#i didn't use a reference so sorry if his craft looks wrong | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

accirax · 1 year ago

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What a fun idea! As a fan of DRDT, Milgram, FF's work, and mystery solving in general, I feel like it'd be a shame if I didn't at least try to take a first stab at whatever's going on with these kooky Ultimate prisoners. (But not THE Ultimate Prisoner, that title's taken.)

Of course, since only Undercover has been published thus far, 1) we only have a brief overview of each prisoner to look at, and 2) I don't want to spend a ton of time crafting some crazy theory about each prisoner when there'll clearly be more information to be had down the line (assuming you continue on with this fan project). So, I'll try to keep each prisoner's section brief, while also concocting an initial theory of what might have gone down in each crime. (Update after finishing writing: it is not that brief. I got too invested down the line. Help /j)

The formatting of this is really just going to be my thought process written out, so I apologize if any of it is obvious and therefore boring to read. A lot of it is just going to be me gathering all of the information we have on each prisoner so that I can look at all of it at once. Also, I am fully willing to believe that I am basically 100% wrong about everything. I wrote out what I genuinely think could be true at the moment, but it involves making a lot of calls on things we don't have evidence for. I look forward to being proven wrong on many counts.

In some places, I also summarized things using my own interpretations of the evidence we have instead of being fully objective. This is meant to help anyone reading quickly understand my opinions on the evidence, but if you're trying to refer to this for the sake of your own interpretation, know that the information presented is not always 100% literal.

Oh woah, there are now Voice Reveal Lines too. I'll add those in here. Damn you FF and your speedy content generation!! (/j)

This AU does differ from Milgram in that these characters come from an external piece of media, and thus, some lore and characterization will come from DRDT itself. I didn't write any of it out in, like, a "backstory" section, but I certainly brought it up for pretty much every prisoner. So, unmarked DRDT spoilers ahoy. Also, CW for mentions of suicide, self harm, and eating disorders.

I'm super excited to take a closer look into all of the hard work that's gone into this project thus far!

PRISONER 01: Levi Fontana

Trial 1 Song Title: Torn Stitches Crime Location: Alleyway Special Image: Levi sits slumped over in a kitchen/dining room(?) with a boiling pot of tea in the foreground Murder Method: Levi punches Es with brass knuckles, knocking them to the floor Voice Reveal: "Levi Fontana, a pleasure. Yes, I am a murderer. I couldn't bring myself to pretend to be sorry for what I did. I suppose I should watch other prisoners to learn how normal prisoners should handle themselves. ...I know you didn't want this, but it had to be done."

Well, the murder method is pretty easy to understand in this one. Levi uses brass knuckles, his custom weapon in DRDT, to kill someone in an alleyway. Can we call him a murderer without remorse for this one...?

Torn Stitches imply sewing, which makes sense with his eventual passion for fashion, as well as redoing something you did wrong the first time. They could also have to do with opening up a painful wound (medical stitches) or something growing too big for its capacity (no longer fitting into your clothes). I'm almost a fan of the latter, given with how it would combine with the imagery of the boiling tea pot. That, to me, is a metaphor for a situation growing hotter and hotter until it reaches its boiling point, all while making an overbearing and overwhelming environment in the meantime.

From canon DRDT, we know that Levi estranged himself from his family. So, in this AU, I would guess that Levi snapped and killed (a member of) his family under the pressure. Maybe they'd even coerced him into murdering prior to that, who knows. But, either way, he doesn't seem to regret his choices just yet.

PRISONER 02: Arturo Giles

Trial 1 Song Title: Wilted Crime Location: Bathroom Special Image: Arturo appears to be messily packing a suitcase, considering a white turtleneck shirt Murder Method: Arturo kneels facing away from Es, who is on the ground in an uncomfortable position Voice Reveal: "Arturo Giles. Ugh, do I really have to be judged by someone this ugly? I'll have you know, I've never murdered anyone. I mean, there is... no, no, that wasn't my fault... How was I meant to know?! Even if she's dead because of what I did, it's not my fault!"

Arturo (holding hands emoji) Shidou: surgeons with floral imagery in their MVs. At least, if the title "Wilted" is anything to go by. Mu too, with the "It's Not My Fault!"

Arturo's murder almost certainly has to do with his canonical secret: that his leaving caused his sister Felicity to commit suicide. We can see the suitcase in his special image already being packed, implying his departure. The clothes messily strewn about may imply that it was a hasty and not particularly thought-through escape.

The simplest answer is that Arturo chose to leave his likely toxic family environment, and once he was gone, Felicity killed herself in the bathroom. Arturo facing away from Es implies that he wasn't there to see what happened to Felicity, his presumed victim.

The main thing that gives me pause is the fact that, unlike what's specifically mentioned in Veronika's murder method, both of the victim's shoes are on. For anyone who's not clear on what I'm getting at, I've seen written in the Milgram fandom that, apparently, having one's shoes off is a common visual metaphor for that person committing suicide in Japan. Thus, the fact that the shoes are on might imply that the victim didn't commit suicide.

Again, assuming that Arturo's victim is Felicity, DRDT canon doesn't give me much of an incentive to believe that he would have killed her himself. So, maybe the parents could have killed Felicity? I initially thought that might take too much blame off of Arturo's shoulders, but on second thought, if the parents were that obviously bad, it could make him look even worse for leaving her alone. So, I guess that's what I'm settling on for now.

PRISONER 03: David Chiem

Trial 1 Song Title: Star in the Night Crime Location: Bedroom Special Image: David performs, possibly for someone important, on an otherwise empty stage, lights all shining on him Murder Method: David yells at Es with the 正 (tally) symbol in his eyes Voice Reveal: "My name is David Chiem. It seems there's been a mistake. But, don't worry! I won't hold it against you. Mistakes can be corrected. It's not difficult to change, as long as you're willing to! I try to be as positive as I can, since I know there're a lot of people that don't get the privilege. ...AGH! CAN YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, YOU HUMAN PIECE OF GARBAGE?!"

Well, now I'm really wishing I had ever solved the tally5 puzzle. Might be missing some information on this one, sorry about that.

Let's get back to what I wrote in the special image portion. It was unclear in the text if the rest of the seats were filled, but I think that David's victim might be hidden behind his torso in that image. As in, his victim is someone he was inspirationally speaking to, and was likely sitting in the front row. 'Cause, hey, if Literature Girl Insane is on the table with tally5, then we know David also has associations with some suspicious gaps!

...I also really wish I knew whether or not Diana Chiem was real.

My best guess at David's murder would be something similar to the conundrum he believes himself to be in at the Chapter 2 Trial. He broke his speaker's facade in front of this special listener, and the despair that his words caused them led to their death (although again, this one may not be a suicide). Based on that situation, he may have said the thing about being a piece of human garbage to himself.

I think "Star in the Night" is also an interesting hint at where his first song may be headed. In the nighttime, stars are beautiful and visible, the subject of many songs, poems, and pieces of art. They guide people's way. Stars are typically thought of in the night, because, in the daytime, they're useless and invisible, and pale in grandeur next to a real source of brightness, like the sun (I know that the sun is a star, but you get my point). I suspect that David's MV may focus on him, "the star," only within the context of being in his element, "the night," and leave us to wonder what David is like when he's not on stage.

PRISONER 04: Whit Young

Trial 1 Song Title: Mind the Gaps Crime Location: Park Special Image: Whit analyzes what are likely dating profiles ("Analyzing profiles..."), looking bored Murder Method: Whit uses a gun to shoot Es through the heart Voice Reveal: Yo! Whit Young, nice to meet you. Are you really sure everyone here is a murderer? That's wack. I don't remember doing anything suspicious! Yesterday was normal, the day before that was normal, the day before that... the day before that... My mom's really amazing. I love her a lot. I would do anything for her."

Whit is... complicated. In canon, the death he's associated with is the death of his mother, which he reveals in the Chapter 2 Trial (assuming he's telling the truth about that). With the title Mind the Gaps, I thought the story could have something to do with the gaps in the story he tells people while pretending that his mom isn't dead.

Given the rest of the information, though (I WROTE THIS PART BEFORE THE VOICE REVEAL CAME OUT), I've started to think that his murder will be about something else. Like, I don't think his mom was particularly in the market for dating profiles, and even if so, I doubt Whit would be the one picking through them. No, his crime seems to have something to do with his profession as a matchmaker.

I also have my doubts about Whit using a literal gun to kill his victim (where would he get that? mastermind Whit interpretations goin wild), so I believe that it may be more of a "playing cupid" type scenario. Thus, my next idea was born: Whit, in his joking nature, accidentally told one of his clients something along the lines of them being unlovable and how hard it would be to find a match for them, and they fell into such despair that they killed themselves!

...What the hell does the park have to do with that? And, what about the victim's lack of removed shoes?

So, here's idea #3: Whit set up one of his clients on a date with a bad person. He took his innocent client and, whether due to a lapse in judgment or straight up negligence, he set them up with a stalker/serial killer type. Maybe he even told them to go on a date to the park specifically. When his client turns up dead, the question becomes, "how much responsibility did Whit have to screen the date before he set them up together? How much fault is Whit at for the innocent's death?" That sounds like a Milgram-y enough question, right?

...AND THE VOICE REVEAL COMES IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!!!

Uhhhhh, idea #4! Basically the same as #3, but his client was actually his mom (his dad being fully absent in this AU, not just working abroad). He sets his mom up on a date, the date is sketchy and kills her, and then Whit kills that date out of revenge. He could even use a real ass gun in this iteration. Whit loves to repress and ignore things that bother him, so all that talk about "not remembering doing anything suspicious" could be a lie.

Goodness gracious, Whit, you're really taking me on a rollercoaster here. Truly wack.

PRISONER 05: Ace Markey

Trial 1 Song Title: Unstoppable Crime Location: City Street Special Image: Ace looks at the night sky from atop his motorcycle Murder Method: Ace runs away from Es, who appears to have suffered from a collision Voice Reveal: "Tch. Ace Markey. You wanna fight?! Wait, fuck, you probably have weapons, don't you?! Shit, don't get any closer! You think I'm a murderer? Horseshit! Get off your fucking high horse! ...Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, shit shit shit, FUCK!"

...So, I'm just going to assume that we've replaced Ace riding horses with Ace riding motorcycles in this story? They're both risky and wild, but motorcycles are much easier to get into more common settings. There are some hilarious references to horses in the dialogue, but I'm not getting the impression of any physical horses yet (what a weird sentence to type), so I'm rolling with this.

That being said, I'm kind of at a loss here. Everything seems to be set up with the assumption that Ace committed a hit and run with his motorcycle, but I find it hard to believe that that's the case for two reasons. The first is that I just don't think it's complex enough of a moral debate for Milgram-- like, yeah, he's definitely guilty if it was just a normal hit and run, although obviously not to a death penalty degree. I feel like discussion would be more about trying to figure out exactly what an innocent or guilty verdict means in his case than dissecting what he did.

The second is that Ace isn't riding a motorcycle in his murder method. The text specifically mentions him "running away." Obviously, a motorcycle is a lot more complicated to draw than a knife or a baseball bat, but if it literally was the murder weapon I see no reason why Ace couldn't have been pictured with that prop. Also, the murder method images didn't even have to be drawn in this case, so, take that!!! (/lh)

However, if it's not a hit and run, what exactly is going on with his murder method? Was someone trying to steal his motorcycle, and he just knocked them over and they hit their head on something? Did he accidentally (or purposefully) lure his victim into oncoming traffic? Where was he going on that starry night?

The only real insight I have is into the song title, Unstoppable (omg, Raise a Suilen collab? /ref). In canon, Ace feels his life is very out of his control; he's anxiously stuck with a job he hates, his diet is determined by his eating disorder, and nobody seems to side with him even when he was almost killed. I have a mental image of the first trial MV focusing on him taking his motorcycle on a ride to nowhere in particular, just lost in the speed and his fear of how the cars could hit him at any moment. The whole vibe would be very similar to the "pressure, pressure"s of Backdraft.

Don't know how accurate that'll be, but I wanted to say something at least vaguely smart for Ace. Hopefully I succeeded?

PRISONER 06: Nico Hakobyan

Trial 1 Song Title: Fight or Flight Crime Location: Locker Room Special Image: Nico plays with a cat using a pink mouse toy while standing in a puddle of water. Murder Method: Sitting on top of them, Nico pushes Es's head onto a wire Voice Reveal: "Uhm... Nico Hakobyan. I'm- I'm really sorry! You're pretty weird. Ah! I'm sorry! Don't get mad at me! ...Why should I own up for the mistakes that someone else made?!"

Nico's murder almost certainly has something to do with their gender identity. We learn in Chapter 2 that Nico is nonbinary, and locker rooms are an incredibly common place for LGBTQ+ people (especially amab ones, I think, although it's not confirmed that's what Nico is) to be bullied for their genders and/or sexualities. I would not be at all surprised if, similar to how they (allegedly) treated Ace, Nico's murder is them getting back at one of their bullies. That would also make sense with the title Fight or Flight, and "making up for mistakes that someone else made." Nico had been tolerating the bullying for a while, just running away, before choosing to fight back in retaliation.

