#Except for Junko of course

[incorrect-zombieland-saga-quotes]

Saki, covered in scratches: "I'm still the toughest bitch there is, you know."

Lily, doubtfully: "Sure, Saki."

Saki: "I did eventually get the spider out of the house."

Lily: "It’s just that there was so much screaming."

[penguwastaken]

About Brainwashing in Danganronpa

Hello to all 3 of the people who see this account. A few months ago, I made a thread on hit website Twitter dot com about brainwashing in the Danganronpa Series. I discussed where it came from, how it works, and how the brainwashing of class 77-B was never a retcon. The thread got a lot of attention there, even getting a "debunk" on other hit website Reddit dot com (lmao). Due to that, there's been a lot of responses and questions. Since I can't really update a Twitter thread, I decided that I'd make the Ultimate™ Brainwashing thread and hopefully dispel any information on the subject while making my original points more clear and covering things I failed to cover. So here it is: Brainwashing in Danganronpa, how it works, where it came from, and how it was intended from the start. (a 🧵 except not really) *Massive spoilers for Danganronpa Zero, Danganronpa 2, Danganronpa Another Episode, Danganronpa Togami, and Danganronpa 3, as well as the series as a whole*

Danganronpa Zero: First Sighting

Brainwashing has its roots all the way back in the second official entry produced in the series, Danganronpa Zero. During the story's events, Ryoko comes across a secret cult made up of students from the reserve course. They're seen staring at a strange video, seemingly turning them and turn them into mindless zombies.

The video depicts members of the student council killing each other. Ryoko is stunned while watching it. She can barely look away, but eventually through force of will she does. This same video is later used to convince the reserve course to rebel.

The way it's described to work is that it uses their “pent-up emotions,” implying that their emotions played a role in its effectiveness. It's also worth noting that the novel itself refers to what is happening as brainwashing, making this objectively the first depiction of brainwashing in the series right from the second entry.

Danganronpa 2: Now it Gets Dubious

Our next instance of brainwashing comes from Danganronpa 2. The concept is brought up multiple times, such as when Makoto states that the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed or how the Neo World Program is good at treating brainwashing, though the details of what brainwashing actually means in this context are kept vague.

It's also worth noting that Danganronpa 2 was being written around the same time as Danganronpa Zero and Kodaka wanted concepts from the novel to appear in Danganronpa 2, likely so readers would feel validated. This is why things like Izuru Kamukura and the reserve course play huge roles in Danganronpa 2, it's not too much of a stretch to say that the same applies with brainwashing. One detail we’re given about the brainwashing is from Monokuma, who states the Ultimate Despairs were brainwashed by Junko taking advantage of their feelings. Specifically love, hate, grudges, and "anything really". If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s exactly how the brainwashing video from Danganronpa Zero was described to function, using their pent-up emotions.

I should mention that Monokuma and Junko are known for being unreliable narrators who often stretch the truth, exaggerate things, and use hyperbole to manipulate people into believing their narrative. Monokuma describes the Ultimate Despairs as “nothing more than Junko’s limbs”, which contradicts the existence of characters like Nagito. Who, while in his despair state, did not work with Junko nor did he look up to her (at least in the normal sense like the other Ultimate Despairs). In fact, it would have been impossible for them to really obey any of Junko's orders as Ultimate Despairs because Junko was trapped inside of Hope's Peak with minimal connection to the outside world. This isn't a definitive "Monokuma is lying" statement, but just note that his word isn't 100% reliable. Meanwhile, someone like Makoto who outright mentions brainwashing, is a much more reliable source.

Danganronpa Another Episode: More Brainwashing! (kinda irrelevant tho...)

The next time brainwashing is used is in the next entry, Danganronpa Another Episode. Though its purpose in this discussion isn’t the most useful, as the brainwashing is caused by Monokuma helmets, which don’t have their functionality explained. I figured it was worth mentioning and describing at least, as its another example of brainwashing at least.

I did figure it was worth adding how the brainwashed children act. They obey the Warriors of Hope’s every command, as if they have zero control over their actions. This is different from how the Ultimate Despairs act, who still some free had free will after presumably being brainwashed judging by the actions of Nagito, who is also in this game.

Danganronpa Togami: I Hate My Life

Okay. As mixed as my opinions are on this novel trilogy, it does feature brainwashing. In fact, it might feature one of the most detailed and important descriptions of brainwashing in the series, and even outright CONFIRMS that class 77-B were brainwashed (sorta).

"Hey um... Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu... what do you mean by 'sorta'?" Well my uninformed reader who I guarantee has probably never read this book, there's a twist. I regret to inform you that the canonicity of Danganronpa Togami is rather questionable, as it depicts an extremely unreliable narrator’s warped viewing of events due to this thing called the K2K system, which means not everything in the novel is meant to be taken literally or at face value.

This doesn't mean that everything should be discarded or immediately dismissed however. This just means that we have to use our brains a little and decipher what the hell Yuya Sato was cooking when he wrote this novel trilogy. In the novel, we discover the existence of the elusive despair novel. When read, the novel will turn the reader to despair and inflict them with the despair disease. This novel is what's used to plummet the world into despair, as well as being what caused the class 77-B to become the Ultimate Despairs. There's no known ways to avoid it, once you read it, it's joever. 😔

As I said earlier, the events of Danganronpa Togami can’t be taken literally. Due to this and prior context, we can safely assume that the despair novel is most likely the K2K's warped idea of the despair video from Danganronpa Zero. Instead of being a book being read that brainwashed people, it was a video being watched. What makes me so sure? Well let's look over the similarities. The way the despair novel works is that it uses cruel words to overload the reader with negative emotions, causing them to snap and turn to despair. That sounds almost exactly like the despair video, overloading the viewer by manipulating their emotions until they turn to despair.

However, a major difference comes from the fact that Danganronpa Togami confirms towards the end that the despair novel doesn't literally brainwash people, acting as a placebo and an excuse for people with despair to use.

However I don't believe this suddenly breaks the connection to the despair video in Danganronpa Zero. All it shows is that the novel doesn't create despair, which is something we already established with the brainwashing video. It doesn't make despair, it makes it stronger. Whether it be via the disturbing imagery on the screen or the words on a page giving you an excuse, all it does is amplify despair. Basically it doesn't make despair come out of nowhere, it incites it. This connection's a little bit of a stretch but I'll bring it up anyways. The technology used in the despair novels was originally to bring hope. (Take notes, it will probably be important assuming you buy this connection.)

Essentially, the despair novel works in a similar same way as the despair video, but instead it’s a book and you read it instead of watching it. This means that class 77-B and the rest of the world were most likely brainwashed via the despair video, and that is what caused the class to become Ultimate Despairs.

Danganronpa 3: The One People Really Don't Like

And all of this brings us to the most detailed yet controversial usage of brainwashing: Danganronpa 3. Many assume that the anime’s usage of brainwashing is a retcon, contradicting the words of our holy savior Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair High School. However, I’d like to debate that. In fact, I'd like to finally put a nail in the coffin of this really stupid debate and finally show you that Danganronpa 3's depiction of brainwashing is exactly how it has always been described.

In Danganronpa 3, we are introduced to Ryota Mitarai and his anime. Using the power of subliminal messaging, it heightens the viewer's emotions and makes them more powerful. What was once a slightly emotional scene is now a complete tearjerker fully capable of tearing at the viewers heart strings! While he acknowledges that there are unethical things that can be done with this technology and it's technically brainwashing, his goal is to use this technology to make the world a better place, even if it can be dangerous. If that sounds familiar, that's because it's what Hope's Peak tried doing with the despair novel in Danganronpa Togami. Though I'll admit, this single point is a little bit of a stretch as there are differences. I just figured it was worth at least a mention.

Using her analytical prowess, Junko gets a rough understanding of how the technology works, so she develops the despair video, featuring the student council killing each other overlayed with subliminal messaging technology to make the despair felt while viewing the video stronger.

The video works on Mikan, however Junko fears that the video may not be powerful enough to fully go through with her plans due to not understanding the technology nearly as well as Ryota does. Because of this, she forces Ryota to create a better, more powerful despair video. A despair video v2 if you will. Junko’s fears weren’t unfounded, as we discover that Chisa had the mental fortitude to resist the despair video, similarly to how Ryoko was able to resist the same video in Danganronpa Zero. This is exactly why Junko needs a more powerful video, one that she knows can’t be resisted.

"Ermmmm, Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, how come Ryoko and Chisa are able to resist the despair video but Mikan and nobody in the reserve course could?" Good question, the answer is pretty simple. As mentioned before, the video takes advantage of the emotions of the viewer. Mikan is already pretty weak minded, so there wasn't much issue in controlling her. The reserve course already hated Hope's Peak and would take any reason to hate them more, so a video that shows them the sins of Hope's Peak would affect them as well. Ryoko and Chisa have no connection to the reserve course however, and neither are particularly very weak emotionally. Ryoko has the analytical prowess of Junko and Chisa is just a very strong willed person in general, and paired with Junko's lack of knowledge about subliminal messaging when creating the video, it's pretty obvious it wouldn't be that effective on them. All the more reason for Junko to force Ryota to make a better despair video.

