#thank you for an important addition to my inner monologue
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the horrors are endless. but we stay silly :3
#m#maia arson crimew#thank you for an important addition to my inner monologue#i am having a really horrible no good very bad day.#but i stay silly :3
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I'M ABSOUTELY SCREAMING AT THE SNEAK PEEK THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR SHARING AJSDLKFJASLKFJDASKLFJSDA
no because like this series is one of my hyperfixations atm and I keep coming back to reread Not Tonight and Not Here and linger on the blog and the sneak peek was so good!!! the anxiety and anticipation all bubbling together in my chest like some sort of sick halloween cocktail (in the best possible way)!!! The inner monologue about just taking advantage of the moment!! The realization of who's at the door!!! the anxiety of the whole city as something is wrong!!! Its so so so so so good thank you so much for giving us a teaser!!!! I can't wait for the next chapter!!!! (but also this isn't me trying to rush you please by all means take as much time as you need! If you waited until 2025 to post chapter three I would still be over the moon!)
I'm so glad!!!
I think the additions will also be nice for those who have read both the teaser and the official post when it comes out, so what you read there isn't just a whole copy and paste of what I've actually written. And you get a bit of insight into how that character feels in that moment, even if I didn't add it.
Though seeing how far along I am- I might post a second teaser when I'm almost finished, since the first half and the second-ish half are pretty different? With the second part being where the real angst kicks in- which if I do it right, may arguably be the heaviest ansgt moment of the series?? Which I only say that since- y'know, it's a direct face-to-face, in person kind of deal. (I wouldn't get my hopes up too high only because that's if I do it correctly. And I also don't want to disappoint you guys or anything, y'know?) Though I also might not, since I don't want to ruin or spoil the biggest part of the chapter- but again, that's if I pull it off.
We'll see- it depends! But I'm excited to give you guys the next part as well!!! And no worries, I won't be taking that long!
Even if I'm not exactly half way there (which, to be fair, it is a little difficult for me to determine where the half way point is since I've kind of 'divided' Part 3 into like, 7 parts????(with 3 of them already being done, and I'm working on the 4th bit right now.)), I'm almost to what I consider to be the biggest part of the chapter, since it's important, and where the angst really comes in. So we're getting there! And we'll see how long Part 3 ends up being as well from there.
Regardless, I'm happy you enjoyed and are so excited!!! Again, I'm excited myself to post the 3rd part, but that'll have to wait a lil bit longer. Though hopefully not too much longer!
#talking daydreams#no but really i'm super excited as well!#i hope i can pull this off but we'll have to see#the worst that can happen is that everyone is too ooc and the angst flops big time#but i'm just not going to think about that :]#not right now anyway-
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Can you explain what you mean with misinterpreting Chara? I've always been confused about that character and you seem to have a pretty solid read you alluded to in that post about Snowgrave.
of course!!! as your local chara defender since the ripe age of 13 i hope you don't mind me doing a small essay on this. please bear with me tho because i sometimes can't articulate my thoughts well on stories that deal with philosophical themes ;;
UHHH SPOILERS FOR UNDERTALE AND DELTARUNE CHAPTER 2 BELOW
first let me make a few things clear so i don't have to repeat myself a bunch:
only tobias radiation fox himself has The Word of God privilege when it comes to things that haven't been explicitly confirmed in the games yet, EVEN if they're strongly hinted at. don't take anything i say about the plot as more than firm personal interpretation based on the info we have right now!
i cannot stress this one enough: undertale is a game that was never meant to be experienced from a singular perspective/mindset. the genocide route doesn't JUST exist for the sake of "enjoy your personalized edgy fuck-you run for being a serial killer in a video game", every one of the total 93 endings (look it up) in this game exists to reflect the player who achieved it in one way or another. the genocide route is really no different from any of the others, because in the end, no matter what, the player who decided to go through with the things they did will ALWAYS be rewarded for it. the question the player will have to ask THEMSELF afterwards is "is this what i wanted?"
OK MOVING ON-
let's think back to the little but vital amount of info we have on who chara actually was, like, as a person. we know pretty much all of this due to 1) the tapes in the royal lab 2) asriel's additional dialogue at the end of true pacifist.
while we'll never really know why frisk fell into the underground, asriel tells us explicitly about chara's hatred for humanity, and how they jumped from mt. ebott for "not a very happy reason"; supposedly a suicide attempt. chara "never talked about why", it's left intentionally vague because their reasoning isn't really what matters. what DOES matter is how this is relevant to the genocide run, ESPECIALLY with the new obvious parallels in deltarune's snowgrave route. i'll get to that.
when you finish the genocide route, chara will talk directly to the player in person. they talk about your (you AND chara's) success, despite "their plan (having) failed". this "plan" is one they secretly made with asriel when they were both still alive, as revealed from the tapes. chara got terminally poisoned from eating buttercups (whether this was fully intentional or not is still kiiinda up for debate), and while on their deathbed, asriel says that he doesn't like the plan anymore. yet despite his fear, he still fused his soul to chara's when they died.
the actual plan here was to become a monster powerful enough to slaughter humanity, specifically chara's home village by their own dying request - this all ties into their mysterious spite and hatred mentioned before. but due to asriel's resistance against chara, their fused body was killed by the humans - which eventually led to the creation of flowey, and asriel's inner demons after death.
but back to the genocide route. during chara's monologue to the player, they give us a LOT of important exposition. basically:
at the very start of the game, frisk's own determination is literally what brought chara's soul 'back to life'. we know how human and monster souls are different and how "determination" in this universe is something only humans possess, so it makes sense why it awakened them. i won't get into the whole narrator theory because i feel like it's not that relevant to my point (it's fun tho), but chara is always present from the moment frisk falls down, and stays regardless of the player's actions.
if you managed to finish undertale at all you'll already kinda know this (thanks sans), but the EXP and LV you (can) gain throughout your journey aren't just numbers on your screen - they're genuine in-universe manifestations of power that increase when you kill someone. and in genocide, chara explains how they were directly affected every time your stats rose. they could FEEL their spirit growing stronger for every life you decided to take (REMINDER THAT THE GENOCIDE ROUTE CAN BE PERMANENTLY STOPPED AT ANY POINT BEFORE SANS. YOU DID THIS.), so is it really that strange that they felt the desire to grow even stronger?
and once you do reach this point, there's no return. all that excessive time and effort you put into killing off a civilization OBVIOUSLY has some consequences. the consequences HERE being - if you paid attention to chara's life story - you took advantage of a traumatized child who was already at the breaking point and making irrational choices on their own, and you led them to believe that this was what they needed!
this is VERY MUCH SUPPORTED by the snowgrave/weird/pipis/whatever route of deltarune chapter 2 that was discovered about 2 days ago as i'm writing this. i'm gonna go ahead and assume you know what happens in it and i don't care to go into details if you don't, since this post is about chara, but surprise: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO NOELLE, TOO! even in a completely normal run, noelle makes it clear multiple times that she wouldn't mind staying in the dark world; that in spite of how scary and dangerous it seems at times (something something horror movies), she started to feel at home. POSSIBLY even more so than her ACTUAL HOME, with her dying dad and negligent mom. like chara, noelle is a young person with low self esteem and her fair share of trauma, even if it's not as apparent. and like in the genocide run, the player's desire to ruthlessly kill in order to grow stronger affected her already-poor mental state.
someone else already pointed this out specifically, so don't credit me for it, but the main difference between chara and noelle is that noelle managed to break free in the end.
if you're like Most People Who Played The Genocide Route Back In Like 2016 and you played the genocide route with no further knowledge about it than "i have to follow these specific steps to get a harder fucked up version of the game", i don't blame you. you didn't actually know what you were doing in the end, did you? but did the outcome disappoint you, make sense to you, or did it just leave you with an empty/confused feeling? i love undertale because it WILL force you to think about things like that. i mean, if the result wasn't gonna affect you in SOME way, why would you go through all of that trouble in the first place? you had your reasons, as the player of any video game where you know your choices matter. would you have carried out the entire thing if you knew what was coming? the answer to that is only relevant to yourself.
#i'm EXHAUSTED girl.#asks#chara#ut#undertale#dr#deltarune#noelle holiday#dr spoilers#deltarune spoilers
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UUUMMMM SO. FINALLY READ CHAPTER 6. UUUHHHHH. HHGCHUHCJXBDJDDCHXJBXNZBXJZHXJZBCNXHXBDJCBXNXBNXNZBCNXBDNHXJBDJXBDJCHXNHCXJHJDJCCJDJCIDJCHDJHDJCHXJCHXJCFHHFHDJDBSHDHJSBDJSBDKSNJDJDJDNJSJDJSJDJSJFUSHDHDHSHDHDHAJDHSJBXNSNXNXNJSDJJSJSJJSKAKDJJSNSNDHDHXUSJJDJHSJDHDJHDJCGDHHSSJXHDNJDHDJSHJDJJSJFJEJSJJDHDJSHDBSJDHJSHDJSJDJJEJSHFJDJDHGFBDNDNXNSJJFJSJDNSNSNDJDJJDJDJDJEJHFBDJJDDNFKJSKFBSKHFKSNFBSKFJDKNSJFHDNDHDKSNDKSJDJJSKSJDJSKJDKSJDJSKFJSJHFJSBFJSHDNSKWKJFJSKFHJSJFHEJHADJHDKFJSKDHJSJDJHFJSJFJFJDKKSCBHSKDOFJDNHSJFSOKFJSHFKJDJDHEJHFJDNDEJFJDIRJFJHRHFJSJFBDKDJJDJDHDHDJSKSJHDJSSJJDJSHDHDHJEJDJSJFHKSHFHSJHFJDJDJSJJFHSKJDJSHDJEHKSJCNSKDNDJSHFBSJDHSJJDJDHSHJDJJSJJFJSIRHDHJSHFBFBGBFNSKSKKEJJFIFJWJFBXHVJSJHFDJJEJDHCJHDJSJDHSKDJHDHSHSJSJDHHSHHDCHDHSHFHDHJEHSHSBDHBWHWBWHWBBSHDBSSBSHEHHDEHHDHSHDHHSJSHDHHDHDHDHHSHSHSJHDJSHSJDHDYFHHFHFHDHFJDJDKXHDJDDLDLDIDHHFHEUFGDGTXGXHFHDHDHFHDHCHHDHSHFHDJSHDHSHHDHSHDHSSJDHDJSHHDHEHDHSJSHFJSHFHHSHDHSHWHFHSJHDHDHEHDHDHWJHDHSJFHSJDHSHJDHDJSH
UUUUUHHHHHHHHHBHBHHDHGDJDD WATSON???? ALSO. MY HEART WAS BEATING SO FAST DURING THE ENTIRE SECOND HALF OF THE CHAPTER HOLY FUCK. AAAAAAAAAAAAA????????????????
THAT WAS SO GOOD. THAT WAS SO GOOD. THAT WAS SO GOOD THAT WAS SO GOOD WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
JACKIE IS SO BADASS OH MY GOD HE'S SO COOL. EVERYTGING HE DOES MAKES ME GO INSANE. WHEN HE NARROWINGLY TALKED ABOUT POISON. "THERE IS SO MUCH YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME". THE REVEAL. GODDDDD FUCK FUCK FUCK. JACKIE IS SO COOL. ALSO SO GAY. ALSO WHY DID HE FLIRT WITH RAN SO MUCH IN THIS CHAPTER, THAT'S ILLEGAL, DO YOU WANT ME SPECIFICALLY TO PERISH??? BE HONEST
WHY WERE THERE SO MANY LITTLE TOUCHES. THAT WAS SO CRUEL. BUT SO AWESOME. BUT SO CRUEL.
THE KISS THE KISS THE KISS THE KISS THE KISS. THE KISS. THE DANCE. THE DANCE THE DANCE THE DANCE THE DANCE. THE D A N C E. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
THERE ARE SO MANY DETAILS THAT I LOVED. RAN BEING JEALOUS?? AMAZING CONTENT. THE EYES THING???? LIKE??? EVERY SINGLE TIME THEIR EYES WERE BROUGHT UP THROUGHOUT THE CHAPTER?????? WAS SO???????? HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. *LIES ON THE FLOOR AND STARES AT THE CEILING*
"I LIKE YOUR EYES" BEING A REFERENCE TO THE TALES EPISODE ITSELF. LIKE JACKIE LITERALLY SAYS "HE'S GOT NICE EYES" IN THE EPISODE. AND THIS. HHHH. AND JUST. THEM SAYING THAT TO EACH OTHER LIKE A CONFESSION. WHAT THE FUCCKKKKK.
ALSO??????? "“You know,” Jackie whispers, his eyelids lowering serenely, “they say creatures with green eyes creep out of the ground to bring an end to the world.”" SHUT THE FUCK UP??????? HELLO???? WHAT IS THIS???? IS THIS ALLOWED????? IS THAT ALLOWED????????
AND. AND. AND. AND. AND.
"Ran looks down at the flower, trying to remember what had crossed his mind when he’d plucked it from the shopkeeper this morning.
I’m anxious about having to go to a party with you tonight like nothing is wrong.
I’m mournful that you’ll be dead soon because of me.
I’m absolutely enchanted by you and everything you stand for— the Overworld and the people and things in it.
I’m sorry.
“It matches your eyes,” Ran says instead." LITERALLY GET OUT. GET OUT. GET OUT. I CANNOT HANDLE THIS. JUST. WHAT. THAT'S SO GOOD. THATS SO GOOD.
AND HAVE I MENTIONED ALL THE LITTLE TOUCHES????? AND HOW THEY KILLED ME????? AND MURDERED ME?????????? AND HOW RAN FIXATED ON THEM AND HELD ON TO THEM AND DIDN'T WANT TO LET GO??? HOW EVERY SECOND HE WAS THINKING THAT HE WANTS TO FEEL THAT TOUCH FOREVER??? BUT HE CAN'T???? AND ACTUALLY ANY ONE OF THEM COULD BE THE LAST TIME HE'D EVER FEEL IT IN HIS LIFE????? FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJDHDHDJSHDJDHFJSJHFSHDJSHDHSHDJHSJFHSJDHSJJDNXHFHJSHFJSJFHDHSJHD
I AM. NO OKAY. POOR RAN. GODDDD POOR RAN. IT'S SO INCREDIBLY COOL THOUGH HOW YOU CAN SEE SOMETHING CLICK IN HIS BRAIN, LIKE ALL OF HIS THOUGHTS BECOME CLEARER.
Something I've always adored about your writing style is the constant tone of irony in the narration. It's fascinating how difficult it is to understand whether Ran is at all conscious of that irony or if that's just the omniscient author's addition to his inner monologue. It's like there are a lot of things he understands, he's always understood, but didn't want to accept, so they were reflected in the author's ironic narration, which almost served as his subconsciousness. But then he loses everything and snaps, and suddenly his thoughts become clearer. It's like the subconscious is creeping closer to conscious. The irony in his inner monologue goes from being almost certainly the author's to being his, even if he's still trying to ignore it. When he goes into the warehouse in the last scene, thinking about how it's "clearly just the brightest idea he's ever had", I feel like he's the one that's making fun of himself, not the author. And that is so so so so cool and so subtle. Idk if it's even there. Idk if I'm just spitting obnoxious bullshit, but this feels important to me, okay? I love reading into shit.
ANYWAY. HHHHHH WATSON WHAT THE HELL. WHAT THE HELL WATSON. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN.
AAALSSOOOOOOO I CANNOT WAIT FOR JACKIE'S REACTION TO THIS. OH MY GOD I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
GAY BITCHES. BOTH OF THEM. YOUR WRITING IS WONDERFUL. THANKS.
this was a very good comment and i enjoyed it so much wow :]
im so glad to hear all the things you liked!!!! im so so happy you enjoyed.
yes i love doing all those things in my writing it’s just FUN and i feel like it makes the experience so much better ^__^
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Chapter Eight - Spurred Racehorses
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Kohei Horikoshi
Previous Chapter ~ Next Chapter ~ Series Masterlist ~ Main Masterlist
Word Count: 1.5K
A/N: Hi you guys! I’m so sorry this chapter took so long to write and post, but I wanted to make sure that it was as good as could be and that I was happy and satisfied with it. I hope you all enjoy!
The day was big and the pressure was on the Yagi family as guests filtered through their large garden gate, all of them flocking to the biggest event of the month; Lord Izuku Yagi and the newly titled Lady Ochaco Yagi’s wedding reception. Of course, the actual marriage occurred earlier in the day and only the closest members of each family were invited which included the elder Lord Yagi, yourself, and Ochaco’s parents. It was beautiful, really. Both of their vows to one another were tender and faithful, and it was clear to both families and the officiant that the newly married couple shared true love. Now, of course, you were able to change out of the simple dress you wore to the ceremony into a bigger and more expensive gown that you were saving especially for this event. It was a deep midnight blue with perfectly puffed sleeves and had intricate embroidery all around it. Paired with a sparkling sapphire hair comb that had previously belonged to your mother along with the prettiest lace gloves you could find, you were sure that you exuded both maturity and beauty without stepping on the toes of the glowing bride.
She really did, in fact, glow. As soon as Ochaco and Izuku entered the gardens, all of the guests were on their feet and applauding with wide smiles on their faces. And while your brother cleaned up well, Ochaco’s beauty spoke for itself. Her wedding dress was gorgeous - a lovely cream color with beading and jewels on the bodice and her veil matched to make her a vision. As soon as the crowd simmered down, you made your way quickly over to them.
“Congratulations to the both of you! I must say, I teared up at your ceremony - it was just so divine.” It was evident that there were happy tears welled up in both of their eyes as they embraced you, squeezing you tightly.
“The music should start up soon - shall we, my love?” Izuku says, offering his hand to his wife. With a warm smile, Ochaco nods and takes his hand, but not before turning quickly to you.
“I know this is our wedding, but I would keep your eye out for all of the young men falling at your feet. Attending receptions tend to spur them on like racehorses in a starting gate.” Ochaco says with a wink, letting Izuku lead the way to the middle of the floor. With a flushed face due to her words and a little spring in your step with confidence, you checked your posture before making your way to one of the tables, perching yourself on a chair. You relished in the little peace you got, nibbling on finger foods and sipping lightly on an expensive glass of champagne. However, the little moment of peace and tranquility you experienced was capped shorter than you would’ve liked by the sudden clearing of a throat. Hesitantly, you turned your head to catch a glance at the speaker, only to be displeased with the presence of Lord Mineta.
“My Lady,” he slurs, his eyelids clearly hooded and his stance incredibly casual. He was clearly drunk - at merely 3:00 in the afternoon might you add - which meant that his occupancy would be even more unfortunate.
“Lord Mineta,” you say evenly, giving him nothing more than a curt nod. And, while you thought just him alone would put a damper on your mood, the addition of several other young men - all of them drunk or at least half-way there - definitely turned your previously sweet attitude into a sour one. Being the lady you were and a partial hostess, you tried to show grace and elegance in the way that you spoke to these men even though you meant almost none of the emotion being conveyed through your words. Finally, you had enough. “Excuse me gentlemen, but I must be moving on to other tables. The job of a hostess never does stop, does it?” You say, trying to fake a smile to go along with your meaningless banter.
“Lady Yagi, may I please have a word with you before you go?” You recognize that voice to be from Lord Ojirou, his face slightly flushed from the alcohol but his expression kind. Breathing out a subtle sigh, you nodded.
