#the only motivator for me is fear

[fraternum-momentum]

hguyughhghghhhhhhhhggggghhhhhghhhhuhhehghdhehgghhghdhdhhhgtydhghdhghhhhhuughghygghjy

bonus:

ik pc was wearing legwarmers in the other drawings just ignore it i got lazy

[ratboysims]

weird q but does anyone have any active sims discords they like that are open? preferably with older people like 20s-30s and sims focused!! im just so out of touch after not really playing for long and would love to have somewhere to discuss and look at other ppls stuff/get opinions on builds etc i just think that sounds neat

[demodraws0606]

Whit and Eden Accomplices Theory (or mostly just rambling about how Eden could be the culprit in a way that makes sense to me and also how Whit's strange behavior could be explained alongside it but that's a way longer title, oh wai-)

(I'm so sorry every DRDT theory I have involves Whit maybe if he was fucking normal and also not my fav character I would stop putting him in everything)

My entire mindset about theories is just throwing shit at the wall until it sticks, and it seems that this one has really stuck in my mind.

I feel like this post will be long bc there has to be a lot of explanation as to how I got to this theory.

See, I have an issue with the Eden motive from mostly a character perspective as Eden coming up on her own such a cruel method to kill Arei just does not feel in character even if she did snap. It also doesn't help that there isn't much of a motive for her. I've seen people justify but I just don't buy it and I personally just find it a bit boring. I also don't believe she would be fully distrustful of Arei unless being pushed to believe so.

However, the idea that she might have an accomplice could help that justification but it ends up creating a lot more problems. Because you'd need to find a character who would be willing to put their life on the line for seemingly no good reason. This is the issue I had with the Levi/Eden accomplice theory and now for me that theory is pretty much debunked since Levi admitting to his secret just drives more suspicion around him (it also doesn't match with his behavior in the trial, he does seem to genuinely want to help).

I can't deny that Eden definitely is the most suspicious despite me throwing Levi and even Whit under the fire purely because I just don't buy narratively that Eden murdering Arei makes sense. However undeniably, Eden could have access to both Teruko/Hu's clothes and she could've gotten hold of the tape, doesn't help that she was also quite suspicious when Teruko snuck up on her.

So I start to go back to the idea of accomplices, if it's not Levi, who could it be ?

Now before I get to Whit, I do want to propose the kind of other thought I had that didn't quite work out but also is interesting.

Eden culprit + Hu accomplice theory

Now this one is purely because of the fact that we know Hu and Eden hanged out a lot the day before the murder happened, Hu and Eden talked about the clothes as well. There's enough of a connection to make them planning a murder make sense.

However, it doesn't make sense with Hu's character so far. We do know she seems reluctant about her secret however we run into the problem that she has no reason not to just admit it on the spot when the secrets are now already revealed. It works especially not well with the fact that her whole thing is that she wants to live and blows up at David for wanting to play with the cast's lives. In fact her secret quote emphasizes how much she wants to live.

Her having also an alibi makes it impossible for her to have committed/contributed to the murder directly though if she's an accomplice that isn't much of a rebutal, it just makes it impossible for her to be anything more than just a distant accomplice.

Anyways, that really just doesnt leave us with a lot of viable accomplices to help Eden, at least not ones that would make actual sense except....

*sigh* Whit...

I would like to say this is kind of an evolution/building up of my personal theory of Whit being the culprit, as he was linked with a lot of suspicious behavior and also would be the only one with a hypothetical motivation (which in this theory there is a potential second motivation possibly here).

Now my main argument against a lot of the accomplices is the threat of death, who would willingly risk or give up their lives for someone's murder ??

The thing is...Whit already has multiple times refused to tell the truth both in the first case and second case, to the detriment of the survival of everybody. Trial 2 being the most obvious with him being reluctant about Eden's note and David's secret, if he truly continued to keep it shut he had potential to risk people's lives by leaving out information. In the first trial it's him being reluctant to divulge Charles's trauma despite it being the key reason as to why he couldn't have commited the murder.

In fact it's such an issue that Charles hands his secret to Teruko and not Whit because he can't trust Whit to divulge the secret in the class trial.

This would also give Whit a motive, his strange disposition to not unveil anyone's secret could potentially expand to him having personal motivation to not have everyone's secret revealed.

But I think the real motive lies in the strange subject of Whit's secret, his secret being thrown away by Rose without her looking at it, making it impossible for Whit to ever know what his secret was. Interestingly enough he also takes a strange amount of time to indentify that secret as his, like to a point of it no longer just being carelessness.

Therefore lies a potential motivation of him overthinking what his secret actually is. If you want more I go into Whit's potential motivation more in the Whit culprit post (specifically his strange behavior) but let's get onto other information that's smaller but works well with th

Another thing that like, while is mostly based on vibes and circumstancial evidence is still an interesting thing to think about. There's the fact that Whit and Eden were both the people chosen with Teruko and this is something I want to bring up for three reasons.

