#cause they're the main culprits

[fromtheseventhhell]

"Arya wouldn't have been able to survive in KL" is really one of the dumbest fanon takes where you can tell someone only believes it because they like the idea of Arya and Sansa being "exact opposites and perfect complements" (even though it goes against the books). Actual evidence from the books to back it up? Never anywhere to be found despite how confidently people make this claim.

And not only does it severely mischaracterize Arya and ignore what she's been through, it also ignores her importance as a political hostage. The Lannisters weren't searching for her, and lying about having her, for no reason. They needed her because having only one Stark after executing Ned put them in a poor position to negotiate. So Arya would have been more than capable of handling herself (thoroughly shown in her Harrenhal chapters) and the Lannisters would've done everything in their power to keep her alive but, somehow, she wouldn't have been able to survive? It's truly one of those takes that falls apart if you think about it for more than two seconds but apparently, that's too much effort for some people.

[http-tokki]

need to know

~ choso kamo x fem!reader (tattoo artist choso au) ~tags/cw: tattoo artist choso, fem reader, tattoo artist au, tattoos, needles, satosugu is canon, modern au, choso has a scar over his nose instead of his markings, strangers to friend to lovers (strangers rn) tiny lil man verbal bashing cause men are weak lil babies when getting tattoos, reader is a lil chubby, choso is on antidepressants, smoking/vaping, drinking ~ wc: 2.9k ~ "Dude, he is so fucking hot. I wasn't expecting him to look like that!! What do I do?!! Help?!?"

You: Wednesday 8:45pm Hi, I was just wondering if your books were still open? It says they are in your bio but in case I've missed it and they're closed, please ignore this message, sorry! :)

Kamo: Wednesday 9:23pm Hey. No, they are still open. When were you looking to book? Do you have a specific design? Or are you looking for a flash?

 

You: Thursday 11:36am Oh, hi, awesome! Thank you for getting back to me so quickly! I was looking to book next month, towards the end. On a weekend if that would be possible (I don't mind the time), and for the design, just a flash (design 3A) on your latest post on my upper arm, around 15-20cm. :)

You: Thursday 11:52pm Unless you think it should be smaller or somewhere else, I'm not picky! I really want something of yours tattooed on me :)

 Kamo: Thursday 12:15pm Sure, no problem! I have the 24th free at 12pm. Does that work for you? The spot and size are fine, but I'll make up smaller and bigger stencils on the day in case you change your mind. The total would be $600 for the piece. However, I require a $100 deposit to secure your spot. I can send you the payment details once you confirm your interest. Please read through my FAQs on cancellation policies and further information.

You: Thursday 12:20pm 24th at 12pm is perfect! Thank you!! I'll send a deposit through now! Ahh, so excited! :)

 

Kamo: Thursday 1:07pm You're welcome. Here is the link x. Please send a screenshot of your payment as proof. For the rest of the amount, I accept cash only. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me. See you on the 24th.

You: Thursday 3:30pm Sending it now! Yay! Thank you so much! Super excited, see you! :)

Kamo: Thursday 4:35 pm Seen 

--

 "I sound like an idiot, don't I?" you grumble as your friend reads over your chat with a tattoo artist.

You watch your friend tilt their glasses down, squinting at the screen as their mouth curls into a grimace. They try to hide it with a sniffle, disguising their obvious disgust over your intense enthusiasm.

"Not an idiot," they hand the phone back to you, a frown set in the crooked way it always did when they were uncomfortable. "Just really, really eager, which can be cute if you like that."

--

Choso is growing tired. 

At what? There are too many contributing factors to the headache that had begun blooming his eyes five minutes after stepping into the studio to pinpoint the main culprit of his budding exhaustion. Maybe it was the late night/early morning combo, or perhaps it was the horrific lack of water and food he hadn't consumed in the last twenty-four hours. When was the last time he had taken his medication? Choso begins to run through the previous days in an attempt to remember when he had even glanced at the Zoloft sheet sitting in the bottom drawer of his trolley, but his attention is diverted from his lack of self-care to the man sitting in his tattoo chair. 

It is coming up on the two-hour mark since his client walked in. With a brazen attitude that could rival a Greek god, the man had outlined what had to be the simplest fucking tattoo known to man. Choso had rolled his eyes at the frankly impressive and thorough drawing done by the twenty-something gym bro before shifting the paper off to his younger brother. 

"Come on, it's easy! An hour tops, and then you've got like two fifty in your hand! You technically owe me an observation session, and this can be it." Yuji had gripped his brother's sleeve, tugging on it the way he used to when they were kids. 

Taking in his younger half-brother as his apprentice was a good idea in theory. The two lived and worked together, so there was ample time for obvs and practice, but today was already busy, and Choso was feeling like complete and utter shit. 

"Yuji, I don't want to do this. I have a client coming in at twelve for a full session, and I've got this headache and-"

"It's easy money, come on! Please." it technically was easy money. The design was a small band wrapped around the bicep, with no adornments or script, just a flat black line; it was the client himself that made Choso apprehensive. 

"Fine." Choso sighed, and Yuji almost jumped into the air in excitement. "You prep and clean him; I'm not doing anything but the actual tattoo." 

Yuji nodded eagerly and just about ran into the front room to confirm the walk-in appointment. 

That was almost two hours ago, and Choso is still here, finishing up the outlines of the band on a guy twice his size but carrying on like a toddler. Each touch of the needle on skin had the man flinching and hissing through his teeth, and there is only so much Choso could take. 

Choso eyes the clock nervously, his next appointment slot ticking closer but the second. There isn't going to be enough time to get out and grab a coffee or snack from the corner store. After another quick glance at the amount of work before him, Choso calls it fifteen minutes to twelve and clicks off the tattoo gun with a disappointed sigh.

 "Hey, I'm sorry, but we might have to split this into two sessions." 

He looks back over at this current client, who is sweating profusely. It takes everything in him to scowl in disgust at the once brazen man before him, but not the look on his client's face; Choso knows some form of repugnance had slipped through his composure. 

 "Yeah, sure, man, no sweat," the client replies, relief blatant in his sigh. "Sorry for taking so many breaks. I've got a weak pain tolerance."

That makes Choso feel a little bad.

"You're fine. I've just got a pre-booked client coming in like ten and need to set up." A little lie to hurry the man up. 

Hope is so close. So attainable that Choso can almost feel the sun on his face, but the shop bells slice through any dream of a break. 

"Hi, I'm here for my twelve with Kamo?" 

Choso slouches, attention now on the conversation happening in the front room. It's not even twelve yet! Why would she be here so early? 

"Yep! We've got you down for twelve, but Choso's still with someone, so if you wanna wait here, that's okay!" Yuji giggles in response. 

"Ohh, I'm just here to ask if umm…Choso wanted a coffee or anything?" his name is a question on her tongue. "I'm going to go get one and wanted to ask if anyone wanted anything so you don't have to wait in line." 

That's nice. Choso thinks and leans back on his chair, attempting to glimpse his new client, who has Yuji giggling at every word. 

"I was just about to step out to get coffee so I can come with you, but I can get Cho's; you don't need to pay for him." Another giggle. God, his younger brother is shameless. 

"That's okay! I can get them; just write your orders down so I don't forget!" the girl insists.  

"Ohh, but-"disappointment fills Yuji's voice. 

"Yuji, can you come here please!" Choso shouts down the hall, pulling his brother away from his new crush. 

Yuji groans, then the shop bells ring again, and then the sound of footsteps shuffles down the hall. 

"Yes?" 

"Can you wrap him up and finish the payment? I need a smoke." Choso rolled back from the bed, handing over the second skin he has yet to unwrap. 

Choso's brother sighs but offers the male client a friendly smile, sits down in the now vacant rollaway stool, and begins to prep the skin for wrap-up.

"I'll be back in five; if anyone needs me, tell them to wait." Choso grumbles the last part and offers a stiff wave to his current client before disappearing into the hall. 

 The knots in Choso's shoulder have been building for days now, and no amount of rolling or stretching seems to relieve the tension in his muscles, but it is nice to stretch and feel the blood move around him again. Heavy boots echo through the small shop as he stalks to the front desk, floorboards creaking under the weight of thick rubber soles. His fingers slip into his back pocket to reach for the small pack of menthols hastily shoved down after the abrupt end of his morning break. 

Stepping out into the world, Choso is blinded by the sun. Having forgotten about the passage of time while being stuck indoors all day, he now stands stunned in the small alcove of the shop's entrance. The sun nears the centre of the sky, beating down the world in a heat never seen before. It wasn't even the beginning of summer, and the sweltering days were breaking temperature records. Choso shields his eyes with a hand, and even then, his vision is blurred as his retinas adjust. 

The street is quiet; an abnormal silence had fallen over the usually busy road, but with the rising blistering temps, he suspects people aren't willing to brave the heat to shop or eat. Choso finds the familiar recess in the wall, a door had been there years ago but has long since been boarded up and now acts as refuge for him and his brother. Through any weather, time of day or season, the small alcove is a sanctuary for tired and burnt-out artists needing a second away from the constant buzz of tattoo guns. 

Choso scans the few open cafes and bars for his mystery client. Mainly office workers on lunch break and mothers with strollers waiting for the afternoon pick up; he can't see anyone that fits the image he had concocted in his mind on the short walk over until he spots a girl standing in line across the way. The tattoos that adorn her legs are what Choso notices first. Patchwork pieces from different artists in black and white with pops of colour here and there, but for the most part are monochromatic, all spaced far enough to be their own pieces but not so much that they seem gap-y. He is impressed at the choice, knowing that when getting patchwork pieces, they are usually slapped in any available location, but from what he can see, every piece flowed into each other and told a story against her skin. Her arms are equally as covered, though with more room, and he is eager to see the works up close. A flash of pink catches his attention, and he narrows his attention on the pink My Melody backpack that she swings at her side, pink wallet clutched in her free hand as she shifts her weight from her toes to her heels. Choso smirks at the bag and finds himself willing her to turn so he can see the face of the girl who we had been staring at for the past five minutes. 

