#And like to be frank it's not more 'manipulative' in a literal sense of the word then when normal empathy havers do it

[prolibytherium]

It's funny when people treat the level of planning and calculating out sympathetic responses that you have to do with low empathy as like 'scary' or manipulative or whatever because in practice it's so deeply un-malicious and if anything motivated by NOT wanting to unintentionally hurt someone

[ethan-acfan]

Okay, so I like to imagine that all pjo characters have some weird traits from their powers that really aren't that noticeable unless you point it out, so here is my list of weird traits they all have

Percy: gets dehydrated really easily, needs way more water than the average person. Also, his hands get wrinkles faster in water (like under 5 minutes)

Jason: has a lot of static around him all the time, shocks people every time he touches them. Also, he's just completely given up on trying to get his hair to sit normally

Hazel: has really spatial awareness, but only when she is outside in contact with dirt. She also hates concrete with a burning passion, like it blocks her senses almost, and it just feels weird. Let that girl roll around in the grass

Piper: never gets a sore throat, like literally never, she can be surrounded by people with strep throat and never get sick

Leo: has never gotten a cold or the flu because his body is so naturally hot that a virus can't survive inside him. He also has a larger lung capacity and is always taking deep breaths, like he needs a lot of oxygen, and he can not hold his breath for longer than 10 seconds, no matter how hard he tries

Nico: is really food at figuring out and manipulating someone's fears. Like he knows someone's fear within 3 seconds of being near them. Also, he can never be snuck up on because he just knows if someone is near him (he is sensing their soul, and that's why) but large crows also suck because all those souls get overwhelming

Frank: Complete disney princess vibes, is really good at understanding what an animal wants due to body language and animals are just drawn to him, birds will just land on him at random points of the day if he is outside

Annabeth: really good situational awareness and is really good at coming to compromises. She can get two complete opposing sides to agree on something if she tries hard enough. Battle tactics also mean diplomatic solutions

Will: can tell if someone is sick just by looking at them, can also tell what that disease is if he touches them. Also, he never gets sunburned

[ckret2]

bouncing off that anon's ask, who would you ship Bill with *outside* of Gravity Falls? Literally any media go ham with it

Invader Zim for exactly one reason: their voices would be sooo annoying together. Imagine it. Imagine the dirty talk. Absolutely atrocious.

This isn't a ship but I think he should hang out with Team Rocket. I mean I guess it could be a ship if you wanna find a way to fit him into the polycule. They've got plenty they can relate to each other on: complicated relationships with parents, being special in your species in a way that makes you a freak/outcast, seeking family via criminal gang, trying to accomplish ONE evil task for like a billion years and somehow no matter how many people you try to manipulate or how clever your cover stories and creative your plans you just canNOT do it...

But mainly I want him to give them terrible advice and horrible help on their criminal ambitions while trying to get them to build him a portal. They waste 50 episodes on 50 different portal-building schemes while Bill gets progressively more irate, and in turn they get equally furious at this annoying talking Ghost-type they can't touch or make go away. Poké balls work on him but he immediately pops back out even madder, which does nothing to help him persuade them that he's not a Pokémon.

Anyway within a month they'd all die for each other. In a very emotional moment when he thinks they're about to be killed and there's nothing he can do about it, he'd tell them they would have made fine Henchmaniacs; and then when they inevitably survive he immediately takes it back.

I think Bill and Unicron would hook up and I think Unicron would make Bill worse. I think he's one of the only beings in existence that could make Bill worse. Bill's got a self-destructive streak a mile wide and Unicron would exacerbate it. They'd break up cordially and then slowly grow to loathe each other more and more in retrospect. Bill would still booty call Unicron when drunk and Unicron would accept.

this isn't necessarily a ship but imagine if bill and getaway teamed up

The Princess in Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer. Bill would promise her a diamond the size of a star and she would build him a portal in less than a week. Bill would compliment her interior decor sensibilities and she might actually compliment his appearance because he's very bright, and that would be enough for them to decide they're besties. They'd get champagne, trash talk their enemies, and bully the plebs like a couple of high school mean girls. They'd make out while completely wasted and deny it when they're sober. Each of them privately thinks the other one is their pet.

Grendel from Grendel. Bill would initially hook up with him expecting him to be the monster equivalent of a party frat boy and then they'd talk philosophy in a dark cave for 18 hours straight and mutually feel like they're not alone for the first time they can remember. They'd make each other worse and then fix each other and then Grendel would die in battle and Bill would get worse again.

I think he could have something with Frankenstein's monster, too—original novel version, not movie version. Similar reasons to Grendel: strong sense of alienation from parents and of isolation from everyone else in the world; feeling of having been created as something totally singular, feeling of having a perspective no one else shares; self-identification as the monster in the narrative of their own life... Plus with the monster Bill's also got "life inevitably culminates in killing my own dad." Bill met him because he was actually trying to get Frank to build him a portal—he's like the first scientist trying to do major projects using electricity—but then ended up more fascinated by the science project than the scientist.

[elizakai]

you guys i can’t take this anymore i need to release steam from this pot of killer and dust thoughts that’s on the stove

listen. if you don’t know by now. one of my favorite things to do is bridge narratives between fanon ideas, and canon truths hehe

Killer and Dust. The accepted dynamic is basically killer being a pestering little shit and dust being over it.

THATS GREAT ON ITS OWN it’s funny etc

but think about their ACTUAL characters for a moment. they are two sides of the same coin.

⬇️

i don’t want to hear any of that old fandom “they are literally the same” shhhhh. nuh uh dear friend, they commuted the same (general) action💥

their motives and situations are very different however! which is important when it comes to understanding a character

They both played into an opposite role in their world if you ask me.

Killer partners with chara, filling the role of the player. he’s a lot like flowey actually.

(in killers world, while he is still a pawn of this sick game, he gets manipulated after all, he has taken on the ROLE of the player. everyone else are the pawns.)

dust is against the anomaly of dusttale, which is that worlds player.

dust is a pawn. a pawn that is defying the player of the game

(in the same way that killer is still pawned, dust still uses his fellow “pawns” as a means to “win” the game, meaning he’s also playing)

(but again, i’m speaking role wise)

Killer and Dust’s dynamic doesn’t have to just be haha funny, it has some actual merit and potential to their characters.

Killer is constantly looking for new forms of entertainment. something new. he’ll get bored, and if he’s bored he’ll have to look at himself. killer is very much a character representing disassociation avoidance and to an extent, escapism (huh. like someone playing a video game?)

