Danganronpa Showa: Welcome to the Occupation
- Thread starter ArlequineLunaire
- Start date
- Historic Mystery
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Okay, I've been comparing the Daily Life segment here to the ones in other fanganronpas, let alone the games, and am not really sure if I had the murder happen a bit too soon or if I should've had more Freetime Events first?
Then again, I remember how Nevill said Yudai's murder would've felt more cheap if we'd gotten to know him better first (which you had the chance to with votes, but anyway), which is interesting Danganronpa itself usually goes for the opposite
Then again, I remember how Nevill said Yudai's murder would've felt more cheap if we'd gotten to know him better first (which you had the chance to with votes, but anyway), which is interesting Danganronpa itself usually goes for the opposite
- Location
- Germany
I also don't think that she did it, but getting blindsided by what it couldn't possibly have been because it's too obvious would be kind of embarrassing as well.
As someone that just finally got around to finally starting the first game, I can see the similarity. Now if only we had Yudai literally spell out who his killer was instead of a pentagram with an unconfirmed author.
I can barely even speak for the games, much less other fan stuff, but the pace to the first murder was definetly brisk. Although, I don't think getting to the first murder quickly is that big a deal. What's more interesting is what the quest settles into afterwards. For me at least I can see a quick pace (especially when coupled with the knowledge that characters might get dropped into the murder blender at any turn) leading to certain characters getting focused until they reach trust 5 to avoid missing out on that, but we'll see how the votes will shake out on that.
Edit: That being said, the biggest difference to the game is probably that Columbird didn't have to hand out "motivation" to get the blood flowing, but I'm not sure how big a deal that is at large.
That being said, I'm pretty sure that with stuff like the first victim, the game was aiming for a gut punch, so that doesn't really contradict what Nevill said. It's more of a conflict of interest in what you want from a story and what the story wants to do to you, at least in terms of character longevity.
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
The game definitely started faster than I expected it to, but I can't say it was a bad thing. Too many quests run out of steam before getting to the good parts, and we all knew what this one is supposed to be about.
I didn't say it'd be "cheap". I said I'd feel betrayed, but there is no avoiding it since the theme of the game is people you personally know are both victims and killers. There is certain temptation to "game" the system by investing in people you think are likely to live longer; after all, what good is Trust if the person is dead before you could do anything important together? WIth that perspective in mind the opposite is true: killing characters the players didn't interact with is "cheap" because it treats them as disposable body dummies to sharpen one's detective skills instead of living people.
It's a tight rope to walk. You don't want to be too lenient and give in to player demands, but you don't want to appear too arbitrary and make it look like they have no say in how things play out either.
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- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ah, I see. I will say that I was planning to include rewards for maxing out a character's Trust, or at least as much as you can in-game, which I hope would give incentive to spend time and get to know them, even if you think they'll die. The issue I have though is how to implement them, given I've said I otherwise want to keep things mechanics-lite
Anyway, little bit occupied right now, but the vote should be closing soon
Anyway, little bit occupied right now, but the vote should be closing soon
Vote closed
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
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Chapter 1: Deadly Life 2
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"A radio belonging to you was found by Katsu's death scene, was wondering if you could elaborate?" came my first question, with me not being sure if it'd be the only question I'd get a chance to ask here.
"What the-who is this? If you mean my assigned Birdbook, I have it right here! And n-none of my other equipment has ever eft my Lab!" Momoka's voice rose to protest after I asked that.
"I was, look, this is Enoshima Tsubasa, it's just I was at the crime scene earlier and saw a Birdbook tagged 'Sakakibara Momoka'," I said. I didn't want to outright say my name over the radio in case Fuhito was listening; I figured how crackly this phone would hide my voice. That said, I don't think just saying I was at the crime scene would give away anything he didn't want people to know.
"Enoshima, I... still don't know what you mean. I have my assigned Birdbook right here, it says 'Sakakibara Momoka', and I was walking back over to my own Lab when I heard the... the announcement," she went on.
Well, guess that answered the other question that'd occurred to me. I didn't have further proof on whether to trust Momoka's words, but I figured the right thing would be to have faith her alibi, until I heard anyone say elsewise.
(Momoka's Alibi(I>
"Hmm, but our names are on the Birdbooks in plain text, aren't they? What do you think about the likeliness of someone forging your name on the other radio?" came Hildegard's question.
"Y-Yes, that could be it, b-but..." Momoka started to blubber, her natural radio confidence mid-crumbling, "Who... who would want to frame m-me?"
I couldn't guess right now. I thought to tell her, 'That's what we're trying to find out' but really, what would saying that do to help?
"I've got it! Is it okay if we asks for recordings of the interviews you've had here, it's likely the culprit was one of them if they swapped out your Birdbook," Hildegard picked up on.
"U-Um, look, I really need to think about this. H-How about we just go back to you, Iwai, I believe you had more to say about conlangs, after all..." Momoka shifted things to, instead of address Hildegard directly.
I sighed as we headed away, Hildegard looking downcast too. Not that we'd made no progress, we'd sorta-established an alibi for Momoka and talked about Birdbook labels being forged, but that was about it.
Though speaking of the radio, I also thought to turn to Columbird's own station, thinking that maybe any discoveries Fuhito had made might be reported there?
Once I did though, I instantly wished I hadn't, given the brass fanfare that blared first thing.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeD9Nk8-tY0
"Hmph, and that boy called his little sewer-scraping a 'jailbreak'? I ain't never heard anything more miserable in my life. Back at home on the sacred continental shores of... America, we knew how to launch a genuine goddamn jailbreak, I'll tell ya! Alcatraz, the greatest prison on God's green Earth, never knew what hit it, 'cause we also had the greatest goddamn jailbreakers on God's green Earth too! And don't gimme that birdscrap 'bout how You-Die Cat-Sue broke outta Alcatraz too, that's a technicality, it don't count!" Columbird was mid-rant on his own station, almost lost in his own little world, a theatre of himself.
I turned the station off, but I was wrong to think that'd be the end of voices blaring right at me.
As Hildegard and I left the South building, that mysterious Voice I'd last heard back at the 'entrance ceremony' flickered on again right in my head.
"Listen up, Enoshima, and listen good. You can waste your time playing amateur detective, or I can straight up tell you who the killer is. Sounds much better, doesn't it?" whoever it was buzzed inside me, like a fly had flown into my skull.
Keeping my voice low, else Hildegard think I was talking to her, or wondered why I was talking to myself, I just whispered, "How can I trust you?"
"Really? I've been with you from the start, Enoshima, and what reason do you have to not trust me, eh?" the Voice rang out.
Oh, I could actually think of a few reasons. Regardless, the Voice then flat-out told me, "It's Mori Aoko, she killed Yudai".
I staggered backwards, at which point Hildegard ended up noticing and ran up to me. "Tsubasa, is there somethingwrong?" she asked.
"You want Momoka's interviews? I intercepted them right here: Dejan, Aoko, Simeon and Kanji you've already heard, plus that call-in from Genpachi. Now out of those, who would do it just to see a death unfold, who would do it to watch the chaos among the students?" the Voice kept talking, "Oh, as for Simeon, guy has this thing about not drawing blood, which along with the pentagram rules him out, you know what Catholics are like."
(Simeon with Blood(I>
"What-what are you saying?" I asked out loud, especially since I knew Aoko was in class when the tank got loose, as I forgot for a second about Hildegard standing there. Not that it mattered, that was suddenly all the Voice said for now.
"I... just asked if something was wrong?" Hildegard repeated.
I looked at her, tried to say one thing, but instead said, "No, I'm fine, I just had a little, ah, mental strain processing all this." That was technically true, I guess, and I just couldn't tell anyone about the Voice because, well, I had no idea how they'd react.
"I know, we'll try and get in touch with Dejan next, I mean, if he's willing to talkabout what happened to his tank," she then said, leading me along through the cave.
"I'm tellin' you, I can't have done it!" Dejan was quick to blurt out as we confronted him by the North building, "The tank was left locked in place last night, someone had to have been meddling with it! I've been trained to handle tanks all my life, ya honestly think I would've made that simple a mistake?"
I knew better than to state that Dejan unmooring the tank on purpose was still on the table, as I didn't want to stress him out this soon. Instead I just asked, "Then, do have any idea who did?"
