#I actually liked Sonia’s character as well

[dearestpartnerofgreatness]

if I had a nickel for every time Chen Lin dated a guy, was told he was her brother, and then found out he was not in fact her brother, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it happened twice

IN THE SAME SHOW

[aealzx]

Ooooookay I admit I'm a sucker for cross dress episodes that are tasteful/done well. And with that a sucker for cute boys in pretty clothes that go ding ding when they move X'DDD Girls in pretty clothes is a thing too, but then I'd have to draw boobs and I'd rather not |P

I started watching Sonic Underground.... for reasons I cant remember, and ittttt's actually not as terrible as I remember X'D The character designs are still horrid, and there's definitely some ugly dated stuff in there when it comes to other cultures. But the cross dress episode surprised me because I think the boys handled the situation very well. No complaints, all compliments to each other, and just vibing doing a job =u= I liked it enough that I gave into my like of drawing belly dancer clothes and doodled them while trying to adapt Happ's version into it.

Also enjoy this dumb lil meme snippet I wrote along with this.

___

“I still don’t understand how you’re better at this than Sonia,” Manic admitted with a chuckle, trying not to stare at the eye liner brush coming towards his eye.

“Experience,” Sonic answered simply from where he was sitting on Manic’s belly while he was laying on the floor, trying to get him not to move. “Now look up and stop moving- I said look up, not straight at the brush.”

Sonic was amused, but Manic was more worried about getting his eye stabbed. “Shouldn’t you worry about your own makeup?” Manic tried to defer, fidgeting nervously.

“Mine won’t take as long,” Sonic countered, giving a small sigh and giving up on being patient, free hand reaching up to grab Manic’s cheeks to hold him still. It would have been incredibly funny to watch him immediately squint as soon as the brush touched his eyelid, but the time crunch made it a little hard to enjoy. Getting Manic’s quills to lay flat had taken way longer than expected.

“Can’ yu jush s’per sp’d it?”

Okay that earned a small snort.

“Sure, if you don’t mind the burn of something zipping across your face extremely fast,” Sonic teased, grinning. “Close your eyes now.”

That was at least a little easier. Not being able to see the strange soft torture instrument coming allowed Manic to try to relax. “Yeah, no thanks,” he agreed, still flinching at each touch of the strangely cold feeling ink. “...This feels disgusting,” he complained after Sonic finished lining both eyes.

Sonic just chuckled again. “Sure does! But we’ll both look awesome. And unrecognizable. So deal with it. I’ll let you roll in the mud once we get the others back if you want.”

Manic snorted at the offer, feeling like that would be the opposite of what he would want. But who knew. Maybe a good mud bath would help him feel more like himself after all this dolling up. It was hard to not try to rub the makeup off his face. But it was a little impressive to watch Sonic put makeup on himself once he was done tormenting his brother. Smooth, practiced swoops with the eyeliner, not even looking at the mirror at some points. Dabbing his cheeks rapidly into a perfect blush. Tracing his lips with a different brush. At least the fake eyelashes didn’t look like something he was used to wearing.

True to Sonic’s word though, when he was done Manic had a hard time recognizing either of them. Something made incredibly apparent when he stepped closer to his brother and caught sight of his own reflection from the corner of his eye, jumping in startle and whipping around to look at it.

“What?” Sonic questioned, immediately concerned.

“I thought someone else was here,” Manic wheezed, breaking into a laugh as he put a hand over his racing heart, sagging.

Sonic just laughed aloud as well, taking that as a compliment on his work.

[noxiatoxia]

do you have any favorite or standout things in the japanese version of dr2 that doesn't get translated properly/at all into the english version? anything from jokes to speech quirks or differences in characterization. anything at all! i'm just super curious about the differences so i want to give you an opportunity to ramble.

Thank you, anon! I'm sorry this too so long. I've been busy and I had many different things I wanted to share.

I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of stuff I'll miss...I'll just tell you what's on my mind.

Well, firstly, I'd say what I lament most always is how everyone's speech patterns got largely phased out. You see it here and there still with Souda and Owari - occasionally they try to keep the urban accent. Komaeda's filler words got removed, as already discussed. Really, everyone had something unique to them that got removed, and that makes me so sad! Granted, I understand some of it can be quite tricky.

For example, Mioda is a big one. Remember in the NISA translation, she always refers to herself in third person? This is a somewhat clunky translation. Mioda does call herself "Ibuki", but in Japanese, this isn't as weird, and is seen as a sort of cutesy thing. You can pull it off if you're a young/cute woman.

Mioda also calls everyone first name-chan, making her appear childish/quirky.

She also ends her sentences with っす ssu, which is a version of です desu. This makes Mioda, technically, one of the few Danganronpa characters to use keigo speech, although it's so quirky/casual I wonder if it counts...

Souda also uses keigo, but only when talking to Sonia. He calls her Sonia-san, which got translated as "Miss Sonia" (great translation choice btw!) and is the only character he uses honorifics for - well, typically. There is a part in chapter 5 where Souda calls Hinata "Hinata-chan" to tease him, and it's so cute to me xD

By the way, I don't talk about V3 much, but I know there's contention with how they translate Gonta. From what I've seen of V3, the thing that sticks out about Gonta is he, too, uses his first name as his pronoun. I believe the ENG version went with a Tarzan-esque choice of translation, but the joke in the JP version, I believe, was - as said - first person self-pronoun is reserved for young, cute girls...Gonta neither looking like either.

Most of all I lament Hinata's speech...he sounds so similar to Naegi in English, which is a shame, as he was meant to be Naegi's opposite. In Japanese they're night and day, and Hinata really loses that bite he had in the NISA version. It's what makes me sad most :(

On the game itself, there's a joke I think about a lot, that (understandably) loses it's meaning in English. It's in Tanaka's freetime event.

I have no issue with the translation itself. It's sadly just a joke that's lost in English as things are.

It's in the word kotodama. Kotodama refers to the idea that words hold spiritual power. Like a spell, or something. The joke here is Hinata...actually is a kotodama user. Literally.

In JP Danganronpa, truth bullets are called...kotodama. It's a cute little meta joke.

On the flip side, here is a translation I do take issue with:

I understand how they made this error, but it's still a little shocking to me.

First, let's look at context. Context is important in any language, but in Japanese especially. The context is this: Komaeda has a dramatic buildup, talking about how it's time he's gotten a little good luck, that now he can finally say it, and then dramatically pauses after saying Hinata's name...

Let's not be naive. This reads like the buildup to a love confession.

And then, Komaeda just asks, "Can you be my friend?"

It's a wonderful scene. Perfectly captures Komaeda's life in that asking just to be friends requires this much forethought, and it's wonderfully hilarious at the same time. Very Danganronpa, isn't it? Makes you think about the character, gives you some emotion, but also makes you laugh.

I digress. Now that we have context, let's examine Hinata's response.

First he goes, "What?" or え？in Japanese.

Then he says: ああ...なんだ。

"Ah...oh, that's it?" is a fine way to put it here. Literally speaking, the line basically reads: Oh...what? but なんだ is used as a sort of emotional signifier. The words are failing me right now but here are some examples of how なんだ could be translated when used like this:

"What the hell. Okay."

"Jeez, really?"

"That's crazy!" (in response to a story or suchlike)

Does this make sense? It expresses disbelief, shock, surprise, irritation...stuff like that.

So "Oh...that's it?" is good in this context. Clearly, Hinata also expected Komaeda to say something more heavy.

It's the last line that bugs me.

"So that was all just for fun..." is not how I would put it at all. I see how they got that, but I don't know why they didn't realize it sounds super odd. I will break it down.

...そんなことで、よかったのか... ...sonna koto de, yokatta noka...

そんな means "that" or "those", as in "that person" or "those books", etc.

こと means thing, but usually is abstract for an idea. It's a bit hard to explain, but think of it like the English word "it". You say stuff like "it's cool" when someone screws up. "it" represents an abstract idea: referring to the accident a person just made. Instead of repeating that all, you condense the idea down into the word "it". Very similar.

で is a particle that marks "direction" here. All you need to know is that here it's saying "everything that comes before me is what the words after me are referring to".

よかった, literally speaking, is the past form of "good". This is a very flexible word, and we will come back to it.

のか is some sentence ending particles. Again, we will come back to this.

Strictly and literally speaking, the sentence goes:

In response to those words you just said, it was good...

The issue that occurred here is how they read よかったのか. They took よかった to literally be the past tense of good (fun), and のか to be questioning in tone. These are both correct ways to read these individual words, but not in this context I think. It's how we got:

So that was all just for fun...

But I think it's obvious よかった is supposed to be read as it most commonly is in this past-form: an expression of relief/happiness, while のか is supposed to be more monologue-ish.

I emphatically think the line should be read as:

Oh, thank God that was it...

I think it's pretty obvious Hinata is rejoicing that Komaeda, in fact, was not going to suddenly dump something like a love confession on him out of the blue.

Sorry that was a longer one. I don't know how many of you care to hear the in-depth technical talk of how it got mistranslated. Usually I just provide my translation, but I know some people out there probably like the explanations. (I also get a little embarrassed because I often run in circles worrying I'm getting stuff wrong myself....and the fact I'm aware I suck at words. I'm just writing how I read it, and putting it in a way that makes sense to me. I'm always open to discussion if you are a beginner speaker or a native and anything between.)

OK, moving on...I want to talk about Owari's island mode ending. Not because it was translated badly per se, but because it hinges on an element that's impossible to translate. To be fair, the team did their absolute best with it.

Owari never talks about wanting to talk more "girly" outright in the Japanese version. Rather, this is what the line (plus the last as it is part of the sentence) reads literally:

OWARI: So, would it be weird if...I started using a-atashi for myself?

Through the whole game, Owari talks in a very rough manner. She uses オレ(ore) to refer to herself, which is a very masculine pronoun. The Katakana script makes it even more rough. I believe in SDR2, only Souda and Kuzuryuu also use this pronoun/script combo (I can never remember if Monokuma uses オレ or ボク).

However in the Island Mode ending, Owari wonders if it'd be weird if someone like her uses あたし(atashi) for herself. By contrast, "atashi" is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. It is a very feminine pronoun, and would be a complete 180 from ore.

It is also written in Hiragana, further lending it to be "feminine" and "soft".

So the translation change to her saying she wishes to speak more girly is pretty apt. I dunno if there would be a better way to do this. It's very difficult.

Speaking of Owari and pronouns, her pronoun changes again when she catches the despair disease.

When she has the coward's disease, Owari no longer uses オレ(ore), but instead 私(watashi). This is considered a rather basic/default casual pronoun for women, but it is exceedingly more polite/feminine than what Owari normally uses. Coming from her also, Kanji is a very odd script choice, almost opposite to Katakana.

She also never uses honorifics for people, but while sick, she calls Nidai "Nidai-kun" 弐大君. It's sad this detail, unlike in Island Mode, did not get translated whatsoever.

If I'm on the topic, I might as well talk about some other script changes that weren't translated into English well (or at all).

Remember fake Naegi in Ch.6? Well, I always thought this part was strange:

To me, nothing Naegi is saying warrants Sonia to respond in such a manner. Bryce Papenbrook's delivery of the line doesn't make Naegi yell or anything, either.

But this line makes a whole lot more sense in Japanese.

Fun fact, I'm getting these screenshots from a (mostly silent) let's play by a Japanese channel. The let's player almost never talks, but during the first screenshot, he let's out a questioning "Hm?" and then the second, he chuckles and says, "What's with this sudden sharp turn, man?"

That's because in this scene, Naegi completely changes the way he talks. I've talked about it before, but to reiterate: Naegi talks in a very mild way. He's casual, but he never uses any masculine particles, or employs the imperative form.

However, in the first screenshot, Naegi ends his sentence in ぞ, which is a masculine sentence ender (Hinata uses it). Then in the second one, he uses やろう, which is a very rough/derogatory way to say "you guy(s)".

Anybody who's played DR1 would instantly know something is wrong, since Naegi never speaks like this.

To be honest, it could've easily been translated as making Naegi swear at them, since Naegi doesn't swear a lot - certainly if you had him use "fuck", it would have achieved the same effect.

Next, Twogami's final free time event is full of quirky things that get translated a little poorly.

Firstly, there's this line from Hinata:

While not a mistranslation on a technical level, I feel like it sort of misses a joke here.

Twogami asks Hinata if he likes him (好き). In Japanese, 好き is often used to declare your (romantic) love to someone, or ask someone if they love you. I think then Hinata's answer being "I don't hate you" is him skirting around saying "I like (love) you" to not sound like he's confessing his love, or something.

Then, there's this:

Much like we've seen before, this line makes more sense in the context of Japanese.

Since Twogami is impersonating Togami, he speaks like him, too. And when Togami refers to others (the "you" pronoun, as there are multiple in Japanese), he uses お前(omae). This is very masculine and pretty rude.

However, in this scene, Twogami suddenly calls Hinata キミ(kimi), which is much softer and warmer. Hinata picks up on that, but in English, it comes across a little weird, because what exactly is Hinata picking up on in the English version, then?

HINATA: But you've got to stop using "kimi", it's making me sheepish. And besides...the you I know has always called me by "omae".

Here's a literal translation for you, to illustrate this scene better. I don't know why they cut out the part where Hinata directly tells Twogami to stop calling him キミ because it makes him flustered (very cute by the way), but I feel there was probably a better way to go about this anyhow...

I understand it's a very tricky thing to translate since both キミ and お前 mean "you" in English, but surely there was some better way to word it...

I'd have Twogami talk to Hinata more friendly-like, and have Hinata say "The Togami I know has always been a bit mean to me" - or suchlike.

Moving away from scripts but sticking to Freetime events, here's a mistranslation from one of Saionji's:

There's one big issue in both of these that changes the meaning of the scene entirely. Firstly, 人好し means more than "kind-hearted" - it comes with the impression that the person is easily exploitable for their kindness.

Likewise, 勝手に言って is more than "I don't care" - I think they got that because it literally translates as "say what you want", but it's used as a sort of angry statement. See, it literally translates as "speak as you'd like", but 勝手に is usually used to show that someone will do something in spite of anyone else's wishes. So, really, the phrase means "say whatever you want jerk, I know I can't stop you".

I'd write this scene as:

SAIONJI: You're a really big pushover, mister. Well...I guess that's good for me. HINATA: No one fucking asked.

(I would assume Hinata is doing the equivalent of swearing, as he is using an already antagonistic phrase + imperative form + よ).

Also, if you're wondering...while "say what you want" is a valid English phrase, I feel it doesn't really work here...? Though that's how 勝手に言って translates, the phrase focuses more on the disrespectful aspect of speaking out of turn. I feel "nobody asked" is then more accurate.

This line is also interesting. It's not a mistranslation, but I'm just interested in the Japanese text, because I don't think Hinata's ever replaced ない (nai) with ねー (nee) before? It's a sort of urban accent - Owari, Kuzuryuu, and Souda all have it. It makes you sound rougher.

Like instead of "Jyanai yo" ("that's not it") you say, "jyanee yo" ("Tha's not it") <- I'm unsure how to convey an Urban accent...

"Hell no", then, is actually quite appropriate since it is rougher-sounding (meaner). But it interests me since Hinata's never (?) used this accent before. I guess he was so pissed off he didn't even think about it.

Actually, because of the nature of Saionji's talent and fixation on her home country, her Island mode and FTE is full of references to Japanese culture that doesn't get translated well. It's a tough spot to be in - do you not translate it for the sake of staying accurate to the Japanese culture, and let the Western players stay confused, or do you change it to something more understandable, but lose that nuance? I think it depends case-by-case on what's decided.

I sadly don't have a screen cap of the JP text, but I do have it from the game's files, so I'll write it down here:

SAIONJI: あー、馬鹿とナントカは高いところが好きって言うもんね。 HINATA: そっちを伏せるのかよ…

This is a Japanese saying, the full saying being 馬鹿と煙は高いところが好き - "Idiots and smoke like high places". It refers to people who foolishly advance "higher and higher" without thoughts of the consequences (when they come crashing down).

