#wether Ace survives or not is up to you

[foralternateuniverses]

Just a little Acechiji scenario I came up with my sister while questioning the possibility and legitimacy of a pirate captain officiating the wedding of another pirate captain since said pirate captain is getting married and so cannot officiate their own wedding.

Either Ichiji is part of Ace's crew or they met thanks to white beard (as Ichiji would be a white beard pirate) doesn't matter, point is, they've been dating for a while now (probably before Ace met Luffy in Alabasta).

Ichiji obv goes to save Ace at Marineford with the others, they rescue Ace, but the fight is still going on, and though they have Ace there's still a very bad feeling in people's hearts.

Ace is very weak, practically being dragged by Ichiji, Impel Down nor the marines were kind to him, he's tired and hungry and injured, still, he somehow manages to get his voice across the field so White Beard will hear him.

"POPS, MARRY US"

It's so out of place the war almost paused, Ichiji gapes at him. "WHAT are you on about at a moment like THIS?"

"Because we don't know if we're actually make it out of this one and I want us to be married even if just for a couple of minutes!"

How could Ichiji say no after that?

White Beard almost laughs, he would never deny such a request.

So White Beard says the words.

"I DO" says Ace first, staring intently into Ichiji's eyes. Luffy and others protecting them from the marines surrounding them.

Then comes Ichiji, his face is slightly pink and he can hear a hint of nervousness in his voice "I DO"

Their kiss is intense.

"NOW HURRY UP" interrupts Marco.

So they continue escaping.

Buggy is recording-live-streaming all of this.

[demodraws0606]

An character analysis POV as to how Hu could be the culprit (and a little bit of Nico stuff as well)

tw/ mentions of suicide

So I've seen certain Eden!Culprit truthers just not really believing that Hu could be the culprit because of her behavior during the class trial. However her committing murder against Arei and Ace makes a lot more sense than Eden does by a longshot (especially with Eden having no accomplices atp).

But I also understand why people are confused by Hu's behavior if she could possibly be the culprit. There's a lot of things that don't seem to make sense on the surface that I also accepted however digging further, you can find a version of Hu that honestly fits really well as the culprit of this chapter.

I will also throw in analysis of Nico's behavior because a lot of their behavior during this class trial is strange if Hu really is the culprit but again I think I can explain why this happened.

I also want to preface this by saying that I do think Hu is going to be a heavily flawed character but I don't think she's malicious in any way shape or form. If I find any Hu hate after she's revealed to be the culprit, I will actually fight your ass and that's a promise.

Her outburst against David :

I honestly was also in the camp of not really understanding Hu being the culprit, doesn't this go against her outburst against David ?

Well, here's the thing, I think her outburst was 100 pourcent genuine, I just think Hu is both being a hypocrite in a way but mostly she's hiding her true feelings behind her wording.

Let's take what she says in her outburst :

There's a funny thing about her wording, especially at the beginning :

"You have no right to decide wether I, whether any of us..."

I think what Hu is trying to say is being hidden by her saying "we" and "us". In my opinion, she's probably mad at David for wanting to toy with her life, not even to escape himself but simply to commit mass suicide. Which we know Hu has a very complicated history with suicide due to her secret.

I do think her anger is both a mix of projecting onto David her present (and past self) and also her genuine desire to want to continue living.

She would be mad, she's trying so hard to live and here is David who both planned to let her die not even to survive himself but simply because he gave up. Interesting to note how she interprets David's desire to stop the killing game as "Because this killing game requires us to live, you think you should just reject that notion and kill us all". She doesn't mention him wanting to end the killing game, she mentions David rejecting the notion of living itself.

If Hu was a past suicidal person who now has committed herself to continue living, of course she would be insulted by David's action, it spits in her face and reminds her of a past self that simply rejected the idea of living.

A desire to live that's shown through this outburst and also in her secret quote.

Again switching the pronouns Hu is using here with "I" really gives a new perspective that I think makes a lot of sense with her being the culprit.

"It is not and never will be your desicion as to what happens with MY life"

Because Hu wants to live now, she's no longer her past self, she won't try and throw her life away anymore.

The murder of Arei and attempted murder of Ace :

I want to discuss both the victims and method of murder here because I think it works very well with Hu. It's not really a character analysis thing as much but I didn't want to make a seperate post for it.

Hu clearly does/did not have high opinions of either Ace or Arei, like at all. They were both people that Hu reprimended heavily.

Especially with the secret motive happening, it's very possible that Hu's possible choice of culprit was done with the notion of "who deserves to be killed". Her first pick being Ace makes a lot of sense

I'm making her sound villainous when I say this but I do think it was her mindset at the time, Ace's horrible behavior towards Nico possibly being what led to her to feel allowed to take his life. However when Ace survived, she decided she was simply to deep into it and decided to go with the second best choice in her mind, Arei.

I want to also point out the method of murder...hanging

Clearly the culprit had a lot of knowledge about hanging, with it being their main method of murder. Which would make sense with Hu's past, using her past attempts as knowledge for her to take someone else's life which I find very ironic and in a way morbidly narratively compelling.

What was the motive ? :

I think Hu simply just wanted to live, it had nothing to do with the motives (and I honestly think the motives will actually not ever be involved in the murders bc it seems like they're setting it up to be a recurring trend).

I think Hu was thinking about murdering to get out ever since she was put in this killing game. However the only reason why she has never done so is because she was way too attached to her classmates.

From her secret quote, to her outburst against David, to her secret motive. All of it hints at this strong desire to want to live.

However she couldn't bear to kill anyone in this cast until chapter 2 happened.

Ace and Arei both are probably the least likable characters in chapter 2's daily life, I don't mean that in the fandom sense but I mean that in the eyes of the cast itself. Especially Ace who truly ends up falling to horrible harmful patterns out of self preservation.

We know how toxic the cast became in chapter 2 and I think that's what led to Hu feeling more comfortable killing someone. She no longer felt as guilty when she saw Ace (and Arei but mostly Ace) acting this way. This allowed her to commit murder. When it failed, she simply ended up chosing the second person on her list that she saw as nothing more than a horrible bully.

After all who would miss Ace and Arei, they're both horrible horrible people right ? Who would cry for someone who isn't a good person.

It was a murder both driven by Hu's strong desire of survival and also her view of her fellow classmates.

Nico's behavior :

Before I get more into Hu's mindset, I want to take a little detour to why is Nico being so difficult ?

I know I've made theories about Nico being an accomplice, but looking back I don't think they actually knew Hu did it. Even if they're not telling the truth about Ace's attempted murder and Hu's false allibi.

But then why ? Why would Nico ever do this, don't they know they're potentially putting everyone's lives at risk

Well it wouldn't be the first time a character in DRDT's cast is difficult to the point of risking people's lives (i'm fucking look at you WHIT.). However I think there are both actually decent reasons as to why Nico wouldn't tell the truth alongside his issues with being non-confrontational.

First, I don't think Nico ever expected the murder of Ace to be important to the case. I think they lied because everyone else made it extremely obvious what their thoughts truly were and Nico probably thought that trying to argue against them simply would just make them look more guilty or not do anything at all.

Again I would like to pull Nico's secret quote for evidence here. Because again I think it just fits with everything here.

For the alibi thing, I think Nico genuinely didn't contest it because they probably believe Hu only did that to protect them from getting blamed. Again anything that would make Nico not get yelled at or suspected probably is something they would hold onto. They still have no reason to think Hu really did it, so again with their issues with being non-confrontational I think it would make sense for them not to contest it.

I think Nico's arc is heavily tied with Hu, and vice verca. There's an empahsis on how Nico is struggling to make their true feelings truly known because everyone talks about them and the one person who thinks they are there to protect them actually are just as bad if not worse in ignoring them.

Nico wasn't ready to come out, they were instantly labelled an attempted murderer and the one person who is here to defend them is someone who constantly interrupts them. The entirety of chapter 2 has just been them being objectified and not really giving them a voice.

