Doubt Academy 4: Rubble

Welcome to In Regius Decretum. Embrace light! Life! Culture! The architecture is just as antique as it feels, don't you think? Stained glass is beautiful around this time! Please be careful with the furniture, it's antique, too! But as long as you're careful... Don't pay attention to that squeaking spiral staircase, it's just grand, is it not? Who needs electricity, anyway! What? That's ridiculous? Well, who asked you, Gloom-And-Doom? This is your home! We're family now! My friends, forge bonds and prosper in your new stratified utopia - ground zero in humanity's new chapter of hope!

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DOUBT ACADEMY

Good morning, everyone! Class is now in session.

To be continued on the main blog!

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Monobear Theater - Fine Roast

“Aaaaah, there’s nothing like a nice flaming crucifixion to start the day... Or something like that. Like my Monogranny always said, it doesn’t matter how they die, as long as it’s pretentious and full of heavy-handed metaphors!”

“Right?”

“Anyways, now that she’s out of the way, we can get to the important part. Hold onto your seats kids, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!”

Oh god, what was this bear about to do? Sweat dripped down your neck, and you saw others dig their fingernails into their podiums. Waddling to a curtained off corner of the room, Monobear gave one last wink before pushing it aside, revealing a wooden crank almost as large as him.

“And heave… ho!”

Monobear jumped up, grabbing the handle and pulling it down. As the sound of machinery churned, you expected to be shaken off your feet, but… no, the courtroom wasn’t moving. It was the far wall, behind Monobear’s throne.

The gap between the wall and ceiling was too dark to see through at first, but as Monobear continued to crank, you could clearly see another room beyond it. The wall sunk further into the floor, revealing another courtroom - and the class that you’ve only seen until now through the thick glass in the great hall.

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Monobear Theater - Tooth and Consequences

And that was that. They’d done it. They’d finally bagged the Mastermind. The dead had been one hundred percent correct in their suspicions of Nao Tamahshiro after all, despite the small voice of doubt that had insisted, despite everything, on piping up in his mind at the last moment. He’d be able to go home safe and sound, back to his work, to his clients, to his family. By all rights, Yoshihiro Shirayuki should have been happy about this particular turn of events, or at the very least relieved, but…

“…”

How could he allow himself to be anything approaching happy in the face of Chitose’s impending execution? How could he allow himself relief in the face of something that he could have easily averted had he not been too cowardly to speak up and directly accuse CU?

He certainly could not Yoshihiro decided, and with that in mind, the dental hygienist shot Chitose one last glance, one last small, regretful smile before glancing away. He couldn’t allow himself to meet her eyes as she spoke words that caused his already aching heart to twist in his chest, and he certainly wasn’t willing to watch the kind girl who had help lift his spirits after the events that had kick-started this disgusting game suffer a brutal and undeserved demise that he could have easily saved her from.

And Yoshihiro certainly did not watch the ensuing execution, instead looking down at his shoes as he hot tears began to sting his eyes. But despite his best efforts, he heard it (oh, for the days when he could have just shut his hearing aids off and allowed the ensuing static to take over, what he wouldn’t have given…), allowing his mind to proceed to fill in the blanks and… it was a miracle that he didn’t turn around in the end. A miracle and a blessing. His last memory of Chitose, judging by the sounds of the execution, could very well have been as a charred corpse rather than the bright and loving, if self-admittedly misguided girl he had known. It was far better this way.

“I’m sorry, Chitose-chan. I’m… so sorry…”

Shallow apologies, he knew, but Chitose deserved that much, Yoshihiro told himself as he straightened up, wiping his eyes… before temporarily fixing Nao with the coldest, most hate-filled glare he could muster. Just for a moment, and he doubted the masseur cared in the slightest, but he was going to allow himself some expression of contempt before the end. 

After all, despite his words moments before, Yoshihiro did feel contempt for the masseur, maybe a bit before, now far more than a bit. And why not? At the end of the day, it was Nao’s fault that so many people were dead. That he had died once before. That he might not have even been Yoshihiro anymore. Was it so wrong for him to let himself indulge in a bit of hatred for a mass-murderer? Was it so wrong for him to actually look forward to the death of someone who had blood all over his hands, who probably didn’t even care that he did?

