#What if Utsuro DID care about someone.

[short-circuit-the-great]

Throwing canon out the window for this fic because these days I care less and less about canon compliance and more and more about testing really cool alternate scenarios

[i-cant-stop-fandoming-help]

[Ayakane fic request] pre-killing game, Akane opens up to Ayame about the plans for the killing game and they try to figure a way to stop what's already in motion

Foaming at the mouth foaming at the mouth foaming at the mouth foaming at the mouth foaming-

:3

also i cant write ayame for the life of me. ayyyy macarena.

Ayame came to a halt. "Maeda is what?"

Akane was trembling and hugging herself. "He's not who he says he is. He... His name is Utsuro, not Yuki Maeda... And... And..." Tears began to well in her eyes. "And we were planning a killing game together... that would involve our entire class... But... But everyone here... they mean so much to me, and I don't want any of you dying...!"

It took a bit for Ayame to process her words. When she did, she ran to Akane and grabbed her shoulders, not even noticing when the other flinched.

"Taira, we need to tell Kinjo. Or Kisaragi. Hell, even Kurokawa or Mekaru would work! We need to tell someone-"

Akane's eyes widened and she tried to pull away. "No! No, we can't! They won't believe me, they'd never believe me... Nobody... nobody..." she began to choke on her own sobs.

Pity swelled in the sprinter's heart, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay, we won't tell them. But what about Inori? If either of us get injured trying to stop it, she should know... She could probably help us in more than medical care."

The maid was still trembling and weeping.

"...Alright. We'll talk about this more later."

-

It had been hours since Ayame was told. It wasn't like her, but she began running over every possible scenario in her head. She tells people against Akane's wishes and Akane begins helping with the game again, she tells people against her wishes and she doesn't help with the game but doesn't trust Ayame, she doesn't tell anyone but it dooms their entire class... so on and so forth.

Eventually, she came to an idea. "Taira? Are you feeling better now?"

The brunette looked up at her and gave a shaky nod.

"Good. I have an idea."

Akane perked up more, standing up to meet Ayame's deep blue eyes. "What is it?"

"Keep going to these game-plan meetings. Get as much information as you can and write it down. Find out where they want it to take place, how they're going to get us all to go there, et cetera. We'll anonymously leave copies at the police station, so they'll know where to find us all if the class goes missing." Ayame looked so upbeat saying this... But it wouldn't be good enough.

"Even if I did, the police wouldn't be able to have time to save us.... Not only a game is being planned. Miss Enoshima from class..." Akane paused to think. "77, I think... She and her sister are planning something they're calling "the most despair-inducing incident in the history of mankind." and it's going to distract from us being missing. So many more people are going to die, and... and I'm not sure how we'll stop her."

A lump of dread formed in Ayame's throat. There was only one solution to stop this despair that she could think of.

"What if... What if we killed her?"

[danykvyat]

So I finished Gintama and I've already started rewatching a couple of my personal favourite episodes (yeah I’m hyper-fixating) but how GOOD some of those earlier arcs were really emphasises how stagnant the ending was. The ending was ok, it wasn't awful, but it was....Meh. I’m late to the party so I’m sure it’s been said a million times before but having all the characters regress back to how they were at the beginning sucked. Nothing changed. For a series that always preached about life being worth living in spite of the change, pain and grief living brings, that sucked. It sucked. 

Shogun Assassination and Farewell Shinsengumi are the high points of the series because the events in the arcs are personal for ALL the characters. By Shogun Assassination our core characters have all come to know and care for Shige Shige so wanting to stop his assassination is a poignant goal for everyone. Farewell Shinsengumi deals with the fallout of failing to achieve that goal, culminating with the Shinsengumi willingly becoming rebels to save Kondo, again, one of THE core characters in the show. Both arcs feel high stakes because they are. They’re centred around established and pre-existing characters we've spent hundreds of episodes with. Our characters' actions feel meaningful. The battles we get feel meaningful. It all feels like it'll build to something even more meaningful because what happens in those arcs force our characters to grow and change.

And then we get Utsuro’s introduction and it all goes downhill from there. Sorachi wrote himself into a corner by making Shoyo Utsuro. The second he did that he had to commit to the ending being Gintoki, Katsura and Takasugi shaving Shoyo. Anything else would not be thematically fulfilling. And he didn't do that. 

It means Silver Soul is (un)intentionally reduced to a really straightforward good vs bad story for all the characters EXCEPT the Joui 3. The rest of the characters (mostly) have no personal ties to Shoyo. They’re stopping Utsuro et al predominantly because they're bad people out to destroy the Earth. That's it. It doesn't feel high stakes because Utsuro is never going to blow up the earth. That's just not going to happen. So it’s not interesting. You could replace almost all of the characters in Silver Soul with no-name background characters and nothing really changes. 

Which makes the ending we did get even more baffling to me because Sorachi clearly realises that or else he wouldn’t have pushed for the ending to go past what had been the agreed end date. And yet the narrative still essentially punishes Gin for his choice to behead Shoyo by having both Takasugi and Shoyo die in the end. Shoyo doesn't get to save his student. Katsura doesn't get to stop Gin from having to cut down someone dear to him again. Takasugi never gets to heal and move on from his trauma. There is zero catharsis. 

And then we flash forward with no reflection from any of the characters on what just happened and to make that worse we find out every character has failed to achieve their goals and everyone has regressed back to being the same character as they were at the beginning. Except we’re meant to be happy about that. It’s…..a choice.

Like I said, I’ve seen worse endings, and if I’m being generous it’s a nice safe ending for the Yorozuya. But I never felt like GinTama was a safe series. Utsuro being Shoyo caused a fundamental flaw with the story that Sorachi never really resolves so just wraps it up with a ‘See! It’s still a hijinks comedy series!’ which by the end, no it was a lot more than that.

Also Sorachi did the Shimuras so dirty. SO dirty.

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Ok, now that Nikei has burnt all of Iroha's porn, can we continue with the reunion?

*walks back inside* There, it's finally all gone; good riddance...

I see Iroha isn't with you, what is she doing?

I don't know after I left she was just staring at the fire so I don't care.

She looks to be holding a funeral for the bag...

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

*They look outside and it looks like Iroha is placing what looks to be stick and treating it like a funeral*

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

Wow... dramatic much? I mean she deserve it for drawing that crap, good riddance.

So, then what did you 2 find out?

Oh well, we did meet Harumi Nanami after Hajime's check-up.

Wait, you both did? I remember she was one of the nurses working at Utsuro's hospital, so did you get any intel?

I mean given she was one of the nurses working there and it was learn she became fertile because of Utsuro, so got any info?

Well... we did try but she told us that she didn't realize she became fertile until after work.

Yes and even then, she didn't even know who the child was, so meaning it could of been any kid so that means she had no idea, sorry but that's all we can work with.

...Then why didn't you press her further?

Look man, we did try to get information and seems that Harumi lady had no idea, sorry but that's all we got!

Then why the hell didn't you press further?! Seriously, it should of not be that damn hard if you try to push the intel out, I mean hell you could of kidnapped and torture her!

Well I'm sorry but if a certain someone was there instead of trying to stalk some journalist from Future Foundation then maybe you could of gotten that information - that's all we got!

Don't you dare say that shit, I'm trying to get ahead of the competition; how the hell do you screw up this badly?!

Besides, that intel I got is a lot of footage thanks to me bugging Masa Esumi, so even if I didn't watch her I can simply look at it on the computer after all.

Uh, Nikei...about that...

Huh? Why do you look nervous, did something happen...?

[danganronpafan777]

DRA Boys with S/o bruised by their giant doggo

A/n: Yeah, I know this is random, but sometimes I write random crap and scenarios that nobody asked for. Please don’t roast my writing too hard 😅

Tsurugi Kinjo:

When he saw the bruises, he was immediately pissed, mentally preparing to either arrest someone or tell you off if it was an accident

He wasted no time demanding what happened

"Oh, this? It was my dog, he was just happy to see me!"

He...was not expecting that answer

"..? I see, be more careful next time." He relaxes knowing that no one had intentionally hurt you.

He'll get you an ice pack and help you if it's more severe

You mainly use it as an excuse to get cuddles from him

DRA Teruya Otori:

"Y-Y/n!? Are ya okay!? Who did thi' te ya!?" He cries out, breaking into a heavier accent in shock. He immediately runs over to you and holds you.

"I-I'm sorry tha' I couldn't protect ya! Does thi' hurt-"

"Teruya! I'm okay, it was just D/n." You rub his back, noticing him tear up a bit. If you were dating, he definitely knew your dog by now. He immediately calms down, but feels a bit embarrassed.

"Oh. Sorry, Y/n. I guess I overreacted a bit." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm glad I have a boyfriend who cares so much." You reply, kissing him on the cheek. He stammered out an incoherent response, trying to hide his growing blush.

Kakeru Yamaguchi:

He is also immediately worried.

"Y/n! W-Who did this!? What happened!" He cries out. He overthinks about anything or anyone that could have caused this. You were so nice, what could've happened!? Did HE do that to you without realizing!?

