#ask the dummies yttd

[ask-the-dummies-midori]

what’s everyone’s opinions on snails?

Midori: "hehe what a silly question. Are you a snail? It's alright quite frankly, I like and enjoy snails company"

ANZU: ooh! I love snails! One of my favorite animals!!•∆•

Mai: ugh.. well snails are.. okay I suppose. I like them although a bit icky.

Kurumada: -ew-

Shunsuke: huh?? What's with this question? Why? What does this mean? They're.. okay ig

Hinako: uh? Wow. No response.

Maple: *happy mood* "Hehe. What a silly fun question! Snails are.., uhm lets see, essential to the environment so I like 'em!"

Ranmaru:"h-huh?!I-idk! Snails.. eugh? Gross man?"

Ooc: we're afraid of snails but love slugs. I'm fine with snails ig -M.

[fave-fix]

hey guys do we realize that the main difference betwen how kai and midori developed is that kai was given the chance to learn what normal life and love and family was like by working with chidouins while midori was kept under asunaros thumb all his life. do we realize that just a few changes could have kai acting just as cruel and merciless as midori. do we realize that midori is a victim of asunaro too, and though that doesn't excuse his actions it does make them more tragic. do we realize this or are we all being serious when we say midori is the only character who isn't worth redemption.

[doonalli]

hi !!! i lauv ur analysis’ of yttd !!! would you consider doing one for maple :)?

Woah my first ask!!! Thank you!!!!! Maple is such an awesome character there is so much that I could say about her, I even went a bit into it with Mai's analysis Maple's character is such a tragic one honestly, and there is a lot I could talk about, but writing this on the spot I obviously won't be going as in depth as usual, although I really do want to write a full analysis on Maple sometime, but 3-2 seems just around the corner so idk if I'll get the time....

Regardless, for right now, I'll talk a bit about the way Maple is presented, how that plays into stereotypes, and most importantly how she subverts them too

Maple is immediately presented as a very girly girl, right as we enter her room we are hit with loads of pink fluffy furniture, and she particularly has a keen interest in tea, all things that are traditionally feminine

Even her fight follows this with its emotions gimmick, playing into how women are seen as hysteric by the people who don't respect them

and further playing into that girly stereotype Maple has a deep love for Midori. It's a common trope for women in media to be nothing more than the love interest for the men around them, or for them to fall head over heels for the men they love.

But for Maple this is revealed to be much more sinister, with it actually being something programmed into her, rather than her own true feelings

let's not beat around the bush here, Midori is by no means a good person, AT ALL, but compared to Maple's love, Midori's affection is incredibly twisted, with the prime example being how he talks about Shin

In Kanna's route Midori talks about how unfortunate it is that Sou had to die, as he wanted to kill him himself.

And with that context I find it interesting how when Maple ends up powering down and "dying" Midori takes her and goes to "revive" he with "the power of his love"

It's just peculiar to me the difference between them and how Midori treats them. On that point though, another thing to note with Maple is hands.

To even enter the discussion room a pair needs to hold hands. People holding hands can often be used as a sign of affection, or intimacy, even Ranmaru himself falling into this.

But when Midori decides takes her to get "upgraded" he notably grabs ahold of her wrists, rather than her hands.

Grabbing someone's wrists is usually done because it exerts more power over them, compared to holding hands where it's a mutual act from both parties, and can be let go when either party desires it.

He could have grabbed her by the hand, or any other place honestly, or nankidai could have simply chosen not to show it at all, yet a specific focus was put on Midori grabbing Maple's wrists.

It's clear Midori doesn't treat Maple with care like the green books suggest

Nor does he make any attempt to understand her emotions or sympathise with her like the manual says

I mean he literally gave her the manual in place of a love letter to her, clearly not caring enough to actually write something for her. It doesn't get more ironic than that.

And it doesn't stop there for Maple, as when she is upgraded into Maple 2.0 she is forced into fighting her friends, in particular Mai

And this leads to partway through the fight where she fully cuts off her last remaining hand, which with the context of everything I've said also cuts off her chance of simply holding someone's hand...

But its not all bad for Maple, after all if Anzu survived the way she'll reconcile with Maple is by holding and shaking hands

(fun fact: Nankidai showed an old version of the sprite where Sara reconciles with Maple on stream once and in that sprite she also held Maple's hand, but that was changed before release)

And by the end of her story, Maple is able to fight back against Midori and put the first crack in his facade, even pushing through his "I love you"s and outright stating that she won't believe him. She pushes back on this idea of being defined by her love and is able to truly show herself as a strong person able to stand up the abuser in her life.

And Q-taro will even call Midori out on his mistake here, on how he underestimated Maple, because of his prior expectations,

And coinciding with that, this happens after Maple's monitors all break, monitors that were all linked to emotions, and put them neatly into boxes. It's not like Maple suddenly becomes emotionless either, she still hesitates when Midori says he loves her after all, but it isn't as easy as just reading it on her face, because she isn't defined by her emotions either.

Maple is more than the stereotypes that can be pushed onto her by the people in charge, (or the people who program her,) and the way she is able to fight for her own power says a lot, and proves that she is so much more than what it may seem on the surface, after all, she is human too.

================================================

Thank you again anon for the question, this IS shorter than the others i've written due to me writing it on the spot but i really hope i was able to fufill ur expectations even just a bit I'd love to revisit Maple someday, hopefully we'll be able to see more of her in 3-2 too (or YTTS or a minisode or a page in the updated artbook or SOMETHING) but for now I really enjoy her place in the story and her portrayal and maybe i've been to do her some justice and was able to show some others that too!!!