It probably was, just a bit. Even so, Yoshihiro allowed himself to indulge in the feeling for the moment. Like every other uncalled-for emotion he’d felt in this place, he could regret it later.

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Monobear Theater :: ＧＯＯＤＢＹＥ （Ｐｔ．２） :: CU

MIO had single-handedly done it.  His life, as well as CU’s were successfully protected.  With the mastermind also successfully found, the end was finally in sight.  Though MIO did not look particularly in good shape.  The tears had finally stopped with considerable effort on MIO's part.  Though he apologized to Heiwano previously, it completely lacked any genuine feeling.  After all, he was alive and CU was alive.  That was his ideal; anything more was superfluous to him.

``C’mon CU, you’ve got to keep it together.  It’s over now.  It’s over.  Even if we threw our vote away, she still would’ve gotten axed by a landslide.”

But CU was in nothing short of hysterics.  Out of all the people to take the blame for their selfish actions, it had to be Chitose?  The one person who supported them?  The only person who tried their best to take care of the weird, bald-headed kid would now pay the ultimate price by the very person who she reached out to?

Though down-right selfish, that much was evident when he didn’t say a word about knowing full well about the buried medicine, CU, and MIO by extension, were not heartless.

Chitose. . . I-I... I’m... s-so... I’m so... sorry!

``Put the blame on me, I’ll take every ounce of blame you could possibly have.  ... though I doubt she bears you any ill will in her heart, that’s the kind of person she was, no?  ‘Sides, she said it herself: where there’s bad, there’s also good.  She’s getting snuffed out, but we get to live.  Honestly, would you rather Heiwano living or both of us dying, CU?”

W-well... e-erhm... t-that’s... just kind of...

``Obvious?  That’s the word you’re looking for.”

MIO reached up and grabbed his own arms tightly, their unique form of a hug.  However odd it looked, it seemed to do something since MIO, who had started to feel ill with all of CU’s worrying, began to feel a little better.  MIO gave his arms a squeeze, assurance that he was there and he would protect CU from anything that would seek to bring him harm.

``There there, kiddo... We’re almost out.  Just hold on tight for a little bit longer, yeah?  We’ll deal with that asshat Tamashiro and be out of here quick.  So just... do your best, you’re doing a great job.”

MIO knew full well that hostile responses to CU would negatively affect his own condition while he fronted for the pair.  He knew Chitose’s execution video would bring CU major distress, so as the screen came down and the speakers long with them, MIO turned his body away from the screen and entered a squat.  Then, he firmly pressed his hands over his ears, as tightly as he could.

...Thank y-you... MIO...

CU was well aware of what was happening on the screen though he knew that not seeing it was better than subjecting himself to face his crime head-on.  Was it cowardly?  Yes.  Was it irresponsible?  Yes.  Should he have stood up, watched, and accepted that it was his fault that Chitose was being murdered before the entire class?  Yes.

But, even then, CU put the blame on MIO.  He didn’t actually kill Tae-hyun, it was MIO’s fault.  Putting the blame on him... that was comforting.  Deflecting, isolating himself... he was a creature of habit, leaving his comfort zone was something he never liked to do, even if the result was favorable.  Now that he had a wall to protect him wherever he went, surely CU would never leave it.

``....”

MIO could take that burden.  MIO would take every burden because it would preserve the rational, cautious CU that he had lost so long ago.  The kind whose sense of self-preservation was so high that nothing and no one could come between, himself excluded.  It was this sense that had kept the meek boy alive through countless murders during MIO’s absence thus proving its worth.  MIO was proud of CU.

The two of them together, the most imperfect, perfect pair.

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MONOBEAR THEATRE: Noboru - Ashes to Ashes

And the winner is… Nao Tamashiro!

Noboru didn’t even need Monobear to say that they were right, but when he did – when the bear confirmed that he was the one behind all this…

He felt a surge of satisfaction.

It didn’t even matter that this meant what it always had meant – that is, Monobear’s confirmation sealed the fate of Nao Tamashiro. Another human being was going to die, and Noboru was fine with it. And since the masseur was the one who started this – he was the reason why everyone died. He was why Chisato got hurt in the first place. He’d put the lives of Chisato and Kezao in danger.

