#this scene goes even harder after Ep5

[carbasi]

*breathes in* I LOVE HOW THEY SNUCK IN A PIANO RENDITION OF VOID IN THE SCENE WHERE NINA TRIES TO ISOLATE HERSELF AGAIN

THE SAME SONG SHE USED TO LISTEN TO WHEN SHE FELT LIKE SHE WAS ALONE AGAINST THE WORLD, as soon as someone comes close to "invading" the one thing, that has always been a constant, that's always brought her comfort, softly calls to her. Not in the angry way it's played in a band but a soft, lonely, melancholic piano, and that lonely feeling isn't uncomfortable to her, because that's the only way she feels safest. When she's alone. AND IT STOPS WHEN SHE'S FORCED TO GO BACK AND FACE SUBARU AND RETURN HER PHONE UGH

[romansrace]

S12: What If the challenges came in reverse order?

THE ORIGINAL ORDER >> THE NEW ORDER: E1. rap challenge >> Vegas performance challenge E2. broadway challenge >> One-woman show E3. improv challenge groups >> makeover E4. ball >> political challenge E5. acting challenge as one group >> advertising challenge E6. Snatch Game >> Madonna Rusical E7. Madonna Rusical >> Snatch Game E8. Droop advertising >> Gay’s Anatomy E9. political challenge >> Ball E10. makeover >> small groups improv E11. one-woman show >> Broadway performance E12. Vegas-esque show >> Rap performance/RuMix

EP1 opens with one half of the queens in their original configuration: Gigi, Widow, Jackie, Crystal, Nicky, Brita and Heidi enter the werkroom. Their challenge this week will be a tribute to the Werq the World tour, a performance with vocal and dance elements. Due to performance in the original episode 12, I see Gigi and Jackie - who performed phenomenally, but B2'd due to track record - as this week's top 2. I would expect Widow to not have as much ability to show off dance moves in this genre. As in the original ep12, the lipsync song is On The Floor. As we know, Gigi will be concealing some of her abilities at this stage, as she did originally, thus will deliver a similar comedy lipsync to Jackie rather than an acrobatic dance performance. As such, I actually see this win going to Jackie - Ru and Michelle will appreciate her rapping after demonstrating a softer side in the main challenge. As originally, there is no elimination. Jackie WIN, Gigi TOP2/HIGH, Brita HIGH, Widow SAFE, Heidi SAFE, Crystal + Nicky LOW.

Ep2 is the second premiere. Jan, RockM, Dahlia, Jaida, Predator Pie and Aiden have to perform a one woman show. Due to hosting experience, SP and Jan will be the top 2 in this challenge. They lipsync to 1999 by Prince, which Jan will win. I see all of the other girls struggling somewhat with this challenge which originally saw Jaida B2 as episode 11. Jaida however this time won't do as badly as Aiden or Dahlia who should be quite comfortably the two LOW placements, leaving Jaida and RockM as SAFE this episode.

Ep3 is now the makeover challenge, which will be a big ask for 13 queens who are just meeting each other for the first time now! Originally this challenge was won by Jaida. Outfits were brought from home and altered in the werkroom by the queens after meeting their partners. I see Jaida once again winning this challenge. Jan and Jackie as the winners of Ep1 and 2 will have the power to pair up their respective fellow debut queens with partners. As Jaida is a professional makeup artist who won originally even with a pale white partner, and who customized her garment on the fly, any partner should be workable for her to win - and I don’t feel either Jan or Jackie would deliberately give her a bigger partner to handicap her at this stage. The B2 for this challenge should be interesting. Based on the girls' skillsets and the difficulty of transforming with a family resemblance, the bottom 3 for this challenge I see being Dahlia, Brita, and Aiden. Dahlia because her aesthetic is limited and thus harder to definitively recreate as her own, Brita because her design skills were questionable and she may be paired with a drag daughter with a very different body shape to herself requiring last minute adjustments, and Aiden because she was generally one of the weakest queens. Of the three, I see Aiden being able to work out the best family resemblance through a simple black and white outfit and pussycat wig, leaving a B2 of Brita and Dahlia. Brita annihilates Dahlia in a lipsync to Kill The Lights. Crystal and SP retain the HIGH placements of the original challenge, with everybody else SAFE.

Ep4 is the polticial challenge with 12 queens, originally won by Jaida. It would be an unusual move, but I think the show would decide to let Jaida get a second win consecutively even by only episode 4, letting her be an early front runner threat storywise. Gigi's robot act will go down a lot better this time as it's the judges' first time seeing it - although her runway that missed the Stars and Stripes brief will assure she won’t go higher than Safe on this challenge. Widow should be more positively received now too as her arc is no longer over at this stage. I also think, based on likely challenge performance and her shared runway, Brita would find her lane in this episode and do quite well - her loud nature would be an asset in this kind of challenge, as well as it being a Rudemption for her previous B2. As such I see: WIN Jaida HIGH Widow Von Du and Brita SAFE all other queens, except Nicky, who struggles with this challenge due to language barrier/jokes coming across poorly, and Jackie Cox, for the same reason as originally - overreliance on one joke. Nicky and Jackie lipsync to Katy Perry’s Firework and Nicky is eliminated. The one LOW placement in the challenge goes to Aiden once again.