The despair video v2 that Ryota is forced to make comes in the form of Chiaki’s execution video, where the stronger subliminal messages paired with witnessing the representation of the happiest moments in their miserable lives and their closest friend suffer makes class 77-B unable to resist. Ultimately this causes them to finally snap, being overloaded with despair, and now they turn into the Ultimate Despairs. (side note this is so freaking cool idc what anyone else says)

This resembles Monokuma’s explanation from Danganronpa 2. Junko used class 77-B’s emotions and years of getting closer against them to turn them to them to despair. Now featuring the added context of her using the video designed to manipulate people’s emotions. Also as @jelimore pointed out, Junko leading the class to Chiaki's execution itself was manipulating them. This depiction of brainwashing fits perfectly with the information provided throughout the series, even down to the little details. It’s so close in fact that I can say without a doubt that Danganronpa 3 did not retcon anything. “But Tumblr/Twitter user Pengu, that isn’t how the video is shown to work during Hope Arc. Therefore it actually contradicts previous entries and is inconsistent!" To that I say, you’re correct! ...at least about the hope video functioning differently, but that doesn’t make it inconsistent. The hope video behaves pretty differently. Instead of overloading the viewer with negative feelings, it simply just shows them a repeating video loop that turns them into a mindless zombie, likely caused by even stronger subliminal messaging. The people affected can also snap out of this state with some time, as seen with Aoi.

The reasoning for this is actually pretty simple, it’s just different technology entirely. It’s stated that the hope video was developed later on after the despair video. If anything, it behaves very similar to the Monokuma masks from Danganronpa Another Episode, which we also already established uses different technology. The hope video doesn’t contradict the despair video at all because they both use completely different tech. This can also be seen with how the despair video uses subliminal messaging, meanwhile the messaging in the hope video couldn’t be further from subliminal. There is no inconsistency, just two different things.

The reason the hope video needed to be broadcasted everywhere was so that since it would be airing everywhere, nobody would have time for the effects to wear off or resist it. This would turn the world into mindless zombies who obey every command, similarly to the Monokuma kids. It's just that now they don't have to force bulky helmets onto everyone.

Debunking Common Arguments

With the hope video out of the way, I think it’s very safe to assume that not only is the despair video’s functionality very accurate to previous descriptions, it’s also always been the reason for the brainwashing of Class 77-B, long before Danganronpa 3. Even if you disagree and think the cause of brainwashing was never explicitly mentioned in Danganronpa 2, there's still the fact that Danganronpa 2 outright says it was brainwashing. So even if a video wasn't the direct cause of it, them being brainwashed was still always intended (though given the context and the fact the video was introduced in a tie in novel for the game, I'm certain that it was always the culprit). Many point to this line where Kazuichi asks why they became the Ultimate Despairs and Makoto says he never got an answer to debunk this. But... this doesn't change anything. He asks why they became Ultimate Despairs, not how. And this is completely ignoring the fact that Makoto clearly has done his own digging into the situation, he discovered the Remnants of Despair were hiding among Future Foundation after all. The Future Foundation had access to brainwashing videos, they found them, so of course Makoto is going to know about the brainwashing. What Makoto is saying here is that he doesn't know every little detail, all he knows is that they were brainwashed. I wrote a bit more about it here, but there's nothing contradictory in this scene.

Many also point to Mikan stating that it was her many human relationships that led her to being the way she is. Once again, this changes literally nothing. Mikan was the only one of the remnants who actually knew Junko, she was the only one who spent time with her because she was the first subject. This is why she gets more attached to her, and even why she'd believe what Junko would tell her when they spent time together. Monokuma also says that Junko used "hopeless methods overflowing with charisma and humor" to control the masses. I don't even know why I have to address this, but this statement is so vague you can interpret it as a million things. Like for example, this is how she got Ryota to work for her. While pretending to be Makoto to manipulate the people in the trial, Junko tells them that they all became Ultimate Despairs while coming into contact with her at Hope's Peak and they were subjected by her terrifying influence. Again, ignoring how vague "terrifying influence" is, this is literally Junko trying to LIE AND MANIPULATE them. This is quite possibly the worst example you could have used because we know for a fact that she is lying to them while pretending to be Makoto. There's other examples of Junko trying to manipulate them, like mentioning how everyone hated them and their all Ultimate Despairs at the end of the day. But that's just what this is, manipulation. You would think that the "Junko manipulated class 77-B" crowd would understand that saying "everyone hates you but I saw your potential" is literally manipulation 101. She even states that Izuru killed the entirety of a student council, which we know for certain is a lie because Danganronpa Zero (which came out before) says otherwise. Some say that the brainwashing turned them into mindless zombies and eliminates all blame from their actions. While I would agree that it does make them less at fault, they still have the ability to make choices and still have free will. Their original personalities haven't been overwritten, their brains were just rewired to crave despair. They're still each their individual person with their own ways of feeling despair, and characters like Chisa and Nagito show that they regain their free will to an extent. I also wrote more about that here, LOL.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This whole debate stems from people misunderstanding Monokuma’s words and going along with the popular interpretation, which turned out to be wrong. Whether you like the use of brainwashing or not, it objectively isn’t a retcon as it's been developed ever since Danganronpa Zero. Personally, I love the use of brainwashing. I think the way it's developed throughout the series and its usage in Danganronpa 3 is super interesting. If you disagree, that's fine! Heck, if you choose to headcanon that Junko manipulated 15 individual teenagers into all becoming despair hungry terrorists capable but ending the world and fighting off every military in the world in less than a year, that's cool too! But the truth is, Danganronpa 3's brainwashing is canon and it's also not a retcon nor does it contradict anything. Contrary to popular belief, Kodaka was involved with the writing of the anime. He provided a large draft and outline of the plot and oversaw its development. He produced the anime, he did his homework, the team even played the games to prepare for writing the anime. He knew what he was doing. I'm sure if Kodaka intended for them to all be manipulated one by one, that's what he would have went with. All information implying that it was manipulation is very few and far between and questionable at best, not to mention outweighed by everything implying it was brainwashing. Mind manipulation stuff is not new in this series, its been around since the first game and brainwashing was established in literally the second entry ever produced. Whether you love it or hate it, think it's the best thing since sliced bread or the death of the series, brainwashing was the answer the whole time. Some people just never noticed it, and instead of acknowledging that they were wrong, they stuck with a headcanon that they believed so much and jumped to the conclusion of "retcon". I hope this mega post managed to inform some people, maybe change some minds too. If you still don't buy it, then I guess there's nothing I can do. Thanks for reading all of this though, I tend to yap a lot about this franchise lmao.

[carbonatedjem]

Tokomaru Week 2024 - Day 4 - Despair

Okay so up till now the way I've been picking prompts has been choosing which one I want to do for Syomaru Week (where I really wanna go all in on the art if I can), and then using whatever is left to use as my Tokomaru Prompt, which usually makes for a neat challenge. This is the only prompt so far where I actively chose it for Tokomaru week. I admittedly didn't know what I was going to do at first, since either ship seemed like I would have had to do some angst which personally I don't wanna indulge in for these shipping weeks (More power to those who are though, I can't wait to see em and you're way stronger than me). I almost just doubled up on the rainstorm prompt. But then I remembered MasterMind AU's are a thing, and then I further remembered that Evil Girlfriends are the coolest. And so we get an AU where Toko's the Mastermind and Komaru is essentially her Mukuro equivalent, except they're dating instead of being sisters. Also for further context on Makoto's reaction, i kinda imagine that in this AU Komaru was in the Killing Game with him instead of Junko (Mukuro is also in the game, but as herself. If you're wondering where Junko is, i dunno she's outside doin stuff??). Like Mukuro she died, but in her case she just full on faked her death.

Last detail, sorry for the long wall of text to go along with this, i accidentally got too invested. Toko is still the Ultimate Writing Prodigy when she's not discovered as the Ultimate Despair, in Komaru's case she's the Ultimate Girlfriend because I think that's very silly and fun, she's also Ultimate Despair of course.

I had a lot of fun with this pic! The designs especially, I kinda wanna do more with them but only time will tell if I do

[zxmbigirlfriend]

hopes peak academy tumblr dashboard simulator

🍡kusamochis Follow

i hate ultimates fuck off ultimates ultimates dni

🍀nagikomaeda Follow

reserve course lmao

🍡kusamochis Follow

YOU ARE LITERALLY WHO I’M TALKING ABOUT HERE

#except for @gamez4life you are the only exception ily

47 notes

🐉best-sister Follow

@lesbienning what are you gonna do? cancel me for “harassing ultimates”?