He’d resorted to arguing semantics. He attempted to save himself by crying out ‘coincidences’. He was reaching and it was so transparent. He was trying to worm his way out of it, push the blame onto someone else, live another week so that someone else could die. He tried to push the blame on Kezao – and for what, a bunch of plants?

Act of cowardice and desperation or not – it was that that really set him off.

And so, Noboru didn’t actually care that the masseur was going to die. Nothing would make him regret it, except—

“I’m taking Miss Sacrificial here first!”

It was a punch in the gut. No, it hurt even more than that. It hurt back then when Noboru was condemning her, and it hurt now. It hurt that it was one of his votes that pushed toward this conclusion.

But of course he did this. He did this for a reason. He did it to protect Chisato and Kezao. They were so close – too close to fail now. With freedom and safety at their fingertips and no choice but to kill someone... 

That was just how nature went, didn’t it? That was how it always went: a life for a life. That was why Noboru voted for whoever he voted for; because he’d rather have that person die than himself, than Chisato, than Kezao. He wasn’t going to allow for a tie or a random execution.

They would never be in danger again. If that meant Noboru had to be horrible, if that meant he had to become a monster, then that was fine. As long as…

Keeping his left arm around Chisato, he pulled the other one away, holding it out towards the right side of the courtroom. He didn’t say anything, instead staring into the familiar yellow eyes of his best friend. Thankfully, Kezao knew exactly what he meant by the gesture, and it wasn’t long before Kezao arrived at his side. Noboru wrapped his free arm around the other’s shoulders, pulling the chef in closer to himself and Chisato.

They were safe. They were just fine. That was all that mattered at the very end.

(Chisato and Kezao accepted him. They trusted one another, confided in one another, loved one another. They’d made it through hell together.) 

Chitose didn’t do that.

With two of the most important people in his life in his arms, the pain grew numb. It didn’t dissipate completely. There was a horrible, empty pit where all of the pain was, but…

Noboru’s eyes drifted to Chisato, who had moved in a little bit closer. And just like before, she ‘said’ something – something all too familiar, enough that didn’t really need a sound for him to get.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He’d live.

He was able to raise his head and look at Chitose. He was able to stare into her eyes and listen to her words as she spoke. The numbness only grew, but it was tiring. He was tired, worn down by everything that had happened, and of course… now he had to listen to Chitose’s last words.

He was numb, but he still felt it. It might not have been pain, but it was still pressure; the words weighed down upon him and it felt like he was going to fall right through the ground. But he didn’t. And while it was technically the laws of physics and basic mass and matter that kept him from sinking through the solid floor, he adamantly believed that it was the two people in his arms who supported him and kept him up.

It felt like ages, but it was done. Chitose was dragged away and the execution had begun.

And he wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. He had already accepted that he was terrible – he could look away, but…

No. At the very least… he had to do this. He’d help in killing her. He’d have to watch the consequences of his actions. He didn’t move as Chitose was lifted upward into the air. He tried not to look into her terror-filled eyes for too long, and he tried not to blink as the first object hit her. He’d tried not to think back on the mannequins in the audience, and he tried not to wonder which items were thrown by hi—no, the mannequin that was coincidentally dressed like him.

He held his breath as the flames crept up along the curtains.

But when the arrow sailed through the air and hit her squarely in the chest, Noboru took in a sharp, ragged gasp as Chitose’s silhouette exploded into flames.

“Ch-Chit—“

He had no right to speak her name.

“Haaa… a-aah…”

His throat burned and his eyes stung. The suit designer forced himself to breathe, breathe slowly, breathe fully. Relax. He focused on the warmth of Chisato and Kezao’s, focusing on the fact that they were still there and alive and breathing and fine.

But even so…

… I’m… sorry.

He wouldn’t say it out loud. It was far too late, far too silly. Noboru had essentially killed her – so why would he apologize? Did he regret it? Of course there was regret. This could have ended differently. Someone who was actually gross and guilty could have died in her stead. But it was far, far too late now.

Now, there was only one thing left.

Noboru’s green eyes locked onto the mastermind and narrowed. There was nothing more he really needed to say; now they were just waiting. There was nowhere to run, and everyone knew what was going to happen to him. It made no difference what they said or did, but Noboru couldn’t help but say it anyway, to the cause of the hell he and his loved ones were forced to go through:

“Go away!”

And good riddance.

