#I don’t even like whit that much what am I DOING

[natliyy]

drdt 16 spoilers

I need to spitball my thoughts on charwhit. this reads like I know where I’m going but there’s probably going to be very little connections and cohesion and I am NOT good at analysis pls forgive me. my first actual post of course it’s about it drdt LMAOO

A lot of people have noticed how focused whit was on charles in the latest episode, me included. And now I’m thinking.

and I want YOU to think about it too. whit’s go-to for grieving is to not acknowledge it. everything that happened in ep 16, ace about to die, broken monotv, teruko almost dying, levi getting shot and on the brink of death, so many gorey things. it’s all too much to process, so many unexpected things rapidly happening one after another, and you pile that on top of whits grieving method. he needs to laser-focus in on charles, because there’s a lot of blood, and judging by how min’s execution was, there should probably be more soon. it gives him something to do.

and now this is the part where I Get Confused. And a little Concerned. And things start Falling Apart. triple whammy.

teruko has a machine gun aimed at her. she’s saying what might possibly be her last words, and everyone’s telling her GET OUT OF THE WAY??? HIDE?? (even ARTURO. sounded thoroughly panicked. this isn’t about him but I have thoughts on him too) and you know the weird part? whit likes teruko. he wants to see her smile. he apologizes, and jokes, and knows she doesn’t have to close off her heart the way charles did. but did he say anything to teruko during her execution?

NO?? ABSOLUTELY DID NOT? he says “Charles, stop talking and cover your eyes!” which. Sure. Okay. charles has a pretty strong attachment to teruko. he genuinely likes her. that machine gun would’ve reduced her to bloody mass. he’s gonna be borderline hysterical. like I get it? but dude teruko is about to DIE. you want her to be your friend. I hold some acknowledgement towards mm whit theory but I really think it’s too early for me to believe in that, yet at the same time, if he didn’t call out, didn’t say a word to her, did he like… know she wouldn’t have died? already known how her luck works? I don’t know…

and now we cut to levi getting shot. And this is the part where things start getting more insane with me for no damn reason. there’s blood everywhere, and charles is starting to break down. and you know what whit says?

Hey, dude? What the HELL???

The smell of blood is really strong. Even though I told him not to look, he still…

the choice of words is really messing me up. “Even though I told him.” whit telling charles to cover his eyes was lowk the most forceful we’ve heard him so far. I really can’t decipher this, but I will rewind a little to convey why this line made my skin crawl so much.

in trial 1, whit was pretty damn convincing to the audience. “He’s my friend, of course I’ll argue for his sake!” and telling people to lay off of charles… it was really sweet. very considerate and compassionate.

except in chapter 2, he doubles down. in ep 2, he says something along the lines of, “Oh, I did say he was my friend, didn’t I? Well, that was a total lie! I only said it to make people believe me! But I think he took it to heart, or thinks he owes me…? So, yeah, I’ve decided we’re friends.”

…………. okay my thoughts r falling apart it’s 4 am let me try to think of connecting this somehow

whit seems to know charles is dependant on him. whit also has a history of avoidance and ignoring things that bother him. and let me make it clear, I don’t think these two r some ultra toxic relationship at all. I’m trying to pinpoint their flaws and predict where their relationship will go.

it’s kind of funny? imagine the ultimate matchmaker with commitment issues. though it’s not too far, considering how isolated his childhood probably was.

anyways, I feel like this is all setting up for a shift in dynamic in chapter 3. which is where I get to the part I really want to say: if charwhit’s relationship deteriorates due to Charles’ dependance and Whit staying subtlety dismissive and avoidant, I will be amazed. What seems to be the most sturdy relationship in the series crumbling due to the killing game wearing down on their compatibility is a writing choice that would send me to cloud nine, I think. we know DRDTdev has been subverting troupes since chapter 1. the “tragedy” of this relationship being them growing more unhealthy due to their problems, rather than one of them dying would be so. How can I even articulate it?

although, if whit’s prediction of “Charles Cuevas, dead at 3” comes true, I will simply reach into the screen and strangle him. anyways, that’s all I got. enjoy my braindump maybe

[sanspuppet]

👀 riding Mingi’s abs…..just saw a that photo shoot whit him in all denim, like the shirt is a denim crop and and bestie 😮‍💨😮‍💨 that would be the best funishment

MDNI ! smut

- W/T: sexual tension, abs riding, choking, fingering, squirting, sliiight degradation

—

You couldn’t fucking take no more. You wanted to enjoy your date with your boyfriend that day, but you had no idea he would wear a denim crop, that did nothing but accentuate his waist, so tiny and sexy, not to mention how his abs were exposed. Mingi couldn’t have not noticed that you didn’t even looked up at him when he talked to you, your eyes seemed glued to his waist, yet he was somehow enjoying your drooling reaction. It was a long evening of you getting distracted by his hips that you needed so bad beneath you. On the other hand Mingi did nothing but secretly smirking back at you, feeling your eyes constantly down his lower body. But at the end he proposed you to spend the rest of the evening by his house, god only knows what were his purposes… well somehow you could figure them out too, and by your situation in that moment you hoped with all your heart that you weren’t wrong. In fact, you wanted to fuck him so bad, so bad that you were feeling icky about how fucking wet you were, you just wanted to take care of it by using him, or vice versa, you literally didn’t fucking care about the details. Mingi noticed it, he knew every time when you got needy but damn… you literally looked like a bitch in heat from how you were clinging to him and how you stared at him, your entire behavior screamed that you wanted to be bred badly.

When he first stepped into his house he turned around to face you, holding you by your waist as he pulled you over the living room. Mingi looked down at your short figure compared to his tall one, a smirk forming on his lips. “Will you tell me what got your attention that much, pretty?” his nose brushed yours, ready to lock you in a long kiss. You wanted him now, there was no point in teasing each other any longer, you wrapped your hand behind his neck and pulled him closer, your tongues diving into your mouths while he busied himself with unbuttoning your shirt, his movements were messy, too eager to be done properly. You did the same thing with his denim crop, throwing it somewhere on the floor. You pulled away from your sloppy kiss and placed your palm on his naked chest, his heartbeat was faster than ever. You pushed him, making him fall down on the couch, he looked up at you with hooded eyes. His tongue trailed a wet line over his lips. You both stripped down completely, never breaking eye contact.

He patted his lap, moving you to sit on him. You glanced at his huge cock twitching at his movement. You sat down on his abdomen, his erected crotch pressing against your back sent shivers of arousal down your spine. “Ride my abs baby, i’m sure you’d want to” He took your chin in his fingers, forcing you to look at him. “Say it, am i right?” You automatically started rubbing yourself against his toned pelvis, his hand quickly gripped on your waist. “Fuckin say it before doing it, little slut” You sighed frustratingly. “Fuck— please Mingi i wanna ride your abs” He pinched your cheek, his cocky behavior showing. “That’s my good girl, you can go on now.” You let out the most feral sighs and loud moans once you started moving, forwards and backwards. You felt every little hill of his abs stimulating your clit, it was impressively good, a fucking bliss. You just needed more friction but your mind was already in a blank state, you threw your head back as you moved faster, your nails dig deep into Mingi’s shoulders. He was admiring you, every single detail of you, he noticed it, and loved it. Jeez if you were such a piece of art to him in that moment. “Don’t worry princess, i’ll help you” he said when he noticed you struggling to get to the highest. He quickly wrapped a hand around your throat, gripping tightly enough, the other one moved down your core, fingering you with all of his fingertips at a fast pace. He raised your head when you kept looking down at you wet cunt. “Eyes on me pretty, you know i want you to look at me whenever you cum. Feels good huh? You such a slut, getting off to my abs”

It was then that you loosed your fucking mind, you were fucked out, your mascara was smudged all over your eyelids by your teary eyes. You whined and moaned without even realizing it. Your lips were of a cherry pink from how hard you bit on them. Your hair a complete mess. And it also was when you finally got off of your high that you noticed you squirted all over his chest. Mingi was looking at all your figure with a proud smirk, his finger caressed gently your back.

“You’re the prettiest like this”

taglist: @bunnyluvr25 @xonga @bro-atz @wisejudgedragonhairdo @therealcuppicake @hongjoongswifefr @sugarnspice630 @stolasisyourparent @kaimisutra @jyunhosbby @pancake-freckle @cherrycel

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Writing Advice #?: Don’t write out accents.

The Surface-Level Problem: It’s distracting at best, illegible at worst. 

The following passage from Sons and Lovers has never made a whit of sense to me:

“I ham, Walter, my lad,’ ’e says; ‘ta’e which on ’em ter’s a mind.’ An’ so I took one, an’ thanked ’im. I didn’t like ter shake it afore ’is eyes, but ’e says, ‘Tha’d better ma’e sure it’s a good un. An’ so, yer see, I knowed it was.’”

There’s almost certainly a point to that dialogue — plot, character, theme — but I could not figure out what the words were meant to be, and gave up on the book.  At a lesser extreme, most of Quincey’s lines from Dracula (“I know I ain’t good enough to regulate the fixin’s of your little shoes”) cause American readers to sputter into laughter, which isn’t ideal for a character who is supposed to be sweet and tragic.  Accents-written-out draw attention to mechanical qualities of the text.

Solution #1: Use indicators outside of the quote marks to describe how a character talks.  An Atlanta accent can be “drawling” and a London one “clipped”; a Princeton one can sound “stiff” and a Newark one “relaxed.”  Do they exaggerate their vowels more (North America) or their consonants more (U.K., north Africa)?  Do they sound happy, melodious, frustrated?

The Deeper Problem: It’s ignorant at best, and classist/racist/xenophobic at worst.

You pretty much never see authors writing out their own accents — to the person who has the accent, the words just sound like words.  It’s only when the accent is somehow “other” to the author that it gets written out.

And the accents that we consider “other” and “wrong” (even if no one ever uses those words, the decision to deliberately misspell words still conveys it) are pretty much never the ones from wealthy and educated parts of the country.  Instead, the accents with misspelled words and awkward inflection are those from other countries, from other social classes, from other ethnicities.  If your Maine characters speak normally and your Florida characters have grammatical errors, then you have conveyed what you consider to be correct and normal speech.  We know what J.K. Rowling thinks of French-accented English, because it’s dripping off of Fleur Delacour’s every line.

At the bizarre extreme, we see inappropriate application of North U.K. and South U.S.-isms to every uneducated and/or poor character ever to appear in fan fic.  When wanting to get across that Steve Rogers is a simple Brooklyn boy, MCU fans have him slip into “mustn’t” and “we is.”  When conveying that Robin 2.0 is raised poor in Newark, he uses “ain’t” and “y’all” and “din.”  Never mind that Iron Man is from Manhattan, or that Robin 3.0 is raised wealthy in Newark; neither of them ever gets a written-out accent.

Solution #2: A little word choice can go a long way, and a little research can go even further.  Listen carefully to the way people talk — on the bus, in a café, on unscripted YouTube — and write down their exact word choice.  “We good” literally means the same thing as “no thank you,” but one’s a lot more formal than the other.  “Ain’t” is a perfectly good synonym for “am not,” but not everyone will use it.

The Obscure Problem: It’s not even how people talk.

Look at how auto-transcription software messes up speaking styles, and it’s obvious that no one pronounces every spoken sound in every word that comes out of their mouth.  Consider how Americans say “you all right?”; 99% of us actually say something like “yait?”, using tone and head tilt to convey meaning.  Politicians speak very formally; friends at bars speak very informally.

An example: I’m from Baltimore, Maryland.  Unless I’m speaking to an American from Texas, in which case I’m from “Baltmore, Marlind.”  Unless I’m speaking to an American from Pennsylvania, in which case I’m from “Balmore, Marlin.”  If I’m speaking to a fellow Marylander, I’m of course from “Bamor.”  (If I’m speaking to a non-American, I’m of course from “Washington D.C.”)  Trying to capture every phoneme of change from moment to moment and setting to setting would be ridiculous; better just to say I inflect more when talking to people from outside my region.