Of COURSE he’s gonna poke at people. it’s INTERESTING. it gets a REACTION. he gets to have that small power trip of being in control, after feeling like he lost control this is something that’s probably addictive to killer.

meanwhile dust…well. killer acts like his own anomaly in a way. he prods at him, toys with him, he’s leering and he takes pleasure in any reaction dust gives. dust probably would resent this feeling without really knowing why. he feels like some toy, and he’d probably be inclined to even interpret a genuine interaction this way.

this honestly makes dusts inclination to shut off or dull down any emotion make more sense. be as unremarkable as possible, and you’ll be left alone, right?

isn’t that…kind of what sans does? he’ll repeat same lines of dialogue and such when he reallyyy doesn’t have to. he’s being uninteresting. (and no he doesn’t need to remember everything magically for that to be possible. in game he will poke fun at past conversations and dialogue so he’s clearly aware enough)

Killer wants a response, so dust doesn’t give one.

killer wants control and feels like this is a challenge, dust feels cornered and defensive

if they had existed in the same world, it would have been killer vs dust in the end either way.

it’s a big old game of cat and mouse until someone snaps. they need to be given the opportunity to understand their similarities

even in an interpretation where they are in a healthier relationship, in whatever capacity, i think these mindsets would be conflict they may have….

to killer , on one hand he may be OFFENDED by his lack of response. he may be EXCITED, it’s a CHALLENGE. he might take dusts resignation as a sign of submission, which would give killer a HIGE power trip.

he might. genuinely just be trying to have fun?

it could be ENTIRELY lighthearted, and it’s still…rather toxic, considering where that mindset branched from

and we know dust won’t be inclined to say anything. he probably doesn’t understand his own feelings to be frank💀 he just feels gross and intimidated and cornered so he shuts off and sees killer as oppressive , and grows resentful regardless of intent, as these feelings only feed into his crippling self hatred anyways

….thats all for tonight-

[chiistarri]

i love you merging interests ,, anyway genshin pjo au

annabeth : pyro – passionate, dedicated their lives to something they like. her passion/interest/etc would be architecture, obviously. even tho she's a child of athena, it's not that her biggest trait is searching for any and all knowledge about whatever. it's that, even removing her godly heritage, she would still have a burning passion for architecture that she would 100% put into use regardless of whatever world or au she's in

percy : hydro – strong dedication/desire to help people (or their movement). percy's fatal flaw is literally loyalty. even removing the fact that he's the son of the sea god, the fact that he is overly loyal to those he adores is just really hydro of him. and yeah, other characters can be loyal asw, but it's the forefront of who he is, and defines him, just like his element

grover : dendro – wanting to know things/skills that are hard/forbidden/that they like. for years, he and his ancestors searched for pan. he and his uncle and other satyrs dedicated their lives to it, which was clearly a hard skill-esque thing to do. it's only fair that in teyvat that he'd get a similar story of finding the knowledge and completing what's been lost. even as a human, he'd find something nature-focused to dedicate his life around

jason : electro – seeing the world uniquely and are considered weird/in their own world. the whole camp half-blood vs. camp jupiter arc he had would make you think he would be cryo (stuck between two things) but really, even at either camps, it'd still be off for him. from his parentage to how he was raised and who he is as a person, it just makes sense for him to be considered hugely different from his peers. and if you want to keep in the raised by wolves things, think razor

piper : geo – hardworking in general, does anything to achieve their goal(s). she was a struggle to decide, honestly. but her goal in pjo was to just live a normal life. from having normal attention from her celebrity father to eventually seemingly abandoning the mytho world in toa in favor of living a much more normal, mortal life, she does anything she can to get there. she dates jason to have a normal, loving relationship in the middle of a time where nothing was close to her normal (the war) and leaves him and the others for the mortal side of her life, and achieves what she always wanted

leo : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. it's his mom's death. even well-past her dying, he's haunted by it, and constantly thinks he's the cause because of his powers. no matter what he does, it always somehow links back to his mother, in one way or another. his life is so interlinked with her death that he's just stuck on it, and has been ever since it happened, and will always be

frank : geo – hardworking in general, does anything to achieve their goal(s). he was hard, like piper. unlike her, i don't think he'd really have one gigantic goal. in pjo, he did, which was to survive, and he managed it, and got rid of his life being tied to a woodstick. i think he'd be hardworking to prove himself, also like in the books. he proved himself to be useful to the seven despite his whole life-stick thing, to the camp despite being in the worst cohort

hazel : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. it's kind of self explanatory? from the whole sammy-leo plot to her having been literally dead for a while (think qiqi too), it's the most fitting. you can maybe add the whole dead mom thing like leo, although it would weigh more on her of how her mom was the cause of her death due to her being manipulated by a higher-being rather than leo's whole haunted by the memory of his mother plot

nico : cryo – contridictory life, stuck between two worlds/the past and present. like hazel, he's from the past. like leo, the death his mom (and sister) weigh on him heavily. bianca's affected him for four straight years, with him being completely on his own when he ran and had to face her death. he even tried to bring her back. i think that's reason enough for cryo

reyna : anemo – desire for/chasing after a form of freedom. she, although not being forced into it, had been a foundational role for camp jupiter for a long while at a young age, and eventually took her chance with the hunters to find herself. her freedom is her ability to now discover who she wants to be without feeling like she needs to step up into a heavly burdening role

only vaguely describing the reasons based off their pjo stuff rn, plus only main characters BUT i have more, cred to @wherefore-art-thine and @starrykanon for doing this with me

[isabelopaque]

bonnie kelly as a character makes me so crazy because shes so much more, real? than some of the other parents. it's still a comedy and everyone's actions are exaggerated but there's a sense of upsetting realism to her character compared to luthers genuinely frightening front or franks behaviors in episodes. she genuinely cares for joyce and it isn't fake or to get something from her but it's so manipulative and unhealthy in it's existence of sweetness. i genuinely don't believe she's not an evil person or purposefully manipulative, i think shes a really damaged person but the consequences of such are so much more evident. she cares for her kid in the way none of the other parents in the show do but also puts joyce into this caretaker role instead of taking accountability. she had not much of a choice in some of the ways she raised joyce, having to do work to survive and thus leaving her with her brother due to shelley not being around, but it's like shes stuck in that time period still of not acknowledging anything being wrong with the situation at hand but joyce is growing older and older and things have already clicked into place for her on her childhood and some of the stuff she went through.

she's unstable and it isn't her fault, but in acting like she does it puts joyce in such an awkward situation. she doesn't want to leave philly in case something hapens, but she can't go home because her mother won't stop inviting over her uncle who she begged her mother to see had hurt her and she couldn't do it. her sisters abandoned the family as soon as they could, taking up jobs not unlike their mother did, and joyce can't really blame them for doing so but now is left entirely with the responsibility of the family and nothing to say for it. she didn't have anyone else besides her mom as a kid besides mac, none of the other parents cared so she had to take care of herself and her mom growing up but she doesn't hate her for it, because at least her mom stuck around.

i think in recent seasons especially post s15 finale, joyce has started like. letting herself realize how messed up her family situation is, not as a joke, or as a comment offhandedly. her dad is dead, and all she has left if her immediate family so she heads back home in grief.

going to her moms house literally resulted in pulled teeth and blood on the kitchen table. bonnie hurts herself, physically, a repentance or distraction or victimization of herself for joyce's sake instead of apologizing or fixing the situation at hand and it's such a visual look into their family dynamic. bonnie wants s much to keep this image of herself as a good mother to her little charlie that in the process she doesn't even treat her like a real person. they go to the kelly house and she's putting on a birthday party for jack but joyce didn't even remember how old she was, never getting parties or big celebrations from her mother and the ensuing scene of joyce slamming the phone over and over is so painful? like certainly in the show she's gotten mad at her mom before but there's this genuine rage at the situation, before having to inevitably take care of her mom and apologize, holding the rag to her bloody mouth. it's such a literal picture of the continous cycle of violence in the home but not actually fixing any of the issues at hand

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 19th May ✨

I have had my heart ripped out through my ears this week by certain shows *cough* Small Victories *cough* but here’s everything I listened to! 

