#i really don't know what i'm doing but i'm trying at least <3 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

satorucci · 2 days ago

Note

Toji with his daughter? And a huge breeding kink

dad toji <3

♡ cw: incest, stripper reader x dad toji, breeding, possessiveness, manipulation, slight dumbification, slight hunter x prey dynamics/references, not proofread bc it's 1am :(((

currently listening to: your girl - lana del rey

nonnie note: thank you for this ask, nonnie! sorry it's so long! i love toji, so i went overboard :') i hope this satisfies your needs, i know it is a bit more on the ambiguous side for reader, but i wanted to do something a little playful <3 either way, i hope you enjoy mwah

author's note: remember kids, this is fiction! do not treat real-life adult entertainers like this, n' abide by what makes them comfortable!

MDNI

♡ dad toji, who you've never had the best relationship with - well, actually, who you've never had much of a relationship with. after he walked out on your mom, her downward spiral happened rather quickly. your childhood memories were filled with images of a woman in constant mourning, kneeling on the floor, head smashed into the duvet of her bed as she cried. spilled and empty liquor bottles littering your home. you wondered what could have possibly been so good about that man, your father. he'd walked out on her for another woman - one he claimed had changed him. you were so young when it happened, you didn't know what any of it meant. all you knew was that suddenly, you had been left alone with your mother who quickly turned into a drunken mess.

♡ dad toji, who hasd no contact with you after the age of five. sometimes you thought of him - tried to remember the face of the tall, muscular man who'd abandoned you and left you with a sorry excuse for a mother. sometimes your mother would mention that you resembled him, usually during her drunkest moments, when she wanted nothing more than for you to disappear from her sight. and in these moments, you hurriedly made yourself scarce, scrambling to your room or the basement where you would avoid each and every mirror you passed. if you resembled that man in the slightest, you didn't want to know. you found yourself trying to actively forget even the most minor of details about him - his raven hair and that scar on his lip.

♡ dad toji, who has little to no idea about who you are when you become a ward of the state at age 16. social services had tried reaching out to him multiple times, exhaustingly telling him over and over "mr. fushiguro, you do have a daughter. we're trying to find housing for her. wouldn't it be better that she be raised in a home with one of her biological parents?" to which he always responded, "nope, don't got a kid that age. at least, not one i remember. if she's really my kid, then i'm sure she'll make herself a way in life."

♡ dad toji, who, in reality, wanted nothing more than to move you into his house. but he was nowhere near being a fit parent. whatever your mother had done to get you removed from the home was sure to be less traumatic than living in toji's one-bedroom flat which was devoid of life. he had two children, neither of which he'd seen in a decade. contrary to popular belief, it wasn't because he didn't want to see them - it was to keep them away from him. from his lifestyle, his job, his lack of parental devotion. toji, who was scarred, physically and mentally, from years of earning less-than-clean money, didn't want to be hindered by a kid, nor did he want to bear the burden of fucking one of his kids up, though it seemed the girl's mother had done of fine job of that, anyways.

♡ dad toji, who sometimes wonders what you're up to two years after social services kept blowing his fucking phone up. no one ever called him about his son, so he figured he was doing just fine in the adoptive home he'd grown up in. the guy who'd adopted him, though despised by toji, seemed like a decent parental figure. the girl on the other hand, toji wondered about. you would be 18 by now, and he'd received no phone calls about you being in a prison or some shit, so he figured you had made your own way. he didn't remember your exact birthday, but he thought it'd passed some months ago, if the timeline he remembered was to be trusted. "ah, fuck it. why the fuck do i care?"

♡ dad toji, who had no clue that you'd aged out of the system when you turned 18, never finding a family that wanted such a "damaged" teen. by 18, you'd tried all there was to try. alcohol, drugs, sex, money. you'd clawed a path for yourself in this world without the help of your mother or your father, and you'd continue to do so. as soon as you hit 18, you found yourself dressed skimpily, twirling around a pole in a dirty club at a stripping audition. so long as you had a body, you had access to money, and you'd drain the pockets of anyone dry so long as it got you what you needed in life. you didn't have the luxury of affording wants, but maybe this could be a new beginning for you.

♡ dad toji, who doesn't know that his sweet little girl has become one of the most requested dancers at one of the hottest strip clubs in Vegas. the nightlife is dangerous, and you tiptoe a fine line with every customer you grant an audience. the customers you serve range far and wide - most are bald or graying old men, hoping for a secret reprieve from their wives, some are incredibly attractive men, too young to hold the wealth they do - and they throw it at you in droves as you take your top off, revealing perky tits, and gyrating your hips on their laps, "accidentally" grinding your cunt against their hard cocks. "anything for the money" is what you tell yourself.

♡ dad toji, who finds himself on a rare night out in the Vegas strip. for once, he's not here on official business, just hoping for a casual drink and maybe some action from one of those pretty, pretty girls who work at his favorite strip club. he hasn't been in two years and he's oh-so-curious to see what new stock they have. when he enters the club, it's packed from wall-to-wall with (mostly) men, eyes glued on the stage in front of them. even those in the very back are doing all they can to get a close-up of the beauty on the stage. from where toji is in the crowd, he can already tell she's not one of the usuals from a couple years ago, oh no, this one is new, and she's lively. she looks like fun. twirling around the pole, skimpy pink and white lace on display as her tits are nearly popping out of her tiny top. everytime she squats, the crowd gets a view of the tightness of her cunt against pink lace. toji can almost make out her clit in the getup, and he can think of no one else he'd rather drag back to his flat and fuck the sense out of. he imagines this one looks really good when she's fucked dumb.

♡ dad toji, who doesn't realize his daughter is the one gyrating on the stage when he walks in. toji, who doesn't realize that when he walks up to the owner of the club and requests "the new one in pink", that he's referring to his own daughter. toji, who, for the first time in a long time is thrumming with excitement as he waits in the private room for his woman of the night to come in and grind against his already-hard cock. when you walk in, he can't help but tilt his head back and smirk. yeah, you're just as pretty up close as you were from the back of the club.

♡ dad toji, who stops you before you get right to business. "woah, woah, pretty girl. slow down a bit. i like to get to know someone first. i'm a bit of an old man, so i can't keep up with a quick pace right off the bat." you let out a customary giggle, but he's attuned to notice the bit of annoyance that flashes behind your eyes. oh, you'll be fun. this time, when you start, you start slowly, circling the table in the center of the private room with intentionality, locking eyes with the man splayed across the curved loveseat. his stare causes a bit of intimidation to bloom in your gut. he's so intense, watching your every movement, examining you as if you were something of value and he was determining exactly what that value was - almost as if you were something to hunt. you'd seen those eyes only a few times before in the club, but these kinds of men weren't the type to request private dances, they were the type to hide behind the dumpsters outside of the dressing rooms, waiting to ambush dancers and ask them for their number or something more. this one - this one was bold. and undeniably attractive.

♡ dad toji, who notices the slight flush of your face as you struggle to maintain eye contact with him. he can't help the grin that spreads across his face as he readjust on the loveseat, making his hard-on more noticeable. for your entertainment, of course. you move in slow circles, using the table as a prop that you dance around, eventually stepping up on it, and dancing on it. there's a small pole that protrudes from the table, and you use it to do small spins and swings, nothing too elaborate, as they're not as sturdy as the ones on the stages. his eyes never leave you, they never wander listlessly from one part of your body to the next, they always wander with purpose. surveying each and every part of you. the sparkle in his dark eyes isn't lost on you every time you lift your leg in the air, giving him a peek of your cunt straining against the fabric of your panties. you hope he can't see the wetness.

♡ dad toji, who is thrilled when you finally step down from the table and the real show begins. your hands lightly creep up his thighs, touch as light as a feather, before you turn your back to him, giving him a first-class view of your hips and ass as you grind into him. you're delicate, unlike how you were on the stage. there, you were electric, but in this small room, one-on-one with a dangerously attractive man twice your age, you move with caution. toji wants more. he wants what he saw on the stage. as you grind into his lap carefully, cutely, his hands come up to roughly grip your thighs. you let out a gasp and quickly turn around. "there's a not touch policy-" toji cuts you off with a firm squeeze, and his thumbs rubs gentle circles into the fat of your thighs as you look down at him. his eyes meet yours, dark and sinister, but gazing up at you as if pleading with you. "you can't tell me you don't like it, darlin'. tell me you don't and i won't touch you again, but i promise i can make this worth your time, too." his hands travel up your thighs, finding their place on your lovehandles, kneading them lovingly. "n' i'm a really good tipper." you gulp down a protest and simply nod your head.

♡ dad toji, who, as you face him, and lower yourself onto his clothed cock, finds his hands roaming across your body. you're oh so delicate. so easy to maneuver, to sway. he wonders what in your life has led to you being so malleable. maybe a shitty boyfriend or an absent father. he chuckles to himself at the irony. what if his own daughter is out doing this shit because she had no daddy growing up? oh well, not his problem. not at this very moment. toji's hands guide your hips as you grind down on him, forcing a harder grind, more pressure on his aching cock. he can feel the outline of your cunt's lips against him and he wants so much more from you. his hand reaches for the flimsy string in the back that holds your top together, pulling it and watching as your tits come into view right in front of him. the music in the background is causing the room to vibrate slightly, the dim lighting in the room adding to the ambiance of sinister pleasure that's about to take place.

♡ dad toji, who forgets that he's in a professional establishment as he takes one of your perky nipples into his mouth and you gasp, a small hand finding its way into his hair and gripping harshly. "ah! t-too much-" he releases your nipple with a "pop!" and stares up at you. "wan' me to stop? i was just about to show you what a good patron i can be", and again, you give in. you let him do as you please, because you can't deny the throbbing in your own cunt. you don't know what all he's about to do to you, but you know that you've only ever slept with one customer, telling yourself you wouldn't make it a habit, but you think you might be about to break that rule.

♡ dad toji, who sucks on your nipples harshly while you grind against him. the dance has ceased and left only desperation in its wake. you're desperate to get off, and you can feel his hard cock beneath you. his hands guide your hips back and forth, back and forth, at a fast pace, your clit catching on his cock with each swipe and you feel as though you can barely catch your breath. toji, who reaches a hand up into your hair, tugging it harshly causing you to let out a breathy whine, and buck his hips up into your cunt repeatedly. his mouth only leaves your tits to leave small kisses along your chest, your neck, you jaw. you want more. you have to have more, but it can't be here. before you can pop the question, toji is, once again, staring at you with those onyx eyes. "wanna get outta here? my place is only a few minutes away." you know it isn't smart to say yes, but you want the raven-haired man in your lap to fuck you into another plane. so you nod.

♡ dad toji, who handles you with no mercy the moment the two of you cross the threshold of his door. his hands are all over you, your face, your neck, your back, pressing your body firmly against his own. he quickly discards the jacket around your shoulders - you'd been so turned on when leaving the club early that you didn't even change. you simply threw on a jacket that would cover your skimpy clothes as you left, struggling to keep up with toji in your high heels. your back hits the wall harshly as he's forcing his tongue into your mouth. you lean into the messy kiss, nipples hardening from the kiss and the cold air of his flat. he hikes your leg up, pressing his cock against your cunt, grinding lewdly. "so wet, you're soaking my clothes, too, darlin'" he whispers into your ear. you try to shy away from him, as if the comment had embarrassed you, but toji uses his free hand to grasp your cheeks, making you face him. "keep your eyes on me". his voice is a low, dangerous growl, and you comply.

♡ dad toji, who nearly drags you to his bedroom. you take note of how empty his living space is. there are no pictures, no decorations. it looks as if someone has just moved in, but you don't have time to make any deductions about this before you're being thrown on the bed. toji is on top of you in seconds, handing tracing up your arms, spreading them flat against the bed, and locking hands with you as he continues to kiss you into oblivion. you unconsciously rub your legs together, begging for some sort of relief, and toji laughs breathlessly when he notices. "my pretty girl wants more, hm?" and you nod. "use your words, then. tell me what you want." you look at him in disbelief. you'd been with dominant men before, but they didn't play with their food before devouring it. "tell me, or you'll get nothin'", and you can tell he's dead serious. you muster up your courage to tell him, "i want you..." he cocks his head and grins before leaning close to your ear. "want me to what? finger you? eat you? fuck you? what'd ya want from me? wanna hear you tell me." all of the above. you want him to do all of the above, but you don't think that's the response he wants. "i want you to use me". and that's all it takes for toji's self-control to snap.

♡ dad toji, who's making you hold your knees up as he lap at your soaking cunt, pink panties long gone. his tongue dips in and out of you at a rapid pace as the sound of squelching and your whines fill the room. the whines turn into loan, exasperated moans when two thick fingers find their place knuckle-deep inside of you as his mouth never leaves your clit. you don't know how long you can keep holding up your legs as they're already beginning to shake. toji cocks his head, angling his fingers even deeper and brushing against that sweet, sweet spot inside of you as he continues to lick your clit. pressing a flat tongue against it, using the tip of his tongue to tease you, sucking your clit into his mouth, as his fingers absolutely abuse your insides. you've never met a man like this. when he brings you to your first orgasm, it's so intense, you're not sure you'll be able to continue, but before you can even catch your breath, toji is rising from the spot on the bed where he was kneeling, wiping mouth and licking his fingers, before reaching for the waistband of his pants.

♡ dad toji, whose cock is the biggest you've ever seen. veins protrude, full of blood and arousal as his cock twitches in his hand. "what? ya scared?" you take a deep breath and shake your head, trying to convey some sort of confidence in your response. toji just laughs. "well, then, if you're not scared, then you're gonna be a good girl and take daddy's cock like a champ, right?" daddy? yes. yes, you'll be a good girl for daddy, so long as it's toji. "yes, daddy. i'll be so good". and toji thinks he might be enamoured by you. his hands find purchase on either side of your head, caging you in with no escape. he's so big, looming over you as he leans down to kiss your forehead. it's the kindest thing he's done all night, the only gentleness he's shown you.

