#like i figure the games try not to reference back to previous ones too specifically for fear of alienating people but come on XD

[gwydionae]

King's Quest V is a genuinely gorgeous game I will die on this hill

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

CH2-14 Thoughts

So! CH2-14, huh? This episode has been our longest in the series yet, and it has used that time incredibly efficiently, especially given it is the penultimate episode before our culprit reveal. I don't think there's much to start with, really. Let's jump right into it :D

SWEAR STATISTICS (ch2-13)

BINGO CARD

Nico

DT-Dev needs to stop drawing Nico so handsome when they're in the middle of killing someone. this has happened twice now, I am very concerned.

Nico is probably the character I have the least to say about overall, but I still think it's fair to start with them. For one, we finally got the reveal of Nico's true murder plan! I...still personally do not understand why they didn't just garrote the man from the beginning, but it's nice to finally have some answers. Nico confessing to not trusting anyone in the killing game as well as their whole speech later on is honestly very based, if I was in their shoes I'd probably not see the point in pretending to be guilty either, and I really do think it was the most mature way to respond to this situation as a whole. Nico is probably one of the more logically-driven in the cast (when Ace isn't up their ass, anyway), so it makes a lot of sense to me that this is the conclusion they'd come to.

(x) Nico: I… I just can't stand being treated like that. My teachers, my classmates, my father… I don't ever want to relive what they did to me.

Furthermore, we also learned that their father was also in on the abuse and transphobia they received, and this combined with how Levi talked about his father in the previous episode, it's just daddy issues across the board huh? Guess DT-Dev had to make up for J's mom angst somehow lmao. But in all seriousness, the fact that Nico more than likely had no one be there for them during those times is probably part of why they drifted more towards animals, besides the fact that there's no social rules with animals. (...has anyone put alien blues by vundabar on a nico playlist? I'm getting sidetracked.)

There is also a lot I could say about Nico's predominant male figure subjecting them to such treatment and how that relates to their relationship with Ace and Ace in general, but I'll leave that for a future post. All I'll say for right now is to look up VeryWellMind's page on toxic masculinity and observe how many points relate back to Ace :3

(x) Nico: I don't expect you to forgive me. Very few people ever do. So I don't see the point in acting sorry.

The last thing I really want to mention when it comes to Nico is this line, specifically the bolded text, because... am I wrong to think this is a very strange thing to say in the context of talking about your attempted murder? I've seen people say that this could be in reference to Nico's blunt way of speaking, but I feel like that doesn't fit in with this context, and the wording itself feels too dramatic for that to be the case. I feel like Nico has resorted to violence against their bullies before. I don't think it ever got as severe as the situation with Ace, but if only a few days of abuse caused Nico to choose violence, I think its almost a guarantee that they resorted to violence a few times during the years they were abused by their peers. Would certainly explain those weird ass bandages around their upper arms. anyway Nico, I adore you very much despite your bullshit murder plan. can't wait to see where you go :) (also is it fair to say that the theories of literally anyone else committing Ace's attempted murder are de-confirmed now? Like I don't think you could get a greater confirmation than the first thirteen minutes of this episode lmao)

Hu

...Oh yikes. So I have defended Hu on a few occasions, talking about how she is just defending Nico and that her behavior towards them is completely normal. And I think I must take advantage of my minimal gag reflex and gulp down that L because lord have fucking mercy.

First and foremost

(x) Hu: You’re trying to paint them as the villain just because they lost their temper at Ace once!

(x) Hu: If Arei died of a stab wound, it would be wrong for me to say you did it.

Both of these lines were fucking crazy of her lmao. Absolutely nonsensical, she is so annoying /affectionate

Second and secondmost, Hu so clearly projecting her own emotions and feelings onto Nico so that they can look weak and small and thus have to rely on her and clinging onto that perception when it continues to falter is so fucking delicious. The way I worded that makes it seem like I think Hu is being malicious, I do not, but also that is literally what she is doing, and furthermore it is not working. This episode alone brought Hu in my mind to a high-c tier, to a high b-tier because there is nothing I love more in this world than fictional women being awful. And now that I have that all typed out, I can't help but realize that this sounds very familiar...

Oh! That's right!

...Man Hu, I get that it's across the color wheel, but you really like to foil with people in red. Yeah, I think that Acevi and Huco are meant to be parallels of each other relationship wise. Both of them feature someone (Ace and Hu) projecting a certain identity onto a stranger (Levi and Nico) to satisfy their own emotional needs and their reactions when those fantasies crumble beneath them. The dynamic between Ace and Hu is so delicious to me and I think should be explored more in the fandom. Not just because they somehow manage to give divorced spouses vibes despite one of the two being gay, but because I think the way that they foil, how they are different in contrast with how they're similar in typical DRDT fashion, adds so much to both of their characters and their relationships with the others. And I'm also glad that I at least have two more, count-em two, more parallels between Nico and Levi. I will keep spreading my Levco agenda until the day I die.

Okay but, though I've kind of been taking the piss out of Hu during this section, I do actually feel very bad for her. Especially if Eden is the culprit, because Hu and Eden have shown to be close on multiple occasions, and I could not imagine witnessing the gruesome execution of someone you love after pretty much dealing with two betrayals back-to-back. And I guess since we're here I should clarify that I do not think Hu, or anyone else except the two suspects we land on in this episode, are responsible for Arei's murder. Third Party Theory seems to hinge entirely on the idea that someone other than Nico attempted to kill Ace, and as I've said before I don't think that's the case. And given the fact that we have at least 40 minutes left of the overall case, I can't really see a way from a writer's perspective to throw in such a major final twist with an entirely different character without it feeling rushed. I'm sure DT-Dev could pull it off, but just on concept, not sure how it could work and also if Eden really is the culprit, Hu is 1000% going to try and take her place as the optimistic mood-lifter, and I need to see that outside of my imagination

There isn't much else for me to add, really, part from the fact that I am very excited to see how Hu's character progresses and how her relationships with the cast progress. ... ...hey can we count Hu and Nico as toxic yur--

Ace

Funny thing, I originally was not going to give Ace his own section in this post. But I decided I would anyhow for two reasons 1. Ace is a very fun character to analyze And 2. I get to once again talk about how much of a fucking liar this man is lmao

(x) Ace: Who’s gonna stick up for me, huh? No one. Because I have a spine and I don’t need other people to lie to me constantly to keep me happy.

[Pictured: Doesn't need other people to lie to him constantly to keep him happy]

(x) Nico: What else should I say? Ace: W— "What else should I say"?? Ace: You tried to murder me. You fucking tried to murder me! And after all's said and done, you can't even say something as simple as "sorry"?!

I love this jockey the best when he is gaslighting himself. We obviously know that Ace does, in fact, need people to lie to him to keep him happy. And I don't just mean that in the context of Levi and Nico. Ace has a very antagonized view of everyone in the cast

(x) Ace: -but now they apparently also have a fucking defense brigade to shield them from even having to think about the fact that they're a murderer.

the only person defending them was Hu

And that view of his classmates, to me anyway, is very intentionally cultivated by Ace himself. He is very aware that how he's behaving is wrong, and he is clearly not happy about it

(x) Ace: You think I act like this for fun, and then I go to bed and sleep soundly at night, you dumb piece of shit?

Ace doesn't like the fact that he is being rude to otherwise innocent people, but at the same time, he knows that any of these innocent people could stab him in the back without a second thought, like Levi. So Ace demonizes the cast in his head so that he can emotionally distance himself from them, and as such, will feel less bad about treating them like shit. As a certain indie game that had its nine year anniversary once said: The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.

Ace does need people to lie to him to keep him happy. Which brings me to his role in this whole scene with Nico which just- I love. So much.

It is so, so funny to me that Ace is putting this pressure on Nico to give an apology. And why is that? Ace treats both Nico and Levi in pretty much the same way, incredibly volatile even more so than the rest of the cast. And that makes a lot of sense given his relationship with both characters and how both of them have threatened his safety. But there is one key difference between his interactions with both of these people

(x) Levi: Ace, I already said— Ace: "Sorry" won't cut it. You know that's just a word you say, right? You think that saying two syllables is going to make me forget how you acted yesterday at that trial?

(x) Ace: You tried to murder me. You fucking tried to murder me! And after all's said and done, you can't even say something as simple as "sorry"?!

With Levi, he repeatedly denies and mocks his apologies. With Nico, it's almost like Ace wants them to apologize to him. But why is that? Ace certainly cares less about what Nico thinks compared to Levi, so why does he necessarily care whether or not Nico apologizes to him? You could say it's because the severity of what both of these people did to Ace, but to me personally? I think Ace just wants this all to end. Nico's murder attempt on him, the scar it left him, it was the perfect kick in the ribs to everything Ace had become since the events of Chapter 1. It confirmed to him that not only was his fear that everyone is out to get him, that he's going to be next after Xander and Min, completely justified to have. But also that his efforts to appear tough and threatening to prevent that fear from becoming reality were not only null, but thrown right back in his face.

(x) Ace: You know… Heh. I've always wondered which is worse, dying young or living a long shitty life of suffering. But it turns out neither of those options are as bad as this.

He is currently at his lowest possible point. At this point, the least that he wants is for Nico to provide him with some form of closure, so that he can put that moment where his guts were spilled on the floor to rest. But Nico isn't providing him that closure, they refuse to. And with Ace now being suspected for Arei's murder, regardless of if he survives this chapter or dies with it, I think he is finally going to break down. That hidden quote of his is fast approaching. I already know.

Rose

Rose is a character that, though I love dearly and believe she is one of the most strongly written of Despair Time's cast which is saying a lot, always somehow manages to fade into the background for me. But this episode bringing her to the forefront and giving us some extra character development from her is something I loved a lot.

For one, her clear and open betrayal towards Nico's actions was very upsetting to me, especially when you take into account that Nico asking Rose to teach them how to paint was probably the first time Rose has ever been asked to paint something for someone without a contract involved. I can imagine the idea of it must've been a breath of fresh air for her, and for it to only result in another red string in Nico's murder plan had to have been crushing.

But what's possibly even more crushing is her monologue after David gets frustrated with her, because...

(x) Rose: I know I'm supposed to remember everything. I know I'm supposed to be smart. I know I'm supposed to be helpful. Rose: Yet I'm not. Rose: I… I'm sorry for being useless. Maybe if I tried harder, if I just got over myself—

Wow this woman really does see herself as a commodity that only exists to be used by other people, doesn't she?

Something I've always appreciated about Rose's character is how it commentates on the subject of big corporations seeing art as content instead of something that was the product of someone pouring their heart and soul into a canvas. And how that mindset kills the desire for artists to create. And it is so fascinating seeing how that mindset reflects how Rose sees herself as a person.

She's one of the few characters in the cast that I can never really get a read on when it comes to where her character arc could be going, but I am very excited to see where DT-Dev takes her, even more-so with this development.

Teruko

I am like, 9999% sure this sprite is the first time she has smiled throughout this entire chapter. I am so happy for her.

Teruko, as always, stays being Best Girl™, and I absolutely adore the development given to her as well. Her realizing that her attempts to over-correct by isolating herself and not receiving help from anyone not only resulted in her getting hurt, but those around her getting hurt as well. And the fact that that's what leads her to coming to this conclusion really goes to show that, despite everything, she cares about these dumbfucks so much. And this is only taken further by her decision to trust Eden despite (HOW I INTERPRET IT) already knowing that Eden is a more likely culprit than Ace. She is choosing to trust her, regardless of if she'll regret it. And I honestly think that, regardless if Eden is the culprit or not, regardless if Teruko backslides, I think the fact that she got the courage to trust Eden at all is going to stick with her. I don't really have much else to say, really. Uhh... Teruko and Rose were kinda fruity this episode, I dunno.

David

[Sighs] This man provides us with a new headache every single episode and I love/hate him so much for it. So like...basically everyone else who watched this episode, I was confused as fuck watching whatever the hell David was pulling for the last 18 minutes of the episode. But now that I have time to think about it, I think I have a pretty stable idea. So, let's get into it.

Firstly

(x) David: Because I'm actually the first person to see the body.

Now, most people are immediately brushing this off as David lying to fuck things up again. But I think that a lot of people are forgetting two things 1. David is not a compulsive liar. He doesn't just tell lies for no/little reason behind them. The lies that he tells all have reasoning and inner logic to support them. 2. There really isn't any evidence suggesting that he couldn't had seen Arei's corpse before everyone else.

So though this point is mostly speculation, I think that David is telling the truth (sorry if this seems like an asspull, there is literally five more hours until the next episode comes out I need to speed things up)

But that's not really what I want to talk about in this section anyway, it's everything that comes after this that I want to talk about.

(x) David: All I want is for Teruko to distrust others.

...So. I think David is lying off his ass when he says that this is why he is doing this. And my reasoning for why I think that is pretty simple... Why would he care?

Like, yeah given the fact that David more than likely has Teruko's secret, he has every right to suspect that she might be affiliated with the death game, and also probably wants her dead. But...what does that have to do with Teruko's distrust in others? Not much. I think this sentence is David lying about why he is doing this to keep his true intentions underwraps. But what are those true intentions?

I can answer that pretty easily as well. David's whole argument in this part of the episode is the idea that Eden is not exempt from being the culprit. He suspects that she is the one behind Arei's murder, and I don't think that's helped by the seed planted in his head by Arei that even Eden must be responsible for the harm of someone. And well...I think we know how exactly David feels about the culprit behind Arei's murder

(x) David: Ahaha. It's just so foolish. David: For someone to take advantage of Arei like that… David: It's absolutely unforgivable. All she wanted was to change. David: What a reprehensible person this killer is. I look forward to seeing their painful execution.

And that leads me to what I think David is truly trying to do here: I think he is trying to get Eden voted for.

That is why he wants Teruko to believe him, and is using her trust issues against her to do so. He's seen the first trial, he saw how Teruko was able to convict Min as the culprit and convince the others to vote for her too. He wants her to do the same thing again, but for Eden. Really, it's a win-win for him. If Eden is the culprit like he suspects, then he gets to witness the unforgivable culprit get their just deserts. If Eden isn't the culprit, then everyone ends up getting executed. Which is, y'know, that other thing he really wants.

That's my personal theory on what David was trying to do here. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. I love you, Mr. David Chiem. Please keep being confusing.

Eden

...So yeah, if you've been paying any attention to this post, I do still think Eden is the culprit. I also think during the scene with her and Teruko she is very desperate and wants to live and as a result, may have sipped a small tiny bit of the manipulation juice. But I will get to that in a bit First of all though, I absolutely loved the scene with Teruko and Eden. There is something about all of their scenes that just resonates with me in a way I can't describe, and this one is no different. The way it is shot, with the half-and-half and then the closeup on both of their expressions, and the fucking HUG CG? Luucarii and Zel both did an amazing job bringing the scene to life with their voices, and the choice to use the same OST as the kitchen scene in CH2-3 was fucking evil, especially because of what I'm about to say. All around, a fantastically orchestrated and emotional scene, I would expect no less from DT-Dev and their team.

But now it's time to talk Eden!Culprit. This is not something I should have to clarify if you aren't stupid, but I think before I really go into it I should say that I do not think Eden is an inherently malicious character, and I think she feels horrible for what she has possibly done. I also think she wants to live, like every bundle of pixels masquerading as a human. She can feel guilt for her actions and also indulge in a bit of gaslight gatekeep girlbossing. Min already proved that those two things can be simultaneous. With that out of the way... I do think that Eden is slightly manipulating Teruko here. And there is a very big reason why I think that is because of something @thebadjoe pointed out in their theory post

(x) Eden: Teruko, relationships aren't transactional. It's not that I did something good for you that you should do something good for me.

[11 episodes later]

(x) Eden: Please, Teruko… You’re my friend, aren’t you? Eden: Friends help each other…. So please, help me…

...Eden? Darling? I thought you said that relationships weren't transactional. You can't simply change your principles because they're getting closer to the truth. Putting the fact that Teruko never even considered her a friend to begin with on the shelf for right now, these two lines from Eden directly go against each other. Saying that relationships aren't transactional, and then saying that Teruko should help her because she's her friend. I think Eden knows that she is basically backed into a corner. There is no evidence suggesting that she couldn't had done it, and David is turning the tide in a way that is leading others to begin suspecting her. And just as Arei said...

(x) Arei: -you're pathetic and weak, and you always need to rely on others to get by.

Eden's is too overcome with emotion to defend herself properly, so she comes to Teruko to defend her for her. And when Teruko initially refuses, she becomes desperate. Using their relationship so that Teruko will believe her and trust her.

I don't think Eden wants to do this, but I don't think she knows what else to do, and is terrified and just wants this trial to be over. Even if it means treating her and Teruko's relationship like it's transactional. And Teruko, ultimately, gives into this idea.

(x) Teruko: Don’t… get me wrong. This isn’t out of kindness or pity or anything else. This is only because you helped me in the last trial.

(teruko is most likely simplifying her thought-process, I think she does genuinely care for eden and wants to trust her. But the idea of relationships as transactions isn't one inherently new to her, so I do think this is partially the truth.)

And I think the fact that Teruko does agree to help Eden is why Eden goes in for the hug. This is where we take that point of "Teruko never agreed to be friends with Eden" off the shelf

Eden knows that Teruko is choosing to not be her friend, despite considering Teruko as a friend. But I think in this moment, Eden thinks that Teruko finally considers her as a friend, someone she is willing to extend her hand to. And even if this day is her final one, I think Eden will appreciate forever.

Extra Thoughts !! - TERUKO SAID IT!! SHE SAID THE WORD!! THE T WORD!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT FROM HER!! another one to cross off the bingo card babyyyy - that aside, as always the voice work for this episode was fucking phenomenal. I already mentioned Luucarii and Zel's performances, but Swords and Arakachi did amazingly too. Such an amazing frosting on top of the already great storytelling.

(x) Eden: Arei is… She could have been my friend! Why would I kill her??

- maybe I'm reading too deep into it, but I honestly think this is the closest we've gotten to direct confirmation that Eden thought Arei was full of shit when she said she wanted to change. Like...she literally corrects herself. Why the fuck did she correct herself. - this isn't something I usually compliment, but the music-choice in this episode was amazing as well. Every song chosen suited the situation and the rising tension, and all of them were fucking bops. - I also adored the new sprites, as I always do. Especially Nico's

Predictions for CH2-15 - I'll be honest and say I have none. At least other than the obvious, that being that there's 100% gonna be an Ace VS Eden scrum debate.

