#whit rambles

[sickonthedancefloor]

Rainy day today made me think...

Sickie stuck in the rain commuting to work, gets drenched, just deals with it. But has been progressively been feeling kinda blah all week and the rain pushes them right into "probably a fever" territory. But they're halfway through the day, may as well go til close.

And every time they take a break, they come back to little gifts. Cough drops, a fresh box of tissues, hot tea at one point. A feel better sticky note. And the end of the day when they finally figure it out, their friend who's been caretaking from afar offers them a ride home and they're too tired to say no.

Spontaneous idea.

[sickonthedancefloor]

I wrote a whole fic about this! The SOPE lore runs deep~

【Hanryupia 2014 March Issue】Catch up with BTS: Relay Interview vol.4 – J-HOPE x SUGA + mini interview: JUNGKOOK’s trans 

★J-HOPE

1994.2.18/A/Rap & dance. Well-known b-boy in Gwangju and won many competitions. Suga says: 「He worries a lot and he’s vulnerable to flattery.」.

★SUGA

1993.3.9/O/Rap. When he’s free, he would make music with MIDI, so the members calls him the 『Father of Composition』. He has a special ability to handle the machines and assemble computers.

J-HOPE: 「Hello~! I’m the MC, J-Hope~! Let’s have fun today~!」

SUGA: 「Too much tension (laughs).」

J-HOPE: 「Ok, let’s talk about our first meeting. We first met…」

SUGA: 「It was 4 years ago, we met in the dormitory. I joined the company first and then J-Hope came on 24th December?」

J-HOPE: 「That’s right. 2010’s Christmas Eve! When I first walked into the dormitory, I had mixed feelings, I was anxious and was anticipating at the same time. And Suga appeared, he only had boxers on! It was a reality check of the trainee’s life. On that day, Suga spoke to me first and I can still remember what he said to me. I was sleeping in the living room at night and then Suga said to me: 『go sleep in the room』(laughs). I was happy~」

SUGA: 「He was sleeping with the blanket tucked inside out, he looked pity.」

J-HOPE: 「I remember that I replied: 『It’s okay, it’s comfy here.』 Although Suga looks cold, but actually he is a manly man with a warm heart so I like him. ♥」

SUGA: 「Your nose is gradually growing like Pinocchio?」

J-HOPE: 「I got caught? (laughs) One more, I can remember clearly about the 『end of year chicken』. At the end of that year, the other trainees went back home and I was the only one in the dormitory to celebrate the new year. And Suga called to ask if I was fine. I replied saying that I’m bored because I’m all alone and then after a while, Suga came to the dormitory with chicken in his hand! I was so touched at the time I fell for him without even realizing it. If I was a girl, I would definitely fall in love!」

SUGA: 「His condition wasn’t good. He just came to the dormitory and he couldn’t get used to the practice so he was really stressed out. Once, you got up and didn’t you say that you felt dizzy. I was aware of that so I went back to the dormitory earlier than I’ve planned. J-Hope looks bright, likes to joke around and he’s pretty delicate? In another word, he’s vulnerable to stress. He suffered from stress-induced enteritis, so I often took him to the hospital to get an injection.」 

J-HOPE: 「But I couldn’t take Suga hyung to the hospital when you had acute appendicitis in Japan…. (pretends to weep)」

SUGA: 「No, if you were next to me, it would be disturbing… you’re noisy (laughs).」

J-HOPE: 「Ah seriously! (Gets angry) Anyways, it’s a relief that you have recovered. Don’t get sick from now on!」

SUGA:「On 8th December, I got sick and went back to Korea urgently. I was staying in the hospital and thought that I recovered completely but I was rehospitalized at the end of the year. It should be the most memorable end of year in my life after one year of debut. To be honest, I was angry. It was painful to watch the members on award ceremonies in the hospital. Until now, my condition has been fine so I will work harder.」

J-HOPE: 「The end of this year, if we work hard, it will happen. ♪」

SUGA:「That’s right. Thinking about it now, I have always been receiving energy from J-Hope. Being high-spirited is J-Hope’s biggest charm! In the future, please stay as high-spirited as now. I will forgive you for being full blast from the morning (laughs). But you kept talking this morning when we were in the hair salon getting our make-up and hair done.」

J-HOPE: 「I was actually sleepy but I thought it’s not good to fall asleep so I tried my best to chat (away). Even if my eyes are sleeping, my mouth must be awake!」

SUGA:「What are you talking about… what should I say? The content is not clear. Even if I have been listening, I have no idea what he’s talking about (laughs).」

J-HOPE: 「I don’t have anything important to take into my mind. I just talk ranging over a variety of subjects. Even if I talk about 10 subjects, people would like the feeling of that I have a lot to say in one chat. ~」

SUGA: 「I want to hear a story with one content (laughs).」 

Mini Interview: JUNGKOOK

★Jungkook/1997.9.1/A/Rap & dance, live cap performance. Favorite artist: Cory Gunz.

Q: Who do you want to meet the most right now? And why?

A: G-Dragon sunbae. He’s really cool. His clothes are cool, he sings well and he’s clever. He’s handsome, he has a gift for music and he’s good in rapping. He can also speak English. Goo goo goo good!!

Trans: KIMMYYANG

Source

VOL.2; VOL.3; VOL.5; VOL.6; VOL.7; VOL.8; VOL.9; VOL.10; VOL.14; VOL.15; VOL.16; VOL.17

[darlingofdots]

there is some kind of crisis post-canon and Laurence is arguing with someone like "I assure you, if you give my name to the tsar he will at the very least hear what we have to say" and the other guy goes "who do you think you are, the Emperor of China?" and Laurence has to go "well, no, but I am his brother"

[accirax]

Analyzing DRDT's Ch2 Motive Diction

The fuck do I think I am, a time traveler? Why am I posting a theory about DRDT's Chapter 2 motive secrets now that Chapter 2 is finally complete? What's even the point in analyzing a motive that's over and done with?

Well, believe it or not, this is actually a theory I wanted to write before Chapter 2 Part 2 came out, I just never got around to it. And now we have more confirmation as to which secrets actually go where! So, really, it's all according to keikaku.

The point of this theory is to look at the language used in presenting the motive secrets, and see what it can tell us about both the secret's owner, and possibly the mastermind/whoever wrote them. What subjectivity did the writer inject into the secrets' phrasing, and could any of the secrets be better or worse than we originally thought? Put on your best scrutinizing glasses, and we'll take a look!

The usual CWs for Chapter 2 motive discussion: death, suicide, eating disorders, self harm, and implied homophobia/transphobia. Oh, and spoilers for DRDT through the end of Chapter 2, naturally.

Also as usual, I'll be assuming that all of the secrets are correctly attributed as they were in canon, other than that Xander and Teruko have swapped such that Xander has survivor's guilt and Teruko has the killing game is all your fault. I'm gonna look like a real fool some chapters down the line if I'm wrong about that, but I feel like most of the fandom has consensus agreed that this is the case.