Which I think comes back to a part of Hu that I think is related to the murder.

Hu's relationship with Nico and Eden :

Isn't that interesting how Hu has established relationships with both Nico and Eden, meanwhile Ace and Arei both have bullied Eden/Nico.

I don't think this is a coincidence and I think it matches Hu's misguided attempts at protecting people.

Hu wants to be useful, she desperately wants to be the strong protector of the group. However there are very clear signs here intentions aren't very glamorous.

In a fucked up way, it's very possible that she sees the murder of Ace and Arei as her helping Eden and Nico. Two people she clearly wants to protect (at least for Nico it's obvious).

However Hu's actions clearly did not help them, in fact, what she did ended up backfiring on the both of them.

Nico ends up being framed as a murderer

Eden lost a potential friend

Not only that but she had to have manipulated both Nico and Eden, to accomplish her murder. It's a flimsey self excuse for Hu to keep up her belief that she's a protector.

Obviously I don't think this was her main motivation, I've talked about it before but it's yet again something that would make it more easy for Hu to swallow the idea of being a murderer.

Is Hu evil ? :

No ! What the fuck did you think this post was for !

See I don't think Hu being the culprit suddenly makes her this horrible manipulative person. Despite the dread I feel with the likelyhood of Hu getting dragged to the ground if she's the culprit, I don't think she's remotely close to characters like...Celeste for exemple.

She's a person who was desperate to live who let herself murder by making up excuses, that she was doing this for the greater good somehow that it wasn't just a selfish desire of survival.

It makes sense for a chapter all about morality right ? Justifying a horrible action by justifying that well...these people she murdered weren't really good people were they ? Plus she ended up killing Eden and Nico's bullies right ? And I mean the killing game will only really end when two people are still alive right ? So maybe she's not a bad person. Maybe she deserves to live.

But people don't to be deserve murdered (99 pourcent of the time, i'm talking about DRDT's moral here) , not even horrible people. You don't know these people, if they could change, and you don't know what consequences you bring upon others by enacting justice like this.

And in a chapter about morality wouldn't it be interesting to tackle the morality of someone who would want to live no matter what. Is it fair to call Hu a bad person because she simply didn't want to die ? Somehow her attempts at killing herself in the past is wrong but letting herself be killed in a place like this is the moral thing to do ?

Is the fact that she killed people who she perceived as bad make this whole thing better. Did these people's lives matter less than her, someone who has been trying to actually be nice to others and help them ?

Or is her attempt of being a good respectable motherly figure only just a facade to feed her ego, a person who once didn't think they deserved now hanging to every possible reason to continue fighting to stay alive ? No matter what, no matter what happens, she needs to continue living.

"A pig never hopes to grow up into a human, because it knows that a metamorphisis like that is impossible"

[sobredunia]

Spoilers for drdt chapter 2 episode 12

In defense of Levi

(I'm not gonna word this eloquently because I am not eloquent. I'm also gonna swear a lot. It's like a package deal)

- - -

Why the fuck would he admit to murder if he's the blackened. Like mans just put the biggest target on his back by saying that he's killed before and also by saying that arei had his secret. Biggest motive for murder ever. He's putting himself out there because he's gonna say something that would not make sense/make him look really suspicious if he didn't get this out of the way first

Now, just what exactly is he going to say now that that's out? I think I know

He's gonna become the autopsy guy from now on

Arturo basically said that he's not the one to go for analysing corpses. He's shown that in the previous trial and actually given a good explanation as to why on this one. People that work on the medical field have been kind of a staple in dr, for finding things that aren't said in the monokuma file or for possibly leading the murder astray.

Now, who would it make the most sense to fill that role now? Levi. He's killed someone and he feels no remorse, that's very much screaming that the murder was premeditated on at least some aspects, and if it's supposed to be a secret that he'd be willing to kill for, it's most likely that he hadn't been found

Besides, he's a personal stylist, so he probably knows a lot about the human body. His past as a killer would probably grant him some good knowledge about the dead human body

I think the reason why he apologises for possibly leading the trial astray is 1: holy fuck you just admitted to being a former killer in the middle of a killing game that's gonna get some discussion wether you want to or not. 2: it's likely that he's noticed something about Arei's corpse. Something small enough that he doesn't know that this information entails but something that should probably be discussed anyway. Something that only someone with such a past would be able to notice

And yeah. My guess is that, now that that truth's out, he's gonna be the autopsy guy from now on

Now, I'm gonna address the accomplice!Levi and blackened!Eden theory

Why I don't think he's an accomplice: why would you fucking say that. The trial was completely stumped. Why would he give them another bone to chew on and maybe figure out the truth when he could've just kept quiet and let everyone come to the wrong conclusion. No one suspected of Eden. We've already had someone go "I killed arei lol" so trying that same trick won't work as well. What the fuck

Okay but what if he actually WAS an accomplice: I think this is him betraying Eden

Like I said, there is NO FUCKING WAY this man is calling himself out in 4k if it's not to find the culprit. It makes no sense

Sure, all the talk of trying to be a good person, and him maybe wanting Eden to get out of this because she's the only good one, I can buy it, but AREI?? Arei had to be the victim???? She was literally Eden's case study of someone wanting to be better, proving her beliefs, and maybe even giving Levi a bit of hope for himself and Ace. there is no way they just. Played eeny miny mo and chose her. If she ended up dead, it's most definitely because Levi wanted to hide his secret, it makes no sense otherwise

And sure, I can believe that Levi wanted to help Eden out, but he's still got a survival instinct. He's calling himself out in the hopes of helping in the trial. He wants to live.

I think Eden ended up using the motive as blackmail. We already know she's not above that, since she literally uses it to get Teruko to hang out with her using the cactus thing

So yeah, either Levi is not an accomplice, or he isn't one anymore. He reveals his secret so that Eden no longer has leverage over him, and who knows, maybe he discreetly tries to steer everyone, or he just fucking rams them all straight into the solution. Either way works

[love-too]

ARO/ACE MEDIA REC

So, I decided to make one of this too with the books and movies/series I've actually seen to keep track of my impressions.

Btw these are just little descriptions to avoid spoilers, but before reading or watching, please, do seek more information about the plot and the eventual warnings that come with it!

BOOKS

Seven Ways We Lie - ace rep

The story follows 7 students who represent the 7 deadly sin. They all get caught up in a secret at their high school while having to deal with their messy lives.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - ace rep

It talks about friendship and relationships and the difficulties that come with loneliness.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman - ace rep

It follows the story of Tori and her struggles with loneliness and making friends until Michael comes along.

How to be a normal person by TJ Klune - ace rep

One of the most moving father-son relationships I've ever read. This book is a bit weird, but really lovely.

Heartsong by TJ Klune - ace rep

It's about werewolves and magicians and found family. The relationship that the ace characters is in is really cute.

The Captive Prince series by CS Pacat - demi rep (?)

I was on the fence on wether to include this or not, but ultimately I did because. It's historical fantasy and it deals with abuse, so heads-up!

The all for the game series by Nora Sakavic - demisexual rep

The story of Neil Josten, an orphan on the run that turns to Exy to try to survive. It's about found family and it deals really well with the concept of consent.

COMICS

Wandering by pearsfears - aroace rep

This story is about sport, college, body issues and friendship. The artstyle is really soothing.

MOVIES/SERIES

Koisenu Futari - aroace rep

Arguably one of the best series on the topic I've ever seen. The characters talk about it out loud and with no shame and it explores the idea of a queer platonic relationship.

Heartbreak High - ace rep

It deals with the difficulties and incomprehensions that may come when one person in a relationship is asexual and/or sex repulsed and the other is not.

Heartstopper - aroace rep

Alice Oseman once again, this time with aroace rep from Isaac in the second season.

