#fanganronpa theory

[testedcatdraws]

The newest DRDT video did drop some info (spoilers for chapter 2 episode 12)

Obviously David's not the killer, his motive of lying was revealed to be that he wanted to end the killing game like Xander. Either Xander told him this or David assumed that's why Xander killed Teruko. I'm guessing it's both though, he took the info he had on Xander and concluded the reason Xander tried to kill Teruko was to end the killing game.

Also Arturo says he neglected everything not relating to his goal, maybe he also neglected his little sister? It said her death is his fault and that he left her, maybe he left her to pursue his career as a plastic surgeon. Rather or not he regrets this is another question, considering his reaction though I'm saying there's probably at least some remorse, if not remorse at least fear of what others will think. Probably a mix of both if he does feel remorse.

The alibies were switched around, due to the blackened killing in the morning instead of the night,

People who couldn't have kill Arei now are:

Hu, David, Veronica, J, and Nico.

I'll add Levi onto the didn't kill Arei list since him being the blackened is too obvious due to him being the killer, since he was revealed to be the one with the killer secret.

The Hu blackened theory's disproven, unless another plot twist happens I guess.

What I think the remaining secrets are:

The competition one belongs to Min

The blaming yourself for your family's death one is Xander

The self harm one is Veronika

The death game's your fault one is Teruko

And the Hopeless child one is Hu.

Reasonings:

Min one is because she did that Ultimate Student competition and such, I'm sure you've heard that reasoning before from someone else.

Xander is because the secret makes more since then what David said was his secret, not really much other then that.

Veronika is because she's easily bored and watches horror movies to have fun. The secret says that the person harmed themself for fun and took up their talent to distract them from this.

For Teruko it's because Xander killed her to stop the killing game some how, so the killing game seems connected to Teruko in a way. It makes since that she in some way caused the killing game, she probably didn't make it happen though. Who ever the mastermind is, they probably don't have this secret since that's too obvious.

For Hu it's just because it's the last secret, no other reason then that.

Who killer is, I think it's Arturo, for no other reason then I don't know who else it could've been. I guess it could be Rose, Whit's probably the mastermind so unless were going the THH route he ain't the blackened, Charles can't look at dead bodies. I don't see why Rose will kill anyone so we can knock her out, she has no motive that I can think of. I don't see Eden killing anyone, she seems too sweet and there's no evidence that she's secretly evil or anything. Arturo is constantly pushed back at in the trial though, and he seems the most willing to kill someone based on his reaction to Eden confronting him on his secret.

That's all I guess, feel free to agree or disagree

[accirax]

With you being a Wolfgrace shipper, what's your thoughts on the fact that they canonically fucked

I personally think it's absolutely hilarious, and also very telling when it comes to how much trust Grace actually had in Wolfgang

i am under the impression that a decent chunk of my followers are minors, so i'm going to put my thoughts under the keep reading. please don't open this if you're under 18 (or don't want spoilers for P:EG Chapter 1)!

LMAO WOLFGRACE REAL

i guess it makes sense that people would fuck during a killing game (? <- confused aspec), and the clothes scattered around the room also certainly had that... implication. even if Ulysses confirms that Wolfgang was just a messy guy, the fact that it was both of their clothes either meant that they were matching each other's freak or... matching each other's freak 😏

the thing that really gets me about this is the timing. roommates were assigned on the night of Day 2 (area investigation day), and the Ulysses/Grace swap happened on the night of Day 3. meanwhile, Wolfgang turns up dead in the morning of Day 5. this means that, assuming that Wolfgang and Grace were "sleeping together" (AKA, they fucked at night), the fucking occurred on the night of Day 3, Day 4, or both.

DAY 3

if they fucked on the night of Day 3, this means that after swapping the rooming assignments around, they immediately started fucking. was this the purpose of changing rooms? was Grace rushing Ulysses' move out because she wanted to have sex with Wolfgang faster? did Wenona and Ulysses know that this would happen?

LIKE HELLO????

WAIT I THOUGHT THIS SOUNDED SUS WHEN I FIRST READ THE SCENE BUT I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS REAL OH MY GOD. THEY DEFINITELY FUCKED ON THIS NIGHT

we also know that the dorms are not soundproof, and in fact have pretty thin walls, as Damon is able to hear Jett sneeze from in the hallway. Wolfgang's room is right next to Mark, and right across from Ingrid's. i don't know if it's been confirmed which of Jett and Mark and Toshiko and Ingrid's room each pair is staying in respectively, but this means there's a decent chance that any of them could have overheard Wolfgang and Grace fucking. there are children about, you sickos (/lh). is this why Mark is such a hater all the time.

also, fucking on Day 3 means that they slept together on the night before the bonus laundry scene. did Ingrid invite them because she knew there were things she didn't want to wash? ,':/

well now i know what was on your mind, buddy.

DAY 4

Day 4 is funny because it opens up the possibility of Grace seducing Wolfgang into gaming with her. ladies, now you know how to make your man step away from the pachinko ;)

i would also have to wonder what was going through Grace's mind the next morning when Wolfgang woke up with a stomach ache. pussy so bad it makes your partner fall ill. where was i going with this

anyways yeah, it really is crazy that two people who generally seem really untrusting of others were able to grow that close with each other that fast. naturally, just because they had sex doesn't mean that they had to be interested in pursuing anything romantic, or therefore more (emotionally) "vulnerable." however, given how upset Grace seems about Wolfgang's death, and the fact that Wolfgang suddenly started calling Grace "Grace" as opposed to "Ms. Madison" (even if the voice line still says Ms. Madison) at the Day 4 breakfast, I would guess that there was mutual interest to some degree.

that also makes Wolfgang's actions on the morning of Day 5 all the more intriguing. if he really did care about Grace, that in my opinion increases the likelihood that he truly did take the knife for self defense. otherwise, if he became the blackened, he would necessarily be signing either his or Grace's death warrant. he definitely could care for her but value his own life and secret more, but again, it leans towards him lashing out at Diana being a result of the hallucinogenics. i'll have to chew on that more in the future.

thanks for sending in the ask :) it's fun to talk about shipping stuff sometimes, even if it always embarrasses me haha

[amarayys]

SPOILERS FOR DRDT AND THE CANON DANGANRONPA GAMES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Okay, so. I've seen quite a few people hating on the chapter 2 culprit choice due to their execution and it not fitting their ultimate talent. The reasons they include as far as i've seen are; - Min's execution was centred around her talent, so to have the chapter 2's execution not centre around their ultimate is inconsistent. - The canon Danganronpa game's executions are centred around the the culprits talent, so having the culprit's not revolve around their talent doesn't make sense. - The "sections" (can u tell im not trying to spoil bfore the cut.) of the execution felt random and didnt really make much sense. My opinion of these takes? "NO, THAT'S WRONG!" In other words - I wholeheartedly disagree. And this post is going to explain why - as well as why I believe the culprit's execution is wonderfully done. *btw this is not an attack towards anyone and is purely my opinion as is your own dont come for me. please.

To begin: let's tackle the points I mentioned above. (side note - ik the colour coding looks a little random but its fun okay.) - "Min's execution was centred around her talent, so to have the chapter 2's execution not centre around their ultimate is inconsistent." I can understand why you think that, but Min's execution is more than just being based off her talent. Min's character revolves around how the only reason she's seen as anything more than a normal person is due to her being the "Ultimate student" and extremely smart (which can be seen in her bonus episode dialogue.)

She's terrified of making any mistakes and her life revolves around being enough. She also has imposter syndrome due to her talent not being scouted out like usual.