This saying though gets often changed to "idiots and so-and-so like high places".

I don't really agree with the English translation because "you-know-what" sounds...sexual? To me, at least. While there is nothing sexual about the original phrase whatsoever. The reason it gets "censored" to ナントカ (nantoka, literally the quotation marker とか with the word "what/something", making it "that 'something'") is unknown to me, but the phrase with ナントカ instead of 煙 is pretty popular especially in spoken Japanese. I think it literally just has to do with the fact that "baka to nantoka" flows out the mouth easier than "baka to kemuri", and isn't because of actual censorship.

Hinata's response then may be to Saionji specifically or in general. Either he's A) asking why Saionji bothers to censor the second part (implying he's never heard the abbreviated version before) or B) he's wondering to himself why people bother to censor the second part in general (implying he is well aware of the abbreviated version).

So, the convo may actually look something like:

SAIONJI: Oh well, as they say: "Idiots and so-and-so like high places!" HINATA: I wonder why that's the part that gets skipped over...

I think this is more plausible. It really has nothing to do with Saionji in particular.

Actually, if you'll recall from earlier in this post with the Komaeda Island Mode ending, we touched on のか, and Hinata is using it again here. Funnily, if we go with my translation, then they ran into the same issue with Komaeda. They read のか in the same erroneous way.

I could be wrong of course...but given the surround culture of the phrase + common sense (I find it hard to believe Hinata would have never heard 馬鹿とナントカ before), this makes more sense I think.

An English version is hard to think of, since this is related to the option "Climb the Statue", so Saionji whipping out that metaphor is a joke in the fact she's calling Hinata an idiot for literally wanting to climb a tall statue.

The closest I can find is a quote form the bible, "Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions". This seems to be somewhat known, but I didn't know of this quote before researching for an English version, so replacing it would make little difference, then...the whole point is the phrase is a common one, but I don't know any common English phrases about idiots in high spots.

...I think this is a good stopping point. There is surely so much more to talk about - more I am forgetting and more that I'll find in the future (and other small things that could not make this post due to image constraints) - but this is what I have right now! I do have more SDR2 translation post I'm working on, but that's it's own beast so it's not something I can really go into here.

Hope any of this was interesting! Thank you!

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Can you perhaps elaborate on the "Ganondorf should get to pummel Rauru"

As far as I'm recalling, we don't actually get that much of their issues in totk? We see leaders clashing, and then essentially Ganondorf kills Sonia and steals the secret stone, kicking off the imprisoning war. It's been a minute since I looked at the lore of totk (No Urbosa, so I'm nowhere near as invested as I am in botw) so I wouldn't be surprised if there's something big I missed, or even subtext I never picked up on

Sure! It's always very funny to me to receive the occasional ask like this, since I have been Renowned as a Rauru hater since release, but to briefly recap my perspective: I think Rauru was one self-conscious writing decision away from being the most compelling morally gray character in all of the Zelda canon, but unfortunately is heralded as being a near-perfect ruler (though even his imperfection is an extremely unclear and unexamined flaw that no character ever hold him accountable for --except for Ganondorf, and even what Ganondorf does call him out on is also unclear and also depends on translation because it wouldn't be a Zelda game otherwise) even though Rauru is mostly responsible, not only for his own problems, but also for everybody else's --including, crucially, Zelda's.

In a few words, he cannot be excused (like Zelda or Rhoam) by having to bear the weight of a kingdom for his poor decisions since, you know, he invented the damn thing (then of course maybe he would have to uphold the zonai legacy or something, and this is his motivation, but we don't know, since the game isn't interested in giving us this kind of information). His repeated invitations to the gerudos (and others but the gerudos are the only one not drinking the kool aid? which should be completely ok), being this new ruler of a brand new kingdom that didn't exist 5 minutes prior and yet feeling like he is somehow owed extreme levels of loyalty and devotion from everyone around him, being considered reasonable by the writing, is really baffling to me. Him dismissing Zelda's warnings (as tame as they are, which is just incomprehensible writing contrivences) even though he accepts that she does indeed come from the future, from a Hyrule ravaged by war, is crazy. Him running off to hunt and leave his priestess-wife in charge of the kingdom he founded on her lands while still speaking over her politically is.... sure a choice that was made in the writing. Him then choosing to warn Ganondorf that Link is a guy that exists and will kick his ass, is literally the reason why Link doesn't get the advantage and gets his arm destroyed. And then, in spite of all that, in spite of having the full picture, Rauru is vague and utterly unhelpful as a spirit while Link recovers, pondering that it's so sad that Constructs have to toil for all eternity for no purpose... :(

And like, yes Rauru, indeed Rauru, but maybe, just maybe, that should tell us something about how incredibly self-centered this goat-dragon-dude is --not realizing what he was imposing to his servants and people for his own leisure, in the name of his peace. I don't think he is evil, as in: he's not a cackling unsubtle and vapid caricature like Ganondorf is, but wow is this guy the most self-unaware and entitled character accidentally written in a game that fails to realize the absolute metric ton of red flags inserted in every single one of his scenes that I've... ever seen.

Again, if all of this was intentional, he would have been a masterful character. Maybe my favorite guy.

But the game destroying all other characters' interiority (and botw's worlbduilding) to tell this incredibly uncompelling tragedy about this super-cool perfect king and his series of completely avoidable failures... yeah, that really did not sit well with me at all.

Other posts about the topic that I've written previously:

A post about imperialism themes and aesthetics in TotK (I think it probably deserves an update with more specific historical examples)

A post about intent VS execution (especially re: good rulers and good kingdoms, and why this trope needs to be earned --contrasting TotK and EoW)

So yeah! Rauru. Weirdo guy. Compelling weirdo guy I think, but in a way the fandom really uhh disagrees with overall haha

[avalypuff]

Answers to the common questions of “Why didn’t Zelda retain dragon features?” and “Why did Link’s arm revert to normal?”

I’ve been dying to do some analysis posts since TotK came out, and after seeing a lot of people complain about the above, I decided my first should be related to the endgame.

So, I’ve seen a lot of posts where people seem to misunderstand what was going on when Zelda changed back into a Hylian, and why Link’s arm returned to normal. Many write this off as simply plot convenience, and while it’s true that Nintendo wouldn’t want to leave the main characters of one of their most popular titles with permanent changes, I’m here to try my best to explain the actual reason these things happened the way they did, because whether you noticed it or not, there is plot relevance to this reversion.

Draconification is permanent.

This is an indisputable fact.

And while I have seen people criticizing the way Zelda changed back, the fact is she swallowed the stone knowing that she never would.

“I’ll be forever changed…”

Her cry for Link to find her was not for her sake. She wasn’t depending on him to find the key to changing her back. Nay, the only reason she desperately prayed for him to find her was so that he could get the Master Sword, which—ignoring game mechanics that would allow you to beat Ganondorf with literally any weapon with the right damage/durability ratio—canonically is the only thing that can hurt him.

When Zelda changed back, it was almost entirely thanks to Sonia. That’s right!

…Let’s take a second to recall this scene in which Rauru decimated the horde of Molduga.

We see Sonia extend her hand and then gesture for Zelda to do the same.

Here they’re extending their own power to amplify Rauru’s counterattack, even beyond the already-massive boost the Secret Stone provides.

In the final scene when Link finds himself hovering over the sleeping Light Dragon amongst a dream-like atmosphere, it’s really quite telling that Sonia is the first to rest her hand over Link’s, then followed by Rauru.

This time Rauru is fulfilling the role of amplifying Sonia’s power over time. Not just that, but adding it on top of the time manipulation that Zelda gave to Link at the beginning of the game.

That’s what’s happening here. This is immensely powerful, triple amplified time magic!

The change from dragon to Hylian wasn’t a transformation in the same sense that it was when Zelda changed from Hylian to dragon. I know that’s a confusing sentence, but consider the basis of Sonia’s time magic is recalling things as they once were.

Zelda didn’t retain dragon features because, through the power of time reversal, she was never a dragon to begin with.

This is the also the reason the Secret Stone reappeared on her necklace.

This is ALSO the reason Link’s arm reverted to its natural state before he was affected by the gloom.

And before y’all come at me with “well, why didn’t Rauru do that in the first place instead of giving his arm to Link?” Simple; Sonia wasn’t there. Even spirits aren’t omnipotent… in Hyrule. (Probably.)

The point is, this was essentially a lucky break for Zelda and Link, because if Sonia (and therefore Zelda, by inheritance) didn’t have time magic, there would have been no way to undo the Draconification. It would have been every bit as permanent as Hyrule legends and history says it is, and Zelda would be gone forever.

In fact, it’s likely it was a shot in the dark even on Sonia and Rauru’s part, considering there was no prior knowledge of reversing time on a dragon, let alone a person. It was a glorious blend of the convenience of Sonia’s time magic, and luck that it worked out the way they (“they” being all characters involved) wanted.

Anyways, to wrap this up, Draconification is indeed permanent, unless you have the number one badass-master-of-time-manipulation Queen Sonia on your side. Then you can probably undo anything. :)

[princess-glassred]

Todays been awful so fuck it, IT fandom unpopular opinions! (And they're actually unpopular for once!).

-As much as I hate to say this, I think getting mad at people for not liking Mike Hanlon is shifting the blame from who's really at fault for this and that's Andi Muschietti. Yeah it sucks that Mike is always forgotten by this fandom but this fandom is dominated of fans of the movie and the movie and book are totally different. If some 13 year old has only seen the IT movies I don't blame them for not caring about Mike because he got dicked over by Andi's racial bias. And don't say "well they should watch the mini series or book to appreciate him then" as if being in a fandom is supposed to require homework. A lot of people only like IT 2017 and that's fine, and they're not less of a fan for that. It's okay to not like certain members of the losers, as long as your reasons are valid.

-I wish fanfiction would potray Sonia and Eddie's relationship (and honestly Sonia/Myra) with more depth. I am NOT saying Sonia isn't abusive, she absolutely is, but i have seen A LOT of ridiculous portrayals of Sonia and it bugs me. Even good fic writers often pigeon hole her relationship with Eddie to just being him secretly hating every thing about her with no complicated feelings at all. As someone who grew up in an abusive household, majority of abusive relationships aren't like that. That's why abusive relationships are so sinister in the first place, they're hard to get out of because you convince yourself you love your abuser. Most kids, especially heavily manipulated ones like Eddie, would struggle with feeling pure hatred for their mother. And that's interesting! I wanna see that portrayed in Eddie's character, especially since he struggles with his own identity and feelings about himself quite a lot already. If you cannot handle a portrayal of an abusive relationship being more than just two dimensional awfullness 24/7, i don't think you should be reading something as heavy as IT.

-Similarly, the way people talk about Sonia, Myra, and to a lesser extent Belch is really gross. IT actually condemns fatphobia in the narrative by having Henry attack ben, and i see people complain all the time about how ben lost wait as an adult but suddenly when it's Myra, Sonia and Belch you can fat shame to your hearts content. I have seen so many posts from people, either roleplay accounts or otherwise, calling these three fat bitches or hogs or even fanfics that deliberatly use Sonia's weight as short hand for her being terrible instesd of letting her actions speak for herself. Fat shaming isn't suddenly cool when it happens to someone you hate. Molly Ranson is a real person and that is her real body, there are probably people in this fandom who even LOOK like Sonia out there. This also applies to insulting the appearance of any other actor btw.

-I think Ben Hanscom in the it 2017 continuity is honestly kind of a creep. He kisses Bev while she's unconcious depsite not actually knowing if it'll pull her out of the deadlights (he didn't even have a reason to think it would work at all), he holds onto her yearbook signature in his wallet for 27 years even tho he literally forgot everything, spends most of IT chapter 2 coping and seething that Bev isn't attracted to him, and never says anything to defend her from Richie spreading slutty rumors about her. The only time he defends her from slut accusations is when its henry and shes there to see him do it. If Henry did any of this you guys would be all over him, but because it's Ben and they play sappy music over it it's suddenly cute and whimsical.

-I also think Richie gets away with a lot of shit that if it was done by any of the antagonists the fandom would rip 'em to shreds. People give me shit all the time for sympathizing with Henry Bowers becaude he's racist and mysoginistic but Richie says many mysoginistic and racist things across adaptations and nobody cares. Of course he spreads rumors about Bevs promiscuity, but in the book he does quite a few racist impressions and bits like when he says "You know the worst part about getting AIDS? Trying to explain to your mother that you got it from a Haitian girl.". Hell, at least Henry is 12, practically groomed into it, and so mushy brained from the pills he can't think straight, what's richies excuse? I don't even care that Richie is gay, does being in the closet justify anything? Did being attracted to Henry absolve Patrick of the fact he killed a baby? No? The same goes for Richie. Ofc you can still like him, but i don't like it when richie fans act like he's all pure and ignore his worse moments just to grand stand.

-It 2017 is actually just as ewwy towards minors as the book. Just because you removed a gang bang scene doesn't mean you aren't still weird with minors. Mr. Muschietti still thought it was appropriate to make a scene where young Bev is forced to flirt with a pedo pharmacist, another where she gets kissed unconscious, and one where her friends oggle her in a bra. Yeah it's cool you got rid of the sewer stuff but WHY ADD ALL OF THAT IN.

-The whole "omg what if the ritual was going to work but richie had to sacrifice eddie as his token instead and thats why it didnt work" is kinda dumb. it implies that the native americans who created the god damn artifact couldn't do the ritual right but these random white guys could all along. The movie straight up says the ritual has never worked and Mike saying he believed it would work because of their connection is treated like it's wrong. Maybe Eddie was Richies token but I don't think that's why they defeated IT and I also don't think it would have worked to begin with.

[okthatsgreat]

rewording a post i made a while ago just bc it was a bit nonsensical but something that definitely needs to be examined in the danganronpa fandom is how a lot of characters seem to be interpreted through one single lens of intelligence. does that make sense. like in order for a character to be “smart” in this fandom they SPECIFICALLY need to be book smart and well spoken, regardless of their talents. we gotta shape up guys .. examining other types of intelligence is FASCINATING and really highlights each characters strengths and weaknesses, and this especially applies to emotional intelligence.

like is byakuya smart? absolutely. but is he emotionally intelligent? fuck no!!!! and aoi used that against him in chapter four!!!!!!!! and even though she is misguided as all hell, tenko has the ability to understand her opponent mid-battle and use that to determine how she continues the fight (likely something other fighting ultimates do as well!!!) which is crazy. mikan is able to read facial expressions well, even if she IMMEDIATELY misinterprets this as something she personally did wrong lol. these characters navigate through the killing game differently and in some cases survive because of it, and if you want something interesting to write on it’s definitely something to be examined!!!

also straight up sometimes the fandom interprets characters who don’t speak super formally/are optimistic as dumb too which is so strange. more of the “buff” talents like mondo and fuyuhiko need to understand battle tactics and serious team management/planning in order to get anywhere in their field, but are pushed aside quite a bit because theyre these super gruff macho characters that swear a bunch. sonia as well because she's a fish out of water type of character. and yes he isn’t very well spoken and is very trusting but gonta is an actual scientist guys… i could make a whole separate post about this weird trend of pessimism being seen as smart and optimism as stupid but yeah seriously

anyways all this to say, when writing for a “dumb” character take a step back and ask just what makes them dumb in your eyes. is it because they aren’t considered academic or a scholar?? is it because they’re a “happier” character that might not be as well-spoken?? theres nuance there and this obviously doesn't apply to all of them, like clearly akane isnt super good with emotions or smarts in general, but even THEN her spacial awareness and heightened sense of perception is something that is often under-utilised in fics!! it provides a whole lot of depth to remember that a lot of danganronpa characters are very talented and well versed in other forms of intelligence than what might be most obvious !!!!!

