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sou-ver-2-0 · 4 years ago

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I'm curious about your thoughts on the relevance of the Hades Incident to the Death Game. My one friend thinks that the survivor from it who wrote the journal organized it and is, in a way, trying to make Sara like the girl from it through the Death Game, which is there's such focus on her. Also, we discusses who's parallel wrote the journal: Sou's or Keiji's (since the girl=Sara, lost best friend during first vitim=Joe, Boy even younger=Gin). But I just wanna hear your thoughts on the incident

The Hades Incident, the Present Death Game, and the Role of the Man from the Memorandum

I think about the Hades Incident a lot! My thoughts are very similar to yours, Anon!

Like your friend, I have a feeling that this relationship between the Man from the Memorandum and his own High School Girl is at the heart of the Death Game.

Based on all the parallels we can draw between the past participants and the current participants, it feels like the present Death Game is an attempt to recreate the past Death Game. Assuming that the Man was the sole survivor of the past Death Game, the logical conclusion is that this recreation is his attempt to meet his beloved High School Girl again, likely by forging Sara Chidouin into her by putting her through the same trials.

The fact that all of the participants have been observed by Asu-Naro since birth also contributes to the theory that they were chosen because of their resemblance to past participants, or that they were even molded to fit the personalities of past participants.

I’m also on board with the theory that the Man is most likely Meister from Russian Roulette, since they share a similar color scheme. Meister is the first villain we meet, so it would be satisfying to bring him back as the main villain. Additionally, the Russian Roulette trial is Sara’s first step to becoming a leader, so it makes sense that the Man would want to witness it. Especially since he apparently missed Russian Roulette during the Hades Incident; he would be curious to see it with his own eyes this time.

Here are the most apparent parallel roles from the Past and Present Death Games:

“17-year-old School Girl”: Sara Chidouin

“Her Best Friend”: Joe Tazuna

“A Boy Even Younger Than Her”: Gin Ibushi

“The Man Whose Views Most Aligned with Hers”: Keiji Shinogi

“The Man from the Memorandum”: Shin Tsukimi

There are striking parallels between the Man from the Memorandum and Shin Tsukimi, but there are striking differences too. So I’d love to share a theory my friend and I have often discussed:

“The Man from the Memorandum” was first meant to be played by Original Sou Hiyori. Since Hiyori died, he was replaced by a “back-up”, Shin Tsukimi. This explains why the kidnappers would give Shin such an unusual First Trial. Shin’s First Trial fundamentally changed his personality to more closely resemble Original Sou. What if that personality change was by design?

My friend came up with this theory to explain Shin Tsukimi’s paradoxical position: he is technically a candidate qualified to win, and yet he has a zero percent chance of winning. He seems to exist as both a candidate and a non-candidate. What if—my friend suggested—Shin was originally a non-candidate, but his position was shifted to fill in Sou Hiyori’s candidacy?

Ever since they shared that theory with me, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head! It would certainly explain why Shin’s First Trial is so strange compared to the others.

The part of “The Man from the Memorandum” himself would have been an important role. Since the Man left his First Trial deciding to not trust anyone, it was likely an antagonistic role. Given this role’s difficulty and importance, could it be that Original Sou Hiyori was perhaps…trained for the part?

This also leads into my other theory that Original Sou could be Meister’s son. Original Sou was a unique candidate for the Death Game who seemed intimately involved in preparations from a young age. I’m assuming that he was about Shin Tsukimi’s age since they met in high school. While it would be scarier if Original Sou was an adult pretending to be a teenager in Shin’s school, I think it would be more compelling if he was simply the teenage son of a villain. It would go a long way to explain Original Sou’s strange dedication to Asu-Naro, in spite of him being a potential victim of the Death Game. It would also explain his uniquely serious reaction to the player trying to name him “Meister.”

It could also parallel Rio Ranger’s relationship with Gashu! There’s a moment when Shin and Sara wonder if Gashu hoped to make Rio Ranger his “successor,” but they decide that it ultimately doesn’t matter. Clearly, Rio Ranger’s life didn’t actually matter to Gashu; only the Death Game mattered to Gashu. What if this was meant to foreshadow the relationship between Meister and Midori? Personally, this is one of my favorite pet theories; it would make Original Sou a more complex character and explain some of his bizarre quirks.

Similarities between the Man and Shin

I’d like to talk some more why Shin fits the role of “The Man from the Memorandum” better than Keiji.

The first thing we learn about the Man is his confession, “In the first trial, I killed a person.” Obviously, this more directly parallels with Keiji who literally kills a person, while Shin only metaphorically kills himself. But the metaphorical suicide still counts as a parallel, since the narrative treats it so seriously. (However, I still consider this a potentially significant difference between the Man and Shin. I think it could be evidence that Original Sou would have been a better fit for the role, since Sou had a harsher personality than Shin.)

The role of “The Man Whose Views Most Aligned with Hers” can only be Keiji. Keiji is an adult man and Sara’s strongest ally. He is the voice of reason who helps Sara establish order in the group.

The roles of Keiji and Gin are still important. They are two of Sara’s closest allies. Their deaths would devastate her. And they even get to be mentioned in the book! So it’s not like Nankidai is ignoring Keiji’s significance.

The clearest and simplest parallel between the Man and Shin is that neither of them participates in Russian Roulette. Shin is even deliberately barred from participating! That’s significant! Meanwhile, Keiji is one of the most important voices in Russian Roulette so he needed to be there to help place trust in Sara.

I believe the Man’s role is an antagonistic role, since he wrote, “I would never trust others. That was what I decided.” This line fits Shin better than Keiji. Even though they are both cynical characters, Shin sets himself apart from the group, while Keiji makes himself indispensable to the group.

The relationship between the Man and the High School Girl is at the heart of the Past Death Game. Similarly, I think that the relationship between Shin and Sara is the beating heart of the Present Death Game. Their rivalry is the story’s most fundamental relationship that gives way to conflict and resolution. Even in the event that Shin dies, his presence is still felt in a major way through Kanna, Midori, and the Shin AI.

The game gives us an obvious visual parallel between the Man and Shin in the screenshot I pulled earlier. Notably, both Shin and the Man have slim frames and fluffy hair. However, the Man wears an expensive suit more similar to Midori, while Shin looks like he could have gotten his clothes while dumpster diving.

The wiki mentions another parallel, which is that both the Man and Shin change their views on the High School Girl after the Second Main Game. I agree that’s significant, although we can once again point to some obvious differences in how their views change…

Differences between the Man and Shin

Beyond the question of whether they killed someone in their First Trial, and beyond their taste in clothes, the most glaring difference between the Man and Shin is this:

The Man didn’t care about Kanna.

Not once in his Memorandum does the Man mention anyone resembling Kanna. If the Man took on an antagonistic role like I suspect, he might have acquired a minion like Kanna. However, he considers the Kanna role so insignificant that she doesn’t even merit a line. And since the Man became the victor of his Death Game, he was presumably willing to throw his minion under the bus like everyone else in order to survive. When the Man weeps at the end of his story, his tears aren’t for the loyal, vulnerable little girl; he cries for the brave High School Girl and the lost romantic relationship he desired with her.

If Shin wrote a memorandum about his experience in the Death Game, don’t you think he would have written words for Kanna? He cared so much for Kanna that he would have sacrificed himself for her.

Furthermore, while both the Man and Shin share an obsession with the High School Girl, the nature of their obsessions is different.

After the Second Main Game, the man writes that he felt that “I would be fine with my own death as long as she won it all.” That’s completely different from how Shin feels after the Second Main Game, whether Sara votes for him or Kanna.

If Sara chooses to kill Shin and save Kanna, Shin doesn’t think about Sara’s chances to “win” the Death Game at all. He’s thinking about how grateful he is that Sara—the strongest character—chose to protect the most vulnerable among them, the suicidal little girl. Shin is “fine with his own death,” but not because he wants Sara to win. He’s fine with his own death because he finally trusts Sara to make the most ethical decisions and to always protect the weak. He isn’t thinking about Sara’s life; he’s thinking about her will. He realizes that he should have trusted her from the beginning, because Shin and Emotion Sara share a commitment to protecting the vulnerable.

Likewise, if Sara chooses to kill Kanna and save Shin, Shin still isn’t thinking about anyone winning the Death Game. All he can think about is revenge. Logic Sara affirms Shin’s belief that the strong will always betray the weak. I believe that this Shin has also accepted his own future death, but he seems determined to take Miss Sara down with him, along with the Floor Masters and everyone in charge of the Death Game.

In both cases, Shin is thinking outside the box while the Man from the Memorandum could only think within the rules of the Death Game. Shin is principled in a way that the Man was not. This is another reason why I think Original Sou would have been a very different kind of antagonist than Shin, since Original Sou is presumably loyal to Asu-Naro. If I’m right, Original Sou would not be likely to think about breaking the Death Game or hoping for escape.

…

Those are my main thoughts on the Hades Incident! I could be completely wrong on some of these theories, but it sure is fun to think about. This has already gotten very long so I’ll end it here. Thank you for asking!

#yttd #your turn to die #kimi ga shine #your turn to die spoilers #sou hiyori #shin tsukimi #sou and kanna #sou and sara #mine #asks #meta #theories #hades incident #meister

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ais-for-alex · 4 years ago

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The Scars of Our Past: Ch3

Alrighty guys here is chapter 3 of Figure Skater Au

By the time Leo stumbled into his motel room, it felt like the bitter cold air had seeped into his very bones. The moment he passed the threshold, he let his skate bag slip from his shoulder and hit the floor with a thud. He then proceeded to fall face-first onto the bed, too exhausted to even change into a pair of sweats. His body ached from the cold and the brutal intensity of his first solo practice in Gryffindor.

Leo had been in the city for nearly a week, most of his days had been spent in group sessions where he met the other skaters also working under Madam Maxine. Today had been the first time he had worked one on one with her, honestly, it was the first time he had worked one on one with a figure skating coach at all.

Back in New Orleans, after the-

Well just after, Leo couldn’t bring himself to gear up and get back in the net but he also couldn’t bring himself to abandon the one place that soothed the hurt inside him. So instead, he stepped out onto the ice in a pair of figure skates, he damn near broke his ass the first time he tripped on the toe pick. From that day though Leo worked, he worked so hard to learn the ins and outs of the figure skating world; he worked until he could execute each jump, each spin perfectly. And so what if he was working to avoid the memories?

Leo entered his first contest as a bit of a joke, the owner of his local rink had told him to do it, so he did. Who was to think that he would actually win? And standing there in the center of the rink with people tossing flowers on the ice for him, Leo was hooked. From that point on Leo continued working, and while it still helped to block out the memories of- of that, this time he was working towards something. He spent countless hours in the rink, in dance studios, and researching a coach that would take him on. That’s how he found himself here in Gryffindor, laying face first on a musty motel bed.

Leo groaned at the soreness in his body; if this is how he felt after just his first week here, he was a bit scared to think about what the future would hold.

The only highlight of his day had been meeting them; Finn and Logan. The image of their faces seemed to have been etched under his eyelids because no matter what he did he couldn’t seem to push them away. Leo sighed and rolled onto his back, he reached down to fish his phone from his pocket and opened the search. Logan had mentioned they had been there for practice, Leo knew for a fact that they weren’t figure skaters, so that really only left one other option.

Leo’s fingers hesitated for just a moment before typing Gryffindor Lions Finn and Logan into his phone. Almost instantly, information popped up, press photos of them in their game day suits, gifs of them slamming each other into the boards after a goal. Scrolling down just a bit he clicked open the wiki article.

Finn O’Hara, age 23, was born and raised in New York and was drafted to the Gryffindor Lions in 2017. O’Hara graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English Language Arts and Creative Writing. He gained prestige playing on the Harvard Collegiate hockey team, during the duration of his time at the school. O’Hara, number 17, currently plays right wing…

The article continued into Finn’s stats, Leo scrolled down farther and clicked on Logan’s name highlighted in blue.

Logan Tremblay age 22 joined the Gryffindor Lions the following year in 2018, seeming content to continue his career alongside long-time friend and teammate Finn O’Hara. Tremblay left his hometown of Rimouski, Quebec, Canada to attend Harvard University. Upon graduating with a Business degree, Tremblay joined the NHL. Number 10, also playing right wing…

Leo clicked out of the Wiki and opened Instagram, it didn’t take long before he was scrolling through countless pictures and videos of them, and gods were they gorgeous. The way Finn handled a puck, the strength behind Logan’s slap shot. Leo’s breath hitched each time he found a picture of them shirtless his eyes roving over the strength of their muscles.

What are you even doing to yourself? Leo thought, his thumb pausing its scroll on a picture of Logan in the locker room, half-dressed and a stick between his legs taping the blade.

You told yourself never again. Have you forgotten already? That thought sent a painful stab through Leo’s heart; he threw his phone into the corner of the room disgusted with himself that he dared to even entertain the idea that he was attracted to these men.

I’ll never forget, never. Leo’s eyes drifted up to the tacky popcorn ceiling of his motel room, he stared there trying to ignore the painful throbbing in his heart as hot tears leaked from the corner of his eyes.

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there; sniffling softly as wave after wave of hurt washed over him but eventually, Leo’s burning eyes slipped closed as he drifted into a restless sleep.

***

Leo startled awake to the sharp blaring sound of his alarm, he reached over to the nightstand to turn off the obnoxious sound only to realize his phone wasn’t there. Groaning, he vaguely remembered tossing it into the corner last night, Leo crawled out of bed cringing slightly at the uncomfortable feeling of the street clothes he slept in. Finally turning off the alarm, Leo thanked whatever miracle it was that his phone hadn’t died in the night.

Groaning again Leo made his way into the bathroom only to flinch at the sight of his red puffy face reflected back at him. He splashed himself with icy water until satisfied the redness was from the cold rather than his dried tear tracks.

Gods, you’re pathetic, he thought to himself as he brushed his teeth. Just stick to the plan. You’ve got this Knut. With a sigh, Leo made quick work of gathering his things to head to his morning ballet class, body still sore from practice the day before.

Leo slipped into the dance studio quietly and switched into his soft leather flats before claiming the far corner to begin stretching. This was always one of his favorite parts, the smooth methodical way he is able to loosen his body, the slight burn in his tired muscle as they began to warm, the grounding sensation of just moving in such purposeful ways. He found it soothing.

“Leo!” a posh male voice called out from the door of the studio, making Leo cringe just a bit and lean deeper into his stretch. The man quickly strode over to him and dropped to the floor to begin his own warm-up as he began chatting, “Did you see that triple axel I landed flawlessly in practice the other day?” he asked flipping his silky blond hair out of his face and shooting him a blindingly white smile.

Leo repressed a snort. If by flawless, he meant nearly fell on his ass then yes Leo had seen it. Instead, he opted to ignore the question entirely, “Good morning, Gilderoy.”

“You know if you want, I could teach you,” Gilderoy continued, “I know you haven’t been skating as long as most of us, so I wouldn’t mind doing a bit of extra practice with you.” Leo bit back the urge to say he had been skating his whole life.

“That’s ok Gil, I’m more of a solo practice kinda guy,” Leo replied instead, rolling his eyes when the other man wasn’t looking, then slid down into a full split. Leo breathed in deeply and leaned forward until his entire upper body was pressed flat to his front leg. He held it for a moment then slowly pulled his body upwards until he was bent backward over his back leg, his arms extended into the stretch.

“Leo, love, you don’t need to be self-conscious around me,” Gilderoy said in what Leo could only assume was meant to be a comforting voice, “I know it might be intimidating to learn from a World Championship finalist but I just want to help you.”

Leo bit his cheek in an attempt not to giggle at that statement, he had seen last year’s World Championship. The only reason Gilderoy had even made it on the podium was due to several skaters having to drop from the contest last minute due to injuries, and even then he only got bronze.

“Stop harassing him Gil,” another voice said just before Gilderoy let out an indignant squawk. Leo glanced up to see a tall redhead ruffling Gilderoy’s previously perfectly quaffed hair.

“Morning Leo,” he said with a wink.

“Morning Fab,” Leo grinned as he fought to keep down the image of a different redhead that wanted to take control of his thoughts. Though as he watched Fabian begin moving through his warm-ups he couldn't help but notice how very different they were. Whereas Fabian had the tall lean structure of a dancer, Finn was bulkier, his muscular build tapering down into a trim waist. Fabian’s hair burned a bright ginger with the sides shaved down short into an undercut; Finns auburn hair had looked so soft and fluffy, Leo wished he could have run his hands through it. And that right there was the biggest difference, Fabian was a friend, another skater under the guidance of his coach, but Finn… Finn made Leo’s stomach flip just to think about.

Jesus, you don’t even know the man, get your shit together. Leo’s thoughts were soon pulled away from redheads when Madam Maxine swept into the room to begin their practice.

Later, panting and sweaty from performing combination after combination, Leo switched back into his street shoes and was gathering his things when he heard his name.

“Leo!” Fabian called before plopping down next to him to change his own shoes, “Hey, so Benji and I are going to the Lions home game tomorrow, and we have a couple extra tickets if you wanna come?”

Leo looked up and blinked a bit thrown off by the offer, he hadn’t watched hockey in years. Not since… well not since it happened.

“Oh, um… I shouldn’t,” Leo stuttered out, trying to think up an excuse to decline the invitation.

“What! Why not? My brother and a couple other friends are coming too, it’ll be fun. Give you a reason to get out of your motel room that isn’t just practice.”

“That’s just it, I really should practice more. I don’t have the time to take the night off, I mean I haven’t been performing for nearly as long as y’all. I have a lot of ground to make up here.”

“Leo, babycheeks,” Fabian said dramatically, then casually wrapping his arm around Leo’s shoulders, “I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before or if you are just being willfully oblivious, but you skate better than about 90% of the people here and probably about 80% of the people in the industry. Are there some things you need to work on? Sure, but that goes for literally everyone. Your lack of performing experience is not a lack of talent or skill. So with that being said come out with us, enjoy the game, make some friends, practice will always be here when you get back.”

“That’s sweet of you to say Fab, but…”

“Nope! No buts! We are kidnapping you from your room, taking you to the game and you are going to have a great time. Then you will be all ‘Oh Fabian! Thank you so much for helping me get a social life! Oh! How ever can I repay you!’” Fabian said dramatically imitating Leo with a ridiculously over the top southern accent, “Then I will be like ‘it was my pleasure, but I would accept your undying gratitude if you teach me that glorious step sequence you did in practice the other day.’”

At this point, Leo’s eye roll got lost in his laughter as he pulled his bag onto his shoulder.