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Anansi and the Fall from Grace (Last Chi Standing RE: Execution)

The rage that had been building up in her ever since Nao had the gall to accuse Kezao (her best friend!) of starting this dissipated the moment Nao’s name came up on the screen. They’d done it! By a landslide, too. Clearly, at least most people were willing to listen to reason.

And he was the one. Of course he was. There’d never been a moment of doubt in her mind. Nevertheless, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and let the tension dissolve out of her limbs. They’d won. She could go home– more importantly, she could go home with Noboru and Kezao. They could leave all this behind them and never look back. Maybe she could even lend her skills to ensuring the other people who did this lived to regret it (though not for long.) The sky felt like the limit.

Between the thrill of the chase and the overwhelming relief at their victory, it’d barely registered that someone was going to die before that. But two lives – one ostensibly innocent, whatever that word was supposed to mean, and one incredibly guilty– for her life and the lives of Noboru and Kezao seemed a fair trade. Especially if it twisted the knife just a little more for Nao.

(Could you call anyone innocent here, after the things they’d seen and done? Not really. That, at least, was a comforting reminder to her. Sure, some of them might’ve had a head start before they came here, but that barely mattered now.)

Nevertheless, it was going to happen. She huddled in closer to Noboru, just in case he needed the support, mouthed a few words of support at him (was that ‘I love you?’) and closed her eyes.. Whatever words Chitose had, it was too little too late, and Chisato’s thoughts were elsewhere.

(They could go to Sendai together, walk on the piers, go to the Pageant of Starlight, she could show him all the best arcades…)

(…but whatever she might have told herself, she couldn’t quite manage to look at Chitose getting dragged off, couldn’t quite manage to watch the crowd turn on her, couldn’t quite tune out the screaming, couldn’t quite stop herself from catching a glimpse of a charred corpse and cringing–)

–but it was over. And the person who really deserved it remained.

It was still tempting, so tempting, to make his final moments a bit more painful in a very direct manner. The switchblade she’d carried with her for the past few weeks suddenly felt heavy in her pocket. But she didn’t need to get blood on her hands. She didn’t have to do anything, except for be patient.

Patient was something she was very good at.

Just like on That Day, she’d (however indirectly) led someone to their death. Just like on That Day, she’d managed it without anyone knowing what she’d done. Her reputation was intact, nobody was the wiser. And she would carry the secret with her for the rest of her life.

(Well, there were two people who knew her secrets. And they didn’t care.)

It’d felt good, really. The first time (and all the times after that) hadn’t been flukes. Everyone who’d belittled her, who’d told her she’d amount to nothing, they couldn’t have been more wrong. They’d all realized she wasn’t so beneath notice too late.

“…..”

So she couldn’t resist a smirk at Nao. He deserved it as far as she was concerned, especially after all that’d happened to her. She hoped he knew what she’d done, hoped he knew exactly where her vote went to. Both times.

Either way, she could live without that. She’d know, at the very least. She’d know everything she’d gotten away with. She was still happy.

It’d all worked out like clockwork.

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Monobear Theater - The Burning Issue

[Music]

Chitose closed her eyes one final time and a bitter smile spread across her face as the sound of chains filled the air. Within moments, the girl was gone from the trial room, dragged away into the darkness unknown. It didn’t take long for a screen to start descending from the ceiling and two rather large speakers rose from the floor soon after. Silence filled the room for only a brief moment until the speakers gave an annoying ‘pop’ as they came to life. The screen accompanied them by flickering and soon adjusting itself to show a high quality picture of a stage with it’s curtains closed. Loud clapping could be heard coming from the speakers. It sounded really odd though, like a large group of people were all clapping in perfect unison. The camera moved away from the stage and showed the ones responsible for the noise; the audience. It was a very large auditorium with rows and rows of filled up seats by… mannequins? They looked human at first, as they were wearing clothes and had hair on, but their faces were blank and featureless, moves robotic and cold. As the camera did a few zoom in shots, you could’ve sworn you saw a mannequin dressed just like you somewhere there. Did you imagine it? It was probably just coincidence. After all, there were so many mannequins there and all of them were dressed differently. There was probably a good chance that one of them ended up getting dressed similarly to you.

The clapping got louder and was slowly increasing in speed and the camera quickly went back to focusing on the stage. Soon enough, lights came on and the curtains started to move to the sides, causing the clapping to get fast and uneven, similar to how a real audience would act. The show seemed to have started.

