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a-student-out-of-time · 4 years ago

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Rambling about V3 Again

Today I saw a really interesting quote from author Brandon Sanderson and it honestly got me thinking. He talked about what he considers the single worst thing you can do with critique in writing, and that’s if a critic “tries to make your story into one they would write, rather a better version of one you want to write.”

That got me thinking about V3.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that V3 is a very polarizing game, and I’ve seen many people talk about how they would’ve preferred to see the story play out, from character arcs to deaths to story conclusions. And while I do honestly enjoy seeing alternative perspectives and takes and AU’s, I feel like a lot about the game, what it’s trying to say and be, is skewed by those ideals.

I’m not saying that the critiques about the game are invalid, because there are a fair share of flaws with the game. What I am saying is that we end up talking so much about what we wish V3 could’ve been that what V3 was trying to be often ends up lost in that, and I want to talk about it.

It wasn’t until I really saw this quote that I was able to articulate all my likes and dislikes about the game and the reactions to it into a cohesive whole, which is what I’d like to do here.

So let’s ask this: what was V3 really trying to be?

Let’s start from the game’s theme: the relationship between truth and lies. This is best exemplified by the fact that you have the option to lie during trials, that you can use deception to find the truth. That’s a very different take from the previous games, where hope was associated with finding and confronting the truth.

Kokichi is another example, as he’s a self-admitted liar who claims to lead a criminal organization and it’s hard to tell exactly what he’s thinking or saying. Yet Kokichi actually helps bring the group to several truths: he helps find the culprit in trials, he reveals Maki’s identity as the Ultimate Assassin, tells the truth about Gonta murdering Miu and it’s thanks to his actions that the group later discovers the reality of their situation.

Throughout their journey, the group is confronted by numerous truths they don’t want to acknowledge, even refusing to do so and attacking people who continue to push them through. And with every revelation, there’s always those lingering details that don’t really make a lot of sense.

Let’s look at the game’s main narrative. At the start of the game, Kaede remembers she was kidnapped in broad daylight, thrown into a van, and brought to some abandoned school with a bunch of other people. She doesn’t act like a particularly nice person and is dressed differently, at least until the Monokubs arrive and give everyone their new clothes and memories. From that point, the narrative shifts considerably.

Kaede is suddenly an outgoing, optimistic leader and Shuichi is a sullen, withdrawn detective who serves as her deuteragonist for Chapter 1. She’s resolved to escape the Killing Game and tries to rally the group together. However, when her methods don’t prove successful and they start drifting away from her, she considers saving them by any means necessary and goes so far as to attempt murder against the mastermind. When that happens, she’s found guilty and executed, leaving Shuichi to take up her role as protagonist.

As you go through the game, using devices called flashback lights that apparently reawaken lost memories, you learn more and more about the reason that the group was brought here: the Gofer Project. When meteors began raining down on earth, all seemed lost until they established this project to send a group of survivors into space to colonize a new planet. A group of Ultimates.

They had established early on that Ultimates have even greater rights in this world: they’re the only ones allowed to vote and hold office. As the meteors came down and the news of this project got out, some people formed a cult that believed it was divine judgement and that mankind should be destroyed. That’s when they began the Ultimate Hunt, pursuing the candidates for the Gofer Project across the world. The Ultimates, with no other way out, decided to erase their memories of talent and live their last days as normal people.

To protect them, the people in charge spread a false story that the Ultimates had died, even holding a fake funeral for them and sent them into space secretly. However, while everyone was in cold sleep, one member of the cult- Kokichi- had sneaked aboard and piloted the ship back to the ruined and now inhospitable earth. They have no way back and no way to survive outside, and thanks to Kokichi’s claims to be the mastermind, they’ve been killing each for nothing. The group ultimately loses hope.

However, they’re resolved to continue on in their fight against the mastermind when they find a flashback light that reveals they weren’t just any ultimates: they were the next generation of ultimates from Hope’s Peak Academy. It wasn’t really the meteorites that got everyone, it was an alien virus that pushed mankind to the brink of extinction. That the cult that rose in the wake of this was Ultimate Despair.

That seems like a definitive way to link this game with its predecessors...until you really begin to stop and pick it apart. If this was about saving mankind, why did nobody have their memories right away? Why would you only bring 16 people? Why students who don’t make them suited to colonization? Why people like a death row inmate, a serial killer, a self-proclaimed liar and criminal, and an assassin?

Furthermore, going through many Fte’s highlights how much of the characters’ backstories seem very out there. Gonta wasn’t raised by wolves but a race of dinosaur people living in the woods, Kirumi is so hyper-competent that she became prime minister during the meteor crisis, Korekiyo’s killed almost 100 women and yet has never been caught, Maki can attend high school despite Japanese orphanages being too underfunded for kids to usually attend, Tenko’s neo-aikido breaks all the rules of traditional aikido and she's impulsive, has low pain tolerance, and disregards fair rules, none of which are very befitting of a martial artist.

And to conclude, even I thought that the reveal of their connection to Hope’s Peak felt very fanficy and out there, especially when the game had made no references or implications of it beforehand. But the reason for all of this is simple and effective:

None of this is real. It’s all staged.

Chapter 6 reveals that everything from their identities to the outside world they thought they knew was all just a fabrication. In truth, Tsumugi shows herself as the mastermind and that they’re actually in the 53rd season of an in-universe show called Danganronpa. Something alluded to even in the beginning of the game with the Team Danganronpa logo. This moment was very make or break for a lot of people, but let’s treat it fairly.

According to Tsumugi, the outside world has become a peaceful, boring place and Danganronpa is the only source of real entertainment the people have. A place where people literally come to have their identities replaced with those of Ultimates and then made to kill each other. This, as it turns out, was an outgrowth of the actual series we’d played before. A game that’s gone over 53 times.

This revelation is devastating for the characters. The lives and memories they’d known were all fabrications, which Tsumugi claims to have intentionally written. The Flashback lights were designed to implant fake memories to manipulate them, which is why that Hope’s Peak connection was set up after everyone gave up following the reveal of the outside world. A truth that could lead the world to despair, a lie that could lead the world to hope.

She even goes so far as to show everyone’s audition tapes, claiming that Kaede, Kaito, and Shuichi himself were willing to participate in the killings out of sheer misanthropy, popularity, and morbid excitement

Kiibo is also revealed to be the audience’s means of interacting with the game, able to carry out their wishes and can even be hijacked and used as a way to fight against the characters’ decisions.

In the end, Tsumugi claims that the ongoing battle of hope vs despair needs to continue in perpetuity and that the survivors need to sacrifice someone, since only two people can survive Danganronpa. Shuichi, however, convinces Maki and Himiko not to vote for anyone and actually convinces the in-universe audience to give up on the series. Kiibo then blows the set to hell and allows Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko the chance to escape and see the world outside and what sort of influence they could have.

Now, let’s this break this down piece by piece here, because I feel like this part of the game is often conflated. Often I’ve seen people say that Chapter 6 is a giant middle finger to fans of the series, that nothing about the series really mattered, or that the flaws of the game can simply be attributed to bad writing on the creator’s part.

I honestly used to be in that camp myself, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I feel those statements don’t hold up to scrutiny. We often conflate writing and narrative decisions we don’t like with bad writing. However, if the creator deliberately wants the narrative to move in that direction and has made intentional foreshadowing, references, and motivations that match it, we can’t simply equate that with it being “badly written.”

It’s not bad simply because we would’ve preferred they do something different. There’s a lot of very acclaimed books out there that I’ll admit I don’t care for because of their narrative decisions, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re badly-written.

Furthermore, if something intentionally doesn’t make sense in-story, that is not bad writing. That is purposeful on the part of the creator, not a plot hole. The Gofer Project is not supposed to be a logical narrative, it’s meant to serve V3′s role: deconstruction of the nature of the series. It does this in many different ways:

Sequelization: 53 is a ridiculous amount of entries in a franchise and as I’m sure we’re all aware, as the number of entries goes up, the writing quality tends to go down. The Gofer Project story was purposefully meant to be nonsensical because it’s a story in an in-universe franchise that jumped the shark long ago.

A lot of people found it confusing or ridiculous that Shuichi and Kaede would have a romantic connection despite knowing each other barely a few days. That’s also the point; quick romances are a convenient narrative device to establish a means for character growth, followed by fridging her, a bad narrative trope designed to propel Shuichi toward development. Tsumugi even said as much during Chapter 6.

Similarly, Maki’s role in the story and her feelings for Kaito were reminiscent of that as well, with him helping her come out of her shell.

When you go back, you can see Danganronpa is loaded with references to other series. Tsumugi is an obsessive otaku and went so far as to fill the entire story with deliberate references and callbacks to things she enjoys.

The Monokubs are deliberate references to executive decisions to add more marketable and merchandisable characters as the series drags on.

The fact that there are (supposedly) people willing to sign up for a killing game deconstructs the idea that some in the fandom may have had. That is, actually being in a killing game would not be fun or exciting, but horrific and traumatizing. Most of us wouldn’t be badass detectives or heroes, we’d be scared out of our minds, afraid, and want to find a way out.

Furthermore, Shuichi being repeatedly told that he’s just a fictional character and that his role is to be the protagonist, to go through hardships and come out stronger for the audience’s entertainment pisses him off so much that he wants no part of it.

The climax is ultimately a deconstruction of what the series is famous for: the battle of hope vs. despair. In-universe, this has been reduced down to a simple narrative where the audience wants the same thing again and again: to see hope win in the end. Because hope keeps winning, the audience keeps wanting more. It’s become so formulaic that the audience doesn’t want to break out of its shell and just wants to see it over and over.

The final PTA against Kiibo is not meant to be an insult to the audience, but a representation of fighting against toxicity and entitlement in the fanbase, especially the ones that don’t want change. It’s not saying “you’re stupid for liking this series,” it’s saying “don’t be like these people.”

And how does the game? An unsatisfying ending that’s so bad that it drives the audience to give up on the show, finally allowing the killing to stop. Tsumugi decides she can’t live in a world without her favorite show and decides to die.

And that brings me to what I think is the ultimate thing that people conflate about the ending: that it’s all fiction, so nothing about it matters. That the entire franchise was fake, so it’s not worth your time.

That’s exactly the opposite of what V3 is trying to say.

First, Tsumugi is a completely unreliable narrator. The kind of person who let fiction consume her entire life, yet she believes it can’t change reality. She’s a liar and a hypocrite, and there’s no way of knowing if anything she says about the outside world is even true. It could be like she says or it might not be.

The fact that they have technology that can remove memories and add fake ones adds an entire dimension of ambiguity to everything she says, especially when you consider how the beginning of the game does not match up with what she says. We have no idea what the kids were really like before the killing game, so why should we believe anything she says?

And how can we be certain of her claims that she just wrote everything as planned? Kokichi and Kaito managed to put together a plan that completely threw her and Monokuma for a loop

Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko ultimately choosing to take the words of Kaede, Kaito, and Tenko to heart, even if they were part of a fictional narrative, is proof that they still had an influence on the trio. They choose to take something meaningful from their experiences regardless of the reality of their situation. And that’s something we all do.

The media we consume has an influence over who we are as people, and it’s part of why so many of us have such strong attachments to works we love. They were often influential in help shape who we are as people now, for good and for ill, and it’s important to take that into account.

V3′s message is that yes, that is important, and that you should read and enjoy stories and fiction, just as long as you don’t let it consume your life. They can influence you and even the world at large, and so it’s our responsibility as writers, artists, and creators to use that influence positively, to use the medium as a way to change the world for the better. That the only way for stale franchises that we’re tired of seeing over and over is to demand change, even if that means walking out on them. That the only way for things to change is for us to take action and demand change.

And by the end, we may not see immediate results, but we can at least work hard at trying to bring them about. V3 ends with Shuichi, Maki, and Himiko facing an uncertain future in a world they really know nothing about, but hopeful that their actions can and will change the world for the better. Real life doesn’t have solid, satisfying conclusions and it always doesn’t play out like a story, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on ever finding something satisfying or hopeful out there.

This, by no means, is me saying that V3 is a flawless story. I can point to numerous critiques that I still think hold water. However, Sanderson’s point is that we shouldn’t criticize a work based on what we wish it was rather than how it is and what it was trying to do.

I know there’s a lot about the story that bothers people, I know there’s a lot that wasn’t polished and a lot that feels uncomfortable and hard to swallow. Like Shuichi, coming out feeling confused, lost, unsure of what to do, but choosing to see merit and things to take to heart even in a story that turned out to be full of lies and uncomfortable truths.

If you didn’t enjoy V3, I wouldn’t force you to enjoy it. If you did love it, then you should love it. These are all just my thoughts on a story that, as time goes on, honestly feels more and more relevant to me.

#mod talks #a student out of time #mod rambles #danganronpa v3 #v3

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imaginedanganronpa · 6 years ago

Note

The v3 boys walking in on their wife/so asleep w/ their kid? pleaseee :)

The V3 Boys Walking-In On Their S/O & Child Asleep Together!

Saihara Shuichi

He came home late one night after working on a case; he was at thecrime-scene much longer than he originally anticipated and felt awful,exhausted and starved.

Quietly opening the door, the Detective took off his shoes as soon as he walked in,leaving them on the carpet rug so that he wouldn’t make any noise.

Saihara was wellaware that it was past the time you normally went to bed and assumed that you’d be asleep by now, but remained wary; you often surprised him.

He creeps in, peering through the dimly lit house cautiously. He wasn’t surewhere you were because he knew you liked staying up and waiting for him; hefeared potentially waking you up.

You were so stubborn, never taking no for an easy answer. Even when he told youthat he’d be staying late for a case, you insisted that you’d wait to go to bed so you could be positive that he got home safely.

Peering into your bedroom and your child’s room, neither of you were anywhereto be found – Saihara’s heart started racing and his footsteps became heavieras he scrambled through the home, trying to find any trace of his family.

The low hum of the television caught his attention, perking up as he followedthe sound into Living Room.

Saihara saw you two cuddled up on the couch together, unable to see your face from this angle. He began to softly call out yourname, but then noticed that your eyes were closed.

Slowly moving closer, he realized that you were both fast asleep.

Your child was cradled in your arms, their head on your chest. Your head wasleaned back and mouth open slightly. Your chest was slowly rising and falling,soft breathing sounds emitting from your throat.

Saihara’s face turned red, feeling as though he may be invading your privacy.But he couldn’t help it and continued to watch – you both looked so peacefuland beautiful.

He’d never seen someone look so perfect, beginning to get a bit emotional. Asmile spreads across his face as he slowly inches his way towards the reclinedchair and picked up the blanket that was draped over it.

The Detective gently spreads it over the two of you so you wouldn’t get coldthat night, then leaned forward and gently kissed your forehead and the top of your baby’s head.

He took his place in the chair and crossed his legs, knowing thatif you woke up alone and were unsure of whether or not he made it back, you maystart to panic.

Saihara wanted to make sure that he was the first thing you saw tomorrowmorning. Hanging his head, he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep behind you.

Ouma Kokichi

Ouma was busy with some DICE business – the organizationtook up so much of his time that it started to get little ridiculous.

He loved you and your family, but sometimes you wished he’d take some time awayfrom DICE. You chose to marry him and have his child though, so you can’treally complain.

You often stayed awake, waiting patiently for him to come home; however, your child was fussierthan normal tonight, so you cuddled up with them on the couch to ease their mind. Youdidn’t mean to fall asleep like that, it just kind of happened.

Ouma came home closer to midnight and hangs his coat on the rack by the door. Asly grin forms on his face as he secretly hopes your child was asleep so maybeyou two could have some ‘alone’ time.

He creeps into the home, eyes darting around the room. “Oh, (Y/N)~ I’m home…”his voice is soft so that he doesn’t wake your child, his tone a bit mischievous and musical.

Ouma wasn’t expecting to find you both asleep.

He pokes his head into the Living Room, and his eyes immediately fall onto you.He stops dead in his tracks, his smile dropping slightly.

Blankly staring forward, he furrows his brows. Momentarily confused, a sinkingfeeling forms in his stomach. “Was I really gone for that long?” He thinks tohimself, feeling a bit ashamed that he didn’t make it home sooner.

But otherwise, he may not have stumbled upon the sight before him. It wasprecious, and after the brief feeling of guilt passes, Ouma lights up and takesit all in.

You both looked so sweet, and he felt like the luckiest man alive to have afamily as gorgeous as yours.

You were both lying on your sides, your arms wrapped around your toddler. A bit of a snore escaped your throat, which caused him to giggle. He’d have to make fun of you for that in the morning.

Seeing the two humans whom he loved the most in this world fast asleep together caused him to grow weak in the knees.

Despite everything he does or says, and how much time he spends bossing his organization around, Ouma truly does love you both with his entire heart. He only hoped that you knew it.

He’s beaming, making sure he takes some photos to remember this night, at some rather unflattering angles that he could tease you about in the future of course.

He also places a kiss on your child’s forehead and strokes their hair lovingly, admiring the two of you with a toothy smile plastered on his face. He’s never seen someone look so charming, even while asleep.

Finally, he slides into the couch beside you which causes you to stir, yet you are still sound asleep. Sighing with relief, Ouma curled up in a ball at the opposite end of the couch whilst wrapping a blanket around his shoulders and wishing he could join-in on the cuddles.

Rantaro Amami

He was a family-man, and he loved each of you to death. ButRantaro sometimes needed a break and you knew that.

You had a system where you’d switch off taking care of your child whenever theother felt too overwhelmed, so that they could have a night to go out withfriends and let loose a little.

It was Rantaro’s turn, and he was out later than he imagined. He hoped that youwere still awake so that he could hear all about your day, but upon entering the darkhome he realized that the likelihood of that was quite slim.

He takes off his shoes and walks through your home as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb you if you had fallen asleep.

Peering into the Living Room, he doesn’t see you at first. But sudden, slight movement under the thin blanket catches his eye and beckons him to come closer.

That’s when Rantaro noticed you, fast asleep on the couch. He wondered how long you’ve been out and admired how much you cared for your child. They were asleep at your side, halfway resting on your chest which was rising and falling gently as you slept. A faint smile was spread across your lips, and your head was ever so slightly tilted so that it rested gently on theirs.

He can’t help but to slowly and instinctively smile. You looked so peaceful and gorgeous with yourchild wrapped up in your arms. Rantaro wasn’t sure how he got so lucky.

His family was beautiful, and he always insisted that that was all thanks to you.

Rantaro sits, flicking through channels for a bit since he wasn’t very tired at the moment. The television was muted, but he partially just wanted an excuse to stay here with you for a while.

All he could do was think to himself, how lucky he was to have such a wonderful family. He wondered if you had fallen asleep on accident or if you two were waiting for him like that. Either way, he knew that sleeping on the couch wasn’t the most comfortable experience.

His eyes began to grow heavier and he thought it was time for him ti join you.

Leaning forward, he lifts up your sleeping child and gently tucks them intobed in their separate room. Returning into the Living Room, he then slowly picks you up bridal-styleand guides your sleeping body into the Bedroom.

Placing you down slowly, he crawls into the bed beside you and then covers eachof you up. Taking the place of your child, Rantaro snuggled into your side andslowly falls asleep, holding you close as he does so.

Kiibo

He stayed out late with Miu, in her workshop because he wasgetting one of his parts fixed. You had no worries, trusting him and deciding to spend the day bonding with your toddler.

Kiibo got worried, fearing that you may be upset with him for staying out so late.You also weren’t responding to his calls so he immediately thought you may begiving him the silent treatment.

“Yeah, (Y/N)’s probably real tired of being along at the house all day!” Thesnarky comments from Miu certainly weren’t helping his concerns.

The robot rushed home immediately after he was patched up. You forgot to turnthe lights off before you went to bed, so he didn’t even consider that you maybe asleep.

“(Y/N)!” He swings the door open, completely forgetting about the time. All hecould think about was you. Upon seeing the empty room, his breathing decreases and he flicked off thelights, slowly making his way through the home whilst calling out both yours andyour child’s name.

He enters the Bedroom where he discovered you, fast asleep. The covers were pulled up over your head so that only the top of your forehead poked out. Kiibo pulls thecovers back to reveal you curled up with your child.

You two were facing one another, and yet both fast asleep. Your foreheads barely touching and your arms protectively holding them close to your chest. He sighs withrelief, a smile appearing.

Kiibo also makes sure to mentally store the image of you two asleep forsafe-keeping because it was too precious to let go. He’d look back on it in the future, the sight of his two loves sound asleep filling him with joy and contentment.

He softly smiles and admires you two. He positions himself at the edge of the bedand strokes your hair gently, staying like that for a while.

It always blew his mind how quickly humans fall asleep since that’s a functionhe doesn’t really need. Kiibo was able to watch your beauty as you softly breathed underneath him, your child sometimes squeezing your thumb in their sleep.

He didn’t know what to do, becoming quite frantic the longer he sat there.Should he wake you up or let you be? He also didn’t want to leave your childhere, worried that they may accidentally roll of the bed or something. Kiibo proved to be quite the anxious and paranoid parent, but that’s only because he wanted the best for the two of you.

Feeling defeated, he chooses not to disturb your peace and slowly stands, exiting the room. He nestles into the couch for the night and longs for your body beside his.

He made sure to get up before you did the next morning so that he could bring you breakfast in bed as an apology for staying out so late.

Kaito Momota

He spent the day with Saihara, mostly training and in thegym. Kaito has the tendency to go to the gym really late at night when no oneelse is there, so he stayed longer than he intended.

You didn’t really mind, you knew it was how he blew off steam from the everyday stresses of life. Whenever he said he was going to the gym, you prepared to be by yourself for most of the night.

He got home late, as usual – it was already nightfall and you had been texting him, so heassumed that you were still awake. You forgot to turn the lights off, so he could see them as he walked up to the front door. This only reiterated the idea that you were awake, so he never second-guessed himself when walking through the front door.

Slowly entering the home, he calls out your name loudly. When he receives no responseis when Kaito becomes increasingly concerned. You were just texting him!

He’s trying to keep calm and prevent a panic since he didn’t want to startleyour child, so he slowly makes his way through each room.

Eventually, Kaito stumbled across you in your child’s room. You were sitting in a chair and your toddler was propped up in your lap, their arms wrapped around your neck and yours around their waist. Your face was nestled into their head comfortably as you slept, cradling each other.

A children’s book was laying on the floor, so evidently you had been reading to them, but then you both fell asleep.

Kaito is genuinely confused by the sight - how did you both manage to fall asleep like that?

Never-mind that, he picks up the book from off the floor and then scoops your child out of your lap and tucks them into bed, pecking their forehead before turning away. Your arms fell limp by your sides, so he assumed you must have had a long day if you were that exhausted.

Chuckling to himself, Kaito then proceeds to scoop you into his arms and carry you towards your Bedroom.

He was still exhausted from the workout himself, and having to search through your home for you mentally wore him down so he was ready to crash in bed beside you.

But something kept him up: he couldn’t seem to get the image of you two asleep together out of his head. It made him smile, the sight warmed his heart and showed him why he works so hard everyday. All he wants to do is provide for your family, and he loved seeing you two together - his two favorite people.

Kaito quickly fell asleep with a smile still on his face, his limbs spread across the bed with you by his side.

He woke up before you did the next morning and prepared breakfast, knowing you’d still be groggy the next day.

Korekiyo Shinguuji

He was working late, wandering around a museum that he frequented.Korekiyo let the time slip past him and soon figured that he should be making hisway home.

He doesn’t even realize how late it is until an announcer broadcasts over theentire museum, saying that they would be closing soon and for any remaining gueststo make their way off of the property now.

Unfortunately, he also turns his phone off when he’s admiring history andhumanity, out of respect. Korekiyo sighs, seeing that he’s missed a few callsfrom you and hopes that you aren’t too frustrated with him.

He’s typically very quiet when he gets home anyway, instinctively taking offhis shoes.

He’s naturally silent and hard to detect, which has startled you inthe past since he has the tendency to sneak up on you without warning,unintentionally. He does find it quite amusing, though.

Korekiyo comes home to a dead-quiet house and assumes that you’ve already gone tobed. Normally, your toddler would be tucked into bed hours before you were sothat was a given. He wasn’t sure about you, though. There was the possibility that you may still be awake, for some reason, so he remained as quiet as possible.

Wanting to ease his mind, he inspects every room until he finds you. It doesn’ttake him long because he stumbles upon you sound asleep in your Bedroom.

Smiling underneath his mask, his eyes travel down to your side where he takesnote of your sleeping child.

Your phone was also beside you, without a doubtfrom where you tried calling him.

Korekiyo was going to wake you to let you know he made it home but then decidedagainst it. You looked so peaceful and relaxed, he wouldn’t want to tarnishthat.

You were always so beautiful but you looked even more eloquent now whenyou were sound asleep, holding the child you made together. They were sprawled out and asleep next to you, laying flat as you were on your side.

He climbs into bed beside you, sandwiching your child in-between you two. He lovingly wraps his arms around you and watches you for a while. His long fingers run through your hair and his thumb brushed past your cheek and jawline, taking in all of your beauty.

He also places gentle butterfly kisses on your child’s forehead, his eyes fluttering closed as he did so.

Korekiyo found comfort in seeing you two like this, serene and at ease. He wondered how long you’ve been asleep, and how you found yourselves in this situation. He could stay like this and watch you two forever, but sleep continued to beckon him.

All that mattered was that you were safe, and he wanted nothing more in life but to stay like this: at complete peace and happiness, with his partner and child by his side.

Gonta Gokuhara

Gonta swears he was just getting groceries! He doesn’t evenknow how the time slipped past him, he got a little distracted andside-tracked, but now it was dark outside! When did that happen?

He hasn’t heard from you in a few hours so he was becoming paranoid, hoping that nothing bad happened while he was out of the house.

Gonta isn’tdiscrete whatsoever, so when he finally does make it home he flings open the front door and started calling for you, his voice bouncing off the walls.

The door bumps into the wall, creating a booming sound which could be heard throughout the house.

Honestly, it’s surprising that he didn’t wake either of you up.

As the large man walks through each room, which is more like him bounding through the house, he realizes that he can’t find eitheryou or your child anywhere! His breathing increases as sweat starts to pool onhis forehead. Were you kidnapped? Was he gone for that long?!

The time doesn’t even cross his mind, and the thought that you might be asleepnever occurred to him. Gonta continued his desperate search, which ended inyour child’s Bedroom.

He pushes the door open and peeks in, delighting by what he discovers. Your child begins to stir, and Gonta catches the movement inthe corner of his eye.

As his eyes adjust to the dark, he realizes that it’s… you, sitting in achair beside the crib. You were leaned over as if you had fallen asleep whilewatching over the baby.

And your arm was hanging into the crib, your hand softly holding the tiny baby’s hand, which was squeezing your thumb. A blush forms on his face, and he sighs, grateful that he didn’t wake youup.

Upon seeing you two like this, he stops completely and his attitude completely changes. His footsteps are much softer now, more cautious and careful.

Now Gonta feels silly for panicking so much. He wants to join but istrying to not disturb you, so he retrieves a blanket from the other room and wrapsit around your shoulders. He then pulls a chair up beside you and rests hishead on his arms.

He also gently takes your free hand into his, creating a chain of hand holding. His thumb rubs small circles into your delicate skin. As he grew more tired, a bright smile forms on his face and he’s absolutely beaming.

He’s admiring you; he knew you were an amazing parent but it’s moments like these where Gonta feels true success in life. He didn’t need anything else except for you, and your child.

It truly brings a tear to his eye. He loves his family, and he couldn’t help but think to himself how beautiful you looked right now. A soft smile was placed on your baby’s lips and, although you looked exhausted, you also looked like you were full of light.

But before he turns himself into bed as well, he places gentle forehead kissesonto both of you, hoping that that will give you each sweet dreams.

Ryoma Hoshi

Ryoma doesn’t always stay out late but he had been the pastfew nights, preparing for an upcoming match. You were still normally awake whenhe got home, even in the late hours of the night.

He loses track of time and hurries home, sending you a text as he does so, which receives no response. Ryoma refrains from calling you because of how late it was and because he doesn’t want torun the risk of waking up your child.

