#i’m thinking i’ll just do 10? but if more people happen to be interested i can do like up to 25

[starscelly]

in light of how i process a trade(/retirement but in this case trade) by needing as much of that man physically with me as possible. im going to get some prints of this drawing made so if anyone wants one ! send me a message and i’ll be happy to get u one

[writingwithciara]

married in vegas -quinn hughes-

summary: on a trip to vegas one summer, y/n and quinn are forced to share a room. after a night at the casino, the two of them wake up with rings and matching tattoos, leaving them to question what their relationship really means

word count: 6.9k

pairing: quinn hughes x reader

notes & warnings: lowercase intentional. kinda based off ‘stupid in love’ by MAX. wanted to write a little frenemies-to-lovers fic & was pleasantly surprised with the result. hope you guys like it. there will be a part 2 😊 w: language, alcohol consumption, mentions of sex but no smut

masterlist

“why are you two idiots looking at me like that?” y/n set her suitcase down outside the door and glanced between her best friend and his brother. “jack, please tell me why you guys keep exchanging that look.”

“promise you won’t kill me. or luke.”

“fine. just get on with it.”

“you’re gonna be sharing the room with quinn for the week.”

“okay now you’re just joking. please tell me you’re joking.” she let out a soft chuckle but when she noticed how their looks stayed serious, she stopped. “no. this can’t be happening.”

“i’m sorry but we used a random name picker to determine the room sharing situation.”

“that’s a ridiculous way to choose a roommate. i call a do over.”

“there’s no point in trying, y/n. i already tried to get them to change their minds but those two idiots are dead set on making us miserable all week.” quinn leaned against the doorframe and looked at the three people before him. “oh, want to know the most interesting part?” his voice was laced with sarcasm but y/n easily caught on.

“oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” she pushed past him and stopped in her tracks when she saw the room. “one damn bed? come on, jack. what did i ever do to you guys?”

“oh relax. you act like sharing a room with me is the end of the world.”

“10 minutes ago, the idea was tolerable at best. but now, it’s torturous.”

“ouch.” quinn feigned heartbreak and chuckled. “if i cared, that probably would’ve hurt. but seeing as how i don’t care, i’m gonna move on with my life. feel free to sleep on the chair if you don’t want to share with me.”

“you’re insufferable.” y/n rolled her eyes and went to grab her bag.

“no. allow me.” jack was quick to grab it for her and discard it in the room. “i promise to make this whole thing up to you when we get home.”

“i’ll hold you to that.” y/n sighed and waited for quinn to claim the bed. when he took a little longer in the hallway with his brothers, y/n took the opportunity to lay down. just as she was about to close her eyes, the door opened and quinn walked in. he noticed her laying on the bed and got down to where he could be at eye level with the near-sleeping girl.

“uh, what do you think you’re doing?”

“shhh. trying to nap.” she reached her finger out and dragged it down his face. quinn swatted her hand away in response.

“fine. but move over. i want to sleep too. need the energy for dinner tonight.”

“insufferable i say.” y/n mumbled and scooted to the edge of the bed. quinn walked around it and climbed in.

this was going to be a long week.

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dinner should’ve been easier but for y/n, it was more uncomfortable than the nap she attempted to take a few hours earlier.

“what do you think he’s even doing over there? the waitress is way out of his league.” quinn watched as jack chatted with the waitress up at the hostess podium.

“first of all, if anything, jack is out of her league. he’s too good for anyone. and second, why do you care what he’s doing? at least he’s having fun.” y/n shoved her fork into her desert and nibbled at it.

“i’m starting to think you have a little crush on jack.” quinn smirked, knowing that that’s exactly what was going on.

“what? i do not.” y/n shook her head and went to kick him under the table.

“ouch.” luke winced and rubbed his shin.

“oops. sorry luke. i was aiming for the idiot beside you.” she shot quinn a look and he quickly returned it. “you never told me why you cared so much that he was flirting with the waitress.”

“it doesn’t matter and even if it did, you don’t need to know. it’s none of your business.” quinn’s voice raised a little, causing y/n to shrink back in her seat a bit.

“y-you’re right. it was a stupid question.” she returned her attention to her nearly empty plate.

even though she and quinn weren’t exactly friends, she had never been on the receiving end of one of his rare angry outbursts. she hated to admit it but it stung a little bit.

“do you guys mind if i head back up to the room? i’m exhausted.”

“yeah sure. no problem.” luke looked at his friend and smiled sympathetically. he could tell what quinn said had effected her.

“i’ll be up later.” quinn didn’t even bother to look up as y/n stood up and walked out. and when jack returned to the table, luke told him what happened.

quinn felt bad when he heard luke recall the events he was a part of not even 5 minutes ago. he never intended to hurt y/n.

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the next 3 days, y/n avoided quinn as much as she could. it was difficult when they shared a room and they were both there to spend time with luke and jack.

during group outings, y/n would excuse herself and she would never return, instilling panic in the three brothers. but at night, when quinn would get back to their shared room, he would catch sight of how peaceful the girl looked when she slept.

the first few nights, quinn didn’t want to disturb her so he ended up on the chair in the corner. but on the 4th night, quinn was unable to sleep.

y/n had been tossing and turning for almost an hour before her body sat upright and she started bawling. something bothered her and she searched the room for another presence. her eyes landed on quinn as he rushed over to her.

“hey. what’s wrong?”

“i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to wake you. p-please go back to sleep, quinn.”

“not until you tell me what you were just dreaming of.” he carefully reached up to wipe her tears off her cheeks, silently urging her to tell him what was on her mind.

30 minutes later and every significant detail of her nightmare had been explained. she feared that jack was growing tired of her friendship and wanted to end it with her.

and even though it was just a dream, quinn felt the urge to make sure his brother would never leave her. he wanted to use any means necessary to make sure if it.

but he knew jack would never do that. he loved y/n tremendously.

just as quinn stood back up and headed for the chair again, y/n stopped him.

“hey, thanks again for listening to my nonsense.”

“it’s not a problem. and it wasn’t nonsense. it was a legitimate fear of yours and i’m glad you felt comfortable enough to share it with me.”

“believe it or not, i’m always comfortable with you, quinn.”

“that’s not what you were saying the first day we got here.” he chuckled.

“that version of me is the old y/n. i’ve matured since then.”

“maybe just a little.” he sat on the chair and tried to get comfortable again. “good night, y/n.”

“quinn, would you mind coming over here to share the bed?” y/n had her back to him so she couldn’t see his eyes widen at the question & he couldn’t see the way her face scrunched up when the words flew out of her mouth. she opened her mouth to take it back but quinn smiled.

“of course i wouldn’t mind sharing tonight.”

“yay.” she laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. her fingers drummed lightly on her stomach and quinn glanced over at her.

“how are you doing now?”

“better. thanks again. jacks usually the person i run to when i have a nightmare, even if he’s involved. but this one would’ve been harder to explain without telling him how i feel.”

“so, you do have feelings for him?” quinn raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her.

“of course i do!” y/n rubbed her face slowly. “i’d be an idiot not to. god, he’s perfect.”

something about the way she talked about jack, stirred something in quinn that he did not recognize.

“yeah. i suppose he is. everyone else thinks so. it was only a matter of time before you thought so too.”

“you sound a little bitter about it, quinny.” y/n glanced over at him, only to find him already looking at her.

“i’m not bitter, per say. but maybe just once, i would liked to be picked over jack or luke.”

“hey,” y/n turned on her side to get a better look at the oldest hughes. “the day is gonna come when you meet someone who prefers you over your brothers. and she’s going to love you so much that what’s happening now won’t even matter to you. because she’s going to be the only thing you think about. she’s going to consume your every thought and soon enough, you’ll have what you’ve always wanted. someone who picks you first every time.”

“you really think so?”

“yes of course. you’re pretty special, quinn.” y/n offered him a kind smile, which he returned. “i can’t believe i’m being nice right now.”

“yeah i know. it’s weird.” quinn shook his head and chuckled. “but thank you.”

“you’re welcome.” she smiled again and instead of returning to her position on her back, she stayed facing him. “thank you as well.”

“for what?”

“being here. you know, letting me talk to you about my nightmare. even if it was stupid.” she fiddled with her fingers and quinn reached out to stop it.

“it was not stupid. i told you like 20 minutes ago that it was alright.”

“oh. did you?” she glanced down at where quinn’s hands entrapped her own. “i’m sorry for repeating myself then. sometimes the anxiety is bad.”

“hey, you never have to apologize to me. okay?”

“okay.” she looked at him and smiled. suddenly, the atmosphere was different. almost like the both of them were aware of the tension in the room.

quinn opened his mouth to say something but y/n yawned.

“i’m tired, but i don’t want this rare moment to be over.”

“get some sleep. i’m not leaving. i’ll be here when you wake up, alright?” he cautiously reached up to move a piece of her hair out of her face.

“okay. good night quinn.” she closed her eyes and mere seconds later, her breathing evened out and light snores came from her. quinn let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and fell asleep too.

the whole night, he never let go of her hands.

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when y/n woke up the next morning and noticed the grip quinn had on her hands, she couldn’t help but smile.

sure she had feelings for jack but there was no denying how attractive quinn was, not only on the outside, but the inside as well.

y/n spent the next 5 minutes just admiring his face before he started to stir. she closed her eyes as if to pretend she hadn’t been looking at him, but quinn caught on.

part of him felt her eyes on him & he couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. when she opened her eyes again, quinn smiled.

“good morning.”

“good morning, quinn.”

“how did you sleep?”

“if i’m being honest, better last night than the entire week so far.”

“really?”

“yeah. it’s almost like there was a calming presence nearby that helped me sleep better.”

“yeah i know what you mean.” he chuckled and reluctantly let go of her hands. his own hands felt colder as he let her stretch her body out.

“do the boys have anything planned today?”

“i think the only thing we were gonna do was go to the casino later tonight.”

“oh that sounds fun.” she smiled and looked over at quinn. “and what time was that supposed to take place tonight?”

“not until after dark i believe.”

“good. because i really don’t want to get out of bed right now.”

“yeah. me either.” he closed his eyes and for the first time all week, he was happy to be this close to y/n.

the two of them enjoyed their five minutes of peace, happily enjoying the moment.

however, the moment was interrupted when jack knocked on the door. quinn hopped off the bed and answered it.

“good morning. glad to see you two haven’t killed each other yet.” he chuckled and looked behind quinn as y/n approached the door.

“might have to kill you for ruining my beauty sleep, asshole.”

“oh come on. you don’t need it anyway.” jack smiled, causing y/n to turn her head so he couldn’t notice the way her cheeks brightened.

quinn caught it though and he felt his heart drop. he had hoped their moment, however short it might’ve been, would’ve changed how she felt about jack.

but he was just a fool. she was too good for him. too good for jack too. but he would never admit it.

“anyway, you guys up for getting some breakfast?”

“i could eat.” y/n quickly turned her attention to quinn. “how about you, quinny?”

“food sounds delicious.” he painted on a smile as his younger brothers eyes never left y/n.

“perfect. get dressed and meet us down in the lobby in 30 minutes?”

“see you then.” y/n shut the door and headed over to her bag.

“so i noticed something just now.”

“and what could that be?” y/n walked into the bathroom with her clothes. she shut the door and turned on the shower.

“jack might be into you.”

the bathroom door flew open and y/n eyed quinn suspiciously. “you’re lying.”

“his attention never left you. he had him captivated from the moment you appeared behind me. it was like i wasn’t even there.”

“nonsense, quinn.” she walked over to him. “jack doesn’t like me.”

“say what you want, but i could tell.” he watched as y/n grabbed her hairbrush and returned to the bathroom.

after her shower, quinn got in and did what he had to do. when he walked out, y/n was attempting to put her necklace on.

her eyes met quinn’s through the mirror. she didn’t have to say anything to him. he walked up and clasped the necklace together behind her neck and smiled.

“thank you. i was about to lose my mind there.”

“now, don’t do that.” he chuckled and unplugged his phone. “let’s go.”

the two of them walked out to meet the boys in the lobby.

breakfast should be interesting.

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although luke wasn’t old enough to actually gamble in the casino, they still allowed him to sit back and watch as everyone else lost money. he stuck with quinn while jack was with y/n.

quinn watched his brother and y/n exchange looks while they sat at the blackjack table. their laughs echoed in quinn’s ears and he turned his attention back to his youngest brother.

“quinn, can i ask you something?”

“sure, luke. what’s up?”

“you and y/n? has that happened yet or are you still hiding your feelings from her?”

“i have no idea what you’re talking about.” quinn sipped his drink and looked around.

“i’m young, not stupid.” luke rolled his eyes. “you’ve been getting increasingly worried about her all week and you can barely take your eyes off of her. you’re also holding your drink so tight that your knuckles are turning white. is everything okay?”

“yeah. just think she could do better than jack. she’s too good for him.”

“are you hoping she realizes she’s in love with you, and not jack? because i honestly don’t think she has the same feelings for jack that you think she does.”

“she told me last night how she felt about jack. i can tell when she’s lying and she was definitely telling the truth. she thinks he’s perfect.”

“but doesn’t everybody? you know it doesn’t necessarily mean she has feelings for him just because she shares the same opinion as everyone else in the world.” luke eyed his brother. “and i’m sure if you told her how you felt, you’d have a decent chance.”

“whatever, luke.” quinn waves his brother away and watched as he joined jack at the blackjack table.

y/n excused herself from the brothers and made her way to where quinn was sitting at another table.

“so, luke tells me you’ve been losing a bit of money over here.”

“don’t believe a thing he says.” quinn finished his drink and chuckled. “kid is a liar.”

“are you sure about that? because your chip pile is looking pretty low there, quinn.”

“it’s just a small hiccup in the road. i’ll figure it out.” he placed a chip on the the number 22, her favorite number, and waited.

“whatever you say. i’m gonna go try my luck at the slots or something.” y/n patted his shoulder and went to walk away but quinn stopped her.

“wait hold on.” he pointed to the table, more specifically at the roulette wheel where the ball had stopped on the 22 spot. “i want to test something. pick a number.”

“um, 19.” y/n watched as quinn placed half his chips on the number 19. “what are you doing? are you insane?”

“just trust me on this.” he held her wrist gently and together they watched the ball spin around the wheel and when it stopped, y/n’s eyes widened. the ball had landed in the 19 spot. quinn looked up at her. “want to try again?”

“let’s go with 6.” she slid some chips over and they waited. again, the ball landed where they needed it to and the chips multiplied.

“i’m starting to believe you’re a lucky charm.”

“i’m sure that’s all you, quinn.” she rested her hand on his shoulder gently. despite not believing she was a lucky charm, she stuck around quinn for the rest of the night. he kept winning with every number she picked, even if she picked the same number twice in a row. that was highly unlikely but it happened.

after roulette, they went around the place to every game and continued winning each time.

by the time jack and luke informed them they were heading to bed, quinn had nearly quadrupled what he started with. although they wanted to stay and be happy for their brother, sleep crept in on both of them. they said their good nights and went up to their room.

but the night was far from over for y/n and quinn.

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y/n didn’t remember getting back to the room last night but when she woke up, she felt something on her finger and there was a sharp pain on her left shoulder. she looked at her hand and her eyes widened.

her gaze went down to a sleeping quinn and she looked at his finger too, just for good measure. he had a ring on his finger too.

“quinn, wake up!”

“what do you want?”

“look at your ring finger.” y/n sighed. quinn glanced at his right hand and rolled his eyes.

“there’s nothing there.”

“the other finger, idiot.”

quinn pulled his hand into his lines of sight and gasped. “do you-“

“yup. bright and shiny.”

“oh please tell me we didn’t get married last night.” he rubbed his eyes roughly, as if trying to clear the image from his mind. “how much did we drink last night?”

“i don’t remember.” y/n glanced down and noticed how little clothing she had on. “quinn, i have a question.”

“what now?”

“do you by any chance have any clothes on?”

“um,” he lifted the comforter and set it back down. “no i do not.”

“crap.” y/n quickly grabbed her clothes and threw them on. she was about to pull the shirt over her head when quinn stopped her.

“when did you get that?”

“get what?”

“the tattoo.”he pointed to her left shoulder. “it’s cute.”

“i don’t know.” she sighed again and looked at quinn. “you got one too. it’s a moon.”

“do you suppose we got so drunk last night that we got matching tattoos and then got married?”

“and then came back and...you know? yeah i think that’s exactly what happened. but who let us drink that much and why can’t we remember anything?”

“i don’t know. maybe luke and jack know more than we do.”

“highly unlikely, seeing as how they went to bed way before us.”

“good point.” quinn scratched his beard and looked at his hand. “i’m really sorry.”

“for what?”

“i feel like this is all my fault.”

“what do you mean?”

“i made you stay with me all night because my luck turned around when you joined me at the roulette table. if i hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have tattoos and we wouldn’t be married.”

“while that may be true, think about it. would you rather be married to your brothers best friend or a complete stranger? because that could’ve happened too.”

“you. definitely you.” he chuckled and looked at her. she was already staring at him. “what?”

“you should see your back.” y/n shook her head. “what the fuck happened last night?”

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quinn and y/n spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding the boys and trying to find out what occurred last night.

they went to the casino and decided to go to the dealer at the blackjack table, as it was the last place they remember being.

he informed them that after they were served a few drinks, quinn had the bright idea to go get some more. he apparently returned with a tray full of shots, unaware just how strong they were.

“you guys downed the shots no problem then left. sorry i couldn’t be more helpful.”

they walked away slowly and when they were outside the building, they looked down the street.

“which place do you think we got hitched?”

“i don’t know. there’s so many chapels here.” quinn sighed. he was clearly frustrated that he didn’t have the whole story. “it’s not like we can go around asking every chapel.”

“we could but that would be too time consuming.” y/n thought for a moment. “wait. i remember running into some korean elvis impersonator. we could ask about that. someone’s gotta know where he is.”

“worth a shot.” quinn shrugged and followed his wife down the street.

after hours of searching, they were about to give up hope.

“why are we trying to find out the story behind our wedding instead of getting it annulled?”

“that’s a good point.” quinn looked at her. “do you not like being married to me or something though?”

“quinn, we’re 24 years old and we got hitched. we’re not dating and it wasn’t planned. besides, when i told your mom i would marry one of her sons, i promised she could be there. she’d be crushed to know i did it without her. i also didn’t expect to marry you. always thought it would be jack.”

“we have one more day in vegas before we head our separate ways. why don’t we take the rest of tonight to let it sink in and if we feel an annulment is needed in the morning, we can do that.”

“i still can’t believe we got married.”

“don’t forget the tattoos.”

“or the consummation of our marriage.” y/n didn’t feel disgusted about hooking up with quinn. part of her felt like they were meant to end up together, no matter how much she liked jack.

y/n thought dinner that night would be a little difficult.

while they were getting ready, y/n’s ring got stuck. quinn tried to get it off but it wouldn’t budge. he had originally taken his off but when they determined y/n would have to keep hers on, he slid his back onto his finger. if the boys asked questions, they would give them answers.

luckily, neither of them noticed. well if they did, neither of them said anything about it.

back in the hotel room later that night, while y/n and quinn were getting ready for bed, there was a knock on the door. quinn got up to answer it while y/n peaked her head out of the bathroom.

“good evening, mr and mrs hughes. we have some complimentary champagne for the newlyweds.” the man in the hallway pushed a cart into the room and stared at them. “we also have this special dessert for you two and if you would like, we could upgrade you to the honeymoon suite. it’s much larger.”

“thank you, but-“ quinn started but he was quickly interrupted.

“thanks for the champagne and dessert. we will let you know about the room upgrade.” y/n ushered the man out and when she was sure he was gone, she let out a sigh of relief. “okay how many people knew we got married?”

“i have no idea. but why didn’t you tell him we aren’t married?”

“free dessert, duh. oh and champagne.” she picked up the bottle and grabbed two glasses before making her way to the bed. “do you want some?”

“yeah sure.”

the two of them sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other as y/n poured them each a glass. she handed one to quinn and smiled.

“to....i don’t know what to toast about.”

“let’s toast to us.” quinn suggested. “after all, our marriage is the reason we got this in the first place.”

“okay great idea. to us.” y/n clinked her glass with quinn’s and downed the first glass quickly. “that was delicious.”

“i agree.” quinn poured the next two glasses and about 4 more after that. “being married is fun. why didn’t i think of this sooner?”

“maybe because we’re idiots and it’s not actually real.”

“but it could be, right?”

“you’re drunk. i think it’s time for bed, quinny.” y/n grabbed his empty glass and set them both on the nightstand before getting off the bed. quinn reaches out to grab her hand before she got too far.

“can we share the bed tonight?”

“i guess.” y/n looked at him and climbed under the covers with quinn.

“maybe one day, i’ll find someone like you. someone who’s too good for the world and way out of my league. hopefully she’ll love me because i feel like i deserve it, you know. maybe someday, i can find someone who loves me the way you love jack.”

“i do not love jack. it’s just a small thing. a crush at best.” y/n looked at quinn and sighed heavily. “but i understand what you mean. hopefully i’ll also find someone who loves me the way i deserve.”

“oh you for sure will.” quinn moves hair out of y/n’s face and let his fingers gently graze her cheek before bringing his hand back to rest under his head. “jack is an idiot, you know.”

“i’m sure you’re right, but why?”

“he just is.”

“come on, quinny. humor me.”

“jacks an idiot because he could’ve had you this entire time but instead, he fumbled his chance. and for what? a snooty blonde who’s only nice when she wants something? a bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone? a girl who thinks she’s the most beautiful person on the earth? no. he should’ve opened his eyes so he could see that the most beautiful human being was always right in front of him. and not just on the outside, but the inside too. you’re the only girl in jack’s life that cares not just about him, but his family and friends too. you put everyone else’s happiness before your own and every day that i know you, it just makes me love you. so much.”

“quinn, i don’t-“

“i know i’m a little drunk but i really wish this marriage was real.”

and before y/n could respond to the confession, quinn was fast asleep.

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y/n couldn’t sleep. she tried and was almost there but somewhere around 1:30, quinn wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest, whispering that he’d protect her, into her ear.

6:30 rolled around and she slowly got out of bed. she went into the bathroom to get a glass of water and some advil for quinn before doing the same for herself.

she took a seat in the chair and looked at quinn as he slept.

was his confession last night only because he was drunk? or did he mean it?

when quinn started to stir, he opened his eyes and noticed the water. he let out a chuckle and smiled.

“she really is perfect.” he sat up and that’s when he noticed y/n in the chair. “oh. i didn't see you there. good morning.”

“good morning, quinn. how are you feeling?”

“i’m actually feeling great. um, how are you?” he took the advil and sipped his water.

"i'm good." she fiddled with her fingers in her lap. quinn noticed she was nervous about something so he got up and knelt down to her level.

"hey, what's wrong? you know you can talk to me."

"do you remember anything from last night?"

"i remember a lot of champagne. that's about it. why?"

"you kind of told me you loved me and that you wished the marriage was real. and right before i could say anything, you fell asleep."

"oh. so that wasn't a dream then?" he chuckled awkwardly.

"nope." she shook her head and avoided eye contact with quinn.

"well, in my defense, i was drunk. sometimes i just say things."

"yeah, right." y/n smiled and finally made eye contact with him. "glad we could get that cleared up."

"yeah me too." quinn smiled. "so i take it you want to go get this marriage thing erased, right?"

"yeah. totally." y/n didn't want the marriage to end and as she looked at quinn, she was more sure than ever that jack was the wrong brother. it's always been quinn.

"let's go then."

y/n and quinn went to walk out the door and they bumped into jack & luke on the way out.

"hey. you guys want to go get breakfast?" luke asked.

"sure. but then after that, we have to go our marriage annulled."

"marriage? when did that happen?"

"i knew you two would get together." luke smiled as he and jack followed their brother.

"it was a mistake. we were drunk and obviously it was stupid." y/n turned to look at the boys, as if trying to gauge a reaction from jack. he avoided her gaze as he walked. quinn did the same thing. "right quinn?"

"yeah, right." he nodded and continued to walk. y/n stayed back with luke and sighed.

"i'm an idiot, luke."

"i'm sure you're right, but why?"

"two days ago, i was so sure i liked jack. but ever since finding out i married quinn, it feels right. but i'm an idiot because he doesn't want to be married. that's why we're getting it erased.

"but i finally had a sister." luke pouted. "look, you and jack could've worked if he wasn't a bigger idiot than you are"

"hey!"

"sorry. but it's true. and then there's you & quinn."

"there is no me and quinn."

"yes there is. and this brings me back to the point of you being an idiot. how can neither of you see that you have feelings for each other and that neither of you want the marriage to end?"

"because we were drunk, luke. it was a-"

"you keep saying it was a mistake but it's not. you two were made for each other. why do you think i rigged the room sharing situation? i knew that if you guys had some moments alone, you could get something from the whole thing. and look at that. you got married. now if you had ended up sharing a room with me, you wouldn't be on your way to an annulment. what a story you have here."

"hold on. did you jsut say you rigged the room thing?"

"not important. what is important now is that you tell quinn how you feel."

"come on you guys. i'm starving." jack called from the other end of the hallway. y/n rolled her eyes and the 4 of them walked into the restaurant.

all throughout breakfast, y/n avoided the looks she was receiving from luke and quinn. instead she focused on the conversation with jack. she told him the details surrounding how she got married to quinn, what little information she had.

when the last bite was swallowed and the plates were taken away, y/n and quinn stood up.

"alright. this shouldn't take long. we'll meet you guys back here in about an hour. sound good?"

"yeah. hope it goes smoothly." jack and luke waved goodbye and the 4 of them went their separate ways.

🏒❤🏒❤🏒❤🏒

while y/n and quinn waited for their names to be called into the office, quinn looked around the room and y/n played with the string of her hoodie.

