#it's not taiga's stigma but haku's?

[kusanagihaku]

if Haku is the spy betraying the ghouls, Haku’s intentions might be good.

okay consider: with all the time loop stuff going around (in view of taiga’s memory issues + taiga saying something about “abandoning this future too”), what if taiga isn’t the only one stuck in the time loop?

what if haku is ALSO in the time loop and in this rendition he’s working with the institute because he’s alr tried every other method and it never worked?

he says in one of the scenes that there’s someone he wants to save, and this is just practice. what if the person he’s trying to save is mc, over and over again, and every single time the mc dies he shudders back awake and has to figure out what went wrong this round? in a way every single loop is 'practice', until he gets it right.

it explains some of what people have termed his 'sus' actions. it explains why he’s there in time in the frostheim arc when mc tried to run away, why he knows it won't end up well for anyone (mc tried that the third loop, he tried to join them the seventh loop), and why he’s there for most of the other major plot points (e.g. what if in one of the previous loops, mc gets swallowed by the barometz when on the obscuary mission with rui? that’s why he’s so insistent on letting lyca out - lyca is meant to save the mc, and he learnt this the hard way), because he already knew what was going to happen and how to stop it.

that might also be why he’s there on the train in the beginning - ostensibly to prevent taiga from yeeting mc out of the train in the first place (as taiga is prone to do), but because in every loop he has to be the first second one to see them, he needs to feel them alive in his arms, he needs to be the one to bring them to darkwick. after all, this is the person he's been reliving this entire loop for, the person he wants to, needs to save from their curse. maybe after living through their nth death and jolting awake again with cold sweat burning his eyes, he just needs to see them alive again, one more time.

it also tracks with the way haku wants to go back to being a normal human so bad... what wouldn't he give to wake up in a timeline where this time, both he and mc get to live? together?

(and of course taiga’s part of the entire timeline loop too, and he's somewhat aware of the changes - this time haku’s acting different and this time he’s working with those slimy fuckers and that's how taiga knows there's something wrong and that there's a 'spy'. taiga's also trying his best this time to save the mc (albeit through ways like ummm eating any anomaly he sees... maybe if he eats them all he'll eat the anomaly that cursed mc in the first place...??), after all.)

anyway i don't think haku's intention is to backstab anyone or to betray the ghouls. maybe his intention this entire time is to just to save one (1) person, and he's decided that he'd do anything to do that.

and this time, it means he has to partner with the institute because their research might be the only way.

or maybe i just have my haku defender glasses on

Please despite all evidence against him do you think (you’re allowed to blatantly lie) there’s a slight chance that Haku is not the spy and will not stab everyone in the back when told to?

Every time he greets me from the main screen (yeah yeah you’re not quite ready, I’ll just wait over there)I just sigh..

Seriously though.. the writers have done a fine job so far. If the main suspect turns out to be the “bad guy” isn’t it a little cheap?

Being able to predict something based on the evidence given isn't really bad storytelling--this isn't a suspense or mystery story where it should be a whole thing to figure out whodunnit after all. Cheap, maybe, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

But I'll share an idea I had recently, while the posts about Haku's family wanting him away were going around.

I don't think Haku is fully committed to backstabbing everyone. Or, rather, his intention isn't bad for the ghouls. His methods, perhaps, but the intended outcome, less so.

Haku himself implied he tried to run away from all of this once and was shut down by the Institute.

He doesn't want to be a ghoul. He wants to be a human again, he wants a normal life, he doesn't even want to work at his family's shrine, he wants to be a normal young adult who can pursue whatever his heart desires, not whatever's been set forth for him by family or destiny--

He can't escape the Institute, though. Not without going back home.

So he works with them. He gets what freedom and control over the situation he can. He sabotages the ghouls themselves. He hurts them himself.

So they work together.

They turn against him, they turn against the Institue, somehow, together, they can make things different! They can get their freedom, control their lives, even if they can't be normal humans again they can at least have enough control over their own existences to get some normalcy back!

Jin will become president, Jin will make things right, Jin maybe just needed motivation to take that mantle in the form of Haku's betrayal, maybe in the Institute's name.

In the end, Haku's plan, perhaps, is to triple cross everyone. Yes, this is self sabotage, neither side will like him in the end and he probably won't make it out of this. At least, if he can't help himself, he can help everybody else.

I think, if Haku is the spy betraying the ghouls, Haku's intentions might be good. He's just made himself the scapegoat to call everyone else into action.

It's not like anyone's waiting at home for him anyway.

[justasleepylittleundine]

So I realized a thing...

All of the ghoul's incantations are scrambled versions of a demon belonging to the Lesser Key of Solomon.