📸lesbienning Follow

123.69.420.51

🐉best-sister Follow

WHAT THE FUCK

1,609 notes

🐰gamez4life Following

why can’t reserve course and main course just get along :(

473 notes

🐺fenrir-mercenary Follow

@junko-enoshima-official how do you reblog

5 notes

🔮mageofdespair Follow

haiii!!! :3 our warrior cats animated series featuring our ocs “the rise of despairstar” has its first episode out now :3!!! Drawn primarily by @birdskinhater and voice acted by @totezadorbz, we’d like to say thank you to @junko-enoshima-official for helping give our project more recognyation!! :3333

💋junko-enoshima-official Following

#omgggg this slayed #not to be a warrior cats fan or anything but i TOTALLY LOVE despairstar she serves CUNT you with me she serves CUNT

21,394 notes

🍡kusamochis Follow

Getting brain surgery tmrw hope it goes well

11 notes

🎓hope’s-peak-academy Following

Clarification- our school has NOT taken part in any unsanctioned lobotomies. Such behaviour is abhorrent and we recommend that any reports of it are to be reported immediately.

2,356 notes

🍬candygurl Follow

just got expelled

21 notes

🍀nagikomaeda Follow

Finished my junko enoshima callout doc, you can find it here

#junko enoshima #anti junko enoshima #junko enoshima critical

685 notes

💉kill-your-self Follow

i stand with my cancelled wife

💉kill-your-self Follow

shut the fuck up about your fictional characters this is about my real-life girlfriend

3,687 notes

🎤ilovesayakamaizono Follow

shes so pretty it hurts…

#koma talks #i love her #sayakaposting

7 notes

🎸 bookidooks Following

IS THAT A FUCKING DEAD BODY

#WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKKKKKK

9 notes

🐱cutesquish Follow

Fun fact: killing people is universally wrong! If you think otherwise you are a horrible person and I hope you fall in a tar pit!

📸lesbienning Follow

Fun fact: you shouldn’t be morally policing other people’s activities! Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves and you shouldn’t be forcing your views onto others! Op is an asshole, don’t listen to them!

🐱cutesquish Follow

what. what the FUCK.

🃏irlvamp Follow

Calm down. It is unnecessary to be throwing a fit after an innocent comment. I believe it is important to see both sides of the debate.

🐱cutesquish Follow

don’t you like run an illegal underground gambling ring

🎸 bookidooks Following

anyone here smoke weed

10,452 notes

🐰gamez4life Following

Playing this cool horror game… there’s “punishment” if you failed a task and there was this one were we had to go through all these traps and eventually got impaled… god it looked painful i would definitely not like to be in that game

#it was so sad too? Like we got a little bit of hope and then it got quenched out :( #i HATE the evil teacher btw how dare she betray us

5 notes

[sleepypeck]

i am positively SCHEMING

I am unironically so happy and proud of how I made these two; especially how I did their talents. Normally, 'Ultimate Murderous Fiend' is Genocide Jill's talent, BUT I thought it would be a lot more interesting if I allowed that talent to be up for grabs. Naturally, that raises an issue with Toko, as she would need to have TWO talents, one for her, and one for Genocide Jill. My solution? ...Well, you'll see. :3

Info on the characters under the cut~!

Junko- Of COURSE Junko-fuckin'-Enoshima would get the talent of 'Ultimate Murderous Fiend.' It's kinda perfect for her. Not much changes here; she's still cray-cray, she's still a problem-starter, yada yada. But in this AU, she ISN'T the Mastermind. Instead, she fills more of a Kokichi-type role. She's a chaos starter who knows a lot and tells VERY little. She doesn't hide her talent from anyone, which leads to MUCH suspicion on her. She spends her days killing as many people as she can, in as many despairfully creative ways as possible. Her nails are painted with a poison that kills on contact, and she has killed a whopping 999 people, some of those being her ENTIRE family. Except for...

Mukuro- Still a devoted follower of Junko. She follows her Junko around obediently and sometimes gets her hands dirty along with her. She spends most of her time writing while her sister gets all the kills. The two spend most of their time on the move, but Mukuro managed to actually publish a single book. It blew up, and she immediately became a VERY popular author, which, of course, got her into Hope's Peak. When the Killing Game starts up, everyone is off-put by Junko's talent, but Mukuro insists that it's fine... But it probably isn't.

[nmakii]

masterlist :)

— if there is yet to be a link, please assume i am still working on it!

— previous works

hazbin hotel

alastor x chef!reader

alastor x similar!reader

— youre losing me - judgement upright & reversed (charlie & lucifer)

sway with me… — a date with alastor

religion’s in your lips. — making out with lucifer

getting caught in the moment… lipstick on your face — alastor + lucifer + vox getting lipstick stained

all of the girls you loved before — chaggie fluff

alastor x modern!reader

rant to me, i like the sound… — charlie + angel + alastor ranting

your sweet radio demon! — alastor getting jealous

the girl in my story has always been you! — alastor x insecure reader

yandere!alastor x clingy!reader

hotel staff x drag!reader

human!alastor x rival!reader (school au!)

yandere!alastor x fiance to be!reader

foolish one — loving vox was bad for your health

the monster’s gone — don’t be scared, lucifer is here

whiskey on ice, sunset and vine — drunk mistakes with drunk alastor

“do you think you’ll kill for me one day?” yes, of course i will, my darling — tricking yan!alastor + yan!vox

domestic life was never quite my style… — married life with human!alastor

your ivy grows, now i’m covered in you — babysitting fat nuggets for angel dust

[ghostface alastor] [teasing you with the mask]

— yandere!human alastor series

burnt out — breaking up with alastor

only bought this dress so you could take it off — alastor + vox + adam’s fashion preferences on s/os

alastor x hypersexual ace!reader

danganronpa

yandere!nagito + kokichi x demon!mastermind!reader

overlord!junko x overlord!reader

kokichi x ult psychologist!reader

haikyuu!!

all because i liked a boy? — rumors. because of oikawa

so dim that spotlight… — inarizaki’s manager is an idol?!

bedtime angel — kuroo + oikawa’s s/o hugging a pillow

knockin’ that kitty cat out! — can the hq boys fight?

bungo stray dogs

dazai x oda’s sister!reader

autistic!s/o — dazai + tetchou

blue lock

autistic!s/o — bachira + isagi

rin x reader with sibling issues

chigiri x reader with long hair

the look of love, the rush of blood — dating nagi, but not actually dating him

he gave me the… ICK! — random bllk boy icks

must be love — you decide to snoop on sae’s phone

christmas kids — kaiser hates his birthday. no exceptions.

crack baby ness

silly bllk smau | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

once upon a dream — yukimiya’s dreaming of a mysterious, faceless girl. you can’t sleep.

falling asleep on call with nagi

sae loves calling you his princess

kaiser’s cologne

nagi loves when you blow up his phone

somewhere in the crowd, there’s you — sae surprises you on your birthday

after all this time, you and i — celebrating your birthday with nanase

marble game with nagi

out of otoya’s league

sae isnt the jealous type, but…

knockin’ that kitty cat out! — can the bllk boys fight?

everything is blue! — the colors kunigami + bachira + kaiser + rin + nagi + otoya + nanase see love in

late night studying with sae

nagi’s treasure

nagi’s model girlfriend

sae showing up late at night

valentines with nagi and sae + karasu drabble!

genshin impact

food wars

project sekai

percy jackson and the olympians

percy x shy!athena!reader

[deliciousspecimen]

Hello my friend, I hope that you are having a good day! 😊 Well, For my story request, I wanted to see if you could do a headcanon with Demon Slayer AU x short black!reader where they suffered and take medication from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder where they act just like Junko Enoshima from Danganronpa but instead of killing their friends they are very protective of them to the point where they will kill/hurt someone else!~ 😂🥹💔😈

A/N: Of course, @lelewright1234! I want to make it known, though, I do not over-dramatize mental illness. DID is usually very overly portrayed to be "evil" or "harmful" in media, and I very much do not like that. I made sure to do some research before writing this, to make sure I am not doing any harm. Reader is aggressive, but only when it comes to keeping those they love safe :} Also, the gender of the reader wasn't specified, so I kept it gender neutral, but also also, the dialog is pink, cuz... Well... All the other colors were taken LOL

All of Me, All of You pt.1

Tanjiro, Inosuke, Zenitsu, Nezuko, and Genya x GN!Black!Reader Headcannons

Warnings: Topics of Mental Health, Violence/Gore, and Trauma Responses

Word Count: 2108

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tanjiro:

- Tanjiro is initially overwhelmed, but never fearful of (Y/N): Their energy reminds him of Zenitsu and Inosuke, but darker… sharper. He senses something fractured beneath the surface, and his kindness becomes a safe anchor.

- He learns the names and mannerisms of their alters over time: He is always calling them by their preferred name and tone. He’s especially good at grounding them during dissociative episodes- placing their hand on his heartbeat, holding eye contact, and speaking gently, “You’re here. You’re with me. I’m not going anywhere.”

- (Y/N) jokes about being "completely unhinged for their man,": Tanjiro just chuckles nervously until he sees them genuinely lose control when someone threatens him. One time, someone tried to kill Tanjiro during a mission and (Y/N) didn’t hesitate to gouge the enemy’s eyes out. Calmly. Softly. With a smile on their face. It terrifies everyone- except Tanjiro, who simply checks if they’re okay afterward.

- (Y/N) leaves bloodied love notes: “They touched you. I touched them back. With a blade.” Tanjiro keeps them hidden in a box because he doesn’t know what to do with them, but he can’t bring himself to throw them away.