He is staring and he needs to stop before he gets caught. Shifting his attention from the random woman, he fishes out his phone and focuses on the seemingly endless DMs and texts stacked on the lock screen. Sometimes, he wonders if he really should have gone into a career where his livelihood relied on communicating with strangers. With expert precision and one hand, he pulls a cigarette from the crumpled packet and slips the filter between his teeth. Biting down the filter, the taste of menthol fills his mouth, and relief floods his veins before settling in the deep groves of his brain. The cigarette isn't even lit yet, but his nervous system knows that the taste of mint will soon be followed by nicotine, and all will be well for a few minutes. Breaking the habit of smoking has been on Choso's New Year's resolution lists for the past three years, but he only ever lasts a few weeks before turning back to the comfort of those overpriced joints. Maybe next year will be the year. Choso digs through his pockets, fingers grasping for the lighter he keeps in his right pant pocket, but there is nothing. Maybe the other side? Still nothing. Third pocket? Fourth pocket? Nada. Zilch. Zero. Fuck. 

There isn't enough time to go back inside to search for matches, and he had already popped the filter and doesn't want to waste the smoke, but it would get gross sitting in the packet- his headache grew. 

"Choso?" a soft voice asks from above.

Choso looks up from his lap and is greeted by the most stunning woman he has ever seen. Breathing is no longer automatic as he stares at you, and when his lungs start to contract almost painfully, he realises and takes in an all too obvious breath.

It wasn't fair to look like that. With the sun illuminating your silhouette, cradling you in an angelic aura that has Choso debating on whether he should get on his knees and pray to you, but too much time has passed since you spoke and he acknowledged you that he has to say something, but all he can manage is a muffled yeah?

"I'm your twelve, but you look like you need a light?" you hold out a bright pink light between pretty pink manicured fingers. 

Choso offers a tight-lipped smile to prevent the cigarette from falling from his mouth and takes the lighter, flicking it to life. "Thanks, I owe ya."

He holds the flame to the tobacco, and only when it glows bright does he pull the disposable away.

"It didn't cost me anything, so nothing to owe."

There is a beat of silence as you throw the light back into your bag before bending down to pick up the coffee you had set at your feet. "Also, a coffee." another offer towards him. 

"The guy at the desk gave me your order, and I always buy my artists something before a session. I'm not hitting on you."

Your admission of this not being a move stirs something in him. Choso accepts the cold cup with a soft thank you, angling his hand away from yours, careful not to burn you with the lit smoke.

 "I'll meet you inside. Give you a moment to yourself." you nod towards the door of the studio, feet already turning to start walking towards the entrance. 

He watches you walk away, a smile creeping on his face despite not knowing why. You're as cute from the front as you are from the back, and he's glad the girl he had seen in the coffee shop is you. Soft curves make up your figure, dipping at your waist before filling out again over your bust. Choso feels his stomach twist in that familiar feeling, but he can't think of you like that; you're a client and nothing more. There is a mesmerising way in which you walk that has Choso unable to look away, and even when you've stepped into the studio, his gaze lingers on the empty space you once stood in until the rancid taste of burnt filter fills his mouth. Never in his life has he been as thankful for coffee as he is in that moment when burnt paper fills his senses. Taking a big gulp of the sweet but still bitter drink, it takes everything in him not to spit in the street, but he was raised better than that and will wait until he is in the small bathroom to spit up the gross contents.

 --

 When Choso returns, you are sitting on the small couch in the waiting room, filling out consent forms. Head down as you read the number of your ID and scribe it down in the open line; he walks past you, suddenly horrified by his heavy choice of shoe. The thick thud of the rubber soles on the hardwood has you lifting your head and smiling at your artist. Choso feels his stomach flip.

"So," Choso starts, but the smoke still in his throat chokes the word. He clears his throat and restarts his sentence. "So, do you smoke, or do you just carry the lighter?"

"My best friend smokes, so I just carry it 'cause you never know when you're gonna need a light." Your laugh is contained, almost forced, as if the interaction you are having is uncomfortable for you. Had he done something wrong?

"Ohh." Is his only reply as you return to the balanced folder on your lap.

Another moment of silence before Choso steps towards the hall. "I'll let Yuji check you in, and then just come in when you're ready." Had he already made you that uncomfortable in the two minutes you had spoken outside? Choso takes a deep breath as he steps into his space and suddenly wishes the whiney baby was the one getting tattooed.

--

You: Saturday 12:05pm Dude, he is so fucking hot. I wasn't expecting him to look like that!! What do I do?!! Help?!?

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:06pm suck his dick? ik guys like that :P 

You: Saturday 12:06pm Idk what I expected from you. I need actual advice, please Saturo. U owe me!

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:07pm ooh first name, you're kinda scary. Okay, here is what you do. You act like a normal human and then flirt a lil and suss out if he's into it and then ask him out to drinks?

You: Saturday 12:08pm That works if I KNEW HOW TO FLIRT. Ugh im screwed, he's so fine fuck

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:09pm eww, you're getting ur jizz all over the screen. just breathe and be normal okay, pretend he's me.

You: Saturday 12:10pm  Ignoring the first comment. Im gonna sneak a pic and show u BRO YOU NEED TO SEE HIM

Number ONE best friend: 12:10pm creepy but okeeeeyyy. Sugu also says to breathe and be normal but to ignore anything you think I would do

You: Saturday 12:11pm Thanks, Suguru, please kill him for me, ill talk to u guys in a bit

Number ONE best friend:  good luck bestie 8======D

a/n: okay so there is going to be a part two but I'm not sure when, please give me feedback if you want it or want me to stop, put the laptop down and go outside lmao lil texting format, lemme know how y'all feel about that

[pokemonshelterstories]

What sort of treatment would you give a steel type pokemon at the shelter if one was brought in with chronic rusting issues? Purely out of curiosity, don't see too many discussions about steel type care on the blog and I think they're underrated.

great question! we don't see a ton of steel types at the shelter, but i'm currently working towards my steel type handling certification, so i've been reading a lot of recent literature on steel type care haha. the answer is that it really depends on the pokemon and what's causing the rusting issues.

in the vast majority of chronic rusting issues in pokemon with metallic components to their body, the cause lies with husbandry. poor diet is the most common culprit. steel types in the wild eat a much wider variety of metals than initially believed, and in fact- much like a gogoat- many obtain trace metal and mineral content by eating dirt/rocks outside of their main diet! fixing dietary imbalances results in the rusting clearing out over time in most cases.

sometimes chronic rusting can also be caused by failure to provide proper avenues for self-maintenance. for example, aggron are known to "polish" their metal by rolling in sand or coarse-grained dirt and rubbing up against oily plants. in these cases, providing opportunities for those natural maintenance behaviors will typically resolve the problem. some older steel types may need their trainer's assistance with polishing if they've developed mobility issues.

outside of those possibilities, it's a veterinary issue. those are tough to resolve in steel types. if it's because of a mechanical problem (such as a klinklang's gears not turning properly), it can sometimes be fixed, but otherwise the usual response is to treat the symptoms rather than cure the underlying cause. we just don't always have enough knowledge of care for some of the less organic steel types to know how to provide for their medical needs. treatment for chronic rust usually involves regular polishing with medical grade steel wool (which has been properly sanitized) and the application of some type of oil blend to help form a protective coat. custom-made raincoats to help prevent exposure to moisture as well as using a dehumidifier in spaces the pokemon frequents can also lower the risk of new rust forming.

[rabbitsrants]

PROOF THAT SHINRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ROMANCES OF ALL TIME - PART 3

if you haven't already read the posts i've linked down below, please make sure to do so before you proceed, cause they're important for context. thank you so much in advance!

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

as i've already explained in my disclaimer, my ultimate goal with this masterlist is to prove how well written shinran is - it's to demonstrate that they're unquestionably each other's half and the heart of the dcmk universe.

people often minimize the importance that shinichi and ran have in each other's lives by labeling them as boring, predictable "childhood sweethearts" which couldn't be further from the truth.

so far we've established that

1) shinichi doesn't fall for ran gradually, which is what usually happens with dcmk childhood friends, he knows right away that ran's something special.

2) even though they share the same core values, their personalities are very different, which has a positive effect on them individually: ran gets shinichi to come out of his shell and contributes to his emotional growth, while shinichi grounds ran and helps her articulate her feelings.

now it's time to analyze the part i teased in part two already:

they share a soul

god, where do i even begin? this post is probably going to be ridiculously long but it's by far the most crucial part of my analysis, so please bear with me. cause as far as i'm concerned? this is the main reason why shinichi and ran belong together.

don't get me wrong, love at first sight is a beautiful concept and i deeply appreciate the fact that shinichi and ran complement each other, however, they aren't the only dcmk duo that brings out the best in each other.

what sets them apart from other dcmk dynamics in the most meaningful way is the undeniable fact that their hearts are one and the same. but what is that even supposed to mean? let's break it down, shall we?

their intuition

this segment of the break-down deserves its own post, because there are countless instances of shinichi and ran showcasing incredible instincts, but i'll try to keep it concise for now. both shin and ran arguably have a sixth sense. that's already fascinating on its own, but what i'm really trying to home in on is that their intuition offers them great insight into other people's souls. sometimes i get the impression they carry a compass that points at people and tells them who's trustworthy and who's not.

chapter 22

chapter 892

ran has so many reasons to doubt takeshi and shinichi has so many reasons to doubt amuro, but they instinctively know they can trust them. shinichi even feels safe enough to confront amuro, which is incredible, cause my boy takes a huge risk by directly questioning his allegiance.

idk about y'all but i think that's beautiful. it reminds me of an amazing quote from a famous philosopher:

their souls are pure. which is why they're able to recognize that quality in other people and each other.

their optimism

despite all the darkness that shinichi and ran face every single day, they have a really optimistic outlook on life. ngl, their unwavering positivity makes me extremely emotional.

chapter 252

shinichi gets shot by criminals and he's slowly bleeding to death. the detective boys feel like it's their fault that shin got hurt, they blame themselves and feel hopeless. my boy is in pain, he's fighting for his life, he's probably even scared, it'd be more than understandable if he saw their point and regretted the unfortunate situation they found themselves in. but he doesn't:

he chooses to look on the bright side. even in death.