"what are you thinking about?" quinn asked when he noticed she was fidgeting.

"just life and all the decisions i've made to get me where i am today."

"lots of mistakes?"

"yeah. for sure." y/n sighed. "wanna know my biggest mistake?"

"was it this marriage?"

"what? no, of course not." y/n looked at him. "why? do you think it was a mistake?"

"getting off topic. what was your biggest mistake?"

"danny marcel."

"oh no. i forgot about him. he was terrible. always wanted to punch his face in whenever he was around. he always said the rudest things to you. how did you deal with it for so long?"

"you don't want to know." she shook her head, causing quinn to chuckle. "why did you want to punch him in the face?"

"he wasn't a nice person and maybe because i cared about you."

"you did?"

"of course i did. i mean, i still care about you. and i know i'm not the best at showing it but-"

"y/n & quinn?" the receptionist moved from behind the desk and guided them into another room. a kind looking older man sat at the desk. he offered them a smile when they entered.

"it's nice to meet you both & i hope i can get you what you came here for."

"we would appreciate that, sir. thank you."

"great. now before we go through with this, i want to make sure that this is something you'll both want. and seeing as how mr hughes has all the assets, i gotta know that you guys have already discussed that."

"we haven't yet, sir. but i don't want anything." y/n looked at quinn.

"excellent." he looked down at the papers in front of him and smiled. "so are you both sure this is what you want?"

"yes sir." they said at the same time wile sharing a look. the man slid a pen and the papers across his desk.

"great. now i'm just gonna need you to both sign this line here." he tapped the page with the pen and handed it to y/n. just as she was about to sign it, quinn put his hand over hers.

"wait." he removed his hand before looking at y/n. "i'm not sure i want this to be over."

"but i thought-"

"i thought so too. but after the champagne last night, and my stupid confession, i thought more about it."

"okay and?"

"and i've come to the conclusion that marrying you, whether i was drunk or sober, was the best decision i have ever made. you are the most perfect person i know and maybe i'm too late to admit this and maybe you want to get this annulled. and if that's what you really truly want, i will sign those papers to make you happy. but i couldn't let you sign without telling you how i felt." quinn sighed.

"so, mrs hughes. what do you want to do?" the man at the desk looked at her as she contemplated for a moment. she looked at quinn and smiled.

"i don't want to sign the papers." she turned to the man. "we are so sorry for wasting your time."

"not a problem. i'm just glad you two figured this out before you followed through with it. good luck on a long & happy marriage."

"thank you." quinn walked out of the office first. y/n followed slowly behind him but stopped.

"quinn, can i ask you something?"

"of course." he stopped and turned to face her.

"never mind. let's talk when we get back to our room." y/n kept walking and eventually made it back to the room. quinn waited patiently for y/n to say something. when she didn't say anything, he sat on the bed and watched her pace back and forth.

"y/n, whats up? what did you want to say to me earlier?" he sighed. "please say something. the silence is worrying me."

"last night when you told me you loved me, did you actually mean it?" she stopped abruptly and turned to face him. under his gaze, she suddenly felt nervous.

and of course, quinn being who he was, picked up on the sudden shift in behavior and was quick to walk to her. he held her hands with one of his own while the other reached under her chin. he tilted her head so she was looking right at him.

"yes i meant it. every last word that came out of my mouth last night was nothing but honesty. i may have been drunk but for the last 2 years, thinking of you became like a second nature. never have i second guessed how i felt about you. and i can assure you that it's never going to change. so if you don't feel the same way, that's okay. i just need to know."

y/n blinked quickly before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. he stumbled back a little bit as their lips collided but he easily steadied them.

quinn's hands went from her chin to her waist, pulling her impossibly closer as the kiss grew more intense with each passing second.

"so, i take it you love me too?"

"of course, you idiot." y/n smiled and caressed his cheek. "you are so perfect in my eyes and i wish i would've noticed it sooner. but no. instead, i was so focused on jack. that was a stupid decision on my part."

"yes it was." quinn chuckled and held y/n closer. "you are so beautiful and you could have anyone you wanted. why do you love me?"

"are you seriously asking me that now?" y/n smiled. "you are the sweetest person i know. you have so much talent and you never give yourself the credit you deserve. you're funny, smart and so incredibly sexy, it blows my mind. you're perfect in every way to me and i couldn't picture myself loving anybody else."

"you think i'm sexy, huh?" quinn raised his eyebrow and smirked. y/n slapped his chest playfully and smiled.

"no. i think you're like, really ugly." y/n rolled her eyes. "you're lucky i love you."

"i love you too. and since we're married, you're stuck with me for life."

"i suppose so." y/n smiled and reached for her phone. "i gotta call your mom."

"why?"

"she needs to know we got married. and maybe she'll help us throw a party to celebrate. we can invite your family and have it be like a real wedding reception."

"you're right. if anyone deserves to know, it's definitely mom."

"so then it's settled?"

"i guess it is." quinn chuckled. "we can tell her when we get home tomorrow."

"sounds like a plan." y/n set her phone down and looked at quinn. "how has nobody seen the perfection in you before? don't get me wrong. i'm glad they didn't because we wouldn't be here if they had. but, how?"

"i don't know. but i was wondering the same thing about you just now. i mean, you dated some losers but i thought at least one of them would've realized how amazing you are."

"they were all blind and stupid, quinn. even your ex-girlfriends. of course they couldn't see how perfect we are."

"you got that right." quinn placed a gently kiss to the tip of her nose and smiled. "so, how does it feel to be mrs hughes?"

"it feels amazing. always dreamed of marrying into the family one day. just always pictured it being jack."

"i know. but aren't you glad you got the better hughes brother?"

"but i didn't marry luke." y/n replied, causing quinn to gasp. she smirked and began to giggle as quinn kissed all over her face. "quinn, you're crazy."

"crazy for you."

"and cheesy. can't forget cheesy." she playfully rolled her eyes as the two of them collapsed on the bed. "you are the better brother. and for so many reasons. i love you, quinn."

"i love you too, y/n." he kissed her and it felt like time had stopped. for them, it felt as if they were the only 2 left in the world. but neither of them could complain.

they were in love and so thankful they were finally able to admit it.

[flwrstqr]

— HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS (LHS - 이희승)

SYNOPSIS ! an advice writer, you, starts on a bold new project for an article aiming to explain how to drive a man away in just 10 days. your editor is supports, so you set out to find a suitable man for her experiment. meanwhile, executive heeseung is equally confident in his ability to make any woman fall in love with him within 10 days. when you and heeseung cross paths, things slightly go off plan.

THE CAST heeseung x writer! fem reader

GENRE s2l, fluff, comedy, romance

WORD COUNT 5k+

WARNINGS parties, kissing, small grammar errors, yn kind of playing with heeseung at first, swearing, angst, crying

DANi NOTEZ hii this is for my liz's new event!!! this i based the rom com, how to lose a guy in 10 days. i kind of changed up scenes but the main idea and plot is based on the iconic 2000s movie. i've been writing this for abt 2-3 days? i thought it was good enough for liz' event so here i am. anyways i hope u enjoy it ><

BEING A WRITER HAS BEEN YOUR NUMBER ONE GOAL EVER SINCE HIGH SCHOOL. Now, at age 23, you were finally standing at the gates of the biggest magazine company ever. The sight alone sent chills down your spine, filling you with exhilaration.

Taking a deep breath, you pushed open the doors and stepped inside. The bustling activity, the hum of the printer, and the aroma of bitter coffee greeted you. You made your way to the elevator and anxiously pressed the button for the 17th floor.

Upon arrival, you awkwardly walked into the office. Your heart was pounding, and your knees were slightly shaking. You approached the manager's office and opened the door, finding yourself sitting in front of your section's main manager.

"YN LN?" the woman asked.

"Yes, ma'am," you replied stiffly, nerves evident in your voice.

"Welcome to our magazine company," she greeted, shaking your sweaty hand.

"Thank you," you responded with your usual sweet smile.

"Well, why don't you get to work?" she laughed. Your eyes widened, and you quickly stammered an apology, rushing to find your new desk and start brainstorming ideas.

For nearly two hours, you gazed out the window, feeling empty. No ideas were coming to you. It always seemed that the best ideas came at the worst times, and now, when you needed them most, your mind was blank.

"YN, just think…" you whispered to yourself, running your fingers through your hair. You glanced around the office, hoping for inspiration. Your eyes settled on a young man and woman engaged in a flirtatious conversation. Watching them smile and laugh together made you wonder if they were a couple or just interested in each other. (happy couples really did give you an ick.)

Then, it happened. The perfect idea. An idea that could possibly get you promoted and shake the whole world.

Quickly scribbling on your paper, the title snapped into your mind: "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."

YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING, how do you even lose a guy in 10 days? Easy—just find a guy and drive him away by doing stereotypical “girl things.” Sounds like a piece of cake, right?

“YN, that is one of the BEST ideas I’ve ever heard!” your editor, Yeseo, exclaims.

“Really?” you ask, eagerly smiling.

“It’s perfect! It would catch everyone’s attention!” Yeseo explains, her eyes lighting up as she imagines the situation.

“So, how are you going to write this?” Yeseo raises an eyebrow.

“I’ll try it out myself and document my experiences. That way, it’s more authentic,” you shrug.

“That sounds great. Just journal your experiences each day,” Yeseo nods, agreeing with your plan. “I’m so excited to see the final product, YN. Email me once you’re finished, and we’ll get it published within weeks.”

You give her a quick smile before leaving her office, ready to start your new adventure.

PARTIES. USUALLY ONE OF THE THINGS YOU ABSOLUTELY HATED. The noise of couples kissing, people screaming, and music blasting through the speakers was just not your thing. The way sweaty bodies brush against each other as they chug alcohol. Parties are truly the thing you hate the most.

“So you’re telling me your new article for the magazine is about how to get a boy to dump you in 10 days?” Karina raised her eyebrow.

“In other words, yes,” you smiled. “I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Possibly it not working,” Giselle interjected.

“Well, it will. I’ve planned the whole thing,” you grinned with a hint of pride. “My editor was impressed. I’m sure it’ll work.”

“If you say so,” Karina laughed at your confidence.

“So basically, YN will get a boyfriend before me?” Ningning asked, shocked.

“Well, he’s not gonna be my boyfriend. He’s more like a test,” you replied uncertainty. As you continued to explain your plan, you felt a gaze fixed on you from across the room.

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE

“I bet you can’t get a girlfriend,” Jake joked.

“I can,” Heeseung rolled his eyes.

“Wanna bet on it, then?” Jake's eyes glinted with playfulness.

“Deal,” Heeseung confirmed.

“If you get that girl over there as your girlfriend, then I’ll give you a thousand dollars.” Jake smirked, pointing at you across the room.

“Her?” Heeseung raised his eyebrow as he checked you out. You were pretty to his eyes, though he wasn’t sure if he had the courage to approach you.

“Yup, her,” Jake grinned.

“Deal, I’ll have her in my arms within a day,” Heeseung winked before walking over to ask for your number.

NOW

“No way my plan will fail–” your voice stopped as Heeseung approached, tapping your shoulder lightly.

“Hi,” he greeted you with a welcoming smile.

“Uh, hi?” you replied, confused.

“You’re kind of cute. Can I get your number?” Heeseung asked, the words not quite rolling off his tongue as he had never done this before.

Your cheeks burned slightly as you stared. “Sure?” He was quite cute, with his sweet smile and perfectly styled hair. You gave him your number, and he mentioned he would text you later before walking off.

“YN, you know what that means?” Giselle raised her eyebrow.

“Huh?” you looked confused.

“You can use him as your test,” Winter recalled. Your eyes then widened. Perfect! He would be the perfect subject for your new article. Now, how were you going to make him yours?

YOU SIT ON YOUR BED, staring at your phone, debating whether to text Heeseung first. Your fingers hover over the keyboard, a mixture of nervousness and excitement bubbling inside you. Finally, you take a deep breath and type out a message.

YN: Hi, it’s YN. We met at the party earlier, you asked for my number. :)

You hit send and immediately feel a rush of anxiety. What if he doesn’t respond? What if he thinks you’re weird? You try to distract yourself by scrolling through social media, but the minutes feel like hours. Suddenly, your phone buzzes.

Heeseung: Hey, of course I remember. How's your night going? 

YN: It’s going good, just relaxing now. How about you?

Heeseung: Same here. Just got home. That party was a bit too much for me, tbh

You smile, feeling a little more at ease.

YN: Agreed, not rlly a party person lmao

Heeseung: Really? Me neither. I actually prefer a quiet night with some good music.

YN: Same, what kind of music do you like?

Heeseung: I listen to a lot like R&B and indie ig

YN: oh rlly? Same w me 

Heeseung: oh that’s cool

Heeseung: also wanna meet up one day?

YN: That would be amazing. I’m totally up for it.

Heeseung: Cool, it’s a date then. :)

You can’t help but smile at his message, feeling a flutter of excitement.

YN: Sounds like a plan.

Heeseung: It’s getting late. I should probably get some sleep. But I’m glad we got to talk tonight.

YN: Me too. Sleep well, Heeseung. Talk to you tomorrow?

Heeseung: Definitely. Goodnight, YN. :)

You set your phone down, a smile still on your face. This might just be the start of something interesting.

YOU TAKE A DEEP BREATH, smoothing out your outfit one last time before stepping into the restaurant. Heeseung is already there, waiting at a table near the window. He spots you and waves, a warm smile spreading across his face. You give a small smile back. 

“Hi,” you greet him as you sit down.

“Hey,” he replies, “You look great.”

“Thanks, you too.”

The waiter comes over to take your orders, and there’s a moment of awkward silence as you both look at the menus.

“So, uh, do you come here often?” Heeseung asks, attempting to break the ice.

“Actually, it’s my first time,” you admit.

“I see,” Heeseung awkwardly laughs. 

AFTER DINNER, you both step outside into the cool evening air, feeling more comfortable in each other’s presence.

“That was really nice,” Heeseung says, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah, it was,” you agree, feeling a sense of relief that the awkwardness from earlier has faded.

You walk side by side down the quiet street, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

“Do you live far from here?” Heeseung asks, breaking the silence.

“Not too far. Just a few blocks away,” you reply, glancing at him.

“Oh I see,” he says, smiling.

As you continued walking, the two of you began to chatter off. The conversation flows effortlessly, and you find yourself laughing at his jokes and sharing your own stories.

“Did you see the sunset earlier?” Heeseung asks, pointing to the sky, which is now painted with shades of orange and pink.

“Yeah, it was beautiful,” you say, smiling at the sight.

“I had a really good time tonight,” Heeseung says, looking at you with a soft smile.

“Me too,” you reply, feeling a warmth spread through you.

As you reach your street, you both come to a stop.

“Well, I guess this is where we part ways,” Heeseung says, looking a little reluctant to leave.

“Yeah,” you say, feeling a twinge of disappointment.

“Thanks for tonight, YN. I had a great time,” he says, stepping closer to you, “Maybe another time we can hang out again.” 

“Thank you too, Heeseung. That sounds great,” you reply, feeling a rush of happiness.

 YOU DECIDE IT'S TIME TO PUT YOUR PLAN INTO ACTION. You’ve thought through every detail, determined to see if your article concept works in real life. Step one: find an ugly dog and some hideous clothes. You’ve got the perfect ideas in mind.

You meet Heeseung outside his apartment, holding a small, scruffy dog with a face only its owner could love. You flash him a bright smile as he opens the door.

“Surprise!” you exclaim. “I got us a dog!”

Heeseung’s eyes widen as he takes in the sight of the dog. “Uh, wow, YN. That’s…unexpected.”

“Isn’t he adorable?” you gush, ignoring the bewilderment on Heeseung’s face. “I named him Snuggles.”

“Snuggles, huh?” Heeseung says, trying to muster enthusiasm. “Yeah, he’s…something.”

You place Snuggles in Heeseung’s arms, watching as the dog licks his face with an enthusiastic, slobbery tongue. Heeseung grimaces slightly but manages a strained smile.

“Let’s take him for a walk,” you suggest brightly, grabbing a garishly colored leash from your bag.

Later that evening, you bring out the next part of your plan: an outfit so hideous that it should be impossible for Heeseung to bear. You hand him a neon green tracksuit with orange polka dots and a pair of mismatched shoes.

“I thought we could match!” you say, revealing your identical outfit. “Isn’t it fun?”

Heeseung looks at the clothes, then back at you, clearly unsure how to respond. “Wow, YN. This is…unique.”

“You don’t like it?” you ask, pouting slightly.

“No, no, it’s great,” he says quickly. “I’ll just, uh, go change.”

When he returns, you both look like you’ve stepped out of a bad 80s workout video. You can’t help but laugh at the absurdity, but Heeseung seems to be struggling to keep a straight face.

“Let’s go grab dinner,” you say, linking your arm with his. “I made reservations at that fancy restaurant downtown.”

At the restaurant, the two of you turn heads as you walk in, dressed in your eye-searing outfits. The hostess tries to maintain her professionalism as she leads you to your table, but you can see the corners of her mouth twitching.

Throughout dinner, you do your best to be as irritating as possible. You chew with your mouth open, talk loudly, and insist on ordering the strangest items on the menu.

“Are you sure you want the pizza?” Heeseung asks, a note of disbelief in his voice.

“Absolutely,” you reply, grinning. “And I think you should try it too!”

Heeseung hesitates but eventually nods. “Sure, why not?” 

Here you were, sitting on your bed as you write your story. Typing away and zoning out, it had to be working right? He obviously would be over you by next week. All you needed was one more shove to drive him away soon as possible. Just 5 more days..

YOU PUSH YOUR CART THROUGH the aisles of the grocery store, scanning the shelves for the items on your list. As you reach for a box of cereal, you hear a familiar voice behind you.

“YN?”

You turn to see Heeseung approaching, a smile lighting up his face. “Oh, hi Heeseung,” you say with a smile.

“Nice to see you here,” he says, falling into step beside you.

“Yeah, I just needed to grab a few things,” you reply, feeling a bit flustered by his presence.

Heeseung nods, and for a moment, there’s an awkward silence as you both continue browsing. Suddenly, you realize you can’t reach the item you need on the top shelf.

“Um, Heeseung, do you think you could help me with something?” you ask, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Of course, what do you need?” he replies, stepping closer.

“I just need to grab that box up there,” you say, pointing to the top shelf.

“Sure thing,” Heeseung says, reaching up to grab the box.

But as he stretches, you accidentally bump into him, causing him to lose his balance. In a split second, you reach out to steady him, but instead, you end up stumbling backward, crashing to the ground on top of him. Your face merely inches from each other. 

“I’m sorry about that!” you exclaim, your face burning with embarrassment.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” he says, his cheeks also flushed as he helps you up.

“Um, we should probably get up,” you say, feeling flustered.

“Yeah, definitely,” Heeseung agrees, scrambling to his feet.

You both straighten your clothes and try to regain your composure, but the awkwardness lingers in the air.

“Well, um, thanks for trying to help,” you say, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Anytime,” Heeseung replies with a sheepish smile. You exchange a quick awkward glance before awkwardly walking back to do your own things.

YOU AND HEESEUNG STEP INTO THE DIMLY LIT MOVIE THEATER, the smell of popcorn filling the air. You’ve been looking forward to this night out, hoping it will help end your plan to drive him away. As you settle into your seats, the lights dim, and the movie begins.

The film is a romantic comedy, and as the story unfolds, you find yourself getting lost in the plot. But when the characters share a kiss on screen, you feel a sudden tension between you and Heeseung.

You glance at him out of the corner of your eye, and you can see that he’s watching you, his expression unreadable. You both look away awkwardly, feeling a flush of embarrassment.

As the movie progresses, the tension between you only grows. You can feel Heeseung’s eyes on you, and you struggle to focus on the screen, your heart pounding in your chest.

Suddenly, as another kiss happens, Heeseung leans in closer to you. You freeze, unsure of what to do. Is he going to kiss you? But then, almost as if on cue, Heeseung leans in closer, his lips hovering just inches from yours. His breath mingles with yours, his warm exhales tickling your skin as he leans in, his lips drawing closer to yours. You can feel the gentle brush of his breath against your mouth, sending shivers down your spine. 

Your heart pounds in your chest as you feel the warmth of his breath against your skin. And then, in a heartbeat, he closes the gap between you, his lips pressing softly against yours. It’s a gentle kiss, but hesitant at first, but soon it deepens. You can’t help but respond, your hands finding their way to his shoulders.

You melt into the kiss, losing yourself in the sensation of his lips against yours.  When you finally pull away, your heart is racing, and your mind is buzzing with emotions. You meet Heeseung’s gaze, and you can see the same uncertainty reflected in his eyes.

“Wow,” he whispers, his voice barely audible over the sound of the movie.

“Yeah,” you murmur, at a loss for words.

As the movie comes to an end, you both sit in silence, the weight of what just happened hanging in the air. But despite the awkwardness, you can’t shake the feeling that something has shifted between you.

As you leave the theater, you can’t help but replay the kiss in your mind, feeling a sense of warmth and longing that you can’t ignore. And as you walk hand in hand with Heeseung, you realize with a start that maybe, just maybe, you’re falling in love.

AS YOU LIE IN BED THAT NIGHT, the events of the evening replay in your mind. The gentle touch of Heeseung's lips against yours, the warmth of his embrace—it all stuck in your head. 

You stare up at the ceiling, think to yourself.  Love? It's a word you're not ready to utter, a feeling too intense to comprehend. You try to push the thought aside. 

You roll onto your side, pulling the covers tighter around you. You couldn’t be in love? All that effort you put in to get rid of him. It was your 8th day, just two more days. You couldn’t do it anymore. As you drift off to sleep, the question echoes in your mind. Are you falling in love with Heeseung? 

THE REALIZATION HITS YOU like a ton of bricks, leaving you feeling breathless. Could it be true? Are you actually falling in love with Heeseung?

The thought consumes you as you go about your day. By the time evening arrives, you can't shake the feeling that you needed to end it.

Summoning every ounce of courage, you pick up your phone and dial your editor's number. When she answers, you get yourself together for the conversation ahead.

"Hey, it's me," you begin, "I need to talk to you about the article."

There's a pause on the other end of the line, and you can almost hear the curiosity in her voice as she responds. "Sure, what's up?"

"I… I can't write it," you admit, the words feeling like a confession. "I just don't feel right about it anymore."

There's a moment of silence before your editor speaks again, her tone firm."No, you're writing it," she says, leaving no room for argument.

"But—" you start to protest, but she cuts you off before you can continue.

"No buts," she insists. "We've already agreed on the topic, and you're the best person for the job. I expect to see the first draft on my desk by the end of the week."

You sigh, feeling defeated. It's clear that your editor isn't going to budge on this issue, and you know that arguing further would be a waste.

"Okay," you say reluctantly, resigning yourself to the task at hand. "I'll get it done."

AS YOU SIT ON YOUR COUCH, trying to make sense of everything that's happened, until you hear Heeseung pick up a call. 

“ Heeseung!" Jake's voice crackles through the phone, filled with excitement. "So, have you sealed the deal yet? Win YN over?"

Your heart skips a beat at the mention of your name and you instinctively lean in closer, eager to hear his response. But as you listen, the color drains from your face, and a cold dread settles in the pit of your stomach.

"The bet that I could get YN in 10 days?," Heeseung's voice comes through the phone, his words cutting through the air, "I thought I could, but…" 

Your heart shatters. Your knees started to shake. How could you have been so blind? How could you have let yourself fall for someone who was playing a game with your feelings?

Before you can hear the rest of his sentence, you leave the room silently. "I thought I could, but…" The words replay in your head.As the reality sinks in, you realize that you may have just broken your own heart, listening in on a conversation that was never meant for your ears.  He played with you. He was using you. You feel like a fool, blindsided by the truth that's been staring you in the face all along. 

You walk yourself to the nearest taxi before coming back to your empty apartment. You lie on bed, your palms on your eyes, sobbing quietly. Why should you care? I mean he was just an experiment — right? 

THE MORNING SUNLIGHT FILTERS through the curtains as you sit on your bed, thoughts rushing through your mind. The wounds from last night were still raw, as you feel tired and sick. You kew what you have to do. You began to type your last paragraph of the article before submitting it to your editor. 

With the article sent, you feel a mix of anxiety and relief. You know the revised piece is honest and raw, reflecting your own experience. But there’s one more thing you need to do to truly move forward.

To: Editor Yeseo

Subject: Resignation Letter

Dear Yeseo,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as a writer, effective immediately. I appreciate the opportunities I have had here and the support from the team, but I must prioritize my well-being at this time.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely, YN

You hit send, feeling an overwhelming amount of pain. Being a writer had been your dream job, but now, it feels like a chapter you need to close. As you sit in your now-quiet apartment, you feel a pang of sadness. The memories of the past few weeks with Heeseung linger, but you push them aside. 

You start with your closet, pulling out clothes and sorting them into piles: keep, donate, and toss. You take down the photos and posters from the walls, each one a reminder of the life you’re leaving behind.

Next, you move to the kitchen, packing up dishes, utensils, and small appliances. You wrap everything carefully, methodically, as if each item represents a piece of your heart that you’re trying to protect. 

Your phone buzzes with messages from Heeseung, but you ignore them. Making them be left on delivered. You move to the living room, packing up books, DVDs, and mementos. You’re not just packing up your belongings; you’re packing up your old life, preparing to move on and start new.

IN HIS DIMLY LIT APARTMENT, Heeseung sits on the edge of his bed, the glow of his laptop screen casting shadows across his face. His heart pounds in his chest as he opens the email attachment—a document titled "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—And Fall in Love in the Process" by [Your Name].

As the page loads, he takes a deep breath, steeling himself for what he's about to read. The cursor hovers over the first paragraph, and with a trembling hand, he begins to scroll down. 