I'll be dissecting the words of each secret through the lenses of the three Fs-- factual truth, flavored truth, and forced opinion. If those categories aren't as inherently comprehensible as they could have been due to my want for a snappy moniker, let me explain them further.

Factual truth is just that-- a literal statement that must be taken at face value. Under the assumption that all of the secrets are the truth (and it's not that J isn't actually Mariabella's daughter or whatever), there isn't much to be analyzed here. The writer presented the story with no flavor.

"You are reading a DRDT theory."

Flavored truth comes in two main forms. The first refers to emotional truths. Someone's secret describes that they feel a certain way about a certain event. It's likely base-level true, but do they feel that way due to their own opinion, or were they forced to feel that way due to someone else's opinion? And, what exactly does that opinion mean?

"You were happy to read a DRDT theory."

The other option is for when what's written is factual truth, but overlaid with a weird emotional layer. Said layer might make the truth feel overexaggerated, therefore implying a subjective take on the subject. Basically, it's anything that logistically should have been factual truth, but that subjectively I felt had something more to it.

"You prioritized reading DRDT theories over your other responsibilities."

Combined, purple means fact-adjacent, but with a little something injected into it.

Forced Opinion is content injected directly from the writer's perspective, and it's what initially caught my eye and got me thinking about writing this analysis. There are a couple of instances in which the writer speaks directly to the reader without feeling the need to provide any level of verifiable fact. These statements exist only to convey the writer's desired tone.

"Why do you even enjoy DRDT theories?"

Some secrets use only one of these Fs, some use two, and some use all three. On that note, we'll be examining the secrets in reverse spiciness order, with the most straightforward secrets first and the most interesting ones saved for last. So, who has the most sauceless secret?

Charles

"Your older brother died, but you don't remember him at all."

Okay Elliot fans, don't kill me for inadvertently calling your boy sauceless.

It's not that Charles' secret doesn't contain intriguing information, but that the way in which that secret is presented doesn't tell us anything about the person who wrote it. It's not phrased as "how could you have forgotten your dead older brother?" or anything as dramatic as that. Both phrases are presented in a manner devoid of emotion or judgment. They're just two facts!

Rose

"You took on your talent to earn money for your family. But you've since put them in a lifetime of debt."

"Lifetime of debt" feels kind of accusatory, but it is true when the sum total is in the millions of dollars. I think this could have been written a lot more judgmentally than it was, which is why I ultimately left it as factual truth.

Whit

"Your mother is dead. You always omit that truth."

The use of "always" in "always omit that truth" could be called into question, but based on Whit's behavior so far, it seems to be pretty straight up. Honestly, if anything, I think the bluntness of this statement speaks more to the writer's opinions and goals than anything else.

J

"You hide your name and birthright to pretend that you aren't the daughter of Mariabella Rosales."

"Birthright" is defined as "a particular right of possession or privilege one has from birth," if anyone was curious. With the way our society is set up, J should inherit a large amount of money and soft power just by being Mariabella's daughter, so I think this is legit. It has a bit of an emotional tone of superiority to it, but nothing drastic.

Arei

"Blackmail, rumors, lying, stealing, slander. You did everything you could to ruin your sisters' lives."

Ooh, our first instance of flavored truth. We're welcoming it in with a pretty bland example, though-- one that I went back and forth on for a while with whether it should count as factual or flavored.

Ultimately, I decided that, if we hadn't had Arei spell out her backstory and secret for us, I'm sure I would have been speculating about what "ruin your sisters' lives" really meant, and to what degree it was true. I shouldn't disqualify purple text from being purple text just because it was proven true. However, because this really was proven to be Arei's main motivation, we can basically take it as fact.

Levi

"You're a murderer, and you hold no remorse."

A secret which obviously has both a factual and an emotional component, but is also pretty straightforward in how it presents that emotional component.

When I was originally scheming up this theory (before it was revealed to be Levi's), one of my big talking points was going to be about how the divide in this secret opened up the possibility for it to actually be two secrets in one: that the secret's owner was both a murderer, and, separately, held no remorse. That turned out to more or less be true, which was fun!

Eden

"Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendships."

Eden's secret has a pretty obvious factual part-- that she kissed a girl (and she liked it)-- and a pretty obvious emotional component-- that she was afraid it would ruin her friendships.

Much like Levi or Arei, the emotional component is very likely accurate. In this case it's not very dramatized: they didn't go as far as to say "ever since you kissed her, you knew it was a matter of time before your friends would leave you" or anything along those lines. Still, as an emotion-based secret, so there's always room for debate.

Ace

"Your body is falling apart, but you'll still refuse to eat."

"Your body is falling apart" is (probably) a fact, but it feels really emotional. That "probably" is what sold me on this needing to be purple, though. It's hard to say how much Ace's body really was falling apart prior to his death. I'm sure the situation wasn't great, but we know that Ace was still capable of overpowering Arei, lifting ~60 pounds, launching a slingshot, and cutely climbing up swingsets on top of the running, swimming, and general obstacle-course-ing featured in his execution. Ace surely wasn't healthy, but "falling apart" seems like a bit of an exaggeration, based on the knowledge we currently have.

If nothing else, the "but" and "still" paint a picture of Ace being aware that his body is malfunctioning but choosing to limit his calorie intake anyways, which is an emotional layer far beyond the likes of a blunt "you have an eating disorder."

Nico

"No one accepted you because of your identity. You were constantly mocked by your family, your peers, and everybody else."

Does this highlighting make sense to people? Nico being bullied for being nonbinary is (sadly) the truth, but there's a lot of emotional coding to it that isn't necessarily 100% accurate. Like, is it really true that no one Nico met previously ever accepted them? I'm not going to pretend like there aren't deeply transphobic places out there, but "constantly mocks" further makes it sound like not only did everyone hate them, everyone did so physically and/or vocally, as opposed to simply judging in silence.

The weirdest thing about Nico's secret to me is that the writer took what otherwise could have been a factual secret and turned it into a largely emotional one. The only straight up fact we can garner from this is "Nico was mocked by their family and peers because of their identity." What happened to "people threw rocks and laughed at you because of your identity"? That would have been a (more or less) concrete fact that illustrates the exact same idea. But instead, the writer went all in on dramatizing that everyone was against Nico. Is there a reason for that?

Veronika

"You only took on your talent to distract yourself from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun."

Veronika's secret is kinda like Nico's plus Ace's, so it's nice to be able to put it here. Like Nico's, it interweaves factual truth and flavored truth in a way that makes distinguishing between them uncertain. And, like Ace's, it deals with a factual mental illness combined with its subjective motivations.

