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notthestarwar · 2 years ago

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WIP

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Talking to the dead (tangled au)

Mand’alor the lost

What the living do rewrite

How the living go on living and the dead go on living with them (what the living do sister story)

No children (looper au)

The glass wall

Not posted:

[So these are the ones i’ve actually started writing. i have another list of ideas/disembodied snippets. which is. yeah. there are a lot. oh my god there are so many. why are there so many.]

Amnesiac Fox- fox&maul. Maul finds fox on a distant planet, in a small town (one that bears a striking resemblance to small town americana) unaware of the greater galaxy and pretty convinced that he’s lived in this dead end town all his life. Maul is so utterly baffled by this, that he winds up forgetting that he isnt the type of person who would try and help, and tries very hard to help Fox.

Obi Wan and Jango’s dream(s)- due to some kind of force event, Obi Wan gets trapped in a repeating cycle where he is living in a fantasy world, with no clue that this isnt his life. Each chapter is a different story cliche, (so theres a coffee shop one, one where he’s a dentist, a professor one, one where he’s an aerobics teacher) and he doesnt remember the last in the next. However, twist! he’s somehow dragged Jango in to this and Jango does remember, and he is not impressed. Jango thought that he died, but now he is not dead and he’s beginning to think he has some regrets actually and if he’s alive, he would quite likely to be back in the real world (which was all going to shit when he ‘died’) however, instead, he’s stuck playing pretend with a Jedi. he’s pretty sure that this is Obi Wan’s fault. he is also pretty sure that the Jedi is only pretending not to remember and that this whole thing is just Obi Wan playing games with him. pretty much wrote this to make myself laugh tbh

Fox gets a job- Post war. Fox is looking for a job but does a terrible job at each interview he gets given (presumably deliberately) and keeps giving overly honest answers to questions (not ideal when you killed your last boss). In the end, he ends up falling in to work as a private investigator, finding people who are victims of underground cloning ops? But he refuses to take any payment and also doesn’t tell anyone he is doing this. It’s a little bit crime noir if you squint. Its’s quin/Fox with background Cody/Obi Wan.

Prime, the worst clone. In which Jango steals Cody’s job after Boba dies on Geonosis and the clones all hate him for it. after a battle, while he’s pretending to be a clone (because he has nothing better to do.he wasnt supposed to be the one that survived) he stumbles upon a cave, empty aside from a furnace and a armorer (unexpected.) before he can say anything, the armourer gives him a prophecy, telling him about the night of 1000 tears and saying that if he lets things continue, all Mandalorians will be dead in a few decades. meanwhile, Cody, away from jango, is not actually that concerned about being usurped, because being forgotten about has actually given him quite a lot of freedom and he’s completely worked it to his advantage.

Undead Fox- Where Palpatine messes with sith ruins he doesnt understand, and accidentally makes an unkillable clone. When Fox returns from the unsurvivable, acting creepy and like a man most likely possessed, Palpatine knows he’s messed up. There is something very wrong with this clone, people are going to notice and they’ll start asking questions he doesn’t want asked, so he kills him. Problem solved. Then, the next morning, Fox reports in to him, like every morning. Palpatine is disturbed, but resolves to do a better job next time, and then, Fox reports in again the next morning. In which, the guard, very loyal to their commander, resolve to look after whatever their commander has now become, and work very hard to cover up his many ‘deaths’ while Palpatine, continuously tries to kill him, before the Jedi trace back the eldritch horror residing in the guard barracks, to him. Palpatine is increasingly unsettled and finds himself too uncomfortable in Fox’s presence, to even consider trying to harness his power/experiment on him. He can’t bear to be in his presence and so rather than just locking him up, keeps trying to kill him in increasingly more inventive ways. Meanwhile, Fox is very strange, seems to be gettting stranger and is decidedly not human anymore, the guard find themselves trying to grieve for a man that can’t die.

Who killed chancellor palpatine- also wrote this one to make myself laugh tbh. half of it is written on paper? don’t know why i did that because i lost it and now i can’t remember what happens aside from an outline. i’m hoping i’ll find it because i want to read it again as i found it very funny the first time.

so it starts, with the Jedi launching an investigation as chancellor palpatine has been found dead.over the course of the story, literally everyone confesses to this murder, because they all think they are covering for someone, but then the person they are covering for is covering for someone else and so on. it’s in two parts, because when they finally establish that none of these people were involved. and actually rex and ahsoka were covering for each other, so thats the end of that line, it turns out that they don’t even have the right time of death, because palpatine was already dead during his ‘last few days’ and that was also a coverup, starting a whole new chain of people admitting to crimes they didnt comitt.

The unwanted and unintentionally abandoned- Post order 66 Boba and Korkie (Kenobi) team up. Exploration of what it is to be a bad father and how trying, isn’t always enough.

Post order 66, Obi Wan finds Cody. (reverse Cody finds Obi Wan on Tatooine.) Cody is not happy.

Venators are haunted- This is a long desc. cause i love it very much but don’t have much of it written (apart from the end and the begining). i want to get a ghost story vibe building throughout. where it goes from ‘obviously it’s not ghosts’ to ‘oh shit it’s ghosts’ and i’ve yet to figure that out lol

Palpatines plans end up falling apart because the Jedi are the only ones that will spend any time on the venators and so he has little to no control over the war as all of the non clone officers quit. The venators all have very bad vibes. cold spots. flickering lights. (initially blamed on the ships themselves) but then, as time goes on things are less easily explained (a childs laughter heard in the corridors, equipment unexpectedly breaking sometimes when they are about to head out in battle on the senates orders) at first the officers just refuse to live on the ships, saying that its too uncomfortable to live there, and then, they find that this stuff happens whenever clones are around and they start to become unsettled by the clones at large. the clones are entirely used to all of this and take it in their stride and the jedi are like. well. odd. but. what can we do about it.

As the war goes on, more strange stuff starts to happen, with fog coming out of nowhere in battle when things are turning bad, saving clones time after time and the other things are happening more and more. then, the fog starts to appear on the ship, and strange things begin to be written in spilt salt, fogged up mirrors, anywhere really. saying things like ‘sith senate’.eventually, the jedi start to pay attention to youngling rumours that the clones are haunted, but they are very nice about it and are like ‘well the ghosts seem to have their best interests at heart and they don’t seem to mind (the clones dont know any better)’.

Nobody can see the ghost/ghosts and there are many theories as to who they are (lost padawans, the clones that didnt make it, including those that died as children. ect) but actually, it’s Arla. in this AU, she does die with Jango’s parents, and when the first clones are born, she makes it her mission to stay with them. she cant really do anything, but over the years she finds more ways to make her presence known, and to influence the living (to try and help the clones). The story ends as a fixit, and when the clones are ‘safe’, the ghost moves on. (theres a bit at the end, where out of the view of the living, ghost arla reunites with jango (now that she’s fixed his fuck up) and they walk on to whatever is next together.

The one where everyone runs away- technically a sequel to ‘part of me died here so another could go on’ which I did not want to have a sequel. The whole point of it was that nothing changed. But then I started thinking about the idea of his brother being out there just eating Cody alive and began this. Cody has a fuck-it moment and starts sleeping with Obi Wan, but they end up having a full blown secret relationship, and then Cody runs off to find Ponds. Rako Hardeen happens and Obi Wan is like- Cody is going to see that I died! I have to find him and explain. Then Anakin finds out Padme is pregnant and decides that he needs to find Obi Wan. In Anakins absence, Ahsoka and Rex actually investigate the chips. Palpatine is sweating cause he wants to set off order 66 but like, Anakin is off trying to find Obi Wan so he keeps delaying things and then when he can’t delay any longer, he sets off order 66 and it… just doesn’t work. Literally, a chain of familial love just really really fucks up palpatines plans. Cody/obi Wan

Those that are forgotten and those that are just lost- Jango/Obi Wan. they meet on Mandalore during the civil war and within minutes of meeting, Jango sees a vision of himself killing Obi Wan years in the future. He ends up falling for him anyway.

A violent product of a violent world- Cody/Obi Wan. Chip CC2224 finds himself in competition with the man he once was for Obi Wan’s love. And then Cody starts trying to take over CC2224’s body.

Modern AU- The most convoluted backstory ever. There are Jedi but no force powers. There are no clones but there is a army of ‘brothers’. Palpatine is a billionaire with his hands in way too many pockets and is behind the wars (worldwide) but nobody knows. Obi Wan leaves the Jedi as he feels he can do more help as a civilian. Plo Koon and Quinlan leave as well and they are running a small civil rights advocacy venture in a tiny office. Obi Wan and Cody are in a long term relationship but Cody is still in the military which Obi Wan isn’t happy about. Jango is tied up in this series of wars but nobody (including him) knows how, just that his employer sends him on a job and next thing you know, there is a war in that place. Jango leaves a trail of almost identical looking babies behind him over a period of about 30 years, doesn’t acknowledge this until he finally decides that he wants to know who the hell is behind this all and whats actually happening and hands baby Boba to Cody.

The cycle ends with me- in which Luke runs away to tattoine to try and raise Ben Solo’s child and ‘end the cycle.’ Literally takes nothing from canon but names. I can not stress this enough, Rey and Ben Solo are at no point anywhere near being together. Rey is a lesbian and living her best life.

Slavery canon divergence- Jango & Obi Wan were slaves together in the past. Cody ends up driving Anakins redemption?

