#when all you say is ‘processing time is 2-3 weeks.’ well that kind of leads people to assume the processing time will be 2-3 weeks

[gobbluthbutagirl]

lol so like 100000 years ago, like literally all the way back in MARCH when i was still living in my shithole apartment, i ordered stuff from some company that i had assumed was legit, and i had ordered it to be delivered to my dad’s house because i knew i was about to move out of that shithole and their website said to allow 2-3 weeks for processing before it shipped. well. 2-3 weeks went by, then 2-3 months, and it never shipped. and i noticed some stuff was off about the whole thing, like in the shopify app you couldn’t actually browse the products like you can with literally every other shop, you have to go to their website directly to even see their shit. and because of this there’s also no shop rating in the shopify app like there is with literally every other shop. so i’m like, ok, whatever, i got scammed, and i’m out like $100, but i have other shit going on right now too so i don’t really care that much about that. and i did report it to shopify a couple times like, hey, i never got my shit, but obviously nothing ever came of that. and i’m also separately having a weird problem with my email address where it’s like 14 years old and the provider has actually been defunct for a while now and i literally don’t even know if that’s actually why but ANYWAY every time i try to send an email from my email app it just bounces and doesn’t send and i can’t even log into my account on their website either because the 2-factor authentication they have on there literally does not even work, like it sends me a code and then i put in the code and it’s like, wrong code! even though i know for a fact it’s the right code.

and so anyway all this to say i couldn’t email the company directly either so i was just like whatever. but then i also didn’t want to try to get my bank to refund the charges either because i was like, what if they do eventually ship it? and obviously they wouldn’t do ever do that if i managed to get my money back, and i did want that stuff clearly because otherwise i wouldn’t have ordered it. so i just kind of forgot about it for a while and made a million other online purchases on shopify since then all of which i’ve had zero issues with. so it was just kind of this thing in the background that i was just choosing to not deal with.

but then fast-forward to today. the “order placed” just randomly changed to “shipped.” and there’s no tracking number and i never got any type of email saying it had shipped. and the only time i’ve ever had a package not have a tracking number is when i’ve ordered overseas from the uk and this company is ALLEGEDLY based in the la area so i’m just like…lol. and i don’t know at what point this happened but i tried to click on their website today after this and the domain literally isn’t even registered anymore. so like again…lol. and i’m thinking either this package hasn’t actually shipped and will not actually ship and it was just marked as shipped so they don’t get in trouble for never having shipped it at the six-month mark which is coming up really soon OR if it did ship it did NOT ship from los angeles and instead shipped from somewhere overseas(presumably china) and could i guess actually theoretically arrive at some point within the next month. which of course will be ~6 months after i ordered it. which AGAIN…lol!

[mediumgayitalian]

fic rec friday 3

hi!! welcome to fic rec friday. every week, i pick five fics i have bookmarked and rec them with a little review. check them out!

Memories Made by zjass06

"Hi! I'm Will! You're my new neighbour!" the blonde boy beams; Nico frowns in turn, peering curiously at this Will. "My ma' says not to talk to strangers," Nico replies as he sits himself upon the grass. Will plops himself down next to the dark haired boy, who giggles so purely it makes his smile contagious. "I'm not a stranger, I'm your neighbour! You live next to me now and we can be friends!" Or A few snippets of Nico’s life and how his friendship develops with Will, all within a much treasured treehouse.

childhood friends to lovers will ALWAYS be elite. to me. and the centrality of this treehouse in this fic is so fucking cute bc they absolutely are the type of nerds to have a treehouse they use well into their late teens lol

2. Mafia by @buoyantsaturn

Nico is the most terrifying mob boss in New York, and Will is his live-in doctor. A Mafia Au

MY FAVE SOLANGELO SERIES TBH. like is it toxic a little bit? yeah. did the second one make me squeamish? yeah. in the 6/7 years since its been posted, have i read it literally DOZENS of times?? you betcha. idk man theres something about the danger of it all. the insane mob boss and the doctor hes whipped for. SO SO much fun and so so so romantic

3. you stormed into the battlefield (of my heart) by fedyaism

“Doctor Solace,” he says, “would you be willing to tend to a foe?” Will blinks. (He had practically expected everything but this.) “I’m sorry?” “I need you to heal an enemy for me. Can you do that?” Grace asks in a tone that lets Will know that he wasn’t really asking. “An… an enemy, sir?” “Yes. I will send him to you.” “Of course, General.” (What else could he say?)

this ends ambiguously but i am Choosing to believe they find each other again and live happily ever after for ever and ever bc im a weenie. its just...man fuck the military and i got no fondness for war BUT this isnt real and ergo i can sigh dreamily at love that is inherently kind of tragic and all the more desperately beautiful for you, yknow??

4. It's a Process by @oh-hush-its-perfect

When Nico comes out to Hazel, she really isn't sure how to react. Of course, she loves her brother to pieces, but something is holding her back. It takes a while to get over old beliefs. It takes a while to become accepting. It takes Hazel a while indeed. A.K.A. Nico is gay and Hazel can't wrap her head around it.

contrary to what the summary may lead you to believe, hazel is NOT at all homophobic in this fic. in fact her number one goal at all times is to be supportive, even as she struggles, and you know what? thats more important i think. her love for her brother is so transparently obvious in this one, she spends like 8k words doing everything she can to make SURE she is loving and accepting!!! hazel i love you. also the campfire scene had me giggling fr

5. three times everyone thought they hated each other by lizamarri

and the one time everyone realized they didn't ~ ft. capture the flag, big three kids sparring, will healing nico and being sassy about it, and more. enjoy!

NOTHING hits as hard as flirt fighting. truly nothing. also 3+1s are my weakness i stg, theres just something about outside pov and the sheer clarity of how much they love each other and love driving each other up the wall lmfao

thank you for joining me this friday!! happy reading!!

[shinsorokiri]

The Rockstar and The Farmer

Sam x Reader

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: language, spoilers for Jodi’s heart event, mutual pining, Sam being chaotically smooth

A/N: Yes I’m aware I said I’d hopefully have part two up by the end of the week, yes I am aware it is like three weeks later, everybody makes mistakes and I make big ones frequently. Part 3 will be out eventually, I promise. That being said, enjoy this very late posting of part 2! :)

part [1] 2 [3?]

“Seb, Abigail, and I are gonna unload our gear, so I’ll see you in like… an hour? Or so?” You nod. “Yeah, see you then,” you say, getting up and off the bus. 

You walk back to your farm, being welcomed by your animals almost immediately. You go check up on them and make sure they’re all happy and okay before going inside your house to grab the fish you put on ice for Jodi. You check the clock and see that it took you a decent amount of time to check your animals and decide to start walking over now. You take your time, taking the scenic route and waving to Leah as you pass by her home. You check your watch, making sure

You knock on the door before letting yourself in. “Jodi?” you call out, and she dashes out from the kitchen. “Ah, I’m so glad you came, (Y/n)! And you brought the fish! Wonderful,” she exclaims, and you hurry over to her, handing her the fish. You begin to take it out of the cooler you brought it in while Jodi turns slightly towards the hallway that leads to her two sons’ rooms. “Sam! Could you come in here and help clean this fish?” You hear a pause before Sam’s voice responds, quieter than usual but loud enough for his mom to hear, though you don’t know if she picks up on the subtle annoyance in his tone. “Yes, ma’am.” You hear footsteps and the familiar creak of his bedroom door opening while you take the fish out of the cooler and hold it in your hands, presenting it to Jodi. “Wow, it looks wonderful… and it smells so fresh!” she takes it out of your hands and into hers before smiling at you, “Thanks so much for doing this, (Y/n).”

“No problem, I can help you with cleaning the fish, too, if you’d like,” you offer, and Sam’s eyes light up. “Yes!”

“No!” Jodi and Sam look at each other, and she sighs. “Sam… (Y/n) is our guest, we can’t make them help clean the food they came here to eat.” Sam frowns, disappointed that he’s going to have to gut and clean this fish with his mom instead of his crush best friend. You feel a tinge of disappointment as well, and before you even process, you’re speaking, you blurt out, “Oh no it’s fine! You were kind enough to invite me tonight so the least I can do is help you prepare the meal! Besides, I’ve gotten pretty good at gutting fish, I bet I could teach Sam here a thing or two.” Sam raises his eyebrow at you, obviously amused. “Who said I need someone to teach me?”

“Me, Sam. I know you, and you always need someone to teach you,” you tease, and he rolls his eyes, but the smile on his face gives him away. Jodi watches, her own smile spreading when she seemingly changes her mind. “Oh, fine. You two clean the fish, and I’ll get some sides and all the other ingredients ready, okay?”

“Okay, Jodi,” you say, as Sam takes this fish from his mom, and you follow him into the kitchen. “I have been gutting fish ever since we moved here, farmer, let me show you a thing or two,” he brags and you giggle, rolling your eyes. “Please, Sam. Show me everything I already know.”

“Hey now, did you know that you can do this?” Sam begins to cut into the fish when the knife slips and falls to the floor. You both jump out of the way, and Sam quickly wraps his arms around you, pulling you back to make sure you’d stay safe. You ignore the fuzzy feeling that spreads through your chest and giggle. “No, Sam, I actually didn’t know I could gut the floor while simultaneously gutting a fish,” you joke, and his face turns bright red. “My hands got all slimy from the fish!”

“Yeah. Mhm, okay,” you laugh, bending over to pick up the knife and walking over to the sink to wash it off. “I’m being serious I am so good at gutting these guys,” he whines as you walk over to him and the fish, drying the knife off. You grin at him. “I believe you, but… maybe I should hold the knife,” you tease, standing in front of the fish and getting ready to cut into it. He sighs. “Fine, but I can still show you my tips and tricks… here,” he says, wrapping his arms around you from the back and holding onto your hand with his. You’re grateful that you’re facing the opposite way from him so he can’t see your dopy grin, but Jodi sees it. You and Sam interacting had always put a smile on her face, but especially now. She was excited to see what might come from all this subtle flirting going on between the two of you. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find herself encouraging this subtle flirting. She never thought she’d enjoy watching her son gut a fish this much.

With your help, you and Sam managed to gut the largemouth bass in record time, and Jodi shooed the two of you out of the kitchen so she could cook. “Come on, I have a new song idea and want you to hear it, we should have enough time until the casserole is ready,” Sam says, grabbing your hand and pulling you to his room. You feel your face heat up as Sam’s hand effortlessly intertwines with yours, and smile because you’re about to hear a new Sam original. “Can’t wait to hear Goblin Destroyer perform this one at their next show, you grin, and he chuckles a bit. He let’s go of your hand and scratches his neck. “Well, actually, this is more of a song for me…” he lets you know, quickly turning around and inaudibly mumbling, “and someone else…” You take your seat on his bed, pulling your knees up to your chest and resting your face on your knees. You grin at him as he picks up his guitar and turns to you. He begins to strum his guitar and opens his mouth, getting ready to sing, when suddenly there’s a knock at his door. A tiny little knock. You and Sam glance at each other and he smiles apologetically. “Looks like I’ll have to show you the song after dinner, then,” he places the guitar back on it’s stand and opens the door. “(Y/N)!” Vince yells, running in and hopping up onto Sam’s bed and giving you a hug. You laugh and hug him back. “Hi, Vince!”

Sam stands by his door, leaning against the wall, observing the way you interact with his younger brother. He grins softly. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t warm his heart to know that Vincent loved you almost as much as him. Almost. He realizes that his eyes go from focusing on you and Vince to just you. He’d been trying to make more subtle moves to hint at his interest in you recently, and he’s really hoping that you’ve been picking up on it. But for some reason, it’s getting increasingly harder for him to not just straight up confess to you. In fact, he has a letter telling you to meet him at 8 in front of his house all written up and in his jeans pocket right now. Of course, he’s nervous about how you’ll react, but he really just wants to be able to wrap his arms around you all the time and keep you close to him. He wants to be able to refer to you as his partner with Sam and Abigail and actually mean it. He wants the rest of the people in Pelican Town to know that the farmer who moved here is a part of the community just as much as he is. He just wants you—

“Why are you staring at us like that?” Vince's little voice pulls Sam out of his trance and his eyes widen. “I wasn’t staring.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Was not.”

“Was too.”

“Was no—”

“OKAY! DINNER’S READY EVERYONE!” Jodi yells, cutting the brothers off. You chuckle, watching Vince immediately run out to get food. You look over at Sam, whose face is still red, by the way, and get up off his bed. You walk over to him and tug on the sleeve of his jean jacket. “Come on, rockstar. Let’s go eat.” He grins slightly and follows you out to eh kitchen, sitting next to you. Dinner tastes great, you immediately start asking Jodi a ton of questions about the recipe, which she happily answers and agrees to write it down for you. You already have your mind swimming with ideas to add ingredients that might add more flavor or give the dish a new spin. You almost feel like a part of the family. It ends too soon, though, and before you know it, you’re yawning up a storm. “Oh, (Y/n), you must be tired. You did a lot of running around today,” Jodi mentions, and you wave your hand, shaking your head. “I’m fine, I promise, but it is about time I should head out. I need to go make sure all the animals are all snug and safe,” you say, standing up. “Let me help you clean the table first,” you say, starting to grab your plates. “No, don’t be silly! I can handle that. Sam, why don’t you walk (Y/n) home?” Jodi suggests and Vince jumps up. “Can I go?!”

“No, Vinny, you’re staying here. It’s nearly your bedtime,” Jodi says, and Vince whines. You give him a goodbye hug and make your way to the front door, putting your shoes on. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Thank you so much for the delicious meal!” you yell as you walk out of the house, Sam closing the door behind the two of you. Although it’s summer, it’s a very chilly night. And silly you, you left our jacket at your farm. You shiver slightly, and Sam notices. “Here,” he shrugs his jean jacket off, wrapping it around your shoulders. “Oh, no, Sam I’ll be fine—”

“No, no, no, you’re cold, you’re wearing it,” he insists, and you smile softly to yourself. “Thanks.”

“No problem, (Y/n/n).” The two of you walk past Marnie’s ranch, and you watch as fireflies light up the night. “Today was fun,” you say, and Sam nods. “So fun. Thanks again for coming to my show… and for coming to dinner… and helping me gut that fish and not my foot,” he says, causing you to giggle. “Of course. You know I’ll always be at your gigs. Oh! Speaking of you didn’t play me that song!” you exclaim, halting and turning to him. He lets out a small laugh. “That’s okay. I’ll show you another time. You wake up at like 5 in the morning and it’s almost 10:30. I’d rather get you home and in bed,” he says, grabbing your arm and pulling you to walk again. “Aw, so thoughtful,” you tease, before yawning again. “Mhm, and you said you weren’t tired.”

“I’m just used to being tired, comes with the farm.”

“Maybe you should sleep in a little later? Take a nap during the day?”

“Can’t,” you shake your head, “if I’m not caring for the animals, I’m planting crops, and if I’m not planting crops, I’m in the mines, and if I’m not in the mines, I’m fishing, and if I’m not fishing—”

“You’re taking care of the animals… I know. I guess I just worry about you sometimes. You do a lot, you deserve a break,” he shrugs, and you sheepishly grin, looking down at your feet. He’s right, you do overexert yourself. But you have to fix up the Community Center before that idiot Lewis sells it to Joja. You know you have to move quick. “Well once I have the best farm in Pelican Town, I’ll rest,” you say, and Sam rolls his eyes. “(Y/n/n), you already have the best farm in Pelican Town. You’re the farm of Pelican Town,” he says, and you shrug. “Can always be better.”

“I swear one of these days I’m gonna force you to lay down and do nothing all day long. Mark my words.”

“Words marked. I’d like to see you try though,” you say, and he scoffs. “Oh, I won’t just try, I will succeed.” You giggle as you walk onto your land, passing by the little pond by your coop. “Mr. Quackers, if you don’t get inside the coop and stop swimming around so help me Yoba, I will only let you swim in a bucket,” you shout out to your duck, who quacks at you, but seemingly understands the threat. Sam laughs as he waddles into the coop, and you close the door that lets the birds out. None of your babies are getting eaten by anything tonight. Or ever, for that matter. “Mr. Quackers?”

“Yeah. He also responds shockingly well to just Quack. He knows I’m serious when I call him his legal name though,” you grin, and Sam shakes his head. “I can’t believe he actually listened to you.”

“I just have a way with my animals,” you brag, shutting the open barn door after seeing all your animals are safe and sound inside. You glance to where your stable is and see your horse asleep with your dog asleep next to her. “Well, looks like all my animals are accounted for. Thank you for walking me home, Sam,” you grin at him as you get to the front door of your little farmhouse. He grins back. “No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, for sure… oh wait! Your jacket!” you start to shrug it off as he begins walking away. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow anyway. ‘Sides, it looks better on you,” he says, turning around and shooting a wink at you. You feel butterflies erupt in your stomach, and heat start spreading through your face all the way up to your ears. “I’ll get it to you tomorrow!”

“Or you can hold onto it for a bit, really, I don’t mind,” he insists, and you shake your head. But there’s no hiding the smile that breaks out across your face. “G’night, farmer!”