One, it is important to bring up the counter argument of "them orchestrating Arei's death would go against the body announcement rules right ?" and that is correct. However, the rule is extremely vague to an almost ridiculous degree, if Arei died of suffocation or if Whit and Eden weren't looking when she actually died would it not count as "witnessing the murder" ? In fact I believe this rule being there more so hint at it being subverted especially since we know how unreliable Mono-TV is. Also if we're going with that argument, it is interesting to also note that Eden and Whit were weirdly reluctant about Teruko going to the playground (aka Whit asking if she even really is at the playground and Eden telling Teruko to please wait when she opens the door).

Second, is Whit and Eden's closeness due to this trial, well that wouldn't be the right word, the more correct word would be proximity. Whit jumps to comfort Eden, although in a quite strange apathetic way (no whit saying "there there" doesn't count as actually emotionally being there for someone whose friend just got hanged). They both are in charge of the evidence by Teruko with Rose being grouped up as well. Whit tries to avoid the subject around the note that is incriminating to Eden. They also both "coincidentally" didn't notice Arei's swaying.

Third, more shorter and "funny" little subject would be Teruko's bad luck, especially with Min in the first trial. How unlucky would she be to have picked both of the people responsible for Arei's death. It would be an interesting running theme. However there's not much evidence behind that.

Now here are like short little bullet points that I think kinda cement my thoughts on how Whit being an accomplice can work (bc a lot of people have talked about Eden being the culprit already)

-Whit again one of the few who knows about Arei's rope, everyone could've technically gotten their hands on it but only a few would really know about the rope itself and it being taken away

-Whit is the one to question about acomplice thing and in fact actually manages to get Mono-TV to accept his criteria on who would be considered the blackened. Aka the one that was the most "active" in the crime. If Whit managed to do less than Eden this could be a potential attempt at him for the rules to be in his favor in case Eden gets found out (or vice verca, if he did most of the work he'd be the one to escape).

-I feel like Whit would be high in the spot of being able to manipulate Eden, they both have similar ideologies, plus his intuition seems to get him to read people like a book (or see the future ? were still not sure about that one chief /j). Along that it would be really funny if the Ultimate Matchmaker was the one to break down a relationship. Similar irony to the Ultimate Student killing the Ultimate Rebel.

Anyways I'm sorry about these incoherent ramblings, i'm trying to piece this whole thing together and Eden just being the culprit just doesn't sit right mainly because it feels like the story doesnt justify itself enough.

So here's some spice

By the way if Whit's motivation seems strange throughout my ramblings is mainly because I don't fully know what they are, what I was trying to get across is mostly that it wouldn't be out of character for Whit to have motivations that would lead him down to helping Eden. Unlike, say, Hu whose whole theme of being someone who probably having taken their own life before considering the secrets, has an immense determination to live.

[odetojupiter]

there’s something so heartbreaking about andrew going to the roof to remind himself how to feel. because the only feeling he can voluntarily access is fear, and that’s something he finds comfort in. you could argue the comfort stems from the reminder that is capable of feeling despite what people say - and despite his genuine apathy to most things - but what if the comfort comes from the familiarity of the feeling? it’s common for people with trauma to find comfort in anxiety-inducing environments (which is why a lot of people with ptsd enjoy horror - it creates an environment where panic can be digested and compartmentalised) - so what if he’s invoking fear in himself because he experienced so much of it in his childhood, but now it’s something he’s in control of, it’s something he dictates when and when he can feel it by choosing when or when not to go to the roof. which is something he never had as a kid - control. maybe that’s why he seems more outwardly affected by flying (though it could be that flying is WAY higher than the roof, with more chance for error) - it takes the control back out of the feeling.

and then, of course, neil goes missing. and he feels that fear deep down to his core. and the feeling washes over him so completely and suddenly and uncontrollably that for a moment he’s 12 years old again wondering if someone’s going to be going to his room at night. but no, it’s not him at risk this time, he’s feeling fear for someone else. someone out of his sight, someone he can’t get his hands on. it’s something he can’t control, again. considering that, it’s not really surprising he puts his hands on kevin when he realises kevin knows something: he’s so desperate for a way to control the situation, control his fear, that it comes out as anger against kevin.

[uncanny-tranny]

The biggest saving grace I feel I've done is to get into death positivity, to learn to appreciate death. It's definitely not going to help for many, but I have found that not stigmatizing my own interest and desire for death has greatly helped. Being able to interact with death not as a punishment, but as a way to express humanity has been truly what has made me feel more human. I no longer want to feel ashamed of this aspect of myself, and it's made me want to live. Death has done unto me life.

