#but having a party animal and trying to find a legitimate rp 'party'

[gatheredfates]

FROST YOU'RE A GEM FOR INCLUDING THE SCREENSHOTS OF TRP. I would have done it in my post but I don't have game time as of this current moment (though I am highly considering it since I miss my elves). The WIP screenshot made me laugh because mine was something like this for the longest time: "You mean I need to WRITE my TRP? I'm throwing my phone on the floor."

I think what I missed in trying to articulate my thoughts is that TRP relies on the calibre of your writing first with aesthetic coming in at a hard second place. You can dress up your TRP as much as you like with the included visuals (aka, the moon/vine in Frost's are assets. If you're a WoW roleplayer, you know pet battle weather statuses got you), but it is down to how much or little you want to include to entice people to walk up to you/message you. Everyone has access to the same tools; the only difference is your style as far as roleplay/writing and how you utilise it.

With the way the mod scene is at the moment, it feels like the opposite. Unless you have taken the time to install a dozen different plugins and mods (assuming you're even playing via pc), a lot of spaces won't give you a look in or assume you're there to troll. Trolls have existed since the dawn of time on any platform, and it can be difficult to know who is approaching with good intentions... but this barrier around requiring mods as the standard to differentiate legitimate roleplayers/creatives from non is extremely detrimental and excludes players from what is already an tiny subset of a fandom.

And don't get me started on the decentralization of mods because I'll complain for at least two hours on how the decentralization of rp communities in general has fractured the community and why the hell is it so hard to find x community when you know it's out there?

It's because it's on Discord and only advertised on bsky where a grand total of four people might repost the advertisement because people are worried about looking too earnest and/or potentially contributing to something nefarious... so it doesn't go anywhere because what if someone else's reaction to it is negative. Or people are burnt out of their things not getting any traction so they don't extend the kindness to others—something, something ouroboros. I'd argue it's the same for gposes. People don't want to look 'weird' so they don't do anything at all. It's incredibly sad.

I don't know how you fix it. I think it's just tiresome. It's weird to have left WoW because I feel like XIV was offering more, only to genuinely consider going back casually because the latter has regressed despite being the game I'd much prefer to be playing. (Though, don't get me wrong, I still love WoW. I think The War Within has helped cure a lot of my ick around the game, provided Blizz can keep up with that kind of value.) I could write a whole other essay on the state of Horde-side roleplay and how being anything other than human adjacent comes with it's own battles in the community—but that's for another day. It's just to say that no space is a utopia.

For me, it's why I sink time into the Compendium and work really hard on my spaces because they're the most centralised and earnest I can make them. At the same time, however, it's exhausting to feel like you're clawing up hill against the rest.

Playerscope, modding and the hunt for aesthetic: why you should be more upset about mods and community expectations than you already are.

I love that this sounds like an academic paper but HONESTLYYYY. I need to put my thoughts to paper in regards to my burnout with xiv, otherwise I think I'll go insane. This is a controversial yet brave post. I am well aware that I partake in some of the things I'm going to be critiquing; aka, "thank you, dinklebottom, we live in a society." I'm also not critiquing mods from a space of offering more accessibility to people and/or facilitating representation not currently offered within the context of the game. There is nuance to every discussion and I'm coming at this from an overarching view around mods and community expectations/standards rather than player joy. I hope this makes sense. I'm also predominately writing from a roleplay perspective, though I'm sure a lot of what I end up saying can reflect in the art party/social space. Just know if I haven't mentioned the latter it's because that's not my scene and I don't pretend to know otherwise.

Anyway. For those who don't know, there's a new mod that's causing some strife in the xiv community called Playerscope. Here is the reddit thread about it. I'm not going to be talking too much about the mod in general because that's not the point of this post, but seeing discussion around it today just made me feel more exhausted than I already am when it comes to modding and the xiv community around it. It made me realise... I'm actually really sick to death of mods. I'm sick to death of what they're doing to the community when it comes to gatekeeping, policing and in general the interactions we have with each other in the community.

Let me explain: I wrote a post about the roleplay mod on bsky that kind of articulates at a surface level what I mean.

I think what makes me sad, which I'm sure is echoed by a lot of people, is that mods feel like the standard now rather than an option and that there's a certain expectation for people to have them if they want to engage with facets of the community—whether intentional or not.

Unlike XIV, WoW has a supported mod scene (within reason) and TRP 2 and the like have been accepted for years now. In a space where people can't slap on an RP tag, having that tool readily identifies you as a writer/roleplayer and you can include as much or as little of your character as you like. The general idea is if you have one of these tools enabled, you're a roleplayer to some capacity. You can dress up the profile to a certain degree, you can add links and supported pictures, but you're mostly reliant on what you put to paper in regards to your character. Even then, I find filling out what my character is doing currently and marking the rest as a WIP doesn't necessarily exclude me from roleplay if I want to find it. A lot of people will do that and a super simple description to incite interest around their oc.

