#and then the mastermind who's been personally fucking with her this whole game and knows shes the blackened

[neodiekido]

people give maki shit for chapter 5 but if i was in her situation during the class trial i woulda started eating my own organs

[ultimateplaylistmaker]

I have thoughts about the traitor perk in eden's garden, for how just vicious it was. Did she knew it had a time limit for her own death going in? did she accept it and only have that sprung on her after? It's so cruel, so so cruel, and the fact Tozu doesn't even PRETEND to deny it. There's a bit of "well she chose it" but there's not downplaying of like "well i only implied so actually not my fault" hes just like "Yeah i did say she'd die lmao, funny huh?"

It FULLY sets up that unlike the canon games, Tozu isn't pretending like he's fully above the game, that he has to be hands off, and that makes him stronger. He's fully admitting right off the gate that he's not above lose lose situations or playing favorites, he's fully brazen about how obvious it was set for Eva in a way that fully suggests that you cannot break this game by exposing the machinations behind the rules for being forced or lies. Tozu isn't as separate from the players like Monokuma pretends to be, he was fully down for casually showing up on command, fucking with Damon's head, and then leaving, and apparently several others did the same.

You can't even call out Tozu as being an unfair game master because he never really says he is. If he saved a stunt like this for the end it would have been a whole thing of unraveling, but he didn't, he did it in the first real murder and didn't even hide it like Tsumugi did. He's setting himself up as a player on the board immediately, he's not the student's and thus can only go so far, but he's very open about making exceptions and being loose with what he's allowed to do or not do. This isn't the kind of game that requires strict rule following protocol, because Tozu's a player too.

Tozu isn't some far away watching mastermind laughing but required to stick to a script that could break the whole game if taken advantage of, he's right there in the action, he's not pretending he's above the game or that the game isn't inherently biased or weighted, he fully embraces that he's a player as well, just a different player with different rules. Him targeting Eva so heavily isn't a violation of the social code, no more then Wolfgang isolating Eva and Damon was, players are allowed to target each other.

He delights in it even, he loves being the game master not despite being a player, but because of it. Tozu has very little thought that he's built different or untouchable, Grace showed that in the prologue by getting some damn good hits in. Tozu isn't pretending to be the person controlling the pieces, he knows he's also a piece and revels in it. Giving him a kind of power that other masterminds lacked.

He will set traps beyond just motives, he will bait, he will come when you call and adjust the rules to make sure you can do your murder that would totally otherwise break it, he is a potential ally, he is a rival player, he is tangible and real and cannot be just brushed off once he hands over the motive. If you can't figure out how to talk to Tozu, how to appeal to Tozu, if you fail to keep him in mind as a player instead of just a watcher and judge, you will be at an objective disadvantage over those who do, because Tozu knows he is fallible, that rules are imprecise, and instead of pretending otherwise, he uses that fallibility to make himself even more dangerous by embracing it and using it against the group.

[iminyourwallsbabe]

Okay so I was thinking about Melvik last night because the streets(one person) asked for a Melvik playlist and I wanted to make sure I did it right and I think I've come to a conclusion about what the hell is going on with those two. There's so many different ways to interpret it, so I'm not saying this is objectively correct. We're in the corkboard with strings and pictures stage of shipping rn.

Okay so if we're being honest, there's not a lot to work with in terms of character interactions but there are clues in other places. One of the things I noticed is that they mirror each other. Mel has freckles in similar spots to Viktor's moles, she's the sun and he's the moon, she's covered in gold while Viktor has a lot more silver in his palette, she's a princess while he's some guy from Zaun but they're both fighting for legitimacy.

So they probably didn't like each other at some point.

Think about it, sometimes people who hate each other are exactly like one another. That bothers them. Maybe that was the case here. Then you add on the layer of their individual goals and I could see how they might clash. I could see how they might not understand each other at first.

I feel like after that, it probably became a game of cat and mouse. A rivalry if you will. It could've been academic, depending on how long they knew each other (we don't know). I could see there being a lot of competition in their relationship, but the thing is, it was never a fair fight. How is a man from the undercity supposed to compete with an exiled royal? You can't. People are more likely to give her what she wants than even consider your position just by default. And then you also have to consider that this is Mel we're talking about. A goddamn mastermind if I've ever seen one, if she didn't already have privilege on her side, she definitely has the people skills to compensate. It was probably frustrating, in a lot of ways.

But wait! There's more. There's something to be said about how the "evolved" humans are white and gold, Mel's colors. Even the way the gold is placed is reminiscent of her. Perfection, the peak of humanity, in Viktor's mind is Mel (and Jayce too if you remember that his little husk still kept a lot of his features, but his look was still inspired by her).

So in Mel, I think at first he saw everything he lacked and it was pissing him off. That probably stemmed from his need to get where he wanted to be quickly, because he knew his time was limited. Like fuck, I'm gonna die and you're in my way by being better at everything.

For Mel, I think she saw everything she wanted to be. Self assured, with direction in life. Peace is such a broad goal to have, living up to your mother's standards is a little more specific, but what does she want to do for herself? Where does she want to be when it's all said and done? Wherever she's been told she needed to be? In a throne or a seat at the council's table? Viktor knows what he wants, he sees it clearly, and he couldn't care less about anybody's standards or expectations besides his own. There's something so ruthless about that, and Mel envies it.

What I think changed with them is an understanding, realizing that it would be more useful for them to work together and be on the same team rather than continue to compete with one another. But how do we get there? Judging by how most of the romance in Arcane works, it was probably sex. I'm not even joking, this is a consistent thing. Jayvik? One of their key moments together involved Viktor saying "wait this isn't my bedroom", Mel and Jayce's relationship was kind of confirmed with a sex scene, Vi started flirting with Caitlyn in a brothel of all places and then LATER there was the whole thing in the prison cell, are we seeing the trend here? Sex and arcane go together like Jinx and explosions.

Anyway, right, back on topic. So yeah, I think unlike her relationship with Jayce, things were not nearly as thought through with Viktor. It definitely feels like a spur of the moment kind of thing, probably involving alcohol. Let me explain. I'm probably not going to phrase this right, but somebody else explained the bond between these two sort of like magnets. They attract and reject each other at the same time. They're so similar that by all means, they could be together, but something keeps pushing them away from one another. Knowing Mel's relationship with trust, and Viktor's relationship with time, this could make perfect sense. This could give way to some very complicated feelings. Knowing Mel, that wouldn't have been good. But then you start to remove those inhibitions, either through something artificial or just heightened passions, next thing you know shit happens.

