#ace is helpless to do anything to stop him

[accirax]

Danganronpa: Despair Time Chapter 2 Episode 14 Dissection

I can't think of how to introduce this dissection other than just saying "god damn??". This chapter-- especially its second part-- has been a wild ride, and one that it appears we're nearing the end of. However, we still have one important question left to answer, which I'm sure I'll talk about here. So, let's chat.

SPOILERS for Danganronpa: Despair Time Chapter 2 Episode 14.

Also, I will be discussing Ace and Eden as equally likely blackened candidates in this post. If it will upset you to hear about the prospects of either or both of them being the killer, you might want to sit this one out.

Given what happens later in the episode, it's very interesting that the episode began with (more or less) Ace "admitting" that he has no idea how the murder mechanism worked. A truthful method of disqualification, or a masterful play by Ace to ask Teruko to ask him about the murder method only to pretend that he has no idea what it was? Time will have to tell on that one, because I honestly have no leads.

Similarly, is this Eden being genuinely shaken up and not remembering what transpired in the Gym, or trying to play the helpless innocent card to get out of having to help Teruko explain the murder method that she stole? Spoilers for my thoughts later in this dissection, I guess: they're so evenly matched that it's crazy.

I've always thought that Hu is the prettiest DRDT character, and this episode did nothing but prove me right. Hot damn, ma'am.

The insistence that this questioning is "traumatizing [Nico]" makes me think that Hu could be projecting her own experiences on to them. Perhaps she was once an innocent in a situation for which she kept taking the blame? That would be interesting as another connection between Hu and Nico, of both of them having taken the blame for someone else's follies.

This was a hilarious comeback; never change, Ace. Or, maybe you do need to change slightly, to become a less cowardly and impulsive person. Or maybe I should at least be rooting for you to have the chance to change in the sense that you live long enough to have that work out for you.

Yet another instance of J being the one to say that murder is bad. I wonder if this has to do with her character/backstory in some particular way (although given what we know about her past I have no idea what that would be), or if DRDTdev just needed a judgmental and confrontational person who would snap back at anyone to take over these kinds of lines.

(That's not me dunking on J's character btw she's valid for this)

This was a really clever way for Charles to phrase this to make Hu listen and settle down. I appreciate the out-of-the-box yet logical thinking. (Also I missed hearing Charles' voice :,D)

Woah, I was not expecting to get a Closing Argument comic for the Gym murder, but I am obviously delighted that we have one! Also, OH MY GOD, THE CEILING GRATE. How did none of us even think to consider that as part of the murder mechanism?

However, there are still some aspects of the state of the Gym that haven't yet been accounted for with this version of the murder timeline. I don't really think it's anything that would stop Nico from being Ace's would-be killer at this point, but I'll list them out here in case they are or in case they turn out to be relevant to Arei's murder. I'll also be trying to debunk them, though.

Moved Benches: Some of the benches near the pullup bar were knocked over. These probably fell either in some sort of struggle while knocking out Ace, or when Ace's body fell from the fan.

Moved Weight Rack: The weight rack was moved closer to the bench press and flipped on its back. I guess this really was also knocked over in the same fashion, no matter how unrealistically difficult it should have been to move due to its weight? Or it really was "workout preferences"???

Nico's Missing Cowl: When Teruko and Eden found Nico at the scene of the crime, they weren't wearing their typical dark cape thing. I have no clue why. You could say that Nico was trying to look less instantly recognizable, but it's not as if anyone (other than maybe Teruko) who saw a dark-haired 5'5" individual in a blue shirt instead of a gray cowl would think it was anyone other than Nico. There's also ye olde theory that they might have used it to soak up blood somewhere, but 1) Ace seems to have lost less blood than it may have seemed, and 2) the cowl was still not seen anywhere in the crime scene. I think I remember speculating that after Nico hypothetically used it to soak up blood (or, on second thought, maybe used it to gag Ace with the turpentine), they then stuck it in the fridge to hide it for the time being, at which point MonoTV discarded it and Nico got a new cape from their room. Maybe if it was used to apply the turpentine, Nico also could've put it away to prevent themselves from being affected by the fumes? I guess that's what I'm going with.

Lack of Tape on Pullup Bar: So, this one is obviously relevant to the murder already because Rose not being able to do a pullup is part of what tips off Teruko to the fact that something is off with the tape. However, I have no idea why the tape actually got removed from the bar. I still maintain that I don't think anyone could have stolen the tape off of that bar and repurposed it elsewhere-- most online sources seem to agree that kinesiology tape isn't reusable, and the fact that it was already wrapped around the bar in such a tight spiral would make it difficult to conform to any new specific shapes. My best guess is that Nico might have tried to use the bar instead of the light grate at first, determined that the tape was preventing the wire from sliding properly, and then removed the tape before determining the bar still didn't work. Or, Nico could have tried using the bar before settling on the broom, and thinking that it wouldn't work with tape on it... for some reason? Kinda scratching my head here.

I wonder how long ago it was. It's been four days since the Chapter 2 motive was revealed, although Ace was attacked only two days after the motive. Furthermore, Ace had started bullying Nico to some level already by the end of Chapter 1. I'm sure that Nico must have known what their secret was and probably didn't want it to be shared. My guess would be that they probably started cooking on murder pretty shortly after the new motive was released. That would also work with Charles-via-Whit letting everyone know what the custom weapons were in the first Class Trial.

This was the perfect response for Nico's character. They don't understand why an untruthful "sorry" would actually serve as a courtesy for most people, so they try to say what they feel and get ostracized for it.

Gotta say though, Ace, that was a pretty aggressive reaction from someone who said he "didn't need other people to tell him lies just to keep him happy" ;) (/j)

Damn, way to throw Levi under the bus. I can see why, for someone like Nico, they would want to assert themselves as not the most abnormal person here, though. I just want them to be neurodivergent buddies :(

If that's the case, then I'd have to imagine that we won't be seeing Nico as a killer again down the line. However, they could also just mean "getting caught"/"going in without a solid gameplan," so it's still possible we will. There's also the possibility of them doing something more like a sacrifice kill, although it would take a lot of character work to make something like that feel within Nico's nature.

Sorry to keep screenshotting every little thing Nico says but they keep saying really interesting things. The fact that Nico specifically mentions their father as opposed to "parents" or "family" makes me think that we'll hear more about their father specifically sometime in the future. Or, who knows, maybe their other parent left or died.

Nico: I don't expect you to forgive me. Very few people ever do. So I don't see the point in acting sorry.

This was very interesting as an addendum to the above screenshot. What exactly did Nico "ask for" forgiveness for in the past? Was it just more social blunders, as they described in ch2-e2, or did they get into more trouble closer to this level than we realized? It could also be an indication that Nico has spent time with people who believe that being nonbinary is a crime that Nico needs to feel sorry for. Fascinating stuff, indeed.

Points for Ace being the killer. We know that he went into this trial looking to suspect Nico ("[...] I'm pretty sure I know who the murderer is. It's not David, it's Nico"), so if Ace is the killer, it would make sense if he'd want to make the crime scene resemble Nico's to make his bait more credible.

Hey, it's the aforementioned T A P E T I M E, motherfuckers :D (still /j) Personally, it's quite gratifying to hear that it wasn't just a visual malfunction or a minor detail blown way out of proportion.

You're, uh... getting to this point much faster than I expected, queen. I don't think she's now going to go down the exact same distrustful rabbit hole that she was in before, but there's definitely still potential for her hopes to be crushed by the end of this chapter. Or, maybe she will accept some people as genuine friends, and instead in the future have to confront how she feels when she loses a genuine friend, or not blaming herself for the effects of her luck, or something along those lines. I like that Teruko isn't a static edgy protagonist, though. Like, don't get me wrong, I've always known and appreciated that she has depth, but it's refreshing that she isn't someone who's so stubborn about her own way of thinking that she refuses to admit when she's in the wrong. Teruko really wants friends, guys.

TERUROSE REAL??????

(Also Rose's speech was excellent as well I just didn't have anything in particular to say about it other than "wow" at the moment)

Yahoo, lockdown logic strikes again! Also, a quick

Is Teruko Correct In This Assumption?

Personally, I fully think yes, only Ace or Eden could be the culprit at this point. MonoTV confirmed that it tried to restore the Gym to the best of its ability but couldn't return the tape, which means both that there was no tape in the Gym to be taken and that there was never any spare tape in the Storage Room that MonoTV could have used to replace the roll. I guess you could say that there was an extra roll of tape in the Storage Room that someone else took before the murder took place, but that level of coincidence seems implausible at this point in the Trial.

No, for anyone other than Eden or Ace to have acquired the tape, they must have either stolen it from one of those two or asked for it from one of those two. Asking them seems very unlikely-- for starters, if it was Ace who took the tape, I don't think he'd be giving free hand-outs to anyone. And, if Eden isn't the killer herself, that means all of her fright regarding stumbling upon Ace's body was genuine. I don't think she's naive enough to then hand over what was used in Ace's murder to anyone asking... or at least not without bringing it up now. Beyond that, anyone who would ask either of them for the tape would have to know that the tape was used in the murder attempt, knowledge of which was very limited. This episode went to lengths to establish that Nico was the sole culprit behind the attack on Ace, and while it's still possible it could all be an elaborate lie, the explanation Nico gave felt very in character and important for their characterization moving forwards. So, while Nico would obviously know it was used, if Nico asked either of them for the tape, surely neither Eden nor Ace would trust them. Otherwise, I think Rose is the only one who could have found out it was gone, but even so, given that neither Eden nor Ace have tried to argue that Rose asked them for the tape, I don't think that happened.

You could also say the same of neither Eden nor Ace claiming to have had the tape stolen from them-- but I could see either of them feeling like claiming to have taken the tape at all right now would be a death sentence, so I understand why they wouldn't say it. Still, I don't know if the narrative is there to support the tape having been stolen from them. On the day after the Gym murder (Day 7), Eden isn't seen in the daily life at all. If someone stole the tape from Eden on that day, I would think that DRDTdev would at least want to show us who Eden was spending time with on that day (given that he put in the effort to make the tape sprite disappear from the Gym at the time it did), so that we would have any idea who might have done so. Ace is seen once in the Day 7 daily life, arguing with Hu, Nico, Levi, Veronika, and Arei. However, having just been attacked, I imagine he'd be hyper-aware of anyone getting close to him, and therefore would be more likely to notice if someone was rifling around in his pockets (if he has pockets?).

Really, I think the only possible candidates for who could have stolen tape from Ace or Eden would be Levi (mostly just for Ace) and Arei (from either of them). Levi might have had an opportunity to take the tape from Ace on the night he was attacked, the night of Day 6. Eden said last episode that Levi "kept trying to help him" after Ace was attacked, which could imply that Levi was the one to put bandages around Ace's neck. Furthermore, he does have a criminal past, which could make him better at stealing. Similarly, Arei is confirmed to be a good pickpocket, stealing Min's pen without Min noticing at all. I think she's the only one with the proper buildup to have taken the tape from Ace at that breakfast, and would be the most likely to have spent time with Eden when Eden was off-screen. (Although, it would have to have been before lunch, because Eden says the last time she saw Arei was at lunch.)

However, I don't think many people think that Levi is the killer anymore, and if Arei stole the tape from Eden or Ace only for the killer to then steal the tape from Arei, I would start to wonder why DRDTdev even made the tape such a scarce resource in the first place. Remember that, if the killer was purposefully trying to recreate Nico's idea, they likely knew in advance that they would need the tape to pull off their plan. It was used in enough places that seizing the opportunity to take it off of Arei seems unlikely, as it was too fundamental to the plan's inception. Besides, for the killer to replicate Nico's plan in the first place, the killer likely needs to be Nico, Eden, Ace, or Teruko, who are the ones who could have most easily taken the tape on their own.

