This Is So Pretty!! :0

i do not trust whit young.

spoilers for drdt. like, all of it so far. as of ch2 ep16.

whit as a character just isn't adding up for me. his reactions to things have been wrong up until now, or at least not as prominent as other characters. not necessarily saying he's a mastermind, or evil, or a david-chiem-type character, but i don't think he's who we think he id

whit has been shown to struggle to hold in his laughter in the middle of a class trial about the murder of one of his classmates, which is definitely an inappropriate reaction, but the fact that he's holding back a laugh at an unintentional joke shows that he isn't forcing amusement in the complete wrong situation. charles seems used to it by now to be honest, but uhhh idk

he's also become a fan favourite, being paired alongside charles as a good ship dynamic. understandably, whit has become a lovable character, serving (slaying) as some form of comic relief. but his reactions seriously give me a weird feeling. even if he's masking his emotions, to do it to this level, in this situation, feels wrong to me. it might just be a personal feeling about him, i do think he's funny and i like whit, but cmon man that is THE MOST SUSPICIOUS MAN IVE EVER SEEN

for example:

whit appears nonchalant after the gruelling, emotional class trial that him and his classmates have sat through for hours? hours game time and real time, i believe. whit is so casual here, and it bothers me - he doesn't look tired at all, worn out, he doesn't even seem to CARE.

more of whit's apathy:

this is the most concern i remember whit showing until this point, and it's directed towards charles. and not their classmate who has just been shot and is, like, violently bleeding out.. it's a bit inappropriate? he doesn't express shock about levi's sacrifice, he just seems to be anxious for charles.

this makes me wonder if whit is maybe more detached than other characters? sure he acts as a comedic character, but is he doing this deliberately? it's not making the mood better, no matter how much he tries, he should've figured that out by now. how is he capable of just keeping a mostly straight face (or, well, happy face) throughout two whole class trials? and an execution (one one so far)

then, there's the first instance of something extreme from whit:

im not sure what to interpret this emotion as. i initially took it as whit being utterly shocked, taken aback, maybe he has claustrophobia? looking into it more i still don't know what to think. he might be hateful, or having some sort of flashback or whatever, but whatever it is it looks dangerous.

this is more emotion than he shows towards xander's death, min's execution, arei's death, levi's sacrifice. and it's towards a locked door. that's why he could have claustrophobia, maybe some that's trauma-related. this could be explored further in the upcoming chapters if we're lucky. :)

sorry if im going into too much detail!!! he's just sus to me at the moment!!! and i miss levi and i miss ace and i am a very very very sad person and i want them BACK!!!!!!!! anyway hope this was fun to read i guess idk maybe perhaps

As I promised before, here are some extra doodles for their designs along w some backstory + discarded costume choices!

The reason why I made full body references when I only did a half-ish body drawing was because I didn't had the composition figured out at the time.

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His costume design and backstory in the AU was heavily inspired by the Harley in the 2004 The Batman animated series because I happen to actually like how she was portrayed in that series.

Ofc I changed some key points, the biggest being the fact that he was never a psicologist because sdra2 already has Kokoro, plus, I thought that the idea of maintaining him as a journalist who caught himself in a mess was an interesting idea.

His civilian appearance was influenced by one of his beta designs.

The only discarded doodles I'm gonna show of him. They aren't detailed bc he got the role so I didn't see the point on detailing them.

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I already knew how Mikado would look like so he doesn't have discarded choices except when it come to the color palette bc that's always a battle for me...

His design was slightly inspired by both Joker's design in The Batman 2004 and the Joker in the Suicide Squad Isekai Anime.

For a moment I thought about painting him a smile on his face like the anime Joker but inmediatly decided against it because I was too lazy to draw that a bunch of times🤷‍♀️

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When I realized iroha wasn't gonna win I decided detail all her doodles and put them together so you could appreciate her design better!

Unlike Nikei, her costume design was more jester-like and includes the three diamond symbol bc I thought it would fit her very well.

If she would have won, her backstory would have been a lot more simple than the one Nikei has bc she simply got into the wrong place at the worst time and only helps Mikado bc he "promised" that if she served him, he wouldn't kill her so she doesn't even hide the fact that she doesn't feel love and instead fears him a lot.

well said :D

not really related but i think it'd be funny if after all the buildup levi just kinda died

like arturo just fails or smth and its rlly anticlimactic 😭

anyway very cool

now, and hear me out, here is how acevi can still win (a thesis)

i have my personal suspicions that ace’s line “i needed a reason to hate you” has implications about his friendship with taylor—considering the only thing we know definitively that levi and taylor have in common is that they are both people that ace, at some point, has considered a friend. taylor's death is vaguely alluded to in a line of dialogue where ace states he doesn’t want a third death on his hands—a line that also shows he feels responsible—however, we can assume that taylor’s death was not maliciously ace’s fault, as ace’s motive secret is about his eating disorder; if he had truly committed a murder by the standards of the law, chances are that would have been written instead (see: levi, min). this being said, i believe that ace was deliberately hostile towards levi in an attempt to drive him away and discourage any form of friendship out of fear of deepening any pre-existing attachment he may have felt towards levi in the earlier half of chapter one.