Ep5 is the advertising challenge, originally won by Heidi N Closet. Heidi doesn't have any stronger comedy competition here, and should win this episode nicely again with Crystal and Jackie HIGH. Of the remaining queens, Brita is likely to be Low. Aiden is a dead (boo.) cert for B2 in this challenge, and will be joined this week by Widow Von Du as originally. Widow obliterates Aiden to Chaka Khan.

Ep6 is now the Rusical with just about the original queens at this stage here; remaining in the competition are Brita, Rock M, Gigi, SP, Heidi, Jackie, Jan, Jaida, Widow and Crystal. Gigi lobbies for and wins Papa Don't Preach Madonna and once again wins the challenge, now her first win. Crystal and Jan are this week's HIGH queens, as originally. Brita originally stumbled here and does again in this challenge. Heidi this time joins her in the B2 and they lipsync to 'Burning Up' by Madonna. Heidi customarily eliminates Brita in 10th.

Ep7 this time round is Snatch Game, now with the addition of RockM Sakura in place of Aiden Zhane, and no Brita, since it's coming an episode later than in the original chronology. As such, we're without both of our original bottom 2, guaranteeing Crystal Methyd who originally placed LOW a B2 here. Widow Von Du will be Low in this configuration, and RockM will join Crystal in the B2 both for how I imagine she'd perform, and her runway, which will be the weakest there by quite a margin, since she shared her (quite basic) look on Insta. The lipsync, to Let It Go, will be very interesting - being not particularly in either Crystal or Rock's wheelhouse, but allowing both queens to give an emotional performance. I actually think Rock would edge this one on Crystal with the help of emotional connection and some well-timed acrobatic elements - unless she got stuck in her gown again - but Ru would make the call to save Crystal due to her greater interest in her. Rock M thus goes out in 9th. The episode is won by Gigi, becoming the second queen to get two wins consecutively, with SP and Jackie HIGH.

Ep8 is the Gays Anatomy acting challenge, now with three less queens than originally. The fork gag is cut, as is the gag of Meredith's recasting. Gigi and Crystal as the top and bottom of last week get to assign the roles. Widow lobbies hard for Dr Mother which originally went to SP, and Crystal as Widow's Missouri ally decides to let her have it. SP instead takes the other mother role that Widow originally had, with Heidi playing her baby due to her natural gap tooth. Gigi, Jackie, and Jaida maintain their roles, while Jan and Crystal now take on Brita and Aiden's doctor and patient routine - which will be much more in Crystal's wheelhouse. The runway category this episode remains the capes theme. SP once again wins this challenge, performing the scene much better with Heidi than Widow and Nicky originally did it, however, Heidi's runway pulls her funny performance down, as it did in the original challenge. Originally this challenge had 5 HIGH queens, which will reduce to 3 as we now have several less queens; hence this week's High queens are Crystal, Jan, and Widow. Jackie is Safe with Gigi - who didn’t have much to do in the original task and who has a worse runway than Jackie - Low, and this week's B2 are Heidi and Jaida - who on balance performed worst in the challenge and runway. Due to track record, Jaida knocks out Heidi in 8th.

Ep9 is the Ball challenge with remaining queens Gigi, SP, Jan, Jackie, Jaida, Crystal, and Widow. As originally, Gigi wins this challenge - although I personally thought Jaida was stronger - with Jaida HIGH and Crystal also elevated HIGH from the original safe queens, as original High from this challenge Nicky Doll is no longer with us. Jan is Safe with SP Low and Jackie now B2ing with Widow Von Du. Widow is eliminated based on track record.

Ep10 is now World's Worst, with six queens remaining. The challenges are reduced to two three person teams, chosen by the winner and B2 of last week; Gigi and Jackie Cox. The remaining acts are the Del Rio Trio and the Squirl Scouts acts - removing the dreary 3 Girls 1 Brain and the confusing fruits and vegetables act. Jackie, picking first, chooses the strongest actor in SP, while Gigi picks Jan. Jackie then picks Crystal based on Jaida's previous B2 in an actng challenge, so Jaida joins Gigi's team. Usually we have an acting challenge judged in teams, but this didn't happen in the original season 12, so we'll leave it out here too. Whichever configuration of the teams to scenes happens, SP will undoubtedly win this challenge as she did originally. We'll presume SP's team gets the Del Rio trio this time round. I can't see Crystal standing her own in a scene with SP and Jackie, and her buttons and bows runway landed her Low in the original episode so will ensure she B2s here. Aside from Crystal's assured B2 and SP's assured win, the rest of the girls are difficult to place as they may perform comparably to each other. Originally, Jackie was High in this challenge. However, she was coming off a High placement the previous week, whereas now she's coming off a B2. Her runway look and shaky mug was spared critiques when this was episode 3, but for this stage in the competition will likely be dragged harder as a step down from the glamorous looks she's already shown the judges in this episode order. Furthermore, Jackie's story arcs were played out by this stage in the original season. Additionally, she will have been in a team of 3 with SP, who originally dominated her scene partners. For that reason, I see Jackie joining Crystal in this week's B2. Jaida will be Low in the challenge, with Gigi Safe and Jan High based on performance and runway. Crystal and Jackie will lipsync to Problem by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea. This is again one that could go either way - Jackie is bound to nail the rap, while Crystal will pull out some comedy dancing. My read is that Ru, based on track record and the fact this is Jackie's second consecutive B2, chooses here to eliminate Jackie Cox in 6th place.

