Thinking about thinking...

This is a Danganronpa RP blog! Talia,19, she/her. Status: Alive. Currently affiliated with All Aboard. If you have any questions, philosophy related or otherwise, please let me know!

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A Philosopher’s Logic | Talia | RE: Everyone | ATTN: Takumi

Talia staggered back to her podium, a tired expression on her face as she wiped the tears away. She knew that she should have been assisting Billy, but well…they had to finish this. Besides, he’d taken a bullet to the shoulder and survived - they could deal with an arm wound quite easily later. She also wasn’t particularly keen to talk to him right now. Anything she tried to say would leave her either yelling angrily at him or crying. No, she had to try and keep herself composed. The philosopher clutched the podium tightly in her hands and, giving one final glance at Billy and Airi, she addressed the rest of them room in a dull, emotionless voice. “Let’s all stop arguing for one second and do this correctly. If we use logic and the process of elimination, we might just be able to figure out who killed Quinn.” Talia sounded just as exhausted as she looked. Wispy strands of hair hung over her face and she had dark bags under her eyes. She just wanted this to be over with, but she had to stick by her principles. Logic needed to prevail. “What we know so far is that those of us who have showed our clothes don’t have tears.” Talia turned to look at Akira. “Akira wears a blue shirt underneath his hoodie, therefore the torn piece of clothing most likely didn’t come from him. He is more than welcome to prove this point though, but it may not be necessary.” She took a deep breath in and sighed softly. “That pretty much leaves only one person who has not proven that their clothing isn’t torn.” The philosopher brought her gaze onto Takumi. “Takumi, the panel for the room where Quinn was trapped was found in the all genders bathroom. Doesn’t it seem logical then that the piece of torn cloth comes from you? Furthermore, it’s a one way entrance - only someone pushing on the wall from the all genders bathroom side can get in.” A small frown formed on Talia’s face. “The only question I have now is why you would possibly hide this fact if you’ve already sentenced yourself to death by admitting to Rei’s murder.” That still didn’t make any sense to her, but this was the only theory she had left that had any substantial evidence behind it.

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A Philosopher's Fed Up | Talia | RE: Billy, Airi, Setsuko | ATTN: Everyone

Talia watched in horror as Billy was stabbed by Airi.

“N-no!”

She knew this was going to happen. She just knew it. She grabbed the front of her sweater and twisted it so tightly her knuckles went white.

Now she was angry. No, she was furious. How dare they do this. How dare they harm each other. They were acting illogical and ridiculous and she was going to put a stop to this. She stared them both down with an unflinching glare.

“I hope you’re both ashamed at how foolish you are acting!” Talia half yelled and half sobbed, tears streaming down her face. “Now look what has happened! Why couldn’t you two just think before you act, for once in your lives!?!”

Taking a deep breath, she turned to face Setsuko. She desperately had not wanted to do this, but she had to. It made her feel sick.

“…I guess I have no choice do I? Here…”

Closing her eyes shut tightly, Talia lifted a small part of her turtleneck on her stomach and her sleeve. She was wearing an untorn singlet underneath. Along her arms ran thick, uneven and veiny scars that varied from her natural skin colour to deep reds and purples.

After a few seconds she pulled down the sweater as quickly as she could. She opened her teary eyes slightly, a small frown on her face.

“There.”

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A Philosopher's Distress | Talia | RE: Billy, Setsuko | ATTN: Everyone

Talia didn’t want to say she was thankful for Jenova’s intervention, but it did make her feel somewhat relieved. At least he was trying to restore some semblance of order here. She loved both Billy and Airi dearly, but they needed to stop this right now. After all, they had to find out who Quinn’s murderer was before it was too late. She wasn’t going to kill another innocent person. Not again.

Still holding onto Billy, the philosopher turned her head to address Setsuko. “I think I’d agree with you there! He must have been poisoned before he got back, otherwise we would have found some trace of the poison on the cups or plates. I…I don’t know how it was administered though. It was a liquid, wasn’t it? Perhaps he was forced to take it against his will.”

As she spoke, it seemed as though Jenova was still talking to Airi and Billy about their options. When she turned her attention back to Billy, she saw that familiar determined look in his eyes.

“Billy, no…”

A concerned expression growing on her face, Talia began shaking her head but by then it was already too late.

She let out a small whimper as he shoved her to the floor. Talia landed on her side, a small pained cry escaping her lips as she hit the ground. Why? Why was he doing this? Pulling herself to her knees, the philosopher could only watch on in dismay as Billy went to take the knife out of Airi’s hand.

