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civilight-eterna · 10 months ago

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Fanfic Writing Questions

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Looks like 17, incidentally my lucky number!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

204,980 so far!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, Arknights. If Ex Astris gets any more content though I'll probably lunge for it again. I'm also always open to writing Vocaloid stuff even though I'm a little embarrassed looking back at some of my earlier works. I don't write for RWBY or Danganronpa anymore. I've been kinda hurt by people in those fandoms and I'm baby (or was baby) so it kinda killed my heart for it.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 1. From Hell to the Moon - 953 kudos My gigantic Touko/Komaru fic from back when Ultra Despair Girls had me in an absolute chokehold. I still love them but I kinda fell off from updating because I got a lot of comments like 'ughh i'm so sad this will never get updated' and the pressure got to me. 2. Between the Li[n]es - 425 kudos Another one I left on a massive cliffhanger for Danganronpa V3, my Miu/Kokichi/K1-B0 fic. I appreciate the support it received so much. I do enjoy writing robot sex. I fell off of updating because I made a friend in the fandom that kinned Kokichi pretty hard and seemed to feel like he was a much 'softer boi' than the way I wrote him and implied that my Kokichi was OOC and even though I didn't really believe it...well, you become your actions, so, by kind of, tolerating their interpretation it kind of neutered my own. We haven't talked in years. Sometimes I think about writing a quickie update chapter but I'm too into my other writing. As one comment put it: "came to nut, stayed for the feels", so I felt pretty damn good about the naughty scenes in this one. One of the more vulgar things I've published.

3. Other Side - 288 kudos My first fic for the RWBY fandom! I wrote it right after the Weiss trailer came out and we knew nothing, so a lot of the story is nothing like how the characters act now. I look back on it pretty fondly because it got me out of a pretty bad writing rut, but it's kinda bittersweet because I've moved on from RWBY. Still a sucker for Ruby/Weiss and I was overjoyed when Ice Queendom came out and gave them some spotlight. 4. Amor fati - 188 kudos My beloved golden child chenmiya fic. It makes me so happy to see this one climbing high into the list even though it's the most recent. A lot of tender love and care went into writing this and reading this is the key to my heart. Nothing excites me more than comments on this or any of my other chenmiya fics. It's basically my love letter to the ship. 5. Secondhand Smoke - 177 kudos One of my early entries into the ~problematic yuri~ genre from when Cinder/Ruby from RWBY had me by the throat. I got a lot of much-appreciated appreciation for writing these two and I remember this being the year that a bunch of my artist friends drew me Cinder/Ruby for my birthday! I'd never had anything like that happen before and I felt so loved.

5. Do you respond to comments? Sometimes! If you leave a lengthy comment I try to at least pop in and cry about how much it means to me haha.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Sour Grapes, easily. But is anyone surprised?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Definitely dodecatheon meadia. If ever I've written something I can consider to have a true fairytale ending, this is the one. This one really healed my heart too! I felt like I had a real fire under me while writing it and these girls have deeply affected me. I don't want to say too too much about it since some people are very likely still finishing the game. But it's also a new feeling to be the first fic in a tag!

8. Do you get hate on fics? Thankfully not really.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeah, I sure do, almost exclusively-but I tend to have myself in this hostage situation of, "please make a 50k-100k epic to perfectly justify the characters having sex" that I occasionally escape containment from. I've gotten a little better at just laying the foundations quickly and getting to what I like to write, but it can still be a struggle because I get a little perfectionist with it. Which is funny because to me the 'perfect' smut doesn't exist, and it's made 'perfect' through the imperfections. I think the little bumps and hiccups and misunderstandings along the way are a lot more compelling to me than having everything go without a hitch, but there's definitely exceptions and different circumstances! Like when that's a big part of the story-like a character really really in control for another character's safety. When I write robot sex or medfet there tends to be a bit more detail about the safety side of things because I like to take the reader through the experience of safety too. I never turn right to the camera and go 'and now the safe way to do it is x' but I rely on the characters to express their expertise to each other, and their reassurance, and for the trust of the other character to speak for itself. haha, i rambled.

this is why for the lin/chen/amiya bondage i'm working on writing that i have a notebook with several pages of questions that lin goes through before tying people up. things like 'if you start to cry, does that mean you need to stop, or is that just what you need?'

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really, the only one I've kind of written was the Ex Astris/Arknights one in dodecatheon meadia, based lightly off the fact that the games did a collab and I wanted to acknowledge them with the outfits of those girls from another world that they didn't quite get to know.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Oh, just once. But it was SO long ago and the person was pretty young I think and they were ashamed and took it down right away, so live and let live.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Some kind folks translated Sour Grapes into Chinese! I asked them for a link to where it ended up but I don't think they totally understood what I was asking. I was flattered nonetheless.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, I haven't. I do a lot of rping though still, though less publicly than I used to. I think if I co-wrote anything and published it it would have to be with @lanymme because she's my most trusted peer! When we talk about writing things and whenever she gives me feedback, she is so kind and spirited about it in a way that pushes me to do my best. Her encouragement is truly so earnest and even though I can be a little protective of my writing she has a really nice way about her of discussing how to make it stronger without making me ever feel like I'm not 'enough' as an author. I can't overstate how much I value her companionship; as an editor and a good friend and just lovely person overall. And when she leaves huge comments on my fics spotting all the little painstaking details I put in and mentioning them-what better satisfaction can there be as a writer? I always intend to do the same back but I am always just so floored and wiped out by the quality of her writing that I atomize before I can form cohesive thoughts. It just makes it all the more impressive that she can put together a fucking. bibliography of the story's moments and her reactions. So lanymme I hope you know how much I adore your style. /)///(\

14. What's your all time favorite ship? Chenmiya. I sort of felt inklings of it all throughout the beginning of the story and then chapters 7 and 8 sealed my coffin shut. Amiya sort of represents, I think, the idealism that Ch'en had wanted to believe in growing up. The world was really cruel and Ch'en adapted in her own ways, but she...rejects Amiya a bit because I feel like in her heart she can't let herself get too attached. She knows-or thinks she knows-that Amiya will lose hope and she'll feel that heartbreak all over. But slowly, her optimism and continued efforts to just...keep going, in a world that is cold, a world that shows her cruelty-it reaches Ch'en. And even though Ch'en puts up her front at first, Amiya's ultra-high empathy helps her understand who Ch'en really is, and she has the maturity to not begrudge her for the way she's processed things up to the events of chapter 7 and 8. As she puts it, "I saw the color of her heart", when talking about how Ch'en interacted with the kids in the slums that didn't have anyone else. And then she launches a rescue for Ch'en, and ends up so linked up with her memories and emotions that she just like. Becomes the other half of her soul in that fight. Amiya arrives with her optimism and hopes on the sheer chance that Ch'en is still alive and still needs her help and goes up the tower alone to find her and she does even against all odds. She talks about how she wants to cry when she sees her. In Ch'en's hour of need, Amiya arrives carrying the hopes of what she wanted to be herself, and they fight a battle where they are alone, saving each other, promising each other that they can do it, and they come out alive.

There are so, so so many more details about them. Ch'en's wishes for Amiya to call her by first name in a closer way, the way that Amiya shyly, obstinately continues to add some form of honorific for her. The way Ch'en inherited her abusive father's rhetoric and echoed his lines to Amiya to try to get her to distance herself from her in the beginning, only to apologize at the top of the tower and tell her she wishes she'd met her earlier.

But the main thing I always think about, at the top of the tower, is where black-snake-controlled Talulah puts Amiya in a prison of fire specifically to goad Ch'en. She wraps her in flames and says "I wonder how her melting flesh will smell"/something akin to that and Ch'en loses her mind and yells as her to "don't touch her!" and says "I'm the one you want, let her go!" etc., you know, all the good shit. So my interpretation of the scene is this: since the black snake can't make Talulah do something she doesn't actually want to do, I've always felt that the feelings behind that scene were of Talulah wanting someone close to her to really, truly understand how it feels to lose someone you love, and she saw Amiya to Ch'en as being someone analogous to what Alina was to herself. I think even if you read Ch'en's feelings for Amiya as non-romantic, Amiya was still so so dearly important to her to make her react that way, and that the black snake being cruel enough to try to leverage their relationship to, ultimately, kill Ch'en, who was Talulah's last tether to not losing control of herself fully-was so outrageously heinous. Ch'en could have killed herself trying to get Amiya out, which would have been what the black snake wanted most of all, since it couldn't quite urge Talulah to kill Ch'en directly, and it would have done so by preying on both Talulah's love/sorrow for Alina and Ch'en's love for Amiya.

scrolling up and seeing the wall of text i wrote and. yeah. there's still so much more.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Between the Li[e]s. Danganronpa fandom just hurts too much.

16. What are your writing strengths? Aside from dialogue, I think my other big strength is that I'm not afraid to write what I want even if and especially if it's fucked up. I also feel like another strength of mine is that the characters will take over for me, and get me to write them truly as they are without letting me change them. Even if that results in me writing things I'm very embarrassed and shy about writing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I lack discipline. I need to get myself consistently writing more, but it's hard for me to make time to do it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't tend to do more than a few phrases, and only then if it's a character's native language and I want them to call someone a cute nickname or something.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Princess Tutu. I was 13. it was the 4th of July. I was supposed to be in bed asleep. But I was using the string lights illumination to light up my journal and it was then for the very first time I felt the feeling of realizing that I could make anything happen that I wanted.

It was not very good at all! But I treasure the memories of having boundless energy to write with because I was just so excited to see something become real from something that had only till then been inside of me.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

dodecatheon meadia. maybe it's surprising because it's not one of my headliner chenmiya fics, but-it's a secret chenmiya fic if you squint!

and honestly even though the story of ex astris is a little patchy at times, by the end you feel just...gripped by the world building and by yan and vi in particular. so i remember writing for them, desperate to see the happiest ending i could make, weaving it in with the canon with as many of my favorite details as possible, and it felt so good. i wrote pretty much nonstop for a week straight and finished it. the feeling of just-DYING to write was burning under my skin after finishing the game and the satisfaction of finishing the fic was magical, even if it came with the usual...idk, 'fanfic post-partum' of sending your writing out into the world when it's all done.

tagging: @lanymme, @annierosaart, and anyone else who wants to do it!

#bunny talk #about me

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cookiesnt · 4 years ago

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Kokichi, Kaito and Kiibo saving their little sister from being killed

**MASSIVE V3 SPOILERS IN KAITO’S SCENARIO**

I loved writing the one with Mondo, Gundham and Kiyo, so let’s hope these live up to expectations!

Kokichi:

You were making your way to the dining hall for a snack.

The 2nd motive had been dealt out about a week ago, and people were getting tense.

Except for your big brother Kokichi. He was his usual care-free self.

It was a little annoying, but at least he was feeling okay.

As you skipped through the halls, you passed Kirumi.

“Hi, Kirumi!”

She nodded in your direction, but she seemed nervous.

“Is everything okay? You look upset...”

She sighed and looked at you.

“I found my motive video...”

She started to fiddle with the pockets of her dress and it looked like something was in them.

“W... What was it?”

She sighed once again and reached into her pocket.

“I’m sorry, Y/n.”

“What do you- H-HUH?!”

She pulled out a small knife from her pocket.

“I need... I need to escape!”

She charged towards you and you screamed, running in the other direction.

You weren’t even looking where you were going. You were just running and screaming.

“K-KOKICHI! KOKICHI! HELP ME!”

You continued to run with tears blurring your vision.

Kirumi’s footsteps were getting closer, so you sped up.

You eventually found yourself cornered.

“N-No...”

She walked towards you slowly, but you couldn’t run anymore.

“K-Kirumi please-”

“I’ll make it painless, Y/n. I promise.”

She grabbed your arm.

“Just close your eyes and it’ll all be over...”

She raised the knife in the air, and then just as she went to bring it down-

“What are you doing?”

Your eyes widened and so did Kirumi’s, only her eyes were wide with fear.

“K-KOKICHI!”

She let you go and you ran towards him.

He pulled you behind him immediately.

“K-Kokichi I swear this isn’t what it looks like!”

“Oh? What is it then, Kirumi? Because to me, it looks like you were about to kill my little sister.”

He looked down at you with a grin.

“Is that right, Y/n? Is that what I saw?”

You nodded, clinging to his shirt.

He sighed and shook his head, looking towards the maid.

“I hate liars. You know that, right? So I’d suggest that you run along and don’t get near us either again, okay?”

Kirumi immediately sprinted away, leaving you with your brother.

He knelt down to your height with a serious expression.

“Are you okay?”

You nodded softly and hugged him tight. He reciprocated.

You nuzzled into his shoulder and started to cry.

“It’s okay now, my little grape soda... Your big brother is gonna keep you safe forever and ever...”

Kaito:

You were in the library, reading a book.

It had been a few days since the killing game had began.

You felt safe having Kaito around, so you didn’t mind being alone.

As you were reading, you heard the door to the library swing open

You looked up from your book for a moment and smiled as Tsumugi walked in.

“Hey, Tsumugi! What’s up?”

She waved and sat next to you, smiling when she saw the manga you were reading.

“Ah! The Promised Neverland! Excellent choice!”

You smiled.

“Yeah. Thanks for recommending it!”

She smiled and nodded.

“No problem! By the way, I need your help with something real quick.”

You put the book down.

“Whatcha need?”

All of a sudden, her smile faded.

“Uhh... Tsumugi?”

“I worked my entire life for this... For all of this... and all you do is sit and watch!”

“W...What do you-”

She grabbed your wrist and pinned you against a wall.

“Danganronpa can’t end... It can never end... So there must be a first kill!”

“W-What’s going on?! What are you talking about?!”

“Since I’m about to kill you, I guess it’s fine to confess... I’m the mastermind, Y/n Momota, and your death will be ruled as a tragic accident...”

Your eyed widened and you let out a scream.

“N-NO! LET ME GO!”

She smirked evilly and shoved you against a bookshelf. You hit your head pretty bad and got dizzy.

“Oh dear! The shelf is about to fall... A tragic accident...”

Just as the shelf began to fall, and before you had a chance to react, you were shoved out of the way.

“WHAT IS- AHH!”

The shelf fell down... and took Tsumugi with it.

You looked up at who had shoved you, your eyes widening as you saw Kaito panting heavily.

He pulled you close so you couldn’t look at the blood pooling on the ground.

“I’ve gotcha... I’ve gotcha... You’re okay, Y/n...”

“I-I just- I-I don’t- W-What happened?!”

He tightened his grip and began to softly stroke your hair.

“It’s okay now, it’s over. You’re safe.”

You hid your face in his chest and started to cry. The door slammed once again and Maki ran into the library.

There wasn’t a body discovery announcement.

Kiibo:

You were charging in your room.

Kiibo’s battery was larger than yours, so you had to charge once during the day, like a child taking a nap.

Professor Idabashi had only built you 5 years ago. You were still very young and naïve.

For that reason, Kiibo was very protective over you.

He had seen you be built and watch your AI develop into what it is now.

That’s why he called you his little sister.

Your eyes fluttered open as your charge finished, and you pretended to yawn.

You looked around the room and noticed a figure standing there with you.

“Huh? Oh, Miu... What are you doing here?”

She looked occupied, digging through a bag.

“I’m gonna do some work on your body!”

You shook your head no.

“My body is different than big brother’s. Since I’m still so young, only Kiibo and Professor Idabashi can do any work on it.”

She groaned, annoyed.

“You really can’t read the room, can ya?!”

“Well, not really... Kiibo is better with humans than me...”

It was only at this point when you realized that something was wrong with your charging station. You couldn’t move.

“W...What’s going on?!”

Miu smirked.

“I messed with your station a bit. We’re gonna have some fun!”

“B-But Miu, I mean it! Only Kiibo and professor can work on my body! My AI is stored locally and if you’re not careful you could delete it! Since we don’t have an internet connection, I wouldn’t be able to access the cloud storage!”

“So your body would basically be a corpse, then? Looks like I’m escaping!”

Your eyes widened and you started to struggle.

See, your body may have been smaller and weaker than Kiibo, but your emotions program was even more advanced than his. You could feel every single emotion a human could.

“N-NO! MIU NO! DON’T!”

You sent out a radio signal of distress to Kiibo, hoping he could get to you in time.

Miu approached you with a wrench.

“D-DON’T! MIU I’M B-BEGGING YOU!”

Just as she was about to loosen some screws, the door slammed open.

“K-KIIBO!”

“AH SH*T!”

Without even taking her wrench, she sprinted out of the room.

Kiibo went to chase her, but then you cried again.

“H-Help...”

He immediately went to your side and began to repair your charging station, freeing you.

“Are you alright?! Do you have any major damage?”

“N-No, but she w-was going to d-delete my AI...”

He sighed and put his hand on your head.

“I can do a backup to my spare local files... Here, plug yourself in.”

#danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa x reader #kokichi oma #kokichi oma x reader #kokichi oma imagine #kaito momota #kaito momota x reader #kaito momota imagines #kiibo #kiibo x reader #kiibo imagines #mod mizuki #sibling reader

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onebizarrekai · 4 years ago

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undeniable proof that shuichi and kokichi were gay in v3

prepare yourself for the most big brain thing that has ever bigged your brain

chapter 1

shuichi saihara spends this chapter following kaede around because they were just trapped in a godforsaken killing game and everything seems to suck. when faced with a situation such as this, the natural inclination is to either find someone to latch onto or to distrust and stick to oneself. shuichi does the former because he is a twiggy little man who would probably die in a fight before anyone even attacked him.

what is kokichi doing in this chapter? sticking to himself? stalking someone? that is the real question. nobody knows what he is doing because he is not the protagonist and not the obligatory party companion. however, since v3 follows a theme of fiction, it is totally logical to believe that some system must be in place, but kokichi is not bound by such a system because kokichi represents anarchy.

he does not stick with another for all to see, nor does he remain alone. alas, he searches for a secret companion and has not found one yet. who shall he find? shall he find any? the truth is, he gravitates towards shuichi. it’s supposed to be in secret, but there is a way in the game to see what really happened.

if you speak to tsumugi right before everyone is asked to gather at the cafeteria a second time, she mentions sonic the hedgehog. kokichi runs by, saying “got to go fast”. this means that kokichi has either played sonic the hedgehog or is at least well-versed in sonic memes. if you get this dialogue, and only if you get it, later, kokichi makes another sonic reference, saying “faker? I think you’re the fake hedgehog around here!” while he confuses everyone, the dialogue makes the odd choice of stopping on shuichi, even though the dialogue box only includes “…” and nothing else.

chapter 2

if you have unlocked tsumugi’s sonic dialogue and go to the monomono machine, you now have a 5% chance of getting sonic merchandise. if you give this merchandise to kokichi, you get some interesting dialogue. he says “wow, shuichi! how did you know that I grew up playing sonic and that it’s my absolute favorite video game series of all time?” this immediately maxes out all 5 of his friendship fragments, and you can get all 5 of his hangouts without giving him any more presents. you’re probably wondering why this is important, but you will see.

as kaede is now dead, shuichi finds himself horribly alone. while kaito is there and starts calling him his sidekick, the force of protagonist syndrome has caused shuichi to gain the courage to hang out with anyone, including kokichi of course. I don’t need to talk about kokichi’s hangouts. they literally end with “I stole your heart, so now I’m satisfied!” and it doesn’t get gayer than that.

or does it?

if you investigate the bathroom part of ryoma’s lab during this chapter and click on a very specific spot in order to enter one of the stalls, you can click on the toilet 5 times and shuichi will lie down on the floor. while it’s to investigate the underside of the toilet, and there is nothing to be found, the words “kokichi was here” are written on the ceiling above the stall. if you’ve already hung out with kokichi at least once in this chapter, shuichi will sigh and wonder what kokichi is doing right now.

if you’ve given kokichi the sonic merchandise, and you reach kokichi’s final free time event in this chapter, he will actually question shuichi after he finishes bandaging kokichi’s finger up, briefly commenting on how shuichi managed to get close to him so quickly and asking him “what his trick is”. he says “you must like me a whole lot, shuichi. I hope you don’t bail on me after this.” word for word, literally just hear me out.

“kokichi places his warm hand on mine, and I feel like he’s prying much deeper than he usually does.”