This plays into her execution as well - It gives her questions that have no real answer, causing her to fail - in other words, make a mistake. She also has to spend her last moments alive doing a test and being a student - which we know she feels as if that's all she's worth for.

Basically - Her execution fits her character well, as well as her ultimate talent, because her talent is very important to her character. Let me copy and paste a line from the above paragraph -

"her talent is important to her character." Min's execution fit her talent because her talent was a big part of her - which cannot be said for Ace. Sure, there's some lore behind him not enjoying jockeying - but it's not as major to his character as his fears. As we know, Ace is scared of many things - But the things he is scared of all have some way of hurting/killing him. To boil it down - Ace is extremely scared of death.

That's very major to his character, obviously - as it's the reason he kills Arei in the first place. Ace's execution is based on his fear of death and false alarms because that is the best way to cause despair for him- to make the execution as interesting for the audience and as torturous for him as possible. To sum this up - Ace and Min's executions are consistent. Sure, Min's execution revolved around her talent - but that's only because to her, talent is extremely important to her character. Her imposter syndrome and insecurity around her talent makes it a very big part of her, so that's why her execution was a test - Because it fit her character. Ace's talent, similarly, revolves around his character. He is scared of death and that is what led him to murder. The only difference is that Ace's talent is not as relevant to him as Min's is to her, and therefore it isn't part of the execution.

moving on! - The canon Danganronpa game's executions are centred around the the culprits talent, so having the culprit's not revolve around their talent doesn't make sense. Okay, to put it bluntly, no. as for the actual explanation!! I can give you multiple examples of danganronpa characters who's executions revolve not around their talent, but their charater. I think the best example I can give is Celestia Ludenburg. (please excuse me if i mess up anything on the following section its been a hot minute since i've played thh)

To recap on her execution: Celestia is shown tied onto a pole. A fire starts, and she begins to get burned alive witch style. Suddenly, an ambulance crashes into her, killing her.

Now, if you've been paying attention to the canon Danganronpa games, you would know Celestia's talent is the Ultimate Gambler. Which - shock - has absolutely jack shit to do with her execution! Anyway. Celestia's execution is actually pretty smart if you think about it. Celestia's character revolves around her wanting to seem extravagant and royal. (her clothing style, the whole European castle dream, you get me?) She doesn't want to be seen as some "Basic Japanese girl".

When she is caught as a culprit, she eventually says that she'd be okay with dying as long as it was extravagant. And, at first, it is. She's being burned at the stake - like a witch, probably referring to her gothic (?) like style - which is certainly not a boring way to go. We see in her execution she's pretty chill with dying like that, as she is smiling. However, the ambulance then crashes into her. The genius in this is that car crashes are one of if not the most common cause of death. In other words, a basic way to die, and nothing special. That's the best way Monokuma could have caused Celestia to feel despair - Make her feel normal. Unlike everything I've just stated above, Celestia's talent is not too relevant to her arc. It's really most relevant in her FTE's, which are completely optional. Hey, doesn't that sound familiar? A characters execution is based of their character and not their talent due to their talent not being as major to their character? Yeah?????? YEAH??? - Kirumi Tojo's (and maybe korekiyo's??) execution also doesn't really fit their talents, but I wont go into detail on that.

Moving on!

- The sections of the execution felt random and didn't really make much sense.

Well...no, not really! If you look into more detail, there's actually a lot of cool stuff to notice. (all the below comes from this post! check it out, it's super cool)

The first "death" is Death by Illness. This is alluding to how Xander's family allegedly died to an "unexplainable illness", which you can see in his bonus episode.

Death by Fire is referencing his "Fiery" attitude/temper.

Death by Car Accident - Ace mentions this one directly in chp 1. episode 2.

Death by falling is referencing Min falling to her death in her execution.

Death by murder is kind of obvious. The attempt on Ace's life Nico made - as well as how the weapon is pointed at his neck, similar to how Nico garrotted Ace's neck.

Death by drowning - This one is my own interpretation - maybe alluding to how water was used in both the murders so far?

Death by lightening: Xander being electrocuted?? Maybe??

Death by Execution: I hope I don't need to point out how this relates to DRDT.

Ace dying from fear induced cardiac arrest is both ironic and incredibly tragic. This post explains it VERY well.

TW FOR TALK OF EDs If I were to horrifically sum up the post - Ace could have lived if he didn't suffer from an ED. Anorexia makes your heart beat slower - having a slow heartbeat makes it so that, when you feel very intense emotion, your heart rate shoots up, making you more prone to have a heart attack, and therefore cardiac arrest. It's really, really sad that this caused him to die in the end. TW OVER

anndddd we're done!!! haha im so tired. anyway honorary teruko mention!!! also drdt dev i love u for chp 2 you did INSANELY well.

[silver-the-metalhead]

Low-key I would love it if J ended up being the mastermind. Everyone is always saying Whit and Eden, but hear me out on J being it. 

[menticidemushroom]

Project Eden's Garden Theories + Minor Analysis 🍎

Not a specific death order theory, just an excuse to yap because I'm hyperfixating

This is very long and it probably doesn't make sense.

🐍 Damon Maitsu- Ultimate Debater

Obviously everybody has the mastermind theory. It's the garden of eden and Satan was the snake. I do agree with the Satan analogy, but more so as an "outer" symbolism as opposed to an "inner" symbolism. Let me explain that better. I think that Damon will come of as antagonistic to the group because he says the right things in the wrong way. Like how he was trying to help everyone by telling them not to trust each other, but he was a dick about. Damon will play the Devil in the perception of the cast, but I don't believe that he will be actually behind the Killing Game.

🐦‍⬛ Eva Tsunaka - Ultimate Liar

I understand the first culprit theory. Eva is a similar name to Eve, Eve is the first human to sin, Eva is the first cast member to kill. That makes sense, but I see her taking on a more Kirigiri kind of role. Smart girl sort of side protag actively tries to hunt down the mastermind. However, since she's the Ultimate Liar and the cast already seems distrustful of her, I could see Eva discovering the secret to the killing game or the true mastermind but no body believes her which either leads to Eva killing the mastermind, or the mastermind killing/framing her. (Like Junko trying to frame Kirigiri in chapter five.)

🦈 Desmond Hall - Ultimate Marksman

I don't have much for Desmond. I feel like he'll either be a victim or a survivor. I can't see him as a culprit. At least not intentionally. I could see him trying to protect someone and killing their attacker in the process on accident, but I lean more towards a victim for him.

🦢 Eloise Taulner - Ultimate Fencer

I see Eloise as a survivor, but I lean towards a culprit. It's not a strong theory, but I see them trying to flip the shrinking violet trope on its head. In the chapter one preview from the San Antonio game expo we see Wolfgang trying to "help" Eloise by offering to walk with her before they go exploring and she seems to get annoyed with him. I could see this being a way to show that Eloise isn't a fragile as she let's on.

🦩 Toshiko Kayura - Ultimate Matchmaker

I want to believe that since she's literally a baby that she won't die, but part of me believes that since she's so young she will die. My current theory is that she's either the chapter one or two victim. I could definitely see the team choosing to kill her off early as a sort of "shock value" for the cast. Because I'm sure seeing a child get murdered would be more psychologically damaging then seeing an adult die. I'll be honest my Toshiko theory is kind of weak.

🐻 Wenona - Ultimate Entrepreneur

I see Wenona as a kind of Celeste character. The whole "if you do not adapt, you will die" mindset. I could see her staying distant from the group the majority if the time. I think that she will be a culprit, chapter three specifically. In the chapter on trailer we see during her free time event that the bear symbolism they gave her represents strategy. I feel like she'll have a really complex murder plot since she's obviously smart. She's also a Native American woman in the field of business. That's obviously not something easy. I highly doubt that she would give it up so easily. Plus, she's a billionaire. As much as I love Wenona, she's evil.