I've already seen people accuse this Trial of being bloated, and while I strongly disagree (I only think cases are bloated when they're stalling for time and have nothing of interest to discuss, and we've still had PLENTY of interesting stuff to discuss), if we spent a whole 'nother who-knows-how-many episodes reversing all of the progress we just made to say that either Nico wasn't actually the one to kill Ace or that someone who didn't see the crime scene killed Arei, that bloating problem would only seem worse to those people.

I understand if you don't want to believe that Eden or Ace has to be the culprit for whatever reasons-- whether that be that they're your favorites and you don't want them to die or you really like your theory and don't want it to be false-- but I really think that this episode cemented that either Ace or Eden will be voted for as the blackened for all of the reasons above. Therefore, I shall be proceeding accordingly.

She was WILD for this. Hilarious line of reasoning.

What's Up With the Body Discovery Announcement?

The "reveal" of this line of logic was no surprise to me. As someone who's believed that Eden is the culprit for quite a long time, we've had to figure out ways to get around this thing before, and besides perhaps "not witnessing the murder," someone else seeing the body before the BDA rang is the most obvious way to cheese it.

However, in order for this to be a thing, we have to ask ourselves-- who would have actually seen the body first?

David claims to, but he has an alibi starting at 7:30 AM with Veronika and J. Both because Arei theoretically wasn't dead before then and because we've been operating off of the assumption that a meal takes about 30 minutes to eat, I don't think any of the three of them could have stumbled across Arei in the morning. Nico and Hu both have an alibi, which I'm going to consider solid enough to remove them from possibility-- one of them spotting the body would be helpful to make Eden the killer, and I think the only people who believe that Hu and Nico are lying only believe so under the condition that one of them is the killer. Whit is out, because him seeing the body beforehand doesn't actually accomplish anything, and so is Charles, because we can assume that, if he saw the body, he would be out of commission. I'm also going to strike Rose from seeing the body before breakfast, both because she's very likely to have been asleep and because if she had already seen Arei's body in the Playground, she probably wouldn't have refused to draw a diagram. That would leave only Ace, Levi, and Arturo as non-blackeneds who could have helped facilitate culprit!Eden from not being caught by the BDA.

However, we also have to consider that "before 8 AM" isn't the only time someone could have stumbled across Arei's body. They also could have seen it before Teruko, Eden, and Whit did while everyone was looking for Arei. So, what do we know about what happened during the search for Arei? Not much. Hu says that they should split up, while J says she's going to check Arei's room. Teruko says that most people are probably searching the first floor, an assumption that's supported by Teruko, Eden, and Whit not seeing anyone else while they check the second floor. You might think that would eliminate the possibility of anyone else seeing Arei's body during the search, but Teruko did say most people, not all. There's also what MonoTV said when Teruko and Veronika were investigating the Gym.

MonoTV: It's too high! If you stood in the movie screening room on floor one and started punching through the walls, you'd fall into the playground.

This not-yet-addressed piece of evidence got me thinking about the possibility of someone seeing Arei's body from above, standing in the Motive Screening Room. It still probably couldn't be Teruko, Whit, Charles, Rose, or J, but anyone else would theoretically be back on the table if that were the case. That being said, I can't find any visual differences in how the Motive Screening Room looks between the beginning of Chapter 2, when the search for Arei begins, and when Teruko goes to check the motive secrets (other than a curtain being added over the screen in the third case). So, unless there was already a heretofore unmentioned hole to peek through in the room, I wouldn't count on that being the case. The connection between the Motive Screening Room and the Playground will probably just be relevant to a different chapter.

Therefore, that leaves us once again with Ace, Levi, and Arturo. The main problem with believing that any of them could have seen the body beforehand is why they wouldn't have brought that up at this point in the Trial. Here are my best guesses as to why:

Ace: I have genuinely no clue why Ace wouldn't have brought up that he saw the body in the morning (assuming that he actually did) to defend himself at this point. It's not like it would make anyone more suspicious of you.

Levi: Levi does seem to be a bit dense regarding what is and isn't helpful behavior in a Trial, so the most likely possibility to me is that he just didn't realize that confirming he saw her was helpful. Like, "oh, I didn't realize that me confirming that I saw Arei would help us pin down Eden as the killer. I was just trying to figure out how David and I both saw Arei's body this morning and I didn't see him." "Wh-- David was obviously lying!" "He was?" "I already told you he was lying before..." "Levi... we talked about this..." Bonus points for it not being out of character for Levi to be unfazed by seeing a body, though.

Arturo: In Arturo's case, I think it would have to be that he'd still be worried about people seeing him as suspicious for saying he found Arei's body in the case of accusing Eden specifically. They already have a past history of conflict, and I could see someone brashly accusing Arturo of throwing Eden under the bus just to get revenge on her for the secret thing (even if I don't think he would actually do that). He also made an enemy out of Arei, so I don't think he would be particularly fazed by seeing her corpse either-- similarities to Felicity's cause of death notwithstanding. However, I also find it likely that he trailed after J in going to check Arei's room.

So, what's our conclusion here? Does this mean that Eden is basically fully cleared by triggering the BDA? I wouldn't count her out just yet, but the evidence isn't looking great for her. It's quite possible David only brought up this argument to A) hold out suspension of disbelief that it's not just Ace for a little while longer, B) drop this logic as foreshadowing for a future killer's plan, C) characterize the kind of logic he uses in a Class Trial, or D) bring up this argument in canon so that the people who theorized that the BDA might not clear Eden or Whit wouldn't be like, "wait, but what about...?" However, it's also possible that one of the possibilities I listed above, something I might have missed, or the "see no evil" idea (as FF put it) could keep Eden in contention. That dynamism is part of what makes Ace and Eden feel so evenly matched.

See, this is what I assumed David was getting at after Nico reminded me of his early-morning alibi. But then he just kept talking...

I'm not going to delve into what David was thinking here too much, because I already have an anonymous ask about what I think David's rationale was that this will almost certainly come up in. However, as a short version, I imagine that David is trying to get everyone angry at each other in the hopes that it'll incite another murder that he can get the class to fail? Or to cause enough discord in the group that they just fail this one. That would be why he also rags on Rose for not remembering the tape, and insults Arturo's sister-- he wants no one to trust anyone so that the murder-solving process will be as un-streamlined as possible.

The fact that he targets Teruko so specifically is probably because he (accurately) assesses her as the only real threat there. Charles and Rose can help, sure, but their mental struggles make them easy enough to eliminate if you play your cards right. Teruko's main flaw is her lack of trust, so if David wants to weaken her, it makes sense to go right for that jugular. Furthermore, by stating his plans so plainly and publicly, it might incite other people to fight back against him and say that Teruko should trust them. However, that kind of olive branch might make Teruko even less inclined to get close to them, if what Teruko said to Eden at the end of ch2-e03 can tell us anything. Didn't stop Eden from trying at the end of this last episode, though!

After taking some more time to think about what David was up to this chapter, I might change my mind on those being his goals. But, this post does serve as my initial thoughts of sorts, and that's what I initially think about this scene.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Does Ace Have Nothing To Do With Arei?

What Ace has to say is more or less true-- barring the breakfast in which Arei didn't talk at all (AKA, no conversation), Ace has literally never been in a small group event with Arei. However, although they didn't talk to each other, Ace did overhear the conversation between David and Arei, which does give him a connection to Arei. Quite relevantly, Arei did say this to David during their conversation:

Arei: You said that sharing our secrets would help fight against the motive. But when I think about it, not a single good thing has come out of that. Eden was stupidly naive, as usual, and tried to talk to Arturo, so now I have to protect her.

From this, Ace could probably surmise that Eden had Arturo's secret, she talked to him about it, and that Arei stepped in to save her from Arturo. He was one of the few people who could have known that Eden and Arei grew closer before the murder occurred: another connection Ace had to information about Arei.

However, before you use that evidence to call Ace the killer, let me remind you that he still doesn't have enough information to write the note from just eavesdropping on this conversation alone. As I outlined in this theory (same as the one I just linked above), whoever wrote the note had to specifically know that Arturo's secret was about his sister, which Arei doesn't divulge (quite possibly because she didn't even know) to David. Therefore, although Arei mentioning Arturo and Eden in this conversation is interesting, it doesn't actually make Ace any more likely to be the killer, because he still would have needed to find some way to spy on Eden's secret and/or Arturo and Eden's conversation to write that note. (Unless mentioning the sister specifically was an oversight plot hole, but I never want to use that as my reasoning.)

So, do I get what Arturo is getting at? Yeah, Ace and Arei were never particularly involved, and Eden clearly has a greater connection to the victim. However, there is more to the Ace/Arei bond than it might first appear, and it's possible that could come up in the Trial moving forward.

This distinction-- between "Arei was my friend" and "Arei could have been my friend"-- could be very telling down the line. Eden pauses mid-tear-filled rant to distinguish that Arei is not her friend, not because she's dead, but because they hadn't reached that point yet. Arei is not Eden's friend in death. What can that possibly mean other than that Eden killed Arei?

... BUT THEN HOW THE FUCK CAN EDEN GO AND SAY ALL OF THIS, BE THE KILLER, AND THEREFORE PROVE DAVID RIGHT???

AND THE "BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO" REFERENCE??? AT THIS HOUR????? I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT MAKES HER SEEM MORE OR LESS SUSPICIOUS!!!!

OUGH AND THE MIN PARALLELS TOOOOOOO

MIN WAS TERUKO'S FRIEND BUT ALSO A KILLER. DOES THAT MEAN EDEN IS GOING TO BREAK THE CYCLE OR DOES IT MEAN THAT WE'RE STUCK IN A DOOMED STORY IN WHICH TERUKO IS THE PROTAGONIST? IT COULD GO EITHER WAY!!!

Jumping back in time for just a moment...

A Piece of Evidence That Lines Up to Them Only

I thought about making this its own separate post, but decided not to. If you guys want me to make this part it's own separate post so it's easier to find/comment on directly, let me know, and I'll set that up.

But before you can make your decision, I suppose I have to explain what I aim to do here. Basically, Teruko has told us that she's still torn between Eden and Ace (mood), and that, while she'll start off attacking Ace, she's looking for any pieces of evidence that could prove that only one of them could have committed the crime. Problem is, we have no indication of what that specific piece of evidence could be, and, trust me, it could be a lot of them. Thus, what I'm going to do in this "mini" theory is list out every piece of evidence that I can think of, and say whether it points to Eden being the culprit, Ace being the culprit, or it can't point to either of them. Perhaps once we're done, you'll see why I'm so conflicted on which of them it would be.

I'm going to tier these pieces of evidence in terms of least likely to be the missing piece to most likely to be the missing piece, starting with all of the aforementioned unexplained gym evidence. The knocked over benches and weight rack were not part of the replicated crime scene, and I have no idea how Ace or Eden would have wound up with any version of Nico's cowl. The missing tape on the pull-up bar has the greatest likelihood to be relevant, but as we're already suspecting both of them for having the tape, I don't think it'd be a decision maker. Any of those pieces of evidence would be likely to come up in proving that Nico wasn't the one behind Ace's murder, but this theory is operating under the assumption that Nico is the one who tried to kill Ace, and either Ace or Eden killed Arei. If you want the answers for your own theory, do your own homework. (/lh)

Ace or Eden will get a point for any evidence that I think would better be used to accuse them as being the culprit. Therefore, winning points is actually a bad thing if you want to be innocent. For convenience of "scoring," Eden will be purple because of her shirt and Ace will be pink because of his "maroon" hair... and because I needed red and orange for the likelihood ranking.

UNLIKELY FINAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE

Arei's Body Swinging: This evidence has already been used to establish that Arei was killed in the morning, not at night. Either Ace or Eden could have killed Arei at 7:30 AM, so point to neither of them.

Ace Trying to Assign Himself to Guard Duty: This one is obviously a point for Ace if it were the final piece, but it's such a minor happenstance that I doubt Teruko would think to bring it up as the main thing against him. Like, she could bring it up in general, but I don't think it'd be her crowning jewel. Still, it's a piece of evidence we haven't discussed yet, so credit where credit is due.

Arei's Bound Wrists: Bound by the grippy tape that either of them could have stolen. Point to no one.