“Of course,” you say, giving him a kind smile. Humoring may have not been your best decision of the day though.
“I realize that you and I have not had the proper time together for me to be asking this question, but…” oh god, your inner monologue frets, can this actually be happening right now? “... I have come to ask for your hand in marriage.” You felt your body grow tense. You knew that you had no intention of marrying him, you would definitely have to let him down, but it didn’t stop your stomach throwing itself into a twist. Someone had actually made the move in proposing to you. A man, of a fine background and maintained polite manners, wanted to be with you for the rest of his life - that was enough to spur on the butterflies.
“Oh… Lord Ojirou,” you begin, swallowing the lump in your throat, “your offer is very kind, but-”
“But you must decline.” He says, his smile a bit dampened. With a gentle nod and empathy showing in your eyes, you confirm his suspicions. “It is alright, Lady Yagi, I knew it was quite a long shot. Thank you for humoring me.” He says politely.
“I am sure you will find a Lady that is perfect for you,” you’re quick to say, trying to soothe the sting of rejection. With a smile and a nod, Lord Ojirou bows before you and then steps away.
“What was that interaction about?” From behind you, you heard Shouto’s voice, causing you to whip around and face him.
“Oh, um, nothing too important.” You say, trying not to prompt jealousy from the red-and-white haired man in front of you. Shouto shifts in his stance, looking past you towards Lord Ojirou and then back to you. He twists his cuffs a bit (maybe out of nervousness?) and shakes his head a bit.
“Did he ask for your hand?” He asks, his voice more timid than you have ever heard before.
“I declined.” You say, quick to answer him. “Really, it was nothing important, I knew beforehand that I didn’t want to marry him.” You explain, grabbing onto his hands with your own. Shouto was about to speak, but nothing was able to squeak out as his eyes focused on your hands. Your ungloved hands. His eyes widened, as did yours, but you made no effort to move them. With a clearing of his throat and a wobbly, but giddy, smile, Shouto wraps his hands more firmly around yours.
“Would you like to dance?” he asks, his eyes twinkling. You nod eagerly in return, letting him lead you onto the dance floor as the string quartet readies their instruments. A beautiful melody is hummed out, one you recognize to be paired with one of your favorite dances. Shouto bows before you as you curtsy in return, then offers his right hand to yours. Your grasp onto it immediately and then, like a whirlwind, twirls you into an entrancing dance. Everything is a blur to you, everything except for Shouto. His eyes were like a homing beacon to you, his hold the thing grounding you to the earth. Oh how you longed it was just the two of you, for you would have confessed your love right then and there. You felt like a dandelion, ready to blow away with just a single breath, but Shouto was the person shielding you from the wind. You see him lean closer to you, his cheek grazing the shell of your ear. His actions sent chills down your spine, causing you to shiver in his grasp.
“I’m going to ask for your hand.” He states, simply but strongly. Your eyes widened.
“Right… right now?” You whisper back, your heart rate starting to pick up. He pulls away from your face so that you could see each other more clearly. Shouto smirked and shook his head.
“No, not right now. That would be rather unromantic of me. A proposal for you must transcend the most pronounced displays of love ever shown before. I hope to dazzle you with wonder and gain all of the love in your heart when I do. But, for now, let’s just dance and enjoy the wedding.” You felt dizzy by his genuine words - like you were floating on air. All you could do was nod and smile as he twirled you through the afternoon all the way ‘til midnight, dancing alongside the twinkling stars.
#Shoto#Shouto#todoroki shouto#shouto todoroki#shoto todoroki#todoroki shoto x reader#bnha shoto#shoto todoroki x reader#shoto x reader#shoto x#shoto x you#shoto x y/n#bnha shouto#shouto x#shouto x y/n#mha shouto#shouto x reader#mha shouto x reader#shouto x you#todoroki#shouto todoroki x reader#todoroki x reader#shoto todoroki x you#todoroki x reader fluff#todoroki x y/n#shouto fanfic#shouto fluff#shouto fic#shouto fanfiction#shoto fic
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What would you say your biggest strength is as a writer?
[meta] There are kind of two answers to this question. One that I really hope is true, and one that I'm relatively confident is true.
The one that I'm confident is true is providing atmosphere, and context. Although I do sometimes get lost in my own head and forget what I've specified on the page versus what I actually know as the writer, when I was a smol fourteen year old writing fanfiction and doing everything I could to better my skills, my biggest issue was length. I could write an entire fight scene or an important conversation and it would last a page, maybe even half a page. I actually co wrote a fic with one of my favourite writers when I was sixteen and he helped me out with this a lot. And then I went on to get a degree in Creative Writing which definitely pushed me to be better, and now I like to think all of the things I had been missing, such as in depth inner monologue, detailed descriptions of environment, and the careful creation of atmosphere, are there right alongside Milo.
The strength that I really sincerely hope is there is my ability to balance what might be considered too much and what might not be considered enough. My favourite character trope has always been Jekyll and Hyde, and by extension of that, Addict. But addiction has always fascinated me in real life too. So I've read plenty of memoirs, and studies, listened to interviews, and done my very best to research how to write somebody with addition issues. I don't want to make things too graphic and insensitive because it's a very real issue in our world. But then if I'm not careful it's not portrayed as serious and gritty and those are two things that I really try to achieve. I don't want to overly romanticise drug use, or use it as a plot device for surface level drama, and I don't want to make it sound fun or cool or like something to aspire to. And though there's always an element of romanticisation in any fiction due to its nature, I've seen addicts written in some very questionable ways over my time in the rp community (honestly, in published fiction too) and I really don't want to be that person. I also very much didn't want it to be the one thing Milo revolves around. He has other issues, and there are some threads where it isn't mentioned or doesn't feel relevant to what is happening which I try really hard to focus on. He's a person first, and sometimes I read back my writing and feel proud of how I handled difficult subjects, or the balance between Milo and his issues with substance abuse. So I really hope that's one of my strengths and the work I'm putting in manages to shine through.
Thank you to whoever sent this question!
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Might be my longest Laito analysis yet... and it’s about Hilde. Buckle up fellas, this is a ride.
I’m gonna get straight to the point:
who is Hilde?
For those of you who don’t know, Hilde is a maid that shows up in Laito’s past in his More Blood route. I’m not sure if she pops up in any future games (I’m saving dark fate later this year), so correct me if I’m wrong. (And if she does show up, I will add to this when I have experienced the other scenarios. I know I can read translations but that’s just half of the fun and the game haha)
Full essay analysis under the cut!
Hilde is not just Laito’s maid. She’s one of his various yet early (I would say she’s his first) “victims,” after his experiences with his mother. This was also during the whole Cordelia situation when she was “giving him her ‘Love’” anyways.
Let’s start off with an excerpt of Laito’s beautiful yet tragic monologue from MB Dark Prologue; which is from a flashback of his. Thanks to @/akuichansera for the translations! (I want to do an entire analysis on this monologue alone but that is for another time!)
However, it’s cliché
Why am I forcing love?
This certain feeling calls out to me,
Does that mean I’m satisfied?
If that’s the case, then that’s very degrading.
Only to fall silent when given a kiss.
Ahh, because the words were forced out
My chest burns.
I wonder what this bad feeling could be.
Perhaps, should I be
Expecting this sort of thing?
There’s no medicine that can cure this,
I can’t help saying that it’s foolish.
Where this falls in the timeline is mere speculation, but I believe it is a bit after when Laito and Cordelia’s “”“relationship””” was in full swing, once he was out of the dungeon (from HDB). Throughout this whole prologue, Laito feels immensely confused. It’s definitely apparent in his monologue and the tone of his inner thoughts. They’re soft, pretty much apprehensive too; nothing like his excited, flirtatious lilts.
Initially, I was gonna go off a lot more. I deleted a huge chunk here because I believe it was more than enough to have a separate tangent. So I’m gonna get right to the point: Laito has so maaaaany issues because of Cordelia and his upbringing. I almost went into depth with them and got ahead of myself, but that’s digressing a ton. Anyways. Hilde.
Basically what I was going to explain in depth (and will another time) can be summed up by:
Cordelia has power over Laito (which is something all abusive relationships have in common)
Laito feels powerless (implied by his tones and his general thinking and monologue)
Laito needs to fill in that power gap (this is why some people who have been victims of abuse end up being the abuser in another relationship)
Then Hilde just falls into Laito’s lap (more like trap) at just the time he’s feeling that powerlessness. Laito wants to “regain” power, or feel in a powerful position, so he starts to take it out on Hilde. He uses the same techniques that Cordelia uses, but on Hilde; saying that he “loves her.” It’s kinda implied that Hilde was Laito’s first ‘victim’ through this quote when he first meets Hilde:
Laito: (It’s convenient to say the words I love you. It has a lot of power)
Hey, what about you? Do you love me… …?
Hilde: T-this is… …awkward… …
Laito: I see… …Well… …being in the same bed as me… …must feel good to you.
This shows Laito’s hesitance towards this, and the whole scene in his Dark Prologue feels like him experimenting with this whole power complex giving his inner monologue. He’s rationalizing his feelings in his head in these monologues too:
――Since it feels pleasant, does that mean it’s good?
The expression of love in this form,
Is extremely trivial.
These words are full of lies.
He knows he’s lying, he knows the power words hold; Laito’s still very perceptive, he’s just a bit messed up in his noggin. On top of that, there’s even more juicy details about the inner workings of this man in the Dark Epilogue. This is also why I believe that Hilde was Laito’s first ‘victim.’ Mainly because of this line:
Laito: (… … I don’t like this for some reason)
(I can’t get used to “loving” another person’s body)
Laito initially hates what he’s doing. I honestly never expected to read a line confirming that, but they really did. It also further supports my claim of Laito using Hilde as more of an “experiment.” He saw and experienced how happy his mom gets by doing this, he’s seen her do this with Richter and multiple other men too. He wants to feel that too, not because he enjoys it but because he wants to heal himself, whether it’s conscious or subconscious.
I believe I’ve discussed how much Laito projects onto Yui like Cordelia did to him, and this happens with Hilde too. Here’s another excerpt:
Laito: (Ahh ahh, how boring… … It’s less fun when she doesn’t resist)
Sigh… …
Hilde: Laito-sama?
Laito: That’s enough.
Hilde: Laito-sama!!
Laito: I’m going to bed soon. Will you leave?
Hilde: Gah… …!? We always sleep together though… …why?
Laito: Be quiet… …
Hilde: Eh… …?
Laito: Fufu… …quickly now. If you don’t… … I’ll kick you out.
Hilde: Laito-sama… …Aah!?
*Laito Takes Hilde Out/ Hilde Pounds on Door*
Hilde: Agha… …Laito-sama! Laito-sama!!
This concludes the Dark epilogue. We don’t see any more of Hilde afterwards to my knowledge. Despite her showing up in two scenes, we get so much out of Laito than Yui’s scenarios combined. That’s why she’s so immensely important to Laito’s character. In addition, this also starts Laito’s obsession with ‘liking it when his victims resist’. Since there’s already so much evidence of Laito mimicking Cordelia’s tactics, it can be heavily deducted that Cordelia also liked it when Laito resisted. Which god, that’s so freakin tragic. Adding onto that, Laito gets bored with Hilde once, and then Laito just brushes her aside. This would most likely parallel what Cordelia did to Laito with Richter and other men. It’s sick. It’s twisted. And it’s just like how you would expect Dialovers to be. And that’s why you shouldn’t overlook Hilde’s character.
I think this might be my longest rant yet, so thanks for sticking out this long if you did. I have more analysis on the #analysis tag on this blog, whether it be from me or other people I reblogged. But thanks for reading! If you have any thoughts you’d like to add, feel free to go in the DMs, ask box, or simply reblog!
Ciao!
-Corn
#analysis#diabolik lovers#dialover#dialovers#dl#Laito sakamaki#sakamaki laito#raito sakamaki#sakamaki raito#逆巻ライト#dear god im a month late#I've been so busy with school and all and I have a test tonight oops its fine lol#I wanted to do this so badly#diabolik lovers analysis
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SnK Chapter 134 Poll Results
The chapter poll closed with 1747 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by /u/_Puppet_, /u/berthototototo, /u/staraves and @momtaku.
RATE THE CHAPTER
1,675 Responses
Chapter 134 “Depths of Despair” was another solid chapter with an average rating of 4.52, making it the highest rated chapter of the volume and 15th highest since we started keeping records.
The art was incredible
The best chapter in the volume, bar none.
it was really fucking cool and a definite step up from Chapter 133. This chapter does well to inform you that we *are* at the final battle now, and nothing is stopping this story from crashing to a sudden end pretty damn soon.
This chapter, like every other in the volume, feels like it was stretching. I was actively bored reading it. With so few chapters left, does Isayama really have time to stretch this much? He has so many loose ends to tie up and it's concerning. He obviously wanted a volume cliffhanger with the alliance facing Eren so I hope that his pacing next volume is much tighter because this ain't it, chief
This has easily become one of my favourite chapters in the while manga. [...] Overall, it's as good as 112, 122, 131 and other popular "masterpieces" in my opinion
Bruh I have been waiting for this so long and Isayama fucking DELIVERED. I was so worried with all the build-up and sometimes sloppy pacing that the final Eren vs Alliance showdown wouldn't live up to the hype but NOPE, it was amazing and beyond expectations. The moment where the refugees realize that Paradis forces had come to save them?? Gold. Beautiful. 10/10. Isayama I am sorry for ever doubting you, you are a god and I am thankful for your existence.
Rank this chapter a 5 for the Source of All Organic YEEKS.
Is there any button to press in order to rate this chapter 20/10?
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?
1,692 Responses
It was a very close race, but “the crowd attempting to save the baby” ultimately came out on top and once again demonstrated the fanbase’s affinity for despair… or was it hope this time? In a close second comes Armin’s cliffhanger question to Eren, third place going to Reiner stomping the Beast Titan, which beat the rumbling scenery across the world by a single vote, which beat seeing the final audio by a single vote. If the extremely close results mean anything, this chapter certainly had something for everyone.
The crowd lifting the baby to safety is an image that will leave a permanent mark on me. I don’t have words to describe that scene.
Honestly, each goddamn panel is impacting, exciting or badass. I love the Historia scene, the chaos and destruction left me speechless, Karina and Mr. Leonhart's reflexion was heartbreaking, as well as the Marleyan general's.
“That Fucking Monkey!”
Reiner Helos was the most hype part of the chapter.
I could never really decide what’s my favorite scene or anything, it’s all just amazing.
as an eren stan it was rly brutal and eye opening to actually see all the innocent people and kids dying, overall it was a great chapter, just very gruesome
Reiners armored body slam and Levi’s monkey comment were best moments. Really appreciated seeing the worlds POV one more time.
I loved Reiner's moment but otherwise boring chapter.
I loved armin in this chapter he finally looks like hes acting as a commander.hopefully we will get more of this.
I love how much of other countries we get to see through rumbling, it helps to show more details for the wolrd building.
I liked Levi calling Zeke a “Big, furry bastard”.
We finally see Eren's new titan for doing something other than moving forward, and the beast titan scene was epic.
i cried when i saw the families saying goodbye. seeing eren as the founding titan hurts too.
Amazing. Literally lost for words. The last panel with Armin was so emotional/amazing. His character growth is phenomenal. Cannot wait for the next one
The tower guard's words were too much but I LOVED the moment with the baby on the cliff. I wasn't expecting something like that.
WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER'S MVP?
1,669 Responses
As well as earning the favorite moment this month, the crowd at the cliffs also scored a collective MVP, showing that teamwork does indeed make the dream work. Closely coming in second is Reiner, no doubt from his valiant attack on the Beast Titan, and in third place is the commander of the alliance, Armin.
ARMIN GOAT
I love reiner so much :D
CHADERENFTW
The final pages just shows why i love Armin so much
Karina's regret was one of best parts of this chapter.
Reiner such a badass.
Wow just wow, the crowd, the alliance with their shit together (for the most part) can’t wait to see how this ends
WE SEE HISTORIA AGAIN! FOR ONE PAGE… THOUGHTS ON HER GOING INTO LABOR?
1,666 Responses
28 months since we last saw Historia in the present time, and now we finally see her again. But is this one page worth the wait? 36.6% are glad that this plot point is finally coming back, 33.1% are glad to see her but wish we’d gotten her side of the story, 12.3% are glad it seems to be a real pregnancy, and 11.6% are done with Isayama’s handling of her in the story.
I thought she was only like five months pregnant.
i hope she survives this :(
I just want this subplot to be over.
It's alright? I still wish she would have joined the scouts in the final battle instead of the pregnancy tho…
I'm so disgusted by the whole Historia situation. The execution of this plot point was abysmal from the beginning and I hate it
None of the above options square with how I feel. Historia's perspective (in addition to Eren's) is being set up as the final "basement"; so while I can see why some are frustrated, it has actually piqued my interest to see where this may end up
EH is endgame
EreHisu would ruin the manga
Each chapter I become increasingly pessimistic about Historia as a character. In the beginning of this chapter when we got the close-up of her eyes as she closed them in pain, I was certain the next page would have her inner monologue as she thought back on how she got into this position. But instead it cuts away, us seeing absolutely nothing from Historia, and I'm back to thinking she really has no agency anymore. Even if she is super important in the ending and a pivotal player in determining the state of the world after the rumbling, it won't be worth what she's been reduced to. To be fair, she was in one scene in Return to Shiganshina, no scenes in Marley arc, and this arc... well, we know how she's been treated. So maybe I should have seen this coming, but it was still disappointing for Isayama to hint that she will have a role this arc like in Uprising arc, only for that to be a breeding machine.
Why Historia was crying when she was having a child?
She finally is realizing the regret of the pregnancy decision and that she once again chose something she didn't necessarily want to do.
her life was always miserable and I don't believe that she will get some ray of light. She was the happiest when she had Ymir by her side. Now, even if she survives and has her child with her, she will always feel the heavy weight of her decision and the blood of millions innocent people will always stay on her hands.
I'm dropping the series after this. It just hurts seeing a queer-coded character like Historia constantly being beaten and reduced to literally nothing. First it was Ymir's death. Then Zeke's plan that involved her having children to be eaten by them (WHY NOT HAVE ZEKE IMPREGNATE WOMEN? WHY MUST IT BE THE QUEER FEMALE CHARACTER?? WHO'S ALSO THE QUEEN?). Then all the talk about her as a mere breeder, as a not-so-walking womb. Then the awful, awful ship-tease with Eren. Then her not opposing Eren's plan?? This is just it. I was holding onto the fake pregnancy, but now I envy the people who dropped the series once they saw the first panel of her pregnant.
I am tired of Tumblr crying over Historia. You are taking this pregnancy plot way too seriously. Newsflash: women don't automatically lose their agency when they get pregnant, kinda problematic of you to think that's what's going on. Historia has a plan and we will hear it
I think this may be a HUGE death flag for her. I mean if he can kill Sasha off with a gun says who histortia can’t be killed off by child birth?
I DONT WANT HER TO DIE
Historia gets what she deserves. She agreed to help Eren and now A LOT of innocent mothers and children is losing their lives in the rumbling. Historia has their blood on her hands and she won't be free from it. I don't feel sorry for her, at all.
