#As usual the actual contexts of these texts are even funnier than the jokes!

[the-magpie-archives]

TMA characters as texts my sister's sent me:

(part 3)

Melanie:

Daisy recovering from the buried:

Elias:

Jon, suffering immense horrors at work:

Martin:

Gerry:

Martin transferring to the archives:

Everyone to Basira for enjoying working in the Archives:

Leitner @ Jon:

[rolotouto]

Banjou no Geass Gekijou

Before I post a list with all the games Rolo’s been featured in, here's more about my favorite one: the Nintendo DS board game, Banjou no Geass Gekijou. These are some of the lines you get when you land on Rolo’s squares.

へぇ、すごいですね、ライさんって。　何人もの人の声を、同時に聞き分けられるなんて…僕が必ず分かるのは兄さんの声くらいですよ… Wow, you are amazing, Rai-san. To be able to recognize the voices of multiple people simultaneously... The only one that I recognize without fail is Brother's...

すごいですね、ライさん。人を簡単に笑わせるなんて…僕にはできそうにありません。 You are amazing, Rai-san. Being able to make people laugh so easily... I don’t think I could do it.

ライさんはどうして、そんなに簡単に人を笑わせることができるんですか？ あ、いえ…　別にうらやましいとかそういうことではないですけど…　ただ、すごいなって… Rai-san, why are you able to make people laugh so easily? Ah, no... It's not that I am jealous or anything like that... It's just, that it’s so amazing...

I think lines like this show how strong Rolo’s true self is despite being trained as an “emotionless” assassin. The sight of someone making another person happy makes him feel admiration. He had the potential to be a really good kid...

やった！僕の勝ちですね！あ、ごめんなさい…　僕ばかりが楽しんでしまったみたいで…　あ、あの…　また遊んでください！ Yes! I won! Ah, I'm sorry... It seems I ended up being the only one who had fun... U-um... Let's play again next time, please!

And he isn’t just in touch with his own feelings, but also those of the individual he’s interacting with. I wish these pretty scenes with Rai could lead to a Good End where, having gained another person he can trust, Rolo actually started believing in his right to be loved simply by being Rolo, instead of assuming his value is tied to his usefulness as an assassin. But yeah, the Good Ends have him killing Rai, so I guess deep-rooted beliefs take long to change...

えっ！事故に遭ったんですか！…兄さんはッ！にィ~さ~んッ！！ Eh! You had an accident?! ...Brother is...! Bro~ther!!

There’s a driving minigame where you play as Rivalz and Lelouch, and this is Rolo’s reaction if you crash Rivalz’s motorbike. Before playing the minigame, Rolo had asked you to please accompany Rivalz-san and Niisan because he(Rolo) doesn’t trust Rivalz-san’s driving skills. I find it amusing that Rolo actually went through the process of learning how to drive a bike and that he probably understands about vehicles (and mechas), while Lelouch likely has no interest or knowledge whatsoever. His fakememory!self was probably initially totally confused by his little sibling’s ability to drive, and it’s things like these that make the time he spent with Rolo be memories with Rolo rather than “with a Nunnally replacement”. Anyway, if you play the driving minigame when Rolo has come to like Rai as well, he will be calmer and say something like “I’m glad Niisan and you are safe”. Rivalz doesn’t even exist for Rolo.

あれ、失敗ですか。もしかしてオモチャのハンマーじゃ本気になれないですか？僕のナイフ…　貸しましょうか？フフフ… Oh, you lost? Maybe it's that you couldn't take it seriously using a toy hammer? Should I lend you... my knife? Fufufu...

This is what you get when you lose on the whac-a-character minigame. Sadly for Rolo, one of the rules in that minigame is not to hit Nunnally.

あ、ライさん。ほら、見てください！兄さんからもらったんです、この回転パズル！ねえ、ライさん。一緒に組み立ててみませんか？ Ah, Rai-san. Look, look at this! I received it from Brother, this rotation puzzle! Hey, Rai-san, why don't we assemble it together?

思ったより簡単にできましたね、ライさん。でも、せっかく兄さんがくれたものなんですから今度はひとりでやってみます。じゃあ… You were able to do it more easily than I thought, Rai-san. But since it's something that Brother gave me, next time I'll try to do it on my own. Well then...

Rolo allowing others to play with something given to him by Niisan? And poor Victor from the OSI had to get killed after touching his locket...

The next part needs some context first. This is from when you overhear his conversation with Villetta and Lelouch at the basement. Once he notices you there, he'll normally just kill you instantly, but if you visit them after he's already grown to like you, he hesitates and, seeing how neither Villetta nor Lelouch noticed you, offers to spare your life with the condition that you don't tell anyone what you heard. You can answer "yes" or "no". As one can guess, saying that you won't keep the secret leads to a game over.

First, "yes": じゃあ、これは…　僕らだけの秘密です…　そう…　兄さんにも内緒の…

Then, this is... a secret that is only ours... That's right... a secret even to Brother...

And "no":

なるほど…　僕がバカでした…　やっぱり信じられるのは…　兄さんだけ…　他のヤツなんて… …ライさん。　あなたならわかってくれると思ったのに…　残念です… I see... I was stupid... Indeed, the one that can be trusted... is only Brother... Of course there would be no one else... ...Rai-san. I thought that you would understand, and yet... It's a shame...