"Hmm," he got to thinking, before he replied, "When I checked the moorings I found quite a bit of rust and a little dampness on 'em, so whoever did it would've had some sorta liquid on them, little more corrosive though than just plain ol' water I take it".
(Rusted Tank Moorings(I>
"Wait, your tank looked rusty in general, ah, no offence," Hildegard then said, before she started running over our Talents, "Pilot has fuel, Captain might have water, Jazzman has resin, Jailbreaker would have some weird sewermuck, Miracleworker has holy water, Undertaker has embalmingfluid..."
"If whoever did it used the liquid to rust the hinge over time, then they might still've been in the class today" Dejan then figured.
"Yeah, meaning the suspects, for who set free the tank at least, could be more than just Kagura, Genpachi, or Fuhito," I concluded... but then that also meant Aoko was a suspect, just like the Voice said.
"Jailbreaker... then maybe Yudai was the one who set off the tank!" Hildegard gasped as her eyes lit up, "I've got it! Er, well maybe not quite yet, but the tank getting loose could've been done as part of Yudai's escape attempt, either he applied the liquid directly or got a helper to do it".
"Yeah well, it's about time I go see my own tank anyway. Sheesh, no idea how I'm gonna haul it back up though," Dejan mumbled as he walked off. I thought to myself he might not even have the chance to haul it up.
He headed down to the North building basement, a little cautiously too as I remembered the stairs had been shredded up a bit by the tank. Fuhito didn't seem to be around, so I figured I could get away with not telling Dejan about his... issues with us.
We saw Kagura and Genpachi standing by the body, being there as guard and witness to 'preserve the scene's integrity'. Kanji was also there, I took it Momoka had asked him to investigate that radio for her.
"Wait a minute, hold on a second, just one moment," Kanji suddenly said, getting to the point with, "Assuming this is indeed Momoka's Birdbook, then where's Yudai's?"
"Can't show ya," Genpachi smirked, "It's under his corpse. Poor soul fell down right on top of it as either the perp or the tank approached".
True, there were some glass shards poking out from just beneath Yudai, though still plenty of shards on top of him too.
"Er, any progress on what that pentagram means?" I then asked.
"Huh, pentagram?" Kagura just asked.
Hildegard nearly froze. "T-the one in blood, right by Yudai's body, remember?"
I looked to where the pentagram had been, only to see a less formed shape, obscured by dust and chalk.
(Blood Pentagram(I> Updated: Tampered
"Kagura, did you-!" Hildegard burst out.
"Hey, I'm the guard, I wouldn't tamper with anything! That blood was like that when I got here!" the priestess shouted back, before she had to admit, "O-okay, maybe I did do like one or two purification rites around here, but that's it. I never touched the blood!"
"Really, dollface, sweetcheeks, how could you be so untrusting?" Genpachi then asked, "I speak for integrity here, so when I say neither Kagura or I am the tamperer, I mean it. If you gotta blame someone for this, air yer grievances with Fuhito or Aoko".
Speaking of Fuhito, I spun around to see he had returned the room, just before Hildegard and I could leave. His face was fuming, but before he could say anything, another voice came on.
"Alright, you low-down, godforsaken, Americaforsaken punks," came Columbird's voice and image on the monitors, "I want you all in the Class Trial Courtroom pronto! You've been lucky you've been given so much time ta solve this case, I've known law enforcement that can catch miscreants in half as much time as you dawdlers!"
...Saved by our first Trial. I noticed Columbird didn't say anything about said law enforcement catching the right miscreants, but I guess that was besides the point.
I figured I had to get my theories about the case straight first:
How did Yudai die?
[ ] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
[ ] Run over by tank
[ ] Fell on his own radio which shattered
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
Who set the tank loose?
[ ] Dejan
[ ] Yudai
[ ] Yudai's accomplice
[ ] Nobody, it was an accident
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
Who tampered with the blood pentagram?
[ ] Kagura
[ ] Aoko
[ ] Genpachi
[ ] Fuhito
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
"What the-who is this? If you mean my assigned Birdbook, I have it right here! And n-none of my other equipment has ever eft my Lab!" Momoka's voice rose to protest after I asked that.
"I was, look, this is Enoshima Tsubasa, it's just I was at the crime scene earlier and saw a Birdbook tagged 'Sakakibara Momoka'," I said. I didn't want to outright say my name over the radio in case Fuhito was listening; I figured how crackly this phone would hide my voice. That said, I don't think just saying I was at the crime scene would give away anything he didn't want people to know.
"Enoshima, I... still don't know what you mean. I have my assigned Birdbook right here, it says 'Sakakibara Momoka', and I was walking back over to my own Lab when I heard the... the announcement," she went on.
Well, guess that answered the other question that'd occurred to me. I didn't have further proof on whether to trust Momoka's words, but I figured the right thing would be to have faith her alibi, until I heard anyone say elsewise.
(Momoka's Alibi(I>
"Hmm, but our names are on the Birdbooks in plain text, aren't they? What do you think about the likeliness of someone forging your name on the other radio?" came Hildegard's question.
"Y-Yes, that could be it, b-but..." Momoka started to blubber, her natural radio confidence mid-crumbling, "Who... who would want to frame m-me?"
I couldn't guess right now. I thought to tell her, 'That's what we're trying to find out' but really, what would saying that do to help?
"I've got it! Is it okay if we asks for recordings of the interviews you've had here, it's likely the culprit was one of them if they swapped out your Birdbook," Hildegard picked up on.
"U-Um, look, I really need to think about this. H-How about we just go back to you, Iwai, I believe you had more to say about conlangs, after all..." Momoka shifted things to, instead of address Hildegard directly.
I sighed as we headed away, Hildegard looking downcast too. Not that we'd made no progress, we'd sorta-established an alibi for Momoka and talked about Birdbook labels being forged, but that was about it.
Though speaking of the radio, I also thought to turn to Columbird's own station, thinking that maybe any discoveries Fuhito had made might be reported there?
Once I did though, I instantly wished I hadn't, given the brass fanfare that blared first thing.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeD9Nk8-tY0
"Hmph, and that boy called his little sewer-scraping a 'jailbreak'? I ain't never heard anything more miserable in my life. Back at home on the sacred continental shores of... America, we knew how to launch a genuine goddamn jailbreak, I'll tell ya! Alcatraz, the greatest prison on God's green Earth, never knew what hit it, 'cause we also had the greatest goddamn jailbreakers on God's green Earth too! And don't gimme that birdscrap 'bout how You-Die Cat-Sue broke outta Alcatraz too, that's a technicality, it don't count!" Columbird was mid-rant on his own station, almost lost in his own little world, a theatre of himself.
I turned the station off, but I was wrong to think that'd be the end of voices blaring right at me.
As Hildegard and I left the South building, that mysterious Voice I'd last heard back at the 'entrance ceremony' flickered on again right in my head.
"Listen up, Enoshima, and listen good. You can waste your time playing amateur detective, or I can straight up tell you who the killer is. Sounds much better, doesn't it?" whoever it was buzzed inside me, like a fly had flown into my skull.
Keeping my voice low, else Hildegard think I was talking to her, or wondered why I was talking to myself, I just whispered, "How can I trust you?"
"Really? I've been with you from the start, Enoshima, and what reason do you have to not trust me, eh?" the Voice rang out.
Oh, I could actually think of a few reasons. Regardless, the Voice then flat-out told me, "It's Mori Aoko, she killed Yudai".
I staggered backwards, at which point Hildegard ended up noticing and ran up to me. "Tsubasa, is there somethingwrong?" she asked.
"You want Momoka's interviews? I intercepted them right here: Dejan, Aoko, Simeon and Kanji you've already heard, plus that call-in from Genpachi. Now out of those, who would do it just to see a death unfold, who would do it to watch the chaos among the students?" the Voice kept talking, "Oh, as for Simeon, guy has this thing about not drawing blood, which along with the pentagram rules him out, you know what Catholics are like."
(Simeon with Blood(I>
"What-what are you saying?" I asked out loud, especially since I knew Aoko was in class when the tank got loose, as I forgot for a second about Hildegard standing there. Not that it mattered, that was suddenly all the Voice said for now.