Heeseung sits at his desk, his heart pounding in his chest as he reads the article that has just landed in his inbox. With each word, his emotions spiral into a whirlwind of confusion and disbelief.

"When I set out to write this article..."

He reads the opening sentence, his brow furrowing in confusion. What article is this? And why does it sound so familiar?

As he continues to read, the pieces start to fall into place. The description of the article, the unexpected turn of events—it's all too familiar, too painful to ignore.

"I met someone who was supposed to be just a test subject..."

Heeseung's breath catches in his throat as he realizes what he's reading. This is about him. About the bet, about the article he overheard, about everything.

He reads on, his heart pounding louder with each passing sentence:

When I set out to write this article, the plan was simple: follow a set of steps to make a guy dump me in ten days. It was supposed to be a fun, light-hearted challenge—a piece to entertain our readers. But life, as it often does, had other plans.

I met someone who was supposed to be just a test subject. But as the days went by, something unexpected happened. The more I tried to push him away, the closer we became. Every awkward moment, every forced argument, every silly plan to drive him away only brought us closer together.

I found myself laughing at his jokes, looking forward to our time together, and, against all odds, feeling a connection I hadn't anticipated. What started as a challenge turned into a journey of discovery—not just about him, but about myself.

I realized that love isn't something you can plan or control. It sneaks up on you when you least expect it, breaking down the walls you've carefully built around your heart. And sometimes, the person you're trying to lose ends up being the one you can't imagine living without.

So, dear readers, this isn't the article I set out to write. It's not about foolproof ways to make a guy dump you. Instead, it's a story about how, in the process of trying to push someone away, I found myself falling in love. It's messy, it's unexpected, and it's beautiful.

Life has a funny way of turning our plans upside down. And sometimes, the best stories are the ones we never meant to write.

He closes the magazine, his mind spinning with thoughts of you. He knows he needs to find you, to talk to you, to tell you how he feels. He can't let this opportunity slip away, can't let the chance to be with you slip through his fingers.

With a sense of determination, Heeseung rises from his seat, his heart pounding in his chest. He knows he has to find you, to tell you how he feels, to see if maybe, just maybe, you feel the same way too.

HEESEUNG'S HEART RACES AS HE RUSHES THROUGH THE STREETS, his mind consumed with thoughts of you. He knows he needs to find you, to talk to you, to tell you everything.

As he rounds the corner, he sees your apartment building looming ahead. His steps quicken, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. He's so close now, so close to finally telling you how he feels.

But as he reaches your building, his heart sinks at the sight before him. He sees movers loading boxes into a truck parked outside, and he realizes with a sinking feeling that you're moving away.

Heeseung's chest tightens with panic, his mind racing as he searches for a solution. He can't let you slip away, can't let this chance to be with you slip through his fingers. He rushes toward the building, his thoughts jumbled all up. 

As he bursts through the door, he sees you standing in the hallway, a suitcase at your feet, tears streaming down your face. His heart breaks at the sight of your sadness, and he knows he needs to act fast.

"Y/N!" he calls out, his voice echoing through the empty hallway. You turn to face him, your eyes widening in surprise at the sight of him standing there.

"Heeseung?" you whisper, your voice trembling with emotion. "What are you doing here?"

Heeseung takes a deep breath, steeling himself for what he's about to say. "I need to talk to you," he says, his voice filled with urgency. "There's something I need to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago."

He steps closer to you, his eyes never leaving yours. "I was part of the bet," he admits, his voice barely above a whisper. "But it was never about winning a thousand dollars or proving anything to Jake. It was about proving something to myself—to prove that I could be the kind of guy who deserves someone like you."

Tears well up in your eyes as you listen to his confession, your heart aching with a mix of sadness and hope. "Heeseung…" you whisper, reaching out to touch his hand.

But Heeseung doesn't wait for you to say anything more. With a surge of courage, he leans in and presses his lips to yours, pouring all of his love and longing into the kiss. 

As Heeseung's lips meet yours in that soft, tender kiss, his hands gently find their way to your waist, pulling you closer to him.

You feel the heat of his body against yours, the closeness intensifying the sensation of his lips moving against yours. His touch is gentle yet possessive, his fingers tracing patterns on your skin as if memorizing every curve of your body.

You pull away, staring and laughing for a moment. 

"I love you," you whisper softly. 

"I love you more," he smiles back, quietly leaning his forehead against yours to quickly catch his lips on yours again. Maybe writing that article wasn't so bad after all.

[icyg4l]

PAC: Your Upcoming Semester

hello beautiful people! alright so… i lied about not posting the other night. my bad!!! but i hope this makes up for it. i’ve been getting ready for school and i am so excited about this new transition. soon, i will make readings available for sale again. i also have an announcement to make regarding readings for sale soon as well! i hope you guys enjoy the reading! without further ado, please choose your pile!

top left-to-bottom right: (1-4)

pile one: mentally, you’re not prepared to be back in school. pile one, i’m not going to lie. it will take you a while to adjust to the new semester. this summer was definitely vacation time. you took the time off to just relax and do you, but it’s time to put in that work now. do you have your things together? are you registered? have you signed up for classes? if not, you need to do so! once you get the hang of this, i feel like the semester will fly by. i feel like some of you will get into arguments unfortunately. it could be over something small but don’t let it blow out of proportion. i heard “the future looks very promising”. you have to learn how to look on the bright side sometimes to avoid losing your mind. it’s best that you spend time learning a new language or skill. it’s also best that you get involved with the earth club if that’s something you’re interested. i thought of the everest college commercial lol (if you know, you know). don’t waste your time focusing on the small stuff. look at the bigger picture, pile one.

cards used: 7 of wands. 4 of swords. 10 of wands. 8 of swords. 3 of wands. the star. 8 of wands.

extra messages: petty arguments. solo. snooze button. cotton ball. coraline (2009). prove it. plea.

pile two: it feels like you are redeeming yourself, pile two. it feels like you failed your last semester or had the bare minimum grades to pass the last go around. but you don’t have to do anything to prove to anyone but yourself at the end of the day. there is a chance that you could be in front of the cameras during the semester. if you are interested in journalism, now is your chance to get involved. if you want to switch your major or join the broadcasting team, then go for it! you have to learn school-life balance. you have struggled with this in the past. know when you can handle something & know when to take your L, which brings me to another thing. this semester, you should know when to ask for help. if you need a tutor or extra help, you know where to find resources. use them! you cannot do everything by yourself. i see some type of celebration happening. if your birthday is in the first semester, happy early birthday! but this could also mean that you are celebrating a hard and long semester. take pride in your accomplishments because no one can take them away from you. maximize their importance! maximize your importance!

cards used: ten of swords. the hermit. 6 of discs. the emperor. 5 of swords. knight of swords. 4 of wands.

extra messages: vintage. playing cards. coolio. parlay. late night studying. destined to be. rewards. partial completion credit. i’ll take it. osmosis jones. snacking problem. cheez-its. love island voter. kiss me by sixpence.

pile three: this pile is for my people who desire to be in the healthcare industry. i think that this semester will fly by. you have always been on top of your game when it comes to school. you knew that you would do well before you even clicked on this reading. however, i think you will be putting more of an effort to get yourself out there. the dating scene will be improving for you to get in. someone will ask you out on a date. it feels like you’ve been waiting for this to happen. do not let this turn of events distract you from what really matters which is your educational endeavors. this is very specific, but if there is someone you date that is well-connected, utilize their connections to your benefit. make sure that you can get something out of all of your contacts. don’t just let people take up space in your life. this is definitely for my college babes, maybe high school seniors too. just be open to fun and don’t carry shame for wanting to have fun! you deserve to have a life too!

cards used: the tower, queen of wands, the high priestess, the empress, 9 of cups, prince of wands, the hermit, the emperor.

extra messages: veterinarian. crest toothpaste. toenail jam. worms. marine biologist. dental work. boogeyman. letting your hair down. toes in the sand.

pile four: you have a lot of stuff on the line, pile four. there will be so many things available to you that weren’t before & it would be a shame if you didn’t take advantage of that. however, you do not want to do anything that would take away from your drive, finances, goals or educational career as a whole. there are lots of temptations coming up for you this semester. some of you could just be entering undergrad, perhaps grad school too. you will have a lot more control of your life than you did before. but with great power comes great responsibilities. your energy is similar to pile three in the sense that fun is on the way. but you have the tendency to overdo it. if you’re sexually active, then you need to not engage in sex too much. if you drink, then do not engage in drinking too much. it will become a distraction, and then eventually a problem. distinguish who is supposed to be in your life and who isn’t. you have a bit of naïveté about you. lastly, if you are asked to do something that sounds like it would be risky to your academic career/your life in general, DO NOT DO IT! it is not worth the irreparable damage. bending your morals will not work in your favor.

cards used: 9 of cups, death, the magician, 10 of swords, the moon.

extra messages: call home. out of bounds. melodrama (2017). record scratch. debrief. gaining pounds. life hacks. selenite. prozac. potty mouth.

[pitchcom]

carcar survivor au, 2.2k

When Oscar received his new tribe buff, he knew that this was a chance for a fresh start.

The last vote had been…messy, to say the least. Daniel had approached him and Zhou with an idol and a plan to take out Pierre before he and Yuki could reach the merge and gain more control over the game. Oscar wasn’t naive enough to think that this meant any sort of alliance between them, but he had promised his sisters that he would do anything to try and win.

Yuki stood resolutely away from the rest of the tribe on the boat ride over. Oscar catches a glimpse of his hands, knuckles clenching white against the boat railing. He feels Daniel push past him, towards Yuki and raises an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Daniel turns back towards him. “Yuki’s scared of sharks.” he offers, as if they all hadn’t caused his face to crumple a couple nights ago as Pierre’s name was read over and over.

Oscar watches him walk next to Yuki, slinging an arm over his shoulder. Too soft, he thinks as he watches Yuki loosen his grip on the railing and lean into Daniel’s hold. He looks away towards the horizon as they travel to their new beach.

——

Oscar quickly finds himself escaping to the water well less than an hour after arriving on the new beach.

Strategically, he knows he should be at camp with everyone else. Should be talking to everyone, scouting out tribe dynamics, making first impressions that aren’t a stilted introduction before disappearing. But Oscar was never quite a social butterfly; still awkward at office parties despite working there for 2 years by now, never mind trying to ingratiate himself with 10 other strangers he had just seen briefly at challenges.

A voice interrupts his thoughts. “Huh. I guess you really were getting water. I bet George half a coconut that you were out idol searching already.”

Oscar startles and whirls around to come face to face with a shorter man with curly hair, crooked grin stuck on his face from tribe 1. Ah. He vaguely remembers him from the last challenge.

“Oh. Um. You’re the guy who kept falling off the balance beam, right?” Oscar kicked himself mentally. For all that first impressions mattered in the game, Oscar was failing miserably at them so far.

Balance Beam Guy’s mouth falls into a pout. “Alex already made fun of me for that at camp for three days! I thought that people would be over it by now.” he grumbles, moving next to Oscar to grab the water ladle from him.

“Sorry.” Oscar says, not particularly sorry. “I didn’t have a name for you, so.”

Balance Beam Guy sniffs. “It's Lando, so get that memory out of your head. I don’t need reminders that all of America saw me fail to walk in a straight line. You came over from tribe 3, right? Any deets on alliances, idols, advantages?”

Oscar shakes his head. “Nah, we’re kind of a mess. Daniel burned our idol at the last tribal, so if anyone was able to find it before we got on the boat I wouldn’t know. I’m uh, actually looking for some potential connections here.” And maybe it's a little desperate, a little shameless, but Oscar needed some kind of lifeline. So, even if he had to reveal his hand a little earlier then he would’ve liked, he was hoping the information would be interesting enough to make him worth keeping.

Luckily, Lando’s face breaks into a wide grin as he finishes filling his canteen. “Well, you’re in luck! Don’t tell anyone, but-“ Lando ducks closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “I do happen to be a part of quite a strong alliance with George and Alex. We’re trying to keep it on the downlow for now, but we’re looking for a solid fourth to help us swing a majority. You want in, um-?” Lando trails off, hand reaching out.

“Oscar,” he finishes as he takes Lando’s hand. “And I’d be happy to work with you.”

Lando’s grin slides back into its crooked default. “Great! I’ll tell them about it, and in a little bit we’ll go down to the water and chat. See you back at camp, Osc!”

Oscar’s face twitches a little at the nickname, but he doesn’t say anything as Lando walks away. We’re not friends, he wants to call after Lando. It's just strategy.

Oscar waits 5 minutes after Lando leaves before returning to camp. He gives an awkward half smile when Lando winks at him. Possible strategic liability, he notes to himself.

——

Oscar already considered himself particularly lucky to have fumbled his way through the premerge after losing Logan, not to mention Lando choosing to approach him with the offer of an alliance. In all honesty, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop and hoping it wouldn’t affect his game too badly.

That should’ve been warning already when Carlos decided to approach him on the beach.

Oscar was stretched across the sand, letting the suns rays lull him into a sleep. Half the tribe was out getting a reward (Lando included) leaving the rest of them to sulk around camp and try not to think of all the food the others were eating. Oscar chose to ignore the gnawing disappointment by getting some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, Carlos had other ideas.

“Oscar.” Carlos called from across the sand

Oscar squeezed his eyes closed. Maybe, he reasoned, if he pretended to be asleep already Carlos would get the hint and leave him alone.

“Oscar! Hello?” The voice got closer.

Oscar groaned internally before rolling back over and opening his eyes. He was immediately met with an extreme close up of Carlos, frown painted on his face.

“Why are you sleeping in the sun? Your skin, it will burn no?” were the first words Carlos spoke to him, voice too loud and face still too close.

Oscar blinked at him. “What?”

Carlos’ frown deepens. “Your skin. You will not tan, like this.”

“Well, sorry that not all of us were born with perfect genetics.” Oscar wants to drown this guy and his stupid island beauty in the ocean. “Why are you here anyways? Aren’t you supposed to be plotting the next vote with Max or something?”

Carlos’ face lights up. “Ah! That is what I have come to talk to you about!” He says, ignoring the obvious dismissal as he takes a seat next to Oscar on the sand. “You see, I have noticed that you sit alone at camp quite a lot. So, I assume that you do not have an alliance yet!”

Oscar raises an eyebrow. “And what if I have a secret alliance with somebody else? Like Daniel, or Zhou?”

Carlos laughs, a cackle that sounds almost painful. “I have already talked to both of them, and they both say they have no tribe loyalty.”

“They might be lying, you know. Trying to lull you into a false sense of security and all that.”

Carlos grins, a big dopey thing. “Between you and them I think I believe them more. No offense, Oscar.”

Oscar wills back the growing irritation beneath his skin. He’s dealt with annoying over-confident and underestimating assholes before. He knows how to play this game. “You got me. Totally friendless and ally-less on this island. Probably the most boring castaway ever.” He drones, almost completely monotone.

Carlos frowns. “Do not say that, Oscar.” Ozz-car. “I am sure you are a very wonderful person. If you were not, I would not be here asking you to join my alliance.”

“You’re here to ask me to join your alliance?”

Carlos blinks, then snaps his fingers. “Ah! Yes! I have come here to ask you to join me, Charles, and Max at the next vote!” Carlos looks at Oscar eagerly, as if he should be jumping at his generous offer. “Since you have said yourself that you have no allies, we could help carry you farther in the game. It is a mutually beneficial partnership, no?”

Oscar snorts internally. “Beneficial for you, yes. For me? What happens when it comes down to me or Charles? Me or Max? Mate, I’m not stupid. I know there are hierarchies in alliances, and I’d be at the bottom. I don’t want to be just some fucking sheep you bring with you until the time is right.”

Carlos looks a little lost at this. Clearly, his plan to swoop in and grab a vote didn’t go as smoothly as he thought. Serves him right, Oscar thinks bitterly. It’d probably be the first time his stupid cow eyes and smooth accent didn’t get him what he wanted.

Oscar watches him wiggle his jaw for a couple of seconds, lost in thought. He sighs internally, before turning back over and closing his eyes again. “Look mate, I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got my own alliance. Find somebody else to be your number.”

Oscar doesn’t hear anything for a moment, then feels sand being kicked against his skin as Carlos gets up. “Fine. But I will not be so nice later after Tribal Council, when my alliance controls the vote. See you later, Oscar.”

Fuck that guy, Oscar thinks. He ends up staying out on the sand to spite him. He ignores the smirk Carlos gives him later as Lando laughs and pokes at his sunburned back.

——

Later, after Max wins the immunity challenge, George asks him who he’s thinking of voting tonight.

“I dunno, but I think Carlos is a good choice. Breaking up that alliance before they get a foothold in the game is probably a good idea. “ Oscar says, feigning nonchalance. It’s purely strategic, he tells himself.

George nods. “And you’re sure you can get Daniel and Zhou to vote with us?”

“Course he can!” Alex says, laying an arm around Oscars shoulder with an easy smile. “And even if he can’t, I think we’ll survive to another day. I mean, nobody even knows we’re allied. There's no way they think that a bunch of lanky and short guys are bigger threats than someone like Valterri or Fernando.”

Oscar nods along, a smile growing despite himself as he watches Lando shove Alex for calling him short. This is my endgame, he thinks to himself.

——

George is trembling on the way back from tribal. From rage or shock, Oscar doesn’t know. Lando is silent for once, white-knuckled grip on his pack and lips pursed into a sharp line.

Alex going home tonight was not part of the plan. They were supposed to have the numbers, with Lewis, Valterri, Zhou, and Daniel voting with them. I guess they found their number, Oscar thought bitterly and he watched Daniel and Max whisper to each other up ahead.

It was a good move. If Oscar were at home watching, he would be applauding them for identifying the threat within the tribe and dealing a significant blow to them. But now, as he was forced to trudge back to camp minus Alex, Oscar just feels a sort of sourness in his stomach.

This feeling is only amplified when they arrive back at camp, and Carlos turns to him with a big smile on his face. Oscar doesn’t think it's dopey anymore.

“I told you, Oscar!” Carlos sings to him as Oscar is trying to dig for his jacket in his pack. “I told you we would control the vote. Are you rethinking my offer now? Though, I think we are less in need of ‘sheep’ now.”

Oscar rethinks every post he’s ever made on Twitter calling out contestants for being butthurt for being on the wrong side of the vote. Tries to school his expression, tries to steady his breathing and refrain himself from punching Carlos straight in the face.

“Fuck off.” Is what he settles for instead, a shove that barely makes Carlos stumble. Oscar can hear his cackling laugh echo through the night air as he stomps down to the beach to meet with George and Lando.

“What the fuck just happened.” George starts. “We were supposed to be safe- We were not supposed to be the targets! It was supposed to be Fernando, or Valterri, or even fucking Lewis-“

”I just don’t understand how they knew,” Lando stresses, hand pulling through his curls. “We were keeping it a secret and everything!”

Oscar doesn’t say anything, because the sour feeling in his stomach has just curdled. Nobody said anything about an alliance, he realises, except for him. Except for that stupid throwaway line to Carlos on the beach. A throwaway line that he then latched onto, analyzed, and deduced a potential member from.

The guilt eats at him, in the silence. Nobody speaks for a bit. Oscar is about to open his mouth and apologize when Lando says “Franco.”

They both turn to look at him. ��Franco was in our old tribe, he voted with them tonight. He must’ve figured it out.” Lando continues.

And it’s an out. An easy way to avoid blame, to explain away the sudden target of Alex. Oscar only feels slightly bad when he nods along. After all, it makes perfect sense.

They talk for a little more, discuss further plans of action. But there is only one fact repeating in Oscars head by the time they get back to camp:

Carlos Sainz is bad for his game.

[causenessus]

new grounds

part 0.6. TOXIC TRAIT . . . 1.5.2024

PLAYING IN THE CAFE . . . atomic vomit by steve lacy

it’s 10 o’clock. not in the afternoon, at night. she’s huddled in a corner next to keiji, the both of them leaning on each other and periodically dozing off and then shaking the other awake. 

kageyama is a few feet away from her on her right, playing with his hands as they wait for their manager who is late as per usual.

yachi is a little more energetic, sitting a chair’s distance away on keiji’s side, swinging her feet as she scrolls on her phone. she giggles at something which draws all of their attention.

“akaashi,” she says, turning towards him. “do you want to tell me about this condom thing?”

“oh god,” keiji removed his arm from around y/n’s shoulder to cover his face with his hands. 

y/n laughs as she sits upright in her chair, it had only happened a few days before, but it felt like forever ago.

“what more is there to say? keiji’s tweet summed it up pretty good,” she answers and keiji groans at the thought.

kageyama tries his best not to look as he listens. his phone is buzzing with texts from a group chat. his friends are trying to encourage him to talk to her after he told them she was here. but he can’t. instead, he’s on google researching condoms and microphones, something he never thought he’d be doing. ever.

then a bell chimes as the door opens and their manager walks in, a small corduroy bag around her shoulders over a white puffer jacket. 

“happy holidays, sorry i’m late,” she slings off her bag as she talks.

everything is pointless here. they’re all pretending to listen to her as if they respect her and she’s pretending like she actually does her job. but maybe that’s all his opinion.

“this last year was pretty good. we lost some people but you’re all new additions and you’ve been handling this great. i help out when i need to, i accommodate when you guys need some days off…” it was slowly transitioning into statements about her, which she realized and quickly cleared her throat, pulling out a folder. “the only things i can say is you all need to do better about getting to work on time and calling out. if you’re all gonna call out one day at least tell me a day ahead or something. it’s not like i can stop you guys from doing it, just don’t make it a habit,” she sighs, running a hand through her hair. “i think that was all, if you guys can hang out here for 20 minutes more, we’ll all get paid extra. everything’s free today for you guys, so if you want anything just let me know and i’ll make it for you.”

y/n settles back down into her chair with a steaming chai latte, curling back up against keiji, whose sipping on a brewed green tea. yachi is happy with a hot chocolate, and kageyama has a mug of warm milk in his hand.

none of them want caffeine right now, it’s too late. they all just want to go home but they aren’t going to miss out on being paid just for sitting around.

but something bothers her about the fact that kageyama’s been on his phone this whole time. he keeps texting someone, she assumes, and for some reason that sits wrong with her. she wants to know what’s going through his head and who he’s talking to. a part of her wishes he would look at her, or ask how she’s doing.

maybe that’s asking for too much, it sounds comedic just thinking about it. he’s never talked to her more than he needed to. he’s never been one to say “how are you?” but maybe after her havoc on twitter, she thought he’d be more interested.

he's unlike anyone she's ever met, and maybe that's what makes her care so much. she's never cared so much about what anyone thought, or in garnering a simple look from them.

but he won't look at her and she can't predict how he's going to act, and she doesn't know how to handle that except by telling herself that she hates him.

“look at him,” y/n can’t help but whisper to the companion she’s leaning against, still facing towards the boy who’s mindlessly scrolling on his phone as he sips on his drink. “look at the state we’re in and he doesn’t even care. he hasn’t looked at us once.”

keiji raises his brows in surprise at her comment. what did it matter what he cared? but then he pieces it together.

“well, he’s seen me like this once at the beginning of the fall during our first show. but yachi’s right,” he gives her a sly smile as she tilts her head back, looking at him confused, “you really do care what he thinks.”

her face turns red at the thought and she immediately sits up, staring down into the swirling foam of her latte. “i do not,” she mumbles.

"i don't care," she whispers again. but she can't even bring herself to say it confidently.

prev. | m.list | next

extras <3

kageyama literally knew y/n would be at the celebration because it was a mandatory and he had overheard her talking about in their psych class once to a classmate but he wasn't actually prepared

he immediately opened up his gc when she walked in and said "she's here" and the gc subsequently blew up

my boy was literally texting about yn the entire night but she thought he was just on his phone </3

the gc was trying so hard to get her to talk to him and he had the nerve to say things like "she looks busy" "she looks tired" "she's laying against akaashi right now"

which is when hinata with all the love in the world but not the brightness of someone intelligent said he should spill a drink on them so that she wouldn't be laying on him anymore (literally not said with any malice he's heard from bokuto how cool he is)

yams screamed no in the groupchat and outloud...because tsukki, hianta and him were all in the same room texting the groupchat in silence

other than that hinata was going off with the advice and giving kageyama all the reasons why he could talk to y/n

y/n keeps looking at akaashi because she wants to open her mouth and express how she really feels about kageyama (which would come up as a jumble of undiscernible words) but doesn't know what he'll say so then she looks away

yachi can't work on sunday because she's going to an art auction!! <3 how coincidental

(also my brain for some reason really wanted to write the written part in the present tense for absolutely no reason which i was trying to fight and then got confused so hopefully it still flows ok </4)

taglist: @ncitygreen @lvrlamp @cherrypieyourface @mimi3lover @lees-chaotic-brain @frootloopscos @0moonii @cr4yolaas @eggyrocks @pinkiscool @httpakkeiji @localgaytrainwreck @lunaviee @kitty-m30w @lixie-phoria @aliruuiz @tartfrappe @corvid007 @iluv-ace @yvjitadori @k8nicole (form to be added to taglist! <3)

[tater-tot-jr]

Why I fucking love Project: Eden’s Garden chapter 1

(Spoilers below… duh)

I think I should start this by explaining exactly why I love Project: Eden’s Garden, but I’ll make it brief. I find every character interesting, even characters I’m less interested in like Jett or Mark still have a level of depth that makes me want to pick at them. I’ll highlight standout characters later, but I’ll be upfront that I don’t think P:EG contains a character that’s less than a 6 out of 10. They’re all at least slightly above average (compared to their competition).

I also like the theming. The religious imagery leaves a lot to pick at and the animal motifs are a classic way to convey information. The game has very strong ideas and aesthetic and that makes it’s more… metaphorical moments easy to follow even for an average player. Like me personally I’m a dumbass but I can usually tell what they’re doing, so that’s a big plus.

