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#update! all the characters are finished but i need to figure out what to put on the ends
seraphinitegames · 2 months
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The Wayhaven Chronicles - Update 05/April/2024
A really successful week this week!
After some suggestions about multiple choices on the same screen from a few amazing patrons, I looked into how to do that and if it would work for the character creation.
And it really has! I could cry it feels like there’s finally a solution, lol! :D
It does mean I had to completely start over, but with how it looks now, I think I have found how I want it to be for all the future books. It means I should just be able to copy everything I’m doing to the next book’s character creation screen and then just add the last book’s stats. That’s going to save SO much time in the future!
Starting over also meant I could put in the new body part selection choice for those who want to specify, though there is also the option to pass it. It was a selection suggested by one of my sensitivity readers to help hopefully make intimate scenes much easier to write, as well as much clearer to read for everyone!
That selection will pop up in the actual narrative for those that import characters, so you’ll still have that choice if you want to specify it for your character, but it means for people creating characters they can go into the story already that choice in place for the intimate scenes (if you want the detailed scenes).
Here’s a glimpse at what the character creator screens are looking like now:
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So much cleaner and neater, as well as a WHOLE lot quicker! I’m just not sure how it will pop up on phones yet—hoping not too much scrolling!
The character creation is the last thing I need to finish before the demo section can finally go to the editor and first readers. It’s been worth the time to get it finally sorted though, especially as it means it’s also already set for future books, and I don’t have to spend this much time on it again, or melt my brain with figuring out coding, lol! :D
I’m not keen on the ‘Select a’ bit, but that’s how it shows up automatically, so I’m doing my best to work around that.
So yeah, it was so nice to finally get somewhere on this character creator after so many different tries. I really hope it’ll be so, so much quicker and easier for not just you guys to go through but also me and my readers for testing, hehe!
Hope you all have the most amazing weekend! I’m going to be working this weekend to get this completely finished so the demo section can go to the editor next week, but will be offline as usual, so I'll update you all again next week! <3
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The Quiet Ones 3
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No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.
Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.
This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Summary: You live a quiet life, but your peace is fractured by a chaotic man.
Characters: Lloyd Hansen, short!shy!reader
Note: I really gotta finish my paper (don't worry I'm like 3/4 done).
As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me <3
Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Asking for more or putting ‘part 2?’ is not feedback.
Love you all. You are appreciated and your are worthy. Treat yourself with care. 💖
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The light is there again. Bright, green, searing into your vision as it shines against the wall, weaving in perfectly between the curtains. Every night. Taunting you. And in the morning, gone. 
Can you call it a pattern after only three days?  
You don’t know what to call it. You don’t know what he wants from you. If he wanted to hurt you, he would by now, wouldn’t he? Or is this a sick game he’s playing? Whatever it is, it’s madness.  
You sit up and grab your pillow. You cross the room to the door and close it behind you. You put the pillow on the couch and pull down the folded throw across the back. You don’t expect to sleep out here either but you won’t have to stare at the insufferable dot. 
You lay down on your back and sigh at the ceiling. You stare up at the plaster until your eyes close on their own. Your shoulders are tense, your back too, every muscle in you has been knotted for days. You tried a hot shower, even a bath, but both just made you feel vulnerable. You’ve never been overly comfortable being naked but now you feel as if he can see your every movement. 
You tried some exercises in an effort to loosen up too. Those only made you dizzy due to your lack of sleep and rationing. Those should be a sign for you to rethink your strategy but your only other option is to face the danger. You know better than that. 
You huff as the last gray days pile on you. You open your eyes and bring your hand up to your forehead, trying to rub away the stress. You pause as a gleam flashes over your flesh. You drop your arm back down and raise yourself on your elbows. 
Jeez. 
Right there in the middle of your chest is the dot, rather a sliver of it. You look up as it glints in between the verticle blinds. You drop back down. Fine, whatever, if he’s going to shoot, he should just get it over with. You hate this limbo. It’s easy when you know what you’re waiting for. This is just torture. 
A sudden jarring jingle cuts through the din. You sit up, heart beating. It isn’t the deafening gunshot you expected. The green laser ripples through the darkness as you stagger up to your feet and cover your ears. You follow the blaring noise into the bedroom. 
Your phone lights up on your nightstand, flashing as you cross the space. You grab it and quickly silence it, staring at the screen in confusion. You keep your phone on silent, always. You never really use it for more than your banking and emails. On the screen, you see a map of your neighbourhood and a speck pulsing at the centre; your apartment. Huh. 
You remember dismissing that feature before. Several times when you got the phone it kept offering to set up the ‘find your phone’ app but you figured you wouldn’t need it. Yet, here it is, chiming and chirping at you. It isn’t a coincidence. It’s him. 
You peer over at the window and the green glare pours through. You look down again and find the dot right there. You shake your head and back away, hugging yourself as you flee back into the living room. It’s all so messed up and confusing. You don’t get how this can be happening. 
You go into the kitchen. No windows to haunt you there. You put your phone down and lean on the counter as you hold your head. You blow out a breath and you close your eyes. 
You try not to let yourself ask the questions but you’re so tired, you can’t keep fighting this hard. Who is he? How did he find you? Was that day at the cafe the first? Were you so obtuse that you never noticed him before? Does any of it matter? 
The silence shatters again as your phone erupts in a cacophony once more. You back away and cup your ears. You’ve never done well with noise, especially loud noise, or too much at once. It’s a sort of dissonance that makes your head spin. 
You scramble to grasp the phone, eardrums pulsing, and you hit the button again to hush it. You close out of the app and a notification pops up at the top of the screen. For a moment, you’re confused. The only messages you get are obvious scammers or stupid adverts you need to unsubscribe from. 
‘Get some beauty sleep.’ 
You scowl as you stare at the text. What does that even mean? Even if the number is private, you don’t need to guess. You know it’s him. He’s messing with you. You won’t respond, not even in writing. You delete the conversation entirely and shut the phone off. 
You leave it on the counter and go back to the couch. The laser awaits you. You lay down under it and resign yourself to your fate. The only comfort is he’s still out there and you’re in here. A ripple of fear courses through you as you wonder how long that can last. 
👄
Your mail doesn’t come to your door. It’s left in one of the dozens of metal boxes near the front door. Typically you go down to grab it twice a week. You haven’t gone once in the last six days. You don’t plan on it either. You get digital statements for everything anyhow. 
Yet, that doesn’t stop the special delivery from sliding underneath the door. You’re in your kitchen when you hear the soft whoosh. You go to the doorway and stare at the envelope on your floor as you lazily stir your instant coffee. You’re too tired to react with more than a yawn. 
You think it could be a notice from the building. They usually leave one when they have to do an inspection. Yet, there’s not sign of the rental companies logo and the envelope is black. You doubt they’ve rebranded. 
You sip from your coffee and sit at your desk. You login to the portal and open up a task. You don’t need to worry about all that. You muster all you have left for your daily toil. It’s the one thing you can’t forego; the one thing you share in common with other people, you need money to survive. 
You empty the coffee with careless gulps as you key through several tasks. The hours drag by, the clock ticking in the corner of the screen, second by second, minute by grueling minute. The days don’t matter, they all blend together in this hazy purgatory. 
You’re drawn from your mindless typing by the agonising growl of your stomach. You’re starving. Those times when you do let yourself eat, it isn’t much. Finally, your humanly needs have overcome your lack of appetite. You can’t deny it any longer. 
You return to the kitchen with your empty mug. You go to rinse it and water spurts forth, for just a second, then the pipes grind and run dry. You put the cup in the sink and cross your arm. You march out to the bathroom and try the sink in there with the same result. The faucet in the tub runs a little longer but peters out to a single drip. 
Hm, maybe that’s what the letter’s about. 
You sweep back out and scoop up the envelope. Just bending down makes you see stars. You put it on the counter and go to the cupboard to take out the salted crackers. You unfurl the top of the sleeve and wiggle one out. You munch on the stale square and slip your thumb under the flap of the envelop and tear. 
You put down the crackers and rip open one end of the envelope. You shake out the contents. It isn’t a letter. Just a folded pamphlet with something smaller inside. You unfold the spa booklet to uncover the all-inclusive pass within. You drop both and grip your head. 
Is this some sort of bribe? Bait? He’s trying to draw you out and with what? The worst experience you could think of? The smells, the touching, the people... 
You put it all back in the envelope. You don’t want it. You don’t even want it in your apartment. Your safe space. He’s invading it little by little. He can’t have it.  
You go to the door and shove it back under the bottom. You push it as far as you can and fall back, catching yourself on the wall. Your head hurts, you’re tired, you’re stressed, you’re afraid. You just want everything to go back the way it was. You want to be alone. That’s all you ever wanted. 
👄
You use your phone to authorise the two-factor sign-in to your bank account. You set it aside after confirming and wait for the screen to load. Your heart nearly stops as you see the balance. A few times you came too close to the red but this is not what you’re expecting. There’s about fifty thousand dollars extra. It has to be an error. 
You click on your chequing and bring up the next screen. There is is ‘50,000’ in bold green letters but it doesn’t say where it’s come from, just ‘authorised payment’ next to it. What the heck does that mean?  
Right below it you see your work deposit. That appears as usual. Company name, amount, account number. So what happened? 
You click the chat icon at the bottom of the page and wait for an agent to connect. You go through the typical automated questions; what is your issue? Account number? All of that. When you finally have a representative and explain the extra zeros in your account, the response is only three dots. 
You shake your head. You don’t need this. You have enough going on. Your water’s still out, you’re almost out of coffee, and you haven’t even started work. Halfway through and it feels like you’ve only just started a new week. You frame your face as you await the response. 
‘Hello, miss. Thank you for your patience. We have found no error in this transfer.’ 
You lean back and whine. That doesn’t make sense.  
‘Can I know where the money came from?’ You type. 
‘The payee is listed as London Fog LLC. It appears to be a business payment.’ 
You close your eyes. What? That makes no sense. It... can’t be. 
‘Can you reverse the payment, please?’ You input. 
‘We can attempt to reverse this. This might take a few days to process. We will keep the ticket open until this is done.’ 
‘Thank you.’ 
You close out the chat. That’s as best as you can do. It’s all so weird and you can’t deny the nagging truth. It’s not an error or a coincidence. It’s that stranger. He is playing a very confusing game. 
Your phone lights up and your eyes flit down. You lean in to glimpse the notification before it minimises. ‘Happy hump day <3’. You quickly black out the screen and flip it over. Leave me alone! 
👄
You almost expect the knock on your door. Deep down, you knew it was coming. Noon, on the dot. It’s Wednesday. 
“London Fog express!” He calls through. “Ew, this one’s gone a bit bad.” 
You hear him shifting around before the handle turns without give. He wiggles it and sighs. He huffs and you can tell by his shadow he’s leaning on the door. 
“Look, jellybean, I came all the way here, even burnt myself on this thing,” he says through the door, “you know, I’ve had some late nights...” he pauses as you sit silent, unmoving at your desk. “You don’t have to do more than open the door and take the cup. Promise, I won’t try nothing. I mean, I’ve been pretty patient, haven’t I?” 
You press your fingers to the edge of your desk to keep from shaking. 
“Right, I guess... I haven’t even introduced myself. How forgetful. Name’s Lloyd, but you could call me like L or love bear or... snookums. Something sweet like that.” 
You can’t. You’re going to pass out from absurdity. This man is psychotic. 
“You know, I’m a pretty handsy—handy guy. I could fix that water issue you got going on--” 
Holy cow. How does he know—how could he? He wouldn’t be able to just shut off your water. Right? 
“See, I get you, baby face, you’re the quiet type. You like to keep to yourself. That’s fair but everyone needs someone. I see that now,” he rambles through the door as it groans against his lean, “I didn’t before. Then I saw you and everything changed. It’s me and you, cupcake.” 
You stand and shudder, walking stiffly around the corner and towards the door. You step up and try to see through the peep hole. It’s still black. You exhale and sniff. 
“What do you want?” You croak. 
Silence. The door shifts as he takes his weight off of it. He soles scuff on the other side. 
“Hi,” his voice softens, “how are you, jellybean?” 
You close your eyes. You just want an answer. You cross your arms and rocks, a soothing gesture as your nerves bubble up. 
“Yeah, that’s okay, I know you’re not much of a talker. We balance each other out like that. I’m doing okay, you know? Cafe was a bit crowded but I got your latte. Foam shouldn’t have fallen yet so if you just want to open--” 
“What do you want?” You step closer to the door and raise your voice. 
He scoffs into a hum, “isn’t it obvious, babes?” 
You open your eyes and bit your upper lip. 
“You, baby cakes. Simple as that,” he drawls, “so why don’t you grab your tea and we can have a little sit down.” 
“Go away.” 
He huffs and clicks his tongue, “don’t be like that, sweetie.” 
“I don’t know you--” 
“I’m Lloyd, your love bear--” 
“Stop. I want you to leave me alone.” 
Another sharp exhale from the other side. A lull that prickles across your skin. 
“I can’t do that.” 
You wince, “please...” 
“All you have to do is open the door, jellybean. You know I’m a good guy. I’ve been looking out for you. Every night,” something drags down the door. “You can’t lock yourself away forever.” 
You step back and lean on the wall weakly. He’s delusional and you’re so tired. You’re almost tempted to open the door just to get it over with. You sink down onto your butt and hug your knees. 
“No.” 
That’s all you say. It’s all you can eke out.  
He taps on the door lightly and sucks his teeth. “Well, guess I gotta amp up my game.” 
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iicheeze · 2 years
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Subtle, yet hidden
context: What if you were just a normal person who likes genshin impact, but keeps getting hints of a God, more powerful than the Seven Archons combined, sleeping in the depths of Teyvat from the Archon quests, books, characters, and more?
cw: cultism, yandere behavior, possible archon quests spoilers
edit: I just finished the Archon quest and corrected some stuff
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You were just a normal student in college, trying to get by and survive until graduation. But of course, you've been working very hard, you deserve some relaxation time, no?
You always use that time to play your favorite game, Genshin Impact. It's element of RPG styled game attracts you, let alone the story! It captivated you to the point you'd sometimes put some money here and there. (Though, you'll have to eat less due to that problem..)
But as you progress more and more to the story, and exploring the nation, you couldn't help but see some... hints? Hints about a God. It's called.. The Divine One, you guessed. Many names were heard. Their Divinity, Their Grace, The Divine One, The Creator, etc. You heard that they are the one to create Teyvat from dust, and its people.
You decided to dig some more information, curious of this ‘ Divine One ’. As you explored the Knights of Favonius' library, Liyue's Book store, the Jade Chamber, Inazuma's Publishing Store. But you also found out that the Divine One is also talked about from the NPCs! Even from the playable characters!
All you can hear is that they treat them like their saviour. And even heard about a prophecy that the Divine One is going to awaken soon and ‘ purify ’ the dirty, wretched world they have stained. Maybe they were talking about the Fatui that stained Teyvat.
You hear nothing but good things from the playable characters, some are obviously devoted worshipers, some are more.. closeted.
“ The Divine One? Why, of course. I know them. Their Divinity is the one who created Teyvat from scratch. Liyue is nothing but a piece of their Divinely work. But yet, I'm glad that over the years, I have grown Liyue to civilization. I'm proud of it. I just have to wait for Their Grace to finally be awoken from their sleep, for I can finally show them my work. ”
“ The.. Divine One? Oh! You mean Their Grace! Of course, of course! I know them. They were very nice. And knowledgeable too! Obviously that's what's expected from the Creator of Teyvat, of course. Haha! But not only that, they're the reason why I'm very attached to this lyre here. ..Tell you the story of how I got attached to it? No way! Keep that to your imagination! ”
“ Ah, Their Grace. ..I apologize. I'm not interested in talking in this topic. I do not believe that I have the right to speak about Their Divinity. Without their own consent. ”
“ Oh! Their Divinity! If I remember correctly, they passed Greater Lord Rhukkadevata their knowledge for the ‘ greater good ’. I don't know what it means, but perhaps she saw things that were meant for Their Grace's eyes, yet they spared her knowledge when in need. I wish that I can be like her someday. ” (Before Archon Quest)
Though, what interests you is Kaeya's response.
“ The Divine One? Why are you suddenly asking me this question? Well, I do believe in them, of course! Although, Their Divinity have been sleeping for thousands of years.. A lot of people have been taking advantage of that. A certain city.. Up in the sky. ”
You figured out that he was talking about Celestia taking advantage of The Divine One's sleep to destroy Khaenriah, as a reasoning of ‘ breaking the Heavenly Principles ’. But sooner, you found out that The Divine One wasn't the one who made the Heavenly Principles.
Celestia made the Heavenly Principles not long after The Divine One fell to their sleep. It isn't fair, you thought.
But really, you can't wait until the next nation update! You're really curious about the Divine One. You can't wait to finally get to meet them!
But of course.. What they didn't know is that Their Divinity is you. You are the one playing this game. You are the one who chose the Traveler as your vessel to ‘ purify ’ each Nations' problems. The Archons aren't stupid. In fact, none of the Playable characters are stupid!
They know that it's you behind the Traveler. They're just informing you of your position here! They're just preparing you for what's about to happen soon. You won't mind, right? After all, they've heard several times that you wished that you lived here. Don't worry! For they are going to make your wish come true.
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dotmander · 1 year
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How To Get Your Character Models Out Of A Game: Tips And Tricks For Bitches That Have Never Used Blender
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(it's me, i'm bitches)
(also ignore how messy that lighting is it's 1am and i should have been asleep hours ago. he's there for proof of concept 💕)
a couple people (specifically @forsaken-constellation and @ratasum) asked for a tutorial on how to rip models out of the game. this is not that, but it is a compilation of resources i used to learn about ripping, blender, and 3d modeling in general. i desperately wanted a post like this to exist when i was trying to figure this out, so here we go! all the resources below are completely free, with the exception of a link to the patreon of the person that created ninjaripper.
disclaimers:
there are probably more efficient ways to do the things i am doing. i watched a tutorial to learn shortcuts and then skipped to character models. if you have tips to add, corrections to make, or other thoughts, please feel free to share! i'll link to your post here. ^^
i do not know if any of this will get your account banned. i've ripped several models, so i'm going to assume it's fine as long as you don't try to make money off of it. use your best judgment, be an adult, etc etc etc
last updated: april 2, 2023
PROGRAMS & WEBSITES
ninjaripper 1.7.1 - there's a newer version on the creator's patreon, presumably with support for newer versions of blender and fewer bugs, but i haven't tried that
blender 2.79 - the import addon that comes with ninjaripper 1.7.1 is outdated for the current version of blender (3.5 as of this post), so 2.79 is needed to combine the .RIP files into a .BLEND (blender) file
noesis - ninjaripper saves your textures as .DDS files, noesis lets you view them and export them as .PNGs
blender 3.5 (optional?) - i just like it better than 2.79. if you're completely new it might not matter to you. all of the tutorials linked later are for later versions, though.
mixamo (optional) - rigs your character for you and lets you put them in Situations (like my guy above.) there's a whole library of free animations and poses you can try!
TUTORIALS
how to use ninjaripper - most of what you need to know about actually ripping the files and using ninjaripper is covered here. do not skip this one.
how to use blender 3.5 - full disclosure i haven't finished this series because it's uhhhh many hours long. but if you are a complete newbie to blender, i do recommend at least the first few videos; you'll learn about shortcuts that will make your life easier, how to unfuck your model when it fucks itself for no reason, and different terms that will help you google things you don't know later on. possibly he even covers some of the things i'm about to link! anyway.
what's a uv map?
how to apply textures
how to apply bump maps (note: for our purposes, you wouldn't add a color ramp node, you would add an image node with your bump map, and attach it to the bump node as the person does in the video)
there should be stuff here about weight painting, cloth physics, emission maps (makes your sylvari glow), and other stuff, but um. i haven't figured those out <3  
TIPS
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TURN UP YOUR GRAPHICS BEFORE YOU RIP - if you don't, you might end up missing certain textures/glows/etc. HOWEVER, you should turn animations down, because apparently high animation can make your meshes misplace themselves
rip from the character select screen, rather than an instance, because you will have 100 meshes to sort through instead of 1400. i am not exaggerating either of those numbers. if you are new to blender, please love yourself and start with character select.
your textures will be fucked up the first time you try to apply them. this is because the UV maps (the things that tell your textures where to go) of your models are flipped upside down in relation to the texture image. you can flip them back over manually, ooooor you can just flip the entire texture file in something like CSP or photoshop.
for some reason all eyes are red in the texture files. i have not figured out why. i recommend editing the .PNG to have the correct eye color before applying the texture.
mixamo only works for humanoid characters with tight clothing (or without clothing at all). if you try to use it to rig a charr or asura, or someone with a skirt or big sleeves, you will most likely be disappointed.
that's all i can think of for now - if you have other questions, feel free to shoot them my way, although i can't promise i'll have a straight answer ^^;;
information from bookahlogy about character proportions, fixing normals, and other fun tips
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subwaytostardew · 2 months
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youtube
▽ Subway to Stardew - Adoptable Joltik ⚡️
This would play after Emmet's 8 heart event and getting Joltik up to 8 hearts as well.
I released a separate mod specifically for adopting Joltik, so you only need to get them up to 8 hearts to adopt them! You can do it right now!
Adoptable Joltik Mod Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/21002
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And of course... Commentary under the read-more.
Joltik's adoption event sat in the drafts for quite a while. It took me whole a day to implement and I didn't let myself sleep until I finished everything. (It's 1 PM now...)
The event ended up wildly different because of how extra custom pets are implemented. You would think that they would be added in the same way as you get your cat/dog that you select during character creation. No. You have to buy a license. Only Marnie is authorized to sell them.
Here's the original script for Joltik's adoption event:
[Joltik Adoption Event]
Emmet: @! Joltik likes you verrrrry much. They want to stay with you. I'm letting you adopt them. Yup. I filled out all the paperwork. The Joltiks are legally documented now. 
I never gave ours a name... Galvantula wouldn't let me. She is verrrry picky about it. But that's okay. Joltik is yours. You should name them. She came along for approval. So. What name should I put on the adoption form?
[Name input box like Marnie's adoption thing...]
[Galvantula pauses for a moment to think and then offhandedly agrees.]
Emmet: Galvantula didn't shock me for that. That name is okay. Yup. I will file that with the Ferngill Republic. Don't worry about it. Make sure you take verrrry good care of our little Joltik!
[Joltik jumps and heart emotes]
◇──◆──◇──◆
The whole naming portion was a source of much more frustration than it should have been. In events, the name input box is brought up by the "catQuestion" command (which applies to dogs chosen at the start, too...
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If you refuse, then Marnie also shows up no matter what you do. Farmhouse positions are also tricky and made even harder to find reference for after 1.6 added the farmhouse being moveable. Joltik kept spawning where Emmet was supposed to be so I had to use a move command just to get them to spawn one tile to the side. Galvantula was fine. I didn't get to updating her vanilla portraits yet so she's staying quiet.