When you write out an accent, you insert yourself, the writer, as an implied listener.  You inflict your value judgments and your linguistic ear on the reader, and you take away from the story.

Solution #3: When in doubt, just write the dialogue how you would talk.

[plush-rabbit]

It's Always Coffee

Request: Hello!!! I was wondering if you could write a like enemies to lovers between The spot before he becomes The spot (so basically Jonathann Ohnn) where the reader is a journalist who is investigating what is going on at Alchemax? And it would be nice if in the end you could include a part whit the reader and The Spot after he becomes it. Thank you so much!! <3

A/N: I’m on a fucking high for this guy!! Hope you like it<3 (this isnt necessarily an enemies to lovers but its something!!)

Word Count: 3.2K

-

You sit at an empty chair pushed against the wall of the coffee shop, your gaze focused on the screen of the laptop, the cursor blinking as the words stop. The bell dings, and you look up, catching a look of a familiar doctor walking up to the counter and fumbling with his wallet to pay. You smile, keeping your eye on him, a part of you hoping that he would turn around and see you. 

No doubt feeling the gaze of someone on him, he peers around as his transaction ends. His eyes meet yours and your grin stretches, a cheeky grin stretching over your features. You wave at him, dropping your gaze to return to your work, a newfound hit of inspiration causing you to type away at the keyboard.

Keeping your attention on the screen, you bite down the smile as someone takes a seat in the chair next to you. You can feel his gaze on you, and you keep your gaze focused on the screen. The cursor stops and blinks at you, and as you type, your backspace, unable to make the sentence flow as you’d like. With a sigh, you grab your drink and take a sip.

“Are you following me?” He asks, and finally you turn to face the doctor.

“You know, a hello is usually a common way to greet people, Dr. Ohnn.” You place your cup down, turning your attention towards him. He narrows his eyes at you. “Technically, I should be asking you that. I was the first one here. If anything, I should be accusing you of following me.” He stays silent and you smile at him. “I can assure you that I am not following you. Honestly, I didn’t even think you knew about this place. You seem more like the type to make your drinks at home.”

He pulls his lips into a line and fixes himself in his seat. “Usually, I am. I only recently found this shop. It’s one of the few shops that offers distinct blends of coffee.” You snort and he shoots you a pointed look.

You hold your hands in front of you in mock defense, closing them and returning them to your keyboard. You don’t miss the glance that he gives to your screen. “I never took you to be such a connoisseur of coffee,” you admit. “How long have you been frequenting this place?”

He stays silent, and turns his attention to where the baristas work behind the counter. “Past two weeks,” he tells you, returning his gaze to look at you.

“Ah,” you sigh. “I found this place maybe a month ago.”

“I didn’t know you enjoyed coffee,” he admits.

You shrug. “I’m a reporter. It’s kinda in the requirements to enjoy coffee.”

Silence befalls between the two of you, and he turns his attention to where the baristas work. Your fingers dance over your keyboard. You chew on the inside of your cheek when you feel his gaze on you once more. He turns to look at your screen where you type, fingers slowing down as you turn to look at him with an expecting grin. “Can I help you, Dr. Ohnn?”

He doesn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed about being caught, instead, he shoots you a narrowed look. “What are you writing about?” 

“If you must know-” his eyes dart over the words, and you grab the top of your laptop, pulling it down to block him from reading any further- “it’s about a local animal shelter.” You lift the screen back to its standing position, and take a sip of your drink. He huffs and looks away, crossing a leg over the other. You take a peek through your peripheral vision, and return to typing. “The shelter is doing a little event where you can walk or play with an animal for an hour, and each person will receive a five-dollar gift card to a coffee shop.”  

“Oh.” He clears his throat. “That sounds nice.” 

You scoff out a laugh. “Does that satiate your curiosity?”  Your fingers tap over the keys as you try to come up with the finishing sentence. “Honestly, no wonder you dislike me when I question you as you do your job.” You give him a teasing smile, and he straightens, pushing up his glasses from the bottom rim with his knuckle.

“I don’t-” he clears his throat at your expectant gaze and shakes his head. “What coffee shop is allowing that? I’d assume it would have to be a local one.”

“You’re correct.” You point at him, pulling away from your screen and leaning against the back of the chair. You tilt your head, raising your brows at him with your smile growing. “Wanna wager on it? If you guess the shop, I’ll buy a coffee from there.”

“Do you know how many coffee shops are in this area alone?” He glowers at you, uncrossing his legs and leaning back against the chair. “Unless I have unlimited guesses, I won’t be able to figure it out in such a short amount of time.”

You hum, turning to look at your screen. You click your tongue and tap a finger against your chin.”Okay,” you draw out, “I’ll give you a hint.” You turn to look back at him, arms crossed over your chest. “It’s one of the only shops around that offers such distinct blends of coffee,” you raise the pitch of your voice, an awful attempt at mimicking the words once said, 

“I do not sound like that,” he pouts. 

You snicker, dropping your head and giving him a wide grin. “Ah, so you’ve guessed it?”

He turns his head, and back at you. “Obviously,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Why would this place partner with a random shelter?”

“The shelter is a family friend with the owner from here,” you explain. “So they partnered up since the shelter is low on staff.” You grab your drink, swishing the liquid around. “It’s a nice idea-” you place your drink back down- “and they have ads placed all over, so I’m hoping that this article just boosts it up a bit more, you know.”

“Will you be participating?” he asks.

“Probably not,” you answer. “I like animals as much as the next person, but I get attached much too fast.” You turn to him. “I don’t think I could part with a dog. What about you?”

Dr. Ohnn lifts a hand, twirling a strand of hair around his finger before letting it fall back into place. “Probably not. As is, I don’t have the time to myself. What little time I do have, I much prefer to spend it by myself.”

“You’re worked to the bone, huh?” You give him a sad smile, turning your attention back to the screen. You feel his eyes on you. “That blows.” He says nothing. “I get it. You enjoy what you can. In this case, while it’s a noble cause, it’s definitely more for the people who have the time.” You turn to him. “And those who enjoy coffee.”

“I hope your article is able to put the word out,” he tells you without a hint of sarcasm laced into his words. Your ankles cross, and you pull them close to the underside of the chair.

“Yeah-” you backspace a word, only to rewrite it- “me too.”

You hear his name get called, and the both of you turn to where a barista places the drink on the counter. He stands, and stays in front of his seat. Craning his neck, he looks to you, and you blink up at him. 

“Hey, you already paid for your drink, I can’t cover this one,” you say, raising your hands in front of you. “Maybe next time?”

“Next time?”

Another name is called, and in the corner of your eyes, you watch as the person scurries to pick up their drink. “Sure. Next time,” you confirm. You suck in a breath, and hold your drink in your hand, nerves causing your stomach to flip upon itself. “I’m uh, free tomorrow.”

He frowns. “I’m not.”

You cringe upon yourself, and bite the inside corners of your lips to stop from wincing. “Then, whenever. Or I could just pay you now for your drink. I think that’ll even it out. That way we won’t have to meet again.”

“No,” he blurts out. You look at him with raised brows. “I’d rather meet. I did win your little wager,” he says. “I’ll try to find time.” He bites his bottom lip, and clears his throat. “I believe I’m owed that after all.”

Hope makes your heartbeat quicken, and you can’t stop the smile that grows. “Okay. You’re welcome to sit by me if you’re not in a rush.” He stutters for a second, and you smile up at him. “Relax. I won’t question you. For now.” He pulls a face and you let out a small laugh. “It’s a joke. We can just be two people who met at a coffee shop. Not a reporter or scientist, just me and you.”

Without an answer, he walks towards the counter, and you watch his movement. You watch as he grabs the cup and places the rim against his lips. You watch as he pulls out his phone, and looks to the door and looks back at you. You aren’t sure what’s compelled you to invite the scientist to sit with you- it isn’t as if the two of you are friends, or anything of the sort. However, in the short conversation where work for you and annoyance for him was absent, you enjoyed talking to him. Just a bit. Not enough to admit it, but enough to invite him to sit with you. He turns a foot towards the door, and you give him a final smile, raising your hand in a goodbye, looking down at your screen. 

It’s no bother. All you really are to him is a reporter with pestering questions about his line of work, it would be a no-brainer as to why he wouldn’t want to sit with you. However, it doesn’t stop the disappointment that weighs you down. You write the last sentence of the article and sigh.

Someone sits by you, and you give a glance, lifting yourself straight when you find the scientist perched at the seat, holding his drink in his hand with his body turned towards you. 

“Are you almost done with your article?” You nod, glancing back down to save the file despite the automatic save feature working on its own. “Good, good.” He turns to look at the door, and back to you. “Would you like to go for a walk?”

 You close your laptop, and hold it by the edges. “As a reporter and a scientist? Or as-”

“As me and you.” His feet tap against the floor. “I understand if you’re busy or-”

“I’d love to go for a walk.” You hadn’t realized how tense he was, until his shoulders fall at your words, a small smile tilting the corners of his lips upwards. “You got an idea of where to go or do you want to walk aimlessly?” You grab your messenger bag, delicately placing your laptop into its designated sleeve. 

You follow behind him, clutching your nearly empty drink in your hand. Your bag pats against your side, and you bend to walk underneath his arm as he holds the door open. 

“You’re supposed to wait for the door to open fully,” he tells you, fixing the sleeves of the black undershirt. 

“And you’re supposed to answer someone’s question before walking away, Dr. Ohnn.” You pull yourself straight. “Guess we both have some learning to do.” He rolls his eyes, and continues forward, and you follow behind him. 

The air is warm- not uncomfortably so, but enough to know that summer is creeping in. You smile at people who you make eye contact with. Dr. Ohnn walks without saying a word, but when you stray far too behind to peer into a window full of jewelry, he walks back to you.

“I didn’t take you for a jewelry person,” he admits. 

“I’m not usually,” you answer, “but I have to admit that some of it is pretty.” You straighten yourself and look at him through the reflection. “I much prefer dainty types of jewelry. What about you?” His brows furrow at the window, and you take his answer through the reflection. “Are you a jewelry person?”

“I’m a fan of watches, does that count?”

“Huh,” you click your tongue. “I think so.” Pulling away from the window, you walk down the crowded street. Soon enough, he walks beside you again. “I never really could find a watch that suited me.” You flex out your hand and twist at your wrist. “I think I’m just bad at choosing things.”

“How do you tell time then?”

You let out a small laugh. “Dr. Ohnn, we live in a place where most people have cell phones.” His shoulders perk at the words, and a flush deepens the hue on his face. “I’ll manage to tell time without a watch.” You take a sip of your drink, and all that remains is ice and a bottom rim of a watered down version of your drink. “I’m not sure how you’ll manage, though.” You exchange the cup to your other hand and raise your now free hand, flexing your wrist. “Naked wrist and all.” You jerk your head over to his, and he covers it with his hand.

“I forgot,” he answers defensively. “Simple mistake. Anyone could have made it.” He clears his throat, and takes a swig at his drink. 

“Oh, I’m sure,” you tease. 

Peeking a trash can further up ahead and no longer wanting to hold your cup for the next few minutes, you rush forward to toss your drink. You dart through the crowd, mumbling apologies and sticking your tongue out a person who mutters a curse towards you. Tossing your drink into the trash, you wait for Dr. Ohnn to catch up to you. He stands by you, downing the drink before tossing the empty cup into the trash.

“Why’d you want to work for Fisk anyways?” He gives you a look. “Off the record, I swear!” You raise your hands in front of you in mock surrender. “I’m curious. You’re a scientist, and I’m positive you’re good at your job. So why work for him? Why not work for anyone else?”

“Why write articles?” You frown at him for avoiding your questions. “Plenty of others do it. Plenty of other agencies will offer to help you write the story you so desperately chase. So why stick to that one agency?”

