#but anyway this could also be the danganronpa enjoyer in me but i dont think you should go out of your way to explain everything

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

idk im glad they didn't give us any actual details about caleb and evelyn beyond belos's memories and like. fifty-sixth-hand information from masha's story so audience members not paying attention would at least know who they are.

whatever nitty gritty details the audience comes up with on their own for what happened to these two would be infinitely more satisfying to them than what the show would have been able to depict in a flashback. especially working within what's appropriate for children's television.

caleb the person isn't important to the story anymore. the MEMORY of caleb, which belos has never let himself get over in 400 years, is the important thing. and you don't need to know much about caleb for that to work. and while i loved the parallels between the wittebanes and hunter and luz, as well as the clawthornes being a descendent of evelyn, i'm glad they never confirmed it, and it remains situational irony purely for the audience.

hunter's only connection with caleb is his DNA, which also ties back to belos's feelings. him befriending luz is something they did of their own volition. it's not because hunter is fated to play out every beat of caleb's life by virtue of being his clone. similarly, while i love a good hunter clawthorne, dell taking hunter as an apprentice and eda showing care towards him in s2 are because eda is kind to children and hunter independently had passion for palisman carving. it's not because they found out they were related, because the whole show is about found family.

having flashbacks to the real caleb and evelyn wouldn't have contributed anything to the story aside from fanservice. what matters is how belos feels about them. belos's ego and the desperation to be acknowledged by his puritan community and God aside, the idea of caleb haunts his every action. not the actual ghost of caleb-i've already discussed here why the idea of caleb's ghost literally haunting belos would be a poor writing decision. belos knew the person his brother actually was, killed him, and imagined a perfect version of him that he chased after for the next 350 years.

the tragedy is that the perfect version of caleb is unattainable, and now belos can never get the real caleb back. he refuses to acknowledge that caleb may have been flawed before the influence of evelyn. to phillip, everything he thinks is wrong about caleb is because he was corrupted by the boiling isles, and that's part of the reason he starts on a quest to kill all the witches. it's also why he makes so many grimwalkers. he desperately misses that ideal version of caleb, so he makes copies of caleb and plays family with them.

and belos loathes the grimwalkers. he kills them because he hates the magic they were made with. because he hates being reminded of his brother and what happened to him. and of course, he hates the grimwalkers for not meeting his expectations of what his "ideal" caleb would have been like. it's a fluid expectation that belos, subconsciously or not, changes as he goes, all in order to take out his anger on innocent children. he seems to recognize his enjoyment of harming the grimwalkers, though it's unknown if he understands the reason-which is that the "perfect" caleb will never exist, and likely never did. phillip's brother is gone forever, and it's all his fault.

and idk maybe in the writers minds caleb was a perfect brother and baby phillip was just a possessive little shit. or maybe it's the opposite and caleb messed up a lot in communicating with phillip on his relationship with evelyn. maybe evelyn was a perfectly nice girl who was perfectly supportive of caleb and phillip's choices or maybe she hated phillip and the other humans and did convince caleb to leave it all behind. it's a fascinating piece of backstory and i love seeing fanworks that talk about it! but anything more about caleb and evelyn that the creators add in canon would give actual context to their situation that we don't need! their story has been over for 350 years and dont affect any of the other characters beyond how it affects phillip!

nothing more about these two can be said that will contribute more to belos's character that isn't already conveyed with the barebones material we got in the show. this story isn't about "forbidden love," this is about how phillip was confronted with the fact that his brother found happiness outside of him, and that someone he's been taught since childhood to hate may not be all bad. it's about how he plugged his fingers in his ears in response to this and went on a 350 year long killing spree to prove to himself that he can never be in the wrong.

basically, i wouldn't go so far as to call caleb and evelyn's backstory "purposefully unexplained," but i definitely think the story is a lot stronger as it is than it would be if they did explain it all. not every detail of a story needs to have a word of god answer as to how it all went down. sometimes adding in unnecessary detail for completionism's sake just distracts from the point you're actually trying to convey. while there are a lot of things that i wished the show could have explored in more detail had it not been shortened, caleb and evelyn's story is not one of them.

[anonzentimes]

do you also get so so so sick of "my fandom sucks" jokes? i got into sonic last year and the series is awsome but the fandom (mostly on twitter) is annoyingly full of "dont mess with us sonic fans we dont even like the games", and then i got into danganronpa and the exact same thing happened. people dont allow themselves to just enjoy anything for some reason????? as if they had to have a justification or apologize for having fun with a thing perceived as annoying by non fans??

anyways i really like your posts, thoughts and rambles so for that and as a fellow sonic and danganronpa enjoyer i want to know what your thoughts on this whole "haha i hate my fandom *stays in the fandom*" phenomenon are. i find it rather confusing personally

DUDE. OH MY GOD KINDA SAME??? Okay, I got into Danganronpa 3 years ago now and only recently last year got into Sonic, Well more like I finally got out of denial about the fact I could be a Sonic fan since I always cared and researched about the franchise more than somebody who wasn't a fan would LOL.