One Piece Live Action - ace/aroace rep

I never read the manga or saw the anime, but this one really surprised me. Luffy truly feels aroace with lines like "you look like Nami" (and Zoro's "you're asking the wrong guy"!) and loyalty that makes you think of the possibility of a qpr. Plus, found family! (Again, idk if it's confirmed. I know nothing about one piece, but the vibes are surely there).

[ct-multifandom]

Miracuclass Amogus Cringe

I was going back and forth about making this post, but then I saw @charming-mage ‘s and I was like screw it we’re doing this. This ended up 10x longer than I thought it’d be.

Marinette (crewmate) - tries to organize everyone into a buddy system to corner the impostors, gets frustrated when people agree to her plan and then start running rogue. When discussions start she’s leading the conversation and asking the most questions. She greatly prefers crewmate over impostor because she likes the mystery solving element of discussions.

Marinette (impostor) - whenever she kills someone she goes, “ahhhh” out loud and panics while her avatar sprints away from the body. She likes coming up with convoluted plans, especially when she can communicate with her fellow imp(s), and tries to make it seem like she’s in two places at once wether it be through venting or falsified testimony.

Adrien (crewmate) - he has to unmute and ask how to do like every individual task to the point where he’s been voted out over it before because cmon, you’ve gotta be lying about it at this point, just piece it together and stop unmuting during task time. He makes puns and sings little improvised songs while tasking. When he suspects someone but they don’t get voted out, he offers to tail them at the cost of his own safety. Same with fixing sabotages late-game. To him, getting killed is just part of the game progression, and it’s not a big deal because he trusts his fellow crewmates to avenge him and doesn’t mind ghost-tasking.

Adrien (impostor) - okay maybe he lies about not knowing tasks sometimes. But it also took him a while to learn imp mechanics and he kept asking about them out loud like, “what’s the red square task on the floor? Why’s my name highlighted?” And somehow nobody noticed while his partner(s) were like nggggg Adrien no... At least he’s good at playing innocent/fake-detective-ing in discussions. Whenever he kills someone he makes some stupid one-liner about it out loud.

Alya (crewmate) - we got Sherlock Holmes over here. She overanalyzes every tiny detail and isn’t scared to sacrifice the sus for the greater cause. When she finishes tasks, she likes to hang out by security and snoop in case of the rare satisfaction of catching someone red-handed. If there’s an emergency meeting, it’s probably because she probably saw something. She supports Crewinette’s plans to corner the imps. She thinks tasks wins are boring and that it’s a lot more fun to win through voting correctly. If they task-win or lose she stops before the new game and asks who the imps were and for a recap of their actions.

Alya (impostor) - a force to be reckoned with. She’ll wait for the perfect moment to strike someone, and then cover her tracks, join a group and win herself a strong alibi anyways. Her reputation as a ruthless detective protects her, even when the game is set to show that the ejected person was innocent. She always chooses someone to kill and someone to blame for it, but sometimes she gets carried away and they vote her off for pointing too many fingers.

Nino (crewmate) - he’s just tasking, man. If he gets killed he’s like, “oh mf” and just keeps ghost-tasking. He mostly hangs out during the discussions unless he has something solid to say, only jumping in at the end to confirm, “so we’re voting for _?”. He leads his own little crewmate squad around when he finishes tasks to protect them while they finish theirs.

Nino (impostor) - mostly plays off the strategy of his partner(s). He likes playing the protective team-player type “innocent diversion” role while the partner(s) get to killing, so when discussions start he’s totally in the clear, which gives him an opening to dodge suspicion in the future if he needs to take over killing. He pretends to fix sabotages all the time because people rely on him to do that as a crewmate.

Max (crewmate) - freakishly good at the card scanning task. People always ask for his secret and he’s like? It’s so easy? He has every map memorized to a t so he can point out the contradictions in people’s stories like an ace attorney character. It’s surprisingly really helpful. He’s the opposite of Alya in that he’s a big supporter of the “guys, stop voting off random innocent people, we have like five tasks left. Whoever hasn’t done them, just finish them” strategy.

Max (impostor) - he tries his best to protect his partner(s) in the discussion while laying low himself, and sometimes he gets voted out for it, but if he senses that there’s nothing he can do, he’ll throw them even further under the bus to build credit for himself. He doesn’t like sacrificing innocents as a crewmate, so his defenses are only sus when he’s caught being wrong. He sabotages a lot to control people’s movements and vents liberally unless he committed to a tasking group. That being said, he can go whole rounds without killing out of caution.

Kim (crewmate) - he’s the guy who calls emergency meetings early into the game only to say, “I miss you guys :)” He gets voted out all the time for doing troll-y crap and ignoring Crewinette’s plans. He’s also severely confused by some of the tasks and game mechanics, but fakes it till he makes it, until the discussion where he rarely says anything valuable and just jokes around. Sometimes, though, he’ll offer a tiny offhand detail and everyone’s like Kim, I hate to say it, but you’re a genius or that’s the piece we’ve been missing! And he’s like haha ok. He’s always behind on tasks, sometimes out of laziness, sometimes out of confusion, but he’s one of the people Max is impatiently waiting on.

Kim (impostor) - he gets caught in the act a lot and it’s hilarious, but other times he gets away with everything the entire time, which is kinda scary. He’s weirdly good at introducing so much confusion and derailment to discussions that everyone gets totally lost and doesn’t know what’s going on, allowing him to survive when they could’ve easily figured him out. Unlike Max, he knows literally nothing about the maps and always says he was at the “slidey thing” or whatever and everyone’s like idk wtf the slidey thing is, and if this were anyone else they’d be gone immediately, but it’s Kim so he might actually be telling the truth. He refuses to learn the names of anything because this really helps him out.

Alix (crewmate) - always trying to convince her friends to experiment with ridiculous game settings. Occasionally, she gets to them, and they get games with comically unbalanced imp:crew ratios, awful lighting, an overwhelming load or lack of tasks, or hilariously low cool downs. She revels in the chaos. When she tasks she usually moves from place to place alone but tries to hop in with groups to confirm her movements. She’s pretty good at sussing imps out when they offer enough information, but otherwise she just makes goofy comments with Kim.

Alix (impostor) - not too worried about killing people and venting. She moves fast and dashes from place to place, joining a group on the opposite side of the map from her last body. If anyone says, “I saw someone vent but I didn’t see who” it was probably her. She likes the “stand in a clump and watch the chaos ensue when one person drops” technique as well as the gambling “hope that the UI for the task everyone’s doing covers your killing and venting” strat. Sometimes she’s forced to vent to a dead end and gets caught, and sometimes the big brain detectives catch her, but she’s usually pretty smooth.

Rose (crewmate) - a big fan of hide and seek mode. She likes grouping up for tasks, protecting each other at the cost of efficiency. During discussions, she has a hard time believing anyone’s the impostor, and everyone’s like, Rose, we know there are exactly three of them, you can’t defend every individual person. Whenever she gets killed she is like *gasp* et tu, Brute? No matter who it was.

Rose (impostor) - runs around with her squad when... oops... looks like something got sabotaged! Uh oh, wonder who could’ve done that? She’s in a battle against that task bar more so than the players, and tries to stay away from killing. She emulates crewmate behavior perfectly so no one ever suspects her until really late. If she’s the only imp left and she has to kill, it’s like an Agatha Christie locked room mystery level of drama and betrayal within her squad. But we were all together the whole time... omfg no way... it was one of us.

Juleka (crewmate) - she secretly prefers when everyone tasks alone, but goes with the squad for Rose. She only talks in discussions if she’s 100% sure about something, and she often incomprehensibly mumbles vital evidence. ~10 minutes later when they catch the imp she’s like iItoldyouso and the crew’s like ??? If she gets killed and her tasks are done, she haunts that impostor relentlessly. Sometimes she even organizes ghost brigades in ghost chat and gets everyone to follow them.

Juleka (impostor) - definitely gets a kick out of the kill button. Whenever she takes someone down she’s like heeheehee. If she was peer pressured into a task team again, she’ll anxiously try to slip away unnoticed for a second to catch someone in the hallway outside, but if she’s alone, she’s on a hunt. Nobody is safe. When she defends herself on voice chat she also mumbles incomprehensibly and everyone’s like sure, fair enough.