Conclusion

This episode was a fantastic way to lead into what will probably be the last episode of the trial. I cannot wait to see what's cooking come CH2-15, which is in... [looks at my conveniently placed watch] THREE HOURS?! WHAT THE FU-

UPDATED SWEAR STATISTICS CH2-14

UPDATED BINGO CARD

[capriciouswriter207]

hello! i'm a new dm that's planning to run terrors for a few friends, and i got curious about something reading through - how did you come up with each hermit reference/character? more in-depth things like their exact role, but also some simpler things like coming up with alternative names that aren't just the hermits' normal names spelled differently. everything seems to have its place in here, and i'm genuinely a little in awe of how you've crafted this whole story holy fuck. (and hey, feel free to be as vague and unspecific or as detailed as you'd like! i'm happy either way :D)

Hi, thanks for the question!

Let’s start with the names, because I remember more about that. 

First off: I wanted to have the names start with the first letter(s) of their name (VintageBeef = Varin Bell), or otherwise letters that stand out in their names (Docm77 = Dorias Miro). Those letters was always what I started from.

Also important to me was to disregard the real names of Hermits if they are known. Not doing that.

In a few instances, I tried to keep to naming conventions, with Dwarven and Halfling last names being the most obvious examples: ImpulseSV “Simeon Veinbreaker” and Mumbo “Marlon Joybringer”.

In most cases, I thought about what would sound nice. And in most of those, it was just saying random things out loud. If it sounded a little like it could be a name, I’d further try to finesse it. I’d put (Salaena) Mirrialdestin, Thomiscia, and (Barthes) Debnar in that category.

Some are definitely clear references to the hermits themselves or characters: Tango as (Thaddeus) Holsten, referencing his supercomputer, Welsknight as Garrett Wells for obvious reasons

Looking back, I really seem to enjoy two-syllable last names. That was wholly unintentional.

It was also fun to give relatively normal first names to some characters: Jonas Hyffal, Garrett Wells, Carter Grummins

Don’t know where Soren Tidrostir came from, but I liked it so I kept it

Not all hermits are named, though all hermits who were members at the time of writing it (+TFC) are represented. Three hermits remain unnamed in the module - they show up in the first half in the module. For them, it made more sense story-wise to have no names for obvious reasons.

Melena, and most unrecognizable names in the crypts are fully original characters.

As for hermit references and roles: it was important to me that I didn’t take it too far and that it was still possible for people to spot who I was referencing. From what I’ve seen, people have already figured out completely which hermit is which character, which is what I was hoping for.

It’s been a year and a half since I wrote it, so I don’t necessarily remember all these details. However, I do know I wanted an even spread. I wanted Thaddeus to have had a previous adventuring party. I wanted Hermits across all the levels except the Burning Dark to populate the place a little and to make it fun for people to meet these hermits (even if some are clearly telegraphed as enemies). Specifically for the Black Mines, I wanted traces that folks left behind to make it feel lived in, but also devoid of any type of non-sculk life.Then I also needed enough people in Hermilthan to make the town seem lively enough, despite all the terrible things that have happened. I think I did a pretty good job on that.

Then there’s specific roles that I wanted to assign to certain characters. Thaddeus Holsten is the owner of Deepfrost Citadel. Simeon is the Dwarven blacksmith, Exander Veldt is the mayor. Hal Terris and Xanthos Barian run Horsehead Provisions. Garrett Wells is a knight. 

Most everyone else I assigned based on where I needed or wanted them to be, with the usual pairs not being separated from each other (such as Joe and Cleo). Keralis was an especially fun one to figure out and place into the module (if you know, you know)

Anyways, thanks for the question and the chance to ramble about this, and good luck running the game!

[vind3miat0r]

Hush EA Spoilers.

WOAAHHH OKAY I AM GENUINELY TWEAKING WTF WAS THAT??? /POS

OKAY. okay. a LOT to unpack here holy shit

first off, loving the soft Hush and Doc interactions at the beginning, the babygirl is learning! i love them ahsgajdh and Hush asking Doc to hold his hand :(((

VEGAS REFORMING. oh. wow.

it sounds like Hush only pulled together the parts of Vega from before the Cacophony ended. he has a better(?) view of humans, and he doesnt seem so vindictive of them as of yet

one thing that caught my attention is that Vega said "I am the first-formed of Gravity." he's one of the first demons. i even theorized as much in my last tinfoil hat post (therefore it is my legal right to say "HAH! called it!") that makes the Sovereign's cruelness towards demons even more sad, cuz he knew what they were like before they were evil n shit

another thing that Vega said was that he was the "Anacrusis of his (D'Deridahn's) Phrase." (this is referring to when he's repeating his whole name). again, we already know that "anacrusis" means "one or more unstressed syllables at the beginning of a verse."

i said in an earlier theory that the term "Anacruses" might be a fancy title for old demons. Vega said he's the "Anacrusis of [D'Deridahn's] Phrase." so, i think in some aspects, i was right, but "Anacruses" is more specific: it refers to the first demon created by a Sovereign; the "Phrase" in question being the line of demons created by that Sovereign, and the Anacrusis of that phrase being the first demon. do you see where im going with this?

speaking of lines, Vega said "When you made the Well. When you formed the line."

now, the obvious jump we can make with this is that Hush is the one who created the Elision Well in Aria. we already know from previous audios that Hush was someone else before he was Hush. he maintains that he was created (recently) by the Sovereigns, but Vega calling him "Egregore of the Sovereigns" clearly says that Hush indeed was someone else beforehand

whats interesting is that Vega doesnt say that Hush (or Egregore) is a Sovereign; he says "of the Sovereigns," which is funny because Egregore sounds like a very Sovereign-esque name, not a star's name like a demon's. looks like Egregore is a creation of the Sovereigns too, but what is he? is he the same as Hush, the silence in the spellsong? or is he something completely different, like a lesser Sovereign, or the first demon? could the naming conventions have been different back then? or maybe, its the opposite direction, with Egregore being an angel-type character?

and what is the "line" that Vega refers to? i assume that it has to do with the Well, considering that he says, "When you made the Well. When you formed the line." maybe its the line of yet-to-be-formed demons, lying in wait just beyond perceptibility?? we dont know why demons have kept forming in the Well after the Sovereigns were chained to Death, Avior said as much im sure; and granted, we dont even know how or why the Well was formed in the first place, but we do now know that Hush/Egregore was responsible for it

wrapping this up with YIPPEE THEYRE GONNA GO FIND WARDEN!! THEYRE GONNA GO LOOK FOR MY BABYGIRL!!!! i love Warden sm, they have a special place in my heart augh. cant wait for Hush to show up with their presumed dead situationship and be like "can you fix him 🥺🥺🥺" and for Warden to be like "WHAT THE FUCK??!" need to see them get angry on god frfr

in conclusion, Hush reforms Vega, Vega drops some Hush lore while also being an amnesiac, and sends all the theorizers of the fandom into a tail-spin trying to figure the meaning of the cryptic titles he keeps spitting out. uhhh damn thats crazy. anyways, thank you for coming to my ted talk, and remember: its just a theory (a game theory–)

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 20: Ichnite 🦖

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Ichnite (n.)

a fossilized footprint or track of an animal

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I was a bit concerned about how this one was going to go—I picked this word mostly because I like dinosaurs & how it kinda sounds like “ignite,” not because I knew what to do with it artistically. 😅

But! I think it turned out pretty neat! 😃

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk a bit more about my general thoughts/process. ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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Today's evening post time brought to you by: "I put this word on the prompt list mostly because I like dinosaurs and (not unlike my reasoning for Day 2) I'm amused that it sounds kind of like 'ignite,' not because I actually had any ideas of what to do with it artistically."

And also like...one of the previous days—I can't remember which one and I don't have time to go back and read every description to figure it out—this is one word I think may have benefitted more from my usual mini-magnet approach that the mandala one...But, then again, maybe not. I'm less sure than I was for that previous day, but I do think I'd still maybe like to eventually revisit this one with the magnets and see what they can do with it.

In any case, my biggest worry when I sat down to get started was that I could really only think of 2 distinct images for "trace fossils" like this word describes. And to be clear, that is a little bit of a "my bad" on this one—Technically, the definition is supposed to cover more than just footprint/track fossils specifically and somehow I glossed over that when I put the definition list together; It can also cover things like fossilized burrows or like, fossilized vegetation prints, etc.

I mention that because I tried not to stray too far from footprints and tracks because that was all I covered in the definition, but the two distinct I alluded to a moment ago were: 3-toed dinosaur prints and what I now know are called ammonite fossil imprints—Kind of like the classic swirly-fossil shape you might be familiar with if you've played an Animal Crossing game. [Animal Crossing isn't the only way I'm personally familiar with fossils like that; Somehow they just got buried in the general "fossils and dinosaur things" folder in my brain, Animal Crossing just seemed like an easy reference other people might understand.]

Ammonites are technically, usually ichnites—at least as far as I know, and I'm not a palentologist—but as far as I understand, I don't see why the impression left behind by an ammonite couldn't be considered one. It would be a "trace" of the creature, after all.

Either way, whether ammonites—or imprints they left behind—have anything to do with ichnites or not, I went ahead with the idea anyway because the swirl shape works so well with some "more traditional" mandala techniques, and otherwise I would've been pretty lacking in those here. And I don't know if you Sparklers were able to gather or not, but over the last few mandalas I've noticed how I sorted drifted away from more typical mandala motifs and ideas, and I want to try and drift back towards them.

But I still did my best to make more "proper" ichnites the focus. Obviously, that started with the nice big 3-toed...They're probably not actually to-scale for this, but we'll call them T-rex prints because that's definitely the dinosaur I was thinking of for them. Those served as my starting point that I build the either rest of the mandala around.

You'll notice I fit some human-ish prints inside of the T-rex prints. They're only human-ish because it was a little too cramped for me to get 5 full toes in there and I didn't want to size my brush down to do it at that stage. That said, it's worth noting I hadn't even considered this word might call for barefoot prints when I made the decision to go for shoe prints instead back on Day 15, but I'm definitely thanking past-me for that decision now!

I don't think I necessarily would have had too much of a problem of today and Day 15 feeling too similar if I had still gone with barefoot prints at that time, just because of all the other differences, but it does make me feel better knowing they have that one extra degree of separation between them.

That said, I did still want to re-use the idea of having some footprints "walk around" the mandala because I just think it's a cute one. But to aide the separation even further, I ended up going with something more like—if the chart I found via Google is to be believed and my doodle version retains any integrity to the proper shape—Velociraptor prints. If they don't really look like velociraptor prints, we'll just call them prehistoric bird prints and be done with it. 😆

Although, kind of ironically I think they came out looking a bit like flying bird silhouettes, which I had considered using somewhere on Day 15 but ultimately decided against. [Now I'm thinking that was maybe another good call to help keep this one separate that past-me wasn't even thinking about!]

But before I put the 'raptor prints in, I spent a lot more time trying to fill more of the space with the ammonite-esque swirls I mentioned before. I definitely spent way longer on those than anything else because getting the base swirls just right proved for more difficult that I anticipated—even more so for the ones towards the edge rather than the ones towards the center.

And then I maybe went a bit overboard trying to make the swirls towards the outer edge a little more interesting. In hindsight, I may have overdone them a bit, but after I spent so long on them I very much did not have it in me to go back and try to figure out how to "un-over-do" them. So they are what they are. 🤷‍���️

I did however also decide to fill some space and accent a bit with one other kind of more proper trace fossil—My very simple approximation if what I think were snake trails that I kept seeing pop up in my search for ichnite references. I saw at least a few that really did look look that lines-with-V's-down-the-center that I drew along the outer edge and just a bit in the center.

They also ended up kinda going along with some of the more decorative lines around those outer swirls, which was nice.

Oh, and the line that weaves between the 'rapot prints was both a last-might attempt to just fill more space and also I think is a nice nod to the cracks and crevices I personally associate fossil imagery with.

There was kind of a trade-off in that this was one of the mandalas where I spent a lot of time on the lines, because this was probably the simplest color scheme so far. I just smashed browns and tans like the color of both fossils and the dirt/rock their buried in together and tried to get the contrast to enhance the footprint ichnites in a reasonable way.

I did have a little trouble getting the amount of brightness just right like I did yesterday, but yesterday's was still worse in that regard.

Ultimately, I think I was right to be worried about how this one turned out...However, this is one of the ones that ended up surprising me with the results. 😊 It turned out much stronger than I was expecting even though here are things I'm second-guessing like you more or less heard me mention (and other ones I'd rather not call specific attention to).

This one is also probably helped a bit by the fact that I wasn't in quite the frenzy to finish it that I was yesterday's. 😅

That said, I think I covered everything I wanted to and I've still got to get to cross-posting...And I have no clue what song I'm going to pick for the Instagram post, which will definitely slow me down. 🙃 So I'll leave off here while we all ponder the footprints of the past and hope for a tomorrow that turns out at least as well as these did. 😉

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See the Prompt List

Artwork © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[tsarisfanfiction]

Truth Comes Out of His Well (Chapter 13)

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Family Characters: Lee Fletcher, Kronos, Apollo, Apollo Cabin (and many more) As always, @stereden is responsible for the accompanying podfic! << Chapter 12 Listen to chapter 13 on AO3

It didn't take long for Kronos to start using Tris.

The first time his younger brother was yanked out of the room, Lee panicked, straining at his cuffs and almost undoing all of Tris' hard work in healing his wrists. When Tris was out of sight, when he was left with other demigods, who likely didn't have the same instructions about not causing harm to the younger son of Apollo, Lee couldn't be sure he was okay, that he was safe.

Kronos found it amusing, even as he took his usual perch on the stone outcropping and dropped the silver scythe bracelet, Michael materialising in the faded projection.

If the Roman spy was any more aware of Lee's presence than he had been for any of the previous meetings, he didn't show it, mumbling about war games and weapons the same way he often did. War Games, as best Lee could figure, seemed to be Capture the Flag but more based on subduing the opposition rather than successfully claiming a trophy. The head healer in him cringed at the thought of how many injuries there would be at the end of each game.

At least Capture the Flag tended to involve more disarming than actively injuring – even if the Ares cabin sometimes got a little too enthusiastic.

Unlike the Greeks, Lee got the impression that the Romans didn't know it was Kronos, specifically, that they were preparing to wage war against. Michael clearly knew, given the way he referred to him as Lord Saturn, but the Roman's efforts were all centred on taking down Mount Othrys, and showed no signs of looking further afield for the titan in charge.

Kronos showed no signs of being bothered by that, so Lee could only assume it was what the titan wanted them to try and do, although he doubted that Kronos planned on them succeeding at toppling his throne.

As usual, Michael's report was peppered with small, white lies. None of the big details, but some of his certainty was faked, as though he worried that if he wasn't confident in his reports, Kronos would punish him.

Lee couldn't say he didn't understand the fear, but unfortunately for Michael, he didn't know that Kronos had got his hands on someone who could tell.

Following the same routine that they'd fallen into entirely too many times for Lee's liking, once Michael was dismissed and the bracelet back around Kronos' wrist, heavy golden eyes turned to him.

"I suggest you drop your futile resistance, Lee," the titan said, standing up and crossing the room with loud, sure steps until he was standing by Lee's feet, looking down at him. "You and your ability may be irreplaceable and worth too much to damage, but young Tris is not. But you're a smart young man, Lee. You already know where this is going."

He snapped his fingers, the resulting click loud enough to bounce off of the walls and echo back at Lee. It wasn't one of his jaw-freezing clicks, or one that seemed to have any influence over Lee's body at all.

The approaching footsteps, complete with a hurried set that for some reason clearly wanted to come to Lee's room, suggested that it had been a summons instead.

Alabaster appeared, hauling Tris along behind him, although Tris was doing a good job of keeping on his feet so that Alabaster didn't have an excuse to drag him. It didn't stop him flinging Tris into the room, but Lee's younger brother had clearly been expecting it, because he didn't fall over this time.

He'd always had a good balance. Better than a lot of them. Faded brown eyes glinting brightly in the recently renewed torchlight sought Lee out and found him immediately, and Tris made a desperate dash towards him.

Then Kronos was there, one hand gripping the back of his top lazily and the other wrapping Luke's long, calloused fingers around Tris' throat. Tris froze.

"Not so fast," Kronos drawled. "As touching as your attempted reunion will no doubt be, you're here for a reason." The titan wasn't even looking at Tris, still boring deep into Lee's skull. "The lies, Lee?"

Comprehension crashed over Tris, the one thing Lee hadn't been able to bring himself to tell his brother about. The fact that Kronos was using him as leverage against Lee, to force Lee's unwilling compliance.

The other demigod started to thrash more in Kronos' grip, until the titan sighed and snapped his fingers again. Instantly, Lee's youngest brother froze in place, an artificial freeze this time.

It was the first time Lee had seen Kronos do it to someone else, and the new viewpoint made it abundantly clear what it was. He'd had his suspicions, but seeing Tris' limbs completely immobile, at odds with the way his chest heaved in a way that was completely unnatural, confirmed them.

Kronos was the titan of time, after all.

Bits and pieces of Tris were frozen in time, enough to hold him still with no obvious effort from the titan, but other parts of his body – his chest, some of his face – were still free, leaving Lee with the nightmare-inducing sight of Tris begging him with his eyes.

Whether he was begging Lee to get him out of there, or to not answer Kronos' question, Lee couldn't tell. It didn't matter, either. There was only one thing Lee could do.

"He wasn't sure," he said, each word dropping from his mouth like lead. "He told you what he knew, but he wasn't certain when you asked if he was."

Tris was crying. Lee tore his eyes away from that distressing sight – and the way the tears fell so far down his face then froze once they reached his mouth, the bubble of frozen time not letting them in – and wished he hadn't.

His little brother's distress was one thing. The glee on Kronos' face was another entirely. It was the face Luke made when one of his pranks went according to plan, except instead of there being good-natured fun behind the expression, like the cat that got the cream, it was cruel, like the cat whose prey was finally, finally cornered. It twisted Luke's face a little too much, the scar a savage white line creasing its way along the skin.

"Any other lies?" Kronos pressed, and the thought passed through Lee's mind that he could make more up, claim other things that Michael had said had been untrue. Then he caught sight of Tris again, and remembered how awful a liar he was. Kronos didn't need a secondary lie detector to catch him if he tried, and he didn't know what would happen to Tris if he tried.

It wouldn't be anything good.

"No," he whispered, voice cracking as the word fell from his mouth.

Kronos' triumphant smirk somehow turned even more so. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it, Lee?" he purred. With a snap of his fingers, Tris could move again, and when the preteen writhed in his grip as though he'd never been forcibly stopped, he let go.

