#like its still hard to process but its at least kinda fun

[lolothesilly]

honestly i'd sort of like to make a concept album (or more than one!) revolving around my fantasy world.... i think itd be neat!!! i have such a weird relationship with like, Making Music though?? music theory does not vibe with my brain at all its like another form of math to me (<-dyscalculic) so i always feel so ill-prepared for it.

like. i dont know what im doing i dont know the language i dont know the syntax or the formulas. i know what sounds good to ME but i dont know Why a given group of notes sounds good together.

maybe what i need to do is like. fart around a bit while also taking notes. figure out exactly which progressions make my brain do a happy dance and then see if i can find a pattern. even if i Cant at least ill have a list of like? Things That Work For Me? thats something even if i cant explain why they work or how they work, itd give me a springboard

beyond that itd just be a matter of writing lyrics and singing them and recording myself singing and playing instruments and then piecing it all together. and like. to be real im Not good at any of those things but on the other hand i dont think i Have to be? i think its ok to create things even if theyre not Technically Skilled.

bad art is good art because you made art!!!!

[lonelyquail]

OK SINCE I SENT A DOUBLE BEFORE here's another!! um since you've mentioned sk recently hows abt your favourite order of no quarter member??

HMMM I don't have a specific favorite of the oonq so I am going to be resorting to semantics to twist this to a character I like (dark reize is like. he was Going to be made the last knight. it counts. it counts.)

anyway I love him so much and no one understands this 14 year old edgelord the way I do. not even the guy who he's technically just his oc. he's MY oc. (he actually is I took most of my interp of him and put it into a separate au and put That into an oc so if you're ever curious where nico comes from its him).

anyway (slaps this bad boy) he has so many identity debacles and also a shitty mom and so many fun possible interactions that. never happen. so I just threw that out and made my own au where he sticks around postgame (circumstances vary, he either splits off from nromal reize, is part of normal reize, or Doesn't get turned back and just stays Like This) and gets to sort out his issues starring: Lingering Memories From A Person You Don't Recognize As You, Finding A Purpose When The Thing You Were Conjured To Protect Is Gone And Said Conjurer slash Parent Is Effectively Dead, and also Just Generally Experiencing Emotions And Not Being Introspective Enough To Sort Them Out So Instead Just Being Really Angry That You Have Them And Causing Havoc. I like him

[dunmertwink]

.

[straykeedz]

day 24: i.n + daddy kink

©straykeedz

tw: dom!jeongin; oral (f receiving); sort of edging?; unprotected piv sex (don't!!! 🤨); begging, kinda???; creampie; implied round two; ♡

wc: 2,4k;

super late update and i have no other explanation apart from: life happened 🙃

this is part of my kinktober masterlist. you can find my regular masterlist here (tho it will not be updated until the end of kinktober) ♡

🔖 : @linos-kitten ; @luneskies ; @kxcies-blog ; @idunnomanmynamewastaken ; @cessixja ; @stolasisyourparent ; @kookiesbunny ; @xoxo-xoxo-bunny ; @ivyskzsworld ; @mal-lunar-28 ; @leetaste ; @sunnykynnie ; @channiesgoodgirl ; @seonghwatoothless ; @mrsminho ; @seungminluv3 ; @jin-from-the-block ; @aaasia111 ; @sulkygyu ; @whosanaanyway ; @y-ur--I ; @vixensss ; @nightimescapes ; @freckleboilix ; @dreamingaboutjisung ; @yourbeomiebear ; @tooskathepiratefromshield ;

to make sure i add you to the taglist, your age must be clearly visible on your profile. also, empty blogs will not be added - add at least a profile picture to your blog so that i’ll know you’re not a bot. ♡

smut below the cut, minors dni.

␦

It started with a question. 

“Do you…” Jeongin started, staring at the ceiling of your bedroom, arms crossed under his head as you lay peacefully on his chest, lulled by his heartbeat, and an arm around his waist. “Uh, do you think you could do it, too?”

“Baby, I’m gonna need you to elaborate on that.” You chuckled against his chest. 

Despite you and Jeongin understanding each other quickly, often without words, there was no way you could actually know what he was talking about right now. He could be talking about a million different things, because he was Yang Jeongin and even though he was a rather quiet and reserved person, his brain processes a lot of thoughts. 

“Uh, what…”, he cleared his throat, a thing he always did when he was nervous about something, or something was on his mind. “What Chan’s girlfriend said tonight. About…” he trailed. 

“About?”, you encouraged him, even though you were pretty sure you knew what he was talking about. 

Nights out with the guys, Jeongin’s friends, were always wild. Tonight had been a rather chill night, but one of the guys - it was probably Jisung -, thought it would be nice to play a game, the classic truth or dare. Some of the guys rolled their eyes, others protested, but in the end they all played and had fun. And then, after a few shots… the game turned somehow dirty. It was right then that Chan’s girlfriend confessed that she likes to call him daddy in bed - well, truth be told, he likes it too -. 

“About calling him…” he swallowed the lump in his throat, and you could feel his heartbeat pick up its pace in his chest. “Uh… daddy.”, he whispered the word as if it were a blasphemy. 

You couldn’t see him, but you just knew he was probably red in the face. “Oh.”

“Do you think you’d be… into it?”, he asked you. 

You’d be lying if you said that Chan’s girlfriend’s confession hadn’t piqued your interest, but you didn’t think Jeongin’d be into it. Even though you’d been going out for months already, you hadn’t tried out that many things in the bedroom apart from the basics. This was definitely new and a step forward in your sex life, but you were honestly down to try it with him.

“Do you think you’d be into it?”, you lifted your head to look at him. Even though it was dark, you could still make out his features in the pale moonlight. Then, you felt something pressing on your thigh - his bulge, growing hard under his sweats. “Oh, you are into it.”, you chuckled. 

He uncrossed his arms from under his head and covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed by your teasing. “Yah, jagi…”, he whined. 

“Ah, don’t be embarrassed, baby!”, you were quick to reassure him, straddling his lap and wrapping your fingers around his wrists to take off his hands from his eyes. You could see him smile shyly at the pet name. “There’s nothing wrong with having a daddy kink!” 

Another desperate whine escaped his lips, and he was trying his best to avoid your eyes, but the bulge pressing against your ass was definitely hard to ignore. So, you rolled your hips and ground against it to show him that you weren’t turned off by the idea - the opposite, actually. This time, he didn’t let out a whine, more like a moan at the feeling of you rubbing yourself on his clothed dick. 

“Jagi…” this time, he found the courage to look you in the eye, and rolled his hips against you one more time. “Need you.”

You smirked, biting your lower lip. “Then take me, daddy.”

His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at you with big, brown eyes - halfway between shocked and incredibly aroused. He was quick to change positions, and now you were laying on the bed, back pressed against the mattress, his body hovering over yours as he licked his lips. 

“Mhhh, I’ve been wanting to be inside of you since we woke up this morning, jagi…” he mumbled right before he attacked your neck with his lips, teeth scraping the flesh and tongue licking all the right spots. 

Right, because that morning, a little fucker named Kim Seungmin thought it’d be fun to drop by at Jeongin’s place unannounced, interrupting one of your intimate moments with him before it could escalate into something more… serious. So you were both left high and dry, and the sexual tension between you was pretty evident and persistent the whole day. 

“I’ve thinking about you the whole day too…”, you spoke softly while tugging at his dark hair when he started sucking a mark on your collarbone. “Need you so bad.”

Jeongin sucked in a breath and slipped one hand under your t-shirt, brushing your soft, delicate skin with his slender, calloused digits, making you shiver. It started like that that morning, too, but Seungmin rang the doorbell just as Jeongin was about to bury his face between your legs. But right now you’re at your place, which means you won’t get disturbed, because nobody’s going to interrupt you. 

Jeongin lifted your t-shirt until both of your breasts were exposed, and wasted no time in cupping one in his large hand, brushing your nipple with his fingers over and over again, feeling it harden under his touch. 

“Ah- baby, don’t tease.”, you whimpered, but he was quick to shush you. 

“What did you just call me?”, he pulled away from your neck to look at you, confusion written all over your face. 

“Baby?”, you repeated, not really understanding what was going on. You always called him baby, so what was he- oh. “Oh.”, your eyes widened and he smirked cockily. “I’m sorry- I meant daddy.”, you tried to make amends. 

“Ah, jagi, jagi… what am I gonna do with you, huh?”, he shook his head and sighed, clearly enjoying to be in charge - only officially this time. 

“I’m sorry, it’s not gonna happen again.”, you pouted. 

He kneeled between your legs. “You’re damn right it’s not.”, he crossed his arms over his torso and took his t-shirt off, tossing it somewhere around your bedroom. “I want you naked. Now.”, he demanded. 

You’d be lying if you said the sudden switch in his behavior didn’t turn you on, even more than you already were. So you nodded eagerly and sat up on the bed, taking off your t-shirt as well, then lying back on the mattress to slide your shorts and underwear down your legs until you were left completely naked on your bed. He was still wearing his sweats, the outline of his dick clearly visible, and you wanted nothing more than to touch it, wrap your hand around it and maybe your lips too, but as you reached to cup his bulge, he halted your movements by wrapping his fingers around your wrist. 

“Ah-ah.”, he admonished you. “Bad girls don’t get to touch daddy’s cock.”, he smirked cockily. 

“But-“

“No buts, sweetheart. I don’t make the rules.”, then, he lay flat on the bed on his tummy, between your legs. “Now turn on your night lamp, I want to see your face while I eat you out.”

Even though he was clearly in a dom mood, he still knew that there was no way you could take all of him without enough prep, so oral was a must in all of your lovemaking sessions - not that you were complaining about it -. He was also really good at it and could get you off in less than two minutes, you actually timed it.

He hooked his arms under your thighs and spared you one last glance before attaching his mouth to your pussy, making you gasp and arch your back. He pulled away briefly just to let a gob of spit land on your clit and labia, then went back to eating you out, although much differently than how he usually did it. Normally, he would be desperate and eager to have you falling apart under his tongue - right now, however, his movements were much slower, he was clearly teasing you. 

“Please - like that.”, by the way your chest was quickly rising and falling, he could tell you were getting close. 

If he wanted to, he could make you cum in seconds. If. He smirked against your pussy while dragging his tongue up and down your clit and folds, but pulled away right when your legs started shaking and he sensed you were about to let go. 

“No, wha- why?”, you sighed, covering your face with your hands as you felt the feeling of your orgasm disappearing. 

Jeongin emerged from between your legs with a cocky grin on his face, cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand. When you glared at him, he simply shrugged. “That’ll teach you a lesson. Next time, you won’t forget what to call me.”, he winked at you. 

“You’re mean.”, you pouted. 

“Daddy’s not mean.” Jeongin licked his lips as he knelt between your legs, palming himself over the fabric of his sweats. “He just wants you to behave. Now turn around and lie on your tummy for daddy, mh?”

You gasped when you saw him slowly drag his sweats and boxers down his thighs, freeing his hard cock - it looked like it could split you in half, and it was the hardest you’d ever seen it. You nodded, then turned to lie on your tummy, you knew this was Jeongin’s favorite position when he was particularly horny, so that meant you were up for an amazing time. 

The tip of Jeongin’s dick kissed your wet entrance, distracting you from your train of thought, but before he could slip in he grabbed your hip and motioned for you to stick your ass up a bit. “Mhh, so good for me.”, he praised you, making you bite your lip in anticipation. “Tell me how much you want it inside, sweetheart.”, he grunted, ready to push inside of you. 

“So bad. I want it so bad, daddy.”, you fisted the sheets beneath you, turning your head to the side to look at him over your shoulder. 

He looked absolutely breathtaking. His dark hair fallen over his face, biting his lower lip as his veiny hand was gripping your hip, the other wrapped around the base of his cock. You could cum from this sight only, to be honest. But you wanted him to have a good time, you wanted him to enjoy it as much as you and you wanted him to explore his kink with you just like he’d done with you multiple times before. 

“Please, put it inside, daddy.”, you wiggled your ass to encourage him. 

He wasn’t expecting that, and his head snapped up to look at you. He sucked in a breath, then slowly started to push inside of you without adding any more futile comments. You watched closely how his lips parted as his length sinked in your heat, stretching you out real good, and a moan escaped from your lips. 

“Oh, my God.”, you heard him hiss as he finally bottomed out. Fully sheathed inside of you, it took him a couple of seconds to collect himself. He squeezed the flesh of your asscheek and bit his lip as he thrusted inside of you for the first time - a tentative, slow thrust, and he didn’t even pull halfway out. 

“Does it feel good, daddy?”, you purred, and he looked at you once again, mouth falling open as he thrusted a second time. Then, he pulled out almost all the way just to thrust back inside once more. 

“So- so good, sweetheart. You feel like heaven.”, he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as he kept thrusting at a slow pace. You supposed it was because he didn’t want to cum too soon, and to be honest, you felt proud of yourself for having that effect on him. It was nice to know that your man was this close to falling apart because of you, to know that he was as whipped as you were. 

He started to move a bit faster now, hips slamming against yours with each thrust of his cock in your heat, soft whimpers falling from your lips, hoarse grunts falling from his. When he felt you clench around him, he smirked. 

“Already close, sweetheart?”, he teased you, chuckling. 

You nodded against the soft pillowcase. “Y-Yes, daddy, ‘m so close.”, you whined. 

“Then be a good girl and cum for daddy.”, his face scrunched up in pleasure after a particular hard thrust that has you squeezing your walls tightly around him. 

You released around his cock mere seconds later, fisting the sheets so hard your knuckles turned white as he kept fucking you through your orgasm, grunting at the sight of your tight pussy creaming his cock with each thrust and suddenly, he was on the verge of his orgasm, too. 

“Da-daddy.”, you whimpered when his thrusts turned unsteady and frantic. 

“F-fuck, I’m so close.”, he panted, pounding into you relentlessly, cock twitching inside of you. “You’re gonna let me fill you up, mh? You’re gonna let daddy fill up this pretty cunt, aren’t you?”

You nodded eagerly, then you let go of the sheets to reach his hand resting on your hip and intertwined your fingers with his. “Yes daddy, want you to fill me up, please.”, you whined, and it was the final straw for Jeongin. 

His hips stilled as he shot his release inside of you, squeezing your hand tight as he clenched his jaw. Hot spurts of his seed filled you up, and there was so much of it you could actually feel some already leaking from your hole. Jeongin’s body collapsed on yours, sweaty, naked torso pressed against your back as you both tried to catch your breaths. Then, he brought your intertwined hands to his lips and placed soft kisses on the back of your hand - you smiled at the delicacy of his touch, in contrast with the roughness of what you’d just done. 

“I love you so much, jagi…”, he whispered in your ear, then kissed your cheek. 

“I love you too, baby.”, you giggled, happily.

One thing about Jeongin was that his refractory period was incredibly short. Incredibly. He’d barely gone limp for ten minutes, as you were both enjoying the closeness of the intimate position you were him, when you felt him growing hard again inside of you. 

“Ah, sorry, jagi…”, he hid the face in the nape of your neck and placed a soft kiss there. “I guess you just turn me on so much.”, he chuckled before he started to pull out, but you stopped him by grabbing him by the wrist. 

“Wait.”, you murmured and he lifted his eyes to meet yours. “Round two?”

␦

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-> reblog to support me if you like my works, “it’s good for motivation” my man chris bang once said. also, I love reading feedback (even in tags it's always highly appreciated) ♡

[fox-guardian]

I am still thinking so hard about artist Jon.

Like. It's a hobby for him, purely, he doesn't plan to make money off of it. It's just for fun. He doodled a bit in his free time and then took life drawing classes in uni because Georgie insisted he needed to get out and do something more than studying so he. Kept studying. But just art this time.

He would describe his style as a kind of realism, but its definitely stylized in colors at least, as he's impatient and goes for bolder colors for lighting pretty early in his process so he doesn't lose the feeling of the piece, especially if it never gets finished. He wants to keep the vibes, just in case he wants to go back to it, so he doesn't forget.

He kinda falls of drawing after he starts at the institute, but I think during season 4 he picks it up again to cope with. Everything. He's not using his fancy drawing supplies since he doesn't have them anymore, just office pens and pencils. It's a lot of Martin, of course. But also Tim. He wishes he could ask Melanie to describe Sasha for him so he could try to draw her too, but he figures that wouldn't go down very well. Besides, telling his coworkers he draws is too much vulnerability anyway. Sometimes he even draws The Admiral, but he doesn't often draw animals so it never does him justice in his eyes.

Then at the safehouse, he works up the nerve and asks if Martin could sit for him for a bit. He doesn't need to pose or anything, just stay right there, Martin, keep reading that book, just don't move too much for a while, the lighting is perfect, he needs to capture it. He needs to map it with pen and paper. His phone camera could never catch the golden light on Martin's hair, and besides, the photo could lie to him later. But muscle memory and scratches in paper are harder to change, surely. He needs to record the moment like this. Hold it to his heart. Feel it in his wrist as he swipes strands of hair across the page, in his shoulder as his arm arcs down the curve of Martin's stomach, in his fingertips as he smudges the pigment he bought from the local craft supply shop to form a reddened cheek.

And Martin's cheeks are red. After everything that's happened, all the distance, his heart wasn't prepared for the intimacy of sitting before the man he loves being lovingly analyzed and having his likeness put to paper. It's exciting and agonizing at the same time, feeling eyes on him for hours as Jon stares down every curve, maps out every freckle, mole, and blemish. And when Martin sees the final image as Jon sheepishly presents it to him, he cries. He remembers feeling the fear of statement givers as he read their stories, living it through the words written. It was kind of like that, only instead of fear, he felt the overwhelming love pressed into every line on the page. Every stroke, every smudge, even tucked into the negative space, filling him up until it couldn't be contained, and he burst into tears. (Which worried Jon greatly until Martin reassured him with a hug and a kiss.)

He doesn't ask Jon to stop drawing him. How could he, when it was always with such love behind it? Not to mention Jon was getting back in the swing of it, oiling his rusty skills, and he was so happy doing it. But he will admit it was mildly mortifying seeing their home fill up with so many portraits of him, steadily increasing in their flattering composition. Jon was drawing from his imagination now that he had memorized most of Martin's form, and it was getting out of hand. He once caught a glimpse of a work in progress of Martin lounging and being fed grapes by cherubs. Good lord.