So, he pulls into the driveway and notices that there’s still a light on in thekitchen. He approaches the home with a half-smile on his face, expecting tofind you waiting for him at the counter.

And yet, no one is there. Ryoma’s eyebrows raise out of curiosity – this wascertainly out of the ordinary.

He knew that everything had to be okay or else you’d call, but he still seeksout your comfort just to make sure.

Quietly calling out your name, he brushes past every room. He eventually makeshis way into the Living Room where he stumbles upon a lovely sight.

You were asleep on the couch, laying on your back with a book resting on your chest. Yourchild was curled up beside you, thumb in their mouth. Ryoma knew you read themstories to help lull them into sleep, but it seems as though you had put theboth of you to bed tonight.

He chuckles to himself, finding some humor in the thought of reading yourselfto sleep.

Slowly picking up the book, he closes it and places it on the counter. Ryomathen takes off the covers from the bed and tucks you into the couch, knowing he’llbe fine without them for one night. Besides, he’d much prefer being the coldone instead of you or your child.

He takes his place at the other end of the furniture, crossing his legs and watching you sleep. It gave him a sense of comfort and made him feel at ease.

His eyelids were growing heavier, so he decides that it’s probably time for him to sleep as well. Ryoma slowly stands, tip-toeing so that he doesn’t wake either of his sleeping beauties.

On his way back to your Bedroom, he pauses so that he can kiss each of you on the forehead. He hovers over you, cupping your beautiful face in his palms momentarily.

He felt so lucky to have you both, thankful for each of you everyday. You were both so busy that he didn’t have very many opportunities to just stand and admire how lovely you looked.

Ryoma whispers a soft, “Goodnight,” into your ear before turning on his heels and inching towards the Bedroom.

His dreams would be filled with visions of his beloved family that night. He fell asleep with a smile on his face whilst thinking of the two of you.

- Mod Rantaro

#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #danganronpa imagines #ndrv3 #ndrv3 imagines #killing harmony #ouma kokichi #kokichi ouma #shuichi saihara #saihara shuichi #rantaro amami #amami rantarou #kiibo #kaito momota #korekiyo shinguuji #gonta gokuhara #ryoma hoshi

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commentaryvorg · 5 years ago

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Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 5.6

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, in the last of early chapter 5 before the plot kicks in, Kaito began preparing his grand plan to save everyone else which is definitely all his plan despite the fact that he has no idea what he’s doing and really should be letting other people help, Himiko’s final FTE continued to be a wonderfully convenient metaphor to establish that Kaito is mostly doing this in a misguided attempt to prove himself and make things up to Shuichi, and Maki had some strange ideas about the best way for Shuichi to stop her from needing to be an assassin, because even in her final FTE she still doesn’t think her own feelings count for anything.

Now, it’s nighttime, which means time to put Kaito’s plan into action! …Maybe.

Shuichi: (Monokuma… isn’t here? What *was* that…?) “…Is the plan compromised?”

He’s talking about the nighttime announcement, and it is kind of interesting that Monokuma isn’t there. He doesn’t show up for the entirety of this whole thing which is about to go down. Which could just be because he knows Kokichi is about to do something and doesn’t want to get in the way of it… but it could also be because Kokichi doesn’t want him to get in the way and did the same thing he’s going to do later and surrounded him with a guard of Exisals so he can’t move. The only issue with that possibility is that Kokichi later brings all five Exisals with him to the end of the tunnel, which means he would have to give up guarding Monokuma at that point, but, maybe?

Shuichi is also being a little naive to be surprised that the plan might be compromised. It should be pretty obvious that their plan wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by Monokuma… but apparently Shuichi still hasn’t quite consciously considered the fact that Monokuma must have some way of monitoring them.

Shuichi bumps into Tsumugi on the way to the gym, and she points out that Keebo has upgrades in his lab that he could be using to help us fight.

Shuichi: “That’s true, but… Keebo said that he doesn’t want anything too ‘sci-fi’, so…”

That’s not a remotely decent excuse for not using all the strength he possibly can to save everybody’s lives, Shuichi, come on! You’re supposed to be smarter than this.

Tsumugi: “But in this situation, maybe he should just get over that already…”

Yeah, maybe he should. Aren’t you just glad he isn’t. I would not be surprised if she made an effort to write him to have such a big thing about this so that it’d override his desire to do whatever he can to help everyone. (But even then, I’m still calling flimsy out-universe writing here as well.)

Tsumugi: “Well, we shouldn’t force him to do anything.”

Yes, we should! But of course you wouldn’t want to do that.

Kaito has finished his pile of weapons! On the one hand, some props to him for apparently having chosen mostly large, heavy weapons that’d probably do a good job of crushing a small robot bear. On the other hand, I’m not sure how he’s expecting anyone other than Maki to be able to wield such weapons effectively, since everyone else here (very much including himself by this point) is not very physically strong.

(It apparently took him all day to prepare this pile. But there’s only maybe like ten or twenty weapons here, which should in theory only take about four or five trips carrying a handful of them each time. If it took him all day anyway, that implies he took more trips to do that with breaks in between, perhaps even only carrying one weapon at a time. Which was either an attempt to make his efforts look Very Busy And Important when he actually really wasn’t doing all that much, or it’s because he’s just too weak by now to physically carry more than one heavy weapon at a time and had to pace himself like that.)

Shuichi: “A-Are those weapons…?”

Keep up, Shuichi. Kaito’s plan is not complicated.

Kaito: “You guys better be ready!”

Tsumugi: “Ah… you don’t mean ready to die, right?”

Ouch. I don’t think the fact that Tsumugi is the mastermind is relevant here, but still, she has kind of a point. If the mastermind really didn’t want them to win this fight, then they could have created countless spares of Monokuma to fight them, something Kaito should be perfectly aware of. This is a pretty similar situation to Kaito’s “strategy meeting” back in chapter 1 – this time he’s doing slightly better because at least they’ve got weapons, but they still don’t have the faintest semblance of a strategy, and they’re still hypothetically facing hundreds of Monokumas hellbent on ripping them to shreds for breaking the rules and being in the gym at night. Kaito could very well be about to get all of his friends killed as far as he knows, and that risk has got to be nagging at him.

Kaito: “What? No! I mean ready to fight and win, obviously!”

But of course, everything is totally fine and definitely about to go perfectly! His plan is great, and he knows exactly what he’s doing!

Kaito: “We challenged him a bunch of times, but it never worked out, right? That’s because… we gave up.”

Apart from the part where nobody really challenged Monokuma at all past chapter 1, Kaito’s right. They definitely could have kept trying to fight him, but nobody was brave enough to take the risk of getting killed for it when it seemed safer to just stand back and hope another killing wouldn’t happen.

Kaito: “But this time we can’t give up! Cuz this is our final chance!”

Well, it’s at least somebody’s final chance, isn’t it now, Kaito.

If everyone else knew that, then they’d fight even harder. If everyone else had known that earlier, then they would have done this earlier rather than just sitting around, and maybe Kaito would have stood a chance of getting to a hospital in time to survive. Reminder that Kaito’s wonderful idiotic selflessness and determination to hide his suffering from everyone is the reason he dies. Kaito himself is the one who gets closer than anyone else ever does to pointing that out here.

Kokichi: “What a coinkydink – I was planning on ending this killing game, too.”

Hi, Kokichi. It was really refreshing barely having to talk about you for five whole parts, but here we go again. No, you’re not planning on ending the killing game, or you’d have already done it last chapter, just like everyone else would have done if they’d known Kaito was dying.

Kaito: “You little—! What are you—!”

It’s pretty interesting that Kaito responds with the most anger, since we established a few parts ago that he’s not especially angry at Kokichi anymore over Gonta, and that he’s the one person who can partly see through him and isn’t quite buying the evil sadist thing. So I wonder if Kaito’s anger here is less about that and more about the fact that Kokichi is butting in with his bullshit now, just when Kaito was about to start his Brilliant Plan to save everyone that Kokichi is probably about to throw a huge wrench in. After all, Kokichi is also the one who can see through Kaito the most and knows that he’s a lot more pathetic and useless than he’s managed to convince the others he is, right?

Kokichi shows everyone what is totally a real bomb and is totally going to kill all of them except for whichever person volunteers to survive with him at the expense of their friends.

Kokichi: “It’s first come, first serve! On the count of three, first one to raise their hand wins!”

Which is an interesting threat that’s kind of a parallel to the killing game itself – someone might volunteer not because they want to let everybody else get killed but because they’re afraid that someone else will do so first and they just want to protect themselves from that. This is, after all, exactly why Miu attempted murder.

Kaito: “Q-Quit screwing around! Who’d ever agree to that plan!?”

Kaito looks strained and nervous as he says this, suggesting that even after everything they’ve been through and how much he believes in everyone, he’s still slightly afraid that a situation like this might push someone into betraying their friends for their own survival.

Keebo: “Even if you threaten to destroy me, I have no intention of being manipulated by you.”

Himiko: “I-I’m scared of dying… But nothing good will come from surviving with you.”

Tsumugi: “I also… don’t want to survive with someone who’d do such a thing to Gonta.”

Maki: “I’d rather kill you.”

Everybody’s refusals are less along the lines of not wanting to save themselves at the expense of their friends and more along the lines of not wanting to be stuck alone with someone as awful as Kokichi has painted himself to be. Good job there, Kokichi.

Kokichi: “Wooow, what a surprise, I didn’t think this would go *exactly* as I predicted.”

Shuichi: “…What?”

Kokichi: “Ah-haha, I lied about killing everyone! I just wanted to test your determination!”

So, Kokichi was actually doing this whole thing in order to prove that nobody remaining would selfishly betray the others for their own survival, so that he can be sure they’ll all work together. But if this was really what he’d predicted, he shouldn’t have needed to test them at all. Kokichi probably figured it was at least somewhat likely that everyone was genuinely as co-operative as they’re claiming to be – but, of course, this is Kokichi, who’s incapable of fully trusting anyone and convinced that people will always betray each other. Anyone else wouldn’t have needed to test it and would just believe in the group’s desire to co-operate, but Kokichi needed to have concrete proof to be able to be sure of it.

Kaito: “Determined enough to end the killing game? I never thought I’d hear you saying that!”

Come on, Kaito, you’re the one person here who must have figured that was at least slightly possible. I guess he’s more saying that he never expected that any more, after the end of Gonta’s trial in which Kokichi completely noped out of ever acknowledging how he’s really feeling or acting on that.

Shuichi: (The weapons that Kaito brought. …I can’t imagine *these* are the Ultimate Anti-Monokuma Weapons.)

Shuichi is, again, having very little faith in Kaito’s plan. I love how starkly this points out that Kaito’s plan is kind of pathetic and was probably never going to work.

Shuichi: “Are you talking about the hammers?”

Kaito: “Cut it out! There’s no reason to listen to him, guys!”

It’s notable that Kaito is currently the one most adamant about shooting Kokichi down entirely. Now that he’s no longer threatening to kill everyone, and since Monokuma still hasn’t appeared and started attacking, there’s no reason to not at least hear him out and try to figure out what the hell he’s up to. But apparently Kaito doesn’t want that, which probably has a lot to do with the fact that Kokichi has started to introduce his own “fight Monokuma” plan that already looks like a much better version of that plan than Kaito’s.

Also note the “guys”, because Kaito’s totally addressing the group in general and not Shuichi in particular. He must hate that Shuichi is realising Kokichi’s plan is better than his. (And it is specifically Shuichi, because everyone else’s comments during the free-action bit where you’re meant to examine the hammers are nothing but hostility towards Kokichi.)

Kaito: “Is that really something Miu made? Aren’t you lying about that, too?”

Kokichi: “Huuuh? You’re gonna doubt that, too?”

Tsumugi: “Of course… have you forgotten everything you’ve done to us up till now?”

Observe one of the problems of being Kokichi and then having a plan that involves getting people to believe some of the few actually-true claims you’re making. Boy who cried wolf, and all that.

Himiko: “Yeah! If there were weapons to fight against Monokuma, we should’ve all fought together!”

Yep! We sure should have done! And there are still some weapons we have that we aren’t using, Keebo.

Kokichi: “…This is all your fault.”

Oh my god, Kokichi, you and your goddamn deflection.

Miu: “It doesn’t matter if we promise to work together… Someone will still betray us. Betray us and… kill one of us…”

Miu is continuing to be a more noticeably interesting character after she’s dead than she ever was while she was alive. She genuinely was that paranoid and convinced of this, which is why she tried to do the exact thing she was afraid someone would do to her.

Miu: “And… I can’t afford to die here, anyway…”

The biggest difference between Miu and Kokichi is that Miu is not sensible enough to realise that if she tries to escape by becoming blackened, she will almost inevitably end up dead. She saw committing murder as her greatest chance of survival, even though she really should have seen it as the opposite. This game is designed so that the blackened always loses, and Kokichi understood that from the beginning.

Miu: “S-So… if you wanna defy Monokuma, do it yourself. But, if it does work out… come help me, okay?”

Miu is also selfish enough to have the gall to want to benefit from everyone else’s co-operation and bravery even though she’s too much of a coward to take part in it herself. Still, if everyone else had actually pulled off an escape attempt back in chapter 4, they would have come back and rescued Miu as well, because they’re all good people like that.

Kokichi: “She was afraid to… trust you guys.”

And that’s their fault how, Kokichi? Everyone except you and Miu herself were perfectly trustworthy. This is him deflecting his own trust issues onto Miu (because she had exactly the same kind of issues) and then blaming everyone else for those issues because obviously nobody is ever deserving of trust and it couldn’t possibly be his fault for not having the courage to trust people who actually do deserve it, right?

Kokichi: “The fear of betrayal overcame her. That’s why… she bloodied her hands in this killing game.”

Kokichi is definitely only talking about Miu and not himself, of course. Definitely.

We’ve gone right back to business as usual with Kokichi deflecting everything so completely that it seems as if nothing is bothering him at all, without any of the fun tiny hints at his actual guilt and pain that there were back at the end of trial 4. The part of Kokichi that felt guilty over killing Miu and Gonta has been forcibly buried deep down inside him and we’re not going to hear another peep from it ever again.

Kaito: “That idiot…”

I enjoy this little moment of Kaito realising that Miu was just messed up and scared and too weak to trust anybody, and that things could very easily have been different if she’d been stronger.

(It’s probably deliberate on an in-universe writing level that Miu was this much of a coward. If you’re going to have someone whose talent can make incredible inventions that can fight back against the robots overseeing this killing game, you’ve got to nerf that talent somehow, and what better way than making it belong to somebody who’s too afraid and too selfish to actually use it in that way?)

(Kokichi’s talent, which is also extremely well-suited for dismantling the killing game, has been nerfed in a very similar way.)

But all of Kokichi’s deflection onto the topic of why Miu didn’t use the Electrohammers and work together with them has done a great job of distracting everyone from the question of why Kokichi also didn’t use the Electrohammers to fight Monokuma back in chapter 4. It’s a little frustrating that nobody calls him out on that. That’s supposedly why he got her to make them! He was just recounting his conversation with her where he claimed that’s what he was trying to do!

And the reason Kokichi didn’t use them is not remotely the same as Miu’s. Kokichi may have just as much trouble as she did believing that nobody will betray anyone, but as he’s just shown us, he has a method to prove to himself that that won’t happen. He could have done the whole fake bomb threat gambit back in chapter 4, if what he really wanted was to work together with everyone but was afraid of betrayal!

Kaito: “Quit screwing around! What are you saying!? You probably just lied about talking to Miu—”

I dunno, Kaito, those hammers definitely look like Miu’s aesthetic, and if he didn’t get them from her, where did he get them from? I don’t think Kaito can truly believe Kokichi is lying about this part and is probably still just frustrated by the fact that this is a way better plan than his.

Kokichi: “It jams electronic signals by scattering particles that interfere with electromagnetic waves. For two hours, any and all electronic devices within 50 yards will be completely disabled.”

The first sentence of this is accurate. The second sentence is misleading – Electrobombs do not disable all devices, just any function requiring a wireless signal. I’ve seen a lot of first-time players get confused during the case about what an Electrobomb can do because of this second line. It’s apparently a localisation goof… which has a lot less excuse than they sometimes do, because the line they messed up was literally one sentence after a line that described it correctly!

Kokichi: “You can use these Electrohammers not only against Monokuma… but also to get through that underground tunnel.”

Aaaand that’s the real reason Kokichi had Miu make the hammers. Of course he doesn’t want everyone to fight Monokuma with them; if they did that then they might end up managing to escape this killing game before he’s managed to win it!

Also, consider the fact that Kokichi had Miu make exactly six Electrohammers. If Miu thought he was planning to band together with everyone except her to fight back, wouldn’t she have expected him to need eight? It sure is a testament to Miu’s specific brand of stupidity that she did not question that and figure out that apparently Kokichi was planning for two more people to be dead before he got around to using these.

(Plus, the fact that there’s only six proves that getting Miu and Gonta killed was always intended as just the first step of this plan. If Kokichi had been genuinely attempting the mercy kill while also having had Miu make six Electrohammers, it means he was consciously aware of the possibility that the mercy kill might fail and was cool with that potentially happening, since he had a backup plan for if it did – a backup plan which would result in the exact opposite of what the mercy kill was trying to do. Which sure sounds like the most incredibly half-assed mercy kill attempt in the world.)

Kokichi: “I’ll let you guys talk it over. I won’t interfere anymore either.”

Kokichi’s got his sly grin for this line, which makes me think he has a pretty good idea how their discussion of this is going to go – meaning, he’s got a pretty good idea of what’s been going on in Kaito’s head lately. (Which makes sense, since at this point he’s almost certainly already decided to use Kaito as his accomplice. This might be something of a test run for that, in fact.)

Shuichi stops him before he leaves and asks what the deal is with the message in the courtyard.

Kokichi: “But I wouldn’t gain anything from writing a message like that, would I? That would just make you guys suspect I’m the mastermind.”

I’m… honestly not sure what the hell his game plan is with this claim. I’m not convinced he even has one. He absolutely did write the message to try and make people suspect he’s the mastermind. But saying this about it is just going to make people more likely to think it’s exactly the ridiculous red herring that it is.

Maki interrupts his nonsense by grabbing him by the throat.

Maki: “Tell us the truth. What are you scheming?”

She’s making a pretty good excuse for why she’s doing this, considering that threatening him for information isn’t the real reason she grabbed him and she’s actually using it as a distraction to pickpocket an Electrobomb.

Kaito: “Maki Roll, cut it out! You’ll get killed if you don’t! I told you we can’t play this killing game! That’s just what Monokuma wants!”

I love how scared Kaito’s voice sounds here. He has no idea that Maki isn’t even really threatening Kokichi, so he’s genuinely afraid she might lose control and actually go through with her threat.

Kokichi: “Y-You guys may not think that way, but I… see all of you as my friends…”

If that’s actually true, then you have a very fucked-up definition of the word “friend”. People you bully and lie to and manipulate and sometimes even kill for your own selfish gain? Yep, sure sounds like the most beautiful of friendships.

(Reminder that Gonta was the closest thing to an actual genuine friend Kokichi had and he repaid that with manipulation and murder.)

Kokichi finally does go away, leaving everyone else to discuss things.

Tsumugi: “They’ve gotta be booby trapped somehow…”

Himiko: “But looking at it, it definitely seems like something Miu made.”

Maki: “Either way, I refuse to believe anything he says.”

Kaito: “…”

Everyone is very sceptical… with the sudden exception of Kaito, despite the fact that he was the most vocally sceptical while Kokichi was explaining things.

Kaito: “But, y’know… if it’s not a lie, then isn’t this our one chance to escape!?”

Kaito never mentions his own plan again from this point on, but the fact that he calls Kokichi’s plan their “one” chance says it all. He knew the whole time that his own plan was completely terrible. He knows that, assuming Kokichi isn’t lying, this plan is far, far better than his. This is their chance to escape. His own plan never was. He didn’t want to admit that while Kokichi was there, but now that they have to make a choice, now that everyone else’s lives and their potential escape depend on which choice they make, he has to accept it.

Kaito: “If we use these Electrohammers, maybe we can get through the underground passage… So why don’t we try it?”

You thought I was done with this after trial 4, but: look at this face Kaito is making. He looks like forcing himself to accept this is practically causing him immense physical pain. He absolutely hates admitting to himself that he has no idea what he’s doing and that his own ideas can’t save anyone at all, not to mention trusting Kokichi after what he did to Gonta – but he’s doing it all the same.

(To be fair, he probably is actually in a lot of physical pain right now like he always is, but this isn’t about that. He had an almost identical sprite to this at the end of trial 4, but in that one, his face was half-blue from illness. They made a separate, less-illness-related version of that sprite solely for this moment because this is about emotional rather than physical pain. They knew how important this moment was.)

Kaito: “Our goal is to escape with everyone, right? If there’s a chance we can do it, then we should take it.”

Kaito’s saying this less to the others and more to himself. He’s been fixated on showing that he can come up with a great plan and he can be the one to save everyone, all so that he can prove himself and make things up to Shuichi. This is him finally telling himself that that never should have been the point. All that matters is that they escape. All that matters is that they take the best chance that they have. Whether the plan that lets them do that was conceived by him, by one of his friends, or even by Kokichi, it doesn’t matter. Whether Kaito gets to be the hero or not isn’t important.

Up until now in this chapter, Kaito has been obsessed with looking like a hero to the detriment of the actual plan. He seemed like he was going to sacrifice the effectiveness of the plan and risk everybody’s lives for the sake of his own pride, but with the moment actually here, with the potential consequences of him doing so staring him in the face, he can’t do it. He never would – that would be putting himself and his own desires above everyone else, and he is too selfless at his core to ever do that.

By doing this, even if he doesn’t realise it, Kaito is actually being a hero. He’s making compromises and forcing himself to acknowledge his inadequacies so that he can choose the path that’s genuinely the most likely to save everyone. This is such a seemingly innocuous moment on the surface, but it’s a huge turning point in Kaito’s character arc. He is so, so good.

Kaito: “We don’t… have enough time…”

I love that Kaito is desperate enough here that this slips out of him. If he wasn’t running out of time like this, I’m not sure he’d have been willing to make the compromise he just did. Any small contribution towards helping his friends escape is infinitely better than never getting to help at all.

But the localisation of this line could be a tiny bit better. Kaito obviously doesn’t mean “we”, and since he said this without having really meant to, he wouldn’t have consciously used the wrong subject to mislead everyone. In Japanese, his true meaning is kept ambiguous to the others by the line simply being, “There’s not enough time” – but that line would work fine in English too!

Maki: “…Time?”

Kaito: “Y-Yeah… with Monokuma. Like, he’s gonna get in our way soon.”

Yes, Kaito, that is definitely what you meant by that.

Kaito: “So let’s try the underground passage with these hammers. We’ll get to the outside world!”

And now Kaito’s managed to push aside his conflictedness and pain at admitting his own inadequacies and is back to being his usual motivational self. He may hate that this is Kokichi’s plan and not his, but that’s not going to stop him from giving it his all anyway! Kaito is such a good hero, whether he believes it himself or not.

Maki: “If that hammer is a trap, then I’ll really kill that assh—”

Kaito: “You can’t kill him. Just punch him.”

I love the way Kaito sees this. He understands that Maki would have every reason to be angry and to want to let Kokichi feel that anger – he just won’t let her do it in a way that would have awful, irreversible consequences. Of course, since Kaito was the first to take the risk of trusting him here, Kaito would be the first in line to punch Kokichi if things did turn out that way. (Which is… kind of actually what happens, in fact.)

Kaito: “Alright! Let’s get going! We’re gonna escape from that underground passage for sure this time!”

Shuichi: (Kaito gave a triumphant shout, and we all grabbed our Electrohammers.)

Kaito is so good at rallying everyone together! This is where Kaito excels – not at coming up with plans, but at getting everyone to have confidence and believe that whatever they’re about to try is going to succeed.

Shuichi: (We left the gym in high spirits.)

All thanks to Kaito! If it were someone else who’d decided to risk trusting Kokichi and try this plan, everyone would still be super nervous about if it was going to work or not. But because of Kaito’s encouragement, nobody is anywhere near as worried. Even though this isn’t his plan, Kaito is still instrumental in helping everyone carry it out, just by being himself.

And the fact that he knows (or at least hopes) he can still make a difference in this way is probably why Kaito avoided actually mentioning the fact that his own plan was terrible and he had no idea what he was doing – because if he did that, then everyone would lose all their faith in him, and how would he be able to inspire them like that?

As they head to the underground passage, Keebo is lingering behind and wants Shuichi to use the Electrohammer on him.

Keebo: “Wh-Why, of course I’m curious! The outcome will settle once and for all how Miu perceived me.”

This makes a lot more sense for him to want to do than testing the hydraulic press. That was obviously never going to have an exception for him built in. But, since they were built by Miu, the Electrohammers might – if Miu cared about him and saw him as a person enough to think to add in an exception. I can understand why Keebo would be invested in finding that out (even though I feel that the answer would probably be no). Unfortunately, now is still not a very appropriate time to do that test.

Shuichi: “Besides, it’s supposed to use a lot of energy, we shouldn’t waste it.”

This isn’t even the biggest issue. The bigger problem is that if it does work on Keebo then it’ll probably knock him unconscious, which would be incredibly inconvenient when we’re all about to head through the tunnel. We can test it after we get out of here, okay, Keebo? (Which isn’t going to happen, but.)

Down in front of the tunnel, people are still kind of nervous, but…

Kaito: “Heh, there’s no need to worry! Of course it’s gonna be a little dangerous, but… We’ve got all these Ultimates here! If we all work together, everything will be all right!”

This is almost the same thing Kaede said in this exact situation four chapters ago! And I’m sure Kaito knows that he’s calling back to her words here. Kaito himself has never really mentioned or seemed to put that much stock in the fact that they’re Ultimates (because anyone can be extraordinary whether they have a recognised talent or not), but Kaede did that all the time, so Kaito doing so here is almost certainly on purpose. Kaito and Kaede are both so good and I love them and the parallels between them so much.

Shuichi: “…Those words…”

Kaito: “Yeah… we can finally fulfil Kaede’s wish.”

Kaito looked Shuichi in the eye to say this! He still isn’t quite ready to do that yet for normal purposes (which we’ll see in a second), but he’s doing it to say this because this isn’t about him and his own issues and is entirely about honouring Kaede and her wish. Apparently he got so caught up in that that he temporarily forgot about his own reasons for not being able to face Shuichi.

Kaito: “Our promise to work together to get out of here… and become friends…”

God, Kaito. He is saying this while knowing full well that he cannot keep that promise to stay friends with everyone once they’re out of here because he’s going to die. But at least everyone else will continue to be friends without him, and that’s all that matters any more.

You’re left with the option to talk to everyone once more before heading through the tunnel. Most of them have something fairly optimistic to say, but Kaito… still isn’t looking Shuichi in the eye. Not when it’s about himself. To anyone else, he’d have words of encouragement like he’s been giving since he decided on this plan, but he still can’t face Shuichi in that way. (Because Shuichi’d just see straight through it and know that he’s faking, especially after he could obviously tell how bad Kaito’s own plan was, right?)

Kaito: “We don’t have time to talk… Let’s go.”

Even so, he doesn’t completely ignore Shuichi either. If he really just didn’t want to talk to him at all, he’d brush off Shuichi’s approach and say nothing like he’s been doing most times (and this isn’t his evasive face here; it’s his pained face). So this actually means a lot, because it implies that Kaito does want to talk to Shuichi, just not quite yet, not until after they do this. As if, once they get through the tunnel and escape from this place, he’ll finally be ready to talk about what happened in Gonta’s trial and apologise. As if, so long as this plan works, that’ll be enough for him to make it up to Shuichi and be worthy of looking him in the eye again. Even though he just had to accept that his own plans are terrible, Kaito’s still hoping that by making the right call in trusting Kokichi and by encouraging everyone to push forward with this plan instead, that’ll make him just enough of a hero all the same.

This is enough, Kaito. At least, it would be if you actually needed to prove yourself to Shuichi in order to make things up to him in the first place, which you never did, you moron.

Shuichi: (With the hammer that Miu invented… I know we can do it. …I have to believe that. I kept repeating that to myself as I stepped into the tunnel.)

