#AND I ALSO NEED WHIT TO SURVIVE

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

Ask and you shall recieve lmao [Obvious trigger warning for parent death, probably should’ve had that in my previous post too. Oops.] - So something I realized thanks to one of @in-a-bucket​’s analysis posts on Whit (seriously go read them if you’re a Whit enjoyer) is that when talking about his deceased mom, he only ever brought up her looks and how beautiful she was which...is strange as you’d think he’d bring up her personality first especially since when talking about his dad, who he’s probably a lot less close to due to how distant he is, he does mention his personality. All of this is to say that I think Whit’s mother, or Elizabeth as I’ll be calling her cause that’s her canon name...wasn’t exactly as good of a person as Whit’s view of her would lead you to believe. But Whit still chooses to look up to her and see the best in her (the latter of which Whit does a lot as we know) because she was probably the only person Whit truly had in his life. Whit’s father, Lin/Steve, was absent from his life due to working overseas and though we don’t know much about Whit’s social or school life, it’s possible Whit didn’t have many friends as well. Elizabeth was really the only person he had, so he chose to see her in the best possible light and put up with whatever treatment she gave him because if she left then he would be truly alone. But as we know, she ended up leaving regardless...just in a different way. (Sidenote: Taking this into consideration, this probably was the beginning of Whit’s “everything is fine and I’m fine” approach to situations, the death of his mother was just the water that let the seed grow until it hit the ceiling) - Whit is canonically a light sleeper, and the canon reason for this is because he can’t sleep when there’s light, and that’s probably true but I’m an angsty fool so I shall propose another answer. I feel like Whit often has nightmares about Elizabeth and her death, these nightmares possibly often involve the day of her death or Elizabeth blaming him for whatever happened. I saw someone say that it’s possible Whit saw Elizabeth die whatever her cause of death was, and if so that’s one more thing to add to his nightmares. These nightmares very often wake Whit up, and he can almost never fall back asleep. - On the topic of sleep issues caused by Elizabeth’s death, I feel like after she died Whit possibly developed insomnia due to his mind being filled with thinking about her death. If this still sticks with him now, I also imagine he has some serious panda-like eyebags, he just covers them up with concealer or foundation. - The reason Whit knows how to cook is because he had to start cooking for himself after Elizabeth died because Lin is always overseas and thus obviously can’t cook. And generally had to become an adult before he was ready to - I feel like whenever Whit is alone, which is basically all the time, he just...talks to Elizabeth as if she’s still here. He’ll tell her about his day, about any jokes he’s come up with, about his job as a matchmaker, all the while knowing that she will never respond... - Whit probably never went to Elizabeth’s funeral, nor does he ever want to see her grave. He doesn’t want that final permanent reminder that his mother is gone forever.

[googledetective]

I wanted to give my thoughts on the new episode, even if nobody really cares.

Spoilers, of course.

1. I love the new sprites, especially the Teruko ones.

3. I think Arturo's breakdown was very justified, and I'm glad that it happened. (also "shut your whore mouth" was the funniest shit I've heard all day!)

2. I think it's good information to know that the cast thinks they're 18 years old (inference), and Rose said that its likely been a few years. It gives us an age range now :)

2.5 (edit) Whit is looking really suspicious. I get the whole bond between him and Charles, but why would he say that Charles has no alibi if he wasn't out and about.

4. I think the fact that Teruko did not notice that Arei was swinging initially when she died, means she at least cared a bit and was surprised by her death.

5. I love the banter between Teruko and David about Xander. It's just so interesting to see such polarized and opposite opinions.

6. David really raises the question of is something out there worth more than the lives of 16 people, something I've never seen anyone consider yet or really much in Danganronpa before. I think this may end up being a justified kill.

7. David knows who Xander is... I hope that comes up again. I'm very curious as to who he really is and why David has memories. My theory is that David knew of him during or before the age of 18, so that memory wouldn't have been erased. Also why did he only say a year's worth of memories?

8. This is a bit of a leap, but I think it's safe to say David has Teruko's secret.

8.5 (edit) I'm starting to get sick of J accusing Arturo and Ace accusing Nico constantly. J is a huge fucking hypocrite, and honestly, as much as I love her, both her and Ace need to shut their goddamn mouths before I shut it for them.

9. I'm glad Hu had her moment. I talked to so many people who were starting to agree with David, so it was nice to see a different opinion. And I think she's right: that David shouldn't make the choice to die for them.

10. I'm glad David told Whit to shut up and called him out. I think that might help Whit have character development in the future, if he survives this trial.

11. My heart fucking sank when Levi confessed his secret.

12. I'm a huge Teruvid fan after this episode. I already was a fan, but holy shit.

13 (edit) David dropped the "good person" term on Xander. That's huge, considering the hidden text in the chapter card.

14. I could see Levi's reveal going one of three ways:

a. He's the killer as well and he's going to come clean

b. He's lying and he's the killer

c. He's telling the truth but he isn't the killer

Here's my opinions of the cast after this episode:

(Hu and David went up by a lot.)

[demodraws0606]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eden culprit + Hu accomplice theory

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

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

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

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

*sigh* Whit...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So here's some spice

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

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 12: Initial Thoughts

Hello everyone! I thought it'd be fun to do a post going over some of my first thoughts from the episode after each release. "Initial" is a bit of a stretch, considering I did watch it a second time while making this post, but it's more "initial" in the context of being before the next episode drops. It's sort of like my "initial thoughts" of the Milgram MVs, which are actually the result of, like, 3 hours of obsessing and research, lol.

(By the way, @accirax and I watched the episode together, so apologies if her initial thoughts end up being, like, the same as mine.)

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT CH 2 EP 12!

T/W: Body image issues/body dysmorphia, murder, suicide

The Reactions

Confirmation of what I think most of us already suspected! I do think it's a little weird that Nico didn't bring up their testimony about all of the fish being there at the last time they fed the fish. That probably means it's being saved for later in the Trial, I guess?

It's okay Teruko, I saw literally no one in the entire fanbase figure this one out either!

Why is everyone so mean to her though. Everyone here has been an idiot in the Trials at LEAST once

God I missed David

This was so funny. Get his ass.

(In all seriousness, though, I do wonder if we're going to come back to what J said. I don't currently (?) think Arei was drenched, unless the real purpose of the water WAS just to confuse the time of death, so if the water didn't connect with her enough to cool her down, it might be weird that the body isn't warm after all.)

This took me out. Who let you say that. What.

Okay, but Ace, outside of a killing game... why. Like, literally why would a plastic surgeon need to know how to do an autopsy. King.

Like Felicity...? /hj

All in all, though, this was a really interesting character moment for Arturo! And god, the fact that he started learning medical knowledge and spedrun plastic surgery specifically since age 12 HAS to mean something. My vague theories of Felicity having struggles with body image/dysmorphia (Arturo's section of this post) are... maybe real???

Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if Arturo is going to go farther in this game. I don't expect him to survive or anything, but I could see it taking him a surprisingly long time to die. He feels like he's got too much lore to unpack to die, like, next chapter. Unless he gets HELLA focused next chapter, which is definitely possible.

This is so silly. I love them.

(Note: I'm not a Whit mastermind truther, but if I were, I would point out that MonoTV sort of covering up a rules violation for Whit could be relevant. I'm not a Whit mastermind truther though, so I think this is just a very silly joke a la "no wifi! why live :(" )

Well you see Eden, the killer would have actually had all night to prepare. If, say, they mentioned that they could dial in and focus on their work for like 14 hours straight, they could have gotten a lot done before 7:30 AM!

I'll talk about this more later, but the fact that J, David, Veronika, Hu and Nico seemingly have alibis that actually matter is so iconic. I can't believe that many theories died that quick. I'll talk about that more in my theories section, though!

It's been said before, but. Funniest fucking reaction to being declared innocent of murder.

"David still has a family history of depression even if that isn't his secret" nation where you at?

This one made me laugh out loud. Who does it like him

How truthful do we think David is in this next section? I refuse to believe it's 100% a lie, just because he's cooking SO hard on SOMETHING, but I could also believe David thinks he's lying to an extent. I could definitely see a "the best lies are based on the truth" kind of thing?

Also, damn. Xanvid really is real. LGI got me to believe it but WOW David's just being gay on main now

This was a really good, succinct way to have Teruko show her opposition to David's ideas. Even if it is to end the killing game or do something "good' or whatever, Teruko is still hurt and betrayed by what Xander did. Xander tried to kill her, and presumably would have tried to kill everyone else. David is now doing the same thing.

It's going to be really interesting if, whether genuine or not, David is kinda taking on Xander's position. That's going to give Teruko a reason to (outwardly) hate him even more. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how both Teruko and David view Xander.

Also, it's so fucking funny that Teruko and David are literally fighting over Xander. Like, valid, but. Guys.

(Also, David soooo knows Teruko's secret is the killing game is all your fault. Idk if he specifically knows that Xander's plan was to kill Teruko no matter what, but he's definitely caught on to some extent.)

This was crazy. Is Xander famous? Why would everyone recognize him? Like, did David just take particular notice of Xander because he's a simp, or is there something else going on?

Notably, it's also extremely interesting that David says "Even if you all lost a year of memories for this killing game." It almost implies that David didn't? What do you know???

Also, if David DOES have weird memories about this that no one else does, it's a really interesting comparison to Teruko remembering the existence of a killing game in the area investigation when she was talking to Veronika. Are these two getting special memory privileges because they're important? Or does everyone have some kind of memory that they all should have, but only one person knows each thing?

At first I was confused when David said this, because I really don't know how dear anyone in DRDT's life to him was other than Xander. But then I realized, if David is talking about killing 15 others and yourself, he's definitely still talking about Xander's mindset. Xander had something worth the lives of 16 people that he was trying to do.

I don't know how much David cares about ending the killing game. I wonder if "belief in Xander" is the thing he's willing to kill 13 people plus himself for?

I'm starting to get REALLY curious what J's deal is. Between this and her voiced line earlier in the trial saying something along the lines of "it's like you all still haven't grasped just how serious murder is," she definitely seems to have strong opinions on specifically the morality of killing other people. WHY is she being singled out with these beliefs, what does it say about her, and where is her character headed?

(If she is the mastermind, does this couple with the "all murderers must be held accountable" rule?)

"Any answer" is so funny. I think she's looking for the truthful answer, David. This is why no one believes you when you say anything ever /aff

Notably, this is VERY similar to the plan Eden came up with that Veronika described: using the fact that TV shows need entertainment to continue to end the killing game. It's the same thing, but with a much more depressed "everyone should just give up" kind of flavor.

The level of similarity does make me think David is probably not being 100% truthful, and that he just repurposed Eden's escape plan to be something sort of similar to what he was going for.

I do think that he WAS trying to defeat the killing game by killing people through the class trial. I just think that, between Xander's actions and the motive secret he received, he was trying to kill Teruko specifically. Yet another way that David's unhinged behavior ties into the Chapter 2 secrets.

*Hu hopeless child looms in the distance*

I'm so glad that Hu gets to pop off though. She really hasn't gotten, like, any content in the series so far. Here's hoping this is kicking off her getting a bunch of time to shine!

Interesting that they had both Ace and Hu cut Nico off in this interaction. The staging definitely implies that they're trying to show that while Ace is wrong for talking over Nico and not letting them say anything, Hu is also wrong to an extent for not letting Nico defend themself and running to their rescue all the time.

I am begging you. Please discuss the murder method. I didn't realize until my rewatch of the trial that they have actually literally not talked about the murder method at ALL except for telling David that he doesn't know shit about it.

HUH?????????????

Theory Update/Analysis

Well, I'm gonna start this off by saying that I'm still pretty locked into Eden being the killer. We still need to address the tape, and I personally still found her to be decently shifty now behavior wise (she seemed nervous when we turned back to solving the trial, and she says something about "it's too hard to narrow down the killer :/" when people were talking about morning alibis). I just think it makes the most sense.

While obviously my logic for why Levi would be the accomplice has to be at least somewhat flawed, given Levi's surprise confession (!!!), I still think it's possible that Levi is the accomplice here. He could be doing this to further confuse/complicate the state of things (hence why he calls it leading people astray), and it's possible he's not being 100% honest here.