[freestyle-crocodile-trashpile]

Can I request the 141 team x reader

Where reader is kinda stupid and a tall fox like person, has super sharp canines and while they are cuddling maybe it goes to fair and reader bites them and says "look I marked you lol" just stares at it for a moment before (either cleaning it up with a medkit or with their mouth) idk I'm craving something that's like me and I have sharp canines.

If you have done something like this please feel free to delete!

[A/n:Mm, this is different, I like it. Thank you for requesting]

Summary:Your a foxy person with sharp teeth, one day you accidentally bite them alittle to hard and help clean the bite

Type:Short Scenarios: Price X M!Reader: Ghost X M!Reader: Soap X M!Reader: Gaz X M!Reader

Version:Mw2

Ghost

He's already use to your foxyness, that's why your a good sniper. He's used to it, nothing can really surprise him when do these foxy shenanigans. When you guys where cuddling his back was pressed against your chest, he was just laying there, caressing your hand gently. He was half way asleep when you bite him. He jumped and quickly turned around.

"Haha, look i marked you...actually, that looks like it hurts"

You got up dragging Ghost with you. He'll never tell you about the raging blush behind his mask. Getting the first aid kit you gently cleaned the bite. Ghost was quiet still half asleep, that's why he didn't say anything before.

"And there"

Kissing the bite gently you patted his thigh before you both headed back to bed, him staying up alittle longer than he hoped just touching the bite mark slightly, a small blush still on his face.

Price

You were foxy yes, but you were also a crazy good sniper because of that so he never stopped you. Your small pranks were harmless at least, besides the time you and Soap planted C4 near the base to scare the new recruits. You two had a earload from price and a hell of a punishment. Price was reading in bed, sitting up while you layed on him. He had his book rested on your head. Staring at his thigh before glancing up at him. Biting his thign he yelped.

"OW-Fuck!"

Hitting you upside the head with the book he had he gently rubbed the spot you bit. You looked up at him with a sad look before lifting his shorts and boxers to find the bite mark. Price watched as you licked and kissed the bite mark gently "cleaning" it. Chuckling at this he patted your head and got back to his book. Hoping to hide his face. You sucking at his thigh has him alittle flustered.

Gaz

He helped in your shenanigans. It's one if his favorite activities. Running around with his boyfriend messing with people and playing pranks. Its so fun, he calls them dates instead if messing around. He'd probably be laying on top of you, hugging your neck, napping. His small snores making you smile, but the drool on your neck not so much. Chuckling to yourself you kiss his shoulder. Looking at him, like your waiting for something. Deciding it was safe you opened your mouth, stilling looking at him, you bit him. Hard. Hearing a small yelp you felt his shoulder collide with your jaw. Letting out a groan you rubbed your jaw. Gaz looked at you horrified, not processing you bit him.

"Huh?! What happened?!"

Gently grabbed your face Gsz kissed your Jaw to hopefully help it. You smiled tapping his non exposed shoulder.

"I marked you. See?"

You pushed his sleeve out of the way so he could see it. Sighing Gaz stood up to find the first aid kit, it was a bad bite, probably because he slammed(?) His shoulder into your jaw as soon as he felt pressure on it. Cleaning the bite Gaz looked at you, now proped on your elbows staring at him. Gaz gave a small smile before looking back at the bite mark.

Soap

He loves how foxy you are, he now has an excuse to call you foxy, hinting at the fact he thinks your hot. The C4 thing got him in a but load of trouble but doing it with you made it 10x more worth. Sitting next to you on the couch, well more like leaning against you. Soap was on his phone, going back and forth with some silly arguments with his siblings, since there all in a group chat. Looking back at you Soap went on about how his sister were saying something about him being single, and how he wanted a photo with you. Smiling you nodded. Soap smiled back with a wide grin, getting his phone camera ready, he lifted it above his head to get the both of you. Soap Smiled wide, eyes closing slightly. Deciding to take this change, you bit his cheek. The picture took a second before he reacted, it being of Soap smiling wide with his eyes closed, and you biting his cheek, so they couldn't see your face.

"OW! What the hell!"

You smiled cheeky and kissed the bite. He still sent the picture but now he was grumby, punching you slightly.

"Love you too Soap"

He just grumbled something under his breath.

~

[A/n:all my other requests are Scenarios so they might take longer. Thank you for requesting]

[accirax]

Danganronpa: Despair Time Mastermind Ranking (Least to Most)

Yeah, I should’ve known that I needed to get around to this someday.

You see, the reason why I hadn’t made a theory about the identity of the Despair Time mastermind is that… I'm not totally convinced on any one person being the mastermind. Like, look at these clowns! They’re all so weird! I love them all for it, obviously, but none of their personality quirks or roles in the story stand out to me as particularly mastermind-y. There are a lot of characters that I believe could be the mastermind, but it’s also pretty easy to convince me out of it for one reason or another.

However, it’s not like I had any idea about who the P:EG mastermind would be, either! At least with two chapters under its belt, I can feel more comfortable that I’m not just fully mischaracterizing the Despair Time cast. And I definitely have things to say about various DRDT masterminds, just… in a way that’s kinda hard to rank.

But, that’s no reason for me to be cowardly! I’m sure that seriously scrutinizing all of the characters’ mastermind potentials and ultimately coming up with who I think the most likely candidate is will be super fun. It’s just… going to be really long, so, buckle in. And maybe prepare to take breaks in the middle.

(Spoilers for all three main canon games and DRDT.)

Why is it going to be so long? Well, it’s because, when it comes to DRDT, I think that my predictions will be at least partially based on how long I think each character will make it into the story. If I have a particularly strong inclination that a character is going to die in Chapter 3.456, no matter how unfounded, it might make me feel worse about their prospects of being the mastermind. That’s not to say that a mastermind can’t appear to die (or actually die) before Chapter 6 rolls around, of course. However, it is an uncommon additional hurdle to the story that would require some justification and a little suspension of disbelief if I’m trying to call it years before it transpires.

So, if we’re going to talk about the mastermind, I need to share my current feelings about where each character might place in the death order. Should I update the title…?

Danganronpa: Despair Time Mastermind Ranking (Least to Most) AND ALSO Death Order Predictions

These are my mastermind rankings, so my opinions on where the characters might be headed will obviously be used as the baseline. Naturally, you don’t need to believe in anything I'm about to throw out here. I’m just trying to explain my thought process so that nothing I say later on will come as a total surprise.

Also, since it’s kind of long, here’s the top of the death order section. I think it’ll provide some important context, but if you want to skip it, look for the other green, bold text.

Some of my thoughts were inspired by anderscim’s death predictions theory, as I read that pretty soon after I joined the fandom. I encourage you to go read their work as well!

The tiers are mostly pretty self explanatory– 3-4 means I think they’re at risk of dying sooner and 4-5 means I think they’re at risk of dying later. But, I’ll give everyone what I hope to be a quick rundown on each character just to explain my thinking. 

Xander: Xander canonically died as the Chapter 1 victim.

Min: Min canonically died as the Chapter 1 blackened.

Arei: While I respect the concept, I personally don’t believe in the “J and Arei swapped places and Arei is actually still alive” theory, and I will be writing the rest of this post accordingly. So, to me, Arei canonically died as the Chapter 2 victim.

Eden: Pretty much anyone who’s seen my DRDT theories at this point shouldn't be surprised that I’m listing Eden as the Chapter 2 killer. The logic behind this belief has been explained by my lovely mutuals here and here.

Levi: Alright, on to the ones I don’t have any concrete evidence to support! (There is concrete evidence behind the ch2 murder, even if you believe it points elsewhere.) Levi has had a decent amount of focus already in his trainwreck of a relationship with Ace and discussions of morality with Eden and Teruko. If he does serve as an accomplice to the Chapter 2 killer (see the first link in Eden’s section), then I feel like his clock will really be ticking. He’d be trapped with the branding of a bad person, his greatest fear, and left without any relationships to lean on. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone targeted him as a victim they “believed deserved to die after what happened,” or even if Levi decided that he was doomed to be a villain from the start and decided to kill. Alternatively, he could try to redeem himself as a classic Chapter 4 buff curse sacrifice in some way. In either case (or even in the case of him just being the Chapter 2 killer), I have my doubts that he’ll be making it too much later into the game.

Arturo: To me, Arturo doesn’t feel like a character set up for incredible longevity. That doesn’t mean I’m pigeonholing him as a one-dimensional villain or pure comedic relief, just that Arturo seems like a character who might be set up to have his ideology lead to his downfall. I don’t think he’s dying in Chapter 2, as I believe the narrative would want to see how he reacts to J burning the bridges between them, but I could definitely see the story only needing one more round of daily life (or possibly a trial as well) to resolve wherever his character is going.

Charles: Look, it’s not only because he’s already been pronounced dead at 3. As I elaborated upon in Charles’ section of this post (The Jerk), Charles feels like he’s speeding towards the end of his character arc far ahead of schedule. It could just be that he needed to learn to make friends quickly before Whit makes an early exit, sending him on a secondary arc where he learns to process his current grief and fears as a parallel to regaining memories about Elliot. However, I find it much more likely that the Inevitable CharWhit Doom Scenario plays out in the opposite direction. He makes a lot of sense as a Chapter 3 victim to me.

Nico: Similar to Arei and J, I am writing all of my theories with the assumption that it really was Nico who attempted to murder Ace in Chapter 2, because I think it makes the most narrative sense. (I could keep typing out a “well, unless” every time, but I don’t really want to eat up my time writing or your time reading all of that.) Through that lens, the fact that Nico has already murdered someone and “gotten away with it,” more or less, puts them in a really weird situation. I don’t really see them killing again, as it feels like we’ve already explored the emotional and narrative implications of that happening through Chapter 2. Although, I can’t deny that it would be interesting to see the fallout of Ace being proven totally right and Hu 100% wrong. Still, if they were to be a survivor after doing something so severe so early into the game, it seems like they would have to undergo some sort of redemption for the audience to accept them as a face of hope in the end. I don’t currently see any great paths to that happening, although there’s obviously still plenty of story time for something to open up. For now, though, I feel more confident in placing them as a early/mid-game victim, likely as a consequence of choosing to harm someone else.

Hu: Given her overall lack of focus in the story thus far, I find it likely that Hu will be one of the focal characters of the Chapter 3 daily life. That could be bad news, considering how Xander and Arei fared after being focused upon in their respective daily lives, but… I dunno, I just feel like Hu would survive it, somehow? Wouldn’t be too surprised if she didn’t, but my gut instinct is that she would. I kind of see her character exiting the story in Chapter 4, no preference on killer vs victim.

Veronika: Veronika is a very weird character (an “oddball,” I’ll call it), and thus, my predictions for her are strongly based on the patterns that oddball characters normally follow. I’ll be using canon characters only, because I believe that those are the only killing games that I have the right to assume every DRDT fan has seen. But, you can apply these same kinds of patterns to many fangan characters. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fangans breaking from typical Danganronpa norms and following their own paths. But, in the case of how oddballs are treated, I think these characters generally tend to follow these patterns because they’re sensible writing practices. I’ll try to explain why each of these conventions makes sense in the following bullet points.

Oddballs tend not to die in Chapters 1 or 2. This is because oddball characters are generally created to supply a very niche kind of comedic relief– examples from DRDT could include Arturo’s commentary on ugly people or Ace’s bizarre remarks of cowardice. Any character deemed worthy of being included in a fangan occupies one of 16 highly contested slots. So, if you include a character for the purpose of making jokes with them, you'll want to get your bang for your buck! It’s hard to fit every joke you have in mind into only a chapter or two. The best example I could come up with for a (canon) oddball who dies early is Teruteru. In his case, the writers likely anticipated that his hyper-flirtatious nature would get tiring if it continued on for too long, and thus, exhausted all of the jokes they wanted to make in Chapter 1 before his exit. An oddball who dies this early has a limited shelf life, and is likely accompanied by other oddballs who can pick up the comedic slack.

Many have pointed out that silly oddballs often die in Chapter 3 (Hifumi, Ibuki, Tenko) as a way to signify the death of fun and innocence. You also have a chance to get rid of some of the more sinister oddballs (Celeste, Kiyo) at a point where it seems unfeasible for them to have stuck around this long without… well, killing someone. In either case, it’s because Chapter 3 is a great balance of letting a character stay in a story for long enough that they achieve whatever strange effects you wanted from them, while also clearing them off the stage before you get into the really serious business. Silly oddballs especially may not be equipped to handle the often turbulent natures of Chapter 4 without breaking the serious tone too much, so it’s best to axe them at the midpoint.

Endearing oddballs (Gundham, Gonta) have a hard time making it past Chapter 4. If Chapter 4 is serious, Chapters 5 and 6 are even more so, and the Chapter 4 killer slot in particular is a viable dumping ground for characters who don’t really have a place in the finale. Their deaths are meant to pull at your heartstrings and prove how a killing game can make literally anyone– yes, even that guy– a killer. (Miu is an outlier; more like an extended Chapter 3. Unlike THH, which has its tonal shift at the end-of-Ch3-Sakura Traitor Reveal, and SDR2, which has its tonal shift at Mikan’s insanity and death, v3’s tonal shift comes at Kokichi's accusation and Kaito and Shuichi's argument, or possibly even Miu's death itself. The Chapter 4 Daily Life isn’t all that serious in and of itself. Thus, Miu dying as a Ch4 victim functions more like killing off a silly oddball before she has to deal with all the betrayal and scheming that occurs later on.)

Oddballs really only die in Chapter 5 to the extent that you can count major antagonists like Nagito and Kokichi as Weird Dudes. As the precursor to the big, showstopping, mind-bending Chapter 5 Trial, the mood is typically pretty… straightforward. Depending on the overall plot’s arc, Chapter 5 is either the point where most of the surviving students are concluding their character arcs and learning how potent a weapon teamwork is (THH, SDR2), or a “dark night of the soul” type moment where all of the slowly growing inter-character conflicts are finally coming to a head (v3). It can also be Version A for some characters and Version B for others, but, either way, hijinks are not ensuing, basically. Plot relevant things happen here, and as such, plot relevant characters are the ones who are dying. It can be hard for an oddball to find a place in the narrative relevant enough to serve as one of its final, poignant deaths without also being a major antagonist.

Despite everything I’ve said about oddballs dying, it is definitely possible for oddballs to survive. Danganronpa is, at its core, a dark comedy, and as such killing off all of your funny joke characters before the ending is probably a bad move. Hiro, Toko, Kazuichi, and Himiko are all characters I’d call oddballs that survive until the very end. The difference in their case is that part of their oddball nature is being… kind of pathetic? I think it helps them fade into the background more. It's also probably easier to give them a character arc than some others... like Veronika.

I’m sure that you can find exceptions to these “rules” I’ve laid out, especially amongst casts that have a high percentage of oddballs (which you could certainly argue fits DRDT). However, pattern recognition brain go brrrr. I don’t think that Veronika fits the description of a Chapter 1-2, Chapter 4, or survivor oddball particularly well. That leaves Chapter 3 (sinister) and Chapter 5 (bewildering antagonist). I don’t know if it’s that Veronika doesn't seem to have much of a reason to kill at this point in time or all of Veronika’s weird mastermind coding that makes me think DRDTdev might have greater plans for her. Either way, I’m leaning Chapter 5, probably victim. Jeez, that was a long section for one character. Favoritism, I guess?

J: J gets her own category because, honestly, I have no idea what to do with her. Could J make it to the end? Sure! Could J die in a Chapter 3 scheme? Sure! Could J be the Chapter 2 killer? Well, I personally believe the evidence points elsewhere, but in terms of narrative? Sure! The only real inclination I have is that I think it’s more likely that she would be a killer than a victim, mostly because Ultimate Effects Artist is a talent that could lend itself to some really creative and fun murder setups. Given that I have more characters pegged as early game deaths right now, I lean towards J late game, but… man, I don’t know!

Teruko: Teruko is the protagonist, and also is a Lucky Student who allegedly “can’t die.” Especially after she made that claim, it would be silly if she died before the ending– it’d just kinda make her look like a fool. I’m not averse to theories where Teruko is no longer the protagonist by the end, whether by her death or someone else taking up the role for whatever reason, but in the sense that “Survivor” = “Chapter 6,” I think Teruko will survive. I’m not here to predict crazy last-minute Kiibo-blowing-himself-up twists.

Rose: I think that Rose has a really nice arc of overcoming her fears and becoming less passive set up in front of her. We spent enough time establishing her relationship with Teruko that I could see her being a good potential friend/support character to Teruko in the endgame if relationships with people like Eden or Charles fall through. (And, at this point, you know what I think about Eden and Charles…) She’s also good at delivering low-key jokes that can provide some levity without totally ruining the tone. We already saw some of that in this scene. The main things that I think could be standing in her way are her photographic memory and history of debt. The photographic memory could be too annoying of an obstacle to write around for the entire game, and instead be an ongoing effect set to expire in in Chapter 3. Additionally, a money motive paralleling THH’s in Chapter 3 could be too tempting for Rose to pass up. Really, what I’m saying is, if Rose can make it through Chapter 3, I think she’s golden. We’ll just have to see how that Chapter pans out in the future.

David: Oh, David. Currently serving as Teruko’s largest antagonist, I can see why people would think that he would die in Chapter 5. However, I’m not going to beat around the bush and pretend that I’m the only person who thinks David might survive, either. As an inspirational speaker, David is established early on as a character who should be a beacon of hope, before revealing that he’s more of a hope-sucking black hole. It would make sense if, alongside Teruko, he learns to find more of a balance between blithe optimism and cynical depression and heal as a person. He has a lot of very obvious depth that I think a lot of people want to see explored, and whose exploration would be very on-brand for the themes of a typical killing game story. Plus, if Teruko ever does stop being the protagonist, David probably needs to be alive at that point to pick up the slack.