“Goodnight, rockstar,” you say, waving at him as he turns and begins walking home. You walk inside your home, your dog rushing past you when he hears the creaking of your door. You grin and lock your door for the night, slipping your shoes off. You’re about to take Sam’s jacket off when you stop. Maybe you’ll wear this to sleep in tonight. Just because you might as well get as much use out of it before returning it to him. Obviously. That’s a good reason to sleep in it. You change into your pajamas, before slipping the jacket back on and getting under your covers. You breathe in Sam’s cologne, noticing it’s more comforting than it usually is right now, and start drifting off. You don’t even hear your mailbox opening or notice your pup staring at the window for a moment before lying his head back down and falling asleep curled next to you. You fall asleep, with only one thought in your head. 

‘See you tomorrow, rockstar.’

[it-happened-one-fic]

Blood-Stained Camellias - Ayato (Part 2)

Author Notes: Part 2 of this short fic series with Vampire!Ayato! Starting with this chapter, this fic is being edited while I listen to the song "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. I honestly feel kind of bad for Reader, considering the situation I've put them in here, but it all gets better by the end, don't worry. As per usual, Reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-Neutral Reader/ Vampire! AU/ Arranged Marriage/ pining/ romance/ some drama/ fluff with a touch of angst/ sfw

Word Count: 1463

[Part One], [Part Two: You're Here!], [Part 3], [Part 4]

Trigger Warning: Vampires, Mentions of Blood

It had been a week since I’d learned that Ayato was a vampire, and since then, I hadn’t heard a single thing from the Kamisato clan. 

But the silence was anything but reassuring. In fact, it was only making me more anxious.

Not only did I not know how they were going to react to me learning about their rather large and certainly condemning secret, but it was upsetting that they hadn’t contacted me considering my position in relation to them.

I was supposed to be marrying Ayato soon, meaning I would soon be joining both their clan and their family. Ayaka would be my sister-in-law, and Thoma would be a close family friend, while Ayato….. 

Ayato would be my husband.

And though I hadn’t realized, I had become quite so attached to them; I was unsettled and definitely bothered by the silence. Maybe even hurt….

Ayaka was a dear friend, even though our friendship had largely begun due to my politically arranged engagement to Ayato. Thoma was an ally to me as well in a myriad of ways. And, as for Ayato, though I preferred not to consider it, I had become attached to him as well.

My fingers tapped out a nonsensical beat against the table in front of me as I considered what my future might hold now.

Before, it had been marriage and then a family life with the Kamisato clan as I assisted in leading the clan itself. But now I didn’t know.

And even with the crystal clear realization of my lack of knowledge, I still viewed everyone at the Kamisato clan as close, important friends, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would never tell anyone about Ayato’s vampirism. Especially since I knew that would most definitely result in a witch hunt that would likely end in the death of the man I’d come to care for. And even if I hadn’t grown to care for him, I still wouldn’t say anything because I knew perfectly well how much vampires were feared.

After all, up until that fateful night that was not so long ago, I’d genuinely believed that there weren’t any vampires in Inazuma. It had been lauded as one of the few good effects of the Sakoku decree. Because when nothing else could get into Inazuma, the same could be said for vampires.

Which led to the question of how, exactly, Ayato had become one? At the very least, his vampirism did explain his distaste for public appearances, but that hardly remedied the issue.

Because I had to admit that, even after I’d had time to process it all, the knowledge of his vampirism was unsettling.

Though whether that was because he was a vampire or because he hadn’t told me, I didn’t know.

I hardly knew how I’d react or what I’d say when I next saw Ayato, especially after Ayaka and Thoma had hurriedly bundled me out of the Kamisato clan that evening with reassurances that everything would be explained and earnest pleas for me to not say anything.

Which left only one thing as being for sure. That I would most definitely see Ayato again. 

But that came as no surprise. Ayato wasn’t one to leave things hanging. Which meant it was just a matter of time until I had to face him and make my final decision about what I was going to do.

As if on cue, my door was knocked on lightly, and I called out tiredly as I glanced its way, fully expecting to see either my father, with questions about the silence from Ayato despite our upcoming wedding, or a maid, “Come in.”

My eyes widened as, rather than anyone I’d expected, Ayato stepped in with a sly smile on his face that was by now perfectly familiar after our numerous marriage meetings. 

His appearance here alone was enough to tell me that night had already fallen, and I faltered as he calmly closed the door behind him.

“I thought that I might surprise you, and it seems I have caught you wholly off-guard,” His tone was as ever, polite with just a hint of amusement that was clearly visible on his face.

I swallowed, barely getting started speaking before I immediately had to correct myself as I realized, yet again, that I no longer knew where I stood with this man, my husband-to-be, “Aya— Mr. Kamisato. I’d expected word, but not—”

“Not for me to personally come and visit?” His eyes glimmered with unconcealed amusement as he watched me start to scramble to my feet before he amusedly held up a single hand to stop me, “Don’t worry, you can stay seated. I do believe we’re close enough to not have to worry about formalities or polite titles while it's just the two of us, at the very least.”

I sank back down in silent relief. I hadn’t realized it until I started to stand, but the moment he’d come in my legs had begun to feel weak with bundled up anxiety that had been festering the entire time I’d waited on some sort of word from him.

And I didn’t even bother to hide my surprise as I watched Ayato calmly walk over and sit down across from me. Apparently giving me time to collect my thoughts as he elegantly got himself settled.

And finally, after just a little more idle adjusting, he smiled at me in quiet amusement, “I’m sure you have many questions?”

I nodded lightly at his words, quietly noting how his smile was wholly at odds with the cold expression he’d worn the night I’d found out what he was. This was the Ayato, with his all-too frequent mischievousness and habit of laughing at others, that I knew and had grown fond of. But I couldn’t but remain wary of the other side of him that I’d gained a mere glimpse of that night.

I did my best to force myself back into a state of reasonably neutral calm, though, as I responded, “And I’m sure you have many concerns.”

I trailed off, eyeing him carefully but finding myself met with a perfectly calm mask of politeness that had me frowning slightly. Because he’d always been better at this game than I was, having no doubt played it countless times with varying political opponents from a very young age.

I surrendered with a soft sigh, realizing that there was no way I’d get any answers by playing this game with him when I was quite so outmatched, “When did you get turned into a vampire?”

My voice came out soft. Low enough that I doubted much of anyone could hear what I said beyond Ayato. And if he was bothered by my admittedly blunt question, he didn’t show it on his face as his tone shifted to something more businesslike, “Shortly after my parents died. I suspect it was something of any assassination attempt from someone who’d made it across the sea.”

I frowned at his words, silently noting how devoid of emotion they were.

That had been a tumultuous time for the Kamisato clan, and something I’d only really learned about through hearsay until I’d become engaged to Ayato.

But taking over as the clan head had no doubt been difficult enough for Ayato. Coping with being turned into a vampire as well though…..

I stayed silent as he continued, trying not to pay too much attention to how the mischievous gleam had disappeared from Ayato’s eyes in the same way that his polite smile was gone. Making him resemble the way he’d look that night more and more as he spoke, “Ayaka, Thoma, and a few others at the Kamisato Estate, as well as yourself since you found out, are the only ones who know.”

I shifted uncomfortably, not surprised by the small number but also not at all confident about my position on that list.

I was hesitant as I met his light-colored eyes, my fingers twitching where I’d linked them together under the table, “And what do you plan on doing?”

I was proud that my voice didn’t waver as I eyed him, but in no way was I prepared for the smile that spread across his face. Like a ripple flowing out across water and causing my eyes to widen even as he spoke, “I intend to move forward, as I’d already planned too.”

He paused, leaving me hanging as he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a single, perfectly pink camellia that I stared at in slight surprise even as he continued with an all-too-pleased expression, “So let me ask, this time without any political pressure on either of us. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

[radiaurapple]

for the ask writer game:

numbers 3, 11, 14, 43, and 56 :)))))

omg buckle up this is gonna be long (also going to answer thru the lens of Lucid Dreams, sorry Mr. Shingles lol)

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter / fic

I always start with an outline! For a long-form work like Lucid Dreams the outlining process is a little like the underpainting in an oil painting — the purpose is to set the tone and arrange the major shapes in the composition to ensure that it’ll come together into something pleasing. The outline starts with broad strokes and becomes more detailed with each pass. With Lucid Dreams I began with the idea of opening on Alastor meeting a human Lucifer in New Orleans, only for the reader to later realize that the story is not an AU — that both of them are still in the hotel. The next major plot tentpoles were Hollis, Lucifer’s ability, their deal, and Alastor’s trip to Heaven.

When I begin each chapter, I always have a pretty clear idea of what I need to accomplish and how, so it’s just a matter of filling in details. I have a playlist for the fic I always listen to while I’m writing — music really helps me to hold the tone in my head while I’m working. 

Ideally I’d write the entire story before posting anything so I can set up and follow through on story beats, but that isn’t as fun, lol. For Lucid Dreams I write chapters at least 2 weeks in advance, which accomplishes a couple of things:

it makes it possible for me to maintain a consistent update schedule when I’m busy (I even updated Lucid Dreams during my cross-country move!)

it allows me move beats around and set up references within that window so the story feels cohesive

it lets each chapter marinate in my head for a little while before posting, which is super helpful for revision

This amount of lead time has worked pretty well for Lucid Dreams — there’s only a couple of things I would change if I could:

I realized after Ch. 10 that I wish I had made Lucifer’s human eyes green instead of blue (like Eden 🥺)

There’s a scene I really want to add to Ch. 2. I still might sneak it in there if I have time lol!!!

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

how to choose 😭

All time / any fandom:

Running On Air by eleventy7 | Harry Potter (trans women are women) - I am not exaggerating when I say this fic is a perfect execution of the form. It is shockingly good. It easily stands alongside the best novels I’ve ever read. Lucid Dreams is directly inspired by this fic and there’s a little reference to it in Ch. 7. 

Astra Inclinant by eleventy7 | Harry Potter (trans women are women) 

saltwater said by gimmeshellder | Steven Universe

Radioapple:

Strange Appetites by Gotllphi

my kingdom come undone by literalmetaphor

the Wicked Game series by Trashdemonx — I’ve gotta mention this one because this author honestly might be the best smut writer I have encountered in more than a decade of reading fanfiction — I will absolutely be returning to their work to study it whenever I find myself writing a scene with any kind of physical intimacy.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

I am honestly just a very emotional person, lol! I am formerly religious and I often leverage that background for Lucid Dreams, which is certainly cathartic — but in general I don’t draw as much on personal experience for Lucid Dreams as I do for my original work. I have never been to New Orleans, and I am not the Devil. That said, there are elements of the characters’ internal worlds that I see reflected in myself which helps me to write them!

43. Do you take sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the “If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself” kind of person?

When I was younger I always pulled my punches with characters — I’m a very empathetic person and I struggled to bring characters (and myself, and readers) down into dark places. But my best artistic work has always arisen from a kind of feral impulse to capture and reflect pain — it is actually just like the description of Alastor’s second kill in chapter 9. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to understand life as a cycle of making and unmaking, losing and gaining — pain lays the foundation for healing, and that cycle is an essential aspect of the human experience. So I’m no longer afraid of taking my characters all the way down. It certainly isn’t sadistic for me, but it is cathartic, and it makes my work a far better reflection of life. 

56. What’s something about your writing you pride yourself on? 

omg why is this so hard 💀💀

I am a storyteller professionally — I started writing Lucid Dreams after a work-related trauma left me at the lowest I have ever been artistically. This story (and all the nice comments I’ve received about it 🥺) has helped me recover, which is why the prose in Ch. 10 is so much stronger than the prose in Ch. 1. But I’m still not incredibly happy with it, which probably speaks to my own perfectionism more than anything lol. 

So what do I feel Lucid Dreams does well? In the show, we really only see Lucifer and Alastor’s characters at a surface level, and I feel Lucid Dreams is successful at giving them both a complex, realistic, and relatable inner world. I’m also honestly shocked by how tightly constructed and elegant the plot came out — I’ve gotten way more skilled at constructing long-form plots in the past few years and I think that really comes through here.

thanks so much for sending this ask, I had a lot of fun answering!!! ❤️

[unohanabbygirl]

Thanks for tagging me babes ☺️ @sapphireblueye

How many works do you have on A03?

7! Five multi-chaptered and two oneshots

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

481,884 (I honestly thought it was more)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

HOTD, specifically Lucemond with some background pairings.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Forget me not

2. Hiding in plain sight

3. Fill my bleeding heart

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! However my timing is always so bad and it makes me feel shitty but I’m the sort of person who needs some time to think out what I wanna say + I get distracted very easily and forget to do so until weeks later. My responses are horribly late but my words are genuine.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hm, I guess it would be by latest oneshot featuring corpse queen Luke with a very mentally unwell Aemond. Very sad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The ending isn’t published yet since the story won’t be completed for a while but Hiding in plain sight should be my happiest ending according to my plans. Crazy, I know.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I wouldn’t say I receive outright hate. Maybe a few backhanded responses every once in a while but it’s rare.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

YES! Very emotional, 9/10 there will be tears shed while they fuck nasty.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one

Sadly no. I don’t think I’m the type of person who could pull off clashing two different universes and their characters together. It’s a difficult thing to write in my opinion and the handful of crossovers I’ve downloaded so i’ll never lose them are god-tier. Takes a lot of talent me thinks.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge 🧐

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. Its translated in spanish

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope. My process is a very long drawn out one that I don’t want to stress anyone out with while trying to work alongside me. Sometimes it’ll take me weeks or even months to get a chapter out. Im looking at you FMBH.

However I wouldn’t be co-writing something small if the plot interests me. Maybe four chapters or so? Idk

14. What's your all-time favourite ship

IchiRuki (bleach) and Braime. Samdean is a big one too.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Interesting enough I started a WIP when Lucemond was still new so around December-ish. It’s a dragon shifter AU but I don’t know where to take it so she’ll probably never see the light of day. Lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

Conveying emotions I think. Probably because i’ve been down the depression and crappy self image rabbit hole enough to express it in my works. Internal monologue is also one I’m good at.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing! Omg my pacing is ass. Everything is either too slow or too fast which leads to so much re-editing to get it all flowing in an appropriate time.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I don’t do it because google translate isnt very accurate most of the time and language is so important. If I do feel writing dialogue in another language is that important i’ll ask someone who speaks it to help.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Well…does the shitty fic I wrote about Edward/Bella/Jacob in seventh grade count? Because if not then Lucemond it is lol

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Forget me not. She’s an icon, what can I say.

Tagging; @handsome-wise-strong @armonial

[posttexasstressdisorder]

So yeah...it's November...

We have not been given time to process the freak-ass crazy shit that happened in October, and a lotta freak-ass crazy shit went on.

Not sure why, just feelin' the need to report/vent while I sip coffee out here on the tumblr front porch with all the other old tumblr geezers.

Phase 2 of "Octember" has begun in a mix of good/weird/painful shit to work through. A lotta ghosts. Felt both Char and Kyle intensely the last few weeks: my two Gemini Ghosts. They're here but they're not here, and part of you wants them to stay and part of you wants them to leave you alone.

And yeah, money is still front and center in that assortment of emotional intensity. Much gratitude and thanks for the help that has gotten the rent and electric bill paid for yet another 30 days (you know who you are!).

My calculations this month were just a tiny (and ironic) amount off. After the dust settling, thinking I'd gotten it all considered, I ran through the numbers this morning before I left for the credit union, and saw I'd shaved it a little too close and after all was said and done, I was gonna be (drum roll please) $1.16 overdrawn. lulz.

No worries, I thought, being the resourceful hobbit I am I remembered I had a roll of quarters in the murse (what I call my patagonia shoulder bag) for laundry. Peeling off $1.25's worth of quarters, and laughing valiantly with the teller, I asked her to put that in with the roomie's half of the rent and bills.

Total came to a "lucky number" in her culture, and so I didn't think anything of it and got my rent check printed out and came home. Thought I'd (just to be sure) re-check the acct, much to my chagrin I'd mis-read the amt it was gonna be OD'd and hadn't put in quite enough quarters. So I'll head back over there tomorrow and deposit another quarter and laugh with the teller again. I don't wanna be overdrawn by ELEVEN CENTS. Handy dandy visual aid:

Yeah, I laughed, but goddamnit I am so fuckin' tired of the stress of this. The self-inflicted big lady ringing the bell paradin' yer ass around screaming "SHAME! SHAME!"

And then you just shut up and figure out what to make for dinner with what you have left on the eve before you go to the store.

October this year was a hard month on the planet. Lots of thin-veil coincidence/hoo-do shit, lots of miscommunicated things with roomies, with people while out, communication was hard, still is, but it seems to have lightened up some. Almost like gravity is getting stronger and pulling on us all more. Collective angst, personal angst, community angst, all of it just rushing up and saying hello at once.

One big angst for me has always been my fucking TEETH. My parents both had notoriously bad choppers, I know mine have been in need of workin'-on for awhile. I hadn't been to the dentist (before this round of visits) in well over 10 years. I had no insurance for most of my adult life, so I just never thought about it, unless something broke. Had several "It's cheaper to pull than fix" decisions about 20-25 years ago, and lost several back-teeth along with root canals and crowns on what was left. In short, a hot mess.

I have had Medi-Cal since I got into a wreck 3 months after i moved here (7 1/2 years ago), and just never thought that it might cover dental, since no other "insurance" I ever had in Texas ever coverd it. So once I figured out I can get my mouth looked at and worked on for nothing, I started the appointments a few weeks ago.