The catQuestion command also only adds the pet you pick during character creation. There's no fields to target the usage. You have to buy a license. It's the only way to get another pet. I didn't want Joltik to replace a cat either since in-story you would have to earn the trust of both Emmet and Galvantula... There's no way you can do that by the first 25 days of spring. It's immersion breaking and you lose a cat.
I did find the license aspect funny though. It was oddly fitting for the mod's lore of Pokemon being pretty much banned from the region. Emmet is a threat to Stardew Valley's ecosystem. Not the best guy for the task of combating anti-Pokemon xenophobia.
Pet sizes are apparently hardcoded so I had to make a new spritesheet for Joltik as if they even need a 32 x 32 pixel area per frame. I did end up making new sprites for them while I was at it. I tried to base it off of the cat's behaviors so I have less animation fields to edit (I was tired). The cat loafs a lot. Trying to convey that in a tiny spider posed quite the challenge.
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After everything was done, I figured that the whole adoption portion of the mod could easilly be taken apart to be its own mod as a demo of sorts for the expansion. So I went and made a content pack to post.
Bringing up your starter pet's friendship level takes quite some time, so it would be awkward if I let the event play with no preconditions. Because of that, I ended up including Joltik as an NPC and locking their adoption behind their heart level.
We actually only had two lines per day of the week (not including season) for daily dialogue. That shot up to six lines per day of the week for a full 0-2-4-6-8-10 in spring because I was determined to publish a mod. (I've been modding for nearly a year nonstop and I don't have anything playable... humiliating...)
Anyways! I hope you're all having fun with 1.6! It certainly brought new challenges and opportunities to the modding scene!
▷ Station Steward Thylak
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larkingame · 4 months
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hello folks! I hope that January has treated you all well and that the beginning of 2024 has been kind to you so far. welcome to the second public update for larkin's monthly development of 2024! 
Personally, January seemed to fly by for me, and while it did provide a lot of time for work, it also posed some challenges and taught me a few things. The first of which, is the fact that the new Larkin is a //big// undertaking, bigger than I think even I realized when I first set out on this journey. While turning Larkin into an RPG, with dice rolls, stat checks and the like is a decision that I'm still very happy with and proud of my progress on--it's going slower than I'd necessarily like. To illustrate this to you, the prologue of Larkin currently sits at about 55k words, while the original twine prologue was at just about 21k words in it's complete scope. The big difference there being, in those original 21k words I managed to get the plot moving and the Preacher and Wyatt on their way to Nevada, but in the time that I've been working on the RPG version of Larkin, I've only just about gotten finished with the first major encounter. It's slow going, and I'm working really hard to ramp up the production speed--adjusting my schedule to wake up at 5:00 am to work for a few hours before work and school, and then coming home and working on larkin until about 1:30 am (as much I hate this fact, I //do// in fact need //some// sleep.) Even with all of my free time dedicated to work on Larkin or catching those few precious hours of sleep, I'm still not entirely happy with the speed at which I'm working on it--and I'm still experimenting to try and figure out what works best that helps me produce quality work with a quick turn-around. 
That being said, one of my new systems I've implemented to try and alleviate my production stress is that I've started dropping two updates to the game every week. The first update comes on Thursdays and is called what I've dubbed a 'Bulk' Update, it essentially builds on the choices/routes that have already been presented to the player, giving you room to explore your environment/develop your character compared to the Sunday 'Streamline' Update, that furthers along the plot of the story. Later tonight I'll be posting an update roadmap for the month of February on Patreon. 
Other brief updates about the progress of the game. For one, I've been working with two artists—one who is producing some art that'll be used as future patreon physical rewards and another who's putting together portraits of all the game's main characters that I am. Sickeningly excited about, considering that this artist is my current favorite working artist of all time. In total there's going to be sixteen character portraits that you'll be able to unlock throughout the course of the game, with slight variations depending on our relationship with that character. Other than that, me and my assistant Phillip are in the process of really trying to build a bigger social media presence for Larkin, so we'll be launching twitter/threads/bluesky/instagram and editing the tiktok pages for Larkin, that I'll drop in a card later tonight as well. I’ve also introduced another patreon tier of $1 for those of you who are wanting more consistent updates on the game development on Patreon!
STATS: 
PROLOGUE WORDCOUNT: 55, 750 words
ROUTE TRACKER: 1.5/11
PROLOGUE WORDCOUNT GOAL: 150k
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artist-issues · 2 months
Note
Been a while since we've heard, how did your readthrough of the Harry Potter books go?
Hey! Ho! I forgot to update on that didn't I? My bad!
I haven't worked out all my feelings about it! The last book was so...odd. I felt frustrated through the whole thing. Most of the books felt like you were waiting to figure stuff out—the main characters would try to get information and solve problems and fail or cause more problems in the process, but there was usually some secondary goal they consistently had hope in. Like, maybe Harry Potter can't figure out who's trying to kill him, and has constant setbacks in that. BUT, their secondary goal, winning the Tri-Wizard Cup, is usually...hopeful. They're usually doing well with one of their two main goals, and then the climax happens, and they lose something important, but ultimately ene on a hopeful note. You know, Harry wins the Tri-Wizard Cup, but Voldemort's back and Cedric is dead, that sort of thing.
But. In the conclusion of the series, it felt like the main characters were getting nowhere, in their primary goals AND their secondary goals, for so long. Then the ending, the pacing of it all, felt rushed. And I didn't love the plot device of the Elder Wand, or how in the climax of the book, when Harry is fighting Voldemort, they stop to have like a twenty-minute conversation about all the exposition the reader needs to know to understand how Harry is about to beat him—and Harry was basically insufferable for the whole book.
that was my initial impression. It might age better if I go back and re-read. I definitely like some of the Messianic notes of Harry dying for everybody—then picking his life back up again to defeat the bad guy once and for all.
and they killed Lupin. Which. He's my favorite I thought he had the most interesting "character arc" of any of the adult characters. It seemed like his biggest fear was inadequacy as a father, heightened by the fact that he's a werewolf, so he thought he'd make his son's life harder and more shameful by even being alive...so as part of that interesting character flaw, Lupin tries to kamikaze by going on the run with Harry. Then he goes back and resolves to live with his wife (who he wrestles with the safety of loving) and child (same wrestling match) because being present as a father and husband is the right thing to do, regardless of how difficult it is for you.
And then he dies anyway.
So it's like. What the heck was the point of that? Makes the lesson he, as a character, was teaching, hollow. Like "Living as a good father is harder than dying a martyr—but I'm dead, so I don't have to worry about that, I guess the thought was what counted."
And people will say to me "nooo he was willing to take risks and sacrifice! He sacrificed his life! To make a better world for his son!"
Yeah okay but we already had self-sacrificial love impacting an orphan's life through the death of parents in the main character. Lily and James Potter did that. Already got that lesson. Now tell a story about how just going on and living your life for someone, say to day, especially when it's hard and they might not thank you for it, is also self-sacrificial. I thought that was the mini-story Lupin's character was telling, on the side of the main plot. But then no, Rowling just repeats herself. She just starts an interesting thing and then finishes it in the least-interesting way.
I feel like one of the basics of storytelling is "create a character that needs to learn something. Then put them through the hardest circumstances so that they're forced to change into what they need to learn." Dying in battle was not Lupin's hardest circumstance. You know what would've been? Killing Tonks, his wife, so that he's forced to raise their son alone and still stay—or keeping them both alive, but Lupin's curse is worse than ever after the battle. Or just simply keeping them both alive, and putting a little nod in the epilogue to how Harry's kids defend Lupin's son from bullies, and it's hinted at that society still doesn't accept werewolves and their lives aren't perfect, but they're all sticking around for each other.
I mean you don't even get to have Tonks react to Lupin's death. And the only Weasley that was killed was one of the twins—don't get me wrong, that's still horrible. But if you're trying to make a point about the losses of war, kill a character who is one-of-a-kind to the audience...not one-of-two.
Also, the thing with Snape and Lily didn't hit. Haven't analyzed why, yet. There's something to be learned about showing and telling there. I mean, what the author showed me for seven books was a mean and nasty man who loved nothing. I experienced it with Harry. I tasted the sting of the insults and the cruel remarks and the unfairness. For seven books. You know what's less powerful? A handful of pages quickly info-dumping the idea that no, he was in love and acting out of unrequited love all along. Like anti-heroic Snape is a compelling idea to be told about, but it's not nearly as strong as the experience of being shown villainous Snape, moment by moment, book by book.
Same thing with Dumbledore's emotional reveal of his own history. Like. Okay. But you only just now told me I should care about Dumbledore's family, in the last half of the last book. I don't feel as badly about him and his family as I would've if you'd slowly shown me who they were, even in memory, for the last seven books—like she did super well with Lily and James and Sirius.
anyway. Those are my half-baked thoughts. I was also...running a super high fever and reading the last few chapters at 1 in the morning, at the time. So they're super underdone thoughts. Thanks for asking!
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cod-dump · 11 months
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Gone in the Night
SoapGhost
TW: Major character death, hurt/no comfort, angst
@mysticalgalaxysalad
___
Ghost has gone out on high risk missions before and he’s always come back. Soap had stopped worrying about him ages ago because he had come to learn that it was pointless. Man always bounded back, a new scar to show off and new morbid jokes to accompany it. It was pointless to worry because Ghost wouldn’t back away from a mission.
He was forever fearless, always facing whatever challenge was given to him.
Soap stopped worrying because he always came back. Late at night, early in the morning, in the dead of evening. He always shows up, ready to sleep and tell Soap about whatever he had gone through on the mission. Soap had awakened countless times to the man in bed with him, curled up against him and sound asleep. It always made him smile that Ghost always came to him after long missions. Normally on top of the covers because he didn’t want to bother him even though he all but laid on top of him.
“You can just wake me up, love. I don’t care.”
“I don’t need to be under the blankets to feel close to you.”
Soap had felt his heart flutter in his chest at that, unable to stop himself from smiling. Ghost always came to him first. Everyone knew that. More than once Soap has awoken to Price knocking on his door, asking for Ghost who was sleeping next to him. Price would steal Ghost away and the man always came back to Soap afterwards. Gaz joked that he was like a magnet attracted only to Soap.
“No matter where you are, he always finds you. Did he put a tracker on you or something?”
Soap laughed, “Oh, definitely. It’s right here where my heart used to be before he stole it.”
Gaz gags dramatically at that. 
Soap had stopped worrying about Ghost going on long missions, in the dark until he had made the kill. Ghost always kissed him before he left, always made a lasting impression before he disappeared. Soap had awoken countless times to Ghost kissing him and stripping his clothes from him. He always chose the day before he left so he had plenty of time to show Soap how much he loved him. But it would never be enough for Soap because he was always left wanting more. Always eagerly awaiting for Ghost to return to him.
Ghost had left five months ago. And communications between him and Price were cut last week. No one had heard anything from him, no one. Not their contacts, the men that went with him, nothing. Everything became quiet. Very quiet. But Soap didn’t worry, he felt he had no reason to. The Ghost always came back, always crawled out of the dirt and finished the job before he went home. Soap wasn’t worried, why should he be?
He wasn’t worried… but Price was. The man was pacing after day five of no updates from Ghost or his team. But Soap still didn’t worry and just tried to calm the man.
“They’re fine. Probably deep in the shadows.”
Price always had these gut feelings about things. A six sense that told him when something was wrong. Soap only started to worry after realizing that Price was having one of those feelings about this. Day seven of no word from Ghost was when Price started to arrange a team to go out and figure out what was wrong. There have been other cases when communication was lost and Price didn’t send anyone out to get a word from them. But this was different. And that made Soap worry even though he never had to worry about this before, at least not in a long time. Price was heading the team and Soap asked to go with him. If something had gone wrong, Soap wanted to be there to help fix it.
He didn’t let Price talk him out of it. So they went out together, leading a team together. When they had reached the last known location that Ghost and his team were, the day before they had gone quiet, they found nothing there. No sign that they were even there, which meant the day they had last talked to them nothing was wrong. That things were still in control before they continued on.
Even when they were left with nothing to follow, Price found a trail. And they followed that trail. Soap was trying to stay optimistic as they moved but… then they started finding bodies. More of Ghost’s team were found and more obvious the trail became to follow. They followed the trail to what looked like an abandoned village. An abandoned village where Ghost’s target lurked. They were met with gunfire which they returned. They were able to take them out, killing Ghost’s target last. Then Price found the end of the trail.
Three of their men were inside a building that they had barricaded. They all looked like they had seen the gates of hell open and had collapsed into the arms of their comrades. Soap had swallowed hard because there was no Ghost.
“Where is Ghost?”
The men said nothing but pointed over into the darkness of the next room. Soap felt his heart drop as he walked closer, panic coursing through him as he saw a trail of blood across the floor. He shined a light into the room and choked on a sob. There, leaning against the wall, slumped over with a hand tight around a knife handle, was Ghost. Soap rushed over to him, sliding down next to the unmoving man. Soap could barely hear anything but his own heart beating.
“He went in there last night…”
Soap reaches up and cups Ghost’s face, feeling no warmth through the mask. He swallows as he slowly takes off the mask, greeted by Ghost’s pale, slacked face. Soap wanted to scream, cry so loud that it shook the sky like thunder. But he didn’t. He just pulled Ghost’s limp form against his chest, hands shaking as he felt no warmth from him. No heartbeat, no breath. Soap knew he was gone and all he could feel was his heart breaking. All he could think of was that Ghost died here, alone in the dark. That he dragged himself in here so he didn’t die in front of his men. Soap carded through his hair, feeling his heart slow back to its normal rhythm. He stared at the mask that Ghost had always worn in the presence of others.
Soap reached out and picked it up, feeling a part of him die.
“MacTavish.”
Price’s emotionless voice made Soap look at him. He could see a part of him had died, too.
“Who did you say that the target worked for?”
“Johnny… let’s get him home.” Please don’t follow him down the path he made.
Soap continued to cradle Ghost against him, looking at the mask once more.
“Take him home.”
Soap left one last kiss to Ghost’s forehead, a temporary goodbye. A promise that he would see him again.
“Johnny-”
Soap brushed past Price, feeling as though he couldn’t hear him clearly. Like he was whispering and mumbling. Soap walked out of the building, going to Ghost’s target and picking his pockets until he found a phone. Then he left. That phone in his hand… And Ghost’s mask in his clenched fist.
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acertainmoshke · 1 year
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Let's Talk About Notion
So, I use Notion for plenty of non-writing things to keep myself organized, but the main thing I use it for is writing. And I love it because it can be simple--just pages nested within pages and including lists or paragraphs--or as complex as you need. The template I use for keeping track of my novels I did pay $20 for, but that was to the random person who put in all the time and effort and not to the company. There are free templates and if you put in the time to figure it out, you can make the complex ones yourself. And I do have a side page to just add pages for random ideas and not clutter my official system.
Anyway.
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This is the front page of my favorite Notion template ever, WIP. I can add as many projects as I'm working on, complete with cover pages (which I use just to be thematic but if I had actual covers I could upload those too) and summaries, but those aren't the practical parts. Based on the word count goal I entered, it tells me how close I am, as well as calculating how many book pages each takes up and how long it would take to read.
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There are also tabs for concept stories that I'm still planning and don't want to count towards my word count goal yet, and archived ones that I'm putting on hold.
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under the projects section, still on the front page, I have word count cards where I can enter my daily word count and it automatically updates the goal based on the end word count goal for all active projects and the date I said I wanted to finish each.
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If I open one of my projects, it gives me all this info in what is technically the header. I entered the summary, genre, dates, and goals, but it calculated the rest.
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That page includes chapters, which I can put in different stages of development, name, and move around; characters to keep track of, which I can attach to relevant chapters, and tasks I don't really use but they work as a checklist. That may be more useful when I'm in the 3rd draft and editing.
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Below all of that there's also a storyboard. I don't use it for TDATS and I don't really want to share the one I do use regularly, but basically they're pages attached to various chapters and you can use them as scenes or events to plot out the story, move things around, and get an idea of what's happening before writing.
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I prefer to write my actual stories in Word, but I could write them here directly in the chapters. There's also a spot to include specific words used or introduced in a chapter. Most of what I use these for is keeping track of word count, because you have to add them to the chapters for them to be added together into the project total. But it calculating how long it takes to read each chapter is certainly fun.
Anyway, you should definitely use Notion--there are other writing templates if you want something free or just different, and you don't have to use templates at all, but as a chaotic neurodivergent author, this has seriously helped my organization and planning.
The website is notion.so and there's desktop and mobile apps and the service itself is free. I guess there is a pro version but I think that's only useful if you're trying to use it as a team for work.
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lunod · 3 months
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I have somehow already finished the update despite not playing that long or rushing through it (I actually played a couple parts twice already) and I just don't feel good about it at all, from honestly any angle.
Gameplay wise, a bunch of the story is having you to basic exploring that I feel like players outgrow by the end of the PS. Not as in "go to new location for story" but as in "view these 3 vistas to proceed with story, no there is literally nothing there" and it just feels dull and like they needed to make you do menial tasks to stretch out the game content. Why do I need to be wrangled into map comp when I have presumably played core and the other expacs by this point? The enemies including the boss are reskins with nothing new to them.
Story-wise it's a mess. There's some interesting stuff, don't get me wrong, but it all feels like you won't get to find out much about it, because most of the interesting tidbits are delivered through random unnamed NPCs you overhear. The pacing is all over the place. It honestly feels like YouTube content for children where they just toss a bunch of new stuff your way every 2 seconds without elaborating on anything in an attempt to keep you entertained. You don't get to figure out the people you're with at the beginning, because you get introduced to new people from within the Wizard's Tower and you don't get to figure them out either because you get new people from Inner Nayos, and throughout all this you have characters introduced to you and you're going "okay cool let me remember this person" and by the time you turn around they're dead. And the thing is their deaths don't impact me at all because I have not formed any feelings about them! I don't know them! I don't get to feel sad or angry or bittersweet or relieved about their deaths because I have spent all of 30 seconds around them.
And to be frank we know SO LITTLE about any of the people we're around that it's shocking we aren't getting any sort of feedback at all from Anyone about trust. Nobody's asked why we, the player, want to get involved in this at all. We, the player, have not questioned the wizards or their motives, we didn't question Zojja's decision (honestly Zojja's whole Thing is a writing AND a marketing issue), we have not questioned Peitha or her motives, we have not questioned whether we should be putting Peitha in power at all especially when we know nothing about Kryptis culture or politics (and let's be real we know SO little that we don't know if the issue is even as black and white as needing to choose between Peitha or Eparch), we haven't questioned whether Nephus is going to be reliable given he has openly stated he was forced into this, we know nothing about anyone we're putting not just our own life but Everyone's lives on the line for. Especially when a lot of the dialogue should give us pause, like the way Nephus makes it clear Peitha has no real experience with what she's doing and that what she IS good at is manipulating people and coming up with speeches on the fly. Or the Wizard's Court in general and as a whole honestly.
I honestly haven't felt this flat about any of the GW2 story besides IBS, and IBS still had some parts I didn't feel flat about.
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shoumeitsuki · 5 months
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ike eveland x gn!reader
characters : ike eveland
it's an angst (?) to fluff btw
warnings : none really (update : it might be a long one)
summary : ike, your crush, asked you to meet him at the nearby park for some help after you guys hung out.
oh i'd like to add you're in college 1st year
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ike has been your best friend for so long now. you have a crush on him, but you don't want to confess, since it can ruin you guys' friendship.
"hey!" ike called out for you. "oh, hey ike." you greeted back, wondering why he called you.
"can i crash at your place later? i have nothing to do today and i don't wanna be bored for the whole day." ike asked. "oh, sure. it's not like i have any plans." you agreed.
you finished up the rest of your school day. when the final class ended, you put away all your things and packed your bag. you then waited for the professor to let you guys leave the classroom.
when you got let out, you then made your way to the exit of the university and went on your motorbike, turned it on and started your journey to go to your apartment.
since you live alone, ike likes to come over sometimes since he also lives alone, which makes him feel a little lonely at times.
when you got home, you opened the door, got in and locked the door to make sure you don't get robbed or anything.
you decided to take a shower since you had a pe class today that required you to run 2 laps. you took a quick shower since ike could come any moment now.
you quickly changed into some comfortable clothes and decided to play some games on your laptop while you wait for ike to arrive.
when the doorbell rang, you took a quick peak outside to make sure it's ike and not some random intruder. when you made sure it was ike, you opened the door for him and let him in.
"what'd you wanna do?" you asked ike, wondering why he asked to crash at yours instead of hanging out with luxiem. "honestly, i don't know. luxiem's busy today so i figured i'd go to yours instead." ike reasoned, and you just nodded.
"wanna try cooking?" you wanted to try a recipe that you found on instagram. it was a recipe for some cute bear-shaped donuts. ike agreed.
you guys spent around an hour in the kitchen going back and forth to make sure you don't mess up the recipe. after a bit, you guys finished making them.
the results were pleasing, they didn't look the best, but they tasted great. they tasted even better with some powdered sugar.
you guys just chatted while enjoying the donuts and some black tea with honey and lemon.
(change the tea, honey or lemon if you're allergic // also if you're gluten free sorry lol you can change whatever you guys were making with something else)
when you guys finished, ike decided to go. but before that, he asked if you could meet up with him to the park tomorrow since he wanted to discuss something. you agreed, wondering what was so important he needed to discuss it with you.
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it's now the next day, and you're making your way to the park after getting ready and having breakfast.
when you arrived, you found the familiar beige-haired boy who dyed the tips of his hair blue.
you sat next to him, and asked him why he asked you to meet him here, at the park.
"so, why'd you wanna meet up here? what'd you wanna ask about?" you asked, confused. "so... here's the thing." ike starts off.
"i... like... 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢. she's a classmate of ours. i really like her, and you should be quite close to her, right? could you maybe tell me more about her so you could help me confess...?" ike requested.
your mind was filled with those words 3 words bouncing in your brain. you couldn't focus after he said he liked sara, one of your friends.
of course he wouldn't like you. 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 is basically ike's type. she's smart, she's pretty, everything that you want to find in a person.
you were so deep in thought you didn't even notice tears started to form in your eyes.
when you realized you were about to cry, you immediately tried stopping your tears from breaking free, just like a bird keeper who is preventing their bird from escaping its cage.
you thought he wouldn't notice, but it seems you were wrong.
"hey, why're you crying...?" ike asked, worried. "oh, it's nothing. just surprised my best friend found someone he liked, haha. brings me tears of joy knowing that my best friend found some bitches." you tried to joke, yet your eyes betrayed you.
tears started pouring down rapidly just like how raindrops start to fall from the dark and cloudy sky during a storm.
"hey, if you aren't ready, it's okay. i could always ask someone else for advice." ike was worried.
"no! i'll definitely help you. that's what friends are for!" you tried to lighten the mood and stop your tears.
"are you sure?" ike wanted to make sure he isn't making you uncomfortable in any way.
