#Actually whats with mikan working well with people she absolutely should not?

[princescar]

Enomatsumiki ot3 charts bc them and Chappell Roan is the only thing that has been keeping me stable

[danggirlronpa]

Oh! Well I can solve the mystery for you. My first mom and my second mom were married before my second mom came out as a transwoman! They are both my biological parents. They got divorced before she came out, not because she came out or anything. They were very much already divorced when my second mom came out. I call her "second mom" because she's younger than my first mom.

Also, yeah, I totally agree that the fandom at large only headcanoning the Murder characters as nd is. Really bad, actually! I do forgive it more for Danganronpa specifically since. Most of the cast are murderers, lol, but when in fandoms with a ton of morally upright characters in it, only the villains are headcanoned as nd is just. Oof. I would love to see more characters like Izuku Midoriya being headcanoned to have bipolar, because (imo) I can definitely See it for him. Another character I headcanon as bipolar from Danganronpa is actually Kaede Akamatsu! She's great. I didn't mention her though since I tend to see V3 as taking place in a different universe unless it's a AU, tbh. But you're definitely right that it's an issue in fandom spaces. Funnily enough, my therapist specifically told me to headcanon more characters and/or create ocs with bipolar, so that's what I've been doing. She said it was good to see myself in characters.

But yeah!!! Sato & Mikan murder4murder nd couple who messily makes out!!! Tbh I think a lot of people forget that Sato and Mikan were Friends!!! I want to see more content out there exploring their dynamic. They are both So Normal about love (read: they both get extremely attached to people who show them even An Ounce Of Kindness. relatable tbh)

A FOURTH second mom option!! We Love To See It. (& you absolutely should headcanon characters as bipolar!! The reason I was specifically like "this isn't directed at you" was because it's important & wonderful to see people looking at characters like themelves - I just wanted a General Disclaimer, since DR is so. Gestures To DR. I'd LOVE to hear more about bipolar Kaede, what a great concept!!)

One of my (many) (sorry DR3 fans) gripes with DR3's choice to make Chiaki a Real Girl TM and setting Sato into the Reserve Course instead of making Sato the 16th student in Chiaki's place is that there's no indication of the group friendship we see in Twilight Murder Syndrome in the anime. (Especially when the game specifically hinted at Sato's ultimate talent! She mentions archery club! For no reason!! Except to establish the "ultimate sportsperson as class' first blackened" parallel to Leon!!) And there's a lot of other reasons that happened, too, including the anime relegating what was an ensemble cast into a couple mains and a series of background characters, and the overarching story choices that restricted their timeline.

But it's always SUCH a bummer to me to watch "Ibuki, Mikan, Hiyoko, Mahiru, and Sato had a complex group dynamic, the breaking of which ultimately led to the ruination of all their lives and the lives of several others" into "Mahiru had a girlfriend and it made her sad for a few minutes, and then everyone moved on." Like. There wasn't ANY other way to establish Hajime's character arc?? I have to stop or I'm just going to work myself up about DR3. But it bums me out. And I LOVE seeing representations of the dynamics that could've been. Sato and Mikan is a top tier of them for SURE.

[a-tale-never-told]

One Ride in the Sunset.

September 3rd, 2012, 4:15pm, 14th Avenue Drive, Kyoto, South Japan.

(Okay, that checks another thing off the list of chores they gave me this morning. Never expected that I'd have this much work on my hands though, considering that the paper info was really short .)

(Still, I've got a long way to go before finishing everything, so I should probably get to the post office to drop off the check now. In the meantime though, let's see what on's the radio for today, just to keep myself entertained for now)

*"After putting the paper down, Hajime reaches for the radio and begins to switch channels for anything, be it music or news*"

Brzzt!- Coming in from Toyoko, where a raccoon started to eat, what I presume is a chili dog-Brzzt!- Today on Sunday night live, we have-Brzzt!

(Hey... This actually isn't that bad of a song. It's catchy, so there is that at least, right? And it's decent for a sundown.)

*"After changing the Radio, Hajime lays back and turns to the left lane, heading for the postal area, as the song begins to play whilst the sun sets*"

(Well Haji, you've made it through the first week, and still, we haven't known anything about Natsumi, or any of the Kuzuryus. We also don't even know the reason why Honami has issues with the Kuzuryus... it's like we almost accomplished nothing last week)

( But then again, I cannot say that with certainty, as we did manage to get some stuff done, like going to the library to get some books to help me investigate the situation. As well as the fact that I managed to spend some quality hangout time with the girls outside of work)

(Speaking of that, I think that conversation really did help me calm down a bit yesterday. I honestly am glad to have people who truly care about me and my well-being, aside from my parents of course.)

(Mikan... the nurse who seems so timid and shy, yet is always caring and thoughtful of others, always willing to help the sick, old or young. She may look meek at first glance, but she's really much a sweetheart to almost everyone she comes across and I'm blessed to work with her, especially since she's so dedicated to her position as a nurse.)

( Ibuki... the girl that likes to party on and is pretty much hyperactive almost 80% of the time, but she surprisingly has a wise, contemplative mind for someone of her age. Still, I did really enjoy the wisdom she tried to give. I honestly never knew she was actually capable of doing that, especially since she seems so hyper and upbeat every single day. Still, she's pretty nice, to be honest.)

(And Chiaki... *sighs* God, where would I be without her? She's pretty much the first friend I've ever made in life, and we'd only grown stronger ever since. She's kind, considerate of others, inspiring, and just an absolutely nice person to be around. Even during the times when either I'm not in the best mood or she isn't, we both try to improve our relationship as friends, one step at a time. She pretty much tried to comfort me about my lack of talent and I greatly appreciate that.)

(I honestly don't deserve those three. They're far too sweet and compassionate for this world, which has now become a place where you have to be judged by society based on your racial color and talent. And through all of the darkness in this world, they're pretty much shining beacons of hope, to overcome the despair of feeling hopeless in life.)

( So I'll try. I'll try to take their advice seriously from now on, as this is advice to give me a healthy mindset going forward. I think the point of what they wanted to say is to be yourself and not lose your sense of self and individuality, to work for that talent while also not losing sight of the ones you love and cherish the most in life. And just... have hope for yourself and for the future. Because isn't that what life's all abo-)

BEEP! BEEP!BEEEEP!!

Wh-

CRASH!!! SHATTER!!!

KRGH!!!

"*Upon hearing those beeps, Hajime turns his head to the front to see a car coming straight at him. Seeing the vehicle right in front of him, Hinata tried to swerve out of the way, but it was too late, as the front of the car collided with the other car's front, sending shards of glass flying across the interior as both cars came to an absolute stop. One of the shards nearly hit Hinata right in the head, though he managed to get out of the way in time. Still, the impact is enough to make him fall onto the floor of the car, making him lose consciousness...*"

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 14)

Natsume has been putting himself on the line for his sister. He's currently manipulating his way into the Hana Hime den, completely unaware that he's falling for a trap set for him. At the same time, his manipulations involve spending a lot of time with Mikan, and how his feelings of love for her complicate things.

Chapter Fifty-Six

The boys dutifully dress in girls’ kimonos, even if they are embarrassed. Natsume will do anything for his sister, so dressing in drag is really nothing compared to all the other stuff he has done and will do for her.

Upon arriving at the house for the party, Mikan is very excited, waving her hands (including the one not-actually-stuck to Natsume) and dragging him all over, which he surprisingly allows.

Yeah, yeah, the scans are low-quality, but what matters is LOOK AT THEM. She's so excited and dragging him around and he just lets her! I'm obsessed.

They enter, escorted by Shizune, who leads them past the party on the first floor, which is open to all Middle school girls. They are headed to the more exclusive party on the second floor. Many of the Middle school girls gossip about the group headed up the stairs, but Mikan is happy to notice Misaki and Nobara in the crowd. Nobara is excited to see her, until she sees Natsume there too. Her mood changes from excited to scared, asking why Natsume has come to this place and warning Mikan to get him out because he won’t be safe there.

Nobara is surprised to see him, but also scared for him, which gives off the impression that either she didn't think Natsume would fall for the trap or she wasn't aware that there was a trap at all but knows that the Hana Hime den is a dangerous place for him anyway. With this in mind, we can see that something very dangerous is awaiting Natsume. If he does find his sister, it won't be easy getting her out safely.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Almost immediately after arriving, Hotaru is able to separate from Ruka and Youichi, which spurs Natsume to finally give up Mikan’s hand as well. The MSP is obviously peeved by the boys’ presence and the role she was forced to play for Persona.

The flower princesses have decided to cheer the MSP up by choosing one of the incoming group to bully. Hotaru is absolutely out of the question, as she is the only one the MSP actually intended to invite. The boys are not chosen either, as Natsume is to be sacrificed to Persona and the princesses find them all cute. That leaves Mikan, who is immediately obnoxious and loud, the perfect target for ridicule.

Mikan is very excited about the traditions and rituals of the flower party, but she is very persistently excluded from each one. Even the boys get flower names (other than Yo-chan), but Mikan is ignored when she asks for one.

She is then excluded from the feast, with all the dishes purposefully taken from her and placed in front of other people. She is then given a “medicine” which only makes her smell bad so the other attendees want to stay away from her. Hotaru seems to be distracted by the special treatment she was so looking forward to, but Natsume is visibly bothered by the strange way in which the flower princesses are treating Mikan.

The games they play either exclude Mikan, mock her, or both.

In no time at all, she is thoroughly lonely, depressed, and hungry, her face painted all over.

They all sit around for another game, and the flower princesses decide that Mikan shouldn’t be invited for this one at all. Though Ruka and Hotaru are put off by this, Natsume has had enough, so he leaves the circle completely. Hotaru's way of defending Mikan is to get back at the girls through a game she invented, but Natsume's technique is a bit more straight-forward.

Natsume doesn't even like these people. Mikan, on the other hand...

Natsume has gone to fetch a dumpling for Mikan, a chestnut kuri kinton shaped like an orange. Perfect for her, he says. He then says he’s unbothered by the smell of her medicine, especially compared to the perfumes sprayed all over the place. Natsume doesn’t care about being polite and courteous to the MSP. He’s here to save Aoi, and standing by while these girls bully the love of his life won’t exactly help him save Aoi, so why should he do it?

So they end up bickering over something stupid again, and Mikan seems all cheered up.

She even seems sad to see him go to the bathroom, telling him to hurry so they can eat and spend more time together.

Pretending is so much harder when he can see that she actually enjoys spending time with him. How is he supposed to be okay with his fate when this is so much more pleasant?

He shuts her down, like it’s no big deal, but it is, of course, like everything else he borrows.

But he can’t have her waiting for him when he knows deep down there’s a chance he might not come back. He’s here for a reason after all, and that reason is sadly not to eat kuri kinton with Mikan. It’s to save his sister, who might be captive in a dungeon somewhere.

The MSP warns him not to explore too much, as she won’t be responsible for anything that happens to him.

He begins by looking for a bathroom, but there are no boys’ bathrooms, so he wanders around. His attention is immediately grabbed by some girls talking about “Yuki Aoi”. This is a trap, of course, just like everything else. He follows the girls downstairs into the basement, trying to look for Aoi, but the girls quickly report to Persona that it’s all going according to plan. It almost seems like too obvious a trap, but Natsume is desperate. He hasn't heard from Aoi in too long. He's so eager to find her that he doesn't see the warning signs, like that all the hints about Aoi are a bit too obvious.

Now is time for the Dangerous Ability Discipline Squad to be deployed.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Natsume descends into the dungeons, perfectly aware that he could end up staying there forever, and that he’ll be horribly punished for sure. There isn’t a lot of Natsume in this chapter actually, but his friends grow concerned about his long absence from the party, and wonder if Natsume has perhaps been punished as the MSP warned, for wandering where he shouldn’t.

We learn that the MSP has a very strong barrier alice, one that protects the whole school, and that it is very powerful in the dungeons, where Natsume is.

When we do see Natsume again, he has only gone deeper into the basement, when he sees a cell with a girl in it. He quickly rushes to her side, convinced that it’s his sister, but is disappointed to find that it’s actually Nobara with a wig, unconscious.

The problem is, now he’s locked in a cell.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Nobara, desperate as she was to make sure Natsume was okay, took Tsubasa with her into the dungeons, only to be isolated and put into a trance state. Natsume knows what the trance state means: it’s the only way she can be made to use her alice on missions, as she is usually good-natured.

He knows he’s in danger now, that the DA class has trapped him and that he might have to fight. And just like that, the Discipline Squad is there: Rui, Hayate, and Yakumo, all waiting for him.

Natsume has been acting out of line for quite some time now. He’s been going on missions that go against the agenda of the school, all to help his friends, specifically his "kitten of a different color". He’s been smiling and joking more, happy when he’s supposed to be eternally despairing. The higher ups don’t like that, and this is his punishment.

Rui explains what’s going on, since Natsume goes on missions on the outside and isn’t familiar. The Discipline Squad is a subdivision of the DA class to punish people who aren’t toeing the company line. The Hana Hime den basement is where they usually do their work. Tsubasa was once victim to Rui’s alice specifically as a punishment for his troublemaking, hence the curse mark under his eye. Natsume’s punishment will likely be much more severe.

Persona then appears, holding the unconscious Nobara, informing Natsume that this was the final test: that Natsume should have been obedient and not wandered down into the basement. However, he has failed the test and stepped out of line once again, and this is the last straw.

Ah, how nice to see the Discipline Squad, my beloveds. And Natsume looks so pretty in that kimono.

Natsume is immediately on the offensive, grabbing Persona and demanding to know where Aoi is, but Persona uses his alice on Natsume’s wrists so he pulls away. Persona then instructs one of the Discipline Squad to go and get rid of the four new intruders who have descended into the basement, so now Natsume knows he has an extra responsibility beyond simply rescuing Aoi (not that rescuing Aoi was ever going to be simple).

Despite always putting others first, he never considers that his existence matters to people, and that if he's in danger, his friends will come to protect him.

The squad decides Hayate will go, although he complains because he had apparently been waiting a very long time to be able to beat Natsume up. We can see that Natsume isn’t popular in the DA class either, and perhaps that Yo-chan is the only one who might admire him, even in a class where they’re all in a similar boat.

The silly antics and childish jabs of the Discipline Squad too are very interesting. They act big and tough, and were perhaps given heavy responsibilities, but they’re still children. Every single person in the DA class is a child, someone forced into these actions in some way or other, whether through emotional blackmail, physical coercion, or manipulation. All of these kids are under the illusion that they are more important than they are--simply pawns obediently doing their duty for the school’s benefit.

It’s an effective tactic to pit oppressed or victimized people against each other so they don’t focus on the real enemy, Persona and the ESP. The DA class demonstrates this quite well. Back in the day, Luna was pitted against Yuka. Natsume hates most of his classmates except for Youichi. He can lash out at Nobara, who is loyal to Persona, because he can’t lash out at the man himself. And all the other kids hate each other, get mad at each other, argue amongst each other. Hayate getting angry that Rui is calling the shots even though the real person in charge is Persona (and even further up, the ESP) is a great example of this. They are all so busy being mad at each other that they don’t realize the person pulling the strings is the one they should be angry at.