“Okay, Dr. Ohnn. I’ll let you escape answering my questions, only-” you point your index finger at him- “and only because I’m feeling quite open to speaking. If you must know why I stick to my agency, I do it because I’m familiar with it.” He stops for a second, and continues his strides. “I like it there. Fluff pieces and all. We can’t all be journalists willing to die for a story, and while I’m very curious about what you do, I am willing to at least push the limits of how far I can go.” You look at him. “It’s not the most meaningful sentiment, but it’s mine, so if you make fun of it-” you falter, unable to come up with some threat- “I won’t buy you your coffee,” you conclude with the threat. You begin to pull away, one step in front of him when he stops you. 

“I wouldn’t make fun of you,” he says with his hand wrapped around your elbow.

“Oh,” your voice comes out softer than intended. You turn to give a weak cough. “Cool. Thanks. I guess you get to keep your free coffee then.”

“You think I’m good at my job?”

You smile at him, and standing on the sidewalk- even if pushed close to the building- does the two of you no favors. A stranger rushes by, and you’re pushed closer to him. The grip on his elbow tightens, and you take note of his hand. His fingers are long, and thick, and they hold onto you tightly, nails scratching at your skin. You turn your gaze.

“Yes, and before we get shoved again, let’s continue walking.” You pull ahead, and his grip on your arm falls. Turning your head to make sure that he’s behind you, you start. “I do think you’re good at your job. That’s why I try to do mine.” You give him a glance, and smooth out your shirt. “It is how it is. Too bad you’re good at it, you had to meet me.”

“What else?” He asks and you tilt your head at him. “What else do you think of my work?”

“I don’t know. I tried to read the papers that you’ve written along with a few other scientists that study along the same lines, but it was all words to me. No offense.” You give him an apologetic smile. “I’m sure you know what you’re talking about, and in some pages, I could feel the excitement, ya know? Like- Like when you started to talk about black holes and stuff. Were you always interested in stuff like that?”

His hand reaches to the back of his neck and he scratches at himself. “Mm, not necessarily black holes, but other stuff. One thing led to another.” He turns a corner and you follow close behind, catching at every word that escapes from him. “Not many people outside of my profession read what I have to offer,” he says in a low voice. “Thank you,” he says your name gently and you can feel heat burn at the shell of your ears. 

“Yeah, no problem. It was a long read, but um- it was interesting and stuff.” You try to stop the grin that grows, and tug on the strap of your messenger bag. “If you have the time, I wouldn’t mind-” You're cut off by a phone ringing and you stay silent, watching as he pats his pockets.

 “Ah,” he pulls out his phone and quickly reads the message. Looking back up at you, he seems almost apologetic. “I apologize. I- I have to go. Something work related just came up.” He lifts his phone as proof, but you can’t read the words with the glare of the sun. “We’ll continue this later?”

The words take a second to process, and when they do, you can feel your heart race. “Oh!” You perk up. “Yeah- yeah, of course.” He smiles at you, and takes a step forward. He’s close enough where you can smell the cologne on him. “Um-” his voice squeaks, and he clears his throat. He lifts a hand and pats at your shoulder. “This was fun. Thank you for accompanying me on the walk.” He gives you a tense smile and walks away without a goodbye. 

You stand on the sidewalk and watch. He turns around, and you lift your hand in a wave, and he does the same. 

You frown when you realize you never received his number.

[qqueenofhades]

Last anon here -- I'm sorry for sending that message through. I don't know what is and isn't true anymore.

I deleted what I presume was your first ask (the one accusing me of not condemning the Gaza genocide and calling me a "DNC shill and a liar") because it was rude, uncalled for, and I couldn't see any good to come of engaging with it. However, because you've returned and apologized and sent this followup, I am willing to answer it, because I am aware that we can all do stupid things (especially on the internet) that we regret. So there is that.

Once again: I have strictly limited my posts/reblogs on this topic because it is so inflammatory, there are reams of people willing to attack you on every side, and none of it is actually constructive (this is the blue hellsite where we have two whole jokes about Ea-Nasir and color theory in children's hospitals. We are not doing important social justice work here and expecting this to be the main/only forum in which we post the Correct Opinions is not going to work out for anyone). But I would like, for the record, to point out that I have condemned the situation in Gaza and explicitly called it a genocide and Netanyahu and co. war criminals. Often and repeatedly:

Ask from October 28, 2023:

What’s happening to the Gazans right now is no qualification or equivocation, a genocide. It should rightfully be opposed and called what it is. But unfortunately, I have spent too much time around Western Online Leftists to believe they actually care a whit about stopping genocide as a fundamental principle, and only want to be seen to loudly care about what their Ideology has told them to care about. [...] To put it bluntly, those genocides are being committed by nation-states that Online Leftists like for being “anti-Western,” and therefore their activities are actually fine and should even need to be defended.

Another post from December 2023 explicitly calling out Netanyahu and his cabinet, while also pointing out that Tumblr's response now mostly consisted of antisemitic dogwhistles and rampant political misinformation:

[...] the way Netanyahu is personally a genocidal maniac with a far-right cabinet of war criminals and is bent on continuing the war in order to escape his own criminal prosecutions (and yes, he is HIGHLY affiliated with Trump and Putin) but this somehow still does not remotely justify or excuse the rampant frothingly mindless and generalized anti-Semitism seen everywhere on leftist spaces these days [....]

An ask from January 10th, 2024 (worth probably reading in full) where I once more say that nobody wants this to be happening, but that once again, the criticism in Western leftist forums (particularly Tumblr/Twitter) is not made equally or in good faith :

Nobody of basic good sense and decency wants to see Gaza leveled while the Israeli state continues to apply a number of violently cruel collective punishments even outside the actual daily bombing of civilians. But for the love of god, let’s get rid of the idea that the continued mindless violence doesn’t benefit Hamas (because it does; unsurprisingly, sympathy for their cause has soared in Gaza) as much as it does Israel, or that Hamas is some kind of benevolent peacemaker that is being thwarted by the cruel imperialist US/West.

This post, also from January 2024, explains why the kind of stunt-trick "pro Palestinian" activism that just relies on publicly hassling Jews is a) antisemitic and b) actively harming the people of Gaza, while once again pointing out whose fault this whole mess actually is:

If these people actually wanted to advocate constructively for Palestine in a good-faith way and not just punish random Jews or people who might have once met a Jew (which they don’t), they would take a look at that, go “hmm, this isn’t really getting the right result” and listen to the people who are telling them that by generating this bad publicity, they are doing far more harm to the cause than good. They are going to make the cause look foolish, they will drive away anyone who isn’t already radicalized, they will shut down any possibility of discussion and dialogue, and their efforts will be picked up in the Israeli nationalist right-wing media/Netanyahu and his war criminal advisors to insist to left-wing or anti-zionist Jews that (one of the, you know, big fucking reasons Israel was founded in the first place) they aren’t safe in any other country in the world, and they need to support the Israeli government’s actions, no matter how heinous.

A follow-up from January 31, 2024, discussing (again) the problems with insisting that Biden personally/the American power apparatus is just giving Israel a blank check and therefore Biden Iz Bad And This is All His Fault:

Once again: I strongly disagree with the idea of just giving Israel/Netanyahu a blank check to keep committing atrocities, but I also need to repeatedly point out that Biden isn’t doing that. His initial unconditional support of Israel after October 7 (which at the time was the correct response) has shifted to a much more measured and conditional approach where he has muted the overtly pro-Israel statements and started talking about a two-state solution and the need to protect the lives of civilians and trying to keep a lid on what could become a REALLY bad situation with all kinds of war-hungry powers eager to jump into the Middle East and blow it completely to hell.

I am a historian. This does not mean that I always know The Greatest Things Ever, but it does mean that I default toward long, cautious, and qualified responses where I try to consider multiple perspectives and nuances, rather than just posting pithy soundbites or black-and-white statements. (Yes, I know; I am doomed on social media.) Thus when I do discuss the situation, I tend toward trying to put it in broader context, to push back sharply against the idea that being "pro Palestine" is just being wildly antisemitic on social media and nothing else, and to call out those bad actors who are using this situation to continue to imperil American democracy and deliberately try to get Trump (who openly hankers to be a genocidal fascist dictator for everyone, not just Israel/Palestine) back into office.

I know that this is a situation which provokes (to say the least) strong emotions from everyone. I know that it's infuriating to feel totally helpless and just to have to watch it from afar. I know that we all wish we could stop it and that leads us to create meaning or assign importance to our own actions where there actually is none. But that does not mean that people have total liberty to spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, wild political misinformation, narratives designed whether unwittingly or deliberately to help Trump and other far-right fascists, and otherwise anonymously dogpile on people who haven't Posted The Correct Opinion on Tumblr (once again, Tumblr, where we get our news via Destiel meme). So I hope this has helped you, if this is what you wanted to get out of contacting me today, and hope also that you'll continue to think about what to do and how to act. It's hard, I know, and you have my sympathy. But so it is for us all.

[nesisamess]

hahahhahahahhahahhahhahahhhhhhahahhahahahghgggggghhh

so um. how yall feeling? i am feeling. not good. we’re gonna have a ton of shit to look over before chapter 3 comes out huh. anywho

- XF-ture confirmed to be involved in the killing game in some way. Minnnn my girlllll you’re so suspicioussssss

- Is Levi gonna die???? who knows! Either way I want him to live and if he dies i’m gonna cry haha

- Like actually I love Levi So Much and I’m So Excited to see his development (he’s gonna live guys he’s gonna live)

- Ace said that he’d be responsible for three deaths… He might mean his own, but I’m also thinking he might be referring to Taylor, since he also mentioned them in a past tense. I’m so hyped for the bonus episodes like guys you have no idea

- Is broken MonoTV’s voice a new voice actor??? I thought it was Mai’s, but I went to the bonus episode and it seems like a different VA.

- Lore about why the killing game exists??? For one, its goal is to kill everyone, which means it doesn’t want any murderers to get away, but also doesn’t want anyone to make it to the end. whaT.

- Also the whole ‘This TV show is more about appearances than you think’ like What The Actual Fuck is that supposed to mean..???.?.?????

- New Whit sprite!!! god he’s so fucking suspicious i. cannot. It almost makes me believe he’s not the mastermind. But he definitely knows something. that bastard. at least it was cute that he was concerned for Charles seeing blood. Still fucking suspicious tho

- Also I’m sooooo fucking curious about Teruko’s backstory like actually I know it’s gonna be the most Traumatizing shit fr (she’s so suicidal and it makes me. sad)

- I love Teruko so much she’s definitely my 2nd favorite but she has gone even closer to Rose for my favorite spot

- Ace’s execution was unexpected but really good. It’s fitting he went out that way, but also just feels like another stab at him. He doesn’t want to be a coward, but he died of fear. Execution still fucks hard as shit tho

- Veronika is Such A Freak and she’s so interesting to me. I’m trying to psychoanalyse her like she does to everyone else bc What The Actual Fuck is up with her

- Fuck this episode was good. Rip to everyone who thought it would just be Ace’s execution lol. I said out loud ‘what the actual fuck??’ like 3 times (when monotv broke, when monotv said teruko would be executed, and when levi jumped in front of her)

I’m sure I missed a ton of shit but tbh I’m traumatized and don’t want to rewatch the episode for a bit because I think I might cry if I do.

[1moreff-creator]

Trying to figure out the DRDT chapter 2 murder method, with evidence! (Theory)

CW: Murder, mentions of suicide, hanging, general brutality.

So, I’ve noticed a lot of people have given their predictions for the second case murderer, the motives and all that. This is obviously what most people care about, and I love reading predictions for it!

However, I am not most people. I also am really curious about the exact murder method.

You see, DRDT has consumed my brain mercilessly, and thus I have decided I can’t wait for the hiatus to end, and want to see if I can figure out the murder mystery with the clues we have. As a warning, this doesn’t actually help much with the culprit, but I will give my thoughts on that at the end.