[sollucets]

wrote a whole long post that didn't make sense because i'm a fic writer not a meta writer and the point comes down to this: sand and ray are both Such Bad Liars

they have honest faces. nobody, in-universe or in the audience, is ever really fooled when they pretend things are other than they are.

when sand is hurt you can tell, it's in every line of his body. ray is expressive and straightforward but hides his hurt a little better, not because he's better at lying but because the hurt hardly ever goes away.

ray can see sand freezing up and looking upset when he's called a friend or not prioritized, he can see the lie, but it doesn't matter compared to what sand's actually saying and what it'll mean if it's (not) true. he's gotten a lesson recently about pushing. and sand, i think, can see ray caring but he can't imagine it could be enough, that he could matter the most or be a priority. when ray calls sand a whore it's the only lie he told that night and sand knows it

when they hurt each other sand lies and pulls away and ray can tell, and similarly ray lies and pulls away and sand can tell, and theyre stuck in limbo because of it. awful. hate it. 10000 more just like it please

[purpurussy]

.

[brown-little-robin]

my last week, a visual demonstration

[aquarian-queen]

Troy Otto in 8x07

[spider-man-2o99]

ok so apparently i can just never articulate my Deep Thoughts on purpose and can only do it by accident whilst rambling in the notes of a bookmark where the veneer of anonymity feels like a false-protective coat to hide behind, or somesuch-something like that. idk. anyways. anyways. i don't like how fucking mean-spirited across the spider-verse as a film seemingly is for literally no reason at all other than just bcuz it Could Be. y/k.

[tofixtheshadows]

GET HELP

[cloudbells]

Discovering that I'm on the radical side of loving Steve even among Steve lovers is a harrowing realization.

[idk-ilike5sos]

Halfway through, the game was paused for Mike to use the bathroom. Will expected Max to follow, keep up the act that the bathroom door was the reason they’d been inseparable all night. But, to Will’s surprise, she stayed close by his side.

With an unacknowledged tension, they stood at their respective end of the table. Meanwhile, Lucas, El, and Dustin were on the other side. A few feet away, the three laughed as they spoke over each other - heavily contrasting Will and Max hardly existing together.

Will combed a hand through his hair, wishing the stuffy air could do more for his flushed skin. As time passed, he’d adjusted better to his new-found dizzy disposition, but his hot skin was yet to go unnoticed.

As his hand dropped back by his side with a huff, Max’s elbow nudged into his ribs. He looked at her with eyebrows raised in question.

“You look awful,” Max said, in her deadpan way, “in an if-you-don’t-barf-you’ll-pass-out way.”

“Thanks,” Will scoffed.

“C’mon.” Max’s hand wrapped around his wrist and she started pulling him away from the table.

Will didn’t bother arguing or asking questions - instead, following his feet as Max guided him through the kitchen. Careful of the beer bottles and plastic cups abandoned on the floor, he watched his feet trudge through the room until Max suddenly stopped. He looked up to a door leading outside, which Max opened then continued to pull him through.

As the door closed, the music was significantly quieter, giving off the illusion of a far more contained friendly get-together. The grass, muted in the winter season, stretched to a brown waist-high fence that surrounded the area. In the back right corner, a tall tree overhung a square of the garden. The branches were all bare, and gray tinted the peeling bark while a patchwork blanket of leaves covered the ground below in shades of deathly brown. There weren’t half as many people in the garden, allowing the chance for something of privacy.

Max dragged him along the length of the wall - avoiding stretched-out legs and bodies hunched on the ground - until they reached the corner. The closest person was at least six feet away and halfway to being passed out. Will leaned against the wall, staring into the garden, and Max did the same.

At the end of the garden, some people were smoking cigarettes and, from the smell of things, weed. Just outside of the group, were various couples scattered around, making out as if there were no one else around to witness it. Leaning against the brick wall of the house were a handful of people with red faces and slow-blinking eyes - all with the same goal of sobering up. Or, at the least, not vomiting everywhere.

In his periphery, Will caught sight of two girls wandering over to the lone tree. They stumbled hand-in-hand with red solo cups sloshing by their sides. Then, grips tightened on each other as they awkwardly sat beneath the branches. Backs against the rough trunk, their shoulders pressed together - like it was natural and not something they had to second-guess - then they lifted their plastic cups and cheers-ed. A mouthful of each spilled onto their clothes, making their heads fall back with loud laughter.

In the back of Will’s mind - he pretended they were in love. Secretly together, as they used mundane acts of friendship as dates. He’d never admit it to his conscious self; he’d curse at himself for being stupid. But, in reality, it made him feel less alone.

“I see you and Mike are friends again,” Max said, her voice bordering on an accusation.

It grounded Will: shoving the garden, the two girls, beneath a blurry filter. His cheeks blushed as if Max had heard all of the thoughts playing in his mind and his heart twisted with guilt.

