#;; true mastermind(4th wall)

[wolfsbanesparks]

At this point, even YOU are a suspect! Breaking the 4th wall with how paranoid we're all getting on who the true mastermind behind all this is.

Well technically I AM the mastermind 😈

But for real, I'm loving this!

[paint-tastes-ok]

just watched a playthrough of 999, twas entertaining! twist was well done on DS, i liked the characters, but the story... somewhat unsatisfying. obviously the whole game was written for That One Scene so the significance of everything else we learned throughout the story felt diminished by the end...? (terrible rambling and spoilers under the cut)

so... i follow the idea of akane getting revenge on the first nonary game's masterminds, that's standard for this type of story, but that the whole reason for her staging it in the first place is implied to be avoidance of a grandfather paradox...??? like, again, i'm a fan of That One Scene (incinerator in true ending); i think there was good emotion there and the reveal was satisfying as long as u don't think about it beyond that point whatsoever. it's just... assuring that everything stays as it does and the timeline goes according to plan feels like such... weak motivation?

It seems like no one besides Ace and his cronies were at risk of being blown up, so there was no danger from the nonary game itself to the Good Guys. however, it COULD have gone horribly wrong, as illustrated by the other endings, so would akane's decision to save herself really be worth it?* i guess we can assume Ace's pharmaceutical company would continue its shady practices, so it makes sense they'd need to be stopped... i would have liked that to be emphasized then—for the threat of not averting this paradox/killing Ace&friends to outweigh the alternative reality (in which akane stays dead and doesn't put other innocent people in danger). was that discussed and i missed it? also, in the end, Junpei didn't have much agency at all, did he? no risk to him, we're really playing as akane attempting to save herself, she knows junpei is essentially going through the motions, the revenge she gets on Ace&friends is out of junpei's control... Junpei DOES manage to reveal Ace's crime to the rest of the group and Ace is at their mercy... hrm

hrm. *hold on, i just realized that it's canon that this whole game is akane jumping back n forth between timelines to achieve the best ending LMAO. my criticisms don't stand up to that.** adult akane is perfectly fine bc kid akane was fighting for it. everything turned out alright and underwhelming bc the player was fighting for it. plot twist: this was a good game if i keep the 4th wall break in mind and would've been an even better game for me if i 1) played it myself 2) on the nintendo DS. bye have a good afternoon take care and fare well

**jk actually, Snake being abducted THEN LOCKED IN A COFFIN to avoid the threat Ace posed to him was a strange decision. i was gonna complain about the other Cradle Pharmaceuticals guy coincidentally taking the fall for Snake too but ig i can buy Akane seeing that happen in another route and deciding to save him..... SIGH. I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW. this whole game depends heavily on the 4th wall break and i don't like that part about it i guess!!!! i don't know

[aybri]

I'm gonna nerd out about two really old OCs for a moment

Impulse - the original self insert before I became trans, now his own character (and thanks to how 4th wall breaky my writing is he knows it). He's the literal devil, but he's actually a super nice guy, because the god of his world is terrible and made everyone just to torture them (god wanted to torture the devil too so god made them hate their job). If you've talked to any writer you would know how accurate that is. Also he's the ceo of a tech company because how else are you gonna get the money for air conditioning in hell

Pravus - his name is literally fucking "evil" in Latin. He's your typical evil CEO born into power hellbent on defeating the protagonists. He's the go-to antagonist, always the one to reveal himself as the true "mastermind" behind all of it. In reality, the true brains behind the operation are his lackeys, who I'm surprised have not quit yet.

Eventually it turns from "I hate this guy" to "I can't wait to fight this guy again" for both Pravus and Impulse and eventually they realize "oh shit this isn't a rivalry anymore." Pravus wants to get with Impulse, but the narrative is forcing him to be "evil" and they both know it, so he manages to find a loophole by doing evil things for good and doing good things in evil ways.

Now they're dating

I love my twink businessman & evil twink businessman/nice devil & forced-to-be-evil angsty boy

Both of these are from an old-ass story from when I was 12/13 that I never ever gave up on

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

twiceminded replied to your post: "Everyone has convinced me that Alfendi was a rat,...

“I’m going to end your life.”

“It’s only going to be worse if I bring up EATING bees!” [SAITO, NO.]

[salty-but-bland]

Can I submit late amasai week things I still have, like, 2 more prompts to do (1 if I skip free day)

Beta @amasaiweek day 4: journey/trail

~*~*more angst but dw it's not as extreme as day 3*~*~

Tw: blood, gunshots

Is this beta au spoilers? Idk but I'm tagging for it because it's the 4th chapter motive

@kagazuly au credit

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

Footsteps echoed down the dim hallway. Shuichi's footsteps, to be exact. Careful, fearful steps, like each step could be his last, because it quite literally could be.

He thought about what he knew to try and put the pieces together. Rantaro, Ryoma, and Kokichi all went into the third floor of the school- er, the Sanzu Garden together to find their afternoon locks, and the weapons maker and Kokichi made it back to the dorms. According to them, Rantaro had fallen into a pit trap, and they hadn't been able to find him since. Now, after everyone else had their afternoon challenge completed, Shuichi and Kaito had been chosen to try to find Rantaro.

So far, they'd found nothing but more traps- and one of Rantaro's locks, completed. At least he'd be safe for the night, wherever he was.

Walking along the hallway, Shuichi heard a click from inside the walls, and- a dart flew by him, narrowly missing his cheek.

If I had been just a bit off, he thought, that would've gone right through my eye. And Monokuma said the traps wouldn't kill us. That statement seemed less true by the day.

Luckily, that had been one of the smaller traps, as they ranged from small projectiles being thrown to walls crashing against each other with a person in between. He looked around at the walls of the hallway, searching for signs of human interaction, when something caught his eye.

A red spot on the floor.

Many red spots, actually, making a clear trail down the hall and around a corner.

There were no traps around here that he knew of that could make a hole big enough to cause that much blood loss. They'd all either give you small cuts or kill you in a second. And Rantaro kept first aid supplies on him, so the violinist doubted he'd go that long without stopping the blood.

Still, Kokichi had told him Rantaro's was the only lock on the third floor, and the way he was coming from was closest to the stairway, so…

Whoever came this way did it on purpose. And it wasn't to get their afternoon locks.

Shuichi ran through the hall and followed the red trail around the corner, to where it abruptly stopped over a tile of the floor. There were no traps besides the dart in that hall. Where had this person gotten their injury, then?

He slowed his pace, thinking more logically now. I should go back and get Kaito, that way we'll keep each other in sight in case this trail leads somewhere bad.

But he could be anywhere on this floor by now, and I don't know if that trap'll activate again because it's right at my eye level, and was that liquid in the dart, now that I'm thinking more in detail about it? Could it be a tranquilizer dart, or a poisonous one? And- okay, pull yourself together, Shuichi.

Out of sheer stubbornness, he decided to keep following the trail by himself, and walked slowly along the blood trail until he reached the tile it stopped at.

Hmm.

Maybe whoever was injured had stopped here to treat their wounds a bit if the pain had gotten to be too much. Or they could've turned around and gone back. Kokichi did say he knew Rantaro's lock was the only one on the floor. Maybe he had done some exploring and gotten hurt on accident, or maybe-

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden lack of ground beneath his feet.

Or maybe the injured person had fallen into a pitfall trap right at this very spot.

He screamed in surprise at the fall and heard a voice from above him, far away, and loud footsteps. "SHUICHI?!"

Yeah, he should've told Kaito.

The panels to the trap shut, leaving him to fall in total darkness and silence.

It was both peaceful and stressful, the feeling of not knowing where you'd land or when, nothing but darkness and your own thoughts and the stomach-churning sensation Shuichi found out was easy to get used to, and-

BANG.

A-

A gunshot?

From somewhere below him, there was a gunshot. And now, light began to clear up the darkness, revealing cold metal walls around him. There were more gunshots, louder, more frequent. What kind of place does this lead to?