Anyway, Persona warns Natsume that because four new people have entered the fray, he might want to submit. After all, the dungeon has the highest concentration of the MSP’s alice, and he isn’t accustomed to it, like the Discipline Squad is. But if he refuses to submit, then Persona will give him answers if, and only if, he can defeat all three members of the squad. If he cannot defeat them, well, he’ll be trapped in the dungeon for the rest of his life. Naturally, Natsume has no choice but to agree to the deal. His sister’s safety is at stake, after all, and he would do anything for her, including possibly allowing himself to be locked in a dungeon forever.

Chapter Sixty

Persona leaves Natsume alone with Rui and Yakumo, and Natsume thinks to himself that this is an impossible situation. His upperclassmen are very powerful and their alices suit the name “dangerous ability”. At the same time, he realizes that he has to win, because he wants to save Aoi and avoid being locked up. But Rui decides to take off, sensing Tsubasa in the dungeon, so Natsume is left with only Yakumo, which might make things easier. One on one is easier than two on one, after all.

But Natsume is actually not relieved. If Rui senses someone he’s marked, then there might be another person down with them. In any case, he doesn’t want Rui to meet his friends. Hayate is one thing, but Rui is far more dangerous, and they might be in serious danger if he decides to use his alice. After all, Natsume can hardly use his alice properly, so even if his friends had a chance with their alices, they’ll be at a serious disadvantage in the dungeon.

Yakumo tells him to snap out of it, to stop being distracted, because then Natsume will certainly lose. So Natsume has no choice but to hope for the best for his friends and that the mystery fifth intruder will protect them in his place, and focus on his fight with Yakumo for now.

This translation is a bit unclear, but he's pleading for the mystery intruder (Tsubasa) to protect his friends because he can't.

It’s interesting, from what we see of Yo-chan standing up for the other intruders in the dungeon, that Natsume told him to look out for the others in case something happened. Why did Natsume entrust such a task to a toddler, and not to Ruka or somebody else? Well, for one, Natsume has been entrusted with caring for everyone around him at a young age too. It was his job to be the serious and mature one after his mother died, taking responsibility to be as adult as possible and protect his father and sister, even though that shouldn’t have been on his shoulders at all. He won’t think it’s unfair to ask Yo-chan for this, because he’s been through it too and it’s normal for him.

Another thing is that every kid in the DA class is extremely powerful. To be in the DA class, it’s not enough to have a potentially dangerous alice, or many other kids would be in it. Tsubasa could have been in sooner, or Ruka could have been enlisted. Even Iinchou’s alice could be potentially terrifying if used in the right way. But they’re not DA students, because the alice has to be powerful enough to exploit. Yo-chan isn’t just in possession of a creepy alice; he’s a prodigy as well. He has control of his power and can do terrifying things with it. He’s been put on missions and trained too, even as little as he is, and he can do much more with his alice than the others can. Natsume trusts Yo-chan because he knows how dangerous these situations can be and he’s the most qualified to protect his friends.

Natsume please. He's just a baby.

It’s tragic, but it’s the truth. The DA students are living very different lives from the rest of them, much better acquainted with the school’s darkness than anybody else could comprehend.

And Natsume might be locked inside it forever.

Chapter Sixty-One

We learn that Yakumo has insect pheromones. Natsume is fighting hard, using his alice to protect himself, thinking hard of Aoi to keep himself aware of what he’s fighting so hard for.

There sadly isn’t much Natsume in the chapter. He’s busy at a stand-off with Yakumo and the battle isn’t really going anywhere.

Something of note is Narumi, looking at Ruka’s postcard from his mother, pondering why the children haven’t returned yet. He knows something is up, and has no doubt known the whole time at the very least that there were too many coincidences involved in the banquet to be mere coincidences. At most, he was somewhat aware that Persona was planning on punishing Natsume. With Narumi, it’s hard to tell.

And he was right all along...

Narumi recalls saying that Mikan could be the key to Natsume’s future, because he’d had the hunch that Mikan would become Natsume’s light. Natsume has, after all this time, realized that as well. Nobody wants to be locked up forever, but he especially doesn’t after he’s found something that helped make him happy again. So he will fight hard, because he wants to see Aoi again, and because he wants to see Mikan again too.

Conclusion

Natsume is ready to fight his hardest to find Aoi and keep from being locked away forever. He was aware before that he might not be able to easily make it back out, but it's become harder than he had imagined. Now that he knows Mikan and the others have followed him, he has even more to consider.

It’s a shame that I won’t be talking about Natsume and Ruka’s backstory in this essay. I brought up what I wanted to at the very beginning of this essay, and I won’t say much more than that here. I’ll touch on it in the Mikan POV essay, and I’ll go into every detail I can when I eventually analyze Natsume and Ruka’s relationship, but for now, there’s not much I’ll say.

This may be surprising! No Natsume backstory analysis in a Natsume essay?! But I’d be repeating what I’d said in the beginning. This isn’t just a Natsume essay after all. It’s a ship analysis, and I’ve said what I needed to already. I’m sad to skip it because it’s one of my favorite arcs in the whole story, but I’ll beat it to death in the future, so all is well.

I'm sorry if this was underwhelming. Like I'd said before, this arc is all about discovering Natsume, and Natsume... is Natsume, so he doesn't need to discover anything. I don't want to repeat myself or beat a dead horse just to fill up space. I reckon there will be one more part to this arc! I'm also sorry for posting this kinda late. I got very busy this morning and now everything is off-schedule. I'll try to post at a normal time tomorrow.

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[bullshittierlists]

A few notes before I start: Sorry about the white backgrounds, that’s how they showed up and I didn’t know how to fix them. Also, these summaries are going to be a lot shorter than they have in my last few posts just since there are so many characters. Anyway, let’s begin.

Literally godly, this should be your regular outfit -

Rantaro Amami - I shouldn’t have to be the first person to point out to you that he’s hot. Not to mention that the pink bottoms work wonders with his hair.

Nagito Komaeda - Hhhhhhhh

Byakuya Togami - I will admit, I’m basing this position more off of his appearance in the promo art. I don’t know how much I like this look on his regular sprite, but he’s so hot in that promo art, you don’t even know.

Show me who picked this out for you so I can thank them -

Sayaka Maizono - SHE LOOKS SO CUTE OML. I’d go through each detail, but in short: everything.

Gundham Tanaka - Shirtless Gundham, what more can I say?

Ibuki Mioda - I absolutely adore how her swimsuit doesn’t just go with her hair, but matches it. Perfection.

Korekiyo Shinguji - When the trailer first dropped and I saw the screen with all of the released swimsuits, I immediately started scanning to see if they put Korekiyo in a wetsuit and by God, they did.

Shuichi Saihara - He looks more tired than usual, but I just have a gut feeling his other sprites will look better.

Mondo Owada - I probably should’ve put him in standard, but he looks so good without a shirt on, I couldn’t possibly.

Kaito Momota - Space shorts.

Sakura Ogami - She was actually going to be somewhere in the first tier originally, but I just can’t put her there because of the color. I probably should’ve put her down with the other people with this problem (Uhhh... okay... I guess) but I couldn’t bear to.

Cute!/Cool! -

Chihiro Fujisaki - a;lskdfh;adskfijshdkjc He’s so cute, someone help. I’m drowning in cute. He looks so excited to be wearing it, too. I think this was the best choice they could’ve gone with to not give him something too masculine or feminine, fantastic choice.

Leon Kuwata - This category was originally just going to be “Cute!” but his bottoms looked so cool, I had to put him up here.

Toko Fukawa - Not only does her swimsuit look good on her, but I love the way that they designed her and Genocide Jack to be wearing the same swimsuit in different styles. Super cool.

Tenko Chabashira - I think this was one of the only palette swaps that I actually liked. There are probably a few other swaps that I didn’t even notice, but I like this one specifically because of the color swap. She looks great in pink.

Kyoko Kirigiri - I think I would’ve normally put her in standard, but her gloves are just too cool.

Mukuro Ikusaba - Love the colors and love the pattern. Simple, yet great.

Mahiru Koizumi - Mahiru, your camera. You can’t take that in the water. Mahiru- MAHIRU

Akane Owari - This is actually the swimsuit she wore during chapter 2 in the original game and I thought she looked great both times.

Chiaki Nanami - Same as Akane, so there’s not really any reason for either one to be higher or lower than the other. Peko would be up here too, but it’s really basic.

Gonta Gokuhara - I just really like the pattern and also that he’s still carrying the thing over his shoulder. It’s really weird who got to keep accessories and who didn’t, but we’ll get there.

Masaru Daimon - He just looks so cool in his shorts, I’m sure he’s excited to have them.

Shirokuma - Despite how I may feel about Shirokuma, this is a very cute outfit for them.

Standard -

Kaede Akamatsu - Definitely the best-looking of the protagonists, even if Shuichi’s higher. He’s only higher because I have faith that his faults are because of the sprite choice. If I’m wrong, sue me.

Kirumi Tojo - This is another instance of getting to keep the accessories. She still has her headband on. Why?? It wasn’t crucial to her character or anything. I get that Kyoko has backstory reasons and Gonta and Mahiru’s personalities revolve around their items, but why Kirumi? She had other things that defined her better.

Peko Pekoyama - Like I said before, basic and kinda bland. She still looks good, though.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu - He actually gained an accessory. Why does he have a necklace now? His shorts are nice, though.

Hajime Hinata - O r a n g. Or maybe red.

Maki Harukawa - Basic swimsuit, no color change whatsoever. A nice swimsuit, but nothing special.

Genocide Jack - Everything I said before about Toko’s swimsuit still applies, Genocide Jack’s is just way more boring.

Aoi Asahina - A good color swap, but not good enough to make up for her basic swimsuit.

Monomi - I like that they put her in a one-piece. Very cute. Wish they would do that all the time...

Monaca Towa - I just noticed that she is the only character other than Monomi to wear a one-piece. Why??

Makoto Naegi - The most basic swimsuit imaginable combined with his regular color scheme and pattern.

Hiroko Hagakure - I think I like that she kept her jacket? Maybe? It’s a different jacket, but it still counts.

Nagisa Shingetsu - Black and white bottoms. Okay. You do you, buddy.

Imposter - It’s fine. It’s just fine.

Izuru - I like that they gave him a separate swimsuit from Hajime, but why is it so bland and boring?

I love you, so I’ll forgive it -

Sonia Nevermind - She actually looks great and is so cute. So cute that she’d be in the top tier if not for one crucial fact. If you’ll notice, I mentioned earlier that Peko, Chiaki, and Akane are all wearing the same swimsuit here that they had worn in the original second game. However, there’s another character that appears in the scene I’m talking about that is wearing a different outfit than they are here. That charcter is Sonia, who was seen in a wetsuit in the original game. It was thrown off as a joke, but I still can’t stop thinking about how pretty she looked in that wetsuit. It’s literally my profile picture for my main blog, that’s how pretty she is wearing it. I’m mad because they’re basically agreeing that she didn’t look pretty/sexy in the wetsuit when that couldn’t be more wrong.

Celestia Ludenberg - I literally just wish she was wearing a one-piece, it can be the same style and everything. Honestly a missed opportunity.

Kotoko Utsugi - It’s just a weird pattern. Love the colors, though.

K1-B0 - I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the floaty, but he still deserves more respect.

Miu Iruma - The pattern is... fitting... but still bad.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Taka... sweetie... why...?

Uhhh... okay... I guess -

Angie Yonaga - I like the look, but it’s exactly what she usually wears just without the jacket. Does that mean that she’s always wearing a swimsuit? Why? Even Asahina didn’t wear a swimsuit as her regular outfit.

Kazuichi Soda - I definitely like this color better than the piss yellow he used to have, but it’s still not great. I like that he got to keep his little logo thing, but I’m confused as to why he gets to keep his hat. It’s just like Kirumi keeping her headpiece. I’m fine with it in this case, but why him and not...? Well, we’ll get there.

Komaru Naegi - A lot of the outfits in this tier are just because I like the look and not the color scheme, including Komaru. Yellow’s just an odd fit for the shade of green that her hair is.

Tsumugi Shirogane - The same as Komaru. Nice style, but the yellow and blue clash for me.

Hiyoko Saionji - Surprise surprise, it’s the same thing. I think the style really fits her, but I hate the yellow and green. Not into it.

Junko Enoshima - Ok, we’re out of the color scheme repetition. I don’t know why she’s wearing a tanktop. It just looks a little off, but I can’t place why. I don’t know why she isn’t just wearing the regular swimsuit like she was in the promo art. If she was, I’d probably put her in Standard.

Yasuhiro Hagakure - I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice the alien pattern on his shorts until after I had already downloaded the picture and closed out of the tier list tab. If I had noticed before, I’d probably put him in Cute!/Cool! but I still don’t really like the color scheme. Fitting, but not pleasing.

Kurokuma - The only reason he’s above Kokichi is because he has a water gun and I think that’s cute.

Kokichi Oma - Literally just gut instinct. I like that he kept his checkered pattern and purple color scheme. Something just told me he should be down here.

Monokuma - It just feels wrong, but I can’t place why, same as Kokichi.

Teruteru Hanamura - I probably would’ve liked his outfit better if his shirt was buttoned up at least a little bit. Now that I think about it, Mondo should’ve had one of these, too.

Who signed off on this? -

Usami - WHY IS SHE IN A BIKINI??? SHE’S A STUFFED RABBIT.

Nekomaru Nidai - I can absolutely see him picking this swimsuit to wear, but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Mikan Tsumiki - You know why she’s here.

God no. I hate it -

Ryoma Hoshi - So Mahiru gets to keep her camera, Kirumi gets to keep her headpiece, and Kazuichi gets to keep his hat.. but Ryoma doesn’t get anything? I genuinely had to take a second to figure out who this was the first time I saw him. He can’t even have a sunhat or anything? That would’ve been cute.

Himiko Yumeno - I can’t imagine a world in which she would choose this swimsuit for herself. The color is off, the style is off, I could much more easily see her wearing something similar to Monaca’s swimsuit. Basically, just let some of the girls wear one-pieces. They don’t all have to be in bikinis.

Jataro Kemuri - The pattern. I can’t even stand to look at it long enough to figure out what it is.

Hifumi Yamada - It did take me a second to figure out what his swimsuit was, but as soon as I did, he hit the bottom of the list. Again, it’s definitely fitting, but I still hate it.

[mikimagines]

Can i request the DR1 girls hearing their selectively mute s/o speak for the first time?

oh! mutism right?

alright then!

small disclaimer...

please know I’m not good with anything such as depression, mutism, or any mental health problems.

but know that I love you all and I’ll do my best to comfort people!

mod mikan

Dr1 girls with a mute s/o who speaks for the first time.

if I did something wrong please tell me!

Kyoko Kirigiri

she figured it out pretty quickly.

even before you two were dating.

you use a text-to-speech translation with your phone to speak.

also she figured out you lost your voice-box, which you are saving the money to get a voice back.

so that day came...oh kyoko looked calmer in the outside, but in her head she was panicking seriously.

moving on she waited for a while, actually almost half asleep, you guys had to go early in the morning anyways.