🦉 Ulysses Wilhelm - Ultimate Historian

Let me start by saying tat he is my favorite. Unfortunately, that means he's going to die. He writes everything in his notebook, if that doesn't sound like a major point of discussion in a trial, I don't know what does. I could also see him surviving, but I lean more towards a victim for him. The only reason I seem him surviving is that there could be this big moment in the final trial where they have to connect several seemingly unrelated notes in his notebook to find the big mystery or whatever. Anyway, I love him and if he dies I will lose it.

🐊 Mark "Mayhem" Berskii - Ultimate Music Producer

I can see Mark as a victim or a culprit and both of them revolve around Jett. As we see in the prologue, Mark is a very shy and reserved person. Obviously this paints a target on his back and any character who has a close friendship is another death flag. I could see him being killed and Jett falling into despair, or killing somebody with Jett.

💄Diana Venicia - Ultimate Cosmetologist

Diana is a character who I feel very strongly about as a survivor. It's not a strong theory, but it's just what feels right. Most people take the chameleon symbolism to be negative, but I don't see it as good or bad. I think it just emphasize that Diana is your average sixteen year old girl blending in with the crowd. She'd not a threat, she isn't aggressive, she just a teenaged girl. She is kind, she is helpful, she loves makeup. She just wants to love her life. She's so plain that she'll blend in and she will live.

🐑 Wolfgang Akire - Ultimate Lawyer

Oh boy, here we go. This is the big one. I believe that Wolfgang will either be a victim or a survivor. He will be the antagonist, but he is not a villain. Like I said for Damn who says the right thing in the wrong ways, Wolfgang will say the wrong thing is the right ways. I truly believe that Wolfgang has good intentions, but he is so optimistic and passionate that he lets his savior complex to bring everybody into a more vulnerable state. Like Damon's snake symbolism alluding to him bring the "devil" to the group, Wolfgang's sheep symbolism shows him as the "angel" to the group. The lamb of God, the Messiah, the guardian angel. He wants to save everybody, but he can't because he doesn't accept the horrible truth of the group's situation. He wants to believe that he can bring them to salvation, but a man can never be a God. My other theory is that he will be a final chapter sacrifice. A death is necessary for the group to escape and he will accept his new role of Martyrdom. Letting him finally become the savior he wanted to for the entire game.

🦋 Kai Monteago - Ultimate Influencer

Butterflies represent change, the butterfly effect. Kai will be the first culprit and this will lead to more fear without the group causing more people to want to kill. The flap of his wings will cause the tornado of death that will plague the group for the rest of the game. Short theory, but I feel strongly about it.

🐺 Jett Dawson - Ultimate Drag Racer

As I stated with Mark's theory, I see Jett as a culprit. Either Mark will be a victim and Jett will fall into despair driving him to murder in a later chapter, or he will kill somebody to escape with Mark. The only way this would work is a motive we're the backend can bring one person with them to the outside or they find a way for Jett and Mark to both equally be held accountable as the culprit. Though I'm not sure how something lijrme that could happen since the only instance is in SDRA2 chapter three and the plan behind that was bizarre (in a good way) and I doubt they could replicate anything similar.

🦁 Ingrid Grimwall - Ultimate Blacksmith

Ingrid is the only character I can't really think of anything for. I just have a strong feeling that she won't survive. Sorry.

🐲 Jean Delamer - Ultimate Ship Captain

I can see Jean as a chapter five victim. Since we see in the chapter one demo that he takes the hope speech guy role, I can see him dying fairly late in the game either as an "easy target" or since he's getting in the way of more murders happening.

🕷 Cassidy Amber - Ultimate Pro Gamer

I see Cassidy as a survivor, but I don't have any evidence. I just can't think of a theory for her as a victim, or as a culprit. She could also be the true mastermind, which is a fairly popular theory. That makes some sense considering her spider symbolism and the whole "tangled in a web" metaphor.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to tell me any other theories you have!

[the-hasegawa-fan]

HMO ON THIS DRDT THEORY CHAT! I THINK IM COOKING.

Spoilers for all of drdt under the cut!!!

SPOILERS BITCH

So we all know the Mai catchphrases right? The whole "She was [blank]" or "A girl who [blank]"

I've seen a lot of people theorize that this is abt the cast- and I half agree. I think it IS abt the cast, but it's what THEY think, or maybe even REMEMBER about Mai.

HEAR ME OUT.

Nico's was "everyone confided in her" doesn't make sense for nico right? who confided in nico? I mean I guess I can see it bc pet therapist BUT

What if this id about Nico trusting Mai, maybe even enough to come out to her! (Which she probably accepted them with open arms)

And J's being "She kept a secret and told no one"

So what if J told Mai abt being Mariabella's daughter and KEPT THAT SECRET.

theres this theory that xander, mai, and maybe even david- rebelled against hopes peak and I believe this aligns with Xander's message- being "She couldn't stand to do nothing"

edit: I FORGOT MY SMOKING FUCKING GUN WHOOPS

Teruko's message has always been confusing right? "Years ago she was looking for someone named Teruko Tawaki" smth along those lines

BUT WE KNOW THIS IS TERUKO. Why would Teruko be looking for herself? A mental journey?

I think this eludes to Mai looking for Teruko, and I think Teruko's flashback is great evidence!

Teruko said "She wanted to help me too right?"

So maybe Mai's search was for Teruko to help her!

I believe this implies that the secret messages are what the cast remembers about Mai, maybe even the only thing they remember

Of course, this is my interpretation and ur free to believe what u want, this is just my theory but i feel like Gordon Ramsey with the way I'm COOKING.

IT MIGHT BE A LOOSE THEORY BUT IM SO PROUD OF THIS CHAT🙏🙏🙏🙏

[maryfailstowrite]

I love the DRDT fandom so much. You’re all so fucking smart. I must’ve read like a thousand theories by now on who could be the killer and they’re all so interesting, but if you ask me… I just have no idea man. I’ll let y’all do the work. You’re far more qualified. I’ll just cheer for the people that end up being right. Good luck.

[fatherfigurefusion]

Everyone’s always talking about DRDT mastermind yaoi, but where are my mastermind queerplatonic yuri appreciators (J/Rose)?

[laniemae]

Imagine being outed as trans in order to be lifted of suspicion in a murder trial

guys this is my copium for the trial Ojima is not the killer he did nothing wrong trust this is what happened

[1moreff-creator]

It is done. Just over 2 hours 40 minutes, but it’s done. A full analysis of the David Literature Girl Insane MV.

Some important clarifications under the cut, for before you watch.

>CW for suicide, depression, self-loathing, murder and death, fictional blood, self-harm, manipulation, among other heavy topics. It’s not easy to remember everything I covered over the span of just under three hours, but those are the biggest things which appear throughout the video.

>Since I use clips from the MV, there are flashing lights and disorienting camera angles, but I always made sure to include a warning right before they happen. You can also use those warnings to skip the music if Yoppei’s cover is annoying to you, I’ve heard some people say it is.

>The video should be available in up to 720p eventually, but keep in mind it may take a few hours for that to show up as a possibility. I kinda forgot about that when I uploaded it oops.

>Please ignore the tangent at the start about FNAF. I uploaded this to a channel where I had already uploaded a few FNAF videos, so that’s for the viewers who where there from before.

>Also, the audio is not great. It’s especially bad at the beginning, but it eventually gets good enough. I apologize, I hope it’s bearable.

>Obviously, a lot of this video is very subjective readings of David’s character, the lyrics, and the excerpts in the background. Different opinions are valid.