With a thump, he landed on a thick mattress, oddly out of place in the room he landed in, which was made of blank white concrete walls covered in chipping, moldy wallpaper. He saw no guns nor sparks or bullets flying, but the sound of gunshots was everywhere, exploding in his eardrums so that he had to block his ears if he wanted to concentrate. Cardboard boxes sat in varying stacks and piles in the corners of the room. There were no holes in them, Shuichi saw, so could there just not be- he walked out into the middle of the room. Sure enough, the sound was just coming from a hidden speaker, and there were no real guns.

Now, how to get out of this room?

The cardboard boxes were most likely there for a reason. They could be traps, but they could also serve as a way to escape. He decided to investigate them first.

Picking a random box off a stack in the nearest corner, he noticed something. Something green. And curled into a tight ball, letting out whimpers that could barely be heard over the noise from the speakers.

It was- He was Rantaro. Much, much different than how he acted around the others, but Rantaro nonetheless. What was going on?

"Some rooms will lock you in and whisper your worst fears to you."

This was one of those rooms, wasn't it? Designed for Rantaro, for sure. And it couldn't just be the gunshot noise that triggered him so badly, since he'd talked so much about his feats in war before. The room probably had something to do with his fear. No wonder he was hiding in a fort of small brown boxes.

"Rantaro!"

Nothing. His voice was still quieter than the background noise. 

"RANTARO!!"

The medic seemed paralyzed for a second, then slowly turned his head towards Shuichi.

"You have to snap out of this, Ra-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET DOWN, OR YOU COULD GET SHOT!"

Tears were streaming down his usually confident face as he said this.

"No! You have to listen, Rantaro!" The violinist crouched down next to the stack of boxes.

"None of what you're thinking about is real. There are speakers in the walls, they're making the sound of gunshots. I don't know what this place is, but as far as I know it can't hurt you. You're safe, alright? You're safe."

Rantaro was still hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Everyone's waiting back at the dorms. We've been really worried for you. That's how I ended up here, by falling through the same trap you did."

The shots in the background became softer and softer as Shuichi explained their situation casually, until they eventually faded away into nothingness. Apparently the mastermind was done with this twisted torture.

A door opened at the opposite side of the room.

The curled-up figure had slowed his breathing some, but was still panicking.

"...It. It stopped."

"Huh. It did."

And it took quite a lot of convincing, but, not very long after the noises stopped, the two walked to the door, Rantaro holding the other's hand tightly for security.

"Oh, right! Have you tended to your wound yet? If not, we ought to fix that now before getting back to the others."

"...Wound? What wound?" Rantaro asked, checking his body for any wound he could've forgotten about.

"Well, there was a trail of blood leading to the door here, so I thought it might be your-"

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

If Rantaro really had been taken by surprise and fallen here, he wouldn't have had time to fix himself up until he finished falling, which would mean-

But there wasn't any blood on the mattress or the floor at all.

"I followed the trail too. Thought I could find someone suspicious, since no other locks were on that floor and the trail led away from my lock."

"Uh, wait… then if it wasn't you or Kokichi… whose blood trail was that?"

[kitsoa]

Meta reality anon: Well when it comes to Yozora we'll know better (or won't) in a couple of days. ;) Yeah something like that. I do think the merging and confusion between fiction and reality will be a major theme in the upcoming saga. After all it's been built up since COM in various ways: false memories vs real. Nobodies. Data and Dream worlds. Woldlines. Different realities w/different versions (video game Yozora and real Yozora). I do think MoM will toy w/this a lot. I think I'm pretty -

2 pretty focused on those dark beings MoM told Luxu about in Union X. He made them seem very different from what Sora and anyone else besides MoM has encountered so far. More intelligent. More scary. I'm wondering if MoM isn't the only mastermind in the shadows. Like those dark beings he mentioned are beyond anything even existing in the Realm of Darkness and they're pulling their own strings to keep this war cycle going. Shoot for all we know they messed w/reality first and MoM got in-

3  on it later on. There's a lot to unpack and a lot we don't know. But I do think those dark beings are going to be a huge deal: possibly the true final bosses of the saga (not that I think MoM will be a blameless saint unless some epic twist is made. He's definitely a shifty guy just for what he put Luxu and all the other Keyblade weilders through. Good intentions or not). They say there was darkness before light and all light must have a source. Maybe we'll learn about the first clash-

4 between light and dark, battling for supremacy as reality was taking shape. MoM could be a ancient being as well from around that time. As one reality fell to darkness. People learned to create new realities like storybook tales. Ansem said a heart like Sora's could breathe life into anything, from wind to a puppet. Maybe MoM also had a heart like that. One that could create whole realities even. The heart is the most powerful and mysterious thing in KH. Kingdom Hearts itself will make anyone-

5 a god who opens it successfully. Kingdom Hearts is a character all on it's own. It's the one that truly decides what is or can be real. It certainly seems far less inflexible them most Keyblade weilders are. W/this in mind Kingdom Hearts already has a very mysterious connection or interest in both Sora and MoM. Maybe KH is more active then we think? Everyone just sees it as this thing to attain or protect. But maybe it uses the Keyblades as its eyes to watch all these realities w/hearts 

6 I'm not sure if this whole kh universe is MoM's creation or if it's Kingdom Hearts. But I do think MoM is fascinated w/ideas of what's real or not on many different meta levels. I think to a degree Sora (and Yozora) is too. Sora's very first lines are questioning if what he knows is real. He also thought more deeply about the nature of nobodies and found out they are real. Not to mention, again, Ansem's insight that Sora empathy allows his heart to create hearts in others. What's real again?-

7 In KH Idk. Honestly the very idea of questioning reality to this extent is unthinkable. You'd almost feel detached like you were in a constant dream. Then to suddenly to yoinked to another Final World when you're existence was suppose to vanish. That's insane. Do you think the MoM's and Sora's actions are causing a ripple effect on KH? One that's warping fact and fiction. MoM and Sora were brought to a world: Fantasy based on Reality (FF13V's original tagline). What does KH consider not real?

In regards, to the dark beings mentioned in the flashback, I’ve basically said my piece in my analysis of the scene. I personally don’t think he’s talking about an actual force of darkness. I think he’s taking advantage of the double meaning in KH terminology to make us think there’s another force of evil out there. I think he’s actually just explaining his ‘sympathetic’ back story. The reason for the smoke and mirrors is because it’d be in dramatic character, point to the themes of fantasy as a coping mechanism, and the reality of it being the interpretation of real world evil would give away the twist. 

That’s my meta reality lens. If we limit our ideas here, then yeah, MoM could be talking about a new dark force in the lore. I just think we have all the lore pieces in terms of opposition laid out before us.

And having someone behind MoM is always a possibility but it’d be a little tired due to MoM’s reveal that he’s basically behind the entire first saga too. Motive is one thing but I personally am not a fan of last minute villains. MoM’s being established as a villain for years now and it’d be a little low to change that in the finale. 

Ultimately if you view the KH world as an entirely fictional beast, the subjects within it unaware, then you can essentially explain any plot holes and contrivance as a “meddling god” or author. I’ve always been one to try to understand the inner mechanisms of mythological physics which is why I’ve gravitated to this reading. Making real that which isn’t. I refer to my interpretation of the Replica situation to best describe the entire function of the kh world. 

Replicas are objects imbued with data. Cold hard facts and information. A heart is the force that sparks that data into life. Whether its a heart placed in the object or born from surrounding relationship, the heart is the sole requirement to be considered an existing person. And by nature of this very basic law the object miraculously becomes the intended person down to the blood pumping in their body. It’s not magic, it’s like… the actual physics. Because this is a reality that is subservient to the emotions and those emotions are born from the story told. The fantasy being presented. I go into this in my Worlds as Stories theory but it’s the reason why I see these grand entities like Kingdom Hearts as simply the embodiment of the entire fictional realm. 

I think the 4th wall is going to be broken soon. That Sora is going to discover his origins and have to grapple with his philosophies of existence being put to the test. This could very well change the entire fabric of the KH universe as a result. I mean you can't undo that knowledge once it happens. (i mean unless you forget which could happen). I’m the weird one saying that I don’t think Sora and Yozora are in the world of Verum Rex but in the real world. Because if Yozora dwells in a Fantasy based on Reality. Then Sora exists in a Reality based on Fantasy.

[ryouverua]

Flashback light! Flashback light!

