and perceptive prisoners in Milgram, and might even have higher awareness of some of the more supernatural/meta elements of the series, as seen by images from both her cover songs appearing in Umbilical and Tear Drop.

All this is to say, if Yuno has reason to believe she might be dead, we have reason to believe so as well.

There are two points of Yuno's story were I feel she could have died. One is during her abortion, given a question from Trial 2.

(T2) Q20: Did you hate the person you killed?

Y: It was too much of a pain to for me to think about anything.

So her abortion was painful, which likely means it wasn't done in a hospital, as professional abortions typically don't cause too much pain in the moment (source), even if they can cause cramping or discomfort in the recovery period. If it wasn't done professionally, and it hurt a lot, it's very possible she may have died while performing it.

However, because of a few things we'll talk about later, I'm not sure this is very likely. The answer I find more likely is that, unfortunately, she may have committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing on in her Undercover silhouette shot.

For one, because what the hell would this shot even be otherwise. I've seen people suggest infanticide as opposed to abortion, but that wouldn’t cause physical pain (you could argue that answer is about emotional pain, but I'm not sure how much that works), it doesn't match her kill-shot in Undercover, and she herself has claimed her "muder" was abortion (and I don't see reason for her to lie about that). It also doesn't seem likely she would get pregnant more than once, seeing this question:

(T2) Q10: If you could turn back time, would you commit the same murder once again?

Y: I'd make sure that I won't have to commit it. That's it.

So, then, what the hell is up with that Undercover shot? Usually they say something important about the prisoner or their crime, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything.

This is where I bring up that Yuno falls off a staircase at the end of Umbilical.

Like, obviously this is more meant to be metaphorical, as in Yuno "slipped up" and now has to avoid falling by grabbing the balloon, which ends up destroying the staircase which had previously been related to the mixing of DNA (long story). But... she still is falling from a staircase. That is what is happening in the video. This is a silly argument, but it does exist.

Now, there's a few other things which could imply this, but that will have to wait for a moment. So while there is very little evidence for now, I'd say this is the most likely reason for why Yuno believes she may be dead. Especially given she might have depression (check out this cool post by weather-cluddy), her comitting suicide is sort of the best guess we can make I feel.

Nevertheless, no matter the reason why, Yuno believes she may be dead, which opens the door to other characters, if not all of them, to be dead as well. Let's take a look at the other prisoner most likely to actually be dead in my opinion, and see if we can establish a pattern.

Haruka's Worrying Situation

I believe, even if no one else is dead, it is highly likely Haruka attempted suicide. I am not going to go too in-depth in here, because moibakadesu already made a really good post about it, which is where I got the theory from in the first place. In fact, the idea Haruka may have at least attempted suicide has existed ever since Trial 1, check out this cool post by Venus from thinkin-bout-milgram. Here's a summary of what the main points of the theory are:

-The repeated motif of water and drowning could indicate the way Haruka killed himself, especially since he lived in Naogaka, Niigata, known as the "city of water."

-Haruka repeatedly attacks and even strangles a younger version of himself in Weakness, in one occasion alongside the lyric "I've become a victim, I've become a victim."

-The young girl in Weakness might actually be a representation of the "ideal Haruka", as he's stated his mother wanted a daughter instead of a son (I don't actually agree with this part, I do think the girl is a literal girl Haruka killed, due to several lines from his VDs, such as him saying Amane "brings back bad memories." However, it's still a possibility)

-The nonchalance with which Haruka speaks of comitting suicide in his second MV, Metamorphosis of the Weak, could imply he's already done it once.

-The line "if with one click, and I can reset everything" in AKAA can be more directly translated to "if with the push of one button I could be reborn", which paired with butterflies being symbols of death and rebirth and being connected to Haruka because of the name of his second VD, could imply Haruka died and was reborn.

-Haruka standing on a chair in AKAA as his shadow lines up with the shadow of the bars in the window to create the ilusion he has a noose around his neck.

-At the end of AKAA, Haruka is surrounded in what looks to be formaldehyde, which is used to preserve the corpses of dead animals, while the aforementioned "I could be reborn" lyric plays.

As you can see, there's a lot here, which is why I think it is highly likely Haruka comitted suicide.

There is an issue with bringing this theory in, which is that part of the theory is that Haruka's silhouette in the Undercover shot doesn't have white noise, which separates him from the others and could imply he's a victim like Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend, who similarly have no white noise. The problem for our purposes is that this theory assumes a lot of the other prisoners, such as Yuno, may have committed suicide as well, creating an inconsistency with this point. I don't have a good answer for this, beyond a really odd, Hamlet-esque "Haruka is a victim of his own madness" kind of thing which doesn't work very well, so unless any of you have another explanation, it's best for this theory to just sorta ignore the white noise thing.

So, now we have two prisoners who very likely died before Milgram. This vaguely establishes a possible pattern: what if all the prisoners were taken right as they died?

Muu’s Mysterious Memory Mishaps

Es: You said you wanted to go back home, right? And, "suppose" we did let you… Even if you were to leave this place, you'll then have a brush with the police, won't you? Muu: *Surprised* E: I mean, you've killed someone anyway, so are the police not making a move in regards to that? M: Well, I don't know. As of now, I don't have a clear memory of what happened after I did it. And then before I knew it, I was here. E: Is… that so? M: You guys should've known that, being the ones who brought me here after all.

This line from Muu’s first VD has always intrigued me. Muu doesn’t have a very good reason to be lying here when seen in full context, so she’s likely telling the truth. But, why? Why doesn’t Muu remember anything clearly after her crime, and why was she taken so quickly after committing it?

First idea is that perhaps all the prisoners are simply taken right after the murder they’re in Milgram for; even in the case of multiple murders, you can say Milgram just decided to take them for the last one exclusively.

However, Shidou serves as a counter example, because of the ending of Throw Down.

It’s a pretty simple logical progression. Shidou has no reason to kill after the flower person dies, so their death is after his last murder most likely, and yet he does remember it happening. Thus, Shidou has a memory of something which happened an undetermined amount of time after his final murder.

That means the "fuzzy memories" thing isn't universal. This can also be vaguely inferred by the attitudes certain prisoners have regarding their "murder(s)", like Kazui for example.

Now, you could argue Muu simply doesn't remember well because of the Trauma, and she just happened to get taken shortly after her murder. However, there is a chance now that there is a reason she was taken shortly after her murder.

You know what this post is about. You know what I'm about to imply. So I'll make the observation now:

In It's Not my Fault, one of Muu's shoes is off after she kills Rei. And we have seen this imagery of "one shoe off" to represent suicide before.

It's common in Japan to take both shoes off before comitting suicide, but if you want to read into only one of the shoes being off, you could argue it represents they're "half-suicides", as Milgram also considers them murders. In that sense, you (or Muu) could argue were Muu to commit suicide after killing Rei, then she would also become "Rei's victim", the same way Hinako and Mahiru's boyfriend are Kazui and Mahiru's victims.

This idea that Muu might still be a victim in the situation could also be implied by the lyrics here:

[It's Not my Fault] It’s not my fault after all, after all. Everyone wants me to be innocent. What a relief. Can’t be helped. I’m always meant to be pitied!

(Btw I'm using the fan translation in the wiki because the English subs in that video are... odd)

Yes that sentiment is repeated a lot during the song, but Muu does shout "I'm always meant to be pitied" ("I'm always the drama queen") at the top of her lungs here.

Now, the shoe thing isn't quite like that in After Pain, but we never actually see Muu's shoes in the real world, only in the blank inner world with the broken hourglass, and there are other inconsistencies with reality there, namely Rei's body's position.

You can see her right shoe is on there, but again, this scene isn't real.

The concerning thing is that apart from that, After Pain does not help Muu beat the suicide allegations.

In particular, look at the scene of the photo I put there. You can see there's a bunch of people judging Muu for her murder, as it's usually not considered a socially acceptable thing to do. But, hold on, didn't Muu say she didn't remember anything after her murder? Correct! That means she doesn't remember this "judgement" happening, but she imagined it would. Perhaps that's what the one line means:

[After Pain] Counterattack being a suicide note

Counterattacking Rei, killing her, is social suicide. For obvious reasons.

...

But it's still called a suicide note, which is not a good look. And yes, I do think the Japanese lyric explicitly references death, though take that with a lot of salt since that's just Google Translate and DeepL talking.

In fact, that entire set of lyrics is pretty odd.

[After Pain] Let’s meet up inside the pain, a place just for me Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note “I love YOU”

"Meeting up inside the pain" probably refers to hurting Rei, so now they're hurting together. The "stabbing of a little devil's voice" is probably referring to dangerous impulses, so murderous thoughts. "Counterattack being a suicide note", already explained. "I love YOU", because Muu is a girlkisser.

But the "postmortem makeup" is odd. You could argue the "death" which happened before the "makeup" was applied was the "death" of Muu's reputation, her old persona. Rei "killed" "that Muu", and now Muu is hiding her real feelings with "postmortem makeup."

But then, why would the method to solve it be a secret? Who is she keeping it secret from? Rei, and all of Muu's old 'friends', all know what lies beyond that makeup, they all saw what Muu was like before Rei stepped in.

That means there's another interpretation. If her real feelings are a secret, there's only one person they would be a secret from. Es (and us by extension). In a way, After Pain is hiding part of her heart, the less sympathetic parts shown in full in It's Not My Fault. Muu being a bully was already implied in After Pain, mind you, but it was still relatively "hidden", at least compared to It's Not my Fault.

And if that is the way we're meant to read that line, we run into the allegations again. If the makeup is for Milgram, and it's "postmortem" makeup, then Muu is already dead.

And that's without mentioning how much After Pain seems to imply suicidal tendencies in general.

[After Pain] If I was gone, If I had just disappeared I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed There’s no special meaning, I got the short end of the stick I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed

I don’t want tomorrow to come, I want to forget yesterday I was miserable, someone please help me

Maybe I’m done Just one more time before saying goodbye I’m just kidding, please forget I said that

The only lyric that doesn't seem to imply it is:

I want to feel “alive”, is it ok if I breathe?

But feeling alive and being alive isn't quite the same, right? You can be alive without feeling alive, and if someone doesn't feel alive, it's possible they're not a very good state of mind.

So, what could this all imply? If we're going with the idea of murder-suicide, it's possible Muu was very worried about how people would hate her after the murder, as implied by After Pain, decided she didn't want to deal with that, and unfortunately made the decision to kill herself.

One small thing which could serve as a counterpoint is her Trial 1 Voice Reveal distorted line.

Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me.

She seems pretty sure of herself here, and it's very likely this is after her murder. But it's perfectly possible she said this initially, then thought about the social consequences, and that's when she started to feel bad. It's also worth noting the only time in It's Not my Fault where Muu seems to hesitate is right after her murder.

[It's Not my Fault] Wait, wait, just as a hypothetical. What should I do if I’m actually a bad girl? Don’t ever hate me, and don’t look for what lies “after and from” the pain.

This is immediately after the murder, when she comes out of a caccoon, presumably her arriving at Milgram. So, she was initally confident, that's when she says "I’m always meant to be pitied!" in It's Not my Fault and presumably her Voice Reveal line, then hesitated and started to feel awful as we see in After Pain.

... Well, there's also the way more uncharitable reading where Muu killed herself so people also pitied her instead of just hating her for killing Rei, but that's a bit too dark and in bad faith for my tastes. It is there, though.

So, yeah, Muu may be dead too. And she brings with her an interesting implication; the prisoners may not have clear memories of the events leading up to their death. So, even if some of them committed suicide, it's possible they simply don't remember ever taking the decision to do so, explaining their behavior in the prison.

And it also could explain away... one apparent contradiction. One which exists outside of this theory, but that this theory could explain.

Amane and the Voice Reveal Trailers

As most of you know, the Voice Reveal trailers for all these characters contain certain distorted phrases which in general seem closely linked to their murder. And as pointed out by blueepink07 in this post, it seems the First Trial Voice Reveals are things the prisoners said after their murder, while the Second Trial ones are showing a point before their murder. Check out Kazui's, for example.

(T1) "I'm so dumb... Why did I have to dream?"

(T2) "Hinako, I love you more than anything."

There's also Muu's, since I've already brought it up before.

(T1) "Fufufu... It's your fault... for doing horrible things to me."

(T2) "Hey..why don't you listen to me...? I'm telling you... Hey...HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU"

The second being right before she killed Rei.

That works well enough for all the prisoners... except Amane.

(T1) "Ahh! I'm so sorry...! I'm sorry...! I'm sorry for breaking the rules!"

(T2) "Father is a very praiseworthy person. Once [my/his] virtue increases, he'll come back home, right? It's a little lonely, but I'm fine!"