[a-dumbass-jester]

thoughts on naomichis episode

SO GOOD

I like how much Kurumada’s episode parallels Anzu’s one (they are siblings)

I like to think that if Kobushi and Ryuu ever meet they would have a very similar dynamic to Kurumada and Anzu because I tjink it’s fun!

In a non death game au can someone please do tjis!!

Like Anzu introduces kurumada to Ryuu and Kurumada introduces Anzu to Kobushi

and because Ryuu and Kobushi both know how important kurumada and Anzu are to each other

amd because they mentored them into doing what they do now (they have something in common) they meet as well and end up becoming close!!

Anyways enough about Ryuu and Kobushi

Sense yttd makes it so hard to tell if the unnatural hair colors are natural or not

But because people genuinely seam to have unnatural eye colors I assume the hair colors are natural as well

Obviously not all of them some parts seam to be dyed but I assumed the darker blue part of Kurumada’s hair was his natural hair color and to push my kuruanzu siblings (I swear I can’t talk about anything without bringing them up) theory since the steam/art book(?) tjing mentions the colors in her hair are dyed.

I headcanoned that her natural hair was darker blue, she bleached her hair to make it lighter(and therefore dyed) so Kurumada having naturally dark brown hair made me panic for a minute

Anyways I ended up headcannoning Anzu with naturally dark brown hair so it’s ok

Also speaking of which it felt SO weird seeing Kurumada after the time skip with brown hair instead of blue

Anyways Kobushi looks so silly and I love him for it

Also where are Kurumada’s parents

Edit because I forgot to add:

Look at how many red lines there are

[thatrandomfanartist]

Just as a reminder I have made it! @ask-the-dummies-midori

I want to make an ask Midori or ask the dummies blog, would anyone be interested

[logical-emotion]

my super cool yttd opinions (tiers aren't in order)

reasoning below the cut!!! Not doing reasons for everyone, just the top two tiers and anyone else i want to mention. If you'd like to know just ask in a comment!! Also spoilers

nao and joe tier/s tier

-Joe Tazuna

genuinely my favorite fictional character of all time he's my number one comfort character and he means a lot to me and he's a silly guy if he is evil it will personally come and edit the very code of the game. PRAYER is my favorite song of all time and the emotion Joe ai scene is my favorite scene ever of anything ever

-Nao Egokoro

I love her so much I relate to her a lot and her character growth is so good and massacre ending and her father daughter relationship with Mishima and the two ships with her i love (naosara and naoreko) is a bonus

GRAHHHH (affectionate)/A tier

-Sara Chidouin

Shes such an amazing protagonist and compelling character i cannot wait to see what happens with her in 3-2 I love her

-Alice Yabusame

I love him so much too his backstory is so interesting and his relationship with reko and I love his design and also transgender!!!! He's so cool and funny I love him

-Keiji Shinogi

The most interesting character for me???? His backstory KILLS ME and I love yttd's criticism of the police system and he is so cool and 3-1b did i mention 3-1b also he is objectively fine as hell

-Gin Ibushi

THE GUY!!! THE LITTLE GUY!!!! he's so cute and I love him but I also love how he has character beyond "cute kid" like him volunteering himself for the banquet. If he's evil I'm genuinely going to be so upset

-Kazumi Mishima

is this because of multiple inside jokes? yes. Is it also because he's absolutely amazing? yes. as a nao fan I am not allowed to put him any lower its the law

-Mai Tsurugi

Here she is my favorite dummy she's SO. I always try and have her as my surviving dummy because I think it so perfectly ends her arc please come back i miss you bad

-Megumi Sasahara

I HAVE REASON TO PUT HER HERE OKAY OKAY HEAR ME OUT. I already said that I love how yttd criticizes the police system as a whole but I love how megumi is. She's so morally grey and is such a huge part of keiji's backstory and she's really the only character besides midori and meister that we haven't had reason to sympathize with and that's so interesting considering the other guys are like. The main villains. anyway she's cool play jackleg participants I have an au where she lives she's pretty

-Ranmaru Kageyama

Im linking the video essay on him i watched it's so good but he's so interesting. I love him in both routes and his relationship with Sara. Unlike other people I font think he was executed poorly, though I do think it should have been either impossible to get him killed early in that route or after he kills yabusame, since if you do fail the minigame it is a bit anticlimactic. Nankidai please save the talent for the rest of us. Overall I love him and his hair. sand.

video essay -> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=70F6LZVPWv0

-Reko Yabusame

Once again as a nao fan I cannot put her lower but she's so cool!!!!! I love her design especially when she's in her Samurai yaiba outfit, and her relationship with Alice and backstory are so great. I love how they are characters without each other and their relationship is vital (like mishima and nao) and it's so cool also I'm a lesbian

-Q-Taro Burgerberg

hes so cool man. his development is so good man. I wish I could draw him man. I love him. He's so well written oh my god what the heck

Other mentions

-Shin Tsukimi

I used to be the biggest shin hater but I've since realized he's such a fire character. He's only here because of the fact that I still can't decide if I hate him or I love him

[sarachidouinfandom]

YTTD X TWST AU!!