Anyways, It really depends on the context of the joke because I think it's funny when people don't even remember basic information and it's used there? But otherwise it's kinda weird and pointless. The reputation of the fans with media I liked alongside knowing someone who viewed their own interests negatively caused me to become really embarrassed about my interests for a while. I'm finally just kind of embracing myself again and not caring much anymore, I think the jokes and general feeling of people trying to apologize for enjoying something is a lot more harmful than people think. I can say a few of my joking "I hate the fandom," sentiments but it's always followed by SOMETIMES or a PART of the fandom when referring to any drama or specific people misunderstanding things. Every generalization has exceptions and I think it's quite unfortunate people kind of put themselves in a corner like that sometimes.

Honestly it also depends on what the person means when they say it too actually, because sometimes saying that means from the person that they've admitted they have this "bad" status as a fan of something and kind of have accepted it? Like they accept they have that status, say the status is bad, and then stick to it because they've accepted that they're "bad" and enjoy the thing. It honestly is kind of an interesting phenomenon. I don't know, it just kind of all depends on context I suppose.

Just overall I think the attitude people have of bunching status together because of reputation is kind of harmful but inevitable. I do know that whatever phenomenon it is I've been recently stopped being harmed by it from embracing myself lol. I still understand it has a reputation and I may say something like "Yeah, I'm a sonic/danganronpa fan" in a teasing way when it comes to cringe culture jokingly, but genuinely like I'm not sorry or guilty for enjoying anything anymore at all. I mean like, I'm the person who's gone out in public with my surprisingly comfy monokuma jacket and sonic backpack before LOL I don't care what anyone says I'm just having fun and living my life happily with the time I have in this world. I don't need to waste energy thinking about the reputation of the fans of the thing I'm enjoying as long as I'm enjoying it, and honestly life has been so much nicer after that finally solidified in my head again. Nobody lives forever and I'd rather spend it being myself and enjoying what I want to.

Basically my conclusion is this: It can be funny depending on context, primarily when someone isn't having great media literacy, and I think it's fine when exceptions to a generalizations are considered. HOWEVER in general I don't enjoy the negative tone people have towards themself and the guilt about enjoying something that is created with the negative attitude sometimes. We're all just like people on a floating rock I don't think anyone cares if you like the silly hedgehogs, and if they do then they're kind of a loser for getting upset over your enjoyment they should be more concerned with themselves and their enjoyment loll.

Sorry if this has typos or anything lol I was about to go to bed but this resonated with me so i wanted to get my thoughts out right away. Thanks for the ask!! <3

[lostacelonnie]

Noelle is just gay as hell for lumine its a fact. You are correct both her hangouts are just them on dates. I always forget people use aether too & then see like. Hangout scenes with him or ayaka's forest scene with him in the inazuma story & go who tf is that oh yeah people pick aether & miss the gay shit. Abyss queen lumine supremacy real i know her jp voice doing abyss lumine is real good. I only know something about faruzan being in a cave for a long time. No context just that. They should give us a fish hangout i want my favorite weirdo to have one. Her & mona have been having real good interactions when they show up together. I read that comic in real time & it was a special kind of hell. I am also a dr fan but talk about it less. Ooooh nice! Ruin serpent isnt the worst honestly but it is slightly annoying. Cryo hypo was my beloathed now its rifthound boss. Had to fight it so much for yun jin & im still not done. Ahh thats entirely fair. I will look forward to your updates! Oh wait do you mean uh. Average avery on here when you mention avery? I dont think i saw a trailerbfor genshin but i did see ganyu & keqing & went alright ill play. & they keep adding hot women so here i am. Rpg style grinding is hard to focus on for me when i could simply not but i do it for my faves. Oh. Also glad to see you are a fellow rangers apprentice enjoyer