The dream/the pond- University prof AU in which all is perfect and actually a dream, reality starts creeping in and corrupting the beautiful

End credits- Codywan reverse happy ever after. (post order 66 happily ever after slowly unravels)

Cody tries to find himself by moving in to Rex and Ahsoka’s spaceship roomshare.

Obi wan raises anakin Modern AU- where Qui Gon (irresponsible absent dad) visits (just about) adult Obi Wan, turning up on his doorstep with a child (this is Anakin, your new brother) and then dies in an accident.

Suburban life- post order 66 Anakin and Padme living in perfect suburbia, on some distant planet, nobody knows them. They are desperately trying to make friends but everyone thinks they are utter weirdos. So they plot to bring Cody and Obi Wan to live there, to show everyone how normal they are. Cody and Obi Wan get completely strong-armed in to this (anakin and padme buy them a house without telling them and ask them to come ‘for a visit’). It goes badly, because Cody and Obi Wan are only normal, to Padme and Anakin and are really really strange to anyone else. Nobody in this neighbourhood knows about the war or the Jedi, and it seems very apparent to them that Cody grew up in some kind of cult, and Obi Wan is the kind of rich weirdo that doesnt think twice about marrying a guy born in to a cult. Padme and Anakin decide that the best way to go about things is to pretend they don’t know each other and then, when they’ve got an in, Obi Wan and Cody can spread the good word. It is immediately really obvious they know each other. so the neighbours just view Cody and Obi Wan as like some kind of plant sent to spy on their bbq’s/parties by Padme and Anakin.

Council chambers- Obi Wan walks in to a council chambers type limital space, full of representatives all of a possible future, each of them are terrible

Canon divergence where Obi Wan arrives on Kamino and finds it burnt out.

The Orb- Codywan on tattoine in which Obi Wan tries to tear apart reality to fix the past

The one where Cody’s chip breaks and he sets out as a bounty hunter after a woman hires him to find her husband

Genres.- the OG story (prequels and original trilogy) but each chapter is a different genre.

Anakin dies-. Padme living in the aftermath. Obi Wan can’t stand to see her as she reminds him of Anakin.

Bedtime stories from an alternative universe- A collection of stories from various universes running parallel to the prequels and what comes after. I started this one as a way to write the au’s that never got past the point of being ‘this is what happens’. it’s going to be a collection, of someone telling a kid a bedtime story and those stories, are actually some of my abandoned au’s lol. (believe it or not none of the au’s in this list so far are actually abandoned. these are the ones i’ve started writing (some of them are like. almost finished. thousands of words lol.) and intend to finish (lol). so this collection is the ones that i have truly abandoned.

What the living do sequels-

-And when the time comes to let it go, to let it go (Boba, Rex and Cody in the aftermath)

-Nothing is lost in life or love (Cody and Obi Wan live their best life after the war. Obi Wan hasn’t seen a ghost in years. Anakin is raising the twins by himself and so visits often to make this their problem.)

-You could make this beautiful sequels

-the one where Cody confronts Obi Wan about running

-the one where Luke tries to have a family dinner

The Not tangled au’s associated offshoots including:

-Rex and Ahsoka adventurers

-Boba Fett, criminal little brother

-The faceless warriors- In which Fox and a group of his brothers are a ghost story, but actually they are real.

-Cody the tired innkeeper, pining for the king. (Cody/Obi Wan)

-The sequel in which Luke gets engaged to Din, the prince of Mandalore and the Mandalorian’s tell the royal family where the Jedi went.

#for reference #ref #reference #mywriting ntwyw #don't mind this lol. i have far too many wip on the go as usual and am finding it hard to sort them in my mind so #thought i'd do an update of this post for my reference

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keiksy-cake · 1 month ago

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Lunatic Blue Ch 9 (Gore TW || Hetalia Doujinshi)

YEAHHHHH AFTER 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS.

木綿ﾄﾞｩﾌ does it again with another very incredible chapter~ I missed this series so much! The wait was definitely worth it, this chapters as great as the others! I wish I could've finished it faster, I even put My Arika on hold lol, but I had assignments and such D;

There's no gore in this chapter but it's still full of horror and suspense!

If you haven't read this series yet, I HIGHLY recommend it, definitely one of my top top favorites, idk if I like any other more than it. Altho, I started doing a lot to "clean" the pages, which I didn't in the beginning. How much I've grown in both cleaning and translating within this 3 year gap is greatly exemplified in this series... Which is great, but in other words, that also means the first chapters are very drastically... I've been saying for a long time I want to re-do them, I started re-doing the first chapter a couple years back but never finished lol but finally the other day I decided to update it, posting what I have at least. Lets hope my renewed motivation is enough to actually finished...

Since it's been so long, I recommend even those who have read this series to re-read it before reading this one. Anyway, sorry for the long intro! Please enjoy! Here's a list of the prev chapters too:

Lunatic Blue 1

Lunatic Blue 2

Lunatic Blue 3

Lunatic Blue 4

Lunatic Blue 5

Lunatic Blue 6

Lunatic Blue 7

Lunatic Blue 8

I was too lazy to actually redraw this last page, sorry >.> Look at him mad broody tho lol

Also, I accidentally made this and thought it looked cool so I thought I'd add it in lol:

Notes:

Rather than "sir", child Alfred calls Arthur "nii-san" which means "older brother", but it's also largely used to refer to any older young man.

Rather than "the excitement" (of space), America says "romance", but I was afraid any young and/or American readers wouldn't get that it's meant in an excitement sense, not like love kind of romance.

I'm still not that great at translating, I had to guess for a lot of the sound effects bc English onomatopoeia sucks D;

The expression I tled to "prideful" literally is "hates to lose"

If anyone wants to make a clean version

I did not make this series, I'm just your friendly neighborhood translator~

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pien-art · 1 year ago

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-FAQ-

Hello! I've gained a whole bunch of followers lately and I've been getting a lot of questions about commissions, what my setup is, what brushes I use, etc, so I thought I'd make a post about it to answer everyone's questions at once !

Putting them under the cut <3

Commissions:

Commission prices are listed in my pinned post. You can send me a private message about your commission idea and we can get to talking :) It is helpful to have enough references handy (character, outfit, descriptions etc)

I am generally a fast drawer but I also have a job and a physical disability so there might be moments I can't work on your commission. But that is never longer than a few days at most.

Payment is upfront, the full amount and via paypal only. I know this might seem a bit scary but unfortunately there are a lot of people who end up not paying for commissions and I want to avoid that.

During the process I will send you frequent updates and will ask for input, to see if it is going in the direction you want. You can ask for changes during the sketching progress but once I've started on line-art and coloring, no big changes will happen. (You can for example ask for a different color for a shirt etc, but not for a different prop or pose or expression)

When it is completed, I will send the drawing to you via email. The drawing will remain mine and it is not to be sold or profited of by the person who commissioned me. If the commission is for something commercial/for selling, that needs to be discussed. I prefer to do drawings only for personal use!

For more questions, my dms/asks are open :)

How long have I been doing digital art:

I've been drawing digitally for about 5 years now i think? But before that I've been drawing and painting traditionally literally since the moment I could pick up a pencil.

Set-up:

It's just me and my ipad and apple pencil laying on my bed. I wouldn't even know where to begin for those whole multi-monitor/screen setups ;-; I draw only with Procreate

Brushes:

I tend to play with different brushes from time to time to get different textures, but generally i use the same few for most of my drawings/styles. My favorite one is the Peppermint Brush, for sketching. I use it in every drawing i make! I always sketch with it, and often do the line-art with it as well! And it makes for a nice textured brush for rendering as well! (i used it for a lot of rendering of the armor in this drawing)

The (procreate) brushes i use a lot are

for medieval style: inking - Ink Bleed (for line-art) artistic - Quoll (for coloring)

for general style: calligraphy - Chalk (coloring/rendering) sketching - Peppermint (line-art/sketching)

for realism: calligraphy - Shale Brush (full rendering) Also using the shale brush for smudging and erasing when drawing realistic

for lineart: smooth pencil from this pack by Heygiudi

How/why do you choose a base color:

I tend to look at a few different things when deciding on a base color/color palette.

the overall color of the reference pic

the color i associate with who or what i am drawing

the feeling/vibe i want to give off with that drawing

color has a BIG impact on the vibe of a drawing, so it is something i keep in mind when im drawing.

Using a color as a base to start, helps a lot with my drawing process. It helps me pick out other colors so they match better. It helps me get light/dark values right. And the chalk brush i use, has gaps between the strokes, so the base color will always come through a little. Having the same color come through in the entire drawing, helps pull all the colors together if that makes sense? I always start with a solid base color when i am painting traditionally as well!

Advice:

PRACTICE!!! just keep drawing and practice. I know this is such generic advice but truly practice is The Way. Learn from other artists but don't compare yourself to them. Everyone's artistic journey is different and there's no "good" or "bad". And most importantly make sure that you have fun when you're making stuff :3

I also learn a lot by studying art I admire and love. Figuring out what it is I like about it. (for example, the line thickness or the shapes or texture etc), and try to incorporate that in my own style in a way that is not directly copying or stealing.

#my art #FAQ #frequently asked questions #art process #art tips #drawing process #procreate #brushes #commission info

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 18 days ago

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Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 1: How The Fuck Did I Get Here?

I don't know exactly what I'm going to be doing with all these posts, but at a minimum, we will be having the following, not necessarily in this order:

A discussion of some of the parts of Worm I liked most. Some genuine and well-earned praise for Wildbow.