- Medication and herbs help them sleep and prevents violent switching: But… It doesn't work all the time. When it fails, Tanjiro’s voice and scent help stabilize them. Tanjiro never forces them to change. Instead, he helps build routines that give structure without control.

- When he asks them out, he doesn’t do a big dramatic thing: He just says, “I love all of you. Every version. Every day.” And (Y/N) genuinely glitches for a second before saying yes.

- Tanjiro lets (Y/N) carve protective symbols into his blade hilt: Some are from folk tales (Y/N) remembers. Some they made up. He never questions them.

Inosuke:

- Inosuke lives for (Y/N)’s unpredictability: Their switching between personalities reminds him of a beast showing multiple stances- it's wild, it’s powerful, and it intrigues him.

- (Y/N)’s main protector personality treats their crew like royalty: Friends are sacred. Anyone who hurts one of them? Their lifespan just got significantly shorter. Inosuke once saw (Y/N) curb-stomp a demon for insulting Tanjiro’s nose. He fell a little in love that day.

- (Y/N)’s manic energy and sudden voice switches never throw Inosuke off: he adapts on the fly, meeting their different states with a mix of curiosity and brute loyalty. (Y/N) will giggle and switch from baby-talking Inosuke to planning someone's murder in a split second, and Inosuke just tilts his head like, "Huh. That’s hot."

- They take medication daily: They store their herbs and things in a cute pouch they sewed themself, covered in wild patterns and a tiny plush of a pig (for Inosuke, obviously). Some days, it works great- other days, (Y/N) is unhinged in a dangerously loving way. On those days, they cling to Inosuke like a talisman, grounding themselves through physical contact.

- When they dissociate badly, Inosuke doesn't fully understand it: He recognizes the signs- the blank stare, the disconnection. So he drops his usual yelling and becomes weirdly gentle. He’ll sit silently with them in a tree, hand on their back until they come back to him. He doesn’t try to "fix" them. He just accepts them. All of them.

- All of the alters agree on one thing: Inosuke belongs to them. Try flirting with him and see how fast a blade appears. Tanjiro helped them all come up with a color-coded system to identify who’s fronting. Inosuke ignores it and just uses vibes.

- Inosuke doesn’t say "I love you" much: He says “You’re strong,” “You smell like home,” or “If anyone touches you, I’ll break their arms.” (Y/N) says “I love you” through their chaos- they’ll cook him an entire feast, braid flowers into his hair, then threaten someone with a dagger in the same breath.

- When they switch, Inosuke has learned to adapt his affection: He hugs one alter, spars with another, brings meat to another, and just sits silently with the one that prefers calm. Sometimes they both sleep outside, like wild animals. He holds them like a baby boar, and they twitch in his arms until they settle.

- They don’t do PDA unless they’re in a certain headspace: When that time comes, it’s all over. Straddling his lap, biting his neck playfully, dramatic love declarations. Inosuke never knows what hit him.

- (Y/N) once got mistaken for a demon because of their intensity: Inosuke jumped in front of them, screaming “THEY’RE MY DEMON, BACK OFF!” 

- (Y/N) writes love letters to Inosuke in different handwriting depending on the alter writing it: He collects them in a box he calls his "pride box." They both have a shared journal. Inosuke can’t really write well, but he draws them like a beast with heart eyes- every version of them.

Zenitsu:

- Zenitsu immediately falls for (Y/N)’s looks and protective aura- but is terrified the moment they switch alters in front of him for the first time: One second (Y/N) is soft-spoken and sweet, offering him a dumpling with a shy smile, and the next they’re standing on a table, eyes wide and grinning like a maniac, threatening to stab a merchant for “looking too long.” Zenitsu passes out. But when he wakes up and (Y/N) apologizes, stuttering and nervous, he just... melts. He realizes they weren’t trying to scare him- they were trying to protect him.

- Zenitsu learns to spot the signs of a switch: He respects each alter like a separate person. He greets them differently, talks with them differently, and never gets them mixed up.

- (Y/N) takes medication and herbs regularly, but sometimes it doesn’t work: Either the effects don’t kick in, or it causes physical side effects like dizziness or nausea. On rough days, Zenitsu becomes extra clingy and attentive. He holds their hand, braids their hair, lets them lay in his lap even when he’s panicking himself.

- He once tried to fight off a switch manually: “No, no, no! Stay here with me! Please don’t go scary mode, I can handle this-!” Spoiler… He could not. The protector alter came out and bodied the guy trying to rob them. But after every switch, Zenitsu wraps them in a blanket and reassures them they’re still loved. No matter what version of (Y/N) he’s with- he loves all of them.

- Zenitsu calls them “Sunshine,” no matter which alter he’s talking to: He says they’re his reason for fighting. Sometimes they wake up from dissociation and find that Zenitsu’s already made them food and is softly singing to himself nearby.

- The protector alter secretly adores Zenitsu, even if they pretend to be annoyed by how clingy and scared he is: They’d wreck someone for hurting him. On bad days, all three versions of (Y/N) might blend into one- and Zenitsu will stay by their side the whole time, gently reminding them who they are, and who he is.

- The protector alter takes the lead if the fight turns ugly: Think elegant blade work, laughing threats, wild eyes under a blood-smeared smile. Zenitsu does not like seeing them that way, but he understands it’s necessary. He’ll fight at their back, even when trembling. After every mission, no matter who fronted, they always find Zenitsu. And he always pulls them into a hug and says, “You’re safe. You’re still you. I’m proud of you.”

Nezuko:

- Nezuko loves how expressive and animated (Y/N) is: Even when they're cycling through personalities or dramatic outbursts, she’s calm, patient, and strangely entertained. She’ll tilt her head and smile sweetly, like “Yep. That’s my partner.”

-(Y/N)'s protectiveness is legendary: If anyone dares to look at Nezuko sideways, especially those that judge her, (Y/N)'s demeanor shifts instantly. Think wide grin, slow clap, and then, “Awww~ Did you think you were safe just because she’s sweet? That’s adorable. Let me fix your attitude... permanently.”

- When they’re “off-meds” or their symptoms spike: Nezuko recognizes it almost immediately. She’ll gently guide (Y/N) away from people, softly humming, holding their hand or petting their hair until they calm down.

- They bond through quiet activities when things are rough: Doing each other’s hair (Even though it was a process to teach Nezuko how to do (Y/N)'s hair, with the different texture and all), flower-picking, or watching fireflies in silence. Even with (Y/N)’s chaos, Nezuko grounds them. And they adore how peaceful she is.

- They don’t hide that they have DID. But they do downplay it with dramatic flair: They say things like, “Oh you know, I just keep life interesting~ One (Y/N) at a time!” All while flipping their hair and spinning dramatically.

- Nezuko and (Y/N) often tag-team missions: (Y/N) is the chaos, Nezuko is the calm. It throws demons way off. Some demons have tried to mess with Nezuko by provoking (Y/N), which is a mistake. (Y/N) will absolutely go feral, all while laughing and saying things like, “Oooooh you think you’re scary? Honey, you haven’t even met all of me yet~”

- (Y/N) sings loudly and off-key in the morning: Nezuko doesn’t mind- she mimics them and makes silly faces until they laugh.

- They sleep tangled up: Nezuko is usually gently curled into (Y/N)’s chest. If an alter is panicking in the night, Nezuko will sit up and rest her forehead against theirs until the shaking stops.

- Their dynamic is very "chaotic sunshine and quiet strength": When (Y/N) goes full dramatic monologue, Nezuko just holds up a peace sign or pats their head like, “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.”

Genya:

- (Y/N) is a compact firecracker, barely reaching Genya’s chest, but what they lack in height they more than make up for in intensity: Their presence is loud, chaotic, dramatic, and unpredictable- you’ll never know if they’re about to cradle you or cuss you out in three different accents.

- Medication is... complicated: With the time period, it's more herbs and calming agents passed to them by the Butterfly Estate, combined with daily grounding rituals they've invented themselves.

- Genya learns every single step of (Y/N)’s routine: He memorizes which teas help what symptoms. Which scents make them come back to themself. Which alter not to call cute unless he wants to get punched.

- At first, Genya didn’t know how to handle the... whirlwind that is (Y/N): He assumed they were unstable in a bad way. But then they saved him from a demon by breaking a bottle over its head, giggling the whole time, and said, “Touch my man again and I’ll make origami outta your spine.” That was the moment he knew. He was in deep.

- (Y/N) calls him “baby bird” sometimes: It makes him blush and scowl at the same time. “I’m not a bird, dammit- stop ruffling my hair!”

- (Y/N) talks a lot: Genya listens more than he speaks, but (Y/N) likes to think out loud, switch voices mid-sentence, and dramatically throw themselves across the room while explaining how hot Genya looks when he’s angry.

- Genya doesn't treat (Y/N) like they're broken: He treats them like they're human. And that is a huge deal to all of them. He sometimes stutters when talking to their more aggressive alter, but (Y/N) finds it adorable. “You’re scared of me, baby? I only bite people I don’t like.”

- They have a system: a code word when (Y/N) is losing time, grounding phrases that Genya uses to help bring them back, and a little sketchbook (Y/N)'s alters leave notes in for each other- and for Genya, too.