It might be because it’s a game and he’s merely letting the player know what’s going to happen, but still, I like that Rolo doesn’t kill Rai right away and instead expresses his emotions to him/her first. Like Rolo barely talks to people he doesn’t feel a connection with, but once he does feel it, the love he has for that person is really important to him. Enough that he’d die mainly to honor those feelings that made him feel human. Lastly, there’s a conversation between Rolo and Lelouch that you get right before Rolo’s route is completed. (Lulu)やあ、ライ。 Hi there, Rai. (Rolo)あ、ライさん。 Ah, Rai-san. ほらな、ロロ。やっぱりライはここに来ただろ？ See, Rolo, Rai did come here after all, didn’t (s)he? う、うん… Y-yeah... 今、ロロと賭けをしてたんだ。ライが15分以内にここに来るかどうかをね。 結果は、俺の勝ち。　ロロ、今日の洗濯当番は代わってもらうぞ。 I just made a bet with Rolo on whether you'd arrive here within 15 minutes. The result is I won. Rolo, today you do the laundry instead. う、うん…　あ、で、でも！夕食当番は兄さんだからね！ Y-yes... Ah, b-but! Don’t forget that Brother is in charge of dinner! む、そうだったか…　じゃあ、こうしよう。俺が今からライと何かのミニゲームで対戦する。俺が勝ったら、ロロ。オマエが夕食当番だ。 Hm, was it so?... Well then, let's do this. I'm going to compete with Rai in some minigame now. If I win, Rolo, you take care of dinner. え、また賭け事？ Eh, betting again? そうさ、わかりやすいだろ？ライ、何て対戦する？オセロか？パズルか？何でもいいぞ。 That's right, isn't it simple? Rai, what will we compete in? Othello? Puzzle? Anything will do. 兄さん、水泳はどう？ Brother, what about swimming? なに！？なぜ体力勝負を…！ What!? Why a trial of strength...! 何でもいいって言ったじゃない？ Didn't you say that anything would do? クッ！いいだろう！速く泳ぐ理論はわかっている！負けるわけがない！ライ！水泳で勝負だ！ロロ！オマエは夕食の献立でも考えておくんだな！ Tch! Fine! I know the theory for swimming fast! There's no way I'll lose! Rai! It's a swimming match! Rolo! Start thinking about what to cook for dinner! It’s adorable how Rolo is so comfortable with Lelouch that he isn’t afraid to show him that he wants him to lose. Lelouch is hilariously slow at the swimming minigame despite “knowing the theory” (lol), so usually you’ll win without trying: やった！これで兄さんの手料理が食べられるよ! ありがとう、ライさん！ Yes! Now I can eat Brother's home cooking! Thank you, Rai-san!

チッ…　しかたないな…　晩御飯はビーフストロガノフだ！いいな！ Tch... There's no helping it... Dinner will be beef stroganoff, okay?!

うん！ Yes!

I’m laughing at how in-character it is for Lelouch to loose his cool when he doesn’t win. And notice how Rolo didn’t actually mind cooking dinner himself, he just wanted Lelouch to do it so he could eat his home cooking ♥ You can also just do nothing at all during the minigame so Lelouch can beat you, in which case the conversation goes like: 水泳で兄さんに負けるなんて…ライさん、遅い… To lose against Brother at swimming... Rai-san, you're slow... ロロ、夕食は何か凝ったものが食べたいな…そうだな…流しそうめんなんてどうだ？ Rolo, for dinner I want to eat something elaborate... Let me see... What about flowing noodles? 兄さん…たしかに凝ってるけど…それじゃ昼食みたいだよ…大丈夫、もっと栄養のあるものを作ってあげるから。 Brother... That's certainly elaborate but... then it would be like lunch... It's alright, I'll make you something more nutritious.

頼むぞ、ロロ。 I leave it in your hands, Rolo.

A Japanese person will probably find this funnier and be able to explain it better, but I think the joke is that flowing noodles are really plain in terms of what the food itself is, and that what is elaborate is the process to prepare them (you have to make noodles slide down a structure of bamboo pipes). So Lelouch seems to be deliberately choosing something Rolo can’t possibly prepare just to feel a bit evil? On the other hand, it’s really cute that he will eat Rolo’s cooking. He isn’t disgusted by it or anything, as much as he’d want to convince himself that he hates Rolo… And that’s it. Afterwards you get the endings, in which he kills you. Yeah, he spared your life at the basement, but now he stabs you out of respect, because he wants your ghost to protect Niisan. And he smiles and laughs when saying so too!? Well, to be precise, that’s the ending if you are playing as male!Rai. As female!Rai he seems more pained and doesn’t want you to leave, and it’s not so clear whether he kills you or not. Maybe he kidnaps you, since you simply disappear after Rolo took you to the airport. Creepy stuff... Someone uploaded a video of Rolo’s route, where you can see everything we’ve been talking about. ---- By the way, the official blog for this game was run by staff members who seemed to like Rolo a lot. The blog isn’t available anymore, but you can find the original texts in Japanese through Wayback Machine: part 1, part 2, part 3.