Jin Kamurai- Stigma: Bianerus (#24 Naberius)

Tohma Ishibashi- Stigma: Argeas (#2 Agares)

Lucas Errant- Stigma: Iggnaim (#4 Gamigan, also known as Samigina)

Alan Mido- Stigma: Yagsal Olbalsa (#25 Glasya-Labolas)

Leo Kurosagi- Stigma: Haxs (#44 Shax)

Shohei Haizono- Stigma: Spurno (#20 Purson)

Haru Sagara- Stigma: Bahnti (#18 Bathin)

Ren Shiranami- Stigma: Raothtas (#29 Astaroth)

Taiga Hoshibami- Stigma: Balam

Romeo Scorpus Lucci- Stigma: Tiris (#12 Sitri)

Ritsu Shinjo- Stigma: Acimo (#53 Camio, also known as Caim)

Subaru Kagami- Stigma: Talnandio (#71 Dantalion)

Lyca Colt- Stigma: Ramsochisa (#35 Marchosias)

Yuri Isami- Stigma: Agnihaet (#48 Haagenti)

Kaito Fuji, Towa Otonashi, Haku Kusanagi, Zenji Kotodama, Edward Hart, Rui Mizuki have not had their incantations revealed.

However, I am SUPER curious if their incantation signifies WHO they made their demon deal with!!

[tokutaiseichan]

I’ve pointed this out before but so far, Hotarubi is the only chapter where a Like Dove never made any appearances. Thanks to Taiga, we know that Like Dove is probably some kind of a spying device and everything points to the possibility that its duty is to monitor missions involving ghouls.

Yet it never made an appearance during the course of Hotarubi’s mission. Why is that? At first, I thought it’s perhaps because Taiga had killed and eaten the one that appeared during the Sinostra chapter. In the first place, we never found out if there are more than one Like Dove. It’s an anomaly—and a rare one at that. It might be the only one or maybe not.

But then I started thinking: what if the reason a Like Dove didn’t appear to monitor the ghouls’ mission this time is because they already have an “Insider” involved in the mission?

Zenji is automatically out. My man’s dead and Darkwick doesn't even know his ghost is still wandering around. Subaru? Makes sense since he has already lied to everyone before. What’s another secret? But after all that happened at the Ultio prison and considering his personality, I feel like what he confessed that time was everything he was involved with. Subaru’s awful at lying and hiding things, if he’s the spy he’d be a bit more obvious and feel even more guilty. So hmm… I wonder who we’re left with……

Remember how during that one time MC was trying to escape again, Haku was the one who just conveniently showed up and successfully convinced her to not defy Darkwick anymore?

Sure, we can see it as simply a considerate gesture of a senior looking after his anxious junior. Especially when it's so blatantly implied later that he had experienced the consequences of going against the rules. Still, the timing is just… too perfect…

MC trying to escape → Bumped into Rui who's about to head to a mission → Haku suddenly appeared (Rui: “But Moby said no one usually rides around this time of the day~”) → Haku scolded both MC & Rui一brought up the clause of disciplinary actions if one were to do anything funny during missions and reminded Rui of his standing (Haku: “You know it's even worse if you're the one she's with, right?”) → Haku got MC away from Rui → Haku reassured MC and convinced her to stay at Darkwick to break her curse first instead of running away (like what he did before?)

It's almost as if he was purposely sent there for damage control.

“I'll keep this incident a secret from the Academy,” when the reason MC can't even escape in the first place is because Darkwick already knows what she's trying to do? Yeah, right. If you have tried to run away before, you'd know Darkwick has eyes everywhere.

I also found his responses from chapter 2 of his Personal Story rather interesting.

If MC thanked him → “…You shouldn't put too much stock in what I said, you know.” (He acts like the ever dependable and reassuring senior to MC but when she expressed genuine gratitude, he immediately backed off. Does he feel guilty because of how MC seems to always trust his words now? Because he’s keeping something from her?)

If MC shook her head → “Looking at you trying so hard made me realize how underhanded I am.” (Now he just sounds so bitter here…)

There's also the bait and switch with Hotarubi.

During Sinostra, MC found out the existence of a spy among the ghouls. And immediately at Hotarubi early chapters, Moby told her that the Hotarubi ghouls are hiding something. This planted seeds of doubt in MC一she thought one of them might be related to the spy. But at the end of the book, it was… in a way, disproven.

The secret they kept was Zenji's existence一for Haku & Zenji一and Subaru's mission regarding Lyca and his true stigma. This, ironically, leads up to MC being much more determined to trust the ghouls and be more wary about the Academy and Institute一even more than she originally did.

The reason I brought this up? Because the narrative has now painted Hotarubi as the “innocent” house. They made us (both MC & the readers) think how the ghouls over there are just trying their damn best to protect their friends… so that you'd suspect it the least for housing any spy (whom, in Taiga's words, is supposedly trying to screw other ghouls over). They made it seem like Hotarubi must've shown all their cards by now and gave us a sense of… relief? In a way.

(Obviously, there's still the mystery of Haku's dorm transfer. But that's for another day…)

Last but not the least, I'll bring you Haku's last words he told MC before jumping into the fire:

EN: Sorry, I guess I couldn't be the guy you wanted me to be. Ha ha… Don't look like that. Never lost faith in me, did you?

JP: ……すまんね。おまえさんの期待に、応えられんかったわ。はは……そんな顔しなさんな。最後におれを信じてくれて、ありがとね (Direct, almost word-to-word tl: ……Sorry. Looks like I couldn't meet your expectations. Haha…… Don't make that face. Thanks, for trusting me even at the bitter end.)

���Thanks for trusting me to the end,” are you Implying MC has reasons to lose her faith in you, Mister Haku Kusanagi? 🤔🤨

This is probably just me reaching but, has anyone noticed how “trust” seems to be a recurring theme with MC and Haku in particular? “Trust me. You'll be fine here,” and “If you need any help, I'm always happy to lend you a hand,” but also, “Don’t take what I said too seriously.” Which is it???