Shuichi does not sound convinced that this is going to work out. I doubt anyone is, really (not even Kaito) – but it’s thanks to Kaito that they can tell themselves it will and have the confidence to give it their all regardless.

So, more Death Road of Despair time! It is possible to get characters eliminated and yet still make it to the end so long as you have at least one character remaining, which doesn’t seem in line with canon. Obviously all six of them do make it to the end, and obviously they’d refuse to go on as soon as one of them was eliminated so as to not leave anyone behind, since they think they’re all about to escape.

Also please consider that if Shuichi were to get himself caught in a trap, it would definitely be Kaito who’d be the first to recklessly throw himself into danger to try and save him. Kaito has not stopped caring about Shuichi one bit, after all. This would be much to the surprise of a Shuichi who’s still assuming Kaito is angry at him, and would maybe result in Shuichi being a little more bold about trying to talk to him. And saving Shuichi from something like this would incidentally help prove Kaito to be a hero (not that I think that notion would consciously be on his mind in the heat of the moment when Shuichi is in danger), which might also make Kaito more willing to respond. Can you tell I have thought way too much about hypothetical situations that would get these two to realise they’re being idiots about this.

Anyway, in reality probably none of that actually happens, because this version of the minigame is laughably easy if you just keep pressing the win button. Which is fair enough, because not everyone who plays a visual novel is going to be any good at platformers, and it would be a dick move to have anything vaguely resembling an actual platforming challenge impede progress with the story.

…One downside to mashing the Electrohammer button constantly is that the noise the hammers make is very loud and annoying when repeated over and over. But needs must.

---

[Next post]

#danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #drv3 #ndrv3 #chapter 5 #daily life #commentary

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thundercracer · 6 years ago

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“Banjo Kazooie”

Angie and Iruma adopt a cat. Or... Angie forces Iruma to let them adopt a cat.

Available on AO3

Miu didn’t know what to expect when she came home; she never did. Not when she lived with Yonaga Angie, a renowned space cadet. It certainly wasn’t ever boring, and she was even getting better at guessing what she’d be coming home to! But she certainly hadn’t been prepared to ever come home to…

“Miu Miu!” Angie called, as though she wasn’t about to be in trouble. “Welcome home! Say hi to our new baby!”

Angie held up a small bundle of fluff; the tiniest fucking thing Miu had ever seen. A tiny orange striped tabby kitten was tucked into Angie’s palms, squirming and mewling. Angie held the kitten out expectantly to Miu, as if she was supposed to take it.

“Angie,” Miu growled. “What the fuck is that?”

Her girlfriend looked down at the little kitten and back up to Miu. “It’s a kitten, babe.” Ah. Of course. As though that answered all of her questions.

“Yes, Ange,” Miu pinched the bridge of her nose, sensing the impending argument, “I can see that. I’m wondering what the fuck the little pest is doing in our house?”

“He’s our new son, Miu!”

“... Ange. Put him back.”

Angie gasped in shock, placing the tiny creature in her lap and covering its ears; as though it could hear OR understand either of them. She scowled at Miu, indignantly.

“How could you say such a thing!”

“Angie, we can’t have pets! The landlady will be fucking pissed if she finds out and-”

And her girlfriend smirked at her, defiant. In that special sort of way that made Miu’s heart beat a little quicker and her blood burn a little hotter. She was way too weak to her girlfriend… never properly able to fight back.

“Well, I guess we’d better get good at hiding a baby boy!”

And that was how the two of them adopted Banjo.

Angie had bothered her for days, begging for Miu to name him.

“Why the fuck can’t you just name him?” Miu protested and grumbled. “You’re the one who brought the little bastard here!”

“But Miuuuu!” Angie whined, dragging out Miu’s name. “You’re way better at naming than I am! I’ll just call him something weird or stupid! I can’t be trusted with such a large responsibility. Nope; has to be you. Sorry baby, I don’t make the rules.”

“Fucking… Okay.”

And Miu named him after one of her favorite video game characters growing up. Angie didn’t get the reference immediately and just commented on how she loved banjo music, getting a tag for the little blue collar made immediately.

It took a good, long while for Miu to bond with Banjo. Or even like the little flea bag in general, really.

Miu hadn’t ever had pets growing up; her parents considered animals to be pests and Miu’s only companions were her tamagotchi or her little robots she built. So having a real life animal in her apartment was challenging. Especially when the little fucker was obsessed with chewing on every. Damn. Thing.

“Ange!” she called out, having found another set of headphones chewed to shit. “The little bastard ate my headphones again! You owe me a new pair!”

“It’s Miu’s fault for not putting her things away properly!” came a teasing voice from the kitchen.

She glared at the tiny creature sitting at her feet.

“You’re lucky your mom loves you cause if it were up to me, your ass would be on the street,” Miu growled out, ignoring the way her heart swelled as the little orange menace rubbed himself against her ankles. “No, you’re not cute. Knock it off.”

He grew quickly and he… was a lot bigger than Miu thought he was gonna be. High energy and nocturnal, Miu’s already shitty sleeping pattern was dragged to hell.

“Ange,” Miu groaned, seeing the time was 3 in the morning. “Get the little bastard.”

Banjo had been meowling at the balcony door for several minutes now, and Angie wasn’t getting up to go let him in. Her girlfriend was fast asleep, almost looking dead.

“Fine, I’ll fucking do it.”

And she went and let the little monster in, once again ignoring the way his little head knocked against her ankles. Ignoring the happy little purrs as the cat settled himself at the foot of their bed.

Angie came home one day to an unexpected sight.

Miu was curled up on the couch, watching some kid show or another. Banjo laid across her lap, purring loudly as Miu stroked his ears absentmindedly. It was the cutest thing Angie had ever seen in her life, and was content to snap a candid shot of it.

After some time, Miu and Banjo were almost inseparable. As though Miu was the one who brought the little feline home and not Angie. Banjo was easily found trailing behind Miu, acting like her shadow.

Himeko liked to joke around that Miu had gotten herself a dedicated familiar, and Miu didn’t hate the idea. It was almost like those magical girl anime shows she would watch, which made her more excited about having a cat than Angie had seen. The three of them became their own little family, dodging the landlady and spending evenings all wrapped up together on the couch as cartoons played - Miu was a huge fan of the new She-ra.

After some time, they found Banjo was a lot more chill than when he was younger. Before they knew it, years had gone by with the fluffy orange baby. He was there when Angie and Iruma decided they were going to get married. There when they talked about having children and getting a bigger place. He was right there the whole time as they moved out and bought a decent house with a lovely yard.

He was super protective of Angie throughout the first pregnancy. He never left her side, leaving Miu’s shadow for the first time in years. He nestled against her growing belly and meowed as he felt kicks. He was even more protective of Miu during the second pregnancy, when it was her turn.

Soon, their house filled with giggling laughter, Banjo learned to avoid grubby hands tugging at his tail. He loved them a lot, but there were too many of them and most of them weren’t content with sitting still and petting. He spent most of his days dodging children and mulling about in Miu’s workshop - off limits to curious boys and girls.

Miu knew their boy was getting older… she didn’t want to admit it, and would brush off anyone’s comments about it. She wasn’t going to be able to deal with it… Angie was better at dealing with that sort of shit.

Banjo was getting slower… less responsive. Still purred just as loud, but the little fucker was almost twenty now. Angie had brought him in when they were only twenty years old… just figuring out the world and each other. He’d been there for everything; and they’d been with him up until the final moments…

Miu sobbed and wailed like a baby on the drive home from the vet. Angie fought to keep it together, knowing the children were also terribly upset. Banjo had been around their entire lives, after all. Angie consoled her wife as she best knew how… but she knew. She hadn’t been prepared for Miu to bond so strongly to that cat and for him to become such a solid part of their lives that they’d built together… But he had.

It was almost fate as, several weeks later, Miu heard something shifting around in her garage. She’d somehow gotten used to the silence without Banjo’s purring, as much as it broke her heart. So… hearing shuffling noises was unexpected and unsettling.

She rounded a corner before finding… a kitten. A dark, almost brown, orange color. A dirty, scruffy little thing that had gotten in through the slightly opened garage door.

Tears welled in her eyes as she gathered the tiny bundle swiftly in her arms as she raced through the doors to the house. She ran straight to Angie, bumbling and not making any sense.

Angie saw the tiny creature and Miu’s tear streaked cheeks. She smiled and gathered their newest child into her arms. He was given a bath and Angie promised him and Miu that they’d purchase a new collar for him, with the name “Kazoo” inscribed.

#angiruma #angie x iruma #yonaga angie #angie yonaga #iruma miu #miu iruma #ndrv3 #danganronpa #dangan ronpa #danganronpa v3 #my writing #my fic

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lore-a-lie · 6 years ago

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Chapter 3: We Lived and Let Them All Die Young

Daily Life

The morose mood of the night before still lingered the next day in the dining hall.

Korekiyo’s early presence hardly seemed to have helped in this regard, though it would be easy to miss with how Angie still went out of her way to speak with him. One only need look towards Kaede and Kaito to see the lingering damage however, a hard blow to those so quick to help comfort those in need.

It was times like this Gonta truly wished he were better able to support others in ways beyond his body. There was little use for physical strength or skills in these trying times. Regardless of the dangers they’ve faced and the empty promises he’s made so often, he has yet to protect anyone here at all.

He failed Rantaro, and by extension Shuichi and thus Kaede. He failed Himiko, so not only was Tenko left to mourn her Miu also had to pay the price making Kibo mourn her in kind. He failed Maki, so he failed Kaito and Ryoma both. He failed Kirumi twice over, rending his one victory moot. He’s failed everyone.

He’s failing his friends worse than any of the language lessons his human family has tried pushing him through, and yet not once has any of them blamed him for that. That may be the worst part of all.

… Speaking of language lessons Gonta should try thinking in Reptite language less. But that so hard. Make Gonta feel more stupid than when he talks. Or try to understand when Himiko or Kiyo talk.

… Well just Kiyo talk now. Gonta… Not sure what to do with him after last trial. He talk hard as it is but he show he is bad guy right? Not Monokuma boss, but still bad guy. Hurt good people sort of bad-

I’m really not sure I can really keep up thinking like that, it’s too difficult on me. It’s bad enough they all must think I have the understanding capacity of a child, I have no desire to think like one too.

If someone speaks to me then I’ll try again. I’ll already be translating their words and sorting out a response anyway. So for now I’d much rather think as myself rather than the brute they may think I am.

Perhaps Kaede and Kaito are also trying to sift through what shall be done with Korekiyo? We can’t leave him be. Not like I did for Kirumi. If I hadn’t just accepted her word that she was better Maki wouldn’t be-

I shouldn’t think that way. I don’t wish to doubt them. It doesn’t suit a gentleman to be needlessly wary of those he’d consider his friends. But are any concerns needless in this place? I’ll just see what I can do!

Gonta nodded to himself a little as he went to join Kaede and Kaito after he finished getting breakfast. They hadn’t really needed to worry about doing that themselves before, when Kirumi was here. The kitchen felt so much emptier and colder with her gone. Worse still by the fact her killer was still there.

He placed himself beside Kaede in hopes that would help block out Angie and Korekiyo for her. She was looking better than yesterday at least, but that’s hardly saying much. But the grateful smile she gave him was still genuine so that made him feel a bit better. Kaito’s warm welcome was also appreciated.

Kaito’s warmth is being forced though, it’s obvious from his body language. At least that much is easy for me to understand. But he’s right in showing his best face forward when in front of a proper lady, to avoid giving her reason to worry! Especially not this one, with so many other problems plaguing her lately.

When the two ate enough they began discussing what they thought may work to help address any concerns the group would have with Korekiyo, due to the revelations of the last trial, as Gonta listened.

It’s not like he’d be of much help during the thinking process anyway. Enforcing their decision would be a much easier task for him, whatever it may be. They’d just need to run any plans by everyone else first when they finish arriving. Though it feels odd that Tenko, Ryoma, and Kokichi still aren’t there yet.

Kaito’s taking most of the lead, even with him as out of sorts as he was. It does make sense that Kaede would be taking the latest reveal harder. The type of betrayal she faced this time was far too personal.

“Hey Gonta, come a bit closer okay? Need your thoughts here big guy.” Kaito whispered best he could, as if that would keep Korekiyo or Angie from noticing what they were talking about. A quick glance at the odd pair showed such an attempt was fruitless, but Gonta complied best he could anyway.

Though the way Angie reached for Korekiyo’s teacup instead of her own while the murderer was distracted was odd. It was too out of the way to be a mistake for her and one of her fists was clenched.

However it’d be best to focus on working out what Kaito wanted his input on for the time being. “So, which do you think would be easier in the long run: tying him up somewhere, like being put under arrest, with you, me, or one of the other guys being responsible for bringing him meals, or just assigning him a “warden” in shifts who could watch him like a hawk?”

“I’m certainly not one to object to being tied up, if that helps make anything easier.” Korekiyo chimed in, as if he were just giving his own two cents about the weather. But why would anyone like to be tied up?

Kaito must have been equally confused as his mouth was stuck open. His face was also turning pretty pink though, so it could be some sort of fever acting up again- (No Gonta don’t be stupid. Kaito said he wasn’t sick before, so why would he be sick now? How could anyone get sick in this clean place anyway?)

The discussion must have caused Kaede a headache trying to understand too, as she put her head in her hands with a groan. To try and help Gonta cautiously tried rubbing a circle on her back, like his grandma would when he got too stressed. Hearing Korekiyo snicker seemed to warrant giving him a scolding look.

Gonta must not be all that good at glares though, as even Angie reacted to it more than Korekiyo did. Weird, since he was told so often before what a scary face he had before even with his cute spectacles.

Gonta wish he know how to say something like “spectacles” right around friends. More gentlemanly word than “glasses”. But he keep messing it up with the verb too much to be comfortable with it for now. Gonta still need more practice first.

“Gonta think either idea work for him. Gonta real good at tying knots and watching stuff!” Gonta assured Kaito best he could. And for whatever reason caused Korekiyo to laugh some more. (Is Kiyo making fun of Gonta or did Gonta say something funny? Should Gonta be worried about making him happy?)

Before he could ask what might have come out wrong Kokichi finally made his appearance. Still odd he could beat Tenko or Ryoma here, he’s the one of them most prone to slinking about the campus. (Sometimes more literally than others, given that time Gonta saw him slip on the stairs and go into a handstand. Unless that’s not how that word’s supposed to work either? At least he didn’t get hurt.)

Odder still was how he chose to focus his attention on Kaito instead of Kaede, but he talks fast so Gonta had trouble keeping up. Maybe he worried Kaede would be cross at him for taking over the trial?

What he could catch was the word “Polyglot”. Gonta has no idea what that word could mean, but it seemed like a sort of word game he wanted to play? So Kokichi must be trying to avoid dealing with the trial’s results and keep everyone else from thinking about it too until everyone else arrives.

Kokichi must be super upset by what happened. He hate killers, so he hate Maki. But she do nothing wrong, and Kirumi kill her before he say sorry about it. And now Kiyo’s a cereal killer and Kirumi dead.

Gonta’s forest family had little sister like that. She love to make others happy when she feel sad too.

Reminiscing instead of paying attention soon proved to be a mistake.

No one’s making sense anymore, and Gonta is very very lost. Kaede at least noticed as he stared blankly at Kaito and Kokichi who were speaking in tongues, and in her infinite kindness took some pity on him.

“You can ignore them Gonta, Kokichi’s just trying to find a way to show off-”

“And failing! Nyahaha~” Angie cackled off to the side, prompting a harmless slap fight between her and Kokichi as he tried to silence her from across the table.

“I AM NOT! Kaito cheats I tell you!”

“Not my fault your Russian sucks dude.” Kaito chimed back, enjoying the show.

After taking a deep breath and rubbing at the bridge of her nose Kaede continued to explain. “ANYWAY, they’re just messing around with the languages they know.”

“Or evidently don’t know beyond the names of local cuisine.”

“SHUT UP KIYO NO ONE LIKES YOU!” Kokichi snapped again, trying to swipe at Korekiyo for his offense only to fail and leave himself open to Angie's assault.

“Has anything really changed in that regard?” Korekiyo asked, barely smothering a chuckle at the antics going on before him.

“Atua thinks Kokichi shouldn’t mouth off at those of us who really can cheat at this.” Angie teased, nearly rendering Korekiyo's muttered words inaudible.

“I hardly see how participating at all can be “cheating.”

“If no one else here can prove it’s a real language you’re speaking it’s cheating Kiyo.” Kaito stated as he rolled his eyes.

“How was I supposed to know none of you people knew any Chinese?”

Korekiyo’s complaint was only answered by a bread roll chucked at his head by Kokichi. Angie happily caught it on the rebound, earning both of them a glare from someone they really shouldn’t be taunting.

Not that either of them could be made to care about that. Gonta bemoaned how so few of his friends had a working set of survival instincts. Not even Kaede or Kaito could really be exempt on that account.

Kokichi and Kaito went back to speaking gibberish again. Or apparently “French” according to Kaede. Her talent must be pretty useful to let her catch onto to these things in addition to making such pretty music.

But this gives Gonta his own opportunity to “show off”! Even if they can’t recognize what he says he can still share some of what his forest family taught him.

“Can Gonta try?”

“... Huh? I mean sure if you want to...” Kaito was obviously pretty baffled by his request. How could he not be with how awkward he is at speaking normally.

“I’m very sorry if this also constitutes “cheating” but I’m most grateful for the opportunity to speak in my truly native tongue.” The words easily flowed from him now. Not that anyone would be able to recognize them as words without proper practice. In all honesty, it probably sounds like a mix of hisses and clicks.

… Correction. A horrifying series of hisses, clicks, and chirps. Oh dear. I didn’t mean to give everyone such a fright. Why’d I have to do something so petty and stupid-

“... Well, this certainly explains a lot. That wouldn’t happen to be the language you grew up with while living in the forest, would it? It’s hardly any wonder why Japanese proves so difficult for you to grasp vocally now.”

Korekiyo was the first to adapt. Fitting given how his studies would require the most familiarity to new and unnatural sounding languages. But Gonta wouldn’t have felt as bad if he was among those scared-

No, that’s mean. An eye for an eye is not the sort of logic a true gentleman should be in favor of. What could ever be “gentle” about such a thing? One mustn’t stoop down to the level of the cruel, like him.

“Um, yes? Sorry if Gonta scare anyone. But that also why it easier for Gonta to talk to animals and bugs. Gonta makes their sounds easier than most people, and Reptites good at understanding others.”

Kokichi was at least very impressed, he practically had stars in his eyes as he beamed up at him like a little kid. “That’s so cooool! Okay, Gonta wins!”

“I didn’t think this was something you can really “win” at though-” Kaede was cut off by another bread roll being shoved in her mouth. Kokichi’s lucky they were small enough that didn’t cause any problems. They should also probably take the hint and keep the dish of those further away from him from now on.

“Nope, Gonta wins.” Kokichi said while wagging a finger in front of her with his cheeks puffed again.

… Yay? Gonta still not know what’s really going on though.

Tenko’s timing couldn’t be better as she stormed through the patio doors. And like the one reasonable human being in the room the first thing did was grab Angie by the hand and practically carried her as far away from Korekiyo as she could. She must have seen them talking through the windows before.

Looks like Tsumugi was following close behind her too, before being left behind in Tenko’s rush to Angie. Ryoma also seemed to have been shadowing them- Ah, maybe he was late to make sure they were safe!

“WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM?!” (A very fair question if there ever was one. But Atua wouldn’t have let her do anything truly dangerous to her health right? He’d never fail his prophet like the rest of us.)

“Aww, good morning Tenko~ But it’s fine, it’s fine-”

“NOTHING IS FINE!”

“But it is! Atua doesn’t think any of that stuff Kiyo said during the trial was true. Except for killing Kirumi.” Angie said, trying to wave off Tenko's very real concerns. Surprisingly enough it was Korekiyo to be the first to dismiss her excuses.

“... Your flimsy sham of a god must be blind, deaf, and stupid. Why would I ever lie about something that’d reduce me to both a pariah and the most likely target of our next case? Does “He” claim Ryoma and Maki were lying too now? You saw little issue in taking both of them at their word before.”

Tsumugi and Ryoma both entered the dining hall in time to hear that accusation, which served to only make Angie more frustrated. (At least Gonta think that was what she feeling. Angie very hard to read. Her face keeps lying, worse than Kokichi’s. At least Kokichi’s face knew how to do more than smile.)

“He doesn’t doubt you all believe that, but yes. Atua doesn’t believe anyone here took any lives before they arrived in this place anymore. And He’s very sorry for letting us think otherwise before!”

“I have 127 reasons why that’s not possible Angie. You and your “god” can’t just pretend I didn’t go to prison for what I did because it’d be more convenient for you that way you know.”

“WHAT THE FUCK RYOMA?!” Kaito shouted in surprise after nearly gagging on his drink.

“I killed the entire mafia family responsible for taking everything I loved from me, how many people did you think that’d be? Hell, even with it only being those most directly responsible this wasn’t that big.”

“... Huh. Well that was significantly more than I was expecting. I didn’t honestly think I’d have the fewest number of deaths on my hands of the three of us. I’d never dream of hurting more than 100 people. It’d be far too easy for their lives to be reduced to little more than mere statistics instead of true tragedies.”

“Is it bad to be glad Maki isn’t here to say how many people she’s killed right now? Because I don’t really want to know what the highest headcount would have been.”

“Hey, it’s not like she had a choice Tsumugi-”

“Don’t be a fool Kaito. Murder is ALWAYS a choice. There is no such thing as a “fair” or “justified” death. And unlike Ryoma or myself she never had any limits on those she’d kill nor did she have intentions to stop should she leave. It’d be a greater disservice to her if you insist on overlooking such things.”

“Y-you don’t know that-” Kaito tried to argue, but Korekiyo was making sense from what Gonta could gather. Even if it meant accepting Kokichi might not have needed to apologize to Maki as badly as Gonta liked to think. (But she still not as bad as killing game. She no deserve to... Maki protected Angie even though they no trust each other! It be better for Maki to not fight Kirumi, but she did for friend's sake. That not something bad people do! Right?)

“And neither do you. If she did change her mind she would have said so to someone would she not?” Korekiyo challenged back.

“He… Does have a point Kaito. Even if she did it to help those kids this was still her choice to go so far, talent be damned. But I’ll bite, what’s your “limits” then?” Ryoma asked.

“I already told you what I’m looking for in the women I target and implications for how many I’ve killed, so why should I share more than that at present?”

“Hey wait, does this mean I can annoy you as much as I want and all your threats would only be bluffs?~” (STOP LOOKING HAPPY AT THAT IDEA KOKICHI! DO NOT TAUNT THE PREDATOR WHO KILLS FOR SPORT.)

“Oh heavens no, I’m more than capable of finding non-lethal alternatives for you Kokichi.”

“Awww…” Kokichi’s feigned disappointment was short-lived however, as seeing Kibo enter caused him to perk back up again. Kibo didn’t give him any time to say any more jokes though, and got to the point.

“So everyone else is present? Good. So speaking of non-lethal alternatives what shall we do with Kiyo?”

“Why settle for not killing him? I have no problems with taking him out if that’s okay with everyone else.” Ryoma said, not breaking eye contact with his fellow murderer as if to emphasize how serious he’s being.

Korekiyo barely batted an eye at the threat before replying. “Are you sure you want to go so far? There’s hardly a need to cause more bloodshed so soon after the last trial is there?”

“Hell no, we’d ever be okay with that! What the hell are you thinking man?! You can’t throw away your life over this. It’s not like it’d be too hard to just lock him up somewhere or keep an eye on him.”

“If I may suggest for people to not “keep watch” or be in charge of bringing me any meals Angie has proven to be less that trustworthy in this regard already. But I’m more than open to any ideas that don’t involve my own death. In general male wardens would likely be the option you’d all be safer with too. Not that I doubt Tenko’s physical capabilities, but if left alone things would quickly escalate I imagine.”

“Huh?~ What is Kiyo talking about? Angie has done nothing wrong. Atua even said He doesn’t think Kiyo’s as bad as he said he is anymore!” Angie complained as she started squishing her face again.

“So I suppose you just tried drugging my tea as a source of entertainment? Or perhaps poison is the more accurate term, considering just how limited our resources are.” Korekiyo leveled her a look, but he’s coming across as more inquisitive and teasing than actually upset despite what he was saying.

Her own expression furrowed and puffed as she took note of the colorful flowery mug he lifted to his mask as if to taunt her to show him he’s wrong. Leaving her with only his original dragonfly patterned teacup if she wanted to prove her innocence by drinking from it herself. But she couldn’t, so she went to pour it out in the garbage before going off to sulk back in the seat Tenko wanted her to take before.

Maybe Kiyo really is monster and that how his face works? Like instead of a zipper that really IS Kiyo’s mouth, and he just have a lot of tiny pointy teeth- No Gonta being silly again. Gonta see Kiyo’s mouth at the party, and it normal. Even if it looked more like lady mouth. But all of him looked more ladylike. … Kiyo couldn’t be a LADY monster this whole time could he? That must be just Gonta silly talk right?

“It wasn’t anything THAT serious. Just enough to get you an itttsy bit sick, since you keep acting so smug. It wouldn’t kill you to at least pretend to have some remorse for what you did to Kirumi you know.”

“Were you really willing to stake your life on that guess, Angie? Or everyone else’s?! Be more careful, please! Your “Atua” has already proven too faulty to trust in life and death situations like this.”

“Gonta agree with Kibo. Gonta can keep close eye on Kiyo, so Kiyo no hurt anyone okay? And no one else hurt Kiyo either. Gonta promise to keep everyone safe, so no trials happen.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea for now. Locking him up could put him in danger and lead to another trial, so a buddy system should work as a compromise for now. Is that okay with everyone else?” Kaede asked, looking around the room for approval. With little better solutions available everyone soon agreed.

Not that this meant everyone was happy about this solution. Kokichi, in particular, looked pretty upset. Gonta liked to think this was more out of worry than anger, but it was hard for him to know for sure.

Kibo also looked more distant than usual. Until his pink eyes lit up, nearly literally, as if something just occurred to him. But whatever the thought that brought a smile to his face was, he kept it to himself.

There was little time to try asking him about it when Monokuma made his sole appearance. Gonta almost missed the little tune the Monokubs would sing as they appeared, but it was silly to linger on that. Besides, for all the bad Korekiyo caused there was now only one Exisal threatening everyone.

“Heyo kiddeos. Boy is it a beau-ti-ful day, isn’t it? No worries, no kids, no stress! Just me on my lonesome taking care of you brats. This’ll make things soooo much easier.”

“Would you just get to the point already? We have bigger problems to deal with right now.”

“Whaaat? Bigger than me? Well that just won’t do now, will it? But don’t you worry bout a thing, ‘cause Papakuma’s got just the ticket to help you all sort out your differences! Some fab-u-lous prizes~”

“Yaaay~”

“Oh, can it Kokichi we all know you’re faker than Tsumugi’s tits.” (Huh? Tsumugi has fake birds? Why?)

“H-hey, leave me out of this! And I’m not flashy enough to do that sort of thing-”

“Suuuure you don’t Princess Padding. Let’s face it, there’s no other way for a cosplayer to keep up with anime babes nowadays anyway. But here you bastards go! The legendary Levistone, and the priceless Ocotobrush can be yours for a mere 999 Monocoins~”

“... But you just said it was priceless?”

“Well it was a figure of speech, so pay the fuck up space chimp!”

“What? Why do I have to, who even has that kinda dough?!”

“I mean it, show me the money. Then you get to have your fun exploring to see if you can find the flashback light I’ve hidden somewhere around here.”

“... Is that really are there is?” Angie asked, sounding rather skeptical about this whole thing.

“Yeah, why should we pay at all for something you’re probably trying to kill us with anyway?!”

“‘Cause I need the cash to help sort out the next motives for you guys, so sue me. Ya see you were supposed to be getting a nifty lil’ card key to push you kids along, but with my cubs gone I’ve decided we’d be going in a different direction. One that suits the way you all wanted to take this story more.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Tsumugi asked, looking very scared. Rightly so with another motive on the horizon, so Gonta went next to her to help Kibo reassure her everything would be fine.