Lee ended up with a lap full of quivering younger brother before he could even blink, small and slender hands gripping the fabric of his top, and Kronos eyed the pair of them in clear satisfaction before sweeping out of the room without another word.

The door slammed shut behind him, and Tris started to sob. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he babbled, sniffling. Lee hated that he couldn't even hold him as he tried to tell him he was okay, it was okay. The platitudes sounded thin to his own ears.

Tris was scared. Even though Kronos hadn't hurt him, had barely even threatened him, the fear had finally started to sink in. They were both at the mercy of a titan not known for his mercy, and there wasn't a single thing either of them could do about it except do as they were told and hope for the best. Tris was terrified, and as long as he was cuffed directly to the wall, there was nothing Lee could do to reassure him.

Unfortunately, Michael was just the warm up.

To Lee's relief, Kronos had clearly decided that Tris was going to stay with him, and the first thing Lee did the next time his wrists were released – a bathroom trip – was wrap his little brother up in his arms tightly, not moving until Alabaster made threatening moves in the direction of Tris if Lee didn't do what he was supposed to with his brief freedom.

That came with the downside of Lee no longer being released for anything other than his bathroom trips, and Tris being dragged away from him so there would be no more hugs when that happened. Lee was taller than most of the demigods on the list Kronos seemed to let near him, but he didn't stand a chance of winning a physical struggle to get to Tris. When it was food time, the plate or bowl and bottle were just left in his vicinity, and the only way Lee could eat any of it was if Tris fed him.

His brother always did so without complaint, and it was far, far nicer than when any of Kronos' demigods did it, because Tris actually let him eat at his own pace. Lee still hated it, though, because it kept putting the onus on Tris to be the caretaker, and even though he could do it, his little brother shouldn't have to do it.

It was obviously wearing on Tris, too, seeing Lee so helpless. Every so often, there was more warmth and singing as Tris took it upon himself to keep attempting to heal Lee's weakened wrists and ankles, but while Tris had determination, he didn't have power or experience. He also kept pushing too far, curling up almost asleep with Lee's thighs as a pillow once healing sessions were over, and Lee was terrified that he was wearing himself too thin.

Tris wouldn't hear of not trying, though. Not even when Lee begged him, in tears, to stop. If anything, the display seemed to make the younger son of Apollo more determined.

The next time Kronos visited, silver bracelet ominously in hand and Alabaster a step behind him – Alabaster seemed to be some sort of leader within the army, not the oldest demigod but the one Kronos seemed to let tag along the most – Tris was drowsy on Lee's lap, and there was nothing Lee could do to stop Alabaster picking him up by the scruff and dragging him away.

Tris didn't stand a chance against the older demigod, writhing and spitting like an affronted cat, only to still suddenly as a knife appeared underneath his chin, the tip lightly resting against the delicate skin.

Lee froze, too. "Don't-" he started, and Kronos prowled over to him, dangling the scythe charm like a weapon.

"This is what is going to happen," the titan told him. "You will listen to everything, and say nothing. Communicate nothing. If you give dear Silena any indication that anything has changed…" he trailed off with a careless gesture towards Alabaster and Tris.

Silena didn't know about Tris, Lee realised. She probably knew he hadn't made it back to camp, but she and the rest of the campers would either be assuming that Tris' mom had kept him at home, away from the war, or that Tris had died. After what had happened with him, Lee had no difficulty imagining that if Kronos didn't want camp to suspect he had another prisoner, he would have covered the tracks of Tris' kidnapping well.

That also meant Silena had no idea that Kronos now had active leverage over Lee and had finally got him to cave. Which meant that Silena couldn't trust Lee to not reveal her lies to Kronos, but Lee couldn't warn her of that, because if he did, Alabaster was right there with a knife against Tris' vulnerable throat.

"Do you understand me?" Kronos pressed, and Lee grit his teeth.

"Yes," he said, hating himself for it.

He hung his head as the image of Aphrodite's daughter materialised, his too-long hair long enough to hide his face. It was different to how he usually acted during her meetings, and he knew it, but it was the only way he could trust himself to not try anything, or do anything that either Kronos or Alabaster would interpret as trying something.

There were twin intakes of breath. One was Silena, probably seeing him limp and coming to conclusions of her own – she'd always been open about how she didn't like seeing him chained and helpless as Kronos' prisoner, but given she was still actively working for the titan, that didn't mean much to Lee. The other was Tris.

Tris knew that Silena was a spy. Lee had told him, partly because Tris deserved to know exactly what was going on, and partly because it was a relief to finally be able to talk about it with someone that wasn't going to dismiss him as stupidly sentimental over a betrayal. Tris had only known Silena for two summers, so it didn't hit him as hard as it had hit – still hit – Lee, but Silena was well-liked even amongst the newest kids. He hadn't understood how she could betray them, either.

Knowing wasn't the same as seeing, though, and Lee knew Tris had to be feeling the gut punch of visual proof, even though unlike Lee he was kept out of range of whatever was picking up their images, the same way Lee was always out of range during Michael's reports.

Kronos ignored all the reactions, not even acknowledging them as he began to pry at Silena's report. The campers, emboldened by their success with the coach, were planning more raids. How they were finding out where Kronos' forces were amassing, Lee wasn't certain. Kronos never asked, and Silena never volunteered.

If Lee had to guess, though, he'd point fingers at the nature spirits, who could move around with far more ease and freedom than demigods, and tended to be harder to kill, too.

One planned raid was on a supply line – Lee didn't know what sort of supplies Kronos' army was carrying, unless it was more weapons, or maybe food for the mortals. Old war tactics said that targeting supplies was crucial, though, and Lee could trust the Athena cabin to know old war tactics. The Ares cabin, too, for all that a lot of campers preferred to think of Athena as the brains and Ares as the brawns.

Some of the Ares kids were wicked sharp in their own right, and even the ones that weren't were usually more than dumb muscle. Clarisse wasn't the smartest in her cabin but she had led her forces to victory in Capture the Flag against the Athena-led opposing side enough times to prove that she did have a brain behind the brawns.

Given Silena was saying that it was the Ares cabin that would be heading that raid, Lee suspected it was Clarisse's idea.

Then Silena lied. Just the Ares cabin she said, when Kronos pressed. Just the Ares cabin was planned to go.

It was a clever loophole – planned meant that if it changed last-minute, she couldn't be accused of lying to Kronos. At least, it would have been, if Lee didn't know that Kronos was going to grill him afterwards.

Silena had started playing with fire, perhaps emboldened by her apparent success at her last lie, and Lee wanted to scream because the fire was biting back and she didn't even know, he couldn't even warn her.

The other planned raid was bigger, but also smaller. Camp was thinking big, keeping an eye on the Princess Andromeda, and believed it was the base of Kronos' operations.

They were going to blow it up.

Silena didn't have any issues explaining the plan so far – that it would include Percy, and someone not yet decided (a lie, and Lee carefully didn't let himself think about who Silena would be trying to protect by not naming) sneaking onto the boat with enough explosives to blow it up like the fourth of July. Lee could see her twisted logic for offering up that plan without hesitation – she was still adamant that she was protecting demigods, although Percy seemed to be some sort of exception in her mind, and if she also believed that there were demigods living with the monsters on the boat, which there probably was, she wasn't going to want them to be blown up, either.

"You have done well," Kronos told her, once her report was done. "This information, as always, is valuable to me. I understand that you want to protect those foolish demigods, so as a reward for your service – the demigod that comes with Perseus in their vain attempt to blow up my ship… I will spare them."

LIE.

It zapped down Lee's spine, nerves alight, and it was only years and years and years of not jumping at a lie that kept his head from flying up in horror.

It would have done, anyway, if Tris wasn't there. If Alabaster didn't have Tris at knife point. If reacting to Kronos' hidden declaration that he was going to kill whoever stepped foot on his ship wouldn't get his younger brother killed here and now.

Whoever was going had to know that it was a massive risk. That was the only thing Lee could cling to as tears ran down his face, hidden from Silena by his hair. They'd be on edge and cautious. Experienced, too, if it was a small infiltration party.

They'd have a chance at fighting back, at escaping and not dying.

Tris didn't.

Chapter 14>>>

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 25- Part 12

Now, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted…

Go in there, this specific building.

Now, you probably noticed it back in Peridot Ward, but in this lighting it's a bit easier to see- yes, there's something a bit different about Corey, isn't there?

Yup, this is not the real Corey, it was just an illusion disguise made by a Zorua! Again, I think it would have been cool if I'd gotten to experience this encounter completely on my own, but…I don't think I would have been able to. I don't typically play this game at night to begin with, and I can't imagine a situation where I would have gone into that Beryl Ward apartment building, let alone go to the roof. Unfortunate circumstances, but it can't be helped.

Regardless, same as always- Glare™, Crunch-

Try a Poké Ball-

Nope, okay, how about a Great Ball?

“Mal” is typically a root word referring to…well, “bad.” Malice, malevolent, malignant, etc. Figured it'd be fitting for a tricky little fox who thought it'd be a good idea to impersonate a dead man.

So that's all the encounters we can get right now. Before I create my team, though, I'd like a bit more information about Shade's fighting style. To that end, it's time to head in here.

Imposing on the outside- equally imposing on the inside? We'll have to see. Not that I'm planning on looking around much right now, I just wanna talk to Ame and hear her insight.

On my end, I've been thinking…and I'd say there's yet another layer to Xera's motivation to challenging Shade. Obviously, obtaining her fourth Gym Badge is important, and of course she wants to help Charlotte and the other kids escape through the Railnet. However, there's something else there- I mean, after all…there was someone else there when the Grandview Station incident happened, wasn't there?

Now, we already know why the bombing happened and who did it (Team Meteor messing with the infrastructure and stability of the city again), and it seems like Shade wasn't actually involved, so that's not why Xera would want to have a chat with him. But it's clear Shade isn't exactly…human, there's something more to him. In Xera's mind, he must have appeared for a reason- and that reason could be the answer to the age-old question of “why was I the only other person who survived on that train, I'm not even special, am I”

Now, objectively speaking, it was probably just Xera being lucky enough to be the one Ame was sitting closest to when everything went down. But in-character…c'mon, of course she's not gonna accept an explanation like that right away. It'd be hard enough for most people to grapple with the trauma of being one of two people who barely survived an exploding train, but for it to be due to sheer luck? That'd be hard to stomach too, so I'd say Xera would be looking for some other explanation…one that only Shade might be able to provide. It's not the best coping mechanism, but it's not like therapists exist in Reborn City.

So, in the name of possibly finding those answers, let's head inside.

Oh my gosh- and I thought the Underground Railnet was dark, but holy heck this place is on its own level!

Luckily, I guess the kiosk…has its own power source? Because I can see it flashing in the darkness, so that's something.

Yeah, you could certainly call it that- HEY I SAW SHADE STANDING THERE, YOU AIN'T SLICK.

Oooh, it's the darkness, that's why Short-Circuit Field powers up some Ghost- and Dark-type moves.

Previous

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[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.26 thoughts

[Does Among Us Count as a Puzzle Game?]

...I’m so god damn stupid...”the four of us”, “you don’t want Iroha to end up like Shutan”...it was staring me in the face and I missed it by a mile...I didn’t even have to get to Toshusai asking for Nutaba to be on the team, page one put the pieces into place instantly. Normally I like to go back and reread previous chapters when lines like that come up to try to get an idea of what they’re referring to, but since I’ve been so busy lately, I ended up skipping that step for the sake of finishing the review. I’ll try to be more diligent going forward!

I was right about the structure of the competition, though: Iroha will have a different five-person cell in each match, and the final match will be a three-way battle between the winners of the three matches of the first round. I’m sure Nisio will find some way to twist it around, but it’s going exactly as I expected so far

Also, WOW IS IT OBVIOUS NOW THAT I KNOW THE IROHA HERE IS FAKE! I didn’t notice on first read, but his hair-clips are on the wrong side! Very convenient for cluing eagle-eyed viewers in, but also really sloppy for an undercover agent. Hokiboshi establishes herself as someone you want to see get hers pretty much immediately, and Yugata delivers

I would like to know exactly what Yugata means by people like Hokiboshi being her specialty. I’ll conjecture that she means smug or overconfident people until we know a bit more

When Hokiboshi introduces the puzzle, Toshusai notes that there are 240 possible combinations, which is frankly the single funniest line that has been said in this entire series, at least to me. If you’re not familiar with the concept of Goroawase, 240 can be pronounced “ni-shi-oh,” which is also why Nisio Isin’s insignia is a clock set to 2:40. A cute detail, to say the least

The imagery of Yugata literally shattering Hokiboshi leaves such an impact, I feel like I could actually hear the glass breaking! I hope we continue to get fun visuals associated with the cast like that going forward, I think it’d be a fun artistic spin that could help get readers on board

It also feels a bit more believable that Hokiboshi was traumatized by Yugata solving the puzzle without touching it and only half of the pieces known to her, as that must seem like it’s completely impossible to anyone else. As it happens though, this puzzle lines up with the lipogram battle, as that established that Yugata is specifically skilled with omission-based word puzzles

Backing up a bit, Toshusai’s moment of humility in asking Iroha to let the Toshusai Faction face off against Class E speaks volumes of the gravity of the situation. Of course, it’s well within her established character to do that sort of thing for a friend, as I’ve been referring to her as a Friendship character for the past...ten chapters now? Perhaps we’ll get to see how she became a Friendship character in her backstory

This wasn’t a super dense chapter, so I don’t think I have much else to say here, but I won’t complain about a fast chapter if it’s this exciting! We got to see Class E’s underhanded methods (replacing Iroha, sending in agents to slow him down), we got a clear breakdown of Class A’s factions (very interesting that Iroha thinks Anonymity gets along with Mamushihishimeki, can’t wait to see why), and a hard-hitting moment from Yugata! Short, sweet, easy to understand, and character-rich. Those fools who can’t handle Cipher Academy for being “too wordy” don’t know what they’re missing!

I hope that we’re going to get more insight into Yugata going forward, but the point of this chapter wasn’t for that, it was to make her look cool as hell, and it accomplished that goal with flying colors. I figure Nisio is holding off on delving into her character for later, since she seems likely to be the best Cipher Soldier in Class A holding herself back for Toshusai’s sake, so hopefully CA gets to go long enough for us to get the payoff for her. I anticipate that we’re going to get some real characterization for the rest of the group, though, especially if Kubinashi is explicitly tied to Omomuro and Nutaba’s stories

Still hoping that this arc lights a flame in the fandom, and this chapter really gives me hope! It feels like a more traditional battle manga with Nisio’s characteristically snappy flow, which I think is what would show off the series’ strengths while appealing to a more general audience. Here’s hoping we see some notable improvement sales soon, cus I’d hate to see this series get snuffed out when it’s only getting better and better for me

See y’all next week!

[wreckmetoji]

Dinner’s Served

A fic in which your unconventional roommate has a very irritating friend.

↳ Itadori Yuuji/Reader

content warning. afab reader, mild exhibitionism, overstimulation, unprotected sex, profanity, shameless smut, slight fluff, aged up characters, megumi has to deal with your annoying asses