The core truth of this secret is "you took on your talent to distract yourself from your need to harm yourself," which is what can be seen in blue. However, that has very different implications than "you only," "incessant," and "for fun" add. Of the three, I would rank "incessant" as the most factual, "you only" as the least factual," and "for fun" in the middle.

I do think that Veronika's need to harm herself did feel incessant, but whether it was really for fun is up for debate. It's even more debatable whether distracting herself from self-harm was her ONLY reason for becoming a horror fanatic, as there are many other potential motivators out there, such as a genuine interest in the craft, or even the generalized boredom Veika describes as opposed to just the self-harm angle. In the end, I don't know how helpful making that distinction is for Veronika, but I'll throw it out there.

Arturo

"Your younger sister killed herself because of you. You never should have left."

Our first instance of forced opinion marks where things really start to get juicy. Although, uh, before you interpret my analysis in a way I didn't mean, just because something is marked as opinion doesn't mean it isn't an opinion I agree with. If Arturo sticking around would have saved Felicity's life, then, yeah, he probably shouldn't have left. However, in essence, "you never should have left" isn't a fact, it's an opinion-- one that prioritizes Felicity's life over whatever benefits Arturo gained from running away.

Again! I would also prioritize Felicity's life over whatever motivation Arturo had, assuming that they wouldn't have just, like, both died if he'd stuck around. However, the fact that I hold that opinion tells you something about me and my beliefs. I'm someone who holds the popular opinion of valuing others' lives. And therefore, from the pink text, we can also surmise that the secret writer values others' lives, or at least is willing to leverage that common opinion in order to make others feel guilty.

The only concrete fact present in Arturo's secret is that his younger sister killed herself. The idea that she did so because of Arturo, to some extent, is probably true, but it's based on the emotions of a person that the secret writer probably never even met. Especially when combined with the pink text, the secret gives the vibes of repeating Arturo's dark thoughts back to him to make him feel even worse about the situation. The writer's embellishments of a simple fact were designed to hurt Arturo.

Hu

"You were quite the hopeless child. Dying once wasn't enough, so you attempted suicide three times."

Hu attempted suicide three times: true. Hu's emotional state while doing so was pretty abysmal: yeah, probably. Dying once wouldn't be enough to counteract what she did: ????????

Much like Arturo's, I imagine that the pink text in this case is supposed to mirror an emotional "truth" that Hu holds in her heart. Still, I can't call it anything close to a "fact," given that it's completely based on individual interpretations of penance and morality. And it's an absolutely buckwild thing to say, especially while providing no context as to why anyone would hold that opinion.

It's hard to know what further motives the writer may have had beyond making Hu feel bad when we don't know what Hu did that made her feel as if she needed to die. For instance, if Hu accidentally killed her childhood friend, then we could use that as a data point that the writer was harsher towards murderers. Or, if it was putting her family into financial trouble, we could contrast how the writer treated Rose's secret versus Hu's. However, as we currently have no leads on what Hu's done that she needs to pay for (as her secret quote tells us), there's nothing more to be gained here.

Min

"You always treated the competition with ruthlessness, but poisoning them to win was a bit too far, wasn't it?"

One interesting facet of Min's secret is that it contains one of the most obvious uses of the writer injecting their own opinion into the secret. Like, the entire secret isn't even a statement, it's a rhetorical question. You can feel the writer raising their eyebrow at Min challengingly.

Once again, the pink text is being used to judge and/or shame Min for what she did. I really can't see any other purpose for the pink text beyond doing that.

Xander

"You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn't matter that it's not your fault, just that you didn't go with them."

An even more interesting facet of Xander's text is that this is the only instance in which the pink text is... sort of nice? I mean, not really, as it's still majorly playing to his survivor's guilt in a way that I'm sure would have made him feel awful had he ever read it.

No, what I'm talking about is the "it's not your fault" aspect. I really struggled with which of the Fs to assign to it. From Visiting Graves, it seems like the cause of Xander's family's death was drinking unpotable water, which was likely infected by the Spurlings. Therefore, factually, it isn't his fault, and should be blue.

However, Xander certainly feels like the weight of his family's death was on his shoulders. His secret quote defines his "feelings of guilt for having survived a catastrophe in which others died," and he says in the Bonus Episode itself that "the worst part of it all was that [he] wasn't there." Technically, Xander's family's death being his fault is subjective-- no matter what Unnamed Student says, we can never know for sure that he couldn't have done something if he was there. He is an Ultimate, after all. For those reasons, I felt like maybe the immense emotional connection for Xander should make those words purple.

But then I thought, if the secret was supposed to reflect Xander's beliefs, it would say that the incident was his fault. The writer breaks form in this secret. As opposed to Arturo, Hu, and possibly Min (we don't technically know how she feels about the incident, but I'd imagine that she would agree it went too far), instead of judging the secret's owner in a way that appears to mirror the way that they judge themselves, the writer goes against what Xander would say of himself, injecting their own opinion. That's weird.

Of course, I could definitely be blowing this out of proportion. It could just be that Xander acknowledges that, factually, the incident was not his fault, and therefore he would actually agree with the "it's not your fault." Furthermore, the writer still follows this up with the "just that you didn't go with them," which matches with their usual judgmental attitude. They can't be that soft on Xander when they're still saying it would have been better if he died.

Still. You'd think that the writer would want to play up Xander's insecurities that he was at fault for his family's deaths. If Xander were alive and the motive had been handled properly, Xander would have picked up a paper that told him that his family's deaths were explicitly not his fault. Is that really what MonoTV would have wanted?

David

"You exist to manipulate others. Everyone else exists to be taken advantage of."

You might be surprised to see David's secret all the way down here, given how relatively simple it is. Just like Charles' secret, it's two pretty blunt statements, and it's all written in one color. The difference is that literally nothing in this secret is objective fact.

Disregarding 1) any arguments of determinism ("David was always destined to be a manipulator because he has no free will") and 2) the possibility that this is a soft confirmation of DRDT being in-universe fictional characters ("David was always destined to be a manipulator because he, as a character, is reading his scripted lines"), there is genuinely no way to historically or scientifically verify anything that's said in these secrets. It's based on emotions and emotions alone.

But, whose emotions are they? David certainly believes this to some extent, given that his admission that he's a "lying, manipulative, scumbaggy piece of shit." The sentence "everyone else exists to be taken advantage of" is really aggressive, and, in combination with his Ch2 heel turn, it's very easy (and potentially correct) to believe that these are David's home-brewed feelings.

However, keep in mind the writer's propensity for intentionally stirring up the secret holder's most hurtful thoughts (like Hu) and things they'd rather forget (like Arturo). There's nothing in the secret itself that tells us that David enjoys being destined to be a manipulator, even if he believes in that idea.

David: You were right. I'm a good for nothing liar. But I call those lies "motivational speeches" and everyone eats it up.

Much like how the secret itself could be David's opinion or someone else's, we don't know which parties hold the opinion that David is a "good for nothing."