"yeah, i'm sure." you assured. you feel jealous right now. you wished it wasn't 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢's name, but 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳s that came out of his mouth. but alas, that's just a 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢.
you guys said goodbye after you told some stuff about sara. you wanted to lie about things so he wouldn't like her anymore, but 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 was a really good friend for you. you didn't want to intervene in ike's probably successful love life.
when you got home, you cried. you hated the fact you've been chasing him for so many years, just to find out that he likes one of your friends.
maybe if you confessed earlier things wouldn't have came out like this...?
there was no one else to blame but 𝘺𝘰𝘶, atleast that's what you thought.
you kept thinking about what would've happened if you confessed earlier, or if you confessed after he said he liked 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢.
⇚ ↺ ⇛
after a few weeks of you telling stuff about 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 to ike, he decided that he was gonna try to ask her out.
you decided to just watch from afar, seeing if 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 will accept or not.
he decided to confess at lunch, at the rooftop. you waited for both him and 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢.
you wondered if 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 would reject him or not. obviously not, you thought. ike is smart, he's handsome, he's charming, he's friendly. probably half of the class has a crush on him.
while deep in thought, you snapped out of it when ike and 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 went to the rooftop. you quickly hid behind a wall.
ike confessed to 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢. he said he liked her for a while now. he basically made the confession like a 500 word essay.
you just closed your eyes, not wanted to see your friend accept your best friend's, or rather your crush's, confession.
but it all went crashing down when she 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 him.
ike asked what he could do to make it work, but 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 said she just sees ike as a friend. ike bursted into tears after that.
you didn't know if you wanted to feel happy or sad that she rejected him. but you felt sad knowing that even if you tried helping him, he still got rejected.
ike went to you, and you comforted him. telling him that if they don't like you back, then they don't deserve you.
he cried in your arms. you hated seeing him cry like this, over someone. you just comforted him slowly.
it's now the 2nd year. your feelings remain hidden from ike, and you guys are still best of friends.
despite knowing he doesn't and might never like you back, your feelings never disappeared. instead, they became stronger than before.
you hated yourself for not being able to move on. you didn't know what was in him you liked so much that he ended up being a magnet to you.
at the middle of the 3rd year, you decided to confess to ike about your feelings. you told him you liked him.
you were trembling the whole time, scared of what he'll think of you after the whole confession.
you were scared of letting him go. he was your best friend for so many years, you didn't know what he would think of you then.
your confession was, and author-chan quotes:
"hey, ike... so u-uhm... i- i like... 𝘺𝘰𝘶, ike... f-for a while now... i k-know this is all sudden, but i thought about c-confessing to you for a while now... it's okay if you don't like me back... i- i'll move on quickly, okay? y-you can reject me now..."
it was so hard to say all that. you just wanted to get it over with quickly. you just wanted to get it off your chest.
tears were threatening to fall down just like a waterfall that's flooded with water during the rainy season.
you just expected a rejection, but instead, you received a hug from ike.
"huh?—" you were confused. you expected him to reject you, after all, you're way different from 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢. how could he like you?
"i... like you too." ike blushed lightly while saying it. you really didn't expect it. you started to cry.
"hey, why're you crying...?" ike asks, concerned. "i never thought one day you'd like me back... did you really move on from 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢 that quickly..?" you asked, wondering whatever happened with 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘢.
"i don't know. maybe it was an infatuation or something, but after she rejected me, i just kinda accepted it, knowing she wouldn't like me." Ike reasoned.
"but now, this isn't an infatuation. i do in fact like you." ike said, reassuring you that he does like you, and he isn't just telling you it to make you feel better.
you cried tears of joy, as you both hugged. when you stopped your tears, you pulled ike's face closer to yours, as you both shared a sweet kiss.
⇚ ↺ ⇛
UAUAUAUA this one is a long one so if you made it here reading this omg congratulations how did you even make it here??? also i honestly kinda cringed when writing that confession part lmao
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zelenbug · 5 months
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GUESS WHAT!!! a tutorial for rayman origins texture mods like how i made uglette
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this is for origins only for now, ill make a separate post for legends later (but itd follow most of the same steps)
first of all. use rayman control panel, if you dont have it somehow then what are you waiting for?? make sure its updated to the latest update too (14.0.0.9 as of writing this) for improved modding support
updated on january 10 2024 for the dds portion
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step 1: getting the textures
in control panel, click origins and then open the archive explorer
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youll get a whole directory of a bunch of folders, what you need for the textures is just the itf_cooked folder. if you want all the textures just right click the folder, click export & convert, and convert them to png or something for convenience
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if you converted all the images and dont need any things that arent images, just use windows search on the extracted folder to prune all the remaining .ckd files to save on space, but this isnt as necessary
you can also extract just the sprites you want to work with, or heck get them from spriters resource if you want, but still keep control panel in mind as you need the original directory of the files
if you want to replace the playable characters, their textures are are in the following folders
rayman sprites: itf_cooked/pc/actor/playablecharacter/rayman/animation globox sprites (you will also need mosquito sprites for him): itf_cooked/pc/actor/playablecharacter/globox/animation itf_cooked/pc/world/common/shooter/playablecharacter/shootermoskitoglob/animation teensy sprites: itf_cooked/pc/world/1_jungleworld/friendly/teensy/animation ui icons for everyone: itf_cooked/pc/world/common/ui/ui_bar
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step 2: the art itself
once you have the original textures all you need to do is to edit them, or redraw them. this may be a tedious process though! what i did is painstakingly edit each original spritesheet to be 2x size, then aliased to put it into a format that i can easily work with and edit, i mostly did so with a whole bunch of magic wand usage and tweaks
i did finish all the templates for all playable characters, i will see if i can release them somehow eventually? but yeah for now figure out your own way to edit them for now
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either way you can figure out some way to draw new art for them. save it in a folder separate from all the other assets obviously. here for example i made a more rayman 3-like grand mimimus. i also frankensteined an icon together
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step 3: dds things
now that youve done the textures for the mod, duplicate them and save them as .dds files
this isnt necessary, as larger resolutions will also work (probably as long as the dimensions are still a power of 2), but you can resize the textures to the original resolution as well. i will be doing that personally
if you dont have a program that supports dds files, i just use paint.net. i provide a save configuration for it specifically, you can get it here if you need
this is updated!!! after much experimenting this one looks the best to me. the most important settings are outlined in orange, but try to match the rest too
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make sure you have generate mipmaps on specifically or else the sprite will end up pixelly
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however some additional, more jpeg-y crust will be applied onto the sprite from the mipmaps themselves. so heres the technical part thats probably complicated... if you dont wanna bother with this try to copy the rest of my save configuration, i think it works the best here
i experimented a bit with what looked best and picked fant with no gamma correction, but you can try saving multiple dds files with different settings, viewing them with whatever lets you view the mipmaps themselves (windows image viewer does) and just picking which looks better at a smaller scale
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(to see the differences look closely at the eyes specifically, its probably hard without overlaying these one over another and directly comparing though)
one thing i can say is bicubic and fant are definitely the best for matching the original sprites' mipmaps, as theyre not too blurry (like bicubic smooth or bilinear) while remaining fairly good looking
these are the original dds files' settings as viewed in dxt viewer. most of this doesnt seem to be applicable for the save settings but the compressed format is specifically dxt3 (which is also present in its header if you view it in hxd), so for the first save setting you probably have to pick BC2 (Linear, DXT3) as i have
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TLDR: i know this is complicated, try to just copy the dds save configuration from the start of this step i guess???
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step 4: renaming things
once you have done that, the weird thing you need to do is to rename the .dds into files that the game can actually read (even though theyre still dds files, and can be renamed back to .dds for them to function). for convenience you can just duplicate the files again
pay attention to the original file formats which you can see in control panel! as you can see, you should rename the majority of the extensions from .dds to .tga.ckd
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windows will stop recognizing them, likely the same for the programs you use, but that shouldnt be a big deal. if you want, you can rename them back to .dds to make them usable
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the important part here, dont miss it!!! is that all the ui icons are not tga.ckd, but png.ckd!!! even though theyre actually still dds files under the surface. just rename them correctly and pay attention to the right extension, or else the icon wont work
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obviously make sure they have the same filename in general ALONGSIDE the extension
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step 5: actually making the mod
now that you have the relevant files, click create mod in control panel
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select the files module, and then make and select a folder to use as the mod folder, which should give you this result
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the files folder should have these two
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you should create a GameData folder in added_files, after which the entire regular filepath follows, starting from bundle_PC.ipk, then itf_cooked, then so on. for example, these are (nearly) the full directories of my files
\mod\files\added_files\GameData\bundle_PC.ipk\itf_cooked\pc\world\1_jungleworld\friendly\teensy\animation\teensy_a1.tga.ckd \mod\files\added_files\GameData\bundle_PC.ipk\itf_cooked\pc\world\1_jungleworld\friendly\teensy\animation\teensy_e1.tga.ckd \mod\files\added_files\GameData\bundle_PC.ipk\itf_cooked\pc\world\common\ui\ui_bar\ui_bar_teensy_a3.png.ckd
obviously all the textures should have the same filename and the same file path as the textures theyre replacing
then go back to the base mod folder and edit the metadata.jsonc file in something like notepad++. the file itself has commented-in extensive instructions so just follow them
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as the mod creator thingy says you can also optionally create a thumbnail
anyway once youve done all of that, select all the files in your mod folder and zip them. you cant just select the folder WITH the mod things and then zip that, as then control panel wont read it because the base of the zip directory doesnt have the metadata file
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step 6: finally implementing the mod!!!
now that you have the zip ready, click the mod loader and select this in the lower left corner
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navigate to your zip and select it. it should appear here under installed mods
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make sure you press the checkmark to the left of it and then press the apply button in the lower right
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after a short wait for the mods to apply you can go turn on the game and test it
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and it should hopefully work !
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also yeah ill release the minimus soon enough on gamebanana
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if you want to make any further edits to the textures, youd have to resave them as .dds files again, and rename them to tga.ckd/png.ckd and such, then just replace them in the mod's directory (or add new files to it) and just zip it again. its fairly easy to work with i hope
this is overall kind of a complicated tutorial but its not too bad once you get the hang of it
20 notes · View notes
thebadjoe · 9 months
Text
BAD JOE'S DRDT CH.2 CRIME SOLVING THEORY PART 5
...It's been a while, hasn't it? I spent time working on a different project and I suppose I needed a break.
I'm here to give you an update regarding my culprit theory in DRDT chapter 2. So of course, SPOILERS WARNING FOR DANGANRONPA DESPAIR TIME CHAPTER 2 in case it wasn't obvious enough. It's also a very long read, so...sorry about that! Before I start, I'd like to say something. This is a message for DRDT-dev.
Not gonna dwelve on the past except for one specific moment : the appeciation/thank you e-mails you've received ever since the start of your hiatus after episode 11 was launched.
I wanted to give you words of appreciation at the time, but it completly slipped my mind because of real life + me working on my crazy theories. I felt bad that I missed it because I seriously wanted to thank you and your team for the amazing work that you've done in this fangan.
I've never been this attached to a fangan before and it's not like I've played/watched through a lot of those eitheir. But this one... it was really enjoyable! I don't think there's a single character that I dislike in this fangan. Like they all got something interesting going on or something interesting that might be bound to unfold. The mystery's also really good. I got really hooked to trying to figure out the truth behind the murder mystery of chapter 2.
I can't do art nor music, but the least I can do to show how much I appreciate the amount of work put into this is by proving it to you. This... is the final time I'm making a theory post for the murder case of chapter 2. After that, I have my own projects to work on.
Of course, I can't ask you to read it all (it's super long anyways), but the post itself is proof that I'm truly passionate about this fangan and that I truly appreciate the amazing work. It's a good source of inspiration. So honestly, thank you! Looking forward to see the future of DRDT!
So... I know I've pretty much covered everything I could explain from part 1 to 4 regarding my Eden Culprit theory. However, I feel like that this is a big confusing mess. After all, I changed a lot of things over the course of these 4 parts and even past that, I updated my culprit theory even further, but didn't provide any updates or edits to my posts.
So I'm gonna go over my whole theory once again, from beginning to the end, in a more logical order. I'll start with the easiest topics being the whodunnit and whydunnit. After that, I'll talk about the rather long howdunnit and give a better and updated explanation as to what I believe happened in each scenario.
I will also have a few texts in bolded blue to represent my evil ego personality trying to take down my whole theory, which really, they're just pretend questions/arguments based on things I believe people will think about or things that's been brought up before in the past.
Then, I'll finish it off with a section to talk about a certain something that may possibly change people's mind about not just mine, but many other theories. Let's do this!
Whodunnit
Of course, if it wasn't obvious enough, I accuse Eden of being the culprit of DRDT Chapter 2. There's a couple reasons why I suspect her, but let's focus on only one for now : the smoking gun evidence.
The decisive evidence lies in this video. Chapter 2, Episode 6 : The "Body Discovery" of Ace in the fitness room.
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I skipped it to the proper scene, so no need to worry about that. So there are 4 characters involved in this scene. There's Teruko, Eden, Nico and Ace. At first sight, it really looks like Nico was trying to kill Ace, so Teruko yells at them and then they run away.
So since then, we need to focus on the following three characters : Teruko, Eden and Ace. So judging that Ace is probably dead, Teruko decides to investigate while Eden needed a minute to process this.
Not gonna list everything. For now, let's just focus on what's important to prove that Eden's the culprit : the roll of grippy tape.
This is an important clue because even though it wasn't pointed out by Teruko herself, it was clearly shown in the background (you can see it clearly at 19:55). This clue in question is what the culprit clearly used to set up their murder mechanism for the murder of Arei considering what was found in the playground in episode 8.
At 20:32, Eden decides to give a hand to Teruko with the investigation.
For the following couple seconds, it's a bit hard to see, but behind those speech bubbles, you can still see the roll of tape.
At 20:50, Ace wakes up and shouts that he's not dead. Then at 20:54...
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The tape is no longer there, where it's supposed to be.
So what happened there? Was it a creator error? That's actually very unlikely considering how important this clue is. So the only logical explanation to this is that someone took the roll of grippy tape in that moment. Therefore, eitheir Teruko, Eden or Ace took it meaning that eitheir one of them is the true culprit behind the murder of Arei!
It can't be Teruko because she'd literally have no reason to commit murder and we've been under her POV most of the time, so it's very unlikely that there were windows for her to commit murder. Nothing would make sense if she was the culprit, so it's not Teruko.
Ace... there's a slight possibility, but it's still unlikely. I have a couple ideas that could make him seem like he could be the culprit (that I might explain later in the howdunnit), but it's still really difficult because of the fact that Ace is clearly wounded and he probably wouldn't be thinking about killing Arei at some point later. It would be hard to explain certain events, so it's not Ace.
So by process of elimination, that only leaves Eden. She would definitly have a perfect window to grab the roll of tape without being seen. The proof lies in 20:32 in the video. She wanted to help out Teruko in the investigation, which would've been the perfect opportunity to grab it.
This is a very sneaky and demonic trick that the DRDT creator pulled here. Giving us an incriminating evidence that was so hard to spot that they must've been wondering when it'd be found out. It really makes me wonder what would've happened if I was never part of this. Would someone actually discover this damning clue?
Let's move on.
Whydunnit
Man, I came up with plenty wild theories for the motive a while back. It went from "she wants to eliminate bullies" to "she has a dark secret she wants to keep it hidden" to "she misses her beloved dearly".
Eventually, the "she misses her beloved dearly" motive become the official one for my theory and it's not just applied to mine eitheir. There's a few others who seem to approve this motive and use it in their own theories as well.
To give some context as a reminder, Eden Tobisa is a very kind girl. We also know that her secret is "Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendship." This would indicate that she's most potentially in love with someone.
She tries to help whenever she can and tries to organize fun activities with a few, become friends with as many people as possible.
She's basically trying to keep her hopes up. Especially considering her reaction during the prologue...
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She appears to be quite a tad desperate in wanting to get out. Anyways, the murder and trial happened in chapter 1. That inflicted quite a mental hit to most of the cast.
Right before the beginning of chapter 2, we get the following quote : "I still miss you. I miss you so much that I wish I you had never been a part of my life. The worst part is, even though you left me like this, there's nothing I can blame you for."
Then in chapter 2, after monoTV reveals the motives, Eden suggests that they should take that opportunity to work together and escape. She's the first person who brings up the escape topic.
Even though she tried to keep her and everyone's spirits up, most of the time, it's been people arguing over everything and nothing. It's mostly a few specific people, but still, it was definitly unpleasant. But the worst part of it all is the event that unfolded in the first 4 minutes of Chapter 2, Episode 5.
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That bullying that Eden received was the final straw. She had enough of all of this. That made her realise that there's only one thing that matters to her : getting the heck out of here to meet her beloved, the person she kissed.
This is mostly my logical explanation for the motive based on all the possible clues that were given to be able to find a viable motive for the murder.
For those who believe that it'd be bad writing or whatever, I'm not really gonna delve into this myself, but I'd heavily suggest reading @venus-is-thinking's post here. There's some interesting points related to the narrative possibilities. (Might not fully support my theory, but you get the idea). In any case, whether you believe it or not, the fact remains that this is a possible motive that can be used to explain why Eden commited murder.
Howdunnit
Oh boy, here we go. The most difficult, yet most fun part to explain in this theory. Even though it's only a chapter 2 murder case, there's A LOT that happened that led to the crime. This time around, I'm gonna make sure to list everything in chronological order while also providing the most updated information regarding my theory.
I'll also separate certain events in Acts, to make it easier to comprehend. Let's do this!
Act 1
It all began a few days ago, when monoTV announced the motive reveal. MonoTV gave each participant a troubling secret and told them that if no one commits murder, the secrets would be revealed to the whole world.
MonoTV is a dumb dumb however because it made a mistake and all the secrets have been swapped around, meaning that no one has their own secret. So each participant has a secret that belongs to someone else.
For a few of them, it was pretty much "eh, it's whatever!", but it was especially troubling for David. The reason why is because he knows deep down what his secret is, it's a pretty meaningful one, after all.
We already know by now that his secret is "You exist to manipulate others. Everyone else exists to be taken advantage of." Considering his talent, it would totally ruin his career. So he needed to come up with a plan to not be exposed, and fast.
MonoTV also reveals that the second floor is unlocked and they're free to explore. We're not gonna go over each one of them yet, but I want to talk about this particular scene in the fitness room.
During the investigation of the new rooms, Teruko meets up with Ace and Levi in the gym. There's an argument going on because Levi is trying to apologize to Ace for his behavior in the trial of chapter 1 (when he threatened Ace). Ace is having none of it.
Ace was also arguing with Teruko a bit regarding some comments she made behind his back that he heard, which made him behave like so...
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So what is he actually gonna do about it? You'll see shortly in the next coming acts.
Act 2
Teruko spends the rest of the first day secluded in her own room until next morning because girl has to eat, ya know? As soon as she gets out of her dorm, this happens...
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Eden sneaks up on Teruko to surprise her, which she didn't see this coming at all. On top of that, she claims that she could hear Teruko clearly in her dorm doing a puppet show with the cactuses. The walls are pretty thin, therefore not really soundproof. This was also shown in Act 1 when Teruko talked behind Ace's back, but could hear that conversation.
Truth bullet acquired : Eden's sneakiness
Truth bullet acquired : Non-soundproof walls
Because of that embarassing reveal, Eden used it to her advantage to blackmail Teruko, forcing her to do friendly activities with her. So Teruko has no choice but to follow her orders and go eat breakfast with Eden.
As they're preparing something in the kitchen, they suddenly hear people arguing in the cafeteria, so they go check it out. It's of course that scene where 3 different pairs fighting against each other.
So first we have J (Julia Rosales) asking Arturo to leave her alone and to stop pestering her with her secret. Nothing too relevant for the murder.
Then we have Ace bullying Nico hardcore all of a sudden. Considering the events that happened in the gym in Act 1 and the purpose of a bully, it's safe to deduce that he's doing this because he's trying to act tough. Ace is trying to display superiority over a targetted victim by bullying them. Ace wasn't really hostile towards Nico before that.
It's also very important to take this into consideration since in chapter 1, most of the time, he was behaving like an absolute coward and that's no pretending. He really has a fear of a lot of things.
Well, actually... Ace bullied Nico once in chapter 1!
Sure, he made a dumb mean comment by calling them losers for liking animals or whatever, but that wasn't just directed at Nico, it was directed at Xander as well. I think he was mostly trying to get attention by being provocative.
Besides, that was only one time compared to the multiple times that Ace bullied Nico throughout the whole chapter 2, so there's clearly a behavior change there.
Truth bullet acquired : Ace's phobias
Truth bullet acquired : Ace acting tough
Moving on... We also have Arei arguing with monoTV about getting rid of the rope. Arei believes that this is a cruel joke of a custom weapon for her since it reminds her a lot of her past. She wants to dispose it, but monoTV refuses.
They eventually come to some kind of agreement and monoTV places that rope in the storage room, so anyone can take it if they wish.
Truth bullet acquired : Easily accessible rope
They arguing kept going for a while until David comes in, telling them to shut up and that he has an announcement to make. He reveals his secret : "My family has a history of depression."
He makes that reveal because he is suggesting that it would be best for everyone to share their secrets before the time is up. That way, once it's already out in the open, no one would have any remaining motive to commit murder according to David.
But as we know already, that was all a lie. He revealed a fake secret and wanted others to share secrets since it would help create even more conflicts which could lead to more dramatic results... like murder.
That was his master plan to instigate a murder. He wanted to have others cause a murder before the deadline, which would keep his secret safe.
Truth bullet acquired : David's plan
Act 3
Eden tells Teruko about her fun activity plan being decorating the clocks in this killing game establishment, but she wanted to invite one more person. She wanted to invite someone who complained that she wasn't invited at the cake decorating activity back in chapter 1 : Arei.
So they both enter the playground, meeting up with David and Arei who were about to have a discussion about secrets. You know the rest of that scene afterwards, I've also brought it up in the whydunnit.
Arei bullies Eden, putting the blame on her for Min's death. Eden gets out of the playground, crying in utter sadness. Then right after that, Arei laughs and...
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Truth bullet used : Non-soundproof walls
Even though she got out of the room, it's very possible that Eden heard it which would be the absolute final straw. She had enough of all of this, then her actual motive kicked in : she wanted to get out of her as soon as possible to meet her beloved.
Of course, we know by now that Arei wasn't really that spiteful. She just wanted to give a tough and harsh lesson about this killing. To stop being so nice and naive as that would make Eden the most vulnerable target to any murder cases in the future. But alas, Eden didn't stick long enough to listen to that part, which makes me wonder if it would've made a drastic different in how chapter 2 would play out.
Well, it's possible that Eden actually heard that part of the conversation!
But we don't know that for sure. Considering the smoking gun evidence, it makes more sense to believe that she didn't hear the rest of the conversation happening in the playground.