Anway, since Obscuary is just around the corner, I just wanna say that: 

1) If a Love Dove doesn't appear then it means I'm just looking too much into things and that the reason it doesn't appear is simply because Taiga has killed the one during Sinostra. And everything I wrote up to this point are hogwash.

2) If a Love Dove does appear again, I'll add +1 sus point to Haku.

“Why are you so suspicious of Haku anyway?” Years of watching anime and reading manga/visual novels/etc has taught me that you should always be wary of the sawayaka oniisan type. =w=)b

If you read until this point then thank you for giving my 2 a.m. rambles a chance! But please keep in mind that they don't call me Detective Reaching #2 for nothing. 🤧 For now, I'm going to log off so 🫡 Ciao!

[unhinged-simp]

LOVE YOUR HC!!! Can I ask for Haku, Romeo, Sho, Subaru courting the reader? And maybe a jealous HC if you are comfortable haha (could be combined to one or separated HC)

Haku, Romeo, Sho, and Subaru Courting Reader HCs(Gender Neutral Reader)

Of course! Thank you for requesting.

Ahhh thank you!

I'll do a separate jealous HCs since I didn't really include it in this post. I wasn't as well versed in courting hcs as I was in dating hcs, so I hope you enjoy.

Spoilers for the Hotarubi chapter in Subaru's part

It happened one day, out of the blue, when Haku asked you if he could court you. 

When you agreed, Haku began.

It started with texts. You two would converse whenever you had free time.

The texts ranged from ordinary school life to the flirting that Haku did occasionally. 

Next, Haku would give you little gifts. Flowers, little keychains that reminded him of you, plushies, and many more gifts.

And finally, he planned out many dates.

Restaurant dates were the first kinds of dates you went on. Then you went on trips to amusement parks and arcades. Now you guys go on little fun dates.

Haku would make sure to set boundaries between you and him.

If you enjoy physical content, he would make sure to initiate it. If not, he'd respect it.

Haku would ask Subaru and Zenji for advice for courting.

You would meet with the other ghouls in Hotarubi very often, having tea parties and talks.

Even though he's busy most of the time, he always makes time for you.

Romeo is a bit worse with courting. He didn’t even tell you he wanted to, he just started doing it. 

When you told him that you’d go through with the courting, he didn’t really react besides a “good choice” and a smile, but inside he was ecstatic.

Romeo was not that great at flirting at first, often times more of a backhanded compliment than a real compliment. Though after some conversations with Rui, reluctantly, he managed to get the hang of it.

The gifts Romeo brought you were oftentimes things he uses and owns. 

Similar clothes, the same perfume he wears, and even similar sunglasses. He also gets you lots of flowers.

Even with his busy schedule, he managed to plan dates. 

Fancy restaurant dates were the most common, although if you expressed interest, you could convince him to go to an aquarium, amusement park, or site seeing different spots in Japan. 

Romeo is very possessive and proud. The gifts he gives you are his way of “marking you.” 

He'd only be affectionate in public if it was a way to brag about you, and the fact that you’re the one dating the great Fico. 

He would actively keep you away from Taiga and Rui, especially Taiga. 

He’s always eager to meet up with you whenever his work ends.

Sho doesn’t really know how to court properly, but that still doesn’t stop him.

After much consideration, he asks you if could court you. 

He already texted you a lot, but he ups the romance a bit. He tries to flirt with you, but it ends up failing, at least you got a smile out of it. After lots of research he starts getting the hang of it.

Sho learns your preferences to pick out perfect gifts for you. 

He gives you your favorite flowers, clothes he knows you'd like, and jewelry that you love.

Though he does buy you small things like coffee and food.

Dates with Sho are often held at your dorm with a home cooked meal made by him. He does take you on amusement park dates, arcade dates, and even cooking dates.

Sho does enjoy physical touch, and often holds your hand. Kisses and hugs are saved for private. He loves cuddling with you.

He actively keeps you away from Leo, but he doesn’t mind you being around Alan. 

You’re his encouragement, and he looks forward to whenever he gets to see you.

Subaru is a mess when it comes to courting you. When you approve of him courting, he nervously starts.

Subaru’s texts are polite and romantic. He doesn’t know how to flirt, so he often asks for advice from Haku and Zenji. 

Subaru uses his stigma to learn your preferences, which helps him not overthink presents for you. He also gets help from Haku about gifts for you.

Lots of flowers, jewelry, and little trinkets are given to you by him. He gives you a pretty decorated good luck charm that he made.

Subaru’s dates are pretty chill. He takes you to watch Kabuki, you two have little tea dates, and you take little walks through scenic places. 

Subaru doesn’t like physical touch due to his stigma, but if you do, he’ll deal with it. He does like hugging you, he just wishes his stigma doesn’t activate.

You have tea and snacks with Haku and Zenji occasionally. Subaru sometimes joins in with them when he isn’t busy. 