“You’ll see~ I’m sure it will all be very enlightening when it’s done. But for now, you better pay the piper!”

Since it was clear Monokuma wouldn’t give them the items or leave Gonta’s friends pooled what Monocoins they had to make the bear leave them in peace. Hopefully this wouldn’t happen again. (Gonta feels kinda bad he hasn’t been looking for those much so he wasn’t much help. But it very rude to damage school property isn’t it?)

Kibo was quick to take the Levistone and headed out towards Miu’s lab, remembering the odd pedestal there. Rather than split up like they did before everyone else chose to follow him to see what this would unlock, but Gonta made sure Korekiyo stayed as far away from the girls as he could.

It was hard to focus solely on him when they got outside again though.

“Is there something the matter Gonta?” Tsumugi asked.

“Yeah, Gonta just keep seeing bits of tiny bugs. But they no want to talk to Gonta before.”

“Bugs? I thought we said before this campus didn’t have any natural pests?” Ryoma hung back a bit to make sure he was hearing Gonta right. And probably to be ready to help if Korekiyo caused trouble.

“Gonta no think so either at first, and before he thought bugs he see were the ones let out at the party. But they not, these much smaller. And very shy with how they keep ignoring and avoiding Gonta.”

“Weird. I mean I haven’t seen anything when I’ve been at my dojo either so they must be really small. Not that Tenko doubts you at all, you did say your eyesight was super good so I believe you for sure!” Tenko assured him with a smile and a fist pump. Korekiyo, on the other hand, seemed more perplexed by the information.

“Curiouser and curiouser. If there is a local insect population after all that could help us figure out where we are. The lack of any at all was far more concerning, should Ryoma’s screen cage theory prove true.”

“Yeeeah, we could be somewhere deep underwater or on the moon or ANYWHERE if there’s no bugs at all." Kokichi said. "‘Specially since the weeds had been getting on just fine for however long this place has been a thing.”

“But if we were in space Kaito would still have recognized some stars wouldn’t he?” Kaede spoke up from the front, near Kibo.

“Not a chance. Space is way too big, and I wouldn’t even know where to start if that were the case. But c’mon guys, fuckin’ space? That’s impossible! Being on the bottom the ocean was the safer bet.”

“Are you sure? Sure sure sure? Because things in here have been way more advanced than anything Angie ever expected to see before. A secret sci-fi moon base could maybe explain that.”

“But Zero Escape already used both of those plotlines before…”

“... Gonta not sure he comfortable with that title. But if Kaito say it’s un-possible then it has to be, right?” (Gonta pretty sure he got that word wrong again. Why do “im” and “un” sounds gotta be so alike?!)

“Right! And who cares what some game or show used Tsumugi, that doesn’t rule anything out for us.”

Tenko had the last word on the matter as they stood before the pedestal. It was odd to see how the maintenance was still going on around the school even with the massive losses of the Exisals. But when Kibo placed the stone on the indent available the landscape began to spring to life.

The odd carvings took on a deep red glow as the stone flew straight to the sky. And from that sky came a most unusual looking lab. Somehow. Gonta was pretty sure that wasn’t actually up there before, there weren’t any clouds in the way or anything. He took care to make sure no one fell over at the impact of it reaching the ground. Connecting itself to the lab of the late great inventor. Gonta tried to ignore that.

… Actually that is a very good idea in general. Gonta’s no good at technical stuff anyway, maybe even worse at that then he is in his language studies.

“Fuckin’ sweet! Hey hey, Kibo let’s go check out your rad lab okay? With something this sci-fi it’s gotta be yours!” Kokichi said as he threw an arm around Kibo, despite the latter’s obvious discomfort.

“Are you sure? I mean it could be Kaito’s, could it not?” Kibo offered, but it was clear he already knew it was his. “I would have preferred my lab have a more traditional look to be honest,” he said with a sigh, causing Kokichi to snicker and poke at the robotic boy's face.

“Pfff, as if. Why would Kaito’s lab try to do the architectural nasty with Miu’s lab anyway? It’s gotta be yours! Besides inventors are robots go hand in hand!”

“I… Wha... Can you… not phrase it like that please?!” Kibo sputtered as he blushed and tried pushing the clinging boy away. (Is that like how he makes the pretty lights that change color? Kibo good at that. Very nice of Miu to help him learn it! Gonta miss her. Gonta hope Angie still right that everyone okay.)

“Or ever speak again for that matter. Just because she isn’t here to say it doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Oh, sure I’ll totally play the quiet game with you Kiyo. First to say something loses!”

Korekiyo shook his head as if he thought Kokichi was joking, but the intense stare Kokichi was giving him told a different story. It didn’t look like he had any intention of stopping either until Korekiyo broke.

“Uh, Kokichi aren’t you going to be going with Kibo?” Tenko cautiously asked, getting only a furious head shake in reply. Korekiyo only shrugged and made some weird set of hand gestures to Gonta, as if that explained anything.

Whatever they were must have meant something to Kokichi, as he got pretty mad.

“HEY, THAT’S CHEATING YOU CAN’T SIGN!” Kokichi shouted, which only made the corners of Korekiyo’s mask twitch like he was grinning underneath it.

“You’re very right, I can’t. But you never ruled it out. And I do believe this means you just lost.”

“... Fuck you.” Kokichi said as his parting words, heading off to Kibo’s lab with Kibo, Kaede, and Kaito. (Why we have so many “K” names? Why don’t Gonta have “K” name too? Gonta feels left out.)

“Knock it off already! Geez, if we’re done taking this seriously I’ll be at my dojo if anyone needs me okay? I’ve got better things to do.” Tenko wouldn’t be wrong either. Gonta saw she took some leftovers from her breakfast in a little box before they left, so she probably went to go feed Himiko’s fishies.

They must be a lot happier in Tenko’s lab. It was a bit of hard work from both of them, but the fish had a lot more room to swim around in the area under Tenko’s hanging platforms. He just hoped she really knew what she was doing, with how dangerous they could be if she didn’t feed them often enough.

Hopefully Himiko’s fishies and birdies no try to eat each other now that there no cages, that be sad- Actually, that reminds me, I forgot to ask about undoing the student council’s previous actions before!

“Uhh, should Gonta clear open the death road again? Since that make Kaede and Kaito angry before.”

“Nah, man it’s fine. Without Miu’s tools it’d probably still be way too difficult for us all to escape through there. Don’t worry about it, we’ll find another way outta this place you’ll see!”

“Angie thinks the warehouse should also remain closed! If… That’s alright with everyone else?”

“I can agree with that, it’s a bit too dangerous to leave it like it was before. This should be fine!”

Good. It nice to see Angie, Kaito, and Kaede all getting along again. No need for any Atua.

“Also… Gonta no good with tech-nol-ogy so it okay if he no go up there? Gonta and Kiyo can go find thing for paintbrush instead.”

“I for one am also in favor of the idea. If everyone else is here there is no harm in us heading elsewhere, and I do have a good idea where this item is meant to be used.”

“W-well you can at least wait to see if the flashback light is hidden in there can’t you? I mean if it is then it’d be easier to just see the memories here than to regroup at the dining hall again right?” Tsumugi asked, still obviously nervous being around Korekiyo. She was pretty brave to put what was best for the class before her own wants, by pointing this out to him despite obviously wanting the murderer gone.

“O-oh. Right. Gonta and Kiyo wait here then!”

At least they didn’t need to wait too long. It was fairly awkward, since Angie kept trying to get a rise out of Korekiyo again for fun while Ryoma watched the three of them like a bear waiting for a salmon to leap from the river. Kibo was the first down and he seemed fairly disappointed by his lab.

Gonta felt pretty bad about that. It wasn’t fair for Kibo to be the only one unhappy with his talent’s research lab. And Monophanie said these were all made just for them, to make them happy too.

Maybe this is what he means when he talks about robophobia? It’s terribly unfair to think that by being a robot Kibo has to understand and enjoy technical things. He only learned some computer stuff because it helped to remind him of Miu, not because he liked it at all. Like when Gonta was still new to them so many Reptites would assume that as a primate he would just love bananas as a gift. So. Many. Bananas.

A nudge to his side snapped him out of his thoughts, as Kokichi seemed perturbed by whatever distant and frustrated expression Gonta had on his face in response to those memories. But as they confirmed there was no flashback light to be found here he gave his tiny friend a reassuring smile before heading towards the school again.

Since Korekiyo said before he thought he knew where the octobrush needed to be used, though he was teased a little for not quite understanding what octopi had to do with anything, he lead the way. All the way to the fourth floor and heading towards the hallway of the creepy not-baby-bear statue things.

“This case at least has a fun bit of foreshadowing to it. Torii such as these, also known as “Shrine Gates”, primarily act as entrances to holy grounds. However, some of these sacred spaces may also have other forms of barriers to help protect them from corrupting forces.”

“Every time he uses the word “fun” there should be a massive asterisk after it or something.” Tenko not-so-subtly whispered to Angie, who giggled at that. Korekiyo also heard her and seemed confused.

“Why? This is one of the “tamest” interests I have, and education should be an enjoyable experience for everyone. Any case where it isn’t is the fault of the one doing the teaching, not the one trying to learn.”

“Gonta think that be easier if teachers not hit people with rulers for writing with wrong paw.” Gonta offered as the memory came to mind. One that certainly didn’t help his language lessons any.

One that didn’t help his friends keep their peace of minds any either. Oops. But before he could mentally chide himself for oversharing and needlessly causing them to worry Korekiyo and Kokichi spoke up.

“... I do believe such methods have been banned in most school environments. Was this a private tutor?” Korekiyo asked, and his disturbance about what he learned Gonta struggled with seemed oddly genuine.

Kokichi, on the other hand, went in a far more vengeful and aggressive direction. “Gimme a name and a face and I’ll egg their house good when we get out! And maybe steal something, depends on my mood. They got any stuff you’d like Gonta?”

“Kokichi no!”

“Come on Ka-yay-de, it’ll be fine~” Kokichi insisted despite Kaede’s objection, but before she could push for it Gonta tried to help keep his friend from doing anything that could have serious consequences.

“But that illegal! Breaking law bad!”

“Soooooooooo? It’s fun~ Why do you think I learned how to pick locks?”

“To have a useful skill you could use responsibly for the benefit of yourself and others?” Kibo offered.

“Bitch please, have you even met me?”

“Well speaking of unlocking this should be the place right?” Ryoma asked upon reaching the hanging scrolls. Angie snatched the brush away from Korekiyo and brought the tip to the canvas with a flourish, but much to her disappointment she didn’t need to do anything else.

As soon as the hair hit the fabric patterns began to materialize on the surface of all three scrolls at once. However as soon as the images settled the scrolls rolled themselves up, so Gonta didn’t have time to read anything written on them. He only caught that the left had a Monokuma with some tiny drums and the one on the right was a Monokuma with a weird scarf that he was pretty sure he should know by now.

Behind where the scrolls once were was a new set of stairs to the fifth floor just like Korekiyo predicted. But any sense of foreboding that could come with it was immediately broken by the class’s bickering.

“Ah, how fairly typical for a gateway be guarded by parodies of the dueling gods Raijin and Fujin-”

“Yeah yeah, “humanity is beautiful” cultural bullshit yada yada. Can we go now?”

“Aww, but where did the brush and scrolls go? Angie wanted to keep those…”

“WHY?”

“Every artist worth their salt knows you can never have too many materials Tenko!”

“Pretty sure that’s the sorta thing a hoarder would say too.”

“Hey, watch it Kaito, you can’t judge her!”

“Says the girl who both questioned it first and definitely didn’t kidnap all of Himiko’s “familiars”.”

“I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t count as kidnapping. It’s good she wants to look after them I think.”

“Yeah Tsumugi, that’d be stealing , get your words right!”

“That isn’t what I meant Kokichi!” Kibo sniped at him.

“Okay everyone, let’s just go up and see about the next floor okay?!” Kaede shouted over the noise. She looked a bit bashful as they looked at her, but eventually everyone chose to go up and give it a look.

As if to further prove Korekiyo’s mini-lecture accurate “holy” certainly felt like the word to describe this new space. Everything about it reminded Gonta of the sorts of churches and cathedrals he’d see on TV and cartoons. But with everything so dark he’s not so sure this could ever really be a house of God.

“Hmm~, bad space, Atua doesn’t like it.”

“Well, who cares what your false god thinks anyway? The symmetry and attention to detail is certainly a pleasant surprise, even if the idols we are being presented within it are… more than a little insulting. Particularly if the one is meant to be invoking the six-winged Seraphim of Christianity and Judaism.”

“Symmetry’s so boooring though. Way too tired and tied to western beauty ideals. So Angie’s just gonna go now!”

“Then Tenko’s going too! We’ll just meet up later if someone finds the flashback light okay?”

“Who knew our dear Angie would be so repulsed by the imagery of angels?”

“Kiyo, be nice.” Kaito scolded. (As if it were possible for someone who killed a girl as caring as Kirumi to ever be nice! Even if she killed Maki first, and Maki was also not a bad person. This was so complicated...)

“I like to think I have been behaving very well considering what I’ve put up with from her today. However as nicely designed as this floor may be I would also wish to return to my own lab if that would be alright with everyone. Unless there is something here you’d like to see first Gonta?”

“No, that fine. Gonta can check later. You all know where we be if anyone finds flashback light, okay?” (Tsumugi’s lab not have anything for Gonta anyway, and Shuichi and Rantaro’s lab just have… sad memories now. This also be easier to keep Kiyo away from anything new he could make plans with.)

That said going back down to the lab may not have been the “safest” place to take Korekiyo. He became rather volatile at the realization that the gilded katana’s blade was missing again. It only got worse when it became clear the stone mask from before was also nowhere to be found. Gonta forgot how actively scary Korekiyo could be when he got angry. (Gonta also not sure hair should move like twitchy snakes. Unless that normal for monster hair? Human hair definitely no react when their people get mad.)

None of that anger was directed towards anyone at least. Not even Kokichi, who Gonta suspected was probably responsible for this, not that he’d ever tell Korekiyo that. So Gonta just waited until he calmed down more before he tried talking to him at all. It’s not like there was much else for Gonta to do in here.

“Do any of Kiyo’s books have pictures? Most are hard for Gonta to read.”

“Of course, give me a moment,” Korekiyo replied, taking a break from his reading to slip other aged tomes from the many shelves around his lab. After finding five that he seemed satisfied enough with he passed them along to Gonta, who awkwardly held the old books as if they were made of glass. “These are all primarily art based texts, so the author’s commentary shouldn’t be needed to appreciate the works they show. They all should also follow a general insect theme, with some arachnids and the like.”

He’s already sorted books like this out? Why do that? For me? Or does Kiyo also like bugs? But Kiyo’s… Not really a good person, right? Why would someone cruel ever like something as small or cute as bugs?

Gonta gave his thanks as he accepted the pile of books, but he was unsure about returning the smile he thought Korekiyo was giving him under his mask. It’s odd, how much and how little things have changed since the last trial. Korekiyo wasn’t acting that much differently than normal, but nothing feels the same anymore. Like Gonta could wake up and all of yesterday would just be a dream. But he knows it wasn’t.

He didn’t know how long they read in silence before Korekiyo started asking him questions about his life with the Reptites. They were all framed as if he was trying to give Gonta a chance to reminisce about better, easier, times but he couldn’t trust how “innocent” Korekiyo’s curiosity was anymore. Not with his promise to his forest family burning in his mind. So he tried to stay as honest but vague as he could.

There shouldn’t be any harm in stressing how the Reptites weren’t all that different from humans. If anything that would help make it easier for everyone to get along, wouldn’t it? Not that Gonta’s smart enough to really know for sure. He’d just have to settle for trying to be the best person he could possibly be to show what positive influences both of his families have been to him. Maybe that’d be enough.

It soon grew easier to talk about his human family instead, well as easy as talking could ever be, and Korekiyo didn’t seem to mind the redirection in the slightest. If nothing else Korekiyo was a good and attentive listener, and his interest always seemed genuine. It’s not like he could hurt any of Gonta’s family from this place anyway. They didn’t have a whole lot of girls around the house anymore either.

His mother still had some problems with Gonta that he didn’t really understand, and she was out most of the time. Both his parents were. Might be how he got lost in the first place, not that he’d ever know. But Grandma was always good to him, always helping him when Grandfather got upset about his lessons.

Of course, it was schooling that lead to Korekiyo giving more of his own input.

“You really aren’t “dumb” you do realize yes?” He said in that way he wasn’t really asking a question but making a statement. His intentions for this were hard to judge but the curiosity in his tone sounded real.

“Huh?”

“There’s more than one way to teach any given subject, and everyone has their own ways of processing information. You aren’t unobservant nor are there any notable problems with your memory from everything I’ve seen and clearly show the drive and desire for learning in areas. If they’re already willing to seek out means of helping you learn outside of conventional school systems your family should be open to the idea of trying something else if their current “solutions” aren’t proving effective for you.”

“Gonta pretty sure Kiyo’s not right about that. Gonta’s an idiot-”

“You are the Ultimate Entomologist are you not?” Korekiyo’s tone got colder at his question. More likely a sign of annoyance rather than anger at being told he’s wrong about something. Like he was speaking to a child that made him repeat himself rather than having given evidence of the flaws in his observations.

“... Yes?”

“Then how can you, a teenage prodigy in a scientific field, be considered anything less than a genius?”

“Because bugs are different! Gonta no good with words, or computers, or...”

“So? I’m hardly any better around technology, average at the very best with my inexperience with them. While your ideal of a “gentleman” may be able to excel at all things that isn’t how people were meant to develop. Not that I am dissuading you from trying, it is a wonderful goal for you reach for! But People always value different types of intelligence and skills, so even if you aren’t in a situation where these are greatly appreciated that doesn’t mean you are “stupid” for lacking in the areas that commonly are.”

“But Gonta not useful here.”

“Oh yes because you clearly aren’t currently performing a task that you are easily the best suited for.”

“... Gonta pretty sure Kiyo being “sar-cas-tic” right now. That not nice.”

“If memory serves Buddhism would also agree with you there. But the point remains, does it not?”

“Gonta not useful in trials.”

“And who not named Kaede or Kokichi has reliably been so thus far? Everyone helps in different ways depending on the case’s context and if I do recall it was your testimony that revealed one of my lies. That’s not to say it might not have been found even without your observation, but you made it easier. Just as you are now making life here a tad less stressful for everyone despite some… unsavory details.”

“Gonta say stupid things.”

“And so does Kaito. Very often I might add. But no matter how he may be teased he is also very far from unintelligent and we can all acknowledge and respect this. Miu was much the same way with her quirks.”

“Kaito different, he still talk good.”

“Don’t pretend as if I don’t know how needlessly difficult my preferred style of speech can make it for others to understand me. And yet here we are, without me talking down to you, and you’ve still carried multiple conversations with me while barely missing a beat.” (SO HE DO KNOW. KIYO IS STUPID JERK!)

“... If Kiyo know that why he not just talk easier?” Gonta complained with a halfhearted glare. But all it did was make the anthropologist laugh. “Kiyo laugh like Reptite do back home. Very hissy, much mirth.”

“Kehehe, now that was a word I wasn’t expecting from you! I don’t believe that’s one even I’ve used lately. But hearing it in use can make it easier for others to learn ways to express themselves they didn’t have the ability to before. Which is part of why I speak like this. I do also just like to show off of course.”

“Gonta no know what he like better, friendly mean people or not friendly kind people. Kiyo easier to understand when he just a friendly weird person before.”

“What can I say, life’s complicated. That’s what makes it and the people you meet in it so very enjoyable. Simple may be safer, but it gets dreadfully dull if it stays that way for too long. Nothing is meant to stay the same, particularly not if they’re people. And not all of life’s changes are considered for the better.”

Gonta assumed there was little point int pushing the issue further. Korekiyo had no regrets he was willing to show, and Gonta wasn’t sure he really wanted to understand his reasons. So instead they fell back into silence reading, or just looking at their respective books to spend the time.

Until there was a knock at the door, and with it an unexpected visitor.

Kaede of all people came through those doors. But she looked so conflicted it was like even she didn’t want to be there or know why she was doing this. As if to prove her resolve she closed her eyes and took a calming breath before she spoke with the coldest tones Gonta had ever heard from her.

“Gonta can you wait outside for a bit? There’s something I need to ask Kiyo about alone. Don’t worry, you know we’re the only ones in here and you don’t need to go far, so I won’t be in any danger. Not unless he wants to try something monumentally stupid.”

“Is… Is Kaede really sure about this? Gonta could just go wait on higher level-”

“I’m sure Gonta. Everything will be fine.” She repeated, with the bitterness and finality of a blizzard. The shift from her natural warmth was nearly as terrifying as the contrast it had with the fire in her eyes so he obeyed. If only because she underestimated how good his own hearing could be. For her own safety.

He leaned against the wall beside the shoji doors, waiting and listening as if hunting for bugs in a forest. Human voices were far easier to catch than any insect’s chirps or wingbeats, but he still couldn’t be too careful. Gonta didn’t want to risk making Kaede feel betrayed again by catching him eavesdropping.

“This is quite the surprise Kaede, what do you wish to speak to me about? Yesterday’s accusation?”

“No. We both know you didn’t believe a word of that. I just need to know… How long have you been waiting to try a stunt like this?”

“Oh? And what “stunt” would that be by chance?”

“Don’t play coy with me Kiyo! This is about your sister, isn’t it? To… “Introduce” me to her.” She hissed at him. It was clear she wanted to yell at him but restrained herself since the sound would alert Gonta.

With how deafeningly silent it was after that Gonta was afraid he missed something until Korekiyo spoke.

“Of course it is. It always is. Everything I do, that I am, is because of Her in one way or another. So, should I take this to mean you wish to go back on your earlier promise? You must hate me ever so much for tricking you in such a heartless way, don’t you?” (She should, we all should, HOW COULD YOU-)

Another pause, as Gonta heard Kaede take a deep calming breath before she replied. “... No I don’t.”

“Fascinating. Are you lying to me, or to yourself right now?” Gonta could practically hear the sick smile Korekiyo must have hiding under that mask as he spoke, and it was making him feel ill. It was too cruel.

“SHUT UP-” Kaede nearly shouted, before stopping herself. It took everything Gonta had to keep himself from charging through those doors and yelling at Korekiyo for trying to hurt Kaede for a reason so… So stupid. (What else could you ever call killing a friend for the sake of someone who was already dead?!)

But he managed to control himself, hands clenched and teeth grinding as he did, and continued listening while wiping all his frustrated tears away. If she came out and noticed those she’d know he heard them.

Her voice was little more than a whisper as she tried speaking to Korekiyo through her anger once again. “Stop talking like that. But… How could you look me in the eye and ask if it’d be okay to MURDER ME?!”

“Oh come off it. It’s not like you’re the first girl I’ve ever asked that question. And until She has her 100th friend you won’t be the last. But you were one of the very few who gave me your permission so readily.”

Gonta felt himself go cold. 100 “friends”. 100 victims.

How close to that number is he at this point? Does it matter? Wanting to go that far speaks volumes, even if he only killed a fraction of that. But… Is it so different from Ryoma or Maki either? They both… They also killed a lot of people before the game right? That was why Angie and Tenko told me to be so careful with both of them, despite only Maki ever threatening anyone and Ryoma being so… broken.

This must be different. Maki’s was for her job, her talent. Ryoma’s was for revenge, and he was finished. He’s just a sad friend who needs our help. What do you even call something this unbelievably twisted?

“... Then why didn’t you try anything when the first blood perk was still in play? I fit your… “standards”, and then you could have gotten out without any consequences. Before Shuichi or Rantaro died.”

“I already told you. I didn’t remember why I felt I needed to ask you that question as I couldn’t recall Sister was already dead. And it’s not like I had an opportunity to when that horrid drone began, the only girl I could have gone after at that point was Tsumugi, as she was the only one in the dining hall that isolated herself with her visit to the restroom. You would likely have been in Shuichi’s company anyway, and I hardly had any need to pick a fight. I was more than content to see how this would all play out.”

“So that’s all there is to it? In the end, this is all because you saw your motive video?” (Just like Kirumi... Why videos do this to us?)

“What else were you expecting of me? To tell you that you were completely mistaken? That I really did believe you’d ever be as callous as to be the one behind this killing game? As if I’d insult your intelligence in such a way. Besides, it doesn’t sound as if you truly intend to let the others know about my motive just yet. Why else would you have sent my watcher away for this chat? So, what are you planning to do?”

“That’s none of your concern Korekiyo.”

“Oh? Why so formal? There really is no need for that. I’m more than willing to accept your change of mind, so this won’t happen to you again. It’s not like Sister doesn’t have other options available in here.”

Rather than responding to that Kaede forced her way out of his lab, nearly hitting Gonta with the door in her hurry. She didn’t seem to notice that though as she tried slamming the shoji screen behind her.

“Tried” being the key term as this style of door has a habit of bouncing back open when you try that, due to their lightweight paper construction. Gonta noticed that a lot back at his human Grandfather’s estate.

He couldn’t find any comedy in that quirk though, when he saw the look on her face. It was like the mask of a monster he saw in one of the plays his human family had tried taking him to. The ones that expressed different emotions depending on the angle you saw it at. (Korekiyo would know what it was called.)

Her face was nearly red and she looked on the brink of tears but she wasn’t embarrassed, sick, or sad. A sharp contrast to her bone-white knuckles, clenched so hard Gonta was worried she’d draw blood soon. There was nothing but rage and hate present on her face, the flame from before fanned into a wildfire.

“Huh? Is Kaede okay? Did Kiyo do something? Or say mean things? Is there something Gonta can do?” He tried asking her, knowing better than to try touching anything that feels cornered. Humans and animals aren’t all that different in that regard. But his gentle voice did snap her from her thoughts.

“O-oh, no. It’s okay Gonta, honest. He answered everything I needed him to. I’ll be alright. You can go back in now, I’ll just head to my room.” She said, giving him what was meant to be a reassuring smile.

As if she hadn’t just heard straight from the monster’s mouth her attempts at kindness were what nearly got her killed. Like she didn’t just prove she was intending to hide this fact from them all so none of them would try to kill him for this atrocity outright. Even though he’s proven he certainly deserved such a fate.

Gonta tried offering her a hug at least before she went, which he was glad she accepted and helped her relax, before watching her go with his own poor attempt at a smile as he childishly waved her goodbye.

He hoped that would be enough to convince her. Enough to hide what he was thinking from her.

Though hiding from Korekiyo would probably prove to be the greater challenge. He was the one who gave him the idea after all, and this would be the safest means to take care of him should Gonta prove unable to stop another murder. Far safer than any of Ryoma or Kaito’s plans offered before, he was sure.

He re-entered the anthropologist’s lab, doing his best to play confused as though he hadn’t heard a word they said. Korekiyo probably wouldn’t find it out of place if the looks sent his way turned out harsher than intended either, since he should know Gonta just saw how he reduced Kaede to angry tears.

Korekiyo gave him a kinder smile, judging by the deceptively gentle look in his eyes, as Gonta returned his book to its original position so they could continue reading in silence like before. It was a smile Gonta had no problems with returning this time. Why shouldn’t he? Korekiyo is giving Gonta a means for him to finally prove himself useful to all of his friends at long last, after so many failures. He should be happy.

After all, it’s my sworn duty as a true gentleman to protect my friends from whatever may threaten them.

And if that means I have to dirty my hands by putting down a dangerous animal to do so, then so be it.

First Chapter Previous Chapter Index AO3 Version Next Chapter

#New Danganronpa V3 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #drv3 #drv3 spoilers #drv3 fanfiction #fanfic #gonta gokuhara #korekiyo shinguji #kaede akamatsu #angie yonaga #kokichi ouma #K1-B0 #tsumugi shirogane #tenko chabashira #kaito momota #ryoma hoshi

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snowydawn17 · 7 years ago

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Nico got to the end of trial 4 and I have *words* and the comment I typed is a mcfreakin essay so i’m putting it on here too because I care way too much about this

Alright, I'm gonna start this off with 1) an apology, because I have no idea how long this is gonna get, and 2) by saying that Hating Kokichi is entirely valid. He's my favorite character in this game, yes, and I'm perfectly willing to admit that probably makes me more than a little biased. However, his actions are entirely inexcusable - understandable (in an "I see why you decided to do this" way), but inexcusable. (In short: Cool motive, still murder.) But this situation is not entirely his fault, nor is it entirely Gonta's, nor is it entirely Miu's. All three of them should be held accountable for their actions.