Now we're in what I wanna call the situationship era! Because god forbid our favorite metal eugenicist has a committed relationship ever.

Mel doesn't know what she wants out of this so it stays casual for a while, Viktor wants more but he's scared to ask because he doesn't wanna scare her away. He knows she's conflicted about it, otherwise she wouldn't act the way she does. Still, it drives him fucking insane. He could die within the next few years, he doesn't have time to be playing will they/won't they. Especially not when the most perfect woman- no, person, he's ever seen in his life is right there in front of him. It's several months of "maybe we should stop doing this", that attracting and repelling I was talking about, with no conceivable end, but eventually it does. Eventually they both find they have better things to focus on than this. Not that they don't love or care about each other anymore, but the stress just isn't worth it. The world needs them, and they can't keep holding each other back.

However, that's not quite the end of their story.

In the words of our Lord and Savior, Shadow the Hedgehog, the light still shines even when the star is gone. They do try to keep their relationship as professional as possible, at least when there's eyes to see it. Outside of that though, it's clear that they're still attached somehow. Is it romantic still? That's up for interpretation, but regardless, no matter how much distance they put between each other, they'll always be drawn to one another.

Then here comes MC Hammer, and now the situation is like this. The moon (Viktor) revolves around the earth (Jayce), who revolves around the sun (Mel). They're all so interconnected now and if you take one out of the equation, shit gets messy. Can't take out the sun, the whole galaxy will collapse. Can't take out the moon, the earth will be in ruin. See what I mean? As Jayce and Mel get more serious, I think both of them wonder what could've been. They're happy where they are romantically but it's always something to ponder. What would it have looked like if Viktor was the golden boy, not Jayce? If they were the ones holding it down in those council meetings? What would it be like if her warmongering mother knew she was in love with someone like Viktor, someone so physically weak? Would she be rejected again? Would she approve based on the false notion that he was only a pet to her? That he meant nothing?

Maybe it's for the better that things are as they are, but when he thinks of what humanity can be at its peak, all he can see is her. When he's gone all she can hope is that he comes back to her. It's so beautifully tragic.

[waytooobsessedwithmcyt]

Thinking about the complete different types of villainy all of the life series members have.

Pearl and Cleo are the easiest comparison, Dl!Pearl had a very manic energy, she felt a little hysterical, not always in control, just swinging her axe at whoever spoke (I could make a whole post about that because I love her so much) while Cleo always has this very calm, in control energy, their most famous villainous act, burning the fairy fort, occured with her above Lizzie and the rest.

Gem's villainy is obviously a kind of sweet manipulative evil. Not much to say on her because she speaks for herself, she kills people and makes them love her for it, it's insane how she talks to people she literally just killed and gets them to thank her. (Like Pearl, hello shiny duo shippers)

Scar is manipulative, like Gem, and desperately wants friends, like Pearl. Although he doesn't quite have the manic energy or the in control feeling of Cleo, he's remarkably good at figuring out exactly what someone wants and offering exactly that but in a way that's wrong, he's like a monkey paw

Ren is obviously an overdramatic theatre kid, he has the stage presence of an old school Disney villain, he strokes his mustache as he hangs Scar over a pool of alligators and demands the banner back. Martyn has the kind of "mastermind behind the scenes but also intensely loyal" villainy, he may be running things, but whatever his king says, goes, and he'll enforce that to the ends of the earth (gay?) the entire red army has the vibe of a wolf pack (I love wolves and I'd like a disclaimer that they rarely attack humans and are not evil) circling in on its prey (the alpha/beta ranking system has been disproven but for the purposes of this allegory I will ask you to suspend your disbelief) waiting for their alpha's command before diving in with terrifying ferocity.

Martyn in every other series is a wild card. I think I saw someone say that he was broken by Ren's death and became an unloyal person because the last person he was that devoted to brought him pain. He's driven further into insanity. His betrayal of Scott feels like a natural conclusion of this. Cleo taught him that even when the game demands that he be paired, he will not be chosen, but he still chose to abandon Pearl who would have chosen him. In secret life, he pairs with Jimmy, who he knows will die, maybe he hopes it won't hurt as much since he knows it will happen, but it does, and then he's the only red, and he's then left out of a huge sever wide event because he's exempt. I'm ranting but I'm so feral about this little dude.

Joel is cursed. Saw someone call it the Dionysus curse, he goes insane on red, he's deadly, efficient, and takes exactly the amount of joy he should, he's an intensely effective hitman who never misses a shot, and never fails to celebrate a death.

Third life Skizz is a type of unhinged, like Pearl, following the wolf pack analogy, he's the one snapping and snarling, just waiting for the release and savouring the kill. He wants to go so fucking feral, he is pure emotion

[fantasyinvader]

If you look at what happened at Duscur, like really look at it, the whole thing really undercuts Edelgard's narrative.

"But Edelgard says Duscur had nothing to do with her."

This is what she says in the Japanese.

"What's the use of repeating the same words over and over again? Shut up and fight, you petulant little buggers."

She's basically telling Dimitri to stop bringing it up all the time. And the whole scene in Azure Moon isn't that Edelgard didn't cause it, but rather there may have been a mastermind connected to the Empire and the likes of Kronya and Solon. The game is implying that Edelgard was manipulated, but at the same time she's turned a blind eye to those she's trampled in pursuit of her goals while the prisoner is about how people can commit atrocitious acts and STILL believe they are in the right.

Hell, the reason why the Western Kingdom nobles assassinated Lambert undermines Edelgard's claims that if she didn't act the world would claim more victims as it wouldn't change. Here we have attempts at reform snuffed out not by the Church but by the nobility. Nobility that then turn around and side with Edelgard during the war with Hopes explaining that Edelgard will protect their positions by them doing so rather that pushing through reforms that elevate the commoners.

But then again, Edelgard's reforms are about her using her power to force her beliefs on others.

