#they /probably/ don't actually commit murders but they sure as hell scare the shit out of everyone involved in that

[princess-of-the-corner]

Ok, I suddenly have the image of Natsuo having to explain to Touya why their dad is almost frothing at the mouth, & wants to kill his PR team. Touya, of course, now also wants to kill Enji's PR team. Nat is trying to talk his FUGITIVE BROTHER out of it, & calls on Fuyumi. After the explanation, Fuyumi ALSO wants to murder the PR Team, so Nat calls for Shoto. "So, you want me to help them kill Dad's-" / "NO!" / "Come on, little brother! It can be a bonding experience!"

Natsuo tries to get Rei involved as a last ditch attempt and she's just like "I don't have the stomach for murder but I'm good at lying so as far as anyone asks we were having a nice and quiet family dinner at home."

Natsuo is.... conflicted because on one hand he's feeling very loved that the family is down to throw hands over him being threatened. (really hits him in the 'middle child who felt extra ignored')

On the other hand. He'd like to keep them out of jail, thank you very much.

[1moreff-creator]

DRDT - Milgram AU: T1 "Voice Reveal" Lines

Hey there! Back at it with this AU. I figured if I'm going to commit to the bit, I might as well commit fully. At the start of every Trial, Milgram gives a sneak peak at some of the lines which will appear in the VDs, combined with "glitchy" lines which relate to their murder. So I'm doing that too! Keep in mind this is not professional in the slightest, so exact wording might change between now and when I actually post the VDs. Especially since it's been a while since I rewatched DRDT so the wording could feel a bit off. Anyways, here we go!

Implied DRDT spoilers and heavy themes. Again not affiliated with either of the series

Btw I'm using crossed out text for aesthetics but there will be a transcript at the bottom if you have trouble reading that.

01- "Levi Fontana, a pleasure"

"Yes, I am a murderer"

"I can't bring myself to pretend to be sorry for what I did"

"I suppose I should watch the other prisoners to learn how normal murderers should handle themselves"

...

I know you didn't want this, but it had to be done

02- "Arturo Giles"

"Ugh. Do I really have to be judged by someone this ugly?"

"I'll have you know, I've never murdered anyone"

[Whispering] "I mean, there is... no, no, that wasn't my fault"

...

How was I meant to know?! Even if she's dead because of what I did, it's not my fault!

03- "My name is David Chiem"

"It seems there's been a mistake. But don't worry! I won't hold it against you"

"Mistakes can be corrected. It's not difficult to change, as long as you're willing to!"

"I try to be as positive as I can, since I know there's a lot of people that don't get the privilege"

...

AGH! CAN YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, YOU PIECE OF HUMAN GARBAGE?!

04- "Yo! Whit Young, nice to meet you!

"Are you really sure everyone here is a murderer?"

"That's wack"

"I don't remember doing anything suspicious! Yesterday was normal, the day before that was normal, the day before that... the day before that..."

...

My mom's really amazing! I love her a lot. I would do anything for her

05- "Tch. Ace Markey"

"You wanna fight?! Wait, fuck, you probably have weapons, don't you?! Shit, don't get any closer!"

"You think I'm a murderer?! Horseshit!"

"Get off your fucking high horse!"

...

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, shit shit shit, FUCK!

06- "Uhm... Nico... Hakobyan"

"I'm- I'm really sorry!"

"You're pretty weird"

"Ah! I'm sorry! Don't get mad at me!"

...

Why should I own up for the mistakes that someone else made?!

07- "J Moreno"

"What do you people really want? Ransom money? There's no way you're doing this just because you want to 'judge our sins' or whatever bullshit you're saying"

"Don't make me laugh. Find evidence I killed anyone, and then we can talk about murder"

"Do you really think you're going to understand everything I've been through, just with a silly little song? How arrogant are you?!"

...

What happened to her was nothing short of a tragedy. Sorry, but I will make no further comment

08- "Mmmm... Rose Lacroix"

"zzzzz"

"Ah, yeah. I killed someone"

"This really isn't that bad. At least I can paint here"

...

I wonder if I can be happy now

09- "H-Hu Jing"

"I know what I did was unforgivable..."

"I really am selfish... I'm scared of receiving the punishment I deserve"

"Please Forgive me!"

...

Wake up! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

10- "My name is Veronika Grebenshchikova!"

"If you don't mind, can you choose not to Forgive me?"

"Death sounds boring. I'd rather stay alive if you don't mind!"

"To Forgive what I did... it would be denying everything I believe about my life..."

...

[Cackling laughter, which trails off with a wheeze] I really am a monster...

11- "Arei Naegishi!"

"Pfft! God, you're pathetic!"

"Why the hell are we even here? How could anyone be stupid enough to do anything but Forgive me?"

"Are you really that much of an idiot?!"

...

WHO'S THE WEAK ONE NOW, HUH?!

12- "Uhm... Eden Tobisa..."

"Even when things are looking down, we just have to try our best, and trust each other!"

"I... I never wanted anyone to die!"

"Es... why are you doing this?"

...

Wh- What have you done?!

