#particularly Despair

[littledreamling]

Apprently I’m just a font of AUs tonight because here’s another one

Ladyhawke AU (wow, now we’re getting niche) where Dream is a big black cat during the day and a human at night while Hob is a raven at night and a human during the day. They’ve been in love for centuries but someone (probably Lucifer or Desire, let’s be real) cursed them to always be together but forever apart. As soon as one of them turns human, the other turns animal and vice versa. You never see one without the other; Hob’s students have a running joke about the cat that follows him around campus or rides on his shoulder, while Dream is a campus cryptid infamous for only appearing at night robed in all black with a raven perched on his shoulder. Anyone who actually talks to either of them immediately comes to know the deep love they each have for their animal companions, but no one connects the dots. No one except Rose, who (along with the help of Death or maybe even Delirium or Despair) befriends both of them and finds out the whole story. She then dedicates a significant amount of time trying to find a cure or loophole to allow her uncle and professor to finally be reunited

[accirax]

DRDT vs. The Scrum Debate

Greetings party people (<- DRDT fan community). By complete accident, I wound up writing some analysis addressing DRDT's Chapter 1 Scrum Debate and what it might mean for the future of Chapter 2. Although it can no longer be used in the exact context for which I originally wrote it, there were still some interesting things to note, so I thought I'd share.

So, here's the question I'll pose: whenever DRDT's Chapter 2 Scrum Debate eventually appears, can we deduce who the killer is by which side of the Scrum Debate they're on? (DRDT spoilers, obviously, as well as V3 spoilers.)

Let's start out with the facts of DRDT so far. I'll recap the Scrum Debate using this formatting: the person listed first is the one who speaks first, on the team opposite the protagonist. The person listed after the arrow (->) is the person who countered them from the protagonist's team. The team whose opinion is proven correct by the end of the Trial will have their names in green, while the incorrect team will be listed in red. The killer is bolded. The protagonist is underlined. The protagonist's side always wins, so I'm not additionally marking that in any special way. I'll list anyone who doesn't talk at the bottom, and cross their name out (name) if they're dead.

DRDT Chapter 1 Scrum Debate

Question: Is Teruko the culprit? (yes/no) J -> Nico David -> Whit Veronika -> Rose Levi -> Ace Hu -> Eden Arei -> Arturo Min -> Teruko No lines: Xander, Charles

In this case, Xander didn't speak in the Scrum Debate (because he's dead) and neither did Charles (because he was having a mental breakdown). As it stands so far in DRDT, the "pattern" is that the killer, Min, spoke and was on the team opposite from Teruko. She was countered by Teruko herself, even!

Therefore, you could say that "the killer will be someone who argues on the opposite side of the protagonist, and possibly even whoever is countered by Teruko. If your killer pick winds up on Teruko's team, it's bad news for you."

However, it's hard to find a pattern in only one example. Now, we'll see if those assumptions hold true when compared to the OG of Scrum Debates, the canonical Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.

V3 Chapter 1 Scrum Debate

Question: Is Shuichi the culprit? (yes/no) Kiyo -> Gonta Miu -> Kaito Maki -> Kirumi Ryoma -> Kiibo Kokichi -> Kaede No lines: Rantaro, Angie, Tenko, Tsumugi, Himiko, Shuichi (^ Unlike what's been shown in DRDT so far, in V3, characters' death portraits are assigned to a side of the Scrum Debate. That is what these colors note for Rantaro right now, and other dead students below.)

V3 Chapter 2 Scrum Debate

Question: When was the body put in the piranha tank? (in the morning/at night) Tsumugi -> Angie Kiyo -> Himiko Miu -> Kaito Kokichi -> Shuichi Gonta -> Maki Kirumi -> Tenko No lines: Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kiibo

V3 Chapter 3 Scrum Debate

Question: [Should we] Vote for Korekiyo [now, or discuss it further]? (vote now/discuss further)* Himiko -> Kiibo Miu -> Shuichi Kaito -> Kiyo Gonta -> Kokichi Maki -> Kiyo Tsumugi -> Shuichi No lines: Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko (*Although the team that said vote for Kiyo now would have technically been correct, given that he did kill Tenko and Angie, it's generally good practice to discuss every piece of evidence in a Class Trial in case something strange comes up last minute. Thus, I will call the team that said they should discuss further correct. If you disagree with this verdict, just flip the colors in your mind.)

