A More Literal Interpretation Of Jevil's "freedom" (also Some Rambling)

A Dead Letter to Cathy

This is a short letter written from the point of view of Lucy, found in the Satsuriku no Tenshi Fanbook.

Written by Makoto Sanada, art by Negiyan, translated by me.

Keep reading

Saiki K. characters as Project Sekai chibis

Posting them here too.

Been adicted to project sekai recently so I wanted to make this.

VOLUME 1: CHAPTER 1

((Part 2 here since tumblr only allows 30 images per post!!)

Personally I hope that no one begins to do a disservice to Haruka's characterization by fixating on one singular thing.

Such as the murder, parental neglect, the possible diagnoses and mental health struggles he had etc. Because fixating on that is no different than what his parents did. Fixating on the label of the issue more than the person with it. Doing this ignores that Haruka as a character was someone committed to changing for the better. So for once in his life he could do something to benefit the people in his life who he cared about and were there for him.

He constantly worked in order to not be a disappointment and died trying his best to repent and at least be useful to one person before he left this world. Regardless of if he was being used or not. He recognized that what he did was wrong. The report illustrates this again and again.

It highlights how he was tormented by his own actions,

Haruka weeps, as he clumsily hides the body, "This child's life was probably much more valuable than my own." "A future much brighter than mine was probably awaiting this child." "Why did I end up like this?" Haruka cried, night after night after that, and repented. He thinks about the future of the child he murdered, and claws at his chest. When he comes to, he was strangling the neck of a second child.

It showcases how he wasn't fully cognizant that he was repeating this pattern with the second child and his music videos display that as well. Going further to imply by not labeling this as a murder that once he recognizes what he was doing he stops himself.

Something alluding to in the series by the fact that Haruka states he's afraid to be near children. A fear more than likely brought about by the fact he did this with no awareness of it.

Haruka's First Voice Drama 4:25s

"A-Amane." What's wrong? "I-I'm not good with them. Children at that age. A-Amane is a good girl but she brings back b-bad memories." Are you alright? You're looking pale, you know?

That he warns people not to get close to him because bad things happen to those that get close to him,

Haruka's First Voice Drama 4:44s

"I shouldn't be too i-involved with people in the first place. Even with all the prisoners they might misunderstand. It's no good." Why is that? Just do as you please. The bonds we share with other people are the very thing that shows our human nature, that's what I believe. "It's something I can't even tell you, prison guard!" Even to me? "You shouldn't get so close to me. Bringing misfortune to people is the only thing I'm naturally good at."

The only thing I'm naturally good at./When he comes to, he was strangling the neck of a second child.

Haruka's First Voice Drama 5:15s

"The more you know about me, I'm sure I'll bring misfortune onto you as well, prison guard." Haruka. "Because! Because... Ah, I'm sorry... for just talking by myself." Continue. "It's happen sometimes. I... I... Even though I try to be normal, everything gets ruined. You, everyone, if you knew me... If you knew everything that I did... I'm gonna be abandoned, that's bound to happen."

Because I'm a selfish killer.

Doing that would ignore that Haruka consistently did things within Milgram to try to mitigate and work on the issues he's constantly faced throughout his life.

Focusing on just one thing ignores everything we saw Haruka's character try to do over the years that he was in Milgram and Milgram went on. Something that he died continuing to attempt to do. It ignores the fact that Haruka didn't think his actions or the murder was right.

It ignores the fact that he came here admitting fully he was wrong and was told actually no you're wrong about being wrong what you did here was okay.

Haruka Metamorphosis of the Weak 2:30s

"It is. I felt uneasy about it this whole time... Someone as worthless as me having killed someone to gain attention, and a person who surely had more worth and more of a future than me, at that..." ... "But it turns out that I did nothing wrong after all! It wasn't wrong of me to kill her. There was never anything for me to worry about...!" Oh...? "It felt so strange warden...! Warden-san, you forgave me so, so much, it felt like a whole lot of people had accepted me! Ahh... It was the first time I've ever felt something like that!"

To reduce all of that characterization down to mental health struggles, neglect, or one single issue at all is to miss what makes Haruka a great character entirely.

He is all of his flaws and successes.

Yet beyond all that in his dying moments he was someone who was trying his best to do right by someone and prove to the people that gave up on him that he wasn't a failure and he could be useful. He was a character that died crying out for a mother who abandoned him saying,

"I changed……I'm……useful now……Mommy."

Even if the only way he could be costed him his life.