Ep11 this time is the Broadway challenge, with remaining queens SP, Jaida, Gigi, Crystal, and Jan, and a Tulle runway theme. This challenge was originally won by Jaida, with Jan and SP High. With Gigi and Crystal in the mix, things will change a little, but not too much - Jaida and SP will be the highest and second highest once again. Gigi's undoubtedly acrobatic challenge performance and what she would likely bring for a Tulle look will see her Safe this week, while Jan - whose performance originally was disliked by Ru and Michelle, despite a High placement - will fall into the B2 with Crystal. As Crystal's third lipsync and second running, there's no saving her, especially against a seasoned performer like Jan, and with regret Ru eliminates her in 5th place.

This season's final challenge is now the rap challenge with Nicki Minaj guest judging. In a role reversal from the original season, the majority of queens remaining now did not originally compete in this challenge. The runway theme 'Sparkle' will now be renamed 'Finale Sparkle Eleganza', undoubtedly. Originally Gigi and Widow Von Du were the top 2 in the challenge. As Widow is no longer here, that top spot is up for grabs. Of the queens remaining, Jaida is most likely to have a good rap performance based on her performances in other such challenges, but would her verse be better than Gigi's? There's really no way of knowing. I feel that to avoid giving Jaida two wins in a row for a second time, the final win of the season would go to Gigi with Jaida High, SP Safe and Jan Low. However, all four queens would proceed to the final.

By track record this time, the queens run as follows: Jan: WSSSHSHSHBL Gigi: HSSSWWLWSSW Jaida: SWWSSSBHLWH SP: HHSSSHWLWHS

As in the original season, Gigi and Jaida have the best track record, so it will be between them for the win, whether or not SP is disqualified like in the original season (if her actions had, for example, not come to light before airing/live final). With a lipsync for the crown finale, the winner of the season is most likely to be, as originally, Jaida Essence Hall, who proved herself throughout the season to be the strongest lipsyncer on the show, and who defeated Gigi in the original finale.

FINAL RANKING BELOW TOP 4:

5th Crystal Methyd LHSHHBHHBB

6th Jackie Cox WSBHSHSBB

7th Widow Von Du SSHBSLHB

8th Heidi N Closet SSSWBSB

9th RockM Sakura SSSSLB

10th Brita HBHLB

11th Aiden Zhane LLLB

12th Nicky Doll LSB

13th Dahlia Sin LB

[writefasttalkevenfaster]

Aaron Hotchner / Forget it

As requested by anon: 

“Hotch x wife/coworker! reader where the reader goes through the situation that elle did in season2 ep5. how would hotch handle the situation since it’s his wife?” 

I loved this request, although I took some liberties with it since even though I do like Elle, I don’t agree with what she did in Season 2, Episode 5. So I did make some changes to it, but I think this makes it more interesting since it’s not just a rehash of the same scene! Please enjoy! 

“Look who it is,” You got to your feet, unwavering in your fury. Mr. Jones: a wretch of a man. Although his appearance didn’t first show it. Like most ugly things, the devil was in the details. 

His smile appeared to be charming, the things that came out of it weren’t as lucky. His face was that of a Greek god: chiseled, angular, strong, but he had the attitude to match; overbearing, controlling, and manipulative. His clothes exuded wealth, from head to toe. His shoes could easily mortgage a house. Though no matter how much money he has, he was impoverished when it came to any facet of empathy or decency. He did not show a hint of remorse for the ladies he claimed not to rape, strangle, and dump, nor did he flinch when you showed him the crime scene photos. Why would he? He was too busy admiring his handiwork, a glimmer of pride evident on his face for only a moment. 

The rest of the team didn’t see it, but you did. Because he wanted you to. 

And you didn’t forget it. 

You didn’t forget it as they kept him in interrogation for all day; you didn’t forget it when his lawyer arrived; and you didn’t forget when they had no choice but to let him go. You watched him leave, his hands in his pockets, as he smugly strolled out of the precinct. Aaron tried to lead you away, your anger evident on your face, even so you stood your ground, staring. Jones only chuckled when he saw you glaring daggers sharp enough to kill, returning it with a wink. You had stormed out of the precinct, walking out to watch him only drive away in his Maserati. You remembered how could only stare in the direction the car drove off in for several moments, until you felt a hand touch your shoulder. 