[eggiesins]

"(Maybe later we can get into a whole thing about whiteness being the standard for beauty in My Time games & how that's informed by contemporary attitudes)"

ur right and u should say it

Hoooooo buddy, let's get into it. This is probably gonna be a bit rambling but go off ig.

DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I love the My Time games and Pathea as well, but that doesn't mean that we can't also have meaningful, critical discourse surrounding those games. (I'm literally halfway through a massive Logan fic right now) Engaging with the media we love critically helps us to understand ourselves and the world around us better.

I'm focusing mostly on Sandrock here, as it's been a hot minute since I played Portia, but I will reference it here and there. Rambling below the cut :)

So when I say whiteness is the standard for beauty in My Time games and that it's informed by contemporary attitudes, what does that really mean? Well, consider for a moment all the different books and magazines you've read, music you've listened to, movies and tv shows you've watched. How many times have you seen blonde hair and blue eyes shoved to the forefront of the narrative, or highlighted as especially attractive? Now compare that to how many times you've ever heard anyone romanticize brown eyes. This is a small example, but once you start to notice it, you can't really un-notice it anymore.

We as a culture, have a tendency to value "white traits" as the standard for what we consider beautiful. Blue eyes, light or blonde colored hair, small noses, thin yet plump lips, and of course, pale complexions. If you want a more in-depth analysis on how colonialism has influenced beauty standards around the world, check out this thesis.

Obviously, since these games are set in a solarpunk, post-apocalyptic world, we can't go through and identify the ethnicities and races of characters with 100% certainty, so I'm not even going to try. What I'm looking at is the physical features alone, as well as which romance characters are given the most attention by Pathea, and then of course which are given the most attention by fans. It should be fairly well-established by this point that Pathea does take a lot of fan feedback into account & will actively shape their games around fan preferences, as we've seen so far with Evershine's development. So there's a lot of interaction between the global fanbase for the games and the creative minds actually behind them, meaning that I'm not here to point blame at any single party, or to really point blame at all. Ultimately, these games are just that: games, and while it's good exercise and practice to engage with them critically, if you find yourself upset by this, I'd recommend spending your time worrying about real-world action instead.

But onto the My Time games! Which characters tend to hold the most prominence here? The romanceables, of course. So let's break it down. In My Time at Portia, there is a total of 28 characters the player could possibly marry. 28!! Comparatively, Sandrock has 21. Of the 28 characters in Portia, we see a few discernible ethnic traits with the septuplets, Lucy, Mint, Petra, Sonia, Aadit, Remington, and Xiu. Of these more diverse characters, the darkest skin-tone we find is Petra's. Now, out of all these characters, which ones tend to get the most screentime and the most love from fans? Over the years, lots of names will pop up, but far and away the most popular candidates are Arlo, Gust, Aadit, and Mint.

Now let's look at Sandrock. I will say, Sandrock does a much better job with diversity, both in skin tone and facial feature variations. However, consider who gets the most romance content and screentime in the game: Logan and Fang for sure, followed by Unsuur and Nia, to the point where at times, it feels like the game is trying to tell you that either Logan, Fang, or Nia are the "canon" options. Which makes sense, but I also find it pretty wild that characters like Heidi and Justice - who, because of their roles, have arguably, just as strong claims to being "canon" but are not treated as such.

Consider the two architects we get to interact with across the games: Heidi and Gust. Of the two, Gust is the wildly more popular option with his blonde hair, blue eyes, and mean disposition. In contrast, Heidi is heavily involved in the Sandrock storyline, and without her, the town would never have been able to recover the way it does in-game. It would make sense, then, that Heidi and the Builder would share a much more profound bond simply based on the relationship inherent to their roles. In Portia, if Gust and Albert were not present, it stands to reason the town could probably still get on fine with just their builder. Not so for Sandrock. It's a similar concept with Justice. Without him as Sheriff, Sandrock doesn't survive. But if Arlo weren't in Portia, again, the Builder can fill in that gap decently enough.

Despite being so critical to the story and Sandrock's infrastructure, Heidi and Justice simply aren't given a proportional amount of screentime and romance content. Heidi is the architect who works with the Builder the most, and Justice is literally the Builder's Civil Corps superior and comrade. There's a lot of potential there for relationship-building and compelling dynamics. In short, they're not treated as viable candidates when compared to Logan, Fang, and Nia (also wild since Nia spends a majority of the game not in Sandrock). And it's not like they're not interesting characters either. Heidi, while friendly and fun at first, is also shown to be extremely competent and has a healthy temper (and the right hook to match, hoo mama). She's shown to be complex, trying to juggle her own sense of what is right with what her mentors have been telling her is right. Her story is about getting back to her roots and trusting her own instincts and judgements despite having better opportunities back in Atara.

Justice as well is an interesting character, struggling with his insecurities and trying to fill his old mentor's shoes while also trying to keep Sandrock safe on a shoestring budget. He's consistently shown to be incredibly resourceful and creative, with an incredibly strong sense of, well, justice. He even takes his own name upon joining the Civil Corps! (It used to be Maurice, thanks Viv). He's shown to have faults in his treatment of Unsuur as just some weird kid, and you as the Builder get to help him come to understand Unsuur better, which creates a really sweet moment in-game. (To all the fic writers who insist on putting Justice down to favor Unsuur, y'all can catch me outside)

But for all these qualities, Heidi and Justice just don't seem to resonate with fans, and it really begs the question: Would they be more popular if they were designed more like Logan, Nia, or Fang? If they had more "white" features, would they get more screentime from Pathea? Would they get more attention from fans? Of course, we can't say for certain if that would change anything, but judging by the way I've seen fans treat these characters (Justice especially in builder x unsuur fics) I'm inclined to think that yes, if they were whiter, they'd be more popular. Side note here: Yes I realize Fang comes from Seesai, the in-game analog to irl China so it's not like he's not ethnic, but look at his sperm donor. Blonde hair, blue eyes.

As we've established, there's a very reciprocal relationship between the fandom and Pathea. Fans got to vote for which characters will become core romanceables in Evershine, as well as which Sandrock characters would make cameos in the game. And which characters do we see absolutely blowing up across the Evershine socials? Avery, Ragnar, and to a degree, Stev. Hardly any news is coming out about Waylan, but until the game actually releases, there's only so much we can read into the romance options at this point.

My whole point with this essay is to show that, while characters in My Time games are becoming more diverse and well-fleshed out thanks to Pathea, we as the fans are also reinforcing a pattern of creation and storytelling that heavily favors whiteness as a standard of beauty. I think it's awesome to see Pathea taking so much fan feedback for the games, but as a creative myself, I think it wouldn't hurt them either to stand on business and make creative choices that favor a diverse, interesting cast of characters over which ones are the most fuckable according to horny people on the internet. (It's a similar phenomenon to what happened with Wyll's character in Baldur's Gate 3) We can all do better; we should all do better, and that begins with taking a critical look at the media we consume and the way we engage with that media.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. I'd love to hear y'all's opinions on this as well!

[danganronpadedication]

DAY 12: DANGANTOBER

Day 12: Remnants of Despair

AT LAST, AT LONG, LONG LAST! IT'S HAPPENING, IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! THE EVENT ONE BILLION YEARS PROPHESIZED HAS COME TO PASS! THE DAY HAS COME! I FINALLY GET TO RANT ABOUT THE REMNANTS! Hats off to you if you know what I was referencing just now, lol.

I've said this a lot, but I really love the Remnants of Despair. They're my favorite part of the Danganronpa story, and I think they're criminally underused. There's just so much potential to explore and work with, and it's something that plagues my mind 24/7. Their designs are awesome, their psychology is interesting, and further exploring them not only paints a more detailed picture of the characters, but of the Danganronpa world as a whole. In this post, I'll be talking about EVERYTHING, from what they did, to how they look, whatever comes to mind, really.

For those of you who have forgotten the details of the Remnants, never played or watched UDG, or just never watched the episodes of the anime where we get information about them, here's a recap.

So, hopefully everyone reading this is familiar with the cast of SDR2. That group of students are the ones who go on to become the Remnants of Despair (+Hajime, even though he was just a reserve course student at the time). While they were at Hope's Peak, they rarely hung out with one another. Their teacher, Chisa Yukizome, rounded up everybody and made them start coming to class so they could form connections with each other. This class of students consisted of Teruteru, Peko, Mahiru, Ibuki, Hiyoko, Mikan, Gundham, Nekomaru, Nagito, Chiaki, Fuyuhiko, Sonia, Kazuichi, Akane, and Imposter pretending to be a character named Ryota Mitarai (who will be discussed later in this post). After a few days of knowing each other, and a certain soup-related incident that I will not ruin this post with, Chiaki is named as the class representative.

As each day passed by, the class grows closer together, and closer to people outside of class as well. Chiaki makes friends with Hajime, and Mikan finds out about the real Ryota, and about Junko and Mukuro. Junko uses Mikan as a test subject for her despair video, and it works on her. She doesn't show up to class anymore, and one day, someone spots her on campus, so everyone goes searching for her. Nagito and Chiaki stumble across a hidden passageway, where they find Junko and Izuru. Nagito is injured in the interaction, and Chisa provides a distraction for the two of them to get away.

I fear I am jealous of Nagito here lmao. Chiaki and Nagito go back to the rest of the class, who found Mikan, and they all decide to go back for Chisa. Meanwhile, Junko has already brainwashed Chisa, and her master plan is set into motion. The class walks through the secret passageway, and Mikan separates Chiaki from everyone else. Chiaki runs into Chisa, who leads her to an elevator that takes her to a dungeon-like obstacle course, full of spikes and boulders. She must escape to get back to her friends, and Chiaki actually manages to reach the end. Unfortunately, she's been tricked, and she gets impaled by multiple spikes, dying from her injuries in a scene I will never forget.

The others are shown the footage of her death, and they begin to feel despair over the traumatic loss of their friend. Taking advantage of their anguish, Junko begins to play her despair video for the class, brainwashing them into Ultimate Despairs, who are then let loose to cause chaos in the world. The next time we hear about them as an active group, it's at Makoto's hearing for disobeying the Future Foundation to help them. There, we get this picture.

Whoever designed them ate, I fear. As the Remnants of Despair, they use their ultimate talents to spread despair in unique ways, from building weapons of mass destruction, aiding other subsidiary groups of despair, to tyrannical takeovers of certain parts of the world.

Anyways, Makoto manages to rehabilitate them in SDR2, and its a happily ever after for them as reformed, wanted dead or alive war criminals <3 But, a lot of what they did, with the exception of Nagito, is left up in the air for us fans to theorize about.

Speaking of Nagito, let's talk about Servant first. Nagito basically became a single father as a Remnant. As Servant, Nagito's job is to watch over and aid the Warriors of Hope, consisting of Masaru Daimon, Jataro Kemuri, Kotoko Utsugi, Nagisa Shingetsu, and Monaca Towa. He's the only Remnant that we really get to see in action, being a pivotal character in Ultra Despair Girls.

Nagito is unique from the rest of the Remnants in many ways. He's not expressly violent like many of them are, preferring to be more manipulative in his methods. Despite his title, he pulls the strings of a lot of things that happen in UDG. When he's not making milkshakes for those tyrannical little gremlins, or being outed by Kurokuma, he's blackmailing and kidnapping members of the Future Foundation, like Toko and Byakuya respectively. He's tricking the kids, working under the guise of being subservient to them and their want to create a paradise for children, instead working with Monaca to bring about Junko's successor.

He also has a very strange relationship when it comes to Junko. While a lot of the others seem to view her as their leader, he hates her with every ounce of his being. That's the entire reason he's working to bring a form of her back after her death. The idea of her being alive once again causes him intense despair. He even says that he's jealous of Makoto, because he wanted to be the one to kill Junko himself. He despises her for turning everyone away from hope, including himself. But, he also still seems to have some kind of twisted appreciation for her as well, stating that she's the woman he loves and hates the most. After the plan to create Junko's successor falls through in UDG, he decides to raise Monaca to be Junko's successor herself, stating that because he loves and hates her so much, he can recreate her perfectly.

Nagito's also one of the three Remnants who actually scavenged from Junko's dead body, the other two being Mikan and Fuyuhiko. Nagito took Junko's arm, replacing his own with it. Looking at it causes him despair, since now she's stuck as a part of him. It's unclear what else he did, but we know he was just as, if not more, overzealous about it as he is about hope. It's his maniacal nature that manages to turn Monaca off from despair in the anime, saying that she'd rather not end up as crazy as him. For a character who was so determined to usher in a new era of despair, the fact that Nagito was too crazy even for her, speaks volumes. Don't worry, these other sections won't be as long, since there's not much info about them besides fanon.

Next up, Kazuichi Souda. The only bit of real content we get of him is a small compilation in one of the episodes, showing him working on a large Monokuma robot. This Monokuma robot was featured in the end of Ultra Despair Girls, nicknamed 'Big Bang Monokuma' by everyone's LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER, Haiji Towa. Haiji is nasty, and if you like him, he's one of the characters I CANNOT see why you'd like him. Haiji likers, DNI.

Anyways, aside from working on Big Bang Monokuma, it can also be inferred that he would go out with weapons and either supply or fire them in crowded areas. After all, there's only one character we know of who would match the dude in the beanie.

I personally believe that Kazuichi was mainly responsible for two major things. The different Monokumas that can be found around Towa City, such as Ball and Junk Monokuma, and the executions from THH.

My biggest piece of evidence for that above claim, comes from Kazuichi's free time events, where he says that he wants to build the fastest motorcycle ever, even though he'd be too scared to ride it. Aside from being the only character in this lineup(apart from Izuru) who could feasibly make the executions, Mondo dies from a motorcycle that can go fast enough to liquify him.

Also, I think that each Remnant went against their personal life goals mentioned in the final episode of despair arc, to create maximum despair. They are asked to state what they want to do with their lives, and they say things like "solve all diseases", "create peace treaties", "increase animal welfare" etc. Kazuichi says that his personal goal is to eliminate all pollution from the atmosphere, so I think he'd be responsible for polluting the air even more, dumping oil in the seas. He is the reason the sky is red, and why Hope's Peak needs an air purifier for the participants in that game. Poor guy, when he's not simping for Sonia, he seems like an actually pretty chill person to be around, especially in those final episodes.

Speaking of Sonia's simps, next is Gundham. We see him in that compilation, surrounded by all sorts of animals. Snakes, elephants, giraffes, you name it. Though, notably, the Four Dark Devas/Twelve Zodiac Generals (all hamsters, the devas are part of the twelve), are absent from the line up.

It can be deduced that Gundham released dangerous animals from zoos and sanctuaries, letting them run amok through major cities. He managed to rally the animals together, training them to be very destructive, and ultimately uses them in battles against the Future Foundation.

Gundham doesn't have anything he sets out to do with his life, at least nothing he voices in the final episode, so maybe he wanted to create a safe place for animals to live happily, and weaponizing them would cause him despair.

To explain away the disappearance of his hamsters, I think he released them as a final act of humanity and care for them. I think he knew that he'd be mistreating all the animals he held dear, and he wanted to give the hamsters a chance to escape. ESPECIALLY if he's going to be having snakes and birds around them, that's a recipe for the hamsters to be eaten.

I feel very bad for Mikan. She was the first one that fell to Junko's influence, the first one to be rewritten in such a way. She even watches the video a second time, which means she's probably one of the most far gone.

Like Nagito, Mikan is one of the three Remnants who took a body part from Junko's corpse. She took her uterus, and replaced her own with it, in hope's of carrying on Junko's legacy. She's also the one who probably attached the arm to Nagito, and the eye to Fuyuhiko.

In the final episode, Mikan says she wants to create a miracle cure for all diseases. As such, I can see her poisoning medical supplies, much like the real-life Tylenol Murders. She would probably hurt those who are sick and weak, and quite possibly experimented on people. As a medical professional, she was probably responsible for making sure the Remnants who frequented active combat against the Future Foundation were healthy and in peak condition.