Ace: Similar to Nico, it seems like we’ve already gotten a taste of what Ace being a victim would be like, in a way where I don’t think we’re going to see it again. He could still be a killer, but would the cowardly Ace even want to attempt killing someone and throwing himself into the scrutiny of a Class Trial? Well, it is true that Ace believes that “[neither] dying young or living a long, shitty life of suffering… are as bad as this” (the killing game?). So, he could simply grow fed up with the killing game and decide that risking a Class Trial is worth it, even if he does wind up dying young. However, if that were to occur, Chapter 2 seems like the narratively best time to do it, as it’s when his emotions are most potent and probably when others would least expect him to do it due to his weakened state. Like Rose, I feel the period Ace has most to worry about is this upcoming Chapter 2 killer slot, but if he makes it through, his arc of learning to escape his fear by bravely rising above it instead of lashing out to try to knock everyone down feels very viable.

Whit: The pro of the Inevitable CharWhit Doom Scenario is that, hopefully, one of the two would manage to make it as a survivor after the other one dies. And, I’m Team Whit Surviving! Not just based on which of the two I like better (they’re my first and second favorite characters, so I’m taking a massive L either way), but because I think it makes more sense for it to be Whit that lives further on. Unlike Charles, who feels like he’s already in the final lap of the character arc race, Whit has barely left the starting line. The laundry scene in Chapter 1 and Whit’s secret in Chapter 2 have both been used to establish that Whit focuses on his and others’ bliss in hopes of remaining ignorant of everything that stresses him. The main offender, of course, being that Whit lies about his mom being alive to presumably stave off his grief. The easiest way to give him a character arc that resolves that issue is to give him something to grieve– namely, Charles– and soon. If Whit’s main character struggle is pretending that people dying doesn’t bother him, he might need an entire Chapter or more to stubbornly show off his central flaw. Now, it is possible that, if Whit can’t overcome this flaw, he could die soon after Charles and meet a tragic fate. But, those just… aren’t the vibes, to me? A post-character arc Whit who knows how to grieve fiercely but healthily might come in handy if Teruko finds herself handling her own emotions about Xander, Min, and/or anyone else at the end of the game.

And here’s the bottom of the death order section!

Finally finished writing something that nobody asked of me at all. Well, I still think it was important, and I hope you feel the same.

Now that we’ve laid all that out, I think it’s finally time to actually see who I think the Danganronpa: Despair Time mastermind might be! Although, please keep in mind that, despite the large preamble full of story predictions, I’m still pretty uncertain on who I think the mastermind is. So, my points might not be the best supported, and I might change my mind again pretty soon after I post this theory. I expect to be far better at disproving why everyone is the mastermind rather than proving why anyone would be, because that’s generally how I feel… but, onwards we go!

#17: Arei Nageishi

(Forgive me for reusing art here, I’ve drawn these bastards ENOUGH /j)

If I were writing this after Despair Time’s prologue, like I did with P:EG, there’s a pretty good chance that Arei, at the very least, wouldn’t have placed dead last. But, well, now Arei is dead. And also last.

Obviously, there are other dead characters too. But still, Arei is the one who I most struggle to see as the mastermind. Given that Arei died as a victim whose body was thoroughly investigated by several parties, it’s pretty hard for me to believe that anyone could have missed any signs of life. I don’t get the sense that DRDT is in some kind of simulation where everyone can magically be alive again at the end either, so I think Arei is, sadly, well and truly dead.

On top of all that, we know a lot about her backstory from her Chapter 2 breakdown, and none of it seems to point her towards masterminding a killing game specifically. She doesn’t have any particular ties to any big organizations that would have helped her accomplish it, either. While she is NOT just a temporary weather spell whose absence will be celebrated and then forgotten, David… I have a hard time believing that the audience would find her character relevant enough(?) to be a good twist mastermind come Chapter 6 several years down the line.

I don’t think I really need to keep elaborating on this. Arei isn’t the mastermind.

#16: Charles Cuevas

I know it’s a bit of a bold move to put a character who’s currently alive below characters who have already died, but… man, I really just don’t see how Charles could pull this off.

And it’s not (just) because I think he’s going to die in Chapter 3 as part of Whit’s character arc, or that I want to believe that he’s a good person. Really, it’s mostly because of his phobias. How is a guy who started gagging at the sight of blood splattered on the floor supposed to be the one who orchestrated an entire death game? Could he get through the process of creating a brutal execution like Min’s without freezing up and freaking out? Even if he could do it, why would he? Sure, he didn’t seem to remember the fact that he had necrophobia until Xander died, but that might be even more of a problem. Wouldn’t the mastermind, who’s certainly had to consider the others’ deaths before, remember that they were afraid of death? He would almost certainly have to be lying about at least the scale of his reaction, although that’s probably a given if he is the mastermind.

Of course, there are mastermind subcategories that could better benefit Charles. If DRDT is actually a simulation, especially one in which the participants don’t actually die, that would definitely make it easier for him to be the one behind it. We’re also meant to believe that Charles has childhood amnesia, so he could have amnesia in other areas as well and be a mastermind who forgot they were one.

However, as I said before, I don’t particularly believe that DRDT is going to be a computer simulation or that Charles is an amnesiac mastermind. I just… don’t see this one in general.

#15: Xander Matthews

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not trying to argue that Xander is actually still alive. The concept that he would be able to fool not only Min, making her believe that she dealt him a fatal blow, but also everyone else as they identified his body, seems outlandish to me. However, just because Xander is dead doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have entered this game as the mastermind.

We know for a fact that Xander wanted to kill Teruko due to his dialogue regarding the note he received, which lines up well with the popular theory that Xander is the individual speaking in the first scene with the papers and the blood. If we assume he is that guy, then it may seem a little counterintuitive to think that the person who says “I have to end the killing game” would be the one behind the killing game. However, he also says, “Even if I can’t do that… I have to kill Teruko Tawaki,” implying that killing Teruko is of a higher priority than ending “the killing game.” Thus, if, for some reason, Xander thought that orchestrating the killing game was the only way to kill Teruko, it’s possible that he would be willing to let the death game roll for as long as it takes to eliminate his bigger target.

However, I can’t deny that the Xander mastermind theory has some massive flaws to it. For one, Xander is dead. I don’t think we’ve technically seen any evidence that the mastermind has to still be alive as of Chapter 2, but a mastermind-less Chapter 6 would be… an interesting challenge to write, to say the least. Also, while Xander betraying Teruko and the others was a great surprising hook the first time, if it happened again, it would be kind of… underwhelming, in my opinion. It’s the same kind of concept I brought up in my Eden’s Garden ranking:

Then, in Chapter 6, we’d be faced with the revelation that, wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess?

“Wow, the guy who betrayed Teruko and became a killer actually betrayed Teruko and was the mastermind all along! And now, he’s not even around to reap the social or karmic consequences of it!” You see.

And then, there is the literal interpretation of the text that Xander (if he is bloody hands man) obviously stands against the killing games. He’s also the Ultimate Rebel, someone who stands against corrupt institutions in general.

If Xander is revealed to be evil later down the line, it would make much more sense if it was as a traitor type. As for being the one and only mastermind, I think the odds are pretty low.

#14: Ace Markey

Hey, it’s another character that’s alive! And, this one doesn’t even have a crippling fear of death. However, he is a massive coward, and that’s the main thing that’s dragging him down for me.

Similar to Charles, what would Ace stand to gain from hosting a killing game such as this? Ace doesn’t seem to have any interest in notoriety, money, the destruction of society, despair, or any other things that I can think of that would motivate a typical mastermind. We’ve seen time and time again that Ace cares most about having control over both his life and how other people see him, even though he often fails on both fronts. I guess both of those things could be solved by hosting a killing game, but… Come on, there have gotta be easier ways to do that which don’t threaten your precious life.

Furthermore, what exactly would Ace being the mastermind have to say about the story as a whole? Jockey has to be in the running for “talents that are least relevant to a potential killing game host.” How about the idea that the mastermind nearly died in Chapter 2, only to go off the rails threatening and blaming his assailant? I… always knew that Nico was… fully in the right for doing that, because it would have killed the big bad early??? Ace Mastermind is the preferred ending for those who believe that Nico can do absolutely no wrong, lol.

I can’t remember where I saw it, but I once saw a theory of writing that said that there are two major kinds of character arcs. One is the typical character arc, where the narrative pushes a character's traits to change over the course of the story for better of for worse. The other, this theory posited, was an arc on the part of the viewer, where they learn that a character that they thought was flawed was actually not as flawed as they thought all along. You could potentially apply this kind of thing to Eden: in the first chapter, some people may have seen her as a dim-witted positive girl, but in Chapter 2, we firmly establish that her kindness is not stupidity and learn how her optimism is a strength.

So, you could say that the character arc DRDTdev is going for with Ace is something more like that, where we spend the entire game learning to treat him more seriously just in time for him to be a real threat as the mastermind? It still feels like a bit of a stretch, though– I don’t know exactly what Ace would do to make us take him more seriously that wouldn’t either send him on a growth arc not super befitting of a mastermind or wind up with him being a blackened. Ace as the mastermind certainly isn’t impossible, but I obviously found it unlikely enough that I placed him below one character who is currently (presumed) dead.

#13: Arturo Giles

Arturo’s role in the story so far is not very mastermind-ish, in my mind. In the prologue, we establish him as a cold and judgmental person who puts his own opinions of how the world works over everything else, especially how other people feel. This already feels like how a mastermind would act, so if he turned out to be the mastermind, it would be more of the same.

Then, in Chapter 2, we establish that he’s a massive simp for celebrities, to the point of transforming into something adjacent to comedic relief. We’re meant to think that his over-the-top sprites and refusal to actually listen to anything J is saying is hilariously pathetic. Other characters are constantly dunking on him, such as Teruko calling him a “bigoted” “crazy person,” and even the narrative gets in on the action when highlighting how he cares less about the fact that J’s life was at risk than that she didn’t come out of it with drip. Narratively, we’ve already seen these characters get the better of Arturo. If we the audience interpret that as confirmation that the surviving cast could easily beat Arturo should he ever come to stand in their way, it could diminish the stakes upon his mastermind reveal.

However, for all of his negatives, there are some definite positives to Arturo being the mastermind, too. Despite his comedic effects, we have seen through his threats to Eden that Arturo is very capable of being very scary in a way that I don’t think we have with Ace. The horror factor of a plastic surgeon as the mastermind could be a really fun and creepy design theme to explore. And, Arturo is obviously super obsessed with celebrities. If hosting a deadly TV show is what he thought it would take to get him in with the Hollywood celebrity scene, he might be willing to go for it.

I don’t really know why he would have made his secret what it is if he was going to get that upset about it, though. I guess if there just weren’t any better options that wouldn’t tip his hand…? Also, Arturo would blend in terribly as a survivor. If you’re heading into Chapter 6 and you have to pick the evil character out of (let me spin a wheel real quick...) Teruko, Eden, Rose, Charles, and Arturo, Arturo is definitely the evil one. (Okay, that was actually a terrible randomized draw for Arturo on the innocence front, but I hope you can imagine how he would oddly stick out of most groups.) Like I said in his death predictions, I find it hard to imagine a character arc for Arturo, which is why I find it hard to believe that he would make it as far as Chapter 6.

#12: Min Jeung

Honestly, if Min weren’t (most likely) dead, she might be pretty high on my list of mastermind choices. While not as suspicious as the Spurlings, XF-Ture Tech is pretty suspicious, even more so with the introduction of that one altDRDT character. Min is related to XF-Ture Tech, so if that company has anything to do with the operation of the killing game, she could have been the one behind it. Min is also very smart, and her talent has obvious applications for how it could have been used to set up/influence the killing game. The fact that her talent is so similar to Teruko’s, Ultimate Student versus Ultimate Lucky Student, could have also set them up for some great parallels and duality down the line.

However… Min’s role as the Chapter 1 killer throws a pretty big wrench in her chances. Beyond the dying part, Min’s role as the blackened was incredibly evitable. It’s not like she was thrown into a situation where she had to kill or be killed, or even one where a motive was particularly difficult for her. If she wanted to be the mastermind and survive until the end, all she had to do was walk away from Xander stabbing Teruko and pretend she never saw it. However, if Min’s goal was the inverse of ol’ Bloody Hands (keep the killing game running, but most importantly, keep Teruko alive), her actions could line up. And then, perhaps Min could have falsified her own execution early to draw suspicion off of her, much like Junko did by killing Mukuro.

Beyond her death, though, it’s really Min’s reaction to being the blackened that makes me think she can’t be the mastermind. The stellar voice acting in Min’s breakdown scenes makes me really believe both that this was the first time she had ever hurt anyone as gravely as she did to Xander, and that she fully believed that she was about to die. Those are two things that a mastermind, especially one headed into a fake execution, would not be feeling. Maybe Min memorized how to be a great actress too amongst all those textbooks, but I doubt it. I can still see several reasons why Min would have been a good mastermind, but her actual death and her reaction to being told she was dying knock her down several pegs in my mind.

#11: Hu Jing

Hu is a bit more suspicious to me than some others just because I think she has something to hide. Between her refusal to share whose secret she received or had herself, mysterious “I want to pay for what I’ve done” hidden quote, and intense desire to be relied upon, there’s definitely something about Hu as a person that the narrative has yet to uncover. Could that something be “Hu is the mastermind”? I dunno, maybe.

Hu also has a tendency to react to things with her temper. That could be a sort of foreshadowing to how she would act as the mastermind, much like how David’s brief spell of apathy during the prologue hinted at the way he would act further down the line. Hu’s defense of Nico could act much the same way. Our overall impression of Hu at this point is that, while she is a flawed person, she’s one of the nicest and morally best people in the game, who’s always looking out for others. Defending Nico to the point of babying them might cross the line a little, but she’s only trying to help everyone…! Hu could make it to the end as a believably heroic survivor and then reveal that all of her presumed poor decisions were actually active malice, and I think she could pull that off.

All that being said… I don’t, like, actually think that’s going to happen. In fact, I’m probably overexaggerating the extent to which people think that Hu is nice and morally good. I’ve seen several people discuss the unjust amounts of hate Hu gets in this fandom, which implies that a lot of people hate her, even if I haven’t particularly seen much of it myself. At the very least, I definitely over exaggerated the extent to which people believe Hu could survive! As implied in the death order predictions, I do personally think Hu is going to die, possibly as a consequence of getting too invested in everyone else’s business when they don’t want her to be and/or wearing herself too thin. There are paths which I believe could lead to Hu being the mastermind, but they seem to be the roads less likely traveled.

#10: David Chiem

While I have no doubts that David has the fame, charisma, and worldview to pull off a killing game… I’d have to wonder about how he would see himself playing into all of it. As we saw in Chapter 2, David knows that his career has a lot of value, possibly to himself but definitely to other people, and therefore, he doesn’t want to jeopardize it. In fact, the reveal of his manipulative secret was the inciting incident behind his massive change in characterization. So, if he were the mastermind of a televised killing game… How would he think that would play out to his viewers?

Now, to be fair, there’s a lot we don’t know about the worldbuilding of DRDT. MonoTV claims that the TV show will be broadcast to a widespread audience. Perhaps that indicates that, in the world of DRDT, publicly broadcasting talented young peoples’ violent deaths is normal, or even sought after. Maybe the cast of DRDT forgot about it.

However, David seems to think that people learning that he sees everyone as manipulable would do damage to his reputation, so it’s a bit of a contradiction either way. If the world has been wracked with despair and craves intense violence on TV, then David’s reaction to his secret is either an elaborate lie or the result of the mastermind erasing his own memories regarding the situation. (Or, I guess the public could see death as fine and dandy but manipulation as a cancellable offense, which is… one of the interpretations ever.) Otherwise, in the scenario that the DRDT world is a normal one, David wouldn’t care about being revealed as a manipulator if he’d already committed to the mastermind bit. If his career was already preemptively ruined by agreeing to commit literal murder, why get so worked up about the thought that people might abandon ship over you not being 100% honest?

And then, there’s also the whole “surprise factor” thing that I keep bringing up. Admittedly, it’s been a longer hiatus between the start of Chapter 2 and the end of Chapter 2 than DRDTdev might have been hoping for, but that doesn’t change the fact that this part of David’s characterization happened in Chapter 2. DRDT fans far and wide have written thousands of words gushing over “the David reveal” or “evil David.” If David were unveiled as the mastermind, we’d have to start writing stuff about “the first David reveal” or “when David showed his true colors again.” You see how it kind of takes the hype away from such major plot points? That’s the sort of concept I’ve been trying to get across with some of my other choices too, but a bit more clear cut.

I don’t know why I sound so much like a hater in this section (in my opinion) when I’m literally putting David at #10, above seven other characters. I guess it’s because I can see why his theatricality and traits foiling Teruko could make him a good mastermind, but also have some major issues with the logistics of him getting there. A lot of good points versus a lot of bad points settle out to him winding up someone in the middle.

#9: Levi Fontana

With our first single digit number, we’ve also reached our midway point of mastermind candidates: Levi!

Levi would be a really interesting mastermind choice because of how his character centers around grappling with his morality. I think it would be really intriguing to have a mastermind outwardly struggling with their attempts and failures to be a good person throughout the entire game, only for the player and the characters to receive the full context of the debacle at the very end. I guess in this situation, it would be pretty likely that Levi would be redeemed at the end? That’s not necessarily a problem. (Honestly, I don’t know if I think the DRDT mastermind could be redeemed or not based on the fangan’s themes… that’s a post for another day, perhaps.)

Anyways, I think that what we know of Levi’s backstory could work well with him being the mastermind. If he does have the “murderer without remorse” secret, that would be in line with orchestrating a killing game. We also know that he’s “been disowned” and that he and his family were “all bad influences on each other.” We’re meant to assume that Levi was fortunate enough to escape a bad/abusive situation (and in all likelihood this IS what actually happened!!!!), but we are hearing about the situation from his point of view alone. There is a small possibility that, if Levi is actually a despair enjoyer, his family cut him out because they thought he was a danger to their lives.