“Besides, if for no other reason, you can just spend the evening ogling hockey players.”

At that Leo’s mind flashed back to a pair of sparkling emerald eyes staring into him and soft curls fluffing out under a snapback, reluctantly he sighed and accepted he probably wasn’t getting out of this, “Alright fine, but you’re buying me a beer.”

“I think I can swing that,” Fabian said with a laugh, “and yes, you can come too Gil.”

Gilderoy had been lingering during their conversation just close enough to listen and make himself noticeable, at the sound of his name he instantly perked up, “Oh, that’s so flattering of you to invite me,” he said as if he hadn’t been fishing for an invitation, “Of course I’ll have to call and cancel a couple of plans though, with such short notice you know.”

Fabian simply rolled his eyes, very much used to Gilderoys dramatics, “You do that, and Leo, I’ll text you what time we’ll pick you up.”

“Sounds good, I’ll see ya then,” Leo said with a slight wave before he slipped out of the ballet studio and back out into the cold.

Read on AO3

Chapter 2 Chapter 4

#Sweater Weather #Coast To Coast #lumosinlove #Leo knut #Finn O’Hara #logan tremblay #gilderoy lockhart #writing #hockey #figure skating #The Scars of Our Past #intrusive thoughts

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

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TWDG: The Final Season | Character Discussion | 1/2

Part 1 | Part 2

“Everyone’s counting on me to step up. Be the leader they need me to be... I really want to be that for them.”

So.... let’s talk about Marlon.

I mean, let’s really talk about him. Ever since I started this blog, some common questions I get revolve around Marlon- “How do you feel about Marlon?” “Do you think he deserved a redemption arc?” “Why do you think he was sent to Ericson?” “In your opinion, is Marlon a bad person?” and many others.

Some ask with expectations that I’ll express a distaste or hatred for him, while others ask with a more sympathetic approach. If you know me, if you’ve been here for a while, then you know that I do indeed like Marlon as a character, and today I want to talk about him from my perspective while playing this game.

And with that comes a seemingly unnecessary disclaimer, but one I feel I need to add in order to make it abundantly clear: I will be discussing MY thoughts, experiences, and feelings about Marlon within TFS and give my take on his character. Because we’re not the same person, you may have a different opinion or perspective on his character, you may disagree with something I say, and that’s perfectly okay. You’re entitled to your opinion as I am mine, and I do encourage you to join in on the discussion and express your thoughts about Marlon, but I also want to let you know that you can do that without attacking me or anyone else.

Really, this is pretty much me looking at Marlon’s role and arc within TFS, discussing points of his character that I find interesting, exploring the why’s and how’s of his actions, maybe coming up with a couple theories as to why he was sent to Ericson, and basically giving a lot of personal opinions of him. It’s a discussion meant in good fun, that’s all I’m saying.

Before we dive right in, I do want to thank @pi-creates for providing me with most of the screenshots used in this. I appreciate the help! If you haven’t already, go check out Pi’s blog for some of the best screenshots and model swaps in the TWDG community! Thank you, thank you!

[First and foremost, y’all are sleeping on Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon and it really shows]

“Looks like I was announced as Marlon, the central focus in this first episode of The Walking Dead Season 4 coming in a few weeks. I've been playing this series since the beginning, and it was a real honor to be a part of the canon. I hope you enjoy!“ - Ray Chase’s Twitter account | July 26, 2018

I want to start this off with praising Marlon’s voice actor, Ray Chase, for doing such a perfect job of bringing Marlon’s character to life. Every emotion and infliction feels genuine, and there’s isn’t a single moment where I don’t “see” Marlon, y’know? I mean that in the sense that every line delivered is believable and doesn’t break my immersion with, “Oof, they really used that take?”

I know we throw praise upon Melissa, Tayla, Sterling, and Gideon [and for good reason, they’re all fantastic, too!] but even with them there are a couple of lines that I notice have a lack of flow or sound just a bit off. I’ve played TFS how many times? And not once have I had that issue with Ray Chase as Marlon, so bravo to this man. Credit where credit is due, his performance is damn near flawless.

Especially in the confrontation scene at the end of Done Running. I’ll get into that scene as a whole later, but just looking at the performance and the intense, impactful emotion brought to that scene, just..... *chef kiss*

Thank you, Ray Chase.

[What’s up with your haircut, Marlon?]

“Uh, I look cool... I say, I look cool.”

Lemme talk a little bit about Marlon’s design- I think he looks great.

I love the little details in the Ericson varsity jacket he wears... including the fact that it looks just a tad bit too snug on him. Like, either the boy doesn’t have another jacket or he’s grown so attached to this one that he’s not willing to admit that he’s outgrown it a bit.

I’ve had a lot of people point out that it’s nice to see a teenage character in these games with actual acne since most media pretends that acne just doesn’t exist, and I agree. We all know that if this were more realistic, then everyone would have terrible, greasy, dirty skin but... y’know.

And y’know what? I like the mullet! It’s unique! And I choose to believe it’s a representation of Marlon’s past with bad decisions he’s too stubborn to admit were bad decisions... I mean, he’s had it since he was a kid and hadn’t grown it out or cut it off [to our knowledge, I suppose] sooo... there’s that.

Or maybe he does actually think it looks badass. Either way.

Hell, my biggest complaint about Marlon’s design is that I wish they kept more to this concept art attire:

Because Marlon looks super good in this concept art. I love the headband with the mullet and his clothes actually look more comfortable... but like, it’s fine. He still looks great in the game, his little jacket’s cool, bringing back the mullet...its fine. I’m just sayin’. He looks great.

[Marlon’s introduction in TFS]

“It's our little kingdom. I just do what I can to keep the peace. Wasn't always like this, though. There used to be a lot of us, but...you know how it goes.”

Let’s talk about how Marlon’s introduced.

We get our first look at him after Clementine and AJ crash their car during the walker attack. A bunch of arrows come flying, hitting walkers attempting to get ahold of them, and as Clementine glances over she sees a figure pulling AJ out of the car. And even though you can tell it’s Marlon, this closer shot from Pi-

-100% confirms that it’s him. Not that you had any doubt, but still.

What’s interesting, though, is that while snooping around for some insight about Marlon from the writers/devs, wandering around reddit, replaying the game myself, and even glancing over the all-knowing wiki that’s never wrong ever, it seems agreed upon that Marlon wasn’t alone, despite no one else being specifically mentioned to have helped Clementine and AJ.

Which makes sense that that’d be the case, but I did come across a handful of people who are pretty adamant that he was alone, which is an interesting take, though I disagree.

I’m pretty sure most people do, too. I mean, Marlon says, “It's good we found you when we did. It wasn't easy getting you two out of that wreck, and walkers were on the way.” So I don’t even think that was the writers’ intention of it being solely Marlon who saved them.

What’s funny is I came across a post Instagram [I know, the most legitimate source for info and thoughtful opinions] that was surprisingly trying to redeem/defend Marlon rather than chastise him by claiming he’s a hero who saved Clementine and AJ by himself.

The thing is, they’re both unconscious after the wreck, so unless Marlon has super-human speed to grab AJ, zip around the car to grab Clementine, and then uses super-human strength to carry both of them AND their belongings all while killing any threatening walkers coming after them with his bow... I’m gonna have to press [X] Doubt.

Besides, I like the idea of it being vague. I like to think that was the intention. “Who was Marlon with? A hunting party! You fill in the blanks!” That sort of deal.

With everything that we know about Marlon and the safe-zone, it does lead to questions about why he and whoever felt they had to go outside it to see what was happening. Marlon points out in his conversation with Clementine that they “had to work fast. I don't know what would've happened if we hadn't seen the smoke...” And later Violet mentions an explosion, so I think it’s safe to say that they heard the explosion and followed the smoke to the location.

If you don’t know about the raiders and the twins [like it’s your first time playing] then you probably assume that Marlon and his group were being kind in rescuing them, which I don’t doubt but it does make you wonder about things from Marlon’s perspective, y’know?

This is one of those “shhh, don’t think, just go with it” moments. If I had to give a reason, I’d say that the group he was with didn’t think twice about checking it out and even if Marlon did protest, he didn’t have much choice but to follow. Then, seeing that it’s Clementine and AJ, I believe he genuinely wanted to save them.

“All alone with the kid? Not a pleasant thought. I've seen some rough scenes. But that one would've been up there.”

We get our second and more official introduction to Marlon after Clementine escapes her dorm and confronts Tenn... and it’s pretty fucking good. I mean, everything from him being hidden in the shadows with his bow drawn, to the clear concern yet sternness in his voice as he assures Clementine they’re not going to hurt her and to put the knife down, to his sympathetic apology for scaring her is just an A+.

One thing this season does exceptionally well is introducing its characters. Marlon has such a confident yet chill way about him when you first meet that it’s actually disheartening to think that in two hours he’s gonna be pulling a gun and MURDER....

Sigh.

Let’s not jump that far ahead yet. I’m not ready.

What I find appealing about this next part is Clementine’s reaction to seeing the inside of Ericson for the first time and how taken aback she seems by it. I also love how easy and comfortable it is to talk with Marlon as they’re walking through the yard even though we just met him.

I enjoy that you can tell he’s trying to get a better idea of who she is without pressuring or overwhelming her and doing his best not to offend. And even when Clementine questions if he doesn’t think she can handle herself, he’s decent about apologizing and explaining that’s not what he meant. But he’s also not afraid to be upfront about AJ’s behavior since they brought him here, either.

He does come off as annoyed when talking about AJ being a handful. We don’t know how long Clementine’s been passed out or how long they had to deal with AJ after he woke up, so who knows how much of a little terror AJ was before they either dumped him with Louis or Louis decided to take him to the music room to chill... where he then bit Ruby.

Anyway, the first impression I got of Marlon is that he’s genuinely friendly, trying to help Clementine and AJ even if AJ’s been a nuisance, and he’s confident in the system he has in place for them. He is rather forward and proud about being the school’s leader when first telling Clementine.

Having played through the whole season several times and knowing how Done Running ends, it’s interesting to look at Clementine’s first conversation with Marlon with that all knowing perspective- knowing what he did to the twins, knowing that Brody’s involved and that Marlon’s going to eventually kill her, going to try and frame Clementine for the murder, knowing that he was planning on giving Clementine and AJ away...

I can definitely look at this conversation with a more skeptical lens and say he’s more so trying to sell the idea that he has everything under control in this kingdom for kids and he’s a proper leader with a system in place despite being so young with no adults around. But hey, that’s the natural progression- Ericson is a perfectly chill safe haven and the Ericson crew get along swell... except no, the cracks slowly begin to surface as the episode goes on until all hell breaks loose with Marlon at the center.

[Rosie is best girl]

“You said dogs brought back bad memories. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so scared of them. But I swear, Rosie's not as frightening as she seems...See? She's harmless. She just needs to get to know you, is all. Here. I'll show you. Do you trust me? “

I’ll be completely honest- the thing that initially sold me on trusting Marlon the first time I ever played this episode was his relationship with Rosie.

If you know me, then you know that I love dogs. I have a pup named Piglet that I adore, I’ve grown up with dogs my whole life, and I have a huge appreciation and soft spot for animals. I’m one of those people that can’t stand others who are mean or cruel to harmless animals. It’s different if you’re hunting for food or if an animal attacks you and you’re defending yourself... but I’ve known people who have gone out of their way to hurt animals. I’m out in a country area with a lot of dangerous roads for wandering animals, and the amount of people I’ve driven with who’ll swerve to hit a squirrel, a cat, a dog because they enjoy it is too many. After those incidents, I cut those people out of my life. If you don’t have that love and appreciation in your heart, then I want nothing to do with you.

So when I saw that Rosie, while the school’s dog, is more portrayed to be Marlon’s dog above everyone else, I remember thinking to myself, “Okay, I trust him. He clearly loves this dog, wouldn’t mistreat her, and that’s a step in the right direction.”

While I wasn’t skeptical of him and his intentions before, it really was that natural relationship he held with Rosie that kind of sealed the deal for me- “I like Marlon! He’s probably going to die because he’s the leader and they never last but when it does happen, I’m gonna be super upset about it.”

And well, to be fair... I was super upset when he died, just more so than I originally planned because there was also that element of betrayal mixed into the pain, y’know?

Speaking of trust and Rosie- My second favorite Marlon scene is the office scene. But let’s talk about the Rosie bit specifically. After Tenn leaves and Rosie comes in, she scares Clementine and brings back those traumatic memories of when Sam attacked her.

Marlon comes in and cools the situation, and I love the way he talks to Clementine in this moment.

I love that he doesn’t immediately turn to Clementine like, “What’d you do?” but recognizes that she’s afraid of Rosie due to her previous experience, one that he remembers her mentioning. He also knows how well trained Rosie is to recognize scents and people, which explains why she’s behaving that way- she doesn’t know Clementine.

I feel like I’m using this word a lot, but Marlon’s approach to helping Clementine with her fear of dogs feels so genuine. He holds his hand out and waits for her to accept, and if she does, he walks Clementine through what to do, beginning Clementine’s bond with Rosie.

“Get down on her level. Let her get your scent. It's okay. She's not gonna hurt you.”

It’s incredibly sweet and humanizing to see Marlon like this.

The best part about this scene, though, is that you can reject Marlon’s offer and he won’t be upset.

“No problem. I'm not gonna pressure you.”

And he doesn’t. He doesn’t get annoyed, he doesn’t press, no questions asked, and he doesn’t say anything to make Clementine feel bad for her decision. He respects that she isn’t ready to get close with Rosie.

The reason I love this is because how many times have we made decisions in this game, big and small, and had the other characters get annoyed or try to guilt us? “Oh, you don’t want to bond with the dog? Rosie’s the best, everyone loves dogs! What’s wrong with you?” None of that here. That’s something I appreciate about Marlon in this moment.

It shows that when he wants to, he can listen and understand those around him... something he clearly struggles with when it comes to certain members of Ericson.

I’ll swing back around and talk about that entire scene in a bit, but one last thing about Rosie... can I just say how heart breaking it is to hear her whine at Marlon’s funeral? Solidifying that she was definitely Marlon’s dog more than anyone else’s? And the way Rosie lays on his grave several times in episode 2?

Oof.

[Ericson’s perception of Marlon prior to the final confrontation and after]

“...when the world went to shit, he bailed. All the other adults did. Left us behind to fend for ourselves... Now it's just us kids left.”

I want to touch on how the Ericson crew seem to view Marlon as a leader before and after the final confrontation.

When looking at and discussing a character, it’s important to not just focus solely on them. You can gather a lot about a character based on how others respond and perceive them.

Not everyone expresses something towards Marlon within Done Running. Y’know, like Omar or Ruby, for example. Though we do get a bit more from them after Marlon’s death, their perception of him is different now that they’ve learned what he’s done and witnessed his murder.

So we don’t know how Ruby, Omar, Willy or Mitch viewed his leadership prior to those events, y’know? It’s safe to assume that they’re fine following him as a leader since they’re background characters at this point and make no objections to his leadership at any time before the confrontation. But, after learning the truth, they turned against him.

Then things get complicated when Marlon’s murder traumatizes them.

What a mess.

But for this section, there are two characters I want to get into specifics about. They’re worth talking about because they further Marlon’s character, but they’re not the most important, y’know? Characters like Louis, Tenn, and Brody will get their own sections.

The one I find most interesting among side characters is Aasim. Right off the bat, you get a feel for what his relationship is like with Marlon:

Marlon: “How'd it go out there?”

Aasim: “How do you think it went?”

Brody: “Be nice, Aasim.”

Aasim: “The safe zone's nearly dry. I could barely find enough for tonight. We're gonna have to scout out further if we want food for the winter.”

Marlon: “We'll talk about it later.”

Aasim: “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-”

Marlon: “I said later, damn it!”

So... they’re not exactly besties. The game makes a clear point that Aasim is more vocal in his disagreements and concerns towards Marlon than the others. They even reiterate it when you talk with him later:

“He keeps pulling back the safe zone. We have fewer and fewer places to hunt. Which means we're gonna have fewer and fewer things to eat.”

No one else opposes Marlon like he does, not counting Brody in the basement since that’s a whole other thing and Brody will get an entire segment to herself later.

It’s pretty clear that this isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation, but because Marlon’s in a place of power, Aasim doesn’t have much choice but to go along with it. Because no one else is speaking up, he doesn’t have anyone to back him up, and you can tell he goes with it reluctantly. He also voices annoyances when it comes to how Marlon treats Louis if you go hunting.

Knowing this, you can infer that Marlon doesn’t want to hear what Aasim has to say, and he doesn’t appreciate someone questioning his leadership. When Aasim steps in Marlon’s path and says, “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-” what does Marlon do?

He shoves his shoulder into Aasim’s as he pushes past, and in a louder, commanding tone, replies, “I said later, damn it!” which leads to Aasim glaring after him... but he doesn’t pursue. Marlon has a hard time with someone like Aasim and his response is to shut him down rather than stop, listen to his concerns, and address them.

That’s something Marlon struggles with as a leader- control and listening. Control over his temper and anger, listening and addressing the concerns of the people he swears to protect.

The reason I bring this up is because Aasim is our first indication that the image Marlon was giving off previously isn’t as spotless as he wants us to believe. Aasim plants a seed of doubt, y’know? He gives an argument that the player can get behind.

“Yeah, why not extend the safe zone? If food is really as bad as you say it is, then what other choice is there? Just be extra cautious so no one gets hurt,” which can then lead to thinking, “Why is Marlon so insistent about the safe zone? Is he hiding something?”

Once that seed is there, it grows.

Now as for how Aasim’s view of Marlon changes during and after the confrontation, you can see that he’s one of the few that wants to hear Clementine’s side to things, and he steps forward after Louis/Violet intervenes.

Then after Marlon dies, Aasim is... well, he’s rather neutral? And I say that meaning he’s more in a middle ground between Louis and Violet, who are on extreme opposite ends. Aasim isn’t okay with Marlon’s death, nor is he okay with AJ killing him, but he can see that kicking Clementine and AJ out isn’t the best solution. Hence why he voted for them to stay.

You can see he’s still angry at Marlon for what he did during the funeral scene, but the game doesn’t care to show more beyond that. Which, in my opinion, was a missed opportunity on their part.

And because I’m me, I also want to add that this perfectly sets up the idea of Aasim taking over once Marlon died and the writers shot themselves in the foot for wasting him like that. Good job.

Now let’s talk about Violet. People love when I do that.

