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1moreff-creator · 3 days

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EP 13 Revision: Trying to Solve the DRDT CH2 Murder

Back in my bullshit I go! So, episode 13, what a chapter! Really made my old murder theory seem unlikely, so let’s see if there are any convincing alternatives, shall we? As a heads up, most of my theory actually remains the same, a lot of this is just me going over some other possible alternatives. Although I’m also going to talk about what happened to Ace as well, and that theory has changed quite a bit.

Spoilers up to CH2 EP13. CW Murder, hanging, strangulation, asphyxiation, Eden!Culprit, Ace!Culprit, Nico!AceAttacker, blood, mention of Xander losing his eye.

You don't exactly need to know what my previous theory was to understand this post past the “Murder Method” title, but it might help, so here's Levi!Accomplice anyways. Speaking of:

How Dead We Talking?

Levi: In that case, we should be suspicious of those who *do* have an alibi in the evening but not in the morning.

Levi: Then, did the killer perhaps use some sort of mechanism to hang Arei?

These lines in particular, especially combined with some other dubious lines in the past, make me very doubtful Levi!Accomplice is the right answer. An obvious presumption of this theory is that Levi would want Eden to win the trial; if he didn’t, he’d just call her out and explain everything. Even if he just gave her the fish, I think he’d have said that by now. But these lines have Levi actively pointing people towards the right culprit (if it’s Eden) or the right method. You could read this as him choosing to betray Eden after Hu’s speech, yet still hesitant to fully reveal his involvement. However, given he willingly admitted to his secret because he considers honesty good and wants to be a good person, it seems weird that he’d keep being disingenuous and hiding evidence from the cast.

There’s also this statement:

Levi: But it is a “good” thing to make sure someone else doesn’t die, even if I personally do not care about the outcome.

Of course, you could read this as him wanting to save the life of the person he considers the “most good,” that being Eden, but the problem is he also admitted to seeing other participants (such as David) as good. I’m not fully opposed to stretching dialogue to fit certain theories (I still believe venus-is-thinking’s explanation of Eden’s breakdown after the Arturo story in the trial works well enough not to disqualify Eden as a potential culprit, for example), but I have my limits. A lot of what Levi said in his speech and beyond reads a bit too strangely for me to really consider Levi!Accomplice as likely as I once did.

Is it 100% dead? No. There is the ticking clock motif in the background, and some of Eden’s reactions to Levi’s speech could be read as pointing towards this, but I feel like that might just be a “foils” thing? Like, the person with quote unquote “bad” thoughts that does good things, contrasted with the person with quote unquote “good” thoughts that does a pretty bad thing (if Eden killed Arei).

(Disclaimer: there’s no such thing as “good” and “bad” thoughts and feelings, it’s your actions that determine whether you’re good or not, Levi’s a good person even if he has low empathy, you know this)

In any case, while there’s a world out there where Levi!Accomplice is still the right answer, just in case, let me throw out a few more theories on how this could work. Unfortunately, I can’t come up with any answer that solves every mystery of the case as well as Levi!Accomplice does, which is why I still consider it possible, but I’ll do my best.

Murder Method - Hey, I Wasn't That Wrong!

The things discussed in this chapter halfway confirmed a lot of what I speculated about the method itself (assuming Teruko isn’t wrong, but I feel the trial would flow a bit weird if she presents one relatively good theory and then backtracks). The killer used the spinny thing as a pulley to pull Arei up to the ceiling, using the rafters and the seesaw (yo the seesaw WAS important, Korekiyo fans winning!) to set up the mechanism. After Arei was high enough, they tied the rope to one of the handlebars so it would tense before Arei hit the ground, and let go. To make sure her neck would break instantly, they also attached water jugs to her in order to increase her effective weight. To avoid the rope sliding off the handlebars, they used tape with a sandpaper-y texture that makes it easier to grip. In other words, the tape from the gym. It is also implied the killer splashed Arei with water, either accidentally or to hide her body temperature.

I got… most of this right. I didn't catch the seesaw thing, nor the splashing with water thing, and I didn't fully realize the purpose of the tape, plus I thought the killer would have used a second piece of rope attached to the swing set as a "stopper" instead of tying one long piece of rope… but the main pieces are there!

The last few details haven't been discussed yet, but I still think they're solid. To get the rope over the rafters, they tied one end to something like the ball of clothes (or any equivalent) and threw it over the said rafters. On the way, they accidentally hit the lights, displacing them and causing it to break and start flickering.

(How many posts can I fit this image into? Watch it be wrong, too)

The rest is simple. Arei's wrists (and possibly feet) were bound by the tape after something happened to scuff the floor. That's actually a sticking point of the old theory: figuring out exactly how those specific scuff marks would form.

I've always just taken them as evidence of some kind of struggle, but how do they form? Well, they look like either tire tracks (which I'm gonna assume are impossible) or, perhaps, clawing at the floor.

Since the old "struggle" no longer applies, I'm going to take a shot in the complete dark and speculate, with practically no evidence, that the struggle is: The killer managed to tackle Arei to the ground from behind, Arei falling stomach first, and either strangled her with the rope or smothered her with the ball of clothes (because evidently I just like to throw this thing at any unsolved mysteries I can, sometimes literally) until she lost consciousness, but no more. Arei clawed at the floor while this was happening, generating the scuff marks.

(I am assuming the rope is long enough to do this even with the mechanism already set up, which it should be)

Now, you might be thinking that there’s a method I’m leaving out, that being the turpentine. Since DRDT’s turpentine can apparently knock people out, isn’t it possible she was knocked out with it?

Well, actually. If the method Teruko describe is accurate (which for the purposes of this post, I’ll assume it is), Arei cannot have been knocked out with turpentine.

Why? Because of the marks on her wrists. The ones that imply they were bound by tape at some point.

Why is this a problem? Simply put, turpentine’s too good to need the tape around Arei’s wrists. In the Ace case, Ace was unconscious for quite a while; however long it took to set up the murder mechanism, and a little after Eden and Teruko entered the room. Translated to Arei, if the killer knocked her out with turpentine in the playground, they would easily be able to put the noose around her neck and do the pulley trick before she woke up, making the tape redundant.

This leaves us with three options if Arei was knocked out with turpentine. Either Arei was knocked out outside the playground, at which point you’d need a different explanation for the scuff marks on the floor; the killer didn’t know how long turpentine induced unconsciousness lasted; or the killer was extra cautious for some reason. Notably, those last two would imply the killer is different from the Ace attacker, since Ace’s wrists were never bound as far as we can tell, and at that point you need to explain how they got the turpentine in the first place.

Compare that to unconsciousness induced by asphyxiation. Although it could take up to two minutes to knock Arei unconscious, consciousness is regained around ten seconds after pressure is relieved in cases of asphyxiation. That’s too quick for comfort, since if Arei regains consciousness before the rope takes her off the floor, she would easily be able to slide the noose out of her neck.

That means the killer would need to tie her hands to make sure they could pull off the pulley trick without issues, which explains the marks on the wrists.

A note on the asphyxiation thing; I think even a weaker person could realistically pull this off if they caught Arei by surprise. From what I understand, it’s difficult to meaningfully resist against strangulation from behind, so even if Arei is stronger than her killer, it’s a plausible method. However, I could be wrong about this. It might shock you to know this, but I'm not very well versed in the logistics of murdering people.

Also, you might say that that's insane. Why do all the mechanism stuff if they had already asphyxiated her unconscious? And while that is a very fair question, there is no way to eliminate it. Keep in mind Arei's wrists were bound at some point, but the mechanism was still used. No matter how the tape got around Arei's wrists, there will always be a time when the killer could have killed her in a very simple manner (eg stabbing her, strangling her, bludgeoning), and still chose to complicate the method.

There are a few reasons that could be, but I currently believe this is related to what Teruko brings up at the end of EP 13. The mechanism is similar to the one used to try to kill Ace. This way, the killer could point to the superficial similarities as a way to pin the blame on Nico. Or the killer straight up is Nico and they're just obsessed with this method for some reason lol.

Oh, also, Arei’s missing a glove. I assume the killer removed it to better apply the tape on the wrists and just… have it in their pocket, I guess. I really don’t know what to make of this thing.

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Side Note: The Ace Case

I said in my first reaction to EP13 that I would review the Ace case method. Since I don’t feel like making a separate post, I’ll tackle it here. We basically got one piece of evidence regarding this: Teruko believes there was either a hanging or a pulley involved.

Now, you might know this case is actually lot harder to figure out than the Arei one. The first time I tried to come up with a method, alongside venus-is-thinking, accirax and thebadjoe, we went kinda insane. There's a lot of really weird evidence in the short investigation we got, which led us to creating gym-wide wire circuits, crucifying Ace, giving Eden the turpentine, hypothesising about wire yo-yos and on-off switches for the fans, and who knows what else. As fun as that was, there was surprisingly little hanging and pulleying in that thread, and now that Teruko's implied the Arei method is somewhat similar to the Ace method, we might be looking at not-great answers.

And because this method is so difficult, I’m not very confident in the answer I’m about to give. I think it’s better than what I had before, but there’s still a few questions. I’m not too bothered by this though, since we’ll get answers in a few days anyways.

First thing to clear up: I firmly believe Nico did everything by themselves. The killer needed the turpentine to knock out Ace; Nico never denied taking the turpentine when accused, and straight up admitted they “made a serious attempt on Ace’s life.”

Rose: They even lied to and stole from me to commit murder. Out of everyone here, they’re the least innocent.

Nico: I—! I didn’t kill Arei! I swear!

Charles: But did you not intentionally try to make a serious attempt on Ace’s life? Answer honestly.

Nico: Y… Yes…

Then, when speaking about what they did, they always speak in first person singular, never giving any indication there was anyone else involved.

Nico: I didn’t… think about [the trial after the Ace thing]… I… I never should have… done that…

Not to mention they were in the gym, alone, with their cloak off, and they had the most motive for killing Ace. They’re the only person we know for sure had the opportunity to grab the turpentine, they said they were going to kill Ace before this happened, etc. You can certainly twist all of this in some way to make Nico not the sole culprit, and I respect those theories, but for me, the most compelling explanation is the one that makes the least amount of assumptions. That the guy that admitted to trying to kill Ace and implied they did it on their own, tried to kill Ace on their own. Occam’s Razor, and all that.

Plus, if there’s anyone else to blame, most people point to Hu. But…

Hu: It is not and never will be your decision as to what happens with our lives.

Note: The next part has been slightly edited, as I feel my original wording was poor

I don’t see Hu as the Ace attacker. There’s too many lines that (in my opinion) you have to really stretch to make it plausible, and while I’m not entirely opposed to doing such things (spoilers, I still believe Eden!Culprit), I’m only fond of doing them when there’s physical evidence to back up the claim. The dialogue can be interpreted in different ways, but I just do not see any real evidence Hu was involved in either crime this chapter.

Edit over

Yes, Hu’s wire is there, but Nico already stole one custom weapon from a friend, why wouldn’t they steal/borrow a second one? Even if they didn’t straight up ask for the wire, Hu claims she and Nico ate breakfast in Nico’s room, so it’s not difficult to assume Nico could have gone into Hu’s room at some point and gotten the wire that way. It’s also true Hu never calls them out on this, but that’s because she never saw the crime scene; even if she knows Nico had the wire, she probably wouldn’t immediately assume it was used in the murder.

Again, theories where Nico isn’t the sole culprit are perfectly valid, but I personally don’t believe them. I may get proven wrong by the end of the week, but oh well.

Aside from that, let’s make a quick recap of the evidence we have. Ace’s body and wounds; bloodstain on the wall; lone wire; fan wire; broken fan; moved benches; stool (brought from storage?); broom (pulled right out of Ace’s ass-); fallen weight rack; isolated weights; non-functioning fan; clean pull-up bar; Rose’s and Teruko’s account (Nico took the turpentine and used it to knock out Ace); banging noise; Nico’s missing cloak.

(Btw; I talk about the lone wire and the fan-wire as two completely separate things, since it makes things easier. Just assume Nico broke the wire before the murder attempt)

The first thing to note is that hanging Ace actually solves a particular point of contention from the first thread; Ace’s wounds. Because of the way Ace always grabs the front of his neck in the sprites after waking, some of us thought there were only injuries on the front. Meanwhile, others posited there were wounds all around Ace’s neck, based on the sprite and the blood on the wall.

But hanging offers an interesting middle ground. The wire tensing around Ace’s neck could cause injuries on both sides, but if Ace was slumped over, the injuries on the front would be deeper because gravity. I think? I’m no expert on hanging, might need Whit to confirm that one for me. But it’s conceivable, so I’ll go with it.

But we can’t just hang him simply. If you check the first thread, you’ll remember that by far the weirdest piece of evidence is the blood pattern on the wires. It stops and starts in weird places, as seen below:

This is difficult because it means the wire wasn’t continuously wrapped around Ace’s neck as you might expect. However, you might also remember one of the only explanations I have for the lone wire’s blood pattern; a noose pattern.

If the lone wire is tied in a way where Ace’s neck bleeds over the know but not the noose, the pattern is explained.

But how do we work a noose into the hanging? Well, a yo-yo. I’m kidding, but only kinda; you can put the noose around the isolated weights to weigh down Ace, making the hanging… more fatal? Look, I don’t know why Nico did half this shit, okay?

The big thing that’s left are the actual logistics of hanging Ace. It’s a lot harder than you might assume, and while I’m probably vastly overcomplicating it, I wanted to put the broom somewhere and this might be the bests place for it. So, taking inspiration from badjoe’s idea of using the broom to stabilize Ace, my own yo-yo theory, and venus-accirax’s general idea of crucifixion, I present to you:

A brand new murder diagram!

(Btw, didn’t mention it, but the fan can’t be spinning for this to work. Either there’s an off switch or Nico just broke it with the broom and then put it back more or less)

As you can see, the main trick is putting the broom across Ace’s jacket, going from one sleeve to the other stick-first, and then using the wires to lift it up (first the one on the pull up bar, then the one on the fan), wrapping them around Ace’s neck in the process. This allows Nico to keep Ace upright and with his neck as close to the ceiling as possible while putting the wires where they need to be. The lone wire is attached to the pull-up bar. Not pictured is the stool, which Nico probably needed to pull this off, btw.

After setting this up, it’s just a matter of pushing the broom out of Ace’s jacket. This would cause Ace to fall, tensing the wires (I’m hoping the pull-up bar is higher on the wall than it looks :v) and toppling the bench he was on. Sort of. The exact location of these things escapes me a bit.

After that… it’s possible Ace falling immediately caused the fan to fall, or the fan held for a moment, and this moment is when Nico got their cloak out of the gym. Maybe?

In any case, the fan collapses, the lone wire rips the tape out of the pull-up bar as it flies off, and Ace falls backwards. I’m hoping he’d be close enough to the wall to fall in a way that makes the back of his neck stain the wall with his blood.

When that happens, Nico starts to panic, grabbing the lone wire, putting the weights off to the side (I don’t know how they got there), and looking at Ace’s body just as Teruko and Eden enter the gym.

That’s more or less it. There’s obviously a few problems with this, and it’s probably significantly more complicated than the real answer, but it’s solid enough that some of it might be right. I just want to explain the blood on the wires, man.