I am. So tired.

[iconsumedmygoldfish]

drdt spoilers and all that, i had another thought, this is a brain dump and not a coherent thought

spoilers for drdt

ok so ive seen whit timeloop theory makes sense i think its cool but what about full game timeloop theory (.. that only whit can recall.. because he's just.. like that.. idk)

i mean hear me out the game says 'all murderers must be punished', theres the theory that all of them contributed to a death somehow (edit: and thats why they are being punished by playing the killing game, theoretically), thats all well and good but can anyone actually KILL teruko

like she survived being stabbed. and the guns and stuff

maybe the game keeps looping because of teruko specifically, that's why xander has to kill her, because they're stuck in the game. on more of a clutching at straws note, maybe him and eden were the survivors of the last game, and realised they had to die to restart the loop or something after learning the truth and to kill teruko

'i wasnt expecting her to attack me like that' eden could be crying because she doesn't actually want to attack xander but like. she gotta kill him dude. idk. idk where im going with this :(

but that would be cool if it was a plot point because it gives eden cool relevance without making her evil or a mastermind

anyway yeah point is the killing game only continues because teruko lives. if teruko dies, then they can finally get out of the loop? maybe?

essentially it's like. purgatory. because people go to purgatory as a temporary waiting room for their sins to be purged and cleaned and stuff, they can't leave until they've paid the last penny etc

teruko is the last penny i guess

it gives them a plausible reason for xander to kill teruko, he might not remember the last loop but whatever his source if, if its linked to the loop them he's kinda taking one for the team tryna kill teruko idk

also davids weird treatment towards teruko idk

maybe he had a little conversation with xander before matthewsman kicked the bucket and that's why he's acting all weird IDK

IDK ANYMORE THATS JUST A THEORY

any thoughts? at all? i might just be going crazy again lol ty for reading :)

(edit #2: try not to use 'idk' in a sentence challenge, level impossible)

[accirax]

Danganronpa: Despair Time Chapter 2 Episode 12 Dissection

DANGANRONPA DESPAIR TIME IS BACK, BABY!!!

And in the vein of what many others have being doing since the episode came out, I will here be posting my thoughts on what this latest episode has brought to the table. This post will be a mixture of pointing out things I found fun/interesting and more serious theorizing about the murder and the events of the surrounding chapter. I also tried not to read too many other people's opinions or theories before writing my own post so that I hopefully wouldn't have my immediate opinions swayed, so I apologize if I've missed any critical easter eggs that others have pointed out or if I'm just beating a dead horse.

Let the episode commence!

SPOILERS for Danganronpa: Despair Time through Chapter 2, Episode 12!

Really important/long stuff will probably have a header-y title under it as well. I also might skip around in time a bit to put relevant pieces of evidence together? IDK, I'm kinda winging this for this first episode.

The Whole AM/PM Thing

Charles: The evidence against David-- in fact, our entire line of reasoning hinges on the fact that Arei must have been killed at around 7:30 PM last night. But the primary reason we believe the murder occurred at that time is because of the fish found at the crime scene. From that, Teruko concluded that since the killer accessed the relaxation room for water, the murder couldn't have occurred during night time. So, unless I'm missing some other piece of evidence that could explain it... Why couldn't the killer simply have taken the water during daytime and stored it for later use?

Well, by this point I think that pretty much everyone (on Tumblr, at least) was in agreement that Arei was killed in the morning rather than the evening, no matter who their personal choice of killer was. So, the murder happening in the morning isn't much of a surprise.

For all my talk of trying not to look at others' theories, I did talk with my sister @venus-is-thinking in person after we watched the episode, and she brought up a really good point that I'd like to reiterate here. Sorry for stealing something that you'll certainly bring up in your post as well! I just want as many people to be aware of it as possible.

During the investigation, Nico says that they fed the fish last night after they ate dinner, and didn't notice any fish missing at that time. To be fair, Teruko tries to press them for a specific time, and Nico responds that they don't remember at what hour exactly they fed the fish or ate dinner.

However (likely relevantly to the murder) we do have specific intel about last night's dinner to get a better sense of some timing. When Teruko is talking to Charles and Whit in the Computer Room, Whit remarks that it's "past dinner time," and Teruko's stomach growls. This is likely using Whit's internal clock and sense of when dinner time is as opposed to a MonoTV-mandated meal time, but given that no one else is in the Kitchen besides Teruko, Charles, Whit, and David when the former three enter, and we know that Nico must have had dinner before the Relaxation Room closed at 10 PM, we can probably assume that Nico also ate dinner around a regular "dinner time."

However x2, we also know that, after Teruko, Charles, and Whit go to the Kitchen, Whit sends David to the Relaxation Room, and Teruko mentions that she was planning to eat there as well. That means that we have three accounts of students believing that the Relaxation Room was open at that time, so we can assert that the terucharwhit dinner scene occurs before 10 PM.

So, what does this mean? Well, we'll start by assuming that Nico ate dinner at, like... 6:30? Hu says that she and Eden have a tradition of cleaning up after dinner together, starting at 7 PM. I'm ballparking that eating a meal might take about 30 minutes, so that would mean everyone is done at 7:00. Therefore, Nico probably fed the fish at around 7:00 as well.

We'll also set egg dinner (that's what I'm calling terucharwhit + David dinner now) at, like 9:30. Once again assuming that someone could eat dinner in about 30 minutes, that means either David or Teruko could comfortably eat their dinner before the Relaxation Room closed. It also gives the culprit basically the widest possible amount of time to steal the fish, and I like to be as all-inclusive as possible.

To return to the main point for a moment, Venus' argument was that, because Nico interacted with the fish at night and didn't notice any of them missing, the culprit still must have taken the fish at night (but before 10 PM), not just at any point of the day. Based on my time frame, that means that whoever killed Arei (or someone working with them) must have gotten the fish at some time between 7:00 and 9:30. Let's run through who that could possibly be:

Teruko: There's a small window of opportunity for her to have done it before meeting with Charles and Whit in the Computer Lab, but we didn't see her do that, so I'm gonna say no.

Xander: He was dead.

Charles: I'm pretty sure Charles and Whit have claimed to be together all day, and they were at least already together in the Computer Lab working together on something before Teruko entered. Assuming they weren't in on this together, I'm going to give him a tentative no.

Ace: So, assuming that Ace was telling the truth about overhearing David and Arei on the night of Day 7, he would have been in the Gym at ~9:30 on the night the fish were taken. That is to say, if he had just taken the fish (and potentially even hid them in the Gym fridge), he absolutely could have gone to the Gym afterwards. I don't remember him having any sort of alibi otherwise. Easy yes.

Arei: Given that, other than Ace (and David) claiming to have seen her at 9:30, no one is admitting to have seen Arei since lunchtime, Arei did have a window of opportunity to take the fish. Obviously, why she would (inadvertently or not) help her killer to kill her is still a huge question mark, but we're talking possibility, so it's a yes.

Rose: Rose has no alibi ever because she's asleep. Yes.

Hu: Hu and Eden claim to have a continuous alibi together between 7 and 10 PM. Again, unless they're in on it together, tentative no.

Eden: Same as Hu. Tentative no.

Levi: Levi was "doing his laundry," which even he admits is shaky at best. He's a yes.

Arturo: J says that Arturo was by her side from the entire time between 7:30 and 10 PM. Third time's the charm-- unless Arturo and J were in on it together, Arturo is a tentative no.

Min: She was dead.

David: David entered the Kitchen for egg dinner at ~9:30, but we don't know where he was before that. Similarly, we don't know what happened at the end of Ace's story, which leaves David a window of opportunity to have taken the fish just before the Relaxation Room closed. Either way, definite yes.