Look, I'm not trying to say that David has done nothing wrong in his entire life, even if villain apologism is my side hustle. I just think it's important to ask ourselves what entity is declaring this secret as "fact," considering that nothing about it is actually provable. At the very least, it's sure hard to accurately tell the group the exact contents of your secret when it's not based on anything factual.

Arei: Why did you lie about your secret? David: I'm sorry? I don't quite understand.

(Can you tell I was convinced to finally put this theory to paper whilst working on a David analysis...?)

On that note, though, I'll leave further speculation about David for another post, lest I go too far down the rabbit hole here. I just think there's a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to the manipulator secret.

Teruko

"How could I even select what 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."

And, surprising no one, Teruko's secret is at the very bottom. I don't even know where to start with this one.

We'll start at the beginning, I suppose-- Min's secret has one of the most obvious examples of the writer injecting their own opinion into the secret's text; this is the other. They even both have rhetorical questions! Twinsies :D

The first sentence has legit nothing to do with the "factual" contents of the secret at all. The entire sentence is 100% the writer's opinion. They even refer to themselves with the "I" pronoun!!! And the second sentence isn't much better. What's regarded as "worth killing for" is entirely up to the reader's opinion, and "just about" is incredibly vague. Is what Teruko's done 80% worth killing for? 90%? 100%, with a single exception?

I've also always thought that "killing for" was a weird choice. It should be "killing over," right? Killing for is like, "oh, I'd kill for a sandwich." Generally, it's seen as a positive thing, something you really want. If Teruko's life is worth killing for, that would put Teruko's life in place of the sandwich (lol). AKA, "oh, I'd kill for Teruko's life." Given what we know of Teruko's life-- that she's faced being orphaned, poverty, extreme injuries and more-- it's hard to imagine that anyone would willingly want that for themselves.

However, there are two ways I thought of to explain the word choice that don't involve assuming that the phrasing got messed up. The first is that the writer really covets Teruko's capacity to survive. As Teruko herself told us, she's the Lucky Student, so she can't die. "Kill for" could indicate that, despite all of the hardships Teruko has faced, the writer still believes that Teruko's constitution makes her life enviable and/or desirable.

The other is the more literal interpretation: that whatever Teruko has done has made others want to kill on her behalf. We already saw this once with Min, who felt compelled to attack Xander if it meant potentially saving Teruko's life. There's also our usual throughline from Prologue Hands Guy that ending the killing game and killing Teruko might be linked. Therefore, conversely, if there's anyone out there who's interested in the continuation of the killing game(s)-- XF-Ture Tech?-- it might stand to reason that they would be willing to kill in order to keep Teruko alive.

Both of these interpretations struggle with the lead-in of "just about everything you've done in your life," though. It's because both of them directly relate to Teruko's luck, which to me seems less like what she's done and more like who she is. But, the origins of Teruko's luck are undefined enough that I don't think I can use that to shoot either possibility down.

On to "the killing game is all your fault." I was tempted to make this sentence entirely pink, due to how likely it seems that this sentence is overexaggerated. Teruko is still a totally viable mastermind choice, to be clear. There are a lot of things that become a whole lot more convenient if Teruko is the mastermind, this secret included. However, if Teruko were a self-aware, despair-loving mastermind, why would she put a secret basically accusing her of such into the killing game?

You could argue that, if MonoTV were competent, no one would have seen this secret other than Teruko herself. It's still kinda weird to write that down for herself, though. It would have been a lot safer to just leave the secret off at "How could I even select what secret to make your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for." And, I don't think anyone who happened to see the secret would think too much of it. Perhaps Teruko wanted others to know she was the mastermind? If that were the case, why not correctly claim her secret when David asked her in 2-13?

(Once again, I really hope I'm right about this secret being Teruko's.)

In the end, I decided to just flag the "all" as being the writer's opinion, as an endeavor as grand and complicated as the killing game surely has more than one thing behind it. Every canon killing game, despite having a main instigator, had many other individuals aiding in its creation. And, the writer clearly has a vendetta against Teruko in this secret, so I'd be more surprised if they weren't overexaggerating her involvement to some degree.

However, "the killing game is your fault" remains in blue, even though we can't verify it to be true at the moment. If you recall, at the top, I decided to make the assumption that all of the secrets were true to at least some level, and this is where that kicks in for Teruko. Plus, if the writer (who is quite possibly the mastermind) believes that the killing game is at least partially Teruko's fault, then that's likely the case, no?

What Did We Learn?

Now that we're done with all of the secrets, let's turn it back to see if we can figure anything out about the writer. The ways in which secrets were handled can kinda be broken into tiers, like this:

Charles, Rose, Whit, and J all had 100% factual truth.

Arei, Levi, and Eden had some factual truth and some flavored truth, but the emotional truth was pretty easily verified as correct.

Ace, Nico, and Veronika had a mix of factual truth and flavored truth in a way where it was harder to parse what was feeling or fact.

Arturo, Hu, Min, and Xander had some factual truth, some flavored truth, and some forced opinion, all of which had some elements of assigning blame.

David and Teruko were struggling to present anything certifiably factual at all.

Meanwhile, if we try to categorize the secrets themselves:

Levi, Arturo, Min, and David all had secrets regarding harming others.

Ace, Veronika, and Hu all had secrets regarding harming themselves.

Rose, J, Arei, Charles, Whit, Arturo, and Xander all had secrets about their families, with the latter four relating to dead family members. (Levi also technically counts for this, but it's not explicitly mentioned in the secret.)

Eden and Nico have secrets relating to their identities and the crises they face because of them.

Teruko has a secret that's hard to define :/

What does this tell us? Well, honestly, not much. All of the people in the "straight facts" tier have secrets that relate to their families in non-violent ways, but that may just mean that the lower-stakes secrets were harder to dramatize. Everyone who dealt with a negative effect on a large group of people (Min with the competition, Xander with his large family and by extension town, David with... everyone, Teruko with those in a killing game) is near the bottom of the ranking, but it also follows that those with more grave secrets would face further scrutiny for it.

There's nothing as simple as "everyone whose secret referred to a death was harshly judged" or "everyone who harmed themselves was treated more kindly." Therefore, we can't really assign any of those straightforward beliefs to the writer. Alas.

However, assume with me for a moment that 1) the mastermind is the one who personally wrote out the secrets and 2) the mastermind of the killing game is one of its 16 contestants. Nothing too crazy, but those are both (kind of) assumptions.

(I know that, technically, MonoTV said "the real mastermind is one of you" at the end of the Prologue, which would mean that one of the 16 students has been confirmed to be the mastermind. However, I personally don't believe that's necessarily the case. You can read more about that in Mai's section of my (albeit outdated) Mastermind Ranking, if you wish.)

If the secret-writer is a mastermind hidden amongst the cast, that means that they must have written a secret about themselves. Which category would be the most likely category to find our mastermind in?