Marlon and Violet don’t interact too much prior to the confrontation. The most we see them together is during the card game, and they’re chill. Violet makes fun of his hair, he says he looks cool, they’re decent to each other, it’s all good. They’re on friendly terms.

Which I do find it interesting that she seems like she’s chill with Marlon, but she has such a hard time with Brody. Granted, that’s because she was supposed to go with them but asked Brody to cover her, and then when the twins died, she felt guilty. But you’d think that she’d also have some issues with Marlon, given that he was also there and, like Brody, unable to save them.

You could argue that because Violet and Brody were friends before it had a stronger effect, whereas she and Marlon weren’t ever that close, so it didn’t strike as bad, y’know?

Though this does kind of get explained later if you choose to stick with Violet through ep4. Well, sort of? A little? She tells you:

Violet: “...I remember how Marlon described it, what we were gonna turn Ericson into. It's not the way any of us pictured it.”

Clementine: “How did you picture it?”

Violet: “I guess I couldn't. I just listened to what Marlon said. How it would be a home, a real one. But I couldn't really wrap my head around it.”

And when she talks about people who cared about her that she pushed away, she does list Marlon as one of those people, which is super interesting given all the loathing she’s done towards him after the truth came out.

It could be that in the past, she saw Marlon as the leader and why would he lie? He’s the one who stepped up, promised that they’d made Ericson into something special, into a brand new home... what reason does she have to distrust him?

So when she finds out the truth... well, that betrayal completely shatters everything she has for Marlon, going as far as for her to believe that AJ was justified in what he did and shit talking Marlon in front of his mourning best friend.

So her reaction to Marlon after this makes sense, but what does this tell us about Marlon himself?

Again, depending on how you view him, you can look at this idea of Marlon being kind to Violet and them being on friendly terms after what happened to the twins a few different ways- Marlon was manipulating Violet solely for his sake, or Marlon felt guilty that something he did hurt her this bad and tried to make Violet feel better, or both.

I think it was both. After the twins died, we all know the amount of guilt Marlon carried with him, so having to be confronted with the fallout of that in the form of someone like Violet... he had to be careful. I don’t doubt that he cared about Violet or that he tried to reach out to her, but he also had to protect himself for the sake of maintaining his leadership and control of Ericson. So, of course, he had to lie to her which manipulated her feelings about him and the situation.

I believe Violet recognized it, too. When she says they should’ve asked more questions about what happened, I think that’s her being more pissed with herself for trusting Marlon and not questioning him further, for taking his word for it.

I’ve come across theories suggesting that Marlon actually manipulated Violet into placing blame onto Brody rather than him, which is why she is on friendly terms with him but not so much Brody. And that’s a valid interpretation. There isn’t any solid evidence of this within the game to suggest either way, but I can definitely see how someone would come to that conclusion. Especially after the confrontation.

Now let’s touch on Violet if you appeal to her, because Marlon does something that makes me go “Hmmmm...”

Clementine, when she appeals to Violet, say, “Violet you have to believe me.”

To which, Marlon immediately steps in and says, “You don't. You met her, like, two days ago!”

He doesn’t even give her a chance to speak.

With Louis, he’s so overly confident that he has him completely wrapped around his finger that he doesn’t feel the need to say anything. He feels he has control over Louis. But with Violet, he feels his control might not be as strong, so he needs to remind her that she just met Clementine, whereas she’s known him for years- something he uses against the whole group.

And when Clementine tries to talk to her, Marlon takes a low blow and it’s super shitty.

“Don't let her get in your head. Hey, what would Minnie want you to do? She was my friend, too. So was Brody.”

He’s desperate to crawl out of the grave this situation has put him in that he’s willing to go this low, doing everything he can to make sure Violet doubts Clementine... and y’know, whose to say this is the first time Marlon is using Minnie to manipulate her? And when it doesn’t work, he gets frustrated like “Violet being difficult. Why am I not surprised?” which could suggest that it hasn’t always worked.

It goes back to what I was saying- Marlon tried to get close to Violet and she never let him. She was difficult to be around after the twins died due to her grief and Marlon struggled with that.

When he finally comes clean, this is where the real shift happens with him and Violet. You can see the hatred burning on her face every time the camera pans over to her now that she’s felt betrayed by him and his actions.

Right before Marlon dies, if you choose to say nothing, Violet will step forward and start saying that he doesn’t get to stay, but gets cut off when AJ shoots him.

All in all, Violet is a big case against Marlon and a showcase of how far his manipulation as gone within Ericson.

[Marlon’s office and foreshadowing of motivations]

“Whenever someone goes outside the safe zone, bad shit happens. People die or disappear. I just... I could really use the help, Clementine. Taking care of these kids, it's not easy. I'm worried that if I don't figure something out, if...if I don't fix our food situation... I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us.”

Swinging back around, let’s talk about the rest of the scene in the office.

First off- it’s implied that Marlon uses the office as a bedroom given the mattress on the floor and some of his personal belongs laying about. Like the photo he keeps of him and Louis.

The bed isn’t for Rosie, we assume, since we later see her sleeping outside while chained up. This might be just because they wanted Rosie present for the confrontation scene but didn’t want her loose, so they put her outside when you’d think that she’d sleep inside with everyone else.

Or, maybe she just prefers to be outside when the weather’s nice, or they keep her as a guard in case something were to happen, that way she can alarm them.

Anyway, why does Marlon potentially sleep in his office rather than in a dorm? Or does he have a dorm that he’ll sleep in, but keeps the mattress there just in case?

Well, a show of authority, for one. Even if he does keep a dorm room, it’s likely that he made the office his own as a way to be like “The headmaster is gone, this is my office now. I’m in charge.”

Which makes sense.

And when you think about what Louis tells us about Marlon having all these sleepless nights and tough calls, it’s not hard to imagine him spending late nights in his chair going over different plans and stressing over the food situation/safe zone, as well as letting the guilt of the twins weigh on him to the point were he’s too exhausted to even leave.

Moving on to the actual conversation between him and Clementine. He does show a vulnerable side to her, which I like. He can feel the pressure he’s under and sense the loss he’s suffered. But...like before, looking at this knowing what I know, it’s not hard to see certain things in a different light opposed to what you’d see as a new player.

What’s interesting, though, is while I do enjoy this conversation and the bits of insight it gives to Marlon’s character, there is this subtle, slightly off undertone of the whole scene after the Rosie bit.

At this point, we’ve talked with Aasim and he’s planted the seed of doubt.

We’ve heard the story about the twins. Violet came and talked to us about it, we could visit their graves and learn that they died at this time last year. Anyone who has played any game or heard any story can pick up on that the twins are important. They’re not going to use these girls as some throw away lines. They’re going to come back one way or another.

We’re literally living in their dorm. The dorm that Marlon put us in. They’re heavily connected to Tenn and Violet, two important characters I previously discussed. Then, Violet comes barging into our room and talks about them some more.

It makes the gears turn, y’know?

And with Marlon being very insistent that they stay in the safe zone, it’s not hard to question the story about the twins. I went through and skimmed a couple play throughs on youtube to this scene and a lot of them were theorizing that the twins weren’t actually dead or something wasn’t right, some cracks are starting to show. Why else bring it up? Marlon being the one to push the dangers of the safe zone and everything with Aasim... it’s not hard to pick up that he might be hiding something.

The thing I find fascinating about people’s perception of Marlon is how they interpret his motivations when it comes to Clementine and AJ, and that can be tracked back to this scene.

We all know that he’s planning on giving them to the raiders if they come back. It’s a hard fact. Brody warned us before she died, and dialogue during the basement scene backs it up.

But the question I’m curious about is... when did this motivation begin?

When did Marlon decide that he would give Clementine and AJ to the raiders if they ever came back?

Because the text doesn’t tell us anything until Brody’s death, I feel like we all have a different moment where we believe that became Marlon’s secret motive, y’know?

In all my digging, I’ve read posts about this idea, people giving their thoughts on when they think Marlon secretly turned on us, or if he was ever really on our side.

One has people theorizing that Marlon saved Clementine and AJ with the intention of giving them away from the beginning.

So he saw taking these two in and earning their trust as an opportunity to save everyone else at the school [the people he cares about] rather than have to sacrifice anyone else like they did with the twins. Clementine and AJ were just a means to an end if the raiders came back.

Which is a rather sinister way to look at it and puts quite a negative spin on Marlon’s actions towards them - like how he’s willing to let them stay at the school not out of kindness but out of bad intentions, and every kind thing he ever did was to win over their trust so he could lure them out into the woods and do a trade if necessary.

The line “Take this. I don't want you gettin' lost.” gets pointed at a lot due to how Marlon says it, the infliction of it, and it’s theorized that the hidden meaning behind it is “Take this, if you get lost then I can’t make the trade.”

Same thing with “Just remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you to come back home in one piece.”

Which isn’t a wrong interpretation of this. You can totally look at this conversation between Marlon and Clementine as Marlon subtly foreshadowing his turn, or betrayal, at the end of the episode.

“...It's how we've kept ourselves from unwanted attention for so long. Well... For the most part, anyway.”

“I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us. Sorry. I'm just... There's a lot of pressure.”

“What, did you think I was gonna throw you out?“

Then there are the middle ground people who believe Marlon didn’t save Clementine and AJ with that intention in mind, but it started to appear as an option to him either a bit before or during the office scene. Y’know, it came as a passing thought that ended up lingering until he acknowledged it as a solution to a potential problem.

Again, pointing at the dialogue from before- him suggesting that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his community alive... just like he did before.

And while he gets along with Clementine and AJ [or as some would suggest, he appears to be friendly], they’re not his family. He isn’t close to them the same way he is the rest of the school. and if he has to give anyone away, it’s going to be them, whether he wants to or not.

Marlon didn’t want to give Sophie and Minerva away, and he’s carried that with him up until this point. We see it manifest to a breaking point that lead to Brody’s death and, eventually, his own.

Finally, there are the people who believe that the idea of giving Clementine and AJ away didn’t occur to him until after the incident with Abel. After Brody panicked and told him about getting robbed, then Clementine claiming they met a man with different colored eyes who wanted food, and the realization that the raiders could be back.

This is where I personally stand when it comes to this idea. I believe that Marlon didn’t decide on this until he heard about Abel, and solidified it during the fight with Brody down in the basement.

But what about the dialogue in this scene that potentially has double meanings? Well, I believe that’s the writers suggesting Marlon’s turn and motivations rather than Marlon himself, if that makes sense. Like I said before, you could take nearly everything Marlon says as some sort of foreshadowing or suggestion of what happened to the twins, what his true intentions are with Clementine and AJ, and what will happen to him at the end of the episode.

That’s the thing- Marlon doesn’t ever go on a mustache-twirling monologue about how he knew he could use Clementine and AJ as trade if the raiders came back and that’s the real reason why he saved them, nor do we see him come up with the idea on the spot.

Hell, Marlon never admits to the player that he was going to do that. The most he says is, “Shut your fucking mouth! I made the right call. I saved the lives of everyone in this fucking school! If they came back... I'd do it again!”

Brody is the one who told us everything, and every time Clementine throws it back in his face, he tells her to shut up and threatens her with the gun.

But from what I’ve tried to gather about what Marlon and Brody talk about in the basement before Clementine gets down there...

Marlon: “Why can't you just do what I ask you to do?”

Brody: “Because we caused all this, and now we have to deal with it!”

Marlon: “I am dealing with it!”

Brody: “By tradin' more of us away? That's not fixin' the problem, that's runnin' away from it!”

[I’ll come back to this full conversation later when I go over the basement scene by itself. It gets pretty dark.]

Which.... yeah. So, I’m not trying to say Brody was lying or anything just because Marlon never flat out admitted it to us the player, I’m just saying that we don’t know for sure when he made up his mind about this since the game never gives a clear suggestion for the sake of his dramatic turn from friend to antagonist.

Did he have this idea from the start or did he come up with it during this conversation?

We don’t know, but it’s interesting to look at the different views surrounding this question and how it applies to Marlon’s character. Because yeah, if you truly believe that Marlon had this intention from the start, it makes all of his actions in this episode pretty scummy. And again, that’s not wrong because there isn’t an answer here.

I choose to believe that maybe the idea came as an unwanted thought in the beginning, but manifested into something real when he heard about Abel. He shared his plan with Brody, who didn’t want to go along with it.

And y’know what... let’s finally get into the basement scene and Brody...

Continued in Part 2/2

#twdg marlon #twdg character discussion #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg louis #twdg violet #twdg aasim #twdg ruby #twdg mitch #twdg willy #twdg omar #twdg brody #twdg tenn #twdg sophie #twdg minerva #marlon character discussion #twdg #long post

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inkdemonapologist · 4 years ago

Note

What's going on with Wally Franks in your AU? I had trouble following the game, and the wiki seems to say that he quit the studio and retired without ever learning its darkest secrets, but I think you have him as one of the escapees (turned into a Boris?)

Okay I have a lot of rambling thoughts about the ending of the game if youre curious but I'll stick those at the end. As far as Escape AU goes:

Yes, Wally was a Boris clone! He did not fully get outta there; he's the murdered Boris at the very beginning of the game. Dying doesn't really seem to stick for ink creatures in the Studio, so he was able to come back -- but since he spent most of his time in the Studio [glados voice] really busy being dead, he doesn't have the years of trying to survive an inky hell that the others have; he just has that one really bad time where he was turned into a cartoon and murdered, and some weird and probably equally upsetting memories of briefly waking up from death. He never wandered the studio and was never sent to the puddles, so he has some real bad nightmares/insomnia now but is otherwise doing okay in his day-to-day life, and has no trouble speaking. He's probably able to hold down a job before too long!

Mostly Wally is there because I wanted Wally to be there, and I haven't fully sorted out the LORE for him in Escape AU (I don’t know if he never left or if he got lured back), but if you're interested in trying to sort out some of the canon associated:

So basically what I've gathered as someone who is obsessed with bendy and has watched all the cutscenes and all that but hasn't actually played the game and was real late to the fandom, TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT:

- The game leaves things a bit ambiguous

- There were, in the original game, a lot of hints that the Boris you befriend in the Studio is Wally. (He’s sorta handy, kinda cowardly, likes food -- and we get an audiolog dedicated specifically to letting us know that Wally will straight up steal your cake off your desk; they’d be a good match!) There's several reasons it makes a kind of narrative sense and it was the prevailing theory before DCTL came out, but it was never confirmed one way or another.

- Two smaller things I’ve seen connecting Wally to Boris: the wrench you pull out of a Boris' chest, and the "Who's Laughing Now" written on the wall beside him being a really neat hint once you get to the audiolog where Wally complains that everyone is acting too serious for a cartoon studio and should crack a smile now and again. (this is most of why I went for the dead Boris as Wally)

- in Dreams Come To Life, Buddy is (spoilers) transformed into a Boris at the end, and it's commented on how perfect he is, implying he may be the "perfect Boris" you befriend in the game. The Boris in Boris and the Dark Survival is referred to outside the game as "Buddy Boris" and, since he has a safehouse, there's an implication that BatDS bridges the gap between DCTL and BatIM. The fact that Henry keeps affectionately referring to Boris as "buddy" becomes a fun retroactive “coincidence,” but also all the various implications that Wally sure would have made a good Boris now go nowhere. It ended up feeling like a retcon.

- in the end of the game you can see letters to Joey from Allison and Wally, implying they (and Tom) are alive and well and continued their lives after the Studio shut down, which is interesting since, uh, Allison and Tom are also now toons???

- there's a popular interpretation (called the Story Theory I think?) which I encountered in Adobe-Outdesign's analysis, that what this apparent contradiction means is that the "sketch dimension" (the cartoony world where most of the game takes place) is actually a story created by Joey using the Ink Machine, populated with alternate/fictional versions of the employees of the studio. So the Real Allison left, but in this story Joey’s writing, she didn’t. Henry-the-protagonist might not be the real Henry Stein; instead he's just one of Joey's characters, based on his IRL friend. Etcetera! So in real life, Wally retired, as his letter indicates. But those fictional versions are still real people, real consciouses, because the real ink machine that Joey really has hidden in his apartment is bringing Joey's story to life. I like the interpretation a lot as a take that fits the game well but also I have no idea where DCTL fits in this. IS DCTL PART OF JOEY'S STORY OR DID ALL OF THAT REALLY HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE??? IF THERE'S A LOOP IN DCTL (as slightly implied by Dot) ITS A STORY RIGHT??? WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS FRANCHISE

- the alternative interpretation to this is that somehow Allison and Tom (at least, if not others) got lured back to the Studio after she sent her letter -- after all, she's still keeping in touch. I tend to assume this is what’s going on in most fanfiction and AUs that have any possibility of escape, since you’d presumably want the employees to actually be themselves rather than Joey Drew's Weird Friendfiction brought to life. The impression I've gotten in this version is that sending them to the Bendy Dimension gives Joey control over the script there, so instead of creating people for his fictional retelling, he's forced his actual employees to play out this story, but I don't know that I've seen this fully spelled out

SO THATS, UH, SOME OF THE RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFO I THINK

Before running into the much more coherent Story Theory, my own attempts to make sense of the ending went in the exact opposite direction; that rather than Joey's apartment being a brief step out of the Story and into the Real World, that Joey's apartment is something of a dream, where Henry and Joey, of course, imagine the world that they know, even if they're not actually in it anymore.

I also REALLY liked the theories linking Joey to Bendy -- Bendy may have been created without a soul, but that doesn't mean one can't get, y'know, shoved in there... or that maybe a soul could be possibly stolen and absorbed by a creature who lacks one........ yknow..... it could happen. I like the idea that Ink Bendy's shifts in behaviour towards Henry reflect Joey's conflicted feelings towards his old friend (which is still there in the Story Theory version, it's just symbolic instead of literal).

So you defeat Beast Bendy and suddenly Joey is there, finally, in a place that looks like the real world but certainly doesn't feel real. The calendar in Joey's apartment cycles through the month of August but never moves past it, and I can't shake the idea that Joey could be just as trapped in the cycle as Henry, also never quite deviating from his own script, only briefly appearing in a memory of his own apartment when Henry releases his soul from the demon he created.

I don't know that this could ever shake out enough to be any sort of Actual Theory, but in my brain it's still kind of the background of Escape AU because it's a premise that makes it possible for the employees to actually be themselves. So, the cartoon studio is real, but the things that show up in Joey's apartment might be hit or miss as to whether they're a memory from Joey's real apartment, or if they're imagined wishful thinking on Joey's part.