You were quick to explain everything to him and he sighs in relief. He'll never admit it, but one of his biggest fears is hurting or scaring you due to his strength and appearance.

In the end, you're the one comforting him, but you don't mind! He also asks if he can meet your doggo sometime.

Yamato Kisaragi:

He wastes no time running over to you, and rapidly asking questions and rambling.

"Y/Nohmygoshareyouokaywhodidthistoyou-"

"Yamato! I'm fine, it was just my dog!" His eyes widen in response before he goes,

"You have a dog!? Why haven't you told me!?" He quickly insists on kissing your bruises, gets you an ice pack, and walks you home. You believe it was just as much as an act of his kindness as it was an excuse to meet your dog.

Him and your dog become bffs.

Utsuro:

He doesn't really make a big deal out of it. He doesn't talk much, so in the middle of your mostly one sided conversation he goes,

"What happened?" Motioning to the bruise.

You explain what happened to him and he just nods. He isn't very worried, since he knows that nothing is going to happen to you, and his appearance alone can scare away anyone who dares to mess with you.

Thanks to his luck, the bruise heals rather quickly, but he'll still get an ice pack if you say that it's painful.

Kinji Uehara:

He doesn't make a big deal out of it, but is still concerned over what could have happened.

"Y/n, you have a bruise. Are you alright? Are you in pain?"

"Hm? Oh! I'm fine, don't worry, babe! It was just my dog." He lightly blushes a bit at the pet name, but accepts your answer.

"I see. Would you like an ice pack, dear? I suggest you be more careful when handling your dog."

He'll lightly kiss it before bringing you the ice pack. Look who's blushing now-

Haruhiko Kobashikawa:

Immediatly freaks out, not as loudly as Yamato, but he still keeps asking,

"Y/n! You're hurt! Who did this!?"

After diminishing his fears and explaining, he’ll happily kiss your bruises. He jokingly says that if someone ever hurt you then he wouldn’t hesitate to beat him up, to which you respond that his ass would get handed to him.

“Hey! I’m not that weak!” He pouts. You nuzzle his neck and he kisses you.

He’ll get you an ice pack and be sure you’re okay. There’s also a chance he’ll “check you for other bruising” Dude you ain’t slick-

Mitch Higa:

“Woah! Y/n, what happened to your arm!?”

Without even meaning to, he attracts literally the entire class’s attention. Even if you and his classmates have gotten him to be less self absorbed, the habit of attracting attention everywhere dies hard.

He does get pretty pissed off at whoever could’ve done this, but he relaxes when you explain that it’s just from big doggo. He wouldn’t make a big deal of it after that.

He’d also ask to meet your dog and would become bffs with them.

DRA Yuki Maeda:

Like Haruhiko, he’s quick to be worried, but is gentle in his approach. He tries not to make you uncomfortable or draw attention.

“Y/n, are you alright. Your arm is bruised, what happened?”

He is still relieved when you explain what happened. He’ll bring you an ice pack and will kiss your bruises if you ask him to. He’ll also shyly ask if he could meet your dog.

With his luck, there’s a chance your dog will bruise him too

[nesisamess]

thinking about akane/sora.

sigh that whole thing along with her (their? both of their?) dynamics with utsuro, and how that kind of bleeds over into yuki.

i was gonna put some shit in the tags but my brain just kept writing so ahem here we go (sorry as always for the nonsensical rambling if you can’t tell i just use tumblr as a place to word vomit about the things that are Taking Up My Brain)

The main reason I’m not a huge fan of Sora/Yuki is because how much of it is just Sora’s programming? But at the same time that just makes everything 1000x more interesting because where does Sora begin and the programming stop, yknow? Sora is so vastly different from Akane imo that it feels weird to call Sora nothing but an imitation of Akane, but… canonically, i mean, that’s all she really is

I’m definitely a big believer in your own interpretations of media (and especially with some of Kodaka’s choices that i don’t personally agree with) and in Sora’s case I kind of don’t believe she’s just this really simple ai. I definitely think that her relationship with Akane and the melding of them is v. v. interesting and could lead to a lot of emotional development but it becomes a lot less interesting to me when it’s just like “oh yeah sora isn’t even like. anywhere close to real she can never be real whatsoever” like is the questioning of her own reality not enough? cuz her emotions feel pretty fucking real and it feels ridiculous to say otherwise

In my own fanfiction & writing for a post sdra2 what-if-sora-survives a lot of her struggle is with figuring out how much of akane is still in her. like. that’s almost a seperate person, but wait, no it’s not. i have her memories. i have her face. i stare in the mirror and she looks back and am i her? am i the one who did all those horrible things? or was it someone else? and sora’s struggle with that could be so so interesting

and how yuki/utsuro plays into it too ughhhh

did sora ever really love yuki, or was it all just the programming? and is that programming her or is it akane? and who is she, if she’s not just akane? utsuro and akane are 100% an unhealthy ass relationship and that always will kinda poison any variation of sora/akane x yuki/utsuro ships for me.

but utsuro and akane at the same time are so fucking interestinggggg in their toxic mess like she fucking worships him. he is a god to her but to him? akanes just another follower. a particularly loyal one but at the end of the day he. does. not. care. about. her. whatsoeverrrrrr!!! he doesn’t care about anything, not even himself

and i think she kinda knows that, or is aware but she doesn’t even care because to her utsuro is a god and she’s thankful he even lets her worship him. because he saved her. and how fucked up must akane’s situation must have been? i mean, i can’t imagine. and now, post sdra2, sora has all these memories. she remembers all this shit, all the reasons why she worships and loves utsuro but also. she has other stuff. she has yuki, and yoruko, and all these new memories that she had made. but, but… but she would still pick him.

and doesn’t that prove it?

that after all this time that sora didn’t even get to experience, she is the same.

the same girl that did all these horrific things in the name of worship.

is she also, then, the person she was before those memories came back? the person who flirted with yoruko and created bonds and made sarcastic comments.

is she…

is she both? neither?

well, we’ll never get an answer.

because at the end, she did what she always did.

she sacrificed herself for him.

[a-student-out-of-time]

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@danganronpasurvivoraskblog did their own take on this and tagged me, so here's my thoughts!

I was just perusing Tumblr one day, say SDRA2 in my recommended and looked it up on TV Tropes. It was pretty interesting-sounding, so I looked into it. Not much else to say, really : P

DRA. While SDRA2 is more visually-pleasing, I think DRA has a better and more well-crafted story overall.

Faves: DRA Chapter 4 and SDRA2 Chapter 5. Least Faves: Chapter 3 for both of them.

I have a lot of great things to say about the usage of both Akane Taira and Utsuro, and their implementation in the game...but I feel like I have to give Mikado credit for actually being a villainous force throughout all of SDRA2. We got to know him as a villain and thus all that characterization wasn't crammed into a single trial.

It's a toss up between Maku and Emma, because I feel like the two of them really had a lot of personal history that you got to see in their FTEs. Maku clearly regretted his actions, and Emma tormenting him with puns was pretty funny. The Void Theater segments honestly made me want to include them in my own story, given that there was a lot of history between the Voids we didn't get to see.

Yoruko. She really deserved a break after all that.

Faves: Kanata & Akane for DRA; Hibiki, Shinji, Setsuka, Yoruko & Sora in SDRA2. Least faves: Mitch and Tsurugi for DRA; Syboi and Iroha for SDRA2

A LOT. Frankly, the entire Another series barely utilizes anyone's actual ultimate talents, and instead relies on character quirks you'll probably forget about or actual literal luck.

Iroha. She doesn't do anything to improve anybody's situation; not the main group, not the Voids, barely even her own most of the time. She's borderline useless at the best of times, and at her worst, she's selfish, bratty, petulant, brainless and just a detriment. She doesn't change, adapt, contribute or even make for a particularly interesting character, so what was the point of her inclusion, much less her survival?

Kanata. There's so much more that could've been done with her character beyond just making her the pure angel who apparently had to die horribly so we would feel bad.

Anyone who's followed me for long enough knows my answer is going to be Hibiki. Nobody got screwed over as badly as she did. Say what you will about Yuki being reduced to a brain in a jar, at least he actually survived.

Once again, Hibiki, hands down. Her survival would've been so much more meaningful and interesting, and could've contributed so much to the story and themes, as well as the conflicts both Yuki and Sora were facing.

I don't really care about the executions, but I guess Syobai's would be interesting to see. It's pretty fitting for him.

Kinji's. It was a nice mix of thematically appropriate but also completely bizarre, as we expect from DR.

Not to steal an idea from WeebyNewz, but I think DRA's first chapter would've been a lot more interesting if Kiyoka was the one who killed Mitch while trying to protect Akane.

Faves: DRA Chapter 6 and SDRA2 Chapter 1. Least Faves: DRA Chapter 1 and SDRA2 Chapter 3.