And on a more pragmatic side, the production is incredible. This makes a seamless experience to both watch and play. A lot of Fangans are hindered by low production value, as is the nature of these things. I don’t need everything I love to look spotless, but the pure amount of talent and work used on P:EG makes it standout. Also it makes it a rather safe thing to get invested in. Like it or not 95% of fangans fizzle out quickly after they begin. Again, it’s just the nature of these things. This seems like something that is poised to continue long term, but maybe I’ll end up eating my words. Who knows?

Anyway, that’s out of the way.

General thoughts

I’m going to separate my thoughts into sections. Starting with my general opinions on the chapter specifically.

One of my biggest worries going into this chapter is that Damon’s blowout at the end of the prologue would be used as a motivation for other characters to hate him for longer than necessary. We as an audience know he’s right. He was, for however much of a dick he was being, almost entirely correct. I was afraid people would keep bitching at him about it after he was proven soundly correct. Luckily this did not happen, and I was pleasantly surprised by how they handled it. Most characters did not like him at the start, they thought he was an asshat causing trouble (and to be fair he kinda was) but they didn’t want to lock him in a shed about it. It was actually mostly a mellow feeling of dislike and frustration that permeates peoples opinions of him. Obviously some people more than others. I like this because it sidesteps the three chapters of petty bullshit I was afraid would happen. Most people’s concerns about him were logical and reasonable. The cast even made an effort to include him and things and didn’t leave him out to dry. He still has a bad reputation, but the rest of the cast keeping a level head about it was fun. Some fangans have protagonists who are untrusting, rude, ect and they typically miss a lot of bonding time with the cast because of it. The decisions made in reaction to Damon’s words at the end of the prologue both set Damon on a clear arc without hindering our ability to bond with characters, and strengthen our perception of the remaining cast as people who aren’t needlessly petty and selfish.

Side note, one of the things I noticed quickly was that at the beginning of the chapter Damon wouldn’t refer to people by their names in his inner monologue. “Streamer girl” “influencer guy” ect ect. This slowly changing as people talk to him more was a subtly but impactful way to see him slowly becoming a tad bit more thoughtful.

Each character got at least some spotlight. Some more than others but everyone got a chance to do something special. There’s a reason to like every character beyond their general vibes, which is something even the og Danganronpa games struggled with. Every character has a moment in this chapter where they got to be memorable. I appreciate that. Some games have obvious filler characters, and while this game is no exception, they at least give their filler some substance. Everyone has a presence we can appreciate before it’s gone.

I liked how many free time events we got. That’s generous. Some games are too stingy on free time imo. I want to learn about these people. Let me learn about their life, let me learn what gifts that like. Games trying to freak you out and remind you how little time you have by being cheap with free time is annoying. And it has the opposite effect that is desired. Let me care about your characters damnit.

The events we got, all the pharmacy searching, the laundry, sharing a room with Kai, ect. These were all fun. None of them felt boring or stale or anything. There’s not a grander point to be made with this. I just had fun. That’s the number one priority imo.

The comedy hit surprisingly hard. Everyone had a moment to be funny. It didn’t get cringe (in my opinion) it just stayed humorous. I’m glad the game didn’t take an 100% serious tone and gave us a few moments to breathe and laugh.

The trial

I enjoyed this trial. From a storytelling standpoint it was easy to follow and the mystery was complex without ever being too hard to understand. The minigames had a reasonably difficultly to them. I had to pause and think a few times but I never had to resort to trying totally random bullshit. Maybe I made a few guesses, but I never started trying every combination to find the answer. They presented a very complex mystery in a very digestible way.

However, I do have a brief complaint. It’s not a massive issue, but it gave me pause. The whole “we were all playing games it couldn’t have been us rock” solid alibi turning into “it has to have been one of us” was not well disguised. It’s very classic danganronpa. So much that after the blackout my first thought was “okay, which one of you did it”. A few hours into the trial when we got everything about the notes luring people to places at specific times, and I remembered Eva picked the time for the game tournament I pretty quickly zero’d in on her. I very quickly became “I know it’s you. It’s definitely you. I don’t know how to prove it.” Which was fun, i guess. It’s an intro chapter so it’s not big issue, but I hope going forward they don’t make it quite so easy to pinpoint a culprit before the murder is even solved.

This opinion might be my most controversial, but I like the killer and victim choices. I’ve heard a lot of people claim they jumped the shark. They killed the two big characters too early. There’s so much wasted potential, it makes them sick. All that. I disagree. Kinda. Let’s start with the easy one. Eva served her purpose. She was a good character. Lying about being the ultimate liar? Based. But her reveal happened, and honestly I’m shocked they could prolong it for as long as they did. She was not making it past chapter one with that under wraps. Turns out she didn’t make it past chapter one at all, but the point remains. We learn her deal, and the game pushes you to spend free time on her, so we learn a good chunk of her past. I don’t think she would’ve served as much besides an interesting assistant if she was kept alive. We don’t need a Kyoko, Damon is competent enough on his own. The game made her close to us, and took her away when she ran out of anything besides being liked. It’s a good emotional moment. We liked her, and then she betrayed us. Betrayed us in many ways. My favorite moment in the trial was her snitching on us about the motives. I like it when killers don’t go gracefully, I like it when they have impact like that. And that execution, that’s gonna stick with me. I heard people say it was underwhelming, I disagree. As someone who loves all things angst, whump, and gore the sheer desperation makes to hard to watch. Reaching up for the hand when she was so close, she could’ve just kept crawling, and for the hand to be a trap is wonderfully poetic. You know she was falling down thinking that she could’ve just kept going.

As for the victim. Wolfgang was a character I found interesting, so I was sad to see him go. I won’t even lie, it’s thrown the game on its head. We all made the assumption this game would be a power struggle between ugly truths and pleasant lies. We got the rug pulled out from under us. Wolfgang also had a brutal death. Electrocution isn’t fun, and his final moments were surrounded by what was probably terrifying hallucinations. It’s just fucking awful. Seeing him lose his composure before death hurt like that, and I assume he’ll have some impact with the whole parents situation. He was supposed to be a stable force and we’re all reeling because he got taken away by our other stable force.

I’d also like to mention Diana, as she was closely involved. Watching someone die like that is traumatic, being locked in the room with their corpse during a blackout is even more so. Everything involving her is the reason I don’t feel much sympathy for Eva, only pity. It was a totally ruthless and cruel act for Eva to set her up like that, and it wasn’t necessary. She wanted someone easy to frame, Diana didn’t actually need to be there for the plan to work. And if Diana wasn’t there it would’ve been less complicated for her as well. It’s a bloodthirsty. I pity Eva because I can see why she came to the conclusions she did and felt the way she did, but her actions were horrible. Point blank. Cruel and awful. She wasn’t forced to take Tozu’s deal, I admit Tozu certainly both made it with her in mind and approached her at her lowest point, but it was still her choice. She’s accountable for her actions and I really don’t feel much sympathy. Also, Eva being tempted by Tozu’s deal. Eve being tempted by Satan’s forbidden fruit. Haha. Neat.

My favorite characters

Damon - I have something I must confess. I’m a bit of a debate bro. I know, I know, shame on me. I just really like to fight on the internet, okay? I’m pretty sure Damon was designed in a lab to appeal to me specifically. He’s a master debater, he’s a little fruity, he hates all yall. He’s just like me fr. I think he’s a good protagonist, he’s got an interesting complex about feeling better than everyone and then immediately getting that stomped on, he’s so certain he’s correct that he has trouble making himself sound super likable. Even when he’s right. As he’s chilled out he’s gotten better at this, and frankly I’m excited to see where his arc goes. A protagonist like him is always fun, he’s easy to anger sometimes, prone to disregarding the feelings of others, and quite pessimistic. He’s very proactive, testing the rules and talking to Tozu really made me appreciate how much he actually tries to do. It seems so obvious that Tozu would love to yap about his motive, I can’t believe i never even considered the possibility of someone just asking him. His internal monologue is pure comedy. Him falling asleep thinking about that “stupid lawyer” made me put down the game to laugh. And he really stepped up in the trial. He’s my son, he’s neat. Him clearly loving his mom and dad is also a nice humanizing touch.

Wenona - …I have another confession to make. I’m weak for a woman who’s only morally bankrupt. She didn’t have very many crazy standout moments, but every time she said anything you know I was cheering. Favorite character, hope she doesn’t die soon. Everyone wigging out over the student profiles while she’s just like reading them in the corner was so damn funny. Girl, do you have no chill?

Tozu - I love Tozu, I think he’s an excellent mastermind. He went to college for a villainy major and took a minor in theatre while he was there. Bro is the spectacle. He is the moment. He’s serving cunt whenever he’s on screen. I also like that he’s clearly a person, mentally as well as physically. He plays favorites, he’s sadistic, he’s methodical, he’s terrifying. He’s having the best time, and it’s a welcome change of pace. I was getting a little sick of robot mastermind. Yes yes sue me, but it’s fun to have a mastermind not running on ai and actually interacts with the cast in a human way.

And that’s kinda all I have (for now) knowing me I’ll probably be back.

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Okay so I need people are who are diagnosed as autistic to help me out here

I been suspecting for a long time (like around a year, maybe more idk) than I might be autistic, and I did research (genuinely, not just taking some Internet quiz and self-diagnosing based on it) and I want to know if there’s a genuine chance I might be autistic, or if I have a wrong view on autism (basically, if I’m wrong about it and what it means to be autistic).

Some things than happen to me than I’ve seen also happen to a big amount of autistic people

-Problems with food since very little. Not based on taste, but texture. Eating something with the wrong texture is just horrible.

-Always felt different from my peers, never quite fitting in because I didn’t know how to interact with them. As if they knew exactly what to do and I was just flying blind. I heard people say than they felt as if everyone was born with a book of rules, meanwhile they had to learn from watching everyone else already know them, and I think that’s the best way for me to explain it.

-Intense interests on stuff, really intense. Like, is all I can think about day and night, I relate everything to it in some way or another, I know everything about it down to the smallest detail, some might call me obsessed and I wouldn’t deny it. Reminds me of the way people with autism describe their hiperfixations.

-People thought I was “gifted” as a kid, and said than I was a kid with the mind of an adult. I’m no genius, I was just interested on different stuff than other kids. I was the first one to learn to read and I never stopped. I basically lived in the library as a kid. I have a vivid memory of when I must have been like 10 and saying than my favorite thing in the world was reading and some friends looking at me like I was crazy. I’m mentioning this not because people who are autistic are “gifted”, but more because I heard they are usually interested in different stuff than their peers (doesn’t have to be more mature, it can be more immature stuff too, I think. Goes hand in hand with feeling different from everyone). Continuing on books, I also always had a higher reading level than the rest of my class. I was “a pleasure to have in class but should speak out more” kid.

-Looking back they were obviously bullying me, but I thought than they were laughing with me, not at me.

-I can’t hear the tone of my voice?? For some reason?? Sometimes I speak too loudly or too quietly or my mom says I’m being rude for “talking back” but in my head my voice is the same level and uses the same tone. So if I’m ever rude I probably don’t notice (I hate being rude to people).

-I read about overstimulation and under stimulation and it perfectly described the way I feel a lot of time. Specially overstimulation.

-If talking about something I really enjoy (hiperfixations?) I can’t be still. I’ll probably smile and fidget with something and the mere mention of it or anything regarding it outside of online spaces makes me want to scream out of excitement. Like, a really abnormal reaction to it, I believe.

-I prefer to be home on my own than outside (specially if there’s lots of people around). I don’t know if it’s hard for me to see how people are feelings, given than I learnt to notice when people don’t want me somewhere (eventually you get used to it) but sometimes when people are being nice to me I’m completely unable to see if they’re being genuine or not. An example, I was forced to spend a week sharing a room with this pair of really popular girls because of a school trip, and they were nice to me, starting conversations and stuff. So because they seemed nice, I thought they were nice. But at the end of the week I approached them and they gave me the dirtiest look and I realize they weren’t actually being genuine, they were just kind of being forced to be nice to me.

-I hate changes of routine, everyday I have the same routine and if someone wants it to change (go somewhere and do something together) they have to tell me at least a day in advance. Unless I really like them, I will feel uneasy to change my routine because it makes me feel as if I was messing everything up.

-I don’t know if it has anything to do with this, but I’m adding it just in case. I hated physical touch as a kid. Up until some years ago, I couldn’t stand it. Also don’t know if it’s related, but I always had trouble sleeping, I heard that might be a symptom but I don’t know.

-I went to a speech therapist as a kid because I couldn’t pronounce the letter s and I pronounced it as z, sometimes it still comes out. I heard problems in speech might be related but I doubt it, just adding just in case.

-I have a big sense of justice. For example everyone in my class cheats on their exams (they don’t even hide it, is more, they brag about it), and that has always upset me. Not because they can copy while I actually study, but because cheating is wrong. That’s not how it works. Why are they breaking the rules. Or for example they bring their phones to school (not nearly as bad as cheating) which is forbidden, and I don’t understand why they do that. It’s forbidden, so why?

-I notice patterns in almost everything, I also focus more on the little details than the big picture, which leads to both overthinking but also better results.

-I need people to speak to me separately. Having a conversation with two people at the same time feels like a nightmare.

-I need people to tell me things, if they want me to do them. If you made something for me to eat, don’t just put it on the table, tell me it’s for me. Otherwise I won’t touch it out of fear it’s not mine. When given instructions, I need them to be clear and detailed. All people my age are doing stuff like going to parties, drinking alcohol, meanwhile I never think of doing it and also, never knew I could do it? When did the change between going to the park to hang out without our parents for the first time and going to a party with alcohol around lots of strangers happened? Why did no one told me? How does everyone just know when to change and grow up? Why don’t I?

-Something I also noticed is than every fictional character I related to had various autism symptoms (said by people on the fandoms who are actually autistic).

[massyworld]

i know people have already said "that's not MY hirano!!" and after some thought, i agree because well, look. if the doujin had branched off from the canon much earlier, it wouldve been more plausible for hirano to fall out of contact with kagiura, but right after the roommate thing?? no WAY did hirano slowly phase out of wearing his earrings. no way did he just forget about the lovers trial. no WAY did Mr. I Want To Understand His Feelings More give up on it all. no way Mr. Even If We're Not Roommates I'll Just Show Up At His Dorm, or Mr. If I Don't Resolve This I Will Feel Weird About It For The Rest Of My Life.

no way did kagiura fall down low on the priority list. no way did his passion for kagiura fall out of equal alignment with his passion for his dream job. no. way. other thoughts from the doujin:

“Apparently he’s gotten bad at socializing” “Due to past trauma, he has difficulty interacting with people outside of basketball-related matters.” Kagiura pulled away from other people!! Hirano is now too!!!! (due to the mysterious studying, I wonder what he’s learning about hmmm) They’ve both become disconnected from others as an effect of diving into their own passions and falling out of contact with the other!!!!!!!!!! Despair……

i’m saddened there was no niibashi at the reunion. I hope he and Kagiura still talk, they’re besties for life after all. Actually I’ll be so sad if he’s never brought up in this au because he was probably such a big support in kagi’s life after the roommate debacle. Aghhhh

so unwell over kagi in a suit hair slicked back man

hirano ever the uke

the irony of hirano asking “did you make him drink that much” when he’s the reason kagi drank himself to the moon

highkey really funny that sensei started planning out the doujin and was immediately like, let’s get kagi get drunk. He’s earned some major loss of inhibitions

am heartbroken that kagiura is ashamed of his confession to hirano :((( I don’t think he’s ever expressed such negativity about it before right? I mean it’s probably because it didn’t end up being fruitful for him the way he wanted it to be, but it’s such a sad peek into how he mentally feels and thinks about that whole era of his past. Agh. I feel so bad for him.

”If only I had tried harder then. I didn’t want to have any regrets, so I focused on basketball.” am I to understand he focused harder on basketball so that he wouldn’t risk failing at that as well…bc if so…. -weeps-

ok ok hear me out but in chp 20, when kghr are told by hanzawa that they will be roommates, right before it kagi is teary eyed and hirano says his name and moves towards him, but we NEVER FIND OUT what he was going to do bc they get interrupted by hanzawa. This is a reach but if hanzawa went to tell the winners first, he wouldve gone to the losers rooms last, so maybe he wouldn’t have interrupted them at that exact time, and hirano wouldve had the time to get close enough right in front of kagi’s face to wipe his teary eyes and then perhaps even…initiates a hug to reassure him - but that might be too ooc. ANYWAY vaping copium

thinking now about all the stuff that didn’t happen in this timeline from volume 5… please don’t read if you don’t want to feel your chest closing in on itself. “I guess he wasn’t gonna touch me then.” “If Kagi-kun becomes a romantic interest for me, does that mean I’ll want him to flirt and stuff?! Oh hell no. At…at least…..I think…..hell…..no..” “But Kagi-kun worked so hard to allow us to stay roommates…” (OMG he loses that reason to continue to give it his all in the lovers experiment too?!? ok but NOT MY HIRANO---) “I’m allowed to use the 10 seconds for myself, right?” “After all, when you touch me, I feel really happy.” “I want to go on a date with you Hirano-san!” “It’s a secret. But I’ll tell you…once you fall in love with me.” “(Oh…was that 10 seconds already?)” “I wish I could see his face.” “He just surprised me. That’s all.” “You’re amazing.” “Of course you’re good enough.” “What..sort of expression is he wearing right now?” “If me touching you makes you happy, then look happy when I do it!” “I’m hoping you’ll let me keep trying.” “What the hell is this? I’m going crazy…” “So right now…maybe he’s going through the same stages of falling in love as you were…” “The person who’s influenced me the most in the past year has been without a doubt…you.” “Hirano-san…has gotten so good at basketball.” “I want him to say he loves me… but more than that…right now…I want to tell him that I love him.” “I was just wondering…if you were gonna do your 10 seconds of touching me for today…” “That was my 10 seconds, yours are separate…”

ok back to the doujin. No way he’d forget the keychain at first glance. Or say “ah that brings back memories.” SO CASUALLY about something as serious as considering kagi’s deep feelings for him!!! “did you want to be a family or something?” same vibe as freaking “What, are you jealous or something” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i’m glad he’s still hella weak to kagi’s whims though. It took only one tug of his coat to stay put til morning. Ayooo

don’t talk to me about that face-unseen headscratch after he remembered kagi’s confession. don’t.

kagi’s bedhead reminds me of those curly haired chickens he looks so utterly cute

heartbroken that hirano didn’t wake him up like the good ol days. That wouldve been too big of a shock to my heart anyway. Thank you for the reprieve sensei

MY BOY KAGIURA WAS SO IN SHOCK HE REPEATED “Had no choice” TO HIMSELF 4 TIMES..  love to see hirano still slurping up that excuse juice

”Kindness is painful” is such a raw line here

praying for kagiura to see hirano in his full uniform.

[bluedolup]

Iwaizumi x Reader: That's Not Your Problem

“WAIT WHAT?!”, you exclaimed into your phone as you talked to your friend. You were heading to school as you were hand in hand with your boyfriend, Iwaiuzmi, and on the phone with one of your friends. Jailani was your best friend since junior high, you two informed each other on everything that you heard especially when you two went to two different schools. You went to Seijoh while she went to Karasuno, and the drama between the two schools was steaming hot. 

Now you would usually just be filled in on drama from Karasuno but this time, you were getting info that came from another school. “Is she insane? Cause I know for a fact that if she tried that she would be hospitalized” you said. Iwa would be with you most of the time these conversations happen and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t eavesdropping sometimes. 

“Put me on a talk show with her, I will be destroying her statement. But me and Haji are at the school, I’ll text you at lunch” you hung up and let out a stressed out high. “Lord give me strength, I swear some people aren’t supposed to be managers” you said to yourself. “What happened?” Iwa asked “we need to find the other three cause it’s a volleyball issue and I need all four of you to hear this” you said. 

“Ah shit” Iwa muttered. 

The two of you traveled to your homeroom where you found Oikawa, Maki, and Mattsu already there. You basically dragged Iwa towards them and sat at your desk, “woah, you got exciting news? You damn near flew over here” Mattsu said “I news, period. You guys know Jailani right?” you asked “you’re friend who decided to go with the enemy?” Oikawa asked “watch it, it’s too early for your one sided rivalry. She called me this morning with some interesting info from another school” you said.

The postures and attentions of the three boys instantly changed. “What school was it?” Maki asked “I think it was Johegey?” you said “you mean Johzenji?” Iwa asked “yes!” you said “what the fuck is a Johzenji?” Oikawa asked “not important, Jailani told me that their manager has this belief that all managers should break up fights between the players” you said. The four boys gave you confused and shocked looks, “no fucking way” Iwa said “yes fucking way, she said that as managers we should be able to control our players and help them figure out their anger problems because they have SO MUCH STRESS on their shoulders” you said. 

“Oh bullshit” Mattsu said “how much stress do you have to start boxing with people?” Maki asked “not enough, I mean I couldn’t think of anyone here who would do something like that, but if something like that were to happen no one better look at me” you said. “I’m curious, do you think you would be able to handle us during a fight?” Oikawa asked. 

Both you and Hajime looked at him as if he grew a second head. “Don’t piss me off Shittykawa” Iwa said “let me explain it to you as best I can, you guys train your arms, speed, core, and legs everyday for three years and even more if you started in like junior high. You guys range from the heights of 5 '10 to 6' 1 and your weight ranges around 150 to 160 pounds” you explained. “Damn, I’m kind of scared on how accurate she’s being” Maki said “I’m 5 '2, 170 pounds, I’m planning to paint and draw for a living so I’m sitting down for the majority of my life. I’m getting my shit rocked!” you said. 

Maki and Mattsu snorted, “Oikawa I have no idea why you even asked that question, it was so obvious” Maki said “she never got into that situation before too, the day you get into that kind of situation you call me and I’ll handle it” Iwa said. You sighed, “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you said smiling up at him.

Their timing couldn’t be any better.

Today was the day that Kyotani came back from suspension. Oikawa had told you the minute you got to the gym and you planned on introducing yourself. You didn’t really know him, but the guys had told you he’s a character. You don’t know what you were expecting but it definitely wasn’t him barging in with an attitude. “Um, hello?” you asked, he gave you a nasty look as you approached him “um…I’m (y/n), I’m the manager. You’re Kyotani right?” you asked “yeah, and?” he asked. “I just wanted to introduce myself, the dressing rooms are through there and you can get changed for practice” you said. “I know where the damn dressing rooms are” he said “ok? You don’t have to be rude about it” you said. He rolled his eyes, “go cry about it sugar cube, just stay out of my way or you’ll get a volleyball to the head” he said.

“Kentaro!” Yahaba yelled at him from behind me causing us both to look at him “get back here and apologize” he said. The look on this guy's face was terrifying as he was getting called out, “why should I?” Kyotani asked “she’s our manager, you treat her with respect and nothing more. Get back over here and apologize” he said. He stood there for a moment, before a grin spread on his face and he approached Yahaba pushing me aside. 

“Or what? Whatcha gonna do Shigeru~” he said in a taunting tone “don’t fucking start” Yahaba said “nah, if you want to start something we can start something” he said “I’m not starting something, you treat your seniors with respect and apparently you aren’t able to do that” Yahaba said. You backed up a bit and reached for your phone, you had this sinking feeling that something was about to go down. You texted the person who volunteered to deal with something like this, as you sent the message you heard a loud thud. You quickly turned and saw Kyotani on the ground with Yahaba towering over him. 

It only took a second for Kyotani to lunge at him, you yelled and your legs froze. You leaned against a wall and watched in horror as the two boys threw punches and threw each other. In your mind it felt like an eternity when in reality, it was only three minutes until Hajime, Kindaichi, and Mattsu bursted in the gym. Kindaichi and Mattsu grabbed both boys as Hajime rushed to you, “Y/N! Hey are you alright? Are you hurt? Y/N, answer me!” he said. You were shaking a bit and your eyes watered a bit, the only thing you could muster up was a nod as you wrapped your arms around him to try and calm down. 

It was only a joke at first, you truly thought that if you were in some kind of situation that you had to resolve a fight between any of the guys that you were able to do so. Three years of being a manager and all you could do was yell and cry as two of the players that you are responsible for start hurting each other screamed cowardly to you. 

You wanted to give up your Seijoh jacket for good, as if you failed. 

Coach let you go home early but instead of going home you went to the art room at the school. It was empty, You took a canvas and put your headphone on as you started painting. It was the only thing that calms you down, that and being with Hajime but he wasn’t here at the mom-

“Hey”, your headphones were lifted as the voice traveled into your ears causing you to yelp. You turned around and saw Hajime, “babe, what are you doing here?” you asked “I had to know if you were ok after that” he said sitting next to you “what about practice?” you asked “they can deal with it, how are you?” he asked. You smiled slightly, “I couldn’t do anything, I felt so powerless” you said “hey, don’t start that. Your job as a manager is to take care of supplies, cleaning, and finances, not to be a ref for stupid fights that aren’t even supposed to happen” he said “I know, but I could’ve done something. I just froze and became mute. If I didn’t message you when I did, they both would’ve gotten seriously hurt” your voice broke a bit. 

You took your role in the club very seriously and even if Kyotani was an ass to you, he was still part of the team which meant that he mattered as much as any other of the guys. 

Hajime took your hand, “you messaging me was the best thing you could’ve done, it wasn’t your place to get involved because if you did, I would be talking to you in a hospital bed, if that was the case I would’ve killed someone” he said. You let out a chuckle, “now we wouldn’t want that, thanks for coming to check on me. I really didn’t want to worry anyone” you said. “You’re my girl, you think I was going to leave you alone?” he asked, pulling my seat closer to him. You smiled and leaned against him, “of course not, I wouldn’t want it any other way” you said.