Weight shifted between his feet and he offered a pathetic shrug. “We never weren’t.”

The fresh air swept over his skin in the shape of a thousand prickling needles. Ice clung to his skin - to the back of his neck - as goosebumps formed and hair stood. His stomach churned as his blood turned cold, tingling up and down his limbs like nails ghosting his skin.

“Bullshit,” Max spat - Will could feel her glare.

Between the however-many beers he’d drank and the long night - long three months - he’d had, frustration oozed into his blood, and his face tensed with all the ice flooding through him. His brows twitched into a frown and his jaw set tight.

“And since when have you two been attached at the hip?” He peered through the corner of his eyes: Max’s body directed at him as she stared out of narrowed eyes.

She faltered a little. Nothing but silence attached to her tongue as she opened her mouth in search of an excuse. Her shoulders rose, eyes drifting; she might as well have held up a sign with “I’m about to lie” written on it. She seemed to understand as much, when her shoulders slumped with a huff.

Will looked away, but the blurred filter remained over his eyes like a shield. He didn’t try looking at the girls again - worried someone would notice and get the wrong idea, that he was interested in one of them. He swapped them in favor of the old, wrinkled grass in front of him.

“Look–” Max started again, her voice stern, “–I don’t know what game you think you’re playing, but Mike–”

“It’s not a game,” Will interrupted with a desperate whine in his voice, as he finally turned to Max. His eyes bat between hers for a second as she settled and waited with raised brows. His arms flailed, the whine merging with the pent-up frustration: “I get that you’re trying to help - but it’s just making it harder. If you give me five minutes to talk to him alone, all of this could be over already.”

“Why is this so important to you?” Max bit back - almost every bit as irritated as him. “Why right now?”

There was his chance. Confess. Get everything off his chest. Let Max know - let Max help.

It was perfect.

“Because–” Will started, but his voice cut off, strained. With his mouth hung open - waiting for every word hanging on the end of his tongue to fall off: to rush out of his mouth with the same urgency it had when telling Lucas - his wide, glazed eyes flickered between Max’s.

She was his friend. One of his best friends. They’d been through a hell of a lot worse together than Will confessing he liked boys. That didn’t loosen the lump clogging his throat, though.

He tried to remember the feeling he’d had earlier in the day when Lucas had brought it up as if it was nothing more than an inconvenient crush. He tried to remember that Max had grown up in California - somewhere so much more diverse - and that she’d never implied any negative connotation towards, well, people like him. He tried to remember the summer of eighty-five: how most days were just him, Max, and Lucas - getting new high scores at the arcade, or riding bikes through town.

All the while: Max waited, expectantly, but something softer suddenly hid beneath her exterior. Her eyebrows lowered, the frown a faint ghost on her features, but her lips remained pursed. Closed; shut; silent. She wasn’t going to say another thing until Will dared to finish that sentence.

But it could never, ever be so simple.

With a defeated sigh, Will’s shoulders fell as his head knocked against the wall. His teeth clamped the inside of his cheek - all the alcohol in his blood making it impossible to blink away the wet glimmer in his eyes. His tongue quickly coated his lips and he wondered if Max would let him borrow her “I’m about to lie” sign.

“Because he’s important to me.”

It wasn’t a lot - it was hardly anything - but it was something.

Max stayed quiet, her eyes boring into the side of Will’s face like laser beams.

“And–” so, Will continued with a wavering voice; an ounce of courage - but the end goal was too far out of reach: a smudge in the distance, “–I know the past few months probably doesn’t make it seem like it, but he is. I just want to fix this.”

“Well, I’m sorry–” Max replied, quiet and reluctant as she lacked the sharp teeth she’d had a moment prior, “–but he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Will nodded to himself - then let his eyes wander back over to Max as his head turned. “But we’re gonna have to eventually.”

Her face had lost the harsh creases, smooth with sorrow and pity. Her eyes met his, guilt in the twinkle of light - likely the same thing she was seeing.

“It’s not up to me,” she said with a sheepish shrug, “if he says he doesn’t want to talk about it right now, I’m gonna be there for him.”

She pushed off the wall, her gaze dropping to the ground, then she started back towards the door.

“C’mon–” she said, “–they’re probably waiting for us.”

Will got to work at blinking down the tears in his eyes as he followed.

[This is a scene from the most recent chapter of my Sober Thoughts series, continue reading through the links if you enjoyed!! <3]

[doctorweebmd]

unfortunately bungo stray dogs is the epitome of a show/story that would be so good if it was good

[nexus-nebulae]

i feel like half of my posts are just hidden from other people's dashes bc like 80% of what i post is just not seen by anyone

[fullmetall]

for y’all who aren’t familiar w fma: ed joined the military when he was like. 12 btw