“kyoko!”

as she turns around and smiles.

“do you like my voice, kyoko?” you said.

“I absolutely love your voice, s/o.”

Toko Fukawa

as toko is being, our toko.

she thought you were ignoring her, so she’s been rude to you a little (only because your cute!!) since of a misunderstanding.

“Toko, Y/N is mute.”

OH

she tries to apologize to y/n and it works!

now you guys are dating, that must be a story to tell.

So you guys went to the library and found some books (toko approved !!)

“ooh this is my favorite, thanks toko!”

did...

Did she hear that right???!!?!

holy crap your voice was h o t.

“O-oh so now your talking.”

you forgot to tell her you got a voice box last week, oops.

well she loves your voice!!

Aoi Asahina

when you guys first introduced yourself to your classmates. (non-despair)

she came up to you in a super hyper mood she is and introduced yourself to her.

“Hi there! I’m Aoi Asahina!”

then you sweated a little and grabbed your phone for text to speech. she understands!

“Oh! That’s totally fine if you don’t want to talk!”

hi there lol, small a/n. I may have to put this into only 4 of the dr1 girls since I need to make this quick. I apologize for the inconvenience!

I mean she really really wants to here your voice!! But she won’t force you to! That’s just being a plain pain in the ass!!

and so that day came.

it was a normal day, actually.

Asahina was making donuts with you.

“Soooo what type of sprinkles should we put on it?”

“I think the stars would look cute!”

“Oh yeah that would be grea—“

“Wait who said that? Do you know s/o?” as hina looked around.

“You are so silly, hina.”

aaa now your getting a bear hug from a crying hina.

yes your voice moved her to tears after 3 years of dating.

aww.

Sayaka Maizono

I don’t know what to say for the first meet, oops.

She was walking into the music room as usual for practice or just to think of a song she had her head.

But she heard a voice, it sounds really pretty!

then she meant eyes with you.

“That was your voice s/o?” Sayaka said as you nodded.

“I really didn’t imagine you here, sayaka...Wait actually I do.” You laughed with sayaka.

she really loves it so much!

maybe she will probably ask you to join her in a song?

maybe lol.

I had a small lack of ideas for this one so I have to keep it around to 4! I’m sorry to the person who asked this!

anyways I hope you liked it!!

[moved-danganronpamess]

I suffer from cold rn and I hateeee getting sick :( May I request Mahiru, Nagito and Kyoko taking care of their sick s/o? - Coffee anon

Coming right up coffee anon! Being taken care of by Nagito sounds like a dream to me 🥺 I simp for this man so hard,, I hope by the time this goes out you’re all better! Make sure to drink some hot tea, darling. 🥺

Thanks for requesting and I hope you enjoy this! Remember to prioritize yourself, health, and wellbeing lovelies!! 💗 - Mod Mikan

Mahiru, Nagito, and Kyoko Taking Care of Sick S/O

Mahiru:

Mahiru is kind of like an overbearing mom as a partner - always looking out for you, helping you with homework or chores, cooking for you, a very loving person. She’s really good at taking care of you even though she can complain about it sometimes. So when she finds out you’re not at school because you’re sick shes a bit surprised. She thought you were taking care of yourself decently. So after school she marches on over to your house with some hot soup and the homework from today.

When you open the door, the first thing you get is some of the red head’s immediate fussing - “I told you to put on your jacket because it was cold outside and you didn’t, now looked what happened! Jeez, you should listen to me more often…”

After her short chiding, she quickly guides you back to bed, fluffs your pillows, and helps you sit up. She’ll give you the soup to eat, but then you’ll tease her about not being strong enough to eat by yourself, making her blush and fed you herself. If you’d like her to talk, then she’d be happy to. If you want to sit in silence, she’s fine with that too! Mahiru’s another one who’d do almost anything you ask, albeit she’ll complain a bit in her usual tsundere-ish ways.

She’s great moral support, when you feel miserable and can’t get out of bed, she’s there to encourage you and help you herself. Mahiru would teach you any material you missed at school and catch you up on all of the latest things that’s happened at Hopes Peak. Every day, she’ll show you the pictures she took that day, mostly of people smiling, in an attempt to get a smile back on your face.

Nagito:

Oh jeez, he immediately thinks it’s because of his luck that you got sick. You have to explain to him this happens to every one, that’s it was bound to happen eventually, and that his luck has nothing to do with it. He still feels guilty afterwards. In all honesty, he feels a bit helpless when you’re sick. Whenever he tries to make some food, like soup for you, something always goes wrong. He’s somehow burning it or spilling it on the floor, it kinda makes him a bit depressed so he ends up ordering your favorite takeout instead.

He’s not scared of catching any sickness from you, he’s sure his luck won’t let him so he’s completely fine with being near you. If you want cuddles, you got them. Kisses? Absolutely. His cold skin feels refreshing when you’re hot and sick. Nagito would even let you borrow his jacket for a while, even though he looks a bit funny without it. 

Will do literally anything you ask him - spoils you a lot! He really wants to be useful to you, especially when you’re in such a dreary state. He would do your homework for you even if you didn’t ask, all of the chores, like, everything, even if his luck tried to screw with him. He wants you to relax as much as possible. Tries to lessen his self deprecating comments - he doesn’t want you to deal with that when you’re so tired. He likes to read so if you want him to, Nagito would love to read a book to you to keep you company. (He doesn’t believe you, but you really love his voice, it’s very soothing.)

When you’re sleeping, he likes to watch you, not in a creepy way! Even though he tries not to show it, he gets scared when you’re sick. What if you get a terminal illness like him and have a shortened life span? The thought makes him feel sick and terrified. So he tries to get you better as soon as possible. When you get better, he’s so happy! Baby boy was a bit paranoid about what would happen to you.

Kyoko:

Kyoko’s a pretty stoic person, even in a relationship, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care! Far from it, actually. Though she’ll try to keep her distance since she doesn’t want to get sick, she has her detective work after all. But Kyoko isn’t heartless of course - she leaves you painkillers, tissues, microwavable food in the fridge, tea on the table to be reheated, you know, all of the stuff you need when you’re sick. She doesn’t necessarily take care of you in person, but with all of the things she buys and leaves around for you, you can easily tell she does care about your wellbeing. If you’re bored while at home, she would probably recommend some good novels to read - I can see her enjoying reading as well.

When she comes home from work, sometimes she watches over you. If you’re sleeping, she’ll just go about doing normals things. If you’re awake, Kyoko would calmly ask if you need anything and go to find what you desired (as long as it’s something normal like food or water.) She’d be down to watch some detective movies with you if you want, although you are probably laying on the bed while she’s on the chair… still cute though! Would point out all the flaws in the movie - how the criminal and detective were both dumb, making you laugh, which would make her smile. 🥺

[oumakokichi]

Hello This is kinda weird put I remember reading a good write-up on Miu that like Toko and Mikan she has low self esteem and never really had any friends so she literally doesn't know how to interact with people Plus she's in a situation were she can get killed in any SECOND so add these factors and I think that somewhat explains her lack of empathy and her just constantly being on edge She's in a situation were anyone she gets close to can end her life What do you think about this? Thanks

Hi anon, I don’t think it’s weird at all! Miu is actually one of my favorite ndrv3 characters; I love her to pieces and I agree with this analysis a lot! I believe she gets a lot of flack for being a female character who’s crass and rude and not very empathetic, despite people often idolizing or making excuses for male characters with many of the same traits.

To this day I still somehow see misinformation spread about Miu and used to call her things she isn’t, including blatantly untrue claims like “she forced herself on Kiibo” (which, I cannot make it more explicitly clear how much she does not do this). I’m not saying anyone has to love Miu or consider her their favorite character, I just think she gets an unfair deal sometimes.

It’s been a long time since I got to write a more in-depth analysis of her, so I’ll share more of my thoughts under the cut! Watch out for spoilers as always.

Miu having low self-esteem isn’t just a headcanon or a fan theory; it’s pretty much canon. Despite constantly acting arrogant, loud, and abrasive, Miu is absolutely desperate for validation and attention from others. For as haughty as she likes to act, she backs down almost immediately whenever someone so much as snaps or glares at her, clearly afraid that she’s somehow said the wrong thing or made someone mad at her.

In my opinion, she’s completely unaware of how she comes across to others. She wears her emotions on her sleeve and has no filter whatsoever, and this combined with her desire to be respected and praised for her talents means she’s very difficult to get along with.

I’m not making excuses for her actions; I still think some of the things she says about other members of the group are pretty terrible, and I do, to some extent, simply think she’s not really the type to empathize with others. But I do think part of it is that she’s just completely unaware of how she sounds or comes across to others. She has no understanding of social cues, or what it means to “tone it down” in order to better fit in with other people.

Obviously, it’s not like the other characters are at fault for getting fed up with Miu sometimes or not wanting to spend time with her. Like I said, she’s incredibly loud and abrasive and nearly impossible to please, especially as she’s quick to make fun of others or get mad if she thinks they’re wasting her time. But it’s somewhat… sad, in a way, to see how desperately she does want someone to spend time with her and acknowledge all her positive traits, like being an “amazing gorgeous girl-genius.” She really does strike me as someone who has probably been alone most of her life, and her inability to understand social cues or realize how she sounds to other people means that she never learns from her mistakes or gets any better.

This is part of the reason I actually really love her interactions with both Kiibo and Kaede.

I find it touching that she and Kiibo have such a consistently good dynamic even in the middle of the killing game. In the same way that Kiibo is one of the only characters openly sad after Miu’s death in chapter 4, Miu is perhaps the only character who doesn’t really look down on Kiibo for being a robot; instead, she thinks he’s the coolest person she’s ever met precisely because he’s a robot. And I think there’s a lot to be said too about how both of them are characters that really struggle with understanding social cues or fitting in with a group.

Meanwhile, Miu’s FTEs with Kaede are perhaps the closest we ever really see her get to making a friend or getting included with the rest of the group. I absolutely love how much Kaede refuses to back down whenever Miu is saying something horrible or mean or gross, and how she always puts her foot down whenever she crosses a line. When Miu tries to ���compare chest sizes,” Kaede just flat-out punches her for it, leaving Miu baffled and confused, but also with a better understanding of personal boundaries.

Kaede always feels like she’s trying her hardest not so much to put up with Miu, but to understand why she acts the way she does, and puts a lot of thought into what she could do or say that would make Miu want to become more of a team player or open up to people more. The rare moments where Kaede praises Miu and Miu becomes genuinely flustered and taken aback are further proof of how much Miu really wants validation and has no idea how to go about asking for it without coming across like a total weirdo, so I have a big soft spot both for those first few FTEs with Miu, as well as some of their interactions together in the Talent Development Plan.

It’s also interesting that you should mention Miu’s fear of being killed at any point in the killing game as a big reason for why she acts the way she does. I bring up the fact that Ouma has very clear signs of paranoia and a fundamental inability to trust others a lot in my meta—and Miu is no different. In fact, the biggest reason chapter 4 plays out the way it does is because both of them are incredibly paranoid and mistrustful, terrified of getting killed, and this causes what could have been (and was, for a time) a very powerful alliance between them to completely fall apart into pieces.

If I had to draw parallels between Miu and another character, it wouldn’t be any of the other “pervert” characters in DR, or even any of the other inventors/programmers. It would be with Maizono.

Chapter 4 of ndrv3 is, in my opinion, actually incredibly similar to dr1 chapter 1: both Miu and Maizono ultimately make the decision to try and kill someone out of sheer desperation to confirm the state of the outside world with their own two eyes, and both of them ultimately have their own plan turned against them and are killed in the end. Where Maizono’s strongest driving force for wanting to get out no matter the cost is sparked by the sight of her own motive video, Miu’s is sparked by the fear that the outside world may be a total wasteland, and the knowledge that she could actually do a considerable amount of good with her talent.

It’s absolutely correct to say that Miu didn’t trust anyone else. She and Ouma both collaborated together for a time—we don’t know how long exactly, but it’s clear that they were at least working together for a while given the sheer number of inventions that Ouma commissioned from her and provided designs for. The fact remains that the two of them were this close to putting together a plan to take down the exisals so they could escape with everyone else… but again, sadly, both of them were far too paranoid for this plan to ever actually work.

Miu’s biggest problem with the plan as Ouma proposes it is that she simply doesn’t trust anyone else. All the clever inventions and plans in the world won’t pull through if even one person decides to double-cross them or simply put self-interest first. And it’s worth noting that she’s kind of right here, considering Tsumugi was very much still part of the group at this point in time and absolutely would’ve sabotaged their plan using any means possible. So in an interesting turn of events, Miu decides to put her self-interests first and commit a murder in order to escape, because she suspects everyone else of wanting to do exactly the same thing.

Overall, Miu is a deeply flawed individual. She’s loud and rude, demanding and hostile, incapable of recognizing her own mistakes, and deeply paranoid and mistrustful of others. But all of these things are very much the reason I love her. Again, she’s not for everyone. No one has to like her.

But I find it interesting that other male characters who have the same or arguably worse flaws (flaws usually stemming from misogyny, including Souda stalking and harassing Sonia for the entirety of sdr2 with no change in his behavior, or Teruteru who straight up threatens sexual assault both in sdr2 and dr3) often have tons of people willing to defend them and somehow justify their actions, while Miu gets painted as irredeemably bad or has her moments with Kiibo completely skewed out of context.

In any case, these are my thoughts on Miu’s character. I hope I was able to make myself clear! I don’t think that she’s a “poor misunderstood baby” or anything like that by any means, but I do think she’s incredibly interesting and complex, both because of her flaws and because of how undeniably useful her talent was to the group. For someone who was so adamantly against being a team player, it’s amazing how much Miu’s inventions are vital to saving everyone’s lives in most of the game’s trials. Thank you for the fun question, anon!

[hyperfixationtimego]

IDK IF YOU MEANT JUNKO IS HER GF AND BEST FRIEND BUT!!! Celeste/Kyoto friendship, they’re both man haters 💜 /j

I remember a game night thing back then, Clue reinvigorates Celeste’s interest in murder mysteries and she honestly impresses Kyoto when she tricks Togami into revealing his cards (mainly questioning his truthfulness/credibility)

After that, Kyoto and Celeste try to find videos, games, and books of murder mysteries to solve, but with Celeste able to figure out who’s lying and Kyoto’s detecting ability, they’re unstoppable. Junko likes to nitpick the murder mysteries too, even though she likely has no idea who the murderer is.