I think a decent job! It’s not perfect, and I’m fully expecting to get a lot if not most of this wrong. I will be happy regardless of whether I’m right or wrong, so what matters is that I had fun thinking about it! Right? :D

This took me hours.

Spoilers up until Chapter 2 ep 11, and… further? Maybe? It’s just a prediction, but with evidence, so, you decide if you wanna read it.

Where we left off

The cliffhanger currently consuming me, as you may recall, happened just after David started his Tumblr sexyman arc, with Charles cutting in with just a fantastic line (“You’re out of your element!”). He says that, while trying to prove David’s innocence, he realized something bigger, before proclaiming he and Teruko fucked up.

As many have pointed out, Charles cuts in when David mentions the time of death, meaning he’s likely realized something about that.

What Charles has probably noticed is that the note Arei received never mentioned if she was supposed to go to the playground at 7:30 PM, as the characters had assumed because of the fish and the nighttime rule for the Relaxation Room, or AM. The fish could have easily been kept in the water jugs found outside in a trash can, so it’s pretty feasible that the murder actually happened at 7:30 AM. Unfortunately, Nico, the only one keeping track of the fish, likely fed them before David went there, and thus before 7:30 PM, so we can’t tell for sure when they were taken.

(This is because Nico mentions they fed the fish after dinner, and they likely ate before David. Whit mentions having a ‘late dinner’ when he and the gang meet with Suspenders Man in the kitchen and send him to the fish, David even mentioning he wasn’t expecting anyone else to be there. Assuming Nico ate dinner with most of the class, they would have eaten before David went to the Relaxation Room, which we know was around 7:30 PM)

However, if Charles is only bringing the possibility up now, it’s likely the right answer. Also, as you’re gonna see, the murder method I believe was used requires quite a bit of setup that would have been easier to do at nighttime, without potential witnesses showing up out of nowhere.

Now, this is where I’ve seen most people stop. Content with knowing what the cliffhanger itself is about, they don’t think further into the murder method. But I will, because my life is extremely empty.

Let’s get to the evidence!

“Truth Bullets” (let’s pretend)

-First, the layout of the scene.

(Ultimate Artist coming through-)

The exact position of things doesn’t matter, but it helps to visualize. The seesaw, to the dismay of Korekiyo stans, is unimportant and can be disregarded. Here are the takeaways:

•The ground near the entrance is scuffed. This heavily implies something went down in the playground, and we probably aren’t dealing with a crime scene switch.

•The fish, you should be acquainted with.

•The spinny thing will be important.

•Not pictured is a sand pit without sand. This isn’t important, but I do find it funny.

•Then, the swing set. I’d like to point out that the rope attached on one end to Arei has nothing on the other end, and rather remains there via a knot at the top of the swing set. This is important because of:

-Broken Neck: Arei’s neck is broken, alongside:

-Veronika’s Account: Although a hanging can cause someone’s neck to break, it wouldn’t happen to Arei if she were to be hung from that height. She would either need to weigh more, or fall from higher. Because the rope Arei’s corpse hangs from is tied with a knot, it can’t extend further than what we see, meaning she was likely hung from somewhere else (if that’s even her cause of death).

-Bound Wrists: Arei’s wrists were bound with duct tape at some point.

-Duct Tape on Spinny Thing: There is duct tape covering every handlebar the spinny thing has.

-Longer Rope: There was a longer piece of rope bundled up below the spinny thing. Teruko claims it’s a couple yards long. I don’t use that unit of measurement, but it sounds like it’s large.

-Flickering Lights: According to MonoTV, one of the lights in the playground was flickering. The way he acts when inquired implies this had something to do with the murder.

Going away from the playground now, we have the trash can.

-The note: You know this one.

-Eating utensils, food, painting tools. Unimportant.

-Water Jugs: Likely where the fish were kept overnight. Notably, the handles are snapped in the middle.

-Needle and thread?: I’ve seen some people mention there’s a needle with a bit of black thread that none of the characters address when dealing with the trash. Personally, I think this isn’t going to be important, but I do have a place for it if it ends up coming up. That is:

-Ball of clothes: Charles takes this from the dress-up room. It’s apparently held together with starch (not an adhesive, just sticky, but sure), though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually created with the needle and thread. Again, I don’t think it’s important, but you can choose to believe it was used here if you want. It’ll make sense later.

-The gym. I’ll be honest, this is the one thing I don’t know how to fit in. During the investigation, Teruko makes memory to how the gym looked before and after the Nico incident. I’m not great at Spot the Difference, but for the life of me the only thing I could see change was the missing fan and the missing ‘grippy thing’ on the pull-up bar. I don’t know how that would fit with the mystery, so I’ll be glad if anyone can figure something out.

-The motives: Not important for the method, obviously important for other reasons.

So, with the evidence laid out, what can we figure out?

Theory Time

When I said I spent hours thinking about this, I mostly meant running through several theories at once, trying to see which one made the most sense. I went to some weird places: from a crime of passion disguised as a suicide, to drowning her in the Relaxation Room, to somehow getting from the Movie Screening Room to the Playground (MonoTV had mentioned punching through the wall would get you there), to Arei herself being the one originally trying to murder…

But in the end, it was simpler. There are three important facts which help narrow down the options.

-Arei’s neck was broken. This eliminates simpler killing methods such as strangulation. Something happened which broke her neck, yet:

-Her wrists were bound. A broken neck is instant death, but Arei’s bound wrists imply the killer feared she would struggle. This eliminates a crime of passion. This thing was premeditated.

-The murder happened in the playground. The scuffed floor, broken light, duct tape on spinny thing and the other rope all make it clear. There’s no crime scene switching here. This eliminates stuff like the drowning in the Relaxation Room I mentioned.

All of this makes me believe that Arei was hung from somewhere in the playground, likely after the killer bound her wrists to stop her from struggling. The scuffed ground serves as evidence of an initial struggle. It doesn’t quite look like that, but frankly I just don’t know what could have caused the exact shape in the ground, so a struggle it is.

However, how? If Arei’s neck broke from her hanging, as per Veronika’s Account, she would need to be hung from somewhere else first, in a way that she either weighed more or fell from higher. Now, at first, you might assume that she had to be simply hung from higher, since it’s impossible to make Arei weigh more than she does. But what if I told you, there is a way to achieve that?

Enter: the water jugs.

I don’t know about you, but the way those handles are broken looks to me like they were snapped too cleanly for human hands. It almost looks… like someone tied a knot around them, then exerted a bunch of force on the rope.

(WARNING: Geometric depiction of a hanging a bit below)

We know for a fact there are at least two pieces of rope: one longer, one shorter. It would be possible to tie the two ends of the shorter one around the handles of the water jugs, then tie the middle around Arei. Water’s pretty heavy, so the extra pull of the water jugs would exert an additional force to her body once she stopped falling, one which could serve as one of the reasons her neck broke.

…Now’s probably a good time to mention, I have no idea why the killer did half the shit they did. I cannot explain to you why they would do this with water jugs. I’m just telling you how my brain’s interpreting this evidence.

However, this doesn’t exactly solve the height problem. You still can’t hang Arei from the swing set directly, as the jugs would hit the ground. It’s still necessary to hang her from higher up, although thankfully it’s easy to see where that would happen.

Yeah, the railings of the playground. The problem, naturally, is how to get there. Or rather, how to get the rope there.

Well, here’s a question. How would you do something like that if it was lower down, but still unreachable? One answer is to try to throw the rope over the railing, so that one end stays near you, and the other, on the other side of the railing. Of course, that’s impossible with a rope of this length and a railing of this height, but the concept can still be used in conjunction with something else. Thinking about the other pieces of evidence we have, there is one that stands out as particularly strange, doesn’t it?

Exactly. The ball of clothes. Because throwing a ball, especially one as light as this one would be, is much easier than throwing a rope, you can set up the hanging spot by tying one end of the rope to the ball, and throwing that over the railing.

You might think it’s still too far up, but think of it like this. How far can you throw a basketball straight up? Probably enough to clear two floors, at least given enough attempts. The ball of clothes would have more drag, yes, but it would be lighter. Keep in mind the killer had all night to get this right, and they could have even climbed on the swing set if they needed a bit more height. It’d be awkward, but possible.

There is one more piece of evidence that makes me think this is the case. That is, the flickering lights.

The lights weren’t broken, but they did get fucked up. This is by far the clue which gave me the most trouble when thinking about this, since it just seemed so impossible to achieve. However, this ‘ball of clothes’ theory gives us a solid answer. On the way up, the ball of clothes may have hit the lights:

This wouldn’t break the light, but it could displace it, causing it to flicker… or something like that. I’m sorta banking on J giving a proper explanation with her pre-established expertise, since I’m no electrical engineer. However, I see no other way this could have happened, so it’s the answer I’m giving for now.

So now we have the long rope on both ends, all that’s left is actually pulling Arei up. Except, that’s still quite complicated, isn’t it? Already pulling her up would take quite a bit of strength, but the main problem is the ‘going down’ part.

For Arei’s neck to break, she needs to enter free fall, then abruptly stop halfway. That would mean you need to stop the rope from moving on the way down, but how? Just using your hands is impossible, because you’d get burnt.

Enter: spinny thing.

The duct tape tipped me off that this thing was important, and once the use of rope is factored in, my first instinct was to use it for a sort of pulley system.

Weave the rope through a few of the handlebars, then tie a knot around one of them. That way, if you make the thing spin, it will drag the rope with it, sort of like a roll of film in reverse.

Then, once Arei reaches an appropriate height, you spin the thing the other way, letting her fall at full speed for a bit. When you want to stop her, you would just need to stop the carousel from spinning, which may take a bit of strength, but it’s perfectly doable.

Now, this explains how the murder could have been done, but where does the duct tape come into play?

…

Yeah, good question. My best answer is that the rope somehow burnt a friction mark into the spinny thing, which the killer feared would give away their trick. After all, even if the duct tape is more noticeable, it’s harder to make a connection between that and the murder than a friction burn, which while harder to notice, would point more directly to the pulley idea.

Yeah, it’s not a great answer, and it’s frankly the part which still puzzles me the most, but it’s an answer, so I’m going with it for now. Open to change, though.

Notably, this is also the part of the crime where I feel the gym may come into play. Again, I have no idea what the relevance is, but if it has something to do with this crime and not just the Ace - Nico incident, perhaps the grippy strap of the pull up bar was somehow used to better grip the spinny thing’s handlebars for the pulley trick? Again, this is one piece of evidence where I could use the help.

And so, we’re done! Practically all of the important evidence was used, and I can’t find any contradictions in the reasoning!

Closing Argument

The killer first put water from the Relaxation Room, fish and all, in some water jugs before nighttime.

At nighttime, they stuck together Teruko’s and Hu’s old clothes with either starch or the black string. Going to the playground, they tied a long rope they got from storage around the ball of clothes. They repeatedly threw it up, until they managed to get the rope over one of the railings in the playground. However, on the way up, the ball of clothes hit a light and displaced it, causing it to flicker. MonoTV would later remove this light.

After that, they tied one of the ends of the rope to one of the carousel’s handlebars, possibly looping it around some of the other handlebars to make sure it would work as a pulley. The killer left the water jugs in the room, first tying a shorter piece of rope around their handles, and took the ball of clothes back to the dressing room.

After that, the killer wrote a note. They had overheard the Eden-Arturo-Arei situation, and used that to lure Arei out to the playground at 7:30 AM. She potentially arrived just before the killer, based on the scuffed ground being a bit far from the door, but the killer got there just a moment after, before Arei could understand the situation.

The killer overpowered Arei, scuffing the ground near the seesaw in the process. They eventually bound her wrists together, and wrapped the middle of the rope attached to the water jugs to Arei’s lower body. Possibly around her waist, as to prevent rope burn injuries from giving the trick away.