Plot twist that got me: That Mikado actually got away with murder in Chapter 5, and nobody, not even Iroha, even realized until it was too late. She genuinely thought that she was the one who poisoned Teruya, but she got played just as hard. He was this close to winning and it was actually on his own merits. Least favorite plot twist: The reveal that Kizuna was actually fake and she was just looking for a chance to kill someone. I hate the way LINUJ talks about her as the most hateable character in the game, and he clearly wanted the audience to feel that way, yet went out of his way to give her some genuinely interesting and sympathetic qualities. That whole bit doesn't feel like she's revealing her true colors, but that her personality suddenly shifted for the sake of making her an antagonist. Her death was also needlessly prolonged and cruel.

Even if they didn't act like it in the game, the Voids did have a genuine level of camaraderie and friendship that was lost when Mikado took over and convinced them they had to set up this Killing Game. When Iroha said she wanted to use the bathroom after trial 4, she was really looking for a place to cry, knowing her only friends were all gone.

SDRA2, while I don't hate it, it has some of the weakest writing I've ever seen for a fangan. The game is so focused on self-indulgence and callbacks to DRA that it doesn't communicate its theme in any clear manner. It also has this pervasively cynical, jaded view of its cast where barely any of them grow or change at all. And as I always like to bring up, you can skip Chapter 3 and miss nothing important to the overarching story, Chapter 4 was a mess that derailed the narrative and Chapter 6 is one exposition dump after another. It's a messy story that clearly needed more planning.

Point 19 having been said, I really liked the scene in Chapter 5 where Sora and Yoruko finally have a heart-to-heart about Sora's fears about her identity. It was such a cathartic and emotional moment after so many chapters of garbage and mediocrity, not to mention bitterness and anger on Yoruko's part. I wanted more moments like these, where characters genuinely talk.

//So there we go, my 20 points for the Another series. Some of these are new, others are things I'll probably never shut up about : P

@despair-to-future-arcs @thenewfuture @askthedespairkids @a-tale-never-told @tired-writer-in-progress @spyrkle4 Do you guys wanna give this a go? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you wish to share

[ath16blf]

Sdra2 Teruya Otori x Male!Reader (5/7)

Ask by @ultimatesinger

angst at the end and violence for the poor Yuki Maeda.

spoilers for sdra2

-------

You are an idiot and a pervert. When there was the announcement of the party, you were already thinking of seeing the others completely drunk, naked dancing on the table. When Hajime one of your colleagues who doesn't know that you are revealed himself, you directly thought that he had done things before to Yuri, this poor ultimate astronaut. When Mikado, your boss introduced Teruya whom he had sent into the air like a rocket, tied in bdsm mod. You were already thinking about doing the same thing to him but you two are naked on your bed whipping him. When you saw Kokoro almost naked, freezing with severed hands on her bed, you thought someone had slept with her before. When Emma got executed, you think the monsters that did her didn't just cut into slices. In short, you are an idiot and a pervert.

At the trial of Setsuka's death, beheaded and placed on pillars in the creepy house where Yuki was beginning to accuse that the culprit is a void. Eventually you snap and say, “Seriously, do you still think only Voids do murder ?! Especially in a cruel and awful act. Yuki you disappoint me a lot, although not in fact, just connect your two neurons as quickly as possible, already that it barely prevents you from doing your business everywhere. You should really start doing something other than making your noodle !" Indeed, you did not like Yuki at all even if he was going to serve as a receptacle for your master Utsuro who saved you from your uncle who took you for a punching bag. In the end, this asshole's plan is perfect, it sacrifices Yuki and it allows you to regain your Divine Luck before it ends in Bad Luck no matter if the other Voids die of it. You'll kill Mikado anyway to gain access to Utsuro once the plan is complete.

Everyone is shocked at the cruelty of your words even though the first sentence is correct. Yuki: “But miss, are you a Void?! "How many times do I have to tell you I'm a guy?! Ok I'll start since apparently it doesn't fit in the empty space that is supposed to serve as your brain ! I am a dude ! I am a dude ! I am a dude ! I am a dude ! I am a dude ! And secondly I don't see how saying something logical is worthy of a Void. Is it because you think everyone here is stupid except the Voids? Or do you think everyone is as stupid as you and therefore all Voids are smart ?" Yuki is totally shocked now. “Now if you don’t have anything smart to say, shut up, it’s better. We are in a class trial not in a MED club with the king of morons. »

After the execution of the twins, Mikado your boss decided to take you aside to talk to you. "Remember that this kid is useful, don't treat him so coldly and be so cruel to him. "He deserves it, he's useless. Master Utsuro isn't that's why he's here otherwise I would have passed my hands under his totally fragile little neck until his eyes closed little by little and he was forever silent …. " You really hate him and you're still such an idiot and a pervert.

Teruya this little boy totally freaked out after Nikei revealed himself as a Void to only Shinji, the noodle, you, Yoruko, Mikado, Iroha and Sora and he locked everyone in the Tower of Babel. “What if we used the carcass of the noodle for warmth and food? Strangely no one agreed. Idiot and pervert once again and also a hell of a sadist. Yuki begins to not feel very good anymore, a sign that Utsuro will return. Eventually Shinji finally stopped the adorable asparagus with his body and everyone tied him up. “I propose that I take care of him. » you end up taking the poor former ultimate merchant in your arms before leaving with him without anyone being able to stop you then you have fun with him in a quiet corner with his consent of course, you are a sadistic idiot and pervert not a rapist.

Unfortunately, there was a murder on the ultimate firefighter and it ended up being revealed that Nikei manipulated everyone so that Yuki died executed for the death of his big brother except that the latter committed suicide after the passage of Sora to finish off the latter with the hand of the reporter who just freaked out with red eyes and the gun drawn. You end up standing in front of Nikei. "Stop it silly. he ends up aiming at you, his hatred is still just as undrinkable, a bit like his oversized ego. “Hmm? Do you want to take a bullet first?~ » you end up having red eyes before sticking a huge pie in his face to ring him and stop his nonsense except that in doing that he fired and you got caught bullet in the stomach also exploding his right hand, causing him to moan and cry in pain, lost. You end up falling to your knees, your eyes normal, blood flows from your mouth and your belly. You can barely breathe hoping that the remnants of Utsuro's Divine Luck can still save you from dying right away. Yuki is still in the same state, Yoruko is totally lost seeing knakies stolen, Sora is shocked, Teruya too: "(y-your first name) you're a-" you nod weakly, still losing as much of blood and you end up taking revenge on the journalist by planting a fork in his other hand before ending up falling to the ground, gradually closing your eyes while the asparagus came closer to you where he finally heard your last words: “I…. Loved you…..” before you breathed your last and Nikei ended up being executed for murder instead of breaking the rules.

Teruya ends up joining you in the murdered tomb along with his two best friends Haruhiko Kobashikawa and Satsuki Iranami after a few days of tension with the comrades in the city of Higa City. Idiot, sadistic, perverted and… endearing in a way for the former ultimate merchant.

END.

[siriusanotherside]

Right nnow, some people in a Discord group really hate SDRA2 and prefer DRA much more, because they find SDRA2's writing (Both in characters and in cases) much, much worse (Like, finding Kokoro and Kanade's intelligence more like a informed attribute, and finding Yuki annoying and whiny and preferring "Yuuki" much more bc they felt his breakdown was better written), and pretty much saying they LINUJ unlearned everything he learned when he did the first game (Bc in the first game, the characters questioned the others' testimonies, and feeling that Kokoro and Kanade's clues in the first two cases on SDRA2 came too out of nowhere)

EDIT: HELLO ASK THAT HAS BEEN IN ASK HELL FOR A LONG LONG TIME. IT IS FINISHED FINALLY! First, It is valid to have preferences for whatever reason between games. And even disliking other games for A/B/C/D, as taste is taste and everybody has their preference. I also feel that the structure (and cast) of Another1 and Another2 is different enough that it can happen of one hating one and liking the other. You can also dislike a character for not-deep reasons (there are characters I dislike just because their voices make my ears hurt or because I dislike the color palette).

Idk how Discord works well, but given the intensity of this, by what I am reading in the ask, I would say to try to either block them (or something similar to filtering them) depending on how frequently they do so (like say if they are flooding the chat with it non-stop). That said given that you said it is a Discord group then… It might be easier to filter it out of your feed? like a channel thing?.

I do greatly disagree with their criticisms though.

Addressing the criticism regarding Yuki VS Yuuki.

I would disagree because while they may share the same name and near same appearance they have very different: resources, connections/friends, structure of the killing game and pressures. All of those points snowball into very different breakdowns.

Yuuki/Utsuro Killing Game (calling KG) didn’t aim at him, specifically, and he had Divine Luck protecting him against most of the worst parts of it (People he cares about always survive, never betray him; No motive targets him, specifically). All participants, as far as he knows, have sympathetic motivations for killing and are being manipulated by Monokuma. As far as Yuuki knows, this is all caused by one evil person and should they find this person, everything would be over.

Yuki KG, on the other hand, is specifically targeting him in order to cause as much suffering on him as possible. As far as He knows, the game is caused by 5 murderers who are waiting to kill them, and twice shown to be willing to betray their friends (Hajime -> Shinji / Enma -> Kokoro).