Something that Levi could be doing here is taking control of the situation and spinning the truth in his favor. Hu mentioned earlier (e11, I think?) that the secrets are phrased dramatically. Similarly, Levi may be trying to offer an explanation for his secret that might be more tame, but still believable.

For example, if Levi says that he killed one of his parents because of the circumstances he grew up in, but it turned out that his parents were extremely abusive to him in some way (cough cough Amane Momose), wouldn't people be more willing to forgive the fact that he's a "murderer"? There are different levels to the culpability of murders.

So, it's definitely possible this is still an attempt by Levi to conceal the truth of his secret. It's true that, right now, no one's really trying to match all of the remaining secrets up with the remaining secret holders in-universe, but the entire fanbase pretty much slam dunked this one. Once the content of the secrets was revealed, it wasn't too difficult to track the origin of this secret to Levi. Levi might know that, and might be trying to spin it in a positive way while he can get everyone's attention and tell everyone the same narrative here in the class trial.

I don't think any Levi accomplice or killer truthers have to fully give up on the idea, or at least not until we see what Levi actually says after this. It's a WILD topic to reveal we're going to talk about, but we haven't actually talked about it yet. If we were told "we get David's motivations for trying to throw the trial," I doubt literally any of us would have locked in the prediction of "David is trying to follow in Xander's footsteps by killing everyone via the trial because he kind of remembers Xander." So, until next week, I'm keeping an open mind!

This was insane. I can't believe we actually got a new episode, and that we're gonna KEEP getting new episodes until the chapter finishes. What the fuck!!!

[loveteruko]

my predictions (bingo?) for drdt, chapter 2 culprit and also everything beyond, because i'm hyped, and why not!!

the original version of this post was too long and i was yapping. it felt like i was saying everything there is to say, but also nothing of real importance, so i decided to throw everything here, without all my overcomplicated rambling (some stayed though), and hope for the best that this will satisfy the fixated monster in me that needs to get my thoughts out there. also it will be fun to see in the future what was right or wrong.

so, for all of these predictions, please assume that my reasoning is either:

theorists made such well put together points that i checked the evidence on my own while also overanalysing the heck out of it and now i'm convinced

there's not much concrete proof but i think it would make narrative sense, or it would be a great direction for some character's development from what we've already seen of them

i don't even know but sometimes we just vibe and sometimes things are real in our hearts

funny thing is that i find drdt so interesting with how it handles its themes, how it foreshadows, establishes, and resolves, that i'm not actually certain about any of these. my mind wants to analyse it like it's a standard danganronpa game, like it's easy to predict smaller plot points because of the obvious bigger picture, but the special thing about drdt is that i have no idea what the whole bigger picture really is. all i know is that we're focused on trust and distrust, and we will surely follow that path, but i actually have no idea what else is in store. and i'm rambling again but bear with me. point is: i like the writing for drdt and i know i'm not prepared for whatever will be happening later down the line.

so now, for my small predictions bingo:

as most of the community on tumblr thinks, eden and levi are culprit and possible accomplice. that's the part i'm almost sure of, one of them is getting executed. i, however, am not sure who played which role. i'd like to think levi is the one who came up with most of the plan to help eden win the trial, and he's the one with the secret of killing before the killing game (which arei got), but i can't tell why exactly eden would kill arei. eden is not secretly evil. logically there should be some trick here, or it was an accident, but the eden thing to do would be to immediately admit she did it. unless that's where levi comes into play, and he's the one who pulled even more strings, not only setting up the crime scene, but also getting eden to play along. which makes me think eden would still be the one qualified as the blackened, then levi gets to blame himself and gets sick development or whatever. and maybe he lives to try to kill or at least beat the shit out of ace but ace will not die. let's say i'm going with that. eden is the culprit

whit has some special role. he's either the mastermind, or traitor, or key to ending the game, or whatever you want to call it. there's something off about whit with how he seems to know too much

rose sleeps a lot so i think there must be a point in time where someone uses that to accuse or even frame her for murder. although i don't think she will ever get killed when sleeping. i think she's going to be a survivor

ace won't be a victim, and he doesn't seem like a culprit either, so by process of elimination he needs to survive the game

david is not evil or malicious at heart, it's his depression talking. we're dealing with someone burnt out from keeping up his optimistic persona. all this act is self-sabotage and self-deprecation. he cared for arei and now he's spiraling. he will get better though, trust

i know i already talked about chapter 2 culprit but quick hu mention: she is not the culprit simply because i have no idea what her character really is yet. all i know is she is morally grey and she will not die yet because she needs to interact with nico, david, and others some more

arturo is not going to make friends with anyone other than maybe veronica, because everyone hates him, BUT he will not die that soon. i can feel him surviving at least one more chapter just out of spite. if he dies, it's not earlier than chapter four

j will not kill and she will not survive to the end. she will be a victim. my guess is chapter 3, for no particular reason.

contrary to the two points above, there's an alternate scenario i have in mind, with arturo dying next chapter and j being accused, but still innocent. and she would still become a victim later in the game, probably chapter four

veronica is too much of a wild card but if i were to predict something regarding her role... IF she was a blackened (and i can't tell if she will be), she wouldn't be all that happy or excited about it. there would be some reflection on her part. some subtle commentary on how enjoyment of darker media doesn't, or shouldn't, equal supporting or resorting to real violence. also basically everyone in the fandom agrees her secret is the one about harming herself just to feel something. this ties to what i said, i think. maybe she would kill to test herself, but taking a life will not bring her contentment

teruko will trust less before she learns to trust more (especially if eden really will die), but if there's someone she will learn to trust first, it's going to be charles. if she gets a "pep talk" about trust, it's somehow going to be from david. one asshole to another type of conversation where he's trying to help because he does genuinely care for his classmates

nico will not try to kill anyone again, but they also won't survive

this is probably all, i don't know because i wrote this at night and fell asleep. if anyone other than me stayed to read this, thank you for coming to my ted talk

[xandermatthews2290]

My rankings on how likely I think all 13 remaining students killed Arei

I’m sure this will age perfectly fine, and I’m not about to be shut down when the series comes back

*Added some photos to make it more visually appealing, searched them up in my gallery and chose the first for all of them

13. Teruko, I don’t buy that the protagonist is gonna die this time and it’s fairly clear her character is gonna be here until the end

12. Rose, a lot of this murder seems to have been handled rather sloppily, the rope being under the spinny thingy, the note being in the trash and not flushed down a toilet or burned, while Rose has demonstrated a lot of awareness of minute details like how old painted walls are

11. Nico, their attempted murder of Ace was pretty poorly planned and I doubt they would have had the time to plan out Arei’s killing specifically, I also doubt their ability to beat Arei in a fight/knock her out, to snap her neck

10. David, oddly enough I don’t think breakdown boy is our killer, he seems to have no idea how the murder was committed and it doesn’t feel like he’s being setup to die until at least chapter 3, admitting to it at all is bizarre and there’s also his bonus scene of stopping MonoTV from releasing the murder motive, if he’s the killer then these are massive mistakes that he shouldn’t be making

9. Ace, him getting attacked by Nico is a pretty big reason I’m ruling him out early, I don’t believe he’d have been in the condition to kill Arei, hang her up on the swing set, all with a freshly sliced open throat wound , him withholding information is bad but it honestly feels in character for him

8. Arturo, admittedly the one I’m the least sure about, most of his scenes this chapter are him obsessing over Mariabella Rosales’ daughter, however his secret was one of the most in danger of being revealed, Eden being alive is the biggest argument against him since his secret got out regardless. Similar to Rose in the way that someone who’s smart enough to be a plastic surgeon should be better at disposing of evidence and not revealing his near murder of Eden

7. Charles, the dark horse for this case from my viewpoint, he had an incredibly negative reaction to his secret being revealed by J, and this murder involved 0 blood which only he would have a reason to insure that there wouldn’t be. Breaking her neck is an odd choice when blunt force and stabbing would be more accessible, stabbing in particular if Veronika’s priming claims from the first trial come back up. He seems to have taken over the traditional sidekick role for Teruko which is concerning considering both him and Eden seem to be struggling for that spot.

6. Eden, certainly one of the more popular culprits, but I have pretty different reasons personally, the biggest knocks against her surviving for me is that there are some things she’s been involved in that haven’t been explained, her fear that someone’s been following her when she meets up Teruko in the dressing room only for items in that room to become relevant in the form of the starchy hall of clothes. She also has the biggest spike in screentime this chapter with her getting the opening scene. However she is on the small side, and I question if she’d be able to commit a murder, much less for a secret she didn’t really care about.

5. Veronika, surprisingly both higher and lower on this list before, her secret hasn’t been revealed which is a decent knock against her, however her fear of boredom seems like it’s setup for later. Then there’s the issue of her being the main user of the theater room which lies directly adjacent to the playground with MonoTV calling out how you’d basically just need to break through the wall, Ace & Arturo avoid it since Ace gets easily scared and Arturo would be dealing with Eden and his secret so she would have the opportunity. She was also one of the most affected by Min’s execution which makes you wonder if she’d really risk her life the same way.

4. Whit, the darker horse for killer choices, his secret hasn’t been revealed and he’s taken credit for one that Rose threw away, it’s fully possible he’s telling the truth just really questionable to wait until it cycles back to you. He spends a lot of time around Charles and has an alibi which for me is a worse sign, if we’re going for a sad execution then Whit would probably be the saddest for Charles who could break away from him and become closer to Teruko for story purposes.

3. J/Julia Rosales/Moreno, I’m worried for her mainly because I feel like she hasn’t done much yet, she’s in the opening description for the chapter, has questionably similar proportions to Arei, and most notably the whole “not all that glitters is good” hasn’t come into play yet. Her only big scene is Arturo revealing her secret. She’s definitely a wild card and a lot of the crime scene involving ropes, gripping tape, flooding the room feel like they’d be easier for an effects artist. She’s also more likely than most to be near Arei prior to her storming into Arturo & Eden’s conflict.

2. Hu, I’m not super concerned for her being the one that killed Arei, however that isn’t exactly the merit for how the killer is determined, it’s whoever is the “most mastermindy”. She’s scarily close to David and her blowup about “giving her heart to him” feels like a very out of place scene unless there’s more we don’t know about. With about half the remaining secrets involving self harm/suicide, it isn’t out of the question for me to see her helping David kill someone for the greater good, admittedly it’s harsh but she’s also seen Xander, Nico, and Min all engage in their own murder attempts, wouldn’t it be better to get ahead and not risk Eden ripping Whit’s heart out of his chest in the meantime, and just help David the “inspirational speaker” back into the world to help more people. I do doubt her for a few logistic reasons like the fish and potentially flooded room, but if she just came up with the plan she would be the blackened according to MonoTV

1.Levi, and my official killer pick, it’s obviously not my favorite choice but he’s had a large presence in this chapter, and has been involved in several scenes with Arei. Him having her secret is suspicious to me, Levi has shown an ability to mask his frustrations before suddenly snapping, as seen during the first trial against Ace. He’s definitely strong enough to have killed Arei with the method Arturo claims to have been used, the setup could be entirely designed to make it look like it doesn’t need to be someone physically strong. I also question if he’d be the kind of person that would believe Arei’s suddenly face turn into being a nice person. His increased presence in chapter 2, connection with Eden and Arei, unrevealed secret, and overall limited room for growth makes him the most likely killer candidate.