If there's any character, besides Eren, who has humanity's blood on their hands, it's Historia, and her labor acting as a prelude to the moment that will decide the fate of humanity is incredibly poetic.
Hisu's baby is definitely having a titan inherited. So someone with titan powers will die in the final battle.
Don’t care about her
Well I guess she aint faking it after all
She's committing to the bit. There's no baby, it's all an act
WHO IS THE FATHER AAAAAAAAAA
Why did she want this child?
...all i can think is why does yams draw mouths/teeth like that? it’s so weird...
WHICH OF THE NEW LOCALS HAVE YOU FOUND MOST INTERESTING?
1,669 Responses
We get to see new corners of the earth… just before seeing them crushed. 37.3% found the cliffside of chaos to be the best, 31.3% enjoyed seeing Onynakopon’s London-esque homeland, and 23.9% enjoyed the scenery of the shrines in what could be Hizuru.
the panel with the people praying in the shrine was amazing also the cliff, these rumbling chapters are really dark yet visually beautiful (maybe I'm sick for finding it beautiful lol). "
The Titans drove Pennywise off that cliff
I really liked how it shows the different places where the rumblings is effecting like the Snk London etc
I’m a little confused about the timeline and placement of the cliffs and where the Titans are. Can someone explain how the Titans were seen pushing people off the cliff sides (also how were so many people herded into the middle of nowhere to be shoved off the cliffs?) and then also seen heading toward the fleeing Eldian/Marleyans? Are those two different places, a montage, etc? Do we suspend some disbelief to take in the apocalyptic scene of people falling from the cliffs into the sea? The opening scenes had me a bit turned around.
These shots where absolute nightmare fuel and they did an amazing job at showing how horrifying this situation is
HOW DO THE DEPICTIONS OF THE RUMBLING IN THIS CHAPTER, INCLUDING THE CROWD HOLDING THE BABY AWAY FROM THE CLIFF, RANK IN TERMS OF DARK MOMENTS INVOLVING CHILDREN?
1,652 Responses
Let’s just rename the series “In the Depths of Despair”. 39.2% think this chapter ranks near the top of the darkest moments in the series, 28.1% think Ymir’s daughters cannibalizing their dead mother is the darkest, while 19.1% hold to the other incredibly dark rumbling chapter we got with Ramzi and Halil.
All are equally dark.
Eternal winner is Udo trampled to death by a crowd while trying to save crushed Zofia
Every scene of children's deaths are all gruesome. Not one tops each other.
the mother throwing her baby away hoping to save them made me feel something and it broke my heart
I didn't think the cliff scene was that dark tbh, it was actually faintly uplifting. Though I also felt that way after reading chapter 131, so maybe I think that about any tragedy Isayama depicts.
Kruger saw his entire Family burn to death
It's a dark moment but I also think it's sort of hopeful, that humanity isn't completely fucked and they're all eager to try save this child rather than let it fall and die.
The entire imagery of masses of people barely hanging for their lives at the edge of a cliff is so abyssmal and daunting. This is seriously peak bleakness SnK. I still can't believe that there are people that support Eren after this.
he opening panels of the Rumbling were some of the most horrifying so far, especially the one with the baby.
This was, to me, possibly the single most powerful moment in the ENTIRE series -- and that's not something I say lightly.
Very little about this manga shocks me anymore. This moment is really no worse or better compared to every other disturbing scene
All the above are horrendous. I cannot choose.
TV Tropes has an entry called Darkness Induced Audience Apathy and that pretty much sums up my feelings at this point. Everything is so unrelentingly bleak and miserable that I’m rapidly losing my ability to care about these characters and what happens to them anymore.
The Rumbling; Yam's biggest middle finger to the world. Can't wait for this shit to end so my life can continue. Forever Yeagerist, because I am free, and Floch did nothing wrong.
THE GENERAL AT FORT SALTA GAVE A SPEECH ABOUT HATE AND MISTAKES, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT?
1,663 Responses
In the face of annihilation, the general stationed at Fort Salta has an epiphany on the path that brought everyone there. A solid 60% of respondents thought it was a great speech – it covers perhaps the grandest theme of the final arc of the story and someone needed to hammer home the message. 27.3% liked the message of the speech but thought it was a little too ham-fisted for the moment, but 6.8% just thought it was silly.
The general at Fort Salta’s words were really... desperate. It showed the truth of Eren’s rampage as the founding and I think it showed that Eren was more than what he hoped to become. He shows no pity now: I don’t even think he cares about the 104th and co. anymore. Really dark and I’m living for it.
The parts with no speech was great. Isayama is great with visuals which I love. The Marleyan speech was very cringe unfortunately.
Great to see the world let go of their hatred for the enemy. Still, Eren's stubborn charge is pissing me off!
FUCKING FINALLY. All this bullshit and guilting of the children and Eldians and we finally get SOMEONE owning up that their bigotry is the fucking problem here. And of course, too fucking late. But that seems to be how real history is
Nothing unrealistic about desperate people about to die thinking of second chances.
Great message, but would've meant more if it came from a more significant character such as Magath
Great speech showing that people always have the biggest realization when it's already too late and you can only count on miracles
I think it was honestly fine, but one tiny change could have been made to make it flow more naturally and not be so jarring to so many people: Rather than having the general talk about "us adults", and how "we" used hatred, I think it would have been more natural if he only talked about himself. This is a very common trope in war movies, and we're all capable of reading in between the lines and understanding how what he says applies to the different characters and the world as a whole. For him to point it out for us is a little jarring
hammy, but on theme
I feel like it's isayama's way of forcing his audience to understand his narrative by spelling it out for us. indicating that he has failed as a writer to just make his narrative naturally understood
IF the rumbling get stopped are they gonna still gonna keep their promise
In context it is fine, but I'm cautious about it being the end solution.
It was a desperate man's final words, and it showed.
It was a fitting speech that showed the Marleyans were finally ready to let go of their hatred towards the Eldians. It also felt like last-ditch speech to try to move Eren into reconsidering flattering the whole world with the Rumbling, but knowing Eren, the speech wouldn't sway him at all.
It was way to convenient and unrealistic for the general and the liberio Eldians to realize that they were wrong and I hope they die. That is all.
It was good to see they realized how terrible they were but as a wise man once said... “It’s too laaate to apologiiize. It’s too laaaaaaaate! Ay. Ay. Ay.”
Its good because its shows the message of the series of trying to stop the cycle of hate by either changing our actions or by sacrificing others for the "greater good". Placement is not bad tho, the general is realizing it is the true end
It’s okay, everyone has their own opinion. The general's opinion just happened to be like that.
I understand it, but I’m also bothered by the suggested idea that it took total annihilation to make people decide to finally “be considerate” of each other. It also feels very black and white to me, some of the subtleties of this whole situation was lost I think.
It was a great speech and super satisfying moment to see non-Eldians recognize how they played a part leading up to this, but there's no guarantee there won't be residual hatred for Eldians once all of this is over.
i honestly loved it. i don't mind the cheese one bit
KARINA THINKS BACK TO A YOUNG REINER AND REGRETS HER ACTIONS AS A MOTHER. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?
1,659 Responses
There are many bad parents in SnK, and Karina has certainly been one of them. The majority of fans accept her seeking redemption, while 25% think it’s too little too late. 20.8% are willing to give her a chance if she proves she means it through her actions.
I liked the moment between Karina and Mr. Leonhardt. Awful parents unite. XD At least they showed a change of heart, even if it was too late.
Felt like she just wanted to live a normal life
Anyways, Karina saved the chapter. We've seen a more logical character evolution than in Annie's father, and at least she got to see Reiner again.
IF the rumbling stopped are they still gonna keep their promise
the attempt to make me feel sympathy for Karina Braun was just obnoxious
Only took advantage of the boy
I’m glad Reiner mom is realizing her mistake of using her son as a tool but there’s not really much she can do.
Fuck Karina in particular.
Am I the only one who thought that Karina and Mr Leonhart looked good together? 😳
WHAT DID KARINA MEAN WHEN SHE SAID THAT SHE USED REINER AS A TOOL OF REVENGE?
1,653 Responses
Karina mentions that she only ever used Reiner as a tool for revenge. 31.1% think he was a tool to use against her former lover, 19.1% think he was primarily a tool for Marley, but 47.9% believe it to be a mix of both purposes.
All of the above and perhaps just a general narcissistic “I’ll show all of you how special I am by proxy of my child. Reiner being a Warrior means I am a Good Mother TM”
Reiner was a tool to make Karina feel like she had worth in a world where everyone, from the man she may have loved to her nation to the rest of the world was telling her she was worthless.
Karina hated Paradis' Eldians for "abandoning" her and the others to the mainland and wanted revenge on them for that.
Clearly revenge on his father and if anyone thinks Karina intended on Reiner being used to get revenge on Paradis is really reaching to villify Karina.
She said it on panel: Why did Karl Fritz leave them in Marley's power?
I believe it's "both of the above", but with the revenge on Paradis being from Karina, not Marley, as an allegory for Reiner's father. She always talks about how Paradis abandoned the Eldians on Marley, and I figured this was her way of expressing the sorrow and anger at Reiner's father for abandoning her and Reiner. So she did believe Paradis were devils who abandoned them, but that was fuelled by her personal issue
I didn’t and still don’t understand what Karina means by revenge.
It was both but also to give herself a higher status given her self-hatred.
WHAT IS THE BEAST TITAN WE SAW?
1,668 Responses
That was unexpected! The Beast Titan showed up, but not in a way we saw anyone predict. A very close tie between it being Zeke’s beast being controlled/manipulated and it being a War Hammer formation created by Eren, with the former just edging out the latter. 14% believe Eren can make titans however he wants via the Founding Titan/paths, and 2.4% think this was just straight up Zeke.
Don’t know, very confused. But whenever I don’t clearly see the eyes of a character, I usually feel like something fishy is going on....
Eren ate zeke and took his power.
Eren using the WHT to generate a Zeke dummy, using Zeke's titan blueprints.
I think he used the Founding Titan powers, not the WH. Ymir/the founding titan is the one that builds the titan forms so I think that makes more sense.
I do believe eren is controlling him since his titan was attached to eren at the neck, and then reiner broke that off.
I think it's Zeke being mind controlled and treated like a puppet by Eren.
I think Zeke is crystalized somewhere in the Founders body and Eren is using him to create a zombie Beast Titan.
It could be Zeke in there, it could be a clone. Nonetheless it's a puppet and he still needs Zeke to do a complete exact rendition.
It took Eren all three powers of the Founder, WHT, and Beast Titan, combined to pull this off. The WHT alone can create anything with hardening but i doubt it could create another titan moving by itself.
It's obviously a War Hammer construct, but I can't stop laughing at the idea that the Alliance don't realise how vastly different he looks. It kind of reminds me of when they would go "There's no opening in the Armored Titan's armor, it's covering everything" even though there's clearly spaces in between where you can see the red muscle
YFW another Beast Titan clone shows up next chapter
if monke isn't a Warhammer construct, where the heck does he get those rocks?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EREN SEEMINGLY CONTROLLING THE BEAST?
1,656 Responses
So we’ve discussed what you think the Beast is, now what do fans think of the development from a narrative standpoint? Most fans are happy with this development finding it cool and surprising, with 17.9% being happy just to see monke again. 12.1% feel it’s another ability coming out of nowhere, and 9.4% don’t like Zeke being handled this way. 4.4% think Zeke is in full autonomy, which is somehow 33 more people than when that was an option last question...
ZEKE DEAD IN BEAST TITAN BODY AND EREN CONTROLLING HIM
I just wanna see Zeke :(
I was so happy to finally see Zeke but all along it was just a puppet Beast Titan :(
If Zeke is just going to be a mindless powerup for Eren to keep Levi or Reiner busy, he'd better have been dead. We already had the Warhammer doing that job, why this again?
Tired of the Eren OPness to be honest, its stale and old and overall poorly writter. It's clear from the start Isayama's willing to bend backwards to not only power up Eren randomly but to try and justify everything he does.
THE ALLIANCE CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON ZEKE DESPITE EREN STANDING WITH YMIR IN THE PATHS REALM LAST CHAPTER. WHY HAVE NONE OF THE CHARACTERS MENTIONED HER?
1,650 Responses
Despite us fans freaking out every time we see Ymir, the alliance doesn’t seem to care. 43.9% believe they’ve just been a little too busy to focus on the minutiae of the lore, while 39.5% just have no idea. 11.1% don’t think they saw her standing there in the first place.
Did any of them really know who the little girl was?
Easier to focus on what they know than what they don’t
Do they recognize her! Are they familiar with the iconography of this creation story? Either way, they’re probably at the “Oh look, Eren’s in his child body and standing with a little girl who is the progenitor of our race. This might as well happen.”
I'm pretty sure they at least discussed it and formed a plan in the plane
They don't wanna face the fact they have to kill Eren, plus killing the beast titan may be easier than killing the founding titan
They still are still not as informed of the relationship between Eren and Ymir, their first goal is to rid the connection of royal blood to Eren preventing further destruction
Wait, are you saying we as the readers can see Ymir but the others can't? in that case, Ymir may have appeared multiple times throughout this mess and yet we've only seen her for Ramzi's death and when the alliance were in paths…
Only Eren can see Ymir since he has the founding Titan, as well as Zeke since he has royal blood. The rest can see Eren because he has the founding Titan and is connected to all Eldians and Ackermanns via paths.
seems like they hold Zeke more accountable to the rumbling than Eren himself. Yeah I get it, he's their friend. But fuck that, humanity is at stakes, and when Zeke turned against the warriors, they accepted that they had to kill him, even if they didn't wan't to (especially Pieck), even if he was their comrade and leader, even if they grew up together, because it needed to done.
They’re saving it for when they discuss Levi’s hand
They're like Ramzi -- they have no bloody idea who this loli is.
Nothing to do with the question but I'm bummed the official translation for this image was not "THAT FUCKING MONKEY!" like earlier ones
Alliance are stupid Motherfuckers
THE BLIMPS CERTAINLY TRIED THEIR BEST, HOW WOULD YOU RATE THEIR PERFORMANCE?
1,646 Responses
Surprising no one (except for 5.6% of you from last month who predicted the blimps would deal a decisive blow), Eren tore through the bombing fleet like it was nothing. On a 1-5 scale from “Abysmal” to “They tried their best, okay?”, the plurality of you have decided to lend some sympathy to the squadron, with some erring on the side of neutrality. Low expectations seem to have prevented disappointment, as not many people are criticizing them in the write ins either.
as a WWI nerd I really disappointed by the airship "battle." Isayama has done his research on some aspects of early modern day tech (like the detail on the firearms), but then has the airships dropping what looks like submarine depth charges instead of zeppelin bombs (I was like--why are they dropping oil canisters?!) and then has the airships go down in Hollywood-style explosions from having rocks thrown on them.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART IN THE PLANE’S ARRIVAL?
1,659 Responses
35.4% of respondents loved Reiner’s dynamic entry, followed by 23.6% of respondents who loved Levi’s war cry of MOONNKEEEE. 17.1% were happy to see the image of Armin leading the charge that we’ve been expecting since hearing that final audio sample. 9.1% embrace the ongoing Avengers theme of everyone jumping into battle at once. 8.3% appreciated Onyankopon’s sweet fighter pilot moves, and 5.2% liked seeing the Eldian evacuees getting a glimmer of hope.
Finally, shoutouts to the handful of people whose favourite moment was Pieck bounding out with the bombs like a happy dog with sausage links.
This chapter was pure adrenaline. The Alliance's entrance in the plane was seriously badass. I can't wait for 135!!
Reiner with the Buddha's Palm. Respect!
I love how Levi is still so focused on killing Monke. Avenge your husband, sweetie.
Armin is finally grabbing Eren by the collar again and I like that. Safe to assume we're going to see more of the Eren vs Armin showdown now. Armin delivered a truly powerful line, "Which part of you is free" and I'm curious how Eren will respond to that
Reiner's transformation is probably my favourite one, and seeing the rest of the alliance jumping down in a tense but at the same time epic scene was priceless.
It was impossible to choose what part of the plane scene was the best, it was *chef's kiss* all of it.
PIECK TRANSFORMED AND GOT THE BOMBS IN THE CART’S MOUTH WITHOUT BLOWING THEM UP. IS THIS UNREALISTIC BASED ON THE WORLD’S RULES TO YOU?
1,602 Responses
Chekhov’s bombs are now in the hands, er, mouth, of Pieck Finger, via grabbing them from the plane and transforming into a titan while holding them. About half of fans had no issue with this, seeing that titan transformations are just summoning flesh around you. 17.5% did think the transformation explosion should have detonated them, and 30% are just wondering how she also managed to perfectly unravel the bombs midair.
Bold of you to imply Isayama cares about physics after the wet gun and the plane being ready in 5 minut... 1 hour excuse me.
Bombs are detonated through fire reacting to the gunpowder right? Do we know that the Titan's 'explosions' are made from fire?
Pieck has probably done this many times before, the cart titan is mainly used as a war mule after all.
She's just very very gentle ok ?
Cart titan has experienced in carrying things in different situations and the explosives shown could be improvised. Also, these types are initiated with fire and will not explode with any impact occurred.
I assumed that she let go of the bombs, transformed, then caught them. This does not bother me in the slightest.
I think it's kinda like Eren with the spoon, the objective was holding it, which is why it wan't damaged when Hanji noticed it. Same thing with Pieck and the explosives.
Rule of Cool, doesn't matter either way to me.
No, Cart Titan is especially a strange titan to begin with and a use for delicate and ambushing situations(read the chapters where Pieck transport Bertold in a barrel before the attack on Paradise)
It's kinda unrealistic, but falling from 50 meters with all your body burned and survive is way worse.
WAS THIS THE START OF REINER’S HELOS MOMENT?
1,615 Responses
Reiner being Helos has been a popular theory for a while, and now he seems to be acting as a hero to those left at Fort Salta. 54.4% believe this is the start of Reiner embodying the idea of Helos, while 12.9% are holding out for if he kills Eren. 27.9% don’t believe Reiner to be connected to Helos in any way.
Appeared as a small hope
Are people really still going on about Helos?
can he kill Eren? If he can, then hes Helos
H E L O S
What is Helos
Half-Eldian, half-Marleyan -- he represents so much more than Helos ever did.
He could be Helos, but I think Armin will be the one to save humanity, but Reiner can join him
I dont really like the whole X is helos thing, reiner definately is acting the part of the hero but i think its more redemption for reiner than trying to be some kimd of savior of humanity and i think that fots his character better.
The real "Helos" is not just Reiner, but the whole alliance.
He going to be Helos not when he kills Eren, but when he makes a sacrifice of some sorts.
He's not Helos, and will never be, but he is definitely a big hope
Who is Helos
Reiner does not deserve to be a ‘Helos’
HELL YEAH REINER
He'll do something sick
Helos was a fake hero, just a mask. Their is no comparison with Reiner's journey to maturity..
I won’t compare him to Helos. But this is sure a hero moment
Captain Suicide to the rescue
I think he’s helos but it’s gonna be armin who saves the day
I’m not sure if he’ll be helos but he’s still going to be essential to the story
Helos was a hollow and fake historical figure made up to push the "Eldians are evil" narrative. Reiner, on the other hand, is someone who was raised with a hatred for Eldians and committed atrocities because of it, but came to face his past actions and save the world as a true hero. Reiner isn't Helos, he's so much better than that.