After that, they tied the unused end of the longer rope around Arei’s neck, and moved to the spinny thing. Using the grippy strap they got from the gym (maybe), they grabbed one of the handlebars and spun the spinny thing so that the rope was pulled in and around its handlebars. This also had the effect of pulling Arei up towards the ceiling.

Once Arei was high enough, the killer quickly spun the carousel the opposite way, then abruptly stopped it just a few moments later. This caused Arei to free fall shortly, before suddenly stopping. The force of that stopping broke both Arei’s neck and the handles of the water jugs. Arei died here, if she hadn’t already asphyxiated beforehand.

All that was left for the killer to do was cleanup. Retrieve the longer rope and hide it under the spinny thing; set up Arei’s body to look vaguely like a suicide; empty the water jugs on the ground; throw them away, alongside the duct tape and the note. The killer’s trick had also left marks on the carousel, which they decided to cover up with duct tape. Finally, the killer reconvened with everyone at around 8 AM for the motive announcement.

And with that, all questions are answered. Well, except for:

What the fuck

Like, why would the killer do this? It’s so unnecessary cruel, when they could have just hung her. I was honestly worried, as I thought about the method, that the killer would end up being Veronika, just because it’s so fucked I genuinely can’t see anyone else doing this. But Veronika doesn’t have a motive to do this: she’s talked about wanting to enjoy the trials for as long as possible, and it’s been set up if she murders, it would be of boredom. Doing that before a motive announcement which would make things interesting doesn’t fit her at all. Or maybe I’m coping.

The answer to the question of why the killer chose this method is only part of a larger question, though. So, knowing the method, how does that change the final question?

Who did it?

EDIT: DISCLAIMER: The following part of this blog is outdated. Go here to read a revised version of the method, with a different culprit. It's a reblog of thebadjoe's reblog of this post, as they pointed out a lot of flaws in my original theory (adult content warning for Arei's corpse). I'm leaving the rest of my original post up, but just know I now believe the killer to be Eden, with an accomplice.

Let me start by saying that I can’t definitively say anything about anyone, even knowing the murder method. However, this *does* paint some of the theories in a different light.

Smaller theories

I’ve seen a few people suggest everyone from Charles to J or even Arturo. A lot of these theories are decent, but some rely too much on certain assumptions which may or may not be disproven if this method is accurate.

Charles is ruled out. The murder required moving the corpse around postmortem, and while there wasn’t any blood around, Charles’ necrophobia would make it impossible for him.

A theory I saw was that J may have used her remote to open secret trapdoors and move around rooms, taking advantage of the placement of the playground in relation to the Movie Screening Room. However, while that theory is interesting, the murder is perfectly possible without these trapdoors, so the main argument kinda goes out the window. Although I guess it’s possible her remote could be used to make the carousel go spin, but that’s kinda ridiculous if you ask me.

Arturo was ruled out from the beginning because the handwriting in the note is too pretty to be a doctor’s. That’s a joke, and Arturo would actually be quite capable of the crime. In fact, he’s sort of become my second most likely culprit, even if he was accused early in the trial.

Hu / David manipulation, in shambles

A popular theory states that the killer was manipulated by David to do the deed. The most common victim of this manipulation theory seems to be Hu Jing. However, in my opinion, the sheer brutality of the method pretty much rules this out. David may be a good enough manipulator to get somehow to kill Arei, but I really doubt he’d be able to convince them to do… all this.

Especially since he has no reason to order the specific method, which would imply it was born from the killer’s own mind. So, even if David actually told them to kill Arei, they decided to use this insanely elaborate method all on their own. And, listen, I don’t care how you feel about Hu, she wouldn’t do this.

Is it still possible? Sure, I guess. Does it look a lot weaker under this method? Absolutely.

The surprisingly strong Whit/Eden allegations

I didn’t make this theory considering these two the killer, I really didn’t. I still don’t think they are. And yet, they are the only ones who could benefit from this method. How? The BDA.

You see that loophole, right? I noticed the moment I saw the rule. The way it’s written seems to imply the BDA only plays when three ‘spotless’ see the body, ruling them out as the murderer. Except, that’s not how it’s worded. It doesn’t say ‘three non-murderers’, it says ‘three people who didn’t witness the murder’.

So, pray tell, what happens if the culprit has their back to the victim when they die? Simple; they didn’t witness the murder, so their eyes count for the BDA.

How does this help? Well, imagine if Teruko had been the one to kill Arei. By making a contraption where she can be sure Arei dies instantly upon something happening (in this case, abruptly stopping the spin of the carousel), she can make sure her back is turned the moment Arei dies. Of course, the moment she turns around, the count for the BDA goes up to one, but it doesn’t trigger, since you need three.

Then, when Teruko ‘discovers’ the body alongside Eden and Whit, the BDA plays; one person (Teruko) had already ‘discovered the body’, so Eden and Whit seeing it would increase the BDA count by two. That makes three, BDA plays.

And yet, during the trial, if the murder method hasn’t been found out, Teruko could claim she isn’t the murderer because of the trickily worded BDA rule.

Now, we obviously know Teruko didn’t do it, but Eden and especially Whit are common theories. This could be used as evidence, except…

There’s a pretty obvious problem there. It’s not them, but Teruko who asks to team up in a group of three for the BDA, and it’s also her who suggests going to the second floor. Then, the playground is the last place they check, and Whit even questions Teruko when she suggests going there (the infamous ‘hanging out there’ line).

I wouldn’t rule out Teruko’s bad luck making her pick the absolute worst possible partner possible, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that neither Eden nor Whit were proactive in the search method, which goes against this potential ‘BDA alibi’ plan.

As for the rest of the theories, I don’t quite believe them. Yes, Whit definitely has more issues than he lets on, but he has no motive to do this (remember; he asked an entire group of people to reveal his secret if they had it, so the only reason his secret lasted until the trial was Rose throwing it away). Eden even less so.

And in the end, it really is the motives which points us to what I believe to be the killer.

Yeah, it’s Levi

As does what I believe is most of the fandom by this point, I think Levi is probably the killer.

Many have already theorized about the remaining motives, so I’ll spare you the ordeal and tell you: Just with the information all the characters have access to, it’s possible to narrow down Levi’s secret to ‘murdered someone’, ‘poisoned competition’ and ‘dead family’ (I know the last one’s Xander’s, but the characters don’t really have access to the Bonus Episode).

However, Eden can eliminate the ‘dead family’ one, as Levi has talked about his family with her, and they’re not dead (He also mentioned having brothers in the present tense during the trial, but just in case).

Min’s Bonus Episode makes it likely her secret is the ‘poison competition’ one, though how the characters are gonna figure that one out is beyond me. The point is, Levi’s secret is the ‘murdered someone’ one, the one Arei had. And, listen, in-game logic aside, you don’t just give that secret to the victim of the case and then have it mean nothing for the murder.

Other suspicious behavior has been noted, such as him wanting to start voting time quickly when David did his thing, him quickly checking the motives when they became public (keep in mind, as some characters mentioned, it’s possible the killer thought just killing someone before the motive reveal would be enough to prevent it), etc. Also possible foreshadowing such as Ace claiming Levi could ‘snap [his] neck with his bare hands’ and Levi promising to protect Eden in the trial, which is exactly what Arei did before dying.

However, something I feel people overlook is that not only did Arei get Levi’s secret, but it was also Levi who got Arei’s secret. A secret which, keep in mind, wasn’t public knowledge until the trial, when Levi finally revealed it. Sure, David and Teruko knew, maybe Eden at best, but other than that, only Levi knew of that secret.

And this is where the murder method may come in. I’m still unsure. Because the only reason I can find for this amount of elaborate planning and brutality, beyond the BDA thing which I mentioned likely isn’t important, is the killer having a deep grudge against Arei.

Levi is a guy who cares about his family. Sure, he was disowned, but he claims it was good, because he and his family were ‘bad influences on each other’. He seems like he genuinely wants the best for his brothers, it just so happened that the best thing was going their separate ways.

So, how do you think he feels when he learns that Arei, someone who had already insulted and belittled him, calling him a pushover and stuff, did horrible things to her sisters? If he doesn’t have the full picture, it’s not impossible to see how that may make him angry at her, especially with his already established anger issues.

Not to mention, keep in mind the setup for the crime was done one night after the Nico - Ace incident, one which ends with Levi grumbling ‘why do I even bother?’ as he locks himself in his room. This could imply a complete loss of faith in the group in general, which could lead to him deciding to kill.

Of course, that theory has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Levi’s outbursts of anger don’t really last long enough for it to explain such a long and elaborate murder scheme. Not to mention, if he really did react negatively to the motive, he’d have done it the moment he received it, not several days later. He has murdered without remorse before, if his secret is to be believed, but until we get the specifics, we can’t know for sure how okay he’d be doing something like this.

However, the important question Levi as the culprit answers isn’t the ‘why?’, but the ‘how?’.

I’ve sorta glossed over it until now, but it would take quite a bit of strength to stop the spinny thing in the trick. I don’t think Levi’s the only one capable of it, but he’s certainly the most capable, if that makes sense. Not to mention, actually overpowering Arei in the first place wouldn’t exactly be easy. Plus, the ball of clothes being involved implicates him in a meta-sense, as it could technically count as his talent being involved in the murder.

The problem, of course, is that I have no definitive evidence. His custom weapon, brass knuckles, wasn’t involved at all, and there’s no way to place him at any of the important scenes. No one has an alibi for nighttime, no one has an alibi for 7:30 AM, and pretty much no one has an alibi for the Eden - Arturo - Arei incident (afternoon of the day of Nico’s attempted murder, when for now we only know Hu, David, Nico and Teruko where talking in the Relaxation Room. Though of course, the exact time is impossible to know).

I suspect he’s going to be suspected for the motive and the strength thing, and either someone will come up with something incriminating, or he’ll make a slip-up a la Mondo. I have no idea.

So… what did we learn?

Kinda nothing. As you can see, the murder method doesn’t really point to a killer in any definitive way, so we’re just back where we started, basically. But hey! It was fun! I guess.

Now, back to crying over the hiatus. See you!

[stonesylove]

Summary: Alessandra and Tom met on a casual night out in Berlin while he's filming the prequel of the hunger games, both of them are down for a little three month affair but what if they want a little bit more.

social media au

A night out in Berlin pt.2

Our first conversation

Chapter 1 - Chapter 3

Alessandra woke up and as normal 22 year old, took her phone to check her social media after one of the best nights out she ever had, she remembered some parts of the night but the others felt like a distant memory; she opened up Instagram to see and she had a new verified follower, someone called “Tom Blyth” she knew a lot of Tom’s but not a single one was famous so when Alessandra touch his profile pic and went to his profile she got hit whit the memory of the tall man with a buzz cut, she couldn’t believe that she fooled around with an actor in a random club in a night out.

“GIULIANA COME HERE” she screamed calling her best friend to tell her the crazy news, Giuliana and Alessandra have been best friend since they were 3 years old, they met in a little ballet academy in Naples, both have dreamed of dancing around the world and they ended up living together in Berlin and dancing for Staatsballett; Alessandra heard the steps coming closer and then she saw her door being open by her friend.

“Girl it’s 8 am, stop screaming” Giuliana said, “shut up and listen to me, remember last night when I got lost from you guys?” Alessandra asked thrilled to tell the whole story, her friend nodded so she can continue with the story, “Well I ended up dancing and making out with this cute tall man and I guess at some point I had to tell him my ig because now he’s following me” she said.

“I don’t see what’s the issue here” Giuliana said with a confused look, “HES A FUCKING BRITISH ACTOR” Alessandra screamed excited while her best friend was in completely shock, “you need to post a thirst trap right now” Giuli said with a playful look in her face, “I’m going to follow him up first and maybe I’ll post it later, I don’t know this is fucking wild” Alessandra said while opening up Instagram again to follow Tom.

Alessandra kept her day going without stressing too much about the topic, she knew he must be busy working on Germany or maybe he’s traveling with some friends so she wouldn’t want to distract him with a text but maybe it was a good idea to post a little selfie on her stories just to taste the waters.