“I didn’t think that was possible…”

chapter 3

little did you know, giving kokichi the sonic merchandise unlocked a bonus hangout. yes, you heard me right. a WHOLE bonus hangout. you can hang out with him again whenever you want in this chapter. kokichi only says “good to see you.” you can select yes or no.

the screen will fade to black.

you have used up a free time.

if you have reached this hidden part of kokichi’s relationship sequence, random dialogue that isn’t in the normal game starts getting sprinkled in, as well as certain easter eggs. when angie starts her whole shtick, since you’ve already hung out with kokichi 5 times, there are a few things he has to say straight up, like how he’s going to teach shuichi about cults so shuichi doesn’t accidentally join the student council.

chapter 4

now that you’ve finally reached chapter 4 and activated the secret kokichi pathway, you get a hidden scene, much like the others that are triggered by having specific items in your inventory. in the middle of the night, kokichi breaks into shuichi’s room and shakes him awake, telling him that someone stole his almond milk.

shuichi tells kokichi to shut up and rolls over.

fun fact, if you get the hangout with miu where she checks whether shuichi is a virgin, she does, in fact, say “ha, I can’t believe this!” and if you zoom in the window behind her, you can barely make out kokichi’s face. peering in. watching you. if you click on him at any point during this hangout, you will hear a voice clip of kokichi’s laugh and shuichi will internally respond to miu’s dialogue differently. he will think “miu is the last person I need to know about this…”

in this sonic dialogue route, shuichi responds slightly differently to kokichi revealing that he is the mastermind. although his dialogue is mostly the same, he counts approximately 22 extra crying sprites, implied to be caused by additional heartbreak.

chapter 5-6

these chapters play out mostly the same way until the very end, the only exception being when you’re investigating kokichi’s lab. if you click on kokichi’s throne 13 times, one of the bookshelves will slide out of the way to reveal a hidden bathroom. there is an envelope taped to the wall that says “for my beloved detective, who habitually smacks things over and over.” it says “if you’re reading this, I’m probably dead. or am I? wouldn’t you like to know? nishishi.” shuichi comments about the fact that kokichi literally wrote that stupid laugh out, only to start crying again.

make sure that you have kind lie equipped as one of your skills before you start the final trial.

if you’ve done everything exactly according to plan up to this point, the ending is different.

tsumugi decides to show kokichi’s audition tape instead of kaede’s. he says “I’d love to be a part of danganronpa! I can finally be a bad guy without being scared!” but then kokichi looks directly at the camera. he says “naw, just messing with you. guess who?”

the screen cracks.

kokichi has suddenly entered the scene of the trial. tsumugi looks horrified. her wig falls off. everyone is at a loss for words. suddenly the screens and lights around them start to black out until everyone is left in almost complete darkness.

shuichi finally asks kokichi how he’s alive. he’s like, “you DIED” and kokichi is like “or did I? it’s the grand finale, shuichi! I owe you the truth this one time, because you’re my favorite.” everyone listens intently. “you see, by observing your irrational actions, almost like that of a main character… I was able to conclude that we exist in a fictional world that plays by certain rules. but we all been knew, didn’t we? not quite! someone forgot to test for exploits.” himiko just goes like “what the fuck you smokin?” and kokichi just laughs. “my self awareness has given me more power than you can possibly imagine! let’s just say I learned where the hit boxes are broken and installed a few cheat codes in the meantime!”

“no… that’s impossible! this isn’t supposed to be part of the ending at all!” tsumugi doesn’t like that one bit. she just kinda breaks down crying. shuichi isn’t paying attention to her though. he had accepted oblivion only to be greeted with kokichi being alive. as annoying as kokichi is, they are hopelessly in love. maki is a little disturbed.

after passionately reuniting with shuichi, kokichi says the thing. “this world is mine now, tsumugi! you got nothin on this! it’s time to say goodbye to this trash dump and create a new reality!” tsumugi just kinda goes like “noooo!!!”

everything goes black. shuichi has a vision about entering creative mode. kokichi has opped him. they take hands. “let’s create someplace way more fun.” maki and himiko and keebo look at each other because they’re floating in the background and watching this happen even though it’s supposed to be an internal vision. the screen goes white.

shuichi graces us with some internal protagonist dialogue about how he doesn’t really understand what’s happening anymore or what’s waiting for them outside of this world, but he thinks that things might turn out ok.

after unlocking this ending, you unlock a super secret video that you can view from the main menu. it’s a fully animated video of kokichi and dice dancing to world is mine. this is what they spent all their budget on

#april fools #saiouma #oumasai #ndrv3 #shitpost #I spent like 3 hours writing this #drv3 spoilers #random stuff #shuichi saihara #kokichi ouma

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toko-writing-imagines · 4 years ago

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V3 girls reacting to their s/o giving them a bouquet of flowers

This is more so a random idea that popped up in my head but it's a cute idea so why not write it out

Might do the other female casts from the other games if this one is well received (if not I'll still probably do it cus mm,, cute girls)

SDR2 version | THH version

【Kaede Akamatsu】

• Kaede was backstage after finishing up her amazing piano recital

• Since you were obviously her s/o, you were able to go backstage to see her before she went out or when she finished

• So you had the amazing idea to surprise her with a bouquet of flowers once she finished her recital

• And thats just what you did!

• You bought her a bouquet of her favorite flowers with a cute written notecard that said "Another amazing performance by my amazing Ultimate Pianist!"

• She was so happy when you surprised it to her, you have no idea

• She gave you a lot of kisses and when the two of you got home, cuddles!!

• Now the flowers sit beautifully in a colorful vase on top of the dresser in the bedroom, being taken care of everyday

【Kirumi Tojo】

• You decided to surprise her with flowers since Kirumi is always working so hard

• It's pretty easy to tell that being the Ultimate Maid wasn't easy at all

• It was one of those very rare days where Kirumi was able to take a light break and go over everything to see if she just so happened to forget something (she obviously didn't but an excuse is an excuse)

• You saw it as a perfect opportunity to surprise her with the flowers

• When you did show them to her, telling her that she didn't need to work so hard for everyone else and to just take care of herself once in a while, she smiled

• Success!

• She gives you cute peppered kisses as a thank you

• She waters and takes care of them everyday to make sure they never wilt

• Give her more flowers! She loves them a lot and always loves taking care of them

【Himiko Yumeno】

• She needed flowers for one of her magic shows

• So you got her a bouquet of them!

• A very pleased little mage

• She decided to split them up, using the ones needed for her show, and the rest for her hat

• She somehow gets them to stay on her hat without falling so now her mage hat is cutely decorated with the flowers you got her

• In addition, she puts a spell on them so they never ever wilt and stay in perfect condition

• You were glad the flowers weren't real anyways

【Angie Yonaga】

• Ahah! Her s/o strikes again

• You wanted to surprise her with flowers since Angie somehow hit some sort of creator/art block

• She was painting random things on a canvas when you decided to surpise

• She loved the flowers you got her!

• In reward, she gives you a playful kiss and also does a painting of the flowers

• She needed the inspiration, so she was extra happy that her s/o is her muse

• Will gift you the painting since you gifted her both the inspiration and flowers

• Now the painting is hanged up in the bedroom and the flowers sit in a handmade clay pot in Angie's art lab

【Miu Iruma】

• Honestly you didn't have much of a reason to gift her flowers

• You just wanted to do a cute romantic gesture

• You left the flowers on her desk in her lab, with an added bonus of a small box of chocolates

• When she found it, she freaked

• And I mean it when she freaked

• Miu basically ran over to you with blush across her face and gave you so so so many kisses

• Heck she'll probably end up making you some sort of invention

• She slightly sees this as a competition now

• Will probably brag about her golden brain and how she can always top your gifts with her inventions

• You don't take it personally and let her have her fun in this now made up competition to see who can give the best gift

【Maki Harukawa】

• You'll be lucky if you really even get a reaction from her

• Or at least get to see it upfront

• You know Maki is not exactly one for receiving gifts, so giving her a bouquet of flowers was definitely a surprise

• Her reaction to receiving the flowers can go one of two ways:

• One way would be is that she doesn't exactly give you a reaction, thanking you in her slightly monotonous tone, and taking the flowers away

• She'll be blushing though once she starts walking away with the flowers

• The other way would be that she'll already be blushing by the sudden gesture

• All you can hear is a soft stuttered "Thank you" while you look at your now blushing girlfriend

• Will probably gift you something in return either way despite which reaction you do get so don't worry too much ^^

【Tenko Chabashira】

• A huge sucker for gifts!

• She's always showering you with some kind of affection, so why not do the same to her in return?

• And gifting her flowers was a great choice!

• She was a blushing mess when you held them out to her, giving her all kinds of compliments along with it

• Tenko was so happy she felt her energized than before!

• She gave you so many kisses, and with her being a huge cuddlebug, expect tons of cuddle after her training sessions

• She even puts some of the flowers in her hair!! It's like you are always with her now and she looks even more fabulous than before

• No one gets to touch them! Touch the flowers and you'll be down on the floor in pain in a second

• They are special flowers to her, so no one but you and her get to touch the flowers

【Tsumugi Shirogane】

• A lot of fake flowers

• You often gift Tsumugi fake flowers because she'll usually need them for her cosplays

• But that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the gesture!

• In return you'll usually get kisses and get to try on her finished cosplay outfit with the flowers if you want too

• Sometimes she'll steal a few and wear them! Most likely just in her hair or incorporate it on her regular outfit

• But when you surprise her with a bouquet of real flowers, it takes her a minute to collect herself

• She turns into a slightly blushing mess and would try her best to take care of them

• The flowers sit in her lab so she can look at them whenever she's working on her cosplays

• But you'll probably get a bigger bouquet of flowers in return from her since its only fair

• And that's what people do in the animes right?

❀•°•═══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═══•°•❀

Yayay I got something done! I wonder how many people will bother reading this since this post is longgg-

Also we are slowly on our way to 100 followers! I'm so happy people like my blog enough to follow it ^^

Please send in requests if you have any! If you want to message it to me instead than please do that, but let me know if you want to stay anon or not!

also totally unrelated but what does it mean to kin someone cus i wanna do kin list for danganronpa but the whole kinning thing confuses me-

~ Mod Toko 💜

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danganronpasurvivoraskblog · 3 years ago

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Survivor Rankings 1: Story Arcs

//So, in my update post, I eluded to everyone that I would do this, but since we’ve finished such a big chapter of the story, it’s time for me to look back at everything that’s happened so far, and do a bit of self reflection.

//That self-reflection is going to come in the form of these rankings. They’re pretty simple, they work sort of the same as a top 10. The one that I was the most excited to do, and the one that we will get out of the way first is ranking each Story Arc/Chapter in the story, from both phases.

//No, we aren’t done with Phase 2 yet. I was originally going to wait until the end of Phase 2 to do this, but since the Fugitive ended up being such a long story arc, I decided to bring it in now. I may revisit these rankings by the time we get to that point though.

//To be honest, the reason why I wanted to get this one out of the way so quickly and why I was so eager to do this one first, is because I honestly have more shit to say about this particular ranking because it reflects my overall capability of writing a good story, and seeing if I’ve done a good job or not.

//The big thing that I want to get out of the way is I will be analyzing each arc from a critical writing perspective, as well as putting in my own opinion. Also, since this is a self evaluation, I’ll let everyone know now that I’m not trying to toot my own horn or gush my writing up so that people will read it.

//To be perfectly honest, I think every single one of these arcs have flaws. I’ve never outright considered Survivor to be my best work, at least in the Danganronpa medium, but it is one of my projects that I take the most seriously.

//The other important thing I want to cover is that this list WILL NOT include “Inventum Arc”, or “The 12 Days of Christmas”. The reason being that Inventum exists purely as a transition between Phase 1 and 2, and does not have any story outside of Peko’s pregnancy, and 12 Days of Christmas was never written to be taken seriously. Just for fun. And it’s not really worth analysing it.

//I would be excited if you guys could share your own thoughts and feelings on what you found from each arc of the story. Once again, this is just my opinion, and I kindly request that everyone who reads this ranking respects it. Nobody can shit on my own writing quite like I can.

//Anyway, let’s hit it.

All is peaceful until a mysterious time-breaking wormhole appears on Jabberwock Island. What could it mean?

//As someone who studies writing and animation on a University course, I can drop a bit of advice for you. Your first piece of work on any medium is going to be bad. This is because you are inexperienced, and with practice, later down the line, you’ll be able to look back at your flawed writing, and see just how much you’ve improved on that.

//Trouble’s Brewing is proof of that. It was the very first story arc, and it only exists to do two things. Introduce the V3 characters involvement in the story, and establish Kuripa Kurafto as an additional character.

//The only reason why it’s the lowest on the list is because I was still trying to figure out how I would actually go about the blog, and working on a system, and also, since no one really knew about the blog, I basically had no asks to go through, and I didn’t quite know how to best promote the blog either.

//Of course, I don’t have the same problems I do now, so looking back on this arc, really, I just see it as humble beginnings. The writing isn’t terrible, but you can definitely tell that it’s improved as the series has gone on. This arc falls flat really due to circumstance more than anything else.

//...and I wish the same could be said for the next pick.

After becoming desperate to save Keebo’s life, Miu takes control of an important Future Foundation research facility and traps the workers inside, forcing them to tinker with a reactor until it’s powerful enough to wake Keebo up. In order to save the people of the Tower and bring Miu to her senses, Kaede and the others team up with Uchui and an inventor by the name of Mona to infiltrate the tower and stop her before she goes mad.

//Oh god here we go...

//Alright, so if you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know that I’ve made a few very quick self-reflectory posts before, usually in the form of a few lines, and not on the level of a post like this.

//If anyone caught those cute little posts, you’ll know that I FUCKING hate “The Tower”

//I took what could have been a really unique arc about character reflection, or redemption for a character who arguably needed it more than others, and completely butchered it.

//Maybe I’m being too hard on myself, but things just didn’t go the way I wanted them to for this one. The pacing is awful, the conflict is stupid, Miu’s character development didn’t go the way I wanted, Keebo isn’t relevant, despite being the main factor of conflict in the arc, Kirumi and Kaito amounted to basically nothing, despite being on Kaede’s team as the whole story revolved more around the other characters and thus leaving no reason for either of them to be there, Mii-Yu’s arc basically ends here and it’s totally awful...I just really hit a low point with the first arc in Phase 2, and could keep going on and on.

//This arc also took a few days to write, which makes it pretty pointless compared to every other chapter in the blog.

//However, there are things that I did look back, and appreciate when I looked back. Namely, this arc introduced Mona, who as of right now hasn’t done much, but I feel was a very well handled character in that arc, especially with her growing relationship with Mii-Yu. Uchui also gets a bit of spotlight, though not much, and he’s pretty fun too. This arc also served as a pretty good stepping stone for some of Miu’s relationships, namely with Kaede as friends, and Keebo as a friend and potential romantic partner.

//But overall, the good points of The Tower do not make up for complete flop that it was. Originally, I had planned this to be the penultimate end of Mii-Yu’s arc in Survivor, but there’s no way I can allow this to be her send off. Hopefully my arcs in the future can make up for the tragedy that this was.

The former remnants of despair decide that after all the stress they’ve been through lately, they should go on vacation to relieve themselves of it. However, wherever the 77th class go, trouble is not far behind, and trouble comes in the form of the Ultimate Wizard, Mikado Sannoji. Hajime and the others, along with the help of both an old friend and a new one, must stop the vermin!

//I appreciate the things that Neo World did for the blog. This was the point where I felt I really had something going, and even though my community wasn’t as big as it is now, but this arc in particular definitely was where things started to pick up.

//Let’s go over a few things that I liked about this arc.

//Firstly, this arc introduced and re-introduced quite a few great characters into the asks. Kibin and Chiaki in particular are whom I’m referring to. Kibin who eventually gets some pretty great character moments, and Chiaki is clearly one of the most popular characters on the blog as a whole, being the most-asked non-protag character. It WAS Mahiru, but since then, she has taken the spot.

//My second point would be that there were a lot of really good moments in this arc too. This was the arc where Hajime’s relationship with Mahiru flourished, and we got to see a lot of fun, cute and overall entertaining interactions between the cast of the second game, plus Ryota and Yoruko (and Yuki too in some cases). In case anyone wasn’t aware of this, I consider Danganronpa 2 to be the best game in the series, and the cast is the primary reason why. This arc had a lot going for it.

//Aside from that, Neo World is also the first time that Organization Zetsubou are established and NAMED as a main source of conflict. We also get to see Yukari for a little bit for the first time.

//So why is it so low? Well, there’s a few reasons, one of which is a similar problem that I had with The Tower. The conflict doesn't feel real for the most part.

//This arc really only exists to give the Remnants some good character motives. Mikado NEO is present, and yeah, things do pick up at the end of the arc once they actually go into the Neo World and Hajime goes super saiyan and fights him, which was cool, but it doesn’t make up for how the vast majority of the arc was nothing more than mindless filler, with Kibin, or the Enigma Assassin at the time, serving as the breaking point.

//Alongside that, there were some moments that I felt were a little out of character, namely Nagito threatening Chiaki, Imposter’s reluctance to notify the Future Foundation of the incident, as well as Ryota’s willingness to create the brainwashing machine to combat Mikado in the Neo World. The ending also feels incredibly anime, in a story that for the most part has remained mostly realistic, which I consider to be a little cheesy and not fitting in well.

//So yeah, Neo World has it’s problems, but if anyone in particular is looking for an arc that is 80% wholesomeness, then allow me to point you in the right direction.

When old friends and an old adversary return from the dead, Maki Harukawa, with the help of the Kisaragi Foundation, must save her loved ones and stop her old nemesis in the process.

//There really isn’t much to say about Deadly Harmony. It kinda just exists. But overall, I do think it served it’s purpose in the story overall, and did it well.

//The arc that came prior to this one established some basic plot points, but overall, it was just a way to ease into the overall story of the blog. This arc on the other hand sets the ground for a lot of future events and plot points.

//For starters, it established that Shuichi, Maki and Himiko were not alone, and weren’t the only V3 characters to make an appearance. Miu, Kirumi, Tenko, Kaito and Tsumugi all show up, and establish the V3 plot relevance. The reason of how they got here, and all the other mysteries surrounding the group will be revealed eventually, but it was nice to bring the gang into the story.

//Speaking of Tsumugi, this arc also establishes her involvement in the plot as the main, over-arching villain. She’s not very impressive in the arc, and one of the stupidest parts of the story was when she played that little game with the characters, which was ultimately pointless in the end. Still, I think she had a pretty strong introduction all things considered. In addition, while not many people reacted to it at the time, the arc also introduces the controversy of the Reserve Course students, which becomes a very essential plot point during the story’s climax in Phase 2.

//Furthermore, this is the first time (besides Midori’s involvement in the prior arc) that the Future Foundation and Kisaragi Foundation collaborate. They end up doing so a few times in the future of course, but this was the first real point where Tsurugi decides to involve himself, sometimes being helpful and others just being a setback or emotional problem. Speaking of whom, Rei and Tsurugi are both pretty fun characters to write, and I have considered giving the Kisaragi’s their own arc. No promises though.

//Lastly, there’s Mii-Yu. Like I said before, I am frustrated that her arc didn’t “end” in the best way, but around the time that I was writing this arc, I was playing the first chapter of New World Order and was getting really into it. M11-YU, or Mii-Yu, was my favourite character, so I HAD to include her. And all things considered, she’s actually turned out to be really fun. Not really essential to the plot, but a nice character who embodies the good and evils of humanity, a main theme in the blog.

//Overall, I don’t regret writing this arc, but I don’t think the overall story was anything remotely special.

Kuripa forms an anime and manga club along with Ryota and Hifumi. They spend an evening at the High Roller and meet Iroha, who they hit it off with, and allow her to join. After agreeing to go to the upcoming anime convention with her, leaders from 4 other rival cabaret clubs show up and state they plan to evict the High Roller and it’s management. Iroha’s job and life are at stake, so Kuripa decides to team up with Kokichi to beat the owners at their own game.

//This arc’s biggest problem has the same issue as Neo World. It’s a vast majority of filler, and arguably, it suffers from it more than Neo World does. Neo World at least contributed some to the plot by introducing some important characters, like Chiaki and Mikado, but Cabaret Kyojin’s doesn’t even do that. It exists as nothing more than a subplot, and almost all of the important characters either get tossed out of the blog, or become background characters.

//The other problem that I had is that I’m gonna be totally real, I didn’t workshop this plotline from scratch. I borrowed, and by borrowed I mean stole, a lot of plot points from Yakuza 0′s Nightlife Island plotline with Majime trying to lift Club Sunshine back from the brink, battling against the 5-stars, much like how the gang does against the 4 Horsemen. The motives are similar, and I feel like I should have done more with it, instead of ripping stuff off from an already great game with equally great writing.

//I’m not going to hide the fact that Survivor isn’t totally original. I borrow and reference from many different media I’m into. However, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing for writers. Everyone is capable of writing the same plot differently, and provided they can make their own original twists and spins on the format, I think using previously made works is acceptable, and doesn’t go through the line of outright plagiarism.

//The reason why Cabaret Kyojin’s is higher, despite these problems, is that it was just plain fun to write. I enjoyed every character moment, be it from Kokichi, Kuripa, Iroha, the members of the 4 Horsemen, or anyone.

//Speaking of the 4 Horsemen, they were among the more fun antagonists to write, and I still enjoy making little moments for them in the present arcs. Hayamoto and Rokuhana in particular were super fun, particularly with their individual relationships, Hayamoto with Kibin, and Rokuhana with her daughter.

//Kokichi also gets some good development, which is weird, because Kokichi has never been known for his development. And this mainly stems from his newfound relationship with Kuripa, as the two end up being alike in ways neither expected.

//That, in general, is the main theme of the arc, and one of the things that makes it so fun: Relationship Dynamics.