WITH THE BEAST TITAN THROWING AT THE PLANE AND SKYDIVERS INDISCRIMINATELY, IT SEEMS LIKE EREN IS OK WITH KILLING ANY OF HIS FRIENDS. THOUGHTS?
1,630 Responses
The question of how far Eren would go to achieve his goal of freedom has plagued the community for a while, and this chapter seemingly confirmed his willingness to even kill his friends, as seen by the deadly projectiles that the alliance only narrowly avoided. 61.8% of respondents aren’t surprised by this, despite Armin and Mikasa, who were in the line of fire, being voted as very unlikely for Eren to willingly kill last month. While 16.6% were indeed shocked by this, 19.1% believe this can be explained away by Eren knowing his friends aren’t in any serious danger.
Eren has to kill everybody, the rest of the world and if they don't stop even the alliance. Otherwise this story will be worse then Game of Thrones Season 8.
Scared that eren is fine with killing the friends he wants to protect
ARMIN SEEMS TO RECALL THE 112 CONVERSATION WHEN HE SAYS HE WANTS TO ASK EREN ONE MORE QUESTION HE WON’T LIKE, “WHAT ABOUT YOU IS FREE”. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
1,636 Responses
Eren’s quest for freedom and Armin’s quest for understanding come to a head in this chapter’s cliffhanger question from the latter: “What about you is free?” More of you think he is still in the reasoning stage (37%) than those who think the question was an affirmation of his determination to say goodbye to his old friend (30.1%). Some of you think the callback to chapter 112 is indicative of Armin believing Eren to be controlled in some way (27.6%).
Armin is trying to manipulate Eren like what he did with Berthold but I think he will 100% fail .
Armin is really being built up here for an amazing redemption. These last three chapters we've seen him carefully being inserted into the pivotal role in the series just like in RtS. I'm 90% confident the biggest plot twist of the entire series is coming, and Armin is the catalyst as he's always been for every amazing moment in the show prior to chapter 91. I think the ending is going to blow everyone out of the water, and that everyone predicting a side to win is missing entirely how the manga will end.
I'm so happy to see that Armin is basically done coddling Erin. He's ready to take him out, especially since he's become the commander
in line with what kenny ackerman said, armin thinks eren is a slave of his own obsession.
Please stop blaming Eren for everything, he needs Help. It makes me sad to see Eren has to face his best friends, and I dont like Armins way of confronting him, it looks like Armin has erased his memory of his best friend…
He's a fucking clown, I can't stand his shit. Still selfishly trying to talk Eren out of it when he's causing the fucking apocalypse and asserted many times that no, he won't stop. Who cares about Eren's vision of freedom when he's killing millions of people ? Just nuke him, you're supposed to be the colossal titan ffs
Their ideas clash at the moment. However, Armin still believes that his friend behaves unnaturally and won't let go until he discovers the truth.
we have continuously witnessed Eren being a hypocrite it makes perfect sense why he would say that
We need Armin's POV to know if he's now fully prepared to kill Eren or not
What I think is that armin might think that eren is being controlled by the attack Titan
Perhaps to get a rise or reaction out of him? Or just a cool way to introduce himself to the conflict!
that seashell fucker joke of a commander still wants to talk rather than kill him when Eren repeatedly made it clear that he won't ever stop the rumbling.
Hoping to see how this ideological conflict between Eren and Armin will end.
THIS CHAPTER HAS AN EMPHASIS ON THE SURVIVAL OF CHILDREN. WHICH ONES DO YOU SEE SURVIVING THIS CONFLICT?
1,649 Responses
This chapter’s repeated motif of humans coming together to save children, especially infants, has been noticed by many. As for what it means for the survival of the ones in this chapter, the majority of readers believe Historia’s child is in the clear (81.4%). The children at the fort appear to have much less of a chance (32.8%), but are believed to be comparatively less doomed than the baby at the cliff (26.1%). On the bright side, only about a hundred of you (7.6%) think they will all perish.
Great chapter showing the contrast between a child being born in Paradis and a child dying on the other side of the world.
Sometimes people will trample each other to escape (as we've seen in Marley), but sometimes through the mindless fear people try and protect a tiny helpless thing for a few moments. Whether the baby lives or not it was amazing imagery.
The crowd trying to save the baby from the cliff as the Wall Titans arrived was very dark, but I still think Ymir's daughters eating their own mother is still the darkest moment in the series involving the children, while the runner-up is Faye's death.
we all theorized that the final panel was Historia's child but maybe it's the baby at the cliff. Eren might actually win and destroy the world, then through the wreckage he approaches the child and picks it up and tells it that's it's free
Cliff baby is toast
While the Rumbling is still as horrible as ever, this time it didn't feel quite as hopeless as when we saw Ramzi and his brother. The baby lifting scene was chilling and yet strangely inspiring.
damn bruh seriously the poor kids
MANY CHARACTERS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TAKING ON THE BLAME FOR THE CURRENT SITUATION, INSTEAD OF POINTING TO EREN. DOES ISAYAMA WANT THE WORLD TO BE AT FAULT INSTEAD OF EREN?
1,636 Responses
With the story presenting us a complicated situation, does Isayama’s approach lead to the wrong conclusions? Almost 70% of fans believe that he wants us to view both parties as at fault for the current situation. About 17% believe the hatred of the world is squarely to blame, while 8.3% think it all lands on Eren for his own actions. 5.3% think Isayama is just really clumsy with his messaging.
this chapter makes you realise that eren is actually at fault. I used to make more excuses for him, but this chapter really sealed the deal for me atleast. No one deserves this pain. It is not marley vs eldians anymore it is everyone vs Eren.
While it makes sense for them to feel regret, I still disagree that its their fault. Like look at Grisha's parents, they didnt do any wrong to deserve this. They just lived their life the way they were told to. Thats why i dislike the argumentations. Most people just were forced to hate someone they never met, so I dont this like the speech that much.
i think isayama states that the alliance is at fault too because they decided to still fight on eren's side until it was already too late and he activated the rumbling. not because they are killing people directly.
while I think that Eren is the main culprit of the Rumbling, true peace cannot be reached if everyone acts all high and mighty ""well, it wasn't MY fault"". After all this, the whole world has to be humble and willing to work together, otherwise it has all been for nothing.
I find it weird everyone (SC, warriors, the world) is blaming themselves for everything and readers are using their pre-death laments as a confirmation that Eren is right/justified. I don't like Eren being portrayed just like the product of his context, especially because he himself deny it and many chapters exist to reforce that (100, 121, 123, 130, 131, etc). I feel nobody is treating Eren as an individual, but as a force of nature coming to punish humanity for their sins. It's uncomfortable, because he's just a person like everybody else and not a god even if he has some god-like powers.
I don’t think the narrative is on eren side, but it also doesn’t absolve the rest of the world, the narrative shows that both sides have good and bad people, innocent and guilty, how each decision affect each character, and what they feel about it all. This story is about a cycle of hate, eldia used titan power to attack the world, then the world revolted and decided to attack eldia, now eldia (eren) attacks the world again, cycles have no end unless someone interrupts it, the question is; What is the most effective way to end this cycle?
Eren already lost. He wanted protect people on Paradis, his friends and Historia but it looks like his actions only have created more sadness and misery. A lot of people on the island died when the walls collapsed and now they most likely will have a civil war. Two of his closest friends are already dead and the rest feels depressed and miserable. The things for Historia don't look good either. Even if he fully rumbles the world, he will never really save anyone.
I think genocide is the solution to stop Racism
AS THE ALLIANCE PREPARES TO FIGHT EREN, ONYANKOPON IS MAKING AN EMERGENCY LANDING WITH THE PLANE. HOW WILL THIS GO?
1,638 Responses
Onyankopon flew the alliance where they needed to go, but the plane’s in trouble and he might be as well! 44.5% think he’s going to die or has already died in a crash, 41.3% think he’ll land with injuries, and 14.2% think he’ll be a-ok and join the onlookers for the battle.
Onyankopon is probably dead but I really hope he’s not.
WHO DO YOU SEE DYING BEFORE THE MANGA ENDS?
1,602 Responses
Going into the final battle, it’s useful to have some data on everybody’s predictions, as well as a follow-up to the same question that was asked for the chapter 127 poll, back in March. The characters who were voted more likely to die than survive are led by Zeke, who has a clear majority (78.1%), followed by Connie (59.8%), Onyankopon (59.2%), Levi (57.5%) and Eren (54.6%). Coming close, but still more likely to survive according to voters, is Pieck (48.9%), Reiner (47.9%) and Yelena (44.9%). Gabi (11.5%), Falco (15.1%), Armin (16.2%) and Historia (17.4%) are expected to make it till the end.
Interestingly, as we approach the end, every single character who was present in the March poll has increased in perceived likelihood of dying. Except for one, Yelena, who dropped 6.6% in votes, perhaps due to her injury rendering her a more sidelined and subdued character. The characters that the fandom changed their mind on the most are Levi (+39.1%), Onyankopon (+37.3%) and Connie (+23.8%). The characters that have remained relatively unchanged include Gabi (+3.5%), Jean (+1%) and Kiyomi (+1%).
if he kills Jean without giving him anything important in the whole arc I'm going feral.
I really hope there’ll be no casualties to any of my favorite characters
IM FUCKING SCARED TO SEE LEVI DIE
i hope reiner didn't die untill the last chap
I sadly think everyone will die besides the main three and levi since he’s an ackerman.
ARMIN, SON, PLEASE DON'T DIE. YOU'RE THE MOST PRECIOUS LITTLE BUNDLE OF HOPE. PLEASE DON'T DIE!! 😭
WE’RE STEALING THIS ONE FROM THE WIKI. ARE YOU MORE EXCITED FOR CHAPTER 135 OR THE SEASON 4 ANIME PREMIERE NEXT MONTH?
1,661 Responses
Monthly waits between chapters are rough, but so are the years between seasons! Luckily we have both with the next chapter and the Final Season coming out within days of each other. 57.9% are more excited for the next chapter following the pretty popular 134, and 42.1% are more excited for the anime to kick off.
FINAL SEASON HYPE LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO
Can't wait to see what will happen 135 and beyond!
I am overall completely hooked on the manga chapters, and I love Eren’s characteristic traits and mental strength. I am really excited on the final season.
can't wait for the final season!! It's going to be EPIC
Super emotional, everything seems to be leading to a tragic crescendo and all of this is going to look bonkers if MAPPA adapts it well for the final season
Incrediblesuperawesomethebestimsohypedineedchapter135
Cant wait for the next chapter and the final season!!
DESCRIBE THE CHAPTER IN ONE WORD
1,181 Responses
The top 5 words used to describe the chapter this month are below. As opposed to the usual superlatives as well as a resurfacing of pain, the standout this month is monke, thanks to Zeke’s return. We seem to be fully done with the recipe shenanigans after a few months.
Amazing [60]
Monke [38]
Epic [36]
Pain [33]
Awesome [31]
ISAYAMA RECENTLY ESTIMATED THERE IS 1-2% LEFT OF THE STORY. WHAT CHAPTER DO YOU THINK THE MANGA WILL END AT?
1,657 Responses
At the statue unveiling on November 7th, Isayama dropped another clue in the ever evolving mystery of when this series will end. His new estimate of 1-2% would translate into two more chapters (!). That estimate did little to dissuade our fandom from our most popular choice of 138.
Between Isayama's comments and this chapter, I'm really afraid there's 1 volume left and Isayama might rush everything, thus giving a shitty ending for everyone.
I really hope it doesn’t end at 135, there’s no way Isayama can muster a proper conclusion out of that unless it was all a dream or some dumb shit.
I'm confused as to how there is 1-2% left. Is Isayama really going to make Eren a cold-blooded killer after all the character development, I wonder. Honestly, I constantly feel like it's going to fast and that there are some things that need to go into more detail.
I fear the ending could feel too rushed if it really ends in ~4 chapters from now.
I'm glad we're closer to the ending. I just want to leave this series behind me and never look back again.
idk but i just dont want it to end too fast😭😭😭
WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER?
1,657 Responses
The countdown clock is ticking away but there are still plot points to be completed and mysteries to be solved. To kick off what is likely the final volume of this series, nearly half of us hope the focus next month is The Alliance vs Eren (45%). In second place with slightly over 1/5 of the fandom, is interest in Eren POV (21.7%). Falco’s Flying Titan (9.2%), Historia (9.1%) and Zeke (8.1%) fill out the remainder of the pie with the smallest fraction (5.6%) wanting to know what is up with OG Ymir.
I still want to see Eren redeemed and saved, as that felt teased too much. Eren vs Zeke also felt teased too much. I also wanted to see Historia in action again. And how will Annie and Falco fit into the equation? And what of the titan powers? And the aftermath?
Kinda want to see this conversation between Eren and Armin more than anything
I want to see more Mikasa action.
i want armin to shift into the colossal titan and give spider-eren a big smooch on the lips
I personally would like to see Historia's pov because we still haven't gotten it and I want to know if Zeke is actually dead or not
I want to see more of Historia
v excited to see Zeke again, same w historia, hope eren pov is soon, liked seeing more of the world
Has Hajime forgotten Riko or will she have an interesting role in this ending? Can she be the child's mother in the end?
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PLATFORMS DO YOU USE TO DISCUSS THE SERIES?
1,562 Responses
It’s official, after months of steady growth since we allowed multiple social media to be chosen, twitter has finally dethroned reddit on the polls as the most popular platform to discuss SNK. The more distant third place goes to real life, which managed to overtake discord again after falling behind a little last month. And 38 snapchatters now! Are you multiplying?!
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?
479 Responses
this chapter got me fucked up.
Isayama: Hold my plum wine.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about it yet but in one of the manga panel you can see levi holding his sword in his way as if he had all his fingers back. So I think he does.
Save for chapters 130-131, the manga has been noticeably become underwhelming since 124. Like I implied above, there are many hints that this manga is going to have a GOT season 8 tier ending. Eren will be defeated and all the hate in the world will magically disappear. There will be some sort of unity between Marley and Cringevengers that brings peace to the world even though it shouldn't realistically be possible. And lastly, that baby near the cliff will end up living at the last moment and will end up being the baby from the final panel. "You are free", most likely being held by Armin or Reiner.
Go get him, Armin!
ALLIANCE HAS ME SO HYPED BYE
I wish it were longer but no thoughts my heart is heavy
I know Eren wants to destroy the world but HOLY FUCK.
I just, really hope that baby will be ok
I LOVED EVERY PANEL !!!!! I WAS FILLED WITH EMOTIONS WHILST READING 😭😭😭
I’m just really excited to see what’s gonna happen on the next chapter because everything is really chaotic and I’m just curious what’s the ending really like after years of making up theories and stories in my head.
I’m just so ready to see what’s really going on with Eren and which side will win. Also Armin is amazing in this chapter and his last question to Eren in this chapter gave me chills
I think Isayama is trying too hard to excuse Eren. Despite everything, he exterminted humanity instead of saving it. Other have gone trhough worst and would never have gone that far.
I’m not sure how to word it for English isn’t my first language, but it’s kinda sad to see a fictional world realize their mistakes/bad things they’ve done and how hatred can affect things
is the baby in the final panel (the « you’re free » one) the one that was saved or historias??? 😳
I'm so tired.
I think it will be more clear if we got eren pov sooner
I think that it doesn't make any sense if Isayama gave us Historia in labor for nothing. I want to know more about her and her baby, how have they been all these times after the squad left the island and before the rumbling. And Zeke, too. We haven't seen him for a while so i'm glad that he's back, but i think he's under Eren's control now. The chapter is kinda short for me. It's gonna perfect if we have more scenes of Historia and her baby, or at least Zeke's POV.
I think that we will have a lot of deaths in the next chapter
I think the current titan shifters will die. And then it will be reborn by historia's child. In short, the titan shifting powers won't end
I think this will end bittersweet at best
I think what Eren will do when seeing his friends are fighting him. Does him will hurt them back
Big fan of seeing Historia again, and that baby being held up is a very chilling image we haven’t seen the likes of for a few months.
I think with all the hype, it still was a setup chapter and I think the last 4-6 chapters will be monstrous and very bitter sweet.
I think zeke is there but only partially controlled, but the titan is formed by warhammer capability
I thought it was a very good chapter to end the volume off of. Now I expect the next 4 final chapters to be amazing Isyama writing we are use too.
I thought that it was interesting because we got to see zeke again and the alliance going to try to save eren and to fight again
I thought that that eren will go back to mikasa
I want a goodass ending
Rumbling hits Hiruzu but the base is still there? That can't happening at the same time.
SADDDDD
i have no idea I just stressed out with this chapter.
Safe pregnancy for Historia
THAT FUCKING MONKEY 🐒
the art is amazing but i'd like to see more dialogue
so much happened in a single chapter, i can't believe we're reaching the end
I've been here since 2013, and it's finally at the final volume, AND I'M NOT READY! ALL HAIL ELDIA! ALL HAIL EREN!
Isayama's art keeps evolving every month, it was live watching anime key frames before any color was applied.
it made me cry so much i hope it will have a happy ending
It was a rollercoaster of hype and regret lmao
yams says fuck dem kids
Can’t wait to see this animated
It was awful. All those big questions without answer... And I hate what he did with Hisu. I hate it as a woman.
It was cool like always hope isayama feels good like we do
It was cool, but it had some cheesy moments. Does the title suggest that History is in despair too? Is she having complications in her labor or is feeling guilty because of the rumbling? Or both?
It was cruel, it made me uncomfortable, I don't understand Isayama's joy in drawing scenes of suffering without a reason. And Historia, wow, I don't even know what to say, I still don't understand why she's pregnant.
wondering why she’s giving birth 2-3 months earlier, and why she lied to the mps. Unless it’s a premature birth but I doubt it.
astonishing, astounding, surprising, bewildering, stunning, staggering, shocking, startling, stupefying, breathtaking, perplexing, confounding, dismaying, disconcerting, shattering.
At last the end is near, but despite that the ending is not clear, it can end in so many ways but I don't think Isayama will disappoints us.
Avengers will beat the bad guy.
The biggest victims are always innocent children and that's the darkest and saddest part for me.
Great setup for the final battle, and that cliff scene broke me.
i tilt with helos theories :)
Armin and company, except Mikasa, are NOW ready to fight Eren to the death. Eren is also prepare to finish what he started, no matter who dies. Final result could go either way as Falco, Gabi, and Annie will come eventually, and their arrival will turn the tide one way or the other.
I hope armin and the gang can get through to eren :(
I hope eren kills them all
i hope eren win, to show the consequence of hatred
I just don’t care anymore
I just dont want that if the alliance wins, the marleyans and other races forgive eldia because that does not even make any type of sense
If it somehow wasn't clear before, this manga's message is about peace. It is NOT some n*zi propaganda, and it never has been. This chapter perfectly conveyed that.
Confusing but interesting alliance is making me angry they don’t understand Eren still think he’s being controlled
When a host for one of the Nine Titans dies without being devoured, their powers are transferred to an Eldian child through Paths. If one, some or all of the Nine Titan holders die during the current battle, would it be possible that the newborn, which is also of royal blood, inherits the Titan power?