I will reiterate again, though, that I don’t think this is the case. Levi seems like he’s a chill guy, or at least that he’s trying very hard to be one despite how he’s been told to react all his life. The whole “mastermind wanting to become a good person” lens also makes less sense given how channeled Levi’s development is through Ace. Like, I would imagine that, if this were the angle DRDTdev was going for, Levi would be making an effort to get along with everyone as part of his atonement. The mastermind randomly choosing to focus on just one person out of the crowd seems kind of strange, especially when that person is someone as disagreeable as Ace. That kind of plot would have big “the mafia CEO vampire prince fell head over heels in love with me, the random average girl” vibes. Repenting mastermind Levi is the preferred ending for pining lovers to enemies to lovers AceVi shippers, lol.

And then there’s the part where I think he’s going to die. I don’t think Levi is the worst mastermind choice, but I think there are better out there.

#8: Nico Hakobyan

Yay, we finally got to one of the characters that Anon thought was suspicious! It only took… 7k+ words. Oh boy.

I definitely think that the cat coding is the strongest thing that Nico has going for them. It would be pretty funny if the extent to which “Ultimate Pet Therapist” is relevant to the plot is the climactic reveal that “yeah Nico has been talking to a (robotic) animal the whole time.” That’s a joke, as Ultimate Pet Therapist is already quite relevant to Nico’s characterization as someone who prefers communicating with animals over people, but it would be funny as hell from a character designing perspective.

There are less silly reasons to believe that Nico is the mastermind too, though. While it seems like, similar to David, pulling the trigger on Nico’s change in behavior in Chapter 2 would be a bit early, I don’t think it’s as destructive to mastermind Nico as it is to mastermind David. There’s a lot more doubt in people’s minds that Nico even did anything to Ace, to the extent that a decent number of people (in the story and out of it) think that it was someone else trying to kill Ace entirely. Nico also has a stalwart defender in Hu, which adds an extra level of intrigue to the situation. Instead of confirming that everyone was right to be suspicious of David, at least some amount of focus could be placed onto Hu being wrong for trusting Nico and failing to see someone’s true colors again, which could be interesting for her characterization if she was alive at that point.

On the other hand, the biggest reason that I think Nico isn’t the mastermind is also because of the attempted Ace murder. Why would Nico, as the mastermind, try to kill Ace at this time? If Nico wins the Class Trial, then the killing game is over, which is probably counter to the mastermind’s goals. If Nico loses the Class Trial, well, we’ll say that the possibility of Nico dying isn’t an issue, as they could just fake their own death or deny entering the execution. But still, why?

It could be that Nico was trying to remove themselves from the killing game on purpose, but I don’t see why it would be necessary. No one was particularly suspicious of Nico being the mastermind, and if they were worried about their gender identity getting out, they could have simply made their secret something else. A mastermind could kill to avoid the killing game falling into a standstill, but tensions were really high at the time that Ace almost died! With a full day left to go before the motive secrets were revealed, such drastic action wasn’t yet forced. I guess the best option would be that Nico was just really angered by what Ace said, and wanted to retaliate as part of their vicious mastermind nature. Is that worth taking yourself out of the killing game and risking the show’s termination, though…?

There is also the possibility that Nico is the mastermind, but didn’t try to kill Ace. In that case, suspicion of Nico would be such a huge in-universe coincidence that I’m doubtful DRDTdev would have included it as a major plot point.

Speaking of “show’s termination,” I also don’t know why Nico would have any involvement in creating a TV show, both from a backstory/talent perspective and a personality one. Nico doesn’t like interacting with people. Therefore, I don’t know what would possess them to want to create and join a TV show for which the major draw is a big stressful discussion between a bunch of people.

I guess I had fewer reasons why I thought Nico would be the mastermind than I thought. I would love to hear more details about why you suspect Nico though, Anon! I’m definitely willing to believe that they could be the mastermind.

#7: Eden Tobisa

Make no mistake, I still think that Eden is the Chapter 2 killer. However, in the case that she isn’t… mastermind isn’t a terrible choice for her.

The biggest draw of Eden being the mastermind would definitely be the shock value. The seemingly nicest character suddenly being revealed as the mastermind would create a huge hurdle for the surviving characters to overcome. Teruko especially, given that she probably would have grown at least a tad closer to Eden if they survived five chapters together. It would be a little mean to give Teruko a trustworthy friend just to rip it away from her again, but I could see the opportunity being used to highlight Teruko’s growth. When Xander and Min betrayed Teruko, she panicked and shut everyone out, but when Eden betrays Teruko at the very end, she’s able to remain strong and rely on the other friends who she continues to trust. Or DRDT could have an unconventional feel-bad ending, I suppose.

If some kind of time loop is at play within DRDT, then Eden’s talent would obviously be thematically and perhaps practically relevant as well. I could see a lot of comparisons being made regarding a killing game being run “like clockwork.” Her secret quote “you can’t go back, no matter how hard you try” is... actually kind of anti-time loop, but at least the concept of going back in time is somewhat related…? Speaking of secret quotes, her Mai quote, “she kept calling the number, even though no one picked it up” is also really weird. That suspicious hidden evidence could point to her being the mastermind.

However, Eden’s personality is a pretty major issue when it comes to her being the mastermind. Shock value is great in the moment, but it can ring hollow in retrospect if people find that the twist doesn’t make any sense. Masterminds aren’t typically known for their kindness or optimism. So, if Eden is the mastermind, it seems like her whole “even if this world is cruel, I’ll still make the choice to be kind” speech is a complete lie. And, that would be a shame! I don’t think that having an unexpected mastermind at the end of the game is worth the cost of completely demolishing a character that we’ve come to know and love over the course of six chapters and several years. (I’m not saying that complete demolition has to be the case if Eden is the mastermind, but I think it’s a reasonable worry that many people have.)

And, I know that all this talk about how wonderful Eden is might sound rich coming from someone who strongly believes that she just killed someone who wanted to be her best friend. But, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? As someone who thinks that Eden is the killer, I know very well how a lot of people have a really hard time believing that Eden could do something as terrible as killing Arei. I can only imagine how hard it would be to accept that Eden was the one who put Arei, Min, Teruko, and everyone else in danger, and the one pulling the strings behind every execution.

Eden as the mastermind, to me, is more tempting in concept than it would be viable in execution. And also, I don’t even think she’s going to live to see the light of Chapter 3 day. However, there’s also some definite emotional power behind the accusation that makes me see how shooting for this ambitious choice could be worth it in the long run.

#6: Whit Young

Alright, it’s finally time to talk about Whit. I know that he’s a really popular mastermind choice, but… I just don’t see it, personally. Even though I put him at 6th place. (I do not enjoy putting him in 6th place.) Is that just because he’s my favorite and I’m attached to my interpretation of the character? Perhaps. But, I’d still like to explore some points that I find faulty.

Perhaps the biggest reason behind suspicion of Whit that I’ve seen is the way that he breaks the fourth wall. People connect his asking people to pause for the evidence list to MonoTV invoking similar mechanics, and lines such as “do you really think she’d be hanging out in the playground” to him knowing more than he’s letting on. However, there are a couple of ways that this accusation can be depowered, in my opinion.

Firstly, Whit isn’t the only person who says stuff like this. Veronika alludes to the killing game before it begins, Teruko also breaks the fourth wall to tell the viewer to pause (albeit only in her thoughts, not out loud), and Arei makes the same kind of “hanging” wordplay in Eden’s flashback that Whit did. I won’t say that characters addressing the fourth wall can’t be important at all, because I believe there are some moments where the other characters commentate on how weird it is that MonoTV is talking to no one. However, I also think that breaking the fourth wall may simply be part of DRDTdev’s humor, as exemplified by that “make sure to like and subscribe so that Teruko has enough mental strength to carry on” joke. Whit is a funny guy, so it just makes sense that if DRDTdev’s brain generates funny meta jokes, Whit would get some of them. Everything that Whit says reminds me more of Mia AceAttorney saying “hit tab to open the Court Record” than some sort of groundbreaking DDLC-Undertale direct communication with the viewer. However, I can see why others would think otherwise.

The second is that I think some of Whit’s comments (more so the “dead at 3” and “hanging in the playground” than the pause) are just meant to showcase his intuition. And, yeah, it could be that DRDTdev has been leaving crumbs of Whit’s intuition behind so that in Chapter 6, he can use it to exploit everyone’s insecurities and greatest despair. To me, though, Whit’s intuition has always reminded me of the myth of Cassandra.

For those who don’t know, Cassandra is a figure in Greek mythology who was blessed/cursed to receive prophecies, but for no one to ever believe them. By my interpretation, Whit is a really smart and perceptive guy who has strikingly accurate gut feelings about how things will play out down the road, even when he doesn’t realize it himself. However, the curse of his own coping mechanism– choosing to act like an eternally cheerful goofball– leads the majority of the other students, and perhaps some of the viewers, to never take his point of view seriously. He can only realize the accuracy behind what he said after the bad things have already happened, leading him to blame himself more and more for not being able to speak up and help when times were tough.

This kind of behavior would line up with two different themes we’ve seen from Whit before. The first, that when he jokes around without thinking, he can accidentally say hurtful things that he later reprimands himself for. We saw that when Charles blew up at him at the end of their shared FTE. The second is Whit’s major theme of good things hiding a darker undercurrent. Being the Ultimate Matchmaker is great until you’ve never had a successful relationship yourself. Having an awesome mom is great until the truth comes out that she’s actually dead, and you’ve been covering it up. Growing super close to someone is great until he dies. Having an amazing intuition and understanding of everyone is great until you can never actually use it to help those you care about. Joking around is great until it's all you can do. Pretending everything is fine is great until it’s not.

Like I said, very specific interpretation. I promise I was not citing classical literature to make my argument sound smarter than it actually is. I am aware that my interpretation of Whit is no less or more valid than everyone else’s. However, it’s one that I hold very close to my heart, and thus, I personally have a hard time seeing around it.

However, I’ve also seen a lot of people argue some valid points for Whit, so I can at least acknowledge that he deserves to be in the upper echelon of choices. There’s a lot of weird stuff regarding him in Literature Girl Insane, and he’s certainly an option of someone who felt so much grief that they became totally empty inside as shown in that one hidden quote. I would be appropriately surprised and heartbroken if Whit revealed himself as the mastermind in Chapter 6, so he checks the box in that regard. There isn’t anything from his backstory that opposes the notion that he set up the killing game, and, to quote what I said about our other Ultimate Matchmaker, Toshiko…

While Ultimate Matchmaker might seem like a silly talent to give the mastermind, it could also be a ruse to distract us from the fact that [Whit] has a talent that allows [him] to read people well and make choices that will impact their lives dramatically.

I don’t like it, but I can see the argument… kind of. To me, most mastermind Whit interpretations feel like mischaracterization, but as a theorist, I always try to keep in mind that I’m the one who could be twisting the text to my whims as well. In this my-opinions-based list, though, he’s not getting any higher than 6th.

#5: Veronika Grebenshchikova

Ooh, what spooky art for a spooky mastermind. Let’s be real, though, Veronika is way too obvious of a mastermind candidate to actually be the mastermind. Unless… she’s so obvious that she loops back around to not being obvious, and thus, is the perfect mastermind candidate?!

Veronika is in a really weird place. I obviously have no doubts that she would have any moral qualms about hosting a killing game, because she’s told us herself that she doesn’t. She knows what Monokuma is in immense detail, but claims to have no idea what a killing game is. She’s dressed really similarly to Junko, though. Is that just a coincidence? Are giant pigtails also a symbol of fear in the DRDTverse? I need ANSWERS, LADY!!!

The biggest problem I see with Veronika is the potential for obviousness. Similar to Arturo, if she actually made it to Chapter 6, I feel like it would be pretty obvious what’s going on. An oddball like Veronika is not the typical survivor type (although she could break the mold). Because Teruko’s character arc is all about trusting people, it would make sense if the reveal of the mastermind was someone who challenged her trust to some degree. With Veronika being obviously unhinged the whole time, I don’t think that Teruko would have any particular difficulties with kicking her to the curb.

However, Veronika clearly has the motive to start a killing game, and potentially to spread despair. DRDT has taken inspiration from Trigger Happy Havoc in the past, so it could make sense if DRDT’s mastermind was also inspired by THH’s. Having a so-obvious-it’s-not-obvious mastermind could also be another way to mess with theorists like me, as DRDTdev did with the comments section portion of Literature Girl Insane. “bro Veronika being the mastermind would be WAY too obvious” sounds EXACTLY like “I just hope XXXXXX doesn’t go crazy and kill in chapter 3. That would be way too predictable” or “XXXXX will obviously die in ch5”. If part of the point of DRDT is to make know-it-all analysts rethink the rules they believe to be set in stone, I could see Veronika as a subversive choice.

Veronika definitely seems to be building up to something, but I don’t know if being the mastermind is exactly it. I think that Veronika could make it pretty late into the game, but I still struggle to see her making it all the way to Chapter 6. I would absolutely love to see what DRDTdev does with her writing if that is the case, though. 

#4: Mai Akasaki

(Well, now I feel bad that I’ve never made a colored portrait of Mai.)

As you may have noticed back at our first entry, Arei, I started the countdown off at seventeen, not sixteen. (If you didn’t remember that, I don’t blame you– it was a WHILE ago.) That’s because I thought it was only fair to include DRDT’s best kept(?) secret, the lovely Unnamed Student herself, Mai Akasaki, as an option! Because, man, is she mysterious in some suspicious ways.

“But, didn’t MonoTV tell the students that the mastermind was one of them? Mai isn’t one of the students in the killing game (unless prosopagnosia is REALLY going crazy), so she can’t be the mastermind, right?” Well, yes and no. The scene where MonoTV confirms the existence of the mastermind is SUPER weird. Let’s take a look at it.

On one hand, MonoTV is still in the Movie Screening Room, where it was JUST talking to the student body, so it would only stand to reason that it’s a continuation of the scene we just saw. However, the setting also seems to be doing everything in its power to tell us that this is NOT the same scene we just saw. The lights have been turned off, even though they were on in the scene just before this. They return to being on in the first scene of Chapter 1, which the students treat as being directly after the scene during which the lights were on before. The widget denoting the time, chapter, and episode has completely disappeared, placing this at an even more unknown time than “Time Unknown.” The text indicating that the speaker is MonoTV has even disappeared! I mean, I assume that MonoTV is still the one saying it, considering that it’s on screen and the speech bubble is pointing right at it, but we don’t even know that for sure!

Additionally, MonoTV refers to the viewers directly (“dear viewers”) two speech bubbles after this one, which makes it seem more like MonoTV is talking to us the audience rather than the students in the room. But then, if the mastermind is “one of you,” and MonoTV is talking to us, wouldn’t that mean the mastermind is someone in the audience? That could lead in to some really meta interpretations of the text (i.e. “DRDTdev is the mastermind of DRDT because he’s the one who created the killing game”) or it could indicate that I’ve gone fully off the rails. 

A midpoint between those two ideas is that the mastermind is part of the in-universe audience watching the killing game, as in, a fictional character who is watching the real-to-them TV show that is Danganronpa: Despair Time. That could include Mai, a very notable character who is not one of the sixteen participants in the killing game.

Side note, I’ve seen some people fight back against the concept that Mai could be the mastermind with the idea that making the mysterious character the mastermind would be too obvious. While I sort of agree, I feel like we’re somewhat overestimating the extent to which Mai is obvious. It’s not like no casual viewers would know who she is, because her image was shown pretty obviously in Chapter 1. However, the name “Mai Akasaki” is only accessible by finding the hidden quotes on the optional associated website’s character profiles. To learn anything about her beyond that, you have to have the thought to type the name into the website URL, and then solve another puzzle just to see the bare bones of what’s there.

I’m not trying to assert any sort of dominance or superiority over DRDT fans on YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, or anything else, but from what I’ve gathered, Tumblr is the place you want to go for deep analysis and theories on DRDT (possibly because of Tumblr’s longer word count). Therefore, anything about DRDT that may seem like common knowledge on Tumblr may only be common knowledge to the fans who specifically bothered to come to the deep lore and crack theories website to find deep lore and crack theories. Essentially, this:

Sort of similar to what Gravity Falls did with the reveal of Bill Cipher back in 2012 (at least I think, I wasn’t actually in the Gravity Falls fandom at that time), I think it would be reasonable to plant clues about an overarching villain that people who want to analyze can analyze ahead of time, such that the villain’s arrival can come as a victory to the puzzle solvers and an exciting new development to the more casual viewers.

However, while I believe that Mai has an awesome setup that she could use to become the mastermind, whether she would actually fit the role is another question entirely. As I alluded to back in the first Mai paragraph, I’m rolling with the widely held (among theorizers) belief that the Unnamed Student in Xander and Min’s bonus episodes is supposed to be Mai. In those episodes, Mai seems to be incredibly caring, peppy, and sweet. She knows a ton of little heartwarming details about Min and Xander, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same is shown to be true with Arei and whoever else’s bonus episodes in the future. Those hidden quotes on Mai’s profile also give off the impression that everyone in the cast really loves Mai– one could call them a “portrait of a person dearly loved,” perhaps.

While it’s possible that these scenes are supposed to highlight Mai’s social prowess and how much she can get people to fall in love with her, they… don’t really seem to be giving off those vibes. We see her thoughts in those bonus videos, and she really does seem to be dedicated to helping Min and Xander out. Mai’s change from someone who wanted nothing more than to help out her friends to someone who was willing to throw all of them into the killing game is something that would have to be explained, and it could be difficult to communicate that shift within the confines of bonus material, if Mai’s content is mostly kept there. There is the concept that Mai could have put her friends into a killing game to protect them somehow, which could be a way to avoid Mai’s character seemingly doing a total 180, but that rationale would need a lot of explanation too.

Otherwise, there’s also the problem that Mai is almost certainly dead. I won’t get super into it myself, because the amazing @1moreff-creator has already done a great job explaining why here (starts in the XI. God is Dead section). I don’t think I need to elaborate on why Mai being dead potentially before the killing game even began would be detrimental to the idea of her being the mastermind.