I KNOW RANGER IS AN ODD START TO DORM ASSIGNMENTS BUT WHAT CAN I SAY... one day he plagued my brain and now he is the first out of them:3

feel free to ask any questions about this au or give your ideas!!!! im open to changing things and adding things or just discussing either games seperately!!

alot of this will probably just be spewing out ideas, some may stick, some may not!!! im not used to creating things like aus but they r so special to me<3

also, just to clarify, he is still a doll. for people like the dummies they will be humans, because the death game hasnt happened as they live in twisted wonderland. im thinking about what asunaro as a whole could be changed to because obviously the organisation with its original intent from yttd wouldnt exist either!!

-STARTING OFF!! i think it is pretty obvious why he is in pomefiore (dressup doll) its been swirling around in my mind that he gets told off by vil quite a bit for being too rowdy or not listening to rules!! ive not gotten as far as figuring out relationships yet so his relationship with other pomefiore students isnt something ive thought too much about yet.

one reason he gets told off the most for is because he uses the sash of the dorm uniform to hold his masks, vil doesn't like it.

magic wise, he doesn't have a unique magic yet :(

I KNOW THIS ISNT MUCH BUT I HOPE IT WILL EXPAND AS TIME GOES ON!! i hope people enjoy the idea of this au because shoving my two favourite games together is so funny to me like wdym i cant just shove them in a world together:/

[reminiscentrainclouds]

22, 23 and 32 for the yttd asks if you’re still doing them? :D

Yayyy I'm always up for doing the ask games. :3 Thank you for the ask!!

22. Who do you think is underrated?

From the main cast, I think Nao is really underrated. There's a lot of depth to her character that I don't see explored a lot, or at least as much as some of the other characters. I think for how big of a role she plays in the story on multiple occasions, she's pushed to the side in favor of other characters to some extent. I really like Nao and want to draw her more/explore her character through writing sometime.

Also I feel like the dummies (excluding Ranmaru, he gets a fair amount of attention I think) in general are a bit underrated. It's understandable because they aren't part of the "main cast" and don't play as big of a role on the story, but!! I'm speaking from a place of bias because I like them, especially Anzu and Kurumada. Their interactions are silly and they have sibling vibes to me, but also they're both just great characters. I'd love to see more art of them. Same goes for Mai and Hayasaka because I think they're even more underrated, AND both real and fake Hinako. It's hard when not much is known about them I guess.

And on that note, Kugie and Ryoko don't even actively show up in the game but I still reaaaally want to mention them too. I think it would be fun to see more people's interpretations of them! I feel like this is a case where the game has a pretty large cast of interesting characters but the fandom is pretty small, so there are lots of characters who could be considered underrated. But tbh this fandom is kinda fun because it seems like even the less popular characters have at least someone who's really invested in them.

23. Character you find suspicious?

For the most part, no one...? In the sense that I don't think there's anyone within the group who's actively or knowingly doing something that would warrant suspicion. HOWEVER, I do have some reasons why Keiji is suspicious to me. Mostly the fact that he's the only character not including the dummies that you never get the opportunity to use the memory lantern on, so although we can kind of assume the situation where he signs the consent form, we've never actually seen it. Plus the fact that he's so trusting of Sara from the beginning. Which can have many reasons that aren't suspicious, but the fact that there is such a big implication that she's "important" somehow and also the protagonist does seem like he's going along with that in some way. Also the fact that along with Gin and Sara, he's one of the only characters still alive by the end of 3-1 that doesn't have any real risk of dying before that. Just the idea that he's important enough to the plot that there's no route where he's dead by the last chapter I guess.

Also I don't think I'd call her suspicious for it because it's made very clear that she has no idea what's going on and that it'll probably be a big plot point later on, but Sara's whole deal with her high survival percentage and the idea of the death game somehow being centered around her is odd.

32. Which character would you want to be stuck in the first trial with?

Definitely Sara, Joe, or Mishima. All of them actually had first trials where they were stuck with somebody and both made it out alive, so that alone makes them pretty good options I think. (Technically Nao fits into that category too but we BOTH have anxiety in stressful situations, I do not think it would work out well!!) Plus Sara seems cool-headed and logical in tough situations, Joe seems easy to cooperate with to find a solution, and Mishima just generally seems like a reliable person when it comes to getting out of situations.

[rosehippiefield]

Santa and/or ranmaru with 4, 10, 25 for the ask game ✨

Spoilers for 999

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in? Santa

I've thought about it for some time and honestly I'd really like for him to be in Zero escape Virtue's last reward lol. It's not exactly different so it's prabably cheating but come on! Santa was helping Akane with scheme this grand in 999, maybe even he was the one who did everything because she was being dead (depending on interpretations), but he's not even present in the sequels? I crave closure wiht him. He drove away in the end of 999 and that's it?

Also, my little ponies for healing. I think he deserves to just have fun and be a pony

4. Ranmaru

So originally I wanted to use my little ponies for Ranmaru because he clearly needs friends. He's not entirelly hopeless in communication so if he has enough positive experience he'll maybe have better outlook on life and he'll find his purpose. I can imagine him not having cutie mark initially and being really moody about it so Sara and Joe decide to help him.

As a second option, Winx! To be honest, it's more me having plans for yttd and Winx crossover so I'm still kinda interested in it. There Ranmaru and other dummies were supposed to play the role of pixies. Well, kinda because they were connected to their partner. The rule of killing partner still applied and thus the dummy would return their "humanity" (which they also would return by sacrificing themselves and earning enchantix but Midori the Darkar never mentioned that part). If we're talking about canon Winx, I think Ranmaru would make an interesting mage/specialist character who's gloomy but can develop and eventually with gained power of friendship finally living happily.