4.1k words

"No– left, left– shit!" A loud voice boomed through the small apartment that had you pinching the bridge of your nose between your thumb and forefinger. Normally, this wouldn't bother you as much, but the fact is you just came home from work and you needed to study. You hadn't even eaten yet. The realization that you wouldn't have a peaceful study night dawned on you the second you walked through the door of your shared apartment, seeing a mop of messy pink hair over the back of the couch. Megumi always warned you before bringing Yuuji over, but on there occasions he didn't... Really, you only have yourself to blame at this point. Your previous roommate– ever the spiteful witch– left two weeks before rent was due at the beginning of the semester. She hadn't even left so much as a note, so it was quite a surprise coming home to a half empty apartment and the hard realization of I can't fucking afford rent. That was the most stressful week you had experienced, trying to find someone just as desperate as you to find a rentable space and willing to pay their full portion of rent for a weeks worth of stay. You didn't call references, you didn't meet them in person, you just got a text introducing themselves as Megumi Fushiguro asking is this space still available? And that was enough, knowing you'd at least have a girl for a roommate and not some weird creep. When your new roommate showed up with bags in hand, you didn't expect the tall, lean figure that was undoubtedly very man. Suddenly the contact 'Megumi' in your phone became increasingly bittersweet, I thought that was a girl's name echoing in the back of your brain. You didn't mind having a guy for a roommate, as it seems, specifically Megumi. He was respectful, quiet, he cleaned after himself and never delved into your snacks or personal space. Once Megumi had gotten settled enough, he announced he'd have his friend over frequently to do projects and hang out. You, of course, didn't mind that either. What you did mind was how incessantly loud his friend was– Yuuji, he introduced himself. You didn't miss the way his eyes flickered down to the swell of your tank top clad chest, you didn't miss the pink on his cheeks, you didn't miss how he held your hand for a little too long. That was several months ago, so by now the two of you were well acquainted with each other. You were well acquainted with his cheery disposition, how he tried to strike up conversation whenever you were in the vicinity, the way he side-eyed you whenever you stepped into the room. "Yes, yes– NO!" Your fist connected with the wall for the second time that night, standing up angrily from your desk, stomping over to the door and yanking it open. Nearly met with a fist to your face, you yelped, glaring up at the visibly surprised azure eyes. "Sorry. I was coming to tell you I forgot my laptop in anthropology, I need to submit my thesis tonight so..." The way he trailed off had your eyes narrowing. "I'll be back in less than an hour." Megumi put his hand on his neck, something you've learned he did when he's deliberately not telling you something. "Are you gonna take him with you? I can't study like this." "He just ordered food, so he's gonna stay– don't look at me like that." With how far back your eyes were rolling you could've sworn you saw your frontal lobe. An indignant yeah, sure, whatever was muttered under your breath when Megumi apologized, promising again he wouldn't be long. Yuuji was, surprisingly, a bit more quiet now that he was competing against no one but himself in whatever game he brought over today. Only twenty minutes had passed before another knock came at your partially opened door. "What?" You snapped, looking over at the cheery face peeking through, glancing around your room, settling just a little too long on your bed, then looking at you. "Food's here. I got pizza! You didn't eat when you came home, so I thought maybe..." As irritating as Yuuji Itadori could be, he was undeniably sweet as well. A sigh came from your parted lips, stomach grumbling at the prospect of something disgustingly cheesy and greasy to quell the bombardment of information you were trying to cram into your brain. You stood from your desk, catching his toothy grin before he opened the door more for you, retreating down the hall to the kitchen. Following close behind, your eyes skirted over his broad shoulders clad by the loose yellow fabric of his sweater, chewing on your lower lip while you padded over to the stack of pizza boxes. It was almost laughable, Yuuji's expression that of childish wonder as he pried open the top box, you swear you could see his mouth watering. It was when you saw him reaching for a slice that you gave his wrist a gentle slap, his irritated hey making you roll your eyes. "Don't be a slob, let me get some plates." "Fine... get some glasses too, I brought beer." You scoffed, plucking the plates from the cupboard and placing them on the counter in front of you. Reaching up higher, going on your toes, arm stretched out, your fingers barely grazed the glass close to the back of the second shelf. The pathetic tink of your nail against the glass, how it precariously rocked before stilling, made Yuuji laugh from behind you. "That's kinda sad, lemme help." Before you could protest, before you could snap that you're capable, Yuuji had a hand on your hip, his chest pressed against your back, his height dwarfing you as he grasped two glasses by the rim between strong fingers. As if immediately realizing the compromising position, he froze and you swear you could hear him swallow. The feel of him was scalding, it had you leaning forward a bit to try to escape how firm he felt against you, how his heat radiated from him and shot through you, straight to the dull thrum between your legs. Leaning over the counter had you pushing back against his hips, and you had to mentally beat yourself into thinking he's not hard, that's his phone when you heard his breath hitch. It was low, thrilling mutter of your name that had the hairs on the back of your neck standing straight. It was the slow retract of his hand, carelessly setting the glasses on the counter beside the plates you'd retrieved, it was his palm finding home on your other hip and squeezing that had your head spinning, that had your breath quickening. "Yuuji–" You could feel his chest shake when he exhaled, the thrum between your legs making you painfully aware of how good he would look on top of you, forehead glistening with sweat. A strong hand abandoned its position on your hip, slowly, gradually, tracing a line from your hip, around to your pelvic bone, going up, up, his touch getting hotter and hotter the closer he got to your clothed chest. The click of a lock had both of you jumping out of your skin, fumbling to smooth out your shirt and grab a plate from the stack you'd brought down. When you heard the door open, you dared a look over at Yuuji, his face bright pink and a hand adjusting his pants. It wasn't his phone. You stuttered out a pathetic thanks, taking two slices of pizza from the top box, and scurried off to your room to slam the door behind you. The rest of the night, Yuuji was quiet, you only occasionally heard brief muffled conversation, but you couldn't make out what they were saying. He didn't come to your door and say goodbye like he usually did, and you were thankful for it, since by the time he was leaving you had your vibrator so far up your throbbing cunt you were seeing stars. Not quite a week had passed before he was over again, Megumi inviting him over for a collaborative project they were working on for one of their classes. You didn't even know he was there with how quiet he was being, but the second you stepped in the threshold of the living room, you froze, your eyes locking. He didn't say his usual bright hello, but you did notice the way he watched you pad to the kitchen was much less subtle than usual. The next couple times he was over, he was back to his usual self, yelling at the game he was playing– horribly, might you add– with Megumi. He started saying hello again, started knocking on your door to say goodbye, but he also started to become much more bold in how he watched all the best parts of you when you were up and moving around the apartment. Maybe he thought he made you uncomfortable and was trying to bury the hatchet, pretend like everything is normal, like he didn't invade your most intimate thoughts late at night. You could see that he wanted to do something, say something, but he was unsure of how you'd react. So, like the benevolent person you were, you took it into your own hands to tease him, test him. He'd been coming over more frequently, you noticed, and as luck would have it, he happened to come over on a day you were doing laundry. You were wearing a tank top that fit you a little too tightly, a pair of black and white shorts that came up a little too far. You smirked as you carried the basket down the hall, hearing Yuuji shout at Megumi from across the apartment. Not seeing your diligent roommate in the immediate area, you walked in front of Yuuji, tipping your basket ever so slightly. "Oh, sorry!" Biting back a smile, you bent down and plucked up the few articles of clothing you'd purposefully dropped, making sure to take your time in standing back up. Yuuji sat, dumbfounded, eyes glued to the curve of your ass. What he didn't notice right away was the lacy black thong you'd left on the floor in front of him. You smiled at him over your shoulder and glanced down at the ground, his eyes following your gaze. You'd left before you could see his reaction, a wicked grin on your lips. You never did see that pair again. You also didn't see him when you came back upstairs, seeming to have left in the time it took you to load the washing machines. You didn't bother asking Megumi why he left so soon. On his next visit, he came all but flying into the kitchen as you were filling the kettle to make tea, muttering a half assed 'scuze me when he reached over your head to grab a glass. This time, he was bold enough to press his hips into your ass, feigning innocence as he slowly rocked against you while he brought his glass down. You couldn't help yourself, pushing back into him, sighing out your held breath, only to lock up again when you felt his breath fan against your exposed neck. Your jaw was slack, mouth parted in shock, as his hands came around your body to turn the sink on and fill his glass. A low fuck was uttered by him when you pushed your hips back, his tongue coming out to lick your pulse point under your jaw. "Hurry up, the next round is starting." You barely registered Megumi speaking, but when Yuuji pushed away, the way he spoke, you swore you could've melted into a puddle right there. "Coming." You'd be lying if you said you hadn't used your vibrator a few more times to the thought of him, his watchful eyes and lustful stares making you shiver with delight. A couple weeks had passed since your heated moment with him in the kitchen, and you were sure if it weren't for Megumi always being present, it would've happened a few more times and then some. The gentle rap of a fist against your bedroom door had your heart leaping into your throat, hoping whoever was there couldn't hear the low hum of your soaked toy. You shut it off, tossed it in your bedside drawer, and walked over to your door, peering at Yuuji through the crack you'd opened. "I'm, uh... ordering food, if you want anything." He was vidibly tense, for some reason that just made you more excited. You took his phone from him, not catching the slow drag of his eyes over your body, the way he tugged his bottom lip between his teeth, as you selected your desired items. His fingertips brushed against yours when he took his phone back, and for just a moment there was a strong sexual tension. It came as fast as it went, he left you standing in your doorway with stupid look on your face and a horrible wetness between your legs. His loud voice calling you from the living room is what finally had you slinking out of your room– you had been unable to finish yourself off– coming to a stop at the end of the hallway when you saw him rip open a brown paper bag. There you stood, in the threshold, glancing around the otherwise empty apartment. "Where's Megumi?" You croaked, your fingers interlacing and held close to your chest. "Ah, he said something about visiting his sister in the hospital. He left almost an hour ago, said he'd be back in an hour or two." If you looked up tense in the dictionary, you'd come across a picture of how dumbly you stood in the living room archway. "He said he thought it wouldn't be a problem, since we got along last time he left." Yuuji marched past you, over to the small dining room table, and set the bag down as he dug through it. He let out a few hmms before triumphantly plucking out a folded paper box, holding it out to you with one hand. When you didn't make any move or say anything, he shook it, fries rattling around inside. "Right. Sorry," You weakly apologized, stepping over to him and placing both your hands on the box. He was giving you the same look as when he offered you his phone, except this time you had nothing else to focus on but him. Seconds felt like minutes, both of you staring into each other with arched brows and wide eyes. Had you blinked, you would've missed it. You would've missed the way his hand dropped from the box, the urgency in how fast he leaned forwards, the messy heated tilt of his head to slot his lips against yours, kissing you in a way that was definitely more tongue than lips. The food fell from your hands, spilling out of the box and littering the floor with a mess of fries and condiments and burger toppings, deciding that grabbing him by the collar of his yellow sweater and pulling him closer, closer, was more important than your dinner. Yuuji pulled back slightly, seemingly surprised by your matched urgency, surprised by how you tried to chase his lips when he parted from you, how you didn't seem to give a shit about your food being spilled all over the floor. You whined at the hand on the side of your neck, holding your jaw in place, keeping you just a hair's breadth away. When he let go, you slammed your lips into his again, softly moaning at how his hand came to cup the back of your neck, the other resting on the back of your head. He moaned back when you feverishly caressed his tongue with your own. Only seconds passed when he parted from you again, arms hooking under your knees and hoisting you up to wrap around his waist. His lips found yours again, licking the roof of your mouth as he sat you down on the dining table, the wood squeaking in retaliation to both yours and half of his weight leaning on it. "Fuck– shit, I've wanted to do this for so long, fuck." Yuuji emphasized his words by rolling his hips against your clothed heat, moaning pathetically when you tightened your legs around his waist. His hands were quick to push your shirt up, palms settling on your bare breasts and squeezing, rolling, pinching, head delving down to lick and suck every bare piece of skin he could. He was rough, desperate, but it felt so sinfully good, only leaning back to pull his hoodie off with his shirt, then helping you with your own. Kiss plump lips assaulted your neck, littering it with licks and sucks and the occasional brush of his teeth, fingers dipping in the band of your lounge pants. "Can I take these off? Please–" You didn't have to answer him, he was already pulling back and assisting your hands in stripping them off your legs, leaving you in just your underwear. He was almost too hurried to see the dark patch on your wine colored underwear. Almost. A long, low groan passing through his teeth. "Now you." You demanded, eyes half lidded and blown with need. He paused, you could see the twitch under his pants as his deft hands unbuttoned his jeans, pulling the zipper down and shimmying them down to his knees. The outline of his cock against his boxers made your mouth water, your hand reaching out to palm him over the thin fabric, rubbing slowly up, then down, then up. The noises he made were shameful, unabashedly vocal about exactly what you did to him. In a pathetic attempt at retaliation, Yuuji pulled your underwear to the side, fingers brushing over your absolutely soaked cunt. "Jesus fuck, how are you– how are you so wet?" Two fingers dipped into you instantly, having no trouble scissoring you and pulling the most delicious noises from your mouth. "Shit, you could take me right now, couldn't you?" Silently you thanked yourself for not finishing what you'd started by yourself earlier. Determined hands tugged his boxers down, barely taking your time to appreciate just how thick he was before your legs tugged him closer. He seemed to catch on fast, retracting his hand and holding tightly onto your hip. "Condom?" He breathed, leaning in and bumping noses. "Are you clean?" "Yeah, what–" "So am I. Fuck me already." Completely drunk on you, Yuuji tugged your panties a little further to the side, relishing in the fucked out cry coming from your throat when he took no time thrusting balls deep into your velvety walls. He was definitely bigger than your vibrator. His hips were relentless, moans and grunts and swears falling from his lips, along with you feel so good, just like that, why didn't we do this sooner? Your own noises were muted, silent cries and pleas of harder, faster bouncing off the dining room walls. The familiar coil was tightening in your gut, and with how tightly your pussy was gripping Yuuji, he could tell too. "Fuck, are you gonna cum? Cum for me, I wanna see you fucking–" The familiar click of a lock caught both of your attention, but Yuuji's hips didn't relent. If anything they went faster, harder. The thought of your roommate catching his best friend fucking you on the dining table was mortifying, horrible, and so fucking hot. Hot, wet, sinful, his lips were on yours, tongue in your mouth, teeth clashing only briefly. Every moan and whine and babbled nonsense was muffled by his triumphant tongue, his own moans and groans making your arms shake. Your orgasm was toe curling, violent, ripping through you so suddenly you were seeing white. It took you a moment to realize Yuuji was kicking off his pants instead of trying to put them back on, all concern for your exposed states completely out the window. You were barely able to register how frantic and hard Yuuji's hips started slamming into yours, eyes shooting open when you heard the door creak open. "Megumi, wait! Don't–" "Wait outside, fuck, we're busy!" A cacophony of brief shouted apologies and excuses from both you and the boy on top of you ensued before you were scooped up and rushed to your room. Kicking the door shut with his heel, Yuuji kissed you furiously as he laid you back on the bed, hips continuing their savage pace on your overstimulated pussy. "Fuck, Yuuji-i-i !" You squealed, your palm laying flat on his abs as he tilted you back, throwing your calves over his shoulders and folding your thighs into you. "I want you to cum again, please, I wanna see you cum– fuck !" The head of his cock was viciously abusing the perfect spot, so fast and so hard, your walls were clamping down on him again as you chased your second high. His hand slipped between your bodies, sliding quick, sloppy circles on your clit, throwing you over the edge of pleasure almost instantly. "Yeah, that's right, fuck, I'm gonna cum–" Yuuji panted, ignoring your complaints of it's too much when he pressed your thighs further into you, hips stuttering and thrusting shallow, spurts of his cum dripping out and onto the bed every time he thrusted back in. Both of you were quiet, save the rapid desperate breaths, as he sat back, letting your legs fall on either side of him. He collapsed on top of you, cheek between your breasts, arms on either side of you, an amused but tired chuckle vibrating in his chest. "You owe me two pairs of underwear." You broke the silence, staring down at him when he propped his chin up. His toothy grin and the mischievous glint in his eye said enough. "Guess we should go tell him he can come back inside, huh?" Yuuji pushed up off of you, stretching his arms up. Humming in response, you stood and rifled through your dresser. Throwing him a pair of oversized sweats you could only assume were Megumi's, you stripped yourself of your now ruined underwear, settling on just wearing shorts and a t-shirt. You could clean yourself up later. The grin he flashed you made your cheeks heat, made your eyes roll, but you were smiling back nonetheless, exiting through the door being held open for you. A tuft of black hair was seen behind the dining table, unruly strands pushed down by the red band of his headphones. You snickered, the expression on his face equally disappointed and disgusted as he picked your discarded food off the ground. Once close enough, his irritated azure eyes looked up at you, then behind you to a very half-naked Yuuji, hand reaching up and shifting a headphone off his ear. "I'm not cleaning whatever the fuck you two got on the table. Why can't you use a bed like normal people?" "Oh, I mean... we used that too." Yuji quipped with a grin, earning a disgusted scrunch of his nose from Megumi. You quietly apologized, helping your roommate clean up your mess, purposefully and spitefully using Yuuji's shirt to wipe up the wet splotches of something on the dining table for embarrassing you. He complained, but still laughed, and even ended up sharing half of his now ice cold dinner with you. Now well into the early morning, Megumi long gone to bed, you stood at the door with Yuuji as he slipped his shoes on. Somehow, it was comfortable, his presence was warm and calming, despite how loud he could be. "Well, I had fun." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling down at you. "Listen, do you maybe, I don't know... Wanna get a coffee or something tomorrow?" "I don't like coffee." "Tea?" "I could just make tea here." "Dinner?" Unable to stop the laugh that came from deep in your chest at how persistent he was, you nodded, playfully chiding him for asking for a date after he fucked your brains out. He only laughed. As he swung the front door open, he leaned down, placing a warm kiss against your lips, no urgency, no rushing, just contentment. He whispered something you didn't hear against your lips, kissing you again, then your cheek, then your nose, waving as he closed the door behind him. The stupid smile on your face only grew at the thought of a dinner date with Itadori Yuuji, your roommate's annoying, loud, sweet best friend.  

______________________________________________________________

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Expanding on the “Schlatt’s book made Dream self-aware” theory

Okay, I know this theory sounds ridiculous...but hear me out.

I haven’t for the life of me been able to come up with any other possibilities for what this mystery’s answer could be, but now I’ve had the idea.

What if Schlatt’s book made Dream self-aware?

---

Let’s go over what we know about Schlatt’s book.

---

With regards to the prison, which Dream mentions the book pertains to:

Dream: “It’s just an option, because if you can’t kill somebody, you might need to lock them up.”

“I have someone in mind, but we might have to wait to do that.”

Bad: “It’s gonna be Tommy.”

Dream: (chuckles) “Tommy’s exiled. I think, for now...Tommy could end up in it, it just depends...if he does more evil, bad stuff, but...”

-

(They discuss the Crimson a little, as it had just been discovered that day)

Dream: “Speaking of creepy things...I actually have not ever to this point brought this up, so this is interesting...Do you remember whenever I switched sides? I was helping Pogtopia and I was trying to...mostly just ‘cause I didn’t like L’manburg, and Manberg, and I didn’t like their government, and I switched sides to Schlatt.”

“But the reason I switched sides was because he gave me something in order to switch sides to him, and I mentioned that...”

Bad: “What’d he give you? I remember that! What’d he give you?”

Dream: “He gave me something...very, very, very good. BUT -- that card is always up my sleeves until...until I need it.”

“I won’t go into specifics, but what he gave me was a book.”

Bad: “What kind of book?”

Dream: “The book.”

Bad: “But what kind of book?”

Dream: “A book with massive value.”

Sam: “A book containing what, exactly?”

Sam: “Maybe information? Oh! He gave him--”

Sam and Dream at the same time: “--information.”

Bad: “Information about what?”

Dream: “Mmmm...I think that it puts me in danger if people know I have this information. I can’t clarify what it is, otherwise -- I don’t think -- you wouldn’t -- it wouldn’t be a danger to you, but to other people, that...”

Bad: “Oh...okay. I’m really curious now.”

Dream: “I...we’ll find out.”

Sam: “Wait, so you’re saying...Schlatt traded you information to join his side, which you accepted, so it must’ve been valuable.”

Dream: (chuckles) “I think it’s the most valuable thing on the server!”

...

Dream: “I think that, in pertaining to the prison, it may be important, but -- so maybe I’ll have to tell you guys once the prison’s construction is done, but...we’ll see.”

“I think you wouldn’t believe me if I told you what he gave me.”

---

Now, let’s go over what Dream had been acting like up until the point that he turned.

- He had fought alongside Tommy and Techno in the Battle of the Lake.

- He was willing to trade a disc to get Spirit’s leather back from Skeppy. He still cared about Spirit.

- He claimed that he’d had a change of heart about L’manburg, that Schlatt was worse than Wilbur because he threatened the peace between their nations that had persisted up until that point.

- He supported Quackity during the Election because he figured that Quackity having a cabinet member from Dream SMP and a cabinet member from L’manburg would be an excellent way to maintain a truce between the factions. He did not vote for Schlatt. He said he “endorsed justice.” 

He had some sort of humanity to him, some sort of moral compass.

- And, very importantly...

He'd been repeatedly outsmarted by Tommy.

In the Disc War, in the Railway Skirmish, the Spirit Scam? Tommy kept slipping away with leverage against him. 

---

So how do these points add up to self-awareness?

Well, let’s go through ‘em!

- Schlatt. That guy in particular.

The only guy to have permanently died twice. Tommy referred to Schlatt’s ban as the first “death” of the server while he was in exile, and it makes sense that Schlatt’s ban would be seen as a canon death - it influenced Tommy’s character arc and was treated like a death in the story.

And when Schlatt came back...well, he was a little bit different, wasn’t he? Somehow, he was always several steps ahead despite being an “idiot.” Time and time again, he kept pulling out the tricks he had up his sleeve. Time and time again, he was more aware than he let on.

