#what the FUCK HAPPENED

[1moreff-creator]

DRDT CH2 EP16 First Impressions

We’ve reached the end of the chapter! A bittersweet feeling, finally getting closure on this chapter while also ushering in a new hiatus. Still, congrats to dev for making it this far! Hope they enjoy their break, while we enjoy whatever they’ve cooked up for the ending!

Without further ado, let us enjoy peak.

Spoilers for the entirety of CH2 (hell yeah). CW: Execution, suicidal thoughts.

It’s Aceover.

ONE vote for Teruko! Do we think Ace voted for himself? Did the mystery voter from Trial 1 repeat their vote on Teruko? Or did they not, and the vote’s just Ace? {Hindsight: It’s CH1 Mystery Voter probs}

MonoTV: “You got it right!” IT’S ALL OVER.

Okay wait it’s actually kinda weird to see the new David sprites outside of the Trial. Like it’s trippy idk why. That’s crazy.

Eden: “Why her of all people?” Poor Eden, at least give her an answer! Even if it’s just “it was the easiest option” man.

Whit: “I really thought that no one would repeat what happened to Xander and Min.” Is this the very first piece of anti-Whit Time Loop theory evidence? Or is he just lying? I don’t believe the theory, so I’m passing that one to the defenders.

Ace: “I killed her. And if you can’t forgive me for that, then there’s nothing I can say.”

Hey remember when Nico said they didn’t see the point of saying sorry if they wouldn’t be forgiven anyways? Yeah.

The foils are foiling :O

Both Teruko and Eden blaming themselves in their own way (Eden mentioned it in Ep10 “just like Min!” and now Teruko’s bringing “misfortune” into the conversation), man we are in for some sad times with these two. And everyone else ig.

Hu: “How could you say it’s just misfortune?” And Hu is very against this idea, interesting.

“So we can’t blame ourselves for failing to prevent something like that.” Ah, there’s the ticket. She’s trying not to feel guilty about it, which is kinda fair, Arei’s death is 99% Ace’s fault.

Eden: “The Ace I met for the first time wasn’t a murderer.” Oof, Eden hitting us with the full highlight line. She’s so great for this honestly. Everything she says afterwards is also great for her character, I love her (and I don’t need to read her lines with suspicion!!! I’m free!!!)

Veronika. And she’s still smiling. Go worst girl! /affectionate

“The only thing anyone can do in this killing game is to shatter.” We are… getting worryingly close to secret quote wording here.

Rose: “Are you saying Ace was pushed into killing because of things like almost being killed?” (Paraphrased) Oh God she’s gonna feel guilty too because she let Nico get the turpentine! Even if that doesn’t work if Ace had already chosen to kill Eden, still! How much self-blame can we have this trial?

Teruko: “No.” Yeah thank you.

Ace: “Did you all get the Veronika virus or what?” God I’m gonna miss him so much actually.

[To Levi] “Shut up for the rest of your life and kill yourself!” Holy SHIT he’s going out with a bang. {Hindsight: I didn’t realize how accurate this would be}

David: “You still have it in you to throw stones in your glass house.” Did this motherfucker correctly use the idiom Ace fucked up earlier? He’s such a piece of shit /affectionate.

Ace: “I don’t care if it made me a hypocrite!” AGH-! New sprite and the voice acting continues the hot streak of being absolutely fucking stellar! Holy hell!

[To Levi] “I just needed a reason to stay mad at you!” Ouchie!

[The whole Levi v Ace thing] This is just fucking incredible. Levi still doesn’t understand, Ace just wanted to stay mad so he could live with his betrayal, just peak character writing all around. And peak VAing, of course.

Teruko: “I need you to do a favor for me. It might just save your life.” YOOO I CALLED THIS!!! Blackened Blaze of Glory let’s fucking goooo!!!! Thanks to shinycrows for asking me that!!!

“Kill MonoTV for me.” Alright so. Not the best plan ever, but then again, it’s not like any plan against the killing game will work on CH2. Also the way she said that was great.

MonoTV: “Yeah, more murder!” Why’s it so funny for?