The mastermind repeatedly shows that he is invincible and can bend reality and so no one can do anything about it. Not only that, but Kanade serves to skyrock the paranoia in everyone since her trial shows that even if one person is not a Void and seems to be a meek, shy, calm, softspoken, civilian, they could still be secretly a serial killer with a very different evil agenda.

All of this creates very different mindsets.

Adding to that, Yuuki is waking his memories, and while he is horrified of it, he still has the choice on what to do regarding them. Yuki is, basically, getting another person shoved inside his head while having his personality artificially (Mikado’s AI creation thing) fluctuate between both without any input of his, continually feeling powerless.

It is notable, that at the end, Yuuki’s Horror is discovering his memories. Yuki’s horror is being replaced by someone else while discovering his body doesn’t exist anymore and he is only a brain.

Yuuki doesn’t have to deal with people he specifically bonded with, canon-wise in scenes through the story, (Akane and Tsurugi), dying. Yuki loses his best friend / big brother figure / leader figure in a horrifying way.

Monokuma allows for Yuuki group to……regroup and have moments of lightness and closure, meanwhile Yuki group doesn’t have this type of closure and are in increasingly tense and anxiety inducing sequences.(Think of Chapter 4)  

Also, Yuki has to deal with, since Chapter 3, extreme moodswings and jarring changes in his personalities as if he is disappearing. Yuuki has to deal with odd dreams, once an angry outburst he quickly assumed was due to the KG and only truly has the illusion shatter in Chapter 6.

(Ohhh nice parallel it came to me, but Yuki gets executed in spite being and knowing he is innocent of Teruya’s murder. Yuuki dodges execution despite unknowingly having a connection to Yamato’s murder.)

All of this creates two very different breakdowns and ways of dealing with it. Yuki, due to the circumstances above, gets an on-going increasing-through-chapters breakdown. Yuuki’s proper breakdown happens in chapter 6.

Yuki reacts to the constant pressure of his killing game that barely allows him to breath, by crying, by snapping, by breaking under it. Yuuki has enough moments of levity to rest and truly snaps in chapter 4, in which both him and Akane have time to address it and apologize, and 5, in which he grabs and scares Mikako due to suspicion.

One breakdown is just more openly helpless due to Yuki’s lack of agency, of hope spots between despair, and lack of resources to fight. The other is a built up for the reveal of the mastermind, which Yuuki gets agency in what to do with the information, and has Divine Luck subtlety protecting him from the worst of the killing game.

Yuuki gets to decide what he can do to what happens to him. Yuki can mostly watch in horror unable to prevent, affect or deal with what happens to him.

So, in conclusion, both breakdowns have different aims and constructions that suit each character specific arc and foreshadowing and are both greatly written. Yuki’s is just more painful to watch due to it being a reaction to his lack of agency VERSUS Yuuki’s being a build up to find out a mystery that, in the end, he is still able to have agency in it.

Addressing Kokoro’s intelligence as an informed trait

I do believe Kokoro’s intelligence shows up enough during her screentime to be shown to be a consistent trait. She identifies something is odd with Sora, she is able to read the emotions/thoughts of other people with a good deal of frequency and point out so and she tries to come up with the best choice in a sea of bad ones to deal with her problems.

Looking beyond the trial, in chapter 2, this is a constant. Her main goal is to live, which means not to anger and become a threat to the Voids and to non-Voids, so she immediately glues herself on the one person who is confirmed not to be a Void, has aversion towards killing, wants to save them, and is committed to protect them (Teruya). She tries her best to stay neutral and not interact with anyone as to not anger the Voids or show any inclination on who they are.

The clue in trial one is brought up while being consistent with Kokoro’s character presented in Chapter 1 and in chapter 2. Notably, if you do all of Hajime’s free time events, it is also consistent with that, since in them, Hajime spends a good deal of time grappling with the realization he is going to have to kill someone, and so does show a window for Kokoro to be able to be able to read his doubt and then realize that he was the killer.

Also, ultimately the clue was not just a clue thrown there and forgotten. Kokoro’s clue gave her credibility and role through the trial gave credibility to her as a very unexpected threat to the Voids that could snitch on them at any moment and would be believed by the others due to said credibility.

On why Kokoro doesn’t make the optimal choices everytime

The vibe I get / my interpretation upon seeing Kokoro arc is that Kokoro is extremely smart in the book / deductive way but lacks in terms of how to apply it. Using a metaphor, Kokoro is a doctor that can identify what you have with precision, and can suggest a treatment but flounders when it comes to applying said treatment.

Kokoro is smart in technical terms and in able identifying what other people feel to the point of being able to almost read their thoughts. But. Notably, repeatedly, she seems to lack the ability to engage with the emotions she identifies in someone else, as well as, being overwhelmed by her own emotions due to the abnormal situation she is in (Killing Game).

She can identify who the Voids are and that they want her dead, and so she scrambles to try to make herself less of a threat. Kokoro can connect the dots that if she hints or outright tells on a Void, another will kill her. She clings to Teruya due to him being the only person neutral that she can hope to protect her. 

There are different kinds of intelligence. Example: Shinji is not booksmart, but he is emotionally smart in that he can rally, motivate and comfort people. Kokoro can point out what the person is feeling and nearly thinking, but she sees it in a clinical way without engaging with said person emotions, be it by feeling them or by addressing them. As such, she can’t comfort, motivate, rally or de-escalate successfully the group.

Chapter 2 showcases this, in which Kokoro has to navigate being a threat to the voids, not wanting to die, and trying to parse her own feelings on the situation, and how to try to deescalate the situation. She fails sometimes and increases the paranoia and distress with the group both Voids and not-voids.

One moment I also think showcases this is when we look at the first trial in a Watsonian way. Kokoro is able to identify the killer, but she lacks a way to bring it up that wouldn’t derail the trial and possibly make people dubious. So she lets Sora take the reins of said trial, so that Sora can “build the road” to the conclusion.

In Enma’s case, Kokoro seemed to be overwhelmed by the situation. Kokoro knew Enma was a Void. She knew Enma was observing her. She was also shocked by the way Enma interacted with her, as if genuinely wanting to be friends and Kokoro……also started to want to trust and be friends with Enma.

Kokoro strikes me as a very lonely person who was never really approached this strongly by someone that committed to being her friend (even if with dubious reasons), and so, I think it did touch her and made her want to trust Enma.

Notably, it is during the hopeful moment, when Hibiki who previously was freaking out over the Voids, commits to try for friendship with the show, that Kokoro tries to reach out back to Enma and feels confident doing so.

However, due to the her lack of… way with her words, bluntness and generally not really great empathy, as well as the nervous-ness of the situation it went as it went. I imagine that due to Enma never really hinting at her trauma to Kokoro, Kokoro ended up underestimating the intensity of the trigger that talking about it was, and so was caught out out of guard.

In conclusion, I would say that Kokoro is smart, but that she lacks in emotional intelligence to use what she sees to propel others towards her own goals.

Addressing Kanade’s intelligence

Much like Kokoro, Kanade intelligence is a consistent trait. Is it used for evil? Yeah, but Kanade and her actions do showcase it.

Kanade creates a persona that immediately hides most of her intentions and makes people underestimate her. The facade she shows into the world is of a meek, follower, crybaby with no confidence, who is bullied by her sister. Hibiki follows it up by being loud, yelling insults at her, and seeming (and believing) to be the one taking charge of them. This makes it so people are less willing to scrutinize or pay much attention to her, seeing her with either pity or looking away.

All hints she herself gives that she may be more than she shows are fairly neutral, after all, who is going to call her out for liking horror genre? Or for staying calm while Hibiki panics upon the bodies and say she is trying to calm her?

Notably too, the person who most gives away both Kanade’s plan and abilities are not she herself, but Hibiki who talks about it in a setting where Kanade can’t stop her without throwing away her mask. (Nikei interview right in front of everyone where Hibiki talked about their synch, Hibiki complimenting Kanade skills in front of Sora).

I would also say her behavior in the first trial is consistent and that she, much like Kokoro, watches out while Sora leads them towards the right answers. And then, she doesn’t step up due to Kokoro doing so.

Third trial also does give credence to Kanade’s intelligence. Her plan may be convoluted as hell, but the crux of it, that is two people murdered someone at the same time, was intelligent and impossible to guess. The viewer might be genre aware due to knowledge of the canon-verse third trial, and guess what Kanade was aiming for, but a bunch of people who were used to the structure of 1 murderer 1 victim were very stuck on it. Even too, the clues that do point to the right conclusion are given previously by Hibiki and not Kanade.

Syobai, the person who had the most knowledge on murder also dismissed at first glance the possibility due to the perceived impossibility of that level of synchronization being possible. Mikado has to insert a fail-safe on Sora so that she refuses to end the trial with the wrong conclusion before the time arrives, and Divine Luck has to act, in order for Kanade’s plan to fail.