//Kuripa and Kibin, Kuripa and Kokichi, Iroha and Ryota, Iroha and Syobai, Iroha, Hifumi, Ryota and Kuripa as a band, Hayamoto and Kibin, Misako and Misuzu, Kana and Iroha, Kana and Yosaku, Asayori and Datenashi, Kibin and Datenashi, Kokichi and the V3 gang, Kuripa and Komaru. The relationship dynamics and interactions between each of the characters in this arc is what makes it so fantastic.

//This doesn’t resolve it of it’s problems in that I should have had some more originality to my writing, but at least I’m a big enough man that I’m honest about it. Besides, it’s not like I regret writing this arc. It was definitely a fun ride, and the High Roller will continue to be one of the best places in the world.

Ex-Future Foundation member and former Ultimate Scout, Koichi Kizakura finds himself under suspicion of the murder of a street thug. It’s up to Ultimate Detective Duo, Kyoko and Shuichi to save him from being convicted.

//The first arc that had an actual story. And the point where people started to pay attention. And I couldn’t ask anything more of it.

//My only issues with this arc are firstly, like Cabaret Kyojin’s, the plotline borrows a lot from a plotline in the Yakuza series, but in this case I put some more original twists on it.

//The second problem is that the conflict isn’t completely desperate. It’s definitely there, and it’s definitely more tense than previously mentioned arcs, but since this arc is established before the overall over-arching story with Organization Zetsubou is, there’s no real world-ending threat. Sure, the arc DOES have Eje Karma, but let’s be real, in comparison to the OZ members who kill hundreds of people and even try to take over whole kingdoms, Karma’s just a regular street thug. The worst thing he does in this arc is break Makoto’s arm and kidnap Kanon to stop Leon from standing up for Koichi during the trial. Yeah, both of these are pretty serious offenses, and he somehow gets away with them, but Organization Zetsubou have ABSOLUTELY done worse.

//Third is the involvement of the Your Turn To Die characters. At the time of writing the blog, Your Turn To Die was the latest fad for fans of the genre, and to gain clout, I included Keiji Shinogi on the blog. I look back on that and regret it, and yes, I have used the YTTD characters since because of my lack of options. However, I now stand by the belief that Your Turn To Die and Danganronpa are two completely different games that shouldn’t be compared or overlapped. They’re both interesting, they’re both great, and they both deserve respect, but only INDIVIDUALLY, and my early writing did not help.

//That being said, this arc was the first instance where Shuichi adapted to his new life, and worked on his first proper case with his boss and fellow detective, Kyoko. Which was an interesting thing to work with.

//Also, while I said already that the arc happens before the main story is established, this is also the earliest action that Organization Zetsubou take. This is before they are uncovered to be a group, but in reality, the victim in the case that Shuichi and Kyoko are trying to solve was ACTUALLY killed by CELESTE, to silence him. This was WAAY before she was named as the traitor though, so not many would have realized it.

//Overall, I think “The Trial of Koichi Kizakura” is nothing spectacular, but it is a totally solid story arc in comparison to Trouble’s Brewing. This was where I actually had my system, figured out what direction I wanted to go in, and overall, it turned out pretty darn well.

The Ultimate Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu returns from the dead, like the other 53rd Killing Game Participants, only to be found with a bad case of memory loss. Now, Shuichi has to team up with Chihiro, Yoruko and the Kisaragi Foundation, as well as an old nemesis, to get her memories back before Organization Zetsubou can get their hands on her.

//The final arc of Phase 1 ended up being pretty darn good, but as is the case with every other arc in this blog, it isn’t without it’s problems.

//Everyone who followed the blog at the time was heavily awaiting the return of Kaede Akamatsu. She’s been hyped up quite a lot, and everyone took well to when she finally showed up...but the twist was that when she returned, she had no memories of all the events that had led up to this point, after being brainwashed by Organization Zetsubou.

//Which overall, was a very fun plot point to write. However, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really think “The Amnesiac and the Alter Ego” has as many good moments as some of the other arcs in the blog, but I still think the moments it has do...MOSTLY outclass the prior spots. And for this one, I’ll do it in a list form, since for this arc, it’s easier.

While she wasn’t around for very long, Chinami Hasami was a solid character, and her death due to misunderstanding (and Yukari being a bitch) has stuck with Kaede even now, playing a big role in her character.

Shuichi and Kaede’s relationship starts here, and it grows over the course of the arc, which was pretty fun and cute.

Kaede’s identity crisis and overweighing guilt she feels once Miu reminds her of Rantaro’s death was a major conflict source, and led to the arc’s overall climax. And it was a very difficult scene to write, but I think I did it fairly well.

The Kisaragi’s make a return, and they have some new members this time.

A lot of well loved characters return in this arc, aside from Kaede. Yuta, Taichi and Keebo are revealed to be alive still, and Kokichi, who has planted his roots as a solid plot-essential character in the blog overtime, first makes his return here, actually as one of the arcs main villains. In additon, Teruya, Setsuka and Mikako are now revived and members of the Kisaragi Foundation, and they each have their shining moments throughout the arc too.

Same can be said for the return of Sora. While she hasn’t had many strong moments or involvement in the story since this arc, Sora’s return and the way it happened was a fun chapter.

Mikado’s death scene was specifically done to catch everyone of guard, and question the differences between man and machine once Sora absolutely pummels him.

Akira is introduced for the first time, and while he doesn’t get his shinging moments just yet, he’s still pretty good for the short time in which he’s shown.

//There are a few other things, and to be honest, a lot of the basic stuff I said about previous arcs applies to this one. To be honest, I rank this one higher than Ultra Despair Gang, but the two can swap around depending on my mood.

//My favourite parts of this arc in particular are Kaede and Shuichi’s relationship througout, Kokichi’s actions as an anti-hero, and the very bittersweet ending with Mikado’s death. One of the biggest regrets that I have for this arc, are that while I do think that Mikado NEO’s death was a shocking twist and completely out of left field, in meant that the character remained rather underused and wasted potential. There were a lot of things that I still could have done with Mikado, but hopefully, AI Junko now fills those gaps.

//Overall, “The Amnesiac and the Alter Ego” Solid arc, decent writing, but very much the middle tier. No real problems, but nothing that makes it particularly stand out.

Komaru Naegi and Toko Fukawa, the Ultra Despair Girls, end up taking on a trafficking case, but they get much more than they bargain for. Now, they need to assemble a team of able warriors, an Ultra Despair Gang, to stop Haiji Towa from ending countless lives just for the sake of petty revenge!

//No one really talks about this arc, and that makes me sadge.

//I generally think that some of the best arcs in the series are the one’s that are focused around Ultra Despair Girls, which is odd since UDG is easily my least favourite games in the series. For no reason really, I just don’t find it as impressive or memorable. I still think they’re pretty good though, and I like that I give them a lot of good points in writing.

//Let’s go through a few things that I liked about this arc in particular.

//The first, and main thing, is that in comparison to other arcs in this story, aside from some of our more recent one’s is that this arc is actually kinda...well...Dark.

//Made all the more fitting since it revolves around the cast of Ultra Despair Girls, which I also consider to be the darkest iteration in DR, only outranked by Danganronpa 3. One thing many people seem to forget about Danganronpa, is that it is a VERY DARK game series. Sure, the humor hides this sometimes, and sometimes it’s actually a problem, but the basis of Danganronpa is far from kid friendly.

//The point is, there’s a lot of moments in this arc that are significantly more dark and depressing than the rest. By this, I of course refer to moments like when Haiji tortures Komaru, resulting in her losing a leg, which then forces her to go through military style rehabilitation, and when he shoots and murders Hiroko in front of the Warrior’s of Hope. There’s one other moment in particular that I would mention, but I will get to that because it’s essential that I talk about it on it’s own. Point is, a lot of things that happen in this arc pertain to not only depressing situations, but also realistic situations. Take Komaru coming out as gay to her brother. Not a dark moment, but definitely one that requires a lot of courage.

//This arc also had a lot of fantastic moments and characters that get overlooked. Hiroko was the first major character death (and death in general) on the blog, which meant a lot. It hurt Komaru and Toko, who loved the woman, and it forced Hiro to act, even though he’s usually cowardly and prefers to leave the fighting to others. I generally dislike Hiro by QUITE a lot, so I was worried that my biases would get in the way of allowing him a unique character arc. Fortunately, I think I looked past it.

//The second moment I think that was great, besides the one’s I’ve just mentioned, was the return of Monaca and the beginning of HER arc. I imagine I caught quite a few people by surprise when I brought back UDG’s main villain, not as a threat, but as a HELPER to the cause. One of the best thing’s about writing for the Warrior’s Of Hope in the blog, is seeing how exactly their personality's change over time, now that they’re all adults. Monaca in particular is the best of the group, for reasons that I have established in a previous countdown, but she was fun for the small moments she got. Her development and growth in her isolation didn’t change her completely. She’s no longer evil, but she’s still a bit of a jerk.

//Third point is the New Warrior’s Of Hope. Ryoma and Akeru, while neither have a significant involvement in this arc besides being the one’s who introduce the conflict, but the two were really fun additions to the group.

//Second to last thing I want to go over is Haiji Towa. I would like to say that, like the majority of Danganronpa fans, I HATE Haiji Towa. And any time that someone explains why Haiji is a detestable piece of shit, I always think they have a point.That being said, there was a particular way I wanted to steer his character. The pedophilia problem is obvious, and the one that most people talk about with him, but in some instances, what people fail to realize is that the moral issues don’t stop there. Haiji is overall an awful man, being cowardly, but also deliberate and calculating even though most of his actions are done out of desperation, and it’s clear that given time, he would have descended into madness. So that’s exactly what I tried to show with his character. And I kept telling everyone during the course of the story that the Future Foundation only intended to capture him and arrest him for his crimes in the story, which as a reminder was that he was going to blow up a hospital to kill a bunch of kids, not caring if other patients got caught in the explosion in the process, but let’s be real. In my right mind, I wasn’t going to let him get off easily.

//And that my friends, is where we come to the most essential moment in the arc, and by far my favourite character involved in the whole conflict...

//Kuripa Kurafto.

//This arc marked the FIRST moment, where the readers got to see Kuripa for who he REALLY was. Before now, he was a goofy, nerdy, karaoke-loving, easy-going animator, who just so happened to know how to fight with a sword, which is what gets Toko to recruit him. He even goes as far as to defend both Makoto and Komaru’s perspectives when the two get into a fight, telling Makoto to be less of a helicopter parent, and Komaru to be more open to her brother’s suggestions. But from the very beginning, Kuripa has his own intentions...In reality, he has an arguably justified, but extremely fucked up sense of justice, believing that the best way to take care of a “stain on society” is to flat out kill it. Unlike the rest of the heroes in the story, he firmly believes that murder and manslaughter is a JUSTIFIED action in the face of taking down criminals, with the mindset that if they are gone, it’s the answer to all the world’s problems, not taking into account the fact that violence just breeds more violence. His true nature is that of a manipulative, ruthless and bloodthirsty antagonistic character, who’s justice brings other’s down with him, and leads him to murder Haiji in the most terrible way possible, and then give a “motivational speech” to everyone about his ideal of Despair and Hope not being so different. It was honestly a fantastic moment to write, and I enjoy going back to it every now and then to reread it, and Kuripa has only been taken more seriously over time.

//This arc does have a problem with pacing, and some characters that remained underused, but in summary, this arc was super fun, and I wish people had appreciated it more at the time.

Sonia Nevermind, Princess of Novoselic, returns to her country, aided by her friends, awaiting the fateful day in which she will finally be crowned the kingdoms queen. Unfortunately, Angie Yonaga and her coup have other ideas for the country. Can Sonia, with the help of Gundham, Shuichi and the others, defeat them before the day of the rite of passage?

//Before making this list, I had a read back through each of the story arcs that I had made for the blog. By the time I was ranking them, and put the arc on the list, I thought to myself “Oh. Yeah, this one can go higher up, I actually liked Novoselic Revolution.”

//And then once the list was finished, I looked through it and thought to myself “Holy shit! I actually LOVED Novoselic Revolution!”

//Before I get into what I really appreciated about this arc in particular, let’s just very quickly go over some problems.

//For starters, the pacing could have been a lot better. It’s conflict is good, considering the entire vitality of a kingdom is at stake, and I think the build up to the problem was decently handled. Not everything goes to hell right away, and it takes a short while before Angie, Mikihiko and the rest of the coup actually strike. When it does happen, it’s very sudden, and the confusion is exactly what I was going for.

//However, considering Angie doesn’t have any guards to go after the gang, and that a lot happens in between each substantial plot point, that for the most part, the conflict doesn’t feel incredibly real. And most of the time, a little cliché. The cliché writing for this arc is one that’s a bit of a problem, because (at least for the most part) the plot points are fairly predictable.

//Mikan and Ibuki also get two chapters to themselves, and while I love my girls and the fact that they got together in this arc, I think it was unfair and biased of me to give these two their own chapter that didn’t really need to happen, and not do the same for every other couple on the blog. 12 Days of Christmas does not count.

//A lot of the other things about this arc were pretty damn great though. Sonia, Gundham and Shuichi are the main triad of heroes in this arc, and I think each of them ended up having their highlights. Sonia in particular gets overlooked compared to a lot of Danganronpa girls, which isn’t right, so having an arc revolve around her story and her sacrifice was fun.

//Speaking of which, probably the most fun hero character to write in this arc especially was Mikan. There is a slight problem with the blog in that I make Mikan more badass than she usually is, because while she’s not as skittish or clumsy as she was before, she’s still rather shy, ditzy and is usually very sweethearted. Some of her moments though in this arc were my absolute favourites, mainly, when she went undercover as a double agent to get the scepter, and her big speech to Angie and Mikihiko about true loyalty, and how she isn’t the monster she used to be. It’s a defining character moment for Mikan, and it makes her one of the most entertaining characters to write for on the blog as a whole.

//However, one of my absolute favourite parts of this arc have to be the actions of the villains. In this instance, we’re talking Angie Yonaga, and of course, everybody’s “favourite” antagonist on the blog so far, Mikihiko Koyasunaga. While Mikihiko was set up to be a twist villain, I think the majority of readers were able to see past the bullshit. The relationship the two have throughout the story is one built on trust, which causes Angie to be crushed when Mikihiko tries to kill her, and reveals that he has simply been using her as a means of gaining the kingdom for himself. All the better, one of the things that made Mikihiko great in this arc by the end, is he is the person who stays the most in-character throughout. He’s a twist villain, but once the mask is off, and all his actions here come to light, it shows everyone who he really is: A detestable piece of shit, garbage, rat of a man, who lies, and kills his way through whoever and whatever to make his goals come to fruition. It’s because of this that Mikihiko was my favourite villain on the blog, prior to the introduction of the Rebirth Duo (Akira and Narumi)

//The last thing I will say, is that much like what made Cabaret Kyojin’s fun, this arc is another one that bases itself on relationships, and has a lot of great relationship moments. Some that I can list are

Sonia trusting Shuichi to solve a decade old Novoselic mystery.

Kazuichi and Gundham having Sonia’s back all the way.

Tenko sacrificing herself for Himiko and the others.

Angie and Mikihiko’s “healthy” relationship throughout, which then leads to Mikihiko backstabbing her and giving Angie a taste of her own medicine.

Tenko and Angie’s spiteful relationship coming full circle.

Tenko literally fighting tooth and nail with tigers to save Himiko.

Shuichi working together with Kaito and Maki to take back the castle.

Shuichi and Mikan collaborating together to hatch the double agent plan.

Mikan and Ibuki confessing their feelings for each other.

Mikan and Hiyoko properly reconciling after so many years

Gundham and Sonia getting married and Kazuichi finally accepting their relationship in full.

//And the list goes on. In summary, Novoselic Revolution isn’t without it’s problems, and that is why it is my favourite arc in Phase 1.

//Now onto the top 3!

Future Foundation receives reports that an Organization Zetsubou operative is lurking in Towa City, planning something big, and Komaru and Toko take it on themselves to investigate. However, much to their shock and horror, the agent takes Akeru Yozora, the young girl that leads the next gen Warriors of Hope, captive and forces Toko and Komaru to participate in a deadly IRL RPG-like game. In order to defeat their enemy and save Yozora, Komaru and Toko team up with Makoto, Sayaka, Leon, Yuta, Ryoma and the Warriors of Hope, as they are forced to dig into the Ninja Warrior’s very dark past.

//It should come as a neat little surprise that the top 3 arcs in the story are actually the 3 most recent arcs. Question is, what order are they in? Well, to kick of the top 3 in third place is Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora, which, ironically, shares a lot in common with Ultra Despair Gang in regards to me overall opinion of it. It’s an arc that revolves around Komaru and Toko, it’s themes are significantly darker than the other arcs, and for some reason, no one really took it seriously and that makes me a little sad to be honest, because this is hands down one of the most fun asks to write in the blog as a whole.

//As already said, much like the prior arc that featured the Ultra Despair Girls, there’s a lot of dark shit that goes down in this arc. Namely, Akeru’s entire backstory, the mass murder of the New Warrior’s of Hope, Gonta revealed to be the deadly Mr Kuma, murdering people under Narumi’s control, and of course, the actions of Shinitani Yozora, Akeru’s birth mother who is by far one of the most despicable villains in the blog. There’s a lot I could say about Shinitani, but I’ll save that for another list.

//The arc’s ending is also one of my favourites. To be honest, the beginning and end of an arc is usually the most difficult part for me. You have to make sure that you start it on the right note and end it on the right note, and in a lot of cases, I struggle with that. The only two arcs where I think I did that perfectly are this one, and the next one, but we’ll get to that. The ending specifically was really nice, and it sucked that during the course of writing, I went on holiday for a weke for my mum’s birthday, and thus had to delay it. It was satisfying to get back to it though, because the mother/daughter dynamic between Akeru, Komaru and Toko is now one of my personal favourite things to write during asks.

//Akeru as a character comes full circle here. She carries many similarities with that of the old Warrior’s of Hope, but unlike them, she was able to retain her sense of justice. She killed Shinitani, yes, but she did so out of rage and vengeance, and swore not to do it again. Akeru is essentially what would have happened to Nagisa, Kotoko and the others, had they actually tried to make sense of their situation, and not been corrupted by Junko and Monaca. And I think it suits her.

//Aside from Akeru, a lot of the characters in the conflict do get some decent development too. Toko, after dealing with several years of insecurities and trust issues, finally opens up to her classmates and friends about the truth of her past, and how she isn’t so different from Akeru’s (by the way, she promises that she would tell the other members of Class 78 her story, and she does, it’s just never shown). Ryoma has to deal with his own crises, and after losing his found family, and then discovering that found family was killed by his best friend under mind control, struggles to stay sane, and with him being one of the most calm and collected characters in the series, this means something. Kirumi also learns that her dedication can be easily used against her, and she unintentionally becomes a villain, even if only for a little bit. Gonta’s development and story is self-explanotory, with a mountain of regret weighting on him, and how his character revolves around trying to get over the trauma of the people who he watched die at his own hand. Leon, with help from Ryoma, reevaluates himself and tries to sort himself out, wondering if he can actually put his talents to good use. Lastly, while not as impressive or essential as the prior points, Makoto’s training with Mukuro really pays off here, as he uses his skills to save Gonta. Admittedly, Sayaka and Yuta, the last two members of the main team, fall a little flat, but each of them had their decent moments too I feel.

//The final fights, despite there being quite a few of them, are also very good. Fight scenes are super hard to write on a blog that doens’t have moving images, but the elevator shaft fight against Narumi in particular is among my favourites.

//And speaking of which, we come to what was quite possibly my favourite aspect of this whole chapter. The introduction of Narumi Osone. A breath of fresh air for villains in Survivor.

//My favourite moment from this arc, and one that I consider a shame that people didn’t pick up on very much, was when Narumi waits patiently for Komaru and Toko to show up and stop her Project Neuron plan...before disposing of it herself.

//Narumi’s mindset is very much a mix between Nagito’s and Monaca’s. She has Monaca’s playfulness and desire to play games with the heroes, but she does so out of an obscene desire to watch them overcome the challenges, leading up to when she has a chance to face them down herself. And while she doesn’t show up a lot physically, is really only a child, and destroyed HER OWN PLAN, she was DEFINITELY a threat, and a very real source of conflict in the arc from a lot of the actions she takes.

//I think the biggest problem with the arc’s mainly lie in that the pacing wasn’t the greatest, and also, Tumblr had updated it’s post editor against my will, and I did not take kindly to the new one, so when it was implemented, I had a bit of a nerous breakdown. Naturally, I’ve now sorted it out, but I hope to god it doesn’t happen again.

//”The Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora.” Underrated and Underappreciated, but oh so good, and oh so fun to write.

When the Future Foundation thinks they’ve finally found an opportunity to out the traitor among them, things go horribly wrong. Kyoko Kirigiri is critically injured and hospitalized and Yui Samidare is murdered when a bomb goes off in the latter’s office building. Things look bleak as Makoto becomes the prime suspect behind the attack, and is then endlessly pursued by his own friends and allies. Using the aid of whatever friends they can make in the trying time that is their life, Makoto, alongside Kuripa, must now remain on the run until the truth and the identity of the real traitor comes to light.