“No…”

Talia felt her chest beginning to tighten as she whispered softly. She just knew this entire ordeal was going to end in tragedy.

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A Philosopher's Fear | Talia | Re: Billy | ATTN: Airi, Billy

Talia was brought out of her gloom by Airi’s pained scream. She shot her head up and saw the conspiracy theorist leap onto Takumi, a furious expression twisted onto her face. There was glint of silver in her hand.

Oh my god she has a knife.

The philosopher froze to the spot, her eyes widening in horror as Airi threatened Takumi and then the rest of them. It only got worse as the theorist began to pummel the sugar sculptor. This was horrific. She desperately wanted to stop this, but Talia knew how unstable Airi was. What could she do? What choices did she have?

Talia opened her mouth to scream at Airi when she heard a loud booming voice echo through the trial room. Talia froze again, her breath catching in her throat.

Oh no, please, no no no, please don’t, anyone but him…

She watched as Billy leapt over his podium and made a desperate rush towards Airi. Talia’s anxiety shoot through the roof. Why? Why did he have to do this? It was at that point that the philosopher made her split second decision. She wasn’t going to let him get hurt again.

Her body filled with adrenaline, Talia raced from her podium and grabbed Billy by the back of his shirt just as he was a few feet from Airi and Takumi. She wrapped her shaking arms around him and tugged back with all the strength she could muster as she desperately screamed.

“Billy, please stop! Please!”

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A Philosopher’s Shock | Talia | RE: Takumi

Coming into the trial room, Talia felt that familiar numbness returning. It was how she had felt leaving the last trial, the one that had resulted in four deaths, a betrayal and an escape. This time, she knew that feeling was going to linger like a burn.

Somebody had not only murdered one of her dearest friends, but poor Quinn had been poisoned just as he had returned from his suspected imprisonment. Now, she needed to deduct who had done all of this. She really didn’t want to, but it was her duty to, for the sake of those who had lost their lives. 

Out of the six of them who remained, at least one of them was a killer. Talia glanced from one to the other, biting the inside of her cheek. Some were incredibly close to her, others not so much. With a motive such as this one, it really could have been any one of them, even those she trusted the most.

Talia gazed over at Airi and she felt heart ached for her friend. She had to find Rei’s killer. There was such little evidence to go on though. It was essentially just a knife. How were they even going to start this?

Before she could get a single sentence out, Takumi spoke up, saying the trial wasn’t necessary. Talia tilted her head to the side, a look of confusion on her face. What were they talking about? 

That was when they said it. Those words made everything come to an abrupt halt. Takumi admitted to being Rei’s killer. It took the philosopher a few moments to react to this revelation. When she did, her eyes widened with shock and she took a step back.

Everything that the sugar sculptor was saying began to sink in. Rei had tried to attack them, and they had stabbed her with a knife. Sweet and kind Takumi…had killed one of her closest friends Rei…in order to defend themselves from her…

Talia covered her hands with her mouth, tears pricking her eyes. No, this wasn’t how the trial was supposed to go. Why was Takumi admitting to such a horrible deed? Why did Rei try to attack them? 

There were so many questions she wanted to ask. She tried to find the words she wanted to say but Talia couldn’t form any sentences. Letting out a stifled sob, she hid her face in her hands. This was too much. Why were they being forced to keep doing this? Why was this happening?

“W-why? Why…”

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A Philosopher's Regret | Talia | Trial Results Reaction

Nihilism had taught Talia that the world was an incomprehensible and horrible place, and now she knew it to be completely true. 

The philosopher said nothing. Her face was pale and her eyes were blank as she just stared straight ahead as Jenova explained everything. What could she say? What else could possibly be said at this point?

She had just sent another innocent person to their death. First Mathius, and now Zean. All because of some stupid words that didn’t have any evidence behind them.

She was an idiot, a monster and a fool who couldn’t fucking do anything right. That was just plain and simple logic. Nothing more, nothing less. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Zean. 

Then, someone she had trusted so deeply, so deeply that he had previously revealed his true name to her, had just murdered someone. Talia gazed at Oliver, the faintest hint of tears forming in her eyes. She didn’t know if she had the strength to cry though. She honestly didn’t feel like she had the strength to do anything anymore.