"I... just asked if something was wrong?" Hildegard repeated.
I looked at her, tried to say one thing, but instead said, "No, I'm fine, I just had a little, ah, mental strain processing all this." That was technically true, I guess, and I just couldn't tell anyone about the Voice because, well, I had no idea how they'd react.
"I know, we'll try and get in touch with Dejan next, I mean, if he's willing to talkabout what happened to his tank," she then said, leading me along through the cave.
"I'm tellin' you, I can't have done it!" Dejan was quick to blurt out as we confronted him by the North building, "The tank was left locked in place last night, someone had to have been meddling with it! I've been trained to handle tanks all my life, ya honestly think I would've made that simple a mistake?"
I knew better than to state that Dejan unmooring the tank on purpose was still on the table, as I didn't want to stress him out this soon. Instead I just asked, "Then, do have any idea who did?"
"Hmm," he got to thinking, before he replied, "When I checked the moorings I found quite a bit of rust and a little dampness on 'em, so whoever did it would've had some sorta liquid on them, little more corrosive though than just plain ol' water I take it".
(Rusted Tank Moorings(I>
"Wait, your tank looked rusty in general, ah, no offence," Hildegard then said, before she started running over our Talents, "Pilot has fuel, Captain might have water, Jazzman has resin, Jailbreaker would have some weird sewermuck, Miracleworker has holy water, Undertaker has embalmingfluid..."
"If whoever did it used the liquid to rust the hinge over time, then they might still've been in the class today" Dejan then figured.
"Yeah, meaning the suspects, for who set free the tank at least, could be more than just Kagura, Genpachi, or Fuhito," I concluded... but then that also meant Aoko was a suspect, just like the Voice said.
"Jailbreaker... then maybe Yudai was the one who set off the tank!" Hildegard gasped as her eyes lit up, "I've got it! Er, well maybe not quite yet, but the tank getting loose could've been done as part of Yudai's escape attempt, either he applied the liquid directly or got a helper to do it".
"Yeah well, it's about time I go see my own tank anyway. Sheesh, no idea how I'm gonna haul it back up though," Dejan mumbled as he walked off. I thought to myself he might not even have the chance to haul it up.
He headed down to the North building basement, a little cautiously too as I remembered the stairs had been shredded up a bit by the tank. Fuhito didn't seem to be around, so I figured I could get away with not telling Dejan about his... issues with us.
We saw Kagura and Genpachi standing by the body, being there as guard and witness to 'preserve the scene's integrity'. Kanji was also there, I took it Momoka had asked him to investigate that radio for her.
"Wait a minute, hold on a second, just one moment," Kanji suddenly said, getting to the point with, "Assuming this is indeed Momoka's Birdbook, then where's Yudai's?"
"Can't show ya," Genpachi smirked, "It's under his corpse. Poor soul fell down right on top of it as either the perp or the tank approached".
True, there were some glass shards poking out from just beneath Yudai, though still plenty of shards on top of him too.
"Er, any progress on what that pentagram means?" I then asked.
"Huh, pentagram?" Kagura just asked.
Hildegard nearly froze. "T-the one in blood, right by Yudai's body, remember?"
I looked to where the pentagram had been, only to see a less formed shape, obscured by dust and chalk.
(Blood Pentagram(I> Updated: Tampered
"Kagura, did you-!" Hildegard burst out.
"Hey, I'm the guard, I wouldn't tamper with anything! That blood was like that when I got here!" the priestess shouted back, before she had to admit, "O-okay, maybe I did do like one or two purification rites around here, but that's it. I never touched the blood!"
"Really, dollface, sweetcheeks, how could you be so untrusting?" Genpachi then asked, "I speak for integrity here, so when I say neither Kagura or I am the tamperer, I mean it. If you gotta blame someone for this, air yer grievances with Fuhito or Aoko".
Speaking of Fuhito, I spun around to see he had returned the room, just before Hildegard and I could leave. His face was fuming, but before he could say anything, another voice came on.
"Alright, you low-down, godforsaken, Americaforsaken punks," came Columbird's voice and image on the monitors, "I want you all in the Class Trial Courtroom pronto! You've been lucky you've been given so much time ta solve this case, I've known law enforcement that can catch miscreants in half as much time as you dawdlers!"
...Saved by our first Trial. I noticed Columbird didn't say anything about said law enforcement catching the right miscreants, but I guess that was besides the point.
I figured I had to get my theories about the case straight first:
How did Yudai die?
[ ] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
[ ] Run over by tank
[ ] Fell on his own radio which shattered
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
Who set the tank loose?
[ ] Dejan
[ ] Yudai
[ ] Yudai's accomplice
[ ] Nobody, it was an accident
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
Who tampered with the blood pentagram?
[ ] Kagura
[ ] Aoko
[ ] Genpachi
[ ] Fuhito
[ ] Write-in
[ ] Still don't know
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... Yeah, I'm kind of drawing blanks.
Aren't you a smuggler?
Aren't you a smuggler?
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Huh, I was actually worried about the opposite problem, that the killer would be too obvious (killers being not too hard to figure out is something people regularly say about Danganronpa). Then again, that's what we have the whole Trial for
I'm reminded of a while back, I watched two different people play through the first case of Danganronpa V3 blind. One didn't figure it out and was complaining about how obtuse the clues were. The other person figured it out almost as soon as the trial started.
Basically, people don't always pick up on the same things.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Psychic Enoshima guessing Aoko before the voice mentioned her, and a missing preposition.
"it"
Is her alibi confirmed by anyone but herself?
How much do we trust these things? I mean, we can say "the character has religious beliefs that rule out certain actions", but that relies on a faulty premise that beliefs are equal to facts by law of mystery fiction. Being a killer would require Simeon to disregard his Christian beliefs in the first place.
So when we get a "truth bullet" how much truth is actually in there?
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hmm, you reminded me that it might help to divide Truth Bullets up into variety levels of certainty or faultiness, a little like the whole Red truth/Blue truth thing you see in Umineko, though here maybe more into 'definitely true' and 'worth considering'. But even then, yeah in hindsight I might have to disqualify Momoka's 'alibi' from Truth Bullet status, since you bring up how flimsy it is (also Truth Bullets can be strengthened when new info comes up in a Trial)
- Location
- Germany
Mostly drawing a blank on the tank. Hildegard's guess that Judai, or an accomplice of his, did it is about as good as anything I can come up with, but I can't think of much in terms of evidence that actually points at the who.
As for the pentagram, it's kind of too obvious and manufactured to strike me as something the killer would want to hide now. The dust and chalk also makes me think of things like outlining the body/evidence and checking for fingerprints. So I think Fuhito might have screwed the evidence up. Possibly accidentally because he's just actually that bad at being a detective. Admittedly, my judgement may be clouded by the fact I find that possibility greatly amusing.
[X] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
[X] Yudai
[X] Yudai's accomplice
[X] Fuhito
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
Alright, so the implication is, we have most of the clues by now.
Let's collect the known facts.
The class happened at 09:30; it got disrupted a few minuted from starting, and then the tank broke in somewhere around ~09:40. Yudai's time of death got pinpointed to about ~10:00, though I am not sure when the body got discovered. The time for the announcement wasn't given.
Not present during Toranosuke's lesson: Fuhito, Genpachi and Kagura. As Dejan presumably left the tank right before heading to class, they are our likeliest choices of suspects for the class sabotage. Would be very Genpachi-like.
Then we have this:
Doesn't that only make sense if Yudai is the sole culprit for the tank getting loose?
I'd note that being the Ultimate Jailbreaker does not imply anyone else getting out. The easiest way out of the Academy is through murder, so let's keep this in mind.
Kanji, Hildegard, and Aoko came to shelter in Minami's Lab with us, with Aoko coming last. Then we had the announcement, which means the body was found by three innocents. Likely the ones above?
The crime scene:
Yudai may have been in there with someone else -- he needed another person.
The murder could have happened as they heard the tank rolling down -- the murderer would then know their actions could be disguised as an accident. Alternatively, it could have happened earlier if the murderer knew for certain the tank would be there... as a part of Yudai's plan, perhaps?
Momoka's radio, then, isn't Momoka at all... which we already suspected. Someone must be lacking theirs.