which, fortunately, gets the detective boys out of their dark way of thinking. shin helps them understand that, yes, they're on a bumpy road, but at least it's leading somewhere.

chapter 780

shinichi gets a culprit to reveal he's from the kansai region by successfully provoking him with a fake accent, but shin doesn't just piss off the culprit, he also pisses off kazuha and heiji, so kazuha begins to wonder whether people from the kansai region are narrow-minded and ran's perspective is something i did NOT see coming:

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE THIS ADORABLE AND WISE?!

just like shinichi ran's able to offer kazuha a surprisingly positive outlook on her concerns, which genuinely makes her feel better.

there are many instances of their unshakable optimism and the effect it has on others, it's really beautiful to examine.

i recommend y'all look into it on your own, cause in this part of my masterlist i merely have the space to touch on shared traits like their great intuition and firm optimism, but now it's time to get into the biggest and most important portion of this analysis!

their idealism

i hope y'all read the disclaimer i've linked at the beginning! if you haven't, i urge you to read it before you continue with this post!

shinrans shared idealism is something i've already mentioned in part two of my masterlist, but there's so much more to say about it:

i'd argue that it's the main thing that connects them. not to shade my own children, but they value justice and human life so much, for most people, including me, it sometimes borders on stupidity.

but that's the thing, shinichi kudo and ran mouri aren't most people.

cause most dcmk characters 1) don't initially share their virtues and 2) question their admittedly heroic but also terribly reckless actions, whereas shinichi and ran support and admire each other because of it. because they're the same.

i'm about to give a few examples of shinichi and ran being the most idealistic characters in the manga and for the purpose of full context, i have to showcase the contrast between shinran's morals and the values of other characters. i appreciate and care about every single character who's brought up in the next part of my essay, so don't take this post as an invitation for hostility towards them, that's not my goal, okay? okay. let's proceed.

a) sense of justice and heroism

chapter 239-240

shinichi impulsively investigates the black organization. haibara repeatedly reminds him that he's being reckless and putting himself in danger, she even mocks his strong sense of justice and initially refuses to join his investigation because she's smart and values self preservation. haibara ends up joining him after all, but keeps urging him to drop his investigation and leave with her.

i don't blame her one bit for her approach to the situation... truth be told, her reaction makes a lot more sense to me than shinichi's 😂 but that's because i share her pragmatism.

at this point in the manga shinichi and haibara have zero support. neither the fbi, nor the cia is helping them. it's incredibly dangerous for them to go after the black organization completely alone and it's not just unsafe for them individually either, it's risky for everyone they care about. their exposure would endanger a lot of people, including agasa, ran, kogoro, the detective boys, etc...

and safety concerns aside, why would she care about justice in that situation anyway? how could she, a teen who's trapped in a child's body, possibly hold the black organization accountable without any help?

so yeah, i strongly believe that if you look at the situation logically, haibara's point of view makes a lot more sense than shinichi's and it's fair of her to choose safety over justice, especially when the latter seems so impossible achieve.

too bad that shinichi doesn't give a flying fuck about things like common sense or self preservation. he's completely driven by idealism, it's what defines him as a person, in more ways than one. the only person in the dcmk universe who accurately mirrors his righteousness is ran mouri and it expresses itself through countless parallels that completely contrast haibara's position in chapter 239-240

chapter 44

shinichi pretty much lashes out at the murderer for personal reasons which i dive into here. on top of that, he's passionately opposed to the culprit's idea of using justice as a reason for murder and guess what? ran unsurprisingly feels the same way:

chapter 313

the obvious observation here is that their speeches are remarkably alike, but what i find even more fascinating is the fact that the killers react so similarly. shinran's sense of justice is so powerful, it doesn't just guide their own actions, it even moves morally corrupt people and holds them accountable.

furthermore, the concept of personal safety is completely lost on both shinichi and ran lol.

they constantly risk their lives for other people, including haibara, who, as we already established, initially disregards heroism.

chapter 289

chapter 434

AHHHHH!!! THE PARALLELS ARE KILLING ME

anyway, i'm not trying to undermine the beauty and complexity of haibara's character, she's incredibly well written and i think it's important to emphasize that she's actually attempting to sacrifice herself in both of these chapters.

i actually really appreciate the fact that haibara is this complicated person with a rough background who slowly figures out her values with the help of her friends, imo it gives her layers.

i'm simply pointing out that upon her initial introduction her virtues instinctively differ from shinran's, it takes her some time to grow into the same kind of heroism that shinichi and ran display from the get-go. because they inspire her. but i'll go over that in a minute.

b) they value human life

one of shinichi's main attributes has always been his profound interest in human life. it's a quality that i never questioned until recently because i always figured it was due to his work as a detective.

but the more i think about it, the less it works as an explanation because we know a lot of detectives in the dcmk universe who don't share his interest in protecting people at all costs.

interestingly enough, there is a character who shares his passion but it's not someone who professionally deals with human life - it's just a compassionate, tenderhearted girl who instinctively wants to keep others safe no matter what.

chapter 1026

ran saves a murderer from suicide

which reminds me of shinichi attempting to do the same in another chapter:

chapter 67

he tries so hard... but unlike ran he ultimately fails.

and who's there to comfort him? who's the only person in the whole world who naturally understands his sorrow, who truly knows how valuable human life is and wants to protect it just as much as he does? ran. of course it's ran.

and it will always be ran.

having said that, analyzing shinran's idealism is beyond fascinating to me because i rarely share their virtues or courage. my values are more aligned with the rest of the dcmk universe:

chapter 153

shinichi notices that a culprit is about to kill herself and gets in the way of her plans. heiji's response resonates with me a lot.

CAUSE YEAH, what's the point of keeping someone alive against their will? isn't that infinitely crueler than just letting them die? maybe.

but shinichi and ran don't give a fuck lol. they don't stop the murderers suicide attempts because they're heartless though. it's the opposite, really.

as we already established, both shinichi and ran are optimists at heart, so they believe or least hope that people can always better themselves. i think that's the main reason why the interfere.

besides, shinichi and ran simply care too much about justice - they need culprits to be held accountable and they respect human life too much to allow suicide.

again, do i share their passionate interest in human life? LOL, hell no. i think very few people are capable of being that idealistic. most people, including me, value innocent life but shinichi and ran? they value life regardless of innocence and on top of that, they even value the lives of people who ARE ACTIVELY TRYING TO KILL THEM

chapter 773

a man is threatening to bomb the detective agency, he could kill ran, kogoro and sera within SECONDS and what does my girl ran do? yeah, she saves his life, LOL!

she's already in immense danger and she's seconds away from being saved, but she goes out of her way and puts herself even more at risk, just to save a guy who's threatening her life. WHY?!

because that's just who she is.

understandably, sera is baffled. she doesn't get it.

which makes sense, cause, again, there's only one character in the entire manga who truly understands ran and passionately agrees with her principles and that's shinichi kudo:

their idealism never wavers. it's perplexing for characters like haibra, heiji, sera and even for me as a reader. it's also extremely inspiring though. which brings me to my next point!

c) they inspire others

chapter 239

remember how haibara initially refuses to join shinichi during his investigation? guess what changes her mind...

even though haibara mocks shinichi's idealism and admittedly doesn't understand it in the beginning, it does get her thinking.

she grows up under terrible circumstances which force her to prioritize her safety over human life, but after watching shinichi for a while, she comes to the realization that she no longer has to live that way.

his unshakable idealism fascinates and encourages her, she's reminded that she has choices now and suddenly she finds herself wanting to do better.

but shinichi isn't the only person who helps her evolve in a pretty significant way:

chapter 313

ran's speech about justice and courage deeply moves haibara in the same way it affects the culprit.

her speech doesn't just give haibra the courage to finally introduce herself to ran after months of avoiding her (for reasons i'll get into in part four of my masterlist) i'd argue it also contributes to her finally facing the black organization in chapter 434

while shinichi helps haibara understand that she has choices now and urges her not to run from her fate, ran motivates haibara to be courageous and face her fate. it's actually incredible how much they help haibara, just by being themselves.

chapter 398-400

check out the blog of my wonderful friend aracaeli who recently brought attention to an extremely underrated chapter which emphasizes that ran doesn't just affect characters like haibara, she even inspires her other half shinichi, which is a remarkable accomplishment, considering their morals are generally completely aligned.

ran's idealism knows no bounds. how could it not move people? especially someone like haibara who's just starting to get familiar with the concept of friendship.

in this chapter ran's idealism inspires countless people (shinichi, haibara, the detective boys, the murderer) it says so much about her character and it's such a touching reading experience.

chapter 153

remember how heiji understandably regrets saving the murderer from suicide after seeing her devastating reaction? shinichi knows exactly what to say:

AGAIN, personally, i don't even blame heiji for his initial views. frankly, i agree with them! but it's really hard not to be affected by shinichi's powerful words. i can see how they could completely change the mindset of a passionate detective like heiji. and they do.

chapter 188

to the point that heiji's willing to risk his life because of them...

chapter 774

even sera, who can be a bit morally corrupt at times, is impressed with ran's strong virtues:

but that's to be expected, considering that shinichi and ran even had an impact on vermouth who's an established, ruthless serial killer.

i know, i already extensively talked about the new york case in part two, but it's such an important chapter for shinran that i feel the need to bring it up again, especially if it's going to continue the wonderful discourse i've been having about it with amazing bloggers like sakublogs who i urge you to check out!

chapter 353

this case is so, so special to me because it fundamentally captures the essence of shinran.

vermouth is about to take ran's life but the railing she is leaning on breaks and she's about fall to her impending doom... until ran intuitively grabs her arm and tries to save her:

you'd think that shinichi would urge ran to let go, cause that's what any rational person would do, right? but he doesn't. instead he assists ran. again, WHY?

because... they can't fucking help themselves. because THAT'S JUST WHO THEY ARE.

shinichi and ran are completely led by their intuition, optimism and idealism. nobody values justice, courage and human life the way do, it's in their bones and hearts, it's not something they grow into, it's in their nature.

their spiritual connection is their most defining quality as a couple and it's the reason why i'm convinced that shinran is gosho's best written ship and beyond that, one of the most brilliantly written romances of all time.

it's difficult to do shinran justice in condensed essays like this, but i hope i was able to illustrate their amazing personalities and offer some insight into their captivating bond.

it's why i've been closely following their story since my early childhood. they have the same effect on me they have on other dcmk characters. shinichi and ran inspire me, they touch my soul and restore my faith in people. they're not just a cute couple - they're a symbol of hope.

vermouth puts it best:

visit the shinran library for more

[lmskitty]

I think one of the things I love most about family AU satosugu ATM is just because of the way the canon went we never got to see characters have normal happy lives and I love thinking about that. I adore @ziyuanyuan1113 art for this reason (among many). All those perfect little normal family moments that never got to be.