Anyways, this was the very beginning to Eden's murder scheme. She had a lot of work to do.
Act 4
Teruko proceeds to meet up with Rose in the dress-up room who was currently having a painting session. She had Rose's secret, so she figured she might as well share the secret, which Rose agreed to.
Then they have a chat about various things, then to Teruko's surprise, she realises that Nico was here this whole time, laying down on the ground.
Nico asks Rose if she could teach him how to paint, which Rose said yes.
Let me pause for a bit to mention an important clue : Rose's custom weapon. It's turpentine. It wouldn't be out of the question to think that since this is a painting supply, she would bring it with her during painting sessions and based on what we know in later episodes...
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Well, realisticly, that's not how turpentine is supposed to work!
Probably not, but this is made very clear that the author wants us to believe that it works that way in their world. There's no reason for them to make something up about it other than explaining its intended purpose.
This turpentine is meant to be served as a tool/weapon to knock someone out, kind of like chloroform.
Truth bullet acquired : Turpentine
Teruko was already out of that room to head to the cafeteria while the other two were thinking about going there because they were hungry.
Fast forward a bit in the cafeteria, Ace is having another argument with poor Nico.
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
He's bullying Nico once again to make himself look tough. He's even ready to threaten Nico that he would reveal their secret (we learned in the trial that Nico and Ace have each other's secret).
This failed however because David managed to snatch it from Ace's hands while he was distracted. Then Ace proceeds to keep on bullying Nico, asking : "What are you gonna do about it?"
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This surprised Ace, no doubt. Then afterwards, he gets slapped by Hu. She defends Nico, telling Ace that she's had enough of this.
At the time, I thought that Nico's death threat would've been the main reason why Ace kept suspecting that Nico tried to kill him, but it's actually a lot more simple than that. I'll explain it later...
While I'm at it, let's keep in mind that Hu's custom weapon is wires.
Truth bullet acquired : Nico's motive to kill Ace
Truth bullet acquired : Hu being protective of Nico
Truth bullet acquired : Hu's wires
Then we later have Nico's secret reveal, which is not too relevant to the actual murder. What's important however are two things.
Not everyone was present in the cafeteria at the time
Rose was later sleeping in the cafeteria for an unknown amount of time
Let's go back a little bit and talk about what happened to the few other relevant characters.
Meanwhile...
Eden was working on her murder scheme. Based on a Q&A that the DRDT creator did a while ago, we learned that Eden's not very strong or fit. So if she wanted to pull a good murder, she needed to be really smart about it.
So she needed to come up with a murder mechanism to pull it off. So to make it happen, she needed the right materials.
Truth bullet used : Turpentine
She remembered the list of custom weapons written by Charles that Whit showed during the trial. Considering the hidden purpose of this weapon according to this world, she knew that she could use it to knock someone out.
It would be very easy to get a target unconscious without resorting to physical force. Next up, she needed some kind of murder weapon that would do the deed for her.
Truth bullet used : Hu's wires
Eden probably considered using Hu's custom weapon, but that would've been incredibly risky. Even if she was friends with Hu, how would she be able to get her weapon without seeming suspicious?
She needed to use something else. Something that could work just as well as Hu's wires.
Initially, I was thinking of the analog clocks that could be found in the killing game building, a specific wire within it, but it seems quite convoluted on top of being unsure if that would've been enough wire to pull it off.
So I kept looking into it, and I discovered two interesting facts about this fangan.
During the prologue, we learn a few things about Eden, but most importantly, she loves hand-making antique clocks. Meaning it's not wrong to assume that she loves antique clocks overall.
The other fact is the following...
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Whoever made this killing game, everyone's dorm has been customized to fit their needs and style. So if we combine this fact, Eden's talent and her love for antique clocks, then it's safe to deduce that she must have antique clocks in her dorm, don't you think?
Not only that, but it could very well be a grandfather clock! There's a seemingly grand variety of grandfather clocks, but what's important is that you can find clock cables in them. They're usually used to maintain the clock's weights.
This could very well be the weapon that she used for the murder attempt on Ace. Otherwise, it could very well be some kind of material that she already had available considering her talent and her love to craft antique clocks.
Truth bullet created : Eden's cables
Murder attempt on Ace? Isn't it Nico who tried to kill Ace in the gym?
I'll explain that confusion later... For now, let's just say that her initial plan was not killing Arei in particular. At least, not the things we've seen in the playground. Whatever we discovered in the fitness room instead was her initial plan.
Well, there's no way to know for sure that Eden had those wires.
No, but as long as it's a possibility, it can work.
But that's only based on your assumptions, that's just wrong!
It's a logical deduction based on facts about this fangan. But you know what? I refuse to elaborate further on this. I'll explain why in the finale.
Moving on, Eden did something else while there was an argument happening in the cafeteria. She decided to have a meeting with Arturo in the infirmary to share his secret. Eden has Arturo's secret : "Your younger sister killed herself because of you. You should have never left."
This is pretty much the flashback scene that we see in Chapter 2, Episode 10. Eden reveals the secret, Arturo threatens her, Arei comes in to save the day. Arei then apologies for her bullying back in playground. Then Arei and Eden become friends.
There's of course more to it than that, but you get the idea.
Wouldn't your motive become null and void when Eden became friends with Arei?
Not necessarily. Eden probably made up her mind already about leaving this place. Besides, there's no guarantee that she fully believed what Arei said.
I personally think that this was a perfect opportunity for Eden to take advantage of Arei when she would need it most.
But this was supposed to be a meeting with Arturo. How would Eden know that Arei would come to the infirmary?
That's the thing. She didn't know. The fact that Arei came in to save her was an unexpected, yet pleasant event. It was literally a golden opportunity for the culprit.
Then she was only expecting Arturo. What would be the point of that meeting if she intended to murder someone that wasn't necessarily Arei?
Right, cause back in episode 10, we were led to believe for a while that Arturo could've been a suspect of the murder of Arei. It was also because of the fake letter that was adressed to Arei.
Well, we know that Eden knew Arturo's secret and that's no light secret eitheir. It's a pretty bad one. So she must've been expecting a negative reaction out of Arturo.
Truth bullet used : David's plan
I doubt that she was aware of David's intentions, but she could've used David's idea to her advantage. She had a feeling that some of these secrets could cause conflicts. Which is precisely why she decided to share it to Arturo.
She was creating a potential suspect for her plan in the future.
Why would that matter if she was only meeting up with Arturo? She would have no other witnesses if that went according to plan!
Truth bullet used : Non-soundproof walls
She knew that any conversations could be heard from outside of said room, so she made a gamble on it. She was hoping that someone else would hear the conversation happening and they would be the potential witness.
Luckily for her, that worked out a lot better than anticipated when Arei came in to save and befriend her.
Truth bullet acquired : Eden's incident in the infirmary
Before getting her murder scheme in motion, all that was left was grabbing Rose's turpentine.
Wasn't it Nico who stole the turpentine from Rose?
I'll explain the thing about Nico later, but no, it could've been anyone else. Like I said before, she was painting in the dress-up room, her turpentine could've been there.
Also, after the argument between Ace and Nico, Rose fell asleep, so for an unknown period of time, the dress-up room was left unattended, meaning that anyone could've stolen it, not just Nico.
But how would Eden know that the turpentine was there?
Normally, she would think that it's in Rose's dorm, but it's very likely that she saw Rose painting in the distance and spotted the turpentine. It's not because we don't see her since the bullying that we should expect her to be secluded in her room for an unknown amount of time.
But then she would rely on luck yet again to get what she wants!
It's possible that she considered to use something else to knock someone unconscious, but when she came across that turpentine in the dress-up room, she figured it would've been a much better option.
But wouldn't Rose have noticed the turpentine missing during the practice session she was supposed to have with Nico later?
Not necessarily, she tends to be easily distracted and absent-minded. So she might've not noticed until later.
Well, she also has a photographic memory. She can precisely remember things. Wouldn't she remember when it was missing?
Not if she didn't notice it beforehand. Anyways, we're getting nowhere with this, so I refuse to elaborate further. I'll explain why later in the finale.
Act 5
During the evening of DAY 2, a few things happened on the second floor. Ace was working out alone in the gym and a meeting was about to happen between Arei and David in the relaxation room.
Hold up, didn't that happen on the evening of DAY 3?
That's what we're all led to believe, but there are plenty reasons to believe that's not what happened. I'll explain it later when the time comes. For now, whether you believe it or not, let's say that this happened in the evening of DAY 2.
So Ace is working out during that time, most likely doing benchpress. The reason why is somewhat related to this...
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
Obviously he's not pretending to work out, he's actually a fairly fit and strong person, which was also shown during the Q&A with DRDT creator. He's also an athlete.
Even since the scene in the fitness room in DAY 1, he's trying to rely on himself alone and doesn't want others to see him as a joke. So he's also working out to stay in shape.
Truth bullet acquired : Ace working out
Isn't that because of his eating disorder that he's working out?
Probably, but I don't think it's just that. I think it also has something to do with trying to get stronger to make sure he can survive the killing game.
He then hears a conversation happening between Arei and David in the relaxation room. Ace got curious, so he stopped training and decided to eavesdrop on them.
This is pretty much the flashback scene that we get in Chapter 2, Episode 11. Of course, the events according to my theory are different compared to what's shown in episode 11. Aside from it happening at a different day, there's a few other details that Ace tricked us into believing that this truly happened on DAY 3.
Truth bullet acquired : Ace's testimony
I'll explain them later once we get to this particular Act. There is one thing that's very important thing to recall right now though.
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He said that right after Arei asked David to say something. That was after she revealed David's secret in private because she was seeking an explanation for his actions. Since she knows David's actual secret, it means that she knew that he lied about "family history of depression" secret and that his secret share plan is suspicious.
So Ace claiming that he didn't hear anything else right after that moment is just incredibly suspicious. It just wouldn't make sense! David must have said something to Arei. He couldn't have simply ran away because he would've run into Ace otherwise.
David must have said something afterwards, regardless of what it is.
Then can you explain what happened then? Why didn't Ace hear anything else.
Ace truly didn't hear anything else, but not for the reason that most are led to believe.
What's that supposed to mean?!
Something happened shortly afterwards that made Ace physically unable to hear anything else.
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
Truth bullet used : Turpentine
In that precise moment, Eden snuck up on Ace and knocked him unconscious with the turpentine that she stole in the dress-up room earlier. Ace became the intended victim target for Eden's murder scheme.
Wouldn't Arei and David hear anything happening?
Probably not. As long as she's stealthy enough and that the turpentine is strong enough, it could knock him out pretty quick with having time to react to it. It's entirely possible to do this quietly.
Alright, but wouldn't they see the unconscious body sometime later after the discussion?
Not if Eden dragged the body to hide it. Initially, I thought she would bring it to the dress-up room and hide it in the changing room, but I think it'd ask too much physically for Eden. So the only option remaining is dragging the body back to the gym. This should work as long as it's not in the hallway and the door is closed.
But earlier, you said that Eden's weak and not fit. How would she be able to drag a body?
In a real life scenario, it would probably be really different and incredibly difficult. But that's the only explanation I can come up with to explain how she was able to do that without getting caught.
It's not like she waited for Ace inside the gym. Otherwise, he would've prolly heard more about the conversation.
Anyways, I refuse to elaborate further on this. I'll explain why later in the finale.
Moving on... After capturing Ace, she had one remaining step to do before preparing the murder mechanism : she needed a scapegoat. Arei was the perfect target for that.
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
Truth bullet used : Turpentine
So Eden knocked her unconscious at the most appropriate time when no one else was around.
Wasn't David here? Wouldn't he have known?
Obviously, the culprit didn't do that while they were both present. Considering the matter of the discussion, it's probably likely that David got out of the relaxation room first, before Arei. So Eden simply needed to wait for David to use the elevator.
Otherwise, she could've also prepared a fake letter, asking Arei to meet up in the playground so that she could knock her out. This is probably the most logical explanation to this. It would match up the contents of the letter that was revealed in Chapter 2, Episode 10.
Truth bullet created : Eden's letter
Before I proceed with the next Acts, I'd like to pause it to explain every other possible clues that was found on the second floor that could be relevant to the murder mystery.
The 2nd Floor
The dress-up room
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A few things to note about this room that even though none of the characters talked about, as long as it's presented, it can be used as a potential clue. We got some wigs on the left and the pink heart shaped case looks most likely to be a makeup-kit. It would make a lot of sense, considering where it is.
Truth bullet acquired : Wigs
Truth bullet acquired : Makeup-kit
Then post Arei's murder, Charles finds a ball of clothes in this room.
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Truth bullet acquired : Ball of clothes
The relaxation room
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There's a few things I'll list that may seem mundane at first, but they will become important as I explain it later.
First, we got those green mats, they look like light green yoga mats? Let's call em green yoga mats, why not?
Then, we have the incense sticks. They give a pretty good smell inside that room. Burning a whole stick can take up to an hour, but the lingering smell can last for multiple hours. They originally come the incense box that we're seeing to the right.
Truth bullet acquired : Green yoga mats
Truth bullet acquired : Incense sticks
Truth bullet acquired : Box of incense
We also learn about a special feature within this room in Episode 2.
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We also learn that the room becomes locked at 10:00 PM up until 8:00 AM because of this misting system that monoTV implemented. He doesn't want anyone to enter that room at night while this is happening since it would leave a mess.
Truth bullet acquired : Relax room's nighttime features
The fitness room
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I decided to use the crime scene in Episode 6 since most of the much needed clues are found in here.
Let's start with both the broom and the stepladder. They're not from the gym originally, so someone must have brought them here. They must've played a role in setting up some kind of murder scheme in here. Are they from the storage room, perhaps?
Truth bullet acquired : Broom
Truth bullet acquired : Stepladder
Next up, we have the whole weight rack. It wasn't there originally. Uh... I mean, it came from the gym, but not in this unusual position. So someone moved it. Was it part of the murder scheme?
Truth bullet acquired : Moved weight rack
Then, we have those benches adjacent to Ace that's been moved. We also have the right fan that fell down. It was ripped out according to Teruko. Also, the left side fan isn't working.
This is strange because the first time Teruko explored that room, it was working just fine and even after monoTV finishing cleaning up that failed murder attempt mess, the left side fan was working again. Why would it suddenly stop turning if that fan wasn't ripped out?
We have two weight plates neatly placed next to the threadmills. Why are they here?
Truth bullet acquired : Moved benches
Truth bullet acquired : Ripped out right fan
Truth bullet acquired : Left fan not spinning
Truth bullet acquired : Weight plates next to treadmill
Onto the more important clues.
We have a piece of wire that's attached to a blade of the fan with tape. A part of it has blood on it. The other piece of the wire, which was held by Nico when Teruko and Eden came across this crime scene, but then they dropped it. There's also blood on it, but there's a couple spots where there's no blood somehow. Is it two wires or the same wire snapped in two?
Truth bullet acquired : Piece of wire attached to fan
Truth bullet acquired : Other piece of wire
Speaking of tape, this is the roll of grippy tape that I was talking about in the Whodunnit part of my post. According to Rose in Episode 7, when she failed to do a pull-up, she says that there was originally grippy tape on that bar, which Teruko didn't believe.
But if you rewind back to the previous episodes, you can clearly see that there was something on that pull-up bar, but then during the crime scene of the attempted murder, it's no longer there. It's very safe to presume that the roll of tape and what was on the pull-up bar are the same kind of grippy tape.
Truth bullet acquired : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet acquired : Missing tape on pull-up bar
Let's take a closer look at the body.
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A couple things to note...
The neck wounds on Ace. We were first led to believe that he died to those wounds, but it turns out, he's still alive. They must still hurt though. Right behind that we can see a glimpse of smeared blood on the wall, behind his neck. Even when Ace wakes up, the blood on the wall is still trying, so it's no magic trick or illusion there. It's very real.
Then, even more subtle than that, there's blood on his Ace's fingers (on his right hand). Because of the way it's positioned and because the other hand is hidden, it's possible that there's more blood on these hands.
And then we have Nico being "caught in the act". Anyone who sees this will immediatly think that Nico tried to kill him, no doubt about it. While I'm at it, let's keep in mind the odd position that Ace's body is found. Another thing even weirder than that is the utter lack of other traces of blood. There's no blood on any of the equipments, other walls and so on. What happened here?
Truth bullet acquired : Neck wounds
Truth bullet acquired : Smeared blood on the wall
Truth bullet acquired : Blood on Ace's fingers
Truth bullet acquired : Nico caught in the act
Truth bullet acquired : Ace's sitting position
Truth bullet acquired : Lack of blood anywhere else
Quite a lot of truth bullets in that room, ain't it?
The playground
(I can't find a good screenshot to take to see the whole crime scene without any distractions, so I'll trust that you have a fairly good idea of what it looked like. Also, I'm getting close to the limit of pictures I can send, so...)
Let's start with the body.
She is seen hanging by a rope on the swing set. Someone tied her up there, but who would be strong enough to pull that off? Then when Arturo inspected the body, he found out that Arei has a broken neck, so something with the rope must caused her neck to snap somehow.
We also find red marks on her wrists, indicating that her wrists must've been tied up with something. Other than that, there's no other visible wounds or details regarding the body. Well, there is one thing... it's not mentioned by the cast, but it's clearly visible : Arei's glove is missing.
Truth bullet acquired : Rope attached to Arei's neck
Truth bullet acquired : Arei's broken neck
Truth bullet acquired : Red marks on Arei's wrists
Truth bullet acquired : Arei's missing glove
Close to the seasaw, which is like in front of the swing set, we can find scuffed marks on the ground, which is caused by something being scraped against it. Seemingly easy to damage the ground.
And there's also the dead fishes found close by. Why are they here? According to Nico, the fishes were fed last evening/night by them, so the fishes were still alive by then.
Truth bullet acquired : Scuffed ground
Truth bullet acquired : Dead fishes
Moving on... to the right, if we look at the carousel aka the spinny thing, there are two clues. First one is the long rope found under the carousel. The bars of the carousel are wrapped with tape. It looks like the very same tape that was found in the fitness room.
Truth bullet acquired : Long rope under carousel
Truth bullet acquired : Carousel wrapped with tape
Oh right, before I forget... according to MonoTV, there was also a broken ceiling light on the ceiling, so they turned it off for now.
Truth bullet acquired : Broken ceiling light
Then in the hallway, Rose knocks over the only trash can available on the second floor and they find a couple clues.
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We have the empty water jugs with broken handles. Quite peculiar, don't you think? Then we have a torn-up note which we already what it is by now. It's the letter "signed by Eden" adressing to Arei to ask her to meet in the playground about an issue regarding a secret being exposed.
We also have scrunched up tape, which looks very similar to the tapes we found in both the playground and the gym. Can't be a coincidence!
More subtle and not mentioned by the characters, there's a needle with a black string attached to it.
Truth bullet acquired : Empty jugs with broken handles
Truth bullet acquired : Torn-up note
Truth bullet acquired : Scrunched up tape
Truth bullet acquired : Needle with black string attached
I believe that's all the relevant clues I can find in each of these rooms. Time to get back on track!
Act 6
So to give a tiny recap to where we were last time in Act 5, Eden knocked Ace unconscious, dragged him back to the gym. Then sometime later, she knocked Arei unconscious.
Why would she knock Arei unconscious?! The culprit already found her intended victim for the murder!
There's only one possible explanation for this. Arei was supposed to be the scapegoat for her murder scheme. She was supposed to be the main suspect.
That makes no sense! If it went according to plan, during the trial, Arei would've mentioned that she's been knocked unconscious by Eden.
Not quite!
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
If she can sneak up on Teruko without her noticing, then she can also sneak up on Ace to knock him unconscious without being noticed. Therefore, if she can do that with Ace, she can do the exact same thing with Arei.
So sure, she would've mentioned that she's been knocked out, but who would believe her? Would they rather believe Eden or Arei? I think the answer is pretty clear.
But she must've been knocked unconscious not too late at night, meaning that she could've woken up sometime later at night and no one would suspect a thing about her!
There's no way to tell if the turpentine's effect would make someone go unconscious for a short or long time. That aside, there's a simple solution to explain how she couldn't escape without being suspected. To make sure that she doesn't go anywhere, you just need to trap Arei somewhere, lock her somewhere.
But there's no such place for that!
Truth bullet used : Relax's room nighttime features
The culprit hid Arei's unconscious body inside the relaxation room. Even if Arei somehow woke up early, she would be unable to get out of here because of the features of that room.
The room closes at 10:00 PM and only reopens at 8:00 AM. It's heavily implied that it would be locked. If someone wouldn't be able to enter that room at night, it's possible that someone wouldn't be able to exit that room eitheir if they were stuck inside.
But according to said features, it's locked because of a misting system that uses an enriched formula for the plants inside. Wouldn't Arei be covered in said enriched formula as well?
She would, unless the culprit used something to cover her body.
Truth bullet used : Ball of clothes
Truth bullet used : Needle with black string attached
The ball of clothes has starch on it and according to some google research, starch is actually very beneficial in plant growth. So it's safe to presume that this enriched formula that monoTV mentioned has something to do with starch. Meaning that the ball of clothes is physical proof that it was used in the relaxation room for the night.
This ball of clothes in question is a bundle of all the old uniforms that Teruko and Hu used to have until monoTV changed their style.
Then, it's possible that the culprit used a needle with string to attach pieces of clothes together to make a custom blanket of sorts.
But the turf in the relaxation room would get wet at night and that would stick to Arei's body!
Truth bullet used : Green yoga mats
The culprit placed the body on top of a yoga mat. That way, it wouldn't leave any traces on the back side of her body. Then add the blanket of clothes as mentioned earlier and she'd be covered from all sides.
To summarize this act, after hiding Ace's body in the gym, she knocked Arei unconscious with the turpentine and made sure that Arei would be locked up inside the relaxation room and covered from the misting system. She did all of that before 10:00 PM.
Act 7
Now that Arei's unconscious body was taken care of, it was now time to set up the murder mechanism!
Truth bullet used : Moved weight rack
Let's get that out of the way right off the bat. We know Eden's weak, so there's no way she could've moved the weight rack, even though it seemed to have been moved to make space for the murder mechanism. I doubt that Eden would put the time and physical efforts to move the weight plates one by one, then the weight rack and then putting back the weight plates.
So if she didn't do it, who did?
Truth bullet used : Ace working out
According to my theory, Ace was working out that evening, so wouldn't it make more sense to believe that he's the one who moved that weight rack? That would also be evidence that he was working out during the evening of DAY 2, not DAY 3 (I know what some of you think about this, but I'll get back to it later, don't worry).
But that doesn't make sense! The way that the weight rack was moved and toppled over, it's facing away from the bench where he would be doing the bench pressing.
Maybe, but we don't quite know what the characters are truly thinking. For all we know, this could be his actual workout preference, as weird as it may seem. With that said, I refuse to elaborate further. I will explain why in the finale.
Besides, we know that Ace is fairly fit, so he could move a bunch of these weight plates easily. Moving on...