One question is why the left fan isn’t spinning. This depends on how turpentine works in DRDT. If it emits fumes that you have to inhale for a while before passing out, Nico turning off the left fan (be it with an off switch or by breaking it with the broom) could be a way for them to make sure the fumes don’t dissipate. When Ace enters the gym, the turpentine could be open and hidden, in a way that after a while, Ace inhales all the fumes necessary.

However, it’s also possible turpentine works more like how chloroform is usually depicted. In that case, it’s possible Nico used their cloak as a rag to apply the turpentine, then took it out of the gym to avoid inhaling any fumes themselves.

Because i’m case you haven’t noticed, Nico’s cloak is sorta like Arei’s glove, in that I have no idea where they went, and thus can’t really imagine how they fit into everything.

What is with DRDT characters and mysteriously losing their clothes during murders?

It’s also physically dubious; not enough that I really think it’s 100% impossible, but still. And I have no idea what happened to the weight rack beyond “there might have been a struggle” (which only kinda works, those things are heavy), or why Nico put the weights there…

And I don’t know why Nico did any of this. My pal, please, just fucking stab him next time.

Is this right? Probably not, but I think the general idea is plausible. We’ll find out in a few days just how wrong I was about this, anyways.

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Alright, so for the big question.

Whodunnit?

There are a few important things to consider when it comes to a culprit theory. I’ll outline them here so you can judge your own picks for culprit based on my criteria, though obviously it might be different from yours. Personally, I believe any genuine theory on the culprit must account for the following things:

-Time of Body Manipulation: Because of the swinging and the marks on the wrists, which should fade quickly, Arei’s body must have been hung shortly before it was discovered. Since she’s assumed to have died at around 7:30 AM (yes, there are theories to the contrary, but I can’t address every single possibility here, so I’m just going to take the 7:30 AM time of murder as accurate since it’s what I believe), it’s assumed that’s the time the body was hung. The culprit should probably be someone without an alibi at the time, potentially clearing David, Veronika, J, Hu and Nico.

Potential Workarounds:

+Fake Alibi: Applicable mainly to Hu and Nico. But would either of them be willing to die for the other? Also, Nico agreed with Teruko that David was acting suspicious at the end of EP11. If they’re the culprit, casting doubt on David is a bad move. If they’re an accomplice and want the culprit to win, it’s a bad move. If they’re an accomplice and don’t want the culprit to win, they’d just say who the culprit is. There’s probably other examples like this, but that’s just off the top of my head.

I really don’t think Hu or Nico did this, in case you can’t tell :v

+Third Party: A third party could have hung the body after the murder. But given this third party can’t be David or Veronika (again assuming 7:30 AM as the time of death), and I genuinely don’t know who else would do this, I don’t find this likely.

-Time of Fish Disappearance: Nico claimed none of the fish were missing the last time they fed them, after having dinner the afternoon before the murder. At face value, and assuming Nico ate around the same time Hu and Eden did, the fish would have disappeared between 7 and 10 PM, as the relax room was closed between 10PM and 8AM. And judging from how Teruko talked about the situation at the start of the trial, it seems unlikely that the fish were taken after 8AM. This would mean Eden, Hu, Charles and Whit cannot have taken the fish without some workaround. J, Veronika, Teruko and Arturo have alibis starting at least at 7:30 PM, so maybe they could have taken them, maybe not.

Possible Workarounds:

+Early Nico Dinner: We don’t know when Nico ate dinner, and according to a quick Google search, Americans are fucking insane and, on average, eat dinner around 6:00~6:30 PM.

Genuinely what. I eat dinner at 9:00 PM usually and that’s on the low end of the spectrum for my country. When I’m with family, I eat at like 10:00~10:30 PM. Are you US dwellers good? Deeply unserious country, I tell you.

With that aside, you get the idea. If Nico ate dinner at that time, practically every alibi given goes out the window, except Charles and Whit I believe. This would mean Nico didn’t eat with Hu and Eden, but neither mentioned them in the original alibis, so take that as you will.

+Fake Alibis/Nico!Accomplice: A lot of these alibis are just two people. It’s not outright impossible Charles and Whit, Hu and Eden, or Arturo and J are working together for a fake alibi. Well, maybe not the last one :v Alternatively, getting Nico to lie about the amount of fish they fed would work; the fish could have gone missing before Nico claims they did. I don’t find this particularly plausible, but it’s an option.

+Third Party/Arei: Someone other than the killer brought the fish to the playground, be it Arei or a third party. Arei could be plausible if the note is fake in some way, as the killer could have invited Arei in person and asked for the fish that way, but I find that somewhat unlikely because why give the time if the letter’s fake?

+Fake Fish: The fish in the playground (or maybe the pond, but likely the playground) are fake, either artificial or maybe taken from the kitchen… if that even has minnows as food. Don’t know how this one would work frankly.

+Early Catch: The killer planned to use the fish to hide time of death since the moment they heard the relax room would be closed during nighttime, and put the fish in the jugs before Nico got a chance to count them. If Nico didn’t count them as soon as they saw them in EP2, but rather later, when they first fed them, this gives plenty of time for anyone to pull this off. The killer doesn’t need to have everything planned from the start, just the fish trick.

I wonder if the amount of workarounds I found for this reveals some kind of bias… Who knows.

-BDA Rule: Rule 10; “The BDA will play when three or more people who did not witness the murder discover the body.” This could potentially clear Teruko, Whit and Eden.

Possible Workarounds:

+Third (Fourth?) Party: Someone who did not witness the murder, other than the BDA trio, saw the body before Teruko opened the door to the playground. At this point in the trial, and with David and Veronika having alibis for the time between the murder and the discovery, I doubt this is the case. Do you see why I originally landed on accomplice theory btw, it literally offers a workaround for every potential problem.

+”See No Evil”: If the killer turned their backs after letting go of the spinny thing, and didn’t see the moment Arei’s neck snapped, they may not be considered a “witness.” This could have been intentional, with the killer taking advantage of Teruko’s idea to search in a group of three (and her bad luck of picking just the wrong person) to try and clear themselves; or unintentionally. The killer may have decided to look away just because they didn’t want to see the death. This is especially plausible if the killer felt genuinely bad about what they were doing, which is the most common interpretation of Eden!Culprit.

-Handwriting: The handwriting on the letter doesn’t match Charles’ (custom weapon list), Teruko’s (abomination she calls a list of revealed secrets), Whit’s (he dots the ‘i’s with hearts), or Eden’s (sample in the trial).

Possible Workarounds:

+Fake Handwriting: The handwriting on the note could be fake; Whit wouldn’t dot the ‘i’s with hearts, Charles would write differently. And notably, the sample Eden gives in the trial is in print, while the handwriting in the note is in cursive, so it wouldn’t take any effort for her to fake it.

-Purpose of the method: If the killer really emulated Nico’s method to frame them, they have to know what that method was in the first place. Maybe not figure it out 100%, but they at least need to see the gym to get a basic impression of what the method may have looked like. This would implicate Ace, Teruko, Eden, and possibly the Ace attacker if they’re not Nico. Nico themselves might have also repeated method… Because. Alternatively, the method could have been used for the “See No Evil” BDA workaround, possibly implicating Whit or Eden again.

Possible Workarounds:

+Doesn’t Matter: There is no purpose to the method. The killer chose a pulley system because. I doubt anyone genuinely likes this possibility :v

+Something I haven’t Thought About: What it says in the tin.

-The gym tape: The gym’s tape was still on the floor when Nico left the night of Ace’s attack. At this point, only Teruko, Eden and Ace were on the room. MonoTV then locks down the gym, meaning no one can come in. We see MonoTV open the gym the next morning, and Rose and Teruko are the first to enter. The tape was gone. That, combined with the tape’s sprite disappearing from the background around the time Ace gets up, would heavily imply the tape was taken by either Ace, Teruko or Eden. Since the tape later appears to have been used in the murder, this heavily implicates them.

Possible Workarounds:

+Eden the Unwitting Accomplice: The killer asked Eden to get the tape for them. However, this would mean that Eden would immediately know who the killer is the moment the tape gets identified. It doesn’t work to frame Eden, either, because at that point it’s her word (“[killer] asked me to get it for them!”) vs yours (“nuh uh”). And I don’t care who you are, people will trust Eden’s words over yours. It’s much safer to just get the tape yourself, and everyone has access to the gym. This is a pretty outlandish idea, in my opinion, unless you can come up with some other reason the killer would give Eden (or Ace) for picking up the tape.

+Eden or Ace took it for no reason and returned it later: No evidence of this.

+MonoTV Put it in Storage: Doesn’t explain the sprite disappearance, but even if you ignore that, there is no indication it did that.

+Rose Took it With Sleight of Hand: Why would she mention it to Teruko then. Just grab it, pocket it and shut up. I don’t think this works.

+It’s Not the Gym’s Tape on the Spinny Thing: Then, narratively, why would Rose bring attention to it when she goes to the gym with Teruko?

Alright, I believe that’s all the major things.

Probability Ranking

Zero Chance:

-MonoTV, Arei: There are rules against this.

-Xander, Min: Xander’s dead, Min’s in Mexico (/j).

-Teruko: Protag privilege. Also her handwriting sucks too much for her to fake the note.

-Charles: His necrophobia would prevent him from manipulating the body after killing Arei, which is necessary to string her up on the swing set.

First Assumption: The Murder Happened at 7:30 AM the Day of Body Discovery

Although this isn’t technically 100% confirmed yet, I personally find it really hard to believe that the time of death is different from this. This eliminates:

-David, Veronika, J: Alibis. They have no reason to cover for each other, so they’re out.

-Hu, Nico: I believe Hu is currently the most popular pick for blackened, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Yes, she could be lying about the alibi, but if Nico calls her out, it’s curtains. Is Nico really willing to die for Hu? Is Hu willing to kill everyone, including Nico, to escape? Conversely, if Nico’s the blackened, is Hu aware of what she’s doing by faking an alibi? I doubt it given EP12, so she’d be lying because she has faith in Nico. But, at present, I have no reason to believe that. “It’s plausible” isn’t evidence. Sorry, but I cannot for the life of me see Hu or even Nico as culprits anymore.

Second Assumption: MonoTV Didn’t Take the Tape from the Gym

Though technically an assumption, since there is zero evidence it did this, I’ll say it’s an assumption regardless. It leads to:

Third Assumption: The Killer Took The Tape

As stated, if it wasn’t MonoTV, it kinda has to be either Ace or Eden. If the killer didn’t take the tape, that means either they asked Ace/Eden for the tape beforehand (insane, it’s much safer to take the tape yourself) or Eden/Ace took the tape for some undisclosed reason, then someone else asked them for it. But since we don’t know what Eden or Ace would want the tape for other than murder, this also seems unlikely. Thus, assumption number three is assumed, and eliminates…

-Levi, Rose, Arturo, Whit, and all the prior characters (minus Teruko ig). Yes, I believe the tape works as a smoking gun in the same way that the building map worked as a smoking gun against Min.

Notably, all the new characters here also fail to explain why the method was unnecessarily complicated, since none of them know about the Ace murder method. The exception is Whit, where the purpose could be the “See No Evil” technicality, but that comes with a lot of assumptions itself, and there’s other problems with Whit!Culprit (namely, fish).

And Then There Were Two

Ace and Eden are, in my opinion, far and above the likeliest candidates for blackened in this case. Both of them have their issues as theories, but both have things going for them. Let’s compare and contrast!

Point for Eden: Starch on Clothes

One point that’s Eden specific is an idea originated from thebadjoe’s mind. Since starch can be used as fertilizer, it’s possible the starch holding the ball of clothes together came from the enriched formula used in the relax room. If this is the case, the clothes must have been left there in either the first or second night of the second chapter, as putting them there during the third night would make them inaccessible before the murder. And Eden was seen acting suspicious in the dressing room, where clothes are, on the second night.

Eden: W-Who’s there? I know you’ve been following me!

[…]

Eden: Oh, it’s just you, Teruko. What are you doing here?

Like, why’s she so paranoid?

This isn’t disqualifying for Ace, however, as he could have done this the very first night. Alternatively, it’s possible Teruko misidentified the starch. There’s just no evidence for it, as opposed to Eden doing the thing, where there is evidence for it.

Workaround Needed (Eden): “See No Evil”

Eden is part of the BDA crew, meaning there needs to be a workaround for Rule 10. If Levi’s not there to accomplice it up, then “See No Evil” is the only acceptable workaround in my eyes.

Now, I fully believe that, no matter what, Eden probably would turn her back the moment Arei’s neck snapped. She didn’t want to look at Xander’s eye wound, so it’s plausible she would just not want to look when Arei actually died. Which means we just need the “See No Evil” technicality to work from a rules standpoint.

And while it may be a sticking point for some people, I personally think that a combination of MonoTV’s incompetence and Teruko’s bad luck could cause this technicality to exist. Especially given:

Eden [Right before the BDA]: Teruko, wait—

This reaction is best justified by Eden!Culprit imo. If Eden’s the culprit, I don’t think she realized the “See No Evil” technicality. She couldn’t refuse to search with Teruko, obviously, that would make her too suspicious, but she still didn’t want Teruko to open the door because she thought the BDA wouldn’t play, as she would think she’d be counted as a witness. But who knows.

Point Against Eden: Eden’s Strength

By far the biggest sticking point against Eden!Solo under my murder method. She is canonically the weakest in the cast, and yet, she still needs to pull off four important feats of strength; throwing the ball of clothes, subduing Arei, pulleying her up, and hanging her body afterwards.

The thing is, even though Eden is “the weakest,” we… don’t have a good reference of how strong or weak she actually is. Eden’s still an adult woman, she doesn’t have to be hopelessly weak. So, how much do we have to suspend our disbelief on her strength?

Well, pulleys are powerful, and even though we are not dealing with an ideal pulley by any means, I think it’s reasonable Eden would be able to pulley Arei up. Obviously impossible to prove one way or the other, though. I also believe there’s a good argument that she’d be able to subdue Arei because, well…

Apparently, Eden’s a better fighter than any of us could have expected. If she’s able to rip out Xander’s eye with a fork, I think she’d be able to strangle Arei unconscious. Especially given there’s precedent for her making people fall to the ground by taking them by surprise.

(This is a silly point, but it exists)

The big ones are actually the ball of clothes and the hanging of Arei’s corpse on the swing set. Keep in mind she doesn’t just need to throw the ball of clothes (or something like it) over the rafters, but also do it with enough force to displace the lights. That’s kinda difficult. As for the hanging… well, that’s one of the reasons I started believing Levi!Accomplice in the first place, and why I put the broom where I did in the Ace method. It’s pretty difficult to tie a knot on the swing set with Arei as dead weight.

An accomplice does solve this, but with the recent insight we’ve gotten on Levi, I struggle to see anyone actually accomplice-ing it up, frankly.

Ace is stronger than Eden; in fact, he’s one of the stronger in the cast. He would have no issues doing all this, theoretically.

Well, physically, he’d have no issues. Intellectually…

Workaround Needed (Ace): Reason for Murder Method

But, hold on. I said that Ace, if he’s the killer, is probably using the mechanism to frame Nico, right?