Death Flags for Armin give me joy…
Why are men so afraid of letting lesbians be lesbians
did eren awake? will the wall titam fall off the cliff because it sweeps the area there? i always think about this, does eren have any secret plans behind this rumble? lol maybe, find a path tree and destroy it? lmao
downer chapter, I expected something better for the chapter where we see the final audio at last
Eren already won.
Eren and the rumbling is reminding me of Shin Godzilla
Eren best character
Eren goat, hisu goat
Eren holding his and historias baby in final panel seems more and more likely
EREN IS 100% THE FATHER AFTER THIS CHAPTER, IT'S NO LONGER EVEN A DEBATE
EreHisu would ruin the series
Eren, please stop the Fucking rumblimg. You killed A lot of innocent people.
Eren's eaten Zeke, and that's why he can form and control a beast titan. Sorry Levi, the only person that your gonna beat up is Eren yet again.
eren’s face with this dino titan just creeps me the fuck out, and i don’t look forward to the transformation being animated.
It was definitely surprising for me when I saw historia while some people predict she will die when giving birth although that could be a possibility I see her dying due to either old age or somehow her inheriting the beast titan since the Ymir curse exists
It was epic!
It was great but can we see eren and Mikasa moments in the upcoming chapters before the manga ends and also show some light on how to cure ymir's curse and stuffs
It was great to see Historia again.
It was necessary to show all the chaos Eren is doing, and i'm so excited to see the Alliance fight him!
It was really good set up for 135
all the violence !! Like was this even necessary ?? No ! Too much violence just "kills" the whole thing ! Damn it was just awful and a waste of time to read for me !
This is probably going to be the most disturbing episode in the show's history once it gets animated, even if it's heavily censored. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up having to put a disclaimer at the beginning as well. I can already see it now, God this is going to be insane...
This is the first chapter that has really felt like the end REALLY is here. The gang is engaged in battle with Eren, there is no turning back from this point. They will either succeed, or perish in the attempt.
This story used to have the character growth and the plot at the center of the focus. I'm sad that it is all blown away in favor of cheap spectacle.
This won't end well, for anyone. I know Isayama has something significant planned for Historia's baby (my pet theory is that all the titans will die without heirs, be recombined with OG Ymir, and then she can finally be reborn and GTFO of PATHS), but thanks, I hate it.
Armin already grew up. he was from a coward child and now he is a brave man. i wanna cry
Geez, I hope the alliance can stop eren
This is all a series of bad plot choices falling like domino. Are things gonna work out once we get to final revelations? Probably. Is it gonna feel earned? At this point I doubt it. I miss the passion in this story. Char. develp. has never been the finest but they've always been human. Historia's a uterus. Eren just cares about his freedom. Dialogue falls flat as if Isayama didn't believe in what he writes and he's trying so hard to force feed the reader. If the rumbling is the final stop why was half of this necessary when it gave no closure to any character? But if it isn't, we deserved a real build up of events.
Zeke finally back but we still didn't know if he being controlled or willingly
Zeke is not being controlled and instead helping his brother, Eren is going to win and killed some of his friends, Levi is going to survive, Historia is going to survive with her baby and showed up at the final chapter. That's all I'm sure at this point. Mark my words.
it was sad
It was so cool but very chaotic I feel like I need a flashback or something or a tiny break.
It was so depressing, I can't imagine how Isayama would end this manga in only 1-2 chapters, it definitely need more
Omg this chaoter make me cry and relived, im just relieved that marleyan know they are wrong, that paradis not a devil blooded
one of the best chapters
Poor pacing and seems like a lot of unnecessary convolutions to the overall message
Pure masterpiece! Thanks Isayama
The chapter is fine but ,The story is leading to an obvious ending .I want to be wrong about that . I want a satisfying end . But part of knows that is not possible , let's watch isayama handle this shitshow he created.
The chapter leaves you with just the right question.
ERREEHH REINEERR!!???
Even if I don't want many people to die, I think that everyone will die, humanity will go extinct :(
Ever since 133, it's two chapters which have amazing elements but ultimately falls off as dissapointing. The plot needs to move forward. I thought we were going to have Bertholttalk and Ackertalk. 132 was such a masterpiece of a chapter that it becomes a let down.
Everyone told Eren early on that he'd have to abandon his humanity to make a difference, to save Paradis- especially Armin. Regardless of whose on which side, its ironic that now Armin is the one who can't accept this.
Excitement😎
There are two panels where Levi and mikasa are showing a shocked expression, idk if it’s just coincidence but can this possibly be relating to the Ackerman instinct?
This chapter is amazing good job isayama thx for a another masterpiece chapter
This chapter is really intense. Also, I wish I could've seen Zeke's POV.
Waiting for royal blooded Armin
was good until it spoke
We miss you, Hange, fly high our angel
We're finally at the final showdown boys and girls
We're truly at the beginning of the end for my favorite anime/manga series, huh?
What a series!
What happens with Yelena when either Falco or Annie transforms on the ship? Kiyomi said she‘s ready to sink with it but Yelena?
i hope eren isn't the father
What’s up to come seems uncertain.
Where is Ymir
falco or annie is definitely gna come flying in sooner or later
I really hope we don’t get a peace treaty ending.
I really hope we get a good ending... not happy necesarily....but good.....
I really just don’t care anymore. Yet I come back for more every time. Curse my completionism nature.
I really liked it. Definitely worth the month wait.
I really love the detail from this chapter and my favourite was when seeing Isayama drawing all those colossal titans and those people being crush. That's so amazing.
The end is near. I think we'll see Eren's next (final) POV in the final chapter.
Very cinematic, impressive setup/start to the alliance vs Eren fight
Very devastating
WHY is historia pregnant? (idc about father) Please give us the real answer yams! It was nice to see final audio. I loved Armin’s final comments and can’t wait to see the EMA confrontation.
Wonderful chapter, it's nice seeing another of Armin's plans. Reiner decking the beast titan was hype. The babies and the rumbling were a great juxtaposition too.
Would love to see if eren is really being controlled or if he’s willingly doing this to be stopped and perhaps killed?
I still wanna hope Hänge IS alive
i still wanna know how the hell eren's titan moves forward. the only thing i can imagine is some of the big bois carrying him. i can't get over it
I suffer
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Be Brave Adachi, or the musical shaping of episodes 1-4
Part 4: Episode 4
This is part of a 4 part series. You may wish to start with part 1, where I introduced the main musical cue we’ll be following and how it represents Adachi questioning the world as he knew it. Or, if you missed part 2, or part 3, you might want to start there.
If you would like to follow along, please cue up 13:15 in episode 4.*
HOO BOY does everything happen in Episode 4! I swear every time I went back to rewatch to check something I noticed 2 more things that were worth mentioning. Go get your drink of choice, we’re gonna be here a while.
Since we have so much to talk about, and there’s not much new going on, I’m going to gloss over the 1.5 rotations of Questioning that happen right after Adachi gets off the phone with Tsuge. Y’all probably recognize it by now, right? Right.
The really interesting new stuff in this episode starts after Kurosawa rescues Adachi and Fujisaki, while they’re walking back to the office. Here, for the first time in full since episode 1, we get a repeat of the guitar music that I called Adachi-at-home in the first post in this series. Now, I’m gonna have to make a slight retraction because a) I didn’t know yet that this was gonna be important later, and b) it’s more interesting than I originally thought. So, to add some nuance, this guitar cue is not just Adachi when he’s on his own, fully relaxed, it’s that plus Adachi ruminating on how he doesn’t compare to Kurosawa. In the first case, he’s wishing for just one of Kurosawa’s good qualities. Here, he’s pointing out that they are “fundamentally different” with overtones of I am fundamentally worse than he is. The super interesting thing that I missed the first time around though is that this is the tune of the Home section. Sure it’s in C-sharp major (ish) rather than A major (not exactly a related key, but not an unrelated key either, at least if you ask Brahms^), but the melody is the same enough that I DEFINITELY should have caught that. What can I say, *shrug* pandemic brain.
So, anyways, given what I have since discovered about this guitar cue, I’d like to revise what I think it’s about - it’s about Adachi’s unacknowledged crush on Kurosawa. He still doesn’t realize yet that Kurosawa is something he wants, but moments like these show us just how much he wants it.
Around 16:15, at the end of Fujisaki’s internal monologue in the elevator, Questioning comes in. This time, though, it’s not about Kurosawa in the slightest. When I was first trying to come up with a point to this series so my Intro to Musicology professor wouldn’t hunt me down for writing a “here’s some stuff” paper, I was all ready to say Kurosawa is the answer and call it a day. But if that’s the case, then why does Questioning start here? Sure, he just found out that Fujisaki knows about Kurosawa’s crush, but the worldview that he’s questioning isn’t that Fujisaki is more observant than he thought. It’s his reaction to her disinterest in relationships. Furthermore, this version of Questioning is far more stable than previous ones - instead of a tritone or other non-chord set of vertically stacked pitches, most of the Question phrases end on unison D, or some version of D + F-sharp (usually in the m6 orientation, rather than M3). Each Question phrase is approximately in time, or at least close enough that we have a sense of when the next will happen, where in the first few versions of Questioning the space between each phrase rotation felt indeterminate. I think what we’re seeing here is that even though Adachi still has questions, his life has already changed. He has a better sense of the people around him, and is less terrified of asking questions.
The Questioning section actually pauses when Kurosawa notices Adachi’s wound, and we don’t head into the next section immediately. In fact, we don’t ever get the next section here - we jump straight to Home, as Adachi starts back in on how much better Kurosawa is than him. It’s in the piano here, I think mostly so that they don’t have to change instrumentation midway through (we’ll see why in a second). This version of Home is the same slow tempo as the guitar version, and it’s very dry. All of the harmony is in block chords, which contributes to a kind of emptiness. But that’s ok because it doesn’t last.
After a single (musical) sentence, Adachi begins to hear Kurosawa’s own self-loathing through his thoughts. As this happens, the chords that were once in blocks stretch out into arpeggios, filling in the spaces around the melody, in a move that reminds me so much of the way that letting go of a bit of anxiety can feel like unfurling from a tiny space.** Kurosawa’s “I’m sure he finds me annoying” is immediately followed by the addition of a cello line - and I’m about to go do some rewatching looking for where cello is important, but my first impression hypothesis is that cello represents Kurosawa’s inner headspace, particularly after some of the ways I noticed it being used in ep. 7. The cello twines around the piano line that we’re already familiar with, possibly as a metaphor for the way that Adachi and Kurosawa are having similar thoughts. And, as with earlier episodes, we end without a full resolution - we get a cadence, sort of, but the piano continues for a bit and ends with a cluster of notes with G as the main thing that catches our ear. For those unfamiliar, G is not a particularly tonic-feeling note in A major. It’s flat 7, which helps tremendously in feeling like we are NOT in major, better suited to the melancholy nature of the various thoughts flying around here.
And then. Ok, and THEN. The part I have been writing this entire series to talk about. So, to set the scene, right? Adachi thanks Kurosawa, Kurosawa deflects but gives Adachi a direct, blinding smile, and for once Adachi doesn’t squint. He returns the smile. He has become comfortable here.
As if that weren’t enough, the music comes in, and yes, we’re back to Questioning, but it is absolutely in time, with two beats of 6/8 between each iteration of the Question Phrase. Furthermore, this version has both guitar and glockenspiel in it - the guitar is Adachi’s home instrument, and here it suggests he’s become comfortable with questioning the world around him, while the glock does more to highlight the difference in the treatment of time.
We don’t move on from this section for a bit, because Fujisaki interrupts his thoughts. We do, however, get hints of the next section - a rising line in the piano timed in the same way as the next section will start, for example. The underpinnings of the Questioning section provide a lush background for Adachi’s monologue on visiting Fujisaki’s mother, something the first version of Questioning could not have done. Adachi is being very brave here, and the changes to our favorite cue are a reflection of that.
As he finishes we head in to the section of the piece, which is mostly accompanying shots of Fujisaki being overwhelmed, Adachi being worried that his attempt to be brave has gone wrong, and not much happening. There’s a weird loop in the middle, which makes me think that they tried it with the whole track and it felt waaaay too long without anything happening.
Anyway, after she reassures him that his bravery is appreciated, we head into the Answer section. Adachi and Fujisaki’s chitchat isn’t what’s important here. The important thing is we have the Answer section, and here it is fully scored, electric guitar and bass, percussion, the works. Not only that, but the cue ends, and it ENDS ON THE TONIC. We did it folks! We found the resolution! And it turns out, the way to get there was to BE BRAVE.
This may not be the end of the whole series, but this is AN ending. This is the pan-out that we get at the end of every 90s Hollywood teen romcom. Adachi has Learned Something with capital letters, and it’s not that he loves Kurosawa or even that he needs to give up his low self-esteem. It’s that he can be brave, and he can contribute. It’s hard, and it may take four episodes of building to it, but he can do it.
Which is a lesson he’s really gonna need for the beginning of 5. But that’s a story for another time.
If you’ve followed my nerdery this far and you’ve enjoyed this series, please let me know via likes, replies, and/or reblogs. I may eventually continue the series if there’s enough interest (there’s some FASCINATING things that happen to this cue in episode 7, for example), but for now, I’m gonna go take a nap.
I did a follow up in response to an ask, if you really really want more.
*All video timings and quotes are from Irozuku Subs videos. If you’re watching somewhere else, your mileage may vary slightly.
^If you’re a SUPER HARD CORE theory nerd, look up Neo-Riemannian Theory for how this works. Or just if you want your brain to explode. Either way, have fun, cause I need it for my dissertation and I STILL don’t quite understand how it works.
**Not an Academically Approved metaphor. This is why I’m doing this on tumblr.
#cherry magic#cherry magic! thirty years of virginity can make you a wizard?!#adachi kiyoshi#music meta#For anyone who's actually read ALL OF THIS#thank you very seriously from the bottom of my heart#in case you were curious the google doc ended up 8 pages long#it would probably be more if I felt up for editing more#anyway really seriously thanks for putting up with my weirdo music theory nerd vibes CM fandom#I appreciate it
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It may be a strange question, unrelated to the topic of the blog, but how do you proofread your works? Your writing is another level I wish to achieve.
That's really kind of you to say and quite frankly feels undeserved. Thank you. Honestly, I've always felt a bit gunshy about giving any sort of writing advice, because I very much still see myself as learning and feel very critical of my early work. I also think it would be disingenuous to say I have a structure that works particularly well, considering how slowly I write compared to many others. If you're looking for tips on how to be more productive in writing and proofing your work on a schedule, I don't think I would be the best person to ask!
I've been told the more efficient approach is to write first and proofread later-- in projects like NaNoWriMo you'll definitely see the tip to get more words down than you'll end up keeping and edit it all later-- but I'd be lying if I said I ever stuck to that. I tend to write in small chunks at a time and edit as I go, and then go back over the entire WIP a few times throughout the process. I can't say it will work for you, but I tend to be a little happier with the wording and structure when I can focus on it by itself, and then adjust things like the pacing and comb out overused words in a longer read-through. I think it's important for any writer to read their work as a whole and compare two sections you may have written days, week, even months apart in order to make them fit together. It may not feel like it, but our tone can change over the course of writing and it's always worth a second (and third, and fourth) look at everything you've written prior to this newest addition. I don't read the entire story from beginning to end every time, but I do read what I'd consider the scenes surrounding it, and maybe another section that catches my eye and I feel could use cleaning up. It's also good to consult your outline, if you've got one, to be sure you're still adhering to the same points. Sometimes you won't be, and I think that's a good thing-- I never write with a strict outline of every single thought and action, just a general overview of "plot points," but I also think my personal style of writing is much more about those thoughts and actions than the plot. I don't think a story has ever turned out quite as I first imagined it, and in the moment it can feel like I failed to do what I set out to do, but... you'll simply never know what the "best" version of something is, but you do get closer to it when you edit. And edit, and edit again. I've always struggled with spending too much time editing but not actually removing enough to make the story feel concise. I'll set aside time to write but I'll linger on the most recent paragraphs I'd written, just tweaking the sentences and adding more thoughts to flesh out the character study aspect, but probably ending up with a story that is too clunky and weighed down in the navel-gazing stuff. This is the sort of thing that makes me feel foolish about giving advice, as I know a career writer would have surgical precision and not be too precious about cutting fat from every page; my stories tend to meander quite a lot, and this current WIP certainly has a glacial pace and no real forward momentum, it is just stewing and observing (and hopefully offering a bit of character work, but still, not novel material.) However, in an effort to be kinder to myself (and of course to you as well!) I just try to remember that writing is a hobby, and if I like spending time on details that I feel establish a certain setting and inner monologues from the character that I feel say something different, then we should allow ourselves to do that.
Er, I can't think of much more to say about proofreading! It's something I do quite a bit of, and while I know it gets tedious to read a story from beginning to end, I do think it's worth doing that at least twice before posting so that you'll know how your tone progressed and if anything feels too out of place. Examining "scenes" by themselves makes it easier to go over something a few times, and I think it's always worth going over something you've written some time ago to make little adjustments to match your pace now. It's also tremendously helpful to read your work out loud-- you'll be able to catch awkward sentences or wrong words that you may not notice when your eyes are speed-reading over the whole thing. If you have the ability to, I also recommend recording yourself reading a section or the entire work and listening back to it so that you can really, fully hear exactly how it sounds. Most reader won't be going through the whole experience of reading aloud or listening to the story, but I do think there's no better way to observe how something flows. (If you don't like to listen to yourself, you can also paste sections into a bot that will read aloud for you!)
I'm sure none of this advice is new, but I do hope it is useful to you in some way! And once again, thank you for the kind words, from the very bottom of my heart. I've been feeling a bit emotionally drained lately and although fandom isn't to blame for that, it does occasionally trip me up to feel... really on the outskirts of things. I've just felt like I'm having a rather isolated fandom experience lately-- and I don't say that to be ungrateful for the questions I am so incredibly lucky to get, but you know, ah, it's just easy to get in your head about how separated everything in this fandom feels. This is getting entirely off topic so I'll stop this train derailing, haha. Thank you so much, sincerely, for the credit you've given me, whether I feel it is earned or not! Good luck in your writing, and I believe in you!
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Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.11
Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.
Last time, as the Kaito rescue operation fell rather, uh, flat, Maki was totally not planning to murder Kokichi on sight, everyone decided Kaito was definitely dead except for Shuichi, Maki was even more sure Kaito was dead and also that him ever killing anyone was completely impossible, Kaito was very not dead and very a murderer inside the Exisal and had to have felt awful to hear his friends’ reactions to all this, and Shuichi was desperately clinging to a currently-baseless hope of Kaito being alive somehow rather than face the painful apparent truth, but at least this was better than Maki letting her despair win and twist her into thinking it’s okay to sacrifice all of her friends just to kill Kokichi and “defeat despair”.
Now, we’re here at the “Investigation Start”, which is to say, the moment the awesome music kicks in! I’ve always liked Danganronpa’s thing of having a metal remix of the investigation music for case 5 and onwards, since it hammers home that things have really gotten serious now – but it’s never felt more appropriate than this investigation here where Kaito may or may not be dead. Damn right the terrifying possibility of losing your best friend – and the feeling of desperately wanting not to – should be given that much importance.
It’s also incredibly appropriate that this version of the music is titled Hope Searching! The regular one is called Despair Searching, which makes a lot of sense when we’re searching for proof that one of our friends is a murderer. But this time, Shuichi’s not primarily thinking about the investigation in terms of finding the murderer. He’s searching for proof that his best friend is still alive. Damn right that’s hope.