Although the special images tend to be real (like, Yuno's image wasn't of her buying balloons because the balloons were just a metaphor), I can't help but feel like the special image is largely meant to be an analogy to the murder itself. I mean, how many cats are usually hanging around in wet (presumably) high school locker rooms?

We know that Nico's weapon was some sort of wire, which reminded me of the strings that often appear on dangling cat toys like what I imagine Nico playing with. Basically, I see the image as representing how Nico extended their more mousy personality out into the world, making them a great target for feral bully cats that wanted to eat them up. However, Nico isn't really the mouse-- they're the person, the one who has the true power over the cat in this situation. Their old personality becomes the trap that they use to lure the cat into a false sense of security, and therefore what kills the bully in the end.

I have no idea where the physical wire would have come from in this situation, though. I assume that Nico couldn't have taken it from Hu in this universe (again, assuming that's even what happened in canon), and I don't think there are usually giant, sharp wires just hanging around in locker rooms. There weren't in my high school, at least. Maybe it could be, like, a towel or something? A lanyard? Those would probably look different, though. I guess we'll just have to see.

PRISONER 07: J Rosales

Trial 1 Song Title: Showtime Crime Location: Bridge with camera equipment Special Image: J tries to block the camera from taking a picture of her while several more shutters flash in the background Murder Method: J points a remote control at Es, who has fallen to the floor with contorted limbs Voice Reveal: "J Moreno. What do you people really want? Ransom money? There's no way you're doing this just because you want to "judge our sins" or whatever bullshit you're saying. Don't make me laugh. Find evidence I killed anyone, and then we can talk about murder. Do you really think you're going to understand everything I've been through, just with a silly little song? How arrogant are you?! ...What happened to her was nothing short of a tragedy. Sorry, but I will make no further comment."

Especially given the Voice Reveal quote, I think it's likely that J killed her mother, Mariabella Rosales. The fact that J is still using her stage name and gives talks of ransom money imply to me that, like in DRDT canon, J is working in the theater/movie industry, but trying to pretend that she isn't the daughter of a famous celebrity-- same with the special image seeming to be her avoiding the papparazzi.

The bridge with camera equipment was, in my opinion, most likely a movie set where J and Mariabella were working together. It's unfortunate that they had to be filming on a bridge that day, as I'd reckon that falling off that bridge may have been how Mariabella died. If true, the question then becomes, "how did Mariabella wind up falling to her death?" Ah, we're back into the Kazui zone with this one.

Unless Mariabella is a robot, I really doubt that the remote did anything to her directly. So, the remote is possibly doing what remotes typically do: turning on a TV of some kind. I think that J might have shown Mariabella a video or presentation of some kind that caused Mariabella to react in such a way that she fell off the bridge.

As for what the video is, I'm not sure. Mariabella being part of some kind of scandal isn't something that's been explored in DRDT, but involving her in one would be totally fair game for an AU like this. Thus, J could have been trying to blackmail her mother. Alternately, maybe J was really trying to communicate to Mariabella how miserable being her daughter had made J for her entire life. Then, the shock caused Mariabella to react negatively.

It's possible Mariabella jumped off of the bridge in despair herself, but the shoes once again lead me to believe that wasn't the case. Instead, I think it's possible that A) the shock caused her to accidentally back up too far and fall over, or B) J and Mariabella started arguing physically, and J either accidentally pushed her off the bridge, or backed her into the railing to the point that she fell.

This whole concept is a little surreal, but stranger things can happen in Milgram, I think. It's the most sensible way I can see to piece together all of the evidence so far, but I wouldn't be surprised to be disproven.

PRISONER 08: Rose Lacroix

Trial 1 Song Title: Still Life Crime Location: Dining Room Special Image: Rose sits, upset, in a room full of her personal paintings that she chose to destroy Murder Method: Rose looks away from Es, who is choking on the floor next to an opened jar Voice Reveal: "Mmmm... Rose Lacroix. Zzzzz... Yeah, I killed someone. This really isn't that bad. At least I can paint here. ...I wonder if I can be happy now."

Let me take this moment to express how much I appreciate all of the great puns in the song titles. Still Life is such an awesome title for a song about Rose. It's a genre of painting, obviously; perhaps one that the Spurling Foundation forces her to paint frequently. But, it also hints at how Rose feels stuck in life, like time is just passing her by as she paints passionless masterpieces. And yet, it's still life-- she's not dead, even if she might feel like it sometimes. So cool.

Anyways, the special image is definitely a reference to when Teruko witnesses Rose paint a beautifully haunting portrait, only to cover it up with black paint so that the Spurling Foundation, who she's contracted to, wouldn't own her personal art. That also means that Rose was still likely an art forger in this universe. This is not necessarily true of prisoners like Levi, who may have not acquired the skills associated with their canonical Ultimate talents yet.

Rose has a lifetime of debt to make up for after being arrested as an art forger, but still hates being chained to the Spurling Foundation and slaving her life away making art she hates. In this universe, I think Rose probably killed Richard Spurling in hopes of being free of her contract. Maybe the contract was "until the end of his life," so if she ended his life early, she could be free without keeping all of the debt she was saddled with before joining the Foundation.

I think the weapon is probably Rose's custom weapon, the turpentine. Turpentine can have... a lot of varying abilities, depending on how much you look into it, but I'm pretty sure that ingesting it would lead to you poisoning yourself. Rose might have slipped the turpentine into Richard's drink to kill him, hoping that it wouldn't lead to her getting arrested for a second time under an even worse crime. Fearing that level of imprisonment, Milgram could seem kind of nice, right?

PRISONER 09: Hu Jing

Trial 1 Song Title: High Strung Crime Location: Unknown room with zither in it Special Image: Hu plays the zither Murder Method: Hu strangles Es with both hands as they choke out blood Voice Reveal: "H-Hu Jing. I know what I did was unforgivable... I really am selfish... I'm scared of receiving the punishment I deserve. Please Forgive me! ...Wake up! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Hu's case definitely seems to be missing a lot of information thus far, and whether that's intentional on her part or not has yet to be seen. Given that she seems to be afraid of punishment (which itself is intriguing, given that her DRDT hidden quote includes "but even then, I want to pay for what I did"), I could definitely see her trying to reign in any evidence that might make her look bad.

Both her crime location and special image are strongly connected to the zither, the instrument she loves to play. I'm not sure how that connects to the murder, given that it's not like she's shown bashing Es' head in with the instrument. Instead, she uses her hands to grab Es' neck, just like she might grab the strung neck of the zither. Is it possible she became so stressed, so high strung, that she mistook a human for a zither? That seems a little far fetched, even to me.

However, perhaps those images are trying to show that, prior to this point, all that Hu did in her life was play the zither. If we went on the route that her parents were super overprotective and wanted her to devote her entire life to music, maybe they trapped her in that room to play (Toya Aoyagi moment). One day, she wanted her freedom and snapped, killing her parents, which she immediately regretted.

That is... a lot of speculation. But, even in DRDT itself, Hu's backstory is largely unknown, other than that she cares about her family's intentions a lot, wants peopel to rely on her, and has the anglicized name "Julia." (I imagine that, because of this, it may have been hard to design her murder for this AU. Godspeed.) Especially given that Min's murder in this AU seems to be based on the "poison the competition" secret, we can also speculate that Hu's backstory includes the "hopeless child" secret about attempting suicide three times. If Hu was suicidal as a child, perhaps that would give her parents an additional reason to keep her safe and within arm's reach? Or, maybe it was being held in captivity that led her to try to take her own life three times over.

I'll stop spitballing about Hu now. Looking forward to seeing where this one goes.

PRISONER 10: VERONIKA

Trial 1 Song Title: Bloodletting, The Horror Inside Us Crime Location: Rooftop Special Image: Veronika stands in a dark room with blood all over the floor Murder Method: Veronika kneels with her hands on her chest in front of Es' mangled, bloody body, one of Es' shoes removed Voice Reveal: "My name is Veronika Grebenshchikova! If you don't mind, could you choose not to Forgive me? Death sounds boring. I'd rather stay alive, if you don't mind! To Forgive what I did... it would be denying everything I believe about my life... [Cackling laughter, that trails off with a wheeze] I really am a monster..."

(I know I put a warning for suicide and self harm at the beginning, but it gets extra intense and graphic in this section, so please beware.)

What a long song title! A fun one, though. It makes me wonder if Veronika's MV will have some kind of leech imagery in it. That's what my mind jumped to, anyways.

Speaking of blood, let's talk about Veronika's special image. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that the blood on the floor belongs to the victim, but I actually think it's Veronika's blood. It's widely speculated that Veronika has the "harm yourself for fun" secret, and some people particularly say that her arm coverings are meant to cover up self harm scars on her arms. If, one day, she got particularly out of control, she could have wound up dripping her own blood all over whatever room that is. A dark interpretation for sure, but both Milgram and DRDT are too.

And, hey, we finally have an Es with shoes off! (...That feels like a really terrible thing to celebrate :((( ) I wouldn't have necessarily expected it from Veronika's crime, but it gives us a solid piece of information to theorize off of. Here's what I think might have happened.

I think that Veronika was super depressed/bored one day, and on the edge of suicide herself. Her friend (you know, the one who gave her the earring whose name I can't remember-- she/her pronouns, I think?) came over to help Veronika and try to save her life. However, whether due to the horror of seeing Veronika surrounded in her own blood or some deeply depressing, nihilistic words that came from Veronika's mouth, Veronika turned the tables and caused her friend to become suicidal instead. So, the friend went up to the roof, and jumped off of it.

However, when Veronika found her friend, she didn't react in tragedy. Instead, she found the results of her actions incredibly interesting, and skipped the horror movies phase straight to being fascinated with death itself. Death finally gave Veronika's life worth, and upon making this realization, she saw herself as a monster.

...Hopefully I wasn't just being incredibly edgy for no reason there. It is the course of actions that I find most plausible at this point, but also, I don't really see how there would be that much of a guilty/innocent argument here? Like, if Veronika firmly planned to do something like this again, then I don't see why an innocent would be viable, even if it was an accident the first time.

I also find it really interesting that she says that she wants a Not Forgiven verdict, but also says she doesn't want to die. Does she have reason to believe that an Innocent verdict would lead to death? Most people usually assume the other way around, if anything.

(Extra severe suicide/self harm warning over.)

PRISONER 11: Arei Nageishi

Trial 1 Song Title: Life's Queens Crime Location: Bowling Alley Special Image: Arei looks in at her unevenly cut hair in a bathroom mirror Murder Method: Arei hits Es in the head with a bowling ball Voice Reveal: "Arei Nageishi! Pfft! God, you're pathetic! Why the hell are we even here? How could anyone be stupid enough to do anything but Forgive me? Are you really that much of an idiot?! ...WHO'S THE WEAK ONE NOW, HUH?!"

Yeah, I can see how Arei's backstory could lend itself to murder as is. Given how similar her special image is to that one CG in Chapter 2, it definitely seems like the bullying from Arei's sisters persisted.

The fact that the title of the song is Life's Queens, plural, I would suspect that both sisters (why can I not remember their names) are probably victims here. Like, the song might start off with the two of them being the queens of life, but after Arei kills them, then she becomes the new queen.

The most interesting thing to me is that the crime location is in a bowling alley. That's a really public location. Did Arei kill her sister(s) while other people were watching? At the very least, you think it'd be caught on some kind of camera. That definitely speaks to the crime perhaps being a crime of passion, where Arei didn't plan to kill her sister(s) until the bowling ball was in her hand and the rage was coursing through her body.

But also, why were her sisters even there in the first place? Did they come to humiliate her while she was practicing her hobby? Exactly how much of a professional bowler is Arei in this AU? It'll be interesting to learn that as more information comes out.

PRISONER 12: Eden Tobisa

Trial 1 Song Title: Alarm Bells Crime Location: Bedroom full of clocks Special Image: An exhausted Eden sits at a work bench in front of several analog clocks that all read 6:00 Murder Method: Eden covers her eyes while the roman numeral for 6 (VI) glows on her hand, while Es lies on the floor Voice Reveal: "Uhm... Eden Tobisa. Even when things are looking down, we just have to try our best, and trust each other! I... I never wanted anyone to die! Es... why are you doing this? ...Wh-what have you done?!"

I definitely think it's an important detail that the clocks on Eden's desk are analog. Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that Eden has stated that she has a preference for making unique, detailed, antique-style clocks that could one day become a family heirloom. Analog clocks are clocks with faces and inner gears and such, which means that, unlike Rose (or even Mikoto, maybe), I don't think Eden is being forced to do work she doesn't enjoy. That doesn't mean she couldn't be unhappy at the quantity of work in front of her, but at least she shouldn't hate it at its core.

...Is the murder method magic???

No, seriously, what the hell is going on with Eden's glowing hand? Is it important that it's in Roman numerals as opposed to the Arabic numeral 6? Although Eden isn't prisoner 6 (that would be Nico; seems irrelevant?), there definitely seems to be an emphasis on the number 6 (VI) in Eden's story. I'm not coming up with anything particularly related to 6 in Eden's backstory. So, what gives?