Veronika: Veronika was with Teruko at the end of the night, but we don't know where she was before that. She had an opportunity; yes.

J: Arturo's alibi goes both ways. Tentative no.

Whit: Same as Charles. Tentative no.

Nico: Nico both had ample opportunity to have taken the fish before 9:30, and could have been lying about the timing of the fish despite that. Another easy yes.

So, what does that tell us? Well, it likely means that either the killer has to be Ace, Arei, Rose, Levi, David, Veronika, Nico, or someone who has one of those seven as an accomplice, or I/the students have something wrong about the timing. Venus' other point was that it's weird that that hasn't come up at this point in the Trial, so don't be surprised if we come back to it later. Or we're wrong.

And those were my notes on... the first two minutes of the Trial! That whole ramble that probably could have been a whole theory post by itself! God, I need to pick up the pace...

Dang, what a cool detail that literally none of us picked up on (as far as I remember). Seriously, how did nobody even throw that out as an off-the-wall possibility? Anyways, if the body was still swinging, that means the murder-- or at least the hanging-- was recent recent. Sadly, given that no detail is given as to who arrives in the Motive Screening Room when, I don't think we have any further evidence to pin down who this might have been at the moment. Keep it in mind, though.

Okay, so I believe that J is right about "answering her own question" here, but that does therefore lead us to the conclusion that the body probably was drenched in water at some point. I do not know why. It'd be interesting if it was to clean blood off of Arei's body, although Artruro-not-being-the-killer pending there weren't any cuts or scrapes on her body. It could have also been a mistake, it's just weirder to have a mistake that covers the entire body in water. Or, it could be a failure in Arturo's alibi, which is obviously a major point of the episode.

I literally said exactly this while Ace was talking. Thank you Charles <3

First point that I feel people have commented on already: we now know that the DRDT cast believes that they are about 18! This makes sense, given that they believed that they were about to enter their first year of college, which, in the United States, happens at about 18.

Secondly...

Arturo: I started studying medicine when I was twelve. Twelve! All that amounts to is six years of medical training!

Arturo: I was only able to get this far in such a short amount of time because I specialized in plastic surgery, and nothing else. I neglected everything that wasn't immediately relevant to my goals.

Felicity is 3-4 years younger than Arturo. Therefore, she was 8-9 when Arturo started studying medicine. I don't think we have enough info at the moment to speculate as to when Arturo might have left home to pursue being a doctor, other than that 14 is generally the minimum possible age of employment in the US, while the legal age to live alone is 18. I'd love to dive into this more, but I don't think we've been given enough to complete a full timeline. Still, important to keep in mind.

A certified W for verturo shippers. "Adorable" is such a word choice.

Oh, so that's where that came from. Convenient that it doesn't seem to be relevant to this murder, because I have no explanation for it. I wonder if it'll be relevant in the future, though, or if it was just a funny gag that DRDTdev wanted to include.

As much as I've tried to refute Whit mastermind theory in the past, I have to admit that this moment was pretty suspicious for Whit. "Because it was funny" could easily be a coverup for "that's an executable offense but I'm programmed to not want to kill my mastermind so I let it go." It's still not concrete proof by any means, but I can tell that I'll be seeing this screenshot more in the future if I try to argue against Whit being the mastermind again.

Mechanisms, you say? 👀

I have been thinking so much about what the fuck this line means ever since Whit said it. Did they actually spend the night together, and Whit is just framing it in a subversively funny way? Is he saying that he's so sure that Charles doesn't have any friends other than him that there's no possibility that Charles could have been with anyone else other than him? Is he secretly the mastermind, and knows that Charles was alone through watching a security camera? Was he just saying that to be random and banking on being correct? Sir, I do not understand you. You're the best <3

Are J, David, and Veronika Telling the Truth?

Given how popular of an option J being the killer is (and to a lesser extent, David as well), I'm sure there are plenty of people out there right now wondering if this alibi, which seemingly clears J, David, and Veronika of being the blackened, could possibly be untrue. That's what we're going to attempt to examine right now.

For starters, I'm going to eliminate the possibility that all three of them are co-conspirators in Arei's death. Like, yeah, it's possible-- I guess-- but I don't understand what any of their motivations would be, or even if they did all have corresponding motivations, why any of them would have shared them with each other prior to the Trial. It also seems like a mess narratively, with three largely unconnected characters coming together to pull off an unsupported major stunt. So, I don't think this was a planned lie to conceal their teamwork.

All of them do also have plausible enough reasons for being out early in the morning. J shared hers with the Class-- she was hoping to have an Arturo-free breakfast. David makes lots of sense, as he was probably looking around hoping that there would be a body so that the secrets wouldn't be revealed. Veronika might have been awake for the same reasons; looking around for a body in hopes of having another exciting Class Trial. Or, maybe she was just so excited about seeing all the motives that she couldn't sleep. Either way, it doesn't seem too unbelievable to think that any of them would be awake in the morning, so I'm not inclined to believe it's a lie.

The only way I think you could get out of this disqualifying these three is if you say that all three of them, but especially J, are exceptionally quick on their feet.

For this to work, J has to realize ahead of time that David was trying to draw votes to himself in order to purposefully fail the Trial, bank on the fact that this is true, and throw this fake alibi out to him, hoping that he'll accept. If J could win the Class Trial as a blackened, this would also end the killing game early, which is David's stated goal. Veronika is an easier get, given that she might agree to a chaotic lie if she found it interesting enough, but it's still a gamble.

However, this situation is incredibly niche, and still really only works if J specifically is the killer. I think we can pretty officially take David and Veronika out of the running with this. Personally, trying to see things from DRDTdev's point of view, I think he just wanted a clean sweep to remove David from killer contention, and added J and Veronika as collateral as two people who aren't the killer.

I would personally take this alibi as concrete proof that J isn't the killer, but I understand if anyone still thinks there are enough holes in its suddenness to keep J in contention. My deepest condolences to J!culprit truthers-- I'm sure that alibi must've stung. (/gen)

"Harm yourself for fun" secret go brrrrrrr.

I'm making this my new tumblr header.

Yeah, seems in accordance with his actions to me.

Oh my god another "good person" name drop AAAAAAAAAA--

Being good corresponding to sacrificing something is super interesting. Whether he's a culprit or an accomplice or what, I can't help but feel like this theme might apply to Levi in the near future.

But also, David is saying that the sacrifice is being seen as a good person, not that you have to sacrifice being seen as a good person to do good things. That part seems like it relates to David's career. He doesn't seem to like being around people very much, but he's seen as a paragon of motivational speaking because he thinks that those speeches, will, overall, do some good. David would rather be a nobody, but he'll sacrifice himself to do some good for others. Or, at least, that's the charitable reading.

And, the other "good person" jumpscare. This brings our "good people" counter up to 6, including Teruko, Eden, Arei, David, Levi, and Xander.

What the Fuck is David Talking About?

David: After all, it's still unbelievable to me... That I'm the only person here who remembered him. Even if you all lost a year of memories for this killing game, there's no reason you shouldn't have recognized who he was.

Alright. So! This was one of the biggest reveals of the episode. Probably unrelated to the Trial at hand, but very intriguing for the story overall.

I went back to rewatch some of the most prominent David/Xander scenes. From David's introduction, here's everything he says before Xander runs off to grab the pen and paper for the autograph. All of these are said directly to Xander.

David: Woah! (chime sound) Sir, is everything alright? You gave me quite the scare.

David: Yes, that's me, although I don't believe we've met before.