[mocha-tapioca]

spoilers for drdt beyond the prologue utc

funniest plot twist guys actually wouldn’t it be funny if teruko was actually the rival this whole time. like if david (the guy we all collectively love and hate atp) was actually the protagonist because he still clings onto the hope that there is still some good in this world while teruko has all but given up on it because nothing good has ever come out of hoping for her. like what if this is david’s world and we’re all just living in it

okay i typed this all out for fun n i was gonna say goodnight but now that im like. writing this out. wait lowkey why is this clicking a little. something something teruko “i keep losing everything i love so i have no choice but to slowly rot in my own despair while shielding myself from letting things get worse for me. but i’m still alive anyway so i’ll survive quietly” tawaki vs. david “there is something (maybe even someone) beyond this sadistic game show that allows me to cling onto hope despite it all, and if that means everyone else including me will die then so be it” chiem

the ways they cope with loss—lashing out only to bottle it up in the end vs bottling it up only to lash out at the end—oh i love them. i love them so dearly thank u for these compelling dynamics drdt dev

is teruko actually the protagonist? she should be—we’ve been following her perspective this whole time after all. but at the same time she is constantly having her cynical worldview challenged by other people, like charles and eden and whit and david, who all cling to hope and happiness despite it all. for all the cast’s eccentricities, they have the luxuries of being able to wish for something teruko doesn’t have: a life worth living outside of this killing game. something that, as she slowly loosens up during this trial, makes her realize that oh, maybe i could have a future like this too. it’s something that i’ve noticed rivals in the canon games have too (maybe minus nagito but he was not someone whose personality i’d analyzed back in middle school where my danganronpa roots lie. also he lowkey freaks me out). maybe with these guys by my side, i can finally learn to hope again. idk power of friendship guys wahoo

david is surrounded by people who love him, who he encourages like a knight in shining armor—like a main character, perhaps. we don’t fully know how much of act it is, especially considering how this is chapter two and we got our current emo eyebag loser literally one episode ago. but what we do know is that he treasures xander a lot, though the nature of that relationship right now is unknown—romantic? platonic? parasitic, even? im not rlly into the drdt ship culture so i couldn’t tell u. the fact that david’s memories are also starting to return can help us assume that in both the current killing game and during hope’s peak, they’d idolized each other. could david be connected to the sterlings, that business family we keep seeing within the drdt universe? could the sterlings be the true mastermind and the reasons behind this place’s existence?

idk how to continue this but something something “i am the protagonist and i cannot die” seems like some sort of vague setup for a 5th/6th chapter death involving teruko that will involve david needing to take over. ties it back together for her essentially being the reason behind the first murder

[finestcigar]

My personal favorite lines from every DRDT character + explanations

Most of these are my favorites because they carry deeper implications about the characters or are thematically interesting. A few of them are just here because they're funny.

Fair warning that this is at least half just an excuse to talk about my subjective character interpretations and various cool shit I've noticed.

Spoilers up to CH2-11. Content warnings for DRDT-typical stuff.

J:

It's a kind of funny part of J's character how genuinely vindictive she gets over her secret despite it seemingly being minor and almost completely meaningless. To be fair, I guess spending four straight days hanging out with Arturo does that to a person.

Xander:

This is very interesting to me because a lot of the cast feel trapped by "fate" or unfortunate circumstances they're unable to escape (well, besides the killing game...). Teruko is the obvious example, but so are David, Arei (at first), Rose, Ace... It's common enough among the characters that I'd argue it as a central theme of the series, and I'm excited to see how it gets explored. This line being coupled with Xander immediately trying to kill Teruko despite the fact he doesn't want to seems like a contradiction, so I'm curious about that, too.

Veronika:

A big part of her character is just parodying Danganronpa fans (think Shirogane but less insulting) and I think this sums it up well. David was my least favorite character pre-CH2 and I break out in hives whenever I hear people saying he was better before, so I unfortunately can't deny how accurate this is :p A healthy appreciation for morally bankrupt characters is a keystone of maximum Danganronpa enjoyment!

Nico:

Everyone knows this one, but still. I like how Nico's shyness feels more like a character choice to make them seem unstable rather than non-threatening. This is accurate to reality since it's mostly shy people who send death threats on Tumblr dot com. (just kidding)

Eden:

Sums up her entire speech to Teruko in 2-3. What she says here cements her as the only person to stand in clear-cut opposition to the cynical worldviews of people like Teruko and David, which is important, since they're clearly supposed to be in the wrong but would otherwise lack a clear source of pushback. Disturbingly convincing theories about her being the CH2 killer aside, I think she's the only character more likely than David to die in CH5, since she seems to be taking on a role similar to Nanami and Momota in the mainline games.

Charles:

I'm getting a degree in computer science. Gonna start randomly dropping this one into conversations with people. (not really)

Rose:

This along with the rest of her backstory is symbolic for how corporations take the autonomy from artists and suck the soul out of their work. (Can you even call it symbolic if it's practically word for word?) All I can say about it is that it's a creative's horror story and this is exactly how I would feel if I were in her shoes.

Ace:

There's very obviously a lot more going on with Ace than what meets the eye. This line is a particularly clear example and I'm curious exactly what he's referring to when he says "this".

Whit:

This guy has problems.

Teruko:

Teruko being a doomer who thinks everyone besides her is fated to die. Should be obvious by this point, but this is actually why she's refusing to get close to people more than physical self-preservation: she doesn't want to deal with the grief of watching everyone else in the cast die one by one. Also ties in nicely with the next one:

David:

Similarly to Teruko, on the inside he's in complete fatalist despair thinking everyone (including himself) is gonna die. This is very telling of why he gives up on surviving and tries to get everyone to vote for him in 2-11.

Hu:

The motive secret she got is "You only took on your talent to distract from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun." This is a pretty morbid secret, but she doesn't think it's odd because the secret doesn't apply to her; she only thinks it's odd because it doesn't have her name on it. Interesting tie-in to her actual secret being the "hopeless child" one.

Min:

As someone who is an exceptional student but mid in every other area of life, I feel this hard. Min's entire bonus story speaks to me.

Levi:

Pretty funny, I laughed. Levi hasn't had his development yet so he's really leaving me with a shortage of things to say about him.

Arturo:

Again, can't explain why, I just think this is a very funny thing to say for some reason.

Arei:

I love the way this kind of cynicism is portrayed in DRDT. If Teruko and David are super negative and pessimistic about other people, Arei is a visceral demonstration of just how miserable and wet-cat-pathetic it is to hold views like those. As Eden says, "Not caring about others is the worst way to live." Although the aforementioned two were the only witnesses to this scene for a reason, I think the point was lost on both of them. Very sad!

Honorable mentions:

Self explanatory. Teruko really wants to be loved; she just believes any meaningful relationships she makes are figuratively and literally doomed.

Also self explanatory. Another indication that there's a lot more going on with Ace than meets the eye.

I always forget he said this so I get jumpscared by it every time I rewatch the prologue. Like whoa man, you're in America, you can't say that word here.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of this if you want to, though be aware I might write an entire essay if prompted. See you next time! 🚬

[downtoncoquetteroach]

Notes: so, English is not my native language so please don't be harsh on me. This supposed to be a one shot, I wrote it at 4am on my phone to avoid anxiety and in the morning I came up with some more ideas so, idk how long this will be, no more than 5 chapters for sure, I'll try to publish the second one soon. Also this is my first published fanfiction ever. I hope you like it.

⭐If I could be who you wanted ⭐

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Fem reader

Neville Longbottom x Fem reader

Word account: 2,484

Summary: Fred Weasley has been your crush forever and getting him is a real possibility but, what if it's not what you need anymore?

TW: swearing, virginity loss, fingering, slightly minimal Dom kink, breeding kink.

No Neville in this chapter, only smut Fred

🤌🏻🔥

Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5

Chapter 1: Use your words 💫

His hair, beautifully brushing his nose, his long delicate fingers touching his wand, always playing with it, provoking occasionally sparks without his knowledge as a perfect example of how y/n was feeling her stomach, watching his every move. "Red is the colour of the heart, just like it is the hair of the man who stoled mine". Y/n wrote that when she was 13 and she was full of embarrassment recognizing that she was about to send him a card with that horrid text inside but stopped as soon as she saw him and his twin mocking Ginny and other cheesey girls on valentine's. Love was as funny and unreal for him as his older brother perfect pin badge. So y/n managed to keep her love for Fred Weasley a secret, no one knew she loved him so bad she wanted to throw up every time he touched her hair, even in a playful way, she should have felt like a dog but her whole underwear was full of weird stains that could prove that she was totally soked for the man most of the time, it was ridiculous. When she found out he wanted to be on The Triwizard Tournament she cried the whole night thinking about what could happen to him, what if he died, what if he got serious damage, God how she cried, always on the verge of dramatism, always concerned about his grades and what if he got expelled?, how could she managed to survive without looking at his amazing outline, his beautiful eyes, his lovely lips mocking her whit that mischievous smile. Damn to re-read y/n first years at Hogwarts diaries is agony. She was delusional for the man... and then, the fantasy became real, but not at all in the way she expected.

So, yeah, they weren't super close but they were friends, since first year, she practically sat beside him and George at every meal and teamed up with them from time to time on class, they joked, they play, they sang out loud at party's, coping each others homework. But it wasn't like she was going with them to Hogsmeade on weekends, she was not taken in consideration for big pranks, she didn't even get the scoop in them, he certainly didn't talk to her about his girls or bring her anything from his kitchen rounds. But then, one night something changed.

The whole Gryffindor house was celebrating winning the quidditch match against Hufflepuff, Cherry Coloured Funk by Cocteau twins was playing in the old record player while every student left tried to understand what the singer was singing about, comparing her to Celestina Warbeck, drunk laughter's filling the common room, a nice soft red conjured light making everything dreamy and surreal, y/n wasn't drunk but certainly feeling funny, relaxed enough to dance alone in front of other people without being self conscious, and then, she felt a cold hand on her's, pulling with force, making her trip over the hand owners lap, Fred's lap. Y/n blushed so hard, she was immediately trying to stand, they were separated from the others, so that made him brave enough to do what he did. As Heaven or Las Vegas was filling the night, Fred's soft long slim fingers were caressing her skirt fabric, above her knees, his other hand grabbing her waist, eyes locked on y/n, his mouth slightly open, lips almost touching her's, holding his breath while his thumb finally reached her core and just for a second he touched her. Y/n jumped at the sensation and woke him up from his drunkness, he let her go and she went upstairs to wash her face, running through the whole staircase and finding her room empty, the other girls were probably around the castle kissing boys. As soon as she was alone she was full of regret, why did she run away? Why did he did that? Was that real or one of her daydreams coming to life courtesy of firewhiskey? Y/n finished washing her face when she hear some shy knocking on the door, it was Fred.

He looked embarrassed, something so unsettling to witness given the fact that he was always so confident and nonchalant. He stood there, red face matching his hair when he started speaking in a hurry, bumbling:

love I'm so sorry I, I want to apologize, I didn't mean, I, I don't know what happened to me, I wasn't sure what I...

She simply said: it's fine, it is really I don't, I mean It was nice.

She sounded so bloody stupid, but she did not want to make him feel as awful as he looked and besides she wasn't lying. Fred stood there in silence without a clue on what to do next, she was feeling the same way, but then he said

Are you... alone?

Yes

Wonderful

He got inside the room and closed the door with a locking charm and a silencing spell, then walked slowly to y/n looking relieved and more like himself

You know sweetheart, you shouldn't let anyone ever touch you like that, you seemed scared, maybe I was too harsh?

No! No, it was -

Nice yeah, you said that but, didn't look like you enjoyed yourself so much do you? I might be a little drunk but, I can recognize when a girl is not happy with my advances

Y/n was shocked, how could this be happening? The whole conversation was unreal, he was making her feel like a little furry creature, nervousness weakening her knees, her knickers almost dropping just by looking at him, Fred bloody Weasley in her damn room, eyes full of...desire? quidditch uniform still on, his classic mischievous smile coming up, him, getting closer and closer to her

He held her hand

Is it ok that I'm here?

Y -yeah, sure

Do YOU want me here?

Y/n managed to nod slowly but he immediately said

Use your words princess

I-

He was gently touching her cheek, instantly making her close her eyes as he got closer to her lips, whispering

Do you want me here?

And releasing a sight she was holding since the first time she saw him on the train to Hogwarts she said

I do.

He kissed her.

He's soft lips were caressing her's so slowly and delicately while his scent filled y/n's head, he got his hands on her's, fingers interwined, guiding y/n slowly to the bed, his wet tongue licking her lower lip, making y/n whimper in surprise. She had never ever kissed a boy in the french way before which was her biggest insecurity given the fact that she was almost sixteen. Fred stoped.

Love, please tell me if I am wrong but, is this your first kiss?