//Finally, we arrive right where we left off. The most recently finished arc.

//This is the other arc on this list that I’m going to have to break down in the format of a list/bullet points, but unlike “The Amnesiac and the Alter Ego” I’m doing so for a different reason. The reason being...HOLY FUCK this arc is SO LONG!

//It took almost exactly 3 months to write this whole section of the story, and while I’m not against longer arcs, with more conflict and tension, 3 months is definitely pushing it.

//In any case, let’s go through a few things that I think makes this arc overall pretty solid.

Unlike most arcs, the beginning and end to this arc were both very satisfying. The opening post featuring Gyalusetsu perfectly set up the tone of the arc, and how this one was going to be far more dark and depressing compared to a lot of the others. The ending on the other hand is bittersweet. It’s a victory for the heroes, but a lot was lost in the process, so it’s hard to be completely satisfied with the conclusion to the conflict, shown mainly in Makoto’s letter.

The main three characters in the arc are Makoto, Mukuro and Kuripa, three characters who are kind of like a trio on the blog. As I mentioned before, interactions and relationships are a big part of what makes some of these arcs great, and these three in particular have some great moments together. Their interactions are almost like that of a family, with Makoto being the father and keeping the other two in check, but with stern kindness, Mukuro as either the mature and sensible mother or the older sister, and Kuripa being the rambunctious and wild son or younger brother.

The arc by far has the strongest conflict and the highest stakes of any other. The entire Future Foundation is against Makoto, all due to a misunderstanding, and if not for certain variables in place, i.e. Shuichi involving himself, Organization Zetsubou may very well have won right there and then. Even now, as already mentioned, while technically the heroes won, the OZ members still got the last laugh. Kyoko is hospitalized, Mukuro winds up dead, Shuichi’s hands are permanently scarred, and Celeste is revealed to have betrayed the group and unveils that she was never looking out for anyone other than herself. The conclusion cant be satisfying because the victory doesn’t feel like a victory at all. Instead, it feels like half of one. And that’s only a few depressing things that came out of the conclusion.

I think the twists, tense moments and battles of this arc really stood out. Despite the fact that there’s a few good fights here, and some of them drag on, they’re all pretty solid.

Mukuro is by far the biggest death in the blog. She was a very essential character, and in her final moments, she finally achieves the redemption that she had been searching for for so long.

As mentioned already, the villains really did shine here. Yukari/AI Junko, Gyalusetsu and Celeste are the three main one’s here. Munakata too, but he’s kind of his own thing.

One of the more satisfying things about the arc was Shuichi’s character development. By the end of his story here, he solves the case, becomes the new Branch Chief, and gets the girl, despite what he sacrificed along the way. And to be honest, he deserves it.

While their role is ultimately rather minor, the Kisaragi’s stand out in the scenes they are in, particularly when Tsurugi, who is rather overconfident and mighty sure of himself up to this point, crumbles under the pressure Kuripa puts on him.

Emotional conflicts come and go throughout the characters in this arc, and I think most of them are executed very well. Mukuro’s desire to seek redemption, Kuripa reflecting on his actions and making his own decisions in regards to avenging his sister and protecting his boss, Makoto wondering if continuing to run is the right thing to do, Shuichi overcoming his fears, and gaining the confidence needed to make the sacrifices he does.

Kokichi pushing Kaede along to confess to Shuichi, despite his own feelings, is a redeemable moment for him, despite being the same confident brat that he usually is, and also having his own feelings for Shuichi. He doesn’t let his selflessness ruin things for Shuichi in this case.

While I think things could have been written better, Mukuro grows from allowing herself to tell Makoto the truth about her inner conflicts and her feelings for him.

//To be honest, thee’s a bunch of other stuff that I could write about, but we’ll be here for a while if I do.

//With all this in mind, you may then be wondering to yourself. If there’s all these good things to say about this arc from the mod’s perspective, why isn’t this arc the number one spot? Well, the reason is actually something that I haven’t really taken into account on any of these other parts, but I consider this to be a problem, and thus am including it.

//Writing this arc...was NOT fun.

//Do I think it’s story is solid? Yes I do. Did I enjoy it when I wrote it? No, I didn’t. Because life was hell for me in the three months it took.

//I was transitioning into life as a university student, and having to deal with deadlines and stockpiled work, as well as new systems really got to me. Not only that, but because of a countable number of situations in my personal life, I was dealing with a lot of health issues, both physical and mental. People might not remember this, but it took 3 chapters to write the Kuripa and Munakata fight, and on the first night, I had to cut off asks because I was THAT close to going to hospital after I very nearly collapsed.

//What didn’t help was that a group of people decided “Hey! An ask blog! Let’s BULLY IT’S MOD!” and I got a whole heaping load of hate messages and critical asks, bullying me and delivering accusations. Namely, calling me sexist for some of the things that happened to the girls in this arc, which was purely coincidence, and even when I said “I would do the same thing if they were male” they’re just like “yeah, ok but...no you wouldn’t, sexist prick’ you’re sexist, the most sexist writer on Tumblr, good idea, how about you stop writing and go kill yourself?”

//I’m not exaggerating by the way, that is legit what one of them said.

//Some of the characters on the blog, namely Kaede and Shuichi, also got shat on by some askers for absolutely no fucking reason. One person, who is now blocked permanently, was SO desperate for Kaede to die this arc, and not get with Shuichi, that they actually THREATENED me, and told me they would report me if I didn’t. Needless to say, banning them was satisfying.

//So yeah. Thanks to some assholes, life changes, and health issues, this arc was a fucking nightmare to pull my way through. And that is really the only reason why it misses the top spot, besides from a few other small complains which I’ve already talked about for the other spots.

//I can look back on “The Life and Lies of Akeru Yozora” and “Novoselic Revolution” with fond memories. The same cannot be said for this arc.

//But with that said...there now only remains one more arc...and by process of elimination, you know what it is.

When struggling to come to terms with the power that he holds, Hajime encounters a misfortunate boy by the name of Ayumu Fujimori, who is alike to him in many ways. Employed by Zetsubou, Fujimori and his band of societal rebels intend to weaponize the preserved Reserve Course and some new special drugs in order to break the current society. Hajime must save the country from Ayumu, and come to terms with the fact that the two of them aren’t so different.

//Alright. I know that many of you may disagree with me, but take a lot of what good things I said about all the previous arcs, and put almost all of them into “Misfortune’s Revenge.”

//The characters are great, the conflict is real, the beginning and ending are good (not as good as Number 2 and 3, but still) the pacing is actually somewhat decent, the emotional dynamic between the heroes and the villains, the villains backstory and motivations...All of it perfectly culminates into a very good chapter, and my personal favourite so far.

//Is it perfect? Absolutely not.

//In fact, I think there’s quite a few things that do somewhat hurt it, namely certain characters not getting as much attention as others. However, I very much think that the positives of this arc outweigh the negatives. Let’s just breakdown a couple things to talk about.

//For one thing, this arc is pretty long. The Fugitive is longer of course, but Misfortune’s Revenge had quite the run time. However, there aren’t many points in the arc where the story feels like it’s being dragged on, or there’s some pointless filler. The story remains fairly consistent, and the most out-of-plot scenes you get are the scenes that focus on Ayumu and the UUV. However, those scenes had a purpose, showing off Ayumu’s growing and changing character.

//Speaking of Ayumu, while he may have been around for this arc and this arc only, he is absolutely the highlight. His character, as I’ve mentioned before, turned out to be far greater than I held him to be. A few problems that I have with him are that his Ultimate Bad Luck doesn’t make an awful lot of sense in this context, and also there are a few questions about him that remain kind of unanswered. Still, there are many parts of him as a character that really stand out, and killing him off was depressing, but it was ultimately necessary for both future events and Hajime’s character arc in the near future.

//Ayumu and Hajime are very much alike in several ways. Their life experiences are basically the same, and it leads them both down the same path. Where they diverge is what they actually decide to do with their powers. Hajime really lacks a choice after the Hope’s Peak board erases him in place of Izuru, but Ayumu had no such issue. What makes the UUV’s goal so difficult to tackle is that they are doing awful things, stealing, fighting, relying on Organization Zetsubou for help, and a lot of other stuff, but they’re doing it for reasons that can be considered very justified. All they want is to fix the government, and unite the world leaders to create the ultimate age of peace and prosperity, but knowing that creation comes after ruin, they need to break it down before they can build it back up again.

//Hajime, and his friends in this context, understand these goals. In fact, Hajime agrees with Ayumu and the UUV’s fight. He simply does not agree with the way they are fighting it. And if you give it some thought, thanks to Hajime, Ayumu’s dream of uniting the overseas parties and creating a single, unified government body to help save the world...actually kind of succeeds? Hajime is able to talk some sense into the world leaders, which is another moment in this arc that I really enjoyed. Despite not really possessing the right, since he’s partially responsible for the whole tragedy in the first place, Hajime stands up to the higher power, and completes Ayumu’s mission for him. Not in the brutal way. In his own way. The Hajime way. The RIGHT way.

//However...on the other end of the spectrum, and honestly, the ACTUAL antagonist of this arc...is Nagito.

//Ayumu is an antagonist and a threat to the Future Foundation in the arc, but him, Kego, Aruma, Mitsunari, Mikoto and ESPECIALLY Marin, aren’t actually villains, nor are they evil in any sort of way. They’re just misguided kids, with the right mindset, and they even have a policy against violence and murder. Yes, Ayumu goes a little stir crazy at the end and abandons his morals, but first of all, it’s clear that he doesn’t mean or intends to follow up on any of his threats. Hajime even calls him out after their climactic fight at the end and points out that Ayumu very much said that he would rather Hajime save the hostages than spend time focused on him, which shows that right when he’s about to reach his penultimate goal, he has doubt eating away at him, and wants nothing more than to stop his own desperate actions, feeling that he’s incapable of doing so. The OTHER thing to note, is that Ayumu would not have gone off this deep end, if NAGITO hadn’t decided to go crazy.

//One thing that many people did observe, but I will clear up, is that Nagito’s change in character and his out-of-character actions in this arc were not sudden. If anyone has been around since the early days of Survivor, over the course of the story, Nagito slowly but surely becomes more unsure and doubtful of his position. And it’s mainly thanks to Hajime that this is the case.

//Nagito holds Izuru Kamukura in very high regard, but post-survivor, he finds out that Izuru and Hajime are the same person. Now, if you were to ask me, I think that if Nagito were to find that out, it wouldn’t lead to the romantic fantasy and happy, wholesome gay relationship with Hajime that a lot of the fangirls of the series would adore (not bashing on Komahina by the way. I used to hate it, but now I think it’s ok) but in reality, knowing Nagito, I think he would have his reservations, and not necessarily know how to feel about it. Hajime, a “talentless, worthless, run-of-the-mill nobody” and this almighty, talent-bound GOD of a human being Izuru being the same person? Nagito probably wouldn’t feel completely satisfied with this outcome, and over time, would probably harbor some ill feelings and thoughts to his boss. The Nagito in this blog does not consider the project that Hajime went through to be talent, because Hajime was not BORN with his abilities. Thus, the artificail talents held by Hajime do not count in Nagito’s eyes, and not only does he shun Hajime for this, but he considers him a cheater. Is there jealously involved? A little bit, but at the same time, it’s mainly because Nagito believes that if you’re born as nothing but talentless and useless trash, you should stay that way, like it’s your fate and your destiny for your whole life, and trying to change that is pointless, and offensive to people who are BORN with talent. He doesn’t believe or accept that something like the project could make Hajime so powerful, and give him so many abilities, not does he think that he can, or is allowed to, amount to anything.

//Then you have to consider that the entire arc revolves around a kid who is basically the EXACT same case as Hajime. Now Nagito has to deal with TWO of these cretins, who are worthless stains on society, but are now powerful potential threats. Hajime and Ayumu collectively are a threat to Nagito’s ideal, and the idea that this project exists that can just grant human’s these talents, TERRIFIES him. In comparison to the rest of the squad in this arc; Hajime, Mahiru, Fuyuhiko, Chiaki and Peko, Nagito doesn’t feel that Ayumu and his team are worthy of saving, or redeeming, simply because of Ayumu’s fatal choices. As such, like when he goes against the plan in the basement of the lab building, and when he fights Ayumu in the construction site, Nagito actively tries to end Ayumu’s life. While he advocates for it constantly, Nagito thinks of this particular Hope as a disease, and while he doesn’t think he’s powerful enough to destroy it, he believes he’s smart enough to stop it from spreading.

//Then...of course...there’s the case with Marin. And the reason I brought all of these prior variables up is to better explain this penultimate moment.

//This scene has a lot of parallels to Kuripa’s big scene in “Ultra Despair Gang” but arguably, it’s so much better and has far more of an impact. Haiji’s death was sudden, and quick, so much so that it took a while for everyone to process it fully. MARIN on the other hand, died a slow, painful, brutal death, from being beaten to death by Nagito.

//And the reason this scene is so essential, is because, in the words of Cole Cassidy (formerly Jesse McCree) “that’s when things started...to go wrong.”

//Nagito’s actions in this arc, are ultimately what lead to the events of the story we currently find ourselves in. Organization Zetsubou are getting a foot above the Future Foundation, the public are beginning to doubt the FF’s justice, society is beginning to emotionally crumble once more, and another tragedy ins’t far from sight...

//All it takes is one bad day...One fleeting moment for things to completly go to shit...And of every crowning moment in Danganronpa Survivor...This...was...it...

//Nagito up until this point is up on top, and about to topple. Thanks to the actions of serving under Hajime, and Ayumu’s presence and actions, he’s questioning everything he knows, is getting scared and desperate to protect his hope and talent based ideals, and once Seiko goes bye bye after Akira kidnaps her...THAT is the final, tiny push, that sends Nagito over the edge...and Marin Mizuta pays the price for it.

//It’s a powerful, devastating scene to see someone as reserved as Nagito in a state of genuine rage, fury and anger, and to see him take such a violent approach against another human being, particularly against Marin, the UUV’s arguably most adorkable and loveable member...And it’s all too clear that from this point on, Nagito Komaeda is no longer the man he was...Now...he’s far more dangerous...

//But, overall, that concludes most of what I have to say about “Misfortune’s Revenge” our number one for this list.

//This arc was definitely not perfect, but it was in my own opinion, successful at taking the story to a much darker plotline and tone that it may never come back from, and overall proves to be a more mature take on a story full of characters living in a grey area. And a fantastic story about two lost souls with a connection that will tie them together till the end of time.

//And that concludes my analysis, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

//This won’t be the last time I make one of these analysis’ and I’ve got more breakdowns on the way, as I mentioned before.

//I had also planned for this to go up yesterday, but it took way longer than I thought it would, so I’m uploading this on December 1st which is my birthday, so...Happy birthday to me I guess? I think it was fun though.

//In any case, I know the ask box is currently closed, but I would REALLY love to hear what you guys thought of my arcs. If you want to share your own thoughts and opinions, maybe you can repost this and do a little mini analysis of your own? I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on what their favourite chapter of the story was.

//But for now, I’m tired and need my rest, so I’ll catch you guys in the next countdown~

-Mod

#danganronpa survivor #ranking #self reflection #troubles brewing arc #the trial of koichi kizakura arc #deadly harmony arc #neo world arc #ultra despair gang arc #novoselic revolution arc #the amnesiac and the alter ego arc #the tower arc #cabaret kyojins arc #the life and lies of akeru yozora arc #misfortunes revenge arc #the fugitive arc

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generous1ty · 4 years ago

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Could I get Makoto Naegi and Nagito Komaeda (separately) with an S/O who is the Ultimate Despair? Like, has Junko's title, but would never harm them because she loves them, and will absolutely give it up if they asked her to?

hihi! two requests with the same prompt...how exciting!

apologies to the second anon-- i don't write for DRv3 characters yet, as i haven't finished watching it, so i’ll only be doing Makoto and Nagito.

if you’d like for me to do Shuichi + Kokichi, 2nd anno, send in a request when i announce i can write for V3!

thanks for requesting! lots of love. <3

✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑ ✑

Makoto and Nagito with an SHSL Despair!S/O

genre: angst warnings: gn!reader, kidnapping(?) mentions, swearing, spoilers for DR:THH chapter 6 and DR:GBD chapter 4-6, these are also really long oops

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

Makoto Naegi

Makoto is conflicted, to say the least.

i mean, he spent all this time with you-- you both got to know each other and you helped him investigate! so, how could someone like you be... so terrible?

during the last trial, he really didn’t want to admit it. he didn’t want to accuse you despite all the evidence that pointed to you.

“n-no! this has to be wrong!” he could feel the hot tears swelling in his eyes, hands trembling from the fear, “we-- we must have missed something-- we have to had missed something!”

you only smiled as he sobbed at his stand, all the others-- Byakuya, Toko, Aoi, Kyoko, even Yasuhiro-- glaring at you as you grinned.

“please... please, it’s not true!”

despite the protests of everyone, Makoto had stopped you from executing yourself, bringing you outside with them.

more so, you convinced him to bring you outside with them. the expression on Makoto’s face was delicious in your opinion, and you really didn’t want to not witness it when it happened again.

well, that and you really, truly did care for him. losing Makoto would be true despair! so you simply stuck around and waited for that to happen.

you caused havoc and despair-- i mean, of course you did. you were the Ultimate Despair after all. after dragging Makoto away from the Future Foundation, you had him hostage in a place not even those Foundation Fucks could find.

the room you shared with the small brunette was definitely not small. things catered for his needs-- books, paper, pens, and really, almost anything he asked for. he was allowed to roam the residence you both had(but he could never find the exit, the place is like a maze) and you fed and clothed him. what more could you possibly need?

he always questioned you when you came back into the room, “why..?! why do you keep doing this?! please, i can-- i can fix this! you just need to let me go..! i know there’s good in you, [Y/n].. please...”

you always tell him the same response, “maybe i’m conditioning you to become even stronger after i die,” you’d prod his hope, “until then, i’m going to give you the best of me i can!”

eventually, you’d be defeated. you knew that. so before that happens, you want to spend as much time with Makoto as possible. whether it be through hope, or despair.

“uh oh! seems like your Future Fu-- Buddies found me!” you giggled, a manic laugh erupting from your lungs.

you gave him one last kiss before you left, leaving him speechless as he tried to run after you, “w-wAIT! [Y/N] PLEASE--”

“Makoto,” before the door had closed, you gave him that smile he always loved to stare at, “I do hope we meet again someday-- in another life, perhaps?”

if he hadn’t seen your corpse sitting in the hallway to the exit with a small, content smile, he would have mourned a lot more than he already had.

“another life...” he held a keepsake of yours in his hands, “..definitely.”

Nagito Komaeda

the funhouse could have been the worst thing to happen to Nagito, and he truly believed that.

with the type of despair he felt now, he could only hope to overcome it with extremely good luck. if that luck isn’t this book full of profiles to be fake, he’s not sure what to do.

the fourth trial is.. tough, to say the least. he’s perplexed, a heavy weight is put upon his chest, as well as this feeling of... disbelief.

you couldn’t-- no. of course not! the book must surely have been lying! but... why would Monokuma need to lie about those kinds of things?

he spills. he can’t contain it anymore-- even if he wanted to. he wanted to help you, he wanted to keep this a secret for your sake.

however, his mouth won’t stop running. he wants to stop, he really does, but he can’t. he can’t. why can’t he stop? it’s not true-- it’s not true!

even if Hajime being a reserve course student was shocking, the reveal of you, the person who had indefinitely helped both Hajime and Nagito-- everyone in their times of need, being the Ultimate Despair..? isn’t that absolutely absurd?

all 7 students on different stands wanted to deny it, but the look in your eyes really explained everything.

and truly, ah... truly, Nagito felt what ultimate despair was really like.

both you and Nagito were outcasted from everyone else-- that much was obvious enough. even Nagito avoided you...and honestly, it was kind of exhilarating!

despite Nagito trying to be discreet, he really wasn’t. you knew his plans to blow up the hotel, to reveal the traitor(which obviously seemed to be you), and yet... the traitor was Chiaki!

oh how you laughed while everyone mourned.

when you all had finally left the Neo World Program, you were the last to wake up-- if it wasn’t obvious enough.

no one wanted you to wake up, or even help you regain consciousness. it was cruel of them, but you supposed it was fair since you did brainwash them into becoming human killing machines.

you were put under surveillance 24/7, since you obviously couldn’t be trusted alone. lucky for you, your watchman was Nagito! you’d talk about a lot of things to him, but you’d get no response.

the sinking feeling in your chest would not dissipate despite talking to the one person who would listen. every time he would ignore you and your attempts to get along with him, somehow a pang would pain your chest. it was terrifying yet surreal.

either way, you’d be executed. there was no way the Future Freaks would let you live after what you’ve done. the troubles with your companion wouldn’t matter soon, because you’d be out of his way soon enough. the feeling had made you shiver in pleasure.