My strongest idea is that... maybe Eden had to tell somebody that they were running out of time in some capacity (either on a project or in their life), and it caused the other person to die of shock? I guess that could be the girl she kissed, or someone else who she surprised with her canonical lesbianism. Although, someone dying of shock that Eden is gay would make Eden pretty obviously innocent, in my opinion.

For what it's worth, I do mostly believe her when she says that she didn't intend for anybody to die. The hand covering her eyes might imply that she was blind to the consequences her actions might have had. Not to say that covering your eyes can fully absolve you of guilt for a crime, of course. I wonder where you got that idea from, particularly for Eden...

PRISONER 13: Min Jeung

Trial 1 Song Title: 100% Perfection Crime Location: Untidy bedroom Special Image: Min is slumped over a desk, at which she had been writing the chemical formula for tetrodoxotin (thank you reverse image search) Murder Method: Es lies on the floor clutching at their neck as Min yells into a phone, "ln(x³ - 2 . 13) = 0" written on her arm Voice Reveal: "Min Jeung. This is ludicrous. How are we meant to expect a fair judgment when your "justice" is determined by one person's whims and biases? When an institution is non-functional, it is highly illogical to indiscriminately tear it down. Improving the basis already in place is by far the most constructive way to conduct process. There is no country in the world in which I would be judged a murderer. To say one person has the authority to decide that I am is a flagrant display of vanity. ...The condition has been met. There is no need for further intervention."

Fuck you for making me remember high school calculus (/lh). The answer is x = -1.042, if it's at all relevant to the story.

I truly expect it's a random equation, but in case it's relevant, I'll say what I think the answer could mean. It would make more sense if the answer had an "i" in it, representing an imaginary number created by taking the evenly-numbered root of a negative number, but because we have an odd numbered root, it doesn't. Anyways, you could read the answer as "negative: won zero for two." Basically, if there were some kind of match or competition that Min was in, she could see it as a negative that she won zero out of two times, AKA that she lost twice. Again, the actual answer is probably irrelevant, especially given that you only get this answer if you choose to round to three decimal places, but this is Milgram. Even the most unexpected of elements can be important to the story!

Not to mention, themes of competition are likely relevant to Min's story. Although it's debatable whether Hope's Peak Academy and the title of Ultimate Student exist in this universe, we know that Min's backstory involves her entering an academic competition in order to secure status for herself and money for her struggling family. Many people also theorize that her secret was one about poisoning the competition in order to get ahead. Combined with the formula for tetrodoxotin, a poison found in pufferfish that's more lethal than cyanide, it seems very likely that this is the path that Min's story is headed down.

However, I do believe that Min is largely telling the truth when she says that she wouldn't be judged a murderer in any country. Min should have been busy participating in whatever competition she was in, which means that someone else would have taken the action to actively poison the competitors, taking the blood off of Min's hands. However, the crime would have been committed for Min's sake, and Min may have even directed them to carry out the attack over the phone. She at least would have been aware of the plan, if you assume that the "condition being met" was her winning, and the "further intervention" would have been more poisoning. I'm not sure what exactly XF-Ture Tech would get out of helping Min in this situation, but perhaps we'll hear more about it later.

PRISONER 14: Xander Matthews

Trial 1 Song Title: Will of the Many Crime Location: Entire City Special Image: Xander rallies a crowd from atop a simple chair Murder Method: Xander stabs Es in the gut with a knife Voice Reveal: "Alexander Matthews. Just call me Xander. Don't you see how broken this entire system is?! What makes you think you hold a monopoly over morality, huh?! What gives you the right to Forgive or Not Forgive?! When something is rotten, you throw it away. It's the same with this twisted place! ...Warden? ...Ah... haha... I did it... You all can finally rest..."

We might be back to our good buddies the Spurling Foundation here with Xander. After all, he also has beef with the Spurlings, as they were the ones who polluted the water(?) in Xander's hometown while he was studying abroad, causing his family and hometown to die excruciating deaths. It would make sense if his friends and family were the ones he was saying could finally rest, after he led a rebellion against the Spurling Foundation and killed Duke.

Xander calling out to the Warden also makes me believe more strongly that this is what's going on. As DRDT enjoyers should be able to tell, Es is represented by Mai in this AU, and Mai (assuming she is Unnamed Student) was the one on the bus talking to Xander when he first revealed his backstory to us, the audience. In that video, she urged Xander to not get too caught up in negative memories involving the incident, nor to put himself in danger trying to enact revenge. If Mai remembers this universe's version of that conversation, on some level, it would make sense that she might look crestfallen that Xander acted on his impulses in her absence, and that Xander could notice that. I am assuming an emotion onto Mai, here, but I think it's likely what was implied?

Making the crime location the entire city, though, is... a bit intense? Even as an attempted murderer in canon and a basically confirmed murderer in this AU, I don't think that Xander is a huge fan of causing the deaths of innocents. In fact, the Spurlings killing innocents is what got him so riled up in the first place. Thus, I wouldn't think he'd tell his group to raze an entire town-- maybe if it had turned into, like, a Spurling-operated factory city, but even then, there'd be a lot of innocent employees in the line of fire. Perhaps the city could indicate that Xander's group had to hunt for Duke through the city, and Xander just happened to be the one to find him?

PRISONER 15: Charles Cuevas

Trial 1 Song Title: Chain Reaction Crime Location: Laboratory table with test tubes Special Image: Charles desperately kneels in front of a grave Murder Method: Es stands in a pool of blood with a question mark above their head, and Charles is fully absent Voice Reveal: "Charles Cuevas. I was hoping the Warden would be competent, at least, but clearly I was a fool to think that could ever be the case. Are you stupid?! Warden... Es... I have a request. ...Hgh... Ack!... kch [sharp inhale]"

Aha, classic Charles forgor moment. This will make for an interesting premise, indeed.

What I mean to say is, in DRDT canon, we know that Charles has childhood amnesia, as well of a debilitating fear of blood and dead bodies. These traits originated from the death of his brother, Elliot, and (in DRDT, at least) likely had something to do with dogs. However, Charles doesn't remember any of that happening until an outside source tells him about it. Therefore, it seems very likely to me that the question mark and Charles' absence is meant to represent that Charles doesn't remember what exactly his crime was, sort of like Mikoto.

It seems like Elliot's death will be Charles' fault, somehow. It might have something to do with the test tubes on the laboratory table that make up the crime location-- after all, it would be pretty irregular for dogs to be in that location, and we know little enough about the canonical dog incident that it may have been more convenient to make up something new. It could be an accidental poisoning, I guess? Or, maybe Charles accidentally caused some sort of explosion that Elliot needed to save him from, thus bringing some more blood and gore for Charles to be afraid of into the situation.

My other main point of interest is that special image. At first glance, it seems simple enough-- Charles is sadly visiting his brother's grave. But, there are a few contradictions in that interpretation. It isn't mentioned that Charles is a child in the picture, so I'm assuming the silhouette is of his current, adult, 20-ish form. Unless the crime was time shifted for purposes of the AU, Elliot should have died long ago. That means that it wouldn't have been the funeral, or, more importantly, anything that Charles would have been able to block out with his childhood amnesia. If the event is the same as DRDT, 20-something Charles shouldn't know that Elliot exists, much less the location of his grave or that he should be sad about Elliot's passing. So, what's going on here?

The simplest answer is just that Charles' crime was time shifted, and instead of childhood amnesia, it's 20-ish amnesia. The special image could be almost the exact moment where Charles forgot it all due to his trauma. I don't think we have enough evidence to theorize about anything counter to that at the moment, so I'll stick with it.

You can't leave me on a cliffhanger like this with that request, though!!! Is Charles going to try to strike a deal with Es like Kotoko did in t1? If so, what could it be? I'm so curious. Why is Charles Prisoner 15 aaaaaaaaa (/lh)

PRISONER 16: Teruko Tawaki

Trial 1 Song Title: Armageddon Crime Location: ??? Special Image: Teruko reaches out to a dark figure in a void of bright light Murder Method: Es lies as if in a coffin before a calm Teruko, who has a question mark on her left hand Voice Reveal: "Teruko Tawaki. Are you okay? You don't need to know anything about my crimes. I'm unforgivable. That's all you need, right? If you can find a way to do it... just kill me. ...[sigh] Why did I ever get my hopes up?"

And now we have Teruko to bring it all home! My, uh... my brain has been running a little wild on this one, so here's your warning to leave now before the delulu truly sets in.

...

Okay, your fate is now sealed. To talk about Teruko, I think it might be helpful to talk about our Warden at the same time.

WARDEN: Mai "Es" Akasaki

Song Title: Undercover Cover Song: Hibana Notable Characteristics: Covered left arm that Es doesn't want anyone to touch Special Phrase?: "This is not what I wanted"

Knowing canonical Mai (I say "knowing" as if her two canonical speaking roles aren't technically still a theory), she has a flower tattoo on her left arm. In Teruko's murder method image, she has a question mark on her left hand, very similar to how some believe that Teruko is also covering up a flower tattoo on her left arm in canon. Additionally, Teruko's special image really reminds me of this second anniversary art by DRDTdev, in which Teruko is reaching out to, who else, but Mai? (Nobody else wears gloves like that, to my knowledge.) Bringing attention to these details makes me think that they are very connected in this AU. In fact, I think it's possible that Teruko's victim was Mai.

While I don't have a link to one in particular, I know that there are theories floating around out there that Milgram is some kind of purgatory. If this AU follows that concept, then it would be totally fine if Mai was dead. This "Es" form of her would be reincarnated, which would be why they mostly look like Milgram's Es, but have red highlights and pointy eyes reminiscent of Mai. Other than the outfit, it seems like Milgram's wardens don't have to look like our Es, which means that, theoretically, there should be nothing stopping Mai from appearing exactly like herself. Whatever process Mai used to bring her ghostly self into Milgram might have messed up her appearance slightly, while the other students are prisoners who get to retain their unique looks.

Yeah, I said "bring herself into Milgram." I think Mai may haven been the one to bring all of the prisoners to the facility. Have you ever heard of the DRDT time loop theory? Based on some of Veronika's dialogue in the prologue, as well as hidden text on the DRDT Tumblr page, some people believe that the story of DRDT is a time loop, in which the students have been repeating this killing game over and over. Again, I don't have a link for this, but I think I've seen some versions of the theory where it was to protect them from something, maybe Ultimate Despair?

In this AU, I think Mai might have done something to bring the prisoners into Milgram for the same reasons the time loop might exist-- to protect them from something. Could have been whatever legal repercussions they would face for their crimes, or could have been a feared corruption of their personality. The first probably makes more logical sense, but the second would fit with what I wrote about Xander calling out to her. Could be both, also. Either way, MonoTV and the Trial system forces her to judge them, potentially sending some of them to their deaths, resulting in something that wasn't what Mai wanted.

I'm really glad that I have to pull on crack theories from both Milgram and DRDT to pull this off.

Here's the quicker rundown: whether they were all in a class or not, Mai at least individually knew all of these people before her death. However, Mai was tragically involved in an incident of Teruko's causing, possibly due to Teruko's bad luck, and she passed away. As a ghost(???), she was able to look over the realm of the living, and see that all of her friends were doing way, way worse than how she left them. All of them were succumbing to the worst parts of themselves, and becoming murderers!! So, she made a wish: that she wanted to see all of her friends again, and protect them from themselves by letting them listen to her good judgment once more. The wish actually succeeded, but not in the way that Mai wanted. Mai wasn't allowed to be herself, and she wouldn't remember her friends, nor would they recognize her. Additionally, the judgment was codified into a system that seemed to only punish her friends or worsen their existing ideals. She might be able to save some of them, but, would it be worth it, if she has to harm the others along the way...?

Well, that's my answer. I'd say there's about a 5% chance I've just cracked the entire thing wide open, and a 95% chance that this will all be very embarrassing as soon as, like, Levi's VD comes out. I don't really like bringing ghosts and "wishes" into Milgram or DRDT when there's no evidence either of them are present in either story. But, despite it all, this is still a first look, so I can be a little silly here.

Either way, I had a lot of fun writing and thinking about it!

I commend you for all of the effort you've put into this AU project, and all of the work I'm sure you will put in the future (assuming you continue on your plans of at least making a first trial). Hopefully reading all of this will convey some of the excitement we have for following this AU.

If anyone wants to talk about their own theories or counter points, I can try my best, although it honestly might be better to wait until some more information comes out before trying to get too deep into things. Also, my hands are tired from typing all this out-- somehow, I always seem to have more to say than I think I do. This has been my first thoughts on FF's DRDT Milgram AU, you have been very strong to make it through I-don't-even-know-how-many-words of me rambling, and I am now going back to trying very hard to not sink a ton of time into thinking about DRDT related media.

Aaaaaaah, and now people are making DRDT x SDRA2 swap AUs? Right after I finished DRDTtober and swore that I would take a break from drawing DRDT for a little bit?! You people, I swear (/aff).