She guessed it was her scared look what gave her away

Ahm

She started to get away but he stopped her

Princess if I'm making you uncomfortable please tell me and I'll leave you alone forever, but kissing your beautiful lips before any man its my biggest achievement so far, so, tell me, I'm the first?

Y/n's pride was hurt a little when she quietly said

You are.

Y/n had never seen lust before, Fred's eyes were almost black and closed while he reached to kiss her more passionately than before, holding her face between his hands while she dared to put her hands through his long beautiful hair, immediately rewarded with a soft grunt fully delivered in her mouth. She could feel her core throbbing, head spinning, hormones screaming through her skin by the feeling of his tongue all over her's, he put her on the bed softly and then got on top of her, his long strong legs opening her's, y/n could feel his hardness through their clothes, pushing hard on her wet pussy, his hands were all over her legs and ass while her hands were fumbling under his sweater, reaching his bare stomach and hips. Fred was over the edge, the other girls he had before were much more experienced and older than him, he always ended up being their prey, this was the very first time he was in control and he liked it so much he was ready to cum just now. It wasn't just that. To be honest, he was absolutely turned on by y/n since he found out about her sweet crush on him in third year, he liked to pet her just to see her blush, but it wasn't until this night, with his confidence over the cloud's by wining the game that he had the courage to make his fantasy's real. Y/n eyes were full of adoration, he could feel his dick getting painfully hard as she lay beneath him, so horny and willing to give herself to him. She looked so beautiful he couldn't stop touching her skin while looking at her in the eyes just to see her reaction. She was so sensitive, that when he started to take her clothes she was full of goosebumps, almost drooling at the sight of him without his sweater and t shirt.

Y/n was totally sober by now because of the impression, was her first time happening? She was about to lose her virginity to Fred Weasley? How could she be so lucky? And then she started feeling worried, what if she didn't make him feel good? She didn't know how to give pleasure to a boy, and he looked so secure, in charge of everything... he must had read her thought because he suddenly said

Y/n do you want to stop? It's ok if you do, no hard feelings or anything, if you are not comfortable we can just hang and that's all

She was glad he didn't said he'll leave.

It's ok Fred, I want you

Jesus fucking Christ y/n had never said anything so direct and needy in her whole life, what was it about this man that turned her into a complete moron. She wished that it was more alcohol in her system to keep her relax and cool but the fire whiskey was long gone with all of her sweat and lubrication. That thought made her question, what if Fred was so drunk she was taking advantage of him

But ahm, aren't you drunk? Isn't this something you would regret tomorrow? What if I'm taking advantage of you? Your judgement is not right at the moment we should...

Fred laughed, he couldn't believe how sweet she was, he got closer to her ear and whispered

Love, I'm going to destroy your little pussy.

She was unable to contain a moan, Fred started kissing her neck, licking his way down on her, y/n's breath was shaking, she didn't knew what to do or what was gonna happen, Fred was pulling aside her little flowered pantys and without warning, he started licking her violently. It was incredible helpful that he put a silence charm on before because y/n's whimpers could have woken up the entire castle. She tasted so good he couldn't stoped liking her hole cunt and the fact that she was fully soaked for him before he even did anything was priceless. He wanted to put his fingers inside her but he managed to wait, he just had to see her face while he took her virginity.

Y/n was almost fainting, she didn't knew she could feel that much pleasure, that boy's could do that with their tongs, she was over the edge and without even thinking she said

Fred, fuck me, please, I need you

He almost came. Having her pleading for his dick while he eat her was just too much, he pulled apart from her and stood

What did you say princess?

Y/n was totally out of herself

Im, I- I want you, I want you inside me

Y/n's sudden shyness made his dick leak some pre cum and he unbuttoned his trousers. She was so freaking cute, he couldn't handle it, all of those years of watching her, so shy, so tender, and now he was about to make her his.

Y/n couldn't stop staring at Fred's amazing torso exposed, his muscly arms, long slim fingers, soft messy hair, smooth skin, and then his wonderful knob in all of his glory making her a little bit worried, he was all over the edge by the impression in her face

Love don't worry, you'll take me just fine

Fred got on top of her again, kissing every part of her body, sucking her breast, caressing her body with the tip of his fingers, causing goosebumps all over her...agitated breath anticipating the pain.

She felt it, his huge hard dick all over her fanny, so tasty it made them both grunt loudly, he's started swearing quietly while he rocked her, getting all wet and nice to make it fit, and then looked at her in the eyes

Last chance to run angel, are you sure you want me to...

Y/n kissed him and then she said

Fred I'm already yours just take me -

And he did. He knew for a fact that making things slowly just prolonged the pain so he did give her his whole cock in one exhibit while he scrutinized her face, her eyes, her lips. He wanted to memorize all of the perfect sounds his little princess was making for him, because of him. He kept fucking her, asking occasionally if she was alright.

Princess can I come inside you?

Y/n couldn't handle it anymore and came so badly she stopped hearing what he said after. She sensed her insides full of his delicious juices and felt happy that he understood and kept her eyes closed for a while, trying to conceive what had just happened.

Fred was freaked, he just told her that he wanted to filled her with his baby's. He had never ever said (neither thought) that before, wtf was going on with him. And the worst part was that he actually meant it? His dick was getting hard again just by thinking of it. Merlin, and she wasn't saying anything. What should he do?

Angel are you ok?

She was asleep.

[theoceanoasis]

If you could do Part 2 of Carrier Preceptor.

Preceptor is making a plan to take revenge on Soundwave. While there is a meeting of the Autobots and Decepticons leaders.

Optimus and Megatron star thinking of maybe letting some bits cross the side to see if what happened whit the Quintessons was not just for survival and to see if they can get along.

(All the main ones that awoke first form the parade illusion from the Quintessons are at the meeting.)

After the meeting Preceptor found Hot Rod and Soundwave (who was trying to talk to Hot Rod).

Before he could murder Soundwave and dump his body somewhere no one would ever find him. Optimus and Megatron called a meeting. They decided to open the wall to a few select bots as a sort of experiment.

They want to know if they could continue working together. In the hopes of one day reuniting Cybertron, or if it was a fluke brought on by their situation.

He could see his little one staring longingly at Soundwave who was on the other side. The Decepticon kept glancing at his sparkling as well and he glared. Silently warning him to back off or else.

The Decepticon seemed surprised but left his sparkling alone. He'd already caused him enough pain by leaving. He didn't need to cause more by coming back into his life when Hot Rod as finally healing from him.

"What do you think?"

He glanced over nodding.

"Sounds good."

"We'll decide which Autobots and Decepticons should visit the other side."

"You're all dismissed."

They all got up and left planning on going their separate ways. He was following Hot Rod keeping an optic on his sparkling in case Soundwave tried something.

His little one seemed determined to leave likely feeling a range of different emotions. He reminded himself to talk to him when he had the chance.

"Perceptor can I talk to you real quick?"

He glanced at Optimus and then back at his sparkling who nodded, as though to say he was okay. Going to his leader he hoped he'd make it quick.

"Are you okay? You seemed off today."

"I'm fine. Just busy putting Maccadams back into place."

"I heard you were opening a bar. I have to say I'm surprised."

"So was I at first. But Maccadams insisted saying I'd put it to good use."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm excited to see it up and running again. There's a lot of memories surrounding Maccadams some good and others..."

He watched Optimus look at Megatron who was reading something.

"Complicated..."

He nodded wanting this conversation to be done with. So he could get back to his sparkling and make sure he was okay.

"I can see you are impatient to get back so I'll let you go."

Optimus gave him an amused look and he nodded only slightly embarrassed.

He walked down the hallway looking around for Hot Rod. He didn't think he was going to see him. His sparkling probably already at home. Only to be surprised when he recognized his little one's color scheme. He also recognized the Decepticon trying to speak with his son.

Refusing to let him break his spark a second time. He swept in ready to defend his sparkling.

"Soundwave can't say it's good to see you."

The Decepticon gave him an annoyed look.

"Leave this is a private conversation."

"No."

He got in front of Hot Rod glaring the Decepticon down.

"I think you're the one who needs to leave."

"We're having a conversation that doesn't involve you."

"I don't care you're not welcome around Hot Rod."

He took a step closer and Soundwave did the same. The two glared at each other until Hot Rod pulled him back looking embarrassed.

"Carrier. Soundwave only wanted to apologize he wasn't trying to hurt me."

"Carrier!"

Soundwave looked between the two of them in shock and he stepped closer glaring him down.

"That's right and I will make you suffer for hurting my son."

"I never meant to hurt him.

"I don't want you around my son."

"That's not for you to decide."

"Carrier can we please go home. Soundwave I don't know how to feel right now and I need some time to think about what you said."

His sparkling practically dragged him away as he glared at Soundwave. Making a motion to signify what he had planned for him.

"I know you want to protect me but I'm not a sparkling anymore. I can take care of myself. I also don't want you killing Soundwave."

"But."

"No."

He sighed pulling him close.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to go through what I did."

His sparkling squeezed his hand as the two walked home.

[lynns-cornerr]

(Some of) sumeru cast x gn! sleepy reader

Author note: This is the first time I publish here on Tumblr, also English is not my first language, so in case of errors please report it in the comments.

And also, thanks @alizaneth for the idea! Let me know what you think and if you like <3

+ I wanted to write the whole cast of Sumeru but I didn’t have the time and couldn’t wait to publish, so i wrote only for Tighnari, Candace and Nilou. I promise will try to publish as soon as possible a second part with the rest of the characters (ie Cyno, Dehya, Kaveh and AlHiatham)

Tighnari

- The first time he saw you he thought you were dead (💀). But how to blame him, it was late at night when he saw you in the heart of the forest. usually no adventurer with a minimum of sense would have camped there without having properly set up a tent etc.

- But not you. You were sleeping on a log, and your tent was half-mounted by your side.

- He was afraid that some wild animal in the forest had hurt you, but when he came up he didn’t see any blood or anything, so he knew you were just sleeping.

- When you woke up, you were no longer in the forest, but in Grandhava Village.

- You were in a room completely unknown to you, but before you could record what had happened, you heard the door opened and then revealed a young boy with dark hair and two large ears similar to those of a fox

"First of all, consider yourself lucky, adventurer. I think you need to review your survival guide"

- From there, he began to call you back for negligence and inattention, explaining to you every danger you could face if he didn’t save you. He was so caught up in his speech, he didn’t realize you’d gone back to sleep.

- Sighed, one part of him wanted to push you out of bed and re-start complaining about your your behaviour, while the other wanted to leave you alone yet another longer.

- He could not deny that he was intrigued by you. Maybe after you wake up and finish his speech, he could offer you something or ask you what your name was, considering he didn’t even have time to do that

- A few hours later, he offered you something to drink and to eat, and in the meantime you told him about you and while you spoke to him about you and this 'habit' of yours. He listened to you in silence, taking an interest in every word that came out of your mouth

- In the end, he said that in case you had to make other excursions through the forest, you would have to tell him so that he could find time for you and accompany you. For your safety, of course and not because he wanted to spend more time with you

Nilou

- Nilou strolled through the streets of the Grand Baazar quietly at the crack of dawn, heading to Mr Jut to buy a tahchin, until she noticed you sitting on the edge of the fountain under the stage where she used to rehearse her dance

- She had never seen you before, he knew the Grand Baazar and the big "family" had been there since he was eight, so she would surely have noticed you if you were there

- She was worried and thought you weren’t feeling well considering your slightly bizarre appearance and where you were resting (certainly not one of the most comfortable places to sleep or anything), so she approached you and tried to figure out if everything was okay

- But, while she put his hand on your forehead to check your temperature, you opened your eyes, making her jump and, because of that sudden awakening, you lost your balance and fell into the fountain

"Oh dear archons, I’m so sorry!"

- The young woman whit long red hair immediately helped you up, repeatedly apologizing

- Being a great friend of the merchants at the Grand Baazar, they helped you by giving you decent clothes changes while waiting for your parents to dry completely

- After you changed and explained to her for the fifth time that you were not angry, she offered in apology to buy you a tahchin, so you followed her to the stand (actually i have no idea how to call it) to which she went every day.