David: Ahaha, you flatter me. But yes, it is my goal to inspire others. I wish to make everyone realize that their aspirations are within grasp; all they have to do is find the motivation within their hearts to inspire them.

David: O-oh, wow. I'm incredibly honored, I suppose? Sorry, I don't really know how to respond.

Interestingly, there isn't actually anything to directly contradict the idea that David remembered Xander at this point, if you get a bit creative with it. Just because David "doesn't think they've met before" doesn't mean that he doesn't know who Xander is, and being "genuinely honored" could have been more genuine than most people interpreted.

There are only two points of contention, the first of which being that David calls Xander "sir." That does read more as David not knowing who he is-- he doesn't call Xander "Xander" even though Teruko already said Xander's name. However, depending on how highly David thought of Xander in the past-- because he certainly seems to think highly of Xander in the present-- David might have wanted to call him "sir" at first as a sign of formality and respect, before getting Xander's permission to be on a first name basis. Even if Xander still calls him Mr. David.

(Goddamn I typed Xander so many times in that paragraph)

The other weird point is when David says "anything for a fan" in response to Xander asking for an autograph, but that's far more excusable. Like, Xander is a massive fan of his, so calling Xander a fan is reasonable. David might have been happy that such a cool guy as Xander was a fan of his, and was stressing that fact out of delight. Or, this is after Teruko caught him slipping, so he could have also reverted into default customer service mode and said that in a more scripted mindset.

Meanwhile, in the scene where David approaches Teruko and Xander after Nico flees the lunch table...

... I CAN'T BELIEVE WE FUCKING MISSED THIS.

Do you see that? Do you see where David says "in person"? That strongly implies that David knew Xander not in person prior to the killing game. Good god, it's been there all along.

Other than that, the scene is full of David being embarrassed at Xander speaking highly of him, David speaking highly of Xander, and, of course, the mutual "you're my idol" moment. Dude, I thought that David was just gaslight gatekeep girlbossing here. You're telling me that everything he was saying about thinking that Xander was the coolest guy on earth was legit? Unreal.

Anyways, I don't have the time to rewatch, like, the entire first Trial to check up on every little comment David makes, but I find that comment about knowing Xander in person definite enough to conclude that David knew who Xander was since the very start of the killing game, not that he remembered something about Xander along the way.

How exactly David knew about Xander is still up in the air. I know that Microphony has a theory that David remembered Xander from their time together at Hope's Peak, and while it's a great theory and I don't doubt that the two did go to Hope's Peak together, I have a bit of a hard time believing that. My only holdup is that I feel like letting David remember Hope's Peak would be too powerful, and having him remember being with Xander at Hope's Peak while remembering nothing else about his time there is too... like, specific? Nit-picky? I don't have the word, but I hope you understand what I mean.

Instead, I think that David might remember what Xander did in response to the North C and Chariton incident that presumably earned him the title of Ultimate Rebel. That makes more sense to me as something that would make David idolize Xander in the same way that Xander idolized him-- if David just remembers their time at school, he would probably remember Xander on more friendly terms. It would also be super convenient to have David still be alive with memories of, say, Richard Spurling, to share with the class in future chapters, now that Xander is too dead to say anything more on the subject.

Sadly, I don't remember if there's any information in Literature Girl Insane to point theories in either direction. I'm gonna have to rewatch FF's video again sometime fr.

Is David Telling the Truth?

David: We're... in a television show, after all. That's... what MonoTV said, right? "Entertainment" is an ongoing show. If Min successfully got away with the very first murder and escaped while we all died, then isn't that way less interesting for a TV show? What's the point of roping 14 other people into one murder, only to kill them all off immediately? The killer is supposed to fail and be executed. We're all supposed to catch the killer, again and again, and participate in trial after trial. You're supposed to try to survive. All of you who are trying to survive these class trials to continue living on are playing straight into MonoTV's hands. As if I'll accept that. I don't care how low I'll sink, or how despicable I'll have to become. I'll do anything to carry on Xander's ideals by ending this killing game, even if it means that I have to dirty my hands.

Firstly, I'm so glad that we're returning to the fact that this is a televised killing game! It seems like it has to be really important to whatever the lore is, so I'm glad that the students haven't artificially forgotten that fact until Chapter 6.

Secondly, I phrased this part as "is David telling the truth" because, initially, I thought that David had a different reason for lying about killing Arei. My thought was that he thought that pathetically advocating for himself would only make himself look more guilty, so he switched up tactics by making it look like so easy of a victory that people like Teruko would wind up proving his innocence themselves. Because that seemed plausible, I wanted to examine if David could have come up with this explanation on the fly. He's known for lying and should be socially savvy, so it's possible that this argument was just a red herring to conceal his true intentions.

However, given the prior section in which I argued that it really does seem like David knew and admired Xander prior to the killing game, I'm more inclined to believe that this was the true reason. Furthermore, this was a really interesting scene, and it'd be a shame to introduce such a fascinating character idea to toss it away for an "actually, he was just trying to lie about this Chapter 2 Trial."

There's also the good ol' Literature Girl Insane, for real this time. This plan reminded me so much of the "tallying votes" scene that I had to check it out for myself.

[12] “Majority rule” is known to be the fairest method of making decisions for a group. That's why murderers never complained when we voted for them to die.

The voting results definitely sound like David's plan. If he successfully made himself the killer, everyone would be executed, and while he would have "victory" over the killing game, it would certainly be a hollow one.

The 16 vote tally is still a bit more confusing, but I think you could relate it to David's plan as well. If you assume that David is the one getting all of the votes, you could say that his plan to end the killing game no matter the cost (throwing away his career, being hated by everyone, possibly even killing someone himself) might make him guilty of a crime/worthy of being voted for, whether he literally kills someone or not. Therefore, if the majority hates him and he achieves the closest thing to "victory" that he can, there's no reason for him to complain if it means he has to die. It could be his justification for why he has to fill out his mission, even if, in his heart, he doesn't want to.

I don't know if that's the explanation of footnote 12 or just an explanation with the new scenes given, but I think it's a possibility. There's also certainly far more to dive into regarding both David's worldview and the motivations behind the killing game, but if I started looking into that now, I wouldn't publish this post until way later. I'll have to leave that analysis for another time and/or another person.

Love Hu for this. At least for someone like me, who finds David's mindset sort of relatable at times, it's important to have someone around to point out the flaws of compulsive martyrdom and give a reality check that doing something wrong in the pursuit of what you think is right is still (sometimes) an utterly fucked up thing to do. They're both such good characters, and they work off each other so well.

Furthering the above point, even if David is doing it for what he believes to be "good" reasons, he's still ultimately manipulating people! You know, like his secret said!!! You don't have to believe that everyone is stupid to believe that you're smarter than them and you know what's best. But there's also the delicious irony that, despite Hu being the one to say this to David, she's also the one talking over Nico.

I am so sorry to all the whitvid shippers in the crowd. Unless this is the dynamic you crave, idk.

I wish that this line was voice acted just so that I could hear Ace's "uhh umm" Nico impression.

Are Hu and Nico Lying?

We're back at it again.

Needless to say, this is way more suspicious than J, Veronika, and David's alibi. First of all, Hu and Nico are only two people, which makes it far more believable that they could conspire on the murder together. Second, unlike the former random group of characters, this latter pair are very intertwined. And third, this supposed breakfast occurred in a private location that only Hu and Nico could have possibly seen, as opposed to J, who said she was in a public location. If Ace or whoever had been in the public Dining Room at 7:30 AM, he could have called J out for lying, whereas no one can contradict the idea of Nico and Hu being in Nico's room.