Miu decided to kill Kokichi and sacrifice everyone else in order to escape. Gonta willing killed Miu, and planned to get everyone killed in the trial. Kokichi led both of them to their deaths because he didn't trust that the group would be able to stop Miu from killing someone- she was set on sacrificing them *all* in the end, after all.

If Kokichi didn't go to the virtual world, or at least the roof, she could switch targets. If he stopped them from entering the Virtual World in the first place, she could make a new plan. And that's if everyone believed him about Miu being willing to murder in the first place. Worse case scenario, Miu's plan works, he dies, and she has free reign over the entirety of the Virtual World and can delete or create evidence on a whim. The poison might not match up, but if everyone but Kaito had an alibi for the murder and they had nothing else to go on, it's very likely they wouldn't have been able to peg Miu as the culprit. *This does not excuse Kokichi or Gonta.* Both of them could have, at any time, decided to not kill Miu and figure something else out.

Post-Trial, Kokichi asks to be EXECUTED. There is NO REASON, from ANY ANGLE, that this would benefit him. Monokuma doesn't reply to Kokichi at all, and honestly there's a chance Monokuma might've gone for it to make the game "more interesting". He clearly isn't doing it for pity points from the group, either, considering what he says later. His "fake tears" sprite doesn't come up once - only his more serious looking expressions. After the execution, he doesn't even RESPOND to anyone for a textbox or two. And speaking OF after the execution -

Alter Ego Gonta spent like..5 minutes refusing to tell them the secret because it would, in his perspective, make them all SUICIDAL. Point blank says that knowing the secret made him want to die, and that he's afraid that telling them would make them all despair as he did. Then Gonta tells everyone to stop and just... forgive each other, don't blame Kokichi, because Gonta himself clearly chose to go through with this plan. Kokichi made the plan, set it up, and manipulated the pieces, but ultimately Gonta himself chose to kill Miu, and he believes he should be held accountable for that. Kokichi clearly didn't expect forgiveness, or any sort of kindness in the slightest. And then Gonta asks Kokichi/the group to promise him they'll be *friends* after this. Kokichi agreed, and yeah it's pretty debatable and there's no real way to prove it wasn't a lie, but I'm just stating that it happened here for timeline sake/later points. Then Gonta dies. Not even, what, 20 seconds after his death? Everyone's demanding Kokichi tell them the secret again. Y'know, the one Alter Ego Gonta refused to tell them for their own safety and wellbeing? And they just... expect Kokichi to tell them? If Kokichi doesn't care about them or the promise he (debatably) just made with Gonta, he wouldn't care if it made them all crazy or suicidal - heck, he'd probably think it might make things more exciting if everyone went ballistic! If Kokichi wants to be antagonistic or, as Shuichi said, malicious, he wouldn't tell them because it would piss them off (as evidenced in... what actually happened.) If Kokichi does care about them and/or Gonta, he wouldn't tell them, because *he saw the outside world too*. If it made *Gonta* decide that murder was ok, what would it do to the rest of them? Plus, all Gonta ever wanted to do was *protect everyone*. If Kokichi cares about them at all, why would he reveal something that could make them all go crazy? ...All of that, of course, is assuming they'd believe a word of what he said if he told the truth. Considering their reactions to him telling a truth they didn't want to hear in the trial, if it really is something so utterly despair inducing or unbelievable, the odds they'd just insist he's lying about it are...fairly high, in my opinion. If he "really cared for Gonta", stealing Kaito's words, then Kokichi would just keep his mouth shut. Of course, they're not gonna accept him staying silent. He's gotta say *something*. And as Kokichi said - everyone hates him, so the role of villain is perfect for him. He wants them to stop asking, but he can't tell the truth; so he lashes out. He pushes them away and redirects the situation. They expect him to play the villain, and he uses that to the fullest potential. One last thing: I can probably refute over half of Kokichi's speech at the end, but I'm gonna focus on one part. Kokichi says he lied to Gonta in order to make him calm down so that he wouldn't like, fight back and ruin the trial/game or some such thing. No matter how you look at that it..doesn't make sense. For one, if he really wanted to hurt everyone as much as he could, revealing himself as a villain who planned to betray Gonta from the start and sacrifice him for nothing more than amusement would've hurt a lot more if Gonta himself was there to see it. Two, wouldn't Gonta attempting to fight his execution make things more interesting? If his goal is to make an exciting situation, isn't that perfect? The normally kind and gentle Gonta straight up RAMPAGING? And three, when Kirumi in trial 2 attempted to escape her execution and manipulate everyone... Kokichi let her. He called her out before everyone got too riled up, but he let her try. If he did *that* to make the game more exciting/for his own amusement... why not do the same here? It just doesn't add up, no matter how you view Kokichi.

#i finally figured out how to insert a read more so thank god for that #anyways #ouma kokichi #ndrv3 #ndrv3 meta #bring on the discourse i know it's gonna happen #im not gonna respond but it's gonna happen #well I'll respond if you have a valid point or seem civil enough maybe but #this is tumblr when is discourse ever civil #oh should probably also tag #gonta gokuhara #miu iruma

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sanctferum · 7 years ago

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First trial part 2!

So last we left off, Shuichi was taking the brunt of everyone’s suspicions, and I will say he is awfully suspicious. But I dunno. From a meta perspective, it’d be weird to have the killer cornered at the halfway point of the trial rather than at the end.

Monokuma (& Cubs) Theater, trial version.

Monokuma says he knows all things, and Monodam speaks for like the second or third time so far.

The line between victim and attacker...? Like, what happened in DR1 chapter 1? Monosuke, please elaborate.

The sensor didn’t go off while Shuichi was in the basement. Hmmm.

Did Shuichi tamper with the sensor he placed?

Or he could’ve just not set it...

No, that isn’t right...the moving bookcase must have had the sensor on it. We got that picture of Rantaro, and we only were able to take that because of the sensor sensing him.

Ryoma thinks Shuichi turned the receiver off...in that case, you’d get a picture, but not the alarm.

Shuichi isn’t saying anything...and I remember what he said earlier. The reason no one accepted the First Blood Perk could have been to kill everyone else. But why would he want that? And wouldn’t the real killer get away if that was the case, and everyone voted for Shuichi?

Time to lie! It’s perjury for the jury!

Wow that was more difficult than I thought it’d be...

Kaede didn’t have the receiver. But the only one who knows that besides herself is currently silent.

Kokichi sees right through us...

...why would a god need nap-time?

Morphenomenal Trial Grounds...?

Scrum debate...let’s see what this is like...

Wow that was...interesting.

Ah, Shuichi’s been quiet because he’s afraid of the truth...afraid of what the truth might be.

The hidden door picture? 3-2?

He tried to remove the camera? Why?

He noticed the camera only after it had taken a picture already...

But...hadn’t Shuichi turned off the camera flash?

Huh. Rantaro’s picture isn’t blurry at all...it’s bright, too.

Shuichi set up the flash to lure whoever moved the bookcase to the camera.

Which means...Shuichi...IS the killer...?

No...but who could it be otherwise?

Who handled the cameras other than, Miu, Shuichi, and...

No, I think we’d know if it was Kaede...we’re playing as her, after all.

*a full supply of influence gauge later* OK, I picked everyone but myself and it was wrong every time, but...if it is us, we would definitely have noticed that we went and killed someone. Right? Also the main character getting executed so early on, or at all, makes no sense at all.

*chooses Kaede* “No doubt about it”? Wh...huh?

And...she’s suddenly in a spotlight in an empty courtroom, lamenting her failure to catch the mastermind...? What the actual fuck is going on.

She’s entrusting her legacy to Shuichi...I am so confused...?

Now Kaede is gone and Shuichi is speaking...Saying he’ll do what Kaede wants him to do, even if it’s cruel.

What the fuck is going oooooooonnnnnnnn???????

Her, her tone of voice changed...

The things she is saying are true...so how can she be the culprit?

Where she used it?

I mean, she could have theoretically rolled it down the vent, but we didn’t see anything like that, so...besides, the vent was on the other side of the library, right?

Are...we playing as Shuichi? Don’t tell me Kaede was a decoy protagonist...

Wait, protagonist...there was all this emphasis on her being the protagonist in the demo...and it was also mentioned once in the prologue. But...

Yeah, Tenko’s right, she...

...she was strangely absorbed in the books on top of the bookcase...no way...

I am in a complete state of shock right now. This game just bamboozled the fuck out of me.

Wait, why wouldn’t Kaede have taken the First Blood Perk?

Fuck. Kaede mentioned loving Rube Goldberg machines...

The noise was masked by the murder music...

So Kaede was a classic unreliable narrator...

Huh...?

Another twist?

But, if Kaede wouldn’t have done it...then how come she did...?

Kaede’s truth...?

Hey it just occured that there were some Kaede specific items from the MonoMono Machine, but not a lot of detective stuff for Shuichi. And I kept saying, what’s with this music stuff, are we gonna give it to ourselves somehow? Oh jesus fuck.

Oh. She was hoping to kill the mastermind. That’s it, isn’t it. And Rantaro...was not the right target.

Oh fuck. Shuichi is blaming himself. He’s the one who thought the mastermind would be in that spot, and the one who told Kaede that speculation...

And Kaede thinks everything is her fault, that she deserves what’s gonna happen to her...

This is...too sad...

End this...?

The closing argument equivalent...which is still called the Closing Argument, it would seem.

And that’s it. The case is over...all everyone can do is believe that Kaede was only trying to protect them.

Kaede’s selflessness...was her downfall. And no doubt that was also why she didn’t take the Perk. Because that would have been a betrayal of her friends, even though they wouldn’t have died...

Voting time...

And the vote went off without a hitch, and then Monokuma confirmed the results.

Up until Rantaro’s belonging didn’t have the card key...up until that point...Kaede truly believed that she was doing the right thing...

Kokichi speaking some hard truths...but there’s a time and place for that. This isn’t it.

Oh. Kokichi is angry, yes, but at himself? Nope, another lie.

Kaede doesn’t want anyone’s sympathy...because she can’t see herself as anything other than a murderer who killed a dear friend. So why should anyone else see her that way?

Yeah. She couldn’t take the Perk because it meant she’d escape alone.

Kaede meant to use the trial to reveal the mastermind’s identity. Even if she was executed at the nd, she’d consider that atonement for Rantaro’s death.

And Shuichi is considering that he may have been wrong. What if...there is no mastermind? No one did anything suspicious when Shuichi was gonna be declared the killer, even though it would mean the death of them all...Shuichi made a mistake. And a friend is dead because of it...and another is about to be.

Kaede set her trap to cover he own tracks because even if she killed the mastermind, she thought that the others wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who killed.

Monokuma is eager for blood...this is gonna be awful.

The Exisals? Are they there to kill Kaede, or to prevent the others from interfering?

The latter, it would seem.

Kaito is gonna do another dumbass move...and Gonta is refusing to stand aside, too. Tenko as well...and Shuichi...

Kaede doesn’t want her friends to die just to try and help her.

Kaede’s final request...that everyone escape together and be friends.

And now. The end.

Der Flowehze. Execution of Ultimate Pianist.

Monokuma strapped her into a noose and played the piano with her until she choked to death...and then, as the piano was collapsing, Monodam pushed Monokid into it and he died too.

Monokuma is fine with Monokid’s destruction. After all, he’s got four other cubs! The Monokubs are less than thrilled about their individual existence meaning so little.

And here it comes. The first mention of the word despair.

Despair entertainment...this isn’t another live broadcast, is it?

Rantaro had a hunch regarding the situation. But now he’s dead, and only the words “Ultimate Hunt” remain.

Monodam claims he killed Monokid for the sake of the Monokubs. Huh?

And that’s a wrap...?

Wait what’s Kaito have against Shuichi...?

He just punched him! What the fuck!

Hey, Shuichi’s in shock. Don’t be so hard on him!

Everyone eventually leaves, except Kaito and Shuichi. Kaito suggests Shuichi go to the Ultimate Pianist Lab, where some sense of Kaede remains.

A song...

Claire de Lune by Debussy. The song Kaede wanted to play for Shuichi...

Shuichi remembers what Kaede kept telling him. Have more confidence, she said. And so, his path is decided. Face the truth...with confidence and hope.

And her ghost appears for a brief moment...

chapter clear. And our chapter trophy is her hairpin...

That’s...that’s all for tonight...See you another time...

*hangs heads in hands* somehow, every time, Dangan Ronpa surpasses my wildest expectations and my worst fears...

#Dangan Ronpa V3 #Danganronpa V3 #Dangan Ronpa

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oumakokichi · 8 years ago

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Hi i'm reaaaally sorry to have to ask this but i can't seem to find that one ask where u stated the reasons Ouma chose Gonta as the sacrificial pawn. I've searched EVERYWHERE but I just. can't. find it. It's the one where u mentioned Gonta was dangerous or something like that?

I’ve written a lot of meta about Chapter 4 and a few (here and here) about the general timeline for how things went down in Chapter 4–it’s been a while since I checked but there are probably a few reasons listed in those.

The main gist of things though is that there wasn’t one, specific reason for why Ouma chose Gonta, other than the fact that Gonta volunteered to come with him when Ouma was about to go out searching for the “motive” hidden in the VR world (the “motive,” of course, being the remember light with the “truth of the outside world” on it that he asked Monokuma to put there).

Gonta volunteered to go with him and protect him, and Ouma, thinking back on Miu’s plan to kill him, mutters under his breath, saying “I guess if it’s Gonta…” and then proceeds to call him his bodyguard. This suggests that he hadn’t actually made up his mind on who to use as the pawn for his plan prior to entering the VR world directly. Gonta offering to come with him outside where it would be just the two of them with no one else around contributed greatly to his decision, I think.

There’s also the fact that Gonta would likely have been one of the easier ones to convince, both to use the remember light in the first place and to agree with his reasoning that “the outside world was hell, so they should put people out of their misery.”

Even if Ouma had been alone with Maki, for instance, I highly doubt anything he could have said or done would’ve convinced her to use the remember light by herself, or to agree with anything he said. The same could be said for Momota, who would only have assumed he was up to something. I highly doubt Ouma wanted to sacrifice Saihara when he was one of the only people in the entire killing game who he was considering teaming up with by that point, either.

Tsumugi wouldn’t have worked for obvious reasons, since she was the ringleader–not that Ouma himself knew this. But she would still have never gone along with his plans if it meant getting herself killed, since she already knew what he was up to. And Miu herself was out of the question obviously, since she was the one planning to kill him.

That left him with only Gonta, Kiibo, and Himiko as somewhat viable options. My guess is that either of these three could have worked for the sake of his plan–any of them would be the most likely in the group to come along with him without entirely distrusting him or being unable to hear him out. The “truth of the outside world” motive within the remember light was so genuinely horrifying and depressing that it would still have very likely had the same effect on any of them (though it’s arguable Kiibo would’ve agreed, as I suspect his “inner voice” would’ve made the decision for him in the end).

In the end, Gonta was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was the best fit for the plan, and by volunteering himself to go out with Ouma and search the woods for Monokuma’s “motive” alone, that pretty much helped set Ouma’s decision in stone, I think. The fact that Gonta’s messed up the cables on his VR headset was also advantageous, in the end, since him losing his memories of what happened within the VR world meant he was no longer actively trying to get everyone else killed during the trial–which could well have been the case if anyone else had been the pawn for Ouma’s plan instead.

Basically, Ouma didn’t use Gonta for his plan “because he was dangerous” from the start or anything like that. If anything, Gonta was more like… well, the very cold, practical justification Ouma himself probably used would most likely be “collateral damage.” He didn’t manipulate Gonta into his death to be cruel or sadistic, but in order to attempt to minimize the amount of damage Miu’s plan might have done. Two people (Miu and Gonta) dying was a smaller price to pay than everyone dying (if Miu had succeeded in killing Ouma and gotten away with it, or if Ouma had killed Miu himself and gotten away with it by tricking everyone else).

This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that it was an extremely ruthless thing to do–and that Ouma recognized it as such. The reason he breaks down shortly before Gonta’s execution is because no matter how much as he tried to justify it to himself in strategic terms, he still knew it was an awful, horrible thing to do to Gonta. Breaking his own motto against killing people, even without killing anyone directly himself, nearly broke his spirit, and led to his increasingly reckless actions and eventual downfall in Chapter 5.

Gonta wasn’t someone who Ouma “wanted” to get killed. Realistically speaking, he didn’t even “want” for Miu to die. However, due to the nature of the killing game and its rules, as well as the environment of paranoia and suspicion that it encouraged, there was really no easy way out of that situation.

As soon as Miu made up her mind to kill, when she consciously committed herself to the decision that she would rather sacrifice everyone’s lives if it meant getting to the outside world again, she became a threat. And there was no way to permanently eliminate her as a threat without killing her, from Ouma’s perspective.

Killing her himself would’ve meant playing by the rules of the killing game–meaning in order to live, he would have to deceive them all and get away with it, and everyone else would die. Giving up and letting her kill him meant she would likely have gotten away with it, and everyone else would die. Logically, the “only” way out of that scenario was to have someone else eliminate Miu as a threat, and then expose that pawn to everyone else so that only two people died in the end.

The pawn he chose was Gonta, but I think given his apparent uncertainty inside the VR world and the fact that he apparently had to think it over, he was still debating on just who to try and convince up until the moment Gonta offered to come with him outside.

I hope this helps answer your question, anon!

#ndrv3 #drv3 #new danganronpa v3 #kokichi ouma #gonta gokuhara #ndrv3 spoilers //#my meta #okay to reblog #anonymous

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commentaryvorg · 5 years ago

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Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 4.12

Last time in trial 4 (trial 4!!), Kaito’s increasingly desperate attempts to be helpful were wrong again, Gonta was still trying his hardest in the background to keep up with what was going on, Kokichi would not stop subtly jabbing at Kaito’s jealousy of Shuichi oh my god (and it was great), and Shuichi did indeed singlehandedly save everyone by… taking frustratingly long to figure out the nature of the Virtual World and deducing it all in a backwards order that made no sense.

But he did figure it out in the end, somehow, so we’re starting from the intermission and moving onto discovering who used Miu’s plan against her for murder.

Kaito: “More importantly… let’s continue the conversation where we left off.”

Kaito is once again doing his thing of trying to guide the conversation, getting everyone on the same page and knowing where they’re heading next. It’s the best kind of contributions he can give in trials since he’s not great at the deductions themselves (and since Shuichi apparently doesn’t need his encouragement any more). Even though he’s also been trying too hard to prove he totally is good at deductions this trial, at least he still realises he can do this.

Kokichi: “And in order to figure that out, we need to understand Miu’s actions… So, let’s discuss her murder scheme step-by-step!”

Kaito: “I know that’s important, but hearing you lead the conversation really pisses me off.”

…But then Kokichi happens to be trying to even take that away from Kaito here, and is doing it better than him because he’s mentioning more specific things that they need to discuss, and Kaito is Not Happy about that.

(I imagine it would also bother Kaito a little bit if Shuichi were the one to be leading the conversation here, but there’s no way he would ever admit to that. At least Kokichi is a target at which he can openly vent his frustrations about everything he’s been made to feel lately.)

Kokichi: “Let’s see, Miu manipulated the Virtual World to use it as part of her murder plan…”

Kaito: “Don’t just ignore me and start anyway…”

Kokichi: “If she had succeeded, she would’ve gone past the wall between the chapel and the mansion…”

And then Kokichi knows exactly how to continue to get under Kaito’s skin – by completely ignoring him like he’s insignificant. All of the times he did the thing by praising Shuichi while not even mentioning Kaito at all were perhaps arguably a better way of doing so than the times he did mention Kaito – because Kaito is so unimportant that he’s not even worthy of mention, right?

Kokichi: “…Then secretly passed through the wall she installed and took advantage of the loop. […] Oh yeah… Kaito was probably logged out around that time, too.”

If Miu had any sense, she’d have logged Kaito out before walking through the wall to remove the chance of him seeing her on the mansion side. (Especially since she did end up getting seen on that side by Tsumugi and, as it turns out, also Gonta.)

Himiko: “She was smart… But she was also really, really dumb.”

This is a very good way of summing it up. Miu had the creative, technological kind of smarts to make inventions and come up with this plan, sure, but in almost every other way she was a gigantic idiot. Especially when it came to interpersonal intelligence. All of the mistakes that led to her plan failing, or to the fact that she would inevitably have been found out even if she’d succeeded in killing Kokichi, were down to her massively misunderstanding the people involved. She was completely oblivious to the fact that obviously Kokichi never really trusted her enough to walk into her trap, and that obviously Kaito is not the sort of person to commit murder and no-one would be willing to believe that, and that obviously Shuichi was going to figure out everything in the trial especially if the scapegoat was Kaito.

Gonta: “N-No say such mean things. Killing game bad, not Miu. Miu not bad person. Gonta think we coulda been friends, if things different.”

Aww, Gonta. I get what he’s trying to say – it was only the killing game that drove Miu to murder and she wasn’t inherently a bad person. But she was still incredibly self-absorbed and unpleasant to be around and nobody would have wanted to be around her if they weren’t trapped in a school with her. Sorry, Gonta.

Kaito: “But how did the culprit send Miu’s avatar through the wall? I mean, it’s not like they coulda thrown her.”

Gonta: “Gonta not throw her!”

It’s okay, Gonta, nobody is around any more to be a dick about you throwing dead bodies just because you’re strong, you don’t need to jump to defend yourself on that matter.

(…even though it… actually is pretty close to what happened.)

Gonta: “Physical strength… equalized? That problem! Gonta no can protect everyone if that happens!”

Another big hint at what’s really going on. He had pretty much this exact reaction in the Virtual World when he first heard about this, and yet here he is, having it again as if he’s only just hearing this now for the first time. Gonta may be slow to pick up on things, but he’s not forgetful like this.

Himiko: “Geez, keep up with us.”

But everyone else basically is just putting a blanket judgement of “stupid” on Gonta and assuming that justifies him being forgetful too.

Shuichi: “I think the sound came from Miu’s avatar hitting the chapel wall… The hammer, cell phone and lattice were there, but they were too small to make that noise.”

This is Shuichi’s answer to a multiple choice question in which you’re meant to state which out of Miu or the three objects around her hit the wall to make the loud sound. Which is pretty silly, because all four of those things hit the wall; does it really matter which of them was the one that was big enough to make a noise when it did so?

Kokichi: “But why did it hit the wall with such force? Can you guys figure it out?”

Kaito: “Hold on, Kokichi. What’s up with the way you’re talkin’? Why are you talking like you know everything?”

Kaito’s intuition strikes again! …Okay, to be fair, in this particular instance it definitely does not take an Official Luminary of the Stars Hunch™ to realise that Kokichi has clearly been talking like he already knows exactly what happened (and Gonta also noticed a similar thing from Kokichi last post), but still, this is Kaito doing one of the things he does best in trials and it deserves to be pointed out.

Kokichi: “More importantly, we gotta solve the mystery! Fighting among friends is a waste of time.”

Kaito: “‘Friends’? Us?”

And this is Kokichi doing his usual shtick of giving empty words about teamwork and co-operation to try and make everyone else’s words along similar lines sound just as empty.

Honestly, Kokichi, you had an opportunity right there to yet again make a point of how only Shuichi can solve this mystery, and you didn’t? At least jabbing at Kaito’s jealousy is a recent thing that makes a refreshing change from what you’ve been doing non-stop for the previous three chapters, come on.

Kokichi: “Hey, Shuichi… As your partner, I’ll give you a little hint.”

Shuichi: “…You’ll what?”

Kokichi: “Since the mansion was on top of a hill, the roof was pretty high up, right? Past the brick handrail, the roof was at a pretty steep slope. And the slope faced the chapel wall. On top of that, there was snow on the roof. If the culprit needed force to move the body, I wonder how they did it?”

That’s barely a “hint” so much as it’s just a lengthy description of the roof, including the brick handrail that Kokichi couldn’t possibly have seen unless he’d been there, thus proving his earlier claim of not having gone there to be a lie. Which, considering Shuichi has perfectly well seen the roof himself and doesn’t need this description, really seems more to me like Kokichi is deliberately trying to give Shuichi the ammo to prove that he’s been up there.

(also, again, fuck off Kokichi, “partners” don’t withhold the things they know like this. What you’re doing with Shuichi right now is not “working together” with him, it’s patronising him.)

Shuichi: (Kokichi’s talking as if he’s got the whole thing figured out already… But I can’t let him distract me. I need to solve this case.)

That’s not a “distraction”, Shuichi! Kokichi’s jabs at Kaito last time were one thing, but the fact that Kokichi clearly already knows how the body was moved is a meaningful point related to the case that should be included in your deductions and not just disregarded! Turn down that Ultimate Detective tunnel vision just a little.

Kaito: “Nah, man. Even with the slope and the snow, Miu’s body wouldn’t have slid—”

Kokichi: “Wrong. It would slide.”

Kaito tries contributing an actual idea again – one which is perfectly reasonable given that he hasn’t figured out there was anything that could have been used as a sled – and Kokichi just immediately cuts him off and tells him he’s wrong without actually telling him why. (Because he’s leaving the “why” part for Shuichi to figure out.)

Kokichi: “Non, non! It would slide!”

Kaito: “It wouldn’t slide! Just like Maki Roll said!”

Kokichi: “It would slide! Just like Shumai said!”

Children. Calm down.

Gonta: “Lots of snow piled up on roof… but not frozen solid, right?”

(Gonta is still trying to make sure he’s got a good mental image of everything they’re talking about so that he can help!)

Kokichi: “You just need a sled or skis to cut the friction!”

Kaito: “There was nothing like that around, though!”

Kaito Refutations: 3!

It’s pretty notable here that the game makes you refute Kaito and not agree with Kokichi when it would also have made perfect sense to put an agree spot on Kokichi’s statement there. The writers don’t just want to make this part about Shuichi having to seemingly be on Kokichi’s side, they want to make it about him seemingly not being on Kaito’s side as well.

It’s also… questionable that Kaito makes this claim in the first place. He searched the rooftop before the murder and then investigated the chapel after; he should know that the lattice was there. Clearly he never figured it was used as a sled during the investigation, but it shouldn’t be too hard to piece it together now. So apparently Kaito doesn’t want to try and piece it together because he’s annoyed at Kokichi having butted in and called him wrong and argued with him about this and he just wants to be right about something for once, dammit.

Kokichi is still not praising Shuichi about how brilliant he is for having figured out the sled thing and I am very disappointed in him. Or rather, I’m disappointed in the out-universe writers for not continuing with the subtle jabbing at Kaito’s issues that I was greatly enjoying last time and see no reason not to continue with here. Especially since this time Shuichi figured out the truth while directly refuting Kaito! That’d be the perfect opportunity for it!

Not that Kokichi hasn’t still been getting under Kaito’s skin plenty in other ways, but, like, The Thing! I miss The Thing and its delightful subtlety.

Kokichi: “Also, I never went to the roof, not even for the meeting.”

…

Kokichi: “It all began when Miu showed us the map.”

…

Kokichi: “That’s probably what happened. The culprit killed her on the locked roof.”

The game makes you do a Mind Mine to select which of these three past statements of Kokichi’s was a lie. For one thing, this is a really weird excuse for a Mind Mine because that’s supposed to be about images, but the much sillier thing about it is the three statements it makes you choose from. The two incorrect options here are just Kokichi stating assumptions about what happened in the case and therefore can’t even be lies. Only one of them is an actual testimony about something he did that he therefore could have lied about! It could kind of be a fun puzzle to be shown multiple statements Kokichi made about his actions and have to figure out which one of them you can prove to be a lie. But the way this is, you don’t even need to remember the information that proves he did go to the roof in order to know that that’s the only statement that can even be false.