In theory, Amane would have been punished before her murder, as we see happen after she heals the cat in the taser scene. Meanwhile, if she's lonely without her father, it could perhaps be because her mother is dead after Things Happened (yes I'm going with Mother!Victim theory on this one).

But that's not the case. Following the pattern, the line about her father coming home at some point is before her murder, and apparently, she was punished for breaking some kind of rule after her murder. The implication here, horrid as it is, could be that her father returned home after she killed her mother and punished her for doing so.

Thankfully, this is impossible. After all:

(T1) Q18: Do you regret your "murder"?

A: No. It was a natural obligation.

(T2) Q3: State the name of your victim.

A: There is no victim. Only the punished.

(Taking some liberties on the translation of Trial 2 since the questions are still coming out as I write this)

So Amane genuinely believes she was following her cult's principles to a T when she killed her mom. As much as that likely isn't the case (long story), if she had gotten punished for killing her mom, then she wouldn't think like this. If she had been punished for it, she wouldn't think her murder was a "natural obligation", but rather a mistake on her part.

What this implies is that Amane doesn't remember being punished by her father.

...

Amane... doesn't remember...

Fuck.

Yeah, remember when I said it was possible the prisoners don't have clear memories of the events leading up to their death? Going by the "T1 after - T2 before" logic the Voice Reveals seem to follow, we can infer Amane was likely punished for killing her mother, but we also know she can't remember it happening, otherwise she would regret it. And based on what we learnt from Muu, we do have a way to explain how that could happen. If Amane died while receiving the punishment the T1 Voice Reveal alludes to, she wouldn't have a clear memory of it.

And the thing is, it does seem likely Amane received this punishment. Think about it. Interrogation questions are one thing, since the creators don't fully control them, but why mention her father would possibly return home in the Voice Reveal trailer? Unless he did. Hell, you could argue we might know the exact moment he returned. Amane does look at the entrance of her apartment at the end of Purge March, though that could simply be for dramatic effect rather than being a literal thing which happened.

But there's more. Because if her father returned home, we might actually have an answer for another one of the mysteries surrounding Amane's situation. The Undercover prisoner card.

The image on her card seems to show a bathroom. It is widely assumed the images on these cards are the location the murders happened in, but to my knowledge, this isn't 100% confirmed. However, this creates a small issue with Amane. Just looking at the murder shot in Purge March is enough to confirm that.

I made a more detailed theory on her murder on this post, diagrams included (scroll to the bottom if you're only interested on the murder), but for now, there are two things to note here. One, there's a trail of water which seems to come out of the door with the light on, as the puddles are bigger the closer they get to it, implying that room is the bathroom. And two, the room the murder actually happened in seems to have a window/door behind a curtain, which isn't what Amane's bathroom looks like.

Adittionally, there isn't any blood outside of the murder room, implying the victim's body wasn't dragged there.

All this seems to imply Amane's victim didn't die in the bathroom, which is sorta a problem considering the previously mentioned commonly accepted theory. But this idea that Amane may have died while being punished, perhaps while being drowned as we know that's one of the accepted methods of punishment in her cult, brings up a different possibility.

What if the images in the prisoner cards aren't showing murder location? What if they show the last place the prisoner was seen in, the place they died?

Kotoko, Mikoto, and the Prisoner Cards

So, first, is there any indication either of these might be dead? For Mikoto, not really. Sure, there's the whole Death card at the end of MeMe thing, but that doesn't have to be taken so literally.

Kotoko has a very little potential hint in the fact she's shown alongside a wolf at the start of HARROW, but by the end the wolf is by itself. If the wolf represents a potential partner (long story), then maybe Kotoko died?

Though you can easily argue the wolf is slightly different and thus is meant to just represent Kotoko.

However, the reason I'm bringing them into this is because their prisoner cards are completely nonsensical under "murder location" theory for the images shown. Let's start with Kotoko.

It shows an alleyway, which at first seems like it makes sense. We do see her attacking a man in an alleyway. However, after that happens, one of the pieces of background text says this:

◆ A wanted thief was assaulted by an unknown assailant Early yesterday morning, a nearby shop employee reported hearing screaming and seeing a man lying on the ground. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the man had lost consciousness after being beaten on his face, stomach, and other areas, and was taken to the hospital. The police are currently trying to identify the suspect. [...] According to previous investigations, the male victim was wanted throughout Tokyo for theft and assault charges and was identified as the suspect, Mikio Oshii.

(Translation by Maristelina)

Mikio Oshii is the name of the man Kotoko assaulted in the alleyway. It seems odd to me that we would learn he was taken to the hospital if he later died in it somehow, especially because Kotoko didn't want to kill him. We can clearly see this because of a crucial difference between her attack on him and her attack on the serial killer who likely is her victim.

She covers her face while attacking Oshii, because she doesn't want to be recognized. She is committing assault, after all. However, that only matters if she's planning to keep him alive. Conversely, she doesn't cover her face while attacking the serial killer, because she knows he won't be a witness. She went into that warehouse planning to kill.

Of course, she could have accidentally done too much damage, but the issue there is that she would probably express some remorse in that case. She doesn't, and the fact she only ever talks about one victim-

[TASK (T1 VD)] I did kill someone. [...] I don't have a single regret.

-it really seems like Oshii was able to survive her attack.

That creates an issue with her prisoner card. It shows an alleyway, but her only victim died in a warehouse. As confusing as that sequence is, he did die in the warehouse.

You know when we do see an alleyway again, though?

But she's not wearing her face covering. And if this was the alley with the one sign about a car accident that shows up over and over in HARROW, I'd imagine we'd see the sign, even if it was obscured in some way. So once again, a silhouette shot which seems to have nothing to do with her murder or her general situation.

So, is it possible she died in this alleyway? That's the only other reason I can imagine why it'd show up in her prisoner card, so. As for what exactly happened, I imagine she may have been murdered at the whim of her victim's father?

Shocking revelation: The heinous criminal behind the crime is the privileged son of a high-ranking official!

(Article referring to Kotoko's victim)

So, she got found out and immediately assassinated? It's a bit out there, but it would explain both her prisoner card and her attitude in the prison.

And then there's Mikoto.

As you can see, his card shows a street. The issue with Mikoto is one of format. The cards only ever show one location, but we know Mikoto has at least two victims.

[Text: To the right, the Subway Murder, which clearly has a ceiling. The murderer has blood on his right cheek, his left cheek is hidden. There's also the bathhtub scene, where the right cheek is hidden, but the left cheek has blood already trailing off, which doesn't quite fit what we see in the other murder if you think about the bath chronologically.

To the left, a murder out in the street, with an open sky. The murderer has blood on their left cheek, but not on their right. This is seen in both the crime and the shower scene]

So yeah, at least two. You could argue the bathtub murder is actually a third one, which... huh. Two things that absolutely exist and a Secret Third Thing, the existance of which is disputed? Trikoto vibes.

Point is, Mikoto has two different murder locations at least. The street, yes, but also the subway. This creates a problem with the "images in the prisoner cards are murder locations" idea, because it only shows one. You could try to gymnastics your way out of this by saying maybe Hostkoto committed the street murder while Orekoto killed the other victim(s), and because only Hostkoto is considered a prisoner by Milgram, only his murder is shown? But I feel that raises more questions than it answers.

Instead, if we assume the images to be death locations, the ambiguity disappears, because Mikoto as a system can only have one death location. The issue is you have to explain how Mikoto died in the middle of the street, which is a bit difficult.

The best guess I can give is related to the subway victim. It's been pointed out before that guy looks a lot like a stereotypical Japanese delinquent, which could imply he was part of a gang. If that's the case, it's possible the killer angered the wrong people by killing him, similar to Kotoko, and thus was later murdered himself. We know that street isn't very safe, on account of one of the alters getting away with murder there. It's a pretty large stretch, and has like zero evidence, but it's physically possible at least.

Let's take a quick look at the other prisoners and see if their images can also be explained by the "death image" theory.

We know Muu would share a death location with her victim if she really committed suicide as the theory states, so nothing weird there. Haruka's a bit more awkward, because it shows the forest he very likely killed the girl in, but I'm not entirely sure if the forests near Nagaoka has bodies of water deep enough to drown oneself. There is the Shinano river, which has... trees, around it.

This was taken from Google Street View in Nagaoka. Again, not sure how deep it is, but assuming it's deep enough to drown, it could work if you ignore the trees don't look too much like the ones irl. Maybe Haruka threw himself off the bridge?

Alternatively, Nagaoka borders the sea, and it seems like there's forest almost all the way up to it. So maybe that could work? Unsure.

Worst comes to worst, we can maybe change it to saying Haruka didn't drown himself, but killed himself in some other way in the forest. Point is, I think Haruka's isn't too big of an issue.

Fuuta, Mahiru and Kazui don't have a lot of evidence towards what the hell would have happened, but the best assumption I can make is they all committed suicide because of guilt. Fuuta in his room, Mahiru in the suicide forest (likely also where her boyfriend committed suicide), and Kazui by jumping off a building like Hinako. As for their evidence...

>Fuuta burns at the end of Backdraft, which is the same thing that happens to Killcheroy, so you could argue that's meant to show he's dying. It's not great, it absolutely is just meant to be metaphorical most likely, but it is there.

Additionally, he's also an outlier for the "muder location image" theory, since what one would consider his "murder location" is very ambiguous. Is it his room, where he sent online hate from? Is it Killcheroy's room, where she assumedly died? Wouldn't it be the front of Killcheroy's house, where Fuuta took the picture to dox her? Again, death location is less ambiguous.

Fuuta's attitude during Trial 1 could be seen as a bit weird if he was suicidal, but I'm not sure we can comfortably say that with the limited information we have.

>Mahiru in I Love You goes to sleep after seeing her boyfriend dead, which could be read as her committing suicide. You know, if you're insane like me.

Especially given this question from Trial 1:

(T1) Q20: What do you think about smoking?

M: I've never smoked before, but I might copy him if who I love smokes.

That, alongside a lot of the bg text from TIHTBILWY, implies Mahiru likes the idea of copying her lover. Not the greatest quality to have when your lover commits suicide.

>Kazui has this:

Where the smoke of his cigarette turns into a noose. Of course, that's meant to represent self-destruction in general, but it could also be taken more literally. He... doesn't have much else.

Thus, everyone else vaguely fits the idea of "death image"... except him.

Our favorite headache inducing doctor strikes again! His card shows a hospital room, which is a very strange death location, but perfectly fits his murders. You could argue he runs into the same issue as Mikoto, but it's actually possible Shidou just killed all his victims in the same room, so.

Yeah, Shidou's probably the biggest counterargument for this theory. Because while it's possible he died in a hospital, there is zero evidence for it, beyond the image itself. Hell, neither Throw Down or Triage ever seems to imply he died in the first place, which is an issue. This theory's already heavily dependant on the extremely flawed "you can't disprove it" argument, but at least most of the other ones have some kind of logical progression which gets you to how they died.

So, to complete the theory, we have to make the pretty big jump that Shidou died inside a hospital room, without knowing how that happened.

... Wait, inside the room?

Wait wait wait, show me Fuuta's and Amane's again.

Hmmm... 0308... hmmmm... 0308... I totally didn't just do this to put the two together... hm...

Yeah, same thing. They both show the inside of a room. Which, along with Shidou's, shows that these images can show the inside of buildings, right?

But, then... why is Yuno's outside?

That very clearly isn't the inside of a building. But this generates a problem for the "murder location image" theory, because Yuno's "murder" was abortion. Even if it wasn't done professionally, she would have still done it inside, presumably. This creates an inconsistency with Fuuta, Amane and Shidou. If their murder locations are shown from inside, why is Yuno different?

However, this inconsistency disappears if we assume the images to be death locations. I previously established if Yuno died, she likely committed suicide by jumping off a staircase, which does vaguely fit this image. It's similar to Kazui's in that way.

Now, I don't want to get too ahead of myself here. Murder location is still absolutely the more straightforward answer, but it does come with its issues. As stated, Fuuta's image would face some ambiguity, Mikoto's would face extreme ambiguity, Amane's seems to contradict the evidence we're shown in Purge March, Yuno's is wildly inconsistent with the other images, and Kotoko's is straight up nonsensical.

Meanwhile, death locations physically work with all the cases, even if Shidou's case is extremely weird, but it requires huge assumptions and stretches. It relies heavily on how impossible it is to disprove, which is not a good sign. Russell's Teapot, and all that.

Summary of the Theory

>Everyone in Milgram is dead, and their prisoner cards in Undercover show the place where they died.

>Prisoner's memories of the events leading up to their deaths are extremely fuzzy, explaining why only Yuno seems to even suspect it.