- (Y/N) fights like a theatrical maniac: They use erratic, unpredictable movements that confuse demons- suddenly graceful, then wild, then eerily still before a kill strike. They’ve been known to laugh during battle. Not a villainous cackle- more like a delighted child at a fireworks show. Their combat personality is ruthlessly protective. If a demon so much as grazes Genya, they go absolutely feral, dragging it by the throat back into the sun with zero hesitation.

- Genya will hold (Y/N)'s hand when they switch mid-conversation: Hed whisper, “You okay?” like it's the most normal thing in the world. They made Genya a beaded bracelet with alternating colors for each of their alters. He never takes it off. - When they’re having a rough time, Genya wraps them in his haori: He rubs their back, and gently says, “I don’t care which one you are today. I love all of you.” One of their alters once asked Genya out without asking the others. It became a thing. Now, every alter gets to ask in their own way.

[chxrrie-bxmb]

the mastermind hajime yap post :]

Everything starts off the same as canon. Hajime is in the reserve course, and he signs up for the Kamukura project. During the project, something goes so unexpectedly wrong--none of the doctors and surgeons are able to tell what. They followed the procedure exactly as planned, but they didn't have the clean slate they were expecting. Hajime gained the talents they placed in him, yes, but he was still emotional. So emotional, in fact, that the slightest trigger could spark a violent and explosive response. They had done something severely wrong, and they were facing the consequences.

This ultimate failure lead to the project losing all of its funding, and Hajime being locked away from the world. There were very few who looked after him, only a handful of the doctors that weren't as involved in the biggest screw up in Hopes Peak's history. Hajime rarely saw them, only being able to see even glimpses of the outside world the few times he was given food and water. There were hopes that he'd revert back to something stable after a while, but having a group of doctors rearranging your brain to such a degree wouldn't simply disappear with time. The longer Hajime was isolated, the more desperate he became for some kind of human contact. Any kind of human contact. He latched onto his caretakers, even as little as he saw them. He latched onto them like they were all he had. In a sense, they were. After a while, they stopped returning. They built a small hatch in the wall to give him his meals without having to go in. He was even more alone after that.

Eventually, Junko finds out about the school's failed science project. She tracks him down, finds the little room he had destroyed several times since he was barred from seeing another human being, and opens the door. She opens the door, she comes to him, and she looks at him with something Hajime hadn't seen in too long. She looks at him like she wanted him. It had been so long since he had been wanted, he couldn't even remember the last time it was.

Unlike Izuru, Hajime follows her without a second thought. She wants him, after all. He brings the world down onto its knees without a second thought, because she wants him. He kills whatever person--man, woman, child--because she wants him. He causes the same amount pain and suffering and death as a world war, all because she wants him. And he couldn't stand losing her. He couldn't stand being alone again. She wants him, and he'll be hers.

Junko recruits the remnants the same way she does in canon, though Hajime feels nothing for Chiaki when she dies. He's wanted by someone now, what else does he need? Who else does he need, really? He's wanted by someone, someone who's his entire world. That's more than he could ever ask for.

Hajime doesn't interact with the remnants much. They all seem to fear him, given how close he is to Junko. Still, they worship him as much as her. He's her beloved, and he's just as powerful as she is. If they upset him, they may upset her, as well.

So Hajime doesn't interact with the remnants much. All except one, that is. All except Nagito. At first, Hajime wasn't fond of him at all. Nagito hated Junko, of all things! He hated her and he loved her, too. How was such a thing possible? How could someone hate the one who loved Hajime so totally and completely when the world shunned him away? How could someone feels such a burning hatred, yet still claim to love that same soul? Hajime didn't like Nagito.

But over time, Nagito grew fond of Hajime. He was different from the rest of them. He wasn't ending the world for the sake of his own despair, he was ending the world for the one he loved. Something as hopeful, as beautiful as that... it wasn't human. It was godly, the way Hajime shed blood and spread misery for the sake of the one who saved him. To Nagito, Hajime was devine.

When the first killing game started, and Junko made plans in case she met her death, Hajime made a promise. He made a promise to guide the remnants and follow Junko's orders in the days to come. She told him about the AI, about her plans, and about what he was expected to do if she didn't make it back. He wanted to beg her to stay, to not leave him alone, but he already knew what she wanted of him. Once again, he followed her orders like it was his own will.

While the remnants would still be placed in a virtual world and it would still be corrupted by Junko's AI, the killing game would need a bit of rewriting to fit with this storyline. I think I'll tackle that later on though, this is long enough as is lmao

[ndrv3expert1]

The Ethics of Murder in Danganronpa: A Breakdown of the Killing Game's Morality

Ethicality is the adherence to moral principles in decision-making and actions, evaluating whether something is right or wrong.

However, ethics in the form of Danganronpa is where the lines start to blur. It's not as simple as right and wrong. When your life is on the line, you can justify killing someone as self-defense, right? But it's not that simple once you add in the psychological and emotional factors—the stakes change.

What's the value of a life, especially one that's a stranger? What happens when that stranger becomes someone you actually care about? The price of their life may change, and suddenly, it's a whole new ballgame. So the questions become: how much would it take for you to kill someone, and is murder ever justified?

That’s what Danganronpa forces us to confront death isn’t just a consequence it’s the game and with every death comes new motives emotions and decisions behind it.

Some characters may seem like their killing to survive others do it for greed and their own personal gain and then you have the people who act out of pure fear and panic.

The physiological pressure the manipulation the backstabbing these aren’t just trivial things and there’s a thing in here somewhere about how being in a killing game environment isolated from the rest of the world with a bunch a strangers who can kill you at anytime would change you as a person effect your morals and such (but this sadly isn’t about that and maybe I’ll touch on that later, ) this is about how the killing game makes us and the characters question whether murder is even okay? Where do we draw the line? and why do we forgive some and ostracize others?

Of course, your first thought would be absolutely not murder is not okay, never under any circumstance. But then the other thoughts start to roll in, you think about your family you think about your life outside the game you think about the value of your own life then you start making friends with with the strangers that you’re trapped with, and you start to think about the value of their life then it becomes a twisted mess and the answer isn’t just a simple no anymore it becomes a no except… a maybe a yes only… your perception becomes skewed as other factors are weighed in.

Should we feel sorry for the murders or should we see them as monsters and what’s the cuff off point where do draw the line for sympathetic killer and heartless murderers

So, with all that in mind, how do we even begin to break down the ethics of murder in Danganronpa? It’s not a simple black-and-white answer. But here’s a framework to think about it:

Murder in Danganronpa: Breaking It Down with MBBCO Motive Brutality Bias Context and Obligation

*For specifically Dr based on the blackened trials and reactions of other students probably not good for use in real world situations*

M. Motive

Why did they do it? The motive is essential because it gives us a reason behind the action. Is it for the sake of others, like Kaede killing to end the killing game, or for personal gain, like Celestia? Some motives may seem more honorable, but it all comes down to perspective. Did they kill out of desperation, or was it a calculated act for personal gain? Understanding the motive helps weigh the ethicality of the act.

B. Brutality

How did it go down? Was the murder violent and grotesque, or was it quick, swift, and painless? Brutality plays a significant role in how we perceive the act. Junko's actions were very gruesome and treated like a spectacle, while Kiyo killing Angie was painless, not very gruesome, and simple. Even though both had reasons, how the murder went down makes a huge difference. Was it cold or heartless, or were there moments of hesitation? Brutality not only shapes the act but also the way we see the killer.

B. Bias

Who is the victim, and who is the killer? Bias can cloud judgment, and while it shouldn't determine ethics, sometimes it still can. Take Kaito vs Kokichi, for example. The majority of the cast is quick to defend and stand by Kaito but ostracize Kokichi. This extends to everything, including murder. These biases sometimes get in the way, skewing the perception of ethicality.

C. Context

Context: What was the situation? This is vital because the surrounding circumstances heavily influence the actions. If a character kills in self-defense, it changes things compared to a murder driven by power. Take Mondo as an example: Mondo killed Chihiro not just because of personal animosity but because of Mondo's fragile sense of pride and guilt. In his case, the context wasn't just survival or revenge; it was deeply tied to his own internal battle of self-worth. Context can either justify or complicate the ethical decision to kill.

O. Obligation

Obligation: Was it a choice? In a killing game, the definition of choice can be murky. Was the character forced into a situation where they had to kill for survival, or was it something they actively chose for personal reasons? In some cases, like Hifumi's, it's clear he was manipulated, while many other characters acted on their own volition. The sense of obligation varies depending on the killer's mindset and circumstances.

Murder is always murder, regardless. But this doesn't mean we should ignore the complexities that determine the ethics and morals of each murder in the killing games. It's not always clear-cut, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Some characters make decisions we might understand, even if we don’t agree with them. Others make choices that are downright horrifying, and no amount of explanation can justify that. But that’s the beauty (and horror) of Danganronpa: it forces us to question the morality of our actions, and whether any of us would really be able to survive in such a twisted situation without crossing a line.