Mylene (crewmate) - seasoned task group leader. She also sings little task songs like Adrien. She tries to organize people into chatting regular status updates so they can tell if someone goes missing. She reports every body she finds and actively participates in the discussion, but whenever she makes good points, she gets overlooked. Then, the crew’s like Mylene, why didn’t you say anything sooner? And she’s like agjdjdhh Either that or she gets voted off for always reporting and being too eager to discuss on top of it.

Mylene (impostor) - gets her partner(s) inside her team and tries to tag-team anyone passing by, only for all the impostors to have alibis when she reports. If the ratio is right, they can destroy their own group, and then immediately point the finger at whoever is left, which works about half the time. Mylene is a pretty convincing actress, but the high IQ tricks only work a couple times.

Ivan (crewmate) - he’ll take one for the team if he has to, especially in those sabotage cases where you’d have to be isolated and vulnerable. Otherwise he’ll protect his group. He has an “innocent until proven guilty” attitude when he runs into other people on the map, and skips during a lot of the votes.

Ivan (impostor) - we all know he can’t lie to save his life. He usually gets voted out really fast if he kills someone because he gets nervous and starts saying contradictory things when questioned. That being said, he’ll do what he can to keep his partner(s) in the clear. He never vents because the risk is too high for him, instead just running around and saying, “sorry” out loud when he catches a victim.

Nathaniel (crewmate) - he’s the opposite of Adrien in that he’ll do anything to avoid getting killed. He runs around tasking on his own, but he’s usually behind because he’s so focused on avoiding everyone, to Max’s frustration. He also never reports bodies. This causes him to be sus at all times, so he gets voted out a lot. Wild Nath sightings are rare and terrifying because he’s never in the clear and he’s just standing there, menacingly. Imp!Alix sees him as a fun combo of Where’s Waldo and Assassin.

Nathaniel (impostor) - the millisecond that cool down timer runs out, someone is getting killed. Hit and run. He’s good at entering a fairly crowded large space, striking, and staying in everyone’s blind spots while he runs away, especially when the lights are out. He likes venting to isolated areas and killing as many people per round as he can, laughing when someone finally reports and everyone unmutes to go WHAT!? at the number of deaths. He tends to operate separately from his partner(s) unless they have an actual plan.

Chloe (crewmate) - gathers every single person in medbay and makes sure they all watch her scan. Yeah okay, we get, you’re a crewmate. She feels personally offended whenever someone kills her, which is often, since people tend to jokingly target her. During discussions, she accuses anyone and everyone of being sus, even if she just walked past them or saw them tasking alone. She likes stalking people as a ghost and spilling tea in ghost chat.

Chloe (impostor) - reacts similarly to Marinette when she kills. She will throw her partner(s) under the bus if it’s more advantageous in the long run, and she’s great at shifting the blame to innocents. People vote her out a lot anyways, and she says she can’t believe that they even like this stupid little game. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Unless she wins. Then it’s fun.

Sabrina (crewmate) - discussion detective supreme. She keeps track of every piece of evidence and testimony, every detail. She tails the sus at a distance, trying to catch them doing something. Sometimes it gets her targeted, but sometimes she catches them and calls emergency meetings to snitch. Somehow she manages to do this and finish her tasks at the same time.

Sabrina (impostor) - sabotages everything, and tries to get her partner(s) to do it too. Once she won because the crew just didn’t fix O2 in time. She avoids killing Chloe, but feels bad if she has to kill anyone else too. She typically just sticks to making other people seem suspicious, and likes the game mode where you can’t see if you voted correctly or not.

Lila (both) - she rarely joins these games. She isn’t even a member of the chat group they use. They occasionally invite her, and she usually lies about how busy she is, but she accepted a couple times to further her narrative. She pretends to be really bad at being an impostor to establish herself as someone incapable of trickery. Regardless of her role, whenever the body announcement pops up, she goes, “oh nooo, not [victim(s)]... nooo....” and Mari’s like stfu Lila.

Bonus Polaroid kids because,,, they <3

Kagami (crewmate) - hella efficient at tasks. Two discussions in and she’s done. She’s the interrogation specialist who stresses out the imps and crew alike with her barrage of questions. She likes moving either alone or in partners, three people maximum, unless Crewinette needs her, in which case she’ll stick to the plan no matter what.

Kagami (impostor) - you’re walking through the base / there’s no one around and comms are down / out of the corner of your eye you spot her / Kagami Tsurugi. She will have you cornered and you won’t be able to do anything about it. She always has a made up explanation for what she was doing, but sometimes it falls through solely because she’s always acting sus.

Luka (crewmate) - he likes crewmate a lot more than impostor. He’ll tag along with a task group until he’s done, and then he’ll go lurk in the corner and spy on people. He moves along the walls, and a few times this has led to him witnessing murders in the middle of the room while the imp only saw him after it was too late. Cue the mad dash for emergency meeting.

Luka (impostor) - works together with his partner(s) to perform some high level backstabbery. He rarely gets voted out unless he messes up because he builds bonds of trust with like half of the crew while he leads the rest into his partner(s)’ traps. He feels bad about killing sometimes, but he doesn’t mind sabotaging.

Zoe (crewmate) - she finds one or two other people she trusts and follows them around. She uses the logic of “well we could’ve both killed each other by now but we didn’t so they must be safe”. She immediately recounts everything that happened to her that round in discussions, even irrelevant details, just in case they might end up useful, and tends to bandwagon with voting.

Zoe (impostor) - tries to catch people in secluded corners or rooms with closable doors to kill them. She avoids taking risks, but sometimes she reports her own bodies and tries to act all surprised by the discovery. She’s a good actress, but she’s not the best bs artist, although the crew is used to her giving a ton of details right from the start, so they don’t suspect her unless there’s a hole in her story.

Marc (crewmate) - does tasks on his own but makes sure to stop near crowds when he can. Whenever he’s running around alone and sees someone else, he immediately turns around like ohmygodohmygod and anxiously dances around the other person who’s more than likely just another, equally anxious crewmate with places to be. He still gets killed a lot.

Marc (impostor) - he goes full anime villain mode. All according to keikaku. He’s one of those people who disproportionately rolls the impostor role and ends up with it like twice every five games. He plans out every move he’s gonna make, every complex lie and big brain play, and sometimes he gets that glorious evil win, but sometimes his plans are totally sabotaged by stupid things like Kim’s trolling.

[goldenvicious]

The Climb up the Tower of Darkness.

Here I stand, in front of a tower at the highest peak of the Isle of Armor. The Tower of Darkness, where Striker and I will train in the ways of Darkness. Striker's Fighting Style and Typing will change by the end of this. I take a deep breath to calm myself and focus on the task at hand. I talk to the Master Dojo Student guarding the door to confirm. Once permitted, she opens the door. Striker and I enter.

Once I entered the Tower of Darkness, I faced a person on the first floor. He was a Master Dojo Student, ready to fight and train. Walking only the path of Light will not broaden my perspective. I must utilize both light and dark.

He sent out a Zorua, but I took it out in one Brick Break. Impressed, he let me move on to the 2nd floor. There was yet another Master Dojo Student. Those strong in the darkness are also strong in the light. I must travel the path of darkness and perfect my strength in the light.

She sent out Scraggy, Brick Break dealt with them easily. Even the strength perfected in the light can be overshadowed. She allowed me to ascend to the third floor. Another Master Dojo Student. We are all but lost travelers, feeling our way through the darkness around us. The results of battles are hidden in darkness until the battles are complete. That is the beauty of battling.