DRDT + Milgram AU: Undercover (Introduction)

Finally succumbed to the Urges and came up with ideas for a full Danganronpa Despair Time - Milgram AU, and now I feel like sharing. This means giving each character a MV + VD concept (not a full VD though I ain’t writing that much dialogue, and not a full MV because who do you think I am), plus this Undercover post! I’m not sure if I’ll commit to this for a full three trials, or I’ll just drop it after just one, but I can guarantee I’ll do this trial in full. Feel free to make analysis posts (no pressure obvs), but also obvs don't expect this to be that good, I'm doing this for fun.

And if you come from the Milgram side, uh... have fun? I am curious about what people with no prior conceptions of these characters would think, but I do recommend DRDT if you haven't watched it (the overlap between the fandoms is non-trivial, I imagine you'll like it). If not, you should probably look up the character designs at least, but be wary that there will be DRDT spoilers.

As an obvious disclaimer just in case, I am not affiliated with either DRDT or Milgram in any way, this is just a fanmade AU done entirely for fun.

Basic Concept

Pretty simple. What if the 16 students of DRDT were prisoners in Milgram? This means they're all "murderers" by some loose definition of the word, implying most of their backstories must be changed to acommodate for that. For the prisoner pairs, I just paired them based on the Chapter 1 recap. The rest is pretty self-explanatory provided you know how Milgram works; three trials, vote Forgiven/Unforgiven, etc. I won't repeat it all here. You can go to the official Milgram YT channel for more information if you're not familiar.

Meet Es

Although they are of unspecified adult age, this universe’s Es is very similar to canon Es from the main series, at least in appearance. The only differences are red highlights in their hair, as well as sharp yellow eyes and taller height. They also wear arm sleeves on both their arms, being particularly adverse to people touching the left one, and their voice is slightly higher pitch. As for their personality… well, you’ll have to wait for the VDs, right? But as a heads up, they’re quite a bit nicer than canon Es, though they can still get pretty strict with the prisoners.

(Can you tell who they’re connected to yet?)

Their uniform is the same as canon, including the band thing which in Milgram runes reads “reciffO eciloP”. The only difference is that their other band thing is longer and has the following runes:

(As a heads up, since there's no rune for 'q' I just used the rune for 'c/k' in its place. You probably don't need to translate it all to know what this says if you're familiar with DRDT lore)

Jackalope is replaced by DRDT canon MonoTV, no big changes to its personality. It still breaks the fourth wall and talks to an audience,which is odd for the prisoners (and Es) seeing as there is no audience in-universe (at least, that's what it claims).

*Es’ VD is mostly the same, besides changes in dialogue caused by the difference in personalities. The only real difference is that there is no ‘extra cell.’

*Cover is still Hibana.

Alright, let's get to the fun stuff.

Undercover

(It is highly recommended you know what the canon Undercover looks like before reading this, since a lot of it is pretty similar)

The opening is still the same minus Es' different appearance and MonoTV replacing Jackalope, and only starts changing when the prisoners begin showing up.

(Don’t- Don’t expect this to actually work as a song btw. I’m not insane enough to make that work)

UNDER Split in between decisions, my conscious is made up of torn stitches

Levi (01) holds a mostly neutral expression as he holds up his prisoner card, which displays his face alongside an image of an alleyway. His pose keeps changing slightly in smash cuts. Levi’s face darkens right before there’s a switch to the next prisoner.

(Note: I won’t mention the pose switching and the face on the card all the time, since that’s part of canon Undercover. Just assume it always repeats)

UNDER The beauty in simplicity, wilting with rising complexities

Arturo (02) has his chin up arrogantly at first, showing a prisoner card with a picture of a bathroom. He scoffs and turns around before the switch.

UNDER A liar? No, that’s wrong! My honesty shines like a star in the night

David (03) (speaker persona) smiles nervously, rubbing at his cheek with a finger. His card shows a bedroom. He covers his face with his free hand, sighing before the switch.

UNDER A sinner? No, you’re kidding! I’m innocent as can be, just don’t mind the gaps

Whit (04) throws a cheeky grin to the camera, doing a finger gun with his free hand. His card shows a park. He nervously rubs the back of his neck before the switch.

(Note: Yes I gave him 04 because of the tetraphobia thing sue me-)

UNDER With a fury and a passion, unstoppable, show them your fangs

Ace (05) snarls at the camera. His card shows a city street. He throws it to the floor angrily before the switch.

(Note: Sometimes I wasn't quite able to tie their talent to their murder, so it's either tangential to their story or has been replaced with something similar. I am mentioning this with Ace for... no reason in particular, sure, you'll believe that)

UNDER Your fears and anxieties, Respond to the stress, show me fight or flight

Nico (06) hides under the part of their cloak which looks like a scarf, peeking out nervously. Their card shows a locker room. They take a step back as the scene switches.

INSERT CHORUS HERE

UNDER Each existence is like no other, Lucky, unlucky, showtime reaches all

J (07) holds up her card with an unsatisfied expression. It shows a bridge surrounded by camera equipment. She rolls her eyes as the scene switches.

UNDER And yet, it’s all the same In the end, this wretched still life goes on

Rose (08) yawns as she holds up her card lazily. It shows a large dining room. The card slips from her hand as she falls asleep.

UNDER It’s too much, too much, I’m high strung, please forgive my sins

Hu (09) looks nervous, glancing around as if to find a place to hide. Her card shows a zither in a non-descript room. She drops her card, and closes her eyes with a pained expression, a hand on her chest.

UNDER Please do condemn me, Bloodletting, the horror inside us is what makes me feel.

Veronika (10) spins and gives the camera a bright smile as she pulls out her card. It shows a rooftop. She throws the card in the air dramatically, laughing as it spins around and falls beside her. Her eyes fall back on the camera, and she smirks menacingly.

UNDER Unopposable, incontestable Merry kings, life’s queens, for me they bow down.

Arei (11) is sticking out her tongue and looking to the side dismissively. Her card shows a bowling alley. She laughs into her hand before the scene switch.

UNDER My weakness haunts me, Alarm bells are ringing, there's no going back.

Eden (12) fidgets with her hands, shaking nervously. She hides her face behind her card as she shows it, but her teary eyes are still visible over it. The card shows a bedroom full of clocks. She cries into her hands before the switch.

INSERT CHORUS HERE

[The music winds down, a bridge of sorts. As it plays, a few scenes are shown, where only the characters’ silhouettes are visible, white noise covering them]

[01: A steaming kettle covers most of the foreground. In the background, Levi is seen sitting at a table, head slumped forward. Most of the table is visible, but no one else is in the frame]

[02: Arturo is seen to the left, holding a white turtle neck shirt in his hands. Behind him, an open suitcase sits on a bed, clothes splayed haphazardly around it]

[03: David stands alone on an empty stage, arms wide out. The spotlights are all on him. The entire stage and some of the front row seats are visible, with David’s silhouette only covering a small part in the center of the frame]

[04: A computer monitor covers almost the entire frame. There are countless photos and words, but they’re all too blurry to see, with the exception of a small message on top which reads “Analyzing profiles…” Whit is reflected on the screen, resting his head on one of his fists]

[05: Ace sits on a motorcycle, looking up and admiring the night sky which takes up most of the frame]

[06: Nico is crouched beside a cat, holding out a pink mouse toy for it to play with. Only their legs are visible, but there is a puddle of water under Nico]

[07: J has her palm spread out all over the screen, as if blocking the camera. There are flashes of light behind her, but the source is impossible to see]

[08: Rose sits slumped in a chair, hands on her face. All around her, dozens of canvases can be seen, painted entirely in black. Small bits of color poke out at the bottom, but no full paintings are visible]

[09: The camera is entirely focused on the top of a zither. Hu’s hand is visible, touching the strings with her plectra]

[10: Only Veronika’s footwear is visible over a dark floor. The rest of the scene is filled entirely by blood]

[11: Arei stands in front of a bathroom mirror. She’s holding the right side of her hair, the only part that’s visible. It looks very unevenly cut]

[12: Eden is holding her head in her hands, slumped over a work desk full of small machinery. Behind her are a multitude of analog clocks of various designs, all showing the same time; 6:00]

[13: Min is sitting on a chair, slumped forward and apparently collapsed over a notebook. A pen sits just beside her right hand. A bit of the writing can be seen, showing this:]

[The brown part being Min's hair. Don't make fun of me I'm using Paint and have zero art skills]

[14: Xander, the focus of the shot, stands in front of a crowd, standing on a simple chair. His fist is in the air, and so are the fists of everyone in the crowd]

[15: Charles is kneeling over a grave, the name on it hidden behind the silhouette. Charles is pulling at his hair with his hands. Other graves are visible around him, but the edges of the screen are darkened and it’s impossible to see them well]

[16: Teruko’s hand is reaching out to a black figure, this one without white noise. The figure is completely non-descript, more a simple shadow than a proper silhouette. Blinding white light surrounds this figure]

UNDER No mistakes, no corrections, 100% Perfection, results shall not vary.

Min (13) wears a neutral expression, and she holds her card perfectly upright. Her pose changes only to match the exact angles actual mugshots use. Her card shows an untidy bedroom. Before the switch, she lowers her hand, and looks briefly to the side, before turning back to the camera. When she does, her left eye flashes magenta behind her hair.

UNDER Fighting for true justice, Stand strong, a reflection of the will of the many

Xander (14) is glaring at the camera, moving his card around flippantly. Said card shows a window overlooking an entire city. Xander throws the card away before throwing a punch at the screen.

UNDER Leave no room to hide, No hesitation, a chain reaction of truth unfolds

Charles (15) looks serious, if a bit annoyed as he holds up his card. It shows a laboratory table with several test tubes. He turns his back to the camera, adjusting his goggles, but gives one last, softer look behind him as the scene switches.

UNDER Or shall the secrets remain? What lies beyond the lies, armageddon untold

Teruko (16) looks at the camera with cold eyes, but a hint of a frown on her lips. Her pose never changes; unlike everyone else, her segment is one continuous shot. It starts with her holding her card at an angle such that only her face is visible on it. She closes her eyes solemnly, before finally flipping her card around so only the backside is shown. It has the Milgram logo combined with the DRDT logo. She never shows the rest of the front of the card, as the scene switches moments after.

[Pre-chorus, as the prisoners hold their hands to their mouths before a scene of them smiling plays. At the end, for a few frames, a white camellia blooms, before there’s a sudden shift in scenery as we hit the final chorus. All the prisoners’ silhouettes have a still shot each with Es, with a blood splatter always under the latter. The scene starts to focus on each individually]

[Levi’s punching Es in the face, Es thrown to the floor from the impact. Brass knuckles are barely visible on his hand. Levi’s shouting, as are all the other prisoners]

[Arturo is kneeling, facing away from Es. The latter is laying on the floor behind him in what would be a pretty uncomfortable position. Arturo is holding his head in his hands, his mouth visible from the side and open in a shout. One of Es’ shoes is off]

[David is holding Es by the neck of their shirt, shouting at their face (from now on I’ll stop clarifying that they’re shouting). The following symbol appears over where his eyes would be, glowing yellow: 正]

[Whit is pointing what looks to be a gun at Es, who is recoiling as if they’ve been shot in the heart]

[Ace is seen running, Es’ body falling to the ground beside him and twisting as if they’d been bumped into]

[Nico sits on top of Es’ back. With one of their hands, they’re grabbing onto Es’ hair and apparently pushing it forward. With the other they’re holding two ends of a wire firmly planted on Es’ neck]

[J stands normally, pointing what seems to be a remote control at Es. The latter is face-up on the floor, their limbs contorted in unnatural angles]

[Rose is standing, facing away from Es, who is kneeling and grabbing at their throat. A small jar sits beside them, the cap taken off]

[While standing, Hu is grabbing Es by the throat with both hands, blood coming from the Warden’s throat]

[Veronika is kneeling besides Es’ face-up body. Her hands are on her chest, and there is blood under her as well as the Warden. Meanwhile, Es’ limbs are contorted in unnatural ways, and one of their shoes is off]

[Arei is violently swinging a bowling ball at Es’ head, causing their body to twist around as it falls]

[Eden is standing, covering her eyes. Her right hand has a Ⅵ symbol glowing bright yellow. Es is uncomfortably laying face-up on the floor]

[Min is standing with her back turned to Es, who is kneeling on the floor and grasping at their neck. Min is shouting into a landline phone. Along her arm, an equation glows bright yellow:

ln(x³ - 2 . 13) = 0]

[Xander is grabbing Es’ shoulder, plunging a knife into their stomach]

[Es is standing neutrally, but there is still blood on the floor. A glowing yellow question mark floats above them. Charles is nowhere to be seen]

[Teruko is kneeling calmly besides Es, who is lying face-up with their hands crossed over their chest as if in a coffin. A question mark glows on Teruko's left hand. Teruko is the only prisoner besides Charles who is not screaming]

[The song winds down while a sped up and translucent version of the video plays in the background. A shadow begins growing in the middle, and for just a moment, two sharp yellow eyes stare at the camera from the center of the screen. The finale simply has Es exiting to the left as they do in canon Undercover]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And there's Undercover! How we feeling? Hope you enjoyed! Take care!