Broken Playground Lights: The lights in the Playground are broken, likely from the mechanism being hung up through the ceiling rafters. You could argue that this is a point for Ace's strength, but I don't think throwing a ball that high requires so much strength that Eden couldn't do it, especially if you might be able to use the see-saw to launch it somehow. Point to no one.

Dried Up Puddles: This has nothing to do with either of them. Point to no one.

Carousel Wrapped in Tape: Again, either could have had the tape, so point to no one.

Two Pieces of Rope: Either of them could have taken the rope from Storage and cut it; point to no one.

Food/Utensils/Napkins in Trash: Probably David's dinner. Possibly evidence of Eden and Arei having breakfast together, but that's a stretch. Point to no one.

Cups/Tissues/Palette in Trash: Rose says these were hers. Point to no one.

Incense in Trash: I know thebadjoe had (has?) theories about this being used to conceal the scent of Arei's body being hidden in the Relaxation Room a day earlier than anyone thought, but I find that to be too much of a stretch to accost Eden for it here. I think it's just filler. Point to no one.

Grippy Tape in Trash: I should just stop writing out tape evidence. Point to no one.

Broken Jugs: The killer used jugs of water to make Arei heavier, which broke when she fell. They probably had the fish water in them, but we're not talking about the fish themselves at the moment. I'll say point for Ace because the jugs are probably from the Gym, and we've seen Ace in the Gym far more times than we've seen Eden.

Needle and Black Thread: This evidence... might have to do with the ball of clothes, which we'll get to later. However, if this is relevant to the murder, it's probably from the Dress-Up Room, in which we've seen Eden but never Ace. Point to Eden.

Construction of the Note: After a bit of internal debate, I'm going to call this a point for no one. Why? Well, it's because Eden would have reason to help construct the note whether she was the killer or not. If she is the killer, she might have wanted to guide the discussion that followed its reconstruction, to urge to Rose and Whit that she's innocent and that someone must have framed her. It would also give her reason to come into the Trial already having a handwriting sample on her. However, if Eden is innocent, she also easily could have just wanted to help out. Most importantly, Eden already brought up the note being constructed in her initial defense, so I doubt Teruko would reuse it as the nail in someone's coffin.

Splashing Arei With Water: Either of them could have thought of this and accomplished this. Point to no one.

SOMEWHAT LIKELY FINAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE

Body Discovery Announcement: While this may very well play an important part in solving the case, I don't think it'll be the final smash, so to speak. That's mostly because we already talked about it a lot in determining whether Eden could have done it. In the end, I think we'll either have to come up with a way to justify Eden having cheated the BDA-- by Levi or Arturo having seen it or via see no evil-- or we'll accuse Ace without the BDA being a problem. I guess I have to call this a point for Eden because if the BDA were to be the damning evidence, I think it'd have to be for her. However, in my heart, this is totally evidence supporting Ace being the killer.

Arei's Broken Neck: I'm using this as a stand-in for the strength of the killer, in the sense of lifting Arei up and being able to stop the carousel. This is a point for Ace, because he's a professional athlete and Eden is generally the weakest person in the cast.

Scratches on the Ground: This evidence certainly seems to indicate that there was a struggle at the Playground, but is there anything more to it than that? I'm more willing to believe that Ace could have beaten Arei in a fight, but does that point to Eden because there would've been more of a struggle, or Ace because Eden wouldn't have wanted to fight Arei at all? Ace also normally wears heels (while Eden and Arei don't), which is what Hu cites will naturally scratch up the floor. This evidence is vague enough that I don't think it'll be used to point to either of them, but if it did, I think it's more likely to be Ace.

Ball of Starched Clothes: For starters, I'll share (I think it's) thebadjoe's theory that the ball was adhered together using starch from the Relaxation Room that's sprayed on the plants at night, because I saw some people questioning how the clothes could have been stuck together. Anyways, the ball of clothes itself is definitely a point for Eden, because we saw her in the Dress-Up Room specifically looking for Teruko's clothes. Although, Ace certainly saw Teruko and Hu's new fits, so he could have figured it out for himself.

Actual Acquisition of the Tape: I don't think this will be used as the final piece just because I feel like the narrative is pointing towards the damning evidence relating to Arei's actual murder as opposed to Nico's. However, it's relevant to discuss, so I'll list it here. Although Teruko says that Ace and Eden had equal odds at the tape, on the surface, it really makes much more sense if Eden was the one to take it. Star explained it well here, but I'll add my own recap: in the moments when the tape must have been taken, in between when Nico leaves and when MonoTV kicks everyone out, Ace is recovering from unconsciousness, covered in blood, full of rage, and has all eyes on him. Meanwhile, Eden is scared, sure, but she had a clear moment to actually examine the scene of the crime and is also knocked to the ground-- potentially right next to the tape-- with all her wits about her. While it's not impossible to believe that Ace sleight-of-handed the tape, Eden had a much clearer path to taking it. Point to Eden.

MOST LIKELY FINAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE

Arei's Missing Glove: To my memory, Arei's glove hasn't been brought up in the Trial at all, which is definitely strange, because it must be missing for a reason. If DRDTdev is crafting so much detail into the BDA that the swinging of the body is plot-relevant, there's no way he would have just missed giving Arei her glove. The question is, what was this used for? Those who are familiar with my theories should know that I've never been a fan of dress-up theories, so I'm going to discount that possibility. The thing I thought was the most likely was that the killer donned the glove so that their hands wouldn't get super scratched up from grabbing the grippy tape-d carousel bars, before gleamingtempest reminded everyone that both Eden and Ace already wear gloves. Still, looking at them, Eden's gloves are probably made of something more like cotton while Ace's gloves likely have some sort of tougher grip on the inside. So, Eden would probably be more likely to need something else to protect her hands. Also, given that both of Arei's wrists have marks on them, the glove was likely taken off before her wrists were tied. I can't figure out why Ace would have taken off Arei's glove before restraining her or how he would have gotten Arei to take it off otherwise, while for Eden, at least, I can imagine her asking Arei to take off her glove. Therefore, I'm going to call this one a point for Eden, while also throwing out that it might just be missing if Arei didn't bother putting on her glove for the early morning meetup.

Fish on the Playground: You've heard it from me before, Eden has an alibi through the entire time the fish could have been taken. With seemingly no accomplices (other than possibly Arei) in sight, I don't know how Eden would have gotten her hands on those fish. Meanwhile, Ace had a great opportunity. Point for Ace.

Pieced-Together Note: This evidence is very confusing, because I don't see how/why either of them would have implemented it. For Ace, I wrote that entire theory (I'm not going to link it a third time) about how, based on the information in the note and the layout of the first floor, it really seemed like eavesdropping was impossible, and the person who wrote the note had to be Arturo or Eden. Then there's what thefandomenchantress pointed out about Ace's pedantry making it seem like he wouldn't misspell "responsible" in the note, and that he just doesn't give me the vibes of someone who writes in cursive. By all accounts, it really seems like Ace can't have written that note. But then again, why would Eden have written that note? Okay, bad phrasing; she wrote it to get Arei to come to the Playground. But still, why would she sign it? Or if she were to sign it, to make sure that Arei knew it was her, why include so much detail about what Arturo's secret was? More importantly, why wouldn't Eden have just stuffed the ripped up note into her belt, or her pockets, or her room if it would serve to incriminate her? Put it wherever she put that glove! Hell, why not eat the note, if it's a life or death situation? There's the "reverse psychology" argument, but similar to what Teruko said this episode, it would have been much simpler for Eden to have pretended that Arei came to the Playground for some other reason without the killer planting some sort of note meant to frame her. And it's not like I think Eden is really the type to misspell "responsible" either. So, I'm kind of at a loss. It's such a major piece of evidence that I feel it has to come into play again somehow, but I'm not sure how. I think I'm going to call this one a point for Ace because at the very least I understand why he would want to leave this evidence here, even if I don't know how he created it. For Eden, I don't get why she'd leave it lying around, even if in pieces. You can call it revenge for Eden getting the point on the BDA, if you wish.

So, what are the results? If you add up all the points together, you wind up with 6 points for Ace and 6 points for Eden. Funny. If you tier the points, however, with 1 point for unlikely pieces, 2 points for somewhat likely pieces, and 3 points for the most likely pieces, you get 12 points for Ace and 10 points for Eden. Of course, that's using my tierlist of which pieces of evidence are most likely and on top of that, assigning the BDA and the Note the way that they are (if you flip them it's 11-11), but still. If you're invested in my findings, these are the results.

Needless to say, I hope you can understand why I'm having such a hard time determining which one of them will turn out to be the killer. Although, I must add...

If we're suspecting Ace first before we've done our Debate Scrum, that's not a good look for Eden never being suspected again in this Trial.

Concluding Thoughts

What? A conclusion? I've never done one of these on a dissection before?!!

Yeah, well, this time, I have stuff to say that I couldn't really correlate to one image in particular! And also I ran out of images, so this is what you get!!!

I spent that whole "A Piece of Evidence" section talking about the physical evidence that could support Ace or Eden being Arei's killer, but in it, I really didn't get to talk about the narrative implications of either of them being the killer at all. I know that Narrative Defenses are typically Venus' thing, but I have my thoughts on this, too. Namely, that both of them are riddled with narrative problems for being the killer at this point.

(Note: I don't mean "problems" in the sense that DRDTdev has written anything poorly. What I mean is, my own perception of how the characters are conveyed has me currently raising red flags about how either of their stories will pan out as a killer or how the rest of the story will pan out without them. At the time the answer comes, I have full faith that I'll be satisfied with the results.)

Let's start by looking at Eden, the spotlight character of the end of this episode. After that whole heartfelt speech with the CGs and the tears and the brilliant voice acting and the everything, how could Eden possibly be the killer?! I'm the one who was trying to defend the possibility of her still being the culprit after her little rant last week, and while I could probably do that again with this speech, it just felt so... I dunno, sincere. You can really feel Teruko's reluctance to put her faith in Eden, but her choice to do it anyways. Teruko already showed signs of growth this episode by admitting that she can't always solve mysteries by herself, so could that be a sign that she might come around on the group faster than we initially anticipated? If Eden was the killer, it would crush Teruko so hard. Is there any recovering from that? Can we really prove David right?

On the other hand, Ace is, quite possibly, one of the most intertwined members of the cast. He's probably Levi and Nico's #1 correspondent, and he's up there for Hu as well-- assuming they both survive the chapter, I'm sure their animosity towards each other will only grow in Chapter 3. With Ace just having given up on Levi, having just been the target of Nico's battery and Hu's verbal lashes, can the story really work without him in it at this point? Eden hardly has connections with anyone other than Teruko-- Hu's probably next, but Eden probably ranks, like, fourth on her list after Nico, Ace, and David-- which should make her more expendable. Is it really Ace's time already?

However, despite my complaints, I also think that both of them could be really good options as the killer here-- the two options I prefer over anybody else.

Eden is the character who's most connected with Arei. She plays into the chapter themes of being a good person beautifully. She's a good person, a tragic figure, that killed not because she wanted anybody dead, but presumably because she had something back at home that she had to get back to at all costs. Killing her off would break Teruko-- would break everyone. With the reveal of everyone's secrets, next chapter is going to be a living hell, so why not make that hell worse by removing the biggest conflict de-escalator here? It would force other people to step up to bat. It would give everyone a chance to change, what Eden wanted for Arei most of all. Eden's development isn't an arc, per say, but a fall-- a reminder that even the "most good" people can do the unspeakable.

Meanwhile, Ace has perhaps the most obvious reason to kill someone: he literally almost fucking died himself. Ace's execution would be a reminder of the physical reality of the killing game. That actions have consequences. Even if the guy who started all those fights is dead and gone, you can still feel his presence lingering in the arguments between the others. The guy you underestimated most of all-- not for being kind, but for being dumb-- can send you into a multi-hour spiral in which you accuse even the sweetest of participants. Ace's development isn't an arc, per say, but a fall-- a reminder that reveling in your own distrust and anger might lead you to do the unspeakable.