For example:

“I’m now playing through the previous game LOST COLORS and I was chased and killed by Rolo!”

“By the way, I wear Rolo on my employee badge.

It’s cute how Rolo’s charm is shaped like a heart!”

“So, since the anime’s last episode aired, there’s a new DS ‘Banjou no Geass Gekijou’ advertisement. We tried changing Lelouch and Rolo’s lines! Rolo 'Niisan... is cute' You are the one who’s cute-!”

“Good... mor   ning. It’s No... zawa... First, um, yeah, I haven’t posted updates. U.... Usui san is the only one who... was... writing... If you’re... wondering... why, on 17th August’s broadcast... Rolo  Rolo d... died”

“You can see Rolo in the advertisement... (tear)”

“Lelouch’s emperor outfit... I wanted Rolo to see it”  ----- It’s nice to know the staff was allowed to openly fangirl about their favorite characters. Although we already knew that from Sakou-san...

[that-fandom-sucks-tho]

Ben Cardy: The Cardboard Man; The Cardboard Myth; The Cardboard Legend; The Cardboard Wing Man?

A/N: Okay so like again I haven’t wrote in a while and I really should be writing the Young Justice wip but like I saw that video and I’d already had this idea for weeks and it felt like it  was a sign that it needed to be posted cause it fit so perfectly. 

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader and Joe Mazzello x sister!Reader

Masterlist

You walked into the kitchen still clearing the sleep from your weary eyes trying to wake up for the eight hour shift that you had ahead of you. What you expected to be staring back at you in your kitchen was a bowl of fruit, maybe a left over bowl, not a pair of green eyes attached to a very handsome face.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” You screamed at the top of your lungs.

A thud and then sudden footsteps alerted you to the fact that your goofus brother had heard your terror and was rushing in to save you.

He slid around the corner with what appeared to be an Adidas tennis shoe clutched in his hands ready to be swung at your assailant.

“Huh, whats it. What’s wrong?” Joe groggily mumbled as he too tried to wipe sleep out of his eyes.

You scoffed, “Well, I’m glad to know that if I was in any actual danger I could count on you to... shoe the attackers?”

Joe looked at the ‘weapon’ in his hand and sheepishly lowered it. “Hey, at least I came. You still didn’t answer me; what’s wrong?”

“What the heck is that?” You pointed at the cardboard man currently sitting at your kitchen counter. Joe looked in the direction and started to laugh.

“Y/N, that’s Ben Cardy.” He stated like it was obvious.

“Yeah, gonna need way more context. Who even is that?”

“Fine. That’s a cardboard cut out of Ben Hardy; who you’ve seen before. I’ve face-timed you tons of times with him. Though he did usually have his Roger gear on. We got it for when he couldn’t do the press tour with us.” You blushed at the mention of Ben Hardy. You had seen him before; you hadn’t realized what he looked like when not having the 70′s getup.

“I’m not used to him looking so....” You trailed off finally taking in a good look at the suited up smoldering man seated at your kitchen counter.

A snap brought you out of your trance. You looked up at Joe who had a smug look on his face.

“So? Y/N do find this cardboard attractive? Should I be worried? Carboardphillia?” He joked and barely dodged the punch to the chest you had aimed in his direction.

“You know what I mean. And why did you feel the need to bring him into our house and most importantly seat him at the counter? The tour is over you can throw this out now.”

Joe gasped in mock horror clutching his chest. He walked over and put his hand over ‘Ben Cardy’s’ ears. “Don’t listen to her I’d never do that to you,” He whispered to the cutout before looking back up at you, “And besides I’ve got so many bit ideas for him I can’t just waste this opportunity.”

You rolled your eyes and walked away to get dressed deciding a stale muffin at work was better than whatever nonsense was happening here.

The next morning, having forgotten about the prior events, caused another shock at the sight in your kitchen. Your heart racing but this time no actual screaming. Sighing you grabbed your favorite cereal and sat down across from ‘Ben Cardy’.

You slurping disturbed the silence as you stared at the printed image on cardboard. It was clearly from some sort of red-carpet something. It was also a high quality image. You could see the seams in his suit, the strands of his silky blonde hair, even the flecks inside his very green eyes.

“No matter how much you eye fuck him his clothes are printed on they’re not going to come off.” Joe smirked as he walked into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee.

You jerked your eyes away jostling your spoon causing milk to spill on the counter. You glared at your brother.

“I am not ‘eye fucking’ him. Just examining him.” You explained though the strain in your voice was not convincing Joe.

“Sure, and if your examination causes drooling it’s all in the name of science?” He questioned leaning backing stirring the creamer in his coffee.

Your mistake was actually checking to see if you had been drooling.

“Ha! I knew it! You do like him. You know we are friends I can introduce you to him. I think you two would actually really get along.”

“No please don’t do that. That’s so embarrassing. Like ‘Hey date my pathetic sister who needs her older brother to set her up.’” 

“That is not at all how it would go; besides Ben alr-” Her started.

“Plus he’s like your best friend so that would be weird and I’m what, nine years younger than him? He would for sure see me as your baby sister. No way would he like me, so please just don’t.” You pleaded as you walked out to get ready.