♡ dad toji, who guides his cock inside you with little mercy. you find yourself holding your breath as the stretch burns your insides. "breathe" he commands, and you do, in small spurts. his hands find your knees, spreading them further apart for easier entrance. toji grunts. "damn darlin', you're tight. thought i'd worked you open." you try your best to focus on breathing as his cock splits you wide open, and by the time he bottoms out, you're sweating. your hands find his arms, holding onto them for some sort of support as you catch a big breath. he begins to pull out, and then slams his cock back in. in an instant the breath you'd collected is gone. toji begins at a breakneck pace, his cock bullying your cervix with each thrust. you can't help the near-screams that fall from your lips, and toji devours each one, grinning down at you as your grip on his arms get ever-tighter. your cunt grips him like a vice as his pumps in and out of you, over and over, listening to your coos and cries with so much pleasure.

♡ dad toji, who frees one of his arms from your grasp, to find your clit. he rubs small circles around it as he continues thrusting into you like he'll never get the chance to fuck a cunt like this again. your cries turn slowly turn into mindless whines, "please, please, keep going, keep going!" and toji obliges. he leans down, biting down on your neck, imagining what you'd look like pregnant and full with another one of his kids. if it were you, he thinks he just might stick around. you're so perfect. "good, huh, pretty baby? wan' me to keep fuckin' you good?" you nod furiously, nails digging into his arm. he leans down, biting down on your ear and you let out a cry. "wanna stay with me, have my kids?" for a moment, you're caught off guard, but the rhythm of his cock and the way he's stimulating your clit proves to be too much for you to think straight. "yes!" you scream. "yes, give me your kids, please! fill me up, make me yours!", and again, toji obliges you.

♡ dad toji, who was wrung three orgasms from you before he has his first. "wan' me to cum inside you, darlin'? wanna be daddy's girl forever? wanna be a mommy? raise all my kids, hm?" you nod over and over, begging him, "please make me a mommy!" toji's pace quickens as he begins to near his high. he can imagine you now, stuck in his house, round and pregnant with his kids, the whole world knowing that you're his and his alone. the thought alone is enough to make him cum, but the way your cunt is gripping him like a prayer has him going over the edge. "okay, baby, i hear you loud and clear. don't let a single drop go to waste." and you respond with a series of "yes daddy's" as toji cums harshly, fucking his seed even deeper into you. he keeps his cock in you, as your cunt pulses and spasms around him, cumming again. his pretty little stripper. hopefully, his pretty little wife, one day. who says you can't turn a whore into a housewife? toji's sure he can. if it's you, he can. toji, who slowly drags his cock out of you, only to replace it with his fingers. pushing his cum deeper yet into you, and placing a kiss on your lips.

♡ dad toji, who, surprisingly takes good care of you after fucking your brains out. he brings you water, snacks, a towel, but he doesn't let you wipe the cum from yourself, not yet. "we're guaranteed a baby if you keep it in a little longer", and you roll your eyes as he chuckles. "didn't know they had girls like you at that club." he says. you mumble back to him, "didn't know they had patrons like you, either. speaking of, where's my tip?" toji stares blankly at you before laughing. "was the tip you got not good enough, darlin'?" oh, it definitely was, but you still want your money. as he laughs, you notice a scar on his lips. one you haven't noticed all night long. it reminds you shockingly of your father. the one who walked out on you, the one you haven't seen in over a decade. "grab my wallet. it's on the nightstand beside you. just take what you want." you lift your eyebrows in surprise at him, and he shrugs. "you earned it." you don't argue with him, taking the wallet and opening it up.

♡ dad toji, who stares at you confused as you look at the wallet in horror and disbelief. "the hells wrong with you-" he begins, but before he can finish, he's cut off by you holding up the wallet, showing him the sole picture he'd ever had of his daughter. the one he kept with him always, the sole reminder that she was real and somewhere out there. "why do you have a picture of me?"

#jjk smut #jjk x reader #toji fushiguro #toji smut #toji x reader #dead dove do not eat #dark content #smut #my nonnies <3

244 notes · View notes

f1cflcfic · 2 days ago

Text

Won't Say I'm In Love (SMAU ft. Lando Norris) - part xi

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons and/or events

bonus: one, two, three

June 2-3, 2025

[Excerpt: True or False with Babolat Ambassador Y/N L/N] True or False – you’ve never won Wimbledon or the US Open

True, for now! Trying to change it this year. I did get to the final of Wimbledon two years ago, so hoping I can at least get there again.

True or False – Your favourite tv series is Abbott Elementary

Oooh, favourite tv series ever? I don’t know about that, that’s really difficult. But I do love it as one of my favourite tv series that’s currently on tv for sure. Especially because it's funny and low-stakes, but also still very real and touching.

True or False – Every tennis player also is an avid watcher of tennis

Definitely false. There’s a pretty clear divide between those of us who watch tennis for entertainment, and those of us who cannot stand it – because you can’t escape your need to analyse every single millisecond of a match. I’ll leave it up to you to guess which category I belong to.

True or False – you had a small background part in the movie Challengers

Ha, I wish!

True or False – Using the right, fresh balls makes all the difference in a championship match.

That’s actually true. The more you’ve used them and hit them over the course of a match, even in as much as 20 minutes the balls degrade. And so does the quality. It means you have to adjust your hitting style constantly, and that takes a lot of effort. It also depends on the surface a bit. Clay is a lot more physical than hard court, for example.

True or False – If you hadn’t become a tennis player, you would have wanted to be a location scout for movies.

How do you guys know that? Yeah, I just think it’d be such a cool and creative job. You’d get to travel a lot, which I get to do now as well – but you’d actually get to spend time exploring the place with a purpose in mind. I don’t know, I think capturing what the world looks like is so beautiful. Sometimes we forget just how beautiful it is, and just how precious our environment is.

True or False – your celebrity crush is Sebastian Stan

True. Has been since I first watched him in Once Upon A Time.

True or False – Your favourite racket is a Babolat Aero.

Hmmm trick question! I actually have my own modified version as of this year. It’s now available for people to pre-order – the Babolat Aero Pro L/N. I’m so excited to bring the racket that I’m using this tour to stores. It’s been a very rigorous process of designing and developing this racket to suit me the best, and give me the most feel and spin control as possible.

True or False – Your dream holiday destination is Japan.

True again. This year I actually got to spend my birthday there. It was absolutely wonderful, and also a complete surprise that my best friend had organised for me. I don't think anyone's ever given me such a thoughtful gift. I thought I was being dropped off at the airport, and instead we drove straight to Niigata for Sakura. I'm pretty sure I'll never forget just how breathtaking it was to be surrounded by so much beauty, and to share that with such special people who mean the world to me.

June 4-5, 2025

[Excerpt Max Fewtrell Twitch Stream, June 5th, 2025]

"Yeah, he is in Paris right now. What a life he leads, huh? Terrible. No, as much as I loved the Australian Open - I won't be going to the tennis this time. I'll be back to support Lando during his next race though. We do have our own lives, I know it might not look like it, but we do."

“Am I following the tournament? Yes I am, though I must say the atmosphere in a stadium is hard to replicate through a screen. It's such an intense sport. Really rooting for Y/N L/N of course.”

“If I have a favourite for the men? Ohh I can't really say. Let's first see who gets into the final, because it does take a while with tennis.”

“What else is coming from Quadrant? Quite a lot actually. It’s been very exciting, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes for a while. So just have to be patient for a little while longer chat, but I promise you it’ll be well worth the wait.”

June 6-8, 2025

A/N: omg so much has happened irl between previous chapter and this one, podium wins, the MET, there's a new pope, and i now have a new laptop woohoo. Next up in WSIIL: get in, we're going shopping with an increasingly unraveling y/n and loverboy lando :) :)

♥ likes, comments, reblogs and asks are always very much appreciated - i love chatting and hearing your thoughts! ♥

taglist (open): @linnygirl09 @julesbog @midnight-and-books @sarx164 @obxstiles @freyathehuntress @vhkdncu2ei8997 @berrnuu @lightdragonrayne @glow-ish @batsratswrites @blushmimi @colmathgames2 @esw1012 @sadiemack9

152 notes · View notes

sammki · 1 day ago

Text

i'm gonna add my two cents for the zero people that asked

also i never write up posts like this so be nice to me. or don't. i'm not your mom

i love eddie as a character. i love messy characters, i love messy relationships, i love conflict and drama and flaws and shades of grey. i'm of the opinion that just about anything can make for a good story in the hands of a skilled enough writer. everyone being fluffy and getting along always and agreeing with each other can make a good story.

but that's not what 911 is about.

i'm absolutely due for a rewatch, but ever since eddie's introduction he's been a guy trying to make the best of a bad situation, but can get in over his head with the decisions he makes. he struggled with chris's schooling/care situation at the beginning, and it was after buck introduced him to carla that progress was made on that front.

his grief over shannon's death leads to the street fighting arc in season 3, where it takes almost killing a guy to snap him out of it. his treatment of buck during the lawsuit arc is an extension of this turmoil. bottling up his emotions after this, and the shooting, leads to his breakdown in season 5 that scares christopher enough that the kid calls buck in for help. his unresolved issues lead to the kim fiasco, which results in chris moving back to his grandparents. he follows chris to el paso to rebuild their relationship--yay! (ignoring the lack of addressing the kim of it all) ...but because he's there, he misses bobby's death, and the guilt and the grief of it all causes him to lash out again.

is this healthy behaviour? not really! should he probably go to therapy and maybe address some of this? everyone on this show needs to go to therapy! and maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but this mess is what makes eddie interesting to me.

stepping back for a moment, i've also seen people bring up that eddie is far from the only character to physically lash out at anyone--buck, bobby, chimney, they've all done it in the past. how was eddie putting hands on buck any different from bobby pinning him to the wall in season 1? what about buck spraining eddie's ankle due to his jealousy over the whole tommy situation?

chimney punching buck--i only recently started watching (within the last year) so i wasn't around in the aftermath of that punch, but i do see some of that bashing floating around. i'm not gonna say racism has nothing to do with it. i'm white. it's not my place to say what does and doesn't count as racism. others have and are able to put it much better than i ever will, but i didn't want to say any of this without at least acknowledging it.

the difference between eddie last night and these other physical altercations? the narrative frames the others as in the wrong.

bobby's actions are not depicted as in the right because buck was snooping through his stuff. sure, buck shouldn't be snooping, but that very same episode ends with him and hen performing a welfare check on bobby after he's fallen off the wagon. bobby is deep in his suicidal self-hatred spiral. even the score throws in a little dramatic sting here. there's reasoning behind his actions, but they're not reasonable.

chimney's punch is less in-your-face since the apology happens offscreen, but the narrative makes sure to throw in a line that there was an apology. he's at the height of this great emotional maelstrom--maddie's left him with their months-old daughter, who he's just found out had to go to the er after the incident in the bath--and he's just found out that buck's been keeping important information from him. sure, jee was fine and it was an accident, but as her father he certainly had a right to know. nonetheless, lashing out physically is presented as wrong, even if only as an afterthought with a throwaway line. there's reasoning behind his actions, but they're not reasonable.

after buck checks eddie and sprains his ankle, he spirals in his guilt. he let his jealousy get the best of him, and he maimed his best friend. bad behaviour, and it's all on buck. he says as much! in both his conversation with maddie, and with tommy at the end of the episode, he owns up to his actions! we don't see him apologise to eddie onscreen, but he's pushed to do so and i get the implication that he does call and clear the air. there's reasoning behind his actions, but they're not reasonable.

*beats that last sentence in with a hammer* see what i'm trying to get at here?

with eddie, his actions are born out of his immense guilt and grief at not being able to do anything when bobby was dying. earlier in the season, he snapped after buck told the rest of the team about eddie's plan to move back to el paso, which eddie was not comfortable sharing yet (again, putting aside whether the secret-keeping was smart, to eddie, buck still betrayed his trust by telling everyone while he's dealing with the stress of trying to find a subletter)

but... does he really apologise for either of these? in the first fight, they're interrupted by bobby hen and chim showing up at the front door and taking him out for a goodbye celebration. in the second he flies christopher in from texas as a surprise visit with tia pepa with an offhanded "heard some dick was being mean to you"

chris was the apology? eddie took responsibility? he doesn't even say i was a dick. he distances himself and throws chris and pepa at buck as a diversion. only one diaz actually said i'm sorry in that scene and it wasn't eddie.

i just. this whole thing could play out exactly the same and it'd sit so much easier with me if i knew there'd for sure be some form of payout at the end of it all. if you have two characters that are supposed to be best friends and one of them has buck's insecurities, then having the other go for the jugular in fights like that can't be fixed with a simple "aw someone was mean to you :(" and throwing a kid at him.

and backing buck into a corner, getting his face, putting hands on him? call it abuse or don't, but in what world is it at all okay to put hands on someone like that, in such an emotionally charged moment? i don't buy the argument that buck and eddie's friendship is Like That, or even that some irl friendships are. someone putting their hands on another in the middle of a heated disagreement is NOT RIGHT and the number of people i've seen calling it "romantic" is. concerning.

write him flawed. write him angry. write him aggressive. but for the love of god stand behind what you're putting on the screen.

#911 abc #911 spoilers #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 discourse #911 critical #anti buddie #long post #ship what you want. that's not the point #but at the very least engage what the show's actually telling you #don't twist it beyond recognition then call everyone else delusional #and not to go all bt right at the end here #but you know damn well that if a certain someone did exactly the same thing eddie did here #line for line #block for block #people would be sending lou death threats #again

51 notes · View notes

dippingmytoesin · 1 day ago

Text

Jason had made an odd habit of staring at things. Too much. Eyes not glazed enough to be zoning out. As if he was staring at each dent and divot, each splinter of wood, each scratch, each stain- on everything.