Here’s the thing; that would imply he knows what Nico’s mechanism was. Or at least, has a vague idea. However, he was unconscious the entire time he was being attacked.

This would mean that after just waking up and with severe injuries, he managed to get a good enough look at the crime scene that he managed to figure out more or less what Nico did to him. And either he did that instantly, or he grabbed the tape for who knows what reason and later thought back and realized what happened to him.

Look, if Eden’s strength is a point against her, we also have to consider Ace’s intelligence. He is not figuring out what happened to him, and I struggle to think he’d even conceive of the idea of replicating Nico’s method to frame them.

That means he needs a different reason for doing the murder with the pulley method, and I can’t think of any. Not saying it doesn’t exist, just that it really does need a workaround that I am not able to find.

Workaround Needed (Eden): Fish Heist

As stated above, Eden desperately needs some way around the fact she has an alibi for the time the fish presumably disappeared. Here are the possible workarounds, and why they’re iffy.

+Early Nico Dinner: Unsatisfying to me, as I think it makes more sense for Nico to eat dinner with Hu and Eden, but one of the more plausible options. There’s a really tight time frame for Eden to grab the fish if Nico ate earlier, but it’s doable. It’s unfortunate we have no frame of reference for when Nico actually fed the fish.

If it helps, the fact that Eden and Hu’s alibi has such a specific start time (their dinner, 7:00 PM) could be because it’s going to be relevant, suggesting this might be the real answer.

+Fake Fish: No established way for Eden to pull this off. It’s possible, but there’s no evidence for it.

+Early Catch: One of the better answers, though it runs into a bit of an issue. It would mean Eden was planning around a murder the entire chapter. She doesn’t necessarily need to have the whole method in mind, just the trick with the fish, but she’s still gotta have been planning something. The problem is, in CH 2 EP 1, she says this:

Eden: If everyone else is feeling down in the dumps, then it’s my job to get their spirits back up! That’s how we’ll get out of here! By working together!

This is said to no one, she’s talking to herself. Which is very strange if she’s going to be grabbing fish for a potential murder just a few hours later.

There’s a few workarounds for this workaround’s issue, though:

*Eden could have grabbed the fish for non-murdery purposes. No idea what they’d be though, so that’s not great.

*She hadn’t decided to murder yet, but had it as a backup plan if she couldn’t find any other way to get out in the meantime. Uh… maybe? I struggle to see it, but it could work. She does talk about plans to escape a lot.

*The secrets spurred her into murdery action. Now, I really doubt Eden would kill to hide she’s a lesbian (not to dismiss the fact that everyone should be allowed to come out only when they’re ready, David), but there’s a detail learnt in chapter 13 that makes this workaround workaround more plausible: Veronika’s secret is not the worst thing she’s done. As a result, it’s not impossible that Eden has a worse secret than what Charles received, and MonoTV just didn’t pick it for some reason. This feels like a copout, frankly, but it’s technically plausible even if I don’t see any real evidence for it.

As you can see, the workarounds are far from perfect. However, it’s not just Eden who struggles with the fish.

Point Against Ace: Fish Paradox

It’s generally assumed the killer used the fish to make the cast believe the murder happened before nighttime, possibly between 7:30 PM and 10:00 PM specifically if they were banking on people finding the note. The problem is that Ace doesn’t benefit from this, as he has no alibi at that time. Getting the fish water is objectively harder than just getting water from the kitchen sink at nighttime or something, so why would he do it?

This is what we DRDT theorists* call the fish paradox. Any character who benefits from people thinking the murder happened before nighttime, only benefit because they have an alibi around 7:30-10PM. But assuming Nico fed the fish around 7:00 PM, that means they couldn’t have taken the fish. But if they could have taken the fish, that’s only because they don’t have an alibi around that time, which means they don’t benefit from taking the fish.

*Only I call it this. Don’t fall for my lies, there is no “we” :v

Ace falls into the second category: could have taken the fish in the time it’s assumed they were taken, but he doesn’t benefit from it. As a result, you need to give an alternate explanation for why the fish are there, and I can’t find one.

This paradox is what makes many, like me, believe there is some kind of trick around when the fish disappeared, be it an accomplice or some other workaround. Which lines up with Eden, but not Ace.

Workaround Needed (Eden): Handwriting

Straightforward, already explained it. She wrote in print during the trial, meaning the sample is unfit for comparison with the letter, written in cursive. I don’t think this is a problem.

You wanna know a bigger problem?

Point Against Ace: Teruko’s Live Reaction

This entire debate, the entire reason these two are the most likely culprits in my mind, is because they’re the only two who could have reasonably taken the tape from the gym, and the only real purpose of doing so would be murder.

But there’s a glaring issue. Logistically speaking, I find it almost impossible to believe Ace took the tape. Why? Because ever since the moment Ace woke up, logically, Teruko’s attention should have been on him. And since she’s the PoV character in that scene, if Ace grabbed the tape, we should have heard of it. Since we didn’t, Ace most likely didn’t.

It’s this point, more than any other, that makes me believe Eden is the culprit. The only way to make Ace!Culprit work taking this into account is assuming Teruko pulled the same thing she did with Arei’s body swinging; she saw it and didn’t say anything. But that’s different, because we actually saw the swinging ourselves as well; if Ace picked up the tape, and Teruko saw it, we should have gotten clarification.

Argument Bullet Round!

+Eden’s Newfound Plot Relevance: Some have claimed that the fact Eden is seemingly the one to have taken out Xander’s eye means she must remain alive for that plot point to remain relevant. However, uh, there’s another person in the pre-prologue scene where Xander loses an eye.

And that’s Xander.

Who’s dead.

If plot relevance didn’t save him, I doubt it’ll save Eden. If anything, DRDT has a habit of killing off characters the moment the overarching plot catches up to them.

+Heels: Hu mentions walking with heels in the playground can scuff the floor, and Ace wears heels (I think). However, walking on heels wouldn’t generate the scuff marks we saw, so I believe it’s a moot point.

+Not A “Good Person”: In this chapter, which has the hidden title “A Good Person”, Levi, Eden, Teruko, David, and Xander have been called “a good person.” Given the hidden title, it’s speculated this list is about characters who in some way tie into the themes of the chapter, so the blackened should be included. Ace has not ever been referred to as a “good person,” and I can’t see him being called that this late into the trial. Not the strongest argument, but it’s there.

+Motive: Much has been written about Eden’s potential motivations, but at least we know she has always had an interest in escaping the killing game one way or another. Additionally, it’s very possible Eden didn’t believe Arei actually meant what she said during the Arturo situation, as she wasn’t present during the playground breakdown where her secret was revealed; and might be regretting her murder now that there’s evidence she genuinely wanted to change. If you want a more detailed explanation, I suggest you read venus’ fantastic Eden!Culprit Narrative Defense and the “can Eden still be the culprit?” section of accirax’s ep 13 reactions (which also summarizes the relevant parts of the first post), which explain this idea in more detail.

Meanwhile, Ace… probably wants to escape as much as anyone else, but he’s not ultra pressed about it. No particular grudge against Arei, either. I can’t think of a good motive for him, but maybe there will be one revealed later in the trial.

+Thematic Connection: Arei and Eden are recap foils, obviously they have plenty of narrative and thematic connections to make this murder narratively meaningful. Meanwhile, while Ace and Arei are similar in some aspects, I can’t really think of any themes which could be meaningfully explored with him as the killer. That might be the bias talking though lol.

And more but I think I’ve made my point.

So, despite everything, I still believe Eden is the culprit. Maybe our girl is stronger than we expected?

Conclusion

I still think Eden!Culprit is the most likely option we have, just that I now consider Eden!Solo more likely than Levi!Accomplice. That said, even with the things I brought up at the start, I’d say Levi!Accomplice is still more likely than Ace!Culprit, while Ace!Culprit is massively more likely than the third most likely culprit. Who is… I don’t know, Whit?

There’s been a few changes to accommodate the things discussed in the trial: Arei got splashed with water at some point, the rope was tied to a handlebar instead of there being a stopper, and the grippy tape was so the rope wouldn’t slide off.

Aside from that, there’s been a few modifications to my theory to accommodate Eden!Solo. Using the reveal of Eden ripping out Xander’s eye as a basis, I think Eden would realistically be able to strangle Arei unconscious by ambushing her, and potentially strong enough to pull off everything else she needs to, though I get how that may be a point of contention. Eden must have also faked her handwriting in the trial, looked away in the moment of death to cause the “See No Evil” technicality, and something’s fishy with the fish. Either she grabbed them day one, or Nico had an earlier dinner than expected; at this point, I think it’s impossible to tell.

The changes for the Ace-Nico thing were outlined in full earlier, all that’s left in that front is to see how wrong I am about it this Friday! :D

All in all, there haven’t been as many changes as I expected. In fact, the majority of this post is just me repeating stuff I already brought up in other posts, but applied to more people. Hope it doesn’t feel like I talked more than necessary.

Anyways, thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve to treat yourself and buy a cute clock that you like! See ya’!

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #drdt theory #drdt spoilers #eden tobisa #ace markey #nico hakobyan #jesus this took longer than it should have

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yuikomorii · 17 days

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🍓🎀Hi! I think in one of the post somebody ask you who is smarter, Ayato or Yui? And i think you reply saying that both are dumb and stupid lol but one is dumb and the other is stupid?? Lmaoo I can’t remember how exactly was, but what’s that supposed to mean? Like is Ayato smarter than Yui or reverse? Because I remember Ayato having his cool smart moments lol I just want to know who is the most smartest between these two dumb ppl lol 😂 🎀🍓

// Oh, you mean this post?

The reasons why I said Ayato is dumber than Yui and Yui is more stupid than Ayato are the following:

Basically a dumb person is someone unwise, impulsive and unknowledgeable/uneducated. They act that way not necessarily because of a lack of mental capacity or learning ability, but due to the fact that they don’t know any better or they DON’T want to know any better.

For instance, in CL, before regaining his memories, Ayato impulsively tried to fight Shu and Reiji on his own but was easily overpowered, leaving him injured. Once he realized the consequences of his actions, he became much more cautious, especially after his memories returned, to avoid putting himself or Yui in danger again. Another scene shows Yui offering to tutor Ayato, however, she was surprised by the fact that he learnt how to solve the problems very fast and that he got all his test answers right.

Credit to: dialovers-translations on tumblr

A stupid person is someone with a lack of intelligence or learning ability. They might not be always dense, but they are supposed to know better, yet they choose to do the wrong thing deliberately.

For example, there’s the pool scene in Ruki’s MB and the lake scene in one of Subaru’s short stories, where Yui jumps into the water despite admitting she can't swim, putting herself in danger. Another moment occurs in Carla’s LE route when Carla warns Yui not to trust Kino because he might be evil, yet in the very next chapter, Yui casually reveals Carla’s Endzeit to Kino, leading Kino to attempt to kill Carla. There are many more moments like these, but I think these examples are enough to prove the point.

It’s quite common to see Japanese players complain about Yui’s poor learning ability. I feel like DL fans already got used to that, but I get that it can indeed become frustrating. xD

Aside from that, Ayato tends to be more objective than Yui. While he feels bad and shows compassion when it's warranted, he mostly sees things for what they are. Even though he sympathized with Cordelia in DF, he doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat her actions. Yui, on the other hand, is the type to quickly change her opinion about someone or something as soon as she hears a sob story. I get it when it comes to the Diaboys, but she actually tried to justify Cordelia’s and Karl’s actions, which honestly left me speechless.

Taking everything into account, it’s quite hard choosing which one is smarter, but I do believe that Ayato has a better learning ability and more potential, it’s just that he doesn’t want or know how to use it. I think the only reason why Rejet keeps writing him dumb is because Japanese fans find that type of idiot cute, as seen here.

#admin

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blindbeta · 1 month

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Ok i don’t know if you’re doing asks right now but I’d honestly like to ask about a character in a murder mystery/fantasy story I have and I’m not sure if they align with any negative blind stereotypes or if it’s something I should avoid altogether even if it’s not a stereotype.

To start, my character (let’s call him B) has JOAG (juvenile open angle glaucoma) and has tunnel vision. He also relies on a cane and braille. He also takes medication for his condition ( I was thinking carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or beta blockers but I still need to dig deeper into that.)

I was thinking of having a blind main character (and blind side characters too). He has a tsundere/ojo-sama personality (rude on the outside, sweet on the inside type of guy) and water powers. I know that there is a bit of a pattern with rude or defensive blind characters and I feel unsure about whether or not I should add that into my story. I thought of him being apprehensive of one of the other main characters because he doesn’t know them personally and isn’t a huge fan of change. He slowly warms up to the other character but he struggles to do so. He helps the rest of the other characters in solving the mysteries and tries to think as logically as he can but sometimes his bias slips in every now and then.

Onto his powers, I was thinking of him having the ability to control water. I was also think about having him have an interest in potion-making and his spell books being written in mostly braille because he relays on braille the most.

He has a few hobbies and interests such as going on picnics, siren singing/just singing in general, drinking tea and organizing his stuff. (Apologies if this is a lot, I love rambling about my characters lol).

That’s all I have for this character at the moment. I hope nothing in this ask was offensive or anything. You don’t have to answer this if something in this post came off as rude or offensive. Thank you for your time!!!

Avoiding Rude or Defensive Blind Characters— Explore It and Add More Blind Characters to Show Different Personalities

It sounds like everything is in order right now. The only concern I have is addressing the rude/defensive thing you brought up.

I’ll admit, I actually enjoy this type of blind character. It falls a bit into Disabled Snarker trope, which I love. I feel these characters tend to be viewed as having more agency than blind people are typically believed to possess.

It also allows us a bit of fantasy escapism.

Typically, blind people aren’t allowed to express the level of snark that these characters are. This is because we are expected to lack desires of our own, be excessively passive, and to not complain even when we are wronged. An example of this would be blind people being told they did something incorrectly when they are denied services, or were ungrateful when refuse help they don’t need.

Here is a video where Sadi on Tiktok laments her rideshare troubles caused by bigoted drivers. Link here.

Here is one where she discusses being grabbed by a stranger. Link here. And another where she expresses her frustration with the dismissal she faces when she speaks about being treated inappropriately. Link here.

Here is one by Tobes, who describes accidentally running into cars that are parked on the sidewalk and being scolded for it despite that fact he had no reason to believe a car would be parked that way. Link here.

We are often considered rude because of ableism. Additionally, we often have to be stern and stubborn just to get through the day and this can be perceived as rude by others.

You could have him use this attitude in areas other than blindness or only when provoked in an obvious way. Having a cool attitude that others find intimidating or unapproachable might be a way to go about this.

Or he could still put someone in their place for being ableist and this actually might be a refreshing fantasy for a lot us who can’t always call out ableism the way we want to. To me, people are going to think blind people are rude no matter what we do. This means most of us, especially those of us marginalized in multiple ways, are forced to police our tone or reactions in frustrating ways, even when someone is being harmful toward us or openly oppressive.

Sometimes it’s fun to see a blind character who responds in a way that is proportional to the ableism being directed at them.