However, for Hu to be lying and for Nico to not oppose her (despite pointing out the fact that they were interrupted) would strongly imply that they'd have to be in on the plan to murder Arei together. The easiest way to get there would be to assume that they were also in on the plan to murder Ace together. Understandable enough; I'm sure we're all aware at this point that Nico and what appears to be Hu's wire were both found at the scene of the Gym crime. They could've tried to murder Ace, got caught, and then switched targets to a different bully because Ace was too on guard? Nico would have been able to grab the fish, so there's no issue there.

I'm inclined to believe that Nico and Hu are telling the truth just because I personally don't believe either of them to be Arei's blackened, and I don't understand what either of their motivations to be an accomplice specifically would be in this situation. It would be pretty hypocritical of Hu to go off on David for trying to control whether everyone else lives or dies if she was currently the blackened trying to get everyone else to die so she could live. Or, even worse, if she was an accomplice trying to get everyone else to die so that Nico could live. That'd basically be what David was trying to do with a different coat of paint!

However, this could easily be a lie, especially given how suspiciously late it was compared to what J said. We had a whole David monologue in the middle. Those things last for ages.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!

Okay, so, obviously, I could try to go over the implications of this, but with the next episode only a week away (I cry tears of joy), I think it's in my best interest to leave whatever I'll have to say about what Levi is doing until we have more information about his mindset. What a cliffhanger, though. Levi accomplice nation, it's currently looking... iffy.

Anyways, that was a fantastic episode! I loved getting a chance to learn more about Arturo, David, Xander, and the rest of the gang, with promise of more interesting things to come in the near future. I can't believe that they still haven't talked about the actual murder method at all. And that there were literally no trial mechanics in this video. Who needs 'em?

I hope you enjoyed my perspective on the episode. If you have any additions or questions, feel free to send me a comment or an ask. There's also a chance that I'll add onto this myself after seeing other people's ideas to respond to them. But for that, I'll have to read other people's ideas. I'm off to see what my mutuals have to say >:D See ya!

[amarayys]

DRDT episode 13 theory. So.

so i was meant to be making a general episode 13 analysis video. but um. i dont have the energy for that. so what am i gonna do instead? TALK ABOUT TERUKO try find out wtf david is doing in this scene

SO. time to find out what possibly the FRUITIEST look ever from david means!!! disclaimer:

I suck at theories. And formatting. Yipee.

I'm painfully unfunny so excuse any dumbass jokes i make.

I'm going to find any and all excuses to rant abt teruko. be prepared...............

4. I may repeat myself a lot. Forgive me if it sounds really repetative... :( 5. Any points surrounded by - these things - are just things that are unlikely, but I think should still be adressed.

So, the context of these images is Teruko revealing "her secret"; You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn't matter that it's not your fault, just that you didn't go with them.

(pls excuse the shitty quality.) She has to be either lying or MAYBE unsure about her secret. Here's why: 1. She had a conversation with Whit (and technically charles, but he was just listening in) about her family. She reveals that she's never known her parents and grew up in an orphanage. She did grow up with her biological brother, but he was adopted by another family when Teruko was five, and she says she doesn't remember him much.

2. The wording of the secret is quite specific - You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. Like I've mentioned, she's never known her parents. Even if she *somehow* knew they were dead, why would she blame herself for it? I could see it maybe working in some way, but the next bit disproves it - SIBLINGS. Teruko has only mentioned having one sibling, and this wording is plural. This secret cannot be hers, she only has one brother. - To add on to this

2.5. Maybe one could argue that siblings and parents could be her friends/people she considered family in the orphanage she grew up in. However, the specific wording of parents and siblings, instead of just using the word "family", makes me think otherwise. - Okay, so let's dissect what this means. - I think if maybe she was unaware/TRULY thought that this was her secret, the only point that would support it is 2.5. Maybe she considered people she grew up with in the orphanage her "parents" or siblings", but its just not very likely. While I wouldn't be surprised if Teruko blew up an orphanage or something (/hj) , I think it's a stretch to say this secret is referring to that. - With that out the way, we come to one conclusion - Teruko is lying about secret. "Amari, we know that already, can we move on??????????" yeah yeah whatever i may have just wanted to rant about teruko. MOVING ON. So, what is Teruko's secret? It's pretty wildly agreed upon that Teruko's secret is the one regarding the killing game, which David recieved - "How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault."

We think that this is Teruko's secret because: 1. She's the only one that fits it smh. /hj 2. The guy at the start of the prologue (who is probably xander but that is a WHOLE other theory you can find here ) mentions having to kill Teruko Tawaki (how DARE they) after talking about ending the killing game.

My interpretation of this is that Teruko is the reason the killing game is actually happening, though I doubt she's aware of this/the mastermind (or she could be, idk??). A really good theory that I feel explains what I mean by Teruko causing the KG but not being the mastermind is the time loop theory which is linked here. (accirax i love you for this theory /p) Obviously, this lines up with "The killing game is your fault." 3. David gives her THE LOOK right after she "admits" her secret, which sort of maybe kind of implies that he knows she's lying, which he does, since he has the secret. - As for the remaining secret: Xander's secret (which we assume min recieved) is the one Teruko claimed to have:

"You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn't matter that it's not your fault, just that you didn't go with them." Why do I think this? 1. In Xander's bonus video, it is VERY heavily implied that he has survivor's guilt as well as outright confirmed his family is dead. Go check it out for the full context.

2. Xander's secret message on the DRDT tumblr is the definition of survivors guilt. Really self explanatory, huh?

3. XANDER ACTUALLY HAS MORE THAN 1 FUCKING SIBLING. anyway. okay, this is getting a little confusing to remember, so here: Killing game: Teruko's secret, recieved by David. Survivor's guilt: Xander's secret, recieved by Min. (all remaining secrets remain the same.) MOTIVE

So, why would Teruko lie about her secret? I mean, shouldn't she just point it out? And why didn't David point it out? - 1. Teruko is aware that her secret is the killing game one and is lying because she's the mastermind or something. We see her thoughts, so I really doubt it. To further disprove this theory: Teruko has stated like 15 times (/ex) that she doesn't know which secret is hers, due to her having too many secrets. So, yeah, pretty unlikely she knows which secret's hers. Discard this theory. -

2. a) Teruko doesn't know her secret, but knows it's probably bad, and therefore doesn't want to share it, so she lied. Pretty straightforward, really. Now, for the theory that I think is most likely: 3. Teruko doesn't know which secret is hers, but she knows neither of her secrets are the ones left unrevealed. She knows somebody is lying about a secret - but she's come to the conclusion that secrets are irrelevant to the trial and murder, so she's lying about her secret to avoid everyone getting off track once again.

We know that's she's accidentally led the trial in the wrong direction twice now (motive secrets, time of murder) Also, this is the most in character.

As for David: A. David knows her secret, but keeps it hidden in order to cause distrust and just generally fuck Teruko over. He plans to reveal it either post trial or in a future daily life. B. David knows her secret, but earlier, he and Teruko made a pact to keep it hidden. However, since he's a little bitch boy (/j), he's going to reveal it anyway, either post trial or in a future daily life. - Just to add on to this point ^ - I know Teruko's protag and we see her thoughts and all, but Kaede happened, so I don't think this is out of the question. - I think the most likely combination is point 3. and point A. : Teruko's lying about her secret to avoid the trial heading off topic. David isn't calling her out because he wants to use it in the future to throw suspicion onto Teruko and cause havoc.