Of course, that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that she had been completely right about Choharu being a murderer too. That sunny sweet girl…a horrible, nasty murderer. Why? Why had this happened?! Why did anything ever happen?!

To top it all off, Airi had tampered with evidence for some unknown reason. What was going on?! Why had her closest friend done this?! Who could Talia even trust anymore!?!

All she had left now was Billy. She could trust him, couldn’t she? Right? Right!? 

The philosopher continued to stay silent, feeling like a husk of her former self. She just stood there, staring into nothing, her mind blank for the first time in a very long time. 

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A Philosopher's Desperation | Talia | ATTN: Everyone

Talia glanced around the room and gritted her teeth.

They were running out of time to choose the murderers and it was making the philosopher’s anxiety rise. What if the made the wrong choice and sent innocent people to their deaths? She needed to act now, even if the consequences meant that she would be hated by the group and that a murderer or two was still among them.

“Please listen to me! We are running out of time to vote. I know we still haven’t deducted who precisely the murderers are, but I have a suggestion that may just work for everyone here.”

Talia lifted up her pager, which showed the voting screen on it.

“I propose that we all vote for Choharu as Tora’s murderer. Even if she didn’t technically do it, we would not be harming anybody by doing this. As for Choharu’s killer…”

The philosopher took a deep breath and sighed.

“I have three alternative options. First we can vote for Tora. However, as he died before Choharu, I don’t know if that would be valid. Option two, we vote for Quinn. I…I understand how terrible this sounds but we haven’t seen Quinn for such a long time. For all we know, he could be deceased. Again, I’m unaware if this is a valid choice as well.”

Talia winced slightly and gave everyone a guilty look. She could only imagine how much they must loathe her for suggesting such a thing. Of course, nobody could loathe her as much as she did. All of the horrible choices she had made and all of the blood on her hands…nothing could possibly wash it away.

She closed her eyes as she spoke again in a soft tone.

“My final option I will suggest…if you really cannot decide on someone to vote for, please place a vote against me. For all intents and purpose, I am a murderer. Not for this trial, but I have been responsible for a death of an innocent in the past. I don’t want to be responsible for another innocent death again so please…make the right choice…”

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A Philosopher's Thought | Talia | Re: Billy, Alastair, Airi | ATTN: Everyone

This just kept getting worse and worse. When Billy exposed his secret and said he had done so because of her, Talia couldn’t help but inwardly cringe. What had she done?! She hadn’t expected this outcome to happen. She felt terrible. All she was doing was making things worse for everyone involved.

She needed to focus now. She had to make things right.

Trying to push these dark thoughts deeper into her mind, she listened as everyone began discussing the evidence of the case. She thought about Alastair’s points. Tora and Choharu had been alone together in the spa. Tora was entirely damp, yet Choharu only had wet feet. That, alongside with the evidence that Airi had pulled up about Choharu’s boots being wet, sent a chill down the philosopher’s spine.

She’d had this nagging thought in the back of her mind for a long time, ever since she had seen the state of both the victim’s bodies. Maybe now would be the right time to bring up her theory, especially now that she had some evidence to support it. Talia glanced at everyone nervously before speaking in a soft, shaking voice.

“Everyone, I know this sounds incomprehensible, but…what if Choharu was the one who drowned Tora? Let’s look at the evidence. We know they were together in the spa around the time of Tora’s murder. Tora’s entire body was damp, but only Choharu’s feet were. Tora had a wound at the back of his head…perhaps Choharu caught him by surprise and hit him with something? I know she couldn’t reach the mallets, but maybe she found something else to use? Or maybe someone helped her to reach them? Tora is blind, so if she was quiet enough, he wouldn’t have seen it coming…”

Talia bit her lip and darted her eyes down at her feet. She felt really guilty about accusing Choharu of anything, but she was just trying to piece the evidence together as best as she could.

“I’m…I’m not sure about how Tora’s body got to the tunnels though, nor how Choharu’s death fits into this, so it’s probably flawed logic…”

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A Philosopher's Dismay | Talia | RE: Zean | ATTN: Everyone

Talia couldn’t help but feel a little foolish as she calmed herself down a little. She’d just given away her secret without even thinking! Oh well, it wasn’t as if it was a shock to everyone. At least half of everyone present already knew it, and the other half were free to judge her as they pleased.

She didn’t care anymore. Her own feelings didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding the killer.

When Zean mentioned that the secrets didn’t matter here, Talia perked her head up.