For someone who's spent so long believing that Eden is the culprit of the chapter, it's really amazing how down-to-the-wire DRDTdev has made the end of the case, where either option feels so believable that it's like you can picture the rope in their hands. Whether my theories, old or new, were right or wrong, I am highly looking forward to watching next week's episode and discussing it with you all. See you on Friday-- just try not to freak out too much before then, alright? (/aff)

[demonpiratehuntress]

baby (name)! (Straw Hats + Ace, Law, Kaku)

featuring - Zoro x F!Reader, Law x F!Reader, Kaku x F!Reader, Ace x F!Reader, Sanji x F!Reader, Usopp x F!Reader, Luffy x F!Reader

summary - you somehow get turned into a baby and they have to spend 24 hours babysitting you

warnings - none, except that Law's is a bit longer

a/n: just an idea that's been sitting with me for a while, I'm thinking about giving each of them a full-length one-shot on this idea

ZORO

"Shhh, he's sleeping! Maybe we can get past without him noticing."

Zoro was, in fact, not sleeping. He was pretending, just to see what kind of scandal or shenanigan Luffy - or you - got the crew into. He was about to say something, until the cry of a baby rang out. Everything and everyone stilled, the only sound being the wind whistling through the night air.

"Why the hell did I just hear a baby?" Zoro's gruff voice made the crew stiffen. The swordsman stood up and turned to face them, his eyes widening at the sight of the infant in Nami's arms. "What is that?"

"A baby!" Luffy cried cheerily, poking your tiny, chubby cheeks. "Isn't she cute! It's (Name)!"

The others all swatted at the captain as Zoro's entire body went rigid, his gaze flitting from Luffy to baby you. For a scary moment, nobody said anything, and then you saw Zoro and squealed happily and reached for him. Zoro would never admit it out loud, but his heart melted.

"I think she wants you," Usopp suggested.

Zoro smiled, surprising everyone, and scooped you into his arms. You got even more excited and giggled cutely, making grabby hands at him until he set you against his chest and you immediately fisted his shirt in your tiny hand. You gurgled softly, and Zoro found it hard to keep his composure.

He found out from Robin that this was a 24 hour issue, and you would all have to babysit infant you for that time. Zoro was, however, more than happy to do all the babysitting. He played with you, he fed you, and he napped with you. Not unlike you as a fully grown person, Zoro spent all of his time with you.

"Zoro can I-"

The swordsman damn near hissed at Luffy when the captain tried to hold you, but eventually let him under the condition that Zoro stayed to watch every second. And no stretching. He was super protective of you, because you were small and helpless and the cutest thing he's ever seen- he stopped himself before he could gush again. Who ever thought Zoro capable of gushing?

As Zoro held you in his arms while feeding you later on that day, you gazed up at him with the biggest (eye colour) eyes ever, pure innocence. He smiled gently, cradling you close to him as he cooed at you and made you giggle. He even burped you, which surprised everyone because no one thought he'd know what to do.

"Who's the cutest little baby?" He cooed when no one was around, tickling your little stomach. You giggled and blew a raspberry, raising your arms and kicking about excitedly. He grinned and pressed a gentle kiss to your small forehead. "That's right, sweetheart. You are."

He fell asleep that night with you comfortably nestled in his big arms, your small body curled up against his chest. When you woke up the next morning, you grinned widely at him.

"Let's have a baby."

ACE

Ace had just returned from a mission. He was grumpy and exhausted and all he wanted to do was see you and kiss you and hold you. He hadn't expected to walk past Marco's room and hear a baby crying.

"Shhh, shhh, it's okay," Marco was saying softly. "You have to be quiet, (Name)."

(Name)?!

Ace burst through the door, his eyes wide and frantic. When he couldn't spot you anywhere, his gaze fell to the fussing infant laying on Marco's bed. His jaw dropped, and Marco looked at the 2nd division commander a bit nervously.

"Is that my girlfriend?" Ace blinked, walking over slowly. Then he grinned widely, "She's so cute!!"

The moment you heard and saw Ace, you stopped crying and immediately squealed excitedly and tried to reach for him. You pouted and kicked your legs, whining adorably.

"You're not going to ask what happened?" Marco raised an eyebrow as Ace picked you up excitedly.

"No, as long as it's not permanent," he answered with a smile as he admired your tiny face and all your extra small features. He felt warm inside as he held you, warmer than usual, and he almost burst into flames when you grabbed his nose in your tiny hand. "Marco! Did you see that??"

He is SO excited. He is great with you, especially when it comes to entertaining you and making you giggle and laugh loudly. You are such a happy baby and Ace LOVES it, he's always doing tricks and doing silly things to make you laugh and kick your legs excitedly. He is absolutely in love with you as an infant, and he learns quickly how to feed you and bathe you because he is just so excited to have a baby to look after, even if it's only for a day. It makes him want one with you.

You're also a naughty baby.

"(Name) no!" Ace yelped when he saw you crawling towards his food as he set you on the table. What did he get? A bunch of food in his face as you laughed so loudly and so adorably the crewmembers around you all stopped to coo at you. "You naughty little-" You stopped laughing and your bottom lip trembled and your eyes got glossy and he panicked, "No no I'm sorry! You're a good girl!" You instantly bubbled with happiness again, and Ace sighed in relief.

You were a handful. You kept him on his feet, and he quickly learned that taking care of an infant was hard work. And it was exhausting. At the end of the day, he laid back on his bed and put you on his stomach, watching you drift off into slumber before he fell asleep.

He woke up to you smiling in his face, "Babe, I want a baby."

LAW

Law was so busy with work that he didn't end up going onto the island with you and the others. He figured you'd be safe with Bepo, Shachi and Penguin, since they exhibited such fierce protectiveness over you at any island the crew went to. Unfortunately, something had gone wrong, and you had been turned into an infant for 24 hours, and they knew Law would kill them all if he found out. They were hoping that he would be too busy for 24 hours to notice.

Unfortunately, Law came looking for you.

"Shachi, where's (Name)?" The captain cornered Shachi as he was returning from the kitchen. "You're all back, but she's not."

"She-she is," he stammered nervously, "I think she's sleeping with everyone else in the bunkhouse." Lying to Law was not easy, because he saw through it all. But before he could, a loud squeal met his ears. The squeal of an infant.

Law's eyes widened, "What...is that?"

"No no captain!" Shachi ran after the doctor as he followed the noise to the bunkhouse, and slammed the door open to see Bepo holding up a baby and cooing at it.

A baby girl.

When you saw Law, you giggled and clapped your tiny hands, blowing a raspberry and then sneezing. Law's jaw dropped, but he was conflicted. He couldn't decide if he wanted to strangle his crewmates, or cuddle the cutest baby he had ever seen. You whined and fussed when he didn't come closer, holding your tiny arms out. Law's eyes widened, and he backed away.

Big mistake.

You started bawling, screaming loud enough to wake the entire submarine. Penguin thrust you into Law's arms so you would stop, and when you saw you were close to Law you stopped crying and giggled innocently, reaching for his face.

"Captain, are you sure-"

"I'll be fine," Law assured Shachi, even though he was extremely nervous. "She'll never let you sleep if I don't take her." That was his excuse, but he was happy to take you away to his room and enjoy your cuteness privately.

But Law did not know what to do with you. He just sat at his desk with you on his lap, staring at him. He was staring back, and after a few minutes you giggled again and bounced on his leg. You clapped your small hands and then reached for his face, and he leaned down to give it to you, just so you could squish his cheeks and let out the cutest laugh that made him relax and smile gently.

He tried to keep you occupied, but ultimately realised that you were more interested in him than you were anything else. So he held you as he worked, and he had to admit it was a nice feeling because you were just so adorable. He read to you and told you stories and you enjoyed them so much you gave him a big sloppy kiss on his cheek.

Eventually Law became the official babysitter, as he wouldn't let anyone else touch you. Except Bepo. But even then, he'd let the bear hold you for a few minutes and watch anxiously because he had gotten so protective over you. You loved it when Bepo played with you, because he was so big and soft and gentle, but you also loved it when Law played with you. Granted, his definition of playing was a bit different, but you seemed to enjoy it. So much so that you fell asleep on him out of tiredness at the end of the day, fisting his shirt in your small hand. He smiled and held you close as you slept.

When you woke up, you were back to normal and opened your mouth to say something, but Law beat you to it, "We should have a baby."

KAKU

You don't know how it happened and neither did he. One moment you were engaging the target, and the next you were a little infant crawling around on the floor. This sent Kaku into panic mode, and he quickly took out the devil fruit user who'd de-aged you before picking you up, his eyes going wide at how tiny and fragile you were. But...he had to admit...you were adorable. Your big (eye colour) eyes were so full of innocence and wonder that his heart warmed and melted.

Then you gripped his long nose, and with a strength he didn't know babies had, tugged. He groaned at the sensation, but couldn't be mad at you since you giggled so cutely and smiled so sweetly. Your mouth was toothless, and that made you even cuter. He sighed. What was he going to do?

Ultimately, he had no choice but to take you back to HQ. The others were stunned by seeing a baby you nestled in his arms, comfortably napping on his shoulder. They had so many questions, but Kaku waved them all off and took you straight to his room. He didn't want to ask Khalifa for help, since he thought that might be sexist. So he tried his best, smiling down at you as you gurgled and watched him with one small hand in your mouth and the other playing with one of your tiny feet.

"You're so cute," he suddenly said out loud, even though he knew you couldn't understand him. But it seemed you did, because you giggled and raised your arms for him to pick you up.

Kaku carries you around like his child all day, taking care of you as best he could. He didn't do too bad of a job, since you clung to him happily and didn't want to go anywhere near anyone that wasn't him. You gave him a sloppy kiss on his long nose when it accidentally poked your little stomach, just to tell him it was okay. He fed you what soft food he could find, changed you with what little knowledge he had of babies, and played with you with anything safe that could be used as a toy without hurting you.

But his favourite moment of all was when he turned into a giraffe just to see how you would react, and instead of being scared you squealed excitedly and reached up to grab his little horns. You giggled and laughed as he played with you in giraffe form, your cutest laugh coming out when he playfully licked your chubby cheek with his long purple tongue. You accidentally grabbed it and pulled, like his nose, making him yelp in pain while you just giggled.

If Kaku was protective of you before his protectiveness surged to whole new levels with infant you. Like when Jabra almost stepped on you, Kaku kicked him so hard he went flying into the wall. Then he picked you up, relieved, and kissed you all over while Jabra groaned and passed out.

"Nothing and no one will hurt you while you're like this, (Name)," Kaku whispered, patting your back gently. You just giggled and offered him a toothless smile before yawning, prompting Kaku to gently rock you to sleep.

Later on, when you finally awoke in your grown up form, you looked for Kaku and beamed, "I think it's time we made a mini Kaku."

LUFFY

Honestly, he doesn't even know how it happened. And he was there. One minute you were a fully grown woman, and the next you were a tiny baby who couldn't even stand on two legs. Luffy is immediately overprotective, scooping you up and running back to the ship with you to show everyone else. He thinks you're the cutest thing in the world, and while he loves the older you, he also loves this smaller version of his favourite person in the world.

"Zoro! Sanji! Nami!" Luffy rattled off the names of everyone on the crew, jumping onto the ship with little you tucked safely in one arm. Everyone's jaws dropped.

"Luffy, what-"

"Look!" He excitedly held you out for everyone to see. "Little (Name)! Isn't she so cute?" He then cradled you against his chest again and smiled happily.

Everyone was thinking the same thing. There was no way Luffy could be trusted to babysit you on his own, and they didn't even know what happened. This was bad, but the captain didn't seem to have the same issues.

"WATCH HER HEAD!"

The last person everyone expected to yell at Luffy, yelled at Luffy. Zoro lunged forward to shield your head from a potential bump against the mast, after Luffy got a little too excited and stretched you further away than he anticipated. Luffy apologised when Zoro hit him hard on his head, but you seemed to enjoy the violence and you laughed when it happened. Both Luffy and Zoro looked at you, and then Zoro smirked and smacked Luffy again. Infant you laughed even harder than the first time.