#drdt milgram au #drdt #milgram #not tagging everyone like i said my hands are tired #venus and i have discussed doing stuff like this to keep the fandom entertained during hiatus #(although she's very busy with school rn so we aren't doing any of that currently)#so i am very excited to see your version of it! i am taking notes *eyes*#you deserve to receive really nice compliments and detailed analysis of your work #so hopefully i can provide some of that :)#and of course: standard practice for me if i say anything doesn't make sense it is with the knowledge i currently possess #i fully believe that anything that i said in this post that “didn't make sense” could make sense if properly supported by the writing #i would just be surprised. but that's not a bad thing! it's good if fiction is surprising sometimes!#i don't read mysteries to be predictably right all the time i read them to get lost in the sauce and occupy my mind for several hours #drdt spoilers #cw suicide #cw self harm #cw eating disorder #also i didn't translate the text on es' cape bc idk where the alphabet translation code went #someone else can do that if they please <3 i am curious

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im-an-anxious-wreck · 3 years ago

Text

Who Is It I See In The Mirror? (Who Is It That I Want It To Be?)

AO3 link

Summary: After his brother's death, Roman couldn't stand to see himself in the mirror. Roman just looked too much like… him, so he changed every similarity between himself and him that he could.

Now it had been 9 years, but Roman was still only just able to float by. His pristine appearance was so carefully crafted and oh so fragile.

So how will everything crash down when Roman sees someone who looks painfully like him?

Warnings: presumed past character death, crying, cursing, alcohol consumption, references to a past physical fight

Perspective/main characters: switches between Roman, Remus, and Patton

Side/secondary character: Logan

Mentioned: October [TS Shorts]

Romantic relationships: logince, intrulogical

Familial relationships(brothers): Roman & Remus, Patton & Logan

Word Count: 4,340

Link to my collection of TSS fanworks

Roman couldn't stand to see… his face in the mirror so he changed any similarities he possibly could. He, with an unsteady hand, cut his hair short, only leaving the top a bit longer. The brown was… not a good colour on Roman… yeah. So he dyed the top of his hair red, just because he liked red, not because it was the opposite of green, thank you very much. (Hadn't he used the same excuse time after time, even when he was a kid? Just so people wouldn't compare them. So Roman wouldn't get in trouble like Re—)

His green eyes and freckles all but mocked him, so he wore brown contacts, and put on the thickest foundation he could find. Green and black made him want to scream… or cry, so he got rid of any of his clothes in those colours.

And he couldn't stand the stubble that grew on his face so he stayed clean-shaven. If stubble sent him off he could only imagine what anything even close to resembling some hair across his upper lip would do.

He supposed one good thing about forcing himself to go out in public and pretend that everything was normal and that he didn't miss… him terribly was that he had to shower, he had to keep his appearance up. And he couldn't do that if he never changed his clothes, took a shower, did his hair and makeup, or shaved.

He couldn't allow himself to slip. It was a slippery slope and one wrong step would send him tumbling down at an alarming rate. Just like whe—

So no. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't allow himself to slip… he couldn't. He… he wouldn't have wanted Roman to. So he wouldn't. He wouldn't think about it… about him.

"Roman?" Roman's boyfriend, Logan, called out from the bedroom, tiredness evident in his voice.

"Yeah?"

Logan appeared at the open bathroom door. "Ah, there you are. Are… are you putting on makeup? Roman, it's…" —Logan checked the time on his phone, before slipping it back in his pajama pants— "7:36. I thought you didn't have anything you needed to do this morning."

"Oh, I don't. I just… like wearing makeup. Feels weird to be up and about without it… yeah."

Logan's expression went from exasperated to almost understanding. "Roman, you don't have to wear makeup when I'm here, you know that, right? I know we've only been dating for three weeks and five days, but all eight nights that I've spent here, you've always gotten up before me and put on makeup. You are, of course, free to do whatever you wish with your appearance, however you needn't worry about always quote-unquote 'looking your best' around me." Logan set his hand on Roman's shoulder, and Roman had to stifle a gasp at how warm Logan's hand was. "You can relax and figuratively let down your hair."

"Y— yeah. I… I know, Lo. I just… just can't." Roman pulled back and instantly missed Logan's touch. "I can't stand to see myself with… without makeup."

"Ah, I see. Would you like to talk about why?"

"Uh…" Gods, Roman was so pathetic. Even the thought of telling someone made his throat close up. "Not… not yet. Maybe… eventually, but I can't right now. 'M sorry."

"That's alright, Roman. You have absolutely no reason to apologize, and in fact, you don't have to tell me yet, or even at all, if you're not comfortable with sharing the reason."

"Oh, I— thanks. That really… really means a lot to me, Specs."

"Of course, your health and wellbeing are very important to me." Logan adjusted his glasses. "Would you like me to change the subject?"

Roman released the tension in his shoulders, causing them to slump. "Yes, please."

"Hmm… ah! Are you going to Patton's Halloween party?"

"Oh, yeah. That's tomorrow night, right?"

"Yes, it begins at six thirty. Costumes are optional but recommended."

"Yeah, I've got my pirate captain costume all ready."

"Excellent. I'll pick you up at six sharp then?"

"Are you sure? I can be the designated driver this time. You always are, and then have to take drunk me home, which I know is a big pain."

"Please, the worst you've ever done while drunk in my presence is when you tried to fight your reflection for, and I quote, 'the right to date the most charming nerd in all the land so get your ugly ass face away from him, you don't deserve him, you damn coward.' And besides, I prefer not to be inebriated. Oh, and I have class rather early the next morning, so having a hangover is not in my best interest."

Roman huffed. "You know, that was only one time, and the mirror deserved what it got, sooo…" What Roman had failed to mention, and had absolutely no plans to say, was that he'd somehow, despite all the work he put into not looking like him, had mistaken his own reflection for him anyway.

"Well, I suppose, for your health and safety, I should ask you to not get completely drunk, but a drink or two would be fine."

"Deal! Now, do you want to eat breakfast here, or at the Rosé café?"

The party was loud. Far louder than Roman really preferred, but he'd just have to grin and bear it… and maybe get a bit tipsy. That usually helped take the edge off everything.

He'd finished his first cup, and was just about to refill it when Logan disappeared, mumbling something about finding… someone. Roman wasn't exactly paying attention as people's chattering filled his ears and tried to drive an icepick into his brain.

Without Logan by his side, Roman was quickly becoming grumpy, and certainly not anywhere near drunk enough for faking cheer.

The next several minutes passed by in a blur of snacks and drinks… mostly beer, if he was being honest. He drank some soda too, probably, yeah. Yeah, he did, even if it was only as a mixer and the drink was at least half rum.

He personally didn't see what the hype about rum and coke was. Congratulations you just made watered down coke! But it did what he wanted it to do, get alcohol into his system.

Roman idly scanned the ever growing crowd and almost dropped his drink when he spotted a man that… oh no. He was already at the 'mistaking people and reflections for him' part of drinking. Roman had only had two cups… three? Four?? Well, a bit of alcohol, anyway.

The resemblance was uncanny, even as Roman's vision started to blur slightly.

The man had brown hair that laid in soft curls around his broad shoulders, and just like Re— Rogue, the top of his hair was a shocking white. Although his hair had never been longer than ear length. The guy even had a mustache that curled at the edges like his.

The man's shirt was a sparkling green, with puffy sleeves, and a green tulle sash. His silver crown glittered with faux emeralds, and he had an obviously fake Morningstar.

Roman couldn't help but feel like the general vibe was unhinged royalty, as Roman bitterly thought about how he would've loved a costume like that.

Gods, that would've been right up his alley.

Roman lost sighed of the Re— Rogue look alike, the person having disappeared through the many people standing about and talking.

Roman wandered through the party for a few more minutes until Logan appeared at his side, with another person in tow. Roman almost dropped his drink for the second time that evening.

"Hello, dear," Logan casually said, as if he wasn't holding hands with someone who made Roman want to cry and scream just by happening to look like him. "I hadn't realised that you two haven't met yet, and I thought it was about time my boyfriends met each other."

The Re— Logan's boyfriend looked at Roman, eyes widening, most likely at the no doubt sick look on Roman's face. "Uh—"

Nope. Absolutely not. Roman couldn't do this.

"Sorry, 'm too drunk for this right now. N— nice to meet ya." Roman called out behind him as he turned and high-tailed it over to the bathroom, dropping his cup in the trash on the way.

Shit, talk about bad first impressions. Roman would need to apologize to the both of them. But later, it'd… it'd have to be later.

Roman locked the bathroom door behind him and sat on the floor by the toilet, trying his best to not empty his stomach into it.

Ugh, Logan must be so confused, and that guy, Logan's boyfriend… geez. He hadn't even done anything, except bring up painful memories — but that wasn't even his fault!

A loud knock at the door startled Roman out of his thoughts.

"Hello? You okay in there, kiddo?"

Shit, it was Logan's brother, Patton. Okay, just get it together, Roman.

"October said you didn't look too good," Patton continued. "And Logan texted saying you ran off upset, so I just wanted to check on you."

Roman shakily stood and carefully walked to the door, but didn't open it. "U— uh, yeah, no yeah. I'm good. Just drank a bit too much and thought I saw… saw… anyway, 'm definitely good though."

"Roman, I know we don't know each other that well, or for that long, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here. Okay, kiddo?"

"I… thanks."

"Of course! Oh, would you rather I go get Logan?"

"No! Er, I mean, no, thank you. I was kinda… kinda rude to Logan and his boyfriend and Logan really should be there reassuring him that he didn't do anything wrong. I'm just… just very bad at coping apparently."

"Oh, you mean Re—"

Roman yanked open the door to find a very startled Patton. "What?"

"Uh, Remy? I think. Something like that anyway."

"O— oh." Roman's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Right, um… that— yeah."

Patton's eyebrows knit together with worry. "You sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I… I am. I just need to get a hold of myself. Sorry for bothering you, Patton." Roman said, belatedly realising that Patton was holding an unopened water bottle.

"Hey, you're not bothering me at all! Like I said, if you want to talk about it, I'm here… I would recommend going somewhere that isn't the bathroom though."

"Oh! Yes, that… yeah. Sorry."

"No worries! It's okay. My room should be nice and quiet. Oh! And here." Patton held out the water bottle. "I also have some water here for you to sip on. It'll help."

"Fuck!" Remus swore as soon as Roman was out of sight. "Fuck shit, potassium mayonnaise damn worcestershire butter brickle fuckhead!"

"Come on." Logan grabbed Remus' hand, leading him through the crowd, and to the empty, much more quiet back porch.

Remus, despite being upset, didn't argue with Logan until he pushed down on Remus' shoulders to make him sit on the large, wooden bench.

"What are you doing?!" Remus yelped.

"We needed to be somewhere quiet where we could figure out," —Logan turned the last part of his sentence into a question— "What in the four laws of thermodynamics just happened?"

Remus sighed, anger draining out of him, only to be replaced by the old, achy, and painfully familiar sadness. "Well, that… that was my brother, identical twin brother, actually, who I haven't seen in… god, years. We parted in… a less than stellar way. A.K.A. he hates my guts."

"Wait, Roman's brother? The one who died? Or was there a third sibling?"

"Wha— the one who died? I jus— oh. Oh shit. Oh fuck! He thinks I'm dead?"

"Yes. Although, he doesn't actually remember telling me that you supposedly died. He was quite inebriated at the time. I do know that it wasn't on purpose, and that he feels incredibly guilty about what he thought happened."

"So he didn't… didn't mean to— what… God, what happened? I mean, he… he just left."

"What?"

"After… after I fell. He left. I thought… he didn't— I just…" Remus sniffed. "Never knew he… I thought it was on purpose! I never understood why but I thoug— I actually thought he'd pushed me off on purpose. God.

"It took me a second to even… even recognize him. Like, he looks so different! I mean, he was wearing a pirate costume… but still. His hair was so different and it even looked like he was wearing contacts."

"Oh? Did he used to wear glasses?"

"No, I mean 'cause his eyes are green, like mine, but they looked brown. He sure was wearing a lot of foundation too…"

"Does… does he by any chance have freckles like you do?"

"Yeah, wait…"

"Hmm, I believe he might've been trying to change any similarities between himself and you then."

"Shit. But that really does explains the short, straight, red hair, and the brown eyes… and the lack of freckles." Remus sighed. "Damnit."

"So… I suppose the next step would be to find Roman and then you two could discuss what really happened."

"Oh, shit, Roman! We just let him run off."

"It's alright, dear. I wouldn't have let him go off by himself, while we traversed the house, I texted Patton. He's most likely still with Roman."

"Yeah… I— he's… probably not doing too great. But Patton's with him… so he's okay, yeah?"

"Yes, he is. Now, do you feel up to going and finding him now? Or do you need a bit of time to process?"

"Let's… let's go see him. I— I think I need to see that he's okay and hear directly from him that he doesn— doesn't hate me."

"Ah, perfectly understandable."

"Where do you think Patton would take him?"