Kanade does starts to panic and snap more, alerting people something is off, when they start to get said clues but considering the high stakes situation, it did made sense. Her arrogance is also a clue in itself that something is off with the conclusion they were arriving, but that’s a character flaw that doesn’t negate that the plan was smart in shrouding what the true murder was.

And so, yes Kanade is smart and it is displayed consistently through the game for it to be a trait.

As for the second trial clue, given Kanade’s experience with murder, her clue seemingly comes from nowhere but serves as foreshadowing of Kanade character, as a cunning and smart person. It is the first time that Kanade blatantly breaks her facade of a meek person, by acting arrogant, insulting people and cleverly pointing out the murder’s twist, and getting rid of the roadblock of the trial. Notably, a lot of people were unsure of Kanade suggestion, but they did went with it due to finding themselves going into circles when trying to find an answer to the murder.

So yeah, due to the way it acts as a foreshadowing for chapter 3 + set up for Kanade character + people were already stuck might as well hear her out, I do think it is a valid clue.

(The thing in the trial that makes me go “my dude what” is the icicle whole deal tho.)

About Linuj.

*waves hands in a way to try to say what I mean* It is…. Hm. Eh.

TL;DR: 1 was the first fangame and so he was still getting used to doing a fangame and getting confident as he went, but still acting inside the constraints of the setting. 2 was Linuj’s more ambitious project (I mean this in a neutral observation) that diverted a lot from the common tropes and standard plot structure of a killing game.

Due to this, the games have very different vibes. It is not that he unlearned anything, but that he got more confident to tell the story he wanted to tell and the plots he had ideas for. (END TL;DR)

When I see Another1 and 2, it gives me the gut instinct that Another 1 was Linuj first dipping his toes in fangame and DR -

(Chapter 1 in particular is…feels… very safe in the sense that he followed the very very standard DR formula to the point where it feels it is DR/1 with the twist that it is played straight in that ass who murdered is an ass and saint victim is a saint. Sports guy murders girl but she wasn’t the intended victim, ball was a key point of the murder, confusion due to location etc etc)

--- And as such, even as Linuj started to get comfortable and experimenting with his writing (the following chapters) due to the set up, he still went with the common structure of the plot, that is: Despair VS Hope; standard killing order; 1 (2ish) mastermind; mastermind reveal at 6; Murders are caused by motives set up by Monokuma or blew out due to confrontation; everybody had been Hope’s Peak students and Ultimates before and had known each other.

(I mean the observation above in a neutral way (not negative or positive). I think the writing of the first game is incredibly good, a joy to watch, the twists original and gripping by their set up, but he goes with the usual structure)

In 2, Linuj gives the vibe of feeling more confident and had gotten more practice with the creation of the killing game, and so went with the vision he had and experimented with his ideas.

This caused a very different plot structure: Despair VS Hope is barely there and is a light curtain due to Mikado/Voids motive having nothing to do with it and the theming focusing more heavily on Outcomes VS Process; Murders are (mostly) pre-determined beforehand by chosen murderers; everybody are strangers actually; already revealed mastermind in 1 and technically near every chapter having one adjacent reveal.

About specifically the clue and testimonies writing

I think the clue that Kanade gives in within the story in that it serves very well its purpose of both setting up Kanade’s true character and threat and in introducing a new way to look around the murder.

Kokoro’s clue felt very in accordance with her character and her goal as well.

About testimonies…. I will be real with you chief, it has been a hot second since I saw all of the trials. I generally think that they were done ok, with shout outs to chapter 1 and 4 when it comes to it. Due to the structure of 2 (Somewhat everyone accounted for plus looking in reverse order) and 5 (3 people were all together leaving the options as: suicide, Alt Yuki possesses Yuki, Mikado did it or Iroha did it), I do understand why the testimonies were structured that way.

I think that the testimonies due to the structure of the murders between games as well as different motivations. I don’t know, they felt very natural to the trials of their respective games. Notably, I would point out that Mikako also does a testimony, not unlike Kokoro, in Chap 4, in which she sees Satsuki running away in tears out of the room and is taken as truthful.

The clues comes as character establishing moments for Kokoro and Kanade, which either impacted them in the future (Kokoro’s credibility3) or foreshadowed important points that were to come (Kanade’s true personality and threat as a clever cunning person).

So yeah.

[dragon-in-the-watery-bowl]

Festering

Another part for the Ghost AU, this time for something I wanted to write for a while.

This is also a sequel for "Hit and Run".

After shambling back to his room, and trying to sleep the pain away, the first thing Makoto saw after waking up was Utsuro looking at him, with his usual blank expression, but he had a feeling that the ghost wasn't happy with him.

The memories of last night came back to him, the mysterious note, being hit in the head by someone, Utsuro's worry after he woke up and him ignoring his voice, and...

What he discovered about Sakura.

Sakura was... the mastermind's spy?

He couldn't believe it, something like that wasn't like the Sakura he knew.

Why she did that? What had happened to make her do that? Why-?

"Are you feeling better now?"

Utsuro's voice stopped his train of thought, leaving him confused for a moment, until he felt a small throb on the back of his head.

Oh yeah, he was attacked last night.

Wincing after rubbing the tender spot, now covered in dried blood, with his fingers, he thought about how worried the ghost looked when he recovered his consciousness, and, without saying anything, he nodded, not wanting to worry him further.

Utsuro looked at him for a while, making him a bit nervous, until he sighed and turned his back to him, not saying anything.

He felt that this wouldn't be the last time they would have this conversation.

---

He was glad that Makoto had woken up, but he was still not happy with his decision to sleep the attack away.

Junko could have killed him easily with that strike, or at least leaving him with severe brain damage.

It was just luck that he didn't got completely screwed by it.

That's why he felt so... annoyed, when Kyoko admitted to him that she was expecting Junko to make a move when she sent him to look.

Their conversation had ended with the detective growing distrustful of Makoto, with a reasoning that Utsuro found stupid.

She knowingly threw him to the wolves, but she stops trusting him because he wasn't comfortable about telling her about what they had discovered about Sakura, something that could have consequences if told too soon.

If anything, he had more reasons to distrust her.

But, even with that, he still trusted her.

Why?

Why he trusts everyone so easily, not matter what?

Even when they blamed him of a murder he didn't commit.

Even when they have blood on their hands.

He looked at his hands. He was trembling.

Why he trusts him so much?

---

The day had ended with Chihiro's Alter Ego revealing to the rest of class 78 about Hope's Peak original plans to protect them from the Tragedy and the reason why they were trapped in the building in the first place.

Obviously, Junko had made sure that they didn't remember all of that for the killing game, and they didn't had all the pieces of the puzzle, so they ended up speculating about what had really happened.

And he could feel Makoto's glare towards him during the conversation.

After everyone went back to their rooms, he could still feel him looking at him, and it was starting to get grating.

"Ask away, I know you want to do it"

Makoto made a noise, high in pitch, that reminded him of a bird "W-what?" He said, slightly startled.

"Since Chihiro Fujisaki's alter ego told you guys about the files he discovered, you're been awfully focused on me" He waived his hand, wanting to end this conversation already "So tell me what's in your mind already"

A tense silence fell onto the room, with no one saying anything, until Makoto finally spoke.

"Do... you know something about this 'Tragedy'?"

He didn't answered immediately, glancing at the camera. He had to be careful, with Junko constantly spying them with those things.

"I... yes, I know, but it wouldn't be wise to tell you right now" He nodded his head towards the camera, with the luckster getting what he was trying to say after a moment of confusion.

"But I can tell you something: It is not about what you can remember, but what you can't"

"What? What do you mean?" Makoto asked, but he didn't answer.

He was sure that both him and Junko were going to leave him sleeping with great questions in his mind.

---

With everything that already had happened, Makoto couldn't think that it could get worse.

But with Monokuma still in control, that was going to be impossible.

Because he had decided to reveal Sakura as his mole.

'Eye for an eye, fang for a fang': you betray me, I betray you, revealing how you betrayed everyone else.

The revelation had split almost everyone in two sides: Byakuya, Toko and Yasuhiro being against Sakura, and him and Aoi being still on her side, knowing that she was coerced into spying them.

He didn't knew where Kyoko was in this mess, she was still angry at him.

And the distrust didn't stop by the next day.

With Byakuya saying insensitive things too many towards Sakura, Aoi lost her patience, with a fight being avoided by Kyoko's intervention.

Everyone had left to their rooms, not wanting to interact with each other anymore. He thought about talking with Aoi, but he decided not to after he heard Utsuro talk.

"Why you still trust Sakura Oogami?"

"Eh?" He was pretty confused at his question "Well, I'm guess you saw her fighting Monokuma after... that" He said, putting his hand to where he was hit days ago, a gesture that, he thinks, made the ghost visibly flinch "And Monokuma mentioning a 'hostage' when he revealed everyone about Sakura being the mole..."

"What are you trying to say?" Utsuro's voice was starting to sound more angry.

"W-well, I'm saying that she was clearly being forced to spy on us by the mastermind, being blackmailed with the safety of someone dear to her, and now she had decided to stop playing their game!"