These days in XIV... I don't know. I do think communities have gotten more insular—it's why I'm so pedantic about trying to find them for the Compendium—but I also think mods and, to a certain extent, the 'nightclub' scene have gotten in the way of it as well. My argument is such.

I want to go to an event (for example sake, I'll call it Seascape). In order to fully participate, I may need:

Their discord.

A roleplay addon.

A carrd/google site/etc.

Their synchshell (including mods, mare and everything else)

Potentially a mod of some description so people know I can see theirs (and vice versa).

Also that your mod isn't made by a shitty person.

Appropriate understanding of the scene/social space.

Some luck and a prayer that it's an inclusive space and not a closed rp group advertising as being open and/or a mod showcase advertising itself as something different.

Like??? Holy shit you guys. If you are someone who doesn't want to mod because you're worried about repercussions it really just feels like a big 'fuck you, good luck'.

And let me be clear, not every community is like this. I'm incredibly lucky to have found fantastic roleplay within my own rp event/community, I have great friends who run awesome, inclusive events for people of any skill (writing or otherwise) and I do fully believe you can just enable the rp tag and find fun, fulfilling roleplay. But I've also found the above a lot of times, too. I've had people point-blank get mad at my partner because he won't install mods and try to exclude and/or circumvent him in spaces. It's weird. I've been to events where the only time I felt like I got proper interaction(s) was when I joined the aforementioned, even if I have my character's profile linked in my about. It's weird.

Honestly, no wonder new roleplayers feel overwhelmed. Not only do they have to learn roleplay etiquette, they have to be a mod expert overnight? It feels less about what someone can bring to the table as far as a story but what mods they can install to either look cool or pass an unspoken social barrier. As much as I'm down bad for aesthetic and looking the part, I hate it being at the cost of accessibility and fun for someone else.

Arguably it's the same for gposing and the like as well, which contributes to my exhaustion alongside all the graphical changes and I just. I'm gnawing at the bars of my cage.

I don't think it's going to change and arguably it's more of a Twitter/X issue than a Tumblr, one but Tumblr lets me write mini essays and Twitter will tell me to kms.

Ergo, I'll go with the essay-writing platform.

Anyway, I guess this is just a reminder that you don't need 4596419651 mods to be in the community and that people should be more vigilant on including people who don't have them for whatever reason, provided they operate in good-faith and want to contribute. I think we're careening to a slippery slope of expectation for something unsupported and I don't like it.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #358

“i know the pieces fit, ‘cuz i watched them fall away”