So here's my fave headcanons atm ( @thequeenofsarcaasm and @uotuok might notice a few we discussed today 😅)

Geto and Nanako have dad daughter time where they watch reality TV. Geto is the cattiest bitch known to man and is always horrifically brutal about the show and Nanako loves it. Megumi always says reality TV is garbage and he would never watch it but he always somehow ends up making his coffee in the kitchen the exact moment it's on and stands there making comments. If they mention how he seems to be rather invested he will leave without a word so now they make no comment on him.

When the kids are quite young Gojo comes home to find Tsumiki, Nanako and Mimiko in princess dresses and Geto wearing a crown with his hair being braided. Megumi hands Gojo a crown and explains that they're two films deep into a princess party and have just watched Tangled and he wants to kill them all, he has also been forced into a princess dress. Gojo instantly puts on the crown. Days later they catch Megumi singing "I've got a dream" to himself as he plays with his toys despite having described the princess party as traumatising.

Shoko is a big part of the kids lives, she takes them out when Geto has his therapy appointments and Gojo is on a mission, she spends long weekends with them when she can and her and their group chat is filled with pictures of the kids being adorable or memes.

Geto and Gojo get into routines and home life after years of arguing about household chores. Gojo has to be taught how to tidy properly and constantly forgets. It is always somehow the dishwasher that is the main culprit as he always forgets to check if something is dishwasher safe and he has unfortunately destroyed so many of their kitchen items.

Geto and Gojo do skin care routines together and love relaxing and listening to murder podcasts while they give each other manicures/pedicures, Gojo used to get it all done professionally but much prefers the time with his husband though they keep figuring out the murders are definitely just local curses in their podcasts so that ruins it a bit. Megumi caught Geto sorting out Gojo's ingrown toenail in the front room once and told them to get a room, a disgusted look on his face as Gojo yelled that they did, they'd paid for the whole house actually???

The satosugu house has a family dinner night once a month which everyone attends including Megumi who moved out to be at Jujutsu high. This is usually done by Tsumiki and Gojo as they love doing recipes together from Pinterest and cooking together. The twins are not great at cooking. Nanako cannot make toast without burning it, Mimiko finds it stressful and doesn't like to try. Megumi on the other hand is amazing at cooking but finds his family too loud as there is always music and Geto and Gojo dancing together and embarrassing him.

Later down the line Megumi finds his favourite method of cooking is he and Yuji in their kitchen in their flat with lofi on in the background, enjoying each others company. He finds he doesn't mind the noise or even dancing so long as it's just him and Yuji, and sometimes Nobara if she's staying over. (Nobara is not allowed to cook. She causes fires)

[howtocareforbunnyboys]

Communicating with smalls who can't speak right now

To clarify: this post is written for carers of age regressors who experience temporary loss of speech from time to time. My small one sometimes regresses too small to speak, and when he's big, overstimulation can also cause a verbal shutdown.

This post is written by an autistic person with autistic friends, family, and an autistic partner, but it is not about nonverbal autistic people. I'm not nonverbal, and neither are any of my close friends or family members, so I lack the adequate experience to know how to accommodate someone who does not process words the same way as someone who can verbalize.

Outline:

What to ask? (Help for how to proceed, written with non-autistic carers in mind)

Leeloo AAC app (method)

Option chart (method)

Sign language (method)

Understanding sensory management

🌷 🪻 🌻 🪻 🌷

What to ask: (Autistic triage, lol)

If your small one is overstimulated, then the first step is to determine what is causing irritation.

"Are you overstimulated?" Can work for older kids, but "is everything too much?" May work better for younger regressors. Similarly, "is everything too quiet?" Is a great way to ask if they're understimulated.

"Do you know what the problem is?" Opens the door for them to point to the problem, cover their eyes/ears, or tug on their clothes.

If they answer no, start removing stimuli and asking if it's better. E.g., dim the light and ask "is it better with the light low?" If they indicate yes, repeat question 1. If they indicate no, ask if they want the light back up.

If there's still a problem and it's not external, it's probably an internal stimulus. They may be hungry, thirsty, or need to use the restroom. They may need to switch positions, stretch their limbs, or treat a minor injury. They may feel nauseated, have dry eyes, or need a shower. Interoception can be really hard for autistic people, and any of these stimuli can register as just pain, distress, discomfort, or overstimulation, without a clear source.

I know the options for possible sources for overstimulation is seemingly endless, and being asked questions can itself be overstimulating. You can reduce this problem by identifying for yourself the most likely triggers. For example, if your small just had a meal 20 minutes ago, then hunger probably isn't the culprit. If the noise level in the room (and coming in from the doors and windows) is already low, that's probably not the main problem.

You can also ask some questions silently, by offering them helpful objects (noise-canceling headphones, fidget toys, their phone, blankets, plushies, beverages, etc.)

Lastly, it's important to know that when overstimulation leads to a shutdown or meltdown, it's rarely due to one cause. It's because there's just too much going on all at once. It's not "the light is too bright," it's "the light is too bright, my clothes are uncomfortable, there is a small beeping noise, I'm getting a headache, and I'm carrying stress from events that happened earlier today."

Because it's a cumulative effect, removing some of the irritants (and adding soothing stimuli) can be enough to start to return the person to baseline.

As they approach baseline, they'll be able to think better, and may start to be able to identify problems on their own. For example, when the sharpest lights and noises are blocked and their body is at the right temperature, they may be able to identify "oh, I'm thirsty!" and request a beverage (with gestures, writing, typing, etc).

As they approach baseline, they may be able to verbalize again, or they may still need a break from speaking. The process of your body moving from a high-stress state to a low-stress state takes time. Your body has to filter out all those stress hormones, and build back up the feel-good hormones.

It can be that nothing is actively wrong anymore at that exact moment, but they need some quiet time with their favorite media to rest and recover.

🌷 🪻 🌻 🪻 🌷

Leeloo AAC

If they can still type, the app Leeloo is a free, albeit limited, AAC program.

[Link to Leeloo AAC via Google Play]

Pros:

Mostly free

Can read aloud what you type (TTS)

Has pre-programmed words with pictures in some categories

Cute aesthetic geared towards children

Cons:

Can't add your own words and pictures

Some categories are behind a paywall

Can't record your own pronunciations

For regressors who are old enough to type, this is a great resource.

For regressors who are younger, the limited number of programmed images & words may be a problem.

🌷 🪻 🌻 🪻 🌷

Option chart

The above image shows two ways to show your small options, which they can select through pointing or placing their hand on top of the desired option.

Above the orange line is for yes/no questions. I find that when Bunny is too overstimulated to speak, his needs are often too complex to put into a simple nod or head shake, so an "other" option is essential.

Placing "other" in the center also allows him to point between two options to indicate "yes, but I need accommodations" or "this is similar to what I need, but not quite".

Below the orange line are 3 symbols 🤎🏵⭐️. The specific symbols used don't really matter; I just drew a heart, a flower, and a star because they're simple shapes every kid has seen a thousand times, so it's not difficult visual stimuli for the small one to process.

While you draw the symbols, you explain to them what the options are. After the first question, you can either turn the page to make new symbols, or you can reset the meaning of the same symbols.

If the regressor struggles with resetting the meaning, but you don't want to draw a new set every time, then try just drawing 2-3 sets and switching sets between questions.

You can also place 3 toys in front of the regressor for them to grasp, if they don't respond as well to requests for pointing. This method is excellent for very, very young regressors that struggle to read.

Accommodations for blind / visually impaired regressors :

You can still use the option chart method, of course. You can guide their hand to 3 different, familiar objects, or verbally inform them what you're placing in front of them. It's important that the objects are very different, so they can find and pick up (for example) the cold, metallic spoon, or soft plushie, or smooth stone without confusion.

If you have permission to touch their body, you can assign meaning to different body parts, e.g. right shoulder for yes, left shoulder for no, knee for "maybe/kinda", top of head for "I don't know".

I specify "if you have permission to touch" because verbally indicating body parts will involve the possible factor of right/left confusion. A regressed person may temporarily lose the ability to tell right from left, but if you touch each shoulder, they're likely to be able to remember which shoulder means "yes" and which means "no".

🌷 🪻 🌻 🪻 🌷

Sign Language

I don't think I need to explain this one.

Pros:

Gain the ability to communicate better with more people in your local Deaf community

Gain the ability to communicate with noise-canceling headphones on, thereby reducing your level of auditory stimulation 🎧

Can listen to music and talk at the same time 🎶

Can talk in libraries 📚

Can talk in loud places like buses and trains without wanting to fly out of your skin. 🚌 🚂

Gain the security of knowing that as you age, if you start to lose your hearing, you'll still be able to communicate. 👵🧓👴

Cons:

For many reasons, it's best to learn directly from a Deaf teacher, and that costs money. If you have $10 USD spare per week and access to reliable transportation, you can probably join a beginner class held by your local Deaf resource center without any issues, but not everyone has those things. There are also courses held online, but please try to find one that teaches your regional sign language. (Learning ASL with a San Francisco accent when you live in NYC is perhaps a bit odd, but not as bad as learning sign language from a whole different country.)

It takes a lot of time to learn another language, so you'll still need a different method in the meantime.

🌷 🪻 🌻 🪻 🌷

Understanding sensory management

This is probably obvious, but when you're autistic, a great deal of effort goes into curating your sensory input. Speaking as a city-dweller, we live in a loud, stinky, bright, ugly, stressful, uncomfortable world, and we can't change that.