An analysis of Amy Dallon as she exists in Worm, though more for unpacking my own thoughts in one place rather than some deep literary stuff.

A discussion of things I was genuinely surprised by in the Text itself versus the stuff I picked up via fandom osmosis and fanfic. Expectation vs reality and stuff.

A discussion of just who the fuck the target audience of Worm actually probably maybe was, and what the fuck I just read.

And a detailed (for my own unpacking of thoughts than to convince anyone of anything) discussion of why I'm not going to read Ward. Nothing new there, but still, it'll be nice to put it all one one place.

But first, let's take a step back and answer one very important question: How in the bloody fuck did I end up here? How the fuck did reading Worm even happen? Because as I've said before, superhero media isn't my thing, I'm definitely not the target audience for Worm, and while I enjoyed it, only liking it 60% is a barely passing grade, as it were.

So how the blue hell did I end up here?

I don't know exactly when I first became aware of Worm. What I do know is that I was loosely aware of it by 2019, because I was active on SpaceBattles, and of course, Worm is all over there. I'd see the name, and I knew it referred to a work of fiction, but that's about all I knew. It might have been before 2019 that I first heard the name, it might not have. I say by 2019, because I know that sometime in 2019, I was in a discord server associated with one of the many spinoff sites to Spacebattles (I believe it was Frozen in Carbonite, which was honestly a pretty noxious website but I didn't know that going in) and I made a post using this meme:

And I got an answer that was something to the effect of 'It's an edgy villain protagonist superhero story'. And so I shrugged, and I moved on. Not my speed. Superheroes aren't my thing, not really, not in of themselves. I first got into AoS watching it with my then GF back in... 2015? And then I got into shipping Skyeward in it. Then I watched Arrow because some of the people I followed from Skyeward were into it and again, pretty much stayed for the shipping and certain characters. Flash and Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl were entered into as branching off from Arrow.

And yes I've watched a good chunk of the MCU, but mostly because why not watch a movie and there's a handful of characters I liked. But I've never read a single superhero comic book, as far as I can recall, and I've never really been super into any superhero cartoons, just watched them if they happened to be on Cartoon Network when I was a kid.

At some point between then and this year, I found a Worm CYOA on r/nsfwcyoa, and despite never having read it, gave it a look, played around with it, and picked up random errant facts about the story and characters therein. I would revisit this CYOA and similar ones as they got updates, and along the way got my first exposure to the whole 'fanon' problem of the Worm fandom, when one of the options in one of the CYOAs was to make certain popular fanon true for the version of Earth-Bet 'your character' appeared in for the CYOA. Things like making Woobie Amy true, or turning Vicky into the Collateral Damage Barbie she's cast as by some people, et cetera.

And then, at some point probably late last year or early this year, I think, I was on Questionable Questing (the pervert uncle of Spacebattles, as it were) and I saw a fic get posted that was Worm - so, prepared to ignore it - and then I saw it was also tagged with several of my kinks. And I've read smutfics that aren't for one of my fandoms if I really like the kinks and it's just a smutfic, so I gave it a show. How much do you need to know about the source canon for a smutfic, eh?

I don't remember much about that fic, or even which of my kinks in particular it had, but I would read a few other such stories here and there until sometime in... probably May or so, maybe late April, when I made an errant post on QQ in a thread discussing stories you considered but never actually read, that I had considered Worm (because by then I had, ish, after some of the various go-arounds with the CYOA and picking up bits of osmosis here and there) but that the whole thing sounded too bleak and grimdark and depressing.

This spawned a conversation about Worm, and if it was really grimdark (one person I think went so far as to say it wasn't even depressing or bleak, and oh to live in that person's world) and if it was really a deconstruction or a love letter to superhero media or a takedown of superhero media or w/e. And at some point, someone made a comment about Wildbow having disdain for his fans, or something like that.

And I was like 'I feel like there's a story there'. And yes there was. One of the things that came up were the so-called 'retcons' of Ward re: Amy (whether or not they are actually retcons is beyond the point of this post, please don't discuss it here). And here's the thing, my thought then was: I've been there.

I've been there when characters have been set on, or are seemingly being set up for, some kind of redemption arc, and then some new installment pulls the rug out from under the character in a way that feels very, very deliberately aimed at fans of the character. Grant Ward is the most notable case of this for me. 2015 and 2016 me had quite a few things to say about that. 2024 me lacks the energy or desire to go into detail.

It's not fun, either way. So I sympathized. And I figured that probably meant Amy Dallon would be my sort of character. But I didn't want to read Worm - it sounded depressing, it was 1.6 million words, Taylor didn't sound super appealing and I knew she was the main POV, and superheroes aren't my thing.

But it wouldn't leave my head. So I started poking around on places like r/parahumans (a den of bad takes and noxious fans if there ever was one) and r/WormFanfic and the Parahumans wiki and looked through a few threads on SB and started trawling the Amy Dallon tag here on Tumblr and developed some thoughts.

Amy Dallon, and the injustice of what happened to her in Ward had crawled inside my head and it wasn't going anywhere. I ranted to my friends about all the shit I'd learned and was like 'I HAVEN'T EVEN READ THIS WORK AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I WANT TO AND IT JUST WON'T LEAVE MY BRAIN!'. I remember seeing a post saying something about how someone who had read worm couldn't relate to people who hadn't and weren't constantly thinking about Amy and I reblogged it saying 'I haven't even read Worm and I'm constantly thinking about Amy' and I think the OP of the post reblogged my reblog and called me a whole new kind of person or something. I don't remember and don't care to go digging.

The things that held me back the most continued to be the sheer length of Worm, a fear that Taylor would be insufferable and the fact that it still sounded godforsakenly depressing. (2 out of 3 ain't bad, as Meatloaf Says). So eventually I decided to go poking around and read some fic to get the idea if I'd actually read it. I don't remember all the ones I read in this period, but they included: I, Panacea, Desperate Times Call For Desperate Pleasures, Queen of Blood and More Than Meets The Eye. It was around this time I also started getting multiple Worm Fic Ideas, which was... fun. Because you know, it's one thing to read fanfic without knowing the source canon, but I've always loathed in previous fandoms when people say they're writing a fic for a canon they've only read fic from (and was always an immediate X-out for me) and I have too much dignity self-respect as a writer to do that myself.

Now, fic ideas don't mean I have to write them. I have ASOIAF and TVD fic Ideas I'm never going to write, and my notebooks across the ages are littered with fic Ideas I had and then put aside and never wrote. Some still haunt my dreams like Edgar Allen Poe's Telltale Heart. But still.

Eventually, after someone made a comment to me to the effect of 'with all due respect, if you haven't read Worm, shut up about it' I decided to at least make an effort to read it. Spite was my original intent - I wanted to see if my opinion about Amy's storyline in Worm specifically would remain the same (and it broadly has) and if so, I would feel satisfied I'd been right.

(For the record, It did remain the same (pretty much, more on this in a future post) and I do feel satisfied that I was right.)

And so, on June 16th, half on a whim and half because I knew I'd have things to say and I wanted to section them off my main blog, I made this blog and began reading Gestation 1.1. I gave it even odds in my head I'd give up before I was more than a few arcs in.

Wasn't even tempted until Arcs 12 and 13. Then was tempted again in the absolute nadir of the work, 17-19. And then again during the Behemoth fight. Once I got past that, I was never temped.

So that's I got here. Existing adjacent to Worm for years, some osmosis, an ill-timed comment, some snarky responses and a character that burrows into my brain by hitting all of my buttons.

#Kylia Reflects on Worm #Wormblr #Worm Parahumans #Worm Web Serial #Worm Wildbow #Okay I've Read Worm: A Retrospective

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primamchorus · 4 months ago

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So I've gotten moved down with my parents as I said I'd be. Thankfully, my partner and I can lend hands where hands are needed. Right now, my hands are going toward drawing whatever I can for those that are interested. Due to the nature of what's been found, I thought it would be meaningful if I were to offer flower portraits of your characters should you be interested and donate to help my parents achieve what they require to get their respective surgeries.

My dad has a mass on his kidney, and the ultrasounds show this tumor as looking kind of like a flower. So in that vein, that's why I'm choosing to do flower busts as the primary thing I'm offering. That said, I am also still willing to do Discord emotes and stickers, and as a more left field thing, do clean, neutral lighting GPose reference sheets for those that may want them. More information can be found below the read more / show all.

There is a lot of information regarding everything affecting my dad and my stepmother available on my family's GoFundMe page found here. My family supported me and fought for me when I was fighting Leukemia, the least I can do is fight as much for their sake, too.

I also understand any apprehension of donating through GoFundMe because they take a percentage of the funds raised. If you feel so inclined, you can donate directly to my dad through his PayPal, or directly to me through my Ko-Fi page.

Before commissioning me, please understand: I have no slots this time around for my work because I'd like to raise as much as I can for my parents; I don't know how bogged down with commissions I'll be. That said, please refer to this post where I will be updating it periodically to keep track of my progress.

I tend to do FCFS, but if I'm waiting on you for information or input, I will move on to the next person while you figure out what you'd like to do, or are busy because other obligations.

I will not be doing large scale commissions like last time (i.e. full bodies + background work). I want something quicker and more manageable for myself, so I'm focusing bust shots, emotes, and stickers. Please do not ask for anything other than what is listed here.