Well, the obvious answer is in the top tier, as they're the least suspicious. If you want to fly under the radar, give yourself a secret that won't be the talk of the town if it comes out of the bag. Veronika has already primed us to recognize that someone's secret doesn't have to be the worst thing they've ever done, which could be foreshadowing that we'll later learn that the mastermind's secret works the same.

In terms of the mastermind's specific identity, it's also interesting to consider which secrets had the most information packed into them. Most-if-not-all of these students attended Hope's Peak together as friends for a little while, but some were certainly closer than others. All of the secrets are secret, naturally, but to write a secret like David's, you have to know a lot about how his mind works, which implies closeness. The secrets that include something about how their owner thought or felt-- the "why," so to speak-- include Levi's, Eden's, Veronika's, Xander's, and David's. Conversely, you largely don't need to know anything about how Charles, Rose, Whit, J, Arei, Ace, or Nico thought or felt about their various circumstances, just that they happened. Arturo, Hu, Min, and Teruko are in sort of a weird place where the secret seems to reveal how they felt, but could also just be the writer feeling the same way.

In terms of the ones where you don't need to know anything, the results are a toss-up. You could argue that, if Whit were the mastermind, he could have hurt Charles way worse than he theoretically did, but you could also argue that Charles' secret was left more vague on purpose as a form of protection/favoritism.

However, the fact remains that, somehow, the person who wrote the secrets had to at least get into Levi, Eden, Veronika, Xander, and David's brains in order to transcribe how they felt about doing their various deeds. Who knows those five super well? Honestly, my first thought was Teruko, but it's also undeniable that a talent like David's or Whit's would lend itself well to understanding how others' minds work. And, of course, there's Mai, whose main talent thus far seems to be understanding others.

As a final note, I want to list a couple of secrets that I feel have anti-mastermind energy. Secrets you read and ask, "now, why would that person have written and released this information about themselves?" The level to which this is the case varies, but I'm going to include everyone I had the thought for. These people include:

Whit. Why would he tell everyone about a truth he prefers to omit?

J. Same thing: if she doesn't want everyone knowing she's Mariabella's daughter, why would she make that her secret? Why would she even create the opportunity for someone else to read that?

Eden. Less so than others (as, if she's in a supportive crowd, she might want this secret to get out), but if she's afraid of how people will treat her after learning she's a lesbian, why would she say it?

Nico. Same as Eden, basically.

Arturo. He really seems to want to forget this. Unless he's a mascohist-ermind (Ellis, is that you? /j /ref), I don't know why he'd remind himself, especially with such strong wording.

Teruko. Again, assuming she wants to keep this under wraps, why release that secret into the world?

You could also count Charles and/or Levi for this category. However, I decided that just because they seemingly forgot about the contents of their secret wouldn't mean that they would have no motivation to write it, which is really what I was judging.

Sorry if that wasn't as conclusive as you were hoping for! (/gen) If it were more conclusive, I probably would have made the theory earlier, or someone else would have had the same thought. As we learn more about the secrets in future installments like whether the Teruko/Xander swap thing is actually correct, these are the sorts of questions that I want to be keeping in mind.

And, of course, please take this analysis with a grain of salt! I always assume that everything in DRDT is 100% accurate to real-world logic because I really respect DRDTdev's storytelling. However, much like my note content analysis, I understand that going so far as to say "Charles can't be the mastermind because there's no way he'd know about how Veronika felt about her self harm" is quite possibly going too far. The most important facet of the secrets is that they made for an interesting story development, which they did! Any logic about how the in-universe secret-writer found out this information is just a cherry on top. But inspecting those cherries for quality is what we get up to 'round these parts.

Thank you for reading! And hopefully I'll find the time to write more DRDT stuff in the near future :)

[tied-ash]

“Everybody Lied to You!” | DRDT Mastermind AU

Hello, viewers! This section includes lots of spoilers for Danganronpa: Despair Time! Be warned!~ Also, it’s a VERY long read.

“I have to kill Teruko Tawaki.”

Don’t we all? I mean that literally. It’s our job as a team to exterminate the ultimate lucky student named Teruko Tawaki. And now, it’s your job, too! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s introduce you to the crew! (^owo^)

KEY:

Status… The knowledge that they are a part of XF-Ture and/or the killing game.

Role… The knowledge that they are a part of XF-Ture and/or the killing game, as well as what part they play in this operation.

Veronika Grebenshchikova… General Helper

Aware of… Everybody’s Statuses

It’s you, the newest member of our team! Welcome aboard! I’m sure you didn’t actually mean to join our crew. It’s Arturo’s own fault that you managed to figure all of this out. After that fiasco, it was only natural that you’d find out everybody else is intertwined with this scheme. But, well, if you can’t beat us, you might as well join us, right?

Your purpose is very simple: You will help us in whatever we need. Since you are well aware of everybody’s status and are figuring out all of their roles, you will have no problem discerning when they need help. Offers can be declined if you discuss the offer with those of the “overseer” title (see Hu Jing and Whit Young), MonoTV, or those who are more important than those who were previously mentioned.

Whit Young… Overseer, (Unofficial) Entertainer

Aware of… Everybody’s Role

Whit is much calmer than everybody else. It’s almost as if running this killing game is second nature. With an almost apathetic attitude, he never fails to find a joke for a situation. There is one thing he takes seriously: Charles Cuevas. No matter what happens, Whit will use his extensive knowledge about unforeseen circumstances to keep Charles safe.

Whit’s job is simple: keep everything running smoothly. However, Whit seems to not take this job seriously. He has tendencies to break the fourth wall, lead the others astray, and do other activities that make him suspicious. The audience is aware of his role, even though we have yet to confirm their claims. However, he claims that this will work out in the end.

Hu Jing… Overseer

Aware of… Everybody’s Role

On the outside, Hu is a protective mother. On the inside, it appears that Hu is crumbling. She used to be lower on the scale of power, but due to the lack of candidates after the first trial. Hu’s role was shifted. She found it ironic how the woman not many people paid attention to would be the one in charge. However, her comfort with Nico, David, and Levi were never faked. She feels genuine despair at their confessions.

Hu’s job is simple: keep everything running smoothly. This could be due to her motherly nature, but Hu is significantly better at this than Whit. She’s much more strict than what is expected of her, but this often works in her favor.

Nico Hakobyan… Animal Trainer

Aware of… Whit’s Status

They just want to be loved. Or, at least, that’s what Hu seems to think of the situation. Regardless of what their exact motives are, the hatred that they have experienced has been mutualized. While they are aware of the horrible fates that will occur in this game, they seem to believe that it can always be worse.

Nico is in charge of the many animals that will play a part in this game. You’ve seen the wolves that devoured Min, right? Those were trained by none other than Nico Hakobyan, the ultimate pet therapist. Danganronpa: Despair Time does not condone animal violence; these wolves (and every other animal that may appear in the series) are under extensive care.