But then you look at those Western lords. Kleiman was made a viscount for the subjugation of Duscur, given the former nation as his personal territory by Rufus. Hard not to compare this to Edelgard promising Caspapa control of the former Alliance territory in exchange for his support during the war, no? But Kleiman was in on the conspiracy to kill Lambert, he knew the truth, but instead massacred innocent people for his own benefit and was given a title for it. Lonato was given a title by Rufus in exchange for his service, and the game makes it clear that him taking his people to attack Rhea while attacking villages along the way is a sign he wasn't fit for the role. Even Rufus, who had a title despite not having a Crest, simply wanted more power when he had his brother killed.

They did horrible things, causing innocents to suffer, just for power.

"But Lambert was made a king because of magical dragon blood when Rufus was the oldest son, he should have been king if it wasn't for Crests."

Rufus was still a duke, had his own territory, and simply wanted more power. When he got that power, he ran the kingdom into the ground and tried to have his nephew assassinated multiple times. Same thing with Miklan, who only got kicked out of his family over multiple attempts to kill Sylvain, not because he didn't have a Crest. And if anything, Rufus shows how dangerous a meritocracy can be because it all depends on who is giving out lands and titles. A shit leader appoints shitty officials. Hell, in Romance of the Three Kingdoms Cao Cao hands out titles and stuff all the time when people please him (and when they piss him off, he has to be convinced not to have them killed), and all he did was create a system where ambitious people backstabbed each other for power. Just like what we see with the Western nobles.

Meanwhile, the people of Duscur were falsely acccused, slaughtered like animals, the survivors oppressed and made out to be the real villains by those who actually were responsible for the chaos that ensued and profitted off of it by putting themselves in charge. Really hard not to see Rhea and Dedue bonding after the war over experiencing the same bullshit.

But people try to make it sound like the Nabatean genocide was okay, and that Dimitri is the real racist despite trying to get justice for Duscur and that Dedue should totally join the person who knows the truth about the Tragedy but keeps her mouth shut in order to further her own goals. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this fandom?

[affluent-havoc]

Okay. Time for me to finally discuss the main meat of Chapter 2 so I can eventually play the rest of the game. Spoilers ahead of course ^v^ Since this is where I started really thinking during this chapter, I shall start with this little quote from Byakuya cus I think it's a bit intriguing regarding Chihiro, the mastermind, and a bit the E-handbooks themselves.

For one, the killing game. It's all about that despair, making sure that those in the game are experiencing said despair. So, no matter if one reads Chihiro as indeed a guy who just cross-dressed like mastermind told them all, a trans girl with some internal misogyny and some self issues problems, or just as a person who was struggling with their identity and, due to life circumstances, lost their way on who they really were, it really makes this all a bit screwed up for poor Chihiro. After all, their E-handbook would be that constant reminder of what they deem as their failings. At the same time though, this also really shows off Chihiro's strength and willpower which was also sadly the thing that got them killed. A poetic irony. Additionally, regarding Miss Mastermind herself, I feel this also adds a bit in some ways depending on one's interpretation for her. One can also take into account the anime with Juzo and how she was willing to blackmail him for his internalized homophobia on himself cus of his feelings for Kyosuke. So she does have it in her to fuck with the gays, at least if one wants to include the anime. As for this case and the E-handbooks, this all also makes me think of the other students. Specifically just the concept of the E-handbooks having a sort of backhandedness to them or slight jabs at the owner's expense. Feel there could be something with that. Plus, I know Chihiro isn't the only one this could have been done on. The mastermind knows so much about them all and I feel she's smart enough to do something like that. But also, my gosh would it just be even worse if she just did that to Chihiro. It was probably going to sting regardless if she decided to mark their gender as male or female due to that just being a struggle for Chihiro in general. This also really makes me feel so bad for Chihiro though. One could probably argue they were screwed from the get-go. Furthermore, cus I did use Byakuya to segue into this, I must also say that my gosh did he ruin it a bit for what he said immediately after.

For one, Byakuya, don't EVER say "female" like that ever again. Though, I at least interpret him saying this as a way to save face in a "Oh yeah I knew something was up the entire time" since Byakuya hates admitting that he's wrong or that he doesn't know everything. So, it'd be easier for him just to say this weird ass line instead of just admitting that he was in the dark and didn't see any of this coming. Feel the ellipses is what really gives this off for me as it shows that bit of hesitation along with his sprite specifically sweating a bit. This also, at least for me, feels a bit like foreshadowing as well in some regards. Chapter 4 is when it's really shown how much this guy dislikes not knowing stuff, the whole line "How do you know what I don't know?!" being the antithesis of this as a whole. Also I like to headcanon that when he's unsure of himself he pauses cus he'd rather talk slower than ever risk stuttering as to not look weak or foolish. But also, not cool, Byakuya!

[pippin-pippout]

Thoughts from ep 3 and earlier for PJO:

I liked the changes with Medusa’s story. But so far all the fights have been completely underwhelming. I’m guessing it’s something with Disney and trying to keep a PG rating. They don’t want to show her being decapitated since the head doesn’t dissolve into dust so they came up with the invisibility cap idea. But that meant Percy never got to do the thing with the mirror or actually fight.

The furies have all been disappointing. They’re not scary if all they do is lunge straight into weapons… These are the lieutenants of Hades??? They killed Thalia with her magic shield Aegis and her lightning powers?

They even cut the sword fight between Percy and Luke last episode, which shows that Percy has actual talent with a sword… So right now all he’s done is swing it around.

I kinda get cutting the hellhound and someone putting the newspaper article with Gabe blaming him in his cabin. Like they have to make concessions for live adaptation. But without those, it also removed the whole “inside job” narrative that foreshadowed that it was someone in camp who was the mastermind. Not hades or ares.

Also struggling with the trio. I don’t dislike them but, except Grover, they’re not showing strong personalities. Annabeth is a bossy know it all, but she doesn’t just give one word replies pretending like she doesn’t get what you’re really asking. She doesn’t keep a bored expression on the whole time. Percy just doesn’t really feel super reckless… or super anything really. Nor has the narrative shown us that he’s really impressive (it’s told us plenty of times, but not shown).

When I thought they were going to cut the whole impertinent bit this ep I almost screamed. Thankfully they kept it.

I do like the actor for Luke so far and I get why they focused on that relationship in ep 2. That’ll be nice and painful in the end, and they’re doing a really good job of showing that Luke has a point with the setup of the gods both as dead beat parents and highly fallible/unjust beings.