Flower Busts :: Single Character :: $50 base w/ 1 flower type + $8 per extra flower type

Discord / Twitch Emotes :: $10 per

Discord Stickers :: $20 per

Gondola Discord Sticker YCH :: $25 per

Simple GPose Reference Sheets :: $5 per turn around

If you are interested in having a character reference sheet, please know that I will need either a .chara or a .mcdf file. A .chara is just a vanilla file with no mods and should be able to be saved through Anamnesis, and a .mcdf is if you mod your characters and can export your Mare Synchronos file. When you have any of these files, please put them in a Google Drive folder and send them to me!

I will not be meeting with people in-game as an option, unfortunately, because I do have my own reference studios set up in the houses that I use for them when necessary. My schedule is also all over the place to comfortably set anything up.

#commissions #fundraising #medical commissions #family commissions #my art #portrait commissions #emotes #custom emote #discord stickers #discord emotes #twitch emotes

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penguwastaken · 5 months ago

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"DR3 makes the Remnants of Despair blameless"

This is a statement I've heard many times before, and I think it's one that's both technically correct and also technically incorrect.

But overall, I think this is a statement that kind of ignores the nuance of what the "brainwashing" actually did or even the themes of the series. Because of that, I decided to make this post to clear up some confusion about this subject and explain my thoughts on it.

What the "brainwashing" actually is

For starters, no, brainwashing in Danganronpa does not turn them into mindless zombies and get rid of their "free will." I wrote an entire post about brainwashing on its own and the many misconceptions abut it. While there are some things I'd change or update now, I think overall it's pretty solid. The main reason I'm making this post though is to fill in a piece that I should have filled in then. But if you understandably don't want to read that massive post right now, I'll go over it again here.

The way the Despair video works in both Danganronpa Zero and Danganronpa 3 is that it uses subliminal messaging to strengthen the emotions that you are already feeling by watching the video. It does not "create despair," it amplifies it.

"'She just wanted to stir up the pent-up emotions of the Reserve Course. She got the Ultimate Hope involved in the whole thing for that sole reason, and then incited them all… No, it wasn't something simple like incitement… it was brainwashing.' 'Brainwashing…' Pain, along with violent itching, brought up that scene in my mind. The monitor's visuals I had seen beyond the Monokuma Heads in the underground facility. Crushing heads, cut-up faces, agonizing screams, the Mutual Killing's red lumps of flesh." -Referring to the despair video Ryoko watched in Danganronpa Zero

Notice how the phrases "incited" and "pent-up emotions" are used. Once again, this is because the subliminal messaging doesn't make you feel things, it amplifies what the video itself makes you feel.

This doesn't contradict Ryota's description of brainwashing, note how he describes it as "influencing" the viewer's brain, not controlling it.

This is also why I put brainwashing in quotes earlier, because Ryota says it's not just brainwashing, brainwashing techniques are just a part of it.

This is the whole reason why Junko needed to kill Chiaki in the first place, she needed a video that would make them emotional enough for brainwashing to have an actual substantial effect. If she just used the student council killing video, there's a chance they'd be able to resist it like Chisa or Ryoko did.

All the despair video did was overload them with feelings of despair, causing them to crave it as a way of coping with the despair that was just unleashed onto them.

The despair video did not:

Turn them into mindless zombies

Make them love or worship Junko

Remove their free will or ability to make decisions

All the video did was make them crave despair, how they went about it was entirely up to them. Like Nagito, for example, he gave into the despair by hating Junko, but he was never a mindless zombie.

In fact, I think even being able to resist the videos effects at all kind of implies that the video isn't forcing you to give into temptation. It gives you urges, but that's all. The Ultimate Despairs chose to give into their urges of despair. They also chose the methods of which they went about bringing despair. The video wasn't mind control, it doesn't have the technology to turn you into a mindless servant. In that sense, the despair video did not remove their autonomy and they still chose their actions.

Big fat massive however...

While it is true that their ability to choose what to do remained, the fact is that they only made the decisions they made and got their despair urges in the first place was because they were brainwashed. So it is also true that the person at fault isn't them, it's Junko and her video.

And that's the point, it isn't their fault that they made those choices. Some may say this is because Kodaka wanted to make them more redeemable, but I just completely disagree because it was always like this.

Makoto refers to them as victims at multiple points in Danganronpa 2, even saying that they were brainwashed and have the ability to go back to normal. Danganronpa 3 didn't make them more "blameless," it emphasized a theme and point that was there since the start.

Dialing it back

Themes of guilt and blame are things that have always existed in Danganronpa. I already mentioned how Danganronpa 2 refers to the Ultimate Despairs as victims, but there's plenty more examples of this.

Such as Ryota in Danganronpa 3. Ryota is threatened with his classmates' lives and is forced to develop the despair video for Junko. Would you say Ryota's at fault?

Of course not, and I doubt the anime wants you to believe that way either. But that doesn't stop Ryota from feeling this way. He's a victim, just like everyone else. A victim who was forced to make a choice that he now regrets.

Alternatively, we can look at Juzo as well. He was blackmailed with his biggest insecurity used against him, completely unaware of the despair that would soon follow. While you could argue he's more to blame than the others, the point is just like them, he was forced into a situation where he couldn't choose. He wasn't responsible for Junko's actions, but he still feels as if he was. He's a victim too. A victim who was also forced to make a choice that he now regrets.

This isn't a theme exclusive to Danganronpa 3. I already mentioned how it applies to Danganronpa 2, but it's been there since the first game.

When Chihiro feels at fault for judging Leon, Makoto tells them that it isn't their fault. Nor was it Sayaka's or Leon's. Even though they chose to kill, it was only because of the situation. It was the mastermind's fault, not theirs.

The big point

The big point throughout the series is that the many actions we see throughout the series are done so due to the situation these characters are forced in. From the very start, it's been established that the blame should go towards Junko, not her victims.

Guilt is a running theme in Danganronpa, even more so in Danganronpa 3. That's why the anime emphasizes it, showing us Junko's victims and how they were effected but also making it clear that even though they made the wrong choices, they only did so because of Junko.

Danganronpa 3 didn't make Class 77 "blameless." Saying so implies that the series wanted you to blame them in the first place.

What Danganronpa 3 did was emphasize the point and theme the series had been setting up for a long time. This is a story where Junko is the bad guy and these are her victims. This is how it is in the last entry, this is how it's been since the first game.

So yes, Class 77 chose to to give into their despair obsessed urges. Ryota chose to help make Junko's video. Juzo chose to lie about Junko. Chihiro chose to judge their classmates. Sayaka and Leon chose to attack. But they only made these choices because they were put into unavoidable situations by Junko.

It's not about who here is more guilty than the other, the fact is they're all victims of Junko at the end of the day. They were never supposed to be blamed, implying that Danganronpa 3 makes them blameless misses the point entirely.

You can say whatever you want about whether or not brainwashing is more or less interesting than the idea of Junko somehow manipulating 15 individual students that she doesn't care about in less than a year to turn them into despair super terrorists willing to hack off body parts and kill their own family, but at the end of the day I think saying that the brainwashing ruins the themes of Danganronpa 2 is just kind of incorrect.

Those are my two cents anyways.

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bokettochild · 5 months ago

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The Podcast

So, while this isn't an update, per sey, JoJo did just do a drop of info in the Podcast she posted and I have thoughts and I'd would like to encourage everyone to listen because GOSH, it was great!!! And that's coming from someone who isn't big on podcasts!!!!

The girls are going to show up?!?!!?!? Like, I have no clue how she's going to handle a cast of leads THAT big, but she has my respect for undertaking it! I can't wait to see how the fandom shifts and changes once we have a frame of reference for all the princesses and their personalities and differences!

I also love that, cannonically, all the boys speak a different Hylian, and it's not just a written thing! I'm so excited now to see the prologue, more than I was before! Knowing there will be a language barrier and that the languages will actually take inspiration from languages irl is amazing!

Honestly, I always get my mind blown by just how little we actually know about this AU still, after all these years, and I can't wait to see how each change and drop of information will alter us as a fandom. It does give me some anxiety as a creator, knowing there's only so long where what is in my head can escape before it won't work any longer, because of what becomes known to us, but I also am looking forwards to seeing how JoJo's plans reshape things over time for all of us who are inspired by her work!

Honestly, this just has me so hyped up. Again, i highly recommend listening, if only to get to know a bit more about the amazing woman who brought us all together and created something we can all share <3

#linked universe #linkeduniverse

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gatheredfates · 24 days ago

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Hi everyone! It's been a hot minute since I did a Compendium update, but I promise I'm not dead. For those who don't know, I got a new job! That meant pretty much the entirety of October was spent wrapping up my old job, going to my new site and trying to learn the new one. I'm on break in approximately two weeks, yay! ☃️

These updates will take on a wintery/Starlight theme to celebrate the season, much like All Saints. I hope you enjoy.

Additionally, myself and the lovely folks at SEAFLOOR are having a Catch up (for) Starlight Challenge! You should join us if you're interested. ❄️

However, without further the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

LARGE SCALE

The Help Lines—We are a community-based discord to be used to play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. We host almost all content including DRS and BA, Raiding, Deep Dungeons, Blue Mage and more. Our mission is to create a welcoming space for any individual in need of assistance to reach out and accomplish their FFXIV goals in a toxicity-free environment.

The Aether Entertainer—Founded in 2021 on Aether, The Aether Entertainer is player-made virtual magazine covering music, theatre, art, current events, and Eorzean popular culture.