“I really do love you, Nagito.” were the last words you told him before you were never seen again.

from then on, he never knew why, but it always felt like something was missing when he passed your old room.

he supposed he missed you more than he thought.. he laughed, brows furrowing in confusion as he finally cried because of your absence.

“I guess I love you, too.”

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astermacguffin · 4 years ago

Text

The semantic logic of AMVs

I finally finished the post I promised to @katebushstandean , so here's my contribution to the blossoming field of spn amv studies.

In this post I made about fanworks and intertextuality, I argued that AMVs can be referred to as a "discourse between discourses." What I meant by that (and I elaborated on this in the post) can be summarized in this argument structure:

(1) AMVs are typically a dialogue/discourse between a song and a show/film.

(2) A song is already a discourse of its own (i.e. it's the dialogue between music and lyrics).

(2) A show/film is already a discourse of its own (i.e. it's the dialogue between the visual and auditory elements of the show/film).

I want to push this argument even further and argue for a more generalized theory of meaning that should (ideally) be applicable to any piece of media.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

Let's start by analyzing at least just one medium at a time. Take music, for example. Without lyrics, how does music convey meaning at all? Now, I won't go too much into either music theory or the psychology/sociology of music (since I don't think I'll be able to give these subjects any justice anyway), but I want us to look at music more structurally/linguistically. (I am certainly not a linguist, but I am a training logician and I think it would be interesting to extract the logical/semantic relations that occur in music if we treat it as a "text".)

If we want to break down music into its smallest possible units of meaning (the same way we break down language into morphemes in morphology), then we would probably end up with notes, beats, and chords as our basic units (among other stuff, like timbre). Obviously, we cannot subject music to the same reductionist approach we do with either natural or formal languages (e.g. breaking down language into morphemes/propositions/subject-predicate relations/functions).

This is due to the fact that music doesn't really agree that much with the principle of compositionality—that "the meaning of the whole is a function of the meanings of its parts and their mode of syntactic combination." (If you disagree with Montague semantics, you might even argue that the same is true for natural languages and that only formal languages are truly compositional, but I digress). Generally, there is "more than the sum of its parts" when it comes to music; the meanings of a chord don't solely depend on the meanings of the individual notes that make up the chord.

Anyway, back to music and meaning-making.

Yip Harburg has this interesting quote on songwriting, which Adam Neely references here at this mark (15:29–16:10), a quote he originally got from Ben Levin. The quote says: "Music makes you feel feelings, lyrics make you think thoughts, songs make you feel thoughts." I think this quote best encompasses what I mean when I argue that songs are "discourses" of their own.

But even without the lyrics, music on its own is already "discursive." A single note played once doesn't really "mean" much, in the sense that we can't really gather as much meaning out of it alone. The note's relationships with other musical elements is what opens up the realms of meanings that we can attribute to it. (This concept is explored much better in here.)

The same thing is true with natural languages. Morphemes and words have meanings on their own, sure, but they don't really say that much on their own until you place them in a specific order with other morphemes/words. A single sentence is already a discourse between the units of meaning that compose the sentence.

I have been using the term "discourse" a lot, but what do I mean when I use the term? Without spending too much time explaining my own theory of discourse, let's define a discourse as a "series of discursive units." A discursive unit consists of two parts: a prompt and a response. What's important to know about responses in a discourse is that you won't really be able to fully grasp what they mean without knowing what the prompts are (i.e. what they are responding to).

When I describe song and lyrics as "discourses", what I think I really mean is that they are "discourse-like" (hence the description, "discursive"). The words of a sentence treat each other as their own prompts/responses; they're not as meaningful alone, but when taken together, meaning emerges. The same goes with music.

Taking this to a more macro scale, we can treat each episode of a show as their own discourses, and each episode "responds" to the others in some way. The harmonies, tensions, and contradictions that emerge from the "conversations" between these episodes are what we often respond to when we make fanworks (fanart, fanfics, meta, and the likes).

Generally, there are two kinds of "conversations" that happens within and among pieces of media:

The intra-discursive (the conversations that happen within a single text, like how a show's episodes converse with each other), and;

The inter-discursive (also called the intertextual, or the conversations that happen between different texts).

Now that we have established these terms and concepts, we're FINALLY talking about AMVs.

THE DEAL WITH AMVS

I've already touched upon this in my intertextuality post, but it's worth repeating. What I believe AMVs do is reveal the intra-discursive using the inter-discursive. What this means is that by making the subject text converse with other texts (e.g. by making clips from Supernatural "dialogue" with a song of your choice), you are somehow extracting the implicit discourses present in the original text.

When we talk about fanworks (and transformative works in general), we often talk about it in terms of recontextualization, as well as adding something new that wasn't there in the original text (e.g. fix-its). But a neglected aspect of fanworks that I believe AMVs bring to light is the revelatory power of fanworks, like the way it makes the people (may it be the audience or the original creators) confront the implications and implicit meanings already present in the text.

(Learn more about the semantic logic of AMVs below the cut)

Another interesting thing that AMVs do is that it often makes the subject text subservient to the song. More often than not, it's the show that has to adjust to the song; it's the show that has to be sliced and diced in order to fit the song. This is simultaneously a form of violence and a form of liberation—violent in the sense that goes against authorial intent (with "author" here used loosely to refer to the forces that brought the piece to life, may it be a single person or an entire production team) and liberating in the sense that the latent or supressed narratives are brought to light.

Even before the AMV is done, this discursive process is already made explicit by the act of editing. In most editing softwares, you get to see the timeline of your material and an explicit divide between the audio and the visual elements. The audio stream is already a discourse of its own, and the same goes with the video stream.

When you vertically slice these juxtaposed streams and cut out a portion of it, you now have what I call a "semantic moment" locked in time. We can imagine the audio being divided into these little semantic moments (e.g. the chords, a key change, a shift in dynamics or tempo, etc.) and something similar can be said with the video (e.g. vital scenes in the show). Now, a semantic moment doesn't have to be special or eventful; in fact, most of them aren't. In fact, all of experience is nothing but a series of semantic moments (i.e. moments of extractable meaning).

Now, imagine an AMV playing in front of you right now. Let's represent the audio as a series of semantic moments from A1 to An and do something similar to the video, from V1 to Vn. If we represent the flow of time from left to right, then we can talk abstractly about experiencing an AMV like this:

A1-A2-A3-A4-A5...-An

V1-V2-V3-V4-V5...-An

Every moment of our experience of the AMV can be divided into a series like this. AMVs are art objects that unfold over time: they are temporal, and therefore we cannot immediately access all parts of the semantic "discourse" of the text all at once—we have to wait for them to happen.

Let's say I want to analyze Semantic Moment number 6 because something interesting happens there: the chord suddenly shifts into a minor key while at the same time, the video shows a character turning their back to the camera. Now, there are three possible ways to handle this (none of which are mutually exclusive; we usually perform these modes of analysis simultaneously):

Vertical analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and V6. What meanings are brought up when we take these two elements in conjunction? What associations do we have with minor keys, with people turning around, and how these associations influence the other?

Horizontal analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and its earlier counterparts, A1-A5, or between V6 and V1-V5. Earlier, we have discussed that a single chord or a single word on its own doesn't mean that much; it's their relationships with other elements that bring out their "meaning space." What "narratives" or "metaphorical gestures" are brought upon when you consider these semantic moments as discourses/texts as a whole?

Diagonal analysis - analyzing the discourse between A6 and V1-V5, or between V6 and A1-A5. Here, you make the semantic moment converse with the "history" of its counterpart. What are the events that happened in the earlier parts? For example, knowing that the earlier parts of the song were in major key before the turn-around scene might influence our reading of it. Similarly, knowing that the earlier scenes depict a happy relationship might influence how we read the minor shift.

Again, we often do these analytic slices as quick as possible (and often simultaneously); it's not something that we often do consciously (unless the subject text is actually that dense and difficult). It's instinctual to us to bring up these comparisons and engage with the explicit and implicit discourses of meaning happening with any kind of text we interact with.

Now, here's where it gets more complicated. Unless the AMV in question is just a scene lifted from the show and overlaid with a song, it would usually involve a bunch of cutting and joining between different scenes/episodes. What this means is that you're taking an already temporal object and reassembling it into a new order in time. This means that we might've initially thought of as V1-V2-V3-V4-V5...Vn might actually be V3-V1-V6-V19-V8...Vn or some other permutation.

Again, this process is simultaneously violent and liberating—violent because you are destroying its intended order, and liberating because you are negating the tyranny of linearity and contiguity. What I mean by this is that people tend to focus on the discourse of the semantic moments depending on how close they are in space and time. For example, we might focus on how V1 is in dialogue with V2 and how V2 is in dialogue with V3, but the farther the semantic moments are, the less likely we are to notice their discourse.

What AMV editors do is rebel against the tyranny of this habit and bring into light the connections that might have gone unnoticed without the intervention. We often talk about how certain fanworks are more analytical than transformative (e.g. fanfics that function more as character studies and meta analyses of the source text), and there certainly is a spectrum of this among different genres of fanworks. I believe that AMVs, no matter how transformative they are, cannot help but invoke a certain analyticity in their production and reception.

And that concludes my AMV essay. I'll probably add more to this when I gather more thoughts (like how these three posts are related in some way).

Lemme know if y'all wanna hear more about my theory of discourse or something else related. Support your content creators and reblog!

#spn #spn amv studies #long post #aster writes

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frightfurtabby · 3 years ago

Text

Himikiyo Week 2021 Day 5: Anniversary Party

// Cute and fluffy, make-up smearing kissies, slow dancing, and awards... enjoy~

Word count: 1434

Links

AO3- https://archiveofourown.org/works/34196977

Amino- (coming soon)

I need to catch up on cross-posting to amino so I’ll be doing that too.

The anniversary party was an important occasion. All actors from the danganronpa franchise were coming together for this event. 10 years ago was the release of the first series starring Makoto Naegi as the protagonist, since then there have been 3 further series and a spin off that took place between the first 2, though it had aired afterward. And they were all gathered together.

There were already plans for another spin-off that was summer camp themed and would be finished later the next year. It was really big but sometimes there were years of waiting between new productions and that led to a lot being covered by tabloids and other media outlets. Korekiyo moved up to a small town in Aomori prefecture with Himiko to stay as quiet as possible, keeping in contact with certain people from among their castmates.

The couple were sitting together in a backstage private dressing room once again, Himiko taking time to brush Kiyo’s hair. Most of their outfits were already in place, a puffy purple dress for Himiko, her matching magic hat sat on the table in front of them.It was so pretty and only a little bit difficult to move around in at first before she was getting used to it. The anniversary celebrations included a dance in the ballroom and awards for the newest batch of fan popularity polls.

“Babe are you sure you want to go for that hat, I don’t know if it fits with the rest of what you’ve got going on.”

Kiyo was wearing a white button-up long sleeved blouse with a burgundy vest, a green coat over both and a long black skirt. Near Himiko’s hat was their own for this occasion, a black fedora which was what she was referring to in her comments..

“I personally think it looks nice.” Kiyo gave an exaggerated pout.

Touching up both their make-up was all the couple needed before they got to head out to the event proper. Kiyo hadn’t decided on lipstick before they had to go to avoid running late. They could do without that but not without eating, which they had to finish on the way out.

When she was finished brushing she helped gather their locks together and band it to make a ponytail.

She chuckled. “Of course you do, well since you insist. Here, have this one, I think this color will compliment everything nicely. Now come closer!” She grabs a nice dark blood red shade. Kiyo had used it plenty of times, including the year they dressed up as a vampire for Halloween, so it was a classic go-to.

Kiyo leaned in like she asked. Puckering their lips out to give her a more complete canvas for her to work with. However, before Himiko touched the tip of the lipstick onto their lips, Kiyo stopped for a moment.

“I wouldn’t want to smudge this so soon, so please give me a kiss?”

Himiko giggled. “Alright, okay. But first…” Her free hand extended and her pointer finger booped them right on the nose.

The former Ultimate Anthropologist feigned shock. “What did I deserve that for?”

“For being cute, ya silly goose.”

They were gearing up for a follow up joke but they were pulled in by the collar and smooched. They leaned into and savored it. Even if it did ruin the set-up, it was fine. Any time was a lovely time to smooch Himiko.

“Okay, now we can do it.” she chirped.

Kiyo re-assumed the proper position and reached out, gently caressing Himiko’s cheek. A deep look into her eyes. “Alright, go ahead.”

She reached up to hold them still with one hand and eased the lipstick close. Drawing it, focused as close as she can on the precision. Even though they had just kissed, she was tempted to ruin it again.

So she did.

They giggled as soon as she let them go. “God I’m so lucky wearing a mask is my trademark. I’m sure people would have a field day if they actually saw how smudged you always end up making this.”

“Yeah well, I’m lucky to have you.” She said, making cute faces in their direction.

Kiyo pulled their mask up and put the fedora on, taking Himiko’s hand as a way to get up out of the chair.

They turned and exited the door. Upon entering the hallway they met up with Shuichi and Rantaro, spending time catching up. Talking about how the cats were doing, how busy it was lately, more recent gigs they’d lent their talents to, that kind of thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon entering the ballroom, the couple noticed there were danganronpa themed decorations all over. A big banned reading “Happy 10th Anniversary'' went along the rafters. It was certainly doing its job of seeming like a mix between prom and a high school reunion.

At least this one was full of people both of them liked better than most people who’d been at either of their actual proms from back in the day. Even with personal problems here and there it was still more tolerable than that.

A slow waltz tune echoes around the ballroom. All the couples were paired up, most having stuck together pretty much the whole time up to this point regardless, but the Junko was making a big deal up on stage about how “If you’re not already, couple up and dance!”

Kiyo’s hand was around the back of Himiko’s head. They took time to pet her and look into her eyes as they performed slowly just like they had practiced. It felt nice and warm. Both could close their eyes for a bit and had a good amount of space to nuzzle up.

“I love you dear.”

“I love you too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few dance tracks later, Junko Enoshima got up and did a little bit of MC’ing. “And now everyone, having a good time? Well, it’s time to announce the first batch of winners from the polls! And here to read those names is someone we all know and love. The mysterious…”

She started getting a head count of all the danganronpa alumni, dragging it on for comedic effect. “The mysterious 40-somethingth student that was lying hidden somewhere in this very building… Mukuro Ikusaba!”

The crowd of students clapped, Himiko and Kiyo included. As Mukuro took time to further introduce the concept, showing off the envelopes for good measure, the lovers had a small conversation.

“Do you think we’ll win anything this year?”

“I hope we do. I’m not sure though, since competition is very stiff in all categories.”

“It’d be really cute if we won the couples one” she smiled, holding their arm close. “We may not have won it yet, but there's always a chance.”

“I’ve seen a little bit of buzz online telling fans to vote for us. So we might pull it off.”

It came time, the third category: the cutest off-screen couple. The options were always more open, as there were very few canonical on-screen romances in the show. Mukuro cut open this envelope, like she had done the previous two.

The MC cleared her throat. “Ahem. The winners are… Shinguuji Korekiyo and Yumeno Himiko”

The V3 cast members hooted and hollered. The other 2 main series had just picked up 1 win each and usually SDR2 would sweep these anniversary award contests. Picking up a surprise win would hopefully be a sign.

Escorted by several classmates like they just scored the winning points in a sport together, Himiko and Kiyo went up, and had to make up a speech off the cuff. That’s how much of a last second blindside actually pulling it off was.

Himiko took her spot close to Kiyo’s side and they both stood in front of the mic. Kiyo gently taps it and clears their throat.

“Thank you all, I’m… surprised. I thought for sure it would be another year of us being passed up.” they said

She added “The fans really pulled through!” She raised her award and held it up to clink it with Kiyo’s. “I’m not sure what else to even say.”

“We are grateful for the nomination, and thank everyone who cast a vote.” Asked if they had anything more to say, Kiyo finished with “As difficult as some fans can be, it's always good to feel appreciated.”

Everyone went back down, further winners were to be announced. Neither cared much, but would support friends who could get it. For now all they wanted was to cuddle up together on the bleachers. The rest of the night was for relaxing.

#himikiyo #himikiyo week #himikko yumeno #korekiyo shinguji #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #fanfic #writing

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luxexhomines · 4 years ago

Note

How would the V3 girls react to killing someone (accident, self defense or intentionally), but they didn’t know that they didn’t completely kill the person and their s/o killed them so the girls won’t be executed?

This was the oldest ask in my inbox, and I had actually started working on this request months ago, but I never actually finished it. I don’t feel able to really complete it, but I did do a short bit for Kaede and Maki. I’m just going to leave the request like this because I don’t think I’ll be able to finish the rest of the girls (and because my rules have changed since then to only have 3 characters and under). So here we are.

I think I struggled a bit with this request, so it’s not really at the quality I wanted it to be, but I can only leave it like this, not having the energy to work on it more.

NDRV3 Girls x S/O who takes the fall for their kill

Kaede Akamatsu

When Kaede stumbled upon the scene of the crime with Shuichi and the others, she felt immense disgust and guilt. Not because she resented the killer–or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she did, that she hated the killer with every mite of her being. She had failed to protect everyone again, and as the perpetrator of this murder, she could feel bile rising in her throat as she stared at the result of her crime.

Putting a hand to her mouth, she took a step away from the crime scene. Then another. She knew she had to stay calm, stay strong–and she should hardly be surprised at this point after all the killings and even more so because this one was directly related to her. But maybe it was because this one was exactly her fault that she felt such intense contempt for the crime and grief when her eyes were met with the sight of the body.

“Are you okay?” Shuichi asked, looking at her anxiously. “I know it’s always a lot to take in…”

Oh, yes, it was a lot to take in. But in a much different way than usual. Instead of casting her suspicion elsewhere, she could only blame herself. Giving in to the urge, she asked for a reprieve.

“Is it okay if I go out for a bit? I’m not feeling too well.”

Shuichi nods and turns back to the body, but not before telling her to take care of herself. How ironic, asking the killer to take care. Kaede staggered out of the room, nausea swirling at her core. She didn’t think she could investigate this one. It was simply too painful. There seemed to be more blood than before–but she must have been imagining it; after all, she could barely stand to look at the scene.Kaede ends up sitting out the investigation, while just about everyone looked around, including yourself. The couple hours allotted for investigation flew by, and soon enough it was time for the trial.

Only about ten minutes into the trial, Kaede’s already feeling sick. She can’t hide this from everyone. She has to let them know the truth. Even if it causes them to hate her, or ends in her own death–after all, it’s only what a criminal deserves for their crimes. Even though she had failed to protect the victim, she could at least do her part and protecting everyone else from an undeserving fate.

“Everyone,” she says softly.

Surprised, each student turns to her in kind. She hadn’t been around in investigation and hadn’t spoken up till now either, both of which was extremely unusual.

“What is it, Kaede?” Shuichi questioned. He was getting a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

“I have to tell you all the truth,” Kaede says, trying to bring up her courage. “The true perpetrator of this murder is-”

You interrupted.

“Me.” You take a breath in and then let it go slowly. “It’s me.”

Kaede turns toward you, clearly shocked and confused.

“No, that’s not what I was going to say! It was me. Why would you say it was you?”

You shake your head, offering her a bittersweet smile.

“All I can say is that the nature of this crime isn’t what it seems.”

She can only stutter, utterly bewildered. “B-But… I did it! I killed them. Why are you doing this?” she asks. “Please don’t make this any more difficult for me than it already is,” she pleads.

Shuichi’s gaze flickers between the two of you.

“Why don’t you both run an account of what you believe to have happened?” he suggests cautiously.

Kaede volunteers to go first, and she recounts it exactly as she remembers it. She went to the game room, and there she got into a fight with the victim. In a rage, the victim flew at her with a billiards stick, and she parried, hitting the victim over the head and accidentally killing them. They collapsed and did not get up.

You tell your story next, which is almost the same–only you stabbed them at the end, too.

Kaede’s bewildered once again.

“I didn’t see a stab wound…” she mumbles to herself.

Shuichi confirms your version.

“There was a stab wound. I’d have to say that Kaede’s version is missing that.”

But then Kaede finally understands.

“Wait! S/O, you’re not really the killer. You just stabbed the body to make it seem like you did it,” she remarks in an epiphany. It hurts to say because it suggests that you almost got punished instead, but she realizes it must be true.

Except that it’s not the truth. The truth, as always, is much, much crueler.

You shake your head stoically.

“I didn’t want to say it,” you state. “But I saw it all happen when I was hiding in the game room, and the victim was still breathing when I stabbed them, which means that I killed them.”

Kaede’s breath stops short.

“W-What do you mean they were still breathing? You mean they were still alive?”

You nod.

“Yes, they were still alive. Barely.”

She couldn’t believe her ears for once. And, by the looks of the others, neither could they.

“What, why? Why did you do it?”

You laugh derisively.

“Kaede… How could I just watch you accidentally kill someone and get sent off to your death? I couldn’t let you die here. I couldn’t let someone’s death be purposeless! I need you to live,” you reply. “We all need you to live.”

She can’t think of a response to your words. Her mind is short-circuiting, going crazy. When she only offers silence in response, all everyone can do is vote quietly and conclude the trial.