People were starting to worry. His men when he feverishly scrubbed his knives after every mission, even when they didn't need it. Civilians he rescued when he would narrow his eyes at an empty ally too long. Other bats when he stared at his gloved hands like he was searching for answers in the threads.

But what they all noticed? How *differently* he looked at weapons. Used weapons. His eyes shone in a way that made the others take a second glance- trying to see what they missed, what they overlooked that made their boss, the heroic Crime boss, their brother, their son, react that way.

But no one else saw it.

Jason never mentioned it, and other people just dismissed it as them being silly. Of course there's nothing there- what would be there? Jason was just a little odd, nothing more.

-Cue Jason sitting in his apartment with the curtains closed, and towels over all his mirrors using plastic cutlery and only mugs so he wouldn't see his reflection in anything-

After a patrol, Jason was doing his -now ushual- routine of washing his knives, scrubbing his boots, and changing his gloves so he could wash the other pair.

"Why does he do that?" A relativly new goon asked.

"I think he has OCD." Another replied.

"Eh, whatever. dosnt really matter." A third goon glanced out the window of the warehouse base they had set up. Nightwing. Oh, crap. Nightwing was outside.

"Hey, boss? One of your viglantie buddies is outside."

Jason looked up, glancing down at his knives. He had washed them a few times, and the water was...

He squinted his eyes.

...Clear. Good enough.

He holstered his knives, and turned around to face his men, who were doing basic matinace of their own weapons, and patching themselves up.

"Which one?" Jason asked.

"Nightwing."

He sighed in response. "Allright. Dont wait up for me, go home when you're done."

He got a series of "yes, sir."'s and "yes, boss."'s from his guys as he climbed out of one of the high up wearhouse windows.

He pulled himself onto the roof of his warehouse and looked around, quickly spotting the viglantie.

"Jaybird!" Came a familiar voice. Jason hopped onto the building the blue-clad vigilante was standing on.

"What do you want?" Jason asked, cutting right to business. He didn't get visits without reasons.

"I came to check up on you. You haven't been very active the the Batchat lately."

"I'm never active unless it involves me."

"I know, but... you seem off."

Jason rolled his eyes. RIght. Of course he did. He was going insane and hallucnating. But he couldn't just tell him that.

"Well, I'm fine."

"You've been acting weird, and we all know it. I would've said something earlier but I thought you would want me to stay out of it. But it's been 3 months. What's up?"

Jason's eyes lowered to a small puddle of rainwater on the roof. A dead, bloody, pale, beat-up teenager stared back at him with glossy eyes.

"Jaybird?" His brother asked, concern laced in his voice.

"It's nothing. Get you're nose out of my business." He snapped, anger sudden but not new.

"...let me drop you home at least?"

Jason huffed. Of course he wanted to drop him home.

"Yeah, fine- not. No." He had almost forgotten about his apartment. Dick couldn't see it. He would call him crazy. Maybe he was crazy, but that wasn't the point. He'll just play it off as being scarcastic.

"Of CoUrSe YoU cAn CoMe To My hOuSe WiTh Me"

He watched dicks eyebrows furrow. Maybe this was too much?

"...I'm coming back with you, Jaybird."

"No. You're not. You need to respect my privacy." Shit

"I've been to your apartment before, I already know where you live."

"So? If I don't want you to come over, you need to respect my decisions."

"Jay- that's not-"

"I don't care, and I don't want your excuses. Go home, Dick."

The vigilante frowned at the crime boss. But they both left separate ways.

~~~~~~~

When Dick got back to the cave, he found 2 of his brothers and his father waiting for him.

"How'd it go?" Tim asked.

"Why is Todd acting oddly?"

"It went... poorly. And I don't know. He wouldn't even let me take him home. And he had... a weird look in his eyes."

"Does Todd not wear a helmet?" Damian countered.

"Yes, but... I could sort of... feel it? His eyes wandered more than usual."

Tim nodded. "I get it."

Damian rolled his eyes. "I do not."

"He was defensive of his apartment... I think he's hiding something there." Dick mentioned, a little hesitantly.

They all exchanged glances.

"You three can NOT break into your brother's apartment when he's acting strangely. Especially if he doesn't want you there. It's his safe space- we can't ruin that for him." Bruce warned.

~~~~~

Dick pulled the window open, pushing past the curtains covering it. They couldn't see into the apartment at all; there were curtains at every window. Which only added to their suspicion.

"I'm convinced there's something here. You check the bedroom, I'll check the kitchen." Dick nodded at times words, heading towards the bedroom.

The windows were predictably covered, but what he didn't expect, was his mirror to be covered as well. Why would he cover the mirror?

Digging around a little more, he didn't find much out of the ordinary. Books neatly on shelves, a mug left on his nightstand, and several hidden guns.

He moved on to the bathroom. The mirror was also covered with a towel. Beyond that, there was an oddly high amount of cleaning products. He recognised them as batmans go-to for cleaning off blood. That... is probably not good. The bottles were almost empty, and the whole room reeked of chemical cleanliness. It made Dick's nose wrinkle.

He checked the under-the-sink cabinet. There were more bottles. More than Dick would keep stocked to last him a year and a half. He frowned, and exited the bathroom to meet Tim in the living room.

"...What did you find?" Tim asked.

"His mirrors are covered, and he has talked up a... deep cleaning habit. His bathroom smells strongly of chemicals and he has way too many bottles of cleaner."

Tim hummed. "He doesn't have any metal or glass in the kitchen. He only has mugs and reusable plastic utensils- like what young kids would use. He even has plastic, but thee weird, painted kitchen knives."

"Why did he make thee changes? What do all of those things have in common?" Dick asked.

"Well, the windows, cups, and mirrors are all made of glass. Not sure about the plastic cutlery..."

"Those are all reflective," Dick provided.

"Yeah... and metals spoons and such too. But what about the chemicals?"

They thought on it for a few moments.

"It could be not related? Like, it could be something else."

"Maybe. And... you said that his eyes were wandering? Do you know what he could have been looking at?"

"There was.... a puddle on the ground."

"Which would have been reflective!" They said at the same time.

Jason thinks he might have gone insane.

The Lazarus Pit may have healed his amnesia, but ever since then he’s been seeing… things.

Shadowy figures flickering in the corners of his eyes. Sometimes when he looks in the mirror, for just a moment he can see his corpse staring back at him, wounds from the Joker’s crowbar still fresh. Then it’s back to normal.

Other times they’re more… persistent. Illusory corpses rest in places they have long been removed from. Or sometimes just pieces of them, often random splatters of blood. The blades he fight with become soaked in it, forever tainted red with the blood spilled on them. He takes to cleaning them relentlessly, never able to tell if there’s actually any grime left under all the red.

Perhaps part of it is just his guilty conscious. If it is, it’s not working; the sights only make him more angry, more likely to lash out at the criminals they remind him of.

224 notes · View notes

lsunstreakerl · 3 days ago

Note

ohhhh im sososo in love w/ ur worldbuilding in fmf !? like i am not joking it's been on my mind 24/7 and ltrly got me thru this exam ssn (which is finally over yayyy)

i finally have a lot of time and lots to yap abt and this ask is gonna go so many different places cus. i have an inability to stay on track. hope u don't mind <3

im v interested in a lot of things fashion-wise for both kingdoms, along side other topics but my current brain worm has been abt the wedding itself. i have to imagine that customs r very different up north compared to central (ricos kingdom is centre, right?) ones and one of the main factors for me is the prince consort's attire.

would max wear his own traditional attire to signify the relation between two kingdoms or would he have to conform to the verhoeven wedding attire? and does he get a choice in the matter? i think this is a pretty major stand-in or reflection of the progressiveness/conservatism of the laws, and by extension, the people there. or at least of the royal families. i have like a wedding attire design analysis cooking up im js waitinggg for that hint or nudge twrds it (other than the tailoring and measurements mention which were very a nice touch!) so i have some material to go off of and don't accidentally mess w/the writing flow.

and sparring clothes !! ohh im thinking abt sparring fits a lot. lightweight loose sweatshirts for consistent long practice hours, tighter fits and cleaner material for evaluation sparring (and some show-off), maybe leathers for max to demonstrate certain situations better i js know rico and townspeople would go crazyyyyy.

also im thinking fmf au where everything is the exact same except townsfolk have twitter. i don't know how. they js do and purely for the sake of treating the royal families how we treat f1 drivers (and all of stantwt yk)

(these r so fun to make shsjsksk wait i got a create a separate ask of js these)

anyway yeahhh yapping over !! love ur work as always mwah xx

CONGRATS!!! exam season is The Worst Thing Ever and I'm super happy and not at all jealous that you're free!

oh I'm such a worldbuilding nerd it's genuinely a problem. fmf is entirely self indulgent and that's just another example LOL. I have no problems with rambling asks :D there's technically spoilers for the wedding below but I put lots of thought into it so I think you should all read it anyways 🫶

wedding thoughts: there's a little bit of a mix going on here! for the actual ceremony, they've both got white suits. Rico's has chunkier gold embellishments compared to max, who has finer silver jewelry. (matching with his diadem that I talk a little about here.) there's an element of northern customs with both of them having white fur cloaks (a gift from the north in celebration of max- his people put a lot of their time and energy into getting the materials and constructing two of the cloaks. it's a clear sign of approval by his own people back home.)

cultural northern customs involve having to chase your partner down after the offered proposal in what is widely considered to be a fun, slightly horny "hunting" game. sure, you can propose- but if you can't even catch the person you're trying to marry, are you really a good fit? the chaser usually has to avoid traps set by the partner being chased, who's goal is to go without getting caught until the sunrise. when the partner being proposed to initiates the chase by running, it's a partial acceptance. full acceptance is given if they're caught.

central kingdom customs involve a very large festival-style celebration that features lots of bright colors, and clothing that's flowing and showcases movement for dancing. very big emphasis on marriage being a solid foundation and element of a healthy community, so any kind of union (royal or not) is celebrated with a bunch of enthusiasm. traditionally there's a lot of dancing through the day into the evening, and then the night ends when the townsfolk carry the newlyweds and dump them into the lake. (symbolizing the washing off of any past struggles or baggage, and that when they leave the lake together they're starting their new life as partners)

for the rico and max, they do both! the initial hunt after the proposal, and then the festival after the ceremony.

sparring clothes please I love your brain. generally soldiers wear lightweight clothing to practice (unless they're doing armor training) which max is fine with, but when he's teaching certain movements and evaluations he wears the leathers. there's lots of theories floating around why he does that, ranging from "he's trying to make us overthink it" to "it's a reminder of how different the styles are" it's actually just because his leathers are very well broken in and comfortable.

PLEASE THE TWEETS 😭 I was trying to decide what was making me laugh harder- "twitter for medieval magic devices" or the fact that max is on the phone reading off of a scroll. absolutely hilarious, thank you 🤍

#fmf verse #fmf art #the townspeople would go nuts with twitter #they'd be so funny #the gossip would get so out of hand #someone gets a blurry photo of mick going up a tower wall and the castle residents are convinced that it's the boogeyman #because what creature can fucking SCALE WALLS #a three second clip of max and rico sparring goes medieval viral #someone gets a pic of max with blushy cheeks and ears after rico is flirting and the picture is everywhere for weeks

43 notes · View notes

gaylordscooter · 1 day ago

Text

[A pile of carefully torn-out pages sit stacked neatly inside a drawer]

entry number 1

I've lost everything. my brother, my friends, my house, my universe. all of it is just gone now

to top things off, the last thing i was doing was running away from temmie. i thought they were my friend, but after they got the six human souls somehow, they went on a rampage and started killing the remaining monsters left and right.

the only reason i escaped was because this otherworldly being dragged me through a body of water and brought me somewhere else.

this being's name is ink, they're a skeleton like me—they even look like me.

It was explained to me that my universe shattered from "too many plot holes" and i didn't know what that meant! what do you mean my world has too many "plot holes" it's not like it's a STORY.

WELL APPARENTLY IT IS A STORY. AND I DONT LIKE THINKING ABOUT THAT FOR TOO LONG.

So anyway, alternate realities are in fact real and there's a whole multiverse. Cool. Awesome. I just want to go home and for everything to go back to normal

But apparently my universe is completely gone, it doesn't exist i'm the only thing that remains from it. while there are some universes that have parallel realities mine was the only one if it's kind.

COOL. AWESOME. I'M BEING NORMAL ABOUT THIS.

IM THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS OF MY UNIVERSE. MY UNIVERSE DOESNT EVEN EXIST ANYMORE. WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO. WHAT DO I EVEN DO? THIS "INK" PERSON IS WEIRD

When I was freaking out about my universe being GONE, he gave me this notebook and pencil to "calm down"

HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO CALM ME DOWN?! NOW I'M VENTING TO A NOTEBOOK WHILE HE STANDS THERE WATCHING ME FURIOUSLY WRITE!

entry number 2

It's been a day since my world was destroyed, I already miss my home. I've been missing my friends and brother.

At least Ink let me stick around. I've been staying at his place along with someone else named Dream, but I have yet to meet him since he's never here. It's comfy here, at least. I even have my own room (which looks suspiciously close to my old room actually. i think ink did that on purpose, maybe to cheer me up? i don't understand him).

Right now's around the time I'd study with Undyne, actually...well. at least i don't have to worry about getting into the royal science division.

Papyrus isn't around to read this. I feel bad that I've never told him this, but

I never really wanted to join the Royal Science Division. Even though I acted like it was my dream, it wasn't. I wanted to learn more about space.

but of course that's not possible when you live in the underground. (i guess that's not really a problem anymore? this doesn't make me happy)

and we've always been low on funds. the pay for it was too good to pass up. I've stolen so much just to keep us afloat. I was good at hiding that, though.

Too good. Maybe I should've told Papyrus once he was old enough. He never knew why I was kicked out...

How would I even tell him? There's so much I haven't, because I don't know how to word it.

"By the way, brother! Mom and dad didn't exactly like me 'trying to be someone who i'm not' and disowned me like i disowned my name! That's why we grew up in a scrapyard."