levi, in turn, is shown to be confused by this, though we can gather from his lack of empathy or internalised morality that said confusion doesn’t stem from a place of anger, nor spite. subjectively, i believe that levi was, in some genuine way, intrigued by ace and his seemingly erratic behaviours, and this lack of overt distaste or hatred prompted ace to deliberately press his buttons, trying (and ultimately succeeding) in breaking levi’s composure. levi snapping at him, in some way, comforts ace, affirming his self-deprecating belief that he is incapable of being cared for, speeding up the process that he believes is inevitable; that levi will tire of him.

upon the revelation that whether ace lives or dies—and more broadly, ace in general is of no concern to levi, ace is very quickly forced to come to terms with the fact that all his efforts were effectively meaningless, and ultimately it would not have meaningfully contributed towards levi’s opinion of him. in a way, he mourns this; in his efforts to drive levi (and honestly, the entire cast) away through hostility, he placed a target on his own back, resulting in an attempt on his life from nico. in his final hours, ace is able to see the broader picture formerly, obscured by the tunnel vision given to him by his own debilitating anxiety, but is ultimately too proud (or too scared) to apologise to levi directly, doubling down on his efforts in the conversation they have post-trial.

i believe that ace did not necessarily account for forming an attachment—much less any form of attraction to levi, and that this oversight only further infuriated him. this culminates at the end of chapter 2, wherein levi is shot, perhaps fatally, and ace has to confront himself and the person he has tried to be throughout the narrative. in his final moments, not only does he plead for his own immediate execution—something he has been, quite literally, scared to tears by, with his general fear of death being highlighted continuously the entire series—but delivers a monologue to arturo in open defiance of his own vices, encouraging him to save levi’s life and not be petrified by the same fear he himself has now succumbed to. i am of the incredibly strong opinion that this dictates a strong level of care, or at the very least responsibility for levi and his wellbeing.

how will this culminate in acevi still winning? through levi. if he survives to chapter 3, which he very well may, he will be left to contemplate this; to attempt to unpack ace’s motivations for both his hostility and his seemingly unprecedented choice to face his own death to save levi’s life. while i think it’s unrealistic to expect any sudden empathy for ace in a hypothetical levi character arc, ace would undoubtedly occupy his thoughts well into later chapters.

thank you for reading keep in mind i am a sad little man with very strong and very biased opinions on things i have too much time to talk about ❤️

teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko teruko

teruko doodle cuz umm i watched the newer episodes lol

i might post more art someday ...

i put the characters in a headcanon generator

credit to @nullin-void for the generator i think

everyone suggesting whit is claustrophobic and nobody suggesting charles is claustrophobic and that on top of all the blood in the trial room, everyone possibly being trapped there without elevator access was enough to make whit get mad at monotv. we spent a lot of the trial talking about levi not having an inherent sense of empathy, but whit is the one whose sense of compassion feels most screwy to me.

whit appears completely undisturbed through multiple people's brutal deaths. levi gets bullets through him and everyone's freaking out about getting him medical treatment ASAP, except whit. whit's primary concern was that charles didn't close his eyes and saw all the blood from it. the only things whit ever brings up with any sense of seriousness relate to charles. this goes beyond ship fuel or mastermind/traitor bait, i'm half beginning to suspect this ultimate matchmaker is just a very dedicated yandere

ignore the fact that it's almost 3am

anyway ii played roblox pressure for the first time and got to level 50 without dying nad then i met sebastian and i jumped on him several times and healed myself and made him hit me against a wall and then made him murder me to get voicelines

...... i MIGHT have found a new interest

its 1am and i have no life. heres another drdt post. it's about ace and levi now.

drdt ch2 ep16 spoilers

levi and ace. levi served as the one person ace considered to be a friend in the killing game, whereas levi could never understand ace no matter how hard he tried and found himself getting frustrated.

these two never got their proper goodbye - the last thing pretty much that levi will remember ace saying to him is how he should kill himself (or something close to that). he's too busy being full of holes like a bloody sponge to hear ace yelling at arturo to save levi. teruko ruined their last goodbye with her arrogance. which is a bold statement but like. girl. it would've taken you literally a few steps out of the way 😭 this is NOT your main character moment!!!

ace's execution just served to prove how deep rooted his fear was, to the point where it could be considered pathetic maybe. even knowing it was prolonging the possible death of his friend, ace was still so scared to die, scared enough to risk anyone's life. he did it with arei, and was prepared to get everyone killed to win the class trial, and even while levi was bleeding out, ace still fought for his own life. he was telling monotv to 'get it over with quickly', but he then did the exact opposite. ace couldn't live up to the bravery he had to try and conjure up out of nowhere. the fact that he even tried in the first place, for levi, amazes me, since he's been so mortified by the idea of dying throughout this whole game.

i wonder how levi will be when he wakes up. he risked his own life for someone else despite having no empathy for others. does he really have no empathy for others? he seemed upset about never understanding ace, no matter what, but was that just about his death or about the missed opportunity? i can't say for certain whether levi really viewed ace as just that 'distant stranger' he described people as (because im sleepy), but either way.. no more husbands!!! :)

(scuttles back to my little corner and starts ugly crying)

drdt fandom please revive i made a thing

is this at all accurate

guys i had a Thought™

whit young ultimate survivor? maybe he's pulling a rantaro amami on us?