I am not sure if you can go against this stereotype one your own, because again, some people will see blind people as rude no matter what. This is in direct opposition to the idea that blind people are all innocent beings without agency. These two opposing stereotypes of blind people are very strong and I know from experience that it is difficult not to be put into one of these boxes. He may deliberately display an aggressive attitude in an attempt to gain some agency over how he is perceived. Conversely, he might be defensive or rude about everything, while being chill about blindness stuff or even ableist attitudes. Instead, he could become colder, distant, or emotionally cut the ableist person off. He could also be like Toph and react to personal or structural ableism with jokes.

Basically, it’s good to be concerned about this, but I think commenting on/exploring it would be a better option. Subverting the trope is also challenging because it might accidentally cause him to be put into another box. Therefore, it might be more helpful to explore it for him personally, giving him more depth and challenging the idea that all blind people are naturally rude for “no reason. [Quotes around “no reason” to indicate sarcasm.]

Personally, I want to see blind characters having agency, depth, a community, and using mobility aids and blindness techniques. So I’m okay with this. The story might still benefit from a sensitivity reader or two though, and I’d love to read it myself. You can also try @sensitivityreaders

Lastly, having other blind characters would help challenge any stereotypes readers might have. In addition to showing his sweet side mentioned in the ask. Sorry I couldn’t give you a yes or no answer on this topic, but my personal go-to fix for stereotypes is always to show more blind characters. This allows you to show off more personality types of experiences around blindness.

Also JOAG can be painful if not caught early or managed properly. You seem to have done a good job of showing treatment options and different conditions. There will be a lot of medical stuff in his future/present, which means he has experience advocating for himself. This could also help explain why his attitude might seem rude or defensive to abled characters, in addition to the Rude Blind Person stereotype.

If any other blind or disabled folks have thoughts or suggestions, please share.

In closing, I don’t have any concerns with his powers. Also points for cane use!

Some parts of this ask might be relevant as well. Link here.

Hope this helps.

-BlindBeta

#blind #blind characters #writing blind characters #rude blind person stereotype #blindbeta #blind sensitivity reader #disability #ableism

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razorblade180 · 10 months

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Story Quest drama

Does anyone else find it incredibly weird how many Genshin fans are upset with Paimon and Traveler after Furina’s quest? Like the way people are cherry picking certain parts of scenes and misrepresenting the situation is astounding. I’m not going to pretend Paimon and Traveler didn’t throw a couple jabs but for the majority of back of forth is just banter and the common bluntness they bring. In no way were they trying to gaslight or manipulate Furina.

Furina said she didn’t want to join on stage. Paimon asked if there were any exceptions, and Furina say she didn’t want to leave an out for herself. Hearing that, they immediately pivot the conversation to asking her if she knows anyone who could help. That is literally workshopping a problem 101 and constructive problem solving. I don’t get why people are painting that as pressuring. They heard her stance and seeked a solution that respected her decision and allowed them to continue trying to help their employer.

Furina punches down on herself by saying she didn’t know anyone because they were probably happy she was gone; to which one of the dialogue options boils down to “that’s not a good to assume” because it isn’t. Paimon’s next question was if she had any idea, which causes Furina to get agitated before immediately apologizing because once again, Paimon’s question wasn’t in any way trying to get Furina to buckle. The two of them are essentially checking of a mental list to see where they should go to try solve their commission. Paimon even clarifies this with her before they part ways and Paimon says “Oh well. We have to respect her decision”

Even when they get back to the guild, Paimon tells them for personal reasons, Furina can’t help; as well as clarifying the misconceptions the actress had about Furina being rude. In no way were the duo planning on circling back or involving Furina any further and only gets roped back in after getting caught spying. Furina herself admits she just started drawing lines in the sand without hearing the situation before trying to apologize, to which Paimon tells her everything is completely fine and nothing that just happened was taken personally. You could argue Furina didn’t have anything to apologize for and that’s fine, but even in game, nobody was expecting one and told her everything is fine.

Tiny rant but it’s a bit annoying how people are quick to clip certain dialogue to paint them negatively, while completely ignoring the parts Paimon and the Traveler actively tell Furina she shouldn’t be so hard on herself, it’s okay not to force things, and talking about how she’s finally free to live how she wants. But they want clip the part where Paimon said she first thought Furina was diva; a sane assumption to have after she tried immediately getting them arrested on a ridiculous charge for the sake of hyping the crowd. Was it a little rude? Yeah. Has Paimon never called it like she saw it? No. We’ve heard Kaveh’s backstory and both her and the traveler still went “You should really try and get your life together before something happens” because it’s the blunt yet honest truth. If isn’t Diluc, Klee, Xiao, Ayaka, Yoimiya, Dehya, or Collei, Paimon will find an issue. The others can do no wrong. 💀

Anyway, I just think it’s a bit ridiculous how some people acting. Especially when several weeks ago Furina and “girl failure” was always in the same sentence while people applauded Arlecchino for dragging someone when ultimately she also didn’t know dick about the situation and basically did a gymnastics performance the way she jumped to certain conclusions. I love that people love Furina, but let’s not get crazy now when two people choose to approach her in a casual dynamic instead of super gently and emphatically. If anything, Furina is getting the normal human experience of having people that actually hate her in Poisson, the troupe idolizing her, Neuvillette and Navia being sweet, and the Traveler and Paimon being casual friends.

You know what’s actually insane!? Shenhe talking about her dead family and backstory then the scene ends with Paimon saying “cut the chitchat. We’re trying to win a contest.” THAT was actually out of pocket. 💀

#genshin impact #razor rambles #gi aether #gi lumine #gi furina #gi paimon

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forgiveness-in-the-misery · 7 months

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Both Steven Universe and Army of the Doomstar have this interesting commonality where a protagonist panic proposes to a girl to escape horrors in their own life.

Steven and Connie were always just friends as far as the narrative ever explicitly stated, though you could always tell they may have crushes on each other and could end up romantically involved someday once they are in better places in their own lives as people. The thing is Steven panics because he’s losing control. He is changing in ways that scare him, the few humans he had in town have begun moving on and leaving and Connie will be next, he has survived immensely traumatic things nobody should have to experience especially as a child, and Connie is stability. He wants to be part of somebody, for him fusion and marriage, this idea of a white picket fence and this girl who makes him feel normal and grounded. So he panics and proposes and she obviously turns him down.

Army of the Doomstar is about the same situation. Abigail entered Nathan’s life when it began spiraling hard. He’s made choices that in the long run were correct, but personally fucked up his friendships that he doesn’t know how to repair without telling them things they won’t believe and find him insane. She represents a connection to normal life, a chance to get away from prophecies and ptsd and being forced to make decisions that could have an impact on humanity. He only proposes after collapsing and being admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with PTSD, it only happens when he gets out and is immediately reminded the world is ending and he needs to know how to save it. He proposes to her because she for him is an exit, for Nathan marriage and kids and the suburbs represents safety. The world can’t end if he gets married and denies destiny and creates his own path out of fear of losing everything.

I appreciate for starters that both Connie and Abigail not only deny the proposals, but are never shamed for it. The plot never acts like they did something wrong by stating a lack of interest like that, openly saying they know this isn’t what either guy wants and that this won’t solve things.

I also appreciate how uncomfortably embarrassing both scenes are like watching something you aren’t meant to yet can’t really look away from.

#steven universe #metalocalypse

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omoricandyrestart · 6 months

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Chapter 1: First Day

“Okay, Sunny, you can do that” the black haired-boy said to himself. Considering he said it nonchalantly, that scene looked more funny than sad.

He had just dressed himself, and packed his things for school. His godmother, who had already left for work, supplied him with all school materials necessary.

In theory, there was nothing he should be worried about. He had his basic supplies, a cellphone for communication, and a possible new “friend” to make him company.

But that theory wasn’t applied to him. School days were already hard for regular teenage boys, but for a boy who stood years without having proper classes, and barely left his room until last week, it was even worse.

He was afraid of meeting so many new people, of having to hide the fact he knew so little about most school subjects, and being somewhere where he had no escape to his fantasies when things go wrong.

However, he knew that he had no other options. Running away already cause enough problems to him… he needed to face this situation with his head up… well, metaphorically, because he was still having a hard time looking up at things.

With nothing left to do, he gave his new room one last glance, and left.

_______________________________________________

‘According to the map, the school is not far from here. So, no reason to take the bus’ he thought to himself.

Along the way, it seemed like there were many interesting places to go.

And, considering Sunny knew nothing about said places, he could take that chance to have his own adventures! He enjoyed adventuring himself in his own mind, so, why not doing it on the real world?

The first stop was an enormous market, that had a peculiar sign on it.

‘Everything Market: The Market that sells everything. Pretty bold on their part’ he thought to himself, while reading it on his mind.

Even though he doubted that the place could sell literally anything, it could be convenient on a near future. The next stop was a commercial center of clothes.

‘I really don’t need more clothes right now’

Most of the town ended up being mostly disappointing. He was expecting a lot more from this exploration.

But, then again, he was so used to how chaotic and surreal his dreamworld was, that most things on real life ended up being boring.

Now, he was at a park. He had to admit that the vision was quite beautiful and peaceful, but, at first glance, there was nothing special with it… or, at least, that was the case, until he saw a familiar cat like structure next to a sandbox for children to play.

It looked a lot like the one back on his beloved Faraway. He knew that he should let his mind wonder through this dangerous waters, but he was too weak to fight against that.

His imagination quickly filled the sandbox with his friends playing on the sandbox.

Aubrey and Kel were arguing about something, as usual, while Basil hid behind Hero, since he was scared that he would hurt in the process.

And Mari… she was safe and sound on a picnic towel, where she would never get hurt ever again…

At first, he felt content at the fake sight. Seeing all of them, so innocent, so happy and so alive was something that was priceless to him… but then, they started to look at him.

“Come play with us, Omori” Mari asked, with a bright smile on her face.

Just the mention of his alter-ego sent chill down the black-haired boy’s spine, but, it got worse.

“Come on, Mari, he can’t play with us, anymore. After all…” Aubrey stated while looking down.

“… he is a monster” she looked up, her eyes being replaced by an empty black void, and her mouth getting covered in blood.

As soon as she said that, the rest of the group turned into creepy figures, just like the small girl.

Sunny didn’t even think twice and started to run for his life as fast as possible.

It was his luck that there was no one else at the park to call him crazy, or dial 911.

‘I thought I had already solved all of this, why are they still here?!’

He decided to look behind, hoping that his chasers had given up, already. But, he was proven wrong, because the creatures were fast approaching him.

Sunny was running so fast that he managed to leave the park in mere seconds. He ended up passing through more places, like a café, but he didn’t pay attention, because his life was still at stake.

Believing that his ending had finally arrived, he closed his eyes and expected the worse to happen to him. That is, until he bumped into someone.

“Ouch!” a feminine voice said. When Sunny opened his eyes, he saw a girl with brown hair and green eyes (Candy/Lynn’s default colors) who was on the ground.

“Sorry!” he spoke in worry, helping the girl get up.

“No, no, it’s alright. I deserve it. I should have just woken up earlier” the girl said, while giggling at her own situation.

When she paid more attention to the boy, she noticed that he seemed tense.

“Is everything okay with you, though?” the girl asked, genuinely worried about him.

Before answering, he looked behind to see if he was still being followed. Fortunately for him, he was not.

“Was in a rush. My first day here” the raven-haired boy answered. The girl immediately connected the dots.

“Oh, so you are Sunny?! My aunt told me about you” the girl said excitedly.

Sunny blushed, a bit embarrassing at meeting his supposed new friend like this.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Lynn!” the brunette girl said, with a bright smile, while extending her hand.

Sunny was hesitant at first, but he shook it. Then, an awkward silence soon followed.

“What to do now?” the boy asked, unsure of what to do next. He only studied on one single school all his life, so, he had no idea of what to do in the first day.

“I was going to talk with the principal… wanna come with me?” Lynn asked. Sunny just nodded, and started to follow her.

_______________________________________________

The raven-haired boy was imagining that finding this principal would end up being hard, but, to his shock, she was close to the entrance, and with a badge written “Principal”.

“Oh, you both must be the new students. Welcome to Sweet Amoris! I hope you both feel at home quickly here” the elderly woman said in a happy tone.

“Thank you, Mrs. Me and Sunny are happy to be here too” Lynn said, and Sunny simply nodded with a serious expression.

“You both should talk to Nathaniel, the leader of the student body. He is in the council room, and can help you both with the registration forms” the principal suggested and pointed to the room’s direction.

“Okay. Let’s go, Sunny” the brunette said, grabbing the boy by the hand and dragging him gently.

They were both in silence for a while, but, along the way, Lynn decided to break the ice.

“So, why did you move here?” the girl asked innocently. The raven-haired boy looked down at hearing the question.

Lynn noticed that she made a mistake.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to invade your personal space. I can stop talking it you want” the brunette said, already preparing to let go of the boy’s hand.

“No… I… like your voice” Sunny said, not wanting her to stop. She blushed at the remark.

“And you… why are you here?” the raven haired-boy asked.

“Well, my parents thought that my old school wasn’t teaching me enough, so, they thought that studying here would make me more prepared for when I go to college. But I didn’t have many friends back there, so, in the end, I didn’t mind” she answered, still smiling.

“… I had friends, but, not anymore” he said in a sad tone. The atmosphere got tense.

“Hey, then a new start is a great thing for you! You can make some new friends, right?” Lynn asked, trying to make him happier.

Sunny seemed less sad, but his expression was still serious.

Before she could make another attempt at talking to him, they had arrived at the council’s room door.

_______________________________________________

Arriving at the room, the duo noticed that it was pretty spacious. They had a big oval table that they assumed it was for meetings.

In one of the chairs, a blonde boy was reading some papers that seemed to be important.

“That one over there is probably Nathaniel. We should go and talk to him!” Lynn suggested.

However, she noticed too late that the boy had already walked into the supposed leader of the student body.

“Nathaniel. We need you” Sunny said on his usual nonchalant tone.

The blonde boy was frightened by that statement, and, when he looked up, he got even more scared, since the raven-haired boy had his usual stoic expression on his face.

The brunette girl ran into the scene, knowing that she needed to fix the whole situation.

“Sorry, he didn’t mean to scare you on purpose. We are new students, and we are here because the principal said you could help us with our registration forms” Lynn explained to the blonde boy.

Nathaniel regained his composure, and, although it seemed he still wasn’t much comfortable with the raven-haired boy, he seemed to be interested on the girl.

“Okay, let me check them” the class president said, grabbing said forms so that he could check on them. He flipped for the papers for a few minutes until he found some problems.

“Well, there are some things missing. You both need to bring formal photos of yourselves for identification, 25 dollars for the registration fee. And the application form with the signature of your guardians is also missing. You both need to bring all of these to me” Nathaniel explained.

“Are you sure the application form is missing? I was sure I put them with all the rest” Lynn explained, confused at the lack of that important document.

Sunny, meanwhile, had no idea if he even had this kind of document, since his godmother handled it all. But, it was not like he cared about that. All he could think was ‘Such unnecessary bureaucracy’.

Nathaniel put his hand on his chin in a thoughtful manner and gave the girl a small smile.

“There is a chance that it might have gotten somewhere else. I can solve that for both of you. Nice to see that among our new faces, we have such a responsible and pretty girl” the blonde boy said, with a small blush on his face.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed, the flirty intentions of the comment going over her head. The raven haired-boy didn’t notice it either.