[there are various scribbles and dots here]

"You didn't have to follow me, y'know. you could've lived with them instead of stubbornly staying by my side it would've been easier"

no i wouldve missed him. even if it's selfish i'm glad he tagged along. he was always there for me

i wish i could say the same. I SHOULD be able to say the same but i CANT what poor excuse of a brother am i?

maybe. no. they'll never be right.

entry number 3

I met Dream for the first time. He's really. unique. I know he's dressed like someone straight out of an anime but I didn't expect him to ACT like someone straight out of an anime!

The way he talks, the way he moves. There's something uncanny about it, honestly. He also looks on the brightside like that's the only direction he can look. When he heard my universe was destroyed? Told me at least he's glad it's led to me meeting him and Ink??

Like No Offense To You Two But I Don't Think Losing My Entire Universe Was Worth Meeting You Two.

That's not to say I'm not glad to meet them! I am glad! Just not at the expense of my home and everyone I love!

wait when have i ever watched anime? where did i even learn what that means? it was one of my friends—or acquaintances that introduced me to it, surely. Why can't I remember?

I need to ask Ink something, maybe. hopefully he'll know.

entry number 4

so a consequence of my world shattering is that it's really easy to forget about it. because it doesn't exist.

after ink told me that, i can hardly remember anything about it.

it's like there's a big gap in my memory and all i remember is that i'm forgetting something.

like my scarf. i know there's a sentimental reason i wear it. there was something about it. something about the material it's made out of i think?

Entry number five

i had a brother his name is papyrus

his name is papyrus. he's my younger brother

don't forget him. don't mistake him for the other papyruses in the multiverse.

he woreWhat did he wear? what was he Like? oh my god what was he like

papyrus. don't forget him. he isn't like the other papyruses in the multiverse don't use them as a point of reference don't let them replace whatever memories you have left of him.

"he isn't like the other papyrus's" HOW CAN I KNOW THAT FOR SURE? I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT HE WAS LIKE

entry number 6

The more I learn about the multiverse the more my memories of my universe are skewed. Also I learned (or, heh, remembered) I have memory issues in general on Top of the whole "universe not existing means it's hard to remember" thing.

So that's great

I was being a bit of a downer because of the revelation and Ink caught on so he asked me what was up. I decided to tell him, even though I thought he wouldn't really get it since he doesn't seem to be bothered by anything ever.

Oh man was I wrong. He completely understands

He also has memory issues. He told me he was soulless—which wow, I'm surprised he felt comfortable telling me—which really messes with your capacity for remembering things.

Even though he uses paint as a substitute for a soul, it doesn't fix his memory issues. So instead he writes stuff down on his scarf. He suggested I should do something similar, write down important things.

He told me that even if I can't necessarily hold information in my head for a long time, if I can hold it in my head long enough to write it down, that's enough.

It was reassuring.

entry number 7

Dear Papyrus,

I've seen a lot of different places in the past few days, places I wouldn't ever imagine seeing. Some of them are pretty, some of them are a mess. It's a bit hard to wrap my head around it, how small we are in comparison.

I already thought space was big, learning there were multiple universes made me feel even smaller. But even so, out of everything I've seen. I have yet to find a world like ours.

But if the universe is infinite, the amount of multiverses should be too, right? Another version of our universe, one that hasn't disappeared, has to be somewhere.

I'll look for it.

I'll find it.

I don't want to pretend to be talking to you through letters. I want to see you again. There's so much I have to tell you.

All the lies I've told you. I thought I was protecting you. I was really just saving myself the trouble of explaining everything.

i miss you, bro. i'm sorry i'm the one that made it and not you

entry number 8

i lived in a house with papyrus in snowland sity. i remember it was spelled like that specifically for the sake of alliteration, even though it'd still count as alliteration if it was spelled properly anyway.

i was an intern for the royal science division, papyrus was too but he wasn't all that serious about it. i was friends with the head of it, undyne.

she was real big into gundam anime and tried making those mechs a reality. i helped her with that so i have some experience in robotics and mechanical engineering.

she was able to build at least one functional robot, their name was blookbot. they were the underground's biggest music artist. i was a pretty big fan of their music

i went to college and got a degree in psychology. i was supposed to go to medical school, but, i either failed my classes or didn't make it in i think. or maybe i couldn't afford it.

there were a few humans that lived underground, under queen toriel's care. she had a polices about not killing humans which some monsters didn't agree with, including her own (now ex) husband who thought she was prioritizing humans above her own people. technically she was prioritizing humans, in a way, since we kinda need their souls to break the barrier—but hey all those humans fell down as kids im not gonna blame her for deciding against killing. and those humans specifically weren't to blame for us being trapped underground, it was unfair to fault them for it.

there was a group of monsters that did take action against these policies. the rebels, they called themselves. it was a straightforward name. they managed to kill some of the humans that's fallen down, specifically the ones that decided to leave the safety of queen toriel in favor of finding a way out.

while the amount of monsters that were apart of the rebels was pretty low, there's always been a threat of a civil war over the queen's policies. the main thing preventing it was that everyone was very much aware that a civil war could spell the end of monsterkind. so the monsters that disagreed with her policies kinda just, went deeper into the underground and were left to their own devices.

temmie was my friend. i thought. they were...a peculiar being. not quite human or monster, they were a sentient plush toy. they were very vocal about thinking queen toriel was dumb for not just killing every human that fell underground and that if she did, we'd have enough souls to break the barrier by now. but to my knowledge the rebels only have two souls in their possession and there's five that live with queen toriel. we'd be missing one

hah! i remembered all that! fuck you, multiverse!

hopefully this information is accurate. god

entry number 9

MY NAME IS NOT BLUE. ITS SANS HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET THAT???

Ever since my universe was destroyed Ink's been calling me "blue" like that's been my name my whole life and i ended up forgetting that it's NOT!

GASLIGHTING! ME!

Only reason i remembered was because someone called me sans while we went out to a different universe to eat.OH YEAH SPEAKING OF THIS UNIVERSE

It's SIMILAR to mine, not quite the same but it feels much more familiar than the other ones have so far

they're called "Underswap" universes, because some people "swap" roles and personalities with someone else.

Ink calls my universe "Botchedswap". not that flattering of a name but i suppose it makes sense now that ive seen underswap

so like. is my universe just a "botched" version of that universe?? or variant, that's what ink calls them

variants are universes that derive similar traits to the "main" universe they're based off of. so like, botchedswap is an underswap variant since it's based on it. BUT WHO IS BASING IT ON UNDERSWAP? WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN? IS SOMEONE WRITING THIS? IT'S A STORY. THATS WHAT INK TOLD ME

i haven't really thought about how this is all a story after ink told me. i've kinda been avoiding it. it's like my mind automatically yanking my hand away from the stove, it's hard to think about it

i guess im sorta not supposed to know about that?? i mean. this is like some horrors beyond my comprehension probably. definitely, what the fuck do i mean probably?

so if this IS a story. i'm a character in it then? I'm probably a background character aren't i? i probably hardly even show up. who's the main character? would it be ink? oh then i probably wouldn't be a background character at that point.

That's so weeeird. If i was a main character that'd mean a lot of people saw my every move! Horrible! Or i guess not, why should i care what the hypothetical audience thinks about me?

Geez, there is an audience, isn't there? Unless this story's private or something.

I'm writing something down right now and im in a story. That's pretty weird. What if I wrote a story then? That's a story in a story, would that make that story more fictional than me?

wow im a fictional character.

The dread's not really hitting. Is that because i'm unable to or because i actually don't care that much? Is the writer of the story controlling my every move. What does this say about my capacity for free will. What does this say about everyone who isn't "on-screen"?

WELL. GOING OFF THE IDEA THAT I AM NOT A MAIN CHARACTER. THAT MEANS IM NOT BEING WRITTEN ABOUT THEN. WHICH MEANS THE WORLD DOES CONTINUE ON EVEN WHEN THEY AREN'T IN THE STORY.

OK MAYBE THE DREAD IS HITTING. IS THE AUDIENCE LOOKING AT ME RIGHT NOW? CUT THAT OUT!

WOWZERS, I AM A FICTIONAL CHARACTER. ok what do i do with this information. this is weird. im not supposed to know this right? well, ink told me so i guess it's allowed???

quick write something to show i have free will. uhhh what was that saying. from uhhh that one human. rene descartes?? is that how you spell his name. there's an accent on there somewhere

cogito, ergo sum

yeaaahhh yeah. i leaned that phrase from my philosophy class. i dont fucking remember what that means, go me

entry number 10

Wowzers, it's been a second since i opened this thing up! Welp, I'm in a much better spot now. Kinda embarrassing reading back on these entries now.

These are pretty personal too. I don't really wanna continue writing entries like this, I was never big on diaries cus I hate reading back on them.

So I ripped these pages out! I can't just waste the rest of this journal, the paper's pretty good quality. plus it's a gift from ink technically

But I can't just toss these pages out so I'm putting them in my bedside drawer. I'll probably forget I did that so this is sorta like a time capsule, I suppose.

So if i have rediscovered these pages, Hi! Hello! Future, hopefully-even-more-well-adjusted-me! Probably shouldn't destroy these pages because they have important memories written down in them! Push past the cringe of seeing me in agony! Or rewrite some of the key stuff, i dunno.

If you are not Blue, Sans-from-Botchedswap The Skeleton,

FUCK OFFF!!!! BARK BARK BARK BARK!! STOP READING THISSSS IT'S EMBARRASSING COME OOON. or hi ink, i told you NOT TO SNOOP IN MY ROOM!!!

On the off-chance you are not from my plane of existence, uhhh I guess i can't stop you? And i guess i shouldn't care since i won't see your reaction nor can you tell anyone about this so. whatever. go at it, voyeur.

not the right word to use sorry. yeah no. wrong word. not what it means.

See this is why it sucks knowing there's an audience what if i say weird shit!?!? Ughhhh. probably shouldn't care about it, but alas, my feeble soul, i am sensitive that even the possibility of the hypothetical audience thinking im weird hurts me so

#blue's (totally not diary) log

30 notes · View notes

polyamorouscultureis · 3 days ago

Note

Hi,

I hope this isn't too heavy to throw at you but I could really use the advice or opinion of the polyam community. I've been polyamorous ever since I started dating (6 years ago, I'm an adult); I never recognised myself in monogamy, and I believe in polyamory both due to personal preferences and to the political and ethical dimensions of polyamory, which are very important to me.

My partner and I live very far away from each other. We've been together for 3 years and have always had a polyamorous and open relationship (he was with someone who was married when I met him). Due to circumstances and personal preferences, we ended up in a hierarchical polyam situation where we are primary partners. We trust each other a lot, we have a very open and honest communication. All this to say it's a very loving and healthy polyam frame where everyone is on the same page.

The thing is, every time he tells me he's going to see someone (or have them over - meaning we can't talk at night like we tend to almost every day -, or go on a weekend with his friends and that person), it makes me sick. As in, I can't stop thinking about it, I feel sad and angry, I wait for texts I know won't come because he's busy with someone else. But I reach levels of envy and jealousy I can hardly deal with.

We do talk about it, because communication is important, but I refuse to talk to him about it every time because it would amount to emotionally pressuring him. He would either stop himself from seeing people (which is not something I want because I do want him to be free to create and have meaningful relations as he sees fit), or do everything without telling me, which would eventually weaken the foundation of the trust we share. I try to think about my own relations and sex partners, which I have and with whom I share meaningful and nice moments, in order to bring everything down to manageable proportions, but it barely works.

I hate feeling like this. This suffering is just not something I want in my life or as a reaction to my partner's exercise of his freedom. I don't understand why I'm not able to feel compersion and move on with my evening, instead of spending the entire excruciatingly long time with my phone at hand or without being able to put the thought away. I feel that I'm not actually able to be polyam and open as I have always seen myself. I know one of the baselines is to not be too hard on yourself, but I can't help but feel ashamed of my reactions in addition to feeling like absolute shit with the combination of jealousy and envy taking over my brain. This is not who I want to be not how I want to live my relationship and my life, because, then again, I choose to be polyamorous and I like it, and I feel it's a precious part of my identity and how I relate to the world.

Sorry for the length. I just don't have many polyam people around me and none are dealing with the long distance factor in addition, and I could use anyone's point of view on this.

Thank you 💜

Hi! I'm so sorry you're dealing with this and that you have been for so long. As I'm sure you've heard a hundred times, jealousy is so, so very normal. It's awesome you have such exquisite self-awareness, and I think you're doing all the right things in not putting your partner in a position where he feels like he needs to change what he's doing for your sake.

Here are a few things that sometimes help me turn my own jealousy into compersion (or at least make it less intense of a feeling):

I think about my partner's laugh, their smile, and how valuable their happiness is to me. Although I know they're with someone else and it's sometimes hard to think about their attraction to the other person, I try to focus on how I would encourage them to do anything that makes them happy, and if they're happy with this person, I would never want them to pull away from that source of joy. (Similar to the "if you love them let them go" kind of logic, only I don't have to let them go!)

Letting my body react however it's going to react. If I'm home by myself, I can let myself feel the feelings and whatever comes with it -- if I need to cry, or stress eat, or take a nap, or scream, or whatever, I allow myself to do whatever it takes to express the feeling and get it out of my system. It feels awful at first, but once it passes, I can then indulge in my own hobbies to pass the time until my partner comes home. And usually, the feeling goes away just a little bit faster every time.

Getting a poly-affirming therapist! Either an individual therapist or, if your partner is willing, a couple's therapist. It may take a bit to find the right practice or the right type, but it can be so helpful to have a professional to talk to, especially if this affects your daily life.