Still none of that negates the fact that he was and will always be a murderer. That cut a child's life short. All of those things can be true at once. Because for a character to come of as human to be compelling is to hold space for the fact that like people they will be flawed, they will be pitiable, they will be undeniably wrong in some areas and justified in others and they won't be forever.

People will grow to like or hate them in equal measure and find reasons to justify those feelings just like with any person in real life. Yet at the end of the day beyond like and dislike, hate and ok- There's a complicated characterization there waiting to be appreciated for everything it is not just what's easy to enjoy or dislike about it.

Ok, so, aparentlly, if you open the game on the RPG Maker program, like to translate or change something, you can see alternate conversations and rooms that were made, but never used in the came.

When Rachel and Zack are on the elevator heading to B1, this was an alternate conversation:

This is interesting, so i wanted to show you.

Writing Advice For Fanfics or Novels

Hello, my dears! As requested by @ilay-snt I thought I’d share my writing process with you all! I’m going to split this post into two sections of general advice and then how I personally construct a story.

Disclaimer: I’m no professional by any means. I’m basing this solely off two creative writing classes I took in college and what I find to be personally helpful so if it doesn’t work for you, that’s totally fine! Everyone writes differently!

General Advice:

1. First and most importantly: You Have to Write for Yourself.

Write the story that you want to read. Not only will it keep you motivated to keep going but it frees you to try whatever you want without being worried how it will be received by others. As long as you’re happy with your work, that’s all that matters. Your audience will find you.

(Hello audience! *waves excitedly*)

2. Write Everday

This one might sound a little daunting, but it doesn’t need to be a lot or necessarily “everyday”. It’s just a way to consistently practice, to help you find your author voice, and create a habit.

Writing everyday could be a poem or a paragraph or a whole chapter! It’s whatever you choose to make it just as long as you get something down. It doesn’t necessarily even need to be good. You can always go back and edit, but if you only write when inspiration strikes, you might never sit down to do it in the first place. Practice finding your way through the words to get at what you want, rather than waiting for the words to come to you.

If you’re REALLY really stuck. Then might I suggest you-.

3. Get Feedback

As a chronic second-guesser, I can’t tell you how helpful it is to have someone read your story and help structure the plot. I’ve had a lot of instances where something I’d been struggling with for days was resolved by getting coffee with a friend and having them look at it with new eyes.

Get yourself a beta reader or just someone who has good taste whose opinion you trust to help you work out problems. Two heads are often better than one!

4. Analyze media you admire

A lot of people like to limit it to reading authors you love and looking at the way they create stories, which is very helpful, but don’t neglect other forms of storytelling like movies and TV shows or even videogames! Think about what you like from your favorite things and why you like them.

As an example, one of my favorite pieces of media is the Mass Effect Trilogy. Mostly because it subverts the narrative of the Lone Hero archetype present in other franchises like Halo and Assassins Creed. The protagonist Shepard relies on their teammates abilities and support throughout the game to complete missions and eventually save the universe. Similarly, I like stories where there’s a cast of interesting and diverse characters surrounding the main protagonist who are essential to the plot.

Go dig through your own favorites and figure out what kind of characters you like, tropes you enjoy, and overarching themes that speak to you. From these, you can draw inspiration for your own stories and figure out what you want to write.

4. Take Breaks and Be Present

Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum! If you feel like your inspiration is running dry or you’re in the middle of a block, go out and do things you enjoy or, better yet, try new things!

Be fully present in the moment and look at the world around you as if for the first time, talk to people you run into, or draw from your friends/family for inspiration. There’s a whole world of possibility out there just waiting to be written down or reinterpreted. Don’t be afraid to take breaks and have fun! Writing should never become a chore!

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig into my own personal process:

My Writing Process

1. Everything Begins with the Outline

When I have an idea for a story, I try to do a rough outline first of the big plot points: the beginning, the middle, and the end, then fill in as much as I can in between.

My chapter outlines are never very well defined up until I reach the point where I sit down to write. It’s only then I begin to flesh out what I want to do. I take everything from the previous chapter and what I know is coming up to shape what needs to happen in the moment. I work better with flexibility so I can wander off the path a little rather than rushing from point A to point B.

2. After the Outline, The Character Sheets

Character sheets are probably the most important part of my writing. I like to give my characters as much agency as possible and allow them to steer the story rather than the story steering them. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is to know them inside and out.

Most of my character sheets start with the basics: what does this character want more than anything, what do they actually need, and what do they fear. From there, I can identify their goals for the story and for each chapter, their personality traits, their likes and dislikes, how they respond to conflict, etc.