And okay, since I insist on nitpicking the meaning of the word, technically he is not searching for hope – finding Kaito alive would be finding relief, as there’d be no need to hope for it any more if he’s right there. It is the act of searching for a positive outcome to this situation in and of itself that is hope. So it’s still a fitting title, as long as it’s parsed as “hope” being a modifier to describe the “searching”, rather than being about searching for hope.
Shuichi: (There’s a sleeve sticking out of the press. It’s… definitely… Kaito’s coat sleeve. In that case… the victim must be…) “…”
I love how hesitant Shuichi is to even voice the idea in his inner monologue. His detective’s instinct is trying to tell him that obviously Kaito’s sleeve being visible means he should assume Kaito is under there, but Shuichi Saihara is digging his heels in and refusing to go along with this.
Shuichi: “…I don’t want to see a crushed body, no matter who it is… but I have to do it. I… have to know.” (I made up my mind, took a breath, and pressed the button.)
Damn, Shuichi is showing some serious freaking courage here to be able to do this. Even if he was pretty sure it wasn’t Kaito under there, there’s still plenty of reason for him to never want to see it – but the thing is, he subconsciously does think it’s Kaito, so that’d be what he’s expecting to see, even if he can’t admit it to himself. It’s incredible that he can do this anyway.
Shuichi: (In that case… we won’t be able to check the body. I’m honestly a little relieved, but I shouldn’t say that out loud.)
Shuichi, literally nobody would blame you for being relieved about this! I’m also incredibly relieved that it is a vital plot point of this case that we never see the body, yeesh.
(I wonder if Shuichi is actually feeling guilty about his relief because he subconsciously expects it to be Kaito and so he’s thinking of this as an excuse to keep running away from the truth for longer.)
Shuichi: (In addition to the control buttons, there’s an ‘Emergency Stop’ button.) […] “Well… if the culprit were planning this murder, they’d have no use for it.”
Yep, that’s definitely never going to be relevant to this crime at all. (To be fair, the culprit never pressed that button.)
For some reason, you have to examine the sleeve again after trying and failing to raise the press in order to get Shuichi to notice the hole in it. I’ve seen a lot of people miss this and then not be allowed to leave the hangar yet and be quite annoyed when they realised what they were missing.
Shuichi: “It looks like… the left sleeve sticking out of the hydraulic press.”
When first-time-me first saw the body discovery cutscene, I immediately assumed that the sleeve hanging down was the sleeve of Kaito’s that always hangs loose – in other words, his right sleeve, and he was (hypothetically, definitely hypothetically) face down in the press. That image got so stuck in my mind that I somehow managed to skim right over the part where Shuichi says here it’s his left sleeve and keep thinking of it wrong until the trial.
It’s honestly a little surprising to me that Shuichi can even tell it’s the left sleeve just by looking at it. Granted, there are buttons on the cuff that would be opposite on each sleeve, but speaking as a fanartist who has drawn Kaito countless times, I can vouch that I never freaking remember which way around the buttons are supposed to go and have to check again every time. Maybe Shuichi can only tell because he has his own jacket sleeves with buttons on to compare it to.
…Wait. Waaaait. My I-have-checked-the-buttons-on-Kaito’s-sleeve-way-too-many-times senses were tingling, so I went and checked yet again to make sure and…
…they’re not even the right way around in this shot of his sleeve if it’s supposed to be the left one! The game’s artists can’t even remember which way around the damn buttons go! Even though I didn’t consciously know this, that may well be why I was instinctively so sure it was the right sleeve at first – because I was right to be!
I have to question, considering that Kokichi was lying on top of the jacket, how the blood that went everywhere didn’t also get all over the jacket sleeve. It should have soaked it to the point of completely obscuring the smaller stain of Kaito’s blood around the arrow hole, you’d think.
Regardless of which sleeve it is, the fact that there is a bloodstained arrow hole in it proves that Kaito was wearing it at some point prior to it dangling outside the press. First-time-me who’d convinced herself it was the right sleeve still didn’t budge at this and I instead somehow decided he must have inexplicably been wearing his jacket differently to how he always does when he was shot, then apparently switched back to wearing it normally before being in the press.
The swipe pattern bloodstain is entirely staged to give the impression that they fought in the bathroom and then the victor dragged the injured/dead loser into the press to crush him. Since that’s not actually what happened, I have to question how there’s no signs of bloodstains from where they actually got injured, all three shots of which happened in the hangar. Perhaps it’s simply because puncture wounds bleed most when the weapon is removed, and Kokichi’s arrows were removed in the bathroom after the antidote shenanigans – but Kaito pulled his arrow out while still in the hangar.
Himiko: “The way you are now… you might start accusing people cuz you can’t believe Kaito’s death…”
Apparently Himiko took Maki’s words seriously about how Shuichi is acting like Kaito in Gonta’s trial and is now thinking Shuichi might accuse someone with no basis just to run away from the truth. I’m sure that red Exisal in the corner would really like to tell her that there’s no way Shuichi would ever do that.
Himiko: “I don’t wanna hear your excuses! Or anything else! Just don’t talk to me!”
Himiko’s acting like this because she’s afraid of being suspected after having given the crossbow to Kaito, but she sure is just making herself look much more suspicious by doing so than if she’d just relax a bit about this.
Shuichi: (The red Exisal is completely still…)
Himiko: “Shuichi, it’s dangerous there… If you go near that thing, you might get torn apart.”
Nope. Not ever. In fact, if anything else happened to be trying to kill Shuichi right now, the vicinity of that red Exisal is probably the single safest place he could stand.
Shuichi: “Ah, but… I suppose that if Kokichi was alive, he could move it at any time by remote…” […] (That is *if* Kokichi is alive…)
Shuichi is very quick to stress to himself that it’s definitely just an “if”. Definitely.
Shuichi: “So this is how it looks on the inside, huh?”
As a Kaito fanartist, I would also like to personally thank the open green Exisal in this hangar for providing practically the only decent reference image for what the inside of an Exisal cockpit looks like. There should be plenty of Kaito fanartists who feel the same way, because Kaito fanartists should have plenty of reason to want to know what an Exisal cockpit looks like… but I might be the only one who does, and that makes me very sad.
(What I’m saying is, more Exisal Kaito fanart, dammit.)
Monokuma shows up as Shuichi is examining the Exisal to talk about the electronic lock on the cockpit that only the Monokubs could unlock. Which on the one hand is him providing relevant information that Shuichi can’t get just by looking at it… but on the other hand, I think he just wants an excuse to be here.
Monokuma: “Of course I want attention! I’m the mascot for cryin’ out loud!”
…Because he also shows up, completely gratuitously, when you talk to Tsumugi. Which makes a lot of sense when you realise that an Electrobomb was used recently in order to break in here, meaning that Monokuma can’t watch the investigation without physically being here and seeing it himself. He’s not going to admit that, hence his usual nonsense as an excuse for showing up, but he definitely wants to see as much of the investigation as he can, especially since he still needs to figure out for himself who actually did it.
Monokuma: “And yet, I’ve appeared fewer times than that Plain Jane Tsumugi over there.”
I like how he complains about getting less attention than the mastermind he’s beholden to.
Monokuma: “It’d be false advertising if I didn’t appear as often as I can, y’know?”
Monokuma, you are not subtle! If you were more subtle then maybe Kokichi wouldn’t have figured you out and you wouldn’t even be in this mess!
(Kaito is probably hearing this and thinking “damn, maybe Kokichi really did have a point about this”, now that he’s aware of the possibility of an audience and can evaluate Monokuma’s words and actions in that light.)
Tsumugi: “A-Advertising? What advertising?”
If you have a problem with him dropping hints like that, you should have programmed him not to, Tsumugi.
Shuichi: “…Ignore it. Let’s just focus on the investigation.”
No, Shuichi, don’t ignore it! It’s actually kind of relevant to this particular investigation!
Upon examining the bathroom door, Shuichi doesn’t quite immediately head inside.
Shuichi: (This is the place where Kaito was imprisoned. Kaito might have left some kinda clue here—) “Ah, no… he didn’t ‘leave’ anything… He might not be dead…”
Much as I love the denial from Shuichi that the writing is going for here, the wording doesn’t quite work for it like it should. “Kaito left some kind of clue” implies more to me that he left it deliberately and therefore most likely isn���t dead. (Which, as it turns out, is exactly what he did!) Maybe this worked better in Japanese, but even in English, “left behind” might be a slightly better way to imply the suggestion that it was done without intent and he’s no longer here.
Also, Shuichi spoke that last part out loud, and the bathroom door is close to the red Exisal, so even if he was speaking pretty quietly under his breath… Kaito probably heard that. He must be feeling such a mix of emotions at hearing Shuichi stubbornly deny that he’s dead like this – on the one hand he’d be happy that Shuichi wants him to be alive and proud that he’s potentially going to figure out the real truth, but on the other hand, Shuichi is clearly so afraid of the alternative, and the plan that Kaito’s going to give it his all to pull off will involve convincing Shuichi that he really is dead and making that fear seem to come true.
Before I start examining any of the actual evidence in the bathroom, let me go off on a tangent: there’s still no toilet paper in here. There wasn’t when Shuichi was last here at the beginning of the chapter, either, but obviously Kaito would have needed some – for more than one reason, given all the blood he was coughing up. So probably the reason that it’s not here any more is that he took the remainder of it with him into the Exisal to keep catching all the blood he was going to keep coughing up while in there. This is definitely a thing that I’m supposed to conclude and not just the game developers not having thought about this at all.
Since Kaito was locked up, it would have been Kokichi who provided him with the toilet paper after shutting him in there. So, please imagine: Kokichi showing up at the bathroom door to awkwardly, wordlessly hand Kaito a roll of toilet paper, which, given what happened with Gonta, makes Kaito just kind of stare at him for a moment like “is this a fucking joke”. (It’s actually not, though, because Kokichi wouldn’t want to remind himself of the murders that were totally not his doing.)
{Later addendum edit: Uhhh, never mind, scratch that, turns out there actually is toilet paper in the bathroom: a whole stack of it here by the sink. I didn’t notice it for a long time because it kinda blends in, and because I was looking for toilet paper on the actual toilet paper dispenser, which is indeed empty.
This stack is here both during the investigation and also during the first time Shuichi explores the hangar in the Daily Life, so unfortunately this removes any real possibility of my silly hypothetical scenario I presented here. Which is a shame. I liked that idea.
(It also slightly lessens the chance of Kaito having some of it with him in the Exisal to catch all the blood he’d be coughing up? But, I mean, he didn’t need to take the whole pile, so this one could still be true.)}
Shuichi: (A body discovery announcement… means the mastermind is still alive… But… I still… don’t believe… That Kaito… is dead.)
There’s a monitor in the bathroom, which you don’t need to investigate, but if you do you get some more delightfully forced denial from Shuichi.
The antidote bottle appears to be labelled “Poison”, but the blood obscures the rest of the label, which really reads “Strike-9 Poison Antidote”. This is a much cleverer trick in Japanese – the word “antidote” in Japanese is the word for “poison” but with a prefix, and that’s the part which is obscured by blood. Imagine if the English word for it were “antipoison”. It’s probably a little easier for a Japanese player to guess that perhaps this was in fact an antidote bottle.
It’s never made clear whether or not the label being obscured by blood to make it look like a bottle of poison was deliberate in order to confuse things further, but it probably was, since the blood ending up on it in this particular way by accident is pretty unlikely.
I commented on the swipe pattern bloodstain earlier, and the bloodstain in the bathroom is also way too neatly patterned, as if there was just one single injury sustained there and then the victim was dragged out. Apparently they managed to fabricate this after the fact, but I feel like there should have been more blood in more places in the bathroom given what actually happened, and that Kokichi’s two arrows were removed in here. Even if they wiped up some of the extra blood, there should still be traces that Shuichi should be able to spot.
Outside the hangar, Keebo is feeling better, which doesn’t actually make sense if you think about it, since the Electrobomb was triggered out here and so this should be the epicentre of the effect making him feel sick.
Keebo: “So what I experienced was akin to an allergic reaction such as hay fever… So it could have affected a human the same way! Being a robot had nothing to do with it!”
Thinking of it as essentially an allergic reaction is a neat way of putting it that makes it equivalent to something humans experience. He doesn’t need to insist that it’s not because he’s a robot – obviously robots would be allergic to different things than humans because their bodies work differently, but it doesn’t mean their allergies don’t still matter!
Keebo recounts how he witnessed Himiko sneaking into the hangar carrying the crossbow case, shortly before he headed there himself to try and negotiate with Kokichi. Which means that Shuichi, Himiko, Keebo and Maki all entered the hangar on their own initiative yesterday to try and be helpful in some way (even if Maki’s idea of “helpful” was very questionable), despite that this wasn’t part of the plan they’d agreed on. The only person who did nothing of the sort is Tsumugi – and it’s quite telling that she’s the odd one out here. She didn’t care about doing something extra to try and help, and she knew Maki would be trying to kill Kokichi and didn’t want to get in the way of that.
Monokuma: “Oh, at the time, the Exisals were on auto-pilot and directed to only observe me.”
You’d think that Shuichi would be able to figure out that they were never really “protecting” him based on the way Monokuma words this here.
Shuichi: “…Why are you telling me all of this? This puts the person controlling you at a disadvantage.”
Monokuma: “But we’re not talking about that… We’re talking about this.”
Shuichi of course thinks Kokichi is the mastermind and therefore that it’s odd for Monokuma to reveal information about what Kokichi did. Monokuma’s response drops a really big hint that Kokichi isn’t actually the mastermind, but it seems to go over Shuichi’s head.
Monokuma: “The person who shared that info with me didn’t seem interested in sharing it with you guys… So you share it instead! That way, it’ll be fair to all participants!”
Meanwhile, here, Monokuma is supposedly referring to Maki, as will be brought up later in the trial. Which is kind of awkward, since I highly doubt this (and we still seem to be talking about the fact that the Exisals were observing him here) is something Maki ever stopped to tell Monokuma. I guess when he’s saying “shared the info”, he doesn’t necessarily mean directly, and it’s simply the fact that Maki hijacking one of the Exisals didn’t cause the others to attack her that let Monokuma realise what was up.
Or Monokuma is simply using Maki’s secrecy as a flimsy excuse to give this information to Shuichi, because really he wants to try and hint at what Kokichi’s real plan was so that Shuichi can figure things out for him in the trial.
‘Exisals Protecting Monokuma’ has been added to the Truth Bullets section of your Monopad.
That’s quite pointedly not what Monokuma just told us, but okay.
Now to briefly head to Maki’s and Shuichi’s labs. Although going to Maki’s is practically unnecessary, since all it’s for is to confirm that there’s one less crossbow case there, which should already be evident from the crossbow in the bathroom.
Shuichi: (I feel as though there are less weapons here than I remember…)
That’s because of Kaito’s Heroic Plan that never actually happened. His pile of weapons is probably still in the gym, alone and forgotten about.
Shuichi: (Case files, lined up for me to read. There’s nothing off about them. They don’t seem to be related.)
What if you just… took a break to read them anyway. Just one? Just the first one? No? You might find it quite enlightening.
None of the other bottles of antidote have the word “Poison” on the label, making it a little bit of a stretch that the Strike-9 one did. Possibly it’s because the full name of that poison is literally “Strike-9 Poison” (the poison bottle on the shelf does say precisely that), but that also makes it harder for players of the localisation to realise the bottle in the hangar might be for an antidote.
Shuichi: (According to the labels, each bottle is only one dose.)
It sure is convenient that these antidotes for completely different poisons happen to all work such that one dose is exactly the same amount and exactly enough to fill one of these bottles, and that the Strike-9 antidote therefore obviously also works that way. Buuuut the plot point of there only being one single dose of antidote is very important and fun, so I don’t actually mind.
Shuichi: (…None of these antidotes are for the Strike-9 poison. They’re all for different poisons. What could that mean?)
Obviously this means the bottle in the hangar is the Strike-9 antidote. But there’s also the question of why some of the other antidotes are even out on the desk in the first place. The game never explicitly explains what this means, but it’s a delightful detail. Consider how Maki was very careful to put the poison bottle back once she’d used it to prepare her arrows, such that Shuichi only noticed it’d been used because it had slightly less in it. But the antidotes? Apparently she just haphazardly grabbed a handful in her haste to find the right one among them, and then afterwards, she didn’t even have the presence of mind to remember she’d left the other ones lying around and put them back to hide the evidence. It’s great how what’s seemingly just there to give the player the information they need to know also serves as a subtle sign of the huge difference in Maki’s state of mind before and after shooting Kaito.
Shuichi: (I didn’t find any evidence to suggest Kaito isn’t dead… On the contrary, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest *Kokichi* isn’t dead. […] Which means… the victim must be…) “No, it’s too soon to be thinking like that. If I investigate a little more, I’ll find something.”
I love how Shuichi desperately tells himself that if he hasn’t found any evidence of Kaito being alive yet, it must be that he hasn’t investigated hard enough and definitely not just that maybe Kaito really isn’t alive after all.
Shuichi: (Perhaps I missed something… I should check again.)
Yes, definitely. That’s definitely all it is, and he’s totally going to find some magical piece of evidence proving Kaito’s survival despite everything if he just looks harder.
So Shuichi returns to the hangar, where Keebo wants to show him something he found in the bathroom… but you can put that off and instead re-investigate everything in the hangar. If you do so, you get the usual text summarising what he deduced when he first investigated the thing, but then also…
Shuichi: “That’s all that stands out to me right now. But I should keep looking.”
[the screen fades to black]
(…)
(…)
(…)
[the screen fades back in]
Shuichi: (It’s no use. There are no clues here.)
…he does this, for every single item of note that he investigated previously… except for the hydraulic press and the sleeve. Shuichi is so desperate to find even the slightest bit of evidence he might have overlooked that could prove Kaito is alive – but deep down he doesn’t believe it at all, because he can’t bear to look too closely at the press for fear of finding incontrovertible proof that Kaito really is dead. (Which is ironic given that the arrow hole in the sleeve is the main thing suggesting that maybe it’s not really Kaito under there.)
It is also quite amusing that one of the things Shuichi can stubbornly re-investigate in this way is the red Exisal. That actually would give him precisely the miraculous, undeniable proof of Kaito being alive that he so desperately wants, if only he really did manage to investigate it as thoroughly as he could.
Maki is back in the hangar, but she won’t even look at Shuichi.
Maki: “…”
Shuichi: (Maki… Why is it so easy for you to believe Kaito is dead?)
Shuichi cannot understand how someone who is also Kaito’s friend isn’t just as desperate to deny that as he is!
Once you enter the bathroom, Keebo invites Shuichi to investigate Kokichi’s clothes that just turned up in the toilet… but you can still ignore that and re-investigate everything else. This time it makes a lot less sense that Shuichi would do that when massive evidence that might possibly prove Kokichi is dead is right there, but it’s still a thing; Shuichi does the same stubborn lengthy re-inspection of most things in here, which even somehow includes the bathroom window. Yes, Shuichi, that is definitely going to be secretly hiding a clue to Kaito being alive.
As I finally actually investigate the clothes…
Keebo: “Is something the matter? Please, investigate!”