[kusanagihaku]

anyway thinking about haku again,,,,,

his artefact is the flute - it lays spirits to rest. the power of artefacts don’t have to have anything with their stigmas (see: ritsu bopping people on the head with his thickass book).

his family-inherited abilities include seeing spirits and ? laying them to rest.

the chancellor uses him as an examiner to test other ghouls’ stigmas. by holding their hands, he’s able to ? ascertain what their abilities are? (what did they do to test stigmas before haku enrolled?)

taiga also said haku can also (try to) resolve curses if he has access to the anomaly. maybe his stigma has something to do with seeing someone’s supernatural history, like their curses (and their demonic pacts) -> understanding how it has affected them -> knowing how to solve it -> actually solving it, if he has the means to do so?

(which makes sense with one of the theories that he used to be in clementia before the clash and his transfer to hotarubi? understanding how something is cursed can help him exorcise things, after all?)

rui also says haku helped him a lot with advice about his curse early on. accumulated knowledge about curses / supernatural stuff might come about as part of his upbringing, or might be part of his stigma?

if haku’s stigma is something along these lines + the theory going around that your stigma is related to your pact, would haku’s demonic pact then be related to being able to understand and resolve curses?

it ties in almost too well with his family business. did he make his pact because he wanted to help those who came to his family’s shrine for help? did he make the pact because he thought it would help his family’s shrine (given that shrines are in the supernatural business)? was it a last ditch effort to prove himself useful to his family / to prove he wasn’t irresponsible?

given how hard he works for hotarubi (he says in bs-log that hotarubi is understaffed + his official profile says he’s often cleaning up other students’ messes), i refuse to believe his family’s view that he’s an irresponsible heir... if he did make the pact to help his family’s shrine… how much more does he have to do / how much harder does he have to work or how much more does he have to give away before he can live up to their expectations?

[istharoth]

Making 'Dere' list because I've been thinking about this too much.

↪ Frostheim

Jin Kamurai - Oujidere Tohma Ishibashi - Kiredere Lucas Errant - Jendere Kaito Fuji - Bakadere

↪ Vagastrom

Alan Mido - Kuudere Sho Haizono - Teasedere Leo Kurosagi - Sadodere

↪ Jabberwock

Haru Sagara - Kekkondere Towa Otonashi - Yandere Ren Shiranami - Darudere

↪ Sinostra

Taiga Hoshibami - (I CANNOT. I legit don't know.) - Dorodere(?) Romeo Scropius 'Fico' Lucci - Kanedere Ritsu Shinjo - Megadere

↪ Hotarubi

Subaru Kagami - Byoukidere (but instead of the fatal disease, it's his stigma.) Haku Kusanagi - Teasedere Zenji Kotodama - Deredere

↪ Obscuary

Edward Hart - Nemuidere Rui Mizuki - Deredere Lyca Colt - Tsundere

↪ Mortkranken

Yuri Isami - Hinedere Jiro Kirisaki - Nemuidere

For reference: Oujidere - a male character who at first is very selfish and wants to be treated like royalty by their love interest.

Kiredere - a dignified, crisp, and sharp serious side in public, but suddenly becomes deredere and shows a more emotional and overly affectionate side when they are alone with their love interest. 

Jendere - a character who is gentlemanly.

Bakadere - a character who often embarrasses themselves trying to impress their crush.

Kuudere - They are often stoic.

Teasedere- characters who flirt with their love interest in a non-serious way to playfully tease them at first, but then eventually adopt a more openly loving side.

Sapodere -  a character who has a sadistic personality

Kekkondere - a character who wants to get married to their love interest right away.

Yandere - A yandere is often sweet, caring, and innocent before switching into someone who displays an extreme, often violent or psychotic, level of devotion to a love interest.

Darudere - character who is very lazy and acts tired every time.

Dorodere -  a character who acts cute and sweet on the outside, but is deeply disturbed on the inside

Kanedere - characters who are only attracted to their love interest if they have money, status, or any other resource that will benefit them. 

Megadere - They see their love interest as absolute perfection and will spend their time admiring them.

Byoukidere - a character who is kind, affectionate, gentle, and deredere at heart but suffers from a serious illness.

Deredere - A character who is lovestruck and does not hide their romantic feelings towards their love interest

Nemuidere - characters who spend much of their time sleeping, but are very sweet towards their love interest when they are awake

Tsundere -  an initially harsh personality who gradually reveals a warmer, friendlier side over time. 

Hinedere-  character who has a nihilistic world view and at first appears to have a very negative, apathethic, and cynical personality, but is actually very caring, loving, and deredere on the inside. 

[yuri-is-online]

Reading the Room at a 5th Grade Level: MC's Curse and Taiga's Memory Issues???

Hi. My name is Yuri and I am an idiot. You see, when I downloaded Tokyo Debunker and I saw what happened to the MC I was confused. "Why did everything go red?" I asked myself. "It's like we were in another dimension!" I unhelpfully said at some point probably. Well I finally googled the name of the station the MC said "was not her usual stop" and guess what? I should have done that way fucking sooner because it's related to a Japanese urban legend, much like Takeru in Episode 2. And helps me with what I noticed yesterday while I was re-reading the Hotarubi episode.

This post contains spoilers for Hotarubi's Episode, viewer discretion is advised.