“Y/N,” Aaron Hotchner stood in his familiar intimidating fashion, well intimidating to those who weren’t married to him, which you were. You twirled your ring around your finger, his brown eyes drifted to your hand, before becoming hard with both frustration and worry, his shoulders stiff. “Don’t even think about going after him,” 

Aaron was one thing, if not a great profiler, then a mind reader. You took his hands, pressing them to your lips. “Aaron,” 

“Don’t try that,” His tone was terse, serious. He wasn’t your husband right now. He was your boss. “You can under no circumstances go after him, that’s an order. Just forget about him.” 

You narrowed your eyes, crossing your arms. His eyes flickered down to them, and back up to you. He knew he was going to sleeping on the couch tonight. “Yes sir, anything else?” 

“Go get some rest,” He took out his phone, scrolling through his messages. “I’m going to rejoin the team,” He glanced up to find your face twisted in anger, brow furrowed and lips pursed. “I’m doing this for your own good. I hope you know that,” He put his arms around you, and you allowed him to. 

“I know,” You whispered, as he pressed a kiss to your lips. And with that he left, thinking you would listen to him and go back to your room and forget it, like a good little agent. 

But you didn’t. And you weren’t. 

That’s how you found yourself here, face to face with Jones himself, outside his overcompensating tool of a mansion which towered over pompously over the other nearby houses. You lied in wait for him for an hour, when you saw his car pull up, you sat on the hood of your car, to make sure he didn’t miss you, and he didn’t. His expression that of not surprise, but joy. 

“Came by for a nightcap? It must be my lucky day,” His smile made your stomach turn in disgust, and you didn’t bother to hide it by his next words: “Aw, you must at least like me a little to wait out here for so long,” You strode up to him, unaffected by his remark, hands tight in fists.

Okay, so maybe it affected you a tad. 

“You’re not man enough to handle me,” You clapped him on the shoulder, with a smirk that made his bravado waver. “Just like you weren’t man enough to handle any of the women you raped. That’s why you had to rape and kill them.” You turned your back from him. “And that’s why I’m here, because I will catch you, and I will be the one to put you away for the rest of your miserable life. And each day you spent in that box, you should remember who put you there.” You glanced at him one more time, before making your wayk ba to your car. 

“So, tell me, is your boss is he man enough to handle you?” You stopped in your tracks, and you could almost see the smirk on his face as you turned on your heel. 

“Excuse me?” 

“The ring on your finger, the way he tried to hurry you away before I walked out, the way he looks at you,” He shrugged, taking a step towards you, a sleazy smile plastered on his face, satisfied he struck a nerve. You recalled something Aaron had told you about unsubs making the best profilers. “You’re married to him? Yet, you’re here with me. I doubt he would be very delighted that you’re here with me,” 

“And why is that?” 

“Because you’re here, and he’s not,” He came closer once again, but you didn’t move. “You’re here because he doesn’t please you, not the way I could,” Your hand went instinctively for the gun you had concealed in your pocket. He was only a step away, not even arm’s length away. It would be so easy to simply shoot him right here and now. He wouldn’t hurt another woman, he wouldn’t be in some cushy jail cell, he would be nothing but an empty vessel, a vessel that once housed a monster. 

You snorted, his expression flickering from smug to anger. “My husband would have you pinned to the ground in three seconds flat,” You crossed your arms, a smirk growing on your face. “Me on the other hand, you would be dead before you hit the ground,” 

“Why don’t you then?” He dared you, and you felt your hand twitch, the temptation beckoning you, to do it. Women would be better off. The world would be better off. You would be better off. Would you? You thought of the team, of Aaron. You knew what he would say. You would simply be playing into the unsub’s hands. He wants you to engage him. He wants to get under your skin. He wants you to take that shot. And part of you wanted to. 

But you didn’t. You simply turned from him. “Because you aren’t worth it,” You turned to go, when his hand grabbed your wrist. 

“Don’t you walk away from me, you bit-” You cocked your gun, centimeters from his face. 

“Let go of me,” You said slowly, as his fingers only seemed to dig into your wrist. Your heart was practically out of your chest, but your voice remained level. “Now,” 

“Why don’t you make me?” Silence washed over the two of you, as you both sized each other up. You tensed your arm, trying to rip it from his grip, but he only laughed, pulling you harder, dragging you to his gate. You struggled, and fought, but he was trying to reach for your gun. That’s when you finally broke free, and you shot him. The aftershock shook you to your very core, throwing you off balance, as you spotted him fall to the ground, like you had threatened, lifeless. His face grew pale, his expression twisted. You stared at his body, as the crimson blood slowly seeped into his former driveway. Funny. He wasn’t as hideous now that he was simply an empty shell.