Additionally, see if you can figure out the root cause of your jealousy, or if you can find any patterns in what makes you more jealous than other things. (Journaling is suuuuper helpful for this, imo). Is it the idea of him being attracted to someone else to begin with? Is it the thought of him having sex or physical intimacy with someone else? Is it the inability to contact him while he is on a date, or the uncertainty about what they're doing together? There are soooo many factors that could make a person feel insecure or jealous, and once you find the root cause, it'll be easier to tackle. It may be as simple as asking him to check in with a text every couple of hours so that you know he's thinking about you, or asking to meet his date before they go out. See if you and your partner can find little ways to make you feel more secure without him having to completely pull away from anyone he wants to connect with.

I have answered a few other asks on jealousy in case you would like to read those as well!

I hope that this helps at least a little bit, and I'm sorry I didn't get to answering this sooner (and thank you for following up to make sure I saw it)! Hopefully others will give their own insights in the reblogs and comments as well.

Sending you all the love, anon! <3

#polyam asks #advice #jealousy #polyamory #polyam #polyamorous #compersion

29 notes · View notes

darkfictionjude · 2 days ago

Note

Omgggg my ask got cut off and I didn't see it, I'm the anon that was misled by the incest allegations 😭

The moment a was about to list of what I enjoyed about the game too! I was going to say one of my favorite things about the game is Crowny, I love how they are defined to an extent, I prefer non blank slate protagonists because I believe they're fun to write and read (so far the only blank Mc I enjoyed was from tally ho, the ones from cake and ale is more of an airhead), I love seeing Crowny interact with the world on their own (to the point I was sad when the other 3 would show up lol) it's really cool see them grow, I know people have complained, but I do not think people understand how damaging being coddled your whole life is, and I know loved doing the small little things like lying in your resume, trying to decide your college, learning how to drive and almost killing yourself and you bro, all the regular things we do as teens, I'm very proud of them, specially when they stand up for themselves on the last chapter when all the other characters were fighting and they bring up to light how they just got publicly humiliated, I just love how mcs are their own person too regardless of what others think and Crowny is very unique, you shared a gif from the new Dracula movie and it fits very well with the story, in another tome Crowny would be seen differently be it as attractive as people love to ask or spiritually, by alas. I don't know if I'm making sense since English is not my first language. I was also so into their character study I forgot to romance anyone lol, I tried overcoming all my bias to romance Lorcan, (he's, blonde and your sisters ex, so that was..) but then I discovered he was a bottom and into the friendzone(not yet, but THEY WILL BE FRIENDS)he was thrown, then I tried Imre who I at first thought was blackmailing Lorcan into working with him (idk the two of them are suspicious and I have a theory they're working together idk to bring Orla back, at least Lorcan), and HE'S SUCH A CREEP, fake ass bitch, I love him your honor, it's so funny how Crowny sees tru his bullshit, but also their romantic interactions are so charged and funny, he goes to make a move and the Mc is like lemme get out of the car and he locks the door, which is creepy, but he gets that pretty privilege, he gets horny after seeing Crowny humiliated and decides it's tiddy suckling hour, meanwhile Crowny is getting ready for a fist fight, their intaractions are so funny AND NOW DUM DUM DUM Nia!!! I understand both sides, they're teenagers and relationships are complicated, you cannot expect someone to always be there for you and give nothing back, but you cannot also wait for someone to read your mind when you're unhappy in a relationship (friendships are relationships), you can love someone, but decide it's too much for you to carry all the burden (and it's another layer if your Mc is a guy or white too, because black women are put into a double caretaker role), it's also really funny how Nia and Crowny are both not amused by the others interactions with Imre, what are you doing with my bff kind of think teenagers have, but also bitches just talk!!(I wonder if Imre finds it amusing) and I have more to say about the town and other characters, but this is already big enough and probably not very interesting bc other people have such insightful thoughts that are not a brainvomit like mine, anyway that'd all thanks for reading all that💐❤️

*opens the door of the prison cell*

Honestly I loved the library scene because they’ve never done that before. Never in their life have they complained to anyone about what they’ve endured and so it felt liberating in a way

He’s blond😭😭 true that is a mark against him. Blond men are known to be evil

Tiddy sucking hour oh my

You’re right it is another layer if Crowny is white and/or a man. Interesting 🤔✍️

Honestly I accept brain rot vomit it’s nice to see how others see the story

#ramble #analysis #reader love #wwc

27 notes · View notes

danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 4 hours ago

Text

//Well, some of you guys clearly had some shit to say to me about my thoughts and feelings on this post, huh?

//Out of the gate, I want to say thank you, because all of these responses are entirely fair, well-formulated, and respectful. And I feel like I don't get enough of that in terms of criticism and responses as of late.

//It's hard arguing against these points, most notably the one about how Ima goes through the 5-stages of grief, which I think is really clever actually...but I want to at least say a few things to clarify what I was actually talking about during my summary and opinion of the events.

//First of all, I think that's it's important to clarify that I stopped playing immediately after the fight where Ima and Kako make their debut. I paused my playthrough on the morning of Day 57 after Takumi sleeps through the previous day. I haven't had a chance to experience Ima and Kako's character progression, or their relationship beyond what I recounted in my journal.

//That journal entry was discussing my opinion of the events AS THEY HAPPENED. For all I know, what comes of them could end up completely resolving the situation for me. Shit, I hope it does. I'm still only halfway through the first run. There is still a second half, as well as 100 different outcomes, that could severely change my thoughts and feelings on the Tsukumo twins. Hell, that applies to every character in this lineup.

//Second of all, I'm sorry if I came across it this way, but don't go thinking I'm DESPERATE for Ima to get some commupance for his actions.

//I'm not trying to say that Ima deserves to suffer for what he did. I don't like him, but I'm not saying he deserves that!

//All I'm saying is that regardless of his reasons, it doesn't change the fact that he still mentally hurt his sister, and physically hurt; damn near KILLED; Takemaru. And I believe that he got off a little too lightly is all.

//I know that death matters little to these guys, but even if I accept that Ima just did it as a result of being pushed mentally, once again, Takemaru himself wasn't even aggressive about standing up to him! He wasn't yelling or anything; literally all he wanted was for Ima to take a chill pill.

//I'm not COMPLETELY ignorant though; I DO see that Ima probably felt guilty about the whole thing, and the fact that he DID get off lightly surprised him. His reaction to being flicked instead of...you know...being beaten to shit clearly got to him. He recognized Takemaru's generosity and kindness, and accepted it.

//And while yeah, for absolute psychopaths, making sure Ima dies in every fight might help THEM, I'm not that kind of person. Even if I was, it's too much of a hassle.

//Point 3: This one is in regards to the third person's specification of Takumi's heart not being in the pursuasion...that's very much a me problem here, because as I said in the journal, I ACED Kako's persuasion thing in one go, and I only got one wrong answer. So I didn't actually SEE that dialogue; thus the disconnect.

//And finally, the BIG problem with all these points is I think the general reason why this writing didn't sit right for me, is that the game doesn't JUSTIFY what happens as much as it probably should have.

//Almost every time we see the Tsukumo twins doing shit in this game, there's some sort of indication that they grew up in dire straits, and the way that Ima seems to be very controlling of both their actions only furthers this; as does Kako's interest in modern tech, and both of their habits of eating rotten/gone-off food or even wild plants without much complaint.

//My problem here is that this was the game's chance to go into detail about it, and they just...don't. If I had been given a full story instead of just little hints, then maybe, as you said, I'd find it more palatable.

//And I get it; it's probably very personal and hard to talk about, but if Ima REALLY wanted to get Takumi on his side this time and at least get the guy to understand where he's coming from, now's not really a good time to hold that shit back.

//This wasn't really an issue for any of the other characters we've had to debate with so far. Tsubasa and especially Gaku gave us a fair bit of detail on their backstories, both of which really got me to sympathize with the characters, as well as make their scenes even more powerful.

//Shouma's wasn't really that intricate, but unlike the Tsukumo's, Shouma's doesn't really NEED to be intricate. Him simply explaining that the reason he is this way is largely because his parents were very successful, and he has a history of disappointing people because he himself couldn't possibly live up to them both; which ended up shaping his attitude to what we know it to be.

//With him, we can pretty much piece the rest together; especially since we've already seen this kind of backstory from the likes of Mikan Tsumiki, Toko Fukawa, etc.

//This might just be how I see it, but I feel like Ima didn't give us nearly enough of an explanation. YOU GUYS who responded to my post gave me more of an explanation than the game did!

//What makes things even harder for me is the fact that Ima's whole character is that he comes off as remarkably unserious about everything. At least everything that isn't to do with Kako. He spends most of his screentime with a wry smile on his face and a flippant attitude, meanwhile he kind of casually treats everyone else around him like trash.

//And I KNOW how bloody ironic that sounds from someone who openly admitted that KURARA is one of his top characters in this game, but the difference is that I have NEVER taken Kurara seriously. And finding out that it's really just a coping mechanism because she herself is super timid only made that clearer.

//It's a cool and really unique point to say that Ima went through grief as Kako started to stick up for herself; and what he was mad at wasn't the fact that his dear sister dared to defy him, but the fact that he felt he was failing as a brother, and his life was crumbling apart, because he wasn't capable of stopping her from putting her safety in danger.

//That's GREAT if it wasn't for the fact that Ima had the personality of a DEAD GOLDFISH!

//Unlike Tsubasa, Shouma, and Gaku who are all endearing in their own weird ways, Ima is just SO UNLIKEABLE, and I'm under the impression that he acts that way on purpose. He has two personalities in the first 50 or so days, and that's coy, sarcastic and jovial; or livid for no fucking reason.

//I know this is the Kodaka creed or whatever, but for someone who's lived such a shitty life, he sure doesn't evoke much sympathy. GAKU evokes more sympathy than he does!

//I just had a really hard time relating to the Tsukumo's plight because once again, the scene itself just felt super rushed and kind of unfinished. We just go from one extreme to another in no time flat; making it both hard to follow, and even harder to sympathize with.

//One last thing I want to cover is how Takumi fits into all this, because...yeah, okay, I kind of see where you guys are coming from.

//Takumi is completely unequipped to resolve the deep-rooted problems between the twins. I don’t blame him for making what felt like the best choice in a horrible situation he clearly wasn’t prepared to deal with.

//But TAKUMI going along with it isn't the core issue. The issue isn't "Why isn't Takumi stopping this?" The issue is "Why isn't ANYONE stopping this!?" But in retrospect, I suppose I understand that, RATHER CONVINIENTLY, everyone kind of had a reason to.

//Shouma, Eito, and I guess also Nozomi have shown to despise inner conflict, and wouldn't want to do anything that would set Ima off, and therefore make the situation worse for everyone, including Kako.

//Takemaru, who actually DID step up, got badly injured by the aggressor for doing so.

//I would also understand that this particularly would put off the likes of Gaku and Tsubasa from getting involved.

//Darumi doesn't have a reason to get involved either. Hell, she actively WANTS infighting, because it brings them one step closer to their murder match that she so desperately craves. To a lesser extent, the same applies to Yugamu and Kurara. This isn't their business, and they don't have the chops or motivation to deal with it, so there's no reason to get involved.

//The only person besides Takumi that I see standing up to the issue is Kyoshika, but...Kyoshika on her own is about as useful as a chocolate teapot in this kind of situation. She could not handle this on her own without help; since all she can really do is step in to stop a situation from escalating.

//So yeah, I will concede this point. Trust me; I don't want to be out to get Takumi. He is a great main character despite his lack of agency so far, and I'd much rather defend him than rebuke him.

//But genuinely, thank you all for the serious and mature responses to that, and thanks for helping me understand better. I just hope I was able to help you guys understand a litle more where I'm coming from.

-Mod

THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY - Journal #4: Route 0 Days 46-56. [MASSIVE SPOILERS]

//Well...THIS was interesting.

//To be perfectly frank, this part of the game left me very...conflicted. As in some of the ideas that we have presented here, as well as the general plot progression of this part of the story...didn't really sink in with me on first experience, and didn't exactly invoke the kind of feeling in me I think it was supposed to.

//Was it a drop in quality? No, I wouldn't say so. What actually happens is still awesome, just...maybe it's something I'm not quite wrapping my head around.

DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED/SEEN THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY. I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT VERY SPECIFIC PLOT POINTS AND MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE GAME.

//So let's get started:

DAY 46:

//The day starts off with Nozomi, who now seems more willing to be open and more willing to talk to Takumi, calls everyone to the War Room so she can finally give us more info about what exactly the group from STLDA learned from Nigou about "World Death."

//By the way, I've been unintentionally calling this thing "World Ender" because I'm writing ReCaptured, and this is what the Remnants call the Future Foundation before they find out the actual name of it, lmao. Unintentional, but honest mistake.

//And of course, this kicks off with a bunch of juicy new lore.

//As I have mentioned in passing with these blogs, one of my favourite parts about this game's story is how it's clearly set in a "distant" future, where humanity all live under a giant dome-like structure, and throughout the game, we see the characters react weirdly to phenomenons that we as regular humans think is natural.

//Just as it creates interesting scenes like that where the characters are unfamiliar with concepts that we find basic, the concepts that they live with under the TRC are what seem alien to us. So the more we learn about them, the more it hooks me.

//But essentially, Nozomi just gives a straight up summary here of WHY the Tokyo Complex was even created in the first place.

//To summarize what she says, Earth became uninhabitable due to a phenomenon called "World Death," caused by the planet itself deciding to end its life in response to humanity’s exploitation and environmental destruction. As natural disasters ravaged the planet, most of the population perished, but a few survivors escaped to massive underground shelters like the Tokyo Residential Complex.

//Over a century later, TRC's residents are the last remnants of humanity, with no memory of life above ground. Now, their survival is again threatened as resources run out. Their only hope lies in the mysterious item hidden in the Defense Room by Sirei. Nozomi and the others believe that the reason why we are here for 100 days specifically, is because that item is set to activate on the 100th day, serving as potentially humanity’s final chance at salvation.

//I don't know if there's nuance to this explanation, but considering the context we have thus far, it checks out.