Joe smirked noting that your arguments included everything but you not actually  liking Ben. Oh, this was going to be fun. He was already on his phone making a call. 

“Hey mate....”

The next day you drug yourself out of bed to start your morning routine. This time though you had been expecting a pair of eyes to greet you back. You were trying not to look at him in case Joe walked in but out of the corner of your eye you saw a new pop of color.

It was a pink post-it note in the shape of a speech bubble stuck to ‘Ben Cardy’s’ face. Your eyebrows furrowed as you made your way over trying to read the writing.

Ben told me he thinks you’re really pretty.

You laughed and blushed at the note. Clearly Joe was trying to mess with you but it flattered you anyways. Looking around to see if Joe was watching you grabbed the post-it and shoved into your pocket. The small smile still present.

Joe walked in after you left with a triumphant grin on his face. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and answered the very urgent text from a very curious Brit.

For the next week every morning ‘Ben Cardy’ had a new message attached to him. Supposedly from the real Ben but you knew better. Joe was just trying to make you laugh and nothing more. But still...

Day 2

Your laugh makes his heart soar

Day 3

He hung out in Joe’s trailer just hoping you’d face-time

Day 4

He thinks you’re so smart and admires how hard you work in college

Day 5

Says you’re way funnier than Joe but don’t tell him that

Day 6

He can’t stop thinking about you or how you’d feel pressed against him

Day 7

He give anything for a chance with you

By the end of the week you had no idea how you felt. On one hand you had kept all of the notes in hopes that they were true but on the other there was no way that he wrote those or even said them. What did Joe write down these notes at the behest of Ben? There is no way Joe would write the sixth one without throwing up. I mean you were his baby sister. (He had gagged a few times but apparently the whole thing needed to be written or it ‘wouldn’t work’. Plus he promised himself he’d get payback.)

You and Joe had not talked about it. He didn’t bring it up and you were too scared to ask; what if Joe was just messing with you. Ignorance was bliss in this moment.

You were sitting pondering the thoughts swirling in your head when Joe stormed in a giant grin on his face.

“Guess who’s coming to visit for a bit involving the ever beautiful and talkative,” Joe winks at you before continuing, ““Ben Cardy.’“

“Who?” You mumbled still trying to decipher the ‘talkative’ part of his intro.

“Ben Hardy.”

You choked on your popcorn.

“He’s what?!” You exclaimed trying to wipe the remnant of half chewed soggy popcorn off your chin.

“Yeah, he was in town and wanted to meet up and I wanted a sequel to the “Night of Regrets’ video with Cardy but ampped up. So he’ll be here in like an hour.”

“An hour,” You squeaked.

“Yeah and since it’s the weekend and you’re not at work I thought you two could finally officially meet. Plus you could help us shoot.” His eyes twinkled with a mischief that did not sit well with you.

You jumped up leaving your snack for a much more important task.

“Where are you going?”

“To definitely not put on make up and a cute outfit,” You yelled.

The hour crawled by and you were sitting in the living room trying to act casual. You were doing well, except for the near vibration of your legs due to nerves.

“Hey Kid Flash, calm down or you might get stuck in the speed force.” Joe laughed as he sat down next to you. His hand clamped down on your leg making you follow his order.

“First of all, too soon for that reference-”

“It’s been six years!”

You glared. “Second of all I’m not nervous I’m just trying out this new fad exercise.”

He nodded his head in an uh-huh-totally-believe-you way.

A knock on the door stopped you from responding and you swear you stopped breathing. You may have froze as well.

Joe looked and shook his head. “Try to be a normal human, maybe.”

He walked over and opened the door and there he was: Ben Hardy, in the flesh. Which you can say was new for you. His eyes were the same color as the cutout and his hair looked just as silky. Though he now had on a bright smile that made your heart flutter into your throat. While he wasn’t in a suit the soft grey t-shit and blue jeans was just as attractive.

“Hey buddy how have you been? Is America treating you well?” The boys did a bro hug that kinda morphed into a full blown hug.

“Yeah, I’ve been having a great time but I expect this will be the best part of my trip.” Ben laughed before looking over Joe’s shoulder and directly into your eyes.

“Ah, yes Ben this is my little sister Y/N. Y/N this is Ben.”

“Oh, I know who she is.” He took a strong three strides in your direction. You quickly scrambled up to meet him half-way and shake his hand.

You gave a nervous laugh before answering.” Yeah, I guess six plus months of quasi-face-timing counts as meeting.”

He grabbed your hand, eyes never parting from yours and you felt goosebumps crawl up your arm and down your spine causing you to shiver. He held you hand long after the appropriate ‘handshake’ time allotted.

Joe cleared his throat.

“Alright lets get this going and then maybe go out for some food or something?” Joe offered before motioning towards the bedrooms. Grabbing ‘Ben Cardy’ as he walked past.

“Oh Y/N we’re going to use your room if that’s cool. You have white bed sheets and that adds a bit of continuity to this.” Joe dismissively said as he took joy in your panicked expression.

“Um...” You started but it was already too late he had barged into your room.

You gasped as you remembered the pile of post-its you had on your dresser. Yeah, that was a problem.