Teruko: “Arei died because you’re a coward, Ace!” YO why’s she going so hard right now?! This entire scene is incredible, I don’t even have any words for this much peak. The emotion in her voice, holy fuck- Oh yeah because Arei’s crying reminded her of something! In the playground! So Teruko does have a small connection with Arei so she’d feel real bad (for more reason than just death of someone she knew)! I didn’t put that together till now.

[Ace punches MonoTV] PEAAAK! Oh shit it actually broke! That was so fucking awesome! Let’s fucking go Ace!!!!! Also MonoTV is definitely just coming back, right?

That broken MonoTV sprite though!

Eden: “Finally, it’s over—“ The lack of music is making this really impactful, even though we know it won’t work. Holy shit.

MonoTV: “A fatal error has been detected” We breaking out different fonts?

MonoTV: “Now loading the default XF-Ture personality drivers.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AND THE CROWD GOES FUCKING WILD!!!!

Now we have the question. Was MonoTV created by XF for the game? Or did XF just create the AI, and someone repurposed it for thre killing game?

Also what are these defaults going to be?

…Wait whose voice is this? Someone we know? Please tell me I’m bad at recognizing voices! {I think it’s still MonoTV’s VA, just doing a different act, but I’m not sure}

[MonoTV speech] Didn’t expect MonoTV of all damn characters to have a badass moment, but I guess this is the world we live in now.

“But there is no reason to punish Ace a second time.” UHHH Chat are we cooked?

The death of every participant? This is about rule 14, right? “All murderers must be held accountable”? The “everyone is responsible for Mai’s death and must be punished” theory seems to be gaining ground.

It’s also saying this is why it was created, so XF likely did have a direct hand in the killing game. Min MM not looking so implausible all of the sudden.

“I will pass the punishment…” chat we’re actually immensely cooked what.

“I will now proceed with the execution of Teruko Tawaki.” UHHH LUCK BETTER COME IN CLUTCH!!!

[Machine Gun] BRO?!?!?!

Charles: “That thing will surely kill you!” Even Charles is sounding extremely distressed here, damn! But I guess Teruko is relying on her luck maybe?

Whit: “Charles! Stop talking and cover your eyes!” I mean yeah good advice but you know- More pressing things atm

Teruko: “No :)” Why’s she so silly coded?

Teruko: “Killed? I doubt it. As if something so kind could happen to me.” AAAAAAH!!!! The suicidal tendencies return with a vengeance!!!

[Her speech] Holy fuck holy fuck this is crazy she’s actually doing the unhinged Lucky Student thing of relying on luck she’s going in I’m so terrified for what’s about to happen.

“I’ll show you all what it means to be the Ultimate Lucky Student.” Shit boutta go crazy.

[LEVI DOES THE THING] OF FUCKING COURSE!

Bro I was not ready for this. I wasn’t ready in the slightest. This motherfucker better survive against all odds or it’s all over.

Bro that sprite- He’s so cooked.

MonoTV: “His injuries are not fatal” Wait are we saved? Arturo look I know you’re not a doctor but for the love of God tell me you can do something about this holy shit. I wasn’t ready for this.

VERONIKA. Holy shit she’s actually insane.

Arturo: “He could live…” Please??? For me???

Wait now that I’m thinking about it. He hasn’t said his secret quote. We might be saved.

[Whit sprite] … Huh??? Bro what the fuck is happening this episode.

Ace: “Execute me right now!” Ough this shit insane!!! I can’t- I genuinely can’t react. I’m just overcome with emotion at this point.

“I’ll have a third death in my hands!” … Wait the math. Unless he’s counting himself… does he blame himself for Taylor’s death???

[The entire Arturo - Ace debacle] I…holy shit???? The genuine distress in Arturo’s voice when he says he can’t save Levi??? Ace clinging to the hope that he can??? Bro what the fuck??? This is insane???? I can’t- I can’t compute- This is actually insane. This is so much. Levi better not fucking die after this I swear to god-

Ace: “I don’t want to die…” Holy shit dev did it. I’m feeling just as bad for Ace as I felt for Min. Bra-fucking-vo. Holy fuck. No words.