LORE

Final Flowery XIV—Compiled by ann0yance(bsky)/@sa8oteur, this guide explores the various flowers in XIV, comparing them to their real-world equivalents and meanings.

On Elementals, Accountability and Criticism—An essay written by @morgana96 that explores the lore of elementals and their place in Gridania (and beyond)!

MISC

Vanilla Gpose Tips by Winterdeepelegy—A how-to guide on effectively utilising the vanilla gpose tools to create visually stunning screenshots, written by @winterdeepelegy.

WoL Reference Sheet—Created by @coldshrugs, a handy WoL reference sheet you can build in Canva!

NA GPOSE Studio/Themed Housing Directory—A player-made repository of North American Gpose studios and themed houses!

CHANGELOG

The Scholar's of Nym—The link has been modified at the request of the owner.

Skystone Co.—Has been removed at the request of its owner.

UI Macro Menus—The link has been modified to accurately reflect the bookmark.

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🦌

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #ffxiv community #final fantasy xiv roleplay #ffxiv roleplay #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea speaks #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea's community compendium #i hope i haven't forgotten anyone it's just been a bit!!#care u all kiss

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thebadjoe · 3 months ago

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BAD JOE'S DRDT CH.2 CRIME SOLVING THEORY PART 6

Wow! It's been a long while, but it's finally here! DRDT Chapter 2 is back with part 2 starting since more than a week ago!

...Oh? What's that? There's some reveals that is damaging my theory and I should get to fixing? Awwww, man.... what a drag.... I am so doomed... nanchatte!

Anyways, hi! It's me, the dude who makes-overly-complex-and-ridiculously-long-theories-in-the-hopes-of-trying-to-solve-the-murder-case-that-not-many-people-agree-with-for-more-reasons-than-my-theory's-word-count. (Okay, the last part about the reasons is probably not true... yet!)

I am back yet again with some more updates regarding my theory.

NOOOOO!!! NOT AGAIN!!! PLEASE, I DON'T WANNA READ ANOTHER GODDAMN DICTIONARY LENGTH OF A THEORY POST!!!!

Woah! Calm down, imaginary self that is under the impression that some people were way too overwhelmed by my latest part of the theory post! You have nothing to worry about!

It would be silly of me to rewrite all of it again with some small changes. I will of course link up my part 5 later as source of reference, but really, all I'm gonna be doing here today is point out the newest problems with my theory ever since episode 12 and 13 and give my personal thoughts on those.

Also, to make sure that people hasn't forgotten what I've been all about since the beginning, I will do a short recap of my theory, displaying only what's most relevant to the murder case.

Besides, ain't no way I'm writing something this long ever again (except for maybe trying to solve the future chapters, but that's a matter for the far future).

With that said, I feel obliged to point out that this is spoilers for the fangan Danganronpa Despair Time Chapter 2, up until episode 13.

With that out of the way, let's get to it!

Hey look! I still remember how to use that show more button again, hurray! (I'm really sorry again to @1moreff-creator and everyone else who's been reading my very first posts last year that didn't have a show more button)

So, first things first, I'd like to apologize in advance because as amazing the episode 12 and 13 were, I will not be doing a reaction post of said episodes. I think I'm just too lazy to actually display my whole stream of consciousness through two whole videos and I think it is safe to say that practically all of us had a very similar reaction to those episodes.

What was the common reaction, you may ask? Well, it's simple, really... it went something like... OMG, THIS IS SO FUCKING HYPE! OMG!!! THAT WAS SO INSANE!!! THE DRAMA!!! DAVID BEING DAVID!!! THE LEVI REVEAL!!! THE FLASHBACK PART 2 SCENE!!! OMG, WHAT IS EDEN DOING?!! AREI IS HOLDING DAVID'S HANDS?! WE'RE FINALLY TALKING ABOUT THE MURDER METHODS?!?! OMG, SO GOOD!!!

...right? Yeah! I thought so! :D

Although I may not be showing proper and precise reactions to these episodes, if you're interested, I'd definitly recommend reading @venus-is-thinking 's, reactions on episode 12 and episode 13, @1moreff-creator 's reactions on episode 12 and episode 13 and @accirax 's reactions on episode 12 and episode 13. They're pretty good reads (and no, I'm not just saying this because they all believe that Eden is the culprit, I swear!).

And for those who are totally blind or new to my shenanigans, yes, I do believe that Eden is the culprit behind this murder case.

There is indeed a few problems that arose ever since the latest episodes, so to make sure that everyone is up to speed with what I'm gonna be talking about, I'm now going to be doing a short recap of the events, according to me.

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THE RECAP

DAY 1 : The day where everyone receives their mixed up secrets and explore the second floor. DAY 2 : The day where the attempted murder on Ace happened. DAY 3 : The day where Whit suggests David to chill for the evening in the relaxation room. DAY 4 : The day (morning) of the body discovery announcement.

Ever since Arei bullied Eden who then cried and exited the playground on DAY 2, that was what triggered Eden to decide to commit murder for the sake of escaping this hellish killing game. Knowing that her secret is that she kissed a girl, I deduced that she's probably trying to escape because she misses her beloved dearly.

So while she was off screen during most of that day, she spent time making plans for the murder set up and narrative, which is why she decided to share Arturo's secret (as seen in the flashback).

During the evening of DAY 2, Ace was working out in the gym, then he hears a conversation happening between David and Arei in the relax room. The conversation that Ace was quietly listening to did not happen in the evening of DAY 3, but rather the evening of DAY 2. Ace lied about when he was listening to that conversation.

At some point during the conversation or perhaps even after the conversation, Eden sneaks up on Ace and knocks him out with the turpentine that anyone could've gotten access to that day. Ace is Eden's chosen murder victim.

Sometime later, Eden eitheir used a letter or called out Arei's name to lure her into the playground or somewhere close to knock her unconscious with that very same turpentine. She then moves Arei's body into the relaxation room to lock her up inside because of the specific nighttime rules regarding that room.

Eden also brought old spares of clothing to cover Arei's body to make sure she doesn't get stained with starch from the water misting formula from the relaxation room.

During the night of DAY 2, she prepares the murder mechanism in the gym with some needed tools from the storage room and some wire that she took out from possibly a grandfather clock that she may have in her dorm. I deduced it as such because of Whit's description of everyone's dorms being suited to their needs.

I also deduced that there is actually a switch to turn on and off the fans, which is important since the attempted murder involved the fans. As Eden finished setting it up, as she was about to clear up with evidence, she heard someone using the elevator.

She hid in the dress up room, then Nico enters the second floor, looking for Ace to kill him. As Nico explores the gym, Teruko shortly enters the elevator to get to the second floor as well.

Teruko, looking for her spares, runs into Eden, who was hidden in the dress up room. After some talk, they heard a loud noise coming from the gym, which they both take a look inside.

Upon seeing this mess of a crime, Eden realised that her murder plan failed and that she needs to come up with a plan B really quick. So while she is taking time to "process this emotionally", Teruko was investigating.

Eden finally comes up with a plan B and figured that she needed to get her hands on the roll of tape ASAP. She managed to do so with a sleight of hand when Ace "suddenly wakes up", knocking Eden out of the way, distracting Teruko in the process.

Later that night, Eden proceeds with her plan B by making a murder mechanism in the playground. She also took the rope from the storage room. Once it's all properly set up, all's left was waiting for the relaxation to unlock at 8:00 AM on DAY 3.

In the morning of DAY 3, she retrieves Arei's unconscious body and proceeds with murdering Arei. Then, she proceeds to conceal the body somewhat behind the curtains in the relaxation room. She also grabs her glove, her monopad and the necessary materials in the dress up room for the next step of her plan.

She spends the rest of the morning to prepare her disguise trick. Then during lunchtime, Eden spends a short amount of time disguised as Arei to hide the actual time of death.

Once lunchtime is over, she returns to eitheir her or Arei's dorm to remove the disguise, spend time cleaning up, relax, power nap, etc. Then, during the evening of DAY 3, she spends time with Hu to fabricate her perfect alibi.

Later that evening, David explores the relaxation room. That's when he notices something wrong with the room and becomes the first person to discover Arei's dead body.

For some personal reasons, David brings the body back into the playground and hangs it by the swingset. Eitheir he or Eden (earlier in the morning) balls up the clothes and hides it in the closet of the dress-up room. Then, in the morning of DAY 4, David grabs everyone's attention to the fact that Arei is missing right before the secrets reveal. Then fast forward a bit, then we get the BDA of Arei

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And there ya go, that's my recap regarding how I believe the murder case happened. Pretty short, eh?

HELL NO!!! THAT WAS STILL PRETTY LONG!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Eh... I guess I couldn't really make it that shorter, my bad! If I tried to make it any shorter than that, it would've been extremely confusing.

Ah! Speaking of which, if you're confused in the sense that it feels like none of this should work at all, and there's a lot of contradictions and whatnot, then I would heavily recommend reading my actual theory post. I am not going to spend time refuting with people in the comments about points I've already pointed out in my previous post.

However, if there are things that are unclear to you, things that you do not understand and want to know what I'm talking about, please, feel free to ask away! I will help in any way I can.

With that out the way, I guess I can now start with pointing out the pr-

HAH! THERE IS A MAJOR ISSUE WITH YOUR THEORY!!! BASED ON EPISODE 12, THE MURDER COULD'VE ONLY HAPPENED IN THE MORNING OF DAY 4 BECAUSE OF THE BODY SWING! YOU'RE DONE FOR!