Truth bullet used : Missing tape on pull-up bar
Since we know that Eden took the roll of tape with her as shown in the whodunnit, sometime after the failed murder reveal, it's logical to conclude that she's also the person who removed the tape on that bar. She removed all of the available tape on the pull-up bars to make a single roll of grippy tape.
Ha! There's a problem with that! It doesn't seem like there's a lot of tape on that pull-up bar, it's highly doubtful that it would be the same quantity as what's shown on the roll of tape. She must have gotten that tape somewhere else.
There's a very simple explanation for it...
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See this on the left? That's also a pull-up bar, but slightly hidden by the weird workout contraption directly in front. But still, there's definitly a pull-up bar there.
So tell me... if there was grippy tape on the pull-up bar to the right, wouldn't there be tape on the pull-up bar to the left as well? There was a reason why I mentioned "available tape on the pull-up bars" and it wasn't a typo.
If you combine the tape from both pull-up bars, there would surely be enough to make a complete roll of tape. Moving on...
Truth bullet used : Eden's cables
Truth bullet used : Piece of wire attached to fan
Truth bullet used : Other piece of wire
Since the culprit didn't use Hu's custom weapon according to my theory, it's safe to presume to the wire that was found in the gym is the exact same as Eden's cables that I came up with. This also means that both pieces of the wire were originally a single, longer piece of wire.
So she used her accessible weapon for the next step...
Truth bullet used : Piece of wire attached to fan
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet used : Stepladder
She attached one end of the wire to one of the blades of the right fan. The culprit circled the cable around the blade a few times and then did the finishing touches by sticking tape to it to make sure it'll stay there.
Of course, she's not as tall as a giraffe or as tall as Arturo, so she needed something to boost her height. That's where the stepladder comes into play. She placed it below the fan, climbed up and did the thing.
But when Teruko finds the body, you can see that the tape is facing upwards, above the fan. Wouldn't it be much easier to place it under the blade?
Sure, it would make sense, but from a mystery game/novel perspective, what would happen if the tape was placed under? You wouldn't really be able to see it now, would you? Granted, some could easily arrive at the conclusion that the wire was attached with tape since there was a roll of tape found at the scene.
So in that case, there's another simple and logical explanation to it. If you had the option to place tape eitheir above or under the fan, which would be the most efficient?
The right answer would be above the fan! Think about it. The wire is supposed to be holding something, so there would be weight attached to it. If the tape was applied under the blade, it could've easily come off because of the pressure of the weight. If it was taped above the blade instead, even though there would be weight pressure, it wouldn't affect the tape much in that situation.
Therefore, Eden placed the tape above the blade of the fan because that was the most efficient option. While I'm at it...
Truth bullet used : Ripped out right fan
Truth bullet used : Left fan not spinning
Considering what I've said previously regarding the left fan not spinning during the body discovery of Ace, there's a simple solution for this mystery.
The left fan stopped spinning because it was turned off. There is most likely a switch in the gym to turn on and off the fans.
That would easily explain why the left fan started spinning again after monoTV cleaned up the room the following day. That would also easily explain how the culprit managed to place tape on the right fan as well. Even though we have no one mentioning the existence of a switch for the fan, it's very easy to come up with that conclusion.
Truth bullet created : On/Off switch for the fans
Act 8
Now that the cable was set up on one end, it was time to take care of the other hand of the cable. That part would require more steps and efforts than what's shown in Act 7.
First off, to make sure her murder mechanism worked, the end result required Ace's body to be standing up with the wire attached to his neck. So it needed to be just kinda long enough to make it work.
So the body needed to remain in a standing up position while Eden is setting up the other end of the cable to his neck. Of course, she didn't have an accomplice nor would she want to work with one, so she relied on a few materials she planned beforehand to make it work.
Truth bullet used : Moved benches
Truth bullet used : Weight plates next to treadmill
Truth bullet used : Broom
The culprit used the back wall so that Ace's body would rest against it. That way, it wouldn't move backwards. Then, she squeezed the victim's legs with the benches, placing one of them on each side so that the body wouldn't move sideways. She also placed a weight plate on each foot so that his feet wouldn't move around, which could move the body if that were to happen. It would help keep the body stable.
Even with these steps however, it still wouldn't be enough to keep the body still. After all, these steps I mentioned only affect the lower part of the body. So if the culprit let things play out like that, the upper body would simply bend forward which would make all that stability effort go to waste.
Fortunately, the culprit is smart, she thought about that beforehand. That's why she brought the broom to the gym. That was the final step needed to keep the body still.
All Eden had to do next was place the broom through Ace's shirt in the back. As long as the body is standing against the wall, Ace would be unable to bend forward because of the broom. It's physically impossible.
You can even try it out yourself at home if you'd like. Pass a broom (preferably a clean one) through your shirt in the back, stand against a wall and try to bend forward. The broom blocks you from doing that.
Wouldn't the upper body be able to move sideways though?
Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't really matter though because the culprit simply needed to hold the body for a bit and all Eden needed to focus on is making sure that it wouldn't move sideways, everything else was taken care of. Moving on...
Truth bullet used : Eden's cables
Truth bullet used : Neck wounds
Truth bullet used : Smeared blood on the wall
Truth bullet used : Lack of blood anywhere else
Now that the body is stable, she needed to place that wire around Ace's neck, but how? Well, if we look at the neck wounds, you can see multiple slashes across his neck. And judging by the smeared blood on the wall, it seems to heavily imply that the neck wounds also reach the back side of his neck.
Well, actually, there's some incredibly minor pixelly details that seem to indicate that the neck wounds doesn't extend to the back. There's also this and-
Those are incredibly niche and minor details to claim that neck wounds doesn't go around the back of his neck which is still incredibly odd to me that people believe is the case considering the smeared blood. To me, it seems more like the creator added that blood on the wall to indicate that the neck wounds also go around his back even if we can't physically see it. In any case, I refuse to elaborate further on that. I'll explain why in the finale.
Anyways, there's also the lack of blood anywhere else during Teruko's investigation of the attempted murder. It seems really weird that there's not much other signs of blood considering how seemingly complex that mechanism must be. Some claim that some of these bloody spots must've been wiped off somehow, but I think there's a much, much simpler solution to this.
The culprit wrapped the cable around Ace's neck multiple times.
The best part in all this is that the culprit doesn't even need to tie it up. Even though it's simply going around his neck multiple times without a noose, the cable wouldn't come off. Heck, if you were to pull the wire one way, it would just tighten up Ace's neck.
If you're not convinced, you can try wrapping a plastic water bottle with some long wire and then try to pull it. It usually doesn't come off.
Act 9
Now that the cable was properly wrapped around Ace's neck, Eden had a few remaining finishing touches to complete the murder mechanism.
First off, now that Ace is properly tied up with the fan, all the materials that was used to keep the body stable was no longer needed and could be discarded.
Truth bullet used : Moved benches
Truth bullet used : Weight plates next to treadmill
Truth bullet used : Broom
Truth buller used : Stepladder
She removed the broom that was stuck in Ace's shirt. Then, she moved at least the left bench so that she'd have an easier access to drag the unconscious body. After that, she removed the weight plates on his feet and put it next to the treadmills. To finish it off, she moved the stepladder away from the fan since it was in the way.
After doing so, she then dragged Ace's standing body closer to the fan. Or rather, right below it, at the center.
Why didn't she place Ace's body under the fan to begin with? Moving it towards the wall seem unnecessary!
No, it was very much needed. Remember, Eden's not strong and she needed to make sure that the unconscious body wouldn't move while she's setting up the murder mechanism. Even if she were to make the body sit down, she would then need to make him stand up to tighten up the wire, but if there's no way to stabilize the backside, it would just fall backwards. Then if she would try to make sure it wouldn't go backwards, it could bend forward and so on. It wouldn't be practical.
That's precisely why she needed to make his body lean against the wall initially. Anyways, once Eden placed the body under the fan, she readjusted the wire a bit to make sure it would remain tight.
Couldn't she just leave the body standing against the wall for the murder mechanism?
Not really. The way the murder mechanism is supposed is work is like so..
Ace's body would be held by the wire which is attached by a blade of the fan. The fans are currently turned off. The only thing the culprit needed to do to commit murder is turn on the switch. By turning on the switch, the fan would spin along with the wire.
If the body was standing against the wall at the time, the wire would somewhat try to drag the body forward, which could potentially make the body fall, which could potentially break the fan.
If the body is standing right below the fan however, the wire wouldn't really drag his body since it is at the very center of the rotation. Once the fan spins along with the wire, the wire would wrap around his neck further, which tightens it even further, which could be what caused those neck wounds.
And that's what I think is what the murder mechanism is supposed to be.
Why would she go through so much work and efforts to make that kind of mechanism?
There's a couple reasons. Eden's not strong, as stated before, so there's a bunch of murder methods that she couldn't do by herself. Granted, she could easily do something like stabbing, but it's possible that she's the kind of the person who doesn't want to do the actual murder action herself. So the culprit would be more at ease if it was some kind of mechanism that would do the dirty deed for her.
But for a more reasonable explanation, working on a murder mechanism like that reminds her of her time spent working on clocks. Since clocks usually involve mechanisms, Eden would be more at ease working on something that's closer to her talents.
Truth bullet used : Hu's wires
Also, less practical reason, but still a reason nonetheless, since the culprit used some kind of wire as murder weapon, it could've been served as a way to throw in suspicions towards Hu. Even though the plan was meant to have Arei be the main suspect, it doesn't mean she couldn't throw suspicions indirectly on others as well. Besides, the more suspicions that's thrown at others, the less likely she would be caught.
Another good reason to it is because of the BDA rule. The rule states that "The Body Announcement will play when three or more people who did not witness the murder discover the body." She crafted that whole killing machine so that she would be able commit murder without witness the moment of murder.
Truth bullet used : On/Off switch for the fans
Eden simply needed to turn the switch of the fans back on and then exit the gym. She could go back to the dorm, letting the mechanism do its work and then next morning, if she goes with 2 other people to find Ace's dead body in the gym, it would trigger the BDA.
Act 10
That sounds great and all, but the murder plan failed anyways. What is even the point of all this?
Well, if everything went according to plan, it could've been a nearly perfect crime. But that didn't happen, as we all know. So what happened instead? Well, there's a simple reason why I suspect why Eden is the person responsible for the attempted murder on Ace.
Truth bullet used : Nico's motive to kill Ace
Truth bullet used : Nico caught in the act
Consider that Teruko and Eden found Nico next to Ace's that night, they're definitly involved in some shape or form. But since the murder mechanism was all of Eden's work, it would mean that Nico is the third party behind this fiasco.
While Eden was working on her murder mechanism, Nico decided that they wanted to murder Ace. The constant bullying pushed them to the edge. So they were desperatly looking for their target to commit murder.
But wait... if Nico was caught in the gym, how would they know to find Ace in here? Wouldn't they think that Ace would be sleeping at night in his dorm? Why wouldn't they look for him in the evening.
It's hard to say. I think there's honestly a lot of things that we don't know about Nico. They're quite the mystery. What we do know is that they were willing to murder Ace. We don't know their whole thought process, but they probably wanted to kill him at night since they would be less likely to be found out.
They probably tried knocking on Ace's door first, or maybe they kept a close eye to when Ace would come back to his dorm, but it never happened. So they probably eventually decided to go take a look around the building to see where he could be hiding.
But apparently, Nico never really thought about it when Veronika asked about how they envisioned killing Ace.
Maybe, but like I said, there's a lot that we don't know about Nico and from the looks of it, when Ace bullied Nico and they then replied that they would kill him, it seemed like a totally different behavior.
I don't know what's up with that, but that sinister behavior makes me believe that this is like a different form of Nico. Like a split personality, or his true self or something. We don't know for sure what it could be, but that different behavior could be what caused them to want to kill Ace at night.
My point is... because there's so much unknown about Nico, there's a vast amount of possibilities that would explain why they decided to murder Ace then and now. Moving on...
So Nico's looking around for his prey (hehe), they probably look around the first floor, but don't find him anywhere. So the only remaining option is taking the elevator to go on the second floor, he must be there after all.
Truth bullet used : Non-soundproof walls
Meanwhile, Eden suddenly hears the elevator making sounds. She realises that someone is approaching, but who and why this late at night?
Even though she completed the murder mechanism, she still wanted to clean up the crime scene a bit. Like... you know... placing the broom and stepladder back where it came from (storage room maybe), placing the discarded weight plates and moved benches back to their original position.
Unfortunatly, she can't do that, someone's coming, she needs to hide. So what does she do? She turns the switch of the fan back on, exits the gym and then hides in the dress-up room. Now, all she can do is hope and pray that whoever arrived will go back to the first floor.
But how would she not be aware that someone would arrive late at night? Wouldn't she have known that Nico probably wanted to kill Ace?
That's actually impossible. She couldn't have expected this at all.
Truth bullet used : Eden's incident in the infirmary
While the argument between Nico and Ace happened that day, Eden was busy having a private discussion with Arturo in the infirmary. She had a meeting so that she could reveal his secret and cause a potential conflict.
When Ace was threatening Nico that he would reveal their secret, at the time, Arturo, Eden and Arei was nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria, so it matches up perfectly.
So yeah... that was an unpleasant and unexpected surprise for Eden. The worst part in all of this is that when Nico reached the second floor, they actually entered the gym and that's when they discovered Ace about to be murdered by this weird mechanism.
This just became a disaster for Eden, someone found out about it too early and there's nothing she can do about it at the moment except to wait. So what does Nico do next?
Truth bullet used : On/Off switch for the fans
They turn off the fans.
What?! What would be the point of that?! He wants Ace dead, he doesn't want to save him! That doesn't make sense!
This is a golden opportunity for Nico! Think about it. They want to murder Ace, but then they see that potentially someone else already tried to murder him. It's hard to say if they knew what this whole mechanism meant, but they could see that the fan was playing a part to it.
So they probably realised : "Wait, I could turn it off and then kill him myself." That way, if the group somehow figures out the murder mechanism, they might not realise that someone else killed Ace in that moment.
But then Eden would've told the group about it. She would've been a witness and Nico would've been doomed at the trial.
Maybe, but the thing to keep in mind is that at the time, Nico didn't know that the person responsible for the murder mechanism was hiding somewhere on the second floor. After all...
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
Even though the walls are not soundproof, Eden is really sneaky, so she might've been able to hide without being noticed by Nico.
But like I said before, Nico never really thought about it when Veronika asked about how they envisioned killing Ace.
...Again with this. Like I said before, there's a lot that we don't know about Nico yet. It's precisely because he never thought about it that it makes me think that something's going on with Nico.
If Nico had something like a split personality, similar to Toko Fukawa, it would explain those oddities. Cliché'd or not, this is a fangan. So creators could definitly take inspiration from the original ones without a doubt. It would also explain why they weren't willing to share to Charles what happened there. Whether they was filled with regret or not, it's possible that they don't quite clearly remember how it went.
In any case, I refuse to elaborate further on that. I'll explain why in the finale.
Now that the fan is turned off, there are eitheir two things Nico could do : Kill Ace directly with a slightly different method, like physically strangling him or they simply turn the switch back on.
As long as they get the finishing blow, that should work.
Act 11
It's around this time that someone else joins the murder party on the second floor. We must not forget about Teruko! Based on what we saw on Episode 6, Teruko realises that she forgot her spare uniforms in the dress-up room on the second floor because she didn't want to use the same ol stinky clothes after taking a shower. So she then uses the elevator to go get her clothes on the second floor.
Eden hears footsteps, noticing that someone's approaching the dress-up room. Thinking it's the person who was in the gym, she goes : "W-who's there? I know you've been following me!"
But that was in fact Teruko who entered that room, so she replies : "What? No, I'm not. What are you talking about?"
Then Eden gets embarassed and nervous. She asks : "Oh, it's just you, Teruko. What are you doing here?" At the time, the culprit thought that it was the other person who visited the gym : Nico.
Teruko replies : "I could say the same to you. What are *you* doing here, at a time like this?" She makes a very good point. It's very suspicious of Eden to be present in here this late at night and Eden is aware of that. She's in trouble. If she doesn't come up with a valid excuse quickly, her plan will be completly ruined.
Truth bullet used : Ball of clothes
She then remembered that when she was gathering clothes to make some kind of blanket to cover Arei from the starched water, she noticed spares of Teruko's uniform. So with her quick wit, she came up with this : "Hu told me all about how MonoTV gave you both new outfits. I noticed you didn't take any of your new clothes, so I was going to deliver them to you! But I'm guessing that's also why you're here right now."
That excuse worked like a charm. Teruko believed it, as mistrusting as she may be. She was even nearly about to thank Eden for being so nice, but then remembered she needs to retain a mean and mistrusting persona.
So then they talk for a bit, they're about to go back to the first floor. Or at the very least, Teruko was about to go there first because she doesn't trust anyone else to take the elevator with her. Then all of a sudden, they hear loud noises coming from the gym. They enter the room and then we get to the scene of the attempted murder on Ace with Nico being caught in the act.
Act 12
While this whole scene between both girls happened, something else was happening back in the gym. So according to my theory, Nico turned off the fans. That wasn't just because of malicious intents by the way, there was also a logical reason behind it.
Truth bullet used : Left fan not spinning
Truth bullet used : Nico caught in the act
When Teruko and Eden discovered Ace's body while Nico was holding a piece of the wire, in that moment, the left fan wasn't working. It wouldn't make sense for the left fan to be broken like the one on the right since it was working just fine the next day.
This means that someone must've turned off the fans and the only possibility I can think of is if Nico turned them off for their own personal reasons. It just makes sense.
Anyways, as they were about plotting to murder Ace, something else happened that put a stop to their plan.
Truth bullet used : Non-soundproof walls
They heard someone using the elevator. Not only that, but they could hear Teruko and Eden talking in the dress-up room. They are now aware that there are people close by. They can't afford to do any funny business like murder if there are witnesses close by. They had no choice but to wait for them to go back to the first floor.
To make sure that they were indeed gone, they put their head against the door to listen closely to what's going on outside the fitness room.
While this was happening... yet another unexpected thing happend. Ace came back to consciousness!
That makes no sense! You have no proof of that!
You'll understand why I make that claim shortly. Be quiet and let me continue!
So let's think about Ace's point of view for a minute here. He wakes up in the fitness room. What are some of the things that he notices? Well, he sees Nico in the distance, by the door. Nico doesn't notice Ace who came back to consciousness because they were busy listening to the conversation between Teruko and Eden.
Truth bullet used : Neck wounds
Shortly afterwards, he would notice that his neck hurts. Confused, he's wondering what's going.
Truth bullet used : Eden's cables
Truth bullet used : Blood on Ace's fingers
Truth bullet used : Nico's motive to kill Ace
Truth bullet used : Ace's phobias
So Ace touches his neck and that's when he notices that there's blood. Then upon closer inspection, he realises that he's stuck with a wire wrapped around his neck. The terrifying conclusion comes to him in a flash : "Oh my god! Nico is about to freaking kill me! I don't wanna die!" This is partly why there's blood on Ace's fingers. He's having a moment of panic, but...
Truth bullet used : Non-soundproof walls
He can also hear two girls talking from outside the gym. So Ace knows that there's people around. He probably wanted to scream, but his neck probably hurt so bad that it might've been nearly impossible to speak at the moment.
So he needed to come up with another plan. What could he possibly do to get everyone's attention?
Truth bullet used : Ace working out
Truth bullet used : Piece of wire attached to fan
Truth bullet used : Other piece of wire
Truth bullet used : Blood on Ace's fingers
There's only one possible option he could do in a situation like this : brute force his way out of this death trap. So he grabs the wire from the front of his neck with both hands, tries to break that wire with all his might. While doing that, he's also pulling his body backwards.
That way, it would put stress on both the wires and the fan. So as long as eitheir breaks, that would do the trick. That would certainly explain why there spots on the wire that didn't have blood : Ace wiped them simply with his hands.
HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE! That can't be possible! You can't fully wipe blood on wires with just your hands that way. You'd need something to clean it up. Also, the position of the spots wouldn't quite realisticly match up the positions of where his hands would be and-
.........I refuse to elaborate on that. I'll explain why later in the finale.
Moving on... Fortunately for Ace, when he tried to eitheir break the wire or the fan, both happened at the same time.
Truth bullet used : Moved benches
Truth bullet used : Piece of wire attached to fan
Truth bullet used : Other piece of wire
Truth bullet used : Ripped out right fan
Truth bullet used : Ace's sitting position
Truth bullet used : Smeared blood on the wall
So what exactly happened when he succeeded in brute forcing his way out? Well, the cable break in two, which would explain both pieces of wire found. Then, the right fan would be ripped out of the ceiling, which would perfectly explain why it was found on the ground.
As the fan breaks, Ace's backwards momemtum would make him fall behind. This would result in him having a sitting position with his back against the wall. The impact of his head against the wall, would make his head move a bit, which would perfectly explain the smear on the wall.
Also, while he's falling backwards, he would also hit the right bench, which would make it topple over. That would cleanly explain why Teruko found a toppled bench during Ace's body discovery.
And of course, all of that creates a very loud noise, which got Teruko and Eden curious.
But what about Nico?
Well... they're kinda screwed. But more importantly, they're as confused as the girls outside. After all, they were busy listening to the conversation, so they have no idea what the hell just happened there.
So when they turn around, they just see this mess... They can't help but wonder what in the heavens happened here. So they approach the "crime scene" and get rather curious about the broken wire. So they grab one piece of the wire and...
Act 13
Truth bullet used : Nico caught in the act
Truth bullet used : Nico's motive to kill Ace
Truth bullet used : Hu's wires
Truth bullet used : Hu being protective of Nico
Truth bullet used : Turpentine
That's when we get the scene where Teruko and Eden finds Ace presumably dead. They also find Nico holding a piece of the wire that has blood on it. This, ladies and gentleman, is how the whole attempted murder on Ace went down in my opinion. It would perfectly explain all the clues found here.
Not only that, but that would be perfect to make us believe without a shred of a doubt that it was Nico who truly did all of that.
Why? It's simple! Teruko catches Nico in the act, so that's already very suspicious. We also know that they wanted to have a painting session with Rose, so it's very easy to believe that Nico might've stolen the turpentine to knock Ace unconscious.
Then, we see that the murder weapon looks like some kind of wire. What do we know about wires? According to the list of custom weapons, Hu's weapon are wires.
Add that to the fact that she's trying to protect Nico from all the bullying like an overprotective mother, we get the following result : Nico really wanted to kill Ace and Hu wanted to help, so Hu became the accomplice by giving them wires.
Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to believe that all of this is just a giant red herring?! A devil trick pulled by the DRDT creator themselves! If that's truly what happened, then I can't help but applaud the creator for coming up with such an elaborate mystery.
Another thing to take note : Eden is really surprised and confused upon seeing the chaotic mess. Her whole mechanical creation broken apart. She couldn't but utter those words : "AHHHHHHH! Wh...What?? What is this??"