Pogtopia never outsmarted him. Ever.

He knew something no one else did.

And now that Dream knows what he knows, notice how he hasn’t been outsmarted by Tommy ever since? Tommy’s tried, but it didn’t work. Now, Dream always seems to be several steps ahead. Always pulling the strings. Always saying the right things.

- It puts Dream in danger if people know, yet doesn’t apply as much to Sam and Bad.

Having self-awareness makes you incredibly powerful. Of course Dream wouldn’t want that information falling into the wrong hands.

But why not Sam and Bad?

Well, what do those two have in common?

Not only are they neutral parties, but they’re both two of the original eight members of the server. They both keep memory of a time before Tommy. Before plot. They’d be shocked to know, sure, but they likely wouldn’t turn on Dream for it. They’ve been here before the Story.

- It’s information. And it’s the most valuable thing on the server.

Think about that for a second. Dream said that the only thing he cares about now are the discs, because they give him power over Tommy.

But this piece of information is somehow more important than those discs. It supersedes them. The discs are the entire plot! And yet this is more important.

Perhaps even the script itself?

- With regards to the prison and its prisoner, Dream kept talking about the future. Someone who’s a threat now or in the future. Sure, Dream’s smart and can plan well, but this is a long, long game plan to have over the course of several weeks. 

And what is Pandora’s Vault if not one giant plot point to avoid killing off characters? The prison is meant for a person who Dream can’t kill.

Dream can’t kill off Tommy, because that would end the story.

- It’s so shocking that the other characters wouldn’t believe it if Dream told them. I’d say gaining self-awareness is pretty surprising, right?

---

So, Dream’s lost all care for anything on the server except for the discs. He no longer cares about Spirit, or even his friends, just the discs, because Tommy cares about the discs.

The discs are what keeps Tommy fighting. Now that L’manburg’s gone, it’s the only thing that’s keeping Tommy fighting. He’s willing to die trying to take them back.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts how Dream’s character motivations seem eerily similar to the writers’ motivations in the meta -- to keep the story going, to keep everything entertaining and fun, to make the SMP thrive.

That’s the only thing that seems to keep him going right now. He doesn’t care about anything else. The discs are important because they keep the story going. As long as Tommy keeps fighting for the discs, Dream’s story will never end either.

Tommy wants the endgame, but Dream would never let him get there. Not on his watch.

Because Tommy’s right: Dream is scared of him. Tommy’s the only one who can end the story.

Dream wants the story to keep going. He wants it to keep beginning again and again, and never end.

---

He said this when Wilbur blew up L’manburg, starting the story anew:

“This is the start, Tommy. It may feel like the end, but this is literally just the beginning.”

And now:

“In all destruction, there is a new beginning.”

“Beautiful, you know? The unfinished symphony, right?”

“Tommy? I’m not done with you. Y’know, our story’s not over -- L’manburg’s story is over -- our story’s not over.”

“I don’t think our story will ever be over, Tommy.”

“I think that...you’re just too fun."

And of course...

“...It’s just a game.”

[makeste]

but I just feel too tired to be fighting

this is a follow-up post to what I said in my recap the other day about this arc being the Deku Angst arc, as opposed to the Villain Hunt arc or the Deku SIXQUIRKS Exhibition arc. I feel like the fandom discussion tends to focus on the flashier parts of the chapters -- the sexy villains and the new quirk reveals and the Shindous -- each week, and so the quieter emotional beats sometimes get overlooked, especially since the character arc here is playing out in little bits and pieces over time rather than all at once.

this has always been a very reactionary fandom, and there’s a tendency to judge the chapters week to week without ever going back to look at how they all fit into the big picture. so I figured I would try to attempt that, and basically go chapter by chapter here to look at what exactly Horikoshi is setting up and how it all fits together.

so let’s start with the end of chapter 306, which is when the arc officially kicks off. specifically with the very last page:

this is imo one of the best pages Horikoshi has ever drawn. I got the sense that this was a scene he’d had in his mind’s eye for quite a long time, and that he was excited to finally get to this part of the story. it’s extremely effective as both a chapter-ender, and an arc-opener. like, look at this:

it establishes the initial premise of the new arc -- the world is in chaos, and Deku is now seemingly on his own

it leaves the readers with a number of questions. why did Deku leave U.A.?? is he really on his own now?? why does he look so beat-up and exhausted?? what is he up to?? what is the world like now that all these villains have been unleashed and the heroes have been decimated?? and most importantly of all, what the fuck is going to happen next??

it pays homage to some of Horikoshi’s comic book influences -- Batman in particular

it dramatically hits us with that “THE FINAL ACT BEGINS” and lets us know that shit is getting real now

that’s some good shit. so much so that I think people tended to overlook the other notable thing about this page amidst all of the initial excitement and discussion and speculation about where the series was headed. and that is the fact that the final panel in this chapter is NOT the panel of Deku standing above the city. the very last panel, the one that this chapter actually ends on, is instead the close-up of Deku’s face. his face, which is covered in shadow; and his eyes, which have dark circles under them and are prominently missing the usual flecks of light that give him his signature “sunny optimistic shounen protagonist” look.

not to mention this last line here, which is a call back to the very first time we saw the 14-year-old Deku way back in chapter one.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Horikoshi chose to throw this reference in. nor is it a coincidence that THIS is the scene he actually chose to end the chapter on. what this does is show us the drastic shift in Deku’s emotional state of mind, and his attitude towards being a hero. he’s gone from being thrilled and excited to being jaded and exhausted. he’s matured, but at a great cost. it’s always been his dream to be a hero, but “be careful what you wish for” is a popular adage for a reason. and right now he looks the furthest thing from happy.

and this is the emotional beat that Horikoshi chooses to end the chapter on. this is the panel that closes out the War arc, and begins the final act. to me the message could not be clearer -- this arc will be about the exploration of Deku’s character, and his struggle as he tries to live up to the expectations that have been placed on him as the Last Holder of OFA and quite possibly the World’s Only Hope.

it’s a character arc that builds on a lot of the things we’ve already learned about Deku over the course of the series, such as the fact that he is reckless, and that he focuses on others often at the expense of himself. but more importantly, it’s an arc that finally expands on the dark side of what has up until now been a net positive for Deku -- the power of OFA. up until this point, despite its ups and downs, it’s been a boon for Deku overall and has allowed him to pursue his dream. but now we’re finally reaching the point where the monkey’s paw part of the OFA blessing/curse finally starts to come into play. OFA gives Deku more power than he could have ever dreamed of, but it also comes with a built-in destiny that he can’t opt out of whether he likes it or not. AFO is on the loose and out there trying to destroy the world. and now everyone has pinned their hopes on this sixteen-year-old kid, and the question of whether or not the sixteen-year-old kid is ready is apparently not one that anyone feels inclined to ask (possibly because they’re afraid that the answer might be “no”).

he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. he has to do it, because there’s no one else who can. that’s the kind of pressure that is on Deku now.

and on that note, we begin the Deku Angst arc.

chapter 307

this in hindsight was mostly just a set-up chapter to better establish the current state of the BnHA world at large (spoilers: it’s not good), while also providing an answer for one of the big initial questions of the arc -- namely, “what happened to all of those villains that AFO released from Tartarus?” these are important things to touch on, but the pacing could definitely have been better, and the bulk of the chapter was dedicated to providing fanservice to all of the Shindou fans who spammed the most recent popularity poll (which, whatever lol). anyway, so this was the sole chapter thus far with absolutely no Deku development. thankfully the arc picks up from there.

chapter 308

on to the next one! this was the one and only chapter thus far which I think actually qualifies as an “exhibition fight.” this was definitely all about showing off Deku’s current powerset, as well as introducing us to another of the SIXQUIRKS. however, there was Deku development here as well, most notably in this scene:

this is the scene that got a lot of people speculating that this arc was going to focus on Deku hunting down all of the old villains. but I think people got so caught up in that speculation that they overlooked what this scene tells us about Deku’s mindset. and yes, there is new information being revealed here, and it’s not just a rehash of the stuff we already knew. like yes, we know that Deku was shaken up by the recent encounters with Dabi and Tomura, and we know that made him start questioning why villains become villains in the first place, and all that good stuff, and that’s great. however, there are two additional important things that this scene helps establish for us.

the upcoming battle with TomurAFO is weighing heavily on Deku’s mind. this is something that will become a recurring theme in this arc. Deku is thinking about this constantly. the question of what to do when he finally encounters TomurAFO again is knocking incessantly at the back of his mind, and this won’t be the last time it comes up.

Deku is using these villain encounters as test runs. can Tomura be redeemed?? is he just being stupid and naïve?? or is this really something worth attempting?? the interesting thing about this is that Deku’s resolve to save people is usually so strong and unwavering that it’s more than enough to overcome any doubts that he might have. but this time it seems like the repeated objections posed by the Vestiges and Gran Torino have really gotten to him. it’s possible I’m just reading way too much into things, but to me it really feels like Deku’s recent attempts at Talk no Jutsu were meant to do more than just show his growing awareness that the line between heroes and villains is thinner than he once imagined. they’re also serving as trial runs for the real test, when it finally comes. if he can “save” even a villain like Muscular, there’s hope for him being able to save Tomura as well. and so that moment when Muscular rejects him out of hand is all the more disappointing to him, even if it wasn’t really unexpected. basically it wasn’t the answer that he had been hoping for.

aside from those little notes though, like I said, this was unquestionably an exhibition fight first and foremost. which is fine; we needed to establish where Deku is currently in terms of strength, and it was also just fun to see him kick some ass, ngl. in terms of story purpose this chapter was similar to 219, which showed us how Shouto and Katsuki had powered up after getting their provisional licenses. people who don’t care about those characters might argue that these fights weren’t necessary, but as someone who stans all three characters hard, I would disagree! but anyways, moving on.

chapter 309

in contrast to the previous chapter, this chapter focuses more on establishing Deku’s current mental state, as opposed to his physical state. and this is what we learn:

(1) Deku is ~technically~ being shadowed/accompanied by All Might and the Hawksquad (but in practice he’s avoiding them).

(2) it was Deku’s own decision to leave U.A., and he did it because he didn’t want anyone else getting hurt in order to protect him.

and finally, (3) Deku’s game plan is to stop Tomura and All for One before they reach full power.

this last part is very important, because it means there’s a countdown in effect. as far as Deku is concerned, there’s only a finite amount of time before TomurAFO becomes unstoppable. which means that he’s not only under “gotta get stronger” pressure, but time pressure as well. he doesn’t have the luxury of taking his time and training in safety. he’s being rushed now; this is do-or-die.

this chapter is also the first in this arc in which we get to see Deku’s expressions without the hood covering up his face, and what we see is very telling. as previously stated, the light is gone from Deku’s eyes. he keeps his expressions very neutral, and the only time we even see a hint of a smile is when he hugs his mom in the flashback, and it’s clear from the dialogue (“it’s okay, I’ll come home to you”) that he’s doing it for her sake in order to comfort her.

but aside from that, this is very much not the Deku we’ve grown accustomed to. this is the chapter that really establishes his current mental state imo. above all else, he’s afraid that more people will get hurt because of him, and so he’s distancing himself from everyone around him. and he’s also morbidly preoccupied with the inevitability of having to face TomurAFO again, and soon. the chapter ends on the flashback of Gran giving him his cape, and telling Deku that “killing can be another way to save someone.” there’s a lot on this kid’s mind, to say the least.

chapter 310

this chapter opens with a gang of civilians who are trying to open fire on a nice fox lady whose only crime was walking around in the rain at night. Deku intervenes to save her, and it’s the first time in this arc that we see anything close to the “old” Deku, who just wanted to save people with a smile.

but it’s bittersweet, because all the lady can talk about is how scared she was, and how horrible everything is right now. and so Deku, who feels responsible in a lot of ways for everything that’s happened, just feels that much more pressure to somehow make things right again.

there’s also this extra throwaway line which is especially heartbreaking:

“I can’t afford to be around anyone.” fucking ouch. just reinforcing once more how incredibly isolated Deku is right now -- not by choice, but because he feels like it’s not safe to let anyone else get close to him. and so he’s out here running around this dystopian cityscape in the middle of the night in the pouring rain all on his own, and neglecting himself to the point where All Might practically has to force a bento on him.

but does he complain? of course not. because his focus is never on himself. instead, when he settles down to eat, his thoughts immediately drift back to, guess who...

it’s that time pressure once again. “unless I draw out One for All’s full power, I can’t stop any of this.” it’s just nonstop, I have to get stronger, I’m running out of time, I have to do better, and constantly thinking about that inevitable confrontation.

Deku is a thinker, you guys. and when left to his own devices he will overthink, every time. his mind will run in endless loops while he mentally works his way through all of the possibilities. and that’s one of his greatest strengths, don’t get me wrong, but at a time like this it’s also one of his greatest weaknesses. it’s just so fucking easy for him to get stuck in his own head, in his endless rambling thoughts and analyses. and without anyone else there to help distract him, or help him focus, he’s become fixated on his mission, and it’s slowly consuming him.

this, incidentally, is also the chapter in which we finally see Two and Three’s faces, and learn why Two in particular is so reluctant to lend his power to Deku. he appears to be the lone holdout at this point, so stay tuned on that, because I don’t doubt this will wind up being crucial to Deku’s future development, however it winds up playing out.

chapter 311

this chapter flips back to the Hawksquad for the first half, so we get a brief respite from the ongoing Dekuangst. right before we switch back though, we do get confirmation of something we had pretty much already guessed:

like, that much was already apparent based on what we’d seen (the bags under his eyes; the fact that he refused to sit still in any one place for very long even at night), but it’s always nice to get the official confirmation so that people can’t dispute it lol. so yeah, Deku isn’t sleeping much. and not eating much either, if all he’s getting is the occasional bento from Dadmight. so basically not taking care of himself at all, huge shocker there. but this is something that’s important enough to the story that Horikoshi took the time to point it out in the dialogue, in addition to all of the visual clues we’d already gotten.

and just in case we needed to drive that point in any further, this chapter ends with the appearance of Lady Nagant! like yeah, no shit Deku isn’t getting much sleep, what with him having to fend off racist civilians and hired assassins every five fucking minutes. smdh. can he live??

chapter 312

so this is the chapter that properly introduces Lady Nagant, who maaaay or may not be one of the primary antagonists of this arc?? like, it’s really unclear right now tbh, but she gets hyped up by Hawks and AFO, and has a flashback and a mysterious past and a weird trump card (where did you go, Overhaul) and all that good shit, so yeah? one can hope at any rate.

but anyway. so to his credit, Deku’s first thought is to retreat, but he quickly abandons that plan once he figures out Nagant’s location. this is played off like a logical strategic decision at first, but the subsequent chapter quickly makes it clear that Deku’s decision to take the fight to Nagant is less rational than he might have you think.

chapter 313

so yeah. last but not least, the most recent chapter, in which Deku’s real reason for targeting Lady soon becomes apparent:

what’s more, it quickly becomes clear that he miscalculated and probably would have been better off following Hawks’s advice, seeing as he promptly gets himself shot, and subsequently realizes that AFO gave Nagant an extra quirk, something he hadn’t taken into account. but instead of cutting his losses and running at this point, he doubles down instead and not only breaks out Smokescreen, but also the Third’s quirk which he has never even used before.

it’s worth noting that both En and the Third start telling him to chill at this point, and warn him that what he’s attempting is too dangerous. but tbh if they were expecting him to listen, they haven’t been reading the same arc I’ve been reading. once again, Horikoshi makes it clear that Deku has one thing and one thing only on his mind right now.

of course. once again it all comes back to this. hunt down AFO. it doesn’t matter that he’s exhausted. it doesn’t matter that he’s just been shot twice. it doesn’t matter that Hawks, despite knowing what Deku was capable of with his OFA abilities, specifically warned him away from this one person only. it doesn’t matter that even the Vestiges are trying to tell him you’re going too fast and you’re trying to do too much and it’s too dangerous.

he just doesn’t care. long story short, the only thing that matters to Deku right now is tracking down and defeating TomurAFO. and as the person who knows him best once so aptly put it, “he doesn’t take himself into account.” and therein lies the major challenge of this arc.

and so this is where we’re currently at now. and this has been a very long post, but if nothing else, I hope I was able to get this one point across: there is absolutely no way that Deku will be able to defeat TomurAFO as he is now. not a chance in hell. somehow he’s managed the uncommon feat of waging a war of attrition against himself, which is really quite an accomplishment. he’s not taking care of himself, and he’s refusing to listen to sound advice from the people surrounding him, and is trying to skip ahead to the final boss battle before he’s ready, because the guilt and pressure from feeling responsible for the current situation are eating him up. the only way that the world can go back to normal is if he can defeat AFO; therefore he has to do it as soon as possible, because time is running out and everyone is counting on him. this is who Deku is. and this is what inevitably happens when his saving mentality is taken to extremes, and left unchecked.

anyway so to wrap up this post now, I do think this arc is a lot more cohesive than it’s gotten credit for thus far, and Deku is the glue holding it all together. I for one am loving the exploration of his character and all the subtle little angsty touches as we build up to the big moment, whenever it finally comes. just keep in mind though that if his decisions right now seem reckless and short-sighted, it’s because they’re supposed to seem that way, because Deku is not in a good mental state right now. the cracks are finally showing in our perfect protagonist, just like everyone has been wanting this whole time. he is just a kid. he is doing his best. he is trying far too hard to do his best, and it is hurting him so badly, but he doesn’t even realize. this arc is not an endorsement of the Angsty Nomad Hero lifestyle, lol. it’s the exact fucking opposite, and I think it’s being wildly misinterpreted with all of the emphasis on “oh look at that, he mastered another quirk with no effort”, as opposed to “oh look at that, he is shutting down emotionally and is a few more missed nights of sleep away from a complete and total breakdown.”

tl;dr the overarching storyline of this arc is all about Deku slowly falling apart due to his trauma from Jakku, and the subsequent pressure that was put on him by the Vestiges with their whole “GUESS WHAT, YOU’RE THE LAST USER OF OFA, THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ALL ON YOU BUDDY” pep talk. and mark my words, things are not going to go according to plan. something is going to go terribly wrong here. whether it’s something happening to All Might, or AFO setting up a trap for him, either way Deku is being set up to fail in a major way. unless of course, someone (or a group of someones) manages to intervene first, and possibly stage an intervention or something. it’s what he needs right now, but idk if Horikoshi is going to make it that easy.

anyway, but in other words, the point of this arc is not to show how much stronger Deku has gotten and how he doesn’t even need his friends anymore. it’s the exact opposite -- the point of this arc is to show that Deku needs his friends now more than ever. that in spite of OFA and all of its mystical trappings and fancy SIXQUIRKS, Deku can’t do this alone. he needs his friends. that’s the core message. and right now, we are at the “I can get by on my own” part of the story. and the part we are all waiting for, but which is coming -- I guarantee it is coming, you guys -- is “the thing is, you don’t have to.”

and that shit is going to slap hard you guys. and I for one can’t wait. but until then, enjoy the angst.