[anabdaniels]

Cowboytober Day 13: Use of toys

Paring: Agent Whiskey x Female reader

Word counting: 1.2k

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Minor edging, overstimulation, Jack being good with technology when it's convenient (bro doesn't know tinder, but has no problem controlling a vibrator).

Main Masterlist | Cowboytober Masterlist

You were unworriedly lying on the bed while watching TV on that cold afternoon, planning to remain like that for a while, since all things you had to do on that day were done.

The calm atmosphere was shaken as Jack entered the bedroom with a box in hand, looking at you with a raised eyebrow.

"Care to explain these?" He questioned naturally while placing the box next to you. Having no clue about what was the matter, you checked on the content of the box, mumbling a quiet "shit", remembering that late-night purchase.

"Why did you open it?" You questioned without thinking much, thinking about how to explain it.

"Maybe because it was ordered under my name." He retorted with a playful smirk.

"Fuck, I forgot to change the name after putting your bank card information." You said with a sigh, not even realizing that you had just casually delivered more information, looking up at him "I can explain."

"Go ahead." Jack rested both hands on his hips, curious to see how you'd try to explain it. You chewed on your bottom lip and thought for a moment, realizing that there was no believable excuse for that.

“Okay, I don’t have a big argument. Just got bored in the middle of the night and thought could be interesting to test some things.” You admitted with a shrug, chewing on your lip as Jack approached the bed and sat next to you.

“And you were planning on doing such an experiment without me?” he questioned raising one eyebrow, sliding one hand to the back of your neck.

“Not exactly… Wait a minute, I’m not in trouble?” you questioned both confused and excited.

“Course not.” Jack chuckled and leaned forward, kissing your lips “But you’ll be later.” He pulled back and grabbed the box, walking towards the door, confusing you.

“Where are you going?” you questioned clueless.

“Wash and charge these.” He answered swaying the box and leaving the bedroom.

You always heard people saying that after a long time of marriage, sex wouldn’t be a big deal anymore and you would probably end up avoiding it. With each passed day married Jack, you got surer that those people just have married badly, because every time Jack laid his hands on you, it made you more feral for him, very much like what was happening that night.

Started with an unpretentious caress on your stomach while you were sat between Jack’s legs while watching TV, slowly you began to melt against him, and then you were contorting and sighing as his fingers worked their teasing between your legs until you were squirming with need. When you melted, feeling that good sensation growing on your lower stomach, Jack pulled away, leaving you aching for more as you turned to look at him.

“Time to see if your late-night shopping was fruitful.” he declared, grabbing one of the toys from the nightstand, the smaller of them, a rabbit vibrator with a pronounced angle to hit the precise point while being used.

“Why do I feel I’ll regret this?” you chuckled while settling your back better against his chest.

“Y’talk like you didn’t know my commitment to you.” Jack retorted smugly, pressing a kiss on your temple and wrapping one arm around your waist.

You gasped as the cold silicone touched your heated flesh, your hips bucking forward instinctively as Jack teased you, taking his time to brush the toy against your folds before inserting it inside you. It didn’t feel extraordinary at first, but that only endured until Jack turned the vibration on, making your body jump a bit; the ad was unquestionably telling the truth when promised an orgasm in less than 10 minutes.

Jack couldn’t help but grin satisfied as he saw your eyelids falling closed and your back arch, quite satisfied with the confirmation that he just had received a new means to tease you, already planning how he’d use it in the future.

As Jack switched on the vibrations, you whined and thrust your hips involuntarily, a strangled moan escaping from your throat, leaving you with no doubts that Jack definitely had taken the time to read the instruction manual of the vibrator, because he knew way too well how to combine the vibration mods. The intense pulses insistently disturbing both your clit and your g-spot simultaneously was almost too much to bear and you didn’t try to fight it, ready to reach your release, which was abruptly interrupted when Jack pulled the toy out of you in one push, once more leaving you hanging.

“Why?” you asked, lightly pouting. Jack chuckled and pressed a soft kiss on your lips.

“Because we still have another one to try, dear.” He answered calmly while grabbing the other vibrator “Now, honey, a thrusting dildo? There’s anything you may want to say about my bedroom skills?” Jack raised an eyebrow, trying to sound serious, but you could see a smirk insist to form on his lips.

“You know I don’t.” you chuckled and nudged the back of your head against his chest softly “I’m just a curious soul.”

“We’ll see if the curiosity is worth it.” Jack leaned to kiss the curve of your neck while pushing the vibrator inside you, not making flourishes before turning the thrusting on, taking a soft sigh of you.

Being the bastard he was, Jack allowed you to relax into the soft thrusting, appreciating the scene of you all soft on his arms, just to ruin it completely as he turned on the second function of the toy, which was vibrating on your already sensitive clit, causing your back to arch and your nails sank on his arm as you did your best to keep your self-control, what proved to be a hard task, since your beloved husband decided to have a bit of fun with your despair, powering up the thrusting and keeping the vibration on your nub at the medium intensity, making you regret not having to hide the instruction manual of the toy before he could discover how to use them.

There was not much you could do, it was a lot to handle, so you leaned your head back to rest on Jack’s shoulder and focused on the almost overwhelming sensations, melting a bit more as he spread kisses on your shoulder and neck, making sure to scratch your skin with his mustache softly. Lost in the moment, you surrendered yourself completely to the relentless stimulation, the vibrations, and thrusts keeping a steady rhythm, pushing you closer and closer to the edge until you couldn’t hold back anymore, whimpering loudly as you got taken by a crashing orgasm, making your legs tremble a bit as you tried to pull your hips away from the stimulation, getting oversensitive. Jack got the message and pulled the toy out of you, letting it aside and wrapping both arms around you as you calmed down.

“You know what, sugar? I think I’ll have to do some late-night purchases either.” He stated softly and kissed your cheek. You chuckled and turned your head to look at him.

“So, you’re not feeling threatened by them?” you asked teasingly, causing Jack to laugh.

“Threatened? My sweet I’m inspired, thinking about all the things I can do to you with extra help.” Jack retorted in his usual cocky manner, landing a soft kiss on your temple.

Tagging: @missladym1981 @alex-does-art-things @beefrobeefcal

[shawtythatluvsurgut]

gunna have a video of me feeding my feedee up on my onlyfans soon. i’m thinking about starting it back up while i take a break from college because it was kind of empowering to get to own my kink in such a way. I also enjoy sharing that side of myself with all of you. subscription price will be between $8-$10/mo since my feedee is going to be collaborating with me on certain pieces of content. i will maybe begin gaining again once i get my health back in check, we’ll see. i want my muscle mommy build back, and to get that back i’ll have to pack on some weight. so we’ll see what happens with that. ;)

in the meantime and between-time, stay safe. especially on the internet. all of my old rules still apply for messaging me, but i will gradually get back to making regular content and posts. now that i am taking a break from school, i’m working more, but I also have free time on my hands when i’m not working. it feels really nice to get back into the swing of things. I’ve missed you all and I’ve missed the positive aspects of this community.

going forward, i’m just going to block people who talk shit to me or delete their comments (unless it’s of actual importance to discuss). i’m just done engaging with that shit. idk, i’m on new medication that seem to be actually working and i feel stable, so i feel ready to re-embrace this community with open arms.

a special thank you to everyone who continued engaging with me and communicating with me during my break. i appreciate all of your kind words more than you know, and if i didn’t respond to you it was because i didn’t want the answer to “hey how are you?” to be “i’m miserable. how are you?”. but I saw all of you - each and every message, comment, text, etc. - and i just want to say thank you. the people who still proceeded to message me with positivity are the reason I have decided I want to come back.

With all that being said, I hope you will all accept me back. I understand that some of you were upset that I left and didn’t understand my reasonings, but I hope we can reconcile our differences and i can gain your trust again. I’m not the angry person that I became when responding to hate messages, and that also influenced my time away. I could see that my demeanor on this hellsite was changing and I was getting more upset, angry and, honestly, afraid of going on here (let alone posting myself on here). However, that has changed. I’ve been working on being more optimistic and caring less about the negative opinions of others. Frankly, if someone doesn’t like me or my content they should just be an adult about it and either reach out to discuss that or ignore me. If they can’t do that, I believe they are childish and need to get a grip. There are some key things I’ve learned in life that I want to share with people who are as I described above:

- your comfort is not someone else’s responsibility. if it makes you uncomfortable, then don’t engage. It’s as simple as that.

- no one has to cater to your interests. everyone lives on their own agenda. your wants and desires do not take priority over the wants and desires of others. sure, there are some people who will cater to your every wish, but i’m definitely not one of them.

- similarly to above, your desires do not take priority over someone’s health. that includes both mental health and physical health. (death feedism is a thing if you are interested in someone wanting to gain while not caring about their health. this is not a death feedism page and i suggest you go search in the tags for that if it is what you are looking for. I do not want to kill my feedee, nor do I want him or I to gain enough weight to become immobile or at risk in any way. As hot as the idea is to me at times, we are both too active and work in active careers for that to be a realistic possibility for us. maybe someday i’ll get a stay at home job and get really big, or maybe someday he will. only time can tell. sorry for the length, i’m high. i’ll stfu now.

- people don’t care. no stranger online owes it to you to care that you don’t like their body, or that you don’t like this or that. it doesn’t matter because that person does not know you. there’s no point in wasting time caring about your negative comment unless it’s actually useful and constructive commentary.

So anyways, i’m back in business again. gonna post some FA art soon + start uploading to my OF again. I thank any of you who read this far and again I hope you can accept me back into the community.

Thanks,

Nico

[archivalofsins]

The Prisoners (All the characters who label themselves as prisoners in their "Thank You" messages.)

The People they're imprisoned with (All the characters who don't label themselves as prisoners in their "Thank You" messages)-

I highlighted where they say prisoners under the cut with a few more fun facts-

Haruka, Futa, Mu, and Kotoko all don't put their names on their thank you messages. Mu only puts her song title on hers in Japanese but she has English lyrics from the song highlighted on their as well. Shidou states that this is Milgram Season 2 before putting the title of his song/contribution then signing his full name like an actor would.

Something when coupled with Jackalopes statement in the second trial commencement notice-

Along with Shidou blatantly stating,

"Please listen to me, Es. I've killed people. Lots of them as well. It was for such a selfish reason too. I'm a fine specimen of what a genuine murderer ought to be."

It's really suspicious and funny to think of the implications behind how he signed his thank you message. Especially since in the same interrogation Es notes,

"In comparison to all the interrogations thus far, this one has been progressing far too smoothly. It feels somewhat unsettling."

All of that is a really interesting thing to think about when put all together. At least I think so.

(Star here though Gunsli assisted me with sorting this out some- I find the idea of Shidou being a mole very amusing. It would recontextualize the fact that he's a doctor within Milgram.

Giving the impression that Shidou's inclusion was more of a failsafe, in the event that something like Kotoko jumping her fellow prisoners occurred. It's incredibly convenient that Milgram happened to incarcerate not just one but two people who seem to understand first aid.

Considering Shidou's statements about Amane,

22/10/24 (Shidou’s Birthday)

Amane: ……Kirisaki Shidou. How long do you plan on continuing this foolish behaviour?

Shidou: I wonder what you might be referring to there. I’m just doing what I need to do. If anything, I’d be happy if you would lend me a hand.

Amane: I warned you. I can no longer turn a blind eye to this wickedness taking place right in front of us. You’re bringing ruin unto yourself. Do you understand?

Shidou: No, I don’t understand. It’s my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way. If it’s a test of endurance you want, I’m happy to oblige, Amane.

This idea would also recontextualize his immediate response to the events between trial one and two being to tell Es,

"I think we should put an end to Milgram as a whole. Both for our sake and for yours."

Along with his confusion when Es responds with,

That's impossible.

"Why?!" I can't think of any method of stopping it... or any way to get out. "...!" Milgram won't end just because I want it to. That's all I know. It won't end until your judgment has been completed. That's the crux of it. "Your...the same as us, aren't you?"

Ultimately Shidou recognizes that Es is pretty much in the same position as they are. However, under this framing Shidou would be aware that Milgram is an experiment that can be stopped at any time but not aware of who could stop it or how to himself.

This would give more context to him proposition Es in trial one as well,

During the first trial's proposition being asking for the death sentence off the bat:

"That’s just my personality. I just simply don’t think bad of it—this place, I mean." You mean, Milgram? "Yeah, this place will put me to death." What? "I might not get a golden opportunity like this again, so I’ll get straight to the point. Es… You decide how the prisoners will be dealt with, right?" Yeah. That’s right. "The death penalty is what I’m hoping for. Thank you in advance." I won’t have that. The lot of you can’t decide what your own treatment will be. Only I as the prison guard have the authority to do so. "Exactly. You as the prison guard have the right to do such a thing, Es, so that’s why I’m asking you for this favour."

The "unflappable" attitude that Shidou has here can be read as opportunistic complacency with the idea of him being a mole in mind. This mindset is also alluded to within his MVs, a prime example being where he sits down smiling to himself in Throw Down.

Furthermore, this highlights the progression of his view of Es and how much power they wield within Milgram as a whole. Going from the first presumption of Es having the ability to decide the prisoners' treatment to outright asking them to stop Milgram in trial two. Though, he is swiftly corrected about how much administrative power Es has, as pointed out earlier.

On top of that Shidou is the first of the prisoners to bring up the concept of someone dying due to Milgram and the death penalty at all.

Even going as far as to state,

"Hm… But, this place does smell of the dead though. I’m sure that some sort of death will lie at the end of Milgram."

If Shidou is a mole put into the experiment by Milgram then him asking Es for this could be framed as him raising the stakes. It could even be something management told him to do so the audience would know there was a chance of their actions leading to someone's death. Along with why he's genuinely perturbed when someone else almost dies despite stating he knew some sort of death lied at the end of Milgram from the start.

It's definitely an odd change going from kill to we have to make this violence stop before someone actually dies. Yet, it would make a bit more sense if he thought he was in on the lie but began to find out this was more out of control then he thought. He could still very much be a murderer and they just let him be in on it because he wanted to die anyway so didn't see the harm in using him in this way before he does.

This would also play on this line in Undercover well,

"Even with accusations full of faults and mistakes. You will for sure, with a smile for sure- Be pleased and satisfied."

Because regardless of how this plays out he'd still get what he wanted at the end of the day.

Along with fit the line referring to Shidou too,

"“UNDER” Which way will you throw down your weight? To be the deceived, or the deceiver."

This would also explain why Kazui would refer to Milgram as a prison game in his second voice drama,

"If that happens this prison game would probably come to an end as well." - "So this is unpleasant, hurling slurs of “hostage game”, you do know that it’s up to me?"

I asked @doctorbunny about Kazui's wording here and he said,

He says 監獄ごっこ kangoku gokko kangoku meaning prison and gokko meaning pretend/make believe

The one person known to talk to Shidou the most out of the prisoners and work alongside him. Now what would give him the impression this was all pretend.

Like some sort of a-

20/05/25

Mikoto: ……I’ve really got caught up in some trouble, huh. What even is this place? It’s probably a TV reality show or something. …but to think someone in this day and age would try to do a project that could land them in so much trouble. Uh……

Mahiru: Ah…… I’m Shina Mahiru! You can just call me Mahiru. And you are……?

Mikoto: Kayano Mikoto. I’m fine with just Mikoto too. Ahh, I’m glad there’s someone here who’s easy to talk to…… It’s nice to meet you, Mappy.

Mahiru: ………… ……Mappy???

20/05/31

Mu: Hey, Mikoto-kun, aren’t you scared of this place……? You can’t think of any reason you ended up here, right……?

Mikoto: Ahh, yeah. Of course, it’s not like I’m not scared at all. But just between you and me…… I still haven’t dropped the thought that this could all just be a TV show. I mean, I really haven’t ever murdered anyone. ……and if that is the case, we’re definitely being monitored. For like a prank setup or something. Wouldn’t it be super uncool and embarrassing to get angry or lash and have it shown on prime time?

Mu: Is that what you think……? A prank, huh…… I hope that’s all it is……

Mikoto: Ah! If that is the case, then you’ll probably be super popular since you’re so cute, Mucchan! There’s a lot of girls out there who make their big break coming off reality shows like that!

20/06/15

Mikoto: Hey, it’s kinda a bother having you be so angry and tense all the time. You should stop trying get everyone to pay attention to you. You’re a uni student, right? You can’t act like that once you start working properly.

Futa: Huh!? Shut up. Not like I care what you say. Even though we’re in this shitty situation, you’re just chatting away, it’s stupid. Aren’t you the one who’s acting out of place here? ……also the fact you give everyone nicknames is just gross.

Mikoto: *sigh* It’s more stupid to be taking this all so seriously. I mean, it’s definitely just a reality TV program. There’s no way a real prison exists that’s this lax. Also, I don’t give nicknames to everyone. I don’t give them to young kids like Amane, or to the hard-to-approach types like Shidou-san. I mean, I’m not giving you one, right?

Futa: ……oi, which group are you trying to say I am?

Television show or something.)

This was definitely not supposed to be this long but it was interesting going over all of this with Star and I think it's a fun thing to highlight overall.

[aprill-99]

EACH BRIDGERTON COUPLE AS JOHN MULANEY QUOTES:

Daphne & Simon:

Daphne: “A friend of mine asked me if I’d ever been given the sex talk, and the answer is yes… I think.”

Simon: “My father was COOOLD BLOODED.” + “Does my best friend hate me or do I just need to go to sleep?”

Kate & Anthony:

Anthony: “I’ll keep all my emotions right here and then one day, I’ll die.”

Kate: “Get out of here with your facts. Just because you’re accurate does not make you interesting.” + “I’m new in town, and it gets worse.”

Benedict & Sophie:

Benedict: “This is a healthy twenty-eight year old man trying his best.”

Sophie: “I was a maid for a while. I was treated well in my day. I worked for a variety of sirs.”

Colin & Penelope:

Colin: “My wife is a bitch and I like her soooooo much.”

Penelope: “We spend most of our time proving to people that we are who we say we are. Think about that for 10 seconds and tell me you don’t want to walk into the ocean.” + “People say crazy things all the time. And those things mean nothing to them, but they mean everything to me.”

Phillip & Eloise:

Eloise: “Thirteen year olds will make fun of you, but in an accurate way.”

Philip: “It was like, you know one of those days where you just go ‘this might as well happen.’”

Michael & Francesca:

Francesca: “I try to stay optimistic, but I will admit, things are getting pretty sticky.”

Michael: “We don’t get better than this. It’s just going to be worse versions of me from here on out.” + “And if you think I seem unlikable or out of control in that story, then just remember, that’s one I was willing to tell you.”

Hyacinth & Gareth:

Hyacinth: “Well none of us ever really know our fathers…… Anyway-”

Gareth: “I am very small. And I have no money. So you can imagine the kind of stress I am under.”

Lucy & Gregory:

Gregory: “I do hear you, and I also don’t want to be doing what I’m doing.”

Lucy: “In terms of instant relief, canceling plans is like heroine.”

Lady Danbury & Lord Ledger:

Lady Danbury: “Shut up you’re all going to die! Street smarts!” + “It’s wrong to make fun of people, but it’s just so fun sometimes.”

Lord Ledger: “My vibe is like ‘hey you could pour soup in my lap and I’d probably apologize to you.’”

George & Charlotte:

King George: “it seems like everyone, everywhere, is super mad about everything, all the time.”

Queen Charlotte: “I simply do not give a shit what anybody thinks of me in any situation.”

Bonus:

Violet: “Putting a thirteen year old in charge of your younger kids is like getting a dog to babysit your horse. If something goes wrong, they can just maybe get help a little more quickly.”

[scoonsalicious]

Pocket MCU - Iron Man 1/?

In Which Pocket and Tony Have a Video Call.

Word Count: 979

Scene In-Movie @ 10:30

So, I decided to re-watch Iron Man tonight, and I started thinking about how Pocket would fit into existing MCU narratives. So, here's a little bonus, taking place during the first Iron Man movie. This might turn into something, it might not. For now, just a little fun thing I did, mostly so I could write more Pocket/Tony (even though she hasn't been given the nickname 'Pocket' yet). Enjoy!

“Only you would fuck a girl who called you a war profiteer,” you told Tony over the video call from your office in New York. “She still upstairs?”

“Miss Potts should be taking care of her right now,” Tony said as he fiddled with the engine of his 1932 Ford Flathead Roadster in his Malibu garage. 

“How’s that working out, anyway?” you asked, your interest piqued. “She’s lasted loads longer than any of your other personal assistants.”

“She’s good,” Tony said, taking a piece of the car’s engine out and putting it aside. “Very efficient.”

“I like her,” you told him. “I think she’s been good for you.”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t need her if you just moved out here permanently,” he told you. 

“And just leave the New York office to Obadiah Stane? I don’t think so,” you said. 

“I don’t know why you hate him so much, Kiddo,” Tony said, turning his focus away from the car and fully onto you.

“He’s the one who hates me,” you clarified. “I’m just matching his energy.”

“I think you’re reading too much into it. He’s a little wary of you, that’s all.”

“He hates that you nominated me for Chief Technical Officer,” you said. “He officially opposed the nomination in front of the board.”

Tony frowned. “When the fuck did that happen? Why wasn’t I informed of it?”

You rolled your eyes. “Maybe if you spent a little less time shooting craps and fucking Vanity Fair reporters, and actually attended a board meeting every once in a while,” you said. 

“I’ll talk to him,” Tony assured you.

“No, don’t,” you protested. “It’s bad enough he thinks I’m just another one of your fangirls. The last thing I need is for you to make a demand on him for my sake.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?” he asked you. “This job is yours– it should be yours. You’ve earned it.”

You sighed. “And I appreciate you saying that. Thing is, I’m not going to prove that by having you tell people. Only way it’s going to happen is if they see what I’m capable of, and if I leave New York for Malibu, they never will.”

“Did I ever tell you you’re very annoying when you make a valid point that goes against what I want?” Tony asked you.

“Frequently. All the time. Why do you think I enjoy doing it so much?”

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were just a stripper,” he said.

You stuck your tongue out at him through the video feed. “Yeah, well, whose fault is it that I’m not anymore?”

“You could always join my flight crew, if you ever wanted back on the pole,” he teased.

“Please,” you scoffed at the suggestion. “You call them dancers? They should be ashamed of themselves.”

“Hey now, what they lack in rhythm, they make up for in other… areas,” Tony smirked. 

“Do you ever get tired of being a giant slut?” you asked affectionately.

“Not yet, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Maybe second,” you told him.

“Whaddaya mean?”

“I don’t know– maybe you should tell Miss Potts first,” you grinned. You looked behind him to see the woman in question coming down the stairs through the glass door behind him. “Speaking of which, it’s her birthday today, so be nice.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “How the hell do you know that?” he asked you.

“I pay fucking attention, dumbass,” you said.

Pepper Potts entered the basement, talking on the phone. “You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now,” she said to Tony as she tapped something on her tablet.

“Hey, Pepper,” you called.

“(Y/N), hi,” the other woman said. “How’s the nomination going?”

You shrugged. “Oh, you know, just roadblocks from the patriarchy. No big deal.”

Pepper nodded understandingly at that.

“How’d she take it?” Tony asked Pepper, interrupting your conversation.

“Like a champ,” Pepper offered. 

“Which translates to ‘like an obnoxious bitch,” you chuckled. Pepper winked at you over Tony’s shoulder. “You owe her a raise, Boss,” you told Tony.

“You give a raise,” Tony said. He directed his next words to Pepper: “Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?” 

“Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago,” she told him.

“That’s funny,” Tony said as he continued to play with the engine of the Roadster. “I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there.”

“This is the flight to Afghanistan?” you asked, and Pepper nodded at you.

“I mean,” Tony spoke over you, “doesn’t it defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?”

“Ignore him, Pepper,” you said, turning to face your computer monitor. “Tony, if you don’t get your ass to the airport right now, I’m going to hack into JARVIS’s system right now and swap all your playlists from metal to nineties bubblegum pop.”

“You wouldn’t.” Tony said, standing up and wiping his hands on a towel.

“Don’t test me, Boss,” you threatened. “This is a huge-ass contract.”

Inside Tony’s garage, the opening notes of Hanson’s MMMBop began to play.

“Fine, enough! You win, you tiny monster!’ Tony grunted, throwing his towel down. 

You immediately cut the music. “Get on that plane,” you warned him. “I’ll know if you don’t.” You gave him a Look. “And Pepper, tell him to stop pulling your pigtails, okay?”

Pepper blushed, but she just nodded.

“Give Rhodey a hug for me,” you told Tony, “and let me know when you land, you absolute dipshit.” You disconnected the call.

“You know,” said Tony, turning back to Pepper, “sometimes I regret ever meeting that kid.”

Pepper smiled. “No, you don’t.”

Tony grinned at her. “No, no I don’t. Not even for a second. Now, about that Jackson Pollock painting…”

[1moreff-creator]

Danganronpa: One Shot - Prologue & Chapter 1 Analysis

Hello lovelies and loveliers! Since DR:OS’ first chapter has officially closed out, I figured it’d be a good idea to touch base and make a little analysis of all its characters and the things that have happened before moving forward! … Is what I would say, if I’d gotten this out in time. Yeah I took too long and now CH2’s started already (_ _ ///). I’m not sure I’ll do this every chapter, seeing how long it takes me compared to how fast DROS updates, but y’know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there :v For now, let’s talk about the sillies! 

