LET'S GOO!!! DRDT is back, at least for these two episodes! I'm very excited to see what's gonna happen here! Here are my immediate thoughts as I watch the episode!
Spoilers for DRDT. CW: Talks of murder, bullying.
I hope we get Mai... I'm a little worried because we saw the Arei text boxes and they didn't have The Flowers, but I would really like to see her again. Or, well, hear her again. I miss her so much...
Also do we think this is Ace or Arei? Min got the first one, so this should be Ace. But Arei got the most pre-drop material, so it could be hers.
(Note: the above was written before seeing the thumbnail, as before the premiere it was generic lol)
It's Arei's! Makes sense, birthdays are more related to her backstory than Ace's. The order is evidently not that relevant lmao. She looks so cute!
A watch on the hand? And first line is a curse I love you Arei.
... Who the fuck is Wes???????????????????????????????????
New character?! We're popping off.
Okay, bowling club owner, makes sense.
Arei: ... not a single person is gonna wish me a happy birthday or do anything nice for me.
Poor girl. This is why we needed Mai in the episode, she would have wished her happy birthday :(
Yo!!! New character design?! We're actually going crazy lmao. The thingy with the cardinal directions... wonder what Wes' deal is. (<- Very obviously avoiding pronouns because I can't tell what Wes' gender is lmao)
Oh my god this is like fully ilustrated. I can see why dev said these ones took so long, and why the next Bonus Episodes aren't gonna be like this lmao.
Arei: You talk to all your costumers with this much sass?
Arei ToT I've missed her so much... Arei you will always be special to me.
GENERATIONAL reaction image just dropped.
Wes: I once got hospitalized in my birthday.
I wonder if Teruko is Wes' sister... no chance, but it'd be funny.
Arei's sisters are awful and Arei is crying... Augh my heart. This is why we needed Mai man she'd make this better.
Wes: I don't get paid enough for this (paraphrased)
Wes come on ToT It's actually completely fair, I just feel bad for Arei lmao.
I wonder if those bracelets in Wes' left hand mean anything... probably nothing big but idk. Definitely no flower tattoo though, that's always a question with these characters xD
[Arei insults Wes] Man she was kind of a bitch even before the whole "Queen of High School" era huh? Makes sense, and I still love her, but it's good to get that clarified. Overall I'm very happy we get to see a bit more of what Arei was like before Hope's Peak!
Wes: Are things alright at home?
Are we deadass? Did you just miss the thing about her sisters? Lmao.
Also haven't been mentioning it but VAing has been phenomenal as usual!
Wes: Is there a particular reason you're getting bullied? (p.)
Well, Wes is trying to help, that's nice! I like Wes a lot :)
... Although, is it bad if I'm still kinda hoping Mai shows up later? I know this is pre-HPA, but still. I'm fine with it if she doesn't, but y'know. I miss her, readers, I miss her a lot.
Arei: I've done no wrong! (p.)
I love her, she was always like this xD
[Arei explains] Augh... New kid syndrome... So her sisters weren't always that bad, interesting. Also, Arei wasn't born in the US? Makes sense, but neat lore drop.
Arei/Wes: This is the way things always are.
Fate, one could say. Goddamn I love DRDT so much man, I've missed it a lot :,D Also I liked the cut in it was cool.
[Wes philosophizes] Hm... interesting. So Arei got the idea to change herself from here I'm assuming, and also is where she started to get a little fatalistic about people always being awful. Then again, that last part she was already thinking, so it's not exactly new.
Arei: Give me a few years, and I'll end the lives of all those worthless scumbags.
OKAY maybe we got a little crazy there lmao xD Wes we may wanna call the police ??? Because I know she doesn't mean murder, but it sure does sound like she's planning murder lmao.
Wes: You're not actually planning to kill anyone, are you?
Okay at least we asked lmao. Goddamn I miss Mai, I know my GOAT could handle this ToT
Arei: Who knows
Bro????
That's another generational reaction image lmao. And yeah what the hell was Arei on???
Wes: Murder, huh! That's interesting! Tell me more!
I love Wes actually, perfectly solid replacement for Mai xD
Arei: Because I'll be an Ultimate!
Okay so several concerning things about that statement.
... Actually nevermind we knew about Levi already Ultimates definitely just get away with murder lmao. Still, interesting that she was actively aiming for it lmao.
Arei: Can you imagine being the person who bullied an Ultimate in high school? This nation practically worships Ultimates.
Okay! So again, pretty standard fare with everything we've heard so far, but trying to be an Ultimate specifically to get back at people who bullied you is crazy work. Spite really works as a motivator, huh?
[Arei spells out the plans] Okay so we're losing our minds actually! We knew Arei could be sadistic but holy shit man, she's kinda going off. Very glad to see it, though, I just miss her so much.
Wes: You specifically want to hurt people? Even kids who want to be police don't say that part out loud (p.)
Yo Wes kinda based? It really is a hell of a thing to say lmao.
Wes: I'm morally obligated to tell you hurting people is wrong (p.)
Lmao. Wes really do be vibing lol.
[Wes looks at the cameras to make sure everyone knows Wes tried to stop Arei] Hell yeah Wes, good for you xD
Arei: Who said anything about murder?
Wes: Uh, YOU???
PFFFT- I thought the exact same thing xD Only took one episode to mentally connect with Wes, peak character lmao.
Wes: I don't think being an Ultimate lets you get away with murder (p.)