Also, Eden notices something else that's entirely wrong : she knows that Ace is not dead.
Huh? How come?!
Think about it. The reason why she made this murder mechanism is to be able to count as a person for the BDA rule since she didn't need to be in the gym for the murder to happen. So when they came across this whole mess, there were at least 3 alive people : Teruko, Eden and Nico. If Ace was truly dead, the BDA would've triggered by now, but that's not what happened.
So Eden knew that her whole murder attempt on Ace failed. Her whole plan failed.
Anyways, Teruko shouts at Nico, they run away and leave the crime scene. So what about Ace? Well...
Act 14
Ace is supposed to be back to consciousness, yet at the time, he's presumably. Well... it's more accurate to say that we were led to believe that he's unconscious. So what's up with that?
There's two options. He eitheir hit his head so hard against the wall that he lost consciousness again. It's a funny theory to think about, but I seriously don't think that's what happened.
So that means it's most likely the other option : Ace pretended to be dead/unconscious.
That's just insane! Why would Ace do that?!
Well, initially, I think it was to fool Nico. Since Ace was absolutely that he was the murderer, he didn't know what to expect of them. So by pretending to be unconscious still, Nico would turn around to see the mess and they would probably not immediatly suspect that this was caused by Ace. It would make sense since they were seen holding a piece of wire, probably wondering what the hell happened.
Well, Nico's gone though. Couldn't he have dropped the act?
He probably could've, but there was something that made him not want to reveal it.
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
By that, I don't mean that he's pretending to be dead because he wants to act tough. That wouldn't make sense. I'm referring to the argument scene with Levi way back in Episode 2. He had a change of behavior since then and he even stated that he would rely on himself alone.
In simpler terms, he's practically acting like Teruko : not trusting anyone and working on his own. In essence, when Teruko does that, it really does make her look tough. Maybe Ace took a little bit of inspiration from it, who knows?
Wouldn't it make more sense to reveal to the girls what truly happened? That would make him look like a tough badass!
Maybe, but remember, he doesn't trust anyone else anymore and wants to work on his own. So by pretending to be dead at the time, no one would realise what truly transpired in the fitness room. So by doing that, he's hiding secrets from others, kind of like hiding the real strength of his hand in poker by making it look weak. That's also why Ace refuses to share anything to Charles about what happened in the gym. Moving on...
Teruko proceeds with the investigation while Eden is busy crying over this "body discovery".
What is Eden truly plotting here? It's simple. She's trying to think of an plan B and quick. After all, like I mentioned in the whydunnit, she really wants to get out of here, so she needs to murder someone.
On top of that, Arei is still stuck inside the relaxation room. If no murder happens real soon, things would look pretty bad for Eden. But then, she realised something... Arei is still trapped inside the relaxation room. This is the perfect opportunity.
As long as Arei is trapped in here, she could proceed to kill her next morning at the earliest time. She would rather not do it, but she has no choice, especially if she wants to complete her goal of exiting this killing game. This is the only remaining move possible. It's all or nothing!
So by the time Teruko finishes the investigation, Eden finally comes up with a proper plan B for the murder scheme. For that to work, she needed something in that gym.
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
So Eden tells Teruko : "Okay, I'm ready. I'm okay. Am I needed, Teruko? Let me help investigate." She would then proceed to "investigate" the crime scene when in reality, she's trying to grab the roll of tape while she's distracted.
The distraction happens around the time where Teruko approaches Ace's body to inspect it more closely.
This is bad for Ace for two reasons. One, she would notice that Ace is still alive which we do notice her reaction in Episode 6. Two, she would notice the blood on his fingers/hands. If she were to notice that, it would help her get closer to learning the truth about what happened here and that's not what Ace wants at all.
That's why he comes up with potentially the best bluff I've ever seen.
Act 15
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Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
Truth bullet used : Blood on Ace's fingers
Truth bullet used : Neck wounds
Ace decides that now's the best time to pretend to wake up to consciousness and make this hilariously loud shout to showcase that he's not dead. Here's something really interesting about this pose however.
Look at his hands. He put his left hand on his neck wounds while he's clenching his right hand. What do they both have in common? Well, it's meant to hide the fact that there was blood on his fingers beforehand, of course! The same thing happens later on.
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Ace now placed his right hand on his neck wounds, covering his hand with blood to make it look like the blood on his hands originally came from touching his wounds at the moment, not before.
So by putting on this act, Ace was able to disguise his bloody hands which hides the truth behind what may have truly happened while also putting on this tough guy act. Neitheir Teruko or Eden would suspect a thing.
And of course, this would also explain why Ace is so insistent on believing that Nico tried to kill him : He saw them with his own eyes. Anyone in Ace's shoes would believe the same thing.
Truth bullet created : Ace's actions in the gym
So later on, Ace tries to chase after Nico back to their dorm. MonoTV kicks Eden and Teruko out of the gym and locks it. Then they back to the first floor to follow Ace. Then there's the scene with Teruko, Eden, Ace and Levi involved. Ace claims that he doesn't need help because he doesn't trust the others and wants to act tough and on his own.
Ace goes back to his dorm, Levi goes back to his dorm and Teruko doesn't care about Ace's condition, so she goes back to her dorm. What about Eden? Well... it's time for plan B!
Act 16
Now that everyone went back to bed. Eden shouldn't have to worry about any other surprises, so late night of DAY 2 should be the perfect time to set up the second murder mechanism among other things. There was yet again a lot of work to do. But that's fine, she mentioned in the prologue that she can work on something for many hours without taking a break.
She had two main goals in mind to make her whole murder scheme work.
Create a murder mechanism at a different location so that the mechanism would do the dirty deed for her. The best possible location for this would be the playground.
Create a perfect alibi so that no one would suspect her. For that to work, she would need to disguise the actual time of death so that people would presume the victim died at a later died, which would be a time where the culprit would have an alibi.
So while Arei is still trapped inside the relaxation room, Eden could work on gathering the materials to make a nearly perfect disguise and make the necessary preparations for the murder mechanism in the playground. Let's start with gathering the materials for the disguise.
Why would Eden need to make a disguise?
It's simple. What would be the best way to make it look like Arei was still alive on DAY 3? By having someone disguised practically like her and being present in a place where there's multiple people for a short period of time.
But she looks nothing like Arei! That's impossible!
We have a lot of clues that could make it possible, as unbelievable as it may sound.
Truth bullet used : Wigs
Truth bullet used : Make-up kit
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
First, she stealthily entered Arei's dorm (she probably had Arei's monopad or whatever it was to unlock that door) to take a look at her spare uniforms. Upon closer inspection, she notices that there's a small problem : there are no spare gloves. It would appear that this is a unique kind of accessory for Arei, so she's gonna have no choice but to take it from Arei's body after killing her.
Truth bullet created : Arei's spare uniform
Next up, she would go to the second floor to grab a certain wig and the make-up kit in the dress-up room. There's this blue wig that looks like Arei's hairstyle, so that should do the trick. Once it's been gathered, she temporarily placed them in Arei's dorm. Most of the disguise materials were collected, time for the next step.
Act 17
It was time to gather the materials for the second murder mechanism.
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet used : Long rope under carousel
Truth bullet used : Rope attached to Arei's neck
Truth bullet used : Empty jugs with broken handles
Eden already had the roll of grippy tape with her, so we don't have to worry about that. She first grabbed the water jugs that probably came from the fridge. Of course, the handles weren't broken at the time.
And finally, she took the rope that belonged to Arei, but was sent to the storage room. I don't know if there were two ropes or only one very long rope. But if there was only one, then Eden must've used a knife in the kitchen to cut it in two. That was necessary to make her murder mechanism work. That would explain the two ropes found in the playground on Episode 8.
Truth bullet created : Water jugs
Now that this was all gathered, she then needed to move them to the playground to start building that murder machinery.
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet used : Long rope under carousel
Truth bullet used : Broken ceiling light
Once she arrived at the playground, Eden first needed to throw that rope above this metal railing by the ceiling, whatever it's called. She wanted to create a pulley system, so that step was important.
The culprit picked the longer rope of the two, then she put the rope through the roll of tape, tied it up and then threw it upwards as hard as possible.
It's two floors high, Eden's not strong enough to throw it up there!
She may be weak, but she can definitly pull that task. There's a specific reason why I believe the culprit used the roll of tape. It'd be incredibly light and it has a handle, which makes it really easy to chuck it high up in the air.
Even if she doesn't succeed the first, she had plenty time to keep trying until she succeeded. Eventually, she would succeed, but she would accidently hit the lights which would break it in the process.
The weight of the tape is probably not enough to break it.
We don't know that for sure. Besides, if I recall, MonoTV mentioned that the lights were flickering, which can simply be caused by a misplaced light bulb. So it could very well do the trick with enough speed. But in case you think that's not enough, I'll go ahead and say that I refuse to elaborate further on that matter, I'll explain why in the finale. Moving on...
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet used : Carousel wrapped with tape
Next up, the culprit wrapped the bars of the spinny thing with tape. The reason why was because the carousel was essential for the pulley system. She needed to spin it to raise the rope among other things
At the moment, the bars are pretty slippery, so she needed something applied to the bars so that she wouldn't the grip. Hence, the grippy tape.
Well, that's impossible! The roll of tape by itself wouldn't be enough to cover all the bars of that carousel. Where would she get more of that tape?!
Eden didn't need more tape, that was all that she needed to wrap all those bars.
Now, you're just being delusional! It can't cover all the bars with that alone!
Heh! Are you sure about that? I know that most of you are under the impression that the bars of the spinny thing must be wrapped up horizontally, kind of like putting tape on a tennis racket's handle.
By thinking outside the box, there's actually a way to explain this issue. It's very simple once you realise it. The culprit wrapped the bars vertically!
By that, I mean that she starts applying the tape from the top of the bar and then drags it straight down. Once it reaches the bottom, she just needs to cut the tape and then the extra width of the tape will go around the carousel bar. That way, Eden can save a lot of tape and would have plenty with that roll of tape.
The bars seem fairly large though. I doubt it would be enough to cover the bar with only one length of tape.
Hard to say. But if that's truly a problem, you can easily fix it by using a second length of tape on that same bar. So each bar would have 2 lengths of tape.
And if that somehow makes you think that there wouldn't be enough tape by doing it that way, then there's nothing else I can do to please you. I refuse to elaborate further on that. I will explain why in the finale. Moving on...
Truth bullet used : Water jugs
Truth bullet used : Long rope under carousel
It's not time to attach that rope to the appropriate items. On one end, she would tie both water jugs together in such a way that it would be hanging from the handles. At the other end of that rope, Eden makes a noose around one of the bars of the carousel.
She then tests out the pulley system to see if it actually works. If the pulley system doesn't properly work from simply tying up the rope to one of the bars, then there's an alternative. As @1moreff-creator suggested in the past, you just weave the rope through some of the handlebars and that should do the trick.
Truth bullet created : Pulley system
And with that, the preparations for the second murder mechanism would be complete at the moment. There are a few remaining steps, but she can't do it without the body, so she'll have to wait next morning.
Act 18
While Eden is waiting for the door of the relaxation room to unlock at 8:00 AM, there were a few things that she could do. Those are not necessarily things that she did, but could've happened to make sure the plan was perfect.
Truth bullet used : Wigs
Truth bullet used : Make-up kit
Truth bullet used : Arei's spare uniform
Truth bullet used : Needle with black string attached
Of course, she didn't put on the disguise at night even though that would technicly save time. The reason why is because if Eden proceeded to disguise herself into Arei at night, waited for the doors to unlock next morning, murder her, then hide back the body, it would take so much physical efforts out of her that she would be sweating. This would ruin the disguise.
So instead, she tested out the products to make sure that they worked perfectly. For the wig, the culprit could try to readjust the hair so that it would look a lot more like Arei's hairstyle.
Then, for the make-up kit, she would find the right materials to change her skin tone so that it would match Arei's. She probably puts it on her hand or wrist and tries out various combinations until she finds the perfect color. Once she's done with that, she can simply wash it away for the time being. Oh, also, she would take the time to find proper contacts to match Arei's eye colors as well.
Next up would be the uniform. She tried it on to make sure it would fit perfectly. Eden probably knows that she's a bit smaller than Arei, so there could be some differences. She cannot recreate Arei's height, that would be impossible. It's not like Arei is wearing high heels anyways.
If the disguise is not quite perfect, she could probably try to readjust it somehow with a needle and a few basic sewing skills. I'm no expert in this, and it's unsure if Eden truly did that anyways. What matters is that there was the option available before her if needed.
Now that she's fully prepared for the murder scheme, it was time for the culprit to wait in front of the relaxation room until the door unlocks.
Act 19
It is now 8:00 AM of DAY 3, it's time to retrieve the body!
As the door of the relax room unlocks, Eden would proceed to grab Arei's body and drag it to the playground. The turf would probably be dry by now. Otherwise, why would MonoTV allow others to enter that room this early and potentially make a mess if the ground happened to still be wet and gross?
There's no way Arei would still be unconscious for such a long time. Ace woke up in fewer hours than the time it took for the culprit to wait for the doors of the relax room to open.
Ace woke up earlier because of the neck wounds, most likely. We don't really know how effective or potent this turpentine actually is. But based on my deductions, it would make a lot more sense to believe that Arei was unconscious this whole time.
Otherwise, she would have starch all over her if she woke up at night and wandered around that room. For all we know, maybe she was about to come back to consciousness very soon that morning. Maybe the culprit brought the turpentine with her just in case to make sure she remains unconscious. With that said, I refuse to elaborate further on that. I'll explain why in the finale.
Anyways, now that the culprit brought the body back to the playground, she now had access to the missing piece to complete the perfect disguise.
Truth bullet used : Arei's missing glove
It appears to be unique. So Eden took it off Arei's hand and stored it somewhere safe... like her pouch that's around her belt. That would perfectly explain why the victim's glove was missing during the investigation in Episode 8.
Act 20
The final preparations are complete, it's now time for murder! Eden needed to place the body at the right position along with a few remaining props.
Truth bullet used : Roll of grippy tape
Truth bullet used : Rope attached to Arei's neck
Truth bullet used : Red marks on Arei's wrists
Truth bullet used : Scrunched up tape
Truth bullet used : Scuffed ground
Considering the red marks on Arei's wrists when she was found dead alongside the scrunched up tape found in the trash, the obvious logical conclusion we can get out of this is that her wrists were tied up with the grippy tape. The real question though is for what purpose did she do that?
According to my theory, the victim would still be unconscious, so there's no point in tying her wrists to make sure she doesn't escape or fight back or whatever. So by thinking outside the box, I've concluded that the culprit did it because it was a necessary step for the murder scheme.
Then you have to consider the scuffed marks that was found on the ground of the playground in a specific location. It couldn't have been from a fight or struggle since Arei should've been unconscious, so something else should've happened. That's when I came up with this brilliant idea.
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For reference, the scuffed marks were found a few feet away from the seasaw (Don't mind the drawing). Also, the yellow stickman where we can't see the legs represents the victim : Arei. The green scribbles represent the other piece of rope, the one that's not as long as the one used for the pulley, but still somewhat long. The subtle grey scribbles by the seasaw and the yellow man's hands represents the grippy tape applied to Arei's wrists.
So here's how it's supposed to work. First, Eden brings the body close by the seasaw and then place Arei's arms between both poles (supports) of the seasaw. Next up, she would bind tightly the victim's wrists together with the grippy tape so that the body wouldn't be able to easily move away from the seasaw through a forceful pulling motion.
Then, she would use the other rope to make a noose around Arei's neck. However, she wouldn't tie the other end of the rope to the spinny thing just yet, she will do that later. For now, she placed that end of the rope as close to the carousel as possible.
I still don't see how that would create scuffed marks to the ground...
That's because I haven't shown you the magic trick yet! Let's continue!
Truth bullet used : Pulley system
Now that the other rope was set up, it was now time to use the pulley system she created last night. First, the culprit spins the carousel in the rotation (let's say clockwise) that would pull the water jugs (that are hanging by the other rope of that rope) upwards. She would pull as much as she possibly can. Then once the water jugs reach the maximum height, it was time for the next step.
Truth bullet used : Rope attached to Arei's neck
The culprit needed her hands to tie the other rope that was close by her with the spinny thing's handlebar. Of course, there's a bit of weight from the water jugs, so she couldn't simply let go of the pulley. Therefore, she must've been holding the carousel with one or both legs. If tying the rope with one of the handlebars wasn't enough, Eden could've also weaved through a few of them like before.
Now, here comes to most exciting part, the "tada!" of the murder trick! She takes out her leg(s) from the spinny thing, she holds it again with her hands and then... she spins it counterclockwise as hard and as fast as possible!
That way, the water jugs would fall down pretty fast, especially if the spinny were to cause resistence of friction (making it fall slowly if it was the culprit only released). So they would fall fast, while the other rope would wind up along the carousel up until that rope reaches the limit.
As the rope reaches the limit... SNAP!
Truth bullet used : Arei's broken neck
Truth bullet used : Empty jugs with broken handles
Truth bullet used : Scuffed ground
So what happened in that moment? Well, Arei's dead. It breaks Arei's neck because of the immediate stop of the rope attached to her neck which was also pulled in by spinny thing in a pretty fast rate. This is the mainly reason why her wrists were bound. Otherwise, her whole body would've been dragged towards the carousel, which wouldn't really guarantee a killing blow.
But since the victim's wrists were stuck around the seasaw, it wouldn't move much... except for her lower body. It created a knee jerk movement reaction of her legs because of that violent pulling motion. Because of that, this would scrape the ground, which would cause the scuffed marks on the ground.
Hold on! Would it actually be enough to explain ALL these scuffed marks on the ground?
Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, the culprit could've simply created more marks on the ground to make it look more like it came from a struggle. That wouldn't be a problem at all since it's very easy to do damage the ground purposefully.
Anyways, that wouldn't be the only thing that would break. There's also the water jugs! As the rope holding Arei's neck would come to an abrupt stop, it would also make an abrupt stop to the longer rope used for the pulley system which is also what was holding the jugs by the handles. The violent motion would make the rope cut through these flimsy plastic handles, which the jugs would then fall to the ground and spill all over the playground.
The water spill is no issue at all whatsoever and was already planned by the culprit because she knew beforehand that the wet ground would dry up fairly quickly because of the fans at the ceiling.
And there you go! This... is how the actual murder happened... in my opinion. That would explain a lot of clues found perfectly, wouldn't it?
Anyways, Eden's nowhere done yet. That would only her first goal achieved : create a murder mechanism at a different location so that the mechanism would do the dirty deed for her.
Next up, it was time to create a perfect alibi so that no one would suspect her. There was still a lot of work to do.
Act 21
She had a disguise trick to do, but before doing that, she needed to get rid of a couple pieces of evidence. The main issue however is that because she had no choice but to murder Arei past 8:00 AM, someone could wake up very soon if they haven't done so already. But Eden couldn't leave all that evidence behind, especially the body. So whatever she needed to get rid of or hide, it needed to be done really fast. So anything that wasn't too essential in hiding could help her save time. So here's what she did...
Truth bullet used : Scrunched up tape
Truth bullet used : Red marks on Arei's wrists
Truth bullet used : Long rope under carousel
Truth bullet used : Eden's letter
Truth bullet used : Torn-up note
Truth bullet used : Empty jugs with broken handles
Truth bullet used : Needle with black string attached
Eden took off the tape that kept the victim's wrists bound. Even though it leaves red marks which would make it fairly easy to deduce for the others to figure out that she was bound, she had no choice but to remove that tap if she wanted to move that body and hide it.
She untied both ropes that had a noose on the spinny thing. She then pulled the longer rope used for the pulley system and then put all that rope under the carousel. She left the tape stuck on the handlebars, it would take too long and there was not enough time.
Next up, Eden's letter. It's hard to say if the culprit truly made that letter as a mean to lure Arei into the playground earlier in the evening of DAY 2 and then knock her unconscious or if she simply made up that whole message at nighttime instead for the whole purpose of fabricating a perfect alibi.
Whichever it is, the culprit needed to tear up that note and throw it in the trash can. She didn't want to downright get rid of it. She wanted the others to find out about it sometime during the investigation. It was a necessary step of her plan to both make her alibi look more credible and also make herself look the least suspicious.
She also threw away the tape that was bound to Arei's wrists previously (which would now be scrunched up), the empty jugs and that needle to the trash. She no longer needed them and it wouldn't make it as easy to figure out the crime if the jugs were separated from the playground. Of course, she couldn't bring those jugs with her and get rid of them completly in case that she ends up running into someone back on the first floor.
Truth bullet used : Rope attached to Arei's neck
Truth bullet used : Ball of clothes
Later on, Eden would drag the body away from the playground to then hide it in the relaxation room. She knew a decent spot to hide the body. She didn't undo the rope attached to the victim's neck since it was unnecessary.
People would know that her cause of death has to be related to the rope. It was also a waste of time, so not doing anything about it would save time which is exactly what the culprit needs. Also, she probably put the blanket of old clothes above the dead body to hide it better.
Ridiculous! Where would Eden even hide the body?
Truth bullet used : Box of incense
If I had to guess... probably somewhere behind those blue curtains. Preferably close by the box of incense. This spot appears to be further away from where most of the people would be relaxing. Most people would relax where there's the yoga mats and pillows. So that spot by the box of incense wouldn't be as obvious. Besides, there was another reason behind it.
Considering that the culprit is hiding it to fabricate their alibi, it would mean that the corpse would be here for a full day possibly. Wouldn't it mean that the body would decompose and create a noticeable smell?
It's honestly hard to say. I have sources that tells me that it doesn't go through that stage of body decomposition after 24 hours, it's usually more than that. But it also depends on various conditions. We don't know eitheir if the creator took that into account at all. But whether or not it was intended, I have an idea that would suggest that Eden planned ahead and used something in the relaxation room to make her alibi even stronger.
That's just utter nonsense! There's no such thing!
That's where you're wrong!
Truth bullet used : Incense sticks
The culprit used the incense sticks to create a natural timer mechanism!
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!
Do you remember what I've said about these incense sticks before act 6? "Burning a whole stick can take up to an hour, but the lingering smell can last for multiple hours." That wasn't made up. That was something that I found out with a simple google search.
So let's rewind the story back to DAY 1. MonoTV announces that they have access to the 2nd floor. Teruko proceeds to investigate and finds out interesting facts about each room. It's very possible that Eden was also investigating at a different time period that day.
That would explain how she was able to come up with such complex and ingenius murder schemes according to my theory.
Culprit complimentations aside, she learned things about the relaxation room and probably noticed the smell of the incense sticks. Because we had a timeskip due to Teruko isolating herself to her dorm most of DAY 1, it's possible that Eden came back to the relaxation room later in the evening and noticed that the smell of the incense sticks disappeared. She would then have a rough idea of how long this incense smell lasts.