Alessandra Di Maggio posted a story

Alessandra was walking with her friends to her class while she posted a pic she took some days ago that she felt would be cute enough to draw his attention, she felt like a little girl waiting for her crush to give her some attention and that made her feel so stupid because Alessandra knew that an actor would never lay his eyes on her and all that happened was just a drunken mistake, she locked her phone deciding she wouldn’t check Instagram for the day, Alessandra just didn’t want to get all in her head and get distracted during what’s really important.

The class was a success, she felt tired but at the same time she knew she had to be the best to get to the point she wants to be; Alessandra picked up her belongings and the walked out of the door waiting for her best friend to catch her up.

“So, have you checked Instagram? Did he even liked the story? Did he answered?” Giuliana said while catching Alessandra outside of the dance studio, “I literally posted and blocked my phone, I haven’t check it out” she said while trying to sound uninterested, “WELL DO IT BITCH“ her friend said while rising her voice. Alessandra took her phone out of her bag, she saw that she had a couple notifications but nothing special so she opened up Instagram to see that he liked her story and he sent a message.

Tom Blyth sent you a message 

Tom Blyth

Good morning Alessa with 4 s

Alessandra couldn’t believe that he send her a message, it was crazy for her because they were a little too drunk and she thought he wouldn’t remember her and also the way she screamed her Instagram handle, “Giuli he messaged me” Alessandra said a little bit shocked because she thought it meant nothing for him, “REPLY RIGHT NOW” Giuliana screamed.

Alessandra Di Maggio

hi Tom boy, thought you forgot about me

She send the message and block her phone again, Alessandra couldn’t believe she was doing that, texting him was a crazy scenario in her head, that type of stuff never happen to people like her so she wouldn’t keep any high hopes. Alessandra and Giuliana decided to grab dinner outside because contrary to popular believe ballerinas usually ate a lot; when they arrived home Alessandra didn’t check her phone since she replied the message and she wasn’t ready to do that yet, so she went to the bathroom took a long shower, got ready for bed and still was too scared to check it out. Alessandra laid down in her bed, she thought about going to sleep without checking her phone but the curiosity was eating her alive, so she took her phone out and opened Instagram.

Tom Blyth sent you a message 

Tom Blyth 

I would never forget about you Ale 😂

How are you? You never told me you were ballerina!!

Alessandra Di Maggio

are you a millennial?? What’s up with that emoji 💀

well you never told me that you were an actor so we are even 

Tom Blyth 

Being a millennial is okay, I’m a proud millennial 

How old are you?

if you don’t mind me asking 

Alessandra Di Maggio

I’m 22 and you Tom boy?

gonna be honest I was stalking your profile and I want to say that I don’t agree about riding horses but I’m 100% down to ride the cowboy

Tom Blyth 

I’m 27, so you’re an iPad kid???

You gotta be a little bit more creative if that’s the way you flirt but you don’t look bad in those leotards and thighs 

Alessandra Di Maggio

so you’re a grandpa???

I had to make the joke Tom, it was funny to me 🙄🙄🙄

Tom Blyth 

What if we play 21 questions so we can make other type of jokes funny girl 

Alessandra Di Maggio

did you google that??

but sure 

were where you born?

Tom Blyth 

You’re way too funny 🙄🙄

I’m from Birmingham and you?

What’s your fav color?

Alessandra Di Maggio

I’m from Naples, best part of Italy 

such a deep question 

light blue and yours ?

Tom Blyth 

Like the color of my eyes?

Dark purple, I think so 

What’s up with the caption on your la post??

Alessandra Di Maggio

That counts as one of your questions

A little bit lighter than yours British boy

It’s from a song called “JESUS IN BERLIN”

Are you here for pleasure or for work?

Tom Blyth 

I’m working on a Movie, i’ll be here for three months 

Are you a professional ballerina or is just a hobbie?

Alessandra Di Maggio

let’s hope your big movie doesn’t make a chaos in the city 

I’m a professional ballet dancer

okay, now we’re getting into the deeper questions 

Tom Blyth 

I can go deeper if you want funny girl 😏

They talked until like three in the morning until Alessandra felt asleep, both of them couldn’t believe how the conversation was flowing like they known each other for a while also but of them have the same sense of humor so it’s makes everything a little bit easier to get to know each other, Alessandra wasn’t sure if all the dirty jokes were real and he wanted all that but she wouldn’t mind a three month affair with an English boy, at the end they might never see each other again.

Tom Blyth posted a story 

This is what her if ig looks like 

[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

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day Thirty - Chamomile @rosekiller-microfic

March Daily Series - 1079 words

<<<Previous Part OR Start Here

Pandora glared at both of them before swivelling on her heel and walking away. The tension in her shoulders and jaw didn’t ease a whit.

“She's still angry,” Barty said quietly. “I’m sure you are too.”

Evan reluctantly slid down to the pavement and stepped back, then hugged himself tight. “I’m glad you’re trying and that you’re here.”

The unsaid “but” slashed open a new wound in his partially healed heart. His chest heaved as Evan dropped his gaze to the ground. Barty’s elation crashed with it. It couldn’t be that easy. He knew that.

Evan swallowed hard. “It hurt, Barty, more than anything…ever.”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“No. Don’t speak.”

Barty shut his mouth and slid further back onto the hood so his feet dangled an inch off the ground. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans and hoped Evan didn’t notice how much his hands shook. It was just as well that Evan didn’t let him speak. A ball of dread had lodged in his throat and threatened to choke him.

Don’t push me away again, Rosie. I can’t stand it!

“I want to believe that you’re better with me. That you wouldn’t hurt me like you did Reg.” Evan’s voice was calm, almost flat, but his face was twisted into a grimace. “But you did. You lied to me and presented yourself as someone different. I’m not sure my Barty is the real Barty.”

Barty’s jaw worked from side to side as he fought back the urge to defend himself. Evan had a point. Several, actually. He’d intentionally given Evan only his best side and hidden the worst bits away.

“And so did I.”

Barty’s head snapped up. “What?”

Evan winced, then scrubbed a hand over his face. “I wasn’t honest with you either. I pretended to be unbothered by everything because I wanted you to like me. Most people don’t. Not at first anyway.”

“So, we’re both liars.”

“Yes, I guess we are.”

Barty cleared his throat and pulled out two cigarettes. He put both in his mouth and lit them, then held one out to Evan. A peace offering.

Evan didn’t hesitate to take it. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Fuck, I needed that.”

“I know. You always smoke when you’re upset.”

“You’ve never seen me upset. Not really.”

Barty released an amused breath and shook his head. “You underestimate how obsessed I am with you.”

Evan eyed him warily as he drew in another haul. The sharp angles that he’d shown Barty since their break-up did catch him off-guard, but it was also a relief to discover that Evan wasn’t as perfect as he thought. They were desperately trying to soften razor-blade edges into something palatable.

“Meaning?”

“I pay attention when it’s you. More than I ever bothered to in the past. I know what your tics are, how to make you laugh until you nearly piss yourself, and when to shut up and let you think. I know your favourites and habits by heart. Even if we weren’t as honest as we should have been, I do know you, Rosie.”

Evan dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. “How can you say that when you still use that stupid nickname that I hate?”

Barty grinned. “Because I like to make your eyes roll.”

“Oh piss off,” Evan retorted with a huff.

“And when you’re all huffy, I like that too.”

“Prove it then.”

Barty arched an eyebrow. “Prove what? That I can make your eyes roll? I’d love to.”

“Prove that you care about me,” Evan said, glaring as he stepped forward. “What do you think you know?”

Barty kicked out his legs to hook both boots behind Evan’s thighs. Slowly, he reeled him in. Once Evan stood between his knees, Barty draped his arms over his shoulders and toyed with the loose curls at the nape of his neck.

“What do I definitely know about you? So many things, where do I start? Let’s see. You always ask for Yorkshire tea, but choose chamomile when you make your own. You have one dimple when you smile and it takes a tremendous amount of self-control not to bite it when it pops out.”

Evan hallowed his cheeks to hide a smile. “You bite my cheek all the time.”

“I didn’t say that I possess tremendous amounts of self-control.”

“Annoying git. Keep going.”

“I know that you hate living with your parents, but you’re worried that they won’t let you come back if you leave,” Barty continued. “And that as much as you love your sister, you hate that she can see right through you.”

“Ouch.”

Barty shrugged. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You’re not…wrong.” Evan admitted, resting his chin on Barty’s arm. “We’re a mess, Barty. This is messy.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Evan glanced back at his parents’ row house and sighed. “Pandora will never approve of us, even if she and Reg decide to leave it, and neither will my parents.”

“I don’t give a shite what they think, Evan. The important question is, do you?” Barty asked, searching his face for doubt. “I’ll never be like Lily, or James. I’m not selfless, gentle, or kind. My mouth runs faster than my mind, I waste my money on tattoos and weed, I'm fucking obsessed with you, and I’m not convinced that I can actually die.”

A startled laugh burst from Evan’s lips and he quickly stuffed his face in Barty’s shoulder. “Shut up before I punch you.”

Barty leaned back and lifted Evan’s chin, his calloused fingers rough against smooth skin. “I will never be good enough for you, Rosie, but I think…I think I may love you.”

“Blegh. Never say that again,” Evan said, gagging exaggeratedly. “Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind and break your face.”

“You can sit on it, if you like?”

Evan grabbed Barty’s neck and smashed their mouths together. The kiss was nothing but spit, scraping teeth, and sparring tongues, just how Barty liked it. How they both needed it.

The words hung out there in the air and Evan didn’t refute the truth of them. They both knew what that meant. “Love” was a word that soured in their mouths. It evoked cutesy couple shite, awkwardly tender looks, and gentle touches.

Barty and Evan didn’t have that kind of “love.” Theirs was stupid dares, a dick piercing, neck biting, high on life — and probably weed — kind of love. It wasn’t pretty, but it was theirs.

[blindgamermisadventures]

This has been one hell of a week. Where do I even begin?

My mother pitches a fit if I don’t eat with the family because it doesn’t feel like I’m “taking part of the family”. Thing is, I am NPO on a feeding tube.

Since I currently have only a “functional” (Most offensive term ever. I can promise you I am not functioning.) condition both professionals and my parents believe I am making a “mountain out of a molehill” and should just get over it and eat.

I also miss food. It’s so rare I eat, not only because of the excruciating pain it causes, but because I have such intense early satiety. I eat a couple bites and I am as full as if I ate a holiday meal. In addition I can feel the food backing up my oesophagus and throat. I have a hard time swallowing too.

So yes I miss food, but I know I cannot eat. Yet my mother’s wrath is not to be trifled with, especially when I am so low on energy. I caved anew ate around a a cup of mashed potatoes and a sliver of homemade sourdough bread.

Well…it was coming out of both my G and J tubes for the next two days. My CNA who helps me daily could see what I ate. It smelled like vomit. (Which I so badly wanted to do due to pain, but I am unable to do so.) I was awful. I was so nauseous. In so much pain. And worse of all I was constipated.

This may be considered TMI, but I don’t care. In multiple tests it’s been documented that I have constant stool burdens at the end of my small intestine and beginning of my colon. I am currently on linzess, but it isn’t helping.

I poop brown smelly water. Even my CNA said this looks like intestinal failure. Yet because I only have a functional diagnosis the ER won’t accept me until I am running a high fever. I have a low grade one, but nope. Still not good enough.

On top of that my feeding pump ( a Kangaroo Joey) stopped working yesterday. I called my feeding tube supplier about sending me a new one. They said it would arrive at noon.

It hadn’t. I called back asking when it would arrive and they said someone signed for it. So I asked all around my apartment complex asking where it was. Nobody said they had it. So I called again. Apparently it SOMEHOW got sent to the wrong place. So they will be sending me one…sometime. Tonight my CNA is going to help me use a gravity bag. I only used one once and it gave me really bad diarrhoea so hopefully we can find a speed that works for me.