This gave everyone else the same idea.

Pretty soon, everyone was taking a chance to punch or smack Luffy, and you were giggling and laughing so much that you fell on your back on the table you were placed on for safety. Everyone cooed when they saw this, before Luffy lifted you up again. He was bruised, and had bumps in some places, but he was still grinning at you.

"Baby (Name) is even cuter when she laughs!"

You reached for his face and he moved it closer, and you patted his cheek with your tiny hand as if trying to soothe his injuries. He smiled even more and watched you with bright eyes, everyone else melting as you tried to make his sores go away. You were pouting with the effort, until you discovered that his face was stretchy when you pulled his cheek. You burst into another fit of giggles, and started pulling all over his face. Luffy just laughed, thinking it was funny that you thought his stretchy skin was a toy.

So Luffy was allowed to babysit you, because he was apparently your favourite toy, but he was strictly supervised by at least one person every hour. The crew took turns, and by the end of the day you were passed out peacefully in Luffy's arms. He was smiling down at you with love and amazement in his eyes, as if he couldn't believe something so cute existed.

You woke up the next morning knowing about all of Luffy's near misses with you, but smiled and told him, "You need a little help babe, but I'd love to have your baby."

SANJI

Sanji left the group alone for a few minutes to get some much-needed ingredients and food stock for the ship. A few minutes. What trouble could you guys have gotten into in a few minutes? A lot, apparently, because Sanji came back to see Zoro holding a little infant girl.

Wait a second...

"(NAME)?!" The cook cried, rushing forward to pluck you out of the swordsman's arms and cradle you in his own. He glared at Zoro, "What happened?!"

"Luffy picked a fight with a devil fruit user," Nami sighed, "He de-aged (Name) before Luffy finally knocked him out. It'll last abiut 24 hours, according to what he said, she's stuck like that for a bit."

Honestly, Sanji didn't mind at all. He was finding this tiny you absolutely adorable, and when you looked up at him with your big, round (eye colour) eyes, he almost fainted. You were the cutest thing alive, and he wasted no time peppering your tiny chubby face with kisses, reveling in the giggles and gurgles that escaped you. You kicked your little legs happily and hugged his head, and Sanji all but melted. Your arms were so small, and barely wrapped all the way around his head.

"As cute as this is, we should get back to the Sunny," Usopp looked around nervously. "We don't want to pick more unnecessary fights."

Nami agreed, smacking Luffy on the head, and you laughed as Sanji carried you away with hearts in his eyes. You stuck your tiny hand in your mouth to suck on, and relaxed in the cook's arms as you looked around in wonder. The first thing he did back at the ship was prepare something for you to eat, and he happily fed you and dealt with you smacking the spoon and sending food flying all over the place. Mostly onto his face and in his hair.

"Come on, my sweet little one," he cooed, trying to coax you into eating the next spoonful, "Just go ah for me, please cutie?" He pleaded, demonstrating by opening his own mouth.

You giggled and opened your mouth for him and he slid the spoon into your mouth, before pulling it back out when he was sure you'd taken the food. Then you spat it out at him and laughed so hard you almost rolled backwards, and Sanji realised you were doing that to tease him. Naughty baby.

He smiled gently, "You're cute when you're naughty too!" And continued feeding you. It took him close to an hour, but he got it done. Then he changed you with help from Nami and carried you around the ship, telling you stories about the All Blue and the Grand Line as you chewed on his tie. Well, more like gummed on it, since you didn't have teeth. That spot was soaking by the time you were done, but he didn't mind. He simply kissed your little cheek and tickled your stomach, calling you a good girl before rocking you to sleep gently when he noticed your eyes drooping.

"Sanjiiiii, let's make a babyyyyyy!" Was what the crew heard from you when you woke up.

USOPP

"I LEAVE YOU GUYS ALONE FOR ONE MINUTE AND-"

Usopp's shouting was interrupted by a loud infant cry, stunning the sniper into silence. Nami just laughed nervously, trying to make an excuse for that noise but when Usopp pushed past her to see what they were hiding she knew all was lost. Usopp's jaw dropped, because he hasn't thought it could get any worse.

Baby you stared up at him innocently from Brook's lap. The musician was surprisingly good with you, singing to you softly to soothe your raging baby moods. The minute you spotted Usopp, your eyes lit up and you bounced up and down on Brook's thigh excitedly, reaching out for the sniper.

"M-me?" Usopp pointed to himself, shocked.

"That's (Name), you idiot," Sanji grumbled, but his gaze softened when he looked at you in your tiny form.

"(Name)?!" Usopp cried, before immediately lifting you into his arms. You gurgled happily and reached for his goggles, giggling when you tapped on the eyeholes. "What-"

"Don't ask," Zoro grumbled.

Usopp stared at you, eyes wide. He wasn't equipped to take care of a baby yet! He needed your help! Panic was settling in, but then soon disappeared when you nuzzled against him and wrapped your small arms around his neck. He felt his knees get weak from how good it felt, and from the adorable baby smell you emitted.

"I suppose...I AM the best person to look after her," he boasted, patting your back gently. You coeed softly and patted his shoulder, as if you were agreeing with him.

Usopp is actually really good with babies, and it shows when he looks after you. He holds you properly, plays with you so nicely that you squeal and laugh loudly from all the fun, and he knows exactly what to feed you. He's so so gentle with you, and he showers you in affection and love while trying not to faint from how adorable you are when you laugh and clap your little hands.

That is, until you steal one of his tools or contraptions and start hitting him with it or throw it at him. His butt is suddenly on fire, and he's running around yelling for water while you cackle and howl with laughter, amusing everyone else as well. He forgives you of course, kissing your chubby cheek and showing you how to properly use them, before noticing you dozed off against his chest. He smiles softly and lays down so you can sleep comfortably.

In the morning, you wake him up with kisses all over his face and a bright smile on your lips, "You know, I think it's time the crew got a new member~"

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

Three's A Crowd (a.k.a: when deuce is jealous of his tsum)

Deuce Spade x Reader

I write reader as female

Masterlist

“Who’s my adorable little Deucey? Yes, you are. Yes, you are. Aren’t you a good little boy,” you cooed, nuzzling your face closer to the little tsum tsum in your hands. Ever since the small plush version of your boyfriend descended from the sky and bounded into you, the two of you have been inseparable.

For the past hour, you’ve been cuddling and kissing the little critter like there was no tomorrow and the tsum was soaking up your unrelenting attention like a cheeky little sponge. The little rascal didn’t even want to stop at just receiving your love. Oh no, it seemed perfectly happy leaping up and planting its face on your cheeks, jumping for joy when you’d smile at it and say your thanks

Meanwhile Deuce was sulking beside you, his thoughts were at odds with each other. On the one hand, he gets to see your smile and hear your angelic laughter - a sight and sound that never makes his heart swell with devotion - but on the other, he has to witness you doling out your coveted affection to someone else. He was being third-wheeled on his own date - and by himself no less!

He knows he’s being silly - pouting like a child because you’re doting over a creature less than ten centimetres large. He already had to endure Ace’s smug grin and teasing laughter at his ‘whipped behaviour’ but he can’t help it. He’s been wrapped around your finger for so long that he’s already made a home there.

He knew that if his plush counterpart was anything like him, then there was never enough of you. That you were just so beautiful and loving and breathtaking, that forever with you just felt too short. Your gentle words and soft caresses, your warm kisses and loving embrace, the sweetness that just pours out of everything you do was so enchanting that he was helpless against the force of it all. The love he had back then was so consuming that he thought it couldn’t possibly grow, that it’s mass was simply insurmountable but he was so unbelievably wrong - that was a mere drop compared to the ocean of desire he’s perpetually drowning in, and every day he sinks deeper and deeper. He was a fool to think that once he was yours, that he could be at ease. He should’ve known that every kiss, every touch he shares with you makes him more and more addicted to them, catching him in this vicious cycle that neither of you are planning to stop. So he knows perfectly well firsthand that a few hours with you would not satisfy the navy haired tsum in your grasp.

After all, he knew what he was like back then, when his rightfully atrocious reputation and frightening expression drove people away, when the concept of having someone close like this was a concept as fanciful as his book of fairytales. And now that he had someone to love and cherish, to worship and protect, he swore that he would never be the reason you felt scared or upset or angry. So if he had to deal with his irrational jealousy, he would.

But it was just so hard. For some reason his already aggressive and quick-to-anger tsum was exceptionally rowdy if it was over a centimetre away from your person (and no, he was not going to unpack that and yes, he was ignoring all of the looks his fellow Heartslabyul students and first years were giving him whenever his smaller counterpart would throw a tantrum or be so openly affectionate) so the only way it would behave was if it sat on your shoulder. This meant that he had to deal with an entire academic day of his mini me being nearer to you than him - of it rubbing against your cheek or being carried in your hands or snuggling up against you, you even hand fed it during lunch (you’ve never done that with him and no he most certainly did not splinter the table from how hard he was gripping it) - and he’s pretty sure he’s at his limit.

“Who’s my darling sweetheart?” you continued to coo, petting the tsum on its plush head, “who’s my handsome boy?”

“I am,” Deuce whined, dropping his head onto your shoulder. 

You immediately stopped and turned to face him. He could feel his face burning from something other than the heated glare of the tiny thing in your hands but at this point, he was desperate.

“I am,” he repeated, lifting his face and looking up at you with wide, pleading eyes, “so, please. Can you pay attention to me?”

You smiled at him, so lovely and warm, and was about to open your mouth before, to both of your shock, the tsum tsum leaped up and planted a kiss right on your lips before landing back down looking immensely pleased with itself.

You blinked in surprise as Deuce looked ticked, glowering at his tiny counterpart, who just looked smugly back at him.

“You little,” was all you could hear before you felt a gloved hand grip your forearm and draw you forwards and another pushing against the back of your head, and his lips were on you, pressing hard against yours. It took a split second for you to get over your stupefaction and you kissed him back, just as hard, moving your mouth to the rhythm the both of you set. You felt the familiar haze of ecstasy clouding your senses before it was over, much too quick for the both of you. 

He smiled at you, and you gave him a red-faced smile back, letting the oxygen once again fill your lungs and your rapid heart rate peter down to normal. 

“I’m your boyfriend,” he pouted, “I know this is really silly of me but, but please look at me as well.”

“Oh Deuce,” you sighed affectionately, taking one of his hands and rubbing circles with your thumb on the back of it, “I’m always looking at you. I’m sorry, handsome, I guess I got a bit too caught up looking after the tsum tsum.”

“Don’t apologise,” he said hurriedly, “you were just helping us out. I should’ve said something sooner.”

“But still,” you cut yourself off at his look, “alright. But you have to understand. He’s a little version of my boyfriend - how could I not love him?”

“Yeah, I guess-”

“Almost as much as I love you.”

You - wha - why do you have to be so dangerous to his heart?

And he kisses you again. When the little guy launches itself up to headbut him in the cheek, he expertly catches it in his fist, opening an eye to look at its squirming body and smiles.

I win

[fools-ramblings-and-whatnot]

Isn't it canon that Azul has some dirt on Crowley so the "kind" headmage allowes him to run a lounge?

Now will Azul use more blackmail to make Crowley give Yuu less work after they almost died?

Or for a more angsty one, Yuu gets annoyed that they kept fussing over her, but instead of anger, the prefect just cries since they need to work for money or else they'll starve and smell bad:(

For the first one, I think it was revealed that the reason Monstro Lounge was allowed was because Azul pulled the same stunt he did in Book 2 during his first year.

Imagine waking up feeling like you just died (you did) and still wanting to work. Your friends stop you from doing any physical labor, and it was sweet at first but now it's annoying.

In your defense they didn't tell you died for a moment.