Now fast forward to the night of DAY 2, after the attempted murder on Ace failed. When she was plotting a new murder plan and figured out her only remaining option was killing Arei, she would remember the time of the lingering smell of said incense sticks. She would use that seemingly minor detail to her advantage.
Why does it matter having a timer?! That doesn't make sense!
It all has to do with her second goal : creating the perfect alibi. She didn't just want to hide the body for an unknown period of time, she wanted someone to find the body at some point while she's busy building her alibi with someone else.
So by using the incense sticks as a timer mechanism, she would just need to wait for someone to spend time in the relaxation room sometime in the evening. That person would eitheir notice a weird smell (of the corpse decomposing) or a lack of incense sticks smell and they would approach the box of incense to eitheir burn new sticks or to follow the source of the weird smell.
And that's how it works!
Act 22
Now that Eden cleaned up most of the important clues, she then went back to the first floor, back to Arei's dorm.
Truth bullet used : Eden's sneakiness
As long as she's sneaky enough and waits for the right time, I'm sure she would be able to enter Arei's dorm without being noticed. And then she would spend a couple hours putting on the make up and the disguise. Well actually... maybe she took a shower first.
You don't have a single shred of proof that any of this happened! Your theory just doesn't work!
If that was the case, then why does my theory line up perfectly with most of the clues found. But more importantly, why does it line up perfectly with what happened to Teruko in the morning of DAY 3?
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Teruko overslept at the most convenient time for someone like Eden to commit murder around the morning of DAY 3 while also setting up her disguise.
This also lines up perfectly with what's happening afterwards. Teruko wakes, decides to go to the cafeteria during lunchtime. She finds a group of people there. Ace is having an argument with Nico because he's pretty sure that Nico tried to kill him, which is understandable. The others have their eyes on that heated argument and then...
Truth bullet used : Wigs
Truth bullet used : Make-up kit
Truth bullet used : Arei's spare uniform
Truth bullet used : Arei's missing glove
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That's all you get from Arei and you don't see her anytime afterwards up until the BDA. Not only that, but she doesn't say a single thing, she's staying quiet. There's no way you can't find that suspicious in any way. Having Eden pull off a disguise trick would explain it perfectly!
Truth bullet created : Eden's disguise trick
This can't work! Teruko was staring at Arei, she would've noticed something strange about her!
Nope, she wouldn't. It's heavily implied that Teruko has prosopagnosia. This defines as having the inability of recognizing faces. She can only recognize people with their hair, eye color, skin tone. At least, that's what it seems to be when she's having a chat with Veronika in the movie screening room in Episode 7, in the evening of DAY 3. Therefore, she couldn't have recognised that something's off about her.
Anyone else who was in the cafeteria would've noticed something strange about her!
Aside from the fact that she's being quiet, not really. Why? It's simple.
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
Truth bullet used : Hu being protective of Nico
The constant bullying and arguing that Ace is doing towards Nico is causing a big distraction within the cafeteria. Hu was also busy defending Nico, which also plays a part in the distraction. Also, Ace is doing this because he's trying to show how much of a badass he is, despite being nearly killed. He's not holding back.
Well, Rose would've noticed! She saw her at lunch and she has a photographic memory!
Maybe, maybe not. Granted, she did see her, but we don't know for sure if she truly saw something off. After all, she tends to be absent-minded. It is possible that in future episodes, she will remember something that was a little different about Arei thanks to her photographic memory. We shouldn't fully deny the disguise trick just because of a potential witness.
Even then, it would be ridiculously risky! What if someone wanted to talk to her? The wig's light blue, not blue like Arei's hair! Is Eden even good at using make-up? I don't think she'd be able to replicate a good skin tone. And there's also that bowling pin, it's an accessory, shouldn't it be unique like the glove? What about-
Enough! ...I refuse to elaborate further on that matter. You'll understand why later in the finale. What matters for now is that I found a way to explain how the disguise trick could work and fit in with most of the clues.
Act 23
Now that the disguise trick is completed, what happens next? Well, now that the hardest part of the plan is done, she no longer needs to stick around as Arei, so she probably goes back to her actual dorm when no one's around.
Next up to the plan would be to create her alibi, but she only needs to do that from evening to night. So for the time being, Eden can take a good, hot shower and take a good nap. She did a good job, she deserved it! Let's go Eden! (We're proud of you!)
While it's not evening yet, let's take a look at two other characters who had some pretty big events happening to them yesterday. Let's start with Ace! He... had a very terrifying and traumatic experience last night, that's for sure.
Truth bullet used : Ace's phobias
I mean... He's afraid of a lot of things. Death is especially one of them. So there's no doubt in my mind that this scared the crap out of him. I'd like to believe that when he was arguing with Levi, Teruko and Eden last night sometime after the murder attempt, when he went back to his dorm, he probably shattered.
He was probably shaking at the thought that he honestly seriously died. Not only that, but it was Nico, of all people, who tried to kll him (according to him, of course). Nico, the person that he bullied constantly because they were inferior to him was able to pull that off? He has a weak mental fortitude, so for him to not break down at all anytime we see him after the attempted murder just seems suspicious to me.
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
Of course, he's trying to act tough, he doesn't want to show it. Or maybe he wants to be in control of his emotions or whatever. Which, it kinda makes sense, but... there's only so much you can manage mentally. As much as he tries to put on a tough guy act, eventually, the phobias will get to you, the old habits will come back.
Of course, you can improve those kind of issues to the point where it barely becomes a major issue anymore, but these kind of things take time. But of course, that's just my perception and assumption of things. What matters is that there's the possibility that this near death experience affected him a lot more than it seems which will be important later.
As for the other person... let's talk about David for a bit.
Truth bullet used : David's plan
He didn't have an experience as traumatic as Ace, but something happened that messed up with his manipulative plan : Arei knows about his secret and his plan. Well, she doesn't quite know precisely about David's intents regarding the plan of sharing secrets, but she knew something was off and wanted to make sure that there was no ill intent behind it.
Regardless, learning that someone else found out about his secret and their suspicious plan gives a pretty bad taste in his mouth. Not only that, but if his murder instigating plan succeeds, if the victim was someone else than Arei, she could've called him out on it, which would ruin his whole plan.
David is probably constantly thinking about that. He's realising that he's in a very bad spot right now. If no murder happens in the next days, then his secret would be exposed still. So no matter which will it'll go, he's always gonna have his secret exposed. David is literally screwed. That's why he's not in a good mood as shown in the evening of DAY 3.
So what does he do for the afternoon? Nothing much, really. He's probably pondering about a lot of negative things, thinking how miserable he is or something. In any case, he needs some time to be alone.
Act 24
We are now approaching the evening of DAY 3, what happens next?
Let's start with the obvious. Eden wakes up from her nice nap and proceeds to meet up with Hu to spend time with her for the evening. This is pretty much confirmed ever since Chapter 2 Episode 10 when Hu explained her alibi with Eden. According to my theory, that would be part of the culprit's plan to fabricate the perfect alibi.
Next up is Ace. Under normal circumstances, he would've spent the evening working out in the fitness room. However, because of that horrifying near death experience, he didn't want to bother with that at all and he doesn't trust anyone else. So he figured that the best thing to do was isolating himself in his dorm for the night.
But his eating disorder would've compel him to work out in the gym anyways!
Maybe, maybe not. There's no way to tell if the creator really intended for that to happen. So eitheir option would be possible, but the one that would make the most sense is if he stayed in his room. It would match up perfectly with my theory alongside a few other events I haven't explained yet. As long as my method is possible and makes sense, it should do.
And finally, we have David. His plan became a mess, he's in a bad mood. He doesn't know what to do. In any case, he somehow decides to go to the kitchen in the evening.
Why's that? Unsure, there must've been some reason, or maybe there wasn't. Maybe he just wanted to wander in the kitchen. Or maybe he thought he was gonna be able to spend time alone in kitchen, but he didn't think there would be people here at that time. Who knows?
What matters is the following...
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Whit suggests to David to chill in the relaxation room, which is exactly what he does. This would conveniently line up well with Eden's plan.
Act 25
At this point during the evening of DAY 3, sometime before 10:00 AM, we only need to focus on David. So upon entering the relaxation room to... you know... relax, David notices at some point something that's off with that room.
Truth bullet used : Incense sticks
There's no longer a lingering smell of a burning incense stick (or maybe it was the weird smell from the corpse).
Truth bullet used : Box of incense
So he approaches the box of incense and then he notices something different about the blue curtains. There's something there! So David removes anything that was in the way and that's when he discovers the dead body of Arei.
David is the first person to discover the victim's corpse.
I object to that! Nico was feeding the fishes earlier that evening. Shouldn't they have noticed something odd about the smell?
Not if the lingering smell of the incense sticks was still there at the time. They wouldn't have noticed if the smell is the same as usual.
The lingering smell of the incense stopped sometime between Nico's visit and David's visit to the relax room. That was a pretty convenient timing, but it makes sense.
Now, we gotta wonder how David reacted to it. He was obviously surprised and shocked. It's hard to say if he felt happy, angry or sad about for one particular reason.
Truth bullet used : David's plan
Earlier, his plan was ruined because Arei knew about most of it. The only way he could make sure that he gets away with his secret hidden would be to have Arei dead. This... is exactly what happened. Arei's been murdered. His secret is now safe again.
Maybe he had a mix of many emotions. His plan was no longer ruined after all. There was a problem however : if he leaves things as is and the group later finds the body, David would become a prime suspect and they would force their way to find out about David's secret.
Not only that, but if they seriously suspect that he's the killer, then he, alongside the others, would lose the class trial and die. David's in big trouble.
Uh... why would David care about the trial? In chapter 1, after the execution, he commented that everyone's gonna die.
Truth bullet used : David's plan
Oh, he does care about death for sure. His whole plan was creating conflicts with others through sharing secrets in the attempt of instigating a murder.
If he didn't care about death or the trial, why wouldn't he simply kill someone instead. There's only one possible explanation : he doesn't want to die. He wanted someone else to do the dirty deed so that he would both have his secret and safe and live to see another day. He tried to kill two birds with one stone.
So anyways, David finds the body, he's shocked and confused. He needs some time to take in what happened. Actually, what happened to the body? He surely doesn't know aside that she's been murdered, of course. Was it a dream? No, it's very real, Arei's dead.
So what did he do afterwards? Well, he probably started doing his own investigation, to try to process how this happened.
Truth bullet used : Rope attached to Arei's neck
Truth bullet used : Arei's broken neck
Truth bullet used : Red marks on Arei's wrists
Truth bullet used : Arei's missing glove
Truth bullet used : Ball of clothes
As far as he's aware, Arei's neck is broken, which must have something to do with the rope, but it doesn't seem like the relaxation room would be the right place to pull that off. Otherwise, it wouldn't be hidden here. Maybe he notices the red marks as well, but doesn't quite know what to make of it. Same thing for the missing glove. It's really hard to say if he actually paid attention to it.
And there's the blanket of Hu and Teruko's old clothes that are used to hide and cover the body. Aside from hiding the body, is there even any other uses for it? He doesn't know the answer to it. Eitheir way, he at least knows that this murder couldn't have happened here, so it was time to look at the other rooms.
He didn't have to look too hard to find out where the crime actually took place. He simply needed to go to the nearest room : the playground.
Truth bullet used : Scuffed ground
Truth bullet used : Carousel wrapped with tape
Truth bullet used : Long rope under carousel
The scuffed ground is the first thing David would probably notice. He's probably wondering if there was a struggle happening here. If so, then whoever killed her must be someone pretty strong. Or maybe it's a trick? After all, he remembers that in the first trial, they've been easily fooled into thinking that Teruko was the murderer. So he can't jump to conclusions just yet.
Next up, he finds something strange with the spinny thing. There's some under there and the handlebars are wrapped up with some kind of tape. What does that even mean? He has frankly no idea.
Also, one thing that I need to point out regarding what David might've done investigation wise... Aside from it being a big assumption, it's possible that he didn't do much of that. At the very least, he was probably trying to figure out where the crime actually took place.
Whether he actually put some kind of efforts into investigating or not, there was still another problem that he needed to deal with quickly...
Act 26
Truth bullet used : Relax room's nighttime features
The relax room is about to close soon. This is bad for David because if he doesn't move the dead body, it will remain locked inside that room for the whole night and early morning. Then someone would definitly discover her corpse next morning, which would get him in big trouble since it would lead to having his secret exposed.
There was no time to waste. He needed to get that corpse out of here and that's what he exactly did. David dragged the corpse back to the playground. Now, he needed to figure out what he could do to indirectly help the group with the investigation.
He must've imagined that her cause of death must be from something like hanging. So he decided to hang her at the swingset. He couldn't quite exactly figure out how it was done, but that's all he could think of. As long as they don't think that it was hidden in the relaxation room to begin with, then he wouldn't be suspected.
But then he realised another problem : How will the others know when she died? If things are left out as is, they might think she was eitheir murdered at night or very early in the morning? There's a lot of possible time of deaths which would stray the group further away from the truth. In David's mind, he's pretty sure she must've been killed sometime in the evening, before he entered that room.
Why would he believe that this was the only possible time of death?
Truth bullet used : Eden's disguise trick
Even though we know, according to my theory, that Eden used a disguise trick to hide Arei's real time of death, the others don't know about it. David saw Arei alive at lunchtime, which means that she was definitly killed sometime after according to his logic. He probably figured it wasn't in the afternoon since it would be much easier for the killer to run into potential witnesses, so the evening was the only option.
Wouldn't David deduce that Nico might be the prime suspect? They were feeding the fishes sometime before David entered that room. Nico saw David use the elevator.
He might've been seen by Nico, but it doesn't mean the opposite applies. It's very likely possible that when David used the elevator, he never saw anyone passing through because Nico had already gone out a while ago. Nico probably noticed David when they were roaming around the first floor.
In any case, he needed to figure what he could do to make the others follow the "right path" into deducing that the crime happened sometime around the evening. David couldn't directly tell them, as ridiculous as it may sound. Remember, he doesn't want his secret to be found out. If he told the group about the actual time of death, they would start questioning him.
They'd be like : "How do you know that she died at that time?" That'd just make him become suspicious no matter what he tries to come up with. Because of that suspicious, they would then press on David which would lead to uncovering his secret.
So what could he possibly do to help them without directly telling them about the "right" time of death? That's when he came up with this crazy idea!
Truth bullet used : Dead fishes
Truth bullet used : Relax room's nighttime features
Truth bullet used : Ball of clothes
He remembered about the fishes in the pond and the nighttime features of the relaxation room. What if he brought those fishes to the playground? It would seem very weird and confusing that there's dead fishes found in the playground, but because of the fact that the relax room closes at 10:00 PM and reopens at 8:00 AM, they would conclude that the fishes were brought to the playground before the relaxation room closes.
Even though the fishes has most likely nothing to do with the whole crime in itself, the others would probably not think too hard about it since it's a seemingly very convoluted crime scene to begin with. He figured that a little "red herring" wouldn't hurt as long as it helps them in knowing the time of death.
That way, he wouldn't need to open up about what he found out, the dead fishes would tell the story for him. Of course, he couldn't simply grab them with his hands. Maybe one by one, but that would be incredibly inefficient.
That's why he used the blanket of old clothes instead. He used that to scoop as many fishes as possible and then brought them to the playground. It's confirmed, everyone! David is a mass murderer! He killed all those fishes that we saw in the playground! (Oh nooo!)
Anyways, once that was taken care of, there was one more thing that he needed to do : get rid of these darn clothes. He doesn't want to leave them in the relaxation room, that would obviously indicate that something or someone must've been hidden there. He can't bring it back to the first floor eitheir, that would be incredibly risky since he could run into someone.
So the next best thing he can do is hide them and also hide what they were supposed to be to begin with. David rolled up that blanket of clothes into a perfectly shaped ball and hid it in the changing room inside the dress-up room. This would explain why Charles found a ball of clothes in the dress-up room.
Now that all of that was done, he headed back to the first floor and called it a day. Nothing else significant happened that night.
Act 27
It is now DAY 4, 8:00 in the morning. Everyone gathers up to the movie screening room. Everyone except... well... you obviously know who by now. It's been 4 days already, so it was time for MonoTV to reveal the secrets, but before that happens... David goes : "Wait! Stop!"
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So everyone starts counting and they notice that there's indeed someone missing. So David leads them by saying : "Arei isn't here."
So people start to panic and proceed to look for Arei. Teruko picks up Whit and Eden to make a group of 3 people to find her if she's indeed dead. That way, it would definitly trigger the BDA if all three of them are innocent. Otherwise, one of these three would be suspicious.
Of course, Eden expected that to happen, but she was prepared with her whole murder scheme. Someone should've found the dead body first already last night so it shouldn't be an issue.
So Teruko's group investigates the second floor. Teruko looks inside the gym, she's not here. Whit looks inside the dress-up room, she's not here eitheir. Eden looks inside the relaxation room...
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Two things of note here...
Eden did not find the dead body in here even though that was the last place she left it. So she knows for sure someone found the body first and moved it somewhere else.
She could've easily lied about claiming that there's no place where she could be hiding. That would make a lot of sense for her to lie if she was indeed the culprit and hid the body there previously.
So everything's going really well for Eden. It's all going according to plan. The last room remaining to explore was the playground. At this point, the culprit knew that it must be hidden there. There's no way someone would drag a dead body back to the first floor.
But then, before they enter, Whit makes this silly comment : "Do you really think that she'd be hanging out in the playground right now?"
It seems absolutely goofy at first since whether the viewers were making the prediction or they already saw how she died, they would find Whit's comment to be pretty unintentionally punny (or perhaps intentionally even).
For Eden however, that was literally the worst case scenario. She took Whit's comment seriously. Or maybe she didn't at first, but then quickly started to doubt that he was joking. At some point, she must've thought : "What if it was Whit that discovered the body first?"
So as Teruko's about to open the door, in a moment of panic, Eden shouts : "Teruko, wait--" And that's when they discover the corpse of Arei hanging by the swing set, which then triggers the BDA later on.
Unfortunatly for Eden, she made a little slip-up there which could be really troublesome if Teruko catches on to this. Fortunately for Eden however, the BDA still happened, so she's still looking innocent there. On top of that, it doesn't seem like eitheir Teruko or Whit noticed her slip-up (...yet).
And that's how this whole murder mystery happened. From DAY 1 to DAY 4. And you know what? I'm not even done yet. I still have a few remaining events to explain after the body discovery announcement. Let's get into it! We're almost there!
Act 28
Everyone gathers at the playground, they find the body and they're all shocked and stuff. It's investigation time! Obviously, I won't talk about the investigation much details since I've already explained all of the evidence that was found there. Instead, I'm gonna talk about a few noteworthy things that happened during the investigation.
Eden's reaction to finding Arei's dead body is kinda suspicious. Naturally, she would act all sad and in grief upon losing dear Arei. The suspicious thing is what happens afterwards.
Not even a minute after finding the body, she quickly recovers and claims that she's ready to investigate. I know this is a class trial and that they need to take it seriously, but wouldn't it be more natural for Eden to need more time to recover from this? Especially when she was supposed to be friends with Arei according to her narrative.
The next thing is the secrets reveal. J was about to ask MonoTV about the secrets reveal since it would probably help in solving the murder. But then David interjects by claiming that MonoTV would only reveal the motive if a murder didn't happen in the allocated time. But since a murder happened, he's not obligated to reveal them.
Then he goes on about if MonoTV were to reveal the secrets based on the deadline (8:00 in the morning on DAY 4), it would mean that she died very recently, which would narrow down the time of death.
Of course, David knew that she didn't die then. He was just practically forcing MonoTV to not reveal the secrets since he knows that Arei died in the evening of DAY 3, according to his deductions. Basically playing with the rules of the motive reveal deadline. He didn't want his secret exposed, after all.
Sadly for him, MonoTV claims that it's based on the time of the body discovery and not the time of death. So if it was found shortly after the deadline, then it's already past the deadline.
This messes up with his plan to keep his secret from being exposed. So he has no choice but to see that list to find out what this is really all about. At the very least, David knows that it won't directly show whose secret it is since MonoTV himself doesn't know who it belonged to (because of the mixed up secrets).
So later on, David goes to the movie screening room to see the list and he sadly sees that his dark secret is actually there. So he's gonna have to do everything he can to make sure it doesn't get exposed. Of course, all of the actions David's done ever since the beginning of Chapter 2 made Teruko grow very suspicious of him. At least a lot more than the Prologue and Chapter 1.
Enough talk about the investigation. Let's talk about the trial!
Act 29
Kinda like the investigation phase, I'm not gonna go too much into details. I'll only reveal parts of the trial that would line up and make sense if it went according to my theory. So there are three characters who play a big role in this trial.
Eden wants to make sure that no suspicions would be thrown at her. She wants to be the most innocent out of everyone in that trial.
Ace wants to keep up the tough guy act, doesn't want to be seen as someone useless in trial and he doesn't want others to find out what really happened during the attempted murder.
David is hoping that the group will figure out the truth of the trial with a narrowed down time of death (dead fishes) while also being able to keep his secret from being exposed.
Let's start with episode 9! Eden doesn't reveal Arturo's secret. She's going to later, but she needs to build up an innocent girl narrative first.
We get a confirm from Nico that they intentionally try to make a serious attempt on Ace's life when Charles asks the question. The important thing to note here is that this could mean a lot of things. Their mind was most likely set on wanting to kill him, but it doesn't mean that they did all the setup required to make that attempt.
But Rose claimed that they lied and stole from her. Nico's response was : "I--! I didn't kill Arei! I swear!". He didn't deny Rose's claim. That's practically a confession!
Not necessarily! Despite the implication, it could also very well be them wanting to deny that claim, but stopped themselves to simply swear that they didn't kill Arei. There could be various reasons for it, but one that could be the most reasonable is if they were having doubts about it. What if they weren't sure if they actually stole from her or not? His mind could've definitly been chaotic ever since they snapped. So they probably were unable to remember it.
But they were able to remember feeding the fishes and seeing David use the elevator during the evening!
Sure, but that was on DAY 3, not DAY 2. Like I said before, there's still a lot that we don't know about Nico during the events the evening/night of DAY 2. And because it's such an unknown variable, it also leads to a massive amount of possibilities.
Besides, remember what I said in Act 12? It could've been a massive red herring by making us easily believe that Nico's the one responsible for everything involved in the attempted murder on Ace. That trial interaction could also be another trick made by the creator to make us further believe that they're indeed respondible for it all.
Anyways, sometime later, Rose believed that Arei's death was an assisted suicide where the victim played a big role into this. Eden goes out of her way to convince everyone that can't be true. There's no way that someone like Arei would commit suicide.
Why would she do that if she was the true culprit? Wouldn't it make sense to let them believe it was suicide to end the trial early?
There's no guarantee that the smarter people out there (especially Teruko) would let it end that soon. She would've figured out by herself that there's no way it could've been a suicide. So Eden went out of her way to deny the suicide claim simply to direct the group into the proper narrative in regards to Arei. It was a necessary step since she wanted to reveal the incident that happened in the infirmary. That would further confirm that this wasn't suicide.