(also noooo Mind Mine has four colours now; I get really addicted to the version in the casino with only three colours, but the hardest difficulty adds a fourth colour which makes it way too easy to mess up and therefore not as fun any more. Not that the trial version is as fun anyway since you can just break the single pieces which means there’s no incentive to think about things, but.)

So anyway, Kokichi’s lengthy description of the roof, particularly the part about the brick handrail, is what proves he was lying about never going there.

Kokichi: “I-I-I… d-didn’t… I already t-told you that b-before…”

Gonta: “Why you look so nervous?”

Keebo: “Is this a sincere reaction?”

It’s not, of course. But the thing is, Kokichi has never had this specific kind of reaction before, so it actually seems a little bit more plausible than it usually does that this could be genuine and this is what he sounds like when he’s truly been caught out. What I would want to say Kokichi is doing here is that he’s trying to make it seem like he genuinely has been caught out – because if he really wanted the mercy kill outcome, then the best way to do so would be to have everyone eventually decide he did it, but for him to put up enough resistance to it that it seems like this isn’t the outcome he wants.

Of course, since Kokichi really doesn’t want the mercy kill outcome at all because he’s been gradually sabotaging it this whole time by being helpful and is shortly going to completely shatter it with his own two hands, I don’t quite understand why he’s bothering to act this way. For fun, I guess.

Kokichi: “Oh, wait! I remember now! That thing Himiko said!”

Himiko: “Nyeh!? M-Me!?”

Kokichi: “At the start of the class trial, I remember you saying the handrail was made of bricks.”

To anyone who’s uncertain, nope, Himiko very definitely didn’t say that. I’d have pointed it out if it’d been there.

Kokichi: “Gotta be more careful there, Himiko!”

Himiko: “I-Is it my fault…?”

No, Himiko, because you didn’t say it! Stand up for your own actions more! Be more sure of yourself!

Gonta: “Himiko really say that?”

But here’s Gonta – who’s the worst at being sure of himself and would definitely have doubted his own actions if he’d been the one in Himiko’s position right now – being pretty damn sure she didn’t say that. Like I’ve been saying, he’s confused as hell about the Virtual World, but he’s still been paying attention to everyone around him. And especially because his only source of information for what the Virtual World is like has been the descriptions people have given of it, he would know that he didn’t picture that roof as having a brick handrail until Kokichi said so.

Kokichi: “She tooootally said that!”

Kaito: “No she didn’t!”

Kokichi: “Yes, she did!”

Kaito: “She did not!”

Kokichi: “She did too!”

Kaito: “Then when!? Tell me how long ago! In hours, minutes and seconds!”

Whoa, geez, again, children. Kaito just really wants to be right about something – which he is this time, but unfortunately this one is basically impossible to conclusively prove.

(I suppose Keebo’s recording function wouldn’t help much either, because to prove Himiko didn’t say a thing would require listening to the entire trial up to this point.)

Maki: “How much longer are you going to behave like this?”

And in comes the Ultimate Child Caregiver to break up the argument. Seems appropriate.

Shuichi starts to think as if this isn’t enough to prove that Kokichi went to the roof, but the thing is, it kind of is. This isn’t like an Ace Attorney trial where conclusive evidence is necessary. The only thing that’s necessary here is to convince everyone else – and everyone else is pretty damn sure that Himiko did not say that and Kokichi is lying through his teeth right now. No matter how stubborn Kokichi decides to be, it won’t change that fact. If he wanted, Shuichi could just continue the discussion all like, “Okay, so we all agree Kokichi went to the roof, right? Which means…” and completely ignore Kokichi’s obviously-lying protests that he didn’t, and there’d be nothing Kokichi could do to stop them.

Shuichi: (But if he’s being this stubborn, it makes me think he has something to hide. To get him to show his hand, I have to prove he was on the roof.)

This reasoning does kind of make sense, though. Shuichi wants Kokichi to tell everyone whatever it is that he’s hiding instead of having to painstakingly try and figure it out himself (which he could still do, if he thought about it and realised that oh wait, Kokichi couldn’t physically touch Miu could he). So he wants to force Kokichi out of the “la la la I can’t hear you” state he’s in and get him to stop messing around.

Kaito: “I’ve had enough of your lies, man!”

Kokichi: “I’m not lying!”

“Are you done arguing yet?”

Heh, Maki’s still trying to play child caregiver here.

Kokichi: “I didn’t go to the roof!”

“Just fess up already!”

…

Kokichi: “The rooftop door was locked and I couldn’t open it!”

“That’s enough lies!”

And Kaito is still furiously trying to get Kokichi to confess even in the white noise.

(Trying to get Kokichi to confess is also Shuichi’s goal during this debate – he just has a rather cleverer way of going about it than simply yelling at him and hoping it’ll work.)

Kaito: “Liars burn in hell, y’know?”

Kaito. Calm down and think for a second about what you’re saying there.

His thing two parts ago in which he denounced specific kinds of lies that Kokichi tells was not that hypocritical, because Kaito genuinely never tells the kind of lie he was talking about there. But this is just referring to any lying, and… yeah, you’ve been telling a few lies of your own lately, Kaito. Not to mention the lie he and Shuichi told to protect Maki back in trial 2.

(Still, he’s saying this here because he’s riled up. This is very much not a properly-thought-out statement of his principles.)

Shuichi lies about having been to the salon and not seen Kokichi in there, which kiiiinda begs the usual “why didn’t you mention this sooner” question that a lot of this game’s required lies have. No-one points that out, though.

Kokichi: “I see… You use underhanded tactics too. Huh, Shuichi?”

Kokichi, you are the one who was baiting him into lying about this when you discussed during the investigation how there were no witnesses to prove you were or weren’t in the salon. You have no right to be calling him out on doing exactly what you wanted him to do.

Kokichi: “So, who are you guys gonna believe? Shuichi… or me?”

This is a misleading false dichotomy. He’s presenting it like one of the two of them must be telling the truth and that therefore if Shuichi is lying that means Kokichi definitely isn’t, which of course is not the case.

Kaito: “Well of course I’m gonna believe Shuichi!”

Keebo: “I believe Shuichi 100%!”

Maki: “The one who’s not Kokichi.”

I love Maki’s response here. To everyone else, it’s more about how much they believe in Shuichi, but Maki, while she of course does also believe in Shuichi, doesn’t care that it’s specifically him and would rather make a point of how she’d believe anyone over Kokichi. Maki is so blunt and it’s great.

Tsumugi: “But to go to the salon, Shuichi would need to pass by me in the dining room… Umm… I wonder why I didn’t notice Shuichi there…”

Shuichi: “…”

Tsumugi: “Oh well. I’ll believe Shuichi anyway. He’s usually right about stuff.”

And here’s a delightful little hint towards the mastermind’s identity! Tsumugi is only pretending to be confused and vague and really knows full well that Shuichi must be lying. She lets it slide because this situation that’s playing out is an interesting story, and she’d rather see where it goes than just cut Shuichi off and go back to the stalemate things were at before.

I actually caught on my first time through just how suspicious Tsumugi is acting here – there’s something different about her voice that made me suddenly feel, at least in this moment, that her vagueness was just an act and she was a lot more cunning than she seemed. Even if she is genuinely just doing this because she knows Shuichi is onto something and doesn’t want to get in the way, her going about it this underhandedly reveals a side to her that’s completely different from the person she usually seems to be.

At the time, though, I just thought this was a hint that she’d killed Miu (my brain went on to make up something about how the sled had a delayed-release mechanism so she could fake her alibi with Shuichi, despite there being zero evidence for such a thing). When this case was over and that was wrong I temporarily forgot about this bit and only remembered again during chapter 6 once I realised she was in fact the mastermind, but I am still proud of myself for sort of noticing it here.

Also, this behaviour from Tsumugi is in fact very Kokichi-like. The whole “that’s weird but I guess Shuichi wouldn’t lie to us right” with the subtext of “I totally know you’re lying and just don’t want to bring it up” is precisely the kind of thing Kokichi has done multiple times. You’d think that if anyone could pick up on this clue to the mastermind’s identity, it’d be Kokichi. If he truly cared about figuring out who the mastermind is, I feel like he’d be paying enough attention to the others’ behaviour to notice this. But apparently not; he’s too wrapped up in his own plan which doesn’t actually require him to know who the mastermind is in order to “defeat” them.

Gonta: “Sorry, but… Gonta believe Shuichi, too.”

Kokichi: “Ah, I see… I wanted at least Gonta to believe me…”

I went over this before when a similar thing happened: this is Kokichi hinting at him and Gonta being in on this together, but if Gonta really did remember then it would help their cause for him to act like he thinks Kokichi did it. Stop being an unnecessary dick, Kokichi, that’s all you’re doing here.

Kokichi: “Why do you guys hate lies that much?”

…Nobody ever really said they did. Nobody other than Kaito, who hates a specific flavour of lying and has already made his stance on that apparent – but he clearly doesn’t hate all kinds of lies, for obvious reasons. The other people Kokichi is saying this to include Shuichi, who has lied multiple times to try and reach the truth and Kokichi has been aware of every instance of that, Maki, who lied about her talent in order to protect herself, and Himiko, whose entire talent involves lying to make things more entertaining and fun for people. (And Tsumugi, who is constantly lying through her teeth, but that one Kokichi isn’t aware of.)

Kokichi: “There’s only one truth, but endless possibilities for lies, y’know?”

So here he’s basically trying to say that the infinite possibilities of lies are more interesting and fun than the singular truth, and I can see where he’s coming from, since that’s the point of fiction. But that kind of lie is harmless because people know they’re really lies and just choose to pretend to believe and invest in them anyway because that’s more fun. That’s why Himiko keeps insisting her magic is real. That’s why Kaito pretends his childhood games were real, and why he wanted to buy into Himiko’s magic – until people’s lives started riding on knowing the truth, that is.

Kokichi: “And some of them are only white lies, or lies to be kind to people…”

Like the lies Kaito has been telling to hide his illness. Like the lies Shuichi has told in trials to protect innocent people and reach the truth.

(Also, remember Kokichi insisting back in trial 3 that you never know how malicious people’s reasons for having secrets could be and so you might as well just assume everyone’s malicious? Does he really believe it’s possible for others to lie for a good reason, or is he just saying that to justify his own constant lying?)

Kokichi: “If you deny all of that *just* because it’s a lie…”

No-one ever did. All they’re denying is your lie right now about not going to the roof, because it’s getting in the way of reaching the goddamn truth and letting all but one of us not freaking die.

Kokichi: “Then that means you guys are just terrible at being lied to! Seriously, the worst!”

Kokichi’s putting on an evil face here, like suddenly he’s happy that everyone doesn’t like lies because this lets him trick them more. Remember the most recent Monokuma Theater about how liars supposedly keep encouraging honesty so there’ll be more gullible honest people they can deceive? This kind of reminds me of that.

This is Kokichi backpedalling as usual. His speech up to this point was acting like he was upset at people hating lies (even though nobody does and he was really just throwing a tantrum because they’re refusing to believe his one extremely obstructive lie here), but now he’s turning around and claiming that actually this is fine, he’s not upset about anything at all and never was!

Kokichi: “Okay, fine! I’ll tell you if you wanna know that badly. Consider this my revenge.”

Gonta: “Revenge?”

Yeah, revenge. Aside from his massive trust issues and pathological conviction that everyone is secretly a terrible person, the other force that drives most of Kokichi’s actions in this story is his desire for petty, vindictive revenge against people he feels have wronged him in some way. That’s why he’s doing this entire elaborate scheme to eventually try and beat Monokuma at his own game, which getting Miu and Gonta killed here is only the first step in.

Kokichi: “You got some balls lying to me. I’m gonna take away your fun for pissing me off, Shuichi. I won’t let you do any detective work, or deduction, or mystery solving, or anything!”

Shuichi was never here to have fun, you moron. He doesn’t care if you solve the mystery for him just so long as it’s the truth and therefore the maximum number of people can survive. You already know that he only cares about saving everyone; you’ve mentioned it before! (But of course everything’s got to be about fun, because Kokichi is obsessed with how much fun he’s very definitely totally having with this, so that must be the first thing on everyone else’s mind too, right?)

It’s also ridiculously hypocritical of him that he’s so annoyed at Shuichi lying to him. When that’s what Kokichi does all the time. When he was just claiming that lies aren’t inherently bad if they’re told for good reasons. When during previous trials he’s tried to insist that the lies he told would help to find the culprit (even though they didn’t and Shuichi is better at using lies to reach the truth than Kokichi has ever been).

But it’s not all that surprising, because it’s been a recurring idea a few times that Kokichi can’t take what he dishes out – that things are all good when he’s doing something to other people, but when someone does the same thing to him, it’s suddenly not “fun” any more. His reaction when Gonta turned the bugs against him during the Insect Meet and Greet comes to mind, for example.

So Kokichi confesses to his plan to sabotage Miu’s murder plot with his own, including his co-operation with Monokuma. It would have been appropriate if this had been the moment where Monokuma dropped the weird pretending-to-be-depressed thing he’d been doing for the first half of this trial (or, at least, it’d have made it seem like there was some actual point to that being a thing in the first place)… but actually it’s not, because he dropped that act a little earlier for the sake of doing a pointless non-sequitur bit about Sonic the Hedgehog of all things. Why.

Monokuma: “Kokichi and I had a “quid pro quo” relationship. Technically, that doesn’t violate the rules!”

Indeed, it doesn’t. The rules only state Monokuma can’t directly participate in a murder, but all he was doing here was essentially redoing this chapter’s motive presentation in a way more likely to make an interesting story, based on Kokichi’s suggestion. It could be argued that it’s unfair for him to present a motive in a way that clearly favours a specific person becoming blackened as a result – but all of the motives have done that.

Kokichi: “I told you, I’m gonna get in the way by taking away the mystery-solving fun. If I can’t win this game, then I’ll make it boring for everyone! That’s my revenge!”

Yeah, except the only people who are having fun solving the mystery right now are the audience. If you wanted to take away their fun (and they really, really should be your targets for revenge right now), then you could have, I don’t know, not created a fun mystery for them to solve in the first place? Revealing the truth here may cut short the mystery-solving, but it still gives the audience an interesting story. Nothing about what’s about to happen from here is in any way boring.

In fact, the most boring outcome possible as things stand is probably for Kokichi to insist that he did it and then for everyone except Gonta to get abruptly executed, possibly without anyone ever understanding why. That’d be a hell of a frustrating rocks-fall-(nearly)-everybody-dies ending for the audience.

(Still, while he’s going about it in a terrible way, note his focus on revenge again. That’s a major thing for him.)

Kokichi: “Well, then… The culprit is Gonta.”

So… Kokichi doesn’t want the mercy kill outcome, right? That should be self-evident, right?

If I were writing this commentary in a vacuum and had never seen any of the fandom’s thoughts on Kokichi, then I wouldn’t have even been mentioning this as we went along because it shouldn’t even be worthy of dispute, purely because of this line here. There are plenty of other parts that also support this, some of which I’ve mentioned as this case went along (he’s been deliberately leading Shuichi to the truth this whole time), some of which I brought up back when he saw the outside world (he knows it’s all a lie), and some of which will come up later. But regardless of all the other evidence, this moment alone should be more than enough to confirm it. Yet apparently there are a reasonable number of people who genuinely believe Kokichi actually wanted the mercy kill outcome, and I just… ??????????

(To be completely clear, I’m not at all upset at anyone who thinks that, just… extremely confused. I understand the desire to believe it, because it would be a pretty interesting story, but it is very clearly not the story we have here.)

I admittedly haven’t delved too deep into trying to find people’s reasons for thinking this, but there’s one argument I have seen attempting to justify this moment here. The argument is that Kokichi genuinely wanted the mercy kill up until this point, and then this was him realising that oh no, looks like it’s never going to work and Shuichi is definitely going to find the truth no matter what he does, so he might as well bail on it and move onto Plan B of pretending he’s evil so he can pretend to be the mastermind.

But if Kokichi really was going to feel and act that way, this wouldn’t be the moment to do it. Shuichi is not at all close to finding the truth right now – currently he’s zeroing in on the idea that Kokichi did it, which would be good for the plan. It’s still possible that at some point down the line Shuichi will figure out Kokichi couldn’t have murdered Miu and then use a process of elimination to point to Gonta, but that hasn’t even begun to happen yet! Now is not even remotely the time to give up! If Kokichi really, genuinely cared about protecting everyone from the despairing truth, like Gonta did so badly that he was driven to murder despite being the sweetest loveliest person ever, then there is no way he would ever give up this easily. Anyone who truly cared about this would keep on fighting for that outcome with everything they had until the last possible moment, because even the tiniest chance of success is better than the alternative.

So basically, if one does decide to take the interpretation that Kokichi cares about mercy-killing everyone to save them from the despairing truth, then he is also evidently absolutely terrible at actually following through on that desire to save everyone, because this would be him giving up not even at the first hurdle but before he’s really reached any hurdles at all.

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lore-a-lie · 7 years ago

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Chapter 1, Act 3: 110’37’’ (110 Minutes, and 37 Seconds)

Daily Life

Kaede was the last to enter the AV room, as she made sure to remind everyone to come down before making the trip herself. Kokichi was on Gonta’s shoulders making sure everything up there was hooked up the way Miu wanted it, while everyone else had taken what seats they could. The Monokub pads were still in the same order Kaede and Kokichi had previously agreed upon since this was their idea.

Kokichi had initially wanted to do the opposite order of who voted for what, so those who didn’t want to see the videos went first. Kaede couldn’t tell at the time if it was out of petty spite against them disagreeing with him or to give them an excuse to leave early if they really wanted to, so she decided to quietly believe the latter. That didn’t stop her from making her own changes to it, like being against keeping Ryoma’s last since he was most interested in what could be inside it.

It boiled down to Kokichi and Kaede first since they pushed for this, then Miu so she could go back to her projects if she felt she needed to. That did result in Kokichi pestering what she had commissioned from the inventor but he eventually dropped it in favor of focusing on the task at hand. Ryoma was most eager so he would be next, followed by Korekiyo since he was against it and they decided Maki would go last. After Korekiyo would be Kaito, Tsumugi, Kibo, Himiko, Tenko, Angie, Kirumi, and then Gonta.

“Why exactly am I the one going last?”

“So you can sit there agonizing about what we’re going to see! Duh. Nee-heehee~”

“No, that’s wrong! We agreed on this to try and respect your wishes best we could. This way if you really don’t want to see your own you can just leave without missing anything else. Angie and Kiyo still at least seemed curious about what their “motives” could be so I thought having them be earlier would be okay.” Angie was making a puffy face as she considered it before she reluctantly nodded in agreement, Korekiyo held his hand to his mask in thought for a while but eventually shrugged his own consent too.

“And so you didn’t try to kill us until after the show’s over!”

“Please don’t talk like that.” Keade scolded, but Kokichi couldn’t care less about the number of glares he got from that comment. “Is this okay with everyone?”

No one else had any objections or questions about when they were going, so when the lights went off everyone settled down to see what exactly Monokuma could have believed would drive them to kill.

“Alright! Back by popular demand, it’s time for the motive video~” Monokuma’s voice crooned out over a title screen proving it was indeed “Kokichi Oma’s Motive Video”.

As it went on it showed Kokichi and his fellow “DICE” members, all but himself in clown themed masks to protect their identities, and explained the nature of this group. How…Innocent his “secret organization” really was despite all of Kokichi’s earlier claims. Honestly, it sounds more like they were an overblown gang of pranksters than the sort of world controlling monsters he liked to paint it as being.

Only 10 members strong, indicating that the 9 masked figures seen here behind their “leader” really were just it. Sounds more like they were his best friends, maybe even practically family for him, rather than “goons” who disliked him as much as he’d claim they did.

They say you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their friends. If this video is accurate this means a lot of what he said has been lies, just trying to trick us into thinking he’s a worse person than he is. How could someone only interested in harmless, petty, nonviolent pranks possibly be enjoying a killing game?

Then the scene changed and the group of 3 girls and 6 boys were behind bars. It’s unclear how badly hurt any of them were but there was blood on their previously spotless (but still ragged) white outfits much like Kokichi’s own and at least one was lying on the floor. At the end Monokuma’s avatar appeared over that image mocking him over how little he knew about the “event” that happened to these people so precious to him, taunting him to try and find out as if graduating could help solve this.

“Well so much for being the Ultimate Evil Leader huh?” Despite his insensitive words Kaito was obviously taken aback by all of this, as if unsure what to do with this information. It made sense to her, as it shows Kokichi does understand the value of teamwork and companionship at least as well as Kaito does. His experience was just in a more close-knit, personal way than Kaito’s astronaut training opened him up to.

“Kaito! I’m… Sorry that your friends are in trouble like this Kokichi” Kaede reached out as if to try patting his shoulder but decided against it due to how closed off his body language became.

“Guess you were lying when you said no one outside would miss a little menace like you back then, huh?” (Seriously Tenko? Now is NOT the time for hateful wordplay! )

“I’m sure they’re fine, this has to be a lie! After all, if their crimes are as petty as it claims they couldn’t be in too much trouble for anything right?” Tsumugi offered to try and lighten the mood.

“Unless it wasn’t just the law they got in trouble with,” Ryoma mumbled as he stared at the screen as if he was lost in a memory of his own.

No matter what anyone said Kokichi just sat there impassively looking forward but Kaede could swear there was a sharpness in his eyes that wasn’t there before and his knuckles were nearly as white as his shirt. For all his talk he really did choose to hold off on watching his video until it was time to do it with everyone else instead of coming in with the upper hand.

As agreed upon as the second ringleader Kaede’s was next. Looks like every video’s going to start with Monokuma making explicit who the video was for by stating their name and talent, which made Maki in particular bristle for reasons unknown.

Next was an image of Kaede’s family, her mother, father, and sister smiling proudly at the camera in front of her favorite piano. She remembers when this was taken, right after her last big show before all of this happened. Then Monokuma starts talking about how close she is to them and how they’re all waiting for her to get back home. But as he starts talking about how worried they’re getting now that she’s been gone for so long without a word, the image changes.

The room’s dark, everything trashed, even her piano was broken now, but worst of all there’s no trace of where her own family has gone. He makes it sound like looking for her lead to them all getting into some sort of accident, and she’s just about ready to throttle him to find out what that is. But only Monokuma! She’d never hurt someone else over this, never her friends. (Except maybe the mastermind if I got my hands on them for causing everyone so much needless pain. For both the living and the dead. )

“Mom, Dad…”

“Wow, Kaede you really are boring aren’t you? Even your lines are sooooo cliche, I think you need to hire a better writer.”

“Oh so now the clown prince of crime has something to say? Leave her alone, this is no laughing matter!” Tsumugi came to her defense this time, only barely beating Kaito to the punch. And in a less literal sense at that, given how his fist is raised.

“But he doesn’t have any scars-” (Seriously Miu, that’s what you’re choosing to take from all this?)

“He wasn’t a clown, that doesn’t count-”

“Can we not ignore Kaede’s plight in favor of arguing about comics right now? This is serious you guys” Kaito managed to get everyone back on track. It was nice to see Tsumugi restrain herself from getting off topic while it lasted, particularly to try helping someone else for a change.

“Indeed, the loss of a family member is no small matter, even if it’s only a vague possibility. At the very least it didn’t show them in any kind of direct distress, that sort of damage to the room could be easily staged or done when they were gone. However I don’t recall you mentioning a sister before, is she your twin perhaps? You both look remarkably similar.” Korekiyo’s offered distraction of a more pleasant type of reminiscing was greatly appreciated so Kaede gladly took it.

“Y-yeah, we’re twins but she’s a bit younger. We get along great, even though I think she’s... kinda bitter she didn’t also turn out to be some sort of Ultimate like I am? Since it’d put me in the spotlight so much, and would end up with her either getting ignored or mistaken for me which is the worst. I mean it’s one thing when we’d want that to happen, but when it’s a genuine mistake it’s just frustrating and awful... We’d do the “twin switch” trick a lot when we were younger, but all our folks ever had to do to tell us apart was stick us in front of a piano, it didn’t even matter what type.”

“Aww, lucky I’ve always someone I could do that with! Hey, Tsumugi do you want to try it sometime with me?” Tenko eagerly asked, cooing about how “cute” it could be.

“Ah, you do remember the Cospox right? That won’t really work out I’m afraid, not unless we both dress up as the same fictional character. A bit of a shame since it does sound pretty fun. Maybe we can think of something similar to do with everyone later?”

“Oh, I think that’s a great idea! We could make a great big party out of it, and everyone can wear fancy outfits! I can do the decorations if Gonta and Ryoma will help me get supplies and put them up~” Angie said.

“I-isn’t that kinda random? And it sounds like a lot of work…” (Himiko says that but she does look interested. Maybe she’d like the chance to have us as an audience for one of her magic shows?)

“Well, it’s an idea for another time at any rate. With how the videos may be we might need this sort of random levity if we can find a way to get everyone involved. Maybe even show off what we can do for each other if we want.” Kaede suggested since it sounded like a fun way to get together for everyone.

“More work for me to do? Let a girl catch a fuckin’ break guys, my stamina's good don’t get me wrong, but even I have my limits. Speaking of let’s just get my vid started so I can leave already okay? Your little “talent show” can come later, just like-”

Right on her cue, Miu’s video did just that, Monokuma’s voice being appreciated for once as no one wanted to know how exactly she was going to finish that thought. (Please let her motive be cleaner than the rest of her.)

All that was seen was what looked like a workshop of sorts. All sorts of half finished projects and equipment could be seen but it’s hard to tell what any of it was supposed to do. Monokuma starts going on and on about how wasted all of her work’s going to be if she can’t leave and get back to them. How no one else cares enough to realize they even exist, much less how to make them carry on her legacy.

He even starts naming a few, a machine that can safely recycle those cheap plastic bags no one knows what do with into things like medical gloves or… Condoms??? Another that would help clean and regulate water supplies when resources are low. Even some that sound like they’re meant primarily for emergency relief efforts or helping the handicapped. But only if they’re finished, they’re useless like this. He goes on to claim she’s useless like this. And how badly the world might need some of these now due to an “event” going on that he refuses to clarify.

“... That’s it?” Tenko breaks the silence that followed.

“WHATT’YA MEAN THAT’S IT YOU BASTARD?! Those are my babies we’re talking about! Do you have any idea how many people I could help with those? I mean sure obviously my “while you sleep” series was my most recent pride and joy, but only because I couldn’t get the headway I wanted on any of those other suckers. I promise they are going to definitely blow those measly little “eyedrop contact” designs I sold way back right outta the fuckin’ water!”

“Wow, that’s really impressive Miu! I had no idea you cared about other people this much.” Kibo looks pretty proud of her actually. This was a surprisingly mature motive for an egotistical and rude girl like her. In a different sort of way than her fellow students were expecting her to be “mature” at any rate.

“Well duh, why do you think I’m willing to let you fuckers give me requests without charging you out the ass for ‘em in this situation?”

“But… Aren’t you even a little concerned there wasn’t anyone in it?” Angie brought up, which was a good point. The only thing seen in the video were her machines, no friends, family, or coworkers.

“What’s that supposed to mean jailbait?”

“Yeah, everyone else so far had people they obviously cared a lot about and cared about them, so where’s your parents or anything?” (Tenko I’m not sure this is the best thing to be asking about now.)

“Who fucking needs ‘em? Barely do jack for me anyways except give me shit because I point out how school’s a fuckin’ waste of my precious time now.”

“Talk about an ungrateful brat.” Maki’s voice had a new sharpness to it, beyond her normal bluntness. Not that she wasn’t always honest, something just felt more personal this time. (I guess someone who never had any parents would be pretty upset hearing someone else complain about being cared about.)

“H-hey. Th-that’s not true, my work more than earned my keep. They’re the ones who-!”

Miu cut herself off as her voice cracked and Kibo tried to help calm her down. No one bothered asking why there weren’t any of her friends at that point. Given who she is this should have been obvious, but the idea she was this alone regardless of if it was by her own doing was a sobering reality nobody wanted to address. The only other sounds until the next video started was a quiet sniffling.

Ryoma’s video started the same way as those before it, but something clearly went wrong. All that was there when his name and talent were stated was a Monokuma in a yellow hard hat in front of a black screen with yellow “under construction” tape running along the top and bottom. And when he spoke again-

“Unfortunately there is no one in the world who is important to you.”