To be honest, I don’t know how much this idea actually makes sense. I think I’m personally more inclined to believe that Mai could be the mastermind just because I really don’t get mastermind vibes from pretty much anybody in the cast. If the mastermind simply wasn’t one of the members of the main cast, that could solve that issue, right…? Mai is very likely involved in the inception of the killing game somehow, so extending that role to one of being the mastermind isn’t the biggest stretch. However, her personality and living status do throw in some pretty big question marks, so I don’t think she should go any higher.

#3: Teruko Tawaki

Teruko was definitely the first character who I believed could be the mastermind after I watched the series for the first time. However, over time, I’ve sort of fallen off of the idea that she would be. Is that because I’m forgetting key details of the plot, or because I’m drifting closer to the truth…? Honestly, I have no idea.

Let’s start with the strongest “evidence” we have against Teruko, her motive secret: “How could I even select which secret to make your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault.” Although “the killing game [being] all [Teruko’s] fault” sounds pretty damning, there’s the obvious counterargument to be made that this isn’t even Teruko’s motive. In fact, the board currently shows it assigned to Xander. However, the majority of people (including myself) seem to believe that David was lying, and this secret is Teruko’s. So, let’s analyze under that assumption.

Teruko did admit to Veronika that she doesn’t know what secret could be used as her motive because there were so many. Even if that motive secret isn’t hers, that still means that Teruko has done a lot of shady stuff. Teruko’s decision to live on set forever could line up with the mastermind's goal of wanting to keep the cameras rolling as well. The very first scene of DRDT shows that someone who wants the killing game to end also wants Teruko dead, which implies that Teruko and the killing games are on the same side.

Teruko also has a prior history of concealing things about herself from us, the viewing audience. We knew basically nothing about her past or trust issues before Xander stabbed her, causing her sudden change in attitude to come as a blindside. Teruko apparently has a “risky” killing game-ending plan in mind for the end of the second Class Trial that she’s told us absolutely nothing about. And, most notably, Teruko clearly knows things about Mai that she’s decided not to share with viewers at home. (I do believe that Teruko genuinely can’t remember Mai’s name, but she does remember that Mai is similar to Xander and wanted to help, which is more than anything we would have known from the main text on our own).

Point is, DRDT is written in a way where we don’t hear a ton of Teruko’s thoughts. That would make it much easier for her to scheme something behind the scenes, as opposed to someone who we get a lot of emotional reactions or logical theorizing from. It’s actually kind of similar to the difference between Kaede and Shuichi’s styles of narration, as pointed out by ShortOneGaming in their impeccable v3 playthrough! I recommend watching their entire letsplay if you're in the mood for v3, but I found one time where they talked about this concept here. I’ll transcribe it for anyone who doesn’t want to open YouTube right now:

Gina: I do want to call– as my final sort of note– what’s interesting is that you called out immediately that Kaede’s narration was weird. That, it was always, like– dictation? Allison: Yes! Gina: It’s always, like, speaking directly to a person– Allison: Yes! Yes, I did say– It never really felt like actual internal monologue. Like, she never was expressing her thoughts or anything to us. I mean, yes, she was, but then there were those weird moments where she was, like… y’know, hiding it from the player, and… probably from herself, too, to some extent. Like, she was just like, “and then I had to go do this thing.” Um, and like, “we won’t really address how I’m feeling about this.” Gina: Yep. Allison: And at the same time, it hides it from the– the player. And that was very clever. Really good. I mean, her– yeah, her narration was always kind of weird. But, she did have moments where she had internal reflection.

Hopefully, you can see the comparison. By putting a greater emphasis on actions as opposed to what Teruko is feeling (“I kneeled down and touched his neck” after finding Ace’s presumed-dead body; “Everyone else started filtering in” when people walk into the Playground and find Arei’s corpse), it becomes much easier to have Teruko hide exactly what she knows or exactly how she feels about certain events. It’s actually the opposite of the kind of narration that Damon had (“I’m trapped in a killing game… with people who despise me. How… how did this happen? I just wanted to help… I wanted to make sure we didn’t trust each other too easily… and now I’m being treated like the bad guy” after the 0th Class Trial) that made me believe he wasn’t the mastermind!

So, do I think that Teruko would be a mastermind who remembers, or a mastermind who forgot? Well, I could kind of see it either way. Personally, I think that Teruko being a mastermind whose memories are intact is the more interesting version, and I do believe it’s possible. I also don’t understand why someone with as many trust issues as Teruko has would want to remove her own memories if it weren’t necessary. Then again, Teruko being an amnesiac mastermind could make up for some of the… issues that arise with her as a mastermind candidate.

What? She’s in third place, not first. Despite how long I’ve already talked about Teruko, there’s still more to say!

First, the problems if Teruko did retain her memories: why would she ask MonoTV about the mastermind’s identity when the two were alone? Why would she be creating a plan to end the killing game? Why would she pretend to not know who Mariabella Rosales was even though everyone else clearly knew?

And then, the problems that persist even if Teruko did lose her memories: where would Teruko have gotten the resources to plan a killing game of this caliber? Even if she had them, why would she use it on this? Assuming that secret is hers, why would she write that about herself in a plausibly public place (beyond the swapping, Arei looked over Whit’s shoulder)?

Oh yeah, back to that secret. Just because “the killing game is all [Teruko’s] fault” doesn’t mean that she’s the one who planned it. In fact, the wording sounds very accusatory and hostile for something that Teruko would have theoretically written to herself. From the first scene, we already know that there is a person or group of people somewhere who are out to get Teruko. It could make more sense if that entity is the mastermind, and wrote the secret to blame Teruko for whatever she did that got her on their bad side.

There’s probably more to be said, but hopefully you can see why I have so many mixed feelings about Teruko. I definitely think she’s one of the more likely mastermind candidates out there, but I still don’t know exactly how likely that is, y’know?

#2: Rose Lacroix

Once upon a time, a wise and powerful theory alchemist known only by the epithet @1moreff-creator postulated that Rose could be the mastermind of Despair Time, and then never elaborated on the idea at all. For centuries (a couple of weeks) the townsfolk (me) were baffled by these dark and mysterious ramblings. However, as seasons passed by, as travelers came and went, as the tide advanced to kiss the land before slinking back to its home once more– the idea… started making more and more sense?

Rose is a really smart character who has already shown her proficiency in Class Trials. In the first, she utilized her ability to perfectly capture the scene and her knowledge of chromatography. Although her talents haven’t been as useful so far in the second, she’s still managed to keep up with the conversation despite never looking at the scene of the crime. Thus, I can see why, from a writing perspective, DRDTdev would choose to make his mastermind the Ultimate Art Forger.

There’s also the angle that Rose is a criminal, and therefore could be willing to do illegal or immoral things. However, she does seem to be pretty remorseful about it, and she’s already been caught for her criminal behavior before. Unfortunately for her, her relationship with her saviors the Spurlings only makes her all the more suspicious. Even if Rose didn’t want to be the mastermind of a killing game, if the Spurlings forced her to do it, she might have not had a choice. (Xander is very against the Spurlings… Xander is bloody hands guy → stop the killing game → stop the Spurlings?)

I also like the angle of “the Spurlings forced her to do it” because of what I talked about back in Mai’s section– the concept of the mastermind not being among the students. In Rose’s case, you can get the best of both worlds. The entity behind the killing game, the Spurling Foundation, would be a group outside of the killing game for MonoTV to contact, but there would still be a student among the cast’s ranks to suspect and accuse come Chapter 6.

What’s the argument against Rose? Well, I would ask why Rose would want to put herself in this kind of situation, but if it was the Spurlings’ choice, then that explains that. You could say Rose has been too helpful to be a bad guy, but everything she’s done so far has been to help the students win a Class Trial. That keeps the killing game running, which keeps the show on. The biggest problem I’m thinking of at the moment is the notion that the Spurling Foundation would have chosen to make Rose’s secret about how her backstory led her into their clutches. However, the secret doesn’t actually acknowledge the Spurlings by name, and it also frames Rose’s crimes in a way that makes her look like a good person– the opposite of what someone would think of as a mastermind. The secret was also only intended for Rose’s eyes, so it could have functioned as more of a low-key threat to remind her why she needs to stay in line.

Shouldn’t all of this talk of Rose lacking agency make her a bad mastermind candidate, though? If a villain doesn’t even believe in their villainous motivations, the story could end on a really flat note, with the good guys steamrolling an evildoer who doesn’t really care. How are we supposed to reach a satisfying conclusion if the mastermind hardly has anything to be held accountable for?

Those are normally things I would argue, but as many have pointed out, Teruko isn’t a normal protagonist. Actually, I think that this kind of mastermind setup for Rose could be a great way to end Teruko’s arc about learning to trust other people. Rose is the mastermind, somebody who shouldn’t be trusted…! It would be so easy for Teruko to just crush this person who betrayed her into dust– Rose isn’t even putting up much of a fight. But in the end, Teruko will choose to be patient, and see that Rose never wanted to betray Teruko. Even if her actions wound up hurting Teruko and many others, she still deserves a second chance, or at least a second evaluation.

As you saw in the death predictions, I obviously believe that Rose has the potential to make a late game run, whether as a survivor or something else. Writing all of this out, I can see even more clearly why Rose just might be the DRDT mastermind. However, despite all that I wrote, the idea still feels kinda more like a fun AU than the actual truth to me…? So, I still think there’s one person whose chances I like slightly better.

#1: J Rosales

Whaddya know, J’s personal ??? tier catapulted her into the lead. It is probably true that my uncertainty about where she might land is contributing to me deeming her the mastermind– it’s a really weird space in the kill order, as someone who survives long enough to theoretically have a positive character arc while sometimes not being counted among the survivors at the end.

Part of why I put J this high is that I really like the theory of J being the mastermind along with her brother, Ryan. Sadly, I cannot find any of the original theories that postulated this idea to link to, so I’ll try my best to explain what I remember myself. Basically, some people found the scene in c1e4 where Rose doesn’t remember who J is suspicious. They combined this scene with J’s younger brother, Ryan, and J’s talent, the Ultimate Effects Artist, to suggest that J could be using her FX talents to disguise Ryan as herself and have them occasionally trade places. From this Q&A, one of the few things we know about Ryan is that he enjoys crossdressing, which furthers the idea that he could enjoy pretending to be J. Ryan is also (to my memory) the only DRDT character’s sibling whose name we have seen in the main text, which could indicate that he’s more important than Arei’s sisters, Levi’s brothers, or other potential siblings.

I think it’s a really fun idea that I would at the very least want to see come to fruition, regardless of how likely it is. If J was working with Ryan, you can once again repeat the argument that there’s both a mastermind for MonoTV to talk to outside the game and one to be accused within the game. The biggest issue with it is that I don’t know how Arturo wouldn’t see the differences between the two, even if Rose may have. Maybe if J and Ryan haven’t swapped since the Rosales secret got out, and won’t swap again until Arturo dies…? I don’t know, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The thing is, other than just being a unique and interesting concept, I’m not really sure what the point of having J and Ryan swap would be, in universe or out of it. (This is why I wish I could’ve found a link to the original theorist... :,( ) My best argument for in universe would be that there are some things that only J has the skill to do, her being the Ultimate Effects Artist while Ryan is not. However, they couldn’t just have Ryan be the one in the killing game full-time, because he’s too young and therefore wouldn’t have been part of the original Hope’s Peak class. Thus, there are some points in time where J needs to be working behind the scenes (like on the executions or something), and during those intervals, Ryan subs in. Metatextually, I guess it could show how every person in the entertainment industry can be cutthroat, or that every child of a celebrity is bound to get messed up about it somehow…?

Regardless, even if Ryan isn’t involved at all, there are plenty of reasons to suspect J on her own. Ultimate Effects Artist is a highly suspicious talent when it comes to the deception of a killing game (just check out how many people think J already used it to kill Arei), and in connecting her to Hollywood. J may claim to specialize in theater as opposed to television, but 1) she could have been lying, or 2) that could be true, but she’s making an exception this time. Even if she normally works in live theater, if you were a TV executive approached by the daughter of Mariabella Rosales who is also a Hope’s Peak Ultimate student in her own right, would you really turn her away…?

J’s custom weapon is also pretty suspicious. Even if it doesn’t seem to be able to trigger traps like the one used on Levi (though that could be another lie), I could still see it being pretty helpful for subtly operating MonoTV, turning on a monitor, starting an execution, or stuff like that. Charles essentially confirms that the custom weapons were in the students’ rooms since they all woke up, which means that J could have had this remote on her the entire time.

J’s relationships also seem potentially mastermind-y. Thus far, the two characters with which she’s been associated most are Arei and Arturo. Those two (at least, prior to Arei’s change of heart) have been so clearly villainous and hateful that J would obviously look like a nice person in comparison. Why is this helpful? It means that J can get away with doing more objectionable things without raising any huge red flags. If J is the mastermind, we can look back on her demolition of Arturo in the Chapter 2 Trial as a brief early glimpse into how cruel she can really be. But, for the moment, although it’s definitely memorable, many people (including myself) can react to it with a, “yeah, but based on what Arturo was doing to her, it’s kinda justified…” (Not saying it isn’t somewhat justified either way, just that it could also be something more.)

J could also have a range of motivations related to her hatred for her mom. Maybe she’s trying to turn people against the Rosales name to ruin Mariabella’s reputation. Maybe this killing game is a plan to finally have a big artistic success all on her own (or with Ryan) to prove her mom wrong. Maybe she thinks that a world so enamored with fame and glamor deserves to rot in a pit of despair. I don’t know which of these options would be the most likely, but I could see how any of them could be possible explanations for how J got to this point.

I think my biggest argument against J once again comes back to the “why”. I think that J has a lot of potential to be a good mastermind, but I don’t know if that carries over to being a good mastermind for Teruko. Unlike with Rose, I don’t have a good sense of how J being the mastermind would tie into a satisfying ending to Teruko’s trust arc.

@venus-is-thinking and I sometimes like to run randomized killing games as a fun writing exercise (randomize the cast, motives, and mastermind; see where it takes you), and we’ve generally found that the most compelling protagonist-mastermind duos either have the protagonist sharing the same worldview with the mastermind, or being the only person who believes the opposite.

If the protagonist starts with the same beliefs as the mastermind, then defeating the mastermind is a showcase of the protagonist’s development. Hajime and Izuru work as protagonist and mastermind because Izuru is the manifestation of Hajime’s belief that only talented people are important and can make an impact on the world. By renouncing Izuru, Hajime proves that he’s learned that anyone has the chance to change their future if they put in the effort. 

If the protagonist has the opposite opinions from the mastermind, then it proves how crucial the protagonist is to the narrative because they are the only one who could deliver the critical message. A great example of this is Shuichi and Tsumugi. When Tsumugi tries to set up the conflict of “hope good, despair bad” that will keep the killing games going, all of the other surviving students fall for it. Shuichi being the only character who has spent the entire game learning the importance of balancing two extremes makes his callout of Tsumugi incredibly satisfying, and justifies the protagonist swap by proving that Shuichi is the only hero who could have saved this day.

That’s why I think that J would be a great mastermind for a protagonist who has issues with family or stardom, but might not be the best choice for a story with Teruko at the helm. Those are only my observations, though, so I’d understand if DRDTdev planned things differently.

And that is finally the end! Here’s the final tierlist I wound up working off of, which I fiddled with a TON while writing:

(It’s based off of Ocean Unknown’s tierlist!)

Since this has already gone on so long, I’ll try to keep the conclusion brief. Please take all of this with a grain of salt, as I wound up making a lot of claims about writing that don’t necessarily have the strongest foundation. I didn’t write anything that I think is blatantly false, obviously, but whether it’s good advice or not doesn’t necessarily mean that DRDTdev considered it. We may have different priorities in telling a compelling story. And, we’re less than two chapters in! Even the end of the Chapter 2 trial could throw a positive or negative wrench in any of these profiles.

Thank you so much for reading through this whole thing, and if you got through it and still have anything you want me to elaborate on further (a specific character, a specific theory, a specific aspect of fangan writing, etc), I would be happy to do so. I, uh, really hope that this answered the question that Anon asked, haha. Until next time… stay wary. There could be masterminds lurking about...!

[absolutebl]

I kinda fell out of the BL game the last several months thanks to irl things, but I think I'm finally feeling like wading fully back in. I started with Love Syndrome III(only because @heretherebedork piqued my interest) and just finished Moonlight Chicken. What should I watch next? My limits are romanticized sexual assault, cheating, miscommunication as a main plot point, and no HEA. I could also do without a straight side couple, but I'd tolerate it if the main plot and couple are really good. Bonus points if there's a D/s dynamic, but that's not 100% necessary.

Thanks ❤️

Best of 2023 So Far?

Of course darling!

Hum last several months? Let's see...

Our Dating Sim (Viki) - if you haven't watched this it's a must. I actually handed out a 10/10. I NEVER do that. I can't tell you how much I loved this show (or have already rewatched it). It's a perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy. Full review.

The New Employee (Viki) - just so good, SO QUEER, so soft, a near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also... Rainbow Rice Cakes and found fam and a lesbian bestie and all the goodness. My review is on MDL.

The Eighth Sense (Viki) - speaking of queer, this one is a bit rough (sticky and gritty), more in the Moonlight Chicken area. But very high quality, fabulous chemistry, and a remarkably complex offering for a KBL - think Blueming-esk but even better.

Unintentional Love Story (iQIYI) - @heretherebedork and I LOVED this one, but it is kinda hard to get hold of. I found the seme a bit stiff and reserved but Gongchan (who plays the uke) is a fucking GIFT. He has THE MOST expressive eyes, just drown in the emoting abyss. The external conflict tension and pressure is complex and excellent plus Korea gave us legit side dishes (NOT a love triangle, hally-fucking-luya). Review on MDL.

My School President (YouTube) - I adored this one! My favorite GMMTV offering in dog's age, and my new favorite pair GeminiFourth. It could have gotten a 10/10 from me but for too much singing. This is the side pair from Moonlight Chicken anchoring a high school BL full of the most teenage pining ever and it's GREAT.

All the Liquors (Viki, Gaga) - another KBL hitting hard and solid. This one is KBL-weird in the way of Tasty Florida or Behind Cut (which I've gotten used to, but is kinda a "type" now). It will wig you out if you have any baggage around alcohol. The logic behind the phobias are typically Asian romance qua? BUT it's still quite cute.