👻 @tellnotalespod (S2E10) these ghosties may be incorporeal but the chemistry between them sure isn’t!! I loved hearing Leo find a role that they feel fits them but found myself burying my head in my hands again as they continue to be manipulated by Frank. I love that it’s been written so that there’s definitely something suspicious going on but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is exactly. It’s so much more like real life than if Frank was just obviously rotten and if (when) he reveals himself to be a rat bastard, I hope it helps people examine their own relationships with people who might be manipulating them! 

🌲 @hellofromthehallowoods (152) Clem 😭 I hate that even as a listener I compare her to Riot but her sense of humour in the face of being pretty much ripped to shreds is SO much like Riot 😩 

And, oh. Oh, Raj. Maybe he hasn’t made a covenant with Syrensyr …. maybe the real eldritch power was grief all along. This killed me. 

I’m hoping at some point (either in the canon or as a bonus) we get to hear the Nikignik/Marolmar conversation in its entirety from start to finish. I love getting snippets but I also want to hear it in full!! 

🧳 Travelling Light @monstrousproductions (22) ooooh I do love a spooky tale and would happily listen to an entire series set in the world of this story! 

🏛 @the-mistholme-museum (TRANQUIL) What a lovely ending to an astounding show. It’s so comforting to know that, at the end of everything, there will still be stories 🥺💙

🖥️ The Magnus Protocol (16) Poor Alice ☹️ I really enjoyed the multimedia additions in this episode, it made it so much more entertaining to listen to!! 

🍎 @notquitedeadpod (XXXVIII) Oh lord. Maybe Casper isn’t the angel we assumed him to be 😩 I literally didn’t trust Neige at all when he was first introduced but, god, I am so soft for him now. If it turns out that he’s the one manipulating Alfie I’m going to lose it. What on earth are they going to do with Casper now?? 

🌞 Small Victories by @wgc-productions (2.05-2.07) oh my GOD!! Marisol!!! I can’t even believe what has happened in my ears. CHRIST. I think what hurts the most is that it actually took zero effort for her to find the oxy in the end - she was REALLY stopping herself 😭 she could have taken it at any time and didn’t. Sometimes it’s hard to believe this show has been written and acted, the writing and performances are so spot on that it feels like real life!

^ So I wrote this and then finished off the rest of the season and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! Shit, man. I completely didn’t even realise who ‘The Host’ was until she apologised to him at the start of the last episode 😭 don’t do this to me, I’m too fragile 😭 ugh, it’s all just too much. I need season three right now. 

Please, everyone go listen to Small Victories!! And if you're having a generous audio drama Sunday, Stories from Ylemore by @itmeblog is crowdfunding and you should support them!!

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

About to beat the Backerkit’s record for longest in Overtime (overtime ends when there hasn’t been funding in 10 minutes)

They are $10k away from unlocking Blood and Coal setting, which I would be soooo stoked to get. It seemed impossible but now it’s getting so close. Here’s their blurb about it:

Blood & Coal takes place in the town of Thurmond, West Virginia in the early 20th century, during the first years of the Great Depression. The player characters—the hunters—belong to a secret club known as the Bushburners' Lodge who, while posing as Thurmond's volunteer fire brigade, investigate and neutralize demonic threats that appear around the areas of the New River Gorge and surrounding Fayette County. Over time, they become aware of the plans of a sinister mastermind who seeks to unleash an all-consuming evil from its imprisoned slumber beneath the ancient hills. The hunters will eventually be forced to confront this mastermind in an attempt to halt the End of All Things and save their community. Blood & Coal is directly inspired by the audio drama series Old Gods of Appalachia and the 1987 film Matewan. It also takes inspiration from cosmic horror fiction, as well as real-life Appalachian history, music, and folklore. Blood & Coal is by Alex Rybitski, with contributions from an all-star cast of writers, including Lin Codega, Wesley Franks, and B Narr!

Playbooks

The Canary is a beautiful innocent stuck in a bad situation. They were born with the gift of foresight and the ability to sense malevolent entities in their presence. They are also the ward of another hunter, who has conscripted them into the dangerous work of the Bushburners' Lodge against their wishes. Play the Canary if you want to use miraculous powers to illuminate even the darkest places, or if you'd like to explore the relationship with the one who forces your hand.

The Runner is a bootlegger, hockin' hooch to the good people of Fayette County from the back of their trusty automobile. They fled their past life in the big city, leaving behind more than a few burned bridges with people both powerful and dangerous. Play the Runner if you want to be a noble renegade that outsmarts their opposition, or if you just want to go careening down backcountry roads at hazardous speeds.

The Scab is a detestable coward with a damned soul. They were a labor spy for the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency during the coal wars, using dirty tricks and goading words that lead striking miners to their deaths. They are literally haunted by the spirits of those they betrayed, and it's only a matter of time until their vile soul is dragged to Hell. Play the Scab if you want to be a manipulative, two-faced, lily-livered snake, or if you're interested in exploring how an irredeemable piece of shit gets what they deserve.

The Balladeer is a folk singer, entrusted with the preservation of a precious musical legacy. They've traveled all over these hills, gathering generations of nigh-forgotten songs and stories. During the game, they will pursue truth and tradition with fiery zeal, singing songs that rouse the heart and stir those around them to action. Play the Balladeer if you want to be the most charming person in the room, or if you're interested in exploring your role in the living history of Appalachia and its people.

The Revenant is a vengeful soul. They were recently killed by someone they knew, perhaps even trusted, and left to rot—only, they didn't stay dead; something dark, twisted, and hungry brought them back. During the game, they will have to contend not only with their undead nature and the pursuit of revenge, but also a gnawing corruption that's taking root deep within. Play the Revenant if you want to face having a tenuous and fading grip on humanity, or if you're interested in being an unkillable force out for blood.