All of this leading up to this past Monday the 30th, when I got both the updated Covid jab and the current-season's flu-shot, and then went and got my mouth wrenched on and drilled and vacuumed and what-notted for a solid hour. Things have definitely progressed even in the last ten years. I thought I was looking at another surgical molar removal, but no!

They were basically able to use some kind of polymer that they put on and then the assistant pulls the trigger on a UV light-pen to "cure" it, and they do that several times, and completely rebuilt a broken tooth, and frankly, I'm amazed. It feels like the original tooth before it went south, and very little to no pain. And they numbed me up better for that than the last fucking oral surgeon who cut out my lower right back molar back in Texas did.

So a mix of crazy up/down shit, and then trying so goddamn hard to get the money thing right, and then still fucking it up, but comically inept. New-old tooth rocks, they want me back in April to do something else, and I'm fine. They told me to use a "hydropick" and I just looked doc and assistant in the eye and said "there's no money for things like that, I'm "I-brush-with-baking-soda-poor", and the assistant left and came back with a toothbrush, some floss, small bottle of mouthwash, and a little plastic syringe to use with warm salt water to flush the spaces under/between the crowns.

So mouth happy but goddamn, I have been sore for the last few days. Jab site almost done hurting, tooth as well, but muscles not quite recouped from the "Dentist Chair Death Grip"...I put my whole body into it and basically seize up and close my eyes and let them have their way with my mouth.

"Just lie back and think of California, dear!"

[anerdyfeminist]

Very long and self-centered work rant incoming.

I know I've referenced a few things about what a hard and weird time it is at work and honestly I've only said about 5% of the truth of what all I'm carrying and that is going on. The ambiguity around what happens w/ my role, in particular, is killing me. I'm not at risk of losing my job, but a major leadership transition is looming and it's all very confusing. The cut to the chase is that I don't know what my role actually is in the new FY, which starts in 3 weeks now. It's a total shit show and in the process, I've discovered that I could be making almost twice what I make now at different nonprofits in fundraising, in positions that carry about 1/3 the responsibility and weight of other people's roles/livelihoods, etc. (It really is true when you are someone who STAYS you get penalized financially.)

I've loved this mission and this team for nearly 14 years now but IDK how much longer I can wait through all this bullshit. Someone I know from the Austin nonprofit world reached out to me to offer me free career coaching bc she's getting her certification and needs guinea pigs and I don't mind being one because I just need HELP and some outside perspective on what I actually want to do as I am 18 years into my nonprofit career at this point.

At our last session she asked me if I ever think about what's best for me instead of constantly focusing in on what's best for this organization and like I knew that's a problem for me but I didn't KNOW-know it until she said it. It's sitting really heavy for me.

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I'm going to for a second. I'm really good at my job. Like REALLY REALLY GOOD. Like award winning in my industry good. Like has a reputation as one of the few very healthy mangers/team leads of nonprofit fundraising in Austin good. (All 3 of my current direct reports at different times have told me they'll also plan their exits when I go, and I've successfully retained all of them for 5-10 years depending on when they joined.) Like have been attempted headhunted many times but haven't ever wanted to leave this mission before good. Like I wanted to see what's out there that may want me, and I've gotten 3 interviews w/in 2-3 days of contacting some recruiters or putting my resume out there good.

And it's all just making me so fucking sad because I don't WANT to leave, but I DO want to feel appreciated and seen and make the kind of money my peers are, for doing FAR FAR less work....or to at least feel as recognized by my current employer as I do these prospective new ones for how obviously awesome and valuable I am.

I've always been an authority-pleaser (ugh abuse baggage.) I've damaged myself tenaciously reaching goals that were too much, too hard, etc. I've been working now for 25 years in some form or another and I'm consistently told I'm a top performer...so why don't I feel like it here and now??? I started working as a babysitter and tutor when I was like 13, and I began pulling down "real" paychecks when I turned 16. Across the dozens of jobs I've had, I've never had a single corrective action taken against me...I've never been written up or fired. I barely have any listed areas of "needs improvement" on any of my reviews across ALL TIME. I don't say all of this because it's how i believe employees should act, but because I just want to paint a picture for you as to what a dream I am to have on a team because my sense of self-worth has been toxicly linked to what I do/produce and if I can get an A, and if the teacher/boss/lead loves me, since Day 1.

And HEY KIDS, GUESS WHAT??? It hasn't been worth it!!!!!

Thankfully, I do get to take care of myself fairly well in my current organization's culture and I do take time off and I don't have to pull crazy hours. But I also carry and "produce" and take care of way more than anyone else in my side of the org. Way more than anyone SHOULD. It's been admitted to me several times by leadership that I am "the agency's most precious human resource" (even if they don't make me feel that way by how I'm compensated or treated when it comes to this ambiguity.) But carrying this much means I've probably had 2-3 true incidents of burnout w/ my org in the pushing 14 years I've been with them, but I always somehow found a way to recover and get back to happiness or at least contentment.

I'm not sure if that's possible for me now, and it's largely due to the fact that our board doesn't know what they're doing and they are torturing someone who they really really depend on for the agency to stay afloat w/ unnecessary ambiguity. I'm drowning in the ambiguity.

[fuckyeahilike]

This guy is a physicist who became an expert on diabetes type 1 so he could save the life of his son Dave, who got diagnosed at the age of 9.

He quickly found out that doctors think of insulin as this magical potion that is like a get-out-of-jail-free card: as long as you inject your kid with extraordinarily large amounts of insulin every time he has a cake he can lead a "normal life", which for doctors means stuffing himself with the same crap food that makes normal kids diabetics type 2.

At no point do they discuss eating a very low carb diet or even a carnivore diet, because you have to be a vegetarian or die trying. BTW, the fate of those who eat large amounts of starch and sugar and then take in industrial amounts of insulin is pain, morbid obesity, blindness, lost limbs, shot kidneys, several trips a week to the hemodialisis room and very early death. That's not a normal life except in the mind of a doctor.

This part of his testimony, as an expert and as a father, is a terrifying eye-opener to what is going on.

Starting from minute 49:33 onward:

Dave has to wake up at night and take glucose or take insulin very frequently, so (even when you're doing low carb) you still have to be, less so, but you still have to be on the ball.

But imagine (when you're not doing low carb) being on the ball 24/7 but losing all the time. How depressing that life would be. You know, I'm constantly struggling with my diabetes, and now I've got gastroparesis, I can't get my blood sugar under control… Of course (not), and then they (the doctors) stand back and they go why are these people depressed? En masse? And then we have to treat the depression. And it's like, well guess what happens if you normalize your blood sugar, your depression drops to non-diabetic levels. But then they'll turn around and say well you'll be too depressed if you don't eat processed food!

I mean, it is, it is - I could talk to you for hours, Shawn (Dr. Shawn Baker), about the stories… it is a mad house, what with the doctors, the industry, the professional charities…

We went to, uh, Dave was a JDRF children's congress rep from Hawaii (where they live). You should see the food that they give the kids. They give the kids all this food - we sat at a table with 2 and 3 year old type 1 diabetics. You wouldn't believe how much carbohydrate these kids are eating, that was available to them. And, sure enough, about half an hour into the presentation you have a ballroom full of 400 or 500 children with all their parents… the symphony of CGM alarms going off from high blood sugars was nauseating!

And I think… you know, Dave and I still have kind of, like, a PTSD, I mean, we still talk about that (even though) this was almost 8 years ago that we went there; but it was just (unbelievable) the carnage that we saw, and the future that you knew these kids would have. It was astonishing! The (bad) advice that they were given, astonishing!

[susantaylor01]

How to Lose Facial Fat?

Facial fat makes you feel less sure and even embarrassed about how you look. While the concept of spot reduction is not scientifically proven, one can always lose facial fat by aiming for general weight loss combined with some specific lifestyle modifications. Here are some effective ways to give you a leaner face.

1. Diet with No Processed Foods

Anything you may want to do to lose fat can be done through diet. What is important is to have a diet comprising whole foods, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. All this will help you lose body fat throughout your body, including the fat inside your face. Be very careful not to take sugary drinks, processed foods, and too much salt because they cause puffiness and bloating on one's face.

The trick that works behind it is that you are adding as much fiber and protein-rich food as possible, which will eventually make your stomach feel fuller for an extended period. You can hence avoid overeating.

2. Hydrate Your Body

The whole body needs enough intake of water, and that contributes to reducing facial fat too. When you drink enough water, it does not tend to remain in your body, and thus you can avoid all kinds of puffiness and bloating. Water also contributes to digestion and not overeating.

Tip: Have at least 8 glasses of water each day but introduce foods with high water composition, such as cucumbers and melons.

3. Facial Exercises

Facial exercises firm and build the muscles of the face, which would outline the face better. These exercises pinpoint a specific area of the face, which, over time, also tends to melt away fat deposits.

Facial Exercises: Some of the Most Common Exercises Chin Lifts - The head is to be leaned backward, and one should look up to the ceiling. Then, pucker your lips as if going to kiss the ceiling. Hold on for 10 seconds and repeat 10 to 15 times.

Release of the jaw: This exercise is done either in a seated or standing position, keeping your back straight. Chew as if chewing with the mouth shut while humming. After a few seconds, open the mouth wide, placing the tongue at the bottom teeth. Hold for 5 seconds and perform 10 times.

Fish Face: One sucks in his or her cheeks to make a fish face. Hold for 10 seconds and do 15 repetitions.

4. Regular Cardio Exercise

Aerobic workout, otherwise called cardiovascular exercise, has been effective in the burning down of body fat. Just a little jogging, cycling, swimming, and brisk walking will help you burn down calories hence reducing overall body fat that would eventually cut down facial fat.

Tips: Do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio in a week.

5. Avoid Alcohol Consumption

It is highly caloric and can make one gain weight; hence, puff up one's face. Excessive consumption of alcohol dehydrates the body; this probably leads to retention of water by the body, which might cause puffiness of your face.

Tips: Drink in moderation. Go for low-calorie drinks and hydrate yourself meanwhile with a glass of water.

6. Sleep Enough

It will promote weight gain as well as rising levels of cortisol, a fat-storing hormone around your middle. Poor sleeping patterns will puff up your face and dark circles to your eyes.

Tips: Your body needs 7-9 hours of good quality sleep each night to balance your hormones and rule out any possibility of gaining those extra pounds.

7. Use Less Salt and Sugar

Intake of excess salt and sugar gets stored in the body and generally tends to cause bloating and puffiness, especially of the face. Keeping this at an absolute minimum will work for your good in that it minimizes water retention within your body and makes the facial parts leaner.

Tip: Consume fruits; they have natural sugars in them. Say no to artificial foods, as besides added sugars, they also contain a tremendous amount of salt in them.

8. Chewing Gum

This is the exercise for your facial muscles in which just your cheeks and jaws would be working out. It will not melt fat directly; rather, it will also enable you to take a better shape in your facial structure.

Tip: Chomp sugar-free gum so that you are not adding in calories as well as promoting tooth decay.

Potent morning tea destroys 57lbs

9. Good Posture

This can also give your face a nice look just by the way that you make the placement of the neck and shoulder. For example, if you hunch over, you tend to seem as though you have a double chin, and standing or sitting tall makes your face a little thinner.

Tip: Be in the habit of reminding yourself about posture during the day, if you are going to be at your desk all day.

[thefandomenchantress]

Okay so. Had to take a moment to process this post, because it’s super long and detailed and stuff (Which I love whenever I see a super-long theory post about DRDT I get really excited). And holy shit this is so good.

So I agree with pretty much everything, honestly. It actually made me think of a cool concept for Nico’s death, since before this I had absolutely no idea how they would die, but I was pretty sure they would, since I think Ace will survive (due to being extremely biased haha) and Nico surviving with him seems unlikely.

I doubt their fighting will be as frequent in Chapter 3, since now everyone has finally got the sense to realize they should stop that kind of thing from happening, but there’s no way they’d be on good terms, no matter how many chapters pass. Chapter 2 was, if I’m not mistaken, only four or five days long, and if that time frame carries over, that means now to the chapter 5 trial would take place in about two weeks. And Ace will probably need longer than that to get over almost dying and forgive Nico (I’d argue nearly anyone would, even people who don’t hold grudges as…passionately as Ace does). Like you said, usually the last trial is when everyone realizes they need to work together to defeat and mastermind and all that, but that’s kind of hard to do if both Ace and Nico are there. Those two can’t be in the same room without starting a screaming match, let alone cooperate with each other for an extended amount of time.

All this is to say that at some point (imo) Nico probably has to die. But I was never quite sure how to justify that, because although they seem like a chapter three victim to me, how do you really justify killing them off? ‘The person who attempted murder and was raising tensions between people and causing an interesting moral dilemma is now dead for plot reasons, yippee!’.

But then I got to thinking. And I came up with an interesting idea. What if Nico was collateral damage in a murder that was supposed to kill Ace?

Teruko’s almost-murder was something tragic, but not something anyone had any hostility towards Teruko for (after they realized she wasn’t the one who tried to murder someone, that is). Sure, people are sad Xander and Min died, but Xander was trying to kill someone with seemingly no motive, or at least one no one could deduce, and everyone liked both Min and Teruko, so one dying for the other was just an unfortunate sacrifice.

But what happens when the person who dies for another is believed to be the one who should’ve lived? At least by some people, like Hu.

I’m not saying that Nico will sacrifice themselves for Ace, that seems incredibly out of character for them, seeing as they wanted him dead and tried to make it happen themselves. But if they were to somehow interfere with the killer’s plan to kill Ace, whether it be the cliche ‘they just so happened to walk into the room and see him getting murdered’ or not, I think it would be interesting to see how people would react to seeing Ace somehow survive yet again, while Nico dies at the hands of the blackened.

Of course, chapter three usually has three deaths. And if Ace miraculously survives, then that leaves Nico as the only victim. At first I thought this was the end for my theory, since I thought that it was a rule that the blackened could only kill two people, and the blackened obviously wouldn’t keep Ace, a witness, alive on purpose. Which meant they’d have to think they were killing three people, breaking the rule.

…But when I went back to look at the rules, I couldn’t find one about a body count limit. So maybe this could still work?

I’ve always thought the idea of Nico and Levi both dying in chapter three is very cool, since it would lead into Ace’s “I don’t know what to do with myself anymore” arc very well. Him surviving while they didn’t would be…Quite a wake-up call.

The most exciting part about this theory, to me at least, is Hu’s reaction. Can you imagine how distraught she would be, knowing Nico died instead of Ace? That Ace is here instead of them, even though they deserved to survive so much more? (At least according to her).

Anyways enough rambling. This is a very, very cool post and is full of cool ideas.

Danganronpa: Despair Time Mastermind Ranking (Least to Most)

Yeah, I should’ve known that I needed to get around to this someday.

You see, the reason why I hadn’t made a theory about the identity of the Despair Time mastermind is that… I'm not totally convinced on any one person being the mastermind. Like, look at these clowns! They’re all so weird! I love them all for it, obviously, but none of their personality quirks or roles in the story stand out to me as particularly mastermind-y. There are a lot of characters that I believe could be the mastermind, but it’s also pretty easy to convince me out of it for one reason or another.

However, it’s not like I had any idea about who the P:EG mastermind would be, either! At least with two chapters under its belt, I can feel more comfortable that I’m not just fully mischaracterizing the Despair Time cast. And I definitely have things to say about various DRDT masterminds, just… in a way that’s kinda hard to rank.

But, that’s no reason for me to be cowardly! I’m sure that seriously scrutinizing all of the characters’ mastermind potentials and ultimately coming up with who I think the most likely candidate is will be super fun. It’s just… going to be really long, so, buckle in. And maybe prepare to take breaks in the middle.

(Spoilers for all three main canon games and DRDT.)

Why is it going to be so long? Well, it’s because, when it comes to DRDT, I think that my predictions will be at least partially based on how long I think each character will make it into the story. If I have a particularly strong inclination that a character is going to die in Chapter 3.456, no matter how unfounded, it might make me feel worse about their prospects of being the mastermind. That’s not to say that a mastermind can’t appear to die (or actually die) before Chapter 6 rolls around, of course. However, it is an uncommon additional hurdle to the story that would require some justification and a little suspension of disbelief if I’m trying to call it years before it transpires.

So, if we’re going to talk about the mastermind, I need to share my current feelings about where each character might place in the death order. Should I update the title…?

Danganronpa: Despair Time Mastermind Ranking (Least to Most) AND ALSO Death Order Predictions

These are my mastermind rankings, so my opinions on where the characters might be headed will obviously be used as the baseline. Naturally, you don’t need to believe in anything I'm about to throw out here. I’m just trying to explain my thought process so that nothing I say later on will come as a total surprise.

Also, since it’s kind of long, here’s the top of the death order section. I think it’ll provide some important context, but if you want to skip it, look for the other green, bold text.

Some of my thoughts were inspired by anderscim’s death predictions theory, as I read that pretty soon after I joined the fandom. I encourage you to go read their work as well!

The tiers are mostly pretty self explanatory– 3-4 means I think they’re at risk of dying sooner and 4-5 means I think they’re at risk of dying later. But, I’ll give everyone what I hope to be a quick rundown on each character just to explain my thinking. 

Xander: Xander canonically died as the Chapter 1 victim.