The first thing you notice once the stage is revealed is the large screen in the background. It was currently off, but it was so big it was quite hard to miss. Once you took your eyes off of the thing, you noticed a small figure standing in the middle of the stage, looking like a deer in headlights. The camera zoomed in, revealing the figure to be Chitose, all dolled up and ready for the show. Despite the encouraging clapping and being dressed really nicely, Chitose seemed frightened and maybe even petrified? No, that wasn’t it. Something was on her back. Something large and heavy and probably was taking the girl all her strength not to just topple over, much less actually move. As the claps started quieting down, the screen behind her seemed to turn on. Large letters appeared on it and a rather robotic, slightly distorted voice read them out.

“Everyone, lets all welcome Heiwano Chitose! Our great and pure hearted visionary! The girl that will lead us all to the fuwa-fuwa future!”

The crowd reacted to the message gleefully, cheering whistling and clapping. Chitose looked baffled, giving a confused little smile at the audience. Just as she did, an odd noise and a gust of air came from her left side. Whatever had been on her back suddenly extended and… it was a wing? A large, long, beautiful wing that spread it’s feathers out, much like a bird that was about to take flight.

“She promises us a world without pain! A world without corruption! A world where we all live in peace and harmony!”

The voice continued and the crowd roared. The second wing extended quickly after, much like the first one. It was baffling how wings so large could’ve possibly folded up so neatly on her back. Even a bigger mystery was, how did Chitose not fall over yet? Well, a shot from a certain angle provided the answer; there was a rope on her back. A big, strong rope was perfectly attached to the wings, just barely enough to keep the girl at balance. If she tried to move one way or another, she’d surely fall.

“We will give rise to our visionary! Let her lead us like the stars lead those lost in the darkness of the night!”

Two mannequins approached Chitose on the stage and lifted her arms up to the wings. They placed her wrists in restraints that were attached to the wings, making the girl even more vulnerable and off balance than she was before.

As the mannequins moved off the stage, an odd noise started coming from the stage. Chitose was being lifted off of the stage floor and was now suspended mid air. The large, long wings spread across the whole of the stage, just inches away from the curtains on each side. Slowly, the girl moved higher and higher as the voice continued to speak, the letters big and bright on the screen behind her.

“What has she not done for us? Starting at a tender age of six, this girl, despite all prejudice, started on her mission! Starting small she slowly worked her way up and became a worldwide inspiration! Raising funds for countless organizations! There are children adults and seniors who all owe their better lives to this girl! No animal or plant is unloved! All shal be saved all shal–ll-llzzztt-knzzzttt-

-kzzzzzttt-

-KKKZZZZZTTTTT-

ERROR

ERROR

NEW DATA. NEW DATA.”

Chitose could’ve sworn her blood turned cold then as she heard the crackling of the already eerie voice. The crowd seemed to calm down now and paid attention to what the screen was saying.

“ERROR! ERROR!

LIES! LIES! LIES!

DELUSION! DELUSION!

ALL WORDS ARE LIES! ALL PROMISES ARE LIES!”

Chitose was stopped, ending up being suspended in dead center of the stage as the voice screeched out. With each word the crowd grew restless and dissatisfied noises escaped them. Soon they turned into hissing and booing as the screen continuously flashed ‘FAKE’ behind her. All poor Chitose could do was watch as the large crowd that praised her mere moments ago turned violent and angry. She breathed in and out deeply, eyes wide in fear. This was it. Her worst nightmare. Even if these were mannequins, they were still acting just like she had always dreaded. Worst part about all this was that she couldn’t move. Her legs did not reach the ground and she was too high to jump, even if she could. Her arms were trapped on the wings, so she couldn’t even hide her face. All the could do was stare at the what was now a mob, her fear stricken eyes filling up with tears. Without even needing her to blink, the hot salt water started spilling down her cheeks and no sooner did she let out a frightened whimper did something hit her in the stomach. A shoe fell to the floor of the stage, being the cause of Chitose’s sudden but already fading pain. Soon enough another shoe followed and then an apple, a cell phone, a pocket knife, sinking deep into the flesh of the trapped girl’s arm. Chitose yelled out in pain, but the angered mob did not seem to care.