“Congratulations! You’re right, once again!” Monokuma says cheerfully.

Everyone is watching you. Kaede manages to meet your gaze.

“You shouldn’t have done it,” she whispers. “You should have let me take the fall for my crimes. It’s just wrong!”

You give her a hug, her usually strong voice wobbling and her eyes watering. She feels unbearably small in your arms right now.

“I did what I needed to do,” you answer. “I couldn’t let you go like that. You didn’t even do it on purpose.”

She sniffs.

“I know, but I still did it. It’s my responsibility!” She lifts her head and escapes your embrace, turning to the bear sitting above, surveying the current situation with amusement. “Monokuma, can I take s/o’s place in the execution? You saw what happened. I’m the person who killed the victim.”

He laughs.

“Upupupupu! Usually, I’d allow it, but it’s way more interesting to have you stay around, and they’re still the one who finished off the victim. Rules are rules, so let’s just start the execution now!”

Kaede grabs your hands.

“No, you can’t! It’s too early, and I’m the one who committed that crime. Don’t!”

But you were ripped from her grasp mercilessly, and she was forced to endure watching your execution, just as painful as the previous trials. You mercifully killed for her, but you wouldn’t be killed mercifully.

Following your death, Kaede continues to lead the remaining group to escape. There was no way she’d let a death like yours happen ever again. There was just no way.

Maki Harukawa

Maki had never planned on revealing her identity as the killer.

At least, not until you stepped up to divert the attention from her and claimed to be the killer yourself. And, with a start, she realized that not revealing her crime would lead to your death either way. There’s no option but for her to tell everyone the truth, even if it meant that the entire purpose of her having killed someone would be forsaken, that the whole reason for their death would be null and void.

“Stop right there,” she interjects as you’re in the middle of a sentence explaining how it was you who killed the victim.

Everyone looks at her questioningly, as do you.

“What is it, Maki?” you ask. What could she possibly have to say at this stage of the trial, at the closing argument?

“Don’t cover for me,” she says bluntly. “I’m the true killer. There’s no way s/o could possibly have killed someone.”

The trial room explodes into chaos with everyone trying to talk at the same time. Somehow, Shuichi manages to calm everyone down. How he did it with as quiet of a voice he has, no one knows, but he does it, and Maki is grateful for that.

“Why are you only coming out with this information now, Maki? Why admit it now?”

You nod, crossing your arms across your chest.

“Yeah. It looks more like you’re trying to cover for me,” you smile infuriatingly, and Maki grits her teeth.

“You know the truth, s/o. Why are you doing this?”

You shake your head, meeting her gaze across the trial room, unfaltering.

“It’s exactly because I know the truth that I’m doing this, Maki.”

“You know that I’m the killer and want to get yourself and everyone else killed by covering for me?” she bites out. The one time she wanted to put her loved one before herself, and she was met with rejection. This was the last time she let herself show weakness in front of anyone.

“No, that’s wrong. I want to protect you and everyone else by showing them the truth of the culprit’s identity–myself.”

She realizes that you’re not going to relent. Fine, then. Two could play at this game. The only way she’d get the truth revealed was to beat you with logic.

“Fine. Then how did you kill them? What weapon did you use? Explain what happened from start to finish with as much detail as possible,” Maki challenges. “We both know I’ll know if you’re lying or making it up.”

A side of your mouth quirks upward, and you nod.

“Of course. That was what I was going to do before you interrupted me.”

And you complete her request, flawlessly.

Maki doesn’t know what to say. How could you have possibly known exactly how the victim was killed and where Maki even stored her weapons after the deed was done? Maki prided herself on being discreet. But somehow, you had figured her out.

“I don’t see a problem with their logic,” Shuichi states. “What do you think, Maki?”

In frustration, she grips the trial stand before her.

“That’s…! I know you must be lying,” she says, glaring at you. You weren’t often subject to her more deadly looks, but when you were, it was surprisingly more hurtful than it was terrifying.

You shrug carelessly.

“Where’s your proof, Maki?”

Rendered speechless, she stares you down as you casually vote for yourself, and as everyone follows. There’s nothing else left to do at this point.

“And right again! You lucky bastards are just on a lucky winning streak, aren’t you,” Monokuma sweats.

“How could this be?!”

Maki was completely destroyed. She didn’t know how to feel about this situation. She knew- or, at least, she thought she knew the truth. She had briefly considered the possibility of Monokuma lying or not knowing the truth but quickly understood that he would always choose the truth because it would bring the most despair.

The trial over, you walk up to her. “Hey… Could I have a hug before I go?” you say.

She bites her lip. Maki didn’t know what you were playing at this entire time, but nonetheless, she loved you, even if it didn’t show all the time. She relented and hid her grief behind a curtain of apathy and anger.

“Fine.”

The two of you embrace, and although Maki is slightly stiff, you’re more than happy with this.

“I love you,” you breathe in her ear, and she twitches.

“...I love you too,” she says gruffly. “But I don’t understand why you would do this.”

You separate from her, and you smile.

“Like I said, I love you.”

Maki puts two-and-two together, and suddenly it all makes sense. You’d seen it all happen, so it was easy for you to insert yourself in the situation and for you to add on to the crime. Once the victim was finished off by you, technically you had been the perpetrator. And you’d done it so Maki wouldn’t have to be executed.

“Wait! It’s not fair, it wasn’t you-”

You put a finger to your lips and offer her another smile.

“Shh,” you say as you get pulled away toward the execution site. “Don’t tell them.”

With those last words of yours, Maki watches you disappear, and it’s the first time she’s felt so weak, standing there alone. She’d never needed anyone before. But right now, she needed you terribly.

She was going to be careful the rest of this game, not to hurt or be hurt. She couldn’t take your sacrifice in vain. It would be too devastating, even if living on was almost as painful as dying.

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archived-gtronpa-account · 4 years ago

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*grumble grumble* dumb Tumblr deleting my 2.5K words post for no reason blegh.

Well anyway,

In defense of Gonta and Kokichi's friendship

Heyo! I like both Gonta and Kokichi a lot lot lot, they're both p much my faves.

I've only watched a single let's play for v3 a few weeks ago so I don't remember everything, however I was on the lookout for those two and it's pretty easy to miss their positive interactions or even misinterpret them, but I'll try to bring up what I remember cause I've seen people hating the relationship between them a lil too much and while I'll concede that it isn't the best it's also important not to dismiss the good things canon and heavily supported headcanon. Also it's one of my favourite friendships of all the danganronpa franchise even when we only look at absolute canon.

Without further ado, we start off with the insect meet and greet that gets brought up a lot. It gives off the impression that Kokichi manipulated Gonta into doing it, but there's a piece of dialogue between Gonta and Shuichi before it in which Gonta says 'Oh, Shuichi! Are you looking for a way to get students to trade motive videos?', meaning it was a plan he wanted to do- and we can assume it's not Kokichi who pushed him into thinking of that, cuz Gonta wasn't aware of his plan and why would Kokichi tell him about trading motive videos without mentioning his plan?

After that during the IMAG When Kokichi says he has to leave and Gonta asks him why, Kokichi very clearly says that he'll bring their motive videos to watch together and Gonta very clearly agrees to it. No manipulation. So all of Kokichi's IMAG plan can be boiled down to 'I'll force everyone to gather and watch the motive videos, and I'll get help from Gonta since he supports this idea, and along the way he can show off his bugs so it's a win-win' and note that Kokichi is not anymore malicious with his plans than he thinks is necessary, he could have lied to him and just gathered the students elsewhere, but instead he chose a plan that would make Gonta happy. I'm not sure why he didn't explain his entire plan to Gonta beforehand, but at least he chose him because he agreed with his opinion and didn't go out of his way to manipulate him.

After that we think Kokichi tricked Gonta because the students- mainly Tsumugi- keep saying it, and we see Gonta confused so we think he has no idea what's going on- but he does, he clearly agreed to watch the videos, and is confused a little as to why they keep saying he's gotten manipulated. Then we see him angry and assume he's angry at being manipulated, but he is only angry because Kokichi lied about liking bugs, and, well, he didn't let it slide and punished Kokichi with the IMAG, so, yeah. If you don't look closely it's very easy to misinterpret this whole event.

Moving on to the whole lovely mess that is chapter 4. I'll explain it in a chronological order so hopefully it doesn't get too messy.

Two murders happened for an insanely stupid reason, and Gonta once again wasn't able to prevent it. At this point he's desperate to help his friends but he feels more and more useless and unhelpful, the constant babying from his classmates doesn't help

Kokichi takes the motive keycard and sees the secret of the outside world. You know, the one that broke all of the students in chap 5 and made Shuichi understand the idea of Gonta's mercy killing in chap 5 and made Shu so depressed he couldn't do anything but lay in his bed for days.

Now I'm gonna go in speculation territory cuz I've only watched the game once a few weeks ago and my memory is fuzzy and it's hard to come up with a good analysis without a second watch through, so prepare for some confusing stuff here. There are two of Kokichi's reaction to seeing the literal end of the world before his eyes after he thought there was an audience, the initial one is that it drove him to insane despair (which Kaito noticed and punched him and called him weirder than usual) and he started to believe that this entire twisted game was only made for one single crazy mastermind, and maybe the best choice was for all of them to die after all. But then he may have thought further of it and realized there might still be a chance for it to be a lie, because why would a single person care so much about rules for a game without others stopping them from doing whatever dumb whim they want? So through his despair Kokichi thinks there might still be a chance that the world is fine and there's an audience which wants a thrilling game of murder, but he needs to test that theory. The plan he comes up with would be to see if monokuma would team up with him to add a motive to the neo world, and if monokuma accepted then it would mean there really is an audience that wants things spiced up. Problem is, he knows Miu wants to kill him there.

Now, I don't know what exactly Kokichi's plan was, but I'm sure he can come up with plans very quickly and adapt to whatever situation and see a few moves ahead. Gonta followed him outside- Kokichi didn't lure him out-, and it was then that Kokichi came up with the plan we all know of…

Reminder that Gonta saw the secret of the outside world, the one that drove the entire class to despair in chapter five. Gonta isn't as pure as we make him out to be, he is prone to violence as seen a few times throughout the game, and having been raised in the wild with carnivorous wolfs we can speculate that he isn't averse to murder so much. It would make sense that he would agree to a mass mercy killing. Both he and Kokichi agreed that it would be best for everyone to die in their blissful ignorance. Gonta was in fact so willing to do it that he helped by suggesting the idea of the slide to make the murder even more confusing and make Kokichi even more suspicious.

Once again, I'm not sure what plan Kokichi was going for, but, whenever I think back to trial 4 I really get the vibe that he wasn't completely against the mercy killing. I'm not sure how much, but I'm certain that to some extent he was ready to go through with his and Gonta's plan, like he had one foot in the killing plan, and one foot in another plan, and however the trial went he would go.

To summarize up until this point, both he and Gonta saw the secret of the outside world and made an alliance in which they very surely both agreed that death was a better alternative than letting their classmates live and see what had become of the outside world. Kokichi didn't even need to manipulate Gonta for that.

Although I will admit that if Kokichi wanted to test his theory and thought there was a chance the outside world was fine, then he really did manipulate Gonta by making him think that the outside world was destroyed when he himself thought it was a lie. But even in this case Kokichi didn't manipulate Gonta by exploiting his gullible nature, he used a lie that could have worked on anyone, and Gonta just so happened to follow him outside.

Then the part that gets people is Kokichi yelling at Gonta for being stupid till he cries, and just generally being a dick. But get this, in the anthology in the Hair Raising Panic chapter Kokichi realizes that Gonta is tricking them and hiding something. Kokichi of all people doesn't underestimate Gonta's intellect and it's shown many times throughout the game but I won't go into it for now I'll save this for another time. But Kokichi is the type to distrust people for the smallest reason, even in the anthology's no-murder school life AU Kokichi found it in him to get suspicious of Gonta, and now they're in a killing game where each person can be mastermind, murderer, traitor, he has every reason to distrust all his classmates and he doesn't underestimate Gonta's intellect. So from Kokichi's point of view, Gonta is deviating from their plan and betraying him- when he'd thought he could trust him and even made an alliance with him. It's messing with his carefully crafted plans and he can't afford that and there's too much at stake, so he snaps at Gonta. Although I will admit I don't understand what was going through Kokichi's mind when he called him dumb, I'm thinking his evil persona was pushing through and his panic was guiding him, but I still firmly believe that Kokichi was the one student who didn't underestimate Gonta's intellect.

This is getting long and I haven't even finished most of what I've wanted to address. Moving on.

Let's not forget that after the whole trial Kokichi wanted to die with Gonta and voted for himself- but here's the thing into speculation again. I believe I'd he wanted to just die he could have not voted and been punished for that, but he voted for himself. Sooo I think he voted for himself after telling the students about the two blackeneds rule, hoping that either votes would be even for them and thus for him to die with Gonta- or that he hoped too many students would remember the two blackeneds rule and vote for him so he would be wrongly voted as blackened and their mass mercy killing plan would work after all.

Also, you know, in chapter five Kokichi could have made an unsolvable murder by killing Kaito who was gonna die of his illness anyway, but he still chose to kill himself because of two things: the first being that he wasn't anymore malicious than he needed to be so he made a plan that would allow Kaito to shine as the hero he desperately wanted to be, and, well, his immense guilt over killing one of the closest people to him during the killing game- heck, two of the people he considered somewhat friends and allies he could trust a lil.

Before I'm done with the main narrative I'd like to point out one last REALLY IMPORTANT thing; the killing game is a game of distrust where anyone can kill anyone, it puts an insane amount of stress and paranoia on people and drives them to do things they would otherwise never accept. Some relationships couldn't easily happen outside of the killing game (like Kaito and Shuichi) and some happened more easily because of the killing game setting (like Kaede and Shuichi) and some should stay intact in either (like Tenko and Himiko). It's a rather unfair setting to judge people.

Now onto miscellaneous stuff that the killing game setting doesn't affect and should be good enough to judge people and relationships:

In trial 2 I think, Kokichi was the only one to praise Gonta for pointing out something smart (I don't remember what it was though, maybe the rope thing with Kirumi.)

Kokichi was also the one who took Gonta seriously when he talked about seeing tiny bugs and went as far as requesting the bug vac over something everyone forgot and dismissed- even the players themselves. In general, Kokichi is the student who most acknowledges Gonta's intellect.

Kokichi had two main plans and for both he trusted Gonta.

They can also be found often hanging out together- which I think is unprecedented in dr- and from what I remember if you you try to spend your free time with either of them they both hesitate to stop hanging out but get reassured by each other that it's fine and they can pick their discussion back up. So when together they aren't bickering or in an unpleasant discussion and enjoy eachother's company enough to hesitate to spare time for Shuichi. Strong emphasis on the fact that this is mutual, it's not only Gonta being nice enough not to ditch Kokichi or reassuring him that it's fine and he can leave, Kokichi too doesn't wanna ditch Gonta at first and reassures him that they can hang out later together. (As far as I can remember at least, but my memory may be tricking me)

In one of Kokichi's dating events he says that he hates bugs but wants to watch a bug documentary to understand why Gonta likes them. It's a good outcome too so Kokichi had a good time watching it even though he hates bugs.

Again in Hair Raising Panic even if Kokichi suspected Gonta he didn't tell anyone or mess with him and instead let him carry out whatever plan he had, suspicion but trust in the end.

The two have a very bittersweet event in the TDP (Gonta's) where Kokichi says goodbye to Gonta.

Firstly, Kokichi says he isn't eating enough but when Gonta gets worried Kokichi dismisses it as a lie, but Gonta still worries about it and most importantly, thinks Kokichi said the truth about not eating before dismissing it as a lie so he still worries about him. It's… really odd when you think about it, if it had been a lie for sure then it would have been written as such, but Kokichi's malnourishment is being treated in this scenario as the truth and most importantly we're shown that Gonta was able to see that Kokichi said a sad truth and then said he lied but Gonta still saw through that and understood that Kokichi could dismiss a sad truth as a lie not to worry him. This scene always sticks out to me because its writing really really caught me off guard, we don't have so much to say whether or not my interpretation is truth but knowing those two characters and as writer's hunch? I think this holds up well. I think Kokichi isn't as unreadable as people make him out to be and Gonta is smarter than people think he is, add to that the fact that in this event they've been classmates for nearly 3 years so at this point I don't doubt Gonta would be able to see through Kokichi's lies to some extent. I think this is overall really sweet and I'm glad that this scene exists.

But the sweetest has yet to come! Kokichi tells this to Gonta

Kokichi: Cuz we won't see each other after we graduate. I *am* the leader of evil after all. There'd be no point in me being around a gentleman like you m, Gonta. And that's not a lie. Are you relieved, Gonta? You'll never be tricked by someone as despicable as me anymore.

Gonta: How sad! Gonta make lot of memories with Kokichi over last three years… So… of course Gonta feel sad he no see you anymore.

Kokichi: Of course. Well, I'm not a gentleman like you Gonta, so I bid you my farewell.

Gonta: Grgh… Gonta wish that was lie… [You feel even sadder than before]

And you know, this is a graduation event, in most cases one of the three choices is an interaction with someone from v3 cast who is very important in the killing game to the character you're playing. (Kaito with his sidekicks, Kiibo with Miu, I can't remember the rest). We have a clear confirmation here that outside of the killing game, Kokichi and Gonta are very close friends and Kokichi holds Gonta in high regard as a real gentleman who deserves better than a clown gang leader as his friend.

Mic drop.

Now, I've tried to be as objective as possible and point out either canon or interpret the vaguer stuff. I won't say they had a pure beautiful friendship because that would be aaa wrong, and I won't deny that for chap 4 plan Gonta was going to get hurt with that plan no matter what -by being voted as the blackened and thus failing to help everyone with the mass mercy killing, or by succeeding with the plan and being left all alone with his despair and prolly either planning his suicide after that or being taken to participate in season 54 before he could kill himself- and Kokichi most likely knew that his plan would hurt Gonta no matter the outcome, and Kokichi even if he didn't want to still pushed Gonta, his sweet gentleman friend, to murder for him. And he did lash out on him in trial 4 and say nasty things and make him stress and panic then hurt him with his villainous persona. I won't deny canon, actions speak louder than words, and Kokichi's actions, regardless of his intentions, still ended up hurting Gonta. But still in not ignoring canon, it's important to realize that Kokichi undeniably felt insanely guilty for what he did and even wanted to die with Gonta which completely contradicts his leadership quality and selflessness and logical nature (because dying with Gonta would be a meaningless death and would leave his clueless classmates behind with no plan to escape and many leads inaccessible) only because he didn't want to live with his sin, and it's also important not to ignore their many little positive interactions in canon pointed above. I won't speak for canon, but I definitely think their relationships had it's downs but also had it's ups that we really shouldn't be ignoring.

Feel free to point out any mistake I made or share your opinions- but please make sure not to be spiteful and have actual concrete arguments to share, I've spent a 3-4 hours writing and revising this passionately and I don't wanna deal with hate so please be gentlemen like Gonta. Thankie!

(oh cool this time around Tumblr didn't delete this phew now I won't have to re-format everything.)

#drv3 #Danganronpa #gonta gokuhara #kokichi oma #kokichi ouma #character analysis #?#not really but i don't know how else to tag this #ougoku

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whitleyschn33 · 4 years ago

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RWBY Volume 8 Episode One: Quick Thoughts

Or not so quick, seeing how long it took me to write this and how much I ended up having to say. Spoilers (duh) under the cut, as this thing got insanely long.

So we open with a maid scrubbing a floor, a shot that lasted long enough I was starting to wonder where it was going before we cut to Cinder. So, Cinder backstory - interesting way to open the volume, but I’m not sure if it’s a good way. At the very least, I would have cut it a couple seconds, or have it flash between Cinder’s face and the flashback. Same information, but given in a quicker manner that lets us know exactly what we’re seeing instead of wonder who this random maid is for 10 seconds.

Whale aircraft carrier. The design is interesting, if looking a bit too clean for my taste. I would’ve liked to see the bones and muscles of the Grimm incorporated into the design a bit more, the surfaces less smooth and more textured, but it looks good.

Facial acting on Neo is good - I appreciate being able to see what’s running through her head, even if it also makes me wonder why Salem isn’t picking up on the obvious tells.

Emerald and Mercury are back and with new outfits; I can hear the diehard EmMerc fans screaming from here. Would’ve liked a better look at the whole outfits (I don’t think there’s even one close up of their entire bodies), but I like Mercury’s! Emerald’s model feels off to me for some reason, like it’s wider or more padded (?) than before, but it’s not a big deal and is probably just a result of her wearing a jacket now.

Oh, yeah, Hazel got one too, don’t care.

Why does the whale have a screen? A connection to one of those seer orb Grimm?

Cinder is still not interesting to me, but I am curious - can one woman hold multiple maiden powers? What happens if one woman holds them all? If they can hold multiple powers, what happens when they die? Do they both/all go to the same person, or would they split?

I like the Faunus that gives Oscar the soup. His design is pretty cute to me (I think he’s a mole Faunus?), and I feel like he’s based on something, but I’m not sure what. Getting a Narnia vibe for some reason, which I’m always on board for.