Arranging your schedule/routine to include regular bursts of comfort and happiness, and reducing irritants where possible, is necessary self-care for an autistic person. Disruption to these processes is distressing because we really rely on these skills to manage the uncomfortable world.

[Example] : "I always watch ____ and eat ____ on my lunch break." = Going out to lunch with a friendly coworker will mean giving up my restful time, adding a whole lot of unanticipated stressors, and require conversation during a vital time I use for quiet relaxation. This is how I get through my work day.

[Example] : "I only eat this brand of [food item] and wear [specific clothing type/brand/fabric]. I am upset if this is unavailable." = I know what feels good in my mouth and tastes good, and I know what feels good on my body. Eating/drinking these things gives me a reliable burst of comfort and happiness. Wearing these things gives me a steady stream of reliable comfort/happiness throughout the day.

You can probably think of a point in your life when you were going through a difficult, emotional time, and you were taking things day by day, hour by hour. You got through work 15 minutes at a time, counting down til your next break. You spent your break doing something comforting. Maybe you avoided watching the news and avoided stressful family members.

You probably felt more irritable than usual when the grocery store radio plays a song you dislike, or your shopping cart has a squeaky wheel, or your watchband keeps catching on your arm hair, or the cashier looks like they're judging the nutritional content of your purchases and is considering making a bad joke. Normally, you'd filter out these mundane annoyances, but now they set your teeth on edge.

Maybe there was only one thing you looked forward to each day, like a little oasis. And if something went wrong with that precious thing, then everything you've been trying to keep inside would come spilling out in jagged breaths and hot tears spilling down your red, embarrassed face.

Recalling all this, you might notice that during those difficult, emotional times, non-autistic people use the same skills as we do --- limit stressors, and increase opportunities for comfort and happiness.

You do this naturally for others, already!

When your loved one is in mourning, what do you do for them? You limit stressors (clean their house, do their laundry, run errands for them, etc). You increase their comfort and happiness (give them gifts, make them their favorite foods, take them out to see their favorite sports team/movie franchise, etc).

Why does grieving require similar skills to daily life with autism, even though being autistic can be a joyful experience?

Autistic brains interpret sensory information differently than allistic (non-autistic) brains. We struggle to filter out unimportant stimuli, and we notice fine details, which means there is a LOT of stimuli. We just experience a "louder" external world than allistic people do.

When allistic people are in a heightened emotional state, they temporarily lose the capacity to filter out stimuli. This means that, for a time, they're experiencing a very loud internal world (from the heightened emotion) and a louder than usual external world all at the same time.

So when your autistic loved one freaks out about something you interpret as unimportant, please keep in mind that whatever it is, it's something that is important to them. It's something they were relying on, and looking forward to. The world is so, so loud. We need our reliable comfort and happiness. We need our rest and relaxation, (even if that rest and relaxation is achieved via jumping, spinning, dancing, singing, or making specific noises).

Thanks for reading :). I hope this gave you (and your small) something to discuss or try.

[lu-is-not-ok]

I see! I see! then in turn, envy probably does fit better, but I'm going to give an alternate viewpoint on these sins that I think you'll find interesting.

personally, I don't think the sins involved are the primary lessons of the sinners, but can be interpreted as the failings of the antagonist. Don is more obvious, given the first kindered's "ingenious" ideas that led to his children suffering. his pride blocking the idea that this dream wouldn't work.

while for heathcliff... I doubt he'd have this much of an issue if more than one person in his life gave enough of a damn, its clear cut that the butlers didn't even bother to feed him if he weren't nelly, slothful neglect.

It's an... interesting viewpoint, I'll admit.

I can definitely see what you mean with the First Kindred's main failing being Pride. Him having excessive confidence in his plans and not pausing to hear out the grievances of his Kindreds more closely is what eventually led to everything falling apart, as he was unable to account for his own flaws and did not foresee the consequences of his actions. That is, very much, a classic Pride move for sure.

...However, I think your assessment for Heathcliff and Canto 6 has some flaws in it. Mainly because saying that "the butlers" are the antagonist of Heathcliff's story is... Did we read the same Canto?

Let's dissect this Chapter a bit to get to the bottom of this and see if there is any way for Sloth to come from a Canto 6 antagonist. For the Canto itself, there are three notable antagonists (-ish). Hindley, Nelly, and Erlking Heathcliff (with a bonus Every Catherine as part of the same archetype).

Hindley's all about bullying and hurting Heathcliff out of his own feelings of inadequacy, he feels as though his father cares more for a random kid found on the street than he cares about him, his own son. His Sins could be read as somewhere between Envy (his lack of self-worth being the core of why he lashes out) and Wrath (him feeling cornered and unloved cause him to try to change it by doing everything he can to get Heathcliff out of the picture).

Nelly is... interesting. Her colluding with Hermann is caused by her feeling like she's trapped, helpless to change her fate of being hurt by the fall-out of whatever happens between Heathcliff and Cathy in every Mirror World. This is, also, a very Wrath-coded action. However... she does accuse Heathcliff and Catherine of being too Slothful to actually communicate their feelings for each other and in the process causing harm to everyone around them. Put a pin in that, I'll come back to this later.

Then there's Erlking Heathcliff and Every Catherine, which have fairly simple motivations. They both independently came to the conclusion that they themselves are the reason why the other can never be truly happy, and so decided that the only way to fix that is to kill every Mirror version of themselves. This can be read as many things Sin-wise, primarily Gloom (sinking into the self-destructive hopelessness of being unable to find a World where they can be happy together) and Envy (lacking a sense of self-worth to the point they fully blame themselves for everything going wrong in every World).

However, while these three are the antagonists of Canto 6, they're not really antagonists of Heathcliff's past. It's... a lot harder to say if there is an exact culprit for the suffering Heathcliff went through during his time at Wuthering Heights, but I'll try.

One culprit I'd like to define as more so the environment itself rather than any specific people. Not just the butlers of the manor, but the whole Earnshaw family and the classist system they all live in. All of that in one way or another contributed to the abuse Heathcliff had to endure.

...Could you define all that Sloth? Kind of, maybe, since it's blind acceptance of the system that led to the abuse. But you could also make a strong case for Pride, since a lot of the abuse came from the people around Heathcliff treating him as a lesser being, as someone who isn't worth as much as they themselves are.

So if not any of the Canto 6 antagonists, and if not the Wuthering Heights itself, then who else could be the source of the Sloth?

This is where I'd like to take out that pin from how Nelly described both Heathcliff and Catherine as Slothful. Because, yes, I believe our Heathcliff and Catherine are in a way antagonists to their own pasts as well. Let me explain.

The miscommunication between Heathcliff and Catherine, their inability to share their feelings with each other, them resigning themselves to never be able to do so. Not only is it one of the main sources of a lot of suffering both they and people around them go through, but it's also, just as Nelly commented, very Slothful behavior.

...Which is. What I would like to say. But unfortunately, Nelly can only describe what Heathcliff and Cathy's actions seem like on the surface - in reality, the Sins that are actually on display are not Sloth.

For Heathcliff, it's Envy - he feels like he's not good enough for Cathy, and so feels like he's not worth it to confess his feelings to her.

For Catherine, it's Pride - she feels like she and Heathcliff aren't on the same level, and so feels the need to help Heathcliff become a better person and reach her level before she can even consider confesshing her feelings to him.

I really, really tried to find a way to make this theory work, cause it is a very interesting one that I think could work considering what we've learned about the Golden Boughs in Canto 7. If they feed on people's desires, it would make sense that the Sins they take on as Saplings are of those they fed from. After all, the Bough stabbed into the First Kindred very clearly sapped him of all his Pride, leading him to lose all of his confidence and belief in his dream. Like, it's too perfect for there to not be an in-universe connection!

Unless... we're looking at this all wrong. While narratively, it makes sense for Heathcliff to be the one unlocking Hokma, in-universe it could be a coincidence. After all, there was no Bough able to feed on anyone's desires in Canto 6. One got obliterated, and one got stolen.

So then what other Bough could have fed on Sloth...

...

AH FUCK YI SANG AND DONGBAEK-

IF THERE'S ANYONE WHO COULD HAVE FED A BOUGH WITH SLOTH IT WOULD BE THOSE TWO GOD FUCKING DAMNIT.

[michellecee0]

KinderRonpa

The second Victim. The Second Blackened.

•

•

Crash

Oh no..

Cindy: You sure you heard that loud ass thud in this room?

Kidd: Duh! I know it's here! You also heard some footsteps fading away from the room, right?

Cindy: Oh, you too? Maybe that absolute dumbass got embarrassed because of that noise-

.

.

?!?!

(Victim): Penny

Penny: The Ultimate Robot Baker.

Cause of death: Crushed by bookshelf.

Additional information: She was found in the main library. Her body is horribly broken and severely damaged, her damage was so horrible that her head popped off, leaving some weird and unusual green blood-like substance on the floor. (Off with her head..) I guess she really is a robot. Totally surprising. Totally..

All Ultimates surrounds her body. The Detective decided to investigate while also interrogate Kidd.

Lily: So, what happened?

Kid: I'm not too sure, neither does Cindy. We were both looking around this area to find more clues to get out of the school. But we heard a loud crash in the library, so me and Cindy decided to check it out. We also heard footsteps fading away as we walked inside. Not sure what that's about.

Billy: Footsteps? Running away from the library? I guess the murder just happened a few moments ago. But.. Me and Lily just walked past the Library.. And saw the person run out of there..

.

Lily: Weird. The Blackened always have to be so obvious, Billy.

Billy: Yeah, kinda sad honestly.

Kidd: Wait, so you both already know who the murderer is?

Billy: Of course we already know.

The Spy looks at the Blackened, staring at their obvious nervous emotion and body language. It's like they know they're doomed.

.

Nugget: you look quite nervous, dear friend of nugget.

Kidd: Who wouldn't be, Nuggs? I'm just sad that Penny was the one that got killed. It could've been anyone but her..

.