V3 Chapter 4 Scrum Debate

Question: Could Gonta have committed the crime? (no/yes) Kaito -> Shuichi Tsumugi -> Kokichi Maki -> Kiibo Kaito -> Shuichi Kaito -> Kokichi Himiko -> Kiibo Gonta -> Shuichi No lines: Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko, Kiyo, Miu

V3 Chapter 5 Scrum Debate

Question: Which one is dead? (Kokichi/Kaito) Kiibo -> Shuichi Himiko -> Maki Tsumugi -> Maki Kiibo -> Shuichi Himiko -> Maki Tsumugi -> Shuichi No lines: Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko, Kiyo, Miu, Gonta, Kokichi, Kaito

Oof, my man Ryoma cannot catch a break. And Miu is only correct once she's dead; that's pretty funny.

Now, let's answer some questions! As established by v3...

Does the blackened have to be on the opposite team from the protagonist? No, Kiyo argued on Shuichi's side in Ch3!

Does the blackened have to be countered by the protagonist in their Class Trial? No, Kirumi, Kiyo, and Kaito were never countered by Shuichi!

Is the blackened always on the incorrect side of the Scrum Debate? No, Kaede, Kiyo*, and Kaito answered correctly!

Does the blackened have to speak in the Class Trial? No, Kaito didn't say anything, as himself or as Kokichi!

(Granted, Kaito not speaking was a very special circumstances that will in all likelihood never apply to DRDT, much less in this Class Trial. And, of course, Kaede wasn't countered by the protagonist either, but given that she was the protagonist at the time, that would have been basically impossible.)

With these answers, I think we can confirm that, in general, you cannot determine who the killer of a given Trial is based on where they're placed in the Scrum Debate. As established by V3, they can talk on the side of the protagonist, talk against the protagonist, or not talk at all, and they can still be the killer. It makes sense that it would be this way, or else you could start calling the killer as early as the first episode of the Trial, depending on the Scrum Debate's placement.

However, that's not to say that you can never infer things from the evidence you're given. In a well written Class Trial (which DRDT has, in my opinion), a killer is always looking to support their end goals in subtle ways. In V3, all of the killers acted in the way that made the most sense to them based on the question asked: Kaede wanted to protect Shuichi and everyone else, Kirumi wanted others to think the truth of the murder was impossible, Kiyo wanted to extend the Trial to evade a guilty verdict, Gonta genuinely believed he was innocent, and Kaito didn't tip the scales by commenting on one side or another. Of course, that begs the question: what will DRDT's Scrum Debate be about?

Personally, I think it will be about whether Arei met with the killer at 7:30 PM or 7:30 AM, and will happen almost immediately once episodes resume. Thus, in that specific scenario, I find it likely that DRDT Chapter 2's killer will once again be on the team opposite Teruko. Presumably, the killer would want to argue that the time was 7:30 PM, because they likely left AM or PM off of the note intentionally because they had an alibi at night. If we assume that Teruko would side with Charles in saying that the time was 7:30 AM, playing into her feeling that something about David being the blackened is wrong, then that would put her on the (likely correct) AM team, opposite the killer.

An interesting side note about this theory for the Scrum Debate's subject is that it's really similar to V3's Chapter 2 Scrum Debate question. V3 Ch2 asked whether Ryoma's body was placed in the Gym in the morning or at night, and DRDT's may ask if Arei's body was put in the Playground in the morning or at night. Similarly, "is Shuichi the culprit" and "is Teruko the culprit" are almost identical questions, down to the person suspected being the innocent eventual protagonist who was only put into this precarious position by their trigger-happy bestie.

If this pattern holds up, we might expect DRDT's subsequent Scrum Debates to ask us whether we should make an impulsive or cautious decision, something about someone's personality as it pertains to the crime, and which of two people is dead/the culprit. Does that information get anyone theorizing? I certainly think it's interesting idea.

Well, whatever happens, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about once Episode 12 does eventually dropped. Thanks for checking this out, and hopefully I can post more properly planned DRDT content soon.

[ofdarklands]

level 90 at last!

so! about black mage

i've been thinking how to describe playing black mage, and i think the simile i used this morning in chat works well enough:

black mage feels like trying to run with a pot full of boiling water in my hands. with other jobs i feel light and agile, but black mage plays like how seeing emet selch as solus run would feel. look at that guy go. i didn't know spines could do that! you can hear his knees crunch, also

mechanically, it's really not nearly as bad as i feared it to be, even though i don't think i'd managed to figure out a decent rotation myself on the first or even third try so, thank you internet people for the guides!