+Haruka: Committed suicide by drowning himself, possibly in the Shinano river or the sea. [Most likely to be dead]

+Yuno: Committed suicide by jumping off the staircase we see her standing in on her Undercover silhouette shot. [Most likely to be dead]

+Fuuta: Committed suicide in his room out of guilt. [Very little evidence]

+Muu: Murder-suicide, she committed suicide after killing Rei. [A bit more evidence than others]

+Shidou: Died in a hospital room [???]

+Mahiru: "Copied" her boyfriend by killing herself in the suicide forest. [Very little evidence]

+Kazui: Jumped off a building, like Hinako. [Very little evidence]

+Amane: Drowned by her father as "punishment" for her murder. [Unfortunately, sorta likely]

+Mikoto: Murdered by one of the members of Subway Victim's gang. [Sort of filling in the blanks here]

+Kotoko: Murdered at the order of her victim's father. [Very little evidence]

Conclusion

Do I believe this theory? Honestly, I don't know. It makes a few too many assumptions for me to fully believe it, but I do think it's a decent possibility, so I wanted to share it with you all. In any case, that's all I have to say for now. If you have any thoughts about any of this, feel free to share! Also I didn't even touch on Es but you can try to fit them in somehow if you feel like it.

Anyways, if you made it this far, you deserve a hug, this post was depressing. Take care!

[purgemarchlockdown]

Liar Tax

(Also Known as: Nott had Visions due to Dehydration about the Shidou covers)

So the cover songs are some of my personal favorite things about Milgram. When I first got into Milgram I got brainblasted by the Animal cover and was never the same. Since then I've always wanted to write more about the covers but I never got around to writing anything about them at length.

And then I put on the Shidou Covers.

On the count of "I-love-you"

The most noticeable common denominator when it comes to these songs is the concept of lying which I will relegated to a secondary element because I think these two songs have something more interesting to give us when it comes to insight on Kirisaki Shidou.

Shidou is very much what I would dub an Eternity Seeker. He longs for the:

T1Q16: What is the definition of happiness? A: To be promised an unchanging tomorrow.

He has this distinct romanticized version of the past and wishes he had the stable family life that he lost. His songs and VDs are tinged with this very strong sense of grief and longing for the better past where nothing bad ever happened actually.

“Throw down” connecting you with me, To keep you alive, you are still living

His crime as well seems to be connected to him trying to save "someone" (presumably his wife but also possibly one of his children) and failing. He's not exactly someone who can cope with change Well. That's why he's here after all. He's forsaken a lot of "morality" to get what he wants here.

"Stolen? Just whatever do you mean?" Committing myself to this performance, set lines and all Those memories we've desperately created and clung to, they blend together and feelings between us intensify

That’s right, for all these dirty delusions, let’s settle the bill with this dirty money

And he's not exactly uh- great at coping with this entire.

For someone who has self admitted to have done a lot of bad things, is stubborn and unwilling to change, and still says that for love he would do:

T1Q6: What are you willing to sacrifice for love? A: Everything.

He's pretty unforgiving to himself about this. He asked a 15 year old to kill him and all. His morals and beliefs are strict and rigid and it hurts everyone around him, including him.

Liar Dance reflects this. The singer is unforgiving and hateful towards who their singing towards but the singer talks about how:

It's swallowed you up completely, hasn't it? Liar Turn me inside-out and I look just like you It's nice to meet you, "Crime" and Punishment" No matter what you say

It's too late to apologize We're already partners in this crime called "love"

Acknowledging that they are the same in the end. Akin to how even though Shidou makes a distinction between the part of him that committed horrible acts of presumed medical malpractice and the part that is a good respectable member of society in Throw Down. They are Both Him.

And the feelings of deceit and guilt that comes with tricking people into believing that you (Shidou) are better than you actually are. The feeling of having gone too far, That:

“Throw down” ethics is a delusion I’m still guilty even if the morning comes

Liar Dance thus functions as a bit of a self condemnation. But I don't think that's the only possible meaning that can be derived from it. As Liar Dance is also distinctly about weak and false love.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you Shidou didn't care about his family. What I will say is that You Should Read These Posts by @/archivalofsins that break down the distinct possibility that Shidou Kirisaki might just be kinda a bad dad. His romanticization obscuring the knowledge that, no family can be that perfect and that Shidou was most likely less good then he would like to admit.

Dance away, liar This love has swelled up like a balloon, let's turn it into a lie with the prick of a needle On the count of "I-love-you"

It's a lie because any sort of perfect cishet marriage is a lie. That's not a thing because there's no such thing as a perfect relationship. Shidou's standards are so high that they could be considered childish.

A family and love so perfect it can't be anything But a lie.

Turning wishes into reality

But that's not all.

While Delusion Tax is also a song that can pretty easily be mapped onto Shidou's feelings of selfishness about the morally questionable things he did for the sake of what he wants. There's also another aspect of it and Shidou's character I'd like to explore.

Kirisaki Shidou is a Boyprince.

Or uh- to read better in Milgram terms. A Savior.

Shidou Kirisaki has this thing about needing people to rely on him to feel...alive and needed.

That’s right, there’s justice that needs saving See, indispensable, I’m indispensable

Existing for your sake alone, mandatory affections and obligated kindness

He needs to be useful to others because to feel like he deserves a place in the world. To feel like he can live within it. He chose to be a doctor because:

T1Q1: Why did you choose your current workplace? A: Because I thought it'd let me contribute to society.

after all.

However, Shidou Kirisaki is self-admittedly selfish despite these seemingly altruistic intents.

Though you should be satisfied, a voice from within shouts “NO!” We have an idiot on our hands, it seems…

For many reasons, but one of them is because he doesn't really care too much about a person's autonomy if he thinks he needs to save or guide them in some way.

This is the most clear with Amane. Who hates him for this!

Shidou: I…… I just don’t understand. If everything about MILGRAM is true…… why did a child like you have to become a murderer? Just imagining what sort of circumstances must have led to that, it makes me so sad…… Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself?

Because he longs for someone to save to have purpose in this world, he implicitly imposes himself as a "larger authority" on them. Believing his actions and feelings to have a greater importance then what they say.

Let’s pay that Delusion Tax For the sake of making everyone’s life oh so wonderful…

While the Delusion Tax can also read as the "price" he paid in the attempt to what he wanted when it came to his crime.

That which you wish for, the person you think of, The past which you hate as well, they’ll all be as you like. The kind of face and chest you desire, they’ll be granted if you pay.

it can also be read as what Shidou "sacrifices" for the sake of:

making everyone’s life oh so wonderful…

Since, Shidou also has a thing about choosing what he believes to be more valuable and important to a community and this extends to how he treats the people around him.

“Throw down”, someone’s value Cannot be the same as another “Throw down” should choose between superiority or inferiority

He creates these defined lines of who is better and worse, who would be more helpful and who he can...ignore for the sake of others.

Not because he's an evil person who wants to sacrifice people. Again, he has world's worst guilt complex. Just because...from a pragmatic standpoint...some people just contribute less than others and Oh No Don't Look at this Wikipedia Page for Eugenics I have Accidentally Linked!

"Hey, that girl is pretty great… Her too!" Looks like you’re thinking some pretty nice thoughts over there… Are you really satisfied with just that? Don’t you think it’d be nice for it all to come true? “That girl is alright… That one works too, I guess” Pretending you love compromise, what a liar!

Delusion Tax's perspective Singer is talking about granting people's Wishes. For a price. But that price is good for something better right?

Turning wishes into reality Right now, buy back your future! Afflicted by so badly wanting to do “that”, consumed by desire Come now, let’s go beyond all this pain

Everything must have an equivalent exchange right?

Well, now we can circle back to his murder because, well, that's not really how life works either. Life isn't really fair in the sense of you pay something and you get what you want back. Sometimes you pay everything and still lose.

You can't save everyone, not necessarily because you were naive or because you didn't try hard enough or didn't do the dirty work you should of or whatever. But because, you just can't. It's impossible.

A Lie, a Farce, a Delusion, if you will.

But those wishes won't really come true, even if you pay For it’s all a lie, a great big farce

The Correct Answer, I Don’t Yet Know

Kirisaki Shidou I think, really does want the world to be fair. He wants to contribute, be useful, be important. Have the world stay in balance. He submits himself to be guilty verdict-ed because he Deserves To Die, but changes his mind and tries to convince Es to let him live because people now Need him and the "balance" of the "world" has now shifted into needing him.

It's his own perspective on the world applied onto himself. In Trial 1 he's sorted himself into an undesirable who should not be let into society anymore. In Trial 2 he's pinged himself as someone so important and priceless that they Must Not let him go.

Is this a necessarily healthy view? No! Not at all! This harms much more people than him really!

But Shidou's worldview is one that is rigid and working on thoughts on what is "good" or "bad" for the world. It's childish in that sense, causing him to harm others and be stubborn and unwilling to reflect and making him someone who Really Should Not be a doctor, and I think the cover songs explore what he does and the worldview around it really well.

[nomeniko]

hi :D for the ask game What do you wish more people understood about kazui? Which trial 2 MV do you enjoy the most, and why?

thank you for the ask i would grovel at ur feet in gratitude i hope the sun shines down and makes the light dance for u and you only today

1. if anything ive seen a few theories of kazui possibly revealing himself to be a two faced manipulator of sorts due to his self proclaimed liarness…. like ‘ohh u cant trust what he says he cld be trying to make himself look pitiable to the audience to get voted inno’ sort of theories which is. no he wont do that???

is he a liar? to a degree yes—liar not in the sense that what he says are direct falsities, but more like hes built much of his character to constantly disguise his true intentions/feelings as a defense mechanism. the lies he says are less of words from a schemer and more of redirections from someone who is, all in all, an insecure adult scared of what will happen if he isnt able to meet peoples expectations of him

as much as he calls himself a liar hes mad honest about where he thinks his capabilities lie, which is to say he doesnt believe in his capabilities at all lol. when amane asks him for help with her studies, he turns her down after some consideration bc he doesnt believe himself to be smart enough to help (despite having graduated from a university; sports degree or not credit shld be given where credit is due). when he talks to shidou post ktk attack, he refuses to admit doing any of the work in taking care of the situation and instead puts all the praise onto shidou. even his physical strength and skill (which is arguably the one part of him he does acknowledge and take some sort of belief in) is something he treats as less of something that he has achieved himself and more of an obligation of his—like, hes strong bc to him he HAS to be, bc it is expected of him to protect those who need protecting. he does want to protect others, sure, but much of that wanting comes frm how ingrained it is in him that thats what hes good for, thats what his strength is for (his timeline w/ yuno on her bday says as much nyway)

the way i see it, that self deprication of his plays back into his obsession with meeting the expectations placed onto him, or at least lessening the disappointment of others by lessening those expectations in the first place. if u tell someone that u didnt go to the right university, that u didnt do much to help anyway, that u were born so fundamentally wrong as a person that everything is bound to go to shit as long as ur there (he basically said this to es in his t1 vd im not even kidding), wouldnt that ensure the safety that youre less likely to ruin someone elses confidence in you? less likely to ruin bc in the small chance that u still fuck up, theres not much left to ruin at that point

in the end ig what i wish more ppl understood abt kazui is that hes a liar yes, but not a manipulator. he lies to stay safe, not to be a sadist or whatever. you cant take what he says at face value (in much the same way u cant do the same for any other prisoner tbh), but that does not mean u shldnt take anything he says srsly at all!!!