Never Let Me Go (YT) - of GMMTV handing out new series to established pairs this has been the most successful IMHO. PondPhuwin were about 10000x better in this than FUTS (and that's FUTS's fault, not theirs). It's typically Thai in that its a bit bloated and has a confusing plot, but at least it HAD a plot and the central relationship is solid and loyal. Their Our Skyy 2 follow up is also good. And very much adds to the cannon in a fun way rather than feeling superfluous - making this show ultimately 14 eps rather than the usual 12.

Bed Friend (YT, iQIYI, Gaga) - speaking of a bit bloated, this one derailed somewhat in plot for me (even at 10 eps) but NetJames really are glorious, and absolutely the hottest and the prettiest of 2023. Full of triggers for childhood abuse and sexual assault (backstory), but the main pair is very communication-heavy and based on a fuck buddy premise which has negotiation and everything, unique & fun to see. This is my high heat rec for the year so far, because the heat is PART OF THE PLOT and that's a gift we don't usually get. Review on MDL.

Between Us (iQIYI) - I'm still processing this one. I didn't have as high expectations as most but it was still a little disappointing. BounPrem are lovely of course, but somehow it just wasn't quite what I wanted. I did a watch along for this one so you can see me struggle. However, objectively, held up against other BLs? It's actually pretty darn good.

I hope some of these you haven't seen. None have romanticized sexual assault, cheating, or miscommunication as a main plot point (hum... maybe Between Us? Honestly I can't remember the plot points, it was all over the place), and all have HEA (this is me after all(.

[ghouligancentral]

Steam (18+)

Rain x reader x Dew

Summary- Rain and reader agree to let Dew warm them up after a bath.

A/N- IT'S FINALLY HERE! The wait is over. This is a follow up to 'Diving In' but you don't have to have read it to know what's going on since this is basically just smut. Also do I regret writing half a page depicting Dew’s room? No, no I don't. Would I do it again? Absolutely, and I will. So tell me who’s room you wanna visit next. 

Rating: Explicit, NSFW

Afab reader- no pronouns

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A wicked smile spreads around the fire ghoul’s face as he stands in the doorway, tail flicking excitedly behind him. He can feel his cock stirring in his trousers as he watches the scene unfolding before his eyes. Rain currently has his face buried in between the thighs of a rather lovely sibling, one who he himself has had an eye on for some time. 

With eyes closed and head thrown back, the Sibling cums, the most beautiful moans and gasps escaping those perfect lips. Dew watches as Rain pops out of the water, grinning like a Cheshire cat. 

“Let’s take care of you now,” you purr at Rain as you wrap your fingers around his hard cock. 

“But the water is getting kinda cold,” Rain says and Dew knows that it’s time to announce his presence. 

“I could help with that,” he smirks as he leans up against the door frame. You and the water ghoul exchange a few glances while making a decision. 

“Alright Dew, come warm us up,” you smile. Dew doesn’t have to be told twice before he is stalking over, unbuttoning his top on the way. However, Rain stops him before he can reach the tub. 

“There is no way the three of us will all fit in this tub,” Rain states, looking around the tub,” not comfortably at least.” 

“My room it is then,” Dew grins as he reaches out a hand to help you exit the tub. Even though he is a little gremlin most of the time, that doesn’t mean he can’t be polite every so often. 

“Thanks Dewy,” you giggle as you step out of the tub before grabbing a fluffy towel and beginning the process of drying off. Dew watches you with a smile, observing how the towel wicks away any and all traces of moisture from your soft skin. He then turns back to look at Rain, who is still seated in the water, looking a little shocked that Dew actually helped. 

“Don’t look at me,” Dew scoffs,” I’m not helping you.” 

After all, his politeness only extends so far. As you are slipping a robe on, your back is turned but you can hear Rain huff as he climbs out of the tub to also dry off. Before he has the chance to retrieve a towel, a gasp escapes the water ghoul. You turn to find Dew with his hand wrapped around Rain’s erect member. Dew isn’t trying to pleasure Rain, he is doing just the opposite, teasing him. His hand remains motionless as he feels the water ghoul twitch under his touch. 

“We are going to have so much fun, Rainy,” Dew purrs before leaning in and giving Rain a quick bite on his collarbone, earning another hiss from the ghoul. Dew expects Rain to fold under his touch, beg him to move his hand or at least whine a little, but he doesn’t. Instead Rain meets the fire ghoul’s gaze with an intense spark in his own eyes. 

“Oh, we are,” Rain growls in reply as his own hand makes its way to give Dew’s member a squeeze. Dew’s eyes widen, this obviously wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. A rumbling growl begins to emanate from both ghouls as they curl their lips up to flash their fangs. Oh here we go again. After a few moments, it's obvious that neither ghoul will be backing down without some sort of intervention. A snap of your fingers brings both of them out of their trance. 

“You two can do that later, right now I’m getting cold,” you explain, giving a little pout to emphasize your point. Dew huffs as both ghouls release each other.

“Here, dry off and let’s go,” Dew utters as tosses a wadded up towel to the water ghoul before drawing closer to you,” we don’t want to keep our favorite little Sibling waiting, now do we?” 

A wave of warmth washes over your entire body as the fire ghoul wraps his arms around your waist. You’ve never felt anything like it before,  as though you are cuddled up next to a roaring fire, but somehow better. Almost immediately, the chill you were feeling vanishes. 

“How… how are you doing that?” you ask in a tone barely above a whisper as the ghoul nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck. 

“I’m a fire ghoul,” Dew purrs,” we’re like your own personal space heaters.” 

A warm tongue runs up the side of your neck before a light nip is placed on your jaw, causing you to moan. Your arousal grows at the feeling of his hands slowly mapping out your body as though he’s memorizing every dip and curve. 

“Alright, you said let’s go, so let’s go,” Rain utters while he wraps the towel around his hips. Even after being covered, his erection is still noticeable. Droplets of water fall from the curls framing his face, since he didn’t bother with toweling off his hair, but he’ll deal with that later, for now, all he wants to do is get to Dew’s room. Dew detached himself from your neck. 

“Come on,” the fire ghoul purrs, as his deft fingers encircle your wrist. Before you know it, you are being pulled out of the room with Rain following closely behind. The sounds of your bare feet padding against the stone floor echo throughout the hallway, and it isn’t long before you find yourself standing in front of a large, solid oak door. 

Dew releases your wrist just long enough to fish a skeleton key out of his pocket. There is a loud thunk of metal as the locking mechanism releases. With a squeak, the door is opened and you are quickly shoved inside. The first thing you notice is the smell of warm amber and incense. As you take a couple more steps into the space, your eyes roam around the room. It is not at all what you were expecting. Part of you thought that the  fire ghoul’s room would resemble a dungeon, cold and barren, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. 

The dark slate of the walls are covered in elaborate tapestries. A red glow bathes the room and you look over to find the source. It’s a… salt lamp? Huh, Dew never striked you as one who was into mood lightning. You notice a couple more Moroccan style lamps hanging from the ceiling and some well placed candles placed throughout the room. 

A vine of some sort climbs up the wall. It has almost managed to engulf the entire corner. Upon closer inspection, you realize that it is Pothos, also known as Devil’s Ivy. Renowned for being able to grow in almost complete darkness and is nearly impossible to kill. Very fitting for a certain fire ghoul. A few items of clothing lay scattered about the room. 

Your feet are cold against the stone, but all of the sudden, they aren’t.  You look down to find a large ornate rug covering the floor. Dew’s bed sits in the center of the room. His mattress is placed directly on the floor, an array of oversized pillows and cozy blankets littering it. You can hear Dew close and relock the door behind you.  

“So what do you think?” Dew asks as he draws up close behind you, placing his hands on your waist. 

“It’s nice,” you reply as you continue to look,” honestly I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe a torture chamber?” 

Dew lets out a soft chuckle at your joke. You can feel his fingers fiddling with the belt of the robe in an attempt to untie it. A gasp exits you as you feel him strip you of the fabric before pressing his own body against your nude back. Half of his shirt is already unbuttoned, exposing his warm skin to you. His warm breath ghosts over your exposed shoulders as he grinds his hips into you, the bulge in his trousers press against your rear. 

“You’re funny,” Dew coos as his hands slowly wander over your body, barely touching you,” I like that.” 

The arousal in your core has now reached new heights and you can feel just how wet your thighs are, and it’s not just from the bath. Dew begins placing hot, open mouthed kisses down your neck and onto your shoulders. His fangs sink into your flesh a little at the end of each kiss, managing to draw out low breathy moans from you. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Rain remove the towel from his waist before he dries his hair. You had almost forgotten the other ghoul was there, and he’s not too happy about that. Once he’s done he drops the towel, letting the soaked fabric fall to the stone floor with a light thunk. 

Rain creeps over to the both of you and nuzzles his face into your hair while his hand draws small circles on your thigh. You don’t know whether it’s the incense or the way the ghouls are touching you that is making your mind feel hazy. Each caress has you falling deeper under their spell. 

A pathetic moan falls from your lips when Rain’s member brushes against your hip, so close to where you want him the most. It leaves behind a glistening trail of precum, a sign of his eagerness. Rain’s hand moves downward and he applies just a hint of pressure to your clit. Your nails dig into the water ghoul’s shoulders, eliciting a smile from him before he continues his administration. 

You spread your legs a little wider to give Rain better access to your dripping core. One of Rain’s fingers slowly dips itself into you, meeting no resistance due to your slick. The motion nearly causes your legs to give out, but thankfully, Dew is there to support your weight. The fire ghoul continues attacking your neck with kisses as he steadies you before Rain adds a second finger. Your breathy moans fill the air as he begins to lightly pump them into you.  More slick leaks out onto your thighs with each motion of Rain’s fingers. A whimper escapes you when Rain removes his fingers from your core. 

“I think Dew would love a taste,” Rain muses as he inspects his wet fingers. Dew purrs against your throat before opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue. Rain smiles as he presses his fingertips onto Dew’s tongue gently, teasing the other ghoul a little before shoving his fingers in the other’s mouth. The fire ghoul moans as his lips close around Rain’s fingers, eagerly seeking every last drop of your essence. Dew lets go of you to focus on the movement of his tongue and you take the opportunity to make your way over to the bed while enjoying the show. 

Rain can’t help but let a small moan escape him at the sensation of Dew’s talented tongue working over his digits. The water ghoul pulls his fingers from Dew’s mouth with a pop. 

“You two get started while I finish undressing,” Dew instructs as he begins fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. Rain swiftly makes his way over to the bed. He flops down beside you, wriggling a little to get more comfortable. The both of you moan as you straddle his hips, your dripping core brushing up against his length. 

Rain’s hands slowly trail down from your shoulders to settle on your waist. With both hands firmly planted on the water ghoul’s chest, you slowly begin to roll your hips over his so that your wet pussy rubs against his cock. His hips start moving to meet your motions as the two of you attempt to set a rhythm. Groans and gasps fill the room as the coil of heat in your core grows hotter. 

“Fuck that’s hot,” Dew groans as he watches. You look over your shoulder to see that the fire ghoul has managed to rid himself of his shirt but is only half way finished undoing his trousers. 

“You just gonna watch?” you giggle causing the ghoul to snap out of his trance. Dew quickly finishes the process of stripping. His impressive length hits his stomach after he releases it from its confines. The tip is already shiny with precum, a sight which makes you drool just a little. 

“Like what you see?” Dew smirks as he moves towards the bed. Before you can reply Rain bucks his hips, earning a loud moan from you. You return your attention to the water ghoul underneath you and lean down to place a kiss on his lips. One of his hands tangles itself in your hair before pulling you deeper into the motion. His tongue explores your mouth as your teeth clash against his. 

The mattress dips a little when the fire ghoul joins you. A warm hand grabs your jaw and rips you away from the kiss, only to pull you into another one. Dew’s mouth is hot, his fangs prick your lips as he kisses you. His kiss is different from Rain’s, but no less enjoyable. 

You feel the vibrations from Rain’s growl under your fingertips as your hips continue to roll against his. Dew pulls away from your lips with a smirk, his hand still firmly planted on your jaw. Rain’s fingers dig into the skin of your waist, hard enough to leave bruises. 

“What’s wrong Rainy? You’re not jealous are you?” Dew teases as his thumb caresses your cheek. Dew tilts your head up so that he has access to your neck before he ducks down to run his tongue up from your collarbone to your chin. Your eyes flutter shut as you melt into the sensation, then suddenly he’s gone. A strangled yelp escapes the fire ghoul.  You open your eyes to see that Rain has got him by the hair and has managed to pull him down closer to his face. You hadn’t even realized that one of Rain’s hands left your waist until this moment. 

You can hear them both snarling at each other as Dew’s hand comes up to wrap itself around Rain’s throat. For the sake of self preservation you decide to move down, farther away from the bity ends of the angry ghouls. You settle at the foot of the bed. 

You watch as the two ghouls roll around, both fighting for dominance. A thin layer of sweat has formed on their skin due to the exertion. The sight of their sweaty bodies pressed together has both your heart and mind racing. 

Dew bites the side of Rain’s jaw, his fangs sinking into the sensitive flesh. Dew’s hair blocks most of their faces from you. The water ghoul hisses in response before digs his nails into Dew’s thigh. Rain’s nails rake across the other ghoul’s skin, causing raised lines to form. You are about to step in to break up the brawl until you realize that the bite has turned into a kiss. 

Dew ruts himself against Rain’s thigh as their tongues battle for dominance. Rain flips them both  over, trapping Dew underneath his weight. The water ghoul roughly pulls Dew’s hair and positions the fire ghoul so that his neck is bared to him. Dew whines and you know Rain has won this round. 

Rain gives Dew’s neck a couple of licks before he bites down. Dew’s tail flicks around excitedly in response to the pain as he fists his hands into the sheets. Rain replaces his mouth with his hand, coiling long fingers around the smaller ghoul’s throat, and presses down as he sits up.  He gives one last growl before releasing Dew’s neck and shifting off of him. 

Rain grabs your hips and lifts them so that you are positioned onto all fours before he settles himself behind you. Dew stills as he watches, waiting for Rain to tell him he can join. Rain runs his tongue up your spin until he gets to the base of your neck. The action causes you to shudder in excitement. 

“You ready?” Rain purrs before he nips at your earlobe. 

“Yes,” you pant as you prepare yourself for what comes next. 

“So eager,” Rain chuckles as he lines himself up with your entrance. You gasp when you feel him enter. The stretch is intense but you’re wet enough so that it’s not an issue. Rain growls as he continues to push in until his hips meet yours. The water ghoul stills for a moment to allow you to adjust. His tail flicks happily behind him. 

After a few deep breaths, you’re ready for Rain to move. When you grind your hips against his, Rain knows you’re adjusted. He starts off with a couple of shallow thrusts. Each thrust has him rubbing against you in a delicious way.  Hands dig into the sheets as Rain continues to fuck you like a beast in rut. 

Rain nods at Dew and Dew quickly scrambles to position himself near your mouth. He’s on his knees in front of you as he threads his fingers through your hair. With his other hand he positions himself so that the tip of his cock lightly taps your lips, smearing precum on them. 

“Open up,” Dew instructs and you quickly obey, sticking your tongue out to lick his slit. Dew groans and throws his head back. You smile before going back in for more by taking his head into your mouth before sucking. 

“Fuck! Fuck!” Dew hisses as he feels your tongue on him. You moan around his cock as Rain rails into you from behind, the vibrations cause Dew’s nails to dig deeper into your scalp. 

“Brace yourself” Dew pants. You look up at him with a questioning glance, about to  ask what he means by the question, but Dew isn’t in the mood for questions. He sinks fully into your mouth, you can feel him hitting the back of your throat. A little cough escapes you as you focus on redirecting your breathing through your nose. Little tears well up in your eyes as Dew repeatedly hits the back of your throat, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Tears roll down your cheeks to combine with the drool spilling from your lips. Rain places his hands on your waist before starting up a punishing rhythm. Each thrust is deep, filling you fully before he pulls out so that just the tip is inside you. 

Soon you are able to suppress your gag reflex and fully enjoy the sensation of the fire ghoul fucking your face. The sounds coming from him are wonderful. Each gasp and growl has your walls fluttering around Rain. The water ghoul growls and speeds up his pace. Every thrust pushes Dew’s cock further down your throat, causing him to groan even louder and thus perpetuating the cycle. 

You can feel sweat forming on your temples. Everything feels hot. You don’t know whether it’s from the exertion or just the presence of the fire ghoul. Dew muffles your scream when Rain begins rubbing small circles on your clit. The fire ghoul looks down to see you drooling on his cock and this sends him over the edge. 

“Shit,” Dew snarls as he cums down your throat.  The hot ropes of spend run down your throat, and you can feel your entire body heating up. Dew pulls out and has a seat beside the bed as he attempts to catch his breath. Rain takes the opportunity to grab your chest and pull you closer against his body. 

“Cum with me,” Rain groans as he speeds up his pace. His name falls from your lips as your orgasm washes over you. Waves of pleasure role through your body as your legs tremble. Rain bites down on your shoulder as he cums, filling you. While your high is still coursing through your body, you feel Dew press his lips up against yours. 

Dew barely has time to pull away from the kiss before Rain is flopping down on the bed, bringing you with him. The two of you lay together as you catch your breath and you watch as the fire ghoul crawls up beside you. Dew snuggles up against your body before giving your lips another kiss, his hips grind into yours and you are surprised to find him hard once more.

“That’s it,” Dew coos as he begins kneading your chest. The feeling of his thumbs swiping over your hardened nipples has you whimpering. The fire ghoul pulls you in closer so that your face is nestled in the crook of his neck. As one hand continues to play with your chest, the other reaches down to part your legs. 

Dew slots his thigh in between yours and you instinctively begin grinding your core against him, moaning as you do so. The fire ghoul growls as he feels your slick and Rain’s cum coat a spot on his leg. You move his hair out of the way before nipping lightly at his collarbone, the action manages to earn a low groan from the ghoul. His nails rake down your back in response. He then takes one of your hands and begins trailing it down his body. You immediately get the hint and move to wrap your fingers around his erect member, still slick with your saliva. Dew groans when he feels you begin to pump him, his hips thrusting to meet your motion. 