Also I completely forgot that Percy sees the prophecy through Gabe at a poker game and was like what the FUCK.

[starlightshadowsworld]

I'm gonna end up bashing Kirigiri a lot in this one.

I do actually like her I swear but this bit... Nope. So... You've been warned.

You know what really pisses me off about Makoto's trial situation.

It's not even the execution.

Like I get it, you know?

Someone had to die.

And the two most suspicious individuals especially in the trial were Makoto and Kirigiri.

And Makoto was very much protecting Kirigiri and thus dodging the questions.

Which isn't exactly the best strategy, even without Kirigiri throwing him under the bus.

It was rigged by Monokuma.

We're honestly just lucky everyone voted the same person.

I don't like it.

I think it's scummy but so are the rest of the trials.

So I can deal with that.

I can even understand Kirigiri's rather blunt point that she gets Makoto was protecting her.

But that she couldn't bring herself to do the same.

I get it.

Its easy to say you would die for a person you care about but being in that situation is hard.

You can never truly know what you'll do.

And Kirigiri has a lot of self preservation.

So it makes sense to her character she wouldn't.

And she told it to him straight.

Which for Kirigiri, someone who is notorious for hiding things from people.

It's a big step for her to honestly admit her feelings like that.

I respect that.

Does it hurt?

Absolutely but it's the truth, and she owes it to Makoto to give him the truth.

To tell him that yes she did do what she did.

She can't change what happened but she almost lost him, the only person she has left.

And in doing so she realises how important he is to her.

That Kirigiri snuck down here with the hope he had survived, that she would never have forgiven herself if she had caused his death.

Kirigiri was left in a world without Makoto in it and it wasn't a world she wanted to live in.

And so, she's going to protect him too.

Because they are a team, she can't do this without him and so they are going to end this nightmare.

Together.

Except... None of this happens.

Instead of a possible heart touching moment between two survivors.

Even an apology.

Kirigiri says "and not to make excuses but" and tells Makoto that it was very important that she survived.

She's found out her talent, she's the Ultimate Detective.

And so her survival is important as she's the only one to defeat the mastermind.

... And that's when I flipped the table.

This.

This is the bit that just pisses me off.

Because it's not "I could have gotten you killed, my hands were tied in a death game and I made the difficult choice that will haunt me forever."

No.

It comes across as I have to live because my talent is more important than yours.

Thus your survival is not as important as mine.

Which is so incredibly fucked up.

It's basically the Danganronpa equivalent of eugenics.

Your talent is objectively lesser than my talent so you deserve to die so I can live.

I hate this.

I hate this sooo much.

I wasn't even playing I was watching a play through and I wanted to rage quit.

How fucking dare you.

You didn't even know what your talent was for the entire game.

But now you do, somehow now your the most valuable person here?

Like Makoto hadn't been destroying himself. Trying to keep everyone alive.

Basically carrying all the trials on his back.

And she spends the rest of the time talking about her talent and such.

And just wow how did you make Makoto almost dying about you?

That's impressive.

Also, you know who else does something like this.

Someone who finds out the main character has a lesser/no talent and than proceeds to treat them like shit for it?

Nagito.

You know, Nagito the guy everyone whether you love him or hate em can all agree is cuckoo in the coconuts?

That Nagito.

Nagito spends the whole game friendly to Hajime but also extremely hot and cold with him.

Only to learn that Hajime is a reserve course student, thus without talent.

And proceeds to turn a 180 and berate and insult him for it.

And minus that last part, very similiar to Kirigiri.

Even down to the fact both are hiding huge secrets from everyone.

The only real difference is Nagito doesn't see his talent as impressive, but in the face of no talent Hajime?

It's makes him better than him.

It means that Hajime is beneath him.

But when Nagito does it it's fucked and when Kirigiri does it it's cool I guess.

But you know what the icing on the cake is?

Kirigiri is someone who generally keeps a stoic face.

She's unflappable, she's always serious and cool headed.

Gives me the ice queen with a heart of gold vibes.

But in this scene, Kirigiri is smiling.

She's telling Makoto how her life means more than his, and she's smiling.

Now I actually like Kirigiri.

Shocking I know.

I do, I like her and I know she's in Danganronpa 3 and I can't wait to see her in it.

But this?

Fuck this.

Fuck her.

Fuck all of this.

I know the Kirigiri stans are gonna rip me a new one like they do everytime I talk about Makoto's trial.

But I don't care.

And Makoto's a better person than me cos I'd have just sat in the corner of the trial room.

Like oh I thought you were so talented and this was your whole reason for being here.

And you're the only person who can beat the mastermind.

I'm gonna go get actual pain killers and a bed that doesn't come with murderers.

Okay, baiiiii.

You know for someone who's Jin Kirigiri's apparently neglected daughter...

... He sure passed on his fucked up ideology to her.

[tobiasdrake]

Oh, and then we have to deal with the fallout of the bad motive.

So, that First Blood Perk. Obviously the game wasn't going to let that actually be a thing, because it would deprive us of a core feature of the games: the Class Trial.

Honestly, I might have more respect for the game's whole "Rise up against Danganronpa itself!" thing if they had. If they actually let the killer claim the First Blood Perk and walk. Fuck you, no fun Class Trial will be had here!

That would be aggravating. But it would be aggravating in a way that feels truly resonant with the game's ultimate goal of tearing down Danganronpa brick by brick. The game is later going to say that the fandom is part of the problem and appeal to them to become part of the solution. So. Yeah. It does piss you off that we never got to play the fun trial game, doesn't it? Maybe you should think about that.

(Though I still wouldn't want the killer to actually be Kaede, especially with the crime scene clearly showing that she couldn't have done it. I'm not actually that impressed by "Your PC is the Blackened" after we already did "Your PC is the Mastermind" one game ago.)

But no. You knew they were going to cop out. I knew they were going to cop out. Despite insisting repeatedly at the end that they are making an unsatisfying Danganronpa experience on purpose, they are still trying to do that as a satisfying Danganronpa experience so they wouldn't dare deprive us of such an important feature.

So how do they cop out? Is it because the killer themselves don't know they're the killer and thus can't claim the perk? Could it be that the killer wants to weaponize the Killing Game to kill us all, like Hina and Nagito have tried in the past?