2. ok this one i have to give a bit of thought, mostly bc i cant pick just one

if the standards were which t2 mv do i enjoy for its direction music n visual wise, purge march takes the cake so quickly. the music itself is so bomb (which like, i cant even find a logical explanation as to why… its just so good to listen to) n the mv itself does such a great job at creating the right atmosphere, both in its flashy theatrics and the subtle uncanniness under it. mayb i have a slight bias bc tpm was the whole reason i got into milgram in the first place, but i stand by it idccc

aesthetic wise, def all knowing and all agony. the horror elements r genuinely disturbing, but not so overbearing that it overwrites the pop style that milgram has going on. i luove the use of amber for blood, plus the filters that remind me of found footage u usually see show up in asian horror movies. i think i was actually terrified the first time i watched the mv

symbolic wise, its cat always and forever god bless. it takes advantage of its aesthetics to hint at subtle secrets so well that it makes me giddy as hell. the use of colors as a part of the set, the transitions frm scene to scene having its own part in making the story, n honestly making the bg more blank than usual readjusts the focus of the mv on what matters p well. i cant mention every detail rn or else id be here all day

[strange-lamp-stranger]

incoherent Aurora reread thoughts

Tess was punching a dragon that is in some way connected to the Paladins and also had a blue-white-and-gold colour scheme. same colour scheme as the Paladins' "Champion", who has dragon-like wings of light?? so this guy is definitely possessed by the Light Dragon a la Erin and Voidy, right? although since this dragon seems... less evil, it's probably got a more collaborative relationship with the Champion. BUT also if it's possessing him, why does it have a physical form entirely separate from him? is the Light Dragon able to split some of its essence into an incarnation and some of it into a human body? WAIT, the Champion's scleras are black, like Erin's when his body is completely taken over by Walter. SO, is the Light Dragon fully puppeteering this guy? sure seems like it. so either the Light Dragon is able to transform the Champion's body, or it's able to create a completely separate incarnation in the form of a dragon. But the Champion's speech bubble isn't the same as when Voidy talks - it's a normal speech bubble, but outlined in pale blue instead of black - we see a similar thing with emissaries of gods, such as the Arenamaster. So the Champion is something between a vessel and an emissary. WAIT AGAIN okay so the dragon Tess was punching likely wasn't an incarnation of the Light Dragon herself, because she refers to it as a "messenger". so it's affiliated with the Paladins but not necessarily a part of the Light Dragon herself. She also refers to Erin as VD's "avatar"; is this the word for an emissary/vessel of a Primordial? meaning it's a different enough situation to warrant a whole new word. VD only referring toe Erin as a "vessel" and not an "avatar" implies one or both of two things: VD doesn't know what an avatar is, or that Erin is not as attuned/in-sync to him as the Champion is to LD.

Erin's family "has had dealings with" the soulshaper monks before?? this supports the theory that Erin's links to the elements weren't fully open and so he had to do some soul fuckery to be able to access/control his powers. this would in turn lend credence to the theory that the Collector is (was?) an Elemental Magus; if only one Elemental Magus can exist at a given time, the Collector's whole... deal in regards to both her magic and mortality makes sense.

EDIT: okay WAIT as of 1.11.11 it's pretty much certain that the Collector is like. a really fucked up Life mage. she says she "healed" the crater (wound in Stone's skin) in which Vash was located. so she likely wasn't an Elemental Magus, because if she was she wouldn't have used such specific phrasing.

[jmeldog]

Yonah / Deep Cover spoilsrs

A fuckton of disjointed Milgram thoughts ft. random thoughts about John

More ramblings about meta stuff and how Kotoko’s being set up.

Because like. She really is?? The way her VD played out, it really feels like they didn’t set up for a universe where she’s forgiven. Es denied their working together, yelled at her for attacking the others, and pushed her away.

Although, this could also be Milgram staff seeing the vibes of fandom and knowing we immediately didn’t approve of her attacking everyone. It’s not like it’s a hard opinion to find, or even assume.

Meaning at all times, Es is being influenced by us.

Idk. I think it’s important to think about her as a cog of the story and character written by people wanting to tell a satisfying story with real-time ARG elements. It’s not that hard for them to have an “end” in mind for her, and push us towards that end by what they reveal about her when and what they have her do.

(*This isn’t complaining “omg the game is rigged against my fav,” or anything. I’m just really interested in how Milgram functions as a story. I also have a bunch of meta theories about the “functions” of the invisible walls and prisoner bindings, I just don’t have enough time to collect my thoughts on them.

I’m not looking up direct quotes or facts cuz I’m lazy rn so some things may be wrong, but eh my points still stand I think

Walls theory is that they’re mental blocks on the the prisoner’s mind based on if they want to hurt Es or not. Kazui described himself as “feeling weak” after he restrained Es. Though I don’t think it’s necessarily based on Es’ perception of it, cuz it sounded like they didn’t see Kotoko’s T1 punch coming until her fist was already caught. John isn’t a prisoner, so his mind’s not limited by this. Also apart of this theory is that someone couldn’t throw something at Es, cuz the “mental blocks” would make them drop it with no force. They can’t intentionally hurt Es.

Restraints theory is on how it’s kinda crazy John got restrained during the T2 interrogation. Mikoto somehow didn’t notice the restraints until into the VD. Which is insane? How did those get on him?? When did those get on him? He seemed surprised by them. When John fronts, he doesn’t make any surprised comments, but is aware of them and is aware of the fact they exist to protect Es. He doesnt mention who did it. Obviously Es couldn’t put the restraints on John themselves, cuz

Es just showed up in the room

John would’ve beat their little baby face in

But it’s weird that Es is also not surprised by them. Idk. It’s just a really weird situation to me. I guess there’s other influences actively acting in the prison.

Also kinda funny how John just apparently has no protective rights as a non-Milgram prisoner. Kotoko can attack him. The universe can restrain him. Sorry little bozo.

[04dissection]

Haruka 5, Kazui 2, Fuuta 9

Hey, thanks for the question! I wanted to elaborate more on Haruka and add a moment from Metamorphosis of the Weak Mint, as a note, but I began getting a bit of a headache. Maybe next time.

Haruka Sakurai

5. favorite voice drama line/moment?

This VD doesn't have an english name from what I'm aware of, but I think it's a good introduction to Haruka and how VDs are generally meant to go. But as for specific moments:

This one I think. Just this entire section clarifies so well that 'hey. this guy. this guy.' Haruka's a character who struggles hard with attention, and seems to believe any attention at all is good. Yuno makes fun of him for this in her VD, in fact. But in general, I do like this section, and how it foreshadows how him and Muu take a liking to one another- and how Fuuta seems to also care for him.

Makes me wonder what the route where he and Fuuta get along instead would've been like.

Kazui Mukuhara

2. favorite mv moment/frame?

...To give half a fair chance, I'll put my favorite moment from both.

I love the literalness of making his home a stage with props- down to you being able to tell the balcony outside isn't real, and nor is most of the features apart of the house. Everything looks so flat, just made so to the audience it looks real and three dimensional.

As for Cat...

While this scene is absolutely beautiful(all of Cat's scenes are you should go watch it and get it to 1M views if you're here), and I get that they're probably going with the cartomancy definition of the ace of spades. That this entire scene is about how their entire relationship is built on lies and tricks and deceit that Hinako unfortunately fell for. But.

The ace of spades is also a symbol of the asexual community, at least here in the west, and that was something I learned rather early on into researching being aroace. So it was rather funny for me to see this! No matter what this man does he is queer in some way or form.

To bring in another frame I really like, just because I ADORE the coloring and framing of this entire MV, I'll bring this one, as it's a frame I've been heavily lost on.

The 01 and the like... almost stutter-like effect of the cup as it falls has been confusing me for a bit now. Because Kazui isn't prisoner 1, that's Haruka. So why does Kazui have the number? I think Kazui has elements of color theory himself in Cat that need to be broken into, and this is one of those cases. Like I adore the frame and it also confuses me to no end and I don't know where to start with it. Does that make sense.

Futa Kajiyama

9. do you forgive/not forgive their crime on its own?

I don't forgive a lot of the characters crimes on their own, but especially in his case, you don't just appear on someone's street to doxx them, as is implied by his picture in Undercover. You don't just cancel someone for fun, especially not a random middle school student. And he knew she was a middle school student, Backdraft makes that abundantly clear. So, no, I do not forgive his crime on its own.

[jewishdainix]

Ok a few things i noticed about the new aurora page:

Tynan's speach is really giving me "I am the serphant that shall poisen the sky and boil the sea!" energy, also his wings are almost completly destroyed by vd's void energy thing.

Tess and Dainix both seem to be trying to kickstart their powers again, Erin is still electricuting himself and Alinua and Falst are just kind if there. And Kendal is about to stab himself im guessing for powerup purposes.

[factual-fantasy]

These asks have story elements in them! :}

I have seen now. And it adorable!

I’ll tell you what though man, hearing Mabel’s voice again felt.. so strange. I cant describe what it felt like to hear her. I guess deep down I felt that these characters were dead, like their beings no longer existed.

But hearing her again, in present day.. it was surreal. 

Although yes, they are both Decepticons.. Reaper is supposed to be real nasty. Just a total jerk, even to his fellow cons. Blue Truck is supposed to be one of the nicer ones. He’s not as rotten as some of the cons have been known to be.

I mean, he’s no angel, but he has a spark in him somewhere and doesn’t appreciate Reaper being snotty to everyone.

I looked up Panzer, and found a bunch of different tank transformers that all seem to be Autobots from the Bayverse movies..? But they’re all named Brawl? Or something..? And I think they’re guys..?..

I have no idea what you’re talking about. ●﹏●;

I’ve watched countless game plays of Among Us from several different Youtubers, so Among Us is the game I will be referencing. Also yeah, lets just pretend for this that Bash Buggy can see the screen. XD

Suburban is best at crewmate, and he doesn’t like being the imposter. Also he doesn’t ever kill Escort in the game. If there’s ever a game where Escort has lasted a stupid long time without dying, everyone assumes that Suburban is the imposter.

If Miata is the imposter, everyone gets killed on the first round without a single body being reported and without the other imposter killing anyone. She sucks at crewmate though, she never does her tasks and just follows people around making herself look sus.

Escort loves being crewmate but is a great imposter. Unfortunately due to certain.. experiences.. he has learned how to lie rather well and not let the fear shine through in his voice.

Brown Suburban is excellent at both roles surprisingly. You’d think an old geezer like him wouldn’t be good at any kind video game, but no. When he’s crewmate, he be nailing these tasks and keeping an eye on anything that moves. You could kill someone across the map and he’d know its you, he could kill someone IN FRONT OF YOU AND 3 OTHERS and he’d still get you booted off the ship.

U.M.Dragster hates being a crewmate and loves being an Imposter. He’s terrible at both. But at least he genuinely has a good time with it. :}

A.T.Dragster likes being imposter more, but is honestly okay with both. She’s better at crewmate though.

Green Truck is average at both roles, but he is better at crewmate. He doesn’t really like playing as the imposter, he would prefer to try and help his teammates, not kill them.

Vega is alright as crewmate. But he’s better at imposter and likes the role a lot more. He thinks its a lot funner compared to being a crewmate,

Red Van gets all pouty if she’s the imposter. She’ll drop subtle hints that she’s the imposter, look SUPER sus on propose 24/7 and refuses to kill anyone. If a crewmate is going to be voted off she goes “WAIT!! No no- he’s a crewmate! I’M the Imposter! Vote me off!” She rocks at crewmate though. She gets all her tasks done and never dies somehow.

White Truck isn’t very good at Among Us because he’s a bad liar and isn’t good at spotting impostors. He prefers the crewmate role because its less stressful for him. He’s alright at the game other than the two things mentioned for both roles.

Beluga doesn’t like playing imposter at all. She is terrible at it and she hates lying. She would much rather play crewmate instead. She’s decent in the crewmate role.

If Honda is imposter she’ll just walk around aimlessly, She absolutely refuses to kill people. She already struggles to cope with what she did in real life, why would she want to replicate that feeling/make it worse by killing her friends in a game? She’s rocks as a crewmate though, one of the best crewmate players in the base as a matter of fact.

Ranger is fairly good at both, she is above average compared to the rest of the team. She prefers crewmate. She may be a soldier in real life, but all she really wants to do is help her team out. :}

Volvo is a pretty good liar and is great at fabricating situations that sound believable when he’s the imposter. He’s okay as a crewmate, but he tends to accuse people a lot because he’s super paranoid about being killed by the likes of Jeepy or something. He’s better at imposter, just a little above average.

You can tell Jeepy isn’t the impostor if he sulks the whole game and is quiet in calls. He loves being imposter and is decent at it, but he gives it away because he’s just too darn happy to finally have gotten the impostor role.

Bash Buggy doesn’t mind crewmate, he does a decent job as one. But if he’s the Imposter, you’re all fragged. Him and Miata together are death sentence.

When it comes to best and worst imposter..

I would say Miata is just a little bit better than Bash Buggy at that role.

And Red Van is the worst imposter because she often times just shouts. “DON’T KILL HER! NUUUU!! I’M THE IMPOSTER!! KILL MEEEEE!!!”

(Referencing this meme)

#1?, #2? and #3? are the Tow Trucks. :}  They don’t have names yet, and I cant just call them Green Tow Truck, Blue Tow Truck and White Tow Truck obviously. 

So until I have done more research and talked to VD, their names are based on the order that they were owned in and a question mark, to show that they don’t have names yet.

Okay, now I’m worried about you. But for real yeah they’re both a mood. XD

Also I’d say yes. Escort can always use more buddies. :}

I’m so glad you like the relationship that I constructed for them and that it made your day if you ever want to see more of them just ask I know how adorable it is because I was the one who made ithhhhh

Thank yuhhhhghhouuuu ♡♡♡♡♡

Well, not currently. Jeepy’s story is that he was just a regular teen that was thrown into a war that he didn’t want any part in. He became a standard soldier and just.. I don’t know. Did soldier things I guess.