Logan only had to think for moment. "His bedroom. It'd be nice and quiet there."

"Alright." Remus took a deep breath before standing and holding a hand out to help Logan up and off the bench. "Lead the way, my dear nerd."

Patton shut the door behind them, throwing away Roman's empty water bottle as he gestured for Roman to sit on the bed, and sat down next to him.

"So, kiddo… before we start, just a reminder that there's no rush, and you can stop at any time, okay?"

"I— okay, thanks, Patton. God, there's no easy way to say it."

"Just say what comes to mind. We can sort through it afterwards."

"Well… um, okay so, about eight or nine years ago, I… lost my brother. It was an accident! B— but I pushed him and he f— fell and then tonight Logan's boyfriend looked so very much like h— him and I just panicked and ran away…" Roman took a shaky breath. "God, the poor guy must be so confused."

"Oh my goodness, kiddo. That's awful! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Grief sure is a difficult thing. I can't even imagine. I mean, if I lost Logan like that… but this isn't about me. How can I help?"

"Help?"

"Yeah! It's okay if you don't know, but some options are a listening ear, so you can talk it all out; a distraction, so you don't have to think about it right now; or space alone, with the added option of me checking on Logan and Remy and letting you know how things are going there."

"I— you don't have to—"

"I know." Patton softly smiled at Roman. "I know I don't have to help, but I want to. So if there's any way I can help you feel, even just a bit better, then it's worth it… I know we don't really know each other very well yet, but I already know we're gonna become good friends! And friends help friends when they can."

Roman felt a bit choked up again. "Thanks, Patton. Just offering means a lot to me. And yeah, I… I think we'll be great friends too. Um, if… if you really don't mind…"

"I don't mind at all!"

"Maybe—"

Roman was cut off by the bedroom door flying open to reveal a man in a sparkly green royal costume with Logan a bit farther behind him.

The man, who Patton recognized as Logan's boyfriend, Remy —they'd only met once but Patton was pretty sure his name was Remy— stared at Roman, wide eyed, before he exclaimed, "Roman!"

He… but it couldn't… surely he wasn't actually… him, was he?

But the more Roman looked at him, the more he realised that he didn't think he could blame this guy looking like his brother on his grieving and tipsy brain this time.

It was… he was actually…

"Remus?" Roman all but whispered.

"H— hey, Ro-bro. Long time no see, huh?" Remus sadly said as he and Logan walked farther into the room.

"You— but… you're alive!?"

"Yep! It… it wasn't quite as far as it seemed. The uh, the mountain wasn't as s— steep as we thought."

"O— oh, that's… good."

"Yeah…"

Patton stood up. "You know, I think Logan and I are going to get back to the party. I hope your conversation goes well and just text us if ya need anything." Patton grabbed Logan's hand and began to drag him to the door, Remus sidestepping to get out of the way.

"What Patton said. Um… goodbye." Logan pulled the door shut behind them, the small click sounding much louder than it should've.

"S— so… you're alive," Roman said.

"I uh, I am… I— Logan had said that you thought I was dead. What… if I can ask, what happened that day? Er, from your perspective."

"Well… you— and this isn't an excuse! But you were always copying me and I don't know why but it was really bothered me that day, so I told you to stop and so of course you got defensive, you've always liked that we wer— are identical twins. And then, as you know, we got into a first fight because we were young and stupid and immature. And you pushed me hard, like really hard, I almost fell so I p— pushed you back a— and then you f— fell and ran like a complete asshat, I— I ran and tried so desperately to never look back."

"I…" Remus' voice was so quiet that Roman leaned forward to hear him better. "I only pushed you because you were going to fall."

Ice ran through Roman's veins. "Wh— what?"

"I— you got too close to the edge so… so I pushed you away from the edge, and you pushed back… and I just kinda laid there for a sec' in shock b— but I had waited too long to call out for h— help. You were already gone. I mean— I had my phone, but it took a while for the uh, the chopper to get there. And after you never showed up, even when I got out of the hospital… and then I couldn't find you no matter how hard I looked… I kinda just assumed that it was on purpose and that you... hated me."

"Hate you?" Roman sniffed, blinking back tears. "I have never once hated you. I only m— moved and changed my appearance b— because of grief, never because of any resentment t— towards you!"

Remus finally sat on the bed next to Roman. "I'm r— really glad. And for the record, I never hated you either."

"But, aren't… aren't you at least mad at me? You have every right to be. I p— pushed you o— off the mountain!"

Remus sighed, picking at a loose thread on his costume. "Don't get me wrong, I was angry for quite a while. But over time it faded. I thought you hated me, but even still, really I just… missed you.

"When I was… recovering… the entire time I kept thinkin'... kept waitin' for you to… t— to come back." Tears dripped down Remus' face. "I just wanted you to come back," he whispered, arms wrapped tight around his middle.

"I'm… I'm so s— sorry, Re. I never— Gods, I m— messed up so bad. I shouldn't h— have… I— fuck. I don't even… I d— don't know how t— to say how very s— sorry I am."

Remus gave a humourless laugh. "Yeah, the w— whole thing's kinda messed up, huh?"

"J— just a bit."

Remus scooted closer to Roman. " 'M glad you're h— here though."

"Really? You are?" Roman asked, his voice just above a whisper.

Remus gave Roman a sad smile. "Of course I am. It's all I wanted. I just wanted you back. That's all I've ever wanted, to have you by my side."

"That's… that's all I want too."

"Well, it's a damn good thing we found each other again and aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah, it is."

"Can— can we… can I hug you?"

Roman almost broke down crying again. "Please," he managed out before he was enveloped in the warmest and tightest of hugs.

God, he'd missed his brother.

They sat there for who knows how long, each brother clutching the other just as tight. But eventually their grip softened, Roman pulling back but latched onto Remus' hand.

"Sorry, just—" Roman began, but was cut off by Remus.

"Got a bit overwhelmed."

"Yeah, how—"

"You may have changed your appearance, but you're still Roman inside. I know how much you need touch desperately but also how too much for too long overwhelms you, so you need to pull back, but because you still want some contact, handholding is a great compromise."

Roman huffed. "Forgot how much of a know-it-all you are."

"Yeah! I know like, everything. Well, not everything, just basically everything. Like how dork actually means—"

"NOPE! Not today, Satan. Absolutely not."

Remus cackled, ducking when Roman let go of his hand to chuck a pillow at him. At Roman's pout, Remus just laughed and stuck his tongue out at Roman playfully.

"Oh, hey," Remus said, bouncing slightly on the bed. "Speaking of know-it-alls, how the hell did Logan not realise we were identical twins yet?"

"Well… that's a good question. I have a bit of an idea though. Like, first of all, he's never seen me without my makeup on and contacts in; second of all, we've only been dating for just under a month; but third of all… I kinda… may have… changed my last name."

Remus' jaw dropped. "You what?! Well no wonder I couldn't find you. What did you even change it to?"

"...Pr~" Roman mumbled.

"What?"

"Prince! I changed my last name to Prince, okay!"

Remus started snickering until he was full on cackling. "You ch— changed your name from King t— to Prince?" A few tears welled up in Remus' eyes.

"Wh— hey! It seemed like a good name when I was twenty, okay?"

"You demoted yourself? I can't!" Remus managed to get himself together, but his shoulders still shook with the force of his giggles. "Oh fuck, I can't believe you— Oh God, does that mean I should change mine to Duke? Then we'll match and both be demoted together."

Seeing Remus here, and so happy, to see him actually laughing… it made Roman want to cry with joy.

Roman quietly sniffed. "Hah, maybe you should."

Remus finally caught his breath, looking at Roman with that lopsided smile that Roman never thought he'd get to see again, but was oh so happy that he did.

"It's… it's gonna be okay, Ro-bro."

"Yeah, it really is, huh?"

"You wanna know how I know?"

"How?"

"Dogpile!" Remus exclaimed as he tackled Roman back onto the middle of the bed, hugging him tightly.

Roman hugged back just as strong. Yeah, they were going to be okay.

Remus lifted his head, a small frown on his face. "Did you change your smell? 'Cause you definitely didn't used to smell like this."

"Oh, yeah, I did. I would be surprised that you can tell after all this time but you've always had a great memory and sense of smell. I, uh, I might change it back now though."

"Good, lavender suits you much better than whatever the fuck is this."

Roman laughed. "You know, I don't even remember, I've changed it so many times. But lavender it is."

"Good." Remus nodded before laying his head back down.

Everything was calm and quiet, save for the music from downstairs that they could only just barely hear.

Remus sighed dramatically. "We should probably go down to where Lo-gen and Cow Patty is soon, but can… can we just stay here for a minute? I'm not… quite ready to move yet."

Roman gave his brother a squeeze and lifted one hand up to card through Remus' curls. "Of course, I'm not really ready to move just yet either. We can just chill for a while."

And maybe they fell asleep there, Logan coming to check on them an hour later only to find them snoring softly. Logan carefully laying a blanket on them.

Or maybe they got up after a few minutes and went down to the party, never once leaving each other's side as they laughed with their boyfriend and friends.

And it might take a while for Roman to loosen up on his appearance, a while until he can bare to look anything like Remus again. And yes, it might take a while for him to finally face the wall of grief and emotions that he'd been ignoring for 9 years, but it'd be okay. He had Remus back and that was enough. For whatever came their way, whatever got in their way, they could handle it, because they weren't alone anymore.

It doesn't really matter what happened next, because although this story is over, a new one has just begun.

Remus and Roman had each other now and wouldn't abandon each other ever again.

And for Roman, that was more than enough.

~The End~

No reposting, likes are nice and reblogs are very much appreciated! | Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @someoneiwasnt

#sanders sides #sanders sides fics #my fics #ts roman #tss roman #ts remus #tss remus #ts logan #tss logan #ts patton #tss patton #logince #intrulogical #creativitwins

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hookedonapirate · 4 years ago

Text

Trick or Treat

A/N: It feels so great to post again. I've been in a writing slump for several weeks now, so I wanted to write something short and sweet to get the writing juices flowing. Thank you @hollyethecurious for your ideas for the premise and @darkcolinodonorgasm for Killian’s costume!

Rated: Teen and up for mature language

“Well, that’s disturbing.” Emma grimaces at the zombie gnome with gnarly teeth, reaching out with dirt and blood covered hands like he's coming out of the ground to get them. Even though it's not real, the graphics are enough to give a kid nightmares.

“That’s so cool, Mommy!”

Well, any kid who’s not her seven-year-old son that is. Henry runs down the sidewalk, his oversized hat falling off his head. He’s a ball of energy most days, but tonight, he’s extra energetic, and he hasn’t even had any candy yet.

“Kid, your hat!” She follows after him, picking up his hat from the winding walkway which is lined with jack-o'-lanterns on each side. But as she passes each one, she’s surprised when she realizes these aren’t just typical jack-o'-lanterns with a mouth, nose and eyes carved into them. No, these are intricately crafted jack-o'-lanterns. One is carved into a haunted house, one is a graveyard full of ghosts, another looks like a skull from afar, but up close, it appears to be carved into long stem mushrooms and grass. Her favorite is the pumpkin carving that mimics a scene from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

Like seriously, who has time to carve out all these pumpkins? And why weren’t the Jack-o'-lanterns on display as she had seen at the Night of 1,000 Jack-o'-lanterns at the Chicago Botanic Garden? Whoever carved these has some ridiculous artistic talent. They are also way too into Halloween, because their yard is all decked out. There are games set up on tables in the yard, skeletons and ghosts hanging from the trees and tombstone yard signs all over.

As she walks up the steps to the house, fake fog sweeps around her feet, the porch is covered in fake cobwebs with large spiders and the porch railing is lined with decorated jars, “potions”, skulls and other Halloween themed knickknacks. She laughs at the potion bottle labeled, “love potion.” When she reaches the door, which is wide open, a group of kids in cute costumes gathered around waiting for treats, she’s expecting the three looney witches from Hocus Pocus to emerge from the house.

When a man in a black top hat, tailcoat and a cane appears through the door with a bowl full of candy, she realizes how wrong she is.

Boy, is she wrong.

Holy shit, he’s gorgeous. His skin looks ghostly white from the makeup on his face and he's wearing a brown curly mustache, but those vivid blue eyes are so very blue, even in the dark and under the hat he’s wearing. She’s afraid those eyes will set her on fire when he looks at her.

“Trick or treat!” the children chorus.

Emma can’t take her eyes off the man as he excitedly hands out candy.

“I love your costume, lassie,” he compliments a little girl who's wearing an Elsa costume.

He has an accent? Holy hell.

The little girl frowns, clearly not understanding what he meant by lassie. “I’m not a dog, I’m Elsa.”

He chuckles, dropping a candy bar into her pumpkin bucket. “My apologies, Elsa. Please don’t blast me with ice.”

“Thank you, mister,” she says cheerfully before scurrying down the steps to meet her parents at the end of the walkway.

“Trick or treat!”

The man looks toward the small voice, seeing Henry approaching him. He grins big and wide, which makes him look much creepier than he already looks in his costume. Creepy, but sexy. “Well, hi there. Captain Hook, I presume?”