[Thanatophobia]

(Fear of death right? Fits)

… Okay, so. I know someone brought up this term in relation to Ace. Genius, first.

Second, that might just be one of the greatest executions I’ve even seen, if not the best. I usually don’t care much about how good executions are, but this… this is incredibly good. The music was banging. The execution method was unique. It wasn’t related to his talent, but his character, which makes it better imo.

(Also are the “unexplained illnesses” related to Xander’s family?)

And even through all this… dev showed the corpse. When they didn’t show Min’s. Why would you allow me to cope even further? You drop XF and show a corpse- holy shit. I just can’t even process anything.

And he didn’t say his quote. He never said it I don’t think. Levi better survive.

VERONIKA. Holy shit she’s actually getting more and more unhinged by the second the hell-? Yeah remember when she looked unnerved by Min’s execution?!?! She ain’t looking unnerved no more!

Hu: “The elevator is open!” We’re just- gonna ignore- Alright, I guess it’s fair. Surely Levi survives right?

Rose please tell me you looked away. I know you saw Levi so it’s not looking great either way, but still.

Teruko: “Go on without me.” Is she going to talk to David maybe? About the secret?

“Everyone was gone.” Alright no, she’s just going to mourn or something?

[Teruko reflects on her similarities to Ace and Arei] I really like this moment, it’s nice of her to say what the audience was probably already thinking.

MonoTV: “I must convince everyone that I’m the villain.” And what does this mean MonoTV? Genuinely too burnt out to think about it any harder rn.

MonoTV: “That is the fate that I have, to make others suffer.” HOW ARE WE TYING MONO FUCKING TV TO THE THEME OF FATE?!?!?!WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT FUCKING “TERUKO-MONOTV PARALLELS” WHAT THE FUCK?! DEV YOU SON OF A BITCH YOU DID IT AGAIN!!! /positive

[Teruko breaks down] Holy hell…

“I had known the answer…” AUGH- The character writing… it’s so good… fucking hell this is incredible…

Where do we even go from here? Teruko’s speed running the themes of trust and fate like they’re not the main themes of the series?!?! I’m going crazy.

… Are we seriously leaving it on a cliffhanger whether Levi is alive or not? Like, I know the “surviving students” thing counted him, so I’m guessing he’s alive, but… hot damn. This is an evil cliffhanger.

(Also I find it funny that David’s silhouette sprite did in fact change to what the dev said was his new default lol)

“Seems there’s something he’s not proud of” The nailbiting right.

-

General Thoughts

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Bro how the fuck am I expected to even begin to summarize this shit?!?!

Okay, in… ascending order of crazy.

Did David just… not speak almost the entire episode? Did he even have any lines when Teruko was being executed? The fuck is going on with him? He didn’t even reveal Teruko’s secret???

Veronika was unhinged. Loved that for her. Hope she gets worse, it seems like CH3 will be a fun chapter for her (I hope that doesn’t mean she dies).

Whit officially gets his very own unhinged/breakdown sprite! We’ve completed the set! I mean, it’s not as crazy as others, but it matches Rose’s so…

Everyone endures further trauma, fun.

I even feel bad for Arturo! Poor guy did not ask for this shit! There’s fun foils here with Levi trying to protect the group as much as he can and Arturo being forced into the role…

Also. Of all ships. I did not expect Aceturo to get a dub here somehow.

I somehow called more or less predicted what Teruko was gonna do. Fun how that happened. And her little character reflection at the end was awesome, I loved it very much. Jesus fuck.

That’s gotta be the best execution I’ve ever seen, hands down. I don’t care that there wasn’t a single horse there. This is much better.

Also, no secret quote from Ace. So those are 100% not a good metric for defining who is at risk of death. Wonder if that means we’ll get a flashback with him?

XF-Ture Tech?!?!?! MonoTV character building kinda?!?!?!?! I’m going crazy?!?!?!

Levi??? This motherfucker better be alive. There’s no reason he should be dead, so I’m gonna assume he’s alive. But wow… I guess weightedblankettt was sorta right on the “final orbit” interpretation of Levi’s connection to Shoemaker-Levy 9, just… not in a way we expected. (If that meant nothing to you don’t worry about it).