I knew it. He knew you wouldn’t listen. Hell, he couldn’t think of a time you did listen to him. That was part of the reason he was attracted to you. You challenged him: you forced him to be more, to think harder, to do better. He was a better profiler, leader, and person because of you. He needed you, damn it. He needed to see you. To see you were okay. You were frustratingly vague on the phone. You had called Reid, not him, Reid of all people. You probably knew he would be angry, no furious with you, but more than furious, he wanted to hear your voice. He stopped the car with a screeching halt, making Reid jerk backwards, as he stepped out of the car, sprinting toward the police officers that surrounded you. A detective stopped him. He held out his badge, thrusting in his face. “That’s one of my agents, I need to speak to her,”

“You can’t speak to her until we finish processing her,” Aaron didn’t bother to pretend he was listening, his eyes scanning you for any sign of injury or wound. He spotted the beginning of bruises on your wrists. He tried to push past the detective, but he stopped him. “You can’t speak to her until-”

“That’s my wife! She’s not just an agent, she’s my wife,” His voice raised, his heart pounding in his ears. “And I need to speak to her right now, so get out of my way, before I make you,” The detective flinched, but seemed rather unfazed by his actions, only shaking his head, trying to take on a more understanding affect. 

“Let her get processed first, and you can talk to her in the ambulance,” He led Aaron to the ambulance, his eyes meeting yours for a brief second. Your eyes were empty, cold, and scared. He stood next to the vehicle, waiting for you to be escorted on. You finally were taken to him. In that moment, he didn’t care that you hadn’t listened; that you had left him with flagrant disregard for him, the team, and even Jack; that you had almost died. In that moment, he just felt lucky to hold you again. Your body tucked perfectly into his, as you shivered against his chest, and he wrapped his jacket around you, pressing you closer. He helped you into the ambulance, and neither of you said a word the entire ride. You both were simply were grateful. 

As soon as you were in the hospital room alone, you suddenly found your boss with his arms crossed, stone faced. “Aaron, I’m sorry,” 

“You’re sorry?” He raised his eyebrows. “Y/N, you almost,” He cleared his throat, moving past his currently failing voice, “you almost died tonight, and you’re sorry? I could have lost you tonight. Jack could have lost you, the entire team. We need you. I need you,” His voice broke, and guilt crashed over you, washing away any semblance of composure. “I already lost Haley, I couldn’t bear to lose you too,” You both pulled each into a hug, as you held him tightly, making sure he knew, you were still there. You were still alive. 

You pulled apart a bit, facing him as you explained. “I had to go, I couldn’t forget his victims’ faces, the families…” Your voice wavered for the first time tonight, your hands shaking. “I didn’t want to have to shoot him…” You broke off with a sob. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen,” 

Aaron’s expression softened, as he pulled you into an embrace, running his hands through your hair. “I know, you’re okay. You had to do it,”   

“If I didn’t go, he wouldn’t be dead,” 

“He was going to jail for a long time, he would have hurt more women,” He told you, no room for disagreement. He steadied your hands as they shook. You didn’t need his criticism right now, you needed his support. There would be time to discuss this later, thankfully. “You defended yourself. That’s all. No more, no less.” 

You swallowed, as silent tears streamed down your face, no longer able to shut your eyes as his face appeared each time you did. You looked up at Aaron’s concerned face, running a hand down the side of his face. “I love you,” 

“I love you too,” He pressed a kiss to the top your forehead before chuckling, “even if you’re not a very good agent,” You gave a bitter chuckle, burying your face in his chest. “You need to get some rest,” You laid down on the bed at his prompting, you made him lay next to you. “Just try to forget about it for a few hours,” He soothed you, pressing a kiss to your forehead. You placed your head right over his heart, letting his heartbeat lull you to sleep. But as you escaped reality, his dead body flashed before your eyes. 

And that’s when you realized you would never forget it. 

Ever. 

[sg2tiger]

I’ve been planning to make this post for some time, but wanted to reread the scene in question first before I did it.

Basically, I have a lot of problems with the idea that the same incident took place, and pretty much in the same way, in Lion’s world as it did in Prime.

First let’s take a basic look at the events as they happen in Prime.

-Beatrice sends letter saying ‘solve epitaph or else’ -Against all expectations, the adults do band together and solve it -Adults get to the chapel, do the thing, and find the gold -[theatre segment*] -'Beatrice' appears in the gold room and explains her 'game' - this includes telling the adults the gold belongs to them, showing them the rifles and bullets piled on the table, explaining the bomb, and providing the cash card (in that order) -The adults begin to argue over how to split the gold and the cash on the card - TL;DR converting gold to cash isn't easy without connections and it is said that Krauss is the only one here with such connections, so without his help the siblings are basically reliant only on the cash on the card (important) -Violence breaks out, Eva accidentally shoots Natsuhi; Hideyoshi accidentally shoots Krauss -Rosa and Eva argue over covering up the murders; Rosa doesn't want to play along with Eva because she gains nothing by blowing up the island and losing all the gold -Kyrie shoots Rosa, the only one who hadn't yet fired her gun -Kyrie shoots Hideyoshi, Eva, and 'Beatrice'; their plan is to use the bomb to blow away all traces of the murders and escape with only the cash card -Not wanting anyone to make a fuss about missing people for the next 24 hours, Kyrie and Rudolf begin to massacre everyone else on the island

What happens after this part is unimportant, since the issue regarding Lion's world only goes as far as 'Kyrie kills everyone'.