I just love the animated sequence a lot okay

Aaaw Tsumugi don’t ruin my fun D: Besides, we already missed out on the last one! Which... actually raises an interesting question. If these are being released sequentially, are we going to have a weird gap in our memories because the last one was broken? I guess it depends on how it works - maybe it’ll just bring back the memories that were next in line to be released anyway...

Well, I wonder if Tsumugi has a valid point though. 8′D The flashback lights are probably double-edged swords if Monokuma is giving them out like candy.

... With that said I guess I’m still wondering if all of the memories are theirs? I’ve played around with the ‘they’re regular high-school students who’ve had their memories written over/modified with the memories/identities of Ultimate students who died in the past’ - could at least make a decent jab at the somewhat ‘cyclical’ vibe I’m getting along with the life-and-death/resurrection and escapism theme... And considering there was that ‘Ultimate Hunt’ that showed them being hunted down by an unknown group and that Rantaro seems to have done this before.

Actually with that said, with the reveal of Kaito being sick - that actually... maybe fits in with this a bit. They would do a whole medical exam before accepting someone into astronaut training (forged papers aside lol) and considering the game we’re in, I’d be pretty surprised if this wasn’t a terminal disease he had. So how could he still be the Ultimate Astronaut without a clean bill of health? Well, if they picked up some random kid off the street and gave him the memories of the Ultimate Astronaut without checking for something like that, something that he clearly doesn’t remember - that would make quite a bit of sense, wouldn’t it?

But enough speculating, we have a return guest!

............. Hm.

That is.......... probably a lie, huh.

Damnit Miu, why have we been on the same wavelength so much recently?!

Oh come on, there’s no way that’s going to work -

KAITO I LOVE YOU BUT YOU GOTTA PUT YOUR GREY MATTER TO GOOD USE OUTSIDE OF SPACE TRAVEL

I just have this image of Kokichi with the controller just pressing ‘fast forward’ on the normal pre-flashback light dialogue -

“Come ooooon guys I get it! Blah blah blah dangerous blah blah blah memories blah blah! SHOW ME THOSE SWEET CHEEKS, SWEET CHEEKS!”

Remembered.....?!?!

Unrelated but did he just say talkin’ omg...

YEAH I’M PRETTY SURE THAT’S A BAD THING

So these were definitely the meteorites brought up in Kirumi’s video. And everyone watched that, right? So this shouldn’t be huge news to anyone but uh, apparently it is! Okay! Shit that’s one way to move past the first two games A BIT DRASTIC BUT OKAY

Oh that is not good. We... just got our first glimpse of the mastermind’s potential motive, huh?

THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY THINGS ENDED WELL YOU SWEET SUMMER CHILD

Oooh, new yellow text!

Which I suppose Kirumi would have been helping with...

Could it be because.... the plan required 16 Ultimate talent students? Maybe? but then the ‘Ultimate Hunt’ happened and those students were killed, hence the group funeral? Maybe??? Which is why we have 16 students that may have had to become the original group chosen to save everyone?? I am cramming my square peg theory into a round hole AND IDGAF ANYMORE

Oh fuck we’re not going to find out Miu is part of that cult are we - like it triggered our memories of the world-ending cult for us in general, but she’ll have some sort of connection to it and basically unlock a whole different set of memories for her - ?!

PSYCHE

.... was that just a red herring or is that actually foreshadowing 8′\ Gonta isn’t the only one waving red flags this chapter...

Himiko’s got her priorities straight.

Yeah, see, this is where I’m stuck too. I have theories on all this stuff but they don’t... really... fit together? False memories/identities of dead students (and perhaps them even attending the funeral of the actual students they’re imitating??) - that fits up to the whole ‘getting talents at the beginning of the game/funeral scene, and that feeling I can’t shake about how random/unwanted their talents are to most of them. It can even work with the Ultimate Hunt!

But then the meteors/them being in space or on a spaceship right now, and them being isolated from the outside world makes sense when you consider the meteorites and Kirumi talking about a terrible event she needed to escape to take care of, to protect the citizens of her country. It also makes sense about having the ‘Prime Minister’, an astronaut, an anthropologist, an inventor, a robot and even an artist and musician, along with all of those libraries and other areas containing information/things of human historical significance. You want to have not just kids with potential for a space mission/leadership (... I guess Supreme Leader can technically go there too??) but students representing arts and technology, who can keep those things going. With that said... the only way I can mash that together with the first idea is that the original set of talented children died? Maybe hunted down, aka the Ultimate Hunt, so they found these kids instead??? But even then, some of the talents get a major side-eye like... cosplayer can maybe work as seamstress and I suppose an assassin works as someone cool under pressure/willing to do things that need to be done, but a magician? Really? 

I’m definitely still missing some pieces of the puzzle, and that piece is definitely the mastermind’s role in this. .. Are we going the route of ‘the mastermind is part of the world-ending cult’ then? How very VLR of you

Ah right, that’s true... Ultimate Academy, and not Hope’s Peak, right?

Anyway, at least we’re only in Chapter 4. oTL It’s not like I’m out of ideas or anything - I’d hardly call the rambling from earlier being stumped - but nothing is clicking quite... right for me yet.

Man as much as I joke that I relate to Tsumugi and Shuichi, Kokichi and I have been on a bit of a similar wavelength too. 8′D That’s something I never thought I’d say, and yet here we are...

Hm... is that a good or bad thing?

Anyway, Kokichi seems hell-bent on pissing Kaito off. Which does make sense, actually! They’re officially the strongest personalities in the room and definitely have the most leadership potential. 

Kokichi why are you calling me out like this

RADICAL-9 OR HINAMIZAWA SYNDROME

............ OKAY KODAKA I GET IT YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH THE CREATOR OF THE ZERO ESCAPE SERIES

Kaito stop smashing the 4th wall open

FUCKING LMAO THAT’S THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE YOU HAVE KAITO?!

Oooh, looks like we still have shades of Angie’s council left over. That... could be a hint, maybe? About susceptibility to cults? It could turn out that someone who was willing to go along with Angie’s council was just as easily swayed by the world-ending cult...

[despairstation13]

Iscariot || Chapter 5 Motive.

Nobody was really too eager to talk to each other after the brutal events of the 4th trial. Nobody expected fro two of their friends to die at the trial, but the unexpected always happened, didn’t it? There were only 7 of you now. You all went around, maybe making small conversations, but now the station was more silent than ever. Maybe… too silent… Like there was something sinister brewing in the background, something that would boil over any second into a cacophony of calamity and chaos.

Thats when you heard his voice. His voice was always the harbinger of the worst. Nothing good ever happened when you heard his voice. He was calling you to the lounge, by voice this time. Whatever happened to the intercom? It doesn’t matter though, he was too powerful not to obey. Regretabally, all 7 of you entered the lounge. 

The Assistant paced back and forth. he did not seem happy at all. 

“Cassius Longinus… Guy Fawkes… Benedict Arnold… What, my dear fellow crewmembers, do all of these names have in common? The Answer is that they are all traitors. Just like on of you.”

“No, a murder hasn’t taken place… yet… Im talking about a more refined kind of traitor from the one you’ve all been accustomed to. Someone who betrayed their entire friends. a Renegade. A Turncoat. An Apostate. A Mole. Someone who was enlisted to work alongside the person who’s running this whole shebang.

And I couldn’t even detect them, because this wasn’t an always thing! They decided to turn to them on their own! They came here just as innocent as the rest of you, but struck while the iron was hot! And they are being a HUGE Thorn in my side now! Obviously, I am not obligated to tell you any information about the one behind this whole operation. But, the mole is completely within my range to out.

With that being said, The Mole is Junko Shirokawa. Please do with this information what you will. That is all.

The Assistant, seeming to be in a much better mood than before, left the room.

You all immediately stared at Shirokawa. She was shaking. She looked scared, like a deer in the headlights, like a girl facing the full wrath of god. In an instant, she started running away from the room, feeling at the walls and muttering quietly to herself while crying before finally reaching a set of doors. Shirokawa escaped into the Meeting room while you all just looked at eachother. Were the assistant’s words true? Was Shirokawa really working alongside the Mastermind? Was she really a traitor to you all?

[sanctferum]

Dangan Ronpa V3: Chapter 4. Let’s see what bullshit we got this time.