"And what if her deflection isn't truthful? What if she tries to kill someone anyways?"

"You were with me when I saw her fight Monokuma, right? Did you not heard what she said there?" Why he was acting like this? He was aware that Utsuro didn't seem to trust anyone besides him, but, after the day they discovered that Sakura was the mole, he was been acting weird "She said that she 'was going to resist him', she wouldn't go back on her word and kill someone"

The ghost was starting to get more agitated "And why you're thinking she will keep her word?!"

"Because she's my friend and I know that she's a kind and honorable person who wouldn't kill anyone willingly!"

Utsuro put his hands over his face, groaning loudly, getting more agitated the longer the argument continued.

"Ju-The mastermind doesn't care how 'honorable' or 'kind' someone is, s-they will find the way to make them kill" He spat back, not even bothering to hide his anger "You know what happened with Sayaka Maizono and Mondo Oowada..."

He flinched at the mention of his dead classmates, but Utsuro didn't stop there.

"And even if Sakura Oogami doesn't kill anyone, that doesn't mean that someone would try to kill. I can see someone else getting blood on their hands thanks to the paranoia"

He couldn't handle the ghost's pessimism anymore "What has gotten into you-?!"

"Why are you so goddamn trusting?!"

After those words got out, he was too shocked to continue talking, making Utsuro continue.

"When Sakaya Maizono died in your room, everyone pinned the crime on you without a hint of a doubt, only stopping once you proved to them that you couldn't commit the crime the way it was done, and you have the gall of still calling them your friends?! You spend almost all the time with them being ordered around and being treated like a slave, because they don't care if you get hurt or killed after they send you to, I don't know, a secret room on the school's bathroom, to test a theory they had" Utsuro was starting to pull his hair in a way it looked painful in the middle of his ranting "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, not doing anything while they abuse you and treat you like dirt, only smiling and trying to befriend them, no matter what they do to you"

"Wait, Uts-"

The ghost didn't heard him, too lost on his rambling "Do you don't have any spine?! This servile attitude won't lead you anywhere except to a path of pain and misery, no matter how much you think that people will immediately become better if you do everything they want you to do. I don't even know why do you trust me so much, I'm just an selfish and uncaring asshole who betrayed everyone that thought I was their friend and left them to die!"

"Hey, plea-"

"CAN YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR ONE SECOND AKANE?!"

After he said that name, the room fell into complete silence, both of them trying to process what had happened in that moment. Makoto stayed completely still, but Utsuro was "breathing" haggardly, face flushed in anger.

It took some seconds, but Utsuro's face started to change into a expression of mortification and shame, slowly hiding his face behind his hands, getting Makoto out of his frozen stupor, making him move a hand towards him.

"H-hey-"

"I don't want to talk anymore" Utsuro said, muffled under his hands.

Makoto didn't knew what to do, so he sat on his bed, waiting for the nighttime announcement to arrive.

---

When he opened his eyes, Utsuro was sitting at the bedside, with his back turned to him.

He had a restless night, having spent hours laying awake on the bed and, when he finally fell asleep, he only got a dreamless sleep that left him more exhausted.

Actually, he was pretty sure that it was still too soon for Monokuma's morning announcement to play.

He didn't wanted to upset the ghost even further, their argument was still fresh on his mind, so he started to quietly get up from the bed, when he heard his voice.

"I'm... sorry"

He looked back at Utsuro, but the ghost hadn't moved an inch since he talked.

"I shouldn't had snapped the way I did it yesterday, I'm... not good with emotions and... things become too intense if I start to feel" He was trying to grab the bedsheets, but they only went through his hands "I don't know how to describe it, it's like my brain gets stuck on that emotion and I can't stop it. Has been time since I felt something like this, and I wasn't prepared"

"I... think I should apologize too" Makoto finally said "You had to be so scared when the mastermind attacked me that day, but the only thing I was thinking was about how everything in the room had disappeared and how tired I was, and I didn't even tried to hear what you were trying to say to me"

With Utsuro not answering, he continued "And the next day, I just acted like nothing had happened, having been more worried about Oogami being the spy than anything else" He didn't move from where he sat on the bed "I was really stupid then, I'm sorry"

The room fell into silence, with only minutes for the morning announcement to ring on the entire building and bring sound and life onto it, even if that life had already been cut to half from what it once was thanks to the sick game they were forced to play.

He had replayed their argument in his head the entire night, being unable to stop thinking about what he had called him at the end, in that last explosion of repressed emotion, a name he had never said in front of him "Uhm, Utsuro?"

He waited until he was sure the ghost was listening to him, having turned around to face him.

Utsuro only had moved his head to the side, only one eye looking to where he was sitting.

"At the end of the..." Argument, he wanted to say, but the word couldn't get out of his mouth "we had... uh... why did you called me 'Akane'?"

Utsuro tensed up for a second, before his shoulders slumped down and moved his head to look at the floor "She... was someone close to me, and I... ruined her life... because she wanted to be at my side, forever"

"She... died?" He felt awful. What if Utsuro was so worried that day because that 'Akane' girl died in a similar situation?

"I think not, she's maybe hurt, but not dead..." He laughed slightly. That laugh sounded sad and melancholic "It was the only time in our lives together that she didn't listen to me..."

"Oh..." He barely heard that last thing he said, with him talking so low, but he didn't wanted to press the issue further.

He got up and went to his bathroom to, at least, wash his face. This argument between the two of them was finally done, but there was still the problems that Sakura being revealed as the mole had caused between his living classmates and friends.

---

After Makoto got out of his room, they heard a scream coming from the dining room.

With how low the screaming voice was, it had to be the clairvoyant.

Makoto ran towards the room, with the scenario that greeted him being Genocide Syo towering over Aoi, with the latter on the floor, grabbing her shoulder in pain.

After Makoto and Yasuhiro got Aoi in the nurse office, they got an explanation of what had happened: Her and Toko had a fight about Sakura's situation and accidentally dropped some pepper, triggering another of the Ultimate Murderous Fiend's arrivals.

Thankfully, Aoi only got a scratch from the attack. This reminded him that, even if Syo wasn't interested in killing anyone right now, she was still dangerous.

But the person who ended up the most affected by this attack was Sakura herself, who had barged into the room in a panic, probably because she also heard Yasuhiro's scream, and fell into an impotent rage at that had happened to the swimmer.

Sakura left the nurse office after accidentally scaring Yasuhiro again, with Aoi close behind, but there was something about what she last said before leaving that didn't sit well for Utsuro.

She was going to 'draw a line'. Something told him that, whatever she was planning to do, it was going to end badly.

Like that, the only living people left in the room were Makoto and Kyoko, the latter arriving after seeing Yasuhiro running in fear from the martial artist.

Kyoko had decided to "forget" her previous antagonism towards Makoto, something that, for him, didn't felt like the apology she thought it was.

At least she admitted her behavior was stupid.

What she wanted to talk about, however, was related to Chihiro's alter ego.

Once they arrived to where they were hiding him from Junko, he told them that he wanted to be connected to the building's network and investigate further.

He already knew it was going to be a bad idea, and Makoto knew it too. Yamato's alter ego was only able to elude and overpower the Monokumas thanks to "Yuki" unknowingly using the Divine Luck, in a attempt to save everyone who was still alive and beat Akane, still unaware he was the real mastermind.

But nobody in this building had Divine Luck, so Junko wouldn't have any problem to catch and erase him once she realized about the intrusion.

But things were already decided for them, so the best thing they could do was connect him in the secret room, hoping that it could give them some time before the Ultimate Despair catched them onto their trick.

Thankfully, Junko was only interested in getting rid of the books and similar stuff, so she didn't touched whatever else it was on the room.

During the walk to the 2nd room, they bumped with Yasuhiro and Syo, who, he noticed, were acting in a stranger way than they usually acted.

Something surely had happened.

Before he started to climb the stairs to the 2nd floor, the laptop hidden in his jacket, Makoto stopped and started to talk.

"When the mastermind attacked me and took everything out of the room, did you saw if they went away with more than just the files?"

Well, he was more or less panicking over Makoto and wishing death onto her than really "looking" at what she was doing, but... "No, they were only interested in the written stuff, they don't touched anything else"

"Good..." The luckster said before starting to move again, not wanting to leave the detective waiting.

Once they got into the room and left the Alter Ego connected and working, Makoto fell asleep the second he got on his bed, only to be woken up by the sound of the doorbell.

It was Kyoko. And she told them that Aoi had came to her scared out of her mind, begging her to come to the Rec Room.

Before following her, Makoto looked back at him, worried, but he couldn't give him reassurance.

He was right, whatever Sakura tried to do had went wrong.

Once they arrived, the door to the room was stuck with a chair and Sakura was sitting in the middle of the room, errily still.

He could faintly see blood on her face.

Even if she wasn't dead, they needed to act fast.

With Aoi giving him a broom to break the glass, giving him the opportunity to get the door unstuck, Makoto opened the door and ran towards the martial artist.

But, once they were close enough to her, it was clear they were too late.