[lightlycareless]

If your main story followed canon, how would your Naoya handle the situations that canon Naoya was put in? Do you think Naobito still put in that thing about Megumi in his will and do you think Maki would’ve ended up killing the Zen’ins(she’d most likely spare Y/N and her children and maybe Naoya if Y/N asked) or do you think it would’ve never gotten to that point at all? I love your story and I find it fun to think about how your Naoya would handle the situations of canon :3

Heya!!!

Omg this is such a difficult question to answer because I feel like everything would still continue on as the manga! With a few exceptions, of course. Let's get to them 👀👀👀

Naobito would still select Megumi over Naoya to be his successor (if the clause regarding Gojo becomes effective) however, your dear husband wouldn’t go batshit crazy over it.

Instead, he’ll get to see how messed up it really was for him to become leader at 15 years of age. So young, unprepared, and the fact that he hadn’t spent time with the Zen’in, meaning he didn’t know how everything went down, just made it worse! This is definitely a reflection of him becoming a father; he sees Megumi as either one of his babies and the dangers and stresses of becoming clan leader drives him crazy with worry! It’s a tough job, that’s for sure, one he never wishes either of them to endure.

THOUGH the one thing I struggle with deciding the most is whether the Zen’in massacre happens or not.

It’s interesting to see how Mai and Maki would grow up to be in an environment where you were around; The easiest route to take is to say that Naoya remained the same jerk we know from the manga, everything continues on as planned, and that’s it! But then, I don’t think you’d be able to stay around for that long! Certainly not to tolerate a man that disrespects you constantly.

Though I do like to play with the idea that you were there ‘till the end, as the quiet, submissive wife Naoya always wanted you to be. Your relationship with him wasn’t the best, but as long as you kept to yourself, served him, and so on… everything was fine. Kind of. Until a baby came along…

BUT WE’RE NOT HERE FOR THE REALISTIC part, we’re here for my version of Naoya 😏 and so, I’d like to say that maybe, just maybe, the murder of the Zen’in never happens (I still struggle to accept it happened in the first place! I 100% believe Mai cursed her. Like, Maki never hinted wanting that but anyways) because you would’ve done your best to set a better life for the twins, persuade Naoya to use his influence for their benefit. I doubt anyone would’ve cared much since they were “irrelevant” to the clan so yeah sure, why not!

The one that would’ve put up much resistance obviously would be Ogi and their mom, Junko. Going as far as reproaching you about it, but you did not budge. Not after all the horrible things they’ve gone through. You couldn’t back down.

But of course, as much as you tried to stop the clan from being crude to them, some would still persist, more so when Maki eventually decides to pursue a career as a sorcerer (You and Naoya would have discussions about this; he still believes that people with no cursed energy shouldn’t be sorcerers, even if there were ways to go around that. You insisted otherwise.) making things worse for Mai with her inevitable departure.

I have no idea how Maki got to enroll in the school and whatnot, mainly because the Zen’in would finally intervene at this point, saying something like “We allowed you to act the fool, use the heir to make their lives better. But we draw the line at sorcery—back off if you know what’s good for you.”

Thus, for the sake of this ask (and my curiosity) I’ll make it as if you were the one to call Gojo intending to ask a favor out of him. Informing him of what was going on with her (specifically how talented she was!! So, he better not mess this up!) and make sure he gives her all the support she needs; because you knew damn well the Zen’in were not people to underestimate and would go out of their way to ruin her life. But at least they respected (feared) the leader of the Gojo clan enough to not intervene… that much.

As for Mai, you end up recruiting her as part of your staff; a kind of hidden, diplomatic solution to protect her from being forcibly enrolled as a sorcerer as well. The Zen’in hated you for it, but what could they do? They sure liked abusing the system, but when it was the other way around, they hated it. Talk about hypocritical…

Naoya, even though he didn’t agree with much of what was happening between you and the twins (mainly because it made you a target of his family, again) would still 100% remain by your side. Any snarky comments from them he’d shut down immediately, with the threat of retaliation if they persisted.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much you could do to protect the twins—so maybe that massacre does happen in the end. I’m still debating whether you die or not, but it’s most likely that you do, solely because I believe Maki was cursed by her sister. Mai told her to destroy everything and she did.

YET I DON’T FEEL HAPPY WITH NOT GIVING YOU A CERTAIN ANSWER, MORE SO WHEN IT’S A PESSIMISTIC ONE, SO: No for the sake of a happy ending, you don’t die. Mai is eternally grateful for the things you’ve done for her and her sister (you managed to ease the tensions between the two, Maki apologizes for leaving and Mai understands why she left) so, she doesn’t hold any grudges, and thus, she doesn’t ask her sister to destroy everything 😊

Instead, when you and Naoya decide to live away from the estate for a while, you invite the twins over with their mother, if they wished. Junko heavily decides against it, but since you take your staff and Mai is part of your staff, she has to go. (This is nothing but a formality, you let Mai do whatever she wants. She doesn’t really work for you) and Maki goes whenever she has free time at school.

Megumi ends up becoming the clan leader because of Shibuya, but he ends up giving the role to Naoya by… insistence of Maki! She trust him to do a good job now (and because she knows you’ll keep him in check haha) and since it’s a reformed Naoya, you can bet he will do his best to restructure the Zen’in into a better clan. I mean, do we honestly think he’d like to see those things, especially when they happened to you (with the fear of them occurring to his own kids as well), and not do anything?

So yeah! There you got it. TLDR: your interference in Naoya’s life essentially changed everything that happened in the clan, to the point where they didn’t get killed for it hahaha. NGL this totally sounds as Y/N was some kind of messiah with all the work she did, but hey, that’s the power of love 🫣🤣

Thank you so much for sending in this ask! This touched a subject I’ve been wanting to explore for a while now, I might get to it later on :> specifically the did Y/N die at the massacre? OR WHAT ABOUT CURSE NAOYA? (That’s another ask I got on my inbox hehehehehe I guess we’ll have to be patient 😏)

Now, take care, and hope to see you soon 💖

[satoshi-mochida]

Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars adds PS5 and Xbox Series versions, launches March 6, 2025 - Gematsu

Suikoden I & II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on March 6, 2025, Konami announced. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions are newly announced.

Digital pre-orders are available now for all platforms except Switch, which will begin pre-orders on September 6. Physical edition pre-orders will begin on August 28.

The following downloadable content is included with pre-orders for the digital edition:

57,300 potch – In-game currency

Fortune Orb – Doubles the experience gained by the character that bears it.

Prosperity Orb – Doubles the “potch” gained when winning a battle with the character that bears it.

Here is an overview of the collection, via Konami:

About

A hero’s destiny is written in the Stars. The legendary Konami JRPGs Suikoden I and Suikoden II have now been remastered in high-definition!

The Story of Suikoden I

A once renowned hero turns into a violent tyrant, and an empire falls into decline. A Liberation Army is rising up in an act of rebellion against an oppressive rule. One by one the 108 stars of Destiny gather to shape the course of history.

The Story of Suikoden II

Our story’s hero and his friend Jowy are members of the Unicorn Youth Brigade, which participated in a drawn-out border dispute between the Highland Kingdom and the City-States of Jowstown. A few months earlier, a truth agreement was signed between the two forces, both of which were happy to see an end to the fighting. However, hidden under the momentary peace the fires of a new war continued to smolder…

Key Features

-Graphical Improvements

Pixel sprites and environment art enhanced with new screen effects including lighting, clouds, and shadow animations Flickering flames, smoldering smoke, the movement of leaves and insects, all add up to a lively in-game atmosphere!

The effects and direction have been redesigned, bringing memorable scenes back to life in more beautiful ways!

-New Character Drawings

All character portraits have been updated in HD. Junko Kawano, who designed the characters for the original version of Suikoden released in 1995, has newly re-drawn all the character portraits for Suikoden I HD Remaster: Gate Rune War.

-Sound Improvements

Field Sound – A large number of environmental sounds not found in the original version, such as the sound of running water in the river, wind, insects, and running footsteps, have been added. You can enjoy an immersive experience like never before!

Battle Sound – All sound effects are now in HD. In addition to the impact of the 3D effects, the realistic sound greatly enhances the dynamism of the battles!

-Game System Improvements

Many new features have been added, such as dialogue log, auto-battle, double-speed battles, etc.

Watch a new trailer below.

Release Date Trailer

English

Japanese

[atamascolily]

Another entry in the "mundane objects used by SHAFT for thematic purposes" series, this time featuring drains!

These shots of seemingly quotidian objects serve a couple of different purposes. First, they break up the talking heads and provide a little variety--something for the audience to focus on while characters are speaking--and each drain has its own unique design because SHAFT doesn't do anything by halves. Secondly, they also tie in thematically to what is going on, both literally and metaphorically.

The first drain shot is in the Kaname bathroom where Madoka and her mother are getting ready for the day. You'd naturally expect a bathroom to have running water, but in addition to setting the scene and in light of how drains are used in subsequent episodes, I'm going to theorize that it represents clear communication between Madoka and Junko. Nothing is blocked or impeded, everything flows cleanly and (most importantly) the flow is under control. It's domestic, if you will.