“Let’s go, Sunny! We got more to do” Lynn said, dragging the boy out of the room again.

_______________________________________________

Back to the hallway, the brunette’s attempts into starting a conversation returned.

“Sorry for what interrupting you there. I just wanted to help you” Lynn explained, a little bit embarrassed at the fact she intruded in his introduction.

“It’s okay. Communicating has been hard. I haven't been talking to people in a long time” Sunny answered, giving an explanation to why he talks in such an unconventional way and in such an inappropriate tone.

“Really? Why?” the brunette girl questioned. The raven-haired boy stood in silent for a few minutes.

“I didn’t leave my old house in 6 years…” he stated, on the same nonchalant tone.

Lynn wanted to know more about all of that, but considering the slips that she already made earlier that day, she though it was better to avoid that seemed to be sensitive topics.

“Well, I can help you talking with others, if you don’t mind” the brunette girl offered. Her possible friend just nodded as an answer.

“LYNN!” a mysterious voice shouted from behind. The duo turned around, startled by such a noise. When they did it, they noticed that the sound was coming from a boy around their height.

“Ken?! Is that you?!” Lynn asked, surprised at the boy’s presence on that school.

“You can bet!” Ken answered, with a big smile on his face.

This boy named Ken had light brown hair, wore a green shirt with a brown stripe in the middle and a pair of glasses that Sunny thought were already extinct.

“What are you doing here?” the brunette girl asked, seeming to be relatively happy to see that boy.

“I moved schools so that I could be close to you!” the boy with glasses said, really excited at being close to his crush again.

Lynn seemed to feel a mixture of feelings at that statement. On one hand, she was happy to have a known face around her… in the other hand, it was kind of creepy the fact that the boy changed schools just so that he could be close to her.

Meanwhile, Sunny, that hadn’t interacted with much people in the past few years, and became unsure on which kinds of social behavior were appropriate, and which weren’t, didn’t really have any deep feelings about that.

“Well, since you have arrived earlier than us, did you already took your identity photo?” the brunette girl asked.

“I did! All I had to do was going to the school’s store and pay the man to take it for me” Ken explained with a face filled with happiness.

“Where is it? Me and my friend Sunny need this photo to finish our registrations” Lynn questioned, with an embarrassed smile on her face.

The boy with glasses finally noticed that Sunny was on her side. At first, he frowned, but he quickly hid it to not upset his crush.

“Oh, okay! It’s on a small room close to the garden. Just continue to walk forward until you find a door that brings you both outside” the boy with glasses explained.

“Thanks, Ken!” the candy girl said, ready to continue her journey of finishing her registration. Sunny was soon after her. _______________________________________________

Adventuring through the school’s outdoor was harder than expected. Everything was so big, that it felt like they were trapped in a maze!

“Okay, we definitely need some directions” Lynn stated, tired of walking around so much. Sunny simply nodded.

Fortunately for them, they found a redhead boy that was sitting in a bench.

“Hey, you over there!” the brunette girl exclaimed, trying to get his attention. He groaned in annoyance and turned around.

“What?” the redhaired boy asked rudely. Lynn was slightly shocked by the tone, but, decided that it was best to ignore it.

“I am Lynn and this is Sunny. We are new here and need to take a photo to finish our registration” she explained with a polite smile.

The grumpy boy rolled his eyes.

“Great, a bunch of airheads joined our school. Fantastic news” the redhaired boy said sarcastically.

Lynn clearly didn’t appreciate what he said.

“Excuse me?! Who are you calling ‘airheads’?” Lynn asked incredulously.

‘It seems like they are about to fight. Wish there was popcorn’

“Well, I am only seeing two airheads, here, and they are right in front of me” the redhaired boy answered with a smirk on his face.

The brunette girl seemed to be getting angrier and angrier at the boy’s comments.

“Haven’t you ever heard of treating ladies with respect?!” Lynn inquired angrily.

“Well… as far as I know, ladies have breasts… and your chests are too flat for that” the redhaired boy said.

The brunette girl’s first though was to slap that boy on the face, but, at second thought, she ended up finding out a better solution.

“You know… if you noticed them, it means that you looked. And if you looked… it means that you are interested in me” she teased with a smirk. Now, it was the grumpy boy’s turn to turn red.

‘That was a super-effective move’

“It’s over there, okay!” the boy shouted, pointing to a small store next to some bushes and trees.

The duo seemed confused, though.

“The place that you can take your photos. The ones you needed for, remember?” the redhaired boy asked furiously.

Lynn giggled in satisfaction for finally getting what she wanted. The raven-haired boy, deep down, was also really content with the situation.

“Thank you for your help, noble man” she said sarcastically, still finding pleasure on the whole situation.

When she and Sunny started to walk away, though, the redhaired shouted something.

“My name is Castiel” Castiel said, finally presenting himself.

“It was a ‘pleasure’ to meet you, Castiel” Lynn said, still with a voice filled with irony.

The school’s store had no line, which meant that both were attended quickly.

“Oh, if isn’t two lovely new faces on school. What brings you both here” the store’s clerk asked with a polite smile. He was an elderly man with a Hawaiian shirt.

“You see, me and my friend over here need to take our pictures to finish our registration. Can you help us with that?” Lynn asked politely.

“Of course! It’s 8 dollars each!” the clerk said enthusiastically.

_______________________________________________

After taking their pictures, all that was left to do was going back to Nathaniel, and hand him the money for their registration fee.

“Gosh, if we continue to walk this much for the rest of the year on this school, we will never need to go to the gym again!” Lynn said out loud as a joke.

Sunny, different than most of the times, actually laughed at the comment.

“You laughed!” the brunette girl vibrated in joy. The raven-haired boy felt a bit awkward at the stamen.

“I did…” Sunny whispered while blushing. He had a small smile on his face. Lynn’s cheeks also got red after seeing how cute he looked with that smile.

When they returned to the council room, Nathaniel welcomed both with a serious expression.

“I have awful news to you both…” the blonde boy stated. The duo felt chill down their spines.

“What is it?” Lynn asked, feeling worried.

“I wasn’t able of finding your parent’s signature. You both won’t be able of enrolling in the school” Nathaniel stated with a sad expression.

‘Oh, sh*t’

Eventually, the blonde boy’s expression changed abruptly, and he burst out laughing.

“You both should have seen your faces” Nathaniel spoke, satisfied with the reactions.

“… it was a joke?” the brunette girl asked, clearly trying to hold her anger back. The blonde boy noticed that he probably went too far.

“Sorry, I thought it would be funny” Nathaniel apologized, embarrassed at himself.

Lynn gave a deep sigh.

“It’s fine… just, please don’t joke about us not being able of joining school” the brunette girl asked with a forced smile.

The blonde boy chuckled at her cuteness.

“Consider it done” Nathaniel agreed with a smile.

The two new students finally handled the missing paperwork to the leader of the student body.

“Well, now I am happy to officially declare you both students of Sweet Amoris. Your first class of the day will be class A. After leaving, you both can come here and consult me until you both receive your schedules” the blonde boy announced.

Lynn and Sunny left the room, ready to start their day! _______________________________________________ “Honestly, I never expected to say that, but, I think I prefer to hear the teachers explaining the subject than doing all of this exercise through the hallways” the brunette girl commented, while she and the boy were once again moving through the corridors.

The raven-haired boy, though, was far less relaxed than her.

“I am scared of being around so many people” Sunny spoke, revealing the reason for such feeling.

“Don’t worry. There is no need too! I know you haven’t seen anyone in a long time, so you probably forgot, but people are usually nice and…” Lynn was interrupted by someone bumping into her.

However, before she came crashing into the ground, Sunny caught her midway, and helped her stand up.

“Hey, newbies!” an angry voice complained. When the duo looked up, they saw a trio of girls with enraged expressions.

“Don’t you both pay attention when you walk!” the blonde one shouted, with a voice filled with venom.

“Sorry, I swear I meant no harm, my name is…” the brunette girl attempted to introduce herself, but was stopped midway.

“Wow, we really weren’t luck this time. We received three newbies at once, and the three are uglier than a pig” the blonde girl commented.

‘Great, a blonde b*tch and her sheep minions. Just what I needed’

“Who did you call ugly?!” Lynn inquired, furious at the statement.

“Well, I will give you credit where credit is due. You are not that bad compared to that… Transylvanian stick over there” the blonde girl said, pointing to Sunny on the corner.

Lynn was about to start a fierce argument to defend her newest friend, but, before she could, the evil female trio had already left the scene.

The raven-haired boy approached his friend and put his hand on her shoulder as a way to show support, relaxing her a bit.

“Remember when I said that people are usually good? Well, there is a small part of them that… act like that” the brunette girl said, pointing in the direction that the blonde girl went.

_______________________________________________

Arriving at the classroom, Sunny and Lynn ended up choosing their seats next to one another.

They weren’t at the front, but weren’t at the back either.

“This class is a lot emptier than I expected, don’t you think, Sunny?” the brunette girl asked. The raven-haired boy nodded.

“Oh, it’s because you both are 10 minutes early!” an excited voice said from behind. It was a girl with ginger hair and a purple shirt.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation. I was just really excited to meet you both!” the girl exclaimed sitting next to the two.

“My name is Iris! I may not be the smartest student, or the most athletic one, but, if you both need a good laugh or moral support, I am always here to help!” Iris said, presenting herself to the duo.

‘This girl has more sugar inside of her than any bottle of Orange Joe’

“Nice to meet you Iris. I am Lynn and the boy over there is Sunny” the brunette girl said, presenting themselves.

“Hi” Sunny whispered, being barely hearable.

“I am sure we are all going to be great friends!” the ginger girl shouted, filled with optimism.

_______________________________________________

The rest of the day for the two ended up being normal. All they had to do was pay attention to what the teacher said, and make notes of the most important topics.

There were no more complex missions for them, though, and to that, they were a bit thankful. Well, Lynn was thankful. Sunny, who was already used to this kind of missions, thought that they were more fun than regular classes.

“I know this might sound a bit weird, but, even if this day was filled with tasks, I had a lot of fun, you know?” Lynn spoke, leaving the school with her friend.

“Me too” the raven-haired boy admitted.

“Do you wanna do something now that the day is over? There is an ice scream store nearby my house. If we manage to eat it fast, I can arrive home right on time?” Lynn suggested.

Sunny was about to say answer the proposal, but he was interrupted by a large honk of a car.

The car had flashy bright pink colors, and the two immediately recognized who was driving it.

“Hello, my niece and my godson!” the driver yelled, while opening the car’s window.

“Oh, hi, aunt Farah. What are you doing here?” Lynn asked, surprised to see her aunt.

“I finished work early, so, I decided to take my adorable nephew home! Don’t you wanna have dinner with the two of us, darling?” Farah asked her nice.

“Sorry, aunt, but, my parents want me home early” the brunette girl answered.

“Well, there will always be a next time!” the pink-haired woman stated, not disappointed by the denial.

Sunny and Lynn said farewell to each other, and the raven-haired boy joined the car.

“So, how was your day?” Farah asked, turning the car on.

The Raven-haired boy, for a while, said nothing, just looked through the window to see his newest friend for the last time.

“It was… good”

#omori #omori au #omori sunny #my candy love #mcl #amour sucre #amor doce #mcl candy #mcl nathaniel #mcl castiel

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titisorriso · 2 years

Text

Chapter 7/To Be A Hero (Wild Skies AU)

The wind howled once more over the edge of the mountain. Berk was not the biggest island in the arquipelago, but it sure had some tall rocks for its size. Astrid's hair was getting a bit longer than she normally would allow it to be, and it flowed towards the horizon as she attempted to clear her mind.

Three weeks ago, Hiccup kicked her and her friends onto an island that was within reach to the patrols of Berk. She was rescued, and for a long while, Ruffnut and Snotlout did not utter a word to her. Then one day, Stoick asked to see her privately, showing her both a letter proposing an alliance with the south and a report delivered by Snotlout implying that the warrior was betraying the Hooligans. Stoic gave her a choice, either deal with her treason and put her on trial or keep her as the commander responsible for ensuring a diplomatic encounter with the south; to make sure any rumors of betrayal were thrown away.

The choice was obvious. Her own friends believed her a liar, a traitor, they were hurt, and if a trial happened, she would end up exiled, or banished from the place she called home, and yet... As she read over the south's proposal for truce, there was the clause that would ensure no one thought that she was working with the dragon lover.

"The termination and imprisonment of the Night Fury and the rider known as Night Stutter."

She was short of breath, wanting to hurl her stomach out and feeling like a thousand tiny glass pieces were clattering and shattering in her mind. Stoick noticed the paralyzed woman, getting up and speaking with what almost felt like hatred, an air of disappointment, a look of disbelief.

"I don't know your relationship with that rider, but whatever it is, know that it will end once he is publicly executed."

He reached forward, putting a hand to her shoulder as he could no longer hold his affection back.

"Astrid... This village needs a leader, and you are all i have left. All we have left. We can't win a war with the south; they have weapons that we've never seen before... Exploding metal and inventions that we can't beat with arrows and axes."

He sat down on his council spot. Leaning back as he dismissed her. She clutched the letter, shoving it on her belt.

"... I won't fail."

"You better not."

The response was sent to the south, and today they would arrive. She took a deep breath in. All her issues seemed futile. Everything could be solved if she would just say it, the identity of the Night Stutter, the reason she was alive, the reason why she hadn't killed a dragon in weeks. Astrid still felt no sympathy towards the beasts, but killing them... She was scared that he would see. She could never tell when Hiccup was nearby, if he was still watching, if maybe he was waiting to come back, if she wouldn't have to do any of this, and out of the kindness of his heart, he would come out by himself.

- I'm pathetic.

She whispered to herself, laying down and staring at the sky. The clear morning almost felt like the gods taunting her, showing that the world went on even with her world crumbling. The things she felt, the things that she was terrified to name, they took up everything inside. Every corner and curve. What was it? She hated him, hated him to the point it hurt to do so, because it didn't feel right. It didn't feel right to hate him, to call him enemy, that shy stupid boy from when she was a child was now a wild man with the same naive intentions and worldview he always had. He wasn't perfect, but he didn't claim to be. He wasn't always right, but he was so willing to admit his wrongs. In the end, what really bothered Astrid was how, there was no way, in any version of their meeting that she created in her mind, that he was the bad guy. Hiccup was not the evildoer, the threat to Berk, the problem of the arquipelago. He helped people, he didn't kill anyone that didn't deserve it, and he preached peace.

Peace.

A viking speaking of peace and tranquility was a crazy thought, but Hiccup was never like the other vikings anyway.

No, what really made her curl up, cry, shake and feel wrathful was the simple question that came with all this wondering. If he was not the bad guy, and he is her enemy, then what is Astrid?

Days and nights she spent remembering all the gruesome things she had done, all the people she had lost, and no normal viking would see those as bad things, but she felt weirdly evil for doing them. She blamed Hiccup. Even before she knew he was alive, she blamed the boy that died speaking of doing things a different way. With each kill, each dragon felled, she would hear that voice, in the back of her neck, whispering in fear.

"Am i doing the right thing?"