The Daughter is the last true witch of Appalachia. She comes from a long line of proud women just like her, but is now alone. She is the chosen guardian of the natural order, the only thing that the forces of darkness may come to fear—if they don't manage to corrupt her, first. During the game, you'll explore her connections to those that came before her and the wisdom they left behind. Play the Daughter if you want to use holler medicine and granny magic to protect others, even if they're scared of what you are.

Threats & Mastermind

Blood & Coal is still in development, but will feature a variety of Threats, including: The Bad Death of Dolores Fink, in which a recently deceased homemaker miraculously revives, only to terrorize her family; The Snarly Yow, in which a monstrous wolf has been scaring travelers along the old roads outside of town; and The Blue Devil of Ratliff Holler, in which the hunters investigate a folk tale, a blue-skinned family of moonshiners, and their criminal clientele. In addition to the other 5 planned Threats, there will be two secret Threats associated with Playbooks. We will have more to reveal in the coming weeks!

The Mastermind in Blood & Coal is Father Tate, a mysterious and charismatic preacher with a dark secret—he is in direct communion with the malevolent forces at work, and will eagerly see Thurmond burn to bring about the return of the God Beneath.

The $30 tier, which has digital copies of all 3 books, would include the Blood and Coal campaign and setting. Across all settings, there’s enough information for several campaigns. If you’re on the fence and can swing it, I highly recommend! The community is also awesome and super encouraging of new game designers / homebrewers.

[cto10121]

Finished re-reading Rebecca and I have Observations(tm)

It’s so obvious upon rereading that Beatrice doesn’t like Rebecca, lol. She never says anything positive about her other than objective facts, forgets that Gran liked Rebecca, and has uncharacteristic patience with the narrator.

Maxim keeping cool while Favell brags about being Rebecca’s lover but losing it when Favell merely insinuates the narrator finding a sympathetic “arm” with Frank is so revealing.

Also, the fact that it took Maxim so long (literally years) to confront Rebecca about her infidelities—practically only doing it when she took lovers at the boathouse in Manderley—says a lot. Maxim really did not give two shits about her.

Mrs. Danvers practically raising Rebecca (per Favell) and being with her from when Rebecca was at least 12-years-old really changed my perspective on their relationship. Less of a flying monkey to a narcissist and more of a mother/companion figure. The way she worried about Rebecca not returning home and staying up was especially mother-like. On the other hand, we don’t quite know how old Danvers is compared to Rebecca. It could be a case of younger servant / older madam, but Danvers does read as older by a lot.

Otoh, you could make a case that Danvers/Rebecca is a parallel to The Narrator/Maxim, both with servant/master overtones. The narrator does liken her love for Maxim as that of a schoolboy over an upper form and that Maxim is “father and brother and everything” to her. Du Maurier may be depicting (eroticized?) class dynamics.

Rebecca’s infidelity is made into such a big deal (‘30s after all) but Du Maurier definitely wrote abusive signs: Rebecca flogging a dead horse with a whip, her threatening to send Ben to an asylum, her mocking the servants behind their back chief among them. She reads as a female Iago—an excellent liar and manipulator expert at masking and mirroring people. It makes all the Rebecca defenders look really obstuse

The narrator believes that Colonel Julyan knows the truth, but I don’t see how he would. Rebecca committing suicide after a cancer diagnosis would be in character—Mrs. Danvers said that Rebecca had a horror of sickness and would have wanted to be quick about it. He may have had his suspicions aroused when Maxim punched Favell, but honestly, who wouldn’t? Either way, Julyan opted to protect Maxim. It also makes that awful Beauman sequel about his knowing and liking Rebecca all the more stupid.

Surprise, surprise, but I felt for Mrs. Danvers and even Favell at parts, particularly Mrs. Danvers crying and Favell shaken after learning about Rebecca’s diagnosis. But it’s clear they are awful people and so of course they’d like her, lol. It’s telegraphed that Mrs. Danvers would have been 100% okay with the narrator if the narrator had been another Rebecca clone and/or wasn’t such a pushover. Curiously enough Favell was still hopeful to get Maxim even after the cancer revelation…but we never learn how.

On Maxim’s love for/not love for the narrator: The narrator really is unreliable in the sense that everything is colored by her insecurity and her crippling shyness. She takes everything personally—every slight lands like a blow to a youth and all that. How much is Maxim truly being coldly callous—and how much is he genuinely panicked and triggered by the memories of Rebecca’s abuse?

I think a good example of the above is the narrator feeling slighted that Maxim set her up in the renovated east wing suite with the rose garden (usually for bachelor guests) when the original marital suite (the “best” and most beautiful rooms per Danvers) were in the west wing with the sea…only for Maxim to come in and cheerfully say he always loved the east wing suite with the rose garden and it was a shame that it was wasted as a guest room. Homeboy wanted his new bride to be in the rooms he loved and not the ones he was forced to share with Rebecca…aw

And then there is Maxim easily confessing the truth to the narrator and admitting he almost confessed earlier. Weirdly enough, I do believe him—but what a horrible risk! What if she turned against him, feared him, ceased to love him? Denounce him? Maxim knew her so little before they married, and yet he didn’t seem to fear any of these things. Curiously enough, he doesn’t even ask the narrator to help him, either directly or indirectly, and even seemed resigned to his fate. Was he that entitled, to take it all for granted, that stupid…that in love?

Usually I dislike typically the (typically) Christian theme of innocence/naïveté>>>>wordliness/just not being a clueless idiot. I think it works better here though as a basic but non-abusive>>>>beautiful but abusive type type of thematic messaging. Both the narrator and Maxim struggle to move on past their trauma, for want of a better word (the narrator as an orphan under that awful degrading Mrs. Van Hopper and Maxim with all the shit Rebecca put him through). To a certain extent they’ve internalized these survival instincts as mere habit. The narrator’s crippling insecurities follow her as a wife and Maxim doesn’t even think to change Manderley from Rebecca’s influence, renovating only the east wing suite. It took Rebecca returning, so to speak, for them to face their hang-ups squarely. The narrator realized just how much her insecurities have blinded her to the truth and made her unhappy and Maxim gained a true ally.

[midnightstargazer]

❤️🤍 !!

thanks @slitheringghost!

unpopular opinion ask game

Took me a while to find the red heart, I think it's the one that's showing as plain solid-colored black for me, but please let me know if you meant something different.

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

Barty Crouch Jr.

I like the idea that he had a tense relationship with his father going back several years before he got caught as a Death Eater. And I like the idea that he was close to Regulus Black and Evan Rosier, whether romantically or just as friends - although that's purely headcanon that I think could make sense, not actually something with canon evidence to back it up.

But that's about where fanon Barty and I part ways.

Canon Barty is, first of all, incredibly intelligent. Both in terms of book smarts (twelve O.W.L.s!) and in terms of cunning and manipulation (see: literally everything he does in GoF). Fanon Barty often seems like he doesn't have a coherent thought in his head.