It didn’t matter what “sympathies” or “apologies” Monokuma gave after that sentence, the damage was done. (It doesn’t even matter if this is real or a lie this time.)

“... I don’t know why I expected anything else.”

“Holy shit. I’m… I am so sorry Ryoma, I had no idea.” Kaede was too stunned to say much else. It was her fault he had to see this.

If only they looked through the videos first, then maybe- No, Ryoma wanted to see this too much for anything to be done barring them trying to make one up, and who knows how that would have gone. Some leader I'm turning out to be, doing my friends more harm than good again .

“Hey, at least this means if you do have people outside that means they’re completely safe from Monokuma!” Tenko tried giving this her own positive spin, but all she was doing was kicking up dust.

“Atua agrees, and wants to remind you that you aren’t as alone as you fear. He says she’s still watching over you and everyone’s wishing you well from the other side-”

“Tell your god to shut up and mind his own business.” (What the hell Angie, what were you expecting him to say to that?! What are you even talking about? You’re as in the dark as the rest of us aren’t you?)

“Well, you do still have your cat right? The Russian blue you talked about before? I’m sure they’re waiting for you and Monokuma just overlooked ‘em because it’s a cat!” Even for Kokichi this attempt at a kind lie sounded pretty weak, and he realized it too, but he was still trying to help the best way he knew how.

I wonder if it’s because he’s feeling just as guilty about this? He was more likely to have peeked at these than I was and we both knew it. This was his plan. How could we have known not all of these videos would be “motives” to get us to commit a murder?

“Are you sure a familiar wouldn’t be enough to count? Miu’s didn’t have humans in it either-”

“Come on man, it’s a fuckin’ cat! That’s way harder to find than my glorious resume, of course this sad sack of shit couldn’t find ‘em. Why’d you think guys have so much trouble finding puss-” It was nice to see Miu managed to bounce back to normal at any rate. Kibo was still holding her hand but she sounded as strong and assured as she always did. Just not nice enough for Korekiyo to let her finish her sentence.

“Do not forget, we all promised to remain friends when we leave this place did we not? Regardless of those who are gone you do still have us here for you should you find yourself in need of our support.” His words here were rather unexpected, normally it’s Kaede to be the first to push the value of this promise. (He was the one that said being a bit insensitive was useful for “avoiding suicidal thoughts”, wasn’t he? Is... Is this hitting too close to home for him too? What if Ryoma’s video isn’t the only like this?)

“Aren’t there some prisons that let you have pet cats too? For therapeutic purposes as I recall. If you must return to prison when this is over we can all try to give a good word for you to have you transferred to one if you’d like.”

And with that, any progress towards a lighter mood they may have been making was gone at Kirumi’s words. The uncomfortable truth hung in the air, souring any positive notions for what’s “outside”.

“Oh fuck. Right, prison’s a thing ain’t it? We’ll be sure to visit you too, as much as we can, okay man?” As well-intentioned as Kaito’s words were it didn’t seem like anything being said was helping Ryoma that much.

But his eyes weren’t as hopelessly empty and blank as they had been when the film first ended, hearing how many people here tried to speak up for his sake, so Kaede considered it a small victory and made a promise to herself to spend more time with him from now on. (Will that make things better or worse? Will it be seen as concern or pity? Will there even be enough time for this to matter anymore?)

That awkward silence stayed until Korekiyo’s video started up. There was something already a bit off about this one, as Monokuma started off talking as if he found this, rather than make it himself, and is making it sound like he’s doing Korekiyo some sort of favor by showing it to him.

This video is an actual video for a change, not the static images with basic animations and voice over of the previous. Ironic the history nerd’s motive is technically the most high-tech, as low as the quality the film may be, as he might have appreciated the more Kamishibai-esque natures of the others. (That’s what that was called right? The thing with the traveling picture based storytellers who’d give candies to children to get them to listen. Maybe not the best comparison, not exactly my field here.)

A young woman appeared in some sort of hospital bed, and this time she’s the one doing the talking rather than Monokuma. She’s clearly addressing her little brother, but something feels very off here. It starts normally enough, she’s repeating some of what the doctors told her, how it isn’t looking good, and that she doesn’t want him to feel guilty over anything since he can’t be there right now. Sounds like they might even be the only family they have right now too, as she doesn’t breathe a word about any parents or other relatives. (But that wouldn’t explain where the money came from for the equipment or his trips.)

But then while it’s like she’s trying to give him advice to stay calm despite how bad her situation is, it almost feels like she’s coaching him on what to do to. “You mustn’t” this, “You mustn’t” that, all in order to hide how he’s feeling from others. And it takes no time at all for him to try and start doing what she says too, though all it really does is keep him quiet at the moment.

He did mention she made his current “uniform” too because she didn’t think his previous one “suited him” right? This is feeling… A bit more controlling than I previously thought. I mean no one would blame him for being upset, none of us have been told our loved one is dying no matter what we do. What sort of motive is this?

Right as it seemed like she was just about done with what she wanted to say, finishing with telling him how much she loves him and how no matter what she’ll always be looking out for him best she can, she’s interrupted by her own coughing.

Her fits’ nearly as violent as Korekiyo’s own shaking, which only gets worse at the sight on the screen. The sight of blood on her hands. Her blood on white sheets.

It’s as doctors start to rush in to try and help, alerted by the machines going off, that the visuals of the video finally cut off. But it isn’t a Monokuma avatar with a vague warning that appears at the end here, just his sister’s voice one last time over the black empty space.

“But remember Korekiyo. Most of all... You mustn’t forget your promise to me. ”

There’s almost a chill in the air at those words, regardless of what this “promise” may be. Even so, despite everything Kiyo’s still clearly trying to maintain his posture and keep quiet like she told him to, even if it isn’t working that well. It even sounds like he may be on the verge of hyperventilating under his mask as Kaede tries nudging his arm to get his attention. It’s not clear if he notices thanks to the layers he’s wearing as he just keeps hugging himself tightly.

“I’m so sorry Kiyo. I had no idea your sister was doing this poorly. No wonder you wanted to get back home to her as soon as you could.” Kiyo starts a bit at Kaede’s words, it looks like he nearly forgot he wasn’t alone.

“I-... Yes, I had mentioned that already hadn’t I?”

“At least we can see the creepy’s just a thing that runs in the family, eh Gimpy?” (What the fuck Miu?! Even if you’re just trying to help lighten the mood that’s uncalled for right now!)

“ I beg your pardon? ” (Yikes. Okay, note do not risk insulting his sister to his face. Ever. He’s scary enough when he doesn’t look ready to kill someone thanks.)

“She did come across as a bit... Intense, didn’t she? B-but I don’t think Monokuma would use this as a “motive” for you if she wasn’t still at least a little okay, right?” (Oh god Tsumugi why, this is Not Helping.)

“Being so spirited in such a state would appear to be a good sign for her overall health and recovery, even if that ending was… Ominous. How long has she been like this if that’s alright to ask?” (Okay thank you Kibo, that helped calm him down a little somehow, his breathing is more even now. Less ragged.)

“She’s been prone to illness since she was a child, some of my earliest memories of her were from visiting her at one hospital or another. This case was rather… different than most of her previous conditions however.”

“What exactly was the promise she talked about?” Angie has an odd look on her face, like something’s troubling her more than the tone that came up with this “promise”. As if she’s only half listening.

“... She was always lonely and often bedridden, so she wanted me to help her… Make new friends while on my travels. So she wouldn’t need to be so alone anymore, even when I was away. Only female companionship though, she was rather adamant on that part, and I’m more than happy to help her.”

Then why did this sound so much more serious than that? That’s kinda a weird thing to make be her parting words, is Monokuma trying to guilt him by making it sound like she thought he hasn’t kept that promise? If she is gone and I’m the first person he’s asked who agreed to it that might be true He’s got some light back into his eyes now at least, he’s even sounding more like himself again.

“At least she has excellent taste! Limiting herself of the stresses and troubles degenerate males cause will surely help her get better soon. I could try visiting if that might help her too, I’m often told my energy’s “infectious”!” (I don’t think that was meant as a good thing Tenko. Given how his mask twitched it must have been a good enough pun to get a smile from him at least. Unless that’s a grimace. Still progress!)

“If you mean to insinuate my own presence causes her issue I must strongly disagree on that front, as I’m the most consistent company she’s ever had by far. I believe her reasoning was less about worries towards her physical safety as much as it is cultural norms regarding social interactions between genders and her definite lack of female contact in general beyond that of medical professionals.”

“Wow. This explains so much. The weird girliness, the creepy face mask, the sister comple-ow” For Kokichi’s safety Kaede cut him off with a warning jab and a glare. Thankfully Korekiyo missed what he was getting at towards the end, so for now Kokichi gets to live to see another day after all. (Hopefully. If he’s lucky.)

“I could do a show at her hospital… That tends to bring spirits up. Not sure if her problem’s something my level of cure spells can cover at the moment though, sorry…”

“If there isn’t anything too wrong with it we could all give her a visit! She can’t mind some guys stopping by once in awhile right?” (Okay even if boys could be okay you might be a bit much for her Kaito.)

“... Thank you all for your consideration. Shall we move on to the next video now?”

Kiyo definitely seemed less distraught than he did at the start now, but something still felt off. He was still only speaking of his sister in the past tense, made more concerning by how his sister’s footage makes his video feel older than the others have so far, but at least he was making future plans. Albeit only ones that can happen if his sister’s still stable when everyone gets out, and not ones that directly involve him.

It does feel less awkward to think of him as “Kiyo” now, so at least some of this as a bonding experience is working right? Or maybe it’s because of how wrong his name sounded when his sister was saying it. Not really looking forward to meeting her anymore, but I can’t really afford to tell him that yet. Too soon.

Kaito’s was next to come. A photo of him in his astronaut gear standing between an elderly couple appears that Monokuma identifies as his grandparents. It changes to the couple sitting on a couch looking concerned, and like Kiyo’s this is actually real footage of them, though it’s less grainy than his video was.

They talk about how all they want is for him to never give up and keep on living, not just for himself but for them too. Monokuma’s voiceover then cuts in and claims the two got into some kind of accident right after this interview, but as is typical he refuses to go into any more detail than that.

“Oh, wow Kaede I’m sorry. Really I am! Kaito’s is waaay more boring than your video was.”

“OI SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BRAT-”

“Easy there Kaito, you’re fine and I’m sure they are too. They certainly looked safer than other examples so far yeah?” Kaede put a hand on his shoulder and helped push him back into his seat, saving Kokichi’s face from a punch to the jaw for at least a few minutes longer. Hopefully. For a boy with such a cute face he sure doesn’t care much about keeping it that way.

“If they don’t know about the killing game, why would they be so concerned about you “surviving”?” Maki’s voice cut in like a knife. “Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

“Jeez Maki Roll, you worry too much. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it and it’s pretty cute for you, but it’s not like that. It’s just astronaut training’s very stressful and the job itself is dangerous ya’know? They’ve always been a coupla worry warts, no biggie.”

“What have I told you about calling me that?”

If looks could kill, his grandparents would be very upset with all of us right now. But she isn’t objecting to the fact she cares which is a lot of progress for her! Great job Kaito. Now PLEASE stop trying to make your way to an early grave for once?

“Oh gawd, please take this weird flirting elsewhere so we can move along already, okay?” (Kokichi why does it feel like I’m putting more work into keeping you alive than you are!?)

One strongly restrained but furious Maki and a securely duct taped Kokichi later everyone was indeed ready for the next video. Time to see if Tsumugi can win out in the contest for “least interesting motive video” or if for once she won’t be able to claim to be the plainest person in the room.

Its opening was as plain as one could expect for her, an image of Tsumugi with one of her cosplaying groups with Monokuma talking about how much she loves working with them. Sounds like they even did other types of fanworks too, something about writing and designs.

Most of the references flew of Kaede’s head since she couldn’t really identify “who” anyone was meant to be or if this was what they genuinely looked like. Then came the transition to a shot of where they worked in tatters, much like Kaede’s, with one of their abandoned buttons with a streak of blood on it in a way Kaede’s fairly certain she’s seen on a graphic novel cover somewhere before. (I don’t recognize this logo though. Is it DR as in “Doctor” or an abbreviation for a multi-word title? That red mark feels familiar, like it’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t place it.)

“And here comes the “oh no some event happened! Find out what, next time on Monokuma’s mystery theater!” teaser at the end just like all the others, see? Nothing special.” Tsumugi says this but she’s clearly nervous about what she’s seen. It’s impressive what a brave face she’s been able to keep, though it may help unlike the rest of them she has had time to process this already.

“I’m suddenly grateful he didn’t actually try to call them that.” Kaede joked before asking, “Still, aren’t you worried more about them? It looked to me like seeing that button freaked you out a little.”

“W-well of course I am, I mean there was blood on it and everything! But I’m a part of a lot of groups you know? So if one of them was in trouble I’m sure one of the others would be trying to help them out, since there’s a lot of loose connections like that with us. I don’t think Monokuma could have possibly done something to all of my close friends since a bunch of them aren’t even in Japan, so I’m just… Choosing not to think about it.”

As she didn’t look too worried about all of this the group quickly let the topic drop. Avoidance may not be the best response to have in a situation like this, but at least it isn’t anything more dangerous.

As the videos had hit an almost pleasant lull in their severity everyone decided to take an intermission, to stretch their legs and whatnot. Despite earlier concerns though no one decided to stop watching with the others though, even Miu claimed she wanted to stick around to at least see Kibo’s since her workload wasn’t that bad now that she thought about it. (I wonder if that means she’s nearly finished already?)

On the way out to the hallway, Kaede pulled Ryoma aside.

“H-hey, listen about the video-”

“I’m not going to do anything stupid if that’s what you’re worried about. Nothing’s really changed for me after all. I won’t be putting everyone’s lives in danger over something like this.” (Ouch. I wasn’t really thinking about what might happen if a body was found without a murderer. That could be dangerous.)

“I wasn’t- I didn’t think you were going to. I just wanted to make sure you know how much we really do care about you. You may try to keep all of us away but you’re still our friend here. Nothing you’ve shown to us indicates you are a bad person, no matter what you may have done in the past. So please, why not let us get to know you? This might sound selfish or arrogant but… Maybe we can become your reason for living if you can’t find one on your own.”

“You’re right, that does sound pretty selfish. But in an honest, naive kinda way. I… Appreciate what you’re trying to say. Thank you. I’ll think about it. But I promise I’m not going to do anything drastic. I’m not sure Kiyo can say the same thing. He’s weird, and something about him has never really felt right to me, but you might want to check in with him next if this is going to be a “thing” for you right now. I don’t think he’s a bad kid, and I may be reading things wrong here, but his motive seemed more like mine than one to lead to a murder if you know what I mean. And unlike Miu, he isn’t all that close to anyone in particular from what I’ve seen.” (Well with how creepy he is that is kinda expected. But he’s right.)

“Yeah, I thought as much too. Thank you, Ryoma. And if you ever need to talk I’ll listen, okay?”

He gave a bit of a smile as he walked away. Far from a happy grin but less melancholic than those before, probably meant to comfort Kaede more than anything else. It looked like Kaito was running up to him too, probably with something similar to say. She overheard the word “training” but not much else, so it sounded like maybe he was setting up a way to spend more time with the former tennis star. Kaede couldn’t really focus on that though as she tried finding where Kiyo’s gone off to.

She didn’t need to go very far as it turns out as he was muttering to himself in the library across the way.

Looking around in the corner Rantaro died in. It’s still a small comfort the books were put back to how they probably were originally rather than in that death tr No. Not. Now. This is much more important.

“You okay there Kiyo?” Kaede softly asked, but the answer was obvious as he nearly jumped and seemed to wipe away some tears before he turned to face her.

“A-ah, hello! I hadn’t heard you come in, my apologies. I’m doing better I believe, nothing to be overly worried about I assure you.”

Nope, he stuttered and I was the one able to sneak up on him for a change. That’s enough to be at least a little worried about, even if he didn't look like he's been crying. Not that I haven’t heard him when he’s come up to me before nope, definitely have never been spooked by a certain creepy too tall ninja man. Which is kinda weird come to think of it, with how good my hearing is and the fact that he’s always wearing those heavy boots FOCUS KAEDE!

“Well if you’re sure. I just wanted to let you know that if you need someone to talk to or anything you can always come to me about it okay? I’m sorry you had to see something like that.”

“Thank you, that is very kind of you to offer. But I’ll be alright... I was just getting a book to read later, in case the films to come make sleep difficult to reach tonight.” (More like the one you've already seen, but okay.)

“Hmm, that sounds like a good idea. What exactly do they have here?”

The ten-minute break passed by pretty quickly like that, since there were a lot of books to look through and most of them looked dreadfully boring. Kaede did find a cute looking romance novel though, which would hopefully come in handy. She couldn’t really tell what the book Kiyo found was about, as the title was in Russian or something. The mood in the AV room certainly felt better now than it did before their intermission, as everyone began coming back in to see what else Monokuma had in store for them.

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sanctferum · 7 years ago

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Dangan Ronpa V3: Chapter 4 Deadly Life

Last time we saw a very familiar phrase in connection with the Virtual World, we turned into Funko Pops, and someone killed Miu. And considering how obvious suspects they are, it probably wasn’t Kaito or Kokichi. Kokichi definitely had something to do with it, but I don’t think he’s the actual blackened. Also, we cut away from him leaving the Virtual World before we could hear what he said into the telephone. Is it possible that his name is something other than what we’ve been told?

Miu’s body…her hands are clasped around her neck as if she was gasping for air. Her eyes are widen open in panic. It looked like she suffered. Kokichi agrees, though he’s rather gleeful about it.

Keebo was the first to log out. Miu was still wearing the helmet at the time, and her body was contorting into an awful position. Maki was the next one to log out. Keebo and Maki took off Miu’s helmet…and then, she was dead.

Monophanie is trying to get Monotaro to get a hold of himself, but Monotaro is too busy mourning his “mommy”.

Himiko never thought Miu would be killed. Even when her avatar had stopped moving, Himiko didn’t want to believe it. Himiko, Keebo, and Maki were together when they found Miu’s motionless avatar. Miu had split off to look around the outside of the chapel for clues, which is strange…as the search was finishing up, with nothing found, there was a noise. A loud noise, just like the one we heard at the mansion. The chapel vibrated as if something had hit it from the outside. But we heard the sound from the mansion, all the way across the other map.

Himiko, Maki, and Keebo rushed outside. Near the side of the chapel, Miu was lying motionless. And the group couldn’t check on her real body, because the signboard bridge was gone. Which means none of the chapel group could’ve logged out and done anything to Miu. Except, Tsumugi saw Miu near the mansion, which means that there was a way to get around…

Kokichi asks Gonta who he thinks the culprit is. He doesn’t know. He’s still deep in grief, and self-loathing over not being able to prevent this. Kokichi encourages him to help everyone find the culprit. Something weird happened between the two, I’m sure. Kokichi has some trick up his sleeve.

Kaito tries to explain things, despite Kokichi’s provocations. Right before he was logged out, when Kaito was on the rooftop, a circle lit up under him. He was sucked into it, and woke up in the computer room. The same thing that happened with the rest of us, except we were talking into the telephone, in the salon. Then, Kaito realized he was pretty tired, so he went to the dorms to sleep. This was at around dawn. Then the body discovery announcement woke him up and he rushed over here. He didn’t pay particular attention to everyone else when he woke up from the Virtual World, so he has no clues about Miu’s condition at the time. Kokichi seems delighted at this lackluster alibi.

Meanwhile, Maki is investigating the computer. She has no idea how the Virtual World program works, but she did find a text file on the computer. A text file with the basic features of the program. The Killing Game Simulator is based off of another program, called the Neo World Program. While this is the most intriguing part of the whole thing to me, the Ultimates have never heard of it, and don’t have any reason to think anything of it. In the Killing Game Simulator, objects can’t break. Your body’s senses are connected to your avatar, but the avatar cannot be harmed…any damage it takes will instead afflict the actual body in the real world. Which means if your avatar receives fatal damage, your body will die of shock. I just assumed it was the same as the Neo World Program, which is why I never noticed that Miu never directly told anyone that detail. Everything else about the Virtual World is the same, including the laws of physics. So you can’t warp places, or use special transportation like mounts. But that clearly contradicts what Tsumugi saw…

Kokichi wonders out loud if someone could have rewritten the text file to have incorrect information. But how would anyone determine that? Monotaro volunteers. In order to find out who killed his “mommy”, he’s gonna help us with the investigation. Monophanie tells him not to, but Monotaro brushes her off. Monotaro’s forgotten that Monophanie is someone he’s supposed to care about, and that he has no mother. Monophanie says there’s someone she needs to protect, and leaves. Shuichi has his doubts over the whole thing, but Kokichi bursts out the crocodile tears, forcing everyone to just let Monotaro do his thing. Monotaro gets to work right away. The text file wasn’t altered. Also, Monotaro found a file with the times of everyone logging in and out. This doesn’t look like it was altered either.

The file seems to be accurate. It has all of us logging in within a few minutes of each other, Kaito logging out before everyone else, and everyone else but Miu logging out one by one near 7 AM.

And one final thing. Some parts of the program were rewritten. Presumably by Miu. She did say she’d deleted weaponry and stuff…well, as long as Monotaro figures out just what was rewritten by the time the trial’s about to start, we’re good.

Kokichi is busy crying crocodile tears over how much Monotaro loved Miu and how he’ll never forgive whoever killed her, so we can safely ignore him.

Keebo’s still thinking about the secret of the outside world that we never found. Before we can get too far onto the topic, Kokichi provokes Keebo, and steers the conversation away from whatever the secret might be.

Tsumugi has had a bad feeling about this ever since seeing Miu from the dining hall window of the mansion. Kokichi once again prevents the conversation from progressing smoothly. He also asks Tsumugi what she did after she thought she saw Miu. Tsumugi went back to work, but it really was bothering her, so ten minutes later she went to confide in Shuichi about it. And that’s when the loud noise occurred. And after we rushed into the entrance hall, we heard Keebo’s voice outside. But both Miu and Keebo were trapped on the other side of the river, so something weird is up.

Kokichi thinks the only way that’s possible is if Tsumugi was lying. But we can attest that we also heard Keebo’s voice.

Kaito wants to know more details. After we heard Keebo’s voice, we headed back to the chapel. Along the way, we found Gonta, and then Kokichi, and when we got to the bridge, the signboard was still missing and Keebo, Maki, and Himiko were on the other side. Gonta went and grabbed the signboard, on Kokichi’s advice.

The visors are scattered all around. Some still plugged in, some not. Weren’t they all supposed to be unplugged now that we’ve logged out? Also, there’s what Miu said about mixing the consciousness and memory plugs up. It would cause a glitch, most likely. Let’s keep that in mind.

Finally, the small bottle on one of the seats. Just as I suspected, it’s one of the bottles from the shelf in Shuichi’s lab. Poison…

Kokichi secretly went to Shuichi’s lab and looked at all the poison and all the files. You know, just in case someone else uses them.

The poison is pretty lethal. But it has to be taken directly, because it becomes neutralized when diluted. The volume of non-diluted poison needed to kill someone is very very small. Even if someone only sipped a bit, it would be immediate death. And if Miu was logged in, and has no external injuries, and no way of controlling her real body…The poison causes a small blood vessel under the conjunctiva to explode, causing the whites of your eyes turn blood red. The conjunctiva is, thank you dictionary, the eye membrane.

Kokichi suggests Shuichi acknowledge him as his partner already. Shuichi tries to ignore him.

Who brought the poison here? Who knows. But it was left on Kokichi’s chair, which is certainly suspicious.

We’re done investigating the crime scene, it seems. But the real crime scene could be in the virtual world, too. So we gotta go back in. Kaito and Keebo want to join us. So does Himiko. Maki is gonna stay here, and so is Gonta. Sounds like Tsumugi is coming with us too.

Kokichi suddenly declares that he’ll also stay behind. To keep an eye on Maki…personally, I’m hoping Maki keeps an eye on him.

Himiko is still worried about getting the cords wrong. Tsumugi suggests she use a visor that’s already set up.

After another Neo World Program loading message, we’re in. We can only log in and out from the salon, which means we gotta investigate the rooftop to see how Kaito was logged out without being anywhere near the telephone.

Kaito doesn’t mind the graphics here, because this body is cool. No doubt because this body has none of his real body’s health issues.

Let’s look at the maps again. The mansion, where Kokichi investigated the salon, Tsumugi investigated the dining room, Kaito investigated the roof, and Gonta looked around the outside. Could Kokichi have done something to the phone that logged Kaito out?

The world map is surrounded by walls, and has a loading point in the middle. No sight or sounds can pass through the loading point, and to get from the mansion to the chapel, you have to go through the loading point, and crossing the river is part and parcel of that.

Outside the mansion, Keebo notices the toilet paper roll we saw on our way out. Keebo thought someone might have come here to poop, but it’s awfully cold for anyone to do so. Besides, avatars don’t need to go to the bathroom.

Kaito didn’t know that the signboard was recovered. Shuichi tells him that the signboard was caught on some rocks and was able to be recovered. But the rocks were on the mansion side of the map…the river flows onto the chapel side of the map. Hmmm.

At the chapel, Miu’s avatar is lying face-down in the snow. Doesn’t look like the crime scene was altered in any way. But, there’s a bunch of objects scattered around Miu’s avatar.

At one point, Keebo heard a strange whispering. Shortly before everyone went their separate ways, Miu, Kokichi, and Gonta had a whispered conversation. We couldn’t hear what they were saying at the time, but Keebo did. Kokichi and Miu had plans to meet each other somewhere. The rooftop was mentioned. I note that Keebo didn’t hear which rooftop, and is just assuming that it was the mansion’s.

Miu volunteered to search around the chapel, which seemed odd then, and is even odder if Kokichi and Miu planned to meet on the rooftop of the mansion. Hmmm. Let’s assume that it was the chapel rooftop. Miu has strange objects surrounding her avatar. A board, a hammer, and some other item. And there was a loud noise, and an impact felt in the chapel. But if Kokichi pushed Miu off the chapel roof, like I’m starting to suspect, where does the poison come in?

Speaking of the hammer. That could be used to kill, so how come it’s here, if Miu deleted all dangerous objects? Was she lying? Was Miu lured to her death not as an innocent victim, but someone who planned to become the blackened?

The mysterious object I couldn’t identify is a cellphone. And if we consider the other phone in this world…it must be able to log someone out instantaneously. Which means that even if the bridge was lost, Miu could have logged out, and logged back in into the salon. Maybe the log-out records were only for the phone in the salon? But if that’s the case, how did Kaito get logged out without using the cellphone or phone?

Ah…Shuichi says Kaito’s name into the phone, and Kaito logs out. Which means Miu must have been the one to log Kaito out, right? And it works on people other than yourself, so that’s gotta be it.

There’s a piece of lattice lying next to Miu’s body. I thought it was a board, but…I remember there being a piece of lattice in the mansion roof’s storage shed. Perhaps it was used to cross the river…in which case, Miu logged herself out with the phone, logged back in, went to the roof, grabbed the lattice, crossed the river with it, and took it back to the chapel? But we didn’t see any record of Miu logging out, whereas there was a record of Kaito logging out. So that can’t be it.

Miu’s avatar…it will disappear when she logs out. But since she’s dead, she will never be able to log out. Perhaps the avatar would disappear if we said “Miu Iruma” into the cell phone. In any case, she shows no signs of injuries, since the avatars can’t be hurt.

Avatars can hide objects just like in the real world, by putting stuff in their clothes. So we wouldn’t necessarily have seen Miu with the cellphone.

Back to the mansion to investigate the rooftop. As we walk in, Kaito exits the salon room, pretty angry at us. After he calms down, we go to investigate the rooftop. Kaito goes to look at Miu’s avatar, since he got interrupted last time he tried.

The doorknob on the door to the roof is locked. It can only be locked from the outside.

Keebo says he would be unable to get up or down from the roof to the ground without injury. So the stairs are the only way up or down.

Using the binoculars, we can see that the building is on top of a hill. We can’t see past the map loading point. But why is the loading point in the middle of the world map? Something’s odd about that.