Nope. The killer decides she wants to get caught and die so that Shuichi can develop and grow as a character. That's it. That's the reason.

This is how Kodaka, recognizing that what he's about to do is a pretty shitty thing to do to an audience that he's spent time getting hyped for this character, tries to grease the wheels. It's not technically a Fridging because she wanted to die! She chose to sacrifice herself on the altar of Shuichi's growth! She climbed into the refrigerator and slit her own throat! That was her choice! So you can't be mad about it! She had complete agency over the reduction of her character to a footnote in the real protagonist Shuichi's personal journey! I didn't do it! SHE did it!

Whether these are valid reasons that make it Okay, Actually or if they're just overcompensating paper-thin excuses to justify an incredibly mean-spirited prank, that's up to you. I think you know where I fall on that dichotomy.

What's especially weird about the First Blood Perk is that it makes sense in retrospect. Trying to cancel the Class Trial makes perfect sense as something Tsumugi might do to conceal her own involvement in Rantaro's death and role as the true culprit. But it was offered well before any plans for killing were ever even a teensy-tiny thought in the back of anyone's minds.

So either Tsumugi is secretly an omniscient 4-D chess predictive grandmaster who knows every single thought that will ever pass through the minds of every single person in every single second of every single day only pretending to be an incompetent hack, or this was pure serendipitous coincidence. Something that seems complex and compelling but is actually a hollow, vacuous shell devoid of any real meaning.

Which is true? Eh, whichever you want to be true. The game's actually proud of itself for never committing to its own story, so there is no actual truth behind anything that happens. Even the reality show stuff ends on "But what if THAT was another lie and the REAL REAL real plot has never been revealed!? I'M SO CLEVER."

"This seems meaningful but actually it doesn't really fit quite right and in fact it might just be clever-sounding nonsense the more I think about it" is basically V3 in a nutshell.

[arcplaysgames]

There's a montage of the rest of the crew playing it cool as news hits that the leader of the Thieves has been apprehended, and then further news breaks: he's committed suicide in custody.

And.... this was apparently part of the plan.

Contacting Sae via Reverie's phone, Futaba tells Sae that Reverie is about to be assassinated and she's the only one who can save him, so she has to go now.

As she walks down the hallway, there's a purple fizzle that indicates something is going on with the Metaverse, but at this point I didn't understand what the fuck was going on, so.

Okay. So. The game takes no joke about 20 minutes explaining what the fuck happened so I'm gonna try to sum up and see how I feel after.

The Palace never fell apart because Sae's Treasure was never stolen. There was never a change of heart instigated. The team had a dummy suitcase made and stashed to be the decoy.

(How'd they know it was a suitcase? Don't worry about it, handwave.)

A bunch more shadows appeared as well as real police because Akechi set things up for the Thieves to be apprehended after the Heist. He was willing to bring as many people as necessary into the Metaverse as needed to get the crew.

Reverie was always intended to be caught because the whole charade was intended to fake his death to get Akechi and the police off their backs for a bit. So Reverie was caught and hauled in and laid everything out for Sae. Instead of changing her heart manually, he was trying to change her heart the non-cheaty way, by making her see the truth.

Futaba had control of both Reverie and Akechi's phones and could thus track movement with each. When Akechi left Sae and went to kill Reverie, Futaba activated the MetaNav so Akechi would be in the Palace instead of the real world. When he walked into the room, killed a guard and then Reverie, that was a cognitive copy of Reverie in Sae's Palace. Boom, death faked.

Futaba reached out to Sae and implored her to save Reverie. Sae retrieved the real Reverie and got him to the cafe before anyone was the wiser.

/READS ALL THAT BACK

I think that sums it up and covers everything. There's a lot of little details involved like Reverie's cause of death was already signed by a coroner without the body even being examined because the government is so determined to put this case to bed. /waves hand

The whole team was in on the plan after Morgana explained that Akechi was crooked. With his phone bugged, they now know the person masterminding all this is Shido, the bald dude running for Prime Minister who also got Reverie the trumped up assault charge in the backstory.

I love you, Reverie Vantas the Fifth.

Meanwhile, Shido and Akechi are high fiving and poppin bottle over their victory, but this little moment really caught me. The closed eye smile of Fake Ass Bitchery is raising some questions with me. I don't think Akechi admires anyone, and his remark from a while ago, that his sense of justice was instilled by someone who disgusted him.... bells are ringing.

INTERESTING TO NOTE: Akechi does not divulge what he wants here and shifts the subject instead.

Uh huh.

I think it'd be funny if Akechi wanted to kill Shido for some reason, manages to do so, and then dusts off his hands like, "Alright, cool, it's been real everyone. See you for billiards next weekend? Reverie, I'm still going to kill you one day. Laterz!"

["Problem" by Natalia Kills plays in the distance, first muffled and then with increasing volume]

[ultfan]

@fragmentbound sent in:

"Do you really think such a trivial riddle could make Furudo Erika waver? The whole question of how or where you would plant bombs on an island is a total NON-ISSUE. The fact of the matter is, at no point in your story did you even specify having an adequate amount of explosives. Let me guess, the remainder are just fireworks, aren't they? A tactless bluff from someone far too stupid to see they've been dismantled by their betters."

                     no grand shock or meltdown that one might typically expect from a culprit being called out, unlike what you may see in a popular video game franchise. rather, komaeda's shoulders merely slump. well, it only made sense that would be figured out. it isn't as if he thought himself to be some conniving genius. he knew better than to believe he could come up with a plot that was anything more than mediocre. at least it had fooled his classmates well enough at the time.

                     ‶  i guess i shouldn't be surprised you figured that out so quickly. i wouldn't say that i'm some criminal mastermind. i just did what i could with the supplies i had at the time.  ″ what he pulled off was extremely elaborate, but komaeda wasn't the kind of person to give himself so much credit. but this girl is somewhat starting to prove her detective prowess. sure, anyone could figure out that part, but what about the rest of it?

                     ‶  still, my murder was pretty gruesome, wasn't it?  ″ really fucked up of him to be talking about his own death so light-heartedly. but he did get better, so...  ‶  i'd love to hear your theory on who did the deed, miss detective.  ″ he speaks condescendingly, knowing full-well that it's a gamble. he doesn't believe she would be able to miraculously pick out the culprit. she hadn't quite convinced him of her capabilities yet.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Hey, since your V3 ending video has been lost, or at least, I couldn't get to it, I wanna know what exactly your thoughts are on the whole Real Fiction concept and everything Tsumugi revealed in the trial? Love it? Hate it? Believe it?