A few days ago…a video is being watched by someone. A video from Rantaro Amami, TO Rantaro Amami. Is this how he knew about the Ultimate Hunt? He made a video before repressing his memories?

We skip over the important stuff via static. We’re at the end of the video now.

The killing game will continue until only 2 people are left. The important part of that regulation is, static again.

And one other thing…this isn’t Rantaro’s first, more static. First killing game, perhaps?

Anyone who finds out Rantaro’s true identity will come for him…so trust no one. And don’t forget…static.

Rantaro wanted the killing game to happen…but why?

No matter what, Rantaro had to win. But he didn’t. He died…the first one to die.

Chapter 4: Live And Let The Languid World Live

What does languid mean? According to the dictionary, slow, tired, exhausted. Is that it? Did the world die of exhaustion? What?

And if Rantaro’s pre-memory wipe self wanted the killing game to happen…what does that mean? Having lost his memory, he must have watched this video and found out the truth. Does that mean he was the one working with the mastermind, the one who used the hidden bookcase door? He definitely couldn’t have been the mastermind himself, but…maybe Kaede killing him off wasn’t such an awful thing after all. Maybe.

Rantaro’s talent is connected to the truth. But we still haven’t found his lab, or anything to indicate what his talent was.

We also have not found Shuichi, Kaito, Tsumugi, Kokichi, or Keebo’s labs yet. So there’s six undiscovered labs.

Well, I’m gonna make a list of who will live and who will die, in all likelihood. I say: Shuichi, Maki, Gonta, Himiko, and Tsumugi have a good chance of surviving. Keebo, Kaito, and Kokichi, not so much, but it’s possible Kokichi will survive. Miu I’m not sure about, possibly switch her with Tsumugi or Himiko.

Out of my original guesses...only Maki and Gonta are still alive. Shuichi, who I predicted would be the first one to die, is most likely gonna survive until the end. After Kaede, I’m not willing to say anything like that with certainty, though.

Let’s continue, then!

It’s the morning after the class trial. Everyone seems very moody, what with yesterday’s 3 deaths. Gonta isn’t here, so I’m guessing he’s out looking at the graffiti to see if anything new is there.

Kaito and Kokichi seems to be in higher spirits than the rest. I do think Kaito’s situation, whatever it might be, will come to a head in this chapter.

Everyone is gloomy, but then, someone says something.

“Heeey! You guys have no energy! You need to look alive! You’re all still teenagers!”

I mean, it’s true, but coming from Himiko, being called energyless is a bit…

Oh wow, she really meant it when she said she wasn’t gonna say things were a pain anymore. She’s fired up, for the first time in the game!

Miu keeps groaning. She sounds annoyed at something…at least, it sounds more like that than anything sexual.

Himiko has to keep moving forward, or else the dead, including Tenko and Angie, won’t be able to rest in peace. Time for a new Himiko, one who lives life positively! She’s using up a lot of energy doing so, though. She’s already out of breath from her proclamation.

Kokichi is still viewing this as a killing game, so I gotta keep my eye on him.

Gonta bursts into the dining hall just as Kaito is about to yell at Kokichi. Lemme guess, more grafitti appeared.

“The_s wor_d _s __ine O_ic___ma”

This world is…something something.

Maki plans to just ignore it, but…I’ve had many suspicions about “this world” and “new world” for quite some time.

Maki still hasn’t gotten over her habit of saying “Do you want to die?” to stuff she doesn’t want to hear.

The only one who could have written it and then conveniently found it is Gonta, and I believe him when he says he didn’t. This isn’t being written by any of the Ultimates.

There isn’t much we can do with it for now. Not till more writing appears.

Gonta might still be a gullible guy, but he’s at least wised up to Kokichi’s trickery.

Monokuma shows up, likely to get the Kubs to give us new items. With only two Kubs left, there should be two items, one of which will likely be used on the wall scroll on the 4th floor.

The Kubs come, but it’s a lot less lively with only two. And they’re bickering and bullying each other. Monophanie whacks Monotaro over the head with a frying pan, causing various amusing personality changes to occur.

Kokichi just wants the reward already. He’s way too into this. He’s the only one left who wants there to be a killing game…so I gotta keep that in mind.

A levistone, an octobrush, and a card key. The brush should go to the wall scroll, and the levistone…I have no idea. We don’t have an airship, after all. As for the card key…well, I only know one place, behind a certain bookshelf, that can be opened with a card key.

Oh good, the card key is the motive too. Definitely related to the bookshelf then.

What motive lies behind the Monokuma door, though?

Keebo says that in that case, they won’t use the card key. Kokichi grabs the card key and declares that he wouldn’t mind if another murder happened. This is a game, and games are meant to be played.

Kokichi leaves with the card, and Kaito runs after him. After they leave, Monokuma mentions the flashback light being hidden somewhere, and he leaves. The Kubs do so as well.

So, seven people to search for Kokichi, while Shuichi alone looks through the new areas. And Kaito’s chasing after Kokichi as well, on his own. We can’t go to the library in the basement, since there’s no mysterious objects there. We also can’t tell the others where to wait for Kokichi to inevitably come to. Oh well.

The octobrush automatically paints the scroll, revealing the stairs to the fifth floor. Hoo boy.

The fifth floor is like a middle age chapel, but with two Monokuma statues representing god and the devil. Tsumugi is concerned by a strange door. Is this…her lab?

Inside what is indeed the Ultimate Cosplayer’s Lab, there is…a sewing machine, work tables, two filming set for photoshoots (one with elaborate abckgrounds), and a third set, a replica of a bar.

The drinks here are real. Tsumugi mentions she used to make cocktails at her part-time job. Which was what? Do tell.

Whatever these part-time jobs were (it sounds like it wasn’t just one), Tsumugi would turn on the charm at these and ask for help with her financial troubles. Then she got sponsors and didn’t need to do that anymore, I guess.

Tsumugi makes us a cocktail (virgin, on the rocks). Nice!

Tsumugi likes her lab, but doing cosplay by herself isn’t fun. So she invites Shuichi to cosplay with her. We have no option to decline, but we manage to delay it till after the investigation of the new areas is done.

Maki is near the other side of the floor, musing on how the floor is basically a Monokuma chapel. Considering what the killing game has done to people’s beliefs in God, Atua or otherwise, this feels like a sick joke.

There’s two rooms at the end of the hall. One of them is clearly an Ultimate Research Lab. Turns out, it’s ours. The Ultimate Detective Lab…it’s about damn time.

Something about the lab is giving Maki a bad feeling…

Maki is a better detective than the Ultimate Detective. We need to step up our game.

The lab feels made for like, Sherlock Holmes or someone. Not a high school detective like us.

A bookshelf containing 50 or so files. Each one containing photographs of murder scenes, and descriptions of the murders. Someone could easily take a look at these for inspiration as to what tricks to use in a murder. But with each trick detailed in the file, there’s an explanation as to how it was carried out. And with everyone able to check these files, any trick taken directly from them would be easily solveable.

This file doesn’t have photographs. Just drawn illustrations? The older files all have illustrations, and the newer ones have photographs. Odd. It’s like they aren’t real cases.

And on the other shelf, there are chemicals. Most likely poisons.

We could pour em all down the drain, but nothing’s stopping Monokuma from restocking em once we leave.

The poisons in here are varied. Some cause instant death, some inflict various symptoms.

This is awfully strange. All the other labs were tailor-made to suit the needs of the Ultimates. But Shuichi’s lab doesn’t feel like a detective’s lab. It feels like a criminal’s lab. Hmmm.

Everything in here is related to one common theme: death. A detective can find out what killed someone, but they’re useless if nothing has happened yet. Conversely, they can’t save anyone. They become useful only when it’s already too late…

Kaito randomly shows up to encourage Shuichi. Maki has a warning, though. Shuichi has been the one solving these cases, as the Ultimate Detective. If someone wants to stand a good chance of escaping, one thing they could do is choose a victim who would otherwise be able to reveal the truth. Anyone looking to become the blackened could very well try and kill Shuichi.

Kaito pledges to protect Shuichi and Mako both. Even when Maki says she could potentially be a future blackened, Kaito immediately dismisses the possibility. Because he believes in us.