Another drain appears during the bus stop scene where Sayaka vents her frustrations on Madoka. To emphasize both Sayaka's outburst and her sorrow, it's pouring rain outside the shelter, and so the water is flowing at a rapid rate. Once again, we have clear communication, even if it's not something that's happy, and the rushing of the water reflects the seriousness of the scene.

There's also a brief cut to a drain when Kyubey is explaining the history of magical girls to Madoka. At first, this seemed incredibly random, and then I realized it was a reference to the pouring rain outside her window, where there is a balcony.

Once again, the drain appears during an important conversation and the message is conveyed loud and clear; as with Sayaka, the topic is emotional and the flow is rushed and uncontrolled.

I hadn't realized it until I thought about it, but it's not a coincidence that all three of these scenes feature Madoka, who is often criticized as being "passive" or "not doing enough". However, I think that's missing the point of the story--which is succinctly captured in Kyubey's demand at the end of the first episode to "make a contract with me and become a magical girl"--which is that the story is about Madoka's journey to become one, but only once she is fully aware of the cost and consequences.

Thus, Madoka spends the bulk of the series gathering the information she needs to act; once she has what she needs, she does. And one way she acquires that information is through conversations like these. Drains are one method for visually representing this information "flow" from other characters to Madoka, and each one is an important (though not the only) element in her decision.

This, of course, maybe a lot to attribute to such a small thing, but what makes Madoka Magica so compelling for me is exactly how all the little details reinforce the story's themes.

Interestingly, drains are few and far between in Rebellion, except for the repeated scene of Madoka and Junko in the bathroom. Aside from one illustration in the Rebellion Production Note that didn't make it into the finished film, I can't think of another use of drains off the top of my head. This isn't to say that Rebellion doesn't use water imagery, just that it takes the form of aqueducts and canals to channel water from place to place. This makes sense because while Homura, too, is concerned with gathering information, her journey is less about listening to others and more about recalling what she already knows but has suppressed.

[theamityelf]

Have you ever done RoD class 78 AND class 77 together before I genuinely cannot remember? I know you have a story about RoD class 78 on AO3 but it's not both classes together. Anyways like your previous idea everyone except Makoto is in despair and they keep him around because he is simultaneously their hope amd despair. Despair because he has to watch his friends do things they would have never done, and hope because some of them are waiting for him to join them.

How would the RoD of class 77 view their situation and what would their dynamic be now that they're both fighting for Junko's affection?

This is really cool!!

The envy over class 78 perpetually having more of Junko's attention and favor than them would be such great despair for the 77th class.

Mondo's "every biker gang in Japan" and Fuyuhiko's, ya know, yakuza, are constantly fighting over turf, because now there's factions within the Ultimate Despair. This lawlessness benefits their side, of course. When it doesn't benefit them to be at odds, they're allies. But they all want to be the ones to earn Junko's approval, and her classmates know her better and she cares about them more. Officially, though, the 77th class has "double seniority", because they're upperclassmen and they were initiated as despair first.

Basically, by objective measures of rank and usefulness, the 77th class should be the favorites; they have a princess controlling kingdoms on Junko's behalf, for despair's sake! They worship her way more than her class does. But she simply doesn't like them as much, and that hurts.

Okay, now Makoto!

He is hanging on to his morals, but naturally his mental health is in shambles. Basically, it's the status quo of Despair's Throbbing Heart, for him; he is keeping layers of denial and dissociation between himself and the horrors and surfacing from that state when there's someone he can save or influence.

The arrangement he's in would be different, in this AU.

The 77th class like to make fun of the 78th class for the fact that their luckster is still on "that good guy BS". They even point to Nagito proudly, like, "Look at our luckster! He set a convenience store on fire yesterday. What's your guy been doing?"

Nagito loves this. His class has never been so supportive and affectionate toward him.

The 78th class's response to this is largely defensive. Like, "Stop bullying Makoto! He's just a late bloomer!" Meanwhile, they all do their best to get him into despair. (Hifumi is the most creative about it.) At first, he meets every attempt with yelling protestations and passionate insistence that they're not like this! He knows them, and they're not like this! After they've done it enough, he loses the energy for such displays, but that doesn't mean he's given up. Every time they do a horrible thing in front of him and he shuts down emotionally, they wait eagerly for him to start laughing or pawing curiously at the ashes or something to indicate he's enjoying it, but he just shuts down for a while and, when his mind considers it safe to resurface, changes the subject.

He still argues and protests what they're doing, but now that he's no longer shocked every time, he can ration his energy so that he's subtle when he needs to be subtle and insistent when he needs to be insistent.

Junko lowkey loves it. When she visits her friends, there will be at least one time where she beckons Makoto over to sit with her and just kind of guides his head to rest on her...chest. Strokes his hair with her long nails and calls him a freak of nature and tells him he disgusts her. Sayaka's cuddled up against his other side, sometimes, but sometimes Junko takes care to get him alone. Quietly, in an alternatingly sweet, cruel, and emotionless tone, she tries to wear him down by talking at length about the futility of his resistance and how much happier he and everyone will be if he just gives in to despair.

He's sometimes trembling with fury while she does this, and sometimes he's just staring into space. Either way, he's managing his energy. He can't fight what she's doing to others if he wastes energy defending himself. And she knows it.

He seems not to be listening, but he saves her words in his mind. Sometimes they're useful, to get his friends to spare people based on little loopholes or slants in what Junko said.

The 77th class repeatedly offers to borrow Makoto for a weekend, claiming they can get him to despair, where his own class has failed. The 78th class tries to refuse, but Junko tells them to let the senpais try. So, sometimes Makoto visits them.

They think he's adorable and weird.

He gravitates toward the ones who do the least horrible stuff in front of him (Ibuki doesn't seem to personally kill anyone.) and the ones who seem the most capable of uncomplicated affection (Akane treats him like a younger sibling, and there doesn't seem to be any edge of weird, fond cruelty to it.).

Nagito and Izuru are fascinated with him.

Both the hope and despair in Nagito are delighted by Makoto. Makoto causes Nagito's class to view him favorably, to take pride in him. But also, Makoto has shown himself to be the best of them, somehow. There is a light within him that cannot be extinguished. It's a precious gift that he simultaneously wants to see destroyed and protected. Literally, any direction that Makoto goes will make Nagito happy, either from the perverse glee of seeing someone so amazing finally falling to despair, or the wholesome glee of seeing him continue to soar above the filth that has claimed everyone else. Either way, he is transfixed. After they've spent more time together, he'll probably start to care about personally protecting the good in Makoto, but at first he's just watching the fireworks with his hands behind his back.

Izuru is likewise fascinated by the unexpected fortitude. Since Makoto is subject to more avenues of attack to his morale, in this AU, than he is in Despair's Throbbing Heart, he's less overtly friendly in this AU than in that fic. He's kind, but he's more careful about who he opens himself up to, meaning the side of himself that he shares with Izuru is less an immediate friendliness than a quiet kindness. Still, Izuru is intrigued by it, and a part of him he doesn't consciously recognize is starved for kindness.

Both Nagito and Izuru are pretty overt about these feelings.

Sometimes Makoto wakes up to see a shadowy figure standing over his bed. "Kamukura?" he guesses from the long hair.

"I was walking past your door, and I heard you having a nightmare. I was curious, so I came to watch."

"...Okay." Makoto rolls over and goes back to sleep.

When Junko has her weird cuddle sessions with Makoto, Nagito will post up to watch, like it is a critically-acclaimed one-act play.

Both of them are constantly commenting on Makoto's behavior out loud in front of him, like they're the Twitch chat of his life.

Occasionally, someone like Akane or Taka will ask Makoto if those guys are bothering him, but he always says no.

(They don't know enough about Izuru to know that there wouldn't be much they could do about it if he was.)

[popcornpieispissedoff]

A Pile Of Canon Divergent Danganronpa Headcanons:

The students absolutely did not get along when they first enrolled, they were all legit getting on each others' nerves and every other day was a shouting match.

Byakuya doesn't mind Ultimate Impostor's presence most of the time, but there have been times when he was seriously creeped out by Impostor.

After they adopted Kotoko, Hifumi collected all his loli/shotacon and invited Kotoko to help him burn it. Seeing the damage adults did to Kotoko has him rethinking his tastes in manga altogether.

If Kiyotaka catches anyone running in the halls he will drag them to that person's starting point and make them walk back to their destination.

When Gonta inevitably found out that Hiyoko liked squishing ants, he sat her in front of the biggest anthill he could find and unloaded ant facts on her. This bored the habit right out of Hiyoko.

Everyone has accidentally locked themselves out of the school at least once.

Over time, everyone noticed that Mikan was tripping over less and less. Though she attributes it to learning balance from Sakura, she subconsciously knows it's because she doesn't need the attention anymore.

Mikan wants to cure Nagito's terminal illnesses, but fears that Nagito's luck would kill him if she does so.

Mikan cares deeply for the Warriors of Hope, and is a key player in their rehabilitation.

The virtual Jabberwock Island from Danganronpa S is still there...but the students actually built it to get away from their oppressive dickhead superiors that they hate. It has the 50 day summer camp mode for all of them, or a solo mode for anyone to set a specific amount of time within the virtual world to unwind.