In canon, he comes across as someone who nobody - Crouch Sr. included - would have suspected, so I doubt he was openly rebellious. More likely he was sneaking away to meetings and hanging out with bad influences at school while still toeing the line at home.

He was right up there with Bellatrix as one of Voldemort's most loyal followers. He definitely wasn't in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was caught, and he absolutely did join of his own free will.

I'm not a big fan of making Frank and Alice involved with Evan Rosier's death and framing what Barty did to them as revenge.

And I'm going to be petty here: he has straw-colored hair, i.e., dirty blond or light brown, and there's no indication he had tattoos or piercings.

🤍: Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

The difficult thing about this question is that in such a huge fandom, there are so many conflicting opinions, and morally ambiguous characters tend to be polarizing rather than overwhelmingly hated or loved.

But I think criticisms of Kreacher in OotP often fail to take into account his circumstances. I'm not talking about his role in Sirius's death so much as just his attitude in general. Sometimes, I think people tend to forget he's a house-elf, or forget what that means.

Like, yes, he calls people mudbloods and blood traitors and is generally very unpleasant. But he's probably never interacted with a Muggle-born before, or anyone who wasn't a bigot, except for Sirius and maybe Andromeda before they were disowned. He's repeating what he's always heard, and he's certainly never been encouraged to think for himself. He's loyal to the Blacks because that's how house-elves generally are, and also possibly because they treated him better than comparable families like the Malfoys would have. He's been completely alone for about ten years, interacting with no one but Walburga's portrait. And he's reacting to a situation where his whole world has been turned upside down overnight, not to mention suddenly belonging to someone who clearly hates him.

He has no power over his own life, he's probably frightened and upset, he's very indoctrinated, and he comes around eventually. While it's not good, I think something gets lost when people act like there's no context, as if he's just awful for no reason or as if he's coming from the same sort of position of power that a pure-blood wizard would be when they act in similar ways.

[anddreadful]

full thoughts on frank wildhorn’s dracula having re-watched it in its entirety for the first time in many years:

- I watched a recent upload of an (american) community theater production, specifically because a) its sound quality was surprisingly good and b) my recent interest is because a local theater is putting it on, so given the opportunity, I wanted to see whatever version of the show is currently available for north american licensing

- the production was charming but the community theater (technically dinner theater! I went on a google hunt to find the theater and it’s only two hours from me lmao) was community-ing so I can’t really write home about the acting. or the singing although mina had a nice voice

- the one place I will dunk on the production is how hilariously chaste mina and dracula were. the biting scene was notably stiff and un-suggestive of sex despite taking place on a bed. maybe one of the actors wasn’t comfortable with doing anything more, but they had only one kiss, and it was so late in the show and such a teeny little dry peck on the lips that I hollered. at that point just don’t do it and pretend theirs is an ~intellectual connection or something

- dracula did do a creepy hair-petting thing to both renfield and Mina that I was a big fan of

- “if loving you keeps me alive, then how can leaving me be right?” is such a funny lyric. dirtbag manipulative boyfriend dracula

- I knew not all the songs were on the studio cast recording, but I had forgotten HOW MANY songs aren’t on it. where is How Do You Choose? If I Could Fly? It’s Over????? I had fully forgotten there was a life after life reprise. I was obsessed with the studio cast recording in high school and I know all those songs by heart (except for a perfect life because I think it’s bad) and now i’m like. why was I gatekept from so many of the songs!! why is there no professional english recording of Its Over!! answer me frank!!!!!

- this is not a new thought per se but a) I so love that all the suitors are present and themselves b) this show squanders them. jack has no personality whatsoever (I would trade TWO mina ballads for a jack song please I beg), arthur gets needlessly dunked on, and quincey is delightful and incredible and also narratively extraneous given that he doesn’t kill dracula or die at the end

- on that note, though, I cannot believe they included quincey being the first person to promise mina to kill her if the time comes in a book-accurate version of that scene. even the 1992 version doesn’t do that!!!! and this is basically just an adaptation of that movie!!!!! is this the ONLY dracula adaptation to include that detail? it’s a top five book moment for me so I very literally love to see it

- I understand that we had to beef up van helsing as a character SOMEHOW but was a dead wife song really the best we could come up with

- there are too many sad slow songs in this show for what it’s trying to accomplish! some of them immediately on top of each other! and some of the songs distinctly go on for just one too many verses 😭

- does the mina/ dracula romance make any sense? no. does the show make any effort whatsoever to make it? no. am I into it anyway? yeah. fuck it. I have terrible taste and so i think dracula as a disembodied voice like HI? HELLO? DON’T IGNORE ME? and mina being like “unfortunately, i’m into it” rocks

- “She Devil, Nosferatu” and “the lady in white” from that other dracula concept album are both so superior to “undead one, surrender” I almost feel bad for Frank and co there, but “the master’s song”, “life after life”, and “deep in the darkest night” still fucking slap

- the train hypnotism scene was soooo good except for the part where mina did dracula’s accent. not sure if that’s standard but I wish we hadn’t done that

- i’m not THAT well versed in musical theater as an art form and also all art is derivative etc but i do know that wildhorn has been historically criticized for derivativeness and…… yeah! you can tell where he mimics sondheim, and it doesn’t work because you can’t casually mimic sondheim and get out alive. i can’t think of the moment but there was some bit of music I could have sworn was out of Phantom, and it’s obviously a big general inspiration. not to be Boss Baby Guy but I see a lot of Les Mis DNA in it too (what is It’s Over if not The Confrontation in a goth hat)

- the dialogue between songs is serviceable at absolute best, and it’s a shame that it’s so consistently sacrificed at the altar of moving the plot the fuck along. for the most part, only mina and dracula meaningfully connect via song, so it would be nice to use the dialogue to flesh out relationships more often. lucy and mina being besties is a highlight!!!

- ultimately i had a blast but it must needs be said: the show is not good. the best possible execution of “literally just the novel dracula but dracula and mina are having a secret tragic love affair” is probably what we get in the 1992 dracula movie, and if there’s a way to translate that to stage well, it’s not this shallow, silly speedrun. but again. this trash is my trash. the painted cardboard castle of bad dracula adaptations is where i live.

- I actually think it would be really interesting to be involved in a production only because to make these characters function in terms of acting, I think you’d have to invent and extrapolate a lot in terms of motivation and characterization to supplement the text. which would be fun for me, a person who thinks about versions of dracula characters all the time already

[deuterosapiens]

Woah, two Hellraiser films in one night! It's like Christmas, but like, if Christmas was Hellraiser: Revelations and your parents hated you. So what make this, the ninth film, so remarkably special isn't just that it's bad, no. No no no. Bad, bad is something we can deal with.

This is a special kind of bad.

You see, Revelations includes a significant number of elements from the original film that I've found sorely lacking in the sequels. This one actually recreates a fair number of story elements that are unique to film one (and by extension, the original novella).