Min: Min canonically died as the Chapter 1 blackened.

Arei: While I respect the concept, I personally don’t believe in the “J and Arei swapped places and Arei is actually still alive” theory, and I will be writing the rest of this post accordingly. So, to me, Arei canonically died as the Chapter 2 victim.

Eden: Pretty much anyone who’s seen my DRDT theories at this point shouldn't be surprised that I’m listing Eden as the Chapter 2 killer. The logic behind this belief has been explained by my lovely mutuals here and here.

Levi: Alright, on to the ones I don’t have any concrete evidence to support! (There is concrete evidence behind the ch2 murder, even if you believe it points elsewhere.) Levi has had a decent amount of focus already in his trainwreck of a relationship with Ace and discussions of morality with Eden and Teruko. If he does serve as an accomplice to the Chapter 2 killer (see the first link in Eden’s section), then I feel like his clock will really be ticking. He’d be trapped with the branding of a bad person, his greatest fear, and left without any relationships to lean on. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone targeted him as a victim they “believed deserved to die after what happened,” or even if Levi decided that he was doomed to be a villain from the start and decided to kill. Alternatively, he could try to redeem himself as a classic Chapter 4 buff curse sacrifice in some way. In either case (or even in the case of him just being the Chapter 2 killer), I have my doubts that he’ll be making it too much later into the game.

Arturo: To me, Arturo doesn’t feel like a character set up for incredible longevity. That doesn’t mean I’m pigeonholing him as a one-dimensional villain or pure comedic relief, just that Arturo seems like a character who might be set up to have his ideology lead to his downfall. I don’t think he’s dying in Chapter 2, as I believe the narrative would want to see how he reacts to J burning the bridges between them, but I could definitely see the story only needing one more round of daily life (or possibly a trial as well) to resolve wherever his character is going.

Charles: Look, it’s not only because he’s already been pronounced dead at 3. As I elaborated upon in Charles’ section of this post (The Jerk), Charles feels like he’s speeding towards the end of his character arc far ahead of schedule. It could just be that he needed to learn to make friends quickly before Whit makes an early exit, sending him on a secondary arc where he learns to process his current grief and fears as a parallel to regaining memories about Elliot. However, I find it much more likely that the Inevitable CharWhit Doom Scenario plays out in the opposite direction. He makes a lot of sense as a Chapter 3 victim to me.

Nico: Similar to Arei and J, I am writing all of my theories with the assumption that it really was Nico who attempted to murder Ace in Chapter 2, because I think it makes the most narrative sense. (I could keep typing out a “well, unless” every time, but I don’t really want to eat up my time writing or your time reading all of that.) Through that lens, the fact that Nico has already murdered someone and “gotten away with it,” more or less, puts them in a really weird situation. I don’t really see them killing again, as it feels like we’ve already explored the emotional and narrative implications of that happening through Chapter 2. Although, I can’t deny that it would be interesting to see the fallout of Ace being proven totally right and Hu 100% wrong. Still, if they were to be a survivor after doing something so severe so early into the game, it seems like they would have to undergo some sort of redemption for the audience to accept them as a face of hope in the end. I don’t currently see any great paths to that happening, although there’s obviously still plenty of story time for something to open up. For now, though, I feel more confident in placing them as a early/mid-game victim, likely as a consequence of choosing to harm someone else.

Hu: Given her overall lack of focus in the story thus far, I find it likely that Hu will be one of the focal characters of the Chapter 3 daily life. That could be bad news, considering how Xander and Arei fared after being focused upon in their respective daily lives, but… I dunno, I just feel like Hu would survive it, somehow? Wouldn’t be too surprised if she didn’t, but my gut instinct is that she would. I kind of see her character exiting the story in Chapter 4, no preference on killer vs victim.

Veronika: Veronika is a very weird character (an “oddball,” I’ll call it), and thus, my predictions for her are strongly based on the patterns that oddball characters normally follow. I’ll be using canon characters only, because I believe that those are the only killing games that I have the right to assume every DRDT fan has seen. But, you can apply these same kinds of patterns to many fangan characters. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fangans breaking from typical Danganronpa norms and following their own paths. But, in the case of how oddballs are treated, I think these characters generally tend to follow these patterns because they’re sensible writing practices. I’ll try to explain why each of these conventions makes sense in the following bullet points.

Oddballs tend not to die in Chapters 1 or 2. This is because oddball characters are generally created to supply a very niche kind of comedic relief– examples from DRDT could include Arturo’s commentary on ugly people or Ace’s bizarre remarks of cowardice. Any character deemed worthy of being included in a fangan occupies one of 16 highly contested slots. So, if you include a character for the purpose of making jokes with them, you'll want to get your bang for your buck! It’s hard to fit every joke you have in mind into only a chapter or two. The best example I could come up with for a (canon) oddball who dies early is Teruteru. In his case, the writers likely anticipated that his hyper-flirtatious nature would get tiring if it continued on for too long, and thus, exhausted all of the jokes they wanted to make in Chapter 1 before his exit. An oddball who dies this early has a limited shelf life, and is likely accompanied by other oddballs who can pick up the comedic slack.

Many have pointed out that silly oddballs often die in Chapter 3 (Hifumi, Ibuki, Tenko) as a way to signify the death of fun and innocence. You also have a chance to get rid of some of the more sinister oddballs (Celeste, Kiyo) at a point where it seems unfeasible for them to have stuck around this long without… well, killing someone. In either case, it’s because Chapter 3 is a great balance of letting a character stay in a story for long enough that they achieve whatever strange effects you wanted from them, while also clearing them off the stage before you get into the really serious business. Silly oddballs especially may not be equipped to handle the often turbulent natures of Chapter 4 without breaking the serious tone too much, so it’s best to axe them at the midpoint.

Endearing oddballs (Gundham, Gonta) have a hard time making it past Chapter 4. If Chapter 4 is serious, Chapters 5 and 6 are even more so, and the Chapter 4 killer slot in particular is a viable dumping ground for characters who don’t really have a place in the finale. Their deaths are meant to pull at your heartstrings and prove how a killing game can make literally anyone– yes, even that guy– a killer. (Miu is an outlier; more like an extended Chapter 3. Unlike THH, which has its tonal shift at the end-of-Ch3-Sakura Traitor Reveal, and SDR2, which has its tonal shift at Mikan’s insanity and death, v3’s tonal shift comes at Kokichi's accusation and Kaito and Shuichi's argument, or possibly even Miu's death itself. The Chapter 4 Daily Life isn’t all that serious in and of itself. Thus, Miu dying as a Ch4 victim functions more like killing off a silly oddball before she has to deal with all the betrayal and scheming that occurs later on.)

Oddballs really only die in Chapter 5 to the extent that you can count major antagonists like Nagito and Kokichi as Weird Dudes. As the precursor to the big, showstopping, mind-bending Chapter 5 Trial, the mood is typically pretty… straightforward. Depending on the overall plot’s arc, Chapter 5 is either the point where most of the surviving students are concluding their character arcs and learning how potent a weapon teamwork is (THH, SDR2), or a “dark night of the soul” type moment where all of the slowly growing inter-character conflicts are finally coming to a head (v3). It can also be Version A for some characters and Version B for others, but, either way, hijinks are not ensuing, basically. Plot relevant things happen here, and as such, plot relevant characters are the ones who are dying. It can be hard for an oddball to find a place in the narrative relevant enough to serve as one of its final, poignant deaths without also being a major antagonist.

Despite everything I’ve said about oddballs dying, it is definitely possible for oddballs to survive. Danganronpa is, at its core, a dark comedy, and as such killing off all of your funny joke characters before the ending is probably a bad move. Hiro, Toko, Kazuichi, and Himiko are all characters I’d call oddballs that survive until the very end. The difference in their case is that part of their oddball nature is being… kind of pathetic? I think it helps them fade into the background more. It's also probably easier to give them a character arc than some others... like Veronika.

I’m sure that you can find exceptions to these “rules” I’ve laid out, especially amongst casts that have a high percentage of oddballs (which you could certainly argue fits DRDT). However, pattern recognition brain go brrrr. I don’t think that Veronika fits the description of a Chapter 1-2, Chapter 4, or survivor oddball particularly well. That leaves Chapter 3 (sinister) and Chapter 5 (bewildering antagonist). I don’t know if it’s that Veronika doesn't seem to have much of a reason to kill at this point in time or all of Veronika’s weird mastermind coding that makes me think DRDTdev might have greater plans for her. Either way, I’m leaning Chapter 5, probably victim. Jeez, that was a long section for one character. Favoritism, I guess?

J: J gets her own category because, honestly, I have no idea what to do with her. Could J make it to the end? Sure! Could J die in a Chapter 3 scheme? Sure! Could J be the Chapter 2 killer? Well, I personally believe the evidence points elsewhere, but in terms of narrative? Sure! The only real inclination I have is that I think it’s more likely that she would be a killer than a victim, mostly because Ultimate Effects Artist is a talent that could lend itself to some really creative and fun murder setups. Given that I have more characters pegged as early game deaths right now, I lean towards J late game, but… man, I don’t know!

Teruko: Teruko is the protagonist, and also is a Lucky Student who allegedly “can’t die.” Especially after she made that claim, it would be silly if she died before the ending– it’d just kinda make her look like a fool. I’m not averse to theories where Teruko is no longer the protagonist by the end, whether by her death or someone else taking up the role for whatever reason, but in the sense that “Survivor” = “Chapter 6,” I think Teruko will survive. I’m not here to predict crazy last-minute Kiibo-blowing-himself-up twists.

Rose: I think that Rose has a really nice arc of overcoming her fears and becoming less passive set up in front of her. We spent enough time establishing her relationship with Teruko that I could see her being a good potential friend/support character to Teruko in the endgame if relationships with people like Eden or Charles fall through. (And, at this point, you know what I think about Eden and Charles…) She’s also good at delivering low-key jokes that can provide some levity without totally ruining the tone. We already saw some of that in this scene. The main things that I think could be standing in her way are her photographic memory and history of debt. The photographic memory could be too annoying of an obstacle to write around for the entire game, and instead be an ongoing effect set to expire in in Chapter 3. Additionally, a money motive paralleling THH’s in Chapter 3 could be too tempting for Rose to pass up. Really, what I’m saying is, if Rose can make it through Chapter 3, I think she’s golden. We’ll just have to see how that Chapter pans out in the future.

David: Oh, David. Currently serving as Teruko’s largest antagonist, I can see why people would think that he would die in Chapter 5. However, I’m not going to beat around the bush and pretend that I’m the only person who thinks David might survive, either. As an inspirational speaker, David is established early on as a character who should be a beacon of hope, before revealing that he’s more of a hope-sucking black hole. It would make sense if, alongside Teruko, he learns to find more of a balance between blithe optimism and cynical depression and heal as a person. He has a lot of very obvious depth that I think a lot of people want to see explored, and whose exploration would be very on-brand for the themes of a typical killing game story. Plus, if Teruko ever does stop being the protagonist, David probably needs to be alive at that point to pick up the slack.

Ace: Similar to Nico, it seems like we’ve already gotten a taste of what Ace being a victim would be like, in a way where I don’t think we’re going to see it again. He could still be a killer, but would the cowardly Ace even want to attempt killing someone and throwing himself into the scrutiny of a Class Trial? Well, it is true that Ace believes that “[neither] dying young or living a long, shitty life of suffering… are as bad as this” (the killing game?). So, he could simply grow fed up with the killing game and decide that risking a Class Trial is worth it, even if he does wind up dying young. However, if that were to occur, Chapter 2 seems like the narratively best time to do it, as it’s when his emotions are most potent and probably when others would least expect him to do it due to his weakened state. Like Rose, I feel the period Ace has most to worry about is this upcoming Chapter 2 killer slot, but if he makes it through, his arc of learning to escape his fear by bravely rising above it instead of lashing out to try to knock everyone down feels very viable.

Whit: The pro of the Inevitable CharWhit Doom Scenario is that, hopefully, one of the two would manage to make it as a survivor after the other one dies. And, I’m Team Whit Surviving! Not just based on which of the two I like better (they’re my first and second favorite characters, so I’m taking a massive L either way), but because I think it makes more sense for it to be Whit that lives further on. Unlike Charles, who feels like he’s already in the final lap of the character arc race, Whit has barely left the starting line. The laundry scene in Chapter 1 and Whit’s secret in Chapter 2 have both been used to establish that Whit focuses on his and others’ bliss in hopes of remaining ignorant of everything that stresses him. The main offender, of course, being that Whit lies about his mom being alive to presumably stave off his grief. The easiest way to give him a character arc that resolves that issue is to give him something to grieve– namely, Charles– and soon. If Whit’s main character struggle is pretending that people dying doesn’t bother him, he might need an entire Chapter or more to stubbornly show off his central flaw. Now, it is possible that, if Whit can’t overcome this flaw, he could die soon after Charles and meet a tragic fate. But, those just… aren’t the vibes, to me? A post-character arc Whit who knows how to grieve fiercely but healthily might come in handy if Teruko finds herself handling her own emotions about Xander, Min, and/or anyone else at the end of the game.

And here’s the bottom of the death order section!

Finally finished writing something that nobody asked of me at all. Well, I still think it was important, and I hope you feel the same.

Now that we’ve laid all that out, I think it’s finally time to actually see who I think the Danganronpa: Despair Time mastermind might be! Although, please keep in mind that, despite the large preamble full of story predictions, I’m still pretty uncertain on who I think the mastermind is. So, my points might not be the best supported, and I might change my mind again pretty soon after I post this theory. I expect to be far better at disproving why everyone is the mastermind rather than proving why anyone would be, because that’s generally how I feel… but, onwards we go!

#17: Arei Nageishi

(Forgive me for reusing art here, I’ve drawn these bastards ENOUGH /j)

If I were writing this after Despair Time’s prologue, like I did with P:EG, there’s a pretty good chance that Arei, at the very least, wouldn’t have placed dead last. But, well, now Arei is dead. And also last.

Obviously, there are other dead characters too. But still, Arei is the one who I most struggle to see as the mastermind. Given that Arei died as a victim whose body was thoroughly investigated by several parties, it’s pretty hard for me to believe that anyone could have missed any signs of life. I don’t get the sense that DRDT is in some kind of simulation where everyone can magically be alive again at the end either, so I think Arei is, sadly, well and truly dead.

On top of all that, we know a lot about her backstory from her Chapter 2 breakdown, and none of it seems to point her towards masterminding a killing game specifically. She doesn’t have any particular ties to any big organizations that would have helped her accomplish it, either. While she is NOT just a temporary weather spell whose absence will be celebrated and then forgotten, David… I have a hard time believing that the audience would find her character relevant enough(?) to be a good twist mastermind come Chapter 6 several years down the line.

I don’t think I really need to keep elaborating on this. Arei isn’t the mastermind.

#16: Charles Cuevas

I know it’s a bit of a bold move to put a character who’s currently alive below characters who have already died, but… man, I really just don’t see how Charles could pull this off.

And it’s not (just) because I think he’s going to die in Chapter 3 as part of Whit’s character arc, or that I want to believe that he’s a good person. Really, it’s mostly because of his phobias. How is a guy who started gagging at the sight of blood splattered on the floor supposed to be the one who orchestrated an entire death game? Could he get through the process of creating a brutal execution like Min’s without freezing up and freaking out? Even if he could do it, why would he? Sure, he didn’t seem to remember the fact that he had necrophobia until Xander died, but that might be even more of a problem. Wouldn’t the mastermind, who’s certainly had to consider the others’ deaths before, remember that they were afraid of death? He would almost certainly have to be lying about at least the scale of his reaction, although that’s probably a given if he is the mastermind.

Of course, there are mastermind subcategories that could better benefit Charles. If DRDT is actually a simulation, especially one in which the participants don’t actually die, that would definitely make it easier for him to be the one behind it. We’re also meant to believe that Charles has childhood amnesia, so he could have amnesia in other areas as well and be a mastermind who forgot they were one.

However, as I said before, I don’t particularly believe that DRDT is going to be a computer simulation or that Charles is an amnesiac mastermind. I just… don’t see this one in general.

#15: Xander Matthews

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not trying to argue that Xander is actually still alive. The concept that he would be able to fool not only Min, making her believe that she dealt him a fatal blow, but also everyone else as they identified his body, seems outlandish to me. However, just because Xander is dead doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have entered this game as the mastermind.

We know for a fact that Xander wanted to kill Teruko due to his dialogue regarding the note he received, which lines up well with the popular theory that Xander is the individual speaking in the first scene with the papers and the blood. If we assume he is that guy, then it may seem a little counterintuitive to think that the person who says “I have to end the killing game” would be the one behind the killing game. However, he also says, “Even if I can’t do that… I have to kill Teruko Tawaki,” implying that killing Teruko is of a higher priority than ending “the killing game.” Thus, if, for some reason, Xander thought that orchestrating the killing game was the only way to kill Teruko, it’s possible that he would be willing to let the death game roll for as long as it takes to eliminate his bigger target.