SO. Let's recap! Secrets: Teruko: "How could I even select what secret to be your motive? Just about everything you've done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault." Received by David. Xander: "You're constantly blaming yourself for the death of your parents and siblings. It doesn't matter that it's not your fault, just that you didn't go with them." Received by Min. Rest remain the same as canon. Why can't Teruko's secret be about her family? 1. Teruko never knew her parents, and never mentions them being dead. 2. Teruko hasn't seen her brother since she was 5, and she never mentions him being dead, just adopted. 3. The wording of the secret refers to siblingS, which is plural. Teruko has only one sibling. 4. The secret fits Xander much better - His secret quote is the defintion of survivors guilt, and his bonus episode heavily implies he has survivors guilt, and it is confirmed his family died in the same bonus episode. Why is Teruko's secret about the killing game?

• The guy at the start of the prologue mentions having to kill Teruko Tawaki after talking about ending the killing game. This implies Teruko is the cause of the killing game, whether on purpose or not. Motive for lying: Teruko doesn't know which secret is hers, but she knows neither of her secrets are the ones left unrevealed. She knows somebody is lying about a secret - but she's come to the conclusion that secrets are irrelevant to the trial and murder, so she's lying about her secret to avoid everyone getting off track once again. David knows her secret, but keeps it hidden in order to use it in the future to turn everyone against Teruko and just generally cause distrust in the group. He plans to reveal it either post trial or in a future daily life. **btw, just a fun afterthought - i think either whit or charles will eventually point out the conversation regarding teruko's unbringing and how it contradicts her secret - and david will use that opportunity to reveal teruko's secret. ANDDDD that's it! feel free to correct/add on any points you'd like. this took AGES but i had so much fun!!! i love you drdt. (ESPECIALLY TERUKO.)

[skulemojee]

DRDT Dev changed some of the sprites!!

heres differences that I found but let me know if anyone found any other differences. Left sprite is the new sprite, the right sprite is the old one

I wonder what the necklace on "Bullet"'s sprite is supposed to mean... (oh crap i forgot to circle the left sprite on "swirl"'s scarf)

[anderscim]

✦ i did make an insane reach, but not about what i expected

(for your information, this is not about the Elliot Cuevas MV that was recently released. this is actually about something else.)

// DRDT spoilers up until ch2 + spoilers for the Literature Girl Insane MV

i guess i’ll just get straight to the point.

admittedly, i have no idea as to how to crack the number code / footnote #14 at the end of the Literature Girl Insane MV. i think i delved a bit too deep into the mathematics and tried to find some sort of symbolism in the numbers, before realizing i was going nowhere with it. if anyone does solve it, however, let me know. (￣^￣)ゞ

but i did make a couple of observations about the specific text shown during that portion. about a week ago i found something that could be a hint regarding what the text is about—and if it holds any ground, a possible clue to a certain character’s past before the killing game.

(take this theory with a huge mountain of salt)

———

there’s nowhere i can really start from, so i guess i’ll begin by talking about one of my observations.

this screen. this specific frame may not look like anything important, but out of curiosity i decided to count the number of question marks on this screen. there’s 32 in total—16 question marks for each row.

other than it being a factor of 256 (16x16), there’s something else that’s also linked to the number. the number of students (total) that participated in the killing games. every killing game has a total of 16 students, at least when it comes to the official series. and with the assumption that DRV3 is a killing game that takes place entirely separate from the other two—this means that Hope’s Peak Academy is associated with two past killing games, which combined, involved a total of 32 students.

aside from that, the footnote “256 words” seems to connect to one of Karasuyasabou’s other songs known as “Jabberwocky Jabberwocka”—and funnily enough, Jabberwocky Island is where the second killing game (SDRA2) takes place. it seems to be too much of a coincidence to brush over.

however, we know that this part of Hope’s Peak Academy’s history has been covered up—so only few have any access to information about it. there’s even direct dialogue that supports this fact; most characters in Despair Time have no knowledge of the previous killing games.

(this does raise questions as to why Teruko has any knowledge of the previous killing games—but i don’t think we’ll be able to answer those for a while as it seems to be a major part of her character.)

in that case, why this number? (here’s where the insane reaches begin. get ready.)

if we go back to the LGI MV, there seems to be an indication that this specific code is linked to a character—which is seen by this frame here.

the roman numerals that appear throughout the MV are linked to a crossword that appears earlier in the music video—and this number (I) is specifically linked to Xander, as seen by the solution to this puzzle by @/raspbeyes here. since the code, the ampersand, the equal sign, and the question marks that follow are all in the same font, color, and transparency (as well as general format), we could also say that the text that appears during this portion is linked to Xander.

as inferred from this theory by @/1moreff-creator, it’s likely that Xander (along with Mai) was heavily involved in a (secretive?) operation or at least some sort of research involving Hope’s Peak Academy. the bonus episodes that released in between chapters 1 & 2 seem to hint at these efforts as well:

and as far as we have inferred, this project proved to be an incredible risk—leading to not only Mai’s death, not only the new killing game, but also the memories of the remaining Hope’s Peak Academy students being reset to when they were first heading to the orientation ceremony. someone was adamant about covering everything up and leaving nothing behind, but Xander and Mai’s project shattered those efforts, if only for a brief moment. but, how exactly does this relate to the LGI MV? if the dev intentionally placed 32 question marks—one for each participant of the past Hope’s Peak Academy killing games—during a frame associated with Xander, then there’s a possibility that said past killing games are also associated with Xander one way or another. and the fact that this was deliberately placed where a numerical code (possibly related to a message) appears, it’s likely that by extension the message is linked to that association as well.

putting all of this together: the question marks from the LGI MV may contain a very specific clue about the numeric code associated with footnote 14—but not how to solve it, rather what the decoded message is actually about. or, if i can word this better, Xander and Mai’s “discovery” regarding Hope’s Peak Academy was about the killing games that took place there, and the message associated with Xander in footnote #14 will be one that talks about this discovery more in detail. if the information Xander and Mai uncovered was actually about these killing games, i think the reason why it was so risky would make sense—coupled with the fact that the Academy seems adamant about covering up that part of history. though this doesn’t actually provide any proper information as to how to solve the code—and i’m sure there’s a much simpler explanation for the question marks during that specific screen in the LGI MV—i think these observations were at least worth sharing.

as always, take this theory with a huge mountain of salt. and i mean, huge. (- -;)

[the-hasegawa-fan]

DRDT EPISODE 14 SPOILERS

My honest thought on Episode 14!!

1.) Okay.. I AM PRAYING ITS NOT ACE. Ace being the culprit seems SO UNDERWHELMING??? It just feels so narratively unsatisfying. Like why would we get a fake out death for Ace, and character moment just for them to kill him?? It feels like Arei all over again, and I just can't make sense of why Ace would randomly kill Arei.

I get that Ace heard the Areivid convo, and he could frame David- but why the fuck would he WANT to kill Arei???? To escape? It just seems so out of nowhere. It just feels SO unsatisfying if Ace is the killer. Like it just makes zero sense to me.

I just REALLY hope it's Eden for my own sake bc if it's Ace i will so disappointed man😭

2.) Also I am SO FUCKIGN HAPPY HU GOT CALLED OUT FOR HER BASELESS DEFENDING. It was so EXHAUSTING. LIKE PLEASE STFU😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏

"Why would you all write me off?!?" Zawg why do you think💀

Even Nico heard her and was like:

3.) If Eden killed Arei that would make me SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY. It would rlly send a message to the cast about their situation if Eden was the killer. I can also see the argument about their friendship and why would we get so many scenes if they were both gonna die?

The answer to that is simple, something similar happened in Chapter 1. Xander was killed, and Min killed to protect Teruko. While Xander and Min don't really have any relations, they both had ample scenes with Teruko that demonstrated their friendship.

I REALLY WANT EDEN TO BE THE CULPRIT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DRDT DEV🙏🙏🙏🙏