When the MC is contacted by the spirit who allegedly curses her she is riding the train home from a concert. She receives a text message from someone with a spider lily profile picture, in English their user name is "Mina." Before we are confronted by Mina, the conductor announces that the train's next stop is Kisaragi Station, a station that dear reader, does not exist. It's also extremely famous! But I am not smart or up to date on horror things so I didn't know (⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄) so sorry if this is all stuff you guys already knew.

Kisaragi Station

The original post about Kisaragi station was, as best I can tell, made on a site called 2chan, which is a Japanese anonymous forum. I was able to find a post about it on r/nosleep from 2019 which claims that people started posting about it on reddit in 2010, and another post on Quora translating a thread that was posted to twitter. There are a few common themes to the urban legend, but there are three I find particularly relevant to our situation.

The station is believed to be on the border of our world and the "other world." It is possible to leave the station, we will get into how in a moment, but attempting to leave it by following the train tracks will get you killed. Especially if you attempt to cross through the train tunnel, that will take you across the point of no return. The original post describes hearing the sound of drums and bells, similar to a Japanese festival, that get louder the closer you get to the tunnel. Accepting rides from people in the vicinity of the station will also kill you. Cell service is active in the area, but you aren't able to find location information and people will not be able to find you. The anomaly on the train we see isn't tied to Kisaragi Station as far as I can tell, and I have been combing through various yokai to see if I can find anything like it but so far I haven't had much luck.

Back to how to leave the station, you have to light something on fire. Specifically something that causes smoke. Paper seems to be the most common suggestion. It's a small detail, but since the game starts with us seeing the school on fire I thought it was an interesting thing to note.

I added Taiga into the title of the post as in the translated twitter thread, the concept of memory loss the longer you stay in Kisaragi is brought up. We never actually see Taiga leave the station, and the MC only leaves it because Haku does something with his artifact. In Episode 5 Haku says he was not using his stigma to put the children's spirits to rest, implying that spiritual energy adn stigmas are different powers he can use. I am going to propose something kind of crazy at the end of this entire post about Haku, but for now just dealing with the facts presented in game he specifically says he "cordoned off" the area. Does he mean that he took the train to Kisaragi station? Or was MC always going there? And if he was the one responsible for doing that then uh. How did Taiga leave the station and get back to Darkwick? Was he trapped there and did he wander around for a long time, doing permanent damage to his memory in the process? Or am I over thinking this and he lost track of the anomaly and lit something on fire so he could leave. I like the idea of him lighting the station on fire and the ghosts asking him to leave, but that's probably not what happened lol

Red

When the train reaches Kisaragi Station in game, the color pallet swaps to red. Much like it does in Episode 5 when MC receives a certain visitor:

We learn later on that this is Zenji, and that Zenji is dead. MC seems to be reacting to his presence and I would like to think that the color choice is deliberate. If we go back to Episode 2, Takeru only has light amounts of red shading around him in his comic panels, when he kills the streamer and when Alan beats the shit out of him are two that immediately come to mind. Interacting with him does not turn the world red like interacting with Zenji or Kisaragi Station does, further strengthening Leo's conclusion about him being a Talupa and not a ghost as this red tint seems to be used for when MC is interacting with the spirit world. Which I am once again asking, how did Taiga get home from Kisaragi Station? Did he carjack a Taxi ghost?

This raises some questions about the anomaly that cursed MC. Is it a ghost and is it something unique to Japan? And if neither of those things are true then why was Haku there? I can think of two reasons for him to be there: the first is if he is there to keep an eye on Taiga for Cornelius/the Institute because Sinostra is on probation but they need him (he was specifically assigned this mission because of how aggressive he is) or it was meant to be a Hotarubi mission because it fit their criteria but Haku couldn't handle it so they arranged for Taiga to come along with him. That last thing is sort of countered by Haku saying that he doesn't think Hotarubi would be able to help with the MC's curse, but he could be lying about that I suppose.

Anyway who wants to hear my really stupid out there reason for why Haku is there-

The Part of the Show Where I do a line of coke Cope

So hear me out, what if Haku's stigma is time travel. So in this post on the subreddit donsaadali suggested that the powers you pick from in the personality test are powers the ring could give MC. I had the thought before that maybe it was a list of stigmas that the various characters had completely forgetting about the time travel line. But it does sort of fit with my line of thinking: make people follow my orders? That's Jin. Elemental powers? Towa. The others: extreme luck, never having to sleep, shapeshifting, and gravity control aren't ones that we have concrete information about but I am tempted to say that "extreme luck" could be Taiga, as turning things into ammo struck me as a quality of his artifact and not his stigma but I'm not really convinced of that. Anyway, if Haku can time travel, he could go back in time, pick up MC, and bring her back to Darkwick even if that's not what happened in the first place and Taiga was the one who brought her back the first time! But why he would do that is lost on me. Well not completely lost, I do think he wants to "help" her but with what and why is not something I have a theory on just yet.

To be clear, that was just me spitballing. I do not really think that Haku's stigma is time travel, there isn't enough evidence for me to think that. I do think that if there is a timeloop going on he is probably aware of it, but again. I don't know why.

Sources

Translated original post (x)

The above post also has a youtube video linked at the top if you want an audio version of the post and some other train related stories

Translated Twitter thread (x)

Shitty r/nosleep post (x)

[internals1ut]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ᴘʀɪsᴏɴ ᴀᴜ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

I recently got back into Nanbaka and with my recent QnA in my server ( btw you should join my server linked on @internalscream1ng carrd just saying 👀).