13- "Min Jeung"

"This is ludicrous. How are we meant to expect a fair judgement when your 'justice' is determind by one person's whims and biases?"

"When an institution is non-functional, it is highly illogical to indiscriminately tear it down. Improving the basis already in place is by far the most constructive way to conduct progress"

"There is no country in the world where I would be judged a murderer. To say one single prison has the authority to decide that I am is a flagrant display of vanity"

...

The condition has been met. There is no need for further intervention

14- "Alexander Matthews. Just call me Xander"

"Don't you see how broken this entire system is?! What makes you think you hold a monopoly over morality, huh?! What gives you the right to Forgive or Not Forgive?!"

"When something is rotten, you throw it away. It's the same with this twisted place!"

"...Warden?"

...

Ah... haha... I did it... You all can finally rest

15- "Charles Cuevas"

"I was hoping the Warden would be competent, at least, but clearly I was a fool to think that could ever be the case"

"Are you stupid?!"

"Warden... Es... I have a request"

...

Hgk...- Ack! ... Kch[sharp inhale]

16- "Teruko Tawaki"

"Are you okay?"

"You don't need to know anything about my crimes. I'm unforgivable. That's all you need, right?"

"If you can find a way to do it... Just kill me"

...

... [sigh] Why did I ever get my hopes up?

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

And there we go! Hope they weren't too ooc! Keep in mind different backstories could lead to slightly different personalities; this AU is canon-adjacent, not really canon-compliant. Levi's first trial is coming soon! Hope you enjoyed!

Huh? Secret message? Whatever are you talking about?

Here's the transcript of the glitchy lines:

01 - Levi: I know you didn't want this, but it had to be done

02 - Arturo: How was I meant to know?! Even if she's dead because of what I did, it's not my fault!

03 - David: AGH! CAN YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, YOU PIECE OF HUMAN GARBAGE?!

04 - Whit: My mom's really amazing! I love her a lot. I would do anything for her

05 - Ace: Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, shit shit shit, FUCK!

06 - Nico: Why should I own up for the mistakes that someone else made?!

(Yes it's just the secret quote on their page sue me it's a cool line)

07 - J: What happened to her was nothing short of a tragedy. Sorry, but I will make no further comment

08 - Rose: I wonder if I can be happy now

09 - Hu: Wake up! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

10 - Veronika: [Cackling laughter, which trails off with a wheeze] I really am a monster...

11 - Arei: WHO'S THE WEAK ONE NOW, HUH?!

12 - Eden: Wh- What have you done?!

13 - Min: The condition has been met. There is no need for further intervention

14 - Xander: Ah... haha... I did it... You all can finally rest...

15 - Charles: Hgk... Ack! ... Kch[sharp inhale]

16 - Teruko: ... [sigh] Why did I ever get my hopes up?

[pippin-katz]

Reference To Heathers In Dead Boy Detectives

I was going through some of my notebooks and journals yesterday, and I found a composition notebook I got from a concert-style performance of Heathers: The Musical. It has yellow typewriter-style stickers on it that says the very first line of the show.

"September 1st, 1989: Dear Diary..."

My brain buffered so hard I gasped out loud. Obviously, that's the same year Charles died. At first, I was like, "Oh that's a cool coincidence!"

But then my brain went deeper, because I have seen and reblogged a piece of fanart of the Dead Boys with a caption referencing a quote from the film that was turned into a musical number: "I love my dead, gay son."

For those who are confused as hell, probably cause you're unfamiliar with the film/show, this is when I started to think it might not be a coincidence, and I'll explain why!

Brad & Hunter = Ram & Kurt

Anyone who knows Heathers is probably starting to be like, "OMG that's a great comparison!" But I'm not sure if this is just a comparison, or actually a hidden reference to Heathers.

⚠️ Warning! ⚠️ Heathers is a black comedy, also referred to as a dark comedy or morbid humor, meaning it makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. TW: suicide, murder, attempted nonconsensual sex, homophobia Short Synopsis of Heathers: Veronica tries to join a toxic clique of three girls named Heather who rule high school. A new bad boy named Jason Dean, JD for short, arrives at the school. The two of them develop a relationship that leads to the murders and coverups of several of their incredibly toxic classmates.

(For those who want more specifics, to better understand the movie, keep reading. For those who don't need or want to read it, skip down to where the text turns back to the end of the parathesis and the text goes back to normal size.

Veronica was a nobody, but is gradually being inducted into the Heathers group. There are three Heathers: Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, and Heather McNamara. Veronica is an excellent forger, able to replicate hand writing. JD is new to school and gets sought out at lunch by the two biggest jocks, Ram and Kurt. They try to intimidate him, but it backfires because he pulls out a handgun. He shoots at them with blank bullets, scaring the shit out of them.

JD is a deeply traumatized and troubled person due to his shitty father, and the fact that his mother committed suicide in front of him when he was a kid by entering a building she knew was about to be demolished by her husband's construction company. His view on humanity is skewed and grim, and he can get violent when provoked or angered. He believes in extreme action to a sociopathic level, in this case, removing the problematic people who are the root of the toxicity in order to make a happier society.