She got up, breathing heavy, she couldn't afford doubt. She stared onto the horizon, remembering all of Hiccup's stories of different lands, different people, all these things she would never get to experience, all because of how rotten her heart was. At the end of the day, that's what it always came down to. A heart like hers couldn't be saved, and whatever would happen, there was no turning back. At least that's what she believed.

At noon, they arrived. Led by a man named Johann, the dragon hunters of the south arrived. Intricate weapons and chains, boats bigger than Astrid had ever seen, harpoons coated with some sort of green liquid and always pointed at the sky. The man was cunning, she immediately could tell his sweet words towards Stoick were always hiding wicked intentions. His men looked as mean as they come, no expression or emotion as they observed Berk as if it was nothing but a piece of land. Behind Astrid were her friends, with newfound confidence, happy they would work with the south instead of against them, but the valkyrie was having none of it.

- Ah! I assume this is your fearless commander! - He approached Astrid, extending a hand- I hear you have some exciting information about the Night Stutter.

Astrid stared at his palm, her characteristic frown deepening while she forced herself to shake his hand. Everything in the name of diplomacy.

- He's stronger than you think. Your weapons wouldn't even touch him.

He let go of her hand, staring at her with a weird glint in his eye:

- Ha! The way you say it, it almost sounds like a threat.

Stoick put an arm around his shoulders. Taking his attention:

- Come, Johann. I will show you around the island. Afterall, today is Astrid's ascension to the title of thane! She needs to prepare. Fishlegs, Tuffnut, with me.

The two went to give the man his tour. Fishlegs already spouting about the history and legacy of Berk while Tuffnut spoke about the festivities and ale. Ruffnut scattered to do something else, but Snotlout stayed behind.

- Hey, Astrid...

She turned to him, her frown softening.

- What? Do you need anything?

Snotlout started to rub the back of his neck, embarrassed, ashamed.

- I... We've been fighting together for years. You've saved my hide more times than i can count and... And i know that you don't like people going over your head.

- Speak, Snotlout.

She didn't have time for his self-pity. There was already too much on her plate, this man's feelings did not need to be added to her load.

- I'm just sorry, okay?! I'm sorry i doubted you, i'm sorry i thought you would ever betray Berk it's just...

He looked at her, waiting for her to interrupt him, but when she showed no signs that she would do so, he continued.

- I've been your friend for very long, and not once have i seen you... Look at someone. For a moment i thought you were incapable of affection!... And then there was the island and... Astrid, your eyes were... So bright.

She punched him, he fell back, yelling as he held his cheek:

- OUCH!! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!

He looked at her and froze. Her face was unsure, scared, a realization that she didn't want to have been just forced by Snotlout.

- Astrid?...

Tears started to fall from her eyes as she clutched her fists close to her chest. It had finally been too much.

Snotlout slowly approached her, his hands holding her shoulders as he kept a safe distance, mostly for his safety.

- Astrid, are you okay?... What's wrong?

Astrid didn't cry. At least not in front of anyone. Snotlout stared at her, not knowing what to do or say.

A vase shattering made them flinch, Astrid suddenly gaining her composure back, and wiping away her tears. She pushed Snotlout back.

- I'm fine.

He wanted to say something but knew that wasn't the best choice. Astrid started walking towards her cabin, but for a moment, she turned to Snotlout again.

- ...The thing about friendship, Snotlout, is that, sometimes, it requires us to break some rules. Clearly, that wasn't something you were willing to do.

Astrid stared at the water basin; her reflection scared her. The woman in the water looked soft, weak, needy. She couldn't afford that, not if she wanted Berk to thrive. She grabbed her knife, the sharp blade gleaming against the light. Sharp cuts through her hair, the length decreasing once more, dark coal was smeared under her eyes, other tints and paints doing the ritualistic marks necessary for the ascension. She stared at the basin once more. She hated that face, but at least this one she was used to, it felt right, familiar.

She held her knife as she left the cabin. The pyre, the rumbling of the drums, the chants and the smell of ale. It was suffocating, but it felt intoxicating at the same time. As if the entirety of the party was moving inside her. She closed her eyes, feeling it all muddle together. Stoick pulled her near the council, putting her in front, her dazed eyes focusing as she put on her façade. The chief's voice boomed over everyone, the silence falling on his people as they paid attention to each word uttered.

- When a warrior proves themselves, the gods show us that strength, wit and power come from the rage we allow ourselves to carry in the name of those lost. We put our lives in the battlefield, hoping that the axe that fell us will aid us into Valhalla. Today, we accept as thane our most prestigious fighter. Our valkyrie, who showed promise since the moment she was born. Swinging her axe around, showing her skills and mastery, she proved that the dragons are beasts with no heart, honor or mind. The Exterminator! The Savior of Berk! The Tamer of the Scorching Plague!

Her heart thumped inside her chest, straightening her back, she faked pride, her scowl growing as to intimidate anyone that would accuse her of anything other than happiness. She started counting the seconds, wondering how long she would have to stay here, looking at the faces of everyone she was lying to. Her people, her family, her clan. She closed her eyes, the noises growing louder. Stoick's voice broke through:

- And! To show us her prowess, as our ancestors have done before us, the thane will fall a beast in front of our eyes!

Her eyes shot open. This was a tradition, but one they haven't done in years, and not like this, not in the middle of everyone. Many thanes had come, but none were asked this unless the arena was available. She turned to Stoick, oblivious of her despair, he gave her a warm smile. She looked down, staring at the knife she clutched so tight. The blade was no longer shining, only reflecting the space. The heat of the pyre was becoming too much, her breath got caught in her throat, her eyes felt heavy, her face felt numb. Then, as if to wake her to the situation, a pained melody that was quickly silenced.

There was the Death Song.

Surrounded in chains, covered with pins and metal. It seemed younger than most Death Songs. Johann laughed delighted:

- Oh, it was such a privilege to have seen these beauties in their natural habitat. Did you know they encase their prey in amber?! Even eat other dragons the nasty things. This one is on me, by the way. To show our commitment to an alliance with the Hooligans! Go ahead, thane. Have at him!

Astrid shivered. Many of Johann's men held down the dragon, the beast trying desperately to flee. Desperate. She knew that feeling. Knew it a bit too well. A viking pushed her forward, she took it as a sign to start walking. Everyone yelled and cheered, begging for blood, for the death of this dragon. The warrior took careful steps forward, looking the creature dead in the eye. The dragon started looking back.

He stopped struggling.

The mounds of viking felt like walls of shadow, like a barrier stopping her from deviating from her fate. This fate.

She kneeled in front of the Death Song. The dragon's pupils grew, hope filling his face. His eyes then saw her still holding the knife, and suddenly, Astrid wondered if dragons would cry if they could. She looked around... and touched her forehead to the dragon's horn. People slowly stopped cheering. Stoic observed, with a certain annoyance and uncertainty. Doubt sprouted in his mind as he realized what was happening.

Slowly, the Death Song closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Astrid whispered rites, a prayer to help him reach Valhalla, the vikings were silently observing, their tone suddenly changing.

No longer was this the death of a beast, but the execution of a warrior.

- Let the warriors here, in the hall come forth, Thine and mine, for the need is mighty, If haply the queen from death they may hold, Till her fearful thoughts with time shall fade.

The sound of flesh being cut, the sound of liquid spilling onto the floor. The dragon had stopped moving. Astrid slowly rose, hands and blade stained. She slowly turned, her eyes finding Johann, and then seeing Stoick, his face said everything she needed to hear. His anger was no longer turned to her, as he realized what he was about to accept. The Valkyrie cleaned her blade against her big gloves, staring at Johann with a fire in her eyes.

- We are vikings. We are people of tradition and religion. We recognize the power and fight in our foes. We hunt these creatures, but they will always fight back, they will always give us battle and honor. What that man is proposing... It is not about our protection, it is not about our tradition, it is about money.

Johann looked around, noticing the sudden shift in emotion. He got up, slowly moving towards his group.

- I... I have no clue what you are talking about! If dragons die, won't it help you?! So, what if we get some natural resources from them on the meantime! These creatures have no soul, no essence to walk into Valhalla or whatever idiotic beliefs you have!

Stoic took a step forward, his frame being enough to get Johann to run behind his people.

- I was so blinded by the prospect of protection, of getting some sort of leverage over these creatures that i forgot who the dragon hunters were. Your efforts were what almost extinguished our sheep, what almost ruined all the forests and farming land throughout the arquipelago. We might be at war with these beasts, but every single Hooligan will die before denying them the right to fight. What happened here today did prove Astrid's capability of being Thane, it did show her how deserving she is of the title... And she proved so by showing me who you truly are.

Stoick stepped closer to him, two of his men tried to push the man back, only to get themselves throw out of the way without struggle. The chief looked down at an angry Johann:

- Leave, you rat. There will be no peace with the south. If you want our lands, you will have to take it from us.

Johann scowled; it reminded Astrid of when her mom told her stories of gremlins who would get upset when they failed their trickery. The man snapped his fingers, his people taking the Death Song's body away as he retreated to his ship. His last words reverberated in the Valkyrie's mind:

- We'll see where your alliance truly lies when your village burns, Thane.

Astrid put her hand on the tree, trying to find balance, puking from the nerves of everything that had happened. Her hands and clothes were still stained with blood. They invited her to stay, to enjoy the festivities, saying that it was her day, but all she could think about was the oncoming war. She walked to the forest, far from the music and drinks and people. She walked towards a small lake on this area, inside a crater. Climbing down, she stopped holding back the tears, taking off her gloves and her cotton shirt to wash, throwing the heavy armor to the side as the salty droplets fell down her cheeks.

- Shit... Shit...

The blood refused to wash off. She knew how to wash blood off, but her brain was so confused she wished the gods would give her a miracle and save her the trouble. The warrior wanted to erase this from her mind.

A sound of branches breaking made her hold still. With a slow motion, she put her shirt back on. Astrid already knew who it was. Her voice came out weaker than she wanted it to be. Scared. Scared of what he would think of her after that:

- ... How much did you see?

Quiet steps approached. She started wondering if it really was him, if it maybe was someone else, maybe one of Johann's men followed her, maybe it was Snotlout wanting to apologize once more.

Then his hand reached her shoulder. He kneeled behind her, his forehead resting against her neck. His voice was quiet and gentle.

- ... I'm sorry.

His arms wrapped around her waist, fully hugging her as she weakly heaved.

- You could have just come back... None of this would have happened if you came back...

- I know... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...

They stayed there, waiting, enjoying this rare moment of respite, where they allowed each other to cry. The two unbreakable and immovable forces letting themselves be soft for one another. They felt it again, as if they were trapped in time, as if the rest of the world had gone away for a single second, just so they could feel that peace, that comfort they had been craving for so long.

Astrid had finally stopped crying. Feeling slightly embarrassed by her position, she shook him off. He cleared his throat and sat looking at some other spot, body fully turned away from her. Astrid was the first to break the silence:

- We're at war with the south.

- Yeah... I'm pretty sure i told you to not do that.

She chuckled. Noticing her amusement, she quickly changed her expression again. They might be civil now, but they were still enemies. She wondered if anyone else in the world had to constantly remind themselves that.

- So, still not helping i assume?

Hiccup sighed, almost bored, as if the question was tedious.

- I have been helping, and i will continue to do so, but that's not really the question you're asking, i assume.

The Valkyrie clicked her tongue annoyed. He knew her too well, and it was infuriating. She started splashing the lake. Hiccup spoke with a smile:

- You know... This is the place where i tamed Toothless.

Astrid looked up, taking in the surroundings of her secret spot, but apparently not hers at all.

- ... You told me about it... I wonder if maybe i didn't feel that this was your spot.

- Feel? What do you mean?

She sighed, hugging her legs ashamed, but not feeling the urge to hide her feelings.

- When you... Disappeared. I felt myself going to places you liked. It was... Cathartic. Sometimes it felt like... Like you were still here.

Hiccup turned towards her, moving a bit closer.

- If it... makes you feel better... My heart always was. I-i mean, i know that won't change all the pain i caused you and... Everyone but... I never forgot you.

Astrid looked at him, a scoffing smile tugging at her lips:

- Hah! That almost sounded like courting, Night Stutter.

- I love you.

What? She laughed before processing the words. Turning away to throw some water at him, but he stayed unmoving. Serious. Her smile slowly disappeared. She started stuttering, as if her mind was no longer there. He repeated it:

- I love you, Astrid Hofferson. Always have.

She moved back instinctively. He stayed still, observing her reaction, trying to decipher her expression.

And then, she kicked him in the chest.

- OUCH!! That hurt!

She got up quickly, Toothless came from the darkness, rushing towards the rider to check on him and quickly realizing he was fine. Astrid screamed, frustrated:

- How-- How DARE YOU!!

- Wait, what?! What did i do wrong?!

Hiccup got up, catching his breath. Astrid started pacing:

- I-- YOU-- WE AREN'T--! I HATE you!

Hiccup laughed humorless, scratching his head:

- Well, that's a bit harsh.

- No, no, you don't understand! We're enemies!! You can't... I won't... SHUT UP, HICCUP!!

She started marching away, going back to the village, hiding her beet red face.

- Wait, Astrid! Just... Just wait a moment, did i do something wrong?! Why are you angry at me?!

She whipped to look at him, he stopped, noticing he fucked up.

- You help dragons. I kill dragons. You have no responsibilities. I have a whole VILLAGE to take care of! You can't love me. You can't love me while going against everything i am! Everything i believe!

He scoffed, a bit annoyed:

- Oh, really? Do dragon killers cry after murdering one of them? Do they second guess and give them their rites before sending them to Valhalla? I saw you waver, i saw you... I saw you talking to Snotlout about me. About the way you look at me; and although i don't appreciate him getting that close... He did help you realize what you feel about me.

Boiling anger. Astrid took a step closer, her whole demeanor shifting as Hiccup felt like he stepped on a trap. If there was one thing the woman didn't appreciate, was being stalked like deer.

- And what, pray tell, is it that i feel for you?

He gulped as Toothless whimpered and took a step back, predicting what Hiccup was going to say.

- Well, you... Love me too... Right?...

Astrid basically growled at Hiccup, turning back and walking with purpose towards the village. Hiccup sighed, shaking his head at his social interaction and looking at his buddy, who looked pained with cringe.

- Oh, shut up. At least i'm trying. Where's your love interest?

And he started following Astrid.

- Astrid, wait.

- Go away!

- I'm not going to follow you into the village. I'm not that stupid.

She stopped. Silence fell onto the forest. She felt herself shiver, wondering what she could do, what would it take to get him back, to get him to willingly show himself to everyone. His voice broke through:

- ... Why didn't you... Why didn't you just let him go?... You clearly didn't want him to die, you saw his eyes, you saw how afraid he was.

She felt their bubble bursting, reality seeping into their relationship. Whatever softness she felt before, now gone as she noticed how mournful he was about the dragon. Not about their bond, not about abandoning his family, but about the beast dying.

- Well, Hiccup...

Her words were lathered with venom, she both didn't want to say this and wanted to yell it out to everyone. She remembered every interaction they had, every moment of coziness, of insecurity, of embarrassment; she also remembered all the years she spent crying, looking for revenge, all the people she lost during Stoick's crusade against dragons. The Valkyrie turned around, her icy eyes piercing Hiccup's previous confidence, all his "sures" becoming "maybes" in seconds.