The Dojo Student sent out the only Pokemon I'd consider a threat: Inkay, due to its Psychic Typing. Brick Break brought it down to a sliver of HP, but it survived and used Slash. Headbutt finished it off. Now the darkness surrounds the opponent, and he feels like he's going to blackout. I am now permitted to go up to the fourth floor. One more Dojo Student. Wind that carries a ship out to sea is wind that stalls a ship returning to port. What shines path on one path is what keeps another in darkness. Let's see if I can find my own path onward, wether ith be shrouded in light or darkness.

The Dojo Student sends out a Krokorok, the highest leveled opponent so far. Fortunately, Striker's perfected Brick Break deals a critical hit, Knocking Out the opponent. The Experience gained boosts Striker to Level 32, which allows him to learn one new move: Bulk Up. I replace Inner Focus with Bulk Up. It seems that I have found my path and sailed right on course. I may now reach the top floor, where my final opponent is waiting for me:

Mustard.

"There you are... I figured you'd choose the Tower of Darkness, so I decided to wait for you here. Goldielocke, Kubfu- you've both done well to get this far. Your final opponent is little old me! It's been a while since the last tine I battled like this...but I think you can handle it!

"A stream too clear is avoided by fish Pokemon. We all need some darkness in ourselves. Let me be the one to teach you the final lesson on the essence of darkness!"

With that statement, Mustard took off his hat and jacket to reveal his battle uniform underneath. He prepared himself to fight until the end.

You are challenged by Dojo Master Mustard!

Dojo Mastar Mustard sent out Kubfu!

"I'll need to get serious if I am to take you on! Hone your senses now...and let this battle sharpen you! Show me how you can grow!"

Striker leapt from behind me and got into a battle-ready pose. First thing I decided to do was use our new move: Bulk Up. Our Attack and Defense rose! Mustard's Kubfu used Arial Ace to deal Super Effective damage, lowering us to 61/91 HP. I decided to have Striker use an Arial Ace of their own, lowering the opposing Kubfu's HP to the Red Zone. Mustard's Kubfu used Focus Energy istead of attacking. With one final Arial Ace, Striker defeat's Mustard's Kubfu.

Once defeated, Mustard does a backflip and once he lands on his feet, laughs to himself. "You young folk grow so fast! It never ceases to amaze me!"

You defeated Dojo Mastar Mustard!

"What a team, most impressive!"

Striker and I bumped fists and Striker showed off a little.

"Fuahaha! I knew you were worthy of my trust, Goldielocke! You have done so well-very well indeed-in raising Kubfu to this level of strength! Leon was once my best student...a long time ago. He, too, attempted this trial...but he never made it to either tower! He hit lost along the way!

"Fuahaha! Now it is time for Kubfu to evolve! Go and show Kubfu the Scroll of Darkness. Kubfu us ready now!"

With Mustard's permission, I brought Striker to the Scroll of Darkness. Striker looked at it and read its text carefully. And than, something clicked in him.

What? Striker is evolving!

While he was evolving, he grew taller in size and I watched his arms and legs get stronger. He got what appeared to be a headband on his head, and I could feel the power of Darkness going through him.

Congratulations! Your Striker evolved into Urshifu!

Once he evolved, he harnessed the Power of Darkness into a powerful move: Wicked Blow. I taught it to replace Headbutt.

"Behold! Before you stands Urshifu! Sure to be unyielding armor that will shatter any blade turned against it...and it has mastered the style of darkness!

"Ha! You've certainly grown, haven't you? And to think, not too long ago you would've run and hid behind me the moment you fot scared! Indeed, no matter how old I get, witnessing someone grow always brings joy to my heart. Goldielocke! Urshifu! Thank you both, from the bottom of my heart. Oh! I almost forgot. I give this to anyone who has faced me when I was taking a battle seriously!"

Mustard gave me his old League Card.

"Now then, let's head back to the dojo!

Striker and I leave first, but Mustard stays behind.

"Once Goldielocke does what she is meant to do, it will be time for the next step..."

With that, Striker and I have returned to the Dojo. Tomorrow, I shall continue the Gym Challenge with a new friend by my side.

Team:

Goldeneye the Drizzile

Item: Mystic Water

Ability: Torrent

Nature: Modest

Moveset: Muddy Water, Water Pulse, Swift, Tearful Look.

Dig Dug the Excadrill

Item: Rocky Helmet

Ability: Sand Rush

Nature: Brave

Moveset: High Horsepower, Rock Slide, Stealth Rock, Hone Claws

Child Safe the Drifblim

Item: Leftovers

Ability: Unburden

Nature: Bold

Moveset: Shadow Ball, Gust, Will-O-Wisp, Stockpile.

Vee the Flareon

Item: Silk Scarf

Ability: Flash Fire

Nature: Adamant

Moveset: Fire Fang, Bite, Double Edge, Will-O-Wisp

Princess the Tsareena

Item: Muscle Band

Ability: Queenly Majesty

Nature: Naughty

Moveset: Trop Kick, Razor Leaf, Stomp, Triple Axel

Striker the Urshifu (Single Strike Style)

Item: Expert Belt

Ability: Unseen Fist

Nature: Jolly

Moveset: Wicked Blow, Brick Break, Aerial Ace, Bulk Up.

[rae-arts777]

What I Can’t Give You

Summary: Abby can give Makoto many things. But there is one vital thing she can never give him

Note: Ace Abby, Some rough Abby backstory

TW: force sterilization

“Hey I’m home” Makoto walked in, setting groceries on the countertop.

“Yo.” Abby waved, from the couch, focused on a show she was watching.

Makoto headed over and kissed her head, nuzzling her hair “we still going to Cythina’s get together?”

“Of course. If we don’t, they’ll just come over and drag us there.” Abby ran her fingers through his hair, a small smile forming.

Makoto climbed over and sat next to his fiancé, wrapping an arm around her.

Abby shifted her body, laying her head in his chest. She pressed her ear to his chest, listening to the comforting sound of his heartbeat.

Makoto played with her hair, softly pecking at her head.

The time for the party came too fast for the two of them. They would have rather stayed in, but knew Cythina would be upset if they didn’t show, especially since the red head hadn’t seen them since they gotten engaged.

Abby decided to dress up a bit. She put on a nice blue crop top complemented with a matching black skirt. She looked in the mirror, fixing her hair.

Makoto walked in behind her, kissing her cheek. “You look beautiful”

Abby felt her face flushed, turning her head away “shut up...I figure I look nice considering....”

“We’re going to see old friends, not some snobby strangers.” Makoto teased

“I know...just...I want to look nice for you ok.?” Abby admitted.

Makoto pecked her temple smiling “Sweatpants or skinny jeans, you always look nice for me” Makoto received a harsh flick to the forehead

“Cheesy bastard”

“You said yes to marrying this cheesy bastard”

“Engaged, I can still change my mind if I want”

“Naaaah you’re stuck with me”

The two finished getting ready, and headed to the hotel together.

Of course Cythina had booked the fanciest suite in the hotel.

Makoto knocked on the door, the Belgian man answering to greet them.

“Welcome love birds” Laurent smiled and let them in.

Cythina rushed over squealing, pulling Abby into a tight hug “oh I’m so happy for you two!! Let me see the ring! Makoto you better treat her well!!”

“Cythina...your boobs are suffocating me” Abby poked her side, making Cythina let go.

“I’m sorry!!! I’m just so happy for you two!!” The red hair grabbed Abby’s right hand and looked the engagement ring “oh it suits you so well! You did a good job picking out a ring Edamame!”

Makoto chuckled and wrapped an arm around Abby’s waist pulling her close. He placed a loving peck on her head “well I know my girl”

Abby blushed and looked away trying to hide her face from everyone “fuck off”

“Not so tough and cold now are we” Laurent smirked, receiving a punch to the gut from Abby.

“Die blonde bastard”

“Worth it” Laurent laughed.

The four sat around started to catch up. Cythina went on and on about her adopted son, how proud she was of him. Laurent talked about his job, bragging about all the high security clearance he now had. Makoto and Abby excitedly talked about the grand opening of their coffee shop, after months of traveling, and in the process of finishing up renovations, they were only a few months away to finally opening.