HI IM OFFICIALLY BACK FROM THE NORWAY TRIP SO UH. no more waiting 18395092895 years for a response. sorry about that. anyway rigghhhtttt??? its so funny that mhy by making the "canon" traveler male and trying to make his playthrough fanservicey to please That part of the fanbase they also made lumine playthroughs just. lesbian impact. THE AYAKA QUEST IS SUCH A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS YEAH. and SO true, gaslight gatekeep girlboss and yeah the jp va's are generally really good. yeah me too tbh??? and that she always calls herself "madam faruzan" and insists shes everyones superior??? no idea what thats about but she seems interesting. YES itd be so fun i can already tell. fish hangout when. SO TRUE i LIVE for the monafischl friendship. the way mona just. accepted that shes gonna get a Lot of weird nicknames. yeahhhh i uh. heard a lot about it. never had the motivation to venture in myself asjdkkgkjjskf. danganronpa rewrote my mind permanently tho. dark times. but i got a lot of friends from that fandom and even keep in touch with some of them. yeah ruin serpent is just kinda annoying, but i have personal beef with cryo hypostasis. the message ab the area round the ch being extremely cold is kind of a meme to me. OUUGH NOT THE RIFTHOUND...... RIP......... hate that one. tho i fortunately didnt have to grind it. and coming back to the trip, it was great! fed some reindeer. ate some reindeer. their meat is SO good btw. saw the northern lights. drove a dog sled. life is good. and yes i do mean average avery!!!!! shes my best friend 4 life. and fairrrrr tho for me it was uh. that one eula ad from a long time ago that got me into genshin? and now i main her so. lmao. i started grinding because of my everlasting love for bianka but now i have no life. rangers apprentice was my LIFE when i was younger omg. pretty sure it was one of my first ever special interests and GOD was it long. still love these books tho i havent read them in a While.

[heroes-never-discourse]

So like, on top of my job just kicking my ass to the ground day after day, the biggest reason I've been so in and out lately on the discourse is because it's just. Not fun anymore.

When I started discourse it was... fun. Funny. Cathartic. Stupid and ridiculous and laughable. Talking about how dumb the arguments for why sheith or otayuri are pedophilic/incestuous ships, the goldmine of laughs that was overwatch The Hamster Is A Minor discourse, explaining why fujoshi hate is wrong and why Killing Stalking would never be the downfall of humanity the antis made it out to be - sure, it could be frustrating at times, but it was still fun.

There was always the darker parts, the gore spams and the death threats and the rape threats and the accusations of horrific crimes, but, I dont know, it was so much more manageable. The Fun never really left, even when we were dealing with terrible shit.

Discourse isn't fun anymore. It hasn't been fun since Voltron ended. Since the tumblr ban turned this place into a ghost town. Since the fucking public brawling pits of depravity and graveyards of nuance Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok took over as the primary platforms for discourse. And as this stupid fucking sphere of ours gets closer and closer to mainstream attention, whatever morbid enjoyment could once have been gained just gets snuffed out again and again.

I burned out early last year and I never really relit. Part of that is pandemic, part of that is real life issues and anxieties, but part of it is also just finally feeling the full weight of this boulder we've been pushing up this fucking hill.

Except the longer it goes the less it feels like a hill and the more it feels like trying to push a boulder up a fucking cliff. Discourse has never felt more like a sisyphean task than it does nowadays, and I'm just really, really tired.

This isn't to say I'm dooming or anything, I still think antidom is its own ouroboros of self-destruction and art will never stay taboo. And you'd probably have to delete my tumblr yourself to get me to stop fully coming on here.

I dunno. Just wanted to explain, I guess. Ive been getting really frustrated lately with my inability to explain to every single person I see on twitter why theyre wrong or misguided, because that in and of itself is also always a sisyphean task. So at least I could explain this to you guys, and get some of this weight off my chest.

Anyway, thanks for being around, love what you love regardless of who tells you to stop, don't get a twitter, and play super danganronpa 2 so you can cry about it in my inbox with me. G'night guys.

💙💙💙

[siramay-the-showgun-dragon]

Man I had another danganronpa dream

Since I found it most enjoyable I'll write it down though I cant remember much but it took place in the UTDP or was it the DRS who knows and ryoko was there but she was more then there she was me I think she interacted with people but I cant remember who just that I interacted with people I think makoto and gabriel but it's hardto remember everything but then I went to eat at a McDonalds but no one was at the front desk so I jumped over it realizing it was not good but thankfully I was allowed some how then when getting my drink I saw someone fill theres but the coke had a timer so it dispense then stop but my coke wasent filled all the way I wanted more but I knew it would probably over fill but I did it anyway then it did but I went one step over from over filling I turned the nozzle the other way so now it was raining cola! I opened my mouth to drink it all in yummy yummy but then I went to a table of people and a bag of my stuff but I saw a man takeing my stuff I could tell he was cause even if I couldent remember what my stuff originally looked like i could tell it was wrong but he wouldent give it back so i kept him in a choke hold waiting for something to happen or someone to arrive though I couldent recal much but another man came so that was nice but it was a real rotten shame I didnt remember what was stolen cause now I dont know if he gave it all back and then he had a screwdriver my screwdriver! I remember that was at least mine I chased him to the McDonald's then I recall he was a thief and we stole things together in the past though sometimes he stole my things oh I should steal his things but then I recall the 4th wall and looking at words beyond the 4th wall but the problem is I dont know when this happend did it happen befor all that now or after at the end of the dream but what I recall is I was looking at words next to ryokos character but I cant recall the words something about her being a good person befor the aftermath maybe? But that's when the tragedy struck as those words hit like a trigger as she began to chance befor her eyes