Edit: nah, that got confirmed by Columbird. Assuming Red Truth is in effect, the culprit swapped their radio with hers just to get that on the file. It may sound stupid, but it works within the game logic.
They also have something to erase the fingerprints from the radio, or not leave them in the first place.
...I hypothesised that Momoka's radio couldn't have been the murder weapon since the glass shards were on top of the corpse, but I suppose if the strenth of the blow was sufficient it could have dropped Yudai and the radio on top of him. Then the tank would roll in... and the rest is history.
Could it have worked this way? I am not sure. Was it reasonable to expect the tank to roll down here? Yudai could have arranged that and shared that information with his "partner", which would make it a premediated murder. Otherwise it's a murder of opportunity, and it's a lot less plausible someone could have prepared for it thoroughly. How do you erase your fingerprints from a radio after it got shattered? Hmm, Yoritsune has his hands bandaged. Does anyone else wear gloves?
What is Hildegard implying? That Momoka's radio in her Lab isn't hers, and someone swapped it? With what, their own? That seems why the list of interviewed is important, but... why would anyone need to forge a name and then swap it with her radio instead of using a forgery as a murder weapon in the first place? What does the culprit gain from using a genuine thing?
And why does it say "Momoka-labelled" radio in the choice? Can we make up our mind if the radio found in Yudai's Lab is Momoka's or not?
This is the kind of trick that only makes sense under Umineko logic. If Columbird states "Momoka's radio" in no uncertain term, and we are to understand him as literally as possible, the murder suspect would have to indeed be one of these:
The pentagram is an open mystery. It was etched there before the tank rolled out. Who did that? Was it Yudai? He was the one holding the chisel; but what would he need it for? Was it something the culprit did to misdirect?
Assuming Genpachi and Kagura vouch for each other then, even if they are both truants for the class, they can't both be Yudai's accomplices. Then the ones tampering with the pentagram would be the other two present at the scene. What for, though? There is nothing in it for Aoko, so was it Fuhito's misstep?
Edit:
How do we decipher "among the potential causes of death"? Does it mean "causes of death may include but are not limited to"?
Also could have known the tank'd end up in his basement, which he may have shared with his partner. Probably tried to break the wall with the tank.
Alternatively, he tried to make use of the tank to cover up a murder and escape that way, but got killed in retaliation. Still, he isn't the one who stole the radio...
And considering the radio had to be stolen the day before, it's much more plausible that whoever'd done it (likely planning to frame Momoka for their next murder) was receptive to the offer of going off somewhere secluded.
Wait a second. This is not the cause of death. People don't die from falling on a radio. Maybe he did fell on the radio as he died, but that does not answer the question, which, judging by the two alternatives, tries to establish the cause of death.
Let's collect the known facts.
The class happened at 09:30; it got disrupted a few minuted from starting, and then the tank broke in somewhere around ~09:40. Yudai's time of death got pinpointed to about ~10:00, though I am not sure when the body got discovered. The time for the announcement wasn't given.
Not present during Toranosuke's lesson: Fuhito, Genpachi and Kagura. As Dejan presumably left the tank right before heading to class, they are our likeliest choices of suspects for the class sabotage. Would be very Genpachi-like.
Both Jazzman and Jailbreaker are in possession of those items, but they could also be procured elsewhere so it is not indicative of anything. Later findings suggest that the sabotage could have been delayed, but timing it right would have to be hard unless not related to one's Ultimate Talent.
Then we have this:
Yudai knew a distraction was coming, and offered us to come along. It is unknown whether we were the only one who received the offer. Presumably he needed a partner; but didn't he already have someone who sabotaged the tank?
Doesn't that only make sense if Yudai is the sole culprit for the tank getting loose?
I'd note that being the Ultimate Jailbreaker does not imply anyone else getting out. The easiest way out of the Academy is through murder, so let's keep this in mind.
Dejan, Toranosure, Manami and Etsuko are off the suspects list for the murder. They were busy together.
Kanji, Hildegard, and Aoko came to shelter in Minami's Lab with us, with Aoko coming last. Then we had the announcement, which means the body was found by three innocents. Likely the ones above?
The crime scene:
The poster is on the floor -- is this just how Yudai digsuised entry to his lab? Could be accidental, could be not.
Yudai may have been in there with someone else -- he needed another person.
The murder could have happened as they heard the tank rolling down -- the murderer would then know their actions could be disguised as an accident. Alternatively, it could have happened earlier if the murderer knew for certain the tank would be there... as a part of Yudai's plan, perhaps?
Edit: nah, that got confirmed by Columbird. Assuming Red Truth is in effect, the culprit swapped their radio with hers just to get that on the file. It may sound stupid, but it works within the game logic.
They also have something to erase the fingerprints from the radio, or not leave them in the first place.
...I hypothesised that Momoka's radio couldn't have been the murder weapon since the glass shards were on top of the corpse, but I suppose if the strenth of the blow was sufficient it could have dropped Yudai and the radio on top of him. Then the tank would roll in... and the rest is history.
Could it have worked this way? I am not sure. Was it reasonable to expect the tank to roll down here? Yudai could have arranged that and shared that information with his "partner", which would make it a premediated murder. Otherwise it's a murder of opportunity, and it's a lot less plausible someone could have prepared for it thoroughly. How do you erase your fingerprints from a radio after it got shattered? Hmm, Yoritsune has his hands bandaged. Does anyone else wear gloves?
I don't follow the logic there, @ArlequineLunaire.
What is Hildegard implying? That Momoka's radio in her Lab isn't hers, and someone swapped it? With what, their own? That seems why the list of interviewed is important, but... why would anyone need to forge a name and then swap it with her radio instead of using a forgery as a murder weapon in the first place? What does the culprit gain from using a genuine thing?
And why does it say "Momoka-labelled" radio in the choice? Can we make up our mind if the radio found in Yudai's Lab is Momoka's or not?
This is the kind of trick that only makes sense under Umineko logic. If Columbird states "Momoka's radio" in no uncertain term, and we are to understand him as literally as possible, the murder suspect would have to indeed be one of these:
Dejan is out, so it's between the three. Notably, the one who pinpointed Momoko's radio as the cause of death was Aoko.
As to how the fingerprints weren't present, Fuhito made his own theory:
...would a shovel qualify too?
The pentagram is an open mystery. It was etched there before the tank rolled out. Who did that? Was it Yudai? He was the one holding the chisel; but what would he need it for? Was it something the culprit did to misdirect?
Assuming Genpachi and Kagura vouch for each other then, even if they are both truants for the class, they can't both be Yudai's accomplices. Then the ones tampering with the pentagram would be the other two present at the scene. What for, though? There is nothing in it for Aoko, so was it Fuhito's misstep?
Edit:
How do we decipher "among the potential causes of death"? Does it mean "causes of death may include but are not limited to"?
It's Yudai. Knew about it beforehand; didn't have a partner (was looking for one).
Also could have known the tank'd end up in his basement, which he may have shared with his partner. Probably tried to break the wall with the tank.
Alternatively, he tried to make use of the tank to cover up a murder and escape that way, but got killed in retaliation. Still, he isn't the one who stole the radio...
And considering the radio had to be stolen the day before, it's much more plausible that whoever'd done it (likely planning to frame Momoka for their next murder) was receptive to the offer of going off somewhere secluded.
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- Location
- Germany
Tsubasa does note that Yudai bled out, so my impression is hat the idea was less that the impact with the radio would have killed him and more that the resulting glass shards pierced something important. At the very least, it does look like the impact coincides with his death, given that a broken radio isn't exactly the kind of think you'd want to keep lying on. That being said, "was clobbered to death with a radio on a stick and then fell on a different one" is still entirely possible.
It's just that while getting the radio to differt attention makes sense, I'm not sure if that's what I'd set out to use as a murder weapon, especially seeing how they don't seem to be the most durable objects, if falling on one can break them. Then again, if this was deliberate, hoping that somebody has an unfortunate fall that pushes glass shards into their vital bits is hardly a genius plan either. Man, having gotten a look at what kind of wounds, if any, were caused by Yudai falling on his radio would clear a lot up here.