“Ah, that’s actually incorrect. In the spa room, we found a message written by who we presume to be the killer. It said ‘I know what you did, don’t expect to get away with this.’ Under current circumstances, wouldn’t it be safe to assume they were referring to someone’s secret? Therefore, secrets most likely do play a role in this killing in some way.”

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A Philosopher's Secret | Talia | RE: Airi | ATTN: Everyone

Talia listened as Billy and Alastair gave evidence, nodding along in approval. So far, so good. She was just about to offer up some more when Airi spoke.

The philosopher winced when the conspiracy theorist screamed about revealing their secrets and making the killer squirm. That look on her face sent chills down Talia’s spine.

She bit the inside of her cheek so hard she drew blood as she gazed at her feet anxiously. Talia really didn’t want to reveal her secret, for a number of personal reasons, but Airi had a point. They needed to know why the killer did what they did, and the secret played a massive role in this.

This was a choice she needed to make, even if it made everyone else despise her. Taking a shaky breath, Talia tugged on the bottom over her turtleneck and pulled out her pager.

“M-Mine is the one about setting the house on fire and…and killing him…”

Tears filled the philosopher’s eyes as she let out a few sobs. Wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, she continued to speak as best she could, trying to avoid having a panic attack.

“I’m a murderer, there’s no denying that. I willingly made the choice to leave my brother behind to die.”

She paused, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing in a soft voice.

“However, I did not set the house on fire. That was done by my mother. Therefore, although there is some truth to it, my secret is not factually correct. If I’m not mistaken…I think I’m not the only one whose secret has some factual inaccuracies…”

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A Philosopher's Woe | Talia | RE: Takumi | ATTN: Everyone

Here she was again, standing in a place she didn’t want to be. Talia scanned her eyes across the remaining students, a forlorn expression on her face. There was so few of them now…

Deep down, she knew once again this was her fault. She had been unable to prevent two more deaths. If only she had talked to Choharu and Tora more, the philosopher knew she could have prevented this tragedy from occurring. She was a failure of a human being and the more she thought about her choices, the greater her self-loathing grew.

The only logical thing she could do now was to avenge their deaths by finding the killer among them.

After Takumi spoke up in that miserable, shaking tone, Talia glanced at him and shook her head.

“Why? I wish I had the answer to that, but I don’t. What happened to Choharu and Tora was…was horrible.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Opening her eyes again, the philosopher scanned the room.

“As for who did this, well, I suppose we all know what we need to do now. Where should we begin?”

[shslphilosopher-blog1]

Mama Talia needs a goddamn drink to deal with these kids...

Drawn by ZoranHero : https://mobile.twitter.com/zoranhero

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A Philosopher's Revulsion | Talia | Chapter 2 Execution Reaction

Shizuhiko’s execution was the single most horrifying thing Talia had ever witnessed in her entire life. She couldn’t even bring herself to look away from it like she had with Kanpei’s execution. She just watched as the mycologist was dissolved by the very objects of his study, her face growing frightfully pale and her empty stomach churning and making her dry heave.

Even though he had deserved death, this was not what the philosopher had wanted. They had wanted an execution - this was torture. Talia knew, even in her exhausted state, that what she had witnessed was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

After it was done, Talia just stared down at the floor, her eyes half-lidded and blank. She was too tired to cry or scream or do anything else. In fact, she was literally struggling to stay standing on her feet.

All she wanted to do was sleep. At least then she wouldn’t have to think anymore.

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A Philosopher's Wrath | Talia | RE: Billy, Shizuhiko | ATTN: SHIZUHIKO

Talia watched on in shock as Shizuhiko all but revealed his guilt to everyone. The fact that he cared so little about everyone else, completely admitting that he would not feel remorse over hurting any of them, shook the philosopher to her very core. How could someone possibly think like that? His speech seemed to sober her up slightly, making her come back to her senses despite being close to passing out.

What happened next seem to go in slow motion. Talia watched as Shizuhiko, armed with his metal rod, came up behind Billy and whacked him hard over the back. She watched on, completely frozen up as Billy screamed with agonising pain. She couldn’t even move as Shizuhiko stood before the wood carver, ready to knock his skull in.

He’s going to die, he’s going to die and you’re not doing anything to stop this.

This horrific thought seemed to snap Talia back to her senses and, with eyes wide in fear, she leaned over her railing and let out a desperate scream.

“BILLY, NO!”