Kokichi escaped Kaito and is currently…somewhere. Where could that be, though?

Kaito did find something in his search – the flashback light. We’ll meet later on to use it, Maki included this time. If Kokichi doesn’t show up to use it with us, he’ll just have to deal with not having the relevant memories.

As for the other door in this hall, it’s a grand one, with a big ��ol old-fashioned keyhole. We must get the key next chapter, right?

Nothing else on this floor. To the dining hall, to maybe get a hint on where to use the levistone, and to look at the flashback light. Actually, let’s see if the levistone works on the Othello door first. Nope…and we can’t go to the dining hall till we find out what the levistone unlocks. It’s gotta be something outside…

Monokuma originally said this whole place was built for us…we still don’t know this place’s true nature.

Himiko is teaching herself how to make facial expressions. Gonta still keeps occasionally seeing that tiny bug. Miu’s glad that no one’s talking about Atua anymore, and is shit-talking Angie.

Keebo couldn’t find Kokichi, and he thinks Shuichi’s comments on the matter are robophobic.

An object with an indentation that wasn’t here before. HMMMM.

After we put the stone in the indentation, the stone starts to levitate, shoots up towards the End Wall, and a building comes crashing down onto Miu’s lab, combining with it into a bigger building. Weird. Could this be Keebo’s lab? Why is it in such close proximity to Miu’s? Is it because she’s the Ultimate Inventor and he’s basically the Ultimate Invention?

Woah, this lab looks so cool. There’s nothing we can investigate in here beside the monitor, and nothing we can shoot. Dammit.

Upgrade parts for Keebo? Well, sounds good to me, except I don’t trust Miu to not make the new functions pervy in some way.

Keebo doesn’t like sci-fi technology (uh-huh. Got some bad news for you, buddy.) and does not like his lab at all.

Shuichi’s lab is perfect for a detective, and Keebo’s lab is perfect for a robot…but a generic detective or robot. Were the two labs not made for Shuichi and Keebo specifically?

Keebo would prefer a more Japanese-themed lab, since that’s his favorite type of food. Too bad he can’t actually eat! But he appreciates the aesthetics of it.

Keebo’s image of a perfect lab includes kimonos, and a porch with wind chimes. OK. Guess this lab is free for anyone to use, since Keebo isn’t gonna use it.

Everyone gathers in the dining hall to use the light. Except Kokichi. Well, too bad for him, then.

He might be in a place we didn’t look, because we couldn’t. Whatever the card key unlocks. Hey, anyone wanna take a guess what that could be? Such as, secret bookcase door?

Tsumugi’s a bit worried about the flashback lights, but if we don’t use them, how will we regain our memories and learn more clues?

Miu calls Himiko fish dicks. Himiko mishears it as fish sticks. Before the two of them can get into a spat, a familiar voice rings out…hello Kokichi.

Kokichi claims he couldn’t use the card key. After all, he had no idea where to use it. You little liar, you know exactly where that goes.

Kokichi baits Kaito into turning on the light. Which he was gonna do anyways, but now we have no loverage over Kokichi…dammit.

The light restores our memories of the world. The world, with meteorites raining down on it from above. With rioters and looters in the streets and everyone panicking as the end draws near.

A researcher said that similar meteorite impacts happened millions of years ago, destroying all life on Earth.

And within that chaos, strange groups started forming. Groups claiming that mankind deserved their imminent destruction. Cults.

But since we got here, not a single meteorite has been seen.

There was a plan, too. A plan to try and save the world…the Gofer Project. All countries banded together, but it failed.

As for why it failed…we’re once again at a loss. We don’t know what exactly the project was, why it failed…there’s no clues about the Ultimate Hunt, either.

Miu starts to freak out. Mankind deserves damnation? Living in this academy, forced to kill each other…the Ultimates are already damned. This is a hell of its own. And she wants out.

Everything will probably start to connect after the next flashback light. But that means someone becoming a blackened…

Kokichi wouldn’t be surprised if the explanation for all this was that everyone was already dead, and the Ultimate Academy is the afterlife. My theory about the situation seems to be something that’s possible. If this is all a computer simulation, and we’re AIs created from the memories of the real deals…programs that don’t know we’re programs (except for Keebo, who I guess would be a double program)…if that’s the case, we could make sense of a lot of things. The only thing about this is how it would differentiate itself from Dangan Ronpa 2…other than there being no physical bodies to return to.

Also, the V in V3 would have to stand for virtual, right?

If anything is possible, then everything is possible. If meteorites can happen, us being already dead could happen too. A mysterious space virus, or some weird technology, or some unknown substance brought to Earth, capable of bending time and space…

Perhaps Kokichi’s just using his vivid imagination. But on the other hand, the flashback lights, the Exisals, Monokuma and his Kubs…none of that makes any sense either, so aren’t all “common sense” theories out the window?

Gonta put the manhole cover back next to the manhole and removed the boulders. But there’s no way we can get through the Death Road with only nine people…

We head back to our rooms for the time being…

*Silver the Hedgehog voice* IT’S NO USE

Yes, I’m gonna type that every time that particular Shuichi voice line gets used.

Free time. Let’s check out the casino first.

All the minigames have normal mode unlocked! Before it was just easy that was available.

Next, to the library! Where we don’t seem to realize what the card key could unlock, no matter how much we click on the bookcase. Ugh.

Well, Free Time with someone, then. Next time!

[princess--cynthia]

@tacticiantxmpted​ liked for a D&D Build!

This is, like, the third FE13MU variant I’ve done but at least they’ve all been different. I debated about what route to take the Grima corruption, eventually deciding to reflavor Tiefling as a possessed human and being careful with my spell selection over doing another Warlock build, since Warlock’s combat abilities don’t mesh well with Tactician. Finally, I took some levels of Mastermind Rogue for thematic reasons (it literally has an ability called Master of Tactics), as well as granting access to Expertise for a pair of skills. 

Enchantment Wizard 17 / Mastermind Rogue 3

I briefly considered Divination Wizard to further build on the tactics theme, but Enchantment Wizard works with the Grima theme of corruption and gradual control. Ultimately Cass is another support caster (I don’t think I’ve made a straight-up blaster yet except for min-maxing Maribelle’s Panic Button lightning bolt spell), but a pretty good one.

Granted, it’s hard not to be a good anything if you’ve got Wish access. I mean, I also gave her a slightly modified Book of Vile Darkness, which is absurdly broken, so the odds of your DM letting this final build hit the table intact is highly unlikely. 

In an actual campaign, I’d start as Wizard for one level, immediately dip into Rogue at level 2 for Expertise in Arcana and Insight (which is what I’d fluff as the ‘tactics’ skill), going straight to Mastermind Rogue as early as possible before jumping back to wizard from level 5 onwards. 

Full build under cut. 

Race: ‘Tiefling���  Background: Acolyte Class/Level: Enchantment Wizard 17 / Rogue 3

Proficiency Bonus: +6

STR 10 (+0) CON 10 (+0) DEX 16 (+3) INT 22 (+6) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1)

AC 20 Initiative +3 Speed 30ft

Total HP 126 Hit Die 17d6 + 3d8

Proficient Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom Proficient Skills: Insight, Religion, Arcana, History, Persuasion

Attacks: Fire Bolt (120ft range; +13 to hit; 4d10 Fire Damage; Ignites flammable objects)

Languages: Common, Infernal, Draconic, Elvish(’Magic’) Weapon Proficiency: All simple; Light Armor Tool Proficiency: Thieves’ Tools, Forgery Kit, Disguise Kit, Chess Set