Julia “J” Rosales… Production

Aware of… Hu’s Status

Years of famous people getting away with horrendous acts have torn her down. Desperate to make the world see how horrible people can be, she paired with XF-Ture’s killing game. However, unbeknownst to her, she was only helping this double-standard. She became the one thing she swore she would defeat.

J is in charge of the production and posting of the show. This means she’s also in charge of many of the factors that go into the show, including the lighting, set design, and will rarely give her input on the character design. However, her main job is still just airing it on TV. It was an easy feat considering her ultimate talent.

David Chiem… Promoter, Entertainer, TRAITOR

Aware of… Xander’s Status

By becoming the ultimate motivational speaker, he became affiliated with XF-Ture and their horrible ideals. However, with his manager being a part of this operation, David was roped into it. While he didn’t care for this game at all, he has grown quite attached to Xander. This, of course, led him to be inspired to stop this killing game by any means necessary. With him nearly getting everybody executed, he has been classified as a traitor. After all, he misunderstood the assignment. The only way this killing game will end is if Teruko Tawaki dies.

As a promoter, it was David’s job to spread the word about this killing game show. His manager made sure he did a good job at doing that. Much to his dismay, that wasn’t the only job he was assigned. He was also made to be an entertainer, meaning that he was supposed to be a fan favorite (you know how much an audience loves a “t****r sexy-man”). But ever since it has been revealed that skewing the trial wasn’t for the drama, and actually had a reason… He cannot be trusted.

Min Jeung… Informant, TRAITOR

Aware of… Nobody’s Statuses

There was more to that deal than she bargained for, and she was not happy about that fact. Unaware that their main objective was to kill Teruko Tawaki through any means necessary, panic took over and she ended up saving the enemy. Now that she’s dead, the company’s remaking her! The process of making her into an actual informant is… slow… But AIs are easy to shape.

Min’s job was supposed to be real easy. She was supposed to give information on the other participants. We would use this information to determine who could be a possible traitor. Obviously… that didn’t work as well as we thought it would.

Arturo Giles… Fashion Department, Health Department

Aware of… Levi’s Role, Hu’s Role

Imagine messing up so badly that the company you work for gets a new recruit. That HAS to be some kind of salt-in-the-wound thing. Anyway, he didn’t really want to be part of this. In fact, it’s rumored that he didn’t even know this was a killing game. The reasoning behind joining a big company is scarce, but it might have something to do with the fact that he has no certificate yet, meaning that he has to start somewhere.

When he told us that he does not have actual medical experience, we assigned him with Levi. However, he is still expected to get his own experience. He is the only doctor in this killing game, meaning that their lives are in his hands.

Levi Fontana… Fashion Department, Muscle

Aware of… Arturo’s Role, Hu’s Role

Apathy works wonders in a game like this. Without any care for somebody’s fate, it’s easy to do as you’re told. Levi remains low. He does his job with little to no problems. However, his current act of saving Teruko Tawaki is currently being under review. We cannot have another traitor in this game…

It’s thanks to him that Teruko, Whit, Hu, and Ace were able to get changes to their design. His job is to make sure everybody looks fabulous. Of course, there are other factors to the job, such as making sure their character designs make sense to both their talent and personality. As for being the muscle of the operation, it’s self-explanatory.

Eden Tobisa… Mechanic, TRAITOR

Aware of… Whit’s Role, Min’s Status, Rose’s Status

This girl is planning something- the fact that what exactly she’s planning escapes us does not pull away the fact that she has something up her sleeve. First her attack on Xander, then making a half-assed truce with the two other girls in the baking squad… This girl is no good. She’s just as bad as David at this point. Keep an eye on her.

Despite her problems, she has yet to stray from her role as the mechanic. According to her, clocks have many mechanics that work in other projects. Making digital clocks seemed to be useful when helping to design MonoTV. She is also knowledgeable on many of the other electronics on the set.

Rose Lacroix… Memory Department

Aware of… Nobody’s Status

It’s unclear what Rose’s opinion on this is. She unknowingly took Eden’s truce, but still does her job perfectly. While I believe she isn’t happy with her situation, I also doubt that she will try to revolt any time soon.

Rose remembers everything. She just acts like she doesn’t. She was in charge of erasing Teruko Tawaki’s memories. She is aware of many things about everybody in this killing game, even if she doesn’t know that they’re working together. She is also in charge of motives, such as the latest motive secret. Why else do you think that she had possibly one of the lamest ones?

Arei Nageishi… Promoter, Instigator

Aware of… Eden’s Status, Whit’s Role

Such a cruel girl… She was perfect for this killing game. With an antagonizing personality, it’s no wonder why she got chosen to be an instigator. She makes fun of anyone, making sure they are weaker than her. Though, she’s developed some sort of relationship with Eden… Maybe she’s trying to make Eden come back to her senses?

As a promoter, her job was just to promote the killing game show- exactly like David’s role. Of course, it wasn’t the same thing, as Arei just wore a bunch of merchandise for XF-Ture (similar to those patches on race-car drivers). However, she also plays the role as an instigator, meaning that it’s her job to make sure people are on-edge during the game. Her cute-yet-dangerous personality played a large part in that.

Ace Markey… Muscle, Instigator

Aware of… Whit’s Role

Despite being terrified of everything, Ace is a very useful person. He’s a wonderful instigator, and he’s too scared of failure to ignore our orders. Even if he has a big mouth, actions speak louder than words.

As the “muscle” of the operation, it’s pretty self-explanatory on what that means. He works with Levi to move things. As an instigator, that’s also self-explanatory; he is to keep everyone on edge. He has been doing amazing at that, especially with Nico Hakobyan. Even though he may not seem like it, he is the star example of what an XF-Ture employee should be like.

Charles Cuevas… Sedator/General Chemist

Aware of… Whit’s Role, Hu’s Role

He’s afraid of blood. Thankfully, his job doesn’t have anything to do with that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be as good with it. He may act friendly with Teruko, but we have reason to believe that it’s just to get her guard down. After all, we don’t think he’d want Whit to be in danger just for Teruko to remain safe.

His role, like many others, is self explanatory- he works with chemicals that may be of use. He played a massive role in sedating everybody before the killing game started. Being a chemist, he’s extremely skilled in sedation. We also believe that he will be useful for any future motives that may be introduced, seeing as that it is possible that fear-inducing gas may be a helpful motive. However, nothing has been set-in-stone yet.

Xander Matthews… Killer

Aware of… Whit’s Role, Eden’s Status

Xander obviously didn’t want to attack Teruko, but it was his job. He’s a very determined soul, thinking the best in others while still refraining from a naive persona.