I've also seen some people say she probably worked on ways to brainwash people through chemicals, and likely used captured Future Foundation soldiers as test subjects.

Akane and Nekomaru are the fighters of the group. They go out, and their main job is to cause as much stress for the Future Foundation as humanly possible. They're both heavy hitters, and that'd definitely be a hard thing for the Future Foundation to beat.

Akane's goal for her life simply boiled down to eating her fill of food, while Nekomaru said he would support everyone's dreams. I think he may have acted as support for the other's plans, kind of freelance depending on which Remnant required his services at the time.

We know one of the Remnants starved themselves, I believe it was Akane. Food brought her joy, so to cause despair she limited herself. In the anime, she's seen with abs, but I think they were just scared of showing her ribs. It's honestly a wonder that she would be able to fight at all. She fights with everything she's got, running off of despair, spite and mania.

Fuyuhiko and Peko occupy a similar area as Akane and Nekomaru. In fact, I think Nekomaru and Akane probably partnered with or joined Fuyuhiko's group of soldiers. All four of them fight against the Future Foundation, keeping their field agents on their toes and actively fighting against any sort of helpful effort by them.

In the final episode, Fuyuhiko says that he and Peko will lead the people in the Kuzuryu Clan down the right path, since he doesn't want to keep perpetuating violence. He wants them to get good educations and lead good lives. Peko says that she'd never kill again. For Peko to be actively fighting in battles across Japan, means she's actively causing the pain she didn't want to. Peko wants to be seen as more approachable, so to be one of the main Remnants in charge of causing chaos must be awful for her. For Fuyuhiko to take a step back and use the people in his clan to cause despair, he's also violating his life goals, and his want to not be reliant on the Kuzuryu Clan. It's the same reason he wants a degree of separation between himself and Peko in SDR2. He doesn't want to be seen as weaker, and he doesn't want to use the people around him.

Imposter is definitely an enigma character. There isn't much information about them when they're not in disguise as either Byakuya or Ryota (who deserves his own post, what I have to say may be a hot take). You can infer though, that they're actually a very caring person. When they notice Ryota engaging in unhealthy behaviors, they make sure that he eats and sleeps when required, and assumes his identity to give him a break. You can also see it in-game, where the more you hang out with them, the less they act like Byakuya, and more like a kind leader figure. Personally, I call Imposter Touya, since it sounds like a combo of "Two" and "Byakuya", and people already call them Twogami. It also means ''all the more, increasingly'' like their talent.

In the final episode, they aren't in disguise as anyone, and they say that they could become anyone they want, including the president. There's a strong desire within them to become their own person, to be seen for who they are, and not as the person they're impersonating.

It's intriguing, as in Remnant form, they're dressed like Byakuya. I think that Touya assumes the identities of various important figures in society, and infiltrates certain organizations whilst doing so. Since they're currently acting as Byakuya, I think Touya has infiltrated what's left of Togami Corporation, and is working to destroy their reputation. Maybe after Byakuya joins the Future Foundation, Touya tries to make it look like he's betraying them during different missions. Maybe that's why he's never out in the field unless it's absolutely necessary.

Teruteru Hanamura. I think there's a consensus on what we all agree he did while under despair. In the final episode, he says that he will feed everyone tons of nutritious food, and end world hunger. On top of that, he's someone who values his family a lot, especially his mother and siblings.

Teruteru is implied to use drugs in his food to make it taste better. It's an already disturbing theme with the food-oriented ultimates, with Ruruka using Seiko (the Ultimate Pharmacist) to enhance her sweets. In Teruteru's free time events, he feeds Hajime a simple rice ball, and Hajime leaves that interaction feeling like he's been drugged from how drowsy he is. Teruteru also keeps drugs around his food normally, evidence being the infamous soup scene. He may have poisoned his food, or used certain drugs to manipulate people to do bad things while in a weakened state of mind.

There's also an almost mutual agreement that I've seen in the fanbase, that he possibly turned his family into food. For how much he values them, I could definitely see that happening as a possibility, and it's such a terrible thought. For the life of me, I hope that isn't the case, and that Teruteru's mom and siblings are still out there in the world, ready to reunite with him once things have cooled down.

I've lumped Sonia and Mahiru together because this is the only picture of Mahiru as a Remnant. Anyways, starting with Mahiru, I think she traveled across the world, taking pictures of all the destruction and carnage as a result of the Tragedy. She likely also blackmailed high ranking officials and celebrities, bringing them under the thumb of Ultimate Despair and granting them more power over the general population.

In her free time events, Mahiru states that her mother was a war photographer. Her mom would go to scenes of destruction, take pictures, and sell them to news outlets. Mahiru says that, while she respects her mother, she doesn't want to take pictures of war. She wants to capture people's smiles and happy scenes of people living their lives. Going around and taking those sorts of pictures amidst the worst event in human history would definitely cause Mahiru despair. That can be seen in the picture as well, taking pictures of Sonia, likely declaring war or commencing public executions in her kingdom of Novoselic.

At the end of the final episode, Sonia says that she wants to make Novoselic into a peaceful kingdom, one with no wars. Once she becomes a Remnant, she forces her people to commit mass suicide, declares war on nearby countries, and executes people in her own country, supposedly including her parents so she may have sole power. The people who do not die in her initial takeover are likely added to the Novoselic army, serving under her and for her every whim. For someone who wanted to be seen as an equal by her peers, and not treated differently for her status, I can see her feeling very upset with herself knowing that she ruled her kingdom with tyranny and terror, and made people treat her as such a higher power.

Next is the girl group duo, Ibuki and Hiyoko. I think their combined abilities probably made the other's very potent, and its an interesting team-up. They aren't shown doing anything too bad, merely putting on an evil concert.

In the final episode, Ibuki says she wants to use her music to spread happiness, while Hiyoko says she wants to use dance to spread joy.

I don't really know what they would've done to spread despair. Maybe Hiyoko hit the griddy and it made people very upset. In actuality, I believe that Hiyoko probably employed methods similar to snake charmers, and managed to work in some form of hypnosis into her performances. That would be able to turn the masses against one another, and against other people.

Ibuki, on the other hand, definitely worked subliminal messages into her music, causing people to perform certain actions or think certain things for despair. Swifties but evil. Her music was probably also engineered to cause the most discomfort, with screeching guitar riffs and loud drums. Headaches and injuries would be prevalent at their concerts. I can also see Ibuki just smashing her guitar and wielding it as a weapon if facing off against Future Foundation members.

You can even hear a sample of her music on Spotify, since in the final episode of the anime, the rehabilitated Remnants go to help the trapped Future Foundation members, and she plays a song to incapacitate the brainwashed Future Foundation members. Listen if you dare!

It's finally time to talk about my BOY! I want to save some of my thoughts for his own post, and I honestly think this post is getting very long. For context, I started writing at 3pm, and it's now 10pm. Granted, I watched a movie and did some homework, but that's not the point here. I don't classify Izuru as a Remnant of Despair. I know he is one, but his circumstances are different. To understand Izuru, we need to start with Hajime.

Hajime starts the series as a reserve course student, someone with no talent, yet he idolizes Hope's Peak. He wants to be an ultimate so badly, that he'd do almost anything to do so. He has a bad habit of comparing himself to other people around him, basing his self-worth against theirs. So, in a school full of exceptional people, he's at an all time low. He has no friends, and feels like his goal is out of his reach. For as much as he wants to be an ultimate, we never get an idea of what he wants his ultimate to be. He has no plans for what it is, all he knows is he wants one. To feel important. To feel special. Because he doesn't see himself as anyone of worth.

He is approached by a group called the Steering Committee, which Tengan is loosely involved with. They propose the Kamukura Project to him, which is meant to give him a talent. He obviously really like this idea, but the idea of getting a talent artificially rubs him the wrong way. It's unknown if his parents know what's been proposed to him. One day, thinking by the fountain, he meets Chiaki, and they quickly become friends, bonding over video games. After that, they meet up regularly to game and talk by the fountain. One day, Fuyuhiko's little sister, Natsumi, ends up in his class, and he briefly meets her. Towards the end of the day, he finds her crying by herself, saying that she wants to be seen as the Ultimate Little Sister because Fuyuhiko only deserves the best in his life. Hajime starts to apply this to his friendship with Chiaki, believing he's not worthy of being her friend.

Still, he tries to keep his chin up and not let it bother him. He's hard-headed and hasn't been broken down yet. That's shattered when he tries to go to the ultimates course building for an important question (WATCH THE ANIME) and he gets beat up by Juzo. That very day, he meets with Chiaki, tells her to make tons of memories and have lots of fun for him, and then on, they never see each other again.

He accepts the Kamukura Project, and they begin at once. In the anime, it's done as a very quick procedure, but in real life, it'd be months and months of surgeries, mental conditioning, and medical tests. Soon, Hajime is completely erased from his mind, and is replaced by a figurative blank slate they name Izuru Kamukura. Interestingly, they call him Izuru Kamukura 1.0, implying there were supposed to be more after him. He was essentially a beta test, one that likely wasn't meant to make it this far. They likely expected him to die from the experimental procedures.

He is left on his own for days on end, until eventually Junko finds out about him. Her and Mukuro go to his little room, and try to get him to join despair. He initially declines, not seeing the purpose behind doing so. They invite him to the student council killing game, and there he feels some semblance of an emotion, so he continues. He is there, lurking in the background for many subsequent scenes.

The scene that is most important is Chiaki's death. She dies slowly in that scene, and Izuru is there, watching her. She recognizes him, reaching out towards him because he was her friend. At her death, he finds himself actually feeling something.

He's crying. Something he didn't think was possible. It is unknown if Hajime's repressed pain and despair was so powerful that it was finally felt in this moment, or if Izuru was just intrigued and confused by the idea of someone using their last moments to reach out to him. Nevertheless, he sticks with Junko's plans for despair, and is the reason she even ends up in SDR2. He's still effected by Chiaki's death long after this scene, expressing what can be confused for anger at the end of UDG when Junko starts to mock the way she'd greet him. He rips the wiring out of Shirokuma and Kurokuma's heads, taking only what he needs for the plan.

Izuru wasn't brainwashed, at least, not by Junko. The Kamukura Project deserves it's own post, but here's the rundown. He is supposed to be the Ultimate Everything, in peak physical and mental form. The surgeries needed to give him the strength capacity for the athletic ultimates would've involved breaking every bone in his body and rebuilding him from there, strengthening him enough to be able to launch Mukuro across the room with a flick of his hand. He would be injected with a cocktail of chemicals, made to increase mental abilities like memory, and possibly growth hormones for certain aspects of his body. That would explain why his hair is so incredibly long and dark, and why his eyes are red.

On the mental front, yes, he'd undergo numerous brain surgeries. Likely around the hippocampus and amygdala, they'd sever connections related to his original identity, which would also damage his ability to feel. Your emotional receptors are in those areas, and maybe ruining those sections were by design. After all, Hope's Peak is shady, and maybe they were trying to create some kind of unfeeling superweapon. Theory for another day. They left him near emotionless, with all the logical processing needed to complete any task needed, like a robot. They left him purposeless, craving entertainment of any kind. This makes him easier to use, easier to employ as a tool. If he is lacking purpose, he'd do anything you ask in order to feel anything other than emptiness. This is something Junko appeals to, since despair would be unpredictable and exciting for him.

I think he grows bored quickly, since after a while, anarchy becomes its own kind of order. There is still humanity in Izuru, he holds onto Chiaki's hairpin, and when Makoto finds him, he's nurturing a flower.

This scene is part of the reason why Makoto believes the Remnants are able to be saved. An unfeeling, despair-ridden monster wouldn't take the time to be so kind to something as small as a flower.

This scene is so moving when you watch it.

I think as a "Remnant", Izuru was merely an observer. I don't think he did anything except watch, only intervening when he felt it'd provide him some entertainment. Once he got bored, and only had Junko's USB stick plan, he'd probably find some way to make it easier for Makoto get everyone together, if only to enact that plan for that final bit of entertainment.

Is it obvious that I love Izuru?

Original Creator: Jayce Jole on YouTube

I spent a while learning psychology, and it's always been a big interest for me. Like with the factors pertaining to Izuru, the Remnants also have unique traits that explain why they act the way they act.

They were brainwashed by the subliminal messages that Ryota and Junko had placed in the video, that's why they're so deep in despair. But what is brainwashing? Brainwashing is a form of mental conditioning, that can essentially reprogram the mind to adopt radically different beliefs, ideas, and morals to the ones already carried by the victim. Brainwashing is not mind control, but it's conditioning.

They had their morals completely rewritten to align with Junko and despair. That's part of the reason I think Nagito is as different as he is. I think hope was such an engrained value within him, that he still holds onto despite his despair. The mental reprogramming is in constant conflict with his closely held beliefs.

There are many real examples of brainwashing, most notably within cults and real-life criminal organizations. They take advantage of vulnerable people, and make them change everything about themselves to align with these new ideas. Junko took advantage of their grief over seeing Chiaki die so gruesomely, and changed them fundamentally. They are not inherently evil people, they were not mind controlled into being evil people. They are people who were taken advantage of and conditioned into going against who they were. It's so saddening, they're teenagers, teenagers who should be going into job fields and colleges and living their lives, instead of terrorizing the world. Grief is a powerful, yet human emotion, and it's one that was easily controlled and manipulated by Junko. That's why Makoto took a chance on them as well. He didn't see the terrible people they had been turned into, he saw the hurt, grieving people underneath and wanted to help them.

It's also sickening how Junko only did all this so the Tragedy would carry on while she was masterminding the Hope's Peak killing game. The Remnants are nothing more than a backup plan to her, people she views as "not useful". They only exist to keep spreading despair while she is away, and that's sickening. She brainwashed them and not her own class, BECAUSE she doesn't value the Remnants. She cared about her classmates, so she wanted to feel the despair of watching them suffer. She merely saw the Remnants as tools, ruined their lives just for her own benefit.

I think there could have been an entire anime arc about them. Show Makoto, or Ryota, or some other character trying to rehabilitate them. How did they manage to track them down, and bring them to Jabberwock Island without dying or being discovered by the Future Foundation? How did they manage to stabilize them enough mentally to enter the Neo World Program? How did Izuru manage to get that USB stick past whoever was helping them? What were they like after waking up from the NWP with all their progress erased? If the survivors were normal, how did they handle seeing their friends in such a state? What impact did they do to the world? They could provide a clearer image of the Tragedy itself, which isn't really explored past Towa City, and even Towa City has only just recently been affected by the Tragedy. I think there's so much to explore, and so little attention actually given to them.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND ME YOUR ART, YOUR HEADCANONS, YOUR FICS, YOUR CONFESSIONS, YOUR PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE REMNANTS! I WILL EAT THEM UP LIKE I AM STARVED! I WILL SUP FROM THE WELL OF FANON AS IF IT IS THE FIRST DRINK OF WATER I'VE HAD IN DECADES! I NEED TO CONSUME EVERY BIT OF MEDIA ABOUT THEM!

I'm so normal, I'm so normal, I'm so normal, I'm so normal-

Anyways, after Dangantober is over, I may introduce my Danganronpa OC to this blog (not as a roleplay thing, but just to yap about him). Mainly, he's a former classmate of theirs, and he's part of their rehabilitation process because I NEED to chew on it like I'm teething.

Here is an edit I made of Chisa Yukizome, and the Remnants (it's short, it was my first one), to a Miss Delight edit audio. Please enjoy it, I was so proud when I finished it <3

Is it obvious now just how much I love the Remnants? They NEEDED more screentime, I'm not kidding on that front. Imagine everything that could've been explored, how much of their actions was the brainwashing, and how much was them acting out in twisted grief?

What did each person do while under despair? Was any guilt felt? How did they react after being rehabilitated? How are they living now with the knowledge of what they've done?

They were just grieving kids, kids who were taken advantage of and used for evil purposes. But I also agree that the Remnants are not blameless in their actions. They must live with this guilt forever, constantly on the run for what they've done, and yet, they have each other.