*Theatre Segment: Unlike most 'games' that typically go on pause during meta scenes, the show of Prime that Ange and Lion are watching seems more like a movie that doesn't stop playing in the background while our lens switches to them. There are a few gaps here and there that indicate this, and as a result we don't actually get to see how much happens between the adults entering the gold room and Beatrice appearing. HOWEVER - at this point, Lion is still being optimistic because Clair appeared on stage, and believes this will be a game without any crime since Clair already cleared all her regrets away. That tells me that, before Beatrice shows up, the adults probably hadn't yet begun to bicker over the gold, or Lion might not be able to be quite so positive about the outcome of this 'game'.

Now, let's compare this to what we know about Lion's world.

From the screencaps I posted above, we see that the adults still had their usual arguments during the family conference concerning the inheritance and headship. Unlike Yasu's world, however (where Kinzo is dead and 'Beatrice' sends a mysterious letter), this world has a clear successor already chosen by Kinzo (alive) himself - Lion. But we're told that the adults don't all agree with this decision, and even Krauss believes he's still too young (about to turn 20). So Kinzo, realizing his shit-ass kids will never be satisfied, proposes the epitaph riddle he thought up long ago (evidenced by the complex epitaph device that had to have been built when the mansion was first constructed). He doesn't think anyone can solve it, of course, but it's one of his classic Kinzo-style bets to risk everything on anyway.

And just like in Prime, the adults manage to band together, solve the epitaph, and discover the gold. So far, so good.

The problem is that Bern says:

"After that, everything happened exactly like the truth you just saw. The siblings solved it right away, and there was a quarrel over the pile of gold. Then, Kyrie and Rudolf decided to prevent any chance of the crime being discovered the next morning and an outcry being raised, they carried out the late night murders [sic]."

There's a bit of a gap here, isn't there? We go from 'the adults quarrel over the gold' to 'Kyrie and Rudolf decide to hide the crime'. What crime? Well, Bern says it's exactly the same as the truth about Prime they just saw. Except...that doesn't make any sense.

There’s nothing wrong with the idea of the adults quarreling over the gold, of course. The basic facts of Prime are all still true in Lion’s world, including that the adults all NEEDED A LOT OF MONEY RIGHT NOW. There’s also the usual Krauss vs. The Other Three mentality, where Krauss/Natsuhi believe the gold is theirs by right because they live here (and in Lion’s world, since Kinzo’s still alive, Natsuhi arguing that the gold still belongs to Kinzo would hold more weight; also I can see Krauss backpedaling once the gold is found and agreeing that his son should be the successor because Kinzo already decided it). The other siblings, of course, will argue that since Krauss alone didn’t solve the epitaph, he has no more right to the gold than them, and it should be split among the siblings. This arguing would probably still come to blows...

...but there’s an important factor that should be missing, here, to prevent it from escalating beyond a fist fight. That being, it was Yasu who provided the guns and bullets and brought them down into the gold room ahead of time as part of her game.

“B-but Kinzo could have done this!!”, you argue, “they were his guns in the first place!!” 

Okay, but would he? Let’s think about the Kinzo we know. And I don’t wanna hear no ‘b-but he’s dead in almost all the games we don’t know what he was really like’ bullshit, because the Alive Lion’s World Kinzo in EP7 + memories of the Alive Kinzo and testimonies from literally everyone indicate clearly that the Kinzo illusion we know from previous games is accurate to what he was really like. It’s also said in EP5 that pieces cannot act in a way that goes against their true personality, and there’s nothing indicating this should be any different for the dead, so...the Kinzo we think we know = the real Kinzo. 

That Kinzo we know is a mad lunatic who had built up the family and fortune with insane schemes and bets all his life. Proposing an ‘impossible’ epitaph to his children is just another one of those bets...he’s confident that they will not solve it, and thus Lion’s future as the head of the family is secured. But knowing Kinzo...if they did, by some miracle, manage to solve it? Then that just means he lost. The miracle slipped through his fingers, and their magic ended up being stronger than his. He’d concede the gold to his shitty kids, and probably the headship, too. He’d laugh madly about how he failed Beatrice again by failing to make her true child the successor. And I almost feel like, under that madness, he might even be a bit relieved for Lion’s sake - after all, Kinzo knows what it was like to have the headship forced on himself against his will. Lion doesn’t really seem like he objects to becoming the head (he’s got that very dignified Natsuhi-esque personality about the family honor and all), but I can see Kinzo saying ‘oh well, go live life and be free, Lion’ if the adults solved it. ‘A bet’s a bet’, and Kinzo bet the gold and the headship on the adults not being able to solve the epitaph. It’s his loss - and Kinzo just isn’t the type who would take back a bet like that and make his ‘magic’ meaningless, IMO.