[wanderingwomanwondering]

601 golf game meta - father-son issues

the golf scene in 601 keeps bugging me bc i can’t quite figure out what it means. but i know it means something bc it was a long scene and felt loaded, right? 

i think the first half of the golf scene is about eddie and chris:

son doing something bc his dad loves it - maybe this is about eddie and chris doing things together this season on screen?

dad trying to teach him but the son feeling overwhelmed/annoyed bc the game isn’t his thing - we know chris is growing up. maybe this speaks to chris trying to do what eddie enjoys but wanting to break free?

“swinging in a barrel” - this is a golf putting technique i think but i have no idea how it applies? being constrained maybe?

dad gives the son his lucky ball but it doesn’t help - maybe about chris finding his own way as a person separate from his father? kinda like dad what’s helped eddie may not apply to chris in many cases???

***the lucky ball is marked with two intertwined horseshoes*** i mean yes horseshoes are classic symbols for luck but also the show had lots of references in prev seasons to “getting back on the horse” and going to equine therapy. both those horse related things were super relevant to eddie and to chris. for eddie, both were related to buck being integral to helping chris. first with building the skateboard and later with the value of equine therapy for CP. and we all know when buck helps chris, eddie and chris appreciate it. plus the equine therapy was intertwined with eddie getting back on the horse as a firefighter and with this mental health which moved buddie forward.

while looking for the lost lucky ball the father and son discuss the son’s current husband and his past boyfriend. the search for the lucky ball feels like a transition point from eddie and chris issues to eddie and ramon issues?? both sets of father-son issues have a side of buck ofc bc buck is an integral part of the family now. anyway the dialogue shifts from golf to choice of partner and to choice of golf buddy seem pointed!

so let’s go with it and say the second half of the golf scene is about eddie and ramon: (more below the cut)

I remember in 517 hero complex ramon said he wanted to be there for eddie so i definitely feel like eddie’s dad and maybe mom too are coming back this season. also eddie made that clear and pointed reference to his military days which always calls back to his time in texas with his parents. He even mentioned to albert one time that he joined the military at least in part to get away from his father and find himself.

the potential eddie and ramon relationship beats would fit well with how the second half of the golf call played out. the team thinks the call is a gsw but then find out it’s a wedding ring lodged in the father’s chest. the very ring that was given to the son by the husband that the father doesn’t like as much as the previous bf. the tungsten ring may represent eddie’s relationship with buck saving him from losing a part of himself to his father’s game/expectations. the budding buddie relationship knocking ramon off his feet... “wounding” him for a bit but ramon ultimately not taking it so badly or harping on it for so long that it destroys his relationship with eddie entirely. maybe ramon will mostly accept buck (as the “shotgun” husband) at first but still be attached to shannon for a little while (as the ex-wife and/or imagined symbol of eddie’s non-existent heterosexuality)?

I think it’s fascinating how much this scene leaned into the gsw misunderstanding too. we got buck trying to contain the gsw scene with caution tape which does feel like a callback to the s4 shooting and the role that we all know it played in showing buddie what they mean to one another and how intertwined their lives are and can become.

In terms of golf being the chosen game for the ep, I find that super interesting too! like. before 601, golf was part of 2 key buddie beats - one directly and one indirectly - as far as I can remember. Specifically:

i only remember golf/equipment featuring heavily in an important buddie ep once. and that was the darrell call in 310 christmas spirit where he was sucked into a jet engine. his life was saved by golf clubs. buddie ran point on that rescue. 310 was huge bc it was the first christmas after shannon’s death and so eddie invited buck over to spend the day with chris (as well as hen and denny).

darrell reappeared in 408 breaking point. the show made a point of noting that we met darrell before and buck recognized him.408 was the epic ep where we got buck watching chris while eddie went on his first big date with ana. We also got construction on sunset out of that ep.

now we have 601 let the games begin working to bring the buckley diaz family home. sorting out the eddie-chris and eddie-ramon issues along with way is going to be a part of it and i think buck will be important to what happens in both father-son relationships in eddie’s life.

[just-here-for-the-moment]

For the DIFFERENT POV GAME:

I want Javi’s POV on this whole adorable scene.

Okay, my Queen @quica-quica-quica, I want you to know that I suuuuucked in a huge breath when I saw this Ask, because I was entirely unsure if I could do this. It seemed like a really hard challenge, but FOR YOU I’ll try anything.

I dug in to see what I could do, and of course because I can’t just write succinctly I had to start waaaaaay back in the beginning of the story to get Javier where I needed him for the phone number scene… hope that’s okay!!

Thank you for challenging me this way! This went from scary to amazing in just a few days! I love you so much, my friend!!!

---

Coffee Shop Girl (a companion piece to “For Now” told from Javier’s point of view)

Word count: 3000+

Rating: mature, 18+ only

Outline: Javier Peña x “You” (Austin coffee shop barista; cis/het female reader; “blank canvas”/no physical description/no name/no use of “Y/N”)

Warnings: slow-burn; references to previous hiring of sex workers; cigarette smoking; Javier masturbating

Javier Peña felt like he was at loose ends. Not for the first time in his life, but it’s different feeling ‘lost’ as a young man than feeling ‘lost’ when you’re on the wrong side of 40. At least a teenager can still expect their whole life ahead of them. Since leaving the DEA and the fight in Colombia behind, he had been feeling directionless.

Spending some time at his dad’s ranch in Laredo had helped, the way that hard labor and sweat always does. It left him too tired to ruminate, to sink into the blues and feel sorry for himself. He had lined up a teaching job at a university in D.C. but it didn’t start until the fall semester, and Javier wasn’t looking forward to an entire blazing-hot summer on the ranch. So when his friend Bill called from Austin and offered a short contract job doing consulting for one of the state agencies, he jumped at the chance.

Javier landed at Mueller Airport at 2:00 in the afternoon on the second Saturday in June. He made his way out of luggage pickup to the Hertz desk and signed for a rental car. It didn’t take him long to find the apartment complex where Bill had arranged for him to stay. Bill’s coworker’s son had graduated from UT Austin in May, and the lease wasn’t up until August, so everything worked out perfectly. Javi could sublet for the remainder of the summer, and the apartment complex was close enough to the office that he could take the bus, meaning he wouldn’t have to put too many miles on the rental car or pay for parking downtown. A small, blandly furnished one-bedroom apartment near work was perfect. He could make it work for two months, and he had certainly lived in much worse places during his years traveling.

On Monday Javier was introduced around the office and given his portfolio of cases to consult on. He also found out that the coffee in the office was total shit. He had spent too many years drinking government-grade slop at the DEA and other agencies to put up with it now. He wasn’t one to complain, or to order any of the frilly new designer coffee drinks that seemed to be making the rounds among the ladies in the secretarial pool, but he had noticed a coffee shop between here and the bus stop. Some local place, one of those Austin things where they boasted about fair trade and locally roasted beans. If they made a decent cup of black coffee he could splurge, buy a cup on his way into the office each day.

The bus dropped him off at the corner at 7:45, so he could grab a coffee and still be on time to work at 8:00. Punctuality wasn’t always his strong suit, but Javier wanted to at least make a good impression while he was consulting. You never knew who might be a network contact to something good, and he didn’t want to screw Bill over after he had recommended him for the contract.

Tuesday Javier tried the coffee shop and found out that their coffee was not only decent for the price, it was actually good. Wednesday he went back again, this time brushing fingers with the pretty barista by accident. He offered her a “thanks” and then went on his way. Thursday he walked in and stood patiently in line behind two stoner kids trying to make up their minds between breakfast tacos and blueberry muffins. The pretty barista was there again, and she waved him over with a smile, indicating he could skip to the counter and leave the hippie kids in line.

“Black coffee, right?” Her smile actually reached her eyes, and for a moment Javier was very glad for all of the body language and psychology classes he had ever had to sit through. It was nice having a pretty lady smile at you to start your morning, and even better that this one already knew his order. She was quick, he figured, and good at her job if she had his order memorized after only two days as a customer. Not that ‘black coffee, to go’ was a difficult order, but he hadn’t expected to become a regular so quickly.

He smiled and nodded, “That’s right. Thank you.” He looked for a wedding ring and then for a nametag on her black apron, but didn’t see either one. He slid a rumpled $5 bill across the counter, larger than the singles he had paid with the previous two days, but she was nice. “Keep the change.”

He thought he saw her bite her lip as she turned away, and while she was fixing his cup he took a moment to check her out. He wasn’t some kind of pervert who would goose her from over the counter, but from what he could see she was attractive. Hell, most women were attractive to Javier. He suddenly realized it had been a while since he’d gotten laid. His last relationship was years past, and he no longer visited prostitutes regularly. Javier wasn’t a ‘reformed man’ by any means, it was just that that habit had been limited to a specific time and place in his life where he wasn’t stable enough to have a long-term relationship, and it had the added bonus of gathering intelligence.

The barista turned back to him with the cup and when she handed it off their eyes locked and their fingers touched again. He saw her pupils dilate and recognized the little spark that turned over in his own gut. Damn, she really was attractive. But Javier didn’t want to be the kind of lecherous guy who hit on a woman while she was working. Too many men mistook the minimum of customer service friendliness for a sexual invitation. Or worse, like the men who hit on waitresses on purpose since they couldn’t be outright rude to stop them. Javier suppressed a smile and took the cup from her, nodding his thanks.

On Friday when he breezed into the coffee shop he saw the pretty barista smile from behind the counter, and she immediately turned and started pouring his to-go cup. She turned back and gave him the ‘what’s up’ chin nod while holding his cup up. Javier walked up and he slid a few singles across the counter to her.

Javier gave her a warm, “Thanks,” and winked at her. That was at least a harmless bit of flirting, in line with her bright smiles and her friendliness so far. If she liked it, great; and if not, then at least he hadn’t made her uncomfortable by asking for her number or hitting on her directly. When he said, “See you next week,” she smiled that bright smile back. Javier noticed that it again reached her eyes, lighting them up just a bit more than last time. A good sign.

The weekend dragged but Javier filled it up with errands: a run to HEB for groceries and to Highland Mall for a new shirt. If there was the possibility of a date sometime in the next few weeks he at least wanted to wear something other than his work clothes. Saturday night he ordered pizza and watched a movie on TV, some lame action movie with giant muscled guys shooting way too many bullets, and of course all the curse words and a sex scene edited out for network TV. Can’t let the kiddies hear the word ‘shit’ while they’re flipping channels, but watching Stallone blow a guy’s head off is good for their growing brains. He finished his pizza and a cigarette and then felt that tug, the loose ends, a little bored.

Javier took a shower and his mind went to the pretty barista, that smile, the sparkly eyes. He thought about those eyes looking up at him through her lashes, or down at him from on top. He wondered what her skin felt like, imagining the rest of her naked, spread out, touching him all over. He felt a little bit creepy touching himself to the thought of her, hoping it didn’t make him a bad person, hoping he would see her again on Monday. But fuck it, he needed the release. Javier came, spurting hot in the steamy shower as he leaned his head on his forearm and groaned into the cold tile wall. He wished he at least knew her name.

Sunday Javier slept in and then did laundry, tidied up the apartment, and took a jog around the neighborhood. He tried to talk himself out of a repeat of Saturday’s shower. It didn’t work.

On Monday Javier lit up as soon as he stepped off the bus. The first week of the consulting gig had gone well, but today was a big meeting and he knew the agency was not going to like his recommendations. He was constantly trying to quit, but at least he had cut back recently. He was down to a pack a day and only one cup of coffee. That had to count for something, right? Maybe his doctor would finally get off his back about that.

He smoked as rapidly as he could on his way to the coffee shop, and stubbed the cigarette out as soon as he reached the big window that overlooked the street corner. He tucked his sunglasses into the top pocket of his blazer and opened the door to the coffee shop.

The pretty barista was smiling, looking right at him and already holding up his cup of coffee like a game show model holding a prize. Javier felt his heart give a little squeeze, and he smiled and winked at her again as he approached the counter.

“You psychic or something? Or am I just that predictable?”

“Both, maybe.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and gave him a toothy grin.

Javier opened his wallet and saw that his smallest bill was a $10, but he decided not to ask for change back. She was attentive to her customers, she had surprised him by having coffee ready, and she was cute. “Great service, keep the change.”

Her face lit up and she turned to put the money in the register. Javier turned and exited the front door, and then decided to look back through the big plate glass window. She was looking at him, and Javier realized that meant that she had watched him leave. He hoped he wouldn’t have to tip $10 every time to get that look. He lifted his cup, nodded at her, and then made his way to the office.

Tuesday she had his coffee ready again, so he gave her another wink with his smile, and he thought that she purposely put her fingers in a spot to touch his as she handed the cup over. He paid with a $5 bill again, and then thought about her smile and her touch all the way to the office a few blocks north. He didn’t want her to think that the overtipping was him trying to come on to her; it really was nice to have his order ready to go every day.

On Wednesday she had his coffee ready again as soon as he walked in, but Javier supposed that was a testament to the bus schedule more than his own punctuality. This time he paid with singles. But he didn’t want her to think the smaller tip was because of anything wrong with her customer service, so he smiled a little more warmly, turning the charm up as much as he dared without just outright hitting on her. He noticed she was looking again through the glass as he left. But of course the only reason he knew that was because he had looked, too.

On Thursday Javier decided that it wouldn’t hurt to flirt a little more obviously, but to give her an out in case she wasn’t interested. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable or fuck up his supply of good coffee, so he decided to take it a little slow. When he got to the corner he glanced into the window of the coffee shop and saw the pretty barista looking right at him. He took that as a good sign that she might be receptive to his flirting. He opened the door and let someone exit, then walked up to the counter. She pointed at his cup sitting on the counter in front of her, smiling that bright smile.

He arched an eyebrow up. “You trying to get rid of me? In and out so quickly?”

She grinned at him. “Depends on how long you were planning to stay. We close at 1:00 a.m. after open mic tonight. After that you gotta go somewhere else.” That was the most that she’d spoken to him yet. Javier decided to take his chance.

“And what time do you get off, after the morning shift?”

“Depends on who’s asking.” She winked and then bit the inside of her lips, like she had said something she shouldn’t have.

Javier decided to be direct. At least that would give her the chance to say ‘no’ if she wasn’t interested. He locked eyes with her and said, “I am.”

He was relieved to see her flash that big smile, all pretty soft lips and sparkly eyes. “I finish at 1:00, after the lunch rush.”

“Good to know.” He stuck his hand out to shake. “I’m Javier, by the way.” She continued to smile as she gave him her name. When she took his hand she gave a good firm shake, not like one of those women who went limp as soon as they shook a man’s hand. Javier liked her even more.

He fished a few bills out of his wallet. “Can I maybe stop by after your shift, take you to lunch sometime?”

“You can do me one better than that.” She reached down to grip the lid and spun the cup. He saw her name and seven digits scribbled in Sharpie. “My phone number’s on the cup.”

Javier gave her the eyebrows, very much enjoying how direct she was. It was nice to get a clear signal from a pretty lady, instead of having to play guessing games and worry about overstepping. He pursed his lips and nodded in approval.

“You do that for all your customers?”

“Just the best tippers.” And there was her pretty smile and her wink again, so soon after the first one.

Javier decided to give her both barrels. He put his hand out again, palm up instead of a handshake. When she put her hand in his he lifted her knuckles to his lips and pressed a soft kiss, giving her a look from under his eyelashes before he let go.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Javier picked up the cup and left, and gave her a warm smile through the glass as he walked away. As soon as he got to the office he jotted her name and the number on a scrap of paper and tucked it into his wallet. He felt hopeful in a way that he hadn’t for a long time, and he rolled the cup endlessly between his palms while he considered his options. Options. Something he sometimes had taken for granted in life, until those moments where they suddenly ran out.

Javier drained the last of the coffee and then scribbled over her number with a Sharpie before tossing the cup in the trash. No sense in letting her number out into the world where some creep might find it. He smoked his third cigarette of the day out on the plaza and thought about her smile, the brush of her fingers on his, the way she approached him directly. He could use a friend in town, one who wasn’t a guy at the agency or an old college buddy. One who was soft and sweet and might be open to a date… or more. He checked his watch and calculated the hours until 1:00 p.m.

Normally he wouldn’t go back to the coffee shop until tomorrow morning, but it wouldn’t hurt to pop back over there today at the end of her shift, see if she wanted to grab lunch, right? He hoped it wouldn’t scare her off, going back so quickly. He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray by the lobby door and jogged back up to his office, taking the stairs two at a time. He wanted to finish up, get this meeting over with, see if he could get over to the coffee shop before she left. He sat in the meeting, watching the clock hands spin slowly, listening to someone drone on about a budget issue that didn’t impact his work, and which could have been a memo in the first place. He felt his irritation creep up the longer the meeting went on.

Finally the meeting closed and Javier hopped to his feet. He told Bill he was headed to lunch and then jogged back down the stairwell instead of waiting for the elevator. He walked the few blocks to the coffee shop, keeping an eye on his watch. He hoped he wouldn’t miss her.

When he got to the coffee shop he opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the dim light for a moment. And then he saw her, slinging her bag over one shoulder and coming out from behind the counter. Javier smiled.

She stopped a foot away and smiled softly, “Hey.”

Javier realized he was still wearing his sunglasses, no wonder it was so dark. He took them off and slipped them into his blazer pocket. He really hoped she wouldn’t think it was weird, him coming back so soon.

“Hey, I’m glad I caught you. Are you busy, or can I take you to lunch today?”

Her face lit up. Good sign. “No, I’m not busy. I’d love to go.”

She gestured out the big window, “There’s a sandwich place around the corner, and a park we can go sit in.”

Javier felt his face split into a wide grin. “That’s perfect.”