Veronica and JD get into a relationship after she fights with Heather Chandler at a party. They go over to her house in the morning to suck up to her, but it ends in her death (will be explained). To cover it up, Veronica forges a suicide note.

JD sees it as a win, because with her gone and the contents of her fake suicide note, everyone is starting to be nicer to each other and be more open about their feelings. Veronica is torn up because she accidentally killed her "best friend" and "worst enemy", and also sees JD's point.

It spirals from there, but that should be enough specifics of the plot and characters for you to understand the rest of the essay better, at least in the sense of the tone of the film.)

Heather Chandler, the first victim, was killed because Veronica accidentally gave her toxic sink cleaner JD had joked about giving her instead of the hangover cure they're concocting. They stage it as a suicide so they don't get in trouble, but Veronica is a bit shaken, obviously. It was an accident, at least for her; JD saw her pick up the wrong mug and chose not to tell her.

The next victim, or victims, is a pair of jocks who are the coolest guys on the football team, Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly. They sexually assault Veronica (unsuccessfully), lie about it to the school newspaper, claiming they had a threesome to humiliate her. She's upset, JD is furious, and they are the most toxic guys in the school. JD comes up with the idea to "prank" them; they'll "shoot" them and make it look like a gay suicide pact with a note and stereotypical gay items, humiliating them when they wake up. This is the '80s, so homophobia was super common.

Veronica thinks they're going to use fake bullets on them, but JD obviously lies and puts real bullets in the guns. They do the "prank", JD kills Ram, but Veronica misses Kurt. She's laughing because they scared the shit out of them, but JD chases him down to finish the job. She realizes Ram is not unconscious, but dead, and JD kills Kurt as well. They stage it as a gay suicide pact in order not to get caught, again.

A funeral is held for the two boys, and in the film, one of their father's goes up to the casket and tearfully declares he's not going to be homophobic anymore, ending with the line: "I love my dead, gay son."

A line so iconic that it got an entire musical number in the musical adaptation, with the line being the title and part of the chorus. It is absolutely hilarious.

Now, let's break that down into a simplified list:

two jocks who the coolest members on their team

said jocks have a reputation of mistreating girls

said mistreatment of girls leads to their murder

said murder is covered up by making it look like something self-induced

said murder is also committed unintentionally with the goal simply to make them unconscious

The fifth episode of Dead Boy Detectives is the same thing in a different font! Brad and Hunter were to two most popular jocks, on the baseball team rather than football team. They treated girls horribly, something Ram and Kurt were also notorious for. It's because of the way they treated Maren that they end up being killed, just like Ram and Kurt's treatment of Veronica is the cause for their deaths. Both of the murders are made to look self-induced, an intentional suicide pact for Ram and Kurt, and an accidental alcohol poisoning for Brad and Hunter. Both murders are also not intended to be murders by the girls behind them; Veronica and Maren both believe that they will only be knocking them out, not killing them.

That is a lot of specific parallels!

But what makes me even more suspicious of it being intentional is the fact that Twitchy Richie literally says, "But I also heard they died in a secret gay suicide pact."

Back in the '80s? Unfortunately somewhat common, that's why they used in Heathers. It was made in the '80s and takes place in the '80s. Veronica and JD used it because it was easy to believe, and unlikely to draw suspicion. Back then, if something looked like a suicide, complete with a forged note, props, and whatnot, they tended not to bother investigating further; that's especially believable for a gay suicide since homophobia was so high.

Now? Definitely wouldn't be one of the first explanations you would think of. If a pair of guys died in a car accident, or surfing, or an activity they are doing together, and they did not have any indicators of it being suicide and/or queer (straight dudes Brad and Hunter's alcohol poisoning), I'm pretty sure "secret gay suicide pact" would not come up in the conversation by anyone other than conspiracy theorists, or dickheads like Richie. Crystal even refers to him bringing it up and making the "giving each other hand jobs" comment as him making "gay jokes". It's not even remotely considered to be an actual theory. He said it just to be an asshole.

There's also a small correlation that the only other victim in Heathers is Heather Chandler. Of the three victims, she's the only girl, and she also "commits suicide", at least in the eyes of the public. There is a third death relating to Brad and Hunter's case: Shelby. She's the singular female victim who actually commits suicide.

That is just too many similarities and parallels for it to be a coincidence, right? This all has to be an intentional nod to Heathers, right??

(ko-fi)

[pvrkacciosan]

The Trouble of Eight

❈Through HELL or HIGHWATERS Masterlist

Taglist: (if you wish to be added or removed just ask)

Word count: 4.3K

I wasn't sure how appreciative the young Pirate would be if he woke up being dragged by a girl to some random shack, but I don't think he had the right to complain. I was trying to save his ass from being thrown in jail for murder or some other crime which he has probably committed at least once in his.....line of work.

I struggle with my grip on his shirt, my fingers still shaking from what I had just witnessed. Every time I blinked I saw the image of the guy being impaled by the Pirate's thin blade, which I had left in the alley way. If I was bringing this Pirate back to my home, he was going to be unarmed. That may be another thing he may be unappreciative of, but he can kiss my ass.