CWs: Daily Life and Deadly Life

The format here will be the same as the one I followed for my DRDT CH2 analysis. That is, start by talking about the general plot and the trial, and then go character by character, in ascending order of relevance for this chapter. Though, obviously, what characters are more relevant than others is subjective, but I'll try :v 

However, there's a few extras this time around. For starters, back when all we had of the cast were a couple of drawings and symbols, I made some early predictions about what they would be like. Though I won't go over all the predictions, I will at least make some comments on my talent predictions, so there's that. Additionally, since we know DROS has an in-cast mastermind, I'll rank the characters based on how likely I find them to be the mm, and give a little reasoning for that. I didn't really think I had enough to say on that front for a separate post, so I'm sticking it here! With that said, let's get into it!

Daily Life & Deadly Life

I don't have a whole lot to say about the Daily Life section of CH1, since it's mostly composed of character interactions that will be brought up later. I do love the "talent show for secondary talents” idea, but the prologue deserves a bit more attention since it's the setup for the setting of the killing game.

The characters’ last memories of the outside include the start of the Tragedy (back when it hadn't left Japan yet), so we can't be too far from that even when taking the cast's mass amnesia into account. Fun fact, thanks to the CH1 Bonus Scenes, we can actually place the moment the cast’s memories cut off (assuming it’s all the same time barring Mark) at some point after 4/10/2011, which is the release date of "The Son of Neptune", a book referenced in the Robert & Taylor scene. It may also be before 7/10/2014, which is when The Blood of Olympus, the last book in that particular series of Percy Jackson books, released. I say that based on how Mark and Taylor talk about the Percy Jackson series, but I could be wrong on that. Also yes I’m using non-American notation for dates because the way the US does it, as usual, is stupid. 

This killing game is also the sixth held in the resort, which is a pretty noteworthy thing even if we know very little about what its significance is. In terms of timeline, my current assumption is that this is happening after Junko's death in the THH killing game, meaning the thing is maybe being organized by Remnants of Despair, but I have very little reason to believe this beyond the fact that these people are doing a killing game in the first place.

Something that particularly interests me at this point is the place the killing game is happening in. See, at several points, it's been made clear that the organizers of this killing game really want to stick very closely to the Hope's Peak aesthetic. In particular, as Kennedy points out in her introduction, Ellis is not just called the “Ultimate Luckster” or something of the sort, but rather, they're the “Ultimate Lucky Student” even when they aren't a student at all. This is presumably because all Hope's Peak classes have an Ultimate Lucky Student, so when choosing the participants for the killing game, the organizers specifically chose someone to fit that role. 

However, if they're that committed to the Hope's Peak aesthetic, why hold the killing game in a resort and casino, instead of a school? Did they not have access to a school, or even a school-like building? Is it simply because the mastermind wanted to be more comfortable through the course of the killing game? Is there another reason I'm missing? Is there even a reason? One could also ask why the organizers grabbed a bunch of adults, instead of high schoolers, but I find the question of the building a bit more pressing. In any case, it's not something that I feel can be properly speculated upon right now. We lack too much critical information. However, I will note it down as an interesting mystery moving forward. 

But after peace comes a storm; Deadly Life time! The first case is a hell of a start, with the sheer brutality of a dismemberment setting the bar high for future trials in terms of how complicated the murder plans could get. Though I’m not really the biggest fan of gore only for the sake of shock, I think this case does just enough to instantly hook the reader with the premise of such a brutal method, without dwelling excessively in it and letting other parts of the case carry the mystery. The fact it happened before a formal motive announcement was also its own hook. Basically I like it :D

The mystery itself was fun, too! Nothing too crazy, which is expected of a first case, but things like the motion sensors and the ever present question of why the hell Cass left their room to go to the casino made for a pretty fun enigma to think about.

The trial was also very engaging, especially with how high the mini game to word ratio was. Pretty fun to play along with those things! Although I’m sending up a prayer to the creators’ Docs main page, there’s gonna be so many mini game docs by the time this ends xD The cast of One Shot is… not the fastest, presumably because the authors prefer a high ratio of minigames, but they make for a lot of pretty fun moments in the trial. 

Finally, all the more introspective sections we get with Ellis every now and then are great, but that’s mostly because Ellis is awesome so I’ll get into it more in their section :v

Alright, now to get started on the characters! 

Monoquin

Cool mascot! Though I hope you’ll forgive I don’t have much to say about him, seeing as so far he’s been more of a Thing facilitating the progress of the killing game than an actual character. Not a bad thing, he is what he is, and a mascot that’s actually pretty professional helps keep the focus on the cast in pretty much all scenes, which is a benefit. 

Harper Young

-Original talent guess: Pacifist/Activist/Make-Other-People-Feel-Good-Person -Actual talent: Philanthropist -Talent prediction notes: Well the idea was there xD -Likes: Charities. Dislikes: Vineyards. 

I mean, ve really doesn’t do much this chapter. Right now, all we really know about ver is that ve had run into Noah before the killing game doing charity work around his frat, that ve likes to knit, and that ve’s getting kinda restless not being able to so much to help people.

Noah [CH1, Page 41]: Yo, Harper? Harper: Hm? What is it? Noah: You wanna do something, or… something? You seem on edge. Harper: Oh, apologies. I suppose I’m not used to not doing anything. I’ll go grab my quilt.

(Note: All quotes from CH1 are cited with the page they're found in the full chapter doc)

This also gets reiterated a few times during ver Bonus Scene with Noah. In that scene, Noah also implies that Harper's not just rich, but a billionaire.

Noah: [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 8]: Yeah… I definitely didn’t have to struggle or anything, but I’m sure there’s a difference between upper middle class and literal billionaire.

That’s still quite a fair bit for the character who got the least focus in the chapter imo, which is cool. 

I can see ver character going a few different ways, either breaking down from restlessness or the inability of helping those who die from the killing game. Ve's been relatively calm so far, but who knows how long that's gonna last.

On another note, what beef does ve have with vineyards. They don't seem like uniquely bad businesses from what I found on a few browser searches. Harper, what did the grapes do? ToT

-Mastermind Ranking: 7/16. Harper's actually on the lower end of the people I suspect a bit. While ve has less outright disqualifying lines (aka things the mm would never say) than those below ver, ve does seems genuinely worried about what's happening outside.

Harper [CH1, 2]: Even if it isn’t something I’m required to do, I have commitments I’m worried about letting down. There are people to help.

Question: What personal belonging from the outside would you bring into the killing game?  Harper: “An update on how my foundations are doing would set my mind at ease.”

And while that could all be a lie, the extra detail that ve's restless and not all that happy in the killing game is enough for me to put ver relatively low on the list. 

Robert Smith

-Original talent guess: Blank Slate/Regular Person/Guy -Actual talent: Normie -Talent prediction notes: Actually kinda proud of this one! -Likes: Pizza. Dislikes: Mosquitoes.

Robert is a very interesting character to have in a cast so full of weird-ass characters as this one (or any fangan cast really). He didn’t do much in CH1, per se, but his normality contrasted with everyone else’s… deal… certainly helps establish how no one here is all that well adjusted. Robert’s the most shaken up over Cass’ death, just on how gruesome the murder was, for example. And given how he talks about how impressive he believes the others to be based on his CH1 Bonus Scene, this does seem like it’s going to be a recurring thing for his character. 

That said, there is also the fact that Robert seems to enjoy literature, what with him reading Percy Jackson and his secondary talent being reading a poem. And this means it’s time to go Literature Girl Insane (it’s funnier the third time! /ref), and see if there’s any symbolism in the literature my guy brings up.

The book referenced in his Bonus Scene, “The Son of Neptune,” doesn’t strike me as incredibly relevant… from a reading of the Wikipedia plot summary- look I’ve never read Percy Jackson you’re gonna have to deal with that.

There’s something to be said about how Percy being an outcast at the camp he arrives at or something could connect to Robert’s feelings about being an outcast in the presence of Ultimates (Taylor’s too), but that’s kinda all I could gather. The plot being about Percy being an amnesiac, if anything, would connect it more to Mark, unless Robert or Taylor have some kind of important memories missing as well. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and “The Son of Neptune” just got picked because it’s a popular book that a normie would read and fits the time frame of DROS, who knows!

As for the poem he reads in the talent show, “The Road Not Taken”, it’s a little more interesting when applied to Robert. As I said in my First Impressions post for that particular part, the fact the poem itself is a bit open ended in interpretation means that it’s hard to know how to apply it to Robert’s character. However, here’s my current best guess: 

The Road Not Taken shows a person in a fork in a road, who takes one of the paths and won’t return to take the other. In the moment, it’s clear both are equally traveled. However, in retrospect, the person claims “with a sigh” that they took the road less traveled and “it made all the difference.” Whether the difference was good or bad is left up to the reader, but the main thing to note is the fact that the person’s hindsight is flawed because neither road was actually traveled more or less than the other. 

In his Bonus Scene, Robert says this:

Robert [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 3]: “I have to try so hard to pretend I’m feeling normal and not lose my cool, so that I can fit in with everyone else.”

So, Robert wants to fit in, he basically wants to be “normal” in a sense. Remember how the difference taking the road less traveled makes can be either good or bad depending on the reader? Robert would be afraid that taking the road less traveled, “not fitting in”, would make a negative difference. That means he always wants to take the other road, which is presumably what led him to be the Ultimate Normie.

However, keep in mind that both roads in the poem are actually equal. Robert does what he thinks is normal, not what is actually normal. Because “normal” is relative. In the killing game, moving on quickly from a death is “normal”, where as that likely wouldn’t be the case outside of this setting or with different participants. This sets up a possible arc of Robert learning to choose whichever “road” he wants without worrying about fitting in, because the concept of “fitting in” is sorta flawed in a sense. Cue parallels with Taylor (more on that later) and foils with Aidan, who as the Ultimate Contrarian would be representative of always taking the road less traveled, if such a thing exists. 

Or maybe I’m reading way too much into this and the poem just got picked because of the irony of the Ultimate Normie reading a poem from the perspective of someone who believes to have gone against the norm. That’s also very possible xD

-Mastermind ranking: 4/16. It might shock you to see him this high, but it really shouldn’t. Robert doesn’t have any lines going directly against the possibility of him being the mm the way some other people do, and Tsumugi from V3 gives precedent to the idea that maybe we shouldn’t trust the “plain” ones. Plus, I could see some point about how during the Tragedy, it would be “normal” for someone to be obsessed with causing despair. The only reason he isn’t higher is his squeamishness at the sight of Cass’ corpse. 

Noah Walker

-Original talent guess: Hellenic Scholar -Actual talent: Frat Boy -Talent prediction notes: I did pick up the frat bro vibes, but the Greek letters threw me off. I now know that represents his frat's "name", per say. The US is a very, very strange place. -Likes: Electric Guitar. Dislikes: Fights.

Similar to the last two, not much going on with him yet. He's talked about his dad disliking the idea of Noah failing out of college, and apparently has two sisters: 

Noah [CH1, Page 2]: I don’t think my dad would be happy if I failed out of college…

Harper [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 8]: You said you had sisters, right? Noah: Yeah, two of them.

Plays guitar, played basketball in high school, doesn't get hangovers…

Grace [CH1, 58]: I’m surprised you don’t seem to be hungover, Noah? Noah: Oh, that doesn’t happen with me. Pretty cool.

And had met Harper before the killing game in charity events his frat set up. So, yeah :v

Unlike with Harper and Robert, I have few guesses as to where this guy's going character-wise. Genuinely no clue :p

Btw, I did try to research if his frat, Lambda Omega 𝚲𝛀 (I think? The capital Lambda is upside down on his pendant for some reason, but there's no other capital Greek letter that looks like that), and I found out something quite interesting.

I really have no idea how the US works, in the slightest. I couldn't make sense of half the info I was getting :p

Apart from that, while real life 𝚲𝛀 does in fact exist, I didn't see anything immediately related to Noah. So, if it's important, let it be brought up in the story itself xD

Finally, since I overanalyzed Robert’s poem in the talent show, I may as well do the same for the others. Though Noah’s pick of playing “Eye of the Tiger” isn’t too hard to understand. It’s a song all about ambition and passion, which is very popular with Noah’s general demographic. Basically it’s the exact type of song you’d expect a frat boy to play in a talent show :p

-Mastermind Ranking: 6/16. Everything I said about Harper applies to this guy as well. He's only higher because there's less instances of him disliking the killing game environment, aside from disliking the actual murder aspect of course.

Davis Love

-Original talent guess: Romantic. -Actual talent: Bachelor. -Talent prediction notes: Close, yet so far.  -Likes: Wildflowers. Dislikes: Pick-up Lines.

Half these people have insane talents, and Davis’ is no exception. Anyone who is attracted to men will apparently be attracted to Davis, be it romantically or sexually or both depending on their sexuality. Certainly an interesting setup for a character, which we've already seen effects of with how uncomfortable he is when people flirt with him. It's worth noting he's pan and has had a girlfriend before:

Question: Most embarrassing experience? Davis: [...] I guess, really shortly before my junior prom, my girlfriend at the time…

So it's not like he's completely opposed to romance, he's presumably just had bad experiences. There's even a line where, after learning of the motion sensor trackers, Davis specifically is the one to bring up the question of why Cass was tracking their movements. While this could just be a coincidence, it's possible he's particularly concerned about the sensors because he's had some kind of experience with a stalker tracking his movements, as his talent would make that relatively likely. Maybe. We'll have to see.

Davis [Page 125]: …Cass was tracking us. Why would they…?

Though, on the topic of his talent, one thing I haven't talked about is the caveat that Ultimate Contrarian is the Ultimate Counter to Ultimate Bachelor. The talent meta goes crazy. 

Davis [CH1, 13]: If someone wants some form of a relationship with someone, they want it with me. Aidan: Really? Aidan takes a seat at the table, entering our conversation. Aidan: I don’t think I’ve felt that way. Davis: Are you attracted to men? Aidan: Yeah?  Davis: …Trans men? Aidan: Sure? Davis: …??? Ellis: Huh. That’s what happens when “Ultimate Contrarian” and “Ultimate Bachelor” collide, I guess.

(Oh yeah Davis’ trans btw. Cool!)

What's interesting is that, maybe because of this or maybe not, Aidan and Davis seem to be getting set up as some sort of duo? The aforementioned "Contrarian vs Bachelor” scene is not the only time they're seen together. The two of them were apparently just wandering around together before the "Motive TBA” scene, and while they were investigating separately, they were also the only people in the Customer Service Desk during the Cass case investigation.

Narration [Page 62]: As I sit on the couch, I notice Aidan and Davis approaching the Movie Theater. [...] Davis: Oh, hey Ellis. We were just wandering around.

Narration [Page 84]: … I head out, and travel down to the Customer Service Desk. I see Aidan and Davis separately looking around, and am drawn to Davis first.

Davis is also the first person to compliment Aidan's clarinet skills in the secondary talent show. 

Narration [Page 23]: Once it ends, people start clapping, and Aidan gets off stage as fast as possible. Davis: That was pretty great, Aidan!

The scene about the motive strikes me as particularly noteworthy, because Aidan is not exactly the most social person around, so seeing him just "wander around” with someone is interesting. Where this particular pair is gonna go is a fantastic question, especially because I'm not even 100% it is a notable pair, but I'm interested in seeing it! Or- not seeing it if I'm hallucinating its existence, I guess!

Finally, for your regularly scheduled song overanalysis! In the talent show, Davis sings ¨Mine¨ by Taylor Swift, which is by all means a pretty standard love song as far as I can tell. Possibly the most interesting part of the song for our purposes, though, is a section where the singer and their lover get into a fight, and while the singer believes they're about to break up, their lover actually tries to mend the relationship. It's possible this hints to the reason why Davis is a Bachelor; for some reason or another, his lovers keep getting into fights with him and always break up after. Thus, Davis singing this song could be expressing his desire for a partner who is more understanding or forgiving.

However, that´s a pretty insane reach even for my standards, and I don't think anything else we’ve seen implies it, so I currently don’t think there’s much of a connection between Davis and the song beyond it being a love song :v

-Mastermind Ranking: 3/16. If you're surprised he's this high, I am too. He's kinda just here because I can't point to any single line that implies he's not the mm, something that I can do for the people below him. I don't really think he's that likely to be the mastermind, though having the mm be the guy who dislikes pick-up lines and whose talent is deeply connected to romance and sexuality could serve as a good foil to the protagonist we got going on, in some way, which is an okay-ish argument assuming the creation process of DROS even allows for the mm to be picked with the protag in mind (I got no clue :v). 

Grace Thomas

-Original talent guess: Mechanic. -Actual talent: Clockmaker. -Talent prediction notes: N/A. -Likes: Efficiency. Dislikes: Being late.

We got a fair bit of backstory from Grace this chapter, and frankly not much else. Still cool stuff!

We learnt from the little round of Never Have I Ever that their parents are strict and kinda overbearing, that they graduated high school early (well, got a GDE, don’t yell at me if there’s differences I’m omitting), etc. One thing that gets repeated a lot is how Grace absolutely loathes wasting time, hence them getting a GDE and such. We also know from the Prologue that they have a boyfriend, and from a question we know his name is Justin, he’s very popular, and they met in high school. All very neat stuff!

I… don’t have much else to say here. There’s certainly something to be said about their propensity for going as fast as possible when contrasted with people like Jeff, who seem to take stuff with a lot more chill. Grace’s main fixation right now seems to be escaping as fast as possible, so we’ll see how that develops in the future!

Well, seems to be.

-Mastermind ranking: 2/16. They’ve dropped one spot from my post-prologue predictions, but they’re still a pretty good contender in my mind. Everything I said in my original Predictions Game post in terms of themes and the like stands. Though, to be fair, we haven’t really seen the themes I speculated based on title and prologue lore alone come into play yet, so maybe the point truly is moot.

The only big sticking point some of you might have with them being the mm would be the fact that they seem committed to escaping, but that could easily be faked. It could actually be a decent strategy to discourage others from investigating escape routes themselves, if they think Grace is on it and can’t find anything. All they’d have to do to discourage looking for escape routes is say something like-

Grace [CH1, 8]: Though, I’ll hand it to the runners of this game, they’ve done a good job of eliminating any trace of an exit.

Yeah like that. 

But beyond that, there’s also one other, particular reason Grace still stands above the others as an mm candidate in my mind, which they share with #1. I’ll explain when I talk about said #1. 

Paris Hall

-Original talent guess: Tea Maker or Queen/Princess -Actual talent: Gossip -Talent prediction notes: Not even close xD -Likes: Acrylic Nails. Dislikes: Windy Days.  

Our first FTE haver! Though in true Gossip fashion, Paris hardly gives out info about herself, and prefers to discuss literally anyone else's business. All we really know about her personally is that she has a big following online, and apparently friends, though as far as I remember she's never mentioned any family. 

As for the happenings of the killing game itself, her reveal of Antonia and Cass’ beef could be the first of many instances where Paris’ love for gossip develops conflict amongst the group, which would be very interesting to see. But perhaps more interesting than that is her reaction to Cass’ murder. Or, rather, the lack of one. Paris behaves pretty much the same during the trial than outside of it, giving little indication that she‘s even all that worried about the whole thing. I don’t exactly have any real guess as to why this happens (assuming she’s not the mm), but I’m very curious to find out. 

Finally, there’s her relationship with Taylor. Although Paris keeps tabs on everyone, she’s taking a particular interest in Taylor and calling them her “bestie”… for some reason. Allegedly, the bond comes from shared music taste and their talent show performances, which is I suppose a valid reason to start a friendship. But given my use of “allegedly”, you can probably tell that I don’t trust this all that much.

Paris sketches me out, and this isn’t new. That was part of the reason I thought her to be the CH1 killer after the investigation’s end, after all. Probably doesn’t help that Ellis constantly inner monologues about how dangerous she is due to her information gathering skills, and that Antonia clearly believed Paris to be on her wavelength during their Prologue Bonus Scene. And to be clear, Antonia’s wavelength is not somewhere trustworthy people are found. Hence why I’m worried Paris’ intentions with Taylor aren’t fully innocent. Whether she’s trying to get an ally in preparation for a trial where she’s the blackened, or creating an easy target for her to kill, or something else entirely, there are many very dangerous reasons Paris could have to befriend Taylor like that.

Of course, though, it’s also entirely possible that I’m insane and that Paris genuinely just wants to befriend Taylor for the sake of friendship itself. And generally that’s what I’d assume, as I personally like to try and be trusting of fictional characters, but idk. Maybe I just can’t handle a bad bitch making friends, and that one’s on me. Who knows!

Though, on the topic of the talent show, Paris danced to "Toxic". Continuing to overanalyze these picks… this one doesn’t paint a great picture. "Toxic" features the singer speaking to someone whose love is addictive and “toxic”, which I could see being recontextualized to imply something about Paris’ relationship with her fans (be it them being addicted to her or her being addicted to them), but… Well. As of right now, the most straightforward interpretation could be that Paris is a “toxic” friend to Taylor. Just in case we needed more red flags there.

Then again, I could always just be reading into these things too deeply. Maybe venus just likes the song and there’s no further meaning, like that thing that happened with Wizardry 8 during pre-release lol. 

-Mastermind ranking: 1/16. Yep. I mean. I don’t trust Paris. This has been established. 

Her lack of reaction to murder is one of the biggest red flags here, of course, but her talent would also make it easy to gather info on the contestants for things like the “likes & dislikes” section of their profiles and potential future motives, and her propensity for creating conflict could be useful if DROS is going for the “televised killing game” angle. In the Cass-Kennedy Bonus Scene, Kennedy brings up that since the mm revealed their existence to the cast, they probably want them to speculate of who the mm is, and Paris revealing Cass and Antonia’s cross-suspicion could be helping to do just that. 

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: If the mastermind wants it to be known that there’s a mastermind, they probably want it to inspire drama. What better way to do that than making accusations public and starting feuds?

The fact that one of the big narrative themes we’ve been seeing so far is ”secrets” (which I'll discuss mainly in Cass and Antonia's sections) could also give a foundation for the mm to be the Ultimate Gossip. 

Finally, and this is the big thing that really puts Paris above the rest in my mind; I don’t see any arc she’s going through that would be invalidated by her being the mm. Robert’s struggles to fit in, Davis’ deal with relationships and the such, Taylor’s self-image issues (we'll to those in their section), all would be kinda moot points if they’re the mm. Like, I’m sure there’s a way to make them work, but it’d be a bit difficult. Meanwhile, the main thing Paris has got going on is her relationship with Taylor, which can easily be spun into part of Taylor’s arc if Paris ends up being the mm.

This is the quality that Paris only really shares with Grace that puts both of them at the top of my list, the one I alluded to in Grace’s mm section. The reason Paris is slightly above them is… honestly just vibes xD I trust Grace more than I trust Paris, that’s the whole reasoning there. They’re actually somewhat equal candidates in my mind.

I could be wrong, of course, but well. They’re predictions for a reason!

Kennedy Rey

-Original talent guess: Conspiracy Theorist. -Actual talent: Conspiracy Theorist. -Talent prediction notes: B) -Likes: Mysteries. Dislikes: Skeptics.

Fellow insane people from Tumblr, meet our spitting image. Kennedy spends the entire chapter doing what she does best: being completely insane and constantly throwing out theories about the mm. He’s insane in a pretty fun way, and it’s always fun to have them on screen!

We learn little about Kennedy’s life outside the killing game, other than the fact that they know a little of self-defense because they’re extremely paranoid. We don’t really know what she even does with her life, frankly. But Kennedy has enough stuff going on in the killing game itself to make up for it!

As of right now, Kennedy has several noteworthy relationships with other characters. First is his working relationship with Vivi, the only person who seems to genuinely hold Kennedy’s opinion in high regard. And of course they do! She also knows what it’s like to be disregarded as insane because her methods are unorthodox, being a Mad Doctor and all. Makes me wonder if there’ll be some foiling between the oh so normal Robert and the “Mad Duo” (which is what I’m calling them now and you can’t stop me).

Cass was also a theorizing buddy to Kennedy in at least one scene, but she always seemed to be more interested in investigating on her own. See: not telling anyone about the trackers or them spying on Antonia. Their Bonus Scene has Kennedy attempting to ascertain whether Cass would be a good theorizing buddy after her whole beef with Antonia, suggesting that Kennedy genuinely enjoys having other people to discuss their theories with. Pretty fun! Shame Cass died :p

And of course, Kennedy’s legendary beef with Aidan. By virtue of being the Ultimate Contrarian who hates assumptions and uncontested opinions, Aidan is basically diametrically opposed to Kennedy, and their mutual dislike is made apparent all across the chapter. Although Aidan ends up usually looking like the one in the right in comparison to Kennedy, I’m very interested in how this rivalry is going to develop in future chapters!

-Mastermind ranking: 12/16. Way too committed to finding the mm for it not to be genuine. Sure, by his own logic from the Bonus Scene this would actually make him suspicious, but come on. There’s a limit to how much a mastermind would try to find the mastermind, surely xD

Taylor Long

-Original talent guess: Actor -Real talent: Impressionist -Talent guess notes: The comedy and tragedy masks fooled me T_T -Likes: Movie theaters. Dislikes: Rock bands. -Notes: Can I ask about the rock bands? Lol

Taylor has self-image issues, and it’s possibly the clearest issue any of these characters have lol. 

Taylor [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 2, to Robert]: I try to fit in, but at the end of the day, I’m just me, you know? The only special part about me is when I’m doing an impression of someone else. Other than that, I’m just as regular as you.

Like, I could find other examples, but this one’s probably enough to get the point across, no? Taylor clearly doesn’t have the highest opinion of themselves, so they channel other people’s energy to get the confidence they need to get their opinions out. All throughout the trial, they continuously make impressions of Cass and occasionally Kennedy to bring up their ideas. During their FTE, they constantly try to accommodate for Ellis’ tastes, constantly asking what she wants to do and what her friends are usually like.