When I found out that UDG was SUPPOSED to be about facing the Remnants of Despair as either Makoto or Komaru, before it was changed to be the WOH, I was UPSET! Someone, PLEASE MAKE THAT A REAL GAME, I'D PAY YOU EVERYTHING IN MY WALLET AND BANK ACCOUNTS!

Make merch of the Remnants, all of them, not just the Servant pop-up parade and Izuru plushie.

[menstralcycling]

Here I am again for some personal hc abt Sonic and friends, this time its more character focused! I have been cherry picking form all canons bc you can't stop me lmaooo. So lets start with world building a lil starting with sonic? idk

Sonic is the eldest of a set of triplets. He doesn't talk about them much since he "ran away" [really he was sent away after his father was murdered by his mother for some bullshit prophecy that never happened and he's been bitter about it ever since lol]

It's not a secret, but he doesn't go and tell everyone he meets.

He's basically an orphan with no history - that's how he wants it to be. Sonia and Manic check in on him every once in a while, make sure their big bro is healthy and whole. The Queen is unaware they're in contact.

Tails and Amy know his full history [Tails was told, Amy saw it in her cards and weaseled full answers out of him]. Knuckles knows there's more to his history but respectfully doesn't care. Vector and the rest of Chaotix found out through some digging but promised Sonic not to tell anyone. Rouge has several inklings and while she's nosy as hell, respects Sonic enough not to pry unless needed. Shadow has no fucking clue lmaoooo. Basically, it's the worst kept secret that only the public doesn't know about.

That thing about him being from Christmas Island was only said bc reporters kept bothering him and he just came back from having lunch with Sonia and Manic from that very island so he just said that. They believed him lmao.

Sonic is home/houseless by choice. He doesn't feel the need for a whole house to himself, but he does have a room in Tails's place to keep his stuff and to sleep over if the weather is bad. The guest room at Amy's is always open for him and he's even got extra shoes and a few pairs of socks and gloves at her place. The couch is always available at Chaotix and Rouge will even lend him the couch at her place... for a price. Other than that, Sonic just sleeps where ever whenever.

this is getting long again so under the cut it goes!

Sonic found Tails when he was around ten and Tails was 2-ish[he'd been alone since he was 4 - his guardian Longclaw dying mysteriously shortly after being entrusted with his care. Sonic doesn't remember much, only that he was to find his Uncle Chuck and stay with him - only to find his uncle died during the raid that seperated him from his family and his mother thought it best he stay with Longclaw - she didn't know the owl had died]

Sonic tried to find his family and found the village he was from but the village and even Tails's own parent rejected him because of his mutation. Sonic got mad and decided to keep Tails.

For several years they slept in burrows in the woods bc, well, Sonic was just a kid himself. But he managed to get some funds to buy a house for Tails.

Tails admits he doesn't remember much before the house, being so young and all. Just that Sonic was rather quiet [mute] and very protective of him.

Manic and Sonia have met and love Tails. They were the reason Sonic managed to find a home for their lil bro lol - don't ask how 3 12 yrs olds managed to buy a whole ass house - Mobian children seem to be highly independent and capable.

Sonic actually really does love Amy, romantically, he's just scared and super shy. He has no idea how to confess but somehow Amy just knows and is infinitely patient [especially now that she's mellowed out in her mid-teens lmao]. They aren't dating but neither of them have looked at other people out of respect for each other. If they do find someone interesting they talk to each other about it and try not to get jealous jghadjhgjdhg It's complicated.

Sonic's relationship with Eggman started when he was 7. Eggman was tracking a weird chaos signature and found and captured Sonic. After realizing the blue spiky thing was in fact just a child, he kinda keeps him??? Like a weird kid he was babysitting only testing his chaos limits and his speed. At seven he was going faster than most race cars - not quite breaking the sound barrier... yet.

Ivo was the one to make Sonic his first shoes since his feet burning via friction was part of the reason Sonic had troubles going full speed. At first Sonic cooperated with everything Ivo asked bc he thought he found a parental figure - even giving the old man a nickname due to his funny shape and love of eggs.

Until, Sonic found out he was abusing Chao and using Flickies to power his robots. Sonic rebelled and destroyed the place he called home for the better part a year.

It would not be the first time Sonic has had bad interactions with adults. In fact, Vanilla is one of the few adults Sonic trusts without question.

Amy was Sonic's first friend! Amy knew where to find Sonic and she was genuinely the first person to be actually kind to him in so long he basically became her bestie in minutes lol [this was a few months before Tails.]

Sonic can feed off his chaos energy if needed like Shadow - but he can't do it indefinitely, the longest he'd ever done it was during the Phantom Ruby incident - Eggman and Infinite rarely fed him so he was forced to use his chaos energy to not starve to death. It fucked him up for a while after. He's fine dw.

Let's move on to Amy!!! My sweet girl!!!

Amy does regular tarot readings and Sonic will even play along. He's not sure if he believes in any of it, but he can't deny Amy's instincts on the matter. Mostly she uses Sonic as practice since she already knows his fate lol.

Shes from Little Planet ofc, and since she's from there she's both older and younger than she appears. I have this hc that Little Planet and Mobius have a weird relationship with time. On Little Planet she could be 12, on Mobius 14, on Earth 16. It's strange and simultaneous. Especially during convergences.

As such, she's actually a clairvoyant! In fact most people "native" to Little Planet are, but subtly so. Amy cannot not control what she knows or can know - her cards help focus but really it's just intuition.

If she trained more, she could actually be stronger that Knuckles, but she's too busy for that! She's got too much going on - as long as her hammer can still crush an eggbot with little effort - she's happy!

Amy's school girl wold crush on Sonic has expanded to a more soft love and while she's endlessly frustrated by how Sonic dances around her without the proper courting ritual, she's genuinely content. She can wait, they have their whole lives and they're literally like 15....probably. Time is weird.

Time for the all time fave of mine since i was just a kid.

Tails has always been smart ofc ofc. He was talking before Sonic found him alone in the woods - having been left there by his parents who couldn't take being ostracized from their village any longer.

Tails wants to hate them, but he can't. Sonic didn't raise him to hold hatred in his heart. He found them when he got older and told them of all he accomplished, ending with a "I have a better family now". The Prowers are proud but it's too little too late. Tails sometimes visits them - it's rare though - he's a busy fox!

Sonic did build the og Tornado and knew how to fly from Eggman teaching him. Sonic then taught Tails to fly after the little fox figured out what was wrong with the engine.

Sonic also taught Tails the ancient hedgehog language that very few know anymore - mostly bc Sonic was pretty much mute at first. Between Tails coaching him and Amy's encouragement, Sonic started talking... and then never stopped lol

Tails makes enough money to support both him and Sonic via his patents and odd mechanic jobs he does. this doesn't mean Sonic doesn't rake in enough cash to cover the electric bill.

Tails is also a Chaos user! He can't use it like Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, etc can though, its more passive like Rouge. He uses it to fly! [Come one guys, there's no way spinning tails is gunna lift him and those wings Rouge have are way too small to lift her weight, they def use chaos energy].

uuguhghgughg i had more but im hungry so i'll stop here. If anyone is interested in a character from the sonic franchise or my sonic kid ocs hit me up!

[lu-is-not-ok]

Sonya themed ask jumpscare

Of his design, there are a few things to note. First is how he wears a strap full of bullets on his leg [though he hasnt yet been seen with a gun to my knowledge, its in his bag maybe?] but bullets in The City are notoriously expensive, and while Hermann did mention how he 'burned all that cash' I must wonder why he wanted them in the first place is he already carries a perfectly suitable weapon.

Smaller details that stuck out to me are the eye like pattern on his goggles, and his hair. Namely the lite specs of blue in it and how it was described as 'hyaline' - a word both relating to a form of cartilage and a way to describe something with a glassy appearance.

Onto his role in the story going forward: I believe that cantos 1-3 all set up the three major forces we shall be dealing with for the remainder of the story. N corp with canto 1, Demians group in canto 3 and the Yurodiviye in canto 2. Now at first it was unclear how exactly the YRDY would be able to have as much influence as the other two, but TKT sorted it all out. While Hermann represents the power held from corporations and Demian the power gained from the outskirts/stars/things that aren't fully understood, Sonia then stands as the representative for the power of people - namely in terms of tenacity and shear staying power.

He very clearly has connections to both Hermann and Demian, through both the chat at the end of canto 2 and the fact he's got the mark. This puts him in the position that oddly enough many though Asaeh was in before his icon was fixed, as one wearing multiple hats for his own gain. He does not hide his cause.

He actuallt reminds me a lot of Ayin. However this is already quite long and my brain is currently a plate of scrambled eggs so I shan't elaborate further. Plus I am not sure if what I've got is actual analysis or my desperate want to talk about Ayin again.

Only tangentially related but the author of C&P has also written a book called 'White Nights'. Neato.

That's all for now, we got like 2 hrs til we hopefully get a teaser and I'm bring so normal about it. I swear.

Ok let me go through this one paragraph at a time because Sonya is one of those characters that makes me go a little insane as well. Read more because. Yeah.

Point 1 - The Bullet Strap

The design detail of the bullets strap on his leg is intriguing and one I didn't notice initially. I went through to look through Canto 2 CGs of Rodya's flashbacks and all the Yurodiviye related character sprites in the recent Intervallo to check if this is something that's a part of the standard Yurodivy uniform and what I've found is... interesting.

For Canto 2 Yurodiviye, the only one whose legs we see clearly is flashback Rodya, and she doesn't seem to have that same strap as Sonya.

However, for TKT, something interesting happens. All of the Yurodiviye in District 20, including the Detective captain of their group, wear straps on the same leg as Sonya... except instead of bullets, the straps have a bag attached.

That difference in uniform between Rodya and this branch of the Yurodiviye is notable because of how differently they see Sonya. Rodya sees Sonya as someone with big ideals but not enough initiative to actually see them through, meanwhile the District 20 Yurodiviye look up to him so much as to call him a Saint, a term which we recently learned can refer to the most high-ranking members of the Dieci, the association that deals with knowledge (thank you Dieci Meursault uptie story). This difference in opinion would explain why these Yurodiviye are more invested in mimicking Sonya's uniform more closely, whereas Rodya's seemed more distinct and thus more distant.

Of course, the difference between the straps holding bags for the Yurodiviye while it holds bullets for Sonya is not lost on me. As you mentioned, bullets are expensive, which means it makes sense for the District 20 Yurodiviye to not be able to afford them and thus resort to using the strap to hold something else to have it still serve a similar function. Though it does bring up the question you posited: how was Sonya able to afford his own bullets?

It's important to note we don't ever get to see whether or not Sonya had the bullet strap before Rodya left the Yurodiviye. The only CGs we get to see his legs in are ones where his current self invades the flashback Rodya is having. If he got that after she left, it's possible his cooperation with N Corp granted him enough support to get the ammunition. Note that if Hermann is to be believed that Sonya would burn any and all cash he was granted, it's not impossible for N Corp to just give him bullets out right instead.

On a more symbolic side of analyzing his design, the bullet strap is a subtle way to show Sonya's own turn towards more direct action after Rodya left, while also emphasizing how he goes about that more direct action.

Just like a gun firing its bullets, Sonya's "direct" action is him telling people around him to do the deeds for him. Whether it's through inspiration like the District 20 Yurodiviye, or whether it's through networking and sending his people out to take money from the rich like we see in Canto 2. He's not the bullet actually breaking through a wall, he's merely the finger pulling the trigger. He aims and gives command to fire, but that's where his involvement ends.

Point 2 - The Goggles and Hair

This is something I touched upon in another post I made about Sonya, so I'm gonna be brief. Sonya's visual design with regards to his eyes, hair, and accessories, has a dual purpose.

For one, it implies that Sonya is albinistic. The color of his eyes, the lack of pigment of his hair to the point it's described as glass-like, and the inclusion of eye protection and gloves (accessories that is lacking in other Yurodiviye) points towards that idea.

This directly correlates with his own tendency to try and avoid the spotlight and redirect it to others whenever possible, see my point earlier about how his direct action involves sending other people out to do his bidding + his actions before and during the game in Canto 2 are all in favor of pulling attention away from him, such as deflecting Aida's comments about him by calling her the protagonist of life, or constantly asking Rodya questions to put the spotlight on her.

For two, it makes his design a direct opposite to Rodya's, matching with their opposite tendencies with regards to being put in the spotlight. Rodya's design is notably plain for what you'd consider a Slavic woman, with wheat brown-blonde hair and blue eyes, whereas Sonya's is extremely distinct with his purple eyes and hyaline hair.

And yet, like I mentioned earlier, Sonya is the one that wants eyes off of him, while Rodya is constantly trying to be the center of attention whenever possible. They're major foils to one another down to their visual designs.

Point 3 - Sonya and Yurodiviye's spot in the story

Ever since the first batch of Cantos, Sonya struck me as a sort of double agent between the New League and Demian's Blue Man Group. We know that he clearly has connections with both, but the fact that the color his name is put on in the dialogue box is purple, the mix of red (associated with the New League) and blue (associated with the Blue Man Group), only further adds to that idea.

Plus, I feel like his attitude towards Mirror Worlds and their usage should also be pointed out. Whereas Demian directly states he wants the Mirror Worlds to be left alone, comparing their exploitation to that of stealing chips from a bag, Hermann is on the other spectrum of that through wanting the desctruction of all Mirror Worlds.

Sonya is somewhere in between, clearly wanting to make use of them to bring about what he sees as his ideal world, but not wanting to touch them beyond that.

I think the above fact combined with how he acts in the Canto 2 post credit scene is leading to the possibility of Sonya outright betraying Hermann and the New League, which would make sense with how his side is meant to represent the common people. Project Moon ain't subtle about their critique of capitalism, so it only makes sense for Sonya to eventually turn on the representation of the power the Wings hold.

Which, speaking of that, I want to note how Hermann manipulated people to her side through exploiting Mirror Worlds. Yes, her main goal is to destroy all of them, but she's willing to twist the truth when trying to get other people to her side. With her and the New League representing the power of the corporations, those empty promises and white lies feel especially fitting. That sort of "Well if you join us we will keep This One Specific World You Want alive just for you" and "Well since we're already destroying them wouldn't you like to destroy this specific part of each of them with us" shit she's been pulling.

Point 4 - WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHITE NIGHTS IS ALSO A DOSTOYEVSKY REFERENCE-

Ok. No. Anon, you can't drop a bombshell on me like that. WhiteNight is one of, if not the most important Abnormality to Lobcorp and thus Project Moon lore. It's one of the Carmen abnos. It's the final Abno boss alongside Apocalypse Bird. It's symbolically tied to the White Nights and Dark Days event through its name, one of the most important events in the fucking series.

And. Here's the thing Anon. If that's true, then that means Dostoyevsky's works being consistently important to PM lore is no longer just a coincidence, it's a pattern.

You see, there's another important Crime and Punishment reference in this series outside of Rodya's existence, it being the other abno tied to WhiteNight.

One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds.

You see, this abnormality's name? It's a reference to a fucking quote from Crime and Punishment, and a pretty notable one in that!

Now, mind you, the exact wording in the version of the quote is a bit different, likely due to differences in translation, but it's pretty fucking close don't you think?

One Crime, One Sin. Thousands of Good Deeds, Hundreds of Good Deeds.

Add to that the fact that One Sin is always the first abno you get in every LobCorp playthrough AND acts as an instant alternate way to defeat WhiteNight, and the fact that these two are both named after Dostoyevsky references should start raising some eyebrows.

With all of that pointed out, I'd like to adress the potential importance of both Sonya and Rodya in the wider plot of Limbus Company, based on the fact that Dostoyevsky references have been highly important to the lore from the very fucking start.