However, I can’t deny that the Xander mastermind theory has some massive flaws to it. For one, Xander is dead. I don’t think we’ve technically seen any evidence that the mastermind has to still be alive as of Chapter 2, but a mastermind-less Chapter 6 would be… an interesting challenge to write, to say the least. Also, while Xander betraying Teruko and the others was a great surprising hook the first time, if it happened again, it would be kind of… underwhelming, in my opinion. It’s the same kind of concept I brought up in my Eden’s Garden ranking:

Then, in Chapter 6, we’d be faced with the revelation that, wow, the mildly antagonistic character was actually a really antagonistic character all along! It just doesn’t seem like enough of a dramatic hook to me, I guess?

“Wow, the guy who betrayed Teruko and became a killer actually betrayed Teruko and was the mastermind all along! And now, he’s not even around to reap the social or karmic consequences of it!” You see.

And then, there is the literal interpretation of the text that Xander (if he is bloody hands man) obviously stands against the killing games. He’s also the Ultimate Rebel, someone who stands against corrupt institutions in general.

If Xander is revealed to be evil later down the line, it would make much more sense if it was as a traitor type. As for being the one and only mastermind, I think the odds are pretty low.

#14: Ace Markey

Hey, it’s another character that’s alive! And, this one doesn’t even have a crippling fear of death. However, he is a massive coward, and that’s the main thing that’s dragging him down for me.

Similar to Charles, what would Ace stand to gain from hosting a killing game such as this? Ace doesn’t seem to have any interest in notoriety, money, the destruction of society, despair, or any other things that I can think of that would motivate a typical mastermind. We’ve seen time and time again that Ace cares most about having control over both his life and how other people see him, even though he often fails on both fronts. I guess both of those things could be solved by hosting a killing game, but… Come on, there have gotta be easier ways to do that which don’t threaten your precious life.

Furthermore, what exactly would Ace being the mastermind have to say about the story as a whole? Jockey has to be in the running for “talents that are least relevant to a potential killing game host.” How about the idea that the mastermind nearly died in Chapter 2, only to go off the rails threatening and blaming his assailant? I… always knew that Nico was… fully in the right for doing that, because it would have killed the big bad early??? Ace Mastermind is the preferred ending for those who believe that Nico can do absolutely no wrong, lol.

I can’t remember where I saw it, but I once saw a theory of writing that said that there are two major kinds of character arcs. One is the typical character arc, where the narrative pushes a character's traits to change over the course of the story for better of for worse. The other, this theory posited, was an arc on the part of the viewer, where they learn that a character that they thought was flawed was actually not as flawed as they thought all along. You could potentially apply this kind of thing to Eden: in the first chapter, some people may have seen her as a dim-witted positive girl, but in Chapter 2, we firmly establish that her kindness is not stupidity and learn how her optimism is a strength.

So, you could say that the character arc DRDTdev is going for with Ace is something more like that, where we spend the entire game learning to treat him more seriously just in time for him to be a real threat as the mastermind? It still feels like a bit of a stretch, though– I don’t know exactly what Ace would do to make us take him more seriously that wouldn’t either send him on a growth arc not super befitting of a mastermind or wind up with him being a blackened. Ace as the mastermind certainly isn’t impossible, but I obviously found it unlikely enough that I placed him below one character who is currently (presumed) dead.

#13: Arturo Giles

Arturo’s role in the story so far is not very mastermind-ish, in my mind. In the prologue, we establish him as a cold and judgmental person who puts his own opinions of how the world works over everything else, especially how other people feel. This already feels like how a mastermind would act, so if he turned out to be the mastermind, it would be more of the same.

Then, in Chapter 2, we establish that he’s a massive simp for celebrities, to the point of transforming into something adjacent to comedic relief. We’re meant to think that his over-the-top sprites and refusal to actually listen to anything J is saying is hilariously pathetic. Other characters are constantly dunking on him, such as Teruko calling him a “bigoted” “crazy person,” and even the narrative gets in on the action when highlighting how he cares less about the fact that J’s life was at risk than that she didn’t come out of it with drip. Narratively, we’ve already seen these characters get the better of Arturo. If we the audience interpret that as confirmation that the surviving cast could easily beat Arturo should he ever come to stand in their way, it could diminish the stakes upon his mastermind reveal.

However, for all of his negatives, there are some definite positives to Arturo being the mastermind, too. Despite his comedic effects, we have seen through his threats to Eden that Arturo is very capable of being very scary in a way that I don’t think we have with Ace. The horror factor of a plastic surgeon as the mastermind could be a really fun and creepy design theme to explore. And, Arturo is obviously super obsessed with celebrities. If hosting a deadly TV show is what he thought it would take to get him in with the Hollywood celebrity scene, he might be willing to go for it.

I don’t really know why he would have made his secret what it is if he was going to get that upset about it, though. I guess if there just weren’t any better options that wouldn’t tip his hand…? Also, Arturo would blend in terribly as a survivor. If you’re heading into Chapter 6 and you have to pick the evil character out of (let me spin a wheel real quick...) Teruko, Eden, Rose, Charles, and Arturo, Arturo is definitely the evil one. (Okay, that was actually a terrible randomized draw for Arturo on the innocence front, but I hope you can imagine how he would oddly stick out of most groups.) Like I said in his death predictions, I find it hard to imagine a character arc for Arturo, which is why I find it hard to believe that he would make it as far as Chapter 6.

#12: Min Jeung

Honestly, if Min weren’t (most likely) dead, she might be pretty high on my list of mastermind choices. While not as suspicious as the Spurlings, XF-Ture Tech is pretty suspicious, even more so with the introduction of that one altDRDT character. Min is related to XF-Ture Tech, so if that company has anything to do with the operation of the killing game, she could have been the one behind it. Min is also very smart, and her talent has obvious applications for how it could have been used to set up/influence the killing game. The fact that her talent is so similar to Teruko’s, Ultimate Student versus Ultimate Lucky Student, could have also set them up for some great parallels and duality down the line.

However… Min’s role as the Chapter 1 killer throws a pretty big wrench in her chances. Beyond the dying part, Min’s role as the blackened was incredibly evitable. It’s not like she was thrown into a situation where she had to kill or be killed, or even one where a motive was particularly difficult for her. If she wanted to be the mastermind and survive until the end, all she had to do was walk away from Xander stabbing Teruko and pretend she never saw it. However, if Min’s goal was the inverse of ol’ Bloody Hands (keep the killing game running, but most importantly, keep Teruko alive), her actions could line up. And then, perhaps Min could have falsified her own execution early to draw suspicion off of her, much like Junko did by killing Mukuro.

Beyond her death, though, it’s really Min’s reaction to being the blackened that makes me think she can’t be the mastermind. The stellar voice acting in Min’s breakdown scenes makes me really believe both that this was the first time she had ever hurt anyone as gravely as she did to Xander, and that she fully believed that she was about to die. Those are two things that a mastermind, especially one headed into a fake execution, would not be feeling. Maybe Min memorized how to be a great actress too amongst all those textbooks, but I doubt it. I can still see several reasons why Min would have been a good mastermind, but her actual death and her reaction to being told she was dying knock her down several pegs in my mind.

#11: Hu Jing

Hu is a bit more suspicious to me than some others just because I think she has something to hide. Between her refusal to share whose secret she received or had herself, mysterious “I want to pay for what I’ve done” hidden quote, and intense desire to be relied upon, there’s definitely something about Hu as a person that the narrative has yet to uncover. Could that something be “Hu is the mastermind”? I dunno, maybe.

Hu also has a tendency to react to things with her temper. That could be a sort of foreshadowing to how she would act as the mastermind, much like how David’s brief spell of apathy during the prologue hinted at the way he would act further down the line. Hu’s defense of Nico could act much the same way. Our overall impression of Hu at this point is that, while she is a flawed person, she’s one of the nicest and morally best people in the game, who’s always looking out for others. Defending Nico to the point of babying them might cross the line a little, but she’s only trying to help everyone…! Hu could make it to the end as a believably heroic survivor and then reveal that all of her presumed poor decisions were actually active malice, and I think she could pull that off.

All that being said… I don’t, like, actually think that’s going to happen. In fact, I’m probably overexaggerating the extent to which people think that Hu is nice and morally good. I’ve seen several people discuss the unjust amounts of hate Hu gets in this fandom, which implies that a lot of people hate her, even if I haven’t particularly seen much of it myself. At the very least, I definitely over exaggerated the extent to which people believe Hu could survive! As implied in the death order predictions, I do personally think Hu is going to die, possibly as a consequence of getting too invested in everyone else’s business when they don’t want her to be and/or wearing herself too thin. There are paths which I believe could lead to Hu being the mastermind, but they seem to be the roads less likely traveled.

#10: David Chiem

While I have no doubts that David has the fame, charisma, and worldview to pull off a killing game… I’d have to wonder about how he would see himself playing into all of it. As we saw in Chapter 2, David knows that his career has a lot of value, possibly to himself but definitely to other people, and therefore, he doesn’t want to jeopardize it. In fact, the reveal of his manipulative secret was the inciting incident behind his massive change in characterization. So, if he were the mastermind of a televised killing game… How would he think that would play out to his viewers?

Now, to be fair, there’s a lot we don’t know about the worldbuilding of DRDT. MonoTV claims that the TV show will be broadcast to a widespread audience. Perhaps that indicates that, in the world of DRDT, publicly broadcasting talented young peoples’ violent deaths is normal, or even sought after. Maybe the cast of DRDT forgot about it.

However, David seems to think that people learning that he sees everyone as manipulable would do damage to his reputation, so it’s a bit of a contradiction either way. If the world has been wracked with despair and craves intense violence on TV, then David’s reaction to his secret is either an elaborate lie or the result of the mastermind erasing his own memories regarding the situation. (Or, I guess the public could see death as fine and dandy but manipulation as a cancellable offense, which is… one of the interpretations ever.) Otherwise, in the scenario that the DRDT world is a normal one, David wouldn’t care about being revealed as a manipulator if he’d already committed to the mastermind bit. If his career was already preemptively ruined by agreeing to commit literal murder, why get so worked up about the thought that people might abandon ship over you not being 100% honest?

And then, there’s also the whole “surprise factor” thing that I keep bringing up. Admittedly, it’s been a longer hiatus between the start of Chapter 2 and the end of Chapter 2 than DRDTdev might have been hoping for, but that doesn’t change the fact that this part of David’s characterization happened in Chapter 2. DRDT fans far and wide have written thousands of words gushing over “the David reveal” or “evil David.” If David were unveiled as the mastermind, we’d have to start writing stuff about “the first David reveal” or “when David showed his true colors again.” You see how it kind of takes the hype away from such major plot points? That’s the sort of concept I’ve been trying to get across with some of my other choices too, but a bit more clear cut.

I don’t know why I sound so much like a hater in this section (in my opinion) when I’m literally putting David at #10, above seven other characters. I guess it’s because I can see why his theatricality and traits foiling Teruko could make him a good mastermind, but also have some major issues with the logistics of him getting there. A lot of good points versus a lot of bad points settle out to him winding up someone in the middle.

#9: Levi Fontana

With our first single digit number, we’ve also reached our midway point of mastermind candidates: Levi!

Levi would be a really interesting mastermind choice because of how his character centers around grappling with his morality. I think it would be really intriguing to have a mastermind outwardly struggling with their attempts and failures to be a good person throughout the entire game, only for the player and the characters to receive the full context of the debacle at the very end. I guess in this situation, it would be pretty likely that Levi would be redeemed at the end? That’s not necessarily a problem. (Honestly, I don’t know if I think the DRDT mastermind could be redeemed or not based on the fangan’s themes… that’s a post for another day, perhaps.)

Anyways, I think that what we know of Levi’s backstory could work well with him being the mastermind. If he does have the “murderer without remorse” secret, that would be in line with orchestrating a killing game. We also know that he’s “been disowned” and that he and his family were “all bad influences on each other.” We’re meant to assume that Levi was fortunate enough to escape a bad/abusive situation (and in all likelihood this IS what actually happened!!!!), but we are hearing about the situation from his point of view alone. There is a small possibility that, if Levi is actually a despair enjoyer, his family cut him out because they thought he was a danger to their lives.

I will reiterate again, though, that I don’t think this is the case. Levi seems like he’s a chill guy, or at least that he’s trying very hard to be one despite how he’s been told to react all his life. The whole “mastermind wanting to become a good person” lens also makes less sense given how channeled Levi’s development is through Ace. Like, I would imagine that, if this were the angle DRDTdev was going for, Levi would be making an effort to get along with everyone as part of his atonement. The mastermind randomly choosing to focus on just one person out of the crowd seems kind of strange, especially when that person is someone as disagreeable as Ace. That kind of plot would have big “the mafia CEO vampire prince fell head over heels in love with me, the random average girl” vibes. Repenting mastermind Levi is the preferred ending for pining lovers to enemies to lovers AceVi shippers, lol.

And then there’s the part where I think he’s going to die. I don’t think Levi is the worst mastermind choice, but I think there are better out there.

#8: Nico Hakobyan

Yay, we finally got to one of the characters that Anon thought was suspicious! It only took… 7k+ words. Oh boy.

I definitely think that the cat coding is the strongest thing that Nico has going for them. It would be pretty funny if the extent to which “Ultimate Pet Therapist” is relevant to the plot is the climactic reveal that “yeah Nico has been talking to a (robotic) animal the whole time.” That’s a joke, as Ultimate Pet Therapist is already quite relevant to Nico’s characterization as someone who prefers communicating with animals over people, but it would be funny as hell from a character designing perspective.

There are less silly reasons to believe that Nico is the mastermind too, though. While it seems like, similar to David, pulling the trigger on Nico’s change in behavior in Chapter 2 would be a bit early, I don’t think it’s as destructive to mastermind Nico as it is to mastermind David. There’s a lot more doubt in people’s minds that Nico even did anything to Ace, to the extent that a decent number of people (in the story and out of it) think that it was someone else trying to kill Ace entirely. Nico also has a stalwart defender in Hu, which adds an extra level of intrigue to the situation. Instead of confirming that everyone was right to be suspicious of David, at least some amount of focus could be placed onto Hu being wrong for trusting Nico and failing to see someone’s true colors again, which could be interesting for her characterization if she was alive at that point.

On the other hand, the biggest reason that I think Nico isn’t the mastermind is also because of the attempted Ace murder. Why would Nico, as the mastermind, try to kill Ace at this time? If Nico wins the Class Trial, then the killing game is over, which is probably counter to the mastermind’s goals. If Nico loses the Class Trial, well, we’ll say that the possibility of Nico dying isn’t an issue, as they could just fake their own death or deny entering the execution. But still, why?

It could be that Nico was trying to remove themselves from the killing game on purpose, but I don’t see why it would be necessary. No one was particularly suspicious of Nico being the mastermind, and if they were worried about their gender identity getting out, they could have simply made their secret something else. A mastermind could kill to avoid the killing game falling into a standstill, but tensions were really high at the time that Ace almost died! With a full day left to go before the motive secrets were revealed, such drastic action wasn’t yet forced. I guess the best option would be that Nico was just really angered by what Ace said, and wanted to retaliate as part of their vicious mastermind nature. Is that worth taking yourself out of the killing game and risking the show’s termination, though…?

There is also the possibility that Nico is the mastermind, but didn’t try to kill Ace. In that case, suspicion of Nico would be such a huge in-universe coincidence that I’m doubtful DRDTdev would have included it as a major plot point.

Speaking of “show’s termination,” I also don’t know why Nico would have any involvement in creating a TV show, both from a backstory/talent perspective and a personality one. Nico doesn’t like interacting with people. Therefore, I don’t know what would possess them to want to create and join a TV show for which the major draw is a big stressful discussion between a bunch of people.

I guess I had fewer reasons why I thought Nico would be the mastermind than I thought. I would love to hear more details about why you suspect Nico though, Anon! I’m definitely willing to believe that they could be the mastermind.

#7: Eden Tobisa

Make no mistake, I still think that Eden is the Chapter 2 killer. However, in the case that she isn’t… mastermind isn’t a terrible choice for her.

The biggest draw of Eden being the mastermind would definitely be the shock value. The seemingly nicest character suddenly being revealed as the mastermind would create a huge hurdle for the surviving characters to overcome. Teruko especially, given that she probably would have grown at least a tad closer to Eden if they survived five chapters together. It would be a little mean to give Teruko a trustworthy friend just to rip it away from her again, but I could see the opportunity being used to highlight Teruko’s growth. When Xander and Min betrayed Teruko, she panicked and shut everyone out, but when Eden betrays Teruko at the very end, she’s able to remain strong and rely on the other friends who she continues to trust. Or DRDT could have an unconventional feel-bad ending, I suppose.

If some kind of time loop is at play within DRDT, then Eden’s talent would obviously be thematically and perhaps practically relevant as well. I could see a lot of comparisons being made regarding a killing game being run “like clockwork.” Her secret quote “you can’t go back, no matter how hard you try” is... actually kind of anti-time loop, but at least the concept of going back in time is somewhat related…? Speaking of secret quotes, her Mai quote, “she kept calling the number, even though no one picked it up” is also really weird. That suspicious hidden evidence could point to her being the mastermind.

However, Eden’s personality is a pretty major issue when it comes to her being the mastermind. Shock value is great in the moment, but it can ring hollow in retrospect if people find that the twist doesn’t make any sense. Masterminds aren’t typically known for their kindness or optimism. So, if Eden is the mastermind, it seems like her whole “even if this world is cruel, I’ll still make the choice to be kind” speech is a complete lie. And, that would be a shame! I don’t think that having an unexpected mastermind at the end of the game is worth the cost of completely demolishing a character that we’ve come to know and love over the course of six chapters and several years. (I’m not saying that complete demolition has to be the case if Eden is the mastermind, but I think it’s a reasonable worry that many people have.)