Next up, Teruko manages to narrow down the time of death by bringing up the dead fish. Based on their knowledge that they last saw the victim at 12:00 PM on DAY 3 and the features of the relaxation room. They were able to narrow it down to sometime between 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
Not a satisfying time window for what David had in mind when he placed those fishes, but that will do for now. At least, his plan kind of worked. They won't think that it happened during nighttime. Maybe they'll find out a more accurate time later on.
Act 30
On episode 10, before Eden gives the note, she quickly claims that she didn't do it, whoever did it is trying to impersonate her. So we get the reveal of the torn up note which gives us the letter we all know by now.
She would seem a tiny bit suspicious at first, but that was all part of her plan. Most wouldn't think that she'd be the killer if she wanted to help put the note back together. But in fact, she needed to help for both the narrative and making sure that the ripped apart note would be properly put back together.
She needed to play the scene of the revealed note to make sure that it would eventually lead to the reveal of Arturo's secret. When she would feel like that it'd be best for her to tell the truth, she would also explain the incident in the infirmary.
That would explain why she's friends with Arei. That would explain why she was insistent on believing that she wouldn't kill herself. That whole play would make Eden look the least suspicious so far. Everything's going according to her plan.
Fortunately for David, that note helped narrow down the time of death more accurately. Unfortunatly for him however, this is a fake time of death trick pulled by Eden, the real culprit. Until something major happens, no one's going to believe that Arei actually died in the morning of DAY 3, slightly past 8:00 AM.
Moving on... everyone's discussing their alibis now that the suggested time of death is sometime between 7:30 PM and 10:00 PM.
Hu talks about her time spent with Eden in the kitchen during that whole evening. Which further proves her innocence thanks to Eden's carefully crafted alibi plan. A few have alibis, a few don't have one like Nico.
So Ace lashes out at them as usual, nothing new here. Hu gets defensive and asks for his alibi.
Truth bullet used : Ace's actions in the gym
Truth bullet used : Ace acting tough
He thought about it for a little bit, but then he came up with a great idea. He lied about going to the gym that evening. That'd make him look kinda badass going there the day after being nearly killed.
Also, he doesn't want the others to know the truth about what he actually did during the night of DAY 2 as he wants to hide that kind of strength from the others since he doesn't trust them.
That doesn't make sense. Ace is actively trying to act tough according to your theory!
I know, it seems kinda contradictory, but here's the thing. Ace's kind of an idiot. He's trying not to, but you just can't really improve that in an instant as if you drank an intelligence potion or something.
Truth bullet used : Ace's testimony
There's another reason however. He really wants to tell the others about David's secret. About what he saw and heard in the relaxation room. But so far, he only knows that David's been to the second floor that night. He couldn't have known about DAY 3 since according to my theory, he stayed in his dorm.
So if he decided to reveal it at the earliest time of the trial, he would have no choice but to admit that this happened during the night of DAY 2 which would then lead to others asking "wait, isn't that the night where you almost died?"
This would lead to more questions and getting closer to the truth and they'd find about what Ace was hiding from them since then. Ace doesn't want that to happen. So he holds that information for the time being.
But then a golden opportunity arrived! Teruko calls out David that he should've been in the relaxation room during the evening of DAY 3.
At first, David was starting to play dumb, hoping that no one actually saw him so that he could lie about it and pretend that he went somewhere else. That didn't happen however, Nico saw him use the elevator, so David can't lie his way out of this sadly. Luckily for Ace, that was the perfect opportunity to expose David. He was in the same location both nights? Sweet!
So then Teruko asks the two if they saw anything strange going on in the playground. Ace claims he saw nothing. This is technicly the truth, even though he lied about being in the gym during the evening of DAY 3.
David claims that he didn't find anything odd and never looked at the playground. That's obviously a lie. He doesn't want others to suspect him. Otherwise, that would make them start being curious about his secret.
Then he adds that he never saw Ace once, which he finds strange. You could believe that he's just lying to put the suspicion on Ace, but there's a better idea that would make a lot more sense. David is telling the truth about never seeing Ace because Ace never went to the second floor during the evening of DAY 3 to begin with.
Unfortunatly for him, that was the perfect time for Ace to expose David's secret and making his claim of being in the gym on DAY 3 more believable.
Act 31
Almost done! Time to tackle episode 11!
So Ace starts explaining what he saw and heard in the relax room. We get a flashback scene regarding that event and then-
We literally get a flashback scene! There's a few details that would indicate that Ace is telling the whole truth, including the fact that he heard this on DAY 3, not DAY 2!!!
No, that's wrong! You should never take everything from granted once the author starts giving us more than 1 character point of view. Some could easily lie about the events to fit their narrative and fantasy.
I haven't read or played a lot of mystery novels, but there's a certain tactic that's sometimes used by the author, if not often. It's called unreliable narrator. From a google search, it says : "An unreliable narrator can be defined as any narrator who misleads readers, either deliberately or unwittingly."
Ace could've easily been an unreliable narrator. Here are a couple things that he could've lied about.
There's a missing fan on the right side. Could've been an illusion to make us believe it happened on DAY 3.
We see Ace with neck bandages. Could've been an illusion to make us believe it happened on DAY 3.
When Ace was eavesdropping, Arei says : "Nico got super pissy and tried to turn Ace into cat food." Could've been a line of dialogue that Ace made up to make others believe that it happened on DAY 3.
Then Ace claims he didn't catch anything else. Which, once again, would make sense if he's been knocked unconscious right after that. But he doesn't want to admit that since it would reveal the truth on when the meeting actually happened.
As a few others claimed, it's very strange that Ace brings up that important testimony this late into the trial. So it would make sense if he didn't want to expose him just yet because he didn't want the others to know the actual truth in the gym.
In any case, David's plan is ruined. He eventually gives up and confesses that the manipulative liar secret is actually his secret. (pretty amazing reveal, by the way!) His career's officially over.
We get a few interesting lines from David that would match up insanely well with my theory.
"Normally, I would continue to insist that Ace is an unreliable witness, and a worthless lying piece of shit as well... But I know how it is with you people. Once you've reached a conclusion, you'll refuse to believe any evidence that contradicts it. So I'm not going to bother."
Unreliable witness and a liar... interesting. Doesn't that match perfectly with my claim that Ace is lying about being at the gym during the evening of DAY 3 as well as my claim that he is an unreliable narrator?
"But I will admit, I did indeed meet with Arei last night in the relaxation room." He's telling the truth. He met with her alright on DAY 3. Doesn't mean she was alive though.
"As for what I actually talked about... Well, I've already forgotten! She's dead now, so who cares?" He's lying... or to be more accurate, he's hiding the truth. He doesn't want the others to know that he found her dead body.
Why not? Why wouldn't he tell the whole truth?
For a few reasons. First off, everyone just learned he's a liar. So they might simply think that he's lying about it. Secondly, that would make him incredibly suspicious. He wants to avoid being seen as the main suspect if he can avoid it. Not that it matters anyways since most of them think he's the culprit shortly afterwards.
Also, another reason to explain it is because he's probably still angry about the fact that they exposed his secret. He's been letting all out ever since the reveal anyways. So he probably wants to act like a butthole as a mean to vent off.
But still, he tries to convince them that he's not the culprit (in his own way), but quickly realises that this is pointless since most of them are so stupid and quick to draw to conclusions, just like last trial.
So then he got an idea. He gives up and confesses that he's the murderer. He's gonna lie all the way through up until someone calls him out on it. The interesting thing to note here is that as soon as he made that confession, he looked incredibly nervous. It's almost like... he's afraid of something. Something like being afraid of losing the trial if no one realises that he's lying?
By the way, another interesting thing to add here : As soon as David confessed, Eden starting being "emotional" and "seriously believes" that he actually did it. The real culprit figured that she may as well push the direction of that accusation to end the trial and be the sole winner.
Here's another interesting thing about Eden. I think she made another slip-up and created a contradiction. No one seemed to have noticed though, thankfully. She made those comments about David that she couldn't believe that he would mentally push Arei into commiting suicide.
That's strange... because I'm pretty sure that at the beginning of the trial, she was very insistent on claiming that Arei would never commit suicide.
Anyways... Teruko asks David about how he killed Arei into more details, but will later realise that his story doesn't make sense and that he's just lying. Then Teruko and David argues about it back and forth up until Charles stops the argument.
He realised something major and says : "Teruko, we really fucked up." Most of us fans seem to believe that this refers to the time of death being wrong (7:30 PM ish on DAY 3). My theory that the actual time of death was slightly after 8:00 AM on DAY 3 would match that up perfectly.
Time For The Finale
Phew! That was quite the long closing argument! With everything I've written here, hopefully that should explain the whole truth behind that murder mystery and explain most of the clues out there. So... what do you guys think about this theory?
.......NO!! It just doesn't work! It's incredibly CONVOLUTED! Way too convoluted for such a murder mystery! It's also very RISKY! Eden is doing a lot of risks to make her murder scheme work. A single mistake could've ruined it all. There's no way that plan works! It's impossible. Also, there's still a lot of things that wouldn't work. Like the disguise trick, there's just no way! She doesn't look anything like Arei! She doesn't have her physique. You've overthinking this! There are certain things about your theory that wouldn't be able to explain how things actually work in real life, like the blood wipe. It's just not realistic! Your theory doesn't work!
...It's pointless... all of this is just pointless...
...huh?!
You heard me. This is all pointless. All these counterarguments, even those that I refused to elaborate and would talk about it here instead... they're all actually meaningless in DanganRonpa Despair Time.
When it gets to finding errors in a theory by relying on reality or very niche or minute details. Or things like risk factor or things like no one would be able to pull off x trick, unless it's an actual contradiction of the actual facts of the fangan, then all of these arguments are actually pointless!
How dare you?! You can't just simply ignore these arguments because they hurt your theory!
As a matter of fact, I actually can ignore those. After all... most of these arguments fail to follow a certain rule in this murder mystery.
What are you even talking about?!
Alright... let me tell you! THIS IS FICTION, NOT REALITY!!!
!!!
Let me explain. For quite some time, we've been trying to prove/disprove certain theories by claiming that a certain event would be impossible because that's not how it works in real life.
One of the examples in regards to debunking my theory would be that the disguise trick would be impossible because it would've been incredibly risky and the plan could've easily failed if someone decided to speak with her or looked at her closely. Another example would be when Eden knocked out Ace without being noticed by Arei or David, seems incredibly unlikely and really risky.
From a reality perspective, it would be indeed ridiculous of a plan and nearly impossible to pull it off. But that's exactly the problem! Danganronpa Despair Time is a work of fiction, not reality! Anything that seems completly ridiculous or painfully impossible can become a miracle in the world of fiction!
You don't even have any proof that the DRDT creator is using that rule!
I do, actually. Think back on Chapter 1. I don't know if this chapter had weekly releases like Chapter 2 but regardless, let's give ourselves a scenario in regards to what would happen if the latest trial episodes of chapter 1 were not revealed, then the creator takes a break, so the fans have time to investigate and come up with theories to solve the murder mystery. I personally believe that this is made so that you could solve the murder mystery without watching the climax of the trial.
Anyways, let's say there's someone out there who comes up with a theory that's practically the solution of chapter 1. Then, we get to the actual murder method which is from the light switch that's been stripped. So Xander got electrocuted by trying to turn on the lights when he was soaking wet.
Most people who would see this without knowing what the actual solution is would simply believe that this is just impossible. This seems extremely likely. Like even if it was really dark and Xander wanted to turn the lights back on, he should've heard the sound of something being removed. Otherwise, he should've still been able to see light since the door would've been opened anyways.
Or what if the theorist came up with the idea that the culprit lure Xander into the light switch by taunting him or something? What exactly would be the odds that Xander would charge straight towards the light switch?
Yet, Xander truly died from the light switch because he wanted to turn on the lights. Seems really crazy and unbelievable, but when we think about it, the creator made it possible because this is fiction.
So there you have it! I'm sure none of you see it that way (and it's fine!), but to me, this is the perfect solution to the murder case of Chapter 2. I'm running out of lines to write, so there are two things I wanna say before I go.
Feel free to try to debunk my theory or come up with alternatives to this theory or anything else that's related to it. I don't mind. I'm most likely not gonna reply to it however since I have other projects unrelated to tumblr to work on.
I'd like to thank @1moreff-creator, @venus-is-thinking, @accirax and most likely a couple others for trying to find faults in my theories or points that I've made. Even though it may not seem like it, there were some points that helped me get closer to an answer that I would be satisfied with. Also huge thanks for anyone else who's been supporting my theory.
While I'm at it, feel free to disregard some points I've made to debunk certain theories that rely on stuff like reality. As long as you believe that it could work within the world of fiction, then that's good enough! Sorry for the long post! Thank you for everything! Take care!
34 notes · View notes
virgilisspidey · 16 days
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Not trying to be rude but I’m just wondering if you’re still going to update two souls?
Sorry if you already said something about this I haven’t been on tumblr recently actually, two soul if one of my favorite tmnt fics and I love the way you write! I find the story to actually make sense and not be out of character for them like at all
Also thank you for readying my question
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Ya'll I'm graduating senior high school and scrambling to find a good college, my focus is pretty much split between school works and constantly checking emails.
I know that may sound unfair since you probably see me online lurking or suddenly posting on ao3 and it would seem like I abandoned Two Souls but I promise you I did not.
Two Souls' writing process is much more tedious than what you typically see me post. It involves me having multiple tabs open, rewatching the episode I want to rewrite scene by scene, having the transcripts open on another tab, and then google docs on another. It's so I can stay on track. So I can figure out how much change I want to make and if it would fit my vision.
As you all know my computer has been broken for a while now and I've been writing on my phone ever since with a bluetooth keyboard. I use my phone for a lot of things. For school and for college hunting.
I don't have the money or the time to get my computer fixed.
My cousin recently gave me his old macbook so i'm in the process of figuring out how to reset it so I can start with a clean slate (he has a lot of games in this) and that's still tentative since apparently there's something wrong with the battery. It would alsp take me a while to get used to using a macbook when this mf has been using windows half their life. I'm trying my best to get back to ya'll, I promise.
Operation: Normal is still in the works because I don't want to give half-assed chapters. This is my first ever multichapter work that isn't split into one-shots, this is a passion project, and one of many I have. I am as impatient as all of you are to write and finish this. I am as desperate as you all for a new chapter.
Please be patient and i'm sorry that it's been 5 months since my last update.
I want to be able to graduate.
I want to be able to go to a good college.
I want to have fun writing instead of it feeling like an obligation.
Again, I am so sorry, I try to ignore questions and comments asking when I'll update and it's no shade to anon or anyone asking, I'm not a very confrontational person but I need to put my foot down at some point.
Sorry for all of those who are disappointed and are waiting.
But I'm not going anywhere.
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ciagent8 · 5 months
Text
UNDERTALE YELLOW TECHNICALLY NOT LIVEPOSTING. PART 2!!! SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT
part one here if you guys like my rambling
we're back! we must continue the journey after . killing a lot of people.
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this reminds me of that thing in undertale with the uhh. lesser dog snowmans. HONEYDEW RESORT ENTRANCE!!:
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interesting. i wonder who runs this place? it looks cozy
(will ruin the atmosphere via murder) oh my GOD WHY IS THE WIND BLOWING. thats horrifying!
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What.
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I KNEW THERE WOULD BE A HIDDEN ENTRANCE IN THE BACK AHAHAHHAHAH
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oh my god
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who the hell killed everyone LAST time???
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well. not for long. (slowly pulls out gun)
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you dont FUCKING say huh
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how is coffee better than ice.... oh . it isnt. nvm
so wait why would i use the coffee ammo??????? is there a reason or
oh man, im so happy i finished that puzzle!
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(realizes i have to do it again) fuck
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we are struggling YAY WE DID IT martlet fight(?):
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oh you poor poor soul
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girlie we are a Homicidal Child
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Killing you
WHY IS STILL TRYING HELP US. WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU
unfortunately, yes martlet, we DO try to kill everyone
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yeah
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HER MUSIC IS SO GOOD??? BUT AHHHHHHHH WHAT THE HELL ARE HER ATTACKS AHHHH-
oh my god
it took me 7 TRIES!!!! YAHOOOOO.
fuck. she retreated. is that supposed to happen?? i feel like maybe im on a neutral route now. im not sure if she was supposed to retreat or not, she also mentioned how like. shes glad we attacked early cause she would've told us where everyone else is. you know what i think im gonna retry the battle
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interesting... if i apologize multiple times i get new dialogue. is she gonna spare us?
nevermind it doesnt do anything special it just. skips her boss and puts on neutral i suppose?
im gonna try apologizing and getting to her LAST line of dialogue and just. shooting her . eheheh
update: almost gave myself spoilers trying to see if there were any strategys (specifically for the part with the falling objects. god i hate that part)
so i just wasted time repeating the bossfight AND almost gave myself spoilers!! ..uwahhh
so. since i wasted so much time on martlet. i'll give some personal insight onto how the attack is.
God awful
most of her attacks are easy, *especially* since if you look at the crosshairs, it shows you what direction the attacks will go in/come from.
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so all you need to do is just stand there.
with the boxes, you just have to stick to the ground. its safest, just make sure not to get crushed by objects/incoming boxes. the WORST attacks in my opinion would be the feathers exploding into 3 extra feathers attack, and the wind attack with falling objects.
the first of the two is easier, just stay away from the big red feathers and treat it all like a bullet hell.
i still havent figured out a strategy for the wind attack, i honestly just hope i dont get a bad combination of objects and usually heal right before the attack arrives.
but, yeah! i also noticed if you apologize and then attack right after, she seems to skip a line of dialogue and also maybe an attack? its hard to tell.
so yeah! apologies for rambling
moving on!
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i like the fact you can see flowey during this cutscene
too bad we. crash. the boat.
whoops
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YEAHHHHHHHHH desert!
i'd also like to ramble once more; i like how all of these locations and characters clover meet are kind of implied to exist at the same time as the other monsters?
like, the dark ruins: frisk wouldnt encounter it because she never falls into the dark ruins.
the other part of snowdin? it makes sense it exists; we took a different exit out of the ruins, and if you look at the base game, you can overlook a HUGE forest. who knows how many more monsters there are around?
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i think im gonna feel the worst about killing him. look at him. a little guy
OH NO I JUST REALIZED
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HIS ATTACKS ARE AFFECTED BY HOW DAMAGED HE IS..
CAUSE ON THE ATTACK WHERE HE GOES UP AND DOWN THE SCREEN HE JUST. STAYS AT THE TOP WITH A SAD EXPRESSION..
NOOO-
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also for some reason they remind me of. binding of isaac enemies. i dont know why.
one mORE thing i'd like to wonder: where is mo????
is mo gonna like.. come back? im just curious cause like he got a whole intro, theme song, everything. so surely hes gonna come back right??
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you've gotta be kidding me
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this. this is just sad.
the singular tree in the desert
on a lighter note i love the sprite artwork though!!!
OH MY GOD MO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MO- DID HE JUST RIP OFF HIS SLEEVES??
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hes like. trying so hard to be cool. and its kind of cool in a way if that makes any sense at all
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hell yeah mo time
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wait does he know we killed everyone
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hell yeah mo
love how he doesnt care that he killed everyone he just wants money. i love mo. fuck i do NOT want to kill him
damn i just realized he leaves when you buy his stock. i wonder if maybe on a pacifist route that'd be how you befriend him?
too bad he's gonna. erm. probably die. damn i do not wanna kill him
i have one again reached my image limit so i am taking a break. thats all folks! hope you enjoy my ramblings
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13leaguestories · 1 year
Text
February 2023 Forecast
I am writing this with my back and neck in horrible pain. Worse way to start your morning is to get up, stretch, and then pull something. I feel bed ridden.
"T, are you done with your break?" No idea. Define break. My brain is slowly coming back to me so good news is I'm not quitting lmfao. My brain almost had me in the first half ... and most of the second. When I do return though, I'm implementing a new writing process called "write what I want to fucking write when I want to fucking write it."
"T, did you need to add all those expletives?" No. But you know how a lot of folks be like 'as I get older I'm going to curse less?' I'm the opposite. I curse more. It makes me feel all tingly inside.
Alright, welcome to the second best month, purely because it's my birthday month, that's literally it. You know I share this month with both my brother and my father, plus my parents and my brother's anniversaries. Like, the shortest month is basically the busiest for my family in terms of celebrations. Why did they do this? I don't know, no one uses sense in this family besides me.
MOVING ON! Bout to enter into a All My Woes episode.
Superstition S3
Still on break. Do not ask me when it's coming back. Because I'm going to do what I should've done (and what you guys thought I do already) and actually write a good bit of it. I'll probably put up a poll asking if you guys want to keep the bi-weekly schedule or if I just update it as the episodes are complete.
Throne of Ashes
Working on updating the demo with Makaio's finished demo and some bug fixes for the other routes. Nour is next and Ozara will be following them on that upload schedule.
Insight
Because unlike its cousin, For the Crown, Insight is not 100% dead, it's more like on life support. But I'll be updating it with the new UI that I have to bring it in line with the others. Also an additional chapter will be added so now the demo will end at Ch5.
Future T here. I've already updated it with the new UI and the first bug fix. A bigger one is coming so still, if you find any bugs, hold off on sending them in. Bug reports make me depressed and you guys don't want to see that, right? RIGHT?!
Horizon: Sea of Stars
Per my "do what ya want" lifestyle, yes, Tierra has done it again. She has said fuck it to common sense and those two friends out of ten that said don't do it, and she went and made a new project. I blame eight friends who inspire me in the most negative ways because I never blame myself. Never blame yourselves, you're never toxic, it's those around you. (That's a lie, do not quote me. My god.)
This is a scif-fi project (because I needed to have the holy trinity of the best genres out there to make myself feel complete (jokes on me I still feel empty)). The MC is like Phoenix MC in some ways where this is not exactly 100% self-insert friendly, there are a few traits included and mindsets that you as the reader can't change. 6 romances, 2 males, 2 females, and 2 nonbinary. 5 of the 6 are aliens. And art is on it's way with two of the characters already done. I have art of the alien species as well because I know how difficult it can be to picture an alien based off of descriptions alone. They will be included in story to further help.
This is me just telling you guys, I'll post all of the info of the book itself with the demo like I normally do. Especially when I figure out where I want the demo to stop at. It's still pretty much in alpha mode with only one chapter done and even that is still seeing edits.
Also if any of you have got this far and know an artist or you are someone who can do really nice colorful covers and are good with backgrounds then tell me because I'm still searching for a cover artist.
. . .
There is also now a Light Mode on some stories. If it's not there then it's being worked on. Don't look at Superstition, it's not there.
Alright, I think that's it. I'm going to go lie down and scream at the heavens about my neck.
Future T again. My neck is better but if I look over my shoulder it's like "naw girl, stop that."
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