#i know you have questions you always do #we all write on the walls #IM SORRY FOR SO MANY WORDS IM INCAPABLE OF BEING SUCCINCT #Escape AU #wally franks #i am not 100% sure i know what im talking about but that's okay

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sazandorable · 4 years ago

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how did you find the Choice Of script? did you look into anything else, like Twine or Inky before settling on it? as someone interested in these kind of games, i'm v interested in your thoughts given the scope of what you pulled off here. pass on ur lessons to the plebs pls. (when you have time and spoons)

(Context: this is about the Magnus Archives dating sim game I made, and ChoiceScript is the free-to-use programming language used for the ChoiceOf games)

how i found it:

So the dumb story, as I recall it, is that years ago I stumbled on the Choice of the Dragon dragon-simulator, and that was just exactly my jam xD (Another big one published since then is Choice of the Cat!). And then I found out that the code was open for use and that there was an active community of casual game-makers, and it sounded really fun, and I tried my hand at making a couple little games over the years (only really finished one silly one, though, as a gift for a friend).

why that one:

I have been dabbling in making small games, mostly for myself or for friends, for a while; I’d attempted Ren’Py back in the days, of course, but I was just a teen and didn’t have enough coding knowledge at the time (nor enough artistic or writing skill) and was very confused, so it’s likely that this bad old first experience played a role in scaring me away from that software (though I still have it installed...). I also hyperfixated on RPGMaker for a month or two, a couple years ago, but nothing has come out of that yet either.

The biggest reason why I latched on to CS was the fact that unlike Ren’Py or RPGMaker, it was conceived for text-only games (though you can insert pictures). It’s perfectly possible to get really complex and long and do it all yourself even without any visual artistic skill, it’s all just writing!

I don’t know of Inky, but I have played quite a few games made with Twine, though I haven’t tried making anything in it. I know it’s very popular because it’s free, accessible and easy to pick up, and there’s lots of little indie games about queerness or mental illness floating around, I just... never quite got it even while playing it (I don’t see the point of hiding text?). It obviously has a lot of potential and I’ve seen interesting stuff, but it just didn’t really grab me as something I wanted to try out. I’m not sure how well it would suit for a dating sim? Branching, for sure, but I’ve only seen very few games actually make use of variables?

Meanwhile Owen makes their CYOA TMA games in Google Slides which is absolutely fascinating and has lots of very fun mechanics too (though you couldn’t pay me to actually sit down and try doing that, holy heck)

Anyway, I mostly used CS this time because I already had experience with it, and had had a lot of fun. So I was already familiar with what that would entail and what options I had to make the gameplay interesting, and whenever I daydreamed about making a Magnus dating sim it was the obvious choice I had in mind as something I, personally, could reasonably achieve on my own in a few months.

how to:

So CS is completely free for use. There is a wiki that details every function rather clearly, and forums with a reasonably active community. And critically, there is the CSIDE application which makes writing and testing and debugging so much easier and streamlined (though it’s not necessary and I started out with just a text editor and manual playtesting. that was not fun tho). Finally, Dashingdon is a platform one dude set up to host in-progress and non-official games.

A finished game consists of just a folder with .txt files (plus illustrations if you wish), and you upload that to Dashingdon (or host it somewhere else) and you get a link and you’re good to go! Dashingdon even handles the save file plug-in script.

I have found it all extremely easy to use, although the start always takes some getting used to and, as for a lot of things, I recommend making a trash first game just to explore what you can do (and playing other games for examples), before you start on your real project with a bad basis.

It DOES require the basic understanding of how coding and algorithms work, but the language itself is extremely simple, the syntax is all pretty transparent, and CSIDE makes debugging very easy too. All in all it is intended to be usable by people who are writers first and not programmers, and imo it achieves that.

For fun, here’s what (a neat-ish-looking part of) my project looks like in CSIDE:

Most of my bugs are "i can't read" or "ah i forgot to edit this copypasted line" issues.

in conclusion:

All in all, ChoiceScript might not be the best suited ‘platform’ for every sort of game (Twine seems good too, and a classic dating sim in Ren’Py with character sprites and emotes and CGs would obviously be hilarious), but I definitely recommend CS to anyone passingly interested in choice/branching games and telling interactive stories.

I think it’s a good and accessible starting place especially for beginners, but it’s a robust tool for experienced game-makers too, and I definitely personally really like it, even after a few years of messing around with it.

/o/

#callmearcturus #tma dating sim #cyoa #choicescript #choiceof games #choice of games #dating sims #the archives sim #videogames

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cc-tinslebee · 4 years ago

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Hey!! Real quick -- thank you @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends for the tag!!

It's the year 2021 and you're obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?

I wasn’t not expecting this in the slightest— I decided to watch Cobra Kai on a whim in January while my mom and I were dying my hair, and somehow it became my second hyperfixation of the year?? Wack??

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?

Actually, my first introduction to the Karate Kid was the 2010 film with Jaden Smith. It came out when I was younger, so I used to watch it religiously. Then after watching The Outsiders in eighth grade, my dad convinced me to watch the first two original Karate Kid movies before they were kicked off Netflix. Lowkey, the entire time, I was like, “Johnny Cade??” I still haven’t seen the third film because Netflix DVD is homophobic (/j), but I didn’t really get into it until Cobra Kai.

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:

🎶Demetri and Eli, binary booooyfrieeends brooootheeers.🎶 You already know. Somehow relate to both of them a little too much— also Moon!! My beloved!!

Favorite ship:

Elimetri, MoonPiper, and Samiguel all have my heart 🥺

Underrated character:

*takes out a list that hits the floor and keeps rolling* Okay so—

I’m just playing— for underrated-underrated characters, Moon because she’s overshadowed by Yasmine and misogynists, definitely Chris because he’s a legend, and Bert/Nate because the wiki always says ‘some kid’ in reference to them which is like ://

But Moon and Demetri are 100% my biggest underrated-even-though-they’re-a-somewhat-big-character characters. Moon is not a villain and Demetri is not the worst, thank you very much. *points at Reddit and The Cheat Sheet* y’all are just misogynistic and neurotypical.

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):

MoonPiper is kinda underrated, I think? A good chunk of the fandom is adamant on it, which is great, but in the lense of the show, not so much right now. Also torisha kinda! My girls!!

And Shawbby!! Let Robby have a bond outside of this karate nonesense!! It’s what he deserves!!

We’re not gonna talk about my season one-exclusive Moon/Eli/Demetri ship, we’ve already been over this—

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?

Sweep the leg, babey!! I’m definitely on the side of @demetriandelibinaryboyfriends about how it’s genuinely amazing how Demetri just took the move Eli used against him and ran with it. Yes, he is petty, and we love him for it. Me too tbh

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?

Dork man TKK-era Daniel had the best fashion sense tho

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver:

At first, I was going to say I couldn’t think of anyone, but now!! Bring back my boy Freddy Fernandez!! He totally disappeared after the beginning of the first film, and I wanna see him again!! Also Ali’s friend Susan!

Scene that lives in your head rent-free:

Any Moon & Demetri scene, and I am once again asking them to pay rent— also 100% the Valley Fest scene where Eli pulls Demetri onstage. Iconic of them.

Also, lowkey, any Torisha scene. Somehow so unintentionally gay?? I legitimately thought they were telling me that Aisha had a crush on her??

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?

Lowkey, please gods no. Didn’t he appear, like, one (1) time in season three? I think it’s good that they have a comic relief character that’s involved in the conflict by extension, but not actively involved. It’s great to see the LaRusso family, two of them in the midst of this big fight, another getting roped into it and being extra passionate about her husband and daughter being hurt, and then you have the youngest child, serenely playing video games and not giving any fucks

You live in The Valley and are forced into the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?

I second Bri’s remark — having done karate in the past, Cobra Kai would eat me alive, and I don’t trust Johnny to teach another neurodivergent queer kid. I could probably stand to gain from Daniel’s patience; I’d definitely be Demetri in that situation.

What’s your training montage song?

Dude, I have an entire playlist that I work out to, and I’m very indecisive, so I’ll just say my my main hype song, House of Wolves.

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?

You already KNOW I’m saying Kickin It. I won’t go in-depth because I already have, but the absolute power they’d have. Demetri and Milton, our favourite sassy Jewish nerds and their aggressively cool (respective) boyfriends Hawk and Jerry. Kim vibing with Sam like they deserve (and give me that good Kim & Bert cousins content, hand it over 🤲🏻). Miguel talking with Jerry in Spanish and, like, idolising Jack!! And you already know the comedic opportunites the Falafel Phil/Anoush thing could have.

Not sure if y’all have done this yet, and don’t feel pressured to if you don’t want to, but I figured I’d tag you folks!! @spidercrush3 @brattycobra @latetoalltheparties @binary-boyfriends4life @transdaniellarusso

#cobra kai

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pikapeppa · 4 years ago

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Pikapeppa wears a tinfoil hat: The Arishok in post-Trespasser times

[Warning: this contains spoilers for Trespasser and for Tevinter Nights. Proceed with caution.]

For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m a HUGE FAN of Sten from DA:O. While doing research for my current fic, I was reviewing Tevinter Nights and the Dragon Age Wiki, and I pulled together some threads regarding the qunari and their activities during the time of Tevinter Nights.

In a nutshell: I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT ARISHOK-STEN’S SAFETY AND WELLBEING.

Read more below the cut!

A quick refresher of qunari rulership

Just as a reminder, the qunari are ruled by three leaders:

The Arishok: the military leader. Leads the antaam, i.e. the army.

The Ariqun: the leader of the priesthood, who are also the scholarly branch of the qunari.

The Arigena: the leader of the craftsmen and support workers of the qunari people.

Together, these three leaders are called the salasari. The salasari are supposed to make decisions jointly about how the qunari people proceed at advancing their own culture and bringing the uneducated bas into the wisdom of the Qun.

A summary of what we know

Sten becomes the Arishok around 9:34-9:35 after Hawke kills the current Arishok in Kirkwall. By the time the Inquisition rolls around in 9:41, he is still the Arishok as confirmed by dialogue between Bull and Varric.

In Trespasser, in the Darvaraad, we find a letter from the qunari to Josephine stating that the Viddasala was acting without the qunari leaders’ official sanction — an indication that their citizens are not as well-controlled and orderly as they would have the rest of the world believe. Of particular note, this letter indicates clearly that “military action has not been approved against the Inquisition. No one in Par Vollen has authorized actions of any kind involving the Exalted Council. Nor will they.” To me, this speaks of an Arishok who is being quite conservative in his actions. Similarly, in world states where Bull becomes a Tal-Vashoth, the qunari did not send military action against the Inquisition even when the Inquisition reneged on their hoped-for alliance.

All but one of the stories in Tevinter Nights take place post-Trespasser, and the qunari feature heavily in these stories. The book opens with Three Trees to Midnight, which tells of the qunari making a bold and unprecedented attack on the Tevinter city of Ventus. Importantly, it is mentioned that the antaam (i.e. the qunari army) are acting without the support of the priesthood or the workers:

Usually the other Qunari were there to support the Antaam—the workers crafting the gear and managing supplies, the Tamassran priests making sure the Antaam were healthy in mind as in body, the Ben-Hassrath spies scouting behind enemy lines and removing any Antaam who might forsake their training and abandon the Qun. This time, the Antaam had attacked the bas of the south without the blessing of the other Qunari, and little things were not working as well as they should. Supplies were late. Ships were not in good repair.

When I read this, alarm bells immediately went off in my mind. It seems odd to me that the antaam would suddenly attack Tevinter on what feels like an impulsive move, without the support of the two other branches of the Qun. Importantly, the antaam is under the Arishok’s (i.e. Sten’s) rule, and I thought it was VERY out of character that he would do something so anti-qunari as to basically go rogue without the support of the Arigena or the Ariqun.

Another relevant story is Brother Genitivi Dies At The End. In this story, Brother Genitivi, Philliam, a Bard!, and another lesser-known but infamous writer named Formerly Sister Laudine form a reluctant team to recover books from an elvhen library that, for some reason, has “fallen” underground in the Silent Plains in Tevinter. The mission is cut short by a qunari named Rasaan, and the three writers manage to snatch a small number of elvhen tomes before narrowly escaping from Rasaan and her soldiers. It very important to note that in this story, Rasaan refers to the army as being “my antaam”, and it is emphasized and pointed out that she called the antaam “hers”.

I should say now that I haven’t read any of the DA comics. On a whim, I decided to look up Rasaan in the Dragon Age Wiki, and I discovered that Rasaan is a prominent character in the comic Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, and that she belonged not to the military branch of the Qun, but to the priesthood/scholarly branch, and that she was next in line to become the Ariqun. The wiki says the following: “Rasaan was stranded in the Qunari city of Qunandar, unable to perform her duties. Since a new Arishok was chosen in 9:34 Dragon, Rasaan has been at his side almost constantly.” It’s also interesting to note that Rasaan has a particular interest in people’s ‘true names’ and believes that a person’s many names or titles are indicative of their character, their triumphs, and their failings.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Sten????

OKAY. To sum up, then, the qunari situation in the post-Trespasser Tevinter Nights era is as follows:

The antaam, usually governed by the Arishok, has gone rogue, and it would be very out of character for Sten-Arishok to sanction this without the okay of his co-leaders.

Rasaan, a higher-up of the priesthood, is in mainland Thedas chasing down information about Solas and referring to the antaam as hers.

From this, I can only conclude that Arishok-Sten is not fully in charge of the antaam anymore, and that Rasaan plays a major role in this. Maybe Rasaan has pulled a coup and is trying to take over as the new Arishok, believing that ‘Arishok’ is supposed to be her true name. If this is the case, WHERE IS STEN? Is he a prisoner back in Par Vollen, perhaps? Stuck working in a labour camp? Or… Maker fucking forbid, is he dead?

Personally, I don’t think Arishok-Sten is dead, and this is not just my undying love for him that’s talking. There are indicators in Three Trees to Midnight that, even though the antaam has gone rogue and some of the qunari are acting extremely cruel, there other qunari who are still trying to maintain the integrity of the Qun. One example is the character named Saarbak, a Ben-Hassrath agent who has been tasked with removing threats to the Qun such as the overly cruel qunari. Characters like Saarbak make me think that the qunari are divided within themselves: there are those who have been impatient to move on Thedas, leading to the hasty attack on Ventus, and there are those who are trying to maintain the integrity and order of the Qun, such as Saarbak. And it’s my belief that Arishok-Sten is one of these honourable qunari, and that he is still alive and may play a significant role in DA4.

Fen’Harel ma ghilana: Solas’s interference

There's one other piece of qunari involvement that should be mentioned. At the end of Trespasser, Solas says that “in stopping the Dragon’s Breath, you have prevented an invasion by qunari forces. With luck, they will return their focus to Tevinter. That should give you a few years of relative peace.” It does not seem coincidental to me that a year or so after Solas says this, this is exactly what happens — particularly in light of the story called Half Up Front. In this story, it is discovered that Fen’Harel’s agents are purposely trying to fan the flames of the war between the qunari and Tevinter.

Why would Solas be trying to do this, though? Especially after telling the Inquisitor that he wants the people of the Inquisitor’s time to “die in comfort” free from the Qun? My conclusion is that Solas is trying to prevent the former Inquisitor from allying with Tevinter or the qunari. If they’re caught up in a war with each other, neither Tevinter nor the qunari will have the resources (or fucks to give) to invest in military efforts against an alleged elven god. I also think that Solas has no qualms about screwing Tevinter over by throwing them under the metaphorical bus of the qunari, given their longtime treatment of slaves and spirits. (Please note that I say all of this with great love, as I also have undying love for the Dread Egg.)

DA4 hopes: allying with the qunari

Based on the above, it’s my hope that a big part of DA4 will involve stopping an all-out war between Tevinter and the qunari, and then gaining the cooperation of both groups to help The Group Formerly Known As The Inquisition™ to stop Solas’s plans. It’s my even greater hope that the qunari portion of this will involve finding Arishok-Sten, restoring him his place as the rightful Arishok, and thereby securing his alliance to stop Solas. It’s my even greater GREATER hope that the Hero of Ferelden will play a role in this and have some ACTUAL FACETIME in the game by helping us to broker an alliance with Sten.

Of course, it’s a Bioware game so there has to be choice, so the choice here might be between helping Sten vs. helping Rasaan, but I’m sure you can all see where I would stand on this. (I just want Sten and his kadan to have a sweet sweet reunion, okay?? My tender heart is soft and weak for him.)

Okay, that’s it! Them’s my thoughts! Sorry if this has already been laid out before by somebody else – I just had to word-vomit my thoughts because of STEN FEELS.

Feel free to comment or reblog, but please do not use this as a forum to discuss the pros or cons of the Qun. I am wholeheartedly middle-ground on the Qun and can see both sides, so please refrain from that rhetoric here.

Finally, a little self-promotion: I ship Sten with my Warden Yara Mahariel, and have written a relatively short fic about their romance, which takes place during the ship ride from Denerim to Par Vollen after the Fifth Blight is ended. It’s called Fall Into The Tide, and you can feel free to check it out on AO3!

- Love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

#sten #sten dragon age #dragon age lore #tevinter nights #tevinter nights spoilers #qunari #anaan esaam qun #da lore #trespasser dlc #solas #da4 speculation #da4 hopes

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just-honey-dewd · 4 years ago

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Okay I, uh, jinxed myself here...

Was not expecting in my wildest dreams for the Angel Dust song ‘Addict’, to come out in animation in such small gap time between the release of his comic, and Alastor’s song. (Anyone who read my commentary on ‘Alastor’s Game’ might recall me contemplating on wanting to cover ‘Addict’ but deciding not to: if you haven’t read it, link’s right here)

Truth be told, I talk a lot in the Hazbin Hotel Discord server, so a lot of what the visuals provided pretty much confirmed my previous speculations about Angel Dust’s character. In here, I’ll be listing my speculations that were confirmed, followed by further implications from the song. Disclaimers: A lot of what’s in here can be traced back to my commentary on Angel’s Comic, so be ready for words and thoughts that sound similar to what I’ve said before with his comic.

Previous speculations that were confirmed by ‘Addict’

1. Angel's mantra

The song said enough by the lyrics alone, not to mention the material provided by the pilot and comic. Angel is unquestionably hedonistic and self-pleasuring to a fault -- and hints at having a rather cynical and bleak disposition regarding his life in hell. His mantra can be summed up by the term "YOLO" as outdated as that sounds. Search up the YOLO mentality, it's a thing, trust me.