---

Just-here-for-the-moment’s masterlist

The only tag list I have: @quica-quica-quica @anaaaispunk @justanotherblonde23 @gracie7209 @nicolethered @honestly-shite @driedgreentomatoes @dihra-vesa @1800-fight-me @the-queen-of-fools @juletheghoul @kesskirata @honeymandos @silverwolf319 @mourningbirds1 @greeneyedblondie44 @spacedilf @maxwell–lord @anxiousandboujee @cevvie @sherala007 @writeforfandoms @libellule2001 @deadhumourist @mandoalorian @javierpinme @eri16 @mandocrasis

[oumakokichi]

So what do you think of Kaede and Kokichi's relationship? And if Kaede remained the protagonist how do you think it would change?

Considering it’s Kaede’s birthday today I think this is a really fun question to come back to!

Kaede is an absolutely amazing character, and I love how different her relationships with the rest of the cast feel from Saihara’s. She and Ouma have an especially interesting friendship in their FTEs together (one of Kaede’s FTEs with Ouma might be one of my favorite FTEs ever, really), so I don’t mind going a little more in-depth on my thoughts about their dynamic, as well as about how that dynamic and the story itself might’ve changed if Kaede had remained the protagonist!

Warning for spoilers as always, though I’m pretty sure most people know about the chapter 1 twist by now.

I think one of my absolute favorite things about Kaede is just how easy it is to get attached to her in such a short amount of time. She’s only around for the prologue and a single chapter, but despite that (or rather, because of the sheer length of the chapters in ndrv3, which tend to be much longer than dr1 or sdr2’s chapters), we still get to see so many different sides of her and just how complex of a character she really is. And I think that’s largely the reason for her continued popularity to this day: Kaede might not stay around for long, but we still really feel like we know her by the end of it.

And really, I think that’s pretty similar to how the actual characters feel about Kaede themselves. Despite how short her time is with all of them, she leaves such a powerful, lasting impression, even after her death. This is a pretty big change from previous DR games, where the chapter 1 culprits especially tend to suffer a pretty big lack of relevance or relationship to other characters in later chapters. Often times the victims are at least somewhat memorable (Maizono and the Impostor both at least come up a few times in their respective games), but characters like Leon or Teruteru just don’t feel like they have much of an impact on the other characters or the plot itself after their trials are finished.

This is totally different from Kaede, whose positive outlook and outgoing attitude already makes her fairly likable to most of the others, but who also openly invites the others to rely on her once she establishes herself as a leader figure fairly quickly in chapter 1. Most of the other characters latch onto her almost immediately, either because she seems so reliable and helpful (Saihara and Tenko in particular seem to like this about her), or because they can’t help but respect her and what she’s trying to do for the group (characters like Momota, who really values group cooperation, come to mind).

Personally, I think Ouma fell into the latter category. He and Kaede have something of a complicated relationship almost right from the get-go in chapter 1, but it’s still pretty clear that Ouma did respect Kaede a lot and recognized that she had the group’s best interests at heart, even if he didn’t always agree with her methods.

Likewise, I think Kaede was somewhat curious about Ouma and really wanted to get along with him, despite how difficult he could be. We see in Ouma’s introduction, both in the demo and the actual game, that Kaede clearly recognizes on some level that part of his annoying attitude is really just his way of teasing others, and that he doesn’t seem particularly malicious. More specifically, she describes him as “having a childish streak that makes him hard to hate,” which is a pretty spot-on description of Ouma in a nutshell. In short, she knew he was annoying and childish (on purpose, most of the time) but she definitely didn’t think of him as evil or cruel. This may in part also be because she didn’t live long enough to see him embrace the fake villain routine by the end of chapter 4, of course.

Ouma has a few teasing remarks throughout most of the game, but it’s not really until the death road of despair is discovered that he and Kaede butt heads for the very first time. This is because of a big, fundamental difference between their ideologies: while both of them very much have the group’s best interests at heart, they completely disagree when it comes to whether it’s worth it to cooperate as a team or not.

By the end of the game, Ouma is extremely paranoid, refusing to cooperate with absolutely anyone unless it’s out of some mixture of chance and necessity (such as working with Momota in chapter 5). He keeps all his cards close to the chest, and refuses to confide in or trust any of his remaining classmates, believing it’s fully possible any of them could be the ringleader.

But before the events of chapter 4, we see that he’s actually not opposed to the idea of selective cooperation. He strikes up a tentative collaboration with Miu early on, commissioning her to create some extremely useful inventions with the intent of using them to try and end the killing game. He also extends an invitation of cooperation to both Kaede (in one of her FTEs) and Saihara (in chapter 4, in the parlor of the VR world), though he goes about this in such a sly, underhanded, and off-putting way that both of them shoot his offer down flat. Even he’s not beyond the idea of teaming up with people he perceives as “useful” or “smart,” as long as it’s a much smaller, one-on-one effort rather than trusting or working with the entire group.

By contrast, Kaede is someone who believes that group unity is almost a necessity if they want to escape the killing game. This is very much in line with the role she establishes for herself as a leader. Unlike characters like Momota, who has always sort of longed to embrace a “hero” role, or Saihara, who is considerably more awkward and unwilling to be a leader because of how guilty he feels, Kaede’s role is much more about boosting and maintaining the group’s morale.

This is lampshaded several times by the classical music pieces that she references, often in an attempt to either clam the others down or fire them up at the idea of working together and escaping. It’s also a fantastic little clue that her own positive outlook is something a bit more crafted than it seems on the surface; she always tries to be optimistic about things and face her problems head-on, but that’s in large part because she tries to energize herself and present that reliable, dependable persona to the rest of the group. In short, she believes that if she reveals her own uncertainty or lack of faith in her plans, the rest of the group’s trust and morale will fall too.

Like I mentioned, this difference in their outlook is really what begins to cause problems for them once they discover the death road of despair in chapter 1. Kaede sees the tunnel as their one opportunity to escape without having to rely on the killing game itself; even if it’s extremely difficult and damn near impossible to get through it, the chance of injury is a risk she’s willing to take, no matter how many times they have to start over. But Ouma disagrees with this mindset and criticizes her in front of the entire group, pointing out how everyone else is already exhausted and even injured, and saying that she has no right to make that decision for the rest of them.

He even goes a step further and accuses her of strong-arming the rest of them by “denying them the right to give up in an impossible situation.” He claims that by positing herself as an inspirational figure, she has the “moral high-ground” no matter what the rest of them do or say, and clearly doesn’t think it’s possible for them to continue down the death road without someone getting seriously injured, or worse.

These harsh words really take Kaede aback, especially since most of the rest of the group seems to more or less agree with Ouma. She’s extremely hurt—not just by the fact that no one seems to really want to keep going with her plan, but also, I think, because she felt as if Ouma was right on some level. In my opinion, this is why she cries once she’s alone in her room later: because she did feel as though she’d forced everyone else to go along with an unreasonable plan. It’s the first time that we really see the cracks in her leader persona beginning to show, as well as the self-doubt that she carries.

I honestly think many people who dislike Ouma on their first playthrough of the game may have started here, right at this moment. Because so much of this seems to be fairly black-or-white initially—Kaede is presented as the unequivocally good heroine, trying to get everyone to work together and escape, and Ouma by contrast seems mean and unreasonable for arguing with her in front of everyone. We’re not supposed to linger on the fact that he makes several good points about everyone else’s safety and exhaustion because how he goes about it is off-putting and unlikable.

Not only that, but we as first-time players aren’t supposed to know about all the similarities that Ouma and Kaede actually have in common, despite their differences on the matter of group cooperation. We’re not supposed to know just yet that they both want to save the group, no matter what it takes, or that both of them are willing to go to extreme, sometimes morally grey measures in order to try and stop the killing game. We’re not supposed to know right away that Ouma can be every bit as self-sacrificing as Kaede, despite the selfish things that he says in front of the others, or that when push comes to shove, Kaede is willing to lie almost as much as he is.

We don’t know any of that, initially—which is why that scene hits so hard and sets Ouma up to be so unpleasant. But I think going back on a replay and evaluating it again is pretty interesting specifically because of all these similarities that I’ve listed. The fact that they clash here is especially interesting, given the sort of roles they embody to the rest of the group, with Kaede deliberately choosing to be someone that the entire group relies on and finds trustworthy, while Ouma later sets himself up to become a villain who’s hated by everyone. And despite this, their goals are largely one and the same: expose the ringleader and end the killing game.

I think it’s specifically because Kaede realized she couldn’t continue pushing everyone to do the things she wanted them to, no matter how badly she wanted everyone to cooperate and escape together, and that’s ultimately why she turns to Plan B when she hears from Saihara about the bookshelf hiding the ringleader’s lair in the library. And for all that she does want to trust and cooperate with everyone else, she actually goes about this plan in the most Ouma-like way possible: by doing everything herself and without telling anyone her real intentions, not even Saihara.

Something I especially like about Kaede as a character is just how nuanced she is. Because she is simultaneously the brave, trustworthy, outgoing protagonist that we see her as, but she’s also so, so much more than that. She’s fiercely determined and cares about everyone else, yes, but it’s also because she cares so much that she’s willing to do things like lie and attempt murder behind everyone else’s back.

If we look at the audition videos as any sort of clue as to what the characters might’ve been like before the start of the game, I do think there was a somewhat more skeptical, cynical side of Kaede deep down that didn’t quite trust other people—and that’s all the more reason she wanted to trust them and work together with all of them, because she knew exactly how hard it was to do so. It’s such an interesting contrast from Ouma, who could easily have used all his lies and charm to cooperate with people if he wanted to, but who instead continually pushes people away because of his skepticism, all the while pretending to act completely arrogant and self-assured in his plans. Deep down, I think both of them were much more vulnerable than they were ever willing to show in front of other people.

And I think by the end of chapter 1, Ouma became more or less aware of that side of Kaede, once she confesses everything she tried to do to end the killing game. Prior to this, I personally think Ouma still very much liked and respected her guts and her attempts at leading the group, but that he ultimately thought she was doomed by her reliance on trust and cooperation when they didn’t even know who the ringleader was within their group. But I think that after hearing just how far she was willing to go to stop the killing game, including but not limited to lying to everyone else and going behind their backs with her own plan, he couldn’t help but respect her even more. Despite his accusations that she was too soft or naïve for trusting everyone else, her actual attempted solution was far closer to his own outlook than he initially gave her credit for.

This is why, just before Kaede is about to be executed, Ouma drops all of his usual acts and facades with her and gives her a sincere goodbye, telling her that she “wasn’t boring.” And this is really the highest compliment someone like Ouma can give: she did take him by surprise and surpass all his expectations from her, and I do believe he was genuinely sad to see her go when she attempted such a huge sacrifice for everyone else’s sakes.

Truly, the only part of her plan that I think he disagreed with was the act of (attempted) murder in and of itself. He felt that despite her good intentions, she had “crossed a line” that shouldn’t be crossed, and that she fell into the ringleader’s trap the moment the idea of murder crossed her mind. Considering how much DICE’s “no murder” taboo guided Ouma throughout the game, it’s not surprising at all that this is where he disagreed with Kaede. Though ironically, he himself crosses the same line in chapter 4 when he decides the only possible solution to Miu’s attempt on his life is to kill her himself, and therefore winds up getting his hands dirty without ever directly committing murder, much like Kaede herself.

Questioning how they might’ve gotten along if Kaede had actually lived past chapter 1 and continued being the game’s protagonist is interesting, mainly because so many factors would change as a result. Kaede and Saihara are so fundamentally different as protagonists, and Kaede herself is much more in line with what we would expect from a Hope’s Peak protagonist instead. Kodaka himself has described her in an interview as being extremely similar to Asahina, and I personally think she’s something of a combination between Asahina’s outgoing attitude and Maizono’s carefully crafted façade (not to mention moral ambiguity). So it stands to reason that the game and its themes wouldn’t quite be the same if Kaede were still the protagonist.

On the one hand, I do think there would be interesting potential for a possible alliance between her and Ouma, especially given how similar they could both be. Ouma himself proposes such an alliance to her in one of his FTEs, though she does get angry and shoots him down, as I mentioned earlier. But it’s interesting to consider if Kaede might’ve been more willing to cooperate in smaller, one-on-one alliances if she had attempted her plan in chapter 1 and failed without getting executed for it.

There’s also the fact that Ouma claims to remember her and everyone else adamantly in his FTEs with her, even going so far as to claim that she and everyone else forgot about him, even though he never forgot about them. It’s unclear whether he’s referring to his memories from before the game still being intact (which is likely, since he’s pretty skeptical of the flashback lights right away), or if there’s some other explanation for it, but personally, I don’t think it can be dismissed as a complete lie. Even if Kaede herself accuses him of lying and making it all up, he goes uncharacteristically blank and claims that “even he’s not that good at lying.”

This adds huge potential to Kaede sticking around, as there could easily be an underlying mystery element. In addition to the trials themselves and the mystery of the outside world, it’d be very possible to explore their dynamic further, as well as why Ouma said the things he did and if he was actually telling the truth about knowing her and everyone else from before. Kaede is absolutely persistent enough that I feel like she would’ve pressed him for details about this, especially once it became clear in the main plot that their memories were unreliable.

On the other hand, it’s really unclear if Ouma would’ve still been willing to offer that alliance to Kaede once she had attempted to commit murder. Assuming the events of chapter 1 stay more or less the same and the only difference is that Kaede survives instead of getting executed, this raises some potential problems with Ouma actually working together with her or trusting her. She did, as he puts it, “cross the line”—even if her murder attempt wasn’t successful, Ouma claims that she was already too far gone the moment she even considered murder as a possible solution. This could definitely cause another clash of opinions between them, especially as Ouma is much too paranoid to work directly with anyone who he thinks might kill him.

Another potential source of conflict in my opinion is the Hope’s Peak flashback light in chapter 5. Unlike Saihara, who deals primarily with questions of “truth or lies” and is ultimately able to see through Tsumugi’s false ultimatum in chapter 6 with the choice of either the “hope ending” or “despair ending,” Kaede is, as I mentioned, much more in line with what you’d expect from a Hope’s Peak protagonist. She’s extremely smart of course, but she has a bit of a reckless, headstrong streak where she tends to act based on emotion rather than reason, and this could get her into quite a lot of trouble once Tsumugi started rewriting everyone’s memories in chapter 5.

Saihara was able to see that both of the choices Tsumugi presented in the final trial were bullshit and would ultimately keep the cycle of Danganronpa ongoing, but I’m not entirely sure if Kaede would realize the same thing, or even if she did eventually realize it, I’m not sure it would’ve been in time to stop it. Because of her self-sacrificing nature, I personally think she would’ve chosen to be one of the sacrifices for the sake of “hope,” much like Amami presumably did in season 52. This ultimately means that Kaede sticking around might have ultimately led to a “bad end” of sorts, where even if the rest of the group went free aside from her and one other sacrifice, Danganronpa itself never gets dismantled and lives to see another season.

The only possible way I see for Kaede to avoid falling into this trap and making this choice is if enough of her classmates rubbed off on her or helped her see things in less black-or-white terms like “hope” or “despair,” and in more nuanced shades of grey instead. But considering how completely fooled almost everyone was in the actual events of the game, it’s difficult to say if this would happen. She would definitely need to talk and debate with someone who viewed the flashback lights a lot more skeptically, whether it was Saihara or Ouma (or maybe even Angie), before she could reach the truth about what Tsumugi and Team Danganronpa were really after.

This analysis has gotten pretty long by this point, so I’ll just wrap things up by saying that I really do love Kaede and Ouma’s friendship, and I think they had more potential of getting along than either of them might’ve realized in canon. Despite their fundamental differences, both of them were two characters who went farther than almost anyone else in trying to stop the killing game, and both of them weren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty if necessary. I think the fact that Ouma claims to remember Kaede and everyone else from before the killing game is super interesting, and I would’ve absolutely loved to see it touched on more if Ouma had lived longer.

All in all, Kaede is such an amazing, morally grey character who really helps to establish what we can expect from the rest of the game, and I think that’s part of what makes her so memorable. Maybe one day we’ll get some sort of DR:IF equivalent where we get a semi-canon look into a scenario where everyone lives, and hopefully there we could see not only more of Kaede being a protagonist figure, but also more of her interactions with Ouma and everyone else.

[shurisneakers]

shut in [2]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Gender Neutral Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, implied violence, drama kings, and stupid tv show references

Word count: 3.4k

A/N: ayeeee, we’re back for part two. i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

Hours were spent on the road in thick silence. 

The both of you had been driving around for a while now. You were a considerable distance away from the mansion and Pierce, but you didn’t dare to stop.

Initially you had only put the pedal to the metal without solid plan. Get the fuck away from there was the only objective you cared about. 

Hours later a signboard registered in your frantic thoughts. Familiarity struck a chord, and all of a sudden you had a vague idea of where you could go. You were unsure if it still existed, but it was a risk you were willing to take.

Darkness still coloured the sky, but the roads were deserted. No cameras along the highway was a welcomed feature. You eased your foot off the accelerator, carefully assessing the path you were taking for your exit. 

You saw a small clearing near the highway, taking a deep breath before pulling the car into a sharp turn off the road and into the woods.

“Where are you going?” your companion jolted up when the car swerved abruptly. 

You didn’t answer; just kept your eyes peeled for the structure. You didn’t have a backup plan if this didn’t go right.

It took much longer than you anticipated before you found it, pulling the car to a stop. You were deeper into the woods than you would have liked. 

You stuck your head out of the window to confirm you were at the right place. It looked like you were.

“Where the hell are we?”

“My summer vacation house,” you murmured, unbuckling your seatbelt. You stepped out of the car to assess the damage. .

Another door opening and closing told you that he had gotten out of the car as well. However, he trudged ahead, leaving you behind. 

The car was pretty beaten up. The metal gates hadn’t done it any favours.The question was whether it would still work if you needed it to.

Probably would, but not for too long.

You looked to the side to see where he went. He was standing in front of the house, arms crossed over his chest as he ran his eyes all over the building.

You trekked past him, walking up the two steps to the door. Pulling at what looked like a doorbell in any other scenario, you tugged off the outer shell to reveal a small scanner underneath.

You pressed your thumb to it, tapping your foot impatiently as it gave a beep of approval. The door gave a soft click. You let out a breath you didn’t realise you were holding, twisting the handle to let yourself in. 

“You’re kidding right?” he asked incredulously from a distance behind you.

“Hey, man, stay outside if you want. Suit yourself.” You were sure he could fashion a bed out of leaves and twigs if he was that desperate.

Fumbling for the light switch, you sigh in relief when the room is illuminated.

“Whose safehouse is this?”

“Ransone’s.” You shrugged nonchalantly, moving ahead to inspect the place.

“I have every single one of his safehouses committed to memory.” His voice was becoming fainter as he planted his feet firmly at the doorway, refusing to move. “This ain’t one of them.”