How did Ruby know where Oscar ended up? Did he call?

Weiss’s braid looks much better! I’m still not a huge fan of it, but this model is an enormous improvement - it actually looks like hair instead of rope, it’s slicker, and doesn’t look as heavy. Nice job, animators. Blake’s looks better, too, more fluffy, but it’s not as drastic a change to me.

Nice to see the Happy Huntresses actually doing something to help Mantle, and having Joanna(? that’s her name, right?) take charge and be helping Ruby get Oscar back in exchange for their aid is nice. It feels realistic for a situation like this.

And more secret keeping, but in this case, dropping the Oz bombshell would actually probably be a bad idea. There’s enough going on, bringing up Oz being back can wait until tensions aren’t as high.

Why would Ironwood stop evacuation? That makes no sense for his character, and there’s no reason to stop them. Until he gets Penny back, Atlas isn’t going anywhere. Might as well keep evacuating until you can find here, get as many people to safety as possible before getting away. I’d assume the Doylist answer for this is that Mantle still needs to be a factor in any decisions made after this and it can’t be that if we can get everyone evacuated, but that doesn’t make the Watsonian explanation make more sense.

Actually a good plan, getting everyone into the crater if it is in fact warm (why, I wonder? Thermal vents? Heat coming off of Atlas?) solves the cold problem (that people should’ve probably already died from) and having to defend one smaller location is strategically a good option. Corralling people would also make any eventual evac to Atlas easier. There is the small problem of, you know, Atlas literally crushing anyone in the crater if the staff is used on anything else, and Salem is known to be after that Staff, sooooooo -

Okay, maybe a nitpick, but I thought Pierto’s specialty was prosthetics and robotics. Doesn’t seem like something that necessarily overlaps with what’s needed to convert Amity into a satellite. I guess maybe the engine/whatever is going to propel it into the air could be similar to Penny’s boosters/whatever lets her fly, but it doesn’t seem like something that he would be involved in raising Amity. Whatever - I know we need a scientist person to tell these things to RWBY+Co and Pierto is the most likely candidate to be in a position to do that.

It seems like, from Ruby’s dialogue, she both wants to warn the other kingdoms and ask for their help. This has been trampled to death, so I won’t rant, but - there is no one that’s going to be able to help. Argus is hours away, will take time to assemble, and isn’t a very large force to begin with. Mistral is still weakened from V5 and has next to no huntsman, and is even farther than Argus. No idea what’s going on with Vale, but they’re probably still nursing their wounds from the Fall. Vacuo is the only kingdom likely to be able to muster up a force, but they’re on the other side of the map and will take hours, if not days, to get together an army - and that’s if they decide they want to help at all. The other objective was warning the Kingdoms about Salem. Ignoring that Salem is immortal and can just throw as many Grimm as she pleases until the defenses fall, ignoring that the other Kingdoms might not even believe Ruby, what’s to say they won’t go “F*ck Atlas, they’re on their own” and recall every available Huntsman and Huntress to shore up their own defenses? Or what if the other kingdoms just fall into anarchy? Learning an immortal witch with an endless supply of Grimm will come knocking on your doorstep soon tends to cause chaos. Or is Ruby going to leave the whole immortal part out again? I just can’t see what this will accomplish.

Holy shit, it’s actually happening. Dissent from WBY, and it’s coming from Yang of all people - I love it. I wish Yang had gotten to finish her sentence, say something along the lines of “Maybe if we’d told the truth immediately things wouldn’t have gone this way” since that would fit with her “hate secrets” thing she had going on in V5/6, but the fact that Yang is actually questioning Ruby’s leadership and choices - yes yes yes, more of that please, less of the hive mind. I wish it’d come a little earlier, but at this point I’ll take what I can get.

I’m slightly confused at the sides that Ren and Nora are taking here. I like that we’re splitting them up here (we never get to see them separated, and after last volume, I am more than on board with letting Ren get some breathing room), but Ren going with Yang, Jaune, and Oscar to help evacuate Mantle while Nora goes on the “bigger picture” team to get Amity up and running seems weird considering where they were last volume. Nora was always screaming about how the big picture stuff was hurting Mantle, while Ren was pushing to keep training, keep working, support Ironwood and try and work at the big picture problem, so it would seem like they should be on opposite sides. I’m not saying it makes no sense - I can absolutely see Ren feeling protective of towns under attack from Grimm with no Huntsmen in their corner - but it feels like a bit of a 180 from their last positions.

Did Oscar just call Jaune “John”?

Yeah, if nothing else, don’t let Penny get anywhere near Salem or her cronies. Salem can absolutely not be allowed to get her hands on the Staff, especially with the whole “get everyone to the crater” plan. Squish.

Yang and Blake splitting up, maybe we can actually get some conversations on what the hell is up with them that we should have gotten in V6/V7 instead of petty showing off and Nora projecting.

“But what about Mantle?” “Oh, I’m helping Mantle.” with the same thing you spent all last volume complaining about. Uh-huh, that’s not annoying.

Weiss has an idea on how to get up to Atlas - Winter’s ship, maybe? That one she came in on in V3 was her personal ship, wasn’t it?

Ironwood calls Penny. From the music, it sounds like they were aiming for foreboding and manipulative, but Ironwood just sounds tired, the poor man. Love how Ruby doesn’t even try for a comeback for Ironwood’s argument, really convincing.

Dead Clover, and I hope that he stays that way, because if he’s brought back to life, so much of V6′s themes of life and death and the natural cycle is just going to be spit on (again). Clover is dead, and there should be no way around that save interference from a literal god. Any attempt at bringing him back needs some kind of drawback - some prevision of life, a body that moves but his soul isn’t there, something, please RT, don’t double back on your “Death is permanent” thing again.

And Ironwood did lose his arm completely. It’s an awesome looking prosthetic, but the fact that it’s black when the rest of his prosthetics are silver, combined with the comments made by the CRWBY about Ironwood’s humanity, make me very afraid they’re going to go for some sort of bullshit parallel to Cinder’s black Grimm arm. I do like the orchestral version of Hero playing here, though.

I like Winter’s new hair style - similar enough to her previous one, but looser. Not exactly happy about what that might symbolize, but it looks really good. It looks like she might have nerve damage, though, which would mean she might be off the battlefield until she can get her hands (hah) on some sort of brace to help her move her hands (which might be hinted at in the OP~)

I do really like Ironwood and Winter’s relationship, please don’t f*ck it up, CRWBY.

Is the only thing CRWBY knows how to do to make Ironwood seem like the bad guy shoot people for no goddamn reason? Ironwood was surrounded by loyal soldiers after declaring martial law, there was no reason for him to not just order Slate detained (that one was Slate, right? Not that it matters). The man’s annoying and probably in cahoots with Jacques, but shooting him is out of character, excessive, and makes no sense when he could just be arrested. “It shows he’s slipping -” No. It’s lazy writing meant for shock value and to give characters a reason to go “Oh, he’s going evil now, I better question my loyalty to him” (based on the look Winter and Harriet share) rather than any actual flaw in his plans maybe because CRBY realized that Ironwood’s plans are rational and the best one on the table right now, so they can’t use that to turn people against him. F*ck that.

Salem sends a bloodhound or whatever after Oscar, we already saw this bit in the trailers. No comment.

TLDR: Once again, RWBY sets up a lot of stuff that I find interesting and want to see more of. However, their treatment of Ironwood doesn’t make me optimistic for them to treat him right, and RWBY has a track record of setting up good concepts/plots/characters/arcs and then failing to execute them well or at all. We’ll have to see if V8 actually lives up to the promise or falls flat due to the issues that plagued V6 and V7 .

Going to make a whole new list for the OP because dear Lord, this thing is dense.

This song is definitely more in line with RWBY’s usual sound than Trust Love, and I’m all for that. The beat is a little hinky to me - it’s going to take a few re-listens to get used to it - and once again I wish the lyrics were clearer, but I know people that weren’t as happy with V7′s sound will be happy with this return to form.

Establishing shots of Mantle going to hell, nice use of red and contrast, but I wish there was a bit more use of shadow to really sell the red coming from fires and emergency lights.

Ruby standing alone, turning to find the others standing at the ready to fight, but away from her and with their backs turned. Any chance of more dissent? Will we actually get some growth from Ruby, in regards to her leadership in particular? We can only hope.

The four girls, on a blackish/blue background with floating warm lights, with images of their V1 selves in their clothes/hair/weapons. I really love the animation in the portion, the girls look so good. It also makes me wish we’d get some sort of flashback to V1-3, because I want more of their Beacon designs in the new animation style. The fact that this background/setting shows up again later in the trailer makes me wonder if it might be what the interior of the Atlas vault looks like. No basis for that, just a random thought. Couple minor nitpicks, focused on Yang. The fact that she’s the only one not in a more dynamic pose (and this is Yang of all people) seems odd, and the way her hair flows looks weird to me based on the angles and whatnot. Putting her in a different pose like a charge would fix this, letting her hair flow more naturally and giving them the space they need to to add in her past self. Otherwise, gorgeous.

Ironwood with Atlas inside him, slowly being overtaken by the red as he looks up. No real comment other than beautiful.

Clover dropping his pin, with the AceOps and Qrow in the leaves, before transitioning to Qrow taking Robyn’s hand in prison. It looks like Harriet will be taking over as team leader. I don’t have a lot to say here - Marrow’s the only AceOp I’m interested in, and Qrow and Clover’s relationship has never been compelling for me. Robyn, similarly, is not a character I like, so a Qrow/Robyn team-up jailbreak isn’t something that I’m interested in unless Watts is involved. Already teamed up with one villain, Qrow, why stop there?

Oscar in pain holding his head, while Grimm eyes surround him and then Salem with wyvern wings comes out and looms over him preparing to grab him. I like the visual of Salem as the Wyvern at Beacon, but her face looks almost doofy in this shot. I think it’s the lack of expression mixed with the eyes. If she had a more menacing expression, I think this would work a lot better.

The falling weapons of the girls, Crescent Rose with Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud with Ember Celica. Cue the shippers.

Jaune with his sword in front of his face, pulling it down to be at the ready, with Nora and Ren in the far background, their backs turned on each other but looking sad at their positions. I know Jaune’s thing is probably generic, but it gives me Mulan vibes, which is funny considering. Hey, hint that Martial Arcs will become canon now that Renora is on the rocks? fingers crossed More of Ren and Nora’s rough patch, and I really hope that that gets some focus. Their kiss last volume left a bad taste in my mouth with how it went down, and getting into these two as separate characters and their relationship. Ren not requiting Nora’s romantic feelings towards him would be a really interesting place to go with these characters that everyone’s pegged together since episode 4 (in no small part due to their lack of interaction with anyone else, but I’ll get to that).

Winter and Weiss walking towards each other on the Schnee symbol, passing each other by with Winter getting her new hairstyle and a brace of some sort. She’s actually wearing this brace in the hospital, but on the other arm, while now it’s on the arm she couldn’t bend her fingers with. Interesting, and it looks all looks really good!

The Schnee snowflake falls between Whitley and Willow, before shattering onto a chessboard. YESSSS, Whitley’s in the intro again! That’s more than I could’ve hoped, and I really really hope that him looking contemplatively like that means something - that’s he’s figuring things out, coming up with a plan, something! Still no new design though T-T CRWBY, what do I have to do to get my boy some new clothes?

From the chessboard, Salem rises up, turning the other black pieces into Grimm to attack the white where Ironwood stands. His pieces turn to dust, the board blowing away entirely. Nice callback to V1. Ironwood stands alone - no allies, and no space to move forward. He’s a king with nowhere to move - check or checkmate.

Smug Watts hacking while leaning against a mirror, rotates to show Pierto doing the same, his reflection looking over its shoulder at him, then a pan to Penny to show the same thing before the mirror breaks. I’m not sure what this might symbolize. Inability to trust yourself, maybe?

A snowflake flies through the air and lands in Ren’s palm. It turns into a flower petal, (or scraps his hand, I can’t quite tell) then Yang, Jaune, and Oscar join him, Ren smiling to Jaune. Another flower petal flies by to transition to Nora, who reaches out but can’t catch it, looking dismayed until RWBP comes in to join her. I assume the symbolism is straight-forward - the snowflake turns to a petal when caught by Ren (lotus guy), then flies to Nora who can’t catch it. Really living for the Ren focus in the op~

Pans to a shot of the whole group in the middle of everything - Atlas and Mantle overrun with Grimm on one side, Salem’s whale and Grimm army on the other, and Amity in the middle, which Penny flies up to hover below. Penny is going to be vital to launching Amity, and probably for reasons other than the terminal.

Then Ruby and Yang looking at each other with a smile and nod before the girls jump into fighting some Grimm. Interesting bit when the volume opens with the sisters starting to have disagreements.

The entire thing freezes, Cinder strolling cockily past the crew to walk in front of a bored/disgruntled Neo and Emerald who starts to wave but looks dejected when Cinder ignores her. Not much to say here - I don’t really like the freeze frame for some reason, no idea why. This also doesn’t give us any new info on the dynamics between these three characters.

Cinder grabs her Grimm arm in pain as fire flares up behind her, transitioning into Merc, Tyrian, Hazel, and Salem with the lamp in her eyes, transitioning to the lamp and staff twirling around each other, both emitting smoke like they’re being used as they come together. I wonder if this means that the last question and the Staff are going to be used, and maybe together? Once again, though - Atlas falling, people in the crater die.

Smoke clears up to reveal Ruby, looking up to Atlas first in invasion mode, then peaceful. Turn to a shot of the group standing looking to the left, Yang and Ruby looking like they’re posed but the others just kind of standing there. It’s a weird shot, and I’m not sure what to make of it, honestly.

The ice breaks beneath Ruby’s feet, sending RWBY falling into a void, their bodies trailing those lights that we saw before. Ruby opens her eyes to see the brightest light, the Staff. She reaches out to it, but Grimm paws and hands drag her down. V6 callback?

The word Happy? flashes only to be crossed out, a sketchy Grimm roaring, then the words Ever then Never as it’s crossed out, with a sketchy Penny lifting her head and her eyes then face going red, then the words After Again being crossed out. I’m not really of the words - I think it’s going for a Happily Ever After Happy? Never Again thing, but there’s no Happily that I can see, and it just kind of comes across as a bit emo to me. I like the sketches of the Grimm and Penny - I think it might be a Wyvern Grimm or something like that, and the red spreading from Penny’s eyes to her entire outline is interesting. I wonder if it’s connected to the Maiden powers and how she’ll use them.

Sketches of RWBY’s weapon fall into the snow, Crescent Rose falling with the tip stuck in the snow, then a flash and a pull out to Crescent Rose in the snow in full animation, framed by the broken moon as rose petals fly by with the “Created by Monty Oum” credit appears. I really like this as a reference to the Red trailer, and compared to the very cluttered ending shot of V7, this is a nice change of pace.

I like this OP. It’s definitely above V7′s for me, with a good song and some beautiful animation in it’s visuals. If I had to criticize it, I would say that it feels very long and cluttered. My breakdown of the opening feels as long as everything I mentioned in the actual episode. I realize one was going almost shot by shot, while the other summarized, but the point still stands that this things feels longer than it needs to be (I’d have to check time stamps to see if it is actually significantly longer).

A more promising start, all in all, than I’d hoped for. Things irritate me for sure, Ironwood’s treatment, Ruby’s plan, all that stuff, but I know I would have those bones to pick going in. The shake-up of the usual teams and the promise of inter-group conflict is enough to get me to want more, and I look forward to seeing how my favorite characters will be utilized.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Reblog and comment down below, and we’ll start a convo.

Until next time~

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby volume 8 #rwby8 spoilers #rwby 8 spoilers #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xioa long #episode breakdown

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storiesforallfandoms · 5 years ago

Text

we’ll be okay ~ machine gun kelly

part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven

word count: 1681

request?: no

description: after keeping your friendship and relationship a secret for months, it’s time to come clean to your dad that you’re dating his enemy

pairing: machine gun kelly x female!reader

warnings: swearing, angst...i guess?

masterlist

Colson watched as you quickly threw your things into your suitcase. You still hadn’t tried to book a last minute ticket back to Detroit, but you weren’t overly worried about that right now. All you could think about was Hailie’s message.

Your dad knew about you and Colson. He was going to be so mad, and you really weren’t ready to have your dad mad at you.

Colson stood and grabbed hold of your hand, pulling you away from your task for a moment. “Are you sure you have to leave? Pete will be here soon, we’re gonna start that road trip soon. I really want you to come.”

You really wanted to go, too. It sounded like a great get away, especially now. But you knew your heart wouldn’t be in to it if you went. You felt like you absolutely needed to get home now, to try and do some sort of damage control with this whole situation while it was still fresh.

“I wouldn’t be in a good headspace to go right now,” you told him. “And I don’t want to ruin your guys’ road trip. Go have a good time, I’ll see you again soon, okay?”

Colson sighed and pulled you into a hug. You didn’t know how much you had needed it until that moment. Your entire body had been tense ever since you received Hailie’s text, but feeling Colson’s arms around you, you relaxed into him.

“No matter what happens,” he whispered in your ear, “no matter what your dad says, no matter what happens with your family, just know I’ll be here for you. We’ll be alright, (Y/N).”

You had tears in your eyes. You blinked them away and buried your head in Colson’s chest. The whole situation made you want to cry, but having Colson helped you through it tremendously. Who would’ve thought that the guy that you met at the diner in Detroit who was cocky as fuck would mean so much to you only a few short months later?

Colson finally let you go, cupping your face and wiping the tears that were falling down your cheeks with his thumbs. “I’ll get you some last minute tickets back home. You finish packing, and if you want to come back here for any amount of time after you talk to your dad just let me know, okay? I’ll book you the first flight back to Cleveland and you can stay here as long as you want.”