Angel lives life indulging in his inner demons, and abandoning moral obligations to further feed into his self-indulgent nature. Here's some statements I've made about the song:

Ironically, for someone who's associated with the word 'addicted', he doesn't have a clear addiction to one thing. As we've seen, he smokes, does drugs, has sex, implies to enjoy drinking, but doesn't seem to have an addiction to any of it. He's no an alcoholic like Husk, he didn't react much to the loss of his drugs, and he isn't sex-obsessed -- it's more of the confident, flirty persona he displays rather than an actual desire to hook up with every man he meets -- further proven when he actively tries to pull away from Val's advances.

So it's confirmed that the addiction he craves is the act of self-pleasure and living life to the absolute fullest rather than the acts themselves.

2. Angel Dust's relationship with Val being abusive

The comic already foreshadowed this aspect with how forceful and cruel Val was towards Angel in the limo, and in here, the visual extends it by showing him forcing Angel to have sex with him multiple times implicitly. Angel behavior towards Val in this music video seems to contradict the comic -- where he went out of his way to help Val.

But given how quickly Angel's people-pleasing facade broke after being sent out into the streets, it's possible that we have another legitimate reason he was trying to do a deal for Val. Reason being, he's actively seeking for ways to avoid him. He was supposed to stay in the porn studio -- where Val would probably watch him from a distance. So he takes on business affairs without Val as "favors" to justify leaving the studio and avoiding Val's sexual abuse.

This evolves past my previous speculation that he does Val favors for acknowledgement and respect, since it's become apparent that Angel knows he's in an abusive situation and is confirmed to be using the hotel as an escape from Val's presence. Not sure if self-worth plays a major role in why he continues to put up with it all, but I still do believe it plays a role in his decisions.

3. Angel and Cherri are closer than anticipated

I speculated their friendship to be more than superficial, and the cutaways to Cherri comforting Angel through his pain absolutely confirm it. The music video included her singing the female parts, so it implies she indulges in her addictions as well -- her addictions being less complicated as we’ve already been introduced to her manic love for bombs and destructive chaos.

They both indulge in each others' bad habits, enabling the other -- which may benefit their emotional well beings, but will further distance their humanity and ability to empathize with other living beings in the long run if they haven't already lost that.

4. Cherri's reckless anarchism comes from a place of heartache

In Cherri's verse, we see a male one-eyed demon who -- going solely from the lyrics -- may have been an ex-lover that broke off because Cherri two-timed him. Heading into speculation-turned-headcanon, it might've been because she didn't take the relationship between them as seriously as he seemed to, which led to him leaving her for the drive to money and power, while she lived life hedonistically to escape the misery his departure brought her.

Alternatively, he might be a relative to her -- due to the similar X pupils, and the trait of having one eye -- but the lyrics itself don’t seem to offer up other interpretation besides Cherri being involved in a love of some sort. Potentially both speculations may ring true -- with Cherri and this mysterious guy being incestuous past lovers. Just another theory to add.

This period of her life may have taken place right before her partnership with Angel began, which could explain why we don’t see Angel comforting her back -- since this ache happened in the past, and for all Angel knows, it’s old news to her. Additionally, with old news that the wiki gained:

It confirms that Cherri has played an undeniable role in influencing Angel’s behavior negatively. Why he got influenced by her when he’s technically been in hell longer than her leads me to speculate quite a bit more..... but I’ll get to that later.

Here's the real juicy bit to analyse. The last stanzas.

5. The aftermath of Angel's extreme highs

Even after loss of euphoria and the effects from all the indulgence wears off, Angel still finds himself addicted to the lowest point of the journey -- the surge of pain that comes from the hangover. Sadly, he doesn't respect Charlie enough to even hide the cigarette he's smoking by that point -- Charlie seems adjusted to his mood swings given how he immediately halts her potential questioning with a vicious look of contempt. Unrelated note, the last two verses of the first stanza suggest he's masochistic outside of his work.

In the second/final stanza, when acknowledging his general dependent nature, he looks down at Fat Nuggets with a look that reflects pained, regretful awareness.

Looking at the mirror, he gets a traumatic flashback to another time when Val raped him reminding him of his helplessness in his situation, which emphasizes the fact that no matter how much you try to detach yourself from reality, you won't escape it permanently.

The phrase "Raising Cain" refers directly to the bible's "Cain and Abel" -- two sons of Adam and Eve, who brought offerings to God, but only Abel's is accepted, which led to Cain killing Abel in anger and being cursed by God.

What the phrase itself means is causing trouble/creating an uproar. Angel being able to take a phrase referencing real world biblical lore implies he might have had exposure to Christianity in his life -- which I swear was canon lore since I've seen that attribute being a part of his character in a handful of early fanfics...

That very last line literally encompasses the same energy found at the very end of Angel's comic -- Angel essentially expressing the tiniest bit of hope that the hotel will provide him some sort of salvation from the all-together terribleness of his life thus far. Even when he’s joined the hotel more than two weeks at this point -- still suffering the pain of dealing with Val and life itself -- he sees the hotel as a sanctuary, a safe haven... his "Atlantis" if you will.

Final words:

I hope y’all enjoyed this post, I’ve got an extra bonus list of Angel Dust notes coming up later -- it’s way smaller tho (hopefully).

#my posts #hh #angel dust #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin headcanons #angel dust hazbin hotel #angel dust song #angel dust addict #cherri bomb #cherri #angel #cherri bomb hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel cherri bomb #i'm dead #i keep doing these at midnight for goodness sake

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lnarizakis · 5 years ago

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haikyuu: sparknoted | all about hinata shoyo

masterlist

all about hinata shoyo

foreword: Hi, everyone! I’m so glad you’re reading this. I’ve always wanted to do an analysis series of Haikyuu!!, and I think now that I have so much free time on my hands, this is the perfect time to start. I decided to start out with a character analysis on Hinata Shoyo, since he’s the protagonist of the series. The three topics I will cover are: his character, his character development, and the final arc. The topics about his development and the final arc contain spoilers, so beware! Please enjoy, and everything I say is left up for debate, addition, and correction!

HINATA’S CHARACTER

NOMENCLATURE | Since we are talking about a character, we should look at his, well, character. This kid’s name is Hinata Shoyo, and according to the Wiki, his name means “Place in the sun/Sunny place” (Hinata), and “Flying heaven” (Shoyo). Part of his last name, Hina, means a chick or a baby bird. We should know by now that the meaning of his last name is intentional - multiple times he is referred to as the sun in the manga and anime. He is often compared to Tsukishima, who is referred to as the moon. Like Hinata, he was given that name also with intention. I’m pretty sure the story mentions this, but the reason Hinata was given this name was because of how much he shines. Not just because of his personality, because of course, he is a very bright person, but his whole character shines. He radiates - the effects of his “sunshine,” per se, is found in the character development of multiple people - Yachi, Kenma, Hyakuzawa, Kageyama, and even Tsukishima.

MOON AND SUN | I’m going to side-track and talk about the relationship between Tsukishima and Hinata for a little bit - the story mentions this, but it’s worth noting and it leads into what I’m going to say next. Tsukishima and Hinata are like night and day, respectively. Hinata is bright like the day - he shines and radiates the sunshine off on other people. They bask in his light and become better people because of it. Tsukishima, on the other hand, is more lowkey; he prefers not to talk to people rather than to interact, and, initially, he has no interest in improvement. Plants don’t grow during the night (I will refer to this analogy later). The point is: one can only see the moon when sunlight reflects off of it (I think that’s how the moon’s brightness works; all I know is that the sun’s light is involved lol). Therefore, the effects of Hinata’s presence and his “shine” has affected Tsukishima so much that he is able to shine even “in the night”. So besides Kageyama and perhaps Kenma, Tsukishima is one of the people to be most affected by Hinata’s personality.

APPEARANCE | Okay, now I’m going to talk about Hinata’s appearance. He’s short, he has orange hair, and always has the brightest smile on his face. Except when he has to make a point like “We haven’t won yet,” where he’s got that awfully creepy and sinister smile on his face. But I’m going to get back to that. First- his height. When we first get to know Hinata, the very first note of his height is where he stands at 162.8 cm/5’4 ft. (April 2012). He’s as tall as I am! But he’s not tall enough for volleyball, and he is constantly looked down (literally and metaphorically) for that fact. His opponents, and even his teammates, don’t realize the hidden potential that hides within Hinata. So it becomes ironic when there are people who are taller than Hinata, and they “look up” to him. Notably, Hyakuzawa. During the first-year’s training camp in Season 4/To The Top (AKA Ball Boy Arc), there’s a scene in which Hyakuzawa is sitting on the ground while leaning against the wall. He’s looking up at Hinata, who stands in front of him. He tells Hinata that he should have been invited instead of him, which is very ironic because when Karasuno played against his school (I don’t remember which school oops), he was seen as this very intimidating guy despite his lack of experience. Anyways, the point is - despite Hinata’ s height, he makes up for it with ability and talent, to which others who are much taller than he is are just in awe, and perhaps jealous, that he could go past this misfortune of his and strengthen his other skills instead.

ELEMENTS OF HORROR | “We haven’t won yet,” Hinata says, with the most sinister smile on his face. No, man, it’s not sinister. He’s just in the moment. Of course, he doesn’t mean to pull off that kind of scary face, it’s not in him. Yet the face he makes, along with the tone of voice he uses when saying those four words, just gets people. It chills them right to the bone because it’s so unlike Hinata yet it is so like Hinata. He is the type of person to persist on and encourage himself and others just by saying “We haven’t won yet,” but he doesn’t make that type of face. So… why does he make that type of face? The reason is the author’s choice. Furudate loves horror and drew Hinata’s face with a sinister expression. That’s the simple reason, but I believe there is so much more to that. Furudate could have based his entire style on a horror-like manga, despite it being quite out-of-place as it is a manga about volleyball, but if that’s what he wants, that’s what he wants. However, he chose to draw that particular scene with a horror-type feel because that’s what the others see. That’s what everyone who watched Hinata say those four words saw. His expression, his eyes… everything about it chilled them to the bone and Furudate wanted it to make it clear to the reader that that’s how we are supposed to perceive his words. Because if he drew it any other way, it would have come off as Hinata jumping up and down exclaiming with a super-happy voice, “We haven’t won yet! Let’s keep going, guys!” But no- it’s supposed to be creepy because everyone else saw it as creepy.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

SPOILER WARNING! | This section is very spoiler-heavy! Please don’t read this section if you do not want to be spoiled for the outcomes of the nationals!

THE BALL BOY ARC | I will be covering Hinata’s character development all throughout season 4 because I think that this is the most important development to Hinata’s character. I’ll begin with the Ball Boy Arc, where Hinata must swallow his pride after entering the first-year training camp uninvited. Of course, Hinata had good intentions when he arrived, but he did not realize the consequences of his actions. Before, when he heard that Kageyama and Tsukishima were invited to these training camps, the first thought that ran through Hinata’s mind was “Why wasn’t I invited?” Yes, Hinata realizes his strength and the growth he has made throughout the time he had been practicing volleyball, but it seemed to him that he just wasn’t good enough. Upon arriving at the training camp, Coach Washijo immediately denies him to practice with the rest and so Hinata swallows his pride and announces himself as only the ball boy, nothing more. This is important because he is actually telling everybody there that he really just is not good enough.

KAGEYAMA’S SUPPORT | Coach Washijo tells Hinata that he is no good without the support of Kageyama. This comes across as a slap to the face for the poor boy, but I believe the coach told him this for two reasons. One, Washijo does not want to admit to the fact that Hinata is definitely strong and is an amazing player, but, two, Hinata is not strong without Kageyama and so he therefore cannot participate in a camp where Kageyama is not there to support him. This opens up Hinata’s eyes and he realizes that he must not rely on Kageyama all the time; after all, Kageyama is his rival. I don’t know if I’m right on this, but this is one of the two times where Hinata trains and learns without Kageyama’s help. The other time was when he practiced with Coach Ukai, the senior. If I’m wrong, please let me know!

HINATA’S COLLAPSE | Progressively throughout Season 4 we see that Hinata gains lines under his eyes. I saw two twitter posts that mention these- the first about how they could be “crow’s feet,” and the second about how they are lines of exhaustion. I agree with the second post. Throughout the season we observe how hard Hinata works and that sometimes he pushes his limits. He calls his coach to ask him about what he should eat, but I don’t know if we ever see him eat what Ukai tells him to eat. If we do… then, okay then. Lol. Anyways, not only are his eating habits being rearranged, it is also assumed that Hinata bikes home very late at night every day during the training camp at Shiratorizawa. He goes home with his heart pumping so he probably goes to sleep at an even later time. So Hinata also has a bad sleep schedule, and you know how hard it is to try and revert a bad sleep schedule… Hinata is also shown at times during nationals to be wide awake at night. With this, we can tell that he is exhausted. He is tired and in need of a rest. But he doesn’t give himself a rest, because all he wants is to prove to others, and himself, that he is good. And this leads to his downfall- his collapse in the middle of the Kamomedai VS Karasuno game. Hinata catches a fever all because he couldn’t take good care of himself. It’s so unfortunate, but it’s another wake-up call for Hinata that tells him that good things take time to come. He can’t magically hone his skills overnight.

THE FINAL ARC

THIS IS IT. IT’S REALLY THE END. | Ah, the final arc. We are so close to the end of Haikyuu!! and it makes me so sad to think about it every time. The final arc is the last match of the game. It is no coincidence that it is the last time we see Hinata use the restroom before the game. It is also no coincidence that many things that happened during Hinata’s first game are happening as well - Hinata meets Kageyama again at the restroom, he breathes in the smell of icy-hot spray, and, of course, he is going against Kageyama. That’s just awesome. But… he is not only going against Kageyama, he’s also going against Ushijima Wakatoshi and Hoshiumi Korai. This is no mere coincidence. These three people are all Hinata’s rivals. He declared one way or another that he would beat each of them and become the greater person. Hinata told Kageyama that he would, one day, beat him in a game. Hinata told Ushijima that he would beat Shiratorizawa and move onto nationals. I don’t remember if Hinata ever told Hoshiumi if he would beat him in a game one day, but we know for a fact that Hoshiumi did, at least in his mind. Let’s not forget how Hoshiumi really thought, “I’ve waited years for this day, Hinata Shoyo!!” Before the final game.

TEAMMATES: PAST AND PRESENT | I also want to mention the “commentators” for this match as well as some of Hinata’s teammates. In every game that we read/watch in Haikyuu!!, there is at least one person outside of the game who commentates on their perspective of what is going on in the game. We are not only getting the action, but also the analysis. In the final match, we are getting the commentary from Hinata’s teammates. We are finally getting their perspective in the game and how they perceive everyone’s actions. I just thought that was really cool since they were Hinata’s teammates- we never got the chance to hear their opinions about the game as an outsider. We also have some of Hinata’s teammates, Bokuto Koutarou, Miya Atsumu, and Sakusa Kiyoomi. I specifically want to talk about Bokuto and Atsumu, since the only reason I believe Sakusa was placed in the MSBY Jackals was so we could see his own ability because we never got to see him play in high school. Besides the Little Giant, I don’t know if there was any other person that Hinata looked up to more than Bokuto. I think it was great for Furudate to place Bokuto on Hinata’s team because it’s sort of a teacher-student moment where the teacher has to play with his disciple. I also think Furudate made the smartest choice to place Miya on this team as well because it shows that Kageyama is not the only one to perform a quick attack with Hinata. Having Miya on this team provides two things- it becomes a “battle of the setters” between Miya and Kageyama, and we see that Hinata has grown to adapt to perform well with other setters. It’s great character development on Hinata’s part because we see that he has definitely moved past the “he’s no good without Kageyama” thing back in high school. Good for him!

RIVALRY | Anyways, with a little analysis on Hinata’s team, we move on to the opponents. The big three opponents are, of course, Kageyama, Ushijima, and Hoshiumi. It’s a really good thing that Furudate placed these three on a team together (Talking about Romero makes their team even more OP so we’re just gonna set him aside for right now, haha) because it’s a test of Hinata’s ability. We get to see the rematch of the century, since each of Hinata’s rivals have wished for a rematch against him. Hinata lost to Kageyama’s team back in middle school, so now we wonder if Hinata could beat Kageyama now. We know that Ushijima lost to Hinata, but since he declared that he would beat Hinata in the future, we also wonder if Hinata could win against him, this time without the help of his teammates back in Karasuno. Lastly, Hinata collapsed in the middle of the match against Kamomedai, so we do not know for sure if Hinata could have won against Hoshiumi. All of these questions that we have for these three rivals will be cleared in this match; we get to see if Hinata will win in the end. We will learn if Hinata has truly become stronger. This match will let Hinata examine his current self and if his skills now can finally win against Kageyama, Ushijima, and Hoshiumi. It’s sort of like the “final exam” for Hinata’s strength.

Alright, that’s all I have to say! If you read all of this... then wow. I am in awe. Thank you for reading! I really enjoyed writing something like this. I was writing like the end of the world was coming. If you liked this, please let me know! Disagreed with anything I said? That’s fine, let’s respectfully discuss! Thanks!

#haikyuu!!#hinata shouyou #hinata shoyo #cadekagi

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whereistheonepiece · 5 years ago

Note

Random, but do you have any headcanons you like about chaka/pell or either character individually? Thank you and have a great day!

Ah! What a lovely surprise to wake up to! I love asks like this. They make me think because while I enjoy Chaka/Pell, I haven’t really developed any headcanons about them because back when I was watching Alabasta I wanted to see if there was any interest for the ship or the characters and... I didn’t find much. So I kinda just let it be. But your ask got me thinking.

A note: I haven’t seen Alabasta in a hot minute, so this is all just a gut reaction. I went onto the wiki for a refresher, but it turns out I didn’t really need it because, well, we don’t see all that much of Chaka and/or Pell. My city now, basically.

I’ve said before that I ship them and that their marriage is law on this blog, so we’re starting with that. And I’m nothing if not a romantic, so watch me trot out some of my favorite tropes.

There was a lot of mutual pining in the beginning. There was this unspoken agreement between the two for the longest time that duty came first. The king and their captain Igaram would never allow it. Serving the royal family and their country came before personal feelings, and that was that for a long, long time.

So you know what that means? Emotionally charged silence, meaningful touches, looks of longing from one when the other has his back turned and they think no one can see.

I mean. Everyone who worked around them knew. Cobra and Igaram knew. But we’re going to stick a pin in that and come back to it later.

They like playing chess/go/whatever the Alabastan equivalent of a strategic game with game pieces is. Keeps their minds sharp and allows them to relax with each other. (Leads to witty/flirty banter.) Also makes for a good excuse. “No, no, we’re playing because the game forces you to think! It’s for work!” An excuse that no one buys, but they leave them be because these weekly games of theirs clearly make them happy.