He was our final chance to do this peacefully. We just needed Teruko to die. Just Teruko. Nobody else needed to die. But now, with him gone, we’ll be going with full force. That woman had forced our hand.

So be it.

And here is the relationship chart!

It’s still in the works, but this is the gist so far!

[sickonthedancefloor]

I wanna do sicktember but it's con season and I may sell a kidney for waterbomb 😂

The Official Sicktember 2024 Prompts List

Event FAQ Text Post [Link to Post]

2024 Prompt-Based Resources [Link to Post]

Past Prompts Text Post [Link to Post]

How to Submit Content Post [Link to Post]

Sicktember 2024 AO3 Collection [Link] *Collection closed until Sept. 1

Announcements [Link to #Event Notice]

** Text Version of the 2024 Prompts Can be Found Below.

“I’m not hungover, I’m just sick” (Or vise versa)

Too Much of a Good Thing/Overindulgence

Campus/Con Crud

“Great. I Got a Cold for My Birthday.”

Rogue Organ (tonsils, spleen, appendix, gall bladder ect…)

Dizziness/Vertigo

Borrowed Hoodie

“The closest doctor is probably hours away from here!”

Overdramatic Patient/Caretaker 

The Sniffles ™ 

Medieval Treatment

“You’re not fine, you’re throwing up/coughing up a lung”

Mononucleosis

Clean Sheets/Fresh Pajamas

"Who decided __ is ‘sick people food?’"

Toxin/Poison

Brain Fog/Spaced Out 

“My body is one big ache”

Hypochondriac Tendencies 

Medication Bribery

Anaphylactic Response

“You didn’t use my cup, did you?”

Under a Spell

 Tales From the Waiting Room

Summer Flu

Heart Condition/Cardiac Arrest

“This is non-negotiable"

Pulling a ‘Ferris Bueller’

Sick on a Road Trip

Past Prompt of Your Choice! 

Alts

Hospital Bed

“I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

First Aid Kit

Flushed Cheeks

Doctor's Note

[saishu-harachi-thegatorlord]

My predictions for the rest of DRDT!

(mostly my general thoughts after this ep)

(Spoilers for Ch2 Ep16!)

Okay so- First off, Levi’s fate!

If he doesn’t die from this, then he’s almost certainly going to die from trying to assists somebody else. As mentioned in the voice trailer, he’s willing to do anything to help his classmates, even if it involves him getting hurt. I can see him dying without anyone specifically targeting him, or someone being targeted because they know Levi will save them. Although that might not be so reliable depending on the recovery time needed…

Okay, next up Arturo- He’ll probably finally leave J alone, busy with making sure Levi doesn’t, y’know, die- Plus the whole breakdown he had in the trial, and his secret being revealed.. He’s gonna need some time, I think-

Teruko! Ohhhh my god where do I even start with her- She won’t die, obviously. She’s told us that multiple times, we’ve seen the proof, there isn’t a way that she can die. And that’s her curse, more than the bad luck is. So she could hypothetically get away with murder, although I don’t think she will actually kill somebody. She could get away with it, since she’s like- one of the only competent people in trials, and all it takes for Charles is for him to either be murdered or witness a murder, and he’s unable to assist. So Teruko is the only one the people here are relying on, which leaves them vulnerable if she is the blackened. Also- Teruko finally broke down and cried! It makes sense, after what she’s seen, and what she’s ended up inadvertently causing- The voice actors for Teruko and Ace (and levi) this ep >>> The new Teruko sprites were so cool, and I’m pretty sure I saw one that mirrored Min-

And now- MonoTV!! I don’t know if my theory about there being no mastermind is accurate, but after this episode- It could be! And so I’ll take that- Wasn’t expecting it to sound like Mai, at all, but that’s really interesting- Pretty sure XF caused this killing game, or at least created MonoTV-

Whit! His new sprite is fascinating considering he has no other serious sprites- And his concern for Charles, too! (..also, more fuel for the time loop theorists?) If Charles dies next chapter.. Whit will either completely break, giving up the happy persona he has, or, he ends up going so far into coping that he ends up going manic in the trial- Either way, fun development for a guy who’s only really made jokes or known a concerning amount of things about hanging-

Charles! He- isn’t doing well right now, since he saw Levi’s injury- Whit did attempt to shield him from that at least, so points towards the Charwhit (platonic or romantic, whatever you prefer) dynamic developing further! If someone like Teruko was going to commit murder, she’d probably go for Charles first. Since he is the only one besides her that really helped in the trial, and if he hadn’t gotten involved after ep11, everyone would have been executed by now. Definitely the biggest threat if Teruko is the blackened. But she might not even want to take him out if she commits a murder, because after all, she won’t die from an execution-

And finally- Ace Markey! The blackened himself! hhhh oh my god where can i start with this- Ace still cares about Levi! He knows that it’s pointless, he was searching for any reason to be mad at him, even if it made him a hypocrite for condemning another murderer. But, even after that was revealed- He was willing to get executed so Levi wouldn’t die. He yelled at Arturo for saying that he couldn’t save Levi, for being a coward, and isn’t that ironic- Also! His friend’s name gets (re)revealed! After the QnA where his name was first revealed was deleted, Taylor’s name makes an appearance on one of the gravestones in Ace’s execution! I loved the fact that his execution was themed around his fears, since he was established as a guy who had, well- a lot of fears, since the first episode he appeared in. Definitely more interesting than the cliche of ‘horses’ (not that there’s anything wrong with that idea at all-) Uh- I have a lot of thoughts about Ace rn but I’m way too tired rn to type them all out- I’ll probably add it to my p2 of this!

Okay so- I’ll probably put the rest of my thoughts in another post, since it’s 2am for me right now-

(i will be so surprised if anyone reads all this im so sorry it’s long-)

[sickonthedancefloor]

What are your hobbies?! <3 (from @darl-ingfics)

oh what don't I do!! I'm into cosplay, jfashion (egl and gyaru primarily), writing (this is a given, lol), and figure skating! I picked up roller skating during the panini and it's so hard!

Fun fact: I've only competed once with figure skating and part of my routine was to a violin cover of Fake Love. I also fell, rather dramatically, at the beginning. But apparently it looked like I did it on purpose. 😂

I went back to lessons last week and hopefully I can regain enough skills to learn a salchow jump and compete again. That was where I stopped when the panini hit.

I really like to sew, but I'm bad about finishing projects without a deadline. I've gotten better about pacing myself but I've pulled a few all-nighters more than I'd've liked.

I also like boba and eating out with friends~

[ladytabletop]

the best thing you can do to make your ttrpg is ACTUALLY WRITE IT.

[sickonthedancefloor]

Ooh me!!