If he is lucky it may still be there when he goes looking for it. If he isn't dead by then, I'm not quite sure how much he has bled yet, but I'm too scared to cast my eyes up to check. Digging my heels into the dirt I continue to drag the boy's weight up the hill. I have already contemplated leaving him in the open, but then Shiber appears and starts wagging his tail once more, and I crumble.

Every muscle in my legs burns as I drag twice my body weight along the floor. I would love to think I wouldn't have any problem with lifting a weight like this, but dead weight was something different entirely. I had at first tried picking him up, but my height and weight ratio to his meant I was unable to stand for very long and I fell right onto his chest. So dragging him was my only option.

I draw my attention behind me, trying to see how far my home is. I want to cry when I look at the distance. It looks like miles when in fact it's actually only around fifteen steps. Buckling the weight through my thighs I heaved the extra weight along with me.

I nearly collapse when I bump into the door, a desperate cry of happiness wants to flow from me by quickly cutting it off, my task isn't over yet.

Letting my grip on the guy go, I turned to my home, swinging the door open wide, Shiber jumped over the man and into the house, the way I wanted to curse him so badly right now.

Resuming my grip on the man's shirt I began to drag him into the building, towards the kitchen when I could lay him on the low rise table, it would be much easier to get him on there, then anywhere else.

I stepped onto the small table when I reached it, praying it wouldn’t collapse under the weight of me standing on it. Using my slightly higher vantage point, I drag the guy up onto the table.

I let go and stepped off, taking a second to look down at the male once more, it wasn't often I was around guys, much less those my age. I couldn't help but want to admire him a little bit, purely because it was such a strange concept to me, having a boy in my house, not just any boy but a Pirate.

Akio was going to flip his shit.

I step away when he groans, his face scrunched into a frown that could only be because of his injuries, I spin to go look for all I would need.

Grabbing medical supplies and a glass of water I walk back over to his figure laid sprawled on the table. This should be easy. I just had to find the wound first.

My hand hovers above his chest for a while, each second it grows closer as he breathes in and out. I don't know what to do with my hand, hesitation flickers through my thoughts, was this the right thing to do?

He groaned again and I fell backwards onto my feet, he sounded like he was in pain. Panic shot through me, I knew he was a Pirate, but I had to force that knowledge to the back of my mind.

Moving his shirt from his chest I began to search for the wound, there was bruising forming around his right shoulder, traces of blood dotting the skin, he must be bleeding from his back, possibly the back of his shoulder.

I turn to my equipment, staring at the bandages for a second or two, I push them away reaching for the water. The glass is cold beneath my fingertips and an unsteady breath leaves my lips.

The man was slowly losing colour in his cheeks, it was now or never.

I shuffled closer to the table on my knees, extending out one hand, holding it with my palm facing the ceiling. I pour the water out over the top of it, fascinated by how the liquid floats in the air just above my hand.

As I turn my hand so my palm is facing his chest, the water moves with it, now suspended above the boy I close my eyes.

The water begins to trickle down onto the Pirate's skin, seeping into it. Slowly the bruising started to go down and the bleeding stopped.

I sighed when I opened my eyes, grabbing hold of the cloth, I started to wrap his shoulder up.

✥﹤┈┈┈┈❈┈┈┈┈﹥✥

Tightening my grip around the small hand gun at my side I walk through the street following the others as we search for our missing friends. He had been sent from our ship to search for the slaver we had been hunting for over a month now. I couldn't remember the man's name, but he had a pretty price on his head and that was enough to capture our attention almost instantly.

Our Captain, Kim Hongjoong had contacts that could get us our prize as soon as we brought him in. The only thing was, we were having trouble actually bringing this guy in, we ourselves couldn't hand the slaver over because, we, without a doubt also had prices on each of our heads.

When Hongjoong began to grow worried after our missing member didn't return, empty handed or not, he sent me and a couple others to look for him.

I could see Yeosang, the medic of our crew, out of my peripheral vision. He was amongst the shops searching for any sign of our missing crew member or the Slaver, while I looked out in the middle of the street. There was one other, someone else out with us, but I knew he was staying hidden, that was his job of course. He stayed out of sight and only if he was needed would he appear, he was always exceptionally good at hiding and sneaking around.

There was no doubt in my mind that San was hiding somewhere, watching us as we moved around searching for our missing friend.

Yeosang emerges from yet another small store, sending me a subtle shake of his head we moved forward, I stepped out the way of some elderly people who side eyed me as they passed, I ignored the look of course, small towns like Zydari were not used to visitors, especially ones dressed like ourselves.

I walk down a side alley, eyes darting back and forth across the way. Dark walls, grim floor and the pile of broken up planks of wood. Yet again there was nothing for us here.

I was turning to leave when my eyes caught onto something hidden behind the pile of smashed wood.

I look back to the entrance of the alley to find Yeosang standing with his back to me, keeping an eye out at the street, I turn my gaze back to the pile of broken materials walking over in its direction I crouch, moving some of the rubble with my hands. A sigh of relief and worry leaves me as I stare down to the cutlass laying covered in blood, on the ground under split planks of woods.

There's a thump behind me, and I don't need to turn to know San is standing there.