After a while of their regular things being too easy, one day they walk into the kitchen area to find Chihiro and Sonia (again no idea if this is in character but her cosplayers are always cute) putting some fake blood on Ibuki. Makoto is upsetting the area, like knocking over the knife holder and such. They’re super confused, until Makoto says (very unconvincingly) “:O someone killed Ibuki!!! you guys gotta figure it out”

That becomes the new regular thing, like every other week they make a new murder mystery for the two and they have to solve it (including the fact that some stuff will be inaccurate, and just how the group thinks it would happen). Peko isn’t that fond of it, but she’ll do it if Chihiro gives her the 🥺 look, and both Miu and Leon absolutely love the chance to play characters (I forgot her name but if Peko does it, Tsumugi/blue hair will do it too, she just prefers to be the victim) - queer eye anon

HDBSBSBS NO U WERE RIGHT I MEANT IT LIKE JUNKO’S HER GF AND KYOKO’S HER BEST FRIEND HDBSBSBD DON’T WORRY!!

and yes yes they are 😌

and also !! legit 👀 like. it pisses Togami off to no end (seriously, how did she do that?? how could he be tricked so easily???) but Kyoko’s like “,,,,,oh my god,,,,,,,,such manipulation,,,,,,,such incredible deductive skills,,,,,”

long story short kirigiri develops a squish (platonic equivalent of a crush) on this weird mean goth bitch and just starts hanging around her more often until eventually Celeste is like,,,,,,,,,fine, if I simply MUST adopt you as a best friend, I suppose I will, seeing as I have ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE in the matter :)

so they start spending more time together, and Kyoko’s usually the one who’s like “hey I found another murder mystery thing we could try-” to which Celeste’s response tends to be more lighthearted “oh, very well, if I absolutely must-”

It’s incredible - no piece of mystery media stands a chance against them <3

also a little off topic and might be a bit ooc, but I think we should all consider buzzfeed unsolved!kyoko and Celeste because that just seems goddamn hilarious to me ndndbdbdbddbd

and BDBSB YEAH THEY’RE SO SWEET?? Makoto came up with the idea, but Sonia and Chihiro are absolutely essential to the operation as a whole.

Sonia’s interest in serial killers provides a necessary take for the psychological perspective of real life cases, so they know for certain it’ll be stimulating for the detective of the two, meanwhile Chihiro’s brainpower allows for both creative and logical placement of clues, red herrings, and more!

Plus, all three of them are absolute sweethearts that most people have trouble saying no to <3 (they’ve even gotten Byakuya to participate once or twice! Celeste and Kirigiri were both delighted and bewildered!)

THEY ALSO GET OUMA INVOLVED BECAUSE HE’S THE ONLY ONE THAT EVER GIVES CELESTE ANY TROUBLE IN DECIPHERING LIES FHSBSBDBSBS (she usually gets it right on account of her own luck, and if she gets it wrong, It tends to be either salvageable or ambiguous enough that she can pretend she was right and nobody can tell they were ever on the wrong track)

Miu pretends like she needs fujisaki, nevermind, and naegi to beg her for her participation, but she’s honestly more than willing because!!! She gets to yell and be loud and have fun and play weirdos!!!! And sometimes she even invents new things for practical effects, just ‘cause she can! And she knows it makes her friends happy!

Leon’s a pretty good actor until Celeste stares him down - then he immediately either loses his nerve or fucks something up ❤��

and dhsbsbdbsbdb Peko!!!! Peko and Fuyuhiko get involved because a) chihiro gave them both the 🥺 face, as you said, and b) fuyuhiko,,,,,,,thinks the concept,,,,,,,,is fun,,,,,,,👉👈 but shut up he’d never admit that!!!

Tsumugi makes costumes!!!! And totally loses herself in the roles!!! She gives the BEST performances, and Celeste and Kyoko are often left sitting there like “wow ok” because hdbdbdvdvdvdvdvddv????

They get Nagito involved a lot, both due to his luck and the fact that he’s very easy to convince (and often comes up with more cool ideas for the scene of the crime/evidence/general concepts!) though, if he’s involved, then Hajime needs to be as well, becauee everyone can only take maeda’s self-deprecating bullshit for so long until they need someone to shut him up hdbdbdbdb

Hiyoko acts like she thinks it’s dumb, but actually really wants to be included 🥺 👉👈 so mahiru takes it upon herself to “force” her into helping

Sakura and Hina love to help however they can! :D I don’t rlly have anything specific for them, I simply think they’re very cool and would be very eager to help because they love their friends <3

Sayaka is INCREDIBLE when it comes to thinking up “murder” plots! Motives, manipulation, the likelihood of certain actions being taken.....+ due to her high intuition, she’s able to discern what types of things kyoko and celeste prefer during their little games! She also provides insight into emotional response for the actors, which helps to make it a lot more immersive!

Mikan gets very very very nervous as a performer and is usually very unreliable in that aspect, but she gives pointers on whether or not certain wounds would be enough to kill a person! She also provides emphasis on vital organs and helps with anatomical accuracy!

Gundham adores being able to give monologues, and the three in charge of everything do their best to give him macabre, weird roles so he can speak and confuse the two girls to his heart’s content ❤️

if they ever need to talk to chiaki during an investigation, they usually need to wake her up, or get her to stop playing a video game (which she’s not supposed to be playing!!!!) in order to interrogate her (she also forgets a lot of the details and evidence she’s supposed to give them shdbsndbsnsb)

she also likes to give chihiro ideas for plots and things, though mostly uses her games as inspiration !

Shuichi and kyoko are friends so he’s like “yyyeah okay I’ll do it” and so by the same token, Kaede is automatically (and emphatically!) involved as well

Kirumi gets involved because if it’s a request, she’ll do it 💛 plus she kinda loves being involved with this stuff ngl jsnsbsn meanwhile ryoma is like this is dumb but if it’ll make u guys happy then I guess I have no choice

Maki’s pretty difficult to convince, ngl, but if kaito pesters her enough, she might drop by to give her two cents on some of the most plausible and effective methods of getting rid of evidence, as well as what she would do if she were in the position of the murderer (makoto and co. are like wow maki thank u very cool we are absolutely terrified)

shinguji makes it a point in the anthology to embarrass himself at the drop of a hat for his friends’ benefits regarding things like this, so they’re obviously in hbdbdbd plus they love being able to study kyoko and celeste’s behavior while working on each “case,” because without a doubt they are two of the most interesting specimens of human thought patterns and processes he’s ever SEEN <3

since it’s for the sake of two girls, Tenko’s very excited to do whatever Sonia or Chihiro asks of her (she’ll do things that Makoto asks, too, but it takes some convincing....) and Himiko.....isn’t a particularly convincing liar to begin with, but her experience with stage trickery comes in handy pretty often! (though they have to practically drag the information out of her shdbsndn)

Angie agrees to participate on the grounds that all of her characters get to bring up and endorse Atua. she gets picked for murder victim quite a lot bsbssbdb

also highkey 👀 the canon cases get re-enacted at some point (for the first game’s third case, they actually let Celeste be in on it as a little treat for Kyoko! it was absolutely bonkers and they both had literally so much fun!!!)

[ultimaterealmofchaos]

what are your honest thought about your muse’s canon? [all your dr canons :3 ]

the source!! (accepting!!)

all of my dr canons???? holy shit here we go

starting with our favorite ultimate musician ibuki: first off???? we all know how i feel about ibuki. she’s my absolute favorite sdr2 character, and i’m about 99.9% sure she’s my favorite danganronpa character overall. but of course, i have a few criticisms. not about her specifically, i don’t think, i think she’s fine, but like... how the game handled her??? okay so i’ve seen a lot of criticism online about her (and this is probably my own fault for going to the danganronpa subreddit), saying that she’s annoying, she adds nothing to the story, there’s no reason for her existence, etc. and honestly that isn’t a problem that’s specific to ibuki. it’s made pretty clear if you really look at it that she only exists to end up dead, which i think is a real problem with the writing of the series overall. and since all my muses end up dead in some form here, that’s a common criticism that i’m going to point out right here right now and never again in this post. but ibuki herself suffers from that she’s incredibly surface-level with only a deeper side underneath if you choose to pursue it. and like. obviously i’m not asking for her to be the deepest character in the lore, that’s not what she is, and obviously she’s... not written to be the smartest character at all, but i wish they had done her a little differently, and not hidden all her insightfulness in free time events. because. she’s smart. she doesn’t see herself as smart, but she is. and i wish they’d shown that more. and honestly??? you are telling me that she is the ultimate musician, yet nobody in her class likes her music?! that many people in there and not a single soul actually likes it??? chunsoft you’re fuckin’ playing with me here and i don’t like it. come on. make up your damn minds. ffs.

also why’d she have to die that’s some bullshit. she was cool af and i’m still salt about it. 

this is going to get long and ridiculous bc i have so many of them so i’m hiding the rest under a cut.

next up is sakura!!! i actually think sakura was done quite well, honestly. granted, it was the first game, so i don’t think any of us saw the twist with her coming, but it was done really well! and her eventual death definitely suited her character. i never thought she’d be one to kill anyone, and i was glad that i was proven right, even though i was really upset with her death (just like i was with just about every other one lmao). from a meta standpoint, i really like how they took the tough-girl-who-even-looks-”manly” thing and sorta turned it on its head a bit (like, i’m not going to lie, i legit thought she was a guy at first who just happened to be wearing a girl’s school uniform and i think just about everyone does). her relationship with hina that built over the course of the game was something that was needed for her, imo, as it helps us as players sort of humanize her a bit and not just see her as this massive devastating block of muscle. i like how they managed to portray that even if she’s stoic as fuck on the outside, she really cares about everyone in her class, and that’s just shown by her death itself. they even managed to convey a sort of degree of softness with her, as shown by her relationship with hina and how hina was just about the only one that wasn’t initially scared shitless of her. idk man dr1 really did its characterization really well for danganronpa and they never really got that right again, did they? it’s a shame, really.

next up is our favorite bitch. junko enoshima. dear. god. i love her so much, and i love to hate her so much. the way she acts, the way she uses mukuro for her own gain, the way she switches personalities on the drop of a hat, the way she pretty much thought all this shit up on her own (with mukuro as well i’m assuming but let’s be real here it was honestly all her)... she’s a fucking unapologetic bastard and we love her for it. honestly i always look forward to playing a danganronpa game i haven’t already played because i’m dying to see how they’re shoehorning her in. because. it’s not dr without her. i’m sorry. it’s just not. sometimes villains are villains just because. they don’t have to have a deep backstory as to why they’re the way they are, and junko is a wonderful example of that. i love her. i’m biased. i love her sm.

next is miu. oh, dear, sweet miu. she’s the fanservicey character who makes things sometimes. that’s it. there’s one of these in every game. and you know what? having a fanservicey character is fine. to me, anyway. you do you, guys. but honestly i find miu kind of insulting in a way. no, not because she’s vulgar as fuck; guys, i am vulgar as fuck, especially after having a couple drinks, okay, i can sympathize in a way with her. no, what i’m insulted by is that they had the audacity to make her the ultimate inventor, and then fuckin’ reduce her to swearing, sex jokes, and vulgarity. like. inventors are smart as fuck. ya kinda need to be in order to invent things, right? especially doing it as consistently as she does. i mean, fuck, she provided whole things for the plot, for fuck’s sake. and they still reduce her to a dumb blonde who’s obsessed with kiibo and sexual innuendos. come on. do better. let’s go. she can still keep her vulgar tendencies, just.... god, i don’t even know how to fix her, but i hate her characterization even though overall i still like her quite a lot. learn to write women, you fucks; how did you get it more right in dr1 than in v3. and we’re not gonna even talk about the canonical ending because i see that differently than most people and it has nothing to do with what i’m talking about, which is what we see in 95% of the game. 

next: our favorite bug boy gonta. it should be no secret that i love gonta. i love him. so much. the only character that is second to my love for gonta is korekiyo. i love korekiyo so much too. but this isn’t about him. it’s about gonta. again, we are bending the trope of big-character-is-terrifying and i really appreciate that in gonta’s case. like with sakura. ahaha. what can i say, i’m really weak for that sort of thing, i guess. but he suffers from the same shallowness that miu and even ibuki does. they tried to give him some more depth, but i don’t think it really worked. and like. come on. a guy who was raised by wolves for years and doesn’t really know how to interact with people now being in a killing game with a bunch of them???? shit, there’s so much you can do with that!! but no. we didn’t go there. much like we didn’t go there for everyone who wasn’t shuichi, kaito, maki, or kokichi. (ok shuichi gets a pass but you know.) idk man it’s probably because i didn’t do everyone’s free time events because there’s literally no way to do so, but i’m kind of salty about how v3 just treated its characters. all of them have potential. it just wasn’t reached. at all. unless it was the main four. they all deserve better. 

lastly, we have mikan. and boy. do i have a lot to say about mikan. so, going into this, i want to say that i am an abuse victim. there, it’s out in the open. so, knowing that... some stuff about her makes sense. especially when you consider that she, too, is an abuse victim. and others. just. do not. she deserved better. she deserved so much better. and what made me the most incensed about this is her goddamn anniversary outfit. they only saw and used mikan as fanservice. why would you use an abuse victim as fucking fanservice i’m gonna fuckin’ riot. like. she’s traumatized as fuck. her despair disease shit makes a lot of sense, don’t get me wrong. it’s suitable for her that things happened the way they did with that. but for fuck’s sake. “oh haha look at that mikan fell again, face down ass up that’s the way she likes to--” stop. she deserves better. i’m mad about it. it’s not funny. stop doing mikan so fuckin’ dirty, you assholes. i’m taking her and i’m making her better. so fuck you.

anyway that’s it :3 i’m sorry this turned out to be so long aslkdjfal. i hope i answered the question sufficiently enough :333

[kirbychan234]

Harvest Moon AU: Teruteru Hanamura’s Sidequest

hhhhhh so it’s @chantillyxlacey‘s fault i’m catching FEELINGS rn

danganronpa harvest moon au, everyone’s got a sidequest they need taken care of, and i absolutely need to talk about teruteru’s sidequest

He works at the diner, of course. The Hanamura diner is quite a popular place in down, despite how, uh, questionable the lead cook’s attitude is. But his food is no joke so it’s hard to complain too much. 

Gameplay wise, if you take some of the stuff you’ve harvested from your farm and give them to Teruteru, he’ll make dishes for you. They’re costly, but they give a ton of stamina when eaten. At first it starts off just giving him one ingredient, but if you build your friendship with him, it can grow to two or even three ingredients. Depending on how many ingredients you use will depend on the price and the potency of the stamina recovery. 

He’s a little hard to want to get to know just because of how lewd he is. But take some time to get to know him and he’s not all that bad. Maybe. It’s difficult to say.

On certain days, an older woman can be found sitting at one of the chairs outside of the diner. When talked to, her smile is soft and weak, but sincere, and she introduces herself as Teruteru’s mother. She remarks that she’s feeling well enough to sit outside today, so she’s out taking the fresh air. 

Once mid-fall hits, Teruteru’s mother stops spending time outside. Teruteru himself isn’t nearly as cheerful as he once was but he tries to hide it behind fake smiles and lewd remarks, though they aren’t nearly as frequent as they used to be. He seems...broken.

And then once winter comes, the Hanamura diner suddenly closes, and Teruteru and his mother are nowhere to be found. You can no longer see either of them, nor make recipes with him for the rest of the game. 

That is, unless you follow some very specific steps. 

First of all, befriending Teruteru is essential for this. The further along you are in your friendship, the more he talks about his mother’s illness. She’s gravely ill and has been in and out of bed rest for years. The local nurse, Mikan Tsumiki, has been taking care of her throughout those years. 