Felix: since you're the detective, I suppose you already know who the culprit is?

Lily: Well of course, it's quite obvious really. And I suppose a business man like you also know who it is?

Felix: Correct. Their despair body emotions are pretty much a dead give away.

.

.

.

In the Trial..

Kidd: I'll start it off. Me and Cindy were together the whole time. We both heard a loud crash in the library and the footsteps fading away from the crime. My question is, where was everyone at that time?

Jerome: I'll just say, I was in my room the whole time, until I heard the announcement. Ron can vouch for me.

Ron: Yup. I was walking with him to his door and I walked into my door since we're next to eachother. Oh and I also saw nugget walking to the bathroom.

Nugget: Yes yes.

Billy: Ok, anyone else?

Ted: I was with Felix the whole time, and we also saw Buggs on the Couch sleeping, in the main lobby area.

Felix: Indeed.

Buggs: Yup.

Billy: Alright. So if me and Lily were together.. And so was Kid and Cindy.. That just leaves you.. £^#%.

£^#%: H-Huh..? I was in the west hallway..!

Cindy: No you weren't. Me and Kidd walked past there and we didn't see or hear you.

£^#%: Y-Yes I was! You both are probably blind or just deaf if you didn't notice someone there!

Ron: Oh my gosh, dude is it actually you?!

£^#%: N-No! It's not-!

Buggs: Cut the bullshit, £^#%! Spit it out already!

£^#%: I .. Uh..!

Lily: It's obvious that it's them. £^#%. You're a nervous wreck right now.

Felix: Let's just hurry up and vote now. This is tiresome.

£^#%: N-No! Wait!!

(All the ultimates casted their votes, simply ignoring the distressed £^#%. The poll rolled, immediately landing on £^#% as whistles and cheers were heard from the machine. They got it right.)

£^#%: Wh.. Wha..?

Lily: Our suspension was correct. What do you have to say for yourself.. Ozzy?

Ozzy: W-What?! Hey! Did you all think I killed Penny.. On PURPOSE?! It's not actually me!!

Jerome: Wait.. What?

Monokoma: Alright, Ultimates! You all got it right! Do you all know what that means?? That's right! It's..

PUNISHMENT TIME!!!

Ozzy: NO! NO! WAIT! I WAS FRAMED! SOMEONE PUSHED ME FROM BEHIND AGAINST THE BOOKSHELF- AAAAHHHH-!!!

(Ozzy was pulled off immediately)

.

.

.

Now Ozzy faces his punishment. It strangely doesn't have to do with his Ultimate Talent. It's mainly is allergic struggle.. green flowers.. There's nothing he can do.. All he can do is.. Perish and Suffocate in a greenhouse filled with those green flowers.

Ozzy is now officially dead. Leaving his lifeless body on the ground surrounded by the deadly flowers..

.

.

Lily: Wait.. He.. Just said he was pushed..

Billy: Did we screwed up??

Nugget: But Monokoma said that Ozzy was the culprit.

Jerome: Wait.. I just realized something..

Buggs: What is it, man?

Jerome: Where the fuck is Madison and Alice??? They haven't been around this whole fuckin time!

.

.

This concludes

Chapter 2.

[utilitycaster]

I'm a little confused. A lot of critters say that the gods have it out for Laudna specifically, and I can't find where that idea comes from? Like the closest thing I found is that she's a Hollow One and things that affect undead are usually holy/divine. But that doesn't mean that the gods hate Laudna or that Laudna's suffering is because of the gods, right? (I'm a little scared of those Laudna stans tbh)

If I had to guess where it comes from, it, like the similarly inaccurate statements people make about Ruidusborn, comes from the longstanding tendency by the uncreative, dull, and whiny to make their blorbo the most wronged little lamb who ever lived.

Clerics mechanically get Turn Undead as an ability, which affects Laudna, because she is undead. I do want to point out that Marisha specifically chose to make Laudna more undead than Hollow Ones typically are mechanically, ie, our boy Jumanji Costco would be fine in the face of Turn Undead; and that area of effect abilities such as turn undead are not what I'd consider "targeted", ie, if Imogen were to cast Reverse Gravity in an area containing other members of Bells Hells, and they became affected by the spell, I would not say this was Predathos having it out for Bells Hells specifically. I'd also note that a spell that literally creates undead, Animate Dead, is a general cleric spell. A loyal level 5 cleric of the Dawnfather has the capacity to have a pet zombie. Is this the greatest use of their abilities, probably not, and will their god provide them with consequences, possibly, but it sure is a thing they can do, so I think the gods on the whole are really up in the air re the whole undead thing. I also think that we need to acknowledge that within the text, at this point Laudna's met four divine champions, two of them have quite literally contributed to her continued undeath in significant ways, and the other two of whom have been like "yeah we are on the same side, politics, strange bedfellows, etc, etc, I'm frankly way more interested in Fearne."

One can argue Laudna's suffering is because of the god Vecna, though as a point of order the main portions of her initial suffering occurred prior to him achieving godhood, so really, it was the lich (undead) Vecna and the necromancer (currently undead) Delilah Briarwood who seem to be largely at fault. Undead are merely a classification of entity. Just as using Turn Undead against a horde of undead may result in Laudna being turned as well, if one were to cast Moonbeam on some hostile shapeshifter, Chetney would also be affected. As Gilmore as played by Aabria said, power is simply power; intent comes from the wielder. Someone could use Turn Undead specifically against Laudna; someone could also use powers from the gods to heal, buff, or resurrect her. I doubt the Raven Queen is like, jazzed and hype about Laudna, but her specific tenet is "Undeath is an atrocity. Death is too good a punishment for those who pervert the rightful transition of the soul" and Delilah seems to be the one causing the soul transition perversions.

I suppose one could argue Laudna's suffering is the result of the gods in the same way that if I were injured by a window box air conditioner falling five stories onto my foot, while both gravity and the fact my parents decided to have children contributed significantly to this moment, no one who was not embarrassingly unserious and extremely fucking stupid would put these things forth as the culprit in this hypothetical.

Do not be afraid of the Laudna stans. Either they're lovely people who just really like Laudna and are talking about her character arc or making art or something and agree this is a terrible take, or they are, as said, embarassingly unserious, extremely fucking stupid, uncreative, dull, and whiny. I can provide tips to avoid them or to annoy them as you wish but like, is it even worth bothering with the latter.

[grumfield]

Since you’ve read like…all the books why do you think that Anakin is such a polarizing character? Beyond the oblivious. I feel like there’s strongly opposing viewpoints which feels wild. But you’re pretty impartial when necessary and also well read in this world so I’m curious what you think!

wow I love it when y'all give me asks that let me flex a bit more of my top-down muscles like this. super fun, thank you!

I think it, first of all, this is a very "fandom" conversation. Popular cultural conversation is generally no more than "Vader was sympathetic but bad, Jedi cool." so these more intense debates kind of predicate on the idea of peoples' personal investment in the charactesr beyond the movies. Even though the movies do provide context--and have a very overt George Lucas messaging of "Jedi wrong, love is what saves"--the average person doesn't really think more on it or try to reconcile beyond what the movie itself shows. So TLDR this is sort of presuming the people having this discussion have delved into other works.

I think it comes down to how much and what media beyond the movies people engage and prefer with because there are so many prequels projects, all of them written by different people with different perspectives (at least in legends...i'll get to the disney POV soon), which is the beauty of multimedia works.

Legends projects in general tend to be more critical of the Jedi, majorly, I think, because George Lucas had control. Lucas was, obviously, critical of the Jedi, and his projects reflect that. Most of them are takedowns, and don't really show the Jedi in a particularly favorable light.

Disney, on the other hand, definitely skews more in favor of the Jedi. I don't think this is actually a Disney perspective, I think that this is a popular perspective that was ingratiated into their framework. IMO many people think of the Disney era as against the Jedi, but to me it's definitely "pro" in the sense that they are effortlessly cool + flashy, there's very little bureaucracy, and the characters at fault are not at fault for systemic reasons, but rather personal failure (which I feel like is seen in the Acolyte).

In Disney narratives, Jedi structures are not the issue, flawed people are. Whereas in Lucas narratives, flawed people are not the issue, Jedi structures are.

For example, I've noticed a lot of Legends books portray Anakin's relationship with Padmé as the thing that saved him, which is a very Lucas perspective to hold, since his entire thesis of Star Wars is that love is what redeems. In opposition, though, a lot of Disney books pose their relationship as what caused his downfall, because if he'd never been in a relationship with her he wouldn't have fallen because she wasn't there. Similarly I think that Jedi Quest is a very unsympathetic look at Obi-Wan that holds him responsible for Anakin's downfall, whereas Deborah Chow's Obi-Wan show is more sympathetic and frames him as generally without fault to what happened. Different strokes for different folks.

Given that Anakin is space JesusJudasSatan, makes him the ideological battleground for these perspectives, which creates a character whose various story plots and circumstances, depending on the writer/creator, is at least always a little bit in contradiction even if his actions are the same. Because he simultaneously is so many different types of things at once, and I think it just comes down to which works they're exposed to/are most drawn to.

But, building off of that: I think the main culprit, in broad strokes, comes down to which piece of media a person views as their canon: Lucas's movies, or Filoni's Clone Wars. Which, IMO, ultimately follow two completely different characters both named Anakin Skywalker, but this post is getting too long so I'll get salty about that some other time.

[secriden]

so ok i've got Things to talk about Star In My Mind again because interview lady raised two things that were #relatable:

lol yeah this is exactly how i felt about this show. like it just DOES NOT TAKE A BREAK at any point. just when you think you have a handle on the love triangle, it evolves into a square and you're like !?!? where?? did YOU come from?? (but then i re-watched it and they actually do set it up in an earlier episode, its just incredibly subtle)

and every time one misunderstanding gets resolved another two crop up like some kind of messed up misunderstanding hydra. i can't decide if i hated it or loved that it made the side characters actually have purpose. it filled out the space around the main couple's journey in a way that felt unnecessary but also stopped me from asking why this or that character was even in the show (except for Obnoxiously Self Confident Guy - I could've done without him).

all that to say, i think this is at least partly why i found SIMM so entertaining. you just... don't have a lull in the series. there's no feeling of like "wait, why did that happen??" everything makes sense its just incredibly frustrating.