Ah... yeah... that! Of course! That's not a problem!

!!!

Let's talk about it first, shall we? :D

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AREI'S BODY SWING : CONFIRMED TIME OF DEATH???

I'd like to come clean with something, everyone. Ever since I came up with the theory that murder happened at a totally unexpected time, there was something that was constantly bothering me.

That's right, I was very well aware of the body swing happening during the BDA ever since the beginning.

HUH?! Then all this time, you wrote all of this despite knowing that?!

Correct! I'm really sorry about that, but please, understand that I had a very good reason for it. For you see... everytime I saw it, I was often under the impression that this was simply an eerie effect / animation, to give a more dramatic intensity towards the BDA, without meaning anything. I legit thought it could be a thing, I swear!

But despite all that... I couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. Deep down, I felt like that maybe there was an actual meaning to it, maybe it was an actual clue that I shouldn't disregard. But I figured that because of my theory beliefs, then it would be rather unlikely that it would be used as evidence.

But alas, I was wrong about that. The body swing plays a very important rule in determining what happened in this murder case. I cannot deny that fact, especially since Teruko brought it up, plain as day. Despite it seeming like it damages my theory, I'm thankful that the dev finally cleared that little doubt I had since then.

Then you admit it, the murder actually happened in the mor-

Oh, not so fast! Let's not jump to conclusions just yet, alright? Arei's body swinging by the swing set doesn't quite exactly prove that the murder occured during the morning of DAY 4. The body swing only proves that someone messed with the body by the swingset.

W-What?! That doesn't make sense! The murder clearly happened in the morning of DAY 4!

Nuh-uh, not quite. You believe it clearly happened in the morning because that's what the cast concluded on top of Charles pointing out that the culprit could've clearly fake the time of death by saving the fishes for later.

But unless we have decisive evidence that the murder happened in the morning, we can't be 100% sure that the murder happened in the morning of DAY 4.

From the looks of it, you just seem very desperate, if you ask me.

At first, when episode 12 released, I kind of was... up until I figured out a fairly logical solution to it. That's right! I have a way to explain who made the body swing and why.

You're not going to suggest that David did all of what he supposedly did in the evening of DAY 3, but instead in the morning of DAY 4, right?!

Nope! Not at all. Disregarding the facts that it wouldn't really make sense and that he'd have to move the body out of the relax room anyways before nighttime (because of the water misting rules), David actually has an alibi in the morning of DAY 4.

(As does Veronika too as she was with them in the cafeteria)

With all of these reasons mentioned above, as much as I initially wanted to make it somehow possible that David came back to the crime scene to mess with the body somehow, it just isn't possible.

So instead, someone else did it.

Then out with it already, you staller! Who is it?!

There is only one possible candidate that would make the most sense in that scenario : Eden. Eden is the person who messed with Arei's body in the morning of DAY 4.

WHHAAAAT?!?! WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?! THAT'S SO RISKY!

That's what I initially thought at first, not gonna lie. But then... something hit me : Eden doesn't have an alibi for the morning of DAY 4 eitheir.

I thought that there would be absolutely no need for Eden to come back to the crime scene a certain short amount of time before the BDA, so instead, I needed to reverse my way of thinking.

What could she possibly aim to do that would prompt her to come back to the crime scene last minute?

Considering the facts (based on my theory, mind you) that she killed Arei in the morning of DAY 3, hid the body somewhere in the relaxation room, built up an evening to night alibi with Hu and that David was the first person to discover it during the evening, there is a simple explanation behind it.

Arei's BDA was meant to be triggered much earlier than the morning of DAY 4. The original intent behind this whole scheme was to have the BDA trigger during the evening of DAY 3.

That doesn't make sense!

No, that's wrong! It does make a whole lot of sense. Think about it. Let's say you were a participant in this killing game and were in David's shoes during the evening of DAY 3... you come across a dead body in the relaxation, what would you do?

!!!

That's right, you wouldn't just mess with the body and move it somewhere else, now would you? Aside from freaking out, the most natural and human thing to do would be to gather help.

If it were anyone else than David who discovered the body in that exact scenario, they would cry out for help, tell everyone that they found Arei dead inside the relaxation room, which would then result in a body discovery announcement.

But what if the person who found the body were to personally ask for Hu's and Eden's help, wouldn't that ruin her plan since it wouldn't trigger the BDA?

There's an easy solution to that. Eden could've simply decided to find more people to share the news to meet up with the corpse. This wouldn't ruin her plan in the slightest.

Quite the opposite, actually. If the body were to be discovered and trigger the BDA during the evening, it would solidify her air tight alibi even further as she wouldn't have any possible timeframe to commit murder in the evening as she was spending time with her friend Hu.

Ugh, so what? It didn't really happen anyways because of David being David! That doesn't change anything!

Actually, it does change things considerably. If you put yourself in the culprit's perspective where the whole intent was to have the body discovery happen in the evening of DAY 3 and that during the whole night, nothing happened, you would certainly find that very strange.

The culprit would be clearly confused, yet really curious to find out what even happened.

Couldn't she have taken a look much later during the night?

Perhaps, but she figured it would've been pointless. The reason why is that if she thought that nobody found the body, then the body would've still remained hidden in the relaxation room which would then be currently locked away because of the water misting.

So instead of checking it out during the late night of DAY 3, Eden decided to investigate during the very early morning of DAY 4, sometime past 7:30 AM.

But the relaxation room is still locked up until 8:00 AM! Why not wait until then?

It's simple! She just wanted to be there a little bit in advance to make sure she can enter the room as early as possible. And so... while she is waiting for the relaxation room to unlock, she probably figured that she should take a look around the other rooms, why not?

And thus, that leads to Eden finding the body being hung by the swingset, alongside fishes scattered around the floor for some reason.

To reconfirm, I still believe that David is the first person who discovered Arei's dead body in the relaxation room and that he's responsible for hanging her body alongside placing those fishes by the playground.

Okay, Eden discovers that the body has been moved to the playground? What now? Everything's already in place, so what could she possibly do with the dead body?

Well, since the BDA was not triggered on the evening of DAY 3, she figured that she may as well put Arei's monopad back into the corpse's pockets.

But what about her missing glove? Why didn't she return that as well if she wanted to return her monopad?

That's a good point, that's for sure. But there are two easy fixes to this counter argument. First one being that she simply forgot about the gloves. No one's really perfect, after all. She was so concerned about the body not being discovered yet that this completly slipped her mind.

The second fix would be that it would've been way too risky to try to retrieve the glove. Maybe initially, Eden, after she removed her disguise, she placed the clothes and the glove back into Arei's dorm. So if she wanted to retrieve the glove, she'd have to return to Arei's room, unlocking it with a monopad that isn't her own.

Would she really risk that again after making this much progress without getting caught so far? Like imagine if she tried to take that risk one last time only to get caught, that would be quite the devastating result, wouldn't it?

Ok, fine. Nevermind the gloves. Is that all she did?

Pretty much, yeah. She returned the monopad back into her pockets, which moved the body somewhat.

...

Well, it's also possible that she tripped and moved the body even more by accident. Or perhaps she felt like she was in such a hurry to avoid getting found out that she accidently bumped into Arei's dead body.

...Are you kidding me? There's no way that's gonna be enough to move the body for this long!

Well... maybe her being there at exactly 7:30 AM is not the exact time. She could've been there a couple minutes before 8:00 AM, which could make this possible.

But that's ridiculous! There's no way Eden is strong enough to make the body swing that way. To make the body swing for a good amount of time, she'd need more than just accidently bumping into the body! It needs considerable force.

And I'll stop you there. If you've read my last theory post, you should know by now that I'm a firm believer that because it's a work of fiction, anything that seems unlikely can become possible.

The main thing we should take from Arei's body swinging during the BDA is that at some point in time during the morning, someone messed with the body, proving that someone was there during the morning of DAY 4.

And there you go, that's my whole explanation as to how Arei's body was swinging during the BDA that doesn't necessarily mean that the murder occured during that exact morning.

If you're not quite convinced yet, there is a certain part of my theory that begins to make a lot more logical sense with this solution in mind. Take a look at this!

Thanks to the solution I suggested, these two lines become a lot more fitting to my updated theory. Here's why!

If Eden were to explore and find the body hanging by the swing set during the morning of DAY 4, she would know that at least 1 person found the body, but not who exactly.

Because of Whit's silly comment, Eden immediatly thought of the body in the playground and jumped to the worst conclusion : Whit is the person who found the body first.

So if they were to open the door to the playground, the BDA would not trigger since Eden is the culprit. So in a moment of panic, Eden uttered : "Teruko, wait--".

It is still pretty much the same as what I had in mind according to the previous part of my theory post, except that it works a whole lot better now that Eden personally saw the actual state of the dead body in the morning of DAY 4.

So there you have it. This seemingly major problem for my theory actually turned out to be very beneficial for my theory after all! Ah, the joys of making logical sounding deductions! My theory should be saf-

HAH! YOU THINK YOUR THEORY IS SAFE FROM HARM YET?! WRONG!!!! IN EPISODE 13, THEY ACTUALLY SHOWED HOW THE MURDER MECHANISM WORKED! NOT ONLY IS EDEN TOO WEAK TO OPERATE IT, BUT THEY PUT FISH WATER INSIDE THOSE JUGS! SINCE THEY REVEALED THAT MURDER METHOD, IT HAS TO BE THE SOLUTION. YOUR THEORY IS RUINED! GOOD DAY SIR!