Let's start with Sonya. He and the Yurodiviye are in a bit of a unique spot compared to all the other factions Limbus Company is contending with. While sure, both the New League and Blue Man Group have a leader who is directly tied to one single sinner (Hermann tied to Gregor, Demian tied to Sinclair), we see that it's not an exclusive connection.

We know from Canto 5 that Rim, someone from the League of Nine, is definitely a part of the Blue Man Group, and the New League has not only two former members of the League of Nine (and is named to be a replacement for that group), but also Jia Huan of Hong Lu's family fame is there too for some fucking reason.

Sonya and Yurodiviye are thus far the only faction that is only connected to one single Sinner - Rodya, and thus only connected to a single source - the works of Dostoyevsky. The fact that Sonya is all but stated to be the connection between the two other groups and the effect he's had on the City thus far only add to his future importance. I don't think I need to go on about that for much longer.

That only leaves Rodya's importance undiscussed. Thus far she's the only Sinner to have recieved a "second Canto" in the form of TKT heavily focusing on continuing her character arc, but that doesn't really say much. For all we know we could see something similar be done to both Gregor and Sinclair at some point in the future. No, there's something a bit more subtle potentially going on with Rodya.

However, to explain this, I need to go on a tangent.

Let's put this out here: The Little Prince is the single most important book with regards to Limbus Company's running themes and motifs.

The "Seeing with the eye vs Seeing with the heart" motif is the single most long-running and important theme throughout the work. Demian directly says the fucking quote at the end of Canto 3 and consistently references the Little Prince whenever he appears. Blue Man Group is set up to be the ones who see with the heart, while the New League and N Corp as a whole are set up to be the ones who see with the eyes. Eyes and Hearts keep coming up in random places all over Limbus. The fucking name of the game and company itself, Limbus, can refer to two different parts of the body - corneal limbus, a part of the eye, and limbus of fossa ovalis, a part of the heart.

Why is all of this important? Because two of the Sinners explicitly have their symbols be a Heart and an Eye respectively, that being Rodya and Hong Lu. Add to that the fact that, similarly to Rodya and Sonya, Rodya and Hong Lu are essentially foils of each other with regards to how they view the world , and the fact that they're assigned the numbers 6 and 9, which in numerology are associated with yin and yang, which we know PM loves making references to spirituality and religion, and all of this is just a big ol nothing Game Theory that I'm just spitting here.

The rundown is this: Rodya and Hong Lu are both associated with symbols that are seemingly tied to key motifs and themes of Limbus Company and PM games as a whole. Rodya's focus through TKT and her connection to the one faction that isn't tied to any other Sinner makes her stand out. PM seems to fucking love making Dostoyevsky extremely important for some fucking reason.

All of this to say I would not be surprised if Rodya turned out to be one of the most important Sinners out of the cast.

...This post was supposed to be about Sonya. Whoops.

[logansdogmotif]

yellowjackets 3x03 (specifically the last third/quarter of the episode) was kind of giving the andy muschietti 'it' movies? like from the advert until the end of the episode felt very strongly reminiscent of the style of direction from those movies and also the individual personalised hallucinations felt very stephen king. specifically in van's case with the arms grabbing her from behind the chair and the fire had strong similarities to the visuals of the scene of mike's first encounter with pennywise in 'it' (2017). and in the advert as well the man with no eyes showing up (i really don't think he (or somebody who looked identical to him) was actually in the advert, it was either tai hallucinating him there or him trying to reach her in a more upfront method than just hanging around in shadowy corners), was strikingly similar to the kid's show often on in the background of 'it' where pennywise projects himself, most notably to convince henry bowers to kill his father, also watched by sonia kaspbrak and al marsh. i'm really just reaching and rambling here but if the parallels somehow turn out to be intentional - all of the characters who watch pennywise onscreen in 'it' are villians, then that could serve as support to the arguement that a lot of what we've been seeing of adult tai this episode (and even all of season 3 so far) has been other tai? either way i find the similarities sooo striking and i have no idea what any of this means if it means anything? but if someone smarter than me could analyse this it'd be much appreciated <3 also the camera angles during the schoolroom dream sequences screamed the 'it' brand of kooky horror to me. ALSO how they keep literally calling the wilderness 'it'?? verrrry interesting. i've always been team 'there is nothing supernatural going on!! trauma!!' but honestly this episode may be changing my mind. especially the man with no eyes showing up in a non-taissa related sequence he's soooo pennywise for that i feel like the man with no eyes is gonna be so much more important this season. i really like the theory that he's working against the wilderness because that sets up a large scale conflict that doesn't have the same inevitability final-destination-core of the yellowjackets trying and failing to fight whatever 'it' may be.

anyway excited for coach ben's mock trial next episode i also wanna see more of the two other yellowjackets we were semi-introduced to this episode. new genlissa?

[rekino2114]

I'm all for a part 2 on the chiaki comforting fic. I like sonia too, though at first I didn't like her, lol. Gundham, I feel neutral towards even if he is kinda cool to me.

Chiaki nanami with a cheated on reader

Part 2 to this

Pairing:chiaki nanami x male reader

A/n:I had the same experience with sonia, gundham is like top 5 gd characters for me but that's just cause I like theatrical and dramatic characters, chiaki is still my favorite though.

It's been two months since your relationship with sonia ended, and while you were still hurt about that, thanks to your friends, and especially chiaki, you had kinda gotten over her and felt a lot better

"Hm chiaki....is everything alright?"

"O-oh yeah Hajime don't worry about it"

"Are you sure? You seem to be staring at y/n a lot"

"........do you think he's OK?"

"Oh, you mean after the thing with sonia, i think he's doing alright, nagito told me he seems way happier now, even when sonia or gundham are near him"

"That's good"

"You really care about him, don't you?"

"Y-yeah, I really do, if I have to be honest I think I love him"

"....yeah...it was...pretty obvious"

Chiaki blushed before sheepishly looking at her friend

"W-was it really that obvious?"

"To be frank, yes, you always look at him with loving eyes and blush and turn away when he notices you, not to mention how angry you got when you found out sonia cheated on him"

"Can you blame me? Why did that princess cheat on an amazing guy like him anyway? Only thinking about it makes me mad"

".....right, anyway I think you should confess"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think he likes you too, he looks at you the same way you do to him"

"Oh I never noticed"

"Well, neither did he, so I guess you were made for each other"

The gamer laughed at Hajime's joke before gaining a determined look on her face

"Ok I will"

"That's great he's right there, I'll be rooting for you"

She gave him a smile before walking to where you were

"Hey, hey y/n do you mind if I talk to you for a while?"

"Oh, of course, especially since it's you, chiaki."

"T-thank you"

She sat near you and took a deep breath

"Y/n I have something to tell you, I think I'm in love with you"

".....really?"

"Yes, for a long time actually, even before you and Sonia broke up, I obviously couldn't tell you that while you were dating. when you broke up, I was incredibly angry at her but also a bit relieved that I could reveal my feelings"

"........"

"I-if you don't feel the same, then I hope we can still be friends"

Chiaki thought your silence meant a rejection, so she closed her eyes and waited for embarrassment, but instead, she was very surprised when she found her lips being kissed by yours but quickly melted into it

"I love you too chiaki, you helped me so much with my breakup, and I couldn't help but fall for you, I'd love to be your boyfriend"

"That's amazing, thank you so much, I promise I will never ever cheat on you or treat you like Sonia did"

"Don't worry I know, you're not the kind of person who'd do that"

"I'm glad you think so, I already love you so much"

"Me too"

You two kissed again before chiaki pulled a Nintendo switch from her backpack and began playing with you. Both of you very happy of your new relationship

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

Thank you women 🫡 May we have their names? I don’t know all of them. -☀️

(anon is referencing my recent gifset of sonic women!)

Sure! I put them in order of debut/release date. I realized while making this that I messed up the order of Shade and Merlina so I swapped em.

Amy Rose - first debuted in 1992 Shogakukan manga

Sally Acorn - SatAM and Archie canon. Was first created for SatAM but debuted in the comics first as a promo.

Bunnie Rabbott - SatAM and Archie canon. Same as Sally.

Breezie - Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog; she also appeared in Archie but with a diff personality. She was one of the few recurring female characters (along with Ms Possum and Mama Robotik) but since her appearances had actual arcs for her I picked her for the set.

Dulcy the Dragon - SatAM, wasn't as major in Archie iirc. Debuted in SatAM second season.

Seira - Sonic OVA, 1996.

Sonia the Hedgehog - Sonic Underground, 1998. I considered including Aleena as well but it's hard to find decent shots of her and she's barely onscreen. Also was hard to find a good shot of Sonia but that's just bc I hate the animation in this show.

Tikal the Echidna - first debuted in 1998's Sonic Adventure. Appeared later in Sonic X (where the gif is from) and I want her to come back pls

Lumina Flowlight - only appearance so far is Sonic Shuffle in 2000, but she's a major presence throughout the entire game.

Rouge the Bat - first debuted in 2001's Sonic Adventure 2. Gif is from Shadow Dark Beginnings.

Maria Robotnik - same as Rouge

Cream the Rabbit - first debuted in Sonic Advance 2 (2002)

Vanilla the Rabbit - first debuted in Sonic Advance 2 (2002). She appears more in supplementary materials (comics, Sonic Channel) than the games proper (hence why her gif is from Sonic X), but she does so enough that I felt safe counting her as a major character.

Ella - Sonic X. Secondary character who appears through almost every episode of seasons 1-2.

Topaz - Sonic X. Secondary character but major due to her partnership with Rouge as a GUN agent. Also her and Rouge are kinda fruity. Appears in seasons 1-2.

Cosmo - Sonic X season 3. Pretty much the main character of that arc.

Blaze the Cat - debuted in Sonic Rush (2005).

Wave the Swallow - debuted in Sonic Riders (2006).

Princess Elise III - major character in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).

Shahra the Genie - major character in Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007).

Marine the Raccoon - major character in Sonic Rush Adventure (2007).

Shade the Echidna - my darling light of my life. Major character in Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood (2008).

Merlina - major character in Sonic and the Black Knight (2009).

Zeena the Zeti - debuted in Sonic Lost World (2013), hasn't appeared in the games since but has reappeared in the canon IDW comics.

Sticks the Badger - major character in the Sonic Boom franchise starting in 2014

Longclaw - Sonic's original guardian in the Sonic film franchise. So far her only living appearance has been in 2020, but her hologram appears in the 2022 sequel and she's directly referenced in the 2024 film.

Maddie Wachowski - Sonic's adoptive mother in the Sonic film franchise, debuting in 2020.

Sage Robotnik - major character in Sonic Frontiers (2022), is likely to appear in later games

Trip the Sungazer - major character in Sonic Superstars (2023).

Ariem the Ram - major character in Sonic Dream Team (2024).

There were plenty of comic women I wanted to include but this was a gifset and comics don't, well. Move. So some comic girlie shoutouts:

Shogakukan: Tania

Sonic the Comic: Tekno, Ebony and Pyjamas

Archie: there's a ton and I still haven't read it in full so I probably missed a couple, but I know Julie Su, Fiona, Mina and Hope are pretty major

IDW: Tangle, Whisper, Jewel, Belle, Lanolin, Surge

And bc the image limit on tumblr is 30, I had to narrow down my initial list. Special shoutout to Aleena, Helen SonicX, and Rachel and Jojo SCU.

[basicallykiyotaka]

So, you know how my most popular post on here to date is all about soudam and how much I love them, right? Well...

that post has actually spawned a long-fic! This story is being written in collaboration with @eyedovesart and he's pretty cool. He draws art for some of the scenes sometimes. We've just posted chapter ten today but you can read chapter one right here in this post!

AO3 STORY LINK:: Click Here!

Glass Houses - 82, 525 words - 10/30+ chapters Rating:: Mature Fandom:: Danganronpa Relationship:: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham Characters:: Soda Kazuichi, Tanaka Gundham, Hinata Hajime, Nidai Nekomaru, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko, Koizumi Mahiru, Saionji Hiyoko, Sonia Nevermind, Pekoyama Peko Tags:: Post-Game(s), Post Canon, Present Tense, Developing Feelings, Mutual Pining, Trust Issues, Idiots in Love, Feelings Realisation, Eventual Smut, Making Out, From Sex to Love, Past Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn Other Notes:: Gundham and Kazuichi are rather explicitly autistic in this story so it comes up occasionally. This story does explore their past relationship as remnants however what happened between them is implied rather than explicitly shown/stated. And as stated above, there will be NSFW in this story - not quite to the explicitness of a smutshot but it will certainly be there when we get to it. This all takes place after the games but before the end of Future Arc so they're all close to their mid twenties.

Chapter One Below!

Gundham sips his juice pouch. He isn't especially fond of hospitals, and technically this isn't one, but he'd still been stripped down to a patient's yukata upon pod-extraction and given a once-over on his way out. He's also been receiving regular 'Do you know what day of the week it is? The year?' sort of questions since then, along with other similar tests of his cognitive abilities, his memory, and physicality. He wasn't 'in there' for long, and 'dead' within it even shorter, but long enough for it to take some toll. It took him a day to regain his ability to speak, and he's harshly aware that the bits and pieces of human language he had picked up over the past few years have fled his consciousness, much like he'd been a half a decade ago. It feels odd to compare himself to 16-year-old Gundham, but that is who he's been most recently, isn't it? And so it makes sense that that's who he'd feel most like. He certainly doesn't want to feel like Gundham from only weeks ago. He squeezes it and chews hard on the straw. The juice is gone, but he's still gnawing away - he's not entirely ready to talk to anyone yet and knows it will be expected of him the moment his mouth is free to the world again. Besides, if by chance some extreme amount of eviscerating plastic with his teeth would get him released from the faux-sterile prison, he would like to at least give it a shot. Maybe they'll return him to his cabin now?

When he looks up there are eyes on him, and they do not seem to be ones ready to hand him a cottage key. Hands folded politely in his lap, Nekomaru is staring down at him with great force, and Gundham is holding his gaze right back, squinting, scowling, making himself look busy with his juice pouch. They weren't able to recover any more of his clothes. The place he'd told them about, where he'd been holed up before it was determined that they should 'turn themselves in', has been destroyed in the time since his capture. The Future Foundation scarcely enjoys knowing he is alive, and so it logically follows that he'd be told that they would absolutely not spare members to search through rubble for his comfortable boots or his custom-tailored coat. Disappointing nonetheless - so for now it's generic clothing that makes him feel underdressed. Exposed. Plain. Masked. He has his scarf, though. It still smells vaguely of gasoline, and provides some cover for when he'd like to hide away. He doesn't get away with his juice gambit forever. He knew he wouldn't, but the fact it's all over in one small, fatal mistake of idly lifting the scarf's edge up to his nose and burying part of his face in it, which seems to indicate in the (no longer) tinman's eyes that he's ready to take on the day, is crushing.

"You feelin' better?" Gundham grunts a negative, but his rehabilitator must take it as an affirmative, because he claps a hand onto his back and shakes him around with a laugh, "Good! Told you you were probably just runnin' a little low on fuel. Know how that feels." Nekomaru nudges him but it’s really not that funny. "Ready to get a move on, then?"

The exercise portion of his easing back into analogue life has been rough enough...Gundham's logic goes straight to the next possible alternative, and the iciness of anxiety that blooms out of his black hole core begins to draw him in. His knees lift off of the floor onto the side of the cot he's sat on and he pulls them into his chest, guarding the frigid hole there. Maybe he can backtrack. "...If the heavenly mare has drawn aback the coast's silver-foam fractal—"

"It's high tide, anyway. You're movin' alright, I want to get you talkin'!"