Cobra and Igaram have had slightly very inappropriate conversations about Pell and Chaka’s personal lives. Igaram remarks that both of them seem to think that Cobra and Igaram would disapprove of a romantic relationship between them.

This leads to shenanigans out of a romantic comedy/fanfic where Cobra and Igaram try to “nudge” them into a relationship. The idea is to put them into romantically tense situations to the point where both realize they can deny themselves and each other no longer. It’s also fun for Igaram and Cobra to gossip and generally behave inappropriately and unprofessionally.

It works. Kinda.

Chaka and Pell spend the night together after years of longing and denial, but it doesn’t turn out like Igaram and Cobra wanted. Instead of bringing them together, Chaka and Pell both agree that they have to come to their captain and their king and ask both for their forgiveness and offer to resign from the guard if either of them think it’s necessary.

So Cobra and Igaram panic. Like no no no no, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.

Cobra and Igaram come clean and apologize to Chaka and Pell for interfering to the degree that they did. They admit that they should have been upfront about it from the beginning.

Honestly, though. They should have known better. They did know better. Putting aside that they’re all adults, Chaka and Pell are some of the most honorable men you’ll meet. Of course they’re going to put duty before their own happiness.

With the captain and the king’s explicit approval, Chaka and Pell take it from there.

There’s a little bit of uncertainty. It’s an adjustment, knowing they’re free to pursue each other, after years of yearning.

Chaka’s a true romantic, though. He tells Pell that he wants to woo him, now that he has the freedom to do so. Pell smiles at him warmly and tells him that he did that long ago. Chaka laughs and tells him that he wasn’t even trying, that Pell should see him when he’s trying.

“Very well. Woo me. Sweep me off my feet.”

They remain professional on the job, but out of work Chaka lavishes Pell with tiny gifts. Pell isn’t the type who needs gifts to feel loved, but he recognizes that gift giving is one of Chaka’s love languages, and they’re so personal. And it’s nice to know that Chaka’s thinking of him when Pell retires to his room after a long day and finds some of his favorite fruit and a love poem from one of the country’s most famous poets waiting for him.

Chaka knows calligraphy. I’ve decided. He copies poetry that moves him in a delicate hand and leaves them for Pell.

Pell has all of the poems Chaka gifted him during their courtship. He had them bound into a book. Chaka’s eyes lit up when Pell showed him. He vowed to give him more poetry, enough to fill up another book.

They enjoy nightly strolls around the palace grounds. Chaka has kissed Pell in one of the palace gardens under the light of the moon on more than one occasion.

They call each other beloved. Chaka calls Pell his sweetheart/sweetie.

They both propose to each other at the same time. Pell asks first. Chaka laughs and pulls out the ring he’d been intending to offer Pell that night. They share a laugh and a loving kiss before they exchange rings.

It’s a small, intimate ceremony. Just them, the royal family, Igaram, and a few of their close friends from the guard. Igaram officiates the wedding.

So. This means I get to talk about Pell’s sacrifice.

Pell and Chaka both understand that their job comes with certain risks. It was something they had to address when they both had a talk about being together.

But knowing this doesn’t make the loss Chaka feels any less devastating. His love. His partner. His light. Gone.

They’re quiet when Pell makes it back to the palace and they finally have time alone. They gravitate to each other. They stand there, holding each other for the longest time.

Chaka does not begrudge Pell’s decision, but damn it, he’s so relieved to have him home.

These two deserve a vacation, just like Vivi deserves a vacation. Igaram deserves a vacation. Cobra deserves a vacation. They all deserve a family vacation.

And, uh, I think that’s it. Wow, when I first sat down to write this I thought I was gonna come up with three headcanons, tops, but here we are. Hope you liked it. ^^

I’m always up for answering asks like this, by the way. They’re fun and easy.

#chaka #pell #cobra #igaram #vivi #chakapell #i told you guys that you only have to show a little bit of interest to get me going #anonymous #asks

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waitingformessages · 5 years ago

Text

The RFA finds out that MC has decided not to attend the party and wants to leave the RFA (and them).

Before you read - I like to use references to the games in my writing, so SPOILER warnings, especially as this, is referencing the end of the game for each route. (Based on the Good Endings but with an obvious twist). I prefer to use the name `Seven’ instead of `Saeyoung’ unless he is being spoken to in his section. I hope that isn’t too confusing. I try my best to keep the characters in character, but I’m new to this, so I’m sorry if anything seems OOC. I take the nicknames the characters call you from the MC page of the wiki. Apologises as these are quite long, and Seven plays a semi-important role in each section(He goes into overly-protective friend mode which I love.) (expect in Jumin’s)

As Seven’s Ending does not involve the couple going to the RFA party, I have decided to make an alternative scenario for him:-

Seven’s reaction to MC who has decided to return to attend the party instead of helping him with the hacker (MC also leaves Seven)

I hope you enjoy reading, and any feedback is appreciated.

Jumin - The day was finally here, you turn in the bed and look up at the dress you had hung up when you returned to Rika’s apartment the night before. The dress was gorgeous, and the colour was sure to compliment you, just as Jumin had hoped. He had a team of designers to ensure that the dress was going to be perfect for you. You pulled yourself up from the bed and walked towards the dress. You knew that it was to be matching to Jumin’s suit, the main reason he had got the designer team to work on it, instead of allowing you to wear one of your own dresses. Your chest tightens at the thought of walking into the party and being noticed instantly as a part of a couple. You have just had a few hours to yourself, and you are not emotionally capable of dealing with the Jumin’s possessiveness and obsession of you, again. You could feel your head spinning, and a notification from your phone brings you back to your senses. A chatroom had opened, and everyone was there, chatting about how excited they were about the party. Your chest tightens again from the words Jumin was saying to you, you couldn’t understand why you were feeling this way. You thought you had feelings for him, but now your mind was rethinking your relationship with him. You continue to act excited along with the other members, but you felt uneasy when Jumin spoke directly to you. You quickly say goodbye and exit the chatroom, you take deep breaths of air to try to calm yourself down. You glance at the dress once more then make a decision. ; Jumin spoke with V and Seven about his plan to expose the Choi sisters, and his love for you. His constant glances towards the doorway of the party venue were obvious to the duo he was speaking with. Seven followed Jumin’s eyes and noticed Jaehee, with a clipboard with the guest list, he turns to Jumin “I’ll go check with Jaehee if (Y/N) has arrived yet, she might have snuck in.” Jumin gives Seven a nod before discussing with V his recent photographs. Jaehee flicks through the list looking for your name, after Seven’s request to do so. “I’m sorry, Luciel. She hasn’t arrived yet.” Seven glanced over at his shoulder, to see Jumin distracted by V, he slid his phone out of his pocket and looked at Jaehee. “I’m just going to check that she is ok, I don’t know how long that bossy woman will last, and Jumin’s plan really needs (Y/N) to work.” Seven gestures towards Glam Choi who was fixing Sarah’s hair, as he puts his phone to his ear. The phone rings out and reaches your voicemail, Seven tuts. “Is she not here yet?” Jumin had snuck behind Jaehee and Seven, his voice was different than his usual tone, hints of worry and hurt coming through as he spoke. The party was now chaos, as Jumin ordered Jaehee to try to contact you through the chatroom, Seven to track you to see what has happened and for ZEN and Yoosung to take turns in calling you. Jumin paced the area, trying to avoid eye contact with his father or his unwanted soon to be in-laws. V places a hand on Jumin’s shoulder which sets him off, yelling in a hushed voice that it’s V fault, and that you could have been taken by the hacker, that he should have not let you leave. Jumin tried to calm himself, to keep a respected reputation in front of the numerous paparazzi he had invited. ; You could hear your phone buzzing nonstop and you were getting sick of it, the notifications of someone in a chatroom desperately trying to get your attention and someone else calling you nonstop. You groan and decide to pick your phone, Yoosung’s name popped up “What is it, Yoosung?” A gasp could be heard down the phone “WHERE ARE YOU, WE ARE SO WORRIED. WE THOUGHT THE HACKER GOT YOU! JUMIN IS FREAKING OUT!” yelled the youngest member. You knew this was going to happen, Jumin would freak out about your lack of presence at the party, you couldn’t think of a response. What were you going to say? You have actually decided that the RFA is not for you? That you have fallen out of love with Jumin? It would be too much to expect Yoosung to explain to your ex-lover. You could hear a commotion from the phone, and another voice took over “My Love? Where are you, are you ok?” Your heart sinks as you hear the man you have spent the last couple days with, start talking. You feel awful that you couldn’t stay in love with him, you could tell how much he cared for you. “I’m so sorry…” you whisper into the phone, “I can’t do this anymore Jumin, I’m sorry, but I’m not coming. I want to leave the RFA, please let the others know.” You say before hanging up, not wanting to hear his response. You pull your legs to your chest and cry about the end of your short relationship with Jumin and the short time you had with the RFA.; Jumin keeps the phone to his ear, hearing the dial tone ring out, he was unsure what to do or say. The other RFA members were now looking at him, expecting him to say that you were running late or something. Jumin tries to speak, but no words could come out, he could feel a pain in his chest. Why was this happening, why did you say those things? “Hey, Trust-Fund Kid, tell us! Is everything ok?” Jumin swallowed hard, feeling his throat dry, “She’s not coming.” The members start to panic, asking if you were ok, were you sick, were you hurt? Jumin had grabbed a drink from a nearby waiter and finished it in one go. “She has quit, she decides that we… I am not enough for her anymore.” The RFA’s faces all drop in disbelief. “Ha, ha this must be another one of your jokes that no one understands right?” asks Seven, hoping that it was. “Unfortunately, that is not the case.” explains Jumin, he catches the eye of his father from the crowd of guests. “If you excuse me, I would like to return home. Assistant Kang, please apologise to my father, his guests and the paparazzi. I have suddenly become unavailable to stay at the party.” Jumin turns and leaves the venue without another word, heartbroken at your confession.

Seven - You glance out the car window as Seven drives towards a quiet area, to stop. He told you in passing that you needed to stop so that he could try to contact the agency and Vanderwood to ensure they knew they had the wrong twin and that his brother would be safe. The drive was silent, and you were alone with your thoughts, you were thinking about the party and how you were desperate to not miss it. You had spent a long time, emailing all the guests, chatting with the other members, you had even picked out your outfit! But now you were in a car driving further and further away from the party’s venue. You sigh loudly as you think about all that you will miss. The sigh gains the attention from Seven, he leans over to squeeze your hand, which makes you jump. You smile weakly then glance at your lap, where your phone was laying. Your phone had lit up, highlighting a notification, a quick unlock of the phone shows that a chat room has opened up and the other RFA members were talking. You hesitated to join as you knew they would be eagerly discussing the party, the one you could not attend. “Don’t worry” you hear from a voice beside you, “If you enter it, they won’t know you are there. I had to disable some things on your app and phone. To make sure no one can track us.” You shrug your shoulders, what else were you expecting from him? You open the messenger, and as you expected, they were discussing the party. You felt uneasy as you were able to spy on their conversation and that none of them could acknowledge your presence. You had shaken off Seven’s hand to move your phone closer to your face. He seemed confused by your action but didn’t say anything about it. You look at him at the corner of your eye as you pretend to read the chatroom. He seems so different, Seven in the chatroom was so bubbly and talkative, and now he is serious and silent, it’s weird and not in a good way. The last member leaves the chatroom, and you quickly leave as well. You lay the phone back onto your lap and throw your head back into the seat, closing your eyes. “Angel, are you ok?” you hear your `boyfriend’ ask. You nod, keeping your eyes closed, you imagined yourself at the party. Greeting all the guests and talking away to the other members, you have been desperate to meet for the last eleven days. However, the red-haired boy was not in your fantasy, you were by yourself, enjoying the party. You smile at your thoughts, you imagine yourself chatting about video games with Yoosung, musicals with Jaehee and ZEN, and Elizabeth with Jumin. You try to imagine the person next to you, at your make do party as well but it was useless, you just couldn’t picture him there. The car suddenly stops, waking you from your dream, you look over to Seven who had his head on the car wheel. “I… I better try to contact the agency. I hope they haven’t done anything to Saeran.” he mumbled, you try not to groan at the situation. You really did not want to be chasing after his long lost brother, the drama of the whole thing was too much for you. You give a faint smile to Seven as he turns to face you, obviously bothered by your silence. “Are you sure you are ok? Did something in the chatroom upset you?” He asked worriedly. Were you going to confess to him? That you want to go to the party? That you didn’t really care about reuniting his family, that you were having a hard time talking to him without regretting your choices? You shake your head, he sighs and leans over to kiss your cheek. “I won’t be long, please stay inside. I can’t let you hear the conversation, classified, you know?” he smiles at you. You reply to his `joke’ with a half-assed laugh, which you could feel him looking through. Seven picks up a bag containing a laptop and exits the car. You lay back and wiped your cheek, you look through the window at him. You fell for the Seven in the chatrooms, the one who made jokes and liked to prank everyone. The person standing outside the car was not the same man. You look at your phone, you knew everyone else was preparing for the party so would be unavailable to talk to. Still, you try anyways, the last member’s voicemail hits your ear as the car door opens. The phone is quickly turned off, and you look at Seven as he sits down. “Well, it’s done. I’ve warned the agency that they don’t have me and if they don’t be careful with him, I’ll expose their secrets.” You stare at him, you had to tell him. You just had to explain where your mind is at. “Saeyoung…” He quickly turns and smiles at you “I love it when I hear you same my real name.” Crap, you look at the floor. The courage you once had was fading. “Um… I was just wondering, what do you think is happening at the party?” You could hear him shuffle about and play around with the radio. “A broadcast should be playing about the party any time now.” You stare at the radio, and you could feel yourself start to cry. You quickly try to wipe your tears away. “Oh, no. What’s wrong?” Seven asks before placing his hand on your back and rubbing it, in a way to comfort you. You start mumbling nonsense to him about how much you want to be there and that you don’t want to be here in the car with him, and that you don’t have feelings for this `version’ of him. You mumbled in an attempt to make your words unrecognisable to him to hear. But as the hand stopped rubbing your back, you could tell he could understand what you said. You squeezed your eyes shut, awaiting a response. You could hear the car starting up and the car speeding away. The two of you sat in silence during the drive, you open your eyes and notice that you were entering the city again. “What… why are we here, Saeyoung?” you asked confused that you were not in the mountains anymore. Seven sighs “You said you didn’t want to help me, remember? You want to attend the party. The least I could do is drive you there.” You turn to him, as the car stops, seeing that he had tears running down his face. “I’m sorry, that this is how it ends.” you say before opening the car door. Seven nods in response. He quickly leaves as soon as he sees you run into the party venue. The radio announcing Jumin’s speech “...they gathered the courage to go after the truth, Saeyoung Choi and….” Seven quickly turned off the radio, wiping away his tears as he drove back to where he could find his brother.

Jaehee - You look at yourself in the mirror once before, playing with your hair thinking what to do with it. Your mind races to the night before, the argument between Jumin and Jaehee got to you. You remember that V, Seven and ZEN were worried as well, something about the hacker, which made your nerves heighten. Your head lay against the mirror, desperate for your mind to be at ease. The whole situation with the RFA was getting too much, you had to have time to yourself, time to deal with your issues. You tried to be there for Jaehee, you knew that she was stressed from work Jumin was putting her through, but you were hoping that she would be there for you as well. You could hear your phone notify you of a chatroom, a sigh escapes your lips as you go towards your phone to attend the chatroom. Yoosung and ZEN start chatting with you about how excited they were about the party and the drama that occurred the night before. You try to reassure the members that everything was ok, your heart drops when Seven jokes about Jaehee, now being unemployed. You couldn’t believe that this happened that you had encouraged it. You act excited and quickly leave the messenger, your head spinning even more. You just need a couple minutes, hours, days even to reflect on your actions, to take a breather and focus on yourself. Your outfit hangs at the wardrobe in front of you, haunting you of the event to come. You stand and remove the outfit from its place. ; Yoosung looked around the room, trying to find a name tag that had your name on it, he came up blank and approached ZEN in the hope that he has seen you. “Hyung, have you seen (Y/N) yet?” ZEN shook his head to Yoosung’s disappointment. Yoosung had seen Jaehee earlier who had mentioned how excited she was to meet you, this was going to crush her. The duo decided to split up and try to find you once more before notifying Jaehee about your lack of presence. They had bumped into Jumin during their search, who also was determined to meet you. The members start to panic, hoping that you were safe. ; You sigh as you move the last of your items into a bag, you were prepared to leave Rika’s apartment, return to your home and put this whole thing behind you. Yes, you were going to miss the RFA and your new friendships with them, especially Jaehee, but you couldn’t handle taking on their stressful worries. It was negatively affecting you, and you needed to be selfish. You could feel your phone buzz in your pocket, you had changed the app settings to vibrate, so the noise of notifications did not distract you or change your mind. You contemplate if you should answer the phone or not, you could feel your face become wet from tears. You pulled the phone out and answered. ; Jaehee frantically looked around the hall, ignoring the other member’s telling her that you haven’t arrived yet. She spots Seven chatting to a small group of guests and bolts towards him, if anyone could find where you were, it would be him. “Luciel!” she hissed in his ear, gaining his attention. “Jaehee! Let me introduce you to…” Seven says ready to gesture to the people in front of him “I apologise, but I need to speak to you urgently. In private!” Jaehee says, pulling at his arm away from the noisy party scene. Seven smiles at her, ready to make a joke at her eagerness to get him alone, but stops as he looks at the worried expression on her face. “What’s wrong, Jaehee?” he places a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Jaehee sighs before explaining that you haven’t arrived yet and it’s been at least two hours since the party has started. Seven rubbed Jaehee’s shoulder as he pulled his phone out of his pocket so that he could track where you were. “I’m on it, don’t worry. I’ll find her. It might take a while, so go out and mingle.” He gestures with his phone towards the crowded hall containing the guests and RFA members. “Look, I can see ZEN talking to Jumin. You might need to save him, we don’t want any drama.” Jaehee faintly nodded and walked into the hall, leaving Seven to try to find your location. ; “Hi Seven, what’s up?” you ask, after seeing his picture appear on your phone. “Care to explain why you are still at Rika’s apartment and not here at the party?” His voice was serious, which brought chills down your spine. “Um…” you try to think of the right words to say. How can you explain that you decided to not attend the party, you have actually decided to leave the RFA and Jaehee behind. Seven grew impatient on the other end of the call. “Why are you not here! We are all waiting for you! Jaehee is waiting for you! Can you not understand how worried they are about you!” His harsh tone makes you jump, and you can feel yourself start to cry even more. “I’m so sorry…” you hear a commotion from the phone and another person speak down the phone. ; “Oh my! You are ok, oh thank god, What’s happened, has there been an issue?” Jaehee asks after taking the phone from Seven despite his protests. She paces back and forth, awaiting a response from you, she nibbles at her lip in worry that something serious has happened. “Jaehee…” she hears from the phone which snaps her out of her thoughts. “Yes, I’m here! Are you ok?” Jaehee replies in a rushed voice, she looked at the crowd, the place felt empty without you and Jaehee could feel the glares from Jumin burning into her soul. “I’m not coming. I’m sorry.” Jaehee held a breath unsure what to do with the news “It’s ok, I hope you are safe. I have something important to ask you. I would have preferred to ask face to face…” she says ready to tell you about her plan for the future with you. “Jaehee…I’ve always decided to not stay in the RFA. This is just not for me. I’m sorry, but I need to go.” The phone disconnects and Jaehee stares at it in disbelief. Seven stood awkwardly beside her, “What happened?” Jaehee handed the phone back to Seven, ignoring his question. She looked at the key in her hand, the one that was for the new coffee shop that you both were going to own. Jaehee’s hand trembles at the thought of her confidence and dream fading away, she glances at the crowd and spots Jumin. She prepares herself to beg for her job back and leaves Seven in the hallway.