Even though there isn’t much room for your hand to move, you do your best, making sure to focus on the sensitive head of his cock. A loud moan sounds from the ghoul when you tease his slit with the tip of your finger. You can feel the bed rocking as he fucks into your palm. 

A gasp escapes you when you suddenly feel a rather horney Rain press his body up against your back. He brushes your hair to the side and begins kissing the back of your neck, making sure to leave dark bruises behind as a way to claim you. Rain must have swatted Dew’s hand away because you suddenly find the hand that he was using to rub your back gripping onto your outer thigh. 

Rain’s erection presses against your back as he ruts his hips into you. Dew gives a frustrated growl when he realizes that you are unable to run your hand over the length of his cock in the confined area. You whimper in protest when you feel Dew pull his thigh away, leaving you with nothing to sate the ache in your core. However, you don’t have to wait for long before he replaces it with cock. 

Dew then begins furiously fucking into your thighs, the combitation between your slick and Rain’s cum create the perfect lubricant. With each thrust, the fire ghoul’s cock manages to rub against your clit. You know you are biting your lip hard enough to draw blood as you begin to recognize a metallic taste on your tongue. As your orgasm approaches, you begin to whimper a little more. But unfortunately Dew stops thrusting before you reach your peak. 

Dew positions you so that you’re on all fours, before he puts a hand on the middle of your back and pushes down. The motion forces your chest down onto the bed as your ass remains up. 

“Shit! Your sweet little cunt is still so fucking tight,” Dew hisses as he enters you, ramming himself up to the hilt in the first thrust. A strangled cry emanates from your body as your hands desperately grasp at the sheets. The fire ghoul gives you just a moment to adjust before he starts up at a punishing pace. Each thrust rocks the mattress and you begin to think that it’s a good thing he doesn’t have a bed frame. Dew feels your slick coating his cock and thighs. He places his hands on your shoulders and uses the leverage to fuck you even harder. 

You hear a snarl come from the water ghoul and you know they are about to bicker again. Attempting to avoid another fight, You wrap your fingers around Rain’s cock and begin to jack him off. You would have opted for your mouth if your face wasn’t being pressed down into the mattress. The action seems to sate the water ghoul for now as he happily moans and begins to fuck into your fist. Dew lets go of one of your shoulders to snake a hand down to your clit. He gives the bud a couple of light taps before his fingers press down on it to rub small circles. 

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” you pant as you feel your orgasm building once more. Waves of pleasure wash over you when you cum. Dew continues to roughly fuck you as he works your through your orgasm. As your walls flutter around him, he knows it won’t be long before he cums as well. The only warning you receive is that of his nails digging deeper into your shoulder. 

Dew lets out a loud roar as he orgasms into your tight heat. His hips smack against the backs of your thighs as he continues to fuck his cum into you. Each thrust sends the spend deeper into your body. Cum leaks from your abused pussy when the fire ghoul pulls out. He sits back on his heels and watches as it drips onto the sheets. 

“Fuck,” he whispers under his breath. Dew isn’t given much time to catch his breath before he is shoved out of the way by a water ghoul who has run out of patience. You squeal as Rain flips you over and hooks your knees over your shoulders, effectively folding you in half. The both of you moan when Rain enters, this time giving you no time to adjust before brutally plowing into you. 

“Mine,” Rain snarls and snaps his jaws at Dew when the fire ghoul moves a little too close for his liking. Dew instantly backs off, but not before he gives Rain a growl. Rain’s fingers dig into your waist as he doubles down on his efforts. Another orgasm is building within you, the feeling is almost overwhelming this time. Each thrust hits all the right spots to have you mewling underneath the weight of the water ghoul. 

Rain roughly captures your lips in a kiss as he spreads your legs a little wider. Your hands automatically wrap around him and dig into the muscles of his back. Rain pulls away from the kiss and moves on to marking up your already bruised neck.

Without warning, you cum for a final time, clenching tightly around Rain. Rain halts his thrusts as he too orgasms. As his warm spend fills you, you feel some of Dew’s being pushed out, creating an even bigger mess. Your head lolls back as you imagine what your core must look like. Rain stays inside you until he’s sure you have milked him of every last drop. He cups your cheeks and presses a kiss to your forehead before pulling out and flopping down onto the bed beside you. 

“Wow. That was–”

Dew cuts you off before you can finish the statement. 

“Amazing, spectacular, something you want to do everyday?” Dew smirks as he walks over to the two of you carrying a damp cloth. You hadn’t even noticed he’d left the room. The mattress dips as Dew kneels down beside you before cupping your cheek in his hand. 

“You did great,” the fire ghoul whispers as he places a gentle kiss on your temple before moving to wipe up the mess between your legs. You hiss a little at the feeling of the fabric rubbing against your over sensitive core, but Dew just soothes you with another kiss. 

Dew gets up and makes his way to the other side of the bed before kneeling by the water ghoul, who is just managing to come out of his post orgasm haze. 

“Hey Rainy,” Dew smiles as strokes the other ghouls hair. Rain chitters happily as he nestles his head into the touch as Dew cleans him up as well. Dew climbs over Rain and positions himself so that you are sandwiched in between the two ghouls. You’re on your side, facing Rain, when you feel Dew move up close to your body, spooning you. He purrs as he nestles his face into your hair. 

You allow your eyes to slip closed as you relax into the warmth of the ghoul’s surrounding you. One of your hands gently caresses Rain’s chest, drawing a happy sigh from him. 

“Hmmm. It looks like you need another bath,” he mutters before letting out a big yawn. You hum in agreement as you feel Dew’s tail wrap around your thigh. 

“I think we all need one after that,” Dew chuckles. 

“Yes, I think we do.” 

-----------------------------------------------------------

[suffarustuffaru]

Opinion on Reinhard's dad possibly seeing "the son he never had" on Garfiel? It could totally take that route tbh

It would be a fun dynamic imo

oh anon as a heinkel fan (hes soo terrible but so fascinating and i WANT to see him get better and grow as a person. but also you may have known that since you are asking me this hah) and someone who is quite fond of garf i lovedddd the recent heinkel-garfiel chapters... and LMAO this idea of like. heinkel being a bit soft on garfiel bc yay!! new son replacement!!! is SO FUNNY ive thought about it a little bit. and IT WOULD BE FUN and i think heinkels arc is super interesting bc he kinda hit his rock bottom in like about arc 7-early arc 8 where its like. its post arc 5 astrea drama so shit just got even more bleak for heinkel, hes stuck in dangerous territory and he doesnt believe in himself At All and hes too depressed to really try all that much at anything.

but then GARFIEL comes along and saves heinkel a couple times and garfiel gets hit down but keeps getting right tf up - and that goes against like literally everything heinkel thinks. he doesnt try to be better bc he doesnt think he can ever accomplish it no matter how hard he tries, but garfiel is someone who just WONT stop trying.

and we also see that heinkel learning more about rowan and cecilus and the whole deal with the segmunts has made heinkel go "oh. okay haha maybe im not as far gone as i thought" bc heinkel gets shown another example of a dysfunctional family with an extremely op son and a deadbeat alcoholic dad and theyre a mirror of reinhard and heinkel. except rowan and cecilus are like if reinhard and heinkel werent so miserable about their shit relationship, bc as shitty as heinkels behavior is deep down he still CARES. he cares a lot about his family. he misses reinhard - why else would he need schult to be a replacement? he's still mourning that loss, if you think about it. but rowan is just so batshit that heinkel immediately goes backtracking like "OKAY IM. IM NOT THAT BAD. MAYBE THERES A TINY LITTLE SPECK OF HOPE FOR ME AFTER ALL."

and garfiel is helping to be a catalyst as well bc of his own determination to always keep growing and keep fighting no matter what gets in his way. hes a spunky little kid whos powerful but when faced with opponents stronger than him Refuses To Give Up. thats inspirational i think for heinkel, especially when its not as if hes a shit fighter, dude is just outshadowed by his family and other people around him. he just has to get up and keep trying, so its interesting that heinkel DOES find the courage to try and protect garfiel while garfiel's trying not to die.

like i do think that its heinkel like having this grudging respect for garfiel after the interactions theyve had, also possibly feeling inspired by garfiel and having that tiny bit of hope in him after meeting rowan and interacting with garfiel, and also trying to repay garfiel. bc heinkel treats himself like dirt and gets treated like dirt a lot - im sure his thought process might be "this kid took the time to keep saving me even though im literally worthless and now hes in danger, this is the least i can do". i would be interested if it went the route of like. heinkel having that fatherly instinct rekindled - i think itd be interesting for garfiel as well bc. he IS lacking a father figure, but for heinkel, i think that its clear with how he acts with schult that heinkel does kind of miss having a son and having that sort of love in his life.

we know he DID use to be a good dad, and tbh i always kind of headcanoned that heinkel probably isnt that mean with most kids unless its someone like. you know. subaru. or julius. or reinhard of course. like heinkels not that much of an ass when his life is on the line or when there isnt super personal stakes involved (ie astrea stuff). hes a character that carries a lot of guilt and shame and self-hatred, someone who's spiraled into being the worst version of himself when he used to be bright-eyed and hardworking and full of love despite the weight on his shoulders - i think he would see a very kind and determined and spirited kid like garfiel (and might be reminded of the kid he Used to love) and hope that garfiel doesnt end up like him (ie lost, burnt out, and depressed). we see this sort of behavior a bit with schult too, bc heinkel tries to give schult advice and tries to look after schult a bit in general!! and garfiel's like a better version of heinkel you know? garfiel's a bit abrasive with a quick temper and all but hes extremely well intentioned in just about everything he does. and i think heinkel might have a fondness for all of garfiel's antics at this point T^T

but yes ty for the ask anon !! :o im very interested to see where heinkel and garfiel go from here, bc it looks like heinkel's started some baby steps in his growth!!

[cookstorys]

Moonlight

Character: Felix

Show : Love, Victor

Warning : Its supposed to be cute but sorry if it came out cringy 😭

—————————————————————————————————————

The moon shined above as you walked Felix back to his apartment building. You both decided to take the rather long way since you didn’t mind each other’s presence. “So you and Victor? You guys have been getting pretty close lately.” You nudged. “Yeah, we have but we don’t see each other like that. At least I don’t think?” He questions. You laughed at his utter stupidity. “Felix I’m just kidding. If Victor liked you I’m sure he would’ve kissed you on the faris wheel by now.” Felix laughed at the obvious tease. “Stop asshole, that’s my friend you’re talking about. So what if the whole thing was kinda rom-com-ish” He playfully hits your arm smiling. As if on queue, silence fell between the two of you again.

As you walk the sidewalk you notice the slight shiver Felix tried to ignore. “You cold?” You asked the fluffy-haired boy. “Yeah, I’m fine just a tad bit chilled.” He smiled shaking a little. “Felix, here. You’re gonna freeze out here love.” You commented, quickly taking off your jacket to put it on him. The jacket fitted him loosely and oversized but neither of you mind, you found him fairly adorable in bigger clothes, specifically yours. Felix was too stunned to even react, ‘love’. Words like that were commonly used by you regularly. ‘Babes, you’re embarrassing yourself.’ , ‘no love.’ Felix had gotten pretty comfortable with the words of affection but this time it felt different. This time his heart jumped out of his chest, his palms were starting to sweat, and he couldn’t control the urge to hold back his toothy smile.

“Thank you [Name].” Felix smiled, praying that the oversized fabric covered most of his blushing face. The attempt was cute but you could still see the heat starting to spread across his cheeks. However, you chose to ignore it for his sake. “So, how’s your mom?” You were questioning if you should ask or not but chose to ask. “She’s good, she decided to take her depression more seriously and just checked into a hospital. So, I should get to see her in about a month or two, depending on her progress.” You were beyond happy with the news. You and Felix were childhood best friends, you knew Felix’s mom way before the depression, even before his father’s death. So to hear that his mother was finally getting the help she not only needed but deserved was amazing. “Felix that’s fucking amazing.” Felix nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

10 minutes later you found yourselves in front of Felix’s apartment building, grinning awkwardly at each other. “I hope you had fun tonight, I had to fight a very aggressive old man for those tickets.” Felix laughed, genuinely intrigued about the situation. “I did! I’m happy all your hard work wasn’t in vain.”

“Well, I’m happy you had fun.” You smiled. This was always the awkward part, the departure. “Well, I guess I should get inside now. Here’s your coat.” Felix was in the process of taking his coat off but you chose to stop him. “Keep it, you look cuter in it than me.” Felix blushed at the statement. The moon’s light illuminated your eyes, making most of your small features stand out. For example, your lips. He really couldn’t stop looking at your lips and how amazing it’ll be to kiss them. Meanwhile, you were having the same thought. Felix looked stunning in the light, his eyes met yours and you could tell both of you were sharing the same thought.

Your hand found its way to the side of his face pulling him closer until your lips finna let his. They move perfectly together as if they were made for this. As the kiss deepened, you pulled away. “You’re a really good kisser.” Felix smiled still hypnotized by the taste of your lips on his. “You’re the one to talk.” You both laughed. Felix pulled out his keys and rushed up the outdoor steps as you watched. “You coming in or what?” He giggled to which you quickly caught on and ran after him

[stickyspeckledlight]

informally answering/replying to @harmonysanreads questions in le reblog. ask and ye shall receive answers

'Tis a good question. First, I insert a load of unicorn farts---

My kneejerk answer is:

But that's also a fucking LIE RAHHHHHHHHH 🔫

but i suppose 'delightfully flavored chaos' is the best way to put it, as you can tell from the above. when it comes to writing stuff, I generally only really use a loose outline, with maybe a box or two that absolutely has to be checked. it's mostly because I sort of like letting my fingers...just kinda go where they want. Letting the story 'write itself', ifykyk. There's no real eloquent way for me to put this, but I think the easiest way to put my thought process while writing waxing moon is:

"ok how do i do the silly haha before traumatizing the shit outta my readers. and the reader. and aventurine."

wait...that's not quite right either (and also my thoughts obviously got a shitload darker than that). Actually, now that I think about it, I should've started with this. if there's a single quote I had to point to that singlehandedly influenced my writing, it's this:

"The longer and more carefully we look at a funny story, the sadder it becomes." - Nikolai Gogol

so...while i of course don't strictly adhere to this (since writing must fit its rhetorical situation), it's something I really love to do and try to do often. even if it's just a single sentence, a single word...to interject something of amusement is to give levity and a smile. but in the right circumstances, amusement becomes twisted, and even used against you. you read of a man's suffering, to which there is a single quip that has you smiling; and then, do you stop? do you stop to think: 'do I smile at this man's misery?' in other words, amusement, or 'funny things' in a story has a wide variety of uses. my favorite way to use it is to place it in a situation where it feels like it just shouldn't be there but is; and at the moment it feels like a relief, but of course, the narrative still continues. and that single moment of normalcy, of levity, it then highlights the absurdity, horror, etc. of the rest of the narrative.

but i also enjoy writing scenes where there's a strong sense of hopelessness and fatality looming over.

with my yan fics, I sort of wanna make my reader feel like both the spectator but also be in the story; I don't think this is a particular novel thing amongst us yan authors, but it's something I try to keep in mind and adhere to. I want them to feel unsettled, happy, amused, etc. But most importantly, with these stories, I want to leave them with a sort of confusion. to read a story so, so twisted, yet with a brutal softness to it...i just love it when fiction gives me complicated feelings about something, and it's something I hope to at least partially emulate lmao

idk. ig that wasn't really talking about my thought process in exact, but that's the closet thing I can come up with. metacognition hard.

(side note: i don't actually read gogol, but I am interested in at least reading the 'overcoat'. it seems to include the themes of mundanity that I just love *mwah* but I'm also too lazy to go ahead and download a pdf or something. Plus. i found a book called legends and lattes where an ogre starts a coffee shop in a fantasy realm. it looks great and I'm getting my hands on it as soon as I can)

physics isn't actually terrible, i just don't understand it. i have no clue how I got an A in physics. but I've also been really good at bullshitting reports while also not actually bullshitting them. and I can't really make fun of people who listen to physics stuff recreationally. i just finished a video about why 37 keeps appearing everywhere, from my refrigerator to my gacha games. and I'm currently chipping away at quinton review's nickelodeon retrospect. and then amateur politic theory and media analysis.

so in a way im making fun of both you and me, and you know what they say: two negatives make a positive.

before i go into symbolism: I would like to say a personal belief of mine:

although the answers i give may be the 'official symbolisms' and 'meanings', still feel free to read this fic with whatever lens of interpretation you want! if anything, it can be said that the 'official' meanings are also just another interpretation of the text. beauty is the in the eye of the beholder. anyway, moving onwards:

mmm, sorta? i originally intended to use the tower throughout, but those scenes got cut for pacing reasons, but I decided to keep the tower metaphor just as a sort of way to characterize reader.

specifically, the tower symbolizes 'stability.' reader wants to live a normal life, a modest but stable one. I've mostly based in on the 'Tower' arcana (but let's make it clear: my understanding of the arcana is a superficial understanding of a superficial understanding lmao)

ripping from the persona wiki because of my laziness:

but yeah, keep in mind that the reader isn't a one-and-one interpretation of the tower arcana. but I think you can definitely see the correlations lmao.

however the 'stability' of that tower is definitely dependent on their mental state which....well...

eh, i'm sure it'll work out....ehehehe......

this is probably something i should've clarified a bit more, but I decided against it at the time since I wrote this assuming the reader read destroyed onset; basically, I've carried over the 'ink' metaphor from it. it's actually pretty simple: ink is just 'fear,' but an especially potent one. thick and slimy, oozing its way down your back and just being nasty in general......a fear that may come to drown and burn you.

again, i probably should've been more clear, esp in this fic, but I when I was writing onset, I made it a bit more vague since I thought it was just. way too obvious and didn't want to feel like I was directly telling my readers and spoonfeeding them symbolize like they're toddlers. i was basically worried that I might've not been trusting y'all enough 😭 I wouldn't say that this series is like some. super duper cryptic puzzle you'll have to study for years to understand, but ofc I don't want to make it too easy, otherwise it's not as fun to pick and prod at the details and think about a fic if it's just too "obvious," at least to me.