- Seeing your sleepy face glowing with joy as you ate, she told you she would like If every morning I came with her to eat and chat a little and you in response told her that you would never wake up at such a time

- From that day , a strange relationship arose between the two of you.

- Whenever she had to rehearse her dances she would invite you to see her, even though most of the time you would fall asleep towards the end, but she didn’t mind, indeed she found it cute, so much so that you wrapped her sitting at your side, She made you lean your head on her knees and take a nap with you

Candace

- As the current guardian of the Aaru Village, Candace always has a busy schedule, but that day it was her free day after so long, or at least, she should have.

- She was going to buy a few things and go home, but Nawaz - one of the children in the village - called her and said he had seen a person on the edge of the village who didn’t look quite fit and was worried that someone had attacked them

- Immediately, Candace went to the point that Nawas had indicated to her, only to find what looked like an adventurer leaning against a rock that rubbed his eyes

- When you fully recover from your nap, you find yourself a tall and imposing woman in front of you

"Hello adventurer. I think you are not of these areas... please follow me to a safer place to rest"

- She escorted you to the village chief’s house (where the archon quest took place, in case you didn’t understand) and invited you to sit down while he went to get you something to eat. But when she came back you were sleeping again, your head on the table

- She laid the tray on the table and sat down beside it. She stroked your hair and moved your face from the front. She watched you sleep, and wondered why you was so tired. What kind of exploration did you do to be so tired? Had you met enemies along the way?

- She didn’t realize that while she was thinking about all these questions, she was playing with your hair, turning it around on her finger and slightly combing it.

- When she noticed that you were opening your eyes, she immediately withdrew her hand and put it in front of her face, wanting to hide the slight redness due to embarrassment

- Afterwards, you spent the rest of the day together, where you told her about your travels and about yourself. she even invited you to stay with her until you left, and she added that she would be more than happy to host you in the future

[nomsfaultau]

ask being weird again

wlwdwtys asked: (Potentially) Daily ask №7 Locations edition!

How well do you envision the locations when you write? How much do you think them through? Does every location has a geographical position?

What's your favourite location to write? Maybe it's pretty or has symbolical significance or you just like the idea?

Do you tend to make your charactes interact with the environment a lot? During fights as well, cause it can be quite an interesting thing to take into consideration while strategising?

What are the fault crew comfort places if they have any? Besides Wilbur, I know he's a damn immigrant to wherever he goes /j

Where do you tend to write? Like, in your bed/at work/a desk?

Bonus question not relating to the theme: You mentioned that Wilbur can speak all languages?? Including mole language somehow? How- why? Also it's just so funny to me for some reason cause I imagine cursing him out in russian, polish, french, Ukrainian and English at the same time and him just getting it. (I speak all those languages partially just wanted to show off. Still. Ты крутой, чел ♡)

Oh hoho ho. Boy do I! The Foundation site in modeling Fault off of is site 81, which is a subterranean location partially beneath a lake near Bloomsville, Indiana. Hence why the Ranboo incident takes place in the Marengo Caverns, because the only thing you can do in Indiana is a cave I guess. So the fact it was a hewwo Obama joke was not my fault! I’ve also come up with a general floor plan for the Foundation:

For the upper floor where actual human stuff happens. Then below with a few flights to map out plot events. They get darker lower down.

I also have a general idea where Rosalind’s house is in Bloomsville, and where her family is living near Chicago, which the guys head to eventually. Chicago was chosen bc at their pace it would take approximately a month to get there (time necessary for plot point) and I picked the area based on demographic distribution statistics. I plotted out their on foot route including partial driving time, diversions, getting loss, how frequently they need to steal supplies, following rivers, calculating hiking and resting speed, etc to the point where google maps stopped letting me plot more stops. All this for….uh. Occasionally referencing a town name and knowing how long the travel takes. Also useful for knowing what they can potentially forage tho!

Some places are far less pinpointed on a map, like Tubbos’ childhood home, though it’s also pretty vivid to me. Other places that are brief settings tend to have less detail unless it’s important tho.

2. I love describing literally anything in nature, which really shines through with Tommy’s obsession with the stars, Tubbos’ flower stuff/Hive tree, The Blade in WHiT Cliffs. Which sucks because I only realized how much I like writing nature stuff after like a year and a half of the entire setting being in grey halls and white rooms. But it becomes a really nice symbol of freedom from the Foundation, so I think it’s worth it.

3. In part 2, the environment very much comes into play. Not that it doesn’t have significance in the first part with things like Tommy’s door, or the corridors of the Foundation being a huge influence in the amnestic arc culmination, but there’s a lot more variety once they’re out. The outside offers them freedom, and certain types of protection, but it also offers its own threats and vulnerabilities. Like, surviving in the arcadia is a big part of part two, how to get food, how to avoid infections, how to hide. Plus fight scene stuff like you mentioned. If Wilbur has shade or not can shape his strategy, or like Philza having a harder time flying in trees than Tubbo does, if there’s a place to shelter Tommy and Tubbo in or not, etc. And The Blade’s powers are nearly tailor made for environmental based fighting. Random trees/ceilings falling and unfortunate lightning strikes in a storm are his bread and butter. Plus just yeeting trees at people. (…not full trees he’s not THAT strong but still)

4. Tubbos’ is the Hive tree hands down. That’s very much explored in chp 5/WHiT Croplands, but it’s like where all their hives were, massive oak tree, over flowering year round. Very warm and happy place for them. Tommy yearns for his room. To just flounce on his bed and sink in. I also imagine he really liked school since that’s where his friends were. The rest it’s more difficult because they’re all pretty nomadic. The Blade’s would be crashing at one of his college friends’ houses. Like make no mistake it’s a hovel, but it’s still comfortable to him to chill on a stained carpet and eat a slice of pizza with Averil while chatting about video games. It’s the closest thing to a real home he’s ever had. Wilbur…I don’t know. Everything feels temporary to it. He’s never considered a place his. And on the flip side, Philza’s had so many loved places over the years, and his favorite spot of all is right beside his Collected.

Funny how they all seem to be yearning for home.

5. In bed for the vast majority, though sometimes at work. Last summer the answer was literally anywhere since I had no phone access and would pour everything into a small notebook. Alas my current job is far more hands on.

6. There is no reason for the void to speak English, and due to the variety of creatures in there it made sense to me that they had an infinite number of usually evil languages, which Wilbur would need to know how to speak to communicate. So Wilbur can speak all languages especially the dark forbidden ones. Actually it’s its main source of education beyond Phil and eldritch secrets, since Wil instantly knows the definitions of all words…if not necessarily the context or how it’s applicable. Leads to some very strange conclusions. Also most void languages aren’t usually possible with a human tongue, so Wil’s biology actually can stretch to accommodate in some. Well unfortunate ways usually, but hey! Bonus language to talk to Tubbo and Philza with! If cursed out in all those impressively known languages…he wouldn’t register it as different from a normal tongue lashing. Wilbur doesn’t understand that humans experience language barriers because “what do you mean? Isn’t it just a different accent of Human?” This was not helped by the number of languages, many dead or severely out of date, that Phil speaks.

bonus: The Blade learned to speak English from the voices. Now why do they speak English? Uhhh well The Blood God picked California and was like ‘hey I’ll make it easier for my vessel by localizing the language of the voices.’ And then picked. A pig. Which are notorious for only speaking pig Latin.

I suppose I’ll sign off in the only other language I speak: y’all best take care now, yah hear!?

[practicalmagicintuitions]

Reading on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's marriage

DISCLAIMER: If you will send me an Anon, I will answer in the same tone as your ask, opinion is written.

All information and statements made in this reading or any other post of mine are all alleged until proven to be fact and for entertainment purposes & usage only. All information stated is based on my intuition and my tarot cards. Opinion only. The readings have no intention to cause any harm to the individuals, people featured in it.

Cards pulled on 27/05

1. Marriage: 2 of cups rx

I think you all know what this card means. There is no love between them. This card literally can mean separation or divorce. They are unhappy. With the rx cups, they can have a problem with drinking. This also means serious, unhealthy co-dependency which I think can be a factor here too. 

2. What’s next in their marriage?

The Tower, The Magician rx.

(I feel I should insert a gif here, I just haven’t found a proper one)

Serious trouble and destruction are coming. 

The Magician reversed is a trickster. Think about someone influential or charismatic but they use this in a bad way. In the worst-case scenario, this could be a person who has a very unbalanced personality. An imposter, a liar.

This marriage doesn’t perform the way they planned. I think this card is more likely Meghan, because let’s be fair, she is the mastermind behind all of this. And meanwhile, Harry clearly hates his brother he wasn’t clever enough to go true all of this by himself. He needed Meghan to command him what to do. The rx Magician has no plan or if he has those are half-cocked, not good, and cannot be delivered. It’s an abuse of power and I think this is the key here because we have the Tower card. First of all, if you see, the tower on the card has a crown which is falling off… Well, this could mean in my opinion that they will lose their title or that the relationship with the royal family will become even messier. I know, hard to believe but with these too, I can imagine anything. Maybe an attempt to prevent the reconnection between H and the royal family during the divorce. This falling crown can be Harry as a born royal, meaning he will be completely destroyed. The second thing is that there are 2 figures falling off from the tower. Well, these 2 figures are the couple from the Lovers and from The Devil card. So this is a very clear indication that this relationship is beyond repair. However, I thought for a moment that 2 figures ( one male and one female) can be actually Archie and Lilly who will greatly suffer from the divorce and may be used by the reversed magician aka MM. In its worse self, the rx Magician is out of touch with reality, has no morals etc. So I can see that MM will make up lies about her time with Harry. That he was abusive, alcoholic etc and she needed to run off with the kids. 

However because the Tower is coming right after the Devil card where the couple is chained, the fall also means they are chainless finally, and not tied to each other anymore. Again, a strong indication of divorce. The Tower look strong, but eventually, with the right force it’s destructible. As the Tower’s foundation is shaken, maybe the death of the Sussex brand and their marriage is not strong enough to survive this.  

3.MM’s next step

The Fool

Everything is new. A new chapter, new life, new hopes and dreams. I think she will have the same mentality when she entered into the RF and when she left, that this is her chance and now she will make it. Maybe this will be her “single mother who escaped from a bad marriage” act. Her new projects maybe will be about this, not about their love that conquered all, but her strength and ability to start over. Harry has no place in this anymore. This is a one-woman act. The Fool also has a staff and knapsack whit his belongings in it, so this suggests me a move as her next step. Going back is not an option after she made up her mind. If it’s not a move it could be a long holiday or travel abroad. The dog represents a friend or family who is trying to warn the Fool not to be reckless. I think she has sidekicks too, who maybe are more worried about this new beginning than she is. The Fool can represent a new love too.  

4.PH’s emotional state

King of Swords clarified with the Knight of Pentacles. 

This is a very very interesting combo and like every court card is not easy to unfold. Swords as a suit is Air, communication, and legal matters. Pentacles are Earth, materials, money, jobs etc. However: every king is earth and every knight is fire. And those elements are influencing the suits. So we have an Earth-influenced Air and a Fire-influenced Earth. Do you know what is missing here? Cups aka water aka emotions. So it feels PH’s positive emotions, love, caring etc have run dry and he is just unbalanced. When I drew the KnofP I immediately thought about disasters like earthquakes or volcano eruptions. Or the Earth itself as its core is hot, burning, bubbling lava. This is PH is now. Trying to be as cool and as level-headed as he can but he is very angry.  

KofSw is a sombre figure who is trying to focus outside rather than inside. Maybe he knows that some legal stuff is coming and he is trying to be a good boy, rebuilding a certain image meanwhile he almost explodes because of the internal conflicts he has. 

On the throne of the KofSw there is a butterfly motif. Butterflies are symbols of transformation. He is in a state of metamorphosis. Maybe he realised MM never loved him or that she will throw him under the bus without a second thought if she has to.

This combo can mean that his thoughts revolve around his legal cases as swords are legal matters. I also got the feeling that he is missing his bachelor days. Being a family man is not like what he imagined, he is definitely missing his military, single times when he could just get rid of unwanted women. 