Would you ever own a Great Dane as a pet? Oh Lord, my mom wants one so bad. She looooves big dogs. I wouldn't, though. I don't want another dog, period. What was or is your favorite quality about your recent ex? Her resilience, strength, creativity, loyalty, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. lol. Have you ever witnessed a human being giving birth in real life? No, and I NEVER fucking will. What about an animal? Yeah, cats. What kind of things do you enjoy reading about on sites like Wikipedia? I sometimes do that for straightening out game plots after watching a let's play if I have remaining questions. Wikipedia tends to do well with compressing it. Which country’s cuisine that you haven’t tried, would you be interested in sampling? (e.g. Moroccan, Thai etc.) I wouldn't know because I'm not educated enough on foreign cuisines. What’s the last movie you watched on your own? The Shining, I think, forever ago. Fried, poached, boiled or scrambled eggs? Scrambled. Have you ever got into a club, whilst being underage? I've never tried. Are you happy with your relationship with God, or do you want more from it? I don't have one. Do you struggle with boredom? Very, very severely. I have absolutely awful anhedonia; I'm pretty much constantly bored. Literally. I just... find things to pass the time, even if I'm not really enjoying myself. What famous person do you wish you could be friends with? I'm going to assume here you don't mean a significant other, because uh... y'all been known lmaooo. I would really love to be friends with Gab Smolders (I know that's not her real name, just using her YT name), because we have very similar interests. As well, Suzie Hanson is a fucking SWEETHEART. I miss her channel. :( At some point I want to purchase some stuff from her store to support the darling. Man, thinking of this question, there's really a lot. What would you do if you were famous? Hate it, haha. Do you wish you hair were shorter or longer? It's at a fine length right now. What photo editing website or software do you use? Lightroom and Photoshop. What hair color looks best on you and what’s your natural color? I think my hair looked best black. It's naturally brown. What is your favorite show to watch? Meerkat Manor. It is so, so comforting to me. Are your maternal/parental instincts strong? Not with kids, oddly enough. I've only ever really encountered strong protective instincts with significant others like when they're sick or something like that. In school, do you/did you work better by yourself or in a group? I absolutely worked better alone. I hated group work. Do you know anyone who has a collection of old records? My mom did, once upon a time. I feel like I know someone who does now... but idk. Do you go on any forums often? Just RP ones. Would you ever agree to an open relationship with someone? Nnnnope. Do people always say you’re too thin? Uh, I have the opposite problem. Could you design a whole web page yourself? Not from scratch, no. I've only done so on free sites that give you the bare bones and easy editing. Have you ever cooked an entire dinner for your family? Definitely not. Do you prefer piano music or violin music? Ohhhh, both are beautiful, but I have to say violin. Who do you tend to get in fights with the most? My mom, I guess, not that we fight a lot. Are you attracted to spooky and macabre things naturally? YEP. Have you ever bobbed for apples? Were you successful? No. It's disgusting if you're going after others, and besides, I HATE water up my nose and have never quite figured out how to block it out without plugging it. Hypothetically speaking, if you had a child [too young to make their own decisions], what would you dress him/her up as for Halloween? It would depend on what their interests were. Do you intend to take your children trick-or-treating, if ever you have any? I'm not having kids, but if I did, I definitely would if they wanted to go. What is the coolest jack-o-lantern you have ever seen? Now THAT'S hard, I really don't know. What was your favorite candy to get from trick-or-treating? What about your least favorite? Reese's was my favorite, and I never liked Tootsie Rolls. Did you ever receive anything that wasn’t candy? Maybe? I feel like I have... Have you ever carved a really extensive pumpkin, or were they always simple carvings? Yes; I once carved a pumpkin with a raven design with "and quoth the raven, 'nevermore'" written into the back. The raven wasn't just a flat cut-out, but rather carved in layers so the light came through differently at certain depths. Are you more interested in cute, funny, “sexy”, or scary costumes? For myself, absolutely the scary ones. In general though, I'm not gonna BS ya, I love me some sexy costumes, haha, but also still scary and particularly gory ones. Have you ever intimidated or made another person feel legitimately threatened? If not, do you think that you could ever be seen as scary? I seriously hate admitting this, but Mom has confessed that my yelling has scared her before when scolding our former dog that I fucking hated. In what ways do you or would you need to be validated by a partner? (For example, liking your posts/talking about you on social media, or perhaps by doting on your with gifts.) I absolutely need words of affirmation. I just need to hear a lot that you do still like/love me. Also, if you're unwilling to actually act like we're a couple in front of ANYONE, like you're ashamed of me or something, byyyyeeee. Do you tend to succeed by weaning yourself off of something or by quitting cold turkey? It depends, I guess. Is there a specific type of pet breed/size/etc. that you don’t want? Why not? Any that have underlying medical issues, like pugs, spider ball pythons, Persian cats, etc. etc... It's just a moral thing; I don't want to support the deliberate continuation of poor genes in animals for human monetary gain. It's just wrong to me. Away from breeds, I also don't really want free-roaming animals after my cat passes, because I don't want to endanger the reptiles and invertebrates I want as pets in the future. Have you ever lived in a notoriously dangerous area? If not, would it bother you to do so? I grew up in one, yes. I never want to again. Has a friend’s significant other ever interfered with or damaged your friendship? What about a significant other of yours damaging a friendship? No. What, if anything, is something that you put pressure on yourself about? What do you imagine would happen if you did not live up to this expectation? Getting a job nowadays. I do NOT want to imagine what my life will be like if I never find employment. If you have been in a serious relationship, have you and your partner ever discussed lifetime plans that clashed? Did you reconcile them or did you break up? If you have not been in a relationship, what are some issues that would be deal-breakers? This hasn't happened, no. If you were offered to smoke some weed right now would you accept? Honestly, I want to try weed to see if it would help my anxiety, BUT I'm unwilling to ever smoke something, so no. Have you ever changed clothes in a vehicle? Yeah. Do you listen to country music? No. Have you ever had a boyfriend your parents didn’t like? No. Were you ever a trouble maker? Not really, no. Do you shave your legs? Hell, that's debatable by this point. I haven't since this past October, but I *would* if for whatever reason someone might see my legs. I am not overexaggerating when I say I naturally have men's legs as far as hair goes, oof. Do you have any person in your family with an addiction to beer? That's what my dad always drank when he was an alcoholic. He doesn't touch alcohol now. Have you ever gotten sloppy drunk at a party? No. Have you ever slept naked? Accidentally. Could you ever be friends with the person who hurt you most in life? I really don't think I could be. Do you actually like going to school? I never did. Have you ever really been in a “complicated relationship”? How did that work out? In your opinion, what makes a relationship “complicated”? No. I don't care enough to go into what a complicated relationship means, I think it's pretty obvious. Who was the first person you’ve ever fallen in love with? Is this a person you’re still in contact with? How do you know you’re in love with someone? Jason, and no. And you just... know. It's a wordless feeling . Have you ever successfully broken a bad habit? How about conquered a fear of something? Uhhhh I don't know, really. Well, I used to be AWFUL at picking my eyebrows, particularly when anxious, but I have gotten better at that. I still kinda do it, though. Onto the next question, I don't believe I've "conquered" a fear, but rather they just faded with time on their own. Have you ever read a whole series of books? Yeah. Are you going to walk at your graduation or just pick your diploma up? I walked. Do you own a pair of brass knuckles? No. Have you ever tried to break a Guinness World Record? No. Can you sing your ABC’s backwards? I can't. Do you like Skittles? I love Skittles. Do you know how to read music? I used to. Who would you say has made the biggest impact on your life? Really, Jason. He ultimately led to me getting proper treatment for my depression, which changed my life. I'm in no way giving him credit for it, but you get what I mean. You can only listen to THREE CDs for the rest of your life. What are they? Black Rain and Ozzmosis by Ozzy Osbourne, and uhhh... perhaps The Black Album by Metallica. Do you own any shirts that have a year on it? Yeah, but it's way too small for me now. It's from Back To The Future, when we actually reached the date in the movie. Have you ever done another person’s make-up? Ha, I gave Jason a makeover once. Honestly, do you double dip? Not if I'm sharing the dip with other people. Who were you last on an elevator with? My mom. Do you know anyone that has a black belt in karate? Not to my knowledge. How often do you wear hats? Never. Who is the youngest gay person you know? *shrug* Have you ever watched an animal being eaten by another animal? I've seen cats eat mice and stuff as a kid. What is the strangest, most “out there” thing you believe? Some people I'm sure would consider the fact I believe the government was involved in 9/11 as "out there," but when you look into it, it's far from "out there." Do you get along with people who are especially religious? Why/why not? It depends on how they act about it, not what they keep in their head. Now if they have just purely hateful beliefs that demonize another's existence, then no, we can't get along. Have you ever drawn or painted a self-portrait? Painted, yes, for an art class. Do you have any interesting pillow cases? No. Are you more afraid of spiders or bees? Bees, generally. Especially if we're talking things like wasps, who are just demon spawns. Would you rather donate time, blood, or money? That's a really hard question, but I guess time? Like I'm thinking volunteer work and stuff, or listening to and comforting someone. Can grills be sexy on a guy? They're sexy on absolutely no one. Last strong smell you can remember smelling? Ugh, gasoline. This one car in front of my mom and me smelled awful. Last healthy thing you ate? Apples. Do you know anybody who was abused? Emotionally, yes. Do your parents volunteer anywhere? No. Do you have a steering wheel cover? Mom's car doesn't. What do you think of when you see sharp knives? This is really morbid, but I will immediately envision what it would be like to be stabbed. I'm very afraid of knives. The highway and back roads take you to the same place; choose your route. The back roads, of course. And let me bring my camera.