Was it etched into the ground? I more got the impression somebody just smeared some blood around. Not that that makes the why any more obvious. Part of me considers that Aoko might just have done it for the lulz and added satanic panic, in case we're going with her being chaotic evil, but I suppose it also could have been used to cover up some sother bloodsmears.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Yes, he was run over by a tank. That would cause enough lacerations to bleed out all over the floor; however, it might not be the cause of death.
I don't think falling on a radio causes any wounds. It was just the answer to the question "where is Yudai's radio", because if his were absent we'd have to suspect him to have organized the swap.
I am still waiting on our QM to explain how this swapping works. I brought this one up before:
Is there a way to differentiate between one's own radio and another which also has their name on it? Is there a limited supply of radios?
Basically, why would anyone swap another's radio with theirs if the two are identical in function?
Oh. I somehow read it that the blood pooled in the shape of a pentagram.
The difference between "formed" and "smeared", is that the first implies doing it on its own, and since there was a tool available it gave me the idea how it could have been done.
It may have been just be me misreading the description. English is not my native language, after all.
Hmm. Covering up the body was moved? I don't know what else would make one blatantly draw attention in a way that distracts from the "tank accident" theory.
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- Location
- Germany
Yeah you're right. I'll be honest and say that I currently don't have the easiest time imagining the state of the body, so I probably latched on to the wrong bit. (Coming fresh out of a set of nights shifts definetly doesn't help, but I didn't want to skip out on participating.)
You're not wrong what "formed" is generally a more active description, but I also don't think that the connotation is strong enough to necessarily mean anything. That and the descriptions over in the evidence tab very clearly refers to it as drawn.
Possibly. It could be a mix of moving him into the tank's exact path and attempting to hide the blood spilled by the innital strike.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hmm, about 'Why swap your radio with Momoka's when you could just forge her name on your own?' As the one writing all this I don't wanna say too much for fear giving it away, but it's safe to assume Momoka would've been given multiple radios by Hope's Peak due to her talent, which would've been rebranded as Birdbooks by Columbird when he took over since his ego's like that. So Momoka checking all her radios to find the name-forged, swapped one would take longer than it would with any other student, buying the killer more time to stall out the trial or keep misdirecting
I'd also like to say that these are 1940s radios, so even if Hope's Peak ones are more hi-tech than the norm, they still wouldn't be as safely constructed as nowadays
I'd also like to say that these are 1940s radios, so even if Hope's Peak ones are more hi-tech than the norm, they still wouldn't be as safely constructed as nowadays
- Location
- St. Petersburg
I didn't know that, and I thought she'd be in trouble for losing hers. It's good to know she has spares.
However, my question is about what is the point of the act of swapping a radio itself? What does the killer stand to gain from it?
If we assume it's to throw suspicion at someone... that point is rendered moot if the radio is broken. A genuine broken radio and a broken fake behave exactly the same in all respects. So why go through the extra length of swapping a radio and risk discovery or complications?
Suppose the murder weapon is "Momoka's radio" we discovered at the crime scene. The killer could have forged the name, swapped the fake radio while at Momoka's lab, and whacked a person with Momoka's radio... or they could have scribbled her name on a fake radio and whacked the person with it to the same effect. Without seeing Momoka once.
Why do we think the swap happened at all? WIthout the necessity of this confirmed Hildegard and the Voice are talking complete nonsense, and the list of the interviewed has no relevance to the crime whatsoever, yet our character considers it seriously. I want to understand why.
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- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Presumably so they after they use the radio as planted evidence, they can then get their own radio back, take the forged nametag off, and say 'My Birdbook? It's right here'. True, I guess it would've helped if I had Tsubasa or Hildegard say that in the original post
Also, about the pentagram, yeah, Edgedancer's right in that 'smeared' is closer to what I meant, though still through an implement or gloved hands, rather than the fingers directly
Edit: Also, as I mentioned Umineko, maybe this Quest should instead have Red, White, and Blue truths? /s
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
Ah, right. Unlike Momoka, they can't simply sacrifice their radio because it is their only one.
I am still not sure what happens if one loses their Birdbook.
/s aside, I think it could simplify communication to those in the know (i.e. it might make sense to have it in the discussion, not in the quest itself), but we'll do with the old-fashioned method to avoid mixing the franchises.
Anyway, here's my answer for now:
[x] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
[x] Yudai
[x] Fuhito
The problem with it is that there is a broken radio directly underneath him, implied to have been broken by fall. If it were broken elsewhere, you'd expect to find glass shards and pieces in that part of the room. Then again, there are pieces from Momoka's radio scattered around, so maybe the murderer made it look like the body wasn't moved by passing parts of one radio as another.
Vote closed
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Given the animation that goes along with it, you'll understand why I put this here:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNcHF5K3Tpc
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Chapter 1: Class Trial - All Rise
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
How did Yudai die?
[X] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
Who set the tank loose?
[X] Yudai
Who tampered with the blood pentagram?
[X] Fuhito
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOFG9TCTiG0
We were directed towards the school's main elevator. Where it was once used to travel between floors, so I assumed anyway, now it took us to only one place.
I wasn't any closer honestly to working out who, if anyone, killed Yudai, even if I had a few more leads on who didn't. Yeah, the Voice had flat-out told me it was Aoko, but given how secretive said Voice was, did that really solve things?
We were taken to a courtroom, its walls painted to resemble a sepia Art Deco cityscape, and its centre a ring of podiums, Columbird up on a gilded perch at the 'head'.
"Do I honestly have to tell the citizens of this country how a court trial's supposed ta work?!" Columbird barked at us, having assumed we needed to be told. "Argue whodunnit, then vote for whodunnit, been that way since Ancient Rome! You can thank the United States of America for giving you all majority vote, 'cause if most of ya vote correct on who the killer is, only they get what's comin' to them. But if you prove majority vote's wasted on ya and get the killer wrong, then ya got nobody to blame but yourselves when all of you but the killer get punished. Do I Make Myself Clear?!"
"I believe standard procedure here is to go over what we all know about the case," Toranosuke quickly took the lead, before he cleared his throat to say, "Students of Hope's Peak, fret not, should any of us indeed be the killer, they shall not long elude my natural genius".
"Tch, the harder they fall," Genpachi muttered.
"Katsu Yudai's body was found at 10AM. Objects at the crime scene consisted of Momoka's radio broken atop him, his own radio beneath him, a chisel and file in his hand, a torn poster just outside, and of course Albini's tank," Fuhito went over.
"Oh, so that means Momoka killed him, right?" Kagura exclaimed the very second Fuhito finished. "It's her radio and all. Ah, this is easy!"
"What?! N-n-no, absolutely not, I'd never kill, and not Katsu of all people!" Momoka then sobbed out.
>Momoka's Alibi?>>---X Momoka killed him
"That doesn't add up," I interjected, if somewhat hesitantly, "Sakakibara told me she had an alibi, that after class she ran to her Lab before the BDA, and she wouldn't have had enough to hit Katsu with her radio then head all the way back there."
"...You do know how alibis work, don't you?" Fuhito then scowled at me, "It doesn't mean anything if you only have her word for it".
"No, I can confirm," Manami then spoke up, "When Ishimaru, Albini, Kimura, and I left to track down that tank, Momoka did come our way to make it back to her base of operations."
>Momoka's Alibi>> [Reforged]
"Y-yes, I wouldn't have had time to leave my radio there, and if I left it there earlier, w-wouldn't Katsu have noticed?" Momoka found it in herself to speak up.
"Losing your radio? Then why did Columbird not reprimand you?" Toranosuke pointed out.
"I-I have more than one radio," Momoka said, though shrank back at Toranosuke's tone, "It... comes with my Talent."
"Additionally, Enoshima and I have theorised that this particular radio of Momoka's was infact stolen from her Lab by one of her interviewees," Hildegard then said, before she announced, "Who switched it out with their own."
"...And Sakakibara didst not notice this?" Yoritsune inquired, eyeing us closer.
"She did, but not immediately," Hildegard tried to explain, "Firstly, she'd have quite a few radios to go through. Secondly, our signatures are writtenon the nametags of our Birdbooks in print, so anyone could've forged her name on theirs."
"Grr, that's dumb, you're dumb!" Etsuko hissed out, "Just forge your name on your own noisebox and leave it at the crime scene, much easier, don't gotta steal anything," she then huffed.