Talking to and befriending Mikan will also shed some more light on Teruteru’s mother’s illness. It’s a very rare illness and cures aren’t exactly common around here, but she promises to do what she can. 

Come mid-fall however, Teruteru’s mother’s condition suddenly gets worse. If your friendship with both Teruteru and Mikan is high enough, you can listen in on a conversation between the two of them regarding his mother’s condition. It’s no longer stable, the illness has nearly reached terminal, and if a cure isn’t administered soon, she will die.

Mikan is trying and failing to hold herself together. She tells Teruteru, almost sobbing, that his mother only has a few weeks left to live, if that. Teruteru, looking absolutely shattered, slowly leaves the clinic without even acknowledging you. 

When Mikan finally notices you, you comfort her. She seems devastated that she can’t save someone, it’s why she became a nurse. You ask her if she can make a cure, and she says she can’t because she doesn’t have the ingredients nor the tools to do so. The cure requires an herb that she’s never seen grown around town, and it’s basically impossible to get it from an outside source in time for her to save her. 

You ask her about the cure, she gives you a description, and you vow to find it for her. Exploring around town will have yielded you privy to the knowledge of where to find the herb: it grows in the mine. It’s hard to get to, but doable. You tell her that you’ll get the herb if she gets the tools. Mikan trusts you at this point, so she vows to get everything she needs if you’ll provide the ingredients. 

You present the herb to Mikan and she is overjoyed. She has everything she needs now, and takes a few days to make the cure, but it works. Teruteru’s mother’s condition slowly becomes stable and she finally looks like she’s not in pain anymore.

Mikan tells Teruteru that you were the one who got the ingredients she needed, and he outright hugs you and sobs. He’s so so grateful. Eventually though, you are ushered out by Mikan because her patient needs rest and Teruteru refuses to leave her side. 

The Hanamura diner is closed for a while after that. You also can’t talk to Teruteru or his mother during this time, since they both need time to recuperate. If you ask her, Mikan will update you, and smiles and says that she should be fully recovered in a few weeks. 

When she does recover, Teruteru’s mother can be seen actually walking around town. If you talk to her, her smile is still soft but no longer weak. She thanks you for everything you’ve done for her and her family, and says that you will always have a place at her table if you need it. Sometimes you can find her sitting in that same place in front of the diner she was while she was sick. She remarks that she’s not ill anymore, but this spot is special to her. She meets the most wonderful people while sitting here, after all, she says while giving you the brightest smile.

Teruteru himself is now always elated to see you whenever you walk into the diner. His recipes no longer cost you anything; he’s more than willing to cook for you for free. As long as you have the ingredients, he can make some of the most overpowered stamina recovery items in the game. He’s even toned down the dirty jokes for you! 

[linkspooky]

Top 10 Danganronpa characters

Normally my motto is “No Heroes, Only Villains.” In general I tend to dislike main characters because a lot of authors take short cuts to have the main character feel important, and end up bending the story around them. Whereas while villains are darker characters overall, because the narrative always frames their actions as bad they are usually far more complex characters with deeper, darker, struggles driving them udnerneath the surface. 

The one exception to my rule is Uchikoshi’s Zero Escape series, and Kodaka’s Dangan Ronpa series where I usually end up stanning the protagonist. Due to the fact that the objective of Dangan Ronpa is to inflict as much despair on the protagonist as possible, I can kind of see why this series is the one exception to my rule. 

1. Mukuro Ikusaba - “I’m so sorry, Junko. I never really understood what despair was. But it’s going to be all right now. I finally understand. So… I’ll make sure I make you happy, Junko. I’ll make sure I fill you with despair. I’ll save Makoto… I’ll make sure the others don’t die. I’ll let them escape from this place…”

Most of the entries on this list are going to be characters I think have a solid narrative in their game/source material, rather than just picking characters I like. For example I like Tanaka, Mikan, a lot of the characters that fill up the killing game cast are faves however I want to judge them for their arc as a whole. Ikusaba Mukuro is my one exception because she is my absolute favorite character in Dangan Ronpa and she’s one of the most wasted narrative potentials. This likely comes as a result of Dangan Ronpa the original being the worst written game of the three, which lets a lot of its characters including Mukuro go to waste. 

Mukuro is a child soldier who’s been trained her entire life. She’s also a victim of sibling abuse, from her only genuine family and the one who loves her. What complicates this is Mukuro is also a bad person, she’s a terrorist who works for despair not because she believes it, but instead to make her sister happy. Mukuro’s lived her entire life to make her sister happy, and her sister loves nothing more than misery despair. You can see where the conflict arises. 

Narita’s rendition of Mukuro makes her one of the best characters in Dangan Ronpa. She’s a heartless murderer, but that’s because she has no one in her life except Junko. Of course life is worthless to her she’s never even been shown how to live. When Mukuro is introduced to ideas like love, she’s actually terrified. She’s so scared of other people she considers just talking to people to be worse than taking a shotgun blast to the face. Mukuro’s just so bad at being herself it’s easier to be the doll that Junko plays with. Which is why her turning from despair to hope because of the connections she made with Class 78, and Makoto still believing in her even after she chose to betray them and start the killing game is one of the coolest narrative ideas in Dangan Ronpa. Too bad it only happens in a Ryoga Narita short story. 

2. Matsuda Yauske - “Who are you going to report me to? The National Japanese Ugly People Association? That kind of organization would be guilty of discrimination just by existing.”

Matsuda is also a character that could have had greater importance to the series as a whole, but I do think Dangan Ronpa Zero enough to tell his story. Matsuda is an almost perfect protagonist of a tragedy, his heroic qualities are what drag him underneath the surface of the water and cause him to drown. He’s just a kid who wants to protect his childhood friend no matter what the cost. After losing his mother, he made a promise that the two of them were going to spend the rest of their lives taking care of each other and Matsuda does his best to fulfill his end of that promise. 

Oh, also that childhood friend is a terrorist trying to destroy the school he is currently attending, and also killing several innocent people and forcing him to hide the bodies. Matsuda is deep down a very good person, but he hides it under his apathetic attitude and his harsh tongue. It shows that good people are perfectly capable of doing bad things. Matsuda knows exactly how wrong his actions are, but he takes them anyway out of desperation. We see him agonize over what he has to do, and then never forgive himself when he does. The rapid deterioration of his mental state because he a doctor, is hurting people, and even hurting the one he loves by protecting her is so compelling. Junko’s claws are already dug so deep into his skin, but he doesn’t want to escape because even with her arms wrapped around her neck at least Junko is still holding onto him. 

Matsuda’s a character whose both selfless to an unhealthy extent, and also self-motivated. Junko points this out (helpfully) and his complexity comes from the fact he’s not either or, but both at once. Yes, he’s trying to fix what happened to his mother by fixing Junko’s brain. Yes, he wants to protect Junko because that gives him a place to belong. However, at the same time he is doing all of this because he does genuinely love Junko, and that’s his despair. You can tell despite Ryoko being a Junko who does not care about despair, who is happy go lucky and completely dependant on him like he wants, she chafes him. He can’t stand Ryoko deep down, because he knows Ryoko is not Junko. Matsuda defines him entirely by his use to others and he fell in love with the girl who only knows how to use and manipulate others. It’s a match made in hell. 

3.  Enoshima Junko - Hope is harmony. A just heart, moving toward the light. That is all. Despair is hope’s polar opposite. It is messy and confusing.

The most hardworking character in any story is the villain. Junko defines Danganronpa, Junko practically is Dangan Ronpa. That being said while her appearances in the main games are fun to read, she really shines as a fave of mine in Dangan Ronpa Zero. This is the few times we get a peek at what’s going on inside of Junko’s head instead of having to view from what she decides to show us on the outside. 

Junko’s so fascinating because she’s just too smart for the world around her. Her brain’s not broken, it works a little bit too well. She sees no point in making relationships because everybody around her acts so predictably they might as well be playing roles on a stage. Everyone is reading off of a script without even knowing it. 

You get the sense that Junko this amazingly talented girl, idolized, worshipped, loved by all, always in the center of the spotlight, just wants any life that’s not hers. Despite having been handed everything she can’t enjoy a single part of life. She has a very “I’m taking my ball and going home attitude” towards hope, if Junko can’t see the appeal of hope, if she can’t enjoy her school life then no one should be able to. 

There’s something viscerally pleasing to read in her desire to break the world around her. If everybody is reading from a script then burn the script. If everyone fits too easily into a box then she should destroy all the boxes. Junko herself is more of a personified Jungian Shadow, meant to drudge up the worst parts of society from the bottom of the ocean and make it float and burn on the surface of the water like long buried oil. However, I also find her character to be unique and compelling, not because she’s a psychopath but rather because she isn’t. Junko is capable of loving people, but she’s so bored that you’re guranteed to be worse off if she likes you, because you’re going to be disected while still alive just to prove you’re a living person and not a doll. 

4. Saihara Shuichi - “The only time I can use my detective talent is after someone dies… A detective…can’t save anyone. I’m only useful after it’s already too late.”

Welcome to the I-Like-Dangan-Ronpa protagonists list. Shuichi is my favorite protagonist for a main sereis game, because he’s really the only one who has a strong arc through all six chapters. Makoto is the original danganronpa protagonist, but he’s much more interesting when he’s deconstructed by the other characters around him. 

Shuichi’s so interesting as a protagonist because he doesn’t always keep on hoping. In fact he gets scared, he runs away, he lies in his bed for days doing absolutely nothing. Shuichi is just as sensitive of a boy as Makoto is, but that emotinoal sensitivity is a flaw because it makes him fragile. Makoto would never give into despair, but Shuichi does which makes him all the more strong for pulling out of it. 

He’s timid, easily gets pushed around by others, what makes Shuichi so appealing is because he’s a terrible main character. The game even highlights this in the protaognist swap, Kaede was too strong, and Shuichi too weak to be a lead. There’s even hatemail in the game that’s like Shuichi sucks bring Kaede back and it’s hilarious. He has none of the strength of normal main characters. In fact he’s a walking bundle of nerves and weaknesses. Despite being a detective he’s not even as great as investigating as Kirigiri, and definitely not as cool. Yet, Shuichi struggles so much for every single step in the way. Most of the Dangan Ronpa games end with We’ll keep on hoping, which is a fine message but also pretty generic. DRV3 has the strongest themes of the series and it ends with Shuichi saying I don’t give a damn about hope, I’m going back to my real life. Which is all the stronger because you find out that Shuichi isn’t special, nor was he even that great of a person, he’s just kind of an creepy anti-social kid that sucked. His improvement feels so great because we’ve seen him accept that past self, but at the same time leave it behind. 

5. Akamatsu Kaede “..And that's why we need to expose the mastermind and end this dumb killing game! So we can smile with everyone else!”

Kaede is also another comnentary on Makoto, but instead of passive she’s active. I’ve always called her an aggressive optimist. Makoto will just be very tolerant of other people, be patient with them, listen to them, whereas Kaede wants to be friends and she will beat your tragic backstory out of you if she needs to. 

This is once again a case of a great Dangan Ronpa character going to waste, but the protagonist switch gave us Shuichi so while I’m disappointed I can still live with the choice. What I love about Kaede and Shuichi as dual protagonists is how well they compliment one another. Kaede is friendly and social but she’s not necessarily nice or empathic. Shuichi is nice and empathic, but he’s anti-social and too timid to go out and make friends. I like deconstructions of empathy because Shuichi is kind of too empathic, he’s always so concerned with how others feel he lets his own heart get trampled over. Kaede’s the exact opposite, she’ll trample over other people trying to make them happy because she’s just too headstrong. 

She’s a version of Makoto where her relentless optimism, her ability to make friends, both of these things are flaws because Kaede doesn’t really understand other people’s struggles the same way Shuichi does. Which is why both of them shine the best when they’re together because as a duo they really don’t get along that much underneath the surface. Kaede is all about trusting everyone, but in the end she takes everything into her own hands. Shuichi acts like he wants everyone to rely on him but at the same time his self esteem is so low that he wants someone else to come and take the responsibility away from him. Which is why their relationship which seems to be perfectly complementary on the surface falls apart. Another thing I love about the two of them is most of the Dangan Ronpa guy/girl investigation duos are basically the girl just giving hints and being perfectly helpful to the guy the entire time, whereas Shuichi and Kaede both lie to each other while pretending they’re each other’s most trusted person. 

It’s a really great arc even if I wish Kaede had lived to see the consequences of the two of them falling apart and failing to trust each other rather than dying. 

6. Hinata Hajime / Izuru Kamukura  “I’m not interested.”

Hinata Hajime is a boring rehash of Naegi Makoto whose only major difference is being slightly more anxious for the first five chapters, and then he becomes one of the most amazing characters in Dangan Ronpa. If you reread SDR2 knowing the Izuru Twist, Hinata’s character becomes a lot more distinct. 

The best way I’ve ever heard Hinata described is “Like Makoto, but not genuine about it.” Makoto is just a friendly guy who really likes everyone and really wants to help everyone, he’s kind of simple. Whereas, Hinata wants to be that person really desperately but he can’t. Because Hinata wants to be important. When he helps someone he wants to be relied on. When he makes a friend, he wants them to be an important friend. He wants to be selfless, but he can’t stop thinking about himself for one minute because he’s an anxious mess. 

DR3 is bad, but one of the few things it got right was Reserve Course Hinata’s genuine attitude. He seems angry and confrontational, but that’s only because he hates the idea of other people looking down on him. He’s always worried about what other people think of him, so being so confrontational helps him be avoidant. Nobody looks too close if he pretends to have a strong personality. 

Hinata is just someone so intensely disatisfied with himself he decided to get a surgery to take his brain out of his head and let him become someone else. Except Hinata can’t escape himself because Koameda is walking around as a walking callout post for him. This is what you look like. This is how you act. This is what you became in your desperation to become special, Komaeda just doesn’t hide it. 

7. Fukawa Toko “My theory is that happy people can only write happy, shallow novels.“

Everybody told me to wait until UDG before I judged anything about Toko, but she was one of the few Non-Junko characters that I loved from the first game. What I like about Toko is how ugly, and miserable she is at all times. Toko’s like so unlikable that people generally get along with her split-personality better than her, because even though Jack is a serial killer she’s less difficult to deal with. 

Toko’s actually pretty low empathy. She doesn’t feel that much guilt over Jack being a serial killer. She doesn’t see herself in people suffering in front of her, even when they’re literal children who turned to murder because their parents were abusing them so badly she’s like nope, nope, nothing to see here. However that’s the appeal, Toko’s literally had the empathy beaten out of her. The reason she doesn’t feel those things is because she can’t. 

Toko’s so obviously broken, she’s a bundle of inferiority complexes and trauma just trying desperately to hide herself together. She’s an obvious victim of bullying, and yet she’ll bully people the second they get close to her. She’s not soft, or nice at all, and will say things to hurt you. Toko responds to ugliness with ugliness. She responds to hatred with hatred. She’s cinderella but she wasn’t able to remain kind when her wicked stepmothers abused her, os she became a serial killer instead. There’s something so raw about a girl cut apart with scissors desperately trying to piece herself back together. 

