#I just realized Kaede is the better comparison

[thelucidduchess]

SPOILERS FOR DANGANRONPA V3

[onebizarrekai]

v3′s art is comically terrible for a professionally distributed game in a series: a compilation

in this not-essay I will list all of the mistakes and problems I have spotted in v3′s art. don’t worry, it’s entirely for fun and I’m doing this on a whim, so please feel free to not take this seriously but also it’s hilarious and embarrassing how ridiculous this is like what happened did they speedrun the whole production or what

see, there are some things you can take as meta like “they made it bad on purpose to allude to the downfall of tv shows that have been on air for much too long” but I have a very strong feeling this is not the case due to the nature of some of these errors

disclaimer, the more I study this art, the more I fear that the artists were underpaid and underslept, so if this is in fact the case, I am so sorry to all of them but also I’m going to make fun of the art anyway

anyway let’s get started!

if you study this image for longer than 5 seconds, you will see that kaede is the only one fully shaded and keebo is literally just his normal sprite pasted into the image. every other character is just an ordinary ref, hence most of them facing the exact same direction with neutral expressions on their faces. it looks like a bad edit, and is probably one of the worst pieces of art in the game. it kind of gets better from here on, but my roasting will not.

with that out of the way, here’s the problem that officially bothers me the most and clarifies my viewpoint of “this is not meta and an actual lack of company communication”

this freaking cg, which seems normal at a glance, but some wiseass was like “oh, kaede is a girl, so obviously she’s going to be shorter than the Male Protagonist™” ah, that’s funny. because if you look at the character bios, kaede is, in fact, one inch taller than shuichi and not like 6 inches shorter as she is shown here.

also shuichi’s shoulder is disproportionate and horrendous and he looks vaguely like a jojo character, but I wasn’t even thinking about that until right now.

thanks guys, 50% of the fandom who has never bothered to check these bios thinks that kaede is like 5′3 (did the developers really put so little thought into her to the point where drawing her correctly in the game didn’t even matter??)

also I would like to point out that, even though this isn’t related to the art itself, yes, a character kaede’s size being only 117 lbs is unfeasible, but this applies to literally every character in danganronpa ever and it’s not new news that it’s unrealistic

update: someone in the tags informed me that in versions of the game that use centimeters, like the japanese version, kaede is actually shorter than shuichi, which just adds another thing to the list of weird decisions the localization team made for no reason. that said, after confirming this, kaede is 167 cm in the original, while shuichi is 171 cm, which are approximately 5′6 and 5′7 respectively, but one inch is still nowhere near as drastic as it is depicted above. (in spite of this, I would rather depict kaede as slightly taller, so I’m probably going to keep doing that.)

the journey continues!

bro if you want kaede to have shoulder length hair then stick to it to begin with

you can pretend this is at an angle all you want but they definitely committed the shorter kaede sin a second time

wait a goddamn second.

DO YOU SEE THIS

no………… it wasn’t kaede who shrank. it was shuichi who got taller

speaking of which, can we talk about how shady the perspective is in this elevator pic? look at shuichi and kokichi in comparison to kaede. kokichi, who is canonically 7 inches (edit: or 5, if you’re loyal to the original) shorter than kaede, looks taller than kaede. he’s growing too. what steroids are these gays taking

running into the room, electric boogaloo: I don’t think tsumugi is supposed to be the same height as kokichi

gonta… gonta you’re lookin a bit like a jojo character there

I love how kaito’s head looks kind of like it was pasted onto his body. why is he the same size as shuichi? shouldn’t he be high school bully size or something? his torso is teensy

ah yes, white angie.

I love this cg but why is shuichi’s right hand so much bigger than his left hand

I also love how this cg looks like they literally took pictures of trees and pasted them into the background, especially on the left. the shadows are so weird, especially closer to the ceiling, it’s difficult for me to believe they didn’t do exactly that.

return of Enlarged shuichi

puberty update: kokichi is now taller than shuichi in spite of shuichi never missing leg day. what crimes will he commit

I have to mention it, guys. this has to be one of the worst danganronpa cgs. kokichi’s facial proportions look atrocious. look at the way his face sticks out like his jaw is in the wrong place. his scarf is a pasted texture. that’s it. this moment was so iconic but the cg just looks so… so… off. like something is terribly wrong, but you can’t put your finger on it.

you know what? let’s get into that ‘pasted texture’ thing.

let’s imagine you’re an artist working on a professional game. you’re assigned to draw cgs of kokichi ouma, who has a checkered scarf from hell. sure, it will be terrible to draw, but you only have to draw it once at a time! plus, perspective is pretty important, right? can you be bothered? nah, actually. let’s just copy paste a checkered pattern into the cg, because I’m sure nobody will notice. it’ll blend right in with the other cgs that someone actually put effort into drawing his scarf in, right?

no. the answer is no and I very much noticed. this genuinely looks terrible and I would understand taking a shortcut like that in fanart or even an indie game but this is a full price pc and console distributed game

(an addition: look at kokichi’s TINY HANDS in that last one)

meanwhile, they straight up forgot to color in kokichi’s scarf in this cg.

dude. I forgot about whatever the hell this cg was. anyway look at keebo please just look at him

lovin kaito’s baby arms

real talk, maybe you could argue that he’s missing muscle because he’s deathly sick, but most of his cgs don’t line up with this, and his arms just look disproportionate to his torso size (granted this is a consistent problem across all danganronpa games and a lot of characters have this weird problem, like hajime, but also kaito is bigger than hajime so I kind of have higher expectations of him) maybe it’s his stupid goatee and the way he reminds me of yasuhiro?? it creates this illusion that he’s older than he is and so I keep expecting him to look more like an adult

oh, also rantaro is missing some of his accessories in that video he made–you know the one–but I don’t wanna go back and screenshot it

also you may have noticed that I’m skipping all of the monokub cgs because I literally do not care about them and I’m not even bothering to check and see if they have artistic mistakes in them

JIMMY NEUTRON???

hey um uh kaito you seem to be missing your neck

hey guys do you like my pregame fanart

so, that done, the sprites are also pretty terrible at times. they’re not as interesting to go through, however, and downloading the full sprite sets for every character and studying every single one of them will drive me insane, so I’ll just sum some of the ones I noticed up. I made things for kaede and shuichi before deciding I wasn’t going to get into it, so here are these.

that said, other mistakes include kokichi missing his purple highlights in all of the sprites encompassing a specific pose, stray pixels all over the place on everyone, and everyone also has heavily inconsistent shading, but literally all I think about is how pregame shuichi is unshaded and two of kaede’s pregame sprites have glaring outfit change mistakes in them

anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my ridiculous ramble. in all seriousness, there’s this looming presence of some lack of communication in the development team, like with all the art and design inconsistencies, pieces and sprites that look rushed, stray pixels, and missing basic proportional stuff. these are the kinds of things that you supposedly have to pretty much have in the bag in order to get jobs in professional businesses, so it’s really weird to me that this game suffers from so many of these problems. it’s like they tried to make the art so much more crisp than the other games, but it fell on its face as they realized it was going to take longer to draw everything and they started to rush. it’s weird, because the coloring itself looks normal–it’s just sloppily drawn, and the proportions are a mess once put into the context of perspective. many of the cgs look like they were drawn by different people, and I’m still not over the fact that half of kokichi’s cgs have his scarf pasted in as a texture.

the moral of the story is that if you’re selling a game at full price that also happens to be in a series that has had 3 very good games in it already the stakes should probably be higher than this. v3 has been out for more than 3 years and it’s still $40 (did it cost more than that before? I sure hope not), and the overarching quality of the game is just not as high as the other games. I’m not saying that the other games don’t have any problems with their art at all, they’re just not as glaringly obvious and every artistic choice in those games feels intentional.

regardless, I had a blast roasting the art at 2am, so maybe you got a kick out of all this chaos.

[love-sapphirerose]

Sango

https://www.deviantart.com/antoni-matteo-garcia/art/The-Most-Pathetic-Demon-Slayer-Ever-845482990

The Most Pathetic Demon Slayer Ever

This screenshot demotivational poster is highly, highly Anti-Sango. So, sit back, relax, and revel in the evisceration of this lame excuse of a demon slayer and even lamer excuse of a friend. Out of Inuyasha's so-called friends, I remembered tolerating Sango a whole lot more than Miroku, Kagome, and Shippou combined. Just add in her nekomata Kirara and their overall presence would have been easier to swallow. Since Kirara treated Inuyasha more like a friend than Sango ever did, I am just going to go out on a limb and say that I have lost all respect for this lame demon slayer. I could not deny that I really liked Sango because of how physically strong she was in super stark comparison to Kagome and her whining, puerile ass. In fact, when comparing her to Kagome, the former seemed like she was a more capable heroine than the latter. Ergo, she did display a lot of potential and promise as a take-charge, tough, unwavering young woman with a huge boomerang to match and an even bigger heart showing concern for her little brother, Kohaku. The other piece of potential I spotted in her was trying to stay by Inuyasha's side as his ally and great friend, as she stated in the 52nd episode. It could be argued that out of Inuyasha's human "friends", she did try to get to know him better than either Miroku and/or Kagome ever could. In fact, Inuyasha and Sango seemed really strong and capable on their own terms, which was why I initially found them a bit compatible with each other. However, that notion of them being together was not only the childhood voice in me speaking but also the nostalgia goggles doing all the talking, even though I was consistent with my undying love for Inuyasha x Ayame. Unfortunately, these are where all my positive sentiments about Sango cease and desist because I no longer have any kind words to say about this lame demon slayer. First of all, one negative facet that I have realized about Sango is that she is easily manipulated despite being physically strong. When she was introduced, Naraku easily tricked Sango into believing that Inuyasha wreaked havoc on her village and annihilated her family and her overall clan. However, it was just a ploy by Naraku to collect Inuyasha's Tessaiga and use it for his own means. Even Inuyasha did not comprehend why Sango would be so brazen to attack him. In the twenty-third episode of Inuyasha: The Final Act, her weak mind went even further, as Naraku created an illusion of himself and manipulated her once again to kill both him and Rin, who in fact was not an illusion but the real deal. She had to do all this to save the life of her "beloved monk" Miroku. Luckily, she was able to snap out of it, but the mere fact that she was about to sacrifice Rin's life for the sake of a pathetic, know-it-all, womanizing monk is not only pitiful, but also extraordinarily feeble and groan-worthy. So much for someone who is physically capable of beating demons with her huge boomerang and can kick butt every way until Sunday. This also goes to show that her character really derailed in The Final Act all because she ended up being in a conjugal relationship with a lousy pervert monk and that she would be so willing to kill Rin just to save him, despite her going her through her second death with Sesshoumaru saving her by using that pendant his mother had to restore her life once and for all. That, my friends, is completely sheer incompetence and a miserable excuse of a combatant on Sango's side. Speaking of that loser monk Miroku, how many times did she end up slapping him, knocking him on the head, and insinuate physical attacks all because he was groping her buttocks, her boobs, and Lord knows where else? And after all the, he ended up proposing to her? Even after he asked a lot of women to bear his children? Seriously, Sango should know a whole lot better than that! The chances of her being in a long-lasting relationship with that filthy monk is absolute zilch. Who knows if he is ever going to stay by her side and their children to give them the home life they truly deserved. When

all is said and done, she ended up being a lousy breeding mare to a perverted monk instead of opting for someone who could actually treat her better like Kouga. Yes, I know Kouga is a huge lame-o too. But at least he is not too shady with his pervertedness like Miroku is and would probably treat Sango more like a queen than that loser monk did to her! Another facet that correlates to her inability to think for herself and be the strong person that she was supposed to be is that she is such a sheep towards Kagome. How do I mean by that? What about that she constantly jumps on the "Inuyasha is unfaithful to Kagome with Kikyou" bandwagon and does not seem to stop her from abusing the poor guy? This even got to the point that she dared to use that God-forsaken "Sit" command on Inuyasha in the 160th episode all because he and Kagome had another argument revolving around Kikyou. The reaction that Inuyasha gave when Sango did that was legitimate, despite Kagome having full control of that power over Inuyasha. Sure, Inuyasha was not any better when he called her stupid, but that was what Sango was pretty much the entire time. She was really stupid for not thinking for herself and standing her ground, although she stated that she wanted to be with Inuyasha in the 52nd episode! One would think that with Sango being as strong as Inuyasha that she would go out of her way to stop Kagome from inflicting those terrible "Sit" commands on him. But no. She was much too weak and too much of a sheep to try to have anything to do with Inuyasha's tragic past with Kikyou. The kicker is that she, Kaede, Miroku, and Shippou were pretty much pushing Inuyasha to be with Kagome just because of those innate powers and nothing more when all they did was argue and argue and argue. I guess she just does not understand individuals like Inuyasha as she thought she did. Going back to her relationship with Inuyasha, while it was funny of how she and him traversed through the drunken mists of a mysterious forest and attempted to kiss him in her inebriated state, it did not reflect how she was going to shield Inuyasha from the pain Kagome inflicted on him. If she believed Kagome truly belonged to Inuyasha, she was darn wrong because she was too weak-willed to speak her mind to Kagome just because she was someone special from the future or some other malarkey. Put all of these negative sentiments I have against Sango and they can be boiled down to this. She cannot decipher the situation in front of her and she is a pathetic knee-crawling sheep who cannot get over her emotions or even use her skills to triumph over those said emotions. All these and more make her a very pitiful waste of potential for her to grow to be a more capable heroine. In conclusion, Sango may talk the talk of an independent, take-charge, kick-ass heroine, but she cannot walk the walk in the slightest iota. With her tendency to be easily manipulated by her arch-nemesis, her inability to shield Inuyasha from Kagome inflicting abuse on him, thus being nothing more than a sheep around this loser "heroine", and becoming nothing more than a breeding mare to a loser monk, she has doomed herself to a life of terrible Karma. And to think I used to like her. Well, the rose-tinted glasses aimed at her are off for good and for all, and all I see in Sango is wasted potential and a whole bunch of nothing inwardly strong about her, even though her physical strength did most of the talking. I am done liking this lame excuse of a demon slayer for life. I hope you all enjoyed my evisceration directed towards Sango and I will see you in the next submission. Take care and stay safe, everybody.