Kinzo also proposed the epitaph on a whim at the conference as the adults were arguing...and had no reason to believe or hope that they would solve it (whereas Yasu set up her game a few days in advance and had many contingency plans, and did in fact hope they would solve the epitaph and stop her). Would Kinzo honestly pull out his old gun collection and a bunch of bullets, then bring them down into the gold room just in case the adults did something he wholeheartedly didn’t expect them to do? I highly doubt it.

Without the guns there, the violence would never have escalated to the point of someone getting accidentally shot (obviously). And as we can see here, the fact that we already had at least one accidental death was what ultimately sealed the deal on them being able to kill everyone. No guns, no accidental deaths...no massacre. 

So even if the adults left the gold room and still had greed and murder on their minds (say something like Eva and Rosa in EP3, who leave the room and plan to tell the others and decide what to do later...but Eva grows increasingly paranoid and is driven to kill), and manage to get up to Kinzo’s study (much harder to do in this world since he’s alive mind you, and the adults are all kinda fucking terrified of him) and grab the guns for themselves, the ‘conditions’ that lead to Kyrie shooting Rosa in the first place would be absent.

“But what if they had something on hand they could stab with?”, you might say. “Rosa stabs a goat in EP2 with a fountain pen, and the women could have had their purses on them with something sharper, like a letter opener.”

Okay, sure. Let’s say that, as the argument gets more and more heated, Eva grabs a letter opener from her purse. Natsuhi jumps at her...and just like her finger reflexively slipped on the trigger, she instinctively reacts and stabs Natsuhi in the neck. Natsuhi falls dead. Krauss flies into a rage and charges at Eva, planning to strangle her with his bare hands. This might be possible, as he is a large man and Eva is a slender woman, but Eva is also a martial arts expert and would likely be able to defend herself much more easily against an unarmed Krauss. Hideyoshi would probably, just like Prime, also jump in to shield his wife. The two men would struggle...but how far would they really get before someone broke them apart? Without a gun in the mix making people less eager to jump in, I feel like a scuffle like this would probably not actually lead to one of the men strangling the other.

“But what if Kyrie also had a letter opener--”

Okay, this is just getting silly. The reason the massacre was able to happen so easily in that room is because two people were already dead and Kyrie had a gun she was skilled at reloading while the others were not. Kyrie was able to shoot before anyone else could reload and shoot back. Without guns, how likely do you think it would really be for Kyrie to stab the other four (Eva, Hideyoshi, Rosa, Krauss)? Could Kyrie easily overpower grown men like Hideyoshi and Krauss with just a letter opener? Okay, she hands it to Rudolf - could even Rudolf tackle two men at once + a martial arts expert? 

Stabbing one person to death is one thing, but being able to take out everyone else in that gold room without them A) fighting back or B) fleeing to get help is virtually impossible, even for people like Rudolf and Kyrie. In short, without the guns, this situation could not escalate in the same way it did in Prime. At most you’d have one person getting killed in a crime of passion, like a stabbing or strangulation...but it wouldn’t get beyond that level before someone managed to go alert the rest of the family and measures could be taken to restrain the accidental murderer. 

“But would they really go get the others and bring them to the crime scene where they’d see the gold?”

In that example it’d still a majority of people trying to hold the would-be killers at bay, as mentioned above. Alternatively someone could still summon at the very least Kinzo or Genji, both who already knew about the gold (I don’t think anyone would question that Genji would know about Kinzo’s gold honestly). No matter what example you think of, there’s simply no way any massacre is going to kick off without those guns.

"But even without killing anyone beforehand, there’s still the bomb, right?”

Oh, of course. The bomb obviously still exists in Lion’s world. Yasu tells us that it was Kinzo who set it up, after all, and the 900 tons of explosives from WWII would still be on the island.

But again, there are some factors present in Prime regarding the bomb that should not exist in Lion’s world.

First of all, Yasu is the one who explains the device to begin with. Without her there pointing it out to them, surely it would be ignored because it’s literally just a grandfather clock. It’s just another fancy fixture decorating the already-opulent room.

Now, it’s worth noting that Kyrie does mention, when ‘Beatrice’ explains the device, that the epitaph reads more literally like a serial murder and that ‘none shall be left alive’ would indicate some kind of massive accident enough to take out the rest. However, even Kyrie doesn’t have magical Scooby Doo deduction powers to where I think she’d make the clock = bomb connection without the puzzle pieces clicking into place, first. In which case, it’s ‘Beatrice’ saying ‘I was going to use these guns and commit a 13-person serial murder’ that made her connect it to the epitaph, and think more deeply about the ‘none shall be left alive’ part of it. Without someone coming along and saying that they were going to follow a literal interpretation of the epitaph, I don’t feel as though Kyrie would start to analyze it in a literal way - after all, they already solved it on a metaphorical level, where the ‘sacrifices’ and ‘none shall be left alive’ were referring to the device at the chapel. The fact that it reads like a creepy murder ceremony was just a Kinzo-like decoration to conceal its true meaning. Without Yasu actually saying that she was going to also take it literally, I don’t think that Kyrie would look at that clock and make the supposition that it could be connected to a bomb...especially since the other adults even only vaguely seem aware of ‘rumors’ (not even confirmation) that Rokkenjima was once a military base. It would seem as though even the siblings were never privy to the true history of their long-time home.