A pleasure seeker meets a mysterious figure who gifts him the Lemarchand Box. After being ripped apart by the Cenobites, he is revived through the spilling of blood which escalates into a series of murders at the hands of an accomplice to give life back to the pleasure seeker. The pleasure seeker ends up wearing another's skin as a ruse.

I think the best description I have for this one is unnecessarily exploitative. These films don't shy away from sex and violence, but in a very weird way, I don't think any of it actually adds anything to the movie. What exactly did that thing with the prostitute in the restroom actually add to this movie?

So there are two narratives happening. The first, which as I've outlined above, is basically the original Hellraiser's Julia/Frank plot and is background information which is periodically revealed to us as the second plot plays out. In the present, we have what feels like a standard home invasion, but where there's no invasion and everyone just sort of screams at everyone.

There's an interesting element in which our lead ends up stealing his friend's skin, who opens the Box and becomes a Cenobite. What I liked about this was that it actually shows us a brief moment where the Cenobites are doing Cenobitical things: we see a brief moment in Hell in which nothing is a plot to manipulate the damned, or punish a victim. It shows a brief glimpse of what is an actual Cenobite being taught and learning. This is actually kind of cool and flashes the world out ever so slightly more and would have been an excellent thing to expand on. The identity of this Cenobite is supposed to be a secret, but you've guessed the Reveal long before it's honestly worth setting up a Reveal.

There's an uncomfortable incest scene which is the exact moment you should have pieced together the Act Three Reveal, that Nico is wearing Stephen's skin.

This reveal, actually, this whole plot annoys me because I cannot for the like of me figure out what the point of the scene where he exposits in a trance is for, from a character perspective. Why would this character, if they are in a fugue state, speak as though he is not in fact, Nico in disguise? This feels like the writers had completely different intentions for these characters, then changed their minds as they continued, but did not go back and edit the script to accommodate.

I think I've keyed in on the biggest issue. This entire movie feels like a Rough Draft script written solely to get a script out. It feels like zero revisions were made and not a single person stepped in to polish it.

There's a return to basics that I did appreciate: The Cenobites are never actually given an Infernal explanation in this one. Hell, our live action Harry DuBois only uses the word "angel" to describe them. I love this interpretation of their purposes, which I guess makes sense since it is literally ripped directly from the first film.

I'm serious, this guy reminds me of Harry DuBois:

He's the vagrant who gives our leads the Box, which I guess technically would make him the Engineer, but, once again, that role seems to be had by the nail-headed Hell Priest.

We don't see much in the way of Cenobite design (truth be told, we don't see much of anything: this entire film's lighting feels like David Yates' most depraved fantasy; filters other than blue exist, you know!), but none of them are particularly new. Just rehashed versions of the nail-headed Cenobite, the Chattering Cenobite, oh look! There's a second nail-headed Cenobite!

So, why is this one so bad?

The best moment of the film is like thirty seconds long. The original parts of the story are boring, loud, and generally poorly written. The not-so-original parts are exactly the same as the first film, but they have chosen the exact worst ways to implement them.

I will admit, I saw exactly one turn on the Box that made me squee happily, if only because it was a corner turn and not the exact same two-move opening that has so royally pissed me off seeing. That's right guys, I got more joy out of a character making a move on the Box that was different than the opening sequence used in basically every other movie (any points this would have awarded us are lost because this turn exists in one scene, and the three other instances of the Box being opened return back to the standard two moves). It's a Puzzle Box, dammit! Is it really that fucking difficult to show this thing being opened like an actually fucking Puzzle Box??

I do not want to watch Judgement after this complete waste of time reboot. Officially it's a sequel, but this has reboot written all over it. Actually, this has "I'm about to lose franchise rights" written all over it.

[elizacinnamon]

Its the way that 6x10 was an episode that it was given all that happens in that episode which in some ways created unnecessary drama that then went no where:

~Archie and Betty speaking on their emotional tethers and in a sense Archie kinda believing he could be one for Betty given his body language. As this could speak to the fact that they feel safe test and emotional vulnerable to each other the most out of anyone. As Betty saying her mom is an emotional tether while Alice treats her like crap is RICH coming from the writers on some parts.

~Veronica showing up to Archie’s abilities competition but this girl didn’t even know that Archie was invincible and no one told her yet… HA so stupid just to tease the VAs and annoy the heck out of the BA fans. As Betty can not have ONE moment with him as her man doing shit like that. They didn’t even give them a cute scene after it was over, instead they gave us Jughead interacting with Archie instead about a stupid statue that means NOTHING by the end of the episode. Ugh. . Plus going back to the Veronica of it all, it was very weird that they specficially dressed cami in the same jacket that V wore when Archie was with Josie during that fight in S3.

~ They had Betty not attend the fight because she was with Cheryl (valid) but then when she finally shows up… Jughead doesn’t give them space to just talk together (basically C-blocked by the way he is basically giving daggers at them the whole time) she couldn’t even give Archie more than a touch on the arm because Jughead was right in their faces and have a quiet moment for her to apologize for missing the fight about having to care for Cheryl / give them a cute moment in the locker room just to take a moment to breathe. Instead we cut basically to IMMEDIATELY there is then this moment of angst with each other (Barchie) about the palladium not being where Betty said it was which was so random.

Also people critiqued how she happened to be sleeping in her own bed instead of beside Archie in that flashback / cut away scene was strange considering he’s living right next door. The scene was already creepy enough that Percival was able to manipulate Alice to let him into Betty’s room to unlock that info out of Betty, lord only knows how even creepier that would have been if Percvial who was downstairs with Frank assuringly plotting whatever shenanigans they were only for Percival to walk upstairs to Archie’s room opened the door to Betty/Archie in bed together sleeping to then try the mind control trick on her… that would be even more messed up.

Some of the choices in some of the episodes in this era were so strange and were to drum up drama but it just fell flat because they didn’t know what they were doing with it.

As like Veronica is the literal last person to gain her powers / know about them… but they also COMPLETELY retcon how she obtained her ability. As she got her abilities initially from Percvial, via Reggie’s gift. It’s why Percvial is literally SMIRKING at her when she does her “Toxic” performance because he is so proud its working. There was so many signs that Veronica was going to turn into a mini villain, but no we had to again throw Kevin, and Alice/ Frank into that role instead because we can’t make her a true baddie for whatever reason. Veronica in her light Villain era like in 6x03 Rivervale would have been ICONIC for S6 proper. As episodes later it is said that Veronica got her “abilities” because she killed her ex-husband and her dad as it’s THAT trauma as why she’s got these “black widow” abilities. Give me a break that makes no sense.

If you wrote even a one shot for 6x10 it would have been better executed than what we got 💕

I agree all of this drama went nowhereeeeee.

I starting working on my 6x10 fic and hope to publish it soon! I know people love missing scenes so trying my best.