10. Could you be best friends with this character? Santa

Maybe not best friends, but I could see us as friends. I don't really know how much of his personality in 999 was a facade and how much was genuine (though I suppose he didn't fake absolutelly everything). I think he could be caring and kind if I reminded him of Akane. And even if it'd be draining for me to be around someone this agressive, maybe we'd get along. I like old siblings that care about young siblings by default. Not as best friends though.

10. Ranmaru

Once again, not really best friends but we could be friends. He's a bit negative and cynical, but he can also be inspiring and determined. I'm irked by his obsessiveness with Sara and I wouldn't want same for me. On the other hand, it was partially influenced by the fact he died and wanted to feel all those moments of friendship he never had being alive. So maybe we could be friends and eventually he'd become happier? I don't know what we could do together and like I'm introverted too so I don't know if Ranmaru'd want to befriend me.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? Santa

At first I thought he was twink with the attitude and agressiveness so it's better to not anger him but he could be helpful. I didn't exactly like or dislike him, I think it was more of a positive impression

At the end, I like him and I really wish there was more. I have one small problem with the ending because our kidnappers just leave without explaination and while Akane showed up later in sequels he never did. It was supposed to be this way I guess... But I really like how he was way smarter and more complex than I expected, that he was part of this elaborate scheme to save his sister, that he cares so much for his sister. I love tragic siblings

25 Ranmaru

At first I didn't understand all the hype about him because he was the most popular dummy and I thought he looked boring

Now he's still more on the neutral side in my grading system and he's not character I think about often but I acknowledge that he's a complex character. I think I was really irked by his logic route betrayal so I can be a bit biased against him: like Yabusame tries to reassure him, then all group members agree to subject themselves to pain to save him and the thanks they get? He murders a Yabusame and plans to continue the same with the rest. I understand that he's under pressure and he's dead and he doesn't want to kill Sara but like... These people saved (or tried to save) his life. He can be self-sacrificial to the absurd degree too when he tries to download Joe AI in his body in emotion route, basically commiting suicide, which is less morally bad so he's not absolutely irredeemable scum but that logic route kill makes me like him less as it stands

[reco-obsessed]

question 27 of the yttd ask game :P

27 : whos miniepi do you want to see next? 

......reko's........ lord forgive me for giving the obvious answer

im really curious what part of her life nankidai will be reflecting on for her. it would be really interesting to see sy reko again and understand more of her perspective but i kind of doubt thats whatll happen- reko mentioned she doesnt have that many memories of alice, which makes me wonder if her mini episode wont really have much if anything to do with him. but the part of me that loves their dynamic really wants to have more content about that, too. if its nothing to do with their dynamic, then maybe well get more details on her current band. mini episodes seem to often involve characters weve never seen before, and i imagine the other skullnutz members are a good set-up for that.

if i had to choose someone thats not her, maybe one of the dummies. they get so little focus in game being introduced all at once for one chapter, itd be nice to see some more details. oh yeah, i guess shins will probably be interesting, i honestly forgot about him.

[ask-the-dummies-midori]

Gives you my soul and steals a bone from someone!!!

Thank u have a good one (I’ll be back probably)

*Anzu crumples and falls over on one leg*

Ha, thank you for your contribution we hope your life is dedicated to Asunaro and filled with intrigue. Good day"

[rroechan]

Is it alright if I ask about the yttd 'Personal Collection' illustration you did a while back?I know its meant to be a wip but aside from the obvious references, what are the other ones? Like, Is the butterfly a reference to something? The flower pot(?)?

Yeah!! i dont actually know if i'll ever finish that!

Anyway, heres this i made like, a few moments earlier

The papers with every participant's survival percentages

The revolver from the second puzzle in the entire game with both the dummy and real bullets. This puzzle in particular stuck with me and I know its exactly because i tried to kill Kai at first cuz i found out he was Sara's stalker & immediately was like "No Thanks" to him. Imagine my dissapointment when i find out everyone has to live to win. Imagine my pain when i found out he's good and he ykw himself :D

Kai's apron.

The collar thing

The consent form (probably with Shin's signature)

Kanna's bucket hat with the flowers, present in her execution, in it

A police badge

three bugs on display. The dragonfly on the right representing Tia, the butterfly in the middle for Sue, and the beetle on the left for Gashu

SAMURAI YAIBA MENTION

Shin pinned inside a case like those pinned insects on display

Sara and a not-so-living Joe inside their own bug pin display case. Meant to be reminiscent of the first puzzle the two find themselves in an the very beginning of the death game.

[doonalli]

The Dummies, Midori, The Banquet, and what it truly means to "be human"

And here we are at the finale. if you haven't seen my previous analyses on the Dummies I recommend you read them before reading this one since i am going in assuming you have. But if not here they are in order; Why Anzu is Important Hayasaka and how humans change Kurumada and trust in your allies Ranmaru: Doubts in Humanity, and Humanity in Doubts Mai and Humanity in Autonomy Hinako; Humanity in Affection and Connection

With that said, let's start talking about the Banquet, Midori and what that says about the dummies' humanity.

At first the Banquet seems like a strange choice for the finale of the chapter, after all, we just went through a whole chapter about proving the humanity of the dummies, yet here they are all killed of one after the other here for the sake of Gin, a human. It comes off as a bit jarring, even seeming like YTTD is going back on its message a bit.