My eye

Who's eyes is it? Who am I? I am who I am and that is enough but that's quite rude of me since it's my dream so it's my fault that happen but I couldent help myself it was enjoyable even if it was wrong I felt it so but I realy shouldn't be so crule to myself i love myself but if myself is who i think it is then no wonder I'm crule to myself

But if ryoko is me and I am me is there also a 3rd me? Was I that 3rd me

Well I couldent tell because when things are in first person you cant see your own face so I couldent check my hair color due to the trippy optics of the dream all in its fuzzy orange hue at the table about my things I steal things from the man yes it was revenge! But then the other table people talk about someone touching the bag someone with red hair ah yes

Ryoko!

Me? But not me anymore

I try to ask for more info but it was hard do to complex details but I just wanted to ask if she looked like me

Then the dream dies into obscurity

So interesting

[vikab]

just yesterday I finished up Danganronpa V3 and here are my thoughts and mini-review on it?? mostly messy thoughts

there’s gonna be a huge spoiler section but it’s the last section

STARTING OFF!! I did not expect to enjoy the game as much as I had. I have known some big spoilers ahead of time (survivor list, mastermind, parts of true ending) but surprisingly it all worked out well and I still got shook at few chapters and was losing my mind.

Overall, the game was very solid. The gameplay was fun, the aesthetics on point, the group dynamics between characters felt solid, I absolutely loved the humor and had outbursts of laughter quite a number of times. Post-ending the game unlocks the freetime mode (and dating) for characters in peaceful setting like previous games, as well as a RPG-board training game (train characters to use in the actual dungeon mode??? wild). There is also a casino which frustrates me but minigames are fun.

The ending of the game was,,,, neutral to me. I saw it coming since I knew some spoilers but it was kind of fun and very meta for an ending? However, it felt a bit dragging out and it undermined a lot of things that the game was establishing. So I dunno, it was kind of fun, but at the same time it left a very sour mood for me after, but it was alright.

The trials were actually very fun, even with knowing some spoilers, pretty much all trials had very intense moments and I found myself very drained emotionally by the end.

Music in this game: b-a-n-a-n-a-s. favorite tracks: Darkness Time, Hangman’s Gambit ver. 3.0 , new A.A. (not actually ingame but i love it) , Exisal Tribe, Heartless Journey (wrecks me) , Scrum Debate , Let’s Start the Killing Game , Trial Underground (a classic) 

Overall as mentioned, I had a lot of fun with the game, and a lot of moments have stuck with me. Some parts made me an emotional mess, loved that. I would give this game a solid 8/10, could have been 9 if not for the ending and some various minor nitpicks.

SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE

Honestly this whole thing is one big ramble so I am not even going to bother being too formal or try to be an analyst of the game.

Here are my thoughts on the characters:

Kaede (pianist): Died too soon, but was a good natured character that I initially was upset with when she was killed off in chapter 1 (I really wanted her to continue being the protagonist), however I feel like the way things went was fine.

Shuichi (detective): LOVE HIM!!!! As mentioned, I was upset at first about the protagonist switch from the spoilers I knew, but actually going through the first trial I really liked Shuichi’s progression from being timid to leading the trials to push for the truth. His character arc of averting from the truth because of blame and guilt that he has made me rly emotional. Shuichi’s group dynamic with Kaito and Maki really made me cry because man, it was amazing to see them interact and progress together. at some parts Shuichi felt same as Makoto/Hinata from previous games, which was kinda sad that the game had to go with “meek ordinary protagonist” trope again but shuichi’s design was very nice and his exploration of character was too

Kaito (astronaut): My initial impression? Thought he was meh. But after chapter 1, him making Shuichi his “sidekick” and him being the “hero” (despite not being the protagonist) was pretty cool and it build a really good group dynamic later when Maki joins him. thank you kaito for making my v3 experience emotional and good

Maki (child-care? assassin?): LOVE HER. her progression was really nice too. In chapter 2 she was very cold but past that she joins the group with Shuichi and Kaito and it was just very nice overall to see their dynamic together.