You rushed in pushing past both men and quickly stuffed the post-its into a drawer. Slamming it shut you turned around noticing the quizzical looks from the blonde and your brother.

“Um, it was- was my bra--” You stammered out before a heated patchy blush crawled up your neck and slapped itself onto your face. Joe’s eyebrows had breached his hairline and Ben let out a tinkle of a laugh and you suddenly felt like the floor needed to open up and swallow you.

“Okay, well anything else or can we start this?” Joe said but didn’t wait for the answer as he ventured further into your room and climbed on your bed.

He flipped back the covers and slid in the cardboard man positioning it so his head was on the pillow. He then shimmied himself under the covers and then waved Ben over. His attention was brought back to the cardboard as the shifting covers moved it out of place.

Ben walked past but not before whispering “Not how I’d expected getting into your bed.”

You choked on a gasp watching as the man who gave it to you smirked and climbed under your covers. His arms were crossed behind his head his biceps flexing (for no obvious reason besides being tantalizing). His shirt sleeve slipped down his arm showing his tattoo. He licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair trying to make it look messier. You made an almost cartoonish gulp at the sight.

The boys ran through the first run with Joe ‘waking up’ before noticing ‘Ben Cardy’. He ad libbed for a bit before turning over to Ben. They ran through a few lines and then the part you helped came in. You were supposed to hold the camera when they flourished the covers over their heads. It was successful but Ben insisted on another take saying he wanted to try again on his part. You were trying to hold in your cackles, so you had no idea what Ben was talking about.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” Joe mutters in annoyance.

“Hey buddy.” Ben softly answered.

“Hi. Uhh,you good?” 

“Yeah, great.” 

“Good. Have you met, um--”

“Yeah, we uh, we met, I was trying really hard to tell this girl I liked her and he delivered some messages for me. So we’re pretty tight.” He was looking at you now and your eyes had widened in shock.

“You wrote those notes for me? Joe wasn’t fucking with me?” You asked in shock.

“Gosh no. Half of them made me want to carve my eyes out.” Joe responded in a mock annoyed tone.

Ben had climbed out of your bed and slowly made his way over to you. 

“No, I meant every one of those.”

“All of them?”

“Especially the sixth one.” 

Joe groaned and threw a pillow at Ben. “Still my baby sister.”

“Oi! Professing my feelings here. If you wouldn’t mind,” Ben yelled before turning back, “If you’d give me a chance I’d love to take you out while I’m still here.”

His nervous expectant eyes stared into yours and a smile broke out onto your face.

“Of course.”

He grinned a breath taking grin and leaned down pulling your face in for a sweet passionate kiss. You looped your hand around your neck twisting your fingers in his hair as he dipped you lower to deepen the kiss.

Suddenly water splashed over you and Ben making you shoot apart sputtering.

Joe stood there with a now empty pail and a triumphant grin.

“That’s payback for making me write six, saying I’m not funny and ‘snogging’,” Joe put up quotes and said the last word in his imitation Ben voice,” my sweet innocent baby sister in front of me. Oh and I heard that earlier comment about the bed.”

“JOE!” You yelled.

“What? I’m protecting your honor; now, you two crazy kids dry off and go have dinner. Be back by ten or the only Ben the world will hear from is the cardboard kind.” His thinly veiled threat sat in the air as he walked out.

“Well we better hurry its already eight.” Ben said looking down at his watch. 

Strands of his hair were plastered to his forehead and hanging over his eyes. You nodded and stepped closer to leaned against him as you pushed the off his face. 

“Yeah, we better hurry.” You whispered as you looked up at him and looped your hands behind his head once again. 

He lowered his head and his lips ghosted against your own. One hand cupped your cheek and the other your waste as he pulled you impossibly closer. Finally you closed the distance and moved your lips together. It was slow and sensual and you melted into it. Your finger pulled at his hair causing a groan to be elicited from the back of his throat. 

“We have more water in this house!”

[deadmandairyland]

Chihiro Fujisaki for the ask~

Thanks for the ask! I probably put way too many words in this. I hope you like reading!

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you

How I feel about this character:

Chihiro is probably my favorite character in Danganronpa. I think there was a time where I would have said he definitely was my favorite, but I have to give credit where credit is due because most of the characters in this series are amazing and uniquely and creatively designed. But Chihiro will always be near the top of my favorites if he somehow isn’t in first place. He is an unsung hero of the series. Without him the survivors of DR1 would have never escaped the school. He is at least in part responsible for the creation of the Neo World Program, which is a key part of the Hope’s Peak Academy arc’s lore. Supplementary materials often show Chihiro being at least somewhat involved in the backstory of the series. As I mentioned back when Absolute Despair Girls came out, Chihiro was basically the Adventure Time snail of the series for a time, showing up in or being mentioned in about as many installments and spin-offs of the series as Junko Enoshima. I’m pretty sure Chihiro has made more appearances in one way, shape, or form than friggin’ Komaeda, and everyone loves Komaeda. (Though screentime, on the other hand, is another story. I think it’s safe to say Junko and Komaeda won out on that end)