[lavendertwilight89]

InuxKag Week 2020 Day 2 Loyalty

Monsters--Rated E

Smut is at the end! NSFW

Also posted here

I used a prompt from an ask from anon : “I’m not a monster”

@inukag-week @superpixie42 @lemonlushff @dangerouspompadour @keichanz @cstormsinukagblog @willowandfog @inuyashaloverforever @xfangheartx @clearwillow  @umacaking @procellaxletalis @smmahamazing @murdergiraffe @faulkner-blog @sapphirestarxx@swaggingtomboy @sarah-writes-stories

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag wall!! :)

It had been a couple of weeks since Kagome had returned to the Feudal Era. After her reunion with her friends, she immediately had begun training to become the high priestess of the village. Kaede had been growing older and it was time for someone to take over. Kagome had kept her powers intact in the future and had even expanded on them so when she did return, she wouldn’t slow anyone down.

Miroku was impressed by her determination and fierceness in training. She took the compliments with pride, a soft smile, and always replied, “I didn’t want to slow him down.”

The ‘him’ she referred to, hadn’t left her side for more than a handful of minutes since she had returned. It was like he was still reeling from her return. He had to make sure she was real. While Miroku had been sure nothing intimate had occurred between the pair, he was sure it was only a matter of time. Kagome hadn’t been staying with him and Sango, nor Kaede and Rin. Miroku knew Inuyasha had built a hut just outside the village and likely, that was where Kagome spent her nights. He and his wife could only hope they were finally acknowledging the feelings they had for each other.

Miroku had gone in search of the half-demon that morning because he had received word from a traveler there was trouble a couple villages over. What he came to find, he had been regretful to interrupt. They were sitting in the middle of the clearing, Kagome’s basket of herbs by her knees. She was blushing beautifully and her lovely brown eyes were mesmerized by Inuyasha’s face. He had his hand cupping her cheek lightly, like he was nervous. Gods why did Miroku have to interrupt them??

“…what do you mean?” Miroku heard her ask softly.

“Kagome I—” Inuyasha started to growl and looked harshly at him.

“Sorry my friends, I did not mean to interrupt. I come with unfortunate news.”

Inuyasha dropped his hand from Kagome’s face and she turned away slightly embarrassed by Miroku catching them. In what, the monk had no idea. But, Miroku smiled kindly and reeled in alllllllllll of his internal banter he wanted to use to tease them but knew now was not the time or place. Sango and he wanted their relationship to blossom and taunting them would likely only set them back.

“Spit it out, monk,” Inuyasha said warningly.

“There is a demon a couple of towns over; they sent a villager to request our aid.”

“I’ll go!” Kagome said hurriedly causing both of them to look at her. “I-I mean, Miroku—you have three little babies now! I’m sure Sango would love the help with how fresh Hiroshi is. I know Suzuki and Keiko have been giving her a hard time recently.”

“If you truly don’t mind, that would be wonderful Kagome. Thank you, I will inform the Lady Kaede of your leave,” he smirked at Inuyasha and winked making said hanyou blush and mumble obscenities as Miroku made his way back to the village.

Finally. 

Kagome was nervous to say the least—at least that’s what her scent told him. Their conversation had been cut off pretty abruptly and she likely didn’t realize what he was going to say; but it should have been obvious. At least it was obvious to that stupid monk. Or maybe she did know and was just anxious about where the conversation would have led them...

When Kagome returned from her era, it took everything Inuyasha had to not spew out his crazy emotions of wanting to mate with her and telling her she belonged with him. While he knew she could no longer return through the well and said she had wanted to be by his side, they hadn’t come right out with their feelings.

He knew how Kagome felt though; she had admitted it a couple times when they were on their journey together. He missed the signs originally, also tried to act like he just never heard her say anything of the sort… she would have never chosen to stay with him. Never would have picked him over her family or even a human male suitor. When the well took her from him, he thought that was the end. She was safe, and the choice was ultimately made for them. He could die at peace knowing she was safe and happy with her family. 

But then she came back; thirty-six of the longest moon cycles he had ever had to live through had been worth the wait. Her scent flooded his senses when he lifted her from the well. Her beauty had grown--she was no longer a girl, she was a woman. It took all he had to not fuck her right then. Throw her to her knees and rut her in the middle of the forest making her beg and scream his name into oblivion. 

Thank God he was half-human. That part of him kept his body under control. 

After she caught up with Miroku, Sango, their brats, the runt, the old hag, and the other pipsqueak, she finally asked for a moment of his time. They walked through the forest together quietly, but in contentment. 

When they reached the Sacred Tree, he scooped her up and jumped high into the branches. He sat her next to him and gave her his haori, so that she wouldn’t catch a cold. There was no ‘going back to her time’ she said. The well had opened and gave her one last trip… and the fool chose to come back. He couldn’t allow her to get sick then.

He never questioned why she chose to return--he couldn’t bring himself to. Maybe he was the fool. Then again, he was just being careful. They had been apart for three years, while things had certainly not changed for him, her feelings for him could have. She could have just returned to be with her friends. He knew that she had mentioned she just didn’t feel as close to the three girls in her era--that Sango was a much better friend than any of them.

That night, they just talked. They talked until she cuddled up next to him and fell asleep on his shoulder to which he stayed still, leaning slightly into her, taking her into his hold as much as he could. Still reeling that she was, indeed, back.  

The weeks that had followed, he stayed by her side. Tested the waters. Touching her softly whether it was holding her hand, grazing her cheek with his hand, or even lightly kissing her forehead at night, providing meals for her, spending as much time as he could with her, and he even showed her his hut the villagers built for him. After a couple days of tree hopping, he offered to let her sleep on his unused futon, saying that if she wanted to stay over, he wasn’t opposed to it. She had released that sweet melodic giggle and accepted as long as he wasn’t being put out. He had never actually laid down on the futon though--he couldn’t bring himself to knowing he would have been alone… there would have been no Kagome. But, because she returned, he didn’t want to jump into things. He wanted to court her the demon way and the human way. It seemed only right. 

Just that morning he had brought her flowers and she happily and eagerly accepted them. The old hag had asked her to pick a special herb that grew out in the middle of his forest and commented that he should follow her… what a conniving intrusive old bat. 

They had just gotten to the clearing and he just couldn’t stop looking at Kagome. She was just so beautiful--even covered in the modest miko garbs, she was the most enticing woman he had ever seen. Kikyo had been a regal woman. Very proper, polite, and in a way, elegant. She was a very fine looking woman but paled in comparison to Kagome. Kagome was far more natural in the way that she moved and looked. Something earthly about her… He remembered how that dumbass Akitoki had compared her to a celestial maiden. While they were beings from the heavens, Kagome definitely fit the description. Kind hearted, accepting, taunting almost to every man around her with her open demeanor. But she was far from fake. If you pissed her off, she blew her top. He loved that fiery spirit of hers. Everything about her called his name. Everything about her screamed ‘mate’.

When they reached the village, he could tell it was going to be one of those visits. Immediately they were met with skepticism. He overheard the whispers of the people:

“I thought we sent for a monk.”

“Is that thing her pet?”

“Why is there a woman here rather than a man!”

“The monk must’ve sent them instead on accident.”

“Look, it has a collar! She must be controlling the Inugami.”

He felt Kagome stiffen and he nudged her as softly as he could without the villagers noticing but it did not lessen the spicy smell of anger in her scent. 

“Priestess,” a villager came forward bowing politely.

“Hello, we were told you had a problem with a demon?”

“Aye,” the man replied. “It comes at dusk. It has been taking a virgin away every evening and leaving her remains on the edge of the village, completely drained of her blood.”

“How horrible!” Kagome gasped. Inuyasha frowned and growled.

“I’m sure you overheard some of the… banter and gossip of the villagers. We expected the monk as well…”

“Don’t worry about the miscommunication; Inuyasha will protect me from any harm,” she smiled and looked at him lovingly. His growl diminished and he looked away slightly, blushing at the intimate look she was giving him.

“Your Inugami? We thought he belonged to the monk,” the village questioned.

“He doesn’t belong to anyone!” she yelled.

“My apologies, we saw the--”

“Forget it. Kagome, we should head out to the forest and try to track it so we aren't just ambushed here.”

“Right! We will be back before dusk, hopefully with good news!” Kagome said as Inuyasha knelt before her.

“Priestess! Wouldn’t you rather a horse??” the man asked as if he was uncomfortable with the idea of her riding on Inuyasha’s back.

“No, Inuyasha is faster than any horse and I trust him with my life. Bye now!” she said clippingly. With no further invitation needed, Inuyasha took off at full speed towards where the demon would leave the bodies of the young women.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome said softly into his ears as he galloped towards the forest.

“What?”

“Are they always like that?” He could tell by her voice how broken she was by what had been insinuated.

“Don’t worry about it. No; they aren’t. This town just seems worse than others,” he placated stroking her thigh reassuringly. Then realized what kind of action it was and turned as red as his clothing.

She giggled as his embarrassment and rubbed his ears whispering, “We still have our talk to finish after this, dog-boy.”

“O-oh yea,” he said. Where had that confidence he had earlier gone? Oh, probably out the door when the villagers chastised not only him, but their relationship.

He stopped suddenly realizing he wasn’t catching a trail of anything. He set her down and got down on all fours and sniffed in every direction he could.

“Inuyasha?”

“There’s no trail. Nothing. Not even the scent of blood,” he added as he stood back up to full height looking around the forest’s edge.

“Would that mean the demon is flying?”

“He’d likely still leave somewhat of a trail of blood.”

“Hmmm… I’ll place some wards on the trees and on the villager’s huts if they’ll let me. Hopefully we can trap it before it takes another girl.”

“Kagome, I want you to listen to me,” he said grabbing her arms to make her focus on his face; her face changed to surprise due to his intensity. “You need to stay close to me. I’m not letting that thing get you. Don’t try to lure it or call it.”

She blushed under his secruitiny. Inuyasha smirked at her and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Your scent tells me everything.”

She swallowed and slapped his chest, “St-Stupid. Keep your nose to yourself!”

“Is that what you want?” he asked seriously, trying to keep his voice even.

She blushed again and looked into his eyes with what he would describe as longing… Gods, he wished he could just--before he thought the better of it, he leaned down and kissed her cheek making her gasp. He straightened before she could react and threw her back on his back and took off back towards the village. 

Her scent really did tell him everything--and he planned on rubbing in her face how such a chaste kiss got her all hot and bothered later.

After their explanation to the headman, she was allowed to place wards and sutras along the tree line and the huts. The sun was just beginning to set in the sky as she made her way back to where Inuyasha was standing at the village's edge. She had pulled her bow into her hand and was waiting for any surge of demonic aura to erupt. 

“Scared?” Inuyasha asked.

“Nervous. I just hope my sutras and wards hold up.”

“You’re strong Kagome. I know they will; I was more asking about how you felt about your own safety,” he said turning to face her.

“I’m safest with you Inuyasha. I’m not afraid,” she said smiling lightly brushing her free hand against his own.

He studied her a moment--would now be the time? They were alone, afterall. What if--

His thoughts were immediately cut off when he saw something out of the corner of his eye shoot towards them. He grabbed Kagome and jumped quickly off the ground and landed on the nearest hut to them. They turned to see what had made its way towards her in such haste.

It was a very skinny demon; he was pale, light of his feet, elongated fangs, long claws, lanky--it reminded him of something Kagome had made him watch back in her time. A... vamp-bat? No, a bat-pire? No… What the fuck was that thing called that sucked blood?

“It looks like a vampire…” she whispered in awe. 

That! Vampire! What a stupid name. But she was right. It was sniffing the air, his eyes were clouded over.

“Yo! Get the fuck outta the village before I kick your skinny ass out of it!” Inuyasha warned.

“Food is plenty here, half-demon. Why should I leave?”

“I just gave you a reason, asshole!”

“You would never be able to catch me, young one. Tell me, why is your bitch unmated?”

“‘Bitch’?!?! I’m not his bitch!! I’m--”

“You smell just like him. But you are unmarked. You are unmated. You are dinner,” the demon sneered as his eyes glowed an eerie blue.

“Over my dead body, bastard,” Inuyasha growled in warning. He kept a hand on Kagome’s hip to keep her closely pressed behind him as he began to unsheathe his sword. It was unreal how fast the demon moved. One minute he was on the ground sniffing the air like a demented rabid dog, the next he was behind him ripping Kagome from his grip.

“INUYASHA!” she screamed.

“KAGOME!” he swung around trying to grab her but she was no longer in view. He began to panic and tried to sniff her out. “KAGOME!!!” 

“AUGHHH!!” he heard the demon’s cry not far to his left heading towards the center of the village. He raced there with speed he didn’t even know he possessed. 

“KAGOMEEEEE!” Inuyasha called and saw her laying in the middle of the street clutching her arm in pain trying to crawl away from the demon. He could smell that she burnt the fuck outta him with her power. The fact he made it this far before she finally blasted him told him this bastard was ten times faster than Koga ever had been with the Shikon shards.

“Inuyasha!” she cried looking to him and gasped seeing him. What had her freaked out??

“MOVE!” he yelled forcefully seeing the demon had gotten up and was pulling her leg to drag her back under him, his mouth opening to bite her. Drain her like the other village girls. Over. His. Dead. Body. He felt his body grow hotter and hotter. It was moving on it’s own as his vision blurred into a blood red and he no longer held a conscious thought.

Kagome had blasted the hell out of the weird vampire being and they landed hard on the ground. She knew she broke her arm and possibly a rib or two. As she tried to move her legs, she felt a searing stabbing pain like she had been cut. 

Hearing Inuyasha’s cry she turned to him breathing a sigh of relief. He had heard the demon cry out--she was shocked to see he had somehow reverted to his demon state. He was even holding the Tessaiga. What had made him lose such control??

Before she knew it, she heard him roar for her to move. Unfortunately for her, that was not actually possible. She felt the demon pull on her and she cried out in not only disgust and fear, but in pain. She was quickly removed from his clutches though from a very full and transformed Inuyasha. 