//And again, there are some interesting tidbits here. For one thing...we find out that Darumi had an abusive brother...shame that, but unfortunately not super important for the current situation; though I am definitely more curious about it...

//And another, as it turns out, despite living in the TOKYO Residential Complex, none of these kids really even know what Tokyo WAS before World Death consumed it.

//Again, the difference in perspective between the audience and the cast is the most interesting part of this game's plot. This is normal for them. The idea that they descended from an entirely different race of human beings that covered an entire planet never even crossed their minds.

//This situation also got me thinking about the Invaders themselves. The current theory that the students have is that the Invaders are part of the world's will to destroy the rest of humankind.

//A definitely plausible theory for the moment, but I personally don't think it's true. And the main reason why I believe that at this point is because if the Invaders are part of World Death, then why can they not get past the Undying Flames? Or at the very least, how come the mooks can't get past the Undying Flames without some sort of special method? If they were part of the same apocalypse, shouldn't they be able to bypass it far easier than they've been shown to?

//I have other reasons, but they prop up later in this journal, so I'll cover them when I get there.

//MY personal theory is that the Invaders are exactly that. Alien Invaders. It's why they speak a completely unrecognizable language, and why they look so strange and...well...alien. My only issue is that at this point, I don't see why it's important for them to get past the school and into the Defense Room.

//However, my best guess is that whatever it is that humans are using to survive is potentially something that they stole from that alien race, and these guys want it back.

//And I think this checks out, because this conversation we have here really does go out of it's way to highlight that even after ALL the shit that's happened as a result of Earth trying to protect itself from greedy douchebags; the government of what's left of the world is still played up to be extremely selfish.

//A large reason why, or at least, as it's indicated by the characters, that most people in the TRC don't know about the old world is because most history books or textual knowledge on it has been scrapped. And I can only assume the reason is because they tried to erase any history of their fuck-ups. They don't want people to point the finger and blame them for their currently dying race.

//Coupled with the fact that they clearly have a hand in this war we're fighting, and drafted literal children into it to fight for the human race, and...yeah, it really calls morality into question.

//I'm almost thinking there's going to be an ending to this game where we find out the truth about the Invaders and what humans have done to them, switch sides, and help subjugate humanity. Of all the possibilities, there has to be at least one route that lets you turn your back on these nasty bastards.

//Anyway, with that all out of the way, it causes everyone's resolve to tighten...Everyone that is...except Ima and Kako.

//Oh, sorry, everyone except Ima and Ima alone. Kako is clearly far more motivated to fight than ever now, since only she and her brother are the one's sitting on the sidelines while even Shouma was able to come around to the idea.

//But Ima does not let Kako speak for herself, and it aggravates me to no end. Again, I was holding out for hope, because from what I'd seen of these guys so far, there had to be at least a good reason why. I was really banking on that actually, because in this part of the story, Ima just becomes insanely iredeemable, at least for a bit.

//We'll get back to that though.

//I still had Free Time for the rest of the day, and fortunately, within this time it's taken me to play, I've started to figure out more about what you should be doing with your spare time.

//One of the big issues that I had with this game was how upgrading moves costed BP. BP, which is an unreasonably rare resource during explorations. And one of my biggest critique's of the game itself was that doing explorations did not net nearly enough resources needed for character and weapon upgrades; even with a team that increases the likelihood of finding the resource.

//Turns out I was doing things a bit wrong.

//You're not SUPPOSED to farm BP with explorations. You just CAN do it. The REAL best way to get BP is by playing the VR training missions.

//I made the, admittedly, stupid as fuck mistake that you could only get the rewards from the VR missions once. Turns out you can just play them over and over again to get the points you need, and the best part is that it only costs one slot of time. And the more missions you unlock, the higher your potential reward is.

//If I spend a full day grinding the VR missions, it nets me about 6000 BP points minimum, which is perfect and serviceable for what I need. This is something I wish I'd recognized sooner; even before I started the game.

//But hey, better late than never.

//So...yeah, a lot of these 10 days I cover is gonna involve me grinding out the VR training. And again, even though she's not in the squad anymore, Hiruko is still registered in the training sim.

//I'm not going to talk extensively about what happens during my grind, because it's just the same mission over and over again, but I was able to get some new abilities for my characters.

//The standour one's are that Kurara now has an ability where she makes a turret that gives allies shields every turn, which, while not strong shields, is still very useful. And on top of that, Shouma actually got an attacking move.

//From what I can understand, Shouma can throw a punching attack that increases in power the lower his health gets. However, if he does attack, he immediately becomes stunned. Which...makes sense considering what we covered in the previous journal.

//This isn't a huge problem, but it does still make taking hits and reflecting the damage back his better option; especially since he can still lure enemies away from the point.

//Speaking of which, I did a big booboo in this fight as well, because I did not realize that Kurara's ultimate move worked the same way as the trip mine item; as in if they go off, it hurts EVERYTHING in the vicinity, INCLUDING your own teammates.

//So yeah, Gaku (appropriately) ended up getting blasted to death by the bombs. Poor guy.

//After the day ends, we have another Karua scene where she drops lore on what Earth was like before the TRC; very relevant to our current conversations.

//Although, to be honest, what I took away from it was really strange, and probably not important, but apparently what's going on is Takumi is in the middle of doing his summer homework, and Karua is watching him.

//My question is why does the concept of SUMMER break exist when the Tokyo Residential Complex has already been established to not have seasons?

//Should the concept of "summer" even exist to these people? And how come no one's questioning it if that isn't the case?

//I can't even call this a nitpick; I just think it's weird.

DAY 47:

//To be honest, a lot of the days I'm about to list are actually just days with Free Time. Which is good, because we need as much as we can get. But there are spruces of plot to break them up that mainly revolve around the twins, because obviously it's their turn to join the fight.

//But we did actually get a moment today during the breakfast sequence that actually made me laugh a bit.

//Can I just mention that I do really like that the writers of this game do give us extensive scenes to make up each day, even if they don't add much to the overall story. Kind of gives you this reminder that we are basically just living together like this, and we are regular people at the end of the day, despite what we go through.

//And it's a better chance to show off the characters just being friends; especially after the sheer spite between the two groups in the last arc of the story.

//Also, Komatsuzaki, holy shit, you branched out a lot for these sprites, huh?

//Yeah, not gonna lie, as weird as Gaku's sprites during this sequence is, him having a foodgasm over Kurara's curry is really funny to me. Especially given what's been going on with me at the moment.

//I haven't really talked about it, because it wasn't super relevant, but I've recently been rewatching a lot of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure; particularly Diamond is Unbreakable, because that part's my favourite.

//And one of my favourite episodes of that part; which I'm confident many agree with, is the Tonio Trussardi episode where Josuke and Okuyasu just go eat Italian food at Tonio's restaurant, and every time Okuyasu ate one of Tonio's dishes, he had a very critical breakdown of each one; and acted very intelligent about the flavor.

//This reminded me of that, so for me personally, it's as funny as it is relevant.

//I am also glad to see Kurara being hospitable. Because she is genuinely one of my favourite characters so far; especially after the last arc. Even when she was being a complete jerk, she was still a fav of mine, but having her acting this way just bumps her up for me.

//And one thing that I am so disappointed about is after breakfast, I actually spent the morning of that day hanging out with her to increase my stats. And while I don't remember exactly what happened with it, I remember Kurara was really mad at Gaku about something.

//And then she pulls out a fucking gun!

//Like, no cap, she tells Takumi she's gonna get revenge or...whatever, and then the screencap shows a fucking handgun, and she's like "Yeah, I'm gonna smoke this dweeb!" and Takumi has to talk her down.

//Caught me off guard in the best way, and I think Kurara might actually be one of my favourite characters in the game now.

//For context, after these days, this is my current tierlist. However, I will say that there is not a single character in this game that I think is bad or poorly written. The cast itself is genuinely very solid, and I pretty much like all of them.

//Which was one big reason why Danganronpa 2 was so good for me; because even the worst characters in it I still like a moderate amount.

//I spent the afternoon reading to increase my stats, and it kind of reinforced this idea that I brought up previously. The book I read was another one that contained a lot of history on the TRC, but so much of the content in it was censored.

//Again, the reason is pretty clearly because the government of the TRC are trying to leave the old world behind, along with how badly they screwed it up.

DAY 48:

//Today was another day where I just played the VR sim again, and even though I know it's going to get stale doing the same fights again and again just to get the resources I need, I think I'm getting used to it.

//It's not the WORST thing in the world. At least your efforts are fruitful.

//Only other thing worth noting is in the morning, there's a scene with Eito in the cafeteria where he mentions that thanks to what we now know about World Death, the possibility of Nozomi being an alternate universe version of Karua is looking increasingly unlikely.

//His reasoning is that since we're fighting for the sake of helping the Tokyo Residential Complex and the remains of humanity inside it to live another day, the likelihood of the academy and the complex being from different worlds is fairly minimal.

//Like I said before, I knew that that wasn't going to be the case, because the game does not just feed you answers like that. But yeah, I guess that's as good a reason as any.

//But once again, I am still absolutely clueless on who or what Nozomi is in that case. And I genuinely can't think of any good theories until the game gives us more information on her; which they have been pretty shy about.

//My best guess is that Nozomi's arc is going to come after we get the whole squad together.

DAY 49:

//I expected this would happen, but Ima has officially cut both himself and Kako off from the rest of the group.

//If you'd noted the tierlist above, Ima is currently square at the bottom of the list, even though I don't hate him. I just really don't like him for most of this part of the story, because he acts SO CONTROLLING. And the longer it goes on, the worse he gets. Again, we'll get to that, but his behaviour just gradually gets more and more disturbing as time goes on.

//But today turned out to be a little bit different. At the point I was at, I managed to get most of my social stats to level two, with Math and Gym being the one's I had to get next. Nozomi raises Math stat, so I planned on giving her a gift so she could help me level it.

//Unfortunately, I did search what she liked, and I didn't actually have the resources to make it. So what I did is I decided to go out exploring, and in one sitting, get to ALL the Treasure Chest locations on the map that I had unlocked so far.

//As a reminder, I am currently flame level 2 in the game, so I only have access to the Desert and the Forest.

//But I'm not gonna lie. Remember how I mentioned that the exploration stuff was by far my least favourite part of the game?

//Well...it STILL is...BUT I have managed to find a way to make it much, much, MUCH easier on myself. And it largely revolves around the team I picked to go out with.

//That squad is Nozomi, Shouma, and Kyoshika.

//First of all, I know that I kind of shit-talked Kyoshika initially, because her playstyle didn't really click with me, but after getting her some more moves and understanding how she functions, she is easily one of the strongest characters in the game.

//Even at a lower level, setting up the game right allows her to do more damage to enemies than even Hiruko was able to pull off early game. So in this squad, Kyoshika is my main DPS, with Takumi as my sub-DPS basically. If you use Takumi to clear out the smaller enemies and get them on their own with no adjacent backup, Kyoshika can effectively take out stronger enemies in one hit with her attacks.

//Having someone that strong means that I clear enemy spaces very easily very quickly, even the tougher ones.

//Shouma is really great for long-winded investigations because his whole thing is having the most health out of every character. So if you land on an event square where you take damage, he can take a lot of it and not really worry about it.

//He's also good at getting rid of smaller enemies on a wide scale in battle by luring them in and having them hit him. And again, considering the whole point of these missions is that health depends on how long the exploration is for, him being able to take damage that would normally badly hurt his party members makes him a godsend.

//This same reason is exactly why Nozomi continues to be the absolute uncrowned queen of this game, because in this kind of situation, having the ability to heal is just ESSENTIAL.

//So my main strategy is if my team is running low on health, I try to aim for spaces that initiate a battle, and during the battle, I have Nozomi just pump everyone's health up again. And then that health carries over to the board game mode.

//Of course, the issue is Nozomi herself is very squishy and lacking in health, so one really unfortunate roll on the board could kill her instantly.

//But in the event of something like that happening to any of my characters, I have been strictly advised to save-scum the fuck out of it, otherwise it's just not enjoyable.

//You need a LOT of patience with this gamemode, because if you don't have mental fortitude, it's gonna eat away at you. Getting these gifts in one sitting took SEVERAL HOURS, because you move so slow around this board, and in some places where you need to go, there aren't even any checkpoints that you can automatically jump to.

//Still easily the worst part of this game, and that's very unfortunate. But with the new characters on the team, it's at least not nearly as much of a luck-based grind that could end purely by chance.

//But I managed to get it all done, and ended that gameplay session there. But Day 49 doesn't end just like that though, because we have a really interesting cutscene.

//Remember how I mentioned that we had a scene where Karua and Takumi talked about the outside world again? Well, in that scene, Karua mentions the Moon, which again, is something that these kids are unfamiliar with. They live under a giant dome, so they've never seen anything in the sky ever.

//But this day ends with Takumi feeling a presence outside his door; which at the time I guessed was the Undying Flames boy, but it's raining when he goes out and no one's there. He ends up looking up at the moon and...

//...yeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhh, that ain't normal.

//I have no idea what to make of it, but I do actually have two theories, and both of them relate to the same thing.

//That "thing" is my theory about the Invaders being aliens.

//THEORY 1: What we're looking at here isn't the moon, but the spaceship that the alien Invaders actually come from. They descend down to earth from this conviniently moon-shaped spaceship.

//My reasoning? Sirei mentions at the beginning of the game that the Undying Flames are specifically an inpenetrable wall of fire. The Invaders sometimes get through it, but we're never given explicit detail on HOW. HOWEVER, Sirei does mention that while the flames respond to enemies that try to get OVER them, he does mention that there is a limit to how high they can reach.

//And when he explains it, he very notably mentions that one way to get by it is to come in from outer space.

//Which is what I think the Invaders are doing, because even though we know some of them get past the Wall of Flames, we're never explicitly given details as to HOW. Just that some particularly strong one's can just...do it. So that would also explain THAT little detail.

//THEORY 2: Remember how I mentioned earlier that whatever's in the Defense Room may be something we've taken from the Invaders that they're trying to get back?