There’s also the fact that the explosives are more than 40 years old. Don’t forget that the entire reason Yasu blew up the reef with the shrine was to test the explosives first and ensure they still worked. In Lion’s world, that shrine would still exist...and no one would have actually tested the explosives. Not even Kinzo, who we’re told would probably come down here and think about things with the bomb set to ‘on’ because he is fucking crazy. So even if the adults did somehow magically guess that the clock was a bomb...they’d be dubious as to whether the explosives even still worked. Of course, they’d still have a 50/50 shot by flipping the switch to find out, but would Rudolf and Kyrie really risk committing a mass-murder on a ‘maybe’? The only way to find out if the bomb worked or not would be to set the switch and get as fucking far away as possible...imagine killing everyone on the island only to find out the bombs were a dud after all. Whoops. Pretty sure you’re not gonna get away from the police for this one, even if you change your names and leave the country (and if you did that, I don’t think the yen on the cash card would do you too good). It’s simply not worth the risk without a guarantee that the explosives work - and Yasu blowing up the shrine was that guarantee. It was an immediately visible image to all the adults in that room that the explosives did work, and that 900 tons of them would wipe out the entire island. A world without Yasu means a world without that guarantee...and a world in which mass-murder would simply not be worth the risk.

So Lion’s world has no guns, and no bomb. Rudolf and Kyrie aren’t just evil psychopaths - they are cold and calculating, both experienced with business and dirty deeds. They’re not so stupid that they’d start killing everyone without a surefire way to hide the evidence. You’d have two people trying to get away with killing 15 others without guns, first of all - and I don’t think even the biggest knives in Gohda’s kitchen are gonna let you do that without some painful screaming alerting the others before you get too far. Furthermore, you don’t have a magical switch that’ll blow the evidence sky high to cover up your tracks. But if even that’s not enough to convince you, there’s one more thing that absolutely guarantees Kyrie and Rudolf would have no reason to murder:

The cash card does not exist in Lion’s world.

Yasu converted that gold to cash. She did this in advance, knowing already that she was going to be making a game of this. She even sent out the pin number to the relatives who would survive the family members in the event that no one solved the epitaph and everyone died. This was pre-planned by the mastermind who was going to commit the serial murders. Yasu. Yasu Yasu Yasu.

Again, Kinzo proposing the epitaph was something he did on a whim. He invented the epitaph years ago, and it was easy for him to just say ‘okay if you don’t like my decision what about this’ and whip it out for them to solve. But if they solved it? All they’d get was gold. Kinzo didn’t convert any of his gold to cash and plan to give the pin number to his shitty kids. And as I said above, it’s pointed out that Krauss is the only one of the adults with the connections to convert that unmarked, illegal gold into cash. The way that scene tells it, no one else in the room can argue with Krauss when he mentions this. So no matter how many shady types Rudolf and Kyrie know (and I’m sure there are many), even they, apparently, do not have any easy contacts that would be able to convert this gold to cash.

I wouldn’t put it past the two of them to find those connections, though. They could do it. Except, oh wait, their entire plan hinged on blowing up the island and the gold with it. Without a cash card, literally all they have is a mountain of gold sitting on Rokkenjima. They could make like EP2 Rosa and try to escape with an ingot or two, but would they really blow away the rest of that money? And it’s not even like they could kill everyone and come back for the rest later!! You’d be hiring a crane or something to come haul it away for you...even with illegal connections, it’s probably not gonna be easy to convince someone to come to an island full of corpses and do this for you. They see those corpses, and they see that pile of gold? They’re gonna try to milk at least half of it from you to ‘buy their silence’. And can you really trust that this person isn’t gonna spill the beans even if you give it to them? Okay, so track him down and kill him, too. Just keep racking up the bodies. Not like that is ever gonna be traced back to you. I’m sorry, but all the yakuza connections in the world do not make me buy this as something they could realistically transport off the island without things getting even more messy.

So let’s review. Lion’s world has:

-No guns in the gold room -No one to explain the bomb -No proof that the explosives still even work -No means of hiding the evidence of a massacre -No cash card -No easy way of leaving the island with the gold

??????????????????????????????????????????????????

And Bern expects me to believe that Lion is stuck in a dead end of fate where even he gets shot to death by Kyrie in the parlor and caught up in a large-scale massacre? Sorry, Bernie, but I call bullshit on that one. Whether it’s your bullshit, or Ryukishi’s bullshit, it’s bullshit. Without Yasu there to provide all the necessary ‘ingredients’ that lead to the incident in the first place, it just can’t happen. 

Prove me wrong. Hint: you can’t.