The other demon’s hand had been cut clear off and Inuyasha was holding her tightly to him snarling as loudly as he likely could in that state. She clutched onto his haori knowing he wouldn’t hurt her. Deep down, she knew he recognized exactly who she was--the woman who loved him. The woman he loved in return.

While they hadn’t actually discussed their feelings, she knew from the way he was courting her where things were headed. She had jumped into the past after three years and initially foolishly thought that things would pick up where they left off. She was glad clearly Inuyasha had more sense than she did for once. 

Not that she thought her love for the half-demon diminished in their time apart or that she would fall out of love with him, but him courting her like a regular maiden really put things in perspective for her. She loved him. Fiercely. Loyally. Truly. Fully. He literally engulfed her heart. There was no space for any other man who stupidly tried to make their move on her. Not that Inuyasha hadn’t already run off the other men, but the few who tried anything while he was aiding the fields or if she happened to find herself alone with Sango while Inuyasha and Miroku were alone in the hut, she turned them down. Hard. She wanted to make sure they all knew exactly where her heart lied.

She heard Inuyasha snicker as the demon rose, scowling and making half-minded threats. Something about his dinner being interrupted. She didn’t know exactly what was being thrown around; her pain was swallowing her mind. She tried to focus on the words being exchanged. 

“...that’s my dinner you’re holding.”

“My mate is not your dinner.”

“She is unmated--she is fair game.”

“It’s your death.”

“Is that a threat half-breed?”

“It’s a promise,” Inuyasha cackled after making his threat known. With fluid like movement he held onto Kagome tightly as he went on the offensive. She gathered he had learned he could not let her down as even with just a hand on her hip holding her to him was not enough to keep the demon from striking at her. 

She closed her eyes as she felt herself being swung and jarred like a rag doll while Inuyasha attacked the demon. She heard the demon’s cries of pain but he didn’t seem to back down for whatever reason. She finally peered out of her squinted eyes and at last recognized why the blood-sucker was still able to carry on--the body was just an animation. It was similar to the golems Naraku had used. She quickly closed her eyes and tried to pinpoint where the controller was.

She finally saw he was just beyond the forest--because he wasn’t able to enter. She quickly looked up to see Inuyasha’s smirking face as he continued to pursue the demon.

“Yash! The forest!” He turned his face to see her. The recognition was still there but there was slight confusion. “He’s like a puppet! An apparition! It’s not his real form! He’s hiding in the forest!”

He growled menacingly, which she took as he understood what she was saying but was in fact, not happy to hear that as in his state, he would not be able to enter the forest. Even though he was in a state where his baser animal instincts were more in control, he knew he would have to release her.

He lightly put her down but stayed right by her letting the demon come to him. She knew with his heightened senses, he wouldn’t allow failure twice. She grabbed her bow and knelt to keep herself stable, holding it sideways due to her injuries and notched an arrow. Drawing back hastily before allowing the pain to set in she fired with a silent prayer to her bow.

Her arrow disappeared into the tree line and only a loud cry from within the forest was heard as the demon went up in flames. Whatever was in the forest had been rightfully purified. 

She relaxed and dropped her bow sighing in relief only to be shocked when she felt arms wrap around her and hoist her back up.

“Inu--”

“My other half made the mistake of not marking you. I will not allow the same error to occur again,” he rumbled shifting her hair away from her neck. She gasped as she felt his teeth brush over the nap of her neck. When he bit down hard onto the left side of her neck, she cried out and felt the strangest sense of being ‘full’ and unwittingly orgasmed releasing all her pent up tension . It was such a strange and powerful sensation that he had filled without actually making love to her-- she had orgasmed before pleasuring herself and had never thought that a bite would be able to cause the same stimulus as her fingers had. She felt her body and spirit melding and weaving with his aura and soul. She breathed deeply, shocked from the overwhelming sensations that were flowing into her from him. Before she was overtaken by unconsciousness, she heard cries from the villagers and Inuyasha’s snarls of anger.

When Kagome woke, she was lying inside a hut. She was hot, uncomfortably so, and felt like she was breathing heavily. She saw two monks praying over her and it made her confused. She sat up slowly which made them drop out of their trance. 

“Priestess, how are you feeling?” one of the monks asked. 

“Fine… oddly enough,” she realized she wasn’t in pain--her ribs no longer hurt, her leg had not stung as she moved it--what was going on?

“Priestess, the demon… He has marked you. We are trying to correct it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.

“The demon bit down upon you, claiming you as his female. We are trying to reverse the claim. We were able to pull him off of you before the mating occurred.”

“You are a very powerful priestess, you may be able to reject the claim itself.”

“Where… Where’s Inuyasha?” she asked worriedly.

“The dog demon? He was banished outside of the village. Your sutras shocked him when he was cast out and he has not returned. We can only pray to Buddha that he was purified.”

Kagome began to panic and quickly rose to her feet and collected her things. 

“Priestess! You shouldn’t move yet! You need to rest!”

“No! I’m leaving! I have to find Inuyasha!”

“Priestess! You have been bewitched!”

“Whatever! I don’t care what you think! Inuyasha is my mate!”

“Komori, hold her down, she is speaking nonsense,” the elder of the two monks instructed. The one known as Komori came at her and she whacked him hard with her bow. She glared at the other monk.

“I’m leaving with or without your permission…” she warned.

“Priestess! Please you must see the light! Your powers cannot be compromised by mating with a demon!”

“Our love is pure! My heart is pure. My power does not come from purity of body, but purity of mind and soul. I did not return from my home to be kept from the man I love and want to marry! If I did or do end up losing my powers, so be it! But you will move!” she said as her power flared as if proving a point.

The monk bowed and shook from fear of her. Good, she thought.

She quickly ran and dissolved the wards on the huts and the trees and was able to immediately pick up Inuyasha’s signature aura. She dashed quickly to find him, praying to any God that would listen that he was alright and didn’t hate himself for what occurred.

She found him not far from the village--likely he had been waiting for her to wake up. He didn’t move towards her. He just sat there. Brokenly.

She dropped her bow and embraced him from behind. He still didn’t move an inch.

“Inu--”

“I’m sorry…”

“There is nothing to apologize for,” she said nuzzling against his cheek.

“I--I marked you… Without your permission or consent… I--”

“No! Inuyasha, I would have stopped you if I truly didn’t want it. Please--don’t listen to the villagers.”

“Kagome…”

“Please! Believe me! I know you were courting me and taking things slow--but please, I need you to believe that. I wanted this, Yash. I came back to be with you.”

“...” he trembled beneath her and his eyes were completely covered by his bangs.

“I love you, Inuyasha. Please,” she begged him to speak to her. Look at her. Anything!

“Why? Why are you staying with me? How can you be so loyal to me?”

“You earned my loyalty, Inuyasha. How can you even ask that?”

“I’m… not a monster?”

She released him abruptly and swung herself around to cup his cheeks and made him look her in the eyes. She saw the smallest trace of tears that had welled up in his eyes. “You are not a monster, they are for what they did to you--for how they made you feel.”

“But, your powers--”

“--Are intact. They are from my pure soul and mind, not my body,” she said as she blushed seating herself on his lap. He finally looked into her eyes and his hands hesitantly went to her hips. She sucked in her breath from the sensation and remembered how oddly warm and flustered she was when she had awoken.

“You feel it too--the pull,” he explained. He looked like he was holding back from something. But they had made it that far, she wasn’t about to let him be fearful. She knew she needed to prove her fierce loyalty to him--her undying love. She inched her way closer for their mouths to meet, waiting for him to push her away. He had inadvertently told her she was his mate--not once, but twice. She knew where their conversation had been headed earlier that afternoon and knew he was going to ask her something about their relationship. He likely hadn’t meant to get this far, but she didn’t care. The only care she had was a swimmingly drunken haze that filled her body and it called out for Inuyasha.

She kissed him lightly at first, seeking permission, granting forgiveness for what took place while his demonic half ran loose, proving her choice had already been made and there was no going back. Once she felt him kiss her back, the slight bit of pressure, she sighed in relief and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Kagome,” he said in their broken kisses--the heat and need rising between them. She was sure the mating mark had only intensified her feelings and needs but she didn’t want to fight it. She never felt so at home or at peace than in his lap, their lips brushing against each other.

The original soft and tentative kiss transformed into heated confident stokes of their lips. She grew bold enough to swipe her tongue into his mouth, earning a muffled groan that made her smirk inwardly. She brushed her tongue against his fangs and made herself shiver. Imagining those canines caressing and nipping across her body only brought her further desire. 

He shocked her when he shifted her so that she was lying down on the ground and he was hovering over her. Pulling away, he smiled down at her. She was panting and he was barely out of breath. Jerk.

“We can go slow--I know the mark is driving this somewhat--I’m not doubting you wanted this. But we can go slow,” Inuyasha said as he kissed her cheek slowly trailing down her jaw to her neck. Yeah. Like she wanted to slow down. 

“Please don’t stop,” she whispered. She honestly didn’t care if she begged at that point. She needed him. Mind, body, soul. All of him. Sure, it had been his demon half that marked her, but it was his true combined self who had been lovingly patient and pursued her the demon and human way. The flowers, the meat, the roof over head--she considered herself fully courted and if they had finished their conversation, him asking for her hand, she would have likely jumped his bones then!

Hearing him chuckle, she helped him as they removed their clothing in haste. While some would say it was rushed, no one knew the burning desire that she felt for him after all those years beneath the surface. She was ready--far more than ready for him. His body. His heart. Everything.

He lifted her briefly to have her lay upon his haori, and then smoothed the hair from her face. “It’s not too late if you want to slow down--I’ve waited centuries for this. I can wait longer,” he admitted as he tenderly kissed her temple.

“I feel like I've waited centuries,” she giggled, reaching up to caress his cheek and his ears. “I want this. I want us. If you’re not--”

“Oh fuck Kagome, I’m ready,” he said as he dropped his hips for her to feel exactly how ready he was. She tried to stifle a moan, but failed. Gods did she want to taste that. “I just know humans typically… well… marry first.”

“I’m going to be the wife and mate of a half-demon. I guess I’m a marked mate now for a demon--” she said as she slid her hands down his body, growing confident as she felt him twitch beneath her ministrations. “It only seems right we finish the demon way first.”

“Al-alright,” he agreed as she stroked his hardened length with her delicate little hand. 

He bent his head and relocked their lips; passion flowed through them. Unspoken words of love, trust, loyalty, and lust passed through the heated dance of their tongues, the gentle caresses against their bodies.

Kagome didn’t want to ask about his history--she honestly didn’t want to know and even then, it wasn’t her business. It was in the past. He obviously knew hers. Stupid dog noses. But, he seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing so she couldn’t complain. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t. She refused to ruin this hot and sensual moment. 

She gasped and cried out when his hands started to tease and touch her more intimate area. His head dipped down and laved her shoulder, across her mark making her keen and writhe beneath him. His fangs nibbled and his lips sucked on her breasts while he continued his tender touch around her core. She honestly thought she would die. Every touch, growl, press of his body against hers had her melting further and further. She swore she needed him like air. She had to drink him like water. He was everything and more. 

His body shifted and he moved further down hers, licking, biting, suckling a path to where the tension was the highest. Swallowing back her embarrassment, she spread her legs open to allow him to rest between them. She gently stroked his ears, for comfort, but also because she loved the feel of them between her fingers. She hadn’t expected a rumble to emerge and when his mouth engulfed her core, her hips jolted up of their own accord and his name fell brokenly from her lips. Thankfully, he used one of his arms to keep her body from flailing out of control as he continued his prowess to bring her to orgasm. His tongue was not only talented in her mouth, but it hit, stroked, fondled, and pushed every nerve that made her beg for more. When his fangs grazed her sensitive nub, she swore and wailed uncontrollably, begging, demanding more. Finally as his lips locked on her overly stimulated clit, she came with a crashing force. She wasn’t sure what sounds actually came flowing out of her, but she was fairly positive it was some form of his name.

He had chuckled and slowly crawled his body back over hers. His cocky smirk made her scoff and he laughed more. 

“I don’t even want to know how you’re so good at that,” she muttered aloud in annoyance.

“Guess you just bring it out of me,” he said as he caught her turned chin and pressed a soft kiss on her lips.

She flushed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, “You mean… you’ve never…?”

“Kagome, who would ever want a half-breed? I was too scared to try anything on my human nights not only because I’d have no way of knowing what the fuck I was doing, but because my secret would be exposed. Fuck, even then, I’m not that kind of man anyway. I could only hope my mother raised me better than what you’re insinuating,” he scoffed.

“That wasn’t--I mean--I’m sorry! I hadn’t meant to say anything,” she trembled fearing she ruined their moment.

“Pft, I’m made of tougher stuff. If anything, you’re just reaffirming my demonic instincts are something I should keep close to the surface since they know exactly what they are doing,” he punctuated with a nip at her chin.

“Gods, yes,” she sighed as he moved his lips down her neck once again and laved her mark. She whined and began to pant, the fire that was barely doused had begun reigniting full force, demanding he give her more. 

“You’re sure, Kagome? Once we mate, there’s no going back,” he asked as he lined himself up with her entrance. 

“I came back to be with you… Forever.”

His lips slammed into hers as he pushed himself to be sheathed inside of her tight walls. She cringed and whimpered at the intrusion but tried to stay focused on his unyielding kisses he laid upon her to distract her from the intrusion. She never felt more complete than she did right then; wrapped in the arms of the man she loved, sharing intimate kisses and touches, him buried deep inside her, she was beyond happy. She finally was whole.

He pulled back and then pushed back forward slowly, as if testing to see if she was still in pain. She wrapped her legs around his hips and shifted her arms to grasp his biceps moaning in time with his thrusts. Clearly, he got the recognition he needed as his plunges grew deeper, harder, and best of all, faster.