Features & Traits: Darvision 60ft; Hellish Resistance (Resistance to Fire); Infernal Legacy (Bonus spells); Arcane Recovery (Once per day during a short rest, you can recover used spell slots that in total equal to or less than half your wizard level [9]. You may not prepare new spells for the day, only regain used slots); Expertise (Add 2x your Proficiency bonus to Arcana and Insight); Sneak Attack; Thieves’ Cant; Cunning Action (As a bonus action, you can dash, disengage or hide); Master of Intrigue (Bonus languages, can mimic accents after listening to them for a minute, bonus proficiency); Master of Tactics (Can use the Help action as a bonus action instead; Can Help someone performing a melee attack within 30ft of you instead of needing to be within 5ft of the target); Enchantment Savant (Half the gold cost and time to inscribe in your spellbook for enchantment spells); Hypnotic Gaze (As an action, force a creature that can see you within 5ft to pass a Wisdom save or have their speed drop to 0. You need to use an action to sustain this effect.); Instinctive Charm (When a creature within 30ft tries to attack you, they must pass a Wisdom save or hit the next closest target instead. Use successfully only once per long rest); Split Enchantment (When you cast an Enchantment spell that targets only one creature, it can target two instead); Alter Memories (When you cast an Enchantment spell on a creature, you can make it unaware that you have done anything to it, and force an Intelligence save. If they fail, you may have them lose a number of hours equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier from their memory); Tough (Bonus HP)

Equipment: Robe of the Archmagi (Base armor class becomes 15+DEX modifier if you are not wearing armor; Spell save DC and spell attack bonus increase by 2; Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects; Attuned); Tome of Grima [Book of Vile Darkness, functionally, minus the -2 to one stat] (Mask of Darkness - Changes your physical appearance. Grants Advantage to Persuasion with evil creatures, and Advantage to Intimidation with non-evil creatures; Command Evil - Can cast the Dominate Monster spell targeting an evil target with DC18 without using a spell slot. Dark Lore - Double your proficiency bonus when making a knowledge check about evil sources. Dark Speech - Speak foul words, taking 1d12 psychic damage and all non-evil creatures within 15ft take 3d6 psychic damage. Grants Immunity to Disease, Proficiency in Persuasion and +1 AC. Also allows you to cast the Raise Dead spell once a day. However, you have a Vulnerability to Radiant damage, and must pass a DC15 Intelligence or Charisma save each dawn or Grima will take over permanently. The Tome of Grima cannot be destroyed. Can be used as a spellbook. Attuned.); Bracers of Defense (+2 to AC if not wearing armor, Attuned)

Spellcasting Attribute: Spell Save DC:  Spell Attack Roll: 

Spontaneous Caster / Wizard / Pact Magic

Spellcasting Attribute: Intelligence Spell Save DC: 21 Spell Attack Roll: +13

Cantrips (5 Known)

 * Friends (Enchantment)  * Message  * Mage Hand  * Fire Bolt  * Light

1st Level Spells (4 slots)

 * Charm Person (Enchantment)  * Sleep (Enchantment)  * Alarm  * Chromatic Orb  * Detect Magic  * Shield  * Magic Missile

2nd Level Spells (3 slots)

 * Crown of Madness (Enchantment)  * Hold Person (Enchantment)  * Suggestion (Enchantment)  * Cloud of Daggers  * Knock  * Invisibility  * Misty Step

3rd Level Spells (3 slots)

 * Fireball  * Lightning Bolt  * Fly  * Haste  * Counterspell  * Sending

4th Level Spells (3 slots)

 * Confusion (Enchantment)  * Fire Shield  * Ice Storm  * Wall of Fire

5th Level Spells (2 slots)

 * Dominate Person (Enchantment)  * Hold Monster (Enchantment)  * Teleportation Circle  * Contact Other Plane  * Planar Binding  * Scrying

6th Level Spells (1 slot)

 * Mass Suggestion (Enchantment)  * Chain Lightning  * Circle of Death

7th Level Spells (1 slot)

 * Simulacrum  * Sequester  * Teleport

8th Level Spells (1 slot)

 * Dominate Monster (Enchantment)  * Power Word Stun (Enchantment)  * Mind Blank  * Sunburst  * Antimagic Field

9th Level Spells (1 slot)

 * Power Word Kill (Enchantment)  * Wish  * True Polymorph

RACIAL MAGIC - CHARISMA CASTING

Cantrips

 * Thaumaturgy

2nd Level once per long rest

 * Hellish Rebuke

3d Level once per long rest

 * Darkness

[fiveknivesdates]

No one's gonna stick the pieces together for you

Camilla

Name: Shira Omuraliev

Id number: -05

Birth: October 19th, 1991

Arrival: February 4th, 2000

Gender: Female

Room number: 5

Nationality: American

Specialities: Transformation

Languages spoken: English.

History: Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to Aibek and Azra Omuraliev. Has two siblings, her twin sister Dinara and younger brother Devin whom she has not met. Started using her powers in late 1999 and joined the Organization a couple months later.

That was all that stood on the first page in the book. Two pictures were plastered on the left side of the page, one of a young girl that must be Shira when she arrived. The other looked as if it could have been taken yesterday. She was wearing that same gold eyeliner and her short black hair looked wild. I stared at the pictures for a long while, looking at her smile, her eyes, her hair. Young Shira had long, straight black hair. There was something about these two pictures that irked me deeply. Maybe it was seeing a younger version of somebody I had just met, making her somehow seem more real. This picture of Shira from years ago was proof that she was a person with a life and a story to tell. She had big teeth and was wearing a red t-shirt with butterflies on. She was just a kid, and already she had come to this place. Already she had begun controlling the world around her. She had grown so much, still looking at the newer picture, it was clear that she was still young. There was still a child inside of her, longing to be set free. I saw it in the way she lined her eyes in that shimmering gold, the way her hair had both grown shorter, but also wilder.

There was more to Shira than I had first thought. I needed to know who she had been four years ago when Javier and Miriam were killed. I needed to start somewhere, I needed to dig deep into everything about her if I wanted to know if she could have done it, and as I had just learned a few hours ago, nothing was impossible.

When I heard knocking on my door, I was sure it must be Shira. She had shown me around yesterday, so why shouldn’t she also be the one to check up on me today? However, when I opened the door, I wasn't greeted by a black bob cut, but a cloud of golden curls. Erika was fidgeting with her silk skirt as I looked her up and down.

“Good morning,” She said cheeringly. “It’s time for breakfast, then we’ll begin lessons”

“Lessons?” I asked bewildered as I followed her down the hall to the elevator

“Didn’t Shira mention?” Erika asked me. “Well, you are supposed to receive lessons by everyone, starting with me today”

“For the whole day?”

“No, you’ll get plenty of free time to roam.” Erika answered as the doors opened to the Kitchen and Common Room. “But after dinner we have obligatory training on floor 14”

“What's on floor 14 again?” I asked as we sat down by the kitchen table.

“That’s the maze,” Erika said. “Adi and Shira are turning it into a city so we can practice urban combat and chase.”

“Is it really clever to make everybody compete with each other?” I asked as I sipped the mug of coffee Erika had handed me, then I continued, clarifying: “After yesterday’s dinner?”

“Clever? No, not if you asked me,” Erika answered truthfully. “Necessary? Yes, if you asked Adi”

“How long till I’ll meet your leader?”

“Depends,” Erika said with a sly smile, a beckoning for me to remember a conversation we’d been a part of a few days ago. “Adi is a busy man, but maybe if you ask nicely he’ll let you visit him in his workshop”

“So your leader is too busy to meet your newest member?” I asked, then leaned over the table to punctuate what I was about to say. “Or does he just not care enough to bother?”

If you asked me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how I knew to strike where I did. The truth is, I sensed something about Erika and the way she said Adi’s name, like she was uttering the name of a god long forgotten. She was the only one who said his name like that, like it meant more than any other word in every other language. It made me believe that she felt strongly about the guy. It made me think that if I ever said something rude about him, she’d take offense to it.

That’s why I let my mouth run.

Erika smiled at me, unbothered. The only thing indicating her irritation was her fingers that wrapped a little tighter around her own mug of coffee. “Adi cares, but he sometimes gets a little stuck in his study”

“Why don't we go down and visit him, then?” I asked with no idea of why I was going this far to meet another new face when I was already exhausted from all the new faces I had met.

“Like I said,” Erika chirped. “We would have to ask nicely”

“We are not allowed in the workshops?”

“We are not allowed in his workshop.” I could see the gentle lines and sweet smile begin to fade on Erika’s face, into a tired annoyance. A triumph. She continued: “And why do you even want to visit him so badly? You’ll get your chance soon enough to see him”

I didn't know why I wanted to see him. To see who was the mastermind behind my kidnapping? To meet the most powerful of the most powerful? Adi was their leader, he must be more powerful then the others, more wise. Or maybe I just want answers.