"It's his isn't it?"

I grab hold of the weapon, holding the handle up to eye level, the carved initials, J.WY, Staring back at me.

I blink

Once,

Twice,

before nodding.

"Yeah, it's his" I confirm into the air

The third presence joins us, "Seonghwa" Yeosang starts "We need to get Hongjoong"

"San?"

I need not to say more, because he has already gone.

✥﹤┈┈┈┈❈┈┈┈┈﹥✥

From my room at the back of the house I watch the Pirate still laid upon the table. His chest moves steadily up and down. Even from my distance away I can begin to see the colour beginning to return into his cheeks.

Hand moving in my lap, picking away at the loose skin around my nails on worry. Perhaps I had made a mistake bringing the Pirate back to my home. What if he attacked me?

I couldn't help but think those things, I huff as I spring myself off the bed. Something in me was drawn across to the young Pirate. An inkling, a tug, like rope tied around my waist pulling me in. Within second, That weren't even registered, I was standing above the male. There was no part of me that would, or could deny, he was good looking.

I'm breathing and walking around the room again, pacing back and forth. Shiber sticks his head up, watching with wide eyes, trying to decipher my ragged emotions. The canine gathers himself up, trotting across the room, the light tapping of his claws scratching the wood, he picks something up from the table. Carrying it, he stopped at my feet, his golden body pressing into my lower leg. The stubby tail on his butt shaking and controlling the movement of his entire lower half.

I downcast my eyes in the ball of fur's direction, his own eyes beaming up at me, a rough stretch of a smile pulling his cheek muscles tight, with his teeth holding something between them, Crouching I wrap my fingers around the small gold pendant. Shiber releases it upon my command, I rise back to my feet, rubbing the pendant in between the pads of my fingers.

I trace the whole thing,

Once around the pendants gold circles brim,

Over the thick skull,

The expanse of the blade and the roses.

I sigh, following my finger's previous route a couple times over. The man's reaction had stunned me at first, Akio had told me never to lose it and I had done well to honor that promise so far, I would be damned it I was going to let some random person snatch it from around my neck, Only for them to sell it in some dusty trade shop, Akio told me our mother had given it to me when I was younger, he had been keeping it for safekeeping until we moved and settled in Zydari.

Gripping the pendant with a knuckle whitening effect I take the black string between my fingertips and pull it back over my head, pressing my hand over it as it layed to my chest. The coolness had goosebumps erupting up, like mini volcanoes around my skin.

The soft snores of the boy lying unconscious quicken from behind me, and my spine stiffens so quickly I'm unsure if I can even move again. A feeling of ice slithered through me, chasing away the goosebumps. I pivot, slowly.

Some part of me was anticipating him being awake, but his eyelashes were still in contact with the skin on his cheek bones, sealing his vision. I breathe, One second, two second, three second, nothing.

He is still out cold. I found myself worrying,what if he didn't wake up. I wanted to at least have a conversation with him, there was some niggle in the back of my mind that was telling me Pirates were not as bad as I thought them to be, but the heavier breaths labouring out of him were dwindling my chances of that hope. This was definitely very peculiar of me, standing close to a Pirate of all people, it was quickly becoming apparent that I had absolutely no Idea what to do if this guy didn't wake up.

✥﹤┈┈┈┈❈┈┈┈┈﹥✥

"Seonghwa!"─ "Seonghwa!"

I turn over my shoulder to catch the gaze of my Captain and best friend, as he calls out to me. He strides down the alleyway with Yunho and Mingi flanking his sides, making his already small height all the more prominent. A tight lip smirk pulls across my lips at the sight.

He halts at my side, the two giants beside him looking at something behind me, most likely San. I hadn't heard the younger boy land or appear behind me, the knowledge of that was spine chilling.

I direct my focus back to my Captain. Hongjoong's narrowed eyes scan the alleyway, the expression on his face is one I remember well, because it was the same one I wore while examining this alleyway. His gaze fixated on a body that stood across from him, Looking out the corner of my eye I caught the built statue of Yeosang standing with Wooyoung's cutlass in hand, holding it by the hilt the tip scratches the grim from the floor.

I catch the look of Yunho, the ship's Sailing master, he rubs at the skin on his chin, while he too watches Hongjoong's movements towards the medic. The air around the crew grew tight with tension, like an elastic band coiling in resistance to snap.

The involuntary movement of tilting my head back as Hongjoong passed, didn't go unnoticed by the Captain. The putrid smell of dried sea salt and god only knows what else clung to the clothes Hongjoong wore. The tiny Captain's pinched gaze drifted in my direction, Meeting my eyes.

"Something the matter, Seonghwa?"

I diligently shake my head, moving upon instinct, Mingi shifts uncomfortably from behind Hongjoong.

"Just acknowledging it has been a while since we've been on land" I remove my eyes from his, smirking, knowing very well it would irritate the smaller man.

"Are you trying to tell me I stink Seonghwa?"

I chuckle, meeting the softening eyes of my best friend, "Of course not, Sir'' I place a hand on my chest, when I hear the light hearted laughter coming from Hongjoong.