She felt her hips moving on their own as she tried to meet him beat for beat. Wetter than she ever thought she could be, she should have been embarrassed, but if anything, she was just that much more aroused. Feeling the rising tension as her coil in her belly began to tighten again, she cried out an unintelligible cry. She hoped maybe he would understand what she needed as she arched her back trying to angle herself to try and figure out what she was missing. She ached for that release again. He must’ve figured out her desperation as he leaned over and took a taunt nipple to his mouth and readjusted his hands so one still clutched hard onto her hips while the other went made its way to where they were joined. 

Crying out when the sensations were too much, she felt herself crack and break. Her walls clenched tightly around his hardened cock as she orgasmed--the most powerful one she ever had in her life. Over her, she felt him stiffen as he roared out his own completion. She felt him fill her with his seed and it dawned on her that they likely should have thought this act through a little more than they originally had.... But it was alright. She trusted him and even if she found herself pregnant with his child, she would remain loyal to him. 

Just as he would always be loyal to her.

[honhonluigi]

So, did you hate Chiaki right off the bat or did you begin to hate her as time went on?

I don't hate any characters right off the bat. I don't know anything about them, so how could I? I always try to give all the characters a decent chance and never decide something before I know their personality. Usually I try not to form a strong opinion before they're dead, because anything about them could change or be revealed as a lie up until they're gone. And even after, in some cases.

As far as Chiaki goes, I expected to like her. I only saw her sprites on the Wiki and I knew absolutely nothing about her, but I knew that people compared her to Kaede, and I liked Kaede. Plus I thought her sprites looked cute. Because of the Kaede comparisons, I thought she was going to be Hajime's best friend and love interest, and I was prepared for that. I thought she was going to be a really dumb, ditzy, clueless cute idiot, and I thought I'd at least like her somewhat, if not love her.

In the first chapter, I didn't know much about her. She was just unremarkable to me. I had no opinions. I did spend some free time events with her, because I didn't know her at all, and I thought 'if this is going to be Hajime's girlfriend, I should get to know her better.' But she remained pretty bland and unremarkable. I thought it was just because I didn't know her well enough to get to her personality. I had no idea it was because she didn't have a personality at all. I had no opinions about her. Towards the end of the first chapter, and through every chapter onwards, I realized that Chiaki actually had nothing to do with Hajime at all, and wasn't involved with him in the slightest, so I struck the 'love interest/best friend' thing from my mind. I just want this to be stated for the record: I went into the game thinking Hinanami would be canon, and it was so not canon that I changed my mind. The game proved me wrong. Also, I realized that Hajime x Chiaki wasn't canon before I started hating Chiaki, and before I had any opinions about her at all.

In chapter two, I started to think she was pretty fucking creepy. I noticed that she was completely emotionless all the time, and her lack of a personality was becoming clearer. Chapter two was when she really started to first creep me out. Chapter 3 did the same thing. In chapter 3, she also really fucking creeped me out. By the time I got to chapter 3, I was terrified of her. I thought she was going to be revealed as a murderous psychopath. Also, in chapter 2 and chapter 3, her lack of a personality and her bland boring self were really grating on my nerves. She was annoying and obnoxious already, and they were trying too hard to make her seem 'cute'. But that was overshadowed by how fucking creepy she was. I did give her a chance though. I gave her two more chances, two more free time events, to try and get to know her. I wanted to give her a solid chance before I formed an opinion. I remember thinking "this bitch really doesn't have a personality, does she?" and "Maybe I could just try a couple more free time events and see what happens, and maybe I'll find her more interesting if I get to know her." I tried so hard to like her. I gave her plenty of fucking opportunities. I did three full free time events with her without learning a thing about her personality, and by the end of it I was like, "Okay, fine, I give up. God damn."

In chapter 4, I realized that she wasn't going to be revealed as a psycho killer. I realized that she was actually going to be the Future Foundation spy, and the only perfect person in the second game. That was when it hit me full-fledged how perfect they wanted to portray her. How much they wanted to push her importance despite her not doing anything. How much they wanted everyone to love her despite her talking to no one. How much they wanted to see her as perfect despite all the bad things she did. How much they wanted to portray her as the perfect character despite having no personality. That was when I saw that, far from being a creepy villain, she was going to be a Mary Sue and nothing but Waifu-Bait. (Around that time, I also got on tumblr and saw that people did insist she was Hajime's love interest, which just made it worse. I was dreading the moment that they would start pushing her on Hajime. She never actually did become Hajime's girlfriend, or even his friend, but the fandom insistence still chafes me regardless.) Anyway, by chapter 4 I saw that she was going to be nothing but Mary Sue waifu-bait. By chapter 4 I knew that she didn't have a personality. By chapter 4 I saw the obnoxious ways that they tried to shove how 'cute' she was down your throat. By chapter 4 I fucking hated her, and I had had enough. She annoyed the shit out of me. I dreaded every line that came from her mouth. It only got worse in chapters 5 and 6, when she started doing horrible shit that no one ever called her out on, and when she was made into this important martyr despite doing nothing all game.

So, the answer: I hated her over time. At first, I knew nothing about her at all, so I didn't have any opinion. But the more I got to know her, the more she annoyed me. The longer she was around, the more I despised her and saw her as the obnoxious waifu-bait she was. I tried to give her a chance and get to know her before I formed an opinion, but every second I had to spend with her on screen only made me want to tear her fucking eyes out.

My opinions of her went--

Chapter 1: No opinion. I don't know her. But I'm gonna try to like her, since I try to like all the characters.

Chapter 2: Oh, she's kind of creepy isn't she? And annoying. They're trying too hard to make her seem cute. And she's really boring...

Chapter 3: Okay she's really fucking creepy! God, I'm gonna have nightmares about this bitch! And she's so obnoxious too! We get it, she plays video games and she's a girl! Stop trying to play waifu-bait with her! And she's so fucking bland! why is she even here!?

Chapter 4: ah. mary sue. it's a mary sue. that's why. that's why she's so obnoxious. that's why they're trying so hard to shove it down your throat that's she's 'cute'. it's fan service because it's a video game with anime girls so of course the video game girl has to be an anime waifu. we're being played. I hate her. I despise her. She's so annoying and boring and obnoxious. She has nothing to her personality. She's worse than Maki.

Chapter 5: ohhh my god ohh my god oh my god I'm going to put my first through my fucking computer screen if she talks one more time oh my goooooddd

Chapter 6: I̷̩̰͓̮̻̔́̍͊̀͆ ̶̨̝̠̝̣̭͉̪̟̳̣͔̝̇̔͑̉̈́̅̐͗́̔̾̅̔͝͝ą̴̪̲̺̻̹̫͈̳̼͐͜m̴̢̢̧̛̻̼͕͔̝̀̿̂͌́͝ ̶̧̨̩̮͇̲͕̠̼̙̐͑̀̃̔̈̿̿͗̕͜i̸̡̧̥͙͈̦͊̕͜ͅn̷̢̛͉͙̩̹̦͚͚͚̹̗̗͈̜͐͂̇̑̇̊̊̃̕͜ ̶̛͙̲͕̫̯̹͚̝͇̘̻̊̋̃̈́̉͐̎̈́̏͜͠ë̵̗̺̘̗͕͒͐̉͊̄͌x̵̧̛̰̖̘̞͉̪̫̿̓̿̐̀̐̃̕c̴̢̨̛̰̙͇̟̘̳̦̼̲̪̺̀̉̎̀͋̋̀͜r̸̯̩̟͌̑̊̅͐͗͊̍͠û̴͕̥͈̦͚̜̠̲̯͖̖̲̉͗̔̅̇̎͛͊͜͝ͅͅc̷̘̞͍̦̙̲̟̰̬̔̔̆̀͜ì̷̢͕͙̲͑̾̈́͑̔̽́a̸̡̧̨̧̫̩̲͇̠̲͕̬͙̟̼͐̒̚ţ̶̲̘̞̫̗̯̱̤͒́̾͑͠͝ͅį̴̛̣͓̩̪̪̩̲̄̋̌͝ṅ̵̛͔͒̑͑̎̀̊͑̐͘̚ğ̶̢̹͕̤̱̖̜̠̟͍̗͔̇͗̀̑̀̉͝͝ ̴̢̤̗͓̻͍̩͎͒̈́͛ṕ̵̛͎̪̻̜̳̏̒̄͝a̸̛̮͖̮̞͛̉̒̐͗̽͌͒͌͑͑̊͘į̷̢͍̙͖̘̲͎̜̣̐͜n̸͖̘̥͙͍͕͉̺̈́͌̆̄́̈́̽͜͠ ̵̧̰̜̟̤̗̺̮̳́̽̓̾̉̉̍̔͊͋̓̇́̚b̸̧̩͇̣̫͓͖̜͖̫̫͔̜̾̒͛͐̈̈̋ͅȩ̷̛̹̪̤̱͓͙̰̼̞̮̇c̸̢̨̼̺̤͈͎̰͔̠̮̩͙̰͋̈́̓͛̆͛͌ạ̸̧̛̹̯̹́̿̄́̑̿̈̇̇̈́͊͘͝ṵ̷͎̮̱̔̇̍̅̃̒͑́͝͝s̶̳͚̻̖̈́̄̎̀̋͊̿̆̉͛͆̈́͛̈́̚ȩ̴̞͉͎̫̩͋͋͋̒̅̃̆̓̉ ̸̞̻̫͇̬̟̦̒̔̉ţ̶̛̲̫̝̫̩̳͎̈́͑̇̿̐͆̓̀͂̕͜͝ͅh̵̨̛̫̗̑͒̋̾̅̐̈͝͠i̴̞̖̓̇̽̏͋̀̈́̐̕s̷̲̱͈̤̪̪͛̌̈́̈́̈́̀̓͂̿̂͗̚͝͠ͅ ̴̳̭̮̪̜̣̝̱̤̅͐͐͘̚͜ͅb̸̜͇̺̼̲̞͈̟̫̎̍̑̈́͗͑̓̓͊̑̔̕̚͝i̵͎͚̞̻͌̀̃͘͝ͅ��̩̬̟̯̝̣̠̳t̴̠̑̉̾̇̏̄̐̌͗̽̒̔͑͑͆c̷̙̣̝̫̯͎̱̳͒͛̽͗̉́̈̇̚͠͝ͅh̵̭̓̏͑̏̿̅̌̆̊̎̓͆ ̵̠̘̲̦͈̰͎͈̹̾̑̿̀̐̾̄͠ͅȉ̸̟̘͙̌ͅs̴̫͉̼̹͉̪͔͓̣̼̽̊͌̊͌͋̑̃̏͆̈ ̶̦̠̂̉͋̑̎̈̍̋͐s̶̛̛͎̺̪̤̫̥̥̀͛̓̀͋̈́̇̔̏̃̑̕͜o̸̢͖̯͇̱̙̔̀̎̋̄͊̀̋̒̈́̄̊͊̕͝ ̵̨̧̛̳͍̲͓͇͍̃̾͛́́̓̔̚͝͝͝͝ͅͅṯ̶̛̹̲̀̋̃̏͆͛̉͋͂̂̈̈͑͘e̸̛̠̟̓͂̋̅̈̈́͂̃ŗ̶̧̦͎̗͓̺̪̪̞̜̦͌̍r̷͇̎͊͋̑̐̌͂͐̀̕͠i̴̯̗͖͕̺̖̣̗̝̙̪̐̌̅̈́͠ḃ̵͖̞̯̐͑̂̈̋̈́̋̉͂͐̕ḽ̵̢͉̹̤͕͔̠̞̻̤̘͍͖́̒̌̑́̈́̃͊̐̇̾̔̂ẻ̴̖̹̹̲̬̠̀̊̋̓̂ͅ.̴̢̲̺͒͒̈͋ ̶̘͈̄

And then I found out about the anime and how the fandom saw her, which just made it worse. So...thinking about her gives me indigestion and an aneurism. Story time over.

[ichika27]

Winter 2020: Episode 1

I decided to check out some anime that came out for this season. I’m still not sure if I’ll be watching their entire series so I’m not gonna do the post reacts like I do with ‘Mairimashita! Iruma-kun’ so either I’ll do this kind of thing every week after seeing the episodes of each or would just post an individual overall reaction about each series after they finish or if I ever decide to drop them. I’ll be trying that ‘3 episode’ rule thing everyone does to make it easier for me.

First of all, Madoka Magica: Magia Record.

A ‘Madoka Magica’ spin-off based on the mobile game with brand new characters but the original cast would show up later on, too. The first episode is fun and interesting already with the mystery surrounding the main character’s wish she’d forgotten about and the girl appearing in everyone’s dreams. The feel of the first episode is kind of different from how I felt while watching the original series and not in a bad way. I think I would follow the entire series just because I loved ‘Madoka Magica’.

Next is Bofuri: I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt So I’ll Max Out My Defense.

About a girl named Kaede who isn’t really a gamer but was convinced by a friend to play her first VRMMO. Since she doesn’t like pain, she decided her first weapon would be a shield and that she’d put all of her starting stat points (and every point she’d earn from there on) into increasing her defenses. It proved to be a good idea when she gets achievements that make her stronger. It’s another ‘MC is OP’ but this isn’t isekai and the main character is female which is nice. Not sure if this will have a harem since male versions of this type of stories end up that way.

That said, despite the things I feel about how OP characters in stories like these are created, at least there’s a reason for how it happens to Kaede with many of the achievements being reachable by any player if they’ve played long enough and have good weapons and experience and it’s just Kaede’s defense is strong enough to help her reach those faster.

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard

Nice guy Seiji saves a guy named Richard one night and find out the latter is a jeweler. He asks Richard to appraise his grandma’s ring and this unravels the mystery behind it and Seiji’s grandma. Richard ends up hiring Seiji to work for him and his Jewelry Store.

I like the characters, the art style is good, and there’s hints of bromance that makes me wanna ship the main characters BUT I tried out this show because of the ‘Case Files’ part of the title. To me, if a detective/mystery show isn’t as fun or as good as ‘Detective Conan’ then I’d probably get bored of it and drop it. I can’t really say much about the first episode so I’ll see the next one to find out if this is worth watching to the end.