But I’m here to argue that isn’t the case, that the Banquet not only doesn’t conflict with the messaging of the chapter and the game as a whole, but instead works to push it even further to culminate in a perfect ending.

And to start with that, let's talk about one of the key players in the banquet, Midori. In a way Midori is everything it means to not be human, and he himself revels in this inhumanity. Midori has thrown away his own humanity, and this is shown to us in so many different ways, but the main one is the way he treats his own body.

What's particularly interesting about Midori is how unclear the line between what's real and what's fake is when it comes to him, from his relationships with the participants during their pasts, to the constant lies and half truths the tells over the chapter, to his death itself, it's hard to get a grasp on the reality of the situation when it comes to him.

And this of course extends to Midori himself, as he is presented as a mystery ever since Alice told Keiji about his murder, and in the way we don’t quite know if he is human or not until the banquet itself, and even then we don’t know exactly how much of his body is human.

During the Banquet Midori reveals that he has slowly been replacing parts of his body with doll parts, 

And to Midori this is equal to no longer being human, this mentality can only be achieved if you equate humanity to what you physically are, and it's through this that Midori acts as the opposite of what the dummies all stand for,

Where the dummies stand for Humanity not being tied to the physical truth, Midori stands for the opposite notion, that the physical truth stands above all. In his eyes humanity is a weakness, and we see that in how he treats them and the traits that prove humanity.

And so Midori tries to escape it, to escape his own humanity, no need for allies or connections or doubts or fears, all those "human" traits when you can just stand above it all, as some unstoppable force.

Midori is the perfect example of this because he constantly rubs it in your face just how inhuman he is, he does so when he starts spinning his head and when he rocket punches Yabusame and literally asks

And he furthers this mentality with his actions too, because Midori is denying his own humanity, he denies his fear of death, he constantly berates and betrays his allies like Maple or Hinako, he denies others of their choices and autonomy, laughing at their despair and refusing to connect, and even his “affection” for Sou is a twisted, messed up version of what affection is. All of it to dehumanise himself and others.

It's honestly hard to call Midori human after it all, and that's just what Midori wants. That's why Maple’s last act of defiance near the end of the chapter was so important, because it shows us and to Midori that that's all it is, a facade.

Just one small moment where Midori wasn’t in control and that's all it took to show us that he isn’t invincible, and with that the image of a fearless unstoppable force is shattered, and it shows us that he isn’t as above humanity as he thinks he is.

It's important that this happens here because it allows the cast to fight back during the next section, both himself and his ideals.

Midori’s mentality of humanity being defined by what you physically are goes head to head with the Dummies in the banquet, and that's what it's about, it's a battle between Midori, and the Dummies, who are trying to prove their own humanity, with all the ups and downs that come with it.

The banquet itself plays into this too, the hint system draws a straight, clear cut answer on who is a doll and who is a human, using exclusively what they are physically.

And the cast isn’t exempt from doing this too, with many of the first discussions being centred around “who is human?”, whether it be figuring out what the lights mean, questioning whether Midori himself is human, or questioning who among the Dummies is a human.

And it's only when Mai’s hands are revealed to be Midori’s human hands, that the lines start to blur. 

Does Mai having human hands make her "more human"? What if they aren't even hers? Plenty of people use body parts from others in real life too right? It gets you thinking about the line between human and doll and just how fragile and unclear it can be.

And sure we designate Midori as the human here, but later we find out we were wrong, because trying to designate a human through physical traits is wrong. But before that…

After picking a coffin and killing either Hayasaka or Kurumada the next hint reveals a human, Sara tells Midori that he must be afraid as hypothetically there is a 50% chance he dies, but Midori denies he is afraid of dying and picks the coffin anyways, revealing it to be Hinako

This just blurs the lines even more, since up to this point we thought all the dummies were dolls, yet a human was able to sneak in there entirely undetected. Can you really say they're that different if you didn't even realise it at first?

And importantly, as we discuss who Hinako really was, we confirm her humanity, but not through any physical traits like many people tried to do during the banquet, but through a painting and the connection between Alice and the real Hinako.

During the next section we figure out the truth about Midori, and about how he has more doll parts than human, spinning his head all the way around to prove it. Obviously this isn’t something that any human could do, but more importantly it shows us Midori’s inhumanity in an undeniable way, it's so flashy, bold and in your face, that you’d be hard pressed to call him human.

When Sara then stands firm and states that this proves Midori is a doll and Gin is a human she is agreeing to the line that Midori drew and separates Humans and Dolls even further. This goes as far as to picking a red coffin, picking a doll, just to keep Gin the human safe, Midori even calls Sara out on it if she is really alright with picking one of the dummies, and notably Sara’s internal monologue doesn’t question that fact, but instead wondering why Midori is so confident, and why he doesn’t seem to be scared.

Sara is being pushed even further into believing Midori isn’t really human anymore at this point, Questioning if their logic was even correct. Until…

The surviving dummies inspire Sara through their words, and with that, prove their own humanities in their own separate ways, showing Sara and the player that their lives have purpose, have value, and that they are truly human.

On the surface it seems like Sara is simply making a choice to sacrifice the dolls for the sake of a human, and the tragedy of that is the fact these scenes show the truest form of their humanity. There is a reason these scenes are such a focal point in my analysis of each of those characters (Mai, Kurumada, and Hayasaka) and it's because it shows that they are able to make their own choices, for the sake of their allies, despite their contradictory emotions, and that's something that's inherently human. 