8. Shingetsu Nagisa  "D-Don't be stupid! That's not true! I'll be a kid until I die! I would rather die right now than become an adult! Don't you believe me?"

I love all the kids from Ultra Despair girls, but once again Nagisa is my favorite because he has the most developed arc out of all of them. Nagisa is continually acting burdened by everyone around him. He’s always way in over his head, up to his neck in blood and has no idea what to do. He’s also the only one who seems to be consciously aware that they’re doing something bad and trying to justify it to himself. 

Nagisa is always overburdening himself, but much like Matsuda he does this because it’s the only way he knows how to function. If he wasn’t useful to everyone around him he would be thrown out. Nagisa continually pushes himself into unhealthier and unhealthier situations. 

And the best part about his arc is we get to see him crumble. He has this narrative where everyone always has expectations for him, and being told that nobody expects anything from him is his breaking point. He’s begging people to use him. He descends into a screaming fit and you realize this is a kid who has been used his entire life and thinks being loved is having someone who needs you. 

9. “I am not like you. I believe in power. No matter how many I make into victims, even if it means my death, I shall destroy despair. That is my resolve!”

It’s hard to describe why I like Munakata. His confrontation with Makoto is one of my favorite scenes in the series, but out of context Dangan Ronpa dialogue always sounds so ridiculous. Munakata, no we need to kill the concept of despair, we need to kill everyone whose ever even felt sadness. If you disregard how the hope vs despair conflict kind of got ridiculous in DR3, there’s a lot of interesting parts about Munakata’s character.

He’s like a version of Makoto’s character who grew up into someone really unpleasant. He’s trying so hard to be the symbol of hope that Makoto just kind of is on accident. He’s one of the few characters who is a strict idealist that I like, because it shows how much Munakata cares about ideas over justice or hope over people to the point where he ends up being the reason that the people he loved dies. 

I like Munakata because he’s a bad person even though he’s fighting for objectively good reasons. He’s such a strict utilitarian he always uses people and has to be in control. He’s terrible to his own close friends. You get the sense that he never really knew either of them. That’s why it’s fun to see him destroy everything with his own hands, and realize after the fact that even when he was nothing left to fight for he has to keep going. Kodaka originally said he was going to die, but he realized making him live at the end with no reason to live was the better option and I agree it was the best possible conclusion to his character. 

10. “Because you know I...things like murder, these kinds of abnormal crimes, from the bottom of my heart... LOVE THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING.” 

Takumi is a big weirdo and I love him. He’s a unique vigilante killer who kills other serial killers not because of any sense of justice, but rather because he thinks they’re all way too lame and he wants to find a really cool killer that lives up to his standards. Takumi is all about the spectacle of killing.

His brain is so weird that to him the feeling of watching his classmates cut apart with a knife is similiar to the feeling of falling in love. He’s a copycat killer but only because the killers he meet are so incompetent and unmotivated that he has to show them how to do it better. 

You get the sense that some part of Takumi is dead inside, because when he’s not killing people he’s lounging around acting like a NEET. He likes murder because the knowledge that death is so close is the only thing that makes him truly feel alive and life worth living to him. Ironically, he’s searching for a way to live in his grim fascination with death. There’s just so many tropes turned on their head and inverted for Takumi to the point where black becomes white and white becomes black that it makes his whole story so fun. 

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt.7)

Well, Natsume's really in it now! Today we'll be talking about what lengths Natsume will go to in order to protect the people he loves. He's not a normal boy with a normal first crush, after all. He has no intention of wooing her or flirting. In fact, his instinct is to distance himself, and going forward we'll see that instinct is motivated by more than just a low self-esteem.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Natsume has some major character flaws. He’s kinda a jerk in general and is rude and abrasive. He’s chronically selfless and seems to be drawn to situations where he can sacrifice himself for others, which is a very unhealthy way to be. He’s also terrible at keeping his word.

Natsume only made this decision on his own, but he’s pretty bad at carrying through with it. He’s the one who told her to stay away, but Natsume will have more and more trouble staying true to such an agreement.

At first, he makes an effort: Mikan is being bullied for her stupidity and sees Natsume. He glares at her, another discouragement from coming any closer. He doesn’t argue with her or join in on the bullying.

But in no time at all, the whole class is riled up in study mode because of Mikan’s example, and for many kids in Class B, the best person to turn to for tutoring help is Natsume, who is actually quite smart when he actually does the work--though he’d prefer not to. And he does help, though not with any kind or supportive words. He’ll leave that to Mikan. Maybe to him it feels a bit like a cheat, like he can afford to give in a little bit. He later walks alongside her after an exam, like he’s part of her circle, and although he’s not really engaging with her like the rest of the kids are, it’s enough that he’s near her.

And it’s enough for the ESP and Persona to notice.

We can see the ESP looking down on them from his headquarters room, still covered in shadows to maintain his mystery, but his figure is familiar enough for a reread. Natsume has been caught and he will have to face the consequences.

Persona subs in for Makihara-sensei (and we must wonder if Makihara was really unable to proctor his exam or if he was ordered to stay away so that a point could be made to Natsume), and despite his disguise, Natsume can tell it’s him instantly. After all, he was supposed to recognize him. Natsume looks horrified.

So far, Natsume has had to more or less balance two very different parts of his life: a more light-hearted life in Class B and his life as a spy and black ops agent. They’ve been difficult to juggle because of how different they are, but they’ve been pretty separated. Here, the lines are blurring. Was there really any divide at all or was that just an illusion? Persona can invade on his happiness any time he wants, on a whim, and nobody else will notice that anything is amiss. Only Natsume will be bothered, and that’s enough.

Natsume later catches up to Persona, asking him what the hell all that was about.

Permy and his fans aren’t the only ones to notice that Natsume has been softer lately--he and the ESP have noticed as well, and he’s been ordered to put a stop to it. He mentions a “kitten of a different color” who has been of interest to the ESP too, and Natsume plays dumb, his last-ditch attempt to protect Mikan from being drawn into this.

Persona comments on the strangeness of seeing the infamous Black Cat that he trained himself, who he’s supposedly only ever seen in action, sitting and taking a test like a normal kid. He reminds him that he’s not a normal kid. There’s no point in trying so hard. He won’t make it to ever see his family again, so why even bother?

And then Persona makes a point to discourage Natsume from getting close to that “kitten of a different color”. Natsume argues that they’re the ones who made them partners in the first place! And he might as well be giving himself away. Again, Natsume seems convinced that the partners thing was a decision from pretty high up, but I don’t think it was. Here, it seems like Persona is trying to clean up the mess Narumi made before it gets too out of hand. Natsume is a perfect tool and anything messing with that is inconvenient. They can’t unmake them partners (yet) so the most they can do is threaten Natsume.

And now we can see what kind of alice Persona has. It's a real threat, killing that plant. It's a reminder to Natsume what he's capable of, that his friends and loved ones could end up just like that plant.

And so Persona does.

Natsume is anguished here, because he’s been trying his very best to avoid this situation, but he should have known that Mikan was already in the academy spotlight and his feelings would be quickly caught. It was too late from the start and he was doomed all along to add Mikan to the list of people he will do anything to protect.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next chapter opens with Mikan being confused and hurt by Natsume’s sudden new coldness. She has no idea what’s brought this all on, but we do. Natsume has no choice now but to completely try and cut her off. It’s for her own good, after all. If he’s not careful, she could get hurt. Protecting her is worth it, even if it means he has to be even more of a villain than usual.

We don’t see a lot of Natsume in this chapter, actually, because he’s trying really hard to stick by his word this time. We see him trip up a little, staring at her in class. When she catches him, he turns away coldly, but from this we can see that Natsume really doesn’t want to be leaving her alone like this. If he had it his way, in an ideal world, he’d be much nicer to her. Unfortunately, Natsume doesn’t waste his time thinking about his ideals, so he keeps at it, pushing her away.

The next time we see Natsume, it’s after we’ve been thoroughly introduced to the concept of the life-shortening alice. This is one hint of many that he has such an alice, several chapters before we get a real confirmation.

The scene where Natsume struggles on a bed full of pills is perhaps more dramatic in the anime, but it’s no less potent here. It’s like a sucker punch. You don’t want it to be true. He’s ten years old, for heaven’s sake! TEN YEARS OLD! And he’s suffering, hunched over, face red, gasping for air, clutching his chest, next to the biggest bag of medicine I’ve ever seen. It’s the biggest hint we’ve gotten so far, especially in the context of Kaname’s illness.

It's heart-breaking to imagine that most of the time, Natsume is simply pretending like he's not in absolute physical agony.

Kaname stays at the hospital for long stretches of time, staying for weeks and sometimes months at a time. He’s hospitalized more than he’s able to walk around free. There’s a lot to consider when that treatment is compared to Natsume’s. Natsume is the DA favorite and is sent on many missions. His trips to the hospital are never for weeks or months at a time, not because he doesn’t need the rest, but because the school can’t stand to go so long without their prize fighter. Natsume might be in even worse condition than Kaname, but there’d be no real way to tell unless we got it from him, because he has no choice but to put up with it and pretend like he’s not living in constant agony. And on top of being terribly and terminally ill, he gets physically beaten somewhat regularly… this school beats sick children and then threatens them when they find any inkling of happiness.

There is a bittersweet tone about Kaname’s story. He’s already sick anyway but he will probably die if he keeps using his alice, but he wants to, because he wants to bring people the same happiness that making Bear brought him. It’s tragic and heart-breaking, but it’s touching too. That sweetness is missing from Natsume’s appearance. His situation feels miserable and helpless in comparison, because not only does he have no way out, but nobody even knows the extent of his struggles.

He only lets himself feel this level of pain when he’s all alone in his bedroom. He’s been having a horrible past few days, having to ignore Mikan when she’s all that’s made him happy in recent memory. All that together, and we know that this night was a rough one for him.

The next day, we see everyone saying good-bye to Kaname. Once again, Natsume is completely separated from the rest of them, all alone in the classroom, sitting and looking as miserable as one can expect. It’s strange seeing him now after we’ve seen what his nights look like and just how painful they can get.

I just want him to be okay. Why is that too much to ask?

There’s some text on his panel: “I want the future I spend with the ones I love to last just a little longer.” Yet another hint that maybe his illness is more than just that. He has very little time left, and very little time to spend with his loved ones, but even worse: he can’t even spend time with Mikan because doing so would put her in danger. Even with Youichi and Ruka the amount of time he can spend with them is limited. They have their own lives and he doesn’t want to hold them back or hint in the slightest that there’s something up with him. He doesn’t want to worry or burden them. And so he sits alone in the classroom, looking despondent and lonely.

And now we know more than ever that this was never his choice: he has to be like this.

No, he’s not the asshole he makes himself out to be, somebody who doesn’t care about others and cuts others off because he thinks himself above them. All he wants is to protect people from getting too entrenched in his dark life. Natsume being this level of a jerk is a method to protect people, a method an adult would have to take.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I’m quite relieved to have finally passed the point where the anime adapts the manga. From now on, I can focus entirely on the manga. I passed 22k words on this essay too! This whole thing will be sooooo long. I hope it’s an enjoyable read so far. It’s quite fun for me to write.

This chapter is the beginning of a long and dramatic arc. There’s been incidents of people losing their alices. The academy is withholding information about the gravity of the situation, lying that the students have not been affected so far.

But even with the little information the kids have, Class B is full of concern. Everyone is discussing these incidents, debating whether losing one’s alice would even be a bad thing. After all, they’d be able to go back home and see their families. Nonoko brings up a great point, that her alice is a part of her identity, something she loves about herself. It’s not something she’d ever willingly part with. Furthermore, she doesn’t want to leave all her friends at the academy either. Ultimately, the kids all agree that they wouldn’t want to lose their alices.

At this, Natsume stands up and leaves the room. He’s heard enough.

Natsume doesn’t just have complicated feelings about his alice--he feels hatred for it. After all, if it weren’t for his alice, he could live to a ripe old age. He could still be with his family. He could be happy, not used as a weapon by the academy to fight until he dies. He can’t relate much to the conversations about fondness for an alice. From what we can see, he’d be over the moon to be rid of it for good. This is a concept brought up now, because it will be incredibly important later on.

Not to spill about my personal life or anything, but I’m an English major (in an anglophone country so my focus is literary analysis and writing). Writing literature papers in school was a love of mine that I translated to my other interests. I’m writing what I can here about general themes and even visual parallels. I want to write as thorough an analysis as I can. Unfortunately, I can’t effectively pick apart word choices and phrases when they’re translated from another language and when so many conflicting translations may exist.

I’m saying all this as a disclaimer because I want to analyze word choice now and I am aware that this might not carry to the original Japanese or even to other versions of the English translation. (For reference, I’m using the TokyoPop versions for my analysis for the first 15 volumes and then I’ll be using whatever I get my hands on for the rest. The pics I use are from scans, but the main source I use for now is TokyoPop.)

"Nowhere!".... hmm let me read way too much into this.

Natsume leaves the room and Ruka chases after him, asking where he’s headed. Natsume responds, “Nowhere.” This might be a nothing point to make, but it stands out to me whenever I read this part. It’s a reassurance to Ruka, sure, but there seems to be more to it. On the surface, we can tell that Natsume doesn’t have a destination in mind; he just doesn’t want to be in the classroom anymore, listening to all that upsetting talk. Deeper than that, he really is heading nowhere. He’s stuck there, at the academy, unlike the rest of them who will eventually leave to go back home once they’ve graduated. Natsume will probably die at the school, trapped within its gates. He will probably never see his family again. He is, in that sense as well, going nowhere.

The rest of their conversation is just as packed with meaning. Ruka can tell something is up and he wants Natsume to talk to him, to let him in, but Natsume knows that Ruka has made a pact not to smile if he’s not smiling. So even though Ruka is asking and wants to know what’s wrong, Natsume won’t give anything away. Being miserable is one thing, but letting Ruka know that something is worse than usual would only make Ruka miserable too, and he can’t have that. The bottom of one page has him frowning, maybe steeling himself, and then at the top of the next page, he turns around with a grin to tousle Ruka’s hair.

Don't mind me. I am simply crying.

“It’s nothing,” he says with his smile, looking so gentle, and Ruka still looks concerned, but he can’t argue anymore.

In reality there’s a lot going on with Natsume. Later, when we are introduced to Tono, he mentions being concerned about Natsume’s health, having heard that he was making frequent visits to the hospital. We already know he’s sick and going on ceaseless missions, and on top of all that he has to ignore and be cruel to the girl he likes. It’s a terrible situation. But Natsume can’t tell Ruka any of this without worrying him, so instead he will keep it to himself. After all, it’s nothing that can be helped or changed. It’s something he feels he has to cope with on his own. To him, spilling his secrets would be selfish and only cause suffering.

Chapter Thirty

Iinchou has finally returned from his visit to his hometown. He’s brought gifts and anecdotes and everyone is quite happy to see him, until Iinchou attempts to use his alice and finds himself unable to.

It’s a shock to the whole class that a kid at their school has lost his alice. They had been so relieved that at least it wouldn’t affect kids like them, but now one of them is a victim too. It makes the fear much more real. If it could happen to Iinchou, it could happen to any of them.