Oh my God, this shot. I love you Arei, so so much ToT
It's interesting that she's aware Ultimates can get away with that, though. At the very least, she seems more confident in it than Wes. Does she actually know something? Like an Ultimate she's aware of that has gotten away with stuff? Or is she just guessing? If she actually knows something, either it's something she personally knows (which is interesting in its own right) or it's something that can be deduced from publicly available info, which could explain why Xander seemed to be against Hope's Peak in Visiting Graves.
Arei: There's no precedent for murder specifically.
I should really let the videos play a bit more lmao. Obviously the Levi case wouldn't be a thing until Arei herself went to HPA, but I doubt the public would know about it regardless. Still, it's common knowledge Ultimates get away with stuff, so that could still explain the Xander thing.
Arei: Just kidding!
Lmao. You know I'm not entirely sure she was lying there. Sure she didn't kill anyone, but what she's saying is still a little too close to her motive secret for there to be no truth to it at all.
Arei: I won't have a future, trapped in a dead end job until I die (p.)
Bro Wes is right there ToT But yeah, this is a very bleak outlook, Arei makes me sad :(
Arei: Like working at a shitty run down bowling alley.
Oh it was intentional lmao. Carry on then xD
Wes: You remind me of my high school years.
Classic.
Arei: No way you were cute as a kid.
Classic xD
Arei: Not the old person speech that starts with "when I was your age."
Classic xD
Wes [after speech]: That talent that I had poured years into...
Wow, Wes was also interested in HPA. Interesting, interesting... I can't imagine this being too relevant to anything unless the altDRDT cast was a HPA class that used to have Wes? It's the first thing that came to mind, but it's not really the only option. It's also possible that we'll never hear of Wes again, which is entirely okay lmao. The university Wes mentions might not even HPA.
[Wes continues] Lots of shared themes with Min which makes me happy. Cool to have a character that's going through this kind of life.
Wes: I have enough sense not to tell you I'm into collecting kids' toys.
Pfft. Fine hobby, though I wonder what kind of kids' toys exactly. Although it is funny to bring that up when childishness is, like, a Thing around Arei. You know, with her turning point and death both being in the playground and all, her being picked on specifically for being the younger sister, and sorta becoming a worse person when she "grew out of it" by ruining her sisters' lives...
[Wes mentally complains about Arei never tipping] Lmao.
Wes: I'm not tying myself to some narrow ideal of how I'm supposed to exist.
I no longer think of everyone around me as my competition.
Okay so I'm not hallucinating you are actually just a Min parallel of some kind xD The wording is so familiar I actually wonder if maybe Wes was one of the people competing in the Ultimate Contest for Eminent Students or whatever it was called. Wonder if Min poisoned Wes.
... Wait no that doesn't make sense. UCES candidates all have to be the same age lmao. Wes was probably aiming for Ultimate Explorer or something given the tattoo, disregard xD
[Wes inner monologue] True!!! Very Xander-coded mindset, which comes with the territory of having Min parallels lmao. I'm happy Wes is happy :)
Oh okay so you want me to cry. You want me to weep, openly. Well guess what IT'S WORKING THEY'RE SO CUUUUUTE! AREI'S WEARING THE DAVID HAIRCLIPS!!! Aw it's too cute, it's too cute, my heart's breaking, augh.
Wes: I'll even give you a discount so you become the Ultimate Bowler (p.)
WES THE GOAT! We love Wes around here!
Arei: Maybe this birthday isn't so bad after all...
Arei I love you...
Arei: This pizza's cold!
AREI I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO MUCH.
-
What a fun Bonus Episode! Lots learnt about Arei, lots learnt of a brand new character, just peak all around! I miss Mai, but I can wait longer for her to show up. Wes was very cool, I wonder if we're ever gonna see them again. WE LOVE DRDT AROUND HERE!!! Can't wait for the next Bonus Episode! :D
the face wes makes in this screencap is DEFINITELY reminiscent of the ever iconic ishowspeed "trying not to laugh" face.
in fact, this reference could be intentional.
we all know drdt dev does NOT overlook anything small.
therefore, i present to you... the most widely shared screenshot of the iconic expression.
"AceyDaddy eliminated IShowSpeed".
Acey. Daddy.
Acey.
ACE.
there must be SOME connection between ace and wes. there's no way that this is a coincidence.
could wes be somehow related to taylor, ace's only friend? wes claims that he abandoned the talent that he worked so hard for. is this in relation to taylor's death?
or, maybe, an even WILDER possibility... is wes one of ace's 9 unnamed siblings?
taylor's death, or some kind of big accident/event revolving around ace could have lead to wes seeing just how horrible the talent system is and choosing to abandon it. unlike ace, who is under the impression that no matter what he must stay in the place that was decided for him, even if it's dangerous— even if it's terrifying.
if wes and ace were closely related, even if never emotionally close to eachother, that would make the events of the KG all the more heartbreaking. wes being secure and confident enough in his place in the world to offer to help arei make it through, only for ace to be so insecure and scared out of his mind as to take everything away from her.
I really liked wes, they tow a pretty fine line of being a bright spot in arei's life big enough to make the episode have a more happier tone befitting the bonus episodes, but bad enough at it that it still makes sense for arei to do the things she did later on,
The whole message that just because u failed doesn't mean ur life ended, there is still more, just because u aren't considered successful by society standards doesn't mean u failed in life, it's a nice message :)
Also
IM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINK THEY LOOK A LITTLE LIKE J RIGHT. IM NOT INSANE R I G H T.