Its not up?? I'll have to talk to my friend about it, I'm not sure why it wouldn't be uploaded!

To be honest, even if it was up I think my opinions might have shifted slightly or solidified more since then so you'll get a better read from this post I think!

It took a while for me to figure out where I stood on the whole thing. Initially, I really loved the ending in isolation. I thought the Real Fiction concept was really cool (I'm a big fan of meta in fiction) and I thought the audition tapes were horrifying in a really fun way. It was extremely hard hitting for me and there were parts playing trial 6 where I felt completely hopeless that these characters would get a happy ending. But the way you had to convince Kiibo as the audience's proxy to end Danganronpa was really really cool and lifted my spirits in a really satisfying way. Even when I thought Maki, Himiko, and Shuichi were accepting their deaths, it was still bittersweet in a satisfying way.

Not to mention I ADORED the Tsumugi mastermind reveal. I thought the cosplay switching was fucking awesome!!

But on the other hand, I really didn't like the idea of all their talents and backstories being completely fake. I think I posted about it before when I was still playing v3 that the theory that everything was fake was one I really didn't like. The talents/backstories of these characters are part of what had me so invested in them, so them being not true at all was hard to accept. Not to mention the idea that they were these twisted, awful people before the game started made this even worse for me.

This was especially hard for me when it came to Gonta, because his backstory and talent means a lot to me. The idea that none of that was real, that he was potentially an entirely different person with a wildly different personality before the killing game, made me really upset. I still don't want much to do with pregame Gonta stuff to be honest.

ALSO. The part where Tsumugi lays out that everything was planned out (including Maki falling for Kaito and other character relationships) didn't sit too well with me at first. Removing agency from characters is a powerful tool to create feelings of despair, but if you go too far imo it risks making their actions feel completely meaningless and potentially losing my investment in their choices. If nothing the characters do can change their fates, whats the point in paying attention to the story?

So this was the main conflict I had initially. I loved the ending from a story/thematic standpoint but from an enjoyer of characters it was really hard for me to handle. I've mostly settled now on alternating which versions of post canon I think about depending on how I'm feeling. Some days I like to believe almost all of what Tsumugi said, because I find that kind of post-canon with only the surviving trio who have to grapple with their identities as people really interesting (I would love to ramble about that too but this is already way too long LMAO). Other days I only take parts of it (like making it a simulation or that the game was real but Hope's Peak and their talents were also real) because it keeps the characters as real.

One thing I never keep though is that Tsumugi had all their relationships planned out from the beginning. Based on all the in-game problems she had as a mastermind, I really doubt that was all according to her plan LMAO. I like to think in the case where they were fake, she only made their personalities/backstories/talents and then dropped them into the killing game she designed. I think Ultimate Real Fiction would be more interesting to danganronpa fans in the v3 universe if it was like "we made these characters who are essentially real and put them in the setting of a killing game. Lets see what happens!" rather than just planning out a rigid plot played out by real people. Kinda like a DND game!

Something that's different with V3 than any other media I've hyperfixated on that I really love is that I've come to accept that there are parts of the story I will never have a definitive headcanon for. The two big ones being what's the real truth about the outside world/Ultimate Real Fiction and my feelings on Kokichi. I don't think they'll ever fully settle, but isn't that fun in its own way??

TLDR: I really liked the ending!! I am the number 1 v3 ending defender

[plaindangan]

In an alternate universe the main 3 masterminds immediately drop the whole killing game idea after getting laid.

(If possible can you make these three separate posts)

Rantaro vists Tsumugi the night before the end of the time limit, V3 suddenly becomes a dating show.

Izuru having dreams (memories) of fucking a certain gamer girl, he brakes out of the room the scientists are holding him, finds Chaiki's rooms and catches her fingering herself while moaning the name Hajime. She catches him staring at her and one thing leads to another Hajime wakes up to a naked Chaiki in his arms.

And Danganronpa doesn't even exist when Mukuro calls Matsuda to gives Junko her prescribed dicking when her despair fetish acts up.

Disclaimer: Below is content that's more on the racy side! If not for you, you probably shouldn't read!

"Ugh, l-laaast time I'm entrusting anything to the those stupid Monokubs..." grumbled Tsumugi before stifling back a moan. Rantaro's firm hands were kneading her doughy, naked bottom like crazy. The survivor could only chuckle as the mastermind voiced her complaints. Both were currently in her room, both stark naked. Rantaro sat at the foot of her bed, whilst Tsumugi saw fit to hop on his lap, snuggling him and getting her luscious breasts pressed up against his own chest.

"Yeaaah, I got my memories back like a day or two ago. But, hey, don't you think what I proposed is way more interesting? You can still get people tuning in without having the set of this go to waste or get people dead. Besides, I'm sure you're just as glad I am to be able to hook up with each other like this, right?~" As his hands went to rub her wet pussy, a flushed Tsumugi glared at him...before pulling him in for a long, drawn, out kiss.

The next morning the time limit and killing game was called off in favor of something else: Danganronpa V3: Orgy Harmony!~ It was such a 'smashing' hit that the show was renewed for five more season!~

-

"H-hajime..."

It's been months since she see her dearest friend, her lover. What happened to him? Even as most would have moved on she couldn't. Thoughts of the boy permeated her mind every day, for every waking or sleeping moment. Even now at her most...intimate time. Laying back on her bed, the gamer whispered out the name of the one she held quite dear as she tried to pleasure herself. One hand vigorously trying to get herself off and the other groping at one of her own melons. Though it just wasn't the same.

But, about halfway through felt some presence nearby her dorm window.

"...Hajime?" The person had long black hair, sharp red eyes and looked about emotionless as a robotic construct...but Chiaki knew. IT had to have been him. Opening her window, she got a closer look and felt tears come into her eyes.

"...You know who I am? You are familiar to me. Before who I became what I am, you were...important?" Izuru said stoicly and stone faced as ever. He was intended to be the Ultimate Hope, someone that was the Ultimate Ultimate. Yet, constantly, his dreams where of this woman. Of being with her, playing with her....fucking her!! Eventually, it didn't take long before he took out his own security detail and escaped to look for her.