And, I know that all this talk about how wonderful Eden is might sound rich coming from someone who strongly believes that she just killed someone who wanted to be her best friend. But, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? As someone who thinks that Eden is the killer, I know very well how a lot of people have a really hard time believing that Eden could do something as terrible as killing Arei. I can only imagine how hard it would be to accept that Eden was the one who put Arei, Min, Teruko, and everyone else in danger, and the one pulling the strings behind every execution.

Eden as the mastermind, to me, is more tempting in concept than it would be viable in execution. And also, I don’t even think she’s going to live to see the light of Chapter 3 day. However, there’s also some definite emotional power behind the accusation that makes me see how shooting for this ambitious choice could be worth it in the long run.

#6: Whit Young

Alright, it’s finally time to talk about Whit. I know that he’s a really popular mastermind choice, but… I just don’t see it, personally. Even though I put him at 6th place. (I do not enjoy putting him in 6th place.) Is that just because he’s my favorite and I’m attached to my interpretation of the character? Perhaps. But, I’d still like to explore some points that I find faulty.

Perhaps the biggest reason behind suspicion of Whit that I’ve seen is the way that he breaks the fourth wall. People connect his asking people to pause for the evidence list to MonoTV invoking similar mechanics, and lines such as “do you really think she’d be hanging out in the playground” to him knowing more than he’s letting on. However, there are a couple of ways that this accusation can be depowered, in my opinion.

Firstly, Whit isn’t the only person who says stuff like this. Veronika alludes to the killing game before it begins, Teruko also breaks the fourth wall to tell the viewer to pause (albeit only in her thoughts, not out loud), and Arei makes the same kind of “hanging” wordplay in Eden’s flashback that Whit did. I won’t say that characters addressing the fourth wall can’t be important at all, because I believe there are some moments where the other characters commentate on how weird it is that MonoTV is talking to no one. However, I also think that breaking the fourth wall may simply be part of DRDTdev’s humor, as exemplified by that “make sure to like and subscribe so that Teruko has enough mental strength to carry on” joke. Whit is a funny guy, so it just makes sense that if DRDTdev’s brain generates funny meta jokes, Whit would get some of them. Everything that Whit says reminds me more of Mia AceAttorney saying “hit tab to open the Court Record” than some sort of groundbreaking DDLC-Undertale direct communication with the viewer. However, I can see why others would think otherwise.

The second is that I think some of Whit’s comments (more so the “dead at 3” and “hanging in the playground” than the pause) are just meant to showcase his intuition. And, yeah, it could be that DRDTdev has been leaving crumbs of Whit’s intuition behind so that in Chapter 6, he can use it to exploit everyone’s insecurities and greatest despair. To me, though, Whit’s intuition has always reminded me of the myth of Cassandra.

For those who don’t know, Cassandra is a figure in Greek mythology who was blessed/cursed to receive prophecies, but for no one to ever believe them. By my interpretation, Whit is a really smart and perceptive guy who has strikingly accurate gut feelings about how things will play out down the road, even when he doesn’t realize it himself. However, the curse of his own coping mechanism– choosing to act like an eternally cheerful goofball– leads the majority of the other students, and perhaps some of the viewers, to never take his point of view seriously. He can only realize the accuracy behind what he said after the bad things have already happened, leading him to blame himself more and more for not being able to speak up and help when times were tough.

This kind of behavior would line up with two different themes we’ve seen from Whit before. The first, that when he jokes around without thinking, he can accidentally say hurtful things that he later reprimands himself for. We saw that when Charles blew up at him at the end of their shared FTE. The second is Whit’s major theme of good things hiding a darker undercurrent. Being the Ultimate Matchmaker is great until you’ve never had a successful relationship yourself. Having an awesome mom is great until the truth comes out that she’s actually dead, and you’ve been covering it up. Growing super close to someone is great until he dies. Having an amazing intuition and understanding of everyone is great until you can never actually use it to help those you care about. Joking around is great until it's all you can do. Pretending everything is fine is great until it’s not.

Like I said, very specific interpretation. I promise I was not citing classical literature to make my argument sound smarter than it actually is. I am aware that my interpretation of Whit is no less or more valid than everyone else’s. However, it’s one that I hold very close to my heart, and thus, I personally have a hard time seeing around it.

However, I’ve also seen a lot of people argue some valid points for Whit, so I can at least acknowledge that he deserves to be in the upper echelon of choices. There’s a lot of weird stuff regarding him in Literature Girl Insane, and he’s certainly an option of someone who felt so much grief that they became totally empty inside as shown in that one hidden quote. I would be appropriately surprised and heartbroken if Whit revealed himself as the mastermind in Chapter 6, so he checks the box in that regard. There isn’t anything from his backstory that opposes the notion that he set up the killing game, and, to quote what I said about our other Ultimate Matchmaker, Toshiko…

While Ultimate Matchmaker might seem like a silly talent to give the mastermind, it could also be a ruse to distract us from the fact that [Whit] has a talent that allows [him] to read people well and make choices that will impact their lives dramatically.

I don’t like it, but I can see the argument… kind of. To me, most mastermind Whit interpretations feel like mischaracterization, but as a theorist, I always try to keep in mind that I’m the one who could be twisting the text to my whims as well. In this my-opinions-based list, though, he’s not getting any higher than 6th.

#5: Veronika Grebenshchikova

Ooh, what spooky art for a spooky mastermind. Let’s be real, though, Veronika is way too obvious of a mastermind candidate to actually be the mastermind. Unless… she’s so obvious that she loops back around to not being obvious, and thus, is the perfect mastermind candidate?!

Veronika is in a really weird place. I obviously have no doubts that she would have any moral qualms about hosting a killing game, because she’s told us herself that she doesn’t. She knows what Monokuma is in immense detail, but claims to have no idea what a killing game is. She’s dressed really similarly to Junko, though. Is that just a coincidence? Are giant pigtails also a symbol of fear in the DRDTverse? I need ANSWERS, LADY!!!

The biggest problem I see with Veronika is the potential for obviousness. Similar to Arturo, if she actually made it to Chapter 6, I feel like it would be pretty obvious what’s going on. An oddball like Veronika is not the typical survivor type (although she could break the mold). Because Teruko’s character arc is all about trusting people, it would make sense if the reveal of the mastermind was someone who challenged her trust to some degree. With Veronika being obviously unhinged the whole time, I don’t think that Teruko would have any particular difficulties with kicking her to the curb.

However, Veronika clearly has the motive to start a killing game, and potentially to spread despair. DRDT has taken inspiration from Trigger Happy Havoc in the past, so it could make sense if DRDT’s mastermind was also inspired by THH’s. Having a so-obvious-it’s-not-obvious mastermind could also be another way to mess with theorists like me, as DRDTdev did with the comments section portion of Literature Girl Insane. “bro Veronika being the mastermind would be WAY too obvious” sounds EXACTLY like “I just hope XXXXXX doesn’t go crazy and kill in chapter 3. That would be way too predictable” or “XXXXX will obviously die in ch5”. If part of the point of DRDT is to make know-it-all analysts rethink the rules they believe to be set in stone, I could see Veronika as a subversive choice.

Veronika definitely seems to be building up to something, but I don’t know if being the mastermind is exactly it. I think that Veronika could make it pretty late into the game, but I still struggle to see her making it all the way to Chapter 6. I would absolutely love to see what DRDTdev does with her writing if that is the case, though. 

#4: Mai Akasaki

(Well, now I feel bad that I’ve never made a colored portrait of Mai.)

As you may have noticed back at our first entry, Arei, I started the countdown off at seventeen, not sixteen. (If you didn’t remember that, I don’t blame you– it was a WHILE ago.) That’s because I thought it was only fair to include DRDT’s best kept(?) secret, the lovely Unnamed Student herself, Mai Akasaki, as an option! Because, man, is she mysterious in some suspicious ways.

“But, didn’t MonoTV tell the students that the mastermind was one of them? Mai isn’t one of the students in the killing game (unless prosopagnosia is REALLY going crazy), so she can’t be the mastermind, right?” Well, yes and no. The scene where MonoTV confirms the existence of the mastermind is SUPER weird. Let’s take a look at it.

On one hand, MonoTV is still in the Movie Screening Room, where it was JUST talking to the student body, so it would only stand to reason that it’s a continuation of the scene we just saw. However, the setting also seems to be doing everything in its power to tell us that this is NOT the same scene we just saw. The lights have been turned off, even though they were on in the scene just before this. They return to being on in the first scene of Chapter 1, which the students treat as being directly after the scene during which the lights were on before. The widget denoting the time, chapter, and episode has completely disappeared, placing this at an even more unknown time than “Time Unknown.” The text indicating that the speaker is MonoTV has even disappeared! I mean, I assume that MonoTV is still the one saying it, considering that it’s on screen and the speech bubble is pointing right at it, but we don’t even know that for sure!

Additionally, MonoTV refers to the viewers directly (“dear viewers”) two speech bubbles after this one, which makes it seem more like MonoTV is talking to us the audience rather than the students in the room. But then, if the mastermind is “one of you,” and MonoTV is talking to us, wouldn’t that mean the mastermind is someone in the audience? That could lead in to some really meta interpretations of the text (i.e. “DRDTdev is the mastermind of DRDT because he’s the one who created the killing game”) or it could indicate that I’ve gone fully off the rails.��

A midpoint between those two ideas is that the mastermind is part of the in-universe audience watching the killing game, as in, a fictional character who is watching the real-to-them TV show that is Danganronpa: Despair Time. That could include Mai, a very notable character who is not one of the sixteen participants in the killing game.

Side note, I’ve seen some people fight back against the concept that Mai could be the mastermind with the idea that making the mysterious character the mastermind would be too obvious. While I sort of agree, I feel like we’re somewhat overestimating the extent to which Mai is obvious. It’s not like no casual viewers would know who she is, because her image was shown pretty obviously in Chapter 1. However, the name “Mai Akasaki” is only accessible by finding the hidden quotes on the optional associated website’s character profiles. To learn anything about her beyond that, you have to have the thought to type the name into the website URL, and then solve another puzzle just to see the bare bones of what’s there.

I’m not trying to assert any sort of dominance or superiority over DRDT fans on YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, or anything else, but from what I’ve gathered, Tumblr is the place you want to go for deep analysis and theories on DRDT (possibly because of Tumblr’s longer word count). Therefore, anything about DRDT that may seem like common knowledge on Tumblr may only be common knowledge to the fans who specifically bothered to come to the deep lore and crack theories website to find deep lore and crack theories. Essentially, this:

Sort of similar to what Gravity Falls did with the reveal of Bill Cipher back in 2012 (at least I think, I wasn’t actually in the Gravity Falls fandom at that time), I think it would be reasonable to plant clues about an overarching villain that people who want to analyze can analyze ahead of time, such that the villain’s arrival can come as a victory to the puzzle solvers and an exciting new development to the more casual viewers.

However, while I believe that Mai has an awesome setup that she could use to become the mastermind, whether she would actually fit the role is another question entirely. As I alluded to back in the first Mai paragraph, I’m rolling with the widely held (among theorizers) belief that the Unnamed Student in Xander and Min’s bonus episodes is supposed to be Mai. In those episodes, Mai seems to be incredibly caring, peppy, and sweet. She knows a ton of little heartwarming details about Min and Xander, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same is shown to be true with Arei and whoever else’s bonus episodes in the future. Those hidden quotes on Mai’s profile also give off the impression that everyone in the cast really loves Mai– one could call them a “portrait of a person dearly loved,” perhaps.

While it’s possible that these scenes are supposed to highlight Mai’s social prowess and how much she can get people to fall in love with her, they… don’t really seem to be giving off those vibes. We see her thoughts in those bonus videos, and she really does seem to be dedicated to helping Min and Xander out. Mai’s change from someone who wanted nothing more than to help out her friends to someone who was willing to throw all of them into the killing game is something that would have to be explained, and it could be difficult to communicate that shift within the confines of bonus material, if Mai’s content is mostly kept there. There is the concept that Mai could have put her friends into a killing game to protect them somehow, which could be a way to avoid Mai’s character seemingly doing a total 180, but that rationale would need a lot of explanation too.

Otherwise, there’s also the problem that Mai is almost certainly dead. I won’t get super into it myself, because the amazing @1moreff-creator has already done a great job explaining why here (starts in the XI. God is Dead section). I don’t think I need to elaborate on why Mai being dead potentially before the killing game even began would be detrimental to the idea of her being the mastermind.

To be honest, I don’t know how much this idea actually makes sense. I think I’m personally more inclined to believe that Mai could be the mastermind just because I really don’t get mastermind vibes from pretty much anybody in the cast. If the mastermind simply wasn’t one of the members of the main cast, that could solve that issue, right…? Mai is very likely involved in the inception of the killing game somehow, so extending that role to one of being the mastermind isn’t the biggest stretch. However, her personality and living status do throw in some pretty big question marks, so I don’t think she should go any higher.

#3: Teruko Tawaki

Teruko was definitely the first character who I believed could be the mastermind after I watched the series for the first time. However, over time, I’ve sort of fallen off of the idea that she would be. Is that because I’m forgetting key details of the plot, or because I’m drifting closer to the truth…? Honestly, I have no idea.

Let’s start with the strongest “evidence” we have against Teruko, her motive secret: “How could I even select which secret to make your motive? Just about everything you’ve done in your life is worth killing for. The killing game is all your fault.” Although “the killing game [being] all [Teruko’s] fault” sounds pretty damning, there’s the obvious counterargument to be made that this isn’t even Teruko’s motive. In fact, the board currently shows it assigned to Xander. However, the majority of people (including myself) seem to believe that David was lying, and this secret is Teruko’s. So, let’s analyze under that assumption.

Teruko did admit to Veronika that she doesn’t know what secret could be used as her motive because there were so many. Even if that motive secret isn’t hers, that still means that Teruko has done a lot of shady stuff. Teruko’s decision to live on set forever could line up with the mastermind's goal of wanting to keep the cameras rolling as well. The very first scene of DRDT shows that someone who wants the killing game to end also wants Teruko dead, which implies that Teruko and the killing games are on the same side.

Teruko also has a prior history of concealing things about herself from us, the viewing audience. We knew basically nothing about her past or trust issues before Xander stabbed her, causing her sudden change in attitude to come as a blindside. Teruko apparently has a “risky” killing game-ending plan in mind for the end of the second Class Trial that she’s told us absolutely nothing about. And, most notably, Teruko clearly knows things about Mai that she’s decided not to share with viewers at home. (I do believe that Teruko genuinely can’t remember Mai’s name, but she does remember that Mai is similar to Xander and wanted to help, which is more than anything we would have known from the main text on our own).

Point is, DRDT is written in a way where we don’t hear a ton of Teruko’s thoughts. That would make it much easier for her to scheme something behind the scenes, as opposed to someone who we get a lot of emotional reactions or logical theorizing from. It’s actually kind of similar to the difference between Kaede and Shuichi’s styles of narration, as pointed out by ShortOneGaming in their impeccable v3 playthrough! I recommend watching their entire letsplay if you're in the mood for v3, but I found one time where they talked about this concept here. I’ll transcribe it for anyone who doesn’t want to open YouTube right now:

Gina: I do want to call– as my final sort of note– what’s interesting is that you called out immediately that Kaede’s narration was weird. That, it was always, like– dictation? Allison: Yes! Gina: It’s always, like, speaking directly to a person– Allison: Yes! Yes, I did say– It never really felt like actual internal monologue. Like, she never was expressing her thoughts or anything to us. I mean, yes, she was, but then there were those weird moments where she was, like… y’know, hiding it from the player, and… probably from herself, too, to some extent. Like, she was just like, “and then I had to go do this thing.” Um, and like, “we won’t really address how I’m feeling about this.” Gina: Yep. Allison: And at the same time, it hides it from the– the player. And that was very clever. Really good. I mean, her– yeah, her narration was always kind of weird. But, she did have moments where she had internal reflection.

Hopefully, you can see the comparison. By putting a greater emphasis on actions as opposed to what Teruko is feeling (“I kneeled down and touched his neck” after finding Ace’s presumed-dead body; “Everyone else started filtering in” when people walk into the Playground and find Arei’s corpse), it becomes much easier to have Teruko hide exactly what she knows or exactly how she feels about certain events. It’s actually the opposite of the kind of narration that Damon had (“I’m trapped in a killing game… with people who despise me. How… how did this happen? I just wanted to help… I wanted to make sure we didn’t trust each other too easily… and now I’m being treated like the bad guy” after the 0th Class Trial) that made me believe he wasn’t the mastermind!

So, do I think that Teruko would be a mastermind who remembers, or a mastermind who forgot? Well, I could kind of see it either way. Personally, I think that Teruko being a mastermind whose memories are intact is the more interesting version, and I do believe it’s possible. I also don’t understand why someone with as many trust issues as Teruko has would want to remove her own memories if it weren’t necessary. Then again, Teruko being an amnesiac mastermind could make up for some of the… issues that arise with her as a mastermind candidate.

What? She’s in third place, not first. Despite how long I’ve already talked about Teruko, there’s still more to say!