Oh, you mean this?

Oh no, this murder mechanism is different from mine and this one requires a certain amount of strength that Eden possibly doesn't have! And the fishes! Since they brought it up, then there's no way my theory can work! Whatever shall I do??? It's joever.... just kidding!

I don't mean to alarm you guys, but the current proposed murder mechanism idea actually has flaws. Let's talk some more about the murder mechanism in the playground, shall we? :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

TERUKO'S CURRENT MURDER MECHANISM IDEA : RIGHT OR WRONG???

Before I get into it, I'd like to remind everyone that just because we've been shown how the murder may have been done for the first time means that's how it actually happened. Let's not forget that they spent so much time arguing and discussing about the secrets that they barely ever talked about the murder case in itself.

So if anything, episode 13 is practically just them beginning their actual work! Mistakes are bound to happen. We shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. Besides, there is actually a problem with this murder mechanism.

I'll present it to you in pictures to show you what I'm talking about.

The taped up wrists. This was practically the decisive proof that this wasn't a suicide nor could it have been an assisted suicide. So now that they've introduced a murder mechanism in an actual episode... what's actually the point of the taped wrists in that scenario?

If the culprit used exactly this kind of murder mechanism, then there would be absolutely no need to tape up her wrists together.

Maybe it was to stop Arei from trying to struggle?

Nope. If that was the case, we would've seen much more signs of struggle coming from Arei. There may be scuffs on the ground, but there's absolutely no other form of injury on Arei aside from her broken neck.

Well, I saw a theory where the accomplice was Levi and he could've easily overpower her!

(I believe that was something that @1moreff-creator theorized, if I recall? At least, that was the theory pre part 2)

It used to be borderline possible, but not this time anymore! Thanks to the first two episodes of part 2 of chapter 2, it seems extremely unlikely that Levi wanted to work with the culprit as an accomplice.

Not only because of what we find out regarding his secret, what kind of character he is, but also because of something he said in episode 12.

I don't know about you, but this doesn't look like something an accomplice would say at all, right? If the culprit was someone who didn't have an alibi in the evening, it would be a different story, but the most fitting theory for having Levi work as an accomplice is to work for Eden, who happens to have an alibi in the evening as you already know.

So since we gotta take Levi out of the equation, then we don't really have much other possible candidates who could've easily overpower Arei to the point where taping up her wrists would've helped better on that regard.

Therefore, the most logical solution would be that Arei was knocked unconscious with the turpentine. But since that's the most likely scenario, then what's up with the taped wrists?

If the taped wrists weren't used to prevent any remote chance for Arei to try to get out of this situation, then it must've been used as part of the murder mechanism.

But since the murder mechanism as shown by Teruko doesn't explain the taped up wrists whatsoever, then this becomes a discrepancy. Therefore, that can't be quite the correct answer to solving the how this murder mechanism works.

And since this murder mechanism idea is flawed, it also means that there's no guarantee that the jugs contained fish water inside, they could've simply gathered water somewhere else or perhaps there jugs were already filled with clean water to begin with.

Because this murder mechanism idea is flawed, there's no guarantee that the culprit used this method which required some unknown amount of strength, but an amount of strength regardless (unless the author wants to pass it off as anyone could've done it since it's easier to do it by spinning it, I'm not sure).

Because of that flaw, my theory isn't affected by the murder mechanism idea that Teruko suggested since there is no guarantee that this is the correct answer.

So yeah, there's no problem whatsoever! Also, as far as I'm aware, since the release of the latest episodes, I have a very logically sound reason to explain the taped up wrists as shown in part 5 of my theory.

To give you a small reminder, it was for something like this!

(Whole murder mechanism not properly shown in the drawing because I'm lazy as heck, but just take a close attention to the arms)

By having Arei's arms go between the pillars of the seasaw, you can make it so that she can't get out of it by taping her wrists together, which plays an important role in the murder mechanism. Not going to elaborate further, if you want to know more, you gotta read the big post right there!

And there you have it! Those were the two main concerns that could've negatively affect my theory, but fortunately for me, it doesn't. In fact, it supports it even more than before.

Especially regarding the David / Arei conversation flashback (shown from David's memory's perspective). This conversation told us a lot more between these two, do you know what that means?

That's right! It means that Ace is full of shit! There's no way he didn't hear anything else. The only way he could've not hear anything else is if he gets snuck up from behind and gets knocked out with the turpentine, but it could've easily simply been Ace witholding that information to make David look more suspicious.

Therefore, if he lied about this, he could've also easily lied about when he actually overheard that conversation for his own selfish gains!

There's also a few couple other points that could further support my theory, but I don't feel like going over every single little detail as of now. I mainly wanted to solve these two issues and nothing else.

So, DRDTers, I need to ask you the following : Do you still believe that I am delusional with this overly complex theory of mine? :)

Thanks for reading another one of my big posts, as usual!

Edit : Go read the finale of my theory next, it's worth it!

#drdt #drdt spoilers #drdt theory #drdt solve #danganronpa despair time #I can't believe I'm doing this again #Can't wait to see what's gonna happen in episode 14 #I remain undaunted

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putschki1969 · 3 months ago

Text

Let's address THAT blog

Many of you might have noticed a few blog posts being shared on social media relating to the most recent Kalafina reunion drama. I've had a lot of people send links to me asking for my opinion on the matter so I thought I'd briefly talk about the whole thing myself. For those who don't know, a few days ago, following the release of the Nikkan Sports article and the subsequent official announcements about the upcoming Kalafina Anniversary Live, a Livedoor blog popped up out of nowhere titled "FictionJunction & Kalafina Behind the Scenes". Currently, there are three main blog posts available discussing a variety of topics, namely

① The truth behind Kajiura Yuki's departure from the agency ② The truth behind Kalafina's split and hiatus ③ The activities of the members and Kajiura after Kalafina's hiatus ④ The circumstances that led to Kalafina's reunion and the truth behind Kajiura's anger ⑤ Rights related to Kalafina

The contents of ① and ② are discussed in the first blog post, the second blog post is focusing on the contents of ③ and ④, and the details of ⑤ are presented in the third blog post.

UPDATE: As of October 8, the blog seems to have been deleted so the above links no longer work. If you ask me, this is even more proof that the author cannot be trusted. Thankfully, there are internet archives so nothing has been lost. Archived Post 1 Archived Post 2 Archived Post 3

I am not planning to dissect every little detail of this very long essay but I would like to provide some important context that will surely put things into perspective for many readers. Without further ado, let's get to it〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

The person who runs the aforementioned blog is the same person behind the sketchy FJS YouTube Channel that uploaded the supposedly unreleased "sprinter" audio. I talked extensively about the matter in THIS as well as THIS post and together with some fellow fans, we were able to debunk that account's claim of authenticity. In an ASK from a couple of days ago, someone actually told me that they had seen weird statements in that account's YouTube Community referring to an extensive plan to summarise all the behind the scenes info of the Yuki Kajiura/Kalafina debacle. Looks like that plan has come to fruition in the past few days because we now have those three ultra-long blog posts floating around all across Twitter.

I'm gonna reiterate what I said in my response to the ASK above. This person is without a doubt a knowledgeable fan. I reckon that they are much more obsessed than a majority of fandom (including little old me) so they've surely memorised/internalised every word written or said on social media platforms, every pamphlet and FC bulletin interview, every tabloid news article, and every other notable statement that has ever been uttered by the involved parties. When it comes to information that has been shared publicly, I doubt there are many casual or even long-term fans who can claim to have such a thorough understanding of all the "facts" as this person does, especially considering that most of the relevant events have taken place over the course of several years. Thanks to the huge amounts of accumulated knowledge, this person is able to make a solid case for themselves, at face value, everything they write sounds legit and professional.

But here is the big issue. They are first and foremost an imposter aiming for attention and clout. How do I know this? Let me explain! Not only did they initially claim to be an "Official FJS" account on YouTube, they also pretended (and are still pretending) to have access to previously restricted content, such as live audio from Sony. None of those things are true of course. The "official" label was removed from the account name and handle rather quickly once people paid closer attention and started questioning the legitimacy of the account and everything it claimed to offer. As mentioned above, the seemingly exclusive "sprinter" recording turned out to be totally fake (although this person is still pretending it is legit).

With their brand new Livedoor blog, this person is going even further. They are claiming to be an "industry insider", someone who has "formerly been affiliated" with Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina. I call bullshit! Based on what we know from their YouTube activities, we have absolutely no reason to believe this person is telling the truth in this matter. That short, little intro in every single blog post is proof enough that everything that follows cannot and should not be taken too seriously. By starting out your essay with a phrase like "whether you believe it or not is up to you" you are basically diminishing the credibility of your work. The author is simply covering their back with the inclusion of this clause because they are very much aware that they are lying and masquerading as someone else. In this first paragraph, there is also talk of "nothing but facts" being included in the essay. Hardly! While I do actually believe that the basic framework is made up of "facts" that have been gathered through a lot of research referring mostly to primary sources (i.e. statements made by the involved people themselves via different media outlets), there is also a frighteningly heavy reliance on information that has only ever been published in tabloid articles so in my opinion, it is not fully trustworthy (particularly true for some of the things discussed in part ① of the essay relating to the management drama that caused YK's departure). Also, this person has the unfortunate tendency to embellish specific situations with their own little headcanons, resulting in an overly dramatic portrayal of things. This not only serves to victimise/infantalises certain involved parties (especially in the case of Keiko), it also leads to a subtle vilification of other involved parties (particularly affecting Wakana). Needless to say, this is not something I approve of because it only creates more confusion and drama among fans.