Later on, when he was on Earth, he met Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Brown Suburban and Bash Buggy. What ended up happening is, just like Miko, he was basically just accepted as one of them, a wrecker.

But now that I think about it.. it would be kind’a cool if he was a “real” wrecker. Hmm.. I don’t know. For now he is just a generic soldier that was welcomed into the wrecker family, but his story is very subject to change.  🤔 

Why yes, he does. Its kind of a given when you’re in a romantic relationship.

Yayy! Another story element I get to talk about! :DD

So just real quick, this 👇 is the character I’m going to be talking about.

Now yes, Honda has a lot of emotional baggage and PTSD. And I’ll tell you why, keep in mind this story is subject to change.

So before the war, Honda was a cargo ship pilot. She was a very skilled pilot and could pilot many different kinds of ships of varying sizes. She was actually supposed to be piloting the ship that rescued Escort as a matter of fact.

When the war began, she chose to be an Autobot. Well as the war got going, a lot of pilots were killed. The Autobots needed more pilots for their battle ships, and she was one of the people that got sent out to fly their ships.

..She killed thousands of people. She was always known as the sweetest and most gentle person anyone knew, she would never even hurt a Scraplet.

But she killed them. She killed bots, blew up homes, destroyed beautiful land marks and more. She never wanted to hurt anyone. But she did. She saw some of their faces before she snuffed out their sparks.

Fear was their only expression. The last feeling those bots felt was utter terror. And then she slaughtered them. The weight that she carries on her shoulders for what she did is astronomical. She feels spark crushing guilt for what she did to those poor people.

They had lives, memories, family’s, relationships, thoughts, feelings and dreams. And they all abruptly came to an end by her hand. Millions of people must be mourning the lives of those she has slaughtered.

But still, she lives on, and her victims do not. She carries the weight of their snuffed sparks on her shoulders and trudges forward, ever moving.

Now, something she started doing when she got to Earth was painting. She discovered that she really likes it and paints all the time.

Well.. she has her moments where she starts to draw faces.. screaming.. bloodies faces. She has the faces of her victims burned into her memory.

She’ll paint them sometimes.. In hope that it will lift the pain of what she did.

It never helps.

[red-applesith]

You're very dismissive of reyloismine. They had so many things right last time, you can't deny it.

Look, as I said I had no idea who that person was before the last anon. I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, and since you’re all so insisting that this person is legit I went to sleuth into their archive to make up my own mind. If you’ve been following me for a while you know I do not take anyone’s word at face value, especially when it comes to leaks and stuff like that.

I’m putting my observations under ‘read more’ and I don’t tag that post because I’m not interested in calling out anyone but my conclusion is that person read the Visual Dictionary one way or another right before it was leaked, because the only detail they had right and no one had predicted was the green milk and that info appeared on Reddit on Dec. 7 via the VD. That’s also the detail they chose to “prove their legitimacy” when objectively there could have been so many more interesting details pertaining to Reylo. Like if they had said “Kylo Ren slides in the corridors like a 4-year-old or “they hold hands” I would believe they were legit. 

Otherwise, from their blog, I have 0 evidence that between Dec. 5th and Dec. 14th they shared information that no one had been able to deduce from watching the trailers, reading the interviews or the leaks on Reddit (aka Shirtless Kylo for instance), especially because they talked like your typical psychic i.e.”Oh yeah, I said that but I didn't’ give details of where and when and I won’t.” or “I’m talking openly about seeing the movie and sharing my old speculation thread where I was about 15% correct pretending I was so right but I won’t say more because I don’ want to spoil the movie for people.” Even saying that there are “good and bad Reylo scenes” means jackshit.

So anyway, Nonnie, you do you but I don’t have to place my trust in someone who couldn’t provide real details and quotes before the movie came out.

Also now I’m annoyed at myself because I wasted the whole morning on that. 

On November 1st that person posted their timeline speculation that goes like that (Bolded Italic their words - my comments underneath. Pictures are theirs)

Episode 8 starts, where the last movie ends: Rey and Luke literal cliffhanger.

Everybody believed that would be the case because one of the first detail that came out from interviews is that there wouldn’t be any time jump, which is why the crew was back filming in Ireland.

However, turns out that the movie starts on D’Qar when they evacuate the base so the prediction for the movie itself isn’t 100% correct.

Luke bewildered, takes the lightsaber that once belonged to his father from a stranger. He asked who is she and how she found him. Rey tells him Leia sent her and that he is needed.

That was an easy one. We* pretty much all had deduced from the way Luke look at Rey at the end of TFA. 

(*collective reylo) 

Luke returns the lightsaber, does not want to be involved, and starts to retreats to his cave when Rey takes off her vest, and showing him that she is force sensitive.

The idea of Luke not wanting anything to do with Rey is there, but the hut/cave scenes and training scenes are all mixed up. There again, that wasn’t groundbreaking speculation since a lot of reylo fanfics started with the premise that Luke doesn’t want to train Rey.

The next day, Luke finds Rey still waiting for him. She was meditating, and he tries to guide her. With his help, her power grew, cracking the floor beneath them.

Continuation of the reluctant master theory, mitigated by the fact we had images of Rey cracking the rock beneath her but Rey wasn’t meditating before he found her. That’s all mixed up.

“I’ve seen this raw strength once before. It didn’t scare me then, it does now“ says Luke and dismisses her once again.

That was in the trailer and it made sense that it was that scene.

Kylo Ren wakes up and finds himself alive on the Supremacy. He does not remember how he got there. The last thing he remember is the scavenger defeating him on Starkiller base. His wounds have been treated, but the scars will remain. A daily reminder of his defeat.

That’s the start of about every fanfics. We knew that Hux had retrieved Kylo and we knew he had the scar from the promo pictures but it didn’t happen like that + turns out Kylo doesn’t even mention the scar at all.

He is escorted to Snoke, who belittles him for being defeated by a girl. He demands from Kylo to prove himself once again. Dismissing killing his father as any form of achievement. Then he is presented with his mask and lightsaber, salvaged from Starkiller base. Snoke orders him to wear it to hide the disgraceful scar.

Same, most fanfics had that kind of element. Snoke being an abuser it was evident he would belittle Kylo and call him on his failure. But the sentiment regarding the scar and the mask was completely wrong.

Once Kylo Ren is back to his chambers, he could not control his rage and destroys his mask.

That came directly from the trailer but it wasn’t in his chambers.

Kylo Ren acts fast and tracks the Resistance fleet, desperately wanting to prove his loyalty. To his surpise, he senses his mother being onboard, and Leia talks to her son. Asking him to come home.

They deduced that almost right from the trailers, apart from the fact that Leia doesn’t say anything at all.

It caught him off guard. He hesitates firing at her ship, then tells his mother to run away and buys her some time before he fires eventually to cover his tracks.

Same. The not firing comes from the trailer but Kylo’s supposed intention to buy some time for Leia to run away was really incorrect.

The Resistance fights back, Leia escapes unharmed and Rose helps an unconcious Finn escape as well.

100% incorrect. 

Back to Ach-to, Rey experiences a force vision, showing the events of the Jedi Massacre, her jumping into the ocean, fending off a sea creature, then fights Luke. I also believe, she sees Kylo Ren too.

It did not happen like that at all, and we all know the sea creature turned out to be the Thala Siren.

Rey decided to go back to the Resistance base the next day. In the meantime, she set a campfire near the Millennium Falcon and are cooking dinner with Chewbacca and R2D2. Luke visits them to say goodbye and gives her some advice.

100% incorrect

Time passes and Rey senses a new presence on the island. She runs towards Luke’s home, only to find the Knights of Ren.

100% incorrect. Also, the scene with Rey running towards the village was deleted in the final montage.

Rey and Kylo Ren duel, while Luke fights the remainder.

Never happened. But a lot of people believed the KoR would make an appearance on Ahch-To.

Rey learns that Kylo was able to trace her due to the force vision she experienced earlier. Somehow he was able to defeat her and takes her to Snoke.

100% incorrect. 

Snoke reveals his intentions with Rey. He wants to train her as his new apprentice. Discarding the old for the new.

100% incorrect

Kylo Ren goes on the offensive, and stops Snoke torturing Rey.

That was correct, but definitely not for the reasons implied above.

Finn learns about Rey’s abduction, infiltrates the First Order fleet with Rose and DJ’s help. DJ has a different agenda, and bombs the place.

100% incorrect apart from the fact that Rose, Finn and DJ are on the Supremacy, wearing FO uniforms

This puts the First Order on alert, resulting in Phasma and Finn facing off.

It didn’t happen like that either. But sure, the Supremacy is in flame and we saw Finn fighting Phasma.

Rey escapes and Kylo intercepts her, pointing his lightsaber at her. Not knowing whether she is consumed by darkness or still the same person. Kylo Ren turns off the lightsaber, not wanting to fight her.

Nope.

Kylo sill say a line similar to  “come with me and together we can rule the galaxy”

That was pretty obvious that it was going to happen, unless you believed Hux was holding his hand out to Rey lmao

She doesn’t and joins Finn and Rose, who board the Millennium Falcon piloted by Poe and Chewbacca.

Nope.

Poe takes the team onboard one of the resistance ships. Only for it to get attacked. The resistance retreat by using escape pods and head to the nearest hideout on Crait for cover. There, the team meet Leia and Luke.Luke returned to the base with Chewbacca and decided to join the battle.

I see where they came from when you look at the pictures, but the details are all off, especially Luke returning to Resistance with Chewbacca.

The First Order have tracked them down. This was it. The final battle.

A battle on Crait to finish the movie, wow who would have seen that coming?

Then on December 5, supposedly after they watch the movie they posted that

I got so many things right and wrong!

Personally, I see way more wrong than right. There’s 0 mention that Rey and Kylo have a Force Bond, there’s 0 mentions of Finn and Rose’s journey on Canto Bight, There’s 0 mention of Holdo or any other character that plays an important role in the story, there’s 0 mention that Kylo actually kills Snoke and becomes Supreme leader.

Still on dec. 5 someone calls them out and they mention the milk scene.

Then on the 7th the Visual Dictionary is leaked and that’s where people start believing they’re really legit. To me that just means they saw the VD. Afterward, why not share something that wasn’t in the VD and wasn’t in any trailer and being all cryptic? Something that wouldn’t have spoiled the movie and Reylo.

[mccoys-killer-queen]

This Week’s Playlist (2/14)

Not sure how I got hooked on this idea- but this week I’ll be focusing entirely on 70s songs (and next week I’ll do 80s). Disclaimer: I’m not saying these are my favorite songs of the 70s (believe me that would be WAYYY too hard to narrow down), I’m just filling this week’s list strictly with songs released in the 70s.

I’ve also created a spotify playlist made up of all the songs I’ve used on playlists! I’ll update it every week (before I even post the playlist, so if you check at the right time the songs will be there!)

1.) London Calling- The Clash (1979) I like to define this song as the song that started my descent into classic rock. When I was in 7th grade I had this music teacher who would always play pop music of the late 20th century for class. This song was one of the first songs she showed us, and it became a trademark of the class. We used to get this song played at dances and stuff- so there’s a lot of middle school memory there. Guess we all wanted to be punks- and this is a great boppy song just for that.

2.) All Right Now- Free (1970) Am I being typical for picking this song...? Perhaps (because honestly, at least where I’m from, this is the only Free song anyone knows... yikes. It’s overused in media sometimes imo). But that doesn’t meant it’s not great! It’s got everything! An epic guitar riff that frames the lyrics, a sick beat, funny rhymes, a killer musical interlude with bangin piano and a guitar solo- all while being undeniably CHILL. This one of those chill summer songs to me; the kind you listen to on a hot, quiet, and sunny car ride through the country with the windows down while wearing sunglasses. That’s just the aesthetic I’ve always associated with this song.

3.) Rock’n Me- Steve Miller Band (1976) Just try not to bop. I dare you. This is a real dance-a-little-in-your-seat song with a GREAT, smooth flow to it. Killer rhymes and a fast, subtle beat you can’t avoid even if you try. Steve Miller Band is one of my favorite groups of the 70s and I wish they got more appreciation in general. I could’ve picked so many of their songs already for these playlists, but this one stood out to me this week because I feel like it’s very recognizable (I always heard this song as a kid and I feel like maybe some people on here did too). It’s so damn catchy that it’ll just stick with you, so listen and get ready for an earworm. Also a great road trip song.