Yoosung - You hear your phone on the table next to the bed, wake you from your slumber. The sound of a chatroom notification hits your ear, and you groan. Today was the day of the party, and you felt awful, you were worried about Yoosung from the night before. He sounded strange during phone calls and his lack of presence in the chatrooms the day before worried you. You hoped that he would be in the new chatroom to put your mind at ease, but you were wrong. You chatted with the other members, but the back of your mind kept worrying about Yoosung and your current `relationship’ if you could call it that. You thought he was stupid for running off with Seven to try to expose the hacker, but he wanted to prove himself. “How reckless” you mutter as you continue to converse with the other members, now wishing the conversation would end so you could return back to sleep. You glance up at the dress you had chosen to wear to the party when you excited a couple of days ago. But now it was a reminder of the dreadful night to come, another groan escapes your lips as you return to your phone and said goodbye to the RFA. You were prepared to put your phone back down and fall back to sleep when you noticed a phone call from Yoosung coming through. Your fingers having a mind of their own answer the call which you originally wanted to ring out. You leave the phone in your hand for a moment, as you hear Yoosung talking down the phone trying to get your attention. `Fake it’ you thought, you wanted to get the call over quickly and taking your time to answer him will not achieve that. During the phone call, you act excited about the party and listen to him talking about how much he loves you. You grimace in response and quickly end the call. You sigh and put your head in your hands, the first couple of days of the RFA was amazing. You were enjoying the attention you were receiving from all members, especially Yoosung, who seemed to have fallen head over heels for you. But now you wished you never helped that stranger, that you ignored the messages and continued on with your normal life. Emailing the guests was stressful, the mention of Rika burdened you and having to keep up with Yoosung was exhausting. You needed a holiday from it all. Yes, you wanted to attend the party and marvel in all your hard work, but then you would have to encounter all of the RFA members and hear stories about past parties with Rika. You hated the comparison, they all acted like they knew you weren’t her but still compared you to her. It drove you crazy. You felt like screaming; instead, you stood up from the bed and stormed over the dress. ; Jaehee was standing at the entrance of the party, waiting for the newest member to arrive. It has been about half an hour since the party began and almost all the guests have arrived. She flicked through the guest list once more, just in case she missed you before handing the list to a staff member so she can join the party. Seven was acting strangely and was keeping eyes on the entrance, only nodding along to Jumin and ZEN’s conversation, much to the actor’s disappointment. Your lack of presence was noticeable to all of the members and the guests were asking about the `kind person who emailed them’. It wasn’t until V came up to the trio of members that the panic sank in. “Is (Y/N) here yet?” V said nonchalantly. Questions about V’s eyesight and where was Yoosung were thrown back and forth, but V just repeated his question. “Um… no, she hasn’t arrived yet.” answered ZEN, which gained the response of a sigh from V. “I better notify Yoosung. He wanted to make a romantic gesture, but there is no point in starting it now if she hasn’t arrived.” V was about to turn around as Seven catches his arm “Wait, Yoosung is here? What about his eye?” the first words Seven spoke all night, came out shaky. V ignored the question as the other members started to ask Seven what he meant by that statement. V had suddenly started walking back to Yoosung which triggered the other members to follow, including Jaehee who had listened in to the conversation. ; Yoosung sat at a table furthest away from the party’s entrance, his hands slightly shaking from his nerves. Every now and then he would touch this bandages to make them they haven’t moved and would wince at the pain. He could see from the corner of his eye that V was returning, Yoosung prepared to hear the news that you had arrived and rose from the table. “Oh my god. Yoosung!” he heard, he gazed behind V to see the RFA members. He smiled weakly and tried to hide his bandages with his hand, hissing to V “This wasn’t the plan! (Y/N) wasn’t supposed to see me yet!” The RFA glanced at each other, unsure how to tell Yoosung that you were not here yet. “Yoosung, (Y/N) hasn’t arrived yet.” replied Jumin, as the other members nodded. Yoosung chuckled assuming it was a joke until he glanced at the group in front of him. He noticed their sad faces and that you were not with them. He was sure that they wouldn’t have left you behind yourself, so it had to be true. Yoosung stumbled back into the chair he was previously sitting at, the other members worried that he had hurt himself. “Why… Why isn’t she here yet? She said she was coming. She was so excited.” He mumbled to himself, before looking up at the other members “Why is she not here?” His eyes snapped shut as he spoke, which gained another wince coming from his mouth. V instantly turned to the RFA members and decided to find out where you were. Seven was instructed to track you down, Jaehee and ZEN were instructed to try to call your phone while Jumin was in charge of checking if you were online in the chatroom. V sat next to Yoosung as the chaotic scene played out before them. He hesitated to place a hand on Yoosung’s back, but as he saw Yoosung soften under his touch, he started to rub it, to try to comfort him. Yoosung placed his head in his hands, his mind going crazy at thoughts of why you were not at the party. ; You were sitting in the back of a taxi when you could hear your phone going crazy in your pocket, the driver made a noise of annoyance. You apologise as you pull the phone out, embarrassed by the noises it was making. ZEN’s name popped up on the phone, you quickly hit ignore but as soon as you did that Jaehee’s name popped up. You continue to reject the calls that were coming in until you see another name join the callees. The option to reject was suddenly unavailable which you gasped at, you were forced to answer this person. “Hello?” you say, you could sense the fear in your voice which gains a raise of the eyebrow from your driver, you turn away from him. If you were going to get yelled at, you didn’t want this stranger to see you cry. “How dare you!” replies the voice, it was rough and penetrating to hear. You wanted to challenge the person on the phone, but you knew better to start arguing with them. “Nothing to say, huh? Figures. Explain this to me (Y/N), I can see that you are nowhere near the party. You are not even near the apartment. Where are running away to?” Seven’s voice pierced through you, and you wince at his words. “Oh, no! Did I hurt you? Boohoo. You’ve done the same to all of us!” You couldn’t just sit there, you had to defend yourself, but how? “Seven, just shut up! You have no idea what I’m going through right now! I didn’t want to be in the stupid RFA, I didn’t want to take on Rika’s futile job, and I didn’t want to be in a relationship with Yoosung! I didn’t want any of this!” You take deep breaths and wait for a response from the hacker, ready to continue this fight. ; Unknown to you, Seven had the whole conversation from the start on speakerphone, and the rest of the RFA had heard your whole conversation. After you rejecting Jaehee’s and ZEN’s calls, they decided that when you did answer, they would put it on speaker to ensure you were ok. They were not expecting your outburst. Gasps from all the members could be heard on the phone, and they all looked at Yoosung who was now distraught. Yoosung, who had tears rolling round his face, picked up the phone. He walked away from the other members and took you off of speaker “Sweetie? I’m sorry you feel this way.” His voice cracking as he spoke. “I’m sorry you were forced to join us…We didn’t realise how draining this was for you... We… I’m sorry.” Yoosung brushed his hair out of face as he looked back at the other members who all had worried looks on their faces. “You know that I love you. I hate for you to leave like this…” Yoosung was going to continue until he heard the dial tone ring out from the phone. His face fell as he realised you had hung up on him, his lips now trembling to try to keep any sobs from escaping. He turned back to the other members and requested to be taken back to the hospital.

ZEN - You lean against the bathroom sink, hoping to calm your nerves for the event that was going to start soon. You had convinced ZEN that you should return to the apartment before the party so you could get ready, but honestly, it was because you needed to rethink things. ZEN seemed a little hesitant to let you go back, especially as he was nervous that the hacker could return. You splashed cold water in your face, in an attempt to calm yourself. You enjoyed ZEN’s company when you were at his apartment, but now that you have returned, you had realised how dramatic his situation was. The social media thinks he’s this awful person because of Echo Girl and you didn’t want to be involved with that. : ZEN had entered the venue without you, narrowly missing the mixed crowd outside. A large crowd of Echo Girl fans, paparazzi and his own fans had gathered and made it slightly difficult to get inside. He was glad that you had decided to arrive by yourself after seeing the chaos he had created, other guests had their pictures taken of but did not receive the same verbal treatment that ZEN had. Awful thoughts of what they could have said about you entered ZEN’s mind, which he quickly tried to ignore. He searches the hall looking for you, wanting to meet up with you to ensure that you were ok, you seemed a bit strange the night before, especially as you suggested doing back to the apartment. ZEN spots Jaehee talking to staff members for the event, so he decides to check in with her about where you were. “Jaehee!” ZEN said as he approached her, she turned quickly and smiled at him “ZEN, you have arrived! You look handsome as always. I’m sure (Y/N) looks gorgeous too.” ZEN could see the twinkle in Jaehee’s eyes as she examines his outfit. “Ha-ha, thank you. Speaking of (Y/N). Has she arrived yet?” Jaehee stared up at him, confused, “What do you mean? She told me she was coming with you?” ZEN assumed that you forgot to tell Jaehee about your decision last night so started to clear up the mistake and explain that you were arriving by yourself. “Huh…” Jaehee began, flicking through the guest list in front of her. “She didn’t mention this, this morning. She actually confirmed that you were attending together.” ZEN’s eyes widen, why would you tell Jaehee that? His mind races, thinking that something happened the night before that you disliked making you say that. “She hasn’t arrived yet, I’m sorry ZEN. I need to return to my post. I’ll notify you as soon as she arrives.” Jaehee says, pulling him out of his thoughts. ZEN frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket and calls your number, praying that you will answer. The phone goes to voicemail which makes him panic, ZEN starts to phone someone else to get advice. A ring could be heard behind him, “Huh. Zenny, don’t you think it’s rude to call someone who is attending an important event? Especially if they are right behind you?” Seven’s voice says both through the phone and from behind ZEN. ZEN turned quickly to face Seven. The desperation on his face becoming evident to the hacker. “Woah… are you ok?” ZEN ignores Seven’s question as he stumbles for words. “I… I need your help.” ; You could hear your phone making noises from the next room, you place the plate you were washing on the drying rack and leave to find your phone. You were preparing to leave Rika’s apartment but didn’t want to leave it a mess, you weren’t sure when the next time someone would enter it, and you didn’t want the place looking disgusting. Your phone lay on the coffee table, and it was going crazy. Suddenly a high pitch squeal escapes it, you scream and cover your ears. What the hell was wrong with it? You grab it to see a notification of someone calling you, you hesitate to answer it but prayed it would stop the awful squealing noise. “Hello?” You sigh as you hear the noise disappear, that was a weird glitch, you had to be sure to get that fixed once you leave. “Oh, it’s so nice of you to pick up.” The voice on the other end of the call was recognisable but seemed so cold you couldn’t pinpoint who it was. “My phone was in another room, I apologise.” You reply, sure that you knew this person. “That’s strange. Shouldn’t you be on the way to the party?” You suddenly figure out the voice, it was one of the RFA members, scratch that, it was Seven. You wanted to hang up the phone and turn it off so that you didn’t need to hear the discipline you will receive. “Seven, I told you to hand the phone over if you could connect the call. Don’t be so harsh with her!” You could hear another voice talk and take the phone off of Seven, oh thank god… “Princess, has something happened? Are you still coming.” You start shaking as you hear the last person you wanted to talk to on the phone, speak. You could deal with telling Seven the situation and him getting mad at you, but could you really break the news to ZEN? It would crush him. “Yeah… I’m fine” You lie, trying to buy yourself time to think of the proper way to tell ZEN why you weren’t attending. You hear him sigh on the other end of the call. “Oh thank god, I thought the hacker got to you or something. Are you on your way?” You had little time to think, but you couldn’t lie anymore to him, you whisper out a response of “No”. You could feel yourself shake even more, and tears fall from your face. You didn’t want to tell him, not now when he should be enjoying the party. ; ZEN’s mind was racing, he was thankful that you were safe, but now you were acting strange. “Are you sick? Do you need me to come to take care of you?” He said, getting ready to leave the party to come to support you. “No… I’m fine. I’m not coming to the party.” ZEN looked over at the hall as you said that, catches the other RFA members mingling. “Can I ask why?” he said, unsure if he wanted to know the answer now. “I’ve decided to leave the RFA…” ZEN turns his back on the crowd so no one could see his tears which were forming “You… you can’t do that!” ZEN breathed down the phone, trying to calm his voice to not show any signs of sadness. “I’ve made my mind up. Please apologise to everyone for me, and please don’t try to track me down.” ZEN sobs down the phone instead of replying to your comment, unable to speak. “Goodbye, Hyun. I’ll miss you.” He hears you say before the dial tone rings out. ZEN stands in place confused about the scene that just played out, tears rolling down his face as he can feel his heartbreaking.

#mystic messenger #mysme #my writing #mysme fanfic #it took me forever to finish this cause i didn't want to write Yoosung's #I didn't want to hurt Yoosung like that :(#His is also the longest cause favouritism

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paladinsheadcanons · 5 years ago

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Twitter has been hinting that Strix may have changed sides because of the new champion trailer... any thoughts about that?

For those who aren’t aware, Strix is seen fighting alongside Tyra, who is a known Paladin. They’re both shooting at Vivian and Viktor. This scene is at 0:27 of Corvus’s trailer. Corvus is Grand Magister Karne’s son.

I’d take it. We know Corvus had something to do with the Abyss, so how do we know that Strix is anti-Magistrate and not just anti-Abyss? At the end of Corvus’s trailer, he says, “For I am Corvus. Son of Karne! I will control the Abyss, and save this Realm!”

There’s a bit of a pause (where I assume most people would have already stopped the video and gone to watch something else), before Corvus says, “For the Magistrate.”

So Corvus is 100% on the Magistrate’s side. He’s not just working for them for his own personal gain only to turn on them when they’re no longer useful. And Strix is shooting at Viktor and Vivian who are also known to be hardcore Magistrate goons. So this shows that Strix isn’t just against Corvus and his Abyss-bound ideals, he’s against Magistrate personnel as a whole.

There really isn’t a lot of answer as to what would have made Strix turn against the Magistrate, or why he chose to do it, but perhaps something within the lore might hint towards an answer. Let’s look at Strix’s lore.

Having spent most of his life in the military, Strix was an invaluable member of the Sentinels, tasked with training their elite sharpshooters like Kinessa. He was reassigned after the unit was disbanded — sent to the front lines with the regular army as it prepared to put down the Resistance.

So key point 1: Strix was a Sentinel. Who else was a Sentinel? Viktor. And the Sentinels disbanded for one reason or another. Could Strix have blamed Viktor for the fall of the Sentinels? Let’s look at Viktor’s lore.

The former commander of Sentinels, an elite Magistrate military unit, Viktor lives in shadow of his former glory. He took the blame for what happened during their final mission, was stripped of his rank, and reassigned to a lower position by Grand Magister Karne. Though disgraced, his training and skill as a soldier remains unmatched, along with his unwavering loyalty to the Magistrate.

Seems Viktor took the fall quite well and Strix didn’t receive any punishment if Viktor took all of the blame. So it was likely that Strix didn’t fall out with Viktor and chose to leave for some other reason, unless he has some unknown conflict with Viktor. Since nothing hints that they fell out, let’s leave that point.

Strix also has another contact within the Magistrate - Kinessa. I don’t think she had a part to play in why Strix chose to fight for the Paladins since she struck out from the Sentinels long before the unit was disbanded as stated in her lore:

As the Realm descended into chaos and war, vigilante bounty contracts have been plentiful, earning her all the fame and fortune she'd lacked while in the service of the Magistrate. She still refuses to pick a side in the conflict, however, because there's much more money to be made by playing both sides than by contracting with either.

She did serve the Magistrate and in game, she could be played on the Magistrate’s side during End Times. Still, she was long out before this went down, so I’d rule her out too.

Kinessa and Viktor aren’t the only ones who were involved in the Sentinels before. Tyra and Buck were both part of it previously, though it is mentioned on the Wiki that “When the Civil War started some remained loyal to the Magistrate, others entered for their own reasons, and the rest joined the Resistance.”

Tyra and Buck are both Paladins and likely knew Strix a long time before the Crystal Revolution even began. It’s also said that Strix was the trainer within the Sentinels and trained recruits: Kinessa and Tyra, so Tyra has a longstanding relationship with Strix.

This would give Tyra and Buck a lot of sway when it comes to convincing Strix to fight for them instead, assuming they had a neutral or positive relationship. Strix does have an unused spawn chatter line directed towards Tyra, “You haven’t aged a bit.” It’s not said maliciously so we can assume their relationship was neutral or positive.

Until Corvus showed up, Strix was considered Magistrate, so I think we can say that it was Corvus’s presence that encouraged Strix to leave. Since Strix has been working with the Magistrate for quite some time, it’s likely he knew Corvus for awhile and didn’t approve of abusing the Abyss to get rid of the Paladins. Either it was that, or Corvus had another motive or something he did that disillusioned Strix.

Something super interesting and a little conflicting is that Corvus has a kill taunt line directed at Vivian, which is someone he assisted in his own trailer. This could mean nothing and just be a jab at Vivian.

There’s a couple other rabbit holes Corvus’s voice lines lead down, though nothing directed at Strix or hinting at him.