"Hope you know you smell just as bad," he turned to continue his course towards Yeosang, "And stop calling me Sir, you guys know I hate it"

I bow dramatically forward, hand held at my waist, "I'm terribly sorry, " I wait for Hongjoong to turn around once more, "-Sir '' the look I'm sent over his shoulder makes a joyous laugh escape my lips once more.

A rock skiffs past my ear and I spin to catch the image of San, sat utop a barrel, one leg hanging off, leant back for balance, clasping a couple pebbles between his finger tips, rolling them from pad to pad.

"I hope we're remembering Wooyoung is currently no where to be found"

I can tell he isn't really mad at us, he is just worried for his friend, we all were but if there was one thing we all knew about Wooyoung, was that he could talk his way out of anything. The only concerning thing about our current situation was that his cutlass was left behind. It was very unlike him.

"Well feel free to go searching" Yeosang quipped, eyeing San from across the alley as he passed Wooyoung's blade off to Hongjoong.

The dark haired boy huffed, stepping up onto the barrel, we watched as he effortlessly grabbed hold of a bar suspended between the two buildings on either side of the wall.

He made little to no sound, which still baffles me. While he swings his legs and lower half up, landing on the roof of the building he down casts us all a quick glance before disappearing within a blink of the eye. It was like he was never there in the first place, not a single trace left behind.

Hongjoong passes Wooyoung beloved cutlass to Yeosang as he turns to inspect the alleyway, I quickly follow suit, Walking to the pile of disassembled wooden planks I crouch to take in the damage.

Something heavy had definitely landed on top of these, the wood's edges were sharp to the point, I avoided the risk of splinters at all costs. Retracting my hand I lean back my weight on my heels, the noise of the others moving around behind me met my ears.

Kicking the slabs of wood with my booted foot, I squint down at a sight I most definitely had not been expecting. Spots of blood, splattered around the underside of the wood, dark and thick.

It trails off, moving aside a few more planks I follow the make swift 'bread crumb trail' sensing someone watching me, I cast my eyes back to catch Mingi's gaze, he has followed me down the alleyway

"Guys" I trail off, keeping my gaze fixated on the blood. "We might have a problem"

If Wooyoung is injured and bleeding out, we may not get to him in time, the possibility of any of us dying had my gut twisting inside me. It made me want to hunch over in pain.

A hand clasped my elbow tethering me to reality and away from my sickening thoughts, I'm deeply thankful for it, glancing to my right I see Hongjoong's narrowed eyes inspecting the wine coloured essence of Wooyoung's DNA.

"This is not good"

He offered to the silence of the darkening alleyway.

My eye drift to the street the trail leads out onto it,

"Well done for figuring that one out" Yeosang sniped, a hint of amusement triggering through his voice, I scowled over my shoulder at him.

"Your best friend is currently missing, possibly bleeding to death, now is not the time to try and be sarcastic Yeosang"

The medic huffed, sucking on the inside of his lip, while he visibly thought up a reply. I tried to feign my annoyance with him, worry was beginning to set in me. I hated the mere thought of losing one of our crew members, it just wouldn't be the same on the ship.

"Well, it is Wooyoung, he probably just chatted up some girl and she stabbed him or something" Yeosang shrugged

"Are you hearing yourself, look around Yeosang," raising a hand I point out onto a street "does this look like the sort of place that has girls around our age living here? they're all old!"

An elderly couple walking past the entrance way glowered towards me, scowls of disgust prevalent on their wriggled ashen faces.

Whoops.

I winced, waving them off with a closed lip smile, the elderly man huffed, pulling his presumed wife with him along the path and away from our view, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I don't think they liked that," Mingi added from somewhere behind me while Yeosang attempted─ and failed─ to hide his snigger, if the space in front of me was alive it would surely be laughing at my dead panned expression I saw sending it's way.

"Shut up Mingi"

I spot San as he stalks back towards us once more, none of us had shown much reaction to his sudden arrival, having grown used to San disappearing and reappearing. He crouches down next to the red trail,

"We should follow it"

"I thought that's what we were already going to do" Yeosang spoke walking towards the street,

"Can you stop with the sarcastic remarks?"

Yeosang throws his arms up for dramatic effect, we all follow out onto the street that seems to now have double the amount of people waltzing around.

"Well if you guys stopped with the stupid statement, then I would have nothing to comment on, You all make it so easy"

I don't even dignifie his words with an answer as we all make our way through the few streets, following the trail all the way to the outskirts of Zydari.

"There is no way he walked all the way out here" Yunho commented as we ventured up a incline, "Wooyoung complains when we make him walk around Syreni, and he loves it there!"

"I have to agree with Yunho, It's very unlike him"

My shins begin to burn as we continue up over the hill, keeping a close eye on the blood which only seems to become more and more clear, he was bleeding more here then he was in the alleyway. He must of by this point lost a decent amount of blood. I try to divert my mind from thinking about the worst possible outcome.

"Do you think someone dragged him?" Mingi offered the conversation, from somewhere at the back of the group. I continued to haul myself up the hill, if someone had dragged him up here they would have definitely had to be strong, there is not a chance anyone without muscle could drag a dead weight up this hill. I voice my exact thoughts to the group.