We see this when characters like Mishima, Kai, and Kanna all do something similar, and it all just works to prove that fact the dummies aren’t separate from the humans.

So why does this happen? Well to me it shows that despite their efforts, Sara still couldn’t shake her bias, playing right into what the Banquet and Midori want, by dehumanising the dummies.

But it isn’t over and the dummies still have a chance to show their humanity.

Tragically, Sara misses, not knowing at this point that Midori isn’t even in one of the glowing coffins, and Midori now has a free shot that's basically guaranteed to hit Gin, but Midori gives her a chance to talk to Gin, and that confidence ends up being his undoing.

While talking to Gin he mentions Keiji, reminding Sara of her wish she got from signing the consent form. She demands Midori to change it, and after some arguing, he does. Only he picks the #2 coffin, killing Anzu, and it's here where we reach our lowest point, where Sara herself admits that she undeniably sacrificed a doll for the sake of a human.

However it's always darkest before the dawn, and that's true here too, this is the Dummies’ last chance to prove themselves, and they won’t go down without a fight.

Through a discussion the cast figures out that Hinako swapped coffins with Midori before the banquet even began, meaning he is actually in a non-glowing coffin, and through this they are given an actual chance to fight back, because, as Sara rightfully called out, this proves Midori is afraid of death.

Despite his claims otherwise, Midori is scared of death, and because of that he swapped coffins with Hinako out of a fear he’d die outwise.

Midori claims that this doesn’t matter though as no matter what all 3 of the non glowing coffins have dolls inside, meaning the hit will be red no matter what. 

Regardless Sara presses the hint and it ends up blue, meaning that there is a human inside, much to everyone’s surprise.

The fact that Midori believed so strongly that the coffins would end up red only for it to be blue just blurs the lines between these two options even more. The fact that the contents in this coffin are unknown is just the first step in this counterattack.

Before that however, Ranmaru’s coffin is picked, sending Sara to give up, but Q-taro tells her that it's not what she thinks, as Midori is revealed to be struggling with his next choice.

This goes into the war of words against Midori, and the thing about this one is that compared to the other war of words our goal here is to confuse Midori as much as possible. First we refute his claim that Keiji isn’t in the coffin, despite it being blue. Then when he brings up the victim videos we tell him that the Hinako in the video isn’t even the Hinako of the dummies. He reasons out Maple must have told Keiji about the Banquet, and reveals that the coffins designate between human and doll through the collars, as both dolls and humans would be ashes after being cremated.

All these contradictions are designed to blur the lines between red and blue, real and fake, human and doll.

The way Midori doubts a human is in the blue coffin, or the way we bring up how not all the dummies are dolls of people who died, or how he admits that the coffins don’t even tell the content apart by physical traits but instead by the collar put on them.

And by the end we’ve blurred the lines so much that Midori thinks the coffin contains his collar, despite his own claim that he himself would be counted as a doll. All due to Q-taro's trick.

As if Hinako being a Human among the dolls wasn't enough, there has been a doll among the humans the whole time, and no one could tell, not even Midori, who dies before he ever learns the truth.

The fact that a doll of someone could so easily fit in just shows how vague the lines really are. We see just how much a doll can seem like a human, how they can feel and learn and grow like any human, how they laugh and cry and shout like any human. And at that point... was there ever really even a line at all? And this all culminates in the final act of the Banquet, Midori and Sara’s last choices. Midori is now doubting himself,

struggling between the 2 options he has to target, struggling with his conflicting feelings,

 and Sara thinks to herself that Midori has no allies to rely on now,

because he denied that connection, and killed them all himself.

She tells him to choose, to make his own choices now,

and he does, he picks the non glowing coffin… Missing Gin and ultimately dooming himself.

Sara ends up making her choice, choosing Midori’s coffin, and as the drill goes through Midori, he realises just how scared of death he is, but it's too late for him.

We prove his mentality of humanity being decided by physical traits is wrong in this moment, because here, in his final moments, Midori is undeniably human, and even he can’t run away from that.

"I'm a human. Which is why I don't wanna die..."

Unlike somebody such as Rio, who also spent his last moments as a human, Midori doesn’t deserve any sympathy, because he did that to himself. Just like how he denied that connection to his allies like Hinako, and killed them, Midori essentially killed his humanity, or at least tried to, so when he’s backed into a corner he doesn’t get to rely on his allies, and while we’ve proven that his mentality of humanity isn’t right, Midori himself he only realises this right as he is about to die, when it's far too late to go back now.

Through the Banquet and its final choice we prove to not only Midori, but to the cast and ourselves that humanity can’t be defined with just the physical truth, and that's what victory means for the dummies, because if someone who actively threw away his own humanity, with all his rocket punches and spinning head can still struggle with contradictory feelings, can try to rely on his allies, can still be forced to make his own choice, and can truly fear death, then humanity  just can’t be defined by something as simple as how much of your body is a doll, and the lines that seemed to divide that, ceases to exist at all.

================================================================================================ Afterword: So that's it. This set of analyses is finally done. Some of you all might have noticed that this is being released exactly one year after my first Anzu analysis, and I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this with me, the fact that there are people who like and agree with what I have to say is still unbelieveable.

I started this series because I thought the dummies were an underappreciated part of YTTD and 3-1 was underappreciated in general. To me this chapter is just incredible, my favourite bit of fiction ever, and I just wanted to put it into words why I love it so much, and as I wrote this series I only grew to love it more!