THIS! FUCKING THIS!!!!! its actually impressive how verbally honest all the characters are, but its just never with the person they need to be honest with. and i don't mean just kluen and dao (although ofc they're the worse culprits) but typhoon and gia and the assortment of friends do it too. everyone is simultaneously so incredibly aware of themselves and their relationships with others and communicative about it, but in just...always in the wrong room.

which... is actually not a complaint on my part because i think that's incredibly true to life these days? most people actually are incredibly self-aware and moreover can articulate it very well. if anything, i find myself TOO self-aware to the point that it can be crippling.

and kluen is a great example of this. he knows he sucks at expressing his feelings and the very awareness of his inadequacy causes him to second guess himself repeatedly. even with multiple confirmations that dao still has feelings for him, he keeps being dragged back into self-doubt and inaction because of this awareness/self-perception.

as frustrated as i felt with kluen, i actually recognise myself in him. those times when i allow my anxiety and fear of failure to lead to procrastination which then spirals into more anxiety and fear.

i just didn't expect "generic thai bl college series" to give that to me, and that's (one reason) why i liked this show so much.

[pukanavis]

Netaro Yowa SR Card Story 「Step by Step, Brick by Brick」 Track 1

Location: Pig Room

Toi: No way…how are they going to make it past this…

Netaro: Hmm? What do you have your eyes glued to there, Toi~?

Toi: It’s a rerun episode of a drama that I’ve been following. I’ve been busy so I haven’t had the chance to catch up on it until now.

Netaro: Oooh, a drama, you say! I’ll join you!

I barely have to lift a finger to study the human mind when I have dramas and movies to help me.

So tell me, what kind of show is this? A romance? A murder mystery perhaps?

Toi: It’s about an ordinary girl who transfers to a wealthy high school and clashes against the 101 gorgeous guys in charge to fight for a place at the school's peak, all while she uncovers the mysteries surrounding Tokugawa’s buried treasure—

It's a drama packed full of action, mystery and romance!

Netaro: It sounds to me like a mess filled with more tropes than you could ever need…!

Toi: It’s actually really well-made and entertaining.

You can even start watching part way through without it being too confusing. You should join me! The seat beside me is open, Netaro-san.

Netaro: Wahoo, I’ll get some rock candy for us to snack on ♪

Toi: You’re starting with a pretty heated episode. It looks like they're about to catch the culprit behind the canteen’s pudding robbery from the last ep.

Meanwhile, our sweet-toothed main character has been tricked by the mean rich girl at school into joining a spice endurance contest.

Netaro: Why’re these guys slurping up dan dan noodles while they’re busy trying to piece together the clues? 

Toi: I think it’s ‘cause the show is sponsored by a Chinese restaurant? 

To be honest, pointless filler like this might be one of the best parts of the show.

Yet in Nagi-kun’s opinion, he thinks the show’s quality starts nosediving sometimes…

Netaro: Toi! Toi! Did you see that!? That guy just snuck caramel into his bowl while he was topping up his noodles! That’s gotta mean something, right!?

Toi: He doesn’t have an alibi either. If he likes pudding then this could point to him being the culprit…!

ーBeep beep

Netaro: ??? Was that an alarm??

Toi: Ah– sorry, I promised Chief that I’d help out with some shopping.

I set an alarm since I had a hunch that I’d get too caught up in the show and forget.

Netaro: You really have a hankering for jumping at the chance to help out with chores, huh?

Toi: Not exactly, I just want to do whatever I can to contribute as a resident of the HAMA House…

Anyway, I have to get going now.

Netaro: Keep an eye out for any wandering aliens.

Netaro: (...Toi looked like he was dying to find out who the culprit was.)

…

Aha–! I have a genius idea!

Next

[numbuh424]

Hello! I really love your Death Note art!! Especially your blog header. I saw it and thought it was so cool how you copied the manga style!! Your posts about it say they're you're Death Note OC? Do you have anymore info you can share about them or previous posts about them? Are they a Death Note user? I'm really curious cause the art is so cool and I love reading about people's OCs. That's all, thanks for all the cool art you make!

Hello!! Thank you so much for enjoying my art 🙏 And thank you for asking about my OC! I've never really talked about her publicly before just cause I've never really... Made an OC before? So this ask made me really happy 🥹 I'll try to keep this short but it definitely won't be lol because I don't know when I'll ever get to talk about her again.

Years ago I had a plot stewing in my head for a story where Near shuts down the L successor program, steps down as L, and puts the title to rest. It takes place a year after the A-Kira story, which is around 10 years after Death Note's main story.

The idea was that someone began exposing Wammy's for their covered-up misdeeds and the fact that this is where successors of L were being raised. Because of that information being leaked, Wammy's House becomes unsafe for everyone in it.

OC talk under the cut 🙏

Apart from needing an antagonist who leaks all this information, I also needed a character who was there during the years Near wasn't to fill in the gaps for him and lead him to the culprit.

All the major information about her is here on this OC character profile I made a while back. Lee honestly began as a general persona/self-insert that I use whenever I want to draw myself. I still often use her as my persona when I make silly doodles and whatnot. However, as a Death Note OC, I've really lost control of her and she has just gone on to take a life of her own lol

Lee comes from Wammy's House and entered when she was 12, a lot later than the rest. She first arrived only months before L died and Near and Mello left to hunt Kira. Though gifted with photographic memory, she could never really make it into the successor program through that alone. Despite this, she dedicated her years at Wammy's to pursuing the title against all odds, only to come up short every single time until she finally graduated. Knowing she wasted years pursuing the title, she grew bitter towards L and the program and left the orphanage to pursue an art career like she originally wanted.

She became an art teacher and kept her distance from anything related to the crime/police/investigators. Unfortunately, as fate would have it (fate being me, the person controlling everything about her life), she became a witness to a crime where she used her skills to draw the culprit. Her sketch is what gets the man arrested and what causes the police to recruit her. Though she always said she'd abstain from detective work after wasting her time on it at Wammy's, she wants to be useful so she agrees to work part-time lowkey.

She doesn't like having the spotlight on her, as years of fighting for it in her youth have worn out her motivation for being seen. She keeps her past under lock and key and lies about it constantly, but her memory allows her to keep track of her lies easily.

Her role in the story is that her past identity (her real name and lived experiences) is stolen and used to frame her as the person leaking information about the orphanage - an "insider tells all" who wants to destroy L, Quillish Wammy, and the orphanage. Because Lee is so detached from her past, at first she lets the culprit just use her old identity. It's not her anymore, anyway, so why bother her about it? It's only when the culprit starts murdering people and throws her current identity under the bus that she starts sweating. There's a criminal investigation underway and she's their only suspect.

Near and his team know she's not behind any of this; they're really the only ones who know for sure because of his ties to Wammy's (it's kind of a reverse L and Light situation where he's sure it's not her but everyone else is out to get her lol). However, she can definitely help point them in the direction of the person who's behind it all.

The problem is Lee's animosity towards the L program extend to Near, who is the only L she really knows considering the real L died a few months after she arrived at the orphanage. Near tries to bring her on board for the case since she's the best lead they could possibly ask for, but because of her distaste towards L and the orphanage, she refuses to join at first. The culprit going one step further and framing her for murder is what pushes her to finally go with Near and his team because her life has fallen apart and the police are coming to get her.

She really doesn't wanna help L and joins mostly for self preservation. She kinda gets a kick out of the fact that she has information the world's greatest detective can't get from anyone else. It's childish of her, but what's Death Note without a bit of childishness.

Also, to answer your other question, she's not a Death Note user. I certainly intended for her to be back then (hence the art I made for her where she has the notebook) but the story I came up with has undergone dramatic changes since. She still very much works with pen and paper, just not in that way anymore lol

That's most of the basic information about her and her role in the story I may or may not ever write. I honestly have the broad strokes mapped out already, including the ending.

Spoilers (for a story that only exists in my head lol), Near has Wammy's House demolished and has a new institution built for the kids. The successor program is dissolved and he has Lee head the art department since she was already an art teacher before everything happened.

Thanks so much for asking about her 🙏

[autumn-foxfire]

I hate how DCMK does sexual attraction because Gosho thinks being a pervert who harassess women = sexual attraction.

I'm going to use his main characters for both series as an example.

Kaito's is pretty obvious, he flips the skirt of his love interest in manga canon, in movie canon we've seen how he tried to grope Ran, both of these examples aren't attraction, they're harassment.

Shinichi's isn't as apparent but it's still there, how his classmates told him about Jodie's boobs and expected him to join in with objectifying her, how he got "flustered" when a classmate told him how they could perv on the girls in the hotspring, how he once tried to join Ran in a bath willingly even though he knows she's not consenting to him joining, but the little brother she thinks he is.

Again, this isn't attraction, this is sexual harassment of women. But it's never treated as such. I think Kogoro's, another main character whose behaviour is 10x worse than the main characters I listed above, sexual harassment has only been described as such once in the series and other times it's treated as a joke.

And it's always against the female characters. The male characters aren't treated this way, we don't have any "pervert" female character. The closest we got was when Ai purposely showed Shinichi's butt to Ayumi because she was embarrassed that Shinichi had seen hers (but in this case he hadn't viewed it in a sexual way at all, he just saw them and dismissed them because he was much more focused on the dead body.)

This is one of the reasons that when I'm critical of canon writing, I often use words like "disgusting" and "gross". Especially because in the series, where murders happen often, behaviour like this often causes the culprit to be murdered, and yet it's overlooked when it's displayed by the main characters when it had just been criticised by them.

I also just find it strange that he writes like this in a series where a kiss can be seen as scandelous and holding hands has around the same significance as marriage.

If he really wants sexual attraction in his series, he really needs to learn how to write it properly, or just drop it and stick with the vanilla.