When I’m writing, the character sheets are my own personal holy book. If I can’t make them move around the scene anymore, a quick look at that will normally get me back on track.

3. Structuring Each Chapter

Normally, I have a goal in mind (or several) I want to reach. Whether it’s progressing the plot or just one character’s arc, I allow those goals to drive the action, then set the characters loose like rats in a maze.

Often, I try to think “what can go wrong here?” and then how that character would react to the set backs or interact with each other based on that.

In a few cases, the characters just do what they want and then entirely new scenes develop I didn’t plot out beforehand from following after that instinct.

On the whole, I allow the characters A LOT of free will to shape the story while holding up the basic structure for them to work within and I’ve found it really makes the story come to life.

4. The Point of It All

Generally, everyone I’ve met who’s a writer has something to say and the story is the medium for that. The most important thing when I’m writing and I’m buried neck deep in the twists and turns of the plot is to not forget why exactly I’m writing it in the first place. So I have a little manifesto of sorts at the top of my outline, only a couple sentences at most, that strips the entire story down to the one central idea I’m trying to convey or an overarching theme.

For example, if I had to sum up the central idea of House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Great book by the way, can’t recommend it enough) it’s that true family accepts you for who you are and can come from unexpected places. Also, it’s essential to stand up to unjust systems in defense of others.

I try to find my own my own theme like this to keep in sight for my story. So I don’t veer too far from the purpose of it.

Anyway, that’s my advice for any other writers who are starting out, hope this was helpful in some way! All of you have a good day! 💖💖

I made a comic out of a certain section of The Book of Bill! It's one of my favorite bits. It's just so VISCERAL and disturbing, and I really wanted to try capturing that. Anyways, hope y'all like it lmao

Satsuriku no Tenshi Character Profiles

Ray, Zack, Cathy, Eddie, and Danny’s profiles are from Until Death Do Them Part (volume 1).

Gray’s profile is from Blessing in Disguise (volume 2).

Art by Negiyan.

Scans and translation by me.

Milgram 3rd trial predictions! Now that the 2nd trial is officially over, and we have to wait until like September for the next trial to begin, I thought I could do some theorizing!

Haruka: Looking at the timeline, oh he's definitely planning... something, alone. He said he'd kill himself If Muu was voted guilty, and we all know she was. If he is planning to kill himself, then I don't think it's going to work, as he was voted guilty and thus will be restrained. However... as childish as he may be, I don't think he's entirely dumb. Perhaps he's looking for ways to work around the restrictions placed on him, or he's planning something else entirely. I just really hope he doesn't hurt any of the other prisoners, but that does seem pretty likely, actually. He definitely will not take the guilty vote well, and he's probably going to be pretty hostile to Es later on... Just based on these predictions, I'm not sure if I can vote him innocent in the 3rd trial. He's so obviously unstable, and maybe if he was treated better as a child he could have learned to function properly with whatever disorder he has, but the fact is he wasn't. If being voted innocent overall means being let out of the prison, then I... I'm not sure if that's an entirely good idea.

Yuno: Her reaction to her vote all depends on whether or not she takes it as people actually agreeing with her reasoning (or lack of) for abortion and her compensated dating. I'm not sure about the Japanese side of things, but at least here, a lot of people do support her even with all that. However... there are still a fair bit of people still like 'Yuno is a girl boss!' (or something along those lines) I have a feeling she'll still see it as people not seeing her for who she actually is. She's cold and rational, and so obviously fallen to the pit of nihilism. I'm not sure if there is a reason for that, but maybe that's the point of her character? Does she need a reason? Life is good for her, but that gets so boring and just... mundane. If everything will be fine, what's the point in doing anything bothersome? She'll probably fall back even further into her cold demeanor. Or in a darker theory, maybe she'll try something drastic to get us to vote her guilty for the last trial? Like attacking someone or maybe something even worse- I mean, if she does recognize the community understands her situation and her reasoning, then maybe she'll become slightly more bubbly and stuff like her 1st trial. Probably open up a bit more. Me, personally, I still support her, and will probably vote her innocent in the 3rd trial, but again, I don't want her to think we're doing it out of our preconceived notions about her.