Socerous Stabber Orphen (2020)

I didn’t see this coming but an anime I watched when I was younger got a remake. The story was enjoyable so I had planned to check this out since I saw the trailer. It’s about a mage named Orphen whose trying to get his friend Azalie to turn back from being a dragon after she got herself cursed. The art is kinda similar to current anime which makes me miss the old art style (he looked better in the old one but everyone else feel like they got cuter). I also really, really miss the OP of the old one ‘Ai, Just on my Love’ as it felt like it fits the magic/badass feeling of the story.

Anyways, the first episode is way different from the old one (sorry if I’m doing comparisons) but here, Orphen meets his companions differently and Majic isn’t even his apprentice yet. The way he meets Claiomh is also different that it didn’t start out with a misunderstanding although this time. This also shows us Orphen’s backstory from the start unlike in the original series where it’s kind of like a spoiler. This first episode isn’t as interesting as the older one but hopefully, it gets there later on.

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun

Kept seeing this guy when playing mudae on Discord and I thought he looked cute and the title of the manga he came from is interesting and looked it up only to find out it’s getting an anime lol. I was planning on seeing this one, too and the first episode was cute and fun to watch! It certainly feels the same way it felt when I watched Iruma-kun. I’m also intrigued by ‘Seven Mystery’ stuff as it’s been a small plot/arc in some stories but this one is gonna have it as it’s actual story.

In this, a girl named Nene hears about the school’s 7th mystery and sought it out as it’s rumored to grant wishes. She meets the ghost ‘Hanako’ who, after several events gets bound to her to help her out of a curse in exchange for her being his helper. It’s really cute and I already ship them XD

Hatena Illusion

Kana comes from a family of famous magicians and secretly, of thieves. She’s very excited to see her childhood friend Makoto again as the latter would be living with them only for her excitement to be shattered once she realizes she has been mistaken all these years as Makoto isn’t a girl but a boy. Makoto on the other hand is happy to see Kana again whom he nicknamed ‘Hatena’ (but is surprised that she now dislikes him) and will also be an apprentice to Kana’s father which is something he’s always wanted.

This is like, romance with a magical girl transformation in it and all that. I think the art is cute and it seems like fun but Kana is uh... kinda annoying? I mean, she’s the one who misunderstood everything and it’s not like Makoto lied to her but she proceeds to insult him, nearly had him kicked out of the house when he had just arrived (she was thankfully persuaded not to), and is just mean to him and in the end wanted to steal something from him that was from her mom saying ‘She wants to help her mother’ and stuff when she’s just being petty. I’ll give this 3 episodes and if I still don’t feel it, I’ll drop this.

Lastly, A Destructive God Sits Next to Me.

Koyuki just wants a peaceful life but unfortunately for him, he’s classmates with chuunibyou Hanadori who wouldn’t stop bothering him as Hanadori thinks that Koyuki is also ‘reincarnated’ like he is. Determined to not let Hanadori’s antics ruin his life and his education, Koyuki strives to ignore the weirdness happening around him but he still ends up reacting and usually getting mad at the chuunibyou.

I wanted to watch this when I heard of it months ago - cute guys that look like I can ship them and the story seemed fun. Also, I needed something after the ending of ‘Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy’ (still waiting for that ova...) and this seems perfect. Although this reminds me more of ‘Tonari no Seki-kun’ with the whole ‘MC tries to concentrate on studying but can’t ignore their classmate with the strange hobbies’.

The first episode is really funny for me so that’s good. It’s also got that secondhand embarrassment cringe comedy but surprisingly, it’s for the main character and not the chuunibyou (I feel so sorry for Koyuki). Unlike in Chuubyou, the other characters in this show either thinks Hanadori is annoying or weird. To be honest, as much as I’d like not to feel this way, Hanadori is kind of annoying. Hopefully either he gets better or he just ends up growing on me before episode 3 finishes or I may drop this. I mean, no matter how funny it is, annoying characters still kinda get to me.

--

Like I said, I have a lot on my plate now compared to the mere 3 last season and I’m still watching Iruma-kun as it’s still ongoing. Will I watch these all until the end or will I be dropping some? We’ll find out...

[bunny-wk-fanfic]

Hi Bunny~ I hope you don't mind me dropping in for a request (as you know Fear told me to come in, too). I was wondering if you could do a Male!Merida (Brave) finding Kagome unconscious in the woods and takes her back to the castle secretly to tend to her wounds. Not really sure where this idea came from, but you have freedom to mess around with it! :D love you Bunny~

I apologize for the long wait, here is your request.

There were a lot of things he wasn’t good at, being the lordly prince his mother wanted was the first thing that came to mind. Understanding how to rule was not something he had a grasp on was another thing, but that was changing. Thanks in help to his mother. It was a quick lesson, that while his father may be king, it was his mother that ruled the land.

So he studied her as he studied how to wield a blade or use the bow from his father. Where his father taught him how to hunt and fight in battle, his mother taught him negotiations and ruling both a castle and land fairly. It did take to seeing a witch in an attempt to change his fate, get out of a marriage with the daughters of another clan, that helped bring about this change.

What he did wish he had better knowledge of, was how to help treat wounds.

Looking up from the whittling he had currently taken up, he stared at the small figure that was currently in his bed. He had never seen such a small woman before, he first thought she was a child when he stumbled upon her during a ride a while back. His cheeks warmed when he remembered that wasn’t so.

Still, he brought the woman back, and for some unknown reason, hid her away in his room. With how long she’s been asleep though, he was beginning to feel that it would have been best if he brought her to see someone.

A knock at his door startled him, quick to put the knife and wood he had been whittling to the side and rush to the door.

“Brother, brother!” three voices cried out from the other side, urging him to get to his door quicker.

“What is it?” he grimaced when his hand grasped the door, keeping the three from tumbling in. While it hurt to ignore them the past few days, he didn’t need them seeing the woman and then the rest of the castle finding out. Or worse, their mother.

“You promised to show us how to use the bow.” their voices were a little more subdued.

Grimacing, Meraud crouched down and pressed his brow against the worn wooden door. “I know, and I will. But not today.”

There was a sound of shuffling before his brothers murmured their agreements. Again it broke his heart to keep doing this to them, but until the woman was awake… Well, he’d give it another day and then if she didn’t wake up, then he’d go and get someone that could better help her.

Standing up with a grunt, he scruffed at his hair before running his hand down his face with a deep sigh. Why was he doing this again? Even he couldn’t answer that. Turning, he took a single step when the sound of a bow being drawn back sounded in the silent room stopped him.

Looking up, he blinked at the woman that stood before him, his bow drawn and aimed at him. Blinking wide eyes, his gaze shifting from her, to where he propped his bow and quiver near the fireplace, and back to where she stood.

Her face was still pale, hair sticking to her brow and cheeks as she squinted up at him. Despite the slight shaking in her arms, he saw that her form was one that spoke of experience with a bow. Raising his hands slowly, he ducked slightly. “Easy now, no need for that.” he took a few cautious steps forward, stopping when she raised the bow a little higher. “Alight, alright.”

Narrowing blue eyes, Kagome stared at the man across from her. Waking up, she had hoped it was Kaede’s hut, a quick scan revealed that wasn’t true. It was far too European, and reminded her of the castles from movies to be anything remotely Japanese. And when she became aware of voices, her eyes widened when she saw a towering male with vivid red hair.

Waking up in a strange room with only a man in the vicinity, it did not leave a great first impression. Seeing a bow, Kagome didn’t think twice about going for it, more than happy that the man seemed too occupied with the conversation he was having through the door to pay her any attention.

Perhaps jumping through the well after three years of nothing had not been the greatest idea. But she had so hoped…

His words were thick, she almost didn’t understand him when he first spoke up directly to her. Observing his clothing, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the skirt… wait. That was a traditional design for… some part of United Kingdom, wasn’t it? The Scottish?

Arms lowering, Kagome stumbled into the hard chair behind her as that last thought hit close to home. Was she in Scotland? Oh, she hoped this was just a very, very, traditional location or there was some sort of event that would call upon wearing traditional clothing. She didn’t think she could handle being in medieval Europe. How would medieval Europeans take to a modern Japanese woman?

“Are you alright?” the man ducked into her line of sight, barely tamed red hair falling over his shoulder.

This closer look made her realize just how huge he was in comparison to herself. He could have easily overtaken her despite her being armed with a bow, yet he hadn’t. Said weapon hung limply from her fingers, and he still kept a respectful distance from her. Pale eyes watched her in concern, reminding her of his question.

Was she alright? Physically, yes, although she was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. Mentally? She figured not panicking was a solid way to say she was alright. Emotionally? That would she would need to come back around to at a later date.

“…I… I don’t know.” eyes fluttered as she attempted to hold back the stinging that was building in her eyes. “Wh-where am I?”

“DunBroch.” when she flinched at his answer, his brows furrowed slightly. “You’re… you’re not from around here.”

Despite it being a statement, Kagome shook her head. “No. I’m from… far, far to the east.” putting the bow and quiver aside, she leaned forward. “Where did you find me?”

“Out in the woods.” he crouched down a bit.

Brows furrowed, Kagome attempted to recall her arrival, but as far back she could remember was when she felt the well burst to life with magic. “Was there anything near? A well? River? A… a cottage or hut?”

He shook his head. “Nae. Do you know how you came to be in the woods?”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Kagome scoffed. Of course. That didn’t mean she didn’t wander around until she passed out. Perhaps, if he agreed, he could take her back to where he found her, and she could figure out where it was exactly she arrived at. With a wry smile, she looked back at him. “Would you believe me if I said magic.”

Brows shooting up, he nodded his head. “Oh, aye.”

A silence stretched between them, until Kagome’s stomach growled. Eyes widening, Kagome’s cheeks instantly bloomed into a deep blush. It had sounded so much louder than it really was. It earned a chuckle from the man across from her as he stood up.

He presented her with an open hand. “Come on, then, you have been asleep for two days now.”

Hesitating for a few moments, it took another grumble from her stomach before she accepted his hand. “…thank you…”

“Meraud.” his smile was bright and warm as he looked down at her.

“…Kagome.” she took the time to sound out her name. “Thank you. Most wouldn’t be so, charitable and generous to a complete stranger.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to leave ya out there all alone.” he was careful in handling her, she figured it could be due to their differences in size. “And if magic is what brought you here, then I might know someone that might be able to help you.”

Hope blossomed deep within her, though it was slightly dampened again with embarrassment when her stomach rumbled once again. Blushing, she ducked her head as he led her out of the room and hopefully towards somewhere to eat.

He let out a short laugh, securing her hand in his. “But first, let’s get you something to eat!”

[imaginedanganronpa]

Can I please get a scenario where Shuichi is in love w/ the reader, but he doesn't think they like him back because he thinks they have feelings for one of the other boys in the class (your choice of who). Some angst to fluff?? <3

The Requester specified in another ask that this is about jealousy as well! And I love me some good angst to fluff action, but wow I did not realize how long this one is. I hope you like it!! This one was a lot of fun :)

Saihara Shuichi Gets Jealous When He Thinks His Crush Has Feelings For Someone Else!

Saihara bitterly pressed his beading forehead into the palm of his hand, clenching his other into a tight fist at his side. Hiscold, trembling hands soothed the burning flesh on his skin, hot with anger andfrustration.

His mind was a tangled mess of emotions, too much for the Detective to handle.Why did you have to be so incredibly wonderful? So beautiful? So enthralling?Why did you have to run through his mind all day, why wouldn’t you leave hisconscious?

The questions swirled around his mind as his legs folded beneath the tinycafeteria seat. Kaede, whom was sitting directly beside him, noticed this andsensed that something was wrong – in fact, the blonde has already worked outSaihara’s feelings for you. She was helpless, though, and unable to say or do anything to put his wandering mind to rest.

Could someone as bright as you ever fall for someone like him? He wasn’t sosure.

You were like sunlight after weeks of rain. Every time Saihara sees you, his heartbeats against his chest, a cruel orchestra of feelings rushing through his veinslike adrenaline. All he ever wanted to do was bask in your presence, tell youhow much he cared for you and press his body against yours. And after all theseyears, he could still barely hold a conversation with you.

It was torture – pure heart-wrenching torture.

A vacant memory flashed in Saihara’s mind – of when you attended a summerfestival together, and the way you tugged on his hand while guiding him to aphoto-booth. He remembered how the sun was setting and the neon glow of the carnival rides and booths at the festival made you look heavenly, and his hand shook sohard cupped inside of yours.

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of you. A group of your close friends all went together to the festival – Kaede was there, and so were Kaito and Maki… and him.

He made Saihara want to disappear. The Detective was nothing in comparison andhe made the miserable boy want to escape from these feelings; of course thatwould also mean escaping from you, despite everything…

Kaede tapped on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, but Saihara just wanted tobe alone. He stood and trudged out of the cafeteria – he’d much rather endurethis torture than be away from you, even if you didn’t reciprocate hisfeelings.

But he was stopped in his tracks at the sight before him – in the entrance ofthe cafeteria. You were standing there, your face bright and smiling, with hisdamned arm wrapped around you. Him being Rantaro Amami, the man that most ofthe people in your class fawned over. The man who could get anyone he wantedwith his good looks and charm, and you were no exception.

He couldn’t hear what you two were talking about, but the blood rushed toSaihara’s cheeks faster than he could comprehend. His heart began to ache andhe felt his stomach flip, suddenly feeling nauseous. Jealously bloomed in hischest and he gripped his heart tightly, his knuckles turning a pale white.

He wanted Rantaro to get the Hell away from you, to stop touching you so much.His hands formed fists again and he fought the animalistic, instinctual urge toforcibly remove you from the taller man. The green-haired man was moving closerand closer to you as you talked, and Saihara wished he could gain the courage to throw the firstpunch, gritting his teeth angrily.

Then, a feeling of… shame washed over him. This was Rantaro he was directinghis hostility towards – one of the greatest friends he has ever known, and one of the kindest people in his class. He was friendly towards most people and wouldflirt without realizing or intending to. His arm around you and your closeness didn’tnecessarily mean romance!

And what right did Saihara have to feel this way? You weren’t his, probablynever would be. Even though that fact pained him.