Fuck. In a fraction of a moment, he assesses all the possible implications. There are some that have still yet to awaken from their simulation-induced comatose states: Mikan (her 'unstable reference of reality' had been noted as a potential cause, citing Gundham's own experiences, which he's not too keen to re-explain, especially with the Alter Ego program so chipper and ready to spell out to him his various neurotic tendencies - and her absence is hence the reason Nekomaru is in charge of his...rehabilitation), Ibuki (something to do with Despair Disease and its complications on the physical body, potentially), Byakuya - Ryota? - The Nameless One and Teruteru (both still having their simulated actions monitored), and Nagito  (under near-constant medical surveillance, usually by Hajime (‘Izuru’?), but occasionally handed off to the next-nearest capable technician). They are off the table. Even if they weren't, his interest in them is...minimal. Unless they've suddenly made a very large decision and he's going to be carted off to speak with the Future Foundation members again, the most comfortable interaction of ‘ talkin'’ he can hope for is Peko or Sonia. And despite the talks they've had, briefly and against Gundham's better judgement (and perhaps his will, if one were generous in allowing him to still have one), Kazuichi has been...

...on the roster. Of potential alive-and-well candidates to re-introduce Gundham to.

Mostly-scarf, he looks up with as rancid an aura as he can possibly radiate up at Nekomaru, who's already standing. It's too early, surely. Surely Kazuichi is in some throes of sleeplessness so intense that introducing a companion would be foolhardy and fruitless. Or perhaps asleep! Maybe he's even still in bed! Gundham hasn't been given the time to put on his face. It's all raw, rough and scarred and covered in too-pale, overblown, shaky-handed jagged tattoo lines and eyebags that aren't even cool looking , just sickly.

The good-naturedness vacates Nekomaru's face. Gundham doubles down. Remains seated. "Listen, we can do this the easy way if you wanna."

"There is no easy path to redemption."

"You said it! So we're doing it the hard way, then? Brave! I like it!"

"I will not be taking consultations under the current moon phase."

"Moon better change within the next ten minutes, because that's just about how long I'm giving you before we wrestle it out again."

"Power is not my limiting factor! You know for certain I would destroy you!"

"Gundham, pal."

The look says all it needs to. To spend eternity locked with what is to remain of the squad of archdevils is his fate, and the sooner he comes to terms with their confinement here with him, the sooner he may begin to fraternise again. It did feel nice, once. Perhaps somewhat uniquely among his peers, he was sent into the Program with a deep heartache that mirrored that in his young self in many ways - lonely then, and lonely now. The feeling of having hope after so long is still tantalisingly close. It feels closer and realer than that of the before-times, anyway, not that he can rely on this relativity forever. No, inevitably, there will be more misfortune. Misfortune that he has the ability to allay by his own hand if he is to just lock himself away. What a lot of good isolation did him, though.

The tinman, back in his fleshen suit, sighs heavily and puts the meat on his mechanical bones to awful use. "We're doin' this as a team. I know we scuffed it the last couple tries, but that just means we oughta try again. I know you're screwed up," Gundham tries to parse the expression on his face, but is too distracted in scowling at the way Nekomaru insists upon having his pinkie finger up one nostril, "but you don't have to be perfect to get out there."

Gundham squints.

"...Come on, are you gonna step all over the gifts you've been given?"

That one hurts. He scoffs and averts his eyes, looking at the corner of the room. Naegi - yes, despite being his underclassman, he feels it necessary to refer to him with a little bit of tact - has given him too much. More than he deserves. A considerably large cage stands by the door, and a great racket radiates as its inhabitants in each section prepare separately for their slumber. Hajime has given him too much. Nekomaru has given him too much. It's not unlike having a bowl of food set expectantly in front of him, to see Nekomaru stand by the open door - thankfully, when he flicks the detritus he's dug out of his cranium it's outside of Gundham's temporary quarters and into the hall instead - all but begging him. But isn't Kazuichi also behind the clatter of glassware? Is he not stood there, pleading more quietly, to let him alone? To leave him to his devices? Surely. Gundham stands up. If he's going to do it, he's going to be efficient about it, and he is not going to pout further. He will clean himself up and face the battle ahead. 

Nekomaru flashes him a grin. "That's right. I know forcing you doesn't make it feel like any accomplishment...but being able to do it at all is good for ya."

"The tourmaline maul…" What remains of his lineage of Devas are coming off of quite a break from close husbandry efforts, but he has not been stopped from bringing them everywhere with him yet. "...are you spontaneously darkening his doorstep with the Hells' finest?"

"...what? No..."

Gundham coaxes curious hamsters into his sleeves, expecting Nekomaru to explain, but he does not. He huffs, closes the cage door, and stands, relieved slightly by the little feet and claws on his skin as his soldiers find their formation. He bows and flourishes Nekomaru out of the room. He'd take the lead if he knew where they were going, but he's been trying his best to keep from being privy to Kazuichi's day-to-day activities. If he were, his excuses to stay away from him would number less and less. Please have it be so that Nekomaru had at least warned Kazuichi of their arrival.

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

"...you're kidding, right? What does Gundham's rehabilitation have to do with me?" Kazuichi was staring at Hajime as if he had said the strangest thing in the world, wires still in his hands from an automatic door he was messing with on request of his other classmates. It'd been a little while since the man in question had emerged from the program, much to the joy of everyone. Kazuichi's certainly glad he's alive, but it's not like they talked. They just didn't really have that kind of relationship, at least he didn't think so. In the Program itself, he and Gundham hadn't been close. They hardly spoke, and when they did, they'd just argued. Those memories were the freshest in his mind and while there were plenty of older ones that confirmed that dynamic, there were other ones that gave him weird feelings. Ones that made him feel like...they weren't friends but they weren't not friends either. Anything complicated like that, Kazuichi has opted to shove away for the time being. Contradictory school memories and most of his time as a 'remnant' were things he'd rather not pay attention to with far more important things to worry about. In other words, he was trying to be as mature and put together as his peers were. Not that it always worked.

"Nekomaru thinks it would be a good idea." Hajime had explained. "You two will be seeing each other more sooner or later, and as his support, I trust his judgement."

"I get you're super smart now, but seriously? That guy doesn't exactly like me."

"That's not the point. It could be helpful for you, too."

"In what way? Besides, I'm—"

"Not busy with anything I can't handle."

Kazuichi frowns. While it was pretty cool his friend had become a super genius, it did make him feel a bit less useful. The one thing he provided for the group wasn't even uniquely his anymore so it left him with… Feelings he could unpack at a much later date.

"Consider it practise. All you need to do is do what you always do. Showing them some normalcy can be helpful."

But wouldn't normalcy with Gundham just make everyone involved stressed out? He doesn’t want to outright say no, but it's not like he has any idea on what he should even say to the guy. It'd be weird if they had a regular conversation. Had they ever had a regular conversation? So he sat fiddling with a wall clock as he waited for Nekomaru and… well, it felt a little rude to call Gundham any sort of nickname right now, even in his head. They might not be on good terms, but Kazuichi is deeply aware of what everyone is going through right now and sort of feels like he might be cursed with cosmic karma if he makes fun of someone so casually right now. He waves when he sees them, his smile turning awkward as he and Gundham make eye contact. He looks worse for wear, the intense glare that are his eyes not at all helping. Maybe it’s a mix of poor sleep and depression, but Kazuichi is hit by an aura that makes him uncomfortable. And he had to hang out with this guy for how long? "Hey, Nekomaru," the awkward feeling is in his tone and he busies his hands with his screwdriver as he tries not to direct too much attention to the other man, "You needed my help, right?"

Anguish.

At least it's a relatively quiet area. Neutral ground. Good for introducing animals to each other - no established territory. Gundham can't help but still feel distressingly submissive to the gaze, though, and so...holds it. Strongly. He doesn't pull it up, but he does lower his face into the scarf around his neck while he stares with great intensity at Kazuichi. He's not been addressed. He won't say anything… "Wise action," he mutters, referring to the way Kazuichi avoids his eye and directs questions away from him. But that's all he'll say! That's it. He just needed the one.

Nekomaru touches him again, giving him a pat on the back, and his expression somehow continues to harden. "Yeah! Here. Sit down," the hand on Gundham's back guides him to one of the breakroom chairs. He doesn't sit at first - just squints at Kazuichi, trying to convey that he's quite resentful of the whole interaction, and so, as a result, if Kazuichi is also quite miserable, it's only mostly his fault, but not entirely. Nekomaru has no small part in it. Kazuichi can't at all hide his visible discomfort. He knows Gundham doesn’t like him,  but…this is a lot more dislike than he had anticipated. He can’t exactly blame him, but it made this whole thing a lot harder. How could he play nice if the guy looked like he was trying to make him drop dead with just a look?

"I'm gettin' breakfast for real. You eaten yet, Kazuichi? I know Gundham hasn't." Nekomaru breaks the ice for them.

"Of course I ate!" Kazuichi says rather proudly as he moves all the parts of the clock he has scattered around the table closer. "I needed to fix a door this morning so I had to eat early." Not that Nekomaru would approve of how much he had eaten, exactly, but he decided he didn't need to know that part. He glances over at Gundham again. Does he really need to be burning holes into him like that? He knew he wouldn't want to talk to him, but it was way worse than he thought it would be. Maybe it isn't just him; Gundham is pretty antisocial after all. They make eye contact. Kazuichi feels like he should say something yet nothing comes, his eyes darting around only to settle back on his little project. He picks up one of the gears of the clock. It wouldn't distract him for very long, but it would help. As long as Nekomaru doesn't leave them alone. It would be bearable.

…But of course, the next time he looks up it's just Gundham left in the room.

The look on Gundham's face softens… a little. His average look still includes a dark lingering shadow under his brow and permanent lines in his forehead, but he takes this time to avert his eyes, finally giving both of them a break. He knows it wasn't pretending - that while they'd spent time together in the Dream, they didn't know each other. It wasn't a conscious effort to ignore and be ignored, and so if it were to stop now, that would make the most sense. Like initiating a greeting after a long absence. And if he doesn't, likely, the spiral will continue from there, ever onward, worse and worse, until the rift between them is too wide. Would he mind that terribly, though? He raises a hand to scratch at his cheek. The noise causes one of his soldiers to move to that locale and sit, warm, under his ear. He turns his head to put his lips upon them and gives them a quiet kiss on top of the head. It helps the pounding of his heart. A little. "You may speak," he says, eventually, lifting his face from his scarf, coursing with momentary confidence as he folds his hands on the table. "Align yourself with the trajectory you most desire and bask in the benevolent whim of the reborn son, who will fall in your pace this once."

That causes Kazuichi to frown. It's nice to know Gundham isn't different, but it also serves to annoy him. "I wasn't waiting for permission." It's weird, really. In recent memory, he hardly grasped any of that flowery language but now he suddenly does. It makes sense, he would've spent more time with him in the past, but it hurts his brain to just know things now . "You don't want to be here any more than I do, so there's nothing to talk about." Asking the basic questions would just lead them in circles and it's not like he knew enough about Gundham to know anything they could even discuss. Though, him initiating the conversation like that implies they're not going to be separated for a little while yet. Annoying. Soon, the ticking of the clock joins their silence, a smile spreading over Kazuichi's face as he turns it over to watch the hands move. With everything he's built, pulling apart and putting back together a clock is a breeze, but it doesn't stop the spark of joy he gets from completing it. "Now we can actually read the time." He says to himself, standing up and walking over to a far table that he climbs on top of in order to remount the thing. He seems awfully proud of himself, wandering back over only for his mood to easily sour upon remembering the situation.  "...the, uh...that clock apparently stopped working, so I was fixing it." He awkwardly explains as if Gundham couldn't have guessed that.

Gundham follows him with his eyes. The dry irritation doesn't quite make it through, and he knows it. "What necessity of time telling do we have in the enemy's lair," he mutters - it's...sort of a joke, sort of intended to...he doesn't know. Engage? "Tossing you clocks for your scheduled enrichment..." He makes a little scoffing noise, and, now focused on watching the second hand tick around, looks at Kazuichi only briefly out of the corner of his eye, "You're sure its mechanism only failed? Have you not learned your lesson in sniffing about for foul play?" Maybe it's a distasteful joke, but he's been hanging around Nekomaru, who's been routinely making much worse ones.

"...yeah, I'm pretty sure it failed." Kazuichi gives him a weird look, an uncomfortable one. "It just had a couple of loose parts." He'd much rather not imagine someone was messing with the clock intentionally. After everything that had happened...it would just be horrifying if anyone was thinking like that. "Besides, kind of need to know the time if we need to have any meetings. Aren't schedules important for your animals or whatever?"

"Kff..." Gundham steels his nerves, but the slight deflating of his confident figure is still noticeable. He loosens up a little with a roll of his shoulders. There's so little to look at in here...at least within the Dream things were constantly happening. If Fuyuhiko had gone to bed when he should, and if as a result Gundham had forfeited his body...at the very least, his life would be much more straightforward from here. Certainly wouldn't be dealing with this, all for someone to bring him breakfast he'll likely be struggling to keep down later, anyway.  Today is not a good day for this. He shouldn't be here. His mere presence poisons the room. "They...are indeed. Your enrichment is still a honed talent and necessary service," he gives in through a clenched jaw, not quite disgusted with himself enough to shut up. After a period of time much too short to truly think through the consequences of such an action, he says, "...How is it you've distinguished between the unrelenting and eternal ill hand you were dealt since the conception of your being, and curses bestowed in despairing haste, ones that yet may lift with effort?"

Kazuichi stares at Gundham blankly. He might be a bit better at understanding him, but that didn't mean he could catch everything. He groans, leaning back on the chair. "Yeah man, you sound like you're spouting nonsense," He narrows his eyes, a long silence between them as he tries to decipher even one thing from the question. "...nope, I got nothing." He shakes his head. "I kind of get it, but the words you're saying in that order don't really..." Kazuichi frowns, awkwardly rubbing his neck. He should be patient. That's something he is trying to be better about.

A cold sweat breaks out over Gundham, and he crosses his arms over his chest while he tries to think of another way to phrase the question – not an easy task. He stares past him for a moment and, less than politely, tries again with slight variation: "...You have a sense now for which runes inscribed upon your soul are permanent and familiar. Which ones spurred your rebellion and bolstered your defences long ago...and which...and which to carve away. Which were designed at the gem-studded serpent queen's behest. Yes?"

Kazuichi looks even more confused. "Are you trying to give me a puzzle? I know you can speak normally, dude." He leans forward, resting his head on his hand as he closes his eyes tight. "You're saying..." He pouts in concentration. "That now that I have my memories...how do I...know what's real?" He opens one eye as if to try and gauge Gundham's expression, scratching his head in frustration. "Man, if that's all you wanted to ask, you could be a lot more straightforward! It's too early for brainteasers! How do you even think them up so easily..." Regardless of if he was right or not, it's what Kazuichi has gathered from it and he isn't going to deal with another unnecessarily long question. "...I guess...I don't? I don't think anyone does." He stares off at a wall, the conversation much more serious than he is personally eager about. "Why? Are you worried about something?"

Gundham opens his mouth to correct him, but finds that either way, the conversation seems to be nearing the points he'd intended to hit. It's understandable that the others aren't keenly interested in sharing thoughts of their purposeful transgressions to humanity's very essence, but...but he can't figure out how they can just move on, either! He can't. It taints his every breath. "It would be foolish if I weren't." While true, he glosses over that admittance and continues, his crossed arms turning more into a self-hug. It's cold in here - he's cold. That's all. "You experienced these distortions more linearly than I did, right?" Kazuichi was one of the survivors. Gundham remembers very little except a great scrambled mess from after his passing, including the grand image of their Ultimate Blueprint; Miss Enoshima. "And so something in that time unlocked within you a hunger strong enough to awaken you, even to the prospect of reparation that awaited beyond the veil. And so you did, willingly, with fervour. "I just wonder how. What really changed? I'm still the same being I was, anyway." He's already had this conversation with others, to varying degrees of success. None of them have had answers that satisfied him.