-Betty is psycho for saying her mother is her tether. Maybe Polly but definitely not Alice. I have a theory for why she said that and why Archie reacted, which I may wait to elaborate on in my fic.

-Veronica acting like that, especially since she knows Betty and Archie are dating, is super cringe to me. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t know, whereas Betty is like “yeah, he’s fine.” Betty is also less hype in general. I also think Betty finds the whole competition a little silly, which is something I will also explore in the story.

-Jughead was SO annoying in this episode. So much you could argue he was borderline in love with Archie. The statue is embarrassing. But even more annoying, he should’ve given Betty a moment with Archie. I have the headcanon he potentially was a little oblivious to their relationship, which I will also further explore in my fic.

-The palladium bit was also odd but I liked the angst. I can imagine Archie getting a little mad at Betty for not being at the match/the palladium, leading to some emotional (and physical breakthrough).

-Betty sleeping alone is odd but I guess they weren’t living together yet and they needed her to be for the sake of the scene.

-I agree I wanted Veronica to have a much deserved villain arc. Making her desperate instead was a major downgrade to her character in my opinion. I don’t hate Veronica but the writers really missed with her characterization.

But overall, I agree the writing choices were off here. A combo of bait and bad writing. We’ll see what I can do . . .

[medicinemane]

See, thing about Amber diceless rpg is that... so much of it comes down to "what do you do when one character has a 45 in strength and the other has a 30"?

"The higher number always wins" would be boring and miserable, so you actually have to think about stuff like... does the lower number have higher strategic skills (warfare stat) or higher endurance? Maybe that means that while they're definitely losing, they can hold out for longer or they can come up with a good dirty trick to break free

What about people's plans? Is anyone wanting to do anything interesting? There's no dice here, so it's up to you think ponder how those plans would stack up against each other

Maybe they'd lose but they're good enough to avoid getting grappled as they back up towards that window to jump out of

It's honestly kinda a hard game to GM in some ways, but I really do like how much it's like "the numbers on the paper are a guideline, the skills and powers everyone have are just a part of the equation, work with the players to figure out how the story actually goes"

(Also, while it's... hmm... you know I might run a normal campaign like this just cause it's still fun)

(Anyway, the first session is the stat auction. You're allocated x number of points not just for stats but for literally everything, and you can drop down from the starting rank of Amberite which is basically zero to... I think it was get... 10 or 15 points for dropping to Chaosite and I think it was 25 for dropping to human stats but... if you're human you're trash at that, you're on par with literally you or me while you're dealing with what are practically gods comparatively)

(So the players can either have figured out what powers and stuff they want to get beforehand and know they need to reserve like... think it's like 45 for advanced shape shifting for instance, it's expensive for a reason, or they could do the action and then build their character of the flavor)

(Anyway, then you take a stat and start the bidding on it. Everyone goes around and says like... "10 in psyche", "17 in psyche" and you can totally just chime in with a "3 in psyche" if you don't want to go higher, you're literally just announcing your stat)

(You go around till everyone's happy and locks in... people could go higher, once again you could raise from that 3 to a 27 cause people are up at like 50 and you don't want to be stomped, you literally just say what number you want and it helps you avoid getting blindsided by Goliath over there that dumped half their stats in Str and half in End and nothing else)

(You just go through each of the stats one by one and... now one of the things you can do is play a one shot called a throne war where you all just try and take control of the throne of Amber, and there's a degree to which this mechanic is focused on that)

(But honestly I think it could be fun to run a normal campaign and tell everyone not to share anything about their character during the action so during the first bit of gameplay all anyone knows is Frank has a mind the size of Sweden and then you get to see what that character actually looks like)

...I don't know, I don't know how much sense this makes to anyone else, but this is how I grew up. Half the time I'd run campaigns for myself by myself... I really only have 2 characters who stuck from Amber... kinda 3 as one of them's kinda become a character in the past who figured out a lot of really advanced pattern based shadow manipulation but... he exists in that the stuff he came up with is called Edwardian shadow shifting, but honestly Eddie himself isn't much of a character

Nah, it's really just the Count and his General who ended up full fledged characters (and the the Viscount joined them from a totally different rpg... also, sorry but it's just so them to not even have me share the actual names, not even cause secrecy is important because secrecy is funny to them... making it all sound more important than it really is)

...so yeah

[nm-solitude]

Fanfic idea: teaching at Dahlia academy.

Redactedverse is a joyride of a trip. If ever a series brought me close to writing fanfiction its this one. So here's an attempt at a small series of possible bits and bobs that could happen if the Dahlia academy happened to have a specialised professor organising the games along with a class for refining magic usage.

In my mind, redactedverse has some craziness in the magic department. Elemental based abilities can lend to shonky chonky cookie business but is handled gently in the sense of being able to 'summon' the element with manipulation to accomplish a task requiring more exhaustive effort. The soft magic system compliments it well-keeping the suspense and mystery of magic. Still! it's funny to think about what would happen if there was a gremlin system.

As human magic hails from the meridian. For a soft magic system, there are a couple questions to be had. Like can Earth elementalists become the ultimate metal/archaeological remains detector? If a water elementalists knew enough about the function of hydrogen bonding and the degradation of bodily tissue as a result of oxidation be able to perhaps maintain perfect skin by maintaining skin moisturisation. Can flame elementals essential stage a light saber duel with actual plasma blades? Are air elements the perfect vacuum cleaner? Has an electrical elemental been caught for their 0 electricity bills.

Idea: A water elemental professor essentially sets up class in Dahlia Academy as hired by the principal.

- Kody is pissed off for two reasons here, because he got snubbed and because he won't to undertake the more advance classes such as elemental investigation held by said professor on a irregular basis. (Kody was a good student but shot himself in the foot here)

- As a water elemental professor, they do their best to kind of keep things peaceful, informing that classes for the subject is undertaken as fortnightly progress check in and private 1 on 1 sessions.

-As freelancers had a bit of a bad time, the professor does make a point to be frank that pther people are allowed to attend the 1 on 1 sessions.

-There would be a test in the first sessipn to weed out anyone craving for power through a general query of interest in the subject. And harsh marking for those that were idiot to simply ask for more powah.

- The general plotline would be a case of shorter points related to each of the characters and their magical abilities.

- For example I imagine that the professor would get involved with the DAMN boyos in terms of encouraging Damien to rely on friends and to chill abit more. Along with the refinement of his flames to have temperature controll. Encouraging him to literally create a lightsaber but he probs uses the skills from the class for the perfect roast.

-Freelancer probs drags in the Damn boys for her sessions but finds it quite fun. Freelancer becomes the professors favourite and they get up to crack theorising the sheer possibilities.

-When Gavin gets hassled into the classroom, he gets bombarded by a number of questions along with the possibility of being sent to space since they cant breath or even teleporting between their realm and ours. To which Gavin probably gets a headache from and tells he to ask some other demon like Avior etc.