More objects came her way. Random, heavy objects that must’ve left bruises under those clothes. They certainly did leave quite a few on her legs wherever she was hit. Something even knocked out the knife from her arm, causing it to slice it open and bleed something awful.

All Chitose could do was take it. Was this going to be her death? Slowly beat up by random objects thrown by those who once supported her? She closed her eyes and braced herself for the death that was surely to come any minute now, but… the objects seemed to have stopped? With a slight spark of hope, the girl opened her eyes, only for her forehead to be hit by something heavy and incredibly painful. Glass shards fell to the floor and soon enough drops of various liquids followed. Some drops were as clear as water, but most ended up being blood. Chitose was hit by a bottle -a half full bottle- on the head and was now heavily bleeding out. Was this it? Was this the final blow that would end the Visionary? The girl’s eyes fluttered open, but just barely. It was hard to keep them open through the horrid pain and the rushing stream of blood that was filling her vision. Chitose wasn’t even all that sure if one of her eyes even worked anymore, considering how much red she was seeing. It didn’t help that the mystery liquid that was now soaking her dress also provided a stinging pain to her wound. Chitose was wincing and writhing, not able to so much as scream as she was was struggling to even breathe normally.

Even as she was losing blood at a clearly rapid pace, the objects started up again. This time, however, they were thrown onto the stage - mostly the curtains. These objects in question were not every day ones, like most others, but rather lighters and candles. They were all lit as they hit the fabrics of the curtains, making them catch fire almost instantaneously. The flames rose up with surprising speed, engulfing the fabric like a hungry beast, rising up and thrashing about, trying to grab hold of anything in it’s way. The only thing close enough for the fire to grab onto were Chitose’s wings ,however, and as soon as the flames brushed against those lovely feathers, they caught fire.

This was it. Chitose glanced to one side then to the other. She closed her pained eyes and… smiled. A defeated smile. A sad, broken smile spread across her bruised and bloodied face. This was the end…

Although her fate seemed to be sealed at this point, the restless crowd didn’t seem satisfied as the flames grew closer and closer to the visionary’s arms. One of the mannequins pulled up a bow and an arrow, while another wrapped a fabric around the arrow’s end and lit it on fire. No, they weren’t done with Chitose, it seemed. With a precise aim, the flaming arrow flew through the air and hit Chitose square in the chest. The girl only managed to let out a gasp before her body got engulfed in large flames. The liquid from before was not water, it seemed. It had been alcoholic, or at least highly flammable. The speakers in the trial room started to burst with agonized screams of the Visionary. Her face and clothes were burning off, the rest of her body quickly catching fire as well. Her voice was loud and the screams echoed through the room, reaching every single person, no matter how hard they’d try to cover their ears. Agony. The girl sounded like she was in pure agony as all of her now was engulfed in flames. The fire reached the rope that was holding her up quite quickly. Within moments, the screeching body of Heiwano Chitose fell to the ground, landing with a loud thuds and cracks, wings and all. Her voice didn’t stop for a few more moments as her body writhed on the floor in an unnatural manner, as if her limbs were all broken and twisted. Eventually, the noise died out and soon after, her body stopped moving. Everything went silent, then. The audience had calmed down, the screen on the stage shut off and only the crackling noise of the flames on the girl’s body remained to echo through the room. The lights on the stage turned off and the screen in the trial room faded to black. And just like that, the bright visionary, the leading star in this cruel game of life, was reduced to nothing more than a charred corpse on a stage unknown.

Chitose Heiwano, SHSL Visionary has been executed!

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[video credit to naks!]

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Monobear Theater - The Fault in Our Star

“Forget about me.”

Those were the words Nao spoke last to her and she couldn’t help but grip his hands and shake her head. How could she? Nao, despite everything… he was important to her. In the end, he stood by her like no one else. He supported her more than her own parents ever had.

“Nao, I’m sorry... I can’t… I’ll always remember you, but… not in the kind of light you think you deserve…”

She gave him a sweet smile, despite her mildly damp face, then pulled away, composing herself for one last speech. She turned to look at the rest of her classmates, straightening up before speaking up.

“Everyone… my time is running out, but I’d just like to say one important thing to you… to all of you. I know that-”

She paused as a sob attempted to escape her. She quickly covered her mouth and forced it back, continuing to speak.