>Cracks on the Radio>>---X Don't gotta steal anything
"That's not true!" I said in time, "Whoever planted that radio would need to steal their own back later, so they could present it if questioned. Else, they'd be left with a shattered radio, giving them away."
"Thus, we can deduce that whoever planted the radio was one of Momoka's interviewees," Hildegard continued.
"Is that so? Feh, I cannot believe we must deal with killing and stealing in the same case," Toranosuke sighed, "Truly, what is Hope's Peak coming to?"
"No, y-you've got it wrong!" Momoka then squealed out, clutching her head, "N-Nobody I interview on my show would be that bad a person, I refuse to believe it!" she then burst out with, pointing a finger at me.
[CROSS SWORDS]
"My guests are not bad people!"
"I'd never invite a killer and thief on my show!""T-this can't be happening!"
[ADVANCE!]
"Sakakibara... I'm sorry," I tried to tell her, "But look, we've barely known each other that long. It's harsh to say, but nobody's able to judge someone's character that quickly".
That made her catch her breath, but she still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"B-but you can still tell someone that bad, right?"
"A-and logically, it couldn't be a guest of mine b-because...""We c-couldn't find Aoko, Dejan, or Simeon's fingerprints at the crime scene"
o=||No Fingerprints at Crime Scene!>>
"We couldn't find anyone's prints at the crime scene!" I told her, before I caught my breath and said, "Look, Sakakibara, I'm sorry, but that doesn't let your guests off the hook."
"Got some nerve on ya to assume what we were all like before we even got here, doll," Genpachi chuckled at Momoka, "You honestly think us humans are inherently moral, or if so, that our morals match your own, on top of us all bein' tainted by a whole War? Sheesh, gimme a break."
"Even still, you're all missing that we don't have proof the radio was the murder weapon, or anything beyond a plant," Fuhito came in with, "This would make the planter suspicious, yes, but not necessarily the culprit."
"E-either way, don't turn your gaze at me!" Kanji spoke out, "I wasn't even on Sakakibara's program till after the murder!"
"Hold on a second... oh no, no, it cannot be so," Jeanne started mumbling, "Dejan, you are... both le tank's owner and one of Momoka's guests, no?"
"W-what? Jeanne, what the Hell are you saying?" Dejan gasped, "Argh, I'm the last person who would've set my tank loose! I mean, I'd just be sabotagin' myself when I went to help you guys round it up".
"No, that makes sense too," Manami glared at him, her arms crossed, "You helped us just to look like you weren't the culprit. Plus, the tank still ran over Katsu anyway, like the killer would've wanted, so you failed at even helping".
"Fascist!" Dejan then spouted out, "Of course you'd all accuse me damaging my beloved tank just ta kill!"
"Hah, not only do you match up with both the tank and the radio show, you cannot produce a solid defence for yourself," Fuhito smirked, "This case might as well be closed."
>Rusted Tank Moorings>>---X Defence for yourself
"That's not true! Albini himself told me that someone broke the moorings ahead of time," I said to everyone.
Fuhito looked at me only to facepalm, "...Do you realise what you've just said, Enoshima? Your words have only condemned Albini all the more. Before, he actually had an alibi, being with you in class. Now, the possibility that anyone could've loosened the tank up ahead of time, regardless of whether they were in class, has been opened. Do you finally understand why I said you were useless as a detective?"
"You've got it wrong, Fuhito. Tsubasa justsaved Dejan, not condemned him," Hildegard came to my aid at the very moment I thought was done for, "What he was trying to say was that this proves Dejan didn't setloose the tank, because if he did, then why would he tell us something that'd ruin his own alibi?"
"...That's assuming Albini wasn't being overconfident, let alone an idiot," Fuhito sneered, his influence challenged but far from crumbling.
"No, I would... like to believe Albini," Jeanne then said, "I knew I should not have doubted him, he would not simply lie when it came to his beloved tank."
"Are you going with your mere 'beliefs', Chevalier?" Manami spoke up, "Because doing so could risk the lives of everyone here. How could you be that irresponsible; this isn't about playing hero!"
"Nyaah, I still think nasty tank boy did it!" Etsuko scowled, Manami not reprimanding the Chimera's gut feelings when they backed her side up.
"Oh, is that so?" Aoko then smirked and let out a chuckle, "Tell me, do none of you take pride in your work? I wouldn't dream to be so careless with a corpse, so I don't imagine Albini would be so with a tank."
Wait, hold on... Aoko was coming to my aid? Even though if Dejan was innocent, that'd make her culprit status even more likely, being one of Momoka's guests?
No, this... didn't add up with what that Voice had told me. Only if Aoko wanted to be found out as the killer, for whatever reason.
"What's this? Do my ears pick up a Split Opinion in Court?!" Columbird then shot up, before he pounded down with the gavel clutched in his beak, "Alright ya lazy bums, do ya know what you've incurred? It's time for an old-fashioned, All-American Scrum Debate!"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mlPcsrCYMY
With Columbird's words, our podiums sprang back, going from being arranged in a circle to two straight lines, all of us facing each other.
"Albini matches both the tank and the interviews!" Toranosuke opened with.
"D-does everyone think I'm that careless with who I let on my show? You believe in our morality too, don't you Ishimaru?" Momoka countered him, still not willing to give up on her guests' integrity.
"Hardly a defence, coming from the corrupt world of radio. If anything, going on your show confirmed that for me!" Simeon snapped out with.
"And the Vatican has never dealt with internal corruption? Why do you think Reformation and secularisation happened?" Jeanne spat out.
"Neither of you have disproven Ishimaru's original point," Fuhito stated.
"His point isn't so solid. Aligning with both tank and radio may make our Albini a suspect, but doesn't clinch that he's guilty", Kanji told him.
"Yet he is the only one of us who knoweth how a device as newfangled as a tank wouldst even work," Yoritsune spoke.
"You don't have ta know how a tank works in order to set one rolling, in fact I'd say the opposite!" Dejan countered.
"And how do you just casually set a tank rolling?" Manami narrowed her gaze.
"Albini said a specific liquid had been used to rust the tank's moorings over time," I recalled.
"Yeah kid, a 'specific liquid' it'd make sense for a tank fink to have," the previously neutral Genpachi joined the other side at the last minute.
"Or any of us, almost. Quill ink, plane and ship fuel, holy water, embalming fluid, even bow resin, Genpachi, just to list the possibilities," Hildegard brought up.
"I-I don't geddit. Like, we were 'bout ta find out, now we're back at square one! How does this help?" Etsuko was just puzzled.
"It 'helps' as it gives us many new murder possibilities to consider, my dear little Kimura, not just the dead end we've been on," Aoko gently laughed.
"Oh, what would you know? Someone like you is festering with death, Mori, how can we trust ya?" Kagura blurted out, her side whittled down to name-calling.
Total Influence: 22 vs Total Influence: 21
21 + Roll d20 (18) = 39
"This is our answer!"
After that, our podiums moved back to their regular circle. Fuhito, his once sharp expression appearing drained and cracked, sighed out, "Fine, are you happy? We'll cross of Dejan Albini from the suspect list... for now anyway."
"For Chrissakes, what is taking you all so long?" Columbird blurted out, "were this a proper American trial, we'd have thrown the suspect behind bars long ago! Eurgh, I'll let ya pansy-asses cut to a Break, but if ya ain't found the culprit by this time next trial, I'm declaring a vote on the killer anyway!"
...We were already at halftime, yet I still feel there were some important points that hadn't been brought up. The instant we were back, I knew I'd resume with:
[ ] What the deal was with that pentagram.
[ ] Whether Yudai's escape attempt was a one-man effort.
[ ] What motive any of us could have for killing Yudai.
[ ] Who'd tampered with the crime scene.
[ ] Who else could've set off the tank.
[ ] Write-in
[X] Struck with the Momoka-labelled radio
Who set the tank loose?
[X] Yudai
Who tampered with the blood pentagram?
[X] Fuhito
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOFG9TCTiG0
We were directed towards the school's main elevator. Where it was once used to travel between floors, so I assumed anyway, now it took us to only one place.