He quickly turned on his heels and made his way towards the other exit, keepinghis head down so no one saw the tears gathering on his lash-line. He has neverbeen a jealous person so why did he feel this way now? So envious and inferiortowards one of his friends.

Fuck. Saihara hated feeling like this! Despised it! Tears were starting to flowfreely down his cheeks because he hated the constant ache in his chest,longing to be in Rantaro’s place, hated the utter jealously he felt and couldn’t containtowards one of his best friends. More than anything, he hated that he wasn’t goodenough for you, and that he could pine after you all he wanted but nothing wouldchange the way he felt – like you deserved so much better than him, and the wayyou looked at Rantaro spoke volumes.

“Shu-Shuichi?” A familiar shaky voice called his name and he froze. What didthe universe or whatever-higher-power have against him?

Standing just a few feet away, watching him cry whilst radiating concern, wasthe unattainable object of his affections – you.

Saihara’s tormented eyes met yours and you rushed forward, falling to your knees.To make matters worse, he noticed a worried-looking Rantaro still standing inthe doorway, watching you in a tantalizing way with crossed arms. Still, you cupped his face andstared at him with nothing but love and concern. His heart was breaking knowingthat you saw him like this, and that he did, too.

Little did either of you know that you were indirectly responsible for hisfeelings and tears.

“Shuichi, are you hurt? Did someone hurt you?” He couldn’t handle it, why did you carefor him so deeply? Why did he have to fall so madly in love with you?

Biting his lip, Saihara finally came to terms with his emotions and the factthat he was desperately in love with you. He finally accepted it, although that still wouldn’t changea thing nor give him any peace of mind.

“I’m what’s wrong, (Y/N). I’m so in love with you, I have been for years, and Ifeel so jealous when I see you with Ran- other guys, and it hurts to know thatI’m not good enough for you!” Heavy silence fell between the two of you, andthat combined with his sudden outburst and confession made Saihara want to pullhis knees into his chest and disappear.

He shut his eyes tightly and prepared himself for the inevitable moment that he’s beenputting off for so long now – the moment when you would finally reject him andbreak off all ties.

Instead, he felt a wet, warm pressure against his forehead and his eyes shot open.Your gentle, loving face was smiling back at him, very faintly, after you just kissed his skin. “Who said you weren’tgood enough for me? That just… isn’t true,” your fingers wipe away his stillfalling tears and then helped Saihara to his feet once again.

“Is that why you left the cafeteria without a word?” You continue, “were youjealous of Rantaro? Oh, Shuichi, there’s nothing to worry about. He’s just afriend! Please, believe me when I say that you’re more than enough for me.”

He was… dazed and confused, and unsure of how to react. This wasn’t rejection?Your words about Rantaro only eased Saihara’s mind a little, and he was startingto feel as though he over-thought everything.

Your embrace caused all his thoughts to cease and he felt a moment of comfort,for the first time in so long. For the first time, the thoughts and concernsabout you that danced around in his mind were put to rest, even just for a fleeting moment.

“Don’t you see how wonderful you are? Don’t you see everything I fell in lovewith and want to be with?” Now your voice was breaking and Saihara’s heartjumped into his throat. He shakes his head and steps out of your arms, “You… loveme?” He was almost afraid to ask.

But your gentle smile tugged at his heart-strings and caused him to relax.Nodding, you confirm, “I do love you, Shuichi, no one else, but I didn’t think you felt thesame way.” Then, you step closer and pull his head down so that you can pressyour forehead against his, gazing into his beautiful eyes. Your sparkling gazemeets his tenderly and he couldn’t help but to let a single tear fall, but thistime it was a tear of relief.

There was still some lingering doubt, but it started making sense. The way yougrabbed his hand at the festival, the way you looked at him even right now, andthe way Rantaro treated not only you but everyone else around you… after fearingthe worst for so long, Saihara internally pinched himself for not taking hischance sooner.

And for letting his jealously get the best of him. After all, that’s completelyout of his character.

Throwing his fears and doubts to the wind, the Detective leaned forward andsoftly pressed his lips against yours tentatively, feeling you smile into thekiss. You reciprocate enthusiastically and wrapped your arms around Saihara’s neckas his hands find your waist, pulling you closer until there was hardly any spacebetween your bodies.

He was happier in this moment than he has been in months, and his insecuritiesand jealously disappeared into your warmth and love. 

Yours and Saihara’srelationship was reborn into something new, exciting, and beautiful.

- Mod Rantaro

[thegospelofnagisa]

Magia Record Anime: Episode 5 Thoughts

Hello!

In contrast to previous week because it’s all about contrast you see, I saw MagiReco super early today so...I can share my thoughts right now earlier than ever so, let’s do just that.

One anon sent me an ask stating the following: “I went back and watched episode 4 before watching episode 5 and I think it was better story than episode 2-3. I like Momoko, Ren and Kaede but lets be honest, their episodes don't really move the plot forward that much other than introducing rumors. These ones make many significant revelations and tease plenty of new plot developments. It still has some pacing problems but not as bad as those of episode 2 and 3.”

And I have to agree honestly, this episode when paired up with the previous one is better than the one with Kaede, Rena and Momoko, even if it was about the Shrine Uwasa which I stated last week, was not very interesting, I think what turned around my expectations was the way they handled the battle with the fake Mifuyu and how Iroha realized Ui was fake, I didn’t stop to think about it but on here, makes sense, why was she being so repetitive? Becuase that’s the entirety of Iroha’s memories about Ui at the moment, so naturally the Uwasa constructed a Fake Ui based on that whereas Yachiyo has a catologue of memories with Mifuyu for the Uwasa to create a pretty spot on recreation of her, it’s a detail I didn’t notice until this episode but I really apreciate that kind of thinking.

Another element I really enjoyed was the reveal of the Doppel, I do think it was a bit rushed and sudden, but other than that, it delived on what everyone expected, annihilating the Uwasa as if was a Berserk EVA-01 as another ask I got sent pointed out and I agree.

It was pretty DOPE….pel! (I know I know I am sorry)

So kudos on the anime team for subverting my expectations about the adapttion of this chapter, I commend them a lot for that one.

And another thing I wanted to comment was on how jarring it is for me to see Mami interact with the MagiReco girls, even thought she wasn’t as aggressive as she was in the game, it does put a stark contrast, we are used to Puella Magi’s being hostile toward each other as we’ve followed the Mitakihara girls for years, but then putting that kind of culture of Puella Magi against the culture of Kamihima Puella Magi Culture...it creates a massive shock that really makes Mami look like a giant douche in comparison to Iroha, Yachiyo and Tsurono, even thought I know Mami is far from a douchebag because I know her very well, that’s how she looks like from the perspective of the other girls and they really did a great job portraying that contrast in the story, absolute and thunderous applause from me with this detail, my personal best moment of this entire episode.

I do feel sorry for the people who look at Mifuyu and go “aww what a sweet looking girl, she’s absolutely precious with her giant Xena giant chakram thing….” oh poor people, you have NO idea what’s coming.

Overall, excellent episode, my favorite one so far, but again, ONLY when paired up with the previous episode, it’s like Death Proof, TONS of boring and annoying dialogue at the beginning but the last 15 minutes of the movie….oh boy, FANTASTIC.

9.5/10 in my opinion, can’t wait how they follow up with poor Kaeda, she’s gonna have a HARD time dealing with that one, also...that color paint she had...wasn’t that in Holy Alina’ costume? Is Alina coming next? Ohhhh fuuuuuck O_O

[lotusdiscussthis]

Excuses, excuses:

Noticing a pattern? Of course you do! It's rather blatant seeing these scenes back to back like this. Even separately, both protagonists' journeys were rather obvious ones, weren't they? In UDG, they really seem to want to drive (hammer) in the fact that Komaru was going through an arc. A “weak girl to strong girl” sort of development. It was incredibly straightforward with how she made excuses every chance she got and how she can't continue moving forward because she was just “a normal girl”. Kind of similar to how the Ultimate Detective would say things like “I only solved a case by accident” or “I'm only an apprentice”. Both were making all sorts of claims as to why they think they weren't qualified to take any sort of personal responsibility to better the situation they were stuck in.

The difference between the both of them?

Komaru had Toko. Toko had to go though development of her own, yes, but she was pulling absolutely NO punches when it came to Komaru and her persistent indecisiveness. She threw down the harsh reality upon her every time she did so. Only now and then would she tell her that she had her back. She gave her what she needed the most; a reality check for her and her issues, as well as support. There was no sugarcoating for Komaru's circumstances. Being normal means nothing when you literally have the means of defending yourself and other people.

Saihara, however, had his uncle's teachings and work experience under his belt. Not only that, he had nearly everyone on his side to motivate him. Yet, it was still not enough to make him get his act together, much less think for himself at all. He seriously needed someone to shine a light onto his core issues that isn't just simply “HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE”. The problem was, of course, the people encouraging him were simply not giving him what he needed the most.  But this shouldn't come as a surprise. His supporters wouldn't have any idea what's wrong with him because his biggest issues weren't all that clear in the first place. Not only that, a good majority of the cast don't have a good understanding of their own circumstances, so they can't make up solutions out of nothing as much as they would've liked to.

Those who were perceptive of Saihara's core issues (such as Tenko and Kirumi for example) were just killed off before they ever got a deeper understanding of him. People such as Maki, Kaede and Kaito just made the assumption that he was simply lacking in confidence, but unlike Komaru who had no combat experience whatsoever, Saihara had more experience to spare in comparison. It's just a matter of where exactly his subconscious feelings lie to make him go on this repetitive cycle on losing and finding his resolve constantly. Unfortunately, so long as he is clouded to his own problems, he can't fix it.

(5 chapters of warped self-realization and training later)

And eventually, that pesky “self worth” problem was resolved by taking the truth straight from the cosplayer's mouth and the Ultimate Detective swaying his remaining friends to die alongside him, making everyone's deaths before them meaningless. Lovely…

As you can see, this is to show how bizarrely backwards Saihara's development was handled in comparison to Komaru's. We compare him to Makoto and Hajime a lot just for his insecurity issues, but I think he mainly reminds me of Komaru for the amount of persistent indecisive moments that she was known for. I'm actually surprised that I don't see a lot of people talk about it. I mean, I know that most don't wanna consider UDG as part of the DR canon, but at the very least, you should take the game into consideration when thinking about Kodaka's intentions while forming a story. We are aware that he enjoys doing meta-narration, but as I've said once before, his end goal was not just to settle things in a way that completely negates everything his other games have tried to accomplish. V3 is not meant to be taken at face value. This is to show a major discrepancy between the latest game and the ones that preceded before it and to see if people would actually take notice of it. It should be clear by now that Kodaka holds value in his own work and tropes enough to reference it again and again, so why would he go against what he was trying to teach us from other games? It makes no sense to think that he just… stopped trying for the sake of the schlock “Power of Fiction” ending, so why would he go against what he was trying to teach us from other games?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's the greatest writer either, but I just wanna draw a line on what was intentionally twisted writing and what was not.

… Speaking of twisted, remember how in Komaru's story, the reason why they made her “growth” so obvious was to show she was being led into a trap to make people think she was the hero that brought war upon against the Future Foundation? Since Saihara has been showing a lot of similarities between himself and Komaru, who's to say that the same exact trap isn't happening to him? Only difference here is, Komaru was made aware that she was being used, while Saihara may be unaware that he's still being led around like a pawn.

[ryouverua]

The Final Lab

.......... is really, really weird.

just what I’d expect from someone who may or may not have set up the love key system tbh

Is it weird to consider this the Mastermind’s Lab? .... Maybe?

Oh. Oh, that’s what you meant. Also, damn - does it spread out as far across as the AV room too?

Sure they are. Yup. They’re definitely here. Oh, hiding? ....... I don’t know if I’d go that far.

OH THE MUSIC CHANGE

I did think it was weird that the music hadn’t changed when we walked in there!

.... this is so oddly conspicuous.

OH IS THAT WHERE THAT THING FROM THE JUNKO-SCENE WAS THIS WHOLE TIME

Wait, what? We were supposed to find this room???

.......

The, uh. The what now.

I... guess there’s no denying that this is connected to the old games then. Btw, totally random, but I like that little ‘tinny’ filter they have on Monokuma’s voice. It’s a nice touch.

- says Sweetcheeks, to the giant Monokuma head

I mean, I know he means ‘are you the Monokuma that’s been in charge of everything this whole time or are you a separate entity’ but it just sounds kinda funny that’s all. 8′D

Anyway, it confirms that but goes on -

.... IS THIS YOUR WAY OF TRYING TO DIVERT MY ATTENTION FROM THAT WHOLE ‘WE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR REAL MOTHER’ FROM CHAPTER 4. 8/ I’M NOT BUYING THAT THIS IS THE MOTHER YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT.

Though with that said, uh, what’s with the sudden ‘maternal’ imagery???

I wonder if the Monokubs were made there too... they’re separate from Monokuma, but they were obviously replaced. Also, that... doesn’t... look like a machine that could make new Monokuma, but I’m going to choose to believe this for now only because it’s something that was brought up in Chapter 1 too. I can’t think of a reason why this could be untrue...

That’s a good point. I mean, unless there’s a hidden area behind there that have pre-made Monokumas that just need to be activated or something? That would make more sense...

“Duh-doi.”

That’s true. This is... weird. I’m just - I’m just getting a weird vibe in general.

WHY WOULD YOU ASK HIM TO DO THAT WHEN THERE IS LITERALLY A ‘MONOKUMA ET ALL VS STUDENTS’ WAR RIGHT NOW

S T O P

ASDL;KFJASDF okay I actually laughed

also thank god, honestly

oh god it has a good point

DUDE DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT THAT’S WEIRD

What is happening right now are we trying to call his bluff but what if it isn’t a bluff WHAT IF IT ISN’T A BLUFF -

GUYS PLEASE STOP SAYING THAT THAT’S REALLY CREEPY

But at the same time, why would it lie now? What if the deadline had come way back in Chapter 1 and there wasn’t any firepower to back it up? There... had to have been a way to back up that threat. .... Right? Right? oh god please don’t say Kaede killed for nothing -

“THIS IS WHY WE KEEP GETTING BLOWN UP BY K1-B0, SHUICHI!”