Yeah, and i can see why. im not gonna go on a psychoanalysis tangent or anything, but since so many of us fantasize about a yandere for the idea of being wanted or....or just not having to work or pay for rent....it's definitely really easy to indulge in it in a romantic aspect.

i personally sort of love these sort of outcomes though, because the psyche of it all is so interesting! and deliciously messed up. similarly to the great @/jessamine-rose, I too love myself a twisted happy ending (as one can tell from how much I think about that gogol quote lmao)

predicted his twilight looking ass, and also fulfilling my life long dream of telling a stranger some weird twilight book

"da skinn of a keeler" (im sorry)

also i have not read twilight. but my friend also has a gun, so it's only a matter of time before I'm held to gunpoint by her

😏

i have abided by these wise words. i thought I included them, but I didn't. and also the second banner. anyways, moving forward, I defo won't be forgetting to do this. and I've also gone back to onset and added the word count there so as not to spook anyone too badly.

ty! 🥺🥺🥺🥺

(fr tho all of these asks, comments....unparalleled rizz I say)

[russilton]

u were right when u said twt is a bad place. i regret giving it a chance again. but im not ready for tumblr too. sometimes i just want to simply get out from the fandom. i didnt know its gonna be this hard. i dont even do shit yet im still the one at fault. -yan

Sometimes it isn’t the right moment for any social media, there’s been more than one time during my duration on f1blr where I’ve pulled off actively engaging here and spent my time quietly in discord with the friends I love and enjoy chatting too. You don’t get the same kind of stranger engagement, but you do have the safety of people who’s reactions you can predict.

I mean when the Lewis you know what was announced I pretty much stepped entirely of tumblr bc I found it upsetting to see how people spoke about it, and spent all my time processing it with ppl like Badrieh, Rosie and Coral on discord cause we all kinda felt the same way about it. That safe place helped me get through it and come back here comfortably

I have had the debate often recently about if remaining in fandom is a sensible choice. On one hand, I’ve found a lot of recent news infuriating and tiring in a way that makes me nauseous, but on the other, I’ve had very few things left in my life that provide the kind of engagement dopamine F1 does and the idea of leaving terrifies me, and I don’t want to. I want to ride the wave until things are good again or at least be part of the changes that make it good.

Fandom is what we make it, and there’s no obligation to engage in it in a way others can comment publicly on or to do so ina very limited way. It’s allowed to be just 3 people in a discord yelling about stuff they like, it’s allowed to be what YOU feel is good and fun and most importantly, safe. My DM’s are always very much open if you want em, Yan.

[nyaagolor]

How would you rank all the Ace Attorney games you’ve played from favorite to least favorite? You seemed to enjoy all of them, to varying degrees.

So this is actually kind of hard for me to answer depending on whether you base your metric on “how much fun were they to play” “how much do I think to explore the themes / writing / think about the game in general” or “how well written do you think they are”. I’m gonna do all of them and prolly talk a lot so yeehaw. Under the cut bc. surprise surprise! I got long winded

Quick disclaimer: Not including DLC cases or spin off games because if I did we’d be here all day

“How much fun did I have playing through the actual game”

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Trials and Tribulations

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney

Justice for All

Dual Destinies

Spirit of Justice

This might be kinda surprising to some people considering what I talk about on this blog, but honestly my opinions on these games changed drastically after I had time to ruminate on them. Here’s some explanations if you’re curious!

AA1 very well could be at the top because it was the first game in the series and I was going in fresh— while Turnabout Samurai was a bit of a slog, I managed to get through all of these cases in a day each and just could not put down Turnabout Goodbyes. I don’t think about it as much anymore because it was so foundational and all the things it introduced have been explored by other games, but this game really is the reason I fell into this series with such ferocity.

AA3 was much of the same, and I don’t think I had as much fun with a tutorial case as I did with Turnabout Beginnings. The characterization present in this games and the nonlinearity of the narrative is genuinely fantastic, and my opinion of it has only increased over time.

AA4 is ranked a little lower because I actually wasn’t vibing with the game when I first played it— it was only after Turnabout Succession that everything fell into place and the game skyrocketed up my favorites list. Once I’m finished with all the spinoffs and have some time to chill I actually plan on revisiting it with fresh eyes because I think a second playthrough has the potential to be soooo much better than the first. Also APOLLOOOOOOO he’s my little guy :)

I thought justice for all was fine, but boring. Big Top made me feel some emotions that were less than positive, but generally speaking all the cases were fine but didn’t leave a big impression on me. Also I don’t like Farewell My Turnabout nearly as much as other people— I still like it but it didn’t totally blow me away or anything. Game is still like an 8/10, but it didn’t leave a huge impression on me.

Dual Destinies was confusing as hell timeline wise and it made it kinda difficult to figure out what was even happening, and for that same reason I struggled to attach myself to the plot. The game had some moments that really were stellar but the sheer length and layout of the cases kinda made me wanna cry

I literally only finished this game so I could get to Investigations. Characters were great but it was so. Damn. long.

“How much do I like thinking about the games, its writing, and its themes”

Dual Destinies

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney

Trials and Tribulations

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Spirit of Justice

Justice for All

This part of the list actually has very little to do with how good I think the games are or how much I like them, but sometimes a game’s themes just Captivate you.

If you’re reading this you’ve probably seen this blog, and you know how I feel about Dual Destinies. I am OBSESSED with this game. I love the characters, I love the themes, and I am fascinated by every part of the writing process and how the game ended up the way it did. I think about this game an unhealthy amount actually. Don’t let my complaining make you think I don’t love this game to pieces. Bc I do. So much.

I love expanding on things. The media I blog about? KIrby and Pokemon, stories that practically beg for you to fill in the gaps and work with their vagueness. So when Takumi handed me a game with half a dozen hanging plot threads and massive time gaps just begging to be filled? You can bet I would never shut the fuck up about it. AJAA my absolute beloved

I could probably talk about Miego for hours. This game is incredible I think about it on the regular. Ough.

This game slams but all the ideas introduced by it have been expanded on and talked about and worked with in a hundred different ways so it’s hard to me to really go back other than to say “wow Turnabout Goodbyes was so fucking good”

Literally the only context in which I think about this game is “this should have been a spinoff” but honestly it barely crosses my mind except when I purposefully try to ignore it

JFA is good and makes me feel absolutely nothing

“How well-written do I think the games are”

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Trials and Tribulations

Apollo Justice Ace Attorney

Justice for All

Spirit of Justice

Dual Destinies

These are suuuuuper close so this list is a lil shakier than the others but explanations are below as usual!

Ok this is really REALLY tough because I think AA1 and AA3 are tied. They both have their moments and I think the themes are incredible, but for the purposes of this list I’m putting AA1 above AA3 because BttT is a little bit absolutely batshit insane? Turnabout Goodbyes is TIGHT. Sorry Godot you’re still my favorite prosecutor ily kitten

See above

I’ve never seen an AA game whose final cases elevates the entire game quite like AA4. I thought the game was good, but the Turnabout Succession hit and oh my GOD. I think about this game constantly it’s so, SO good. Also helps that Apollo really shakes up the series, he’s my favorite species of insect

These cases were fine, Franziska is a solid prosecutor, the whole “chooses death” thing was fresh, and Farewell was some of the best character writing this series has seen. I don’t honestly have much to even say about it bc it’s super solid

The difference between DD and SOJ is that I think DD had a really good story that it failed to tell effectively while SOJ succeeded in telling its story but that story fucking sucks. Jokes aside I don’t like SOJ but the story is cohesive at least. It had a plot. It was Fine. DD failed miserably but oh my god what you could have been. Ily. Mwah.

See above

Sorry this wasn’t a clear ranking / favorites list, hope you enjoyed regardless!!

[shzmluvrs]

this is so random but i feel like i need to share the mental image of 2019 freddy eating cornflakes

~ Star✨️

Freddy's Frosted Flakes

Prompt: Just your average teenage boy eating cereal. Nothing crazy going on here🥱. Well, besides saving the world. At the butt-crack of dawn. Again. Why can't the poor boy just be left to eat his cereal in peace🥲?

Timeline: Post Shazam! Pre S!:FOTG

TW/Content: None⚡️Well, probably some cursing⚡️Frosted Flakes (if you don't like Tony the Tiger, should you really even be here🤨?)⚡️Freddy being silly lol⚡️Reader is mentioned like, once, maybe twice

Reader: Non-Specified! Any Pronouns! Knows the secret!

Requested By: @anon-2019

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I wanna say this first real quick, if you don't know what Frosted Flakes even, are, here...

Corny, yes, but at least now you know🤷🏽‍♀️.

Anyways...

I'm not saying Frosted Flakes are his fave (yesIam), but when he requests for them every time Victor goes to the store and is one of the first to be searching through the bags the second he gets home specifically for them, it's hard to believe otherwise.

Personally, I don't think Freddy is the biggest morning person. Will he wake up? Sure. But don't expect him to be his "normal" self, all talkative and head running a mile per minute. He's probably the opposite.

Head empty, no thoughts, quiet mouth. Very much ghost activity, just wandering around his room in a daze looking for clothes that aren't just his boxers, and then downstairs with only the click of his crutch hitting the floor to be heard.

He rubs his eyes, and he finds the house empty, Rosa out shopping, Victor at work, his siblings? Who knows. Who cares. He's hungry.

He's stumbling into the kitchen, murmuring to himself about early-monring nonsense while opening the fridge door and scanning its contents.

Oh, sweet. Juice.

Knowing he shouldn't, having been told many times before, he drinks straight from the carton. He waterfalls it, at the very least, and then he spots the milk. Milk goes in a bowl along with a spoon and-

"Cereal." He mumbles again because he's still hungry💀.

I imagine he's the type to be very unconventional with his eating utensils if he has to be. If there are no clean spoons, he's eating that shit with a fork. Better yet, a small ladel because A) he'll be damned if he's gonna be washing any dishes this early in the day. And B) better for scooping anyway. If there's no clean bowls? He'll eat his cereal out of some tupperware🤷🏽‍♀️.

Also, sorry to disappoint, but he's a "milk first, then cereal" kinda guy. It severely threw you and Billy off when you first watched him do this, Mary said it was "illogical" and Pedro and Eugene make fun of him every time he does it.

You know what? On second thought, he's kind of glad no one's home to see him eat his cereal💀✋🏽.

Speaking of you...

"Mor-nin-g ... an-gel-....cake ... kissy sign..." He spells out under his breath, sending off the message with a smug feeling about him before placing his phone back down and scarfing down more of his cereal.

He's definitely a messy eater, milk all down his chin, food barely in his mouth because he's shoved in so much. At least he has the decency not to smack (because that drives even him, one of the messiest of eaters, nuts).

I also think he's definitely the type to have more than one bowl. Especially if there's milk left behind from the first one? He's not drinking that, he's using it for another helping💀. And he'll repeat the process until it's all gone.

But, if you didn't stop him, and you let him re-pour as much as he wanted, he'd eat (I'd say) 4-6 bowls max, depending on how hungry he is that day.

He's also the type to, when he's hungry but doesn't feel like fully cooking something for himself, or just try too hard in the kitchen in general (lazy ass😒), there he goes for those Frosted Flakes. He's convinced it's versatile, a breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and/or dessert food. Rosa has had to stop him from proving this point on several occasions; she will not let any son of hers live off of and eat up an entire box of cereal🥴💀.

ESPECIALLY IF ITS JUST BEEN OPENED OMG!! She gets salty if a box of cereal has just been opened and it's already half gone within a day. Like, she understands she lives with seven other people, but goddamn, there's no excuse for that😭.

'Vzz-Vzz!'

Freddy smiles to himself, mouth still full, but he can't help it because he's excited to see what flirty little morning response you had come up w-

'Hey dude idk if u kno this but the world needs saving so get ur captain i-have-all-powers ass up and come help'

"Mncht..." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Leave it to Billy to kill his early morning groove...

He set his spoon down in order to use both hands/thumbs, fully indulging himself in having attitude with his mocking tone while he typed.

"I'm actually referred to as Captain Everypower, so get it right and maybe I'll come help."

Billy's response?

'🤓☝🏻'

Freddy groaned to himself, wanting- No, wishing nothing more than to just be able to finish his bowl of cereal. Normally, he'd be at least on his second bowl by now, but nope. Now he's gotta deal with some catastrophe on a half-empty stomach.

'Vzz-Vzz!'

"What now...?!"

'Morning Freds♡'

'Saw the news...'

Oh. It was you again. His frustration subsided for a moment, shoveling as much as he could into his mouth as he quickly sent, '🙄 so did I. Do I have to??'.

Not that he knew, but you had giggled on the other end.

Not that you knew, but upon seeing your response, he giggled, too, and the butterflies in his chest made this whole ordeal a little less miserable...

'Go save the world, Superman😘.'

This was silly, thank you sm for this lmao😭😻.

~ Star✨️

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Taglist:

@anon-2019

[vyladromeave]

all of them >:)

jkjk

17 and 27?

17. any headcanons you're attached to?

BOY DO I HAVE SOME HEADCANONS IM ATTACHED TO. First off this post is required reading. its over a year old and its all stuff i stand by pretty strongly in regards to vylad. lets just start there.

ok hmmmmmmm see now this is hard for me because you could ask me about any specific like character or location or concept within mcd and i could give you headcanons for them immediately i have too many options. here's what I'm going to do I'm going to open the aphmau wiki and randomize a page on the mcd characters section and whatever I land on is what I'm going to talk about here i go.

I GOT KENMUR OK ITS KENMUR TIME. Well first off he's bi4bi and t4t with emmalyn so jot that down. Emmalyn is more on the history and literature side of things, but Kenmur is much more on the science side, he likes reverse-engineering things and he likes understanding how things work. He doesn't usually get as visibly excited over findings as Emmalyn does, but they are still very much equal in nerdiness.

Despite him going to the Irene Dimension, we don't get a lot of his thoughts about the weird stuff that happens to/around him in canon. I think he'd be very interested in Irene's Dimension, not necessarily because it's Irene's, but because it's a weird weird place with weird rules about how you enter and leave and how time flows while you're there and that's fascinating to him. He would've loved talking about the process of Zoey's portal activation with her if she wasn't so cagey about it.

I'm not big on the whole "Sasha was his fiancee thing" but I do like the idea of them being friends :) And I ESPECIALLY like the idea of him trying to figure out how to cope with the fact that a lot of the people he knew and grew up with turned into Shadowknights. Sasha, Laurance, even Hayden's guard, these were people he knew who all just died around him, some of which becoming much worse people for it. Shadowknights are so poorly understood that nobody (not even Shadowknights!) seems to really understand how it works or why it happens, and that frustrates him deeply. I think he'd be very interested in studying Shadowknights, but also feels very weird about asking Laurance to essentially be his lab rat. So he just quietly makes notes whenever he notices something weird and moves on. World's First Shadowknight Scholar!

27. what's something really interesting that you wished canon decided to explore more? alternatively, what's something interesting that you wished the fandom acknowledged more?

this question is fun because its actually two questions in one which means i get to spend more time talking heehee. there's pleeeenty of stuff in canon, not to go Kenmur-mode but we still barely have anything on how Shadowknights actually work aside from "you died oh noooo now you have to kill someone." This is not helped by how much conflicting information we get.

We ALSO also don't get a lot on how the magicks system works??? Oh everyone has magicks but not really but also kinda but you have to find it and some abilities are passive (Kiki can talk to animals all the time) but also most are active (KC animates dolls, gets tired when she uses it too much, its a big ordeal she has to work up to) and also some are so well-documented that there are entire categories for them (WHAT THE HELL IS BARRIER MAGICKS. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THATS JUST A WELL-KNOWN THING. EVERYONE ELSE HAS UNIQUE ABILITIES AND THEN THERES JUST "BARRIER MAGICKS" WHAT DOES THIS MEAN) and also maybe magicks are passed on by blood but also maybe not and also theres WITCHES now fuck you. And they hate magicks users for noooo reason despite "magick" being incredibly poorly defined at best. What is a curse? How do potions work??? Cursed Objects???? Cursed AMULETS????? WHY????????????? At least they tried to explain things about Shadowknights, when it came to magicks they just fucking gave up. I know its like this because they just used magicks as the macguffin of the week and had no plans on actually developing how it works, but i would literally kill to see plans on how they intended for this to work.

Interesting things Fandom should acknowledge is also fun. There are many. There are so many. I think the politics side of mcd is VERY interesting and very rarely looked at by fans, which is shocking to me considering how central it is to mcd's plot. Because despite the title of "Lord" there IS no active monarchy in Ru'aun, and that's BECAUSE of Irene (which was incredibly based of her), which changes the definition of Lord entirely. ITS REALLY NEAT!! O'khasis has a council!! Who the fucks on it? I don't know!!! But they have a council!!! Isn't that exciting?? This is not a joke I mean this so genuinely. Do you ever wonder if maybe the High Priest is on that council and thats why Zane got the job. Do you ever wonder if there's a reason someone so young and literally THE SON OF THE LORD got put into a position so early? Do you think having that extra vote on Garte's side helped things crumble at a quicker rate than it had been previously?? I do. I wonder these things. And you should too. please.

And SPEAKING of Irene being incredibly based, she did in fact do some things that are incredibly based!!! I know most people like to write her as a Secretly Malevolent God™, which like fair whatever I like to give her some evils too, but I really wish people would take more of a look at what was established about her in S1. There is a reason she is worshipped so widely by the people of Ru'aun and it's because she Literally Is a hero of the people. I think people are generally blinded by how she was portrayed in MCD S3 and in Mystreet that they forget that she was a person for a very long time before she lost it. Go back and look at some of the earlier Irene lore!!! I promise its much more complex and fun than "oooo your goddess is secretly evil and was never good and there is no hope or joy in the world ooooo."

(ask prompts from here!)