All right, this is pretty much the gist of the context I wanted to provide for you. I'm not telling you to not read those three blog posts, quite the contrary actually, go ahead and read them, put them through Google Translate if you have to, you should be fine with that. You will get a more or less solid overview of everything that has happened in the past few years (and if you've followed my blog diligently, you'll find that a lot of the things stated in the essay will align with what I've shared). The facts and timeline mostly check out so you can rest assured that you are not being fed straight-up lies (with the exception of the author's background of course). But please, do me a favour and take everything you read in there with a huge grain of salt! This person isn't an insider and they are not privy to any "exclusive" information. They are solely relying on information that is readily available online or in various publications. Also, be aware that the author is actively trying to deceive us by pretending to be someone they are most definitely not. This alone should be cause for suspicion.

I'm not sure what is prompting this person to make such claims. They could just as well admit to being an obsessed fan who has dedicated their whole life to knowing every single detail about their idol and who would even go as far as to create/come up with "new" content/information to appeal to fellow fans. By simply acknowledging that fact, this person would instantly appear to be more authentic. I mean, I know what I am talking about because I myself am very open about those things. I am aware that I am much more invested in Kalafina than your run-of-the-mill casual fan, hence, I have amassed a lot more knowledge than most other people in this fandom. But even if you are this level of hyperfixated and obsessed, it still doesn't give you the right to play pretend. Once fans start to claim that they've some sort of affiliation to their idols which gives them access to insider information, you'll know that in 99,9% of cases, they've become delusional. They get off on being seen as "special" and they know that most casual fans will not fact-check anything they say so they can just continue to expand their little fantasy. This way, they will gain the attention and validation they so desperately seek.

#kalafina #random #kalafina reunion #yuki kajiura #kajiura yuki #space craft #speculation

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agentplutonium · 7 months ago

Note

Hear me out:

Arranged marriage au David & Sweetheart who are absolutely distraught at the idea of marrying a stranger but willing to do it out of duty but then become friends when they realize they don’t actually have to kiss and also… the other’s personal guard is pretty cute (Milo is David’s guard and Angel is Sweetheart’s vv)

I'm finally getting around to this, be grateful (/j)

No, but seriously, I've been thinking about this strand of AU for so long (as Max can attest because he lives with me and therefore is subject to the horrors of my rambling) and I will take this AU to my grave. Moving on, a small snippet based off of this (with the whispers of this being updated in the future/made into a series).

(small note: Sweetheart will be referred to as Culver for the most part, and David will call them Dear/my Heart for appearances. Angel will be referred to as Red for the most part. Of course, the pairings will use the canon nicknames but I have to stretch a few things.)

Pairing: David & Sweetheart, David/Angel, Milo/Sweetheart (technically, they just aren't prominent atm)

WC: 1355

Rating: Gen.

max is talking about this post.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

"I cannot believe this is happening," Culver said, stretching out their back. The horse ride wasn't that far, but they hadn't taken a break yet and it's already been a few hours.

"Cheer up, Culver," Red chirped. "I hear that this king-to-be is very handsome."

"You know I've never been one for looks, Red," Culver said, rolling their eyes.

"I also hear that he's a great leader. In nearly every circumstance you two will be perfect for each other," Red said.

"Or, we'll be at each other's throats because we have different opinions," Culver muttered. "Besides, I don't know him! He could be a complete tyrant for all I know," they continued, back at their normal volume.

"Do you really think your parents would do that to you?" Red asked.

"They would send me to someone they thought that I could "fix"," Culver defended. "You know how they are."

"Aye, I do know how they are," Red caved. "I'm sure it will be fine, either way. You're a lovable person. It'll be easy for him to fall in love."

"I don't want him to fall in love after we're married," Culver said, barely keeping the whine out of their tone. "That's cheating. It isn't genuine, it's a forced proximity thing."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Red sighed. "But I will always be here to support you, your grace, you know that."

Culver relaxed, a small huff escaping their lips, "And I thank you for that, Red. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Red gave them a wink, turning back to the trail in front of them. As they came up to a bend, Red trotted ahead of Culver to ensure that the coast was clear.

Culver still wasn't looking forward to any of this, though.

~~~

"I can't believe this is happening," David muttered, tugging at the collar of his shirt. It was hot outside, too hot to be wearing his full regalia.

"I hear that your betrothed is very good at governing," Milo offered, trying to cheer David up.

"Really?"

Milo shrugged, "It's all I have left. You shot down the fact that they're the handsomest person in their kingdom. You shot down the fact that they were beloved by their people. You shooting down this. I don't know what to tell you that will get you excited for this new chapter in your life," Milo said.

"You're not going to. They're a stranger. The only reason I'm going along with it is because it would be stupid to turn down such a powerful alliance."

"Well, the good news is, once the wedding is over, you don't have to interact with them outside of publicity events," Milo offered. "Or, you fall in love with them after the wedding."

"That's superficial," David grumbled. "How do I know if I really love them or if it's just because they're here?"

Milo shrugged. "Only so much I can do, boss," he said.

A guard signalled the arrival of someone at the gate, and before David knew it, two horses were trotting down the path. David took a deep breath.

"Here we go," he muttered.

One thing is for sure, the rumours about their beauty weren't a lie. The royal was very attractive. It didn't make David feel any better about this arrangement. They slipped off the back of their horse, assisted by their knight. They approached, smile on their face. once they were a few feet away, they bowed.

"Your Majesty," they said. David approached as they straightened. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," David said, bending to kiss their hand. "Please, come inside, my dad will be pleased to meet you."

Culver accepted, taking David's outstretched arm, interlinking them. David led them into the castle, followed by the two knights. Culver kept their eyes dutifully forward. David half wondered to himself what their intentions were. Were they excited for this? Did they have any plans? What did they know? How much power were they looking for?

Gabe was in the study, as he knew he would be. He always was here when they were expecting guests. He said that it made people feel more comfortable, and he got better arrangments out of it. It was in this room that it was decided he was to marry this stranger. David wondered just how much good luck it actually brought.

The conversation with his dad went off without a hitch. Culver was a hit with him, making him laugh and smile. His parents loved them. They seemed to know exactly what to say, and knew how to correct their mistakes (which were few and far between). David had no doubt they were a beast in political settings, getting what they wanted in the most efficient way possible.

Eventually, his dad excused himself.

"I should leave you two alone to get to know each other," his father said. "I should check up on your welcome dinner, anyway. Only the best for my son's spouse."

"Dad," David muttered.

"I'll see you two later," Gabe cut him off before leaving.

Culver seemed to deflate the second that the knights closed the door behind him. David was surprised, to say the least.

"Listen," they started, rubbing at their eyes, "I'm sure you're a nice guy, but you have to know."

"Know what?" David asked, shifting in his chair.

Culver took a deep breath. "I don't want to marry you. I never had any interest in marrying you, I just know that this will help my people. That's the only reason I'm here."

David felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Thank god," he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Culver asked.

"I'm so glad we're on the same page about this," David said. "I admire you being upfront about this."

"What else was I going to do? Lie? I only lie if I need to," Culver said. "It wouldn't benefit me to lie to you now. Especially since I was under the impression you wanted this."

"No, not at all," David said. "I was told that you were the one with the idea, actually."

"You're kidding," Culver said. "Is that what my parents said? No surprise, I guess, but still. Lord, cannot believe they would lie like that."

"So you don't want to get married to me?" David asked.

"Not at all," Sweetheart assured. "I'd much rather be running my own kingdom right about now, but this was the best thing to happen to my kingdom since I was young. This contract will be promising to my people."

David felt a smile creeping across his face. "That's how I feel, as well."

"That... was surprisingly easy," Culver said. "You're really okay with me having no interest in you whatsoever?"

"Absolutely," David said. "So long as you agree to keep up appearances and not fuck over me or my kingdom."

Culver chuckled, and it didn't sound at all like how they laughed before. Was David close to hearing what their real laugh sounded like? "Well, I definitely don't have plans for fucking you over. I'll keep up appearances if it means that I'll have my parents off my back, among other things."

"Well, good," David said, nodding.

There was a knock at the door, and then Milo was poking his head in. "Sir, you're being summoned by your father."

"I'll be right out," David said. "In the meantime, show Culver and their knight to their rooms, please?"

"Right away, sir."

David stood up, holding his hand out to Culver. They took it, standing up themselves. "I will see you at dinner," David said.

"Yes you will," Culver smiled. They were ushered out of the room by their knight.

David followed after a moment, Milo holding the door open. Once he was out, Milo shot him a look before leading the other two down the hall. Culver turned slightly to wave at him, that smile still there.

Perhaps this could work out, David thought, since they were already so in sync. Maybe they could be friends after all of this.

Only time would tell, he guessed.

#redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted milo #redacted sweetheart #redacted audio milo #redacted audio sweetheart #redacted david #redacted audio david #redacted angel #redacted audio angel #redactedverse au #redacted audio au #AU: Royalty #AU: Knights #Forbidden love #kinda #and not in this one #Arranged marriage #oh yeah. this is going somewhere.

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