All in all, I feel that this is a character who deserves better–not just because he died such a tragic death, but in a meta sense as well. I feel like the series, after building up Chihiro in flavor text for so many installments, decided to backpedal a bit and make him more of a footnote than anyone important. This is especially disappointing considering that when most people talk about Chihiro, most of the time it’s in reference to the gender controversy, rather than his accomplishments in the series. Granted, this is a very important aspect of Chihiro’s character as well, and I’m not going to go out of my way to be a dick to people who say they saw something different in Chihiro than what I saw, but whenever I go through the tags it does seem like Chihiro seems to be one-note to a lot of people, and I feel it is a shame because there is a lot going on there. Themes of inner strength and resurrection and how destructive enforced gender roles and bullying in Japanese high schools can get when taken to the logical extreme. A lot of this seems to be ignored. I mean we all joke about how Chihiro’s birthday is Pi Day, but how many people also realize it’s White Day, the day when boys are expected to give gifts back to girls in response to being given chocolates on Valentine’s Day? Thinking about it that way, it makes you wonder what Chihiro’s birthdays were actually like. With all the talk surrounding Chihiro’s gender, I’m surprised that I’ve never seen anyone speculate on this. Might make for an interesting fanfiction prompt too, regardless of how you view Chihiro’s gender identity.

This got awfully wordy and more political than I expected it to get and I apologize. Though, to be fair, Danganronpa is a very political series… usually. Still, this is just a fun little meme, and I don’t intend to dive head first off a cliff into the sea and jagged rocks of fandom discourse, so let me end this segment by briefly saying another thing I like about Chihiro that will hopefully lift all of our spirits before we move on:

Chihiro is a sweet and adorable cinnamon roll that we do not deserve.

Just look at his smiling face!

No matter how sad I am, that smile will always make me feel a little better, if not outright happy.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Well, I could look over the charts I’ve made and find probably a million Chihiro ships (okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration; it’s probably more like twenty, which is still about fifteen too many), so I’m just going to stick with the big ones.

Naegi, Asahina, Sakura, and Ishimaru.

…Maybe Mondo. Maybe Leon. Maybe Mukuro. Maybe real world Chiaki. Maybe Kuzuryu. Maybe that Yukimaru guy who we sadly never get to see. Maybe Miaya… who we sadly never get to see. Maybe a crap ton of others…

But mostly the first four I listed.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

All of the “maybes” in the previous section.

Am I cheating at this? Yes.

…

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Don’t worry. I won’t be going for the obvious joke. (I mean I better not, especially after that first segment. It would defeat the purpose of that giant wall of text I made you sit through)

Instead I’m just going to remind anyone who thinks Chihiro is overrated and wasn’t an important character that Chihiro vicariously saved Naegi’s life and therefore the other survivors’ lives as well and y’all can suck it.

Also there’s that thing I made a thing in my DR3 fic that I still haven’t finished yet or even updated since November (oh my god it’s May already) where Chihiro is a fan of professional wrestling and that’s now a headcanon of mine that I’m sure very few people have or would agree with.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

This might seem like a cop-out, since this is Danganronpa and all, but I wish Chihiro survived.

To be fair it wouldn’t make sense from a narrative standpoint. Alter Ego is essentially a replacement/doppelganger for Chihiro, so having them co-exist in the story would be jarring. Also Chihiro plays the part of sacrificial lamb perfectly, and the foreshadowing leading to Chihiro’s death is written remarkably well. (Even as far back as the very beginning of chapter two, which occurs immediately after Leon’s execution, Chihiro is distraught over having sent Leon to his death, and Chihiro even says that he would rather die than do that again)

But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it, damn it.

#LetChihiroLive2018

my OTP:

Naegi x Chihiro. Two adorable cinnamon rolls with heartwarming and occasionally sad Free Time Events that actually tie into the plot in such a way that they actually feel 100% canon. There is also that punch to the gut that happens at the end of Chihiro’s FTEs if you manage to get them all. Naegi’s reactions to Chihiro being gone are also heartbreaking, especially in the anime adaptation which includes this response to Alter Ego being crushed into a ball that I admit there is a possibility I could be taking out of context here but it’s worth mentioning.

“We lost him again.”

And of course, as I mentioned before, Alter Ego saves Naegi’s life later, which means Chihiro saves Naegi’s life, which means Chihiro effectively saves all of the DR1 survivors. Important character is important.

Oh, and also Naegi can give Chihiro a thong for a present, which is still hilarious to me. I mean I know Chihiro isn’t the only character who likes the thong, but even Togami liking the gift isn’t as funny to me as Chihiro liking it. And Togami alone liking it is straight-up absurd. It’s a thong. That you can give as a gift to other people. During a game where people are forced to kill each other in order to escape what is essentially a prison. A thong. The only thing that would make it funnier is if it changed the outcome of School Mode. “Hey, remember this thong you gifted me? I’d like to return it, because it just occurred to me that this is a really weird gift. Why, Naegi? Why did you give me a thong for a gift? You could have given me perfume, or a Kirlian camera, or a portable video game console, or a punk rock T-shirt, but no. You gave me a thong. Why?”