[jinjojess]

Jess’s Thoughts on V3 Chapter 3

I’m halfway through the game now so I figure I should check in with some thoughts and theories and junk.

My liveblog should have finished its queued posts by now, so this post itself should follow that up shortly.

Character Rankings

Maybe I should start with an updated character ranking?

HaruMaki

Akamatsu

Toujou

Hoshi

Gonta

Chabashira

Yumeno

Iruma

Momota

Shirogane

Ouma

Angie

Kiibo

Amami

Shinguuji

Saihara

1-9: The Actively Like Range

HaruMaki has eclipsed Akamatsu ever so slightly thanks to sheer badassery and how much I love her FTEs, but you can consider them to be pretty much equal.

Toujou and Hoshi are about even too--they both hit my “exhausted hard worker just trying to hang on” and “duty before self” buttons.

Gonta is still wonderful, and I love him about as much as I love Chabashira and Yumeno, both of whom should technically be on the same line. Those two got boosted because of how their relationship evolved--I love that in the end Chabashira shows a degree of maturity in respecting that Angie is important to Yumeno, and I like that Yumeno went from gag lazy character to character struggling with guilt and regret.

Iruma is still hilarious, but she hasn’t had a lot of character-building to do yet so she’s dropped some spots, and I still like Momota a lot, though he’s starting to border on being irritatingly shounen protag-y, and I’m super disappointed in how poorly the game handles the set up for his relationship with HaruMaki. (Famitsu mentioned at one point that HaruMaki had an interest in space, so I thought they’d bond over common interests like actual human beings, but Kodaka decided to take the Stairs of Anime Troposity instead.)

10-13: The You’re Fine But... Range

Shirogane is really adorable and good at stealth snark, so I’m ready to like her, but she just...never gets anything to do. This is why I want her to be the mastermind so badly (more on this below)--I feel like she needs something to elevate her from “meh, I like her” to “wow, she’s great.”

Ouma’s antics were fun in the beginning of the game but are now starting to grate on me. I still find it really interesting that he tells lies often to help the group as a whole, but the fact that he’s constantly at odds with everyone is getting a little tiring.

I’m going to miss doing Angie’s voice on stream. She was never really high up in my ranks to begin with and she hasn’t moved much. I like that she was doing the patented student council president move of seizing total control in the name of public safety, but I would have liked to see a little more variation in her character.

Kiibo’s fine. He’s amusing enough, I just find him to be kinda bland? Hopefully he’ll get more character development going forward.

14-15: The I Don’t Really Care Range

Like I said before, I don’t have anything against Amami really and I think the mystery surrounding him is kind of interesting, but I just overall don’t care much about him. Nothing really draws me in.