//While this might sound ridiculous, here's a distinct possibility that we're not even ON Earth right now.

//Maybe that's a bit confusing, but what I mean is that the moon that we're looking for is ACTUALLY where the Tokyo Residential complex is. It's not underground; we are GENUINELY on another planet.

//I'm not sure whether we're actually on Earth after World Death though, like Nozomi claimed earlier, or if what we think is the moon is actually the Earth, and we're on a foreign alien planet. It's really going to depend on what the actual mission here is, and those juicy lore drops are stuff that I just cannot WAIT to explore.

//Either way, as I predicted, almost immediately after Takumi looks at the moon, the Undying Flames boy showed up. This time, Takumi goes to manhandle him, but before he can do anything, the doofus slips on the rainwater and knocks himself out.

DAY 50:

//AND WITH THAT WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH!

//I honestly have no idea how Takumi didn't catch an effin' cold seeing as he not only slept all night under the rain, but the fact that his body is not acclimatized to any kind of weather. Also, did his clothes somehow not get damp? How come Eito or he didn't even notice?

//Today we had a very interesting event happen...Takumi was going to tell everyone at the cafeteria that he'd run into the strange ghost boy again, but in the middle of him trying to explain it, the Invader alarm sounded, meaning everyone needs to rush over to the war room.

//I was surprised because it hadn't actually been that long, and I thought for sure that the next fight we did would be where Ima and Kako stepped into the fray. But turns out I shouldn't have spoken so soon.

//I actually did notice that something wasn't quite right with this time's alarm, because even though it played the intruder alert CG, normally after that, we get a cutscene showing the swarm of invaders rushing into the school. We didn't get that this time; which should have been a clear suggestion that this wasn't what we thought it was.

//When we get to the War Room, Yugamu points out that even though the alarm sounded, there isn't actually anybody on the campus, much less the invaders. However, from the flames, we do see a lone figure incoming. And while at first we think it's an Invader Commander, as we zoom into the image...

//YEEEEEE-!

//To be perfectly honest, this wasn't how I expected Moko to be introduced into the plot...like, at all.

//I thought that after we managed to get Ima and Kako to join us in the fight, Nozomi would bring Moko up again, and we'd go out on a search mission to rescue her.

//But it seems like she's come to us instead.

//I'm really not sure how she was able to get past the Undying Flames without a Fire Hydrant, but maybe she somehow still had one and used what was left of her Hemoanima to get inside?

//But that's also weird, since STLDA didn't have a wall of flames, so there was no need for those things, and I doubt Moko ever used one. Hopefully it will be explained later.

//We don't actually see a lot of Moko yet, because she spends most of this time recovering, but she's in the Student Profile now, and on the map. And we get this short scene of Nozomi consoling her; which was one of the more notable CG's that were revealed in the pre-release.

//Even with only a few dialogue lines at the moment, she is pretty entertaining already. Kind of just the silly character it seems; though a less psychotic version than Darumi. Whether or not she'll have any notable involvement in the plot or not remains to be seen.

//We do learn a little bit more about what happened to Moko from Nozomi here, and more about Moko as a character. First off, she's apparently a real high-school wrestler, and strong enough to take out a small army of Invaders on her own.

//Nozomi recounts how, when the second group first woke up at the Second-to-last Defense Academy, they were just as frightened and disoriented as the A-Team had been. But Moko quickly stepped up as a leader, keeping the group from falling apart. Effectively, she was originally for the group what Nozomi is for them now.

//She apparently always knew the right words to lift their spirits when things got tough, and it's because of her guidance and support that they evolved into the powerful team we were first introduced to.

//Tragically, on the tenth day of training, a massive swarm of Invaders attacked. Even with Moko leading them, the team was almost completely wiped out. According to Nozomi, they used a diversionary force on the north side of the school to keep the group occupied, while strike teams silently picked them off one at a time. The group, still inexperienced, couldn’t respond fast enough once they realized what was happening. Yugamu, Kurara, and Kyoshika were killed, and the defensive barrier was destroyed.

//To make things worse, Nigou was captured and the Revive-O'-Matic was damaged. Knowing that Nigou was vital to everything, Moko launched a desperate rescue. Despite being exhausted, she managed to reach him and throw him to safety, but she was too drained to escape and ended up being captured herself. By the time Nigou revived the others, the Invaders had already retreated, taking Moko with them.

//All of this is to say that I'm quite excited to see how Moko plays in battle. Particularly because I don't see what kind of role she might fit into.

//We already have DPS with the likes of Hiruko, Takumi, and Kyoshika, and Takemaru and Shouma already fit into tank role. I doubt she's a support, so...I am interested to see how differently she might play compared to who we've got so far.

//One of my favourite parts of this game is the variety of playstyles and strategies between characters. I do hope that Moko keeps that ball rolling.

DAY 51:

//Despite the fact that Moko came back, Day 50 was surprisingly short considering it's a milestone number.

//Not an awful lot happened today, but I have two highlights.

//First of all, the breakfast cutscene that morning got to show Yugamu and Darumi having an "enlightening" conversation, and even though we don't get much of this duo, I hope we get more, because their conversations are always cryptically hilarious.

//And second, would you FUCKING believe it, after all that grinding I did to get Nozomi a nice gift so I could raise my math stat, because she's busy taking care of Moko, Nozomi is UNAVAILABLE to hang out with!

//FUCK!

//I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU CHOCOLATE MY GIRL! WHY MUST I BE CUCKED THIS WAY!?

//Anyway, Eito also raises the Math stat, so I reset and decided to get him a gift instead.

DAY 52:

//*sigh*...Okay...

//Remember how I mentioned at the start that there was a significant point in this part of the story where the plot started to decline in quality? Well, it's this part here.

//This is the point in the story where Ima and Kako's involvement in the plot, and their character arcs, finally come forward. And unfortunately, it's not executed in the way that I hoped or wanted, but...let me explain.

//As I've mentioned before a few times leading up to this day, it's become clear that Kako harbors deep discomfort regarding her brother's behavior toward her. Even if, on the surface, they appear to be a typical pair of siblings, and fortunately, Kodaka doesn't ACTUALLY cross into incest territory with the Tsukumo's, it doesn't stop Ima’s actions crossing the line into something far more disturbing.

//And THIS PART of the story is CROSSING! THE LINE!

//As the plot unfolds, we begin to see Kako’s true desires more clearly. Rather than staying in her brother's shadow or continuing to play the obedient little sister, she wants to stand on her own and be part of the group’s effort to protect the school. Her determination grows steadily, and by this day, she finally reaches a breaking point.

//She gathers the courage to challenge Ima for the first time, to raise her voice and assert herself.

//Unfortunately, Ima’s reaction is as chilling as it is immediate.

//Rather than even pretending to consider her feelings, Ima glares at her with open malice, his expression dark and hostile. He coldly dismisses her words, grabs her by the arm, and drags her out of the cafeteria in front of everyone!

//He claims he’s going to “punish her for stepping out of line” and promises to give her a “thorough reeducation.” It’s a deeply disturbing moment, not just because of what he says, but because of what it implies.

//If you followed my main account @creepercraftguy, you'll know that I recently made a repost from one of @hopeymchope's posts where they talk about how he finds the cast of this game to be terrible, selfish people, and I went out of my way to refute their points and defend the characters and the games writing. In as civilized a way I could manage, I want to add.

//However, I CANNOT defend THIS! I think that hopey's assessment of what happens here with not just Ima and Kako, but everyone's reactions to what happens with the siblings, is spot on.

//This kind of control, entitlement, and possessiveness that are hallmarks of ABUSE!

//The terror on Kako’s face in that moment says it all. While it’s later implied that Ima didn’t physically harm her beyond perhaps a stern verbal tirade, since she seems relatively unharmed the next time she appears, the psychological toll in the moment impossible to ignore. This is the kind of dynamic you’d expect to find in an abusive household, not between two supposedly loving siblings.

//And that's not even the WORST part.

//Just as Ima starts PHYSICALLY dragging Kako away, Takemaru steps forward and blocks their path. Calm and composed, he doesn’t shout or resort to threats.

//He simply states the truth: if Ima truly cares for his sister, he ought to respect her autonomy and listen to what she has to say.

//It’s a simple, rational appeal...but one that Ima responds to in the most violently irrational way possible.

//Without a word of warning, Ima pulls out a weapon and STABS TAKEMARU IN THE STOMACH!

//JUST LIKE THAT!

//Like...this was his PLAN A! He wasn't even attacking in self-defense! Takemaru literally said ONE THING about how Ima was mistreating his "beloved" sister, that was very clearly true and everyone around him agreed with it, and Ima just STABS HIM FOR IT!

//I know that the game kind of already played it up for a long while before this bombshell dropped, but Ima might GENUINELY be the MOST FUCKED UP character Kodaka has ever written.

//Well...okay, maybe not, but he's DEFINITELY UP THERE!

//But it's not over yet!

//The scene itself is chaotic, shocking, and horrifying. After the stabbing, Ima successfully escapes with Kako, and Takumi, Eito, Gaku, and Yugamu manage to stabilize Takemaru and carry him back to his room so he can recover.

//But in the aftermath, something even more unsettling occurs. Despite everything, the threat to Kako, the stabbing, the obvious danger Ima now poses...Takumi just shrugs it off!

//He basically says it’s "too late" to act that day and simply decides to go to sleep, as if nothing could be done! The others seem to quietly accept this, and Takumi’s parting words are to “worry about them later.”

//LATER!?

//Kako is almost certainly being subjected to more of Ima’s abusive behavior right now, and yet the protagonist apparently prioritizes rest over rescue!

//And even putting that aside, AGAIN!

//IMA!

//STABBED!

//TAKEMARU!

//I can accept the students treating both Hiruko and Kurara's violent threats the way they did, with little agency, because we ultimately KNOW that neither of them are going to actually follow up on them. For Hiruko, it was clearly an incentive to get those afraid to fight to step up, and the same goes for Kurara; wanting to finally settle the disputes between the two sides at that point.

//But IMA is acting entirely selfishly, and did something that could almost have killed Takemaru with VERY LITTLE REASON! IF ANY! Literally all Takemaru did was say "You should listen to your sister!" and Ima went "Haha! You die now for that!"

//The lack of urgency is INFURIATING! No one is making any attempt to rescue Kako, restrain Ima, hell even both!

//And while I have gassed this game up to high heaven, and will likely continue to do so because I AM still enjoying it, this whole situation is a CLEAR failure on the part of the game’s narrative to treat the situation with the seriousness it deserves!

//The evening ends with Takumi getting a letter from Kako, essentially pleading for help. She asks Takumi to try and convince Ima to let her fight with the others, just as he was able to do for Tsubasa, Gaku, and Shouma. And Takumi agrees that tomorrow he will finally confront Ima about it.

//Which gave me a bit of hope that he was gonna step up...only for the next morning to have those hopes immediately dashed...

DAY 53:

The next morning, just as Takumi is about to go convince Ima to let Kako fight, Ima himself shows up at Takumi's door...completely unrepentant, mind you, and has the gall to ask for a favor.

//He flips the situation on its head, and gives us a different mission than normal. Instead of Takumi convincing Ima to fight, Ima instead wants Takumi to convince Kako to abandon her hopes of fighting alongside the group and return to passive obedience.

//However, he doesn't come empty handed. In exchange, Ima offers to take her place in the defense effort. So long as Kako doesn't fight, Ima himself will join the front lines so he can protect her.

//While this scene DID lighten the load a TAD, because it showed that Ima really does just want to protect Kako from any kind of harm, it’s an absurd proposition.

//In return for the privilege of Ima’s help; the same Ima who just stabbed someone for speaking out; you're asked to emotionally crush a victim of his mental abuse, and restore her to her "proper" role as his submissive little sister.

//To put this into Danganronpa fan perspective, this is equivelent to helping Kanade convince Hibiki that her only purpose is a mindless doll for her sister to play with.

//Worse still, this isn't a choice the player can meaningfully engage with. You're railroaded into compliance. No matter how many times you try to refuse. Even if you don't want to; and trust me, I DID NOT WANT TO, the game offers no real alternative.

//You’re stuck in a classic But Thou Must scenario: the story won’t move forward unless you agree to Ima’s terms. For me, it’s not just frustrating. It’s a betrayal of the emotional stakes the game itself has built up, forcing you to go along with a resolution that feels morally bankrupt.

//Yes Ima! Considering you stabbed a man and also look so much like Kokichi Ouma, you DO look like a HUGE liar!

//ANYYYWAYYYY, since we've essentially been FORCED into doing this, instead of going around to learn more about how to appeal to Ima, we instead go to learn a bit more about Kako and the twins in general.

//I'm actually okay with this part because even though I'm not on board with the actual mission, it does pique my interest.

//Mainly because we do get a little more information and characterization from Kako herself; who's contributions to the plot so far have been...fairly minimal. And some contribution from Ima too, who starts to open up about their backstory.

//Ima has always made it painfully clear that he’d throw the entire world under the bus if it meant ensuring Kako’s safety, but it's only with this part of the story where you see how his obsession with protecting her borders on apocalyptic. He would happily damn humanity if it meant shielding her from harm.

//But but the very obvious issue with what he's doing and why he's acting this way, is what does that kind of safety even mean if Kako isn’t allowed to be happy? If she’s not allowed to be free to make her own choices and have Ima dictate her his whole life?

//That’s the core problem, isn’t it? It's not just about whether she’s alive or unharmed — it’s about whether she gets to live her life, by her choices. And right now, thanks to Takumi's ongoing deference to Ima’s twisted logic, that freedom is slipping further and further out of reach.

//I’ll be honest. It’s incredibly frustrating watching Takumi cave like this. Whether it’s out of guilt, confusion, or just plain weariness, he keeps conceding ground to Ima, inch by inch. It’s not just disappointing. It’s disheartening; especially since Takumi has very quickly become one of my favourite protagonists in one of Kodaka's games, rivalling even KAEDE.