I hope I was able to share that love to whoever took the time to read any of my posts, its been an incredible time, thank you so much! and i hope you're able to love it a bit more too.

Sorry this one took so long to come out, I've been working on a few projects that i'll hopefully be able to drop soon, and if you're a fan of the dummies I think you'll like what I have in store.

Lastly I want to thank Crazy Sunshine for being such an incredible friend and for helping me so much with the latter half of these analyses, they were improved so much with their help!!!!

And I'll try to be more consistent with these posts but uhh i said that before and that hasn't exactly worked out, regardless this isn't the end, i have a few asks to catch up on still and i am not even remotely close to saying all there is to say about this incredible chapter, so I hope you'll be there when it drops. I hope you've enjoyed this era of my blog and moreso I hope you look forward to the future.

Thank you for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed! and I hope I got you thinking about this incredible chapter even just a little bit more.

[daily-dummies]

Haii I’m Zero!!☆ (any pronouns)

Main: @a-dumbass-enby

sides: @cat-spotted @clown-spotted

This will also be like a dummies spotted blog too

I’ll draw sometimes too feel free to give prompts/ideas/asks

{Outfit prompt 1}

{Outfit prompt 2}

{Outfit prompt 3}

{Outfit prompt 4}

Ask example:(op1) character 1a

Other yttd daily blogs(I’ll update overtime):

@daily-anzu-kinashi

@dailyanzu

@dailykurumada

@dailyranmaru

@approxdailymopdog

@dailyhinako

@dailyhayasaka

@maidaily

@daily-mai-tsurugi

@dailykeiji

@dailyrioranger

@kazumimishimadaily

@daily-shin

@dailyaliceyabusame

@dailyshadsou

@daily-midori

@dailyginibushi

@kaisatouofeachday

@daily-kai

@daily-cup-of-joe-tazuna

@dailynaoegokoro

@kindadailynao

@dailykannakizuchi

@daily-sara-chidouin

@dailysarachidouin

@dailysarachidoun

@dailysafalinsoda

@dailyshinai

@gashu-satou-daily

@dailycrabstache

@dailykugiekizuchi

@dailyseisatou

@dailysmilingasshole

@daily-teki

@yttd-doodles-daily

@dailyryokohirose

@dailyreko

@daily-yabusames

@naorekodaily

@dailybbq

@sue-daily

@joemaru-sometimes

@mai-tsurugi-daily

@dailysouhiyori

@daily-bucket-girl

@daily-megumi-sasahara

@tia-safalin-daily

let me know if i miss anyone

(Sorry for the tags)

[goldyluna]

For the ask game :3

Safalin from yttd, Toriel from Undertale and/or Fluttershy from mlp :3

Oooh, great choices (but so hard too)

May contain spoilers!!!

SAFALIN

How I feel about this character: she is so interesting!!! I hope we can see more of her and about her! She is kinda hard for me to describe, she is so... unclear (for lack of a better word). She loves science and she does more of those things for her own satisfaction, but she is weird in my opinion.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I like seeing Safamiley content, but I don't really ship them myself. They are so cute tho! I just think Safalin is too awkward for any relationships and too absorbed with her own research to even look for anything romantic. Or to not see it as an opportunity to study more about people. And Miley lost her fiancé and I think she would still be grieving, seeking a revenge. Not really wanting a new partner. Eventually some hookups as a way to release bottled-up emotions or as a study, but I still am not sure.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I see her and Miley as badass lab partners! Just think about all the things they could do. I just think they are cool.

I also like her interactions with Sara and Gin. Ready to help but still careful. She knows she is an enemy in their eyes but still leaves a way for them to get help from her if they need it. She is kinda creepy with how she is fascinated with her own machine, but she is just really passionate about science, I guess.

(It really makes me laugh when she gives Alice food and he is "forced" to eat it lol)

My unpopular opinion about this character: Dunno if I agree with it in 100%, but I think it is an interesting take? Maybe Safalin isn't human. It would be great if she was! That would make sense for her and Miley to be real and not dolls. She also bleeds, she shows us her healing medicine by cutting herself. But in russian roulette at the beginning the dummies bleed too, with green blood. If she was a medical doll, she could have the function to bleed, she could be built differently and be filled with fake blood. But would medicine work the same on a doll's "skin"??? It is made from different material in the end (I think). Gosh, I made myself doubt everything lol. Either way, we don't know if it is important, a thing that Nankidai forgot about or something else. Well, all this yapping for me to just yap, because I just theorize more than say any unpopular opinion... But I can't think of anything else, so please take my unrelated thing for this one <33

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: I want to see more of her backstory. I think it would be so cool to know more about her motives, about herself and her story.

TORIEL

How I feel about this character: to be honest, I have mixed feelings about her. She, of course, is a good character. She just isn't my type of character. It would be nice to analyze her more, to see with what she struggles the most. Because she is a complex character with a lot on her shoulders and with a heavy heart. A lot happened in her life and she did things she thought were the best. I don't agree with some of her ways or behavior, but I can understand where she is coming from. She lost a lot of people she held dear to her heart, it changes people. It destroys them from the inside. And Toriel isn't any different. She just tries her best and I admire her for not giving up. But there is still something that doesn't sit right with me, but I can't catch what. I think it is a me problem, tho, not Toriel problem.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: no one. I see her searching for her own peace in life. She wouldn't want to go back with Asgore, they are not meant to be together in Undertale or Deltarune. I love seeing pre-Undertale stuff where they are still together and happy. But I think the separation is really important.