Shinguuji was more of a disappointment. I was expecting something really big from him and it just didn’t really measure up. I wanted his talent to be really used to its fullest and while the Kagonoko thing was cool enough, everything about him was just kind of a let down. Even his execution isn't on par with the others we've seen so far (music's good though). Plus after reading DRT2, the reveal about his sister seems kind of tepid in comparison. I get why people are really put off by him, but I can’t care enough about him to really summon a lot of hatred. It’s very similar to how I feel about Haiji--yes, he’s objectively a worse person than the characters I actively dislike, but I will forget he exists after this chapter is over.

16: The It’s Complicated Range

I’m fine with Saihara when the narrative isn’t focusing on him. When he’s just being one of the cast, doing FTEs and hanging out for shenanigans and stuff, he’s totally fine. It’s when the game tries to make me care about his boypain that I need to check the fuck out.

Being clear, I don’t think his story so far is being handled especially poorly (except for the Akamatsu thing, which makes me wonder about Kodaka’s romantic experiences irl), I just find his character type to be really frustrating and annoying personally. I have seen this exact story before, many times, and the sucker punch of being given this yet again when I was offered something I actually wanted is not going to get forgiven any time soon.

Fingers crossed that the ending twist will justify this somewhat, though when it comes down to it, this game is way less enjoyable for me by making me follow around a character I don’t give a flying fuck about at the expense of one I really liked.

Thoughts on Chapter 3 Overall

Okay, onto my thoughts on the Chapter itself.

Like I said, I liked the whole student council angle, though I would have preferred if it got a little more actively oppressive. In Chapter 2 when Gonta is gathering everyone up for the Insect Appreciation Party, that was some intense shit, and I feel like the student council never really reached that level of threat. There’s never a point where Saihara and HaruMaki have to like, make a plan on how to creep around the school without being caught or anything.

Loved what this chapter did for Chabashira and Yumeno as characters. Took this background gag relationship and elevated it to something tragic and character-defining.

Would have liked the victims and the culprit to be less glaringly obvious. This is a common complaint about this game so far, barring Chapter 1.

Liked the murder tricks--this was the first chapter where I didn’t go into the trial with a solid idea of how the murder took place.

In conjunction with that, the trial was way harder, and I enjoyed that a lot.

I hate hate HATE that Kodaka insists on still replicating patterns from the first game--I wanted Shinguuji to get away with killing Chabashira while Angie’s killer got executed, meaning that Yumeno’s character arc would still have some ways to go and not be tidily wrapped up at the halfway point of the game. That would have lent some sense of overall progression, instead of every case being neatly confined to its one chapter (except for the first one I guess).

Also as a result of this, I now have to assume that the next Chapter will involve some heroic sacrifice (which will likely not measure up to Sakura’s, because they never do), the fifth one will touch on the questions left by Amami’s murder, etc. Making your murder mystery series that started by undermining tropes of the genre into a predictable formula is not fun, Kodaka.

Apparently a lot of people have a problem with the motive but I’m pretty whatever about it. I thought it was just silly enough to be a fun red herring, and I assume this discussion about bringing back the dead will resurface later in the game’s climax. Plus it gave me so many opportunities to incorporate Obakematsu.

The way Monokuma and Monodam temporarily switched places was pretty interesting, and I liked the parallel between Monodam’s getting along rhetoric and Angie’s student council thing as oppression through legitimate good intentions.

Mixed feelings on Monokuma lamp-shading the references to the previous games. In a world before DR3, I feel I’d be overjoyed and would use these to look for ways this game connects to the Kibougamine series, but I live in a post-DR3 world (specifically a post-Kibou-hen world), and I am desperate to get away from that series and its baggage.

I think that’s it?

Theories

Right, last up, a lot of people have asked me about theories I have for the rest of the game, so here are some.

Theory #1: Mastermind

So when the character designs were first revealed back in like September of last year, I pegged either Shirogane or Angie as the mastermind. I still am super suspicious of Shirogane based on a few very subtle things:

she’s the first character Akamatsu and Saihara run into in the prologue

she’s suspiciously normal and plain

she doesn’t seem to be affiliated with any kind of in-group other than the student council

hers is the very first secret scene you access in the game (provided you played the demo)

Junko panties, man

when you break for a Scrum Debate, she’s the first to rise (with Amami on the bottom)

HOWEVER, based on how the game doesn’t use 黒幕 (puppetmaster/one behind the curtain) for the mastermind any more, instead opting for the more straightforward 首謀者 (lit. mastermind, one behind everything), I can’t help but suspect that it’s Saihara behind it all. I mean, everyone keeps going on about how the story has to focus on him, so it’s very likely that he’s responsible for this situation and Shirogane ends up being a fake-out mastermind or something.

Theory #2: What the fuck is going on?

I have a few ideas for what exactly is happening here--most of them involve it not actually happening. In other words, the game events themselves are fictional in-universe, either because they’re a literal story reflecting how DR is a fictional property in our world, or because Saihara is just making it up.

Maybe he’s had a psychological break and is hallucinating this. Maybe this is a Shinsekai-esque program generating things to help with his inner issues? Maybe this is all a very long movie (or a TV show, or a game)? Maybe the events of the game are playing out in reality, but Saihara’s such an unreliable narrator that his account is radically different from what is actually happening.