5.MM’s emotional state

4 of Cups, Page of Wands

She is not interested in what her current life can offer. She is bored and fed up because her plans didn’t play out the way she wanted so she is making new plans now (PoW). If we think about the suits as a story sequence before this card there is the 3 of Cups, which is the high life, partying, drinking, and good times, and the 4 of C is the apathy after all of those fun times gone. She is there now. No one gives a damn about her anymore since she is not part of the Firm. So she needs plans. Pages are Air, so here we have an Air influenced Fire. Thoughts and actions at the same time. She cannot accept that the world is not her oyster anymore, so she needs to be seen as influential and impactful. The interesting thing with this Page is that he is all for the bigger picture but doesn’t care about the details. Like MM’s car chase story: being seen as the new Diana but she failed at the details. And this won’t change. Maybe she will be more careful for a while but overplaying everything is in her nature. This page loves drama and excitement so she is up for this. A broken fairytale marriage is a perfect opportunity to be the centre of attention and live for the drama.  This card also can mean travel, in the background those can be pyramids and I cannot help myself but my first thought was she will mention the disastrous Cleopatra “docu” on Netflix. I hope she is not that stupid though. Page of Wands and The Fool also shows some similarities, the staff, the potential travel, planning new things and the excitement because of it etc. This is a very strong theme here.

All in all, turbulent times are coming.

[marune2]

The true abaut the Faust‘s

Colap whit @loosesodamarble

——-/////////———///——/—//—/—/

Sterling pressed a cheek and both hands to Josele's bared stomach, a look of concentration on her face.

"The baby isn't kicking," Sterling muttered while leaning back and pouting up at Josele. "You said they'd kick, Mother."

"The baby isn't big enough yet," Josele said with a smile and laugh. She leaned into the armchair she was seated in. "If we give them more time, the baby will kick eventually."

"I know you're excited, but show some patience, little starling," Nacht remarked while patting Sterling on the head. Sterling puffed out her cheeks but gave a quiet nod.

"For the time being, we need to see if the child is healthy now," Heinrich commented while walking up to the family of three. He knelt before Josele and hovered his hands over her belly, creating an aura of magic around the two of them. "It's time for a check up on the little one."

"Or ones," Josele giggled. "I honestly hope it's twins."

Nacht chuckled and shook his head. "Is it me or do you like dealing with the trouble of twins?" To his question, Josele laughed but said nothing.

After about a minute of Heinrich's magic enveloping Josele, he ceased the spell and stood up, grinning. "I can't tell if it's twins yet but regardless, the baby is in good shape right now."

"That's wonderful. And thank you again for checking, Heinrich," Josele said while rubbing her belly.

"It's especially good to know that the devil blood hasn't negatively affected them," Heinrich remarked, sighing contently.

There was a discernible pause in the conversation.

"What?" uttered Josele, face having gone pale.

Heinrich blinked owlishly before letting out an awkward laugh. "Ah, so you don't know... The thing is, if one makes a devil contract, it tends to affect one's children. Nacht has four contracts active and you had one with Almatra. There's also the negative mana embedded in you. What's more, the Faust family has a bit of devil's blood running through them." Heinrich smiled all too blithely as he explained.

"Sterling, go to your room," Nacht whispered while gently coaxing his daughter into his shadow. "Mother and Father need to speak to Grandpa privately."

"O-okay..." Sterling whispered while letting Nacht's Shadow Magic take her away.

Once the child had fully departed, Nacht turned and glared at Heinrich.

"Let me get this straight. You're saying that the contracts that Josele and I have made are going to punish any children we have?" Nacht asked while stepping closer to his wife. "And since when did the Faust family have devil's blood?"

"Well it's been there since I made my deal with Lucifugus, of course," Heinrich answered plainly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Nacht Looks unbelievable at Heinrich “what do you you mean grandfather?

Heinrich looks then whit a smile at him “this what I said I did have a pact whit him as my son whas make my child and sadly needed Lucifugus bring my son back too live too” Nacht and josele look’s shocked at him but josele did remember this Heinrich did tell something like this in the past this he’s child did survive because of Lucifugus josele looks then at Heinrich “but my children are going be fine Heinrich?” Heinrich looks at her then “oh yes most of the Faust just get’s some a other hear color and most of the Faust live mush longer and looks young ore other rare body condition but some get’s sadly the fear of lightning inherited like you Nacht “ Nacht look’s irritated at him “I’m not scared of lightning” Heinrich looks then sad at him “yes you did I did Wunder this you not scream as I did see you whit luck you must know this you get the fear from Lucifugus the fear is so big from him this he did even kill peoples whit light magic if he can’t run away there his psyche and body fell mush pain but luckily you body don’t getting hurt as fare I know it’s make just you psyche instabil “

Nacht looks then at Heinrich “do want’s too say this my brother just died because of this stupid fear?!” Say he looking at Heinrich wo smile sad at him

"Simply put, yes," Heinrich replied. His expression was soft, pained, and apologetic all at once. "It's only natural to want to eliminate a possible threat to us. And for Lucifugus, when confronted with a user of Light Magic, he lashed out."

Nacht gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "That still... It doesn't make sense. My parents and their followers all died before Morgen did. Why was it only after the relic was destroyed that Morgen...?" His voice trailed off.

"It's possible that Morgen had a warding spell active to protect him," Josele reasoned quietly. "But when he destroyed the relic... He made himself vulnerable."

Heinrich gave a soft hum. They were trying to make sense of the tragedy, even years after the fact. Though Heinrich still didn't know the full story, he could tell that the pain ran terribly deep. He could see grief etched upon their faces and the darkness of guilt in their eyes. Heinrich approached Nacht and Josele. He placed a hand on Nacht's shoulder and atop Josele's crown.

"I'm sorry that my husband took Morgen away from the both of you," Heinrich whispered. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander. "Perhaps my view is a bit warped after years in the Underworld but I think that if Lucifugus understood who Nacht and Morgen were, as my descendants, such a tragedy never would've occurred. He would've realized that he would be attacking my and his own kin. But... his fear of light overwhelmed him so much so that he could only think to destroy."

"Tch. This whole time... I was related to the damn devil who ruined everything," Nacht muttered as he took a step back from Heinrich.

Heinrich looks sad at him „he did not destroy everything Nacht you are here josele and yami are here too as fare I know and at least I can say you devils are here too they are a part of the Faust family too there they did have a past pact whit a Faust too you have Famile

Nacht glare at Heinrich „ are there more think’s you want’s too tell my grandfather“

Heinrich looks at Nacht and josele „too be honest I don’t know my child time will tell but what I can say the Faust family can Safe summons devil and use them whit out dying jostles family too there witches and they children are really good compatible whit devil so the devil’s would not kill You children at first but the devil’s will go after you children too use them you can be lucky this Gimodelo and the other did. like you and make a pact even you make a devil he can’t harm you they will find a way too harm you Ore bring you lost control so take care this you children don’t summons so easily devils

Josele look’s shocked at Heinrich and Nacht more pisset

"So there's more risks for our children? It's not just the influence of negative mana but being targeted by devils too!" Nacht snapped and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why? It feels like the family is cursed to suffer..." He took a deep breath while trying to keep his growing panic at bay.

"Nacht, child, they're only potential risks, not guarantees," Heinrich responded in a gentle tone. "So long as you and your future children are careful, then everything should turn out fine."

"It'd still be preferable if there weren't such... severe risks involved," muttered Josele as she rose to her feet. She placed her shaking hands on her stomach. Pregnancy always came with a bit of risk but the nature of the ones Heinrich spoke of...

"I understand that." Heinrich nodded. "But you two are familiar with defending your child, no?"

"Well yes. Of course we'll protect our kids..." Josele answered, her voice trailing off. "But..." She looked to Nacht and he met her gaze. They understood each other in silence. Josele turned her head to face Heinrich again. "If you knew about all this, then why didn't you say something?"

"Why didn't you warn us?" Nacht pressed, his tone a little less forgiving than Josele's.

"I didn't find it necessary to tell you because, as I said, the risks aren't guaranteed," Heinrich explained with a curt shake of his head. "Furthermore, you had already made your decision regarding children and I didn't want to scare you out of your choice."

"We still had a right to know," Nacht said.

"So you're saying you wouldn't have reconsidered whatsoever if I told you sooner?" Heinrich asked in a challenging tone. The question made Nacht's glare falter. Heinrich sighed. "The presence of devils doesn't mean any child you have is destined for misery. Like I said, Lucifugus didn't destroy every bit of happiness in your lives, even if Morgen was a great loss to the both of you. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner but... You two are strong, aren't you?"

"That's..." Josele shook her head. "There's more to it than being strong. We just... wanted a better life for our kids. A safer one... And knowing there's more danger for our potential kids because of us, you get how we'd worry."

Heinrich nodded. "It's the nature of a parent to worry, I know."

"We wouldn't need to fear for them if it weren't for our own damned existences..." Nacht grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Heinrich asked.

"If you hadn't made your deal with Lucifugus, if the Faust family was never what is was... Then this could've been avoided, dammit!"

Heinrich let out a gasp and his heart tightened in shock.

"Nacht, you don't know what you're saying. If I hadn't made the deal, my son wouldn't have lived. You wouldn't have even been born..."

"And maybe the world would've been better off that way..."

In the moment slap Heinrich Nacht across the face and crying „don’t you dare too saying this Nacht „hissing he

Nacht and josele looks shocked there Heinrich never did a outburst every form

Heinrich looks more upset at Nacht and sad „I know this not all is in live good but this is live Nacht think’s like this needs too be happen I know what I tell

Josele looks concerned at Nacht and Heinrich „Is this not too hart of both of you I Mea- in this Moment glare Heinrich at josele and interrupt her

„You tow don’t know what I did too Safe my child if I whas not it can be gone worse but you really believe I had I chose in this pact? You don’t know nothing

Nacht glare at Heinrich and go’s in front of him „what do you mean he is you dam husband „

Heinrich glare at him“ at first this whas not a pact it’s whas Beth more as a pact and even whit out him I did kill my self do not take live easy Nacht and say you would be likely death even you have a beauty full wife like josele my past wife did. gone insane she whas mentality so I’ll this she did drown my son into a river and did kill her self in front of my eyes I did seal my body too Lucifugus at first too bring my child back too live and you dare too say you throwing you live away like this“say he hissing and crying at him whit a hurt face

"If you're going to take my sacrifice for granted and spit in the face of everything I've done, then I'll just take my leave," Heinrich snapped before turning and storming towards the door. "Pardon me for not stopping you two from having a family." Venom dripped from his voice as he spoke. "And for causing you to exist at all, Nacht."

"Wait, Heinrich!" Josele called out, reaching a hand towards him even.

But it was too late. Heinrich was already out the door. The pressure of his pained anger and his mana left with him.

"Everything he's done..." Nacht scoffed. He touched the side of his face which Heinrich struck and flinched when the throbbing pain sunk in. "The nerve of that old man..."

"Oh Nacht..." Josele reached over and caressed her husband's face with a bit of healing magic, making his bruise go away. After that, she pulled away from him. "I'm scared for our child - children - too." She pursed her lips and fought back tears. "I don't want to see Sterling or any child other of ours get hurt and yet..."

Nacht clicked his tongue. "And he made it sound like we're not allowed to be bothered with... with everything he said!"

"Darling, Heinrich never said anything like that," Josele said and shook her head. "But it did feel like... His reaction was..." She clutched her hands to her chest. "Gods, what have we done? Every time I think our family is on the mend..."

"Josie!" Nacht immediately turned to Josele and held her shoulders. "D-don't worry. Don't stress yourself. For the baby's sake!"

Josele removed Nacht's hands and shook her head. "Nachty... I can't not worry." She looked into Nacht's eyes then at the empty doorway. "But... Isn't Heinrich right? At least a little. If he hadn't made that deal then... You, Morgen, Discordia, and Ida never would've..."

"I'm not exactly in the mood to be grateful for being part devil..."

"... It's okay... I think we all need time to think on it anyway..."

A tense silence took over the room.