I wasn't any closer honestly to working out who, if anyone, killed Yudai, even if I had a few more leads on who didn't. Yeah, the Voice had flat-out told me it was Aoko, but given how secretive said Voice was, did that really solve things?
We were taken to a courtroom, its walls painted to resemble a sepia Art Deco cityscape, and its centre a ring of podiums, Columbird up on a gilded perch at the 'head'.
"Do I honestly have to tell the citizens of this country how a court trial's supposed ta work?!" Columbird barked at us, having assumed we needed to be told. "Argue whodunnit, then vote for whodunnit, been that way since Ancient Rome! You can thank the United States of America for giving you all majority vote, 'cause if most of ya vote correct on who the killer is, only they get what's comin' to them. But if you prove majority vote's wasted on ya and get the killer wrong, then ya got nobody to blame but yourselves when all of you but the killer get punished. Do I Make Myself Clear?!"
"I believe standard procedure here is to go over what we all know about the case," Toranosuke quickly took the lead, before he cleared his throat to say, "Students of Hope's Peak, fret not, should any of us indeed be the killer, they shall not long elude my natural genius".
"Tch, the harder they fall," Genpachi muttered.
"Katsu Yudai's body was found at 10AM. Objects at the crime scene consisted of Momoka's radio broken atop him, his own radio beneath him, a chisel and file in his hand, a torn poster just outside, and of course Albini's tank," Fuhito went over.
"Oh, so that means Momoka killed him, right?" Kagura exclaimed the very second Fuhito finished. "It's her radio and all. Ah, this is easy!"
"What?! N-n-no, absolutely not, I'd never kill, and not Katsu of all people!" Momoka then sobbed out.
>Momoka's Alibi?>>---X Momoka killed him
"That doesn't add up," I interjected, if somewhat hesitantly, "Sakakibara told me she had an alibi, that after class she ran to her Lab before the BDA, and she wouldn't have had enough to hit Katsu with her radio then head all the way back there."
"...You do know how alibis work, don't you?" Fuhito then scowled at me, "It doesn't mean anything if you only have her word for it".
"No, I can confirm," Manami then spoke up, "When Ishimaru, Albini, Kimura, and I left to track down that tank, Momoka did come our way to make it back to her base of operations."
>Momoka's Alibi>> [Reforged]
"Y-yes, I wouldn't have had time to leave my radio there, and if I left it there earlier, w-wouldn't Katsu have noticed?" Momoka found it in herself to speak up.
"Losing your radio? Then why did Columbird not reprimand you?" Toranosuke pointed out.
"I-I have more than one radio," Momoka said, though shrank back at Toranosuke's tone, "It... comes with my Talent."
"Additionally, Enoshima and I have theorised that this particular radio of Momoka's was infact stolen from her Lab by one of her interviewees," Hildegard then said, before she announced, "Who switched it out with their own."
"...And Sakakibara didst not notice this?" Yoritsune inquired, eyeing us closer.
"She did, but not immediately," Hildegard tried to explain, "Firstly, she'd have quite a few radios to go through. Secondly, our signatures are writtenon the nametags of our Birdbooks in print, so anyone could've forged her name on theirs."
"Grr, that's dumb, you're dumb!" Etsuko hissed out, "Just forge your name on your own noisebox and leave it at the crime scene, much easier, don't gotta steal anything," she then huffed.
>Cracks on the Radio>>---X Don't gotta steal anything
"That's not true!" I said in time, "Whoever planted that radio would need to steal their own back later, so they could present it if questioned. Else, they'd be left with a shattered radio, giving them away."
"Thus, we can deduce that whoever planted the radio was one of Momoka's interviewees," Hildegard continued.
"Is that so? Feh, I cannot believe we must deal with killing and stealing in the same case," Toranosuke sighed, "Truly, what is Hope's Peak coming to?"
"No, y-you've got it wrong!" Momoka then squealed out, clutching her head, "N-Nobody I interview on my show would be that bad a person, I refuse to believe it!" she then burst out with, pointing a finger at me.
[CROSS SWORDS]
[ADVANCE!]
"Sakakibara... I'm sorry," I tried to tell her, "But look, we've barely known each other that long. It's harsh to say, but nobody's able to judge someone's character that quickly".
That made her catch her breath, but she still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
o=||No Fingerprints at Crime Scene!>>
"We couldn't find anyone's prints at the crime scene!" I told her, before I caught my breath and said, "Look, Sakakibara, I'm sorry, but that doesn't let your guests off the hook."
"Got some nerve on ya to assume what we were all like before we even got here, doll," Genpachi chuckled at Momoka, "You honestly think us humans are inherently moral, or if so, that our morals match your own, on top of us all bein' tainted by a whole War? Sheesh, gimme a break."
"Even still, you're all missing that we don't have proof the radio was the murder weapon, or anything beyond a plant," Fuhito came in with, "This would make the planter suspicious, yes, but not necessarily the culprit."
"E-either way, don't turn your gaze at me!" Kanji spoke out, "I wasn't even on Sakakibara's program till after the murder!"
"Hold on a second... oh no, no, it cannot be so," Jeanne started mumbling, "Dejan, you are... both le tank's owner and one of Momoka's guests, no?"
"W-what? Jeanne, what the Hell are you saying?" Dejan gasped, "Argh, I'm the last person who would've set my tank loose! I mean, I'd just be sabotagin' myself when I went to help you guys round it up".
"No, that makes sense too," Manami glared at him, her arms crossed, "You helped us just to look like you weren't the culprit. Plus, the tank still ran over Katsu anyway, like the killer would've wanted, so you failed at even helping".
"Fascist!" Dejan then spouted out, "Of course you'd all accuse me damaging my beloved tank just ta kill!"
"Hah, not only do you match up with both the tank and the radio show, you cannot produce a solid defence for yourself," Fuhito smirked, "This case might as well be closed."
>Rusted Tank Moorings>>---X Defence for yourself
"That's not true! Albini himself told me that someone broke the moorings ahead of time," I said to everyone.
Fuhito looked at me only to facepalm, "...Do you realise what you've just said, Enoshima? Your words have only condemned Albini all the more. Before, he actually had an alibi, being with you in class. Now, the possibility that anyone could've loosened the tank up ahead of time, regardless of whether they were in class, has been opened. Do you finally understand why I said you were useless as a detective?"
"You've got it wrong, Fuhito. Tsubasa justsaved Dejan, not condemned him," Hildegard came to my aid at the very moment I thought was done for, "What he was trying to say was that this proves Dejan didn't setloose the tank, because if he did, then why would he tell us something that'd ruin his own alibi?"
"...That's assuming Albini wasn't being overconfident, let alone an idiot," Fuhito sneered, his influence challenged but far from crumbling.
"No, I would... like to believe Albini," Jeanne then said, "I knew I should not have doubted him, he would not simply lie when it came to his beloved tank."
"Are you going with your mere 'beliefs', Chevalier?" Manami spoke up, "Because doing so could risk the lives of everyone here. How could you be that irresponsible; this isn't about playing hero!"
"Nyaah, I still think nasty tank boy did it!" Etsuko scowled, Manami not reprimanding the Chimera's gut feelings when they backed her side up.
"Oh, is that so?" Aoko then smirked and let out a chuckle, "Tell me, do none of you take pride in your work? I wouldn't dream to be so careless with a corpse, so I don't imagine Albini would be so with a tank."
Wait, hold on... Aoko was coming to my aid? Even though if Dejan was innocent, that'd make her culprit status even more likely, being one of Momoka's guests?
No, this... didn't add up with what that Voice had told me. Only if Aoko wanted to be found out as the killer, for whatever reason.
"What's this? Do my ears pick up a Split Opinion in Court?!" Columbird then shot up, before he pounded down with the gavel clutched in his beak, "Alright ya lazy bums, do ya know what you've incurred? It's time for an old-fashioned, All-American Scrum Debate!"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mlPcsrCYMY
With Columbird's words, our podiums sprang back, going from being arranged in a circle to two straight lines, all of us facing each other.
This narrows it down to Dejan! vs We still can't say who it was!
"Albini matches both the tank and the interviews!" Toranosuke opened with.
"D-does everyone think I'm that careless with who I let on my show? You believe in our morality too, don't you Ishimaru?" Momoka countered him, still not willing to give up on her guests' integrity.