Henry nods his head and opens his Halloween sack, using his plastic hook to hold one of the straps.

“Very nice costume, lad. My favorite one so far.”

“Thank you. I made it,” Emma boasts with a smile as she steps behind her son, placing the hat on his head. She’s not normally one to brag, but then again bragging doesn’t normally afford her the opportunity to talk to ridiculously handsome strangers.

The man looks up, and when his eyes finally connect with hers, he completely steals her breath. She was wrong. His smoldering blue eyes don’t set her on fire, but they do make her melt.

And his heavy stare makes her skin tingle.

“You made this lovely costume?”

She waves her hand nonchalantly. “It was easy. Just took a red, long-sleeved shirt, some ribbon and slapped some red felt and white feathers on a straw hat and voila.”

“Very impressive, lass.” He glances at her shirt briefly before returning his eyes to hers. “Did you also make your costume?” he asks, his eyes dancing with mirth. He must have been referring to her red leather jacket and white t-shirt that reads, “This IS my Halloween costume.”

Emma laughs. “No, I bought it on Amazon.”

“Wow, Mom, check this out! Full-size candy bars!” Henry shouts excitedly when the stranger deposits the candy bar into his sack.

Emma tears her eyes from this man’s mesmerizing blue ones to see the full-size Snickers bar Henry’s holding out to show her. “Huh, people actually do give out full-size candy bars.” She looks up at the man. “I’m impressed. Let me guess, you also carved those pumpkins, too?” she asks, pointing to the pumpkins in his yard.

He nods with a small smile. “I did. You’d be amazed by what I can do with these hands,” he says smugly.

Emma wants to roll her eyes, but she can’t deny she very much wishes to find out exactly what he can do with those hands. Instead, she flashes a sarcastic smirk. “So who are you supposed to be, Jack the Ripper?”

He chuckles. “Not quite. I’m a gentleman from the Victorian Era. A devilishly handsome gentleman, may I add.”

She cocks a brow, laughter bubbling in her throat. “If by a devilishly handsome gentleman, you mean creepy.”

He sets down the candy bowl and surprises her when he takes her hand in his and lowers his head, murmuring softly as he looks up at her. “The name’s Killian Jones. And it just so happens, I’m always a gentleman. Not just on Halloween.” His touch sears her skin, then he presses his lips to the back of her hand and it feels like electrical currents are surging through her. Her breath catches, and she’s worried he will notice. Judging by the smirk spreading across her skin, he definitely noticed.

Emma turns her head, looking for her son, whom she spots in the yard playing games with the other kids, their parents supervising them. “I should get back to my son.”

This man actually pouts as he releases her hand. And it’s freaking adorable. “I told you my name and yet you haven't told me yours?”

She bites her bottom lip, contemplating whether she should or not. But then again, what’s the harm? It is a small town, so they’ll probably end up running into each other again at some point. “It’s Emma.”

He grins, making her heart melt. “Nice to meet you, Emma.”

“Likewise.”

He scratches behind his ear, which makes him look less creepy and even more adorable. “I’ve never seen you before. Are you new in town?”

“I’m from Chicago.”

“Well, love, welcome to Storybrooke.”

Oh. Now he’s calling her love? Can this man get any sexier? Jesus Christ. “Thank you.” She gives him a shy smile and turns to head down the steps.

“Wait. Before you go, I have a treat for you, too.”

She spins around, arching her brow. “Oh, that’s okay. Henry will share some of his candy with me.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “This treat is not for kids.”

Emma gulps. “What kind of treat did you have in mind?” Something salty? Her mind definitely did not go into the gutter there. Okay, it totally did.

He heads inside, then returns not a moment later with a caramel apple.

“A caramel apple?” She almost sounds disappointed. But she’s definitely not.

“Aye, but not just any caramel apple. It’s an adult caramel apple. So make sure you don’t share this with your lad.”

She eyes it suspiciously. “It’s not laced with love potion, is it?”

He chuckles and leans closer, whispering in her ear. “No. But it is laced with cannabis-infused butter.”

Emma smirks as she takes the caramel apple. “Wow, you really go all out on Halloween, don’t you?”

He shrugs. “You should come back around Christmas.”

“Oh God, you’re not one of those people who goes completely crazy with the Christmas lights and the decorations and Santa and his reindeer on the roof, are you?”

He shrugs again, donning a smirk. “Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.”

“Is that an invitation?” Because she's definitely not thinking about inviting him to get high and engage in hot, sweaty sex with her. Not at all.

“Perhaps. Do you and your son enjoy hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies in front of a cozy fireplace?”

She eyes the caramel apple and then glances up at him. “Does Santa enjoy adult cookies with his milk?”

His grin widens, making her heartbeat skyrocket out of her chest. “Aye, then it’s a date.”

Emma rolls her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. “Not a date.” She doesn’t like the idea of waiting until Christmas to see him again, though.

His face clouds with guilt. Sorry, love, I just didn't see a wedding ring on your finger so I assumed-”

“I'm not married,” she clarifies, her cheeks flushing because of the fact that he was curious enough to check her hand for a ring. “Nor do I have a boyfriend. I'm single.” Very single. She's never been so glad to be single before.

He sighs in relief, which gives her the courage to say what's on her mind and to thankfully change the subject.

“You know, adult cookies aren’t just for Christmas...”

He cocks his brow, and good Lord, she really needs him to stop doing that, because it’s doing things to her breathing and her heart. “No? What other special occasions are they for?”

She shrugs. “Like a Saturday night, say next week when my parents are taking Henry for the weekend.”

His eyes flash with something she can only describe as excitement. Or anticipation, maybe? “But still not a date, right?”

She shakes her head. “Nope, just two adults enjoying their adult cookies.”

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll bring the apple cider.”

“Sounds like a date,” she says accidentally when she had meant to say Sounds like a plan. But she doesn't even bother correcting herself as her cheeks warm with blush. She backs away and manages to rip her eyes from him to turn around and head down the steps. She finds Henry playing a game with the kids and takes his hand, telling him it’s getting late. He leaves with a groan but doesn't make a fuss.

As they leave the yard, Emma turns around, getting one last glimpse of the devilishly handsome Victorian gentleman. He winks and smiles at her, making her heart stutter, and she blushes and walks away as she leaves with her son.

She had doubts when she moved to this small town to start over, but the warm feeling in her chest is telling her perhaps coming to Storybrooke wasn't a bad idea after all.

Tagging a few people who might be interested in reading:

@kmomof4 @teamhook @ilovemesomekillianjones @onceuponaprincessworld @artistic-writer @nikkiemms @snowbellewells @donteattheappleshook @itsfabianadocarmo @searchingwardrobes @melly326

#cs ff #captain swan #halloween

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dephoraowo · 3 months ago

Text

Ah yes, forgive my phrasing 😣🙏, I'm just trying to say that Jiang Cheng also targeted other people, not necessarily gui dao users.

As for the text you showed:

Jiang Cheng said darkly, “Break his legs? Haven’t I told you that when you run into heretics, you should kill them outright and feed them to your dog?!” -- Wei Wuxian hastily backed away, leaving the donkey behind too. No matter how much Jiang Cheng hated him, he had thought the feeling would’ve dispersed somewhat after so many years. Who would’ve thought it wasn’t that easy? Not only was the hate still there, but it had thickened with time, like a jug of aged wine. And that rage was taken out on every cultivator who imitated him!

I think this is the one you showed. I'm using a different translation, sorry 😅. Alright, yes, it does show it the text, and Wei Wuxian thinks it is so, but you are missing context here. The reason why Wei Wuxian thinks it is true isn't because he knows who Jiang Cheng captured. He thinks it's true because Jiang Cheng reacted violently to him summoning Wen Ning. And coupled together with the fact that he hated him so much. So Wei Wuxian assumed that Jiang Cheng was hunting down gui dao users since Jiang Cheng was hunting him down.

He just came back to life, and he kept on avoiding Jiang Cheng. How on earth can he confirm who Jiang Cheng captured? He was gathering information along the way, so he must have heard the rumours of Jiang Cheng hunting down gui dao users, and then that rumour turned out to be true in Wei Wuxian's mind because Jiang Cheng was lucky enough to target Wei Wuxian, thus solidifying the rumours in his head.

Wei Wuxian used gui dao because he thought there were other gui dao users. Which is later disproven because we don't actually see any in the novel, despite what Wei Wuxian thinks.

(Also, just because a character says something doesn't mean it's necessarily true, characters can be wrong about things, too. They are still human, and they have limited perspective. You need to read the novel to see if what they are saying is true supported by evidence. You using that text and proving it by saying "Well Wei Wuxian himself said this" so it has to be true is kind of equivalent to believing "Well Lan Xichen himself said that Jin Guangyao would never do such heinous acts", therefore it must be true!)

As for what Lan Wangji and the juniors say:

Lan Sizhui reasoned with him. “Mo-gongzi, Hanguang-jun brought you here for your own good. Sect Leader Jiang wouldn’t have stood down unless you came with us. Over the years, countless people have been arrested and taken to the Jiang Clan’s Lotus Pier, and none were ever freed.” “That’s right,” Lan Jingyi said. “You’ve never seen Sect Leader Jiang’s methods, have you? Super vicious…” He stopped when he remembered the Lan Clan rule “Do not speak behind another’s back” and snuck a peek at Lan Wangji. Only when he saw that Hanguang-jun had no intention of punishing him did he regain the courage to continue his grumblings. “It’s all the Yiling Patriarch’s fault for starting the trend with his evil craft. There are way too many people playing around with that senseless cultivation method of his, and Sect Leader Jiang is such a paranoid person. Would it even be possible for him to catch them all? Why didn’t he take a proper look before suspecting someone like you? Playing the flute like that…heh.”

I think this is what you're referring to? Lan Sizhui didn't specify what people Jiang Cheng targeted. He said countless people, it is general, not specific (means that it is not necessarily gui dao users). Lan Jingyi said Wei Wuxian's evil craft. From this text, we can see that he has a wrong perspective on ghost cultivation. During this time, many in the book already like to blame Wei Wuxian for every bad thing in the world, so those who practice dark magic (ancient rituals and curses) are also Wei Wuxian's fault now?

Here is an example of the junior's misconception of Wei Wuxian's cultivation:

Jin Ling gritted his teeth. “Walking corpses are crazy enough. Why is there such a thing as a living corpse?!” Wei Wuxian answered, “Living corpses are rarely formed naturally. They’re usually deliberately made, like this one is.” “Deliberately?! Why?!” “The dead have many shortcomings,” Wei Wuxian lectured. “Stiff muscles, slow movement, and so on. But they have their advantages too—they don’t fear pain, can’t think, and are easy to control. Some people think those shortcomings can be improved upon, and that by doing so, they can construct the perfect puppet. That’s where the concept of living corpses came from.” While the boys didn’t blurt it out, their faces were already boldly written with an obvious sentiment: That person must be Wei! Wu! Xian! Wei Wuxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But I’ve never made such a thing! he thought. Although it did indeed sound like his style!

In this text, we can see that the juniors have a warped view on Wei Wuxian’s path. Most of their elders have always said that anything evil was due to the Yiling Patriarch. All of the juniors, even the Lans, I'm afraid, immediately assume that Wei Wuxian started the trend of making living corpses, which is not true! Wei Wuxian has never used living humans to create corpses. He has only ever used the dead.

So when Lan Jingyi said that he hunts down people who follow the Yiling Patriarch's path, I don't think it is quite credible anymore. The juniors don't even know what Wei Wuxian's path specifically entails, they just simply assume that the dark arts is Wei Wuxian's path. The only part he got right was that "Jiang Cheng did indeed hunt down people," but the part where he said about "people following Wei Wuxian's trend" is unreliable since he and the rest of the juniors also lump up Wei Wuxian's cultivation with dark arts and other devious paths.

Lan Wangji doesn't know what gui dao specifically is or how it works. He has seen Wei Wuxian use it, yes. But seeing it is different than knowing it. How can he know if he was never interested in understanding Wei Wuxian's gui dao? In Wei Wuxian's first life, Lan Wangji always assumed it was bad for Wei Wuxian and that it was harming him in some way. It wasn't! He never bothered to understand Wei Wuxian's cultivation, how on earth would he teach the juniors to identify gui dao? This is why the juniors confused Xue Yang's living corpses with Wei Wuxian's cultivation. Because no one knows what gui dao actually is. Sure, Xue Yang's cultivation looks like his style, but it isn't!

About Jiang Cheng hunting down those with the surname Wen:

Surely, this person couldn’t also have coincidentally run into Jiang Cheng using his whip on someone. Just how diligent was Jiang Cheng in his arrests, and how frequently did he lash people? “No, no,” the proprietress said. “It was his bad luck too, I guess. His surname is Wen, and of course, Sect Leader Jiang’s mortal enemy is also named Wen. He hates every person in the world who bears the name Wen, and he grits his teeth at the mere sight of them, clearly wanting to skin them alive. So of course, his face was not a pleasant sight…”

So yes, he does kill those with the surname Wen.