“I know that you all have a very poor opinion of me right now… and my words matter little, but I want you all to know that I am… truly and deeply…. incredibly sorry.”

Her speech was punctured, a little slow, she took pauses; all so she could speak with as much clarity as she could. With all that effort, Chitose Heiwano… apologized.

“I’m sorry. Truly, I’ve failed you. As a visionary, the support of the people is my greatest strength, but if faith has been lost in me to such a degree, I must have really… “

She felt her sentence trail off as she looked down at the podium. Her vision became blurry for a moment as hot tears dripped down onto the surface of the voting device. Many thoughs were racing through her head, but her time was limited, so she had to choose quickly, yet carefully, what she wanted to be heard and what they can go without.

“I know that… my words could be harsh sometimes… Koba-chii… Moyasu-san… everyone else who might’ve felt unease around me… I’m so sorry. At the beginning of all this, I stood strong! I… my beliefs were unshakable, I was so convinced that everything I knew and thought was right, that anything that deviated from it had to be absolutely vile, but… over time, I saw that my ways were not helpful. My ways were not productive… this place? It did not follow my rules. I tried to… I tried to change, adapt… I wanted to understand, bend, shift… so I could help everyone, but… things kept going, they kept getting worse… I stumbled, tripped and fell and just as I thought I was getting back up, I felt like I got kicked back down again… I had to sink to my lowest, to the point of practically giving up, until I realized that this… this hatred… was our greatest undoing. With each trial it was less about justice and convicting the criminal and more about who we didn’t trust or didn’t like… one wrong look or an ill-spoken word and the next name on the screen could be yours. I realized all this too late…

I realized that my actions weren’t always appropriate… so I apologize. I apologize I stumbled, I apologize I wallowed, I apologize that I lashed out and spoke horrid things to some of you… so with my last breath, with the greatest sincerity I can possibly express… I’d like to tell you, all of you, that I don’t hate a single one of you. Despite anything I might’ve said, or did… none of you deserve hatred... We all make mistakes, mistakes are human. We learn from them, that’s how we continue on. Mistakes shouldn’t be punished, but here we are, trapped in a maddening game that brings out the worst in you… the worst in us.”

Chitose took a deep breath. Throughout her speech, she grew visibly calmer, her tears stopped flowing and her tone was more even. And finally, the pink haired girl even gave a smile.

“But remember… where there’s bad, there’s also good. There’s good in all of you, even if you can’t see it right away… No matter what happened here, or before this game, you all have something in you that’s decent, that’s good and pure, so if nothing else,  please believe that to be true. It’s something I chose to believe… till my very last breath.”

And with that, Chitose concluded her speech, just a moment before her time completely ran out.

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Monobear Theater - Egg

“Whoaa, that discussion was just full of twists. No one could have anticipated how that vote turned out! Not a single person. Nope.”

“And hey, wouldn’t you know it? You bastards actually ended up right! Since the very beginning, you got tricked and deceived by the SHSL Masseur, Nao Tamashiro.”

“Man oh man, it sure is a shame you didn’t agree on this sooner! You guys have egg all over your faces... Except instead of egg, it’s dead bodies.”

“Speaking of dead bodies… feels like I’ve been waiting for months! Time to get your fee-fees ready, because it’s execution time, and I’m taking Miss Sacrificial here first!”

[shsl-doubtrubble-blog]

MONOBEAR THEATER - Woah, MM vote! :0

Now calculating vote totals..

Nao Tamashiro - 17 Chitose Heiwano - 2 Kamille Ray - 1 Bambi Sindrisson - 1 Hayate Shimazaki - 1 Chiyoko Ishihara - 1 Haruka Miki - 1 Minho Seong - 1 Konstantin Nikolayevhich Pozdnyakov - 1 Yoshiko Takeda - 1

And the winner is..

Nao Tamashiro!

[shsl-doubtrot-blog]

ENDGAME UPDATE!

Hey guys, Dazy here, with some very important informant information on endgame planning and projected due dates!! 