-Lovely is considered to be goated by the professor and gets tasked to learn about electrical wiring so they can SAFELY charge their devices etc. Gets asked if they are interested in maybe running an apartment complex fitted with solar panels but with the sneaky ability of generating electricity could provide enough power to the whole building. Lovely got stonks.

- Huxley could have a casual interest in the crafts becoming the first to perhaps create ultra refined gems since solid matter manipulation should be their deal. They make something for their lover when they get together. Maybe some wingmaning happens.

-Lasko happens to just be at a loss for words with dealing with this professor who used to bunk with Lasko for the sole reason of having the ultimate housecleaner.

[accirax]

And with that, the polls are closed!

we uh... we were really going through it on this one, huh?

Not only in terms of denial, but in terms of being divided! My compliments to the killer, they made a baffling case indeed.

Thank you to everybody who participated in this poll! Even though the results weren't necessarily different from what I expected, it was still fun to watch the numbers go up and down all week. If you're curious about the actual numbers of how many people voted for each option, I've already done the math, and will talk about it below, along with some of my general thoughts and opinions.

Levi absolutely swept this poll with 129 votes on his own. Good god, man, that's more people than are in the entire US Senate! I can see why he would be a popular choice, though-- he has the means (strength) and the motive (his literal motive) to pull it off. I still feel like he still has a greater role in the story that has yet to be completed, but that's just my two cents.

Hu was an easy second with 72 votes going her way. This one surprised me a little. Like, I definitely knew that there were Hu culprit truthers out there, but I didn't know there were so many! I don't think I've actually seen someone write out a full theory of how and why they think she would be the blackened. Is it that most of you think that she was manipulated by David? Is it connected to her wire being used in the Ace near-murder? Or is is something else entirely? If anyone has defended their Hu choice in writing, please send it my way, because I'd love to hear what you think! (/gen)

After much fluctuation, J wound up in third with 27 votes. So my anti-dressup theory meant nothing to you guys, huh? (/j) Well, unlike Levi, I would believe that J's role in the story could be done here (I honestly have no idea what to do with her in terms of death order predicitons), so I understand the appeal. I do wonder, though, what percentage of J culprit theorizers think it's her because of the dressup theory, and what percentage believe it's her for other reasons (her relationship with Arei, her remote, etc). I'd make another poll, but it'd only have an audience of 27.

Ace took fourth with 21 votes. He started off slow, but gained traction over time! Ace is certainly quite relevant to this chapter, what with fighting Levi, bullying Nico, and overhearing the conversation between David and Arei, so this could definitely be the point of Ace's exeunt. Venus and I have basically determined that, story pacing wise, it probably makes the most sense if Ace dies here or survives. So for the sake of all Ace fans (including myself), I hope it's the latter.

Eden ultimately wound up with 19 votes. I would guess most are disciples of the 1moreff-creator/thebadjoe scripture, much like I am. As someone who currently believes that Eden is the blackened, I'm a little disappointed that she didn't do better, but also not that surprised. Actually, the reason why I made this poll in the first place was wondering how many people actually believed all of the giant theories we were writing about grippy tape. Somewhat like Ace, I originally believed that Eden would be a big, important character in DRDT as a spin on Teruko's "rival." Not necessarily a survivor, but at least, like, Chapter 4 or 5? While I now think that her character could end here and still be a well-written and important addition to the cast, I can obviously see why people would be against the idea, and believe that that still could be her path.

Fifth place is Whit, with 14 votes. To be frank, I don't really understand this one, given his apparent day-long alibi with Charles and openness about sharing his motive secret. But, I 100% respect whatever your guys' reading led you to. Maybe I'm the one getting duped by Whit's quips and quirks. Maybe Good Grief isn't his character song. Maybe then I can stop crying every time I look at it--

Sixth is the nebulous Teruko/Charles/something else option, with a combined 13 votes. (13, huh? Teruko coding.) I really hated having to combine all of these choices, especially seeing that they did get thirteen votes. Like I said in the comments, I suspect that most people just used this as a "see options" choice, but now I'll never know! I do feel like I saw at least one person semi-suspect Charles, so maybe there were some real votes for Charles or Teruko out there. If any of you want to share, I'm all ears.

Arturo wound up in seventh, having 11 votes. I love a good "suspected but disproven at the beginning of the trial, so you think they're good, but then it wraps around and you learn that they actually were the culprit all along"! To be honest, I (sadly) don't think Arturo is long for this world, but it could still be interesting to see more of his reactions to J having declared war against him by outing his secret. Not to mention how the student body as a whole would feel about him after learning about how he threatened Eden and led to his sister's death. A definite option, although a low one by consensus.

Our main literature man insane, David, got 8 votes. When I first got into DRDT, I thought I had been spoiled that David was the Chapter 2 killer, so I guess that would be the fulfillment of that prophecy. Maybe I'm the Ultimate Clairvoyant, who knows. The appeal for David is there, given that he... literally confessed to it. Him getting an MV also matches Min's MV after she was the culprit. I think the Trial is probably about to lead us away from David as a suspect, but we'll see what happens if/when DRDT resumes.

Veronika has 5 votes, which puts her in ninth. Her percentage was weirdly high at the beginning, so I guess most of the Veronika culprit enjoyers are prone to stalking the DRDT tags? Or they just really like to vote. Not sure why Veronika would want to kill here, given that she seems to enjoy the killing game. Maybe it's about her yet unrevealed secret? Hit me up with an explanation if you've got one :D

Nico has four votes at tenth most likely. After trying to kill Ace, they just couldn't resist going for another, huh...? I feel like, given their behavior, Nico didn't try to kill again here (why would they target Arei, also), but who can really say? At least if Nico is the culprit, it might give us more of an excuse to discuss the gym crime scene in canon. I want answers for that thing so bad.

And in the end, even Rose couldn't avoid getting one vote. Sorry to everyone who was hoping that she could escape scot free. Of course, given that literally only one person thinks she did it, she's probably going to survive this trial. However, if she is the killer, props to the one voter for seeing what the rest of us couldn't! Assuming that that one vote isn't just someone who saw that Rose didn't have any votes, and wanted to give her one to be unique...

Again, thank you for voting, and thank you even more for actually reading my opinions! I want to stress that although I think some culprits are more likely than others, I truly do respect everyone's opinions and interpretations of the work. There's a lot of information to go through, and everybody comes into it with their own biases and beliefs on what makes a good story (including the creator himself!)

What I find most fun is hearing what everyone thinks and remaining flexible such that we can explore every possibility. Therefore... please share your culprit thoughts. I am once again asking politely.

I was thinking about this the other day and realized that I really had no idea what the stats were for the fandom as a whole....

Please note that I'm asking about the blackened-- AKA who would be executed-- for this poll. In the case of "Levi was Eden's accomplice," "David manipulated Hu," etc, I want to know who you think is Going To Die.