anyway, the boiling pot wheezing trot sensation is not unique to it, though it is the most noticeable of all the casting classes i've played. i'd say rdm>summoner>whm>>blm in increasing awkwardness

so, while i acknowledge that blm is an optimizer's paradise to get the Biggest Booms, probably, playing it feels like it's almost fighting against the game instead of flowing with it and due to that it's just not very enjoyable, for me. it's got the same inflexible rotation that makes dragoon my least played class despite it being very canon for mitr'a

and from a physical perspective my fingers are not very precise on the keyboard, so i tend to fuck up the routine by accident quite often and then i have to correct it or start over and eeeehhhhhh. and my can't-remember-to-click-despair situation. dunno what the problem is with that one, to be quite honest. brain said no i guess :( that one's on me

woops this got longer than i thought so have a readmore

the good:

aforementioned big damages, when i manage to keep the rotation on track. sadly not as much of a plus for me, personally, but it's relevant still

against one enemy, getting immersed in the rotation can be pretty fun, until the 5 aoes come, the boss leaves the arena, and i sigh deeply while creakily running around, not casting

lasso spell goes brrr. it's got a very funny sound effect, in my heart

the 'return to leylines' spell is also great. i've used it mostly to instantly dodge when there's more than 2 sequential aoes. you can play around with these two spells

shoutout to the simplified job gauge for letting you actually understand anything about it. sure it's 3.5 things to keep track of, but for 2 of them you get informed about their readiness with convenient sounds and flashing borders so whatever

big staff to hit people with

cone hat funny

big lb meteorites. very good very cackling

the bad:

moving feels heavy, even when using the instant cast abilities. i keep lagging behind the group even in normal content, and sometimes clicking the right person to yeet to can be a bit hard in alliances or wall to walls. this class needs to do some cardio

clicking fire IV 3 times, then 1 fire I then fire IV 3 more times is. very boring. sorry. rotation 40 years long and rigid like the brutalism. the funnest parts are the thunder procs and the ice phase before going back to fire and the occasional instant cast. oh you sneezed and misclicked and dropped your fire badge thingies on the floor? sorry idiot you get to start over from the top, but sadder this time

this one i only noticed here at the end, but i feel it's very important, maybe more than the rotation: the best and biggest animations it has are the ones for the ice spells, which you use the least. xenoglossy, foul and flare are also good. amplifier, manafont and triple cast feel nice and dramatic to use. paradox i just got but it's also nice with the color mix. the rest i don't even remember, had to go cast them on a dummy. it's fireballs and fire columns it's all fireballs! the blm animations have a lot of boom but they need more heft, if that makes sense? more flying shit going from you to the target, shit shrapneling from the target, rings of fire, fiery eldritch runes, anything. if rdm can shoot 50 explosive roses at a guy for some reason and drk can summon shields of runes, blm can do something fancy also. casting a finisher skill called 'despair' should look like i'm sucking their souls out through a straw

also more casting positions. summoner has a lot and they're pretty different! they got floating symbols and shit. blm has 'slightly crouched' and 'staff held high' in variation 1 and 2, and that's about it from what i can tell besides the selfbuff ones. add some evil runes at least. the paradox wide armed one (i think you float a little?) is a good addition though

anyway, final verdict: it's a good class, but it's very rigid and inflexible to get Big Damages, which is not an exciting exchange, for me. i prefer to be nimble and do less damage but have a more varied and forgiving rng based rotation. also more utility skills! i miss peloton or having a group shield or heal, or even rdm's rez; makes me feel actually useful instead of being just a giant cone hat that produces flamethrower on command. i don't think i'll play it too often, i'm afraid, even though it's a perfectly alright class, and i'm sure i'll get better with time

HOWEVER. if dawntrail allows blm to throw meteorites outside of lbs i might reconsider. they can be small! even magical molotov cocktails if we must. but i want physical flamming objects to hit my enemies and i want to see the animations do that with some flair. just ole fire and spite booms and a couple icicles is not enough. i want to flatten them

[despairforme]

I just noticed since future society came out, every single outfit nnoitra wears, he has his tits out in some way. Why is he so zesty

❝ 'Da fuck ya talkin' 'bout? ❞ Actually, this was not the first time he'd gotten this ( comment? ). It was always strange to him when he had to explain some simple, basic facts. Nnoitra wasn't a smart guy by any means, and having to explain things to others... It wasn't something that should be necessary. Yet, here he found himself having to state something basic. ❝ I'm a man, so I ain't got tits. I got a chest, 'n there ain't nothin' sexual 'bout a guy's chest. ❞ There. Easy, basic facts. Since WHEN was a guy showing off his chest "zesty". Nnoitra sure as shit didn't think of Grimmjow as slutty just because he wore his jacket open. A lot of the Arrancar didn't like having to wear uniforms, since they'd never worn clothes as Hollow, making the sudden mandatory uniforms feel uncomfortable. Nnoitra personally didn't mind wearing clothes ( especially pants, he enjoyed ), but he didn't expose his chest to be zesty. What the fuck.