So what was sweet at first become suffocating then it becomes humiliating. I don't think the Ace is good with his words, so he'll probably phrase his uncharacteristic helpfullness with "It's because you're helpless!" and Deuce just nods along. The same sentiment is said by everyone else. "We don't need you to work in Monstro Lounge, we're full now. We find a more reliable substitute." "We removed you from the dorm leader's meeting because you're not really needed. "You don't need to work in the newspaper anymore, another one filled in your shoes", and so forth.

They're trying not to hurt your feelings and hide their concern for you while simultaneously trying to ligten your workload, not understanding that you need that work.

And yes, maybe it's nice that Crowley gave you extra allowance (for some reason), but it's never enough. There's so many things to renovate, to buy and to replace. Heck, you need to buy a new pipe or you won't have hot water!

Ofcourse it's get frustrating. You never felt more helpless. Atleast in the past you were tired but did something, but now you're alone with your thoughts and are starting to worry that your friends and acquiantances actually think you're no-good for anything.

You feel like crap.

Everything just spirals and you break down the next time someone refuses you. Crying angry tears as you direct your frustration on a friend or upperclassman who stopped you from going out of town on your own to find a part time job.

"What the FUCK do you want from me?! What is your problem?! I'M NOT THAT FRAGILE! I'm not.." you bit your lips, blinking away angry tears" I'm capable!...I can DO things!"You stumble on your feet a little, dizzy with indignation.

The more you get angry the more your friend/upperclassman panics because you're panting, you're eyes are dark and OH ARE YOU GONNA FAINT AGAIN?!

The confrontation gets ugly.

[merakiui]

who in the twst cast would peel an orange for you?

riddle - he doesn't understand why you're asking him, but he'll do it.

trey - absolutely. 100% no matter what! trey will peel the orange and turn it into orange juice for you if you ask.

cater - it depends. he might ask you to peel his orange in return so that the both of you can have an orange and take cute selfies together!

ace - no. and he teases you for asking, but if deuce says he'll do it instead ace will snatch the orange and promptly peel it. "what do you mean you're asking deuce? give it here. i GUESS i'll peel it. if i have no choice, but you owe me now."

deuce - that orange is peeled SO FAST. deuce will always peel an orange for you. if you want an orange, he'll buy you ten. anything for you.

leona - if you're a woman or identify as one, consider the orange peeled. if you're a man or identify as one, you're on your own.

ruggie - he'll do it, but only if you do something in return or pay him. his orange peeling services do not come free!

jack - yes. <3

azul - no. :/ if you really want him to peel the orange, you'll have to offer something in return.

jade - YES OMG. he peels that orange so quickly for you. in fact, why stop at just an orange? he'll make you a fruit salad if you'd like.

floyd - yes. if shrimpy wants an orange, shrimpy will get an orange. he'll peel it. he doesn't care if it's messy. and if the cafeteria runs out of oranges, he's tracking down a helpless student and threatening them into giving up their orange.

jamil - no. he'll tell you to peel it yourself. :( although he's willing to teach you the less messy trick to peeling an orange if you ask.

kalim - YES YES YES. he'll buy you an entire orange orchard if that's what you want, and he'll peel every orange for you!!!!!!!

vil - no. :( like jamil, i think vil would also offer to teach you the trick. that way you won't have to worry about getting juice everywhere next time you peel an orange.

rook - yes. you probably don't even have to ask. he'll already have it peeled.

epel - yes!!! he doesn't mind peeling it for you at all.

idia - LOL NO. do you think he wants to get orange juice on his fingers and then get his keyboard or monitor sticky? if you really want a peeled orange, he'll build an automatic orange peeler for you.

ortho - sure! he'll peel an orange for his friend. :D

malleus - yes! peeling an orange is an easy task for malleus. one snap of his fingers and the peel is coming off in a neat spiral.

lilia - yes, but then he'll want to add the orange (and its peel) to his suspicious-looking meal that he cooked for you. ;;; he calls it healthy and hearty, but it looks like the nine circles of hell in food form.

silver - yes! don't worry about it. if you ever need more oranges peeled in the future, please bring them to him.

sebek - no. why would you trouble him with such a foolish task?! don't you know he has better things to be doing than peeling an orange for a human!!!! ...silver peeled an orange for you? well, it would be embarrassing if one of malleus's guards couldn't do something as simple as peeling an orange. he does it, but he grumbles to you not to ask silver and to instead come to him next time.

rollo - you might expect him to say no, but surprisingly he agrees to your request. perhaps he used to peel oranges for his little brother, so he knows they can be messy and tricky at times. don't trouble yourself with peeling it; you'll just make a mess if you keep using such a clumsy technique. he'll do it for you.

fellow - yes, but you'll have to give him a kiss in return. <3

gidel - he'll gladly do it! please peel his orange in return. friends help friends in need, after all.

[weebsinstash]

Thinking bout how mean demi Alastor would be regarding the post cheating/meltdown/breakup sex… he’s still a sadist and now that he’s more comfortable with physical intimacy and like 20% more deranged that def gets reflected in his “catering to your needs”. Overstim, edging, anything that leaves you at his “mercy”

Reader, visibly sweating because YOU know that HE knows most of the dirty dirty nasty NASTY SHENANIGANS you've committed in the last month or two of Just Straight Up Sluttery: so Alastor, now that you've discovered this new part of yourself, surely you've, uh, developed some new tastes and healthy outlets for intimacy?

Alastor, who's just spent the last several weeks rounding up all your sexual partners and he does mean ALL of them to torture every last detail of what you did out of them, and has recently discovered how much he likes the feeling of a riding crop in his hands, along with a list of kinks where cheating/cuckoldry is definitely NOT one of them: oh yes :) healthy outlets :) so anyways my pet, about your punishment--

You're just like "ok Alastor um, since you're new to this and old fashioned you probably want to, cuddle, and, ease into it, and--" bitch he wants to tie you up. Bitch he has developed SUCH a craving for watching you tied up and helpless because, oh you're so sweet and vulnerable and need him to protect you ❤️ his sweet vulnerable little doe ❤️ aw, your struggling is so cute ❤️ do you want to be let go? Guess you better beg nice and pretty~

I dunno man... I was LITERALLY discussing a concept like this with an asexual buddy of mine actually, the amount of aces horny for Alastor is giving, truly, and we were MUTUALLY like, "listen... listen... asexuality is real and we respect that, ok... but it's also a spectrum... and I want this man going his entire life and afterlife not caring or having a taste for those things UNTIL he meets you and he has to deal with, discover, and come to understand all his new desires" and I keep thinking of multiple ways to swing that?

Just him having his equivalent of his first schoolboy crush and not knowing why he can't stop himself from laughing at your jokes? Why is he suddenly so... POSSESSIVE of your company? Why does he want to hurt the men who come around you even more than usual? He goes to Rosie for advice and she's just, DROPPING HER TEA CUP, "oh ALASTOR HONEY, you've got yourself a little crush!!" and all but squealing with delight as she wants ALL the details and, well, Rosie IS a trusted friend... and once he starts talking about you, he can't stop himself for some reason, he just enjoys sharing little details and stories and things about you amd, oh gosh Rosie you should hear this thing that happened the other day it was just the most charming little--

I want this man coming to take you back and he's kicking some door down and he finds you THROATING A GUY. I want it AWKWARD. I want him finding you doing something that immediately makes everyone involved go OH SHIT. I want some dude freaking out hollering "THE RADIO DEMON?!" because he and a buddy were spitroasting you on your hands and knees and you give a very recognizable "alastor????" around the dude's meat CLEARLY KNOWING THE GUY and your unlucky one night stand has his Oh Fuck moment as he makes perfect eye contact with the notorious cannibal who is currently witnessing this, uh, gentleman having his hand fisted in your hair as he--

Just the mental image of, it's the end of the night or even the morning and the fucking sun is coming up or, their time equivalent of sunrise since I don't think they have like days and nights, but, Alastor is just sitting there reading a book humming to himself, completely put together not a hair out of place, with candles going, a gentle song on the radio, and beside him you're just facedown completely naked in bed with welts all over your ass as his shadow gives you a nice aftercare massage. Dude just sips some coffee, humming and smirking as he regards you "now did we learn our lesson about... making impulsive unsafe decisions without consulting our partner?"

you, still face down as your legs still refuse to stop shaking: that if I want to get fucked really hard all I have to do is commit adultery?

Alastor, who has recently discovered all the Super Fun New Ways he can fuck 'discipline' you for riling him up and getting him jealous on purpose because now that he's finally acting like this it's all but making you a cat in heat 'being a brat', smiling with legitimate sadistic glee as he reaches for a pair of leather gloves: incorrect :)

[yourtamaki]

we don’t talk about missionary king ace enough

because you know the second he’s got you on your back, legs spread and hips propped up on a pillow, ace fucking loses it. he doesn’t kiss you so much as he consumes you, no different from the flames that run through his veins.

entirely. completely.

ace can’t even pull away from you long enough to guide himself inside you. instead, he licks his way into your mouth while he grinds down on you, cock leaking against your thigh. the air between you is stifling and you’re practically sharing breaths as he grinds and shift, smearing precum on your skin like he’s marking you as his.

“lemme in please, sweetheart, please lemme take care of you. wanna make you see fucking stars,” his words run and melt together like honey and you surge up into him, back arching off the bed to taste the sweetness off his lips.

“wait baby slow down a little bit,” you mumble into his mouth and his body goes rigid at once, worry etched across his face.

“did i hurt you? do you wanna stop?”

“no you’re perfect, i just–” you reach down between your bodies. he’s hard and hot and thick in your hand and it’s hard to line him up with your entrance with how much he throbs, “–want you inside, ace. i need you.”

"anything, i'll give you everything.”

he cradles your face while he sinks inside you, palms warm on your flushed cheeks. it’s almost too much, the stretch, the stare, but for him you take it all and get rewarded with ace sighing your name like it’s holy and secret.

ace fucks you like he has something to prove, short, devastating thrusts that light you up like a bonfire and he stokes the flames with every dirty grind of his hips, every open-mouth kiss he presses to your neck.

“love fucking this pussy, you always suck me in so good baby,” he says, breathless and ragged, “oh i love you, i love you so much.”

it’s hard to make sense of his words as his pace picks up, heavy balls slapping against your ass, your pussy soaked and loud and filling the room with sounds so filthy it makes you clench down around him.

“fucking god yes just like that cum with me baby please i need it, need you, you’re so good to me–"

his fingers lace in yours and with a grind and circle of his hips, you’re gone, helpless to look away from him as your high crashes down on you and you’re swept up in its current.

ace’s hair is a wild, dark halo around him, skin sun-kissed and freckled, and he’s so beautiful as he tilts his head back and spills inside you that you think you might cry, even as the blood rushes in your ears and your vision goes black around the edges.

something burns low in your gut as his hips don't still and he fucks his cum deeper and deeper inside you. it’s white-hot and fierce and you can see it reflected back at you when your eyes catch his, burning bright in those dark eyes. you squeeze his hand tight and let it consume you.

entirely. completely.

[enhafilthandfiction]

My Cute, Baby Giraffe

A/N : Hello! Here's a little fic for u bc Niki is adorable :>

Pairing : Bf!Niki X Fem!Reader

Warnings : Fluff, Niki is a little upsetti spaghetti, snuggling and cuddling, kissing(little bit of a make out?), tickle fight, name calling

Word count : 667 words

Masterlist

"Hi baby" you greet him, your smile dropping when you see his frown. He offers you a sad smile. Partly because he was happy to finally see you but at the same time he still felt like crap after practice.

He doesn't say anything but makes his way to your bed where you close your laptop and sit up to welcome him better. He lays on his stomach with his hands wrapped around your waist and his face somewhere on your lap.

You coo at him and gently caress his hair, making him hum in appreciation. "Bad day today?" you ask softly when you see his eyes close. He just nods and snuggles deeper into your warm body.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" you offer, tilting your head to look down at him. He remains silent but doesn't shake his head neither.

"It's nothing" he begins, not raising his head from your lap. "Practise was just overly tiring today" he explains, sighing. "And I w-wasn't really acing the moves" he sniffles, closing his eyes once again to block his tears.