[weirdlookingsnakewithlegs]

Hihiiii!!! I love your hcs! I'm making a seeker oc so your page is where I get my world building for him before the war it's super helpful!! I was wondering though if Seekers have some sort of adaptation to flying through clouds since they're so thick they're usually hard to breathe through and yk all the little frozen icicles probably hurt and you've established seeker wings are super sensitive...also turbulance, like I'm not sure about jets but every flight I've been on has had turbulence while flying through a cloud..

I like to think that clouds either weren’t common on Cybertron or they didn’t exist at all, after all it’s a planet made of metal and while yes there are plants and wildlife, that wildlife also feeds off energon. It’s the lifeblood of Cybertron like how water is ours so I don’t think seekers originally had much protection from the horrendous conditions that clouds bring.

It was probably one of those things seekers had to toughen through and well like any sensation eventually it turns numb and you get used to it, or perhaps their sensors calibrated around it due to the normal moisture in Earth’s atmosphere. However those icicles would definitely cause discomfort to their vents but I imagine similar to normal planes, those little pieces of ice are typically melted before they can cause any damage to the internal structure. Of course, every seeker probably needs a good preening to help with the rust prevention that would be needed.

Turbulence however is something fun! It’s a fairly normal occurrence for commercial airlines however jets and other aircraft designed for maneuverability don’t experience turbulence often as outside of clouds and weather patterns the main culprit behind turbulence is friction, heat pockets, and updrafts. Smaller seekers who take the form of jets likely won’t experience turbulence as much as a larger seeker would. Take Starscream and Skyfire for example; Skyfire is a large shuttle, not entirely built to be agile nor sleek in aerodynamics, he’ll experience more turbulence on average than Starscream would due to his alt being smaller, sleeker, and more agile. Not to mention jets are designed with higher altitudes in mind which means they need to be able to move with their air currents in those conditions. I like to think that turbulence is kinda ticklish? Wind moving in all directions is just a little overwhelming.

[actualbird]

HI, I'M A BIT (very) LATE TO THE PARTY... but i just got through main story 11.1 and 11.2 WOOO!!!

and i'm not sure what is it about this case that got me so much more paranoid than the other cases, maybe it's the creepy note in the satchel, or how the culprit wasn't obvious at all (at least to me, i didn't want to doubt to sweet old lady).

which brings me to my next point: something about having the sweet old lady be the culprit is deeply unsettling to me... cause she's not like ava kendriks or like... the other culprits we've come across... (wow could someone make a recap of the whole of main story cause i'm forgetting) who you think like "oh they're kinda fucked up in the first place so it makes sense". but why it's unsettling to me is because, the thought that even a sweet looking senile old woman is capable of crime, if the right buttons are pushed... and she did it not only once, BUT TWICE. idk if you've watched bong joon-ho's "mother", but she reminded me of the mother from that movie, who is willing to do anything for her son, whether that may be good or bad, even killing someone herself when she finds out that the truth that her son was a murderer. like, if the circumstances were met, people are capable and are willing to do... wrong.

that said, THIS TRULY WAS A VYN EPISODE... IT OPENED MY MIND. I'M SORRY I'VE BEEN SLEEPING ON YOU VYN!!! like vyn during these two chapters... really intrigued me. when he shot himself with the air gun and knowingly drank the poisoned tea (GOD DOES ANYONE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD HAVE ANY SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION. MY GIRL ROSA WOULD BE STRESSED AF). but it's the way he heavily relies on himself, even to his own detriment, that really intrigues me. even when rosa was there, i feel like he isn't even able to let himself fully rely on her either, but he'd rather put himself in harms way to get the results he wants (which i can name TWO BOYS WITH THE SAME LACK OF SELF PRESERVATION, i'm looking at you luke and marius). but the difference between luke and marius' "self-sacrificial"-ness to vyn's is that, vyn fully knows the consequences and is in control of the situation. it's like he has weighed options and run the calculation in his head, and STILL goes for it even if it runs the risk of hurting himself. he's just as reckless, or even more so, than marius and luke if i may argue. and another point to add is, while luke's and marius' "self-sacrificing" nature comes from viewing themselves as "lesser" than the other (eg. luke viewing himself less than rosa, and marius viewing himself less than giann) vyn's "self-sacrificing" act comes from pride and his inability to rely on others (in other words he views himself better than others)

i've also been thinking about how vyn still choose to drank the poisoned tea. like i know it was to pin point jill meadows as the culprit, bUT SURELY, THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY OF GOING ABOUT THIS, ISN'T THERE??? VYN RICHTER, THE WAY YOUR MIND WORKS........... ahem, anyways, other than what i have mentioned before, i'd like to think that the reason why he did all that for jill meadows, letting her into his house and even drinking the tea, that i think somewhere deep inside, he still wishes to be proven wrong, he still had the tiniest bit of hope that jill was good. honestly maybe i'm reading into this bit too much, but my reasoning for this is that, as you have seen, vyn is also capable of good, even in his little tsundere ways. he doesn't want to admit it, (caUSE HE'S SHY-//HIT) but his kindness is shown in the way he treats albie(the homeless man), and how he leaves his car keys for rosa. ANYWAYS, it wouldn't be so much of a stretch to think that vyn is a believer of "second chances" considering how he wanted to escape from his family, and i think his occupation as a psychiatrist kinda solidifies that theme as well.

the highlight of this chapter to me, was the confrontation between rosa and vyn, when vyn said something along the lines of "please trust me, even in this moment, please trust me," HURT ME SO BAD. (ESPECIALLY WITH THE WHOLE TEAM DISTRUSTING EACH OTHER, WHERE'S MY FOUND FAMILY HUU) it's the first for me to see vyn... this vulnerable, like how his heart is spilling out in this very moment right here. in which i also kind of find him hypocritical in this moment, but in a good way! vyn "distrustful and skeptical of others, extremely hesitant to ask for help" richter wants to be a reliable and trustworthy person. WHICH MAKES SENSE, being trusted by someone means that you hold some power against them. and trusting someone would mean that you'd have to open up and be vulnerable in front of them! so of course vyn would rather be trusted rather than trusting!!! GOD VYN RICHTER THE MAN YOU ARE.

anyways, yes this ended up being a vyn richter appreciation post. please excuse any inaccuracies in my knowledge of vyn-ology (sorry phd vyn-ology experts) your asks has just become a deposit for my rambles, I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND. I WILL NOW NINJA JUTSU MYSELF INTO THIN AIR. FWOOSH!!!!

WAHHH HI CHIKA and congrats on finishing main story 11!!!

this is such an interesting ask because i totes agree with your thoughts/feelings about the case itself. i too was HEAVILY unsettled by the case for those reasons you pointed out, but also because the victim was a child. if im remembering correctly, this is the first case we've had where it was a kid who died, our youngest casualty to the nxx cases thus far. the culprit being the old lady was also something that i didnt want to suspect. it's not that i hadnt suspected her, it was that i didnt want to entertain the fact that it couldve been her, like how you said it. in her intro scenes, i deeply felt for her and the story also makes you want to be on her side. shes sweet, shes polite, she struggles with tasks and has nobody else in this world. in a way, she was the perfect culprit because the emotional effect she has on the readers at first glance makes you not want her to be the one responsible, even when the evidence begins to point in her direction. it's been a while since i myself completed main story 11, but i couldve sworn that vyn himself said something along these lines too, that emotions can cloud one's judgement into disregarding the truth that starts to come out. while i havent watched the movie you mentioned, i totally agree like. she was such a good culprit because of how it was framed. it makes you think that overall, she wasnt a "bad" person, but one pushed to act. but at the end of the day she killed a kid, man. even if she supposedly didnt intend to and just wanted to "scare" her. just.....what a damn good case. i was really gripped by this one

now, onto your thoughts about vyn. i was FASCINATED by him in this chapter. everything im about to say onwards about vyn should be taken with a GREAT HEAP OF SALT, as the saying goes, because up til now, vyn is the nxx boy who i have the most trouble grasping which is wholly probably because ive read the least cards of him (in comparison to the amount of cards ive read for the other boys) but ksjbfljlfdsd ive pLAYED HIS PERSONAL STORIES COMPLETELY AT LEAST and you articulate well just why hes so fascinating to me in this chapter.

i like what you said "vyn's "self-sacrificing" act comes from pride and his inability to rely on others (in other words he views himself better than others)" but also i think theres another facet to it. i do think it partly comes from pride, but i also think it partly comes from fear. see, what i understand about vyn from previous stories ive read from him, particularly from his pre-anniv personal story 3 (iirc) is how he fears and hates being seen as anything other than perfect, or as someone who has flaws. it's not because he wants to be seen as better than everyone, it's that he cant handle being seen as lesser. he hates to be pitied. that being said, i ABSOLUTELY agree with your judgement of him sometimes....testing the goodness of people. something clear to me in the stories of his that ive experienced is that, if theres one thing that always surprises him, it's people's capacity to be good. it's what constantly takes him off guard with mc, it's why he didnt expect to fall in love with first sight at her. given his background and backstory (and uh, in this main story chapter in particular, given his family members lol) he just....operates under the vague notion that people will not be good. or that theyll fail it. and sometimes he tests whether or not that will happen, because one of vyn's constant questions that he asks in his actions, especially towards mc, is whether or not mc will trust him.

(sidenote: one of vyn's lines when you play old maid with him is something along the lines of "im glad to have won your trust" when you pick the card he tells you to pick and you win as a result. again, this act of testing another person's good will in his character, testing their trust. i think trust is a very key theme in vyn's character as a whole)

vyn's moments of vulnerability in this chapter was also SOOOOOOO YUMMY TO MEEEEE because if theres another thing i think about vyn, it's that he loathes being out of control. he likes being the expert strategist, he likes being able to sway the odds in his favor no matter what the situation is, in his personal story theres even an instance where he was behind the scenes orchestrating several events unbeknownst to mc. he likes being in control and so vulnerability is such a nightmare for him. personally, the highlight of this chapter to me was when vyn already got poisoned and mc was trying to help him throw up the poison, because even WHEN POISONED he was hesitant to have her see him like this. it's good whump, your honor. and also it's good writing.

anyhoo, thank you for this ask!!! i am NOT a vyn-ology expert, quite the opposite, but i do adore when he takes the front row seat in main stories because it's always a treat to see