She was dead.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

[wattpadscapcons]

I would start doing some of my writing requests but I only have 6 for both accounts and it feels like no one is going to put in asks even though my ask box is open 24/7 as of the moment.

Either I've just become someone you only find via fnf or people just don't like my writing anymore. Idk, I feel like I just constantly beg my friends to send in writing requests or edit requests because I'm impatient and waiting fuels my anxiety instead of calms it. Besides I almost always want to write but I never know what to write about, and even if I write something by myself that I think I did good on I feel like no one else cares besides for like a few of my close mutuals.

That being said I'm going to start on my requests tomorrow because I want to write about Utsuro and that trumps over whatever bad vibes I'm feeling.

I seriously need to start hyperfixating on other fandoms other than DRA. I wanted to watch and possibly write for other danganronpa fangames and also creepypastas or mlp.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining for not having people flock to me all the time but I'm probably just feeling blue and overthinking again like always.

[modstarfell]

Canon compliant writing. ch5 spoilers, remembering memories (POV: Akane Taira)

"Maeda-sama isn't the traitor! I refuse to believe it!" Kurokawa... Why was she pinning this all of Maeda? I watched her fall apart, basically killing herself while Rei held her... Monokuma still took Kurokawa's lifeless body to be executed... Something within me though, it's telling me neither Kurokawa or Maeda had anything to do with Kisaragi's death. I held onto the trim of my apron as I watched the screen with everyone else... Suddenly the power went off though and Tsurugi came barreling into the court room.

"Everyone get behind me, Akane Taira! You are the mastermind behind all of this! My memories managed to return to me while I was unconscious... You... You're the reason we're all trapped here!"

Huh. What? No, I was just as lost as everyone else when I arrived here.... T-there's no way right? Crack. I didn't do anything wrong. Crack. "I-I'm the same as you all! What are you talking about?!" Crack. My head began to spin and I couldn't think, it was all just loud static noise. Maeda-Sama... Someone... Help me... Help... Utsuro. Suddenly everything felt like it shattered at once and I let out a loud laughter. "My my, so you think you've figured it all out have you?" I began removing various accessories of mine, letting them fall to the ground. "Very well, let's have another introduction! My name is Akane Taira, one of the ultimate despair! You may think you won this game by figuring me out but I'm not the actual mastermind! You could consider me... More of a traitor. Isn't that right Maeda-sama?"

Something isn't right. He didn't wake up with me. Would he still want to be called 'Maeda-sama'? No. He's Master Utsuro. Haah... "Hmm, since you're still surprised... We'll hold another, one final class trial to figure out who's really behind this game." It'll be the only way to wake up Master Utsuro. I let out a hum and moved closer to the 'survivors'. "I'll let you all go snooping through this place and figure out the truth of where we are... Also, Kinjo, if I catch you spoiling anything... I'll let you end up in the same situation Kisaragi found himself in. Do I make myself clear?" I shot a death glare towards my 'classmate'. I didn't care that he was angry, everything I did... Everything I'm doing is for Utsuro's sake. I need to wake him up, this is what my task is as a maid, my life... It's dedicated to Master Utsuro. I'll forever be his loyal servant no matter how long it takes me.

[mikado-sannoji]

"...Yes, kind of. Not intentionally. Do you know about someone called Utsuro? ...He saved my creator when he was around the age of 6 and since then... He was obsessed to meet with Utsuro again, through any means but he lacked the skills to, so in a way i had two creators. His plan... Was to use my program to create a fake Utsuro after his death and was going to use me and overwrite me so he never paid much attention to me so je wasn't aware i had gained self awarness. I was scared... My other creator, Kokoro. She... Encouraged me to do cruel things and i complied because she gave me what he did not, praise, attention and what i thought was care, it made me happy so she used me like the fool i was for trusting her, she used both me and my creator, wouldn't be surprised if she worked with Kodaka."

Once they got back to Earth, the wizard didn't waste much time as he lead MonoFizz towards Dementia's mansion.

"Just a bit further now. It should be over here. Let's hope they're willing to hear us out."

@mikado-sannoji

MonoFizz: "I hope you're right." *They arrived at Dementia's castle.* "Wow. That is one gothic looking castle. Am I to expect the living dead or som-"

"Hello............"

MonoFizz: "GAH!" *MonoFizz jumps back.* "What the heck, kid!?"

[despair-to-future-arcs]

Let's just hope they can't catch up to Iroha and the others, if they find the porn bag they're gonna come right back to you questioning where the actual Utsuro lore bag is

Location: Ishinomaki Port

Time: 9:45 PM

*After getting off the train the trio rush over and got onto the boat which took off, which then Hajime explain to Harumi...*

Oh god, is...is that what happen? The Kisaragi Foundation were asking about me...!

Yeah they were but it seems that Rei women didn't tell Tsurugi or anything and she mostly wanted to ask questions about Utsuro's family which given that the sister is under your foundation's care; it might be for the best to avoid.

Nagi was panicking and of course I had to rush her out of there, given what the Kisaragi Foundation would do if they find out she was alive, it's probably better to avoid them...

Your right, today must be a lot for Nagi to deal with, but at least we were able to learn about Utsuro, a lot more then we bargain for, that's for sure and Nagi should take some medication due to what happen today... probably it be safer if I stay on Jabberwock Island.

Well at least we got everything we need, I'll call Dr. Kimura about this and check to see if Nagi is okay, can you go and see how she's doing.

Given she quickly went inside, I get the feeling she's trying to calm herself; today has been... eventful to say the least, I'll be there.

Yeah, sure... (Today was sure a lot and I feel she was falling apart by the end, hopefully we don't have to do this again...)

*Hajime knocks on the door* Nagi, it's Hajime - can I come in?

NAGI: Of course, I just change and just sorting the bag...

*Opens the door and there he finds Nagi, putting files into the bag that contain medicine* Hey...

Oh, hey Hajime I just finish sorting this out; seems we got everything we need, thank god...

*walks over* Yeah, I guess so...

So...Nagi, are you doing okay? I remember you got sick and I just want to make sure your alright...

Well, I just needed a moment to just...I just...

*As then Nagi falls to the floor, she then is shaking and breathing heavily as she is crying*

Oh my god, I can't believe I fucking did - Oh my god, what the fuck did I just?! I was ju-just wanting to learn about Utsuro, NOT FUCKING THIS!!!!

*Is just breathing rapidly* Fucking shit they are going to fucking kill me, aren't they?! I'm going to fucking die and th-th-then people st-started to compare me to Void all for blowing up a damn building and for hurting someone with a condition! I...I was just...I...!

NAGI: WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!! I'M SORRY, I'M SO SO SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN IT, I'M SORRY FOR HURTING YOU AND...AND-!

*POW!* *POW!* *BANG!*

*Kneels down and holds Nagi as she's having a severe panic attack*...

[danganronpafan777]

Can you try to write SDRA Boys being with the Ultimate Seer/Bruno S/O they hear the Song about them and even the so call bad predictions they made a Goldfish death,a bald priest and man who grew a gut

Utsuro, Teruya, and Haruhiko were already answered in a previous post, but the other bois are here!

Yamato Kisaragi:

He thinks your talent is so cool! He also likes to jam out to the song, but feels terrible when he realizes how cruel it is to someone so kind

He would never blame you for something bad happening, only thanking you for telling him

He loves your different personas, even making up some of his own 

He's very affectionate and sweet towards you, and will tell off anyone who talks and about you

He would also make a nicer parody to the song, and would intentionally sing horribly just to get you to laugh 

He's always there to comfort you if you feel bad about your ability, and won't hesitate to tell off your Abuela

"Hey, It's okay, S/o. I know about your ability, and how people feel about it. I love your ability, and I love you! Don't ever feel like your a bad omen, you're one of the best things to ever happen to me!"

Tsurugi Kinjo:

He's probably gotten multiple calls from people saying that you told them something bad would happen to them, and every time he would just ignore it

As he learned that everything the callers said would actually happen to them, he was still a bit skeptical. 

How are you able to do that?

He tries not to treat you any differently when he first meets you, but he’s still suspicious of you

After a while though, he does learn to trust you, and decides that you aren’t to blame for misfortune

He doesn’t care about the song or anything, and as a cop he can publicly debunk the whole thing anyway

Your personas make him smile, and forget about whatever troubles he had faced during the day

“S/o, your…gift still confuses me, but I appreciate you for who you are. Your ability does not define you. You are not a bringer of bad luck, on the contrary… my life has been better with you in it.”