“He’s sneaky. Once watched the next episode of Desperate Housewives without telling me.” The house wasn’t as dusty as you thought it would be, clearly being maintained once in a while although not regularly. “Broke my whole heart, he did.”

“Whose house is this?” he asked once again, tone hard as steel.

“Best that you don’t ask questions, buddy.” You looked at him wearily, a slo warning in itself, ending the conversation there. “Or else you’re welcome to leave.”

The entrance opened directly into what you assumed was the living room, or a sorry excuse for one. It had a couch facing an old cable television set, mounted on a small cupboard.

In the same space was the kitchen, with a microwave, a sink, and shelves lining the wall. A small mini fridge sat atop the counter.  There was a dining table with six chairs for a family, almost like a sick joke. You found yourself letting out a short exhale at it, moving onto the next room.

It was bare except for a shelf pressed against a well. Opening it, you found yourself looking at multitudes of what looked like burner phones, microphones, cameras, some as small as a button. Regular security cameras and monitors to go with it, trackers, anything you needed was available in those four drawers.

You pocketed a burner cell to use for later, moving to the room on the opposite side of the hall.

However, unlike the rest of the rooms you had seen so far, this one was empty. Not even a shelf decorating it.

The next door you opened was a bathroom, the final being a bedroom with one bed in the centre pushed up against the wall. A wardrobe in the corner contained numerous t-shirts of black and grey of every size, tactical pants and other necessary items of clothing.

You eyed the last door at the end of the hall before finally deciding to pursue it.

It opened to the patio in the back, two steps leading down from the house into the wooded area. Pillars held up the corners of the roof. It all looked picturesque, meant to blend in as a normal house.

You stood there for a second, taking in the silence around you. Nothing could be heard for miles, so if something were to happen-

You shook your head, forcing your imagination to stop running wild. You shut the door behind you, steadily making your way back to where the guy was.

It appeared that he had caved. He had moved from the doorway, instead taking a seat on one of the dining chairs. He was observing you, eyes keen as you took a seat opposite to him.

Dropping the burner phone on the table, you looked at him expectantly. Silence ensued until it dawned on him what you were implying. 

“I’m not calling him,” the guy said, leaning on his palm. Coward. 

“Fine.” You pulled it back, snapping it open to dial the number.

You let it ring all the way until the very last second.

“Hello?” the low voice resonated from the other end.

“Ransone.” You rolled your eyes at his tone, somehow letting your exhaustion tear down any kind of filter you usually had while in conversation with him. 

“Y/N?” His voice jumped two octaves higher to his usual pitch, dropping the facade immediately. 

“Did you set us up?” You ignored the small glance you got from the guy at your name.

“What?”

“Did you set us up?” you repeated brazenly.

“What?”

“Oh, cut the shit Ransone, was this a trap?” The guy next to you exploded impatiently.

“Wilson?” Great. A name to the face.

“Answer the fuckin’ question, Vincent.” The mention of Ranone’s first name had you surprised. No one dared to call him that.

“No, Sam,” came his response almost mockingly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sam Wilson. It sounded familiar. You’d heard it tossed around a few times at the organisation.

“Why were both of us on the same assignment?”

“I told you, I wasn’t sure if Wilson was going to show up.” You could hear his chair faintly creak in the background. “This was his mission first.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” you interjected. Faint memories of a passing comment he made during your briefing were beginning to surface. 

“It means,” Ransone emphasised. “I called him first. He was being a bit… difficult. So I sent you as a backup.”

You looked at Sam. He dismissed you with a wave of his hand, as if to say to ignore what he was saying.

“And you didn’t think it was important to tell me that you were sending someone else?” If Ransone had told you, he should have mentioned it to him too.

“Oh, grow up.” Ransone sounded irritated, a tone that he seemed to reserve for Sam specifically. “You’re not children anymore. You can handle a few miscommunications.”

“Bullshit. You and I both know this isn’t an accident,” Sam retorted, dangerously good at not giving a shit. 

“You better watch yourself, agent.” Ransone snarled. “I don’t like being questioned.”

“Like I give a shit about what you like or not. We were outnumbered 8 to 2. You tellin’ me you had nothing to do with this? That the stars just aligned to royally fuck with us?”

“Yes, I waited until Mercury was in retrograde to plan this hit,” he drawled sarcastically. “Don’t you for a second forget what you owe me, Wilson. You’d be stupid to believe I’d let it go so easily by having you killed.”

His voice was ice by the end. Sam’s eyebrow furrowed as he leaned back, crossing his arm over his chest.

“Then what about me?”

“Y/N,” he sighed, instantly sounding softer. “I didn’t think he would show. That’s it.”

“You’ve never been unsure of anything.”

“Which is why I sent you in. Pierce had to die one way or the other. Don’t care how.” It wasn’t what you were talking about, but it brought up something else. 

You looked at Sam. Should you tell him that Pierce was dead before you got there?

You decided against it, not knowing what his reaction would be and too tired to gauge it over the phone. If someone else had gotten to Pierce before you, it meant that Ransone didn’t get a chance to deliver a dramatic end to his life, which would tick him off endlessly. 

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Sam broke the momentary pause.

“You don’t.” He paused. “Distrusting me is the wisest thing you could do.”

You scoffed at his stupid Game of Thrones quote. How he was this obnoxious at a time like this was beyond comprehension. 

“Give me your location.” He couldn’t sound less interested, like a parent forced to pick up their child. “I’ll send someone to come pick you up.”

Sam’s finger tapped at the table, drawing your attention to him.

He slowly shook his head, mentioning to his ear then drawing his finger in a circle indicating his surroundings.

Disclosing confidential information over the phone wasn’t the wisest idea. You had no idea if anyone was tapping into Ransone’s calls, listening for sensitive information. For all you knew that’s how they got to the mansion before you. 

“Forget it. We’ll figure it out,” you told Ransone, eyes still locked on Sam.

“All right, stay low for a while. Keep me updated.”

You cut the call without another word, removing the battery and tossing the phone onto the table.

“What now?”

Neither of you said anything for a while. The silence rested uncomfortably between you as you stewed over what to bring up. 

“Did you kill Pierce?”

“Christ, we still on this?” he scoffed.

“It’s a yes or no question.” 

“No,” he stared at you. “I didn’t.”

“Did Ransone send you to spy on me?” It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened, although you thought he had moved past the need for that years ago. 

“No, I was there for a mission.”

“You got any proof?”

He rolled his eyes. “Scout’s honour.”

He lifted his hand up in a mock-salute. A wince flashed across his face; barely, but enough for you to catch it. His arm dropped back down again.

You examined him silently, searching for any hint of a lie or bluff. You found nothing, only an adamant set of eyes staring right back at you.

Your chair creaked as you pushed yourself away from the table. You could feel his gaze following you as you walked down the hall to the bathroom. Shuffling through the shelves for something you were sure was there, you soon stepped back out.

You had no idea why you were doing this. You didn’t even know the guy.

He had his sleeve pulled up to his shoulder, examining the wound from the bullet graze. Dried blood streaked his forearm, partially covering his tattoo.

You tossed the first aid kit onto the table, watching it slide across to where he was sitting. Sam glanced at the box, then up at you.

You just turned around silently, walking back down the hall and towards the bedroom, shutting the door behind you.

__________

Sleep didn’t come that night, and predictably so.

Whether it was the survival instinct guarding you from the stranger in the house, the adrenaline from the mission or even the anxiety of not knowing what exactly was going on, you were sure that you didn’t catch even a bit of shut eye.

Morning came around after what seemed like days rather than hours. You still stayed in bed well past the sunrise, pulling at the hem of your pillow. Your knife was still strapped to your thigh and your gun found a place on the nightstand, just in case.

When you heard the opening and shut of cabinets down the hall, you finally pulled yourself up, stretching to get rid of the weariness in your muscles. You decided against the gun but left the knife strapped to your thigh as you shifted off the bed.

You paused at the doorway, hand on the knob. Shoving aside your hesitation, you opened the door quietly. You could handle it, easily.

Walking towards the kitchen, the volume of his ruffling and filing through the kitchen only became louder. You stopped at the entrance, watching as Sam slammed a cabinet door shut.

“C’mon man,” he groaned before turning around to lean his body weight against the counter. There was a small bump under the sleeve of his arm, different from the curve of his muscle. You assumed he had bandaged the bullet graze the night before.

He was still wearing the same thing as yesterday. Dust was slightly settled on his shirt and one knee of his pants was ripped slightly.

“Mornin’.” You quickly looked back up at him, not realising when he had seen you. “Get any sleep last night?”

You wordlessly shook your head and he shrugged in understanding. 

“Did you?”

“Oh yeah. Out like a light.” He pushed himself off the counter.

“Really?” You watched as he pulled out a chair for himself, taking a place at the dining table, same place he was sitting the night before.

“Sounded like the reasonable thing to do.” He had an unnatural amount of faith in the fact that you wouldn’t murder him. Although you couldn’t judge if he was simply putting on a show, having stayed awake just as you had. 

“I'm stuck in a safehouse with a stranger, forgive me for being a little careful,” you muttered defensively, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Hey, never said you were wrong.” He lifted his hands up. “But just to make sure; are you going to kill me?”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “No?”

“And I’m not going to kill you. I’d say that’s enough reassurance to get at least a nap in.”

“Give me one good reason to believe you.”

“If you killed me, Ransone would blow the roof of this place with you still in it. I’m one of the best he’s got.”

“Bullshit.” You scoffed, walking around the table to go see what you could find to eat. Ransone wouldn’t do that for anyone, and he knew that.

He didn’t bother responding but you could sense him tracking your movement.

The first cabinet you opened consisted purely of jars of peanut butter, stacked together neatly. The one beside it had jelly arranged in a similar fashion, jar to jar and taking up the entire space. Adjacent cupboard had loaves of bread, probably the most you’d seen together in a house ever.

The next cupboard was... empty.

“You have got to be fuckin’ with me,” you cursed under your breath. “Is there nothing else here?”

Save for a few plates and cutlery, every other shelf was empty. Your frustration only grew with each drawer you opened and shut, finding nothing but the same three components over and over again.

“There’s some soup on the top right, behind the bread.” His voice came from behind you. You checked where he mentioned, finding multiple cans of tomato soup. “I hope PB&J is your favourite, ‘cause that’s really all we got. I checked twice.”

“We won’t be here long anyway. It’s fine.” You walked a few steps towards where the TV was, sitting atop a small cupboard. If you weren’t getting gourmet meals, hopefully it would be compensated with some entertainment.

Rummaging through it didn’t prove to be a major hassle since there were only three DVDs; Die Hard, Notting Hill and Megamind. Beside it sat two books, American Gods, and Pride and Prejudice. That’s all. 

“Really made sure to cover all demographics with those movies. There’s only one local news channel, everything else is static,” Sam informed you, unmoving from his position. You sighed, tossing the DVDs back and shutting the door.

“There’s a room over there with some basic shit. Burners, mics, cameras. Clothes are in the bedroom drawer. Should probably take a shower while you’re at it, I can smell you from a mile away and it’s giving me a migraine.” You pushed yourself off the ground, pointing towards the rooms as you walked down the hall. “Backyard’s all heavily wooded. If we try hard enough, I’m sure there are a few trap doors or crawl spaces or whatever around here.”

You could hear him follow you as you gave him the tour of a place you were sure he already had examined thoroughly before you greeted him this morning.

Pushing open the door to the suspiciously empty room, you stepped to the side, allowing him to observe. The both of you had the same thought process as you split up, sticking close to the walls, running your fingers across the plaster to look for any major differences.

“Got it,” he called out. You spun on your heel to face where he was standing. A small chunk of the wall was missing, a small button in the centre of the cavity he had created.

Pressing it lightly, the mechanical sound of sliding doors filled the air as the entire side of the room gave way to shelves upon shelves of weapons. Guns, knives, ammunition, bulletproof vests; enough material to last you years.

The doors slid shut when you pressed the button again, not until you had a mental note of what was available in case you found yourself in a situation where you required them.

“That about covers it. Don’t think we’ll be here long so just think of it as your three day long staycation.”

“I’ve had a better time at funerals than I’ll ever have in this shithole.”

________

“What do you mean they escaped?” Their voice was booming, dripping with slow rising anger. “Someone explain to me how the fuck that’s possible.”

“They took the car and left.”

“They took the car and left,” they said mockingly in a high pitch. “I know that, you fucking imbecile. I’m asking how they were alive long enough to do it?”

“They teamed up. Took out nearly everyone,” the agent was monotone. His arm was in a sling and his partner stood beside him, thick bandages around his midsection.

“They shouldn’t have been there together. They shouldn’t have been sent together.”

No one said a word, not even daring to breathe loudly.

“This wasn’t supposed to fucking happen. We killed Pierce. Everything was perfect,” their voice dropped as they spat out the last word. “So then how did this fucking happen?”

“Boss, we’ll-”

“I want them dead.” They interrupted, casting silence in the room. “I don’t care how you fucking do it. I want you to find them and rip them to shreds. Both of them.”

“Yes, boss.”

“And if you even fucking think of coming back without a proper update-” they brought their hand down harshly on the table. “-I’ll make you wish you were never born.”

The agents just nodded, faces pale as they shuffled out of the room silently.

“Fucking idiots.” They nursed their forehead on their palm, calming the nerve that was menacingly visible on their temple. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Part 3

[1000dactyls]

usually, when someone thinks of linked universe, they don’t think about katy perry. however, her hit song “last friday night” is actually a perfect linked universe song, as each verse of the song corresponds to a link’s adventure and individual struggles. despite its peppy beat, in this essay i will prove how “last friday night” is actually a song made for linked universe, a legend of zelda au created by tumblr user jojo56830.

the opening segment of “last friday night” corresponds with the link of breath of the wild, nicknamed wild. the singer describes the act of waking up:

There's a stranger in my bed / There's a pounding in my head / Glitter all over the room / Pink flamingos in the pool

wild, who struggles with his failure of defeating ganon 100 years ago in breath of the wild, cannot reconcile his “past self” with who he is. he, too, also wakes up in a bed in a weak state, as he starts the game with only three hearts. the last two lyrics also describe the landscape of breath of the wild, which is strange but wondrous as well.

the next verse corresponds with warriors, the link from hyrule warriors. as the singer continues (warning for mentioned alcohol):

I smell like a minibar / DJ's passed out in the yard / Barbies on the barbecue / This a hickey or a bruise?

the second and third lyric can be interpreted as the many people who arrive from different timelines to warriors’ hyrule, one of the problems he confronts in the war of eras. moreover, the last line also references cia’s obsession with warriors, as while she is an enemy in the game, she is also in love with him. thus it makes sense if she gave him a wound that is either one made from violence or from her obsession with him.

continuing in the song, we get the lyrics:

Pictures of last night ended up online / I'm screwed, oh, well / It's a blacked out blur, but I'm pretty sure it ruled / Damn

this verse goes to sky, as his legacy as the chosen hero—or in this case, “pictures”—end up influencing the rest of the legend of zelda series. he himself feels immense guilt toward the situation, which would align with the “i’m screwed” lyric. the “blacked out blur” also references his tendency to sleep, due to his reoccurring nightmares of the imprisoned, so the chance to sleep properly “rules.”

skipping a section of the chorus, we end up getting to the titular portion of the song:

Last Friday night / Yeah, I think we broke the law / Always say we're gonna stop, whoa / This Friday night, do it all again / But this Friday night, do it all again

this applies to the entire legend of zelda franchise, as the hero must bend the rules sometimes in order to complete his quest: sneaking into gerudo town, kidnapping the princess, etc. moreover, the cycle repeats, despite everyone’s efforts; “this Friday night, do it all again” would imply the beginning of the cycle once more.

now in the second set of verses, the singer talks about the issues they have with recalling the night before:

Trying to connect the dots / Don't know what to tell my boss / Think the city towed my car / Chandelier is on the floor

this verse applies perfectly to twilight, as he struggles to figure out the mystery of the hero’s shade/midna’s identity/why he is in hyrule castle’s dungeon. “don’t know what to tell my boss” can also reference his struggle to confess that he is the wolf to the villagers of ordon, or how to tell time that he is the hero’s shade. the third lyric also references time and twilight’s familial connection through epona: if time is the city and “took” epona, then twilight follows back his origins to lon lon ranch.

continuing on, we also get to the verse which describes the hero of legend’s adventures:

Ripped my favorite party dress / Warrant's out for my arrest / Think I need a ginger ale / That was such an epic fail

legend, who has gone on a fashion adventure in the game “triforce heroes” as well as having different sets of protective tunics, is also the only link who is technically wearing a “dress.” he is also the only one who has a plausible warrant for his arrest, as he kidnaps the princess in a link to the past; he also has a bad relationship with the hyrule knights. “think i need a ginger ale” would describe legend’s averse nature to going on another big quest, given how tired he is of all the ordeals he’s gone through, and “that was such an epic fail” could reference his biggest guilt: Koholint, which he failed to save the inhabitants.

we get another repeat verse in the song at this point. this one describes hyrule, as:

Pictures of last night ended up online / I'm screwed, oh, well / It's a blacked out blur, but I'm pretty sure it ruled / Damn

the first two lyrics describe his dilemma in zelda 2, where if he sheds any blood, ganon’s minions will be able to resurrect him. this is only due to hyrule’s previous adventure, aka “pictures of last night”, and he is “screwed” because of this. further, “blacked out blur” could reference either his origins in zelda 1 (getting the sword from the cave) or waking up the zelda in the second game. not only that, but this verse is also a pun; “pretty sure it ruled” can reference his hero’s title, and that he is also implied to become the future king of hyrule in zelda 2 by fulfilling the prophecy of waking aurora up.

as previously stated, the chorus applies overall to the adventures of link the hero and the continuous reincarnation cycle that occurs throughout the games. now we arrive at the bridge, where the singers chant “T.G.I.F” six times. this is a reference to four, as there are four letters for the four parts of him. moreover, much of four’s adventures revolve putting a stop to someone’s evil schemes, such as vaati. thus the “thank goodness it’s Friday” chant, or “TGIF”, would represent the end of vaati’s shenanigans.

this is the end of individual verses which apply to specific links of linked universe; however, every instance of “Think we kissed, but I forgot” in the chorus is time talking about Malon. the “I forgot” references his past relationship to her in ocarina of time, while the “think we kissed” refers to their current relationship.

so while our minds may not initially jump to Katy Perry when we think of linked universe, we shouldn’t be too hasty to rule her songs out. as “last friday night” has proven to be incredibly applicable to linked universe and describing each link’s individual struggle, thus explaining why it is the perfect song for linked universe.