- Sometimes people must die so you can prove a point.

She didn't need to spell it out for him. He could interpret it just fine.

"It's all your fault."

She went back to the village, knowing now that she was a hero, any insecurities or doubts gone from her mind. She did what she should have done, what was right, and just like that, all the regret disappeared. She looked at her knife, a bit of blood still attached to it, but it shined more than ever before.

The second crack of hatred was carved into her heart.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Welp, i’ll be fully honest, i forgot i had this AU! College has been difficult and i ended up forgetting a lot of the stuff i posted on this tumblr, but i still have the drafts for this fic all ready, i just need to reread them and post them! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, there will definetely more coming soon. (As long as i don’t forget)

#wild skies au #wild!astrid #wild!hiccup #httyd #astrid httyd #hiccup httyd #Astrid Hofferson #Hiccup Haddock #how to train your dragon #alternate universe #fanart #fanfic #wild skies #toothless

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kinocomix · 6 months

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devlog 18: doo dads, inventories and recycling like responsible authors.

The script for TSTW is 17 scenes long so far, still in progress. I estimate it will be around 30 to 40, which is a welcome change given that my last comic was around 110. with that in mind…

would you believe me if i said i spent an entire day looking for an extremely specific book that i used to own- well two actually now that i think about it. I didn’t find them. One of them was a book with a bunch of electronic crafts for kids, the other was this book where you’re supposed to tear the pages to make everything from a chessboard to a cup. Not important, the point is Brandon Sanderson said something very insightful about writing characters that are smarter than you: being smart, often, is a matter of how much time you have to solve a problem. We consider someone as being smart when they very quickly have a good answer to a given question. The reason I was looking for two random ass books I owned as a kid is because I have the time to figure out how the kids are going to channel their inner bear grylls to improvise, adapt, overcome. they do not.

today, we’re going to be figuring out what we can realistically get away with as far as child inventions go, as well as talking about how as artists, reusing work is normal and shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of.

So first things first: what do the kids in our story have access to? this was the easiest to figure out because I know what living situations most of them experience, so here’s a list:

killouette: stationary and a camera. I’m still unsure which time period the story takes place in, so it’s unsure whether or not the camera is digital. It's objectively more fun if it’s a polaroid camera, because then all her pictures are physical. This is a plus because the only person with a computer in the group is talbas. On the other hand, setting the story in the mid 2000s means she probably has a small digital camera that she could connect to a bigger screen. alternatively, if i choose to set the story in the present, she could have both. unwanted old cameras left in a drawer somewhere.

bata tete: fun craft tools (paint, glue, string, ribbons, a big pile of magazines), a basket and a printer. you can’t go wrong with paint and pictures if you’re writing a story about kids, and this is also helpful because it introduces additional things to bata tete’s character: a more artsy side to complement the mission impossible stuff. instinctively i’m thinking the strings are definitely going to serve as trip wires at some point or another, and paper mache is definitely going to be involved in some way.

falefil: a po box, a piano and an electronic voice recorder. My current headcanon for falefil is that he doesn’t really like toys, so minus getting aluminum foil from his mom’s kitchen, he can probably lend his electronic voice recorder to accomplish something. maybe a makeshift MP3 player?

zmik: toys and objects intended to be used with other kids. all unused. I’ll admit this the saddest one by a longshot but it hits home a bit too hard to not include. I remember the piles of old board games, slingshots, marbles, even -the irony- a pair of walkie talkies I had that just… sat there. I like to imagine Zmik is finally in a place where he can share these things with people he likes.

motsik: broken knick knacks, pieces of mirror, detergents, bent spoons, a lot of wooden kabab skewers. It should come as no surprise that most of what Motsik has to offer is broken to some capacity, because of his violent household. the things he brings are broken because he effectively fishes them out of the trash, figuring his friends might have something they could do with them. note: motsik could also try to make stuff himself, but given his character this would be infrequent.

talbas: her uncle has an electronic equipment store, he teaches her stuff and low key is in on some of the shenanigans the kids do. despite the neglect from her parents, talbas loves spending time with her uncle whose store is nearby. he loves the fact that she’s interested in soldering and making fun doodads, so he has a budget set aside just for her. it’s pretty obvious that talbas’ uncle is the only person tethering her to a sense of purpose and a feeling of love.

claude: a lot of organic things and the knowledge thereof. Claude has little in the way of possessions, but she has a lot of street smarts. Claude keeps track of inventory across the 6 kids’s houses and frequently is the first to suggest solutions to problems.

with that being figured out, all we need to do to try to combine what they have with what the problem is and we see what comes out the other end. for example:

let’s say they need all hands on deck for something but that means ignoring a hallway where someone could come see what they’re doing. we know they would have access to stuff like strings, empty spools, simple electrical components and tin foil, so they could for example make a small trip wire using one of several methods i thought up:

this one is a pressure pad you can hide under a carpet that sets off a small light or beeper.

this one is a single use tripwire that would not require miles of electrical wire lol.

two things to note: the actual schematics in the book are going to look much nicer but also i’m approaching writing this book with publishing in mind, so I’m steering clear of actually dangerous things like blades and anything stronger than a small battery. which is a shame- i have a very funny story about how i personally once nearly set my building on fire trying to make a lamp when i was like 11, but that’s not the kind of stuff that will get published for middle grade/early young adult readers. I hate having to squash my book into a category like this, but if i’m to have any hope of doing what i love for the rest of my life, this feels like a necessary sacrifice.

now, as an aside, let’s talk about something I personally do that I think might be helpful to others and I’m going to illustrate my point by sharing spoilers for a project I won't get to for another couple of years.

Around 2014 was my very first attempt at writing something. it was a story called “Last of the Predators”, a very angsty attempt at something serious written by a version of me with no connection to the subject matter whatsoever. it had no plot outline, end in mind or clearly defined characters. Everyone spoke in the same monotone calm way and every paragraph had way too much description of the person’s emotional state. I eventually lost interest and dropped it, even deleting the blog I had been using to document the updates on.

shortly after I started making comics, i came up with the ice cream men: a story that follows two aliens kicked off their planet who arrive on earth. In their boredom, they decide to follow the recipe for something called ice cream, inevitably bringing up a million other topics along the way. This might sound fun, but when I came up with it at the time it didn’t feel enough to justify the commitment it would require. it initially focused too much on jokes and really didn’t have much to offer in the way of depth. so i shelved the idea for a while and this is the piece of advice i have:

don’t throw ideas away, just shelve them.

around this time is where my studies got in the way. When you’re just starting out trying to make art, everything stops you dead in your tracks. It wasn't until I started working on illustrating almost home that the creative gears started turning again. I came up with a whole bunch of things, but some of what I did is revisit my folder of abandoned projects. Sometimes when a project feels dull, it can be helpful to merge it with another one. This doesn’t always work but when it does it can lead to very interesting results. This is what I did with the ice cream men. I took the philosophical premise of the ice cream men which suffered from an underdeveloped plot and bad setting that didn’t suit the theme, and I combined it with the idea that survived after I cut all the slack out of Last of the predators which is the following:

The world LOTP is set in suffered a cataclysmic event that killed all the animals. Humans being how they are, they quickly built a religion around this and decided that some people have “predator souls” while others have “prey souls”, even going as far as to genetically engineer the way people look to introduce animalistic features to faces and bodies. The story is very political in nature and revolves around this role reversal that happens many many years after the cataclysm… and that’s where all the bullshit comes into play that I cut out.

As a side note, what I just told you is the polished version of the lore I rewrote for this devlog- it’s not the one I decided to settle on for the ice cream men but I'm sharing it regardless for the sake of documentation. point is: the reason this felt relevant to me is because combining this with the ice cream men added a layer of intrigue to the story which i really liked:

two aliens are kicked off their planet and arrive on a deserted planet which the reader knows is earth. In their boredom, they decide to follow the recipe for something called ice cream, inevitably discovering more about this strange planet and its past…

That past is the yet untold story of LOTP, with a less shitty name and more consideration given to the themes and mechanics of the things at play. so effectively we have several narrative layers at play:

the ice cream thing which could be a commentary on purpose or the creative process in addition to being a fun jumping off point for comedic relief

the past of the planet which could offer some mystery to the story, and maybe encourage some more serious topics to be brought up

and a third secret one, that i’m not willing to share just yet.

which i think is a story more worth telling. Here's another example more immediately relevant to our devlog. two years ago, I was thinking about how funny it would be to have unnecessarily complicated contraptions in the kitchen. the type of stuff you see unemployed engineers do for social media instead of benefiting mankind. I asked myself how would you go about making those contraptions useful: maybe someone could benefit from them if they were for example disabled, cool. too straightforward for my liking. What if they were small? like… as small as a bug? a very small chef.

how to cook when you’re 2 inches tall. that sounds fun i like it. What if it was a cookbook where part of the instructions were these complicated instructions on how to build and solder electronics? fun! I need a chef and an engineer to do that. I am neither.

don’t throw ideas away, just shelve them.

I kept thinking about that for a while. I imagined our protagonist Claude, a small hercules beetle who loves to cook. I wrote three versions of the script of a comic and even discussed making it a short animation at some point, but it didn’t feel right. it’s not the vision. It needs to be a cookbook.

queue Killouette and the fact that I’m really annoyed at how the camera can see everything. I remembered the idea I had with the cookbook, so I thought why not borrow some of that and make it a diary? Let’s add Claude in there as well for good measure. Maybe then how to cook when you’re 2 inches tall can be the one that comes after Killouette if I’m lucky enough to get funding. A grown Claude who made it big as a cook. By combining the two projects into two parts of the same series, I fixed the problem I had with the camera and added continuity to two otherwise one off projects.

So maybe that’s something to keep in mind. don’t throw away ideas, shelve them instead.

Next week we’ll be looking into the supplementary children’s book attached to killouette.

devlog updates on tuesdays.

#comic #webcomic #kinocomix #devlog #graphic novel #journal comic #writing

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lovesick-jester-from-hell · 9 months

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How about ☔️ ? As for the f/o, I leave the choice entirely to you :3

☔ — f/o and s/i got caught in the rain... write about how they handle it! did either of them bring an umbrella?

I’ve had some serious Mandy brainrot today, so I went with her for this! Also the snippet got away from me schwoopsieeeeeee lmao. No real content warnings here aside from a couple suggestive lines. For the most part it’s just cutesy fluffy stuff!! :3

I tapped a fingernail against the glass, breath leaving a puff of condensation from just how damn cold it was outside. “I don’t think this is gonna let up anytime soon,” I admitted. We’d already waited at the diner for a half hour longer than we’d intended. The rain had only gotten more intense, pounding against the window as if determined to force its way inside.

Amanda made a noncommittal sound of agreement. She looked tiny on the other side of the table, as if the faded red vinyl of the booth was going to swallow her up. But she looked at ease with that idea. At ease just sitting here, drinking endless amounts of coffee and talking about nothing. Talking about everything. As if the world didn’t exist outside the preciously unremarkable 24 hour diner.

As much as I wanted to wring Jigsaw’s neck for what he’d done to me – to us – I had to admit. I did appreciate the little things so much more now.

“We can’t just stay here all night.”

“Why not?” Mandy asked, propping a fist against her cheek and fixing me with a wide-eyed, almost pleading look. But she had on a soft smile. Fuck, I wished I could capture the image of her smile in my brain forever.

“You can’t expect me to sleep in these booths. Who knows the last time they got cleaned with more than a wet cloth.” I said it jokingly, but the idea of passing out here did have me repressing a shudder. It’s not like a Jigsaw trap could solve my goddamn germaphobia.

She glanced out the window and sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

She sounded so reluctant, it took everything in me not to capture her hands and say, If I could spend the rest of my goddamn life with you trapped in a mediocre diner just to see you smile and laugh and never worry again, I would. I wish I could. I want to. But that wasn’t the reality we lived in, the reality of long work days and paying rent and the hell of our own minds and the quiet nights with too few hours.

I shrugged with an apologetic smile. “There’s always tomorrow.”

Amanda met my gaze. “Yeah,” she said softly. “There’s always tomorrow.”

Because there had to be. For us, there had to be a tomorrow. We'd fought and maimed and killed to live to see that tomorrow.

We split the bill, Amanda tipping back the last bitter dregs of her coffee and me tipping back the last heart-destroyingly sweet dregs of mine, then threw on our coats and huddled by the door. Neither of our coats were waterproof. Neither of us had brought an umbrella; neither of us even owned an umbrella. The fucking forecast had said it wasn’t going to rain till past midnight, but the fucking forecast had been wrong.

“On three,” Amanda whispered.

“This is gonna suck,” I whispered back. “It’s gonna be cold as fuck.”

“I can warm you up afterwards.” Amanda gave me a pointed look. I couldn’t help the stupidass snort that escaped me. “Okay. One…. Two…..”

“This is gonna suck so bad.”

“….Three!”

She shoved the door open and bolted. I was right behind her. The coats did absolutely fuckall. I was soaked and shivering in seconds, teeth chattering so hard I could practically feel my skull vibrating. I was right. This sucked ass. But at least there weren’t that many other people out because of it. We raced down the sidewalk, barreling through the puddles in our wake and not stopping once, because if either of us stopped it would be even worse starting again.

It felt like it took fucking forever to get back to my tiny apartment, and I was trembling so hard it fucking hurt, but we made it. I yanked off my boots, peeled off my drenched socks, and hurled my equally-soaked coat onto one of the kitchen chairs. “Holy FUCK it’s cold.”

Amanda was on me in an instant. She was soaked too, her coat shed alongside mine and her hair plastered to the sides of her face. She looked like she’d been thrown into a washing machine. But she was standing on her tiptoes and had her arms thrown around my neck and was pressing kisses to my face and I couldn't ignore the sheer delight that made me feel.

“I said I’d warm you up,” she said slyly.

….She did say that, didn’t she? Well, who the hell was I to say no to that offer?

#heehee this was so self-indulgent. giggling and kicking my feet about it tbh #ace writes #🐽💚#🃏🫀#friend montana <3 #ask game

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iris-drawing-stuff · 1 year

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A couple of thoughts I had about “I Love You”

So the amount of cake he feeds her is clearly less than how much she feeds him. I think the cake may represent affection and love, but specifically a love where they don’t acknowledge their problems. It’s just a substanceless sugar sweet that doesn’t do anything but make you happy in the short term without addressing the core of the issue. He feeds her a small amount when she is upset on the couch. Their relationship was really unbalanced where she was overwhelmingly loving. Look at that cake, how can he fit all that in his mouth without difficulty?

I think they both had issues prior to the relationship, with the BF possibly dealing with depression. I’ve also seen the theory that he was financially dependent on her because of the line "Clothes Food Shelter + Love and Miss you" and if that’s true, then that’s fucked.

Mahiru didn’t really know how to help him, so she just did what he did to her when she was upset. After all, it cheered her up, so she should give back to him with double the cake (love). Obviously, it didn’t help him at all, and the overwhelming and suffocating nature of her love made things worse.