Things get tense when Iinchou returns to class and says that this might have been the fault of a woman he encountered outside of the school, someone who was probably affiliated with Z. Everyone who was involved with saving Natsume when he was kidnapped is shocked to hear about Z again, but none more than Natsume himself. He gets up and leaves, just like he did last chapter.

He’s thinking about the proposal Reo gave, that Natsume should join Z and fight against the academy he despises. But he’s not alone with his thoughts, because Ruka followed him again, and so did Mikan this time.

She tries to ask him about Z, see if he has any more idea about what’s going on. She’s confused and he knows more than anyone what happened during that incident, but he’s refusing to acknowledge her presence, let alone answer any of her questions. He’s keeping up his charade of cruelty to keep her safe, but it’s driving Mikan crazy. She finally breaks, screaming at him that he should pay attention when people are talking to him, and further that if he has any issues with her he should just say it to her face.

Just like last chapter, we see a panel of Natsume steeling himself, ready to do the selfless thing to protect the other person. Only this time the next panel has him glaring at her, saying he doesn’t like anything about her. He hates everything about her.

Natsume has no choice but to lie all the time about how he's feeling, because everyone else must always come first.

It feels different, but in reality this is the same thing he did to Ruka last chapter. He can’t be honest about his feelings when he’s feeling upset, and he can’t be honest about his feelings when he’s actually starting to fall for a girl. He always has to hide his true feelings, repress and bury them, lie about them in order to protect everyone around him. It’s hard for him to do, but he thinks it hurts him more than it could hurt her, so he manages it.

What adds even more layers to this is that Ruka is observing the whole thing. He sees Natsume’s actions as selfless but misfires on the motive a little--but only a little.

He recalls eating strawberries with Natsume and Aoi, with Aoi cheerfully discussing her newfound love for the fruits. And so Natsume gives his to her. Aoi is surprised, because strawberries are his favorites. He responds easily, “I hate them now.”

"For you," Natsume says.

Ruka knows what kind of person Natsume is, that Natsume would reject something he loves so that his loved ones can be happy. They’re both aware that they like the same girl, and Ruka can’t help but put the math together and assume that perhaps Natsume is doing this for him, hurting himself and bringing himself pain so that Ruka can be happy and pursue a girl he has a crush on guilt-free.

He’s even more convinced of the theory with the tiny panel that reminds us of when Natsume shoved Ruka into Mikan so they could dance. Natsume loves Mikan too, but he wants Ruka to be happy, so he will give up and even ruin his own chances to help out his best friend over himself.

When I say it’s a misfire, I mean that Natsume has a lot of other things going on, including Persona and his imminent death. It’s not that he definitely isn’t doing this for Ruka, it’s just that it’s not as major a factor as other things. He’s mainly doing it because of the threats from Persona. If Ruka is involved in his thought process, it’s mainly a bonus. Ruka’s theory is definitely not unfounded; just not completely accurate.

In any case, it does add extra substance to the dynamic between the three of them, where they all walk away from the moment with completely different kinds of misery.

Before any of them can sit with their sadness, though, they receive word that an intruder from Z is at the school.

Conclusion

In this section, we explored how Natsume has no choice but to distance himself from everybody, and even how the methods he uses to distance himself look different depending on the person. Ultimately, despite the fact that he isn't the sweetest kid you'll ever meet, Natsume being cruel to this extent isn't a quirk of his personality: it's what he has to do. If he didn't have so many things being held against him, he might be much kinder to Mikan, or more honest with Ruka, but he has no choice in the matter.

In the next edition, we're getting more involved in the Z Arc and going into how come Natsume goes from telling Mikan he hates her to backing her cause and going on a dangerous mission with her.

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[recurring-polynya]

a little in love now and then, part 7/? | ao3 | ff.net |

Summary: Abarai Renji doesn’t have a fortune, but he does appear to be in want of a wife, at least in Lady Kuchiki’s opinion. Fortunately, Lady Kuchiki also  has a sister, and a woefully eligible one, at that. (itty bitty Hisana Lived! AU)

Rating: T, for minor cussing

This time: The Truth Emerges:   Rukia and Hisana come to an understanding. A few understandings.

Older parts: | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 |

Rukia studied her own face in the mirror as her maid carefully unpinned her hair. She wondered if she was pretty. People told her she was sometimes. Being pretty wasn’t something she usually cared much about. She had two ice-based sword attacks, a third-rank kidou master certification, and was cleared to use shunpo in combat. She was the Fourth Seat of Squad Thirteen, and ever since she came back to duty, her captain had been making vague little hints about the vice-captain’s examination, something he didn’t do toward Kotetsu or Kotsubaki (both of whom she could beat at arm wrestling).

Anyone who wanted to marry her, she had long assumed, was in it for the surname, first and foremost. And who could blame them?

She was pretty sure Renji wasn’t in it for the surname. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“You have to go, Rukia, they’re your family.”

Rukia chewed the inside of her cheek. She’d grawed over that one for years, like a dog worrying a bone. Why couldn’t he have appealed to her sense of greed? Told her how great the noble life would be, all rich silks and richer food? She could have gone off with a cheeky wink and a mercenary grin. Maybe she could have convinced her family to still let her see him, toss a few favors to someone who had done so much for her in the past. Or maybe she would have just refused altogether, stayed at the Academy, virtuously giving up the fancy life to live according to her own principles. To stay with the only person left of the little family she’d made for herself.

Instead, he had pushed her away, as though the blood that she shared with Hisana had anything on the blood they had spilled for each other, time and again. She loved Hisana now of course, and Touma, and maybe Byakuya, a little, but that was a thing she had decided. A choice she had made-- to give her love to the people who wanted her, instead of the person who didn’t.

But… but maybe she had it all wrong. Maybe Renji had wanted to be the altruistic one, hadn’t wanted to stand in the way of her happiness. Maybe he had just said the first stupid thing that popped into his thick skull. Why had she spent so many years trying to assign meaning to the words of a knuckleheaded boy who used to get stuck trying to jump out of the window of the zanjutsu dojo in his eagerness to catch her attention? More than once, even.

She wondered if he thought she was pretty, either now or back then.

There was a light rap on the door.

Mikan nudged her. “Miss Rukia?”

“Ah, come in?” Rukia called, and Hisana’s face poked into the room. “Oh, hello, Sister.”

“Go have a cup of tea, will you, Mikan?” Hisana dismissed Rukia’s maid. “I want to dote on my sister for a bit.”

“Yes, Lady,” Mikan nodded, setting the last kanzashi on Rukia’s dressing table, and getting up to leave.

“Sooooo,” Hisana drew out, picking up a hairbrush and settling herself behind Rukia. “His manners could use a little work, eh?”

Rukia raised an eyebrow at her sister in the mirror. “Save it for Byakuya. I’m wise to your tricks.”

Hisana grinned mischievously. “So is Byakuya, he just enjoys indulging me.”

“If you believe that, I think he’s finally managed to pull one over on you.”

“Perhaps,” Hisana teased. “But I didn’t come here to talk about Byakuya.”

Rukia set her jaw. Feigning indifference would only play directly into Hisana’s hands. No, directness was her only hope. “He’s not terrible,” she announced. “Abarai, I mean. We both know how terrible Byakuya is.”

Hisana waved a hand dismissively. “Yes, that goes without saying. “Not terrible”? Goodness, I feel like I should order my sister-of-the-bride kimono!”

“Here is my offer,” Rukia plowed on, ignoring this tomfoolery. “I am willing to give Lieutenant Abarai a chance. But in exchange, I need some space. I barely know the man.” She tried to meet her sister’s eyes in the mirror, but Hisana was concentrating on untangling a knot that may or may not have actually existed. “Can you do that? Can you stop throwing lordlings and fancy boys at me for five minutes so I can actually consider one of them?”

Hisana hummed softly. “That seems very reasonable…” she said lightly, and Rukia prepared for the other shoe to drop. “As long as you actually give him a chance, and don’t just use this as a ploy to get me off your back.” Hisana looked up. “You’re very charming, Rukia, when you want to be, and Lieutenant Abarai seems like the sort of upright young gentleman you would rope into helping you pull a grift on your loving sister.”

“Hisana!” Rukia squawked. “He is neither upright, nor a gentleman, and also, I would never pull a grift on you!”

Hisana’s eyes were steely in the mirror. “That’s a rather harsh thing to say about someone you just met. And we both know there’s nothing shameful about an honest, well-executed grift.”

Rukia sighed. Well, she had been looking for an opportunity. It wasn’t a good one, but at least it was an opportunity. “Er, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Hisana cocked an eyebrow. “Has there?”

Rukia picked up one of her kanzashi, adorned with a green and white water lily. She fiddled with it, running her thumb over the smooth enamel. “It wasn’t lying. I don’t know Lieutenant Abarai very well. But, er… this isn’t… exactly… the first time we’ve met.”

“He was involved in your rescue, no? And something about jail?”

Rukia pressed the pads of her finger over the sharp points of the hairpin. “Ye-esss. That’s all true. But also…” She took a deep breath and then forced the words up from her heart and out her mouth at a speed that would have impressed her brother-in-law. “Renji’s from Inuzuri. I knew him there. We came to the Seireitei together, enrolled at the Academy together. I haven’t spoken to him in years. He’s not a stranger, but he might as well be.” There. It was out.

Hisana leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “So, in Inuzuri, would you classify him as just someone you knew, or a friend? Or maybe a… rival?”

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut guiltily. “I may have pulled a grift or two with him!”

Hisana gasped. “Rukia! How could you?”

“I’m sorry, Sister!” Rukia wailed.

“How?” Hisana wailed in return, with the vibrato of a professional actress. “How could my own sister underestimate me like this?” Her face resolved into a deadpan. “Really, Rukia. They do a little profile in the Bulletin whenever someone new makes Captain or Vice-Captain. It listed Renji’s home district-- as if I couldn’t tell he was from the deep South after thirty seconds of talking to him--cripes, that accent is nostalgic. I also happened to notice that he graduated from school the same year you would have. There’s no way you wouldn’t have known him-- you would have met at the Consolidated Shinigami Recruitment Station, if nothing else.”

Rukia hunched with shame.

“I suspected there was something more to it, though-- why else would a young man like that want to work for your brother?”

“The position was open?” Rukia offered hopefully.

“The vice-captaincy of the Thirteenth has been open for years! He didn’t even apply-- presumably he didn’t want to be your commanding officer--”

“I wish you wouldn’t gossip about me with my captain,” Rukia groaned.

“I wasn’t,” Hisana excused. “We were gossiping about Renji. No, Byakuya came home, very pleased about this absolutely excessive job application he had received, the first day the position was open. Mark my words, Renji was waiting for Shirogane to retire. I bet he even hangs out at that awful sunglasses shop.”

“I don’t know why he does anything,” Rukia excused. “I haven’t talked to him in years. Maybe he has a crush on Brother.”

“Byakuya wasn’t the one he couldn’t keep his eyes off at dinner,” Hisana returned pointedly. “That kimono was a good call, no?”

Rukia wanted to shoot off another sharp-tongued retort, but she came up empty. Had Renji really been looking at her during dinner? She had been too grumpy to pay attention. It was highly likely Hisana was imagining things, or at best, exaggerating, but her stomach fluttered at the thought, anyway.

“Childhood friends, I supposed,” Hisana was grumbling. “Academy sweethearts, possibly. But your old grifting partner! I don’t believe this. I don’t believe you.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Rukia excused, knowing full well it had been exactly like that. “He’s the only other person I ever met down there with any decent spiritual pressure. And he’s painfully honest, he wasn’t even a very good con man.” Somehow this lie seemed more disloyal than anything else she had said about Renji. People were always trusting his stupid, honest face. He was creative and charismatic and had an excellent sense of people. He had never once let her down on a job. The only thing that made him a bad con artist was how much he hated doing it.

Hisana’s face had gone still and serious. “You left him. When Byakuya adopted you.”

“We were already drifting apart,” Rukia sniffed. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t enough to cover the larger truth they were both thinking. Of course she had left him. That’s what we do, isn’t it, Sister?

Hisana was brushing Rukia’s hair a bit too roughly, and Rukia let her. She clenched the hairpin in her fist, letting it bite into her palm.

“You’re very lucky,” Hisana finally said, her voice rough. “To get a second chance. Don’t… don’t make too many assumptions about his feelings. People… can be more forgiving than you expect.”

Rukia didn’t loosen her grip on the hairpin. She wanted to absolve her sister, to tell her she had done nothing wrong. But she couldn’t do that without absolving herself in the bargain, and that wasn't something she had any right to do. She didn’t particularly want Renji’s absolution, either, but maybe that’s what it would take to finally prove to Hisana that she really and truly forgave her. “Fine!” she announced, trying to pull the conversation out of this treacherous territory. “What proof do you want that I am honestly and truly entertaining that overgrown doofus as a romantic prospect? Wear his hair ribbon tied around my arm? Buy matching sunglasses? Smooch him in public? I assure you, Byakuya will hate all of those options.”

Hisana straightened, pulling herself back together as well. “Well, you have to stop calling him a doofus, for one.”

“That, I refuse to do.”

Hisana reached around Rukia to place the hairbrush back on the table, and smoothed her hair one last time with her hand. “Maybe you could just tell me how it’s going once in a while. I hear that’s a thing sisters do sometimes.”

Rukia swallowed. “I can do that.”

Hisana smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She leaned forward, and kissed the back of Rukia’s head quickly before rising. “And don’t you worry about Byakuya. I have him under control.”

“Do you, though?” Rukia asked.

Hisana frowned thoughtfully. “Yes. Whatever you decide about Renji, I’ll bring him around.” She frowned. “But, uh, I’ve been playing a little fast and loose with details, so do me a favor, and try to talk to Byakuya about this as little as possible.”

“That,” said Rukia, “is something I can definitely agree to.”

[lynneshobbydomain]

Just Say Yes (OwaMiki Week 2020 Day 2)

((Thank you so much OwaMiki Week for hosting this event! I’m super excited for this pairing!))

Prompt: Birthday/Domestic.

Rating: T

Summary: Mikan comes home from work tired and exhausted and sees a romantic set up waiting for her.

You can read under the cut or at my AO3

It was nothing that she ever experienced before. Mikan came back home from her day at the hospital with bone weary exhaustion seeping into her very core. Just taking her shoes off at the genkan and putting her purse on to the table next to it was more of a relief. Her shoulders felt just a bit lighter from carrying her purse, and her feet were able to breathe after being in her shoes for nearly thirty hours. She took her hair down from the tight bun that was up against her skull, her head throbbing from a small headache. She needed to drink some water, and eat something that wasn’t stuck in a microwave. Just thinking that, her nose caught a scent of food and her stomach growled pitfully as she looked into the apartment. 

The living room was dim, save for a couple of candles that were on the table in front of the T.V. There was a vase in the middle of the small table. She also noticed that it was covered in a ruby red cloth. She tilted her head in confusion as she carefully walked over to the kitchen to see Mondo was at the stove.