…

Heinrich Storm in the black bulls house all fell he is mad even Ida don’t dare too say something too him as she see him what the hell happened?! He just wants too look’s after Nachty and josey baby’s holy shit

Heinrich storm into he’s Rome and try too calm down

Heinrich did know this Nacht is suicidal but this he would wishing something like this…..Nacht is like him as he whas human mostly bevor…..

But then came a small voice from Johan „papa?

Heinrich try too fast calm down and smile at he’s child „what is my free bird?“

Johan looks scared at him“are you ok papa ?

Heinrich looks concerned at he’s child „don’t be scared my child I did have just a talk what don’t go well „then smile he at Johan now there he calm down thank too Johan understand he the concern of Nacht but Heinrich want he’s children safe and Nacht is he’s child too

Johan looks at him“ Ida did. looks concerned and the other too as I did play whit Sterling we Wunder just did we what wrong?

Heinrich looks At Johan„oh no your did never my child but the adults did have just a intensive talk nothing more it is ok if you play whit the other papa neet too looks after something say the other if they ask I’m out collecting medicine…“ after all even Heinrich is mad josele need her vitamin‘s for a safe pregnancy.

Johan:ok papa !“ say he and run of

…

The next time Heinrich visited House Faust, it was to deliver vitamins to Josele. A few days had passed. But the hurt feelings were still healing, at least for Heinrich. Josele answered the door with a weak smile. And she didn't look him in the eye while they talked.

"How has Nacht been since we..." To say they "talked" would be inappropriate. The last interaction's final bitter note still made Heinrich stir uncomfortably when he thought about it. "How's he been since I last saw him?" Heinrich asked.

"He's..." Josele looked at the ground then shook her head. "Worrying." She clutches the parcel of vitamins to her body. "Thank you for dropping these off, Heinrich." She glanced upwards, if only for a second. "Did you... want to come in for a drink?"

Heinrich shook his head. "Oh no. I've got other business to attend to." He took a step back from the door. "Besides, you still seem to be lost in thought."

"Hmm, yeah. I'm stumbling around, completely blind," replied Josele.

Quietly, Heinrich nodded along.

In the time since the confrontation, Heinrich had thought about the words that had been said.

Heinrich had wanted them to have children as they intended but also wanted them to be aware of the dangers. So the timing of his words seemed alright. Yet he couldn't shake the look of shock and fear on Josele's face. Then there was the rage Nacht had shown. He had called them strong yet held back information, thinking that it would hold them back...

But Nacht's words stung. They practically burned in Heinrich's chest. Saying the world would've been better without the Faust family. How could Nacht be so ungrateful for his own existence? One blessed by siblings and friends and a kind wife? Not only that, but Nacht had his own child and he didn't think of how cruel it'd be to imply that a parent shouldn't have loved their child enough to save them.

Even Josele’s words had hurt. She probably didn’t intend it to, but Heinrich felt accused of keeping the information from the couple as long as he did in order to hurt them. It was though her fear for her child manifested as her searching for something to protect them from… And the danger had been identified as Heinrich.

Right or wrong... It was so unclear to Heinrich. Was there even a way for one side to be "right" in their situation?

"Josele... You and Nacht are still my grandchildren. And I... want to support you in any way I can."

"Thank you for all you do, Heinrich," Josele said, her smile growing a little stronger, and kinder. "I'm glad you saved your son all those years ago. That you made it possible for me to meet Morgen and Nacht..."

There was an unspoken "but" as her voice trailed off.

"Being a devil or being influenced by negative mana doesn't automatically make someone a bad person. I would've wanted kids even if I knew the risks sooner. But you didn't say anything..." Josele's expression slowly fell into a frown. "It's like being told to jump off a ledge but only after I've taken the leap that I find out it's a 10 meter drop and not a 10 centimeter one like I anticipated."

Heinrich pursed his lips at the comparison. While not one-to-one, it certainly painted a picture.

Josele sighed, "I'm sorry for..." She paused and shook her head. "You said you had other business and I'm keeping you."

Something about the apology seemed off. Like Josele was going to apologize for something else entirely. But Heinrich nodded and took another step from the door. If Josele wanted to wait for a greater apology, then it only made sense to give her the space.

Heinrich looks at josele whit a sad smile „it’s ok I understand as I whas a „Human“ I whas in a similar situation but I did have nobody too support my but you have Nacht my child you are a strong woman whit fare the strongest I know I’m happy Nacht have you all I just what’s you too know I’m happy too have you and Nacht I’m stupid for making the mistakes

Josele let’s out some tear’s of the wort’s „thank you Heinrich…..“ josele Wunder what Heinrich mean similar situation but she is too exhausted too ask she can fell Heinrich hold something back what hurt him badly too

Heinrich go then“ I wish you luck josele……“ then whas he gone

Josele go then back in the house she doesn’t know how too fell even knowing Heinrich hold something back but she can understand it in some point he is scared too destroy he’s last family bond he have

Nacht came then too josele: are you ok my love what did he tell you again I swear if he drops more info’s we don’t know I swear „say he mad

Josele looks concerned at him „ he just dropped the vitamin‘s and did say sorry….. nothing more…”

Nacht Looks then at her „ let’s stop talking abaut him let’s eat my love

Josele looks then whit a small smile at him“ yes this sounds lovely

…

In the next day knotting it at the door as josele open the door see she Johan

Josele: oh Johan I’m sorry Sterling is not home”

Johan looks then sad at her “ oh ok “ but then concerned “ is something whit the baby’s papa looks concerned if he came back

Josele looks then at Johan he is a good child she did remember the day he whas born Heinrich whas full of joy but she did remember then this Heinrich did tell this he whas not lucky too see he’s first child grow after what Heinrich did tell she fell bad no Wunder Heinrich did. have a out burst at Nacht he is as just traumatized

Johan look’s then at her and fell the negative emotion and brings josele out of her tough “ but in case don’t tell papa I did bringing some zweet !!!!” Say he and give her a bag of candy’s

Josele smile at him warm “ thanks Johan do you want’s come in ?

Johan smile then at her “ no thanks have a good day “say he and run smiling away

Josele then go in the house

…

Nacht sat cross-legged in front of Morgen's grave. Even after everything they'd been through as brothers, the betrayals and death and pain... If there was anyone who would hear out Nacht, it would've been Morgen.

You look upset, brother, Morgen would've said with a sad smile. What is it?

"I'm still not over what Heinrich said. Everything pisses me off," Nacht muttered while plucking some of the grass around him. "The fact that he knew, that he kept it from us, that he didn't seem to think he was in the wrong!"

The image of Morgen shaking his head pensively crossed Nacht's mind. Holding onto your anger won't do any good...

"Aren't I allowed to be angry?! Information that affects my child's future was kept from me and there's nothing I can do about it!"

Of course you can be angry! But please don't drive your loved ones away. Not again. Morgen's saddened eyes filled Nacht's mind.

Nacht flinched. He and Morgen could've been closer if only Nacht allowed it. He remembered how Josele and Yami had been hurt by his anger getting the better of him. He'd been estranged from Discordia and Ida as well. And now it was Heinrich's turn to be hurt.

"My child's future though... Because he made that damn deal with Lucifugus."

You wouldn't be here to fret about your child if he hadn't made the deal.

"I keep reminding myself of that and I still can't let it go!" Nacht snapped and balled up his hands, taking a bit of grass and dirt with him. "Why'd it have to be Forbidden Magic? Why did Lucifugus need to taint our bloodline the way he did? Why is it that every time I try to move on and live a normal life, I stumble upon a new curse on my life?!"

You shouldn't go thinking that your life is a punishment, you know. You let fear dictate so much of your life...

Nacht raised his head, only to be met with the sight of Morgen's grave.

"How can I not when shit like this happens?"

Remember that Heinrich made the deal out of love to save his child. Not out of resentment towards his descendants who wouldn't exist for several more centuries.

"When you put it like that..." Nacht's shoulders sank.

A bit of perspective can help, Morgen would've said while nodding. Life may not always be easy but when you consider it a gift, it becomes easier to bear.

Nacht was quiet for a moment. Then, "I bet you'd say it's especially true for our family, given the circumstances."

I certainly would.

"Morgen... Wouldn't you be angry if you were in my place?"

I'd certainly be shocked. But we turned out alright, didn't we?

"Well you turned out better than me so you can say that more confidently..." Nacht reached out and touched Morgen's headstone. "Thank you, Morgen. Even if it was just me talking to myself in the end, I'm glad I could come to you..."

Nacht rose to his feet and wiped his hands clean of the soil and grass.

The weight on his shoulders had eased. But he knew in his heart it wouldn't fully go away until he spoke to Heinrich again.

…

Heinrich whas surprise too say at least too hear this Nacht and josele wants too talk too him too be honest he thinks this Nacht would be fare longer mad but here he is he did drop Johan by yami and charlotte

Johan go’s too the door he just hear josele and Nacht talking but he knock on the door he is not the Typ too overhear Konversation whit out there permission

Then open Nacht the door „grand father……“

Heinrich just Stare at him whit a formality smile „Nacht….it’s nice too see you „say he and steps in wo he see josele sitting „josele…. Nice too see you how are the baby’s?”

Josele give him a weak smile” I’m fine it’s just tiring right now

Heinrich looks then at Nacht and josele “ok let’s talk I’m truly sorry too tell you too late abaut all of this…..

Nacht looks at him “you should be but I get you point in some part’s grandfather

Josele looks at both Mann “ I can understand you after thinking some day’s why you not tell us this not this I I’m happy this you did tell us this this late but I understand why you did it Heinrich but it’s hart too take all of this

Heinrich looks at josele but then looks he at Nacht wo did then talk “I’m not happy too be a part of Lucifugus too make it clear

Heinrich looks then sad at both” I’m sorry but you are more human if can call it as a devil Nacht the only think this show devil treats are just you magic and eyes but you are a perfectly norm human wo just age slowly

Nacht looks at Heinrich whit a glare “if it is this call you Normal…….

Heinrich looks then at both “ too be true my looks on things are mush deference from you I did live over thousand of years in the underworld and this can be happen this my view of think’s are different devils take normally think’s rare seriously so I mesh lost some some of my emotional thinking if it’s came too this there it’s not a big harming too my…..I’m sorry really I did zero intention too put my family in deanger ore harming way’s…….

"And we're sorry too," Josele responded softly. "We were being protective of our child but we took it too far and lashed out. We didn't see how you were thinking of us, even when you explained yourself right then!" She took a deep breath and scowled, as if scolding herself. "You deserved none of that, Heinrich."

"The revelation was just too sudden for us," muttered Nacht. "You had your reasons... But the timing..."

Heinrich nodded. "It wasn't the best. Again, sorry."

"You've said it once so there's no need to repeat," Nacht stated, a bit stiffly. "But thank you for acknowledging your share of the fault. I apologize for being... so callous to your sacrifice, and not appreciating my existence which your choice eventually led to." He touched a hand to his chest and clutched the fabric of his shirt. "I'm still learning... Learning to focus on the good in my life."

"It's hard to believe your struggle with that since I see there's much to appreciate in your world," Heinrich replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. But the sentiment from him. was truly sincere. "And... the apology is accepted. Personally, I don't understand how you wouldn't be grateful to exist, but I suppose that's just my detachment from humanity speaking."

"You're not totally detached though. You're still very in tune with the feelings of a parent, something I doubt any other devil has," Josele remarked, touching her cheek in a gesture of deep thought.

"Ah yes, that's true." Heinrich rose from his seat and approached Josele and Nacht, his arms stretched out for an embrace.

Quietly, Nacht and Josele rose from their chairs to accept the gesture.

"You're good children. And I'm certain you'll make excellent parents." Heinrich stepped back from the hug and looked to Josele. "Are you two going to be okay with your child, even after everything I've said?"

"We're prepared for whatever challenge we face as parents," Josele said reassuringly.

"Though we might need to consider some new things in light of what we learned," added Nacht. "But we're definitely not backing down. The child's been conceived and if all goes right, they'll be born healthy and strong."

"And we'll raise them with all the love in our hearts." Josele's hands went to her stomach, as if it was a new instinct of hers.