Just as Laurent popped the champagne, Oz arrived with Kudo and Shi Won.

Makoto and Oz’s relationship was still rocky, but they were doing decent. Oz shook Makoto’s hand, giving his congrats to him and Abby. Abby still didn’t like Oz, considering he was going to be her father in law, she still couldn’t shake the things he had done to Makoto.

Even though it didn’t effect Abby, it effect someone she loved. As Oz went to talk to Laurent, Abby hugged her fiancé back, placing soft pecks on his cheek.

“You good?” She asked

“Yes I’m fine, let’s have fun ok?”

The night continue on, everyone was sipping on champagne and exchanging stories.

Laurent stood up, raising his glass.

“I just want us all to give a toast to the happy couple.” He gestured towards Abby and Makoto “may your future be filled with joy and happiness, and that your love only continues to grow stronger. I think I speak for all of us when I say, we are excited to see your coffee business grow, as well as your family one day, wether it’s four legged cats, or two legged humans” Laurent chuckled.

Everyone cheered with a big smile. Abby leaned more into Makoto’s hold, shutting down a bit. A family? Kids? They haven’t even talked about that yet. They were still young, they had time. Maybe Makoto doesn’t even want kids, but what if he does. Abby placed her hand over her stomach thinking. Kids.

The night started to die down. Abby had gone to the bathroom before her and Makoto headed home. She washed her face and stared in the mirror. Laurent’s words still bothered her. Kids. Maybe by miracle she can give him a child. But the process of getting pregnant. Abby felt her body tense up. It’s not like she would mind. She loves Makoto, if he wants to, she can compromise with it. Still, she didn’t feel ready to give herself to him just yet.

“For Christ sakes you’re going to marry him...” Abby told her reflection “I mean...he’s still going to love me even if we never have sex. It’s not like he doesn’t know you’re ace..hell, he supports you no matter what..he’s always been there..he’s not going to leave just cause you don’t want to have sex, he’s not like that...right..?” Abby looked at her ring “no, he’s not, he loves me. Compromise, baby steps...but...is he still going to love me ...even if I can’t...” Abby placed a hand over her stomach. The word kids rang in her head. Kids, does he expect her to give him kids?

She was pulled over her mind when a knock at the door.

“Abigail?” Cythina called out. “Are you ok hon? Need anything? Girl stuff?”

“No no, I’m fine.” She unlocked the door and open.

Cythina looked down at her with a soft smile “are you sure? You seem tensed. Are you getting cold feet?”

“No, I mean..it’s not like that, I’m just...thinking about the future”

“Don’t worry about the future, you’re just going to stress yourself out” Cythina patted her cheek “just focus on the present ok? And don’t worry about wedding plans! I’ll be back in a few months to help plan!”

Abby chuckled a bit, of course Cythina already hired herself as their wedding planner. Not like Abby minded, it was probably for the best.

“Abby?” Makoto called out putting on his coat “you ready to go?”

“Yeah” Abby gave Cythina a quick hug and rushed to her future husband. She grabbed his arm and draped it over her shoulder with a soft smile.

They said their goodbyes and headed home. The walk was quiet, Abby laid her head against him while they walked. Makoto held her close, his arms felt safe, they felt warm, she knew he loved her, she knew she could trust him, but a part of her was still scared.

They headed inside their house, Makoto heading to the bathroom to shower first. Abby followed and sat in front of the mirror, working on wiping the makeup off her face.

Soon after Makoto finished his shower, Abby went in after him, luckily he didn’t use up all the hot water. Feeling the water hit her skin, she took a deep breathe. She shouldn’t be letting Laurent’s word get to her so much. He was just wishing them a good future, so it shouldn’t matter what type of future they would have together. Right?

Abby finished her shower, using one of Makoto’s shirts as pjs. She headed to their bed drying her hair still. Makoto was in his boxer, laying down, scrolling through his phone.

“Tomorrow in the afternoon we have a meeting with the contractor. He’s set up a few samples of tiles for the bathroom. Also I was thinking we can get local artist to commission some art pieces we can hang up in the shop.” Makoto kept talking about new ideas for the shop.

Abby zone it all out as she sat on her side of the bed. She stared at him, watching his mouth move up and down, but not hearing a single word.

Makoto looked over at her to ask her opinion “what do you think? Should we? I do love red, but I think certain type of yellow would give it more of a vintage feel you know?”

Abby didn’t even know what he was talking about now. She said nothing, still staring.

Makoto sat up a bit “hey, what’s wrong?”

Before Makoto could move towards her, he was pushed back down, Abby sitting on his lap. She strandle her legs around his hips, and put her hands on his chest.

Makoto stared at her blushing and a bit taken back “are you ok? You seem tense” he saw right through, her body wasn’t relaxed at all.

“I....do you want...you know....” Abby mumbled

“I mean...only if you want, Abby, I told you, I don’t care if we have sex or not, I love you for you, that’s all”

“Yeah but...do you...want too..so we can have kids?”

“Ok slow down.” Makoto sat up, adjusting her more comfortably in his lap. “Where is this all coming from?” He ran his fingers through her hair

“It’s just...when Laurent said family...and mention whether they be pets or babies..it got me thinking about kids...”

“So do you want kids?” Makoto asked

“Do you want kids?”

“Maybe one day.”

“Ok....” Abby placed her hands on her stomach and looked down.

Makoto’s face shifted to a sense of worry “my desert flower?” He cupped her cheek “what’s wrong?”

“I....I can give you so much Makoto....you give me so much as well...but....I don’t think..” Abby felt tears streaming out “it would be a miracle.....if I could give you kids....but....I’m sorry....if I would have know i was going to meet you...marry you....have a life with you...I wouldn’t have agreed too.....” Abby broken down in sobs “I’m sorry....I can’t...I can’t give you something so important....I should have told you sooner...I’m sorry...”

Makoto said nothing and pulled his lover closer. He rocked her back and forth, humming softly. “It’s ok..it’s ok..” he whispered pecking her head repeatedly “I’m not mad my sweet flower, it’s ok, it’s not your fault”

Abby buried her face in his chest sobbing “I did what I had to survive...”

“I know..”

“It was so...painful..” her whole body shook “I...I remember being tied down....I remember pain...screaming..” she cried “I’m sorry....I’m so sorry...”

“I’m not mad..I understand Abby..” Makoto kissed her head “I love you so much ok.?”

“Even though I can’t give you kids..”

“I didn’t ask you to marry me cause I want you to give me kids. I asked you to marry me cause I love you ok?” He cupped her chin and tilted her head up, placing soft pecks on her lips “we have years to plan ok.? We don’t have to have kids right away, we’re young, we can wait a few years ok? Even if we don’t ever have any, that’s fine. And if we do, we can always adopt ok? Cause even if we adopt, we will both love that child as our own” he kissed her cheek, wiping her tears away. “It’s going to be ok” Makoto pressed his forehead against hers

Abby sniffled, feeling her body finally relaxed

“I love you so much Makoto..”

“I love you too Abigail”

[saturn-sends-hugs]

OHOHOHO YOU BET I WILL!!! The hurt/comfort will happen wether it’s in the show or not.

And back to the Echo and Cross parallels…

I feel like a huge overarching storyline for both of these characters has been survival.

With Echo, that point is pretty obvious. In Clone Cadets, they set up the idea of him struggling to adapt, which later is used in the opening quote of one of the Citadel episodes, “Adaptation is the key to survival.” At this point in the series, it seems like a grim reminder, saying that Echo failed to survive because he just couldn’t adapt.

But he did! He adapts, he survives, and the quote for his rescue episode is, “Survival is just one step on the path to living.” (yes i have these memorized bshjshsjsjk) He survives, he’s back with his brothers, but what does he do now? This is the same arc we get Cody’s quote from, which Rex directly relates to Echo. Cody says “Sometimes in war, it’s hard to be the one that survives.” but Rex responds with “That’s what I’m worried about.” Because it’s true, and now Echo has to deal with that fact. His whole story is one of survival, of beating the odds, and he has to relearn how to live with the batch.