My two favorite theories though, which I’d love to have be right, are as follows:

V3 is a giant rp campaign (not super likely)

V3 is a giant Duel Noir Saihara has set up to get revenge or something (slightly more likely)

If the latter is true, that opens the door for Shirogane to be the “mastermind” who’s actually working for Saihara. His main motivator seems to be guilt and self-hatred, so it’d make sense that rather than pull the strings, Saihara would want to participate and suffer along with all the other sinners.

It’s also possible that the events of the game are presented to us through the lens of Saihara relating what happened to someone else, like the authorities, or the public, or the loved ones of those who died. I’d love that kind of ending because holy shit Heart of Darkness much? Like he feels so awful for whatever reason that he set up this killing game, but then loses his nerve during it, is the sole survivor, and finds that he actually can’t be honest, resorting to a “his final words were your name” kind of lie.

If that happened, it would redeem my faith in Kodaka quite a bit. (I’d still rather play a game not about Saihara, but it would feel like all my suffering would have been worth it.)

As for the glimpses we get between Chapters and from the Memory Light, I kind of feel like a lot of it is fabricated. Maybe not the funeral, but I highly doubt the SHSL Hunt exists, at least not as it was presented in Chapter 2, and this horrible incident Toujou references could very well just be the SHSL kids rebelling or something--i.e., the impetus for Saihara to want to punish all of them to begin with.

Maybe it’s an alternate timeline where society reacts to Junko’s coup by punishing the talented, as I posited way, way back in the day?

Time travel is still on the table too, meaning that it’s possible that all of the characters inevitably die at the end, but Saihara has arranged it so that their consciousness just replays the game over and over in his own self-imposed purgatory.

There’s lots of possibilities.

Theory #3: Future Deaths and Survivors

Momota ain’t making it out of this game, sorry. I thought he might earlier on, but he’s leaning too hard on the “Ishimaru Stock Shounen Protag” button, and Kodaka needs a cheap, easy way to push HaruMaki through the last bit of her character arc, so I doubt he’ll hang on. Not now that he’s gotten involved in motivating Yumeno and stuff too. Sorry, dude, I like you a lot, but the only way you’re getting to space now is via execution.

Also yeah, I think he’s totally going to end up a culprit. It will be in self-defense, or an accident, or some convoluted sacrifice thing like with Gundam, or for some other excusable reason like that, but I just feel like Kodaka isn’t going to give up the change to a) fuck with Saihara again, and b) have another space-themed execution.

I think Yumeno will live to the end, if only because Kodaka has that dumb idea that if someone dies for you you deserve a Get Out of Death Free card. The only way she won’t live will be if Saihara’s the sole survivor.

HaruMaki I think will make it to the end since she’s filling the Main Female Character role. Ditto about the caveat being if Saihara’s the only one to get out.

Iruma is going to get so murdered. It’d be interesting if she’s the heroic sacrifice.

Kiibo is also going to die. I don’t know if he’ll get murdered or if Ouma will goad him into killing someone, but I can’t see him making it out alive. (Also he needs to step it up--Momota and HaruMaki have now been key players in this game, and Kiibo’s the only one from the initial reveal image to not be important).

Ouma I feel like is the type who could accurately fake is own death just to fuck with everyone/flush out an actual killer (we kinda got this a bit in Chapter 3, which could be foreshadowing). Ultimately though I think he’ll die one way or another.

Gonta is up there with Yumeno and HaruMaki. I get the feeling he’ll survive except in the case of Saihara being the only survivor.

Shirogane...uh...if she’s the mastermind, she could die after the culmination of Saihara’s plan, or she could not. She could just ride off into the sunset or something. Otherwise, I think she’ll fly under the radar with Gonta.

Okay, I think that’s everything I had to say about Chapter 3 and the game so far--looking forward to Chapter 4!

[legendofgrump]

Talk bout dem OCs, drop your rant. Wanna hear their stories yo

omg who are you because you just flattered me hardcore. Ahh I’ll put them under a cut so I don’t make everyone hate me with non-fandom stuff. And if you wanna ask more questions or anything, I have a blog specifically for talking about my OCs which is @meme-team-adventures​ !!! (But also if you don’t that’s cool too, I know not everyone is into that ahhh I’m rambling already). Anyway!! 

Most of them have rp/ask blogs which I’ll also link to when I mention them if you’re Really into it for some reason, but I haven’t done anything with any in a while and some of them might be kinda bare.