But for the most part, it’s their interactions. FTEs included, I love all of the interactions between these two, both one-and-one and with the group. It always seems like they have each other’s backs and care about each other’s well-being. Chihiro even foreshadows the memory wipe very early on in the game in a way that makes me wonder how close they might have been before the memory wipe.

Also, they’re just sweet to each other and it’s adorable and heartwarming and, y’know, goals. But if you prefer your ships to be more interesting, these two do have that potential what with their baggage and all–Chihiro for obvious reasons and Naegi being just some guy in a relationship with someone who is far smarter, nicer, and more talented than him. So if conflict (though it’d likely be more along the lines of inner conflict, or conflict dealing with others outside the relationship) is what you’re looking for, there is potential for that too, even if we don’t see it very often.

(Honestly I think that’s why there isn’t a whole lot of content of this ship, at least nowadays. It seems like a lot of people ship it, but no one really writes for it much or draws much of it beyond fluff. The ship itself, I think, is seen as too fluffy for engaging storytelling… if you’re not thinking outside the box, anyway)

my cross over ship:

Pick a programmer, a hacker, or an intentionally gender-ambiguous or “otokonoko” type character who is roughly within Chihiro’s not-fully-established age range from any work that I’ve personally seen or played and I’ve probably considered shipping Chihiro with them at least once. Honorable mention goes to Pidge and Saika Totsuka, whom I’m pretty sure I’ve at least talked about and compared Chihiro to on this blog.

a headcanon fact

Remember when I said that the series seems to be backpedaling a bit after making Chihiro have an ungodly amount of behind-the-scenes importance? Well screw that. I mentioned it here a couple years back (and I have since mellowed out on the whole “If Chihiro isn’t important in DR3 we riot” thing so don’t worry about that), but I’ll mention it again. IF said that Chihiro recognized Monokoma’s programming as something he worked on. His FTEs say that he was working on an AI project for some company. And Usami looks way too much like Monokuma to be a coincidence.

So screw any potential retcons that may come out of Monaca Towa being the mass producer of Monokuma units, because I believe that the company Chihiro was making the AI for was Towa, and Monaca modified the AI to fit Junko’s needs, which would tie everything together into a neat little bow.

But sadly, this is still only a headcanon. But it’s one that I feel has a lot of weight to it, and that the series has yet to make impossible. So I’m clinging onto it like a friggin’ koala.

Holy crap, this was long! And yet I feel like I haven’t said much of anything. It’s tough to bring my thoughts into words sometimes. But I think it’s plain to see (damn it, Tsumugi, get out of here, we’re not paying your VA double for this post) that I love Chihiro, and he’s definitely one of my favorite DR characters if not my top favorite.

Thanks again for the ask!

[fearful-quartet]

Fanders Secret Santa Story: Fascinate

Hey so this is my @Fander-s to @vdkstar! I hope you like it, 

Prompt: Human AU, Soulmate AU (I based the prompt off of La La Land sorta…) Patton is just waiting for that Someone in the Crowd, but how much longer can he wait? Meanwhile, a certain nerd is looking out onto a City of Stars.

Warnings:

Patton stood in the bathroom of his apartment, splashing water over his bangs which had grown quite a bit as of late, looking more and more like the long fringe of his roommates, Virgil and Emmett, who both refused to cut their fronts almost ever, although Virgil was frequently more willing. Pat had been continuously applying gel and then immediately rinsing it away for the past ten minutes while the other two in the house were arguing over outfits. The bubbly man clad in blue was just putting a minuscule amount back in his mane as Virgil and Emmett walked into the bathroom with him.

“Viiiiirrrggillll,” Emmett groaned as he grabbed his toothbrush from the counter. “I don’t see the problem with my outfit. It’s what I always wear.”

“Yea, it is, and it’s always ugly. Who wears pink pants like those?” Virgil looked in the mirror as he talked, putting on the concealer and eye shadow he always did. Emmett stood behind him, toothbrush shoved in his mouth as he reached for the gel and argued past the paste and foam. 

“Tgher mah favrit, Vrirj!” Patton ducked past the spittle and sighed.

“Don’t talk when brushing, kiddo,” he said from the doorway. “And both of you look fine.”

“Pat, he looks like that stupid elf you got that sits in random places all the time. Ridiculous.”

Patton gasped. “Don’t make fun of our elf on the shelf like that! I’ll have you know that Virgil Jr. is very spiffy, and so is our Emmett. What about me?” He quickly and nervously gave a little spin as he muttered the last words.

“You look fine, Pat.” Virgil said with a smile. “What’s so important that has you all worked up?” 

 “Yea,” Emmett, now clean-mouthed, added as he smeared more gel in his already greasy slicked back hair. “I get that Roman Sanders will be there, but that’s more for me than you, I am trying to be scouted for his next play so I get a villain role, but you really can’t act-ow, Virge!” He flicked his sarcastic friend on the nose in response to the smack on the arm administered then, and the two poked at each other while Pat stared at his left wrist dreamily, tracing his fingers over the deep blue writing, an L to start his soulmate’s name and the word “fascinating” as the way they described him on meeting.