I would like to take this time and share some thoughts here in this little AU forming in my head.

Please lemme know if you want me to talk about this au more on the account!

( # tkdb prison au)

.・゜゜・ Prisoners vs Guards

Guards: Jin, Tohma, Lucas, Kaito, Sho, Haru, Ren, Haku, Rui, Yuri, Nicholas

Prisoners: Mido, Leo, Towa, Taiga, Romeo, Subaru, Edward, Lyca, Jiro, Hyde

Zenji used to be a guard for the prison, but due to an accident of a clash, he passed away

Ritsu isn't a guard but he is also not a prisoner. He is actually a lawyer who sometimes visits the prisons to try and build a case for the prisoners.

.・゜゜・ Little Facts:

Kaito is like one of those jumpy shy guard who isn't really good at his job but he is trying.

Lyca was falsely accused but was thrown into prison before the case was solved.

Edward has his own little space due to being an all powerful vampire, he is in one of those jackets to stay wrapped up and can't escape, has a mental bar in his mouth to avoid any biting incident.

Leo tries to flirt his way to get what he wants, Sho says no

Yuri is a guard, but he is more of a doctor and has a one sided rivalry with Nicholas who is another doctor. Again Nicholas is more of a doctor than a guard.

Lucas was a transfer guard from an old prison to work under Darkwick now.

All Prisoners wear a collar on their neck that cancels out their stigmas so that they can't use it to try and escape.

Ren is definitely a lazy guard on the job who is always being nagged on by Haru about working.

Now who wants me to write nsfw of this au?

[aayakashii]

Leaving the fact that apparently Towa and Haku talk a lot about MC aside, it's interesting to me how Towa is able to see ghosts without an outside aid.

I honestly feel like among all characters, Towa is the most explicitly inhuman. His eyes look like a goat's, he is only able to talk during the night and he seems to have very loose morals (which could be attributed to a worldview largely different from our own – much like Fae have wholly different morals as well).

We usually assume he has the power to control the weather due to him being able to use lightning, but what if his actual ghoul power is something entirely different (´- `ก).｡ we've never heard him say his spell out loud and, if he is actually UNABLE to speak during the day (if it isn't his choice to be nonverbal), then his stigma probably isn't related to him being able to control the weather – if I'm not mistaken (please tell me if I am!!!), the ghouls have to say their stigma out loud for it to work, so his inability to speak during the day would render him incapable of using that specific power...

This is all pure speculation on my side though and I'm not sure about the whole having to say the stigma's name out loud thing, since Subaru's stigma apparently works without his will, just by touching someone.

But anyways! During the quiz section in the beginning of the game, Professor Hyde asks which power would we prefer and, in there, both elemental powers and gravity control are included. The gravity thing is Haru's, but what if the elemental thing isn't Towa's

It has been discussed already how most of these powers can be attributed to a specific ghoul and how it influences which house you'll be appointed to, so it's a bit weird to me how there would be two options related to Jabberwock in this question (although Taiga could either be Extreme Luck or Time Travel......... allegedly lol)

Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I just think Towa is a very interesting and mysterious character and it's good that he likes MC so much, otherwise they'd have a real hard time going against someone as fickle as him 💀

[ghoulspaw]

WELL ! FINISHED EPISODE 8

⚠️spoilers under the cut⚠️

Won't get too much into details bc its late im sleepy and i cant formulate elaborated think pieces, but idk exactly how to feel about this episode???

I enjoyed it a lot!!! Sinostra are so FUCKING HILARIOUS jdhdjdhd😭😭😭 (taiga the mvp for me this episode) so i didn't feel bored at all. My only issue ? is that it felt way too short and the ending was too abrupt ????? Or maybe is just the feeling after binge reading lol it felt more like a "bonus" episode rather than a full one like the previous episodes (maybe it is intended to be this way?)

But there's definitely more things to discuss and analyze mainly about taiga and romeo's relationship, romeo's past !!!!!!, YURI'S !!! (vibrating at the fact the yuri ex frostheim theory might be true)), taiga's memory, HAKU'S STIGMA?!?!??!!, and all that sketchy thing going on with hyde........

BUT YEAH!!! cant wait to wake up tomorrow and read everyone's opinions and theories cause we got more GOOD FOOD

(Bonus: i love the mc becoming a little more sassy in the reply options LMAO yess talk back queenie 💋)

[potatotrash0]

tokyo debunker spoilers + spy theories

i’m really hoping kaito isn’t the spy bc i think i would actually cry but it seems kinda likely seeing as he’s the odd one out in frostheim (king, bishop / advisor, knight, and archer??) and we’ve yet to see his pact fully in action apart from that one scene in the prologue. plus i feel like taiga saying “are you gonna let him keep fooling you” implies that the spy is really close to us? and the best friend to traitor pipeline is sooooo predictable. also there’s the odd mystery of his pendant which gets a few comedic mentions, but that seems like a very major part of his character to leave only for jokes.

on the other hand i’m squinting at luca and haku so hard i’m practically blinking. but haku is almost too shady and i think being the exchange student is enough of a gimmick for luca. there’s something off about tohma as well but i can’t name anything other than “he’s just got the vibes” so i’m putting him on the back burner.

