#otdep1

[she-who-is-king]

I like to think that because serra's tissues are all real but artificially developed it was very easy to get them adjusted to the machine parts of her body.

This is obviously edited to match the aesthetic I was going for but I worked too hard for my original drawing to not show it off so you shall see it too

Also real artist don't gatekeep so here's the reference

[twilightprince101]

So I was checking out this post from @discovares about the analysis of Emma and Morgan's "checks," thinking about the nature of both of their playstyles and how they view the court and their cases. The line "Emma needs to learn how to play Morgan's game" rang for a little bit in my mind, and I think I came up with a unique idea.

So it's been discussed a lot by now: Morgan loves poker and Emma loves chess. Morgan enjoys a bit of risk and luck, Emma enjoys both people having all the same pieces. Emma does do a bit of gacha gaming based off of her various bios, but Chess and Poker don't have much to do with one another. How exactly could Emma "learn to play Morgan's game?" What crossover would there be between Chess and Poker, outside of the "checks?"

Then an idea hit. What is a specific gambling card game where, theoretically, you could know exactly what to do at all times? Know exactly when to bet, when to fold, when to go all in? What's a gambling game that, theoretically, both individuals at the table could go into with perfect knowledge?

Card counting. That is Emma's proverbial "foot in the door" for learning how to counter Morgan's brand of nonsense.

Despite Morgan and Emma having grown quite acquainted with one another, I think it's very noteworthy that Emma had never lost to her before during Episode 0. Her analytical playstyle, her strategies, always managed to outsmart Morgan and draw her into a corner. She's always been confident in what she does, she's always treated Morgan as she would any other lawyer counselor. Because why wouldn't she? She's nothing special.

But now Morgan's winning. And she's winning frequently. Racking up a streak against Emma and it's clearly getting on her nerves. So much so that she's starting to get defensive and refusing to call the ending of Chapter 2 a "loss." Chapter 1 she could write it off because "justice prevailed," but Sosuke's trial left off on such a sour note. Her pride is damaged, her strategy isn't working. Which means she needs to start paying more attention to Morgan.

The science behind card counting is... well it's a lot of technical details I don't fully know, but the only way to get started is by losing, and losing frequently. You have to pay close attention to all of the cards dealt, keeping a tally on low numbers vs high numbers, and only bet when the odds lean heavier towards your own hand rather than the dealer's. And when you do, you bet hard and fast before they have a chance to figure out what's going on.

Now that Morgan's winning, and winning frequently, Emma is going to start getting wise to her strategies. The show that she put on at the end of Chapter 2 was flashy, memorable, and that means she won't be able to pull the same trick again. Emma has taken a loss, but that song and dance Morgan did added to that tally. As Morgan keeps winning, Emma will keep getting data points to add to that tally. It will never be perfect, but she'll get a better handle on how to counter her. It's almost funny how this framework aligns with Emma trying to find Heartbreak too: the only way Emma finds Heartbreak is if Morgan keeps piling up bodies, keeps giving Emma counters to the tally. And when she has enough data, she's going to strike fast and strike hard.

Granted, there are a few holes with this framework. Blackjack is primarily what Morgan uses for cross-examinations. She sees all of court closer to poker, and in poker you shuffle the deck every single round. Not to mention that Emma works for The State, and The State is The House.

But honestly I find it kind of fitting under the lens that Emma is specifically trying to focus on Morgan and learn how she works.

Whenever the Blackjack minigame comes up, Morgan uses that framework in an attempt to try and get each of her "opponents" to say what she wants them to say. For example, in Chapter 1 with the Reyes Blackjack minigame, Morgan specifically wants Reyes to indirectly admit what she refuses to state out loud. Blackjack is used to probe the right information, the right actions and reactions, out of people.

And as Emma gets to know Morgan a bit more, continuously learn her strategies and how she ticks, she'll develop more strategies for how to counter Morgan specifically. Say what she wants her to say, act how she wants her to act, address Morgan's specific tendencies that are unique from any other person she fights against. And then, using that information she got from her own metaphorical "blackjack" against Morgan, use that info to out-wit Morgan's hot streak.

Not to mention. I feel it's kind of fitting for Emma to be "the house." You play so well, win so big during your games, that one of the major players in the staff itself challenges you to a game. Goes down to Morgan's level instead of sitting behind the cameras. With enough data points, with enough tallies, tracking enough of the high and low cards, Emma will eventually win.

She's just gotta take her licks first.

[juniepops]

After three streams of reconnaissance and meeting other major players, it's time for our first trial in this week's of the Devil! While only a preliminary hearing, it's still an important opportunity to put some chips on the table and learn more about what might have happened to David Ashur and who might have been involved. We'll be live at 3PM ET / 12PM PT as usual, so come around to twitch.tv/juniepops and see if we can put together a winning hand!

[quintessentiallyquanderous]

How do You Think Morgan's Story Will End?

Misted by one of the detectives / someone she wronged

Betrayed / handed over by Emma

Betrayed / handed over by Serra

Put on trial, but acquitted

Put on trial, sent to jail for 10 000 years

Put on trial, sentenced to execution

Never gets caught

Gets caught, kills whoever finds out she's HBK before they turn her in

Gets caught, but gets away

Turns herself in

Other (please write in tags 💖)

See Answers

Voting ended onJan 13

I know that some of these answers aren't mutually exclusive, but pick the part is most likely!

[springsketches]

The only hard thing about being a fan of OtD is having to wait 10 months for peak now 😭. Oh well, I’ll satiate my constant anticipation w/ fanart. Spoilers for ep. 1. The twisted man’s last view as he goes down the conveyor belt.

As the man slowly gets wheeled towards the incinerator, his vision comes into view, looking at the woman who killed him. She stares at him with a strange expression. Contempt? Pity? No, complete neutrality. If anything, her expression says “Won’t the conveyor belt go faster?”

[juniepops]

SATO SATURDAY fell on MORGAN MONDAY this week and of course we're playing more of the Devil to celebrate! We're still looking into the circumstances around David Ashur's death and what happened leading up to it, hoping to learn why and how he might've been murdered. Come over to twitch.tv/juniepops today at 3PM ET / 12PM PT to join us for activities including but not limited to looking around an excessively large corporate building!

[juniepops]

It's another beautiful MORGAN MONDAY and we've got a lovely new friend to accompany us for it! While we're still early in of the Devil episode 1, we've got a decent initial idea of the foundation we'll working from for our next case. Tech company programmer and Morgan's close friend David Ashur has died, and upon investigating his apartment we found a secret project of his, an extremely lifelike android who introduced herself as David's daughter Serra (pictured above). She's a delight and she's also asked us to investigate David's death for potential foul play. We're picking up right there when we get back to it today, so come to twitch.tv/juniepops at 3PM ET / 12PM PT and dig in with us!

[juniepops]

Stakes have SKYROCKETED in of the Devil last week, as successfully defending David Ashur's case came in the form of evidence seemingly incriminating his android daughter, our ally Serra. With true artificial intelligence considered an extreme taboo (and the discovery of a recording from David claiming Serra as an extremely advanced one!) and Morgan legally her owner and considered responsible for her, we've got to figure out who else could've POSSIBLY been responsible for David's death if we hope to save Serra from destruction and Morgan from imprisonment or worse. Tune in to twitch.tv/juniepops today at 3PM ET / 12PM PT to join us in figuring out exactly how to wriggle out of this one!