And Ace… Hot damn. Just… an entire character arc at the eleventh minute, huh? How’s that for the people who were saying Ace wouldn’t be remembered, huh? Levi probably owes him his life, in a way. He broke MonoTV. He faced his thanatophobia to try to help Levi survive. Just… so fucking good. I said it in the reaction. I genuinely felt just as much grief for him as I did Min. And coming from me, that’s… a lot. Just incredible writing and voice acting and everything in between…

This cements it, btw. This is my favorite trial from anything DR related ever. It’s genuinely insane. I am going to make a more detailed, more coherent post analyzing the entirety of Part 2 of this chapter, because it deserves it. It deserves more thought than I’m able to give right now on account of feeling too many emotions. Stay tuned for that, I guess.

Props to the dev, the VAs, and anyone who might have laid a hand on this at some point. It’s genuinely incredible, this is an unforgettable experience. Holy shit.

I don’t- I don’t have the emotional energy to keep writing. Just… I think I need to calm down for a few hours. Genuinely loved every second of this. Thanks for reading, and see you when I gather my thoughts enough to trust myself to be coherent.

[tadpoledancer]

I need sociologists to study the phenomenon of people becoming even more reckless about health than they were before covid the second the mask mandates were lifted

[raayllum]

SO WHAT IS THE TRUTH

[quartzroolz]

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?

[alexturntable]

"We took the anti stall" "The anti stall cannot stop the engine. The engine switched off."

[snailtowne]

angel of death, how you've fallen!

[k-chips]

I need someone to tell me wtf is happening in the Genshin developer team because why do we need Chasca to tell us 6 times in a row that her and Chuychu have a difficult relationship, misunderstandings and fight a lot but actually care for each other because "we're sisters, we grew up together. We're not related by blood but we're similar. I love her but it's hard. Also, we're sisters"

AND Ororon to tell us 10 times that "Hey look, grandma has a soft spot for you. See? Told you she only does that with YOU. Ahaha grandma lies the traveler. Hey did I mention she likes you?"

In the past we always had characters who could make you feel their bond and affection but also their rivality and misunderstanding through a few words and, most importantly, ACTIONS.

They didn't need to tell me 7 times in the same sentences that Baizhu and Hu Tao have a difficult relationship because of their life choices and beliefs.

You only need to see Arlecchino's demo to understand how much she cares for her children, you don't need to hear her say it 20 times.

The fact that Xianyun considers her disciples her daughters is something you understand the first time you see her talk with Shenhe. You don't need Shenhe to tell you "Yes, she sees me as her daughter".

They didn't have to make Neuvillette make a whole speech about how much he trusts Wriothesley and Wriothesley didn't write an essay on his esteem for the Iudex.

I only had to see a single interaction between Clorinde and Navia to understand them.

WE. COULD. SEE. ALL.THAT.

SHOW. DON'T TELL.

Genshin has always been good at this! That's good writing!

WHAT'S HAPPENING????

Did they fire all the good writers after 4.8?

[hellish-acts]

Sinners what the fuck happened to my game

Does this glitches for everyone or just me??

Sinners I think this game wants me to not sleep at night of something because WHAT HAPPENED TO BUER😭🙏🙏

[lastoneout]

Hey so why the fuck is NaNoWriMo's AI policy page talking like the challenge is about writing a book that you then go on to publish and not a challenge where writers throw caution and their sanity to the wind in the interest of getting a first draft out within 30 days?? Do people usually edit their NaNoWriMo novels while writing them? Do they send them off to friends or paid editors while writing for feedback and grammar/spelling checks? Do they immediately take what they wrote and start pitching it to publishing houses as soon as the clock hits midnight on December 1st??

I've never completed NaNoWriMo but I was always under the assumption that this is a fun challenge mostly for amature/indie writers that's about just finishing a draft of your story at all, it's not about trying to get a book completely finished and published within 30 days?? I mean just WRITING a first draft in that time is impressive, but pulling off also getting it all the way to store shelves in a month?? That's not just absurd it's fucking impossible. No one is doing that.