Shuichi: “Ah! O-Okay!” (The Ultimate Detective can’t stop here! This *has* to be an important clue…)
Come on, Shuichi, you’re willing to stare at a window frame for three minutes in the hope that it might tell you Kaito is alive; you should not be hesitating about these having been found in the toilet if you really are that desperate.
Shuichi: (It could mean that he was attacked. In that case… There’s a chance… Kokichi was the one crushed in the hydraulic press!) “Ah, Keebo, thank you! Thank you! This is a very important clue!”
Aww, Shuichi! He’s elated to find proof that maybe his best friend isn’t dead! He was so desperate to find some and he did!
Except… he really, really didn’t. If Shuichi were looking at this objectively and not with the mindset of someone desperate to find even the slightest indication of Kaito’s survival or Kokichi’s death, he’d realise this straight away. Because, sure, it proves Kokichi was injured – but if Kokichi was the victim, why wouldn’t the culprit just leave his clothes on him when they crushed him? That’d be a much better way to hide any evidence of a struggle.
What this really should be taken as evidence of is that Kokichi is very much still alive, and he wanted to hide the evidence that he was injured. That’s clearly precisely why Kokichi took his clothes off before being killed and told Kaito to flush them – to make it look like Kokichi wanted to get rid of them, while having it so that the evidence would eventually be found to make Shuichi (and Monokuma) come to the conclusion that he did that and is therefore still alive.
Keebo: “Oh, I’m happy I was able to help, but I must decline shaking that hand of yours.”
Another testament to Keebo’s humanity – he seems to have a human’s instinctive aversion to germs, despite the fact that they’re not a problem for him personally.
(Also Shuichi was so happy that he just up and tried to shake Keebo’s hand, that’s adorable.)
Shuichi: (But if Kokichi was the one crushed in the hydraulic press… Where did Kaito go? Why not show himself?)
That’s still the million-dollar question, isn’t it, Shuichi. He knows just as well that it’s not remotely like Kaito to hide at a time like this. And the fact that he’s only even asking himself this question now is another sign that he wasn’t nearly as sure that Kaito might be alive as he was trying to be.
Tsumugi: “I wonder where he went off to…”
Shuichi: (Did he disappear? He can’t still be in the hangar…)
In this conversation they’re assuming it’s Kokichi, not Kaito, but whoever the survivor is, there is one place in the hangar he could still be that hasn’t occurred to Shuichi.
(And Shuichi totally could check that place, if only it occurred to him as a possibility. There are still four fully-charged Electrohammers lying presumably somewhere near the entrance after everyone dropped them in shock upon seeing the body. Using one of them on that red Exisal would have cut this whole trial very awkwardly short.)
Tsumugi: “Kokichi’s been manipulating us all from the start… I can’t believe someone like that could be killed by Kaito…”
Shuichi: “…”
Tsumugi: “Ah! Of course, I don’t mean to compliment Kokichi or make fun of Kaito or anything!”
I mean, for not having meant to do that, you sure were making Kaito sound kind of pathetic, Tsumugi. Why would he not hypothetically be able to kill Kokichi just because Kokichi has been manipulative?
Monokuma: “It’s time for the class trial, where hope and despair meet head-on!”
Welp, now that we’ve opened up the connection to the original Danganronpas, Monokuma is going to be throwing those words around like confetti.
Monokuma: “Everyone needs to be there, got it!? Anyone who’s absent will be swiftly and permanently punished!”
Monokuma has to know that the survivor is inside the red Exisal, even if he doesn’t have a clue who it is. He didn’t see anyone leave the hangar last night, and there’s only one place in the hangar he could be hiding.
You really don’t need to threaten him to get him to come, though, Monokuma. He has no intention of running away from this.
Monokuma: “I wonder what kinda despair awaits you this time!”
Yeah, you definitely do wonder, don’t you.
Tsumugi: “This isn’t everyone… right?”
Shuichi: “…Kaito and Kokichi aren’t here.”
I think you mean “or”, Shuichi. You have at least managed to accept that one of them is definitely dead.
Maki: “As the mastermind of the killing game, he’s waiting for us to arrive.”
Shuichi: “… We… don’t know that yet. There’s still a chance Kaito is alive.”
Maki: “…Cut it out. Do you want to die?”
Maki still cannot bear to hear Shuichi talk like Kaito might be alive when she knows he isn’t.
Maki: “This is a battle between hope and despair. If I show any weakness like you are… then I know I’ll lose to despair.”
Maki, you’re already in despair! You’re losing to it right now! Shuichi is winning against it because he’s still managing to hope that Kaito might be alive!
This is still Maki being brainwashed by the wrong meanings of those words and the idea that “despair” is a person who can be defeated, specifically Kokichi. That “defeating despair” is such a necessary outcome that it’s even worth sacrificing all of her friends to do. The “weakness” she’s afraid of showing is the thought that she might hesitate to sacrifice them and in doing so let despair “win”, just because Kokichi will live and Kaito will have died for nothing.
Maki: “Six of us will participate, and one of us will die after this class trial… Then only five will be left. Only… five…”
She means this the other way around: one will survive, and five will die. She’s trying to psych herself up for making this sacrifice by telling herself that she’ll be killing only five more people, trying to make it seem like a tiny number compared to the countless people she’s already killed, trying to think of it as just a number and not four of her friends. She’s trying to tell herself it’ll be worth it.
Maki: “But we can’t lose to despair. Even if we have no future, we need to win.”
If we have no future, we have nothing to hope for and we’ve already lost to despair! Danganronpa 2’s thing of insisting that the “future” was somehow an entirely different concept to “hope” was also very silly and misunderstanding the words, considering that their whole concept of the future was simply something that the characters were hoping for.
Maki: “That is… the whole point of this class trial.”
Guhhh. It is to her, and it shouldn’t be.
(But the real point of this whole class trial is so that somebody can have his final chance to make a difference and be a hero.)
Maki: “I will defeat Kokichi, no matter what I have to sacrifice.”
Maki Roll! It’s not worth it! Even if Kokichi really was the thoroughly evil mastermind he claimed to be, it still wouldn’t be! She’s been so completely taken in by the bullshit from the Flashback Light and then broken by her despair over killing Kaito and it’s heartbreaking. You don’t really want this at all, Maki.
Shuichi: (No matter what she has to sacrifice? Are you sure about that, Maki? Is that what you call ‘hope’?)
Right, Shuichi!? It’s not hope, is it!?
Shuichi: (I wonder what Kaito would say at a time like this. What would he say to us? If it was Kaito…)
The first thing he’d say is that he believes in you, of course! That’s still true, even if Kaito really is gone. It’s adorable (and a little heartbreaking) that Shuichi depends on his support so much that he’s just instinctively trying to turn to Kaito for help even though he’s not there.
Kaito would also have a lot of emphatic things to say to Maki about her current state of mind, things which should be able to get through to her and stop her from doing this. But of course Maki has not and cannot let herself consider what Kaito would be saying to her right now and what he would want for her. Thinking about how much he’s done for her and how grateful she was to him just hurts too much when she repaid it all by killing him.
Shuichi: (We had lost the will to live, knowing what we know about the outside world. But somehow… despite that despair, we had found a new reason to live.)
Yeah. Somehow.
Shuichi: (To win the battle between hope and despair.)
The way he talks about it like it’s a “battle” is probably one of the best ways to illustrate the issue with the meanings that the Flashback Light has been giving those words for them. They’ve essentially just become equivalent to “good” and “evil”, and therefore obviously the good guys just need to defeat the bad guys, right?
Shuichi: (We don’t know what hope means to us anymore.)
You sure don’t, but not for the reason you appear to be thinking of here, Shuichi.
Shuichi: (What is hope…? A burden you bear?)
In a way, it kind of is. Holding onto the hope for something you desperately want to be true, but not being certain of it (because as soon as it becomes certain then it’s not hope any more, just relief and happiness) comes with the constant terror that it’ll never happen after all and you’ll end up back in despair. The fact that Shuichi is thinking of it this way suggests that he knows this very well himself – after all, he’s been feeling like this for this entire investigation.
But also, if we’re talking about “hope” as being the thing you inspire others to feel, like they’re all supposed to have done as students of Hope’s Peak… then maybe that’s a burden too. You have to live up to your image of greatness in order to inspire people, right? That pressure to do that is one hell of a burden, and you can’t share it with anyone because if they knew you were struggling then you wouldn’t be able to inspire them any more!
(Why yes I totally did just make this about Kaito’s issues; what did you expect me to do when Shuichi invoked the word “burden” like that.)
The courtroom décor this time is a deliberate throwback to the very first trial from Danganronpa 1. Which just goes to show that everyone really is a bunch of mindlessly nostalgic genwunners, because that was one of the weakest trials in the series!
Monokuma: “Ahh, a battle like this takes me back. After all, hope and despair are natural enemies.”
Are you sure you’re talking about hope and despair, Monokuma, or do you just mean good and evil as well?
Monokuma: “Yes, this truly is a magnificent theme. Puhuhu… Only esteemed works of fiction have themes as magnificent as this.”
Geez, you were obvious about this being made for entertainment, but you were never this obvious about it being fiction, not even when Kokichi was still alive to pick up on your hints.
(Also, turns out truth versus lies is a much more fun theme than hope versus despair, so, eh, not really, Monokuma.)
Maki: “Anyway… where’s Kokichi? Why isn’t he here?”
Maki was probably still hoping she could just murder him to death here with her knife right away to avoid having to go through with the sacrifice. Even though she was most likely also imagining he’d be expecting that and would have some way to protect himself.
Keebo: “Kokichi can twist and violate the rules all he likes, but we’ll never give up!” […]
Monokuma: “Oh, for the love of… No rules have been violated on my watch, y’know?”
Yeah, definitely none, not even in the first trial. And you sure won’t violate any this trial either, will you?
Shuichi: (Was the one who died… Kaito or Kokichi? I can’t say for certain… but I still believe. …Kaito wouldn’t die so easily. I… don’t know why I believe that so strongly…)
Because Kaito is stubborn and indomitable and ridiculous, and it doesn’t seem right that he could just up and die such a sudden, meaningless death, does it? It wouldn’t be a good story befitting of a hero like him at all to just die like that, right?
Shuichi: (But I will fight to prove it.)
He’s not here to survive, or to find the truth, like in every previous class trial. He just wants to prove his best friend is still alive.
---
[Next post]
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On Nico di Angelo, "Pairing the Spare" and How to Shaft a Complex Character in Less Than 500 Pages
This will be long. Strap in. This is long overdue.
So more longtime followers of mine may already know this but I adore Nico di Angelo from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. They also know I continue to eastly, to this day, about how he was handled at the end of the Heroes of Olympus series. Now, I've never fully delved into the 'why's and I will do so now as it's probably best to actually articulate it at some point instead of continually lamenting it without presenting rationale.
First: WHY do I love his character so much? It all boils down to shared/similar experiences for social ostracization. Growing up, I was quickly pushed out of social circles due to who my parents were; immigrants. Simply existing with the ethnicity and cultural heritage I had labeled me as untouchable. To sum it up succinctly; white but not the "right" kind of white. Keep in mind this was at the end of the Cold War; attitudes towards Slavic peoples were poor as hell. Fuck, they still are 30 years later! Nico is ousted due to his heritage too; being a Hades child. It's not something he chose nor controlled. He himself did nothing wrong to any of the campers yet when word got out they pushed him away. The same happened to me. As soon as the school kids and/or parents realized my parents were Slavic immigrants they shoved me out. It still hurts to this day. As such, I can deeply empathize with Nico.
Why does this matter? Because that blanket social rejections fucks people up. Nico is shown throughout the series to be distrustful, preferring to isolate himself. He has been shown time and time again he is unwanted due to being a Hades child. Eventually you just... stop trying. When you beat a dog enough times it stops coming around. This is the same thing. In addition, Nico has lost his elder sister, Bianca. The one person he felt understood him because she, too, was similar to him. Now I have Opinions on Bianca that would piss off 99% of the fandom but it's irrelevant here. Her death occurs shorts before or after it's revealed Nico is a Child of Hades. He is 10 years old with no one and the whole camp rejects him. It's a cruel thing to do to someone no matter how much you try and justify it. Rick did an incredible job highlighting how racism, ethnocentrism and bullying harms a child. Nico immediately became my favorite for this and I applauded Rick for having the balls to shine a very uncomfortable light on a situation similar to mine. A situation, I'm very sure many first generation or immigrant kids can relate to.
So where did it all go wrong? To be blunt, Blood of Olympus. Now, the final volume of the HHO series is a hot mess in general. Almost ALL characters get shafted on way or another with mischaracterization, simplification or backtracker on character growth. Not to mention the plot feels very slapdash and messy at times. But again, another subject. We see Reyna and Coach Hedge start to really get to know Nico and realize the extent at how bad his abuse has been at the hands of monsters and demigods alike. Neither feels this is right and shows it as best they can while respecting Nico's boundaries. In the previous book, House of Hades, Jason does the same thing. But then we finally get back to Camp Half Blood and shit falls apart for Nico's arc.
It's plainly obvious to anyone who's ready the series in full that Nico is traumatized, even moreso then most of the cast. He has been physically tortured multiple times, psychologically tortured by the camp and emotionally manipulated by several individuals. Keep in mind, by HOO, Nico is roughly 14. Fourteen. Can you even image how that feels?! He's only just now, after Jason, Hazel and Reyna's persistence that they will not hurt him, that they genuinely care for his well being, that they don't care about his heritage (and don't care about his sexuality, from Jason specifically). And then Will appears and Nico magically forgets 4 years of pining for Percy. It's so jarring, like a screeching record! This is when we enter the issue.
In writing, there are many rules. Like all rules, they can be bent of broken under certain circumstances. The rule in question is the 'pair the spare' rule. The rule states that if the pain cast has paired off, do not pair of the "spare" aka the odd man out unless it's been led up to. Rick chose to ignore this rule and pair Nico with Will, citing that as a canon LGBT character, he wanted to send the message to LGBT kids that they were worthy of love. This in itself is not a bad message. What IS bad is execution. First, Will is a background character. He very much has potential, don't get me wrong! But outside of having a few minor scenes in final volume of the PJO series, Will has only ever been mentioned in passing. From what we've seen, he and Nico have never interacted. On top of that, Will who is a healer, completely dismisses Nico's trauma. This is a very big red flag. When someone is traumatized, particularly psychologically, the absolute last thing to do is to dismiss the experience as "teen angst" like Will does. It shows absolute disrespect for Nico as a human being. And he is a healer. He should know better. In addition, Nico himself is not fond of the dismissive personality Will is displaying, the 'I'm going to tell you what to do' persona because he's a doctor so 'doctor knows best'. And in Nico's POV he says as much in his inner monologue! Yet he's "drawn to him". I'm sorry, but I call bullshit. Nico has been shown in 9 1/2 books to be quite smart, paranoid about social intentions due to past experiences and won't take crap from no one, not even his own father, the Lord of the (fucking) Underworld. Yet he'll just grit his teeth and basically follow Will's lead with little complaint? It's so out of character it's jarring and painful.
We briefly see Nico and Will in the first Trials of Apollo book. They're acting like the normal couple with Nico being the "sassy, snarky" one of the pair. Please note it's been 6-8months since the end of BOO, in-universe. In this one scene it completely erases Nico's trauma, very valid feelings of distrust and hurt, his struggle with both his heritage and his sexuality, his years-long unrequited love for Percy, his grief over his sister and his struggle to make connections with his fellow demigods. Love is powerful but its not a cure-all. It doesn't make the years of hurt and abuse magically disappear (trust me. I know.) and it doesn't change someone's personality to well-adjusted.
Pairing Nico with Will at the end of BOO completely destroys his characterization from a writing standpoint. All the real struggle, grief and unpleasant consequences of abusing and bullying people who are "other" in socially-acceptable ways is wiped away in less then 50 pages. It also send a very VERY dangerous message to LGBT youth; find someone you're attracted to and they'll fix you. That's a toxic message to tell to straight kids so why the fuck would you tell it to LGBT kids!? Unlike most LGBT character in literature that I can tell are shoehorned it, Nico was planned to be gay from the start, I have no issue with this. What I do have issue with is throwing his character out the window so he can chase some cute blond ass. Nico deserves better then that as a character. People who suffered socially-acceptable abuse deserve better then that. Immigrants and first-generation kids deserved better then that. LGBT youth deserved better then that.
THAT is why I keep getting so pissed; Rick took a genuinely complex character and fucked him over so he could lazily pair the spare and not be accused of leaving the only canonically gay character single. But there is a reason 'do not pair the spare' is a rule. It's better to leave a character single then slapdashedly pair them up. This goes double for characters who have trauma in their life and trauma is a serious issue that should be respectfully addressed. Love is powerful. Love helps to heal. But the love of family (Hazel) or budding friends (Jason and Reyna) is just as important, valid and send a powerful message. It sends the message 'you are not alone. You are worthy of love. You are a human worthy of regarding of both your experiences and your fears.' Pairing Will with Nico completely and utterly stomps on this message. It sends horrible signals to LGBT youth and scraps his complex character into the token goth gay boy. And Nico di Angelo deserves better then what he was given.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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hey!! I was just wondering if you could give me tips on how to make notes on your story like you have with The Man Downstairs?
Thanks for the ask! And sure :D (Here’s the notes in question, if anyone wants to see and the increasingly massive Gravity Falls fic they refer to.)
It’s all about figuring out what you need to know for your project and keeping a record of it that works well for you. It might take some time and trial and error to find what helps you the most. It might be one sentence summaries of each chapter. It might be a detailed timeline. it might be drawings and maps. Or it could be something completely different or some combination of things.
For me, I take notes on pretty much everything because my memory is non-existent and the purpose of the notes is to give me an easier way of looking at what happened in each chapter without having to reread the whole thing. The color coding helps me find things faster, like if I know I’m looking for something Dipper said or something to do with Stan.
As for the process, I let each chapter sit for a while after posting to sort of clear it out of my head. When I reread it, I try to get into the mindset of the audience, to some extent, so I can imagine what parts seemed important from their perspective and write a loose summary based on that. It’s sort of difficult to turn off knowing what’s in the plans for the future and the answers to questions raised but, that has its advantages since you can add in the bits that you know are important as well. (And make notes accordingly in your brainstorming/outline document(s) for future chapters). The detailed summary is a simplification of the chapter broken down into bullet points by actions, events, setting details, and anything else that seems like something I might want to refer back to at some point. So, instead of a whole dialogue, I can write “They discussed the thing. He felt this way and she felt that way and mentioned this other thing.” Or instead of an inner monologue, I can summarize it as “she thought about the thing, felt angry, and decided to talk to X about it.” Or an action scene could be summarized as “X punched Y. Y kicked X and sprained their ankle.”
After the detailed summary is written (or sometimes part way through, just because I feel like it ;)), I start color coding each event by the character(s) associated with it so it’s easier to see, at a glance, which characters feature in which chapters and to follow their individual (and intertwined) story arcs. My mind tends to categorize things by who is involved so it works well for me but the color coding could easily also be sorted by events, locations, plots, and so on. You may even want more than one copy of your notes so you can use multiple methods. I do also have a few color codes set for certain plot elements that feature heavily in the overall story so it’s easy to look back and find what I’ve already established about them. (Plus, Google Docs has a feature where, if you highlight a word and right click, there’s an option to “select all matching text” and it will highlight everything with the same color/highlighting format so it’s easier to see while scrolling through or you can copy it and paste it to its own doc to look at just those parts.)