also i still don’t trust subaru. i’m sorry there’s just something about that guy which seems too nice for me. i just can’t believe that his big scary secret was that his stigma is………SLIGHTLY different from what he said it was. like. buddy. you’re joking with me there’s gotta be something else. you committed murder or something idk. you’re just too clean.

i’m also thinking. what if the spy is one of the staff? like wouldn’t it be funny if we were suspecting all the students and then BAM cornelius pulls out a gun and just shoots someone lmao. i’m kinda looking at dante too bc he’s supposed to be dead as hell but idk. maybe it’s hyde.

or maybe i’m off and it’s just one of the obscuary guys. it could be rui honestly. i wouldn’t be surprised but how would taiga know about us having met rui. unless that rumor about him knowing the future is real. would also put some odd foreshadowing behind him saying “let it all burn to the ground.” like sir. what do you mean. come back and explain.

it would be really obvious to make the spy ren bc he’s got nothing else going on but isn’t that the fun of him. like he’s just some fucking guy. he just wants to watch shitty horror movies and play mmos in peace, do we really need to complicate him? sometimes haters just gotta hate

[danieyells]

Is it just me or does Taiga's memory often seem to be shown lapsing when/after he's eaten?

When he's hungry or eating raw meat the pc's pointed out that he doesn't seem right. His expression changes and he seems kind of not all there. He's shaky and stiff and moves in a strange way.

And we know that stigmas/becoming a ghoul can come with negative side effects(like how Subaru gets exhausted if he uses his stigma, intentionally or not) so it's possible/probable that his need to eat raw anomalous substances and his partial memory lapses are related--most likely triggered specifically by eating raw anomaly meat or consuming blood specifically.

On the other hand his memory's not totally or permanently gone. He remembers Romeo, Jin, Hyde, Haku, Ed, Haru, and Rui--and if I were to wager a guess he probably remembers all of the third years and faculty who've been here since he started. He remembers the PC and even Ritsu more over time, and he remembers that Ritsu was suspicious of him the day before despite not remembering who Ritsu was in the first place. . . . Plus now and then he forgets things he was literally just told(like that the pc came to his room to get paperwork signed.) So the bad memory could be unrelated to eating or his stigma or anything at all. . .it just seems like it's come up a few times when he's eating. He eats and he gets weird and doesn't remember things.

I've seen some suspicion that Taiga's memory issues are new, but I feel like Romeo would've said something if so. On the other hand, they rarely see each other lately and have been in conflict for a while, which may influence it--and Romeo also said that Taiga doesn't hurt humans anymore but Ritsu has the audio of him threatening and chasing someone who owed him money in Sinostra, so Romeo may not realize just how much Taiga's up to and just how far gone his brain is. . .I dunno. I feel like it's significant enough that it'll be addressed in-game at some point, probably whenever Sinostra's probation is lifted. . . .

[axenyan]

🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Just a very random and self-indulgent headcanon of Tokyo Debunker bois if they were Arknights operators. This is purely my personal opinion, but I'm also open for discussion 👁️👁️👌

I'm putting the references here in case you want to see what class does what.

Race: link

Class: link

Frostheim

🐻‍❄️ Jin (ursus), liberator guard. Bro will afk together with uncle Mlynar.

🐟 Tohma (ægir), dreadnought guard. Orca and dreadnought guard, this is just Skadi 🤣

🐧 Kaito (liberi), deadeye sniper bc bro is strong but has long atk interval.

🐶 Luca (perro), lord guard. I was thinking of giving him dualstrike (swordmaster) guard, but IIRC his stigma creates a shield? Lord guard is known for their ranged dmg, but there is also a lord guard who can kind of "protect" himself (Thorns).

Vagastrom

🐶 Alan (perro), dreadnought guard.

🦝 Sho (anaty), this is tough bc there is no motorcycle as a weapon in AK (yet)... I guess he can go as arts protector defender.

🐈 Leo (feline), geek specialist because I want to see his HP depletes over time that class is just... very Leo. I'm also thinking of ambusher specialist, but I prefer geek specialist.

Jabberwock

🦊 Haru (vulpo), tactician vanguard. He can deploy Peekaboo(s) on the ground.

🐐 Towa (caprinae), splash caster. Bro and Passenger will make thunderstorms.

🦈 Ren (ægir), executor specialist because I know he doesn't like being in the battlefield for too long. Good luck taking all the damages tho 😁 //smacked.

Sinostra

🐯 Taiga (feline), marksman sniper.

🦚 Romeo (liberi), artilleryman sniper. Bro does AoE dmg with his explosion.

🐶 Ritsu (perro), phalanx caster. Was thinking of juggernaut defender (like Penance!), but he looks more like a ranged unit than melee unit. His stigma does make him a defender of some sort, though. Fortunately, there is a ranged class that can also absorb dmg because of how tanky they are when their skill is not active, and that is phalanx caster 😋

Also....lawyer...defend....defende(

Hotarubi

🐓 Subaru (liberi... I use chicken emoji but hes supposed to be a crane jdjdjdjd), charger vanguard.

🦊 Haku (vulpo), decel binder supporter.