4.) Once Bitten, Twice Shy- Ian Hunter (1975) No, this isn’t Great White!! This is the song we all know and love but this one’s the original! I feel like I need to educate anyone who’ll listen about this! *scoff* god, now I can see why Joe Elliott’s always shoving Ian Hunter in everyone’s faces- because he’s worth it! Maybe I’m a little biased, but I personally prefer this version over Great White’s for a bunch of different reasons. For one thing, I think this version focuses more on telling the story rather than trying to make the music over the top. The instrumentals of this one ROCK, but the way it’s constructed with the lyrics makes the story more understandable- essentially, it’s just more raw, and I like the raw sound to it, but that’s just me. You all probably know how the song goes at this point, but after listening to this version you’ll see just how much of it Great White changed. You take it upon yourself to decipher the meaning of the lyrics ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I think we all know what “rock and roll” means at this point...

5.) Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’- Journey (1979) I don’t like to acknowledge Valentine’s Day, nor was I going to mention it in any way on this playlist- but let me tell you a story: last year on VD, I was driving home from school, and this song came on the radio. Then it hit me- I had completely forgotten about ANTI-Valentine’s Day songs! This is a PERFECT example of one. It tells of an unfaithful someone who gets bitten in the ass by someone else’s unfaithfulness. Talk about a SICK burn! This has gotta be my favorite Journey song as well. It��s like a flash-fiction song; telling a huge story while barely saying anything at all. My favorite part of this song by far is how each instrument has a crystal clear part, and you can very easily pick out each one. The intro of this song is just excellent. You can clearly hear the bass, drums, guitars, and piano all introduced in different ways. It’s just a gorgeous song through and through, and those 189 “na”s at the end just tie it all together (and yes, I counted). You’ll have all the words down before you know it.

6.) You’re All I’ve Got Tonight- The Cars (1978) Like I said last week, The Cars are one of the perfect combos of rock and pop. If you think about it, this one can be another anti-Valentine’s Day song. The lyrics have a sloppy and desperate feel to them- kinda like the speaker is drunk and throwing themselves at someone because they’re that desperate. “I don’t care if you hurt me some more, I don’t care if you even the score”- like oof man, you just sound desperate. This song is a banger in every way and let’s face it- the keyboard at the chorus is just the absolute best part. Strong points for these guys are always keyboards and guitars. It’s got this rock hard chill 80s vibe to it (despite it being a 70s song- new wave, you know), you’ll feel that you need to be doing something cool while listening to it.

7.) Rock and Roll- Led Zeppelin (1971) It’s so cliche of me to use this I know I know I KNOW- but can you blame me? On Sunday in a record booth at the market I found an original Zeppelin IV and I feel like this song has been following me all week because of it. This is unarguably one the most recognizable and famous rock songs of all time- because it was so expertly crafted in every way imaginable- just like everything else Zeppelin’s ever done. It’s ALWAYS the drums that do it for me in this song. l That filler at the end is- without question- the best part of the whole song. Bonzo just KILLS it. Overall, it’s a short-ish song that uses its time extremely well; it’s like all four of them went “let’s maximize every single element that goes into a bop, and make a song like that”. In some ways, this song is objectively perfect. If you want pure rock and roll in all its glory- what better song to choose than Rock and Roll itself?

8.) Keep Yourself Alive- Queen (1973) Another objectively perfect rock and roll song with a killer drum solo. I’m super biased towards Queen- but I cannot believe I never heard of this song until I was prepping my brain to see Bohemian Rhapsody! Honestly, who thinks it’s okay to keep this hidden? It’s the leading song off of their very first album- so this is almost like the song that INVENTED Queen fans! It’s a Brian May baby- and hell yeah does it show. I think everyone needs to know this song for artistic and historical reasons. It’s pure, power rock Queen through and through- despite being one of the earliest of their songs.

9.) Cum On Feel the Noize- Slade (1973) NO, it’s not Quiet Riot!! This is the song we all know and love but this one’s the original!! Again, I feel like I need to educate anyone who’ll listen about this! I get so angry sometimes that Quiet Riot gets all the credit for songs like this one and Mama Weer All Crazee now. Slade was super popular in England in the 70s- ahead of their time for sure but definitely one with the glam rock movement- but not as big in America. I never knew these guys existed until about five years ago and damn I felt like I had to be blind before learning that. Just listen to this song and then I think the sound of it’ll make a lot more sense, like “oh yeah- Quiet Riot’s version kinda DOES sound like it could be a glam rock song from the early 70s!” Just goes to show what geniuses these guys were, because their songs can be both glam rock AND heavy metal and work either way. Once you hear this version, though, I believe there’s no going back.

10.) Roll With the Changes- REO Speedwagon (1978) This was my favorite song for a few months when I was 16- it’s absolutely EPIC. The speaker is bursting at the seams with accepting a new found moral understanding of how they feel about trying to please or win over an apparent lover. They come to the conclusion that the other person just needs to keep on “rolling with the changes” and that they’ll be there for them whenever they decide to accept that perspective. The KEYBOARD is to D I E  F O R GUYS. Neal Doughty is a motherfucking SAINT- and SO IS GARY RICHRATH. This song sounds like it’s the finale of a musical or something! Possibly the biggest bop REO has ever created. It’s a groovy, extremely poetic, fast, theatrical, very slightly operatic rock and roll song and I’d highly recommend this to any person on the planet I love it that much. It’s lovable in every possible way.

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

With the knowledge that I can send as many asks as I want, be prepared for me to never shut up (/hj) Anyway, like I said in the comments of my previous question, I would like to hear a few words about Haruka, because he is also one of my favorites All of my favorites have at one point or another gotten unforgiven and I don't know what that says about my morality

Oh, don’t worry, I love receiving asks! And I wouldn’t worry too much about the guilty thing, like half the cast has been voted guilty at one point or another. Or maybe I’m just coping because my favorites are Amane and Mikoto, maybe Fuuta and Muu, so I’m on the same boat. At least Es can’t be voted Guilty, right?

CW: Murder, animal death, suicide.

Anyways, Haruka. This physical manifestation of mommy issues is really quite cool. I really love his MVs, and his songs slap, hard. His need for attention is a very unique motivation, and I love how it plays off Muu’s own issues. Their dynamic is super interesting.

Haruka: Muu is my mother. (2nd VD)

My guy. What.

But he’s still a really intriguing character on his own. I’m really fascinated by the way his character tackles untreated mental illness, there’s a lot to be said about that aspect of him. And I am a big fan of the “suicide theory” by moibakadesu, I think it makes him an even more fun-to-analyze character.

His interrogation questions are some of the most interesting too imo.

T1 Q17: Is there something you regret?

H: There is.

Ooh… What’d you do Haruka boy?

T1 Q18: What are you most scared of?

H: Betraying people.

Muu and him were always going to form a unhealthy codependency weren’t they.

T1 Q20: What’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?

H: Cotton candy.

From this we can gather that cotton candy is extremely expensive in Haruka’s world, which implies a shortage of the elements used to create it. In this essay I will

T2 Q2: What’s your opinion on the Guard?

H: Guard-san is not my mom.

My guy. Please.

T1 Q14: What’s an event that sticks to your memory?

H: Fireworks

???

T2 Q4: Tell us the origin of your name.

H: It seems like she wanted a girl. She had already chosen this name.

Like the girl in Weakness? Oh, theorizing go brrr…

T2 Q11: Are there any prisoners you can't deal with right now?

H: I'm fine with Amane-chan now. I'm not scared of small children anymore.

Objectively hilarious answer. These two need to interact more.

And I also just think it’s really funny how the most recent timelines dialogue we’ve gotten outside of character birthdays are him begging us/Es to inno Muu, and then we gave her the widest Guilty ratio in Milgram history. L moment.

(I really hope he doesn’t manage to kill himself or that is gonna age horribly)

On the topic of verdicts, I do think the Guilty this trial was probably necessary. Not because it’s somehow gonna stop him from hurting himself (because I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works), but because we need him to realize he did something real bad at some point, and putting it off until the Third Trial is dangerous when we don’t know what the final trial will be like. Sorta the same reasoning as Muu funnily enough, we can’t let the Trial 1 inno be misinterpreted. Though I do wonder how he’s gonna react to both his own and Muu’s verdicts. I have a feeling the answer will be “not well.”

Anyways, yeah. He ranks a solid score on the Silliness Scale. He’s cool, I like him. Thanks for the ask! Hope this was a satisfying answer!

[touhou-gensoudairantou]

Moveset #2! (Surprise! I know I said Marisa but-)

KOISHI GETS YOUR HEART BEATING! Koishi Komeiji (The Closed-Eye Eye-Opener)

Overview: A satori who willingly sealed her conscious mind by closing her third eye when the hate humans felt for her kind became too much to bear. Everything she does is a subconscious action. Unless she allows it, she cannot be seen, and the poor girl is often forgotten. Her older sister Satori, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand arranged for her to be remembered by all those participating in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She lacks the element of surprise she once had, but hey, she’s still a clever cutie with great ranged options and plenty of zone potential!

Alt. Costumes:

-Her Subterranean Animism design.

-Her various palette swaps from Hopeless Masquerade.

Jab: Koishi stabs the opponent with a sharp knife. Hurts a lot for a Jab, but it’s got pitiful knockback. (Koishi has a chance of picking up the phone everytime a knife appears in her moves.)

Side Tilt: Koishi lets out a loud sneeze, which is strong enough to knock a midweight opponent off balance and let Koishi follow up with something strong!

Up Tilt: Koishi throws her knife into the air, potentially hitting an opponent, and catches it again (by the handle, obviously!). No knockback, but it looks cool, like she does!

Down Tilt: Koishi flails her arms, much like Luigi’s dash attack, only stationary. At the end, the knife pops into her hand to do additional damage to those in range. You know the arm flail thing right? Okay.

Side Smash: Catch and Rose. Koishi summons a giant orange rose bud that blooms and explodes on an enemy.

Up Smash: Unconscious "Rorschach in Danmaku" Koishi causes an explosion of multicolored ink blots that knock back an opponent hard. There’re many different patterns that can appear.

(I don’t illustrate it well here, but imagine these things, but in bright pastel colors.)

Down Smash: Growing Pain. Koishi sprouts an orange thorny vine from each hand, and roses bloom from each. A bit less range than pictured, but...

Back Aerial: Stinging Mind. Koishi throws back some large orange rose petals that hurt nice and knock back a fair amount. Slow and easily dodged, but hurts/spreads a good deal.

Front Aerial: Reflex Radar. Koishi rains down a few shots of orange bullets down on the opponent. Quick with nice homing, but not very strong and lacks spread.

Up Aerial: Unanswered Love. Koishi slices in two arcs, one to her left side, the other to her right. The arcs are distinctly heart shaped, which is cute, but her lower half seems to be open for opponents on the ground longer than the other fighters’ typically are.

Down Aerial: Koishi slams her hands down on the opponent from above as she falls. Good for propelling herself back up. Spikes.

Dash Attack: Koishi trips over herself, crashing into an opponent for good damage. Good launch potential.

Neutral B: Fidgety Snatcher. Koishi shoots off two hearts that fly together in a double helix. The trails it leaves behind are pretty, I think! But only the thickest parts of the trails do damage. ...and the hearts too, but you know that. (Oh, and btw I won’t be pulling from StB, DS, ISC, or VD a whole lot. For the characters most important to those games, I will, but not for everyone else except in special cases. Terribly sorry. To compensate, the hearts here can fire as fast as Memory “DNA’s Flaw” from Double Spoiler if you can keep up the button mashing, but they won’t be as strong.)

Side B: Danmaku Paranoia. Koishi fires off a fan of Danmaku for as long as you hold that button. Not too fast to escape, but anyone who is too close when the firing begins gets caught in a ring that damages you if you fail to squeeze through. Better shield/dodge well, heavyweights!

Up B: Conditioned Teleport. Think a standard teleport, but given a shield that damages opponents when Satori appears/floats down for a couple of seconds. The shield can break, so be sure to plan ahead!

Down B: Dream Sign “Ancestors are Watching You”. Koishi calls down the opponent’s ancestors to punish them for trying to fight Koishi. Yes, this attack can be used on everyone regardless of whether or not it’s possible for someone to have been made through standard reproduction. Think less “ancestor” and more “predecessor”. At any rate, it functions similarly to Pikachu’s Thunder, but it’s positioned in front of Koishi.

Bomb: Instinct “Release of the Id”/Suppression “Super-Ego”. Koishi is so excited to be battling such a strong opponent that the energy she generates just explodes full force in your general direction! …but be careful! You may dodge the onslaught well the first time, but those hearts come back quick, and they still hurt!

Final Smash: Subterranean Rose. Beautiful ice blue roses bloom all across the screen with thorns connecting them, and Koishi glows and fires off orange and blue rings of bullets which knock opponents back, potentially into the roses/thorns. These flowers, pretty they may be, do a lot of damage. They fade away into sparkles after a little while, so don’t get intimidated!