Before I begin, I’m going to put it out in the open right now; not a whole lot of work has been done on endgame at this point in time. I might make a more in-depth, personal explanation on Bambi’s blog at a later time, but a lot of the reason endgame had to get put on hold was because of my own personal reasons, and I want to apologize for that. Long story short… I’m pretty sick, and have been for most of the game. I was alright pushing through for the majority of the game, but I hit a severe flare up around the end of the game, making it near impossible for me to keep up with the workload in the last few weeks of GMing, and then keep up with the planning of endgame. We also had some troubles getting the people together we needed to get endgame planning solidified because of exams and school kicking into overdrive this time of year, so that was just another straw on the camel’s back. I’m not using these issues as an excuse, not by a long shot!! But that’s the truth of the matter, and I felt you all had the right to know what exactly was going down, or at least a summary! 

But, we’re about ready to push these storm clouds away, and bring back the light to really focus on getting this endgame together! I’ve gotten medicine that is really helping me and making it easier for me to focus on the game, and while finals are on their way for those in school, I believe we can work through that, at least until winter break rolls around! Things are REALLY going to start picking up within the next few days, so be prepared, all of you players and artists!! 

With this now… I’m looking to give you all, and myself, a tentative date. I might be getting too ahead of myself, but I think we can finish this in about a month or so, putting endgame around the ballpark of the first or second week of January. I’ll talk to Kat and Drea to see when they pictured DA5 apps to possibly open, and give you a more solid date from there. 

Thank you all for putting up with the small hiatus, and being so understanding and patient throughout the whole way! I honestly could never have asked for better co-mods, players, or community in general! 

And as always, my Skype is open for any and all questions regarding DA4, and the askbox is open for those questions plus any DA5 application questions you may have as well! 

I love you all!! I hope you have a wonderful day!!

[shsl-doubtrubble-blog]

monokoom this is important is the mastermind a fuckboy

u decide, buddy

[shslspeedtxting-blog-deactivate]

WE DID IT KIDS

[shslvisualarchive]

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WOAH! WHAT NOW? | Endgame Explanation

[ x ]

This is it, friends! We’ve done it! Break out the celebratory orange juice and throw yourselves a party, because the Masterminds have been found! 

(gosh i steal all these posts from kat but they’re so cute what do you expect me to do. love that kat. )

YO OKAY ANYWAYS!!! 

WAY TO GO KIDDOS! Much to Nick and I’s shock, you both nailed your mastermind on the same week! And before we even finished with our map reveals!! You’ve all been working so hard, and we’re so, so proud of you, and the way this game as gone! But as is such with all good things, it has to come to an end! Here’s what to know while we work on that end!

Since everyone is in their courtrooms at this time, we have to pause - no more posts, unfortunately. The MM vote totals will be revealed during the actual endgame posts, so there’s nothing to react to right now. You’ve gotta just sit tight for a bit - I’m sorry about that!

In addition, Minoru and Chitose’s executions will be part of endgame - it will be published the day beforehand, so you all are welcome to post reactions to that as if it was on a normal execution schedule. The next day will be the official endgame posts.

We’re going to immediately begin working on our videos for the endgame, and all of the writing. If you’re interested in helping out with any of the art or believe you can help otherwise and you’re not a part of the DA4 artist chat, please contact Nick or Dazy on skype! We’re all going to pitch in together to make this something really great, and by splitting up the work, we can do it even faster!

For ALL players, keep an eye out for a message from Nick or Dazy! We have a huge endgame planned, and once we get all the specifics worked out, we will come to you for your help and participation!

We don’t have a projected date for endgame yet, just because we’re still unsure how much work this endgame is going to be until we officially start writing all this down. We weren’t quite expecting both games to find their MM at once, so we were thrown for a bit of a loop! It’s going to be at least a month, so bear with us for the while, and stay tuned for updates!

Thank you so much for sticking with us throughout all of this, and congratulations again! Feel free to message us with any questions you may have, and keep your eyes on the respective blogs and main blog for announcements coming throughout the pause!

UNTIL THEN, FOLKS!! GET HYPED!! 

[shsl-doubtrubble-blog]

Monobear Theater - Aaand... Scene!

"Stop it, stop it, stop it. We're through, here, kids! End of discussion, end of voting, whatever. We've gotta get this show on the road eventually. Can't have you talking forever!"

"I feel like we've been down this road before. You know, holding hands. Kissing a little, maybe. Puppy love!"

"But last time you were wrong. So let's see if you were wrong this time, too!"

"Let's see those results."