Kokichi (supreme leader) OH BOY. Mostly like his character, but also deeply hate him. he always lies and is most distrusted character, i nicknamed him komaeda jr. in chapter 4 but nothing prepared me for chapter 5. near his death, his true character reveal actually gave me some sympathy towards him so he is now the Problematic Fave in this fandom probably rn. 

Himiko (magician): Love her!!! she was cute and later in the game she got her character more developed and I liked her better than her initial super lazy attitude. 

Rantaro (??? / survivor): Cool guy, love his design! died too soon, but yeah his actual talent would have had made things much different if he had lived past chapter 1. he was a cool mystery that fueled some of the story parts, and that was pretty enjoyable.

Keebo (robot): he was good!! i wished near the ending it would have explored his character slightly better but w/e.

Angie (artist): unfortunately I really hated her... like she wasn’t bad and I was really shocked when she died (my spoiler memory was wrong and I thought she was a killer) but ch3 cult ideology was really freaking me out so i was ... glad that she died in that chapter....

Gonta (bug explorer..?): too pure for this world. honestly I did not really care much for him (the localization of his speech tone didnt help either) but I really cried during chapter 4 with the way things turned out...

im honestly running out of thoughts basically uh rest of the characters I was pretty neutral on! nothing to say much about the rest, they were pretty cool but died so not much impression on me

oh yeah Monokuma is still my fave mascot

Monokubs were fun

CHAPTER TRIALS IMPRESSIONS

 Ch1: I knew full spoilers on this chapter (the outcome and what happens) but it was still pretty good chapter because I did not know much on Shuichi’s development so it was really nice too see! I was really sad though

Ch2: Once again I knew spoilers on it, but knowing Ryoma had no will to live and that Kirumi had weighed the lives of the students vs. the whole country she had to escape, I thought it was really nice gray morality moment.

Ch3: honestly? While it had made some character progression for Himiko, otherwise I felt like Kiyo’s reasoning and the way things happened just,,, it sucked.

Ch4: Kind of knew about it too, but the way things played out and Kokichi’s antagonistic-komaeda-mode kicking in, the chapter wrecked me. I felt extremely bad for Gonta and just overall,, i died... THE EXECUTION WAS SO BRUTAL. mostly bc of that wasp but i was screaming in horror pretty much

Ch5: Died here again, I knew that Kaito and Kokichi were fully involved in the case (since I knew ch6 survivor list) but from vague spoilers I knew I assumed Kaito was murdered by Kokichi. Then the whole investigation happens and my mind was blown away. My favorite case out of all games. I was doubting myself left and right during the whole trial. The outcome and execution has made me really emotional and I dont think Im ever forgetting this chapter. highlight of the game for me.

Ch6. I knew about the final plottwist of FICTION but seeing it unravel was pretty neat because I did not know about revisiting the ch1 case. Overall the trial dragged a bit for too long, but when the POV switched to Keebo trying to convince to pick Hope instead of Despair and THEN shuichi jumping in to refuse BOTH options was really damn neat. I both liked and disliked this trial.

TRIAL MINIGAMES(?): rankings: Hangman’s Gambit (actually fun in this game!) > Scrum Debate > Mind Mine >> Perjury Section (quite underused tbh) > Mass Panic Debate > Sword Rebuttal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Psyche taxi (honestly this one was a bit time waster...)

Overall thoughts on themes and stuff: I thought it was pretty neat how the theme of the game was Truth/Lies (and then Real/Fiction at the end), There were a lot of foils (Kaito vs. Kokichi) and exploration of that theme which I really enjoyed. Shuchi’s progression and his relationship with Kaito and Maki was the highlight of the game for me, somehow V3 felt much more “closer” in terms of character interaction and relationships with relation to the protagonist that I feel like the previous 2 main games somewhat lacked. Also I think it was cool that they made Shuichi, an Ultimate Detective, as protagonist. Finally the player plays as the “smart” student that can figure out the case - though at times I got lost with the evidence and felt dumb

anyway at this point I am most likely gonna just keep repeating same or similar thoughts so to wrap this up - I liked this game wayy more than I expected

random thought: this game features “themes” for the ingame menu. i did not know you could purchase more at the casino and i was MAD bc i was looking for those since im a sucker for customization. best theme for the menu??? the one you get when you pass the dating mode w/ 1 character

shoutout to the space aesthetic i love it (also that shuichi, maki, kaito pixel trio in the rocket)