And especially after The Outpost, Crosshairs character parallels this. We all know the parallel between Cross and the vultures, and Maydays line regarding them is: “Vicious creatures. But you have to admire them. They find a way to survive.”

And that’s the difference, isn’t it? Kinda like @the-bi-space-ace said earlier, Crosshair’s reaction, how he deals with trauma, how he goes about that survival, it’s just different. Where Echo has this sort of righteous survival, not particularly by anything he did, just due to how he’s rescued, Crosshair’s survival is much messier. He gets his hands dirty, he snaps, and it almost goes against that survival instinct.

Initially, Crosshair kept his head down with the empire. He stuck with them, he didn’t complain, even when the Lieutenant was AWFUL AND DISGUSTING OMG STRANGLE HIM ahem Crosshair just sat back and took it, because what else could he do? He’s saving his skin by not speaking up.

And by the end, he snaps. His sheer pain wins out, and he doesn’t care what’ll happen to him anymore, he just wants that Lieutenant dead. (SLAYYYY CROSSHAIR GET IT YOU DID SO WELL <333)

The motif of survival is so prevalent in both of their character arcs, and I think despite the differences there, Echo really would be the best one to deal with the fallout with Crosshair. He understands, he knows how it feels to survive almost against his will and to have his entire life changed around him.

Crosshair is now in an extremely similar situation. The batch might not think he’s dead, but he’s not expecting them to ever come back for him. He’s alone, logically the empire should’ve probably killed him, and now he’s someone’s twisted science experiment. And I’m so curious to see where this goes; will they parallel Echo’s story again with the batch rescuing Crosshair when he never thought they would? Will Crosshair escape on his own and have to fight for survival again? Or will he just… not escape? Become whatever the scientists are aiming for, or (pls pls omg nO) end up not making it? I do not know and my GOD I AM TERRIFIED 😭😭

But yeah, parallels weeeeeeee 🫠🫠🫠

Let's Talk About Echo & Crosshair

This is going to be long winded so I will put my thoughts under the cut <3

Echo and Crosshair have a lot of similarities and I think a lot of that has to do with their experiences with trauma. They have reacted differently to that trauma but still, those similarities are there.

Let's start with the lightest of this discussion: their wit and personalities. Crosshair has a dry delivery, borderline or outwardly mean at times, and he tends to never beat around the bush. He's forward and stubborn and he will call you out if he thinks you're wrong (immediately his treatment of Rex comes to mind). Echo is similar in this dryness. He rolls his eyes a lot and he strikes me as the person to call out his loved ones when they're being absolutely obtuse. He speaks his mind and doesn't hide when he's upset. They are both on the blunter side of things but the way people react to Echo's bluntness versus Crosshair's definitely varies. I think this is because Crosshair can be cruel while Echo tends to hold his tongue and go for a, still forward, but more diplomatic way.

I also think they both lead with emotion. Crosshair we see be angry a lot more than any other emotion (but that doesn't mean he doesn't have other emotions). We see Echo have a lot of fire within him - usually pointed towards an injustice. He's willing to stand up for his family, testify for Riyo, and fight with Rex to save their brothers from the empire. We see Crosshair do this too when he fights so hard for Mayday. He sees a person who is so deserving of saving that he puts his all into doing just that. They are both willing to let their emotions guide them, it just manifests a little differently. Crosshair's is more passion and surges of protectiveness and loyalty while Echo's is more sustained and dialed in. They both have this loyalty towards their loved ones and their brothers but Echo's is more doing the right thing to keep people safe and Crosshair's is more: whatever it takes to get the best end result is the path I will take. Same idea different approach.

This plays into a trait that both of them have: a strong sense of loyalty. Loyalty is extremely important to both of them but Echo tends to let this loyalty drive him towards the greater good, a willingness and need to protect everyone not just those closest to him. Crosshair, on the other hand, lets this guide him to do just about anything to stay true to it. He'd willingly kill and die for those he is loyal to. Again we see their paths line up in a way that is just so similar and yet their reactions and how they use it is very different.

Now, for the biggest part of this: their trauma. We are well acquainted with Echo's trauma. He was left behind, captured, tortured, and mind controlled before his rescue. He suffered immense pain and has massive guilt over what he did when he did not have control. We see him struggle with PTSD, anger, and probably a lot of survivors guilt. His story is one soaked in tragedy but ultimately it is about overcoming odds and staying true to who you are even as the world caves in around you. We can see this struggle with Crosshair too. He was left behind which led to his continual torture and mind control. He was forced to do horrible things and endure a lot of pain and suffering along the way. But then we see him continue down a path with the empire and instead of overcoming and staying true to himself he latches onto the empire and starts to build his life around that instead. (We definitely got a lot of development in this area with episode 12 with seeing him save Mayday and shoot Nolan.) What I want to focus on here is why their responses to this are so different.

Echo, upon being rescued, had a massive support system to help him. He had Rex, this new squad, and an environment that was familiar to him despite how much he himself had changed. He had to adjust and adapt to this new reality of his but he still had so much of what he was used to that he was able to take that pain and start to cope with it. I definitely think he's got a lot left to work through but my point is that he was able to start the process in a healthier way. There was a stability built into it and it allowed him to grow and mature and hold onto his kind heart.

Crosshair on the other hand... He finally starts to wake up from the mind control. The brain washing wears off. And he's alone. There is zero support system for him to feel safe enough to be vulnerable. His family is gone. There is no one around who loves or supports him. He has done horrible things and hunted down the only people in the galaxy that care about him. And instead of coming out of the ordeal with a greater sense of self and an ability to overcome the anger and resentment inside of him it leaves him hollow and burrowing into himself to keep himself safe. He has no support system to help him emotionally so it festers and ends up hurting him even more.

They have such different reactions to coming out of the other side because they came to in much different circumstances. But in the end they would understand each other better than almost anyone else. They’ve been through very similar things and have made it to the other side. (and I think if anyone would understand Crosshair's anger it would be Echo, even if he doesn't agree with Crosshair's choices.)

I think it would be fantastic when Crosshair is reunited with his family that we see a moment where the two of them get to acknowledge that they have something even greater in common now. Even if it's silent or short. These two could draw so much healing from each other.

If you have things to add please please please feel free! I’m so interested to see what everyone else sees.

[allykatsart]

Delta rune theories! (Spoilers)

Ok so I played delta rune over the weekend with my sister. There was a lot that happened, we talked a lot, and tried to make sense of what happened. I have three ideas/theories about the game. They can be seen as separate ideas on the game, but I believe all three to make the most sense when it comes to Deltarune.

Beware, Spoilers for Deltarune and Undertale ahead.

<b>Theory 1: Gaster survived the fall.</b>

-Gaster has prevalence in this game wether you realize it or not. In the beginning sequence of the game, the voice that's talking to you speaks in all caps. Thats how Gaster speaks as well, albeit he usually speaks in wing dings, but those are still all caps. So there is a certain connection between him and the game.

-Alphys and Undyne do not know eachother. At all. Our favorite lizard and fish couple have no idea who the other is. Why is this relevant? Well...Why would they be apart? What happened to make them never even have met eachother. And, including this....

-The amalgamates are dead. Or at least the monsters who made up the amalgamation are dead in Delta Rune, while in Undertale they survive to the surface under Alphys' care. They survived under her care. Under HER care. But here they are dead, so that, combined with the fact that Undyne has not even heard of Alphys (which she should have at least heard of the royal scientist if she is the royal guard) makes for a case that Alphys never took the position of royal scientist.

-Why do I assume it's Gaster? Because of what we knew of him in the original game. We knew he spoke in wing dings, that he was presumably the royal scientist before Alphys, and that he has some sort of relation to Sans and Papyrus.