Of course, he didn't expect himself to seeing her completely naked and almost in tears like this. He also didn't expect this next part.

"....Hajime!!!!" Grabbing Izuru by the shoulders, Chiaki planted a big, wet kiss, on his lips before dragging him inside of her dorm. The kiss began unlocking memories and feelings withing Izuru's mind that he never felt before. Thus, he soon found himself returning the kiss's passion and baring himself for the gamer.

By the time morning arrived, Izuru Kamukura was no more. Sleeping in Chiaki's bed was the gamer herself and Hajime Hinata - two lovebirds reunited once more.

--

"S-seriously, if you just want the sex, then ask for it!!! Do you know how much of a pain it is to be called away from my research just because you want to be pain!?"

"Psssh, and deprive myself of the potential despair of you possibly neglecting me for your work? No fuckin' waaaaaaaaaaay!~" Junko cackled as she enthusiastically rode on her boyfriend. Yasuke had barely entered the empty classroom of the old school building before the crazy blonde had grabbed him by the tie and pulled him in for a strong kiss.

Nearby was a bomb that Junko had already deactivated and was stuck on minus 10 seconds. Close call, but Junko already knew Yasuke would never refuse to please her and would be more than capable of getting here before the time limit. A fact that explained why she was already buck naked by the time the neurologist arrived.

"Hey, Yasuke, did you get to Junko in t-...oh, hey, you did." Mukuro said to herself as she saw her now getting her fat ass plowed by her boyfriend. Seems like another disaster averted!~ Slowly, Mukuro's cheeks became heated as the sight was burned into her brain. Maybe...Makoto could help her out later?

Some people get a bit more playful when they're in the mood, Junko's tell is becoming destructive and potentially homicidal for despair if she doesn't get some at enough times. Such is the quirk of an Ultimate!~ Thankfully, both Yasuke and Mukuro knew more than enough to keep that side of her at bay.........like 98% of the time. Give or take.

[vespertin-y]

SURPRISE BITCH THREE LIVEBLOGS IN ONE DAY!! this time it’s the first part of ch3′s daily life :3

-we missed the end of day nine! maki strangled kokichi, and then we cut to the next day where he takes everyone to her lab. i presume they talked maki down and then all went to bed.

-maki’s assassin cloak is sick i will not be taking questions

-”kokichi...you learned that from the motive video, right? monokuma said everyone’s ultimate talent at the beginning of their video. ryoma knew maki’s true identity because he had her motive video...and, because you saw that-” “hm? i knew the whole time. given my position, i’d obviously know before any of you, right?” “your “position”?” “oh...don’t worry about it. that was a lie.” alright, given he’s been claiming maki kills people since ch1 and this is like...the fourth time he’s said he’s already knew, i feel ok saying he’s lying about this being a lie. what’s most interesting to me, though, is the comment about his “position” - more material for my season 52 sacrifice kokichi pinboard 👀?

-”gonta, you should stand back. nothing good ever happens when you try to help.” K O K I C H I. look i understand that gonta’s version of help is mostly to fling himself onto the sacrificial altar, and also that being openly nice to anyone = being fucking murdered by the mastermind in kokichi’s head, but none of this changes my desire to WRING HIS FUCKING NECK-

-i wish monodam’s revolt against monokuma had been more of a Thing instead of a one-chapter joke. bald monokuma is funny tho.

-”but...i’m glad i’m an average citizen. if i ever had a reason to live as strong as kirumi’s...or if i ever lost everything important to me like ryoma did...if anything like that happened, i probably would’ve just cowered in a corner somewhere.” yes, yes you would.

-”kirumi...she, too, had her own exceptional beauty. a crime that was bold, yet calculated...a battle against the truth...brutally killing others for her beliefs...unfeelingly sacrificing the few for the many...and her attachment to life and determination to live! her attempt to escape was so very ugly! it was pathetic! pitiful! wretched! but it was beautiful! i had never before seen such beauty in a human being before!” SIR JUST SAY SHE’S PRETTY LIKE A NORMAL PERSON YOU ARE SCARING THE HOES. (and me!!)

-kiyo’s lab has six floors, which maybe doesn’t make sense with the layout of the rest of the school but is still absolutely sick. i’d be shaking with glee too!!

-[but...who brought all this stuff here? i suppose there’s no point thinking about it. nothing in this place makes sense.] you Could get mad about how this is an infuriating and out-of-character thing for a detective to think, and about how shuichi’s protagonist role prevents him from being the kind of proactive character we see him being in ch1, OR! or you could join me in my “the vr helmets they’re wearing literally force the v3′s characters brains to skim over things that don’t make sense, like buildings appearing out of nowhere and sentient robot bears that can teleport” theory and save yourself the trouble. (i will do whatever it takes to make this game make sense and you cannot stop me. it’s the only way i can stay sane).

-the gold katana is a cute easter egg, and another hint that the mastermind is a fangirl.

-”you don’t have a lot of confidence in yourself, do you, shuichi?” “...what?” “you lack self-esteem...and because of that, you doubt your strength. you seem more confident than before, but i can tell you still question yourself. ...well!? i’m right, aren’t i!? i can tell when my sparring partner is burdened by doubt!” “...you might be right.” “you know what works real good at lifting all that doubt!? neo-aikido!” for one glorious moment, my dream of tenko training shuichi was real, and it took the form of her flipping him onto his back so hard his vertebrae probably shattered <3

-kiiruma maintenance scene sure is a Thing That Exists! shuichi is traumatized and so am i.

-something very funny about all the reward items being slotted into/used on something to open new areas, except for the hammer, which shuichi uses to just go fuckin ham on a glass wall. (monodam even says later it was meant to be a puzzle!) it’s not damaging school property it’s ✨stress relief✨

-FTE time! they picked tsumugi! i love how genuinely angry she gets when shuichi tries to say she isn’t plain. you can take her dignity, her position, even her life...but you can never take her gimmick.

-i may not be the biggest maki fan, but watching her fucking CRUSH shuichi and kaito in training always makes me giggle. 10/10 scene. (also, shuichi does almost 200 pushups??? isn’t this only his second training session!?)