Fuuta: ... Just taking a look at his recent birthday messages in the timeline- he's so obviously started to listen to Amane and her cultish stuff. I literally can't imagine what a brainwashed Fuuta will look like, but I don't think it'd be pretty. He was suffering so much during the 2nd trial, and he probably did start listening to Amane's spiel because he needed something to ground him. I'm sure the innocent vote this time around did make him feel better though. He's fully aware that what he did to that girl online was bad, and I really don't think he'd be the type of person to think he's fully forgiven just because of this one vote. Though he'd definitely want Es to vote him innocent again in the 3rd trial. And if he's acting generally normal and it's clear he does understand exactly why we voted him guilty and innocent, then...I think I would vote him innocent. Unless he does something horrible because of the whole- potentially might be brainwashed into Amane's cult thing.

Muu: She will not take the guilty vote well, I can feel it. Maybe she stopped hanging out with Haruka as well. I can see that affecting Haruka pretty badly too. I can imagine her getting extremely angry as Es. Or maybe trying to go back to her "boo-hoo look at me who got bullied really badly" thing, to try to guilt trip Es into voting her innocent again. Obviously, that won't work though, resulting in Muu getting really angry/lashing out at him in the voice drama. I think she has a pretty white-and-black view of what's "right" and "wrong." She was probably struggling with herself in the 1st trial, dealing with the shock and guilt over having murdered somebody, but still desperately trying to tell herself she was in the right. Since we voted her innocent then, she was able to fully convince herself she was right, and that's why people voted her guilty then. She needs to see she is in the wrong, while also having a very reasonable motive. That wouldn't end up working though. Because these votes aren't a means to communicate with the prisoners, it's just a verdict. I'm honestly not sure if I want Muu to be voted innocent, or guilty overall. But if being voted guilty overall means the death penalty or something, I don't think Muu deserves that.

Shidou: He knows exactly why we voted him innocent 2 times in a row. I'm sure he does understand his motive can be seen as sympathetic, and he is a doctor. He can patch anybody up if the prisoners get into a skirmish again. He was confused with himself in the second trial, desperately wanting to be given retribution, yet now feeling a desire to live. Being voted innocent twice, and now firmly guaranteed he will be voted innocent overall, he'll either fully accept living again, taking back his skill as a doctor with a sense of pride, or... perhaps fall back into his old thinking patterns. I mean, that's honestly just a thought, but the distorted voice line in the 2nd trial character voice trailer really got me thinking. "You're in my way...hurry up and die." He really had a tunnel vision for saving his wife. (or kids, I'm not entirely sure) His profession as a doctor, specifically one in charge of organ transplants, perhaps did give him a vague sense of superiority. I'm not sure where, but somebody in a comment or something mentioned he may have had a God complex? I'm horrible at explaining this- but it honestly makes some sense to me that he may have had that sort of line of thinking as a doctor. His grief and guilt over the fact he couldn't save his family and the knowledge he was bringing that same pain to so many other families knocked him down a peg. However... maybe the innocent votes we gave him did bring him up again, and he goes back to that sort of mentality.

Mahiru: I sincerely hope she's feeling better after we gave her the innocent vote. Maybe she's started to recover nicely as well! I mean, it's just hopeful thinking, but it'd be nice if she's able to walk again. I do think she'll at least sort of go back to her bubbly personality. Maybe she'll make friends with Amane! Amane did mention Mahiru was nice to be around. Her view on love is obviously pretty warped, but I mean, she honestly feels like a nice lady with good intentions deep down. Unless some absolutely new surprising development happens that makes Mahiru out as really bad- I think I'll be voting Mahiru innocent again. I can see her being like, one of the few generally calm ones in whatever chaos happens between the prisoners before the 3rd trial.

Kazui: Now, in his 2nd trial voice drama, he basically begs Es to truly uncover his sin/lies, because he doesn't have the strength to at this point. It wasn't cheating, like we thought in the 1st trial, and now the leading theory is he's gay. I... I'm pretty sure that is correct, based on all the hints we've gotten so far. I think Kazui would open up to Es a bit more if that was the case, maybe even tell him the full story? I think he'd interact more with the prisoners this time around, being there to protect people if anyone tries something funny. Again, I think he'd be one of the few "normal" acting prisoners in the 3rd trial. Unless some crazy development happens, I'm fully willing to vote him innocent 3 times in a row.