So…those on feeding tubes, intestinal failure, and TPN…I need advice. How do I get help? I have been on a feeding tube since January and I am STILL underweight and malnourished. I am not running my full feeds because it burns and the pressure buildup is too much to handle. I already explained about my constant stool burdens and overflow problem. When and how do you bring up the topic of at least trying TPN? How do you get diagnosed with Chronic Intestinal Dysmotility? I know for a fact that is what is going on yet my GI refuses to let me get a Sitz Marker Test because it’s so expensive and intensive. I am suffering and at my whits end and don’t know what to do anymore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[drowsy-fantasy]

Vannimarco MPREG

Crack fic...with heart because @mannimarcoiscool and @caliblorn won't stop

no porn. it's just silly.

“How do you know I’m even the father?” Vanus rested his chin on his folded hands, staring across the low table at Mannimarco, who was resting a hand on his stomach. It protruded through his robes. Or rather, it would have, if he had not clearly gone to a tailor - or somehow gotten someone to do it in his own secretive chambers. Hells, he was only here now because Mannimarco allowed it. He frowned. He did not want to be here. 

“Vanus Galerion, of course you are.” Mannimarco sipped from a glass that Vanus hoped was not wine. Why did that thought cross his mind? He didn’t care a whit for his one-time friend. Or…he was not really pregnant, was he? “Do you think it would be anyone else?” 

“Well, Molag Bal for one-” 

“That would rip me in half.” Mannimarco snapped, putting the empty glass down. He shivered, then stood up and walked across the room to close the window. Vanus leaned in and sniffed the glass surreptitiously. No alcohol. Very well. “Besides. I wouldn’t be let free to roam around if I were bearing the child of a Daedric Prince. I’m sure I’d be in a cage somewhere until it was ready to come out.” 

“Speaking of which.” Vanus coughed delicately, leaning back as Mannimarco returned to the table and sat in his chair. 

“Unfortunately, it can’t come out the same way it got in,” Mannimarco grinned at Vanus, who, despite himself, had to break eye contact as he felt his face heat up. Alright, he was definitely the father, then. “I was able to secret away some skilled healers who took reasonable bribes. I might even not make them my undead servants after.” 

Vanus’ stomach roiled. “Fucking disgusting. Why am I even here. Why should I even care about you, or this?” He pushed himself up from the table, chair rattling and almost tipping backwards. 

Mannimarco tilted his head back, regarding Vanus as he stood. “You don’t want to raise your daughter?” 

“You can’t know it’s a girl.” 

“It’s a girl because I said so.” Mannimarco rose to his feet, wincing and putting his hand on his lower back. “You’ll see. I’ll bring you back when I need you.” 

Grimacing, Vanus grabbed his cloak and marched out of the room.  -----------------------------

He could see the moon through the open curtains. The air was warmer now, as the season had progressed, and the window had remained in its unlocked state all evening. Vanus glanced at the man in the bed; Mannimarco slept disturbingly peacefully for a man who had accomplished so much heinous evil in the world. The healers had dispersed and they were alone together. He looked so vulnerable like this. If he so desired it, Vanus surely could kill him like this. He should - 

The small weight in his arms stopped him before he could rise to his feet. The swaddled infant, bathed and fed, rested in his lap. She was quiet now, her big, turquoise eyes blinking up at him in an unfocused, strange sort-of way. He wracked his brains; had he held a child so small before? Surely not. She was hours old, the back of her head fitting neatly in the palm of his hand. Her tiny hand was curled around his index finger, holding on for dear life. Babies could be so manipulative in their adorable little reflexes. 

Vanus sighed and settled again on the divan, getting comfortable once more and preparing for a long night. The breeze lifted his hair, stirring what little there was on his charge as well. He looked down once more at her tiny face. Her little nose, her rounded high cheeks, her enormous eyes. 

“Alright. If you’re going to stay awake, so will I.” He vowed. Then, he smiled. “Let me tell you a story, little one.”

[ravenmichaelisstuff]

"Better late than never" part 8

COOKIES

Soap was aware of how much work is on Ghost’s shoulders, the man never gets a break. If he is not commanding a mission on which soldiers have to depend on his decisions, death being a repercussion of even the smallest mistake he could make. Then, he has to put up with recruits at training which is usually a shit show of inexperienced firearm usage and Ghost’s screaming and cursing. On top of that, he had a shit ton of paper works.

Since Soap figured out that he can actually help him with that, he had been doing it more frequently. Often staying late in Ghost’s room to fill out things he needed help with. Ghost never asked for his help, and neither did he say thank you. But Soap knew that he appreciated the help and maybe even his company because halfway through the work Ghost would ask if Johnny wants him to make coffee and they were also spending time together after they were done. There was always a plate of cookies on the desk for Soap to munch on- the cookies were there only when he was around.

Soap loved those cookies, but whenever he asked what brand they were the other men would say that he bought them in the canteen. Which had to be total bullshit since the ones sold there tasted of nothing but cardboard. Soap was certain that Ghost was straight up gatekeeping the brand- which was hilarious to him. But that day was the day he will finally get the brand's name.

“It seems we ur done fur today, Lt.” Soap exclaimed, putting the last document into a file and then stretching his hands above his head. He looked at the empty plate, only crumbs left after he devoured the cookies. “So… the cookies-”

“I told you I got them in the canteen. You sound like a broken record” Ghost cut in.

“No, na ye didn’t ye liar! Those are one of the best food I had and believe me I checked th’ canteen. They have only two brands! Both taste stale!” Ghost just crossed his arms “Ghost with all due respect ye can’t keep this one thing a secret. We speak aboot cookies, nae nuclear codes.”

“Biscuits, not cookies.”

“Oh, go 'n' bile yer heid!” They sat in silence for a second, then Soap eyed the trash bin. “I will go thro’ yer trash to find the packaging.”

“No, you won’t, Soap”

The sergeant stood up. 

“Sergeant…” Ghost warned, but Soap really enjoyed those biscuits. He bend over the bin, ready to inspect it. “Soap, don’t.”

“Ye won’t stop me, I just have to make sure there isn’t anything I don’t wanna stick mah hand in.”

“God give me strength.” Ghost whispered to himself. “You won’t find anything, there is no box, Johnny.” He sounded exasperated.

“Did ye pumpin' burned it or whit?”

“Wha- of course not! I am not you, you pyromaniac.”

“Then- No way!” Soap looked at him with big eyes. Ghost groaned already knowing what was coming. “Ye baked them!?”

“What if? Do you want to comment on it?” Ghost remembered well how everyone usually reacted to this information. They would say it was not a thing for men like him, for men at all. His previous team would burst out laughing if he told them. Of course, he had more faith in 141, in Johnny but his father's words stuck to him like glue. ‘Kitchen is a woman’s place, no wonder you are such a brat. You can’t even be a proper man.’ He would say whenever young Simon would be helping his mother with baking.

Ghost knew it was not true, of course, he did. But words like that stuck, especially when heard at a young age. Especially when followed by a ‘punishment’. 

Ghost didn’t notice when Soap sat again in his chair.

“Oh, ye bet I am going to comment on it. You are keeping those skills from us when all of us could be eating those delights!” Soap was smiling brightly at Ghost, simply happy to get to know something new about his friend. “You make amazing cookies- sorry. Biscuits.” The Scot mocked him and punched his shoulder playfully.

And how could he think that would get any other reaction from Johnny? Ghost blushed under the mask, not ready for the compliment. 

“When do ye bake them? How? Where?”

Ghost fidgeted with the aglet of his hoodie’s strings. “When I don’t get a full night of sleep- which is often. I snuck into the kitchen, nobody will stop me past midnight. I keep the ingredients here so nobody takes them.” He explained.

“Huh.” Soap chuckled. “No one in the right mind takes things from your shelf.”

“Yeah, but custard powder would look weird, wouldn’t it? Besides you literally take my milk every morning.”

Soap smirked. “I am not in the right mind.”

Ghost’s eyes wrinkled in a smile and he shook his head. “Just… don’t go gossiping about it,”

“Will you be making me more?” He raised his eyebrows.

Ghost hummed agreeing.

“We’ve got ourselves a deal, sir.” The sergeant pretended to zip his mouth. “I will have to steal th’ recipe from ye one day and sell it to mah ma’”

Ghost looked at the clock- it was already late. Could they?

“I can teach you now.” He proposed. “If you want.”

Soap was already standing. “Stupid question.”

It was so nice to see someone excited about something he likes. Soap often shares about his hobbies and he is happy to listen. He himself is rather reserved about his interests, so opening up and seeing someone so excited about it? If Ghost was someone else he would hug the Scot.

***

“So what are we making chef?” Soap clapped his hands, leaning on the counter while Ghost was preparing some bowls. Ghost looked at what they had.

“I am thinking bourbon biscuits.” Soap looked like he wanted to say something. “And no, there is no alcohol in them Johnny.”

“Pity.” 

“Go wash your hand, we will make the dough first.” After they did that Soap grabbed his phone and put on some quiet chill music, he didn’t want to push their luck. 

Ghost instructed Soap which dry ingredients he should be mixing first while Soap swayed side to side to the music, listening. Soap did exactly as Ghost told him, carefully measuring like he was building a bomb. Ghost said to add whole flour which would be alright if he didn’t dump it all at once in the sieve the lieutenant. A cloud of white powder covered them both.

Ghost took a deep breath and exhaled some of the powder. He could hear Soap trying to hold his laughter. He turned to scold him, but he was met with flour being blown straight at his balaclava. Soap was straight-up cackling at this point.

“Now ye are a real ghost!” He said between wheezing.

Ghost took some flour from the counter and messed Soap’s mohawk with it.

“Oi!”

They messed with each other like that for a while, when Ghost actually looked around. 

“Ok, stop. Price will kill us when he walks in here tomorrow.”

Soap had to have the last word. He grabbed the base of Ghost’s mask. Ghost panicked a little- ready to push Soap away. Luckily he only pulled at it a little to suddenly let it- causing the flour to lift from it.

“We will clean up later, Lt.” He came back to swaying his hips.

Ghost let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Soap bumped their hips together, prompting Ghost to relax and sway with him while they continued.

Ghost had to bite his cheeks to not smile like an idiot.

And for Soap the biscuits were no longer the prize, seeing Simon all domestic and relaxed while speaking about all types of flour and which one is his favourite? That was priceless.

***

Task Force 141 drank their morning drink of choice with the addition of perfectly baked biscuits.

I am really happy with this one <3 I am sorry for the late update but I have less and less time. I love reading your comments and thoughts on the fic <3

Also, I thought I will mention that I have a Ko-Fi now if someone feels like buying me some coffee. I am saving for university!

[anonymousmythicalcreature]

DRDT Ch 2 Ep 12 First Thoughts

Spoilers under the cut!

I really want to see Teruko beating herself up for how she accidentally derailed the trial, and then someone comforting her about it

“But I’ll fix my mistake” Teruko is really channeling her Min energy here

“It seems like there are still gaps in my knowledge. The range of human stupidity is far greater than I previously thought.” I really like Charles' sense of humor

“You shut your whore mouth!” You know, I’m not really surprised that this was Arturo’s go-to swear here

I assumed that Arturo was some sort of child prodigy who did med school really young, so it’s nice to have that confirmed… though it does make me wonder about the timing of Felicity’s suicide, since she’s supposed to be 3-4 years younger than him

Whit accidentally tripping and making a dent in the wall is giving me very “Mikan tripped and ended up in a fanservice position that was later evidence” vibes. I don’t think that part is just there for a joke, and property damage *is* allowed if it’s for murder purposes

“I don’t have an alibi in the morning. Neither does Charles.” Whit… did you, like, see Charles coming out of his room in the morning or something? How do you know that for sure?