You smiled. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

Colson smiled, too. “I’m even luckier to have you.”

~~~~~~

The next few hours passed by so slow. Colson managed to get you a ticket on a flight that was leaving four hours after he got the ticket, then the flight back to Detroit was nearly an hour long, then you had to wait for your bags and for a taxi to take to your dad’s. It felt like forever until you were finally pulling up outside of your dad’s gated house.

“You want me to drive you all the way up there?” the taxi driver asked you.

While you would’ve rathered to be driven up so that you could get this over with fast, you knew your dad wasn’t going to open the gate for some random taxi driver, and it would give you more time to think over what you were going to say before you had to face your dad.

“No, thank you,” you told him. “I’ll walk up.”

You paid the driver and got out. You hit the intercom on the gate and waited for the familiar voice of your dad to ask who was there.

“What the fuck do you want?”

You couldn’t help but chuckle a little. It was your dad’s usual response when people came to his house, even when it was one of his daughters.

“It’s me, dad. Can I come in?”

There was silence, and for a minute you were sure he was going to refuse you entrance to his house. You let out a sigh of relief when you heard the gate unlock with a buzz and the gate swung open. You took your time walking up the long driveway before finally coming to the front door. Instead of knocking, since he knew you were there anyways, you just walked in.

It didn’t take long to find your dad. He was standing by the door, waiting for you when you walked in. You tried to give him a small smile, but the look on his face made it hard to not burst into tears right then and there.

“I guess...we kind of need to talk,” you started.

He didn’t respond. Instead, he silently nodded and turned to walk into the living room. You felt your heart banging against your chest as you left your bag and your coat by the door and followed him.

You were both sat in silence for so long. Neither one of you knew where to start. You certainly didn’t want to start, but it seemed as though your father didn’t want to start either. You were both just trapped in an awkward silence, until your dad finally spoke.

“How long have you been seeing that cock sucker?”

“Dad!” you snapped.

“What else do you expect me to think of him, (Y/N)?” he questioned. “I could give less of a fuck that he’s out there parading around trying to rope me into a pointless beef with his shitty diss track, but the shit he was saying about your sister. Your underage sister, with zero remorse, and now I’m finding out that you’re dating him now?!”

Tears were forming in your eyes as he raised his voice at you. He had every reason to be upset, you wouldn’t deny him that. When you and Colson first started talking and becoming close, all these things crossed your mind many times. But he seemed genuinely sorry for what he said about Hailie, and he even admitted he’d stop all the beef bullshit just for you, although your dad didn’t know that.

“He’s different than what he portrays himself as in the media,” you explained, your voice low. “He’s so sweet, and he really cares about me, and he told me he doesn’t want to fight with you if it means I’ll be between you both.”

Your dad sighed. “You have to understand why I’m upset though, (Y/N).”

“I do know,” you respond, “and I understand, and I knew this was how you were going to react. That’s why I kept it a secret for so long, because I was too afraid to tell you the truth.”

“But why him?! Out of all the guys in Detroit, all the guys in the world, why the hell would you choose Machine Gun fucking Kelly?!”

“Because dad, no other guy wants me for me, they only want me because I’m your goddamn daughter!”

You were both silent for a long time. It was the first time you had admitted that to your father, and watching him process this information made you regret letting it slip out.

“That’s...it can’t be every guy. Your sister - ”

“I’m not Hailie, dad,” you cut him off. “Hailie was a lot more social than I am, people genuinely liked her more than they liked me. I was the one that was easier to manipulate because I was so quiet and lonely. I wanted friends, real friends, and everyone that offered that real friendship I let them in so easily. By the time I had gotten to my sophomore year in high school, I completely shut everyone out except for Hailie and Alaina. Girls, guys, everyone, because they all wanted me just because I was Eminem’s daughter.”

Your dad leaned forward, running his hands through his hair. You sat back in your chair, looking down at your hands. You both fell back into the awkward silence.

“Why didn't you ever tell me?” he asked. He sounded genuinely upset. It had been so long since you had heard your dad sound this way. So long you could barely remember the last time off the top of your head.

“I didn’t want you to worry about me,” you responded. “That’s all you ever do. You worry about me, and Hailie and Alaina and Whitney. You worry about how your fame affects us but it’s not your fault. You’ve done everything for us so that we had a normal childhood, a normal life, but sometimes there’s nothing else you can do to influence how other people act or how they’ll treat us. I found my own way to deal with it all, I didn’t want you to worry about me.”

Your dad nodded, but you knew it was mainly to himself. You could see the wheels turning in his head as he processed everything you had said to him.

“Colson’s different,” you continued. Your dad nearly flinched hearing Colson’s real name. “He likes me for me. He isn’t using me for any sort of agenda, or to get to you. He cares for me, and I know you’ll never exactly approve of him, but I want you to know that about him. He’s not as bad as you think he is, or how he’s portrayed in the media.”

“You really like him?” your dad asked. You nodded in response. When he stood, you followed. He wrapped you in a hug that caused the dam to break and your tears to start welling in your eyes. “If he makes you happy, I won’t get between the two of you. Just let him know that if he ever hurts you, a response track will be the least of his worries.”

You let out a chuckle that came out half laugh, half sob. “I will.”

He pulled away from the hug to look at you. “And please, don’t keep these things from me anymore. I thought we were tighter than this.”

You couldn’t help but laugh again. “I promise, dad. I’ll tell you everything from now on, I promise.”

This one was kinda shitty, sorry :/

Tags: @littlewhiterose @creatureofthen1ght-v3 @arugula-pigeon @keithseabrook27 @xxkellsvixen19xx @sacvf @helenevary @hnbtx @lovemythsworld @verywellfandango @c-dizzle-swizzlex @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @whateverthefucklove @kellysimagines @idkbrooklyn @hannahmmarie2016 @ratedrkohardychick91 @rosesinmars @painkillerash @kawennote09 @psychosozial @tapedeck-hearts @trash-bag-bitch @bloodorangemoonlight @jointhehunt67 @nepturn @theroyalbrownbarbie @jesylovesmusic @ripped-up-jeans-and-glitter @chokemebymyheartstrings @kolsprincess04 @polychr0matic @rachaelw22 @sataninsatin @harringtonstudios @angel-r0se

If you want to be tagged in future parts let me know!

#machine gun kelly #machine gun kelly imagine #machine gun kelly x reader #colson baker #colson baker imagine #colson baker x reader #mgk #estxx #imagine #one shot #series #part eight #eminem #everyone stands together

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calliecat93 · 4 years ago

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So… been a while since I did one of these. Yeah, long story short 2020 just ruined my anxiety and a bunch of other things and I just couldn’t handle doing the reviews after I feel so behind during the first half of V8. Even the six-week break didn’t do anything to reignite the motivation or help the anxiety, so I decided it was best to quit and just wait for the volume to be over. Which with how emotionally draining the volume was which may have very well impaired my judgment at the time, was probably the best decision. But V8 has been over for months now and we’re awaiting V9. So it’s time to finally finish this.

I normally do one chapter per review, but since I now know all that’s coming, I’m going to do two chapters per review. That means four total reviews, then a mass V8 review, and then hopefully things go better when V9 starts. So last I left off, we got Cinder backstory, the Ace-Ops running into YJR, and Salem breaking Atlas’ shields to finally go forward with her invasion. The dark times are upon Atlas and our heroes are running out of time. So… what happens now? Well, let's find out.

Overview

I normally break down everything moment by moment, but we’re gonna keep it brief since there’s a lot to cover.

In War as Salem’s attack marches forward, all of our heroes are in a bind. RWB wants to help Atlas while May wants to return to Mantle and points out that they can’t have both. Nora is still in need of a doctor, which causes Whitley, who overheard, to call in a character that we haven’t seen in quite a while. With JYR, they were captured by the Ace-Ops, who has now been tasked to use a bomb to blow up the whale. Our heroes negotiate with Winter to allow them time to go in and rescue Oscar and causes Ren to make an unexpected discovery. Meanwhile, in the whale, Emerald overhears Oscar/Oz again pleading to Hazel to see reason, even going as far as to give him the password to the Lamp. Not for Salem, for Hazel. This causes Emerald’s doubts to become even more concerning and with Mercury leaving with Tyrian for Vacuo and Cinder focused solely on her quest for power, she is left alone to decide what she wishes to do.

In RWBY’s 100th chapter Dark, we are at the Schnee Manor where the power blows out. But when they recall that they have an emergency generator, Whitley realizes that they can use the SDC to get supplies to the Mantle refugees. Ruby and Blake go to restore the power as Ruby is still struggling to maintain her usual optimism, but they encounter a Grimm in the process. Specifically, The Hound. Meanwhile, Penny, who crash-landed in front of the Manor last episode, tries to maintain control as Watts’ virus goes into effect. During the battle, it ends with Ruby discovering The Hound. One that utterly horrifies her…

Review

Okay, there is a LOT to go over with these two chapters, So let’s break this down event by event.

Monstra

Let’s discuss our villains first since we have some pretty major developments. First, we have Hazel. We had just about everything that I had assumed before confirmed. The reason that Hazel works for Salem isn’t merely just because she claims to want a new world order. Honestly, I think that Hazel just fooled himself to justify his decision to himself. No, as he talks to Ozcar, the truth becomes crystal clear. Hazel has given up. He confronted her once, and all that happened was she kept coming back until he was too exhausted to fight anymore. She broke him. Fighting her was futile and by taking advantage of this, Salem set him on the only path that he had left: getting revenge on Ozpin. Even though he’ll reincarnate, he can still be hurt. He can still be killed. He can still suffer. It was all that Hazel had left, and it consumed him.

As much as I know that some had issues with Hazel’s backstory, losing your sibling to circumstances that weren’t really anyone’s fault but you still feel so angry that you just need to blame something is very understandable. I’ve been in that place. I think that many of us have. And to learn that he did try to fight Salem at first but in the end, gave up due to her immortality… can you imagine how many others likely went down that route? Wanting to fight Salem but when the horrible truth came out were left empty? RWBY went through it in V6 and barely recovered, so it’s easy to see where Hazel is coming from. It’s easy to see why he won’t believe Oz when he tells him what Salem’s true goal, the release of death via summoning the Gods judgment, is. Oscar takes over and reveals the password, trusting Hazel to decide for himself what to do. Not Salem, Hazel. Will it pay off? Only time will tell.

But Hazel isn’t the only one privy to this new information. Emerald overheard all of it. Whatever fears that she had were all confirmed. Mercury is dismissive, both not believing it (until Tyrian confirms it) and even if he did, points out that Hazel failed and fell into line. It’s going to take time for the assassin to change his mind. As far as he’s concerned, he’s on top of the world, or at least in the best place that he can be in. Better than when he was with Marcus at least. Emerald though? She’s been doubtful and scared since at least the end of V3, even earlier if we count the flashbacks in Beginning of the End. The only thing that has kept her around along with the fear of Salem has been her devotion to Cinder. But with how Cinder has been coldly dismissive of her thus far this volume and now knowing that she’s part of something far worse than she imagined, it looks like Emerald may be deciding that it’s not worth it anymore. The question is, will she act before it’s too late? With Mercury off to Vacuo, she’s on her own to make that choice.

The villains’ stuff is mainly setup for Chapter 9 but it’s good stuff. We’re getting everything in place for the many payoffs that we’ve been waiting a long time for. Many of us have been hoping for Emerald to defect. While IDT as many have wanted the same for Hazel, he’s certainly the nobler of his buddies and has shown signs of possible redemption, so I’ve been hoping for it. Oz and Oscar’s efforts seem to be paying off and Oscar taking over and playing a huge gamble is pure excellence. It’s both Oz trusting the boy and working in tandem with him showing how he is genuinely trying to be better and showing Oscar’s growth with his more diplomatic skills here. It failed to work on Ironwood, but perhaps this time he’ll have better luck.

JYR and the Ace-Ops

Like with the villains, their stuff is contained all within War. But boy do we have plenty to go over. With Atlas in utter chaos, to the point of all the citizens having to hide in a subway, Ironwood has decided to have Winter and her team bomb Monstra. Which makes sense… except that Oscar’s in there. Needless to say, JYR isn’t happy about that. But Harriet, Elm, and Vine remain committed to their ‘we have no feelings’ routine. Even though it’s so obvious that they’re lying through their teeth. Ren’s Semblance confirmed it, but it’s not hard to tell. Elm and especially Harriet are hiding their feelings through their anger and doubling down on following orders. Vine does try to remain reasonable, but otherwise retains his emotionless demeanor. Marrow… he just clearly doesn't want to be there anymore. He’s still trying to remain comitted to what he’s doing, but this and Chapter 9 are going to be changing that big time

And WInter? Oh Lord Winter. She wants to do the right thing but is bound to her loyalty and duty to Ironwood and Atlas, and she doesn’t know which one to follow. Her orders? Or her heart? The choice may seem like a no-brainer to us, but to Winter it’s more complicated. She feels that she owes Ironwood so much. Because of him and the military, she escaped her father and his control. I think that she does realize that this point that she’s just exchanged one puppetmaster for another, but she doesn't know how to cut the strings. We see some signs of hope, both in the last volume when she allowed Weiss and the others to escape, and here when she grants JYR’s request to go into the whale to find Oscar before the bomb arrives. She knows that if Ironwood finds out she’ll be in trouble. She remains conflicted, but it’s still a signt hat it’s not too late. It allows her (and Marrow forthat mater) to remain sympathetic while others like Harriet… well, they’re not making it easy, let’s leave it at that.

That brings us to Ren. He’s had it hard thus far, his emotional control slipping, his split-off from Nora, and everything that built up the last volume coming crashing down. He’s been pushing everyone away, but now? He can’t afford to do so. Not with Oscar in danger. When Harriet says that teammates are replaceable, he strongly disagrees. He and Jaune would absolutely know how wrong this is. They’ve never replaced Pyrrha after all. Even if one considers Oscar part of JNR, he’s never been considered the new Pyrrha. He’s just Oscar, their friend. When he finally admitted that to himself, it allowed Ren’s Semblance to evolve. Instead of simply masking emotions, he can now see them via colored flower petals. Yes dear readers, Ren is an empath.

This development is perfect/. It happened at the right time, Ren finally admitting his feelings for those that he cares about instead of internalizing them and pushing those people away as he has been with Nora. It’s a natural evolution of his powers. He can mask emotions to protect others from the Grimm, and now that he can take it off he can see beneatht he masks of others. Harriet and Elm’s rage. Vine’s uncertainty (I’m assuming anyways based on what happens later). Marrow’s sadness. Winter’s collection of so many different colored petals, reflecting the war that she is having with herself. Now that Ren is beginning to open up, he can now help others do the same. Semblances reflect the on using them, and I think this says a lot about what Ren is truly meant to be and will be in the future.

Schnee Manor

Now we get to the meat of this post. Let’s go over the events in War first. While our heroes are safe at Schnee Manor, they’re conflicted on what to do. May wants to, and by Dark does, go back to Mantle since things are just as bad there and they don’t have the military to save them. Weiss however? She wants to help Atlas. Despite everything, Atlas is still Weiss’ home and there are still family and innocent people that she wishes to save. She’s a Huntress, that’s her job. May however? Her family dismissed her when she was their son, and she made it very clear that she is in no way their daughter. Which first, that was a brilliant way to add that representation. Kdin confirmed that May was Transgender last volume, but now we have undeniable proof in the show itself and it was perfectly delivered. She also makes a good point, Mantle has no protection. The whole reason that RWBY went against Ironwood was that he chose to leave Mantle to die. At this point, it does seem like the heroes can have it both ways. It worked in the past, but not here. Not anymore. But even May admits as she leaves that at this point, there might not be anythign left to do for either city. It’s just… bleak. Even moreso than in V3.

This of course hits Ruby. Normally, her optimism and hope carry her through. It was practically what got the heroes through V6 alive and well. But now? No. Even she can’t deny how bad things have gotten. When she and Blake go to turn on the backup generator, it’s clear how conflicted she is. She wants to help everyone. She chose to send the message because it seemed like the best chance to save everyone. But the longer that she waits, the more unlikely it all seems. She’s becoming utterly overwhelmed. Honestly, with how 2020 went, I find this very relatable. You w\see all the suffering caused by COVID and the horror of the police brutality against Black people and so many other awful things we’re still in the midst of. You want to do something. You want to help everyone and want things to just be okay. But when you do, all of it weighs down on you because you simply can’t help everyone. As Klein said, you can only focus on what’s in front of you first. You feel helpless, scared, maybe even angry. But we’re only human. We can only do what we can a step at a time in whatever way we can, even if it’s just being a shoulder to lean on. It’s at least something.

This leads to something that I have practically been begging CRWBY to do for years now, have Blake comfort her. We’ve had very scarce Ruby and Blake interactions, but it’s always been pretty clear that Blake trusts Ruby and has followed her lead faithfully more or less since the team formed. I think it was very fitting for Blake to be the one who reached out to her as it calls back to when they first talked in Volume 1. Back when Ruby expressed her love of books and wanting to make the world better like the heroes that she would read about. How Blake admired her goal but also viewed it as rather childish. Considering everything with the Faunus oppression, the White Fang, and of course Adam, who could blame her? But Ruby gave her hope. Ruby got her to see that they can make the world better. That despite everything, it’s their job to protect everyone and to move forward. Ruby’s been able to push them ahead so much, and they all still need her. It’s what Ruby needed to hear and it shows how far that both girls have come since those early days at Beacon. Which since this happened in the 100th episode, was very fitting.

Now I’m not gonna say too much about The Hound here. The entire fight scene was awesome and the thing stalking through the Schnee Manor? It somehow felt more horrifying than The Apathy did in Volume 6. How do you manage that?! Whitley and Willow ultimately killing it via the armor was also pretty cool and it’s nice to see the civilian characters getting involved, showing that they don’t have to be helpless like with the ship captain and crew back in Volume 4. Then the final revelation, that The Hound was not only human but had Silver Eyes… yeah Ruby’s reaction could not be more justified. I’m gonna go into my thoughts more in the 11-12 review since Ruby goes more into her feelings there. But the revelations that this one scene caused… yeah, it’s added a whole new level of horror to not just Salem, but the Grimm as a whole. It’s kind of a bummer that The Hound was killed off and it just feels so soon, but with how so much is going on at this point… yeah I’m gonna forgive it especially since the death still leaves a lot to think about in the future.

So let’s talk Schnee family! First, Willow. I like how they handled her here. She’s an anxious mess, which makes complete sense. She has to keep forcing herself to not drink, but without that coping mechanism, she’s so anxious that she ends up running out of Weiss’ room in utter panic. Fortunately, she’s still able to get her act together enough to be of help. She uses the security cameras to warn Weiss and keep an eye on The Hound. Which also allows her to see it heading for Whitley. But instead of waiting on Weiss and since Whitley understandably doesn’t want to listen to her, she does the right thing: act like a mother and save her child. Including actually using her Glyphs to summon a Boarbutusk. Yes, Willow. In a jam-packed volume like this, it’s nice to see these bits of character development for even the minor characters and it was done well here.

Then we have Whitley. I’m gonna admit it, it feels like his change is pretty rushed, but again we have about a million other things going on. Plus I guess the worst situations can bring out the best in people. That’s certainly the case here. He over-hears RWB and May talking and decides to call Klein, who is apparently a doctor, not only a butler (the temptation to NOT make an ��I’m a doctor, not an X’ joke after getting into Star Trek is REALLY hard XD) to treat Nora. Which Weiss’ reaction to seeing him and him not at all blaming her for being fired was just beautiful. But it’s Whitley making a decision. Not due to his father’s influence. Not to get Weiss’ attention. He did it because Nora needed help and it was simply the right thing to do. The fact that he acted independently makes Weiss so happy that she hugs him. It surprises Whitley… but you can tell that he’s happy about it.

I think that really encouraged Whitley. Jaques isn’t there anymore. There’s no one controlling his fate anymore. It doens’t matter if Whitley defies him now, Jaques can’t do a thing about it. It’s Whitley who realizes that they have the resources and ability to send supplies and help to Mantle. It’s him who goes to his father’s office to get the process underway. Even when The Hound comes in, he still makes sure to give the authorization before making a run for it. With the fear of his father gone and Weiss showing more support, Whitley is showing that he’s not a bad person. He was very much like his sister was; someone trapped and forced to succumb to the toxic influences to survive. He didn’t have the support that Weiss did, nor the skills that either of his sisters had that let them escape. But he’s taking those steps now. He has an attitude still, but he’s kind of where Volume 1-3 Wess was; a major brat but one very much on their way to improving. If Whitey ends up taking over whatever remains of the SDC or outright remakes it, I think that he’ll be a fine leader while his sisters continue as Huntresses.

Finally, we come to Penny. I should probably talk about Nora as well, but since Chapter 11 is when she expresses how she feels ike how Ruby does, I’m going to hold off until then As far as Penny goes… God, I… it just hurts. Knowing how this ultimately will end only makes it more painful to go back through. But just as Chapter 5 made it look like Penny would finally be allowed to choose for herself, Watts ruins all of it. This is a girl who is utterly trapped. Ironwood bound her down by isolating her and then forcing the protection of a whole city on her. Pietro, while well-meaning, was over-protective and allowing that to keep Penny held by her strings. He let go… and look at how it ended. The Maiden Powers, while something that Penny accepted, now has her targeted on all sides and she can’t escape them while bound tot he responsibilities that come with it. Now we have Watts’ virus and despite her best efforts, she can’t stop it.

It’s just… heart-wrenching. Especially when Nora wakes up and calms her down by reminding her that whatever is trying to take over is only a part of her, not the whole being. It works… for a few moments. But in the end, all that Penny can do is succumb. This girl truly has no control over anything. Not over her own life. Not over the abilities that she possesses. And now not even over her own mind and body. She keeps having her strings yanked back and forth, wanting to just snap them off but all her limbs are held in place so she can’t. Watching her act utterly robotic, blankly describing how she will open the Vault then self-terminate… it’s just so wrong. Not to mention her coming dangerously close to being carted off to Salem with only Ruby managing a Silver Eyes blast saving her. It was hard to watch back when these premiered but after the finale? It’s just… it’s just so cruel.

Both of these chapters were excellent. War is mainly a setup chapter and ho boy the event that it sets up for… Chapter 9 is gonna be fun to talk about! But it also had plenty of pay-offs, especially for Ren and great moments like May’s scene, Salem conducting the Grimm, and it just captures the bleakness yet determination of our heroes perfectly. Then Dark… boy is that chapter title appropriate. Again great moments like the Ruby and Blake talk, the entire fight sequence, and probably the most horrifying revelation thus far. There’s some minor stuff like the jailbreak as well that made RWBY’s 100th chapter, as well as the chapter to kick off the return after the six-week hiatus, a thrill to watch. That's not even going into Alex Abraham's spectacular score, especially when the big reveal/death of The Hound happens. Just... it's just perfect. It can feel like there’s just so much going on that it gets hard to keep up with at times… but to be fair, that’s how our heroes feel as well, so I supposed that’s appropriate.

Chapter Stats

War

Favorite Character: Lie Ren

Favorite Scene: Ren unlocking his emotion-reading power

Least Favorite Scene: RWB sipping tea. It’s not a bad scene, but them just kind of standing by while the chaos is going on… it just feels a tad out of place.

Favorite Voice Actor: Kdin Jenzen (May Marigold)

Favorite Animation: Salem conducting the Grimm attack.

Rating: 8/10

Dark

Favorite Character: Ruby Rose

Favorite Scene: Ruby and Blake talk

Least Favorite Scene: I got nothing. Everything here was perfect.

Favorite Voice Actor: Arryn Zeck (Blake) and Jason Liebrecht (The Hound)

Favorite Animation: As horrifying as it was, The Hound reveal.

Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts

When I watched these, all I could really do was stare wide-eyed. Even though I knew that this volume was going to be intense, somehow I wasn’t prepared for any of it. Certainly not for everything in these chapters. But all of it was just so freakin’ good. Does it feel emotionally draining? Yes. It was a big part of why I’m only getting to these several months later. But was it still worth watching? Absolutely. Compare Dark to the first chapter of Volume 1. RWBY has come such a long way. A lot of things both good and bad have happened in between, but it’s still going and I plan to be here until the bitter end. With quality like this, it gives me a good reason to stick around. So six more chapters/three reviews to go.

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