As if by a miracle, Shizuhiko decided not to land the likely fatal blow and, lowering his staff, returned to his podium. Shaking with fright and adrenaline, Talia raced off of her podium and went up to Billy. She took his arm and helped him to stand up.

Once he was stablised, Talia turned her head around and shot Shizuhiko a glare of pure hate. The logical side of her brain wanted her to explain each and every terrible thing he had said and how he would now face the consequences of his actions accordingly but she didn’t. In her exhausted and highly stressed state, Talia felt that emotion bubbling inside her, the one she tried so hard to contain. The murder and the threats had all been heinous enough, but that single callous act against Billy was the final straw. Talia exploded with rage.

“F-FUCK YOU, YOU’RE A FUCKIN’ MONSTER!!!”

Tears of tiredness, anxiety and rage began running down the philosopher’s face as she shouted furiously at the mycologist. When she had first pressed the button to sentence Shizuhiko to his death, she had felt guilt like she had with Kanpei. She had been sending another human to their death, after all. But now, as she sobbed angrily next to Billy, Talia felt no remorse. After all, Kanpei had expressed guilt with what he had done and, despite his terrible action, he had done it with good intentions.

Shizuhiko, on the other hand, certainly didn’t feel guilty after murdering Horoki and attacking Billy, so why should she feel guilty about sentencing him to a well deserved death? It was only logical, after all.

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A Philosopher's Admiration | Talia | RE: Billy

Wow.

Talia stared at Billy, her eyes wide in awe and the neck of her sweater covering her mouth and nose. During Billy’s explanation, she had begun slowly leaning in closer. Now she was almost over the banister, probably a bit too far over.

Did Billy just logically deduct that Shizuhiko was the potential murderer? He picked up on practically every single aspect of the case too! She knew he had some skills in logic thinking but this was…something else. Talia was certain that Billy was entirely correct, she couldn’t find any flaws in his logic. Well, at least in this state of mind, she couldn’t.

She suddenly began tipping over the railing. Letting out a small startled cry, she steadied herself and stood back on her podium, blinking a few times. Well, that had woken her up a bit.

“Crikey…” Talia murmured under her breath, glancing away shyly.

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A Philosopher's Accusation | Talia | RE: Alastair, Takumi | ATTN: Everyone

Airi wanted all the tall people to compare shoe sizes now? What a fantastic idea! That would be the most logical way for them to deduct who the killer was. As Talia began pondering how tall she was again, she noticed that Alastair had started talking with a shoe in his hand.

Seconds later, the shoe was hurtling down in her general direction. It didn’t hit her as it wasn’t close enough, but the suddenness of it startled Talia enough for her to let out a surprised squeak and cover her head with her arms.

“Oi, watch it!” She said angrily, glaring at Alastair.

Eager to seek revenge, she bent down and began untying one of her own shoes. She didn’t have a plan, she just knew that she wanted to throw it. Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, she had tied the laces on both shoes far too tight to take either one off in her current state. After a few seconds of fumbling, she stood up, a scowl on her face.

At that point, she heard Takumi mention Shizuhiko’s cane. Her eyes widened as she recalled previous conversations she had been a part of and her own internal thoughts.

“Bloody oath, it logically could be Shizuhiko’s cane that made that wound on Horoki’s head”

She frowned and brought a finger to her chin, except in her mixture of excitement and tiredness she missed her chin completely and poked herself in the eye.

“Ow..um…anyway, the only problem I hav’ with that is that I don’t think whatever hit her over the head was the murder weapon. I think it was jus’ used to knock her out!”

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A Philosopher's Realisation | Talia | RE: Akira, Airi, Choharu

Talia was half-listening as everyone was talking about evidence and giving out alibis. She gazed around the room with half-lidded eyes, looking at everyone. Well, probably looking at certain people more than others.

Her interest was peaked when Akira and Choharu accused the train. Her blood went cold and her eyes widened in horror. The train?! Of course! How had she never considered the train as a suspect! Horoki had the injuries for it and everything!

“Of course, the train! It had to be the train, it’s jus’ so-”

Talia paused and squinted her eyes. Wait a minute, something was forming in her mind. She was reminded of something Airi had said. Something…wasn’t logical.

Slamming her hand down on the podium, Talia announced her counter argument, a determined look on her sleepy face.

“Hold on jus’ a sec, youse have got it wrong! As far as I’m aware, trains do not have feet! How could the bloody train have left a footprint if it doesn’t have feet?! That is not logical!”

She was getting agitated now. None of this was making a lick of sense!