First, the problems if Teruko did retain her memories: why would she ask MonoTV about the mastermind’s identity when the two were alone? Why would she be creating a plan to end the killing game? Why would she pretend to not know who Mariabella Rosales was even though everyone else clearly knew?

And then, the problems that persist even if Teruko did lose her memories: where would Teruko have gotten the resources to plan a killing game of this caliber? Even if she had them, why would she use it on this? Assuming that secret is hers, why would she write that about herself in a plausibly public place (beyond the swapping, Arei looked over Whit’s shoulder)?

Oh yeah, back to that secret. Just because “the killing game is all [Teruko’s] fault” doesn’t mean that she’s the one who planned it. In fact, the wording sounds very accusatory and hostile for something that Teruko would have theoretically written to herself. From the first scene, we already know that there is a person or group of people somewhere who are out to get Teruko. It could make more sense if that entity is the mastermind, and wrote the secret to blame Teruko for whatever she did that got her on their bad side.

There’s probably more to be said, but hopefully you can see why I have so many mixed feelings about Teruko. I definitely think she’s one of the more likely mastermind candidates out there, but I still don’t know exactly how likely that is, y’know?

#2: Rose Lacroix

Once upon a time, a wise and powerful theory alchemist known only by the epithet @1moreff-creator postulated that Rose could be the mastermind of Despair Time, and then never elaborated on the idea at all. For centuries (a couple of weeks) the townsfolk (me) were baffled by these dark and mysterious ramblings. However, as seasons passed by, as travelers came and went, as the tide advanced to kiss the land before slinking back to its home once more– the idea… started making more and more sense?

Rose is a really smart character who has already shown her proficiency in Class Trials. In the first, she utilized her ability to perfectly capture the scene and her knowledge of chromatography. Although her talents haven’t been as useful so far in the second, she’s still managed to keep up with the conversation despite never looking at the scene of the crime. Thus, I can see why, from a writing perspective, DRDTdev would choose to make his mastermind the Ultimate Art Forger.

There’s also the angle that Rose is a criminal, and therefore could be willing to do illegal or immoral things. However, she does seem to be pretty remorseful about it, and she’s already been caught for her criminal behavior before. Unfortunately for her, her relationship with her saviors the Spurlings only makes her all the more suspicious. Even if Rose didn’t want to be the mastermind of a killing game, if the Spurlings forced her to do it, she might have not had a choice. (Xander is very against the Spurlings… Xander is bloody hands guy → stop the killing game → stop the Spurlings?)

I also like the angle of “the Spurlings forced her to do it” because of what I talked about back in Mai’s section– the concept of the mastermind not being among the students. In Rose’s case, you can get the best of both worlds. The entity behind the killing game, the Spurling Foundation, would be a group outside of the killing game for MonoTV to contact, but there would still be a student among the cast’s ranks to suspect and accuse come Chapter 6.

What’s the argument against Rose? Well, I would ask why Rose would want to put herself in this kind of situation, but if it was the Spurlings’ choice, then that explains that. You could say Rose has been too helpful to be a bad guy, but everything she’s done so far has been to help the students win a Class Trial. That keeps the killing game running, which keeps the show on. The biggest problem I’m thinking of at the moment is the notion that the Spurling Foundation would have chosen to make Rose’s secret about how her backstory led her into their clutches. However, the secret doesn’t actually acknowledge the Spurlings by name, and it also frames Rose’s crimes in a way that makes her look like a good person– the opposite of what someone would think of as a mastermind. The secret was also only intended for Rose’s eyes, so it could have functioned as more of a low-key threat to remind her why she needs to stay in line.

Shouldn’t all of this talk of Rose lacking agency make her a bad mastermind candidate, though? If a villain doesn’t even believe in their villainous motivations, the story could end on a really flat note, with the good guys steamrolling an evildoer who doesn’t really care. How are we supposed to reach a satisfying conclusion if the mastermind hardly has anything to be held accountable for?

Those are normally things I would argue, but as many have pointed out, Teruko isn’t a normal protagonist. Actually, I think that this kind of mastermind setup for Rose could be a great way to end Teruko’s arc about learning to trust other people. Rose is the mastermind, somebody who shouldn’t be trusted…! It would be so easy for Teruko to just crush this person who betrayed her into dust– Rose isn’t even putting up much of a fight. But in the end, Teruko will choose to be patient, and see that Rose never wanted to betray Teruko. Even if her actions wound up hurting Teruko and many others, she still deserves a second chance, or at least a second evaluation.

As you saw in the death predictions, I obviously believe that Rose has the potential to make a late game run, whether as a survivor or something else. Writing all of this out, I can see even more clearly why Rose just might be the DRDT mastermind. However, despite all that I wrote, the idea still feels kinda more like a fun AU than the actual truth to me…? So, I still think there’s one person whose chances I like slightly better.

#1: J Rosales

Whaddya know, J’s personal ??? tier catapulted her into the lead. It is probably true that my uncertainty about where she might land is contributing to me deeming her the mastermind– it’s a really weird space in the kill order, as someone who survives long enough to theoretically have a positive character arc while sometimes not being counted among the survivors at the end.

Part of why I put J this high is that I really like the theory of J being the mastermind along with her brother, Ryan. Sadly, I cannot find any of the original theories that postulated this idea to link to, so I’ll try my best to explain what I remember myself. Basically, some people found the scene in c1e4 where Rose doesn’t remember who J is suspicious. They combined this scene with J’s younger brother, Ryan, and J’s talent, the Ultimate Effects Artist, to suggest that J could be using her FX talents to disguise Ryan as herself and have them occasionally trade places. From this Q&A, one of the few things we know about Ryan is that he enjoys crossdressing, which furthers the idea that he could enjoy pretending to be J. Ryan is also (to my memory) the only DRDT character’s sibling whose name we have seen in the main text, which could indicate that he’s more important than Arei’s sisters, Levi’s brothers, or other potential siblings.

I think it’s a really fun idea that I would at the very least want to see come to fruition, regardless of how likely it is. If J was working with Ryan, you can once again repeat the argument that there’s both a mastermind for MonoTV to talk to outside the game and one to be accused within the game. The biggest issue with it is that I don’t know how Arturo wouldn’t see the differences between the two, even if Rose may have. Maybe if J and Ryan haven’t swapped since the Rosales secret got out, and won’t swap again until Arturo dies…? I don’t know, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The thing is, other than just being a unique and interesting concept, I’m not really sure what the point of having J and Ryan swap would be, in universe or out of it. (This is why I wish I could’ve found a link to the original theorist... :,( ) My best argument for in universe would be that there are some things that only J has the skill to do, her being the Ultimate Effects Artist while Ryan is not. However, they couldn’t just have Ryan be the one in the killing game full-time, because he’s too young and therefore wouldn’t have been part of the original Hope’s Peak class. Thus, there are some points in time where J needs to be working behind the scenes (like on the executions or something), and during those intervals, Ryan subs in. Metatextually, I guess it could show how every person in the entertainment industry can be cutthroat, or that every child of a celebrity is bound to get messed up about it somehow…?

Regardless, even if Ryan isn’t involved at all, there are plenty of reasons to suspect J on her own. Ultimate Effects Artist is a highly suspicious talent when it comes to the deception of a killing game (just check out how many people think J already used it to kill Arei), and in connecting her to Hollywood. J may claim to specialize in theater as opposed to television, but 1) she could have been lying, or 2) that could be true, but she’s making an exception this time. Even if she normally works in live theater, if you were a TV executive approached by the daughter of Mariabella Rosales who is also a Hope’s Peak Ultimate student in her own right, would you really turn her away…?

J’s custom weapon is also pretty suspicious. Even if it doesn’t seem to be able to trigger traps like the one used on Levi (though that could be another lie), I could still see it being pretty helpful for subtly operating MonoTV, turning on a monitor, starting an execution, or stuff like that. Charles essentially confirms that the custom weapons were in the students’ rooms since they all woke up, which means that J could have had this remote on her the entire time.

J’s relationships also seem potentially mastermind-y. Thus far, the two characters with which she’s been associated most are Arei and Arturo. Those two (at least, prior to Arei’s change of heart) have been so clearly villainous and hateful that J would obviously look like a nice person in comparison. Why is this helpful? It means that J can get away with doing more objectionable things without raising any huge red flags. If J is the mastermind, we can look back on her demolition of Arturo in the Chapter 2 Trial as a brief early glimpse into how cruel she can really be. But, for the moment, although it’s definitely memorable, many people (including myself) can react to it with a, “yeah, but based on what Arturo was doing to her, it’s kinda justified…” (Not saying it isn’t somewhat justified either way, just that it could also be something more.)

J could also have a range of motivations related to her hatred for her mom. Maybe she’s trying to turn people against the Rosales name to ruin Mariabella’s reputation. Maybe this killing game is a plan to finally have a big artistic success all on her own (or with Ryan) to prove her mom wrong. Maybe she thinks that a world so enamored with fame and glamor deserves to rot in a pit of despair. I don’t know which of these options would be the most likely, but I could see how any of them could be possible explanations for how J got to this point.

I think my biggest argument against J once again comes back to the “why”. I think that J has a lot of potential to be a good mastermind, but I don’t know if that carries over to being a good mastermind for Teruko. Unlike with Rose, I don’t have a good sense of how J being the mastermind would tie into a satisfying ending to Teruko’s trust arc.

@venus-is-thinking and I sometimes like to run randomized killing games as a fun writing exercise (randomize the cast, motives, and mastermind; see where it takes you), and we’ve generally found that the most compelling protagonist-mastermind duos either have the protagonist sharing the same worldview with the mastermind, or being the only person who believes the opposite.

If the protagonist starts with the same beliefs as the mastermind, then defeating the mastermind is a showcase of the protagonist’s development. Hajime and Izuru work as protagonist and mastermind because Izuru is the manifestation of Hajime’s belief that only talented people are important and can make an impact on the world. By renouncing Izuru, Hajime proves that he’s learned that anyone has the chance to change their future if they put in the effort. 

If the protagonist has the opposite opinions from the mastermind, then it proves how crucial the protagonist is to the narrative because they are the only one who could deliver the critical message. A great example of this is Shuichi and Tsumugi. When Tsumugi tries to set up the conflict of “hope good, despair bad” that will keep the killing games going, all of the other surviving students fall for it. Shuichi being the only character who has spent the entire game learning the importance of balancing two extremes makes his callout of Tsumugi incredibly satisfying, and justifies the protagonist swap by proving that Shuichi is the only hero who could have saved this day.

That’s why I think that J would be a great mastermind for a protagonist who has issues with family or stardom, but might not be the best choice for a story with Teruko at the helm. Those are only my observations, though, so I’d understand if DRDTdev planned things differently.

And that is finally the end! Here’s the final tierlist I wound up working off of, which I fiddled with a TON while writing:

(It’s based off of Ocean Unknown’s tierlist!)

Since this has already gone on so long, I’ll try to keep the conclusion brief. Please take all of this with a grain of salt, as I wound up making a lot of claims about writing that don’t necessarily have the strongest foundation. I didn’t write anything that I think is blatantly false, obviously, but whether it’s good advice or not doesn’t necessarily mean that DRDTdev considered it. We may have different priorities in telling a compelling story. And, we’re less than two chapters in! Even the end of the Chapter 2 trial could throw a positive or negative wrench in any of these profiles.

Thank you so much for reading through this whole thing, and if you got through it and still have anything you want me to elaborate on further (a specific character, a specific theory, a specific aspect of fangan writing, etc), I would be happy to do so. I, uh, really hope that this answered the question that Anon asked, haha. Until next time… stay wary. There could be masterminds lurking about...!

[mollynicolemurphy]

Growth…

Everyone keeps pointing out how well I’m handling this breakup. Every friend I speak to or spend time with echoes the very same sentiment. “I’m so proud of you.” They say with such a kind reassuring tone. But isn’t such a weird thing to be proud of someone for? Like I guess maybe they are just proud of the actions I’m taking, the perspective I have and they are not worried I’m gonna do anything stupid. I guess I’m not presenting as helpless or overly distraught or depressed like I have in the past. And it’s true, I am weirdly unattached to almost every outcome in my life right now. I just don’t feel like there is any other way anymore than just to let gooooooooo.

I let go of every expectation I had for myself and my future. It started with narrow one track view on having children. Once I started to reclaim the little girls inside of me that I’ve abandoned for my entire life, understand the subconscious beliefs I had around becoming a mother and what that meant… Then ultimately accepting what life God has presented to me instead… All answers inside my heart and soul have lead to no kids. I’m just not interested at all anymore.

Then of course there is marriage. The Seat of the Soul helped me see that there is no greater partnership than a union of two souls and anything else is just a mechanism to leads us to believe that we are safe and protected in the relationship. And with that, my expectation of being married one day was also lifted.

Then I started to examine my beliefs, the ones that lie beneath any conscious level of comprehension… The subconscious beliefs that are so deep it’s taken 6 books, 3 therapists, 2 sponsors, 1 relationship coach, lots of writing, meditation and countless conversations with friends to discover in a matter of two short weeks. And for someone that has had trouble understanding and processing what I’m feeling, I’d say getting to enough pain forced me to start sifting, sorting and figuring it all out.

So I guess that is something to be proud of… the untangling of deep interwoven beliefs and expectations through my entire being. The surrender to self and to my higher power in a way that I never have before. The ability to sit in discomfort and recognize when shame or blame are trying to take control.

It’s been a journey. A journey back to grace. A surrender to pretty much everything I thought was happening or going to happen. An arrival at what I’m actually feeling in this present moment in time….

Acceptance. Peace. And an excitement for all of the adventures to come. A journey into then unknown.

Growth.

[mikeanzivino]

Mike Anzivino, Realtor extraordinaire, shares his top tips for buying or selling a home

Are you looking for the Best Realtors in Fort Myers. If so, you'll want to read what Mike Anzivino has to say. He's been in the real estate business for over 20 years and has developed some tips that will help you get the most out of your home buying or selling experience.

Tips for Buying or Selling a Home

1. Do your research

One of the first things you'll need to do before either buying or selling a home is do your research. This means understanding the current market and trends, as well as what other homes in your desired price range are currently selling for. If you're looking to buy, be sure to ask around and get estimates from different professionals; while, if you're selling, be prepared to put in a lot of hard work.

2. Get pre-approved for a mortgage

Before even starting the home-buying or home-selling process, it's important to get pre-approved for a mortgage. This way, you'll know exactly how much money you can afford to spend on a property and won't waste any time getting started only to have financing pulled at the last minute.

3. Don't put all your eggs in one basket

When it comes to buying or selling a home, it's important not to put all your eggs in one basket – especially if that basket is an expensive one! Make sure you have multiple offers on hand and compare prices carefully so that you don't end up overpaying for something that won't appreciate in value over time.

4. Get professional help

If you're planning on buying or selling a home solo, be sure to get professional help.

Tips for Preparing for a Home Sale

1. Understand your budget – Before you start any home search or buying process it is important to have a good understanding of your available funds and what you are looking for in a home. This will help you focus on properties that fit within your budget and avoid overspending on something you may not be able to maintain long term.

2. Get pre-approved for a loan – Once you know your budget, it is important to get pre-approved for a loan so that you can get started with your home search as quickly as possible. A pre-approval will give you peace of mind and allow you to begin the process of finding the right property without worrying about financial hurdles.

3. Use online tools – There are many great online tools available that can help you find the perfect home, including websites like real geeks. These tools make it easy to browse through different properties and get an idea of what is available in your area.

4. Look for homes near schools and amenities – When looking for a home, it is important to consider whether or not it is close to schools or other amenities that will be convenient for your family. This way, you won’t have to spend extra time traveling to meet all of your needs.

5. Ask around – Another great way to find the right home is by talking to friends, family members, or other professionals in the market who can give you valuable insight

Tips for Handling Negotiations

1. Know your market. Whether you're buying or selling, make sure to know the current market conditions and what's happening in your neighborhood.

2. Establish a budget. Figure out how much you can afford to spend on a home, as well as what kind of mortgage you qualify for.

3. Be prepared to walk away. If an offer doesn't meet your expectations, don't be afraid to walk away from the negotiation process. There are plenty of other houses out there that may be a better fit for you!

4. Take your time. Don't rush through the negotiations process; it will only lead to frustration on both sides. It can take weeks or even months to purchase or sell a home, so make sure to plan ahead and have patience!

5. Make sure you have all of the paperwork ready before beginning negotiations. Having all of the necessary documents in hand will make the process go more smoothly and help prove your case if something does go wrong along the way!

Conclusion

Mike Anzivino is a real estate extraordinaire and he shared some of his top tips with us today. If you're looking to buy or sell a home, be sure to check out Mike's blog for all the information you need. He is an expert at helping people find their perfect home and he will help make the process as smooth as possible. Thanks, Mike!

[hasilopgesvi06]

14 Magical Manifesting Levels of Climbing to Lotto Jackpot

At any age, we continue to dream. Dreaming is healthy. But, if we will not take action, our dreams will remain an ephemeral dreams forever. The time flies. If you have been dreaming about making a change to get better results in the lottery field, today is the most appropriate day to start. The time flies quickly. That is why, I give you 14 verified stairs to climb quickly.

1} The initial step. All you have to do is to decide to learn how to win the lottery. If you need a few days to decide, decide now that you start today your thinking process that will lead to the final decision.