I don't have any questions on my mind, I am perfectly question free. I am the only one who knows who I am. Still I seek answers, seek purpose. A reasoning.

I don't know.

I don't know what I am seeking, I just know that I have been grasping towards something my entire life and being here, seeing magic unfold inside of myself, it all makes me feel like I am close to finding what I was looking for all that time. I desperately want to close my hand and feel my own life inside of it, and I thought Adi might be the key for me to do so. When in a castle, you go to the king for purpose, not his servants.

“I just do,” I tell Erika, a truthful lie. The kind of lie I have a talent for telling.

“Let’s wait till after your lesson” Erika said with a force behind her words. I close my mouth and look down into my food.

The entirety of Floor Ten is dedicated to training. There is a big empty room with swords and other tools for fighting are lined along the wall. Inside another room is a swimming pool, which I found strange, seeing as we are surrounded by water already.

We entered a small room with a round table in the middle and a whiteboard covering an entire wall.

“Sit down, please.” Erika said, so I did. “Welcome to your first theory lesson.”

I got up right away. I am not here to listen to Erika ramble on about magic while I just sit quietly. I wanted to practice, I wanted to use magic.

“Camilla sit down, please” Erika said again, still with that polite tone but now with more power behind it, so I sat down. I didn't mean to sit down, it just sort of happened. I look up at Erika and she is smiling at me, all sunshine and goldm and I want to tear the smile of her face. I was beginning to figure out that Erika’s smile was unwavering. I knew I was getting on her nerves, I could see that clearly in the way her hands gripped the back of the chair she was standing behind, but still she continued to smile at me.

“I don't want to be here,” I said plain and simple.

“You’ll get to use your powers for the rest of your life,” Erika wheddled. “But it’ll be easier if you know what you are doing. This isn’t just fun and games. We are born with the power to tamper with the universe, don't you think we owe the world to be careful with those powers?”

I didn’t care about the world, I just wanted to know myself. I didn't say as much to Erika but instead folded by hands and waited for her to get on with the lesson.

The lesson lasted until lunch, with no breaks. It was easy stuff, mostly Erika talking about how our powers and the universe works, with only a few mentions of the kind of missions the Organization sent it’s Tethered on, but for a girl like me who has not been in school for four years, I was suddenly reminded of how hard it is to sit still and listen for a prolonged time.

According to Erika, the magic we used was the thing that bound the universe together and made things happen. It’s that happening that we control, that we use to run fast or swim further or light up the world. Few people have this power, and it is unpredictable who gets to be born with the powers. She said the last part like she was answering a question I had yet to say out loud, and when she did I realized it was one of the questions inside of me. Why was I picked? Why me?

The Organization is a funny thing to me. It’s old, older than I can properly grasp, and it’s sole purpose is to protect humankind. That means also protecting Earth. The Organization is led by an elected Tethered, that being the mysterious Adi at the moment. Adi, born in 1770, is the oldest member of the Organization, but he is not the oldest known Tethered.

Erika explained that it takes time to learn new powers, which is why it’s a general rule that the older a Tethered is, the more dangerous.

“But age isn't the only thing that makes us more powerful.” Added Erika. “We all have a bucket, which we use to draw magic from the well of the universe. Imagine if you used your bucket, but gave whatever was in it to someone else. Someone who already knows how to drink the water.”

“Sounds very wise,” I admitted “But I don’t really get it”

“Well,” Erika offered “Point is we can boost each others powers. It’s usually done by physical contact, like holding hands. It’s one of the reasons the Organization is so effective. Drifters have to rely on their own powers and knowledge, but we can share those things.”

“If that’s true, how are the Drifters even benefiting from being alone?” I speculated aloud.

Erika’s eyes lit up. “That is a good question. Why stay alone when you could work together? Why wander the earth, older than any other human around you; lonely. Why do that of your own free will when it’s so easy to reach out your hand to people like you?”

She knew that I knew the answer, and I did. I was alone too, maybe not for as long as some of the Drifters around the world, but that hardly mattered. Fact was that I ran away because I wanted to be alone, because I wanted to be free. They all traded power for solitude, a choice that might sound ridiculous to most people who didn’t know that solitude is sometimes another word for freedom. I knew now that I could not stay here. I am a creature who feeds of freedom, who always shys away from people. I had to stay for a bit, at least until I figured out how to use my powers, then I’d run away and make a life of my own. Alone.

“I think you know the answer, don't you?” Erika prodded.

“I do” I said simply

“People are predictable,” Erika continued on with her lesson. “And we, the Tethered, are still just people. Some of us need connection to other human beings to feel alive, and others can only be themselves when they are alone.” I couldn’t help but tune her out, focusing instead on the glass from where I could see the deep of the ocean. It was light outside again, like the ocean lit up with the sun, even if the actual rays of light could not reach this far underwater.

“What happened to Javier and Miriam?” I cut in. Erika looked taken aback for about half a second, then she composed herself.

“They were found dead.” She began, careful with her words. “First it was Javier in Germany. Him and Zeph were on a mission and they had split up for a bit. Zeph said when he came back to their camp, Javier was laying in the snow with a knife in his shoulder and his heart bigger than his head; murdered by another Tethered.”

“And Miriam?” I asked when Erika stopped.

She smiled and looked down at her own hands. “Miriam was our leader. Brave, smart, funny. Lynn found her dead right there,” She pointed towards the seafloor that I could see clearly through the glass. A single stone was raised in the water. “There had been an earthquake. She was laying on the ground, her hands gripping onto the stone and her lungs shattered.”

“And you don't know who did this?” I asked

“You know we don't,” Erika pointed out.

“Yes,” I admitted. “But I want to find out who did it”

Erika looked me over, then shook her head. “You are in more danger than any of us. You can’t even control your powers properly, how are you supposed to defend youself from a murder? Take my advice and keep your head low while you train”

“Okay” I lied. Erika eyed me again, unconvinced, but still she continued with the lesson.

Erika takes me down to the 13th floor, which is a giant garden. The walls here aren't glass, but mirrors, making the garden seem endless. There are areas where vegetables and herbs are grown in rows, and even a section of fruit trees standing in line like a mini orchard, but the rest of the garden is an overgrown mess. Erika leads me towards a giant willow tree beside a small lake, and we sit down to eat our lunch.

Earlier today I decided that I would investigate Shira. A big part of me didn’t believe she could be the murderer. She just seemed too innocent, too carefree, but my life had taught me that you never knew just what people could be capable of. I wondered, not for the first time, if you could read it on my face how many people I had killed, or if I still had some of my innocence left.

“Can I ask you something?” I started out.

“Of course.” Erika said, looking out at the lake. There must be some sort of artificial light source hidden over us, because in that fleeting moment it looked like Erika was sitting underneath the sun, her hair ablaze in the spots where the light shone through the leaves over us.

“What does ‘transformation’ mean? I saw it on Shira’s page in that book”

“Oh, it's her powers,” Erika explained, turning towards me. I wish she would have kept looking out at the lake, because with her eyes on me I felt exposed, like she could read all my secrets. She properly could. “She has the ability to transform one thing into another. Like, wood into stone or lead into gold.”

I thought about Shira and her gold jewelry. It must be real gold she wore, real gold made by herself. I recalled Erika telling me about Javier’s death. His heart had grown bigger, until it couldn’t fit inside his chest. Shira was familiar with manipulating objects. It wouldn't be out of her capabilities to ruin organs. The mental image of Shira stabbing another person and making his heart grow felt wrong. Still it did not feel impossible.

“Was her and Javier friends?” I asked Erika.

“Kinda,” Erika answered. “They weren't anything special. Javier spent most of his time hanging with Zeph or Aiden, and Shira was mostly found down in the workshops with Adi. But that didn't mean they werent friends, ya know. Everyone here are friends”

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Everyone here were friends” Erika reiterated. “Believe it or not, we didn't used to be this messy. We used to be friends. We had movie nights and we went clubbing each friday. Of course none of us are in the mood for those things since they died.”

“Do you think Shira could have done it?” I asked, the words out of my mouth before my brain caught up.