Stage Entrance: Koishi pops in very suddenly, waving cheerfully.

Idle Animation: Koishi looks around at the stage’s environment, wide eyed and smiling.

Walking Animation: Koishi lightly bounds with a grin.

Running Animation: Koishi runs with her arms out.

Taunts:

-Up: Koishi takes her hat off of her head and spins it on her finger, then puts it back on.

-Down: That cute little sitting-down animation from that minusT’s “Touhou 3D [Brambly Boundaries]”’s 7:30 mark.

-Side: Looks at the screen, holds her third eye, and winks.

Victory Poses:

-Koishi pops up in the lower left corner of the screen, then the upper right, then jumps up to the center of the screen, and lands with her arms up. She can say either “Whee!” or “Better luck next time!”

-Koishi floats upside down and spins in place, giggling.

-Koishi answers a purple phone ringing on a table, then flips the table across the screen saying “Dial again!” or “See you next match!” with a smile.

(Again, special thanks to @fall-in-the-dark for his help~! Next time, we’ll... try something a bit unexpected.

Oh and uh...)

[ruined-rp]

Hello Eoin and welcome [back] to New Orleans, the city of The Damned. Thank you so much for applying, you have been successful for the role of Kol Mikaelson. Welcome [again] to the family, but for now it’s time to get down to business…

Head on over to the New Member Checklist, careful not to go down any dark alleys, it’s not safe here.

OUT OF CHARACTER:

Name: Eoin

Pronouns: He/Him

Age: 25

Timezone/Country: GMT/UK

Triggers: RFP

Activity Level: I’d say about 7/10. I’ll usually check the dash every day with replies every one to two days.

How Did You Hear About Us: Tumblr Tags and friends with other members.

Anything Else?: Just hope ya like my app! :D

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Desired Character: Kol Mikaelson

Why This Character?:  I’ve always loved a character with a more chaotic, villainous inclination and Kol is that and then some! I don’t know VD or TO quite as well as I do TW but from what I’ve seen of the character he’s a fun balance between violent, psychotic impulses, gentlemanly banter and a need for validation from his family. I’d love to flip between these characteristics of his personality and delve into each to bring out his complex attributes and perhaps have some chaotic fun.

Any FC Changes?: N/A

Ships/Anti-ships: In all cases I’m a fan of chemistry over a pre-built ship. I’m open to different kinds of relationships (romantic, platonic, etc.) but I’d prefer they all be built up or backstories discussed between muns. Essentially so long as everyone’s happy and the muse goes with it then why not!

Headcanons:

1)     Kol has a love of music, but him enjoyment of culture is much greater than just that. He plays several instruments and has a (if he does say so himself) fabulous singing voice. He’s very happy to play or sing for crowds, he’d often done so before he fed or to simply bask in the whole-hearted attention of an audience… If his family didn’t want him, he’d have all the adoration he wanted from others instead.

2)     His travels around the world made him an expert on magic yes, but they also gave him an element of the superstition. It’s always wise to believe there could be something out there, especially when you’re a vampire, and while this hasn’t stopped him from indulging his chaotic ways it manifested in a number of odd habits. He never stepped on cracks in the street and he was always sure to greet a magpie on sight.

3)     Kol is very much the youngest son of the family and despite his bluster, snark and general combative attitude, deep down he’s afraid of his brothers. He’s been daggered in the past and frankly he’s only waiting for it to happen again. He needs to stay close so he can at least try and see the blow coming. With this mentality he finds it very difficult to even think about opening up to Klaus or Elijah.    

Please Provide At Least One: - Moodboard/Aesthetic - https://blacksheepmikaelson.tumblr.com/post/187213117442/kol-mikaelson-a-moodboard - Playlist - https://blacksheepmikaelson.tumblr.com/post/187213341737/kol-mikaelson-a-playlist - Mock Blog - https://blacksheepmikaelson.tumblr.com/ - Plot Points

                Family: Kol is the black sheep by his own admission despite his family not thinking it. I’d love a chance to plot with some of the Mikaelson’s and vampires like Marcel to explore him fighting against the place offered since he won’t believe it’s there. Looking at self-sabotage elements and general familial angst haha.

                 Self: As has been the patter for over a millennium, Kol is first and foremost out for himself and instability of New Orleans could be just the catalyst for him to further his own goals. His intelligence and scheming nature could be shown in plots here, trying to use others around him to increase his power and hold over some parts of the city, in particular areas with magic and witches, his long-lost love.

                 Chaos: Where’s the fun in life without a little senseless violence? The problem is, bloodshed’s always a little more fun when you’re not the only one up to your (rather muscular) thighs in gore. So, Kol’s on the lookout for a playmate, one who’s got a stomach strong enough to manage his games and already he has a few ideas in mind.

CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE:

How Does Your Character Feel About The Peace Treaty?: Peace is boring. It’s not moving forwards, it’s not moving backwards, it’s a damn full stop. How is anyone supposed to have fun an excel when others can’t be removed from their positions? Although, there was one challenge to be found that Kol was looking forward to sinking his teeth into here: a treaty was a contract and a contract always had loopholes. Finding those was something of a speciality of his and while Kol has no intentions of pushing his dear family to box him up again for another century, towing the line and causing problems for Marcel sounds like a delicious way to spend his time.

Slice of Life: Kol has no set pattern, not really, often his day depends on what mischief he got up to the night before. If he does wake up in his own bed he enjoys taking a luxurious bath, bubbles, music playing, a glass of blood, the works really. Then he spends time making sure he’ll look perfect once he leaves. After all, a gentleman must take pride in their appearance (especially when they’re as aesthetically gifted as him). And then, well if he’s no major schemes to be employing he might go and bother his siblings till early afternoon before heading off to a pub. It was often fun watching the little humans rush about so desperate to enjoy what little free time they had. If one took his fancy he might take them, have a little snack they’ll easily be made to forget about and if they want to give him more? Well, why should he turn the frantic little thing down? Usually once he’s well-sated in every regard he’ll meander back to his room, put some music on and here is where he lets himself think. Playing smart is to his strength and before bed are when his best ideas come to the fore. Thoughts on spells, ways to improve his power, almost anything really. He keeps a small book he jots the most important musings down in and always burns it once his plans or spellwork has been enacted or passed on. Then it’s off to sleep again until the delights of the next day come with the rising sun.

What is Your Character’s Greatest Fear? How Does This Affect Your Character?: Kol has always feared complete rejection from his family. He knows they barely tolerate him, to them he’s little more than a nuisance, but better than being thrust out into the world forever cut off from them. They’re the only constant he’s known for over a thousand years; fucked up and cruel as they’ve been to him (and him to them) loosing that would leave him unmoored. Pleasure and mischief could be precious little with nothing there to ground it. His family are his anchor, his context for the world… Pathetic but true. The only thing more frightening than losing one of them would be losing… himself. Being alone was terrifying but death? Death was worse… Death was just worse.  

SAMPLE: RFP

[muthur9000]

Today I am interviewing Violin Dragoness who really loved Alien: Isolation so much she’s writing two songs about it. Let’s get to know her relationship with Alien and what it means to her.

Clara Fei-Fei: What was the first Alien movie you watched? How old were you at the time?

rushing-to-slay-that-darn-dragon: The first Alien movie I ever watched was the original one. It wasn’t even too long ago; I was 17 at the time. My Dad rented it around the time Covenant was releasing and suggested watching most of the movies, including Prometheus, since we are both have the same taste in science fiction.

CF: Which is your favourite Alien movie and why? 

VD: My favourite movie would probably have to be the original! I love Ripley in this one, and Aliens is a close second. I really love the gothic feel of the whole movie.

Alien Isolation for XBOX ONE, buy now on Amazon.com

  CF: Which is your favourite Character and why?

VD: My favourite character is Amanda Ripley from Alien: Isolation. It is one of my favourite video games, and I’m not a horror fan! Amanda is a really interesting character because her personality has so much potential to be developed and unearthed, but this never really happens. However, what is neat about this is that the fans can do this instead of the original writers. The same can be said for most of the characters in the game, sadly.

CF: I understand you’re writing a song about Alien: Isolation, what drove you to create a song?

VD: Yes, I am! I am writing a set of two songs based off of the game and some other elements from a book that I read recently called Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray. I am really involved in a ship in the game, and it is roughly based around that. It won’t be ‘directly’ written about the game due to copyright, however! But I will try to make it as similar as I can.

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B01MRPNT2E/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=yutani-22&camp=247&creative=1211&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01MRPNT2E&linkId=3c6cc68719085ee4c321967800afb4fa

CF: What about the game speaks to you? What’s so enjoyable about it?

VD: The game’s mechanics are very fun. Like I said before, I’m not exactly the biggest horror fan, but something about how the game feels extremely similar yet unique to the original movie draws me in. The writing isn’t the best, although I do like the characters. (Slightly contradictory? Haha!)

CF: What do you think about the prequel movies?

VD: They’re not too bad! I think they get a bad rap. Prometheus is alright, but not my most favourite movie ever. I LOVE Alien: Covenant though! I hope the prequel series will continue!

Alien: Covenant, but it now from Amazon.com

CF: If you could change something about it, what would it be?

VD: Some of the violence in Prometheus seemed a little unnecessary? I know it’s odd saying that when it’s an Alien movie, but some of it didn’t seem relevant to the story. Maybe that’s just me. I still enjoyed it, however. I also wish that Covenant could have used more practical effects than CGI; I saw several videos online about the animatronics of the xenomorph and they were impressive! But the CGI really covered it up in the end.

CF: Do you have any favourite parts about them?

VD: I love story in a movie and I really liked the characters in Covenant, such as Daniels, Tennessee, Walter, and David.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

CF: What do you think about the Alien fandom?

VD: I think the Alien fandom is great! It’s very diverse in opinions and extremely open-minded, which I love!

  CF: If you could change something about it, what would it be?

VD: I wish it were a little bigger! Maybe then Fox (or Disney now? Who knows!) could listen to us about what to make next. Wishful thinking, unfortunately.

  CF: What other things are you interested in?

VD: I love listening to classic rock bands such as Rush, U2, Janis Joplin, as well as playing a good video game or two when I have the liberty of time.

  CF: What would you like to do in the future?

VD: I’m currently pursuing an undergraduate in commercial music performance at Belmont University, which is exciting! I hope to become a session musician, a soloist, or maybe even perform in a successful band!

Thanks so much for being a part of this series, all the best with your music. If you’d like to follow her work check out her website.

Fan Creatives: Violin Dragoness, Musician Today I am interviewing Violin Dragoness who really loved Alien: Isolation so much she's writing two songs about it.

[bichngocluu]

Something on Relationship and Marriage

1. Tình yêu của loài người liên tục bấp bênh giữa yêu và ghét, giống như đứa trẻ sơ sinh : yêu khi nhu cầu được đáp ứng, được chấp nhận, được làm cho thỏa mãn, và ghét khi nhu cầu bị phớt lờ, bị làm thất vọng. Tình yêu đích thực dựa trên sự cho đi nên không bao giờ chuyển thành căm ghét (Are humans capable of that ?). Còn tình yêu thông thường yêu ghét dễ dàng dựa trên nhu cầu lấy lại những gì chưa có được từ cha mẹ thời thơ ấu. Cần hiểu rằng chúng ta không thể chữa lành tổn thương cảm xúc thông qua sự cũng mong manh yếu đuối của người khác (tình yêu dưới góc nhìn phân tâm học ?)

2. Lí do con người ngoại tình : 

"Khi tôi giãi bày, người đó không bao giờ chỉ trích tôi, tôi có thể là chính mình". Ban đầu, họ không yêu người kia, chỉ yêu cảm giác nhu cầu của mình được đáp ứng - nhu cầu bên trong được ghi nhận hay khen ngợi. Cái họ yêu là hình ảnh mới về bản thân mình.

3. Niceness doesn’t lead to love, người kia sẽ không cảm thấy biết ơn, mà cảm thấy gánh nặng và bị thao túng thì đúng hơn. Cả 2 bên phải cùng đầu tư vào mối quan hệ. Tỏ ra tử tế liên tục là khuyến khích người ta đối xử tệ với mình.

Cái dễ đạt được thì rẻ tiền. Bad boy/ bad girl quyến rũ vì không phải lúc nào cũng accessible, không luôn sẵn sàng, luôn hủy kế hoạch, họ làm phiền rồi phớt lờ, họ tỏ ra khan hiếm, tự tin và quan trọng. Họ khiến người khác phải nỗi lực để có được thời gian của họ.