He hides his face into your thighs and you smile sadly at his cuteness. "It okay Riki, you'll get them next time for sure" you don't stop caressing his hair "Maybe you just need to rest a little"

You can feel him nod as he hugs your waist tighter. "And I Missed you too" he continues, making your heart ache in your chest. He was such a sweet boy.

"Aw, I missed you too Riki" you unwrap his arms from your waist and bring him up to your chest so he can hug you. His arms now wrap around your torso and his head rests on your chest. "Missed you a lot" he mumbles.

He suddenly pulls away and looks at you for a hot second, almost as if he's wondering whether he's dreaming or not. He leans in a little and you lean into him halfway, connecting you lips.

You can feel him smile into the kiss, finally happy that you were so close to him. He climbs into your lap as he struggles to kiss you due to the height difference. "mph, you're so short" he say between kisses.

He captures your lips again but you pull back "And you're like a giraffe" you reply back breathlessly, pulling him back into your kissing session. He giggles a little and you giggle too "My cute, baby giraffe" you add once you pull away, leaning back in to boop his nose with your own. With your foreheads touching, you stare into each others eyes and wonder how both of your got so lucky.

It's not long before his cheeky hands snake around your sides and start wiggling like crazy, tickling the living day lights out of you. You start laughing non-stop, breathlessly begging him to stop as you try to grab his arms.

Instead, he grabs your arms, with his left hand, binding your wrists above your head. You laughter subsides as you find yourself looking at him again. He looks at your helpless figure and smirks. Heck, he can hold you down with just one hand.

He leans down again, his lips barely brushing yours, just to tease you before chuckling and actually pressing his lips to yours. His hands let go of yours to be able to wrap themselves around you again, and so do yours.

Ugh how you can't get enough of each other. You try to pull away but he places one hand at the back of your head, pulling you closer into his lips. He giggles at your heavy breathing when he finally pulls away.

Your head falls back into your pillows due to how lightheaded you were feeling. He falls into bed with you too, snuggling back up to your chest and kissing your cheek this time.

"You're so cute y/n" he adores, smiling contently when you start to brush his hair again with your fingers.

"I love you"

Hi again :) I hope you liked this post, inbox open, but only for short requests! Have a good day/night and remember that ily <3333

If you enjoyed reading this post you can help support my blog by tipping me here! Anything is highly appreciated :)

[twistedwonderlandobsession]

.•♥︎Spilled Tea♥︎•.

Series:Yuu Needs Therapy

Branch: Overblotts

Character: Riddle

Part: 1 of ?

Riddle....Riddle had always made you nervous. Not in the butterflies in your stomach way, but in the way of being caught by your parents doing something you shouldn't. Like he was looking through your very soul with that oh so piercing gaze every time he crossed paths with you. Like he was constantly judging your every move, analyzing everything. Pointing out every imperfection within the confines of his mind. A scolding with each glance, on the first day when Grimm caused a ruckus to every single time you passed him in the hall, every mere glance felt as if it was a lecture despite not a singular word of criticism passing his lips, just a firm line and

dissaproving glare whenever he saw you.

You spent so much time trying to resolve the small Quarles while trying to not get your head chopped off, walking on eggshells around him, choosing each and every word and action with precision while trying to poke and prod Ace's massive ego into just apologizing. Your hands chapped while shakily attempting to Crack open the chestnuts in order to make that damn tart. Making sure it looked absolutely perfect with bo cracks whatsoever. Wrapping it nicely in the best container you could. Reminding Ace to use gentle and careful words, even telling him exactly what ti say in order to make this all go away so you can be rid of him sleeping on that sofa.

Appearing at the birthday party with a small smile along with Ace and Deuce in tow. Watching as Ace apologized offering up the tart, before Riddles face turned Horrified apon finding out the mere flavor. Acting as if your ran over one of his hedgehogs for breaking the nonsensical Rule: 262 about how chestnuts tarts were forbidden from birthday parties. Unable to do anything but watch as he threw out their group and got rid of the tart, not by putting it in the fridge far away from the Birthday Party, but throwing it into the trash.

Failing over and over as you attempted to calm Ace's completely understandable frustration. But he completely refused to even attempt to apologize once more, and then Crowley dumped that unhelpful peice of information on them, encouraging the already roudy freshman to enact some sort of justice against the Crimson Tyrant.

Unable to stop them as they challenge their dear Housewarden to a duel. Proving his skills and cementing his position, which was both amazing and horrifying at the same time to all of the spectators. Amazed at his skills, but Horrified that he would remain in his position of power over the Heartslabyul students.

Then you had to watch yet again as any chance of a peaceful solution was dashed when Ace punched Riddle square in the face.

Having to desperately attempt to calm Riddle down after he overblotted, litterally fighting for your life as you attempted to snap him out of his enraged stupor. Being almost beaten senseless, blood splattered over the grass, painting any possible misscolored roses in a deep shade of red, trying to get the students out of the line of fire while Trey tried to hold back his magic. Absolutely helpless to do anything other than direct people and try to not be hit my his magic that would have killed a magic student easily, let alone your very magicless self. Barely managing to survive and snap him out of it with the combined magic of Trey, Carter, Deuce, Ace, and Grim combined.

Breathing heavily as relief filled your body as Riddle snapped out of his Rage and had a small breakdown while Trey dragged the sniffling Housewarden to the infirmary, while Carter attempted to gather all the injured students to the infirmary, most having a decent amount of blood loss, no less then 1/2 a litter for a most. Your skin covered bruises with blood soaking your clothing causing it to stick to your body as the metalic sent filled your nostrils. Your heart pounding through your chest as the noise of it filled your eardrums overwhelming any other of your senses.

Carter's appalled face twords grim consumption of the strange rock being the last thing you saw before suddenly black filled your vision.

[skzcre]

Skz stroke game…. Thoughts 👁️👄👁️

oh i’ve got some thoughts alright 😳

on team “slow, sensual and deep” we haaaave changbin, lino, hyunjin, lix n chan !! <333

it varies for each of them tbh, like. changbin and hyunjin are real romantics, they want to take their time to enjoy every single centimeter of your body. they want to watch your face twist in pleasure, they want you to grip tightly onto them.

binnie always has this self satisfied smirk on his face but pure love in his eyes, loves when you grab his biceps and arch into him when he goes particularly deep 🤧 still on board “changbin best stroke game in skz” hands down, we’ve seen the way he moves those pretty hips. you better believe he knows exactly what he’s doing.

hyune is just fully obsessed with you i’ve talked abt it like a million times and i can’t get over the thought of his jaw hanging in awe watching how you write underneath him. he kills me truly

now w lino, lix n chan; they’re just as romantic tbh. we all know lino has heaps and heaps of love to give and he also kind of loves having you at his “mercy”, he’s just a little bit more of a tease abt it compared to bin n hyun. he fucks you at a regular pace then stops to shove himself so deep in you you swear you’re seeing stars. then he coos at you, “mm, i know baby. it feels really good, yeah? you can take more for me, can’t you?”

lix n chan are still on the slow sensual spectrum but both of them … whew. catch them in a Certain mood and they’re just. i cant explain it in any other way than they’re just absolutely insane. they both have this duality, wanting to worship your body but also just loving the way you scream their name when they start pounding you >.< god chan in particular it’s like he’s curved perfectly to fit you, always hits that sweet spot that makes your toes curl.

on team “it varies but either way they have you basically crying by the end of the night” we have seungmo n imie <333 similar to lix n chan it just depends on the day, what kind of mood you catch them in.

both of them are absolutely meticulous in the way they practically pick you apart, pure teases through and through. both of them are highkey bullies, will get you completely riled up with their words alone then constantly bring you right to the edge of heaven before dropping you just to hear that desperate whine.

i cant decide who would be meaner honestly 😖 seungmo speaks in such a way that makes you feel tiny and helpless underneath him, his stroke game isn’t the best in comparison to the others (not saying he’s bad) but he more than makes up for it with his words, fingers and tongue <33

and imie .. an all rounder really. bullies tf out of you, can be ruthless as hell about it, trades between slow deep thrusts and pounding your lights out to keep you on your toes. that being said he can get rlly overwhelmed by just how good you feel so he has to pace himself or you’re getting fucked through the floor.

n then on team, “absolutely amazing but still a wildcard” we have bby han <33 he’s got the duality, he can be anything you need him to be. he can fuck you nice and slow, kiss you real sweet and tell you how much he loves you. he can be absolutely filthy, pull your hair and leave bites and bruises everywhere; call you his pretty little cumdump. as expected of the ace, we love a multifaceted boy.

so to summarize with a ranking, best to “not as good” (i don’t wanna say worst that sounds bad :p)

changbin

lino n hyun tied for second imo

chan

han

jeongin

felix

seungmin

[anxious-witch]

Part two of this analysis aka Edwin, Charles and asexuality and why I personally like hcing Charles under the ace umbrella rather than Edwin.

Previous part was about why I don't see Edwin as ace and this one is about why I can see Charles as being on ace/ace spectrum.

So, you might be thinking, what the hell is he talking about? Charles clearly flirts with Crystal from the start and is attracted to her!

And to that, I say, yes....and no. He flirts with her from the start, absolutely! I'd even say he likes her immediately and think she is pretty. But given we aren't in his head, we can't really know exactly what he thinks. His reaction certainly isn't as extreme as the one Edwin has to the Cat King, which clearly showed instant sexual attraction.

So, the way I see it, I think he likes Crystal and very quickly develops a crush on her. But those are romantic feelings, not sexual ones. And we all know how intense Charles' feelings are, especially when it comes to devoting himself to someone.

"He literally agrees about being a nice addition to her body count! And he seems to know ghosts and human can have sex!" Yeah. Which is why A) I hc him as demisexual aka only feeling sexual attraction when he already has feelings for someone and B) as an ace person myself, believe me when I say that researching sex as a concept by an ace person is not uncommon. It's interesting part of human experience, whenever you wish that for yourself or not.

But I digress. Back to my point and that is, when does Charles seem to kiss (and if you believe they slept together after that one scene)? When one or both of them are in need of comfort.

We know Charles is physically affectionate person in general, so while I understand the whole thing was muddled with him and Crystal, I do find it odd he never kissed her due to being excited, or relieved. It would be so very in character for him and yet??? We see them kiss, if I remember correctly, after Charles has his breakdown over not being able to stop anything or after the Devlin's house? I mixed up those two in my head but regardless-it's a form of comfort. You know how a lot of ace people who like sex describe why they like it? Because it makes them feel closer to their partner, because yes, the sex itself is enjoyable, but there is no need for it, no attraction to spur it on. But when you care about the person, you want to make them feel good and you want to feel closer to them.

So for Charles, who constantly craves positive validation, especially through touch? I feel like he'd be either sex positive ace or as I mentioned earlier, demisexual. He doesn't seem spurred by it by attraction.

Hell, after Crystal has a nightmare, what is his first instinct? To kiss her. Because he feels helpless with how to help her other than get her closer to him! But , no offense to Crystal, I find it a bit difficult to believe Charles looked at her in that moment, traumatized by the nightmare and thought "god you look so hot right now I have to kiss you".

And again, we see this repeated when Crystal is about to leave for London and she kisses him goodbye. They never kiss as a consequence of something happy. Which yes, can definitely be contributed to the general narrative of that relationship likely being there as more of a comfort but still.

When we talk about headcanon sphere, because I don't pretend like the writers planned on making Charles ace coded, I think it would make sense.

Also why he doesn't clock Edwin's meeting with the Cat King for what they are! He is suspicious, we could even say he is jealous, but up until Edwin doesn't bring up his feelings for Monty, Charles doesn't connect the two. Which I find odd. Charles doesn't seem surprised that Edwin is gay, so how did he not make a connection about the Cat King until that moment?

Unless he usually connects sex with romantic feelings! Of course, he knows other people sometimes don't but surely not Edwin? Surely Edwin would think like Charles and want to love someone before feeling any sort of attraction? Right? Right??