KPOP ASK GAME

your favorite group(s)?

your favorite solo artist(s)?

who is your bias in your favorite group(s) and why?

who are your ultimate biases?

who was your very first bias?

how long have you been into kpop?

which song/group introduced you to kpop?

an idol you'd love to be friends with?

an idol you don't think you'd get along with?

an idol you think would match your freak?

idols you share the same zodic sign with?

idols you share the same mbti with?

the last photo of an idol you have saved to your camera roll?

name 3 idols you'd want to accompany you during a zombie apocalypse!

your favorite hairstyle on your bias(es)?

your bias(es)' best look(s)?

tell me 3 things about your bias(es) some people might not know about!

name 5 things your bias(es) remind(s) you of?

your all time favorite kpop songs?

your favorite songs from your favorite group(s)?

your favorite kpop albums?

your favorite concepts?

your favorite choreographies?

your favorite debuts?

your favorite music videos?

your favorite collabs?

your favorite vocalists?

your favorite dancers?

your favorite rappers?

if you could only listen to one group for the rest of your life, who would it be?

if you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

which song is playing during your funeral?

a kpop concept you don't like?

a group you're no longer a fan of?

a group you've been eyeing for a while but couldn't get into them yet?

name an underrated kpop group!

name an underrated kpop song!

a song everyone seems to like but you?

a song no one seems to like but you?

songs you would show to people who are not into kpop?

last kpop song you listened to?

a fandom name you like?

do you watch survival shows?

if yes, who's a survival show contestant you've been keeping up with ever since?

do you own any kpop albums/other merch?

do you collect photocards?

have you been to any kpop concerts?

a kpop group whose concert you MUST attend in your lifetime?

your favorite kpop songs from this year (2024)?

did you get into any new groups this year (2024)?

which kpop song do you think will be your most played song this year (2024)?

which group(s) did you listen to the most this year (2024)?

tell me your unpopular kpop opinion!

talk to me about anything kpop!

[nerdy-frog98]

I have been deeply entrenched in shipping culture since I was 11 and rooting for Aang and Katara (I wanted Zuko for myself so I’d get mad at everyone suggesting Zuko and Katara. I have since seen the light. #zukka4ever), but I don’t remember ever being as invested in characters love lives (or, rather, sexualities) more so than Michael Wheeler and Edmundo Diaz.

Mike (Stranger Things) and Eddie (9-1-1) are very similar. A few examples:

- they both are incredibly complex characters that make poor decisions when it comes to their female love interests.

- they both have a canonically queer best friend! And both of their best friends (Will and Buck) are often infantilized by their respective fandoms when, in fact, both are incredibly capable and smart.

- they both seem to have this intense need to conform to societal standards (though they come from different places because of how different their circumstances are).

- both are extremely queer coded.

Stranger Things is a brilliant show. The fantasy horror is the first of its kind and something that has paved the way for many others. 9-1-1 is one of the most watched network television shows currently streaming, and though it’s not the first of its kind, it is certainly unique. Both are great shows, and both have EXTREME potential to make queer media history. Byler and Buddie.

I’ve been thinking about this a little bit, but in a way, Stranger Things AND 9-1-1 have written themselves into a corner with Mike and Eddie. See, a lot of what they do doesn’t make sense unless you view their motivations with a queer lens. Mike treating his breakup with El as a joke, but his fight with Will as something dire. Eddie saying dating feels like a performance (and breaking up with Ana, hottest woman ever, because he had panic attacks imagining their future? So unserious). There’s so much more evidence, but my point is that if Stranger Things makes Mike straight, it will automatically make Mike the ultimate asshole of the show. If 9-1-1 makes Eddie straight, well…most of his actions with Shannon, Ana, and Marisol will not have made sense (or at least not to me). Genuinely, the only way these characters can make it out is if they are gay. Not just gay, but also deeply in love with their best friends.

I’ve never felt this with any other show, but Eddie and Mike have this one major similarity, and it’s that they are either the most well written, beautifully complex characters ever to exist, or they are the biggest disappointments any show will ever have. And it’s weird, but that difference hinges on whether or not they have feelings for their best friends.

[also, yall are welcome to disagree with me, but pls be respectful. I don’t mind disagreements, but i would prefer name calling not be part of it. This is MY opinion, I don’t expect everyone to think the same as me]

[goblin-the-clown]

[theangeltopaz]

*sighs* well I got so desperate for sub Whitney with male pc that I’m gonna write it myself don’t expect it any time soon tho cause I have ✨ w o r k ✨ and ✨ c l a s s ✨

[strixop]

whit doodles :D

[talkativeanonymous]

UNKNOWINGLY TRAUMATIZED??? I feel like we need more lore drop 😭

HAHA yeah i'm leaving out soooome details :>

Since i'm tired and feeling kind of sickly, i'm just gonna run it down rq!! I can elaborate on anything if asked-- but keep in mind i'm basing this off of the itty bitty bit of lore we've gotten so far plus my own BS I cooked up, I actually don't think XF-Ture is behind the killing game despite it clearly having a role to play… THAT BEING SAID! Here's SOME of the lore, a lil rundown of pre-drdt whit <3

(loredump below the cut)

Whit, similarly to Ace actually (though the aus are inherently unrelated)- essentially had his life taken away from him by XF-Ture.

Whit did not sign up or consent for anything that happened to him, [REDACTED] decided that from all of the recently graduated students in HPA, they chose him for his ability to be entertaining and would be perfect for a "Killing Game TV Show". In which, they then handed him off to XF-Ture who [REDACTED] let do the dirty work to keep their name out of the picture.

I am personally assuming that DRDT takes place in a post-despair(ish)-redemption world, although I don't believe it's connected to the original DR games. With that in mind, XF-Ture definitely has done some dirty work behind the scenes and has the technology that was ultimately used to brainwash Whit.

Whit was missing for months, as after all that he went through he had to be looked after and made sure he was stable enough to even BE on TV as he became notably aggressive and easily distressed. It was for this reason that they then worked on making him more apathetic to people dying and death in general. (which is my reasoning for Whit laughing and joking despite people LITERALLY dying, or just not caring at all on a surface level)

After about a year's worth of work, he was finally ready to be the proper mastermind for DRDT. He was meant to watch over the killing game to make sure all went as [REDACTED] had planned. During this time, Whit is aware that he's the mastermind- willingly or not. He knows very well that he can't tell anyone as his mind is quite literally against him on this and it's hard to say he has too much free will for that reason.

Hes more self-aware if anything, and his subtle jabs at the viewers in the show is him pointing to that; the fact that he knows. [REDACTED] doesn't appreciate it, knowing he's giving himself away, but it's not as if they can really punish him for doing his job; as it IS entertaining.

..For now i'm gonna leave it off here, but feel free to make assumptions about the rest or just straight up ask >:)

[snarky-magpie]

We had a good run, prongsfoot, and I'll always love you.

You're soulmates in every universe.

But I'm moving on.

Maybe one day, I'll come back to finish the stories resting unedited in my unfinished folder. Maybe not. They were fun to write either way.

Time for new stories to be told.