 “I know they’ll be in the crowd at this party, guys.” He sighed and blinked to get out of his trance. “He has to be, kiddos. He has to be…Or my name isn’t Patton Morality! So we’d better get going, we wanna be ealy, right? Guys?” He looked over at the cat swatting occurring behind him. “Stop fighting please, for once!” He laughed as he raced to split his friends up before hair was pulled.

~

 Logan sat bored in the back of the park, watching his friend Roman chat grandiosely to the handful of guests having shown up already. He wasn’t the most social of types himself, so he stayed near the refreshments table and thought of how he could convince his boss to change his task on the most recent assignment that Monday. He was swirling his drink around in the cup (nonalcoholic so he doesn’t make a fool of himself,) and opened the book on astronomy he had just bought that afternoon. It was early into the party, so he could finish the chapter he was on before any interaction with others. 

 His attention was suddenly caught by a new trio entering the party, two of the individuals being stark opposites as one wore dark clothes all over and the other had a bright mismatched outfit. That wasn’t what first caught Logan’s eye, however. There was a man in a blue polo with dark glasses and a cream colored hoodie, amber eyes shining in the lights put up, a giant smile on his features as he looked around in awe. 

Logan felt his arms instinctively reach out when the man tripped and began to fall onto someone and spilling wine on his khaki pants. His face quickly went from a disappointed look back to a smile when he saw his friends either worrying about him or threatening the other person. Logan gave a silent chuckle and stalked towards the man as his darkly clothed friend dragged the colorful and angry one towards the restroom. 

 “Pardon me, but do you require some assistance with that spill?” He asked with a handkerchief extended. 

~

Patton looked up from rubbing furiously at the mark with his hand, seeing the handkerchief held in his direction by a tall man in a blue striped tie over a black dress shirt and jeans, smiling from behind his matching black glasses that managed to dull his dark eyes ever so slightly. 

He stood up and gave a grateful smile to the stranger. “It’s really no big deal,” he said with a happy but awkward demeanor. “Just a little spill is all, at least it wasn’t red. I won’t…” No god brain please don’t- “wine about extra help, though!” Patton looked in hidden horror when the man gave a face of confusion, but relaxed when he heard the stifled chuckling from behind his hand. 

 “So you like jokes?” The man asked through quiet laughing. Patton gave a shy but happy smile. 

 “There’s nothing quite like a good dad joke,” his smile turned mischievous. “They’re the…sherry on top.” He reveled in the laughs of his new acquaintance growing louder and continued. “They call ole Patton here the pun master for a Riesling.” 

The man tried to quell his laughter to reply. “Well, Patton, I’m Logan, and while I haven’t been known for puns, my intellect can help me…port on a show.” He then extended a hand for Patton to shake, which he did with a grin, before pausing with a look of thought. “You know, I usually am not fond of such jokes, but even though it wasn’t in my line of humor, I found it quite a bit funnier coming from you.” His face softened. “It’s quite fascinating, actually.” 

 Patton’s face lit up a bit at the word he had memorized for so long passing someone’s lips, let alone someone like the one before him. He kept his excitement at bay and knew he had to respond to make sure, so he tried to sound as casual as Logan had been.

“I mean, for someone as…captivating as you, it’s hard to not bring out my best.” Patton swayed and looked at the well-spoken man in front of him with a look of earnest he couldn’t fake.

Logan’s eyes went wide and he checked his arm under his shirt. Sure enough, there was a sky blue “P” on his wrist, written just above a word in cursive text. Patton couldn’t quite see it, but the small smile on Logan’s face said everything. Logan looked to meet the shorter man’s eyes, and both gave slightly awkward yet perfectly comfortable laughs. 

After a few moments of silence, Patton grabbed at his hoodie. “Maybe we could, get to know each other more, y’know, since we’re…” he trailed off, like the word he had said so often was still foreign when about someone right there.

“Soulmates?” Logan finished, awkwardly reaching for Patton’s hand and curling his fingers around it firmly. He smiled when seeing the other nod and move to be closer as they walked to a bench away from the now picking up party. He sighed and fixed his tie absently as he spoke again. “I never thought much of these parties, before. They require too much emotion and charisma, while I am not the best at that part.”

Patton looked at Logan with a quizzically understanding look. “I can see why it would be harder to be in this setting, I go mainly to bring my roommates out of their own comfort zones, but it isn’t exactly my favorite place either. I more like sitting and just appreciating the company.”

“I also tend to enjoy reveling in silent companionship at times, especially if I’m reading, or sometimes it can be nice to read to someone out loud, as it can create an atmosphere for them and allow for deeper context of characters for you.”

“I love reading out loud or being read to, then I really can see the giant worlds written in such an infinitesimal space in comparison.” 

Logan looked surprised. “You know the word ‘infinitesimal’ correctly, Patton?” His newfound soulmate gave a giggle and a cheesy wink.

“I know big words, Logan.”

“Truly fascinating.”

“Hey, don’t underestimate me this soon!” Patton pouted, and Logan couldn’t help but give out a full laugh, face red and eyes skewed shut. ~ Aaaand that’s the story! I hope you like it, and I know it’s like the last day, but I wanted to try and add angst…I hope you can forgive my writing skills and cheesy plot and although it’s past, a belated Happy Holidays from me to you! ❤️❤️❤️