It wasn’t an uncommon sight even though it was out of place depending on who knew him. Mondo was standing at the stove. He knew how to cook using fire and he was good at it, even if Mikan would prefer him to not do anything tricky like Teruteru. It was one thing for the Ultimate Chief. It was another entirely when her boyfriend didn’t have any sort of skill save for determination and stubbornness. 

She went over to the fridge and cracked it open and blinked when she saw that there was a gift wrapped in bright ice blue wrapping paper. “Yo-you hid a gi-gift in the re-refridgorator?”

“Hey babe!” Mondo greeted enthusiastically. “Don’t worry about the gift the cold won’t hurt it. How was work?”

Just being reminded that she came home from absolute hell made her want to go back into the living room and put her feet up. She grabbed a bottle of water that was in the fridge, and noticed a note that was lying underneath it. She took that out with the bottle. “I-it was okay.” She said after a moment. “Wh-what’s with the n-note?”

“You can read that if you want to.” Mondo said, not even looking up from the stove. Mikan appreciated that. Last time he got distracted by her, it had been a disaster. “Go sit down babe, this’ll be done in a bit.”

“O-okay.” Mikan took the water bottle and the note, knowing very well that if she even tried to offer to help Mondo would tell her no and force her back into the living room anyway. She sat herself down at the table and smiled when she took note of the flowers. Daffodils, camelias, peonies. She wondered if it was from all the late work hours that she was pulling as of late. 

Mikan would never ever feel guilty for helping people, and Mondo refused to let her even think that way too. However, she knew that she was missing a lot leaving him home alone and sometimes for days. Yet Mondo not once told her that she should leave her job, or even tried to get her to spend a day with him. If anything, he pushed her to go, pushed her to continue to do what she did best, and if anything he liked to brag about her accomplishments in her field. 

She never thought anyone would ever...do that. As an Ultimate, her talent was just...there. She worked hard and got good at it for no other reason than survival. Mondo on the other hand saw that talent of hers and thought it was the best thing that she could have. He saw it in such a different light than she did, it made her only work harder to prove to him that his faith in her wasn’t in vain.

She looked at the note that was lying near her harmlessly and she thought about the gift in the fridge that she left behind. It was such a weird place to put something like that. She wondered if it was supposed to be enjoyed cold. She didn’t usually have much use for things unless it was replenishing her first aid kit, or something they both could use around the house. Everyone in their friend group knew that there were never enough bandages in their apartment due to someone always getting hurt when they were out on the job. 

Mikan took the note and with trembling fingertips she carefully unfolded the paper. She found it amusing that it was stationary paper, and it had pictures of bandages and a nurses hat and a thermator all scattered about on the border. His writing was short and to the point.

Happy Birthday, Babe.

Don’t forget to take care of yourself. The food should be easy to heat up.

Love you!

Oh. He wrote this just in case she didn’t make it home. Then the lightbulb flicked on and she looked at the flowers and then the note and then over at him in the kitchen. It was her birthday?! She had been so busy, it was completely out of her mind! No wonder everything looked nice. He was hoping that she’d come by but he was completely prepared for her to not be able to come home. She pursed her lips together as she carefully tucked the note back into its fold. Now she understood why it was underneath the water bottle. It would be the very first thing she’d go after when she came home.

Mondo came back with the plates of food and her stomach growled helplessly at the presentation. They both tucked into the dinner, Mikan trying to eat as slowly as possible to savor every nuance of the food. There really was no telling when she’d be able to sit down and have a proper meal with the chaos that was happening at the hospital. She just felt bad for the nurse that had to take over her shift. It was a terrible time, and while all hands were needed on deck, no one was good if they overworked themselves to exhaustion. Even if society and economic pressure demanded it of them.

“Th-thank you for the flowers.” Mikan finally broke the silence between them. “A-and for dinner.”

“Any time babe. I’m glad you like the flowers. That was...I wasn’t sure exactly what to fucking do.” Mondo admitted. “I had Taka help me.”

“T-taka? Of all people?” It wasn’t that she doubted Taka’s keen eye if anything she was more concerned about having two loud personalities in the flourist shop. “Wh-why?”

“It was more or less a man to man thing. You get it.” Mondo sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s good at letting me know when I’m doin’ somethin’ stupid. Or going overboard. If anything, the bastard thought this was tame.”

“T-tame?” Mikan stared at Mondo. “Wh-what were you act-actually planning on do-doing?!” She could already see how well it would go down if he thought taking her to a bar would be a good idea. Mondo didn’t drink necessarily, but there were times he would partake with his ex-gang. They all adored him and wanted nothing but the best for him. His leadership left a legacy that no one could touch, even when he decided to change careers. Hope’s Peak Academy had hoped that he would continue on, but both Mikan and Mondo agreed that the softer side of things was more their style.

It wasn’t like Mondo completely abandoned the motorcycle. He was just under strict orders to not wind up in the hospital. 

“Nothin’ like you’re thinkin’. Promise.” Mondo assured. “I know you don’t like to ride.”

“No-not when you de-decide to go f-fast.” Mikan clasped her hands together. She saw enough aftermath of wrecks to know what kind of damage Mondo could go through and those were enough nightmares that kept her worrying when she did come home to an empty apartment and knowing that he was with his gang somewhere. 

Mondo gave her a soft look, “I ain’t gonna get myself hurt. You don’t need to worry yourself too much over it.”

“I c-can’t help that.” Mikan laughed and Mondo shook his head. She learned a long time ago that she had to tame that worry back. He wasn’t going to change too much from the reckless boy she met in high school. All she could do was be there for him however she could. They both had their freedoms. It wasn’t like either of them were willing to tie each other down. Even if there were occassions Mikan wondered and fretted if she was too much, too overwhelming, if she was liked...if she was loved. 

Mondo never ever made her doubt it though. Her brain would tease the thought, but he would perish it. “Imma get your gift. Sit tight.” He told her as he grabbed their empty plates and he headed back to the fridge.

She still had to wonder what was up with the hiding place. It was such a small box too. Was it a type of chocolate? She didn’t mind sweets too much, but if it was, then it wasn’t something she could easily share. If Mondo went out of his way to make sure that she couldn’t split it in half with her, then she was going to have to remind herself to do the same for his birthday. 

Much to her surprise however, he came back with two plated cupcakes and the gift. “You di-didn’t.” Mikan stared.

“A birthday deserves a cake. I got you strawberry. You prefer those, right?” Mondo asked as he sat back. “I don’t really get the whole “sweet” thing, but...I know that if I didn’t get one myself you’d tear that in half and fucking force me to eat it.”

“I do-don’t for-force you!” Mikan tried to defend. “I sh-share there is a diff-difference.” 

Mondo grinned and her cheeks tinted a bright pink. “Pretty sure you tried to stuff it in my mouth and got icin’ all over my damn face.”

“Yo-you moved!” Mikan protested, laughing through her words. “I as-asked you!” 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Mondo rolled his eyes, but the easy fondness was still there. He gently pushed the small box over towards her and she blinked at the gift. “Open it.” He told her. 

“I-it’s very small.” Mikan felt foolish for even saying that aloud. She could hear Mondo scoff and she grinned as she slowly peeled the wrapping paper away from the box, knowing that the suspense was going to murder him.

She could feel the table jig as his knee kept hitting the top. He was impatiently waiting for her to get through the paper, but she liked the suspense that she was giving. It was a little fun to tease. Admittedly, she was just as curious to the gift as he was to see her reaction. She finally pulled the fully intact wrapping paper away and stared.

It was a ring box.

Her heart thudded loud enough that she was certain it was going to go out of her chest. She looked up at Mondo, whose knee only jiggled harder as he looked away from her. A red tint to his cheeks.

She cracked open the box.

“Marry me.” Mondo said gruffly.

“Wh-what?”

“I said fuckin’ marry me.” Mondo looked at Mikan and she felt her eyes widen in surprise. “I’m really no fuckin’ good at this shit. I don’t know how to be sappy. I can’t write you a love poem or...tell you how much you fuckin’ mean to me. You’re not scared of me. We have a good thing goin’ just…”

“Marry you.” Mikan finished his sentence, without a stammar in sight. He nodded and they both looked at each other in the eye. She looked down at the ring box and she smiled warmly as she reached into it and took it out, putting it on her finger. “Th-then I guess I do-don’t have a ch-choice.”

“Of course you have a fuc-”

She leaned over the table, mindful of where the candles were and she pressed a kiss against his lips. “No I don't.” She said as she pulled away. “I love you.”

“Goddamn it babe..” Mondo reached and gently tugged her back down to his lips, kissing her back. 

She may have come home exhausted, but nothing was going to compare to the restless night he would give her for this. 

[mystxxxmomo]

What are all the relationships you headcanon between characters? Obviously there’s Servant and Izuru, Hajime and Nagito, but what other couples/maybe even throuples(?) Are there?

“Obviously” That you I just snorted. Thats fair, I’m not subtle about my taste. 

THAT said, I think my taste is pretty base, all things considered. I don’t have a lot of like.. rare or generally unpopular pairings? 

I’ll put the disclaimer that just because I mention something as a ship doesn’t mean I always necessarily think it’s the healthiest relationship in the world. It just means here are these two characters, I think the dynamic between them might be interesting to explore. I figured I should clarify that in a “I’m genuinely not trying to be a smart ass, but everyone has a different meaning to this word so here’s mine.” Kind of way. 

I should ALSO mention that I’m deffo not the type of person that is heels in the ground about certain pairings being canon. I go in more about this at the bottom of the post, but also I think there are relationships that could be fun to explore that I wouldn’t see actually happening in canon. 

Bolded is things I’ll go out of my way to make content for//indulge in, Italic is things I’ve considered but don’t make content for, and if there’s nothing on it, “I saw some cool stuff with it but most aren’t things I’d explore.”

Dangan 1 

 Kirigiri/Naegi/Togami. Unlike SOME CHARACTERS He has two hands and he can and will use them. Despite having this bolded, I don’t actually have too much to add to it they’re just pretty quality together. I actually think they’d have a pretty lowkey, comfortable relationship.

Sakura/Aoi - This one is basically canon, in my opinion. You know, till she died. As be the way the way of Dangan.

Chiro/Mondo/Ishimaru - I’ve seen some neat things done with these three in a few fics that were recommended to me!! But most people don’t explore it like how I’d want to explore it, so.

I don’t have a lot of Dangan 1 Ships it’s unfortunately not my fixation.

Dangan 2

Hinata/Komaeda - Well this goes without saying but it still got said. It’s one of those pairings where like, depending on where you place it on the timeline it changes how I think they can be interpreted, and as a result there’s a lot to explore between them. Especially if you add in the added mix of how much I like Kamukura/Komaeda. They’d have a lot of history, a LOT to work through, and they bounce off eachother really well. It’s also one of those pairings where like... they’d have their sweet moments, but I think 90% of the time they’re trying to get under eachothers skin even when they’re together. They’re an old married couple and It’s so fucking funny. 

Kuzuryu/Pekoyama - Childhood friends AND She’s taller then him. 

Tanaka/Sonia - They’d be kinky as hell too, so you know.

Ibuki/Mikan - [I just think it’s neat] meme. I haven’t actually explored much of it yet but I’ve seen it around and anytime I think about it I just get a lil smile on my face. It would be cute.

Saionji/Koizumi - I think it’s highly likely, and honestly I even put these two together in “people I’d lump together in despair years.” kinda category. But until I get a better grasp of characterizing them they’re in limbo of “yeah thats gay we stan”

Junko/Mikan - Do I think it was healthy? No, I think Mikan’s emotional vulnerability was taken advantage of by a mixture of love bombing, gas lighting, and emotional manipulation until she became Junko’s favorite “Yes Man.” Do I think they fucked? Yeah absolutely, highly likely.

DR;AE

Kamukura/Servant - I think I’ve made enough content for these two for ya’ll to know my thoughts on this. I don’t think I need to add much else to it, but also fuck Danganronpa for saying Kamukura didn’t hang around the other remnants I think these two would have had a very complex dynamic where their relationship at the start is COMPLETELY different then their relationship at the end of despair. It’s not something I’ve gotten too much into on tumblr, because I’ve been bad about not posting any writing to it. But I think the evolution of that would be really neat.

Komaru/Touko-Syo - [Chefs kiss] Yes, please, this is the gay pairing with exactly the type of intensity I want in my WLW relationships. Normie with the former serial killer, thats such a GOD TEIR dynamic. I swear to god, I was reading a fic before I played this game that just HAPPENED to have these two in it, wasn’t even a pairing in it, and I messaged one of my friends like “So are these two this gay in canon or is the author hamming it up?”

No they’re just like that

Danganronpa Another Episode did ONE good thing and that was the lesbians.

Others - This category exists specifically because of Matsuda “Deserves better then Junko” Yatsuke

Kamukura/Matsuda - I think they’d be really funny together. 

I also think about the fact that most people that are invested in Matsuda just generally agree he worked on the Kamukura project, and I just think thats neat. I think its also one of those pairings where the potential dynamic changes a lot depending on the point in the timeline you’re at, but also if what kinda universe you’re working in. A universe where he worked on the Kamukura project would create a much different interpretation then just like, a no despair au where Kamukura is just a dude.

Also I think they’d be really fucking funny together. There’s no way Kamukura didn’t mess with this guy.

Komaeda/Matsuda -  I don’t actually have a lot to add for these two yet I haven’t worked on anything between them yet. But you know. I read fanfiction and engage with it, so I’ll still count it.

Dangan V3

(I’m still figuring out which ones I’d prefer for v3, considering I only finished it a few days ago. But again on that basic ass shit, I’m into Saihara/Ouma. There’s a lot of really cool content for it.

That said, I easily see this game becoming the most varied in pairings, just because of how distinct the characters relationships are in game. I’d just.. need a bit to actually explore this.)

Though also, I guess as a completely related side note.

Generally speaking I am willing to consider most ships for a hot second. I have like, the ships I’ll go out of my way to make content for//indulge in (Even if I haven’t gotten around to some of them yet) and then anything else is like, if you throw something at me I’ll probably humor you. If you throw fic suggestions at me I’ll for sure read it, even if it’s not a pairing I’m generally interested in. Good writing has no limitations, IMO.

There are a few exceptions to this, but I was a homestuck so like.. //shrug?? Multishipping was just kinda installed into me. I also just like imagining different character dynamics and interactions could work out, even if my interpretations might not follow par to the course all the time. Because you see, SOMETIMES mr dangan fucks up a perfectly good character idea. Sometimes I have to fix the characters myself, and by damn I’ll do that. I am a master of “The medallion says thats stupid so we’re not going to do that.”

(I don’t have a lot of characters I can say with certainty I hate because of this. If I didn’t like their execution in canon I’ll play with different ideas until I come up with something that feels like it still what they were going for, but enough that it pleases me.)

Then again. Some of them follow par to the course to an exact, so it balances out.

This doesn’t just go for ships, either. I like considering how different character friendships would check. But that would need like, it’s own post, and a LOT more then a few paragraphs of rambling.

So yeah. My main ships, the ones I’m willing to fuck with, and then my “I’m literally the easiest bitch around, throw ships at me and I’ll humor you” disclaimer.