Anyway, additional tips I can offer are: Think about what’s important to you for your project and focus on it when formatting your notes. When rereading, look for anything that seems like it could be important later or might even have inadvertently brought up plot elements you hadn’t previously thought about or even shifted the plot. If you’re going for continuity details, jot down what items were mentioned as being in a room, what the characters were wearing, what time it was etc. You’d be surprised, sometimes, that you need to look twenty chapters back to see if it was raining when something happened or if you mentioned that X character had their scarf on in a certain scene. You can also leave out details and use your notes as a map to find which scenes happened in what chapter so you can reread it for details, if that works better for you. Be flexible. You might get to a point where you’ll realize that you need to start coding things differently or you might have to go back and take notes on something you didn’t think you’d have to. Mostly, do whatever works best for you. Maybe it’s handwritten index cards, maybe it’s a Scrivener doc, or maybe it’s no notes at all (looks at younger self who could remember things).
Hope this helped in some way!
#thanks for the ask#writing tips#writing#writer's life#mo's writing and such#the man downstairs#the man downstairs au#the man downstairs fic#Anonymous
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What did you learn from writing Tyger?
Quite a few things, actually.
1) The Marinette Project wasn’t a fluke.
I started my fanfic career out with some one-shots, then a multichapter work (Reservations...) that was reasonably well-received. I then started out on The Marinette Project anticipating a similar reaction, only to watch the response from my readers take off big time, blowing away all of my expectations. (Seriously, folks, thank you.) Could I catch lightning in a bottle twice?
So I started writing Tyger, Tyger, and to my pleasant surprise, the reactions were just as positive and enthusiastic for that. That went a long way towards making me want to keep knocking these stories out for you all.
(Subsequent longfics haven’t hit those same heights... but one of those was somewhat my own fault, and I suspect the second may be due to fandom fatigue as much as any shortcomings therein.)
2) Excellent practice in handling original characters and inventing lore.
I had come up with villains-of-the-week in my other stories, as Hawkmoth needs _someone_ to be his sinister proxy each time... but for the most part, I had stayed away from OCs, as the general feedback I’d seen others receive was that they were somewhat frowned upon by many readers.
So I was a little apprehensive about this story, as it had several new elements to it. Feliss, my Tiger Kwami, was obviously a pure OC and central to the story. To make her work, I needed to make her feel as if she’d been there all along, making her fit into the Miracuverse instead of being a radically different concept. In musing on the nature of tigers, I decided she’d be best as a sly, manipulative sort; capable of great ferocity when roused, but just as dangerous when acting subtly. The contrast with Tikki came from Tikki tending to put “the job” and its related secrecy first; Feliss, on the other hand, saw that Marinette was already an excellent Ladybug and concentrated on building a better romantic Marinette.
Creating the friction between Tikki and Feliss was a lot of fun. Obviously, Tikki feels somewhat possessive over Marinette in general; inventing a longstanding rivalry between the two Kwamis upped those stakes. (Having the genesis of their enmity be a thousand years old added to the “she’s been there all along” feeling.) Tikki is a very valuable resource for Marinette’s personal growth, but one thing that she should _not_ be is always right on every subject. She has her own perspectives and biases, so I wanted Feliss to be a philosophical challenge to her; someone who _did_ have Marinette’s best interests at heart, but whose methods and principles were diametrically opposed to Tikki’s. Likewise, inventing history between her and the other main Kwamis (Plagg’s wariness of her, Wayzz’s outright terror) helped flesh her out.
At the time of writing this story, the Zodiac kwamis had never been shown on screen. (This was pre-Sandboy, in the Great Season 2 Hiatus.) This gave me some room for additional authorial license; _why_ are they all still in the box? How might they differ from the higher tiers? The “lower tiers influence personality more” concept was lots of fun to play with; it gave Marinette a lot of internal doubt as to her own amount of control, gave Zodiacs a reason to be a bit dangerous to use, and if anyone else felt inspired, gave other authors a concept to play with for them.
So I was _absolutely thrilled_ that the response to Feliss was universally positive. I think I got that one just right.
The other OC was my villain, Abby/Psiphon. She started out as a generic villain-of-the-week, but grew substantially as I considered her personality traits. What if... one of Hawkmoth’s Akumas just wasn’t cut out for the job? They’re not robots. They retain some personality. So I paired a new kind of hero -- a potentially vicious one in Tigresse, dangerous enough to give even Hawkmoth pause -- with a new kind of villain, one smart enough to see sharp claws coming and NOPE right the heck out of there. By the time her pillow fort came to me, I knew that Abby would be due for a lot more exploration, and she grew into a potential spinoff character. (Will I ever get around to writing that? Time will tell.)
3) Teenage hormones aren’t always containable.
I prefer a PG-rated Miracuverse. I don’t write aged-up smut; I don’t judge those who do, but I don’t feel much of a need to write it myself. I certainly don’t write 14-year-old smut. But I do acknowledge that both Marinette and Adrien have a lot of pent-up feelings, emotional drives and hormonal things going on, coupled with their complicated history together...
...so we had my first sloppy Marichat makeout moment. And that took some thought before writing it out.
Part one was the consent issue; was Marinette fully in control of her own actions? My emphatic answer is yes, though tempered with some confusion in her head over recent events. She was somewhat manipulated by Feliss, but definitely not controlled by her when it happened. The dubcon issues pinged just enough for me to add my first and last trigger warning, and to make sure that there wasn’t much ambiguity to it, i.e. Chat insisting that Marinette transform back and searching her eyes for Feliss’s gold signature before kissing her, and exploring their inner monologues and having them talk things out afterwards, working out why it happened. And _then_ go in for round two!
Part two was that this _wasn’t_ immediate couplehood. But it wasn’t just casual, either, by a long shot. Sometimes, teenagers do impulsive things. Sometimes, exploring a physical outlet for emotions (without going too far) just feels right at the time. Sometimes, it’s a way to express feelings without them being all-or-nothing. Sometimes, there are many levels in between True Love and Just Friends. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that! (Which was one of many lessons Feliss wanted Marinette to learn, and that Adrien learned as well.)
Part three was Chat’s transformation back to Adrien... and that worked out about as steamy as I can ever imagine writing these two. I love playing around with concepts of identity with Marinette and Adrien, and having Chat’s secret be one eyeblink away, having Adrien’s emotion just pouring out all the while was too delicious not to implement.
And part four was “what happens next?” Marinette was receptive to Feliss’s post-makeout briefing; she accepted that what happened was perfectly natural. But she also retained the sense to realize just how complicated things just became, and to seek help from Master Fu to try to rebalance things. That, I felt, was important.
4) The utter joy of receiving fanart.
The Marinette Project was popular... but it never got anything in the way of fanart from anybody. (I had two people ask about comic-izing it, but as of yet nothing has ever emerged from that.) So I was absolutely knocked off my feet when two wonderful people sent me artwork based on Tyger! @yunyin drew an adorable Tigresse out of the kindness of her heart, and then @brittsarts asked permission to start a comic version of the story that has done nothing but blow me away.
I absolutely love my readers’ feedback (even when it’s concrit), because it means that I created something and other people are paying attention to it. But when what I create inspires someone else to create as well? That’s the absolute jackpot, right there.
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The Idea of a Love Triangle in ACOTAR 4.0 vs. Nessian
So I’ve been much more active in the last two days on my Tumblr than I have since like....well, ever, to be honest (considering this is my first post), and I’ve been seeing a lot of mentions of a possible love triangle between Cassian and Nesta/Emerie, which I heavily disagree with, so I wanted to dissect Cassian’s character quite a bit in this post.
I won’t touch Nesta’s character since, as much as I love her, I don’t think I could possibly do a better job than rhysand-vs-rowan did on the one reblog I have on my wall (seriously, read that one too; it’s amazing!!). But Cassian is just as important (and real) to me as Nesta, and I think people don’t realize quite how large his main character trait drives his actions, which is to say:
He has to help every female character in distress.
And it’s true. He literally cannot help himself whenever there is a woman in any type of problematic situation, which I factor largely due to how his own mother was treated when he was a young child and the helplessness he felt at that time when he couldn’t stop her from being killed.
Now I’m not saying this is a character “flaw” per se-- he certainly does quite extraordinary deeds at times, sometimes at great personal cost, to help out these various women in his life -- but it isn’t really a choice for him and can cause serious emotional exhaustion for him when he’s overburdened (often the case when dealing with the Illyrian camps). I see a helper’s complex in him where he can’t feel complete or satisfied as long as he knows a woman is burdened, causing emotional drainage until he’s fixed the issue.
The reason I bring this up is because people are looking at how Azriel or [especially] Rhysand treat women they love/have romantic interest in and saying “Cassian treats X girl this way too, therefore there might be a love triangle.” But they’re not comparable situations.
Rhysand --only-- put in the amount of effort he put in with Feyre because she was Feyre. You do not see him draining himself to the bone to help Nesta now, and you did not see him draining himself to the bone to help Elain earlier either. At best, he offered them positions in his court, a very low-energy offering, and he left almost all of the grunt work to Cassian, Azriel, and Feyre. This is not to say he doesn’t -care- about their pain, but he is not the type to go out of his way to help while he’s busy being High Lord. He is much more of a passive resource, available to help if asked for, which Elain only uses to a small extent and Nesta is incapable of using (as it would require her to ask for help, something she is currently not capable of and possibly/probably does not believe she deserves at the moment, with the amount of trauma she is dealing with).
Azriel we have less information on, but he puts exactly zero work into helping Nesta, while putting in a noticeably larger effort with Elain. And were Morrigan to ever have another traumatic event, it is almost assured that Azriel would be there for her as well.
Cassian, on the other hand, has been like this with every woman he has encountered in the story who has been hurt, regardless of [lack of] romantic interest. He put in emotional work with Feyre during their initial training, and he constantly, CONSTANTLY fights for the rights of Illyrian women to remain unclipped and holds these rights and their rights to be trained as his #1 and #2 priorities when in Illyrian camps during non-war times.
In addition, while he admits doing so due to jealousy and claims he regrets it, I don’t think he truly would reverse his decision to sleep with Morrigan if that decision had come five years ago instead of 500 years ago. I do strongly believe that, even with age/wisdom/”maturity”, he would’ve risked sacrificing his friendship with Azriel to save her from a life in the Autumn Court with who he believed Eris to be (who Eris truly is?), not having advance knowledge of what her parents would do to her.
Yes, he has gone overboard emotionally with Nesta as a result of his interest in her, mainly in terms of their mutual verbal jabbing, but remember this really crucial line, when Cassian realizes she’d been sexually assaulted, from their small story in the back covers of ACOMAF:
“She hadn’t answered him. ‘Would it change anything if someone had? Would it make you see me differently, treat me differently?’
‘It’d make me hunt them down and shatter every bone in their body.’
A shiver went down her spine -- not at the fear of him, but at the truth in the promise. The sincerity.
‘You don’t know me,’ she said. ‘Why bother?’
Cassian snarled, inching closer, his hand gripping hers -- then paused. As if the question sunk in. As if reality sunk in. He blinked. ‘I’d do it for anyone.’
She knew he meant it -- and that he would.”
In terms of him acting as the protector/helper figure that he is, he would go to the ends of the earth for anyone. So the pain he feels at Emerie’s wings being clipped, the anger he feels that the entire village is ignoring her store because a female Illyrian is running it -- that would’ve been the same for any female he encountered.
In fact, he demonstrates the same exact internal dialogue/speech with Emerie that he does with literally any female character in the cast other than Nesta. While he may make comparisons to Nesta, these are still passive thoughts from his first impression of a new face (and daughter of an old friend), and they have no emotional baggage or romantic obsessiveness behind them.
I want you to compare this to his attitude towards Nesta, far different than with any other member of the cast. In their first and second meetings, he has a very low view of her due to her treatment of Feyre and insults her [protecting Feyre], earning a fairly large backlash from her as well. Importantly, at no point does he see her in any way as vulnerable or burdened until he finds out her past trauma from sexual assault in their second meeting. He doesn’t know about her starving herself (and by proxy her other sisters) in order to try to force her father to do something and the subsequent guilt she faces. He doesn’t know about the trauma she faced watching her mother die. He doesn’t know about Tomas until mid-second meeting. He doesn’t even know about her loneliness/feeling of madness at being the only one to know the truth in their entire household in the midst of Tamlin’s glimmer on their household. He doesn’t know how she braved the forest for weeks in order to try to rescue Feyre. Yet, importantly, he says this in his inner monologue before meeting her the second time to deliver Rhysand’s message:
“Cassian surveyed the estate, the muddy, thawing grounds, the distant village, and looming, budding forest. He’d left their first encounter not entirely sure where he’d stood, or who’d had the upper hand. And, Mother damn him, in the past few weeks, he’d found himself turning over every word and look he’d exchanged with her, over and over.
None of it had been pleasant, every syllable from her mouth barbed and vicious, and...Cassian huffed a breath, hot tendrils ripping away in the wind. He couldn’t tell what was worse: that he’d thought so much about it, or that he’d run here so damn fast. And was now...dawdling.
The thought sent him into a swift, reckless dive for the green-roofed estate.
Nesta is the only character in the entire series that Cassian feels this way towards. She is the only character who gets under his skin -- Emerie included. And remember, this started from their first meeting, whereas his meeting with Emerie was the very definition of platonic, even as he felt the need to solve her shop’s financial crisis. Seriously, could you imagine the following:
He’d had lovers, some for a night and some for months, and Mor had never cared, but...
This woman standing before him like a pillar of steel and flame...Cassian didn’t want to tell Mor about her. About how he’d touched her neck.
...being said about any other female character in the series, even Emerie? Cassian would likely help any woman in distress the way he helps Nesta, but would he freak out about them, constantly replaying their conversations in his head? Would he find himself drawn, time and time again, to any other woman that he views with as much disdain as he did Nesta in their early days? He literally calls her a bitch at least three times in their second meeting alone, and that’s not counting the large number of other insults he sends her way, whether stated out loud or not, all with full intent.
Conclusion
Now, I will temper my comments to a small degree at the end here, which is that, despite being a huge Nessian shipper, I do think it is possible that they do not end up together despite believing, without a doubt in my mind, that they are mates. I just do not think that this would ever be due to Cassian’s end, which is what an Emerie love triangle would entail.
On the other hand, Nesta is dealing with quite heavy emotional trauma post-war, and she is [very understandably] pissed off that literally everyone sees her as Cassian’s. She is free to do whatever she wants, and she may choose to take her own path as Cassian (and the rest of the Court) reminds her too much of the reasoning for various aspects of her trauma (the Cauldron, the war, her father dying). And that is absolutely okay -- she has the right to make her own choice, even if it isn’t Cassian, even if the person she chooses isn’t her mate (are you hearing me Feyre about Elain?????).
But I 100,000% believe with my entire heart that Cassian would rather go single another 500 years than ever give his heart to anyone but her.
Thanks for reading my way-too-long comments on Cassian. Let me know if you agree/disagree -- I’d be interested to know why the love triangle theorists believe Emerie to be in play for Cassian’s emotions and am open to having my mind changed. Until then, I’m straight Nessian trash though~~.
#acotar#nessian#nesta#cassian#acotar theory#a court of thorns and roses#a court of frost and starlight
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I have a problem with writing dialogue and that is I write too much of it, in other words my dialogues are too long. How do i make them seem long and good and important without it lasting through 20,pages? Also, how do i say, rather than show, some of the dialogues,but in a way my readers dont feel like they missed out?
cleverly asked:
hi! been following for a year or so and i’m so grateful for this blog. you’ve helped me and others out a ton. i find that when i write, my first draft is very dialogue-heavy. when i go back and edit it’s mostly to fill in the spaces between spoken word, but i always feel like i don’t have enough detail for others to see what i see. what are some ways i can improve on adding more detail? i’ve been practicing by journaling/freewriting, but this style doesn’t really find its way into my WIP. thx!
secretkeeper007 asked:
Hello! I’m writing a novel and I feel like I have a lot of dialogue. Is that okay? (It’s in 1st person POV).
Wow, a lot of synchronicity here!
Nothing makes me close a page of fanfic faster than Wall O’Dialogue. And it’s not just fanfic: I have actually photocopied pages from a professionally edited and published book so that I could go through and write down (it was a library book) who was talking.
Thank you all for realizing it’s an issue and looking to deal with it.
Relentless dialogue is just as frustrating to your readers as an unparagraphed wall of text or reams of irrelevant infodump.
tl;dr: You don’t have to kill your darlings. You do, however, have to stuff a sock in them sometimes.
Dialogue should be like any other part of your story – essential to plot and characterization.
If you’re writing a story in novel format, you don’t want it dominated by dialogue. That’s called a screenplay. But you’re writing a narrative; you’re struggling with things like plot and point of view. Too much dialogue can mean too little action.
Then again, your characters reveal themselves to the reader through conversation. And you might just need to slow the action down for a minute, so you have them talk. How do you sort it all out?
Ask yourself: Is it necessary?
Your first task: Make sure your dialogue is advancing the story or revealing character. If it’s not necessary, cut it out. Save the file … it might be useful later, but remove it from your working draft.
Next: Break up the dialogue you still need if you haven’t already. Your four main tools for breaking up (necessary) dialogue are:
1. dialogue tags: he said, she asked, they replied. Be specific, use the character’s name if you have to, try to avoid fancy words like “he articulated.”
2. action beats: “I’m not going,” he said, dropping the book on the floor; or
Xander tossed the book on the bed. “I’m not going.”
3. inner monologue: “I don’t care what you think,” Tamsyn said.
Juno was tired of her bullshit. She knew T cared. Juno was tired of her own anger. This was no way to have a relationship. But T wasn’t in a place to listen, and Juno had no other way to explain it.
“OK, if that’s how you feel, I’ve got nothing else,” Juno said as she turned to leave.
Inner monologue is an excellent device for replacing dialogue that you cut out. Instead of having your characters go back and forth, put the reactions into the inner, real-time thoughts and reactions of your POV character. Sometimes, what your character does NOT say out loud is far more revealing and interesting.
4. actual action: Nothing wrong with interrupting your blathering lovelies with plot- or character-revealing action. Someone bursts into the room with news … something is happening on the TV news that’s relevant … one of your characters gets a phone call or text that is disturbing, etc…
Underwriting/Under-describing
Another reason we resort to too much dialogue is that we are covering for a lack of description, also known as underwriting. We don’t want to insult our readers by being obvious, because part of the fun of reading is connecting the dots. It’s up to you, the writer, to make sure there are just enough dots.
Don’t jump to conclusions without presenting the evidence first. Nobody changes their life simply because of one conversation – although one conversation can spark a series of interim changes that will have life-altering and story-altering effects.
Maybe you need to do more research on the setting. Maybe you need to interview your characters to find out more about them – do a questionnaire or other character building exercises.
Ask your beta readers what they think is lacking. Remember, your first draft is going to need work, so don’t get too bogged down trying to make everything perfect on the first pass.
You can find more help here. An author shares her struggles with description here.
More resources
There are additional tips in these articles here and here.
If you want to learn good dialogue, read good dialogue, as recommended here and here.
– Aliya, currently feeling your pain with a dialogue-heavy section of her fanfic
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