"So does that rule out the idea of him talking to a girl then?"

"Not entirely, Some girls-"

"No girl could drag Wooyoung up this hill" Yeosang cut in, I glance up the hill in his direction as he stops at the top of the hill, "I think I know where he is"

He doesn't offer us much more than that, waiting for us to all reach the top. I feel as though I can finally breathe again once I'm settled at the peak. We are all now looking down at a small house, if you could even call it that. The roof of the building had begun to wither away by weathering and most of the walls looked as though they were in their last lives. But, nonetheless the trail of blood led straight into the front door.

"San '' Hongjoong spoke, casting the younger man a look which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of us, San nodded in understanding before running off quickly in the direction of the structure.

It didn't take him long to disappear and reappear once more, signally for us to follow him down. We didn't all go at once though, that would be poor planning, for we didn't actually know who was in the building with Wooyoung, the person might kill him if they saw us coming towards them. We needed to be careful and tread lightly.

Yunho, Mingi ran first, dropping down next to San.The trio huddled under a window. Hongjoong turned to me,

“You go last?”

Nodding, I watched on as he and Yeosang followed suit. They slide into place next to the others and I wait for one of them to signal me over. My descent down the hillside towards the small house started after Mingi waved me down, the air rushed passed and popped my ears, trying to keep my balance as the ground became leveled out suddenly. I almost fell to my knees but just managed to stay standing.

"He is in there" San whispered, "I can't see anyone else in there with him though."

"So can we just go through the front door?" Mingi questioned, Hongjoong slapped his hand against his own forehead. I tried to hide my amusement, over three years together and it still felt like some of us learnt nothing from Hongjoong.

"I sometime seriously question why I'm Captain sometimes"

"Cause you get things done" spoke Yunho

"Your scary when mad" said Mingi

"Cause we love making fun of you" suggested Yeosang

"You like yelling at us?" asked San

"I don't want to do it" I added lastely, earning myself a pointed scowl from Hongjoong, I smile in a return gesture.

"That was a rhetorical statement" Hongjoong remarked, "─We know" Yunho and Mingi spoke in unison. Hongjoong sighed, shaking his head he looked down, "Okay let's do this, Yeosang, you and San go around the back see if you can find another way in, the rest of us will go through the front door"

"So we CAN go through the front door" Mingi declared loudly. We are going to get ourselves caught if we're not careful. The wooden walls of the house creaked as the wind rattled around it, I pushed my palm against it to steady the structure.

"Lets go" upon our Captains command we move on instinct. Pulling the blunderbuss pistol from my hip I held it at my side, readying myself for anything that could come after us.

Once positioned at the already half battered door we wait for Hongjoong's word, Yunho shoulder barges the door and suddenly I'm not entirely sure that was the right thing to do as the building groans in protest, I'm convinced it may collapse over our heads if we enter but we have a job to do and a Wooyoung to retrieve, so before I have time to listen to the warning coming from the structure, were already inside the building.

"What the fuck?" a female's voice yells out as she comes running around a corner to be met with the barrel of Hongjoong's pistol, she raises her hands up to the sides of her head. "You've got to be shitting me" she breathed, crystal blue eyes rolling from within their sockets.

I frown at Yunho quickly before he moves to make room for Mingi, the other boy’s face lighting up at the sight of the girl.

"Oh my lord, Guys it's a girl!" He points a cutlass at her. I jump but watch in sudden interest when she doesn't even flinch as the blade stops millimeters from her face, she doesn't even blink.

"Mingi-" Hongjoong warned over his shoulder

A small gasp came from Mingi once more as he spun to look at me, "And Seonghwa, Look" he spun back around to her again, "She is our age"

We all yelled out our replies in unison, all of us having the exact same idea of a phrase in our mind, one commonly used, very frequently

"SHUT UP MINGI"

❈Next Part

[alo-piss-trancy]

if you don't mind sharing, what are your opinions on the ud/g characters so far? id love to hear your thoughts on them :3

Yeah, I'd be happy to talk about my thoughts so far! :D Altho fyi I'm still on the 2nd chapter and I'm playing pretty slowly/taking my time with it, so I haven't met a ton of characters yet. I'm trying really hard to find all the collectables/win the arcade challenges and stuff so I'm going at a snail pace lol. It's been an absolute blast though!

BIG SPOILERS FOR U/LTRA D/ESPAIR G/IRLS (AND OTHER GAMES) BELOW!!!