2} Transformations do not happen spontaneously, nor overnight, especially if you are not in your first youth. But what is important to know, it is the fact that, mo matter your age, you can change your life for the better at any age.

3} " I start today" positive statement. Just do not say:" I will start from tomorrow". Instead of, say: "I start today". The time flies taking your energy away. Tell, or write, or sing this statement daily, every day until your final decision.

4} Physical change. I recommend you to take a simple but effective physical change too. And make it each day as it comes. Time is the ingredient that will help you accomplish a better healthy status. It is one of those things that you can handle easily. You should be ready for tomorrow.

5} First exercise. Start today this exercise. Sit or lay down comfortable. Breathe deeply ten times Cashpot and close your eyes. Start visualize how every muscle is relaxing and enter gradually into sweet magical feeling of realization. Practice this exercise every day and manifesting function will only get easier and faster. I guarantee. Just for 10 minutes on day, let yourself become completely absorbed in the feeling that your specific desire of winning the lottery, is going to manifest in your reality, with every minute that is passing. Feel intensively how your desire is materialized. And see it clearly in your mind.

6} Another effective exercise takes an hour per week. Choose a day this week to relax deeply and completely for two hours. When you feel that you are relaxed, enter into your body, any way you want, and control what is inside there. See how your organs work into perfect harmony and feel joyous. Begin to ask forgiveness from each organ, for the mistakes you have made to them over the years. It is worth millions of dollars. And it opens the door to a healthy status.

7} Enroll your mind. Lotto requests the involvement of your mind. When your mind is involved, you will gain a better understanding of your system and then, you can find more rapidly the best solution for you. In fact, when your mind is involved, every desire you have, can be satisfied.

8} Believing is the key. It is a fact that I verified thousands times. If you are a feeling of doubt, you never can get anything. On the contrary, when you are believing in what you do, the realization appears very soon. Your mind is a powerful manifesting weapon, and it is always attracting whatever you desire, Please, enroll your mind in the battle for happiness.

9} Start today to manifest. I found a short positive affirmation can change your life completely for the better and immediately. This is your day to start manifesting your desire of winning the lottery. .Every day, say "thank you" to who you are, how you are, what you are and where you are. Saying "thank you", every day, you gain the power of manifesting your desire fast. But there is a physiologic sign that shows you when this affirmation began to work. You will feel like you are thirsty and you go to the bathroom often. This will happen for a day or two until your body eliminates a good portion of the toxins collected in the body. After that you will feel a relief throughout the body and a permanent well-being feeling.

10} Eliminate the feeling of limitation of any kind. This is the most dangerous feeling that keep you back and prevent you choose what is really good for you. This is also the cause why you did not win at lotto until now. Now it is the time to go on a practical and inspirational way.

11} Prepare yourself for this new way. In order to win the lottery, you need to gain the necessary skills for such process. This thing takes time, perseverance and rigorous work.

12} Lotto is fundamentally different from other games. In this system, there is not separation between past, present and future. You will learn that the system contains this information as one reality, at any time, in one place and it is ready for who wants to learn it.

13} Lotto is a predictable system. It works by precise rules of functionality. So, when you learn them, you will be able to apply them for future predictions.

14} Combination of methods. You can learn a few methods that will shorten your way to big money.

[atsukawolfcat]

To Appease

Note: Hello lovely people, I have brought to you the next chapter of the pregnant isekai reader series! I will dub the series You Brought This To Yourselves (YBTTY) after the first chapter that started it all. I have been struggling in thinking of a name for the child, or if I should give them one in the first place to keep it as gender-neutral as possible. A possible name could be Angel since it could be either a gender-neutral name or a nickname, but let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Warnings: Female reader, pregnancy mentioned, the reader had a child, not proofread(yet)

Taglist: @the-real-fandom-person

Credit: @boredandelusive

1 | 2 | 3 (You are here!) | 4

Masterlist

The forest was kind to you and your infant child, leading you to food and the wildlife serving as your guardians for a time while you recovered. You looked around and chuckled, thinking back to your cozy home. You pondered for weeks before the birth of your baby if this was just an all too vivid dream, but the lingering scars on your heart and flesh felt too real for you to try to dismiss now. You looked at your arms to see your bundle of joy peacefully taking a nap, and you thought of what to do. There were options for sure, but you seethed at the thought of going to the settlements or towns of any sort. Although it had been about 2 days, you were plagued with nightmares from your months of ill-treatment. Your baby was your only sense of comfort now, considering your little Hilichurl friends were now gone.

You had wandered around the forest, which you were sure wasn't on the map last you remembered in the game. You did remember faintly spawning in more dense trees when you went berserk, but that made it a bit difficult to maneuver around. Which would be perfect to delay any pursuit, but you were also thoroughly confused. Luckily your animal friends were able to guide you to a small clearing and water nearby. You had gotten yourself and your baby cleaned up while the foxes and rabbits brought over food, mostly nearby fruits and vegetables.

Your baby gave a toothless smile at you, flapping their tiny hands around as if trying to give you a hug. You inhaled sharply and brought your baby to your chest in a gentle, motherly hug. 'Oh, what to do. What could I name you?' You have had ideas of course, but none of them seemed to fit your child. Even if you wanted to name them right now, your focus shifted to what transpired days prior. 'That power... I haven't felt it since then.'

Your power seemed to have faded back to the basics, which was just the hum of energy over your skin and the prickle at your neck to warn you of danger, as well as your environment bending to your needs. Nothing of that was from your direct "will" or "ordered", so you aren't sure how to process this. You sighed and focused back on your child, and looked them over to make sure they are okay. You were surprised that everything had proceeded smoothly during the labor, which was really lucky considering your current situation. You heard a snap of a branch, and you immediately stood with your baby in your arms to prepare to either run... or fight.

Ayaka emerged with Mona, both with their heads bowed and hands up. Diona and Klee followed close behind, peeking at you from behind the two girls and Diona gave a shy smile while Klee grinned happily at seeing you. The two children saw your apprehensive expression and tugged at the clothes of Ayaka and Mona. Both girls looked up at you, and despite their in-depth planning beforehand, could not think of anything to say. Ayaka lowered down to her knees and placed her hands on the floor, and let her forehead touch the ground. "Your- Your Grace, we humbly apologize for what you have gone through. We understand this could never be enough to wipe away all the suffering, we hope that you could give us a chance."

If your jaw could unhinge from its place and meet the floor, it would. THE Kamisato Ayaka was here, with 3 others as witnesses, and basically dogeza in front of you. You were taken aback, but you also heard the sincerity in Ayaka's voice. There was something bothering you though...

"Kamisato Ayaka, if memory serves, are you not located in Inazuma? You are quite far from home, little miss." You narrowed your eyes to the white-haired girl and watched as she stiffened under your gaze. "I also would like to know, why are you apologizing? It was not your people who had terrorized me for months and almost had me killed just a few days ago. So why are you here?" Your gaze shifted from Ayaka to Mona, who recoiled upon realizing your gaze on her. Klee raised her little hand, hopping in place as she waved her arm to get your attention.

"Oh! Oh! I know this one! Uhm! The people who had powers had gathered together to welcome you, and were meeting in Liyue as Miss Mona had seen you meet everyone there!" You held back a laugh at the cute gesture of the little Spark Knight. 'Smart, they brought children here that could possibly double as guards and the like, considering I had them built enough to do some damage.' Your gaze went back to Ayaka, who felt your eyes back on her and nodded in agreement.

"That is correct. The Shogunate had been summoned along with some Vision holders, which included Yoimiya and myself. My brother had stayed back to help keep the city running."

"I see. Thank you. Please, get up Ayaka. I am sure it's not comfortable to stay like that." You approached them, still weary, but you felt that you could trust them. For now. You gently grabbed Ayaka's hand to help her up, and your baby coo'ed at the girl. Her face brightened with a smile, and she stared at your child. You turn your attention to Mona, who was still awkwardly standing next to Ayaka, and now in front of you.

"I-I am so sorry, Your Grace! If only I had seen it before-" You raised your free arm and your palm facing her. You chuckled and patted her head.

"Its alright, Mona. I know you do not like using your scryglass constantly, and I myself did not expect to.. erm... appear so suddenly. I just... need some time to recover." Your eyes clouded as you spoke, the months of running playing in your mind again. You shook your head free of it, and focused back on your baby. "I am sure you four are not here on your own. Who else is here, and what is your goal?"

"We just wish to give you comfort, Your Greatness. Have your wounds treated and looked at by a doctor. Your meals served, and everything else in between! We just wish to.. help you rest." Mona rubbed her arm, still feeling guilty over not seeing you in her scryglass sooner. You recoiled, immediately put off by the thought of being served by others, much less by people who hurt you.

"No." You gently shifted your baby to the other arm and walked back to the middle of the clearing. "I will not see anyone fro-"

"Your Grace, I apologize to interrupt you but rest assured it will be the Vision holders who will serve you. We have brought Thoma, Xiangling, and Qiqi for now to assist you. We could also provide you a small house or whatever you would like for shelter!" Ayaka followed behind you, almost hovering over you. You can tell she won't let it down, and honestly, you were hoping to hear what she said. You were exhausted from everything, and only having two days of rest was not enough. The only thing that made you think otherwise was your child.

"I understand Thoma, as I hear he is an excellent housekeeper, and with his gentle demeanor, I could be at ease. But.. Qiqi? Would Barbara not make more sense?" You looked back at Ayaka, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Barbara would have been a wonderful addition, however..." Mona stepped towards you, now looking more composed. "She had to stay behind to help treat the soldiers and erm.. help clean up. We had thought Qiqi and Diona would be more than capable to help you if needed."

"Let me guess, and let me be more comfortable?" Mona and Ayaka nodded, looking over the two children who were now running around giggling and playing about, not even paying attention to the conversation. You sighed for the nth time and pondered for a moment. You felt a slight tugging of your shirt and looked down to see your baby gripping the fabric while tiredly blinking. You smiled and rocked yourself gently to help them fall asleep, which they did soon after.

"Alright, fine. Please bring them, might as well get this over with." You heard quiet cheering from the four girls and they grinned brightly at you. "If you could, please bring a change of clothes and-"

"Yes, of course. Anything you need, Your Holiness!" Mona quickly turned around and disappeared into the dense forest. You and Ayaka laughed at the excited Mona, but relief finally ran through your body as you relaxed more. Hopefully, everything will be better from now on.

[lollypopsx]

Flatmate! Harry: I’ll Make It Up To You - Part 1

Warnings: Swearing, slight angst 

Please like if it’s not too shabby, reblog for anyone who may enjoy this and follow if you want to see more! Any suggestions are happily taken for future writing! I love you all! be safe and be kind x

Part 2 - Part 3

—————————

You was going to kill him. This was the last straw and you had used up every ounce of patience today.

“Harry Edward Styles! Get in here right now or I swear to fucking god you won’t ever breath again!” You shout, your hands clutching the towel wrapped around your body. Your hair styled in a bouncy blow dry with a full face of makeup, a brown smoky eye and a nude lip.

The two of you bicker and argue like enemies, laugh like the best of friends and love each other like a married couple. Although you were only flat mates and nothing had ever gone further than friends, you knew Harry would never see you in that way, however the tiniest part of you had always hoped one day you’d be proven wrong. But you knew all along you’d rather have him as a best friend than lose him all together.

You hear the footsteps round the corner and a grin like the Cheshire Cat plastered on Harrys face “Do you mind? I’m trying to write some music Y/N” he smirks.

“Where the hell are all my clothes?! And where the fuck is my guitar?!” You shout angrily. You were no stranger to practical jokes in this house, both giving and receiving them. But today was different. You had the most important audition of your lifetime, and half of your room had been emptied. 

The laughter escaping Harry’s lips was making you angrier and angrier by the second. “I told you that you’d regret stealing my jumpers!” He smirks.

“That doesn’t mean you take everything I own! Now where to hell is it all?!”

“Ah now you see…this is where it gets fun…you see we’ve made you a little scavenger hunt to find it all. All you have to do is-”

“We?! Who’s we?!” You growl through gritted teeth.

“Ok ok…I can’t take all the credit for this…Niall helped. So…here’s the rules!”

“Harry!” You cut him off “I don’t have time for a fucking scavenger hunt! I have my audition in an hour and I’m already running late! Just get me some fucking clothes and my guitar so I can leave!”

As soon as you had mentioned your audition, the smug grin fell from Harrys face and his rosy cheeks had drained to pale “oh shit. T-that’s today?! I…I thought it was Friday” he frowns “w-well all your stuff is in Niall’s car and he’s in Brighton so I can just get him to drive back asap and…” he fumbles for his phone quickly.

“Brighton?! Harry you have 3 seconds to tell me this is a joke before I rip your pretty little head off! That’s 2 hours away Harry! I’ll never make it in time!”

“Y/N I’m so sorry! I am I really am, I would never have done this today if I knew” Guilt filling his eyes.

“You knew Harry! It’s written on the fridge, on the calendar and you helped me rehearse two days ago!”

“Why don’t I just go and buy you something to wear?” He offers, although he was currently terrified to speak incase his head really did get ripped off. He hadn’t seen you this angry since you pierced holes in three of your ex-boyfriends tyres after finding out he cheated.

“Well that’s pointless because I haven’t got my guitar and you don’t even have your acoustic guitar here. Forget it Harry. Just get out.” You mutter, your head hanging low in disappointment. Even if you left now you’d be late, and that was frowned upon. Turning up anywhere late was bad enough, let alone an audition. If you’re going to turn up late, then there’s no point turning up at all because you wouldn’t even be given a chance. The entertainment business was a difficult place to be, and this was your one chance to really make something bigger for yourself and it was ruined.

“Y/N I…”

“I said get out!” You scream, releasing the built up fury “go and join Niall in Brighton for all I fucking care. Leave me alone. I’m so disappointed Harry” you felt the tears threatening to spill down your cheeks.

The sight of you on the verge of tears was enough to break his heart. He wanted to protest, he wanted to make it all better. But he knew you too well. He knew if he didn’t leave you alone to calm down then it would make everything worse than it already was. He had never felt so guilty. In the 4 years you had lived together, practical jokes never made either of you angry. Sure they were embarrassing at times, but you two always had the best of times. At what made it even worse this time was that he had made you cry…and you’d used the ‘D’ word on him!

Harry had left, shutting the front door quietly as he headed to the studio to get out of your hair for a few hours. Also calling Niall in the process to get him to get the fuck home asap. It may have seemed like a pretty extreme joke, but they didn’t intend it to turn out this way. The plan was that the scavenger hunt would lead you to Brighton with Harry to meet Niall there, and the three of you would spend the day and night by the beach, shopping, drinking, eating...everything that you loved to do.

As hours passed, you found yourself tucked under the mountain of blankets on the sofa, wearing a pair of Harry’s boxers, joggers and a white hoodie. Which you purposely chose because your makeup rubbed off on the collar and the sleeves as you wiped your tears. 

You felt deflated and disappointed. You should have been more prepared...no actually, Harry shouldn’t of been a dick. You knew he didn’t mean to jeopardize your audition, but these auditions didn’t come along often and part of you just wasn’t ready to let this go yet.

Harry crept in quietly, although you didn’t hear him, or at least you didn’t want to. “ Hey...Y/N” he whispers softly, walking through the living room door cautiously.

“Hm?” you mutter, not allowing yourself to speak a word to him, and especially making sure your eyes were glued to Netflix, not giving him the satisfaction of paying attention.

“I...I got you these” He whispers, placing a big bouquet of red roses and white lilies on the glass coffee table in front of you. You looked straight passed them “Oh wow...maybe I should send these over to the directors and producers to say sorry and maybe they can make an exception for little Y/N to try again!” you state sarcastically, but your facial expression staying as blank as possible.

He sighs softly and perches himself on the arm of the sofa, he gently pulls your shoulders back for you to rest your back against his thigh. “I know it doesn’t change what I did Y/N, and believe me if I could of changed anything I would, and if I could turn back time, I’d do anything”

“You really fucked up Harry” you whisper, your voice cracking gently as you wiped your tears on the sleeve of his hoodie. “You don’t get it. You’re Harry Styles and you get everything handed to you on a plate because everyone already knows who you are! You’ve done what like...three auditions in your life and you’ve succeeded every single one. It’s not like that for me. I spent hours and hours practicing. And weeks just writing these songs in hope they get heard one day and now they won’t because word spreads really quick in this industry.” You still couldn’t bring yourself to look into his eyes, because you hated people seeing you cry. 

He sighed softly, staying silent as he pulled you up gently and sitting himself underneath you as he wrapped his arms around you tightly. He was always the first to help you rehearse when you had an audition, the first to comfort you if it went wrong or you didn’t succeed, and the first to celebrate and congratulate you when you did get it. Unfortunately, this time no one will ever know how it would have gone. He knew he couldn’t say much else because he knew you were right.  

You wanted to resist, but instead you buried your face into his chest and whimpered softly. As disappointed as you were, you knew Harry was truly sorry and he’d hang onto this guilt for a while. He held you close as his gentle fingers raked through your hair.

“I’ve put everything back in your room, all folded and neat” He whispers “I’ll make it up to you. I promise” He kept his arms around you supportively, although his chest was heavy with guilt, he already had a plan conjuring in his mind. 

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