Ellis [CH1, 38]: They, uh… they’re wild, and crazy! Always down to party. Super rich and popular, too. Taylor: Oh, I see… They think. Taylor: It really is kinda surprising that you like me, then. I mean, I definitely can do those things, but it takes me a little while to come out of my shell… [...] Taylor: Sorry, I just realized I kind of took over the conversation. Was there something you wanted to talk about? Ellis: Hmm, not particularly. Actions speak louder than words. Taylor: Oh! Then, um, do you want me to do something…? Ellis: Do you want to do something? Taylor: Um… whatever you want is fine with me!

And of course, Taylor somehow thinks that making an impression of Antonia directly after her execution is a great idea to cheer Vanessa up, instead of comforting her with their own words.

Vanessa [CH1, 152]: …Toni… Taylor: Please don’t be upset… um…  Taylor goes over to Vanessa and gently places a hand on their upper arm. Taylor: “Don’t be upset, darling–” Vanessa: Stop that!

You know, like a fucking insane person-

Right now, we mostly have setup for some kind of arc about these self-image issues, and I’m very curious to see where exactly they’re going to go with it. This how there could be some parallels with Robert and the like, which we’ve already seen explored to some extent in their bonus scene.

The other main arc Taylor’s got going on is the Paris thing, but I’ve already covered that in the Paris section, so. Yeah.

Finally, for the last of the talent show song pick analysis, Taylor dances to “Born This Way”, making a sort of impression of Lady Gaga as they did. Of course, this further hints at their self-esteem issues, as they don’t seem to believe to have any talent beyond their impressions, which makes the decision to pick a song about self love all the more ironic. And yes, I believe that’s why they lip sync to this song specifically, because their presumed character arc is likely to be about self-love. 

-Mastermind ranking: 5/16. They have a few lines in the Prologue that would read slightly weird in the context of Taylor!MM, but nothing outright disqualifying. That, combined with the idea that the killing game could be an “impersonation” of Hope’s Peak and maybe specifically the THH killing game, are the only reasons Taylor is this high. There's not much else here so far :v

Vivian Mitchell

-Original talent guess: Surgeon/Doctor -Actual talent: Mad Doctor -Talent prediction notes: Well. Close enough? -Likes: Experimentation. Dislikes: Supervisors. 

Vivi’s great! She’s just a pretty fun character. This chapter, she doesn’t really do much beyond being Kennedy’s sidekick and performing an autopsy, though I decided her involvement in the actual case and investigation warranted being a bit later in the post than those before her (look this format is far from an exact science xD). I’ve already covered said connection with Kennedy, and the autopsy thing is more a trial thing than a character analysis thing- well, other than saying this:

Vivi [CH1, 90]: I mean, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t done a few Vivi-sections before, but on a person…? Robert: …Do you mean dissections…? Vivi: …Yup!

Which… implies she thought Cass got dismembered while they were still alive? Assuming Vivi’s using the usual meaning of vivisection (dissections on things that are still alive) and isn’t just making a confusing pun. But their autopsy should have determined that wasn’t the case, I think, so.

Look, confusing puns aside, the point is that Vivi has probably done some kind of vivisections on animals as party of the experimentation their profile says they like. At least, that’s my current theory on why they said that.

One other thing: Vivi seems to be the character who is most often pushing the idea that someone else should be coming to rescue them.

Vivi [CH1, 3]: Okay, yeah, or our families or friends could, like, do something! What, you really think all of your loved ones would straight up accept you were missing and not look into anything themselves…?

Vivi [CH1, 65]: I mean, someone’s gotta be looking. The question is whether or not they can actually rescue us, and if so, how soon.

Combined with some things said in CH2 Part 1 (I really took too long to write this :v), it seems Vivi has a pretty good relationship with her family, which is… something!

Vivi’s definitely have some other stuff going on, though. So far, we only have vague indications on what exactly puts the “Mad” in her Mad Doctor talent, so I could see that being elaborated on later, and her fixation with no one dying around her that we saw in the Prologue is something that could certainly develop into an interesting arc. Overall, pretty curious about them!

-Mastermind ranking: 11/16. The main reason Vivi’s this low is the fact that they resent their Ultimate title. 

Vivi [Prologue, 24]: It’s such a judgmental way to put the Ultimate title! I just do what I think is gonna work! And it always works. So, if you or anyone you know is ever in danger of dying or anything, let me know

Were she the mm, she would have no reason not to just call herself the Ultimate Doctor instead. This, combined with their team-up with Kennedy to find the mm, makes it highly unlikely that they’re the mm in my mind.

Aidan Ho

-Original talent guess: N/A -Actual talent: Contrarian. -Talent prediction notes: N/A. -Likes: Pop rocks. Dislikes: Assumptions. -Notes: One of the most random likes here I think lol.

For me, Aidan’s possibly one of the most fascinating characters in a cast full of fascinating characters. You’d think his constant questioning of everything and everyone around him, combined with his generally uncooperative attitude, would make him a relatively unpopular character amongst the cast (beyond possibly Davis as discussed earlier), but he manages to not piss off too many people simply by being a paragon of common sense in the crazy people place. Well, other than Kennedy, as I've mentioned. Aidan also strikes me as one of the smarter characters, and thus has a fair amount of cool moments in the trial. 

Aidan [CH1, 134]: …[Cass was] careful with their introduction, huh…? Davis: What do you mean? Aidan: Before Cass gave me her name or her talent, she led into the words “Ultimate Agent” by talking about other people’s work. They were making sure that I was already thinking about fucking commerce by the time they had to say it.

(By the way, I just noticed this now on a re-read, but why "fucking commerce"? Is he that pressed about being manipulated and lied to? Interesting character tidbit)

Aidan [CH1, 141]: Because you’re not backing it up. If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is.

Robert [CH1, 143]: She’s… making a lot of good points. Maybe we should listen to her…? Aidan: No way. Davis: Huh? Aidan: She’s cornered. Do you really want to let her manipulate you when she’s like this?

(Speaking of his apparent distaste for manipulation)

And his reaction to Antonia’s execution is fun.

Aidan [CH1, 151]: …Glad that’s over. Vivi: How can you be at all glad right now? We just watched someone die! Right in front of us…! Aidan: What, you wish she was still in the process of dying…?

That weird disregard for the horrifying shit he just witnessed is possibly an extension of the views he expressed in his FTE. 

Aidan [CH1, 6]: I know other people care, and I can respect that. If they care enough about something to fight for it– even if that thing is as simple as their life– I wouldn’t get in the way of that. Ellis: You think lives are simple…? Aidan: Caring about your life is. Isn’t that, like, basic human instinct or whatever? Ellis: I mean, yeah, I guess. But it’s not so wrong to indulge in your primal instincts, is it? He shrugs. Aidan: If that’s what interests you. Ellis: And what interests you, then? For some reason, I feel like I’ve been hearin’ a whole lot of “no” and not a lot of “yes.” Aidan: Does it really matter…? He scowls. Aidan: I really don’t care what happens with any of this. So, if other people do, good for them. For now, what I know is that I’m here. That’s all. Ellis: Exactly. You’re here! You’ve got the world at your fingertips, what with that weird Customer Service Desk thingy! You gotta figure out how to enjoy yourself! Aidan: I appreciate how unconcerned you are despite everyone else being all moody, but… no way. Either we’ll get out of here, or we won’t. In the meantime… it doesn’t really matter.

I decided to put the full quote there because it really is very strange. Aidan’s another character whose life outside the killing game is still a mystery to us, but perhaps that is because he doesn’t feel he has anything to return to. He just seems fundamentally uninterested in everything, up to and including his own life. Sure, he didn’t say he had no interests, but he may as well have. Not caring about what happens during the killing game is a very unique perspective, to say the least!

The idea Aidan really don’t give a fuck is further reinforced by the Scrum Debate:

Aidan [CH1, 113]: Like any of you want to stay. Anyone could have a motive here. That’s just how the killing game goes.

Any of you, not any of us. See the difference? Aidan probably wouldn’t mind escaping, but he doesn’t seem to mind staying, either.

Obviously this raises a lot of questions as to how Aidan came about this mindset in the first place, and whether or not he’ll grow out of it during the killing game, but right now we lack the tools to figure those things out. What we can discuss is the way this parallels other characters’ perspectives, though.

Be it Grace and Jeff’s desire to escape as fast as possible because everything that interests them is on the outside, or people like Harper and Noah’s desire to get out to return to their prior commitments, or Kennedy’s wholehearted investment in every mystery of the killing game (and yes Aidan and Kennedy’s beef runs really deep), or Ellis’ self-proclaimed (and probably fake) disinterest in the others as anything other than eye candy, or Antonia and Cass’ interest in keeping their secrets throughout the killing game… Turns out everyone has a different perspective in how they feel about the killing game, so a character who doesn't care at all (at least, that’s what they claim) stands out pretty significantly, in a way that helps bring out the others’ different interests and the things they’re focused on. 

Basically I really like Aidan and I can’t wait to see how their mindset is explored/developed :D

-Mastermind ranking: 8/16. Aidan’s general disinterest in absolutely everything could be spun into some strange kind of mm who’s just going through the motions, I guess, but it doesn’t strike me as particularly likely. Realistically should be higher, especially given his dual colored hoodie split down the middle as the black and white of the Mono color scheme, but in a sense he strikes me as too confrontational, too early. Sure, he’s not as confrontational as someone like Byakuya, but he still ends up coming off as slightly antagonistic at times just by virtue of always going against the current as the Ultimate Contrarian, and as accirax eloquently put it in her own mm predictions for other fangans (Eden’s Garden & DRDT):

…wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess?

Again, Aidan isn’t the most antagonistic character ever, but I still think the phrase applies. Not to say that it couldn’t work at all, just that it’d be harder to pull Aidan!MM as opposed to the other options higher than him. 

“Mark" Nolastnamegiven

-Original talent guess: ??? -Real talent: ??? -Talent guess notes: Yeah this one was easy. -Likes: Soft fabric. Dislikes: Physical confrontation.

Taylor [CH1, 137]: Are either of you worried about the fact that that leaves you as the only two suspects? Like, at all…? Antonia: Hm? Not particularly. Mark: Obviously I’ll have to prove my innocence, but from my perspective, it’s nice to know who the killer is.

Members of the jury, these two are awesome. 

If there’s any character who truly stole the spotlight during the majority of the Deadly Life section, beyond those actually involved in the murder (and Ellis), then that character is Mark. While they didn’t really do anything in Daily Life beyond repeat a few times that they don’t remember shit from before the killing game, their notable “locking in” during the investigation and subsequent trial is quite an interesting development for them. Evidently, whatever their talent was, it seems it gives them some form of edge when it comes to investigating. That obviously brings Kyoko to memory, though Mark doesn’t seem to be quite her level of Detective, which is cool. I like that the few brain cells we have are a bit more spread out in this cast.

We also got a couple of really cool character moments from Mark’s “partial awakening”; I’m particularly obsessed with the calm with which they handled the Third Party Analysis, as already quoted, and the reintroduction with Ellis at the end of the chapter.

Ellis [CH1, 154]: Yeah. You seem much more aware than when we first met. Or when we second met. You need a third meeting? I extend my hand. Ellis: Hello there, beautiful stranger. It is I, Ellis Ortiz– Ultimate Lucky Student, any pronouns. They laugh and scratch their cheek gently, a bit embarrassed. Mark: I’m Mark. Still don’t know my real name, talent, or previously preferred pronouns, but… glad to be here with you.

Really brings forth themes of renewal and the like. I really wonder if the fact that Mark is essentially getting a second chance to discover their abilities, after doing it once and forgetting through the killing game amnesia, will somehow play into the idea of “One Shot” as “one opportunity.” We’ll have to see ig.

Finally, because obviously I can’t talk about Mark without bringing this up, what is their talent, anyways? It’s most likely somewhat connected to their detective skills, but you might think there’s no way to narrow it down further than that. However, there may be a few hints we can use, alongside with the principle… of “The Funniest Possible Answer,” which states that a theory can be compelling just by being funny, if nothing else.

Take a look at this post, specifically the Mark answer.

Question: If DROS characters had the talents of the cast of Project: Eden's Garden, which one would each character have? Mark: Ultimate Pro Gamer.

Now, there’s nothing inherently interesting about this. Matching talents across fangans is always gonna be difficult, and not all of them are gonna fit very well (see: Fencer Vivi or Ship Captain Kennedy). However, there’s another post which makes me a bit more curious about this particular answer:

Question: What's your favorite animal and why? Mark: “I don’t remember, sorry…” [If allowed to, Mark would pick a Pokémon, and therefore Bulbasaur. If asked for a real animal, the answer would be a penguin.]

A Bulbasaur, of all things. Everyone else picked real animals as a first choice, but not Mark. Mark picked a video game creature. Combined with the previous answer, it almost makes it seem like Mark had a very profound interest in video games before losing their memories. Perhaps… enough interest to be an Ultimate of the video game variety?

To be clear, I doubt they’re straight up the Ultimate Gamer, because based on their behavior during the trial, there’s still presumably some form of connection with mysteries. Which gets me to a secondary point, which is: are Mark’s clothes really what they were wearing before the start of the killing game? No one has commented on having had their clothes changed, so I presume they’re wearing the last thing they remember wearing. But Mark has no way of knowing. I bring this up because Mark has an accessory with a question mark in their design, which makes sense with them being the Ultimate ???, but not outside the killing game. Unless, of course, their actual talent already had a connection with mysteries. 

Hence, we reach my current guess for Mark’s talent: Ultimate Mystery Video Game Player. Or something like that. Could also be something like “Video Game Puzzlemaster” or something, especially because I wouldn’t exactly classify Pokemon as a mystery game, but getting the exact wording right on these things is always almost impossible, so. 

Although, while we’re here, I may as well bring up the possibility that Mark may have a role similar to the Ultimate Survivor from V3, and they’re the sole survivor of the killing game directly preceding DROS. I bring this up because of Rule #7 from the E-Handbook:

Rule #7: The blackened may only kill a maximum of two people during any single killing game. 

This rule’s wording about “any single killing game” accounts for the possibility of someone having competed in a previous killing game, implying we could be looking at such a situation. Of course, we have no indication of who that would be (everyone has missing memories, not just Mark, after all), but I’m bringing it up with Mark because there’s canon DR precedent for this happening with the Ultimate ??? in Rantaro. Doubt it’s the case, since I’m not sure venus would want to repeat such a plot twist, but you know.

-Mastermind ranking: 9/16. Mark marks (heh) the start of the more plausible guesses in the list, as there’s less things going directly against the idea that they could be the mm. The spots directly below Mark, such as Harper and Noah, may have one or two lines that would read weird if they’re the mm, but I still find them more plausible than Mark simply because Mark being the mm feels… odd, y’know?

There’s many ways the mm could disguise themselves that draw way less suspicion than calling themselves the Ultimate ??? and pretending not to remember anything before the killing game. That also includes the possibility that they’re the mm but still genuinely erased their memories, because that plan would be kinda insane without something like Divine Luck from that fangan that I don't want to name so as not to spoil anyone. Neither idea is impossible, hence why Mark is still higher than many of the others, but it requires a few more explanations than those who rank even higher. 

Vanessa Bravo

-Original talent guess: Singer. -Actual talent: Announcer. -Talent prediction notes: I tried :p -Likes: Crowded areas. Dislikes: Minimalistic designs. -Notes: Who likes crowded areas???

As the reason that the talent show even happened at all, Vanessa is to be thanked for giving us some of the sillier moments before shit hit the fan. Quite a lovely person overall, though we know little of her life outside the killing game for now. We do know she has a sister, though!

Question: What object would you bring from the outside into the killing game? Vanessa: “I want my sister…”

Speaking of sisters, Vanessa got hit with one of the most severe cases of Danganronpa Syndrome (where characters get attached to each other extremely quickly to make the death of one of them more impactful to the storyline) I’ve ever seen. Less than a week in, she’d already adopted Antonia as her surrogate big sister. This is consistent with Ness’ constant push to make the killing game as comfortable as possible, setting up the talent show for example.

Vanessa [CH1, 8]: …Aw, are you guys seriously on the whole escape thing again already?! Grace: What else would we be doing? Vanessa: I dunno, having fun? This place is pretty cool, if you actually take a look around! Why do you wanna leave so fast?

And if Ness’ goal is to make the killing game as comfortable as possible for herself and others, and Antonia and her remind each other of their respective sisters, well, it’s as Antonia says:

Antonia [CH1, 43]: It’s only natural to take comfort in the things that remind you of home, isn’t it?

I do wonder how this attitude of trying to find comfort and fun inside the killing game will develop now that things have gone horribly, horribly wrong. Certainly something to look out for.

Another character trait I enjoy is Ness’ very proactive personality. She’s the one who gave Mark their temporary name, she’s the one who proposed the talent show, that kinda thing. I particularly want to highlight this scene, though: 

Vanessa [CH1, 141]: Why do you keep disagreeing with her?! Doesn’t Mark being the killer make way more sense here? Who knows what they’re thinking at any given time? Toni is… she’s her! Someone we can trust… Aidan: It doesn’t help anyone to blindly defend someone because you like them. This is where our logic’s taking us. If you want to defend her with actual logic, be my guest, but if you’re just yelling, all you’re gonna do is turn people against her. Vanessa: Why would that turn people against her…? Aidan: Because you’re not backing it up. If belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is. Vanessa: Well, you’re wrong! Antonia: Vanessa, if you’ll allow me to handle this– Vanessa: No one should be accusing you like this! I’ll… convince them they’re wrong! Yeah, that’s it! Antonia: Vanessa– Vanessa: Don’t worry, I’ve got you!

Let’s quickly appreciate Aidan’s cold ass “if belief is the only thing you’ve got, then it makes it seem like belief is the only thing there is” line.

Wow… :O /gen

Alright it’s been appreciated. Now we can focus on Vanessa again. Beyond her vehement trust in Antonia, the main thing I wanted to point out is how Ness continued to defend Antonia even after Toni repeatedly told her to back down. After all, Ness’ Freestyle Feud starts directly after this. I really like this piece of characterization because I’m a sucker for this type of “white knight/savior complex” character. I just like it that’s all :>

Overall, Vanessa beats the CH1 victim allegations with flying colors, and I can’t wait to see where her character goes from here!

-Mastermind ranking: 13/16. Apart from how genuinely upset at Antonia’s death she is, Vanessa’s distaste for the way Monoquin presents everything would suggest that she is not the one responsible for creating the guy. 

Vanessa [Prologue, 18]: …the way [Monoquin] reveals information is so boring. I could do a way better job. Like, “oh, by the way, you’re Ultimates, like Hope’s Peak.” Where’s the drama? Where’s the delivery?

I didn’t mention it in the analysis, but I do enjoy how passionate Ness is over this. I can’t possibly think she’s the mm if she hates Monoquin’s announcing this much!

Jeff Breeze

-Original talent guess: (Resort/Hotel) Manager/Tour Guide/Vacationer -Actual talent: Absentee -Talent prediction notes: Vacationer’s kinda close, right? What's with the umbrella, anyways? Unguessable xD -Likes: Blue hawaiians. Dislikes: Conflict.

My guy has exactly one goal at any time, and that is to get the hell outta dodge. We hear in their FTE that they occasionally get a certain feeling that things are gonna turn out bad, and they always leave the moment they get said feeling. Other than that, and the fact he was forced to play football (er, soccer) briefly when he was younger, and that they got dragged to an amusement park at some point, we don’t know too much about Jeff. Which means there’s room for speculation!

My current guess of what theme Jeff’s character will play into is the whole idea that “you miss all the shots you don’t take” or something. You know, the thing the fangan seems to be named after, and Ellis mentions early into the Prologue. Because Jeff always ditches before the going gets tough, they usually don’t “take any shots”, which is something which could be explored in the future. Even if it isn’t, Jeff’s avoidant behavior could be contrasted (and already is paralleling) with things like Vanessa’s more proactive attitude to the killing game, or Robert and Taylor’s desire to fit in instead of distancing themselves from others, you get the idea. 

Finally, and the reason Jeff’s so high up in the “relevance list”, his involvement in the trial. Jeff just so happens to be outside when the murder’s going down, which makes sense with their “bad vibes radar” thing. When shit’s about to go down, their spider sense tingles and they get restless, so they go out to burn off their energy, and find themselves being important in the trial. I wonder if him getting dragged into situations they really don’t want to be in is going to be a recurring thing. We’ll see!

-Mastermind ranking: 14/16. I said Jeff has exactly one goal, and I meant it. He wants to leave. This conflicts with the mm’s desire to… not. Do that. So. Unless they’re lying about literally everything, this one doesn’t look very likely. 

Ellis Ortiz

-Original talent guess: Lucky Student -Actual talent: Lucky Student -Talent guess notes: ;) -Likes: Designer brands. Dislikes: Closing hours.

And we finally reach our protagonist! And what a protagonist he is. Not only are their flirtatious antics pretty funny, her attitude towards the killing game is quite the unique one.

As is common with Lucky Students, a lot of it comes from her luck. From what we understand, that luck is generally strictly positive and Ellis mainly applies it to money-making, though he seems to have a sort of conflicted opinion on it. On the one hand, Ellis trusts her luck enough to somewhat firmly believe in their title, as expressed in all the inner monologues where Ellis assures themselves they will survive the killing game no matter what. On the other, Ellis doesn’t like to attribute all her achievements to luck alone, disliking that her title doesn’t acknowledge the actual skill she believes to have in things such as stock trading and gambling. Of course, right now the audience has no idea how much of that perceived skill actually exists and how much of it is just Ellis trying to convince himself he deserves his winnings for reasons other than pure chance. Something to see in the future.

This conflict about her luck carries into Ellis’ general killing game strategy. Or at least, the strategy she’s trying to implement. He first swears to himself that he won’t get attached to the other characters and will treat them only as eye candy, which immediately fails as we see him crying after the class trial. Not to mention, they’re seemingly getting attached to Mark, at least, given their little triple introduction thing. And they're even considering switching strategy to defeating the mastermind after the first trial, as they've noticed that, if it comes down to them or the mm, they may be cooked.

In general, Ellis is pretty bad when it comes to fulfilling promises she makes to herself. There are, for example, many times in the chapter where Ellis promises not to think about things such as the mastermind, followed just a scene or two later by an internal monologue about the mastermind paranoid enough to rival Kennedy’s craziest theories. The persona of confidence and nonchalance that Ellis projects is so far removed from her inner doubts and insecurities, that she keeps switching between paranoid overthinking and complete laidback-ness with enough speed to cause whiplash.

This all comes from Ellis’ complete inability to be honest to himself about his feelings, naturally. Becoming more honest with said feelings is likely going to be a large part of Ellis’ character arc, which could parallel/contrast nicely with people like Taylor (who feels they have to act as someone else to express themselves), or Paris (who doesn’t speak too much about herself and prefers gossiping about others). Plus, the general idea of dishonesty, with oneself or others, can be connected to Antonia’s and Cass’ shared theme of secrets (again, more on that in a moment). However, other parts of his character could play off nicely with a lot of the cast. Ellis’ flirtatious attitude could connect to Davis’ Deal, their bouts of paranoia could play off the Mad Duo, their devil-may-care style of living contrasts Grace’s more reserved lifestyle, their optimism and trying to make the best of the situation is similar to Vanessa’s CH1 attitude and contrary to Jeff’s perspective, you get the idea. Fun character!

I haven’t mentioned it too much, but we also have a lot of info on Ellis’ backstory. He has two younger step-siblings who are “alright”, got started with his exploits by inheritance from his grandpa, he refers to something called the “Ellis Ortiz brand” at some points so he might be relatively well known (assuming he’s not exaggerating his relevance)*, and probably more I’m forgetting (or just skipping due to them being minor details) just because we have a lot more time to learn about Ellis’ backstory than other characters. She is the PoV character after all! In any case, it’s fun stuff.

*Yeah so I fell for the old trick of he unreliable narrator lol. She has (or would have) 5.1k Twitter followers, which is less than fucking Vivi. No one knows who Ellis is, the brand thing's exaggeration xD

-Mastermind ranking: 10/16. Although an mm protag isn’t out of the question (check tags of that post), Ellis doesn’t particularly strike me as one. See, she would need to be an amnesiac mm, the kind that doesn’t even know they’re the mm before the end of the story. And while there’s never a good way to completely rule that out, I haven’t seen any reason to believe that’s the case either.

Let’s put it like this; if you consider Ellis a potential mm candidate, you also have to consider everyone below her a candidate as well, as anyone could potentially be the type of mm she’d have to be. The only reason she’s higher than them, then, is that this particular type of mm works best with protags. The main reason to create an mm like this would be to prevent internal dialogue from spoiling the mm, which is obviously only a problem for Ellis. 

Necessary amnesia aside, Ellis’ stated goals of “get rich, get bitches, have fun” (simplified) don’t really align with the things creating a killing game would accomplish. And while it’s possible Ellis changed in the period of lost memories, we have no evidence of that, so. Yeah, not very likely :v

Cassidy Torres

-Original talent guess: Writer. -Actual talent: Agent. -Talent prediction notes: I mean. I had a pen to work with. I wasn’t getting that xD -Likes: Getting info. Dislikes: Stubborn people.

Victim coming through! And what a victim Cass is. You know, it’s always hard to make the audience care about the CH1 victim, given they’re definitionally the character who’s alive for the shortest amount of time, but having a major twist about them happen during the trial is a hell of a way to do that! The reveal of Cass’ true talent is the kind of thing that makes you do the character analysis backwards, starting at the end with the reveal and piecing it together (heh) from there.

Aidan [CH1, 134]: …[Cass was] careful with their introduction, huh…? Davis: What do you mean? Aidan: Before Cass gave me her name or her talent, she led into the words “Ultimate Agent” by talking about other people’s work. They were making sure that I was already thinking about fucking commerce by the time they had to say it. Grace: Now that you mention it, I believe they quickly pivoted to discussing sales with me as well.

Well, we saw two Cass introductions, so why not confirm?