ANYWAY (part 2)

@confused-snail which actually just used to be my personal blog (and also my main blog goddammit) turned into an rp blog for a self-insert. So Snail is a 29 year old freelance artist. They’re nonbinary/demiboy who got bottom surgery so they could have a dick and sometimes they still get dysphoria over their chest (which they will one day get the surgery to remove) but they’re generally okay with how they look! They’re very aggressive and abrasive and also very controlling. They have the hardest time giving other people control because they kinda use it to avoid getting hurt like they did in a past relationship. Anyway they’re a pretty big meme most of the time. They love eating, sleeping, and they’re always down for some sex, especially with their boyfriend Daniel, but they exclusively top as part of their constant need to be in control. They get irritated kind of easily if you push the right buttons, but are generally pretty lazy/laid back and chill. They LOVE to laugh at stupid memes and stuff. And they also have pretty cool piercings and kind of lowkey wanna get a tattoo but they’re not really sure of what. They got a degree in art, though their grades were pretty bad because they weren’t in a good place during college, but they did graduate which they’re really proud of!

@death-and-fireflies I don’t know if he really counts as an OC but he might as well haha. But basically I had this Grump AU where everything was basically the same except that Dan was an immortal harbinger of lost souls that manifested in the form of fireflies. He’s blind, but his eyes glow really bright yellow (just like the fireflies that float around his head) and he’s lived on his own kind of nomadically for the longest time. He’s generally quiet and reserved and a little shy because he deals a lot with the dead and usually the living don’t want much to do with him, but he’s also really thoughtful and a little philosophical and very kind! He cares very much for the souls that he’s destined to take care of and his entire life purpose is to help them move on and get whatever unfinished business they have out of the way so they can finally find peace. He currently has a boyfriend named Kenry and a (basically) adopted daughter named Alice who kind of help him live his life without all the constant anxiety and hopelessness that comes with dealing constantly with the dead and some very talkative souls.

@wolf-in-sarcasms-clothing Marianne is a monster girl who kind of resembles a spider? I mean not technically because...not at all. But we call her a spider/bug babe so just roll with it. But she has four arms and one eye and very sharp teeth. And also she eats humans. Funny, right? She used to live in a heavily secluded cave system with the rest of her kind, where they were apart from humanity and only hunted wild animals and that worked. But then a companion that Marianne had used and manipulated her until she got so angry and felt so betrayed that she ate them and got kicked out of her clan and banished from the caves. So she kind of wandered into the human world until she stumbled across Daniyal and (separately) Kenry, who both kind of took her in despite her threatening to eat both of them at first meeting. She loves physical affection (pets, hair playing, scritches) and once given this affection, she’s much more like a big, dumb doggo that likes to play and cuddle and is basically a six foot tall lap dog.

@flirtbot3000 Originally spawned because I kept sending all of my friends’ muses/rp blogs flirts and pick up lines, so I just made a character for it. Andy is a pleasure bot designed for platonic, romantic, and sexual affection depending on the desires of the person they’re with at the time. Though most often they just end up having sex haha. But they’re a cute android that is extremely compliant and loves to please whoever they’re with and they legitimately also just enjoy having sex in general. They’ve done a lot of things in their life, such as being a pinup girl, modeling for magazines and fashion lines, and just straight up doing porn, and they enjoyed it all! But then they also accidentally fell in love with an interdimensional farm boy named Daniyal who accidentally turned them human when they had sex and then had sex with them again and turned them back into an android. But they love him regardless and the two are very happy together and it’s really pure and cute.

@of-bats-and-lovers (This one kind of links to two OCs but I’ll explain that hold on to your pants.) Beauregard (or just Bo is fine) is a bat boy that is rich as hell and lives for parties and meeting people. His biggest goal in life is to find his One and Only true love darling. But it’s kind of difficult because he had this person and then he lost her and just can’t seem to get over her. All of his riches came from when he was a thief and criminal with his true love, so they’re all stolen or at least not legally obtained. But, y’know, he keeps that under wraps. He likes partying and drinking (he’s kind of a heavyweight, but that doesn’t stop him from getting buzzed) and just generally having a good time. He’ll “fall in love” with anyone that gives him a smile or says something nice and then will fall out of love the morning after and go into a bit of a depressed mood that he’ll cheer himself up from by going to a party. (And thus the cycle continues.)

Esky is the Bonnie to Bo’s Clyde and the love that Bo lost to a big stand off with police and a well-aimed bullet. Or at least, that’s kind of what he thinks. Esky was shot and declared dead, but actually, y’know, wasn’t. So when she woke up in the morgue, very confused and alone, she made her escape and went on the run so as not to get caught and actually killed. She heard that Bo was also declared dead (which wasn’t true at all. He escaped and the media declared it because they didn’t want people to panic that this great criminal was still on the run) so she focused on getting herself to safety. The two have kind of been looking for each other ever sense, but also at the same time thinking that the other is dead so the search is fruitless.

@interstellar-superstar Venus is an alien from an unspecified location is space that came to earth and became an international pop star. She sings really well and is a positive and peppy girl, so the people adore her. But it also kind of taxes her because she has to hide the fact that she’s not from earth for fear of the government taking her and experimenting on her or at the very least, locking her up. She has a third eye and her skin is actually bright yellow, but luckily she can cover the eye with her hair and the general public believes that the yellow skin is just extreme dedication and a lot of body paint. So for the most part she’s okay, but there’s always a bit of stress with interviewers finding out about her true home. She’s also very easily confused about basic earth culture because she’s a sheltered celebrity and kind of fell into stardom from the moment she came to earth. So she has no idea what things like french fries are. Or memes. Or anything of the sort. And she also has no idea about basic geography, so she’ll just spout out random locations whenever someone asks her where she’s from. And the answer is always different. It’s adorable. She’s currently in a poly relationship with two cuties, Charlie and Avery, and she loves them both very dearly.