Erika laughed, shortly. “No, have you met her? Shira couldn't even hurt a fly, as if she would even stand a chance against Miriam.”

“Was Miriam strong?”

“The strongest” Erika sighed. “She was old, very old.”

“But Javier? Could she have done that?”

“I don't see why you are interested”

“Precautions” I said, simply.

Erika looked at me then, and I wished that I had never asked her anything. She looked right through me and it made my soul shake. “Don't try to play detective, Camilla.”

I left with the sound of my own name ringing from her lips. <-- Previous chapter // Next chapter --> Chapter index

[isaacathom]

probably the only cool thing that came out of my stupid dr:dawn thing was the whole thing with the three traitors. they were kinda cool. technically 4 if you count the mastermind, but practically 3

like theres the 3 of them. an actor, a director, and an analyst or some kinda iirc. they were best friends while attending the school, the actor and director were basically dating, its all nice. their 4th friend was i think a computer programmer of some kind, and after a series of logic leaps, decides ‘hey time to kill everyone’. and, with a lot of reservations, the three of them go on board. the actor and director know that they can pretend to have no idea whats happening (yknow, because HE is an actor and she must have learnt something from being a director, surely). but the analyst knows she cant. she knows she wouldnt be able to pretend. so she volunteers to go under the memory wipe so she cant give the game away. a/d arent super into the idea, but she goes under, and the game is under way.

within the game, the analyst either comes to believe she has no talent, or is the ultimate luck, idr. the actor and director have to pretend that theyve never met the others, but the whole group accepts that the two already know each other (which was always true). in an effort to make sure noone tries to ask them too many questions (and thus accidentally blurt out smth stupid) the two deliberately adopt sorta awkward personas. he actor (peeeter? peter, i think) deliberately acts the giant jackass, standoffish and aloof, tho its fairly obvious the further the game goes on that he genuinely cares about everyone. its a stereotypical act but its cool. she puts on a more ~quirky~ persona, acting as though the whole thing is just like one of her movies (which isnt TOO far from the truth, technically) which honestly just pisses a lot of people off.

what hurts a/d the most is that they end up pissing off the Analyst, who finds them insufferable, despite the fact they were once best friends. it really hurts, yknow.

the game goes on, people die, all fun. but it gets to a point where the remaining group is rather tightknit (excluding a/d, naturally), and the programmer mastermind gets incredibly bored. and so she reveals the next motive - Peter, the actor, is the prime accomplice to the mastermind.

and god, how much does it hurt to see people he once called friends turned white with fear and then red with anger. watch his girlfriend struggle to convey the correct emotion and just shake in confusion. everyone anger. he just bolts. completely loses it. out the fucking door in a flash. its almost insane how quickly he leaves. mans having a fucking breakdown in that cabin man. holy shit.

so his girlfriend, the director, Ashley, stammers out something about getting the Truth from him, and she leaves after him. their discussion is tough, because what do they do? rose (programmer, iirc) betrayed them. what do they do? dont do anything stupid, he tells her, when she goes to leave. :)

now Ashley knows whats up. by outing peter, he’s been made into a target. he’ll be interrogated, or executed. his death hangs on the wall, slowly ticking along. its only a matter of time. and she wont have that.

so she sets up a plan. she leaves a note on a random table, purportedly from peter, asking someone to meet them down in one of the rooms. peter doesnt leave his cabin, so theres no risk of him finding out about her plan unless someone knocks on his door. noone does. even though she usually gets up first, she deliberately sleeps in to ensure she isnt the first to find it. if questioned, she says she couldnt sleep due to the peter thing. everyone nods understandingly.

its breakfast. the note is gone. someone has it, and wont own up. the discussion at the table is either quiet or centered around what to do about peter. Ashley insists they go easy on him..... he cant be all that bad! they should talk to him! her words fall on deaf ears. but that note didnt.

that night, she hides at the meeting spot. one of the others finally arrives, clutching it. peter? she hides as her victim enters the room. then, bam, sneak out from behind the door, club the fuckers head in IMMEDIATELY. her victim collapses to the floor. its, i think the boxer. as she sets up her crime scene, she realises the cruel irony. that she murdered to save her boyfriend, who she knows was never into the death game idea and was coerced in by herself and rose, and that the person she murdered also had a girlfriend. another player in their game. she’ll be devastated, wont she. wouldnt be the first time a couple was torn apart by murder, she supposes. it cant be all that bad.

her crime scene is meticulously set up. she wants it to be obvious it was her, but not so obvious as to look fake. she finishes, closes the door, and heads back up to her cabin. the day looms.

the girlfriend ends up finding the body, having been told by him the night before that if anything happened, she should look on that floor. its detective and trial time.

peter is practically dragged out of his cabin by said girlfriend, demanding an explanation. he, truthfully, states he knew nothing about the meeting until they mentioned it, and knew nothing about the murder until he was given the case file by monokuma. people dont believe him. Ashley appeals for calm. its rough.

the trial isnt great. the girlfriend has decided that peter MUST be responsible due to the note. the analyst (still believing thats NOT her talent) instead deduces it to be clearly in Ashley’s handwriting, and blah blah. eventually, ashley is convicted, despite peter’s increasingly desperate attempts to reflect the blame back onto himself because of COURSE he cant fucking believe it!!!!! no!!! ashley is found guilty. peter absolutely breaks the fuck down. raw as fuck. no artifice at all, begging ashley for an explanation, a reason. ashley explains to them all that she knew peter would be murdered if she didnt act, blah blah. and then drops the final bombshell. he knows who the mastermind is. and he will tell you. :) smiles directly to camera before shes dragged off to her execution. peter is still absolutely fucking bereft. and like, yea, hes an ACTOR, but its..... very obvious. everyone had already caught on that his bravado was an act, and it had been breaking the entire trial. with each new point of evidence against her his artifice shattered more, until he said some shit that made is VERY obvious he was definitely a non-mind wiped fucker. guy lost his shit. poor guy.

after Ashley’s execution, and monokumas subsequent revelation that hey, ashley was also in on it. funny, that? and, oh, theres still one more left! :3c everyone is a little bit..... stunned, i think. peter goes to leave. likely gets stopped by the analyst, who offers him a tissue of something. dude breaks down again. he’s just having a rough day.

time passes. there are no more murders. peter divulges a lot of stuff, particularly about the years they lost due to the mindwipe. he’s hesitant to talk about rose, and he’s REALLY conflicted about calling out the analyst’s real power.

later later, all the shit ramps up, the analyst’s complicity in the entire thing (and the fact she was weirdly SUPER fucking into it, and that most of the fine details were her idea) is revealed, shit hits fan, eventually everyone kick’s roses ass and leaves.

uhhh tl;dr the 4 best friends set up the death game, with one acting as mastermind, 2 acting as plants, and 1 participating as a clueless fucker with mind wiping and some other memory fuckery (which she actually didnt agree to, funnily enough, and which started to bother ashley and peter when it became obvious she had been ‘tampered’ with). 1 of the plants is betrayed and exposed to the group, and the other plant (his gf) then fucking kills a guy in order to stop the others from being too rash and killing him before he could tell them anything. that was really on it. i really liked Peter and Ashley. i think those were their names. its good fun.

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

"... Alavar has become emotionally exhausted due to all the news. And due to personal reasons, she's deciding to unfollow some people here on tumblr to keep her dashboard clean."

"If you're a mutual-exclusive blog and Alavar unfollows you, she's well aware of your desire to not rp with her because of it. She's just doing this to not only lower her stresses and flow of her dash, but because she's following one too many blogs."

"...in any case, she's been struggling. Hope you guys understand."

"If you don't, there's the unfollow button. Fuck off and leave Alavar to recover in peace."

"...why am I speaking on her behalf? She feels more comfortable this way."

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

"Wait, hold on. An alternate version of Mr. Dove got stabbed by an alternate version of Date? Huh..."

"That's damn impressive." [SAITO, NO.]

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

[A harem? An orgie?!]

[Saito does not like that one bit. brb, going to stay in his home alone forever.]

[psyncin-in-the-restrain]

bloodstainedsails replied to your post: Okay well then I guess I’m not replying to shit?

FORBODEN

“I just wanted to reply...”