Amane: Now... in the 1st trial we voted her guilty because we didn't want her to fall further into the cult's teachings. That obviously didn't work. Now we voted her innocent. The question is, will this cause her to further validate the cult's doctrines, or in some weird way cause her to realize what we've been wanting her to realize from the start: that she fully deserved to get back at her parents and the cult for everything they did to her, but what she did was STILL BAD. The reason she fell back on her faith was because we rejected her views. Because she needed something to ground her, to protect her from the shock and guilt of murder. So perhaps the opposite will cause her to open up a little more - and not double down on her faith like we predicted in the 1st trial. But the fact she somehow managed to indoctrinate/ in the process of indoctrinating Fuuta into her faith does leave me concerned. Since she's not restrained, I can totally see her trying to attack Shidou or something. Or maybe because Shidou was also voted innocent alongside her, so she wouldn't? Like- him using all his medical stuff is forgivable, but Amane's beliefs that medicine is bad are also forgivable kind of thing. I mean, personally, I'm willing to vote her innocent overall. I actually hope so - because the poor girl literally needs therapy instead of whatever Milgram is. Every prisoner needs therapy.

Mikoto: In his voice drama, John mentioned he'd "disappear" if Mikoto was voted innocent. Because the reason John was appearing more frequently was the stress the guilty vote from the 1st trial put on Mikoto, and now the innocent vote will serve to calm him down a bit more. Personally, I don't think John will fully disappear, but I'm sure John will appear a lot less. (Unless something crazy happens like another prisoner attacking Mikoto again) There's still that thought in my head that Mikoto might be lying to some degree- that he did murder somebody as himself, but with the second trial, that idea has become a lot less certain. It might literally just be as simple as - John killed a bunch of people and Mikoto himself doesn't remember any of it and was only labeled as the Milgram prisoner because he is the dominant personality. That innocent vote will definitely calm Mikoto down significantly. Maybe he'll open up a bit as well, and not like, put on that fake smile even when he's super stressed. To be honest - I'm not sure if I want to give Mikoto an innocent vote. I mean If I'm looking purely at Mikoto, then, yeah, sure. But John is still a part of Mikoto, and no matter the reason, John has done some pretty bad stuff.

Kotoko: She won't take the guilty vote well, and It isn't only a matter of her getting pissed off at Es. (which she probably will) Her vigilante shtick is literally Kotoko's life, her purpose to live, and we rejected it. She'll be grappling with herself, actually starting to question everything she's done. It will be a slap in the face for her - a reminder that she is truly a prisoner here, a murderer. I think maybe she will actually start being remorseful? Or maybe she'll just fall further back in her mindset like Amane did in the 2nd trial. I can also see that. I can also totally see somebody like Fuuta trying to get revenge on Kotoko while she's restrained. That'd take a lot of sympathy away from Fuuta, (at least for me) and will definitely lead to some drama, so that is a very real possibility. I can also see Shidou hurting Kotoko as well, actually. Though that possibility is a lot less, he did talk about "extracting the fang" in Triage. I don't know if I should vote her innocent or not if that's the case. I suppose it's like a "wait and see" kind of thing.

Some Shin art and rambling cause THE MAN NEEDS MORE APPRECIATION. Like- he only recently got a fandom page, I think???

In my opinion, the manga could've done a lot more with him too. Seriously, his corpse furniture shtick is pretty horrifying and everything, but imagine if he was a full blown scluptor. Making absolutely disgusting statues made of twisted and mutilated bodies and cheerfully calling it art. He could have also used all sorts of materials like burnt or decayed skin, or just something like Junji Ito vibes.

Though, I don't really wanna complain all too much- so here's some headcanons!

His floor is totally art-gallery themed. Like he uses that open space where Eddie later put his graveyard to present all his art like an actual display. (he's all about that PRESENTATION) Actually, this is probably, no, definitely canon, I'm sure of it.

His floor also has like, layers. You first see his furnitures, which would be incredibly off putting on it's own, but then you go deeper into the floor... and the "art" you find gets more and more grotesque and morbid.

He just has a bunch of instant ramen stuffed in his pantry. He does consider cooking art- but he's defnitely not that proficient at it. Plus, he uses most of his time making his sculptures, and forgets to properly eat a lot. (The ramen is the only thing he eats at this point)

He has a chainsaw. Why? Because he finds it the easiest way to sever body parts for whatever twisted thing he wants to make, and also because I like to imagine a cool standoff/fight with Zack and Shin in my head- and chainsaws would be incredibly cool with that

In an au where the killers aren't in that building- he'd totally take Eddie in. Like, I imagine Eddie ran away from home and Shin just agrees to let him stay at his apartment or whatever. Eddie would help Shin come up with sculpture ideas, and vice versa with Eddie's graves. Also, Eddie now only eats instant ramen like Shin does.

The twins names are Shinjitsu and Shintaro. I'm... not sure if they're even real names, but I call them that in my head and so it's canon to me.