[urban-hart]

listening to the Thunder Saga on repeat. losing ever lovin my mind. going feral. frothing at the mouth, if u will

[candiecarousel-art]

I’m in my cringe era /lh

[beelas-bees-art]

Thoughts on Kazuichi wearing a skirt cause he lost a bet to Hiyoko (except Ibuki and Akane approve of the skirt)?

less thoughts and more, this probably happened postgame (with how bored theyd be on the island)

also callback to my izuru dress post :]

bonus:

the actual dance-off and kaz's reaction to izuru's dress (PLUS THESE TAGS THAT IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR WEEKS!!!!! HILARIOUS TO ME)

[readymades2002]

trying to do some financial math for if i move out and getting sick to my stomach

[rainbow-crane]

storyboarding the AU now that all the main roles have been determined and oh boy will this be Something Cool

[thedreadvampy]

it's been a strange arc so far

when I was 19-21 and having an extremely imbalanced relationship with someone in their mid 30s I was like 'we are both adults so the fact that this is fucking me up is my fault'

when I hit my late 20s and saw how young people in their late teens and early 20s seem now I was like 'oh wait I was so fucking young I didn't know shit about my own limits or about managing relationships and I don't know why someone in their mid to late 30s would be into that except for nefarious purposes'

the weird bit is now I'm into my 30s - not even that far into my 30s - and while I still wholeheartedly believe that last thing about how young (and self destructive) 20 year olds are, I'm also kind of like 'huh, actually nobody I know that age has their shit remotely together and frankly the reason this fucked me up is because NEITHER of us knew what the fuck we were doing it how to cope, for different reasons and at different life stages, and there probably wasn't any malice or intent to control as much as there was Blind Flailing.'

[specterthief]

someday after i've actually read okouchi's novels + played the vn i'm going to write some properly unhinged meta looking at sk8 and utena but for now just

those crab bucket posts man

[coridallasmultipass]

well one of family never ends' author's other fics is the epilogue of course ;) but ipgd also wrote people don't do that (alphacest), homestuck watches boku no pico, and like the first uucest fic

YAASS OMG.

ANON.

Thank you.

Deeply and truly thank you. Saved me a real pain. It was People Don't Do That. Gonna reread it ASAP. I don't remember if I read the uucest one, but I powered thru a lot of fics while I was sick in Jan, and I don't remember like 90% of those two weeks. (Like, as I'm going thru the tag I'm reading now, I'll see something unclicked and go to read it, finish the fic like OMG SO GOOD, and then scroll a little more and I see my name at the top of the kudos list and it's like, wait, when tf did I read this? It was when I was sick.)

Ughhhh. I ADORE the dynamic of whichever younger Strider being the instigator, and it fits Alphacest so deliciously. (I don't even know what to say here without being so fucking overtly horny for Alpha Dave in general but that's not new lmao.)

But seriously, the scene on the roof where Dirk took Dave's underwear, like. I died. There's no other way to put it. It fucking killed me. I'm going to remember that forever, it was so good.

[void-tiger]

Hot take:

Hob calling Dream his friend isn’t what set Dream off. It’s that Hob called Dream lonely.

Y’know when you read something or have something said to your face that’s OUCH! TRUE. BUT SHADDUP!!

Yeah. THAT feeling.

(And felt by a guy who 1) feels too much of His&Others emotions and histories and would desperately like to not be affected by either so he just. Tries to avoid doing just that. (No one buys it. Ever. Ouch.) and 2) a total wanker. Because he’s in a perpetual funk bUT Also uses said funk as a defense mechanism.)

Dream actually has been called “my friend” before by Hob, and called such VERY early on—same meeting as when Dream ditched Hob for Shakespeare. Granted, Dream is an arts guy, wanted to commission a goodbye gift for the fay, and sometimes hearing how WONDERFUL someone’s life is when you’re in a foul mood (and still grieving your own son and failed marriage) can just feel like dirt rubbed in your fucking face—not that Hob knew that. Because Dream refuses to fucking communicate.

But. Point is, being called “friend” wasn’t what got Dream throwing a tantrum either time. It’s the reminder of Dream’s own crippling loneliness.

[anqaspond]

i love looking at weirdos who write arranged marriage fanfiction with extreme contempt. fuck you actually :)

[mellotronmkll]

I'm so amped to have the most depressing and sad birthday of my life on Friday 🙏

[the-stray-liger]

remembered how much I love our lady of sorrows