[Very slowly lays hand on Masaru's head as to not trigger his trauma of being slapped] This boy can fit so many cuddles and kisses.

Jataro won't just let you hug him, the little mf will let you s q u i s h him into your body with all your love and might. As long as he can still breathe he will be happy and let you hold him.

Kirumi cracks pretty easy under stress. She doesn't lash out at everyone so much as she curls up against the nearest wall and rocks herself.

Don't ask Kirumi to reenact Jackass with you, or she will absolutely overcomplicate the assignment and seriously injure herself. She does not comprehend physical comedy, much less the line where physical comedy becomes everyone around her fearing for her life.

Ryota straight up lives in the walls along with the balding Monokuma from V3. Junko and Ultimate Impostor are the only ones who know, but neither of them have been successful at getting Ryota out of his shell.

Korekiyo has been given an intervention by all the girls at Hope's Peak. It ended with eight hours of group hugging. Korekiyo is feeling better now.

Korekiyo and Kirumi have routinely fought over the air conditioning.

Masaru will bite anyone at least once, but for reasons only known to himself, he likes biting clowns the most. He will hunt down any clown that appears in his field of vision and not stop until he gets a bite.

If Gonta finds any insect traps or insecticides, he throws them down the garbage chute.

Hajime is still Izuru, but it's an open secret. His classmates love him no matter what his identity is. <3

Reserve Course students weren't so chill about Izuru, however-they wanted Jin Kirigiri's BLOOD. And the Ultimates just kinda let them do it for treating their friend as a lab rat.

One winter when the heater broke everyone slept together in the gym until it was fixed. We're talking a pile of blankets that was three feet thick.

They legit would not trade each other for the world except for Kokichi and even then Suichi would still be sad about it

Mahiru doesn't like taking pictures of Ryoma because his weirdly large eyes reflect all the light and the result always looks terrifying.

Someone kept leaving a stuffed toy clown in random places around the school...until they adopted Masaru and he promptly bit the shit out of it.

Ibuki tried playing from the rooftop once. It took 8 hours to find her, 4 hours to coax her down, and 2 hours to soothe her afterwards.

Nanokumas like to move things around when nobody's looking.

All Ultimates are prone to getting the zoomies. It ranges from Leon running around in circles to Sakura almost leveling the school.

Reserve Course students like to observe the Ultimates because Ultimates are all stupid fucking dorks and watching them accidentally stir up chaos is great entertainment.

Hope Fragments appear when a student feels their happiest. It forms within the body and gets hacked up like a hairball.

Gonta routinely has nightmares about being caught in a venus flytrap.

Fuyuhiko has become aware of Yasuhiro's debt to his family, and holds it over his head.

Peko wonders if her parents know about her becoming an Ultimate.

Junko is trying really, really hard to feign apathy towards her classmates in the name of Despair, but no one buys it.

Mukuro and Peko like to spar together, and they're pretty evenly matched.

Miu is soft (by Miu standards) towards Chihiro.

Miu becomes very anxious and needy at the mere thought of graduating from Hope's Peak and moving away from her friends.

More to come when my brain cells wake up and remind me who these people are

[batw1nggg]

a while back i had an anon talk to me abt the despair arc brainwashing plot and they brought up the really interesting point that if class 77b was unbrainwashed, putting them in the simulation would mean trying to put someone entirely conscious into a simulation to rehabilitate them from. Themselves. in contrast to the canon, where the simulation was meant to rehabilitate them from a tangible and unconsensual change that had been made to their brains.

obviously it was the best opinion considering the alternative was getting murdered by the future foundation, but in a no-brainwashing au, the nwp would have really scary implications for capital punishment. it would be all of the issues with our real world jail system, except instead of just locking up the accused, you’re also removing their memories and trapping their consciousness in a world thats very susceptible to virus, without giving them any say. at least in jail you have control of your mind. with the nwp, you’re fucking with their entire perception of reality and their whole identity.

again, makoto and co did not intend for this obviously. it was the best option and they werent thinking of the long term implications of the technology they were creating. but it got me thinking about how all of this applies to izuru (treating him as his own separate consciousness).

because this issue already exists in the canon for izuru. izuru was never brainwashed, so putting him in the nwp without giving him a say was indeed trying to rehabilitate him from himself. sure, the point was to bring hajime back, but there was always the risk that one or the other’s consciousness would be eradicated coming out of the nwp, there was no guarantee and the nwp was designed specifically to undo brainwashing.

and its made even worse by the fact that izuru didn’t. really Do anything. basically all he did was show up for some camera footage that junko leaked to the public, he didnt even kill any of the student council members or set up the killing game. they were essentially trying to “fix” him from the fatal flaw of his own existence — for cooperating with junko, when the alternative was being locked up in the hpa underground for the rest of his life, discarded once the scientists tired of him and decided it was time to create an improved version of him out of some other unsuspecting reserve course student.

i think it could contribute to the theme of izuru and capitalism and dehumanization really well. izuru’s entire life has just been being passed around by people who want to control him and have no concern with izuru’s wants and needs, even when he does fall into the hands of someone with good intentions. idk i just thought the moral dilemma here was interesting

[princescar]

Monitoring

Tw for discussion of blood, gore, and bodily trauma

Basically a lil blurb I wrote for my Remnant Matsuda AU with the blueprints for enomatsumiki laid out. might add to it idk. DR0 spoilers ig.

The heel of her shoe digs into the dirt below as she fidgets, nerves getting to her as she looks around.

“Naegi said he saw her around here…” She mumbles to herself, eyes scanning the area for another girl.

Except, it isn’t just another girl. It’s her Beloved.

Junko had been missing for weeks after the events of the Tragedy, having disappeared after an interrogation by the school. She had been panicking since, desperately trying to overturn every stone to find her Beloved, with no success. Until she ran into an underclassmen, one from Junko’s class, that told her that he ran into her Beloved while visiting a lab in the Biology building and later saw her entering the Old School Building. She doesn’t know if she ever thanked the boy before running off to where Junko was last seen.

But standing outside does her no good, with no sightings and no clues to where she went, Mikan goes inside.

The inside is dark and musty, in the way that all old buildings are, but it puts her on edge. She clutches her bag closer, constantly swerving around at every creak and echo. It reminds her of all the horror movies she’s seen and how she’s the cautionary tale to present to the audience the stakes for the actual protagonists. But she does not turn back. It’s the first lead she’s gotten in weeks, she can’t turn back.

So she goes deeper and deeper, searching for any sign her Beloved left behind. Deeper and deeper, until the scent of blood hits her.

Panic fills her and she rushes towards the source, praying to anyone listening that it’s not from her Beloved. And when she enters the room, the smell engulfs her and her eyes land on two bodies. 

One a small, boyish looking guy with his neck completely snapped.

The other a pile of meat and hair connected to a body.

Relief and horror mix in her gut as she stares out, completely transfixed by the bodies. Flashbacks flood her brain, and she finds herself thinking about the music room again. But a soft noise snaps her back to reality and her eyes shift to the source.

The disfigured body. 

They are still alive.

Mikan rushes over and kneels down beside them, watching their chest softly move up and down. A sign of life. She hurriedly opens her bag, pulling out any medical supplies she could. But she wouldn’t be able to do much here, so instead she focuses on stabilizing them enough to move them to the hospital. Carefully making sure every bandage is secure, she gently lifts them up and carries them as fast and steady as possible.

-------------------

Mikan stares at her new patient as they lay comatose on the hospital bed. Emergency surgery had been necessary, but the patient had survived with both his eyes and most of his teeth still in tact. Nothing short of a medical miracle. However, his face was completely destroyed, leaving his face permanently scarred. 

She was in charge of his care, making sure he recovered the best he possibly could. But this left her with little time to look for her Beloved. 

Well, until she walked right through the door.

“Eek! Be-Beloved!” Mikan nearly falls on her face when she jumps up to greet her. But her Beloved stays focused on her patient, walking over and staring down at him.

Her face is unreadable, even to Mikan, as she reaches over and gently brushes the hair out of his bandaged face.

“He survived.”

“I-uh.. He- Yes, but he’s currently in a coma- there’s no way to tell if he’ll… if he’ll ever wake up, My Love.”

But Junko doesn’t respond back, just bends down and presses a kiss onto his forehead.

“Miki.”

“Yes, Beloved!”

“You’re the best nurse, so make sure he gets the best care.” She turns to leave the room, pausing for a moment. “And make sure no one else knows about this, ‘kay?”

“Of Course, My Love!”

And when she leaves, Mikan’s eyes zero in on her patient. She stares at his forehead, locked onto the faint lipstick stain left on his bandages.

“… Time for a bandage change.”

She leans forward and begins to remove them from his face, turning to discard them before turning back and jumping when she meets icy blue eyes. He stares deep into her soul, jaw slightly moving like he wants to speak, before he gives up. Mikan just stares back in shock, surprised he had awoken so quickly after such a traumatic event. But she shakes herself out of it, focusing on re-bandaging his face. She swallows before opening her mouth.

“M-Matsuda, right?”