“Am I but a side character to you?” Veronika, I hate to break it to you, but you kind of are at this point in time…

I never really believed that David was lying about having Xander’s secret, and everything he talked about in this episode seems to support that he’s telling the truth

Hu’s response to David is definitely bringing the vibes from her secret quote, so I feel like it’s probably applicable to this chapter somehow. Since her secret quote is “I want to pay for what I’ve done. But even then, I still want to live,” I think this begs the question of “what’s the thing she’s done that she’s referring to?” With that, there’s a few options:

Hu’s secret is either the one about poisoning the competition, or Levi is lying and it’s actually Hu that has the murderer secret. However, I don’t feel like either of these make sense with her “my secret is something that makes me uncomfortable” excuse for why she didn’t reveal it to David

Hu was willingly involved in the murder attempt on Ace, whether by giving Nico her wire to use, or by having made the attempt herself, with Nico actually trying to save Ace and feeling like they have to cover for Hu

Hu was willingly involved in Arei’s murder. If Levi isn’t involved as an accomplice, I could see Hu and Eden working together – we know they’ve been doing the dishes together and so are generally friendly with each other

I really want to know more about Nico and Hu’s breakfast and tea alibi. Hu having interrupted Nico to give it is really sus, and it is in Nico’s best interest to go along with her, since that protects them from being a suspect… but whether or not it really happened, I feel like something’s fishy about it (not that kind of fishy, though)

Levi’s timing for revealing his secret is interesting – why now? If he didn't say anything during the gap in everyone talking, someone else likely would've come up with a topic. Since he’s doing it now, I feel like that means he’s not the killer… unless he is and either isn’t anticipating the reactions he’ll get from everyone or is purposely revealing himself for some reason. If he’s not the killer, maybe he has some insight from his experience that might be helpful. Regardless, I feel like his motivations for revealing this *now* probably have something to with trying to be “a good person”. Of course, he could also be lying and trying to draw suspicion onto himself and away from someone who he might be acting as an accomplice for – but the timing seems odd for that, since they haven’t narrowed down the suspect list very much

J has had a number of “moral high horse” lines throughout this chapter, but it seems like we got a high concentration of them in this episode. Something something “a good person”

This episode also gave a lot of “Charles is the frustrated teacher attempting to get things done while everyone else is the misbehaving class” vibes if we didn't already know what Ellie looked like I would make a joke about him being Teacher

[anderscim]

another david chiem-related train of thought (wow i totally am NOT obsessed with him)

huge incoming tangent warning

as well as major ch2 part 1 spoilers

(take this theory with a grain of salt)

just wanted to talk about david’s plan in ch2. though it had a bunch of flaws, it was probably better than any of the other options the group had

okay i’m not a david apologist or anything but let me explain my train of thought—

there’s really only a couple of ways you can take action in a situation like that:

do nothing and all of the secrets get revealed. given the fact that a lot of these secrets are specifically written to incite emotion (trauma, anger, etc) it’ll likely stir a hell ton of conflict all at once as people inevitably scramble to identify who’s secret is whose and will probably lead to a worse predicament

someone actually gets murdered before the deadline. true, the secrets won’t be revealed, but they would be trading a human life, which for obvious reasons can’t work out

everyone reveals whose secret they have, and what they are. we can already know from j/arturo and arturo/eden’s situations that having someone else reveal a secret that you’re holding close to your chest will make people react very emotionally—and will just make more conflict

or, like david’s plan, have everyone reveal what they know about their own secrets. in that case, each person would be able to explain the context behind their secret so there’s less likely of a chance they’ll be confronted for it when it eventually gets revealed, and in some cases trauma dumping can actually be good therapy for some people.

however… that’s about where the benefits end for david’s plan. it’s honestly just as risky as the others; for example, some of the cast have secrets that are horrible and seem irredeemable regardless of context. additionally, there’s cases where people retaliate especially if it’s a secret that the person holds very close to their chest / that they’re really sensitive about. we see as much for a lot of scenes in chapter 2.

but the thing is… though it is incredibly risky, it has a slightly higher chance of working compared to the other methods. in a more “better than the alternatives” sort of context.

even if david recognized that he’d essentially be gambling with this plan, and knew he probably wouldn’t get the best outcome possible (in fact i think he was aware it probably wouldn’t work), he likely decided to ignore that and roll with it anyways—besides, a 5% success rate is better than a 2% success rate.

so really, the only place where he would’ve “lied” was the way he promoted his plan. in order to get the ball rolling, he had to present his argument in a way that made the plan sound foolproof—which, given the holes the plan had, wouldn’t work unless he covered up all the possible risks and convinced everyone to blindly have faith in him.

fortunately, with his speaking skills, he could probably pull that off quite well. which leads to what happened in ep4 onwards

also, i don’t think he could’ve intentionally lied about his secret during that moment (although him slightly modifying it is possible—i’ll explain that later). whit likely never reached out to david about his actual secret so he didn’t know for sure what it was.

but the thing is, everyone else’s secret, though written in a way that took out crucial context and painted them in a bad light, was at least somewhat based on an actual occurrence, portion of their identity, and real information.

david’s secret is the most vague and was written in a way to attack his purpose and what he personally (secretly) believes his actions to entail. but, unlike everyone else, there’s no concrete occurrence, action that he’s done, or any specific detail in that secret that connects him to manipulation. additionally, his is the most open-ended. i’m going to assume guessing a secret like that would’ve been very difficult

given david’s behaviors and dialogue as well as some subtle details about his preferences and such, it’s very likely that he has depression and was desperately trying to hide it in order to keep his optimistic image. so for him, it would make more sense for his secret to be something related to depression—which is probably why he said what he said in episode 4.

that being said, i think he did half-lie a little about what he believed to be his true secret in order to preserve his image.

note how he specifically says “family history of depression.”

this is a really subtle wording detail, but david only claims there was a tendency for depression to run through his family—he never says that he has depression himself.

as a similar example—though this may just be me—if my family has a tendency to develop certain cardiovascular diseases, though it does increase the risk that i may develop the same disease in the future, it doesn’t necessarily mean i have that disease.

david likely used this same philosophy, and by saying that depression “runs in his family,” he’s subtly implying that he doesn’t have depression (though admitting he has a higher risk for it).

and like what i said before, i’m 90% sure he’s actually struggling with depression—but he decides not to admit it here in order to keep his own “optimistic leader” image.

(and don’t get me wrong, i don’t think the family history of depression is a lie—just the way he expressed it was kind of… intriguing for me)

i may be wrong about all of this, especially that last part because that may just be my own overthinking and assumptions influencing me 😅

so as always, feel free to refute literally anything i said and i will listen.

and again, please take this with a grain of salt

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 59 - indoors fashion in 1924

Edith’s indoor outfits this season have her, unfortunately, grow out of the lively indigo-orange combination she had so much of last season. Fortunately though, she does not grow out of wild prints and patterns.

I cannot quite see if the plain dress Edith is wearing here is dark blue or black. If it’s the latter, it may be one of her unofficial mourning outfits when she learns of Michael Gregson’s death. The robe or house coat helps loosen up the image; it seems to be a lot of golden-brown print with yet more brown on the lining. It’s kept simple, but it’s not a bad ensemble.

This shirt is what Edith wears the morning after the fire, which brings me to a question: Does each of the girls have an own dressing room? Because if not, we have to assume that Edith has lost at least some of her clothes since it was her room that burned. Then again, this is her style and does fit her – I think it would be pretty obvious if she’d had to borrow from Cora or Mary. It’s got a little geometrical print in blue and orange, and a few pin tucks on the shoulders for shaping.

Is Edith wearing jersey? This looks like it could be jersey. It’s Edith’s signature golden orange with a silver art deco pattern, and although the soft fabric gives this a cozy and homely quality, it also has a certain drape that makes this dress look rather flattering. Also, I don’t know if there’s a specific term for thread-covered little spheric buttons, but I think they look adorable.

Indigo is back, baby, and it shapes up for one of my favorites that’s allowed to stay into season 6. Look, if these patterned bands (print, I think) were predominantly red instead of golden, I’d tell you on the spot that they’re inspired by Slavic embroidery. But I read elsewhere that they are supposed to look Moroccan, so what do I know. Not that I’m opposed to the coloring because this gold shade looks very nice on the dark blue ensemble. Not sure which part I like most; might be the collar of the cardigan, might be the front of her dress.

At this point, I feel I’ve said everything that can be said about cream 1920s day shirts for women. What do you want to hear? Sleeves gathered into cuffs, a triple-rectangle in thin lines over the front, drop waist; same old, same old. At least this one has a collar. Mary’s shirts tend to end at the neckline these days.

We should all take a moment to celebrate the glory of chocolate brown velvet. Especially since I cannot imagine how much detail work all these voided patterns have taken. This is one of the dresses that don’t get a lot of screen time or call up much attention, but are undeniable favorites of mine. I’m not even going to complain about the drop waist sash; it’s falling so loosely anyway that it’s not doing much to bring in the sack top effect. The asymmetrical collar is a fun little addition, but it’s almost superfluous.

A very lovely shirt that I hope Edith will wear again, this one gets all its effect from the pretty crocheting. Rose also wears several crochet shirts; who’s making these for the Crawleys? The basic shape is familiar; wide round neckline, half-long sleeves – but someone put a lot of time in that yoke, and I want to thank them.

The other indigo ensemble, and another favorite of mine, plus a keeper for season 6. As a nod to her pairing the color with orange last season, this one is embroidered (yeah, I am pretty sure this is embroidery, not print) largely in shades of orange. Again, this reads somewhat Middle-Eastern. Anyway, I like it. I don’t know if these tiny pockets under her drop waistband are functional, but they are adorable, and the chiffon sleeves serve to make the overall impression less severe. Also, the skirt may be striped, although I’m not sure because in the light of my season 6 shot it looks different.

Going with a little more business chic for the newspaper office that will gain more prominence with in next season, Edith pairs dark blue with a white blouse now and with a light green print with tie collar later. Admittedly, the shape of this vest top reads rather foreign to me – the deep V parting is par for the course, but I’m more used to the strips of fabric to both sides still covering the chest instead of widely framing it. Then again, it does leave the scallop front and the colorfully enameled pin closure some space.

Simple shirt in a lovely seafoam shade – and Edith really likes her keyhole necklines now, doesn’t she? The collar shows a pretty sweet lining; I could do with more of that. But as the outside keeps the decoration with a few pin tucks on each side, it lends itself to beautiful spots of colors such as this bead necklace. It’s so whimsical; I love it.

Hurray for Edith in dusty Crawley purple? Granted, at least this time it’s a shade that suits her, and the more pinkish parts are reduced to the cuffs and collar. The main fabric has a nice print, the neckline some buttons, and then that’s it.

Eh, this dress looks kind of dowdy. Not a big fan of these necklines that are tied shut high with a bow. The crescent-and-star embroidery is cute though, and the skirt seems to have a little pleating, which I approve of.

Uhm. Edith, darling, I know you love getting experimental with new fashions, but this ain’t it. That scarf tie looped through a hole in the front… I don’t know why she couldn’t wear it in a nice knot instead. The dress itself is cute, a lively print, some yellow piping trim – but then they just cut a hole in the front, and it looks weird. So I’m not super thrilled when she brings it back in season 6, but by then she’s gotten a cute new hat to distract me. Pretty pretty trim!

I wasn’t quite sure about this one; the absence of sleeves, the flower in her hair and the jewelry said evening wear, and Edith did wear it to a social event – but during the day. I’ll take it in here because she never adds gloves to this dress. It’s fairly simple, but a bright coral color and, if I don’t misinterpret the white leaves applications on the hip, has a rose motif which would explain the flower Edith added to her hair. The ruffles on the skirt also play a bit at a petal theme. So subtle for one of the first conversations that indicate a new romantic interest in her life, and, as the dress comes back in the finale of season 6, for the return of Bertie and them getting engaged. Curiously, the lighting in the season 6 appearance makes the dress look significantly more orange than pink.