And then the storage room, with it’s sudden lack of lattice. But we don’t appear to remember what the storage room had in it in the first place, so we can’t notice that the lattice was in it and is now at the chapel.

As we finish up on the rooftop, Maki comes up the stairs to tell us that Monotaro finished analyzing the program.

As we’re about to go leave, Maki says that we’re very reliably in a class trial, much moreso than out of one. But…Shuichi might be Ultimate Detective, but he shouldn’t carry the burden of figuring out the case alone. Before he’s a detective, he is a person…though Maki laments that she’s a hypocrite for saying so. She threw away her identity as the person named Maki Harukawa to become the Ultimate Assassin, after all.

We go to the salon, where Maki mentions that Kaito looked like he was in a bad mood after logging out earlier. Then the two of us log out.

Back in the real world, we confront Kokichi about his planned meeting with Miu. Kokichi says he never went to the rooftop, because it was locked when he tried. Hmmm.

There’s no proof that Kokichi went back to the salon when he was done, but there’s also no proof he didn’t.

As for Monotaro’s analysis…the person who modified the program was Miu. She deleted a bunch of objects. All possible weapons…except for the hammer. And the way the program was written, it looks like she didn’t just forget to delete the hammer. She left it there on purpose.

The cell phone was originally part of the program, so Miu didn’t have to add it. And Miu definitely didn’t tell us about the cell phone.

Miu added only two things – the maps.

Monotaro didn’t find anything other than the signboard that could be used as a bridge.

Miu also changed certain paremeters. Everything in the program is either human or object. Everyone’s avatar was assigned the human paremeter (even Keebo’s). Except for one. Miu gave her own avatar the paremeter “non-human object”. It’s for identification purposes, so it shouldn’t have affected anything in practical terms. So why did she do it?

Miu also added something else besides the maps. A wall. The loading point?

No, something is weird here. It’s not the loading point…

Wait, the wall she added…was it one of the outer walls? Maybe…the reason there’s only one wall added but one wall on either side of the map, making two walls total, is because the world originally looped around at that point. In which case, the reason we heard the banging sound and Keebo’s exclamation…

Oh. The wall had an additional setting. A setting that allowed objects to move through it, but not people. Which means Miu didn’t need a bridge to get around, if my loop theory is right.

And Miu didn’t stop there. She also fiddled with the avatars. She changed one of the avatars so that it would be unable to move if Miu touched that person. That person was Kokichi.

And one last thing. There was a strange error at one point. When everyone logged in for the first time, there was an avatar user error. But the contents of the error are unknown. Something weird happened to someone’s avatar when we logged in.

Before we can move to another area – such as our own lab – the trial bell rings. Monokuma seems exhausted, like all his energy was drained away.

Monotaro declares that he’s our friend now. When the trial is over, he wants to get to know us better. He’s gonna be the one to die during the execution, isn’t he…Himiko even points out how much his line sounds like a death flag. Monotaro proceeds to deliver several more lines, each raising the death flag higher and higher.

We go to the Shrine of Judgement. Everyone’s lives are on the line. It’s all up to us. But Kaito thinks we shouldn’t carry the burden alone. Before he can continue to encourage us Kokichi tells him to step off and stop bothering us. Maki tells him to stop and accompanies it with a signature glare.

Kaito reaffirms that we can come to him if we have any problems, but if we say we’re fine, then he’ll stand back and just believe in us.

We arrive at the courtroom. Monotaro looks like he got punished by Monokuma while we were traveling to the Shrine. His head is full of bruises, and he’s forgotten that he’s our friend.

Ah, Monophanie smacked him until he forgot that he forgot whose side he was on. OK.

Well, we have no choice but to find Miu’s killer. Let’s go…next time!

#Dangan Ronpa #Dangan Ronpa V3 #Danganronpa V3

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oumakokichi · 8 years ago

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could you explain ouma's opinion on kiibo? correct me if im wrong, but ouma doesnt see kiibo as a person, and i couldnt help but have something cross my mind.. what if ouma used kiibo as the sacrifice rather than gonta? could you explain why this isnt possible or why ouma wouldnt/didnt do this? ouma values all lives of course, but do you think it would have inflicted him less to manipulate someone he doesnt consider human (plus knowing kiibos true purpose) sorry if i already sent this question

Ouma suspected that Kiibo wasconnected to the ndrv3 audience in some way, and thought of Kiibo as “strange/weird”according to his whiteboard, where he singled his picture out in a differentway from how he singled out Saihara’s picture. He knew that it was strange fora robot to be involved in the killing game at all, moreso with the whole “lastsurvivors of humanity” scenario which the remember lights were trying to forcethem to believe—after all, why would a robot be put onboard a ship meant forthe last survivors of humanity to sustain the human race?

Given all the incongruities,both about Kiibo’s backstory and his talent, Ouma was suspicious of him, and that’swhy he’s particularly hard on him sometimes. He teased him endlessly aboutbeing a robot and became noticeablybored/fed-up whenever Kiibo would talk about his memories or his past—because Oumahighly suspected those things were fake, even moreso than everyone else’sbackstories.

However, Ouma definitely couldn’tbring himself to think of Kiibo as “not a person.” Not human, perhaps, butevery bit of evidence points to the fact that no matter how hard he tried, hecouldn’t help but think of Kiibo as an individual with his own autonomy, freewill, etc. Things would have been considerably easier for him if he had beenable to think of Kiibo as an object, rather than a person—but that wouldclearly have been a lie, and Ouma knew it. I think a part of him was genuinelyfrustrated that he couldn’t think of Kiibo in those terms, despite the factthat Kiibo was so clearly sketchy, and so obviously involved somehow with theaudience watching the killing game.

Had Ouma really thought ofKiibo as “not a person” then he would’ve had no problems with disabling him orbreaking him so that he couldn’t function as an audience proxy anymore. If he’dreally ever genuinely thought of him as “just a robot” and “not alive,” thenthat wouldn’t have violated his moral code against killing at all, and he mostlikely would have done so because that would have been the safer option formaking sure no one was spying on them.

He had several opportunities todo this over the course of the game. The electric hammers that he commissionedMiu to make were more than capable of frying Kiibo, if it turns out that shesaw him as a robot rather than a person. They were programmed to work onmachines, not people. When Ouma tells them this in Chapter 5, Kiibo wondersaloud how Miu perceived him, and almost considers asking someone to try out oneof the hammers on him, but Ouma cheekily tells him that if it turns out she sawhim as a machine, then those hammers would fry his circuits pretty badly.

Given Ouma’s possession of thehammers, the remote control capable of hijacking electronic devices, and theelectric bombs capable of jamming signals, he could easily have broken Kiiboany time he wanted to. The fact that he didn’t do this despite all his teasingabout Kiibo being “just a robot” is pretty solid proof that he couldn’tactually bring himself to think like that, no matter how much it might havesimplified matters. He was suspicious of him, and Kiibo had obvious ties to theoutside world in some way or other, but he was also very obviously strugglingto become his own person, and that was something I think Ouma couldn’t help butrespect, no matter how much he wouldn’t admit to it.

The reason he didn’t use Kiiboas a sacrifice instead of Gonta is largely because Ouma didn’t go into the VRworld with a specific sacrifice in mind. He knew he would have to counter Miu’splan, and he knew he would need someone else to kill her in his place if hewanted to stay alive, but it’s obvious he didn’t have a specific person in mindat first.

It’s not until he commented aboutgoing outside to start looking around and Gonta volunteered to go with him inorder to protect him that he began talking under his breath, making commentsabout Gonta “being his bodyguard” and saying things like “If it’s Gonta, thenmaybe…” Clearly, up until the moment he knew he and Gonta could be alone whenfinding the remember light, he had no idea who would be the best person to tryand enlist into his plan.

Had Kiibo volunteered to go withhim instead, then there is a slight chance Ouma would have tried the same thingwith him. I believe there are several people he would never have tried toenlist in his plan even if he had had an opportunity to be alone with them.Saihara, for one, because he probably couldn’t have brought himself to do thatto someone he himself admits he was falling in love with. Maki, for another,since even if she watched the remember light, the chances of her cooperatingwith him for any reason were slim to none. And Miu, of course, since she wasthe one who was trying to kill him in the first place.

That meant his options for asacrificial pawn were limited to Gonta, Kiibo, Himiko, Tsumugi, and Momota.Momota is another iffy candidate in my opinion, because like Maki, he and Oumararely saw eye to eye on anything prior to Chapter 5. And the only reasonMomota was willing to cooperate with Ouma to the extent he did in Chapter 5 wasbecause he learned quite a few painful lessons about how wrong the “trusteveryone, don’t doubt your friends” mindset was that he stuck to in Chapter 4.Tsumugi, of course, might have seemed like a possible candidate to Ouma, but wethe players know she would never have gone along with it because she was theringleader. So that leaves just Gonta, Kiibo, and Himiko.

Had either Kiibo or Himiko gonealone with Ouma to find the remember light, then it’s possible he would have had to try and enlist their help. Hedidn’t particularly have a lot of time or options available to him; once theywere in the VR world, he needed to act fast in order to stop Miu’s plan. But nomatter who had gone along with him, I think it still would have pained him.Clearly he did value Kiibo’s life as an individual on the same level as everyoneelse’s; I don’t think there was any option in that scenario that would have “hurthim less” or “hurt him more.” Being forced into a situation where he had tobreak his moral code at all was painful enough.

Not only that, but I’m notentirely sure Kiibo wouldn’t have seen through what he was trying to do had hebeen the one alone with Ouma. Even if he had watched the remember light, it’sdoubtful whether Kiibo would’ve resorted to murder. Suicide, perhaps, becauseeveryone became suicidal and depressed upon knowing “the truth of the outsideworld”—but due both to Kiibo’s own personal belief in maintaining hope in thedarkest of times, as well as the audience input via his “inner voice,” I doubthe would’ve killed anyone.

Kiibo also has quite asurprising knack for understanding Ouma more instinctively than many other membersin the group. By Chapter 5 especially, Kiibo is the only one who sayspoint-blank that he doesn’t think Ouma had any reason to lie on his deathbed.His bonus mode interaction with Ouma shows that while he clearly gets fed upwith Ouma’s teasing and all the “robot discrimination,” he also recognizes itfor what it is: a bratty kid demanding attention. And he grasps the heart ofOuma’s character, too, stating that it’s not about whether Ouma is telling thetruth or lying, because either way, they’re friends and that’s what matters themost.

All of these things suggest tome that despite seeming kind of endearingly clumsy and incapable of reading themood sometimes, Kiibo is someone with a very intuitive knack for catching ontothings. If Saihara was the one who Ouma wanted to “solve” him and understandhim, Kiibo was the one who understood him more intuitively—much to Ouma’sdismay, I’m sure.

My point in the end is thatbecause Kiibo was so clearly a pawn in the grand scheme of things and alsosomeone with his own consciousness, memories, individuality, etc., there’s nodoubt that Ouma saw him as a person, even if he tried to emphasize how much he “wasn’thuman.” The situation was dire enough in Chapter 4 that if push had come toshove and Kiibo had been the most convenient option, Ouma might very well havetried to use him instead of Gonta—but I don’t think that such an option wouldhave hurt his conscience any less. Either way, he clearly thought of it asmurder. If he hadn’t, he would’ve either hijacked, disabled, or broken Kiibo,because doing so would’ve been the safer, colder, and more calculating option.

I hope this helps answer yourquestion, anon! This was a really fun ask, and gave me a lot of things to thinkabout. Thank you for asking!

#ndrv3 #drv3 #new danganronpa v3 #kokichi ouma #kiibo #ndrv3 spoilers //#my meta #okay to reblog #anonymous

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oumakokichi · 8 years ago

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okay here's a complete hypothetical scenario: what do you think would have happened if Gonta made it past chapter 4? like in a plot twist of "oh we're JUST going to execute the AI." How do you think his character would have gone from there? I know it's a weird scenario, but I like to think what would have happened. Him having to live with the burden where not only he killed a friend but basically tried getting everyone else killed.

This is a really interestinghypothetical, anon! Ndrv3 is definitely interesting because of thepossibilities for speculation it allows on “survivor scenarios” which the otherDR games don’t offer quite as much on. With Gonta in particular this is aninteresting question considering how undeniably important Gonta is as a figureof emotional support and balance to the group, and I think speculating how hewould have continued to develop after making such a huge mistake is anincredibly interesting way to look at it.

I think I mentioned before with apost where I was talking about Tenko, but one thing I would definitely beinterested in seeing out of any DR game that I don’t think we’ve quite gottenbefore would be the “strong protector type” character actually live, even if itmeans failing in their objective to protect what it was they wanted to guardthe most. With characters like Tenko and Peko, obviously there’s one characterin particular who means the most for each of them, but for Gonta, the idea wasmore about every single character in the group being precious, and Gontawanting to be useful to the group as a whole, and feeling stifled andfrustrated that he couldn’t find a particular role for himself, even ifeveryone else already thought of him as having a role of sorts.

Self-sacrifice happens so much inthe DR franchise. Inevitably, every single time there’s ever been a characterwho talked about wanting to protect another, be it Sakura or Peko or Juzo, theyall end up getting…well, super-killed (and I’m not counting the sdr2 charactersall coming back to life at the end of dr3 because that’s unrelated to the pointof self-sacrifice within sdr2 itself). Nothing is a bigger death flag in a DRgame than a character talking about wanting to protect another one, because itmeans they’ll either be killed as a victim, or kill for that person and beexecuted, and so far I can’t really think of a single exception where thecharacter in question failed to protect their loved one(s) at all and lived onin place of them.

The idea of a character who has “failed”their objective and has to live on while knowing that and atoning for it isincredibly interesting to me. The closest we perhaps got in some small way wasIshimaru, who broke down completely after Mondo’s death, but…still, consideringhe went essentially catatonic before coping with Alter Ego in the unhealthiestof ways and still got killed in the end regardless, he hardly counts.

I’d love to see more from acharacter like Gonta who beforehand had been a staple and necessity of thegroup winding up developing by questioning himself. After making the decisionto kill Miu—a decision which, again, even if Ouma suggested, was somethingGonta himself agreed to in the VR world out of his own free will, as AI Gontaemphasizes again and again—I have no doubt that Gonta remaining in the group againsteveryone’s expectations would have carried with it real consequences. Gontawould likely have gone from someone who already doubted his own decision-makingskills by considering himself “an idiot” and “not useful to the group,” tohaving a severe crisis. Having crossed a line which could never be uncrossed, Idon’t doubt he would try to distance himself from the entire group, even ifclearly most of them would actually want him to be around.

Gonta remaining alive but stillhaving been singled out as “the culprit” by Saihara means Momota would likelybe trying to actively pursue Gonta’s company in Chapter 5 in order to avoidtalking to Saihara about their fight, and those like Himiko in the group whoare quick to try and offer comfort and cheer up others when they seem downwould follow. Gonta would likely keep trying to avoid them, though, consideringhis doubt in his own ability to protect anyone when he previously thought hisphysical strength was all he had going for him in terms of usefulness would nowplague him, and he’d consider himself a potential threat.

There would probably be a hugestalemate for a while within the group, until Saihara attempted to apologize toGonta, and then it would become clear not only to him but to everyone else thatGonta didn’t want any apologies from anyone else, but wanted to protect themfrom himself. Having failed in his objective to protect all of them from harmand not hurt any of them, and still being unable to understand why he had taken Miu’s life, he’dprobably be beside himself expecting the same thing to happen.

Assuming Ouma still did his “I’m themastermind haha come and get me” speech at the end of the Chapter 4 trial inorder to deceive Gonta along with the rest of them, there would also be alingering doubt in Chapter 5 of when and where Ouma would strike, since he layslow for quite a while before coming around with the bomb and hammers in theirplan to take down Monokuma. I’m not even entirely sure if Gonta would be deceived or not by Ouma’sspeech, since even with Ouma trying to put all the blame on himself there,Gonta’s instinct is also to only blame himself.

I would actually be very, veryinterested in seeing Gonta react to the secret of the outside world as it’sshown to the entire group in Chapter 5. Having already seen it and forgottenabout it inside the VR world once before, it’s entirely possible that worryingover it endlessly and having already expected the worst might actually meanthat Gonta would be less impacted by it the second time around. While he wouldprobably spend most of Chapter 5 feeling completely hopeless and ruined andundeserving of being around the rest of the group, I feel he’d actually getsome incredible time to shine when everyone else saw the secret for the firsttime.

While the rest of the group waslosing their will to go on, I could see Gonta actually finding his. Determinednot to make the same mistake as he did in the VR world, where he was convincedthat the situation was so hopeless that it was actually better if everyone diedbecause that was a gentler fate, I think seeing everyone else losing hopearound him would convince him that they needed to go on. He’d be desperate fora reason, and even if he was still hesitant and doubtful of his ability to everactually protect them again, and even if he’d still feel crushed under the weightof what he did, I really do think he’d decide it was worth another shot if hesaw how clearly depressed and hopeless everyone was upon realizing that theoutside world was completely decimated.

Rather than everyone’s will to liveon being restored by Tsumugi and her fake remember light, there would be areal, distinct possibility that Gonta himself would be the morale-booster andmotivator. Having already decided to give up entirely once before, he’d belooking for any reason not to repeat it again, because this time with all hismemories intact, he would really, desperately not want anyone to get hurt, andthat includes not letting them just waste away and die from depression.

This in turn would cause a hugeupset in Tsumugi’s plans to make them all think they were Hope’s Peak Academystudents and that Ouma was basically Junko 2.0, meaning that quite a fewconflicts in Chapter 5 might either be avoided entirely or not go the way theyhad before at all. Even if Momota were still holed up with Ouma inside theExisal bay, I think Maki wouldn’t get a chance to enact her plan to torture andkill Ouma, because it’s very possible that Gonta would want to lead the rescuemission this time around, and show support and trust for Momota the same wayMomota had done for him after the fourth trial.

Even though I have no doubt he wouldstill be scared of making another mistake, and that he would forever feel asthough he had let the group down in some way, Gonta’s continued presence in thegroup would have the potential to change so many things drastically. Having searched the entire time for a role of his ownin the group, I feel that him trying to atone and avoid making the samemistakes means he would actually come into a role of leadership and supportquite bravely when he least expected it.

These are just my thoughts on it,anyway, but it’s still a wonderful, interesting hypothetical scenario, and I’dlove to see people’s take on it in fanfictions! Chapter 4 presented such acritical turning point to the course of the whole game precisely because Miu and Gonta were both such essentialfigures to the group in different ways (Miu, who unlike Gonta never wanted tobe a team player, nonetheless contributes some of the most useful and life-saving devices out of any DR game eversince Alter Ego), and either one of them staying alive and sort of coming toterms with having to find a role of their own in the group could have reallychanged the course of things.

Thank you for asking this, anon! Ireally love Gonta, and I would have loved to have seen more of him at the endof the game!

#ndrv3 #drv3 #new danganronpa v3 #gonta gokuhara #gokuhara gonta #ndrv3 spoilers //#my meta #okay to reblog #anonymous

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oumakokichi · 8 years ago

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not meta really, but do you have any headcanons for what the v3 kids were like personalitywise before the brainwashing?? we see a little of them in the prologue but it's very vague, and i haven't seen any headcanons aside from my own so i'm interested in seeing what you think

I have a few, yes! Coming up with headcanons for what theywere like beforehand is really fun in my opinion. I know a lot of people wereupset by the twist because they felt like either they “never really got to knowthe real characters,” or else that the characters we see in-game had theirpersonalities “completely made opposite” from how they were beforehand, but I don’treally feel like that was the case.

I’ve gone over it in a few posts, but I’m pretty sure thatwith most of the characters, their core personalities were definitely leftintact. Ouma was an exception to the rule, and Tsumugi attempted to twist himfurther than anyone else, specifically because she wanted him to be the bad guyin her game—a perfectly manipulated, amenable pawn of despair to her plans soshe could set herself and everyone else up to be “Hope” and Ouma would be “Despair.”But as for the others, who weren’t supposed to be cast into a villainous rolefrom the start, there really wasn’t any need for her to try to twist them thatfar, and I think a lot of their basic interests, hobbies, inclinations, etc.are all very similar to how we see them behave in-game.

The fact that their given likes and dislikes don’t alwaysmatch up perfectly with their given talents is proof of this. Despite thebrainwashing and the fake talents, their actual personalities, and the thingsthey either like or don’t like, are still theirs.Angie, for instance, really doesn’t like moisture—aninteresting thing to note, considering in-game she’s portrayed as being from amost likely tropical island, and is an artist who works with paints and ink, noless. And Tenko’s likes include nunchakus, which have absolutely nothing to dowith aikido but sound very fitting for someone who perhaps before entering thegames was just interested in martial arts in general.

What I think was changed about them for the game per se wasmostly what they wanted out of the game directly. Tsumugi is an otaku at heart;she’s very open about this, really. Even once she’s been outed as themastermind, it’s very clear that she views absolutely everything through a lensof fiction, and this includes wanting certain “tropes” or “genre twists”applied to various characters within the game. This means that she’s reallyjust going to find it boring if she gives them all what they want directly whenthey audition.

And so characters like Saihara, who ask to be a “cooldetective who can get away with closed room murder tricks,” are “subverted” byher instead, and given a backstory based on insecurity, tragedy, and the fearof ruining everyone’s lives with the very thing that a detective seeks most:the truth. But at heart, Saihara is clearly the same person. He wants to be adetective, he enjoys mysteries. He has a natural curiosity about the worldaround him and he likes doing armchair detective reasoning more than anything.He loves novels—and it’s easy to tell in hindsight that he really loved the DRnovels all along.

I’ve talked before about how even seeing that some of the characterssigned up for the audition willingly or knowingly while talking about killingpeople doesn’t necessarily mean that they were a horrible person or a bully. Itall depends on what society is actually like in the ndrv3 universe—and everythingwe know about the outside world and how society must have rebuilt itself afterthose catastrophes suggests that it’s awful. If the killing game reality showhas been going for 53 seasons and is a deeply engrained pastime andentertainment hobby, that’s not something that would ever occur in a normal society. It sounds much moreHunger Games-like to me, where the idea that this is “normal” and that thesekids (kids without talent) “deserve it” is so inherently beaten into societythat it goes unquestioned, even by the kids who sign up for it themselves.

Therefore even for characters like Momota, who was shownsaying on his tape that he wanted to kill people and win the game for money, it’simportant to remember that Tsumugi wanted to use those audition tapes for shockvalue. In my opinion, she wanted to use the tapes to create the impression thatthe survivors were all drastically different people than who they used to beback when they auditioned, because that would be the thing that would breaktheir spirits and convince them that they were little more than “fictionalexistences.”

In any case, a character like Momota, who was actually sickfrom before, would have more reason than most to enter a killing gamewillingly. He was already going to die anyway, and knew he had nothing to lose,and the idea of winning a game so clearly meant for entertainment and prestigeand “looking cool” was probably appealing under those circumstances.

My headcanons for most of the characters is that theyprobably acted very similarly, but with a few subversions. Tenko, for instance,I could easily see being the same very excitable, very easy-to-read emotionalsort of person. I think she must have really had a love for watching martialarts, but didn’t really know a lot about them, and that explains why she wasgiven a title like SHSL Aikido Specialist when she really just thinks nunchakuslook cool. But she was still a person who wants to “be strong” and wants to “protectothers”; she just didn’t always know how to go about it the best way, just asshe doesn’t always know how to do so with Himiko.

Kaede is fairly similar. The Kaede we see in her ownaudition tape describes herself as a cynic and someone who can’t really trustothers easily. Considering the bleakness of the outside world and society inndrv3, and what we see of Kaede’s flashbacks to being kidnapped in theprologue, this fits pretty well. But also she undeniably wanted to be a leaderfrom the start. She wanted to be someone who could trust others, and inspirethem, and serve as a hopeful, reliable sort of figure. This means that even ifshe felt actually putting it into practice might have been impossible for her,because of how cynical she was, she still had those feelings there all along.Kaede would never have made for the “perfect protagonist” figure that she wasif she hadn’t had that kind of potential in her all along.

Miu I definitely see as having been extremely similar to howshe is in-game. Most likely she went into her audition specifically asking tobe some “high and mighty inventor,” and she wanted to be able to invent supercool stuff all the time and have everyone think she was awesome and incredible.But since Miu is ultimately a character who’s almost all bark and no bite, andwho backs down quickly when given the same treatment she tries to force onto others,even in-game she retains this sort of quality, and her genius inventing abilitiesare still subverted by the fact that she really lacks basic common sense abouta lot of other things.

In the prologue, we see her saying things like “Why’re youtalking like someone who’s got talent?!”, implying that talent clearly existsin ndrv3 society and that those without it are regarded pretty lowly, or likethey shouldn’t be giving their opinions about things. And this is definitelyhow the Miu we see in-game acts a lot, so it follows her thought process.

You probably get the idea—most of the characters I thinkfollow this sort of pattern where how they would behave or talk to others isreally similar, except that perhaps they were slightly more or less excitableor confident or jaded. And that’s pretty normal, actually, in my opinion.Rather than thinking of them as entirely separate from their in-game selves,with most of them it feels a lot more like comparing the same person but withfive or ten years of experience in-between, because experience can also changea person and how they think without changing who they are at their core.

With Ouma…the question is a little more complicated, becauseOuma’s situation was more complicated. He was given the most messed up talentout of the bunch, because Tsumugi wanted him to be her pawn more than anything.We don’t see much of him in the prologue to compare to, either—he has exactlyone speaking line, and all we can really glean is that he looks really, reallynervous, and that he has never heard of himself (or the others) having any “sealedtalents” which the Monokumerz keep talking about.

Tsumugi confirms that his DICE group actually existed, andthat they did “laughably small crimes,” meaning that they most likely wentaround pulling pranks and maybe petty theft at most. I’d say this confirms thatOuma has definitely always been mischievous at least, but certainlywell-intentioned.

If my own theory that ndrv3’s society in general is basedaround those with SHSL Talents in the real world perpetuating fiction like DRand running the killing game show in order to take things out on those withouttalent is true, then I would bet Ouma and his DICE group were probably a realpain in the ass. A group of kids running around and pulling pranks andgenerally making these very talented people at the top of society in thissituation where talent is everything and it’s all up to “survival of thefittest” must have seemed like a real slap in the face, moreso if the wholepoint of DICE was that “no one ever got hurt or killed.”

My own headcanon (meaning no one has to agree with it) isthat Ouma looks so shocked and nervous in the prologue precisely because he’dbeen getting away with all these kinds of pranks and jokes before, andeverything seemed like a game and everything was going fine—up until he thoughthe “got caught.” Then suddenly he realized that he was in really hot water and that something definitely wasn’t right aboutthe situation he was in.

His personality being “imbued with despair” even feels alittle more intentionally like a punishment than anything that’s given to theother characters. If he and his DICE group had been making a point of playingthese pranks, getting away with these harmless crimes in order to point andlaugh at a talent-based society that was based around slaughtering off thosewithout talent because really, these super-talented people are not as smart asthey think they are, well…that’s a subversive message.

And it would make sense that Tsumugi and the producers wouldwant to make sure that he was the villain, and that he was given thispersonality and role based around the idea of “hurting others” and “getting offto human suffering,” because that’s what she wanted him to be. That’s whatJunko was, after all. But it speaks a lot to Ouma’s core values as a person,that even when that’s something he was twisted into and to some degree,something he did believe he’d become, he still maintained his hatred forkilling and suffering. He knew thingswere off about the killing game, and about his own memories and talent becauseof how much dissonance there was between what he could remember and the disgusthe actually felt when he saw human suffering.

Anyway, these arejust my headcanons! This got a bit long but it was really fun to talk about. Iknow a lot of people are still tripped up by the misinformation that thecharacters’ personalities are all “completely opposite” from how they werebefore, but knowing that that’s not really the case gives a lot more room forspeculation and ideas based on what we do see of them in-game, and I find itreally fun.

#ask #opinions #ndrv3 spoilers //#okay to reblog #this got meta length but it's really just headcanons and theories more than anything #still it was really fun to write about in particular #the prologue gives so much room to theorize and it's fun #anonymous

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