I think the ship with Sans is somewhat canon????? At least it is hinted in Deltarune and all the joke-flirting shows it too. But if I am being honest, I am not entirely a fan either. I mean, it doesn't mean I don't like seeing stuff with it and I really think it is cute.

But personally I stay with independent Toriel. She needs time and all the non-romantic love from other people. And maybe someday she will find someone new, maybe she will forgive Asgore and give him another chance (in the end, it worked at the beginning, but sometimes things just don't work the same as before), maybe she would be with Sans or she would decide to go with Self-Love route. Everything is nice and possible.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I like a lot of her interactions with others. I love her being the Caretaker of the Ruins, that means every monster in the Ruins trusts her and cares about her at least a little. I like how she still worries about Frisk even when she left the safe place. And I adore the joke language she has with Sans.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I think that me not liking her very much is the unpopular opinion? I know she has her own reasons, but she is so sharp sometimes. If she hates, she hates with her whole body and doesn't forgive. And if someone is purely good in her eyes, they can't do anything wrong. I think she is hypocritical. She doesn't have to be rational all the time, but she is shown as a reasonable person (or I have the feeling she wants us to see her like that), but she is really petty. Again, it is nothing wrong to not like some people, to have our own opinions and to do things our own way. It is okay to make mistakes and acknowledge them. But it is also important to listen to people and understand them even if we still won't like or forgive them. Everyone has their own reasons. There isn't always only one person that is guilty, it is a group effort. It is really easy to connect every bad thing that happened to one person.

She also is a little too much for me. Maybe a little too caring, a little too suffocating. But yeah, she has a massive trauma. She has a massive fear of letting go, of being abandoned by another one of the innocent ones. They remind her of her own children that she lost.

She is such a tragic character. And I understand her. Me not liking her doesn't mean I hate her, I just don't resonate with her. It is so interesting to go inside her head and see how she sees things. She is really a complex and important character. A really motherly monster full of warmth and love.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: I want all the souls to show themselves to her and hug her and to tell her it wasn't her fault. I would love to see her with Chara and Asriel. And I would like her to know who Flowey is and to think about how she treated him in this form. It would be interesting to see her dilemma about what to think. (please, I sound really cruel, but I really don't hate her. I swear!)

FLUTTERSHY

How I feel about this character: she was my favorite from the very beginning. I looked at her and said "yes, you are mine now" and she was for many years. I still love her and is my favorite. But now I also love Rarity (so now I have two mlp characters I kin). Fluttershy was so me and so pretty.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Discord and Rarity.

Fluttercord is canon! I think they look cute together. A flower fairy and a man (lol). She makes him so much better. This ship is literally the epitome of "I will fix him". Well, I think they complement each other. They can be the best version of themselves together.

The ship with Rarity is more of a self-indulgent one. I just went "oh, my two fav characters? now kiss" and it stuck with me. It kinda became an inside joke with me and my friends that Rarifluttercord are parents of my sona because Luna(rium) is the Goddess of Chaos, can shapeshift and the rest is like me (likes fashion, art, animals, is shy and creative). And she (I?) kinda looks like a mix.

At the beginning I LOVED Flutterdash. I shipped only them and was so obsessed with them. But I don't really like Rainbow Dash as much now. I still am not opposed to this ship, but it is so much lower in my ranking.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: her with all her friends, but with Pinkie Pie the most. I dunno why, I just love the vibes of them.

My unpopular opinion about this character: She has the full right to be angry and disappointed in Rainbow Dash. With the leaving her alone after she fell and when she exchanged her services for a book. I think it was really dumb.

When they were kids, they had different goals, but Fluttershy really needed Rainbow Dash. Something could happen to her when she fell. And in the end, they were friends again later. Fluttershy had her animal friends and depended more on herself.

I know that the fair episode with exchanging her for a book was supposed to be a lesson for Rainbow Dash. She was so blind she only saw her own needs and was ready to sacrifice a best friend for them. What a Symbol of Loyality! Everyone makes mistakes and it is great to learn from them. Everything was good at the end. But it still doesn't sit right with me that it was so easily forgiven.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: uhhhhhhhhh, this thing I wrote in the unpopular opinion? I also have an AU (that is only in my head) that the damage could not be undone and she went away as the caretaker (of course with her own will). She lived happily training dangerous animals and maybe one day, after so many years, she would visit Ponyville to meet with some people that tried to have contact with her <33

[goblin-the-clown]

yttd ask game: 21, 22, or 9

i love how they censored midori-

Yeah lmao 😭

21 - Keiji. He's very intriguing to me and well-written but I kind of dislike him. I feel like a lot of people don't actually like him for his brilliant character and only like him cause they think he's hot (not for me. His hair is highlighter yellow 😭)

22 - Maple. I love Maple so much she's genuinely one of my favourites to draw and also plays a very big part in chapter three being the strongest obstructor you have to fight. Any of the dummies as well, especially Mai. Mai and Keiji is an underrated duo.

9 - I have quite a few there's just some I don't post about that often.

Alice x Shin

Nao x Reko

Joe x Ryoko

Q-taro x Mai

Ranger x Safalin

That's about it. I like Shin and Kurumada as well and I think Maple and Reko should kiss but Alishin and Naoreko forever 🙏

Ty for asking!!