K/omaru's kinda different than I expected her to be tbh but I do love what they did with her! I kind of had it in my head that she'd be more upbeat/heroic and like, stronger/more of a fighter than M/akoto, so to find out she's actually even quicker to give up/very defeatist was a bit of a shock lol. But I do really like it, both for development purposes as the game goes on and also bc she IS what a normal person in that world would be, depressed and scared shitless, panicky even with a weapon, relies a lot of T/ouko. Having the sister of the Ultimate Hope be... not Despair, but just a little less confident like that is very nice thematically. I love her banter with T/ouko a lot, they're funny af together. Not sure if I really ship them? They might be cute but also T/ouko is so 200% devoted to Master B/yakuya that even my multishipper butt has trouble separating them at all lmao. One-sided crush from K/omaru's side would be pretty sweet tho 💛

I don't trust M/onaca. Not even bc she's named M/onaca or bc of her creepy hollow gaze or overly uvu nice routine, but bc she has green hair. In my experience you NEVER trust an anime bitch with the cutesy green hair and golden/green eyes combo. They will be evil, or at least a bit unhinged every time istg. This bitch be plottin 🙃 That said, I'll admit her design is cute af, very aesthetic 💚 and I'm very interested in her development as a character. Her and the blue boi are cute although I'm positive she's going to betray his ass immediately when the moment comes. There is no love in her soulless little eyes and I fear for him

J/ataro (I think that's his name? The art mask boi) is my favourite Warrior of Hope!!! I mean, I'm like 80% sure his mask is made of human skin and I know he's committed many, MANY atrocities (that dancing puppet diorama of adult corpses was... something lmao), but ALSO... he's very polite, easily the nicest of the Delightful Children 2.0. He fixed their air conditioners and chairs and stuff and he's a good boi deep down kind of. Minus the murder I mean. And he has floppy sleeves and likes crafts and the fact that he literally wants ppl to hate him and doesn't think he's worthy of love slaughters my feelings 😭 He's like G/undham but EVEN SADDER and therefore he will be my favourite no matter what awful shit he's guaranteed to pull in the future akdkfk. I'm terrified bc I know in my gut I'll probably be responsible for his suffering if each boss battle is like the red-haired kid's and I'M NOT READY TO DO THAT TO HIM HHHH. I desperately want one of the other gremlin kids to be his friend (maybe the pink or blue one???) PLEASE JUST LET ONE BE NICE TO HIM. LET HIM BE HAPPY. I KNOW IT WON'T HAPPEN SO I MIGHT HAVE TO MAKE FLUFF AUS OR SMTH 💔

I... don't remember anyone else's names yet and I can't google bc spoiler potential RIP. So uhhh:

Pink girl: 20/10 design, kinda trash personality but she's also fun lol. Seems to like animals which is a plus. Is mean to craft boi, which is a minus. She's like if G/undham, S/onia, J/unko, and H/iyoko were blended into one evil little gremlin which I find pretty funny. I love that she's the fighter and I look forward to seeing what devastation she'll wreak 👿 She and M/onaca would be cute tbh (but again, I'm sure M/onaca will Ruin Her. Plz run pink child your devotion is going to be for naught c':)

Blue boy: He's a cute, composed boi and I feel bad for him lol. You just know he's going to absolutely snap towards the end. He seems like the smartest and most likely to succeed, which means he's gonna get screwed over big time. I like that he kind of babysits the other gremlins. RIP his crush on M/onaca, he's gonna get his heart broken. Also watching him talk shit to N/agito gives me such life y'all don't even know lmao. Those milkshakes were garbage and he should feel bad.

Red boy: Kinda annoying AF to me personally, but I do feel horrible for him. The scene where he's so desperate to stop his hand from shaking that he bashes it until he breaks it while K/omaru was begging and crying for him to stop was hard af to sit through, GOD. Everything about that scene was just hhhhh

I'm legit so scared to see these other kids break down after that, like goddamn... I don't wanna know what they've been through but also I do ajdjglk. Damn these game creators snipping my heartstrings, I just wanted to make robot bears dance dude 😭

Other chars:

S/hirokuma: predictably, Absolute Baby, 20/10, I will love and cherish him forever 💛💛💛 HE'S SO CUTE HHHH I ADORE HIM 😻 Even if he turns out to be evil or makes me mega sad ajdjgkhl I don't entirely trust him but I also don't NOT trust him???? Let's face it this game's gonna flip one over on me regardless of what I try to predict bc they love their plot twists and betrayals so I'm just chillin for the ride lmao

Y/uta: Not 100% convinced he's dead ngl but also... I wouldn't be that upset if he was tbh. Maybe bc I just like the angst of M/akoto getting his sister back and to have a potential wife in K/yoko in the end while A/oi lost her own wife and brother thru all of this hell 🙃 He seemed nice enough, the part where he mimicked writing names in hands bc u know he probs learned that from A/oi made me wanna cry 😭

ALSO I JUST MET WHO I THINK IS H/AGAKURE'S MOM AND HHHHH 😍😍😍 She's so pretty and her voice is 20/10 but I'm terrified she's either gonna turn out to betray me OR even worse she's gonna get killed bc I gave her the hit lists before I saved akdhkgl TOO LATE NOW THO AND I REFUSE TO LOOK IT UP SO I'M JUST GONNA HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT IF/WHEN IT COMES

That's all I can think of to say so far ajfkjk, hopefully it's coherent c': I'm thoroughly enjoying the game and it's variety of chars, tbh I think I actually might like it a little more than the 'main' ones :0c Mostly bc it touches on a lot of the stuff I liked about the novels/was implied in other games, it's nice to see the darker takes not be interrupted with as many running gags and such. The easter eggs are super fun too!