The next three are all from @here-queer-full-of-cheer and they’re all friends and roommates. They’re also all in a poly relationship with Danny Sexbang called polybang or Sexbang’s Angels so just that’s great too.

Nikki is a laid back guitarist that dropped out of high school to pursue a music career with her band. They’re semi-successful, at least locally, but they’re really trying to make it in the big time. She’s desperate to make this all work out because she wants dropping out of high school and never going to college to be worth it, especially since it kind of disappointed her family and makes her look bad to a lot of dumb soccer moms that need her to know their opinions. She loves music more than anything. Listening, writing, performing, she loves the whole process and always gives it the full attention it deserves. She’ll block off entire chunks of time just to listen to a new album, laying on her bed with her eyes closed in the dark just so she can full appreciate it.

Bailey is a nonbinary artist with a degree in specifically Color Theory. They love painting, especially with oil and acrylic, and uses big dramatic colors and shapes. They’re actually really good at realism, though they mostly paint scenes and locations, rather than like portraits or anything. (Not to say they wouldn’t paint those things, though.) They’re also really into the abstract and are currently experimenting with that. Also! They’re really bubbly and sweet and friendly, especially with small children. They love supporting their friends and just being chipper and happy in general. Also they have the raddest bright pink hair with a partly shaved blonde half and it’s really cool okay.

Megan is kinda cold and calculating and currently working on her PhD in physics. She puts a lot of pressure on herself and her academics and tells herself that she has to spend most of her life studying/working if she wants to get the grades she wants and graduate. A lot of the time she puts her health to the side in favor of studying and will go too long without eating or sleeping because of an essay. But she’s really passionate about what she’s doing and loves every second of the knowledge she gains. She’s a little rough at showing affection and generally has a hard time saying it in person. A lot of the time, if she has something important or generally sappy to say, she’ll write it down in one of her many, many journals that she uses as a diary/vent place, and then show it to the person she has to say the thing to, because she finds it easier to get her thoughts down on paper than to say them. But she does feel love deep in her cold, cold heart haha. Also she’s super kinky ;)

@cookie-dough-boy is a little trans sheepie boy named Cookie. He’s very soft and chubby, but also extremely full of anxiety and self-doubt. He cares about his friends more than himself and will put them before himself no matter what. He’s a total momma’s boy that will constantly call and check on his mom or visit her just to see how she’s doing and he loves her more than anything else in the world. She taught him like all of the recipes he knows and basically how to be an adult in general and he’s so grateful for her. He’s a little coffee shop barista and kind of hates his job because he works with pricks, but the customers are usually pretty nice to him, which makes it kind of worth it. Plus he gets paid, so. And he’s dating a very edgy, 2cool4me guy named Mortar who you would not expect to actually be involved with him at all but it’s really cute and they’re soft together it’s great.

The last three have no blogs because they’re pretty new OCs, but descriptions anyway!

Blythe: She’s the goddess of deception and also a beautiful trans prankster that loves fucking with mortals in little, inconvenient ways, like enchanting underwear drawers not to open or making arcade cabinets shoot out quarters. She’s generally pretty chill and likes humans well enough, but she still has a Goddess Complex where she kind of feels like she’s above them just in general. But she treats them fine, she just gets a little arrogant sometimes. Also she’ll do humans favors like try to talk them into Valhalla and stuff because she knows all the gods and goddesses and has cool connections so why not. She’s immortal and has really big, cool wings, that are even taller than her own six foot self like wow she’s got a massive wingspan.

Cleona: She’s a smol chubby mechanic girl that loves tinkering with tech and being a general dork. She likes reverse engineering things and figuring out how they work and go back together, but she’s also a bit messy and sometimes the things she’s taken apart can’t get put back together because she lost pieces/they got mixed in with another thing that needs to be put back together. She’s very very gay and also super friendly and chill in general. Also she wears these really big, clunky combat boots that are way to big for her smol feets because she wants to be taller. But they don’t fit her like at all, and there’s a running gag that she just always has asinine bullshit shoved insider her boots.

Maxim: Asshole. 100% irredeemable fuckhead. The personification of anxiety, basically, that will universally fuck with you until you no longer want to live on this planet. He’s a piece of shit that does it just for the hell of it. He’s also from the world behind mirrors that’s a reflection of the Real World (I’m sure you’ve heard this trope before lol). He can put his voice into people’s heads and fuck with them from there until they feel like they’re going insane from all the insecurity he’s putting in their heads and whatnot. And he’s just...the actual worst. He has no redeeming qualities. He’s an immortal demon boy that gets a kick out of making people’s lives horrible. Also he really likes hot pockets.