-Asriel is there. Asriel is ALIVE and not Flowey the flower. Even Alphys couldn't bring Asriel back completely....but maybe Gaster could, who knows.....

-In the end, I think this is a universe where Gaster didn't dissapear/wasn't remebered, and remained the royal scientist. This means that Alphys never took the role, never met Undyne, and never gained the crippling depression from experimenting with Determination on monsters. Hense why Gaster's Twitter was the one to kick off this game, it's Toby's way of saying that there's a link between Gaster and Delta Rune.

<b>Theory 2: We are possessing Kris.

(WARNING! THIS INCLUDES MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE GAME! PLEASE SKIP OVER THIS PART UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE GAME ENTIRELY)</b>

-This seems pretty obvious when you combine a few clues from around the game. One of these clues happens to be the literal save file. When you get to the first checkpoint, before you save you can see someone's previous save. It's like when playing a used game, you save over the previous person's game. In Delta Rune, however, you're saving over Kris' previous save with your own. You're not Kris, at least, you're not saving as Kris.

-Dialogue in this game can come off as a lot of funny one off lines. And most of it is just funny one off lines, but there are few that have much more meaning, that reference things from the first Undertale game that only the real life player should know. Like pressing and holding X to run. Or even asking Undynr about Alphys. Kris has no reason to connect the two, as they don't even know about eachother. But we do, hense why it's an option in the first place.

-And lastly, the cherry on top, the ending. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone so please, skip the ending if you do not want to be spoiled, I beg of you. Even if you're kinda like 'meh, it's fine, it's probably not that big of a spoiler', don't read, because it is a not spoiler for the end. You have been warned.

-Alright....In the ending it's made pretty clear you're.....not Kris. In fact, Kris strait up takes out the red soul (presumably YOUR soul) and shoves it in the empty bird cage. It is presumed that Chara (or whatever you want to call them in this AU) is working with Kris or possessing them instead. But after that point, you are no longer in control of Kris' vessel.

-here's something to support this from the first game. The talk Asriel gives you at the end of the pacifist run. He asks you to let frisk be, talking to you, the player, instead of frisk. There are a lot of fourth wall breaks in this franchise and it seems to be a staple of the game's humor. But it's a theme that isn't always taken lightly. Undertale and Deltarune are about choice of the player, and how we act when we seem to have no consequences. And how the game effects us. Not in a 'oh the fandom is toxic' sort of way, but more of how we react to the game directly.

-These themes and clues, especially in Deltarune, point to us being separate from the character we play as in these games. It also seems that this may be a point of major conflict in the future, or a continuing theme at least in the next game. (If there is one)

<b>Theory 3: Gaster sent us too (or made) the Dark World.</b>

-This is the hardest to explain and the most ridiculous of my theories. But something just...didn't rub me the right way when it came to the Dark World. For one, you just...appear there. From a supply closet. With no explanation as to why. The only thing slightly odd about this is the fact that before you and Susie enter the closet, the door and hall turns grey. This is significant because of the 'mystery man' sprite, an the grey door you use to find that sprite.

-speaking of doors, lets talk about the shortcut doors. Aka, Sans doors. They let you go to another door similar to it. Their distinctive pattern is having fire come out from the bottom, which sans' bedroom door has as well. Keeping the favt that Sans and Gaster have a connection, maybe this is something that Gaster made or put down in the world for ease of access.

-When you and Susie get back, you appear in an unused classroom. The important thing about this classroom being it is COVERED in game stuff. There's a checkerboard on the floor, chess peices here and there, even cards from different suites. Why is this important? Well most characters and enemies in the dark world are BASED off of these things. Lance and his father are based off the ace of spades and the king of spades respectively, there was a tale of four kings before the king of spades took over, you fight a friggin checker peice and have to run from pawns. Even calling the place a dark world could just be a reference to the fact that the lights are out. But this doesn't seem to be a game you were playing, as Susie seemed to be surprised to be in the classroom, and not to forget about you two falling down in the first place. It seems someone else set up the world or game, and brought you and Susie into it.

-Gaster is the one narrating your story. When you die, the all caps lettering, which I assume is Gaster for reason as stated before, speak to you. He's there at the beginning when you start your journey. It's his text, and he seems to be the one watching you.

-when you try to call home in the Dark World, you find you can't, and instead your call is just these weird garbled noises, also associated with Gaster. It's almost like he is intercepting your call.

-Why would he do this? To be honest? I don't know. We don't know enough about his character to fully say if he would or wouldn't do this. But he is connected somehow to this game. It was supposedly him on Twitter that premiered this game, it's his text narrating. There's something he's doing, and I think...well, I think he made a game to play in, or at least put us into a position to play it. What this means for the rest of the story, I don't know, but we'll have to wait and see.

Now for some questions of mine that I can't figure out.

-Where is Grillby

-How are Sans/Papyrus connected to Gaster

-Why was Gerson's grave included in the graveyard?

-Is Chara still around?

Thats all for now, have a good day!

[acecream-and-cake]

My answer became quite long. Even though these are only my personal ramblings, I would guess some experiences are translatable to you as well? I hope it helps you express your feelings on coming out to your mom. Feel free to message me, wether about this in particular or ace questions or if you just need to vent to a stranger friend on the internet.

For me personally, yes coming out was also about validation. But also so much more. It is about acceptance and trust, about perception and standards, about visibility and not being afraid to be myself. Coming out as ace for me was sharing a part of my identity, how I feel and percieve the world, and trusting close friends and family to support me in my new selfawareness even if they might not fully get it.

And in that way, coming out is quite liberating: because hiding being queer means I get percieved as straight, there are amatonormative rules I am expected to adhere to. Getting asked at family gatherings about a potential s.o. feels like lying and denying my identity or getting put in the needs-to-date box ("you just haven't found the right one yet") and being utterly unable to express in any way how hurtful it is to be made to feel broken for being alone, for only every being percieved as fully human if you are in a relationship. Being out I can present as my true self.

Of course there will be people, that will invalidate my queerness. (But idiots and bullies will find any excuse to exclude someone, this isn't exlusive to queer or ace). Being out somehow makes it easier to find true friends and kind humans, because they accept you for who you are, not the image they have of you. And coming out is a strong way to reject the image people have of you. It shows character developmemt, how you grew more into being yourself, a transformation from growing up in a society to being part of it and now reshaping it. Like a season one characters development to season seven, you show people that are still in your life or want to join as new recurring characters, the depths and layers that have been hidden all along and are getting more defining of you as a person day by day. If anything, this should make you more likable and relatable.

Staying in the closet is for now unfortunately something I have to do among a few people for safety reasons. There I see the stark contrast that coming out has had on my life. Among these people, I always shut off a lot of my life, I don't speak freely, I am mentally alert, I sometimes outright lie and it feels horrid. I know I need to do that now for my own survival, but it puts me in a constant state of fear, not always by a significant amount but enough that I am drained afterwards. It feels like leading someone on (and in a way I am), I feel like being in a hostage situation where you agree upon things just to not get beaten or killed. It feels like a constant performance of improv theater were you aren't allowed to perform your own character but rather have to guess the audience's gusto of the evening because if you show too much true character, you will get harrased on stage. Sometimes I recover by alone time, by far more effective is recovery among friends that validate and accept and love me for who I truly am. By being out to most I have the advantage of being a happy person most of the time and an improv-hostage by a smaller margin everyday. If the ratio was reversed? Oh, I can not sincerly guess how strong depression would still have me in its grip? Being out is a significant reason for my current state of happiness.

Also, ace visibility is something we are in dire need, I think. I only discovered the terms at over thirty, before that, I simply felt broken. And if I can spare someone else this feeling by being out and proud, I will try my best at challenging the notion of needing a relationship to lead a fulfilling life or of needing sex to have a happy and rewarding relationship, at least whenever it is safe for me to do so.

can anyone explain why coming out is so important because I’m not good with words and my mom isn’t listening to me when I tell her how it’s important to me that other people think I’m asexual....she thinks it’s a validation thing