This one is a little complex because there’s no information about Strix’s motive, and his relationships don’t seem to be the cause of him switching sides. I do conclude that it is a problem with Corvus at the end, and it was Tyra and Buck’s convincing that pulled him to the Paladins’s side.

Strix is still listed as a Magistrate player in his Wiki though so... I’d put a pin in this one and come back to it if we get more information, perhaps in a future event?

#paladins #paladins champions of the realm #paladins headcanons #strix #corvus #kinessa #tyra #buck #vivian #Anonymous

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rosaguard · 5 years ago

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summer waxes poetically about her favorite aeris gainsborough ships:

i never reblogged that five ships meme because...well i don’t have five aeris ships i care about lol. however, i was challenged(tm) so here is something close to it. i do feel like it is fitting to make this post on here since aeris was actually the first muse i truly started writing a ship on after asking someone first ( and i had been writing on tumblr for like...5 years on and off before that for context. anything before that was just..maybe flirting - nothing i felt invested in ).

aeris & happiness.

the most important ship. the OTP. no other can compare. i think the biggest tragedy of aeris’ death is that so much was taken from her. she had so much to live for, so much to do, and her life was brutally and suddenly ripped away when she was finally getting the chance to figure herself out and rise to her full potential. i don’t want to aeris to die in the remake ( especially because everything about the whispers would’ve felt like a waste of time if nothing significant changes and aeris living is probably as significant as you can get ) but if it happens, it happens - i’ll just be really sad and disappointed by it lol. i’ve always been very clear that aeris’ death is not a bad one despite my blog canon essentially retconning it. there’s a reason she dies and it’s not to further cloud’s man pain ( he had enough of his own trauma already ); she dies because she’s a legitimate threat to sephiroth’s plans. she’s actually an example of a character death, especially a female one, done incredibly well, especially compared to SE’s recent output ( serah, luna, etc. ). also anyone who says she was created just to die is also wrong. barret was originally written to die first and they decided to change it.

anyway, the point of me bringing all of this up is that i didn’t decide to do away with her death because i think SE sucks and they hate women. i did away with it because a lot of aeris’ character development ( her learning about the cetra at cosmo canyon, figuring out what the white materia does, etc ) is implied / off-screen since we never know her point of view and then well...she dies. i wanted to explore what her feelings would be if she woke up alive after being attacked while meteor is slowly drawing closer to the planet. how would she handle that? how would she feel? would she feel like a failure? would she be angry? what would she do after meteor is destroyed? would she travel the world? join the w.r.o? tell everyone to fuck off and then move to a cottage in the middle of nowhere and live the rest of her life in peace? these are the questions i wanted answered when i thought about aeris living. i don’t care if she ends up with cloud, or zack, or whoever because they don’t matter: aeris matters. she’s her own person with goals, desires, wishes, and more. no one talks about what she would want and do if she had lived. all people care about is what ‘man’ she belongs to as if she’s a prize to be exchanged between them.

the second reason is simple that she fucking deserves it. she deserves it after living in a lab for 7 years and watching her mother die just trying to get her out. she deserves after having to deal with being stalked by the same company responsible for a lot of her suffering. she deserves to finally be around friends that make her feel loved, accepted, and cared for. she deserves to not feel alone, or like an outcast, or a freak because of her powers. she deserves to be able to go to icicle inn too and see footage of her father for the first time. she deserves to be able to go back to kalm and see her mom again. she deserves to live happily just like everyone else gets to do. her life has been filled with so much tragedy and pain yet she never lets it define her. she blooms in the face of adversity. she keeps smiling even up until the end of her life. she deserves happiness as her end-game and if i don’t get it in canon, i’m going to create it here myself.

aeris & cloud.

i disliked this ship for a long time. it actually wasn’t because of the ship itself but due to some of my experiences with the shippers. i won’t go into my fandom experiences but i ran an account dedicated to ti.fa for almost six years so i’ve seen how...unpretty both sides of the 'ship war’ can get and it turned me off. a lot. when i decided to write aeris, i immediately started a replay of the the original game with an ‘aeris-lens’ ( analyzing her character, her relationships, making sure i got her date, etc. ). it made me look at her relationship with cloud in a different light since i had never really paid attention to it as heavily before since i avoided the ship tbh. i ended up enjoying their dynamic a lot. they have a natural chemistry with each other but there’s also this unspoken distance between them which is fully intentional - she has her own walls up and he has his.

they have a very ‘tragic love’ since well...she dies before anything can fully go to the next level. their relationship in canon is a very ‘what if’ and as a result, i often see people who don’t like the ship claim that they wouldn’t work because aeris wouldn’t be able to ‘deal’ with cloud and would’ve left. to be blunt, this a bad take considering supporting one another is prevalent throughout their relationship:

aeris: i learned a lot. the elders taught me many things. about the cetra... and the promised land... i'm...... alone... i'm all alone now... cloud: but i'm...... we're here for you, right? aeris: i know. i know, but... i am the only...... cetra. cloud: does that mean we can't help?

cloud: ...i gave the black materia to sephiroth...? wha... what did I do... tell me, aeris. aeris: cloud... be strong, ok? He writhes and clutches his head. cloud urrrrrrgh... what have I done!? aeris: cloud... you haven't done anything. it's not your fault.

cloud: yeah, I hear you. sorry for what happened. aeris: don't worry about it. cloud: ...i can't help it... aeris: oh... then, why don't you REALLY worry about it? and let me handle sephiroth. and cloud, you take care of yourself. so you don't have a breakdown, okay?

the remake only reinforces everything i like about their relationship: their banter is great, aeris gently takes his hand during one of his ‘moments’ and supports him, she confides in him about talking to her flowers, and he never treats her differently ( which is a big deal when just two nights before, he told someone to ‘get help’ when they claimed they could hear the planet lol ). they have so much in common as well: they both have struggled with loneliness, being an outcast, and not having a lot of friends. i’ll always find it incredibly interesting how cloud is repeatedly not invited to be apart of group functions in the remake ( he wasn’t allowed to celebrate with avalanche and had to sit outside jessie’s house as the others ate pizza ) until he met aeris and she invited him to have dinner with her and her mom. despite the ‘bodyguard’ dynamic to their relationship, they always feel like equals to me.

aeris: today’s special!!! cloud: why? aeris: because i met you, you dumb binch!!!

aeris: *says cryptic stuff and tells him that they can’t fall in love* ( i’m saying they because apparently in japanese / other languages she says ‘we can’t fall in love’, not just ‘you can’t fall in love with me’. ) cloud: uh....how about i do anyway??? also i’m saving you so...see you tomorrow at 11. bye.

me: their relationship never gets to a serious level because the opportunity was taken away from them de to unfortunate circumstances.

also me: they’re just just...dumb and in love!!!! i’m sorry, that’s just the way it is!!!! she literally tells him that meeting him again was special to her and the silly boi doesn’t get it!!!! one of the composers of the game even said a tracks that plays with them is meant to have a romantic vibe!! when she pulls away from him, he reaches out for her because he doesn’t want her to let go!! the lyrics of hollow is literally ‘this time i’ll never LET YOU GO’ AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

anyway, i’ve also noticed this weird trend in the fandom where it feels like cloud is never allowed to just has his own dedicated feelings about aeris - and i’m not even talking about romantic feelings. i feel like whenever there is talk about cloud’s relationship with za.ck or ti.fa, no one inserts aeris into it. they’re allowed to have their individual relationships with him yet with aeris it feels like you cannot talk about how much she meant to him and vice versa without other characters being thrown in. i don’t know if it’s because of shipping and people don’t want to acknowledge that like...characters can have feelings for multiple people or what but the reality is that cloud did feel something for her. she did mean a lot to him; so much so that he slept in her church two years after she was dead and went to her burial place alone. he missed her. maybe it was just as a friend, maybe it was because of something more but i really dislike how their relationship and importance to each other, regardless of whether it’s platonic or romantic, is constantly invalidated.

aeris & gene.

when kas / @castershot first created channels for gene and aeris in our rp server last year, i honestly did not think these two would have a serious relationship at all. i figured maybe they would have a fling or something at best / aeris would be the equivalent of a filler character in a few episodes of the show and then they would go their separate ways. ...that didn’t happen but i’m glad it didn’t! i didn’t know a gosh diddly darn thing about outlaw star but i’m very good at researching and aggressively reading wikis so i was able to whip up a verse ( and someone who watched the show thought i had actually watched it after reading my verse so i guess i did a darn good job! ). anyway, i feel like when writing aeris it’s very easy to...hmm...fall into very certain dynamics and considering gene’s line of work ( doing odd jobs, being a bodyguard for hire, a general jack of all trades ), i didn’t want it to be the ‘he’s a bodyguard, she gets protected, blah blah blah’ dynamic but in space. so their relationship ( at least in my head - there’s a lot going on in there tbh!!! ) basically became somewhat of a deconstruction of cl.erith + ( bad ) stereotypes about aeris in general:

what if the helpless flower girl that needs saving from the big bad corporation is actually a liar who works for said corporation and was sent by them to retrieve something important(tm) and eliminate anyone that gets in her way? what if aeris, a secret member of the turks, has become so desensitized when interacting with other people since she is constantly wearing a mask and she can’t tell if she’s genuinely falling for someone or if her acting is just so good that even she can’t tell what’s real or fake anymore? what if i took all those bad takes about aeris knowing she would die, flip it, and actually make it so that she does know and still goes alone anyway because she wants to save lives for once instead of being the person who takes them away!!

me: imagine the drama!!! the angst!!! kas, casually: [redacted name b/c of spoilers] would just bring her back to life. me: WHAT?! >:(

apparently one character in the show is casually just GOD and can revive people so they can come back like:

my bubble was BURST. dreams DASHED. plans CRUSHED. dramatics aside, i still kept the idea of her dying because i do like the take of a more secretly jaded / not as ‘pure’ aeris that works for shinra and has to basically relearn how to trust / care about others again + i live to attack kas and all of her muses. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. anyway, the point is that i love them and they’re a dynamic i’m very invested in the more times passes. they’re both so stupid and passionate and loud ( the first in character thing i wrote when i remade this blog was them screaming at each other in an argument ) but they’re also sensitive, don’t open up to others easily, and have trauma!! oof x 100.

me: this ship won’t be serious lol the ship, months later: may or may not have a thread with them going on a date. may or may not have gone to ti.fa and cloud’s wedding together ( where kissafist’s tif.a may or may not threaten to smash his balls in if he doesn’t treat aeris right. *smash em, rip em plays in the distance as aeris aggressively laughs nervously* ), they may or may not get married and have twins that may or may not be named ren and rose. me: clown putting on make up.png

so yea, they’ve come a long way(tm).

the end.

#❀ . ━ ❛ take your time ❪ ooc ❫ .#god i cried a bit when writing the last bit in the first section #i love her so much

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salty-dracon · 5 years ago

Text

More YTTD Theories Because I Forgot A Bunch

A continuation of this from a couple of days ago.

More theories, spoilers go up to 3-1A, and also include YTTS spoilers. Also I appreciate all of your thoughts on the matter.

In the previous post I said there were a few reasons to be suspicious of Gin. I forgot to mention one important point:

Remember the locker room and the Discussion there, where Hayasaka and Gin got magnetized to the ceiling and almost hung? According to vgperson, you can win the discussion by letting time pass three times after Hayasaka is magnetized. But after the second turn, Gin gets magnetized as well. And one turn after that, the mechanism is shut down by Midori. He makes sure “those two” are still alive via the intercom, and once confirming that they are, says “oh goodie, we can still play some more!“ and fucks off. Basically, you’ll win no matter what, because Midori doesn’t want them to die.

Midori says he observes all of the floors in the painting room, but he doesn’t really give “instructions” once they arrive or anything similar. Depending on what he’s using to monitor the room, he more or less uses his abilities to mess with the participants and the dolls. Think about how he spooks Sara and crew by saying “I’m not a painting!” if you look at the painting of him, or how he lets the crew get their hopes up about the transceiver until he speaks through it. However, he says he observes all of the floors, meaning he knows what goes on in each one. And though he’s not about losing well (he wants to kill people with the gun if he’s in a bad position, after all), he seemed to be concerned enough about Hayasaka and Gin to try and save them.

Considering he didn’t try to save Hayasaka the moment he could, and seems to have some form of disdain for the dolls, I wonder if it’s Gin he was trying to save. That brings up the question of why someone like him would want to save Gin in the first place. Maybe he’s allied with Gin somehow, whether Gin knows it or not.

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(Danganronpa 1 and AI: The Somnium Files spoilers in the next paragraph)

One interesting prediction rule when it comes to murder mystery games is that the culprit is “someone who’s been mentioned several times, but who we’ve never actually met”. They almost pulled that twist in Danganronpa 1 with a certain missing student. They mentioned her by name, making us think she was the mastermind for a while, before revealing the truth. The other big example I can think of is AI: The Somnium Files, wherein the serial killer in question is mentioned by name more than once, but we don’t actually meet him, knowing it’s him, until near the end of the game and after we’ve unlocked most of the other routes.

Extrapolating this to Your Turn to Die, there is one character we haven’t met yet who’s been mentioned more than once- that being Sara’s mother. We see her at the beginning of the game, passed out presumably due to an attack by Sara’s kidnappers. She’s brought up again by Sara’s dad in a flashback before Chapter 2, and then again when Kai leaves a message for Sara on the laptop. The password to that file is her mother’s name. Furthermore, we know her rough appearance, as based on seeing her passed out in Chapter 1. And taking the events of YTTS as canon, we know that Sara, or someone that looks exactly like Sara, is somehow involved in Asunaro’s AI experiments. There’s also one interesting oddity about her. As far as I remember, she’s one of two characters to get a background sprite, but not a foreground sprite. Here I’m referring to “background sprites” as the sprites that appear inside environments without black outlines, and foreground sprites as the sprites with different expressions that usually appear when you talk to a character. Every other character, notably all of the Death Game participants, the Floor Masters, and now the Dummies thanks to Chapter 3, have both foreground sprites and background sprites. Some characters, like Sara’s father and the man that Keiji killed, have only foreground sprites. The only two exceptions, that is, the only two characters whose faces we haven’t seen in perfect detail, are Meister and Sara’s mother.

Furthermore, we don’t know what Sara’s mother’s name is. Granted, we don’t know what her father’s name is either, but her name is apparently important. What if her name was also Sara Chidouin? What if she was somehow also Sara- as in, the Sara we know is a clone of her created using a doll? It’s a mystery why she’d be raising a clone of herself, but people are weird like that, sometimes.

Another related theory people have had is that Sara’s mother is in fact a part of the game- she’s just disguised as someone else. That someone else could be Miley. Though in my opinion Miley looks nothing like the background sprite I’m using for reference, a good wig can change everything. This theory might have become even stronger with the release of Chapter 3. There are a couple of situations in which Midori can say something along the lines of “Miley said you were cute when you got angry” to Sara. Though we could just take it as Miley being an asshole (she’s totally an asshole), I think there’s only one situation in which Sara got mad in front of Miley, that being when Mishima was killed. Maybe this was lost in translation, but it’s a rather sweeping generalization and a somewhat weird thing to say about someone if you aren’t familiar with them. Meaning Miley’s really familiar with Sara. Or Miley was just being an asshole.

After looking up Sara’s mother on the wiki the manga only has a picture of her wearing a mask over her mouth. The plot thickens.

Regarding the other character, Meister... people have made a couple of interesting observations about him. First, he shows up in collaboration artwork. Second, there is a person who looks very similar (albeit with grey hair) in the room above where the monitors were in Chapter 2. His clothing color scheme is exactly the same. Also it’s a big ass painting. Third, with the release of Chapter 3, there’s the entertaining feature of naming Midori whatever you damn well please, unless he makes some joke about it and tells you to pick another name. Most of his responses to you picking something like “Alice Yabusame” and “Tia Safalin” are either “here’s a fun anecdote about that character and/or what I think of them, but I don’t want that name“ and “that’s mean :( pick another name please“. Elect to name him Meister, and he only says “... Pick another name, please”. Considering his personality can be accurately described as “Kokichi if he were Monokuma”, it’s out of character. He fears Meister, or doesn’t want to be associated with him. So yeah, Meister’s probably important. Maybe he’s even the Meister-mind. (Feel free to boo me for that bad pun.)

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Regarding the game’s endings, most people seem to believe there’s two- a logic ending an an emotion ending. I agree with this viewpoint, as “choosing logic“ has been explored a few times throughout the game. With the release of Part 3, the choice of which ending’s which has become a little more clear.

If Alice lives and Reko dies, Q-taro says something along the lines of “The Dummies may be dolls, but they’re human just like us”. Implying that we, the humans, are also supposed to think of dolls as human as there’s no difference appearance or personality wise. Q-taro talks about Doll Reko being almost perfectly human, as a supporting argument, in reference to Alice who was unable to tell the difference between the Doll Reko and the real Reko. Remember also that the only reason we pushed Reko down the Impression Room was our logical conclusion that she was a fake. On the other hand, if we choose not to, Sara comments that despite the logic, she can’t see the Reko standing before her as anything other than real, even though there’s lots of evidence to the contrary. In that ending, the real Reko dies. Furthermore, there’s a little bonus snippet in the “afterlife” scene after Nao’s death, where Reko shows up, but Alice doesn’t appear if she lives.

For this reason I strongly believe that the emotion ending is Alice/Kanna living. Therefore the logic ending is Reko/Sou living. I have yet to test out to see if there’s any changes in dialogue with those two combinations specifically, as most people online seem to be playing Alice/Sou and Reko/Kanna. I’m streaming this game for a couple of friends on Discord, and also all my midterms are over the next couple of weeks, so it’s hard to find the time to play this right now.

I also believe that we’ll soon be facing another path split- maybe at the very beginning of 3-1B- that has to do with logic and emotion. Whatever that consent form is, it scared the other participants- it’s definitely a bad thing. However, Sara now faces the choice between saving Keiji and consenting to Whatever Evil Thing’s Going On, and sacrificing Keiji to avoid it. Logic would be sacrificing Keiji, while emotion would be saving him, in this case. Perhaps that’s not true, as Midori is the kind of person who can and would pull a fast one on Sara for funsies. Perhaps there’s something in his language implying that Keiji’s going to end up dead no matter what. He does seem to want to antagonize Keiji, after all. That, or someone else is going to die instead- probably Q-taro, having just been stabbed by Mai and being in bad shape. Even so, I wonder which will be which- whose death would be considered “logical” and whose is based on “emotion”.

TL:DR So many mysteries with so many possible answers. I just want to see someone vibe check Midori like he vibe checked us already.

#your turn to die #kimi ga shine

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