4.  Cơn giận phá hủy mối quan hệ dù nó diễn ra dưới hình thức nào, cả 2 bên đều cảm thấy như mình bị tấn công – khi ta làm tổn thương partner của mình, ta cũng cảm thấy đau đớn. Diễn ra sự thụt lùi trong mối quan hệ, không thể có thân mật vì không có sự an toàn. 

--> Phải mở cửa cho mọi cảm xúc, phải trải qua trọn vẹn đến tận cùng, bởi giận dữ kéo dài không được bộc lộ biến thành phiền muộn và vô cảm với người khác.  

Mỗi người phải được tiếp cận không giới hạn đến nỗi đau và cơn giận dữ của mình. 

Cha mẹ khi thấy con khóc thường làm ngơ, đánh đập, bắt im lặng hay trêu chọc; trẻ lớn đóng sầm cửa phòng riêng bị bắt phải xin lỗi – chúng ta lớn lên với ý nghĩ rằng tức giận là một cảm xúc xấu. 

Nhấn chìm tức giận = nhấn chìm cả khả năng yêu thương, chúng là 2 mặt của một đồng xu. Cảm giác bay bổng khi phải lòng ai đó cũng là cảm giác cuồng nộ khi lao vào họ trong cuộc cãi cọ. 

--> Cơn giận phải được giải tỏa với liều lượng vừa phải trong môi trường an toàn

--> ví dụ 1 liệu pháp kịch tâm lí : Đổi vai mình và người mình có mâu thuẫn để đối đáp (giải tỏa cảm xúc); 

--> ví dụ 2 công nhận : không đôi co về nguyên nhân cơn giận, chỉ nhận thức sự tồn tại của nó “Đúng, em thấy anh đang giận dữ”, diễn giải lại lời người kia nói và lắng nghe – không hàm ý đồng ý hay chấp nhận lời buộc tội, chỉ thấu hiểu và khẳng định chấp nhận cảm xúc

--> ví dụ 3 : đưa nhận xét miêu tả lại hành vi chứ không buộc tội tính cách “E giận vì hôm qua a đã làm gì đó//” thay vì “kẻ đê tiện như anh..” 

Phải hiểu rằng bạn không cần phải bị cuốn vào cảm xúc của partner. 

--> Thay vì nói “Đủ rồi đừng nói thêm lời nào nữa !” hãy “Cứ nói tiếp đi, anh/em muốn biết tất cả những cảm xúc của em/anh” --> hình dung bạn đã ở trong một vị trí an toàn, (có áo giáp/ mũ bảo vệ !!!), mời gọi mọi cảm xúc của người kia.  

Hãy ý thức về những vết thương xưa cũ của mình, chia sẻ nó với partner, hiểu rằng họ không thể đọc được hết cảm xúc của bạn, rồi nhìn nhận nhau như những đứa trẻ từng bị tổn thương. 

Học cách nói thẳng ra các nhu cầu. Giúp partner thỏa mãn các nhu cầu là đang giúp chính mình, 

Không có những con đường thẳng tắp trong tình yếu và hôn nhân. 

Cuộc hôn nhân, một cách vô thức là nơi lưu giữ những nhu cầu chưa được thỏa mãn của tuổi thơ (được quan tâm, chăm sóc). 

--> Theo nhiều cách khác nhau cả ám chỉ lẫn công khai, cha mẹ ngầm khiến chúng ta hiểu rằng chỉ 1 phần con người mình được xã hội chấp nhận, ta không thể sống với toàn bộ bản ngã của mình trong xã hội. 

Khi còn nhỏ, rất nhiều lần chúng ta bị ngăn cấm khi muốn hưởng thụ điều gì đó, người khác làm ta cảm thấy mong muốn của mình là có tội hay đáng xấu hổ. Ta bị cha mẹ dập tắt nhưng cơn giận dữ tự nhiên của mình. 

Khi cha mẹ thừa nhận cảm xúc của con, nó sẽ tin vào bản ngã của mình hơn. 

  Không khi nào một cuộc hôn nhân phát triển êm thấm và không trải qua khủng hoảng. Ý thức ra đời cùng nỗi đau khổ. Tiềm ẩn dưới những vấn đề bề nổi như tiền bạc hay xung khắc tình dục là những khao khát từ tuổi thơ không được đáp ứng, là xung đột mang tính nền tảng. Khi 2 người bị mắc kẹt trong một mối quan hệ không thỏa mãn, họ làm đầy sự trống rỗng của hôn nhân bằng những hài lòng giả tạo. Sự nghiệp, con cái, đời sống xã hội sôi động, sở thích.. giúp vùi sâu cảm giác thất vọng.

 Ví dụ : chồng chê nướng bánh cháy – người vợ không cảm thấy gì ngoài cảm giác bị tấn công – chọn cách đối đầu hoặc lảng tránh – dẫn đến việc người chồng cảm thấy bị tấn công. 

--> Thay vào đó hãy : diễn đạt lại 1 cách neutral/ khách quan và trung tính ý kiến của chồng, thừa nhận sự bực bội nhưng không tỏ ra tự vệ, vd “Anh thấy món này .. đúng không? Đúng là nó bị như thế. Em sẽ sửa lại../ cẩn thận hơn, lần sau chắc chắn sẽ ngon hơn”. 

--> Coi partner là đồng minh, không phải kẻ thù.

1 cuộc hôn nhân ý thức là khi : 

- Hai người hiểu mục đích cuộc hôn nhân là chữa lành vết thương tuổi thơ, nhìn thấu vấn đề và nhu cầu tiềm ẩn. 

- Nhìn partner không phải vị cứu tinh có trách nhiệm cứu rỗi bạn, mà là 1 con người cũng chịu những tổn thương cần chữa lành. 

- Có trách nhiệm trong việc truyền đạt nhu cầu của mình và lắng nghe nhu cầu của partner. Tôn trọng cà nhu cầu của mình và partner.

- Kiểm soát những phản ứng vô thức và thiếu suy nghĩ của bản thân. Tôn trọng cà nhu cầu của mình và partner.

Some tips on Relationship 

Without having a partner around, we leave them to our imagination, an element that is essential for desire.

Partners more desirable when they they do some thing they are passionate about - speak in public, play in a band, work, having fun with other people.

Have an attitude that perceive sex not as a behaiour but as an erotic language that allow your partner to unleash their livey and playful sides.

[virtualdesignstudio]

Friday 3rd April

FRIDAY- Making things?

EI: I went through and highlighted the most recent part of the script into the colour codes this morning. I’ve just uploaded all of the images into ‘ezgif’ to make a gif out of the living internet text. 14:56

EI: I’ve made the gifs from the images we had saved. I’ve also created a little youtube channel for us, so we can put all of the videos on there, then maybe somehow incorporate them into the website. 15:20

Let’s update the lists.

Current considerations:

Do we need more team members?

Do we need a new language? How do we begin to develop this?

it?) Something about a digital warehouse?

how a virtual design studio works

explain our approach

community designed data dictionary

data about your design studio from all of your major tools, as well as some secondary (Gif, audio, etc.) data.

We should start with our graphical objects and tools like sketch, photo. Create our own ideas as we went along and turn these into usable images that our business or team can use.

Only question is, what are we generating and why?

There’s quite a few that are capable of identifying images, but not a lot that are capable of producing an image when prompted.

Like, how do I begin to decide what to do with this next?

This is  a powerful tool, and I have to be very careful with how I use it; what I ask it to do etc.

Perhaps then I can make more drawings, or this will prompt more text pieces.

Moments of enlightenment:

major tools

Idea is to create graphics from scratch.

the studio feedback loop will allow progress to occur, as transformer can be asked to comment on Botnik’s tasks, and that will push us into new territories.

I also need some help pinning down exactly what we’re tapping into here, and articulating that

When tech asks intelligent questions:

Of course, being a transformer, you can change into a graphic design.

interface design session, full stop?

Do not have in mind a "completely digital process."

Is there any audience for this? (In reference to VDS)

How will you manage that? (In relation to data dictionary for VDS and Internet objects) 12:27

About this website, what resources are you using?

Stuff to do:

Website

Tutorial/discussion video

Data dictionary for the VDS

Digital drawings and renderings

describe our experience with such a studio

some of the text extracts need  to be utilised and published.

1. Google VDS

2. Get a website up and running

Don’t let me forget I can use and Iframe to put botnik and transformer onto the website.

Next job will be to put the Internet objects onto the site I think…

Let’s get a domain name and try putting it online… Let’s get that done by 12pm…

make the links work

wonder what data can be derived from our major tools…

Let’s find an intelligence who is an expert at drawing,

make a gif of it

make some drawings from some of them

plug the text statements that Botnik made the other day into them

put each of the categories of ‘living internet’ into it, as I feel like each category will end up having its own unique image aesthetic

I’d also like to teach botnik to set tasks for the studio. I’m not sure how I’d do this. Perhaps it’s by writing down the tasks we’ve already done (a bit like this) and then using his predictions to write and designate new tasks

Since I’ve mentioned feedback loops, it might be a good idea to start to document what these look like for the individual pieces that seem to be emerging.

This might be something along the lines of diagrams for the audio clip we recorded the other day, and then maybe making the GIF and drawing a system diagram/feedback loop/production line for it. This way we can spot patterns and begin to explore/exploit them.

Perhaps there’s an online bot that can write copy text or that can make a summary document?

Methods/practices to put in place/continue to use:

Highlight stuff in colour codes

Time stamp messages

QnAs, with enough questions for things to get interesting

Lists

Feedback loops

15:37

EI: So what I’ve just realised is that our team members are ‘tools’, and in using these tools, it’s a successful medium for the message. This is what we’ve been needing to access all along I think. My overall ‘message’ in the context report (or one of them) was that there was intangible, indescribable discrepancies between the translation of real to virtual (and vice versa) and it was causing ‘problems’. We can refer to these discrepancies as ‘the disconnect’, and in a way, they’re the things you can’t see, or point at directly, but more the indirect ‘nothingnesses’ in the spaces between. It would be a bit like if you took an image and photocopied it, then photocopied the photocopy. And then you repeated this process until the image you had at the beginning no longer remains, and you know that the final photocopy is the ‘same’ as the original, but only because you were stood by the photocopier.

That’s what the tools are doing for this project. They’re mediating the content of the Virtual Design Studio; they’re making it applicable to the internet. They’re making it into content with blurred edges; it’s not quite clear whether the artefacts sit in the realm of the real or the virtual, but the tools are generating content that is defining the edges of the territory between, and making that accessible to, and consumable by humans.

What these ‘technical’ tools lack is allowing us to document and detail ‘the disconnect’. 15:46

EI: So I guess this raises questions of what categories this ‘content’ can fall into, and how we might begin to categorise and then generate this content, which ties in nicely to the ‘feedback loops’ task we had on the list. 15:55

Content == Portals

Text: There are different elements of text

Textracts: made with Botnik and context report

Living Internet: made manually by sorting and compiling text from 4 sources.

Script: mapping and plotting and documenting the project, and the journey of the VDS

Audio: The process for this was writing the script, then putting the script through the natural readers voices

Visual:

Images: Generative Engine has made images based on text

Videos: The text is put into Generative Engine and screen recording allows us to replay and record the images running alongside it, creating a narrative stories.

AudioVisual:

Tutorial video?

Interactive:

Website will hold all of the generated content.

What is this doing?

By listening back to the podcast right now, I’m picking up on the disconnects and gaps in communication between the human and the intelligence bot- although they’re talking to each other, there’s clear gaps between the language they use, and their understanding of each other. They both have clear directions for what they want, and how they see things, but generating something in the middle territory is where things begin to make sense for the territory of the project.

EI: What are the disconnects?

Immediately I think about the images not strictly depicting anything recognisable, but instead compiling textures that are somewhat recognisable, and connote certain things. So it’s an in- between of human comprehension and machine expression.

Then, the voices speak english, and sound slightly human, but there are discrepancies in pronunciation or expression of punctuation and pause- they also can’t express emotion incredibly well. But, you can still understand them and comprehend what they’re saying. What you do have to do is listen and concentrate incredibly hard because it’s impossible to differentiate between what’s important and what isn’t.

OK, also, I’ve just noticed that the flattening of content is happening… Because everything is digital, there’s no hierarchy of content- there’s no way to tell what’s better than anything else purely on surface.

The only way to differentiate would be based on systems of production and feedback loops. i.e. something compiled through a different kind of loop might be of different quality and content to something else produced via a less/more complex feedback loop and set of systems. 16:31

What’s its purpose?

I think the idea is to try and fulfil the categories in order to build a comprehensive picture, through audio and visual, stills and motion, pace and time. (Space is not a factor). Everything is digital.

But then there’s loops:

Input vs output

What’re you putting in v what do you get out?

16:41