[Cass] [Prologue, 37]: Lucky Student, huh? That’s an all-around useful talent. Still though, it’s weird… Why is no one here talented at making things, or having something to sell…? Ellis: Hey, who says I’m not talented at “making” something? [Cass]: I should clarify, I’m referring to making something physical. Something that one might, say, need someone to critique and/or help them market to higher ups. They extend their hand to me. [Cass]: I’m Cassidy Torres, or Cass for short, she/they. And, here, I guess I’m the Ultimate Agent.

Cass [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 9]: It’s great to meet you, Grace. My name is Cassidy Torres– Cass for short– and I use she/they. I’m the Ultimate Agent. After we shake hands, Cass looks at me approvingly. Cass: It’s about time I met an Ultimate who actually creates something. My talent is pretty useless without anything to market, so I was hoping I’d be able to help at least one of you with my services. As it turns out, the last person I met was the one who best fit the description.

Yep, pretty much exactly what the others said. Cass was quick to mention sales and creating products so as to now get found out, even though funnily enough Ellis almost got it. 

Ellis [Prologue, 38]: Agent, huh? So, I shouldn’t be surprised when you pull out some spy-like leather suit? Cass: Oh, it’s nothing like that. Though I’ve definitely worn my fair share of suits…

Cass is quick with it :O

Although I think Cass’ Agent skills shine most when you can see the full extent of their internal monologue. 

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: Found you! Kennedy has, apparently, tracked me down to the Show Room, which I had assumed no one would really want to spend time in. This doesn’t contradict that data point, though; if Kennedy was looking for me specifically, as evidenced by their words, then it’s my presence rather than any qualities of the Show Room itself that led them here. Probably best to play dumb, though.

Bro. Even if Kennedy hadn’t said “found you”, you could’ve just asked them what they were doing in the Show Room without that analysis. Which you do.

Cass [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: Were you looking for me?

You’re putting my overthinking to shame, you gotta relax! (Kidding, I really enjoy the overkill analysis there xD).

Cass’ skill is actually very fun to really think about. They had to come up with the cover story of being a salesperson on the spot when they got their talent, which is kinda crazy. And she still managed to come up with stuff like specific phrases and words that would always get a reaction of her cover character! What!

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: Isn’t this a good opportunity for you? “Opportunity” acts like a trigger phrase. Right. I need to be charading as the Ultimate non-secret Agent. I make a show of sighing. Cass: I suppose passing up on a good opportunity is typically a bad thing. But, an opportunity for what?

I have no way of knowing how accurate of a depiction of secret agents this is, but I can say it's a pretty cool description to read about.

This does mean that a lot of Cass’ dialogue ends up being nothing but part of an act, a problem for character analysis. But there’s still plenty to work with, especially because her talent deeply relates to the main theme connecting her and Antonia: secrets, the things people will do to uncover them, and the extent people are willing to go to keep them. 

Antonia [CH1, 52]: From what I’ve determined, you may be the one hiding the biggest secret here, Cassidy. Cass: I’m sorry? Antonia: I know a liar when I see one~ A liar? But, what would Cass have to lie about…? Unless…? Cass: What are you accusing me of, exactly? Antonia: I’m not sure what. You could be the mastermind, or the possessor of the poison, or any number of things. All I can tell is that you’re guarded. There are things you don’t want us to learn. Isn’t that right?

Cass [To Antonia, CH1, 52]: …Fine. If you won’t tell your secrets, I won’t tell mine.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: We weren’t dealing with only the mastermind, darling. We were dealing with “secrets.”

I’ll get to Antonia’s secrets in her section, but Cass obviously had a pretty big one of their own, not to mention that her entire talent is based around uncovering hidden truths. The secrets these two keep are what ultimately creates the conflict which will end with Cass’ death and Antonia’s execution. After all, Antonia’s general suspicion regarding the fact they were keeping a secret at all is really the reason why Cass ended up suspecting Antonia so much. Because while they originally held Antonia in the same regard as Ellis or Mark in terms of mm possibility, they still end up antagonizing Antonia specifically, possibly because they feel threatened by Antonia’s immaculate liar detector. Now, make no mistake, Cass made up an in-persona reason to be a secret-keeper, so it’s not like Antonia’s lie detector is immediately damning to them, but it’s still a pretty large threat. 

Cass [CH1, 52]: …I can’t reveal everything so easily. My clients have sensitive information, and my trust with them is more important than getting to know any of you. If I feel distant, that’s all it is. Ellis: Wouldn’t you want your clients to have a friendly relationship with you, though…? Cass: Of course. But, at least as of now, none of you are my clients, so those who I represent are of greater concern to me.

Of course, though, there’s also the possibility that Cass just clocked Antonia as a liar the same way Antonia clocked them, even if it’s never explicitly stated, and that’s the entire reason for their suspicion.

Cass [CH1, 59]: I will figure out your secrets. Antonia: Of course you will, darling.

Actually, the idea that Cass felt threatened in some way by Antonia’s ability to spot liars could play into something interesting with these two’s profiles. Cass dislikes “stubborn people”, while Antonia dislikes “bad losers.” You could make the argument that Antonia is stubborn in the sense that she’s good at standing her ground against Cass’ prodding for secrets, and that Cass may be a bad loser in the sense that she may feel she “lost” to Antonia when the Dealer noticed she was hiding something, and clearly isn’t happy about it. 

[Cass’ inner monologue] [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 10]: It’s hard to say I’m anything but annoyed as I leave the Buffet. Antonia is still playing at the same games as always…

Not sure if this interpretation works perfectly, but close enough, and it's pretty cool. Eternal beef, these two.

In any case, regardless of what exactly led Cass to focus so much on Antonia, the end result is the same. Antonia figures out she’s being spied on, and chooses to deal with that issue before it could grow into anything bigger. Hence, Cass’ death. 

Although, here’s an interesting point related to the murder. Isn’t Cass a hypocrite?

Cass [CH1, 35]: Everyone, calm down! The group settles down and turns to Cass. Cass: [Someone asking for poison from the CSD] is obviously a threat, and we should take caution knowing that someone here may be plotting a murder already. However, blatantly throwing around distrust and creating an air of paranoia will only make tensions higher. Mark: Then… what should we do? Cass: The same things you’ve been doing. All you need to do is keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and engage in safe behavior. Stay in groups or well-lit areas. Don’t go out at night. Those sorts of things should keep you safe enough while we figure out the mysteries of this place.

“Don’t go out at night”, she says, a few days before going out at night and dying. “Don’t create an air of paranoia”, she says, shortly before beefing with Antonia so obviously that everyone noticed something was going on even before Paris said anything. Not great at following their own advice, evidently.

Although that second point is slightly unfair, actually. Cass doesn’t actually accuse Antonia and gang of being the mm at first, it’s Antonia herself who brings the implicit accusation to light. In the same vein, she refuses to say who she suspects in her discussion with Kennedy and Vivi and Ellis about the mm before that.

Kennedy [CH1, 32]: Cass… If you can say who you don’t think it is, that means there are some people you do suspect. Cass: I have a couple leading theories. Kennedy: Tell me. Cass: I’m not going to go around voicing all of my thoughts. Besides, it’s… not fitting for an agent to talk negatively about people. What if a future client heard of it and was worried about what I’d do with their secrets?

Antonia [CH1, 51]: I assure you, the real dynamics between different establishments are far more complex… Cass: Do you have insight into the dynamics, then? Do you know anyone who might hold a grudge? Antonia: With all due respect, my dear Cassidy, are you trying to determine if one of us is the mastermind?

The point about the night stands, though. And it’s worth noting that Cass likely didn’t have ulterior motives in saying that or anything, as she does seem to be genuinely concerned for the others’ safety. 

Davis [CH1, 58]: I take it you all were drinking last night…? Jeff: Yeah? What’s the big deal? Cass: That doesn’t sound like you were being particularly safe, given our environment.

And it makes sense. When they talk about their goals in their Bonus Scene with Grace, they specifically say that their goal can be “approximated” to figuring out the secrets of the Resort and getting out with everyone.

Grace [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 10]: What are your long-term goals, if I might ask? They smile. Cass: I’m not gonna go around talking about that kind of thing immediately, especially not with cameras everywhere. I’ve got big plans once I’m back out in the real world. But, foundations are laid here. She looks around the room, though nothing in particular seems to catch her interest. Cass: If you’re looking for what’s motivating me, for now, you can approximate it to figuring out what’s going on at this Resort and getting everyone out of this situation safely.

More on those goals in a moment, but for now, what matters is that Cass is genuinely invested in the safety of the others and wants to escape with everyone, so her warnings about not going out at night are genuine. That means the only reason they would go against their advice is if they considered themselves capable of avoiding issues, probably because of their talent.

Huh. Overly relying on her talent to keep her safe while she carries out a plan no one else knows anything about? That’d be like a Lucky Student relying on their luck to survive through the killing game, with a plan of outlasting everyone else that they don’t discuss with anyone. Wink.

Anyways, I left this question pending, so let’s get back to it. What the hell are Cass’ long term goals? All we really know is that she’s motivated to figure out the Resort’s secrets and get everyone out of there, but supposedly these are just the “foundations” of her goals. They also say that talking to Grace is related to the goal, but as they say, that’s mostly just because gathering info on those around them is helpful in their eyes.

Cass [Prologue Bonus Scenes, 10]: I’d call [talking to you about marketing] related to my goals, personally. Grace: Your goal of gaining clients? Like I said, that isn’t– Cass: No, in general. Isn’t it helpful to know people better, if you’re trying to work with them? I pause. Grace: I suppose that’s a fair perspective. Cass: Believe me, I understand. I don’t waste time talking to just anyone if I don’t believe it’ll help me achieve my long-term goals. But if I decide it’s worth it, I’m not easily swayed. Right now, I’ve decided I want to talk to you, and that’s the best use of my time.

Now, I can’t for the life of me reach anything resembling a solid answer, for obvious reasons. It’s entirely possible, for one, that these goals aren’t important and will never actually be brought up in the main story, seeing as they’re only really mentioned in a Bonus Scene. In that case, we may never have enough info to come to any definitive conclusion about it. 

However, it’s possible that Cass’ name will come up again, because her goals could very well have to do with the very foundations of the killing game and the situation in the outside world. For example, it’s possible that they were investigating the resort itself or some kind of aspect of the Tragedy, and they got close enough that the mm decided to wipe their memories of the bigger secrets and just stick them in a killing game. Depending on how much she remembers, she could very well have had some inkling about what’s really going on, enough to know that there were bigger plans outside that she was a part of, possibly focused on taking down groups doing Tragedy stuff.

Or I’m going completely fucking insane, which I think is the more likely option in this case. Regardless, I don’t really have any more concrete ideas on what the hell she was up to at the moment, so I’ll leave it at that. Dear god what a character.

-Mastermind ranking: 16/16. I mean. They’re dead. And deny they’re the mm in inner monologue. It doesn’t really get less mastermind-y than that.

Kennedy [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 12]: Then, based on my deductions, you would be the most likely mastermind candidate. Cass: Wh–?! What kind of a strategy is that?! Besides, it’s obviously wrong…!

Antonia Cisneros

-Original talent guess: Gambler/Poker Player -Actual talent: Dealer -Talent prediction notes: Wrong side of the table :v -Likes: Nightlife. Dislikes: Bad losers.

Guess who got unreasonably attached to the CH1 killer, again? This guy! 

Antonia’s fun, both because of how entertaining I find (er, found) her personality, and how many mindgames my girl actually plays. The insane standoff from her Bonus Scene with Paris in the Prologue, her constant beefing with Cass, the entire trial… that kinda thing. In fact, there’s so many mindgames and potential lies going around, we might have to take this chronologically!

The first big thing we learn about Antonia in CH1 is the existence of her little sister (also mentioned in the Paris Bonus Scene), and how this helps her form a quick bond with Vanessa. 

Antonia [CH1, 42]: It’s very charming, how excited Vanessa gets. It reminds me of my younger sister. She was always a ball of energy. Mark: You mentioned her at the talent show, too… Vanessa: Toni’s really sweet and caring when it comes to her sister, from what I’ve heard. And she sorta acts like a big sister to me, too!

However, this starts an interesting trend in how Antonia actually talks about Vanessa and her connection to Antonia’s sister. Take a look at the two other instances where this comes up:

Antonia [CH1, 138]: For instance, Vanessa reminds me of my younger sister. I would be unable to willingly sign her death warrant, even indirectly through the Class Trial.

Noah [CH1, 148]: All that stuff about [Vanessa] being like your sister… Were you lying about that, too? Antonia: Hm? Oh, no. She does, in fact, remind me of my sister. But that isn’t enough to stop me from acting in my own best interests.

Antonia never directly claims to care for Vanessa as she would a sister, all she ever says is that Vanessa reminds her of her actual sister. Antonia just says they share similarities, and doesn’t ever concretely express how that makes her feel. The only time she actually compliments Vanessa directly, she also compliments Ellis at the same time, someone who she doesn’t have the same kind of bond with.

Mark [CH1, 44]: Are we… actually doing this…? Antonia: Well, if it makes these two wonderful people happy, then I don’t see what the harm could be.

Now, I could be wrong about this, but to me it feels like while Antonia enjoyed Vanessa’s presence because of the sister thing, she didn’t do so to the extent that she led the others to believe. She simply allowed Vanessa’s enthusiasm to speak for the both of them, giving the impression of a much closer bond than what she genuinely felt, and she tried to take advantage of that flawed perception during the Third Party Analysis. Whether this lie of omission was originally just to make Ness feel better, or if Antonia was always planning to use this as a “card up her sleeve” (heh) to argue her innocence in a class trial, I genuinely can’t tell because everyone in this fangan (and especially Antonia herself) is a massive tryhard when it comes to killing game tactics. 

Then again, I could always be overthinking it.

Antonia [CH1, 43]: No worries, Mark. It’s only natural. Mark: Why do you say it like that…? Antonia: Oh, I’ve just never been fond of using nicknames. But, in your case, I suppose it can’t be helped.

Antonia doesn’t like using nicknames, which is… interesting. Wonder if we’ll ever find out why that’s a thing, if there even is a reason beyond personal preference.

Antonia [CH1, 44]: A party is… something we could consider, though I do wonder where we would hold it. Vanessa: I mean, for open space and lighting, the Casino, right? Antonia: …I would rather not.

This never got explicitly explained, right? Why Antonia didn’t want a party at the casino? It’s not like she was planning to murder Cass specifically already, since Cass hadn’t started accusing her yet. And Cass only died in the casino because Antonia could lure her there since Cass was following her around. This might be a question to ask her once we get access to ouija boards after the fangan’s over. Or maybe not, who knows.

Antonia [CH1, 46]: Aren’t we a little too fixated on what isn’t here? If we all share each other’s company, we should be enjoying ourselves. There’s no point in doing anything otherwise.

This is wild coming from the woman who ordered poison from the CSD the morning of the day this got said. Incidentally, you’ll notice this is pretty close to Vanessa’s perspective on the killing game, although Antonia’s actually referring to Jeff’s absence from that meal and not the outside world. Neat!

Ellis [CH1, 51]: Maybe it’s, like, a rival casino owner trying to incite a scandal. That sounds like something that could happen in a cartoon. Antonia: I assure you, the real dynamics between different establishments are far more complex… Cass: Do you have insight into the dynamics, then? Do you know anyone who might hold a grudge? Antonia: With all due respect, my dear Cassidy, are you trying to determine if one of us is the mastermind?

Finally, we get to the Cass beef! And even from the start, we can start gathering just how important the theme of secrets is for these two, as I already mentioned in the Cass section. By very obviously deflecting the question about casino dynamics before Cass could press further, Antonia tries to keep her secrets by stopping the line of questioning about her life outside the killing game dead on its tracks.

Antonia [CH1, 52]: From what I’ve determined, you may be the one hiding the biggest secret here, Cassidy. Cass: I’m sorry? Antonia: I know a liar when I see one~ A liar? But, what would Cass have to lie about…? Unless…? Cass: What are you accusing me of, exactly? Antonia: I’m not sure what. You could be the mastermind, or the possessor of the poison, or any number of things. All I can tell is that you’re guarded. There are things you don’t want us to learn. Isn’t that right? Cass: …I can’t reveal everything so easily. My clients have sensitive information, and my trust with them is more important than getting to know any of you. If I feel distant, that’s all it is.

But this is all stuff we covered with Cass. The question we left pending was what exactly Antonia’s secrets are, since we can be relatively sure she isn’t the mm now that she's dead.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: We weren’t dealing with only the mastermind, darling. We were dealing with “secrets.” And, while I may not want to say them here, I have things in my past I’d rather not share, especially if I were to attempt a murder. Mark: Like how you knew how to cut and sew the body…? Antonia: Something like that.

For this query, we can focus on the fact that, by saying she’d like to keep her secrets “especially if she were to attempt a murder,” Antonia implies the reveal of her secrets would inconvenience her during a class trial. Not to mention her response to Mark’s question, about the possible connection between her secrets and her dismemberment skills. And if that’s the case, then...

Mark [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 18]: I’ve given my theories. We’re about to explore the possibilities in the Class Trial. I thought your insight could be helpful. Antonia: But of course. Antonia twirls her hair around her finger with an absentminded look in her eyes. Antonia: Well, I do believe our killer wouldn’t be a first-time murderer.

Uh.

Antonia [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 18]: Does it really surprise you? The speed at which they killed, the brutality of the method, the skills dismembering the body must take… None of those are things you can simply dream up overnight. Mark: Probably true.

Ehem.

Mark [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 19]: But, based on what you were saying… I doubt this is only their second kill, either. This is someone who knows what they’re doing. Antonia: Is there much of a difference between a second murder and a hundredth? You’re already a murderer either way.

Hey guys Antonia might just be a serial killer. 

I mean, isn’t that what this looks like? She’s saying she believes the blackened had killed before the killing game, and Mark says that they probably killed multiple times, and Antonia is the blackened. Certainly sounds like she’s letting the truth slip as a hypothetical. Now, she does give an alternate explanation of why she says the things she does in the Bonus Scene: 

Antonia [CH1 Bonus Scenes, 20]: We’re simply speculating as to the killer’s mindset, aren’t we? To better understand how someone willing to take a life– no, multiple lives– might think of the world. Disregard my opinion if you’d like, but I’ve listened to many people talk, criminal and otherwise.

However, that doesn’t account for Mark saying that the killer’s skill could indicate they were, in fact, a serial killer. And besides, the best liars know when to tell the truth, because doing so removes the possibility of you losing credibility if you’re caught through tells or other means.

This is actually a pretty convenient narrative for Antonia to spin. See, if the brutality of the murder is because the blackened was already a serial killer, then it can’t be used to argue against anyone in particular, as any of the participants could realistically be the hidden serial killer. However, if you discount that possibility, then one could argue the brutality is born from a grudge the killer had against Cass. And while Antonia wasn’t the only person Cass suspected of being the mm, she sure was Cass’ number 1 rival. Thus, such an argument could land Antonia in a dangerous position. And without precedent of how this cast would act in the trial, Antonia would have no reason to believe she’d be able to defend against it in a way that would convince the others, at least not without throwing in the “serial killer” angle anyways.

I… hope that made sense. 

The point is, this is a convenient thing for Antonia to say regardless of whether or not it’s true. And of course, if this really is her secret, this would be something that she really wouldn’t want to be revealed if she wanted to ever win a class trial, and it is in fact connected with her dismemberment skills, the two aspects of the secret we discussed before.

Seeing as Antonia could very well be telling the truth in the Bonus Scene, the previously mentioned line about her secret being inconvenient for trials and related to the dismemberment thing, and the arguments brought up in said Bonus Scene about the blackened’s skill and chosen method implying a serial killer, I’d say there’s a compelling argument to say that Antonia is, in fact, a serial killer. Which we could probably also infer from the fact that, since the killer asked for the boxes the same day they asked for the poison, Antonia really was ready to dismember someone from Day 3. 

Am I 100% confident in saying that? No, obviously. But it is what I find most likely at this point. 

Another question to ask would be what reason Antonia would have to murder someone before the killing game. And, since we already established that I don’t think her thoughts in the CH1 Bonus Scene are as hypothetical as she leads Mark to believe, we can try to infer something based on that, too. 

Antonia [CH1, 19]: Well, with all of our other pursuits, do you really believe someone would kill just for the thrill of it? If we’ve all achieved great things, it stands to reason that whoever committed such a crime in the past would be doing so for a dedicated goal. Thus, killing would become a sacrifice to further that goal.

Assuming she’s not making this up on the spot, this could imply that her serial killing has to do with her talent… whatever that looks like. It’s worth noting that this “hypothetical” mindset actually does match at least one of Antonia’s own lines post trial, considering murdering people as a means to an end and a “small price to pay”:

Robert [CH1, 149]: You’re still talking about killing someone. You still made that decision… Antonia: If that’s all I have to do to end my imprisonment and guarantee my safety, it’s a rather small price to pay, isn’t it? Vanessa: B-but… what are we supposed to do now…? Antonia: It’s of no concern to me. Continue playing along with your fake peace, or turn on each other. All I know is that, eventually, someone won’t be able to take it anymore, and that person will remember that all they have to do to end it all is kill. It’s not such a large price, when you put it that way.

Obviously I don’t have any way to speculate further without just throwing random shit at the wall (eliminating Dealer competition maybe?), so I’ll leave my official theory at just that. Antonia killed to become the Ultimate Dealer, and has evidently done it quite a bit! 

Alright, so what do we do with this? Well, it’s hard to tell when I can’t even be sure this will ever be brought up in the main section of the fangan anyways. But I imagine the ideas of ambition (relating her murders to her talent) and the lengths people will go to keep secrets might come back up later, and it’ll be fun contrasting other people’s actions to Antonia’s with that in mind. Considering some of the other themes we’ve discussed, you could even tie Antonia’s desensitization to murder into the ideas of normality discussed before, where the concept of “normal” is very subjective. After all, Antonia seems to consider what she did to Cass relatively normal for her, right?

And of course, this desensitization to murder somewhat parallels Ellis’ plan of “let everyone die and dip”, since it’s effectively the same plan Antonia had, just without directly murdering anyone. A parallel which is furthered by Antonia’s belief in the “house”:

Antonia [CH1, 148]: Because I didn’t want to play with fire. The establishment wants one winner, and the house always wins in the end. One of these days, one person will win. If fifteen will die, I liked my odds of being the last one standing better when I put myself directly in the position to win, rather than waiting around for others to make mistakes.

The same way that Ellis fully believes in his ability to win the killing game by coasting off his luck, Antonia is entirely confident that the house will get its way in the end. It’s only natural for the Dealer to align herself with the house by playing the game in earnest, while the gambler tries to luck out and get one over on the house by surviving without murdering. But in the end, both of them see it entirely as a game to be won, and not so much a hardship to be overcome. How such a wonderful parallel happened when the characters are written by two different people, I will never know, but it’s genuinely super impressive.

Anyways, let’s cover a few lines here and there that are cool but I couldn’t fit into the main analysis. 

Antonia [CH1, 68]: …Apologies for disturbing all your thoughts, but… has anyone seen Cassidy this morning?

I think it’s cool that Antonia is actually the one that first brings up Cass’ absence. She needs to make sure everyone’s looking at the boxes when they open for the BDA disguising trick, after all!

In the interest of getting this post out sometime in 2025, I’m going to skip over a couple of cool moments during the trial itself, but just know that I think Antonia was pretty decent throughout, and you already know how cool I found her calm demeanor directly preceding the Third Party Analysis and her counterarguments after. Though for more specific lines:

Antonia [CH1, 106]: There actually isn’t any way to delete a message from an e-Handbook once sent, on either end. I expect this, in combination with the rule against stealing e-Handbooks, is intended to add extra challenge for the killer.

Do we think Antonia tried deleting the messages between Cass and Jeff when she had Cass’ E-Handbook? I wonder what exactly her plan would have been with that. Maybe framing Jeff by pointing out the messages’ deletion as weird? Shame it didn’t work. 

Antonia [CH1, 146]: I suppose you all think this is the answer? That I’ve created an elaborate plan to make myself an undercover killer, and that Cassidy is some eternal force of good?

I really wonder what the “eternal force of good” comment is about, but I have genuinely zero idea what it could refer to :p To me it implies Antonia didn’t think of Cass that way, but I could be overthinking it.

Antonia [CH1, 148]: I suppose… I am slightly sorry, for roping you into all of this.

For all the serial killer talk, I do want it on record that Antonia is not entirely heartless. She did feel sorry, to some extent, for her actions, and it’s pretty clear she cared about her sister outside of the killing game. That’s cool :)

Though it’s worth noting she doesn’t apologize to Cass so much as she apologizes to the others for “roping them in”. I guess it’s an extension of the philosophy that Cass can’t care about anything now that she’s a corpse, so apologies to them are unnecessary. 

-Mastermind ranking: 15/16. I’ll let her do the honors of explaining why she’s this low:

Kennedy [CH1, 147]: Was Cass right? Are you the mastermind?! Antonia pauses for a moment, then bursts into a fit of laughter. Antonia: Of course not! If I were, why would I be playing by the rules of this silly game?

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Final MM Rankings: Cass - Antonia - Jeff - Vanessa - Kennedy - Vivi - Ellis - Mark - Aidan - Harper - Noah - Robert - Taylor - Davis - Grace - Paris

Holy hell how did I avoid problems with color coding here of all places?

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Woo! Alright, that took longer than I expected, but 16k words later, we got our analysis! My excitement for this fangan grows with every part release, and really digging into the characters for this post has made me appreciate them all the more! Anyways, thanks for reading! If you made it this far, you’ve earned a royal flush! Ask Antonia for whatever money you just made- oh, wait. Uh. You can't... really do that. Anyways, see ya’!