"I think you have the wrong idea. The only person who really changed was Hajime." Kazuichi looks uncomfortable just thinking about it, grabbing his braid and tugging on it. "I did what I had to to get to reality, yeah, but it's not like any of it is gone..." How should he put this? He hadn't really talked about any of his feelings with anyone. Gundham was actually the first one to even ask a question close to how he was doing and he gets the feeling it's more for personal closure than anything else. It's not that anything in him had changed, he was just following the tide. He was doing what he needed to do to help his classmates and Future Foundation. If he stops to really think about anything he'll probably be just as depressed as Gundham is, so it isn’t an option. The world is still in disarray and his life is still on the line. In many ways, it's like he'd never left the killing game in the first place. Though, instead of explaining any of that and telling Gundham how he was being so headstrong about it all, he groans in a rather defensive manner, "Why are you asking me, anyway? If you're looking for advice I'm the absolute wrong person to ask. You've got friends, ask them!"

Even with the venomous answer, Gundham mentally notes it. No one has changed. It's new, at least. Sure, it's probably true in a strictly logical sense, but there's been so much talk of being renewed, second chances, renewed hearts and minds. Even the more morose of them - Sonia, notably - has told him about some sort of switch inside, as if there were something he could do to flip it back to 'hope' should he just dig around enough. It is selfish in nature, but the fact that Kazuichi has said anything other than 'you have to find it yourself', or even 'here's how I figured it out' and then went on to say things that Gundham had either already tried or didn't understand, is fascinating. He places his sock-covered heels onto the chair beside him and rubs his knees. It looks painfully casual in these clothes, a motion that's meant to make him feel powerful and intimidating. He hums an acknowledgement. "I have ," He can't help the way his voice rises - in fact, if he even notices, it's not clear, because his tone isn't especially angry, just intense. "Whatever journey they are on, it is not shared with mine. Not an uncommon occurrence in the unlife of Tartarus' warden, but it- sucks ."

Honestly, Kazuichi is just surprised Gundham had said that in such an easy to understand way. And he sort of understands; having people you care about but none of them being open with you about what was going on. That was something that happened often in his own life. Not because he didn't ask, but because he just...wasn't someone people went to to vent. This isn't the conversation he had expected them to have, but at the very least it felt normal. He feels like for the first time in a while, he and Gundham are just two people. They don't really show each other vulnerability and Kazuichi isn't someone who found such things easy to handle, but...it is better than just being annoyed. He stares at the table. "There's a reason I'm not helping rehabilitate you guys so...don't take this super seriously." He doesn't even glance up, looking like he's actually having a hard time coming up with his next sentence, "But we're kind of...just not trying to think about it." At least that's what he's doing, so he assumes that's what was going on with everyone else. "Naegi is doing what he can to make sure we're not gunned down, and we're all working to get everyone together again. After that, there'll be talk of rebuilding Japan..." He looks exhausted just thinking about it. "There's not really any time to be down in the dumps about anything."

"What then for the pit-beast who has spent his aeons at the apex of the antlion's trap?!" It's much easier to get a little snappy with Kazuichi than it is with Sonia or Peko, he finds. "Scarcely do I remember how I escaped the dumps in the time spent fighting it." He remembers caring for his classmates, his stewardess, and his holy mother. Dearly. With the trinity scant a third of what it'd been, he sees more clearly that he'd always been... like that. He squints at Kazuichi and has a sudden desire for an equivalent exchange to take place as the universe works through him. "...but your reason is ? Who determined your unfit nature for such a thing?"

Kazuichi straightens up, getting more defensive now that Gundham’s sounding more upset. He thought he was being pretty reasonable in what he was saying, what made him feel like he had be angry with him about any of this? "Hajime...and Fuyuhiko...and Sonia... myself ." He sort of mumbles before shaking his head with a groan, "What's it to you, anyway? You clearly don't like or want my help, so why do you care if I'm helping with any of the mental stuff?!" Besides, his other question wasn't one Kazuichi could even answer. How do you stop feeling sad? The answer was you just don't , at least in his experience. You forget about it, but it's not gone. Even if he told Gundham that, he doubted he'd like the answer much. Or maybe he would – at least it’s realistic – but still . He'd practically admitted to only asking him as a last resort, so what’s he even looking for?

"The well from which I drink no longer matters to me. A desiccated spirit takes what it's capable of receiving." Really, it doesn't matter if it comes from Kazuichi or not. It'd be the same either way. But the information itself has value. The contact itself has value. Gundham shrugs, becoming defensive himself. Who cares why he's asking? He just is. He just wants to know. He would know better than any other what sort of input he needs in order to forge his own path, wouldn't he? Has he not made it excruciatingly clear enough that his mind doesn't operate on the same wavelength as mortal kind? "Through the haze of the Dream's domain though held on the riverbed I was, I still saw 'it'. Was not the ongoing action a plan to induce camaraderie?"

"That doesn't make any goddamn sense!" Kazuichi yanks his beanie off in frustration, stretching the material in his hands with an annoyed look. The dark roots of his hair that are showing are probably the only visual indication that he isn’t the same person he was several years ago. Not that he really acts like it. "There isn't some magic solution to make you stop being sad, so why are you getting angry at me about it?! You've got way more distractions than I do, why don't you focus on that? You can look at any god damn bird and list facts about it for hours, that's literally the easiest distraction any of us could have! Plus, people want to talk to you, so I don't know, maybe engage?" He can't exactly say why he's so upset, but he is, and...Kazuichi hadn't had time to create a verbal filter for himself. "You're asking how to stop being depressed, but fuck, that attitude is so annoying! Assuming I've got it all figured out and I'm just withholding it from you. You've got so much already right in front of you and instead of confiding with your friends and trying to be normal, you're acting like I'm a bad therapist! Yeah, all this is fucked up, we're all fucked up from it, but you actually have the privilege of being able to sit there and think about it so, I don't know, shut up about it for a while!?"

Gundham reacts with frustration, but no surprise. His shoulders, while before slowly tightening into a hunch, now drop with great drama. "What does it look like I'm doing?!" He sets his elbow on the table and leans his chin into it, "You run your mouth without knowing a single facet of what ‘ confiding’ I've been doing! I told you of my efforts! Oh, for shame, that I resist engulfing you in the depths of the frigid miasma!" He's not usually a sarcastic person, he's not sure why it's coming out this way, there's just something that nags him when it's Kazuichi doing the arguing. "My time dilates separately from the rest of you, but still have my few days passed before a blink of the eternal eye can take place!" Come on! Give him a break! He's less than a week out of the Stockade! "Not to mention no scry of mine upon your capabilities – beyond praise for your handiwork – has been made! Banish the thought! As if it isn't equally 'annoying'!"

"What it looks like is you're getting annoyed at me for giving you the best answer I can. Fucks sake, I watched you die! Pretty reasonable that I'm not open to talking about that and maybe you shouldn't be either! Unlike you, I'm busy. I have things I need to be doing to make sure we don't die for real, there's only so much I can offer you. I'm not your friend, and I sure as hell have no clue what I'm doing. I said that the way I'm dealing with it is ‘ I'm not’, why are you upset about that?" He can't even tell if they're really listening to each other, though him not really grasping exactly what Gundham is saying surely isn't helping their communication. He told him not to rely on his advice, and now he's getting upset that he’s been given bad advice. "Instead of wasting your time talking to me, spend time with your actual friends! Pretend that nothing bad ever happened, because that's literally the only thing keeping anyone sane right now! Focus in on the fact that the last thing you did was heroic compared to everyone else and put your damn narcissism to good use for once!"

Gundham puts his feet on the floor. Don't stand up. Don't stand up. Don't escalate this. "Then go ahead and replay the scene within your mind's eye as often as you need to find yourself peace in the karmic balance of it all! I do, quite often! 'Heroic'? Only in its end! In its intent, I was to fulfil my cosmic purpose! To bring about the End of All Things!" That's – not something he's admitted before. Sonia had spoken to him and spent so much time so absolutely convinced, giving him no breathing room to deny her – that the reason he had done what he did was solely, and entirely, a selfless act. And it was, in a way. He was not crushed by the outcome. He had weighed it as a possibility the entire time. If he had not been able to handle any of the possible ends to his journey he would not have set off upon it, but when it's directly in front of him, he won't say otherwise. No, the optimal outcome was his survival. Obviously. He didn't want to die. He was perfectly content with trading the remaining lives for his own. Again: if he wasn't, he wouldn't have done it. His voice is muffled as he shoves himself into his scarf, the clarity of his speech not helped by the fact that he's stopped shouting. "Being recognized for such a deed could bring me no comfort. How is bearing yet another mark of a killer forevermore a boon? I have failed in every sense of the word." Not even touching the fucking idea that he thought once that this is what he wanted so deeply, that his entire being is built upon the skeleton, calcified over great time in the hyper-concentrated evil solution he's been submerged in from birth. The idea that not wanting that mark in itself is a failure. Having been caught is a failure. Having been revived without Enoshima in his body was a failure.

Kazuichi glares at him, his heart beating in his stomach as he huffs. At least they both had the sense to not push this to where it became explosive. He pulls his hat back onto his head, looking off to the side as he grumbles to himself. "...you know, you're almost as bad as Komeada, with the way you talk about yourself."  And based on how they both feel about that guy, it is far from anything positive, "Yeah. It's kind of fucked up what you did. Wild that I was someone defending you before you admitted it. But...the fact that you folded so easily and let yourself be voted out says that you're not as evil as you say you are. Someone truly evil would've denied it to the very end and not show any guilt at all. You said yourself that you despise murder and those who commit it...so I don't think you would've been able to live with yourself if you'd won."

"You don't know true evil..." Maybe he...was proud of it...! How about that?! And that's why he gave in. Maybe it was hubris. But he doesn't say this, and from what he knows of the hex upon his mouth, if he can not say it aloud, it defies all reality. "That bothers me little. The entire act was crafted so to provide me minimal guilt no matter its outcome," Really, truly, he'd love to get off of this topic. The discomfort he feels about the idea that Kazuichi, despite his snivelling and crying and Sonia-centric mind state at the time, could still recall Gundham's (at the time very heartfelt) cry for understanding in his last moments among his classmates may well freeze him solid if he dwells on it too long. It was not a speech meant for him. The fact that he had digested it like that anyway is… disconcerting.

"If everyone is saying what you did was good and not your fault and whatever else...isn't it better to believe them?" Kazuichi won't admit how much he had thought about that case after it had taken place. It was a mess, and even if he wasn't on great terms with Gundham, it felt wrong to watch him die and be labelled a murderer. People liked him. He was considered an all round good person by everyone in their class. No matter how many times Gundham called himself a ‘Dark Lord’, it wouldn't change the fact that he loved animals. As sure of a sign as any that he wasn't a sociopath.

Another thing Gundham would love to say is that he is not in the business of simply believing and adopting the image that others project upon him, but here they are, his being constructed out of that exact thing, and there's very little that he can do to protect himself from the blowback that blatant a lie would cause. Although, the fact that his actions would have consequences is comforting in a way. Gundham shakes his head a little. "I'm not used to it." To praise upon his moral standings, he means, "Say I accept the nobility attributed to my acts, that because of my punishment I have been cleansed in the eyes of the council…" He's not sure he wants to go down that path, actually. He grinds his teeth audibly. One of the hamsters in his scarf nibbles on his jaw. Normally it may call attention to the action and allow him to release the tension - at this moment all it does is serve to annoy him. He puts a hand under the scarf and palms the little beast, petting it atop the head with his thumb. "...little would be left of me. Before you baulk, listen hither - I am well aware of the disbelief held about the contents of my blood. No show of magical force or paranormal pomp can portray to those without senses to pick up on such power the true essence of my being. I understand this. But this does not change the nature of the black hole that powers my flesh." The magic bit is 'put up with' at best, and I realise that. But it is the only frame of reference for a sense of self that I have.

Kazuichi is doing his very best to grant the conversation the seriousness it deserves, but he finds himself laughing despite the painful expression that spreads across his face. "Didn't think I'd agree with you on something like that..." He refuses to elaborate, though the way he looks down and swallows hard might be more than enough. Taking a deep breath, he leans back again, crossing his arms over his chest. "Bluntly, yeah, you did kill someone. A video game version of a robot, but still someone. That's fucked up. It's fucked up that you didn't tell anyone and it's fucked up that you made it so complicated. Nekomaru holds some blame in it, but maybe you guys were just too prideful." He sighs...this is so hard, "But you also did what you had to to survive. Fell into the psychological trap the program wanted you to fall into. It sucks, but it's natural. Whether we wanted to or not, all of us fucked up. But nothing at all is going to change it now, we just gotta...suck it up and try to be normal again." Kazuichi is full of that guilt and self loathing too. It was traumatic what had happened and the things he'd have nightmares about, but he couldn't surrender to the feeling eating away at him just yet. Every second of every day he feels like he wants to have a breakdown and tear out his own insides. He feels like he was just as bad as Despair made him out to be and hardly deserves the title of survivor. But what can he really do? If he lets himself fully process it, he'll feel worse and spiral into depression, so he acts like those memories aren't there. "Nothing you do will get rid of anything that happened or change who you are. But...if it helps you to tell yourself how much of a victim you really are, it's better to hold onto that and move forward." Then he pauses, groaning to himself, "God, I sound like Hajime…"

"Khh. Victim," Gundham doesn't like the word, but he isn't going to argue that it certainly sounds like that's what he's been unintentionally aiming for. He scrubs both hands through his hair, glad he hadn't had the chance to make it up yet this morning. The whole front goes grey, all of the white strands diffusing in tangles with the rest. When he's done it seems he's unaware that one of the hamsters has emerged from his sleeve and sat in the rat's nest atop his head because he looks down suddenly enough that it struggles to hold on and keep its balance, taking little handfuls of hair to steady itself.

His face in his hands, he just breathes for a moment.

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[heedzhee-art]

Hi! I've been learning about the history of Ukrainian names and how they were affected by Soviet policies, do you think Ukraine's most popular name, Kateryna, reflects her identity well? I don't get how it’s still common in English to use Russian words for Ukrainian people's names and cities (like Kiev)

(I'm copying the entire post because I deleted a paragraph I wanted to be in reblogs on accident, sorry)

Ukrainian "Catherine" is "Kateryna", the short version is "Katia", so yea. I actually sounds different in every Slavic language safe for russian and Bulgarian being almost the same

People may use russian words when naming places in Ukraine in English, like calling Kyiv "Kiev", because all the Soviet documents back in the day were handled in russian, so everything international used russian transliterations rather than Ukrainian ones. It feels weird to hear it, like foreigners are just using another language to name your home..? Maybe because a lot of foreigners can't tell the difference between different slavic languages. It's also a sore topic for a lot of people now that russians replace all the Ukrainian signs in Ukrainian territories whenever they capture them. The most unusual ones to hear in English are "Dniepr" instead of "Dnipro" and "Nikolayev" instead of "Mykolaiv", "Rovno" instead of "Rivne", I have to do a double take because idk what the person is talking about

When it comes to names, during the Soviet era, Ukrainian names were often russified, a process where Ukrainian names were altered to align with russian linguistic norms, this was part of a broader policy of cultural assimilation and suppression of Ukrainian identity. Official records (birth certificates, passports, etc) often used the russified versions of names rather than their original Ukrainian forms (for example, some of -enko, -ich, -ak surnames were russified in a form of adding -ov/-ev at the end, or changing the last name entirely), and as a result, this caused significant issues for families trying to trace their ancestry or locate graves of relatives, and then the problem was exacerbated by inconsistent documentation practices and the destruction of records during times of war or political purges

But anyway I recently found out that Sofia and Iryna are official suggestions for hetalia Ukraine, they're pretty nice actually, tho I'll stick to my own interpretations since in my head she's already a very different character (for Katia I don't like the connection it sometimes draws to Yekatyerina II)

Iryna's shortened form is "Ira", the diminutive/affectionate would be Irunya/Irynka, and Sofia shortened is Sonia (Софія/Sofia has three syllables like So-fi-ya, and Соня/Sonia two syllables like So-nya), sonia/соня also can mean "sleepyhead" btw

I hope this was insightful, I appreciate it when people are curious and ask questions