//We also learn something new about in that apparently, the twin's father used to be a detective. Which definitely shines a light on where Kako’s sharp intellect and analytical instincts come from. Even though she's unnasuming, she has been shown to be very keen, intelligent, and good at estimating outcomes, and I see where she gets it now.

//Her love of tech is another defining trait, and when Ima suggests getting her a motor scooter, it surprisingly turns out to be a solid idea. She reacts positively to the idea, and it’s one of the rare moments where Ima actually seems to understand her interests rather than project his own desires onto her.

//We also get confirmation about something that’s long been implied: the twins lost their parents at a very young age. I’d suspected as much, but hearing Ima talk about it gives it some more weight.

//He mentions that while they technically had other family members, those relatives didn’t care for them in any real sense. They abandoned the twins, leaving them to survive on the streets alone.

//Which, while this might be a stretch, kind of reminds me of Rei Mekaru's backstory in Danganronpa Another. As a reminder, Rei's backstory was that her birth parents were at risk of going backrupt and ending up on the streets, so they ended up disowning their daughter so that Rei wouldn't get caught up in the trouble and be dragged down with them.

//However, the family members that they entrustred Rei to abandoned her when things got a bit too difficult, betraying the trust of Rei's birth parents, and twisting her to make her believe that they'd never truly loved her. I'm getting similar vibes from this.

//That experience, as Ima explains it, is at the root of his obsession. Without Kako, he has nothing. She’s not just his sister, she’s his anchor. The only thing tethering him to the world.

//BUuuuuUUUuuUUUUuuuUUUuuuuuUUUUT-!

//While that tragic backstory helps explain WHY he clings to her so tightly, it doesn’t ABSOLVE him. Trauma might shape behavior, but it doesn’t excuse cruelty, especially not on this level. And what he’s done to Kako over the years is undeniably cruel, even if Ima himself didn't mean to come across that way.

//Effectively, Kako has relied on Ima to protect her basically their whole lives, and as a result, Ima knows nothing BUT protecting her. There's literally nothing else to his life besides making sure she is safe. Now that Kako is stepping up to fight, his own life is losing its purpose.

//Which I think is the REAL reason why Ima is so desperate to stop her. And honestly? It's sad! It really is sad; because Ima seems incapable of considering that these two could just be normal siblings that support EACH OTHER rather than forcing her to do things she'd rather not, just for her "protection," and his own selfishness!

//It's not that I don't GET it; I just don't think it's stated very plainly! And that kind of ruins the experience for me!

//What's worse, the version of events we hear feels incomplete. Maybe there’s more to it that we'll see later on. For now, there's not too much to work with.

//Interestingly, this moment marks the first time in the game where we’re able to make a gift without having to spend an entire in-game day gathering resources. Everything we need is just…handed to us. No scavenging. No side quests. Just a direct path to giving Kako something meaningful.

//It’s oddly convenient, almost like the game wants this interaction to happen smoothly, and that in itself feels a little suspicious.

//What follows is the minigame where you have to talk to a character and guide the conversation toward a specific outcome. But this time, we’re not trying to persuade Kako to stand up and fight. Rather this time, we’re convincing her to stop.

//And again, I'm REALLY NOT OKAY with this!

//I don't want to tell Kako to pull back, because it feels like I'm telling her to accept the very role she’s spent so long trying to escape. To make things worse, at least in my experience, this minigame was concerningly easy compared to the one's I did with Tsubasa, Shouma, and Gaku. I had basically no trouble with this one and got like...one wrong answer.

//Fortunately, there is one silver lining in this mess, if you can even call it that.

//The minigame ends as it does normally, but right at the last second, the game reverses, and ends in FAILURE. Takumi completely fails in his mission to convince Kako to step away from the fight. This is the only time in the game (so far) that this has happened, and THANK GOD, because this was the one time I NEEDED it to fail.

//At first, it seems like a small victory: she won’t be silenced, and she’s not going to just fade into the background as her brother wishes.

//Then, in a scene that’s surprisingly short and understated, Ima appears in the flesh and...finally relents.

//He doesn’t APOLOGIZE, at least not outright, but he does acknowledge, in his own indirect way, that he MIGHT have taken things too far.

//For the first time, he gives Kako his approval to stand alongside the others. It’s brief. It’s quiet. But it’s genuine.

//And...I DID like the exchange the twins have. Really I did. I think it's nice to see them come to an understanding, but also...it highlights what my biggest issue with this arc of the story was! It was TOO SHORT!

//The exchange itself is only a few lines of dialogue, and again, it kind of just ends with Ima giving up; not so much apologizing. It's the same issue as what happened with the stabbing scene. It went from 0 to 100 in no time flat, and now it's gone back to 0 equally as fast. Both times for very little rhyme or reason.

//And again, Takumi is not in the right here.

//Because while he fails to get her to abandon her determination, Takumi DOES twist the conversation into a justification of Ima’s possessive and controlling behavior. Instead of helping Kako recognize the toxic, dehumanizing grip her brother has had on her for years, Takumi, perhaps without even fully realizing it, romanticizes it. He reframes Ima’s suffocating control not as abuse, but as some kind of noble, selfless devotion. He paints it as an act of love that should be cherished and repaid.

//And to Kako, who has been emotionally manipulated and gaslit for so long, this recontextualization lands with horrifying effectiveness.

//I can accept that the Tsukumo's love each other really, and that Kako always wanted to fight for the sake of protecting her brother. But the way it's handled feels like some gut-wrenching reversal that doesn't sit right with me.

//Takumi may have walked into that conversation with good intentions, or at least some vague sense of moral responsibility, but the end result is...while I wouldn't call it a CATASTROPHE, because it DID mean something to me, it wasn't completely wholesome and above all else...not warranted.

//Rather than helping Kako, and hell, IMA too, liberate themselves from an emotionally damaging relationship, he becomes complicit in reinforcing it. He gaslights the gaslit. He enables the abuser. Whether it was done through ignorance, cowardice, or sheer moral failing, the outcome is the same.

//I suppose the problem I'm saying is it feels like Ima really didn't get a deserved commupance OR strong character arc here. He kind of just decides everything in this situation on his own, and everyone else is dancing to his tune. Which I really cannot get behind, despite how much I do like this game's writing overall.

//But...yeah, that's how the day ends. Not with a bang but with a "for fucks sake!"

DAY 54:

//Nothing much happens today, and the Tsukumo Twins are kind of off doing their own thing as always. Except this time, they're remaining seperate. I guess to sort things out on their own for once.

//I spent my free time doing gift giving to Takemaru. Gym was the one stat I still needed to upgrade to get more abilities. But in the meantime, I did check out the new area of the school, since it's the one time the game doesn't actively force you to check it out.

//The courtyard is basically just an indoor garden, but the standout feature of it is that there's a giant bird-shaped cage in there that's clearly setting up for something bigger, since they mentioned that it nullifies any powers.

//I don't know why we'd have that cage in the fucking courtyard, which is a place normally for relaxation. If we had any prisoners in there, that'd be really annoying.

//Takemaru's reaction to recieving gifts he likes is...surprisingly cute actually??? lol.

//I mean, I guess it makes sense because the guy clearly isn't the hardass that he comes across as.

//Also, I'm gonna be real, I actually don't care about the stupid guesswork, and did straight up google what gifts each of the characters like in this game to make the best out of my presents.

//And of course, one of the gifts you can give is a goddamn vibrator...

//And of COURSE, KYOSHIKA is the one who likes it.

//I don't know why I'm even surprised.

DAY 55:

//You know what's most surprising?

//Today is the penultimate day that I normally end these journals on where the Invaders come in and attack, but...I actually don't have very much to say about this fight!

//It's GOOD, but definitely not as impactful to me as the previous defense battles were.

//I’m finally starting to get a solid grasp on how to manage my time efficiently in this game. Now that I understand how everything works I feel a lot more in control.

/To be honest, it was pretty obvious this time around that the Invasion was going to come today; all the signs were there, and unlike last time, they rolled out the full cutscene to introduce it. So unlike the fake-out with Moko showing up, I knew that this one had to at least be legit.

//I had a strong hunch that Takemaru would still show up to fight, even after taking a knife to the gut courtesy of Ima. Lo and behold, I was right. He reappears, injured, sure, but still ready to stand his ground.

//I kind of thought that when we got into the fight, Takemaru would either be fatigued, or have lost a little bit of health off rip. But I guess the devs didn't really think to do something like that; or they just chose not to.

//The first round of the battle went relatively smoothly. It felt like a warm-up, especially with the team starting to fall into rhythm. But then round two hit, and things escalated fast. That’s when the Invaders started deploying a nasty new trick: Fog Machines.

//Do I even need to explain how infuriating this mechanic is? Surely the word "fog" is a dead giveaway.

//Once it's on the field, your visibility drops to practically zero. You can’t see any enemies unless you’re standing directly next to them, and UNTIL you’re adjacent, you can’t attack them either. It completely derails long-range strategies and makes positioning way more stressful than it needs to be.

//Basically, it forces you to fumble around in the dark, hoping to bump into something hostile before it bumps into you, and in the event you want to attack them on the main turn, that burns through AP like no tomorrow.

//Even more annoying is the low visibility means you can't even use Shouma to draw enemy fire away from the barrier. You CANNOT DO ANYTHING to the enemies UNTIL they are visible!

//Unsurprisingly, I hated this mechanic. It doesn’t feel challenging in a fun way, more like artificially slowing things down and punishing careful planning. The GOOD news is that it doesn't last very long.

//Luckily, help arrives in the form of the Tsukumo Twins, who join the fight mid-battle (who would have guessed?) with the exact tools needed to shut the fog bulshit down.

//And the way these two play is...well...WEIRD...

//Kako, true to form, plays a long-range sniper role. She can pick off enemies from a safe distance, which is a godsend in a battlefield where visibility is severely limited.

//Ima, meanwhile, is highly mobile and downright overpowered in this terrain. He floats above the ground, completely unaffected by terrain restrictions, and can travel across the map with ease.

//That said, neither of them really do enough damage to really net value out of. They're GOOD, but there are stronger characters in the squad, like Eito. Not that I'm devaluing either of them, because being able to cover that much ground between the two of them is very useful.

//But on top of that, Kako’s main attack comes with an annoying drawback. Every time she uses it, her damage output decreases.

//I get the idea; forcing the player to think carefully about when to use her; but it makes her feel less satisfying to use as the fight drags on. I’m not really a fan.

//After the twins enter the battlefield and start tearing through the fog machines, the tide of the fight shifts dramatically. Once those devices are destroyed, the fog lifts, and the battlefield opens up again. With full visibility restored, the rest of the fight is pretty straightforward. The enemies are fully exposed, and from that point on, it’s a no-holds-barred brawl.

//In the words of our forefathers: Rip and Tear until it's done!

//However, even though the fight itself is nothing to write home about...the CONCLUSION brings a pretty dramatic twist to the story.

//As established, most of these combat situations end with picking one of the students to end the life of the commander and absorb it's hemoanima. But in the past, we've mostly done this to commanders that are defeated and defenseless. The only time that we've done otherwise is the first commander, that Hiruko didn't really give the time of day.

//This time though, the commander survives past the initial cutscene, and pleads for mercy just like the first one does. While we ARE about to ignore it, the twist comes from the Commander REMOVING its mask and...

//...

//...Is it bad that I find it insanely attractive?

//Okay, jokes aside, there is a very chilling moment here where the characters are shocked to find that the enemy Commanders look like regular human beings under the masks. However, we still can't understand what she's saying because she speaks a completely seperate language from us.

//There is another interesting lore moment here where Eito suggests that she's speaking a FOREIGN language, which is why the students can't understand her. I didn't even realize that the concept of racism might not even exist within the TRC because it's just the world as they know it. Everyone looks the same and speaks the same language; unlike the world we know.

//Of course, the Invaders speak a completely alien language even to us, but these guys have no way of knowing that.

//But yeah, this fight ends with this Commander succumbing to an entirely different fate than what we're used to. Instead of killing her outright, they take her prisoner and lock her up in one of those cages I mentioned earlier; until they could understand her language and get information out of their enemies from her.

//I KNEW that was gonna come into play somehow!

//I have a distinct feeling that this Invader is gonna end up being an important character, and I didn't even think about it until now but...what if this Invader joins OUR side and becomes the 16th student!?

//Like, we HAVE to have 16 party members by the end of this, right!? It's already so weird that we only have up to 15. I dunno, I guess we'll see.

DAY 56:

//GO HOME GO BED!!!

Conclusion:

//Yeah, this part of the story was a low-point overall.

//Not UNSALVAGEABLE, and definitely good character moments, but my main takeaways from it aren't great:

I like the Tsukumo twins a little bit more than I did before now that I properly understand them, but I think they are still my least favourite characters in the game. At least Ima is.

I did NOT enjoy the coercion segment of this chapter. It felt so wrong trying to steer Kako off doing what she wanted, with no choice but to do so. In the end, I'm glad she stuck to her guns regardless of what Ima and Takumi said.

I'm hoping the twins end up being better characters in the future. I already think Kako is cool and cute, but she hasn't had much change to shine on her own thanks to her fuckhead brother; who definitely didn't get the commupance he deserved.

There are still so many questions about World Death that even the general explanation doesn't answer. The mysteries of this game keep piling on; especially with the introduction of this potential ally commander.

//I AM still enjoying this game as much as I always have done. Even with all that's happened here, it hasn't really affected my opinion of this game; nor my willingness to continue playing it.

//Every game has highs and lows, much like my expectations. I had them high, and was low-blowed by them. This part of the game was fundamentally flaws overall, even if I do understand the idea they were going for; since it felt super rushed and unpolished.

//Which is a real damn shame. Here's hoping the next part will be better.

-Mod

#mod #the hundred line last defense academy #the hundred line #last defense academy #journal

28 notes · View notes