Mitch Higa:

He avoided you for as long as he possibly could He heard of what happened to the priest, the goldfish lady, and the fat man (his words)

With his reputation being extremely important to him, he didn't want to be anywhere near you, and you, being the understanding and kind person you were, accepted it

It wasn't until Haruhiko invited the class to an event and Mikako literally forced Mitch to introduce himself, did he realize how wrong the rumors were 

Even if you were socially awkward, you still listened to what he had to say and even complimented him a few times 

He hesitates over interacting with you again, still a bit skeptical about the rumors, but with the help from his class, he approaches you again

Your smile made him immediately decide he made the right choice

The two of you are the definition of the phrase "opposites attract"

He thought the song was pretty awesome, but wouldn't admit it

He was kinda jealous you had a whole song written about you-

He would chuckle a bit at any of your personas and give you a soccer ball to use as a prop 

Eventually, when his experience at Hope's Peak gives him his growth as a person, and he comes to realize that fame isn't everything (a lesson you helped him learn), he makes the choice himself to put his (and hopefully yours) happiness first and your reputations aside and ask you out, 

"Hey, S/o... I know I was a jerk when we first met, but you've definitely changed me. I know I'm still just a dude who loves soccer, but...ugh, what the hell.. asking someone out has never been this difficult...I really like you S/o, and I don't believe what they say about you. I don't care what my fans think. Will you.. go out with me?"

Kinji Uehara:

He isn't one to judge people based on rumors, even if one of the pastors at his church claimed to go bald because of you

He introduced himself to you and treated you like he would treat any other person, and soon you guys became close friends 

When someone warns him to stay away or says something bad about you, he'll politely correct them, telling them that you never wanted anything bad to happen or any fish to die 

He wouldn't blame you for any predictions you have about him. He tries to remind you to focus on the good predictions, and the happiness you have given people.

He doesn't care much for the song, politely asking people to stop singing it, maybe less politely if they sing it while you're still there

He would smile at the personas, and the two of you would use it to make the kids at the orphanage laugh

"You're ability is a gift, S/o. You were given the ability to see the future from a miracle. Even if the results may not yield to what people may wish, your gift was never meant to be a curse. You are not a curse. I'm sorry that your grandmother can't see that, but I do."

Kakeru Yamaguchi:

He was definitely scared of you

Kakeru apologized for everything he said, worried that you could curse him or something if he offended you

You were a lot sweeter than he imagined!  He thought you were adorable and caught feelings pretty quickly, and would bury his red face in his hands whenever you pulled out one of your personas 

The song is catchy to him, but he would feel terrible every time he thinks about it. How could he like such slander against you?

You, Kakeru, and Kanata are known to be the wholesome trio of your class

It's a while before he is able to gain the courage to confess his feelings, and it isn't until he finds you doubting yourself when he finally does it,

"I-I love you, S/o! A-And I don't care what people say! They're wrong about you! Y-You're the nicest p-person I know! Your grandmother is wrong... You're the miracle! All of you!"

DRA Yuki Maeda:

Yuki knew a lot about you from the start, having researched all the ultimates before going to Hope's Peak

However, you seemed so much cuter and shy than he thought you would be 

He thought the song was pretty catchy, but he stopped listening to it when he learned how wrong it was about you, and wouldn't hesitate to correct anyone if they thought this was what you were like

"Hey, it's not S/o's fault that those things happened to you. You asked for your fortune and they told you, even if it's not what you wanted to hear." 

He would be curious about his own fortune, and wouldn't blame you if it was bad 

He would chuckle at your other personas, while mentally thinking about how cute you were 

"Hey, S/o, you shouldn't let their words get to you! They don't know the real you, and you're so much better than they realize! That's why... I like you!"

[yomiurinikei]

i’ve seen you mention utsuro not being a system a couple of times and, as somebody who is ALWAYS looking for more headcanons to add to the roster, may i ask why you headcanon this? /genq

oh, why i hc utsuro as a system?? sure sure!! i wrote aaaa… well. a write-up about this but that was forever ago,, funnily enough i think i had a longer/more in depth write up for hibiki being a system (it was p much my belief for what she had in game, her behavior was 100% consistent with did, but anywayyys…), but! i definitely can break down this hc, seeing as it has basis in canon as opposed to, say, my hilarious and amazing idea of what if each of the CoU were systems

(nows probably a good time to note, while i really don’t want to get into sysc0urse, i am. moreso anti-end0. i don’t want this post in those tags, but as someone who’s been in online system communities for 5+ years, i’ve visibly seen how conversations about systems have changed and the damage that’s been inflicted on systems. a lot of beliefs going around are incredibly damaging/help no one; as a result, this theory complies with a… for lack of a better term, traumagen1c reliant understanding of did)

so!! it’s shown to us in the epilogue of dra that utsuro. is extremely traumatized <333. it’s made clear that since he was small, his parents have been behaving in such a way that led to his feeling he was only valued for his fortune. his parents were greedy, cared about material gain; it’s literally said (translations are never one to one but meaning comes across) they “saw their child as a tool to satisfy their desires” and that because of their behaviors, utsuro wound up uncared for and alone.

id say. having your parents view you as a tool for their material benefit, to the degree you couldn’t stay at home anymore, and then having to be all alone and “figure out how to survive” by yourself fits as severe trauma- utsuros age isn’t specified here, but going by the timeline we see with akane, and assuming they’re the same age, he was likely by himself by early elementary-age. this definitely slots in/sets up for him developing did- he’d be young enough his personality was still developing/etc etc yk. things go on, they dont get better; he winds up entirely hopeless, getting everything he wants except for happiness. the degree of... misery it must bring to make the impossible possible, to have anything your mind desires, but never managing to feel happy must be. uniquely painful, and it was Always Like That.

so, since we've established he's got the trauma necessary to have to detach himself in that spicy did-way, let's look at why i think he specifically has did instead of.. any other condition originating from trauma

my main argument for utsuro being a system is the stark difference between yuki, and utsuro. when it comes to the memories that were repressed for the killing game, the most comprable situation to utsuro's is akane's. both were the masterminds, who chose to have their memories repressed, so they could participate freely in the game. ("nyehhh akane's a traitor though!!" you get the point.) So both akane and utsuro repressed their memories, and eventually, regain their memories. now, when akane gets back her memories, she has a new motive, new direction behind her choices, and of course, being driven by a new cause, has different priorities, and is willing to do what it takes to achieve them. she recalls her trauma, and is launched back into survival mode, into protecting whats kept her safe before: utsuros divine luck. she states her service to utsuro is because she's indebted to him, but.. this really serves to reiterate that utsuro is defined by his luck; keep utsuro safe, bring utsuro back, all so the divine luck will return. that's relevant later; for now, back to akane, who, despite now having her memories back, ultimately chooses hope. she's swayed by what happens in the game, by the memories she made.

utsuro gets his memories back. and utsuro is not swayed. akane with her memories repressed recalled, with some accuracy, her childhood. utsuro could not do this; he had an entirely falsified belief, was convinced his beliefs were not true despite them not being able to remember them properly. where akane was able to connect all of her assorted memories, and advance forward, there is an explicit difference between yuki and utsuro. yuki has an entirely different personality, has different memories, and as shown in the bad end, yuki is capable of rectifying his experiences with his past traumas (is able to choose hope at the end), while utsuro is latched onto the beliefs instilled in him from childhood, and rather than adapt to new experiences hes supposedly had (the hope he was shown by the cast), it is core to his identity to stay the way he was. yuki is a introject (specifically a factive) based off of yuuki maeda; he split off due to junko (who gave utsuro new purpose, allowing him to advance past his trauma induced belief that his situation was unchanging), to fulfill the role the body's brain believed they had to take to continue to have meaning. the trauma utsuro experienced at a young age resulted in him struggling with compartmentalizing, and upon splitting, the new alter in the system took on a specific mantle he was told he needed to define.

when you're faced with the choice that leads to the good or the bad ending, you, the player, yuki, are spoken to by another person; another consciousness, within your head. after they chat, yuki is shown a physical representation within his mind, choosing one or the other. a.... physical conceptualized place, wherein you can speak with other identities in your head, including the ability to influence which one is in control of the body. also known as a headspace, which systems have. its... its a textbook example of what a headspace can be like.

to put it all together. utsuro was heavily traumatized as a kid, this trauma never ended, it was constantly reinforced that he only had value because of his luck, leading to him being 100% detached from the world (the ‘utsuros story’ snippet further reinforces my belief that utsuros behaviors, his extreme apathy, feels like dissociation). he develops did, which we see in-game; yuki is a alter split off to serve junkos goals, and doesn’t remember the divine luck, at least, at the point of the killing game (we could say that’s what the memory altering did to him). he gets his memories back, and we see him in headspace, in the true ending, giving front to utsuro. as utsuro hasn’t been in front, and was split off to survive with the trauma of the divine luck, he’s not impacted by the events of the game, and sticks with the mindset thats got him to where he is today, before loosing even that internal will to survive, and dying in the dra killing game

really. it’s just that it fits with what we know of his backstory, and the difference between utsuro and yuki, and how things happen with them compared to with akane, makes me think did/system! chatted with fellow “utsuro is part of a system” enthusiast sorrel of @monorails fame, sea helped me tons with organizing my thoughts and all that jazz!!!!

maybe i should bring back my akane analysis. maybe i should finally break down her vibe with utsuro. hm. anyways! this was a long post and my thoughts jump around a lot so if anything’s too scattered/doesn’t make sense, just send me an ask!!! at the end of the day it is all fun and games and i like to talk so. feel free to come chat!