Wrong. You sir, give strong demi vibes.

No but in all seriousness, I feel like Charles being demi/ace doesn't have a lot of uncomfortable implications that Edwin does? And it doesn't play into the stereotypes either. Why not hc someone flirty and easygoing as ace for a change?

Not to mention that he can be flippant around sex because that's what's expected. We know Charles is not above putting up a front if it makes it easier for everyone around him. To feel accepted.

So he likes a girl. She is pretty and powerful and she alive. Of course he is attracted to her. It's natural. That's how attraction is meant to feel like. Right?

And especially with demi hc, I feel like that fits very well bc he is used to having to "convince" himself before he feels the attraction.

Another cool point I could see being raised is how, he thinks Edwin isn't interested in anyone for the longest time, so Charles in turn, fully turns out any possible romantic feelings for him. And in turn then, he never think he can be attracted to Edwin because he could be like oh! No romantic feelings? No attraction either. Cool!

But yeah. Again, just hcs in general, but if we are talking about making someone ace, I feel like Charles is a more logical than Edwin, personally

[twistedsocials]

Nothing prompted this but I wanted to share this cause idk if people still do this but I hate whenever someone calls Florid “abusive” or “bully x victim” because that’s simply not true at all. We need to remember, Floyd is canonically a violent character. In his PE Vignette, he literally threatened to squeeze Ace out of nowhere just for annoying him during one of his mood swings. In his labwear vignette, he’s seen threatening two students who got mad at him for bumping into them. And then there’s the panels from the Octavinelle manga and just that scene from Book 3 alone.

This is not to say he’s mindlessly violent ofc, but it’s not like he’s docile either. But when we look at him and Riddle’s interactions, it’s just simple teasing such as calling him short or stealing his books. This doesn’t really count as canon but the panels in the anthology manga of him calling Riddle “amazing” and I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) in one of the Halloween events, he noticed Riddle wasn’t eating as much and literally made him eat after he said “I’ve had enough calories for today” saying he knows Riddle likes sweets (I read that from the ship wiki so my info might be off so do correct me please). I’d say he’s nicer to Riddle than almost everyone that isn’t Jade or Azul. And I believe it’s implied that there’s some infatuation of some sorts with Riddle’s hair color as he’s mentioned how dull colors are underwater, and I believe it’s also mentioned in his beanfest vignette.

I’m just saying that if Floyd was actually bullying Riddle, it would not stop at book stealing or teasing. This is not to say Riddle is helpless at all either, Riddle can kick ass. He sent Floyd launching through the air on orientation (Beanfest vignette). So calling it bully x victim/abusive is really odd imo.

There’s also the idea that Riddle hates Floyd? He doesn’t seem to hate him at all?? I’d say it’s more like a small annoyance which can be resolved once they get to know each other more. I don’t know if the Stitch Event was canon but I think that was a prime example of them actually getting to know each other (again, ship wiki. I’m not that far into the game sorry T_T).

If I did get anything incorrect please do tell me ^_^! Btw this is not condemning people who don’t ship it, you ship what you ship!

[yuurei20]

Short translation from the second Twisted Wonderland novel: Meeting Azul (pt1)

“'Oh my, is that Jack Howl of Savanaclaw?’

Someone is calling out to the excited group of Yuuya, Ace, Deuce, Grim and Jack. Wearing a hat and carrying a black cane, he approaches the first-years. His mature-looking dorm uniform, a black tuxedo, means that he must belong to Octavinelle.

Housewarden and chairman of the tournament planning committee, Azul, smiles slyly at them from behind his glasses. Unlike other Octavinelle students, he has a grey coat draped over his shoulders.

With a casual wave of his hand, Azul glances at the watch that peeks out from within his sleeve.

‘Jack-san. I believe you were selected to participate in the tournament. The gates are to open any minute now. It would be best to return to the school, before things become crowded.’

‘Ah, sorry. I’ll go right now.’ Jack’s reply is prompt, and Azul gives him a gentle smile in response.

‘I look forward to seeing your performance in today’s games. Please do your best.’

'Thank you. I’ll be giving it my all.’ Jack bows deeply in response to the encouragement, then glances at Yuuya and the others.

‘Well then, guys. I’ll see you later.’ In reaction to the weight of his words, the group all nods in unison.

There is no telling what price there will be to pay if they fail to stop Leona today. They cannot afford to fail.

‘Yeah, let's do our best,’ Deuce says, holding up his fist. Jack’s gaze softens in relief.

All at once, Yuuya realizes: Jack is just as nervous as the rest of them. No matter how reliable he is, how determined he may be, he is still a newly-enrolled first-year student, just like them.

Unable to depend upon his housewarden or dormmates, he must have been feeling helpless for quite some time.

Jack’s persistence is his strength. Yuuya cannot help but admire the amazing mental fortitude that has enabled Jack to endure for this long.

‘We’re cheering for you. Let's all meet up afterwards,’ says Yuuya.

It is good that they have been able to speak together before the tournament—before anything that is about to happen.

Yuuya waves goodbye to Jack and suddenly Azul approaches, a friendly smile on his face.

‘Hello. Are you Yuu-san, of Ramshackle Dorm? And your partner, Grim-san.’

‘What’s with you, all of the sudden?’ Grim glares at Azul. ‘And he ain’t my partner—I’m the boss!’

'Oh, a thousand apologies. Grim-san, the boss,” Azul corrects himself immediately, without even a hint of turning Grim’s rudeness back upon him.

‘Looking close, it is clear that you emit an extraordinarily dignified aura. There is no mistake that you are, indeed, the boss.’

‘Eh? …hehe, you think? Well, s'fine as long as you’ve figured it out.’

Smiling at Grim’s sudden change in mood, Azul winks at Yuuya, as though to reassure him that he understands the situation perfectly.

Azul seems equal parts elegant and mischievous, Yuuya reflects."

[justyechan]

"I just want to love someone who calls me baby..." Pt.2

Warnings: Angst

Five days passed and you didn't know how to confront Ace. Or even if you should confront him.

Within all that time you had been avoiding him, avoiding his gaze, his caresses, his voice. He quickly realized it, at first he thought it was the accumulation of stress from your job that was the cause of your sudden indifference but little by little the fact that you didn't even want to talk to him began to bother him. He would definitely have a serious conversation with you.

Now you both were having dinner, the atmosphere in complete silence, only the sound of the cutlery clashing against the porcelain of the plates.

Your gaze was droopy, your eyes stalking a fixed point. You hurried to finish dinner, you just wanted to spend as little time as possible with your fiancé.

"Your engagement ring is missing."

You took the last bite and got up from the table, collecting what you had used.

"Thank you for the meal. I'm going to be-"

"Wait! Please..."

Your eyes connected after what seemed like eternities, again that horrible lump in your throat that screamed to be released. You fell in love again, everything about him was perfect, even his charming freckles made you feel like you were burning inside.

"Why did you suddenly become so distant? Please be honest with me."

You wanted to tell him that everything was fine and to forget your attitude, however the whole situation was hurting you so much that you simply couldn't hide it anymore.

"I- I just- You-"

You couldn't talk, you didn't want to cry either, but damn, how were you going to tell him everything that happened that night?

Without having time to react, Ace had wrapped you in his arms, a hug so real but so fake at the same time that it broke your heart.

And for the last time you wanted to kiss him.

As you sought comfort in the warmth of his lips your eyes once again shed tears. One after another, they didn't stop. You feel so helpless, so alone.

"Don't cry my love. I'm here for you."

"You said his name."

"What are you talking about?"

"You called me Sabo when we were making love."

The color drained from Ace's face, and he took a step back as if he'd been struck. He shook his head, unable to believe the big mistake he had made and the immense harm he had done to the person he loved the most.

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean to. I swear, for god's sake I- What are you doing?"

Your hand went to your right pocket pulling something out of it. With all the pain in your being you took the left hand of the man in front of you and gave him your engagement ring.

"No! Please listen to me!"

"I gave you everything of me, absolutely everything. I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you, seriously. The idea of ​​​​thinking that we could start a family, grow together and love each other until we're old kills me, but while my heart beat for you, yours beat for someone else. I can't stay here knowing that every moment we share could be tainted by his memory."

"It's not like that, it was never like that, please, I can't lose you."

You covered your mouth with your hand to silence the loud sobs you were letting out. You could see the panic and regret in Ace, his red face, swollen lips and anxious hands, both of you devastated. But there was no turning back.

"I need to leave."

You turned around and went to the door at a fast pace. You didn't want to see him anymore, you knew that one more second there would lead to your perdition. You knew that if you stayed there you would forgive him even if you didn't want to.

Ace was alarmed, if you passed that door he was sure he would lose you forever. He ran after you trying to catch up with you. As soon as you approached the door the man held your arms with his in a tight hug. His face was between your shoulder and your cheek, you could hear him crying and muttering nonsense.

"Don’t leave me. I—I’ll do anything. Just... don’t go. I love you ____"

And you broke.

You both fell to the ground on your knees. Ace turned you over, letting you cry into his chest, he kept his grip firm but also caressed your hair while leaving tears and kisses scattered on it.

"Why did you have to say his name? Why did you have to destroy me like that?"

"I'm so sorry."

Your attempt to move away was weak, all you did was slap his chest and tug on his shirt. Your body no longer had the energy to continue pushing, but you couldn't stay with him. Not anymore.

You took a deep breath and with your last strength you said:

"Please, let me go..."

Ace understood that he deserved everything that was happening to him, your eyes full of pain, how hard your heart was beating, he couldn't hurt you more. He undid his grip and, defeated on the ground, watched you leave.

THE END.

Thanks for reading, hope u enjoyed it TT

[beanghostprincess]

The heartbreaking thing about Yamace isn't really Yamato not being able to do anything about Ace's death, helpless and on his knees, and realizing he couldn't be free yet. Or Ace dying realizing he wasn't able to keep his promise. But the fact that it was the first time Yamato had ever felt real love and he will never be able to feel that again, his love for Ace remaining still forever because everything stopped that day for them. Ace gave him the gift of feeling so much love in one single night and Yamato spent years without being able to do anything with it.

[reeama-the-mage]

The difference between the tragedy of Edwin's and Charles' lives and deaths and what makes Charles' much more compelling to me is that Edwin never had anyone he could trust: he grew up with distant parents who i imagine he saw rarely and could not confide in, then he went to school and was immediately recognized as other in a way he had not fully realized of himself yet and was killed for it, and then comes hell and well who can u trust in hell? Certainly not the things that chase you until your legs ache, and even if your compatriots in the whole ordeal are as innocent as you, trapped in the same technicality, what is the good of trusting them, when they are just as helpless as you?

But Charles? Everyone Charles was supposed to trust betrayed him. His parents were close to him, atleast somewhat, atleast his father was around enough to get sick of hearing owner of a lonely heart, and his mother was around enough to watch his father beat him and be silently horrified and ultimately not do anything about it, maybe she stepped in once and we just never saw it, but I wouldn't bet on it, Charles' mom is 'quiet' that's her defining feature to Charles not protective or gentle just 'quiet', then Charles gets to school and he is popular he has friends! He has people who care for him (or should maybe, as long as he's good at sports like he's needed to be) and then he stands up for one person, because he has always wanted to be good and maybe he trusts himself to do it just this once and his friends kill him and his own actions signed the death warrant and he cannot even trust himself to do the right thing properly (it never got better and then you died)

And maybe, maybe Edwin does it too, with less intention to hurt, and with less knowledge but Charles and Edwin trust eachother maybe more than anything (maybe Charles would sooner slip away from earth's gravity than stop putting his trust in Edwin who he thinks is good and smart and brills and aces) and maybe Edwin still looks at Charles trying to protect him after Charles has had maybe the worst week of his existence and says "that was a bit...... extreme" and Edwin still promises Charles can tell him anything while hiding himself in a way that makes Charles feel untrustworthy

So yeah I'll never stop thinking about the tragedy of Charles Rowland actually 👍 think about him with me