Like under classism they are saying not everyone can afford an editor...but who the fuck is sending any part of their novel off to an editor or reviewers mid write?? And for ableism, arguing that not everyone can "see" the issues in their writing...it's not about that?? Like Shannon Hale said, your first draft is shoveling sand into a bucket so later you can build castles, if you're worried about fixing errors mid-write you're never going to finish anything. Plus NaNo has never had requirements that your story be polished or edited or whatever, it's just about word count. And focusing on the indie writer scene and publishers??? Again, that's not the goal of this challenge???? You're just supposed to finish your first draft, everything else comes after. Even writers who do plan on trying to get their novels published are probably not sending their FIRST DRAFT that they wrote while sleep deprived over the course of 30 days to editors and agents?? Arguing that some people need AI to make a publishable, edited, polished novel is missing that the point of NaNoWriMo was never about writing something perfect the first try, it's about shoveling sand into buckets so LATER you can build castles. Or idk just shoveling sand into a bucket for the fun of it.

Like am I insane?? None of these arguments hold up for loads of reasons but specifically because if you are doing NaNoWriMo you do not need an editor or reviewers because your first draft is just supposed to exist, adding on the burden of taking that novel from first draft to polished and publishable while also just trying to finish it at all in 30 days is a fever dream, not an achievable aspiration. You don't have time to do that AND write. Hell, most writers in general will tell you to never edit as you go!! Where is this assumption that anyone is doing this to make money coming from?????

(And like, if you do want to go on to look for feedback/editing and try to publish your story and you feel like you need AI for that, you're wrong, but you can do that AFTER the event, that isn't something you need to do while it's happening. While it's happening all you need to do is write. The few times I tried NaNoWriMo I didn't even fix spelling errors as I wrote, I just wrote because all that mattered was the word count. I could worry about the rest later.)

I mean, I know that apparently the team got gutted and replaced which is probably why this shift happened, it's well documented that AI fanatics cannot conceptualize someone making art simply for the joy of creating rather than producing something they can sell for money, they legit see the process as secondary to the goal of getting rich which makes them incompatible with almost all artistic communities, because artists do what they do for the love of the process, not just to have a sellable final piece, but like christ alive I have never seen such a disconnect between what the people running a community think everyone is there for and the wants and needs of the actual people in that community.

Writers don't want AI to write our stories!! Take it from someone who grew up dirt poor and is disabled in a way that makes writing extremely difficult(dyslexia, adhd, hEDS, chronic migraines, fibromyalgia, ect.) I do not want AI to write any story for me. I want to write it. Beating a dead horse here but you are not defending poor or disabled people, you're using us as a meat shield so you can pretend your plagiarism and pollution machine is totally the future~ and take it from me, we're FUCKING sick of it.

From what I remember NaNoWriMo was never about making money for the people who took part, it was about sharing the joy of writing with other writers while tackling a huge challenge. This shift is bullshit for a lot of reasons but it's absolutely bullshit for misunderstanding what the hell drew people to the challenge in the first place.

[m00ngbin]

Mobbing it on company time

[sadie-shrimp]

I’m so grateful for this new spontaneous holiday that has popped up. I have no idea how it started and why it started but I am feasting like a king rn

[orbital-inclination]

Wait

MERMAY IS NEXT MONTH

Wtf

[revindicatedbyhistory-moved]

Argentinian congress votes in favour of "Argentinian Hitler" law

3 hours later

Argentinian congress vanishes "argentinian hitler law" to bottom of dark deep ocean

[retroagehysteria]

CAN I JUST SAY I WON? I WENT TO TELL SOMEONE THAT DOGDAY’S VA IS ON TIKTOK AND HE HIMSELF FUCKING RESPONDED

I WON Y’ALL

[shadowlurkerbug]

VALVE. RELEASE THE LAST TF2 COMIC AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!

[that-sure-is-a-person]

Jayce in s2 E1: is willing to do littrally anything to keep Viktor alive.

Jayce in S2 E6: shoots what Viktor became because of him (who is peaceful and unarmed and helping people), directly in the chest at full power without even having a conversation.