-and that’s the end of day ten! see you next time :]

[bye-bye-firefly]

Hi!!! I’ve been in a total obsessing over Kaede mood lately and I would very much like to know what your thoughts are on her

god kaede is so good. the thing about kaede is that she would NEVER have gotten herself killed if it weren't for her ambition. the ambition she has is literally unmatched she has so much determination in her that if she didnt have it, she wouldnt have been a protag and she wouldnt have coached shuichi and she wouldnt have tried to kill the mastermind. one thing you have to know about her is that shes not the sweet mom friend and anyone who dumbs her down to Sweet Kindness knows NOTHING of the ruthlessness that is hidden in kaede. literally shes so awesome. she gives speeches to the group when she wants them to go through the death road of despair again. she is PUSHY. she is DEMANDING. shes not fucking clueless either she knows that these people are being pushed to their limit but SHE is not done so THEY are not done. i really think shes the type of person to see the people around her as extensions of herself, which i believe is further backed up by the passing of the torch from her to shuichi who when she meets him is NOT ready to be the protag at all but thats what the development is for. she rocks so fucking hard. AND THE GIRLS LOVE HER. kaede's biggest thing is charisma which i think makes sense considering what she does is Performance. shes a pianist and playing any instrument requires some level of performance as well as skill. but she is the person who gets shit done and if it werent for this, if it werent for the fact that she was so active, she probably wouldve lived. she wouldve never been framed because there wouldve been nothing to frame her for. it is for this reason i would classpect kaede as a knight. knight of WHAT? i dont know i lost it after i thought about it this isnt even in my notes, this is off the DOME

kaede is kind, though. like she really is undeniably kind but she CAN be ruthless. shes self-sacrificial. i dont think she took the risk of setting up a whole trap for the mastermind and DIDNT think that there was a chance she wouldve fucked it up. like you can tell this also because she just INSTANTLY accepts it. after going through the whole trial she passes the torch and encourages shuichi to persecute her and then she takes her punishment. straight up shes like I killed someone. I knew that this might happen. I took a risk and I'm going to take the consequences of this risk. and in this way she kind of brings the hope with her. kaede is hope in this game i think. right? her pushing and pushing and the way that kokichi is the one to speak out against her pushing during the death road of despair and hes seen as despair even though thats not exactly the truth and thats just what kokichi decides to put out to the group. kaede opposed by despair and this game also has the ideas of like hope HURTS people and she DOES hurt people by being so kind, by being so loveable, charismatic, pushing them and pushing them further and further only to . Fucking Kill Someone. kaede's death sets the tone for the whole game. you feel her haunting it. she gets mentioned again and again and you cant help but wonder with shuichi would things be different? if she were here? if she hadnt done what she did? and shuichi tosses the hope away at the end when he finds out that actually kaede didnt even kill anyone. the mastermind just framed her for it. he throws away what kaede represented because hes been shown that it doesnt matter if you choose hope or despair because either way, it doesnt matter. shuichi falls into nihilism, abandons the weight of kaedes death, and ultimately WINS without hope OR despair. kaede is instrumental to this game and i LOVE her. FOREVER

[mulberriesandtea]

It depends on your requirements to be 'haunting the narrative' but 9 times out of 10 it's probably Carmen.

(Spoilers for like. the entirety of PM's universe and Danganronpa's whole series)

Carmen and Junko are both incredibly important to their respective series; Both have caused awful cataclysmic events that have changed the very core of their worlds, largely in part thanks to the systems in place. However, Junko needs people to carry on her legacy for her- the moment people forget about her, she dies with them. Carmen, on the other side, has practically been made into a god- one that does not need the memory of the world to show up, she just needs someone to be distraught enough.

Junko Enoshima died at the end of DR1, however she was still alive in Danganronpa: Despair Side. She was still alive in the novels. She's alive in a good chunk of the media. I'm not counting the 50 other games that DRV3 gives us; they're fictional, but they do give Junko a few points for her pure staying power; how deeply she's made herself an icon of despair and suffering. I don't know all of Danganronpa's media, but here is the ones I remember:

Danganronpa 1: Alive- Mastermind of killing game and the Tragedy, dies at very end of game for fun. Junko is the one who sets the games into motion.

Danganronpa 2: Dead- Shows up as an AI made to corrupt the thing trying to save her old subordinates from their old deranged ways.

Danganronpa UGS: Dead- She causes the rise of Monaca, as well as being the reason the world is the way it is. Also the AI from DR2 is split into 2 'kumas here.

Danganronpa V3: Dead?- V3 is odd to talk about due to its ending and how it makes it so Junko was fictional(I do personally think the ending is fine, it's full of questions that I find quite fascinating. Could it have been handled better? Absolutely, I think there's other things that handle those questions of the 'end of media' and 'pointing out the obvious but unconsidered' much better.)- though divulging in the purely fictional she's been used as a villian around 53 times.

Danganronpa Despair Side: Alive- Yeah.

I know there's at least one other where she's alive and is the amnesiac main character, but I can't remember its name.

Carmen technically died before the events of LC- depends on whether or not you consider her as 'alive' when she's a brain in a well, though everyone in character considers her dead after that point, so I will as well. She is dead in all media, and yet she has appeared without fail in the webcomics, webnovels and videogames to chat with the main protagonists. No one knows her name outside of those who knew what happened to her, and all of those people had been ousted far out into the Outskirts. I haven't read Distortion Detective, so I'm not including it outside of 'haha yeah. she really does cause that distortion huh.'

Lobotomy Corporation: The mother of all abnormalities, the reason Ayin had built the corporation, who Angela is a copy of, etc, etc. Carmen is the one who sets the games into motion.

Wonderlab: The characters work at a place inadvertently created by Carmen, and Party Everlasting is caused by her directly.

Library of Ruina: Distortions, also just about everything from LobCorp, did I mention Distortions?

Leviathan: Has a conversation with Vergillius to try and make him distort, ultimately fails.

Limbus Company: Kromer's phase 2 song is incredibly about her, not to mention the theory that she narrates the stories for the identities and likely is going to come and fuck even more shit up like she usually does- she's already causing an entire event.

The main reason I say 'it depends' is because haunting the narrative either implies literal haunting like Carmen or their legacy being so ingrained that even after being completely gone(no ghost or spirit) they are still causing new events to happen, like Junko. However, Carmen's been dead in all media so she gets added points from me.