"Hardly a defence, coming from the corrupt world of radio. If anything, going on your show confirmed that for me!" Simeon snapped out with.
"And the Vatican has never dealt with internal corruption? Why do you think Reformation and secularisation happened?" Jeanne spat out.
"Neither of you have disproven Ishimaru's original point," Fuhito stated.
"His point isn't so solid. Aligning with both tank and radio may make our Albini a suspect, but doesn't clinch that he's guilty", Kanji told him.
"Yet he is the only one of us who knoweth how a device as newfangled as a tank wouldst even work," Yoritsune spoke.
"You don't have ta know how a tank works in order to set one rolling, in fact I'd say the opposite!" Dejan countered.
"And how do you just casually set a tank rolling?" Manami narrowed her gaze.
"Albini said a specific liquid had been used to rust the tank's moorings over time," I recalled.
"Yeah kid, a 'specific liquid' it'd make sense for a tank fink to have," the previously neutral Genpachi joined the other side at the last minute.
"Or any of us, almost. Quill ink, plane and ship fuel, holy water, embalming fluid, even bow resin, Genpachi, just to list the possibilities," Hildegard brought up.
"I-I don't geddit. Like, we were 'bout ta find out, now we're back at square one! How does this help?" Etsuko was just puzzled.
"It 'helps' as it gives us many new murder possibilities to consider, my dear little Kimura, not just the dead end we've been on," Aoko gently laughed.
"Oh, what would you know? Someone like you is festering with death, Mori, how can we trust ya?" Kagura blurted out, her side whittled down to name-calling.
Total Influence: 22 vs Total Influence: 21
21 + Roll d20 (18) = 39
"This is our answer!"
After that, our podiums moved back to their regular circle. Fuhito, his once sharp expression appearing drained and cracked, sighed out, "Fine, are you happy? We'll cross of Dejan Albini from the suspect list... for now anyway."
"For Chrissakes, what is taking you all so long?" Columbird blurted out, "were this a proper American trial, we'd have thrown the suspect behind bars long ago! Eurgh, I'll let ya pansy-asses cut to a Break, but if ya ain't found the culprit by this time next trial, I'm declaring a vote on the killer anyway!"
...We were already at halftime, yet I still feel there were some important points that hadn't been brought up. The instant we were back, I knew I'd resume with:
[ ] What the deal was with that pentagram.
[ ] Whether Yudai's escape attempt was a one-man effort.
[ ] What motive any of us could have for killing Yudai.
[ ] Who'd tampered with the crime scene.
[ ] Who else could've set off the tank.
[ ] Write-in
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- Location
- Germany
Alright, let's take another crack at this with some more sleep.
The one arguemnt I can see for why Yudai might have an accomplice is that them knowing about the tank diversion in advance would give them more motivation to steal one of Momoka's radios, as they would have known a perfect murder opportunity was approaching, but they could have been acting opportunistic just as well. On which note, Aoko was sitting right next to us, when Yudai was trying us to get us to sneak away with him, so she was in the ideal position to know he was about to isolate himself and pounce.
Bottom line, several of the points strike me as good leads, but the pentagram seems the most effective in actually narrowing our list of suspects down to a single person.
[X] What the deal was with that pentagram.
Coming out of this, it does look a lot like that the voice was right when it fingered Aoko, which isn't really that much of a surprise given that there'd be little point to them, if they immediately turn out to give us unreliable information. That does leave the question of why Aoko is coming to the aid of our arguments, but that's not too big a stretch, if she's in this to enjoy the show.
Mind you, I wouldn't mind there being some big twist that she isn't the killer, because I'm starting to enjoy her commentary and she is giving me some "Byakuya during the second trial" vibes. Things aren't looking good for her though.
Definetly an interesting topic given that it's the one major element of the crime scene we haven't covered yet. We've more or less ruled out Dejan and Kanji from the interview list, which leaves us with Aoko and Simeon. While Simeon's aversion to blood and satanist symbols isn't technically hard proof he does strike me more as the fundamentalist type than a secret anti-christ. By process of elimination, that gives us Aoko, who has already been fingered by the voice. Between her amusement by chaos and how there seems to be some friction between her and the religious contigent of the cast, she's also the one person I can see putting the pentagram there just cuz', while the attempt to find a more practical reason for the pentagram didn't really go anywhere.
Interesting in-so far that a possible accomplice would be very suspicious at this point for not having come clear and likely would have a good deal of new info, but Nevill made a good point that Yudai trying to have us tag along sounds like he didn't have another partner yet.
The one arguemnt I can see for why Yudai might have an accomplice is that them knowing about the tank diversion in advance would give them more motivation to steal one of Momoka's radios, as they would have known a perfect murder opportunity was approaching, but they could have been acting opportunistic just as well. On which note, Aoko was sitting right next to us, when Yudai was trying us to get us to sneak away with him, so she was in the ideal position to know he was about to isolate himself and pounce.
So, I have been thinking about this. I did mention before how Columbird didn't really have to give the cast any motivation to provocate the first kill. That does imply the murder was either for personal reasons, or for the sake of the murder itself. We haven't really been together long enough for anybody to form strong grudges against Yudai. However, if you just want to play the murder game, killing him actually makes a decent amount of sense. Not only is he the one person that had decent chance of making the escape, but he's also the one person giving everybody else hope for said escape, so without strong personal bonds yet, he is the one canidate that would get a strong reaction from everybody involved. It's another detail that fits the theory of Aoko killing for the sake of her entertainment, but does strike me as much weaker evidence than going through the interview list to narrow down our suspects.
Mostly interesting as an adendum to the pentagram at large. If it was Fuhito, that's amusing, but also a dead end. If it was Aoko, then that does make her look even more suspicious, but who placed it is more interesting and given that she was investigating together with Fuhito, you'd think he'd have the good sense to mention it once it becomes relevant.
Again, Nevill made a good point that Yudai seemed to have known about the tank in advance. Pinning him down as the person that set the tank loose is useful in so far that it eliminates the tank as the most likely murder weapons seeing how he'd be prepared for it and thus puts more focus on the list of people Momoka interviewed. Something that strikes me as more suited as evidence to tighten the noose around our main suspect, rather than the line of evidence to lead with.
Bottom line, several of the points strike me as good leads, but the pentagram seems the most effective in actually narrowing our list of suspects down to a single person.
[X] What the deal was with that pentagram.
Coming out of this, it does look a lot like that the voice was right when it fingered Aoko, which isn't really that much of a surprise given that there'd be little point to them, if they immediately turn out to give us unreliable information. That does leave the question of why Aoko is coming to the aid of our arguments, but that's not too big a stretch, if she's in this to enjoy the show.
Mind you, I wouldn't mind there being some big twist that she isn't the killer, because I'm starting to enjoy her commentary and she is giving me some "Byakuya during the second trial" vibes. Things aren't looking good for her though.
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So people here might remember that the Scrum Debate (a V3 mechanic) was originally written with one side aligned right, but I was worried about it being a little difficult to read, so I aligned it all back to the left and just colour-coded the names of the two sides (well that and them being one after the other). I've seen fanfics write it both ways
I'm also aware a 'rule' of murder mysteries is to not reveal information (in-text) that the readers couldn't have figured out themselves beforehand. And yeah, I think I may have been breaking that in this trial by having other characters reveal things based on info they have but Tsubasa's POV doesn't, but I do have an excuse for that. I wanted to make it seem like the other characters were working out the mystery on their own, rather than the MC and one or two others be the only ones actually trying to solve the case, as it an feel like in DR games
Also, even if he's dead, writing FTEs for Yudai is still possible, either as Omakes or by me as an Omake reward
I'm also aware a 'rule' of murder mysteries is to not reveal information (in-text) that the readers couldn't have figured out themselves beforehand. And yeah, I think I may have been breaking that in this trial by having other characters reveal things based on info they have but Tsubasa's POV doesn't, but I do have an excuse for that. I wanted to make it seem like the other characters were working out the mystery on their own, rather than the MC and one or two others be the only ones actually trying to solve the case, as it an feel like in DR games
Also, even if he's dead, writing FTEs for Yudai is still possible, either as Omakes or by me as an Omake reward