🐟 Zenji (ægir), dollkeeper specialist. Bro doesn't retreat when receiving lethal damage, and will be replaced by a "clone." I think he can also be a bard supporter.

Obscuary

🦇 Edward (sarkaz), hm... Thinking of ritualist supporter or primal caster. When I see him, I can only think of elemental damage for some reason 😭

🐶 Rui (perro), reaper guard.

🐺 Lyca (lupo), arts fighter guard.

Mortkranken. This dorm feels arknightsy already 😭

🐹 Yuri (zalak), harmacist-- I mean incantantion medic 😇

🦕 Jiro (vouivre), centurion guard bc bro is swinging a chainsaw around.

[tokutaiseichan]

Ghouls with unknown stigma skills (as of EP7)

- Kaito

- Alan

- Sho (we know the name but i think what it does is still vague? does it simply enhanced his powers, i don't really remember...)

- Towa

- Ren (similar case to Sho)

- Taiga (similar case to Sho & Ren)

- Haku

- Zenji

- Ed

- Jiro

might remembering wrong tho so cmiiw!!

[shiongenkai]

10-13 also i'm in your walls

I have taken this to assume 10, 11, 12, 13 and if thats not what you meant oh well. Its my city now.

10. If you could have one of the ghoul's stigmas, which would you choose?

Based on what we've seen so far. I think I'd want Rui's... that or Yuri's, but I don't think I've ever had a thought in my life so it probably wouldn't help me much www. Rui's would be nice to help others, Yuri's would be nice to help myself.

11. Top five fave characters?

Haru, Towa, Taiga, Romeo, Yuri. Not in that exact order since it depends on how I feel but certainly those five. In sixth place is forbidden Shion Genkai who I have entirely made up and is at this point an OC, so he doesn't count. But he does in my heart.

12. Fave from each house?

(pained sounds of agony)

Kaito, Alan, (the sound of dying) (minecraft damage sound) (auahsahughahaaugauagauhgua) ttttoowa, Taiga, Zenji, Lyca, Yuri

13. Least fave from each house?

oomf don't look

Also for these I don't Dislike any of them. I can and will go insane abt them if you ask. They're just my last choice in terms of 'who do I gravitate towards more at the moment'. This list is killing me. I really want everyone to know that I adore these characters I like them so bad. please ,

Jin, Sho, Ren, Ritsu, Haku, Rui, Jiro

[whatnowgirlie]

Just finished the chapter. I have more thoughts.

HYDE IS THE SPY HYDE IS THE SPY HYDE IS THE SPY or at least a traitor or SOMETHING he's SO FUCKING SHADY WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF

nevermind him having the ghouls wrapped around his finger! He's so fucking shady! WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKK

How many more ghouls does he have working for him? What special assignments are these? I'm pretty sure that's who Taiga was referring to. Either him, or the ghouls working for him.

Was Hyde the one Rui was speaking to at the end of chapter 6? Probably not but idk. Uuuggggghhhhhh WTF DUDE

I trust NOBODY in that Institute. NOBODY. Not that Nicolas would do something bad or whatever but it is clear as day that they are not good at making sound decisions.

Who is Hyde working for?

I was 100% sure Yuri's theories about anomalies and curses and whatnot were bogus but seeing his stigma in action, now I'm not so sure. Maybe they do have some truth do them. Who knows.

I was annoyed for the most part by his arrogance but seeing as how fucking INCOMPETENT Darkwick is at handling anything (information, anomalies, you name it) I kinda get where he is coming from, ngl

Hotarubi is the best house and I will fight you on it if necessary

Seriously Haku is such a sweetie I love him

They are all so fucking supportive

Jin also gets brownie points

Did you guys also get the feeling that the ghouls legit care about MC? Cuz I totally did. Ed was hella sweet at the end, he gets brownie points too

Like, seeing everyone being shocked and also worried was really cute. Poor MC, being manipulated by the Institute. Good thing she has them ghouls behind her. Except for Taiga. I'm pretty sure he just doesn't remember her tho.

I also really think the tree represents Darkwick's health. I wonder what the yellow fruit is supposed to stand for. Something got better, but then it got worse. Is it MC's health? Is it possible futures? Is it relationships? So many possibilities!

Anyways. I'm hooked. I wanna see where this story goes. I'm sorry I can't go much deeper rn, I got a rly bad headache life really sucks today but heyyyyyyyyyyyyy I'm curious to know what u guys think!!!!!!!

I have chapter 7 thoughts. I haven't finished it yet and these are like, surface thoughts but I needed to write them down somewhere, so here we are.

Hyde is shady AF. What was that whole exchange with Dante? They studied together? WHERE?????????????

I don't like the campus store clerk. He's too intense and friendly. Ever since he first showed up I'm like hmmmmm mm something here doesn't add up

I really think the friend who left Jin's side is Yuri.

Yuri is so... Ugh. I kinda wanna slap him. Where does all of that come from? And I feel like professor Nicholas just let's him be? Kinda like how you entertain a child's thoughts while the grown-ups do some work.

The Mortkranken ghouls are sooooo fucking disconnected from what goes on in the campus. And that's not good. Or conducive to good research imo. They're so out of touch it infuriates me for some reason. Idk.

I really wanna know what's up with that tree, guys.

Anyways. Further thoughts might come still, theories welcome, thanks.