Wait, what? That’s a Monopad? I couldn’t tell from the original angle. ..... A Monopad with blood on it??? And is that a handprint....

WHAT

W H A T

Wait, I’m trying to remember... didn’t he have a Monopad on him when he died? We talked about this already, right? So he started the game with two? hey rantaro why does monokuma let you have two monopads -

ahaha lol bye necklace!perk theory

.... Wait, if it has his handprint on it, isn’t that the one he was holding in the picture?

WHAT HE GETS AN ENHANCED MAP THAT’S CHEATI - oh I guess that’s part of the perk. But still. Still.....

.... Man this would have been so helpful to have from the beginning. 8′/

But there it is - the reason Rantaro knew the exact location of the library door. It was literally laid out for him. The mastermind really did lure him there...

Oh my god this literally spells out what memory he’ll learn next. The mastermind’s moves. Literally everything that would perfectly position him to the perfect spot - this almost seems like it was designed that way! To prey on his paranoia from his missing memories! This wasn’t a hint, this was a fucking set-up from the start!

.... And yet, it was written by him. But it had to have been approved by the mastermind, right? Or at the very least, the mastermind knew about it...

HONESTLY I FEEL LIKE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF WITHOUT IT

Man, past!Rantaro screwed over future!Rantaro really well.

I’m so fired up at how unfair this all was for him ffff he was set up to fail under the guise of it being a perk what the hell, he wasn’t even given a fighting chance at all - ?!

JUSTICE!!! JUSTICE FOR RANTARO!!!!

.... I-I mean, I have no idea who it could belong to.

Oh, he knows. He 100% knows. This is him just living by ‘measure twice, cut once’, a proverb I wholeheartedly subscribe to btw.

And she knows it too.

MAN literally the moment anything Kokichi-related comes up she is up and running to it. It’s a shame she hasn’t been able to shake that ‘KILL THE MASTERMIND!!!’ attitude that caused all the problems in the first place, but at least she seems incredibly determined to make it up to Kokichi’s memory personally...? 8′D or am I reading too much into it again

insert laugh track

INTROVERT BUDDIES :D

I’m sorry WHAT -

what - ?!

It’s just... laying here? In the trash, with nothing else? Another thing we’re supposed to find???

Is that from Kaede’s sweater?

This... is a continuation of the set-up? Just, just leaving this shotput ball here like Kaede just ~has~ to be lurking around here - ??

It... has to be Tsumugi. Between her ‘finding’ the cold room, Kaede’s profile, Kaede’s ‘twin’, just leaving Rantaro’s Monopad out here for us to find, Motherkuma handing out convenient clues and ‘evidence’ of her living in here... it’s all too convenient?

... No, this is a set-up. She’s trying to set up Kaede as the mastermind. And she even had Kaede’s clothes at one point, didn’t she??? For the cospox scene? Did - did Shuichi just realize it was Tsumugi too, then?

...

omg I just remembered Tsumugi being incredibly pissed at Rantaro when he basically made her third-wheel in the nailpolishing scene that was totally going to be the Kaemugi Magnum Opus and telling him to, what was it? ‘Backflip into a landmine and die?’ shinjaeba - it was right there. it was the first comparison I made in my head. I should’ve known in that moment.

That is so darkly hilarious in hindsight, though I still wonder how she knew to count on Kaede’s plan. What if Shuichi hadn’t found the door? Wait, if the Survivor’s Perk ended up here after Kaede’s trap was triggered, does that mean she darted out and nabbed the Survivor’s Perk afterwards??? But... how did she get past everyone in the first place......... Maybe with Monokuma lying in wait in this room, then? If she had an extra in here and Rantaro had opened the door anyway, it would be easy enough... maybe...???

I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS...

oh Tsumugi is encouraging me to continue looking around too

YOU LEFT MORE CLUES TO POINT A FINGER AT THE THEORETICAL MASTERMIND!KAEDE, DIDN’T YOU

So as long as you were quick enough, you could dart in and out of the room via the automatic door to... say... grab a Survivor’s Perk. Got it.

So you mean... it might not matter if you happened to put the receipt signed tape dust on the reader if the mastermind had already gotten in the room, so there’s potentially a chance that it was accessed if Shuichi’s timing/luck was bad?

H-Himiko plz

C-Can we also talk about how while Mother Monokuma is confirming that this is the ‘Remnants of Despair’ room, Tsumugi is the one that keeps pushing for that comparison... she’s, uh, way too hyped about them. I’m just sayin’.

“Well, they are now - oh, crap. Uh. Um. Just. Forget I said that.”

“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAY ‘NO’ WE PRACTICED THIS - I MEAN -”

I know the context is inaccurate but seeing Tsumugi sweating like this right here is making me lol - and I think I can stop saying ‘assuming I’m right’, because... I’m... starting to feel pretty confident tbh.

I feel like Motherkuma’s attitude is a bit different than Monokuma’s? Or am I just imagining things? It seems a lot more relaxed about the mysteries of everything than the other one, and certainly the Monokubs. They literally almost blew the students up for trying to get in here!

IT HAS TO BE LOOPING, THERE’S NO WAY YOU COULD SAY THAT IF IT WASN’T LOOPING IN SOME FASHION

Because it would have to end if there were only two people left, but clearly it wouldn’t if there was! And Rantaro is proof that it didn’t end with him, either!

The question is, why is it looping????

HOW MANY MORE CAN THERE BE

oh god they really are getting faster i barely captured anything from this

WAIT WHERE IS EVERYONE ELSE

So... Monokuma is still a recognized figure.

It would have been before Shuichi’s time though, yeah? And of course it would have been recorded as a significant event. I was curious so I looked up what our real life ‘most watched’ events in TV history were and they’re mostly positive, tbh - but not all of them. There were some significant funerals. Anything planned, basically.

'Like they usually do?!’ Okay, they are seriously emphasizing the ‘this game is looping’ angle here - and apparently Shuichi should be aware of this fact? Monokuma’s explaining it all, but it sounds like it’s more of a recap than anything!

He recaps it conveniently for us:

Gofer Project, the state of the world, that they’re the last survivors, their promise to be friends...

Was it like this with the original class? It looks like Shuichi was the last one to be woken up, too. I wonder if that’s significant...?

Wait, but hadn’t they not met each other before this? Or I guess they just forgot their ‘first’ meeting and that was enough...

“Well tbh I was hoping you would monologue about your evil plans for a bit in case I conveniently remembered these memories later, but fine.”

...What a great name for the light. right right shouldn’t be giving the murder-bear props for anything, sorry -

With that said, the flashback in the helmets still bother me -unless that was supposed to be them losing their talents in the first place. .... I’m not... entirely convinced of that, though. I don’t think that image has been confirmed to be associated to the talent-loss, so I’m not going to write it off as that yet.

“That’s oddly specific and is giving me a different set of high school flashbacks - can you get rid of those memories too while you’re at it oh shIT -”

tell me you don’t see sweetcheeks getting shoved into a locker at some point in his life though

Are you sure??? Are you sure?

Again, mass-induced memories - but unlike the ones in the pod room, they didn’t seem to be triggered by anything specifically. I wonder, actually - did the others get that memory as well? Tsumugi apparently did, but -

That’s not your fault!!

aaaaaw she wants to find a clue too 8′D

LMAO you, uh, weren’t ready for the responsibility yet, huh. She wears her anxiety on her sleeve. 8′D

ATTAGIRL!!!

You’ve got this, Himiko! You don’t know this yet, but the meta is on your side! You’ll definitely find something!

Ah, the rare serious Himiko..

So, interesting. We’re splitting up again - Maki’s ahead, Himiko’s behind, and we’re still with Tsumugi. Why are all signs pointing to her so much right now??? Am I going crazy here??? I mean, she’s also the least developed out of everyone left which isn’t helping and we still haven’t seen her cosplay yet (outside of potential!Junko) so....??? So, my girl? Will we ever get to see the power of EVA foam in your capable hands?

[golden-redhead]

I read your Saiouma-Oumota dynamics comparison post and I wanted to say that the first time I played I thought Shuichi is more likely to understand/trust Kokichi than Kaito but on a rewatch/ reading liveblogs and meta, I realized the opposite is more likely. The funny thing is that my reason is the same: Shuichi overthinks all of Kokichi's words and actions while Kaito more likely thinks he's just being a brat and needs to stop messing around, as he so often says.(1/2)

Ah Anon, your asks were literally the first thing I read today and they honestly made my day <3

I assume that you’re talking about this post.

I totally agree with the points you make. I think a lot of it is connected with the fact that Kaito is actually a very intuitive person, while Shuichi depends a bit too much on reason. Kaito is a good judge of character and willing to give people a chance, even if it doesn’t always look like that because of how brash and impulsive he can be. I know that a lot of people see it as naive and even reckless to believe so much in people and that it partially stems from his insecurities and hero complex, but… he actually can be very perceptive sometimes? And this is where I think his intuition steps in. He probably doesn’t understand it himself sometimes and that’s why he can’t always defend himself very well when his faith in others is questioned. It’s like this gut feeling that is… usually right. So he might butt heads with Kokichi a lot, he might even act aggressively towards him at times, but ultimately he is willing to give Kokichi a chance. The thing that probably annoys him the most is that Kokichi acts like he doesn’t want that chance, which for someone like Kaito must be very frustrating and hard to understand. But if he only showed interest in doing so - Kaito would totally support him. With Kaito the biggest problem is probably that he wants to do things his way and here he would have to compromise.

I think that what you said about Kaito not pushing Maki into giving him details she might be uncomfortable with sharing is actually really interesting? Because on one hand he is a curious person and he might be even seen as someone who pushes people into being honest with him while he isn’t always that honest himself, but… the way I see it - he knows where to draw a line. Sure, he will push Kokichi into trusting him, into being a more honest person but he will respect his boundaries. It’s interesting because Kaito’s insistence on making people open up to him isn’t always totally selfless, but at the same time he genuinely cares. Sure, he does have a hero complex. And he kinda ‘uses’ his sidekicks to feel better about himself. But he also genuinely wants people to be better versions of themselves. And not for him - for themselves, so they are more open and more comfortable with who they really are. And it’s clear that Kokichi has a lot of issues and he hides behind the lies and childish behavior. And Kaito doesn’t necessarily understand the hows and whys, but instinctively knows that Kokichi can’t be happy the way he is.

….ok, this is getting long, more under the cut!

Shuichi, on the other hand, treats Kokichi like some kind of puzzle. Mystery. And he is a detective, he wants to solve mysteries, but with this kind of approach… I don’t think it’s really possible? Because Shuichi relies on facts and Kokichi isn’t willing to give him those facts. Maybe he would never be willing to give them for him, even if they had a chance to get to know each other better. Kokichi is a very private person after all. And the thing is… trust has to be earned. I feel like often both the game and the fandom portray the saiouma relationship as one in which Kokichi has to prove that he is worthy of Shuichi’s trust. But… honestly, what exactly did Shuichi do to deserve Kokichi’s trust? From Kokichi’s perspective? Or do we just automatically assume that he should have it because he is our player and the protagonist and we know that he’s the good guy? Because, you know, the same was true for Kaede and look where it got us. I mean, Shuichi outright lies in chapter four and it’s such an obvious lie, too, and yet everyone believes it only because it’s Shuichi. He rejects Kokichi when he wants to investigate the school with him. He immediately teams with Kaede even when she insists that they continue to try to escape, even though Kokichi actually makes a very good point. And I’m not saying that it makes Shuichi a bad person or that his relationship with Kokichi wouldn’t work out, no. From Shuichi’s perspective not trusting Kokichi makes a lot of sense. And since Kokichi’s behavior only gets worse it makes sense that he ultimately rejects him. But like I mentioned in the post that you’re referring to - Kokichi and Kaito argue the whole time but then at the end, they work together to end the killing game. With Shuichi the situation is exactly opposite - they have a pretty okay relationship and then Shuichi snaps when Kokichi’s mastermind act starts. It’s a totally personal opinion, so I understand that not everyone might agree with that, but I don’t think that Shuichi would really trust Kokichi if the roles were reversed and he ended up with him in the hangar instead of Kaito. There is a chance that he would work with Kokichi? I think? But he would have to know the entire plan and I’m not sure if he would be willing to die the way Kaito did, even if he had the disease. It is definitely an interesting concept though and I’d have to think about it more. I’ve seen fics that made this idea work and enjoyed them, but they always play out differently, so none of them ultimately dies and… well, that changes a lot.

Anyway, personally, I think that Shuichi is the kind of person who… doesn’t really understand other people well unless he is friends with them. And even then it takes him a while if his relationship with Kaede and even Kaito is any indication. And, again, there’s nothing wrong with that! But it does prevent him from having a closer bond with Kokichi and understanding him better, especially when Kokichi butts head with people that Shuichi cares about. Shuichi needs time to bond with people on an emotional level and needs to learn to care about them and the killing game scenario doesn’t really offer him that time, which is a shame.  

The truth is that both saiouma and oumota are relationships that are… work in progress, I guess. All three characters have certain roles in the narrative and they can’t exactly escape them. And it’s crucial to remember that this is a killing game, which doesn’t really help to form strong and healthy relationships. Even Shuichi and Kaito’s relationship isn’t flawless, even though it’s the one that is probably the best developed and sincere in the entire game.

Also, I want it to be clear that this post isn’t necessarily about shipping! It’s more about certain dynamics that characters have that can apply both for platonic and romantic interactions between them. People who know me and follow my blog probably know that oumota is my OTP, but I also ship saiouma. Also, saioumota is my ultimate OT3, because I genuinely think that the three of them would have a good and balanced dynamic that would allow all three of them to grow.

Honestly, I could add so much more here, I am really happy that I received this ask because it’s a topic that I really like to discuss and find interesting!

Also, all of this is of course only my opinion, so you don’t have to treat it too seriously, it’s perfectly okay if you have a different interpretation of those characters and their relationships!

.