Heinrich nodded approvingly. He took a second to look between the couple then, "Will you... be having any kids after? Now that you know... will you not..." His voice trailed off as he noticed Nacht's shoulders tense as the prodding. "I want you both to proceed with love, not fear. Do what you do out of love. As I once did."

Nacht and Josele looked to each other. Then to Heinrich.

"We were planning to have a larger family," Josele started, "and I personally don't want to change those plans. But, we might end up waiting a few years to see how the child grows before having any more."

"That only makes sense. Good luck to you two and your future family."

[despairing-disaster]

16, 20, 23,28 for whit n david?

Gonna combine these for convenience and since it’s a lot of the same characters. Also sorry this took a while, it was a lot of numbers and I'm a chronic procrastinator - -;

David

3. A song that reminds me of them

Save Yourself by Stabbing Westward. I definitely think it fits a different character slightly better, but it works with the idea of him being a motivational speaker who hates his job.

12. Sexuality hc!

Gay

Not really much else to say on that.

16. A childhood headcanon

He was really quiet as a kid. Like, insanely so, to the point that him becoming a public speaker was something nobody really expected from him. 

20. A weird headcanon

David absolutely cannot handle spicy food for the life of him. It’s like a nuclear warhead for his entire GI tract. Given what the creator has said on food preferences, it kinda makes me wonder how he’d react to Xander’s cooking.

23. Future headcanon

I don’t think I can see David surviving the killing game. I see him as a character who isn’t really intended to “grow” so much as reveal more about themselves, and it’s really difficult to keep these characters interesting enough to justify leaving them in the story for 6 chapters (unless you’re linuj). I could realistically see him dying any time between chapter 2 and chapter 4, but I’m leaning more towards chapter 3. I don’t think he’s secretly evil or something, but it’d be the point where, if anyone is gonna just snap (again), it’s gonna be then, and it really seems like David in particular holds a lot back. 

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

It’s not even the fact that he accused Teruko of killing Xander, it’s the fact that he pressed it so hard for so long when everybody else already moved on. I understand that every trial needs its skeptics in the face of new evidence, and I will say that the writer did a pretty good job at not making him hair-pullingly irritating with it, but like... it was pretty unnecessary from a watsonian perspective. 

Whit

So glad you asked me about him bc I love him so much.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I think the moment he had with Teruko in the laundry room where he said he just wanted to see her smile. I didn't really think much of him beforehand beyond him being a fun-loving jokester who didn't really take things seriously, but I think that scene really added a much-needed degree of depth to his character. Gonna absolutely shit my pants if he starts getting even more character development at the beginning of chapter 2 tho.

5. My favorite ship of them

Hate to be literally every other person in the fandom, but lets be real here, it's him with Charles. They've had really good chemistry thus far and Whit's interactions with him are where he really seems to shine as a character. Despite being a hardass, Charles really seems to bring out the best in him. Although I'll also throw in whitruko, charwhitruko and whitrei in as honorable mentions.

7. A quote of them that you remember

"Charles, you *do* know what sex is, right?"

Idk. It just kinda came outta left field, even by Whit standards.

16. A childhood headcanon

Whit was one of those kids who asked a million questions. “How do planes fly? Is water wet? Why do male seahorses give birth?” or merely the simple “why” over and over again until whoever he’s talking to realized he’s fucking with them.

20. A weird headcanon

Ik I’ve joked about it before, but he wears those heart-print boxers you always see in cartoons. Not always, but he has quite a few pairs of them.

23. Future headcanon

If Charles doesn’t kick the bucket next chapter, it’s gonna be him. Otherwise, I could easily see him making it to chapter 4, but not likely further than that. I said this with Charles, but I think these two are going to get more development and interaction with each other going forward (and I mostly say this based on speculation around the ch2 previews) though I’m curious to see where it goes from there. I mark chapter 4 as his maximum longevity since it seems that’s the chapter where the characters who get put in the role of being uplifting seem to go to die and that seems to be his role to at least someone in the cast.

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

I don't know how much Whit really did that was unnecessary beyond his typical in-character teasing. It could be argued that he pushed his limits with Charles a few times, but I personally feel like he made up for it later. A lot of his jokes in the first class trial were also a bit questionable given the circumstances. Not that I hate humor in a class trial and all, but having that super serious moment with Charles followed immediately by Whit implicating himself (and Charles) and then not just joking about it, but running that joke into the ground was peak "can you just take things seriously???" for me.

30. The funniest scene they had?

Hard to say since being the funny guy is kinda his schtick. I think his intro was pretty amusing and did a really good job at setting him up as a character, what with all the jabs he was making towards Xander. He had a lot of other good moments, but many of them were followed immediately by more serious ones or involved someone not reacting super well to him in some capacity.

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Mashing Solarpunk and Cyberpunk to Wage War Against War in The Creator

I saw the movie The Creator last night, which turned out to be a brooding love child of cyberpunk and solarpunk. I think we need a name for that genre mashup because there’s some interesting threads there to mine. The Creator also made me wonder, when did films get so beautiful. Every last frame of this film is a work of art of exceptional composition and clarity. And the sound... just wow, from the stirring yet perfectly integrated musical score to the map of sounds happening around you as the action progresses. If nothing else (and yet much more), The Creator is exactly why we should be fighting for the lives of our movie theaters. It breaks my heart to think of all the young’uns out there who are going to watch this film on their phone and will never have any idea what they’re missing by not having seen it on a big screen with a top–notch sound system. Even watching a film like this on the best HD TV you could hang on your living room wall would be like looking at a print of a Picasso instead of seeing its power in person.

The Creator takes place in an alternate timeline where we dove into AI and robotics with such gusto so early on, there were AI robots in spacesuits in space missions on NASA’s Space Shuttles (circa early 80s to early 2010s), not to mention acting as mother’s little helpers in the kitchens of the 1950s (if my memory is accurate of the “news reel” that rolled for the rocket ride that is the film’s opening montage). In short, The Terminator films clearly not existing in this timeline, humanity made the mistake of leaving the AIs in charge of defense systems and Los Angeles got nuked. And that’s just the first 75 seconds of the film (more or less).

Despite the fact that hardly anyone one who doesn’t live in Los Angeles cares a whit about the place—in fact,lots of folks actively fantasize about its demise (I’m thinking, most recently, of Kim Stanley Robinson's meanly gleeful and scientifically inaccurate drowning of the LA basin within about the space of a day via atmospheric river storms in The Ministry for the Future)—the USA goes full post-9/11 and declares war on AI. This means hunting down and mercilessly exterminating hotbeds of AI development in “New Asia.” Cue violent raids into New Asian countries by squads of American commandos with mind–bogglingly mighty tanks; a permanently airborne war station that locates targets, coordinates attacks, and launches savage missile attacks; and the most arrogant, single-minded, and cruel military characters imaginable.

That is, except for the protagonist. Sure, he’s an elite commando, but (SLEDGEHAMMER OF A METAPHOR) he’s a little bit robot himself, with all those bionics to replace limbs lost (in combat, presumably, given that his more innocent explanation sounds like an evasive lie). He fell in love with and married a New Asian woman while infiltrating her “terrorist” troupe of AI developers. This splits his sympathies. Considerably. Still, the top brass puts him in charge of re–infiltrating New Asia to seek and destroy the AI “weapon” the “terrorists” have developed. But this “weapon to end all weapons” turns out to be the AI equivalent of a human child who holds the key to the protagonist reuniting with the protagonist’s seemingly terrorist wife. As well as maybe also holding the key to world peace. Meanwhile, the child AI needs the love, protection, and guidance of a parent to survive and develop deeply human emotions. (Because, you know, emotions. They’re what make people do good things, right?)

Movies being movies, a lot of people and seemingly sentient machines are going to have to die in splatters of gunfire and spectacular explosions before we can find out who wins: the US military meanies or the AI robots and their friends, who just want to live free in peace and harmony.

Thematically, there’s a lot going on in The Creator. It’s very anti-colonialism, for instance. It also wonders how sentient robots will feel about being, essentially, slaves. It wants to tell us that maybe AI will be good for us. Instead of wanting to exterminate us—we who are actually the violent ones who refuse to see the humanity in others—maybe AI will want to be our friends and partners. Maybe AI will help us to develop the humanity lurking somewhere within ourselves and make us better human beings.

But for me, the overarching theme of The Creator is rage at America’s arrogantly militaristic habit of seeing things in black and white (US vs them, good guys vs terrorists, humans vs AI) and of annihilating the enemy at all cost, including that of the lives, livelihoods, housing, and villages of the civilians we don’t see as mattering. Watching this bitter rebuke to “shock and awe” was especially moving right now, on the brink (at least at the time of this writing) of Israel’s potential offensive into Gaza that will be Israel making the same mistake America made after 9/11. We could have taken the world’s sympathy and support (for we had it!) and used it to make the world a better, more equitable, more peaceful, much less impoverished, and more just place. Instead, we spent decades extracting bloody, violent revenge for a single terrorist act. Yes, our pride was wounded, and yes, nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attack, but the damage and death we caused in response with our mighty military machinery and soldiers gained us nothing, not even satisfaction. All it did, besides kill people and destroy their homes, was take the world into a dark, unstable place where there are now so many sides (within societies and between them) and they all hate each other. We all hate each other and this is ripping the fabric of our societies apart and making life more horrible for everyone. Rampaging like a million Godzillas on methamphetamine might feel as good as smashing glass when you’re mad, but it’s not right. It’s what evil empires do and it has terrible geopolitical repercussions. Especially when you wrap up your claim in the mantle of morality that you don’t actually have.

Of course, few movies are without their flaws. A lot happened in this movie that strained all credibility... and for the most part, it wasn’t the speculative elements. If the plot consisted of a lot of interlocking threads, every last one of them went full circle and tied itself into a tidy little bow by the end, which was ridiculous. Related to this, foreshadowing struck often and always like a sledgehammer. And there were far too many implausible events... characters who just happened to stumble in the right direction to end up in the right place at literally exactly the right time to make exactly the connection (that had gotten set up in another implausible and convoluted set of circumstances) that was totally unexpected (but that you saw coming 30 minutes previously because of the sledgehammer foreshadowing), etc. The AI child has extraordinary powers over machines when the plot needs it to but doesn’t have those powers when the plot needs it not to. The US military people are all such hardcore, single-minded, murder–all–the–AIs–at–all–cost lunkheads that the tragic backstory they give at least one of them to excuse it just comes across as laughable. Also, come on. Los Angeles gets nuked and only a couple of million people die? Does the alternate timeline not know that nearly 20 million people live in the Los Angeles megalopolitan area? Also, why barrage AI hot spots with bombs and missiles, doing so much collateral damage, when a great bit electromagnetic pulse would be far more effective while simultaneously sparing human beings and their homes?

Despite this, the movie is a moving spectacle. And it felt new. Which is not easy to do, as anyone who has sat down to try to write sci–fi could tell you. Sci–fi is so far beyond the first flush of its youth, unless you're really good, that just about any story you come up with has been written several times before. Despite the clunkier aspects of the plot, whoever wrote The Creator is really good. This sci–fi movie broke ground.

These days, I rarely stay for the credits of movies, but I felt compelled to for The Creator. It was so magnificently made, I’d found myself wondering how you would even go about writing a prospectus for a film like this. It was filmed at so many different places around the world and it had so much excellent CGI, there was only one moment in the movie where I was like, oh, that’s totally obviously CGI (and normally I scoff all the time at CGI). How would you even begin to figure out how many people you’d need to make a film this epic and detailed, much less how to coordinate their efforts. How could you begin to calculate how long it would take to make a movie this ambitious or how much it would cost so that the end result was excellent? (Turns out, the cost is $80 million, which is between a quarter and a third of the cost of a typical Marvel movie.)

My best guess—before and after watching the extensive credits—is that it took at least a thousand person-years to get this film made. There were so many animators. And they all seem to have done a painstaking job.

So, kudos to The Creator, the art with which it was made, and the themes that it tackled. Now get thee to a proper movie theater. In fact, the shiniest, newest, most up–to–date movie theater you can find. Movie theaters need our help to survive in this world of streaming, and spectacles like The Creator need to be seen on a big screen.