Mahiru’s attitude towards what Kotoko did shows that she thinks people should do what they believe is right no matter what. She may have had this same attitude toward her boyfriend's suicidal feelings too. Which is... so fucked up if true. It would also support the theory of her intending to commit a lover’s suicide. I’m not sure if I fully buy that theory, but it’s interesting.

With hindsight, Mahiru knows that she was wrong deep down. That’s why it switches back to reality. The cake is a rat. Dead rats can symbolize many things, including betrayal and a lack of adaptability. Not everything can be solved with just love, but that’s all she offered. BF needed actual help. The lyrics also indicate this.

Saying I love you but doing what I did,

I know I have no right, crossed and covered in sin

My love, it scored an own goal, destroyed my love and me with its weight

Tell me, oh tell me why, can’t I just do it right

This does contradict her VD, where Mahiru says she hasn’t done anything wrong, but I think it’s because she equates her love = life. If her way of loving was wrong, then everything about her and her life is wrong. It seems like a coping mechanism, the only way she can justify staying alive.

Also she is does verbally doubt whether her relationship was good or not as well. She “thinks” they were normally going out. Perhaps she just needs more time to process.

It’s taken her this long to even admit that he’s dead. Her reluctance to fully verbalize her responsibility reminds me of Fuuta. Neither want to fully admit responsibility, but they know they were wrong.

That’s my thoughts for now. Also, does anyone know why he was wet at the start, but dry at the end? The only thing I could think of is that he might have been hanging there when it rained, but there’s no mention of rain. I couldn’t think of anything else.

#milgram #mahiru shiina #milgram thoughts #my thoughts are rotating around my head like a carousel #i'm not the best at analyzing things so if anyone has any ideas id love to hear them #i tend to be quite indecisive about of interpretations of things

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altaniadventures · 1 year

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Prompt #1: Envoy

#FFxivWrite2023

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As always, spoilers for Endwalker.

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"Hell no," Altani replied.

Alphinaud’s face fell and Alisaie’s expression morphed into a deep frown. Before the two could start their arguments or begging, the Warrior of Light got up from the table and walked out into the cold. Estinen thought it was best to leave the woman alone, but Alphinaud turned to him with a silent plea. Pursing his lips, he followed after the warrior.

Garlemald was a cold, desolate place. The rebuilding effort was well underway, but the scars in the snow were easily seen. The capitol was still a ruined mess, and the castle still looked like a black becon of doom. This place reminded Altani only of bad memories. The snow here wasn't like Ishgard. It felt hopeless and alien here. The peace between Garlemald and the Eorzean alliance was tense. People here didn't look at her with smiles and awe. Most were wary of her, and some were openly hostile.

Worse, it wasn't like she could do a thing about it. Everything was eggshells here. One friendly punch to the wrong person and it would all be for nothing. She wished the Twins hadn't begged for a visit. She should have known there was an alterior motive!

Altani walked around the building and headed down a ruined avenue into a ddestroyed park. The debris had been cleared from the area, but the place was still charcoal black. She was sitting on a stone bench when Estinien sat down next to her. He didn't say a word, only crossed his arms and waited.

"You can fuck right off, too," she said, but it lacked her usual bite.

"You've brought the Garleans supplies from other nations. What makes asking for the Steppe's cooperation any different?" he asked.

He was never one to beat around the bush, she thought. The twins would have speeches to debate and try to sway her to their thoughts. Estinen just wanted to know what her problem was.

"It's hard not to hate them," she said.

Estinen raised his brow, but waited.

"Watching the twin's faces after those two girls died in the snow. I'll never forget that. It's one thing to distrust us. It's another for even the citizens to hate the barbaric eorzean savages so much that they'd rather die than take our aid. Those girls had never met a foreigner before. It all comes from their damn military and ruling class."

Altani looked at him. "I know they're not all like that, and they have deigned to take our aid now. Julius doesn't treat us like that. But what they're asking me to do, dealing with their nobles, as their envoy to the Steppe..."

She scowled. "You don't know what I've seen, Estinen. The things they have done. The things they did to Zenos, to others, to Gaius' children. The horrific experiments to their own citizens, not counting war crimes. How can I as Khagan ask the Steppe for aid to these people who think them little more than ornery chattel? They spit on us because they never conquered us. Asking me to deal with those Garlean asshats is ridiculous. Every time I look at them, I want to fight. They hate me, and I hate them. The twins are better at politics. Let them deal with it."

"Someone has to put down the weapon first. If not, we would never see the end of war," Estinen replied. "This one, or any other. And 'tis a sad fact that it shall fall to you, whether you wish it or not. There aren't any other khagans around."

Altani huffed. He was right, of course. "I could kill them all. Would solve the problem."

"You can't murder your way out of everything you don't want to do."

"But it a solution that we use more often than everyone would like to admit," she said, increasing in volume. "Everyone likes to pretend that I'm nice and considerate, and I don't enjoy fixing problems with violence. No one asks me what I think about this shit, because they know they won't like the answer. I fight, I fix, and I fetch, and no one asks me if I want to do this anymore. I hate helping people who call me a savage behind my back! Nhaama above, I just want-"

Altani sighed deeply, leaning her head over the back of the bench. He could tell that she was tired. The weight on her shoulders had lessened slightly since their excursion at the end of the universe, but even he could see what a toll it had taken. She was a good woman despite her constant claims to the contrary. She had done a lot of work here, despite the constant stares of some of the locals. She did the right thing, she just didn't always do it with manners. He didn’t blame her for losing patience with it all. Perhaps soon there would be time for her to get the rest she deserved. He watched her slowly sit up again.

"I'll go beg from the Steppe, but they can still fuck right off with being envoy. Alphy can do that. I never want to come back here again." The twins might balk at the change in plans, but surely they couldn’t begrudge their warrior a slight reprieve.

Estinen nodded. "Tis something we can agree on," he said, looking around at the barren snowscape. "Not even a damn hotspring to liven up the place. I thought Coerthas cold, but this place would freeze a tit off a dragon."

She began to laugh and Estinen smiled. He stood up and offered a hand out to her. With a final chuckle, she took it and got off the bench.

#ffxivwrite2023 #altani WOL #altani writing #altani highwind #ffxiv oc

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toa-kirhan · 2 years

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First time watching ToH S1E19 (Young Blood, Old Souls). Thoughts below:

Detailed thoughts:

A fantastic finale to wrap up the first season of ToH! The team have already set a high benchmark for themselves, I wonder how they’ll surpass it in the next 2(-ish, I heard season 3 is made up of 3 specials).

These two episodes have been great for demonstrating Eda and Luz’s relationship. Although they’re only known each other for so long, Eda and Luz truly love and care for each other, willing to sacrifice their own health and well-being to protect each other. Luz puts it best herself, “But we’re a family! Us weirdos have to stick together, remember?” That heartbreaking callback to the first episode from Luz really gets at the core of what makes their relationship work.

Luz’s only friends or family that we know of is her mother. Before coming to the Boiling Isles, Luz had no one else, and now that she seems to be stuck there indefinitely (w/ no reception, wifi, or way to charge her phone), she doesn’t even have that. At this point, Eda and everyone else really are the only family that Luz has left.

The same is true for Eda before Luz arrived. Back then, Eda only had King, Hooty, and Owlbert. Her parents are out of the picture, and her only sister pledged herself to a group dedicated to hunting her down and capturing her. Eda made her living scrounging junk that she got from the human world and beached trash slugs, struggling w/ a lifelong curse.

Over the course of the series, Luz’s overwhelming optimism has soothed Eda’s innate pessimism and allowing her to see the joy in things that she’s long dismissed like Moonlight Conjurings, coventions, and attending magic schools by looking at them through the eyes of someone who never had these opportunities to begin with.

Meanwhile, Eda’s pessimism has tempered Luz’s optimism, teaching her to be ready and weary of worldly dangers like Adegast, as well as teaching her patience and resourcefulness (key skills for Luz’s understanding and mastery of glyphs). In a way, Luz and Eda are both students and mentors to each other, especially now that Eda can no longer do magic herself either.

After showing us Lilith at her worst, this episode counters that by revealing the rest of Lilith’s backstory with the thoughts and feelings that drove her actions. Lilith cursed her sister out of jealousy, and due to her refusal to be proven wrong by her sister, she never admitted the truth to her, no matter how much she regretted it, assuring herself that she could solve everything herself by just capturing Eda and having her join the EC w/ her.

I will admit, even though I know the episode wants me to sympathize here w/ Lilith, even if just a little, I still find it hard to forgive her. I can’t believe the fact that Lilith cursed her own sister to become part of the EC, even if she did think it was temporary. Lilith couldn’t just accept Eda beating her and be proud of her sister’s accomplishments? She couldn’t have just waited to apply to the EC later when another spot opened up?

Although similar in setup and premise, I don’t have any issues w/ Amity when she revealed why she stopped being friends w/ Willow for one main reason: Amity was forced to stop seeing Willow. If she didn’t, her parents would have done everything in their power to destroy Willow’s future as a witch. Amity sacrificed her friendship for the sake of Willow. Lilith voluntarily sacrificed her sister’s future for the sake of her own.

While Lilith’s decision to share Eda’s curse at the end of the episode has helped rehabilitate her character, it doesn’t change the years of suffering that Eda went through because of her. Though, ultimately, whether Lilith deserves forgiveness is up to Eda. If she is able to forgive her sister for what she’s done to her, then it’s best to accept her decision.

Edit: With that said, and after some discussion, Amity isn’t without faults either. Although the initial reason why Amity let go of Willow as a friend is understandable, that doesn’t justify Amity’s patronizing behavior towards Willow or her passiveness in letting Boscha and her gang bully Willow for years afterwards, even if she did so to avoid “showing weakness.” Like w/ Lilith and Eda this episode, it was ultimately up to Willow whether to accept her apology or not.

Moving on to Emperor Belos, we’ve gotten a little bit more information about him this episode. As established, Belos instituted the Coven system to limit people’s ability to use magic to 9 basic types based on his claims that doing so goes against the Titan’s wishes. The truth of whether or not Belos himself believes that has yet to be seen. If he doesn’t, he didn’t drop the act in front of Luz.

It isn’t clear what Belos’ plan is, but I suspect it’s to unite the Boiling Isles/the Demon Realms w/ the Human Realm on the Day of Unity given his obsession w/ the portal and his assurance to Luz that he won’t simply invade it. The one question I have is Belos’ motivation for this, but as established above, unless we find out more about Belos and his powers, I can only guess as to the reasons why.

As with any good finale, this episode has completely changed the series’ status quo. Both Eda and Lilith are outlaws now and have to deal w/ a weakened curse. Similarly, Lilith’s magic is weakened while Eda can no longer do magic at all, like Luz. Whether Luz, Willow, and Gus will be allowed to continue studying at Hexside is unclear, as is Amity’s aspirations of joining the EC (considering her idol, Lilith, almost got petrified by them along w/ her crush’s mentor).

Plot threads that still need to be resolved: Amity’s crush on Luz, who is writing letters impersonating Luz to her mother, finding a cure for the curse (if there is one), the truth about Belos, the Day of Unity, and how to return Luz to the Human Realm (if she ever does).

General thoughts:

History book! We’re getting lore! Who’s the author?!

The giant skeletons are Titans! Also, the Boiling Isles are part of the Demon Realms, or at least connected to them.

So all magical species evolved on the Boiling Isles? Then where did the Titans get their magic? Is it because they’re demons?

Of course only the supreme leader and their cadre of most loyal enforcers have full control over magic. Why would it be any way else?

Wait, are wild witches turned into stone? I thought they were just bound to a coven. Is that what’s going to happen to Lilith when Eda escapes?

Oh, we’re not even getting the OP! We’re just going straight into the story!

Eda has quite the armory! I don’t rate keeping a loaded crossbow on the wall tho, that’s a lot of unnecessary tension on the bow limbs, not to mention how dangerous that is in general.

King sees Eda as his family ;v;

Belos’ eyes are blue now. Did he just drain the magic from someone else’s palisman? Oh, they change w/ what magic he uses?

I don’t see how Lilith honestly expects Eda to just roll over and submit to the Emperor, especially after admitting that she cursed her. If Lilith promised that to the Emperor, then I can only wonder what he’ll do when Eda’s inevitably rejects his offer.

The Wild Witch of Bonesborough is an amazing title.

Does Belos want to take over the human world?

Unsurprisingly, Belos refuses to cure Eda. I shouldn’t be surprised that a blindly loyal ideologue accepts every word that their leader tells them, but I am still disappointed in Lilith. Also, Lilith cursed her sister but can’t even undo it herself? Or is it just because she was in front of the Emperor and still processing his betrayal?

Perry Porter? Per Reporter?

First Petrification in 30 years? So that’s this world’s version of capital punishment.

The Conformatorium? We’re returning there again? Will we get to see-

Warden Wrath! Oh, he’s way less scary when Luz has magic. Either that, or Luz is way more scary when she has magic. I’m leaning towards both.

“Draw me a map!”

It seems like the Emperor’s grasp on power isn’t as tight as he thinks if the common people have doubts on whether Eda should be petrified in the first place.

Piniet, Bump, and Snaggleback crowd cameo!

So the regular guards can’t use magic?

Eda ;-;

“But we’re a family!” ;_;

NO, NOT THE PORTAL!

“I love you, Eda.”

“I love you too, kiddo.” ;_; o7

THEY’RE GOING TO THE HUMAN WORLD?!

GLYPH MAGIC DOESN’T WORK THERE?!

Lilith used to have curly hair. I wonder what causes all the hair color changes on the Boiling Isles (first the Cawthornes, then the Blights).

Are those the Blights in the background?

Eda turns into an owl demon and the EC just throws stones at her until she leaves? I’m doubting the EC’s competency more and more each episode.

Lilith’s magic still works? I guess that’s because the human world isn’t as innately magical as the Boiling Isles w/ the Titan, so glyphs fizzle out, but a witch’s magic is a innate part of their biology.

EC military band uniform!

Lilith wants Luz to rescue Eda on her own? I mean, sure, her glyph magic has gotten better (look how much she can do w/ those small sheets of paper), but just Luz on her own?

WHY DOES BELOS HAVE A FLESHY THRONE ROOM UNDER THE CONFORMATORIUM?

Augustus Porter! That’s his full name!

Eyeball eater! Potion seller! Principal Bump!

OH! That’s a disaster for the Emperor! His regime has to cover up the live footage of a chanting crowd demanding for Eda’s release, the most wanted witch on the Boiling Isles!

OH THAT PAN FROM THE CROWD TO BELOS AND LUZ UNDERGROUND!

SHE GOT HIM IN THE EYE!

What’s his scheme! He doesn’t want to invade the human world?

THE PORTAL! LUZ JUST DESTROYED HER ONLY WAY HOME!

WHAT! THE PAIN SHARING SPELL!

DOUBLE HETEROCHROMIA SISTERS!

AWW THE LIGHT SPELL! JUST LIKE THE OP! LUZ’S FIRST SPELL IS NOW EDA’S FIRST TOO!

IS THAT THE NEW SEASON ANTAGONIST?

THIS SERIES HAS ALSO HAS A SECRET BASEMENT PORTAL?!

OH THEY CHANGED THE ED TOO!

#the owl house #toh #toh season 1 #toh s1 #first watch

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