[kimmysfandomblog]

Hajimeme and Kaito? :^)

Hajime

Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD MERCY

Look, there is no other answer for this XD Hajime initially looks plain, and in a way that looks only at how he looks like, he is. Short brown hair is common, and his design is rather plain,especially in comparison to all of the others who were Ultimate students. The only thing that made him look different was his ahoge (lol) and his pretty greenish yellowish eyes!

However

He's so cute TTvTT

Now okay, a HUGE part of it is that, for whatever reason, physical appearance does little for me comoared to actual personality. Hinata... god Hinata has such an appealing personality! He isn't sacharine sweet and always good, or at least appears that way, like Naegi. He isn't always shy and never really standing up for himself like Saihara. Yes, I know there is WAY more to those characters, but this is based on the overall character feel.

Hinata feels real. While what he does because of his beliefs and emotions of that time is probably more extreme than what the average person would do, those feelings that brought him to that decision were relatable. When you want to believe you are better, and outwardly say so, but inside you're tearing yourself apart in insecurity... that's relatable.

And it wasn't just his character development, but his actions. While he draws a line of where he is unwilling to cross for his friends, he will still do what he can to help them. He will sass them, tease them, inwardly insults them, even, but he cares so much for his friends. That's what a lot of friendships are like, really XD

He's really sweet without it feeling fake, and he finds a way to not only move on from his own Despair, but help his friends move on from theirs. He's a leader with insecurities, and he is mostly capable of leadong the trials, with a few nudges here and there when needed. He makes stupid mistakes, some less serious than others, and he rises from them through his own power.

Oh man, I could gush on and on about why I fond Hajime so attractive XD It's a pretty much known fact that I do, though XD

Kaito

Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD MERCY

Alright, so like Komaeda, this is weird XD

Kaito and Himiko are always at the top of my favorite characters list for V3... it is honestly hard for me tonchoose between them because while Himiko is the character type I always wanted (a girl magician/mage whonis smol and cute and sleepy!), her story and development in V3 was just.... not as solid as it really could have been. Whereas with Kaito, I absolutely did not know what to make of him other than he was either loved or hated by the community (ranked fairly low in those initial polls too), but then I played the game and fell in love with his character XD he had pretty good development considering jow horrible character development could be in V3 (though I give the game points for actually trying to give every character development and relevance in the story).

However, while his face is pretty handsome and his hair is cool, and I do like the star/galaxy print on the inside of his coat.... his uniform overall is kinda ugly XD

The main thing I like about Kaito is that he's a lot more complex than in first view. He was raised by his grandparents, and as a result says some pretty stupid stuff, maybe outdated as well. He is kind of an idiot, but I stand by the belief he knows more than he lets on. The reason he sticks close to Shuichi as opposed to Hoshi seems to be vecause he had Shuichi's motive video. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it for Shuichi to let go of his anxiety. While people jate that he takes all of Shuichi's credit, they fail to understand why he does it: Shuichi doesn't want to be the one who holds responsibility if things go wrong. Shuichi os even thankful for it, even if it is coming off egotistical lol. If Kaito wanted to steal Shuichi's glory, why wouldn't he have tried to do the same for Kaede? When she was berated by half the class after failing to get them through the false exit, he encouraged her instead of taking over, because that is what she needed, a way of knowing that even if she hurt her classmates that way, she was only doing what she thought was right and it was a mistake rather than an intention to harm.

I do think V3's writing is clunky in the failure to make things more clear, and especially refraining from possibly rubbing people the wrong way, and Kaito is one of those characters that people might really hate for the misogynistic things he says and being insensitive, but if he was written where it was clear that someone pointing out hiw wrong he was would make him change then I doubt we'd be having so much discourse.

Kaito is that "idiot hero" type that inspires people to do better, but by doing so feels the need to hide what bugs him. These idiot hero types are such soft spots for me XD My first fancrush was on a character like that, who realizes as the game progresses how his version of what a hero was had been wrong. Kaito gets that all at once near the end, and due to not knowing how to handle it (I am sure it was a lot of shame at himself for what could have happened), he shuts Shuichi out until there is not time. He comes back, springing back up with promises of working together again.

This is a very messy response, sorry XD what I am trying to say is that Kaito shows a willingness to change, and that shows such a strength in character when you admit to yourself you did wrong and try to rectify it.

Now as for if I find him attractive... I can't say that I do, but it's because I ship him so hard with Shuichi XD I am pretty sure lol. The way he smiles and says Shuchi's name? Ooooof, what a guy!! 💖💖 While I do ship him with Kaede a bit, it is his relationship with Shuichi that attracts me to him! And though he comes off egotistical, he really does mean well and wants the best for his friends.

Such a wish is hard to grant ^^;

(I guess the one thing we learned is that kindness for others is very much a turn on for me, huh? XD)

[harmoniamusica]

✬ Making them their favorite hot beverage @ ultimatebigbro

Acts of Affection | Accepting | @ultimatebigbro

     Kaede had been invited by Rantaro to spend time with him while it was definitely different to be spending time with a guy she was more then happy too. The two talked about many different things like Rantaro’s adventures for he would be gone for periods at a time. Bringing back souvenirs and her talking about a concert she has been working on hoping he will come to enjoy eventually.

    Sitting at the table the taller male was turned away making tea in the kitchen her gaze watching as he boils the water. Memories of some girls whispering how lucky she was to be able to spend time with him like this. Even though she has to tell them that it’s nothing like that they were only just friends. But in these quiet moments, she can’t help but think about the ‘what if’ they were more.

     He was handsome and his personality was charming, she can understand how many would assume he probably had a lot of women in his life. But in reality, he just had many sisters with many of them having been lost around the world. A softness in his demeanor that she can’t help but wonder if he was always like this or every time something happened he tries to be a better person.

     Though he’s also an adventurer the most romantic thing about him was how worldly he was and any girl would be charmed by that. In comparison, Kaede can’t help but think she can be a bit boring. Sure she might sometimes travel as a pianist but it was only too big cities she didn’t see anything beyond those. She wants to see what he sees-

     The moment she realized her brain had wandered too far from her initial thought was when he was returning with the tea. Her face turned a bright red as he places the beverage on the table, it was rose tea her favorite. “Ah- Thank you, Amami-kun!” She piped, smiling sheepishly as she takes the drink to blow on it embarrassed that she had ended up thinking about him this whole time.

    Without thinking she takes a sip wincing as it was still hot and Rantarou was probably now staring at her like a mad woman as he had just taken it off the stove. No amount of blowing would cool it that quickly, “Mm- I’m fine sorry I’m just distracted,” She stated, a bright red wondering why she was acting so weird now. Looking directly into the tea so she wouldn’t be staring at him.

    “Hey, Rantarou... I know this is a weird question but what kind of girl do you like? I’m just curious cause a lot of girls were asking about you and it’s almost Christmas so you know.” Such an odd question, her cheeks were a nice pink staring to the side as her hand held the cup. Maybe she was just over thinking things, they were just classmates anyway but this tea... It smelled good.”

[trans-shuichisaihara]

Oumota Week Day 2 - Birthday

after 20 years I return to the tragedy au,,, i love my boys but im seeing a trend of ouma angst and that needs to change......... starting tomorrow (or maybe wednesday bc uhhh tomorrow’s prompts are looking angsty too rip)

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

Kokichi woke up knowing exactly what day it was and having no intention of celebrating it.

Why would he, when there was more important things to worry about than throwing himself a birthday party that would only have two guests. Two, because Momota wasn't invited. He didn't want a stranger intruding on something so personal.

And yet, here he was, intruding.

"Hey, happy birthday," he called as Kokichi was walking down the stairs, almost causing him to stumble in surprise. He considered ignoring the greeting all together, but decided to let the conversation continue.

"Hm? What makes you think it's my birthday?"

"Akamatsu and Iruma said it was."

"Oh, well, that's a lie. My birthday is actually April 1st."

Momota looked amused. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, your present's in the fridge."

Kokichi didn't want a present from him, much less give him the satisfaction of accepting it, but curiosity got the better of him. He wandered over to the fridge, opening it up. Inside was a small chocolate cake.

He frowned. "Where did you get this?"

Momota scratched at his stubbly jaw. "Er, well, I made it. With some help from Akamatsu."

Okay, so he could probably trust it not to be poisoned. Maybe. "Why?"

"Why?" He echoed. "Uh, I wanted to? It might be the apocalypse, but that doesn't mean you can't get something nice for your birthday."

How... simple. "Well, I didn't want a cake. I don't like cake," he declared, slamming the fridge door closed.

Momota sighed. "I know that's also a lie, but I'll bite; what do you want."

"How about you jump off the roof? That'll be exciting!" And if he breaks his leg, no one'll give him scolding looks when he says he wants Momota to leave.

"No thanks. Try aiming for less harmful to my well-being."

Damn. "Okay, well, how about you be my servant for the day? I wanna be pampered."

He paused, appearing to consider it. "As long as you don't ask me to do anything weird."

Wow. He wasn't expecting Momota to take it seriously. But if he was going to offer himself on a silver platter, Kokichi wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. "You can start byyyyy..." What was the worst, most time consuming chore on his to-do list? "Doing my laundry." Yeah, he had a ton of that. "Honestly, anything that's on the ground to the right of my bed's probably dirty." He clapped his hands. "Chop chop! Your king waits for no one, Momota-chan."

Momota rolled his eyes. "Yeah, alright. Don't think this'll be a regular thing though; birthday perk only, Ouma."

"That's Ouma-sama to you! If you don't address me properly, I will banish you from my kingdom!"

"You're pushing your luck." He pushed himself out of his chair, waving him off to head upstairs.

It was once he was out of sight that Kokichi realized he was smiling. A genuine smile. Because of Momota. Ew. He quickly dropped it, turning back to the fridge and opening it. The cake... actually looked really good. Hopefully he wasn't anywhere as bad of a cook as Miu.

He pulled it out, removing the plastic lid. He almost didn't want to touch it without the others around to watch, but if it was poisoned, it was best to die with no one watching. He gave himself a generous quarter of the cake. If he was going to go out, it was going to be in a blaze of glory. Sweet, chocolaty glory.

He was probably being too over-dramatic over a cake, huh.

The first bite didn't immediately kill him, so that was nice. Once, Miu had made something so spicy he couldn't taste anything for a week. In comparison to that, it was pretty decent. Maybe even good. He still wouldn't be giving his regards to the chef; it was probably Kaede's handiwork that was saving his tongue.

He blinked, and the slice was gone. He sighed, setting his plate aside and pulling his legs to his chest. 17 years of life, and this is what he got. Living with his childhood friends and a stranger in a run-down house, barely scrapping by because a bunch of talented teenagers decided to cause the end of the world. Something as simple as chocolate cake was a commodity, and he just tore through a good fourth of it without second thought.

Life sucked.

"So, you ate it after all," Momota commented, standing at the bottom of the stairs with a laundry bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah, it tasted like shit," he replied, hoping it didn't sound as pathetically weak to him as it did to himself.

[midorimochi]

I personally think that when it comes to love in general, Kaito literally has no clue XD Like, even with Maki, he was surprised that she confessed her feelings, despite the fact that he says a lot of things that hints his own attraction to her! At the very least, during the game, love was the last thing on his mind. He needed to make an impact before he died, no matter what, and he was on a very tight deadline. (Btw, everyone says Shuichi's name, even if he is not their ideal person, haha)

However, if it wasn’t for the killing game, I think that you are quite right, he wouldn’t quite know how to take his feeling for Shuichi XD I can just feel the confliction! And Shuichi would probably realize it first, I think, but thinks Kaito only sees him as his soul bro, so bring on the mutual pining XD

Well, objectively speaking, (feel free to correct what I say if I’m wrong, of course) at times I got the impression that Kaito (perhaps?) wouldn’t even see his sidekicks as possible love interests by default. 

What I mean to say is that even if he felt at least physically attracted by them, I think he sees his sidekicks as people to help, support, encourage, protect and side with, first, he always thinks of them and he thinks of ways to improve his training so, despite his own personal feelings, I believe his priority would be their own growth first and foremost.

Yes, he’s super oblivious. He leaves his sidekicks by themselves for a moment then he comes back and he’s like “Were you making out?” BRUH please, lol.

And yup, what was important to him at the end was to remind everyone what their main goal was, defeat Monokuma and end the killing game once and for all, everything else came afterwards which I also think it was one of the main reasons why he didn’t reply to Maki’s confession with a clear response, it wasn’t as important as to ensure their own survival at that moment, after all.

I also appreciated the fact that he reminded Maki how she started and how far she came until then, reminding her to love herself was really neat from him, in my opinion, because loving yourself is truly important at the end so the fact that he gave more importance to Maki’s love for herself than for her love for him was really something, to me.

It also left everything from his own side more ambiguous and more opened to interpretation because even if Shuuichi thought that looking at the two of them together reminded him of himself and Kaede in kind of a ship-tease tone, Kaito’s feelings for Maki aren’t too obvious which is refreshing in a certain sense, I like that they’re not necessarily took for granted.

The thing about calling Shuuichi by his name is something I remarked because I read that Kokichi’s Love Hotel Event is the only one where the two characters are still themselves instead of a fantasy but I had the impression that despite the rivals fantasy going on with Kaito, his event was still pretty in line with canon in comparison to others like Maki’s or Miu’s (or maybe I’m biased?).

And yeah, the clues we’re given from Kaito’s side are kinda contradictory. First he soul-brother zones Shuuichi, then he chooses him over Maki in Chapter 4 (I know it doesn’t necessarily imply anything but wouldn’t it maybe hint at a veeeeery subtle preference for Shuuichi over Maki, maybe? :P) and before he left his sidekicks for good he also seemed to have more last things to say to Shuuichi than to Maki…

Also, Shuuichi’s attitude is kinda odd, too. While he doesn’t seem to mind male love interests that much, he’s also kinda conflicted about it himself, “I shouldn’t think of another boy like that” I mean, would a 100% self-aware bisexual person really think like that in the first place?

But hey, if they were given a different possibility it would be quite the struggle ahah. I can see them being really happy with each other, though. They’d balance each other perfectly and they’d grow up as better people and as maturer adults together, too ;u;

(Omg sorry for the long reply ;-;)