Also, not all the Wens were annihilated, just the ones that Wei Wuxian took in. The other Wens sought refuge in the Jin Clan:

Wei Wuxian laughed. “Oh, I see. Because the Wen dogs committed so many evil deeds, everyone with the surname of Wen can be killed without exception—do I understand you right? Many renegade clans from Qishan surrendered and joined the alliance, and they’ve since found support with the Jin Clan of Lanling. If I’m not mistaken, I see a few guests at this very banquet who used to be the family heads of clans affiliated with the Wen Clan.”

If you still do not believe me, I can list down some users who have also spoken out on this: this is from @lwjsmile and this is from @fannish-karmiya, I find their metas really canon accurate.

You are right in that Jiang Cheng wants to kill Wei Wuxian and that he will target anyone who so as much resembles him or his cultivation. But we don't know if the people he targets are necessarily using gui dao. The novel does say that he hunts down those who practice gui dao, but is there evidence? No one knows who Jiang Cheng actually killed all these years. And the ones that are shown are not gui dao users at all. Not everyone he hunts down might be gui dao users. They could be "rumoured" to follow gui dao or they could be "rumoured" to possess Wei Wuxian's soul. Jiang Cheng doesn't really care either way, as long as he suspects, he will kill them.

As for speculating, forgive me, I thought we were speculating? Were you not speculating about the existence of other gui dao users? If we are really talking about canon novel, we did not meet a single gui dao user in the novel at all. (Mo Xuanyu doesn't count because he only used an ancient forbidden ritual from the dark arts, not gui dao. It has already existed, and Wei Wuxian didn't create it. There was no other evidence that he practised gui dao).

And yes, the novel does say that Jiang Cheng did hunt down those who practice gui dao, but is it true? Mdzs is a novel where you can't take anything at face value unless proven otherwise. We are given a boatload of rumours to find out if it is true or not. To find out if it is true, you need evidence of it. We never see any gui dao users throughout the entire book. Perhaps you may be thinking, well, that's because Jiang Cheng caught them all! We are not given evidence for that either. No one has ever seen the people that Jiang Cheng has killed over the years, and no one knows if they practice gui dao or not. We do not have evidence. Just because the book says so doesn't mean it's true. Unless you can show me evidence of actual gui dao users in the novel, your take is merely speculation as well.

The novel does show evidence of the many people that Jiang Cheng has captured, and none of them, other than Wei Wuxian, practice gui dao at all. The evidence of the people he captured are either civilians or those with the surname Wen or people that pissed him off. This is the evidence that we have in the novel.

And if you do not believe me, here is another user who has said this:

This is by @mxtxfanatic , who is also one of the users whose mdzs metas are canon accurate as well, so I'd suggest you take their comments into consideration.

In fact, @mxtxfanatic has raised an important key factor. The Jins took all of Wei Wuxian's notes of gui dao. How can other people learn gui dao if they have no access to it? And those who have access to it have failed (Xue Yang). This question raised by them debunks your take already.

As for Empathy, I never said it was Wei Wuxian's invention. I was merely using Empathy as an example of Wei Wuxian's attitude towards the dead compared to other people with the dead. We do not see anyone else using Empathy to communicate with the dead simply because it is too dangerous for the caster. No one is willing to use Empathy because no one is willing to risk their bodies for a possession for a person who is already dead. Only Wei Wuxian is willing. You said some could have used it since it was no Wei Wuxian's creation, but we do not actually see any in the novel? Those people would have to be very skilled in Empathy to even use it. Common people cannot use Empathy because it takes skill, mastery of one's emotions, and willingness to allow a possession from a resentful ghost. Even Lan Wangji, one of the few most skilled and kindest cultivators in the world, doesn't use it. So I don't know who else would other than Wei Wuxian.

Uhm, I think you have missed my point. I said there is no one who would sympathise for the dead like Wei Wuxian does. I meant what I said. Do you know how Wei Wuxian treats the dead? He treats them like human beings, like his dear friends. He actually hangs out with the ghost ladies and drinks tea with them. Do we see anybody else doing this? Voluntarily having tea with dead ladies? No! We have a scene of Wei Wuxian kissing the hand of a skeleton. Do you know anyone who would do that? No, not even Lan Wangji would kiss the hand of a skeleton. We see Wei Wuxian petting the head of a ghoul child and feeding him fingers like treats. We see him letting a dead prostitute lay on his lap in and gently stroking her head! Would Lan Wangji and the juniors do this? They may be kind, but they don't treat the dead so intimately like this.

If you don't believe me, look at this post from @mxtxfanatic.

Wei Wuxian treats the dead so dearly. He genuinely cares about them and is willing to seek their companionship! We have never seen anyone else do this in the novel. Not to mention, the ghosts seem to reciprocate this affection shown to them as well! They seem quite protective of Wei Wuxian, so we know this isn't some one-sided thing. His special bond with the dead is something no one else has in the novel. This is why only he can use gui dao so effectively.

By the way..., I never said no one shows sympathy for the dead, I said no one shows sympathy for the dead like Wei Wuxian does. Wei Wuxian has a special bond with the dead like no one else does in the novel. I never said Lan Wangji and the juniors don't show sympathy to the dead.

Yes, Lan Wangji does show compassion for the dead, but not to the same extent as Wei Wuxian. My point is to tell you that no one shows the same level of empathy to the dead like Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji is kind to the dead, yes, but he does not have the special connection that Wei Wuxian has with the dead. We don't see Lan Wangji spending time with ghosts for the sake of companionship. We don't see him patting the ghost head to comfort it. Lan Wangji doesn't have the same closeness to the dead like Wei Wuxian does.

In fact, we actually see one of the scenes in which he disapproves Wei Wuxian hanging out with the dead:

The girls all urged him on. “Go on, take a seat!” “Sit down, won’t you?” Lan Wangji’s light eyes frostily examined the charming, beautiful girls before his gaze landed on the shiny black, red-tasseled flute hung on Wei Wuxian’s waist. He lowered his head, seeming to be contemplating his choice of wording. Wei Wuxian quirked an eyebrow at the sight of this, as if he’d already figured out what Lan Wangji was about to say. Sure enough, Lan Wangji slowly said, “You should not while away your time with things nefarious.” The teasing smiles on the faces of the girls around Wei Wuxian instantly vanished.

Luckily, he apologised later on. Though he didn't specify whether it was for that rude remark to the ghosts or his comment on Wei Wuxian’s cultivation.

(Side note: Not gonna lie. Usually, Lan Wangji is very tactful. This comment of his actually shocked me a little. I feel like it was jealousy, along with his dislike for Wei Wuxian's gui dao at that time that caused him to say this.)

As for the juniors, yeah, we are shown that they are kind to the ghosts, but that was literally after their experience with Wei Wuxian. Before Wei Wuxian, they were scared of ghosts 🤣. They avoided A-Qing like the plague. Wei Wuxian had to teach them how to conquer their fear before they could even begin to interact with A-Qing. The reason they treat the dead so kindly in the present and in post-canon is because of their exposure to Wei Wuxian's treatment of the dead.

What makes you think the common folk will treat the dead any better than the cultivators? I don't know if you notice, but whenever something weird or something supernatural happens, the common folk always call in the cultivators to deal with it. Most of the common folk are scared of the dead, and that's why they call in the cultivators to get rid of them! That's literally what one of the jobs of a cultivator is. Cultivators are usually paid to deal with the supernatural for the common folk (except for Lan Wangji, he is the only cultivator from the gentry that doesn't require money as payment). We can see that cultivators are usually called in by common folk to deal with yao, spirits, or resentful beings. Common folk do not have the education needed to deal with resentful beings. They are not cultivators. They do not train to deal with the supernatural. Where will they even get the materials for gui dao? Aren't all of Wei Wuxian's notes with the Jin? Even junior cultivators, who are taught about this in their education, fear the dead, what more the common people? Common people rely on cultivators to deal with the dead or the supernatural in mdzs.

Another reason common folk cannot learn gui dao is simply because of this. They have no access to gui dao education. How can anyone learn when the founder is dead and all of his remaining notes are with the Jin?

The knowledge of cultivating is kept secret very tightly by the clans and cultivators. They do not simply share cultivating techniques with anyone, much less common people. Only those who join the Nie Clan can learn their sabre cultivation technique. Only those who join the Lan Clan can learn their special musical cultivation, and even then, only those special higher ups of the Lan know of the Forbidden books of music and Cleansing. Seeing as how greedy the Jins are, they would never share their cultivation techniques with outsiders of their clan as well. The Jins kept Wei Wuxian's notes, so no one could have access to learning gui dao. This is why Xue Yang could have access to it, since he used to be a part of the Jin Clan.

Civilians pay cultivators to help them with the things they cannot solve (dangerous serial killers or the supernatural). This is how it works. If the civilians knew how to cultivate, the cultivators would be jobless. This is why cultivation clans keep their cultivation techniques so close to themselves. And this is also why they were so scared of Wei Wuxian's gui dao, if Wei Wuxian were to build a sect and teach people gui dao, his number of disciples could be limitless. But since Wei Wuxian never taught his work to anyone, no one, not even civilians could be able to use gui dao.

I don't mean to be rude, but you seem to have this very bad habit of misreading other people's texts. When did I say music is necessary to his cultivation?? I never said that. I said the reason he uses music most of the time is mainly because music is more effective when it comes to controlling resentment in the corpses.

Either I am misinterpreting your words, or you have a very funny way of saying this, but what on earth do you mean by Wei Wuxian using music to calm his heart and focus? Why would Wei Wuxian need to do so? And when did he do so in the novel? Could you show me some examples? He uses music to control resentment in the dead, not calm himself. Calming himself down with music is only shown in the Untamed, that's why I assumed you were talking about the Untamed. He has never used music to calm himself down in the novel.

Wangxian is merely a song that brings comfort to Wei Wuxian. With the way you phrase it, you make it sound like the song has some sort of magical abilities to clear his mind. Also, where in the novel does he use Wangxian to clear his mind? Clear his mind of what? The only instance I know of Wei Wuxian using Wangxian was to calm down Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian didn't use Wangxian to calm himself in Xuanwu Cave, Lan Wangji sang it to him and he found the song nice and comforting. The only song that I know of that clears one's mind is Cleansing, one of the secret Lan techniques used on Nie Mingjue.

As for the text you mentioned:

He had truly thought his heart was made of stone. But humans were no stalks of grass, not unfeeling, and in the end, he was human after all.

This text is used to tell the readers that although Wei Wuxian may not care for the harsh and mindless comments of those who talk bad about him, they still hurt his feelings. That's what the text you used is trying to convey. The text is saying that Wei Wuxian still has feelings, and even he can get hurt by the harsh words of other people.

I used the text about people trying to make fierce corpses like Wen Ning as an example of people trying to use gui dao but ended up going down the demonic path. This example shows us that gui dao is not as easy as it seems.

Overall, your take is from a piece of text from the early pages of the novel, which also shows us a lot of rumours, which are later disproven as the story unfolds.

I see that the only solid argument that you have and keep on repeating is this:

Unfortunately for him, Jiang Cheng’s resentment seemed to have intensified, fermented over the years like an aged wine. He had even started lashing out on practitioners who had adopted his cultivation method!

This text is later disproven because the novel shows us that:

1. There are no signs of gui dao practitioners at all. We do not see any in the novel.

2. Wei Wuxian taught nobody his cultivation. Therefore, no one knows what gui dao actually is.

3. The only notes that he had pertaining to his cultivation were all kept by the Jins.

4. The people that Jiang Cheng targeted were either people who reminded him of Wei Wuxian, those with the surname Wen, those who unluckily managed to piss him off, and civilians. They are not gui dao practitioners.

5. The gentry tends to call anything remotely unorthodox as gui dao. They don't even know what it truly is. You can't even trust the world's judgement on gui dao anymore.

6. The only reason Wei Wuxian assumes there are other gui dao users is because Wei Wuxian thinks it is easy and that anyone can do it. (I mean, it is easy for him since he is a genius, but to anyone else, it is difficult. If Xue Yang, a talented cultivator who had the opportunity to study Wei Wuxian's notes and had the resources from the Jins couldnt even do it, how could other people do it?) He honestly thinks too highly of the world.

All of this is evidence from the novel that disproves your point.

I see this a lot in fics, especially ones that use demon cultivation versus ghost cultivation, but Wei Wuxian's cultivation isn't easy. I keep seeing people write it like it is some easy thing that people were doing in droves, but other than certain talismans, we aren't given any indication that anybody else learned how to use Guidao. It takes a certain level of mental fortitude, empathy, respect, humbleness and discipline to achieve to do even a tenth of what Wei Wuxian does.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #gui dao #wei wuxian #mdzs meta #the novel never showed us evidence of gui dao users other than wwx #this is canon fact #i see a lot of people agreeing on this so im not the only one who thinks this #and there are other factors shown in the book that disproves your point #lets just face it #wei wuxian's cultivation is just too complex for other people to understand on their own #if wei wuxian specifically taught people then maybe they stood a chance at understanding gui dao #wei wuxian is on a whole other league

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